Hey guys, I am totally psyched that people are enjoying this story and I hope you love this chapter as well.
Disclaimer: I do not own OUAT and any of its characters or dialogue. But if I did, Neal would have a much bigger storyline in the show, that way I could drool over him much, much more.
Enjoy!
Ending the call Emma sat in stunned silence. It was becoming harder and harder to believe that only a few months ago she was a bondswoman living in Boston and now she was the daughter of Snow White and Prince Charming and the savior of a town filled with fairytale characters. She could now add that the father of her child was from the Enchanted Forest and now apparently a werewolf.
What's next? A unicorn would wander into town and turn out to be her long lost aunt?
Looking over at Gold she decided that the best course of action was to make sure that he couldn't go after Ruby.
Taking the chalk out of her pocket she drew a quick oval around the prone figure then once again pocketed the chalk and got up from the floor.
A soft cough startled her and she looked towards the source.
"Emma?" Mary Margaret voiced, beginning to rise but wincing in pain.
"I'm here, you need to lay back down and try not to move too much. You could have a concussion" Mary Margaret couldn't help the small chuckle that escaped her.
"What's so funny?" Emma was starting to worry that the woman may have more than just a possible concussion.
"Sorry, it's just that I haven't been mother henned in quite a while" she explained.
Her headache was now only a mild annoyance so she had no problem sitting up.
The memories from before were coming back to her and she tried to stand but the room started to spin and she was forced to sit back down.
"Where's Gold?" she demanded, terrified that the imp was hunting down Red.
"It's okay, I knocked him out and drew a shield around him" as she finished explaining David showed up but when he tried to enter the room the shield repelled him.
"What is this?" David asked, taking a risk and touching the shield again. An electric shock traveled up his arm and he jerked his hand back.
Emma got up and walked over to the door.
"It's a shield. I used this chalk Gold gave me but I don't know how to turn it off and I have a feeling that Gold isn't going to be so forthcoming" she turned to let him see the unconscious figure of Gold on the floor.
"Are you okay? What about Snow, how is she?" upon her name Snow managed to pull herself up and walk over to stand beside Emma.
"I'll be fine, just a few bruises and a cut on my head" she did her best to soothe his fears.
"What happened?" he asked, noticing the unconscious figure of Neal.
"The good news is that we found Neal but he attacked Gold and when Gold placed him under a temporary sleeping spell we found out that Neal doesn't have his heart" for the moment Emma decided that now wasn't the time to tell David that they suspected Neal had been turned into a werewolf by Ruby.
Right now, they're main focus should be on getting his heart back.
David sighed, "and it's a safe bet that she'll use him against us" he could sense that Emma wasn't telling him everything but for now they needed to concentrate on stopping whatever Regina was planning along with getting Neal's heart back.
Snow had other ideas though.
With Neal's heart in Regina's possession and him most likely a werewolf she couldn't keep David in the dark, especially if and when Regina used Neal.
"That's not all"
David was about to ask her what she meant but loud groaning interrupted him and they all turned to see Gold waking up.
And by the look on his face he was pissed.
"That wasn't a very wise move deary" he moved forward but was shocked back. Looking down he saw the shimmering lines of the shield surrounding him.
"Do you honestly think I would give you something that could be used against me?" with a simple flick of his wrist the shield disintegrated and he stepped out.
Emma and Snow both took fighting stances.
He laughed.
"There's no need for that. I admit my actions may have been a little rash but we all want the same thing: to save Neal and stop Regina."
Emma and Snow didn't move, not willing to believe that man that had helped make their lives hell suddenly wanted to help them.
"Why should we trust you? Everything comes with a price with you" Emma challenged, not for a second believing he was only doing this for the protection of her son.
"I know my past isn't filled with the most noble deeds but I am willing to do anything that needs to be done to protect my son, things that the three of you will surely hesitate on" he had become The Dark One to save his son from fighting in the Ogre Wars and so much more, he was willing to blacken his heart further.
The argument was about to continue but Emma's phone rang.
Digging the phone out she answered and was met with the frantic voice of Ruby telling her that she couldn't find Henry.
Emma almost dropped the phone.
Henry was gone.
"Where are you?" her voice was monotone, she couldn't let fears get the best of her. She needed to keep her head on straight and continue to fight.
"At your loft. I've called around but no one's seen him" putting her anger at what Ruby may or may not have done she told her that Mary Margaret, David and herself would meet her at the loft in twenty minutes.
"Emma what's going on?" Snow asked, seeing how distressed her daughter had become in such a short amount of time.
"Henry's missing" she told them.
The only person that came to mind was Regina.
Turning back to Gold Emma addressed him. "As much as I hate to do this I'm going to need you to stay here with Neal until we get back" leaving Neal alone with the man that he hated the most was not a plan that she was at all pleased with but she didn't have a choice.
Flicking his wrist the shield blocking them in flickered out of existence.
Emma and Snow quickly left the room but as they were heading for the door Snow saw that David wasn't following them. She turned and walked back to him.
"David, aren't you coming?" she asked.
David shook his head, "no, I'm going to stay here and keep an eye on Gold and make sure that he doesn't try anything."
"Okay, I'll call you when we find him" kissing him Snow followed Emma out of the shop.
David walked into the backroom and brought up a chair to sit beside Neal.
"Well, this will certainly give us some time to catch up" Gold chuckled, not one to remain silent for long.
~Break~
Henry scoured the rooms of the mausoleum and as he searched he was amazed at some of the things he found like a closet filled with medieval looking weapons, bottles with stuff like powdered dragon tongues and an actual horn from a unicorn!
But he had still seen no sign of Neal.
~Break~
Emma and Snow met Ruby at the loft.
As soon as they opened the door they were met with a flowing wave of apologies.
When she first saw Ruby Emma had to stop herself from outright demanding why she did it?
The moon wasn't full yet so she couldn't blame that and besides, she had her red hood. She would confront her about this but like earlier with Mary Margaret now wasn't the time.
"It's okay, it's not your fault. I've tried calling him but his phone is either off or-"
"or he left it behind" Ruby interrupted, holding up Henry's cell phone.
"I found it in his room" she explained, handing the phone over to Emma.
"Okay, since we can't call him we're going to have to track him down. Ruby, do you think you can track Henry's scent and lead us to him?" Emma asked, knowing that she probably could.
"Yeah, yeah I can do that. I'm going to need something of his to get a lock on his scent" Snow looked around and spotted Henry's scarf on the coat rack. Walking over to it she grabbed it and brought it back to Red.
"This is his scarf" taking the item she brought it to her nose and inhaled.
Henry's scent, which smelled like sandalwood and cinnamon, invaded her senses and catalogued itself in her mind.
Putting the scarf down she walked past Snow and Emma and without a word left.
Sharing a look Emma and Snow quickly followed her.
Exiting the building Ruby stopped and smelled the air, waiting for the wind to point her in the right direction, once the wind settled she was tugged west towards the cemetery and woods.
"He went this way" she started walking again, her pace quickening with each step until her, Emma and Snow were running.
~Break~
The first sense that came back to Neal was sound; he could hear talking in the background but they were garbled up and hard to put a face to.
Soon though his hearing righted itself and he could label one of the voices as belonging to Gold, the other he suspected belonged to David, Emma's father.
Hearing Gold's voice awakened his ability to feel and move his body, soon he was able to open his eyes but he was blinded by the harsh lighting.
Groaning, he closed his eyes and tried to alleviate the throbbing drum solo in his head.
His noises alerting the two other occupants in the room to his consciousnesses, their conversation ceased and all their attention was on him.
"Bae?"
He slowly opened his eyes and looked away when he was met with Gold looking down at him.
"Don't call me that" he muttered, carefully sitting up.
Looking around he noticed all the antiquities smashed and on the floor along with the toppled bookcase and scattered books.
"Where am I?" he asked.
If this was Granny's B&B then this was a room that he had never been in.
"My shop. How are you feeling son?" Neal had to bite his tongue and not bark out that he didn't appreciate being called his son either.
"Like I've been hit in the head with an anvil" he ignored Gold and looked over at David.
"What happened? How did I get here?" his memories were still a little fuzzy and were only slowly coming back to him.
Being put on the spot David grappled for a second over how to answer before gathering the knowledge that Emma and given him.
"From what I know you attacked Gold and Emma and Snow tried to stop you but when you resisted Gold placed you under a temporary sleeping spell" he explained, waiting to see how Neal would react.
After hearing this Neal's memories became more clear and like a movie he saw himself attacking Gold and threatening bodily harm then Emma and Mary Margaret showing up and trying to talk him down and finally a heavy drowsiness fell over him and then there was darkness.
the reason behind the attack came to him with blinding intensity. God had used magic on him to try and erase his memories and now he's learned that the man had cast a sleeping spell on him!
His rage from earlier came back and he lunged himself at the imp and wrestled him to the ground.
"You can't hide behind your crazed facade or your damn magic this time! Now tell me exactly what you did to me!" his hands found themselves around Gold 's throat so in his enraged mind he didn't realize that he couldn't speak so when he didn't answer him he applied more pressure.
Gold's face was rapidly turning red and his vision was starting to fade.
David had been trying to pull Neal off Gold but was surprisingly having no luck, it was like Neal had acquired superhuman strength.
Looking around he spotted an old oak clock. Acting on instinct he picked the clock up and slammed it against Neal's head.
Pieces of wood, gears and springs exploded and as a result from the attack Neal collapsed to the ground but he was still conscious.
His anger was controlling him as he pushed himself up from the ground and started to stalk towards David. His wolf was salivating with the thrill of the fight.
Gold coughed and struggled to regulate his breathing and his vision to return to normal.
He could blearily make out Neal approaching David, no doubt his intent to attack him as well, and he knew that he needed to do something; not for David but for his son. He knew that Neal wouldn't be able to live with himself if he hurt Emma's father and his son's grandpa.
Scrambling for his cane he managed to push himself up. He still wasn't at full strength so he couldn't manage another sleeping spell and that meant that he would have to resort to restraining him, but it would only be temporary.
Twirling his wrist Neal was thrown against the wall and two hands came out and grabbed his wrists. Looking at the hands Neal was struck by a digging sensation in his mind but he didn't know why.
Chest heaving and eyes narrowed he watched Gold stand beside David.
"I understand your anger Ba-Neal, but I did not take your memories, Regina did" Gold insisted, desperate to get through the haze of anger that was controlling his son.
While he knew that a lot of the anger and coldness he was exhibiting was because he was missing his heart he would have to be a complete fool not to recognize that more than half the anger was the real deal.
"Why the hell should I believe you?!" Neal retorted, bitterness and anger hitting Gold in the heart with a poisoned blade.
"You have no reason to but some part of you has to know that I would never intentionally hurt you. When you told me that you would never forgive me if I used magic to take your memories away, I listened. I'm trying to be a better version of myself, for you. So please, please believe me when I say that I have not taken any memories from you" his voice quivered and Neal could almost see his papa.
If he was telling the truth, a possibility that he was almost ashamed to believe in, then who did do this to him? The only other person in town with the skill and magic to do this was Regina.
"Say I do you believe, then the only other person in town who could do this is Regina, but why would she do this?" the answer should have been obvious but for the life of him he couldn't figure it out.
"Our best guess is to get to Henry" David chimed in, having been silent for a while now.
Neal shook his head, "how would taking my memories help her get to him?" by their bothered expressions he knew that they were keeping something from him.
"What aren't you telling me? If it has something to do with Henry then you have to tell me!" he was praying to any God that would listen that he hadn't hurt his son in some way, if he had then there was nothing he or anyone could do to make him stop hating himself.
"Henry is missing but we don't know for sure if it has anything to do with Regina yet-"
Neal's eyes widened and he started his struggling back.
"Then why are we still here? We have to find him!" his struggling had an effect on the hands and they released him causing him to fall to the ground.
He didn't spend more than a second on the ground before he was on his feet and heading for the door.
David ran ahead of him and blocked his path.
It took everything in Neal not to toss him aside.
"I'm only going to ask you this once: please get out of my way" he gritted out, but he was met with resistance.
"I understand that you want to help your son, but all you are right now is a potential danger to him" at his words Neal froze.
How the hell could he be a danger to Henry? The last thing he would ever do was hurt his son!
Unless...unless David somehow knew about the curse.
Not wanting to reveal himself if he was mistaken he was careful with his response.
"Why would you say that?"
David could sense he was treading on thin ice and his survival instincts were telling him he was in the presence of a dangerous predator so he subconsciously took a step back.
"Regina didn't just take your memories Neal, she also took your heart."
~Break~
Emma and Snow followed Ruby deeper into the cemetery, keeping their eyes peeled for Henry or Regina.
"We should have told him Emma. I know that it's a touchy subject but if Neal were to lose control again he would at least know what he was dealing with" Snow knew there was really no use in whispering but some habits die hard.
"We don't know if that's what wrong with him. For all we know his other symptoms could just be a side effect of whatever Regina did to him" Emma was doing her best not to reveal any details about Neal's likely curse of lycanthropy, especially since Ruby was not even a foot away from them.
Snow gave her a look, "now who's in denial" she stated.
Ruby suddenly stopped and sniffed the air. Her eyes zeroed in on Regina's family mausoleum.
Henry's scent led right to the door of the deceptively small structure.
"He's in there" Ruby spoke, confirming what Snow and Emma had previously suspected.
Taking her gun out of her holster Emma was the first to move forward and approach the building, Ruby and Snow followed with an arrow ready to fire.
~Break~
When Regina returned to her office after her lunch she had requested the looking glass to show her Baelfire and what she found aggravated her greatly.
He was lying unconscious and under guard by Gold and David Nolan, a villain who was supposedly trying to change and a Sheppard turned prince.
First her pawn had made an attempt to "visit" Gold and now she finds that he was now under lock and key.
She was beginning to think that she should put a tracking device on Neal because it seemed that the man needed to be under constant watch.
She continued to watch as Neal regained consciousness and she basked in the physical fight that ensued between father and son. She was disappointed though when it ended with Neal being pinned to the wall.
She listened as Gold tried to persuade him to believe that Regina was the cause of his memory loss and was not surprised when Neal wasn't quick to believe him.
When Neal and David left the room Regina took Neal's heart then teleported herself to the backroom of Gold's shop.
~Break~
Neal didn't know how to digest this supposed revelation. He didn't want to believe that that had happened to him but it would explain why Regina would erase his memories and the fact that he felt a deep emptiness in his soul.
But a huge part of him was in denial.
"No, no that's-that's not possible" he refused, shaking his head.
"I know that it's a hard thing to believe but it's the truth" David insisted.
A humorless laugh escaped Neal.
"Believe me that's not at all hard to believe. My father is The Dark One. But it can't be true" to prove to himself and David that he did in fact have his heart he felt his neck for a pulse but when he didn't find one he began to panic.
David could only watch as Neal frantically moved from one pulse point to another until he was left standing with his hand over the area where his heart should have been.
Acceptance took over his features which was quickly followed by fear, sadness then anger.
"She's going to use me to get to my son" he whispered, looking down at the floor.
There was a fire igniting behind his eyes and David could have sworn he saw Neal's eyes flash gold for a second.
A loud crash grabbed their attention and both looked in time to see Gold being tossed from the room.
Both ran to fallen man and Neal looked into the cold eyes of Regina.
"You're getting soft Rumple, before you would have easily been able to defend yourself but now you're reduced to nothing more than a cowardly. old. man" Regina mocked, laughing at the pathetic sight he made crumpled on the floor.
Neal and David both rose from the floor, both with the fire of a fight in their eyes, and approached the Queen.
David un-holstered his gun and Neal pulled down a sword from the wall.
Regina stood still, amusement lighting her eyes as she encouraged them to engage her.
Before David could get a shot off Regina retrieved Neal's heart from her black coat pocket.
Neal and David froze, both eyeing the glowing heart with trepidation.
"It's amazing the value a single organ can have, and what's even more enthralling is the power it can have over another being" bringing the heart towards her she was about to whisper but when she saw David and Neal approaching she applied a small amount of pressure to the heart and Neal cried out, dropping his sword and clutching his empty chest.
David's attention was diverted to Neal long enough for Regina to state her command to Neal's heart and soon the pain he was exhibiting vanished and was replaced with a cold emptiness.
"Neal?" David questioned, making the mistake of stepping too close.
Out of nowhere Neal suddenly lashed out and punched David across the face causing the prince to stumble away in shock.
It went against what he wanted to do but he recognized that Neal was no longer in control. Curling his fist back David struck back and landed a blow against Neal's chin.
With the strength of the wolf coursing through him and the general numbness that being controlled brought he easily shook the mild sting away and side-stepped David's next punch and retaliated with a hard punch to David's gut followed by a stinging blow to the collarbone.
While he was still in a daze Neal grabbed him by the arm and threw him aside where he smashed into the wall and was knocked unconscious.
"Nicely done, but now it's time for phase two" summoning the black and purple clouds soon Neal and Regina were covered and when they cleared they were gone.
~Break~
Emma, Ruby and Snow entered through the secret passage and looked around.
"Henry?" Snow called out, her voice off the walls.
After waiting a few seconds there was no response and the group moved forward.
The further they walked, the colder the environment became and the air was staler as well.
"Can you follow his scent?" Emma asked, wondering if the environment hadn't washed away the unique scent of Henry.
Ruby took a few experimental sniffs and when she locked onto Henry's scent she nodded.
"Follow me" moving ahead of the group she led them deeper into the mausoleum.
Ruby's attention was completely encompassed in following the scent that she was would have decapitated by an ax held by a suit of armor if Snow hadn't pulled her back in time.
"Thanks" Ruby said, smiling in gratitude.
Loud footsteps suddenly echoed on the walls and all three turned and saw an approaching shadow.
Emma and Snow readied their weapons. Their stances relaxed when Henry came around the corner.
"Henry!" Emma called, holstering her weapon and running forward to embrace the boy.
"What were you thinking? I know you want to help but it's too dangerous for you to be outside on your own" Emma lectured as she led him back to Ruby and Snow who took him into their arms and gave him their own lectures about disobeying and sneaking out.
They continued to talk as they walked out of the mausoleum and back out into the woods.
But all that happiness was put on hold when Neal suddenly emerged from the trees.
A feeling of unease passed through Emma and Snow as they eyed the approaching man.
Before Emma could stop him Henry was running towards his father, a smile on his face as he reached the man and wrapped his arms about his midsection.
"Everyone's been looking for you, where have you been?" he questioned, looking up at him.
Neal didn't answer though, instead he turned his head and Henry followed his gaze and started to panic when he saw Regina fast approaching.
Emma, Snow and Ruby followed his gaze and saw the Evil Queen and started running towards them but they only made it halfway before Regina used magic to fling them back.
Henry struggled in Neal's hold but for all his efforts he made no leeway and could only watch as Regina stopped in front of them and smiled down at him.
"Hello Henry" she beamed.
His struggles intensified but Neal's hold continued to be too much.
Emma was the first to recover and she rose from the ground and raised her gun.
"Regina, step away from my son" she commanded, her thumb resting on the safety.
Regina laughed and easily flicked the weapon out of her hand using magic.
Her laughter cut off abruptly and became intently serious.
"Not your son, he's mine! I raised him, loved him and took care of him for the first eleven years of his life! You have no right to just push me out of his life and play mom" she ranted, a distinct maniacal volume to her voice.
With all her attention on Emma Snow was able to prepare her bow and work on a strategy to try and save Henry.
"He found me because he needed something that he wasn't getting from you: maternal love. Now I know that you do love him Regina, that's without question, but the way you show you're love can't just be through gifts, it has to be shown through words and selfless acts of kindness. I'm not the sole reason Henry walked away from you, you are!" this was a decree that she had wanted to say to this woman from the first time she tried to run her out of town.
"I don't need nor want your advice, all I want is my son back" pulling Henry out of Neal's hands she clutched the struggling boy to her side and summoned her black and purple clouds.
Ruby, Emma and Snow once again ran for them and Regina ordered Neal to stay behind and keep the three from following them. Henry and her were then consumed by the clouds and transported away.
Neither women wanted to fight Neal but they didn't have much of a choice.
Ruby came at him first, her wolf in full fight mode. With a huge leap she pounced on him and toppled him to the grass. Though her wolf was the main fighting force she also had to contend with her human emotions; she didn't want to cause Neal harm, she wanted to save him, but to do that they first had to subdue him.
Locking her feelings away she punched him in any area she could hit but that was not without Neal landing a few of his own.
When one of her blows to his head managed to daze him, she wrapped her hands around his throat and was about to apply pressure but he head butted her and she fell back, her vision going in and out from the surprise attack.
Neal stood up and before Emma could stop him he punched Ruby across the face and the impact was so dead on and hard that she was knocked out cold.
He then set his eyes on Emma and charged at her.
While Emma was strong and had defeated a dragon and returned fairytale memories nothing could have prepared her for fighting her ex-partner in crime, the father of her son and the man that had never completely returned her heart.
The only way she could do this was to put her feelings for Neal aside and focus all her anger on him.
Emma swung her leg out and kicked him square in the chest and while this made him stumble back he threw himself back into the fight and punched her across the jaw. Blood filled her mouth from biting down on her gums and tongue. Spitting the blood out she returned her own punch that connected with his left eye.
Growling Neal faked a left punch then moved in and used his right hand to grip her neck and raise her off the ground.
Emma kicked and desperately clawed at his hand, landing rapidly weakening slaps at his face and arms.
Neal's empty eyes were drilling into her and with the lack of oxygen to her brain her thoughts were becoming hazier; her last clear thought was that she would never be able to tell Henry how much she loved him and that she was so sorry for keeping the truth about his father from him.
The time it took for Neal to put her daughter in a life or death situation felt like only a matter of seconds, and it only took one second for her to aim her arrow, find a clean shot then fire.
The arrow sung through the air, whipping past Emma's right side and slicing into Neal's shoulder. He cried out in surprise and pain then dropped Emma and ripped the arrow out of his shoulder and tossed it to the side.
Blood gushed from the wound and stained his shirt.
Before Neal could return to the fight Emma had recovered and wrapped her hand around a decent size rock and rammed it against the side of his head, effectively knocking him out.
Snow ran to her daughter's side and checked her over. Her fingers trailed across her bruising jaw and Emma winced which only served to increase Snow's concern.
"I'll be fine. You check on Ruby and I'll see to Neal" reluctant to move Snow hesitated then walked over to Ruby who was slowly coming back to consciousness.
Emma cautiously walked over to Neal and slowly kneeled down so that she was beside him.
Seeing that his wound was still sluggishly bleeding she took off her scarf and pressed the fabric against the wound. No reaction came from the pressure and the only sign she could rely on to know that he was still alive was his chest moving up and down with each breath he took.
Ruby was now awake and with the help of Snow got up from the ground and led her over to Emma and Neal.
"We need to get Neal back to the loft then think of a way to get Henry back before Regina casts a spell on him, o-or something" Emma was doing her best to keep her emotions at bay, she couldn't become a blubbering mess, not if she wanted to rescue her son.
~Break~
David and Gold started to come around at roughly the same time but it was David who found his footing first.
Wincing with each step he walked over to Gold and helped him up from the floor. After he was standing David located the man's cane and handed it to Gold who accepted it and rested his weight on the walking tool.
"Where's Bae? Regina?" Gold asked, looking around at the damaged room.
So many antiques and treasures were broken and scattered throughout the room. But none of them mattered, all that mattered was finding his son.
"They're gone and my guess is that they're going after Henry" David answered, touching his head and flinching when his fingers came into contact with a small cut.
Gold glowered and muttered various curse words under his breath, all aimed towards Regina of course.
"I need to call Emma" taking his phone out he speed dialed Emma and waited for her to pick up.
When she did he spoke first, "Emma, Regina came and-"
she interrupted him and he listened as she told him that Regina had taken Henry and she needed him to drive to the cemetery because Ruby was hurt and Neal was unconscious.
"I'll be there soon, and Emma, we're going to get him back" there was a beat of silence before Emma answered.
"I know."
A/N: I hope you enjoyed this update and will hopefully leave reviews (I really like reviews, mostly positive ones though). Don't worry folks, there will be plenty more Neal angst in the coming chapters, because I know how much you *love* that. Also, do to school and my upcoming play I may not be able to update as frequently as I have been.
Please review!
