Chapter 9: Arrival in Storybrooke


[One Week Ago]


The old black 2002 Honda made its way on the deserted road. By the looks of it, it was a road that wasn't used much. Neal slowed down as he looked to his right and saw the sign that read 'Welcome to Storybrooke'. There was no going back now. He didn't want to. Emma was here as was his son.

Since Emma had found him in Manhattan a week ago, Neal couldn't let that visit go. All he could think about was how much he had wanted to say, none of it having anything to do with Mr. Gold, and how little time he had spent with Henry. He hadn't even known Emma had been pregnant or if the kid was even his but the second he saw the boy with her, he knew Henry was theirs. He had left a part of him with her and it was more than just the car and keychain and now he wanted a chance to make things up for the both of them. He wanted to get to know them.

Neal parked along a curb on what seemed to be the town's only main street. What kind of place was this he wondered?

Looking up Neal saw the last person he wanted to see. Mr. Gold was walking on the sidewalk across from him. Neal had planned to go by unnoticed but he knew it wouldn't be that easy. Gold saw him and smiled, making his way over.

Neal placed his hands in his pockets.

"Bae," said Gold when they were within a few feet of each other. "You came. I'm glad. We have a lot of catching up to do don't we son?"

Neal looked away from the man. "Don't get your hopes up," Neal replied. "I'm not here for us."

"Ah, Miss Swan: I thought there was something there between you two."

Neal wasn't about to get into any of this with his… the man who abandoned him. "Any idea where I can find her," he asked.

"You might want to try Granny's diner down the road or the sheriff's station."

"Sheriff's station?"

"Yes, she got elected last year. She's actually quite good at it. It seems you and I aren't the only ones who need some catching up to do are we?"

Neal crossed his arms, "And we're not going to. That's not why I came."

"As you wish son, it's just nice to see you Bae. I guess that will have to be enough for now." Gold began his walk. "Good luck with Miss Swan."

Neal continued to watch him for a moment longer before continuing on his search.


"So you're the sheriff now," Neal said as he stood at the side door of Emma's office.

Emma glanced up and looked over at David whose desk was in front of her before turning to her left. She stood up.

"You are not here," she said to Neal.

"So what," said Neal, "You can come and find me in Manhattan but I can't come and find you in Storybrooke? That seems a little unfair don't you think?"

"Oh you want to know what to talk about being unfair: You hanging me out to dry now that was really unfair."

"Emma please, you don't even know the whole story."

Emma placed her hands up in the air, "I don't care. Whatever story you tell me won't change anything. You should've spent those eleven months behind bars, not me."

"Believe me I know but if you would just listen to me."

Emma gathered some of her things from her desk and opened the left door. "Not interested," she said to him. "Go home Neal."

"I can't do that. I gave up the apartment."

"Then sleep in your car, it's not like you haven't before."

"I meant I'm not leaving Storybrooke. I came here for you."

"I didn't ask you to do that."

Neal reached into his pocket and pulled out the weathered post card. "Well lucky for you, it wouldn't have mattered. I had planned on coming here for you anyways. You just beat me to it."

"How did you even know I'd be here in Storybrooke?"

"That's why we need to talk. Emma, please-," Neal said reaching out.

Emma looked at his hand of offering. As much as she wanted to fit her hand into his the way they had melded years ago she was still too angry at him. She knew she wasn't feeling rational enough to talk just yet. Inside she was raging and there was no way to calm down without it escalating.

"You know what I don't want to know," she said to him. "Do whatever you want but stay the hell away from me and stay away from Henry."

Emma began walking and Neal called out.

"Emma," he called out but it didn't matter. As she had before, she was gone.


Neal sighed and turned to David. "How do you get through to her?"

David stood up from his desk. "It isn't easy. Emma's been through a lot. Sometimes you just have to wait for her to come to you."

"Yeah. She was never this cold before though, I guess it's my fault."

"I take it you and Emma have history?"

"It was a long time ago."

"Doesn't seem like that to me."

Neal stuck out his hand, "Neal Cassidy. You're Emma's father right?"

David shook the man's hand. "David Nolan and yeah I am. How did you know?"

"It's one of the things I want to talk to Emma about, that and a lot of other things."

"Henry being one of them," David asked. Neal looked up at David. "It wasn't that hard to figure out."

"I swear I had no idea she was pregnant. Maybe if I had things would've been different."

"Hey don't beat yourself up over it. There's no point."

"Yeah I guess."

"So you're really sticking around?"

"That's always been the plan. I've waited eleven years for her to break the curse and now that she has- it still feels like I'm tied to her you know?"

"Yeah I know. Speaking of which, how did you even know about the curse?"

Neal placed his hands in his pocket. "I really should talk to Emma about it first."

David nodded.


Snow opened the door to the apartment where she saw Emma sitting at the kitchen table with some paper work. She had just gotten back from dropping Henry off at the stables since today's school day had been a half day.

"Emma," she said, "What are you doing home, I thought you'd be at work."

"I was. It just got too crowded."

"You and David having some kind of problem?"

Emma looked up at Snow. "No nothing like that." She then took a deep breath. "Henry's father is in town."

Snow looked at Emma and took a seat across from her. "He is?"

Emma nodded.

She thought back to a week ago when she and Henry had returned from Manhattan. Snow and David had asked how the search went and after Henry was tucked away in bed Emma told her parents the half truth: that she hadn't found exactly who it was she had been sent to find but that the dream catcher had led her to her ex, Neal Cassidy, instead as he had kept a dream catcher that they long ago shared.

She told her parents just about everything about her past with him so there were no secrets there. Maybe a few situations had been left out but nothing too extreme.

The only secret Emma was hiding was that Neal was in fact Gold's son, something she wasn't willing to admit and neither was Neal by the way he had been hostile about it.

"What does he want," Snow asked.

"Me. We didn't exactly talk about us when we met in New York. We… I did everything I could to avoid it. I'm just not sure that's a conversation I'm ready to have," Emma said standing up, needing a break from her work. She went over to the kitchen and grabbed a glass of water.

"I should never have gone to New York in the first place."

"If you knew he was there then why did you?"

Snow's question caught Emma off guard. Emma turned to face her. She then looked into the water in the clear glass.

"I had to make sure it was really him. I didn't become a bail bond person just to find you and David. I did it because of him. I thought if I could find him at least then I would have at least part of my family. Back then that's what he was." Emma looked up and smiled as one of the memories reached her. "We had talked about settling down. We had picked out a place in Florida that was going to be our home. Tallahassee," Emma said smiling at the name. "At seventeen years old I was ready for that. I knew the kind of life I wanted and it was with him. But then the situation changed."

"Maybe he's here to apologize for that," said Snow.

"Maybe but I doubt anything he has to say will change my mind after everything I've thought all these years."

"You never know. Things changed when Henry found you, they changed when you found out the truth about your father and me."

Emma shook her head. "It's different. Neal betrayed me. Not only did he turn me in but he made me believe that what we had was real when it wasn't. How am I supposed to get over something like that?"

Snow knew there was no easy answer. She had had her share of problems with true love but as similar as love was it also came in many forms. She could see how hurt her daughter was over events that had happened eleven years but she could also see a small glimmer of light.

Snow didn't know Neal but she knew her daughter and she knew that if Emma's walls could come down then she would be open to hearing Neal out. He had come to Storybrooke for a reason and something told Snow that he wasn't going to go away that easily.