And "Snow Falls" begins! Hope you guys enjoy this chapter- quick warning, I'm about to go on break and I won't have internet access for most of the upcoming week it looks like. So there probably won't be any updates. Sorry, but- no wifi. *shrugs* What's a girl to do?
11/29/22 Edit: Can I just say? Very pleased with my dates- November 11 is Veteran's Day, which makes total sense why Henry could fob Regina off with an excuse of Whac-a-Mole rather than being in school or having to do his homework. But! It will line it all up perfectly so even with a full day of chasing after John Doe & trying to find him, the next day Regina is still going to a "Saturday Council Meeting." Yes, I spent unnecessary time figuring this out. Can I just say? Very pleased with my dates- November 11 is Veteran's Day, which makes total sense why Henry could fob Regina off with an excuse of Whac-a-Mole rather than being in school or having to do his homework. But! It will line it all up perfectly so even with a full day of chasing after John Doe & trying to find him, the next day Regina is still going to a "Saturday Council Meeting." Yes, I spent unnecessary time figuring this out.
November 9, 2011
Mary Margaret is forced to wonder at her own mental processes sometimes. Like right now- what could have possibly possessed her to think a date with Whale would've gone well?
Maybe she is just so lonely she's become desperate.
God, she is desperate isn't she?
Mary Margaret spots Emma Swan's bright yellow bug- how could she not? It stood out like a splash of springtime color on a background of dreariness.
And now she's maudlin.
However, she is surprised to see Emma Swan herself sitting in the front seat of said bug, newspaper propped up on the wheel and flashlight in her mouth, reading.
Strangely enough, she's more surprised by the fact that Ada Ward is nowhere to be seen.
She can't help but ask, "Hey. You okay?"
Emma starts a little and turns of the flashlight, taking it out of her mouth. "Oh," she says with a slight grin, "in the world of tight spots I've been in, crashing in my car doesn't even rank in the top ten."
Mary Margaret finds that statement more worrying than relieving as Emma no doubt intended it. "You're sleeping here?" she asks. She doesn't think she's ever known anyone who sleeps in their car. Is that a more common thing outside small towns? Emma certainly doesn't seem think it odd. "And where's Ada? I was beginning to think you two were surgically attached at the hip," the teacher jokes.
Emma gives a grin, "Yeah, this town doesn't seem to have any vacancies. None, actually. Is that normal?" she asks.
"Must be the curse," Mary Margaret jokes.
"Must be," Emma returns, before answering the brunette's other question. "And Ada's still in the B&B- she wanted to join but I told her she'd just be taking up extra backseat room that I could be using. She finds logic difficult to argue with. Not that she didn't try," she gives a grin, thinking of the redhead's quarrelsome streak. Less a streak and more a… real estate property of stubborn reserves. "Why are you out so late?" Emma asks the kind woman. Mary Margaret seemed the "early to bed early to rise" type.
"Well, I'm a teacher, not a nun," Mary Margaret tells her, "I had a date."
Emma looks at the obviously alone Mary Margaret walking home at a time that, while late, was too early for the end of a date, and dryly remarks, "From the look of things, it went well."
The teacher sighs, "As well as they ever do."
Emma could sympathize, "Tell me he at least paid."
Mary Margaret shakes her head in the negative with a hum.
"Ew," Emma immediately replies. She and Ada had had this exchange more than a few times- it is comforting in its familiarity. And Mary Margaret is nice and Emma felt a little protective over the timid teacher who seemed to barely withstand a tongue lashing from Madame Mayor.
"Well," Mary Margaret gives a sigh, "I guess if true love were easy, we'd all have it." She looks carefully at Emma Swan, who had joined her out on the pavement. Something about the blonde woman (probably the same something that caused Mary Margaret to inexplicably trust her), spurred the teacher to offer, "You know, if things get cramped, I do have a spare room."
Emma's eyebrows raise before her face shuts down all emotion, "Yeah," she begins uncomfortably, "I'm not really typically that good with roommates. I mean Ada's pretty much my sister and she's just as bad as me, so it's different. We do better on our own."
Mary Margaret nods, trying to ignore the disproportionally disappointed feeling in her chest, "Well, goodnight. Good luck with Henry," she adds on.
Emma is immediately distracted by the thought of her son, "Yeah…" she trails off, watching the teacher walk away.
Why does she feel guilty, damn it?
And Ada would kill her if she realized Emma had given up the opportunity to sleep in a bed with things like pillows and a mattress and a nearby bathroom because she was not a people person.
It was true that she and Ada did better on their own, but Ada often pointed out you could be in the same room as someone and be totally alone. In more than one way.
Ok, not going to tell Ada about this conversation then. Decision made.
November 10, 2011
Emma's really not sure why she ever pretends she's not going to tell her sister something. She always ends up caving.
In this case, Emma spills the beans as the two walk to Henry's castle to meet with the boy for an "Operation Cobra" meeting.
"You should've taken the offer," Ada immediately tells Emma, who only rolls her eyes, "I know you've got your whole lone-wolf thing, but Emma- a bed. With sheets. Pillows. A nearby bathroom."
"I know I know. I just-"
"Don't feel comfortable putting yourself in any situation where you might have to talk to someone besides me?"
Emma merely glares at her. Both girls drop the subject as they climb up the castle to sit beside Henry.
"I found your father," the boy immediately tells Emma.
Emma sighs "Henry…" she trails off. Ada lightly kicks Emma's shin and reminds her with a glare to be supportive, but constructive.
"He's in the hospital," Henry tells the girls, "in a coma. See the scar?" he points to Prince Charming's picture in his book, right on the man's chin where there is a small scar. "He has one, too," he tells them excitedly.
"So?" Emma immediately shots back, "Lots of people have scars."
"In the same place?" Henry asked, skepticism evident in his voice. Ada couldn't help but grin at how Henry obviously inherited that tone from Emma. "Don't you see what this means? The curse is keeping them apart with the coma. Now they're stuck without each other. We have to tell Miss Blanchard we found her Prince Charming."
"Okay, kid. Telling someone their," Emma struggled to explain, "soul mate is in a coma is probably not helpful," she sighed and tried to make him see. "Not having a happy ending is painful enough, but giving someone unrealistic hope is far worse."
"But what if I'm right?" Henry instantly shot back, "We know who they are. Now they have to know."
"Alright, Henry," Ada said, looking around Emma so she could see the young boy's face, "You obviously have a plan. How're we doing this?"
Henry grinned, "By reminding him. We have to get her to read their story to John Doe. Then, maybe, he'll remember who he is."
Emma took a deep breath, drawing both Ada and Henry's eyes to her. She felt sandwiched between the two gazes- one, full of hope, the other, full of knowing. "Okay," Emma finally said.
"Okay?" Henry parroted back, uncertain if she meant it.
"Yeah," Emma said, giving in, "we'll do it. But we'll do it my way. Let us ask her."
Henry nodded, "Grown-up talk," he said disappointedly, as if he wanted in on it.
Ada laughed, "Henry, someday you'll get to hear and talk all the grown-up talk you want. You'll realize it's really not that great."
Henry seemed very skeptical of the whole thing, but said nothing.
Ada and Emma sat at the counter of Mary Margaret's kitchen while the woman made two mugs of hot cocoa with cinnamon.
"You sure you don't want some, Ada?" the hostess asked.
"She thinks hot chocolate with cinnamon is gross," Emma cuts in before Ada can politely decline, "Ada's a coffee addict."
"You say that like my coffee intake is a problem," Ada joked back, "And I can't believe you found more people who like cinnamon in cocoa. I'll have the occasional hot chocolate, but cinnamon? Blech."
"Oh, would you like coffee then? I can make some?" Mary Margaret offers, but Ada waves her hand.
"No, I'm fine- I had a cup before we came here. Granny's coffee is so difficult for me to turn down."
"I heard coffee stunts your growth. Knowing Ada, I believe it," Emma teased with a grin as she accepted her mug from Mary Margaret.
Ada stuck out her tongue.
"So you two want me to read to a coma patient?" Mary Margaret says after smiling softly into her own mug at the two sisters antics. Emma really wasn't exaggerating when she described Ada as "pretty much" her sister- in fact, Mary Margaret is getting the feeling that the blonde was understating the bond between the two women.
Mary Margaret finds herself a little jealous. She'd never really had a friendship like that- and had no siblings ever.
Ok, so she is more than a little jealous.
"Well, yes," Ada says, "It's really more Henry that wants it. He's convinced that the coma patient is your Prince Charming," the redhead gives a shrug, "But Archie has said that going along with Henry's version of reality is for the best- and I agree with him. Snapping kids out of stuff like this, it never really ends well. When a child latches onto an idea they're very tenacious- all human beings are. Having that connection snapped? Totally devastating. It's like…having a loved one die, almost. Something you depended on, something you'd thought would always be there, a part of you, is gone. You'd be taking Henry out of his realty and thrusting him into a new one. One that's unfamiliar and frightening.
"The key with children like Henry, generally speaking, is to allow the illusion- not to encourage it too actively, but play along, show an interest in it always, never condemn the child for it by any means, and do not act as if it's not important. It is vitally important to Henry, and so it should be for us. Transitioning is important. What we see in most cases is when the child is in a more stable place, physically as well as emotionally, once a lot of the problems in their lives are solved or given some sort of closure, the idea slowly fades away until it's just a memory. And a really good story he can tell to people- the story of Snow White, Prince Charming, and an Evil Curse."
"I'm thinking," Emma picks up, "You go read to the guy- we all play along, do what he says…" Emma trails off and Ada flawlessly picks up her sister's sentence.
"And Henry can begin to make some connections with this version of reality, weakening his need for the other. He slowly lets go, revises the story so it gets less and less absolute."
Mary Margaret thought over it- it seemed a shame to crush Henry's imagination, but she imagined that believing in a Dark Curse wasn't terribly healthy for the boy's mental state- especially around Regina. And Ada had said she was a child advocate, working with kids a lot, and Archie was a professional therapist, and if they both agreed to play along with Henry and let him slowly let go of the idea on his own- well, that was probably the best plan.
"Well.. sadly, this plan is rather genius. We get him to the truth without hurting him," she concludes.
"I told him that we will all meet tomorrow for breakfast at Granny's," Emma tells her after taking another swallow of her hot chocolate, "And you will give a full report."
Both sisters look at Mary Margaret, awaiting her final decision. In a brief moment, Mary Margaret could believe they were blood related- it wasn't about their looks, really, but more about the similarity in their expressions, the way they held themselves.
"Well, I suppose I'll get ready for my date," she tells them with a grin. "I guess I'll have to do all the talking."
November 11, 2011
"Thanks for the shirt," Emma tells Ada, pulling on one of her sister's tops. It's not really her style- brightly colored with a magenta sort of shade of pink.
"You're lucky we're the same top size," Ada tells her, grimacing at how the shirt rides a little higher on Emma than on her, "Mostly. Otherwise what would you do? Seriously- just let me go shopping and pick up something for you. It's getting gross."
"I can buy my own clothes, thank you," Emma retorts with an eye roll.
"Then for gods sakes why haven't you?"
In truth, Ada knows why- buying clothes would be too much like admitting she was planning on staying, which would be a step too close to admitting she wanted to stay, which would be another step too close to roots in another person rather than just Ada.
Emma is saved from trying to lie to Ada by the entrance of Henry, who grins at the two sisters before settling in a booth with them as Ada continues to eat her breakfast. Emma was just having a cup of coffee- Ada was the breakfast person, while Emma was just an eater in general. Food insecurity left its scars for both of them.
"Henry- where does Regina think you are?" Ada asks after the usual greetings as she spears some scrambled eggs with her fork.
"Playing Whac-a-Mole," Henry replies easily with a cheeky grin.
"And she bought that?" Emma asks skeptically.
Henry shrugs and says matter-of-factly "She wants to believe it, so she does."
Ada stops eating long enough to cast a deep gaze at the boy, "Henry," she tells him in an odd tone, "You are a very clever boy- don't let anyone tell you any different."
Henry preens under the praise, but perks up even more when he sees Mary Margaret enter the diner. "She's here!" he announces to the table, prompting Ada to scooch further into the booth so Mary Margaret will have room to sit down- Henry and Emma are sitting next to each other across from her.
"Hey," Emma tells the boy as Ada reconfigures, "Don't get your hopes up- we're just getting started, okay?"
This statement is entirely bellied by Mary Margaret announcing before she's even fully seated, "He woke up."
"What?" Ada and Emma say in unison.
"I knew it," Henry cheers.
"I mean," the teacher clarifies, "He didn't "wake up" wake up, but he grabbed my hand."
"He's remembering!" Henry insists.
Emma, looking for a dose of reality, her master plan for helping ease Henry into a healthier mental state spiraling wildly out of control, asks "What did the Doctor say?"
"That I imagined it," Mary Margaret practically sighs, clearly annoyed at the implication, "But I'm not crazy. I know it happened."
Ada briefly has a suddenly flash to Henry, the night they dropped him off saying, "I'm not crazy," in practically the same tone as Mary Margaret did just now.
Huh, small towns. You probably pick up everyone's habits.
"We have to go back," Henry says, his eyes shining, "You have to read to him again."
"Let's go," Mary Margaret instantly agrees.
"Wait," Ada says as Emma simply goes "What?"
"If I got through to him," the teacher says, her eyes shining just as much as Henry's, so much so that Ada begins to wonder at the teacher's own personal emotional state- this…thing…with a coma patient? It speaks to someone who is lonely and desperately searching for a connection. "If we made a connection-"
"You don't believe…" Emma cuts in, before trailing off, unable to articulate it.
"That he's Prince Charming?" Mary Margaret asks, "Of course not. Somehow, someway, I touched him."
"Can we just..wait till I've finished breakfast?" Ada asks when it's clear Emma has been stunned to silence.
Both Henry and Mary Margaret were good sports about letting Ada finish her meal, slowed down as she was with the cast on her arm, before dragging the two sisters to the hospital to see this coma patient for themselves.
"You're right," Henry is assuring Mary Margaret as they walk into the ward, "he's waking up."
"Henry!" Graham says, sounding surprised, "You should stay back." Ada has time to wonder what the Sheriff is doing in the hospital- was there some sort of accident?- when Mary Margaret asks for her.
"What's going on? Is it John Doe? Is he OK?" Ada and Emma exchange a glance at the "John Doe," neither terribly comfortable with the way Mary Margaret's mind immediately jumped to the coma patient.
"He's missing," Graham has time to reply as all four of the group suddenly notice Regina herself coming out of John Doe's room.
"What the hell are you doing here?" she immediately hisses at the women, before turning to Henry, "And you- I thought you were at the arcade. Now you're lying to me?"
Ada was personally of the opinion that Henry had been lying to Regina for a long time- one didn't simply steal a credit card out of a teacher's purse without a little practice first, and running away from home itself was a form of lying, she supposed.
"What's happened to John Doe?" Mary Margaret asks, "Did someone take him?"
"We don't know yet," Graham immediately sooths the woman, seeking to maintain calm in the room (not easy with Regina noticeably seething), "His IVs were ripped out but there's no sign for sure there's a struggle."
"What did you do?" Henry accuses his adoptive mother, looking at her through narrowed eyes.
Regina is noticeably hurt and offended, "You think I had something to do with this?" she asks the ten-year-old.
"It is curious that the mayor is here," Ada points out in a flat tone, trying to keep all inflection out of it.
"I'm here because I'm his emergency contact," Regina shoots back at her.
"You know him?" Mary Margaret asks, surprised. Ada gives her a look- if the mayor knew him, would he have been a John Doe?
Sometimes Ada wonders if people ever think in a crisis of if they just jump from conclusion to conclusion willy-nilly.
"I found him," the Mayor corrects, "On the side of the road years ago with no ID. I brought him here."
Ada casts a glance at Emma- someone else found on the side of the road years ago with no ID. Well, except for one baby blanket that they were both more than a little freaked out to find drawn so clearly in Henry's storybook, not that they had actually talked about it, just had a very long look at each other over the pages Henry had ripped out of his storybook.
"Mayor Mills saved his life," Dr. Whale inserts himself into the conversation at this point. Ada exchanged a nod with the Doctor- he was responsible for helping cast her arm, after all.
"Will he be okay?" Mary Margaret sweetly asks the man.
"Okay?" Whale says, eyebrows hiked up, disbelief in every syllable, "That man's been on feeding tubes for years on constant supervision. He needs to get back here right away or, quite honestly, "okay" might be a pipe dream."
"Well, then," Emma replies, in her element- people finding is what she does, "Let's quit yapping and start looking."
"That's what we're doing?" Regina asks sarcastically, "Just stay out of this, dear," she says condescendingly to Emma, "And since I clearly can't keep you away from my son, I guess I'm just going to have to keep my son away from you," Ada thought that was rather unfair as, except for when he was missing and when she needed to apologize, each time it was Henry who sought out Emma. "I hope you enjoyed today, because that's all you're getting," she turns then to Graham, "Sheriff, find John Doe. You heard Dr. Whale. Time is precious." With those orders, she stalks out of the hospital, leading Henry away, as he casts a mournful glace at Emma.
"Doctor," Graham turns to the man, getting down to business, "How long between your rounds since you last saw him?"
"Twelve hours or so."
"Then that's what we need to account for," Graham instructs with a nod. Everyone heads to the security room where Leroy and another man introduced as Walter are both currently situated.
"You two were the only employees on the floor last night," Graham says skeptically, "And you say nothing?"
"Not a thing," Walter assures the Sheriff.
"Did anyone walk by?" Emma asks, suspicious.
"I didn't see nothin'," Leroy tells her, arms crossed.
Graham turned to Mary Margaret, "Miss Blanchard, was there anything unusual you saw during your field trip with your class?"
Emma bends to get a closer look at the security footage as Mary Margaret answers in the negative.
"We're looking at the wrong tape," Emma announces, pointing to the screen, "This is the ward Henry's class put up decorations. If this was really the tape from last night, we'd see the banners the kids hung."
Graham took a closer look at the tape as if to confirm it for himself while Leroy immediately sold out Walter.
"Tch, you fell asleep again."
"You selling me out?" Walter asks, betrayed.
"Considering there's a coma patient on the loose I'd say we all have bigger things on the line than a security guard asleep on the job during the night shift," Ada cuts in before the two can get into it.
"Where's the real tape?" Graham asks sternly.
The tape is switched and they all watch with varying levels of amazement as John Doe gets up and just…walks out the door. Or maybe staggers would be a more appropriate word.
"He walked out alone," Mary Margaret breathes a sigh of relief, "He's okay."
"Four hours ago," Emma says, reading the time stamp, "Where does this door lead?" she asks the two hospital employees.
Leroy shrugs, "The woods."
