Chapter 25: Over the Rainbow
Emma, Charming and Henry took Aladdin to Granny's Diner and got him a job washing dishes. Then Emma had her father call his former campaign manager and ask her to come to the diner and they had watched as the lost loves reunited. Jasmine kept giving them guilty glances. It would be the next morning before they would find out exactly how guilty she really was. After staging their own episode of the Love Connection, they had gone in search of the Blue Fairy. It turned out that she was on an all-day retreat. They were not sure if it was a fairy thing or a nun thing, but they would not be able to see her until the next day. They had little choice but to go home and try and get a good night sleep.
Sleep had evaded Charming. When Emma came downstairs at 5:00 am the next morning she found her father sitting at the kitchen table staring at the dagger as if it were the answer to all his prayers. She had seen David pretty despondent at various times over the past year, but she had never seen him look so utterly crushed. She noticed that he had a copy of the ultrasound picture on the table as well.
She poured a cup of tepid coffee.
"Did you get any sleep at all?" She asked with a note of worry in her voice.
"No, I can't sleep not knowing what is happening to Snow and our child." He voice was monotone and flat. It lacked emotion.
"I'm sure the Blue Fairy will have some answers." She replied as she patted his hand in a reassuring manner.
"Maybe we don't need her at all. This could be the answer." He indicated the dagger.
A worried look crossed Emma's face. "I am pretty sure that dagger does not hold any answers that we need to hear."
"Can you imagine the power it would give me? I would be unstoppable. I could demand the safe return of Snow and the baby." He replied.
"You haven't slept and you are worried. I get that, but you really don't want to go there." Emma insisted drily.
"You are right, I haven't slept and I won't sleep until I get her back and I am willing to do anything to achieve that goal. I owe it to your mother and brother to try and get them back by any means necessary!"" He gritted his teeth and rubbed a thumb along the edge of the blade. It had him mesmerized and he was really starting to scare her. Emma placed her hand over the dagger hoping that she could somehow break the spell it had cast on her father.
He looked up at Emma and he saw fear in her eyes, but he also saw strength and determination.
He placed his forehead on the palm of his hand and then looked up at her again. She had her mother's sense of fairness and determination.
"You are the one who is always telling me that we have to have faith. We are Charmings. You are always reminding me that finding each other is what we do. Why is this different?" She asked, giving him a serious look.
I don't know if you have noticed but I have a tendency to run into situations head first." He admitted.
Of course she had noticed, they had that in common.
I can't do that this time. I can't go after them or even look for them without losing who I am. All I have left of my son is this picture and all I have left of my wife is an empty chair facing me across the breakfast table and an empty bed. I couldn't sleep there without her and so I spent most of the night staring at her chair even though I knew she wasn't going to come down those stairs and sit in it.
He gave her a desperate look and it was heart breaking. For the first time Emma realized what her mother meant to him. She was his light. The sense of hope that Prince Charming always had, sometimes to her irritation, came from Snow White.
"Listen to me, we will get them back but we are going to do it the right way." She said in a serious voice. "I know you love them, but I love them too and if I let you give into despair and evil than we might as well forget about bringing them home because there will be nothing left for them to come home to."
"You're right. I don't know what came over me." He apologized sincerely.
"No need to explain. Just don't let it happen again." She snapped, but then she gave him a sympathetic look. "We need to put this somewhere safe. We can lock it up at the sheriff's station." She picked up the dagger gingerly.
"Will it be secure there?" He asked with hesitation in his voice.
"We can lock it up in the wall safe. It is not like we are going to leave it in the bottom drawer of the desk or anything. We can ask Blue to cast a protection spell on the safe." She placed the dagger in a wooden box.
"Here is what we are going to do. I am going to make us some decent coffee, we are going to quickly look through the paper and then we are going to take this to the station. We can have the Blue Fairy meet us there and she can cast a protection spell and we can ask her about the location of the third ring."
Emma went to the door to pick up the newspaper and glanced at the headlines. What she saw made her blood boil in her veins.
"Unbelievable!" She stated angrily.
Her father looked up from the table and when she did not move her went to join her by the door. He looked over her shoulder and read the headline.
"Pregnant school teacher leaves baby's father due to infidelity!"
The article went on to imply that Snow had left him because she had caught him cheated on her with another woman. There were pictures to accompany the text. They were grainy and in black and white as if they had been taken with a computer camera. It was clear to Charming that they had been taken in the loft 2 days ago and they were of him and Snow in various stages of undress. His face was clear in all of the shots, but the angle of the shots of the woman conveniently concealed her face.
"Who is that woman you are with?" Emma asked, her voice seething with anger.
"That is your mother!" He snapped back. "Who else would I be with?"
Emma looked at the pictures from several angles and still couldn't see it.
"Jasmine must have had a hidden camera at the loft." Emma informed him. "Is that the couch?"
"Yes, it is the couch." He admitted "And that is my wife and what we do when we are alone is between us!" He was practically yelling now.
"Hush, you are going to wake Henry and I don't want to explain this to him." Emma reminded him. "You know this means that I can never sit on the couch ever again!" She sighed. "Is that the shower as well?" She asked with displeasure in her voice.
"Nothing happened in the shower. Your mother said we didn't have time." He replied taking in a sharp breath of air.
Emma rested her head against the door. You know this looks really bad, right?"
He nodded his head in understanding.
"I'll leave Henry a note telling him to stay here. Let's go find that camera." She stated firmly.
Belle looked at plate of untouched eggs, bacon and toast that sat on the table opposite her place setting.
"Rumple, you must eat something." She encouraged.
He gave her a despondent look.
"I'm not hungry and what difference would it make anyway? I am a walking dead man." He stated sadly.
"That's simply not true." She insisted lovingly.
"That dagger is in the hands of my enemies. Belle, how long do you think it will take them to figure out how to use it to destroy me and everyone I love?" He asked with a voice tinged with fear.
"David doesn't want to destroy you. He only wants his wife and child back safe and sound." She soothed.
"I hope you are right, for all our sakes. I have had 300 years to understand that dagger. It is not a straightforward object. There are many dangers lurking beneath that steel blade. In the hands of the wrong person it could destroy us all." He stated ominously.
Emma turned the dial on the safe and closed the door. She had insisted that they lock up the dagger first of all because she was afraid one of them would be tempted to use it against Jasmine.
At Emma and Charming's request the blue fairy cast a protection spell on the safe.
"What is in there that needs to be protected?" She asked.
"The Dark One's Dagger." Emma answered simply.
Fortunately there was a chair nearby because the fairly had to sit down.
"What has happened?" She asked and then she looked around the room and added urgently, "Where is Snow White?"
"She didn't leave me!" Charming insisted.
Emma shot him a warning look. "Have you seen the today's paper?" Emma asked.
"No, I got your message and came straight here." The fairy informed them both.
"We think King George has taken Snow and left Storybrooke." Emma informed her.
"We know he has her." Charming corrected through gritted teeth.
"How is that possible?" Blue asked in a dazed voice.
"Gold created some time of bracelet that allows the wearers to cross the town line without losing their memories. King George used the bracelets to kidnap Mary Margaret. He also took a pair of colored rings. Gold told us that there is another ring and that you might know where it is hidden?"
"I know the last know location of the ring, but I doubt that it is still there and even if it is we would be unable to reach it." She sighed.
"What do you mean?" Emma asked.
"She means it was in our world." Charming answered. "It was in the Enchanted Forest."
"It was not in your kingdom, but it was in one of the realms affected by the Curse. Up until about a year before the Curse was incanted the ring was in the possession of a powerful wizard named Merlin. However, it was stolen from him and it is said that he embarked on a quest to find the ring. He followed it to another realm." The fairy explained.
"Wait a minute, are you talking about the Knights of the Round Table Merlin?" Emma asked in disbelief.
"So, you have heard of him?" Blue gave her a relieved look.
"Just a little bit. I once dated a guy who was obsessed with the Arthurian tales. He thought Excalibur was in London" Emma admitted reluctantly.
"Blue do you have any idea where Merlin's quest led him?" Charming asked.
"It is only a rumor, but it is said that he went over the rainbow to OZ." Blue admitted in a matter of fact voice.
Emma tried to keep a straight face, "Merlin is the wizard of OZ?"
"So, Merlin rules the place? Why didn't he just grab the ring and go back to the Enchanted Forest" Charming asked.
"No one is sure what happened to Merlin when he got to OZ. It is possible that he got caught there by the Curse or maybe he found something else to keep him there. Maybe he just liked it there."
Emma was getting one of those headaches that she got when reality spiraled out of control.
"So, how are we supposed to get to OZ, chase down a tornado and hope a ride?" Emma asked with more than a note of sarcasm in her voice.
The blue fairy looked at her as if she had lost her mind.
"Don't be silly, you will need to use a portal." Blue causally informed them.
Emma felt her headache worsen. "Jefferson!" She groaned.
Why did one night stands always have a way of coming back to bite her in the butt?
Snow sat at the table and glared at King George.
"Did you really think I would allow you to escape?" He laughed bitterly.
"I am still trying to figure out how the police tracked me." She looked down at the white bracelet. "It can't be this because Gold made these for another purpose. He is just allowing you to test them." She looked down at her ring and suddenly realized why it felt wrong.
"The ring, you put a tracking device in my ring and that is why it felt wrong." She took the ring off and shoved it towards him. "I will not be tracked like a common animal." She informed him furiously.
"No matter my dear, you will not escape again. Your Prince is not coming to your rescue either. Not unless he wants all of his pre curse memories to be lost forever." He gave her a self-satisfied grin and reached out to touch her swollen belly.
She grabbed his hand and bent back his fingers until he gasped in pain.
"Try and touch my child again and I will break every figure in your right hand." She coldly informed him.
"Only the fingers in my right hand?" He sneered.
"I'll leave the left hand for My Prince when he comes for us!" She coolly replied.
If he thought he could break her, he was wrong. If he really thought that her husband would let him get away with taken his family, the former king was in for a surprise.
Emma and Charming went to the loft where they found a hidden camera in the book case and in the light fixture in the bathroom. They had discovered that the camera was linked to the computer in the main room of the loft. Emma had transferred it to a jump drive and then deleted it off of the hard drive. Now they were in a booth at Granny's and they were reviewing the camera footage on Emma's laptop, although she was cringing throughout the whole process. She was trying to find out if there was anything on the tapes that would allow her to press charges against Jasmine. So far, she hadn't found anything that directly implicated her father's former manager.
Red walked by and handed them both their plates of eggs, bacon and toast. She glanced at the screen briefly.
"Wow and I thought the footage we captured on the cash register security camera here was bad." She stated simply.
"So, there is no doubt in your mind that the woman with him is Mary Margaret?" Emma quizzed her.
"Of course, who else would he be doing that with?" She asked without blushing. "You believed it, right?" She asked Emma.
"Even before I saw the tape." Emma assured them, much to the relief of her father.
Red sat down beside them at their table. "I never would have figured the two of you as the sex tape types." Red informed Charming.
"We are absolutely not the sex tape types!" He stated firmly.
"Then how did those photos end up in the paper?" She asked with a concerned look on her face.
"We are still trying to work that out." Emma admitted.
Red got up from the table and called back to the two of them, "If you need anything at all let me know."
Charming gave Emma an appreciative look.
"Thank you for believing me me when I told you that the woman in those photos was Snow." He stated with feeling.
"I saw the birth mark in the photos and recognized it from when I zipped her dress up for her yesterday." She admitted with a shrug.
There was disappointment in his voice.
"Oh, otherwise would you have believed me?" He tried to keep the hurt out of his voice.
"Let's just be glad it didn't come to that." Emma admitted reluctantly. "There isn't much on here that I feel I need to keep. I think we can delete the whole mess and forget it ever happened." She stated simply.
Charming nodded his head in agreement. 'Your mother doesn't need to know that this ever happened." He stated firmly.
Before Emma could reply she was distracted by Jasmine and Aladdin walking in the door of the diner. They were holding hands and they seemed to be happy until she saw Charming and Emma. Jasmine almost acted like she wanted to turn around and run back out the door.
"I think you had better leave or I might kill you." Emma stated angrily as she stood up from the booth.
"There is no need for violence." Jasmine replied with a fearful look in her eyes.
"You put my mother's bare rear end on the front page of the newspaper!" Emma lunged for her, causing the other woman to take a step backwards.
"Thanks for the support, Emma." Her father replied sarcastically.
"Not to mention that you tried to ruin my father." Emma added more as an afterthought.
"What were you thinking?" Charming asked sadly.
"I was angry. For the record, I tried to stop the pictures from being printed after you what you did for me and Aladdin, but it was too late."
"What were those cameras doing in there anyway?" He wanted to know.
"It was Mayor Mills' idea." Jasmine replied.
Emma lunged at her and Aladdin and Charming had to hold her back from attacking the other woman.
"Just go!" Charming informed her angrily and waved her away with a dismissive hand.
She kissed Aladdin and left.
"It is a good thing that we locked up that dagger because I would have used it on her. Aren't you angry at her?" Emma asked her father with disbelieve in her voice.
"Of course I am, but I have more important things on my mind. I hate the idea of those pictures being made public, but to be honest most of our friends have walked in on Snow and me at one… " He never got to finish. The door opened and a mob of people, led by Grumpy, spilled into the dinner.
"What did you do to Snow?" The dwarf asked.
"We saw the newspaper this morning!" Another member of the mob replied.
"We tried to call her and she isn't answering the phone!" Grumpy angrily replied.
"That's because King George kidnapped her!" Emma protested.
"That is convenient. He allegedly kidnaps her right before these photos are published. Which happens to be the same day as the election?" Grumpy accused.
Emma hadn't thought about it, but he was right it was all pretty convenient.
"We thought you were different!" Doc informed Charming. "We thought you cared about this town, but all you care about is yourself!"
"You let us down and you let your family down. How could you cheat on Snow?" Grumpy asked with disappointment in his voice.
For the first time since the group had entered the diner, Charming took a good look at them and realized that they believed what the newspaper had printed.
"I hope that she takes you child and never lets you see him again!" A voice from the crowd stated.
"Good luck winning the election now. I for one would rather vote for Regina than a home wrecking cheater!" Grumpy stated coldly.
That was more than Charming could take. Angrily he informed the group, "You know nothing about my family or me! Vote for Regina if you wish, as far as I am concerned you can all go to hell!" He strolled purposely from the diner, passing Jefferson on his way out. Emma had asked him to meet them at the diner in order to try and convince him to help them get to OZ.
Emma followed her father out, but not before turning to Jefferson, "Give me a minute."
He nodded and slid into the booth vacated by Emma and her father.
Emma found her father pacing outside. His face held a mix of anger and sadness.
"Are you going to be alright?" She asked.
"As soon as we get back Snow and the baby, I will be just fine." He stated barely able to breath.
"I'm working on it." She reminded him as she glanced back inside.
"You want me to go back in there with you?" He asked with a pained look on his face.
She thought about it for a moment. She wasn't relishing having to face Jefferson on her own. But, the majority of the angry mob was still inside. She knew that her father had left as much for his own good as well as for the good of his attackers. They were his friends and they were friends of his wife. If he had stayed or if he went back it was likely that irreversible damage would be done. Neither of them wanted that to happen.
"Go home and check on Henry. Make sure that he doesn't see the paper today or make sure you can explain it to him if he does see those pictures." She said calmly.
"Right, give me the easy job." Her father half joked.
Emma watched him leave and then steeled herself to back into the diner.