As I draw closer to the end of this story, it seems like it takes longer for me to write a chapter. I want to make sure that, although I am an amateur writer, I want it to have some kind of quality and I don't want to put something out there that is forced. So please be patient with me. And a HUGE THANK YOU to all of my loyal readers and reviewers you guys are the BEST. You truly make it worth continuing. Enjoy the next installment and PLEASE REVIEW!

Chapter 24 - The Counterpart

He wasn't dead. I don't know how he was still alive but he definitely was not dead. I felt his chest rise and fall with each shallow breath as I put pressure on the wound waiting for the paramedics to perform their jobs. I followed them as they wheeled on their mobile gurney from the den to the back of the ambulance. I wasn't going to leave him alone.

"I'm sorry, sheriff," one of the paramedics said to me as I began to climb into the back of the ambulance with them. He put his hand up to block my entrance "If you feel the need, you may go to the hospital and wait there."

I pushed his hand out of my way and made my way to the front where I could be with King George but also out of the way of the paramedics. "I'm his granddaughter and I'll be damned if you not going to allow me to go with him." I had never before entertained the idea that he was my grandfather, but after our heart to heart conversation that we just had I wasn't going to deny him family, adoptive or not, and it was getting me what I wanted.

The paramedic conceded with a nod and closed the doors to begin their work and their transport. I listened to one of the guys call the arrival into the hospital so that they could be ready in the emergency room. I pulled my phone from my pocket and called my father. "Meet me at the hospital" was all that I said to him figuring that he would be out of the door before I hung up the phone.

The ride was quick and there was so much blood. I watched as the paramedics performed different procedures on King George, but there was no way in hell that I knew what any of it was or what they are trying to do, other than keep him alive. I was still amazed that he was breathing. His pulse was faint and his blood pressure was dropping but that was all that I was able to really understand.

They wheeled him directly into the emergency room when we arrived. I assumed they knew what needed to be done by what was called in from the road. I followed them as far into the hospital as I could until I was stopped by the attending nurse. "I'm sorry sheriff, but you need to wait here, we will update you as soon as possible."

I paced the emergency waiting room anxiously awaiting the arrival of my father. What was only a couple of minutes seemed like hours, "You…" I heard from behind. I turned around to see a doctor coming toward me with a clipboard in his hand. "You're Albert Spencer's daughter?" he questioned me. It took me a minute to realize who the doctor was talking about, since Albert Spencer was King George's cursed name.

"Ah…no…granddaughter…adoptive granddaughter actually." I explained trying not to get into too much detail. Of course, judging the by the doctor's blank expression, he really didn't care.

"Here sign this," the doctor shoved the clipboard in my direction.

"What is it?" I was quickly trying to read over the paper that the doctor was so adamant that I was going to sign, the last thing that I needed was to authorize something that I had no clue about or even had no business authorizing.

"He needs emergency surgery and we need a release signed by a family member," the doctor explained in a huff.

"Whoa…I don't think that I should," I pushed the clipboard back in the direction that it came.

"Why not?" the doctor's voice was stern. He lacked any kind of personality. It almost seemed like he was pissed because he had to do his job.

"Well it's complicated, but my father is on his way and…"

"We don't have time for that," the doctor snapped. He was cold and had no patience for me or who I might be expecting to arrive. "You're his granddaughter; sign the papers so that we can try to save this man's life."

I looked at the doctor with one last peeved hesitation before I scribbled my name across the line. My choices, as difficult as they were, was to let him die because I wouldn't sign a paper or hope that he would live by signing a paper that technically I probably wasn't supposed to sign. The doctor yanked the clip board with the signed release from my hands as he walked away without as much as a thank you.

I went back to pacing the waiting room floor. With each nervous step I wondered how on earth King George was still alive. I thought about the gun his hand. All that I could remember was that it was a handgun. But it must have been a low caliber for him to still be alive.

"Emma…" I turned and ran to my father who had just burst through the emergency room doors, followed by my mother. He wrapped his arms around me pulling me into a tight hug, "what's going on?" he asked.

"King George shot himself in the chest…I came in the ambulance. They made me sign a release, he's in surgery, I don't know what's going on…" I rambled the words out so fast that even I didn't know what I was saying.

"Emma, Emma….slow down." My father pulled out of the hug and led me to one of the chairs in the waiting room. "Sit down and breathe." He instructed.

After a couple of deep breaths, I finally had myself composed enough to tell my parents what had happened. "I went to see King George…"

"You did what?" my mother interrupted loudly; loudly enough to gain the attention of all the people in the waiting room. When she saw the looks that she received she repeated herself in a softer voice, "you did what?"

"Emma, what were you thinking? Going to see him alone?" my father asked.

"I was thinking that I needed answers," I explained in a raise voice. "Answers that I thought that he had and every time that I suggested bringing him in, you were against it. So I went to see him." I had to defend my decision. Ultimately it did get me answers, maybe not all the answers that I had hoped for, but answers nonetheless.

I felt like a little kid who was just caught disobeying her parents and was sitting in the hot seat just waiting for the yelling that was about to commence. They both sat there quietly for a long moment. If I had to guess, they were both counting to ten in an attempt to calm themselves before speaking again. Finally, my father broke the silence, "and what did you find out?"

I quickly looked each of them over to try to read their expressions. My father sat there straight faced waiting for me to tell them the story. My mother, on the other hand, had her arms folded across her chest and she was biting her lower lip. I took a deep breath, "When I got there he was drunk…"

"Are you kidding me?" My mother loudly interrupted again, "he could have killed you."

My jaw dropped, I didn't know how to respond, I stuttered a bit before my father interjected, "Mary Margaret, let's just let her tell us the story, ok?"

My mother nodded, "I'm sorry, Emma, continue."

"Are you sure?" I asked sarcastically. She rolled her eyes at me but nodded in affirmation. "No more interruptions?" This time she raised her eyebrows in a look that told me that I was pushing it so I started talking. I told them everything that King George and I had talked about. From him knowing about JC to the prophecy that Rumplestiltskin had told him would bring back his son James. I even told them that the only thing that King George wanted in his realm was his family. That he knew that he couldn't have James, but he could have David, JC, and myself.

"And you believed him?" My mother's question was sardonic.

"He was drunk," I defended. "Yeah, I believed him. He was so drunk that he wasn't thinking about what he was saying; he was speaking from his feelings." I looked to my father, "he told me that you were just as much as his son as James and that he loved you."

My father put his head down for a beat then looked up into my eyes, "Emma, he didn't love me, he loved James. He wanted me to be James. He only ever saw me as my brother."

"I don't believe that. He told me that he was too consumed by greed and power that he ruined things between you and him. He seemed genuinely sorry for what he did to you. So he thought the only way to get a family was to get James back which meant getting me and JC together to reset this event in time."

"Emma, I appreciate that you want to see some good in him, but believe me, there is none," my glare to my father's statement was enough to end the conversation.

My parents sat in an eerie silence. I decided to give them some space and time to digest what I had just told them. The family part was mind blowing enough so I decided to not fill them in right away on the medal, which he gave Mr. Cooper, having a counterpart that when put together 'remembered something that time forgot.' I walked to the nurse's station to get an update on King George. "Can I help you?" the nurse asked.

"Um, yeah, I was hoping to get an update on Albert Spencer?" I saw the look in her eye that said she didn't want to give me any information. "I'm family," I explained.

She gave me a skeptical look, she really didn't want to say anything, but she finally relented somewhat, "I cannot give you any details yet, all that I can tell you is that it is going to be a long surgery. I recommend that you go home and we will call you as soon as we can give you an update."

I looked at the clock it was almost 1:00 AM. I pinch the bridge of my nose between my thumb and index finger, clearly frustrated with the nurse's answer. But I understood her position. I wrote my name and number down on a post-it note. "Call me when he is out of surgery."

"Yes, ma'am," the nurse took the post it and placed it King George's file.

I walked up behind my parents who were having a silent conversation, "can you two give this telepathy thing a rest for one day?" I asked. My tiredness was starting allow my crankiness to take over, "Come on; let's go home, they are going to call when there is an update on his condition."

The car ride home was silent. As we sat in the cab of my father's pickup truck, my mother in the middle between David and me, I leaned my head against the window and closed my eyes. I felt my mother lift my hand into hers, and whispered something to my father about me being overly stressed and this situation taking too much of a toll on me. I didn't bother to acknowledge that I heard her talking to him. Because, frankly she was right; and although I didn't want them to worry about me, I reveled in the fact that I finally had parents to worry about me; even when they were driving me crazy with their overprotective tendencies.

The climb up the stairs to the loft was exhausting, but for some reason I was still too wired to sleep. I went directly to the stove to make some hot chocolate. "Anyone else want a cup?" I offered. I looked up to see my parents having another one of their silent conversations followed by my mother giving my father a good night kiss before she answered me.

"No, thank you, sweetheart. She looked to my father; I'm going to let Belle know that we're home." My mother exited the room toward her bedroom. I looked to my father for an explanation.

"Belle came over to stay with Neal when you called. We told her to just spend the night. We'll take your bed and you can take Henry's." I nodded in compliance as I put the finishing touches on my hot chocolate and sat down at the island to drink it and unwind a little. My father came up behind me, he placed his hands on my shoulders and gently squeezed them trying to massage out some of the tension. "So you want to tell me what is going through that beautiful head of your's?"

I closed my eyes and basked in the wonderful feeling of my dad rubbing my shoulders. "He was being sincere," I finally said.

"Emma, I know that you want to believe that, but nothing that man has ever said or done has been sincere."

"But Dad, this was different." I didn't really know how to explain it. The only thing that I did know was that I was not ready to admit what are really bothering me to him.

He released my shoulders and walked around the island and poured himself a cup of hot chocolate. "Different how?"

"He was admitting that he went about things the wrong way in this realm. He was trying to make amends." I held my mug between my palms using the heat from the drink to warm my hands. I studied the whipped cream as it melted down into the chocolaty liquid, determined not to make eye contact with my father.

"Ah, I see," he responded as he dropped a dash on cinnamon on his own cup of hot chocolate. "You want to tell me what is really weighing on your mind now?" I quickly looked up at him with a look that showed nothing but shock. I heard him chuckle, "I am you're father you know, I think that I know you a little better than you realize."

I sighed when I realized that I wasn't going to pull one over on him. I didn't want to relent, but just maybe talking about it would make me feel a little better. After all, Dad's were supposed to make things better, right? After another beat of silence and him patiently waiting, I finally spoke the feelings that were haunting me, "I'm scared."

This was the first time that I have ever put my walls down enough to confide in him about any doubt that I was feeling. I only ever showed him my strong side. I lifted my eyes in his direction so that I could see his reaction to my confession. What I saw was a man's love for his daughter, "I would be worried if you weren't," he answered.

My eyes widened, "Really?"

"Come here," he said as he grabbed my hand and pulled me to the couch to sit next to him. He wrapped an arm around my shoulders and pulled me to his side. He lifted his hand to my head and gently pushed it down to rest on his shoulder. "Ok, now, tell me everything that is bothering you." I was surprised by his words. I was expecting him to start give some kind of pep talk about how I don't always have to be strong. But instead, he wanted me to do the talking. So I did.

"Do you remember, last year, when I fell into Zelena's time portal?" I felt him nod and hum a little mmhmm, "I messed up the timeline for you and Mom and I had to fix it. I nearly wiped myself from existence. Granted being able to watch my parents meet and fall in love was a surreal experience that I wouldn't give up for anything. But still, going back in time was nearly devastating. I'm afraid that if this event reset happens, I'm going to lose everything. Nothing good can come from this. And the worst part about it is the not knowing what it is or how JC and I are supposed to do it. I can't you lose you and mom. I can't lose Henry. I feel like I'm not in control and that is scaring the shit of out me. I need to be in control, dad."

My head rose and fell with his chest as he took a deep breath. He let the breath out slowly before he spoke the words that I wasn't expecting, "I think that it's time that we find Gold. We need to find out what he knows."

"Whatever it is, I don't want to do it," I had already made my decision.

"I know, baby. And here's what we'll do, once we get a status update tomorrow on King George, we'll make plans, you and I, to go to Augusta and get Gold. We need to take this one step at a time and the first step is Gold."

"Do you think that he'll give us the answers that we need?" I couldn't help the skepticism that plagued my voice.

"No, I don't. But if nothing else, he'll say something that we'll have to interpret that will point us in the next direction. He always does." My dad had a point, Gold like to play games and talk in riddles. He never told you the answer straight out, but it was usually in his words somewhere, you just had to find it.

"Thanks, Dad." I lifted my head to smile up at him.

"For what?"

"For chasing away the monster under the bed; at least for a little while." I answered.

"Anytime, honey. Now, what do you say that we go to bed? Morning comes early, and the hospital will be calling." I nodded my head in agreement. As I stood from the couch I reached my hand out to my father to pull him up from the cushions. But instead of me pulling him up, he pulled me to him as he stood. He held me for a moment. And I have to say that it was one of the best moments of my life. I could not describe any better of a feeling than to have my dad wrap his arms around me and just make me feel safe, loved, and like I wasn't alone. It always made me wonder how I lived without it for 28 years.

When he finally let me go, I watched him reach over to the end table to turn off the lamp. "The swan," I said when the crystal figurine that I bought my mother for her birthday caught my attention.

"What?" he asked.

"The swan, remember when we bought it, Belle said that when it was matched with its medal it had the power to remember what time forgot?"

He had a confused look on his face, "yeah, what about it. She didn't have the medal."

"No, but King George did, that was the medal that he gave to Mr. Cooper to get him into Storybrooke. King George told me the same thing about the medal tonight. I knew that I had heard that prophecy before, but I couldn't remember from where."

"We left the medal at the station; Cooper put it on the table in the interrogation room." I shook my head to David's comment.

"I picked it up and slipped it in my pocket. It's upstairs on my night stand." I hurried up the stairs to retrieve the medal. I can't believe that I didn't realize it before. I had heard the same riddle for both items and I never put it together. Once I had the medal in my hand, I ran back to my father, who was holding the swan in his hands. There was an indentation on the back of the swan, between the swan's wings. The indentation was the perfect shape and size to fit the medal perfectly. I held the medal over the indentation; I was ready to drop it down when my father pushed my hand away. "Emma, no."

I looked up at him clearly confused. His expression was one of worry. I dropped my hand to my side as he continued, "we have been told that these two things together will show us something that time has forgotten, what if it is the reset trigger as well."

I hadn't thought of that, but I was thinking it now. "JC isn't here, though, we have to do it together."

"But you need to remember that magic isn't always what it seems." He put the swan back on the table. "Give me the medal, I'm going to put it somewhere far away from the swan, ok?"

"Okay," I drew out the word but handed the medal to my father.

"Well tackle this problem in the morning, when we've had time to sleep and get refreshed. We do not want to do anything without thinking it through rationally, ok?" I nodded. He had a point; we needed to get all the information that we could before we did something that we couldn't stop. He leaned in to give me a kiss on my forehead, "go to bed, honey."

"Goodnight, Dad," I said behind him as I watched him retreat to his bedroom. I followed him and climbed the stairs to my room to lie down. It was going to be a long night, I could only hope that exhaustion would take over and I would fall asleep. But with all of the thoughts that were now racing through my mind, sleep was very unlikely.