"I'll see a doctor," August said as they made their way downstairs.

"Thank you," Emma said.

"If you do," August finished.

"I don't need a doctor," Emma said.

"Really?" His hand brushed against her side and she flinched, sucking in a pained breath.

"I'm fine."

"Emma …" August trailed off as they reached the lobby to find her parents waiting for them.

Mary Margaret's eyes lit up. "Pinocchio! Oh, thank goodness you're alright!"

"Your majesty," August greeted, looking somewhat startled when she hugged him. "It's good to see you again. I'm so sorry."

"None of that," she said sternly. "You were a child; it's not your fault. Emma - how …?"

Emma smiled sheepishly. "Same way I saved Henry."

"Really?" David asked.

"We need to get to the hospital," August said firmly. "You need to see a doctor, Princess."

"I'm fine," Emma repeated.

August sighed, touching her side once more, pressing a little firmer this time. "If I had to take a guess, I'd say you have at least two cracked ribs."

"Emma?" Mary Margaret asked. "What happened?"

Emma sighed. "Regina used the last of her magic to poison the apple turnover, except Henry ate it instead of me. We went to Gold for help in the first instance; he told us he'd managed to bottle true love."

"He did," David confirmed. "He got me to hide it in exchange for turning my mother's ring into a compass to find your mother after the sleeping curse."

Emma smiled weakly. "Well, I had to go and get it."

"I hid it in a dragon," David protested. "There isn't a dragon in Storybrooke!"

"Not anymore, no," Emma agreed. "It was below the clock tower. So's your sword, now I think about it."

"But you're not," David said firmly. "And that's the important thing. You got hurt?"

"I may have been knocked about a bit," Emma admitted. "Then Gold stole the potion, and then Henry was dead, and then he was awake, and then magic was back, and I haven't really had time to think about it."

"If you have broken a rib, it could shift and puncture a lung," August said. "Unless you want to traumatise Henry tonight when you roll over and start coughing up blood, I suggest you go to the hospital. Like I said, I'll get checked out myself, just to ease your mind."

Emma sighed, seeing that both of her parents clearly agreed with him. "Fine."

As they stepped out of the inn, they could suddenly hear shouts from the next street - loud, angry, and … heading in the direction of Mifflin Street.

"There you are!" Archie Hopper came sprinting towards them. "Whale's whipped up a mob - they're going after Regina!"

"They can't!" Emma protested immediately.

"Emma …" David began.

"She's Henry's mom," Emma said, cutting him off. "I cannot and will not sit him down and tell him she's dead, that we sat back and let that happen. I don't care what happens to her right now, but mob justice is not the answer!"

"Take her to the hospital," Mary Margaret said to August. "We'll head them off and take Regina into custody."

"Hang on." Emma rooted in her jacket pocket and pulled out her sheriff's badge and credentials, handing it over to David. "Just in case they decide royalty isn't a good enough reason."

"Thank you," David said. "Look after her."

"Yes sir," August called after them, as they followed Archie down the street. "Can you walk?"

"You are not carrying me," Emma said firmly.

August smirked, falling into step beside her. "Wouldn't dream of it. How are you holding up otherwise?"

"Shell-shocked," Emma admitted. "But I'm fine. So who is Whale?"

"Pass," August said. "I don't recognise him from the Enchanted Forest. Then again, it was a big place, I wouldn't know everyone; I was just a kid. Or he might have been a traveller, caught up in the curse."

"No wonder he's angry," Emma murmured.

They walked in silence for a while.

"You really think she deserves a second chance?" August asked as they approached the hospital.

"I never said a second chance," Emma said. "I said I don't want her dead. Let's face it - you and I suffered a lot more than everyone here; Henry said they just lived the same year over and over again before I got here. Do you think they now remember every single one of them?"

"I don't know," August said honestly, holding the door for her. "On the one hand, I kind of hope so, especially your parents and my father. It must be kinda weird to have a memory of having a child a year or so ago and then suddenly they're an adult. On the other hand, it must have been mind-numbingly boring."

"So she apparently condemned everyone to blissful ignorance," Emma said rolling her eyes. "Until I got here."

"Sometimes things have to get worse before they can get better," August said, frowning at the unmanned reception desk. "Is there anybody still here?"

"There'd better be," Emma said darkly. "I left my son in their care. I just hope Whale was smart enough to get out of earshot before he started a lynch mob to go after his mother."

Thankfully, when they reached the ward, there was still a nurse, sitting at one of the tables with some paperwork. Henry was still in bed - and fast asleep.

The nurse glanced up at their entrance and jumped to her feet. "Sheriff Swan, you're back!"

"Mr Booth needs a check-up," Emma said in response. "He was a puppet half an hour ago. I'm sorry - I don't remember your name."

"Nova, your highness," she said with a smile. "My name under the curse was Sister Astrid. Now, young man, let's take a look at you. Your father will be looking for you, by the way."

"I'll see him soon," August said. "Emma needs you first; a dragon knocked her into a wall."

Sister Astrid - no, Nova - raised an eyebrow. "Of course it did. In which case, let's look at you first. Take the bed next to Henry's please."

Emma considered arguing, but thought better of it. "Thanks for staying."

"Unlike Dr Whale, I don't see any benefit in chasing after Regina," Nova said in a low voice to avoid waking Henry. "And Blue went to try and calm the waters, so the rest of us stayed to look after our patients. Here's a hospital gown - get changed and we'll take a look."

As it turned out, she did, in fact, have two cracked ribs, as well as a lot of bruising.

"Alright," she grumbled, when August smirked at her. "Smartass."

Nova chuckled, setting up a drip for her. "This will give you some nice strong painkillers."

"No offence," Emma said, looking away as she inserted the needle, "but did you actually train as a nurse?"

"No," Nova answered, "but I have the memories of it."

Emma shook her head. "It's weird. This curse was supposed to take away everyone's happy endings, but this is hardly … bad. Aside from the whole Kathryn/Mary Margaret thing, everyone seems to have been … fine."

"Well, it was Snow White that the Queen really wanted to suffer," Nova said with a sigh. "I suppose the rest of us were all just collateral damage."

"And now you're all stuck here," Emma murmured.

"It would appear so."

And there was David again, hand-in-hand with Mary Margaret.

Prince Charming and Snow White.

She really needed to get the whole name thing straight.

Nova dipped a curtsey to her parents and led August away to another bed to give them some privacy.

"Regina?" Emma asked quietly, glancing over at Henry to check that his breathing was still deep and even.

"Locked up at the sheriff's station," David answered. "What's the damage?"

"Two cracked ribs," Emma admitted. "August was right." She sighed. "If you two want to talk …"

"We do," Mary Margaret - Snow - said immediately.

"Thought so," Emma said with a small smile. "Best do it quickly. Sister Astrid - Nova, sorry - has me on the good drugs, so I'll be out like a light before long. How's that working anyway?"

"What?" Mary Margaret/Snow asked, taking one of the chairs beside her bed.

"The names," Emma said. "You've got two sets of memories now, right?"

"Well, I was in a coma," David said, "but I'm easy enough. My name hasn't changed."

"The book says your name is James," Emma said.

"It's a long story," Mary Margaret/Snow said, "but James was his twin brother."

"Of course he was," Emma murmured. "So what do I call you?"

Her mother visibly hesitated. "Well … Mom and Dad is the most obvious answer, but we understand that's going to be a big leap, considering we're now younger than you thanks to the curse, and you're not used to it, so … Snow and David will do for now, I'm sure."

"Whatever you feel more comfortable with," David added. "Emma?"

"M'okay," Emma mumbled, her eyes fluttering closed. "Told you I'd be …"

"Nova?" Snow called, rising from her chair as her daughter's voice trailed away. "Nova, she's passed out!"

"It's just the morphine," Nova said. "You're lucky she's a sleeper - some of our patients get really high on the stuff. What happened with the angry mob?"

"We've managed to disperse them," David said heavily. "The question about what exactly to do with her remains; we can't keep her in the holding cell forever. However, she doesn't have her magic."

"At all?" Nova asked.

"She tried a fireball," Snow said. "It didn't work."

"So she's stuck, at least," Nova said, frowning as she checked August's pulse once again. "I'd like Blue to take a look at you."

"Is something wrong?" August asked.

"I'm not sure," Nova admitted. "Without my wand or any fairy dust, it's hard to say. Something just … isn't quite as it was."

When Emma awoke the next morning, the bed next to her was empty.

"Your parents took Henry to the hospital cafeteria for some breakfast."

"Thanks," she said, relaxing when her eyes fell on August in the chair beside her. "Did you stay there all night?"

August shrugged. "Seemed the place to be. Everyone's still pretty shaken, so no one's worrying too much about visiting hours. Aunt Nova offered us all hospital beds."

"Aunt?" Emma asked.

"It was the Blue Fairy who made me human," August reminded her. "She's the closest I've got to a mother. I never called her that, but the other fairies kind of adopted me."

Emma nodded. "Are you okay?"

August smiled at her, lifting her hand to press a kiss to her knuckles. "You fixed me."

Emma rolled her eyes. "Stop it."

"No, really," August said. "Fairy magic is … complicated. All magic comes with a price, but their's is particularly strict. Her magic only allowed me to be human because I'd proven myself to be selfless, brave and true. And I must stay that way, otherwise I begin to turn back. You fixed that. I'm a proper human being now."

"I'd rather you carry on being those things," Emma said with a smile.

"I will," August said, letting her fingers slip through his. "On that note …"

"Oh, no." Emma heaved a sigh. "Do I want to know?"

"There's one last confession I need to make," August said heavily. "And when I do … you're going to hate me."

"Is this the same thing as the 'I was supposed to look after you, even though I was only a child, so now I feel guilty for not doing what I was physically unable to do'?" Emma asked dryly.

"It's tied into it," August said, his eyes fixed on the floor. "I felt so guilty for leaving you … I dealt with it in some really bad ways, you know that. Finally, I dragged myself out of the gutter I'd found myself in and went looking for you."

"What were you going to do?" Emma asked.

"No idea," August admitted. "I found you in Portland. You were eighteen and … You were so beautiful."

"Flattery will get you nowhere," Emma said, unable to help the upward twitch of her mouth.

"You were with someone," August continued, sending a chill through her bones. "He was … a mess. You were trying to survive, but it was obvious that you wanted more, and he … he was dragging you down a dark path."

Emma froze. "August … What did you do?"

"I was sure there was something about him," August said, still not meeting her eyes. "Something familiar. I couldn't put my finger on what. But I did some digging and … He lied to you."

"I know," Emma said darkly.

"He gave you a fake name," August said.

Emma frowned. "I saw his passport, August. And his ID."

"His name might be Neal Cassidy in this world," August conceded. "But in ours …"

"He came from your world?" Emma interrupted.

"His name was Baelfire," August whispered, his eyes leaving the floor to dart around the room, checking for eavesdroppers. "Rumplestiltskin's son."

Emma's heart seemed to stop for a moment or two. "Are you … Did he know who I was?"

"No," August said. "Not until I told him." He hesitated, but when she didn't say anything, he kept going. "I told him that you were the one who'd break the curse. That you'd need to be back here by the time you were twenty-eight. And that you were better off without him."

"You're the reason?" Emma asked in a low voice. "You're the reason he left me?"

"I didn't tell him to set you up," August said sharply. "I figured if he listened about the last thing, he'd give it some time and let you down gently - not take off like a coward. But he's been running from his father for centuries, if the stories are true."

"Centuries?" Emma repeated numbly.

"I don't know how," August said. "Or why. I left town the same night. I didn't really think he'd listen; didn't know he had until I ran into him a few months later and he told me what had happened. He asked me to send you few things, figured you wouldn't accept it from him."

"You sent me the car keys," Emma whispered. "What else?"

August fidgeted. "The proceeds. From the … From whatever job he pulled that night that you went down for."

"How much?" Emma asked, her voice deceptively calm.

"$20,000."

Emma closed her eyes. "You know the reason I gave Henry up was because I had no money."

"I know," August said quietly. "I didn't know you were pregnant, I swear. If I had, I'd have come to see you; found some way of letting you know. I couldn't have just sent it through the mail; if they figured out where it came from, you'd have been in even more trouble."

"So where is it?" Emma asked, more sharply than she'd intended. "Or did you drink it?"

August winced and cleared his throat. "Gambled it, actually. It's in a trust fund for Henry."

"It's …" Emma paused. "What? But you just said …"

"Well, I'm very good," August said. "Doubled it, actually. I was going to give it to you when I got here, once I'd figured out a good way to do it - when I found out about Henry, I felt awful, and I knew you'd do it anyway, so I set up a trust fund."

Emma huffed out a breath. "I'm still angry."

"I know." August's hands twitched like he wanted to reach for her, but he abstained, resting them on his thighs instead. "I'm so sorry, Emma."

Emma didn't respond for a few moments, focusing instead on seeing if her ribs were still aching, or if the wrap and the medication had done their job.

Conflict resolution was not her strong point, not in her love life, preferring to cut her losses and run.

But August was different - this was a connection unlike any other she would find elsewhere.

Not to mention, she wasn't sure how much of the anger bubbling inside her was aimed at August, and how much of it was renewed anger at Neal.

She needed him to leave, needed him to give her time and space to digest everything he had just told her, needed to make sure that she didn't take her anger with Neal out at him unjustly.

But before she could voice any of this, there was an interruption in the form of a huge crash from outside, one that caused the windows to rattle in their frames.

"What the hell?"

August jumped to his feet and sprinted to the window. "It's … Is that a tornado?"

Running footsteps alerted her before Henry burst through the doors to the ward.

"Henry?" Emma asked, startled.

"Grandma sent me up," Henry said breathlessly. "Grandpa says that's a wraith."

"Are they dangerous?" Emma asked, already reaching for her clothes.

"Only if you've been marked, I think," August said grimly. "But that doesn't mean it can't … Emma, what are you doing?"

"I'm still the sheriff," Emma said, pulling the privacy curtain across so she could change. "I'm wrapped up; they've given me all the morphine they're going to. I can't just sit here."

Dr Whale arrived just as she emerged.

"Doctor, please tell her it's not safe," August said.

"Doctor?" Emma asked, her eyes pleading with him.

Whale held her gaze for a second, then sighed. "Take some more painkillers first and try to avoid any gymnastics."

"Thanks," Emma said, swallowing the offered pills dry. "Stay in here until the drama out there's died down. Henry, stay with August please."

"Mom …" Henry began, his voice shaking.

Emma pulled him into a hug, pressing a kiss to his head. "It'll be okay."

"This isn't in the book," he mumbled into her stomach, only just audibly.

Her heart ached for him.

Of course, he had probably expected that she would break the curse, and then everyone would live happily ever after - except this wasn't Fairy Tale Land, or whatever it was called.

And she was starting to get the feeling that wasn't the case even there.

"I know, kiddo," she said, releasing him. "Stay with August."

"Emma!" August caught her arm before she could run. "Please, just …"

"Look after my son," she said, her voice deceptively even, and intentionally pitched too low for Henry to hear. "We will talk later. Right now, I can't even look at you."

"I love you."

Emma managed a small smile. "I know."