Awkward meeting
aliciaf1983 asked for a oneshot of Charming dealing with Neal when he first came to town for knocking Emma up and leaving.
Surpriiiiiiiise! Well, for me included. I didn't think I would be able to post anything until I got home on Tuesday, turns out, this place has wifi! Yay!
Oh, and thanks for all the well wishes and congratulations. Yesterday went really well! I am now officially (First name) (middle name) (surname) (Title) (Hons) with (specialism)! Sorry for being so cryptic, but since I'm part of the first group to complete my course it wouldn't actually be that difficult to find me lol.
"Who's this?" Charming asked, as he took over supporting Rumplestiltskin on one side. Emma bit her lip, trying to give her dad an answer that was truthful, but wouldn't result in Neal getting battered.
"This is my dad." Henry piped up. Emma winced. Neal smiled at Charming, unaware of the pounding he was about to receive. Charming stopped dead. He looked over to Emma, pointing at Neal.
"This is Henry's father?" He choked.
"And my son." Rumplestiltskin grunted through the pain. "Don't forget that." He warned. Charming couldn't care less about Rumplestiltskin's warning. Even if he was at full strength and able to kill him with a twitch of his hand, Charming wasn't prepared to be breathing the same air as Neal for a moment longer. He dropped his side of Rumplestiltskin and went charging for Neal, tackling him to the ground. Rumplestiltskin plummeted to the ground himself with nobody there to support him.
"Grandpa!"
"David!"
Emma and Henry said in unison. Henry was stunned. He had never seen his grandpa quite so angry. Of course, he wasn't as aware of the true story behind his parentage as Charming was. Emma snapped out of it quicker than Henry. She didn't think her dad beating up Neal would have Henry forgive her any quicker.
"Break it up!" Emma demanded, trying to yank her dad off of Neal.
"Not until I teach him a damn lesson." Charming growled, striking Neal with blow after blow.
"Dad!" Emma shouted. This made Charming pause. He stopped laying into Neal and turned his head around. Emma had never called him dad before. "This won't help." Emma said, now that she had his attention.
"It certainly made me feel better." Charming told her. "He deserved it."
"You don't think I've known that for years?" Neal snapped, scrambling to his feet and away from Charming.
"Clearly not!" Charming shouted, ready for round two. Emma stepped in front of her dad, blocking his path to Neal.
"This won't help." She said again. She glanced down to Henry, who was clearly scared. "Not in front of the kid. I get that you're angry, I am too. But we need to act like adults. Besides, we need Rumple alive, which means getting him an antidote quickly." Emma explained. Charming scoffed.
"I think the world might be better off without the Dark One." He pointed out.
"But he's my grandpa too." Henry said quietly. Charming looked at his grandson. He hated how sad and scared he looked.
"Fine." He sighed. He went back over and roughly pulled the frail Dark One to his feet again. Tentatively, Neal took over the other side again. Charming completely blanked him, marching forward. Emma and Henry followed behind. This would do for now. Emma would work on restoring peace between them all later.
