Chapter 12
Into the Fire
After dinner, Regina broke the bad news to Henry about Emma being arrested. She claimed that Emma was a con artist who was only trying to learn more about him so that she could learn their weaknesses. Henry didn't believe his mother for a second, and when Regina said she'd be leaving for a short while, Henry pounced on his opportunity alone.
He rushed from his home and to the hospital he sometimes went to visit Ms. Blanchard after school. She was the only one who could help him. Mary Margaret was just finishing up at the hospital at the end of the day when she heard someone running down the hospital hallway. "Hey! No running," she called out, and when she peered around the corner, she saw Henry come skidding to a halt before her, out of breath.
"Ms. Blanchard!" he called, his big round eyes huge with fright. He reached up and grasped for his teacher's hands anxiously, staring up at her. "You gotta help me," he pleaded with her. "Like I helped you with my credit card, Henry?" she asked, eyes narrowing accusingly.
She had not heard the end of that one. Bright and early that morning at school, Mary Margaret was ambushed by none other than the mayor. The businesswoman called Mary Margaret out of class and pinned her with an angry glare, holding up her green american express. "Did you give this to my son so that he could find her?" Regina asked. "Find who?" Mary Margaret asked, genuinely confused.
Regina let out an irritated growl and thrust the clueless woman's card at her. "His birth mother is that Emma Swan, he found her online using that card," she explained.
Despite being personally attacked for something her son had done, Mary Margaret found herself feeling sympathy for the mayor and how she must feel threatened about this piece of news. She accepted her card back from Regina and slipped it into her jacket pocket. "I'm sorry, Regina, but I didn't know anything about it," she promised.
In front of her, Henry groaned. "I had to do it, Ms. Blanchard! I had to know who my real mom was," he guilelessly said, unperturbed that he'd committed a crime in order to find out. Mary Margaret shook her head, but could understand the child's reasoning. He obviously couldn't use one of his mother's credit cards, she would have found out all that much sooner.
Judging by the distressed look on her boy's face, Mary Margaret thought she could tell what had happened. "Okay, I understand, but you still shouldn't take things that don't belong to you," she chastised him.
Henry impatiently reached for his teacher's hands once more. "I won't, I won't, okay?!" he said. "Now can you please come with me?" Mary Margaret could sense the child's urgency. He dragged her down the hallway and out the hospital, explaining what had happened to Emma.
She honestly thought that Regina was doing this just to hurt the boy. Given what she knew about the newcomer, Emma wasn't a bad egg. She didn't seem like the type to steal. Over the month the blonde had been in town, she and Mary Margaret had formed a sort of friendship talking about the school marm's romantic interest in Dr. Whale. Mary Margaret was only too happy to help a friend in need.
When they arrived at the police station, Graham had scarcely finished booking Emma when Mary Margaret announced that she would pay the bail for both of them, having discovered Lily too was being held. Emma and Lily were in separate cells not speaking to each other. After Mary Margaret bailed them out, the two girls rode back in silence to the mayor's mansion so they could drop Henry off at home before his mom discovered he'd gone amiss.
"Here, kid," Emma said, holding her hand out the window once Henry got out of the car. She was holding his story book up for him to take back. He'd left it in her car earlier when she drove him home from the beach. He shook his head at her, declining to take it. "You keep it for awhile," he said. "Just be sure to protect it, Mom can never know about it. Especially the last couple pages," the boy warned. Lily peered curiously at the little kid, and Emma reluctantly took the volume of stories back and sat it beside her on the seat.
"Okay, got it, kid."
*~*~*~* ONCE * UPON * A * TIME *~*~*~*
The next morning, Granny asked for their room keys back first thing. "I'm afraid it's against policy to rent to two known felons," Granny explained, twisting her hands together guiltily as she avoided the two girl's eyes. "Let me guess, the mayor's office called to remind you bright and early," Emma said with a tired sigh. "It turns out it's a city ordinance," Granny awkwardly tried to defend her action. "Don't worry, we'll be out by lunch time," Emma told the innkeeper. "Thank you. I'm sorry, girls," Granny said apologetically. "Don't worry, I get it," Emma remarked under her breath, and shut the door.
"So are you gonna tell me what happened yesterday?" Lily asked moodily. She was still royally pissed. "A shoddy frame job, that's what," Emma replied, and set to getting ready for the morning. Lily followed her into the bathroom where she started to brush her teeth. "Who tried to frame you? For what?" questioned Lily.
"It's that damn mayor," Emma curtly answered. Lily raised her eyebrow curiously, not having dealt with the mayor of the town much herself. She only saw her when she chose to patronize Granny's diner. Lily had been given an afternoon job there as a waitress. If she still has it after missing yesterday, that is, Emma angrily thought.
"What did she do?" the brunette asked. This was the hard part. If Emma wasn't leaving Storybrooke, then she would have to tell Lily her new reason for staying.
"It's not about what she did," Emma softly said, and guided Lily back into the bedroom. "Here, sit, I have something to say," the blonde said and sat down beside her on her bed. "Okay, I never told you about this because I didn't think it mattered anymore... but I kind of have a son," Emma admitted.
"You WHAT?!" Lily exclaimed, jumping up off the bed. She stared incredulously down at her ex. "What do you mean you "kind of" have a kid?! Either you do or you don't," she said.
"I do. Or I had a kid, I mean," Emma said, wincing at Lily's outburst. "Back when I was eighteen," she explained. A sobering look of recognition flashed across Lily's face- it was during one of the gaps in time they'd been separated, a time they never spoke of. Lily was blindsided by the information.
"I was young. I had him in prison, and I decided to give him up. It was a closed adoption," Emma said, looking determinedly down at her knees. "I didn't know how to be a mom, I couldn't be one," she said.
She didn't want to see the look of realization dawn on her friend's face as she realized how Emma had abandoned a kid just like they'd been abandoned. Emma could never live down the shame if she had her whole life to make it up to him.
"He's here, in Storybrooke," Emma went on. "He found me. That kid from the ice cream shop, Henry," she elaborated. "Oh yeah, the kid that ran away, I remember him," Lily said cautiously, sinking back down onto the bed beside her again.
"I guess you guys found him then," she stated the obvious. Emma scoffed. "Yeah, you could say that! I was the one to find him, and that's when he told me who he was," she said.
Lily finally reached a hand out to place it over Emma's comfortingly. "Whatever you did in the past, I'm sure you thought it was for the best," Lily said with a deeper understanding of Emma's feelings than probably anyone else would ever relate to her.
Lily didn't know what she would do if she ever found out she was pregnant. I would probably freak. Maybe I would have gave him up, too. Kids weren't really Lily's style. Emma had a point, neither of them knew what it was to be a mother. She couldn't rightly blame Emma for passing the buck.
She might be angry with Emma for keeping such a big secret, but she could at least understand why Emma felt the need to hide it. It was in the past, or had been, until now. Plus, Lily wasn't in any position to hold grudges. She recognized that she stood a lot more to gain if she was forgiving in light of this earth-shattering news.
Emma seemed to melt into her embrace when Lily accepted her news. She leaned heavily against the brunette, burying her nose in her long hair. As Lily hugged her back, Emma sighed, feeling momentarily comforted for something she would never truly forgive herself for. But at least if Lily forgives me, it's a start. "That's the thing, Lil, I don't think I made the right choice," Emma quietly said.
She caught Lily up on the drama with Regina and filled her in on the details of the frame job. They got dressed and were about to leave for brunch when there was a knock at their door. Lily answered it, and Regina's smile faltered on the other side of the door.
"Ah, Ms. Page, is it?" the mayor asked in greeting, sounding downright friendly, and Lily eyed her suspiciously. Regina wore a bright red dress with a scoop neck that hugged her figure and her lips matched. She was holding a large basket of red apples.
"If I might speak to Ms. Swan?" she asked, and Emma came to the door. "What do you want, Regina?" Emma growled. "It's going to take more than a hack frame job to get rid of me," she told the mayor.
The mayor managed to looked surprised. "I'm sure I don't know what you mean," she said with an infuriating calm and superficial smile on her face. "I've simply come to bury the hatchet, so to speak," she said, offering Emma the basket of apples.
"Did you know the honey crisp apple tree is one of the hardiest trees? I've had one of their apple trees for as long as I can remember, used to tend to the apple picking as a girl. I wanted to give you these as a good will gesture, and invite you over to my office later so we can discuss arrangements with Henry," she offered.
Emma noticed that Regina's offers still sounded an awfully like commands. But if Regina was willing to be adult and talk things out, Emma wouldn't be the one to turn her down for Henry's sake. She needed to figure this thing between them all out soon, so Emma agreed to meet her there later with Lily.
In the mean time, the two had the troubling problem to sort out of exactly where they were going to live for the unforeseeable future. At Granny's diner, Emma combed the newspaper diligently and found no openings for real estate in the little town, which she found odd.
Lily went into the back to talk with Granny and ask for a second chance. The older woman agreed to let the brunette keep her job because she felt so badly about kicking the girls out of house and home. "Everyone makes mistakes sometimes," Granny graciously said, and put the girl to work.
"I'm going to go look for a place the old fashioned way, babe," Emma said as she approached Lily to let her know she was leaving. Lily was surprised when she dropped a quick kiss on her cheek.
"I'll see you later. I'll come back to pick you up?"
Lily smiled from ear to ear, and nodded.
*~*~*~* ONCE * UPON * A * TIME *~*~*~*
When Henry got out of school, Emma was waiting to pick him up.
After she left Lily, she had found herself thinking more and more about him on her search for houses. It was him she was staying for, and yet she hadn't had any luck yet. When her search proved unsuccessful, she stopped by the inn briefly to pack up their things and haul them out to the car.
While she was packing, she picked up a special item and stuffed it into her hip pocket so she could bring it with her when she saw Henry. She wanted to talk to him about something.
"Emma!" the boy cried, running towards her after class. Mary Margaret noticed who was coming to pick him up and smiled, heading towards the mother and son. "Hey, you two," she called. "I'm glad to see you're not rotting away in jail," the school marm joked.
"Tell me about it," the blonde chuckled. "Thanks again, you really didn't have to do that," Emma said. Mary Margaret smiled kindly, "I didn't have to, I wanted to." She looked down at Henry, then back at his mother. "I trust you," the school marm said.
"Wow, thanks," Emma said awkwardly, rubbing her arm uncomfortably suddenly. "I don't have the money to pay you back right away, but I'll give you what I have..." Emma started to offer, pulling her billfold out of her hip pocket.
Mary Margaret put her hand out haltingly. "That won't be necessary, Emma. You'll get it to me when you can," she offered in good faith in her new friend. Emma smiled, visibly relieved. "Thank you so much Mary Margaret, I don't know how we can thank you."
Henry pulled on his mother's hand suddenly to get her attention. "You could get her ice cream at the ice cream shoppe," he said persuasively, and Mary Margaret laughed. "That sounds nice, actually," the school teacher remarked.
"Ice cream it is then, it's the least I can do," Emma said, and Henry started leading the way excitedly to the ice cream shoppe. When they arrived, Emma ordered a strawberry frozen yogurt, Henry ordered a chocolate sundae, and Mary Margaret ordered vanilla ice cream with cookie dough. They sat down at a table together, and Henry dived in happily, ready to let the adults talk while he enjoyed his treat.
"Is it unusual around here for there not to be any openings anywhere?" Emma asked exasperatedly. Mary Margaret nodded, taking a lick of her ice cream. "That doesn't surprise me. It's a small place, no one ever moves away," Mary Margaret observed. "Why? You looking for a place? What happened to Granny's?" Mary Margaret asked. Emma darted a quick look at Henry and Mary Margaret nodded understandingly. Regina strikes again, she presumed.
"You two could stay at my place until you find one, if you like," Mary Margaret offered. "After all, I have a spare room and I could use a room mate or two," she said, "As long as you guys don't mind sharing, of course."
Emma looked at the school teacher filled with disbelief. No one was this nice just because. She found herself thinking that Mary Margaret was an angel of mercy that she didn't deserve. "Oh no, we couldn't," Emma said modestly, turning her kind offer down politely out of pride.
They all finished their ice cream and got up to leave. "Well, let me know if you change your mind," Mary Margaret said as they exited the shop. Emma gave Henry a hug since he was just up the road. She was headed the opposite direction towards Granny's diner with Mary Margaret to pick up Lily. As they were drawing closer, suddenly Graham's police cruiser drew up beside them, lights and siren flashing.
"Really?" Emma asked, still a little miffed at him for arresting her when she was clearly framed. "What did I do now?" she asked. "Nothing," Graham replied easily, and alighted from his cruiser. "If you'll excuse me," Mary Margaret said, eyeing the pair as Graham approached Emma. He obviously had a thing for Emma, and what Emma felt for him Mary Margaret couldn't be so sure. She left to give them their privacy and headed in the direction of her own apartment across town.
"This was just the best way to get your attention, you felon," he teased with an easy grin. "What's up, Graham?" she bluntly asked, in no mood for any of his flirting. "I came to make a proposition to you," he said. "What kind of proposition?" she asked, hands on her hips, expecting some intolerable remark from the officer.
"Well, I happen to know your friend there spent a pretty penny bailing you two out," Graham said, indicating the direction the school teacher went. "And I'll wager since your case went cold, you'll be looking for new work here soon," he said. "There's not much in way of bounty-hunting work around here, so I thought I'd offer you a position as my deputy down at the station," he offered.
Graham was willing to try anything to get closer to her. Although what he said was true about needing work, Emma knew better than to accept his offer knowing as she did how much he was going to flirt with her and test her patience. She decided she didn't need that and politely turned him down.
"I have room in the budget, so just let me know if you change your mind," Graham said, a little disappointed in her answer. He had been sure this would work. "Thanks, will do," she said dismissively as she left him behind, heading for the diner's entrance.
Lily was waiting for her. "Let's go," Emma said, and the two set out on foot across town. Emma twined her arm through Lily's and they walked side by side. When they arrived to Regina's office, they found a tastefully decorated black and white lobby with elegantly carved pieces of furniture. Regina had a male secretary behind the reception desk, a young college student intern.
"We have an appointment with Ms. Mills," Emma said condescendingly, leaning against the receptionist's desk. He eyed the blonde up and down with greedy eyes, before pressing a speed dial button on his phone and announcing their arrival to Ms. Mills. "Send them in," her reedy voice said over the speaker phone.
Emma and Lily entered Regina's office and admired the black and white forest collage on the walls. Regina was sitting behind her desk, hands tented, an enigmatic expression on her face. "Ah, Ms. Swan, Ms. Page," she said in greeting, nodding to each of them. "If you'll please take a seat," she offered, and the two women sank into the black chairs in front of Regina's desk, their backs to the door.
"I wanted to apologize to you, Ms. Swan," she said to the blonde. Emma looked at the mayor as if she'd sprouted another head. "What?" she asked, completely flabbergasted. "I know now that you're important to Henry, and I'm just going to have to face the fact that you want to be here," Regina said with resignation.
"We do," Lily said adamantly. "And that you're here to take my son away," Regina added matter-of-fact, leveling a shrewd look Emma's way. Emma felt like a deer trapped in headlights. "Now, let's make one thing clear, Regina. I have no intention of taking Henry away."
"Then why are you two still here?" Regina asked, sounding supremely annoyed. Lily's eyes narrowed at the haughty bitch they all called mayor. She didn't appreciate the way she was talking to Emma. "Maybe it has something to do with you threatening her and trying to frame her," Lily said snidely and Regina's eyes narrowed at the brunette.
Emma sought to diffuse the situation. "Look, I know I'm not a real mother, but I can't help it. The kid got in my head, and now I can't leave without making sure he's alright. And the more you try and get me out of here, the more I want to stay, especially after seeing how troubled he is," the blonde admitted.
"You think he's troubled?" Regina asked. "Well, what do you think? You're the one who put him in therapy," Lily said, remembering what Emma had told her and feeling like she was stating the obvious. Something was wrong, this lady wasn't nearly as nasty as Emma had led her to believe. So far, she was manageable to the brunette.
"I only got to read a few pages of his file before you had me arrested," Emma said, ruefully eyeing the mayor. "But it was enough to show the kid's got problems, he's living in a fantasy world," Emma said. "It's insane," she sadly admitted the truth.
"You think I'm crazy?" they heard a small voice ask.
Emma's heart dropped out of her chest onto the floor. She turned in her seat to see Henry standing in the doorway. He turned and ran, and Emma was left to stare after him with stricken eyes. "How long was he there?" she anxiously asked.
"Long enough," the mayor said with a smug grin of satisfaction on her face. "You knew he would be here," Lily accused, pointing a finger at the mayor. "Did I know that every Thursday my son comes to my office at exactly 5:00pm so I can take him for dinner before his session? Of course, I'm his mother," she said triumphantly. Emma bolted from the room after him.
"You heinous bitch, you have no soul!" Lily said, turning to leave and follow Emma and Henry.
*~*~*~* ONCE * UPON * A * TIME *~*~*~*
Henry ran straight to Dr. Hopper's office, his safe haven for when he had hurt feelings. He was so depressed by what his mother truly thought of him, he could barely speak of it and didn't make for the best company for Archie.
He hadn't been there ten minutes when his mother burst through the door, breathing hard. She must have chased him all the way here. Lily hung back in the waiting room.
"Emma!" Archie exclaimed, coming to stop her at the door. "I'm so sorry," he rushed to apologize for his betrayal of her. He tried to explain, "The mayor made me-" Emma cut him off though, rushing past him. "Don't worry about it, I get it," she said, and came to sit beside Henry on the couch in Archie's office.
"I'm sorry, Henry," she pleaded and Henry turned away from her. "I don't wanna talk to you," he said sadly. "Emma, if Regina knows you're here-" Archie started to say, and Emma shot him a blood curdling look. "To hell with her," she spat.
Her expression softened, and she reached out to hold Henry's face in her hands. She stared into his sad, little injured eyes. "I am so sorry, Henry. The only reason I decided to stay here was for you, and I never meant to hurt you," she told him.
"You think I'm crazy," he said, jerking out of her grasp. "No, Henry, I don't think you're crazy. I think the curse is crazy." She took a deep breath. "But that doesn't mean it isn't true. You have to admit it's a lot to ask someone to believe in, but there are a lot of crazy things in this world. Maybe it is true."
"But you said-"
"What she needed to hear," Emma improvised. She needed to change Henry's mind in a hurry and make him see she did care about him. "What I do know is that if this curse is real, the only way to break it is to make the evil queen think that we don't believe," she claimed and she could have cried tears of relief at the look of understanding dawning on Henry's unsuspecting face as he believed in her lie. "That way, she's not onto us. Don't we want to throw her off our trail?"
"I knew you were here to help me," the little boy said. He launched himself into Emma's arms, and she held him tight. "That's right, kid, I am," she said, realizing for the first time the gravity of her decision. She was scared shitless, but she wasn't about to show him that.
She withdrew from Henry and reached into her hip pocket. This would surely convince the boy. "And you were right, Henry. These last few pages are dangerous. I see why you ripped them out," she told him. He had ripped the pages out and folded them up at the back of the book.
Now, Emma unfolded them and walked over to Archie's stone fireplace. "The only way to make sure she never sees them is to get rid of them," she said with an air of finality, and she threw them into the fire.
*~*~*~* ONCE * UPON * A * TIME *~*~*~*
The next morning, Emma and Lily were outside the mayor's manor very early. It was not yet light out, and the street lights illuminated Emma's yellow car as she and Lily snuck out of it.
Emma was carrying a huge motorized chainsaw she had borrowed. In the mayor's front yard were several tall apple trees, and Emma marched towards one at random with purpose and determination.
She whirred the chainsaw's motor to life, and Lily cheered encouraging words as she sawed off a jagged portion of the tree near the bottom. The branch fell to the ground with a crash and apples scattered everywhere. Regina's tree was mangled. Upstairs, Lily noticed Henry standing at his bedroom window and she thought she could see a big grin on his face.
Regina came running out of the house in a white, silk robe. Her short hair was flyaway and she screamed at Emma, "What the hell do you think you're doing?!"
"Don't you know apple pickin' when you see it?" Lily asked cockily, and Emma took a threatening few steps towards the mayor. The chainsaw was held down at her side, now off after her masterpiece work of art on the tree. "I'm not gonna let you turn Henry against me. If you come after me again, you best know I'm coming back for the rest of this tree," Emma threatened, "because, lady, you have no idea who you're messing with."
