Disclaimer: I do not own Once Upon a Time. I never will. Only Ally is mine. Enjoy.
07-Desperate Souls
Two weeks later Henry and Ally are sitting on their castle. Ally had been discharged late at night the night the tragedy had occurred. Ally couldn't believe that Graham had died. They had literally seen him only hours before. Henry on the other hand was mad, mad and upset about how the world worked.
The only reason Ally was out here with him now is for she was able to reassure her Mom and Gigi that she would be taking it easy. It was an easy promise to make since; she still hurt all over for the most part.
Ally looked off at the gray ocean while, Henry glared down at his book. How could life be so unfair? Emma approaches the sulking pair slowly, and glances down at the walkie-talkies in her hands. Was this a bad idea?
"Brought you guys something. Thought we could use them together for Operation Cobra." Emma says holding out a pair of the devices for the kids. Ally and Henry both take one. Ally fidgets around with it with her one hand, since her broken arm is strapped to her body by a sling.
"Thanks." The kids say softly. Ally even manages a weak smile, though Henry just broods at it darkly.
"Oh, come on! What's up? You've been ducking me for weeks." Emma cries. Henry doesn't look at her, but Ally gives her a sad look.
"We've seen each other. You come to the diner. It's just that Mom wanted me close after everything that happened. She almost lost me, then Graham…" Ally trails off not wanting to finish the sentence. A lump forms in Emma's throat at hearing the sadness that the girl held for a man she didn't see a lot.
"I think we should stop Cobra stuff for a while. You don't play with the curse. Look what happened to Graham, and Ally almost ended up exactly like him." Henry says suddenly. Both Emma and Ally look at Henry shocked.
"Henry…" Ally tries.
"Henry, I told you they did an autopsy. It was totally natural causes." Emma says trying to get through to the kids.
"Okay, whatever. You don't believe – good. That should keep you from messing with it. And getting killed." Henry says.
"You're worried about me?" Emma says sounding shocked. Ally widens her eyes at that. How couldn't she see it?
"She killed Graham because he was good – and you're good." Ally explains trying to get Emma to see why this would really upset Henry.
"Guys…" Emma says not really sure what to say anymore.
"Good loses – good always loses. Because good has to play fair – evil doesn't. She's evil. This is probably best. I don't want to upset her anymore." Henry says darkly. With that he gives Emma back his walkie-talkie, and walks away. Ally doesn't go after him though. He needs time to himself. Emma turns to look at the remaining kid with her.
Ally is looking much better than she had before. The stitches had come out of her upper forehead, and there are only the faintest traces of a bruise left. If it wasn't for the broken arm that still ached, it would be hard for you to tell that the girl was ever hurt.
"How are you holding up Ally?" Emma asks her softly. The girl bites her lip and looks back out over the ocean trying to get all her thoughts in order.
"I've been better, but I am feeling better. My arm only aches now. Mom has been staying home with me a lot more. I think she's afraid that she's going to come home one night, and I'm not going to be there. Its good… but also not so good. I don't like that she's worried that what happened to Graham could have happened to me. After all, I was the one in more danger." Ally vents.
Emma nods her head and scoots closer to the girl. "Well I'm glad that you're feeling better. Would you like a ride back to the diner?" Emma asks. Ally nods her head, and Emma helps her down from the castle just in case. What shocks her the most though is that Ally clutches her hand in hers.
Emma looks down at her curiously. "You look like you need the comfort, and I can't exactly hug you properly now can I?" Ally says softly. Emma smiles at her, and leads her to the car. When they arrive at the diner, Ally turns to Emma and gives her a long look.
"Henry will be all right. Just give him some time. Everyone knows that even he truest believer has doubts at times." Ally says knowledgably, before slipping, out of the car, and into the diner. It takes a few moments for Ruby to notice her, but when she does, a big smile graces her face.
"Hey pup! How was Henry?" She asks, as Ally comes over, and awkwardly climbs the stool one handed. Ally bites her lip, not exactly sure what or if to tell her Mom. Ruby frowns at seeing the pensive look on her kid's face. She reaches out and smooths he frown on her scrunched up nose.
"Come on out with it. You're too young to get frown lines." She says softly leaning in towards Ally. Ally finally raises her big brown eyes to her Mom's blue.
"I'm worried about Henry. He— he hasn't been himself these last two weeks. I just want the old Henry back." Ally admits softly. Ruby sighs, and bites back an annoyed comment as she's signaled to a table.
"I'll be back in a sec pup." She promises and hurries off to take a table's order. Ally sighs heavily and thinks over Henry's defeatist attitude with Operation Cobra. Sure it's had some setbacks but Ally still believes. She still believes that the curse can be broken and that everyone can have their happy ending, even Henry.
Ruby comes back over to her as she places the order in. "I just remembered Ally, I'm going out tonight, so I won't be back in time to put you to bed. So be good for Granny all right?" Ruby says giving her the look. Ally bites back her disappointment and nods her head.
These people need help, even if they don't know it, and dang it, Ally is going to help Henry like it or not.
School was a horribly awkward affair the next day, since Henry and Ally had not only had a fight, they hadn't spoken a word to each other the entire time after that. Mary Margaret Blanchard was very confused, and worried about this development, but is unable to do anything for the last bell of the day rings, and both students, shoot out of the classroom like their seats were on fire.
An hour after school finds both warring friends sitting in the same booth at Granny's but not speaking to each other. This disturbs all of the patrons, Granny, and Ruby, for if anything was usual around here it was those two getting along thick as thieves.
Henry is reading the newspaper as Ally makes a tower out of the jelly containers on the table. The bell on the door dings, and suddenly Emma is standing in front of the kids, her eyebrow raised at seeing the pair on opposite sides of the booth for once. Well it looked like Mary Margaret's call was correct that there was something up with them.
Emma takes a deep breath and slides onto the seat next to Henry looking at the paper in his hands distastefully. "So, how was school?" She asks, opening her question up for both of them. Ally just gives her a look, before diverting her gaze back to her rather impressive tower.
"Okay." Henry says, not even glancing away from his paper. Emma gives the pair of them an incredulous look. They've never been this quiet for as long as she's known them.
"You're reading that paper pretty hard." She says trying to make Henry crack.
"Sidney wrote it." Henry says, passing Emma that paper. The title on the front-page article is, 'Ex-Jailbird— Emma Swan birthed babe behind bars'. Emma glares down at the page, as she finally has both kids attention on her.
"Is it a lie?" Henry asks her softly. Ally glances back and forth between Henry and Emma. She likes both of them, and wishes that this won't break them apart if it goes bad.
"No." Emma admits in a sigh. Henry's eyes widen, and Ally shifts in her seat uneasily. This could easily go either way. Henry has for so long wanted to believe in his fairy tale happy ending.
"I was born in jail?" Henry says again softly.
"Yes. These records were supposed to be sealed. Tell me you're not scarred for life." Emma begs him. Henry gives her a soft smile.
"I'm not. Well, not by this." He assures her. Ally smiles at Emma, as she places the last cup on the tower.
"Everyone makes mistakes. You owned up to yours, that makes it all better, right?" Ally says cocking her head to the side. Emma chuckles at the innocent logic behind the girl's statement, but Henry is nodding as well.
"Good. Then, let's throw this out and we will get our news from something more reliable. Like the internet." Emma says seriously. Ally grins, but Henry frowns.
"This is what I've been trying to tell you – good can't be evil, because good doesn't do this kind of thing. My mom plays dirty – that's why you can't beat her. Ever." Henry says unhappily. Ally groans, and glares at her friend from around her tower. He glares right back, and knocks her tower down. Emma interferes before things can get messy between them.
"I have a new ally. Mr. Gold said he's going to help with the election." Emma says helping Ally put all the containers back into their box. Ally hesitates at hearing that name, and Henry gives Emma a weary look.
"Mr. Gold? He's even worse than she is. You already owe him one favor. You don't want to owe him any more. Don't do this." Henry says warningly. Ally rolls her eyes, but partially agrees with him.
"I don't agree with teaming up with Mr. Gold, but even if you didn't, if I could vote, I'd vote for you to be Sheriff." Ally tells Emma with a grin. Emma smiles at her thankful for her support even though she's only one ten-year-old girl. Henry just crosses his arms, and stares sullenly out of the window.
"Thank you." Emma says, before getting up, and leaving the diner, to go and pay the Mayor a visit.
After a few minutes of silence Henry finally speaks. "I don't understand why you're so upset with me." He says softly. Ally glances up from her hands at him. Their eyes meet, and Ally sighs heavily.
"I'm upset because you've given up. Yes I got, Graham died, but there is still good left in this world, no matter how hard your Mom tries to take it away. You need proof of that? Emma— your mom, is here fighting for you, and town that she doesn't even fully believe that there's a curse. She saved Ashley's baby, she tried to help Graham, she's good." Ally says softly but earnestly.
"You don't have to believe that good will win if you can't. You just have to believe in Emma, she'll prove you wrong." She tells him. Henry's mouth drops open a little bit. Ally has never spoken to him like this before. "I believe Henry, and you should again too."
Ally slides out of the booth, meaning to leave, but she's pitched to the floor by the force of the explosion. For a frantic minute she thought that she was back in the mines, but the shaking lasted for only a second, and this time there were car alarms going off on the street.
The diner burst into commotion, and customers hurry to find out what happened. "Ally!" Henry cries, scrambling out of his booth, and helping his friend up off the floor.
"Ow… I don't know why these things keep happening to me. I think it's your turn to be thrown to the floor." She grumbles, trying to ignore the throbbing in her broken arm. Ruby hurries over to the kids, and kneels down in front of them.
"Are you guys okay?" She asks looking over each one just to be safe.
"We're fine Mom. We should go and see what's happened, someone might be hurt." Ally tells her, grabbing her hand, and starts dragging Ruby out of the diner, with Henry trailing behind them. The three start up the street to the Town Hall. They come to a stop along with the rest of the crowd, seeing as the building is engulfed in flames.
Henry stares at it with worried, wide eyes. Regina's in there, and no matter how much he may claim to hate her, she's still his mom. Ally lets go of her mom and grabs his hand instead, deeming his need greater at the moment. "It will be okay Henry. I know it will." Ally tells him trying to be upbeat.
"No it won't. The building's on fire! No one can survive that!" He cries. Lo and behold, the door of the Town Hall is kicked open, and out stagger the figures of Emma Swan and Regina Mills. It looks like the Mayor is limping, but other than that and some smoke inhalation they seem fine.
Henry grins and starts bouncing up and down. He drags Ally over to a fireman so that he can ask questions, bringing the pair closer to the ambulances, Regina, and Emma. "Did Emma really rescue my mom?" Henry asks the man. He looks down at the two and gives them a grave nod.
Ally watches as the Mayor snaps at the paramedic trying to help her, when Sidney Glass comes over to talk to her. Ally still can't understand why she would want him to run the police force. He's never dealt with actual police work before, only writing about it.
She is pretty sure that some experience must be required. "See Henry good does stand a chance." Ally tells him, pulling him away from the now annoyed fireman, and back over to a group of adults they know, which now includes Emma.
"Even if good saves evil?" Henry says unsurely. Ally sighs, knowing that it's going to have to take a major victory for Henry to be able to start hoping again.
"Did you really rescue Regina?" Mary Margaret asks Emma, as the kids approach the group.
"She did! The fireman said it. They saw it." Henry cries smiling again. Well at least he still seems happy about the things that Emma does right.
"You are a hero." Ruby says to Emma, putting her hands on Ally's shoulders and grinning. "You have my vote in keeping things safe." Ally beams up at her Mom excited that she believes in Emma.
"We should see if they have a picture of the rescue." Mary Margaret says getting excited for the election race now.
"We could make campaign posters." Granny says excitedly.
"Oh, people would love that! That's a great idea. Wait, so…" Archie says as the group slowly starts walking away back to Granny's leaving just Emma, Henry, and Ally behind.
"This is how good wins. You do something good and people see it, and then they want to help you." Emma tells Henry with a smile. He bites his lip for a second, before he nods in agreement.
"Maybe you're right." Henry admits.
"Finally! You've been unbearable to be around all day!" Ally exclaims. Henry shoves her, and she shoves him back. Emma quickly finds herself separating the friends again. She gets distracted though by something in the debris.
The next afternoon, finds a lot of the town in the newly fixed town hall seated amongst the crowd to listen to the debate. The only reason why Henry and Ally were present was for their support of Emma. Most of the other kids of Storybrooke weren't even there. Henry and Ally sat in seats of the second row with Ruby and Granny, who had closed the diner temporarily to come and see the debates.
Pretty much this was some of the most exciting things to every happen in the small town. "How do you think she'll do?" Ally whispers to Henry slightly worried. Emma didn't look so good, the last time they had spoken that morning at the bus stop.
"She'll pull through… I think." Henry replies. All whispers are stopped though as Archie and the two candidates Emma and Sidney come out onto the stage. Archie goes to the podium while the other two sit on either side of him.
"I think Archie's the one we're going to have to worry about instead." Ally whispers, taking in his pale, sweaty complexion.
"Tragedy has brought us here, but we are faced with this decision. And now, we ask only that you listen with an open mind and to please vote your conscience. So, without further ado, I'd like to introduce you to the candidates – Sidney Glass and Emma Swan. Glass. Swan. Sounds like something that a decorator would make you buy. Wow, crickets. Okay, uh… Uh, Mr. Glass – your opening statement." Archie says awkwardly, and hurrying away.
Poor Archie. He's just not cut out for the whole public speaking thing. The Evil Queen couldn't even leave him that. Sidney Glass comes up to the podium. He looks calm and collected, though slightly nervous.
"I just want to say, that if elected, I want to serve as a reflection of the best qualities of Storybrooke. Honesty, neighbourliness, and strength. Thank you." Sidney says, to applause from the audience. Archie hurries back out after the shorter than expected speech.
"And Emma Swan." He says quickly, before stepping away again. Henry and Ally watch closely as Emma approached the podium with an unreadable look on her face. Ally starts to get a bad feeling about what she's going to say.
"You guys all know I have what they call a, uh… Troubled past. But, you've been able to overlook it because of the, um… Hero thing. But here's the thing – the fire was a setup. Mr. Gold agreed to support me in this race, but I didn't know that that meant he was going to set a fire. I don't have definitive evidence, but I'm sure. And the worst part of all this was – the worst part of all this is – I let you all think it was real. And I can't win that way. I'm sorry." Emma says.
The crowd bursts into excited murmurs, and Mr. Gold gets up from his chair in the crowd and swiftly exits the room. Henry looks from Emma to Ally, who is beaming at the woman. Good will always do the right thing, even if it takes them a little time to figure it all out.
That doesn't stop Ally from being seriously worried though once they're back at the diner. Ally is sitting in her normal place at the bar, which in her head she's dubbed Ally's place. Maybe one day she can convince Gigi to allow her to put a small plaque there for her own amusement.
Emma is sitting two seats away from her, throwing back the last of the drink that Ally's Mom had poured her earlier. Ruby is behind the counter looking at Emma slightly worried. Her kid is after all present, and they're not exactly the bar establishment that she frequents.
"Another?" Ruby asks cautiously though sympathetically.
"Oh, hell yes." Emma says, and Ruby pours some more of the amber liquid into her glass. Ally bites her lower lip worriedly. She knows that her Mom drinks a lot of alcohol when she goes out at night, but she's never actually seen anyone drink it in person before. Granny only likes the red kind of it wine.
Ruby drifts over to Ally wanting to make sure that her daughter's okay. "Hey pup? You still feeling all right? Pain okay?" She asks worriedly. Ally nods her head but bites her lip, giving herself away.
"If Emma okay? She's acting like you do at night." Ally says, forgetting that they're out in public, and that this is not a public conversation.
"Ally. We will not talk about that." Ruby snaps sternly, and picks up her cloth to go and clean off a table. Ally sighs heavily, and tries to bite back the heavy disappointment. Even though things are getting better, they're still not good. The door dings, and Henry walks into the diner climbing onto the seat between Ally and Emma.
"Hey, Henry." Emma says dully. Henry gives her a worried look before opening his bag, and pulling out a walkie-talkie. He hands it to Emma.
"What's this for?" She asks him, looking at the device dubiously. Ally grins though, knowing what that means.
"You stood up to Mr. Gold. It's pretty amazing." Henry tells her. Ally nods her head along in agreement.
"Not to mention scary, reckless, and stupid." She lists off, and Henry shoves her lightly to make her shut up. Ally grins at them sheepishly.
"Well, he did something illegal." Emma says simply, not seeing how impressive it is what she actually did.
"That's what heroes do – expose stuff like that. I shouldn't have given up on Operation Cobra." Henry admits with a smile. Ally pumps her fist into the air with a grin.
"Thank god! I didn't want to have to beat you up, because obviously you weren't Henry these last few weeks, and alien had to have abducted you." Ally says seriously, seeing the smirk that Henry is now wearing, and the confused look on Emma's face. The woman smiles though after a moment.
Just then Regina and Sidney enter the diner, and walk over to the three of them.
"I thought I might find you here. With a drink. And my son." Regina says flatly, glossing over the fact that Ally is even present.
"Here to card me, officer?" Emma asks Sidney with a scowl. The man looks sheepish for a second before shaking his head.
"Well, not at all. In fact, I think I'll join you." He says climbing onto the stool on Emma's other side. Henry and Ally share confused looks, not exactly sure what's going on.
"Here? I don't know. I think they're setting up a back room for the victory party." Emma replies, taking another sip of her drink.
"Oh, well, you'll have to tell me what that's like." He says cryptically. Regina gives a pained look before pulling out the Sheriff's badge and placing in on the counter in front of Emma.
"Congratulations. …Sheriff Swan." Regina says stiffly. Emma looks at the badge amazed, while Henry and Ally gawk.
"Wait, what?" The pair cry out. More people from Storybrooke start filling the diner.
"It was a very close vote, but people really seem to like the idea of a Sheriff brave enough to stand up to Mr. Gold." Regina admits. Ally and Henry beam at each other, seeing as good had finally won a round after a few weeks of nothing but bad.
"Are you joking?" Emma demands. Sidney snorts into his own drink.
"She doesn't joke." He tells her.
"You didn't pick a great friend in Mr. Gold, Miss Swan, but he does make a superlative enemy. Enjoy that." And with that said, the Mayor turns around and exits the diner.
"Well it looks like Operation Cobra is officially back on track." Henry says with a satisfied look on his face. Ally rolls her eyes at his glee.
"Says the boy who almost singlehandedly destroyed it. Boys, never leave them in charge of something if you want it to get done." Ally says. Henry glares at her accusingly.
"Hey!" He cries offended. Emma groans from beside them.
"Don't make my first act as Sheriff be arresting the pair of you for brawling!" She warns. Ally and Henry glance at each other, before breaking out into laughter. Yes, it was good to finally be back on track.
