Emma called Neal for the fourth time as she wandered down main street. She left messages to meet her at Granny's, but she started calling him two hours ago. She realized that she had reached Gold's shop. She figured she might as well try in there. She pushed open the door and the bell rang.
"Ah, Ms. Swan. What can I do for you today?," Gold said, smiling at her from behind the counter.
"I just wanted to know if Neal was here," Emma stated.
"Ah, good. I'm sure Bae would love to see you," Gold said. "But he's been out for some time. I think he went to buy a present for Henry."
"You've got plenty of things in your shop," Emma said.
"He didn't want something from me," Gold said, a little hint of sharpness in his voice. "Do you want to wait for him? I'm sure he'll be back any minute."
"Do you know why he isn't picking up his cell?" Emma asked.
"Maybe he forgot to recharge it." Emma started to grow uncomfortable. He was up to something, she was sure.
"Well, just tell him I wanted to meet him an hour ago and to please call me," with that, she turned to leave.
"Just, one more thing, Ms. Swan," Gold said, coming out from around the display case. "I wanted to give you something for Henry. It's a family heirloom." Gold held out a needle and thread set. The box was ornately carved, holding the thread within. The top of the box had little holes to hold the needles. Emma looked at it and remembered the stories of Rumplestiltskin were about a spinner. She wondered how many people in his family were spinners, would Henry be one if he grew up in the Enchanted Forest. What would their life look like if circumstances had been different?
"Give it to Neal. It'll mean more coming from him," Emma said, handing the box back to him.
"You're right, that would make more sense. Goodbye, Ms. Swan." As Emma turned, Gold put a cloth over her mouth. Her eyes opened wide before she collapsed to the ground.
"Don't worry, Ms. Swan. You'll wake up soon," Gold sneered.
Neal was walking back from the toy store when he realized that his phone was on silent. Four messages from Emma. As he listened to them all, he checked his watch and saw he was an hour late. Great. He walked quickly over to Granny's and sat down at the bar.
"Hey, Ruby. Has Emma been in?" Ruby looked up from the other end of the bar and shook her head.
"No, sorry. I saw her about an hour ago on the phone, but she never came in. Maybe she got a call from the station," Ruby estimated. Neal looked down at his phone and tried to call her again. The bell over the door rung behind him and he turned to see if it was her. Nope, just that annoying pirate. As soon as Killian saw him, he made a bee line straight for him and grabbed him by the shirt.
"Where's Emma? She's been gone for hours."
"She wanted to meet me here, but Ruby said she hasn't been in yet," Neal stated, shrugging Killian's grip off his shoulder. Killian crashed in the seat next to him at the bar.
"Well, if she'll be here soon, I'll wait." Ruby brought both Killian & Neal a glass of water.
"Can I get you something, boys?" Ruby asked with a smile.
"Yes, he'll have the codfish," Killian said, looking over the menu. Neal grunted and looked at his menu.
"And I think Hook will have the...senior citizen special. That counts if you're over 100, right?" Ruby smiled uncomfortably.
"I think I'll give you boys another minute," she said and darted away. Killan let out a dark chuckle.
"Nice one, boy. Did you pick that up on the back streets?"
"Yeah, yeah I did. Probably around the time you got my Mother killed." Neal stated, still looking at his menu.
"I got your mother killed!?"
"If you hadn't stolen her away, he wouldn't have killed her in a jealous rage." Neal stated, finally looking at him. "And while we're on the topic of my Mother, do you know how messed up it is that first you sleep with my mother, now you're going after her son's girl?"
"Only when you put it like that," Killian stated. "And she is not your girl."
"She was my girl long before you pal. How old is Henry?" Neal challenged.
"Are you asking or telling? It might be one of the few facts that you actually know about your son," Killian said standing.
"Whoa, boys, no fighting in here," Ruby said, trying to step in.
"Hey, I care about Henry, that's why I'm still here. I just want to see my son."
"He's MY son!" Killian yelled and Neal lunged at him and punched him in the side. Killian tried not to beat him with his hook hand, but it was too tempting. Customers tried to pull them apart, but to no avail. The only thing that stopped him was Neal's phone getting a text. "Check it!" Killian commanded, thrusting him away- hoping the text was Emma. Neal opened the text.
"Trouble downtown, and I'm almost finished. I'll meet you and Hook soon," Neal read aloud. "Funny, I thought she was just meeting me." Killian froze and grabbed the phone. He looked over the message and headed towards the door. "Where are you going?"
"To your father's shop, that's down at the end of Main Street, right? He's got her," Hook stated, looking determined and tossing the phone back at Neal.
"How did you get that from this?" Neal challenged, holding the phone up.
"Because she doesn't call me 'Hook.' She calls me Killian!" Both Killian and Neal bolted down Main Street and threw open the door of the pawn shop. They found the shop empty.
"See? There's no one here," Neal stated. Hook was not so easily convinced. As he looked around the shop, he smashed open a display case. "Are you out of your mind?" Hook reached in the case and hooked the object he discovered.
"Since when is Emma pawning her car keys?" Killian held up a keychain, which had the swan pendant reattached to it. Neal rushed to the back room.
"Papa?!" Neal yelled. There was no one in there either, as he reached for the curtain to the repair room, Gold pushed the curtain back first.
"No need to shout, son. I'm here." Hook lunged through the curtain and threw Gold to the floor.
"Where is she? I knew you had something planned, Crocodile!" Hook shouted fiercely. Neal pulled Hook off him as hard as he could, but Killian held his ground. "You just had to interfere, didn't you?!"
"HOOK!" Neal yelled. Killian looked up at Neal then into the room where Gold came from. Emma was lying there asleep, positioned like Snow White in the coffin. "Papa, how could you?"
"I'm doing you both a favor. Only true love's kiss will awaken her. This way, there's no confusion over...childish infatuations," Gold said, sneering at Hook.
"The sleeping curse? Papa, you promised no magic," Neal protested.
"I kept my word, son. It's not my fault that she accidentally pricked her finger." Neal went over and inspected Emma's fingers then held up her hand.
"Then why is there no prick on her finger?" Neal questioned. Gold shrugged and gave a smile. Hook was about to lunge at him again, when Gold held up his hand.
"Don't you want to both try true love's kiss? I don't think it's fair to keep Ms. Swan waiting," Gold asked. Hook started for Emma, but this time Neal held up his hand.
"No, it's okay. I already know the answer, so let's get my end over with," Neal said, already sounding dejected. As he leaned over Emma, Gold shot out his cane in front of him.
"Sorry, son. I think Hook should go first. I'm sure he wants to prove to me that he's Emma's true love. Well, Hook?"
"Wait, why does he have to go first? I'm right here, I said I'd do it, why him?" Neal questioned. Gold tried not to react, but his son knew better.
"Because you didn't use magic, you used something else." Neal looked around the shop and found a recently emptied bottle in the trash.
"Sloppy, Papa. Did you think we wouldn't notice?"
"He didn't," Gold said, pointing at Hook. Killian was holding his rage back with every ounce in his body.
"It's chloroform. You're right, Papa- you didn't use magic," Neal said pointedly as he examined the label on the bottle. He grabbed a water bottle and started splashing some water on her face.
"So, I had to go first since that stuff wasn't about to wear off yet. True love's kiss can cure any curse, but it doesn't help with chemically induced sleep!" Killian yelled. As the two lunged at each other, Neal continued to try to revive Emma. He splashed water, gently shook her, called her name. Emma's eyes started to flutter, Neal smiled down at her and cradled her head with his hand.
"Neal?" Emma whispered faintly.
"Yeah, Baby, it's me," Neal answered with a smile. When Killan heard Emma's voice, he gave Gold one last punch and ran to her side. He cupped her face with his hand as relief washed over him.
"Emma, I'm here," Killian said.
"Did true love's kiss wake me up? From Neal?" Emma whispered questioningly.
"No!" Killian answered quickly.
"Of course it did," Gold answered, getting up. "You're welcome, Ms. Swan. I did you a favor."
"No, it wasn't true love's kiss!" Killian protested. Emma looked at Neal with a questioning look.
"What else could it be?" Gold stated.
"LIAR! Emma, it's a trick." Killian protested. "Please, darling, believe me!" Emma was still very groggy and was having a hard time keeping her eyes open. Suddenly, Snow, Charming and Ruby burst through the door.
"I'm sorry, Emma. I got Snow & Charming as quickly as I could," Ruby apologized. The three inspected the scene and Snow ran to her daughter's side.
"This looks familiar," Snow said, sounding confused.
"It's true love's kiss, from Baelfire," Gold explained. Charming & Snow looked at each other very confused.
"Papa..." Neal started.
"It's not! I'm her true love!" Killian yelled. David went over to Emma and scooped her up in his arms.
"I'm taking Emma home," David stated as he went out the door. He pushed past Killian as he carried Emma.
"Charming, wait!" Killian called after him, but David was too worried about Emma to hear him. Snow and Ruby quickly followed him and helped get Emma in the truck. Killian watched them drive off and hung his head.
"Oh, my dear captain, so sorry it didn't work out," Gold said with glee in his voice. He patted Hook on the should in triumph and went over to Neal. "Come, son. Since Emma isn't feeling well, why don't you go pick up your son from school?" Neal looked between his father and Killian.
"I'm sure his family will take care of him," Neal said as he started towards the upstairs apartment.
"You're a coward, just like him! Why didn't you tell her the truth?" Killian fummed at him. Neal said nothing and left the shop. Killian spun around to face Gold one more time. He drew his sword, put it up to Gold's neck, and dropped it at his feet. "I'm done, Crocodile. You bested me." Killian said with tears in his eyes. "What will it take for you to leave Emma and Henry alone?" Gold smiled and poked his cane into Killian's chest.
"Leave, Hook. Take your ship, and never return." With that, Killian left the shop, slamming the door closed as he left. Gold's smile grew larger. "It's only a deal if you leave tonight- Captain!" Gold called after him. Neal came back into the shop. Gold's smile couldn't be larger.
"Papa, why did you think you needed to trick them to win?"
"I just wanted her to see the truth," Gold said. "That true love can conquer all."
"But she doesn't love me. She loves him."
"She has a stupid crush, son. You and her could be so happy together, be a family," Gold pleaded.
"But I don't want that if it's not what Emma wants," Neal stated. "I think I need to go back to New York, Papa. I'll be in touch." Gold followed after him.
"Bae! I just got you back!"
"And you also just pushed me away- again. I'll come back to Storybrooke when I forgive you-maybe. Until then, you need to prove that you care about me by leaving them alone." With that, Neal left the shop. Gold couldn't move- he did it again. He disappointed his boy.