Thank you to everyone who read, reviewed, marked as a favorite, or added an alert to my story. Your support means alot. And is very inspirational. But I also wanted to say, that this story may not always follow the explicit details of the show. And that is just the way that is going to be. On that note, enjoy Chapter 2 as I begin to write Chapter 3! Thanks again for all of the wonderful support.

Chapter 2 - Lesson in Love

I followed my father's example and went back to my bedroom. If I was being honest with myself, I would have to admit that this morning's events had put me a little on edge. And I don't react well to anxiety. I crashed down on my bed wracking my brain. As a kid growing up in the foster system so many different people weaved in and out of my life. There was one span of about a year and a half that I was moved around to thirteen different homes. It made it impossible to make any lasting friendships, let alone remember all of the kids and adults that I had lived with at any point in my life. I tried to remember anyone that I may have ever met with initials J.C. but I just couldn't come up with anything.

At some point, I must have fallen back to sleep because some time later I was roused by the gentle shaking of my shoulder. Lying on my stomach with my faced turned toward the window I opened one eye to see my mother kneeling beside my bed. Daylight was now fully upon us and as the sunshine poured through the window it put a slight golden glow around my mother's small figure.

"What?" was all that I was able to croak out followed by a yawn.

She reached up and pushed some of my hair out of my face and gave me a slight smile. "Why don't you get up and come down for some breakfast?"

I looked at the clock, "7:48? Shit." I pushed myself off of the bed and began rushing to get dressed. I had to get to the docks by 8:30 but I still had to stop at the station. In my haste, I paid no attention to my mother who had taken up residence on my bed intently watching me flit about the room. I started to do a mental checklist of everything that I needed to do. It wasn't until I heard my mother repeat "meet at the docks" that I realized that I was reciting my checklist aloud.

"Emma," she started.

"Mother," I chastised quickly cutting her off.

"Emma, sit."

I shot her a look that she apparently didn't like. Because she swiftly got up to close the door and stood in front of it to block any attempt I made to leave the room. She simply pointed to the bed. Seriously? Was she really going to pull the 'I'm your mother' act. I guess so, because when my eyes met hers, I ducked my head and sat down on the edge of the bed.

"Where's Dad?" sure it was a sad attempt at deflection, but it was all that I had at the moment.

"He's downstairs. Waiting for you. He thought that you two could go to the station early, to work out a game plan. But when you fell back to sleep, we decided to let you get your rest."

I sucked in a breath. I could read between the lines. That statement meant one thing, "so instead, you two worked out the plan together, and now we're playing a game of 'tell Emma what she's going to do'."

"So perceptive" she shot back.

"I don't have time for this," I rebutted as I made a move toward my mother. I had no problem with pushing her out of the way. I had someplace that I needed to be and she was not going to stop me.

"Sit," I suddenly heard my father bellow from the hallway. Damn, these two were getting this parenting thing down. And when did I become a person who obeyed parental figures? My mother opened the door wide enough for me to see my father's strong frame blocking the doorway. I guess that would be the day that I found parents to obey and love. Ok. Well maybe I had a problem pushing him out of the way. Unless I used magic, he surely overpowered me.

"Emma, we have no delusions about what you are or are not going to do. We know you well enough to know that you are going to the docks," he started.

"Good, get out of my way then!" I grabbed my keys from the nightstand and headed for the door.

But I ran straight into my father's hands that he put up to block my escape, "oh, we're not done here."

I took a step back and crossed my arms in annoyance. As I let out a heavy sigh and rolled my eyes, I glanced over to the clock, it was 8:03. I looked down at the floor willing myself to not say anything. Arguing would just further delay my mission, it was best to just let him get through his speech.

"You made a good point this morning," he started again.

Whoa. What? I looked up at him quickly. I wasn't expecting that; I'm not sure that my eyes could have gotten much wider.

"That man only wanted to talk to you. But I still have reservations about you going there alone. So we decided…" this time I gave him the look. The adult child to parent look that said 'you can decided all you want, I'm doing this my way' and he quickly changed his wording "…we thought we should set up a safety net, of sorts."

"A safety net?" What the hell did he mean by a safety net?

"Contingency plan" he corrected. I raised an eyebrow at him as he continued. "You know as well as I do that is not safe situation to walk into without some kind of backup. So I have Grumpy positioning the dwarfs to predetermined positions. I'll be in the truck parked someplace close by where I can see you, but you or more importantly he will not see me. So if you need help for any reason I'll be right there."

I couldn't disagree with the logic or the plan. It was well thought out, and he was giving me the space that I needed to meet with this man; to let him think that he had the upper hand.

"So do you have a signal in mind that I'll flash to let you know to move in?" I should have known by the look on his face that the other shoe was about to drop. Or the wire tap, in this case, that was dropped into my hands.

"You want me to wear a wire? Are you insane?!" I tossed the wire back at him. I wasn't going to wear that stupid thing. First of all, it was from the 1980's and there was no place to position it discretely. Second of all, the damn thing was from the 1980's! It probably didn't even work.

My mother shook her head as she looked down at the floor. "You went along with this?" I directed at her. She raised her hands as if to say that she had nothing to do with it. If I know her, it was something that she tried to talk him out of using, but failed miserably. Yeah, just another fine example of the fact that stubbornness runs in the family; abundant on both sides of the family tree.

"Emma…"

I crossed my arms and sent him a daring glare. "No. Forget it. I am not wearing a wire. He requested a meeting with me, not the other way around. He must know that I am the sheriff and that not only am I armed, but I have my radio with me. I have nothing to hide from this guy. How about this; how 'bout if I decide that I need your help, I'll wave a nice hand gesture your way. Will that work?"

I regretted the words as soon as they came out of my mouth. What the hell was I thinking? Or was that the problem, I wasn't thinking. My anxiety level was soaring and it apparently turned off my brain to mouth filter. My father's face turned an instant dark shade of red. In the short time that we have been together as a family, I can't remember ever pushing him this far.

"Just call me on the radio," he huffed and stormed down the stairs. I looked at my mother, hoping to gauge how much damage I had just done. She just raised her eyebrows at me, looked toward the door, and shook her head. And I knew what that reaction meant. Sometimes I just had to wonder what the hell was going through my father's head. Yeah, bad reasoning. Ok. I get it. I'm his daughter. He only wants to protect me and make sure that I'm safe. But come on, there has to be some level of confidence in me. Right?

"Dad!" I called out running after him. I found him downstairs by the door. He already had on his coat and hat; he was just fishing for his gloves. It was February and a weather alert had just buzzed my phone. But now was not the time to worry about snow falling.

"Dad," my plea was laced with contrition. I was hoping to at least gain his attention as I made my way to him. He turned away but reached for my coat.

He held it open for me so that I could slip it on easier, living up to his Prince Charming moniker, "Come on, we have a schedule to keep." That was all that he said before he opened the door for me and I walked through. Well I guess it wasn't a complete shun. He did at least talk to me and help with my coat.

This was the first time, since I have known my father, that he has ever let it show when I have hurt him. And I know too well that I have done other things that have hurt him or gotten him upset. But this was different. This I wasn't sure that I could fix. I shouldn't have had to fix it though, because quite simply, I shouldn't have said it. He quickly but quietly moved passed me on the stairs leaving me to follow him to the truck.

After a quick stop at the station to pick up the radios, we made our way to the docks. The trip started in a tense silence. It was just me and him. I needed try again. "Dad, I'm…"

"I have Grumpy and the other dwarfs positioned in a wide circle around the rendezvous point," he interrupted. I put my head down and looked away. There was no other way to describe it, I felt like a heel. "I will be parked behind the cannery. I should be able to see you but I will be hidden from your direct view. I thought that bringing the truck would be less conspicuous than the squad car. So hopefully he won't be looking for the sting; if it comes to it. There won't be any direction that he can run that will not be covered."

"Do you really think that he is going to try something?"

"I don't know, but I'm not taking any chances." David pulled the truck up beside the cannery and put it in park. It seemed that our guy was not there yet, so we had a couple of minutes. I expected him to turn and look at me, but he didn't. He just stared straight ahead. I'm not sure if he was really looking at he harbor or just trying hard to not look at me. But, regardless, this was my opportunity. I had to take it.

"Dad, I'm really sorry. I have no idea who this guy is or why he showed up at five in the morning to talk to me. I didn't want to admit it, but I am a little rattled." I waited for him to do something. Anything would have been better than the silence. Yell at me. Scream at me. Say something. Anything.

In what seemed like minutes but was really only seconds he finally started to talk, "Let me tell you a secret. Kids get mad at their parents. Parents get mad at their kids. And there is no such thing as a perfect relationship between a parent and their child."

I fixed my eyes on him but he didn't take his stare off of the harbor as he continued to talk. "You have survived a lot in your young life, no thanks to me. And I get it. I understand that in your first 28 years you developed a defense mechanism to emotionally protect yourself and it is not easily turned off. But I will never apologize for trying to keep my kids safe. You and your brother are the most precious people in my world, and you may be 31 years old, but you are still my kid and you are not invincible." He caught me off guard when he quickly put his arm around my shoulders and pulled me close to him planting a kiss on the side of my head. "No matter what you do, you will not push me away. So get used to, kid; because I love you and I don't plan on changing anytime soon."

I slipped my arms around his waste and held him tight. "I'm so sorry, Dad." In that moment, he knew. We both knew. I wasn't just apologizing for a temper tantrum that I threw 20 minute ago. I was apologizing for every thing that I have done in the passed 3 1/2 years to push him away, piss him off, or just plain blame him. I closed my eyes and relished his strong embrace as I let him hold me there for another minute. I felt him press another kiss to the side of my head.

"Wait a minute..." I pushed myself way from him and furrowed my brow. "This whole silent treatment thing, was that some way of teaching me a lesson?"

He flashed his charming grin at me, "Did it work?"

Yeah it worked. I got the message, I can sling my worst at him and in the end not only he can take but he will still love me. I narrowed my eyes at him then looked way right before I came back and threw a playful punch at his shoulder. Yep, he was definitely getting this parenting thing down.