Underneath The Surface, Chapter 19
Pools of Fear
**Author's Notes: I'd like to thank both Paradoxalpoised and LZClotho for their proof-reading, their guidance and encouragement. Both are talented and wonderful authors. If you aren't reading their fiction yet, you should! Thus far, poor Callie has been a little 'underdeveloped'. That's about to change. We stand now on the cusp of some serious action, character development and secrets. SwanQueen fans, don't despair, Paradoxalpoised didn't let me forget the romance! *grin*
I hope you enjoy this chapter. If you do, please spread the word about our not-so-little tale and be so kind as to leave a review. Thanks!**
Emma's eyes fluttered open and she straightened up just as Patty came through the front door.
Patty saw the movement and turned as she came into the room. "Oh good, Callie, you're here. Sheriff Stirling needs to speak with you."
"Umm, what? Why? I didn't do anything..." The teenager stammered as she looked between the sheriff and her mother.
"Let's go into the dining room and talk," Patty suggested. "We'll just be a few minutes, ladies."
Regina and Emma nodded and remained seated.
"Wonder what that's all about?" Emma mused as she ran her fingers through her hair in an effort to look less like she'd been sleeping.
"Clearly, it came out of the blue for Callie, whatever it is." Regina picked up her book again and tried hard not to eavesdrop.
Emma followed suit.
After a few minutes of soothing murmurs from the sheriff's deep voice, Callie came back into the living room, followed by her mother and the sheriff.
Both Regina and Emma looked up as Callie resumed the seat she had been in.
"Emma, didn't Regina tell us you were the sheriff in your hometown?"
"Is, dear. Emma still is our sheriff." Regina interjected gently.
Emma nodded as Callie ploughed on.
"Did you ever have to go looking for someone who had gone missing?"
Thoughts of David crossed Emma's mind, as well as Kathryn, and Snow, when she had been accused of murdering Kathryn in a fit of jealousy over David before the curse had been broken. She decided it was best not to go into detail. "Yeah, why?"
"The drawing I showed you of my friend Genesis? Apparently she's missing, and there's people looking for her but..."
Emma waited, sure she knew what was coming.
"Regina told me once that finding people was your thing..."
"That and her lie detecting skills." Regina added.
"Would you help find Genesis...please?" Callie's eyes became pools of bright fear but she held her emotions in check, not wanting to seem weak.
Emma looked from Patty to the sheriff. Neither offered an opinion one way or another.
The big sheriff opened his mouth, but then gave a small shake of his head and said nothing. He jammed his hands in the pockets of his brown leather bomber jacket and remained silent.
Patty looked at her daughter. "Callie, sweetheart..."
"Mom, I wanna go out and help look for her too. Please don't tell me I can't." The teenager implored her mother. "If I were missing, you would want everyone out there looking for me, wouldn't you?"
Patty nodded, knowing her daughter was right.
"Then let me go. I'll stay with Emma. She kept she and Regina alive in the bush that whole time, Regina said so! Emma knows how to track and everything. Let me help my best friend, Mom."
Patty looked to Emma.
Emma nodded. "I'll do what I can. Let me run upstairs and change. Be right back." As she took the stairs two at a time, she could feel Regina coming up behind her at a more refined pace.
Emma was pulling heavier clothes from her drawers as Regina came into their room and shut the door.
"There is more going on than what we see here, Emma."
"Yeah, I know." Emma nodded as she changed her clothes.
"I get the distinct feeling...wait..you do?" Regina threw on verbal brakes.
"Yeah, there's something deeper than Callie just wanting to find her friend, but whatever it is, she isn't going to talk about it in front of her mother or Stirling. So I'll go out there, see if I can get her to open up and hopefully find her friend in the process."
Regina nodded as Emma laced her boots back up. When Emma straightened, the brunette wrapped her in a tight hug.
"You be careful out there." Regina said quietly. "Don't lose control of your emotions. Stay focused. I love you."
"I love you too." Emma replied as she held Regina tightly. "We'll be fine."
They descended the wooden stairs and found Patty waiting by the door. "Emma, when Callie and I go pick berries we take an emergency pack, just in case we get stranded. To hear Regina brag about you, you're a genius out there, but a little preparation can't hurt, so take my pack." Patty passed her a black backpack.
"Bragging about me, Regina?" Emma asked as she slipped her arms through the straps and adjusted them.
"Yes...well..." Regina replied. "You did keep us alive out there, dear."
Patty passed Emma a set of keys next. "Take my truck. Bring my baby back to me safe and sound." The blonde knew Patty was no longer referring to the truck.
Patty hugged Emma, surprising her, then stepped back.
Regina stepped forward and hugged her once more. "Be careful. I love you."
"Love you too." Emma murmured as she buried her face in Regina's neck.
When they extricated themselves from each other's arms, Patty spoke up again. "Callie has a pack full of food and drinks for you both. She's waiting on the front porch." She opened the door and let Regina and Emma precede her.
Patty looked at Sheriff Stirling, who nodded to some unspoken question.
"My Tommy was a man of many skills. When he was killed by that tree, I inherited his gun collection. A sheriff needs a gun. Keep this." She handed Emma a sheathed semi-automatic pistol.
Emma pulled the weapon from it's holster and studied it. "A SIG Sauer 224. Nice. Thanks." She checked the magazine and found it loaded.
"Tommy's fur-lined leather jacket is hanging behind the seat." Patty continued. "No need to be cold if you don't have to."
Callie waited on the steps with Sheriff Stirling an arm-length away.
Emma nodded once to the lawman and he spoke directly to her for the first time.
"I assume you have your badge with you?"
"I do."
"Good. I'm not going to tell you to wear it while we're searching, but you might find things a little smoother if you do. Especially if you're going to carry the handgun out in the open, which I would do if I were you. Canada has handgun laws that require the carrier to be law enforcement or a private investigator. Your badge will make things easier all the way 'round. There are still folks here who respect a stranger wearing a badge easier than one without. Understand?"
Emma blinked in surprise but clipped her badge to her hip. "This is where I wear it in Storybrooke. I don't do uniforms and I don't stand much on formality."
Stirling smiled. "I can see that. Follow me to the command post, and we'll get you set up with maps, a rifle and such there."
"Emma…" Regina spoke up.
Emma turned to face Regina.
The brunette stepped close and put a hand on Emma's hip. "You find this girl and come back to me." She leaned in and pressed her lips to Emma's cheek, conscious of the others watching. Then she whispered, "I can feel you, inside me. If you get into trouble, call. I'll hear you, even without magic."
Emma wrapped her arms around Regina. "I love you." She held her tight for a minute, then sighed and stepped away.
Emma and Callie made their way to Patty's truck. Emma slid the pack from her back, and as they grasped their respective door handles, Patty called out from the porch.
"Sheriff Swan..."
Emma turned, a little surprised to hear her title used.
"Be careful out there." Patty continued. Regina stood beside her trying not to look concerned.
Emma nodded and spoke, more to Regina than to Patty. "We'll be okay. If we have to spend the night out there, don't worry." Emma looked across the truck to Callie. "Let's go."
Callie waved to her mother and hopped in.
Once both of them were buckled in, Emma started the engine and pulled out of the yard after the cruiser.