White Out
Piper felt a small smile creep its way onto her face as she sat beside Henry in Mary Margaret's apartment, watching her cousin as she bopped with Neal cooing in her arms. David was speaking with Emma off to the side while Henry sat with a small laptop on his lap. The 'Once Upon a Time' book was lying open on her lap as she had been skimming through it. Henry had been all too pleased to be able to crack the book open and talk to her about some of the stories, especially about HER stories, many of which she had tried to steer him away from at times. The things she had done in her past were…gruesome at times, they weren't anything a young boy needed to concern himself with and she doubted it was anything that her cousin, David, or Emma would want to hear her tell tales about. She didn't regret the things she'd done, but that didn't mean she would go into details of them in graphic detail. Henry's attention had, thankfully, shifted to the laptop after a short while, leaving her to skim through the book on her own.
She was hoping to try and find something in it that might help her and Gold with their own endeavors, some sort of story of the past Dark Ones that might help the current Dark One. Gold had explained that the hat they'd found was something he had been looking for for quite some time, something that a prior Dark One had first thought to use to free himself from the Dagger's control but just hadn't quite managed it. But there were some details that he was lacking and needed to know before they could advance his plans to free himself. Which was why she was reading through the book. It had been her experience that, as villains tended to keep their cards close to their chest, heroes often did the same. It was doubtful that the answers that Gold sought would be in the library or in any of his spellbooks, He had been attempting to separate himself from the Dagger for quite a while, so it stood to reason that, if he found nothing among the darkness, perhaps there was something to be found among the light. Perhaps there might be some hidden hint in the book, some warning for the heroes of how they could keep the Dark One on his leash.
The smile fell when she glanced at the book, to the page she'd turned to, and felt her heart thud painfully to see the story of Pinocchio staring back at her. She swallowed hard and quickly turned a handful of pages to avoid the story all together.
"Here you go, sweetheart," Piper looked up once more to see Mary Margaret bringing Neal over to his little crib, "I'll see you in three hours for your midnight shrieking. Yes, I will. Ohh, sweet dreams," she pressed a kiss to his forehead.
Henry too had looked up at that, tilting his head as he observed his uncle, "What do you suppose babies dream about?"
"Bullfighting," David answered promptly.
"Laser tag," Emma added, making Piper shake her head at them…while also questioning if they were being serious. She doubted Emma was, but well…David wasn't quite the brightest royal she'd ever come across.
"That's not true!" Mary Margaret cried, almost sounding shocked that they would think that was what her son dreamed of.
"I think they're joking," Henry laughed.
Mary Margaret blinked before she sighed, seeming to realize that, "Right," she nodded, moving over to the couch and letting herself fall right in between Piper and Henry though the boy got up a moment later, "I'll recognize funny again when he's 3 and I've had some sleep," she yawned widely and turned, just resting her head on Piper's shoulder, truly so ready to fall asleep.
And it wasn't like it was an unfamiliar position for them, she couldn't begin to count how many times she'd drifted off on her cousin's shoulder during a truly boring lesson or a negotiation that was dragging on. And Piper didn't seem to mind, merely closing the book and shifting to give her cousin more of a cushioned pillow of her shoulder than the boney one she was likely to have at that angle.
"3?" David scoffed, teasing, "I see the optimism returning."
"You know I can look after my nephew Snow," Piper remarked, letting her head fall to the side and rest on the top of Mary Margaret's head, "I have had my fair share of looking after young boys in my time. August…" she paused, taking a breath but knowing she needed to be able to talk about him, "He may not have been a baby when he came to me but I should imagine it would not be much harder."
Mary Margaret snorted at that, "Trust me, Rose, you have no idea just how hard it is till you have a baby screaming at 4 in the morning."
"I…hope to find out," Piper offered quietly.
Mary Margaret nodded absently on her cousin's shoulder…before her words caught up to her and she jolted awake and up, her eyes wide as she looked at Piper, "Are you…"
"Trying," Piper confirmed, "Not…quiet yet there though."
The look on Mary Margaret's face was like a child seeing all the gifts under the Christmas tree she was smiling so widely, her hands flying to her mouth as tears came to her eyes.
"Do not make a big thing of this Snow," Piper almost regretted mentioning even that little detail, she know how over-excitable Snow White could get.
"Not a big thing?!" Mary Margaret shook her head, "My children finally having cousins is not a big thing?! Rosie…"
"Frosty," Piper cut in with a mock-narrow look for the name.
"This is…enormous!" she leaned in to hug her cousin tightly, "You're going to have a baby!"
"One day," Piper reminded her, "One day, Snow, not tomorrow. I am not yet with child, I am merely trying."
"And even that is huge," she pulled away, beaming, "You need to let me know the second you find out that you are. There's SO much I have to plan and I'll need time to do it."
"Plan?" Piper asked slowly, really starting to regret having mentioned it now.
"Well the baby shower and shopping for things for the nursery and we'd have to get you on vitamins and the sonograms and…"
"Calm down Snow," Piper laughed a bit at how her cousin was getting lost in the future, "We shall take it step by step should I fall pregnant. Until then, do not excite yourself more or you shall end up with even less sleep than you are already getting."
THAT seemed to shock Mary Margaret back to the present and her current exhaustion as she sunk back on the couch, "You had to remind me," she grumbled, making Piper smile.
"Any time you may find need, Snow, I AM there," Piper reminded her, putting a hand on hers.
"I may take you up on that," Mary Margaret yawned…though Piper's smile tensed slightly, hearing something…off in Mary Margaret's words.
If she didn't know any better…she might have thought her cousin had just lied to her.
"Ok," they heard Emma speak from behind them and looked over to see Henry was packing some sort of bag, "Chocolate, DVDs, ice cream…red wine? That's one heck of a late-night snack, kid."
"It's for my mom," Henry shrugged.
"I don't drink and sheriff."
"And you are not his only mother, Emma," Piper reminded her, almost laughing at herself for her words.
They were quite different than what she would have said at the beginning of all of this, when she'd first gotten to Storybrooke. She would have been standing in between Regina and Henry to keep the boy away from the Evil Queen but…things…changed. Slowly, but they were changing. She didn't know what it was, perhaps it was seeing her cousin forgive Regina, seeing Emma and Henry do the same, perhaps it was her own revenge against the woman being satisfied, or their shared experience of being around their children and having them not remember them. Whatever it was, she was…starting to understand the position and role that Regina had in Henry's life more and more every day.
"I googled 'how to get over a breakup,'" Henry told them, seeing the others looking over at him too, "It didn't talk about your boyfriend's wife time-traveling back from the past, but close enough."
"Perhaps you should have googled 'dead wife' instead," Piper offered, though she made no other comment about Emma's adventure in the past. She had realized quite quickly that Emma wouldn't listen to her or believe her when she said that the alterations to the past could have deadly consequences. She was her parents' child, she chose to live in hope, whereas SHE dealt in reality. Emma would get defensive before too long and start to push back and argue and try to prove her wrong about Marian if she wasn't careful, if she pushed Emma too much. So, for now, she would keep most of her thoughts on the subject to herself.
And, if Magic truly proved the consequences of changing the past to Emma, perhaps a thinly veiled 'I told you so' would not be too much to give in the middle of helping Emma scramble to fix her mistake.
Emma rolled her eyes at that reminder, choosing not to respond to Piper and instead focus on her son and his efforts, "That's really sweet."
Henry smiled, about to say something, when a thumping and cawing sounded behind them near the window, a small black bird had landed just outside and was tapping on the glass. David quickly made his way over, lifting the window as Mary Margaret joined him, reaching out a finger to take the bird inside, pulling a small parchment off its leg before it flew away.
Mary Margaret frowned and opened the note, "It's a message," she murmured, her eyes widening as she skimmed it, her expression falling as she looked up, "It's for Henry. It's from your mother."
Henry reached out to take it, his expression growing more sorrowful as he read through it, "She doesn't want to see me," he told them, before turning and walking out of the room, dropping the note behind him, actually leaving the apartment fully.
Piper let out a long breath at that, of all the things to do, sending a message via bird instead of a phone call? Sometimes, for as much as she was starting to try and understand Regina, the woman made no sense to her at all.
"Is that really what she said?" David looked to his wife as Emma picked up the fallen paper.
"No," Emma shook her head, "She said for the moment."
"And in the mind of a child, a moment or a second can last an eternity," Piper mused, thinking of times when she would have to leave August in their apartment for an hour or so, mostly when she was following a lead or checking something, meeting with an adoption agency in hopes of finding Emma, and he would always run to her and hug her tightly when she got back. The concept of time was often lost on a child, no matter how old they were, when their parent left them time meant nothing.
"I'm gonna go talk to him," Emma decided.
"May I join you?" Piper asked, "I have experience with young boys," she offered, getting a nod from Emma as the two of them headed out after the boy.
~8~
Piper followed Emma into Granny's, the woman behind the counter having called Emma to let her now Henry had shown up alone, to see the boy sitting with his chin on the counter, frowning at nothing.
Emma glanced at Piper a moment before walking over to Henry and sitting down on his right, Piper moving to his left, "You know," she began, "That is not exactly what she said. I read the note. She said for right now, while she's dealing with things."
"She doesn't want to see me," Henry repeated.
"She's in a lot of pain over Robin Hood and everything else that's happened over the last…well, forever," Emma winced, thinking about just what Regina had been through in her life, it was…more than anyone should have to endure, even she could admit that, "Things have been tough on her and you. She's trying to fix them so that you two can be together. Because she cares about you."
"So why'd she tell me to stay away?"
"Because she thinks she's making things better."
"She's not," Henry determined.
Emma opened her mouth to agree with his statement, when a loud rumbling sounded outside the diner a moment before the lights went out, leaving them in darkness, "What the hell?" she nearly jumped when her police radio on her belt staticed to life.
"Emma," David's voice called, "I…I'm getting calls from all over. It's a town-wide blackout."
"Yeah, copy that. I'm looking at it."
"I'll swing by to get you. We can check this out."
Emma nodded, putting the radio back on her belt, and glancing at Henry, "Hey, kid. You want to come along on this one? We can call it operation Nightshade or, uh, blackthorn or…"
But Henry shook his head, "That's ok."
"You go, Emma," Piper offered, putting a hand on Henry's shoulder, "I shall accompany Henry back to Snow's apartment."
"Thanks," Emma nodded at her, giving Henry a quick hug before hurrying out of the diner.
"Come on," Piper nudged Henry on, the two of them stepping out onto the street and heading off for the apartments. They were silent for a short while, mostly till they had reached the end of the block and turned, before she spoke again, "It is not that she does not wish to see you, Henry, it is that she does not wish for YOU to see her in such a state."
"But I'm her son!" Henry frowned.
"And that is just the point," Piper told him, "She is your mother, she is meant to protect you," she smiled fondly at him, "As much as it kills me to admit," she added, though her voice had taken a slightly teasing note to it, "She raised you into a fine young man, Henry. And she knows, as well as any of us do, that if you see her hurting, you will try to help her, protect her. That is not something a child is meant to do, adults are meant to protect you, not the other way around. She is trying to make it easier on you to not see her so upset. She does not wish to hurt you in seeing her hurting."
Henry looked down at that, it was wrong, the entire thing, and not just the part about his mother not wanting to see him…but to think that he'd never seen her hurting before. HE had hurt her, many times, calling her the Evil Queen, calling Emma his real mother, HE had hurt her, he'd seen the hurt in her eyes and shoved it aside. This was his chance to make amends, to be there for her and support her when he should have before and failed to do it.
"Often times…often times we do not wish for those we love to see us as anything less than what we are," Piper added, more in thought.
Henry frowned at that, "What's that mean?"
Piper looked up at him, "She is the Queen, is she not? Do you think she would wish anyone, even you, to see her vulnerable? It is…a dangerous place for a queen, for a villain, to be."
Often it was something a villain never allowed themselves to be, not where prying eyes were concerned. And, even though she knew Henry was a far better secret-keeper than Snow White had ever been, he was still a child and if the right person asked him the right question in the right way, he might tell someone something that would put Regina in danger, or give others ammunition against her. It was one reason she and Gold never allowed themselves, or tried not to allow themselves, to be seen as weak or questioning themselves around others. Even the smallest doubt, the smallest advantage to someone else could mean a threat to them.
"Then why do villains fall in love?" Henry shook his head, "Wouldn't that be a weakness to them? Like…if the person they loved got taken, that would hurt them, it would control them and…"
"And give them a reason to fight as well," Piper cut in, "Love is…complicated Henry. Some believe, like Cora, that it is a weakness to feel love. Others believe it can be empowering. Though…" she sighed, "I do suppose you are right, for both villains and heroes, at times those we love are used as bait or leverage by others to get what they want."
"That's why you never told Snow White you were alive," Henry remarked, "I remember that from reading your story."
"That was a part of it, yes, a large part, but…there were many reasons I kept my silence about my survival, Henry."
"Like what?" he couldn't imagine why she wouldn't have told Snow White she was alive beyond that.
"As we agreed, our enemies will use those we care for as bait," she remarked, "If Regina had found out I was alive, that I was Snow White's cousin, she would have used me to lure Snow out, made her surrender. I do not doubt my cousin would be foolish enough to trade her whole kingdom for my life with the belief she could win it back later. And…"
"And?" Henry shook his head when she cut off.
"I was…frightened."
"You?" Henry gaped at her, 'frightened' and 'Piper' were not two words he'd ever thought he'd hear unless it was someone being afraid OF her, not that SHE was afraid of something.
"Contrary to what is likely popular belief, Henry, I do feel fear, and I do fear many things," water, fire, her family's life, Sirens, losing her true love, so many things.
"But what could you have been afraid of back in the Enchanted Forest? I thought the Dark One was protecting you, that was your deal…"
"He was to protect me from the Evil Queen, not what I was truly afraid of."
"Can I ask what it was?" he hesitated to say that, not sure if it was too private, but Piper had always given him the impression that he could talk to her about anything, ask her anything, and she'd be truthful with him.
"Snow."
"You were afraid of Snow White?" that didn't make sense, she loved her cousin!
"I was afraid of her reaction to me," Piper sighed, "I was afraid of what she would think of me. I was afraid of how she would look at me when she discovered I was the Pied Piper, when she remembered everything the Piper had been said to do, when she learned it was all truth. My cousin, Henry, was one of the few people left alive that accepted me for everything I was, both human and Siren alike. If I…if she turned away from me, if she saw me as…as nothing but a monster…I did not wish to confront that. And I took the coward's way out and kept myself from her."
Henry nodded at that, the two of them lapsing into silence for so long that he only realized it had happened when they turned a corner and reached the apartment building, "I don't think she would have," he offered, "Snow White. I don't think she would have turned her back on you. She really loves you, Aunt P, just like I do and I always will."
Piper smiled softly at him for that, "Many thanks, Henry. That means more to me than you know."
Henry beamed at that, looking both ways before he jogged across the street to the apartments and let himself in. Piper stood there a moment longer, taking a deep breath and shaking her head at the boy, he was truly of Snow White's family, wasn't he? She would expect nothing less of him.
She didn't bother to look, crossing the street and entering the building as well…and nearly running right into Henry as he stood in the main foyer, Mary Margaret, Grumpy, Happy, and Granny standing there together, Neal cradled in his mother's arms.
"Snow?" Piper walked over to them, resting her hands on Henry's shoulders, "Is all well?"
"Rose," Mary Margaret breathed a sigh of relief, "Do you know anything about power outages or energy grids?"
"Not a thing.
Mary Margaret's expression fell, glancing at the trio of adults before hurrying to her cousin's side and whispering, "They want me to fix this and get the power back on because, apparently, my curse, my town, and now I'm the mayor."
Piper blinked at that, "I wish you well then, Madame Mayor."
"Rose!" Mary Margaret huffed even as Piper smirked at her, "Help," she half begged.
"I do not know how much help I can be, Snow, I have as much knowledge as you in this."
"Oh gee," Henry suddenly said, yawning comically, "It's…it's way past my bedtime, better hit the hay!"
The two women stared as Henry ran off for the stairs up to Mary Margaret's apartment, clearly the boy had thought they would drag him along.
"Rose?" Mary Margaret turned back to her, "Please?"
Piper sighed, she had wanted to go back to Gold's shop, let him know that she hadn't found anything in the book just yet, but it…it shouldn't take THAT long to get the power back, should it?
"Very well," she murmured, making Mary Margaret beam.
~8~
Piper had been correct in her remark to Mary Margaret that she wouldn't be of much help in fixing the generator. Despite her travels with August around the world…she hadn't learned how to read Japanese, which would have been useful as the instructions manual for the electrical grid controls.
Then again, it also would have been useful if Grumpy, Happy, and Granny had left them well enough alone to try and puzzle it out themselves, their running commentary was starting to give her a migraine.
"Is she fixing it?" Happy whispered to the other two while Mary Margaret and Piper stood by the controls, trying to match the pictures in the manual to the box before them.
"I've got a fridge full of iffy clams," Granny huffed, "Just find the right part of the manual!"
"The manual's in Japanese," Grumpy at least had the decency to remind them of that.
"Well, just do something!"
"Maybe Marco should be helping with the power?" Happy suggested, "He is the handyman."
"Gepetto?" Grumpy scoffed, "You think? I mean, I'm not sure handcrafted tuscan wood carvings are really gonna save the day."
"Dr. Whale!" Granny offered.
"He's a doctor, not electrician."
Piper had to consider that a moment, Whale WAS Frankenstein as far as she knew, he had ample experience with electricity…
Mary Margaret, however, didn't seem to be of the same opinion as she rounded on the trio behind them, snapping out, "We don't need help!"
"You think?" Grumpy shot back, "I mean, I'm grumpy now. Imagine me in the morning without a coffee maker."
"Or a computer," Happy agreed, "Or stop lights, TV, DVD, CD, DVR, DVD."
"Stop saying letters!" Mary Margaret nearly screamed, making Piper stop in her page turning to look at her cousin with wide eyes, it was not often at all that Snow White shouted like that, "Look, I am not magic. I have had eight hours of sleep in the last week, I am breastfeeding, and I am exhausted! I don't need this! I may have cast a little curse, but I did not ask to maintain a metropolitan electrical grid! Oh, and get this, I'm starting to get why Regina was evil. It wasn't her! It was you! You have survived your entire lives without light bulbs! Buy a flashlight!"
The trio stared at Mary Margaret in silence for a long moment before bowing their heads and leaving the room without another word.
Piper snapped the manual shut, a small smirk on her face as she stepped over to her cousin's side, resting a hand on her shoulder, "Well, that was quite a regal response."
Mary Margaret groaned loudly and rubbed her head, "I'm sorry."
"Oh please, do NOT apologize for that," Piper chuckled slightly, "It was quite entertaining to witness."
"Rose," Mary Margaret sighed, giving her a look.
"Do you want me to stay here, Snow, work this out while you return home and sleep? I highly doubt Henry has really gone to bed, I am certain he would enjoy playing with his uncle for a time while you napped."
"No," Mary Margaret muttered, "No, no. They're right, it's my curse, it's my responsibility to keep everything running now."
"If it is agreeable," Piper began, "Perhaps Rummy could help?" Mary Margaret looked at her for that, "You mentioned not being magic, I am sure he could get this running properly in moments. I need only go to his shop and fetch him," in Mary Margaret's rush to calm the others both women had left their mobile phones behind.
"Would you?" Mary Margaret smiled at that, her shoulders sagging in relief, "I can try to work it out while you're gone, but if he could stop by and help…"
"Of course," Piper nodded, knowing that Gold would likely want the power on as much as anyone else for his shop and home. She glanced over at Neal currently sleeping in a small carrying cot, "Do you wish me to bring Neal with me?" she inquired, "Give you some peace or…"
"No," Mary Margaret said quickly, "No it's fine," she smiled, though Piper frowned at seeing a small force behind it, "I don't…he's sleeping now, he'll be fine."
"Right," Piper nodded slowly, "If you should ever require my services as babysitter in the future though, Snow, please feel free, I would like to spend time with my nephew too."
"I know," Mary Margaret nodded as well, her smile becoming more thoughtfully sad than forced, "I know you do Rose. And…maybe one day you will. I just…" she glanced at her son, "I'm not ready to share him just yet."
Piper squeezed Mary Margaret's shoulder before stepping past her and heading for the doors, unable to shake the feeling that her cousin wasn't telling her everything about her hesitations.
~8~
It seemed almost like the fates were against Storybrooke getting their power back as, not a minute after Piper stepped into Gold's shop and greeted him, the doors were being thrown open by a frantic David and Hook running in.
"Oh thank god," David breathed when he saw Piper standing there, knowing that what he needed Gold's help in would more likely happen with her around, especially as it related to Emma, "There's an emergency," he got right to it, "Emma's trapped under ice by a woman with some kind of ice magic."
"What?!" Piper demanded, feeling her Siren side clawing to the surface at the threat to her niece. She swallowed hard, trying to rein it in if just a bit, the last time she'd let that half of her get too much control, Baelfire had paid the consequences for it and she was not going to let that happen to her family again, "What happened?!"
"We don't know," David sighed, "We were investigating the power lines and came to an ice wall around the town, Emma went into a crevice in it and found a woman hiding there. She seemed spooked by us and, before we could react, more ice was shooting up and Emma was trapped."
"Then why are you here instead of breaking down the wall?"
"Don't you think we tried that!?" Hook snapped, "It's magic, which is why we need the bloody Dark One," he turned a glare on Gold, "Do something!"
Gold's expression grew grim, "I could melt the ice and destroy it with a thought," he agreed, looking to Piper as he continued, "But that would also destroy those within the ice. And if it is created by magic," he turned to David, "There's likely magic keeping people from transporting themselves inside it as well."
David let out a hard breath at that, as much as he hated Gold and thought him a downright liar, he knew enough of the man and how he was around Piper to know that he wouldn't lie about something that could save Emma, especially not after his son died, but that also meant their chance at quickly saving Emma had disappeared, time for plan b, "The woman who has Emma trapped is in there with her and she's looking for her sister, name of Anna. She thinks she's in town because of something of hers she found in your shop, a necklace."
"There are many pieces of jewelry here, Charming, be more specific!" Piper gave him a hard look.
"She HAS the necklace," David tried to speed up the process of finding out who the girl might be from her necklace. All of Gold's objects came with addresses, didn't they?
"Then it would be missing," Piper nodded, "Rummy?"
Gold eyed the glass case just under his hand, quickly taking mental inventory of what's there, before tapping the glass where a particular necklace was missing. He turned and pulled a small file out of a draw, fishing through it for a piece of paper with the necklace on it, "This is it," he turned and held it up to the others to see, but there was no other information about the necklace on it, no address, nothing…
Till David got a good look at it, quickly snatching the card from Gold's hand, "I know this," he murmured, "I know exactly who Anna is!"
"Do you know WHERE she is?" Piper asked the more important question.
"No," David sighed, looking at her, "But I know someone who does," he turned and hurried out of the shop, Hook right behind him.
Piper turned to Gold, "Go," he said before she could even open her mouth to say she had to go after them.
She smiled at his understanding, that he knew she didn't trust Hook with Emma, that the fact that both men had allowed Emma to get trapped in the first place, maybe even caused it, leaving her feeling that they wouldn't be able to help Emma just themselves. She leaned in and pressed a quick kiss to his lips before running out of the shop, her mission from Mary Margaret completely forgotten in the plight her niece was facing. She was quite sure that Mary Margaret would rather her daughter safe and alive than the power returned to the town anyway.
She ran out the door and looked up and down the street for an indication of where David and Hook had got to, internally cursing that she'd turned to Gold instead of watched to see where the men were going. It had to be close if they'd disappeared that quickly.
"There you are!" she gasped, seeing the door to the butcher's just across the street and down to the left open, Hook standing in the doorway with some sort of staff in one hand and a radio in the other. She took off towards it, reaching the doorway just as David called out for Hook from within.
"It's that woman, Elsa," Hook held up the radio, "She said Emma's passed out. She's freezing to death."
"Well then MOVE!" Piper reached out to grab the staff from Hook...only to blink as she realized it was a shepherd's crook. She didn't have the slightest idea how it could help them find this Anna woman, but there was little time to think of that as David turned and led them to his truck, the three of them cramming in to go help Emma.
~8~
Piper was out of the truck almost before it stopped moving just feet from the ice wall at the edge of town though she left the shepherd's crook behind in the car as it wouldn't be useful now in finding Anna when it was EMMA they were working to save at the moment.
"Emma!" she called, cupping her hands around her mouth.
"Don't you think we tried that?" Hook snapped at her as David caught up to them, the radio in his hand.
"Elsa?" David called frantically into it, "Elsa? How's Emma?"
There was static a moment before a woman replied, "She's freezing, turning blue."
"No," Hook breathed, rushing to the wall and starting to hack at it with his hook, though it did next to nothing, "Emma!"
"I doubt something as small as a hook will help against a magic wall," Piper shot him a glare. She was…slightly impressed with how visceral his reaction to the threat of Emma's safety was, but a part of her still couldn't let go of the fact that, from what David had implied, the two men had done something to trigger Emma getting trapped, so it was partially Hook's fault then.
"Elsa!" David spoke into the radio, "Listen to me. I need you to find a way out."
"I need Anna!" the woman, Elsa, insisted.
"We do not have her right now," Piper leaned over to grab the radio, "And so help me if you do not release my niece, I will…"
"Not helping!" David hissed at her, yanking the radio back, "Elsa, I'm sorry, we have a way to find Anna, and we will, but right now you're gonna have to do this on your own."
"I can't control this," Elsa admitted over the radio.
"I know how you feel. You're trapped. It's a battle you can't win, but it's exactly the kind of battle you have to fight, or you'll die."
"No, I won't. I'll survive. But Emma…"
David jerked away as Piper instinctively moved to grab the radio, about to truly threaten Elsa, trying to keep the woman from making it worse, "Survival isn't enough," he tried to get through to Elsa, "You have to live."
"…where did you hear that?"
"You know where."
"Anna?" Elsa gasped, "You knew her?"
"Yeah, I did. She helped me once, a long time ago, become who I am. She saved my life and yours, and now I need you to save Emma's. I didn't know much about Anna, but she wouldn't want you to live alone in an ice cave, which is where you'll be if you don't melt that ice. Now do it!"
The static on the radio crackled for a moment more before it went silent.
Piper glared at David for not letting her have a word in with this Elsa woman, but she bit down her biting retorts, looking at the wall, and shaking her head, "Maybe I can help," she considered, quickly pulling her pipe from her boot, "I can use my music to gather my energy and magic into a blast, if Elsa weakens the wall enough from within, I may be able to break through."
"Do it," David agreed, trusting that Piper wouldn't have suggested it if it was at all a danger to Emma to do.
Piper nodded, bringing the pipe to her lips, "Best cover your ears," was all the warning she gave as she began to play a quick tune, the notes getting louder and longer as she went, the pipe starting to glow in her hands, increasing in brightness as she held a particular note…before flinging the pipe at the wall, sending the light from it crashing into the wall, breaking off a small part of it enough for a gust of magic from within to flush out.
"It's working!" Hook shouted.
Piper brought the pipe up once more, repeating the process, hacking at the wall from one side as Elsa weakened it from within. One more blast and…
"I can see her!" Hook cheered as a larger hole was created, enough to climb through, "Emma!"
Piper gasped, swaying, a hand to her head, as she tried to get her balance enough to help, but the blasts had taken a lot of her energy and the world was spinning a little more than it should have been. But she could see Emma, she could see a blonde woman with her hair in a braid along the side of her neck in a blue, sparkling gown, helping pass Emma through the hole that they'd made.
"Emma!" Hook reached inside and gently pulled Emma out.
"Let's get her home, warmed up," David said as Emma got standing, Hook hugging her tightly. He glanced over at Piper who had her hand braced against an ice stalagmite, panting, "You ok?"
She nodded, waving them off, just so relieved Emma was alright even if she was deathly pale and her lips were blue, she was still alive.
David turned back to Elsa as she fully climbed through, "You did it. You saved her."
"Yes, I did," Elsa agreed, "But I also endangered her. You owe me nothing."
"Good," Piper swallowed, "Because you shall have no thanks from me."
"Rose," David gave her a look, though he winced as she turned a deadly glare on him, "Piper," he amended, it had felt odd anyway to call her Rose instead of Piper, she wasn't Rose to him, she was and would always be the Pied Piper in his mind, related to his wife or not, "Don't."
"I was not about to do anything, Shepherd," Piper very nearly sneered, before turning her gaze on Elsa, "Merely give a warning."
"Whatever 'warning' it is," David continued to push, "She doesn't need it. I think she knows what she did was wrong."
"I do," Elsa nodded.
"But if it happens again…" Piper began.
"It won't," Elsa promised.
"If it does," Piper repeated, a firm note in her voice telling them NOT to interrupt her again or try to silence her, "You will not have to worry about finding your sister."
Elsa frowned, "Why?"
"Because I will hunt her down and I will kill her if you are the cause of any more danger to my family," she held Elsa's gaze, "Is that understood?"
Elsa swallowed hard, wanting to lash out, wanting to shout and argue and throw an ice blast at her..but Emma whimpered where Hook was helping her walk off and she was reminded that SHE had been the one to endanger someone's family first, "Understood," was all she could say in a weak whisper.
Piper gave her one more nod, before turning to walk back to the truck and leave David to speak to Elsa more, doing her best not to let anyone see how tiring it was to her to walk even those few feet. She was exhausted, utterly spent…but Emma as safe, and that was all that mattered.
She swallowed as she glanced back at Elsa, watching her speaking with David, and then over to Emma as well, a frown coming to her face. She hoped, prayed really, that what had just happened was not a result of Magic trying to right the imbalance of Emma's actions in the past. She hoped dearly that Emma nearly dying hadn't been a sign that Magic was going to come for Emma's life as the cause of the disturbance and broken Laws. There was not much one could do to hold back true and natural magic from doing anything…but she would try, she would keep a closer eye on Emma and make sure the girl was safe until the Marian situation was resolved.
~8~
Piped draped another blanket over Emma's shoulders as she sat in Mary Margaret's apartment, half nudging Hook out of the way where he was rubbing her arms to do it. Emma sighed in relief as she felt the extra thick cloth surround her, tugging it closer as David brought a portable heater over to place before his daughter.
"Emma," he knelt down, getting it set up.
"Hmm?" she hummed, her teeth chattering.
"You ok?"
"She's so cold," Hook answered.
"Perhaps because someone let her get trapped in an ice cavern," Piper shot BOTH men a look for that…though the effect of it was lost when she ended up yawning widely, trying to hide it behind her hand, right at the end.
"Go sit down," David jerked a finger at the couch despite the fact they could barely see it in the darkness…
Which, of course, was right when the lights flickered back on.
Piper blinked, "Oh," she winced, realizing that she'd completely forgotten about Mary Margaret and the power grid in the rush of saving Emma. But it appeared her cousin had worked out what to do all on her own.
"Oh, that's good," Emma breathed as the electric heater turned on with the power, hitting her with a wave of warm air.
"I'll go make some hot cocoa," Henry offered, having been lingering around the edge of them while they tried to get Emma situated.
"Wait…" Emma feebly tried to reach for him.
But Henry grabbed her hand anyway, smiling, "I know. With cinnamon."
"I'm sorry if I wasn't much help earlier, kid," Emma spoke, her words only slightly less shaking and broken up than before.
"I'm just glad you're ok," he told her, leaning in to hug her tightly, "I was already down to one mother, and I won't go lower than that."
"And I, for one," Piper added, having curled up on the couch, her feet up on the small coffee table before her, "Shall not let that happen Henry."
"For BOTH my mothers?" Henry challenged, knowing that, of course she would protect Emma, but he did have another equally important woman in his life that had the title of 'mother' also.
Piper was silent, giving him a near narrow eyed look, not an evil look or angry one, more considering, "Perhaps one day," was all she could offer. She didn't like her family being hurt and if that meant helping to keep Regina relatively safe, well…she supposed she did have a sort of truce with the woman now that her revenge against her had been satisfied. Who knew what the future would hold so long as Regina continued to protect the family in days to come and not harm it as she had in the past.
Emma gave a weak smile at that, before her gaze was pulled to something out of the corner of her eye, Elsa shuffling in the kitchen area, "Elsa You ok?"
"Not only have I lost my sister, I've lost her necklace, too," Elsa sighed, "Now I have nothing of hers."
"Then let's find her," David stood, moving over to where the shepherd's crook was resting and picking it up, bringing it over to Elsa and handing it to her, "A long time ago she was branded by the magic in this crook, which allows the person holding it to keep track of their 'flock.' Just…focus on Anna and look into the hooked part, you should see where she is."
Elsa nodded and focused everything she could on the image of her sister…but nothing appeared, "I don't see anything."
David frowned, "It should work."
"Is it broken?" Hook asked.
"Or does it mean something happened to her?" Elsa whispered, fear lacing her words.
"Can you all truly not hear that?" Piper glanced at them, she knew Sirens had slightly better hearing than humans did, but she didn't think the sound she was hearing was quite THAT low…
"Hear what?" David turned to her.
"The heartbeat," Piper stated, "There is a heartbeat coming from that crook."
The room quieted down at that, all of them listening intently, and, soon enough, they could hear the faint heartbeat as well.
Emma smiled at that, her lips just a bit less blue, "We might not know where your sister is, but we know the most important thing."
"She's alive!" Elsa beamed.
"Who's alive?" Mary Margaret called just as the door opened and she entered the room, Neal in her arms, stopping short when she saw Elsa standing there, "Oh. Who are you?"
"Uh, this is Elsa," David moved over to his wife's side, "We're gonna find her sister. That's what this family does. We find people," he smiled at Mary Margaret, "We always do, because we really, really don't like to give up."
Mary Margaret started to smile at that…till she looked over at the other occupants and saw the state Emma was in, "Emma!" she gasped, rushing over to her daughter, "What happened? David, what happened?" she looked to her husband, not giving Emma a chance to answer, then just as swiftly turned to Piper, "Rose?"
"Your dear husband and the bilge rat apparently spooked…" she bit back a yawn, "Elsa, enough to trap her and Emma in an ice cavern," Piper deadpanned, "Where she nearly froze to death."
"What?!" Mary Margaret turned to David and Hook as Emma winced.
"That wasn't exactly the whole story," Emma defended weakly, though it was rather close.
"And we got her out," David added, "She's safe now and…"
"And half frozen!" Mary Margaret cut in.
"But warming," Hook tried to offer, but he backed down when Mary Margaret shot him a glare.
"Here you go mom," Henry handed Emma the hot chocolate he'd made.
"Thanks, kid," Emma smiled at him, taking a sip and humming in delight of it.
"David?" Mary Margaret gave him a look.
"She's fine, Snow, I promise," David told her, moving over to gently take Neal from her arms, "She just needs to rest a bit, just like her little brother."
Mary Margaret looked less than impressed with how he was brushing aside how serious it was, but then she caught the look in his eyes, the guilt, the fear, the relief…and sighed, letting him take their son to his crib. She turned and unceremoniously fell down onto the couch next to Piper.
She looked at her cousin and blinked, "Are you…ok Rose?" she asked, seeing Piper appeared about to nod off right there on the couch…she couldn't recall the last time she'd ever seen her cousin that tired.
"Yes," she yawned, "I am well Snow. Merely…exhausted."
"I can see that," Mary Margaret chuckled a bit, "What happened?"
"I helped save your daughter," Piper said simply, adding a small shrug, "As Elsa was weakening the ice walls of the cavern, I was using my music and my magic to send small blasts of power at the walls to help them crumble. I suppose I put more into it than I realized."
Mary Margaret stared at her with a soft look in her eyes at that, "You helped save Emma."
"Of course I did," Piper opened her eyes to look at her cousin, "She is family, Snow. I will always do whatever it takes to protect them, no matter what. I will never allow harm to befall this family if I can help it."
Mary Margaret smiled at that, glancing over to where David was bobbing their son, trying to get him to fall asleep, "I know you won't," she murmured.
Piper's brow furrowed slightly at Mary Margaret's tone, at something…odd in it. She didn't know if it was the mere exhaustion she felt that was slowing down her mind or if it was something else but, for the first time in a long while…she didn't quite know what was stirring in her cousin's mind.
Something felt…off…between them, but she didn't know what.
A/N: Hmm...seems something is up with Snow letting Piper babysit...I can say there's more to it than we see in the show where she just doesn't want to be parted from her son just yet }:)
Some notes on reviews...
I can say that the reunion for Piper and August will be full of tears, but I won't say if it's happy tears or sad ones }:)
I'm glad the stories are able to help give you a bit of joy :') If there's ever anything I can do to help or if you ever need someone to talk to or anything, please don't hesitate to PM me ;)
Thank you :) If I ever do use the theory, I'll be sure to contact you first though just to make doubly sure (I'm paranoid lol) ;)