Chapter 14

The Theft Of Courage

The next day Emma and Neal went over to Mary-Margaret and David's loft and told the kids to play upstairs while they discussed the case. Neal had told Emma about Little John turning into a flying monkey which pointed to one person 'the wicked witch'. Which made Neal nervous because of Tally's nightmare. "Now we know who we're dealing with how do we find this wicked witch"?

"We could start off by asking if anyone's seen a woman with green skin running around" Hook joked.

Regina replied "we're cursed in Storybrooke, she'll look like any one of us".

Neal said "might I suggest checking on the west side of town, they must have called her the Wicked Witch of the WEST for a reason".

Emma said "we don't know how far west she might be hiding out and as Regina said, she'll look like any one of us so she might not even be there knowing no one will recognize her in town. I say we start with the one place we know she's been Regina's office".

Regina replied "I've combed through my office there's nothing".

Emma said "magical wise, but maybe she left some physical evidence behind".

Regina replied "if you want to waste your time playing Nancy Drew be my guest. Meanwhile what about them"? she pointed up indicating she was referring to the kids.

Neal said "Tally knows better than to go out without anyone else, but Henry... we've given some leeway in the past or at least we did in our fake memories. We can't let him or Tally go anywhere when there's flying monkeys on the loose".

Regina said "point being someone needs to protect them, they don't even know what's going on"?

Emma said "I'm guessing you're volunteering"?

Regina said "if you find anything call me".

Emma said "just remember, they think we're here because I'm on a case. As far as Henry knows you're just Madam Mayor, and that's it".

Regina replied "I'm well aware of how Henry sees me".

Neal added "and remember if you're taking care of Henry you need to take care of Tally too. We make sure to treat Henry and Tally exactly the same".

While Regina took care of Henry and Tally, David, Emma, Neal and Hook looked through her office. It was in shambles, the potion making ingredient's they'd used the other day were either shattered or strewn all around. David saw something in the centre of the room, "I think a have a partial footprint. You find anything"?

Hook replied "other than an austere sense of design nothing".

"Regina has a sophisticated yet outdated sense of style" Neal commented.

As Emma came over to see exactly what David had found she saw something red. "Is that blood"?

David sniffed it and replied "it's berry".

"Like the fruit"?

"No like Holly berry".

Hook asked "were you some sort of botanist in this world mate"?

Neal answered for David "no, he worked in an animal shelter".

David added "I saw dogs tracked them in all the time. The bushes grow in the woods".

Emma asked "any idea where"?

David said "yeah, north-west corner not far from the toll bridge".

Neal commented "I knew it, West",

David's phone buzzed and he saw he got a text from Mary-Margaret

Come back to the loft.

The midwife wants

to meet both of us.

"Mary-Margaret needs me to come back to the loft. We're getting a midwife and she wants to meet the both of us".

Neal said "our midwife wasn't the friendliest of people, always shouting and demanding".

Hook said "looks like theirs is the same".

Emma said "no midwife could be as bad as ours, go Mary-Margaret needs you".

David said "but we just got on track here".

Emma replied "and I've got it covered, just meet up with us when you're done".

The trio went to the woods after finding the holly berry. Hook asked "were you considering it, moving abroad"?

Emma said "our memories were different, and we were craving adventure".

Neal said "no you were, I wasn't so sure. And I couldn't understand why they needed a DNA sample for moving abroad".

Emma asked "DNA"?

Neal said "Walsh told me the company wanted a DNA sample from me".

Emma said "the same Walsh who was a flying monkey. Is it possible the wicked witch wanted a DNA sample"?

Neal said "possibly, and it would explain Tally's dream. The witch was after me, her and Henry and we all share similar DNA".

Emma asked Hook "what would have it mattered to you if we did go"?

Hook said "well it would have broken my heart, but it's nothing you haven't done before, and I'd thank you".

Emma asked "you'd thank me for breaking your heart"?

Hook said "if it can be broken, it means it still works"?

Emma rolled her eyes and walked on. Neal asked "what happened to and I quote 'I'll back off from Emma'"?

Hook said "and I am, that doesn't I've lost all affection towards her".

They came across a farmhouse "you have to appreciate the irony" Emma said.

Neal joked "shall I assume we're not in Kansas anymore".

Emma looked at him with her eyesbrow's raised "seriously, that's the best reference you could come up with".

They sneaked up towards the farmhouse, when Emma peaked in and whispered "it looks like it someone's definitely living here, but it empty now".

Hook whispered "if it's empty why are whispering".

Neal whispered "for the element of house invaders".

Emma explained "the best hideouts always look empty. I spend lots of time looking for people who don't want to be found. I know about hideouts".

Emma came to a corner and peeked around and said "oh look at that, it's Miss Gulch's bicycle". Remembering the Kansas antagonist from the story.

Neal added "aka. The wicked witch of the west, this place definitely belongs to her".

They looked around for anywhere the witch may be hiding and Emma said "look a storm cellar".

Emma ran to the storm cellar with Neal and Hook close behind her. As Emma got out her gun Hook stopped her from going in. "Wait, it's one thing to walk around a deserted farmhouse, it's quite another to descend into a one way storm cellar with no other way out".

Emma said "are you scared"?

Hook replied "there's a difference between fear an strategy. The witch has flying monasteries, who knows what's down there"?

Neal said "he's right, we have to be careful".

Emma said "in the story the witch only had flying monkeys".

Neal asked "and since when did the traditional story match up to what we now know"?

Emma rolled her eyes, Hook said "if this witch is as powerful as we think we could use some magical back up, unless you've been practising in New York City".

Neal commented "hard to practise magic in a land without magic".

Emma got out her phone and said "I'll call Regina and have her drop off the kids at Granny's, I'd like to see those flying monasteries try to get past her crossbow".

Hook joked "or her lunch special".

Emma saw David have left her a message and played it:

Emma, it's David

I'm on the trail and

I think I found her

the wicked witch.

I'm going after her.

Emma, Neal and Hook ran back to the trail to give David some back up.

Regina had taken Henry and Tally out for Ice Cream, then took them for a walk in the park "I know Storybrooke must seem quaint to the big city".

Henry replied "New York is nice, but there's so many people it can make you feel alone. I know it doesn't make much sense".

Regina said "actually I understand. The upside to a small town is everyone knows everyone, it's like a big family".

Tally asked "but we don't know everyone here"?

Regina answered "right now, but after a while you'll know everyone, you already know me, and Mary-Margaret, and David. Before long you'll meet Granny, her granddaughter Ruby, Archie".

Henry said "if we're here long enough to meet everyone, as soon as moms done with her case we'll be back in New York". Regina didn't respond, she didn't want to imagine Henry never remembering her and having to be separated again.

After a moment of silence, Tally decided to say something but it didn't help Regina's anxiety, "aren't we going to live over the sea"?

Regina's eyes almost popped out of her head but Henry said "dad refused the offer, we can goodbye to London, Paris, Rome, or wherever they were going to send us to. I'm I don't think it was just the case that brought mom here, I think mom and dad wanted to get out of New York for a while"?

Regina asked "what makes you think that"?

Henry said "they took me and Tally out of school for some case in Maine, my mom wouldn't accept a case in Queens if it meant we'd miss school".

Regina said "maybe it means this case was unavoidable and being here was the best thing for you.

Her phone started ringing and after answering it she said "it would seem your parents need my help so I'm taking you to Granny's, she and Ruby will look after you until your parents get back later".

When they found David he was picking himself off the ground. Emma asked "David, are you alright"?

"I'm fine" he replied sounding exhausted.

Regina asked "well where is she"?

David replied "it wasn't her".

Hook asked "then what was it? You look whiter than a fresh sail".

"It's ghost" said Neal. "The expression is as white as a ghost".

David said "it was myself, and it kept telling me what I was afraid of".

Emma asked "which is what"?

David took a deep breath "around thirty years ago I was so excited, but your mother kept worrying about Regina's threat. When the alarm went off and Leroy yelled the curse was coming I sent my minutes year old through a wardrobe without a second thought. Next I see my daughter she's twenty-eight with two children of her own. Then I lost her all over again and I'm afraid I won't be a good father, now I know I can't let that stop me".

Neal said "ask any father-to-be who wished they'd had a better father, they're all afraid of the same thing. But a determination to do better can help push you ahead".

Hook asked "any idea why the witch would send a demon that looks like you".

"No" David said "it was just there wearing my face, telling me my greatest fears".

Regina asked "how did it know your greatest fears".

David said "I don't know, it wasn't until I admit it that I was able to vanquish it with the hilt of my sword".

Regina asked "where is it know, your sword"?

David replied "that's the strange part, once I killed it the hilt of my sword it disappeared".

Hook asked "what does that mean"?

Regina said "when we face our greatest fears our true courage comes out. When you defeated it your courage transferred into your sword".

David asked "then why did it disappear"?

Regina said "it didn't disappear she took it".

Emma said "hold on, the wicked witch stole his courage".

Regina replied "well a symbol of it, symbols can be powerful totems".

David asked "did you find where she might be hiding".

Hook said "we found a farm house we think it might be hers".

Neal said "we didn't see anyone inside, but Emma saw a storm cellar. We decided to get back up before going in".

David replied "then let's end it and send that witch back to OZ".

When they'd checked the storm cellar they saw a spinning wheel in a cell and a bunch of straw. On a shelf was a spool of golden thread and some blue feathers. Neal felt like this was getting too much like Tally's nightmare, but what would the wicked witch, Henry and Tally. The next morning when they got up Tally was missing.

Times Up

Polls Closed For Neal's Fate including reviews

Alive=3

Dead=0

There's still time to try and figure out Zelena wants with Neal, Henry, or Tally.

Here's a clue; the bird is not a bird, it's a person turned into a bird who usually wears blue.