A/N: In honor of Once finally coming back with new episodes in- *checks timer* 17 MINUTES! *squeal ^W^*
I worked my butt off to get this chappie up in running before it was time.
Hope you like it and please R&R!
For the rest of the morning, aside from reading from the flyers at the top of every hour, the Voice remained mostly off the air. She just seemed to be playing random songs from the last three or four decades in no particular order.
It soon became noon, and Emma, in need of something to tide her over until dinner, walked into Granny's Diner in search of food.
She was thinking of getting a nice pastrami sandwich.
What she got, however, was almost a knuckle sandwich in her face.
Stepping back quickly, the blonde moved just in time to allow a man reeking of alcohol to fly through the doorway and crash ungracefully to the ground.
Emma blinked at his prone form before turning her attention to the commotion occurring inside of the cozy little dinner. Upon taking in the scene, she sighed, resigned to the fact that she probably wouldn't get her lunch anytime soon.
A veritable brawl was taking place right smack dab in the middle of the diner. Unoccupied tables and chairs had been knocked over in the midst of the tussle, and judging by how bent up one of the chairs was, Emma deduced it had been used to knock out the man who was lying beneath it.
While the few early birds who had come for lunch stayed pressed together in the booths or against the bar, two figures stood in the middle of the mess, clearly duking it out.
One was a man in his late twenties who, judging by his sways and stumbles, was either punch drunk or literally drunk like his friends. The Sheriff, in the end, decided it was a bit of both.
His opponent was a teenaged girl whose entire look screamed "punk". From her short, spiky brown hair with neon blue and blonde highlights and multiple ear piercings, to her ripped jeans, maroon tank top, and leather bracelets, she was practically the poster child for rebellious teenage girls.
Emma thought she wouldn't look out of place at a club back in Boston.
And if the way she was handled these drunks was anything to go by, she'd handle the mean city streets with no problems at all.
The blonde watched, a little in awe, as the spike haired girl neatly dodged the drunks' pathetic attempts to hit her before smartly jabbing at his already bloodied face. Emma was so enthralled by the performance, that she didn't notice that the drunk behind her had gotten up before he tried to stumble back to his buddy's defense.
The man hadn't gone two steps in front of her, before Emma grabbed his wrist and twisted it behind his back. As he yowled in pain, the blonde spun the two of them around and propelled him right back out the door onto the concrete. To the man's credit, he realized it was probably a good idea to stay where he was.
Deciding enough was enough, the Sheriff pulled out her gun and yelled, "Freeze!" to the two fighters.
The girl paused in her assault long enough to glance at the blonde, allowing Emma to see that the words "BITE ME" were emblazoned on the front of her shirt in white paint.
Apparently sober enough to sense an opportunity, the drunk reared back and delivered a haymaker punch straight to her jaw. The girl's head whipped around and the force from the blow caused her to stumble back several feet, only a still standing table keeping her from falling flat on the ground.
"I said freeze!" Emma bellowed, aiming her weapon straight at the drunk's head but not taking off the safety. Yet.
The drunk, finally realizing that she was there, and more importantly was aiming a gun at his head, raised his hands in surrender and declared in a slurred and nasally voice, "I did'unt do it, off'rcer!"
"Right~ these tables and chairs just fell over by themselves and bashed your face in on the way down, right?" the Sheriff responded in a deadpanned voice.
"Yeb," he smiled as if glad she understood.
"Bullshit. Put your hands on your head and get down on your knees: both of you!"
Both combatants complied with her orders as Emma cursed the fact that she only had one set of handcuffs and had left her radio at the office. Putting her gun away, she pulled out her cell and called David who was out on patrol. He answered on the third ring.
"Hello. Emma?"
"Yeah, hi David," Emma replied as nonchalantly as she could. Even though she had hired her father on as her deputy, she still wasn't as comfortable around him as she was with Snow.
"Listen, I have a little situation at Granny's Diner: do you think you could swing by and give me a hand? And bring-" she did a quick count, "-Three extra handcuffs with you?"
"Sure, why? What's happened? Are you okay?" the concern in his voice was evident and Emma felt her heart rate speed up against her will.
"I'm fine. There was just what looks like a bar fight between three guys and a girl and I only have one set of cuffs. Not to mention I don't feel like wrestle all four into cells by myself," she admitted, more than a little annoyed at the fact.
"Got it. I'm on my way."
She thanked him and hung up. Getting back to this situation at hand, Emma debated which brawler she should use her cuffs on while she waited for her fath- David! While she waited for David, she firmly reminded herself.
The unconscious one was already out, literally, and she didn't think the one she'd thrown out the door would be any trouble since he'd yet to get back up, which left the girl and the third man.
The blonde regarded the two of them carefully. Now that they weren't moving around, she allowed herself a better look at them.
The man's face was puffy and was bleeding from both a cut on his forehead and his nose, which looked like it might be broken. As she stared at him, he turned his head hocked a bloody loogie onto the linoleum floor.
'Ew,' Emma thought, 'That definitely doesn't win him any points.'
Looking back at the girl, the blonde noted that besides the right side of her jaw where she'd just been punched, which was already beginning to bruise, and a shiner on her left eye, she seemed perfectly fine.
'Sweaty and out of breath; but fine,' Emma observed; slightly impressed, since it appeared she had taken on three full grown men all by herself.
The girl in question, aside from throwing the stink eye at the remaining drunk every once in a while, seemed perfectly calm about the whole situation, as if she knew exactly what was going on and saw no reason to be difficult about it.
Her mind made up, Emma walked over to the drunk, wrenched his arms behind his back (pointedly ignoring his subsequent complaints) and slapped her cuffs on first one wrist then the other.
Looking at the girl as she hauled his ass up, she said, "I trust you won't be any trouble?"
"Nope; I'm good," the girl replied with a shake of her head and a small grin, obviously pleased that she wouldn't have to been restrained just yet.
Walking the drunk across the room, Emma deposited him a good ways from the girl before walking back and dragging his unconscious friend beside him.
The diner was a mess; chairs and tables flipped over, there was blood on the floor along with some broken glass and the remains of someone's meal.
'Where the hell are Ruby and Granny?' Emma wondered as she picked her way through the mess. 'There's no way either of them would've let a fight go this far.'
As if they'd heard her thinking about them, Ruby and Granny bustled into the diner and were struck dumb by the mess they encountered, both their jaws hanging wide open.
Speechlessness fading quickly, Granny snapped her mouth shut before fixing her eyes on the trio by the bar. She glared at the two drunks, the conscious one flinching under her stare, but her look softened a bit when she laid eyes on the girl.
"Really, Pen? We're not gone half an hour and you decide to throw a rodeo in the middle my restaurant?" she scolded, although to Emma she seemed to be having a hard time keeping a smile off her face.
The girl, Pen, simply shrugged as if to say, 'What can I say; these things happen.'
Regaining her wits, Ruby shook her head before addressing the Sheriff, "What happened here, Emma?"
Arms akimbo, Emma replied, "I'm not entirely sure myself. I came here for lunch and found those two fighting eachother, that one knocked out under a chair, and nearly got punched by the fourth guy outside."
Granny's brow knitted together. "What guy outside?"
"Shit," the blonde cursed before dashing out the find that her fourth perp was not where she left him. She calmed down a bit, though, when she saw him across the street, being marched right to her under the guidance of her smiling Deputy.
Upon reaching her, David stated, "Saw him take off from here and decided to detain him," showing off the drunk who had the decency to look bashful about the whole thing.
"Good call; he's a part of Granny's impromptu fight show," Emma replied happily. "Did you bring the extra cuffs?"
"Right here," he said, holding up two sets, the third already fastened around the runner's wrists.
"Thanks." Taking the cuffs, the Sheriff, followed closely by David, made her way back inside, and placed a set onto the still unconscious brawler, before moving over to the girl who seemed willing to be cuffed, although definitely not happy about it.
As the cuffs clicked around her wrists, Granny stopping righting the furniture and asked, "Now Sheriff, why are you arresting Pen?"
"Because…. she broke the law?" Emma answered, suddenly feeling as though she was about to be scolded.
Granny waved her off as if she'd said 'the cat should be killed for catching a mouse'.
"Nonsense! I've known Pen for…. twenty-eight years actually, and in all that time she has never done anything without having a good reason for it first. Atleast what she thinks is a good reason," she mumbled the last part under her breath.
"What happened this time, Pen?" Ruby chimed in.
"Since you asked," Pen smirked, "I was just sitting down for lunch, minding my own business, when these three bozos," she sent a glare at each of the drunks in turn, "Barged into the diner and, right off the bat, begin harassing a poor woman on her choice of lover. I told them to shove off, but they wouldn't listen. Then crooked-nose here," she nodded at the man in question, "Pushed me, and, well," she chuckled, "You're smart enough to guess the rest, Sheriff."
Emma's ears perked up at the mention of someone being harassed, and wasted no time in asking, "What woman?"
"I'm afraid that might be me," a voice piped up from the back of the diner.
Looking over, the blonde realized that one of the patrons who had chosen to stay in their seats and out of the fight, was standing up. She was a beautiful woman, with long, wavy brown hair, fair skin, and eyes that seemed as blue as the sky.
"What she's saying is true, and I'm sorry about the mess, Granny," the woman said bashfully to the older widow before returning her gaze to Emma, "But please don't arrest her Sheriff! It's not her fault; it's mine-"
"Oh hush! It is not your fault in any way, shape, or form!" Pen interrupted, looking a bit annoyed at the prospect of the woman blaming herself.
"Loving someone is not a crime and don't you dare let these wankers, or anyone else for that matter, tell you any diff'rent!"
"But she's going out with that bastard Mr. Gol-doof!" the man David had brought back to the diner tried to speak, but was halted when the punk-girl stepped over and drove her foot into his stomach before Emma could stop her.
As the Sheriff pulled her back, Pen growled, "One more word out of you, arsehole, and I'll kick your family jewels clean off! Now, I'm not a fan of Gold either; I dislike him just as much as you do; but that is no excuse to go after Miss Belle! Who she decides to love is nobody's bloody business but her own!"
The enraged girl got as close to their faces' as she could while Emma was restraining her, but even with a good ten feet between them, she looked menacing nonetheless.
"You got a problem with their relationship? Take it up with the man himself! If not, then shut your gobs and leave the poor lady alone. Or so help me, I will hunt you down and whack you each upside the head with an axe and I am not talking about the bloody guitar. Am I clear!" she barked.
The two men, who were still conscious, and wishing they weren't, kept their mouths shut and nodded vigorously.
Pen straightened up and seemed to relax instantly. "Good."
Emma looked between the two groups and said, "Well, that escalated quickly." Turning to Granny she continued, "I'm sorry Granny, but I can't just ignore this and pretend it never happened-"
"Oh yes you can," Granny interrupted, "Because I'm not pressing charges."
The blonde blinked at her owlishly.
"You're not?"
"Nope. Too much hassle. I'd love it if you could through the boys in a holding cell for a while, but that means you'd have to do the same for Pen, and I won't have that," the old woman stated with her arms akimbo. "I also happen to agree with Pen; I don't like Rumplestiltskin, but Belle is a sweet girl and I won't stand for these boys messing with her."
"Good on ya, Granny!" Pen crowed.
"However; I won't stand for my diner being trashed either!" Granny said, fixing a glare on each fighter in turn. "Now, you boys have been punished enough for bothering Belle by having Pen beat the stuffing out of you, but now you're going to make up for messing up my place of business by cleaning it up!"
Taking one look at the men's faces and hearing the groans from the third one who was finally waking up, she amended, "After you three get checked out at the hospital and get sobered up first. Until then, get out of my diner!"
Having no choice, since Granny hadn't press charges, Emma and David reluctantly relieved all four brawlers of their handcuffs while David called for an ambulance to see to their injuries. The duo was about to march them all outside to wait when Granny called, "Not so fast, Pen."
The girl flinched before stopping and grinning at the old woman sheepishly. "Yeah Granny?"
"Don't you 'Yeah Granny' me, young lady," Granny scolded although she couldn't keep a grin off her face, "There's a pile of dirty dishes in the back with your name on 'em. You know the rules: you get in a fight, you clean till night."
Pen immediately turned around and walked to the kitchen, still grinning. "I know Granny, I know. I was just testing ya; making sure you hadn't gone senile on me yet. Are my gloves still where I left them?"
Emma couldn't help but shake her head at the banter between the two of them, before she continued to escort her little party out to meet the oncoming ambulance.
A few hours later, after supervising the drunkards cleaning efforts, convincing her fath- David! Convincing David to continue his patrols, and finally getting herself a sandwich, Emma found herself going over some last minute paperwork when she heard the Voice finish reading from the flyers but not go off the air.
[-I'm happy to report, Brookies, that two people called into the station today to tell me that they found their loved ones after hearing me on the radio. That's two people's names I can cross off my 'Missing Persons' list.]
[I just want to remind you all that if you do happen to find someone you were looking for, to please call that station so I can stop reading his or her name.]
[It makes my job a little easier, it's a very long list; plus, it makes me happy to know that families are getting back together.]
[Moving on; I heard some very interesting news today and wanted to discuss it with you all.]
She laughed. [And by discuss, I mean I'm gonna talk about it and unless you call in with your two cents, you're just gonna listen.]
[Anyhoo; it seems there was a bit of a bar fight at Granny's today between three drunks and Pen.]
[I know: you're shocked. Pen. In a fight? Perish the thought!]
[Moving on, it's not so much the fight I want to comment on, although I commend Pen for kicking the guys' butts, but the cause of the fight that I want to discuss.]
[Apparently the Three Stooges got it into their heads to give a poor lady their opinion on who it is that she has decided to date.]
[Pen intervened, and the fight ensued.]
[While I think that duking it out with the idiots in the middle of a family friendly restaurant might not have been the best idea, I agree with Pen's stance that no one should be harassed because of who it is that they loved.]
[Who is this lady that was so harshly judged you ask?]
[Well, since you're all going to gossip about it anyway, I might as well tell you.]
[It was Miss Belle.]
[Yes; the one who just reopened the library.]
[Yes; the one whose father runs the Game of Thorns flower shop.]
[And yes; the one who is in a relationship with Mr. Gold.]
[AKA: Rumplestiltskin, the Dark One, the Beast, Evil-Incarnate and whatever other names you associate with him.]
[Can I just say how really glad I am you don't know my identity?]
[Really helps to lessen the danger my job apparently invokes.]
[Anyway-]
[Wipe that disgusted look off your face and hear me out.]
[I'm not saying I particularly like Mr. Gold; I'd be lying through my teeth; I'm just saying that of all the crimes he has committed, he shouldn't be hanged just because he loves someone.]
[More importantly; she loves him back!]
[Is that wrong?]
[Is that vile?]
[Of course not!]
[Love is love is love, people. And that is the end of that!]
[We've all been denied our own happy endings for the past twenty-eight years.]
[We all know what it feels like to be refused our hearts desires, and some of us have even been shunned because of it!]
[Take Snow White and Prince James for example.]
[During the curse, James was "married" but was still in love with Snow, back then as David and Mary Margaret.]
[When they finally gave into their love and got together, the whole town wound up spurning both of them, especially Mary Margaret, just for following their hearts.]
[Don't try and deny it; we all gave them looks. Even me.]
[Although in defense, my evil eyes were mostly at David for not leaving his wife in the first place, but I digress.]
[The point is that no one, I repeat; no one, has the right to deny someone's right to love another, so long as it's reciprocated.]
[And it most certainly is, people!]
[Catch the two of them, Miss Belle and Mr. Gold, together at any time and you can see for yourself!]
[They love eachother.]
[So leave them in peace, for gods-sake!]
[Voice of Storybrooke, out.]
Emma sat at her desk and just stared at the radio in contemplation.
She hated to admit, but the kid had a point.
Sure, Mr. Gold was hardly the nicest guy in town. Or the world. Or any world for that matter.
But did that really justify shunning his relationship with a woman, who, as Emma learned from David after the bar fight, obviously loved him back; although they seemed to be going through a bit of a rough patch at the moment.
Sheriff Swan didn't think so, and silently applauded the Voice for trying to get all of Storybrooke to see just that.
A/N: And Belle makes a surprise appearance! Yay! ^^
I bet a few of you are wondering if Pen is the Voice of Storybrooke.
Sorry, but I'm not telling, and believe me when I say to not count your chickens before they hatch.
Things are going to get more tricky before they become clear.
Also: what is your opinion on how I write the Voice talking on the radio?
Are you ok with just reading her words or should I put in more reactions, like, "She scoffed", "She growled", "She sounded nervous" and stuff like that.
Feedback would be greatly appreciated.