Rio 36
Author's note: Sorry this has taken so long but I'm currently working on a research paper for one of my classes and it is taking up all of my time. I will try to update this again as soon as possible.
They were still laughing ten minutes later. To be honest it felt good to laugh, even if her sides were now sore and tears were leaking out of her eyes David regained dubious control first and started to ask another question when he caught sight of the confused look on Henry's face. David promptly returned to his earlier state, which was laughing his ass off.
When Rio turned to see what was so funny it took all of her self control not to fall off the chair. The kid was looking at every adult in the room like they had all collectively lost their minds, which of course they all found hilarious. Snow wiped at he moisture in her eyes. She took several gasping breaths
"So any way where were we?" said Snow
"The pirate princesses?" said Henry
The boy was frowning and looking much too serious for his age. Emma let out another giggle at her son's new nickname for them.
"Eh gads that sounds like a bad eighties cartoon" said Rio
David chuckled again
"So we settled into the deliriously exciting life of a pirate, scrubbing decks, emptying chamber pots and mending fishing nets" said Emma
"Sounds great where do I sign up" said David, sarcastically.
"I thought pirates attacked other ships and buried treasure?" said Henry
Rio laughed out loud
"The attacking ships part might be correct but burying treasure, ah nope they spent it kiddo" said Rio Henry frowned.
"On what?" said Henry
Rio opened her mouth to reply
"Booze, lots and lots of booze" said David
"And girlfriends" said Snow
Rio snorted and took a sip of her soda, mumbling under her breath "of the one night variety"
Before Emma had a chance to kick her under the table. Instead the blond glared at her, Rio smirked back.
"So you spent how long scrubbing decks?" said David
"A few months and believe me it felt like literally took that long" said Rio
"We were with him until after the battle" said Snow
"Battle, you were in a battle cool!" said Henry
Emma groaned and glared at Rio again. The red head just shrugged
"Wasn't much of a battle not really, they fired, we fired and our guys were better shots. They thought they could trick us with a hidden gun and Rio spotted it first, we ended up sinking it" said Emma
"It was one of Cora's anyways" said Snow
"Great" said David
"It damaged his ship bad enough we had to put into port. Which was precisely what Cora wanted them to do of course" said Rio
David shifted nervously and threaded his fingers through Snow's. Rio spared both Emma and Snow an apologetic glance.
" He let us all off the ship for a bit of R and R while the ship was getting fixed" said Emma
"Yeah and everything was fine until Cora showed up" said Rio
Emma and Snow both gave her a wry look because they knew she had been trying to ditch the man. David swallowed and tightened his grip on Snow's hand until she complained.
"He apparently stole those magic cuffs he used to get them up the beanstalk" said Emma
David grimaced.
"Well he was a pirate" said Henry
Rio chuckled, kid was right though. Emma gave the kid a look and the boy hushed.
"She started throwing around threats and that's when.. she put her hand in my chest" said Rio
She didn't bother to hide the shudder that went through her. Now that she thought about it, that was a very freaky experience.
"He bargained with her to get her not to kill me" said Rio
She glanced at Snow and Emma both women were biting their bottom lip. Rio wondered briefly if they knew they both had that nervous habit?
"I am almost afraid to ask what he bargained?" said David
Rio looked at Emma and Snow again. She licked her lips to combat the sudden case of dry mouth she was experiencing.
"Snow and Emma, he gave them Snow and Emma. In exchange for sparing me and his passage here" said Rio
David shifted and Rio could see the anger building in him, even if he was trying to hide it. Rio wondered briefly if she should go on but Snow interrupted him
"Cora took the deal and we ended up in her dungeon" said Snow
"Yeah until he freed us so they could plant their little spy in the form of Aurora" said Emma
David frowned and Rio could tell he was still angry but it was calming
"Wait so you stayed on the pirate ship?" said Henry
Rio snorted like I had a choice kid she thought but didn't say.
"Cora's little chest grab put me out of it for awhile. The pirates locked me up but apparently all hell broke loose while I was out of it" said Rio
The others turned towards her because none of them were there to know what happened.
"After I woke up. I found out that Mulan and Aurora confronted him about Snow and Emma. He must have said something incredibly stupid because they attacked him." said Rio
She giggled because the rest was too funny not to. They gave her strange looks, so she felt she should explain
"That wasn't the kicker though , Aurora, you know sleeping beauty, she came at him with a broken bottle" said Rio
She started laughing in earnest again because truly the image was just too funny. The others were smirking and Emma was visibly holding back laughter.
"A pity she didn't succeed" said David
His venom laced words sobered her and she went back to the story
"No she didn't, and apparently trying to murder your captain is highly frowned upon amongst thieves and murders" said Rio
Emma let loose a giggle that she had been holding in.
"What did he do to them?" said Henry
Rio was glad the pirates hadn't done anything to them except lock them up.
"He put them in the brig while he decided what to do" said Rio
"With you?" said Henry
Rio shook her head no. The kid looked confused.
"I was still recovering from Cora so they put me in his cabin and tied me up" said Rio
She gave the adults a look that they quickly understood. Henry was still frowning and looked very confused
"Tied you up to what?" said Henry
"Okay Henry that's enough" said Emma
"But mom!" said Henry
Rio waved her off because the next part wasn't all that bad.
"After he put the girls in the brig he came to see me, I guess he was trying to explain. I was too pissed off at that point to listen to him and we ended up screaming at each other" said Rio
The married couple in the room nodded in understanding.
"In the end, he decided the damage I wrought to his stuff was worth punishing me for or maybe it was because I was ungrateful as he put it. Enough for him to order me flogged like the others" said Rio
Snow and Emma both gasped and Rio remembered belatedly, she hadn't shared that little tidbit of info.
"Flogged?" said Henry
David rested his arm over the boys shoulders
"It means whipped kiddo" said David
Henry's mouth dropped open in outrage. Rio decided it was best to continue lest the kid say a word he's not supposed to know.
"He had decided that Aurora's crime was the worst though, I guess she managed to actually nick him or something" said Rio
"Ooh poor baby he got a little scratch" said Emma
Rio giggled then quickly regained control her ribs hurt too much for another full on giggle fest.
"It was then I decided it was time to leave, he was going to have Aurora walk the plank and the poor girl couldn't swim even without being tied" said Rio
"So you rescued her?" said David
"Well sort of, if your idea of being rescued involves a flying tackle off the side of a ship" said Rio
David looked momentarily stunned
"Weren't they watching you?" said Henry
"Yeah they were kiddo, until they thought we were going all girly girl over our injuries. We really just faked them out" said Rio
"Faked them out?" said Henry
"You know like shouting, hey look a distraction just to get everyone to turn" said Emma
Snow gave her a strange look.
"Which by the way, works on stupid guardsmen" said Emma
Henry laughed.
"So you dove overboard, then what? Didn't he go after you?" said David
"Actually he did send a few men after us but a storm came up, so it made finding us that much more difficult" said Rio
"Weren't you in open water?" said Snow
"Actually we were a little bit away from a series of atolls, we actually swam to one and spent most of the night hiding in a cave freezing our asses off" said Rio
The kid looked confused again but this time Emma went to her rescue.
"They couldn't light a fire because they were trying to hide Henry" said Emma
The kid's mouth made that oh shape that means he understood finally.
"The atoll tuned out to sink during extremely wet weather. So we were forced to wade across the bay right past his ship in the near dark" said Rio
"What about Aurora I thought you said she couldn't swim?" said Snow
"Mulan and I took turns dragging her essentially" said Rio
"We made our way to the island and spent the night in a smugglers cabin trying to dry off. We even tried using our clothes to throw off our pursuers and make them think we were dead" said Rio
"I'm guessing it didn't work?" said Emma
Rio shook her head no.
"We eventually found ourselves in smuggler's bay after tromping through a swamp " said Rio
Snow and David gasped in shock. Rio guessed having come from that world they most likely knew of the place.
"Sounds inviting" said Emma sarcastically.
Rio chuckled darkly because ironically it sort of was.
"Actually it was most useful, we managed to barter passage back to the mainland. Unfortunately it was as guards for a drug shipment"said Rio
David and Snow frowned at her but Rio shrugged it off.
"We bought supplies with what the smugglers contact paid us and I had this brilliant idea to hunt down Cora's heart to use as leverage"said Rio
David and snow were still frowning at her.
"We didn't find it just Cora's old home and a bunch of zombies she sent after us, that's when Aurora got captured" said Rio
"After a brief argument about a message Cora left us. We decided our best course of action was to rescue them" said Rio
She left the part out where she had thought Cora may have already killed them and that Aurora might be gone as well before they reached them. Emma caught it though because she just knew how to read Rio like that. Thankfully the blond didn't air it.
"That's when Hook decided to let us go, at the time we thought he was just doing it because he was pissed at Cora" said Emma
"Yeah but now we know it was a trick to get a spy in our midst" said Snow
"Spy?" said Henry
"Aurora, Hook cut out her heart and somehow presented it to Cora without killing the girl" said Rio
She still couldn't understand how that exactly worked, wouldn't the person die without their heart? Snow and David winced in sympathy.
"We didn't figure out she was a spy though, until after she gave herself away at the dark castle" said Emma
"So wait was I talking to Cora the entire time?" said Henry
The boy sounded scared
"No kid Aurora was still in there and in control for the most part, for some reason when she exerted her control Aurora got kicked out of there"said Snow
The boy somewhat crumbled in relief. David squeezed his shoulder in a clear attempt at comforting the boy.
"She gave herself away how?" said David
"She acted odd and I had the distinct impression I was talking to Cora not her. What cinched it was her little pet name for me coming out of Aurora's mouth" said Rio
"So we locked her up in the dungeon while we plotted and planned" said Emma
"And I read his entire magical library" said Rio
"You what?" said Snow
Rio shrugged as if it mattered now.
"There's stuff in there.." said snow
"Mom what's done is done" said Emma
Snow looked aggravated but she let it go because really what could she really do about it.
"Who's entire magical library?" said David
"Gold's" said Rio
She lowered her voice just in case.
"We worked out a plan to trick Cora and distract hook" said Snow
She was frowning obviously still distressed at the way they had to trick Aurora.
"Unfortunately, it involved me breaking from the group after pretending to try and kill Aurora" said Rio David looked shocked.
"But you didn't right?" said Henry
He actually sounded worried to her.
"No of course not it was all worked out in advance." said Emma
"Any ways while she was away she managed to snatch the wardrobe dust and replace it with fake stuff" said Snow
"And give Cora a fake compass too, then all we had to do was wait her out" said Emma
Rio chuckled and finished the last of her drink.
"She opened the portal we kicked her ass and stole her ride using the real things" said Rio
David chuckled and rubbed Henry's head because the boy was staring in open mouthed shock. Rio looked at her watch, it was getting late and she was tired. Emma caught the hint.
"All right Henry off to bed with you, you've had your story for the night" said Emma
Henry groaned but made his way to the stairs and slowly climbed them. He hesitated midway up and turned to look at his mom. Rio could tell the kid was going to have some serious separation issues from this experience but at least Emma was back to help him through it. Rio sighed and slowly stood up, reaching for her coat as she did so.
"It's getting late I should turn in" said Rio
She picked up her plate and rinsed it off in the sink before shoving it into the dishwasher. Snow was already gathering the dinner dishes.
"Night, see you tomorrow" said Snow
Rio nodded in her direction
"Night" said David
"Do you want me to walk you out?" said Emma
"Naw I got it" said Rio
She headed for the door and walked out waving to Emma as she walked away. Truthfully she was grateful for the support but she needed the time to think and plan. She would be fine until she started to show but what would she tell those nosy few who wanted to know about its father? She didn't dare tell them the truth because it would make its way back to gold. While she was confident she could hold her own in a fight she knew gold was out of her league.
A cold breeze blew in from the marina and Rio turned half expecting to see his ship in the harbor. She almost sighed when she didn't see its familiar form and quickened her pace some, remembering belatedly about the person who had followed her. She reached granny's just as it started to drizzle and quickly ducked inside. She climbed the stairs and unlocked her door.
She walked in and flung her coat over the chair and collapsed on the bed. Shucking her shoes as she did so. She stared at the ceiling and wondered what she was going to do now. Her hand rested briefly on her stomach. She was still terrified but at least she wasn't alone like Emma had been. Plus it didn't hurt that Rio was rich.
"You are going to be so spoiled" she whispered to her stomach.
She bit her bottom lip and started ticking off a mental list of things she was going to need. First and foremost was a house to put them all in. She sat up some and climbed out of her clothes, opting to sleep in her underwear instead of getting out a nightgown. She was just too exhausted to care right now. She slid underneath the covers just as the sound of the storm broke overhead. She fell asleep to the sound of rain pattering at the window.
The next morning was slightly overcast so she wore her coat. Emma offered to buy her breakfast before work and since it meant no more forays into the world of cooking Rio gladly accepted. She pushed open the diner's door and Emma waved from a booth. Emma was reading a menu and there was another one sitting there already. Rio sat down and picked up the menu. The smell of fresh brewed coffee wafted towards her nose. Rio closed her eyes and groaned.
"Oh lord that smells good" said Rio
"I know doesn't it, one cup for you though" said Emma
Rio glared at her, the last thing she needed was Emma being over protective now. Rio glanced over the menu and decided her usual morning fare of fruit and yogurt was not enough. Ruby walked towards the table.
"What can I get you girls?" said Ruby
"More coffee for one and an order of chocolate chip pancakes with a side of sausage" said Emma
Ruby finished scribbling that down and turned towards Rio.
"I'll take the number four with scrambled eggs, an english muffin, do you have o' Brian potatoes?" said Rio
"Yes" said Ruby
"I'll take some of those some bacon and can I get a side of fruit too, oh and coffee" said Rio
She handed the menu back to ruby along with emmas and watched Ruby saunter away. Rio turned back towards Emma and found her staring in open mouthed shock.
"What I was hungry and I don't have to worry about mystery meat here" said Rio
Emma continued to frown at her.
"When is your stuff supposed to get here?" said Emma
Rio chuckled
"Hopefully in the next few days, I told the to overnight ship" said Rio
"So whats the plan today?" said Emma
Ruby walked over. She set Rio's cup down, flipped it right side up and filled it with coffee. Rio nodded her thanks and started pouring mini creamer packages and sugar into her cup.
"Gonna do a bit of house hunting and probably check with Snow to see if anythings shown up, you?" said Rio
Emma sighed
"Most likely hanging out at the sheriff's office, I promised Henry some ice cream after he gets out of school" said Emma
Rio smirked, this is what they fought so hard to get back to?
"So in other words being bored out of our minds" said Rio
Emma laughed.
"Yeah I guess do me a favor though while your out keep an eye out for august" said Emma
Rio chuckled
"Why you want him to lie to you over and over, you can always sit on.." said Rio
She raised an eyebrow and gave Emma a saucy look
"Oh you are so horrible" said Emma
She smacked her arm her face already turning bright red at the suggestion. Rio chuckled and she heard Ruby stifle a giggle. She was carrying there plates in her hands. She set them down and pointed her finger at Rio and gave her the for shame sign.
Ruby walked away shaking her head and muttering under her breath about sick and twisted senses of humor. Rio dug into her food and emma shook her head, watching her friend eat for a few seconds. Emma looked like she wanted to say something and Rio simply waited until she could spit it out. She doubted it would take very long
"Rio?" said Emma
"Yep" said Rio
"Thank you for coming after us and, you know we wouldn't have made it home without your plan, i just.." said Emma
Rio set down her fork and reached across the table and rested her hand on Emma's wrist.
"Hey, you're family and you know I would do anything for family" said Rio
Emma nodded in agreement.
"I know I just wanted to say it" said emma
She looked Rio in the eyes and Rio understood she was not just referring to the plan.
"Your welcome Emma, now eat your crust" said Rio
Emma dissolved into laughter
"You know I hate crust on my toast" said Emma
Rio scoffed
"What are you like five?" said Rio
Emma chuckled and shoved her bread crust to the side of the plate. Rio gave her a look that plainly said are you serious. The diner door opened and in walked grumpy
"Oh there you are, Summer's gone nuts I need you at the lumber yard. Apparently she's taken an ax to Mr Brown's truck" said Grumpy
Rio waved hi and Leroy waved back.
"Oh man what happened I thought she was in jail for awhile" said Emma.
She downed the rest of her coffee and stood up. Leroy snorted
"I think it was the baker's boy that bailed her out or maybe it was the candlestick maker's"said Leroy "Sure it wasn't the butchers?" said Rio
Leroy gave her a strange
"Yeah, he had a girl, I don't think summer bends that way" said Leroy
Emma chuckled and handed Rio a handful of bills to cover the bill. Rio rolled her eyes and kept eating as Emma headed for the door.
Rio finished her breakfast then paid for both of their meals and headed for Snow's. She caught Snow giving David a kiss in the driveways as he left for work. He was dressed like a deputy.
"Hey Rio seen Emma?" said David
"Yep, she went to arrest Summer, something about her going Carrie Underwood on someone's truck with an ax" said Rio
David looked confused for a few minutes
"Let me guess Mr brown's" said Snow
"Bingo and the prize goes to Snow, winner and still champion" said Rio
snow giggled
"I best get going and help her, I could have sworn that woman was in jail for awhile" said David
He started his truck and shifted it into reverse.
"Someone bailed her out" said Rio
Snow and David both groaned. David gave Snow one last peck on the cheek before pulling his truck away.
"So have you decided what kind of house you want yet?" said Rio
snow frowned
"A big one but I think David wants to go back" said Snow
She walked towards the house and Rio followed her inside. Snow was still wearing some pajamas and a robe.
"That's great but Emma hasn't fully broken the curse yet and I'm not so sure she liked it there" said Rio
Snow groaned and walked towards her closet. Rio flopped down on the couch while Snow dug through her closet in an effort to find something to wear.
"To tell you the honest truth I'm not sure I want to go back, I mean you saw how it was over there"said Snow
Rio nodded yes in agreement.
"I'm not sure I want to raise my kids in a place where there are ogres that can eat them, I mean the gangs I can handle but monsters that want to eat you" said Rio
Snow nodded in understanding and pulled up her jeans.
"I know exactly what you are saying it was different before the curse, safe idealistic, now its just.." said Snow
"Cursed" said Rio
Snow frowned and nodded yes in agreement. She pulled her shirt over her head and adjusted it.
"Now what do you mean by what kind of house?" said Snow.