Chapter One: Long Days and Long Nights

The minute she'd realized Henry was missing, Emma had gone into full-on panic mode. They were fighting an evil witch who, up until a couple of days ago, had been her mother's midwife. Now, Henry was gone.

Regina had said they could ask Robin Hood and his men, who were living in the forest and might have seen something. She hadn't wanted to go ask herself, so Neal had handled that. Snow had enlisted Ruby to help track, and Ruby had followed Henry's scent to the town line.

Henry had gone to the town line, despite Emma's telling him not to. She couldn't afford for him to disobey her right now. Zelena's monkeys were taking anyone who came near the boundary.

Regina had been able to cook up a tracking spell, but it had also stopped at the town line, which could either mean that he had somehow safely crossed into the Land without Magic, or that Zelena had found some way to confuse Regina's magic. Neither option was really appealing.

To top it all off, Aaron had been calling on and off for the past couple of hours, and Emma didn't have time to deal with her perfectly normal, perfectly perfect, New York boyfriend right now.

She had been trying Henry's phone non-stop, but he either wasn't picking up, or he couldn't pick up. No. Don't think like that, she told herself, he's fine. He has to be fine.

"This is a waste of time," Regina said. "We're not going to find him in the woods. We need to find that witch and demand she return our son!"

"We don't know where she is. And if she had Henry, wouldn't she have made that known by now?"

"Why don't you ask your parents? They're the ones who were cozy with her not too long ago."

"We didn't know!" Snow said defensively.

"This isn't helping!"

Just then, Emma's phone rang. She was going to put it to voicemail, but it wasn't Aaron. Her son's name lit up her caller I.D. in what she prayed wasn't a ransom call. Her need to hear his voice right now was so bad, her heart ached with it.

"Henry?"

"Good to know you're taking his calls," a much deeper voice said.

"What… how… Why do you have Henry's phone?"

"He showed up at my door in the middle of the night."

Emma sighed in relief. "He's with you?"

"Yeah. And he's safe. And he was supposed to call you to tell you we were on our way to you before we left for the airport, but I can tell that he didn't."

"Emma, who is it?" Snow asked.

Regina was already forming a fireball, "If that bitch has him, if she called you, I swear…!"

"He's fine. He's not with her," Emma said, turning the phone away from her mouth for a moment. Then she moved it back and spoke into the phone, asking, "He is fine, right?"

"Yeah," Aaron said. "He's fine."

"Can I speak to him?"

"I can put you on speaker. We're doing the best to navigate in this beat-up rental car— "

"Emma, who are you talking to? Who has Henry?" Regina asked impatiently.

"My boyfriend," Emma said.

"Which one, Guyliner or the sperm donor?"

"Not. Not them. I— "

"Is this the Aaron who was calling you earlier?" Snow inquired.

Something Aaron said clicked in Emma's brain. "Did you say rental car? Are you coming to Storybrooke?"

"Trying to. According to your son, we should be close, but I gotta say, I'm not seeing anything on the map here."

"Are you near the town line? Crap."

"Ouch."

"No, it's just … I'll, um, direct you. I'll meet you there, soon." She turned to Regina, "They need to get in. They need to find Storybrooke."

"If Henry's with whoever is on the other end of that phone, they should be able to find it, but we should probably get to the town line anyway to make sure."

Regina and Emma headed for the town line, leaving Snow and Ruby standing there. "Thanks for your help," Snow told Ruby. "You go on home. I'll call David, Neal, and the others so they know Henry's safe."

"Okay. I'm glad he's good. You need a ride back into town?"

Snow shook her head. "David will come to get me. Thank you, Ruby, really."

"What are werewolf friends for?"

"Are you sure it's here?" Aaron asked again, "Because the map is saying it's not."

"I'm sure it's here!"

"You've only been there the once, though," Andrea said, "Maybe you don't remember— "

"I remember how to get there. Or at least, I remember that this is the way. I'm sure of it."

Suddenly, Aaron saw Emma and a strange woman flagging them down. There was a "Welcome to Storybrooke," sign that Aaron hadn't noticed before.

"See?" Henry said.

Aaron laughed. "Sorry for doubting you, kid."

"Who is that with your mom?"

"That's Mayor Mills."

They pulled in and Aaron stopped the car. He turned to Henry, "Do you know what you're going to say?"

Henry sighed. "I guess I should apologize for scaring her."

Aaron nodded. "That's probably a good start."

"And then I'll talk to her about you staying?"

Before Aaron could say anything, Emma ripped the car door open, unfastening Henry's seatbelt and taking him in her arms, "Kid, don't you dare ever scare me like that again!"

"I'm sorry."

She stepped back, checking him over. "Are you hurt?"

"No."

"What were you thinking? You can't just hop a plane to New York!"

Henry eyed Mayor Mills who seemed to be paying special attention to the conversation. "Can we talk in private?"

Emma looked behind her and sighed. "Henry, we got a whole search party together. Everyone was worried about you!"

"Why? I don't know anybody here. Why do they all act like they know me?"

Emma didn't say anything.

"I hate to interrupt— " Aaron said, coming up behind Emma.

She turned and hugged him. "Hey."

"Hey."

"I missed you."

"I missed you too. But we can talk about that later. Right now, it's late, and the kids— "

"You brought Jason and Andrea?"

"I made him," Henry said. "If I have to hang around this weird town and you won't tell me why, at least I should have friends around, right?"

"Okay. Why don't we … Henry, you ride with me in the bug, Aaron, you guys follow in the rent-a-car, and I'll take you to a nice bed and breakfast. We can all talk more about this in the morning."

"Why can't they stay with us?" Henry asked.

"Because Granny's rooms are on the smaller side's and they probably want their own space." Henry started to pout. "Don't give me that look. After what you pulled tonight? And don't think we won't be talking about this the second we get back to our room!"

Henry sighed, but he got in the bug. "I'll see you guys tomorrow?" he called out to them.

Jason gave him a thumbs up and Andrea gave him a smile.

Granny's food was great. Well, not great. It was okay. Still, there were only so many times you could have something before just needing a change, which was how Ruby found herself in the poultry section of Storybrooke's local grocery store.

"Ruby?"

Ruby turned to see Belle also searching the isle. Before she had a chance to greet her, or even ask a question, Ruby said, "They found him!"

"They found … Are you talking about Rumple?" The hope in her friend's eyes nearly killed Ruby.

"Oh, sweetie, no. Henry. They found Henry."

Belle sighed, "I didn't even know Henry was missing. Is he all right?"

"Yeah, but Emma won't be once Snow gets a chance to grill her on the new boyfriend she's been keeping a secret. Never mind. How are you doing? I feel like I haven't seen you in … a while? How are you holding up?"

"I'm … doing the best I can, I suppose."

"That doesn't sound very convincing."

"What do you want me to say, Ruby? First Rumple's dead, then he's alive, but he's a slave to an evil witch? And I can't do a thing to help him! How am I supposed to be?"

Ruby started nodding. "Okay," she said, taking Belle's arm and leading her away from the poultry, "Okay. Come with me."

"Where are we going?"

"Come on."

A few minutes later, they were standing by a beer and wine section, "A while back, we talked about having a girl's night. I think it's time we do that, a time where I'm not running from an angry mob, and these will help us."

"No. I don't usually … I mean, when I was Lacey, but it's not like it'll solve anything."

"It's medicinal. And trust me, honey, you need it. What do you say?"

"Well, it's not like I'm doing any good making dinner for one. Okay. Girl's night it is."

"You guys all set?" Emma asked. She'd helped check the Davidsons into Granny's. Andrea and Jason had gotten ready for bed and Henry had said his goodbyes. Now he was waiting at the front desk under Granny's watchful eye while Emma said her goodbyes.

"I can't … Thank you so much for bringing him back. Did I say that yet? I am so grateful. I don't know what I would have … Thank you."

Aaron took her in his arms and held her close. She let him cradle her head and rub her back as she snuggled into his chest. "I can't even imagine what I would be feeling if Jason or Andrea ran off. I'm so sorry you had to go through that."

Emma chuckled, holding in what wanted to be a sob, even though she refused to call it that.

"I was terrified."

"I know. It's okay."

"I can't believe he just ran off like that."

"He's having a rough time. It happens."

Yeah. And last time, he ran to me. Now he's running away from me.

"I'm so glad you're here." Emma said, "Did I mention how glad I am that you're here?"

"No. But a lot's been going on."

Emma laughed, "Yeah. Long day."

"It'll be okay. We'll figure it out."

"I really hope you're right. And … I'm sorry we haven't had a chance to … talk. About us. About anything. I don't want to leave Henry too long."

"It's okay. It's late. We'll talk tomorrow."

The door across from the Davidsons' room opened and Neal stepped out. He stopped short when he saw Emma and Aaron.

Crap! How could she explain … She'd told Aaron about Neal. She'd told him how Neal had left her and … "Emma?"

"Baelfire." She said, stepping out of Aaron's embrace slightly.

His eyebrows shot up, "Did you just call me -?"

"This is Aaron," she said, quickly, "My boyfriend. And this is Baelfire. He's an old friend of mine."

Aaron stuck a hand out to shake Neal's, "Nice to meet you. That's, um, an interesting name you've got."

"Yeah. Old nickname," Neal said, his eyes flicking to Emma's. She gave him a desperate smile. "Um, nice to meet you. I was just going to grab something from the diner."

"Isn't it kind of late?"

"I'm a night owl. I'll, uh, see you around Aaron. Emma."

"Yeah. You too."

Once Neal was out of sight, Aaron turned back to Emma, "Everything okay?"

"Yeah, why?" she asked, instinctively. "I mean, no. It's not. You know it's not. But, it will be. I hope it will be. I'm gonna work like hell to make it okay."

He smiled. "Okay. Well, goodnight."

Emma leaned in, giving him a quick kiss. "Goodnight."

When she made it back to the lobby, she found Neal frozen to the spot, staring at Henry. Emma felt like she should talk to him, but she needed to get Henry home. She gave him a sad look, and he nodded in understanding. Then she got Henry and headed back to their room.

"Okay. Let it out. What's been on your mind?"

Belle shook her head, taking another sip of the drink Ruby had mixed for her. "I can't remember this past year. None of us can. But if there was a way to save Rumple … I have a hard time believing I wasn't a part of it."

"Meaning?"

"Meaning, Rumple's son nearly died bringing him back, and I have a sneaking suspicion that I helped him. How could I do that? Nothing means more to Rumple than Bae, and if it hadn't been for true love's kiss … How could I help him on a suicide mission?"

"Why are you so sure you helped?"

"Because how could I not? A part of me … I want Rumple to be happy, to have what he wants, but without him, what do I have? Truthfully, if it came down to a choice between Bae and Rumple, I …" Belle took another drink. "It's a miracle Neal is alive, that Rumple is too, but Rumple's a slave now, and it's my fault. I have to help him, but I feel so powerless."

"It's not your fault. Even if you helped bring him back, which you have no proof of, it's not your fault. It sucks, but it's not your fault."

"Maybe I need to go to that cage Emma and Killian found. I can get Rumple out."

"How, though?"

"Well, he loves me. He'd never hurt me. Maybe if I go when she's not there— "

"Do you remember Graham? Of course, you don't. You were locked up then."

"Thanks for reminding me of that," Belle said, taking another sip.

"My point is, I knew him in the Enchanted Forest. Regina had his heart, and he had to do what she said. He didn't want to, but he didn't have a choice. That's how it works. Now, I'm not sure how Zelena is controlling the Dark One, but if he's allowing her to enslave him, it seems to me she's got some major control over him."

"His dagger. She has his dagger. She's using that to control him."

"So, what breaks the control?"

"Maybe true love could?"

"True love can't help someone missing a heart. How do you know this dagger doesn't work the same way? You'd be putting yourself in major jeopardy— "

Belle shook her head, "He'd never hurt me. He couldn't."

"Not on purpose. But I didn't eat my boyfriend on purpose either. Look, I love Snow and David, but when they sell that whole 'true love conquers all,' bit, they tend to forget a few things. You need to be smart. You can't just trust in the power of love to fix everything."

"So, I'll be smart and do nothing while the man I love is a slave?"

Ruby shook her head, "You need to talk to Neal. He's Rumple's son, right? Maybe he knows something about the dagger you don't. Maybe there's a way to get past it?"

"I don't know. When I met Neal, I was Lacey, and then I barely got to know him with Rumple there before Rumple died. I don't know how he feels about me."

"But it isn't about you, is it? It's about Rumple. I'm guessing Neal wants to save him as much as you do."

Belle nodded. "Okay. Tomorrow, I'll go talk to him. Tonight, I'm far too drunk."

"Sit," Emma said. Henry took a seat on the bed. "Okay, now talk. What were you thinking?"

"I was thinking that I'm miserable here, and I wanted to go home."

"Are your solution was to run off in the middle of the night? Anything could have happened to you. Don't you get that? Do you know how terrified I was when I couldn't find you?"

"Yeah. Mr. Davidson pointed that out, too."

"Because he's a dad, and he gets how much I love you, and how devastated I would be if anything ever happened to you."

"So, what was I supposed to do?"

"You were supposed to come to me. You were supposed to talk to me. You were supposed to tell me how you're feeling."

"I tried! I try talking to you, but you just keep lying to me."

"Henry, I haven't—"

"Don't! Okay? Just don't. You're not the only one who knows when people are lying. I know you, and I know when you're lying to me, and since we got here, it's been lie, after lie, after lie. Why won't you tell me why we're really here? Why won't you tell me what's going on?"

"Because you wouldn't understand. And it isn't a conversation I know how to have with you. And I'm … I'm trying to protect you from really dangerous shit that you can't even …" Emma sank onto the chair, putting her head in her hands. "I'm sorry, Henry. I am so sorry. I hate lying to you, but it is the only way I know to keep you safe. Can you trust that? Can you trust me?"

"Okay, but if it's so dangerous here, why don't we just leave? We were safe in New York, right?"

Emma shook her head. "We were happy in New York. I was so happy in New York with you and Mr. Davidson. I thought I was building a life. But there are parts of my past that just … that I thought I could run from, but I can't. They found me in New York. They'll find me anywhere. And if I have to fight them, I need to fight them here, where I stand a chance of beating them."

"Is this about whatever attacked you that night?"

Emma nodded. "I want to tell you, kid. I do. But I don't want you caught up in all this. If I could just leave it behind … But that's not an option right now."

"But it will be, right? We'll go back to New York when this is over, and everything will go back to normal?"

"If, when this is all over, you still want that, then, yeah. We'll go back to New York. But you gotta stick with me until then, kid. Because I could not survive losing you."

Henry nodded. "I'm sorry I ran away."

"I know, kid. I know. Why don't we get some sleep and tomorrow morning we can show the Davidsons around the place?"

"I mean, there isn't much to see, but …"

Emma nudged Henry and he laughed.

"Perhaps it isn't best to be walking about, given that we are dealing with a wicked witch and flying monkeys," Killian said, coming up behind Regina.

She rolled her eyes at the intrusion, "I can handle a couple of flying monkeys, and I'd love the chance to take that witch on."

"Which is why you're standing here outside Granny's, staring up at it wistfully?"

"Which is different from what you're doing how? Oh, I know. I have no intention of seeing anyone up there naked."

"I'll have you know I'm too much of a gentleman to try and catch Emma in a state of undress without her knowledge. If she offered me a private show, however, I wouldn't say no to that."

"Gentleman? Emma might believe that line, but I've known you too long, Captain. There's nothing gentlemanly about you. So why don't we both cut the crap and admit why we're out here so we can go about our business."

"Very well. I wanted to check on Emma and the lad. They've had a rough day."

"You could just go and knock on the door, ask how they are."

"As could you."

"If I did that … I would just be Madam Mayor, checking in on a tourist after her son went missing. I couldn't hug him, or yell at him and tell him how much he terrified me."

"Being forgotten by someone you love is a greater curse than simply being parted from them."

"Can I focus on my son for five seconds without you mooning on about Emma, please?"

"I was simply trying to say that I understand. And think on this. One way or another, the lad will get his memory back, and he will love you just as he always has. I got Emma to remember who she is, to remember me, yet she has a man she loves following her here from that blasted city, not to mention Baelfire waiting in the wings."

Regina smirked. "Don't tell me you've already given up?"

"Hardly. But I liked my odds better when it was simply Baelfire I was up against. He'd abandoned Emma once and, speaking as someone who has been abandoned, that isn't easy to forgive. This Aaron figure … I assumed he would be out of the picture once Emma recalled that her life is a bit more magical than he can probably handle. Yet he's still here."

"Well, excuse me if I don't want to spend the night my son went missing giving you love advice."

"I doubt I'd take it from you, in any case. Somehow, I can't picture you in love."

Regina turned to him, her eyes blazing, "For your information, Captain, I was once very much in love. But the man I loved wasn't what my mother wanted for me, so she saw fit to crush his heart in front of me. I believe you're familiar with what that looks like?"

Killian looked away and took a sip from his flask. "Aye."

"So, you can see why, when the chance for love was presented to me again, I wasn't exactly ready and willing. Now he's here, and I – "

"The man your mother killed is here?"

"No. Not him. Someone else. It's complicated and, I just realized, none of your business."

"Then why are you talking to me?"

"Because neither of us has anyone to go home to tonight, and we both feel like we're dying because of it."

"If you're suggesting you and I— "

"I wasn't suggesting anything of the sort. You, Captain, are not my type."

"Well, if it's fond bedfellows you seek, I have no suggestions except a great deal of rum. I assume there is somewhere to procure it in this town. Meanwhile, I think I'll head back to Granny's to take my own advice. We're both worth more than standing outside someone's window."

"Remind me why we left Gold's shop?" Belle asked, as the two tipsily stumbled down Main Street.

"We needed more alcohol!" Ruby said, a little more loudly than Belle would have liked.

"I'm not sure that's true. I can barely see straight."

"Shots! We should do shots!"

"How did a night that started out about making me feel better turn into one about you getting to do body shots?"

"I just said shots. Not body shots. Why? What are you thinking?"

"Lacey?" Both turned to see Dr. Whale flagging them down. Ruby rolled her eyes. "Um, is she Lacey again?" he quietly asked Ruby.

"No. I'm not Lacey. I'm Belle."

"Oh. Good. Sorry, it's just I've only ever seen Lacey get so wasted."

Belle gasped, "And why exactly can't Belle get wasted? It's not illegal. I'm of age. I never even got to mourn my true love before he was resurrected and enslaved, and everybody expects me to have it together all the time, searching for the answers and fixing the problems, but nobody cared what happened to me when he died. He's all I have in this world, and he died, and now he's back and I don't have him, so I'm going to drink as much as I like, and you, Dr. Whale, can't do a damned thing about it!" Her tone was angry, but Ruby didn't miss the tears in her eyes.

"Sweetie," she said, pulling her close.

"Right. I guess I'll just leave you two to … whatever it is you plan to do tonight. I recommend something with a lot of water."

"Thank you, Doctor," Ruby said, sarcastically.

Whale shot her a smile, before heading off to wherever he'd been going. Ruby smiled after him.

"What's that?"

"What's what?"

"The look on your face. You're looking at Doctor Whale like … gods, Ruby, do you like him?"

"No. I don't know. Now's not the time to talk about it."

"It's girls' night."

"And we're both wasted off our asses. Maybe not my best idea."

"I thought it was brilliant. It's freeing, not having to care what I say or do."

"Yeah. But in the morning – "

"Yes, I remember what happens in the morning. Or at least, Lacey does. She spent a lot of nights like this. Lonely too, because Lacey didn't have any more friends than Belle does. Which means none. I only had Rumple and —"

"Hey, what do you mean you don't have friends? You have me, right?"

"Then where were you when he died? Where were you when he died and I was all alone?" Belle was sobbing, and Ruby wrapped her friend in her arms.

"Hey, I'm here now. I'm here."

Neal didn't quite know what to make of it. Emma had told him, in the forest, that she had a boyfriend in New York, and that she didn't know what to do about it. He had tried to be a friend, telling her he hoped it worked out, and that he wanted her to be happy. He did want her to be happy. He'd prefer she be happy with him, but if not…

That didn't mean it didn't still sting seeing her with someone.

But the real gut-punch had been Henry. He'd seen him standing there, their son who hours ago had been missing, and he'd been terrified.

Now, here he was, whole, in one piece, safe, and Neal couldn't go hug him. He couldn't even talk to him. Emma hadn't told Henry about his dad being around, which he belatedly realized might be why she had told her boyfriend his given name, instead of the name of Henry's father who'd left her in jail.

So tonight, instead of checking on his son or rescuing his father, he was stuck in a hotel that barely had Wi-Fi. Sometimes he really missed New York.

There was a knock at the door.

Neal opened it to find none other than Killian Jones with what appeared to be a six-pack of beer.

"What are you doing here?"

"It occurred to me that you might need some company tonight. Your son is safe, but you can't be with him, the crocodile is still being controlled by that witch, and Emma, it appears, has moved on."

"So that's why you're here. Emma."

"Not just Emma. Maybe I spent too many nights in the Enchanted Forest alone. Maybe I thought you had, too."

He took a beer and handed it to Neal. "I thought you hated this stuff?"

"It's not rum, but I have my own supply of that. This seemed more your speed, lad." He held up his flask to clink to Neal's beer. "To long days?"

"To long nights."

What was she doing? This made no sense. Regina had no clue what she was doing here. She didn't even know this man. But … something Killian had said had struck a chord with her. Wasn't she worth more than standing on the outside looking in? Hadn't she earned that?

If this Robin Hood was her chance at … at something, didn't she owe it to herself to give it a chance? After everything? Wouldn't Henry want her to?

And if it turned out that a tattoo was just a tattoo, and the night was nothing more than cold comfort … well, she'd had worse nights.

The campgrounds weren't really her scene, rustic as they were, but she could make do. Where did one knock on a tent? And which tent?

"Regina?"

She spun to find him behind her, watching with interest. "Robin. Hi. Is this a bad time?"

"Not at all. I must confess, I'm relieved you've come seeking me out. I'd feared I'd upset you somehow when you ran off as you did."

"No, you didn't upset me. I'd just found a clue trail that needed to be followed, one that didn't lead anywhere."

"Ah. So, what brings you here?"

"I … was wondering if we might have that drink we started?"

Robin smiled, "It'd be a pleasure, my lady. Follow me. I'll show you where we store our finest ale."

He held out a hand and Regina took it, smiling shyly. There was no reason for her to spend the night alone.