SORRY IT TOOK ME SO LONG TO UPDATE. I WANT YOU GUYS TO KNOW I APPRECIATE EACH AND EVERY REVIEW YOU GUYS GIVE ME.
DON'T OWN IT.
James stood before the Evil Queen's castle, an amount of anger coursing through him he hadn't previously thought possible. Even when he placed infant Emma into the wardrobe, heartbroken, that rage couldn't compare to what he was experiencing now. She hurt his daughter in a way he couldn't ever fix. For that, she was going to pay dearly. He had a plan; he was going to waltz in there, like he was God, and expect her to surrender. Regina wouldn't be prepared for that, and would be caught off guard. Then he would seize her. Taking one last, calming breath, he walked up to the imposing door and knocked. The queen opened it, evil smirk and all.
"Good morning, Mother-in-Law." James sang cheerfully, pushing past her.
"I should just kill you now." She snarled, her eyes taking an almost animalistic quality.
"I forgot how short you are without your stilettos. A lot less threatening." He remarked, trying to get a rise out of her.
"I can use magic here." Regina countered.
"Now see, I think you're bluffing. The Dark One doesn't exist anymore. That means there's no more magic for anyone, if I'm remembering correctly." James said.
"That wretched woman is dead. That just made my day a lot better." She didn't bother putting up the 'polite and normal' act.
"Emma's very much alive. The dagger's been destroyed." James said.
"Let's just cut to the chase. What do you want?" She snapped, her eyes glaring at James, almost piercing his soul.
"You need to come with me."
"And get locked up like Rumplestislkin?" Regina arched an eyebrow at him. "I think not."
"Now Regina, I don't want to have to move you myself. We can just walk out of here like nothing happened. Don't be stupid, you don't have magic, you can't fight me." He took a step towards her.
"Silly boy, do you ever learn?" She copied him, closing the distance some more. "You're out of your element. You came here with no sword, no backup, and no plan."
"I do have a plan… it just didn't work." James thought for a moment. "But you wouldn't be so confident unless you still had magic."
"You're getting smarter." She smiled devilishly.
"You're turning into Rumplestilskin." He said, realization hitting him. "If I stay, you kill me. That hurts my whole family. If I leave, you get more time to prepare an attack." This time, it was James' turn to glare.
"I'm not that bad. All I wanted was a baby. If you and your stupid plan hadn't gotten in the way, I would've had your daughter. That obviously didn't work. So then I got Henry. I knew Rumpleskilskin wasn't one to make deals with, but I didn't think that out of all the babies in the world, he'd just happen to pick the one kid that would bring the one person who could break the curse to town." For a moment, Regina's face almost look soft, lost in some kind of memory of some other time. But just as quickly as it came, the cool, calm façade was put back into place.
"So Henry's your leverage." James nodded in understanding.
"I want my son back." Regina snarled.
"Then adopt another baby! Make a deal with some young mother who can't afford to take care of it." He practically yelled.
"There's only one Henry!" She yelled back. "You know what it's like to lose a child. I can't believe you'd ask me to give up Henry."
"He's Emma's son, too. For some reason, I don't think she's willing to give him up." James replied, his voice once again almost soothing.
"Then I guess I'll just have to go through Emma." With that, Regina reopened the door, and ushered James out without another word. She wanted to let her words sink in.
Emma cracked open one eye, and groaned. It was definitely too bright out. She put a pillow over her head, and slowly opened the other one, giving time for her pupils to dilate. Something smelled good, so she sat up, then immediately fell back due to the blood rushing from her head. She groaned again. Deciding whatever was cooking smelt good, she finally pushed herself off the bed and all but stumbled down the stairs, where Snow, Graham, and Henry looked up at her.
"You're noisy." Henry commented.
"What time it is?" Emma smiled despite herself.
"Almost noon." Snow said. Emma walked the rest of the way to the kitchen and took a seat next to Henry.
"Where's David?" She asked.
"He went out to deal with the Evil Queen." Snow replied.
"Alone? What does he have, a death wish?"
"Good morning to you, too." Graham said, getting up to give her a kiss.
"Good afternoon." She responded sarcastically.
"That works, too." He laughed. Their eyes locked, and for a moment, Emma thought she might get lost in Graham's deepness, a bottomless well of love.
"Do you want to get on a sleeping schedule, Emma? You keep skipping breakfast, and I don't like it." Snow gave her one of those 'looks'.
"You're acting like my-" She cut herself off, midsentence, realizing what she was about to say. She looked at her hands, and started fidgeting. "Uh… Sorry. That was, um…" She sighed, and leaned into Graham, swallowing the lump in her throat.
"It's okay, Emma. You're refusing to believe this, and acknowledge that James and I are your parents, until you're absolutely sure nothing can ruin this happy ending." Snow placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.
"You deserve a child who actually accepts the fact that you're her parents." Emma said.
"Oh, Sweetie…" Snow wrapped her in a hug. Emma resisted the urge to freeze up. Why did her mother have to be so touchy-feely? It still annoyed her event though it shouldn't. "We're just happy to have you with us. That's all we ever wanted." Snow pulled back, and both women looked at each other with watery eyes.
"I promise I'll be better." Emma cleared her throat, and went back to leaning on Graham, who happily draped an arm around her shoulder.
"You're father should've been back by now." Snow glanced worriedly out the window, imagining all of the dreadful possibilities.
"He must've had a plan." Graham said in an attempt to calm the brunette.
"Yeah." Henry agreed. "Prince Charming doesn't do stupid things."
"You'd be surprised at the stupid things he does to protect us." Snow turned back around and smiled at the boy.
"What's the worst that could happen? Regina captures him, and we go and save his ass. We've got a whole army to back us up." Emma shrugged.
"You're forgetting one important part." Henry chimed in.
"What's that?" The way Emma leaned forward and smiled at him, it just made everyone's heart melt. It was so natural, and so loving, there was just nothing more perfect (although Snow and James would both argue that Emma was pure perfection).
"The only one with magic is the Evil Queen. When you destroyed the dagger, you destroyed all the magic that came with it." Henry answered.
"I knew there was a reason that thing didn't seem to want to break." Emma fell back into Graham again.
"Am I your personal wall?" He joked, placing a kiss to the top of her head.
"Yes, now shut up. We're in the middle of a crisis."
"What are you looking at me for?" Henry asked.
"You're the one with the plans." Emma replied.
"Well I don't have one." He shrugged. The four sat in silence for a few minutes before snow piped up.
"I might. If Emma escaped the curse, then is it possible that she has an immunity to magic?"
"I guess so." Henry said, for the first time looking hopeful.
"In that case, we should be fine. What are we trying to do again?" Emma asked.
"Hi! Glad to see you're up." James walked in. His smile was fake, and they could all see through it.
"What happened?" Snow asked, leaning up to kiss him.
"We may have a problem." He said.
"I think we fixed it, though." Emma said, cautiously embracing him. This brought a real smile to his face.
"That's great."
"I know this is probably minor at the moment, but we still need to plan the wedding." Graham said.
"After we deal with an evil queen, we can work on that." Emma quipped.
"Is he still treating you okay?" James asked.
"He's fine."
"I'd say, judging by how late they're up to." Snow laughed. Both Graham and Emma flushed.
"Thank you for bringing that up. You need to sleep, and stop missing breakfast." James scolded, but couldn't get the full affect because he was still smiling.
"Stop babying me." Emma whined. "I'm 33 years old, and perfectly capable of taking care of myself. I don't need to be told how to live." Graham failed at holding his laughter in. She was just too funny at times without even trying. This earned him a glare and a punch to the shoulder, but he could care less. All that mattered to him was that the woman he loved, and their son, were content; and for now, they were.
AGAIN, THANKS FOR THE REVIEWS. I'LL TRY TO UPDATE FASTER NEXT TIME. SORRY FOR THE DELAY. CLICKING THE LITTLE BLUE BUTTON AND WRITING STUFF WILL ONLY MAKE THIS STORY BETTER! LOL.