Author's Note: Wow, thanks to everyone who read and liked this story! It means a lot to me!

It had been a week since Graham's funeral. The whole town had gathered for the occasion in the small graveyard. It was a somber service, and Emma felt uncomfortable. Not because she felt like a stranger intruding on a private ceremony, but because she could feel their eyes on her. Looks of curiosity and disdain were thrown at her. What were they thinking? Did they think she was responsible? Dr. Whale had stated that it had been a heart attack that had wrenched the attractive law man from them, but Emma had her doubts. He had been so young, so healthy! It didn't make sense.

She didn't cry at the funeral – her mind had been swirling with thoughts. Thoughts of confusion and despair. He had died after she kissed him. She didn't know why she had kissed him back, though the selfish part of her was telling her that it was because he was handsome and she hadn't been kissed in a while. And it told her she wouldn't get to kiss him again.

Emma had headed to the station as soon as the service had concluded and spent the night staring at the spot where she had held him in her arms until the ambulance turned up. She swore to herself that she wouldn't get involved with anyone else in town. No more friends (save Mary Margaret) and definitely no romantic partners. She shoved the thought of Killian Jones out her head the minute she made that declaration.

She had thrown herself into work the next day, reading all the files and checking on everything in the station. That was the world's fastest promotion, she told herself before she quickly chided herself for that macabre thought.

So there she was a week later, reviewing Leroy's file (boy, he was charged with a surprising amount of drunk-and-disorderly-s) when she happened to find Killian Jones's file. Emma didn't understand her fascination with Killian Jones. She didn't lose her head over guys, not since Neal. Yet he unnerved her. The way he looked at her made her feel vulnerable, and she didn't like it. Was it because she felt guilty about everything that happened with Henry? No, that wasn't it. She had been taken in the very first time she had set eyes on him. Not even Graham made her feel this way.

He'd been at the funeral, acting as one of the pallbearers. He sort her out after, offering his condolences, but he did not look her in the eyes when he did so, making her feel hollow. However, she had felt his eyes on her, much like everyone else's, but unlike the rest of the town, he looked at her with pity and understanding. He knew loss, he understood her pain.

No Emma, she told herself. He's off-limits. She figured that the contents of the file would just verify what Mary Margaret had told her, so she fought her curious instincts and pushed the file back under Leroy's.

"Emma?"

Emma looked up to see Henry in the doorway.

"Kid! What are you doing here?"

He looked nervous, pulling down on the straps of his backpack.

"Can we go the castle to talk?"

Half an hour later, Emma found herself perched in the turret of Henry's 'castle' (a large wooden castle playground structure) wondering why she let this boy drag her here. Henry settled himself next to her, his book balanced in his lap. He looked at her seriously.

"Regina doesn't want you to be Sheriff."

Emma snorted.

"I could have told you that, kid."

Henry frowned at her.

"I mean she wants to call an election for Sheriff soon."

Emma blinked at him. She knew where he was getting his information from, but still. This sounded ridiculous. Elections? For a Sheriff? How outdated. Then again, the whole concept of Sheriff was kinda outdated, so she couldn't say she was surprised. She opened her mouth to reply, but Henry beat her to it.

"You have to win, Emma! You have to defeat her!"

Emma sighed.

"Kid, why do I have to?"

It was Henry's turn to sigh, but unlike Emma's, his was full of anger.

"Because she's evil, Emma! Don't you see?"

Emma had to agree that the mayor was rather villainous, but she was more like the villain in a movie about lawyers, not a straight-up Disney villain that Henry was making her out to be. Plus, the only one in town Regina seemed to hate was Emma, and quite frankly, Emma understood why.

"Like your dad?"

It was a low blow, she knew that. Henry's face crumpled. He sniffled. He was clearly conflicted when it came to his dad. Killian Jones seemed like a great dad, from what she could tell. Not like she had any luck with fathers or father figures.

"He's Captain Hook," he whispered, tearfully. "Isn't he supposed to be bad?"

Emma pulled him in for a hug.

"Your dad seems pretty great, kiddo. He really seems to love you."

He sniffed once more, seemingly mollified.

"What about my real dad? What is he like?"

Emma froze, and slowly pulled away from the embrace. She knew this question was coming. Still, she wasn't prepared. What was she supposed to tell him? 'Sorry kid, your dad's a lying thief who abandoned me'? Jesus. She was getting a headache.

"Henry….your real dad wasn't great. He made some bad decisions and we broke up before you were born. I….he…"

Emma ran out of words to say. She didn't want to bash Neal (though he might deserve it) but she didn't want to give Henry hope that Neal was a shining beacon of fatherly-ness because that would be unfair to Killian. Luckily, Henry didn't push her for any more answers.

"Maybe my dad isn't that bad. The book doesn't have a lot of stuff about him."

Henry sounded like he was trying to reassure himself. Emma smiled gently.

"Yeah, maybe."

They sat in silence for several minutes before Henry piped up again.

"But seriously Emma, Regina needs to be stopped. The town needs to be saved!"

Just when she thought she was getting through to him, Henry backpedaled back into his fairy-tale delusions. She was tired, so tired.

"Henry," she started, her tone weary, "Regina is not an evil queen. This town does not need to be saved. Mary Margaret is not-"

"You don't believe me, do you?"

He pushed himself off the ground, clutching the book to his chest. He was angry and disappointed, Emma could see his emotions raging across his face.

"Henry," she started once more, but her tone betrayed her.

He hopped down from the open turret and sprinted away without looking back.

A full two days passed without incident, giving Emma time to simultaneously beat herself up about Graham and Henry. God, how could she screw up so much? Sure, she couldn't have helped Graham, but Henry…she could have been tactful. She could have lied. Oh god, why didn't she just lie?

She sat back at her desk, eyes closed. She perched her legs on her desk. Maybe she could take the day off. She certainly deserved it. It was the perfect day to take a break too – a storm front was moving in, making the whole town overcast. She peered out of the window from her vantage spot. Yep, it was raining, and it was coming down hard. Maybe she could just take a nap at her desk…

"MISS SWAN!"

A yell woke her, and she pushed herself up and took her legs off her desk. So much for a day off, she mused to herself.

Regina burst into her office, her eyes wild and her chest heaving. Her expensive trench coat was drenched, but her hair and makeup were not out of place.

"Where is Henry?! Is he here?!"

Emma was surprised.

"School?"

Regina glared at her.

"Don't get smart with me, Miss Swan. I wouldn't be here if he was at school!"

Emma leapt to her feet.

"When and where was he last seen?"

"Last night, at home. Killian tucked him in. When he went to wake him up this morning…"

She trailed off, but Emma knew exactly what she was going to say. Wordlessly she grabbed her jacket.

"Killian's been searching since he found out, and he told me and I thought he might be with you."

Regina's words came out rushed. Emma noted the worry that wrinkled her brow. She nodded at the mayor.

"Let's go join him."

As soon as she stepped out of the building, she was drenched with the downpour, and she cursed the fact that her jacket did not have a hood, or the fact that she didn't own an umbrella, not that it would have helped in this rain. Killian Jones was already there, standing in the rain waiting for the two of them.

It looked like he had been wandering in the rain for hours. His hair was slicked down thanks to the water, and the droplets clung to his long lashes. His shirt, a navy button down, outlined his physique, revealing a taut stomach. It was entirely unfair that this man could look so damn good after a rain storm whereas she looked like a drowned rat. Emma pushed her wet hair away from her face.

"Is there anywhere that we haven't checked?"

Killian blinked rapidly for a few seconds, and then jerked into action.

"Yes. There's a spot near the woods, with an old wishing well. That's the farthest Henry would go into the woods."

Emma nodded. "Let's go."

They took Killian's truck, driving in silence. Emma could see Killian's impassive face from her vantage point in the back seat. His jaw betrayed him though – it kept clenching and clued her into the fact that Killian was on edge. She wanted to comfort him, but she didn't know how, so she kept the silence.

They came to a stop near a large clearing at the edge of the woods. It was pretty large and extended into a gravelly area that was now a mud pit thanks to the rain. The forest continued after the pit, sloping up a ridge into the distance. They got out and Killian pointed out the way to the well, a path that would take them through a gravel pit, and so they set out. As they squelched through the mud, Regina gasped.

"What is that?"

Emma squinted off into the distance. Near the edge of the pit, there was a red and gold scarf that was wrapped around a branch.

Killian echoed her gasp.

"That's Henry's!"

They hurried over, only to discover a gaping hole that lay right next to the branch.

"What is this place?" Asked Emma, wondering why the hell there was a gravel pit in this sleepy coastal town.

"Abandoned mine."

Emma raised her eyebrow, but Regina didn't look at her.

Emma lowered herself to the ground and peered over the edge. All she could see was darkness.

"Henry!" she screamed into the void.

There was a muffled sound from below. She turned to look at Killian and Regina.

"It sounds like he's there. Lower me in."

They did not argue, but moved to help her. Regina handed her a flash light and a rope, Killian held her arms while she lowered herself down. She looked up one last time when her feet touched the ground, and she saw the fear in his eyes.

"I'll be back soon!" she said, in hope that it would assuage his fears.

He smiled sadly at her.

"Please get my son back safely, Miss Swan."

It was the whisper of a broken man.

She nodded, and pulled out the flashlight. She realized that there were railroad tracks, and she began to follow them.

"Henry?" She called. "Henry, it's Emma! Are you here?"

"Emma?"

The voice was faint, but definite. She sprinted towards it.

Henry was further down the path, flashlight in hand. He was standing near a cart, staring at something.

She pulled him into a hug that he reciprocated.

"Kid, we were so worried! What happened?"

Henry looked at her with shame in his eyes.

"I wanted to prove to you that I was right about the town. Only, I thought I could find something in the woods. I didn't meant to fall down this hole. Honest."

She smiled and straightened up.

"That's okay, Henry. Are you okay?"

He nodded.

"Great, let's go."

"Wait, Emma. I have to show you something."

He pointed at an object next to the cart.

Emma flashed her light on it and gasped.

A single pick axe, embedded in the ground. But that was not why she was surprised.

Emma lifted Henry up first, right into Killian's arms. She didn't see his face, but from the grunt of happiness, she assumed he had given the boy a very tight hug. Regina took the rope that Emma had thrown up and helped to pull Emma out.

Regina had pulled Henry out of Killian's arms and into hers as soon as Emma surfaced; leaving Killian to do the same to her. Though he was wet, his embrace was warm. Comforting. It had a feeling of familiarity that Emma would usually bolt from. His hand went up her back, tangling itself into her hair, and his other pulled her closer. His face was buried in her neck, and she could hear his sigh of relief sink into her skin.

"Thank you." He whispered, his words tickling her.

He released her a few minutes later, leaving Emma to shiver on the cold while Killian scooped Henry up into another equally tight hug. Emma walked over to Regina. She had never seen the mayor so disheveled. Her lipstick was smeared, her mascara had run, and she had tears in her eyes. Her expensive slacks and boots were streaked with mud.

"Thank you."

If Emma had not being paying attention, she would have missed Regina's gratitude.

"All in a day's work for the Sheriff."

Regina got the message, and answered her with a small nod. Emma smiled.

"C'mon lad, let's get you home."

Killian held his son's hand tightly, smiling at the boy with so much love that Emma couldn't help but sigh and wish that she had a father who cared. Who didn't abandon her. She thanked her lucky stars that at least Henry had someone who loved him. As she watched them walk off, followed by Regina, her thoughts went back to the pick axe.

"This has to be a joke."

"Emma, it's real! It's all real! Do you believe me now?!"

Emma stared at the pick axe and nodded mutely in response, against her better judgement.

Engraved on the handle was a single word: Grumpy.