I decided to do a much longer update since the last one was kinda short compared to my other ones. I have to dedicate this one to Ink and Death. Your review really made my day, one of my best errors in writing so far and I was so tempted to leave it in the story. But seriously, I love all of your continued support for this story and not just the ones who review, even though they really push me to continue to write, but from the people who favourite and follow this story. I want to say thanks to the guest reviewers who I can not personally thank but who always seem to review for each chapter which means the world to me always.
Disclaimer: I do not own Once Upon a Time, or any of the characters that are involved with it.
Thank you all. Please enjoy the update and don't forget to leave your thoughts in the reviews.
Graham and Killian walked out of the Mayor's house. Both stood in silence before Graham turned to Killian, giving him a weary expression. It was something Killian had seen not too often in his lifetime with Graham.
"You know, Killian," Graham sighed, rubbing his forehead, "You keep being snarky to Regina, she'll have your head on a spike one of these days. Why can't you just be polite to her? You used to be able to."
Killian turned to his Graham, he knew he shouldn't get into it with Graham but sometimes Graham just left him with no choice. He and Graham shared very different views on Regina and at times it truly did annoy Killian. Killian gave Graham his winning smile, "And what would you have me do? Get down on my knees and pledge my allegiance to the Mayor. No thanks, mate, I think you do enough of that for the both of us at the moment."
However, at that moment Killian said it, he regretted it. As Graham's face seemed to drop almost instantly. Killian steeled himself, he wasn't going to grovel for Graham's forgiveness, he may regret his words for hurting Graham but that didn't mean he meant them any less. "You promised to never use that against me," Graham sighed, again, trying to cover the hurt that seemed to come through.
"It's not my fault that you interpret what I say as sexual innuendo," Killian replied, although he was angry at Graham for ever bedding the beast, he felt sorry for him as well. Regina had Graham wrapped around her fingers and for some reason he just couldn't say no to her. When Killian thought about it, he wasn't really angry at Graham. He would always only be truly angry at Regina for the fact that she was using his best friend without having the decency to even consider how he felt in the whole. It was the one thing he could never forgive Regina for and maybe that is why he hated her now so much.
"I'm just saying, Killy," Graham walked away from Killian returning to his squad car. Although it was a sour subject to bring up, Graham and Killian could never stay mad at each other for long.
"Stop calling me that, it's bad enough that Ruby does," Killian grumbled at Graham as he got into his squad car. Graham had only started calling him that once he found out how much he got annoyed at it. He had noticed one day when Ruby and Killian were joking around at the Diner and when he saw the annoyance in Killian both he and Ruby have been using it ever since to absolutely torment Killian.
Killian shortly after went to his own car but when he heard the front door click open, he couldn't help but wait. It must have only been a few more minutes when Swan had exited the house, looking the way anyone would look after meeting the woman, if most of them weren't scared of her of course, however, he almost felt pride when he saw Swan was no such person. That fire in her seemed to only spark brighter at the Mayor's annoyance. "Safe travels back home I presume?" Killian called to her.
"Yeah well, I only came here to drop off Henry," Emma replied, "I have to get back now."
"You know I always find it more easier to say rather than to do," She seemed to catch what he meant behind those words, "Can you move on, Swan?"
Emma narrowed her eyes at him, she didn't think it was any of his business what she did or how she felt about it. No matter now if she had a nagging thought in her head that was telling her he was right, that he was getting onto something there. But why did this random stranger seemed to care about it? "Why do you even care?"
"Because you've now given the lad hope," Killian replied, "Now that you have returned with him and hope is a very powerful thing, Swan." Killian paused for a moment, it seemed as though he was also talking from a personal experience there rather than anything else, "I don't want him to lose the only hope he has had for a long time."
Emma nodded to him but didn't say anything. It was only just one night, the kid would surely get over it, probably forget about in a few years, if that.
"You've been in those books too long," Emma walked to her little yellow bug, she paused just before opening the door and turned back to face Killian. She then looked up to the second storey of the house. Henry was there staring out of the window. Then, looking at Henry, Emma felt like going back, listening to what Killian had said just said about hope, that maybe she couldn't leave. But she ignored it and got into her little bug and drove away. Intending to forget tonight, leave this town and never come back. But fate always seems to have different plans.
As Emma got closer to the edge of the town, she noticed something out of place in bug, just in the corner of her eye. Henry's leather bound storybook.
Looking down at it, she shook her head. He had left it there on purpose, so that she would come back. Takes an orphan to know one, she thought to herself. She frowned a little. "Sneaky bastard," She's got to admit, she was starting to like the kid, which at the time wasn't a good thing. Emma returned her eyes back to the road, at first she didn't know what was wrong, until she realized that right before her eyes was a pure white wolf. For a second she thought it right out of a fairy tale. She swerved to avoid it at the last second, only to crash into the town sign.
Her vision began to blur and the last thing she remembered clearly was the howl of the wolf before groaning and then being consumed by the darkness.
Killian returned to Granny's Bed and Breakfast. As expected, Granny and Ruby were going at it. He quietly slipped into the back house that was their own private house separated from the main inn. Figaro had easily found his way back home. Sitting patiently by his food bowl. Killian laughed, "Figaro, you keep eating at this rate and you'll be fatter than an elephant."
"Killian, stop fat shaming Figaro," Ruby scolded from behind, walking over and topping up Figaro's food bowl. "Don't you listen to him, you're perfect the way you are," Ruby cooed at him, Killian made a disgusted face.
"Why do I feel as though you love that cat more than me?" Killian asked.
Ruby turned to shrug at him. "Because he is more adorable and he doesn't annoy me like you do." Ruby pulled herself up, leaning against the kitchen table.
Killian feigned a hurt expression at this, "You don't mean that now." Killian said, "You know you love me."
"Yes, I do," Ruby admitted, "Now why were you out so late, I had to deal with Granny all by myself and you know how I hate that."
"Now you don't mean that and honestly if you both at least tried to get along," Ruby raised her eyebrows at this, probably meaning something along on the lines of 'like that will ever happen', "And the reason I was so late is because Henry went missing."
Ruby's grin dropped, suddenly the atmosphere became serious and Killian could see the fear behind her eyes, "What? Is he alright? Has Graham found him…"
"Calm down," Killian placed two reassuring hands on her shoulders, "The lad had merely gone on a little adventure."
Ruby's keen senses picked up that he wasn't telling her the full truth and she narrowed her eyes at him, "How little are we talking about here?"
Killian gave a tiny little shrug, scratching behind his ear, "He may have gone to Boston to find his birth mother and he may have gotten that idea from me."
Ruby smacked him on the side of the head, letting out her frustration on him at the revelation, "Ow! You really are taking after Granny."
Ruby raised her finger threateningly at him, "First off, I don't want to be compared to Granny, and I'm not that old yet." Killian went to say something, "Arh! I'm not finished yet, second off. Why would you think that suggesting to a ten year old that going to Boston to find his birth mother would be a great idea?"
"Well in response to the first, I wasn't saying that you were old I was just saying that you seem to be taking up after her…" Ruby then was about to say something back, "Ah, now let me finish, otherwise you'll just be proving my point and second off, I didn't tell him to go off to Boston and find his birth mother. All I said that was that maybe if he could talk to her that she might be able to answer some of his question, I didn't think he would take that quite literally."
"God, you are such an idiot sometimes, Killy," Ruby exasperated.
"How am I an idiot?" Killian asked.
"Because he's ten years old, they take what you say quite literally," Ruby said before sighing, "But you were trying to help him and maybe in the end you did, although I still wouldn't recommend sending a kid by himself all the way to Boston."
"Well you and me both, lad's just full of surprises," Killian nodded, Ruby smiled warmly at him now.
"You've really been good for him, you know that," Ruby said.
"Henry just needs someone who will listen, not someone who will criticize him," Killian replied, it was probably the reason why Henry and himself got along so well. Killian didn't push Henry on the matters, he just let the lad go and supported him where he needed it. It was something that Regina hadn't quite learnt how to do in all her years of being a mother to the lad.
"So what is his birth mother like by the way?" Ruby asked him, it wasn't a secret that Ruby was in on all the latest Storybrooke gossip circles, in fact she was sometimes the main source of new juicy news. "What's her name?"
"Miss Emma Swan, well she's the only one I've ever seen who has the fire to match Regina's," Killian said, "She truly does seem to care about Henry though, she may not know it yet, but she could have sent the lad home on a bus but she stayed and took him home. I think deep down she wants to be there for him, she just doesn't know how to be." Ruby's grin widened at him. You could hear it in his voice, the wispy air to it. The way his eyes looked off in the distance as if staring at her.
"You like her, don't you?" Ruby teased him but there was also something else there, something Killian didn't quite catch.
"What? No, of course not," Killian shook his head at her, almost sputtering at her.
"I have never seen you talk about a woman like that before, not ever," Ruby emphasised, she walked to the doorway, "You can't keep anything from me Killian."
Killian would have said something, denied it if he could but he stopped himself. He couldn't lie to Ruby nor could he lie to himself. He grabbed one of the red apples from the bowl, he always hated the green ones anyway. He got up and headed for bed, Figaro's paws could be heard pattering along the floorboards closely behind him.
Emma was slowly coming to. The thumping in her head radiating with each little movement she made. God, it felt as though she had been hit by a thousand bricks. Her muscles started to twitch as her body achingly become aware. Groggily, Emma opened her eyes, blinking back at the bright lights before realizing where she was, or where she thought she was. How the hell did I get here? The last she remembered, she was getting in her bug, leaving Storybrooke, a wolf then absolute darkness. Emma looked around, taking in her surroundings slowly. Brick walls, hard ass cot, sliver bars that trapped her in. Closing in around her. Her heart began to pick up again. Why was she back in jail? She hadn't done anything, had she? She couldn't be back in. Faintly, she could hear the soft whistle of a tune that brought back memories of watching Snow White and the seven dwarves. Emma then sat up and swung her legs of that damn cot. In the cell next to her was the source of the tune. It was a man, quite short looking from where she was, bald and had an aura of grumpiness about him.
"What are you lookin' at, sister?" Grumpy, as Emma had taken to calling him in her head until she actually knew his real name.
"Hey, Leroy, manners!" An old gentleman, Emma's attention shifted from Grumpy to the source of this new voice. It was an old gentleman, wearing what looked like a repairman's outfit, busing himself fixing the hinges of a cabinet, "We have a guest! So you are Henry's mother. How lovely for him to have you back in his life."
"Actually, I was just dropping him off," Emma trailed off, looking around what appeared to be the Sheriff's Station.
Leroy, it appeared, nodded, "Don't blame ya, they're all brats, who needs 'em."
"Well that's your opinion, Leroy," Killian grunted, turning his attention to him, "Don't go torturing everyone with any more of them today." This comment had earnt a chuckle from the repairman, a 'Hey' from Leroy and Emma couldn't help but almost smile at it, although she hid it well. But then Emma thought, what was Killian doing here? He wasn't a part of the Sheriff Department.
"I'm updating their system if you're wondering Swan, Graham knows little to none about technology," Killian eerily answered her thought pattern.
"That's not true, I know about the little blue icon," Graham answered as he exited his office.
"That's the internet, Graham," Killian sighed, staring intently at the screen before meeting Emma's gaze, "See? Little to none."
"Ow, bloody hell!" Killian cried out, placing a hand on the back of his head, turning to Graham, "Why did you hit me? You, Ruby and Granny have been around each other for too long, you're beginning to act like them."
"I'll take that as a compliment," Graham said, Killian only mumbled something back under his breathe that Emma couldn't hear and apparently neither could Graham or he was choosing to ignore it. Emma was more inclined to believe that he was choosing to ignore it.
"So what?" Emma asked, Killian returned his attention back to Emma, although it had never been truly off of her. He had watched as she smiled, it was beautiful on her. To see her smile, it seemed to brighten the area around her, even if it had been when he was getting hit in the head, "You're a librarian and a computer expert?" She asked.
"No, not a computer expert, I just happen to know more than most in this town about them," Killian answered her. "Which trust me, isn't very hard."
Marco sighed, "Well, I'd give anything for a child. My wife and I, we tried for many years. But, uh, he was not meant to be." That sadden Emma greatly. Marco truly seemed to wish for a child and what Emma wouldn't have given for someone like Marco to come and take her from the foster system. Killian narrowed his eyes at Emma, seeming to catch her slight mood change. Her smile had dropped to something that more resembled sadness than anything else. If it were anyone else, Killian thought, he would've dismissed this change as mere thoughts but he saw through Emma Swan. It was that connection he found in her that showed him this. He knew it was something Marco had said and Killian caught what it was that caused Emma this sadness. It was something he himself felt and was familiar with for most of his life. She had no family. She was an orphan. A loss of childhood that couldn't ever be replaced. It was the presence of a mother and father that was never there. It will always be there with you. That loneliness that will never be sated in them, but as he gazed upon he found that maybe two orphans could maybe fill that void in each other.
"Well cry me a river," Leroy grumbled, tearing Killian out of his thoughts long enough for him to glare at Leroy before turning back to the screen. He would think about that matter later. Why was he always stuck doing this? "Bunch of saps the lot of ya."
Graham now moved himself from the doorframe, jangling a pair of keys in his hands as he began walking over to Leroy's cell, "Leroy!" Graham put on his favourite smile, hiding his annoyance the best he could. "If I'm going to let you out, you need to behave," It really just sounded like Graham just wanted the man gone, too early to deal with Leroy. It was always too early for Graham to deal with Leroy, he thought stubbornly. He should really get Killian over to deal with him from now on, teach him for not supervising Leroy's drinking. Instead Killian sat over at the desk and he could practically see the grin on Killian's face, "Put on a smile and stay out of trouble," Graham unlocked the cell and Leroy gave a very fake smile at the Sheriff, who only returned it, before he left the station.
She leaned into the bars, "Seriously?" Emma raised her eyebrows at him, thinking he was being somewhat childish as he gave her an innocent look which didn't suit him. She motioned to the cell that she was still in with a wave of her hand.
"Regina's drinks, a little bit stronger than we thought," Graham said to her, walking over to her cell as he crossed his arms.
Marco gave a little chuckle, as he had now resumed his work now.
Emma rolled her eyes, "I wasn't drunk," She huffed at them, "There was a wolf, standing in the middle of the road."
At that Killian looked up at her, giving her a ludicrous look before turning to look at Graham as they shared a look. They seemed to be both thinking the same thing, clearly not convinced by her story. Since when did wolves live in Maine?
Graham nodded, rather exaggeratedly, at her, "A wolf, right."
"Graham!" Everyone now turned to look behind the Sheriff, "Henry's run away again, we have to –" Regina entered the Sheriff's Station, she trailed off whatever she was going to say when she saw Emma standing in the cell. Her mood shifted and whatever worry she may have had soon turned to spite, soon covering her face, as though she had completely forgot about Henry, "What is she doing here?"
But before anyone had the chance to answer the mayor, she further continued, seeming to jump to her own conclusions about Emma, "Do you know where he is?" from the tone, it was clear Regina already blamed Emma for Henry's disappearance. As if Emma had snatched him away in the middle of the night.
Emma gave the Mayor a deadpanned look, clearly not in the mood for this or to be intimidated by the Mayor's accusation, "Lady, I haven't seen him since I dropped him at your house and-" Emma gestured at the cell bars around her, "I have a pretty good alibi."
Although Killian didn't let it show, he was secretly at awe with Emma at that moment. The update had be complete a while ago but something was urging Killian to stay, maybe it was because he didn't want to go back to the library at that moment or maybe it had something to do with this unexplained feeling he had whenever he saw Swan. Although at Regina's words, Killian should be frantic with worry, he knew in this case that the lad hadn't wondered too far. In fact, Killian already knew where the lad had probably gone off to. He just had to wait until the chivalry left the station to confirm his suspicions.
Regina still held her glare with Emma, not satisfied just yet with her and unwilling to be the first to step down. "Yeah, well, he wasn't in his room this morning," she still sounded as though she was accusing Emma and it wasn't like Regina was even trying to cover her detest for Emma at the moment.
"Did you try his friends?" Emma offered. She would be the better person in this situation, she thought to herself. And if being a bail bondsperson had taught her anything in the past, it was that it was better to just get to the point rather than further argue with people. She just had to try and get Regina away from accusing her for a moment and focus back on Henry. After all, that was all that mattered rather than this petty dispute that they seemed to be having.
"He doesn't really have any," Regina said, "He's kind of a loner."
"Every kid has friends," Emma's voice wavered slightly as she spoke then. It might have seemed unnoticeable, and to Graham and Regina it was, but just like before Killian caught it. That orphan was speaking again. Killian knew what it was like to feel isolated. Abandoned. Orphan's understood each other in ways no one else could. But he knew he was different from her in one aspect and that was that he had a family. He had Granny and Ruby to love him. They had raised him as if he was their own. And he was family to them as they were to him, despite blood, but that never excused the fact that he still felt the longing to find out where he came from. Why did his parents leave him on the docks of all places with nothing but a single coin with engravings he couldn't even read? Maybe that was the reason why he couldn't go down to the ocean. It reminded him of something that he had lost a long time ago. But in the end, even though he had someone who raised him as any mother would and a sister who treated just like he were her brother, he still felt infinitely and utterly alone in this world. Maybe that was his curse. He was surrounded by people who cared for and loved him yet he didn't feel as though he deserved any of it. He felt out of place where he was. This wasn't who he was supposed to be.
"Did you check his computer?" Emma continued. If the kid wasn't openly close to someone, he would at least have some online friends. Emma needed to use her skill set to track down Henry, "If he's close to someone he'd be emailing them."
Regina scoffed at Emma, "And you know this how?" Obviously seeing that whatever Emma had to say was just wasting their time.
Emma glared at the Mayor now, she had tried to follow her own rules, don't make it personal but this woman was only making it harder and harder at this point. If there was one thing Emma was good at, it was finding people and in this situation she now felt that she needed to stay and help. She ignored the voice that was telling her that she was trying to prolong her stay here, trying to find excuses not to leave. "Finding people's what I do," Emma shot back, "Here's an idea; how about you guys let me out and I'll help you find him."
Regina's face scrunched at the mere thought of having to spend any more time in this town, much less anywhere near her son. Regina opened her mouth to protest at the idea of letting Emma out before Graham straightened up and interrupted her.
"She could be helpful, Madam Mayor," This must have surprised Regina because for a moment she looked stumped. Both Killian and Emma noticed this but only Killian knew why. This was the first time Graham had some balls around the Mayor, even if it was just a suggestion.
Regina gave Emma a quick once over. Even though she hated Emma, with a passion it seemed, and hated the idea of even having this woman help her find Henry, she relented, allowing Graham to release Emma. Without another word she left the Sheriff Station.
Graham quickly followed suit and Emma trailed behind, giving Killian a quick glance before she left. Killian, however, didn't intend to follow them. Instead he packed up whatever he brought over, grabbing his keys as he did so.
"You are going to help them look for the boy?" Marco asked curiously, also packing his tools as he did so, having finished his work on the cupboard for today but he had no doubt that he would be back tomorrow for a repair job.
Killian shook his head, smiling slightly at him now, "There's no need to," Killian said, "You don't need to look for someone who isn't missing." It was known only by Killian and Mary Margret about the lad's little castle. A safe haven from Regina most of the time. It was discovered shortly after Mary Margret and Killian had given Henry the storybook that Christmas and since then has become his base for his operations. It was a place that Killian always knew he could find Henry whenever he needed to talk.
Emma's findings had led her and Regina to the local school, in particular one of Henry's teachers, Mary Margret Blanchard. When they confronted Mary Margret, however, Emma could see why Henry might get the impression that his mother was an evil queen. She certainly liked to assert her dominance around other people, as she seemed to despise almost everyone in this town. But the way Regina looked at Mary Margret, it was more than that. Underneath there was something more sinister that the Mayor held towards this teacher and Emma hated the way it made her recoil slightly. "Have a nice trip back to Boston," Regina snapped towards Emma before turning to leave, in the process knocking over a stack of books which wasn't anything accidental. The woman was truly spiteful when she wanted to be.
Mary Margret quickly went down to pick the books up, automatically. Sighing almost sadly at the matter as though it was common for the Mayor to storm through her classroom every day and leave a trail of books in her wake. Emma kneeled down to help her, she wasn't just going to stand there and leave Mary Margret to clean up the mess that she had practically caused. "Sorry to bother you," Emma said apologetically, she had after all brought Regina's anger to the teacher, even if it was unintentional and no one deserved to be yelled at or treated the way Regina had treated Mary Margret today, even if her son was missing. Probably hiding from her no doubt.
Mary Margret quickly dismissed it though, she had grown quite use to the Mayor's temperament and it wasn't anyone else's fault. Emma's curiosity had finally caught up to her about this book that seemed to be so important to everyone at the moment. Everyone was mentioning it, Henry was obsessed with it, Regina seemed unnecessarily angry about it and she couldn't understand it. Why was it such a big deal? If Emma could, she would've owned thousands of books when she was younger, was it seriously weird if the kid even owned one. "How's a book supposed to help?"
Mary Margret tilted her head as if she didn't understand the question, placing the books back onto the table. Mary Margret gave Emma a wide smile, idly taking a few of the books into her arms. "What do you think stories are for?" She asked, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world to understand, "The classics? There's a reason we all know them. They're a way for us to deal with our world, a world that doesn't always make sense." Mary Margret sighed again, "See Henry hasn't had the easiest life."
Both of them were walking together, down the hallway as children happily passed by. Emma understood what Mary Margret was saying to her but it was different for her. She's never had an easy life either, she was going from one family to another. She had never truly felt loved or wanted by anyone she had been with and because of that she had lost hope pretty quickly about ever finding her parents or anyone who would love her as if she was their daughter. When she looked at Henry, she couldn't understand him, at least Henry had people around him that cared deeply about him, and even Regina did in her own way. Emma would have given anything for what Henry has right now, the kid didn't understand how lucky he was.
So even though Emma may not have had the same life as Henry, everyone went through periods of their life differently and she understood him. Emma nodded in agreement, "Yeah, she's kind of a hard ass."
Mary Margret shook her head, she knew that it wasn't solely Regina, the problem was rooted deeper than that. "No, it's more than her," She said. It did surprise Emma that the woman who just got verbally abused and her classroom partially trashed was so quick to defend the Mayor. "He's like any adopted child. He wrestles with the most basic questions they all inevitably face: why would anyone give me away?" Mary Margret paused at that moment. She must have realized what she had just said because regret quickly covered her soft features. It looked so out of place on the woman. She hadn't meant anything by it towards Emma but it was the truth, however, painful it may be, "I am so sorry, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean in any way to judge you…"
"It's okay," But it had hurt, it had hurt Emma more then she would ever admit but she knew Mary Margret hadn't meant for her words to hurt her. What got Emma was the fact that she knew it was true, she had always asked herself that question when she was young. She still was asking herself that on days where her mind would wonder too deep on the topic. So Emma dismissed Mary Margret's worry, after all how could this optimistic woman ever know Emma's kind of turmoil. She, however, didn't wish to linger on that subject any longer, changing it to hopefully a more cheery one. "It looks old, family heirloom?"
Mary Margret thought for a moment, scrunching her eyebrows slightly as if trying to remember something that was on the tip of her tongue. "I found it in the local library one day for a Christmas present," Mary Margret told her when the memory returned to her, "Killian suggested that maybe all Henry needed was something to believe in and what better book to do so. Look, we gave the book to him because we wanted Henry to have the most important thing anyone can have. Hope. Believing in even the possibility of a happy ending is a very powerful thing."
Something in Mary Margret's voice got to Emma then, Mary Margret was close to Henry yet she wasn't worried where a ten year old boy might have gone off too. And then Emma's thoughts back tracked, as this reaction aired similarities to another person. Killian didn't so much as look worried when he heard that Henry had gone missing and it was obvious from last night that Killian cared greatly for him. Mary Margret and Killian were some of the closest people to Henry at the moment, yet they hardly acted the way people would when they heard that Henry was missing. Emma narrowed her eyes when it all clicked inside her head, "You know where he is, don't you?" Emma asked.
Mary Margret turned to Emma and gave her a small smile, hugging the books close to her chest. "You might want to check his castle."
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