Hey everyone! I'm so, so, SO sorry about not updating. I've had family crises and other life events that want to get in the way of my writing. Reviews do make me write a little faster, hint hint.


As it turned out, finding Snow was easier than David had expected. She was sitting on the bottom step of the east stairway, her head in her hands. She looked up when he opened the door, breaking the deafening silence. She quickly ducked her head again in an effort to hide her tear-streaked face.

"I didn't mean to upset you," he said quietly, easing himself down next to her.

"Yeah, well, you did. Where's the baby? Or will you think I'm too focused on him?"

"Snow, come on… he's with Killian. They both are, and he's going to keep them safe."

"Right, because I can't."

"Snow…"

"No, David, you're right," she stood up, anger once again taking over. "I've been a shitty mother. You were right about everything. I am so freaking scared of either of them getting hurt, I'm focusing on the one I can protect. God knows Emma Swan doesn't need protecting. She's a grown, fully independent woman. So yes, I'm doing everything in my power to protect Neal. And now, if all I can do is stare at Emma until she's better, then I'll do that."

"And that's fine," he said evenly. "You can stare at her all you want, though she'll probably get annoyed. I was just trying to point out that she might try to pull away from us, and that we can't let her. Her relationship with you is… broken. It's built on the premise that you're her mother, so she should instinctually trust you –and myself– no matter what. But her instincts are different, because she grew up in a world different than our own. Her instincts scream at her to not trust anyone. Snow, we have to change that. It's not her fault. It's not anyone's… well, except for the people who broke her ability to trust. But that's not on us, and it's certainly not on her. I know you're frustrated; I am too. Just keep in mind how hard this has to be for her, even if she won't admit it."

"She almost died," Snow whispered tearfully.

"I'm sure it'll hit her tomorrow morning. We just have to be there for her no matter what, alright? Even if that means giving her space."

"She's had space her entire life, maybe she needs people to push her."

"True. But, admittedly, we aren't exactly the best at knowing when to push and when not to."

"Killian does," the brunette said, a touch louder than her previous statement. "And she lets him." At that, David only grumbled. Snow, however, was once again smiling. "He knows her better than she knows herself, David. Better than we do. She still feels the need to be the Savior, or the sheriff, or… Emma-I-do-better-on-my-own Swan, instead of simply Emma. She doesn't feel like she can just be herself with us –for whatever reason– but with him… it's a different story."

"She said that to you?" David asked, dumbfounded (and perhaps choosing to ignore that a certain dark-haired man cared deeply for his daughter). He couldn't believe just how lonely of a life Emma had led before she found them. "That she does better on her own?"

"Yes," she nodded solemnly. "After Regina forced Granny to kick her out during her first week here, I found her camping out in her car. I offered her the spare room, and she told me she does better on her own. Obviously, she changed her mind, cause it's her and Henry's room now, but still… that was the woman who rolled into town, David. Not even the slightly softened version you first met after she'd spent a few weeks with Henry." Snow paused, then brought her teary eyes up to meet his. "David, you have no idea what our baby girl went through. Hell, I still don't know the vast majority of what happened to her, but… I know enough to have a pretty good idea."

"God, Snow," was all David could say. "We have to make it better now. I know it won't get better over night, but we both could be doing a better job."

"And we'll need to be as rested as we can so we can think straight," the brunette nodded. "Maybe we should go back to the room and try to get some sleep."


The first thing Emma became aware of was the sunlight streaming through the windows… and it was much too bright. She groaned, and tried to put her hand over her eyes in an attempt to block out the light. The only thing she accomplished was jostling the IV catheter in her hand, which caused her to groan again.

"Are you alright, love?" Killian whispered softly, scooting forward on his plastic chair to be as near to her as possible.

"It's bright." The blonde mumbled. "And I'm thirsty."

"Here's some water," he said, guiding the straw to her mouth. Emma briefly wondered how he managed to get the liquid into her without spilling any, but the man had worked more miracles than she'd seen in her life thus far, and she wasn't going to question it.

"Mmm," she said, licking her lips. "It's fresh."

"I got it a little while ago. I figured you'd be parched when you woke up. I also drew the blinds. The sunlight always cheers me up. Would you like me to help you sit up?"

"Umm… wow, that was a lot of words."

"Do you want to sit up," Killian repeated with a patient, loving smile.

"I can do it my– ow!" Emma flopped onto her back once again.

"You've broken several ribs and have a six inch incision," he reminded her gently. Though he'd been trying to be quiet so as not to wake the other three royals, Emma wasn't with it enough to remember her parents and baby brother were there. The commotion woke Snow and David, but Neal, bless his little soul, stayed peacefully asleep.

"Emma, are you alright?" Snow jumped out of her seat and was at her daughter's side in an instant, despite having just been pulled from her slumber. David followed suit.

"Yeah, I'm fine," the blonde waved her other hand dismissively. "I'm just an idiot." The jolt of searing pain seemed to have pushed the last bits of fogginess from her mind, because she looked at them with clear eyes and her usual annoyance was plastered across her face.

"If you're still in pain I can get Dr. Whale to–"

"I said I'm fine," Emma cut her mother off without a second thought.

"I'm sorry, I was just trying to help," the brunette seemed to shrink, and Emma was reminded of Mary Margaret Blanchard. She immediately felt guilty, and her face softened.

"Sorry," she mumbled. "I shouldn't have snapped."

Snow sent a worried look to David; Emma wasn't one to apologize for, well, anything, except for when she was worried she would be left again. It sent a twinge of pain through Snow's heart to know that her baby girl had been so alone her entire life that she felt the need to apologize as a last resort of getting someone to stay in her life.

"No, sweetie, you don't have anything to apologize for," she said gently, and even brushed a lock of blonde from Emma's forehead. "We all have our moments of irritation, and you certainly have a reason." At that, Emma only shrugged, causing her to bite back a hiss. Killian saw it, though. He always saw through her.

"Maybe we should get Dr. Whale," he suggested, carefully treading the line of concern and logic, knowing how she'd reacted when Snow had mentioned it.

"I was in a car accident, a bit of pain is to be expected," she replied, fumbling around with her bed railing until she found the button to raise her head and back. She pressed it, and the loud mechanical scraping filled the room. Once she was satisfied with the level of incline, she let the button go, and leaned back with a smug, satisfied smile. "See, I'm not helpless or an invalid."

"We weren't implying you are," Snow said, inwardly sighing. Of course Emma wasn't going to be an easy patient. "How about some breakfast? You must be starving."

"Not really," the blonde replied.

"When you're ready, I got you some Jello," Killian said. "Is red alright?"

"Red… oh. Yeah, thanks," Emma said, mustering the biggest smile she could. Her… whatever Killian was, was the most thoughtful man she'd ever met.

"I figured its magical healing properties would get you better in no time."

At that, the other three almost burst into laughter. Snow and David had no clue why Killian would assume Jello was a magical medicine of sorts, but Emma knew. She remembered he'd been given Jello during his stay at Storybrooke General, and Neal had been given Jello as well. Of course he could only assume it was a healing agent. She didn't have the heart to break it to him, though. The poor guy only wanted to help her.

"I'm sure it will," she replied. "Thank you."

"Anything for my princess," Killian did a mock bow, and David grunted.

"She's my princess," the younger man muttered under his breath. Both Emma and Snow had mothers' hearing, though, and didn't miss it. The blonde made a face because, well, she most certainly was not a princess. Snow shot David a look. The last thing they needed was for him to upset Emma, and a comment like that definitely could. However, it seemed that the blonde was still too out of it to really care that David was doing a 'dad' thing. Or maybe she was just too tired to pretend she didn't like it. Either way, Snow wasn't about to look a gift horse in the mouth.

"Do you guys have a plan for today?" Emma asked as a way to steer the conversation away from her.

"Um, well, we'll have to drop Neal off with Granny and Ruby," Snow said apologetically. "I was thinking your dad could, so that way after he can stop at the station to switch the phones over."

"You haven't done that yet!?" The peaceful and relative quiet the room had been in the last forty eight hours was disrupted by Emma's outburst.

"My main concern was you," the king replied. "To be more specific, you were my only concern, and the town could wait."

"Dad, you can't just–" Emma cut herself off with a huff, trying to organize her scrambled thoughts. "You can't just stop being the co-sheriff for two days, especially when the town's recovering from a major snowstorm."

"Sweetie, you can't seriously be worrying about this right now, are you?" Snow questioned after sharing an uneasy glance with David. It came as no surprise that their noble daughter would put the town well before her own well-being, but it was still worrisome. Either she didn't care enough about herself to put herself first (though she'd practically said as much when she and Snow had been in her nursery) –or she wasn't coping with the accident in a healthy way, and was instead focusing all her energy on normal, day to day activities.

"Of course I am," the blonde waved her good hand dismissively. "I'm the sheriff, I need to–"

"You need to get better," David cut her off firmly but lovingly. "And that's non-negotiable."

"I am better," she all but whined.

"Really?" Snow quirked an eyebrow. "Then please, by all means, get your Jello for yourself."

Killian was about to get her that goddamn Jello from the portable wheely table that was situated above her knees, knowing full well that even if she'd just had several broken ribs –never mind a forty eight hour old incision going down the majority of the length of her abdomen– she wouldn't be able to reach it. His Swan was nothing if not stubborn, and one quick (slightly drug-induced-glossy) glare was enough to cement him in place. He winced the second she tried to reach forward to her tray. She struggled for a moment before giving into the pain and falling back onto her pillow once again.

"Okay, so maybe I'm not all better, but I'm better than I was two days ago."

"Oh, you're much better, honey," Snow said, handing her daughter the Jello. "I just don't think you should be worrying about the station right now. It won't do you any good. Besides, your father and Killian can handle it until you're one hundred percent better."

"He can?" David said while Killian aksed,

"I can?"

"Well, you're practically the deputy as it is," Snow continued despite the men's confused protests, "it's just that nobody's officially said it yet."

Emma put her head in her hands and moaned. Not that she didn't want to spend more time with Killian, but the idea of David and her… whatever her pirate was, it set off alarm bells. To her chagrin, Killian and David seemed to already be warming up to the idea, and she suddenly realized that the three of them were totally tag teaming her.

Which most definitely was not fair. But then again, she finally had a family, and she supposed that's what families did. As David packed the baby stuff up to deliver Neal to Ruby and Granny, Killian eased himself back down into his chair, and Snow took the one on the opposite side of the bed. Emma already didn't like this setup. They were going to harass her, she just knew it. As David placed a kiss on her forehead, she whispered,

"Help me."

For his part, David just winked at her. Emma sighed, mentally preparing herself for a long day of emotional conversations and lame pirate jokes.