A/N: Thank you very much, Gwenhyfer and xxxLeanniexxx, for your reviews and to everyone who has followed and favorited.
Derailed
Chapter 29: Character Arcs
~ Catspook
"Do you know what it is you are not doing?" Emma asked Gold as she shut the conference room door. "So you can, you know, keep not doing it?"
"I believe Belle is right," Gold said, "That he was referring to the Hat."
"Too many coincidences?" she echoed. There were too many coincidences. The question is what they all meant.
"That, and he seemed quite clearly to need me in the villain role for his tale. It would be a great act of villainy, for sure."
"Yes," Belle said, taking Gold's hand. "But something confuses me about the Author."
"What?" Emma asked.
"His explanation for what he did to your parents was that he wanted more complex heroes, but he wants Rumple to be less complex. From at storytelling perspective, that doesn't make sense."
"Uh, I think I might have some insight into that," August said, raising his hand like a kid in class. He'd been eager to get them downstairs; Emma hoped like hell that meant he knew what the Author was planning.
"Yeah?" Emma prodded.
"I think the Author is a Regina fanboy."
"He's what?" Regina asked.
"He wants to ba-" August's eyes slid to Henry. "Date you." Henry rolled his eyes. "Don't tell me you didn't notice."
"I did notice," Regina sighed, "But what does that have to do with Rumple?" Gold nodded along, as if he had been wondering that as well. So had Emma.
"Gold screwed you over. Big time. Which means the Author probably hates him, and hates even more that your stories are so similar."
"How are they similar?" Regina asked incredulously.
"How are they not? You were both genuinely good people trying to be good, driven to a breaking point and corrupted by dark magic. You're both even on redemption arcs right now. That's what the Author meant when he called Gold's backstory distracting; it draws focus away from your story. It might even make the reader sympathize with the person who hurt you."
"If the Author likes me so much, why didn't he use his powers to make things better for me instead of messing with David and Snow?"
"Because he doesn't see you as a person, he sees you as a character. A tragic character. You have to suffer for the story to work. It's true that a writer's favorite character is often the one they make suffer the most," he said.
"Do you do that?" Regina asked archly.
August smiled. "There's not a lot of suffering in my books. I'm more about… happy endings." Belle and Bae snickered. So did Henry, which made Emma wonder how much he knew about August's books.
"It fits," Emma said. "Except for one lie, everything the Author said was the truth, but it wasn't the whole truth. I don't think he knows as much about what's going on as he's implying he does, but he really does resent Gold, and he was very happy to be trapped in a room with you, Regina."
"What did he lie about?" Bae asked.
"That he didn't change anything else."
"That is significant," Gold said solemnly. "And Cruella was so very interested in meeting him..."
"I noticed that too. But one thing at a time. How does the whole thing with Starla and my parents feed into his story, August? Regina wasn't even involved in any of that."
"No, but your mother is - was - her nemesis. He even made the comparison: Regina never sacrificed a baby. If he's writing Regina to be the eventual hero of the story, he's clearly writing Gold and your parents to be the villains."
"Marvelous," Regina said flatly. "I don't suppose your superpower gave you any insights into where he's stashed Mal?" she asked Emma.
"No. I'm not sure he knows where she is, but he really does seem to think she'll be coming back. Any ideas, Gold?"
"The Author himself could not have done anything to her; he was imprisoned well before she went missing. But it is significant that he believes that she will appear again. It confirms that her disappearance was part of the larger plan," Gold said.
"So we're back to the Sorcerer," Regina said impatiently. "Or the Apprentice. We already suspected that!"
"We need to find Starla," Emma said. "He was being evasive about that. The reasons he gave for banishing her were true, but there was more to it. You said she was in Maine."
"Yeah. She gets local news out of Portland, so she must be close. She works at a diner called the Coffee Mug. She's tall, brunette, brown eyes. I only know her first name from her nametag."
"But it's an uncommon name, and Portland is not New York. I can find her. Any more clues?"
"I don't know if it will be any help at all, but she has a star-shaped birthmark in her wrist. Mal said it was the mark of her fairy blood; Rumple can you do anything with that?"
"A star shaped birthmark?" Emma demanded.
"Does that mean something to you?" Regina asked.
"It might. Can you use your crystal ball right now? Show her to us?"
"All right," Regina said carefully. The ball appeared in her hand, and she waved her other hand over it, conjuring an image inside. An image of a woman Emma's age who looked far too familiar.
"Lily…" Emma said.
"What?" Regina asked.
"Her name isn't Starla, it's Lily."
"Wait, you know her?"
"Remember that friend I told you about?" Emma asked August. "The one who stalked me?"
"You said her name was Lily…" he said. "It's the same girl?"
Emma nodded. "Oh, that can't be a coincidence," Regina said.
"It's not," Gold agreed. "She has a part of your soul. It drew her to you."
"That's exactly what she told me. Not the soul part, of course, but that she was drawn to me. She's the next piece, no question." And Emma dreaded it. Was no part of her life untouched by this madness? Apparently not.
"So we go after her tomorrow," Regina said.
Emma rubbed her forehead. There was something here she wasn't seeing. "Actually, I think you should stay here. Work on the Author. If any of us have a chance to get more out of him, it's you."
"You can't go after her alone," Regina objected.
"I'll go with you," August said. Regina gave him a skeptical look, and he shrugged. "In a battle I'm useless, but we're just going to talk to her. This is a job for exposition guy."
Emma chuckled, but Gold wasn't won over. "Are we certain of that?" he asked. "If Lily is searching for Storybrooke, we should ask ourselves why, and how she knows of it. Our track record with outsiders has not exactly been stellar."
"It's not her fault," Emma said, even as she internally agreed he had a point. She'd had some of the same thoughts.
"I didn't say it was. But if she is a threat, she is a threat regardless of the reasons. And she has some very good reasons."
Emma had been considering asking Gold to be her back-up, but August might be the better choice after all. August had a way of winning people over. Gold was… Gold. Acerbic at his best, and at his worst, well…
"We need her," she said, "And she deserves to know what we know. I can handle her."
"You're certain?" Gold asked, almost kindly.
"Yeah. If she does agree to come with us, I'll call you."
"Very well."
"Is there anything else we can do?" Belle asked.
"Uh… the more eyes on the Author, the better. And there's still Ursula's voice. Gold, are you sure there's no way to get it out without Poseidon?"
"I am reasonably certain, but there may be something I am missing. I will think on it."
"Do."
Belle squeezed his hand and smiled at him lovingly, "I'll help."
"And the Author?" Baelfire asked. "Someone should be there to back up Regina."
"I will," Gold said, "I still have some questions for him."
Regina looked at him suspiciously, but nodded. "Fine. But I'm taking the lead."
He bowed slightly, smirking. "I am all for targeting the Author's weaknesses, and as far as we can tell, that weakness is you."
"Lucky me," Regina said.
"What can I do?" Henry asked. "And please, don't say 'stay safe' or something dumb like that. The Sorcerer showed me the key; I'm involved in this."
"Wait, what?" Emma asked. "Gold said he found the key."
"Uh…"
Henry looked at Gold guiltily. Bae rubbed the bridge of his nose. Gold looked at Regina and Emma and unapologetically explained, "Henry and I came to the simultaneous conclusion that the Sorcerer's mansion required another search. Bae accompanied us there, and as soon as Henry opened the Book to the Author's page, a magical light led him to the key - which was most assuredly not in that location when we looked the first time."
"And you were planning on sharing this when?" Emma asked hotly.
"You used Henry as bait?" Regina accused.
"I did no such thing. The Sorcerer does have a plan for him; better he explore it in my company than alone."
"I don't want Henry anywhere near your company," Regina hissed.
Emma was able to look at it a little more objectively (barely). If Gold had thought that Henry had been in any danger at all, he never would have brought Bae with them. But that didn't mean he was right. "You don't get to make that decision. Henry, you should have waited until we got back."
"And would you have taken me? No one tells me anything! David and Mary Margaret were acting weird, and you and Mom were going to be gone for days. You can't shove me aside like I'm not a part of this!"
"That's not what we've been doing."
"Yes it is!
"Henry, you're twelve."
"Almost thirteen! And I've been in the middle of this since I was ten; you can't keep saying I'm too young like that will keep me out of it!"
Emma looked helplessly at Gold, but the suggestion he offered was not what she was hoping for. "If you will permit it, I believe it would be beneficial for Henry to observe the interrogation. From a safe distance, of course."
"You cannot be serious," Emma said.
"I'm quite serious. There is a connection between him and the Author; perhaps he is the key to what the Author is hiding."
"I'll stay with him," Bae offered. He glanced at his father. "I want to be there for the interrogation too."
"There may be magic involved," Gold warned him.
"I know," Bae said. "But like Emma said - more eyes."
"Very well. You're as entitled to this information as anyone."
"See?" Henry said. "Bae will be with me; it will be fine."
"No," Regina said firmly, and Emma nodded.
"If you want to help, help Belle and Gold with the voice," she said. "Maybe there's something in the library about it; you can help them look."
Henry looked at her, fuming and betrayed. She'd offered him a bullshit task to keep him busy, and they all knew it. Bae gave her a weary look that pissed her off, and the pitying undertone in Gold's matching expression pissed her off even more.
"Maybe…" August offered carefully, "We should call it a night? Sleep on it?"
And Emma could have agreed with that except for what was waiting for her at home. She could not face her parents right now. Regina, surprisingly, came to the rescue. "If you don't want to go back to the loft… you can both stay with me."
"Whatever," Henry said sullenly, but Emma was grateful. Baffled - and struck by the irony that after two years of acrimony Regina was now her most reliable ally - but grateful nonetheless.
"Thank you," she said. "August, I'll want to leave early."
"Sure."
"Likewise, Regina," Gold said. Lips pursed, she nodded. "In that case, good night."
"'Night," Emma muttered. She missed New York. She missed it badly.
As they walked home, Belle knew Rumple's thoughts were on the Author, but her own were on Poseidon and Ursula. She still had not forgiven the sea witch for kidnapping and nearly killing her, but seeing her now, in these circumstances, and with Cruella chattering cruelly in her ear, she recognized something in her - something she'd only come to understand through her relationship with Rumple and Bae.
"How much do you know about how Ursula lost her voice?" she asked Rumple.
"Only as much as you do," he said. "Short of Ursula, there is only one person that could tell us more."
"Killian," Bae said.
Rumple nodded. "It's strange. He was… unexpectedly cooperative when he gave me the voice. If I thought he had any sense of pity, I would say he pitied her." His eyes were distant, and Belle wondered what had happened between them that day. She could not help but notice that neither rage nor triumph crept into Rumple's voice as he discussed Hook, and she contemplated it.
Emma had not changed her mind by morning, and a complaining Henry was handed off to Belle as they met once more at the Sheriff's Station. August arrived slightly late and half asleep, yawning widely into his coffee, but he at least had a smile for her. He passed Belle and Henry as they headed off towards the library, Belle promising Henry that she wanted to know his thoughts on Poseidon.
When did this all get so complicated?
Emma was used to a crisis every week, but they didn't usually pile up like this. "You look like you need coffee," August said. "I should have brought some for you."
"I can get some at Granny's on our way out of town."
"Do you know where we're going?"
"I looked up the diner on Google Maps; that's our first stop."
"OK. I'm ready when you are."
Bae wished them luck, and Gold and Regina shared what could only be described as a villainous glance. "Leave the Author in one piece, OK, guys? We might need him later," Emma said.
"Of course," Gold said, smirking wickedly. Regina and Bae rolled their eyes.
"Keep me updated."
"We will," Bae said.
As per August's suggestion, Emma grabbed a coffee, and then they were off. They drove in silence past the sign, the bug rumbling on the twisty roads. Once he had finished his coffee, August set the cup on the floor and asked, "You want to talk?"
"About what?" she asked flippantly.
"Any of this. All of this. Or I could tell you about the drive back with Zelena. Six hours with a handcuffed woman in the back of my father's van. I'm not afraid to admit that I really didn't think that one through."
Emma laughed. "I hope you didn't get pulled over."
"I drove like Papa all the way back. Hence the six hours instead of five."
She laughed again. "Well I do appreciate it. And I did not forget that I owe you and Tink a drink."
"Damn right."
He let her sit in silence for a while after that. Eventually, she asked one of the questions that had been gnawing at her. "How did you do it, August?"
"Do what?"
"How did you forgive your father for sending you through the wardrobe?"
She could feel his eyes on her as she kept looking straight ahead. "I've never had a problem with what he did," he admitted carefully. "He was trying to save me; he really was afraid I would die. Blue was the one who lied."
"So I should blame the Author, then?" she asked, possibly only because she wanted him to say, "Yes."
"I didn't say that. It's not even the same situation; I always knew my father's part in it. Plus I think he really thought we would all be OK. There wasn't any… sacrificing. Not with souls, anyway."
All her careful attempts at avoidance hadn't done a thing to stop her anger. Now that she'd brought it up, all her fury welled up and tumbled out of her. "What right did they have to give Regina or Gold any crap?" she demanded. "Or Hook? Did you know that David told Hook to stay away from me? Like I can't handle him myself? Or make my own decisions? Maybe he thought I would catch villain cooties. That seems to be what this was about," she muttered.
"I knew he spoke to Hook," August said. "I don't like the guy either, but you're right; it's your business."
Emma snorted. "You're the first person to say that. Not even Hook - did I tell you that he knocked his past self unconscious because he was getting handsy?" They were getting off topic, but Hook was a safer target for her anger than her parents.
"What?" August laughed, "No."
"I read him the riot act. Apparently, he thought he wouldn't take no for an answer. And I guess he'd know, right?"
"He thought… woah. Are you all right?"
"I'm fine. He was just a handsy drunk. At least up until that point. You've seen him at the Rabbit Hole; does he take no for an answer?"
"To be honest, he didn't get that many "no's". Whatever else he is, he his hot. Really, ridiculously hot."
"He…?" She glanced at him incredulously. "Would you sleep with him?"
"Pretty sure the guy is 100% straight. Which I find deeply ironic considering the name of his ship."
"But if he weren't… would you?"
August make a low, reluctant noise in his throat and admitted, "If I didn't think he'd kill me for it in the morning? Absolutely. But then I have a long and storied history of thinking with my dick."
Frankly, that didn't sound too bad to Emma right now. It had been a while since she'd had a meaningless one-night stand. She knew August and Tink had a friends with benefits thing, and that didn't sound too bad either. I must be losing my mind if I'm thinking of Hook this way. "He us unreasonably attractive. Physically speaking. Too bad he's such a creep."
"I thought he'd finally backed off. Has he started up again?"
"He gazed at me forlornly when he was doing his time for breaking into the library, and he thinks he might be able to help with Poseidon. That's about it."
"Well, that's something. He's been quite the regular at the Rabbit Hole since then, but I noticed Chuck cuts him off a little earlier now."
"How does he respond to that?"
"He grumbles, but falls in line. They all do. Getting banned from the Rabbit Hole means your only options are Granny's and the liquor store. And no one wants to mess with Granny."
She smiled briefly. "So the great Captain Hook is afraid of something after all. Anything else I should know?"
"He really likes Jimmy Buffet."
"What?" she guffawed.
"He really likes Jimmy Buffet. Once he discovered the jukebox, it was all over. It's actually really funny, because a lot of the regulars hate it, but no one wants to mess with him. Nottingham tried it once, but… it didn't go well. I will never see Changes in Latitude the same way again."
"What? What did he do?"
"Oh, you know, shoved his hook in Nottingham's face, threatened him. Hook does seem to have something against Son of a Sailor, though," August continued, "I suspect daddy issues."
"You're not messing with me are you? My superpower is not at 100% out here."
"But my lie prevention system is. I swear I'm telling the truth."
Emma shook her head, amused. She was still angry - blindingly so - but damn it felt good to have a friend. She could only hope that Lily would feel the same way.
