Emma didn't know how long she spent in the cavern. After she decided that looking for the egg was a lost cause, she moved to leave. Of course, leaving had to be a problem. It took forever to work the controls to the lift. Her hands played with all the controls, and she was lucky she didn't break anything. When the door opened, she dragged her feet into the elevator and leaned against the wall as the pulley started to pull up the lift. She needed a hot bath because she felt gross covered head to toe in ash. When the lift carried her up, she could see Rumple standing in front of her with a smug look on his face. She rubbed her face tiredly when she forgot that Rumple would be waiting for her.
"I said you would come out alive. Well, did you get it?" Rumple held out his hand expectantly.
Emma wanted to make a joke about the situation, but Rumple wasn't going to be amused. The only way to handle this situation tactfully was being blunt.
"It wasn't there." She pushed past him, making her way to the door. She toyed with the sword in her hand, debating whether she wanted to keep it. If she walked home with it, Henry would question her.
"Excuse me?" He asked, his voice laced with disbelief. His tone caused her to let out a heavy sigh.
"You heard correctly," she answered as she continued to stare at the door. Her free hand clenched at her side. She really didn't want to have this conversation at the moment because her body was aching.
"That's impossible. I know Charming got rid of the egg because he came back empty handed when he jumped out of the window," he denied, anger was becoming evident in his tone.
Emma whipped around at his statement. She knew what she saw. He didn't spend hours digging through the remains of a dead dragon. If he didn't believe her, he could double check after her. "Well, maybe he tricked you or someone stole it."
Maybe suggesting that a deal had been broken wasn't the best approach. As soon as Emma made the suggestion, Rumpelstiltskin's eyes widened, his face contorted into a mad frenzy. With a yell of rage, he whipped out his cane and started hitting the old computer monitors. The glass shattered when the wood made contact. Throughout the process, Emma debated whether to stop Rumple because he was in a land without magic. Even though he was the Dark One, he was playing with the real world's laws and he could kill himself from overexertion. In addition, he was causing a lot of damage. When he got tired at hacking away at the computers, he moved to the bookshelves and pushed them down. A mountain of books fell on the ground as the bookcases toppled over. At his size and age, there were only so many bookshelves that Rumple could physically knock down after wasting his energy on the computers.
"Had enough?" She asked with a raised eyebrow, looking at the older man, who had finally ran out of steam. Rumple was hunched over and panting. Eventually, he turned his gaze to her.
"All Charming had to do was force the egg down Maleficent's throat for his mother ring to lead him to Snow White. That was the deal. No one breaks a deal with me," he warned, his eyes wild with rage. He pointed at her with a shaky finger. His temper tantrum still hadn't left him.
Emma felt uncomfortable with the underlying threat. She wondered what that meant for Charming. She looked around the library to see the extent of the damage. It looked like a storm hit and had shown no mercy. She shook her head at his childish behavior.
"Get your revenge later after you calm down. I was almost afraid you would have keeled over from a heart attack. You're lucky you own this property otherwise I would have arrested you. I hope you have good insurance to cover the damages, " she quipped, walking over some of the fallen books and furniture.
There was no use crying over the loss of a potion. He made it once before. All they had to do was make another one.
"Can't you make another potion?" She asked.
Rumple stared at her like she asked a dumb question. "It's not that simple. Magic is needed," he explained, his tone was laced with annoyance.
"I'm sure it will turn up eventually," she admitted to try and get him to calm down.
At her words his gaze turned serious.
"For Charming's sake, I hope so," he threatened, bowing his head. His calculating gaze was on the floor as he came up with their next course of action. With another yell of rage, he clenched his free hand into a fist and hit the wall. "I didn't think I was going to get my hands dirty, but we're in a desperate situation." He began, anger was laced in his tone.
"What are you planning on doing?" She asked hesitantly.
She was nervous of what he was planning, if he said that the task was dirty. He was planning on doing something illegal. If that was the case, Emma didn't want to be in a compromising situation.
"The less you know the better. You keep on with your sheriff's duties. I'll handle everything else," he informed with a devious grin. After revealing his plot, he limped away, leaving Emma to her thoughts.
After the Dark One's words, Emma walked back to the house. She would've made it a lot faster if she took her car, but she didn't want to get the ash all over her seats. It would be a pain to clean up. She looked at her phone and saw that it was five in the evening. Henry should have been home a few hours ago. She hoped he was able to find some food in the fridge to hold him down until she arrived. They could go to Granny's later after she took a shower. A smile made its way to her lips when the house was in sight. Taking out her keys, the door opened for her without any resistance. She groaned when the ash fell on the floor. She was going to have to do some serious cleaning.
She heard noises coming from the living room. Henry was either watching T.V. or playing a video game. When she went to check up on him she stopped at the doorframe. Sitting next to Henry was a small boy with dark brown hair and brown eyes engrossed in a video game Henry was playing. They had yet to notice her presence.
"Henry, who is this?" She asked, her tone slightly disapproving.
The boy looked no more than four. Emma didn't fault Henry for making friends. She wished she had a heads up that they were having company. Her eyes closed in a wince when she realized that he didn't have a chance to ask her because she was too busy slaying a dragon. Still, the young boy's parents must be worried sick for him.
"Mom, what happened to you?" Henry's eyes widened when he took in her appearance.
"I asked you a question first," She said, leaving no room for argument. She wasn't going to let him change the subject until she knew who this kid belonged to. The last thing she wanted was to be accused of kidnapping.
Henry brows furrowed in thought, trying to recall the question before his eyes brightened. "Oh, this is a friend I made in school. His name is Roland," he introduced eagerly.
"I see," she said evenly before trying to decide the best way to deal with the young boy. "Uh... Roland-"
Whatever Emma was going to say got cut off with her phone ringing. She pulled out her phone and saw a number she didn't recognize.
"Emma Swan," she greeted.
"How unprofessional. I was expecting to hear Sheriff Swan," the other caller berated Emma's mannerisms.
Emma didn't need Caller ID to recognize that voice. She had Regina's office number on her phone, but this number was her personal number. Why was Regina calling her from her own personal number?
"I'm off duty what do you need, Regina?" She asked tiredly. She hoped that whatever Regina needed done wasn't urgent.
"I need you to come to my house immediately," She instructed and hung up the phone before Emma could protest. Emma didn't know whether she was imagining it, but Regina's voice had a slight edge of panic to it. Emma rubbed her temple at the turn of events. She moved from one situation and into another.
"Is everything alright, Mom?" Henry asked, concern laced in his tone.
"I have to go see Regina because she said it's an emergency," she admitted before turning her eyes to Roland. She had to return him to his parents before she did anything else.
"Mom called?" Roland asked. He perked up at Emma's statement.
"Wait, Regina is your mother?" Emma blurted out. This boy was well mannered and sweet. There was no way that he could possibly be Regina's kid. He didn't look like her at all.
Emma turned her head to Henry. She wanted to know if he kept that fact from her. "Did you know?"
Henry looked shocked at the news as well. Emma ran a hand through her hair in frustration. She now understood why Regina was freaking out. Her kid was missing.
"Let's go. I don't want her to think you were kidnapped," she beckoned Roland to come with her. She grabbed her gun belt before she walked out of the door.
Emma walked with Roland to his house. She made Henry stay behind because she didn't want him near Regina. The last thing Emma needed was to give Regina ideas to kidnap Henry if she thought she kidnapped Roland. Hopefully, Emma could just drop Roland off without any hard feelings, but that wouldn't be likely. Emma almost whistled when she saw the extravagant white house Regina lived in. Regina sure did live well. She rang the doorbell and it seemed like it took the front door forever to open.
The mayor opened the door and took in Emma's appearance before her mouth turned into a sneer.
"What the hell happened to you? Did you get lost on your way to the sheriff's station today? I hear that you didn't show up?" She asked, her tone was almost mocking.
Emma had to bite back a comeback. She wanted the exchange to be as smooth as possible. "I think you lost something." She turned to the side and realized that Roland wasn't standing beside her. She let out a relieved breath when she saw him near a garden. She nodded in Roland's direction.
"Roland," Regina said relieved before her eyes narrowed at Emma in a glare. "How did you know my son was missing? I was calling you about him."
Emma could see the wheels turning in Regina's head. She was probably coming up with a hundred reasons for why Emma had her son. She had to correct the mayor's assumption fast.
"Apparently, my son found him and invited him over without asking me. Your son was there when I returned home. I'm sorry he wasn't returned earlier. I didn't know you had a son," she said truthfully, hoping that Regina accepted her apology.
"It shows how incompetent of a sheriff you are. It's common knowledge that I have a son. You would've known if you had researched it. Tell your son to not invite children over without permission from their parents. You don't want parents accusing Sheriff Swan of kidnapping their children," she said with distaste. Emma didn't miss the warning in Regina's tone.
"I'm sorry. It won't happen again," she said seriously.
She wasn't going to let Henry near Regina's son anymore. The last thing she needed was to have another situation like this happen again. If Roland actually got kidnapped, Emma had a feeling that she would be the first suspect.
"You're right it won't, " Regina agreed and called Roland inside. Emma left when Roland was safely in the house. As Emma walked away from the mansion with her hands in her jacket, she felt eyes on the back of her head. Turning around, she saw Regina staring at her retreating back with a scowl.
Emma made her way to the house for the second time that evening. She couldn't wait to finally take that shower without any interruptions and finally grab something to eat. Walking up the steps she frowned. Something seemed off about the door. She lightly pushed the door and it easily opened. She gasped when she saw the hinges. The edge was splintered as though someone kicked in the door. She pulled out her gun as she checked the rooms.
"Henry!" She called, trying to summon her son.
Her heart rate started to pick up when there was no answer. Room after room she checked and there was no sign of her son. Dread started to fill her being when she saw objects scattered throughout the house. Henry looked like he put up a fight. The mirror in the hallway was cracked by a paperweight that was thrown at the attacker.
"Are you here, Henry?!" Emma yelled for a final time when she reached the last room. Her worst fears had come to fruition. Henry had been kidnapped.
Emma realized that feeling sorry for herself wouldn't bring Henry back. It was late in the evening and David was asleep. Emma was going to cover as much ground as she could before morning broke. She wasn't going to waste time when Henry was out there somewhere.
Emma walked the streets of Storybrooke, trying to think of the most logical place Henry could be. She wondered if Regina had anything to do with his kidnapping but that wasn't likely because Henry had to have been kidnapped during her trip to Regina's house and when she returned. So, who else could've been responsible? Sydney wasn't likely, because he didn't seem to have a backbone. Emma put her face in her hands in frustration. She had no trail to find. She was looking for him blind. A voice broke her from her thoughts.
"You seem distressed, Sheriff."
Emma looked up to see blue eyes staring down at her. He had brown hair, wearing a black suit and a scarf around his neck.
"I'm looking for my son," she admitted. It took all her effort not to cry. Her emotions were over the place. She pulled out her phone and showed him the wallpaper of her and Henry. "Have you seen him recently?" She asked, her voice hopeful.
He took the cellphone and frowned. "No, but I will help you look for him. I know what it's like to lose a child." He said, his gaze serious. She thought she saw his eyes darken as though he was thinking of a distant memory.
"Thank you," she said genuinely with a small smile.
During the search in the woods, she found out that the man's name was Jefferson. They covered a lot of ground, but they were no closer to finding Henry. Emma couldn't understand where he could possibly be in this small town. They had spent many hours searching, and Emma was tired from the lack of sleep and the exhaustion of covering a lot of ground and slaying Maleficent. Emma leaned against a nearby tree, trying to catch her breath.
"Are you alright?" Jefferson was staring at her with concern.
"I'm a little tired and thirsty," she admitted.
Jefferson looked out in the distance, his lips pursed. His eyes were in contemplation before he returned his gaze to her. "My house is nearby. We can rest a while and try again later."
As Jefferson said, his house wasn't far. It was very extravagant as well, but not as grand as Regina's. Emma wondered what he did for a living in this town to amass such wealth. Her thoughts were short lived when he came back with cups of tea.
"I don't know how to thank you," she said with a hesitant smile.
"Knowing that you will be reunited with your son is the only repayment I need," he answered with a smile that didn't reach his eyes.
"You said you lost your child," she recalled, bringing the cup of tea to her mouth. When the hot liquid touched her mouth, she thought it had an interesting aftertaste.
"Yes, she was taken away from me unjustly and given to a new family." His hands clenched at his sides, and she could see the anger in his eyes.
"Is she still in this town?" She asked, blinking a few times. Her vision was becoming foggy, she rubbed her eyes trying to clear her eyes.
"Yes, you don't know what's like to see your child from afar and powerless to do anything about it." He said with a mixture of contempt and longing in his tone.
At his statement, Emma fell to the ground. Through narrow eyes, she could see the tea seeping into the carpet. Jefferson's feet were standing near the fallen cup. Her eyes fluttered barely able to stay awake. "Don't worry. The effects will only be temporary. I'll let you go when you help me set things right." Emma barely made out his words before her eyes closed completely.
Emma groaned as the light shone in her eyes. Her vision was still foggy as she tried to remember what had happened. She was looking for Henry with Jefferson. Jefferson! That son of a bitch had drugged her. When her vision refocused, laying before her were some pieces of fabric and some needle and thread. She got up from her chair, and her eyes widened at the shelves lined with hundreds of hats. Someone clearly had an obsession with hats.
"I would sit down if I were you. Wouldn't want my finger to slip," Jefferson warned, the gun aimed at her.
She stared at the metal object and tried to remain calm. If she didn't cooperate then he would pull the trigger without hesitation. The gun followed her movements as she slowly sat back down on the chair. When he saw that he got her cooperation, he began to go into some sort of monologue of how his daughter was cursed and he was stuck with two personalities. He continued to explain how he wanted to return to the Enchanted Forest with his daughter. Emma almost felt sorry for him, until she realized the predicament she was in. She had a sinking feeling that Henry was in the house as well. She needed to know how long he had planned to kidnap them.
"You have been following me this whole time, haven't you? That one time I saw you in the alley. That was you," She remembered all those walks these past couple of weeks and her being followed. This wasn't a coincidence.
"I knew you were special. After Graham died, you showed up and caused a lot of fuss in the town. All these changes happened because of you. I knew you could help me," he admitted with a crazed grin.
He walked up to her and showed her the picture of her and Henry that was stolen from the house before the election. So he was the one who broke into her house the first time as well. Before she had a chance to say anything, he began to speak.
"You and your son aren't leaving here until you make my hat and get it to work," he warned with the gun still trained on her.
"It seems like you don't need any more hats," she sassed, trying to think about overcoming her kidnapper and find Henry.
"If they worked, I wouldn't need you," he said annoyed.
"How do you know they don't work? Did you try it?" She asked, trying to buy more time.
He took one and spun it in front of her.
"When it is spun it makes a portal," he explained as the hat continued to spin. Eventually, it came to a stop.
"Make one like that. You have magic. You can do it." He gestured to the hat in front of her. She picked it up and ran her fingers over the seams. It seemed finely crafted. She never sewed in her life, and there was no way she could make a hat.
"This land doesn't have magic. I would know because I would have sensed it by now. You're wasting our time," she reasoned, trying to get him to reconsider.
"You are the Savior you could do it," he said before turning around to grab another hat from the shelf. Emma used his distraction to her advantage. She pushed him against the glass shelving. The force of the impact caused the other shelves to collapse on top of him with a loud crash. She made no attempt to see his condition as she ran through the rooms searching for Henry's whereabouts.
Room after room she checked, her feet thudded as she ran against the wooden floor. Her heartbeat reverberated in her ears. Every room she found empty made her more determined to find Henry. At the last room at the end of the hall, she threw the door open and found Henry bound and gagged.
His green eyes were bright when he saw her. Despite his disheveled appearance, he was happy to see her. She quickly removed the gag, causing him to gasp when he was finally able to breathe fresh air from his mouth. Emma started untying his binds.
"Mom, he is the Mad Hatter!" Henry warned as she continued to make short work of the rope.
She almost halted when she heard footsteps running on the wooden floor. Jefferson didn't stay passed out as long as she had hoped. She had to buy some time for Henry to escape. She saw him trying to move his hands out from his free binds, but she held out a hand to stop him.
He looked at her questioningly as she made the ropes look like he was still bound.
"He is coming. Pretend you are still stuck until I tell you to run. I want you to find Gold or David," she said, her gaze serious.
"What about you?" He asked, voice small. She kissed Henry on his brow. She didn't really know what was going to happen.
"I'll hold him off," she promised.
"What if you get hurt?" Henry shook his head in protest at the thought of leaving his mother in danger.
"He needs me. He won't hurt me." Emma didn't believe what she was saying, but she needed Henry out of harm's way. "Please, listen to me," she begged.
At his nod, Emma stood by the door waiting for Jefferson to run inside. Seconds later, he ran into the room, his face covered in cuts, with a hat on his head. Emma tackled him against the wall, causing him to drop the gun.
"Henry, run!" She yelled, standing as a barrier between Henry and Jefferson.
Jefferson tried to lunge to grab Henry's ankle, but Emma kicked Jefferson in the arm, causing the hat to fall on the ground.
Henry ran out the door, kicking the gun further away by accident.
Picking up the fallen hat, Emma spun it in her hand to throw it in his face as a distraction, planning to retrieve the gun. Her plans changed when she heard Jefferson's gasp. Looking down, she dropped the hat that was radiating purple from the brim of the hat. What the fuck? She stared at the object in horror as it began to move. The hat began to spin on the ground by itself as the whistle on Emma's neck glowed red. A purple vortex came out of the hat as it continued to spin vigorously. Stray magic that came out hit objects in the room and caused the objects to fall on the ground. One burst of magic hit the ceiling fan and one of the blades fell on Jefferson, knocking him to the ground. Emma tried running but the magic's pull was gravitating her towards the hat. Reaching out, her fingers grabbed a leg of a desk. Her fingers were losing their grip on the desk as the vortex tried to claim her, causing other objects in the room to get sucked into the hat. Losing their traction, her fingers let go of her last support to this realm. The last thing Emma heard was Jefferson's yell of surprise as she got sucked into the swirling vortex.
Next: Trapped