Notes:
Flashback in this chapter clearly marked at beginning and end of the flashback
Chapter Text
Emma rolled over in her double bed with a loud groan, grabbing her iPhone off her bedside table to switch off the alarm that was blaring. She squinted as she made a swiping motion across the screen, trying to see what she was doing with her eyes still half-closed. She hadn't closed her bedroom curtains before crawling into bed earlier that morning, exhausted after a day of travelling and delays. The sun was already shining in through the window and casting a warm light directly into her eyes. Her face was contorted by the rays of the sun hitting it. She couldn't remember setting an alarm, but when she swiped her phone to switch it off she thought that was that. But then she heard a voice. A deep sexy female voice.
"Hello, am I speaking to Miss Emma Swan? Hello…?"
Emma looked at the time on her phone. It was just past seven in the morning. Uuuggghhh!
"Hello?" Emma groaned.
"Hello? Is this Emma Swan?"
"Yes! And I would like to know who is calling me this early on a Saturday!" Emma yawned into her phone whilst rubbing her eyes.
"You don't know me, Miss S- "
"Then what are you doing calling me at this time?" Emma snapped.
"Miss Swan, I am Dr Mills. I'm calling-"
Doctor? Why the hell is a doctor calling me early on a Saturday morning? I don't think I've seen a doctor since… Emma's thought was interrupted.
"Hello?"
"I don't need a doctor," Emma said, bluntly.
"If you would just let me explain." Regina rolled her eyes, already exasperated.
"Fine," Emma sighed, "What can I do for you, Doctor?" her voice a mockery of sweetness.
"Thank-you. As I was saying… I am Dr Mills. I'm a Psychiatrist at Mount Sinai Hospital and I am calling on behalf of your brother-"
Brother!? What is this doctor talking about? Emma was alert now.
"I don't have a brother."
"I beg your pardon? Are you sure?" Confused, Regina quickly flipped through her patient's file to get the information she needed. She found his next of kin: Emma Swan. Sister.
"I said that I don't have a brother."
"Oh. You are a Miss Emma Swan, yes?"
"Yes, I already told you that! Says so on my birth certificate. Do you want me to send you a copy?" Emma added sarcastically.
"Sorry, I am confused. I got your number off of my patient's file, informing me that you are his next of kin. It clearly states that you are his sister."
"You are this person's psychiatrist? Isn't it your job to check that his file contains valid information? Maybe he is a nut job!"
"Miss Swan, will you please stop referring to my patient as a nut job. I am calling you on his behalf as you are the only name in his file that he has put down in case of an emergency. You must mean a great deal to him. He will need people close to him as a support system and I was hoping that since you are his sister, that you could be here for him. He will need all the help he can get from his loved ones. I would venture that if he put you down as his sister that you must mean a great deal to him." Regina was getting frustrated, wondering if she should just hang up. But no, her patient needed a support system.
Emma rubbed her temple with her left hand as she heard this doctor's heartfelt plea on behalf of her patient. She could only think of one guy she was that close to while she was in the system. He was the closest thing to a brother she would ever have and so she had to make sure it was him.
"What is your patient's name?"
"Well, that is confidential information. If you are saying you don't have a brother then by law I cannot tell you -"
"You are the one calling me! Telling me that you have some guy claiming to be my brother. That my name and number are on his medical file. How did he have my number? I bought a new iPhone and changed my cell number 6 months ago. I've only given my number to a handful of people whom I trust with my life."
Emma lets out a big breath of air. She could only think of one person who could probably obtain somebody's number - probably illegally.
Regina was at a crossroads. She couldn't legally give this woman her patient's details, no matter how much she wanted her patient to have support. Then she heard a very quiet whisper of a name.
"August Booth." Emma barely whispers, too scared that it is him and yet hoping it is. "Is that your patient's name?"
"Miss Swan, can you tell me why he would put you down as his sister if that is untrue?"
"Please! Just answer my question first," Emma asks, frustrated that the doctor is ignoring her. She needed to make sure it was him.
"Yes," Regina reveals. "Now can you answer my question, please, Miss Swan?"
"Wait, what's wrong with August? What happened to him?"
"Answer my question first and then I will tell you" Regina answered. She needed answers first before telling Emma anything more. "So he is not your family?"
"No… well, sort of…. I haven't seen him in at least 4 yrs."
"Miss Swan, is he or is he not your family?"
"August doesn't have a family. He is an orphan. So am I. If you want to be technical about it, then yes. He is…was my foster brother. We were in the same foster home for a while, and then a group home."
"Oh, I see. Well I'm sorry to inform you me, Miss Swan, but –"
"Is he dead? Shit." Emma said flatly, expecting the worst.
"No. But he did try to commit suicide last night."
"Fuck! August..." Emma sighed, sliding her left palm over her face.
"Would you be able to come over here to see him, Miss Swan? I think it would be good for his recovery to have some sort of support, even if you aren't related, you two were obviously close."
"Exactly, we were close. Were." Emma sighed. "Where exactly is this hospital, Dr Mills?"
"New York."
"New York!?" Emma had to laugh. "God! I've just come home from New York. Just got home last night. Or actually it was technically this morning."
"You were? May I ask what you were doing in New York?"
"Not that it's important, but I was there for work."
Emma was a bail bonds person and was chasing a lead on a woman who hadn't turned up at her parole officer's office and skipped town. She had managed to trace her to New York but then lost her to one of her competitors who were also on the case. So it was not a good trip for her. Not only had she spent money on overpriced flights, but she lost the money she would have made on this job. Thinking about it now was making her mood worse. And now hearing that August tried to kill himself? Officially her worst week in a long time.
"And where is home, Miss Swan?" Regina's voice broke through Emma's thoughts.
"Tallahassee." Emma covered her face with her left palm. She really didn't want to go back to New York. But she was desperate to see August, to know he was ok.
"I see…. Is there any way you can come back?"
"Do I have a choice?" Emma almost laughed. The timing sucked – she would have to ask for more time off work now. Something she couldn't really afford.
"Well… you are the only person he has down in his contacts. I would really like to speak to someone who knows him well."
"We haven't seen each other in a long time. In fact, I didn't even know where the hell he lived. If I had known he was in New York. God! Ok, I just need to sort some stuff out and try to get a flight. Though I'm not sure I will be there today… I will let you know as soon as I've booked something.
"That is very good of you. I will see you when you arrive. Just come to my office first. I will text you the address."
"Fine. See you later, Doctor."
"Goodbye, Miss Swan. See you when you arrive here."
With that, they both hung up and sighed. Regina hoped that she had contacted the right person. Emma hoped that she could actually make it back to New York at all. But she had to. For August, she would just have to.
Emma knocked tentatively on her boss's office door. She knew she was going to get pissed on for losing her mark. And now asking for more time off? She wasn't looking forward to his reaction.
"Come in!" A rough voice shouted through the door.
Emma opens the door and it creaks just as it always has. She steps in and closes the door behind her, then makes her way to sit at her boss's desk. He's furiously typing away at something on his desktop and hasn't even looked up to see who has entered his office. Emma clears her voice and he finally looks up at her.
"Swan! What the hell are you doing here? It's barely eight in the morning. But I'm glad you're here, I have a new mark
"Yeah, about that ...Leroy, I need to take some time off work. Something important has come up and I need to head back to New York."
"What!? Emma, you've just spent a week in New York. If this is about that woman then forget it! Killian got her. You lost your mark to that asshole! Besides, I told you she wasn't worth following to New York, but you went anyway. I had more important cases that I needed you for. There's no way -"
"Leroy, you have no idea who that woman was and what she's capable of. I had to get her!"
"Enough, Swan! There's no way I'm letting you go. It's too busy and Will has been housebound with a bad back. I need you here."
"Leroy, I have to go. My brother ju-"
"You don't have family, Swan. Save your bullshit."
Leroy looked back at his screen and began to type furiously away again whilst Emma gritted her teeth. She didn't need to be reminded that she didn't have a family. That she was alone. But she wasn't. She had August.
"August is my brother, Leroy. We may not be blood-related, but August is my brother and needs me. I owe him my life and now he needs me so I am going back to New York. I'm taking an indefinite leave of absence."
With that, Emma stood up and walked to the door.
"If you leave, Swan, then don't bother coming back," Leroy says roughly while still typing away.
Emma looks back over her shoulder. "Fine by me," she says as she walks out of her ex-boss's office.
Well. That was that then. Emma Swan was out of a job and on her way back to New York to see her long lost foster brother. A man she hadn't seen in years and, frankly, she never thought that she would ever see him again. Sure they were close when they were at the group home. But he was older than her and left the system way before she did. But he did keep his promise to stay in touch and would send her money every now and then. Money she had managed to save up so that she could one day run away and never look back at another group or foster home again.
*FLASHBACK*
One Autumn day when Emma was 17, she arrived at her foster home late after school. She had stayed at school in order to finish an assignment for her Geography class. It was her favourite subject, though to be honest she had wanted to also impress her hot teacher whom she thought resembled Kate Beckinsale. Emma knew the consequences of arriving back at the home late without letting her foster mother know. No dinner and possibly worse depending on Iris's mood.. One of the younger kids received a hard slap across her face once. Another kid got the belt, and one little girl - who was only 7 years old - got 10 slaps on her little hand with a steel ruler. Emma had immediately consoled the kid as soon as Iris had left the room. She had tended to the girl's hand which was red and swollen. Luckily, the ruler somehow hadn't broken the skin, but the poor kid was beside herself with pain and fear. Emma, at 17 years of age, was the oldest kid at home. That meant she would probably get some sort of physical punishment. She had considered sneaking in through her bedroom window, but decided to brave it out and walk in through the front door. As soon as she did, though, a fist landed hard across her face. Iris Turnbull was obviously not in a good mood today.
"You think you can steal from me, you little street rat!?" Iris shouted as she pointed her finger at Emma. "What have I told you kids about stealing from me!?" Spit flew from her mouth and her face was an alarming shade of red.
Emma didn't have a clue what the clearly deranged woman was talking about. She was holding her left cheek as it throbbed away and wondered if her cheekbone was broken.
"I haven't stolen anything from you,'' Emma said through gritted teeth.
"Do not lie to me! I found the money you stole from my purse. You think hiding it under your bed was a good idea? Did you think I wouldn't find out!?"
"That is my money! August sent it to me! " Emma shouted back. It really was Emma's money, but it was the wrong thing to say to an already angry and out of control woman. Emma received another slap across her face on the opposite cheek.
"Why would anyone send you money? I've had money going missing every week for months and I never thought my own kid would be stealing from me! I take you in, put a roof over your head and food in your stomach! I should have never taken you in, you ungrateful girl! Now pack what little you have and get out!"
"What about my money!? I'm not leaving without it! I saved up over $800." Emma was fuming. How could this be happening? All that money was hers. Tears sprung up in her eyes as she stared Iris down.
"Swan, you will leave here right now before I call the cops. You are lucky I didn't call them in the first place. Not get your things and get out!"
So Emma left with just a small backpack and what little possessions she had. On her way out, she spied the tin box, where she stored the money she saved, on the kitchen table. Over $800. Not a lot to the average person, but to Emma, it felt like a million bucks. She made a quick step to the side and reached the box, before Iris knew what was happening, grabbed it and ran out of the kitchen, through the hallway and out the front door before Iris could even think about catching her. Emma was a fast runner and so she ran and ran. She had heard Iris shouting something behind her, but she didn't care. She was now homeless, but at least she got her money back. August would be proud of her.
*END OF FLASHBACK*
Emma shook her head and exhaled a deep breath as she thought back on that day. She remembered she had tried to find August, but she didn't get far. She ended up stealing the Volkswagen Beetle that she was now driving back to New York. That had been her home and how she first met Neal.
Neal. Ha! If she ever saw him again, she honestly didn't know what she would do to him. Was she capable of murder? Neal had conned her and had her take the rap for a bag of watches he had stolen. 11 months! She was in a juvenile correction facility for 11 months, because of him. She now had a criminal record, which she was trying her hardest to redeem. She had taken odd jobs, but realised quickly that she was good at finding people. She even managed to track down August, but they lost touch again after he went abroad to go "find himself." That was about 4 years ago. Now he is in a mental hospital in New York. God, what the hell!
Emma had a long drive ahead of her. She was going to have to break up her journey because no way could she drive for over 16 hours straight
Even if she had someone to share the driving with, which she didn't, she still had a long way to go. She would just have to be ok with being alone with her thoughts for a while.
She wasn't sure how she could help August, but she knew that she had to be there for him just like he was for her all those years ago, before he had aged out of the system and left the group home. He had saved her life that terrible night. A night that still haunted her dreams.
Just before she left, Emma had texted Dr Mills to let her know that she was driving to New York and that she would be there sometime during the next day. Dr Mills wasn't happy with that.
"Miss Swan, I was expecting to see you sooner." Regina sighed, annoyed, and pinched the bridge of her nose.
"Look, Doctor Mills, I have decided to drive as the airline was charging extortionate prices for last minute flights. I am used to driving long distances. Please just accept that I will be there as soon as I can. August isn't in any danger of dying, is he?"
"No. He is in a stable condition in ICU at the moment. His doctor did need to put him in an induced coma, though. I really think you should still be here as soon as possible. Or is he not that important to you?"
Emma was mad. How dare this doctor? But she didn't owe her an explanation. She also didn't want to discuss getting fired and packing her life up in her small car to drive across the country.
"I will be there. Just give me a day or two!" With that, she hung up and started her car. As she drove off, she wondered where she was going to stay. She hadn't really given it much thought until now, too busy thinking about August and getting to New York. She wondered if Ruby was still in Queens with her granny. Maybe she could crash at her place if she could somehow get in touch. Didn't she say she had moved to help her granny run a diner and an inn? She would try to get in touch with Ruby on her way to the city.