"So…you and Captain Hook?"
"I'd appreciate it if we didn't have this chat now."
"Why's that?"
"Because I don't want to discuss my new relationship whilst trying to break into a crypt?"
"Oh, okay. Fair enough."
"Aha!" she cheered quietly, a grin spreading across her face as she heard the lock on the large heavy door click open. "It's all in the tumblers."
Graham beamed back at her and handed over her flashlight as she rose to her feet and the two of them slid through the doors into the creepy looking vault.
Regardless of the awkward situation in which Graham had his memories returned to him, the relationship between the him and Emma had only gotten stronger since then. Emma would even have gone so far as to say he'd become a very good friend; which was almost unheard of for her as she didn't usually do the whole friend thing.
Hence the reason why she was helping him break into the Mills family crypt in the Storybrooke graveyard in search of his heart. Creepy or what…
"It's got to be in here somewhere," Graham murmured quietly, looking around the pitch black with only the two beams of light from the flashlights to guide them as he started looking through around. "There's gotta be a hidden door. A lever…something."
Emma stood watching him at the doorway, praying that they wouldn't get caught, really apprehensive about touching anything in case she'd leave her fingerprints on anything.
"Graham, this doesn't feel right…we need to get out," Emma replied cautiously, watching him as his actions got even more erratic in desperation. "I don't think there's anything in here."
"There has to be. And if there isn't, then—"
"Hang on…" Emma suddenly interrupted him, shining her torch on the single coffin inside the small building. "Are those finger marks in the dust?"
Both Graham and herself then knelt down on the floor at eye level to the marks and then realised that there were also scrapes along the stone floor indicating that someone had in fact repeatedly over time been pushing and sliding the heavy coffin backwards and forwards. Being very careful to only put her hands in the same place as already on the coffin, she pushed with all her might and much to hers and Graham's surprise a flight of stairs appeared leading downwards, lit by an ominous blue glow.
"Emma, it's down there. I know it," Graham insisted, barely pausing for thought before disappearing at full speed down the steps.
"Graham, wait!" Emma hissed worriedly before throwing all caution to the wind and following him. There was no way of getting out of this now if they got caught.
"The psychotic bitch brought it with her!" he shouted once he reached the bottom, giving Emma the chance to catch up, his face a combination of disgust but also excitement.
"Brought what?" she asked once she'd reached the bottom of her stairs before seeing what he was looking at. "Shit…is that…?"
"Her collection of hearts? Yeah, it is. And I know exactly where mine is."
He swiftly walked towards the wall covered in small boxes, threw the black curtain out the way and went straight for the drawer that he knew contained his heart. In less than a couple of seconds he managed to prise it open, lift the lid of the chest inside and shakily remove the heart.
"I've got it!"
"Great, now let's get out of here before Regina catches us," Emma insisted, nervously looking up the stairs, expecting to see the evil woman standing at the top ready to close the gap and seal them down there to starve to death.
Graham didn't reply, he simply nodded and briskly followed Emma back up to ground level. They had barely pushed the coffin back in place when they heard a voice call from outside.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?!"
Emma tried her best to put an innocent face on before stepping outside if the crypt and turning to face the clearly pissed off Mayor who was stood looking at them expectantly with a bouquet of flowers in her hand.
"What are you doing here?" she replied in fake confusion, clearly playing dumb was going to be their best option.
"Bringing flowers to my Father's grave, like I do every Wednesday," Regina snapped in reply, almost certainly seeing Emma's futile attempt to mask their true reasoning.
"Don't blame her," Graham quickly interjected, seeing the argument coming before the accusation left Regina's lips. "It's my fault. I wanted to look in there."
"Really? Why?" Regina replied, her tone much more light and friendly when she was addressing her supposed fuck buddy. "What were you looking for?"
"Nothing," he said tiredly, walking closer towards her, managing to slip his heart into Emma's hand as he brushed past her to get to the other woman. "It was, uh…it was nothing."
Emma was so shocked that she had a freaking human heart in her hands that she nearly dropped it, but she got a grip at last minute and managed to slip it up the sleeve of her jacket, making it look like she was just trying to keep her hands warm.
"You don't look well, dear," Regina observed, her eyes scanning calculatedly across Graham's features and seeing the stress and strain he was under. "Let's take you home," she insisted when he didn't reply, reaching out to grab his hand to guide him away like he was an incapable toddler.
Graham immediately pulled out of her grip, almost babbling nervously as he did. It was like his two identities were fighting against each other about how to feel about the woman in front of him who was the sole reason why he was stuck without a heart inside his chest. "No, I…I don't want to go home. Not with you."
Emma's eyes widened in surprise and then flickered rapidly between Graham and Regina as they started some form of stare off. The situation had just taken an even more awkward and uncomfortable turn and it did not settle well with her. There was no way to tell now what the outcome would be.
"Oh?" Regina finally replied, actually looking a little bit hurt as well as affronted and shocked at his words. "But you'll go with her?"
"Hey, this is between you two. Leave me out of it," Emma quickly interrupted, not sure if it was a good thing or not that Regina merely suspected there was something going on between them romantically, instead of sussing out immediately that Graham was no longer trapped under the curse's mind-wipe.
"She's right," Graham added, but neither of them missed the evil and fiery look the Mayor sent Emma regardless to their comments. "It's between us," he carried on, trying to get her attention, "And things have to change."
"And I wonder why that is all of a sudden," she replied angrily, a cold snarl on her face.
"It has nothing to do with her!" Graham insisted taking a step closer to Regina so he was almost forming a human barrier between her and Emma. "You know, I've realised that I don't feel anything, Regina. And I know now it's not me. It's you."
Emma was suddenly aware of the angle they were going for here and prepared to act her butt off when the anger of the woman in front of her returned on her at full force she'd be ready to fight back without giving the game away.
"So, you're leaving me for her?" she said almost monotonously, her face suddenly void of any emotion—which was definitely not a good sign at all.
"I'm leaving you for me," he corrected, refusing to take even a step backwards, refusing to let Regina feel like she controlled every situation she wanted like everyone was just a pawn in the great scheme of things.
"Graham, you're not thinking straight," she replied in a way that was scarily half flirtatious and half threatening.
"Actually, for the first time, I am. I'd rather have nothing than settle for less. Nothing is better than what we have. I need to feel something, Regina, and the only way to do that is to give myself the chance."
Emma was unable to hide the proud smile that flashed across her face at his words; he was doing the right thing and there was no way that this was over yet that easily, but at least he'd been able to say his piece.
"Graham…" Regina said pleadingly, taking a step towards him and moving to hold onto his jacket, but he stepped back in retaliation as if her touch had physically burned him.
"I'm sorry. It's over."
At his final words, Regina gasped quietly and for the first time ever Emma saw true weakness and vulnerability in the other woman as a few tears escaped from her eyes. "I don't know what I ever did to you, Miss Swan to deserve this. To have you keep coming after everything I hold dear."
"I told you, it's not her," Graham said as quickly as was humanly possible to cut Emma off before she made some biting remark about how she'd ruined her life that would give the whole thing away.
"None of this happened until she got here," Regina spat furiously, her whole body rigid with rage.
"I'm sorry," Emma started sarcastically, "but have you ever stopped to think that maybe the problem isn't with me? But with you?"
"Excuse me?" she retaliated in a tone that could have killed her five times over if it wasn't for the fact that Regina was not the one in control of this situation.
"Henry came and found me. Graham…kissed me. Both were miserable," she pointed out, her words having just as much bite to them as Regina's did. "Maybe, Madame Mayor, you need to take a good, hard look in the mirror and ask yourself why that is. Why is everyone running away from you?"
She probably should have seen it coming, but yet Regina's fist coming soaring into her face managed to make firm contact, enough to send her flying backwards into Graham who she promptly knocked to the ground as he managed to break her fall.
"Regina!" Graham snapped in shock as Emma collided with him at full force and winded him as they hit the floor.
Emma had barely been on the grass for half a second before she was back on her feet and sending a furious punch of her own at the bitch who just seemed to make everybody's lives a living hell just so she could live in a nice big house, boss everybody around terrorise people—with or without her magic. Not stopping there, she grabbed the other woman from behind, trapping her arms against her sides and then throwing her at full force against the stone of the crypt and pinning her there so she couldn't escape, somehow managing to keep the heart hidden up her jacket sleeve.
"Stop!" Graham yelled, managing to wrench an almost animalistic Emma off Regina before she could do anymore damage, putting some distance between the pair.
Both of them walked away from the other, catching their breath. Regina snatched back the flowers from the ground that she'd dropped when being attacked and Emma mainly focused on reigning in her temper before she lashed out again. She then went to walk straight past the Mayor – who had a bleeding split lip due to her fierce right hook – and barely gave her one last fleeting look before carrying on down the path towards her car.
"Not worth it."
She quietly heard Regina try calling out to Graham one last time, but it was to no avail as she immediately picked up his footprints in the gravel following after her, leaving the twisted and evil woman alone in the graveyard.
"I'm sorry. I don't know what came over me, how I lost my mind," Graham apologised as he passed Emma an ice pack for the nasty cut on her eyelid. "I don't know why I ever thought challenging her was a good idea."
"It's okay," she accepted, taking the pack out of his hand and pressing it to her face, only wincing slightly at the cold. "You were desperate and frustrated…and heartbroken."
At her last statement, Graham felt his eyes drift back to hers and he sighed, knowing that clearly Emma was a lot more perceptive than he'd given her credit for. Regina may have been using him for sex, but he had formed some sort of attachment to her that he'd not been able to explain. Now he knew that attachment was only because she'd had his heart and he was under her command and had been ever since the day he'd spared Snow White's life. Knowing this, however, did not stop the hold she had over him having an effect.
"I don't know why I let myself get caught up with her," he finally sighed in reply, not knowing what else to say to her.
"Graham, don't you dare beat yourself up about this," she insisted, shooting him a look that told him not to test her. "You were cursed, you had no idea she was an Evil Queen, for gods sakes!"
"I should have realised that something was wrong sooner though, Emma," he protested tiredly, taking a perch next to her on the desk she was sitting on.
"And then what? Go around telling people that you're sure the Mayor has your heart locked away in a hidden underground vault?" she asked, raising an eyebrow challengingly, trying to get him to understand that there was absolutely nothing he could have done differently.
"I see your point," he finally admitted, moving to put some antiseptic ointment onto her cut, quickly apologising for her sharp gasp of pain as it made contact with the open wound.
"I felt that."
"Don't. You'll make me jealous."
"You're ridiculous," she laughed when it finally registered what he was getting at.
"And you're the kind of woman I know I need to avoid getting into fist fights with," he returned with a laugh of his own. "I will forever remember the moment when you punched the Evil Queen in the face and split her lip…"
"Killian will be devastated when he finds out he missed a fight," she found herself saying with a fond smile, shaking her head in amazement as the reality really sank in that she'd physically drawn blood from the woman who had tried to ruin her life. It was nowhere near payback, but it had still felt pretty damn satisfying.
"I'm glad that, regardless of everything, you managed to find happiness, Emma," Graham said suddenly, the mood within the room changing drastically. "I can tell that Hook's just as good for you as you are for him."
"Graham, we don't have to talk about this if you don't want to," she replied, not wanting to rub it in his face about how much of a shambles his love life was in.
"It's fine," he brushed her off with a shrug, moving to stand to put his jacket back on. "I just wanted to let you know I'm happy for you."
"Where has all this come from all of a sudden?" she pressed, feeling herself get suspicious.
He sighed and sat back down next to her before finally meeting her eyes. "She's going to be really mad, Emma."
"Who? Regina?"
"Yes. She may not have my heart hidden away where only she can find it anymore, but I've royally pissed her off and I can guarantee the first thing she'll go to do now is look for my heart with the intent of crushing it," he explained quietly, his eyes haunted and concerned.
"But she can't do anything because we have your heart nice and safe away from her," Emma replied, confused as to why he was still worried.
"She may not have magic here, but she still wields more power than anybody. She can still do terrible things without my heart and without her magic," he said cautiously, picking up his heart off the desk and holding it to his chest almost as if he was imaging it was back inside him where it belonged.
"Don't say that!" she responded quickly, standing to put her own jacket back on and letting her hair down from the ponytail she'd secured it in so he could treat her cut. "You'll be fine. We'll all be fine. She may be in for a nasty shock, but there's nothing she can do about it now. Look, I'm gonna head home now, but I will see you in the morning."
"Sure thing, Deputy Swan." Graham managed a small smile before holding his heart out for her to take. "Will you keep this somewhere safe for me until we figure out how to put it back? It's much safer with you than it is with me."
"I mean, sure, if you think that's the best idea," Emma replied with a shrug, reaching out to take the heart off him, still a little freaked out by it. "It feels weird."
"There's no need to be rude," he said in mock offence. "Remember that's my heart, Emma. Please be gentle with it."
"I'm afraid I don't do gentle," she laughed in reply. "Just ask Killian."
"I feel like that's information that should remain classified between you and the pirate."
"I thought you wanted the juicy gossip?"
"Emma, I'm not a teenage girl at a sleepover, I'm a trained killer."
"And I'm a Fairytale Princess."
Graham snorted and rolled his eyes at her affectionately. "Get going, you. Before Hook comes looking for you."
"Yes boss!" she replied with mock bow, grabbing her car keys off her desk. She was half way out the door when Graham called back to her.
"Oh and Emma?"
"Yeah?"
"Thank you. I would never have found my heart without your help."
"Don't thank me yet, we still need to figure out how to put it back inside you without surgery," she reminded him.
"I know, but we're half way there. It's closer than I would be right now if you didn't believe in me and in all this. I'd probably be dead right now after the showdown we just had with Regina if we hadn't found it," he said in a voice that was almost way too calm to be talking about his own death.
"Well you're not dead and everything's fine. You're not getting out of the nightshifts that easily," she retorted with a snort.
Graham laughed at her and shook his head in amazement, "I'm glad to hear that you've got your priorities straight."
"Graham, I swear, you put me on the nightshift and you can deal with the murderous wrath of Captain needy-pants complaining to you all the way into the afterlife about me not being at home."
"That does sound quite unpleasant."
"Definitely. So, don't you dare plan on dying anytime soon, okay?"
"I'll try my best. Goodnight Emma."
"Night, Graham."
"Emma, is that you, love? How did the search go with Humbert? You're back very late," Killian called out to her after hearing the from door close from where he'd been sat downstairs on the couch waiting for her return.
"Yeah, sorry it took so long. We ran into a few issues," she replied, kicking off her boots at the door before walking into the living room and sinking into the couch cushions next to him. "But we got it," she said, handing him Graham's heart.
"That's great, Swan!" he grinned, turning the heart over between his hand and hook. "It's a weird feeling, isn't it? Holding a heart."
"I got so creeped out when Graham passed it to me, I wanted to drop it."
"It's a good job you didn't, the poor man's heart is already mangled enough due to the Queen."
"It worries me, Killian," she said suddenly, her voice quiet and unsure. "I feel completely sick…if she had Graham's heart at her disposal, how many others does she have too? We have to find a way to end this."
"We will, love, I swear it," he insisted, putting down the heart, pulling her body against his, holding her close so he could press a kiss to her forehead. "We will find a way to defeat her."
"We need to do it before anybody gets hurt. I know she claims to love him, but I'm terrified that she'll hurt Henry just to destroy me," she almost growled lowly, moving to stand so she could march into the kitchen to pour herself a strong drink.
"I know she's a monster, but every monster has its weakness," Killian said passionately, following her and accepting the glass she held out for him to take, "and I would bet my life on the fact that your boy is the only thing that makes her life truly worth living."
"When I gave Henry up I was hoping and praying that he would end up in a normal, happy family where he would grow up safe and loved. Instead he ended up on his own with the woman who was determined to destroy our family," she sighed, letting her legs give way and slide down onto the hard kitchen floor, her back against the cabinet.
"But it enabled him to find his way back to you," Killian pointed out, moving to sit next to her. "And he's a wonderful lad, so I wouldn't beat yourself up about it. You did what you thought was best."
"I wish I'd been strong enough just to raise him on my own," she admitted, downing her drink and reaching up behind her on the counter to bring down the whole bottle so she could start drinking from that. "I wish I'd never given him away."
"Everything happens for a reason, love," he insisted, "if you'd have done that, you'd probably never have been reunited with your family."
"And I'd have never met you," she realised slowly, downing another generous mouthful of the burning alcohol.
"Aye, that too," he agreed, taking the bottle from her so she didn't finish off the whole thing. "What you've got to remember is fate is playing a large part in all this chaos. You're the saviour. You will break the curse. It's just a matter of finding out how."
"Well what do you suggest?" she asked tiredly, desperately hoping that he had more ideas than she did.
He groaned and winced, downing his glass of rum in one go before replying, knowing what he was about to say before the words left his mouth. "Unfortunately, a good place to start would be to visit to the Dark One first thing tomorrow morning."
"Well it's official; our landlord is a grade A asshole."
"I don't know what one of those is, but it sounds bad, so I'm going to have to agree with you."
"Where the hell are we even supposed to find his kid?! And who names a child 'Baelfire' anyways?!"
Emma stormed away from Gold's shop in frustration, marching directly for Granny's. Maybe a cocoa would make her feel less murderous about the situation. Killian followed behind her, deep in thought before he suddenly had an idea and reached for her hand to halt her speed-walking.
"Swan, I've got an idea. If this works, we could be well on our way to breaking the curse!" he announced, grinning.
"Great," she replied, amazed he'd come up with a solution so fast. "What's the idea?"
"Meet me back at home in an hour or so, I'll come bearing a solution, I swear," he promised, leaning forwards to kiss her on the check before he turned and made a beeline for the docks.
She half-heartedly called after him in confusion, absolutely not enjoying being left out of the loop, but made no move to chase after him. Clearly, he knew what he was doing and so she would just have to sit and wait for him to come back and share his plan.
Deciding she still wanted and needed a hot cocoa with cinnamon, she carried on the way she'd been going initially and headed towards Granny's.
"Hey Emma!" Henry shouted, running towards her from the direction of the Mayor's house.
"Hey kid," she replied tiredly, as he fell into step next to her as they walked up the front path to the diner.
"Are you okay?" Henry immediately asked, taking one look at her crestfallen expression and drooped shoulders. "Where's Killian?"
"Killian's gone to his ship, I think," she replied, pushing open the door and gesturing for Henry to go in before her, trying to avoid answering his initial question as she didn't believe swearing at her ten-year old was a good idea.
"Two cocoas coming up!" Ruby called to the duo with a wink as soon as she saw them enter the building, shooing them into a booth before they could order for themselves.
"Thanks Ruby," Emma smiled, taking a seat whilst desperately trying to avoid Henry's observant gaze, the fact that he'd figured there was something wrong instantly not making her feel very confident in her acting abilities. She could never hide anything from him.
Henry was about to open his mouth to interrogate her, but they were interrupted again by the arrival of their drinks. They both thanked Ruby again before she flounced off.
"Emma—"
"Henry, I need to tell you something."
Emma had just finished telling Henry as calmly as possible about the task they'd been set by Gold in order to gain his help, and he seemed to be sitting and processing it in silence, thoughtfully sipping at his drink that was now the perfect drinking temperature.
"What do you think, kid?" she pressed, a bit deterred by his sudden quietness.
"Will you be gone long?" he asked suddenly, looking up at her with his big eyes.
"We'll be as fast as we can. I mean, we're not going anywhere just yet, we need a plan first," she explained, trying not to get her hopes up at the sadness that took over his face at the thought of her being away for a while.
"I'm sure Killian has a great plan already underway," he replied confidently, a smile taking over his face at the mention of the Captain. "He told me he'd take me sailing at some point soon, do you think we could maybe go before you guys leave?"
"You'll have to ask him, but I'm sure he'd be cool with that."
"I wish I could come with you," he said wistfully with a sigh. "Instead I get left with the Evil Queen for however long you're gone."
"Hey, what about Operation Cobra? Just because me and Killian aren't here won't mean things come to a stop," she replied quickly, trying to cheer him up again. "David and Mary-Margaret will still be here, I'm sure they'd love to spend some time with you."
"Do you think Grandma will teach me how to fire an arrow?" he asked excitedly.
"Um…possibly?" she replied cautiously, not wanting to make any promises. "Maybe you could ask David to teach you some sword skills?" that sounded safer than firing a bow and arrow along the beach where Archie liked to walk Pongo at weird hours of the day.
"Nah, Killian's going to start giving me sword fighting lessons," he babbled excitedly. "He told me he was a better fighter than Grandpa because pirates aren't afraid to fight a little dirty and that'll give me an advantage over all other Princes and Knights and stuff!"
"Killian offered to do that?" she asked a little surprised, not aware of just how close Henry and Killian had got during the time they had spent together so far.
"Yeah, how awesome is that? Being taught to fight by Captain Hook!" he grinned, finishing off his cocoa and relaxing back into the booth.
"So…" she started after a moment to let the mood settle a little, but a bit unsure how to go about what she wanted to ask, "You like Killian? You don't mind that we're together?"
"Why would I mind? It's so cool! Maybe one day I'll get to have Captain Hook as my step-dad!" he exclaimed happily. "He's not what I expected from the book at all though, he's really sappy."
Emma couldn't help but to laugh at the truth in Henry's comment as she thought of all the times in the last few weeks that Henry had played messenger, bringing Emma food to work, random gifts, flowers etc. For a fierce, pirate Captain, he was a hopeless romantic and it was kind of endearing but also hilarious to see Henry show up to the station weighed down by an extravagant floral arrangement for her desk or a colossal sized takeaway bag from Granny's containing all her favourites.
Emma was so lost in her own mind that she took almost too long to register that Henry was talking again.
"Can you tell me about him?"
"Who?" she asked in confusion, sipping at her cocoa.
"My Father."
Emma nearly spat her hot chocolate out over the table she was so shocked at the sudden change of topic. When she didn't immediately reply, Henry spoke again.
"I told you about your parents, now you're living with them both."
"I didn't really get a choice in the matter…" she murmured, thinking about the sudden occurrence of both her mother and father fussing over her like she was still a baby. Snow had even taken cringe-worthy photos before they left for hers and Killian's first official date and everything the other night…it was positively horrific.
"Please?" he begged, looking up at her desperately and she sighed, knowing there was no way she could deny him this, knowing all too well how frustrating it was growing up herself not having a clue who she was and where she had come from.
"I was pretty young. I'd just gotten out of the foster system and I ended up on the streets for a while by myself. I was—kid, are you sure you want to her this?" she asked with a sigh, it wasn't the fairy-tale he was probably expecting or hoping to hear.
"I'm sure," he insisted adamantly. "Go on?"
"Well, I met your Dad when I was trying to steal a car. I got half way down the road before he sprung up from the back seat, scaring the life out of me and said I could have just asked for the keys."
"You stole my Dad's car?!"
"Kinda… see, he'd already stolen it. So, I storta stole a stolen car…"
Henry's face went through a range of different emotions within the space of about five seconds, but eventually settled on shock.
"So, you and my Dad were bandits together?"
Emma couldn't help but to laugh, trust Henry to try and make a fairy-tale out of everything. But he had to know the full truth, otherwise there was no point in this. Her life had been everything but a fairy-tale.
"We lived in that car together, stealing and doing everything we could to not get caught. We had plans to get a real place, start a life together…but then he set me up to take the fall for a crime he committed and I ended up in jail, all alone…and pregnant."
Henry, moved to slide in next to her on her side of the booth and moved closer so he could wrap his arms around her in the best way that he could. "My Dad was the reason you went to prison?"
"Yeah, kid…I'm sorry I don't have a better story to tell you. It sucks. My life sucked. Well, it did until you came and found me, anyways," she smiled sadly, trying to prevent a few tears from falling, but failing spectacularly.
"Was I born in jail?" he asked inquisitively in a tone that refused to let Emma know whether he thought that was a good thing or not.
"Yeah," she sighed after a second, not wanting to either lie or evade telling him everything that he deserved to know. "I wish I could have raised you, you know…But I didn't have anything to give you… all I had was the clothes I'd been arrested in and a set of car keys that I knew belonged to the car we'd been living in…"
"I get it, it's okay," Henry assured her confidently, squeezing her even more tightly. "I understand why you gave me away. And it doesn't matter, we have each other now, and that's what counts."
"How did you get so wise?" she asked, trying to lighten the mood, giving him a playful shove.
He merely grinned up at her and shrugged nonchalantly. "Easy. I am your son after all."
Emma wasn't able to help a small sob leaving her lips as it really sunk in for the first time that he really didn't harbour any ill feelings or resentment towards her for what she did—he truly understood her reasoning and accepted it. He really was a great kid.
"Hey, shouldn't you be getting to school right around now?" she remembered suddenly, shooing him up out of the booth and he sighed dramatically.
"Okay, fine, I'm going! Can I come by later? I wanted to talk to Killian about the whole sailing thing."
"Sure thing," she replied, grabbing his bag and passing it to him. "You can come round anytime, Henry, you know that."
"I know," he smiled, putting on his backpack. "So… I'll see you tonight?"
"Sure, kid," she smiled fondly, her smile widening even more when he moved closer to give her a hug before he turned to leave the Diner.
He turned at last minute to wave at her and call out: "Bye Mom!", before disappearing out of the door to run for the bus.
Emma sat there, gaping for a good few seconds before it actually processed that he'd called her his mother for the first time. Utterly shocked, she realised see needed to get a grip of herself before she drove anywhere.
"That seemed like progress, if I ever saw it," announced a voice from behind her, making her jump a foot in the air.
"Jesus, Graham! Don't sneak up on me!"
Graham merely laughed and passed her a to-go cup with a smile. "I just bumped into Hook on his way back to your house, he said that if you were still sat in here drowning yourself in cocoa, I was to get you a takeaway one and send you home."
She rolled her eyes and stood up, taking the drink. "He's so demanding sometimes."
"Hey, don't shoot the messenger!" he defended, arms raised. "It's a good thing I ran into you anyways. Things are gonna be quiet today at the station so you might as well take the day off. Whatever Hook needed you at home for sounded important. Also, I still feel awful about last night…so go rest," he demanded, pushing her towards the door.
"Are you sure you don't need help doing rounds or anything?" she checked, just making sure before she went and put her pyjamas on at home.
"I'm positive, now go!" he instructed, shooting her a gaze she knew better than to argue against.
"Okay! Jeez, I'm going!" she laughed, purposefully bumping into him as she walked past. "Have fun playing darts all day on your own."
"Well I have to keep my skills fresh," he joked, sending her a playful wink just before she left. "I have to be better than you at something!"
"So, before you all bite my head off, let me finish explaining, okay?"
"That sounds promising…"
"Charming!"
"Just get on with it, Killian."
"Emma!"
"Thank you, your Majesty," Killian smiled gratefully at Snow, looking between the three faces in the room.
"You said this was urgent, yet you've been stalling for nearly half an hour now," Emma sighed, eyebrow raised questioningly. "You're getting between me and my pyjamas, please talk fast."
"As you wish, darling," he sighed, moving to stand up and fetch something from the kitchen.
"Now where is he going?" David moaned, throwing his hands up in the air and sinking back into the couch in a sulk as he met his wife's disapproving gaze.
"Just wait, David. This seems important."
"Aye, lass. It is important," Killian retorted moving to put a sheet-covered object on the coffee table.
"What's that?" Emma asked, leaning forwards in her chair, almost to try and get a closer look.
Killian stood in front of them all, looking nauseous, almost as if he was planning some great speech that may or may not be the last thing he ever did. "You promise you'll hear my whole tale?"
"Yes," Snow answered for everyone, digging her nails into David's knee subtly to stop him retorting in a negative way. She had not left work early for a 'family emergency' for it to actually turn into one due to high flying tempers.
"Swan?" Killian asked almost nervously, looking at his True Love.
"Sure, how bad can it be?"
"Well…uh…up until the moment I appeared inside your apartment, I had been working with a woman named Cora…"
"You need to leave."
"Snow?"
"The hell?!"
"Please, your highness, let me finish—"
"No!" Snow suddenly exclaimed furiously, moving to her feet, closing in on Killian as if she were half a second away from running him through, credit to him though, he stood his ground. "You don't get to finish, I've heard quite enough."
"This is ridiculous!" Emma interjected quickly, before things could derail any more than they already had. "Who even is this Cora person?"
"She's a monster!" Snow snapped furiously.
"She's Regina's mother," David said after a second, realising that his wife wasn't going to elaborate any more than that.
"You were buddied up with Regina's Mom?!" Emma asked in a dangerously raised voice, turning on Killian with a furious look on her face.
"Love, I was merely using her to—"
"Is that something you do often then? Use people to get what you want?"
"Emma, that was unnecessary…" David commented, not quite sure why he was coming to the pirate's aid, but not wanting him to be too outnumbered before they'd heard his story.
"Are you still working for her now?" she asked after taking a few calming breaths, her eyes moulding into his, ready to pounce if she detected any kind of a lie on his face.
"I wouldn't be helping you take down the Evil Queen if I was," he said tiredly, not shying away from her gaze, knowing exactly what she was doing and knowing he had to prove that he was telling the truth before she'd believe him.
"He's telling the truth," Emma said quietly after staring him down for a long moment, starting to feel awful at jumping into a conclusion that was wrong.
"May I carry on my story? And I think it would be rather beneficial for you all to listen to what I have to say before interjecting again before I reach the end…"
"Sure, Hook," David replied, tugging Snow back down next to him on the couch before she could speak. "Tell us what you know."
"Well I made acquaintances with Cora just before the curse hit that sent you all over to this land. We formed an alliance of sorts that ensure that as long as I agreed to help her get to Regina, she would help me get to the Dark One," he started, starting to pace around the living room as if he couldn't make his feet keep still. "I knew if I tagged along with the curse I wouldn't remember who I was, so how could I enact my revenge? This partnership seemed like the best way to get what I wanted… but, obviously, I was then whisked away by Emma's wish and everything turned out alright in the end."
"What does all this have to do with us finding Gold's son?" Emma asked, not quite sure where his story was going.
"Well, Cora, like her daughter, possessed copious amounts of dark magic and her prised possessions were things she didn't care to leave behind when we eventually found a way to access transportation between worlds. One thing was for certain though, we knew when we eventually found a way, we would be possibly travelling on the Jolly Rodger, so—"
"So, she was keeping her weird, dark and dangerous trinkets on your ship, which is now spontaneously here in Storybrooke?" Emma asked, trying to make sure she was keeping up.
"Aye, love. That's correct," he replied with a nod.
"You don't think she came over with the ship, do you?" Snow asked suddenly as the thought struck her.
"That's impossible. The Crocodile told me the only reason I was able to get here was because of the True Love connection between Emma and myself and the fact that she possesses some of the strongest light magic he'd ever known. Cora would never be able to get to a land without magic using her dark powers… even on a magical flying ship. She probably hadn't even realised I'd disappeared before the Jolly followed me over. She was constantly too busy searching the lands for a method of transportation. It was my job to simply watch the bags."
"And just what was in those bags that was so important?" David questioned, clearly in deep concentration, trying to take in and absorb every word leaving Killian's mouth in case it was vital information they would need later.
"Well, amongst other things, this." He lifted the cloth off of the object on the table and revealed what looked to be a blank globe, like the ones you would find in school classrooms, only without any of the world printed on it.
"What the hell is that?" Emma asked, shifting closer so that she could get a better look at it.
"I believe it's called a 'locator globe'. Cora had it so that when we got to this realm she would be able to locate the exact place when her daughter was," he tried to explain, clearly not too clear how it worked either.
"We may be able to use it to locate Baelfire!" Snow gasped excitedly as she realised just what the globe meant.
"How does it work?" David asked calmly, clearly trying to keep a cool head.
"I believe you merely need a drop of blood from the person to locate them. But as Cora was planning on using her own blood to locate her daughter, I assume the same would work for the Dark One," Killian answered with a confident smile. "I have been searching for this object for weeks, but it wasn't until today when I remembered where Cora had hidden it on-board."
"So, we go to Gold, get him to bleed all over the globe thing and it'll show us where his son is living?" Emma checked and when Killian nodded in confirmation she couldn't hold back the smile that flashed across her face. "This is our chance to win us a favour. We need to go and we need to go as soon as possible. We need to go before Regina realises what we're doing."
"How soon do you want to leave, love?" Killian asked her, completely in agreement that it was a good idea to go sooner rather than later.
"I suggest we call Gold and ask if he can pay us a visit; tell him we have news… there's no reason to wait if we have a plan. The sooner we break the curse, the better," Emma reasoned, already finding Gold's number to dial on her phone. "I'm not leaving my son with that woman for a moment longer than necessary."
Less than two hours later, Emma and Killian had a plan and were ready to go and catch a last-minute flight to New York.
God had been with them within the space of 20 minutes and with him came the answer to where his son was living. He had knowingly provided Killian with a passport without much of an explanation that looked legit, even to Emma's well trained eye and wished them good luck.
The only thing after that had been phoning Graham and telling him she'd be away for a few days. He assured her that he would manage just fine on his own, he had for 28 years before hiring her, it would be the dazzling company he'd be deprived of that would be the biggest travesty.
Henry had dropped by after school to talk to Killian as he had said he would and although he was disappointed his sailing adventure would have to wait a few days, he understood and was excited that they were that little bit closer to breaking the curse. He also seemed to have decided that he was going to address Emma as 'Mom' now as a permanent thing and it didn't escape the notice of everybody in the house.
"Were my ears deceiving me, love, or did your boy directly call you his Mother multiple times back there?" Killian asked, walking into Emma's room as she was adding the last few bits to her suitcase after Henry had left to go back home before Regina sent out a search party.
"Yeah, I think he did," she laughed quietly, still not sure how to process the sudden change in things. "It's crazy, it almost feels even more real now…you know?"
"I understand," he smiled at her, pressing an affectionate kiss on her forehead. "I'd best go pack up my effects before we leave for this new kingdom."
"He kept asking me about his Father earlier." She had blurted the words out before she had chance to process them and Killian had immediately taken her hand and pulled her down so she was sitting on the edge of the bed so he could kneel in-between her legs and look up at her.
"What did you tell him, darling?"
"The truth…and I want you to know too. It's important you know my past, I think..." she said with a sigh, feeling his hand grasp both of her comfortingly. Without a word, she let go of his hand with one of hers and reached for his hook as if it were a hand and briefly pulled a smile onto his concerned face.
"You can tell me anything, Emma. You know you can," he assured her encouragingly.
"Neal was my first love. He was a bit older than me, but I met him almost straight after I left the foster system and I fell for him hard and fast. I went to steal a car and found that he had been living inside it since he stole it from its original owner. We were like a double act, stealing food to stay alive and sleeping in the car, but it didn't matter because we were in love. He promised me we would leave all that life behind and move to Tallahassee; start a real life together with a house and real jobs…but he screwed me over. He set me up to take the fall for him for stealing thousands of dollars' worth of watches. I went to jail. He got away with the watches."
Killian sat and listened to her tale quietly, patiently taking it all in, the look on his face, however, told Emma he already knew where this was all going and he was trying very hard to suppress a thunderous facial expression.
"I was only in jail for a few weeks before I found out that I was pregnant with Henry…I gave birth to him all alone and in handcuffs so I couldn't escape. Neal doesn't even know Henry exists and I intend on keeping it that way."
After she had finished talking, the room fell into silence that seemed almost deafening. Emma was desperate for Killian to say something—anything—but he was very quiet and still and for once completely impossible to read.
"Please say something…"
"Give me a minute, Swan," he replied in a voice that was cold and bare of any emotion, standing up and walking over to the window to look outside over the sea.
Emma watched him silently, feeling about half an inch tall, panic starting to rise in her chest at the thought of more rejection. She had let him in and at that moment she regretted saying every word of it. She desperately fought back tears as well as the fright and flight complex she'd developed after years' worth of trying to protect herself, and desperately clung to the hope that Killian wouldn't be the same as every other man in her life; ready to leave at the first sight of her awful past.
Almost as if Killian could suddenly sense her desperate urge to throw her walls back up, he turned back to her and in one swift motion he had her up on her feet and in his arms, holding her to him tightly as if he was frantically trying to stop her running away.
"It sounds to me I have been seeking revenge on the wrong man…this 'Neal' needs to be punished for the atrocities he committed. He is a man without honour. A disgrace."
"You and your honour," she sniffed in reply, trying for a laugh, but it sounded pitiful, even to her own ears.
"I'm serious, Emma. His behaviour…what he did to you…it makes my stomach turn and my hook itch… if I was the man I was still a few months ago, I wouldn't have hesitated to gut him like a fish, should I ever come across the man," he said through gritted teeth and for the first time, Emma realised he was shaking.
"And now?" she asked quietly, not missing the confession that he was a changed man since he'd met her.
"Now…I would still like very much to maim and injure him…but I would not endanger his life. He is still Henry's biological father after all…and I do not believe Henry would appreciate me poking holes into him."
"You two are getting on really well," Enna commented, grateful he'd managed to find her a brief escape from that particular topic. "He already thinks the world of you."
"And I, him," he confessed with a small smile, clearly trying to get his temper under control. "He's a great lad, smart beyond his years and with such a thirst for knowledge… he reminds me of another boy I met in Neverland many years ago now."
"Really? Who?" she asked curiously, moving to sit back down and pulling him down next to her.
"Baelfire," he confessed with a sigh. "He ran from his father and ended up almost straight on my ship. He wasn't with me long, but he possessed the same gifts your boy does and I opened my heart to him. But when he discovered I was the pirate who had supposedly stolen his mother away and murdered her, things went considerably downhill from there…as you can probably imagine."
"I'm so sorry, Killian. I had no idea you knew Baelfire from another land," Emma replied cautiously. "Is that why you accepted the deal to go and look for him so readily? You want to make amends?"
"Aye, love. Well, that and I was hoping that he might hear me out this time. Milah dreamed of the three of us building a family one day…she'd want me to try one more time with him—if we can find him anyway, that is," he finished with a forced chirpy smile. "You'd better get finished with your packing and I'll meet you downstairs."
"Okay," she replied, allowing him to stand up and head for the door, he was only half way there when she changed her mind. "Wait—"
"Yes, love?" he asked, turning back to face her and was immediately pulled into a kiss before he had chance to register that she was right behind him. He threaded his good hand into her hair and gently returned her kisses, feeling her melt against him as he physically felt all the tension dissolve out of both of their bodies.
"Thank you for listening," she murmured quietly after she pulled away to catch her breath.
"You don't need to thank me, darling. You know I'm here for you and I always will be," he assured her with one final short and sweet kiss. "Now get packing, Swan, we have a missing person to find and a curse to break."
With the car loaded up ready for David to drive them to the airport, Emma decided she wanted to grab a quick drink before they left but she was stopped in her tracks when entering the kitchen to find her Mother stood admiring he unicorn mobile that Gold had given her when they moved in. She had chosen to hang it by the window so that the sun would shine through it, and in that moment, it was reflecting the last light of the afternoon around the room.
"Hey…what are you up to?" Emma asked as she walked up to the window to stand next to Snow.
"This mobile hung above your crib," she answered brokenly, lifting out a hand to lightly spin one of the little blue unicorns. "Uh, it was supposed to hang over your crib," she corrected after a second. Another reminder of the life they had all been deprived of.
"I like the unicorns," Emma found herself replying with a small smile, not sure what else she could have said to make the moment any less painful.
"Giving you up when the curse hit was the hardest thing I've ever had to do," Snow admitted, desperately trying to bridge the gap between herself and the daughter she never got chance to raise.
"I know," Emma assured her, yet again stuck for words that would truly convey how she felt.
"Every time I look at you, I wonder what would've happened if I hadn't had to."
"I do the same thing with Henry," she confessed, not realising until that moment how her own feelings were almost the same ones felt by her own Mother.
"You were doing your best," Snow tried to comfort her. "You were giving him—"
"His best chance," Emma finished for her, already knowing what she was about to say. "Yeah. But still…things would've been very different if I had kept him. We would've had a life together. A normal one. Back in Boston or someplace else. But I guess all that was just not meant to be."
Snow merely smiled sadly and nodded understandingly. "Fate can be a funny thing sometimes. But everything happens for a reason."
"I'm starting to see that, yeah," she laughed quietly, finally grabbing a glass of water and downing it in a few gulps. "Right. Well I'd better get going."
"Of course. Good luck. I know you'll find him," Snow encouraged, moving forwards to wrap her arms around her daughter giving her a fierce hug.
"Thanks Mary-Margaret," she smiled, almost awkwardly returning the hug before stepping out of it.
"You know, Mary-Margaret is a bit formal. You could call me 'Mom', if you wanted," she fumbled, looking at Emma hopefully.
"Oh, I…um, I'm not…I'm not sure that's such a good idea," Emma replied uncomfortably, not sure how to phrase her sentence in a way that made any real sense. "Can you just give me some time? It's all just a lot right now, you know?"
"You call your Father 'Dad'…" Snow said sadly, clearly trying not to push it, but it had obviously been something that had been grating on her for a while.
"Oh…I guess I do…" How on earth she'd not realised that yet, she had no idea, but it was the broken look on her Mother's face that swayed her. "Look, okay…I'll try? I guess if Henry can make the effort to call me 'Mom', I can do the same for you."
"I would really love that," she beamed in return and it almost looked like she was on the borderline of bursting into tears, so naturally Emma decided it was time to get out of there before things got even more awkward.
"Okay, so I'll call you guys when we're settled and stuff in the hotel?"
"That would be lovely and don't worry, we'll watch out for Henry whilst you're out of town," Snow assured her.
"Thanks…Mom."
It felt weird, but the smile that flooded Snow White's face made it almost seem worth it.
"Are you ready, Swan? Your Father is getting rather verbally aggressive towards me and I need rescuing," called Killian's voice from the front door and Emma merely sighed, smiled at her mother once more before grabbing her phone off the table and heading towards her pirate in distress.
It was a damn good job that she was not a traditional princess as her true love needed more of a knight in shining armour to protect him from her overprotective Father on occasion.
"Are you two going to fight the whole way to the airport?" she asked, rolling her eyes as she climbed into the passenger's side of the car, looking between David in the driver seat and Killian, who was spread leisurely across the length of the backseat. "Put your seatbelt on. Nothing will save that pretty face if you go flying through the front screen if we crash."
David sniggered at her words and turned the ignition of the car on as Killian almost pouted as he begrudgingly sat up and strapped himself in.
"I wish you'd be on my side for once, Emma," he grumbled, aggressively clicking the seatbelt together securely.
"I am on your side, you idiot. I just quite like having my boyfriend all in one piece and not in many scattered across the street. You're already missing a limb, please don't go endangering anymore," she replied, having to try really hard not to laugh at him and his sulky behaviour. "Um…do you want me to drive, Dad? You've not even left the drive yet and we do have a plane to catch."
"Yeah, Dave. Do you need a hand?" Killian retaliated smugly, his mood lifting significantly now that he wasn't the only one getting told off by the blonde spitfire.
"No, thank you…I've got it," David replied through clenched teeth, having to try very hard not to bite back at the pirate who was clearly doing everything in his power to press all the right buttons to annoy him. One thing was for sure, he'd enjoy the peace and quiet whilst he was spared of the enthralling company of the infuriating man who would almost definitely one day be marrying into his family. Thank god it was far too soon for any of that though. He wasn't sure his fragile heart could take it.
He remained in a delicate state right up until the point where he witnessed Emma trying to explain to Killian about what an aeroplane was as they climbed out of the car, the loud noise of one flying overhead nearly giving the hooked man a heart attack.
"You want me to get into one of those flying contraptions?!"
"You guys have fun! Call us when you're there safely! Goodbye!" David beamed enthusiastically, even giving them both a cheerful wave as he pulled out of the car park, leaving the pair of them squabbling outside the front entrance of the airport.
Even though they were clearly off to a rocky start, David had no doubt that they would return within the week with Baelfire in tow and therefore leverage on how to break the curse. But for now, he was simply going to enjoy having a quiet few days with his wife and maybe spend some time trying to convince his grandson that he would be a far superior fighting teacher than Captain Hook—who he was sure was a cheater, ever since he'd lost to him in their duel for the comfiest armchair the week before…