Hey, guys! Here's another chapter. I hope you enjoy!
Quiet Minds
Emerlyn sat at a table for two in Granny's as the group of gathered adults—Emma, David, Mary Margaret, Regina, and Killian—began to discuss their findings at the farmhouse. From what Emer had gathered, it sounded like the Dark One was somehow alive.
How that was possible… well, none of them had figured it out yet,
"I went all over that farmhouse and the land around it," Emma said breathlessly to the group. "Nothing."
"Well, now that the sun's up, we should hit every place Gold might go," David suggested quickly. "His house, his shop, his cabin."
"'Cause dead men love vacation homes," Emma said sharply before she looked over the group. "Can someone explain to me how this is even possible? We all saw Gold. He..."
"Disappeared into nothingness, I know," Mary Margaret agreed.
Emer watched all adult eyes trail on Regina for an answer for a moment before Killian spoke up with, "I might have an inkling."
Emer raised an eyebrow at her father in surprise.
Emma looked at him expectantly.
Killian began to explain. "When we went back to the Enchanted Forest, Neal was talking about the possibility of getting his father back."
"You think Neal did this?" Emer asked in shock. She couldn't imagine Neal dabbling in magic as dark as that.
Killian nodded slightly, his eyes soft on his daughter, like always. She still hadn't forgiven him, or even given him the chance to explain himself fully, but she was softening toward him little by little. "I'm not sure how he did it, if it was him," the pirate continued. "He didn't know how he'd do it. He just… He missed his family. And he was desperate to find a way to return to this world. He believed that bringing his father back was the key."
Emer had to bite back a bitter comment. At least he had been trying to get back to his family, instead of leaving it behind.
Killian could see the thought flash across his daughter's expression without the use of words, and he flinched like she'd hit him with a large stick.
No one else seemed to notice.
"Well, if that was his plan, then obviously something went wrong," Emma said quickly, her tone growing more urgent with every sentence. "Because while Gold might be alive and kicking, Neal is… He's… We don't know what he is. We don't even know if he made it back to Storybrooke. No one's seen him since this new curse."
"He's out there, somewhere," David assured quickly.
"With all due respect," Regina interjected, "we have bigger issues right now than who brought Gold back. The fact that he was in the Wicked Witch's basement, for one. I wanna know what the hell she was cooking up with him."
"Well, the best way to find that out would be to ask Gold, right?" Mary Margaret suggested.
"He could tell us who the Witch is," David agreed, "maybe how to track her down."
"I'm gonna head back to that farmhouse," Regina said as she stood up and pushed in her chair. "It's possible this witch left behind some trace of potion or special ingredient."
"Have at it," Emma agreed. "Just be careful."
Regina smirked and nodded. "Well, she's the one who needs to be careful. She invaded my space. And when I return the favor, I'm not pulling any punches."
Emer looked around the pawn shop carefully. There was so much stuff. Baubles and trinkets and little things that she couldn't even begin to explain. She could never get used to it in there; it was all so cluttered to her untrained eye, but she knew there was an underlying order she just couldn't understand. Everything had a place, and everything was in its place.
But that made her feel no less uneasy about what was hiding in the cases.
"So… Rumple's alive?" Belle asked in shock as she held a thin strand of gold spun from straw. "How… How is that possible?"
"We were hoping you'd be able to tell us that," Emma admitted softly. "You know him and the shop better than anyone. If he's in Storybrooke, there has to be a clue in here about how he got back, or how we can find him, not that he is."
Belle nodded quickly. "Yeah, I'll start looking right away."
"Keep your eyes out for him, too," David added quickly. "If he comes into town, he'll—"
"He'll come to me," Belle finished softly, smiling a little. "Yeah, I know."
Emer glanced at her father as she waited for him to share the news—Belle was going to be joined in her search by the pirate and the Lost Girl.
Killian looked absolutely thrilled to share the news, taking a deep breath and plastering on a fake smile. "My daughter and I will stay here with you."
Emer snorted. He could've stood to sound a little less pained over it.
Belle looked back at him in shock.
"We're surprisingly good at research," Killian explained simply.
"You will stay with me?" Belle asked in disbelief. "I can understand Emerlyn, but…"
Killian nodded, not looking too happy about the prospect himself. He wasn't the type to choose research over action.
Neither was Emerlyn, but as long as she was helping, she didn't mind. And she had never minded books and charts and things of the sort.
Emma nodded slightly to Belle. "He'll protect you if the Witch comes. And Emer will be a good set of extra hands to help you."
"You do know he tried to kill me?" Belle asked, her tone and expression still disbelieving.
"I didn't know that," Emerlyn protested quickly, frowning at her father.
Killian smiled a little sheepishly at the both of them. "Well, there were extenuating circumstances."
"Twice?" Belle asked with both eyebrows raised.
Killian kissed his teeth before looking at her with a charming smile. "Sorry?"
Emerlyn hid her face in her hands to muffle a groan. "Quite the charmer you've become, Papa."
Killian looked at his daughter, offended and surprised at the sharpness of her tongue. He wasn't sure why. Between his attitude and what her mother's once had been, it was a wonder the child ever said anything without sarcasm. He just hadn't been expecting it in that moment.
He turned back to Belle. "This will be my way of making it up to you. Hmm?"
Belle sighed a little, though she flashed Emer a quick smile before she did. "Fine."
"Alright, we should really get out to the woods," Emma said quickly, turning to the other two adults in Mary Margaret and David.
David caught Mary Margaret first, though. "Hey, maybe you should stay home."
"Me?" the pregnant woman asked in shock. "I'm the best tracker here."
"I know," David assured quickly. "But we'll manage. Remember what Zelena said. You need your rest."
Mary Margaret looked at her daughter for help, but Emma only shrugged.
The Savior stepped toward Belle one more time and called her name to get her attention. "Thank you for your help," she said after the dark haired woman turned. "And don't worry, we're gonna find him."
"Okay," Belle said quietly. "Thank you."
Emer searched the bottoms of the bookshelves that were harder for the adults to reach while Belle stood on a ladder beside her, reaching the top shelves.
"Careful with the cover on that one," she said as she handed a leather-covered book down to Killian.
He looked up at her with an unamused expression. "Dealing with a hook here," he reminded.
Emer pushed to her feet when they heard rattling at the door, looking toward it with a furrowed brow as she placed her book flat on its back cover on the edge of the shelf. She slipped around the ladder, careful not to walk beneath it for fear of bad luck—superstitions never really left you when you grew up on the high seas—as Belle moved down it.
"It's him," Belle called in a voice of growing excitement. "It's Rumple."
Emer slipped out after her, sock feet slick on the hardwood. She'd taken off her shoes for the search, still not quite used to the thick soles of her winter boots. Mary Margaret and Killian had done what they could to make sure she had a pair that were good for traction since she wasn't used to snow and ice, especially on concrete.
Killian was right behind her, steadying his daughter carefully with a little help from Belle when she almost slid too far.
She looked at them both a little sheepishly and thankfully before they all turned their attention back to the barricaded door, where someone or something was trying to force there way in with violent thump after thump.
When they fell through, it wasn't Rumplestiltskin.
It was Neal.
Emer and Belle both rushed to his side as he collapsed into the door, unconscious.
Emer was standing beside Killian, out of the way in the hospital room where they'd hooked him into a tube that Belle explained was called an IV, meant to help him feel better. She wished she'd come back from the curse knowing all of these things. She loved knowing, but when it came to things that seemed so obvious to everyone else, she hated asking questions.
The only thing that made her feel better about it was that her father was just as clueless as she was most of the time.
"Neal!" Emma called quickly as she rushed inside with her parents. "What happened?"
"I don't know," he admitted, almost like he was half-asleep or hungover. "I remember seeing the yellow Bug cross the town line, and the next thing I know, I'm running around a forest back in Storybrooke, where, apparently, there's been a whole lot going on."
"Are you gonna tell him, or shall I?" Killian said to Emma and her parents with a stone-faced expression.
"Tell me what?" He asked in confusion as he looked between the other adults.
"Neal," David started, "we think your dad's back."
"Back?" Neal asked in shock. "I just watched him die. What do you mean, he's back?"
"Take it easy," Emma said slowly, trying to calm him down before looking at his hand in shock. She grabbed it for a closer look. "What the hell is that?"
It looked like a triangle scarred into his palm, with strange scribblings around each side. It looked like a brand.
"No idea," Neal said simply. "It was there when I woke up."
"Belle," the Savior said as she turned to look at the dark haired woman. "Can you do some more research?"
"Yeah, sure," Belle agreed quickly. "Absolutely."
"I'll send you the picture."
"Okay."
"Guys," Neal said as he looked around to the gathered adults and Emer. "Can we have a minute?"
"Yeah, of course," David agreed quickly.
Killian glanced at Emer and Emerlyn before he left with his daughter.
Neal was tracing the brand on his hand when Hook reentered with Emer, carrying a bowl full of green, jiggly substance that was apparently supposed to be food.
"Thought you could use some sustenance," Killian told Neal as his way to alert him to their entering presence. He tossed the bowl down on the table connected to Neal's bed, and the jelly-like chunks inside jiggled in a very unappetizing way.
"I thought we'd be bringing you real food," Emer tried with a small, apologetic shrug and a nose wrinkled in disgust. "Instead… well, that."
Neal grinned at the two of them. "Nothing like a green blob to get the appetite going."
Emer bit back a laugh, but couldn't stop her smile and nod in agreement.
"Well," Killian said simply, smiling at his daughter's smile. He hadn't seen it much lately. "I gather it has great medicinal properties."
"They put you two on babysitting duty, huh?" Neal guessed with a small sigh. "What, no one trusted me to stay here?"
"Emma's simply concerned about you," Killian told him simply. "She thought it best you weren't out in the cold, running after your father."
"At least they left me with some good company," Neal teased with a smile at Emer.
She smiled back, rolling her eyes. Same old Baelfire.
Neal's expression sobered some as he turned back to Killian. "Thank you, by the way."
Killian cocked his head to the side in confusion. "For playing nanny?"
"For getting Emma the message to come back," Neal corrected.
"You would've done the same," Killian said with another smile, though none of the expressions seemed truly genuine.
"Yeah," Neal said as he looked down at his hand for another moment before looking back up. "What's it feel like to play the hero after being a pirate for so long?"
"Unfamiliar," Killian answered quickly before turning the question around. "And you? How does it feel to play the villain?"
Neal looked at him with eyebrows raised. "I'm a villain now?"
Emer frowned a little herself at the notion. What did her father mean here? She shook her head a little. She was sure he'd explain.
"Well, if you truly had a hand in bringing your father back," Killian explained, just as his daughter predicted, "I suspect you had to use the darkest of magic, and paid an even darker price. Though I'm sure you felt the ends justified the means."
Emer was consumed by her thoughts again for a moment. She never would've guessed Neal could use the magic it would take to do that, to bring back a life, especially one like the Dark One, but… the brand on his hand said otherwise. And it said it loudly.
Neal clearly didn't want to hear that anymore. He pulled the IV from his hand with a small groan and pushed himself out of bed. "I should be out there looking for him. I have to set things right. With him and my son."
Killian stepped in front of Neal.
"Question is, are you gonna stand in my way?" Neal asked simply.
Killian shrugged a little. "I am in your way."
Emer watched the two anxiously, her blue eyes wide. She didn't want them to fight, couldn't bear to see it. Neal was her friend, and Killian… just because she was angry with him didn't mean she wanted to see her father get hurt.
They stood in silence for a moment before Killian grabbed Neal and pulled him in close for a hug.
Emer watched them with narrowed eyes, her expression puzzled.
It was causing Neal quite a lot of confusion, too. "What the hell are you doing?"
"Oh, this is long overdue," Killian told him simply before he stepped back to look at Neal again. "Sometimes when I look at you, all I see is a man. I forget that beneath it all, you're still that boy. The one I looked after all those years ago. The one that tried so hard to help me save my little girl. And the one that tried to save her all by yourself."
"I haven't forgotten," Neal said softly.
"We got caught up in so much nonsense over a woman." Killian laughed a little, a little sheepish, and a little sad. "And I'm doing it all over again."
"I need to do this, Killian," Neal said in the same soft tone. "You know that, right?"
"You have ten minutes," the pirate told him simply. "Then I alert the others you've gone."
"Thank you," Neal said with a smile before he started off. "And, Killian, if you leave your daughter again, I'm gonna kill you myself. Fix it, and don't break it again."
"Emerlyn," Killian said for what felt like the six-hundredth time, sighing heavier than any time before that. "Please, I don't know how much more I can apologize."
She swallowed hard. "I don't know either, Papa. I just felt like I could trust you again, and you left me. And I just cannot figure out the reason why."
"I wanted to find the best family for you," Killian said as he sat in front of Emer. "I wanted to make sure you had all the love you deserve. A real mother as well as me. Enough people to love you as much as you deserve."
Emer shook her head a little. "You were enough. You were always enough, Papa. You were the only one that thought otherwise. You didn't even ask me how I felt, you just… made the decision for me. I don't need a big family. I need the family I have."
"I know that now," Killian assured softly, his expression soft and sad and regretful as he looked over his daughter. "And I'm sorry I ever doubted you. You're right, Em, like always. I should've asked you. I was still imagining you as the little girl I had so long ago, when you were depending on me to read to you and brush your hair. I thought I was doing what was best for you, but now I see that I should've known better. Can you ever forgive me, Em?"
"I wouldn't mind if you still read to me," she teased a little before she sighed shakily. "I don't know, Papa. I'm so scared you're just going to leave me again."
"Never again," he insisted quickly. "Never. And as for a bigger family… From now on, I'll let the chips fall where they may. If we stumble into a bigger family, then we'll both grab for it with arms open, alright? But only if we both agree it's right for us. Deal?"
Emer smiled a little, nodding slightly. "A unanimous vote of two," she mused softly. "It sounds attainable, but we're both unreasonably stubborn."
Killian laughed, brushing her hair from her face. "I suppose we are, aren't we?" He kissed her forehead. "Then they'll have to live up to some bloody high standards. But if they're the right person, they'll meet them all."
Emerlyn nodded. "Then let's figure it out."
Killian pulled her close to his side, and they sat together, Killian telling Emer about the year he'd had without her and how much he'd missed her through it all.
At least until they heard the news.
Neal was dead.
And Emer's heart broke. She might've lived a long life, but she'd never really had to deal with her friends dying.
Emer fell to pieces in her father's arms. Not Neal, not after everything he'd done for her, not after being such a good friend for so long.
Killian just hoped his daughter didn't see the tears in his eyes too.