Chapter 12: One Might Suspect

The Snow Queen smiles to herself as she exits the Blanchard/Nolan loft, baby, in her arms. She pocketed the chunk of ice that now had Emma's parents trapped inside of it. She sweeps out onto the street and remains in the shadows for the time being. She may have eliminated some of her threats, but not all of them and all eyes would still be looking for her.

She looks fondly down at the baby in her arms. Being a foster mother for so many years had left a soft spot for young ones in her heart and Prince Neal was no exception. He truly was the son of Prince Charming, the infant looked just like him. The little one sucks on his fist contently, slumbering in Ingrid's arms. She may have a place for this child once the spell had run its course. He was the product of true love and would likely grow to have similar powers when awakened at the right moment. But for now, he would merely be in the way.

She looks down at the crystal around her neck. She knew there wasn't much magic left in it, but it should be enough for her to disguise herself and to put the baby in the care of someone for the time being. She continues along the back streets until she reaches the usual hang out of the heroes. She spies her target inside and touches the gem around her neck. She becomes Snow White, complete with the pure red lips and short sleek hair. She also conjures up Neal's baby bucket and places him inside. She then enters the restaurant.

"Hello Crystal," Ingrid disguised as Snow says.

The girl looks up at the mayor of the town. She's sipping one of Granny's famous milkshakes while trying to figure out how to save Killian from her father. She was trying to use her magic to change the threatening text message he sent back to what it was before and show it to Belle, hoping then that she would believe her step-daughter and do something about it.

"Oh, hey Snow, and hi Neal," the girl leans down to look at the baby in the carrier. She touches the baby boy's cheek fondly.

"I was wondering if you could do me a favour?"

"Sure, what do you need?"

"Well, David and I were hoping that we could leave Neal with you for a couple of hours to take a walk along the seashore."

"S-Sure, but why so suddenly. Shouldn't Neal be in bed soon?"

"He has an irregular sleep schedule right now so he's up at all hours of the night," Ingrid says thinking quickly. Her hand shakes impatiently, knowing she has to unload the baby soon before the spell wears off. "I was actually hoping that you could take him home and put him to bed afterward. You do have a key to the loft, don't you?"

Rumpel's daughter raises her eyebrow for a moment. "Yes, but..."

"Well, David and I just need a couple hours of just us. With the whole fiasco with Emma and the Snow Queen, we really just need some quiet time to reflect."

"Okay, sure I can take him for a few hours," Crystal says. She reaches over to take the baby bucket from his mother. Their skins touch for a brief moment and it sends chills up the girl's spine. Snow's hand was unusually cold. "Have fun then. I'll see you guys when you get back."

"Absolutely," Ingrid says. "Goodbye Crystal." She leans down and coos. "Goodbye, my little prince."

She then swiftly exits the restaurant without another word... very swiftly from where Crystal was standing.

The daughter of the Dark One can sense something isn't quite right. Everything about that interaction was wrong. Snow didn't seem like herself; she didn't really smile during the conversation, she was cold to the touch, she's leaving her precious son with the Dark One's daughter (not that this should be a problem) and she left without kissing him goodbye.

The girl stares down at the baby, he looks perfectly fine, he makes soft noises as he sleeps. Crystal scoops him up and notices he's not even strapped into the bucket, which again is extremely weird. She looks him over carefully and notices that his jumper is slightly wet. Thinking this might be a diaper problem, Crystal is about to take him to the bathroom when she realizes something else… Snow didn't leave her with a diaper bag, or a bottle in case he gets hungry. Nothing…

She takes a deep breath and tries to come up with an explanation. Maybe Snow is so frazzled that she's forgotten some things… or maybe it was a spur of the moment thing by David, but no mother would leave someone with her child without the proper materials to care for him or her, even Snow White.

"Something is wrong…" she mutters to herself. She looks down at Neal in her arms, then picks up the baby carrier and snaps her fingers.

…

Emma checks her phone again. Killian still hasn't responded. She knew he was new to the technology thing, which is why she called him several times instead of sending a text message, but he hasn't picked up. They agreed to meet down by the docks and spend some time together, watching the sunset before getting back to helping Elsa and defeating the Snow Queen.

"You have reached the voice mailbox of… Killian Jones… at the tone please record your message, when you are finished recording you may hang up or press pound for more options…"

Emma hangs up her phone again and sighs. The sunset is long gone by now and the wind is beginning to pick up.

It was very unlike him to just skip out on a date like this. She knew that Killian liked her, a lot it seemed, he would do anything to please her, which was a dramatic change to her previous relationships and she was still getting used to it. Sure, she had been reluctant to go out on a date with him before, but they had had a wonderful time and she had to admit, the pirate had grown on her significantly from the time she'd tied him to the tree back in the Enchanted Forest. He was winning her heart like he promised, but she was still trying to get where he was. And yet, it hurt that he wasn't here, that she couldn't hold his hand and give him a soft kiss on the lips. It felt, wrong.

She walks down to The Jolly Roger and sees that there isn't a soul on board. No lanterns are lit, his quarters are dark and the masts of the ship still billow in the night air, having not been touched since the morning. She walks along the gangplank and up onto the ship. She uses her magic to light the deck for herself, giving the ship a more familiar glow. Her eyes go up towards the wheel and then back towards the bow. Nothing, a ship without its captain. She goes over to the opposite end and stares at her reflection in the water. The moon casts a white light into the water behind her.

"Oh Emma," she says to herself. "What happened to you? One minute you're a nobody living in Boston trying to hunt down clients, the next you're a saviour living in Storybrooke trying to defeat a human snow blower?"

She'll admit that she loves her parents, brother, Henry and even Regina and she had similar feelings for Hook, but she missed how simple her life could be when the worst thing about she had to worry about was trying to chase down a suspect while wearing two-inch heels.

Suddenly, her phone buzzes in her pocket. Her heart skips a beat, hoping that it was Killian, calling to explain why he never showed up, but instead, the caller ID reads, Crystal.

"Hey Crystal, what's up?"

"Emma, you need to come home right now."

"Why what's wrong?"

"I'm not a 100% sure but as far as I can tell, your parents were either trying to make an indoor ice rink or the Snow Queen just paid them a visit…"