AN: Thanks for the incredible response to this Snowing story! See previous chapter for important authors notes on characters and story notes.
Important note: Milah is not Neal's father in this universe. Cora is I've taken some liberties again with characters and back stories. :)
Special Note: By now, those who watch Manifest, will have seen the season 3 finale. I won't say anything else in case someone hasn't seen it, but I can assure you that there will be certain changes. No decisions yet, as I'm kind of waiting to see what happens in season 4, which we are now getting, thanks to Netflix.
Another Special Note: By now, most of you know that NBC made the horrible decision to cancel Manifest, despite ending season 3 on a terrible cliffhanger. Thankfully, Netflix has saved Manifest and is giving us a final super sized season 4 with 20 episodes!
This one will update bi-weekly on Monday nights. Please consider leaving a review, it is much appreciated. Here are individual responses to reviews
Ghostwriter: Thanks, glad you enjoyed it. I don't know, I probably couldn't please everyone, but it's nice to think about. If I wrote Once, it would have been all about Snowing though.
Jennifer Baratta: Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it.
Grace5231973: Yep, a bit of twist. Regina has a brother and it's Neal! Since Milah couldn't be his mom here, I decided why not Cora? It's not a huge stress since we know Rumple and Cora had a past. Glad you're enjoying!
Alissa: Thanks! Glad you like my stories! That's okay if you haven't seen Manifest. It's similar in many ways, but also very different so you shouldn't have too much trouble following. Yes, there will be more flashbacks for sure. There is one in this chapter actually that I think you'll enjoy. There wasn't any the last few chapters, but only because it was plot heavy in the present timeline. Glad you're enjoying! :)
Number Ten: Henry is forever an optimist. Yeah, Cora is Neal's mother here, which since she has a past with Rumple isn't a huge stretch. Yep, Emma and Neal had the same Calling and they will explore that in this chapter. Yeah, it's funny you mentioned Stephen King. He actually retweeted the SaveManifest hastag on Twitter when we were campaigning to save the show. His stuff is usually too dark and scary for me, cause I'm not a horror fan, but still pretty cool. William Shatner retweeted it too so the geek in me squeed a bit at that. Glad you're enjoying! :)
Sexystarwarslover: I agree, Gold deserves a second chance to make things right. This show is all about second chances. I am so excited too about getting closure with this series. And they start filming soon so it won't be forever before we see a new season. Yeah, it would be a lot to take in. I love protective big brother Charming here too. Yeah, I think Neal will come around. Ha, yeah, no one is as stubborn as Emma. Yeah, he tried to take care of the Nolans since he failed Neal. But I think he'll get a second chance now. Yeah, I think Neal and Wendy might have went somewhere. Yep, there will be a lot of bonding over the Cora hate. Yeah, Olive was worried. Yep, we know what is coming for Neal. Glad you enjoyed it!
AnonSnowing: No, it's 20 total. Still better than the 13 we probably would have gotten from NBC though. I think 20 is enough to get a satisfying ending that doesn't seem rushed. Yeah, I wouldn't want to tell anyone about Cora either. Yeah, I love protective David too. Yeah, he messed up with Neal, but hopefully he can have a second chance now. Yeah, I think Xander and Gold might find some things in common. Yep, Neal and Emma had a Calling together. I think Zelena will eventually come into the picture. Just not sure when or where to work that in. Yep, Henry is very taken with Regina. Yeah, Olive did the same to Cal in the show. Yeah, I think Neal will eventually forgive him. Glad you're enjoying!
Lightning in a Bottle
Chapter 39: Cleared for Approach, Pt 2
"So...these Callings, that's how Henry found me?" Neal asked, trying to understand.
"Yep...though Henry seems to experience them a little differently than the rest of us," Emma explained.
"His drawings?" Neal asked. She nodded.
"He seems to know about things before they happen too and it's really important that people don't know that," Emma replied.
"What do you mean?" he asked.
"Well...as you can imagine, the NSA is all over it when a plane presumed lost suddenly comes back five and a half years later. Some think we're a threat to national security...some have other theories," Emma replied.
"Yeah...seems like coming back is more of a curse than anything," Neal mentioned. She allowed herself a small smile.
"I know it can seem like that, but MM will tell you it's a blessing. Our family got a second chance out of it. Her family is her world," Emma said.
"That's wonderful for her...but my Dad and I aren't like you guys. We weren't a family before," Neal reminded her. She shrugged.
"Maybe...but the Callings still need to be followed so if we're getting one now, it means you have loose ends to tie up on this mountain," Emma said. He sighed.
"If you say so," he replied, as they arrived at the cave and she started to go in, before looking back at him.
"It's okay...take your time, but you need to come in," she said. He took a deep breath and went inside with her and they looked around.
"Doesn't look like there is anything strange or magical about it," he mentioned.
"Well, to be fair...it's not going to. When we were on the plane...it wasn't the plane that seemed off. It was the storm that night," she mentioned.
"Before I passed out, nearly frozen, there was a loud boom and then the ground shook, opening up the cave, which allowed me to crawl out," he said.
"You think it might have been lightning?" she asked. He shrugged.
"Maybe," he replied, as she brushed past him and they experienced the Calling again.
"Go back…"
It was Neal's voice again and they were under a starry sky on a cliffside.
"Okay...maybe it's not the cave we needed to come back to," Emma said.
"It's not...I think it wants me to go back there," Neal replied.
"There?" she asked.
"To the place where Wendy died. It's not far," he said. She nodded and followed him out, as he reluctantly took her there.
"Hey Regina…" Margaret greeted, as her step-sister arrived, both with a file in her hand and a paper bag containing ice cream.
"Ice cream!" Henry called.
"As requested and I also picked these up the other day," Regina replied, as she handed him a couple comic books.
"Awesome…Thor is the best! Thanks, Aunt Regina!" he called, as he hugged her. She smiled.
"You're very welcome and I didn't forget my niece," she replied, as he handed something to Olive and she gasped.
"This is the mascara I wanted," she said. Regina shrugged and then was touched to receive another hug.
"Thanks Aunt Regina...you're the best," Olive said.
"So spoiling them already?" Margaret teased, as she put the ice cream in the freezer.
"I've always loved children...so being an Aunt now means the world to me," Regina replied. Margaret rubbed her arm, remembering the story of how she lost the man she loved in an accident. She only hoped her step-sister managed to find love again someday.
"They love having you in their lives and I do too," Margaret said, as they shared a smile.
"Hey," David greeted, as he came into the kitchen and dropped a kiss on Margaret's head.
"I ran those blood tests...and your suspicion was right. Neal has the same blood marker as we do," Regina said, as she noticed Mr. Gold there too.
"So you and my mother?" she asked. He nodded curtly.
"It's not something I like talking about...but yes," he replied.
"You could have told me...but I get that it was painful, especially if Neal hadn't come back," Regina said.
"Thank you for being understanding," he replied.
"We are...but no more secrets," David interjected and Gold nodded curtly.
"Anyway, I also did some checking and there was an electrical storm on the mountain that night," Regina said.
"The Dark Lightning...that has to be the connection," David replied. She nodded.
"It's the only commonality from both events," she said, as they heard the doorbell and Margaret answered.
"Oh Killian...hi," she greeted, as she let him in.
"Hi…I just came by to check to see how Henry's doing," he said, as the boy waved at him and he waved back.
"Oh, that's sweet and I can't thank you enough for helping us call off the police the other night. I know it was a risk for you," Margaret said. He smiled.
"I'm just glad it paid off. Is Emma here?" he asked.
"Uh no...she's still upstate. She said she needed some time," David replied. He looked disappointed. Before he could say anything else though, a rock came crashing through the window.
"What the hell?" David said, as he and Killian rushed outside, only to see a black truck speeding away.
"I'll get them...you stay with your family!" Killian called. David stopped on the lawn and turned back to go inside, stopping short in seeing the red X spray painted on their screen door. Suddenly, those people that were calling them freaks and insisting that the people that came back on the plane were not the same now took on a horrifying reality.
They had come to his home, where his family was and made a direct threat. Anger and protectiveness swelled in him and he stared at the X, just as Margaret came out and gaped at what he was looking at, before rushing to him.
"Baby…" she said, as she put her arms around him.
"Signs on a bridge overpass are one thing...but now this is personal," he said. She shook her head.
"David…" she started to say.
"They just came to our home, the roof that my entire world is under," he seethed and she cupped his face in her hands.
"We're fine," she insisted.
"A red X...they're treating us like we're not even human," he growled.
"I know...and it makes me so angry too, because I know what an amazing man you are and how precious our children are. These are small minded people," Margaret reasoned.
"Who could be dangerous to you and the kids now," he lamented.
"And that's why we'll be safe as long as you're here with us," she reasoned and managed to lead him back inside, leaving Killian to chase the perpetrators.
Emma and Neal arrived on the cliffside where Wendy had died and Neal knelt beside the edge.
"I told you earlier that she overdosed...but that's just what I like to tell myself to assuage my guilt," he confessed.
"She fell," Emma surmised.
"While we were high as kites," Neal said.
"She wanted to get clean and I agreed, but said we should have one final weekend bender," he replied.
"So we came up here and...partied," he added, as he smiled.
"Since her name was Wendy, she always said we were going to Neverland when we got high. It was her favorite dumb joke," he said.
"And you were her Peter Pan?" Emma asked.
"No...she always said I was more like a lost boy," he replied.
"She was right," he added.
"Anyway, we were high and she was dancing around," he said, pausing for a moment to swallow.
"And then she just fell and...I laughed, cause I thought we were both floating. But we weren't and I looked over the edge and saw her body below," he cried and she put her hand on his shoulder.
"I was sober by the time the rescue team pulled her up. It was accidental, but I was arrested for possession. Dad bailed me out and got my sentence lowered to probation, which I broke a hundred times after that," he explained.
"What made you finally take a rehab program seriously?" Emma asked.
"My next girlfriend was an even worse addict than me and I finally hit bottom after she convinced me to rob my own father's pawn shop. She used me for the money, because she owed some other dealer a lot of money. They beat the shit out of me and stole the money and I guess I had enough as I lay there in the alley bleeding," he said.
"So you finally went to rehab," she said. He nodded.
"I was about six months sober when I came up here to make amends to Wendy. Suppose that doesn't count as eighteen months now, does it?" he joked. She smiled.
"It's been eighteen months to everyone else, but not you, so no...but six months clean is really good and hard," Emma replied.
"Your Dad?" he asked. She nodded.
"David was always more angry at him than me...but forgave him in the end. But he was a mess when we were growing up," she recalled.
Flashback
Emma peered out from her bedroom, as her sixteen-year-old older brother dragged their father inside.
"I can't believe you!" David snapped.
"I don't need a lecture from my son," Robert slurred.
"Maybe you do! I keep pulling your drunk ass out of sleazy bar after sleazy bar. Next time, you can sleep it off in a jail cell for all I care!" David growled.
"I'm still your father...you can't talk to me that way!" Robert yelled.
"You're no father!" David hissed.
"I'm taking care of Emma! I'm feeding her and making sure she does her homework! Margaret is making sure she has clean clothes and is there for her when she needs a woman's touch! You don't even know what day it is! You probably don't even know how old Emma is now!" David ranted.
"I...I'm sorry," Robert offered.
"Yeah...you're sorry, but you'll be at the bottom of a bottle tomorrow," her brother spat, as he stormed out of the room.
"Hey…I grabbed these for you," Margaret said, as she slipped into Emma's room and handed her a package of Pop-tarts.
"I know it's bad when you let me eat these," Emma replied. Margaret smiled and sat down next to her, before hugging her.
"I'm fine, MM...it's not like I haven't seen Dad drunk as a skunk before. It bothers David more than me," Emma said.
"Oh honey...I know," Margaret replied.
"Go...he needs you to talk him down. No one but you can. He's going to be on the kicking Dad out train again...and I don't think we should," Emma said. Margaret kissed her head and slipped out again to find her boyfriend.
"Sounds like you know addicts pretty well," Neal mentioned.
"We do...and we never gave up on Dad, though I'm pretty sure David would have if not for MM. But she was right and when the plane went missing, my Dad didn't touch a drop. He made the ultimate amends to my brother...and me by holding it together and taking care of MM and Ollie," Emma replied.
"That's great Emma...but if you think I can do the same with my Dad...I don't know," he admitted.
"Not to downplay what you and your father went through, but if my Dad and my brother can get a second chance, then so can you two, trust me," Emma said. He sensed another story there, but it was probably one for another time.
"Is the part where you tell me I'm not responsible for Wendy's death?" he asked.
"No...this is the part where I tell you that you are responsible and you have to accept it and do better," Emma replied. He was surprised. Most people would try to assuage his guilt, but Emma was telling him to his face that he was responsible for killing her.
"After Lily died, that's all my family did. They told me that it wasn't my fault and I love them for that. But it was my fault and I couldn't move past it until I accepted that," she said. Neal looked at her and then back at the cliff again.
"Thanks for dinner again...I think this is becoming a regular thing," Regina said, as she got ready to leave.
"I hope so," Margaret replied.
"We'll let you know when we hear from Emma too and then hopefully you can meet your half brother," David said.
"Yeah...that's still wild," Regina replied, as they hugged her.
"Be careful too...I'm a little worried about all the passengers now since they might be targeting us," David said. Regina nodded.
"I will and I'll see you later," she said, as she left and Margaret sighed, as he put his arms around her. She turned in his arms and kissed him tenderly. He lost himself in her for a moment and it probably would have gone further if his phone didn't interrupt them.
"It's Killian," he said, as he answered it.
"I got him…" Killian replied.
"That's great...so you're locking him up, right?" David asked.
"I can hold him tonight...but then I'll probably have to cut him loose tomorrow," Killian answered.
"What? Why?" David asked.
"Because I don't have enough to hold him," Killian replied.
"I don't understand...he vandalized our house," David said.
"Yes, but he is not admitting to it and without him caught in the act on camera, I don't have much to go on," Killian replied.
"Then how are you sure it's him?" David asked.
"Okay...he has this website. It's an 828 hate website. He runs it and spreads a lot of bull about the passengers and how they can't be trusted. How they're different now. It's nothing illegal and I'll text you the site, but I'm warning you, David. Don't go near this guy...it's what he wants. He wants to provoke the passengers into violence to prove his point," Killian said. David sighed.
"I get that...but this guy is targeting my family!" he cried.
"I know...but you cannot confront this guy. He wants it, promise me," Killian said.
"He promises, Killian. He won't go near this guy, but I would like to see who it is so I know the face," Margaret said, as she took the phone from her husband.
"I'll text you both the site. The guy is a creep...but he's a smart creep. His hands are clean and he would only love to dirty yours. Don't walk into his trap," Killian replied, as he hung up. David sighed and swiped a hand over his face.
"David…" she warned.
"What am I supposed to do? How can I just let this guy get away with coming to our house and scaring the hell out of my wife and kids?" he asked.
"I know, baby...but Killian's right and I'm not letting some ignorant, hate spewing creep entrap my husband into doing something that might take you away from me," she replied, as she put her arms around his neck.
"Please...we'll look at the website, but you can't track him down. Promise me," she requested, knowing that he would never break a promise to her. He sighed and she worked her magic on him further, as she kissed his cheek and nuzzled her nose against his, while rubbing the back on his neck.
"I promise," he said. She smiled and lured his lips into a passionate kiss.
"How do you do that?" he asked, as they swayed together, even though there was no music.
"Do what?" she asked innocently.
"You know what. You work your spell on me and get me out of my own obsessive head with a simple touch and a kiss," he replied. She smiled.
"Mmm…I have no idea what you're talking about," she said, as she kissed him again.
"You've always been able to talk me off any ledge," he replied, recalling one of those many moments from their past.
Margaret peered into their bedroom and bit her bottom lip, as she watched him pump iron, in a sleeveless shirt. He usually went for a physical exertion of energy when he was angry and he couldn't solve his problems with math. She knew many adults would be and were horrified by their mature relationship at the tender age of sixteen. But she knew in her heart that they were soul mates and shared a love that only came once in a lifetime. She knew that the responsible thing to do would have been for them to wait to sleep together until they were at least eighteen. But they hadn't and were frequently sexually active with each other. She was on the pill though so they were being responsible in that respect. They weren't normal or average teenagers either. For all the obscurity and frustration around them, their relationship was a constant source of love and support. She quietly stepped inside his room and gently closed the door. Emma was doing homework with headphones on and frankly, if Robert was sober enough to hear them, she didn't give a damn. He wasn't exactly one that could judge.
"Hey…" he breathed, as he saw her there and gently put his weights down and she slipped her arms around his waist.
"I'm all sweaty," he murmured.
"Mmm...you know I don't care and it's not like we both haven't been...sweaty together before," she replied, as her eyes flicked up to his, watching them glaze slightly, probably recalling the last instance where that had been true, just two nights ago, in fact. He sighed.
"I hate him sometimes…" he confessed.
"I know...me too, mostly because he causes pain to the man I love," she confessed in return. He smiled.
"Then you call me that and I forget everything else," he said. She smiled and swooned, as he kissed her passionately.
"Then I guess my plan to distract you is working," she replied.
"It always works," he said, as he kissed her again and she pushed his shirt over his head.
"Emma has her headphones on," she whispered.
"Glad we got her those for her birthday," he replied, as their lips met again and he backed her toward the bed.
He smiled at the memory.
"Okay...we'll look at this scumbag's stupid website and then I promise I won't track him down so I can beat the crap out of him. But this is probably going to make us angry," he said, as they sat down at his laptop and she put her hand on his arm.
"I know...good thing we have a very good way to channel all that pent up anger and frustration later," she said, in a sultry tone and he smiled at her.
"I love you," he said. She smiled.
"I love you too," she replied, as he pulled up the website to see who their graffiti artist was.