A/N: Woot! Another chapter. I've never written so quickly on anything before. You guys truly inspire! Keep up all the fantastic reviews!

Snow yawned as she stretched the knots from her shoulders and back. Rubbing the sleep from her eyes she took in the sight in front of her. She was nearly certain that she had been woken nearly an hour early due to some sort of commotion, but seeing her husband and daughter embracing, one of which was in tears. Snow felt a familiar tug at her heart as she rushed forward. James looked up at her pleadingly, as Snow took his place as he started to pace with his fist next to his lips. His teeth assaulted his thumb nail with renewed vigor.

"Emma, baby. What's wrong?" Snow's concern was evident in the fear in her voice.

Through tear blurred eyes, Emma looked up at her mother. "He came here. I don't even know where I live, but he found me—us." Emma swallowed hard, unable to force out the next words. She looked over Snow's shoulder, pleading with her father.

He sighed, as he knelt down next to his two favorite women. "Snow." This caught her attention, as her head jerked toward James. The soft concern on his face was enough to make her heart start racing. "He threatened Emma."

Snow gasped, looking back and forth between her daughter, who was fighting off a new batch of tears, and her husband, who was fighting off the want to strangle the idiot who threatened his only daughter. "Threatened how?"

Emma sighed, as she pulled away from her mother and sat with her back against the wall. She let her head pound against it for good measure. Emma couldn't hate herself more in that moment, unless of course Garrett actually harmed one of her family members. "He—uhmm-threatened to kill me." Emma spoke through the tears that rolled down her cheeks.

"Like hell." James spat, his hands balled into fists at his sides.

Emma shook her head as she shot up into a standing position, regretting that decision as her ankle twisted to the side, nearly causing her to crash back to the floor. James reached out his arms to steady her, before she spun around to glare at him. "You will not do anything!" Her voice was quiet, if only to not wake up Henry, but the harshness of her whispered voice held it's point.

"What do you mean? I am trained for fighting, Emma."

Emma placed her good arm on her hip, as she continued to glare at him. "And I'm the sheriff, you're point?" James mouth bobbed open, but Emma interrupted him. "No! You will not do anything." This time her voice was more pleading then harsh, as mouth trembled around the next words. Words that she never thought she'd be able to mutter out-loud. "I just got my family back, and I will not lose them again. Do you hear me?" She waited until James gave her a curt nod. "I mean it, dad." She could tell that her words struck a cord with him, but he was a proud and stubborn man and that he wouldn't give up that easily. He turned his back on her. Emma sighed, before turning her attention to her mother who was crying silently on the floor. "You either, mom. No one is going to do anything, except for me. I am the one he's after, I am the one he's getting back at. I will not let him drag my family into this mess."

Snow stood up carefully before wrapping her arms around Emma. She turned her mouth toward Emma's ear. "I'll keep an eye on your father."

Emma nodded. "Thanks-" Her words died on her lips as Henry stood on the stairs wiping the sleep from his eyes as he stared at the three adults in his life.

"What's going on?"

Emma sat next to Henry on his bed. A frown developed on his small face, as he noticed the tear tracks on Emma's face. "Mom?"

Emma sighed. "You're not going to school for a while, Henry."

Henry stood up, his face scrunched up. "What do you mean? You promised!"

Emma felt her chest tighten at the hurt expression on her son's face. She had sworn to herself that she would never hurt him, the way that she was hurt growing up. The many broken promises were the least of her worries growing up, but with Henry that was the only thing that she would ever, even attempt to break. "I know, kid."

"Why not?" He asked, defiantly. His little arms crossed over his chest.

If the situation wasn't so dire, Emma would have laughed. With that scrunched up expression and those arms crossed, he looked exactly like Emma did when she was upset about something. "Because I said so, kid."

Henry's face broke, the hurt shining through. "I'm ten, mom. Please be honest."

Emma stared at Henry for a long moment. How exactly did she fight against that? How could she tell him no, or lie to him now? Henry was definitely too smart for his own good, if only for this particular moment. Emma knew that once the words left her mouth she would never be able to take them back. That Henry will know that his father is a deadbeat piece of crap that would rather kill her then look at her. "It's your father."

His eyes widened as his head snapped toward Emma. "Yeah?"

"He's back in town-"

Henry stood up and stared at Emma. "You—lied." It wasn't an accusation, since by saying what she said practically admitted to her guilt of lying. Instead it sounded more like a broken plea. Like he couldn't believe she'd ever do something like that to him. The expression on his face broke Emma's heart, since it so mirrored her expression from earlier, when Garrett had said the word orphan.

"I did, and I'm so sorry, Henry."

"No!" Henry yelled, his face changing from one of hurt to one of anger. "What makes you any different than her?" He asked, his finger pointing at Emma. He didn't have to say her name for Emma to know who he was referring to.

Emma felt a tear trickle down her cheek, but didn't say anything. She knew he'd be upset, but she hadn't expected this amount of anger. Still, she had earned this, she had been the one to decide to lie to her son.

"Henry, let me explain."

"No!" He squealed at her, before he took off running for the stairs.

Emma jumped up, groaning as her ankle protested the movement, and limped after him. "Henry Swan!" He ran down the stairs and past his stunned grandparents, slamming the front door behind him. "Henry!" Emma screamed from the top of the stairs. She decided right then and there, if she ever got the chance, she was going to finish the job she had started ten years earlier.

Garrett kicked his foot against the sidewalk, his head down as he entered the only diner in the small, pathetic town. He walked toward the booth in the furthest corner of the small building, before sitting down. A menu was thrust in his face, causing him to look up. A young woman stood beside the table, the highlights of red was bright against the darkness of the black.

"I'll just have a coffee—and perhaps-" He let his sentence trail off as he winked at her.

"Not on your life, weird stranger guy." Ruby made a face, as she snatched the menu from the table and walked away.

"Suit yourself." Garrett grumbled, as he stared at the table. "Won't be here long anyway." It wasn't long, before he felt the presence of someone standing beside him again. Looking up, he watched as Ruby shoved the coffee mug on the table, along with a few creamers and a packet of sugar.

"Enjoy." Her voice held a certain amount of sarcasm, before turning away from Garrett. He could see her tense shoulders relax, as the bell above the door rang out a new occupant, and a young boy ran in. He quickly went to the counter and climbed up on a stool.

"Henry!" Ruby called out, as she quickened her pace to go meet the young boy.

Garrett scowled. "Stupid kids." He didn't really want his son. He hated kids, but he also didn't want Emma to have him. Then again, he didn't need to take his son away from Emma to make himself happy. A quick bullet to the head would serve his purpose, just as well. No one made a full out of Garrett Jameson and lived to tell about it. He knew that he was currently in violation of his parole, and that he would more than likely go back to jail when his parole officer figured out he was gone, but then again he didn't care.

The bell above the door rang out again, this time he smiled as a woman sauntered in. Her jet black hair was cut short, but in an extremely attractive way. He watched as the patrons of the diner scowled at the new attendant, before the bitter waitress sauntered toward her, standing in front of the young boy, her hands on her hips. "You're not welcome here, Regina. In fact, you're not welcome in town—so leave."

Regina scowled back at Ruby. "You know damn well that I can't leave." She sighed heavily, before sitting down.

"Too bad." Ruby huffed, before turning her attention to the young boy again.

Garrett knew if anyone in town would help him, it would be the very downtrodden woman sitting two booths in front of him. Grabbing his cup of coffee, Garrett stood up and walked toward Regina, before sitting back down. "You're awful beautiful to look so sad." He smiled his charming, crooked smile at her. Flashing his perfect white teeth, which was not easy to keep up with in prison.

Regina glared up at him. "Do I know you?" She asked, an almost permanent scowl on her face.

"Nope, but I'd love to get to know you, beautiful." Regina made a grab for her purse. Garrett reached out to stop her. "Alright look, I need some help, and you seem to be the perfect candidate."

Regina leaned forward. "Oh yeah, how's that?" Her eyebrow raised, as she tried to place who this guy was.

"Because no one here seems to like you. Seems to me, you've got some kind of grudge. I'm just hoping you have a grudge against someone I'd like to get revenge on."

Regina's eyebrow cocked. "Who is that?"

"Emma Swan."

Regina smiled. "And how do you know, Emma?"

"I'm the father of her child—and she tried to kill me."

Regina placed her hands together as her smile grew. "I would love to help you." Regina cocked her head to the side, and barely saw as Henry dashed out of the diner. Oh, she'd have her son back before long, and hopefully one pain in the side savior would be six feet under too.

Emma hobbled around the apartment, as James stared at her with a stern expression. "I have to find him."

"I know." James said simply, his arms crossed over his chest. So that was where she got that. "But Snow's on it. She'll find him. You need to rest, or your ankle is never going to heal. I am certain you'd eventually like to leave the house and become sheriff again?" James raised an eyebrow.

He had a point, but Emma knew she wouldn't leave the house until Garrett was taken care of. She wasn't leaving Henry's side until that bastard was gone, whether it was under his own accord or if Emma had to force it. "Yes, I would, but he could have Henry as we speak."

James walked toward Emma, placing one hand on each shoulder. "Does he know what Henry looks like?" Emma shook her head. "Then he doesn't. Unless Henry just walks up to strange people and asks if they're his father."

Emma snorted a laugh. "I doubt it, but the kid's kind of odd sometimes."

James smiled as the door burst open. Emma turned around just in time for Henry to plow his small body into Emma's uncertain legs. James stood behind her, making sure she stayed upright. Emma's face burst into a smile. "Oh, God, Henry! I was so worried. Never, ever, ever, ever—do that again." Emma finally finished when she realized that she was just repeating herself.

"I think—I saw my dad." Henry's nose wrinkled in distaste. "He wants to hurt you." Henry's lips pouted. "And he has help."

This caught Emma's attention, as the front door finally closed, and Emma saw her mother stoop beside her family. Offering her mother a smile, Emma focused her attention on her now crying son. "Help, how?"

Henry swiped at the tears on his face. "Regina."

Emma's face grew white, and she felt like she might just fall over, if her father hadn't been holding her up. "Regina—like-the-"

Henry nodded, as he finished her sentence. "The evil queen."

Groans could be heard around the house as they all realized just how serious all of this had gotten. Emma knew she could handle Garrett on her own. She had before, and she had been very visibly pregnant at that time. The thought of going toe to toe with both made her skin crawl. No matter how badly Emma wanted to rip every little strand of hair from Regina Mills head, she knew that she didn't have the capabilities. Not since Rumpelstiltskin had returned magic to Storybrooke. That's when it all fell into place. Emma sighed. "I need to talk to Mr. Gold."

"You mean, stinky old Rumpelstiltskin?" Henry asked.

Emma nodded. "If anyone is powerful enough to go head to head with Regina, it's him."

Though they all wanted to deny it, they knew it to be the truth. Snow and James had seen what she was capable of up close and personal, and though Emma would love to forget, she still had very vivid images of Henry collapsing due to that damned apple turnover. It was time Regina truly got what was coming to her, Garrett too.

A/N: Apologies if Henry seemed a bit OOC, I just foresee him freaking out like that if/when he finds out that Emma lied to him. He just so openly trusting of Emma to tell him the truth, so to find out she broke that trust. I foresee that causing some issues.