AN: Thanks for the incredible response to this new Snowing story! I'm really excited about this one and blending the worlds of Once and Manifest. And it seems my readers are too. I did not classify this as a crossover, because that's not really what it is. This is a Manifest type story with mostly Once characters. I have kept a couple Manifest characters and a few minor ones may pop up. The notable Manifest characters I have kept so far are Vance and Olive as Snowing's daughter. You also do not have to worry about any love triangles for Snowing. That's not my thing and this will always be a Snowing story.
Another thing to note is that I've taken some liberties with the relationships as well. Most notably, Emma and David are siblings and they grew up with Mary Margaret, so Emma and Mary Margaret are very close as well. Due to Robert being a drunk after Ruth dies, David and Mary Margaret pretty much raised Emma while raising themselves. Another thing to note, Henry is in the place of Cal here as Snowing's son and Emma's nephew. Most everything else will become clear as you read. I hope you enjoy this new story and join me on another journey. This one will update bi-weekly on Monday nights. It is much appreciated and here are individual responses to reviews:
Ghostwriter: Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it!
Grace5231973: Yeah, that scene with the plane was a powerful one so I wanted to make sure I got it right here. I love how supportive Margaret is too. No, Killian is being very unfair to both Emma and Milah. Glad you're enjoying it! :)
Jennifer Baratta: Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it!
Guest: Thanks! Glad you like it! I love how supportive Margaret is too.
Number Ten: No one was hurt. It's an empty tarmac. They couldn't get beyond the locked don't really know why they all showed up at the airport. Still part of the mystery. But I'm fairly certain the passengers didn't make it explode. They're not really in control of this. :)
Sexystarwarslover: Yep, the plane exploded and I'm glad you like that Margaret came with them, because of her soul mate connection to David. Yep, you might know who the person in the cave is, lol. Yeah, Graham is actually going to live here. I think that's a first. Yep, unfortunately, Lily is the friend that died here. Yep, Emma found the girls and you're right, they can gossip all they want. Margaret could care less, because she has her love back. Yeah, I couldn't resist some kinky Snowing there and some public Snowing PDA, of course. My favorite part. Yeah, Graham is a good friend here. Yeah, Killian is still in love with her, which isn't fair to Milah, but it is what it is. Yep, the interrogation that is coming in this chapter is interesting. :)
AnonSnowing: Yeah, perfect puzzle pieces that fell back together fits Snowing perfectly. Yeah, she does have her family. She's just lashing out since Lily's death is still fresh to her. Yep, they found the kidnapped girls, thanks to the Callings. Yep, they're gossiping and adults are super judgy. Yeah, that was pretty much the kinkiest, dirtiest thing Margaret has probably ever said. I couldn't resist. Yep, dancing with no music. Very Snowing. Yeah, Olive is used to them making out. It probably feels normal to her. Yep, they're all in this together from the start. Yep, Gold is missing his son. I love how supportive Margaret is too. Yep, a certain professor is a total babe and we know Margaret had sexy times with said professor. There's definitely some teacher on teacher role play going on. I love that Margaret was there too and I promise the interrogation is interesting. Let's just say that Margaret is so badass that she is not afraid to talk back to the NSA when it comes to her husband. :)
Lightning in a Bottle
Chapter 6: Aftermath
As the plane exploded before them, David held his wife tightly and she looked up at him.
"What does this mean?" she asked. But he didn't have any answers.
"I...I don't know, my darling," he answered. Soon enough, fire trucks arrived, as did several government SUV's.
"Here we go…" Emma warned, as the NSA agents descended upon the passengers that were present.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, please follow me. We have some questions for all of you," Vance announced. They found themselves waiting for hours, but were never more anxious during the whole time than when Emma was called in for questioning before them.
"I feel like this is my fault," Margaret fretted, as she sat in her husband's lap and rested her head against his. There were plenty of chairs around and they were getting looks, as usual, but per normal, they didn't care.
"None of this is your fault. I got the stupid feeling," he told her.
"Yes...but I feel like I pushed you to follow it," she argued.
"No...you were right. This doesn't seem like something that would like being ignored," he admonished.
"I have to be the luckiest person here though," he added.
"Why?" she asked.
"Do you see any other spouses here? This isn't something that most are going to be understanding of," he replied.
"I mean...I came back to your open arms. I doubt that happened for many others. And even for those that it did...I doubt their spouses reacted like you did. Most would think voices in their heads are a crazy thing. But not you," he continued.
"So...you're saying that I'm the one that sees the crazy and jumps right in," she teased. He chuckled.
"No...I'm trying to say that you're amazing. Maybe I should just shut up and show you instead," he replied and her eyes fluttered closed, as he kissed her tenderly.
"Ugh...get a room," an agitated redhead complained, as she walked past them on her way out of the interview room.
"Mr. Nolan...we'd like to speak to you next," Vance said, as Emma came out. He nodded and stood up, as he joined hands with his wife.
"Uh...just you, Mr. Nolan. We'll question your wife after you," he said.
"No...you won't," Margaret protested.
"David didn't do any of this. Trust me, he doesn't know why the plane was gone for so long, because I know he would have never chosen to be separated from me and our children," she argued.
"Mrs. Nolan...I appreciate your protectiveness over your husband, but our questions are routine and he may have had nothing to do with it, but the fact remains that twenty passengers showed up to the hanger and then the plane exploded. It's more than a little suspicious," Vance argued in return. The raven haired beauty looked as though she was going to launch into another tirade against the NSA director when Gold interjected.
"Perhaps we should conduct a joint interview with Mr. and Mrs. Nolan," he suggested.
"That's not how we do things," Vance refuted.
"Under normal circumstances...no, but then these are hardly those. Besides...everyone else that showed up was a passenger, except Mrs. Nolan. She is the only spouse that came. It would seem foolish to split up such a team," Gold advised. Vance looked irritated, but relented, as they followed them in. Emma chuckled and shook her head at her sister-in-law. When it came to David and her kids, no one said could say no to Mary Margaret Nolan, not even the damn NSA.
"Please sit," Gold offered, as they did so and were both served coffee.
"Can you tell me why you showed up here last night to the hanger, Mr. Nolan?" Vance questioned. He shook his head.
"Honestly, I'm not sure. We were asleep and I just woke up. I had this feeling that I needed to be somewhere," he explained.
"A feeling...sounds familiar," Vance said skeptically. He shrugged.
"I'm not sure how else to describe it," David replied.
"Instead of following it directly though, like others, you stopped to wake your wife," he said.
"Oh no...I woke up on my own and he told me about the feeling. It was my idea that we follow it," Margaret informed him.
"Why?" Vance questioned with scrutiny.
"Are you married, Mr. Vance?" she asked.
"I am," he responded.
"Then I assume you believe in love," she stated.
"I would say so," he agreed.
"Even so...what I'm about to say will probably make you think I'm crazy, but something out there brought my David back to me," she said.
"We don't know what it was, but it was definitely something beyond all of us. Many are fearful of the passengers and skeptical of them. Some probably even think this is some conspiracy or that the passengers are somehow in on it. Some may even think they aren't even real people anymore and probably a million other insane things," she continued.
"But I don't care about any of it. I just care that something brought the love of my life back to me and if that means it asks things of us...then I will not ignore it. Whatever is out there that did this...it brought him back to me," she implored.
"It also took him away," Vance countered, but she was ready for that question.
"You're right...I thought about that and I was angry about that at first. I lived without half my heart for five and a half years, but it's a sacrifice David and I have decided we would make again, because our son would have died long ago if he hadn't disappeared with the plane," she explained.
"Yes...terminal cancer," Vance recalled, as he flipped through their file.
"Yes...and now he is receiving a life-saving treatment that didn't exist five years ago. It's going to save him and this is our second chance," she implored.
"I fail to see what a plane exploding has to do with seconds chances, Mrs. Nolan. The only outcome of that was the destruction of vital evidence," he countered.
"Perhaps, but none of us have the answers you seek," she argued.
"So it would seem. You both are excused for now," Vance said, as they watched them get up and leave with arms around each other.
"Interesting couple," Vance commented.
"Oh, they are fascinating for sure," Gold agreed.
"Hey…" Emma said, as they sat back down.
"Just the routine questions?" she asked. David smirked.
"Mostly, except he asked why MM was the only non-passenger to show up and she told them it was her idea to come," he replied.
"Which I'm not sure I like. I don't want them focusing on you," he added. But she pecked him on the lips.
"They already are and we might as well tell the truth. We have nothing to hide and we didn't do anything wrong," she reminded him. He sighed.
"Yeah...I guess staying under the radar is a pipe dream at this point," he agreed.
"You're right...so time to pull the cop card," Emma said, as she stood up just as Vance came out.
"How much longer are you going to keep us here?" she asked, as she crossed her arms over her chest.
"As long as we need to, Ms. Nolan," he answered. But she shook her head.
"No...it's been hours now so unless you're going to charge us, you have to cut us loose. I'm NYPD. I know the drill," she refuted. Vance sighed and relented.
"Barring any further developments, you are all free to go...for now," he announced, as they all stood up and started making their way toward the exit.
"Great...you could have played the cop card hours ago," a disgruntled woman complained, as she brushed past them.
"You're welcome," Emma called sarcastically, as they made their way out.
"I'm starved…" the blonde complained.
"Me to...we can whip up something when we get home," David said.
"Can't...I have my psych evaluation today. I need to go...I'll just grab something out of the vending machine if you'll drop me at the precinct," Emma replied.
"Emma...you are not living off vending machine fair or the pop-tarts you've probably already stashed in your desk," Margaret admonished. David chuckled.
"Yes Mom," she teased, as they got into the car. They failed to notice the older man begging for someone to help him find his son.
Emma polished off the second pop-tart in the package and took another swig of her hot chocolate she picked up on the way. Margaret would be giving her all kinds of crap for the sugar overhaul while her brother laughed, but she was nervous and needed the sugar high to get through what was coming.
"Miss Nolan?" a woman called, as she stepped into the lobby. Emma nodded and walked into her office.
"I'm Cleo Fox, the psychiatrist hired by the department to conduct your evaluation," she said. Emma nodded and sat down.
"So...tell me how you're feeling," Cleo began. Emma rolled her eyes.
"I'm...taking it one day at a time," Emma answered.
"It must be an awkward situation," she prompted.
"And one that no one is trained to deal with, because people that disappear on planes don't just reappear after five and a half years, right?" Emma asked. Cleo managed a thin smile and wrote something down, irritating Emma further.
"Look...I know that I'm supposed to sit here and spill my guts about how I'm feeling, but that's just not me," the blonde said.
"You have to talk, Emma. I can't clear you for duty if I think you're bottling your feelings and anxiety," Cleo admonished.
"Let's start with home," she prompted.
"Home is great, actually. My brother and sister-in-law would be content if I lived there forever with them," Emma admitted. Cleo smiled.
"They like taking care of you and you like it too," she said. Emma shrugged.
"Your brother practically raised you, because of your father's drinking problem," Cleo added.
"Uh yeah...MM was there too. She and David were the weird kids on the playground that were holding hands at ten. I tease her and call her Mom all the time when she's mothering me, which is a lot," she said.
"And you love that," Cleo replied.
"Is that bad?" Emma asked.
"Not at all. You lost your real mother at a very young age. I'm glad you have such a loving family," Cleo replied.
"I do," Emma agreed.
"Your brother seems like he has someone special. How about you?" Cleo asked. Emma wanted to groan, even though she knew this question was coming.
"I'm a single woman," Emma said.
"Before the plane disappeared though, your boyfriend asked you to marry him," Cleo replied.
"Uh yeah...so what?" Emma deflected.
"Emma...it had to be heart wrenching to come back to find the man you might have married had moved on and married someone else," Cleo admonished. She shrugged.
"It's been over five years...I could never and would never expect him not to move on," she replied.
"But your sister-in-law didn't," Cleo mentioned.
"Killian and I are not my brother and his wife," Emma snapped and then deflated.
"And that upsets you," Cleo said.
"Okay fine! Yeah...it sucks, okay! Is that what you want to hear?" Emma asked.
"I just want to hear the truth from you, Emma...that's all," Cleo promised.
"The whole thing is so messed up and yeah, I'm anxious, sometimes angry, and I don't know how or why this happened," she said.
"But what I do know is that I'm good at my job and being a cop is one thing that I'm really good at. So you can either clear me and let me do something good...or you can bench me for something that happened to me for which I had no control over," Emma said. Cleo smiled.
"All right...I'm going to clear you for now. But I want to keep seeing you," she agreed. The blonde nodded and took her papers, before leaving the office.
Olive came down that morning to find her parents in the kitchen together, cooking them breakfast. She smiled, feeling a sense of Deja Vu.
"Dad made pancakes, Ollie," Henry called and she smiled at him.
"I can see that. There's syrup all over your cheeks," she teased.
"So...where were you guys last night?" Olive asked. They exchanged a glance and Margaret nodded. She knew how much he wanted to protect the kids from this, but they had talked on the way home and came to the agreement that keeping them close to the situation might be a better way to protect them than not telling them.
"Uh well...it's going to sound a little crazy, but your Aunt Emma and I had a feeling that we should go see the plane in the middle of the night," he explained.
"And since these feelings that your Dad and Aunt Emma have now might be part of the reason they were brought back to us...I told them we should follow that feeling," Margaret added. Olive shook her head.
"You two and your need for adventure," she teased. They smiled at her and then each other.
"Who says it was an adventure?" David asked.
"Sorry Dad...but the exploding plane and the twenty passengers that were there when it happened is viral news this morning," Olive said, as she showed them her tablet. David sighed.
"Oh yeah...this is going to make job hunting a blast today," he complained, but she kissed his cheek.
"You're an amazing educator and the Universities should be scrambling to hire you," she said. He smirked.
"Thanks love, but we both know that this will be an uphill battle," he replied.
"Maybe...but we're doing fine. The house is paid off and we still have quite a bit of your mother's money left. We'll be okay for a while," she promised.
"I know...and I'm going to put out feelers with the Universities, but in the meantime, I might need to find something that I'm highly overqualified for while I'm waiting," David said. She kissed his cheek.
"If you think you need to, but don't sell yourself short. Any employer will be lucky to have you," she gushed. He smiled at her.
"Thanks, but I think you're biased," he teased. She smiled back.
"With you? Always," she agreed, as they finished breakfast and sat down to eat with their kids. At that moment, he heard violin music playing.
"Do you hear that music?" he asked. She shook her head.
"I don't think so," Margaret replied.
"Maybe it's Alexa," Olive mentioned.
"Whose Alexa?" he asked. Margaret giggled.
"Oh, you are so cute...I'll show you later," she teased, as they ate and he turned his attention to their daughter.
"So I was thinking...I could pick you up after school and we can hang out," David suggested to his daughter.
"I...I can't. I have a rock climbing session," Olive said, with a wince.
"Wow...rock climbing? That's amazing," he said, as Olive quickly got up and put her dishes in the sink, before hurrying off.
"Was it something I said?" he asked. She sighed.
"No...it's just that a couple years ago, she started going to this big brother/sister program. I actually encouraged it. I think she feels guilty for wanting to still hang out with her big brother," Margaret explained.
"Oh...well she shouldn't. I mean, I'm glad she had somewhere there for her when I couldn't be," he replied.
"I know...but there's more. I had him over for dinner a few times in the last couple years, a couple times a week, for her benefit. I think they both would have liked something to happen between us...but it didn't," she said, as she squeezed his hand.
"I think she just feels guilty, but I'll talk to her. Just give her time," she added. He nodded.
"So...he was interested in you?" David asked.
"Yes...but I was never ready and knew that I probably never would have been. You're all there is for me, baby," she promised, as she pecked him on the lips and took some dishes to the sink. He smiled and helped her clean up quickly, before they were off for the day. Margaret was off to work and he was dropping Henry off with his Dad so he could go job hunting.
Gold entered the room, walking in with his cane. The meeting was well underway and the government officials were nearly up in arms about the plane explosion.
"Director Vance...can you please explain to me why you let the twenty passengers that were at the hanger last night go?" one asked.
"What would you have me do? Lock them up without cause?" Vance questioned.
"This is a matter of National Security...so I think in this instance, it would have been warranted," the woman argued.
"I disagree…" Gold interjected, as he entered.
"Mr. Gold...this is a classified meeting. We called on you to participate from a consultant aspect and you are not cleared to be here," a man said.
"It's okay...I cleared him. He has a different strategy that he thinks will better serve us," Vance said.
"And what strategy is that? Because twenty potential threats just walked out our door this morning," the woman spat.
"The passengers cannot tell you what they do not know. I sat in on all twenty interviews and none of them know exactly why they came to that hanger. None of them know what happened in the sky. Obviously...there is something bigger going on here, whether you believe it to be scientific or otherworldly," Gold said.
"And I believe the only way to figure any of this out is to let it play out within the lives of these passengers," he continued.
"If they are different and simply do not know or cannot remember what happened on that plane...I think letting them live their lives may reveal those answers to us all. Over time," he deduced.
"That is a big risk and we cannot risk National Security," the woman refuted.
"We don't have much of a choice. This story isn't going away in the media. Some would cheer if we did lock all the passengers up, but for most it would be very unpopular," Vance reasoned.
"This could end in disaster," another man argued.
"Or it could end giving us all the answers we need if we are patient," Gold countered.
"You had better hope you are right, Mr. Gold...or the consequences could be life altering," she warned. Gold simply smirked.
"Oh, I'm counting on it...dearies,"