Parents in the night- part 3

Pearsons asked for a oneshot of a sequel to Ch3081 "Parents in the night- part 2" where it's been hours since Emma left and her parents are really worried. They go looking for her and find her freezing in the woods, still in shock from the news.

Snow and David were sure Emma would come home eventually. She'd want answers, and they'd be able to give her them. First she was gone for one hour. Then two. Then three. By the time four came along night had fallen and the temperature had dropped. Now they were worried.

"Her car's still out there, so she's still in town." David pointed out.

"She wouldn't leave Henry. Not now. I've used Emma's walkie to check she's not with him. He's promised me he's not seen her since their ice cream." Snow informed him.

"Where on earth is she?" David asked, becoming scared. If Regina found her and found out she knew about the curse being real…things could get ugly.

"Well then, I guess we'd better get searching. My first guess would be the station." Snow suggested.

So that's where they started, but all they found was Graham on night duty. They had to be careful. Now they remembered he was the huntsman. He was a good man, but his heart was in the wrong place: the Evil Queen's hand.

"Oh Emma's at home not feeling so great. She can't find her red leather jacket and I said we'd come look for it for her. You haven't seen it around, have you?"

"No, not since Emma wore it leaving the station at the end of her shift today." Graham said.

"Just so we can retrace her steps and maybe find the jacket, you didn't see her after she finished work, did you?" David added. Graham's eyes narrowed suspiciously.

"Is Emma alright?" He asked. "If something's wrong, I can help. I'd like to."

"No, just the jacket." Snow said quickly, her and David already leaving the station before he could ask them anymore. "Thanks though."

After the station came up a bust, Snow and David searched all the other usual haunts of their daughter. Granny's, Henry's castle, even the dock where she liked to watch the water. Nothing. Eventually, they were left tracking the forest. Fortunately, they had a master tracker on their team.

Snow eventually found a trail of footprints that looked to be about Emma's size. She and David followed them. They thought they'd lost the trail when David noticed a shady figure curled up on the ground. When they went over, they were semi-relieved to find Emma. Relieved they'd found her, worried about what state she'd be in. At least she was awake. That was a good start.

"What are you doing all the way out here?" Snow asked as David took his jacket off and draped it around Emma. "You could have froze to death!"

"I…I left for air." Emma chattered. "I don't remember coming here." She looked between Snow and David. "You. Henry's curse…"

"That doesn't matter now." David said. "Have you hurt yourself?" He asked her. Emma shook her head. "Then why did you stop moving?"

"I just wanted to think." Emma said. "I stopped to think. There was a lot to think about."

"Ok, it's alright Emma." He said gently. Snow's heart melted at how precious he was being with Emma. "Can you stand?" David then helped Emma to her feet, but her knees buckled, and she would have fallen had Charming not caught her.

"That would be a no then." Snow commented. She and David then had a silent conversation. Neither wanted Emma to freak out anymore, but they had to get her home and warmed up soon otherwise they'd have to take her to Whale.

"Emma, we want this to be as quick and easy as possible to avoid going to the hospital. We don't want Regina finding out about any of this. Can I pick you up and carry you back home?" David asked her. Emma nodded shakily. Her head was still too fuzzy to properly process much. David didn't give her a chance to, he quickly scooped her up and he and Snow began to walk back home.

They were lucky to make it back to the loft apartment undetected. David radioed Henry and assured him Emma was fine as Snow wrapped her in a dozen blankets and made her hot chocolate with extra cinnamon.

"Everything's going to be fine." Snow promised her. "We're going to sort all this out."

Emma wasn't so sure about that. Sure, she was glad they'd found her and stopped her dying from hypothermia, but that didn't mean she was ready to accept the situation.

After the hot chocolate, Emma drifted to sleep pretty quickly. Snow and David were going to have to think through their next move carefully. They wanted this curse broken ASAP, but not at the expense of either Emma's health, or their relationship with her.