Chapter Thirteen: Deputy-Captain Jack Harkness

Emma enjoyed a delicious pastrami sandwich in the sheriff's office. What made the lunch even more enjoyable for her was having it whilst Mr. Gold sitting in a jail cell across from her desk. Gold spent the night in that cell, having been arrested by Emma for kidnapping and assaulting Moe French. Seeing how miserable he looked in the cell, Emma offered to him, "Want half of my pastrami?" Gold did not say a word, which provoked Emma to humor him instead. "You know I still owe you that favor. Nice pastrami is a delicious way to clear the books."

"Well, I don't need a reminder that you owe me a favor." Gold coldly said. "When the day comes that I have a request, it'll be for more than half a sandwich."

Emma grinned over Gold's refusal, clearly amused over how childish the once "powerful" Mr. Gold was acting.

"I wouldn't mind half."

Hearing the new voice in the office, Emma looked up to see Storybrooke's most recent visitor approaching her desk with that dashing smile of his. "Uh, hi…Jack Harkness, right?"

"Yes, ma'am." Jack confirmed.

"Right. I'm certain you didn't come all this way for half of my pastrami sandwich, Mr. Harkness."

Jack chuckled. "Of course not. I'm here for the new deputy position."

Confusion settled on Emma's face. "I had no idea it was even open."

"Well, a lot of people tell me you became sheriff after the last one recently passed." Jack informed. "I figure that since you're the sheriff now, you could use your own deputy."

Emma nodded in understanding of Jack's request. "Well, I've got no problem with it…but I'm certain one Mayor Regina Mills would."

"Why's that?" Jack queried.

"Because she's always on my ass over everything I do in this town, no matter how much good it does for the people." Emma indicated. "Trust me, Mr. Harkness. As much as I want to deputize you, the Mayor will think of it as a bad idea."

"Actually, Sheriff Swan, I think it's a brilliant idea."

Their heads turned just as Regina herself spoke upon entering the office with Henry. Seeing Henry show up with Regina, Emma quickly stood up from her desk and dusted the crumbs from her sandwich off her hands.

"I'm letting you have thirty minutes with Henry." Regina said. "Take him and your new deputy out for some ice cream."

Jack snickered. "Sandwich and ice cream…must be my lucky day."

Regina's grant for Emma caught her off guard. "You want me to leave you alone with a prisoner?"

"Twenty-nine and a half minutes." It was all Regina said in response to her inquiry, confusing Emma even further.

Emma noticed how Regina was eyeing Mr. Gold the entire time she was at the station. As she glanced over to Mr. Gold, he smirked and said with sarcasm, "Bring me back a cone?"

Not wanting to pass off a great opportunity in being with her son again or getting to know a little about Jack, Emma grabbed her coat and headed out of the station with them, leaving Regina alone with Mr. Gold. As soon as they were out the door, she voiced her fascination over what just happened with Jack. "The only time when she's ever been that grateful is when she needs something."

"You mean she's not always that nice?" Jack asked, sounding amazed.

"Never." Emma uttered. "Oh, before I forget…Henry, this is Jack. Jack, this is my son, Henry."

Jack and Henry shook hands, smiling to each other.

"I hear you're going to be our new deputy," said an amused Henry. "Think you'll be able to handle the job?"

Jack laughed over Henry's question. "Well, considering all that I've been through in Cardiff, I'd say that I might be overqualified."

Emma glanced at Jack curiously. "What have you been through over there?"

The smile on Jack's face, which had been on his face for most of the period he had been with Henry and Emma, suddenly disappeared upon hearing her question. "Enough to need a special type of doctor."

Henry's eyes grew wide on the mentioning of a doctor. "Have you met with John Smith yet?"

"What?" Jack muttered in misperception.

"Henry." Emma whispered.

"He's the doctor you could be looking for." Henry stated.

Jack scratched the back of his head, appearing even more perplexed. "I thought he was a teacher."

"He is." Emma clarified. "I'm sorry, Jack. Henry's been caught up on this book John gave him about this character named 'The Doctor,' who's this alien that travels around in this blue box and…"

Emma stopped as soon as she and Henry saw the astonished look on Jack's face; he even stopped walking in pace with them, leaving them to stop with him and start wondering what was wrong. Jack almost seemed as white as a ghost.

"Jack…a-are you alright?" Emma asked in great concern.

"This book…what's the title?" Jack quietly quizzed.

"A Journal of Impossible Things." Henry said, removing his backpack and taking out the book in question for Jack to see. "It's got everything about the Doctor in it, including the TARDIS, Gallifrey, and…"

"Does it mention Rose Tyler?" Jack hurriedly inquired.

Henry was barely able to answer. "I guess so. I haven't gotten very far to the end of the book, but I definitely recognize the parts about the TARDIS and Gallifrey." After letting Jack have the book to look through, Henry turned to Emma and added, "I just found out that he's got two hearts! How cool is that?"

"Very," remarked Emma, who did not sound as impressed as Henry presumed she would be. She directed her attention to Jack, who was looking through the book. Noticing the frantic way he was doing it, Emma grew more concerned – more for Henry than for Jack. "Uh…hey, Henry, why don't you get a head start on that ice cream? We'll catch up with you in a bit."

"Sure. Be thinking of the flavors you want." Henry suggested and continued down the sidewalk.

With Henry gone, Emma approached Jack just as he stopped on a page of the book and stared at it in wide-eyed disbelief. "Listen, Jack, I should let you know that Henry has a very wild imagination. And while I'd suggest going along with it for his sake, could you maybe tone it down a bit?"

Taking a deep breath, Jack told Emma, "Everything that's in this book is real…it really happened."

Emma's eyes squinted with doubt. "What?"

"I know it sounds crazy, but Henry's imagination isn't wild. It's the truth." Jack elucidated. "You asked me what I've been through in Cardiff. The Doctor is the reason why I was there. He's the reason why I'm here standing in front of you right now."

"And why is that?"

Jack stood silent for a moment, seeming very uncertain about what he was going to tell her next. "Alright…brace yourself for a shock, Emma…I'm over a century old."

Emma was speechless for a minute and then she burst with laughter, catching the attention of a few people passing them.

"I'm serious." Jack said. "I can't die. I'm immortal."

"No, no, I believe ya." Emma jested right before she tugged on the lapel of his jacket and added, "It'd explain your taste in fashion."

Jack shook his head in frustration. "That's exactly my point. What person would wear old-fashioned clothing like this?"

"Someone who tries a little too hard to impress the ladies." Emma answered.

Jack had a retort for that response, but he stopped himself once he realized that she had a point.

"C'mon, Jack. I've only got twenty-two minutes left to spend with Henry before Regina sends the hounds after me. You can tell him about your fascinating immortality. I know he'll really love it."

Emma continued laughing hysterically while moving down the sidewalk. An exasperated Jack Harkness sighed as he momentarily remained where he was and looked back onto the page where he stopped, which featured a perfect illustration of his face with the exact details of his life that he gave to Emma. It was clear to him that she would never accept his words as truth after finding them in a book that she thought of as pure science fiction. There was only one way for him to fully convince her…and he clearly was not going to like it.