Flora sat on her cot in the Storybrooke jail, a two-cell structure situated in the bad of the police station. The moon shone bright through one, small window, leaving a streak of silver across the linoleum floor. She watched in mute interest as a fly whizzed around, dipping in and out of the light, occasionally banging itself against a window. Otherwise there was no life in the police station.
She stood up from the stiff cot, with its plain scratching sheets, and rubbed some of the feeling back into her legs. This was going to be a long night.
"Hungry?" Emma reach out her hand and thrust a bag of Granny's burger and fries in between the bar of Flora's cell. The look on Flora's face stated that she wasn't in the mood, but didn't want to be rude by turning her down. Flora accepted the meal with a soft, "Thank you."
"I didn't know the Storybrooke PD was this soft on criminals," Regina's sneered from across the room.
Emma turned and glared at her, "People need to eat. What are you doing here, Madam Mayor?"
Regina took a manila envelope from her her briefcase and handed it to Flora. "Regarding custody of your brother, Conner."
The color faded from Flora's face as she read the contents of the envelope. "He's staying with our neighbor, Dawn Thorne."
"I'm afraid that since Ms. Thorne is neither family, nor a certified foster parents, he'll have to go into foster care for the time being."
"In case you've forgotten, the custody placement are the police's responsibility," Emma growled. She met Regina's cold gaze with equal hardness. "Conner will be just fine living with Ms. Thorne."
Regina raised an manicured eyebrow, "Really? You've formally investigated and certified her yourself."
"I interviewed her the night I dropped Conner off at her apartment," Emma answered.
"An interview is not an investigation, Ms. Swan, and in any case, the sheriff is the ultimate authority on such matters, not you." Regina smirked. "Ms. Thorne has no right to keep that child with her, unless you can convince Graham that he's safe with her."
"Is that all?"
Regina cast a sidelong glance at Flora, then Emma. "That's all. Good luck, you know Graham always listens to me." She picked up her briefcase and sashayed away, triumph and smugness evident in her every movement.
Emma softened her warm, brown eyes when she looked at the pale, frightened Flora, "Don't worry. I'll do whatever it takes to convinces Graham to let your brother stay in Storybrooke."
Flora keep her eyes on the papers Regina had left. "I promised my mom and dad I'd look after Conner before they died, and now I have no say in what happens to him. I've never felt so helpless in my life."
"You have help," Emma told her.
"Do you think I did it?" Flora looked at Emma for the first time.
"I-I'm not at liberty to say," Emma replied carefully.
Flora's lips twisted into a bitter smile, "Of course you're not."
"Regardless, I care about Conner, and I'm not gonna let anything happen to him," Emma insisted.
"Why does she do that?" Flora wondered aloud, not to Emma in particular, "It's like she can't breath unless she's making other people miserable."
Paige handed out the flashlights while Henry studied the map of the forest once more. When Henry and Conner come to her at school asking her to help them solve Ms. Jefferson's disappearance, she had jumped at the chance. She wasn't sure if she believed Conner's sister was really innocent, but Paige wanted to know what had actually happened that winter night in the woods.
Paige had always liked Ms. Jefferson, despite (maybe because of) her eccentricity; something about felt warm and familiar and maternal. Of course, she never said so in front of her parents, of else they might have become concerned. Everyone avoided Ms. Jefferson like she had the plague, but in the few brief moments their paths crosses, Paige felt a rush of affection of the lonely woman that she couldn't completely explain. Whatever the case, she thought finding the real kidnapper would be a fantastic adventure. And she would get to do it with their friends.
First, they had told all their parents and guardians that they were all at each house's for the night, where really they were at Henry's castle, within sight of a remote part of the forest where Henry thought Ms. Jefferson had been dragged off, if not held in secret for all that time she had been missing. The twins went over their supplies, making sure it all worked. Conner looked over Henry's shoulder as he pointed out the points in the map to search.
"What do you think we'll find out there?" Paige asked, suddenly nervous. A memory assaulted her, the day last winter when she came across a bloody heart in the snow. She didn't get a good night's sleep for months after that.
Henry shrugged, "Anything suspicious. Something that belonged to Priscilla, some rope, a weapon. Anything that could prove that Flora didn't have anything to do with Priscilla's disappearance."
"How are we splitting up?" Ava asked.
Henry looked over the group with a thoughtful look. "I guess you and Nicky can go together, and I'll go with Conner and Paige."
Ava made a face, "No way, I don't want to go with Nicky."
"Why not?" Nicky demanded hotly.
"We do everything together," Ava whined, "I want to go with Paige. Paige, are you okay with that?"
"Uh, sure," Paige replied.
Nicky crossed his arms, "Fine. I'll go with Conner and Henry."
"Actually, I want to go by myself. We'll cover more ground that way," Conner cut in anxiously.
Henry frowned, "Are you sure that's a good idea? I don't think you should do off by yourself."
"I'll be fine," Conner held up a walkie-talkie, "If I need anything I'll let you know."
Henry did not look convinced, but he knew they didn't have time to argue, so he let it go. "Alright. Everybody ready?" The other children nodded, grabbed their supplies, and went off in different directions.
Since that first night Adam had come to her after dark, Belle invited him to her chambers every night after sunset. He had spent countless years without the touch of another person and Belle found she did not mind indulging him. To make sure she couldn't see his face and worsen his curse, Belle took to wearing a thick, black cloth around her eyes so she could see nothing even if she opened his eyes. She practiced walked around her chambers with the blindfold so she didn't make a fool of herself when Adam visited her.
He arrived just after sunset, like always. Their friendship had been growing steadily, but after Adam's explanation of his past and the introduction of physical touch, some unseen distance between them vanished with alarming speed. Most nights they stood in the sitting room, hugging and tracing each other's faces. On others they sat down and held hands as they continued whatever conversation they had been having earlier that day. Once, they sat on the floor together, Adam's head in her lap as Belle traced imaginary patterns on his face and neck. She had never been intimate with a man. Part of her feared it, part of her craved her it.
"Have you finished Dempsey's Geography of the Faerie Realms?" Adam's cheerful voice greeted her when she opened the door for her. His long, strong arms encircled Belle, his head resting at the junction between her neck and shoulder.
Belle melted into his touch, "Not yet, but I'm nearly finished."
As they spoke about the book, Adam settled on an overstuffed chair. Normally Belle would sit in the other chair, holding his hand as they enjoyed each other's company, but tonight boldness hit Belle like a spear piercing her chest. She lifted her skirts up to her knees and straddled him. Adam's sharp intake of breath sent a thrill down her spine.
"Go on," she encouraged. "What do think of Dempsey?" Belle placed her hand over his heart. A prickle of pleasure traveled up her arm when she felt his heartbeat quicken. She ought to have been embarrassed by her behavior, but she wasn't.
Adam stammered through his opinions of the book, but neither he nor Belle was paying much attention to what he was saying. Despite the intimacy they had shared in the past few weeks, they had never been together like this.
Growing bolder still, Belle leaned against him, nestling her head against his shoulder.
"What are you doing?" Adam hissed. His tone held more anxiety than anger and he squirmed uncomfortably in his seat.
Belle pulled away from her, face warm. "I'm sorry," she replied with genuine embarrassment. "I didn't mean to...I thought-"
Adam cradled her neck in his large hand, pulled her closer, and pressed his lips against hers. He kissed her like he breathed, like he needed the taste of her mouth to survive. Belle stiffened in surprised, but accepted the kiss long before she was consciously aware of what they were doing. Dempsey forgotten, Belle and Adam held each other close and kissed until they couldn't breathe.
They came up for air moments later. Belle felt as though someone had splashed ice-cold water into her face. A nervous laugh escaped her though. If she could have looked at Adam's face, she would have blushed harder at the hungry way he gazed up at her. "That was... new," Belle sighed happily.
"Sorry, I shouldn't have done that," Adam whispered.
Belle leaned forward and kissed him deeply, "You're forgiven. Can we...can we keep going? I like kissing you."
Their lips connected a third time, their hands roaming around each other's bodies. As Belle's fingers clutched tightly into his collar, Adam run his fingers through her thick hair. His hands fell from her hair to her back. Her body became unbearably warm. Adam's fingers hooked under the hem of her skirts, slowly lifted them higher.
"Yes," Belle laughed. "I want you." She pulled away to pull his shirt over head, fumbling slightly as she hastily wrenched it free from his shoulders. Her palms delighted in the feel of his naked chest. "I want you."
"I'm sorry, Emma. If Regina thinks it best that-"
"Oh come on," Emma crossed her arms. "You can't seriously tell me that ripping this boy from everyone he ever knew and sending him to live with strangers," - Graham rolled his eyes - "is somehow better than letting him stay with a neighbor until his sister's name is cleared."
Graham cocked his head and frowned, "So, you're already convinced that Flora Xue is innocent."
"I meant, until his sister's case is closed," Emma amended. She brought a cup of coffee to Graham's desk, leaning against it as she sipped her own cup.
"Do you ever think this has more to do with you than with Conner," Graham asked, looking up from his paperwork.
"What are you talking about?" Emma asked between sips.
"You seem hellbent on making sure no kids from this town end up in foster care, because you had a rough time when you were a kid."
"That's not fair," Emma scowled.
"Isn't it?" Graham replied smoothly, "I'm not saying I don't trust your judgement, but I think you need to evaluate why you think foster care is so horrible."
"I don't think it's horrible," Emma lied, "I'm a foster parent too, remember?"
"You trust yourself with kids more than state-certified foster parents?"
"Everyone trusts themselves more than people they don't know. That's common sense," Emma replied dryly. "I'm not saying foster care is bad, I'm saying it's not what Conner needs."
The shrill ring of the station telephone cut off Graham's response. He signaled to Emma to stop speaking. After a few moments of tense conversation, Graham hung up, but before he could speak again, the telephone rang again. Emma's cell phone buzzed in her pocket. Incoming Call: Mary Blanchard. Her heart sank in worry.
Emma moved away from Graham and answered her phone. "What is it?"
"Listen," Mary began, panic evident in her words, "you know how the twins said they were spending the night at Paige Lewis's house tonight? Well Paige's mother just called asking me if she was us. She has no idea where the kids are."
"Fuck." Emma looked over her shoulder to where Graham had just finished another phone call and looked back at her. "I pretty sure they lied to us about where they'd be tonight. Don't worry, Graham and I are going to find them."
"Okay," Mary replied. "Call me if anything happens."
"Of course," Emma promised.
Belle woke up alone. She absently reached out and touched the spot beside her on the where Adam had slept, but found it empty. "Adam?" she called out tentatively. No answer. She hazard to remove her blindfold, and indeed she was entirely alone. Outside, the fat, round moon hung lung in the black sky, surrounded by countless twinkling stars. She rose from the bed and throw a dressing gown over her nude body when she realized how cold she was.
Tears stung her eyes. Why didn't Adam stayed the night with her? Had she disappointed him somehow? She couldn't go look for him, at least not until morning, from the risk of seeing his human face. She looked outside the window once more, at the silvery moon shining down on her, wishing the night would already end.
They started searching at Henry's castle and found five sets of footprints leading into the woods, which Emma and Graham could only assume belonged to Henry, Conner, Paige, Ava, and Nicholas. The footprints stopped at the entrance to the woods, to Emma's horror. Just what did those kids think they were doing wandering around the woods in the middle of the night without anyone knowing they were out there? Emma and Graham scoured the woods together, calling out the children's names from time to time and keeping an eye out for any sign of them.
After two hours of searching, Emma found the beam of a flashlight a short distance away and ran to it, Graham hot on her heels. They found Conner alone, examining something on the ground.
"Conner?" Emma called. The young boy's head snapped up sharply, and even in the dim light Emma watched his face don an expression of fear. "You're not in trouble, with me at least.
Graham asked, "Is there anyone else with you?"
He shook his head, "We split up. Ava and Paige went one way and Henry and Nicholas went another."
"You were by yourself?" Emma felt overwhelming concern for him. This poor kid, who lost his parents and grandmother not that long ago, who's sister was currently sitting in a jail cell; and here he was, alone in the middle of the woods at night.
"I wanted to be myself," Conner muttered. Emma placed a hand on his shoulder, unsure how to comfort him.
"Still think Storybrooke's the best place for him?" Graham asked Emma.
Conner furrowed his brow. "What?"
"Later," Emma told Conner. She turned to Graham, "Now not the time."
"Do you know where the others were headed?" Graham continued, ignoring Emma's remark. Conner said that he didn't. "Take him back to the squad car, Emma. I'll keep looking for the other kids, and you meet back up with me once Conner's out of these woods."
Emma nodded and without another word, she took Conner by the shoulders and led him back to the squad car. Once they were out of earshot of Graham, Conner asked, "What he mean, about Storybrooke being the best place for me?"
"You've been staying with Ms. Thorne these last few days," Emma explained, "but the mayor is trying to get you placed in foster care and Sheriff Graham agrees with her."
"Where would I be staying if I went into foster care?"
"I don't know. Outside of Storybrooke, that's for sure."
Conner stopped walking. In the pale moonlight, his skin looked ghostly white, and his dark brown eyes were so large they seemed to take up half his face. "I have to leave Storybrooke?!"
"Nothing is official yet," Emma shrugged lamely, "but that does seem to be the case. Especially after tonight. People are going to wonder if Ms. Thorne can handle you."
Conner blinked away silent tears and Emma's heart arched for him. "I-I didn't know. It was Henry's idea. He said if we could proof that Flora was innocent, everything would be okay. I didn't know it meant the mayor would take me away! I wouldn't have come if I had known!"
Emma wrapped her around the crying child, "I know, I understand."
If you could say one thing about Flora Xue, it was that she followed rules. She listened to her parents, didn't talk back to her teachers, put up with her boss' bullshit not matter how much she felt like hitting him over the head with a chair whenever he blamed for her something going wrong with a patient that clearly wasn't her fault. And where had that gotten her? In a jail cell waiting trial for Priscilla Jefferson's disappearance, with a possible murder change over the human heart found in the woods.
She worried about Conner. Dawn had been nice enough to look after him, but if Mayor Mills had her way, he'd be shipped of to a foster home before she'd even had her day in court. A trial could take years, and by then he would likely already be adopted and even if she was found innocent, she'd loss custody of him forever. She hadn't seen him since her arrest. Did he think she was guilty?
Her questions came to screeching halt when Graham and Emma returned to the station with five exhausted, dirty children, one of them with a tear-streaked face, and Flora knew her problems would only get worse from there.
