A/N: Hey, I couldn't stop myself. Chapter two is ready. I don't own Once Upon a Time. If I did Neal wouldn't have died and Killian wouldn't be trapped in the underworld and there'd be a lot more Charming family fluffiness. Anyways... on with the show.
Chapter Two: Fly Away Savior
Neal waited until the clock struck midnight. It was the only sure way to know that Henry was asleep. Their apartment was small. If he was awake, he would hear the latch. The kid had ears like a bat. He didn't bother going into his and Emma's shared bedroom. She'd made it pretty clear she didn't want to know when he left.
"No goodbyes, no promises. Please just go."
"Emma…"
"Don't make this any harder. Say goodnight to Henry and go, don't save any for me,"
Neal sighed sinking into the couch as he looked at his watch. Ten minutes. He had ten minutes to make a game plan. He could ignore it, he could ignore Huck's demand easily, hop a plane to Tallahassee and never look back, keep things the way they had been. He wouldn't even have to open that door, but then what would happen to Henry and Emma?
His cell phone beeped and he looked at the text message, a blocked number, but he knew who it was. Remember he has eyes everywhere. Get what we asked for and everything will be fine.
Neal pushed the button on his phone, clearing the screen. 11:59. He had to go.
He didn't consider taking the bug, even as the cold bit through his gloves. His destination wasn't far, and the car was Emma's. No question about that. He could see his breath, vapor wisps swirling through the evening sky. He kept his hands in his pockets, useless! The chill had nothing to do with the weather.
The storefront was small, smaller than he remembered, but no less imposing. Walking up to it made him feel fifteen again, out past curfew. What was he thinking? The store wouldn't be open. He was probably already in his upstairs apartment tucked in for the night.
"Bae?" The pet name made him freeze as the tinkling of the bell above the door sounded to reveal a slight man leaning on a cane, squinting through reading glasses. Aiden Gold. "Come in." The tap tap of the cane was the only sound Neal registered as the man turned back to him already well inside the store with Neal still standing out under the light of a streetlamp. "It was not a request."
Henry woke up early. He always woke up early on Saturdays, pancake day at Granny's. He couldn't wait. He pulled on his slippers, the ones with Spiderman's face and ran over to his parent's room.
"Mommy, Daddy!" His feet slid as he grabbed the door frame to steady himself. "Alright…" His voice dropped to a whisper. "You got one chance, target locked." He grinned as he ran forward jumping into bed, expecting to land in the well between his two sleeping parents. He was shocked when he landed on a flat surface. Maybe his dad was already awake, and he was letting mommy sleep to make up for forgetting to get Henry at school yesterday. Maybe he'd bring hot chocolate with cinnamon and lunchbox cakes like he did whenever they fought. Henry could help him! He slid forward just about to jump out of the bed.
"Hey Baby," his mom reached over, grabbing him by the hand. "What are you doing up so early?"
Henry grinned. "It's pancake day, don'tcha remember?"
His mom sighed. "Oh my gosh, I… I completely forgot. I'm sorry Henry!"
Henry frowned. "Didn't Daddy tell you? He's making you hot chocolate right?"
His mom's eyebrows knit. She bit her tongue. Henry saw that look again, just like Aunty Regina. "Kid…"
"Right?" Henry was frozen to the spot. His dad's place in bed was empty, nothing even looked wrinkled. It was just like what Nicholas had said on the playground after Grace had come to school crying. The fighting gets worse and worse and then they don't sleep in bed together and then the mommy kicks the daddy out. "Is it like Grace's Daddy? Is that why you didn't remember pancake day?" Henry jumped down and ran out of the bedroom. Maybe his dad was still here. Uncle David could help find him.
"Henry!"
For the first time in his young life, Henry didn't listen.
The phone rang once, twice, three times. Mary Margaret rolled over turning to where the phone was perched on the nightstand, the display lit up with the familiar number.
"David?" Mary Margaret grabbed the phone tapping his still sleeping form. "David?"
He let out a loud snore which caused Mary Margaret to giggle. He'd stayed late at the station. She would answer, let him sleep. Emma would call back if it was something she couldn't tell Mary Margaret.
"Hello," Mary Margaret said.
"Miss Blanchard…?"The tiny voice on the other end of the line pulled at Mary Margaret's heart strings. It was Henry and he was crying.
"Henry, what's wrong sweetheart?"
Mary Margaret listened as Henry explained, started talking about Grace, a girl that Mary Margaret was very familiar with, and a classmate of Henry's, and Nick Zimmerman's straightforward explanation about divorce. Oh god. It clicked into place. Emma had been serious when she'd told them that Neal could pack his bags.
"Hold on a second Henry." Mary Margaret placed the phone down before she turned to where David was asleep shaking him gently. "David, David!"
"Mm… Mary Margaret, what's wrong?" David blinked sitting up slowly.
"Henry," she replied. She held out the phone, pushing the speaker button. "Hey kiddo, Uncle David's here too."
"Uncle David…"Henry sniffled. "You find people right? For your job?"
David glanced sideways at Mary Margaret. 'What's this about?' He mouthed. Out loud he replied. "Yeah, sometimes. If they're in trouble and need help. Why?"
"Will you help me find Daddy?" Henry said. "I think he's in trouble with Mommy. I wanna help him."
David sighed, pushing the speaker button off as he placed the phone down.
"David!" Mary Margaret grabbed his arm. "You can't just…"
"I'm not." David waved her away. "Talk to him, just… I need a second to think."
"You are. David!" Mary Margaret groaned, but obliged grabbing the phone. "Henry, Uncle David will be right back, he just had to brush his teeth." It sounded lame even to her own ears. She watched him pace back and forth. She knew it was eating at him. It was bothering her as well. They both knew that Neal and Emma had their differences. David had told Mary Margaret of the difficult time that they had gone through as teenagers when Neal Cassidy first entered the picture. It had seemed at the time, David had said, that Emma had finally found someone to notice her, in the way that her family hadn't been able to. But after Henry had come along, that had all changed. Neal was a good father… when he was around, but he hadn't been, and for Emma, no explanation was good enough. "David," Mary Margaret bit her lip.
"I know. Tell Henry I'll pick him up in an hour." David gave a half smile. "You know, actually…" David held out his hand for the phone. Mary Margaret handed it to him. "Henry, I'll be there in an hour."
Henry sat on the fire escape. There were no stars out, it wasn't even night, but he didn't care. Mommy didn't like him being out here by himself, but he didn't care about that either. Right now he was almost positive he hated her. She didn't even seem worried that his dad hadn't come back, but he had seen her crying at the kitchen table over a bowl of Frosted Flakes. He'd wanted to go to her, to see if she was okay, but then he remembered. She'd done what Grace's mommy had done, and then he didn't want to anymore. It made his head hurt.
"Henry?" He looked up as he heard the fire escape ladder fall down. Uncle David was pulling it and climbing up. "How you holding up?"
He shrugged turning away slightly. Uncle David put an arm around him. "Anything you wanna talk about?"
"Daddy said I'd see him! He's not here" The words spilled out. "He said! But Mommy made him break it!"
Uncle David didn't reply. He pulled Henry closer. Henry lay his head on his uncle's knee.
"Why Uncle David?" Henry's shoulders shook. "Why'd he leave?"
"Honestly Buddy?" Uncle David sighed. "I wish I knew."
Emma watched through Henry's open door. She'd been watching the whole time after she'd noticed that Henry had seen her with the cereal. Why hadn't she said anything? She didn't know, but it was something she was good at, not being noticed unless she wanted to be. As she watched her brother with her son, the emotions welled again. Why was she putting her son through this? Another question she couldn't quite answer, but she knew it would be better for him… in the long run. Her love for Neal. It would always be there, but he was always in trouble, trouble she couldn't bring her son into. It may have been okay when she was seventeen and stupid, but she had Henry to worry about. She couldn't risk him, not like she risked herself. Henry wasn't disposable. He never would be. He'd saved her… in a slightly different way than Neal had all those years ago. It was best for all three of them. She was only saving her family in the way they'd saved her. Henry would understand, maybe not now, but she could put up with a few temper tantrums. It was for the best.
A/N: So what'd you think? What do you think Neal's up to? Any guesses? Alright so a bit of a sneak peek for chapter three: Neal and Gold, and David, Emma and Henry have a chat, as come Monday, Henry has a run in with those pesky older kids at school and a friendship forms. Among other things.