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!
Baratta Jennifer: Thanks, glad you liked it!
Grace5231973: Yep, Glinda is not involved so who is doing this remains a mystery. Glad you're enjoying!
Number Ten: Me too, glad that Tom Clark got some justice. Yeah, I think that's about how Killian would react to something like the Callings, lol. I'm happy that Lance was there for Olive too, but I think he'll refrain from overstepping in the future again. Yeah, I think we'll find that Glinda is on the up and up. Glad you're enjoying!
Sexystarwarslover: Yep, hopefully we'll get some more Snowing loving in this chapter. Protective Snow is sexy, I'm sure David agrees. I'm grateful Lance was there for Olive, but even more grateful that MM didn't move on too. Yep, date night! Yeah, lying is not a good move. Yep, it's Lily's heart. I love when Killian says that too. Yep, they caught the creep! Lol, yep, Glinda is lucky she's legit or Mama Snow would go off on her. Glad you're enjoying. :)
AnonSnowing: Yeah, David would be fine if he never had to meet Lance. But Margaret reassured him that he's the only man for her. Yeah, it will probably be better for Lance if he finds him way out of their lives and finds someone for himself. Yep, Emma's case is connected to Tom Clark's. Yeah, the conference turned out to give them a few answers so that was a win. Glad you like that ending. It was pretty hot. Glad you enjoyed it!
Lightning in a Bottle
Chapter 23: Whatever it Takes, Pt 1
David entered the kitchen that morning, after he finished getting ready for work, only to see his wife at the stove.
"Wow...omelets on a weekday?" he asked, as he put his arms around her waist and kissed her neck.
"Well...you have a busy day ahead being a sleuthing accountant. You need your energy...especially after last night," she purred.
"Yeah...it was pretty amazing," he agreed, as she put the eggs on five plates and then turned around in his arms, so they could kiss properly. They slowly swayed together and then pressed their foreheads together once their lips parted.
"Besides...you don't know how much it means to me that I have my husband and my son back and how much I love taking care of my family," she said, as he kissed her again.
"I know...and I promise we're not going anywhere ever again, my love," he promised, as Emma and the kids came into the kitchen.
"It's way too early for romance, you two," she grumbled, as she went for the coffee.
"You just hate mornings," Margaret mentioned, as she delivered the plates to everyone at the table.
"Ohh omelets...you're forgiven," Emma said, as she started eating with the kids, while David and Margaret sat down with them.
"So...how was date night?" she asked.
"Wonderful...but it was sort of a working date night," David replied.
"What does that mean?" Emma asked.
"Well...when I was digging at my new job, I learned that Unified Dynamic Systems is one of the clients at JP Williamson. UDS is funding something known as the Singularity Project, which is the research of this woman," David replied, as he showed her an image on his tablet.
"A passenger?" Emma asked.
"Yes...one that was studying something called mirror neurons. It's a fringe study that believes there are ways for human brains to link up collectively," Margaret explained.
"Uh...that sounds familiar," Emma said.
"We thought so too...so we cornered her after her symposium and questioned her about the missing passengers. But I don't think she knows anything about that," David replied.
"And you believe her?" Emma asked skeptically. He shrugged.
"She agreed to try to find out more information about her funding source, especially since it looks like they may be using her research to experiment on unwilling victims," David replied.
"I believed her too...trust me, she would be in bad shape if I thought she had anything to do with the plane's disappearance," Margaret assured. Emma snorted in amusement.
"Yeah...she'd be in a body cast right about now," she teased.
"Well…I'm protective of the people I love," Margaret said, as she kissed her husband, before gathering their plates.
"What about you? I heard you made a big arrest. It's all over the news," David mentioned.
"Uh yeah...we got that guy that killed the brother of the owner of Darkstar Pharmacy," Emma replied.
"Good...that was so sad and a little too close to home," Margaret mentioned quietly. It was not lost on any of them that Ruth had been killed in a similar type situation.
"Yeah...something else happened too. It was a Calling," she mentioned. Margaret turned off the water and sat back down with them.
"You didn't tell us that part," she said.
"It just happened," she pointed out.
"Anyway...when I was around the store owner, I kept hearing this heartbeat. Long story short...I found out that Tom Clark had a heart transplant almost six years ago…" Emma said, as she looked them in the eyes.
"It was Lily's," she said, causing Margaret to gasp and David looked at his son.
"Hey buddy...where's that drawing you were working on?" David asked. Henry dug through his backpack and produced the illustration of a man with a heart on his chest.
"That...looks like Tom Clark," Emma replied.
"And you helped catch his brother's killer," Margaret said in amazement.
"That's not all I helped him with. He was going to take justice into his own hands...but I convinced him not to, identify the killer, and let the justice system take over," Emma replied, as Margaret squeezed her hand.
"Then that's more confirmation that these Callings are doing something good," she said.
"I don't know MM…" Emma replied.
"I mean...even if they are good…" she said.
"I mean...what is this?" she added in frustration.
"I don't know...but we will figure this out. All of it," David assured them both. With that, they quickly cleaned up and started the day.
Emma arrived at the station and sat down at her desk, only to look up and see Killian standing there with a bakery sack in his hand.
"Picked up an extra bear claw," he mentioned.
"Uh...thanks," she replied, as she accepted the bag and he leaned against her desk.
"So...how's Henry?" he asked.
"He seems to be fine for the moment. We're keeping a close eye on him," she replied.
"But you don't think this is over?" he asked.
"Do you?" she asked, with a raised eyebrow.
"Honestly Emma...I have no idea. I mean...it's pretty out there," he mentioned.
"Yeah...that's what I thought too at first. But then it happens to you and it gets real, no matter how out there it seems," she said.
"I mean...last night, our victim's brother in this latest case just happened to be the recipient of Lily's heart? That's some out there stuff, but it happened," she reasoned. He sighed.
"Yeah...that was pretty wild," he agreed.
"Which means, whether I like it or not, these things that are happening to passengers are real and something," she said. He nodded.
"Fair enough...so what now?" he asked. She shook her head.
"I'm not sure...my brother is playing his own version of detective at his new job, so I guess we wait to see what he turns up and pray he's not discovered," he replied.
"Ah…I knew there had to be more to that. Your brother is way overqualified for a low level accounting clerk," he said.
"Yeah and from what I've heard his boss probably has an IQ that's half my brother's, so it shouldn't be too hard for David to find whatever he's looking for," she replied, as he sat down at his desk and they worked on the recent paperwork from the previous night's case.
After dropping Henry off with her father-in-law, Margaret arrived at her classroom that morning.
"Ms. Nolan?" a voice called, as a man peered into her classroom.
"Yes, can I help you?" she asked.
"I'm Sidney Glass...from the New York Times," he replied. She sighed.
"A reporter," she muttered.
"Yes...and I'm sure that doesn't make you feel comfortable at all," he said.
"You mean because a dozen other reporters at your paper have run hit pieces on me and my family for the last week?" she asked. He nodded.
"I understand that...but that is not my intention. No one has really told the story from your side," he replied.
"And why should I trust you?" Margaret replied, as she crossed her arms over her chest.
"You have no reason to...I get that. But this would be an opportunity to tell yours and your husband's story. I'd even let you read it before I publish," he offered.
"David and I don't care what people think of us...we never have," she said.
"Fair enough...but in case you change your mind, here is my card," Sidney said, as he set it on her desk and quietly left. She scoffed, as she looked at the card and then stuffed it in her purse, forgetting about it.
Upon arriving at work that morning, David sailed through the stack of work left for him on his desk with ease. This job was not challenging at all, but then that wasn't really the reason he was there. He took the stack and walked into his boss' office and he wasn't sure what Doc was doing on his computer, but he doubted it was work.
"Oh hey...828," he greeted, as David put the stack on his desk.
"Done already?" he asked and David shrugged.
"What can I say? Numbers are my thing," David replied, as another man stuck his head inside the door.
"Hey...are we still on for the game tonight?" he asked.
"Of course...hey Billy, this is David. You know, the guy from that plane," Doc said, as David shook hands with the tall African American man.
"Nice to meet you...man, what a story," he said.
"Yeah…I get that a lot," David replied.
"This is Billy from IT," Doc said.
"Nice to meet you," David replied.
"Hey numbers guy...do you play poker?" Doc asked.
"Yeah...we could use one more tonight," Billy agreed. While he loathed the thought of not going home to his family the moment the day was over, he knew how valuable it could be to persuade an IT guy to unknowingly let him in the backdoor and straight to the files on the Singularity Project.
"Sounds great," David agreed.
"Great," Doc said, as he patted him on the shoulder.
"Until then...maybe you can help me out with these, but don't tell anyone," Doc said, as he gave him another stack and his own badge since these had a higher clearance. David smirked.
"Don't worry...I'll get these done and you can have all the credit," he replied, as he returned to his desk. He didn't know what else he could find, if anything, but he knew that accessing the backdoor through the IT guy might yield even more results.
Mr. Gold entered Vance's office, only to interrupt him with another man, whom Gold recognized as one of his senior agents.
"Mr. Gold...please join us," Vance said.
"This is Special Agent Arthur King. He was just delivering some very interesting Intel," Vance said. Mr. Gold ignored the agent, but nodded curtly to Vance.
"You mean the Intel where David Nolan has just been hired on at an accounting firm for a job that he is ridiculously overqualified for?" Gold asked.
"How do you know that?" Agent King asked suspiciously.
"I have my ways, Agent King...but I do not think Mr. Nolan has ill intentions," Gold replied.
"More hero talk?" Vance questioned.
"He seems to be taking that role...yes and he may be the keystone to breaking all of this wide open," Gold replied.
"Or he could be committing corporate espionage," Arthur countered.
"David Nolan is not our enemy. In fact...I believe our enemy is within," Gold said.
"Are you accusing a government agency of being behind the disappearance of this plane?" King questioned with an edge in his voice. Gold smirked.
"Oh no, Agent King...but I am pointing out that there are those within that may not have the passenger's best interests at heart," he added.
"These people may be a threat to National Security," Arthur pointed out.
"They don't know what happened to them, Agent King. They are in the dark as much as we are. Locking them up will yield no answers," Gold warned.
"This guy is a crackpot," Arthur hissed to his boss.
"Mr. Gold's insight is valuable...but we will monitor Mr. Nolan's activities. Bug his phone," Vance ordered. Arthur seemed appeased by that and quickly left.
"He's a hothead...and not in a good way," Gold mentioned.
"He's a good agent," Vance countered.
"If Nolan does commit espionage...I can't ignore it," Vance warned.
"Perhaps not...but arresting him will get you nothing. In fact, it may cost lives if you do," Gold warned in return. Vance was silent at that, contemplating his words.
"It's okay, baby...this sounds like an opportunity you can't pass up," Margaret said, as she put the groceries away while talking to him on speaker phone.
"I know...I just hate getting home late. But if I can get a way into this account through the backdoor, I might be able to get a location or something," David said.
"I hate it too...but I know you're doing this for Henry. I'll feed the kids and wait to eat with you," she said.
"Thanks...but you don't have to do that," he replied.
"I know...but I want to," she said.
"Then I can't wait. I'll see you soon and I love you," he replied. She smiled.
"I love you too," she gushed, as they hung up and she saw their son come into the house with her father-in-law.
"Hey sweetie...did you have a good day with Grandpa?" she asked.
"Yeah...we had lots of fun," Henry replied, as she hugged him and she and Robert shared a smile.
"But I was wondering…" Henry said.
"Wondering what?" she asked.
"When can I go back to school?" he asked.
"Oh...well, we want to make sure you're out of the woods from that most recent scare, honey," she replied.
"I know...but I feel fine now and Dad is trying to find out where those missing passengers are, right?" Henry asked. She smiled.
"He is...and we can talk about school more later, I promise," she replied, as he went upstairs.
"I know David is doing what he needs to...but corporate espionage is no joke if he gets caught," Robert said in a worried tone.
"I know...I'm worried too, but David thinks this might be the only way to save Henry and those missing passengers," Margaret replied. He nodded.
"And there will be no stopping him," Robert said. She smiled softly.
"You know David...always the hero," she said fondly.
"That's our David," he agreed.
"Do you want to stay for dinner and eat with the kids?" she asked. He smiled.
"You know I'd love that," he replied.
David entered the conference room, which had been turned into an after hours poker game. He was not looking forward to this at all, but he put a smile on and was introduced to the other players that he had not met yet.
"So 828...were the aliens at least hot?" one guy asked and the others busted up laughing. David forced a chuckle and shook his head.
"No...but then there's only one woman for me and she's right here on Earth," he replied.
"Dude...your wife isn't here. You don't actually have to say that stuff," Doc said.
"I say it because it's true," David replied.
"Don't mind Doc...he can't get a woman to save his life," Billy joked, as he dealt the cards.
"Very funny," Doc said.
"So David...he tells me you're a numbers guy?" Billy asked.
"A Master's in mathematics. I did a bit of coding in college, but ultimately decided to teach instead," David replied.
"So you know some coding?" Billy asked.
"It's been a long time...I probably need a refresher," David replied.
"I could help with that...if you're interested. Doc says that you're bored," Billy said.
"Actually yeah...that would be great," David replied.
"After you finish tomorrow's work load," Doc instructed, as they picked up their cards.
"So...that should be about nine in the morning," David said, as they all laughed. Getting in with the IT guy had been easier than he thought…
As Margaret waited for David to get home, the kids watched a movie and she found herself walking down memory lane in the form of one of her many photo albums. She flipped the page and smiled at the photo of them on their wedding day. She remembered that day so well, for it had been one of the happiest days of her life.
Flashback
"Wow...you look like a fairytale Princess for sure," her friend and one of her bridesmaid's, Ruby, said.
"Well…I'm marrying my Prince Charming so I should," Margaret replied, as Abigail adjusted her veil.
"Are you ready?" Emma asked, as she stepped forward. Her future sister-in-law and best friend was her maid of honor, of course. Margaret smiled.
"I've wanted to marry David since we were eight. I can't wait…" she replied. Emma smiled.
"Neither can he. He's been telling everyone he was going to marry you since then too, so let's finally make it official already," Emma said, as Robert poked his head in.
"Ready?" he asked. Emma nodded, as he came into the room.
"You look beautiful, Margaret and I already considered you my daughter," he said, making her smile.
"I know that I was a terrible father to my kids and you were what helped them both get through some very rough times. I can never repay you for that and when you asked me to walk you down the aisle, I was blown away," he admitted.
"You made mistakes and struggled with your own demons, but you got better and we forgive you. Even at your worst, you were more of a father to me than my own ever was," she said, as he offered his arm and she hooked her hand on his elbow.
By then, the music had intensified. Her bridesmaid's and Emma were already at the altar and everyone stood, as they exited the small garden house and outside into the beautiful garden where they had chosen to have their wedding. It was near the wooded area and the bridge they had frequented for years. They had played in this garden and park for years, so getting married here seemed perfect.
David was in awe, as she floated toward him like an angel, carrying a bouquet of snowdrops, much like the ones he had picked for her when they were children. Even then, the idea of marrying her was firm in his young mind and now that the moment was finally here, he knew that his life was complete with her by his side. The ceremony was a mere formality, for they had bonded their lives together long ago…
"That was an amazing day," he mentioned and she looked up, finding him leaning over her.
"You're home...I was so absorbed by the memory of this day that I didn't hear you come in," she mentioned, as he kissed her tenderly.
"It was one of the best days of my life," he said, as he squeezed into the chair with her.
"Mine too," she agreed, as they shared another kiss.
"Did you find anything?" she asked.
"Not yet...but the IT guy promised to show me some coding. If I can manage to get in the backdoor to the account of the Singularity Project, I'm hoping I can find something like a location or more names," he replied. She smiled and kissed him again.
"I know you will...you're our hero, after all," she said, as she rested her head on his shoulder and they gazed upon their kids fondly.