A/N: Yay! A quicker update. I knew I could do it! This chapter ended differently than I had originally planned. The original end for this chapter will end up being the beginning of the next chapter (which will involve a lot of Nikolai). I am so glad that you all like Nikolai so much. I'm happy that I was able to create a character for you guys that you enjoy reading about. I hope to continue on with that, and hope that you continue to love Nikolai as I have big plans for him in this story. This is of course an Emma/Graham story, but Nikolai's become a big part of their story now, and I'm happy to give him what I hope to be a good storyline. I don't want him to be just a background player who is only around when Emma/Graham need him. I want him to have his own story as well. So while this will be mainly Emma/Graham based, there will be plenty of Charming family feels, Humbert family feels (Nikolai/Graham bonding), and hopfully loads of Graham/Emma/Henry bonding. Enjoy this chapter!

Without a second glance at her parents, who were staring at her wide-eyed, Emma made a beeline for the steps to the loft bedroom. Taking the steps two at a time, Emma reached the top quickly. She could hear her parents bounding up the stairs after her, but she paid them no mind. Right now the only thing that mattered was her son. Henry needed her, and dammit she was going to be there for him this time.

She threw the door open quickly, and rushed forward. Emma sat down on the edge of the bed and pulled her son's small body into her arms and rocked him gently back and forth.

"Ssh, Henry. It's okay. I'm here. I'm here." Emma spoke softly, as she brushed a couple of sweaty strands of hair off of Henry's forehead.

Emma's heart started to race when Henry's eyes popped open and he screamed louder. She didn't know what to do, because she didn't know what was wrong with him. She needed to call Dr. Whale, she knew she needed to call him, and yet her body wouldn't move from her place on the edge of the bed.

"Emma, can I?" Snow asked, as she nudged Emma's shoulder softly.

Emma looked up at Snow helpless as she passed her son into Snow's open arms. Without another word, Snow turned toward James, her brow wrinkled slightly.

"James, the necklace, it's gone." Snow pointed out.

James pulled down the front of Henry's shirt and noted that Snow was right. The necklace was always perched under Henry's shirt, tucked softly against his chest. Now it was gone.

"What necklace? What the hell is going on?" Emma prodded, her frustration showing on her face.

"Just a minute, Emma, please." Snow hated saying the words, but at the moment they had to get Henry to wake up before he ended up injured again. "Come on, Henry. Come on, my brave grandson, wake up." Snow gently shook him. After a few minutes Henry finally gasped and came too. He gripped his arm tightly, as tears dripped down his cheeks. Snow sighed, as she carefully pulled back Henry's hand and groaned. "James, please go call Doc. We need to get this taken care of quickly."

James nodded, before shooting his daughter an apologetic look. As soon as James was gone, Emma turned toward her son and saw the deep, red, angry burn on his arm.

"Henry, can you sit on your bed for a moment please? I need to talk to your grandmother." Henry nodded his head, as the remainder of his tears dried against his cheeks. Snow could hear the barely controlled anger and frustration in Emma's voice, as Emma grabbed a hold of Snow's elbow and pulled her from the bedroom. The door slammed shut behind them, as Emma turned her anger filled eyes on her mother. "What in the hell is going on."

Snow sighed. "It's the sleeping curse, Emma."

Emma sighed, rubbing her thumbs against her temples. She was too damn tired to hear about fairytale related shit at the moment, but she also knew that it was important. That her mother wouldn't lie to her about what was wrong with her son. "What about it?"

Snow's foot kicked at the floor, something that reminded Emma of Mary Margaret. It had been her go to defense when she was embarrassed or upset. "When James woke me from the sleeping curse. A few nights later I woke up screaming. I had dreamt that I was in this fiery room." Snow paused as she turned her back on Emma before pulling down one corner of her nightgown.

Emma's mouth bobbed open to stop Snow, but ended up with her mouth hanging open when she saw the angry, pink scar on her shoulder. "What the hell?"

"You see, Emma. The fire room, it isn't a dream. It's a real room. It only exists in a netherworld. You have to be put under the sleeping curse and awoken from it in order to return to the netherworld."

"Wait a damn second. Are you trying to tell me that my son goes to this netherworld when he sleeps?"

Snow sighed before nodding. "Yes."

"What is this necklace you were going on about?"

Snow's eyebrows wrinkled. "That's what I don't get! Every since Rumpelstiltskin gave Henry that necklace, he doesn't go to bed without it." Snow frowned deeply.

"What's it do?"

"It helps him control his time in the fire room. There is no way to stop him from drifting to that room when he goes to sleep. He will eventually stop on his own. I did. Until then, Rumpelstiltskin gave him an enchanted necklace that would help him control his actions. To stop him from getting injured in the room. Because the fire room is magic based, then the burns that you receive from that room are magic based as well. The first time he ended up in that room, he got burned. The next morning he got very sick. Thankfully Doc had some herbs that had healing powers much like what could be found in the enchanted forest. The herbs healed his burn and forced the fever from his body. I'm hoping Doc still has some of those herbs, before Henry gets sick like last time."

Emma's knees weakened as she slid to the floor. "Oh God. I was off in the enchanted forest, so happy that I found Graham … and Henry was here dealing with all of that without me?" Tears filled her eyes, and Emma chalked it up to exhaustion. If anyone brought it up again, she'd deny the fact, but at that moment she just really needed to cry.

"James and I, we took care of him, Emma. We would've never let any harm come to him. Believe me, if I could have stopped him from venturing into the fire room, I would have."

Emma looked up at Snow and offered a weak smile. She would definitely deny this as well, "Thanks."

"Anything for you." Snow patted Emma's shoulder, before disappearing back into Henry's room.

Emma stared forlornly at the door, with a frown etched on her face. How in the world was she going to make this up to her son?

Graham awoke the next morning covered in a thick sheen of sweat. Using his good arm, he swiped his hand over his face before hitting the call button. Laying back against the pillow, Graham tilted his head toward the door and waited. His eyebrows knitted together as he waited for nurse to come through the door. After a moment, a smiling face entered the room.

"Ah, Mr. Humbert. What can I do for you this morning?" The nurse asked, as she turned off his call light.

Graham attempted to sit up a little bit, before swiping his hand against his head again. "I seem to be sweating a lot." He pointed out.

The nurse took a closer look, before smiling brightly at him. "That's a good thing, Mr. Humbert. The sweating signifies that the infection is nearly out of your system. The sweating means that your temperature has completely broken. A few days without a temperature and you can go home."

This time Graham smiled. He loved the thought of going home. Spending time with Emma. Getting to see Henry, Snow, and James again. Though he couldn't deny the bit of nervous that littered his stomach at the thought of living with his brother. Would they get along? Would they be able to stand to be around each other that much? It was all so uncertain. Especially since Graham didn't know much about his brother.

The nurse gave him a pat on his good shoulder, "You have visitors as well, Mr. Humbert. Would you like me to send them back?"

Graham's eyebrows knitted, "Yes, please."

The nurse nodded, before disappearing from the room. Graham sat, nervously in his bed as he awaited his visitors. He knew what to expect. He knew that it would be Emma and Nikolai, but he couldn't help but hope that the rest of Emma's family would be with her. He really wanted nothing more than to see them all. He hadn't been able to see Snow and James since the curse had been broken. A small knock sounded from the door, and Graham couldn't stop the smile that crossed his lips. "Come in." He called.

The door opened softly as four people ushered themselves inside the small room that Graham was occupying. Emma wasted no time, before filtering over to the empty chair beside Graham's bed and sitting down.

"How're you feeling?" She asked, as her thumb rubbed circles against his hand.

"Much better." His smile only grew in size, as he nodded for the remaining visitors to have a seat.

"Graham." Snow whispered, as she walked around his bed and placed a kiss on his cheek. "Thank you for taking care of Emma over there."

Graham nodded, "No thanks needed, Snow. It was my honor to take care of her." As he spoke, he squeezed Emma's hand when he felt her stiffen slightly.

James patted Graham's leg awkwardly. "I know that I never really got much of a chance to know you, but I owe you a great deal. Thank you, for saving my entire family."

Graham squirmed slightly under the affection that he was receiving from the royal family. "You're welcome, James." Graham muttered, before wishing he had added prince in front of his name.

James merely offered Graham a small smile, before retreating back beside his wife. Graham peered around Snow's hip at Henry who was peeking at him from a distance.

"Henry?" Emma called. "What's the matter?"

Henry sighed, as he came around his grandmother. He eyed the chair that sat opposite of his mother's, before climbing up beside Graham on the bed. Tenderly, Henry cradled his newly bandaged arm in his lap.

Graham shared a look with Emma, before disentangling his fingers from hers. He reached his hand out to Henry's shoulder, and put a small amount of pressure on his shoulder to gain his attention. "You okay?" Graham asked softly.

Henry frowned, before pointing at Graham's shoulder. "Does it hurt?"

Graham glanced at his bandaged shoulder and back at Henry. "A little bit. Not too badly. You're mom took pretty good care of me, though."

Henry sighed again. "Were you brave?"

Graham glanced around the room, taken aback by Henry's question. Everyone's expression read the same. None of them had any idea where it was that Henry was headed with his line of questioning.

"I guess. I don't really know. I guess it depends on what you mean by brave." Graham answered truthfully.

Henry turned tear-filled eyes toward Graham, before groaning and swiping his hand against his eyes. "You didn't cry, right? People who are brave, they don't cry when something hurts."

Realization hit Graham as he eyed Henry's injured arm. "Does yours hurt, Henry?"

Henry shrugged his shoulders and bit back a hiss. "A little bit, I guess. My mom and grandma took real good care of me though."

Graham smiled softly, "I bet they did. Were you brave?" Graham asked, even though he was pretty sure he knew what Henry's answer would be.

"Nope." Henry answered quickly, popping the p as he spoke. His demeanor and attitude reminded Graham so much of Emma.

"Why do you think that you weren't brave, Henry?" He prodded.

Henry shrugged again. "Because I cried."

Graham sighed, as he attempted to sit up a little better. "Henry, look at me." Graham waited for a moment, as Henry's head turned toward Graham. "Just because you cried, doesn't mean you're not brave. Trust me. I've cried over little things. Things that didn't even hurt me. Do you think that makes me any less brave?" Graham waited as Henry shook his head. "Being brave is facing up to things that hurt you or make you afraid. Crying has nothing to do with whether or not a man is brave. Do you understand?"

Henry nodded, "I guess. I just, I wish I hadn't cried is all."

"What happened to your arm, Henry?"

Henry looked around the room, almost as if asking for permission to tell Graham, before turning back to him. "I have these really bad dreams about a room made of fire. Sometimes I wake up with burns on my arms. I hate it when that happens because then Doc puts this really nasty smelling gel on my arm."

Graham's eyes filled with tears as realization hit him. He had heard rumors of a room of fire. That those put under a sleeping curse generally found themselves stuck in a burning room of fire. "I'm sorry that happens to you, Henry, but you know what? I think that you are the bravest eleven-year-old I've ever met. I know that I wouldn't be as brave as you are to face something like that every night. I'm proud of you."

Henry's face lit up in a bright smile, as Henry darted forward and hugged Graham who groaned at the shot of pain that filtered down from his shoulder. "Thanks, Graham."

Graham fought against the pain and smiled at Henry. "You're welcome, Henry. You're so welcome." After a moment Graham realized that someone was missing. He turned toward Emma, who had tears in her eyes. "Where is Nikolai?"

Emma frowned slightly. "I'm not sure. We stopped by the Bed and Breakfast to pick him up, and he wasn't in his room."

Graham's frown mirrored Emma's. He had to admit that it was weird that his brother was missing. Especially considering that Nikolai knew nothing or no one in this town.

A/N: So, who has a guess of what happened or where Nikolai is? All will be answered in the next chapter. Until then!