A/N: I would like to say a resounding thank you to everyone that left a review, favorited, or alerted to my last chapter. The response to this story has been overwhelming, and I've been thrilled with every part of it!
As always, emlovesyouu worked wonders on this chapter to make it readable. I own nothing from the show - if I did, I wouldn't be writing fanfiction! :) Any resemblance to any real people, places, or events is entirely coincidental.
Enjoy!
Chapter 10
So I will share this room with you
And you can have this heart to break
Date: 20 November 2014
The jingle of his entry bell echoed around the empty shop as Gold moved into the main room. Centuries of practice concealing his thoughts from even the most skilled magic-users enabled him to easily wear a mask of vaguely irritated indifference. Inside was an entirely different matter.
So much was riding on the successful completion of his quest. If he could trap the Savior inside the Sorcerer's hat, her raw magical power would give him the magic boost he needed to finally cleave himself from the dagger. It should have worked. It would have worked, but something happened. When her magic went haywire and she accidentally injured her father and son, it should have sent her tumbling into his arms, the one person in Storybrooke with the magical power to withstand an out of control Savior.
Instead she'd vanished.
Preposterous, as he wasn't aware that Regina had gotten so far as a cloaking spell in her training sessions with Emma. The Savior shouldn't have been able to hide from him.
So where the hell had she vanished to?
He hadn't sensed her magic in several days. He hadn't seen her in longer than that. The townspeople were beginning to talk. His voice mail message to her had gone unanswered. Attempting to use the pirate against her had failed miserably, now that they were no longer together.
His only consolation was that Ingrid had similarly failed to find her third magical sister. Whatever she was planning for the town once herself, Elsa and Emma were united in their magical sisterhood was also for naught. Apparently no one knew where the hell Emma Swan had hidden herself.
Gold paused in the middle of his store, noting something…off…about the place. He'd been running it for so long, the clichéd phrase that he knew the store like the back of his hand was actually true. He closed his eyes and sniffed the air. Something fresh wafted in the usually dusty, dry air. Following the scent, he made his way through the front cases to the desk in the back.
There were fingerprints on a particular wooden box he usually kept locked up, and the air tingled with residual magic. "Oh, Miss Swan. What have you done now?" He opened the box and took a quick stock, coming up one item short. Smirk turning into a frown, Gold pulled a piece of paper from the empty slot.
28 years on my own. 16 years growing up physically, emotionally, and in any other way the twisted mind of the Dark One can conceive, abused in the foster system. 4 years of risking my life in multiple worlds. 1 year breaking the curse YOU created to find your son, who just so happens to be the father of MY son, the same guy who left me pregnant and alone in prison for his crimes.
No deals this time, dearie. We're even, Gold.
"Indeed we are, Miss Swan. Indeed we are," he acknowledged with a respectful tip of his head, even as his anger built at being denied the one key element he needed to execute his plan.
The bell above the door to Granny's Diner tinkled as Belle walked in, looking for the person who called her. Seeing Ruby behind the counter, the librarian gave a quick wave and made her way to the empty stool in front of her friend. "Okay, I'm here. What was it you wanted to discuss so badly that it couldn't happen over the phone?"
Ruby slid Belle's usual lunch order across the counter to her friend and leaned over on her elbows, looking around the diner to see if anyone was paying attention to them. Fortunately, the hour between one and two in the afternoon was more than usually devoid of customers. "Have you talked to Emma lately?"
Furrowing her brows as she thought over the question, Belle shook her head. "It's been days, maybe weeks now that you mention it. Why?"
Ruby gave a conspiratorial nod. "Because the only time I've seen her in the last two weeks was about ten days ago when she was out jogging," she finished by putting a heavy emphasis on the last word.
"Doesn't Emma go for a run almost every day?" Belle asked before taking a bite of her grilled chicken salad, confusion written across her face.
The waitress shrugged, admitting the truth of the statement. "Sure she does, but this time she was running hard, not jogging, on Main Street going out of town and away from the post office, and something looked very wrong."
"Away from the post office out of town? I don't know, that could just be a longer run. Or she could have been mailing a letter as part of her route," observed Belle.
"You're absolutely right, that could have been just what it was. But I haven't seen her since. No one has. I've been listening to the people in this diner. No one has said anything about seeing her, even her parents. All they're concerned about is what the Snow Queen is doing, but even she's laid low since Emma's disappeared."
"Now that you mention it, I did see someone who looked like her skulking down an alley one evening last week, but I wasn't sure in the darkness. She looked like she'd seen a ghost. Did you notice anything else about her?" Belle asked.
"That's what got me worried in the first place. I could smell tears through her sweat and there were tracks down her face," Ruby admitted.
Just then Snow and Charming walked into the diner, pushing Neal in his stroller as Elsa trailed behind them. "No, David, I'm sure I remembered to pack extra diapers," the former Queen said.
"Okay, okay, I just wanted to be sure. No one wants a repeat of the infamous Cheese Fries Incident," Charming grinned as he held the door for his wife and son.
Ruby looked at the new arrivals before glancing back at Belle. "I'm going to ask them if they've heard from Emma," she said, moving around the bar.
She watched the smile on Snow's face as she approached their table. "Hey guys! Can I get you your usual today?"
They looked up at her with matching grins. "Yeah, that sounds great Ruby," Snow answered her longtime friend.
"And I would like a grilled chicken sandwich with fries," Elsa requested, sitting down at the table.
"Hey, have you guys heard from Emma lately? It's been a while since I've seen her around," Ruby affected a casual tone as she threw out the question.
David furrowed his brow. "Yeah, we have. Why?"
Ruby shrugged. "Oh, it's just that I haven't seen or heard anything from her in a few days, and I wanted to make sure she was okay."
"We had a text message from her just this morning," Snow answered, "She's fine, settling into her new apartment."
"What about the whole thing with the Snow Queen? Aren't you working on finding her, like, every day?"
"We are," David answered, "but the trail has gone cold, so to speak. We're still looking, but without any activity from her recently, it's not an everyday thing. We have to keep living our lives."
"Emma's been following some leads on her own," explained Elsa as Snow prepared some food for Neal, "and we're allowing her to run the chase on her own. She's been keeping in touch with David about the search, but the trail seems to have gone cold…so to speak."
"Gotcha. Okay, I just wanted to check. I'll be back with your drinks," Ruby said.
Moving back to the counter, Ruby slipped the Charmings' order ticket onto the rotating clip for the cook. She approached Belle. "They said she's just settling into her new apartment, keeping up the search for the Snow Queen."
Bell frowned, but nodded, accepting the answer. "Right. That makes sense. I guess we just keep our eyes open for Emma around town."
"Looks like that's all we can do," Ruby agreed, "I'll start making some wider runs, maybe through the woods, see if I can pick up her trail."
As Ruby moved off to take care of other customers, she and Belle were left with their own thoughts.
"Henry! I'm so glad I ran into you," Regina greeted him with a hug and a smile, "You got some mail today."
Her son took the padded envelope with glee as she regarded the man with whom Henry had been speaking. Archie was one of the few Storybrooke residents she genuinely liked; Regina had not forgotten how he'd spoken up against the crowd after her blood when the Curse broke.
"Good morning, Madam Mayor," he smiled, "How are you this fine day?"
"I'm well, thank you Archie. I was hoping to run into Henry on my way back to the office, so I'm glad I found you here," answered Regina.
His brow furrowed as Archie took a breath. "I'm glad to run into you, actually. I know Henry's been living with you at the mayor's residence again. I mean no offense," he hurried to interject when he saw her start to bristle "but why did he move back? Why isn't he living with Emma still?"
Swallowing her irritation, Regina nodded. "It was his decision. After Robin left with Marian, Henry wanted to come back home to be the man in my life again," she said, ruffling her son's hair. "Ever since then, he's been living with me."
"So Emma's all alone in her new apartment?" Archie asked, face a mask of innocence.
Regina's irritation boiled over at the reminder that her own joy came at the expense of someone else's. "I don't concern myself with what Sheriff Swan is or isn't doing these days, Doctor Hopper. The last thing I want to spend my time on is tracking the Savior's movements," she took a calming breath of her own, "I apologize for the outburst. Miss Swan is still something of a sore spot for me, and I've been strangely unsettled over the last few days as it is."
Archie opened his mouth to ask another question, but was drowned out by Henry's gasp. As they both turned to look at him, he held up a keychain with a single key. "It's from Ma," he breathed, "She's giving me her car."
"What?!" Regina shouted, reaching for the envelope. Shaking it, she grabbed at a folded piece of paper. Opening it, she saw that the document was indeed a deed – the title of ownership to Emma's car.
When she snapped out of the haze of outrage that Emma would give their son something as extravagant as a car without consulting her first, she heard Henry's voice reading a note that had accompanied the key and title.
"…with everything going on with the Snow Queen, I won't be needing this for a while, Kid. I wanted you to have the Bug. I had Michael fix it after my little accident in the forest. I know it's a few years before you'll be able to drive, but I figured you'd be the one to take care of it. Plus it might really honk your mother off. Ha ha. Anyway, hang onto the car and use it when you learn to drive. Don't worry about me. I have a plan that will thwart both the Snow Queen and Gold. Take care of yourself, Kid. Your mom, too. Emma."
"She gave you her car?!" Regina shouted, looking at the confused mix of emotions across Henry's face.
Archie stammered, trying to get her attention. "I – I ah, I don't think that's the most important thing to focus on here, Regina."
"What could be more important than the fact that Sheriff Swan gave my son a deathtrap of a car?" she shot back, whirling around on him.
Instead of answering her directly, he looked down at Henry. "Do you think you could go into Granny's and get a soda, Henry? There's something I wanted to talk to your mother about."
The boy looked suspicious, but nodded and walked down the street. When Archie met her gaze, Regina saw how pale the psychologist was. "What is it? What's got you so concerned out about in that letter?"
Archie wiped his glasses before answering her. "Talk to me about the last time you physically saw and spoke to Emma. What happened?"
Regina gazed down at her feet. "It…it wasn't my best moment. She was drunk, we started arguing, and I let some things she said affect me more than they should have. I retorted in kind. I even raised my hand to slap her when she said something particularly offensive, but I didn't go through with it. I ended by saying her attitude would ensure she stayed alone for a very long time."
Archie's fingers trembled as they held his umbrella. "I've heard others mention that Emma was under stress lately, that she had episodes where her magic was out of her control and that she accidentally injured her father and Henry, correct?"
Regina nodded, frowning around a small, but growing ball of dread that settled in her stomach. "That's what happened, yes. Why?"
"Well, if you combine that emotional stress with distancing herself from her friends and family, which she said she was doing in her letter to Henry, along with giving away her worldly possessions like the car and…" he trailed off, taking a deep breath.
"And what?" Regina prodded, uncomfortable with the growing unease she was feeling.
The psychiatrist took another deep breath, visibly summoning his courage before meeting her gaze with watery eyes. "Those are all classic hallmarks of someone who's come to a…well, a decision about his or her life."
Regina's mouth fell open. "Are you saying what I think you're saying?"
He nodded. "I'm very much afraid Emma might be considering causing herself serious harm, possibly even suicide."
Henry's shout from the corner, where he had been eavesdropping, drowned out Regina's shocked gasp. "Suicide?!"
"Henry! I thought you were going for a soda!" Archie exclaimed when Regina's surprise rendered her mute.
He rolled his eyes. "Like I was going to miss what you were talking about. You really think Emma would do that?"
With a frown, Archie looked at Henry. "I don't know for sure, Henry. I wasn't seeing her at all. I just know what I've read from reading the journals. None of these are good signs. If you know where Emma is, we need to find her as soon as possible."
"Isn't she at the apartment she moved to with you, Henry?" Regina asked her son.
He shrugged. "I don't know. I haven't heard from her either. And how could you remind her she was never anyone's first choice? You know how she grew up, what she went through even before I was born! You might as well have told her she was worthless," Henry's eyes grew as wide as dinner plates as his mind kept working, "And I helped you! I left her all alone, too! I told her I wanted to live with you instead of her because I thought you needed me around more than she did!"
"If she's really considering something of this magnitude, that might explain why you've been feeling unsettled recently, Regina. You might be feeling the ripples in her own unstable magic. The Savior has incredibly powerful light magic that has been connected to your own in the past, so any disturbance in her emotions could easily be affecting you."
"In your honest opinion as Archie, not as Doctor Hopper," Regina began, trying to get a handle on her lurching stomach, "What do you think all this means?"
"No one has seen her for quite some time, and she's giving her most prized possession to her biological heir?" Archie asked rhetorically, "We might be running out of time as we speak."
"We need to find Emma," Regina agreed somberly.
The violent opening of the door to Granny's Diner slamming against its frame quashed the usual background chatter. Henry burst in with Regina close on his heels, for once not chastising him for running inside. The boy scanned around the dining area, lunging forward when he saw his grandparents seated at a table with their stroller. Charming was just pulling Neal out of a high chair when he approached. "Grandma! Grandpa! We've got an emergency!"
Snow and Charming looked up at him. "What's wrong, Henry?" Snow's eyes were wide, moving side to side as she scanned for threats. Emergencies in Storybrooke tended to the catastrophic.
"It's Emma!" he shouted, running to their table and skidding to a stop around the stroller.
Charming looked confused as he handed Neal back to his wife. "What about Emma?"
Regina approached their table behind Henry, laying her hand on the boy's shoulder. "Why don't you sit down, Henry? I'm sure this is something none of us prefer shouted for the whole restaurant to hear."
The pair joined Snow and Charming around the table, lowering their voices until they heard the rest of Granny's patrons go back to their meal.
"What's this about Emma?" Snow asked.
Henry's excitement got the better of him. "She gave me her car!"
Confusion colored his grandparents' faces in an identical way that had Regina forcing her eyes not to roll. "Between the magic flare-up at the station a couple weeks ago and then Emma basically going into hiding, Doctor Hopper thinks she might be in some danger."
"I'm still not sure what you're talking about. Danger from the Snow Queen? Aren't we all?" Charming wondered.
"Not that kind of danger," dismissed Regina, "He thinks that by giving Henry the title and keys to her Bug – which she did, we just got the envelope today – and by moving first from your loft and then her new apartment when Henry came to live with me again, Emma's essentially divesting herself of her worldly possessions. That she's made a decision about something major."
Snow put the pieces together before her husband did, having had the memory of taking some basic psychology courses implanted as part of her Mary Margaret personality. "You don't mean…," she trailed off, hand covering her mouth in shock as her eyes grew huge.
"What? What's going on?" Charming interjected.
Tired of waiting for the adults to finally say it, Henry blurted everything out. "Archie thinks Emma might be going to kill herself!"
A/N: I regret nothing...I do love my cliffhangers :)
Reviews and constructive criticism are much appreciated!