CHAPTER TWENTY TWO

The flight and drive back was terse. Neal was sat fairly unwillingly in the back seat, Hook was up front with her this time, leaving Gold and Regina to balance Henry on their knees between them. Not the most safe, but Emma wasn't in the mood for an argument as she floored the car literally squealing the wheels as she tore across the town line.

She barely stopped the car, just hand-braking it into a parking spot outside Mary Margaret and David's house, Emma stepped out, slamming forward the seat and ushering the slightly flustered looking passengers out until they were standing on the sidewalk staring at her.

"Miss Swan... really you should come inside, we need to discuss this."

Emma raised herself up to her full height and eyed Regina slowly as Henry pushed past her, hitting her quite deliberately with his shoulder as he did so and running up the front steps to ring the doorbell and summon his grandparents. Anything to be away from her it seemed.

"What's to discuss?" Emma snapped, pushing past Regina and sliding back into the driving seat, slamming the door soundly. Hook moved quickly, hopping back into the seat as she took off, barely letting him get the door shut. This trip had been too long already and if possible it seemed she had even more on her plate now than when she'd left... granted her magic didn't seem to want to devour her and any other magic it could get its hands on right now but the fact that she had her own nifty little hat just full to the brim with that same unstable magic wasn't encouraging. Nor was the fact that Henry hadn't said a word to her about a damn thing, not a peep, he wouldn't even look at her which was making her quietly nuts.

"You trying to set a new town speed record?" Hook asked, looking uneasy, and she smirked, his aversion to all modern modes of transport was actually quite endearing. But he didn't coddle her, didn't warn her to take it easy or any such nonsense, just let her work it out, which she appreciated as she screeched to a halt outside the docks.

Starkey emerged from the ship, like he'd been waiting for them to get back, his expression was grim.

Hook sighed. "Give us a minute Love." He muttered stepping out and sauntering over to the old pirate. Emma watched uneasily as Hook listened to what the other man was saying before roughly grabbing him around the throat and damn near lifting him off his feet. His roar of outrage made her reconsider getting out the car. But that would have just been chicken-shit of her, so Emma cut the engine and sidled out of the car, her instinct to stalk over to him stalled slightly when she realised that she was unable to simply leave her damn hat in the boot of the car. Sighing heavily she wrenched open the boot and retrieved the hat, stopping short of putting it on her head, but grasping it firmly as she headed over.

"What is it now?" she muttered drawing close enough to hear Hook's snarling tone as he finally threw Starkey away from him, spluttering to get his breath back.

"It wasn't my fault Cap'tin." Starkey pleaded, standing up straight and looking genuinely irritated and a little unnerved. Jukes appeared on the side of the ship, his arms crossed, he looked thoroughly un-amused as Emma frowned at him, but his attention was entirely on Hook.

"Killian?" Emma prodded and he turned to her sharply, his lips pulled back in a sneer. "Don't try that shit on me!" She bit out and he checked himself, his rage subsiding enough for him to pull his mask back in place.

"Mutiny Love." He hissed.

Emma blinked. "Super." She muttered shaking her head, "Like I haven't had the longest two days of my life, why not add this to it..." the bite in her tone seemed to surprise Starkey who gave her a once over. The images of the last mutiny danced behind her eyes vividly and she pushed them away, surprised to find that the whole thing was not nearly as horrific to her as she remembered it being.

"The ships still here." Emma pointed out casually, "Starkey and Jukes, so I'm assuming they what, nicked all the rum and emptied the treasure coffers?"

Jukes hopped down over the side of the ship, landing solidly and striding over to them as Starkey answered her question.

"That Lass... and they skipped town."

Emma blinked. "And we're surprised?" she quirked an eyebrow at Hook. "Hell they haven't exactly got a function here Killian, they don't even have proper beds, the town had no room or inclination to house them, they were probably bored stiff."

Hook was restraining his snarl, clearly he wanted to rend something for this betrayal, but she wasn't in the mood to deal with his emotional whiplash right now. Hook it seemed wasn't willing to let it go, his hand went out and he grasped her by the front of her jacket, drawing her close.

"That was my crew Love!" he hissed, "Mine."

Emma quirked an eyebrow at his hand fisted around her jacket, her expression making her thoughts about it quite clear. Finger by finger he uncurled his hand and stepped pointedly away from her, an apology not quite making it to his lips.

"Go drink it off." She snapped waspishly. "And when you come back we'll deal with the 'actual' problems, of which we have plenty!"

He stalked away without another word, taking Jukes and Starkey with him with one very pointed look, let it never be said that Hook didn't know when to retreat before he lost something vital.

Emma stared at the ship, which was eerily quiet. To be honest, she was actually pleased that the Pirate problem had resolved itself, Hook might have liked to try and keep the recent issues they'd been having to himself, but she wasn't entirely blind, they'd been stirring up more than a little trouble and bad feeling amongst the locals. Frustrations had been starting to boil over. To be frank, the best thing for everyone was them leaving town, they were sailors... they'd find a fishing crew somewhere, the pull of the sea dragging them back to their old love, the chances of them being seen as anything other than sailors would be remote. They had never been the sharpest tools in the box anyway. It was low risk to have them loose in the modern un-magical world.

But Hook was a stubborn ass that was going to see this as a betrayal, he'd probably want to hunt them down, retrieve his stolen property and remind them all the price of mutiny on board his ship. Although she imagined that would be difficult to do if she point blank refused to participate. Besides, the crew hadn't got all the treasure, she knew Hook had stashed some elsewhere the minute they'd docked... for a rainy day, and there was always her pearl which she knew he'd had made into a necklace that he'd been planning on surprising her with. For a quiet man, Jukes could have a surprisingly big mouth when he got a few glasses of rum in him, particularly when it was about Hook's plans for her.

Emma sighed, stalking to the edge of the pier and tossing her boots off, she rolled up her pant legs and sat down, dangling her legs in the freezing cold water, the hat placed purposely beside her. That was something she missed about Neverland... the crystal blue sea, the entirety of it a nice Caribbean temperature with the occasional squall to spoil your day... that and the way it had a tendency of turning her into a complete sociopath with the memory span of a goldfish.

"Can I join you?"

Emma bowed her head, a small smile playing at the corner of her lips, she'd really wanted peace and quiet, so of course her mother would show up.

"If you must." Emma replied patting the deck beside her as she removed the hat, placing it on her lap instead and not bothering to look up as Mary Margaret sat down cross legged beside her, apparently quite familiar with how damn cold the water was and deciding not to venture even a toe inside it.

But Mary Margaret didn't speak, didn't force questions and accusations on her, didn't try and ask her about what may or may not be happing inside her womb, or how much control she currently had over her magic and the evidence of it sat proudly on her lap in hat shape. They just sat in companionable silence as Mary Margaret wordlessly handed her a coffee, the decaff lid obvious but still unsaid as they watched the water lapping against the pier.

Emma finished her coffee, placing the empty cup beside her and keeping the hat in place on her lap, she reached out and grasped Mary Margaret's hand, squeezing it tightly and almost dissolving when she received an answering squeeze.

"I'm here." Her mother whispered quietly. "Always."

Emma nodded; for the first time in her life genuinely believing that and not being terrified of it.

Emma bowed her head, the buzz from the hat intensifying in the stillness. Emma wasn't one for profound moments of understanding, but she felt better more in control, her magic was there, but where before it had been a torrent, uncontrollable, now it was more like a gently meandering stream that could swell... but only when she stirred it. All that excess, wild, unpredictable magic that Neverland had tried to claim seemed to have become trapped in the far from harmless piece of fabric in her hands.

She wouldn't need the pendant anymore, she was sure of it, as sure as she was sat here perfectly calmly beside her mother.

Maybe this had been her purpose, the whole time she was supposed to create this... a way for the people of Storybrooke to finally go home.

"I want you to have this." Emma admitted, lifting up the hat and placing it gently on her mother's lap. "At least until we figure out what the hell to do with it." Emma risked looking up at her mother, surprised to see the calmness on her features. "You and David can protect it better than me right now. Just hide it or something, call a town meeting and ask people if they want to go home, or somewhere else... because the Enchanted Forest is kind of overrun with Ogre's right now." Not that she imagined that would be much of a problem for her extended family which apparently consisted of the Dark One and the Evil Queen... Cora wouldn't stand a chance and the Ogre's would be back under control in no time.

Mary Margaret wrapped her arm around the hat, looking a little overwhelmed, "okay." She breathed, seemingly unable to say anything else. Emma snorted, she knew that 'okay', she'd actually spent quite a lot of time around her mother... in her cursed state granted, but still, she knew that tone.

"Having second thoughts about going home Mother?" Emma met her surprised look head on.

Mary Margaret smiled quietly to herself; Emma wasn't sure if it was at the fact that she'd called her 'mother' or because she'd known what she was thinking.

"That depends, would you be coming with us?" It wasn't an idle question, Emma got the impression that her mother would quite literally follow her wherever she went, it was a comforting thought.

Emma sighed, "When all this first happened, when I broke the curse, before Neverland... before Hook," she smiled, "I would have said no. This is my world, it's the only one I know, it's where I belong."

Mary Margaret nodded, squeezing her hand again. "And now?"

Emma glanced at the hat. "Now I'm a freak, or rather I was born a freak; now it's just out in the open where everyone can see it."

"Emma." Mary Margaret scolded, "You are not a freak." The way she said it Emma got the distinct impression she could have sprouted a tail and wings and turned one hell of a shade of green and her mother would have said the exact same thing.

"I really am." Emma laughed gently; it felt good to laugh, even if it was at her own expense. "But in the Enchanted Forest... hell in a hundred other worlds, most people probably won't even notice it. But here?" Emma raised her eyebrows looking out across the bay to the very modern skyline across the way. "Here I'm a risk, a dangerous liability. I'm really not meant for this world."

Mary Margaret released her hand and slid it around her waist instead, Emma relented, leaning against her smaller frame and slotting her head against her shoulder, drawing comfort from the woman she should have always been able to as she held her close.

"As long as we're all together Emma, it'll be okay."

Emma nodded, pulling her ice cold feet out of the water and wrapping them beneath herself as she felt tears slide slowly down her cheeks making a gently expanding pool on Mary Margaret's shirt that her mother clearly chose to ignore.

"I take it you heard then... about all of it?" Mary Margaret nodded, clearly suppressing her reaction to the news that seemed to have exploded onto their family tree. "Sorry you had to hear about Grandpa Rumple from Regina of all people, but I just couldn't take another conversation about that asshole of a son of his. I guess I'm also sorry we took off like that, all of us with Henry, I just wanted it over with, and Gold is kind of persuasive when he's motivated."

"You have nothing to be sorry about Emma. And Henry has wanted to..." she hesitated, "well he's been spending more and more time with Regina now so..." she trailed off, with a gentle shrug that wasn't quite able to hide the pain she clearly felt at that statement. Emma could relate; it seemed they were both being rejected by the kid, but then she supposed it was just coming full circle, they were just surrogates, standing in for Regina until she was ready to waltz back into his life... all forgiven, because she was his mother.

"I know that this may not be the best time," Mary Margaret started hesitantly after Emma's quiet tears had dried up, "But there's something I've been wanting to tell you for the last few weeks, I just haven't found the right time." Emma lifted her head, seeing the soft smile on Mary Margaret's face and wondering at it. "But now, well," She reached up and stroked Emma's cheek, brushing her hair behind her ear. "David and I, we're expecting a baby."

Emma was momentarily speechless, her first instinct she imagined was exactly how Henry had felt... replaced. But it was a fleeting thought, pushed hastily aside as a small flicker of elation began at the gentle pleasure she saw radiating out of her mother.

"That's wonderful." She whispered, her arms going out and hugging her mother tightly, trying to convey her genuine pleasure at the thought of them getting a second chance to be parents again.

"Emma, this doesn't mean that we love you any less." Mary Margaret tried, easing back so she could see her face and Emma laughed lightly.

"Of course not," she shook her head, "I'm not twelve." She reminded her pointedly, clearly Henry's reaction to this exact same issue had thrown Mary Margaret into crisis. "And besides," Emma lowered her head placing her own hand gently over her stomach, "It's not like you're going to be going through it alone."

"Have you told Henry?" Emma asked after they'd lapsed into thoughtful silence again.

Mary Margaret gave her a nervous look, "No, I was going to tell him when he got back, but after everything... I thought it might be best to wait."

Emma nodded. "Probably for the best." She admitted. "Is he still furious with me?"

"I don't think he's angry Emma, just..."

"Heartbroken." Emma nodded in understanding. "I told you I was bad for him. I only ever seem to cause him pain. I bought his father back into his life and in the next breath told him that I was having another child and shattering his dreams of reuniting his family."

"Emma you're his mother." Mary Margaret argued.

"I'm really not." Emma sighed, "I have no right to call myself that. I gave him up Mary Margaret, and not for noble reasons, he's not wrong, I didn't want him, which means I have no right to screw up his life further now."

"David and I..."

Emma cut her off, saving her the pain of trying to explain how things were changing, how Henry was old enough to make his own decisions... even if Regina was that decision. "You're his grandparents, and that's an important thing for him to have in his life and no one's arguing that you haven't done a great job with a bad situation, but his mother is Regina. Whatever else she is, she raised him and she raised him well. He's good and strong and brave, he always thinks of others first, if you've seen his father and me, you know that those traits seem to have skipped a generation. Regina made him that, she might have been twisted into an evil bitch, but Henry makes her better, and she deserves the right to finish the job she started with Henry."

It didn't hurt as much as she thought it would saying that. It felt, right.

"Emma you can't actually mean that we give Henry back to Regina?"

"I'm not giving her anything, Henry is actively choosing her, choosing her over both of us, and after this weekend I don't blame him. Henry loves her; he wants to be with the mother that raised him, it just took him a while to get over the whole 'Evil Queen' that cursed a town business and made him feel like he was losing his mind."

"Emma she can't be trusted." Mary Margaret whispered, but it was half hearted, like even she wasn't sure she believed it anymore.

"With Henry she can." Emma argued, "Besides it's not like we're not going to be in his life, but we'll be in it the way we should be, as grandparents... as favourite aunts, as guardians, but neither of us has the right to claim him and we're just hurting him by trying."

Mary Margaret looked like she was chewing on something unpleasant. "He's going to think we're abandoning him." Mary Margaret sighed, looking ill at the thought of it "Replacing him, even just for suggesting it."

"This is his choice. We have to let him make it." Emma advised, "Besides, he's a smart kid, and he's not the type of boy to hold a grudge, look what he forgave Regina for. This time, we really are doing it to give him his best shot, he'll see that. He'll get what he wants, even if he doesn't realise right now that it's what he wants… a chance to write his own happy ending."