Disclaimer: I do not own the Once Upon a Time franchise.

Chapter Eighteen

Robert Gold entered the Sheriff's Station slowly, letting his cane thump loudly on the linoleum floor to announce his arrival. "Sheriff Huntington. . ." He drawled, allowing his thick accent to wrap slowly around the sheriff's name.

Graham looked up at the sound of his name and moved away from his desk in the glass enclosed office. His eyes quickly darted over to the jail cell where Baelfire Gold sat pouting. Though that pout was morphing into a triumphant smirk at the sight of his father. "Good afternoon, Mr. Gold. What can I do for you?"

Mr. Gold gave a smile that Graham knew was fake. It was a smile that made Tink very uncomfortable. "Well, Sheriff, I'm wondering what my son is doing in a jail cell? As far as I can tell, he's committed no crimes."

Graham crossed his arms and straightened, "Actually, he was arrested for disorderly conduct. Down at City Hall. He caused quite a violent scene. Nearly scared Mayor Mills half to death. Disorderly conduct seems to be a very popular crime in our tiny town. Just ask Leroy or Scarlett. They spend quite a bit of time in our cells for it."

Graham felt a bit of victory when Gold's jaw twitched at his words. "Yes, well, I think the disorderly conduct remains to be seen. And Mayor Mills is hardly an impartial third party. Please release him. Now."

Graham just smiled, "Actually, in law enforcement we would call Mayor Mills the 'victim.' And no, I won't just release him." At Gold's look, he shrugged, "Sorry, but you'll have to pay his bail." Graham returned to his office and picked up a sheet of paper, bringing it to Gold. Gold glared at the Sheriff before digging in his pocket and pulling out a wad of cash. He tossed the appropriate amount at Graham. "Well then, Mr. Gold," he turned to face the Gold in the jail cell, "it looks like you are free for the moment. Though you will have to pay the remainder of your fine or face a day in court. Your father has the ticket." Unlocking the cell, Graham opened the door, "I suggest that you do not harass our fine mayor at City Hall anymore." He paused, "Actually, I would suggest not harassing anyone anymore."

Baelfire Gold tugged his jacket on and moved over to the bin that had his personal effects in it. "Well, I suggest that you tell Emma to call me immediately." He wrote his cell phone down on a sticky note on one of the deputy's desks and shoved it into Graham's chest. "Before I come after my son."

Graham slipped the note in the pocket of his jeans. "Now you see, when you make threats like that against police officers I start to get a bit worried about your decision-making skills, Mr. Gold. Or is it Mr. Cassidy?" He asked, "It can be hard to keep the different aliases straight." When Baelfire's nostrils flared, Graham felt like he was onto something, "You see, Henry doesn't have a father. At least not legally. So, no, you cannot take him from his mother."

"First of all, I haven't threatened a police officer –" Neal ticked off.

"Ah," Graham interrupted, "that desk you're leaning against," he pointed to where Neal stood, "that desk belongs to Deputy Emma Swan."

Neal's brows furrowed at that, but instead of taking the bait and responding to Graham's words, he turned and stormed out of the station. "Have a good day, Mr. Gold!" Graham called out with a wave as Robert Gold followed his son out the door.

Graham breathed a sigh of relief and tugged his phone out of his pocket. He quickly scrolled through his contacts to find Killian's name.

"Yeah?"

"Killian, it's Graham. Gold just bailed his son out of jail. Emma and Henry should go ahead and head to Portland. She'd be safer on the road than here right now."

Graham heard Killian murmuring on the other end of the line before he replied, "They're leaving now. Thanks for the warning, mate."

"Be safe, Killian." Graham hung up the phone before turning back to his office. He was still working through his search on Baelfire Gold, AKA Neal Cassidy. So far it was proving to be quite an interesting read.

Henry was wide awake in the backseat of Killian's truck as they bumped down the highway to Portland. Since the two of them had slept most of the afternoon, they were both a little wired. So, Henry used a flashlight to read one of his books as Emma played some soft music on the radio to try to distract and calm herself down. She tried to let herself get lost in the melody of the classical music, but it wasn't working, so she forcefully pushed the off button and switched to drumming her fingers against the steering wheel.

"How much longer?" Henry whined a bit, "I want to see Uncle Auggie!"

Emma smiled at how excited Henry was to see August. She was excited too. She missed him so much and would feel a lot safer once August was truly oriented as the situation. The only thing she was nervous about was August seeing Neal. The two never got along to begin with. For the past eight years all August had wanted to do was kill Neal. So, leaving him alone with Neal was definitely out of the question. She would have to come up with a plan for when he inevitably saw Neal. One that didn't put August behind bars. She didn't particularly care if Neal wound up there or not.

"We've still got three more hours in the car, Kid, so just keep reading. And there are snacks in the bag if you get hungry. And Ruby dropped off some lemonade. It's in the thermos. The time will fly if you do that." She promised, turning the radio back on and changed the station, hoping maybe some '90s rock would take the edge off.

The bus had made even better than perfect timing. August was standing on the curb when Emma pulled up in Killian's truck. He barely waited for her to put the vehicle in park before tossing his bag in the bed of the truck and sliding into the front seat. "Emma," he breathed out, pulling her into a hug. He reached back with a hand and latched onto Henry's arm, pulling him forward and into their hug, "I'm so glad you two are safe." He whispered into Emma's hair. He finally felt his shoulders relax as he held the two of them.

Henry crawled up onto the center console in between them, moving onto August's lap, "I've missed you." He yawned.

August tightened his grip on Henry, "I've missed you too, Henry." He pressed a kiss to the top of Henry's head. "You and your Momma." He gave Emma a smile that she understood instantly. They would be safe now. Somehow they could get through this, just like they'd gotten through everything else.

"Hey, Kid," Emma ruffled her son's hair, "why don't you and August get in the back. You can sleep on the way back to Killian's."

Henry yawned again, "Can we stay with Killian? I like Killian. He's the second best. August is the first."

Emma looked properly offended, "And what am I? The third best?" She scoffed in fake offense.

Henry turned to look at her, "You're better than the best. You're Momma." He told her, his eyes shining with so much love and trust it left her a bit thunderstruck even seven years later.

Emma felt tears in her own eyes. "Well, you're better than the best too, Henry." She pressed a kiss to his forehead, "Go get in the backseat with August and take a nap. We'll be back at Killian's before you know it and yes, we're going to stay with him for a while."

Henry and August slept the entire way back to Storybrooke. The moment she heard August's light snoring, Emma felt the knot in her chest loosen. With August back things would be okay. Especially since he'd managed to lose the tail Walsh hired. That gave them time to deal with Neal. Once Neal was dealt with, then they would tackle the insanity with Walsh. And Neal should be a lot easier than Walsh.

When Emma parked the car in front of Killian's cottage, she could barely keep her eyes open. The caffeine from all of the coffee she'd had to drink had long worn off and all she could think about was laying down in the very comfortable bed in Killian's guest room in the dark for hours on end. August had only just started stirring once they pulled into town, but Henry was still asleep. Yawning, August stretched, "I'll get him if you can stand long enough to get my bag. Thanks for driving."

Emma simply hummed as she slid out of the car, "Thanks for coming home." She murmured.

Having heard his truck on the gravel drive, Killian was out his front door and by her side a moment later, reaching to take August's bag from her hand. "I've got it. You three go inside." He nodded to August, "Bedroom on the right is the guest room Henry and Emma have been sleeping in. If you still want to rest, you can sleep in my bed." He told August.

August shook his head, "No, the five hours was enough. If I sleep anymore I may never wake up." He promised. "I think Henry's going to sleep for another hour or so and Emma is barely walking as it is." Emma scowled at him, but didn't respond. Instead she led the way the down to Killian's guest room.

After Henry and Emma were tucked into the bed, he joined Killian in the living room. Holding out a hand, he gave Killian a firm handshake, "Thank you for watching them while I was gone. And for being there for Emma." He said honestly, "And I'm glad Emma feels she can trust you to tell you the truth about her, about us." He paused, "If you hurt her, I'll kill you, though. I've let too many people hurt her as is. I won't let another man do anything to her or Henry. I'm concerned that we haven't done a good enough job raising him because we had no idea what we were doing. Our parents fucked us up and now I'm afraid the same will happen to him. I should've done more and been a stronger role model. Emma's been doing this all on his own and I just shouldn't have left them."

Killian gave a soft smile and moved to the bar, pouring two glasses of rum, "I promise, August. I'm not going anywhere and I won't hurt either of them." He paused, "And for the record, Henry isn't fucked up. Emma is the best mother I've ever seen. And I never had a father figure myself, but if I'd had someone like you I would've counted myself lucky." The tips of his ears turned red at his admission, "You've been wonderful to both of them. And I'm sure you believe the feeling is mutual."

August studied the British man for a moment, finally he raised his glass, "Good, because I'm probably going to need help figuring out what to do about Neal." He admitted, "The only thing I want to do is run him over with my bike. And even though Emma hates the bastard, I don't think she would approve. And I don't want to make Graham arrest me."

Killian chuckled and took a sip of his rum, "I don't blame you." He admitted, "By the way, when Mary Margaret packed up some of Henry and Emma's things, she also put some of yours in the bag. Just in case you didn't have enough with you from your trip to Colorado. Dave and Graham think you both should stay here. You can have my room and I'll –"

"The couch is perfect, Killian." He took a sip of the rum, "As is this rum." He paused and looked out the back porch sliding glass doors. "So is the view. Emma told me you and the guys built it yourselves." He paused, "I'll stay put tonight, but tomorrow I want to go check on the place myself. I trust Dave, but I just need to –"

"See for yourself that Baelfire or Neal or someone else hasn't broken in." Killian surmised.

August nodded, "Emma will need to see Neal and I hate that." He paused, "We'll see what Emma says about it though. I don't want to make any sort of plans without her."

"I have the feeling that she would hate that more than anything." Killian surmised.

"Yes, she would." August agreed.

Neal paced his father's living room angrily, "She can't keep him, can she? Just because she didn't write my name on Henry's birth certificate or tell me about him? If I'd known. . ."

Robert Gold stood and hobbled over to his son, resting a hand on his shoulder to stop the pacing, "Bae, please calm down. I'm not going to let her keep your boy from you. You know I can help and you know I will. We'll get Henry for you. I promise."

Belle stood behind the swinging door that led to their kitchen, listening to the promises her husband made to his son. Her stomach churned a bit listening to Robert's words. There was something unsettling and untrustworthy about Baelfire that she couldn't put her finger on. Grabbing her phone she shot a text off to Tink asking if she could come over for tea and some sister bonding. Maybe Tink could get her some answers.