I Am Emma Swan

Chapter 23

Eugenia was tired of waiting for Emma and Gold and proceeded to the library door and knocked. A faint come in was heard, she opened the door and went in with Neal trailing behind her.

"Perfect timing Mrs. Cassidy, Neal. Judith and I just finished the changes and I'm printing the will as we speak." Mr. Gold responded with a flourish.

"Wonderful! I hope everything was in order?" Eugenia asked now that things were moving forward. She just needed the signatures, and they would be in the clear. Get rid of Emma, Gold and then Neal, they would be set for life.

"Yes, we made a few changes here and there but nothing different from the draft you sent me."

"Shall we bring in Mary Margaret to witness the signatures?"

"I thought we were going to go over them all and then have your maid witness all at one time." Mr. Gold frowned looking towards Neal. "You should read yours over and make the necessary changes if any."

Emma remained quiet throughout the interaction and made her way to the window. Something she saw earlier was bothering her and she had to have another look. Sure enough, she saw someone behind a tree, then saw another and she realized it was the police. Her gasped was heard by the others but she stepped away from the window and rubbed her forehead.

"Is everything all right dear?"

"Mm just a slight headache but it seems to be getting worse, maybe I should go lie down."

"Well then why don't we have Mary Margaret come in now and witness yours and Neal can finish his will later."

"Oh no, Neal can get his done and then we'll all sign together. Maybe a glass of water and some ibuprofen would help. I'll just go to the kitchen; I'm sure Mary Margaret will have something for the headache." Emma offered, she needed to get away from them and hopefully be able to find Regina and Henry. Maybe they got out already, how else would the police know and surround the house.

"Judith? Judith dear, are you sure you're alright? I've been calling your name."

"Sorry, I zoned out there for a moment. I'm fine, I just need to…"

"No need dear, just have a seat. Neal has called for Mary Margaret."

"I…I, I mean he can finish up with Mr. Gold, really I'll just go to the kitchen."

Eugenia had enough of the back and forth, she grabbed Emma's arm and pushed her down in the chair, then whispered in her ear, "I know what you're trying to do but it won't work. Sit there and when Gold says sign here, do it or else."

Emma nodded and didn't say another word but gave Mr. Gold a small smile. "I'm sorry, I'm fine really I'll just sit for a bit and wait for Mary Margaret."

"If you're sure, we can finish this at another time."

"NO!" Both Eugenia and Neal shouted. "I can finish my will later; we can finish up Judith's now since she's not feeling well."

This is not what Emma wanted, she needed to get out of that room, once she signs that will, nothing will stand in their way. She's almost afraid for Mr. Gold, after spending the small amount of time with him, she was certain he was not a part of this, and they may hurt him as well. She wished she knew what the police were going to do.


Detectives West, Dracona, Deputy Gardener and one trooper were making their move to the staircase and saw Neal and an older woman presumably his mother, go into a room, from her map on her phone they knew it was the library. She quietly conveyed the information to Sergeant Scarlett then made their way downstairs to clear the rest of the lower level then surround the room boxing them into one location.

The trooper cleared his way to the kitchen where his colleague was attending to Booth who was just coming to but not able to continue, he was then taken out the kitchen door to be looked over by waiting paramedics.

West, Dracona and Gardener proceeded with the sitting room, and then the office. The disarray of the room told them that this was where Henry was held and got away. West saw the small shovel by the desk and smirked, Henry told them that he had hit the man over the head twice. 'Smart kid.' West thought and smiled.

West was surprised there wasn't any form of security, she was glad there wasn't, or they would never have made it inside unaware. She had never encountered a hostage situation like this before. Normally, the police would rarely gain entrance to a home during a hostage situation, but they had a secret way in so they took it, Scarlett may go the negotiation way if things go to hell or call in the FBI to assist with it being a kidnapping over state lines.

Right now, the estate is surrounded, the floors above were cleared and everyone it seems is in the library. It wasn't clear if the Cassidy's had accomplices or if they were working alone, they knew there were two employees but unsure who they were or looked like and if they too were in on this whole scam.

Scarlett spoke over their earpieces, letting them know that an officer was going to get closer and get confirmation of the number of people in the room and the location of each person.

This is the part West hated, waiting. It was never her strong suit but there were possibly four innocents in that room that needed her to be as patient as she could.


Henry and Regina were united, and Regina wouldn't let Henry go, holding on as much as she could. Sergeant Scarlett introduced himself and caught her up to speed on what happened in Boston and how they became involved with the Detectives from there and the sheriff's office of Storybrooke. She too filled him in with the information she had. They were asked to sit in the police van to wait and be available if any more information was required.

"What's taking so long, Mom? Shouldn't they have Emma by now?"

"They can't rush this Henry, everything they do, they need to make sure no one gets hurt. It takes time I'm afraid, it isn't like the movies, TV or my books."

Henry let out a long sigh, "I know but I want to see Emma, she needs to be okay, they need to get her out of there."

"They will Henry, they will. She'll be here soon."

A trooper opened the door and asked for them to join the sergeant. They were escorted to the main area where Sergeant Scarlett was marking on a paper, he had laid out in front of him.

"Ah, Ms. Mills, can you or Henry tell us what the employees looked like?"

"I only saw the mother, Eugenia, Henry did you see them?"

"Yeah, the maid lady was weird, she was short and had dark hair, the other guy was the gardener, he was tall a little taller than you, brown hair but not dark, maybe dark blond or something like that."

"Thank you, little man that was great! We know what the lawyer looks like from his website so now we know who everyone is." Scarlett thanked the Mills' and asked them to go back to the van to wait and he relayed the information to the officers inside the house.


Emma sat near the window waiting for Mary Margaret to arrive in the library. She was glad that she made sure that the curtains were wide open, she saw the officer place a small camera onto the edge of the window. She knew they needed to know who was where and she needed to get as far away from the Cassidys' as she could, and she needed to get Gold away from them as well.

She got up from the chair and stood near the fireplace hoping to get Gold's attention, but he was chatting with Neal most likely about his will. Eugenia was keeping an eye on them and her then she looked down at her phone and smiled, and then looked towards the side door.

Emma glanced that way as well and saw Mary Margaret arrive with the David beside her holding her hand. She wondered why he was here, but she remembered Gold mentioning two witnesses.

"Oh wonderful, Mary Margaret and David are here we can sign the wills now."

"Yes! We can finish mine at another time, Mr. Gold, let's get this done and Judith can go lie down and rest for our trip tomorrow."

"All right, now I need to know your full name and your place of residence."

"Um, my name is Mary Margaret Blanchard, and my residence is here in Storybrooke, but I am originally from 14 Enchanted Lane, Raleigh, NC and that's where I receive my mail."

"And you?"

"David Nolan and you can put this address as mine for now."

"Thank you, I'll just add that information to the last page of each will and print them out."

Eugenia walked over to David, whispering something to him and Mary Margaret, making the maid pale before she walked back to Neal.

Emma watched the interaction and knew that she had to get Mary Margaret and David away from Neal and Eugenia. She started to go over to them when Mr. Gold announced that Eugenia could sign her will now. David helped Mary Margaret sit down at the table standing next to her.

Emma bit her lip thinking about the camera in the window, wondering if it had a mic and that the police could hear everything or not. She didn't want anyone to get hurt, she had to believe that Regina and Henry were out of the house and safe. So, it was just Mary Margaret, David, and Mr. Gold to keep out of harm's way. She knew Neal had a gun but wasn't sure of Eugenia. She turned back towards the window, walking past it, and whispered, "If you can hear me, I'll try to get Mary Margaret and the others away from the Cassidys'."

It was then her turn to sit and sign her will, her stomach was rolling, the room seemed too warm, and it felt as if it was closing in on her. Emma sat down and looked at Mary Margaret, she was terrified and shaking. She looked down at the will then back to Neal, who nodded his head at her, then back to the paper, the room was spinning, she felt sick, but she picked up the pen and placed the tip on the line above her name. Judith's name not hers.

"I can't do this."

"I'm sorry? What can't you do?" Mr. Gold asked confused. "Has the pen gone dry?"

"No, I can't sign this because I'm not Judith, I'm Emma Swan."