Chapter 8

"So there's, uh, something you should know…something I didn't even know until I drank that potion," Emma started a little awkwardly.

Hook glanced at her. "What's that?"

"I have a daughter."

Hook froze, looking caught off guard. "Well, that's unexpected. I suppose congratulations are in order," he said through gritted teeth. "Who's the father?"

"Neal. She's Henry's twin. The girl you saw in my apartment? That was her…only I didn't know that then."

Understanding flashed in Hook's eyes and the jealousy instantly deflated. "The memories Regina gave you…they were only of Henry."

"They weren't real," Emma said with frustration in her voice. "But to Henry, they are. They're the only memories he has right now and they're good. And now I have to figure out how to explain this to him…to them. I don't know how to do this. How do I tell Mia she's my daughter…she's Henry's twin and I gave her up when Henry thinks I raised him?"

"You mean she doesn't know?"

"How could she when I didn't even know until two minutes ago?"

"Well, I assumed she found you…"

"She didn't. I…kind of found her. She's in foster care. She was living with my last case. I thought I could help her. I've been trying to find her birth parents," Emma explained.

"And now it seems you have."

"Yeah, but I can't tell her. You don't understand. As bad as it was to know my parents gave me up, it would have been even worse to think they gave me up and kept another kid…and that's what she'll think if I tell her before Henry gets his memories back."

"Alas, I could only scavenge together enough for one dose of memory potion," Hook said apologetically.

"So he won't get his memories back until I break the curse," Emma said in a resigned tone. "Do you have any idea who cursed everyone…again?"

"Someone powerful enough to reach into this world," was all Hook offered.

"Any more specific ideas?"

"Alas, you're the savior, not me. All I know is what I was told in a message…a message that said there was a new curse and everyone had been returned to Storybrooke…a message that said the only hope was you."

"You came all the way back here to save my family?" Emma said skeptically.

"I came back to save you."

"Emma, hey, Walsh came by," Mia called to Emma without bothering to look up. The girl's head was stuck in one of Henry's books. She liked to read…maybe even more than Henry.

Emma inhaled sharply. "You talked to him?"

Emma had just come from talking to Walsh. She felt like she owed him some kind of an explanation. She'd been with him for eight months. She couldn't just leave town without a word. To say he hadn't taken it well was the understatement of the century…he turned into a flying monkey and attacked her. She didn't want him anywhere near her kids – either one of them. It was weird to think of Mia as her kid, but it also felt right.

"Uh, yeah…" Mia finally looked up from her book to look at Emma strangely. The girl's eyes widened when she saw Hook standing behind Emma.

Emma sighed. "You can't talk to random guys you don't know."

"He's not some random guy. He's your boyfriend. And I'm not the one who invited a crazy guy in," Mia said defensively.

Emma struggled to come up with a reasonable explanation. "He's not crazy. He's…um…I'm helping him with a case."

"But you said-"

"I know what I said, but I was wrong. He's someone from my past and I just…didn't remember."

"Right…" Mia looked at Emma in disbelief.

"Mia, meet Killian. Killian…Mia."

"Killian? Isn't that a kind of beer?"

Hook grinned. "I like her, Swan."

Emma stared at the girl. "How do you know that? You're twelve."

"Yeah, and when I was ten I spent a lot of time in a bar…with my foster brother…he was a busboy. It's where I learned to play pool, remember?"

Great…when they were ten, her son was trying to break a curse cast by the Evil Queen and her daughter was hanging out in a bar where she learned to hustle. Emma gave them up to give them their best shot, but neither of them had exactly had the life she wanted for her kids.

"Yeah, I remember," Emma muttered under her breath.

Emma was being weird. She had been weird ever since she came back from making phone calls – or whatever she was really doing. She'd been gone almost all day. She couldn't have that many phone calls.

Emma came back with the crazy guy from Friday night. Now Emma was saying he wasn't crazy…that he was someone from her past and she just didn't remember.

The crazy guy's name didn't even seem like a real name. Mia had never met anyone named Killian before. She vaguely remembered seeing Killian's Irish Red beer in the little bar and grill her foster brother worked at in Boston.

Mia almost wondered if "Killian" had something on Emma. But he just had a drink with her and then left. They talked in hushed voices over their drinks. Mia strained to hear, but couldn't make sense of anything they were saying.

Emma was still being weird even after Killian left. The woman was staring at her…a lot. It was making Mia more than a little uncomfortable. She even went to the bathroom to brush her teeth and wash her face in case she had something in her teeth or on her face, but she didn't.

Even Henry seemed to think Emma was being weird – and he would know…he was her son.

Henry studied Emma from across the breakfast bar as he stuffed potato chips in his mouth. "Mom, is there something going on?"

"No, nothing."

"You're worrying," Henry said with a knowing expression.

"No, I'm not…I'm thinking. There's a difference."

"What are you thinking about?"

"A case. You know how focused I get."

Mia stared at the woman with raised eyebrows. "The case you're helping Killian with?"

"Who's Killian?" Henry asked.

"Uh, he's a…client." Emma was lying…again.

Henry didn't look like he believed Emma either. "Uh-huh. And does Walsh know about Killian?"

Emma stiffened. "Walsh and I…we're not together anymore."

"What? But he was going to propose!"

Emma looked startled. "He was?"

Henry stared at her. "Come on, Mom. The other night – the night you bailed on him? First date restaurant…special night out."

Emma sighed. "Look, kid, I know you liked him, but-"

"I like him…present tense. I like him because you like him," Henry cut her off. "He makes you happy."

"Maybe he did once, but not anymore. It was just…wrong. I was wrong about him, okay?"

"You're always looking for something to be wrong." Henry sounded frustrated. "Sometimes it's okay to accept things are good."

"Things are good…with or without Walsh. Aren't you the one who's always telling me to trust my gut?"

"Well, maybe your gut is wrong this time."

"It's not…not about this," Emma insisted.

It was the first time Emma and Henry had really disagreed on anything since Mia had been there, and she felt a little awkward about being there. She examined the chipped black polish on her nails and tried not to listen…it was none of her business who Emma married – or didn't marry…it wasn't like Walsh would have been her stepfather.

The next day things got even weirder.

"Do you believe in magic?" Emma asked Henry over breakfast.

"Of course…and the Tooth Fairy and Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny. If it gets me a present, I believe," Henry said with a grin.

Emma turned to Mia. "What about you, Mia? Do you believe in magic?"

"No…my Hogwarts letter must have gotten lost in the mail," Mia said dryly.

Henry only had a few bites of his scrambled eggs before standing up. "Tasty, but I've got to run. I'm going to be late for school. You kind of overslept."

"Nope, no school today. How about we go on a trip?" Emma suggested randomly.

Mia froze with her fork halfway to her mouth, unease washing over her.

"Like a vacation?" Henry asked with interest, sitting back down.

"Like I have a new case and it's in Maine, and it might take me awhile…"

That was all Mia needed to hear to know she wasn't going. She swallowed back the disappointment. This was only ever supposed to be temporary…just until Emma found her birth parents. Now it seemed like it would be even sooner than that if Emma had a case in Maine that wasn't just a one or two-day thing. The woman wouldn't take some random kid she'd only met a few days ago on a road trip.

"No school? A trip with you? Sold."

"Good, because I already packed."

Mia stared numbly. How long had Emma been planning this?

"When do we leave?" Henry asked.

"Now."

Mia backed out of the kitchen. She got dressed in record time and shrugged her backpack over shoulders. She heard someone at the door and then she heard voices. She slipped into the common area unnoticed.

Killian was there…again. It must have been him at the door. He and Emma were standing in the entryway, blocking Mia's path to the front door. They were facing toward her…well, not her exactly…the common room, but their attention was focused on Henry, who didn't seem too thrilled by Killian's presence.

Mia had identified the window in the living room as an alternate escape route on her first night there. She crossed the room quietly, unlocked the window, opened it and climbed out to the fire escape.

"Mia?"

Mia closed her eyes. That was Emma's voice. She wanted to leave without an awkward goodbye. She didn't want to hear a half-hearted apology or a lame excuse. She'd heard it all before…she just didn't think she would hear it from Emma…Emma had seemed different somehow.

Mia didn't turn around or otherwise acknowledge the woman. She darted to the stairs.

"Mia, stop!" Mia barely recognized the panic-stricken voice from the normally calm and confident woman…and it almost made Mia stop…almost.

Mia didn't stop. She started her descent down the fire escape. She heard rustling behind her and knew Emma was coming after her. Why couldn't the woman just let her go?

Mia ran without looking back. She heard Emma's footsteps - it sounded like the woman was right behind her.

The wrought iron fire escape was slick and the rubber soles of her tattered sneakers had long since lost their tread. Mia slipped…her feet slid out from under her and she fell forward. Her hands instinctively shot out to break her fall.

With a wince, Mia pushed herself up into a sitting position. Her white t-shirt was almost black. It was covered in dirt from the fire escape. She drew her knees to her chest. There used to be slightly shredded denim over the knees of her jeans, but now there were just big holes there. Her knees were covered in blood.

Emma was trying to run interference between her son and Hook when she saw Mia out of the corner of her eye. The girl – no, her daughter – had just gone out the damn window.

Emma didn't think she had to worry about Mia running away anymore, but clearly she thought wrong.

Mia had all day to leave the day before…why did she wait until now? Emma was glad Mia had waited until she was there to stop her…she just didn't understand why the girl had waited. Mia wasn't stupid.

Emma was at the window in seconds. "Mia?"

Mia froze for a fraction of a second and then took off toward the metal stairs.

"Mia, stop!"

Mia didn't stop. Emma chased after her. Her heart was pounding in her chest. She just found her daughter…she wasn't going to lose her again…not now.

The girl was fast, but Emma was fast, too. Chasing people was kind of part of the job description for a bail bondsperson...Emma had a lot of practice.

Mia must have sensed Emma gaining on her. Mia was taking the stairs two at a time, trying to stay one step ahead of her.

Emma watched in horror as Mia slipped and fell face-first down the stairs. She wasn't close enough to catch the girl. By the time she got to her, Mia was already sitting up, looking a little shocked.

"Are you okay?" Emma asked as she kneeled down in front of the girl and examined her carefully.

"I'm fine," Mia breathed.

Emma sat back a little and studied the girl. "Why'd you run?"

"You're leaving…just let me go."

"I'm not leaving. Well, I am, but you're coming with…we're all going to Maine…together."

Mia stared at her in shock. "I am – we are?"

"We are." Emma took the girl's hand in her own and gave it a reassuring squeeze.

Mia winced ever-so-slightly at the touch. Emma turned the girl's hand over carefully. It was covered in angry red scratches from the metal stairs.

"Come on, you need to get cleaned up before we go."

Emma put an arm around Mia's shoulders and guided her back up the stairs and into the apartment. She led the girl back to the master bathroom.

"You need to take those jeans off…I'll find something else for you to wear after we get you cleaned up."

Mia hesitated for a second before peeling her jeans off. The girl sat on the ledge of the bathtub and washed her knees off quickly with soap and water. After she dried off with the fluffy white towel Emma handed her, she eyed the bottle of isopropyl alcohol Emma had warily.

Emma offered Mia an apologetic look as she cleaned the girl's cuts and scrapes with the isopropyl alcohol.

"Shit, that hurts!"

"Sorry."

It was an eight-and-a-half-hour drive from New York to Maine with good traffic and no stops. Emma was driving, Hook had shotgun, and the kids were in the backseat…even though Henry didn't stay in the backseat – he kept leaning forward to change the radio station.

"I'm hungry. Can we stop somewhere?" Henry asked.

Emma remembered the first time she drove Henry to Storybrooke. It was the same thing he'd asked her then…

"I'm hungry. Can we stop somewhere?"

"This is not a road trip. We're not stopping for snacks," Emma said in an annoyed tone. She was just trying to get him home – home to his adoptive family…because she wasn't his mom…she couldn't be anyone's mom. She wasn't going to bond with the son she'd given up…she had a reason for giving him up.

"Why not?" Henry asked innocently.

"Quit complaining, kid. Remember I could have put your butt on a bus…I still could." Emma wouldn't have put him on a bus though. Even then when she had no intention of being his mom in any way, shape, or form, she had felt responsible for Henry somehow.

Emma had changed since then…and Henry was the one who changed her, but he didn't remember any of that. It was such a screwed up situation.

"You're hungry? We just had breakfast." But Emma was already pulling off at the exit. She couldn't say no to Henry…she'd never really been able to, not even when she'd just barely met him.

Emma turned into the first gas station at the exit. As soon as she and Hook got out of the car, Henry and Mia climbed out from the backseat. It must have looked a little like a clown car with four people crammed in the little yellow Volkswagen Bug.

Henry accepted the crumpled bill Emma offered him. "Thanks! Do you want anything, Mom?"

"Coffee, but I'll come get it after I fill the tank."

Mia practically ran toward the gas station before Emma could give her money. The girl didn't go inside the gas station though. Instead, she walked around the outside to the side of the gas station. Emma was about to follow her when she saw Mia disappear under a dingy sign for the women's restroom. She wondered how long the girl had needed a bathroom. Mia wouldn't have asked Emma to stop for her…she didn't ask for much.

After she topped off the tank, Emma went to the bathroom. Mia was still in there, but she was already done and was washing her hands in the little sink. There weren't any paper towels so the girl wiped her hands on the sweatpants Emma had given her to wear. They were baggy on the little girl and it looked like they might fall off at any second.

Emma really needed to get Mia some clothes that fit her. The girl didn't have much to begin with, and now she had even less…Emma didn't know if Mia's jeans were worth saving. They were in even worse shape than before after the tumble she took down the fire escape.

Once she had her coffee just the way she liked it, Emma found Henry and Mia in the candy aisle.

"Apollo bars are my favorite," Henry said as he grabbed one off the shelf.

"Mine, too," Mia said, prompting Henry to grab a second candy bar for her.

Emma had noticed before that Henry and Mia had similar taste. They both liked their eggs scrambled, thought pulp in orange juice was gross, preferred Coke to Pepsi, and thought pizza should be a main food group. She wondered if it was because they were twins, but she also remembered at least one difference. Mia had wanted Emma's Rocky Road ice cream over Henry's Cherry Vanilla.

They left the gas station with two coffees…one of which Emma was sure was now an Irish coffee after Hook discreetly pulled out his flask, two bottles of Coke, two Apollo bars, a bag of trail mix, and a bag of potato chips.

They could make it to Storybrooke on that tank of gas, but they had to stop for lunch and dinner. By dinnertime, they were all tired of being in the car. They'd gone from making a game out of naming the band and song title of whatever was playing on the radio to driving in silence. They were in the middle of nowhere and their choice of radio stations was limited to a religious station and an oldies station…no, thank you. Emma had turned the radio off, and Henry immediately put his earbuds in. Mia had to be bored, but she wasn't complaining.

Henry wanted Hardee's for dinner and neither of the other two passengers spoke up. Hook had probably never set foot in a fast food joint until that day and Emma had a feeling Mia wouldn't have said anything even if Hardee's sounded awful to her.

They looked like a motley crew as they trudged into Hardee's. Emma was wearing her signature red leather jacket, jeans and boots. Henry was wearing his pea coat and scarf. It was a preppy, clean-cut look compared to the rest of them. That was Regina's influence even if he didn't remember Regina. Mia had an oversized t-shirt and sweatpants on. She might have just rolled out of bed. And Hook…well, Hook looked like a grown man that was dressed up as a pirate for Halloween, which would have been slightly less noticeable if it had actually been Halloween. An older couple eating dinner in one of the booths stared unabashedly at him.

They ordered burgers, fries and drinks all around. Mia and Henry made a beeline for the bathroom while Emma paid. Hook carried the bag of food and the cups over to the fountain drink machine.

"They'll both want Coke," Emma told him. "And I'll have-"

"Ice tea," Hook said. "I know you, Swan. I know what you like."

They piled back into the car. Henry fell asleep with a full stomach sometime before they crossed the state line into Maine. His cheek was pressed against the cool glass window and his mouth was hanging open. His hand was still curled tightly around his iPod. Mia was staring out the window at the jagged coast as they drove by.

"Where are we going…like, what city?" Mia asked.

"Storybrooke," Emma answered after a second.

"Storybrooke? Seriously?" Mia scoffed.

"Yep."

It was late when they finally got to Storybrooke and both kids were asleep. Henry had relaxed his grip on his iPod as he fell into a deeper sleep. It was on the seat next to him. Mia's head was tilted at an uncomfortable-looking angle and her breathing had evened out. The eight-and-a-half hour drive had taken them just over ten hours with all the stops. It hadn't helped that it had been stop-and-go until they got out of New York City and they'd hit traffic again in Boston.

"Are you ready for this?" Hook asked.

Emma looked at the "Welcome to Storybrooke" sign and sighed. "Does it matter? I don't have a choice."

Author's Note: Thanks for reading and reviewing! This isn't my favorite chapter, but I had to get it out of the way to transition them to Storybrooke. For those of you who asked, there will be some insight into why Emma didn't try to find Mia in the next few chapters. Emma will talk to Mary Margaret and David in the next chapter.