Chapter 12 - The Savior

"Why the hell are you here?" Emma snapped, all the hurt he'd caused rushing back, piling atop of the heartache she was already feeling from losing Killian.

"We probably shouldn't discuss this out in the open."

His shifty attitude and consistent looking around set off warning bells in her head. She definitely didn't need Neal's brand of news on top of everything else. But for now she stayed silent as she walked up to their apartment with him following her closely. A barrage of thoughts swirled in her head. Was he here for Henry? How did he even know about him? He hadn't tried to contact her even once over the last decade. What was he doing here now?

"Are the police searching for you again?" Emma hissed the moment she'd pushed the door to their apartment closed, glad that Henry was gone on another sleepover. It spared her from finding an explanation for the sudden appearance of his father. Turning around, she faced her ex again, determined to not let him get to her. "I haven't seen you in almost thirteen years. I'm not going to jail again for a crime you've committed."

"No, it's nothing like that," Neal said hastily, lifting his hand in application, looking at least a little chagrined. Which he should. He'd been an absolute jerk back then. Leaving her to take the fall for his crimes. Leaving her pregnant. So he didn't know that at the time. But still.

Emma let out a shuddering breath, the effort it took to deal with the sudden appearance of her ex almost too much for her right now.

"Are you all right, Emma?" Neal asked softly, clear worry on his face. "You look...exhausted."

I had an affair with a priest and I just ended it even though I'm madly in love with him. The words were on the tip of her tongue, but Neal was the last person she would confide in.

"No, I'm not all right," she growled, wondering if she looked as drained as she felt. Not that it was any of Neal's business, anyways. "My ex who I haven't seen in thirteen years suddenly appears on my doorstep and wants to talk to me. Excuse me for not being perfectly okay with that."

Neal watched her closely before apparently deciding to be satisfied with that explanation. "This will take a while. Can I have a cup of coffee, please?"

He looked as though he might need something way stronger. Lines dug deep around his eyes and mouth. He looked as if he hadn't really slept in days. But she would not feel pity for him, he didn't deserve it. A cup of coffee she could do, though. "Sure."

Emma busied herself with making the coffee, her mind going a mile a minute as she surreptitiously glanced at her ex from time to time. When they finally settled down at the kitchen bar, she crossed her arms over her chest and nailed him with a determined gaze. "Shoot."

He fidgeted with the teaspoon for a second, twirling it around his fingers before dropping it with a loud clatter. When his eyes found hers again her heart started to hammer in her chest.

"It's...you probably won't believe me. It'd be completely understandable. But I need you to believe me. Or at least believe me enough to drink this."

He pulled out a small vial with a clear liquid in it and put it on the table between them. It was an ominous, vivid purple color.

"What's that? I'm not drinking that."

Neal hesitated, avoiding her eyes as he fumbled with the vial. But then he straightened his shoulders and met her gaze, determination in every line of his face. She still wasn't prepared for his next words. "It's a memory potion."

Emma gaped at him for a moment before she just burst into laughter. Had he lost his marbles somewhere over the last decade? Apparently, because he didn't crack up with her.

"Are you serious?"

His facial expression didn't change, he just nodded and pushed the vial towards her. She looked down at the liquid, an irrational fear closing her throat up. As if the liquid could swirl out of the vial at any moment and just flow into her mouth. She swallowed down the hysterical laughter that wanted to come out, entwining her hands to give her some focal point in this madness.

"Damn, you are serious. Are you a member of some kind of cult?" Worry crashed down over her. She might still hate what he'd done to her, but he was Henry's father. "You need help getting out?"

"Gosh, Emma," he groaned, letting his head drop on his folded hands. She really started worrying about him now. She looked around for some kind of weapon in case her ex suddenly decided to go completely nuts and attack her. But when he looked up again he didn't have an eerie glance in his eyes, he just looked exhausted. "I'm not insane or delusional or coerced into believing something." He took in a deep breath, letting it out on a deep sigh."Though sometimes I wish all of this was only a figment of my imagination and not our reality."

"What the fuck are you talking about?" she practically growled, still not sure she wasn't dealing with a crazy person here.

He rubbed one hand over his face before taking in a deep breath. "I'm just gonna jump right in. And please just hear me out, okay?"

"Fine. Start talking."

"You're the daughter of Snow White and Prince Charming. They sent you to this world when you were only a few minutes old to save your life from the Evil Queen. The whole Enchanted Forest was brought here into this world, to Storybrooke, on a curse Regina casted. A curse you broke when Henry brought you here. You're the Savior, Emma. And this town needs you again. I need you to drink this." His fingers tapped against the vial, his whole body practically pleading with her to do the unthinkable. Like drinking some unknown liquid her ex had offered her. The ex she hadn't seen in thirteen years. His voice sounded defeated when he spoke again, "And when you remember everything you'll understand."

His earnest expression made her lean back and think through all the pros and cons of actually drinking it. Even contemplating doing it seemed insane, but a part of her just wanted to down it to shut her ex up and show him that he was delusional. What could it hurt, anyways? He wouldn't have come all this way to kill her, would he?

Maybe the ache over losing Killian made her reckless, but she grabbed the vial and uncorked it, hesitating only a moment before she brought it up to her face and tilted it so that the liquid trickled into her mouth. Before she could overthink it, she swallowed.

The memories assaulted her almost immediately, rushing through her brain, jumbling all over each other, threatening to steal all the air out of her lungs. It seemed to go on forever but when she was finally able to breathe normally again only seconds had gone by. Her heart was thumping hard in her chest, sweat breaking out over her forehead. She pressed her hands hard against the wooden surface of the table to stop the mad trembling of her fingers. This wasn't possible. Losing Killian must have pushed her into insanity. This wasn't real. But when she opened her eyes and looked at her ex she just knew he'd told her the truth.

"Wow, I…" she trailed off, licking her lips, her throat bone dry all of a sudden. With shaking fingers she reached for her coffee, gulping it down greedily.

"Welcome back, Emma," Neal said softly when she put the mug down, giving her a shaky smile.

"I...I need a minute."

She jumped up, her chair clattering to the floor as she rushed towards the bathroom, black spots appearing in her vision as she stumbled into it, smashing the door closed behind her. Her breath turned choppy as she leaned over the sink. Turning on the faucet, she splashed cold water onto her face.

Breathe, Swan. Just breathe.

It took her a few minutes until she got her breathing normalized again. A look in the mirror didn't make it any easier to not lose her shit all over again. In hindsight the last months had been a blessing. Not being the Savior. Just living like a normal human being for a change. Living a relatively happy and normal life.

This had gone to hell in a handbasket over the last hours. Breaking up with Killian just to find out that the life she was living over the last few months was a complete pipe dream. Her hands started to shake again as she realized what a clusterfuck she was facing now. But face it she would. Straightening her shoulders, she looked at her reflection again, ignoring the expression of fear that flickered through her eyes.

"You're the Savior. You got this."

The pep talk didn't really help, though. She still was rattled, still didn't know how to handle the situation. But as the saying went...one step at a time. Starting with going back to her ex and hearing the whole story.

Taking in a deep breath, she turned towards the door and stepped out, gathering all the strength she had left in her body to deal with whatever Neal would tell her. She dropped down on her chair again and closed her hands around her mug with the now cold coffee. It didn't really matter. She didn't want to drink it anyway. She just needed to hold on to something.

Stealing herself, she looked up and met Neal's understanding gaze. "All right, start from the beginning."

"Pan's curse," he said, leaning back into his chair, clearly getting comfortabe for a long story. Damn, she really didn't want to deal with another crisis. But here she was. "I have no explanation for why I was the only one who remembered everything, who wasn't affected by the curse. Maybe because that maniac was my grandfather. But I did remember. I just couldn't do anything about it at first since I wasn't here with all of you."

"Where have you been?"

"For some reason, I was the only one who got sent back to the Enchanted Forest. You all stayed here, including you and Henry. Why you two weren't able to cross the yellow line and live the life Regina thought you could have…" He shrugged his shoulders, trying to smile but failing. Sighing softly, he shook his head. "I don't know, Emma. None of this makes much sense." He let out a bitter laugh, his knuckles turning white as he gripped his mug hard as if it was the only thing that kept him right here. Not really a surprise, considering what he must have been through over the last months. She suppressed the urge to pull him into her arms and just hug him. Having all her memories back didn't mean she was ready to acknowledge the tentative connection they'd managed to form before Pan's curse threw them all for a loop. She almost did it anyways when he locked eyes with her again, the haggard expression on his face pulling at her heartstrings. "But that's par for the course for us, isn't it? With me being the son of the Dark One and you the Savior?"

Yeah, having magic in their lives definitely didn't make it any easier. "What happened?"

"It took me a few days of searching the woods for all of you to realize that I've been the only one who'd been transported back to the Enchanted Forest. But still I hoped...I still kind of expected my father to pop up out of nowhere at any moment. Strangely enough, I'd even have welcomed the cackling maniac he used to be. But I think he's truly gone."

The grief darkening his eyes made her swallow around the lump suddenly forming in her throat. Gold had made a lot of bad decisions in his life, but he'd been Neal's father. Of course he would feel his loss deeply. Leaning forward, she put her hand on one of Neal's and squeezed it. "I'm sorry, Neal."

"He was the Dark One, Emma." Neal turned his fingers and grabbed her hand in a tight grip for a few moments before releasing it. "Power was always the most important thing to him. Even until the end."

She knew him well enough to not push him. Maybe later they could sit down and talk. Right now they had other things to worry about. "How did you get back here?"

"A magic bean, of course," Neal replied, the grin pulling his mouth up telling her that he didn't acquire it legally.

"Let me guess...you stole it."

Neal chuckled, his eyes lightening up as he said, "Yep, right from under Blackbeard's nose."

"Do I even want to know how you've managed that?" Emma asked, rolling her eyes at her ex, glad that the change in topic lightened the mood just a little bit.

"It actually wasn't that hard. Just needed to put a few drops of sleep potion in their rum cask. Pirates love their rum."

"Yeah, I know." Emma smiled when she remembered how often Hook had pulled out his rum flask in Neverland. At one point it had annoyed her so much that she'd asked him if rum was his solution for everything.

"It definitely doesn't hurt," she whispered, hearing the words in his accented voice in her head made her truly smile. Something she was in desperate need of right about now. She'd take all the happy thoughts she could get.

"Huh?"

"Nothing. Just something Hook said a while back." Ignoring Neal's raised eyebrows, she leaned back in her chair again, knowing they didn't have the time to stay on lighter topics. "Do you have any idea how we can break this curse?"

"Yeah, I think I know how." The smile dropped of Neal's face, his expression turning serious again. "There's only one way. And if the seer I've come across is right we need to hurry."

"Hurry?" Emma asked, her stomach clenching with dread.

"The curse will fall apart eventually. If it isn't broken in the next seven days…"

Neal shifted on his seat, averting his gaze again. Oh, this was so not something she wanted to hear. "Then what?"

His whole posture stiffened, the hair on the back of her neck standing up when his eyes met hers.

"We will all cease to exist."

Knowing a blow was coming still didn't prepare you properly for the impact. All the air left her lungs, a cold shiver running through her body as Neal's words settled in her mind. A feeling of dizziness washed over her and she had to bite down on her tongue to keep herself conscious. There wasn't the time for her to swoon. They needed to find a solution. Fast.

Grasping for anything that could keep her from totally freaking out, her mind went to the open case file that was still sitting on her desk. "Might be the reason why people disappeared in the first weeks."

"They did?"

Emma told him everything that happened right after the curse hit. Just speaking helped her pull herself together and shove back the fear that threatened to overwhelm her. The Savior didn't have time for fear, even if Emma would have liked to just be able to give in.

"Might be an explanation. Though the seer wasn't very clear," Neal said, after she'd finished her story. "They never see a clear picture, only glimpses of what will happen. But the end...she was very clear about the end."

"An apocalypse?" Emma asked, saying it out loud not making it any easier to accept.

"Kind of. Just not a worldwide event. It will only affect Storybrooke and everyone and everything that lives inside its borders."

"We can't evacuate everyone, I guess."

"Unlikely. Me, you, and Henry were always the only one who could cross the town line. And apparently the curse is preventing you two from leaving, too."

Not that she would have left the town without trying to save everyone else in it. But she could have told Neal to take Henry and leave. But judging by the determined expression on her ex's face he might not have seen reason even if it had been a possibility. But fantasizing about things that couldn't happen was pointless.

"So how do we break it?"

"Like any other curse. But with a twist." Neal started to shift again and Emma groaned inwardly. What now? Didn't the universe already throw enough at her today? Apparently not. "True Love's Kiss. But not anyone's will do. It must be the Savior. The seer was adamant about that. No one else can break it."

"True Love's Kiss? From the Savior?" So she was the only one who could save the town. Again. Great. Just great. "I guess, kissing Henry won't work again?"

"Probably not. I wanted her to elaborate about how to break the curse. But it was all very cryptic. She just said it had to be a lover's kiss. And it has to be a new love."

"A new love?" Emma frowned, the addition of the adjective throwing her a little. Not that her old love would have helped anyways. She wasn't in love with Neal anymore. Kissing him would definitely not do anything. What put her in a bit of a pinch. "But there is no one. I don't..."

"You sure about that, Emma?" Neal asked, his voice taking on an accusing tone as he said, "I was with you in Neverland for a few days. Hook and you seemed to be getting very chummy."

"You have no right, absolutely none, to give me that tone," Emma shot back, old anger and hurt about his betrayal hitting her square in the chest. "You had your chance years ago."

"I know. And I blew it. Spectacularly."

Emma stayed silent. She didn't want to get in an argument about that right now. But she didn't know what else to say in the face of their current dilemma. So she just said nothing. And neither did Neal. As the silence held on Emma's thoughts drifted to the pirate, her heart missing a beat as she remembered all of a sudden how this shitty day had started.

"Hook, oh my God. I...he…I slept with him and then I pushed him away and…" Emma suddenly just started cackling like a maniac, wondering if she was truly losing it now. "A pirate turned into a priest."

"What?"

"Nothing." Emma waved him off. "Long story. And I'm definitely not in the mood to fill you in about everything that happened here while you were away."

"Right." Uncomfortable silence descended again until Neal cleared his throat. But he didn't say anything until Emma looked up at him. She couldn't remember ever seeing this much compassion on his face, and it made her throat all tighten up again. His sincerity didn't help the lump in her throat, and the words he said making it even harder to breathe. "He loves you, Emma. He looks at you like he'd looked at the picture of my mother."

"He promised me he would win my heart. And he kind of did." After all, she did fall in love with him. But that was when she didn't have all her memories. She'd fallen in love with a priest. Was she really able to love the pirate as much as the priest? She just wasn't sure of anything anymore since Neal had dropped that bomb on her. She'd never ever wanted to fall in love again. Never wanted to get hurt like that again until she met Killian. But still. "True Love? I don't think I'm capable of ever letting myself fall that hard. Not after you."

"I know I screwed up. Big time."

"You think?" Emma barked, gritting her teeth to keep her temper in check. It wouldn't help anyone if she ripped Neal's head off, but she still snapped at him, "I had to give birth to Henry in prison while handcuffed to a hospital bed. I had to give him up so that he could have a great life. Screwed up is putting it mildly. Very mildly."

"I can't tell you how sorry I am about all the things I put you through. But Emma…" When he trailed off she felt the sudden urge to smack him. Or anything. She just wanted to punch something. She needed a break. Was that too much to ask? The understanding tone of Neal's voice just grated on her nerves even further, even though she knew what he said was true. "Don't give up on true love. You of all people deserve to find it. Maybe you've already found it. Think about it, Emma. I know it puts an insane pressure on you. But you are really the only one who can save this town. If you really love Hook, you should try to let your guard down and let him really in."

"I...this is a lot to take in." She just needed to breathe, to have time to think it all over. "I need some time to process it all."

"Of course. Just remember we're on a deadline here." Neal stood up, taking two steps toward her before he stopped abruptly. She was glad he did. Her skin felt too small for her body right now. She was coiled tight. A touch might splinter her into a million pieces. She just wanted him gone. He hesitated for a second but then walked towards the door. Stopping in the doorway, he turned around to her, his voice barely audible as he said, "If you have any more questions or just want to talk...I'll be at my Dad's shop."

And then he walked out and she was finally alone. She let out a shuddering breath and looked around, hoping against all hope that someone would jump out from around the corner and yell 'Gotcha!'. But of course that didn't happen, because none of this was a joke. It was a big, ugly mess she had no idea how to solve.

Her eyes wandered to the liquor cabinet and she stood up slowly. Opening the door, she looked at the few bottles she had in there, choosing the still-full bottle of rum. She poured a healthy dose into a glass and raised it, watching the amber liquid shimmer in the light for a few seconds. The rum wouldn't help her find a solution for her problems, but…

"It definitely doesn't hurt."