A/N: Hey everyone, I'm really sorry it's been so long. Since moving out of the city I've kind of lost my muse. I've also taken on two new jobs so there's not been a lot of free time. I'm going out west again in a few days (hopefully to see more filming!), and I'll be away for a few weeks so it may be a bit of a wait for the next chapter unless I get some writing done while I'm there. I'm sorry again, I know the summer is a nice time to read so I do feel really bad for making you wait so long. I hope you're all doing well and I hope you like the new update. Please let me know what you think! Your comments really do keep me motivated xx

Emma and her parents were still standing on the rain-soaked street in front of Regina's house. It was drizzling enough to have already dampened Emma's hair, and the air around them was heavy; it felt as if the clouds could let loose another downpour at any moment.

The panic that was building up inside Emma was reaching unbearable levels. She already had enough to worry about with Regina's abduction, but now their son was missing too. If whoever had taken Regina also got a hold of Henry, then things could be about to get very ugly.

"Emma are you alright?"

The trembling blonde felt a gentle hand on her shoulder, and as if in a trance, Emma turned to meet her mother's gaze.

"Yeah..." She replied unconvincingly.

"Come on," David said, "Henry can't have gotten far. If we leave now we might still be able to catch up with him."

Emma nodded, beginning to feel the adrenaline kicking back in. "We should split up, we'll cover more ground that way."

"Why don't David and I head down to Main Street?" Snow suggested.

"Okay, sure, I'll swing by the Town Hall I guess." Emma replied. "Henry might have gone to check Regina's office." She shrugged, "it's just where he's used to seeing her."

"Good idea," David said. "Keep in touch, we'll make sure to check everywhere we can."

Emma shook her head slowly. "What was he thinking?" She said quietly.

"That's just it, he wasn't." Snow replied softly. "He's frightened for Regina. When someone we love is in danger, it's often that all rationality will go out the window, and when that happens we sometimes act before we think."

"But he could get himself killed."

"That's not going to happen," David responded. "We'll find him Emma, don't worry. We'll find him and then we can focus on looking for Regina."

Emma nodded. "Well then let's not waste any time." She said, already turning and heading towards her car.

"Why don't you start the truck," Snow suggested softly to David, sadly watching her daughter's retreating form. "I'll just quickly lock up the house."

"Okay," David placed a hand on her shoulder before she hurried back to the house.

. . . . .

Emma's bug skidded to a halt in front of the Town Hall. She quickly pulled the keys from the ignition and leapt from the car, slamming the door shut behind her as she did. The quaint yellow building was pitch black inside, but Emma thought she should check Regina's office anyway.

As she tried the doors most of them were locked, but she found one around the back that was still unlatched. Taking a deep breath, she opened the door.

Moving cautiously through the silent, dark hallways, Emma felt a chill creeping through her veins due to how cold it was inside, in addition to the eeriness of the building she had only ever seen in the light. She supposed the heating might have been turned off as well since no one had worked there in days.

Quickly checking rooms as she ventured deeper into the building, she was beginning to get the sense that her first instincts upon arriving had been correct, her son had never been there. When she reached the hallway that led to the Mayor's Office, it was completely cast in darkness. So unless Henry had the eyes of a feline, Emma didn't believe he could have made it to his mother's office without having first turned the hall lights on.

Resolving that she might as well check while she was still there, she felt through the darkness around her, searching the walls for a light switch until finally she found one. Now with the path ahead of her illuminated, Emma was able to move more quickly through the hallway towards the waiting room where Regina's secretary's desk was.

The Sheriff found The Mayor's office locked up tight. The room inside was extremely dark, and there was absolutely no noise coming from the other side of the door.

Even so, Emma withdrew a set of keys from her pocket and fitted one of them into the lock. These had been given to her by Regina shortly after the curse had broken. The brunette had known that she herself had no need of them since she didn't plan on leaving the house unless it was for Boston, and with everything that was going on in town she wanted Emma to have access should the need arise.

The door swung silently open and Emma stepped guardedly into the office. Somehow it felt wrong to be there when Regina was not, even if it was with permission. Emma didn't turn on the lights right away, she could see well enough from the bit of light from the hallway and from the glow of the streetlights outside. The office had a forlorn, neglected feeling. Regina hadn't used the office much in the past few months and it certainly felt that way.

The office always had a somewhat imposing effect on visitors, and the darkness only made that worse. Not liking the feeling she was getting from the disturbingly quiet office, Emma felt for the light switch.

When she turned around again, Emma felt a tug in her heart; she didn't like seeing the office empty. It made her feel sick; it reminded her of just how much things had changed. The worst part however, was the gnawing at the back of her mind: what if Regina's absence was permanent?

There had been many a time when Emma had stood in this very room, full of anger. For almost all of those times Regina had been the reason for Emma's temper, but now Emma was angry for the Mayor. She was angry Regina's office was idle; she was angry Regina had been taken; she was angry Regina was in pain; and worst of all, she was angry that Regina may have just been robbed of her last chance to get better.

Everything in the empty office reminded Emma so much of the missing woman that it was causing her physical pain. After a quick look around to make quite sure that Henry wasn't curled up in the sitting area or hidden away somewhere else, Emma left the office, blinking back tears, and hoping that by the time she finally found Regina, she wouldn't be too late.

. . . . .

Emma was just making her way back to her car when she heard her phone buzzing. She checked the screen before quickly answering as she got into the yellow bug.

"Mary Margaret, hey, did you guys find him?"

"No not yet unfortunately, but David and I are on Main Street; Granny says she saw Henry a few minutes ago, she could see that he was distraught and she tried to help him but he ran away. From what she said it sounds like he might be heading in the direction of the hospital."

"I guess that makes sense," Emma replied softly.

"Yeah, but Emma if Dr. Whale really did have anything to do with Regina's disappearance then Henry might not be safe there."

Emma sighed. "I know, I'll head over now."

"We'll meet you there. Be careful Emma."

"Yeah you too." Emma said before hanging up.

There was a heavy feeling in her chest as she started the car again and pulled back onto the road. If anything happened to him she would never be able to forgive herself for what she had allowed to take place that night. Maybe Henry was right, she should have sent someone else to deal with the events in town; she should never have left Regina's side.

. . . . .

It was raining again by the time Emma was pulling up to Storybrooke General Hospital.

As her car approached the building, suddenly she felt her heart leap in her chest when she noticed a small figure huddled against the wall on the front steps.

"Henry," she breathed.

She didn't understand why he would just be sitting there letting the cold rain soak through him like that, but from the way he was positioned Emma could only assume that there was a good chance he was crying.

Driving a little too quickly for a rain-drenched, cramped parking lot, Emma pulled up to the bottom of the steps and scrambled out of the car, feeling as if she herself could cry with how relieved she was to see him.

"Henry!?"

The boy looked up in surprise, either he had ignored the sound of the car earlier or he hadn't heard it over the combined sounds of the rain and his weeping.

Even through the raindrops Emma could see that her son's eyes were extremely red.

"Emma?" Henry sniffled quietly when he saw her.

"Henry are you okay?!"

He got up from the steps and ran to her, throwing himself into her arms as the rain continued to pour down around them.

"Emma..." he cried into her jacket.

"What happened? Henry what the hell were you thinking running off like that!" She scolded, despite the fact that she was holding him in a protectively tight embrace.

She pressed her lips to the top of his head, desperately holding onto him for a few moments longer before she pulled herself away from him to look at him properly.

"Do you realize how badly you scared me just now Henry?!"

"I'm sorry..." Henry responded quietly, not being able to look at her.

"What were you thinking?!"

"I thought maybe she would be here... but I don't think she is."

"You've been inside?" Emma asked, trying to wipe some of the rain from her face.

Henry nodded. "My mom's not here Emma."

Emma silently looked up at the building.

"Emma..." Henry's voice broke. His tortured eyes were pleading as he looked up into hers. He wanted her to make this better. She always fixed everything, she could change things, she was the Savior.

"Is Dr. Whale in there?" Emma asked, still looking up at the hospital.

Henry shook his head.

"He's not?"

Again Henry shook his head. "Emma did he take my mom?" Henry's voice shook.

Emma didn't respond. She looked around for David and Mary Margaret, hoping they would be arriving soon. She wanted to look inside herself just to be sure and she needed someone to stay with Henry.

As if on cue, David's truck appeared turning off of the road and into the parking lot. Even though she was sure they could see her, Emma waved to them in hopes that it would get them to hurry up.

Once they were closer they hurried from the car.

"Henry!"

"Is he okay?"

"He's fine," Emma replied. "But listen, I want to have a look inside. Can you guys take care of him for me?"

"Yes of course." Mary Margaret replied, reaching out a hand in hopes that Henry would take it so they could get back into the truck and away from the rain.

When Henry didn't take it she lowered her hand. "Henry I know this is scary, but trust us, we'll find your mother. For right now though we need to get you out of this weather before you catch a cold."

"Come on kid let's get you home." Emma said, wrapping her arm around him gently to guide him to the truck.

"No!" Henry pulled from her grasp.

Emma just looked at him in dismay, she was quickly growing tired of this. She needed to be looking for Regina, not fighting with their son.

"We have to keep looking for my mom! We have to find her!"

"Henry–"

"She's all by herself, people could be hurting her! You said they were going to torture her!"

"Henry," Emma whispered, kneeling down in front of him as she tried to hold back tears that were brought on from an overwhelming amount of emotions. "I know how hard this is for you, believe me I do, but I promise, you are not the only one who's worried about her. I know how badly you want to help but that doesn't mean it's okay to just be reckless like this. I want to help her too but in order for me to do that you have to start listening to me." Emma's voice broke as she tried to keep from falling apart.

Henry shook his head, tears streaming down his face. "Emma I'm not going home without my mom." He sobbed.

"Please Henry," Emma's voice wavered as she took his hand. "I swear I would let you come with me if I could but it's too dangerous. I'll be able to cover more ground on my own. I promise Henry, I'll tear this town apart if I have to. I'll never give up on her."

Henry's heartbroken gaze dropped to the ground and Emma could tell that it was taking all of his strength to keep from breaking down entirely.

He was silent for a few moments, not looking at anyone. Emma gave him some time to think, and to hopefully calm down enough to let them take him back to the house.

"Whoever has her couldn't have taken her over the town line." Henry finally said in a quiet, broken voice.

Emma gave him a small smile.

"That's right Henry," Mary Margaret responded gently. "And that's good news for us."

Henry sniffled, looking up at her.

David nodded in reassuring agreement. "Searching all of Storybrooke is a hell of a lot easier than searching the entire country. Regina's here somewhere and it's only a matter of time before we find her."

Henry nodded, wiping his tears away with his sleeve. "I just hope she's still okay when we do." His tone wavered as he voiced Emma's own fears.

Emma blinked back tears as she continued to try to stay strong for him.

"I will find her Henry." Emma's soft voice said. "But you've got to do your part too. You've got to start listening to me. You have to let David and Mary Margaret take you home."

Henry shook his head, and Emma's heart broke when he pulled his grasp from hers and started backing away from her.

Emma stood up, looking to her parents for help.

David nodded, trying to tell her it would be okay. Mary Margaret stepped forward to reach out for Henry again, but he was too fast for her.

The distraught boy dodged his grandparents and fled through the rainy parking lot towards the road that headed back into town.

"Henry!" Emma ran after him in a panic.

"I'm not going back!" He shouted as he ran.

"Henry stop!"

"Henry!"

Emma heard the voices of David and Mary Margaret calling after the ten year old as well.

"Henry this isn't helping her!"

He wasn't listening though, he just continued to run. Emma wasn't sure he even knew where he was going, but she couldn't blame him, she knew exactly how he felt. She just wished he would see reason though, she wished he would understand why his continuous fleeing was actually making things worse for Regina.

Somewhere Across Town

Regina was lying on the ground, or at least, she assumed she was on the ground. She could just make out the sounds of voices around her, but everything was so dark. She could barely move, she could hardly even open her eyes. She felt incredibly weak. The surface beneath her was cold and hard and was causing tremendous discomfort.

She tried to move; she tried to turn onto her side; she tried to force herself to regain full consciousness, but whatever she had been given was making these things nearly impossible. She had already been in a delicate state before the injection, but whatever it was that had been forced into her bloodstream was too strong for her to fight.

There was a muffled, echoing sound of footsteps approaching. A few moments later she felt the pressure of a hand on her neck. While she felt a dulled fear run through her at the contact, after a few moments the pressure soon subsided. Her arm still felt heavy, but she could also feel the sensation of it being lifted by someone else, however it didn't feel quite right. It felt as if her arm continued to float upwards, much farther than it could have while still being attached to the rest of her body. She was able to move her head ever so slightly as she persisted to try to regain control of her senses.

Soon she felt the pressure again, this time on her wrist, but moments later her arm was released again.

The numbness of her senses was preventing her from listening properly, but she was still able to catch a few voices as her consciousness drifted dangerously close to nothingness again.

"What happened?" Came Whale's angry voice.

"I don't know," a familiar townsperson's voice said. "We drugged her so we could take her but it should have worn off by now and–"

"You drugged her?! What did you give her?" Whale sounded furious.

"Just some of this." Another familiar male voice spoke up.

"You idiots! You could have killed her. I told you she was sick, her system can't handle this right now."

"Then why did you give it to us in the first place?"

"You never told us–"

"I told you it was for the others! I knew someone was bound to be protecting her even if Emma was gone..." The doctor breathed a frustrated sigh. "Were you seen?"

"There was no one with her."

"No, we . . ."

The voices began turning fuzzy again.

". . . but . . . were behind the house . . . heard the boy screaming . . . "

Despite how hard she was trying to cling to consciousness, those were the last words Regina heard before she blacked out again.

. . . . .

Emma suspected that Henry was running on adrenaline right now, because despite the fact that she could run much farther and faster than him on a normal day, she was now having difficulty keeping up with him. He didn't go far though; and she finally found him back on Main Street, stopped dead-center in the middle of the intersection in front of the Public Library. He was looking around, crying, panicking; she could see that he was completely at a loss for what to do.

In that moment of vulnerability, Emma was able to catch him. This time she grabbed a hold of his arm and didn't intend to let go until they got back to the house.

"Emma..." Henry sobbed, looking miserably up into her eyes. This time he didn't try to fight her off.

The rain had stopped again, but the both of them were already drenched.

Henry was shivering uncontrollably, and Emma knew she needed to get him home, for both his health in this weather, and for his emotional state.

"I know Henry..." She said, answering his unstated worries. She lowered herself to his level as she heard her parents running up behind them.

"Emma I want my mom." Henry's voice broke as he looked down into her eyes with a devastated, worn out look in his.

She nodded, taking hold of his hand.

"I know you do..." She said softly. She sniffled, looking briefly up at her parents. "I know how hard it is Henry. I know you don't just want to go home and sit around while Regina is out there suffering... but constantly running off like this is not helping her. It has to stop now. Someone in this town wants to hurt your mom and if they got their hands on you..." Emma shook her head, not being able to finish her sentence. "Regina's abduction is already enough to deal with, I don't know what I would do if I lost you too."

"I'm sorry, I just want to find her."

"I know kid, but the problem is that there could be some very dangerous people out here. And because you ran off, we've had to spend our time looking for you rather than trying to figure out what happened to Regina."

"Oh..." Henry's face fell.

Emma squeezed his hand gently. "Do you see now why it's such a problem to keep taking off like this? I know you're worried about your mom Henry, but what you're doing isn't fair to her. Because we had to go searching for you, we haven't been able to even start looking for her."

Henry's eyes had dropped to the floor. He was sniffling, his lower lip was beginning to tremble.

As the tears began to run freely down his face once more, Emma's heart went out to him. He was just a child; while it was true he really did have the best intentions, he still didn't quite understand the consequences of all his actions. She hadn't wanted to tell him that it was his fault no one was looking for Regina, but he had to understand why he needed to listen to his family.

"Come here kid," Emma whispered gently, pulling him into a tight, comforting embrace.

She felt his arms immediately around her shoulders, clinging to her desperately. She could feel him beginning to cry more heavily, and she could also feel him shivering. Maybe it was from the cold, maybe it was from distress, but either way, Emma knew it was time to take Henry home.

Once she knew he was safe she would begin her mission to find his mother, hopefully before it was too late.

xXxXxXxXx

A/N: Thanks for reading, please don't forget to review xx