Chapter Five~

Sunlight is what woke Darcy, who groaned and punched whatever she was laying on which turned out to be the couch when she opened her eyes. Why the hell was she on the couch and not the bed she was sharing with Emma? Feeling a migraine starting to form, she slowly sat up and felt her head spin so groaned again just as Mary entered the room to say,

"Oh gosh are you alright?" she stepped over towards Darcy who nodded putting a hand to her temple asking,

"What happened last night?" Mary frowned at this and said gently taking a seat on the coffee table before her,

"You left crying before Emma could go get you, by the time you came back it was far too late for either of us to notice. In fact I just woke up myself. Why, you don't remember?" Darcy shook her head and frowned as Mary gave her a comforting smile saying to her,

"I'll make you breakfast then, stay here and try to relax." as she went to the kitchen Emma appeared and once she spotted Darcy looking like a wreck ran over asking,

"Oh gosh are you ok? Oh hell this is my fault isn't it?"

"Yeah pretty much, and no I'm not ok I'm hung-over and have no clue what happened last night let alone how I got back." Darcy replied as she managed to sit fully upright and groan closing her eyes tightly so that Emma felt horrid for forcing her best friend out the door and into this state. From the kitchen Mary came over with a tray of scrambled eggs, toast and butter along with orange juice and two pain pills for the headache which Darcy readily took. As she started to eat they all heard a knock at the door and exchanged glances of worry; who the hell could that be? It was Emma who went to get it, Mary taking a seat next to Darcy to keep an eye on her as Emma opened the front door to find Mr. Gold standing there.

"What the hell do you want now? The rent isn't due, you already said hello, or are you looking for a restraining order?" Emma growled at him but he only straightened his tie as he said smoothly,

"No, as a matter of fact I wished to see how Darcy was this morning since I dropped her off."

"WHAT!?" Emma all but screamed causing Mary to shoot upright and Darcy to cover her still sensitive ears.

"She was drinking at Granny's Diner last night, became intoxicated and so I drove her back here. I wanted to simple see how she was fairing this morning—that isn't against the law last time I check to be a good citizen who cares." Mr. Gold said looking past Emma over at Darcy who had set her tray down to lie back on the couch in order to sleep a bit more.

"Hey! Eyes over here creep," Emma snapped moving to stand in front of his gaze so that he growled as she said,

"She's fine and dandy thanks so you can go now." so with that slammed the door right in front of his face. He actually smiled at that and left while inside the apartment Darcy had fallen back asleep as Emma and Mary were talking.

"He could be lying you know." Mary said as she began to clear away the tray of devoured food but Emma shook her head saying as she began to bite her thumbnail,

"No, no he was telling the truth—he wasn't lying Mary. What I want to know is why he's got an interest in her in the first place." Mary came over looking worried and hushed out,

"That's a very dangerous thing Emma, you know that."

"No, what I know is that it's dangerous that I don't know what he's planning—and he's up to something—I could see it in his eyes." she replied just as Darcy began to stir so that Emma dropped her voice an octave and said,

"I'm going out to do some digging, stay here with Darcy and try to keep her indoors for me." as Emma heading for the front door Mary stopped her with,

"Stay safe—daughter." Emma froze at that not knowing how to respond and found she couldn't—so left the apartment and Mary feeling dejected. It was maybe two hours later that Darcy re-awoke feeling a whole lot better and discovered Mary going over homework assignments, it was a Saturday after all.

"Um, where did Emma go?" she asked slowly standing to test her balance as Mary looked up and smiled gently saying,

"She's working, but feel free to help yourself to the fridge—you must be hungry." nodding and muttering a thanks, Darcy started over and began making a sandwich when she asked,

"So you and that David guy, are you two a couple?" Mary stopped what she was doing and swallowed back a sob blinking away visions of another lifetime.

"Yes, yes you could say that." was all she said as she tried to go back to her work but Darcy continued,

"And how do you know Emma?"

"She my—my very, very good friend." Mary said almost chocking on her own words since she wasn't able to say 'daughter' to this stranger who wouldn't understand. Nodding again, Darcy noticed how feeble Mary seemed to become and putting a hand on her shoulder said,

"Hey, I'm really sorry if I upset you. I'm just trying to sort out everything." turning to see her face, Mary notice for the first time that she seemed sincere and regretful—and her eyes seemed vaguely familiar. As Mary's mind raced to try and figure out why, the door opened to reveal Emma who looked annoyed with the world but stopped when she saw her—mother?—and best friend standing there looking like they've known each other for years. The sight alone was enough to make her quirk a strange sort of smile—before she shook her head and said,

"I got a tip from last night about you guys Darcy." Darcy groaned but Emma came over insisting,

"No I mean it just listen; the drinks you two had were fifty dollars total and Mr. Gold told me something quirky which was 'she owes it to me anyway'—does that mean anything to you?" Darcy just stared blankly at her and shook her head before a flash of a wallet and a hand grabbing a fifty dollar bill appeared in her mind. Seeing the recognition, Emma leaned forward asking,

"Well?"

"I—I don't know to be honest. It's like—I remember something but can't remember why." Darcy said honestly and Emma believed her because of her super power. Exhaling deeply, Emma ran a hand through her hair saying,

"Yeah well, that's fine and dandy and all but we need to sort this out. And your car, I went to check on it and someone cut the break wires so now it's not going anywhere anytime soon."

"But it's at the garage! Who'd go over there and cut them?" Mary asked confused but Emma only shrugged with no answer to be had.

"Ok, so let's get things straight so far; I went out drinking last night, don't remember it or getting a ride home from Mr. Gold and now he's talking in cryptic messages saying I should remember. Wonderful." Darcy huffed out so that Mary, ever the understanding one, put a hand over hers and squeezed saying,

"Don't worry, we'll figure this out." Darcy smiled down at her and Emma again had that feeling in her chest before the door swung open and shut. Turning around in surprise, since Emma swore she had locked it; they found it was Henry who looked out of breath as if he'd been running a marathon.

"It's impossible!" he cried looking wild eyed as he came over towards Emma who stopped him, kneeling down before him saying calmly,

"Whoa, slow down kid easy ok? What's impossible?"

"It's about Darcy, I think she's not from this world!" he cried turning his attention to Darcy who felt her eyes widen and mouth drop as Henry said in a rush,

"I overheard Regina talking to Sidney, it has to be that you're not from this world otherwise you'd have died in the car crash! The Curse would have prevented you from entering!"

"Henry stop this foolishness." Mary said in her school teacher's voice but he shook out of Emma's hold on his shoulders and opened his Book that he held under his arm and put it on the counter. Pointing to a page he said in a self-assured tone,

"No I mean it Snow! The Curse would have killed her if she wasn't from the Enchanted Forest, and Regina is trying to figure out who could have escape the Curse other than Emma with Sidney's help. Now our problem is to find someone who's willing to help us figure out who Darcy is from the Enchanted Forest and save her from getting killed—before Regina can do it."