"Well, I guess you beat me." Norah laughed handing Henry her small stack of paper money. Henry smiled then placed all the contents back in the box. "For what it's worth, I didn't cheat." He snickered. "Hey, do you want to go get a milk shake?"
"I would love a milk shake, but there is no way Mary Margaret will let me out of her sight."
"That's why we take her with us." He smiled. "She can pay." he said quickly then bolted down the stairs. Norah rolled her eyes then followed behind him. She hoped that she would say no, she really didn't want to go anywhere with Mary Margaret. "What is going on now?" Norah asked Henry when she noticed Mary Margaret hurry off the phone when her and Henry came down stairs. "Not sure, she was whispering something." He said quietly before heading to sit down beside his grand mother. Norah shuffled behind him as she studied Mary Margret's composure. She was definitely hiding something.
"Who was that?" Norah asked innocently as she sat down beside Henry.
"Oh, it was just David. He went down to the movie store to rent some movies." She said lying straight through her teeth. She sighed when Henry raised a brow, and then beside him Norah did the same.
"No, he didn't." Norah said as a matter of fact. "I watched him leave, two hours ago."
"What's wrong?" Henry asked noticing the worried expression on her face.
Snow hesitated but answered anyway. "I'm sure it's nothing, I don't want to alarm either of you. Someone broke into Regina's office this, and now she is missing."
"What? You don't think something bad happened do you?" Henry took a deep breath to keep himself from panicking.
"No, David and Emma were just with her, he just doesn't know where she went." She retracted hoping it would ease Henry's worry.
"So, who broke into her office?" Norah asked holding back her worry.
"I'm not sure." She said then got up walking into the kitchen to refill her drink. Norah leaned over to whisper in Henry's ear. "Something has to be wrong, and I don't know about you but I'm going to help Regina." She said then quickly moved away as Mary Margaret returned.
"Don't worry Henry." She said, sneaking in a wink for him to play along. "Regina, can handle herself." She said then stood up to hug him. "We need a distraction." She said to Mary Margaret. "Would you mind taking us to Granny's? I'm sure a milk shake will help keep his mind busy from worrying about the woman who took care of him for 10 years." She said then let Henry go. Henry winked back to Norah before turning to his grand mother. "It would make me feel better, please?"
Mary Margaret didn't think twice. "Yes, milk shakes it is." She smiled then stood up. "And Norah? You better not wonder off." She said then opened the door, motioning the two of them in front of her.
Once the three of them reached the car, Norah stopped to tie her shoes. She was about to bolt but she could feel Mary Margaret's eyes starring as she purposely tied her Lace's wrong multiple times. She huffed as she stood up. "I forgot my bag."
"That's alright, you won't need it." She said then opened the passenger side door catching on to Norah's plan. Unaware that Henry was behind her taking her keys. "Get in the car, or we go back inside." Norah rolled her eyes.
"Sorry, I can't do that. I have to help my mom." Mom? She said then took off across the street. Henry stepped in front of Mary Margaret before she could chase after Norah. "Henry, wait in the car."
"I'm sorry... but I'm with Norah on this one." He said then bolted in the direction Norah went.
"Henry!" She called after them then hurried inside her car. It was just a second later when she realised Norah or Henry had taken her car keys. "Clever kids." She said smiling faintly then opened her phone to call David.
"So, where do you think Regina would have gone?"
"It's not where she has gone, it's where she was taken." She said as they walk aimlessly away from the town.
"Well, where did Cora take you?"
"Regina's mausoleum." She shuddered. "I just wish I knew why my magic isn't working."
"That's because Mr. Gold slipped you a potion in your drink." He paused, remembering that he wasn't supposed to say anything.
"What?" Norah stopped walking. "How do you know this?"
"I over heard Emma and David talking to Mary Margaret last night. I wasn't supposed to tell you." He confessed.
"What else should I know?"
"Well, Mr. Gold was supposed to help Regina take your magic away for good. They think you can't control your magic, and are afraid that you will hurt someone."
Norah took a moment to process what she just heard. While it pissed her off, she understood. "Yeah, well if Cora was still here...she would help me control it and not take it away." She huffed then walked on.
"But Cora was using your magic to hurt us. That's why she taught you things in secret, on an invisible boat to be exact." He said running to catch up with her.
"Henry..." Norah stopped once again. "You are a genius."
"What do mean?"
"Where did you put Mary Margret's keys?"
"I dropped them behind her front tire?"
"No, you left them out in plain sight. If your going to hide something, the best hiding place is out in the open. Some where no one would think to go." She said then continued walking. Henry thought silently as he walked beside Norah. They both jumped back when they saw David's truck speed through a red light, taking a speedy turn towards the docks. Norah and Henry both took off running after the truck.
Once they got closer, they both dipped behind a car to catch their breath. "So what's the plan?" he asked between gasps. Norah shrugged. She forgot how much it hurt her legs to run. "I don't know, lets just go." She said then stood up then headed towards the cannery. They spotted David's truck and hid while they watched Mary Margaret and David enter through the front. Norah motioned Henry to follow but was soon cut short when she bumped directly into a man she didn't know.
"Sorry." She said quickly jumping back next to Henry.
"That's alright, what are you kids doing out here? You shouldn't be running around the docks. You could get hurt." He said sincerely.
"You're right, we were just meeting our mom. We decided to take a short cut."
"Are you sure you two are okay?" He asked as they stepped further away.
"We're...fine, sir." Norah said taking Henry's hand. "We're just in a hurry that's all." She said then stepped forward taking Henry with her. "If you would excuse us, our Mom is waiting just over there." She said pointing towards a group of people near the boats.
"See, little girl...something tells me that you are lying." He said stepping forward. Norah caught on to his movement and quickly moved Henry behind her.
"We're fine. It's alright, we can go around."
As the man stepped forward again, Norah held Henry's hand tighter. "Henry, run!" She screamed turning around and began to run. Within a second Norah's grip on Henry's hand loosened when someone grabbed him by the waist. "Henry!" Norah screamed attempting to go after him, but someone caught her off guard grabbing her also.
Henry woke up, his hands were tied to a chair. Beside him Norah was tied also. Henry kicked his foot to reach Norah's to wake her up. "Norah." He said in a low voice then tried moving closer to her. "Norah, wake up." He said then kicked his leg harder this time waking her up. Norah shot her eyes open. "Are you okay, Henry?"
"I think so. These ropes are just to tight." He tried wiggling out of them. "It's no use."
Norah smiled realizing her rope around her hands actually wasn't that tight. "Who ever tied my hands, didn't put much an effort in doing so." She said slipping free then quickly untied Henry and then hugged him. "Okay, lets go." She said then left the room. They walked down a corridor, then passed a few empty rooms. "Stay close." Norah said turning back to Henry. "Someone is talking." She whispered back to him. Norah kept her weight light as they trailed down another hall of empty rooms. Norah let a small smirk fall once she recognized one of the voices. It was Hook. Norah turned back to Henry. "Wait here." She said then let go of his hand.
"Captain!" She called in a low voice to get his attention, but he didn't notice. "Damn." Norah picked up a piece of metal and threw it on the ground towards him. Hook snapped his neck around. "Captain!" She whispered a little louder. Then moved back to Henry, once Hook realized it was Norah calling him. He swiftly moved back in Norah's direction.
"Gem? What are you doing here?" He said ushering them both down the hall. "I trust you didn't have much trouble freeing yourself. He said then caught her by the arm, pulling her and Henry into one of the empty rooms.
"I knew that was you." She smiled.
"You're happy to see me?" He joked. Then winced when Norah punched him in the arm. "What are you two doing here?"
"We came to get Regina. I know she's here."
"Good, she'll need your help." He said then motioned Norah and Henry to follow through another door that was in the room. Before Hook led them any further stepped in front of another door that led to a hallway. Hesitating on allowing them to see the Queen in trouble. "The queen is just down this hall, but before you go. I should tell something about the Queen's current state."
"Oh God, please don't tell me she's dead!" Norah felt an electric jolt of fear. Hook rolled his eyes at the over dramatization. "No, she's not dead." He said quickly then glanced down to Henry. "Regina is hooked up to a machine, and let me just say torturing the Queen is not my kind of thing."
"Torturing?" That was all Norah needed to hear. She pushed Hook out of the way, not giving a single thought to what Hook wanted to warn her about. Henry stepped to follow, but Hook stepped in front of him once again. "I'm sorry lad, I cannot let you go through that door."
"But what about Norah? What if she gets hurt?" He asked then tried to force past the pirate, but Hook gently pushed him away. He kneeled down loosely to look Henry in the eye. "Norah will be fine, it is you that I am concerned with. The people that took your mother, now they want you for something."
"What do they want with me?"
"I've over heard conversations but I'd rather not go into details. Come with me, I need to take you to Emma."
Ahhhh... the next few chapters are going to be really long..after this one.. (i think..) :) I'll finish posting them tonight.
