Author's note: I still don't own any of these characters.

Chapter 27: Finding Facilier

Emma tried not to overreact when Tiana didn't answer her phone the next morning. So she waited and called again. But Tiana didn't answer the next four calls either. "We need to get down to that restaurant. Maybe she was called in to work," Emma suggested, but it certainly didn't sound like she believed her own explanation. Pulling Regina aside, Emma said, "I have a really bad feeling."

"So do I," Regina admitted.

"It's possible Facilier has her. If we find him, what are we going to do if he's able to block our magic?"

"What are you suggesting?"

"I think you should stay here with Henry and Robin. We can set up a mirror, you can watch us from here. If Facilier attacks and immobilizes my magic, you can try to do something from a distance."

"That doesn't make sense. Your magic is stronger. You should stay here and I'll go with the pirate."

Emma shook her head, "I can't. I can't send him to do this without me. Besides, even if my magic is more powerful, you have a lot more practice. We won't be gone long, we just need to make sure Tiana is alright, then we'll come back. But if he has Tiana trapped somewhere…I don't want to wait around and see what he'll do."

"Fine," Regina nodded. "Get a mirror. And if I sense you need our help, we'll be there."

"Thank you," Emma sincerely said before she hurriedly gathered their things to go.

She and Killian were ready quickly, as it seemed they had no time to waste. They had to be careful when using magic to transport themselves since they didn't want to be seen. Their first stop was the tavern. None of the other servers at the tavern had seen or heard from Tiana, but one of the girls who was worried about her friend gave them Tiana's address. At that point, they decided to ride streetcars to get to Tiana's house since there were far too many people around to attempt to use magic.

She and Killian said little as they rode to Tiana's, worried that something horrible had happened to the young woman. "That really was Naveen last night, right?" Emma asked Killian as they got off the streetcar.

"So far as I know," he replied.

"It could have been Facilier in disguise. Maybe he knows what we've been up to."

Killian didn't respond because the possibility was a worrisome one. He nodded toward a small house in a long row of houses. Tiana's home wasn't fancy, but it certainly was pristine. The yard was well kept with flowers lining the walkways, and there was a fresh coat of paint on the house. It was warm and inviting. They walked up the steps to the porch and Emma knocked. After a few seconds, a very distinguished middle-aged woman came to the door and said, "Good morning."

"Good morning Mrs…m'am," Emma replied since she didn't know the woman's last name. "We're friends of Tiana's from work. Is she here this morning?"

"She left before I got up today. I'm her mother. That girl works all the time, but usually I see her before she flies out the door."

"If you don't mind me asking, did she come home last night?" Emma asked.

"Of course she came home last night," Tiana's mother replied, crossing her arms. "What are you implying?"

"Nothing!" Emma defended. "We just wanted to make sure she made it home alright."

"She did. Mr. Rey, the man who owns a couple of tourist transportation businesses, his son brought her home. Seemed strange since Tiana doesn't really care for him much."

"Look, I don't want to alarm you, but we were supposed to meet her this morning, and she won't answer her phone."

"Oh," Tiana's mother laughed like it was of no concern, "if someone called and offered her a shift, she'd go straight into work. And when she's there, she doesn't answer her phone. Head down to the tavern. You'll find her there."

Deciding it was best not to worry the older woman any more than necessary, Emma replied, "We'll do that. Thank you."

"No problem."

"Can I ask you for just one favor?" Emma asked.

"You can ask…"

"Can I give you my phone number? If she comes home or you hear from her, can one of you call me so I know she's okay?"

Tiana's mother nodded slowly, "Are you that concerned?"

"No. I just want to be sure."

"Alright. Give me the number and I'll have her call you when she's home."

After they left Tiana's house, Emma and Killian began walking down the street and Killian said, "I think we need to pay a visit to Naveen."

"Tiana's mom said he brought her home last night."

"But we can question him and find out if that really was him last night or if it was an imposter."

"Good idea. Let's go."

Killian pulled her behind an abandoned house near the end of the road.

"Killian, we don't have time to mess around right now," she admonished.

"You're absolutely right," he answered, "we do not have time. Which is why I think we need to use magic to get us closer to Rey's shop. This place seems secluded enough to me."

"Oh. Yea. Alright," she answered, surveying the area before she took Killian's arm and transported them into the swamp near the shop.

They could see Naveen. He had a few friends on the dock with him, but he obviously wasn't in the mood for a party. He was sitting, slumped in a chair, clearly preoccupied. "What do you think?" Emma asked Killian. "Do you think he was involved in something?"

"Naveen?" Killian asked with a tone of surprise. "I doubt it. That look isn't guilty. That look is smitten."

"My thoughts exactly."

"How do you want to proceed?"

"Let's talk to him, see if he remembers last night. If he does, then I think it really was him," Emma said as she stepped out from their hiding spot and started marching up to Naveen.

"Why if it isn't Tiana's strange friends!" Naveen said, perking up a little as he looked around. "Is Tiana with you, by chance?"

"It's just us," Emma explained.

"Where is your car?" he asked, remembering how they'd had to wait for a ride the night before.

"Oh," Emma said, turning back to where they'd come from, "we parked back there. It's a great day for a walk."

Naveen was trying to look in the distance to find their car when Killian asked, "Have you been in contact with Tiana today?"

"Not yet. But I'm confident I'll hear from her soon. I gave her my number."

"She's supposed to call you?" Emma asked.

"I don't know if she's supposed to, but I suspect she will. Women often do," Naveen boasted.

"Does that actually work with women? That over the top confidence?"

"You tell me?" Naveen flirted for a second. Dropping the bravado, he said, "I hope to hear from her soon. But, why are you asking?"

"We were supposed to meet her today," Killian answered, "but she's nowhere to be found."

"That's not like Tiana," Naveen said. "If she says she will do something, most often she does it."

"That was our impression as well," Killian replied.

"Check the tavern. She probably went to work."

"We already looked there. She's not working," Emma replied.

Naveen seemed quite concerned as he dug into his pocket for his phone. He tried to call her, and when the call went to voicemail, he hung up. "And you are sure she's not working?"

"Positive," Emma answered.

"We need to find her," Naveen agreed.

"You took her home last night?"

"Of course. I took her to her door. Sadly, she wouldn't allow me to come inside, but she made it home safely. Of that you can be certain."

"She was helping us with something," Emma confessed. "I'm concerned that someone found out she was helping us and they're retaliating."

"Who would that be?" Naveen asked, skeptically.

Emma and Killian exchanged a look of agreement, and then Killian asked, "Are you familiar with a man by the name of Facili—"

"Don't say his name," Naveen shushed. Pulling them away from his partying friends, he asked Emma and Killian, "What do you want with…him?"

"Let's just say we've crossed paths," Killian replied.

"Many do."

"We need to have a chat. Tiana was going to take us to him," Emma explained.

"I cannot tell you where to find him," Naveen said, but he took a few steps away, gesturing for them to join him in his father's shop.

"You can't? Or you won't?" Emma asked with the utmost frustration as they followed him.

As he stood behind the counter, Naveen said that Facilier helped people solve their problems, adding, "Outsiders simply do not understand our world."

But as he spoke, Naveen scrawled something very different on the back of an old receipt. The note said:

He has ears everywhere

The man is pure evil

He cannot know I'm helping you

Killian and Emma nodded and watched as Naveen scrawled an address on a separate piece of receipt paper. He pointed to the address and pushed the scrap toward Killian. On the original note, Naveen wrote one more line: "I hope you know what you're getting into."

Killian nodded his thanks as he picked up the paper and he and Emma hurried out of the store as quickly as possible without drawing too much attention. Naveen stood at the counter, his palms flat on the surface as he leaned heavily with his head hung. His father watched him and asked, "What has happened?"

Naveen lifted his head and gazed out the window behind his father. His friends were waiting for him at the dock, prepared for a day of leisure and fun. Suddenly his expression changed from worry and defeat to one of steely resolve. Searching behind the counter, Naveen grabbed his keys and said, "I must go."

"Where are you going, my son?" his father asked.

"I'm going to help them. Tiana, she is missing."

"Missing?" the older man gasped.

"They are going to find her, but I can't wait here."

The older man smiled with subtle pride and confirmed, "Yes. You should go. But where will you look?"

Naveen knew it was best not to make his father aware of Facilier's involvement. "I don't know yet. I'll call you when we find her."

Naveen ran out the door in the direction that he'd seen Emma and Killian go. He rushed along the road and toward the more wooded area, but he didn't see them. He shouted for them, wondering where they could have parked and how they could have gotten so far, so fast. Deciding he didn't have time to worry about such things, he ran back to his own car, hopped in, and drove off without a word to his partying friends.

As soon as Emma and Killian found cover, she used magic to transport them to a somewhat shady abandoned building near the tavern that she'd seen when they were there before. They appeared in the middle of a room that was littered with trash and a few sleeping feral cats. They found themselves under the confused glare of an inebriated squatter. The man was filthy, and from the look in his eyes, extremely disoriented. He tilted his head as he looked at the people who'd invaded "his" space. Emma started to consider different excuses, since she was certain he was about freak out, but instead he pointed and shouted, "Get out of my house. This is my house!"

Killian took Emma's arm and led her through the obstacle laden building. It had been a dangerous gamble, using magic in this unfamiliar place where someone could see them, but as they stepped onto the sidewalk, Killian said with a grin, "Risky move, Swan. But don't worry, he'll blame the rum."

Emma laughed for second, but as Killian pulled out the piece of paper they'd gotten from Naveen, they immediately focused on finding Tiana. They navigated through the French Quarter, finally spotting the location they'd been given. "Are you sure this is the right place?" Killian asked.

"This is the address he gave us," Emma said, feeling just as skeptical.

The building in front of them was very plain and quite narrow. The walls were dull brown, the door was old but just a plain wooden door. There weren't any strange herbs hanging in the windows or runes scrawled on the door. They'd expected something quite different. In fact, the simplicity of this place reminded them of the tiny shack they'd entered in Raina's kingdom when they went to procure the talisman, and that made them wonder what lurked behind the door. Emma knocked, and they could almost hear an echo from the other side, but there were no signs of movement within.

After they were certain no one was going to answer, Killian reached for the knob, but before he could even turn it, the door creaked open slightly. He leaned slowly through the opening and looked inside to make sure the space was clear before he swung the door open and stepped inside as Emma followed.

Inside, the room was just as narrow as it had appeared from outside, but it was much longer and taller than rationally possible. At the far end of the room there was a single door. The place didn't appear to be a shop or a home since there weren't furnishings of any kind. The floor was gravel covered and walls were simple plaster. Killian took a few steps further into the space, and it was so empty that they could actually hear an echo from the tiny pieces of gravel that he kicked as he walked.

"This place is seriously weird," Emma said as she followed. "Do you feel that?"

"The draft?" he asked.

"Well, that and just…this place is…heavy. Do you feel that weight?"

He shook his head, "No. But it's definitely eerie."

They walked toward the end of the hall, and the room almost seemed to elongate as they stepped. Emma took out her phone to call Regina. Emma hoped Regina would have some insight into what they were seeing, and she also wanted to make sure Regina was still watching and available to help if things turned south quickly, but her phone wouldn't work. She started back toward the entrance and said, "We better go out and make sure everything's okay with Regina and Henry before we go any further."

At that moment, the entry door slammed shut, and the noise echoed through the room, accompanied by the faint sound of laughter. Both Killian and Emma felt a chill run up their spines, but continued forward when they realized there was no going back.

Emma stepped up to the door at the end of the hall. Killian, enchanted sword in hand, stood by her side, ready for whatever was to come. Her fingers tightened around the knob, and she turned it as quietly as possible, hoping that, by some miracle, they could still approach with an element of surprise. The knob turned easily, but the door refused to budge as she tugged. In a moment of frustration, she waved her hand, calling on her magic to open the door, but still nothing happened.

Killian sheathed his sword and grasped the knob to see if he could pull it open. He summoned all of his strength, but when he pulled, the door flew open and a burst of air rushed out and surrounded him. The winds encircled him like long, powerful fingers, dragging him through the door, and the moment he was pulled through, the door snapped shut.

The room was terrifyingly silent as Emma grabbed the door knob, pulling and shaking with all of her might. As frustration mounted, she pounded on the door, repeatedly screaming "Killian," and desperately wishing there would be an answer. Before she could even consider her next move, she was pushed by an unseen force that moved her the whole way through the building and out the entryway door. She landed on her butt, expecting to find herself on the sidewalk, but instead of cement beneath her fingers, she felt the long worn wood of the Jolly Roger's deck.

"Emma?" Regina's concerned voice called.

"Mom!" Henry exclaimed as he helped Emma stand up.

"What happened?" Regina asked. "I was watching you, but as soon as you walked into that strange, narrow building, my connection was dropped. We tried to poof there to help you, but we always ended up somewhere else. That place seemed to have some sort of shield."

"Where's Killian?" Henry asked.

Emma shook her head, "He was pulled through a door, one I couldn't open. I'm not exactly sure where it led. But we need to get to him. Fast."