A/N: Hey guys! Sorry this took awhile to get up, especially considering that it's a pretty short chapter, but a lot's been going on and I've been pretty busy with work and other writing projects. Still, we're in the home stretch here, and I'm going to try to get the last several chapters up pretty quickly.

This is the shortest chapter yet, but I think you'll see why. Title and lyrics for this chapter come from "This Woman's Work". Specifically, the Greg Laswell cover, which I adore, and gives me approximately 1000 Charming Family Feelings.

Chapter Twenty-One

Pray God you can cope.
I stand outside this woman's work,
This woman's world.
Ooh, it's hard on the man,
Now his part is over.
Now starts the craft of the father.

I know you have a little life in you yet.
I know you have a lot of strength left.
I know you have a little life in you yet.
I know you have a lot of strength left.

I should be crying, but I just can't let it show.
I should be hoping, but I can't stop thinking

They walk.

David leads the way, following the trail he'd carefully left on their first journey to the portal. Henry's a few steps behind him, carrying Prince, and he's casting frequent glances over his shoulder at Graham, who's stoic and silent at the back of the line.

For the first hour, they don't talk, save for David's occasional muttered narration of the trail he'd left. Eventually, though, Henry looks back and, tentatively, asks, "Graham? Do you not wanna read your letter?"

"No," he snaps. Graham immediately winces at the brusqueness of his own tone and explains firmly, "Those were to read if Emma was dead. And she's not dead."

David glances at Graham over his shoulder, but doesn't comment. Falling back to walk alongside him, Henry tells Graham, "Yeah, I wouldn't read it either. Mine just made me mad."

"I'm not mad at Emma," Graham murmurs, his eyes on the ground.

He thinks this is true. He doesn't feel mad at Emma, but there's some part of his brain that thinks he should be. It's currently warring with another part of his brain, the logical part that knows he has no right to be mad, that he'd have done the same thing.

All his thoughts are conflicting, and it's making it so he doesn't feel much of anything. He's using Henry as an excuse not to ask David for more details on Emma's condition, even though Henry undoubtedly knows more than Graham does.

Beside him, Henry's bristling again, muttering about how he is most definitely mad at Emma, and he's ready to tell her so as soon as she wakes up, and that Emma's a liar and did Graham know she thought she'd be dead already?

Graham's working hard to tune this out, when he suddenly drops to his knees.

"Graham!" Henry yells out in alarm. David's already turning when Henry yells at him, "Grandpa, it's happening again!"

A stifled moan slips out of Graham, and he doubles over, clenched fists pressed uselessly against his chest, leaning so far his forehead brushes the leaves scattered on the ground.

It's a long lasting one, but this time there's something screaming above his own pain: fear. However bad this feels for him, whatever it means for Emma is worse.

When the shocks come, three this time before the pain passes as usual, David's kneeling beside him, his own worry for Emma poorly concealed in his eyes. "You alright?"

Graham lifts his head and rasps, "You have to tell me."

David shakes his head, uncomprehending. "Tell you…?"

"What is it? What it…" He rubs his hands over his face, trying to calm down. His voice is quick and clipped when he continues, "It started this morning. And then it feels like a shock, and then it feels better. But it keeps happening. Sometimes really close together, sometimes every hour or so. All day."

"I told you," David says in a strained voice. "Emma's heart keeps stopping. They shock it to get it started again…" Closing his eyes, David swipes a hand through his hair, trying to reason. "Your heart…it doesn't mirror hers exactly, then. Yours just hurts when hers stops, but…you feel it when they revive her." Though his words seem directed at Graham, David's muttering almost to himself as he paces. "This morning, the first time it stopped…it took them to longest to get it started." Now, he lifts his eyes, obviously speaking to Graham for the first time, "Could you tell that? Did it hurt longer that time?"

"I…yeah, I think so." Graham picks himself up. Henry's standing apart for the two men, watching, wide eyed.

"So we'll know," David says firmly. "We'll know if it gets worse. And right now we know she's fine." With renewed purpose, he strides forward again.

Graham's eyes flit to Henry, and again, he uses the boy's presence as a reason to keep his questions quiet.

He wants to know if the magic will protect Emma from any brain damage, or other physical repercussions of her heart stopping so often. He wants to know if David has any idea what he'll feel when Emma's heart fails to start again. He wants to know if David's sure it's not too late for Graham to get back and save Emma.

He wants to know, and he doesn't want to know.

So he doesn't ask. Doesn't even voice the uncertainties out loud.

He just follows David and Henry.

~(OUAT)~

It takes her several hours to find the portal.

But she does find it, and from there, Regina's able to ascertain the direction they would have had to go, if they were heading toward the castle. She's even able to pick up what looks like a trail…there's fairly wet ground when they get close to the river, and she's able to pick out the logo on the bottom of Henry's tennis shoe, imprinted in the dirt.

She doesn't trust to trail to stray too far from the portal, and she's less than a quarter of a mile away when she finds a place to wait.

~(OUAT)~

In Storybrooke, there is nothing to do but wait.

Mary Margaret pulls a chair as close to Emma's bed as it will sit. Ruby's is beside hers, a couple of inches back.

Granny comes by. She brings them food that Mary Margaret doesn't eat. The dwarves come, too, all of them, and Leroy leaves at one point and brings back food that Mary Margaret doesn't eat. August comes too, awkward and guilty and barely able to look at Emma, to report that he went through the portal briefly and, from what he could tell, it came out pretty far from the castle.

Around midnight, the hospital staff kicks out most of the visitors, leaving just Ruby, who refuses to leave in spite of their 'family only' policy, and Mary Margaret.

Emma's heart monitors still go crazy every hour or so, and there's always a team rushing in to revive her, but it never stops being terrifying.

~(OUAT)~

Graham's collapsed six times so far; his pace is pale and slick with cold sweat, but he brushes off any suggestions that maybe they should rest.

"I'm holding us up enough," he mutters, eyes narrowed straight ahead. Sometimes, as they walk, his hand drifts unconsciously to his chest, like feeling the beat of his own heart is somehow indicative that Emma's is still okay.

They're about three fourths of the way back (David's pretty sure, at least) when Graham falls again.

David and Henry stop walking, knowing by now that there's nothing they can do but wait for it to pass.

So they wait.

And wait.

And wait.

Alarm begins to trickle down David's spine, a fist closing around his throat, because it's definitely longer, almost doubled.

Then, with great effort, Graham rolls onto his back. His eyes are wild when they lock with David's, and he forces out in a strained, raspy voice, "Something's…wrong…"

The words propel David forward, and he drops to his knees beside the other man. "What…what do you mean, talk to me, Graham, what's wrong?"

David lifts a hand, but then it just hovers there, useless. Panic is threatening to drown him; there's nothing to be done, not when the real source of worry is an entire world away.

The muscles in Graham's face contract and loosen in quick succession. "The shocking…," he gasps. "it stopped."

It takes David a few dizzying moments to process what that means.

If the shocks Graham feels on his heart means the doctor's are restarting Emma's heart, and they've stopped, but he's still in that much pain, it means…

"Emma," he says his daughter's name out loud without meaning to, a desperate, frightened sound.

~(OUAT)~

"What's happening?" Mary Margaret demands, a note of hysteria inching its way into her voice. "Why are you stopping?!"

The code team ignores her, and the intern in charge says to the others, "Starting manual compressions..."

She's pumping on Emma's chest with her hands, eyes on the heart monitor, but nothing's changing.

"Emma, please," Mary Margaret's voice is thick with tears now.

"Get her out of here," the doctor murmurs distractedly, still pumping her hands against Emma's chest. A nurse approaches Mary Margaret and tries to gently steer her away, but she's unmovable. Ruby moves to the doorway, blocking the exit.

Then, the doctor stops pumping. She takes a small step back from the bed, her shoulders slumping in defeat and exhaustion.

"No," Mary Margaret stammers weakly. "No, you can't stop, why are you…"

"I'm sorry, Your Highness. But if we haven't been able to get her heart started by now, that means-"

A surge of strength knifes through her, and this time, there's no trace of weakness in her voice. "NO!" She takes three strides toward the doctor, practically snarling. "This is not a normal case, and there is no room for your typical procedures or even your normal medical knowledge. She is being kept alive by magic, so you have no idea what will work or how long it will take. Now grab those paddles and charge again!"

~(OUAT)~

"What's happening?"

"I don't know…"

"What does this mean?!"

The boy sounds almost hysterical, and all David can say is, "Henry, I'm not sure…"

They're both quite for a long beat, the only sound Graham's strangled moans.

Then, his voice small and shaking, Henry asks, "Does this mean Emma's...dead?"

The word is a trigger, and David's eyes immediately fill with tears. He hesitates, wanting to lie, but then he remembers how mad Henry got when they came through the portal, when he lied about Emma's blood.

So David looks over his shoulder, and meets Henry's eye, his view of his grandson swimming behind the tears. "Maybe," he says tightly. "It might mean that, Henry, but we don't know that for sure...okay?"

~(OUAT)~

Graham's waiting to die.

He can vaguely hear the voices of David and Henry, but it's coming at him through a haze and he can't make out the words.

It won't end, this time. The pain. No more shocks, nothing else to stop it, to save Emma. And somehow he knows it, with complete and utter clarity. If Emma dies, he'll die. Simple as that.

Her heart kept him alive, when Regina crushed his first one. And then, apparently, he's been keeping her alive even after the curse broke.

Graham is pretty sure it works both ways. They can't survive without each other.

And if she's dead, he must be dying.

So he waits. The pain's getting worse. His vision is swallowed in white light, and Graham's last coherent thought is that he didn't read her letter.

The pain takes him over, in a way it never has before, eclipsing everything else, including Graham's ability to hear his own screams.

But then, suddenly, it happens.

The jolt of electricity to his heart.

It doesn't work immediately, though the fog that's swallowing him whole does start to slowly fade.

Then, there's another shock, and this time, he knows it works. The pain dissolves.

Graham's whole body goes limp, flat on the ground. As his vision clears, he can see David, sitting on the ground with his head in his hands, and hear Henry's quiet whimpering.

Swallowing a few times, his throat raw, Graham manages to say in a ragged voice, "She's okay."

David lifts his head slowly, eyes red and wary, like he doesn't dare believe it. "Wh…what?"

"It took awhile, but they…they shocked her again. And it worked." He struggles to sit up, meeting David's eyes, then Henry's. "I felt it."

"You sure?"

"Yes." And he is. Graham's face tightens, his voice catching, "I'd know if she was dead."

David wilts, like the fear literally drains out of him. He takes a long, shaky breath, then turns to Henry and gives the boy a clumsy smile. "She's okay, kid."

Henry swipes a sleeve across his eyes and leaps to his feet, looking around, panicked. Prince, upended from his lap, lets out a mew of protest, darting out of the way. "We…we gotta go back."

"Back where?"

"I, I dropped my letter. From Emma, I dropped it, I think we already passed where, I have to get it back, I have to."

Graham frowns, concerned and confused, but David's whole face softens, and he walks over to his grandson and bends down in front of him, gently grabbing Henry's arm to still the boy's frantic pacing.

With a small smile, David reaches into his backpack and pulls of the slightly crumpled letter. "I saved it for you."

Henry reaches out, taking the paper. For a second, he just stares at it, and in the next instant, his face crumples and he starts to cry. "I'm sorry," he sobs, and David immediately pulls him into a hug. "I'm sorry I got mad at her…I'm sorry…"

"Ssshhhh," David soothes him, gently rubbing the boy's trembling back. "It's okay, kid. She'll understand, you have a right to be mad, Emma knew that…it's gonna be okay, Henry…"

Graham sits a little apart from the two of them, watching, but giving them space. Then, slowly, he pulls out his own letter and unfolds it. He fishes out matches from one of the pouches on his belt, and lights it so he can read the words.

Dear Graham,

A few hours ago, I saw you for the last time. For the last month, I've spent every second terrified that I'd never see you again, so you'd think I'd be prepared for this. I'm not. It hurts more than I ever imagined it could. I feel like I can't breathe, Graham.

I never meant for this to happen. I never meant to fall in love (not just with you, but EVER) and even once I did, I never meant to need you this much. But I did, and I do, so here we are. You're gone, and I'm dying soon, and we'll never see each other again and I can't breathe. But you're safe, and that's the most important thing to me right now.

I'm so sorry, Graham. I hate that I lied to you, and I'm sure eventually it's going to hit you how much and how horribly I lied, and you'll be angry at me. That's okay, you should be. But…I had to make sure you were safe. I knew you'd never go, and more than that you'd never let me do what I had to do, if I told you the truth. I know I lied about how the curse would break, but I meant this: I couldn't have done it if I knew she could hurt you. I'm going to let Regina kill me in less than two days because I can't put myself and my life above everyone else's. But I would have put yours above theirs. I'd have let Storybrooke stay cursed rather than put you in danger. And that's why I lied to you.

There's a part of me that hopes you never have to read this letter. Gold says there's no way of predicting what will happen to your Storybrooke memories since you went back to your old land before the curse was broken, so maybe you've already forgotten being Graham, which means you've already forgotten me. I guess if you're reading this, it didn't happen, so there's no point in even mentioning it. But there's this part of me that hopes you do forget, because it means that what I'm doing won't hurt you. Henry, David, Mary Margaret…I can't help but hurt them. But if you forget me, then maybe you won't have to find out I died. It won't matter that I lied to you. You won't be hurt by any of it. And I never want to hurt you, Graham.

But then there's another part of me that can't stand the thought of you forgetting. Because I'll be dead, so I can't remember for both of us. I guess that's selfish. Or maybe it's not, because even right now, even as much as this hurts…I wouldn't trade it. I wouldn't trade you.

I never meant to fall in love, Graham. I figured that nothing lasts forever, especially not people, and loving someone just meant losing them in the end. And now I've proved myself right, and this hurts more than I can say, but it doesn't matter. I'd do it again Graham. In a second.

I don't want to stop writing this, because then I know it'll really be over. But I don't know what else I can possibly say, other than that I am so in love with you, Graham, and I'm so glad I met you. And I'm sorry I didn't believe you about the curse, and I'm sorry I lied to you about how I'm going to break it. I'm sorry. I love you. And if you're reading this anyway, I guess it's okay to say: don't forget me. But please be happy, and be okay. Henry loves you, so I hope you'll still be there for him, be a part of his life. And David and Mary Margaret's, too, because you've always been my family, too.

I love you,

Emma

"Graham, are you ready to-" David stops talking abruptly as he turns around to look at Graham.

The other man is sitting, clutching Emma's letter, his face streaked with tears, chest rising and falling jerkily with choked sobs.

David touches the top of Henry's head lightly and says quietly, "Give him a second."

"No," Graham speaks up, his voice cracking. "No, we should go. We have to get back to her."

"Okay." David nods, relieved. He stands, and so does Graham. Henry picks up the cat. "We're getting close."

~(OUAT)~

The doctor can't hide her surprise when Emma's heart starts beating again, and she gives Mary Margaret a timid apology as she and the team roll the crash cart out of the room.

Mary Margaret just stares her down, gaze icy, but as they're gone, her face collapses, a delayed reaction of grief sweeping through her, and Mary Margaret sits down hard in her chair, hands over her face, silent tears streaming.

Ruby's arm goes around her immediately, and after a few minutes, she squeezes Mary Margaret's shoulder gently. "See? You saved her life. Again."

Lifting her head, Mary Margaret says shakily, "They were gonna let her…"

"I know. But she's alive. You saved her," Ruby says calmly. She looks at her watch. "And I'm sure they'll be back by morning. And then everything will be okay."

~(OUAT)~

Graham keeps the letter in his hand, though it's too dark to read it while he's walking. Still, he holds it for the next two, quiet hours as they walk, just keeping her words close.

After awhile, David stops walking, eyes bright and alert in the darkness. "Ssh…listen."

They all go still, but it only takes Graham a few seconds to realize what David means. "Water."

A smile breaks across David's face. "It's the river. The one that goes under Banshee bridge. That means we're close."

Henry shoots a wary look at Graham. "You still feel fine, right? That means Emma's still okay?"

"I think so." Graham says, touching his chest. It's the longest streak he's gone without collapsing.

Henry turns to look at his grandfather. "Then let's hurry."

~(OUAT)~

They're close. David can feel it. His heart is slamming in his chest, equal parts relief and fear. He's almost back to his daughter, and has every reason to believe she's still alive.

Yet there's still a chance they're wrong, that there's something he hasn't considered. That Graham's heart isn't the indicator they thougth it was.

So David focuses on the immediate present, finding the trail, calculating how close they are.

But then he sees her.

Regina. A hundred yards away from them. Holding a bow and arrow. Aimed at Graham.

That's all he has time to register before he acts, throwing himself in front of Graham and shoving the other man out of the way just as the arrow slices through his side.

"David!"

"Grandpa!"

Henry spins around, eyes huge, and Graham, startled, kneels beside David, immediately putting pressure on the wound.

David gasps for air, and it takes him a second to make his lungs work, but then he shoves Graham away, his eyes darting back in Regina's direction just as another arrow flies above them. "She's aiming at you, you have to run!" In a swift motion, David seizes Graham by his collar and pulls him to the ground beside him, out of the way of another arrow. "GO!"

Graham's face tightens as he seems to register what's happening, why Regina needs to kill him to kill Emma. Making a decision, Graham turns and looks at Henry, who's standing paralyzed with fear, his voice urgent and forceful, "Henry! Run to the portal, we'll be right behind you!"

"But-"

"Go!" Panicked, Henry turns on his heel and sprints away.

Graham turns back to David, muttering, "She won't hurt him if he's not near us," as he hauls David to his feet. Noticing David's hand close around the arrow sticking out of his side, Graham says, "Leave that in, it's stopping the bleeding…"

"Just leave me," David grits out. The sharp, metallic taste of blood is rising in the back of his throat. "Emma needs you to-"

"Emma wouldn't want her father left to bleed out and die in the middle of the woods," Graham insists stubbornly. He's got David's arm draped around his shoulder, one hand holding his wrist, the other wrapped around the injured man's waist as he supports him.

Arrows are flying, but Regina's obviously having trouble with a faster moving target.

"Graham! Grandpa!" Henry's voice echoes from the distance, and Graham quickens his pace as an arrow slices through the air in front of him, hoping that Henry's reached the portal already, that means they're close, if they can just get there…

David's starting to feel weak and dizzy, black bleeding into the edges of his vision, and Graham's half-dragging, half-carrying him at this point. Out of the corner of his eye, David sees Regina changes tactics. She stops shooting and starts to run toward them. Once she's closer, hitting Graham will be no problem.

David barely has to think about it. In a quick motion, summoning all his remaining strength, he yanks the arrow out of his side, crying out as it slices through his organs, and wrenches away from Graham, collapsing onto the ground.

Graham pulls up short, startled by the sudden lack of weight at his side, and he swivels around; David's lying on the ground, the blood gushing faster now, his face ashen, eyes glassy.

"David!" He reaches for him again.

"Go…" David grits out. He coughs, and blood splatters on his chin. "Go now, you have to save her, please." He pauses, drawing a ragged breath, and meets Graham's eyes. "I told you I'd die for my daughter."

Graham squeezes his eyes shut, fighting with himself. When he opens his eyes again, his face is etched with sorrow. "I'm so, so sorry…"

"Tell them I love them and I'm sorry," David says faintly. "Now go."

Graham catches a glimpse of Regina, gaining on them, and he quickly turns and sprints after Henry.

Able to go full speed, he leaves her behind instantly, and can only hear the faint woosh of a few arrows that don't even come close.

Henry's standing by the portal, clutching the cat against his chest, when Graham, barely slowing his stride, runs up to him and quickly ushers the boy through the portal.

Only when they've come out the other side, stumbling on the concrete and into the place where Graham was once held captive, does Henry lift his eyes to Graham and ask quietly, "Where's…where's my grandpa?"

Graham's chest is heaving, his muscles burning, and a crooked sound lifts itself from his throat. "I…I couldn't…he didn't want to me to…." His voice cracking, Graham can only shake his head. "I'm sorry."

Henry's face collapses.

Graham's chest feels small and tight. How is he supposed to tell Mary Margaret that he couldn't save her husband? Tell Emma that he left her father behind, when she'd just gotten him back?

"C'mon," Graham says numbly, squeezing Henry's shoulder. "We gotta go, your…Regina could be following us. We gotta go to Emma."