Time to come clean

A guest asked for a oneshot of Marco telling David instead of Snow that someone could have gone through the wardrobe with her.

"I think the van is this way." Charming said, gesturing through the woods. He couldn't help but notice Geppetto was rather quiet.

"It's nerve-wracking when you see them again." David said, trying to break the tension. He didn't say too much, aware that Emma was there as well and he didn't want to make things awkward with his daughter. "You at least have a relationship with Pinocchio from before." A thought struck David. "How did Pinocchio escape the curse? Did Regina deliberately leave him out and hope he'd turn back to wood?" He asked. Geppetto stopped and stood in front of the prince. He removed his hat and looked down in shame.

"It is my fault my son is turning back to wood. Not the Evil Queen's." Geppetto said quietly. "I left him with a burden no child should have to bear. The wardrobe that took your daughter to this land, it took my son too." Geppetto admitted. David struggled to accept that.

"No, you're mistaken, old friend. The wardrobe could only take one. That's why Emma went through alone." David reminded him. Geppetto shook his head. Emma bit her lip in anticipation. She knew her dad was not going to react well to this news.

"No, that was a lie I made the Blue Fairy tell you. That wardrobe held two. Your daughter, and my son." Geppetto explained. David felt like he'd been kicked in the gut.

"So someone could have gone with her?" He asked quietly. Geppetto nodded.

"I am so sorry." He said sincerely. David wasn't really listening. He just saw red. He grabbed Geppetto by the scruff of the neck.

"Woh, David, what are you doing? He's apologising!" Emma intervened. David took a couple of calming breathes before releasing Geppetto. He didn't want to be aggressive in front of her.

"Let's…let's just focus on finding August. We'll sort this out later." He said. He couldn't deal with this now. Could he honestly say that he wouldn't have done the same for Emma in Geppetto's position? No. That didn't make him feel any less angry.