AN: Wow, I got this chapter done surprisingly quickly. Probably because it's pretty short. There's a bit of father-son bonding in this one, hope you guys enjoy.
There's a very brief discussion about whether Emma should actually go or not and then another on whether Henry should go with her. Adam considers saying he should stay because then he could get him to Regina but decides it would be safer for him to be as far away from Cora as possible. He doesn't even think about going with them himself until Emma mentions it but Snow shots the idea down before it even has a chance to take form. She states it's because Adam can help them find Cora but the way she constantly hovers around him makes him and Emma think differently.
Emma and Henry are packed before Gold arrives at noon and they leave after a brief goodbye. Adam needs to spend the day keeping his parents busy while Cora did something that she wouldn't tell him about, which was frustratingly on par with the rest of his life.
"So, what are we doing today?" Adam asks. Regina had been by earlier in the day to tell them what they already knew about Cora setting her up. She was annoyed they let Emma take Henry but Adam explained it was the best move to keep him safe. Snow didn't help though saying that Regina didn't have a say in what happened to her son.
"We should look for Cora. We need to stop her from doing whatever she has planned," David states as if he could actually stop her himself.
"She is impossible to find if she doesn't want to be found," Adam says. "I've tried many times back home."
"Plus, even if we did find her what would we do?" Snow asks. "She won't exactly come quietly."
"We probably should have asked Gold for something that'd help us before he left."
"What about Hook?" David asks.
"If she still needs him, she will make him just as hard to find as herself, especially after what he did to Rumple and Belle."
"Maybe we could just enjoy the quiet while we can," Snow suggests gaining a smile from David.
"If we can't find them and don't know how to stop them then why not," he adds to his wife's idea.
"But what if something happens?" Adam asks confused about their relaxed attitude and trying to get out of spending time alone with them.
"We have our mobiles. If anyone needs something they'll just call us."
Before Adam can do anything, Snow and David are making sandwiches and packing a basket for a picnic. Adam was starting to see a pattern. He had no say in whatever was happening. If he said an outright 'no' they would ask why and he couldn't exactly say, 'because if I spend too much time alone with you I will end up killing you without making you suffer like I want to'. He tries to convince them to just go to Granny's; witnesses would make him think twice about doing anything detrimental to the plan but they brush it off stating 'it's too nice a day to spend inside'.
They walk to the park where they set down the basket and lay out a blanket. Adam removes his sword he just now realised he is still wearing. It is a part of him and he often forgot it was there, even while resting his hand on its pommel.
"How good are you with that?" David asks watching him.
"I'm good enough to keep myself alive," he says drawing it and giving it a quick swing. "I've never really been taught properly so I've just had to pick stuff up along the way." The pirate is a relatively good sword fighter and Cora had employed some of the Evil Queens black guard that had been left behind. The guards had taught him to use his strength while Hook taught him to use his speed and agility. There'd been brief lessons though as Cora preferred him learning magic and often had him off doing something away from the castle. Cora had actually been the one to teach him how to read peoples body language not realising that he was using the information more during fights than in conversations.
"I could always show you a few moves," David says. "I would now but my swords at home so maybe soon."
"Whereabouts at home?" Adam asks.
"I put in the closet to keep it away from Henry, why?" Adam waves his hand and David's sword still in its sheath appears in his hand. As soon as he does it, he regrets it. The smoke that brought the sword is a very dark, evil grey. But if they notice it they don't let on.
He hands it to David but before he can even draw it Snow says, "After you've eaten, please," giving David a look that Adam didn't quite understand. The fully grown man sits down almost straight away and accepts a sandwich from his wife. Adam follows suit.
There's an awkward silence while they eat and when the conversation does start, it's far from the personal, heart to heart Adam knows Snow had been expecting. They talk about the town and then what it had been like during the curse. Red has already told him some of what they discuss but he finds out that Regina had made it so Snow was alone and David was married to someone else. He would have to complement on that idea her later. Seeing how close the couple are, he would have done the same thing to try to make them miserable. Maybe that's what I will do when it's time, he thinks.
He keeps a pleasant smile firmly in place and his hands unclenched in his lap while an uncontrollable ball of anger forms in his stomach with every word spoken by them. It was everything he could do not to just lash out and burn them alive. Motherly acts making him feel sick. He has never felt this strongly towards anything or anyone in his life even before visiting his family castle where he's felt virtually numb ever since. He didn't even hate Cora this much. I wonder if Regina was ever this crazy, he thinks.
Adam notices that Snow fidgets the same way as Emma does when she has an awkward question she wants to ask. But unlike with Emma Adam wasn't going to relieve Snow of the burden. If she truly wanted an answer, she was going to have to ask the question without a prompt. However, just as she seems to have gathered enough courage, David stands up his sword in hand.
"Okay, let's see what you can do," he says completely oblivious to the eyes burning into him as he smiles at his son and removes the blade from its leather sheath.
Adam smiles and does the same throwing his scabbard on to the blanket and follows David to a spot slightly away from it. They start gently knocking each other's sword then gradually putting more strength and speed into their swings. Before Adam knew it, they were almost in an all out fight, Snow gasping every other move.
Adam is in complete control.
He can kill him.
While David is a good fighter, strong and fast, he doesn't put much thought into his next move. He isn't reading his opponent's body language. He wasn't using it to plan his next move. He also moves too much, his movements not efficient enough to be able to keep up a good pace in a long fight.
Adam sees how tied his opponent is and decides to end the 'play' fight. He knocks David's sword away and the force removes it from his grip. David stumbles backwards in surprise and trips landing heavily on his back. Adam then points the tip of his blade to Charming's neck. He notices the fear in his father's eyes before he feels the dark grin on his lips. He switches his sword to his other hand and extends his now free hand to David while trying to replace the grin with a friendly smile. The man on the ground hesitates briefly before taking the offered hand and standing up.
"Sorry," Adam apologises trying to sound as genuine and possible, "I'm normally fighting for my life."
"Oh, uhm, it's okay," David says wiping down the back of his trouser trying to act as if it wasn't fazed at all.
Snow walks over to them and asks if they are all right.
"Yeah," David says giving her a shaky smile. "But it looks like Adam might be showing me a few moves instead."
