Chapter 17
Emma bolts awake in bed, her heart pounding in her ears. She wipes away the sweat and tears. It was another nightmare, this one of her son being taken by Arthur King. Her head is pounding so hard that it feels like the room is spinning. She tries to calm herself down by taking deep breaths.
"Are you all right love?" a voice whispers. Killian lays next to her and reaches out to touch her bare shoulder. She shudders slightly and then turns towards him. She doesn't turn on the light, so she's only staring at his shadow in the gloom.
"Fine, just another nightmare."
"Do you want to talk about it?" he asks, doing what Dr. Hopper had suggested in order to try and cope with the nightmares.
"Not right now, I'm going to get a glass of water."
"Alright," he says, rolling over to go back to sleep.
Emma's bare feet pad down the hallway as she goes to the kitchen. She takes a glass from the cupboard and fills it in the sink. Her heart is still slamming against her chest from yet another nightmare. One where Arthur targeted her son and shoved him into a car. He was after her most vulnerable loved one, aside from the unborn baby. The image of her son being held at gunpoint replays over and over in her head. She readjusts her tank top and sips the water slowly. It does help settle her stomach a little bit, but she cannot shake the feeling that something is wrong. She decides to check in on her son, hoping he was now sleeping peacefully. The fight was still fresh in her mind as she walks down the hall.
Immediately, she stops. His door is ajar and his room is pitch black. She checks the bathroom, but it's empty. She then hurries into his room, turning on the light. His bed is empty!
The glass slips from her hand and shatters on the floor. Her heart is now threatening to break her rib cage. She feels light-headed and tears come into her eyes. Her voice is caught in her throat and she only manages one word.
"NO!"
Footsteps pound down the hall and Killian rushes into the room.
"Emma, what's wrong?"
He nearly slips in the puddle of water on the floor and cuts his foot on one of the stray glass shards. His own mind is racing as he scans the room where she's standing, realizing that the Lad is nowhere to be found. He barely has time to react as Emma collapses on the floor. He manages to catch her before she hurts herself and the baby. He then tries repeatedly to call Henry on his phone, trying to do something, anything to bring comfort to Emma. When no one answers, his own heart sinks. Emma is now sobbing and shaking erratically. She cannot fathom what has happened, her mind has gone completely blank. She begins to scream, a primal scream of fear and agony. Killian can barely hold onto her. He sets her gently on the floor and fumbles with his phone, trying to work through the pain of his bleeding foot. He frantically dials a familiar number, starting to get the word out and trying to find the teenager.
…
David awakens to his phone buzzing on the nightstand. He slowly reaches over and sees Killian's name. Immediately he senses that something is off, it's after 2 o'clock in the morning.
"Hello?" he says, now fully alert.
"DAVID!" an Irish-accented voice calls out frantically.
"What's wrong, Killian?"
"It's Henry, he's not here! Is he at your place?"
"N-No."
"What happened?" the lieutenant asks, switching on the light, knowing that this would disturb his wife. He can feel his blood pressure rising in anxiety.
"H-He's just not here, Emma says a lot of his stuff is missing. He might be running away."
The police officer nearly drops his phone in shock. The thought of Henry running off into the night frightened him and was completely unexpected. The teen was a good kid, never had any problems and did not fit the profile of a typical runaway. He knew that the boy loved his mother and never showed any indication of "heading for the hills." He swallows a nervous lump in his throat. He knows that Henry could easily be victimized by any number of predators or merely just die from exposure to the cold.
As uneasy and upset as he felt, he can only imagine what Emma's going through. He can faintly hear her sobs in the background. Killian explains what started everything and David has little time to process it while he sits on the edge of the bed.
"I'll be right there," he says before hanging up.
"What happened?" Mary Margret asks. She'd been listening to bits and pieces of the conversation but still did not have the whole picture. David was now rushing to get dressed, fumbling with his pants, and grabbing a shirt from his dresser.
"It's Henry, he's missing. Emma and Killian think he might have run away."
The teacher's heart drops and her stomach turns. She could never picture Henry leaving home like this, causing heartbreak, and worry especially to his mother. Something must've happened to make him act this way, immediately she begins getting out of bed too. She has tears on the surface of her eyes.
"What are you doing?" her husband asks.
"I'm coming with you," she insists, going for her own set of drawers.
"No, you need to stay home and take care of our son."
"I'll call for Elsa to come over and watch him."
"You need to stay home," he insists.
"No," she says firmly. She begins getting into warm clothing. "I'm coming with you.
The two go back and forth until Mary Margret finally says. "He's just as much our son as he is Emma's and I'm not going to let him die in the streets like this. I'm coming and that's final."
David sighs as he slips into his work boots. Once his wife had her mind set to something, there was no changing it, no matter how hard he tried to convince her otherwise. He'd learn to give in a long time ago and just let her do what she wanted. He knows she cares about Henry, he was basically their nephew and when any child was in danger, she'd fight tooth and nail to protect him or her.
She finally pulls on a sweater and grabs her own phone to call over Elsa to watch Jacob.
…
Regina jolts awake to the sound of her phone buzzing. She looks at the clock and sees that it's after two. If this is a hate call from Zelena to mess with her, she'd put the bitch in her place without hesitation. She growls angrily before picking it up and opening the call.
"I swear to God Zelena…" she begins.
"Regina, it's Killian. Is Henry at your place?"
"No why?" she asks, rubbing her eyes, trying to clear her head, wondering why Guyliner is calling her at two in the morning, if this was some implication for a booty call or something, she'd kill him.
"He's missing."
When the Irish man says those two words, she's out of bed and rushing across the room. She's not even thinking, but frantically trying to find something to wear. She stumbles around in the dark, trying to reach her closet. She stubs her toe on something but ignores the pain.
"Emma thinks he might have run away. They had a fight about moving and Henry said he wanted to live with Neal. We don't know what happened after that."
"Have you checked the whole apartment?" she asks, pulling on a sweater.
"Twice."
"You call his cell phone?"
"As many times as it would allow," is the answer.
Regina can hear Emma's tortured cries in the background. She herself was trying to keep the tears at bay, she had to find the boy who was practically her son too.
"I'll be right over, keep trying to get in touch with him." She then hangs up.
"What happened? What's going on?" a voice calls from her bed.
"Henry's missing," she explains, fumbling to find socks for herself. "Do you know where I left my keys?"
"They should be by the door," a dirty blonde-haired man with a scruffy beard and bright blue eyes answers. He wraps the blanket around himself and watches as the real-estate agent avoids the couple's piles of clothes on her way to the bedroom door.
"Do they know what happened?" he asks.
"He and Emma had a fight and they think he's run away."
"Do you want help?"
"I'll call you when I need it," she says before going for her coat. The man holds a sheet around his waist and follows her down the hall of her apartment.
"Are you sure?"
"Yes, it'll take some time for you to find your clothes anyways," she half-heartedly smirks. She blows him a kiss, grabs her keys, and rushes out the door into the cold February night. Robin hobbles back to the bedroom and keeps his phone near in case Regina calls him.
…
"Are you sure you won't need my help?" Elsa asks as she cradles the baby in her arms.
The police officer and teacher are frantically trying to get everything together and get over to Emma's apartment. The platinum blonde wants to help too but agreed to keep the baby safe for now. Mary Margret had fed her son before wrapping herself in her coat and putting her boots on. David puts on his gun and other equipment in preparation for going back on duty.
"We'll be fine. If anything happens, we'll call you," he says, searching for his car keys.
"Be safe out there and bring Henry home," Elsa whimpers. Jacob looks confused and scared in his own right. Even though he was too young to understand anything, he could sense that his parents and now babysitter were very worried. He had cried a little bit after being disturbed from his slumber. His mother had fed him and now he watched with wide blue eyes as they left the apartment in such a fast manner. He could feel the stress and was none too pleased by the feeling.
As soon as the door slams shut, Elsa moves the baby to her shoulder and begins pacing the floor of the living room. She had gotten the call from Mary Margret and knew something was very wrong. Before the teacher had even told her what it was, she could hear the worry in Mary Margret's voice. She left the house in such a hurry that she'd put her t-shirt on backward. Anna and Kris had likely been woken up in the chaos, but Anna couldn't help as her ankle was still sprained. She had called Jack Overland, who she had secretly been seeing on her own time, on the phone and told him what was happening. The young officer said he'd be at Emma's apartment to help as soon as possible.
Jacob is not happy about the pacing and begins to make whining noises. Elsa then sits down on the couch and brings the baby to a more comfortable position.
"Shh, it's okay baby," she says in the calmest voice she can muster. "They'll find your godfather soon.
…
Meanwhile, the news had reached all of Emma and Killian's friends. All were on their way to the apartment to start searching. Aurora left a confused Phillip standing in the door of their bedroom as she hurried to get her winter clothing on, with very little explanation. MeyLing nearly sprained her ankle tripping over her hockey bag, trying to get out the door. Lacey went 20 miles over the legal speed limit on her way to Emma's house. August was grabbing all his investigation supplies, hoping it would help aid them in the search. Jack Overland radioed Nova to be on guard and get to the station as soon as possible. Even Zelena had heard what had happened, decided to be selfless and help find the helpless teen.
The entire group of friends was on their way over, keeping their eyes peeled for Henry as they went. All were worried, not just of the teen, but his mother, who could very well go into premature labour from the stress and shock.
Emma is frantically pacing the apartment, tears still streaming down her face. She's calling her ex-fiancé to fill him in on the problem. She was frantic and angry at the same time. Neal was trying to be as understanding as possible considering the circumstances, but he too was minutes from having a mental breakdown. While the two talk, Killian dials 911.
"911, what's your emergency?" a female voice asks.
"M-My girlfriend's son is missing!" the docks man barely manages to utter.
"Do you think he was kidnapped?"
"N-No, but he may have run away. We need the police as quickly as possible."
"Yes sir, we understand now where is your address?"