Chapter 8: Confrontation
"Just give it to me straight, Ruby, don't go making up tales now." The dark-haired woman chuckled defiantly from her spot on the bed in the corner of the room, the plastic walls separating her from the rest of the occupants in the room.
"It's not good, Mum." Ruby said softly. "It started spreading the moment it got in your blood stream. The doctors said it matches the data they have on file for J2."
"So that's it then." The woman nodded resolutely before turning her attention to Emma. "Did the message make it to Merlin?"
Emma bit her lip, and her eyes met his for a moment before turning back to Mary Margaret. "Not all of it."
"Enough?"
Emma shook her head. "I think so, I don't know."
"Where's Will?"
Killian took Emma's hand when he heard her loud exhale, knowing that the tears would be coming shortly after. "He's next door. He uh…" She sniffled and the woman sat up in her bed.
"J2." Ruby responded softly.
"Dammit." The demure woman cursed. Killian sighed and pulled Emma against his chest. "So, what's next?"
"Mum, you need to rest." Ruby demanded.
"Oh, don't give me that crap, Red. You know I don't rest."
"I contacted David." Killian said suddenly, causing all the eyes in the room to turn toward him.
"What?" Emma asked horrified. "Why would you do that?"
Killian gestured toward the woman in the bed. "It's his wife, he deserves to know."
"Killian." Mary Margaret spoke softly. "Did he…did he say anything?"
"He's confused, doesn't understand why you were there. I didn't tell him much, just not to trust Regina, things aren't what they seem, J2." He added quietly at the end.
"He must be so angry."
"He's a good cop, if I know David, he'll do some digging, figure things out."
"You could have put him in danger." Ruby exclaimed.
"Compared to what? We aren't exactly on vacation here, love! We need help on the outside, Dave's a good man."
"He's right. My husband followed the Mayor's lead because he believed in what she was doing, but things have changed, she's not who he thought she was, he'll follow the leads, do what he thinks is right."
In his pocket, his communicator beeped. Killian held up his hand and pulled it from his jacket. "We need to talk." David's voice boomed in his ear. "Now."
"Speak of the devil, we were just talking about you." He said light heartedly, hoping to set the man at ease.
"You aren't listening to me. We need to meet. I want to see my wife; I have information you all need to see."
"I can come to you…"
"No, no deals. I come to you." He demanded and Killian sent a worrying glance in the woman's direction as she stared at him in the bed.
Covering the device with his hand he talked softly. "He wants to come here; says he has information we need to hear."
"No way, it's a trap, he's not just going to walk in here, no questions asked."
"He's worried about his wife." Killian said honestly in response to Ruby.
"Go get him, follow our protocols." Mary Margaret demanded of the dark-haired woman who opened her mouth to protest and then stormed out of the room.
"We're sending one of ours to the wall. Meet her there and follow her rules or else you don't come, Mate."
"Fine." He paused. "Can you tell my wife…" Killian glanced at the woman on the bed, her face pale. "Tell her that I love her."
"Aye, Mate." The line went dead. "He'll meet her at the wall."
"Thank you." She said with a nod.
"He said to tell you that he loves you." The woman smiled sadly as Killian took his leave from the room, Emma following him closely behind. The moment she stepped from the room; she entered the one directly beside it that held the critically ill, Will Scarlet. She nodded to him, and he watched as she closed the door behind her. He wasn't sure how they were going to get through all of this, he only hoped that whatever David needed to speak to them about didn't bring about more sorrow and despair.
"There's my girl." Will said weakly when she entered the room.
"Hey." Emma breathed nervously. "How are you feeling?"
"Like I got stabbed and injected with a plague there's no cure for."
Emma frowned in anger. "That's not funny."
He coughed. "I 'spose not, but what else you gonna do?"
"I hate you."
"You love me, don't even try to deny it."
"What are we going to do?" She cried.
"Don't cry Emmie."
"I can't lose you."
"Oi, I'm too cranky to die, I'm gonna be around long enough to embarrass Henry when he dates his first lass, or watch you marry that gent out there that can't keep his bloody hands off ya." Emma couldn't stop her laughter no matter how much she just wanted to cry. "So, what's the plan?" He asked, as she sat down in the chair across the room.
"Ruby left to bring David here, he says he has something we need to see; I don't know. I can't help but feel like it's a trap, but Killian trusts him."
"Not like we have any other brilliant plans, eh. I guess we work with what we got." He coughed again, blood forming at the ends of his mouth as he wiped it away with his hand. "Hey, I'm fine. Really." He tried to reassure her.
"You know I can tell when you're lying." She teased as the door beside her opened and Killian stepped into the room, announcing David's arrival.
"Good, give 'er someone else to harass." Will joked as she stood from her seat.
"I'll be back soon." She promised, trying to smile as she left the room. When the door shut, Killian stopped her by placing a hand on her forearm.
"Are you alright love?"
"Of course, I'm not. My best friend is dying, I have no idea if the message I sent reached Merlin, if all of this has been for nothing, and I am honestly running out of reasons to have even a sliver of hope." His finger brushed against her forehead, the tickle of her hair tingling against her skin.
"If the message didn't go through, we'll find another way," He laced her fingers with hers, "together. But you don't give up, not my Emma."
A warm feeling filled her heart as his blue eyes stared back at her. She wanted to curl into his arms and believe that there was still a chance for them to win, but knowing Will was laying behind the door, dying a slow painful death, overtook any feelings of hope that tried to grow roots within her.
Killian wrapped her in his arms, and Emma melted against him, enjoying the moment of stillness and peace they had been afforded. On the other end of the hall, she heard a commotion and the sea of people parted as Ruby waked through the center. Emma withdrew from Killian and motioned to the end of the hall.
David strode toward them, a look of apprehension in his eyes as he settled them on Killian. "Where's my wife?" He demanded as he reached them.
Killian and Emma exchanged a glance. "We need to talk, Mate."
"I'll talk after you take me to my wife."
"Aye, this way." He turned and opened the door, leading David into the room that housed Mary Margaret.
Emma stood at the back of the room as the man hesitantly approached his wife, a look of fear in his eyes. "Why would you do this?" His voice was shaking as he spoke.
"David…" She paused, as if she were rethinking her response. "I did what I thought was right."
He hung his head. "Perhaps you were right." He turned and looked at Killian. "I had questions." Reaching into his jacket he pulled out a folder. "Things weren't making sense. So, I did some digging."
"Gold?"
"I followed the money. It all leads back to him, all the transactions into the Mayor's office, research money for the Gold Collective, military operations. Money that shouldn't be there, man."
Killian glanced at Emma. "It's all Hive."
"That's not all I found." He almost whispered. "I saw the message to Merlin." He turned and looked at Emma. "Of course, I had to do a search on Emma Swan. Grew up outside the walls of Storybrooke, came to town at age 14, lived on the streets for a few years until you found your payday in Neal Cassidy."
Emma grunted. "Trust me, I didn't want his money."
"Did he know about your run in with J2?" Everyone turned and looked at her.
"No. His father was so interested in testing people, his search for answers seemed to have nothing to do with wanting to help people. I couldn't trust anyone."
"When did you know you were sick?" David asked.
"I got sick when I was 16, I had a place on the docks where others gathered at night to stay warm. A few of them got sick that winter, they didn't last more than a few days before they were pulled from the streets, their bodies drained of life. When the fever came, I resigned myself to death. I got picked up in a sweep, they took me to a hospital for treatment. But after a few days I got better. The doctors started asking questions, I got nervous, so I ran."
"Your blood work is in the system." David said, opening the folder in his hands. "It was housed in one of Regina's databases, looks like Gold flagged the information about 4 months ago."
"That was right after I took off."
"That's not all they found. See I thought finding someone who had survived J2, a plague with zero cure, was a miracle, but imagine my surprise when I found you aren't the only one."
Emma shook her head. "There's someone else who survived?"
David looked at Killian. "Did you know?"
"Know what, Mate?"
David handed him the folder and Killian stared at the pages in front of him. He flipped the page in his hand, his eyes wide. "This doesn't make any sense."
"What is it?" Emma asked.
"Medical records." David answered. "Killian's medical records, to be more specific. His bloodwork shows he had J2."
"That doesn't make any sense, the only time I've ever even been sick was when I was young. That was years before the plague."
David turned back toward his wife, "Don't you get it. They both carry the gene that can fight off J2."
"What good does that do?" Killian asked.
"I don't know, but we need to find out. Maybe they can use your blood somehow to save my wife, to save everyone." He turned back to her, a look of desperation on his face. "Maybe if we take your blood and Killian's blood, maybe together, together it means something."
She paused, staring at the man in front of her and then looking at Killian. "Henry." She said suddenly.
"He's sleeping, love." Killian responded.
"No, Henry is the key." She rushed to the door and then turned back to look at Killian. "I know I said we needed to talk, and this is really not the way I wanted to do this, but…" He narrowed his eyes. "Henry isn't Neal's. He's yours." She blurted out.
"What?"
"I…I didn't know, not until he was born. I thought he was Neal's. We had been apart for a month when I found out, but I was so stressed out, I wasn't thinking. When he came early, I thought it was because of the stress, but then I held him, and he opened those beautiful blue eyes, and I knew, I knew he was yours."
"Henry's my son?" His voice cracked and tears sprung in her eyes, she stepped back toward him and pressed her hand to his cheek.
"Henry has your blood and mine. What if…" His eyes sparkled as he stared at her. "What if he has been the answer this whole time?"
Suddenly Killian's entire face crumbled in anger, he reached forward and grabbed Emma, pulling her toward him as she tried to understand what was happening. Then she heard a voice that made her entire body tense.
"Hello, dearie."
Killian didn't have a moment to deconstruct the information he had learned from Emma before Gold and his son appeared in the open door. Killian had only seconds to react, pulling Emma toward him, protecting her from the man who had caused all of her fear.
"And where is that grandson of mine?"
"You stay the hell away from him." Emma yelled and Neal stepped toward her.
"You took him away from me." He reached out, touching her hair as she slapped his hand away from her face. Before he could react, Neal's fist had drawn back and made contact with Emma's cheek. Killian stepped forward, grabbing Neal by the collar, and yanking him toward him. The man cowered for a moment before Killian heard the click of a gun and Emma's shrill. Killian could see Gold standing next to Emma, a gun to her head. He released Neal reluctantly, holding his hands in front of him.
"Just saying, a gentleman never strikes a lady, perhaps you should have raised him with better manners." He said with a shrug, looking over at Neal with disdain.
"Children have always been such a disappointment." The man growled and Neal stumbled backward to step away from the group. "So, let's change that today. Where's the boy?" Killian glared at the man, no one in the room saying a word. "Regina." He called out and the woman appeared in the doorway. "Bring me the brat."
Emma shrilled as the woman left the room, setting off to search for their son.
Their son.
His son.
He had a son with Emma. He couldn't think about that right now, right now they just needed to survive.
He caught David's eye as the man stood on the other side of the room. Nodding his head, he stepped closer to the door as David reached behind himself, pulling the gun he always kept at his back. Things moved suddenly the moment the gun came into view. Gold twisted quickly and Emma used her shoulder to shove the older man to the ground at the exact moment that Killian rushed Neal.
The two men crashed through the open-door frame into the hallway. Killian used the man's surprise to his advantage, punching him square in the nose before he could get his bearings.
"Killian…" He looked up to see Ruby at the other end of the hall.
"Save Henry." He screamed, continuing his assault against the man on the ground in front of him. Ruby ran down the hall toward the rooms where Henry was sleeping. Neal watched as she ran, a sudden kick to the side causing him to lose his balance as Neal scrambled away from him.
Killian took one look into the room, watching Emma rushing at Gold, as David was shoved into the wall. He had to trust that they would be ok, he needed to get to Henry before Neal. Standing up he gave chase after the man as he ran in the direction that Ruby had disappeared.
When he reached Henry's room, the door was open. Ducking into the room, he rushed to the bed to find it empty. Turning around he saw Ruby laying on the ground behind the door. Grabbing her by the shoulders, he lifted her off the ground as her eyes flew open. "Henry." She exhaled.
"Where's Henry?"
"Neal…he took him." Killian leaned her against the wall. "Go, I'm fine. I'm right behind you."
Killian rushed back into the hall, looking up and down to determine which way Neal would have gone. He heard a clattering at one end of the hall and ran quickly after it. He pushed through the door of the stairwell and began climbing, praying with each step that he would find his son at the top.
When he breached the door, the light flooded his eyes as he rushed into the room, the water swirling through the boat dock. He spotted movement near the boat and yelled.
"Neal."
The man stilled his movement, spinning around with the boy in his arms.
The cane came crashing down against her arm and Emma grabbed ahold of the wooden stick, yanking it forward as the man tumbled to the ground beside her. Emma took advantage of his imbalance and climbed onto his chest, holding the wooden cane against his neck, pressing it harder as the man struggled to breathe.
"Emma." David sent her a warning from his spot on the floor on the other side of the room as he recovered from his previous entanglement with Gold.
"He can't live." She cried. "He's too dangerous."
She felt his hand on her shoulder. "That's not for us to decide."
Emma slowed her breathing, trying to rationalize the need to remove Gold from the playing field with her need to make him pay for everything he had caused.
"He's not worth it, Emma." David warned softly beside her.
"He's dangerous." She cried, watching as the man's eyes widened in fear below her.
"Your son needs you." Emma flinched, relaxing her grip on the cane as the man slowly lost consciousness. She threw the cane to the ground, falling back against the wall beside her.
"Go." She said turning toward him. "Go find Killian and Henry."
The man nodded, turned toward his wife, and then left the room.
"All of this, because of one man." Mary Margaret said from her bed. "Because of greed." She said angrily.
"I'm so sorry." Emma said as the tears fell from her face. "You don't deserve to die."
"Don't you worry about me. I have faith and so should you."
"How can you be so positive at a time like this." She said with a laugh, wiping her face with her hands.
"I don't know, I guess I don't feel like giving up just yet."
Emma smiled, she appreciated the optimism of the woman, even if she didn't share it. Suddenly the wind was knocked out of her, a blinding pain hitting her like a lightning bolt against her back. Before she could react she was lying face down on the cold cement, a foot pressing against her head.
"Neal said you were smart, but I think he was just blinded by a pretty face. That boy of mine is not a good judge of character."
Emma gulped for air, choking in muffled gasps. She swung her arms, trying to grasp the man behind her, if she could just get ahold of a leg of his pants, or even a shoe. Her vision was blurring, sparkles of light flashing behind her eyes as she began to lose her fight to breathe. Her hand dropped to the ground beside her, a crashing sound vibrating in her ears.
Suddenly her airway opened, she choked, sucking in breath as her lungs filled with air. Beside her a wooden cane with a brass top fell to the ground. Emma rolled onto her back, looking up at the silhouette above her, she blinked her eyes, trying to focus as a hand was extended to her.
"I'm up here doing all this work while you take a nap, eh?"
Emma grabbed Will's hand and pulled herself up, wrapping her arms around him. "You're supposed to be resting." She said with a laugh.
"And miss all the bloody fun?" Will teased before coughing. "Now go." He gestured to the open door.
"I can't leave him."
"I think Mum and I can keep an eye on him while you save the world this time."
"We're going to fix this." Emma said, looking between Mary Margaret and Will.
"Go Emma, find your boy." The woman demanded and Emma ran out the door.
Killian stared nervously at Neal as he dangled Henry over the water. "Put the kid down, Mate. He's innocent. You want to hurt someone, come at me."
"You know I tried to do this the easy way, all you had to do was go on with your new life. But you just couldn't stay away, could you?"
Henry's face was red, the loud cries echoing in the hollow corners of the room. "Come on Neal."
"Don't!" He shouted. "You took everything away from me. Emma. My kid…"
"He was never yours to begin with." Killian growled, which caused the man to twitch angrily, and Killian immediately regretted taunting him. "Please." His voice cracked. "Just don't hurt him." He begged.
There was a loud crash behind him, causing Neal to step backwards closer to the water. Killian kept his eyes on the small bundle in the man's arms, desperate to reach the child and pull him to safety. Suddenly Regina crashed through the crates behind him, landing on her back on the ground. David came rushing out after her, diving against the crumbled form.
Killian used the distraction to rush toward Neal who looked up right before he reached him. A smile grew on his face as he dangled the boy over the water, a menacing look on his face. Killian's heart raced as his feet tripped closer to the man just as he released the boy into the dark waters below them.
"No!" Killian screamed as the bundled child fell into the icy water and sunk below the surface. He didn't stop as he rushed past Neal, pushing him away from the edge and diving headfirst into the murky depths below.