Chapter 4

It didn't take long for an answer to where the girl had gone to be provided through the sheriff's radio. In a sleepy town like Storybrooke, a wild child running down the street in a hospital gown certainly got noticed.

"Go," Mal urged seeing the worried expression on Regina's face as her eyes followed Graham and David leaving the building.

Regina snapped her head, looking over to Mal, who was eyeing her knowingly. She ran a hand through her hair, hesitating only a second, before she nodded, "Yeah, okay." She didn't exactly understand why, maybe because the girl had had her compass, or because she truly felt that her actions had led to Emma hitting her head, but she felt somehow responsible for the safety of this child.

With one last glance at Mal and Lily, she took off, heading out into the parking lot. She considered getting in her car but instead jogged off in the direction of the intersection she'd heard crackled through the sheriff's radio, which wasn't too far away.

Emma's senses were on overload. Nothing in this place was familiar at all. "Elliot! Elliot!" she screamed as she ran down the street, her eyes darting every which way. She flinched as a car honked angrily at her and she darted off the road and onto the sidewalk, nearly colliding with a couple walking a small dog. The dog immediately began to bark and Emma squared her shoulders in response, growling, and then barking right back.

"Hey!" The lady holding the leash scolded her, "Don't bark at our dog."

Emma flinched, animals she knew how to deal with, people not so much. Scared, she turned and bolted back in the other direction.

As she approached an intersection, the sheriff stepped out of a patrol car, shouting at her, "Hey! Kid! Stop!"

Emma's fear doubled at the sight of the man shouting at her and her eyes darted quickly, looking for an escape. She hopped onto the nearest thing to her - the back of a yellow school bus. Her feet planted on the bumper, hands against metal, she peered into the back of the bus, surprised to find people her size inside. A boy sitting in the backseat stuck his tongue out at her and she mimicked the action. Other kids were standing up and moving towards the back of the bus now to get a look at the strange girl in the hospital gown. Emma's attention, however, was drawn away from the children at the sound of a siren. She looked back and she saw the flashing red and blue lights and the face of the same man who'd shouted at her in the window of the car and she wasted no time, reaching up she grasped the top of the bus and hoisted herself up onto the roof. She ran the length of the bus, which was slowing to a stop, and jumped onto the hood and then onto the hard ground. People were shouting but she didn't stop to listen, just took off running again, paying little attention to where she was going. She turned down an alleyway and was suddenly face to face with a wall that she couldn't climb. She spun around but it was too late, the dark haired lady was standing right in front of her.

Regina had walked right into the commotion. She couldn't even believe her eyes as she watched Emma jump off of a bus and take off. Finding herself nearest to the child, she followed, only a few steps behind Emma as she entered the alleyway. She saw the panicked look on the child's face as she realized she was trapped, a crowd of people forming at the entrance to the alleyway. She approached slowly but as soon as she was near, her hands reached out and quickly grabbed the girl. She was worried that Emma would bolt again and get herself seriously injured. That bus ride could have ended horribly.

"Hey, hey," Regina tried to soothe as Emma began to struggle against her, "It's okay."

Emma continued to struggle against the arms holding her in place, tipping her head back, she howled. Elliot would hear her. Elliot would come save her. Where was Elliot? Why wasn't he coming?

The sound the tiny body in her arms was emitting was filled with so much pain and despair that it nearly brought tears to Regina's eyes. "It's going to be okay," she repeated softly, not sure what else to do, "It's going to be okay."

The pained howling continued for several minutes before, defeated, Emma finally gave up struggling, her body going limp in Regina's hold.

Elliot awoke alone in the cave, which wasn't all that unusual. He stretched as he exited the cave, heading for Emma's tree house - a collection of nest like platforms that they'd built together. He popped his head up excitedly, expecting to find her sitting there but his expression fell when she was nowhere to be found.

Confused, Elliot sniffed around, searching for Emma's scent, following it for awhile until he heard unusual sounds. As he got closer he realized where the sound was coming from. People. He didn't like people. Not since hunters had separated him from his family nearly a lifetime ago. But he could smell Emma all around here and he thought maybe these people were talking about her. He leaned on a tree, trying to crane his head closer to hear better without actually moving closer.

Suddenly there was a loud crack.

Uh-oh.

Zelena was leaning against one of the trucks, talking to the crew foreman, Robin. "Just get everything packed up and bring it back to town. We won't be cutting today. The sheriff is going to keep this place on lockdown until they figure out where that girl came from." She scowled, clearly unimpressed at the loss of productivity.

A loud cracking sound interrupted any response Robin was going to give. Both of their heads whipping around in the direction of the noise in time to see a tree fall over.

"What the hell?" Zelena's eyes widened, reaching over and smacking Robin's arm, urging him to action, "Get your gun."

They were going to figure out what the heck had just knocked a tree over.

Regina rode back to the hospital with Emma in Sheriff Humbert's squad car. Everyone was on high alert as Deputy Nolan opened the door to the back seat, expecting Emma to try and bolt again but, although she seemed nervous and unhappy, she let herself be led back into the building.

Regina stood in the hallway with Graham and David while Doctor Whale examined Emma. Through the open door, Regina could see the huddled form on the stretcher, knees drawn to her chest, eyes staring straight ahead, and it made her heart ache. "Where do you think she came from?" Regina asked quietly, her eyes still fixed on the girl.

"She was probably on a picnic or a hike with her family and wandered off, got lost. Ruby's back at the station looking through missing persons reports right now," Graham offered his opinion, sounding pretty sure of his theory.

"But she was clearly out there for a long time," Regina ran a hand through her hair, her eyes looking over at the sheriff. Something about Graham's theory just didn't seem to ring true.

Graham shrugged, his gaze turning away from Regina as Dr. Whale stepped out into the hallway, half-closing the door behind him.

"Well," the doctor said, dropping his voice low, "Besides the bump to the head, she's in pretty good health. Surprising really. She's definitely a bit on the underweight side but

I would have expected her to be much more malnourished. Wherever she came from, she's a tough little cookie, that's for sure," he glanced over his shoulder at the half-opened door and then back at the three adults standing in front of him, "I can discharge her if you have somewhere to take her. She doesn't need to stay here."

Graham rubbed the back of his neck, "Can you keep her until tomorrow? We called social services but they can't make it out this way until tomorrow."

"No," The word left Regina's mouth before Dr. Whale could respond, surprising everyone, including herself. "I-" she started and then stopped. What was she doing? Her gaze drifted back to the forlorn looking child she could still see through the half-open door and she just couldn't stop the words that left her mouth, "Let me take her home. She's not comfortable here. Maybe it will help her to be somewhere less sterile. And with another child around her age."

Dr. Whale just shrugged, "Like I said, medically there's no reason for her to stay here."

Graham and David shared a look before Graham nodded, "Sure that sounds like a good idea to me."

Regina nodded too, swallowing thickly. Had she really just agreed to bring this child home without even discussing it with Mal?

Regina looked through the rearview mirror at Emma, who was staring out the window, her knees drawn tightly to her chest. The child had been so perplexed by the seatbelt that, against her better judgement, Regina had decided to let her ride the short distance home without it on. "I think Lily is going to be excited to see you," Regina offered, wanting to fill the silence. Green eyes drew away from the window to look in her direction but still the child said nothing. Regina sighed softly, reaching over and turning the radio on.

Emma flinched at the sudden noise filling the vehicle but after a moment she relaxed, looking back out the window. It wasn't long before they were pulling to a stop in front of a house. She unbent her knees and pressed her hands to the window glass trying to figure out how this thing opened. If she could just get this door to open, she could take off. There had been too many people at the hospital, it hadn't made sense to try and run again there, but now there was just Regina and she was pretty sure she could get away if she could just figure out how to get out of this car. She had to get away. She needed to find Elliot.

Pulling into her driveway and putting the car in park, Regina turned the engine off, spinning around in her seat to look back at Emma, "Are you hungry?" It was nearly lunchtime so she figured that the child must be hungry. Emma looked over at her but once again said nothing before she turned back to the window, pressing against it as if she didn't know how to get out, which it suddenly occurred to Regina that she probably didn't. She got out of the car, walking around to open Emma's door for her. Her eyes widened in surprise when the girl shot out of the car and immediately took off running in the opposite direction of the house. "Emma! Wait!" She called after her, rushing to catch up, which she did, cutting the girl off, although she was pretty sure that was just because her legs were so much longer than the child's. "Wow you're fast," she breathed out, crouching down on the ground so that she was looking up at Emma, her hands holding loosely onto the girl's upper arms, "Where are you trying to go?"

For a moment Regina didn't think she was going to get an answer but then Emma opened her mouth and words escaped, sounding like a plea, "I want to go home."

"I know sweetheart," Regina smiled sadly at her, she tilted her head, "Where is that? Where is home?"

Emma craned her neck, looking around as if she could figure it out, but when she looked back at Regina she just shrugged.

"Tell you what," Regina squeezed Emma's arms gently, hoping to offer her some comfort, "How about you come inside with me now and then tomorrow I promise I'll take you out to the forest and you can show me exactly where you live. How does that sound?

Emma considered it a moment. Regina would really take her back? Bring her to Elliot? She gave Regina the tiniest of smiles, "Okay."

Regina smiled back, "You know something? When I was a little girl, I loved the forest. My dad used to take me out there and I loved the squirrels and the birds and all of the trees. So when I grew up, I made it my job to protect the forest and everything in it, which I suppose includes you…"

"And Elliot?" Emma interrupted.

"Who's Elliot?" Regina tilted her head curiously.

"My friend," Emma explained seriously, "He doesn't like it when he can't find me. He gets scared."

"Oh," was all Regina could think to say as she processed that information, trying to sort out who or what exactly Elliot might be. Friend was quite a broad term. She heard the front door open and she turned her head to see Mal and Lily now standing on the front porch. She looked back at Emma, "How about we go get that lunch now?" She waited for the nod of agreement before she straightened, her hand moving to rest on Emma's back as she guided the girl to the front steps and up onto the front porch.

Emma shuffled closer to Regina as they approached Lily and Mal and Regina could feel the child trembling beside her, clearly nervous. "It's okay," she whispered soothingly, rubbing Emma's back.

"Hi!" Lily chirped happily, clearly thrilled that Regina had brought Emma here.

"Hi," Emma mumbled back.

"You met Lily already," Regina continued to rub Emma's back, hoping the action was comforting enough to ease some of the girl's obvious discomfort, "And this is Lily's mom, Mal," she motioned with her hand towards her girlfriend.

"Hi sweetie, you must be Emma, it's nice to meet you," Mal smiled brightly at the child, offering what she hoped was a friendly and reassuring expression at seeing Emma's nervousness, "Lily has been talking about you all morning."

"Hi," Emma whispered quieter than she'd responded to Lily, eyeing Mal carefully, feeling wary of this new person.

Regina and Mal shared a quick look before Regina said, "Lily, why don't you take Emma inside? To the kitchen. I promised her lunch."

"Sure," Lily grinned, reaching forward and snagging Emma's wrist and tugging her towards the front door.

Emma shot a quick look back at Regina but she let Lily bring her through the door.

Regina waited until the door was shut to turn and face Mal, a hand through her hair, shooting her girlfriend an apologetic expression, "So, I brought a child home without talking to you...but it's just for tonight...I'm sorry." She rushed out the apology.

Mal quirked an amused eyebrow at the apology, "Did you think I would say anything other than bring her here?"

Regina shrugged.

"You heard what Lily said at the hospital. That child literally saved her life today, or at the very least saved her from serious injury. And seeing her now...to be honest, I have no clue how she did it...she's so tiny, Regina," Mal shook her head, realizing she was getting off track, "But anyway...what I mean to say is, of course I agree with your decision to bring her here. I'm a little disappointed that you'd think differently."

"No, no," Regina shook her head, "that's not what I meant. I didn't think you'd disagree, I just...we don't usually make big decisions without talking to each other, that's all."

"Oh," Mal shrugged, smirking, "Well, in that case, I suppose I can accept your apology this one time."

Regina chuckled, shaking her head and moving over to kiss Mal quickly, "Must be my lucky day."

"You betcha," Mal chuckled too. "So," she drew the word out, using it as segway, "We better go inside before the house gets destroyed."

Regina frowned, "You think Emma will destroy our house?"

"No," Mal shook her head, smirking, "I was more thinking that if we were out here any longer, Lily might get some terrible idea, like trying to make lunch. And Lily making lunch sounds like a recipe for a destroid the house."

"Fair point," Regina laughed, moving over to pull the door open.