Good Intentions

"Oh, Daniel." Regina sat at the edge of the couch, her head buried in her hands and Emma's arm wrapped around her. August sat on the coffee table in front of them, finishing the final pieces of the story he had come up with over his last few days of investigation. Emma couldn't believe this. What a spider web of happenings that had been spun beneath them without them even knowing. Her heart pumped heavy in her chest, wondering what they were going to do now. How could they carry on with normal life with the possibility of Gold being after them.

"So, what can we do now? I mean we have to tell Graham, right?" Emma's mind raced with possible outcomes.

August sighed. "Well…"

Emma frowned. "Well what? We have to tell him that this is happening. He has to know I didn't do this."

"I don't have proof." August admitted. "It's all hearsay."

"You have a witness!" Emma's voice raised, and Regina sat up, placing a gentle hand on Emma's knee.

"Emma, it's not that simple." August tried to calm her down.

Emma shook her head. "No, how is this not simple? Everything you just told me sounds like an open and closed sort of thing. How can it not be?"

August didn't know how to explain it to her. He hated cases like this. Those cases that looked like they were all wrapped up in a pretty bow and that was it, but instead it was an ugly little thing wrapped in old newspapers and finished off with a lot of bureaucratic red tape. August had to have conclusive evidence that Gold was connected to all of this. One eye witness wasn't going to send the man to jail, and it surely wasn't going to prove that Emma was innocent. If anything, worst case scenario, August could see how someone smart enough could still twist this back to Emma. Make it seem like she was working for Gold. If he was on the other side, that's the direction he would go.

"August?!" Emma shouted at him.

Regina squeezed harder on her knee. "Emma, please. Don't yell."

"I'm not…" Emma bit her tongue, and calmed her voice. "I'm not yelling, I'm just trying to figure out whether or not there is a homicidal maniac out there waiting to murder my family or how I'm supposed to protect anyone with this damn ankle monitor on."

"We don't know if he's after us for sure." Regina tried to chime in, but her words felt empty and void of meaning. She didn't really believe them herself. She was consumed by her past now swelling up in her mind and couldn't help but replay so many things she couldn't explain, and now looking back, should have been giant red flags. She remembered Daniel coming home late, leaving early, and when he brought the gun home and promised everything was going to get better. How did she not recognize it? She was so busy with work, so preoccupied with other things that she ignored it. Truly, she just ran from it. She ran to Emma.

August stood up and excused himself, and headed out the front door without another word.

Regina and Emma sat together, the silence of the room felt like a heavy mist, wrapping them up and choking them with a thick, heavy air.

"How did I not see it?" Regina finally chimed in.

"What?" Emma looked over to her stunned. "You're not seriously taking the blame for this are you?" She questioned her.

"Well… I missed all of it. I could have helped him." Regina sat remorseful.

Emma pulled Regina's hands close to her. "Regina, no! This is not even remotely your fault." She stated matter of factly.

Regina didn't budge. "I'm not saying it's my fault, I just… I could have done something. He didn't say anything about needing money, I had a good job, he… he should have… I should have…" A tear fell down her cheek.

Emma began to wrap an arm around her shoulder but Regina rejected it, standing suddenly. "Regina?" Emma sat confused and completely useless.

"I need some air." Regina retreated from Emma and headed for the back door, and disappeared into the back yard.

Emma slammed her fist down on the couch. "Fuck!" She shouted in frustration.

August quietly and quickly stepped back into the house, stomping his boots off before hanging his coat on the coat rack and dropping his bag in the foyer. "Where's Regina?" He asked rounding the couch, finding Emma alone in the living room.

"On the back porch." Emma slumped back.

August peeked out the back window to make sure Regina was okay, and when he was satisfied, he sat back on the coffee table in front of Emma.

"Where's Henry?" He asked again.

"Upstairs." Emma mumbled.

"Okay, Emma, look at me." August stated.

Emma peaked through her closed eyes and saw August in front of her, holding a gun. She sat up suddenly, her jaw hitting the floor. "August, what the hell?"

August held up a hand to calm her, peaking back behind him to make sure Regina didn't hear her. "Relax." He half whispered. "It's for your protection."

Emma's brows furrowed. "I've never shot a gun before."

"It's easy. Just point and shoot." August half smiled.

Emma's face went red. "That's not funny. You're telling me that I might have to kill someone?"

"No, no. It's just a precaution. I just want you to be prepared. You don't have to carry it, just put it somewhere in the house where you can get to it quickly in an emergency." He reached it out to her, but she hesitated. "Emma, it's just in case. At the most, you just shoot it in the air and scare someone off. It's only got three bullets in it, I use it as a back up. The safety is here and it's on right now."

She still was hesitant but took it anyway. "It's heavy."

"Yeah, it'll feel that way for a while, but you'll get used to it." August explained.

Emma flipped it over in her hand, but nothing about holding that gun felt normal. This was wrong. It was awkward, and heavy, and she wanted nothing more than to give it back to him, but she knew he would not leave the house without her having some way to protect her family. She should be thankful, but hated the situation regardless.

The back door slammed shut as Regina came back inside from the back porch. August and Emma both stood suddenly, Emma hiding the gun behind her back so Regina couldn't see it.

Regina stopped when she noticed the two standing and staring at her walking in. "What?" She asked them oddly.

They looked at each other and then back to Regina, and before Emma could get words out of her mouth, August chimed in. "Uh, I was just telling Emma that I wanted to stay here for a day or so, just to keep an eye out for things until I can figure out how to present all of this to the sheriff. Is that okay?"

Regina wiped her chilled nose. "That's fine. Thank you. I'll go make up the guest room." She walked gracefully across the foyer and up the stairs, her feet making no sound as they escalated up. Emma let out a huge breath of air she realized she'd been holding since she stood up. Her arm relaxed and the gun fell, shaking, in her hand by her side.

"Just a precaution." August reassured her. Emma nodded and headed over to the foyer table and slid the small drawer open, dropping the gun inside and after staring at it for another moment, she slammed the drawer shut and tried putting the thought out of her mind.

August made his way over to her as she stood there blankly staring at the closed drawer. He gently turned her around to him and wrapped his arms around her shoulders, kissing her on her forehead. "Everything is going to be fine." He felt her body shake and her body became heavier as she cried into his shoulders. "I'm so sorry."

As Regina reached the top of the stairs, she paused a moment, gripped the edge of the wall to keep her balance and her stomach wrenched and tears fell from her eyes. She took some deep breaths, sucked in her tears, and forced herself down the hall, past Henry's room and down to the guest room.

Henry, who just seconds before found himself sitting at the top of the stairs, hiding from view, but in easy earshot of everything that went on downstairs, was hiding just on the other side of his bedroom door. He had heard everything. Everything about Daniel, about Gold, about the gun. And before Regina could get up the stairs he quietly retreated to his room and shut the door silently.

His heart raced, and for the first time in a while, he was truly pissed at someone else other than his mother. Even as a young boy, now only 14 years old, he felt the pressure of being the man in the house. He hadn't been a factor in anything that had happened, which was just another layer piled on to the reasons why he was so upset with his mother and Regina. He felt useless.

Not tonight. Tonight, he would help. Tonight, he would rally for his family and he would make up for everything he wasn't able to do before.

8:49pm: Hey. I need your help

8:49pm: Whats up?

8:50pm: Meet me at the library in 20

8:51pm: Min?! It's late. My parents would flip, and my sister would snitch

8:51pm: Dude, come on. Figure it out

8:52pm: Fine. Meet you there

Henry peaked out his bedroom door. He could see Regina's shadow under the half open door of the guest bedroom down the hall and he couldn't hear anything from downstairs. He shut his door silently, and with a swift click, locked it from the inside. He knew his mother didn't allow him to lock his door, but at least it would buy him some time. He would use the teenage boy excuse at least if he came back to her beating on his door.

He grabbed his basketball bag and stuffed it with a few things he needed for the night, and then as quietly as he could, slipped out of his bedroom window and shimmied down to the ground, landing with a heavy thud. He looked up at his lit bedroom. He knew that if it got late and his light was on, nobody would try to bother him since tomorrow was the state basketball game, he knew his mother would just think he was still studying.

His bike couldn't move fast enough as he stayed in the shadows and hustled to the library to meet his friend. The cool fall wind stung his eyes as he rolled through town trying not to be noticed by anyone who might call his mom.

He screeched his bike to a stop as he reached the library, and after hopping off, he walked it into the small alley between it and the small grocery store next door. The grocery's lights were off and the sign on the door crookedly read "closed". This part of town usually shut down about 8:30 so he knew they would be in the clear. He waited in the darkness and checked his watch nervously. His friend was nowhere to be seen. Henry pulled out his phone to check if he had any messages. None.

9:15pm: WRU?

Henry rubbed his hands together and cupped them around his lips, blowing warm are onto his fingers. "Come on…" He whispered nervously looking around.

Just then, he heard some rustling around the corner of Library. He hesitated a moment, not wanting to startle someone he didn't know and get into trouble. He waited, and heard whispers, and just as he decided to hide for good, he saw Hansel poke his head out from the side of the building.

"Henry?" Hansel whispered out.

Henry sighed in relief and came out of the shadows. "Hansel! Over here." He waved him down. Hansel came out from the side of the building his direction and to Henry's surprise another figure emerged right after him. "Gretel? What the heck are you doing here?"

"Dude, she made me bring her." Hansel admitted. "Said she'd tell our parents if I didn't tell her what was going on."

"Hansel, this is a two man job. We can't have her messing things up." Henry whispered, but not quiet enough.

"I'm sorry, is there something you want to say to me?" Gretel spoke up, crossing her arms in front of her.

Henry and Hansel looked at each other worridley. "Uh… well, I just wasn't expecting you to be here. This isn't exactly a job for a…"

"A girl?" She interrupted him. Her hands falling to her side in fists and she took a step toward him. "You think I can't handle it?" She air quoted.

Henry was tongue tied as he looked at Hansel for help. Hansel held his hands up in defeat, clearly no match for his twin sister.

"Look here, bud." She pointed her finger aggressively at Henry. "You may be the high school basketball stud, but I'm the toughest person you're going to meet in this whole town. Frankly, I've been bored lately, so you either accept that I'm here and willing to help in whatever the hell we are about to do, or you can count on me to tell EVERYONE about what you two might be up to."

"Okay! Okay." Henry held up his hands in defeat. "You can help."

Gretel smiled in victory.

"What are we actually doing here though?" Hansel chimed in finally.

"Well, we aren't exactly here to do anything fun. Actually, it might be slightly illegal."

"Illegal?" Gretel shouted out, and both boys quickly shushed her.

Hansel looked at Henry with a slight twinge of fear in his eyes. "Dude, I can't go to jail."

"Relax. We won't get caught. Not if we are careful anyway. I just need to… scare someone."

Gretel and Hansel looked at each other this time, and then back at Henry. "Who exactly are we scaring.'' Gretel air quoted again.

Henry nodded across the street, where a dark and desolate looking Pawn Shop stood eerily in front of them.

"Principal Gold?" Hansel and Gretel asked together.

"Yep." Henry stated matter of factly.

Emma and August sat across from each other at the kitchen island and stared down at their cups of steaming hot chocolate. The cinnamon on top of Emma's sat neatly on top of the cream colored foam and Emma was jealous of how calm her cup of cocoa seemed, as opposed to her life right now. August took a sip, breaking some silence and sighed as he looked up at Emma.

"You okay?" He finally asked.

"No. That was a stupid question." Emma replied back dryly and without looking up.

August chuckled. "Yeah, that was a stupid question." He spun his cup around nervously.

As much as Emma tried to ignore it, she could feel the presence of that gun burning in the back of her head. She hated knowing it was here. Hated even more the thought of getting it out or using it.

"I promise I'm going to get this figured out. I just need to sit down and organize everything I know and figure out what I need evidence for before I take it to the sheriff. If I take it too soon, they could throw it out without even a second thought. I don't want to mess this up. I want to do it right." He chugged the last of his hot chocolate and as he got up to wash his mug out in the sink, Regina walked in.

"The bedroom is all made up for you." She smiled politely, but Emma could hear the stress in her voice as she wrung her fingers together. When Regina was stressed, she never elaborated any information. She spoke very plainly, very matter of factly. Emma had learned this in the years she worked with Regina at school. It was one of Regina's tells that she could no longer hide from her.

Emma stood up and placed a calm hand on her shoulder.

"Thank you, Regina." August approached her and gave her a small hug and a kiss on the forehead. "I'm going to do a quick check around the house. You girls hang tight." He headed toward the door, and as it clicked shut behind him, Emma's attention fell completely on Regina, but she was at a loss for words. She didn't know what to say, what to ask, how to comfort her.

"I don't blame myself, if that's what you are worried about." Regina finally chimed in, making her way across the kitchen and pulling a mug down from the cabinet.

Emma smiled a little. "No, that's not what I'm worried about at all." She joked dryly.

Regina glanced back at her knowingly. "I'm serious. I don't. I just…" She shook the hot chocolate package before ripping it open and pouring it in her mug. "I just wish I could have helped him you know." She grabbed the milk jug out of the fridge.

"You didn't even know." Emma commented.

"Exactly!" Regina exclaimed. "I could have called Hopper, or Dr. Whale, or Graham, or someone."

"He could have too."

Regina pulled her hair back in a ponytail as the microwave hummed heating her hot chocolate. "All I'm saying is that I wish I had known. He might still be alive."

Emma had no comment. But she hated that Regina, even if she wouldn't admit it, does believe she could have kept all this from happening. They were so much alike. So many feelings buried so deep, always trying to reassure each other that they were fine, that they weren't feeling as deeply as they really were.

Emma got up and walked over to Regina. Her back was turned to Emma as she gazed out of the kitchen window in the backyard. Emma slipped her hands around the woman's waist and pulled her close. The scent of her perfume tickled Emma's nose, and made the hairs on the back of her neck stand up. Emma could feel Regina's tension release a little as Regina held onto Emma's arms. As they embraced, Emma nuzzled her nose into Regina's neck and with small, almost non existent motion, she kissed her. Regina sighed heavily, her head falling back into Emma's embrace. Emma's movements became heavier and heavier. Regina reached up and pulled Emma's head closer to her.

Emma swung Regina around to face her and as their faces were inches apart, their breaths were heavy and heart's racing.

"Emma." Regina whispered almost silently. Emma hesitated but then reached again for Regina's neck. Regina pushed into her, and in one swift motion Emma picked her up onto the counter. Their lips moved together, Emma using her hands to feel every curve of Regina's body. Regina wrapped her feet around Emma's waist pulling her in hard, harder than ever before.

The front door suddenly slammed closed, and the two women separated immediately at the sound. As August rounded the corner, he realized immediately he had caught the women at an awkward time and froze. Regina quickly fixed her hair and Emma was wiping her lips of Regina's lipstick.

"Um…" August started awkwardly. "Outside looks good. I'm gonna…" He pointed back towards the foyer, keeping his eyes low to the ground. "I'm gonna go to bed." He smiled thinly and then quickly disappeared back around the corner. The two women looked at each other and together they laughed at the awkwardness.

"You'd think my brother had never seen me with a girl before." Emma laughed, approaching Regina who was still perched on the countertop.

"Oh, that sounds like a story I might want to hear some day." Regina raised an eyebrow at Emma as she pecked a kiss on the blonde's lips.

Emma smiled. "You want to hear about my past relations?"

Regina threw her head back and laughed, giving Emma and opportunity to steal some kisses on Regina's neck. "Well… when you put it that way… yes."

Emma laughed, resting her forehead on Regina's chest. "I'm gunna let you think about that one for a while and you let me know if you really want to talk about it."

"Mmm." Regina thought for a moment. "Sound like you're trying to hide something."

Emma looked up at Regina, one eyebrow raised. Her heart pumping a little heavier in her chest, and she hoped her face didn't give her away too much. She was in fact hiding something, but it wasn't a past relation. Emma's eyes faded down toward the counter.

"Hey." Regina placed her hands on Emma's cheeks. "You okay? I was only joking." She looked down at Emma concerned.

Emma smiled at the touch. "Yeah, I'm sorry. Everything from tonight just suddenly swept over me again. I'm sorry."

Regina planted another small kiss on Emma's lips. "We are all on edge. Today was… a lot to say the least. I think we all just need to go to bed and try and sleep."

Emma nodded understandably and moved back and helped Regina off the counter. Emma planted a final kiss on Regina's forehead. "You finish your hot chocolate, I'm going to go up and shower before bed."

"Yes, ma'am." Regina smiled and winked at her.

Henry counted the stash of rocks the three of them collected and decided that was enough for them to start.

"This is a dumb idea." Hansel fidgeted. "I don't think this is going to help whatever situation you are in. We're going to get in big trouble."

"Shut up, Hansel. Quit being a wimp." Gretel chimed in, dropping a couple more rocks in the pile.

"I'm not being a wimp. I'm just not into tearing up Principal Gold's store. Seems a little trivial. Have you tried talking to the guy?" Hansel suggested.

"Hansel, you don't know what I know. Gold is a bad guy. He needs to know that he isn't invincible." Henry stated boldly.

"So you throw a couple rock through his store window? I'm just not following."

"Damn it, Hansel, if you want to leave, then go!" Henry stood up tall, his athletic frame much bigger than Hansel's, his chest protruding out.

Hansel sunk back from him, but in a moment's decision, he straightened his shirt nervously and obliged to the act. They all three reached down and picked up their first rocks and as Henry counted down from three, they all launched their rocks at the same time. They crashed heavily into the store's front windows and the glass shattered to the ground. As the moment of freedom sank in, they each began throwing rocks at their own whims. More glass shattered, shelving busted and trinkets scattered and busted both inside and outside of the broken windows. Dogs barked from the surrounding neighborhoods, and in one last sweep, Henry threw the last rock as hard as he could. He watched it's path intently as it lodged into an antique lamp, knocking the whole thing over and sparking as it hit the floor. The spark suddenly began to grow and flicker, and in a sudden panic, Henry saw the flames begin growing behind the store window.

"Oh, shit." Hansel began panicking and pulling at Henry's shirt. "Hey, come on, we gotta go!" He pulled harder. A light came on above the store on the second floor. The three of them bolted back to dark alleyway where they had stashed their bikes. Hansel and Gretel pulled their bikes out of the shadows, cursing as they scrambled to leave the scene. Henry was frozen, watching as the flames grew and grew.

"Dude, we got to go!" Hansel rolled up next to Henry. Henry could barely see the shadow of Gold up in his second floor loft.

"I didn't know he lived there."

"Henry! Now!" Hansel tried to shake his friend out of his daze. "Gretel, GO HOME!" Hansel shouted, and Gretel followed orders, immediately tearing out of the alley on her bike and riding back toward their house.

"He won't be able to get out." Henry stated in shock. The flames were getting bigger, big enough to cast an orange glow on their faces.

"Hey, don't make me leave you here. I will leave you." Hansel warned, trying to push Henry toward his bike, but in a sudden rush of adrenaline, Henry pushed him away.

"Go home Hansel. Call 911." And before Hansel could get a grip on Henry's shirt, Henry was sprinting toward the store.

"Shit!" Hansel in a panic called 911, but after hanging up with the operator without telling her his name, he quickly darted back home.

Emma tied her wet hair up in her towel and threw on her robe to cover her exposed skin to the cold air. She felt clean physically, but mentally drained from the day. With the little sleep she got last night and the events of tonight, she sure hoped that at least she could sleep a little longer tonight.

She stared at herself in the mirror, no makeup to cover her wrinkles and dark spots, or the dark rings that have permanently formed under her eyes. She looked old. She looked done with the world. She took a deep breath and left the bathroom before she could feel any more depressed. She looked down the hall and saw that guest bedroom was dark. August must have gone to bed as soon as he went upstairs. A low glow from Henry's room lit up his area of the hallway, and Emma check the clock for the time. It was close to 10:00 and she knew he needed to be in bed in order to feel rested for his game tomorrow.

She made her way down the hall, glancing downstairs, catching a glimpse of Regina, sitting quietly on the couch finishing her hot chocolate. She stood silently at Henry's door, listening quietly for any sign of movement that he might still be awake. Nothing. She knocked. Listened. Still nothing.

"Henry?" She knocked again. Still nothing. She reached for the doorknob and when she tried to turn it, it didn't budge. She rattled it, her first thoughts thinking it might be stuck, but it didn't budge. "Henry?" She said a little louder. She heard nothing.

She glanced down the hall toward the bathroom, thinking that maybe he had accidentally locked his door on his way out to take a shower, but that room was dark as well. She knocked louder. "Henry, I need you to open the door." Her calmness was quickly changing to panic. She knocked louder.

Regina made her way upstairs, hearing Emma's voice raise from her spot on the couch. "Hey, what's going on?"

"Henry?!" Emma half yelled, rattling the door. "Please wake up and open the door."

Regina approached Emma slowly.

"He locked the door. He never locks the door, he knows he is not supposed to lock the door." Emma was about to hit full panic mode.

"Okay. Okay." Regina laid a calming hand on her shoulder. "Let me try." She reached for the door handle but met the same fate as Emma had. "Henry? Sweetheart? Can you open the door please?" She knocked gently.

Still nothing. August came out of his room, his eyes squinting as he just risen from his light sleep. "What's going on?"

"Henry won't open the door. He hasn't said anything." Emma went for the handle again, still to no avail. She moved aside as August approached the door.

"Henry, open this door right now. You are upsetting your mother." His voice was raised, and deep, but still nothing from the other side.

"August, I need him to open the door." Emma pressured him.

August held up a hand to her. "Henry, if you don't open this door I'm going to open it for you. Three, two, one…" In a swift motion August dropped his shoulder and busted open the door.

Emma was in directly after, followed by Regina. Henry was gone. "Henry?" Emma searched around frantically. "Where is he?" She cried out.

August calmly made his way to the half open window and he could see on the roof where someone had slid down to the ground. "He snuck out." He stated

"What?" Regina headed toward the window where August stood.

August pointed. "He slid down here."

"Ugh." Emma ran out of the room and back to her bedroom where her phone was charging. She opened the screen and called him immediately, but after a few rings it went to his voicemail. Regina and August came out of Henry's room as Emma started calling again. "He's not answering!" Emma hollered out.

August rushed back to his room to grab his shoes. "I'll go out and look for him." His voice trailed off as he disappeared into the room. "Does he have a girlfriend?" He shouted from the room.

"No." Regina answered back.

"Has he done this before?"

"No!" Regina answered again, making her way into their bedroom with Emma.

Once August was dressed he made his way to their room. "Do you know anyone who he might be out with?"

"No!" Emma scrambled, calling him for the 5th time. "This can't be happening. Henry?" She left him a voicemail, but when she hung up she immediately called him again. Still nothing.

"Okay. You two stay here in case he comes back. I'll go drive around. Call the sheriff!" August skipped steps down the stairs and flew out the front door.

"Regina. Help!" Emma couldn't stop calling Henry. "Make him answer the phone!" She cried.

"Okay, okay. I'll call Graham. Hold on." She ran downstairs to grab her phone and came back up to the room as quickly as she could.

Her phone rang through and after two short rings, Graham picked up. "Regina?"

"Graham, hey, we got a problem. Henry's missing!"

"What?" Graham shouted from the other end of the phone. Regina could hear a lot of commotion and could hear him shouting commands to someone.

"Henry is missing!" She said a little louder this time. Emma could hear the commotion on the other end of Regina's phone and finally switched her attention to her. They locked eyes, Regina stared back with a worried look. "Graham?"

"Henry? I'm sorry Regina, I can't talk to you right now. Just call the station, one of the deputies is still there.

"Graham are you okay?" Regina asked worriedly.

"Gold's pawn shop caught fire. I… I got to go." Graham hung up suddenly.

"Gold?" Emma questioned. "Regina… you don't think…" Emma's eyes grew large at a sudden thought.

"We don't know that, Emma. We can't assume. It could be a coincidence." Regina tried to calm her as Emma thrashed off her robe and got dressed.

"Do you really think that right now?" Emma questioned her angrily.

Regina thought for a second and answered. "No." And she quickly threw on her shoes.

Emma dialed August as her and Regina got into the car.

"Did he come back?" August asked immediately when he answered.

"No, we need you to go to Gold's shop. Someone set it on fire. We are headed there now." Emma ordered.

"What? You don't think Henry did it do you?" August questioned.

Regina chimed in. "We don't want to think that August but we need to make sure."

"Alright, I'll meet you there." He hung up.

"God, Henry, what the hell did you do?" Emma mumbled to herself as they peeled out of the driveway.

Henry covered his face as he stumbled through the back door of Gold's shop. The flames had almost entirely engulfed the bottom floor and as his guilt rose, so did his adrenaline. He spotted the staircase in the back corner and leaped across fallen board and debris to try and find the man upstairs.

The smoke had risen almost entirely to the second floor but the flames had not yet climbed that far thankfully. Nevertheless, it was almost impossible to breath and Henry tried to navigate the second floor.

"Mr. Gold?" Henry shouted out. He couldn't see more than two feet in front of him. He got down on his hands and knees, one hand holding his shirt over his mouth to help with the smoke inhalation. "Mr. Gold?" he hollered again, his voice muffled by his shirt. He heard a small muffled groan finally as he inched his way farther across the floor. A large crash rumbled the floor underneath him and he laid flat suddenly as the back corner of the room collapsed in on itself, the flames using the newly fallen wood as ammo to creep higher up into the second floor.

"Mr. Gold!" Henry shouted, finally spotting the man near his desk. He looked like he had started to reach for the phone before he fell and hit his head. Henry could see the blood running down his face. Henry rose to his feet and hustled over to him. He could feel the wood soften under his feet as he walked across, the flames surely rising to the second floor faster than he was working. Any minute now and the whole second floor would come crashing down.

"Henry." Gold mumbled, reaching for the boy as he came closer. "Help." He struggled to speak, hacking and coughing as he inhaled more of the smoke. Henry bent down and got his weight under Gold's arm, lifting him up with him. The flames in the back corner chased after them as Henry struggled under the man's weight and headed back toward the stairs. Henry could see the flames creeping up the stairs, but that was the only way out. The fire in the fallen corner had completely blocked the window, and even still, he knew Gold wouldn't survive a fall that far.

Henry adjusted Gold's weight over his shoulder and one step at a time he hauled him down the stairs. The fire teased at the bottom of their pants, and Henry's shoes felt sticky as his soles melted underneath him. Gold's sleeve suddenly succumbed to the flames and caught on fire. Gold winced and tried to shake it off, Henry reaching over to help, but as he lost his concentration on the stairs, he lost his footing on a burned board and it snapped underneath him. He screamed out in pain as the two bodies went flying forward. Gold landed in front of the stairs on the ground floor, but Henry's foot caught in the broken board. He screamed out as he tried to pull it out. He could feel a separation in his leg. It was excruciating.

The impact of the floor had knocked Gold out and Henry was sure this was the end. He couldn't believe this had gotten so out of hand. What the hell was he thinking? This is not what he wanted. He didn't want to kill Gold, and he surely didn't want to die. Not like this.

"Help!" Henry yelled out. It was now that he suddenly hoped Hansel had called 911, or maybe stuck around and could hear him yelling. "HELP!" He called again. The fire was so close to him, he couldn't even breath. It had crept closer to Gold, catching his pants on fire, and Henry could see it burning up his leg.

Henry tried to get his leg out again, and the pain nearly caused him to pass out. Passing out would be the worst case scenario. He needed to keep yelling. Keep trying to get someone's attention. "HELP! We're in here!" Tears fell from his cheeks from the smoke burning his eyes and from fear of dying in this stupid pawn shop. "WE'RE IN HERE!"

He was losing consciousness. His leg had lost a lot of blood, not only being broken but the board must have cut deeply into his calf muscle. A piece of the flame caught him on his arm and caught his shirt on fire, and before he could swat it out it burned part of his shoulder.

This couldn't be the end. It couldn't.

Emma and Regina screeched to a stop in front of Gold's shop just as a part of the second floor fell into itself. The whole thing was blazing and the area was chaos as the fire trucks tried to hook up their hoses to hydrants and start controlling the flame, and concerned neighbors kept their distance but crowded around to watch. Emma scanned the crowd, shouting for Henry. "Henry?"

Regina followed suit. "Henry?!" They called out. Then as Regina scanned the crowd she spotted what made her stomach sink down to her toes. "Emma?" She grabbed her and pulled her around, pointing to the alley across the street. There, resting up against the library wall was Henry's bike.

"No." Emma turned back to the flames. "NO!" She spotted Graham shouting our orders to the firemen and other officers trying to station themselves around the store.

"Graham!" She ran to him and grabbed him.

"Emma, you can't be here!" He tried pushing her away. "Hey, you!" He shouted at an officer running by. "Go help David!"

"No, Graham, stop! It's Henry!" She pushed back on him. "He's in there."

"What? In there?" Graham pointed back to the burning building. The flames were so loud that they felt like they were screaming at each other.

"Graham he's in there. We have to get in there!" She tried to push passed him.

"Emma, you can't go in there. It's all about to come down. We are just trying to contain the flames at this point." Graham held her back.

"HENRY!" Emma screamed. August came running up, and found the three of them in the street.

Regina caught him. "August, we found his bike across the street. We think he is in there." Regina helped Graham hold Emma up.

Without another word August took off toward the building.

"August!" Graham shouted after him. "Damn it. Do you have her?" Graham shouted at Regina who adjusted her grip on Emma, who was now almost completely hysterical. Regina nodded, but not confidently, and Graham took off after August.

August jumped through the first door of the store into the back room. Nothing was recognizable, but as he searched the floor for any bodies, he heard a scream from the back right corner near what looked like a staircase. "HENRY!" He yelled but didn't hear a response. He pushed through the flames and debris and finally spotted the two bodies near the bottom of the staircase.

"AUGUST!" Graham called out from behind him.

"I found them! Help me!" He pulled off his jacket and patted out the flames on Gold's lower legs, Graham following close behind to Henry. Henry quickly lost consciousness as soon as Graham got close and when he realized the shape he was in, he carefully pulled Henry's broken leg out of the staircase.

The two men emerged from the flames with Henry around Graham's shoulders, and Gold around August's shoulders. Emma ran over to Graham as a couple of EMT's ran over with two gurneys for the two men.

"HENRY?" Emma grabbed ahold of her son's unconscious face as Graham set him down on the gurney. Regina tried to hold her back as the EMT's worked at strapping him in. When Emma spotted his leg, she wrench over. "No, my baby!" She cried. Graham came around to help hold her back.

"He's okay. He's alive." Graham assured her as the EMT's rolled him away, Emma trying to reach after him. "Regina," Graham got the woman's attention. "Take her to the hospital. Get her away from this place. I'll come up there as soon as we get this down."

Regina nodded and pulled Emma away, reassuring her they needed to get to the hospital.

The second EMT team rolled Gold away in a second ambulance and as the doors slammed shut and the ambulance sirens disappeared down the street, the two men stood silently in the street. It was as if everything had gone numb and quiet. The second floor finally crumbled in on itself and they watched as the firemen worked at hosing it all down, trying to keep it from spreading to nearby buildings.

"What is happening to this town?" Graham wiped the sweat and soot from his forehead, only smearing it across his skin.

"Sure beats the hell out of me." August answered back.