A/N: Just a few notes for my readers. Firstly, I apologize for the delay in posting. Secondly, I'm not entirely sure how law enforcement take care of criminal investigations, so if I'm wrong, I'm , I apologize for any errors: grammatical, punctuation-wise, or concerning the characters and show. And fourth, enjoy the chapter. Feel free to let me know your thoughts and such.
A Week Later...
Enchanted Forest
The parched, withered bean swelled in the palm of Hook's hand. He stood at the edge of the small body of Lake Nostos. When he and Cora first arrived to the clearing of sand, the lake to which she promised was nowhere in sight. She quickly flicked away his doubts with a wave of her hand, her magic carving a hole in the soft, pliable ground and unearthing the enchanted waters that lay beneath.
One of his knees pressed into the sand as he stooped over to bring life back to the stolen legume with the primary assistance from the enchanted waters. He studied the unassuming, translucent thing and found it to his liking. He backed away from the pond and lightly tossed it into the air before catching it. He shot Cora a glance and stowed the bean inside his pouch secured at his hip.
"I'll be holding onto this."
Unfazed, Cora smirked. "We'd reach the Dark One faster, Hook, if you tossed it back into the water."
"I'm not leaving my ship," he said. "We should leave if we want to make it to shore by nightfall."
The woman flicked both wrists, and he felt himself travel through time and space within a purple gust of smoke. From one second to another, both of them were on the deck of his ship. "Let us not waste any more time. It would be simpler to leave the ship. I'll have to use a bit of magic to cloak it from view upon arrival to this magic-less realm. We won't want to alert the Dark One or anyone else of our arrival before the time is right," she said.
Hook reeled up the anchor and then made way to the helm. He peered at Cora over the wheel as stood on the main deck. "Do you've the compass ready?"
Cora pulled the Golden Compass out of her cloak and held it away from her and towards the horizon. Hook set the sails and drifted away from port and further out into the sea, forcing the salty mist of the water to wash over him and make him forget the many who lost their hearts and ultimately their lives back in the community at the crushing hands of Cora. He put aside the faces of the women he bedded and the pitch of their screams. Reflecting on them would only slow his focus and determination.
Once Hook felt that the Roger was at a safe distance away from the coast and the waters ran deep enough for a portal, he extracted the magic bean from his pouch and held it up for Cora to see. She nodded her approval, and he tossed it overboard and turned the wheel away from the billowing portal. He circled it, gradually maneuvering the ship into the swirling waters.
"Hold on tight," he ordered to Cora while his ship slanted into the vortex. Soon his vessel was encapsulated by the churning, frothy whirlpool, a he strategically navigated through the portal. After what felt like a lifetime, the Roger finally peaked into an opening, and the ship emerged onto calm waters. He pulled a damp handkerchief out of his pocket and wiped his soaked face. Three hundred and sixty degrees of sea greeted him but felt his anxiety lessen substantially when Cora pointed her finger. "West."
The sun indicated the day was approaching the late afternoon, the sun rays warm but the air somewhat chilly. Wherever the bean had taken them was not the warm tropics but a wintrier climate. He was fairly confident there wouldn't be an iceberg to quarrel with, but he'd keep his eyes trained for any threat that could keep him from finally achieving his vengeance.
As he chased the sun, the morning star lowered and dipped its curved bottom into the watery horizon. The day faded by the minute, and the fog wafted in thickly. The air became wet and colder which seemed to bother Cora more than it did him. She traipsed upon and below deck, every now and then returning to check for land even though he promised to alert her the moment of.
The fog grew even more solidified, and it became impossible to see the stars. He now had the compass and was now directing the ship northwest. He wished to see the stars, hoping the maps of lights would give him comfort, even if he failed to recognize the constellations in this strange realm. He and Cora had been sailing for close to four hours and had yet to see a speck of land. A part of him worried that since they travelled to the land without magic, then perhaps the compass wouldn't work. Yet, the spindle seemed to move on its own accord.
Hook peered through his spyglass into the foggy barricade in front of him, his breath catching when spotting a yellowish light. Moments later, the fog separated and he found himself staring at a village, the lighting of homes and hovels peculiar and inorganic. The brightest came from a large clock that read twenty minutes past eight o' clock. Hook lowered his spyglass and called for Cora. She rushed up onto the main deck and smiled brilliantly at the land before them. She pulled out a potion's bottle filled with a bluish smoke from her cloak and said, "This should be enough to cloak the ship."
Hook approached closer to the harbor, the blood in his veins thrumming in anticipation. The Crocodile was within reach and with the assistance of the Golden Compass, the beast couldn't hide anywhere in the impressive hamlet. Not for long, anyway.
Hook stashed away the Golden Compass for the time being and grabbed the hilt of his sword, imagining a bloody and well-deserved demise for the Dark One.
Patience, he said to himself. He mustn't race to the finish line in such haste. Despite the Dark One being without magic, it was vital to be prepared. The slithery bastard could have other tricks and measures and precautions in ensuring the safety of his own cowardly self.
Cora joined him at the helm and took the compass, pocketing it. The moment the ship swung into port, the woman uncapped the bottle and poured a liberal amount into her palm and blew the powdery, smoky dust over the deck. She did this a few more times and exited off the Roger and onto the nearby. Her dark gaze swept over the vessel and she said, "It worked. Come, Hook. Let us go see my daughter."
Emma poured a modest amount of whiskey into her a glass and slid it towards her guest. Mary Margaret harrumphed, her shoulders sagging. She then gripped the drink and knocked it back, grimacing and then shaking her head, hurt and disappointment pinching her brow. "Thanks for letting me come over. I just needed to talk to another woman right now."
"It's fine," Emma said, half-lying. Truthfully, she'd done her best to keep off this woman's radar, but it had proven to be difficult. Her mother's kindness and good-natured curiosity had put them in each other's presence constantly. True to Graham's words, Mary Margaret dropped by the station often with a basket of apple-less produce. She even put a put two containers of chocolate and caramel dipping sauce in the basket because Emma deserved something a little extra for dealing with the collapsed mining issue so admirably on her first day of the job.
"The entire date, Emma. The entire date Victor had his eyes glued to Ruby's backside." She sniffed and zeroed in on Emma's half-empty pint of Ben & Jerry's. "Are you going to eat that?"
Emma snickered through a sympathetic smile, unable to point out that she was eating it, thus, why the pint was out and ready to be vanquished. She retrieved another spoon from the drawer and shoved it across the counter. "Have at her."
Mary Margaret shoved a large spoonful of ice cream into her mouth and muffled a disgusted, "Men!"
"Men," Emma agreed and sipped at her own whiskey.
"But not all men," the other woman said pointedly. "Like Sheriff Graham for instance."
"I thought the drunken rambling was supposed to kick in later." Emma poured herself some more whiskey and shot a playful glare at Mary Margaret. "I know where this is going. There's nothing going on between me and Graham."
"But why not? Have you noticed the way he looks at you?" Mary Margaret rested her head on her elbow and huffed. "I'd give anything for a guy to look at me like that."
Emma thought of the John Doe coma patient at the hospital she discovered a few days ago. At first she hadn't been sure, but August had assured her that the man was indeed her father. God, she'd been pissed. Every other day her mother put flowers in his room, and she didn't even know that her prince was right there. Emma had the idea that perhaps Mary Margaret had to kiss him in order to not only wake him up but to break the curse. She told August about her idea and when he finally came up for air after pouring himself into Henry's storybook, searching for clues and whatnots, he said the kiss could possibly stir him but breaking the curse was on her and her alone.
"Then maybe I should kiss him," she had suggested, wincing on how wrong that sounded and ignoring August's disgusted expression. "Not on the lips, obviously, but on the head or something. He's my dad. It shouldn't be that weird."
August shrugged and stuck his nose back into the crease of the book. "But you don't love him, Emma. Not really."
He wasn't wrong. A week hadn't completely changed her feelings concerning her father-the man who put her inside a magical tree and sent her off to Maine. She admitted to herself that she felt relieved he was alive and not dead from the blows of the Evil Queen's knights, but he still sent her away, and it wasn't something she could accept overnight or in the space of a few days.
Emma had tried to wake her father and break the curse with a kiss. That very morning, in fact, and gave her unconscious father a quick, dry peck on the forehead when none of the hospital staff was around to accumulate any misconceptions on why the new deputy of Storybrooke was molesting a coma patient. Nevertheless, the man didn't stir, nor did the monitors detect even the slightest of change. Her father continued to lay motionless, sickly, and pale on his hospital bed.
"Graham is my coworker," Emma reminded, coming back to the present. "And…I caught him tumbling out of Regina's bedroom window last night."
Mary Margaret arched her brows, he eyes clear and sober. "Oh."
"And it's—you know—no big deal." Emma reached across the counter with her spoon and scooped up some ice cream, shoving it into her mouth, her speech garbled as she continued, "They're both adults. It just upsets me Henry's in the house. I'm trying to decide if I want to bring this up in the hearing. Or even tell Gold. He'd definitely bring it up. I don't know. It just seems wrong bringing up something like that. People have a right to sleep with whoever they want. I mean I certainly have exercised that right, and Graham can, too. It's just-"
"You're babbling, sweetie."
"I mean, c'mon! It's Regina! What could he possibly see in her?" Emma knew her question was way out of line. She had an inkling of why Graham kept Regina company in her bedroom, and Emma feared it had more to do with him being 'summoned' rather than scratching an itch of his own. She recalled from the book how Regina controlled people by taking their hearts, and Emma hoped to God that crazy bitch didn't have Graham's.
Damn, she sounded a little crazy in her own head. Summoned? Controlling people by taking hearts? Shit, she needed another drink.
Her mother smiled knowingly. "Why don't just tell him how you feel? Maybe if he knew his feelings would be returned…"
"I don't feel anything for him." Emma scowled at a miniscule crack on her counter and drummed her fingers. "Even if I did, it wouldn't be appropriate. He's my boss, and I'm about jump ass first into a custody battle."
"You deserve some happiness, Emma."
"Thanks," she said, smiling halfway. "But Graham's not my ticket. Henry is."
"I'll accept that, but can I at least ask about the friend you came into town with? August?"
Emma's phone buzzed, and she yanked it out of her pocket. "He's a friend like you said. Hold on." She pressed the device to her ear and said, "Hello?"
"Deputy Swan?"
"Dr. Whale?" Emma furrowed her brow and shot Mary Margaret a look. She pinched her lips reprovingly.
"I'm sorry to bother you, but I was unable to get ahold of Sheriff Graham. We have a situation concerning one of our patients. It appears that our John Doe coma patient has woken up and left the vicinity."
Emma's heart rate increased tenfold. "The John Doe patient? Are you sure?"
"Positive. His bed's empty. I'm trying to get what I can from security, but I would sure appreciate it if you paid a visit as soon as possible. Mr. Doe needs to be tended to as soon as possible."
"I'll be right over." Emma hung up and frowned at her phone before snapping into reality and telling Mary Margaret, "I have to go. A patient. The coma patient at the hospital woke up, and I guess escaped."
"Oh, my God," the woman murmured. "That's incredible. Not that he escaped, but he woke up. I've been putting flowers in his room…well…for as long as I can remember. Can I come?"
Emma dashed over to her bed on the opposite side of the room and yanked on her blue leather jacket over her blouse. "I don't think that's a good idea."
"You're going to need help searching for him. I can help. Please," begged her mother which made Emma pause. She wondered if Mary Margaret's desire to help was simply due to being a good person or if something was egging at her to reach out to her true love in his time of peril.
"Okay," Emma relented quietly. "You can wait in the car when I go into the hospital."
Emma drove them to the hospital, and she jogged inside to her father's empty room, groaning inwardly when spotting a frazzled looking Regina pacing the room and tossing stricken expressions at Dr. Whale and some of the nurses. The woman's eyes met hers, and her features contracted in severe irritation. "Miss Swan, this is a job for the sheriff. I suggest you return the station or for the love of God, just leave town," she barked.
Emma slowed her march and regarded Regina carefully. Why the woman was even there, she didn't know, but her rant stumped her. "Graham's not with you?"
The woman's cheeks turned the faintest shade of pink, and she shifted uncomfortably as if Dr. Whale and the nurses actually cared about anything beyond their missing patient and were perhaps staring at her, utterly scandalized. "No," she finally confessed. "No, he's not."
Emma whipped out her cellphone as did Regina. They glared at each other as they dialed the sheriff's number and waited for him to pick up on the other end.
"Can we focus on one missing person at a time? "Dr. Whale said, exasperated. "Deputy Swan, I'd like you to accompany me to the security office. Madam Mayor, you can go home. I'll contact you the moment I receive any news."
Regina opened her mouth and Emma practically saw the screeching, catty remark on the woman's tongue. Regina then surprisingly shut her mouth and stuck out her chin, nodding her head gently in acceptance of Whale's request. "The moment you receive any news, Dr. Whale," she affirmed.
"Who's watching Henry?" Emma asked, checking her watch and then the clock on the wall for verification. It was late for a last minute sitter. She walked alongside Regina as they both exited the room."
Regina cleared her throat and replied airily, "Not that it's your business, Miss Swan, but a relative and only for a short time."
"It's kind of my business since he's my son, too," Emma said coolly.
The other woman stopped in her tracks and swung her body to face Emma's. Emma mimicked her movements but stood taller and put her hands on her cocked hips.
"Let me make something clear, Miss Swan. You will never have Henry. This joke of a custody battle will be thrown out at the first hearing, I promise you. Gold's good, but not even he can spruce up your obvious inadequacies, not only as a parent, but as a human being. Your lifestyle is unstable and ill-equipped for a child. Your background shows nothing but disrespect for the law, so I want you take a real, long look in the mirror and ask yourself if you're what's best for Henry."
Emma didn't flinch and took a step into Regina's personal space. "You would know all about those long looks in the mirror, wouldn't you?"
Regina took a few steps back, her eyes widening. Her face went ashen, and Emma stalked away. She put a hand to her ribcage and felt her heart attempting to bust out of her. Shit, what had she done? Why did she say that?
She'd just given herself away.
Emma sped up her pace, focusing on the predicament at hand. Her mother was in the Bug, and her father was out there somewhere. Both were away from Regina, and that's what mattered. As for Henry, Emma was certain Regina wouldn't hurt him, even if it meant hurting her.
The young, messy-haired lad stared at Hook, a plushy bear tucked underneath his arm. The boy seemed rather unintimidating for being the Evil Queen's son. Henry was his name, and he stood stark still at the bottom of the stairs in the main room of the Queen's estate, barefooted and in soft, patterned night clothes.
"Shouldn't you be asleep?" Hook asked from his seat in the main room.
The little prince's lips parted and his focus travelled from Hook's face to the brace and hook. The boy bravely shuffled closer, asking, "Are you…Captain Hook?"
Arching a brow, Hook cocked his head. "And how is it you know my moniker, young man?"
Henry gasped and scamper towards Hook. "No way! This. Is. Awesome! I'm Henry."
"Prince Henry," Hook nodded gently, and the boy gave a slow smile in response.
"Prince? Cool!" He toddled a few feet away and scooted the neighboring chair closer to the man and plopped his backside onto it. "Where's my mom? Does she know a pirate's here?"
"She'll be along. She had an important matter to take care of. Perhaps you ought to return to your bed before she comes back."
Henry chortled. "Like I could go to sleep when Captain Hook is in my house! Tell me all about Neverland. Is it real? Is Peter Pan real? Did he really cut off your hand and feed it to a crocodile?"
"Somebody's been feeling your wee head with all kinds of stories, haven't they? Aye, Neverland's as real as the freckles on your nose."
Henry rose up on his chair and steadied himself on the table with his elbows. He bit his grinning lips and let out an excited squeal. "This is the coolest thing that's ever happened to me! Tell me more! Tell me more!"
"Ah, but the tales of Neverland aren't for children's ears. It's a frightening place."
"Neverland's not scary," Henry argued, frowning. "What about the pixies and the mermaids and the Piccaninnies?" He hopped down of his chair and skipped around it, patting his wailing mouth like he was part of the tribe on a celebration night. When he became winded, he stopped and said, "And then Lost Boys. They're supposed to be dumb, and you're supposed to have this big, curly beard and a funny hat! You've spent, like, forever trying to kill Peter Pan."
Hook arched a brow, partially amused and somewhat befuddled from the boy's claims. It appeared Prince Henry knew of circumstances like one would know a well-known but spotty tale. Hook mimicked the boy and rested his own arms on the table, leaning low to get eye level with him. "I will say that I tried once and only once to kill Pan."
"By trying to poison him, but it went wrong because Tinker Bell drank it."
Hook chuckled, shaking his head. "Perhaps one day you'll let me know who's been butchering the tales of Captain Hook."
The boy's smile turned sheepish and he shrugged. His mirth sobered when hearing a door close upstairs. His eyes snapped up the staircase, and his brow wrinkled when seeing Cora. "Who are you?" he asked.
"Hello, Henry," she greeted, a forced simper on her lips. The skirt of her dress swayed as she climbed down the staircase, and Hook noticed a polished, wooden box in her hands. The design and type of wood nearly identical to Cora's stash of hearts. "Your mother had an emergency to take care of and left you in my care. My name is Cora...I'm your grandmother."
"My mom said my grandparents are gone," Henry said, uncertain.
Cora nodded solemnly and made her way down the rest of the stairs. "Hook, I need you to take this box back to your ship. Keep it safe. Return promptly."
"What is it? Did you take it from my mom?" the boy asked. He shook his head. "She won't like that at all."
"Don't you worry about it. How about we go into the kitchen and find ourselves a snack," Cora said.
"My mom says late-night snacking is bad for me."
Giving the box to Hook, she said, "Your mother doesn't have to know. It will be our little secret."
"Can I have juice?"
"Of course. Anything you want." Cora took Henry's hand, and he leapt off the chair and followed alongside Cora through a swing door. Hook assured they were both well out of sight before unlatching the box with his hook and sneaking a peek, an uneasy feeling settling at the pit of his stomach. A bright, pulsing heart encased in velvet greeted him, and he would like to think it didn't belong to the Evil Queen's boy but to some other, poor soul. He then re-latched the box and tucked it under his arm and left the house for the docks. He chose not to dawdle and soak in the strange hamlet that was Storybrooke, wanting to return to the Queen's abode as soon as possible to carry out the plan to snatch away the Dark One's dagger as a precaution.
Some thirty minutes later, he was crossing the threshold back into the Queen's house where he found no sign of the little prince or mother and daughter anywhere. After a moment, his ears perked at the sounds of talking and he followed, resting against the doorframe of the queen's office. The woman sat on her chair behind a desk, her teeth clenched and tears streaking down her cheeks. Cora caressed her daughter's and spared him a glance.
"It will be all right, Regina. I promise."
"You don't know that." The queen shirked her mother's comforting touch and slammed her hands on the surface of her desk. "I can't kill her! The curse will break if I do, and David woke up! Mother, I can feel the curse weakening. If it breaks, they'll all hunt me down and kill me. She'll take Henry away." She grabbed a wooden apple paperweight and made the motion like she was going to toss it across the room in a fit of anger but paused to stare at it, considering it. "I can't let that happen."
"What do you have in mind?" asked Cora.
"And what of Rumpelstiltskin?" interjected Hook, pushing himself off the doorframe to enter the office, drawing the attention to him.
"You didn't kill him yet?" Regina seethed, slamming the paperweight on the desk. "What the hell were doing if you weren't dumping his body in the harbor? Raiding the stores and defiling the women?"
"I tended to an errand for your mother," he explained. "I intend fully to kill the Dark One, make no mistake of that, your highness. I just thought it polite to speak with you more about it since you are, indeed, ruler of this quaint village and will have to deal with the repercussions no doubt."
"Besides," Cora said with a half-shrug, "we should find his dagger first."
"The dagger?" The queen frowned, shooting her mother a perturbed expression and then glaring at Hook. "Is that what this is about?"
Alarmed, Hook said to Cora, "You assured me he needn't the dagger in this realm. It was no longer his weakness and couldn't possibly control him."
"It's only for precaution. It fuels his power-" Cora attempted.
"He has no power! He's weak and completely human," said Regina. "You can kill him, Hook. He hurts and bleeds like everybody else."
"Honey, let's not be rash," Cora said softly. "The dagger will ensure-"
"It's worthless, Mother! There's no magic…" She held up the wooden apple and examined it. "Or maybe there's just enough." She glared at her mother and said, "Forget the dagger. If you really came to help me, then here's your chance to prove it. Help stop my curse from breaking. Make sure I get to keep my happy ending."
Cora stilled and then hesitantly nodded, beaming. "Of course. But I also want to think about the benefits of the curse breaking. The curse breaks and everything returns to what it was. You could have magic again, and we can conquer the Enchanted Forest together. Darling, don't you miss it? Why, I've only been without for-"
"As long as I have Henry, I don't need magic." Regina's expression grew stony. "I'm pleased you're here and alive. I really am. I need you, but for once think about what's best for me."
"Oh, my daughter." Cora enveloped Regina into a snug embrace. "Whatever you want."
"Thank you." Regina pulled away and said to Hook, "I promise you don't need his dagger to kill him. Your hook or sword will do just fine. When you're finished, find your way back here. I may have a job for you yet."
"And I'll receive reciprocation?" Hook inquired anxiously.
"If it's money you want, I'll see to your needs."
"Tempting, your highness" he said, licking his lips. "In case the Golden Compass fails me, I may need help in finding an ally I know came to his realm. I'm unfamiliar of how one tracks another, and I require assistance."
"I can't promise you anything," the queen said, annoyed. She rolled her eyes and waved a dismissive hand. "There are seven billion people in this realm and you want to find one? Do you have a name at least?"
"Baelfire."
"I doubt this Baelfire even goes by that name anymore. Your safest bet would be the compass, but I'll help you in any way I can if you do this one favor for me. I have a plan. If all goes well, I'm leaving the rest to you. The savior knows who I am. She won't trust me, and I won't risk sending my mother. No offense."
"None taken, milady. Mothers trump pirates always," he replied, smirking roguishly.
"I'm going to give you something, and you're going to give it to the savior. Make sure she partakes of it willingly. Threaten her if you must. Swear you'll kill her parents and any and everyone else in this town if she doesn't."
"Aye, willingly," he repeated, amused. Certainly didn't sound like a submissive ordeal. "Anything else?"
"Yes. If she refuses the first time, drive your hook into her mother's throat."
The hot water of Emma's shower pounded at her back and shoulder blades, and she hoped the sensation would relieve the deep ache two hours of awkward sleep left her with. Near midnight upon finding her father at Toll Bridge and her mother giving him CPR to revive him, she quite literally watched them fall in love the moment he opened his eyes. Despite Mary Margaret's need to get back to her apartment and rest up for her class, she accompanied the search party back to the hospital and intended to stay with him the entire night.
Emma wanted to be happy for them, but her worries of other things kept her mind occupied. Graham still hadn't answered any of her phone calls, and she couldn't forget how she allowed those foolish words to fall out of her mouth when speaking to Regina the night before at the hospital. Emma had half a mind to confront Regina and have a good old fashioned faceoff and may the best hard-ass win. The other part of her told her to keep any eye on those she cared about most such as Mary Margaret and now her father and only retaliate when necessary. Neither option sounded ideal, but what exactly was she supposed to do when her main concern was Henry? He didn't want any harm to come to Regina because she was his mom, too, and not even a bad one.
Later, when she arrived at the station, she was surprised to find Leroy asleep in a cell. She tossed her keys noisily on her desk in hopes of stirring the man awake but he merely snorted and rolled over on his cot. She flipped through his file that was carelessly splayed open on her desk and skimmed it, finding out that he was expectedly arrested for being drunk and disorderly. In a sticky note, Graham had mentioned that Leroy was also spouting off nonsense about pirate ships. Emma scoffed and discarded the file, marching over and unlocked his cell, swinging the door wide open and saying, "Hey, it's morning. You're free to go."
Leroy grumbled and groaned, eventually sitting up to glare at her. "Morning, sister."
"What time did Graham book you last night?" Emma asked.
The man shrugged and scratched at his stubble. "About nine, I guess."
"Did he just drop you off and leave?"
"Nah. He hung around for a bit and then suddenly made a run for it. I'm guessing there was an emergency concerning the pirate ship I saw at the docks."
"There's no pirate ship at the docks, Leroy. Sorry. So you don't know where he went?"
"I know what I saw!" he growled and stalked out of the cell. "If he didn't go there, I don't know where he went."
Emma didn't press him for any more information and went to go make some coffee. She needed a pot before hitting the pavement, asking questions to any and every one about the apparently missing sheriff. Again, she punched his number into her phone, this time being sent straight to voicemail. Dammit, his phone was probably dead.
While her coffee brewed, she found a store-bought, cellophane-wrapped apple turnover in Graham's drawer and tore it open. She munched on it and investigated other parts of his desk, hoping to find a clue as to where he went off to in such a hurry the night before. Aside from finding a twenty-eight year old issue of Playboy in his bottom left drawer, an open box of condoms, and a party mix bag of chocolate candies; she found nothing interesting or helpful.
On her third cup of coffee, Emma was alert enough to start asking the locals some questions about their sheriff, thinking she should start with Granny's first. She grabbed her red jacket from her chair and slipped it on, the phone on her desk ringing as she zipped up.
"Storybrooke Police Station," she said into the receiver.
"Miss Swan," Mr. Gold said from the other end, his tone irate. "I need you and Sheriff Graham to come to my shop immediately. It's been broken into and vandalized."
"Uh…" Emma scratched her neck, scrunching her nose in dismay. Shit! Graham decided to go AWOL, and Storybrooke went to hell in handbasket. First, her dad wakes up and wanders off. Then Gold's shop gets broken into and trashed. What would be next? God, she was scared to even think about it. "Yeah, of course. It'll just be me, but I'll be over in a few."
Emma hung up the phone and stomped out of the station, muttering, "Son of a bitch." She got into her car and sped over to Gold's, taking note of the smashed glass of the window of the door. She entered and hissed when her boot made contact with an already broken piece of merchandise. She skimmed the establishment and surmised that nearly every square inch of the floor was covered in irreparably damaged merchandise.
Gold came hobbling from the back, and Emma asked while getting out her cellphone to take pictures, "Is there anything missing?"
The man went to an open safe behind the counter, his expression grim and vengeful. "A shawl, a teacup, as well as several other trinkets from the safe, but it's the former two I care about most."
Emma snapped a picture of the floor and then stared at him. "A shawl and a teacup."
"They both belonged to people I cared for dearly. The shawl is a light beige color and the stitching is...old world, one could say. The teacup is porcelain and chipped on the rim."
"Uh huh," Emma noised noncommittally. Like she was going to be able to find them off that glorious depiction. "If they were so special to you, why'd you keep him here in your store and not at home?"
"Ah, well, sometimes it's nice to keep one's prized possession throughout the day."
"I guess," she said. "You wouldn't happen to have an inkling of the person who did this, would you?"
"I think you know the answer to that."
Emma straightened and regarded the man uneasily. "You think Regina did this."
"It makes sense. She attacked me. She's trying to ward me off representing you. She sees me as a threat. I'd call her brilliant, but the fact that she not only stole from me but destroyed my property eludes to the fact that she's not as smart as she likes to think. Perhaps you can gather fingerprints and trace them back to her. You prove she did this or even trace it to one of her lackeys such as Sidney Glass, then it's a guarantee you'll win custody of Henry by the second hearing if not the first."
Pinching the bridge of her nose, she sniffed and nodded. "All right. I'll check for prints and take a few more pictures for the insurance company."
Gold circled around the counter and stooped down gingerly, picking up a glass unicorn figurine, tiny in craftsmanship. He toed the smashed-to-hell baby mobile from where it broke off from and exhaled sharply. "Many of these things cannot be replaced by a cheque, Miss Swan."
"I'll get to work on those pictures and prints. We'll figure out who did this."
"Leave the photographs to me. Take care of the rest and do it quickly."
Emma managed to pull some fingerprints from the door and the safe and took them back to the station, running them and turning up empty. Unless Madam Mayor was the only one in town who didn't have her fingerprints in Storybrooke's system, then the evidence did not point towards her. Some other person who had beef with Gold made a mess and stole from him and, shit, that could be anyone in town. It wasn't a secret everyone loathed him. Now she'd have to track down the person who had the balls to commit such a blatantly disrespectful crime.
Since there wasn't a match for Regina, Emma ran the prints against everyone in the system and unless the suspect was under twelve years old, he or she was an outsider to Storybrooke.
Sitting back in her seat, she gnawed on her bottom lip and considered August. Since she told him she hired him as her lawyer, he'd been dying to tell her something but always seemed to stop himself. Like he wanted to lay a load of shit on her but didn't know how without getting in trouble. Emma hadn't pushed, her mind elsewhere with Henry and Regina and Mary Margaret, but maybe now was the time to hit up August for information. From spending so much time with Henry's book, he should have a substantial amount of info by now.
Emma was about to dial August's number when the station's phone rang. She discarded her phone on the desk and answered.
"Deputy Swan, this is Dr. Whale, again."
"Is everything all right with the John Doe?" Emma asked in a rush.
"Yes, he's fine aside from severe memory loss. I'm calling to report a missing psychiatric patient."
"Seriously?"
"I'm afraid so."
Emma picked up a pen, only to intentionally drop it with a sigh. "I'll be right over to check with security. Hopefully the patient didn't get far."
She hung up the phone and sprinted out of the station and to her car. She drove to the hospital where Dr. Whale was waiting for her in the lobby. She walked alongside him as he escorted her to the security's office, the doctor spouting off the patient's basic information.
"Jane Doe. Brown hair and blue eyes. After reviewing some of the tapes within the last hour, I think it's safe to say she didn't simply walk out during rounds but was let out intentionally. Perhaps even taken. The reception nurse on duty may've been drugged."
"Drugged," she repeated and looked to the screen one of the security guards was pointing to. Emma saw the back of an orderly come to the nurse's desk and hand her a Styrofoam cup. The video then cut to the empty stairwell leading to the psych ward where a man lay barely dressed and unconscious.
"He was knocked out and stripped. He's being taken care of in the E.R. He'll be fine," said Whale and the video cut back to hallway of the psych ward where one of the doors was halfway open. "Ms. Doe on the other hand, it's impossible to say right now. Her file states she's not only a victim of severe amnesia but has schizophrenia. She needs her medication."
The video jumped back to the nurse behind the desk, her slumped form stirring awake. Dr. Whale paused it there and said, "She's being looked over, as well. She said she didn't recognize the man who brought her tea, but she might be able to pick him out in a lineup."
"A lineup." Emma chuckled and folded her arms. "It's fine, Dr. Whale. I have a suspect fitting the profile. Call me if you have any updates."
Leaving the hospital and jumping back into her car, she sped out of Storybrooke and towards Jefferson's mansion. A half-mile from the turn off point, something in the trees caught her eye. Her heart caught in her throat, and she pulled the Bug over. She got out of the car and sprinted in the direction of where she saw Graham.
"Graham," she called out, spotting him a hundred yards away from the road staring into a clearing. She nearly ran into him but dug her heels into the soft, damp earth of the forest and placed her hands on his shoulders. His eyes snapped to her face, and he caressed her cheek.
"Emma," he murmured reverently.
"Hey," she said gruffly, leaning away from his touch. "Where've you been? These last twelve hours have been a nightmare, and I could've used the help." She took in his appearance, his scruff even more rugged and his hair in need of comb. Catching a faint whiff of him, he needed a shower, too.
"I don't know. I don't remember. Emma," he said, pressing the heels of his palms into his eyes. "I thought I saw a wolf. Thought I heard her howl. I need…" He went to take a step and lost his footing. Emma caught him by the arm and hoisted back on his feet.
"Whoa. Okay. Easy there, tiger. Somethings wrong. I get it now." She stared in the direction of Jefferson's mansion, but her mind was already made up. "We're going to the station, all right? We'll get you all straightened out."
Graham fell asleep on the short ride to the police station, but he managed to get himself out of the vehicle and into the building without her help. Inside, she brewed a fresh pot of coffee and called in a favor to Granny's, asking Ruby to bring by some grilled cheeses, fries, and milkshakes. Emma then placed the mug of coffee in front of Graham and set on the edge of his desk, studying the deep rings beneath his eyes and the strange alertness in his posture. She was about to ask a 'what the hell?' when her cellphone buzzed. She looked at the screen and saw it was Gold. She massaged the skin between her brows and tossed it aside. He could wait.
The rich, off brown liquid boiled over the stove. Regina stirred the cider and tapped the wooden spoon on the side of the pot before taking it off the flame. Distractedly, she fanned away the steam with an oven mitt and checked her watch and then her clock. If Emma was adhering to her schedule as the deputy, she should be on her lunch break within the next half-hour to forty-five minutes, depending on the work load.
Regina had wanted to prepare an enticing apple turnover with the poisoned apple she retrieved with the help of Jefferson. Her mother, however, persuaded her to concoct a cider. A turnover would spoil after a few days, but a cider could be preserved for further sampling. Regina reluctantly agreed, thinking of how Prince David awoke from his coma. No one would bat an eyelash if he happened to fall into another.
Regina removed her apron and stalked into her sitting room and up the stairs. The pirate was back at his ship, thank God. That morning Henry would not shut up about meeting Captain Hook the night before when he should've been in bed. She'd done her best in trying to persuade her that Grandma's friend was not the villain from Peter Pan, and the man was only indulging him. Henry remained unmoved from his stance, and Regina only hoped he'd forget about the pirate soon.
Which may prove to be difficult in the long run.
Overall, Regina was glad her mother managed to reach this realm, but there wasn't a way back to the Enchanted Forest. She used the last bits of her magic to snatch the apple. Her mother and the pirate were stuck here, and if Regina didn't come through successfully on her end of the bargain and find this Baelfire, Hook may not leave Storybrooke. Her sleepy, fairytale town did not need a pirate philandering about. The town already had one drunk; it needn't another.
Quietly walking by the guest room where her mother slept, Regina entered her own bedroom and closed the door behind her. She went to her bedside table and thought of how she needed Graham away from the station, specifically Emma, for a little while. He'd been missing from duty the night before at the hospital, but he'd come to Regina if contacted the right way. She opened the drawer of her bedside table, and the air left her lungs. Her fingers made contacts with the bottom of the drawer, and she pulled it all the way out, only toss it aside and peer into the cupboard beneath it.
"No," she said, frightened. She whipped her head around, searching for a spot she could've carelessly discarded Graham's heart. She wouldn't have, though. She was always so careful and protective of it. Her gaze landed on the opposite wall, and she nearly vomited. "Mother, what've you done?"
Running out of the room and to the next, she burst inside and screeched when seeing it empty. "Mother!" she yelled and tore apart the room, starting with the bedside table, followed by the bedding and pillows, and ending with the closet. A few minutes later, the room lay in shambles and she was doubled over, winded from the violent burst and apprehension. She was stupid! She was so, so stupid! God, she was such an imbecile to think her mother wanted what was best for her. She didn't and never had. Oh, God! What if her mother had already...
The ship. Hook's ship. Graham's heart had to be there. Her mother wouldn't have teased her with the possibility of the heart being on the property. She would've taken it out of sight completely, and Regina could only hope the woman merely moved the box where the heart was to another location and hadn't tampered with it, or worse, crushed it.
Regina sprinted down the stairs and out of the house, jumping into her car and speeding towards the docks.
