A short chapter, but hopefully I will be able to update more frequently with shorter chapters.

Chapter 24: Darkest before the light.

DA Spencer, as he was known in the outside world, sat in a waiting room at one of the many Boston area police stations. He had reached out to this department when he was setting up the safe house that he planned on using to keep Snow White in custody until she had the baby. He had spun a tale about how he needed a place to keep a jewel thief until he could extradite her to New York. She wasn't dangerous, but she was cunning and she had already escaped from the local jail several times. He wanted to place her under house arrest in a central location. The head detective had mentioned that they had new devices to keep track of prisoners. They could be made into the shape of pieces of jewelry embedded with a tracking device. He had immediately sent a photograph of Snow's wedding ring to the police department and they had made a duplicate with the tracking device hiding in the wedding band. He was waiting for the device to be delivered. The door opened and the detective he had been waiting for walked in the room. He handed a small box to King George.

"I hope this will work. The photograph you sent us was very detailed."

George scrutinized the ring.

"Perfect."

Now he needed to test it and make sure he really could use it to track Snow White. He would let her think she had escaped and then have the local authorities use the ring to track her.

Henry, Emma, and Charming followed Belle to Gold's pawn shop. Emma turned to Henry and gave him a serious look.

"Henry, stay out here!" She instructed firmly.

"I can help." He pleaded.

"We don't know how volatile he is going to be." She said in a protective voice. "Knowing Gold he could be downright explosive." She added under her breath.

"We want you safe." Charming added with feeling. He brushed past Belle and Emma to enter the shop. Normally Emma would have challenged this move just for the hell of it. But she knew better than to do that at the moment. He was worried about his wife and child and he needed to feel protective. She was not going to be the one to deny him that simple pleasure.

"He won't hurt you as long as you have the dagger." Belle promised.

Emma gave her a skeptical look.

"Pardon me if I don't take your word for it when the safety of my son is at stake."

"Belle how could you?" Those were the first words out of the mouth of the shop keeper when he saw Charming holding the dagger in his hand.

"You took my wife and child. You are lucky that I haven't run you through with this thing." Charming replied with s voice seething with anger.

"You don't want to do that." Emma replied dryly. She had read that part of the book. She could not even imagine her father becoming "The Dark One."

Gold turned and addressed Belle, ignoring Charming's tirade completely.

"I did it for you and for us. You said you wanted a baby." He pleaded.

"I wanted a baby with you. I never said I wanted Mary Margaret's child." She replied with sadness in her eyes.

"Belle I am 300 years old. I am not even sure I could father another child." There was sadness in his voice. An ache for his own son that never went away and the ache that he carried with he perpetually disappointed the woman he loved.

"It would have been fun trying." Belle stated playfully.

This made both her and Gold smile and it nearly sent Charming over the edge.

"Her name is Snow!" He snapped. "Mary Margaret was a creation of the Curse!"

"Sorry, I didn't know her then." Belle admitted.

"Actually, Mary Margaret was the name she gave Red Ridding hood when they first met." Henry reminded him.

Emma turned to glare at her son. "I told you to wait outside." She admonished.

"I told you I could help." Henry replied gleefully, rocking on his heels.

They noticed that there was a young man standing beside Henry. He had dark tousled hair, and soulful eyes. His clothes looked like they had seen better days, but he was clean.

"Show them what you found in the alley." Henry indicated the young man's clutched fist.

He opened his hand and dropped Snow White's wedding ring on the counter.

"I was coming here to pawn it." The man replied humbly.

Charming grabbed him by the collar and pinned him against the counter.

"Where did you get that?" He yelled.

"Like he told you, I found it in the alley." The youngster gasped.

"Did you see anything else?" Emma asked.

"No." He replied and she knew he was telling the truth. "I may be a thief, but I am not a liar." He promised.

"Don't you see?" Henry asked. "He is Aladdin and he is separated from his True Love Jasmine. That is why she is such a…" Henry stopped short of saying that she was a bitch. "She isn't a very nice person." He said humbly.

"Is this true?" Emma asked.

The young man just nodded that it was true. Emma shook her head. Nothing surprised her anymore.

"You should read the book. Then you would know these things" Henry informed her.

"Not now kid! Gold, tell us where King George took Mary Margaret." Emma demanded.

"You aren't holding the dagger Dearie." He glared.

Emma rolled her eyes and glared right back at him.

"Actually I don't know where he took her. I gave him the means to take her across the town line while preserving both their memories. He didn't share his plans for after that." Gold admitted.

Charming gave a sigh of relief. "So she will remember who she is?"

"If the device worked properly her memory should remain intact. Are we going to play 20 questions or are we done here?" He asked with a note of boredom in his voice.

Emma took the dagger from her father. "Did he take anything else?" She asked.

"He took a pair of colored rings. 2 rings from a set of 3 that can open portals to other realms." He admitted painfully.

"Does he need all three?" Emma asked with a note of worry in her voice.

"No, he can use the two he has."

"So he could have taken her anywhere?" For the first time Charming's voice was tinged with panic.

"I don't think he plans to take her anywhere. He plans to hold her with her memory intact until she has the child and then take the child to another realm and leave her without her memory. He knows that as long as she has her memory and is still carrying the child she will protect it."

"Where is the 3rd ring?" Emma asked.

"Lost in time, but the Blue Fairy may know where to find it." Gold shrugged. "There are some beings that are even older than I am. I wouldn't call her an old hag, but she has been a around the block a few times." He gave them an impish grin.

Emma gave him a disapproving look.

Charming took the dagger from his daughter.

"Can you enchant her wedding ring so that we can find her?" He asked.

"Nope, it will not work out there. That is a land without magic and the ring will be of no use to you there. Besides, you can't go anyway. You would lose your memory and we would all have to endure another round of David Nolan. I only had two bracelets. "

"The bracelets will work and the portal rings will work." Emma commented.

"The bracelets are not purely powered by magic. They are more science than magic." Gold let out a sigh as if he were explaining everything to two slow students. The portal rings have worked in this realm before. That is all I can tell you."

He gave a dismissive wave of his hand. He also reached for the dagger but the Prince held onto it tightly.

Charming picked up the wedding ring and then turned to Belle. "You are going to have to come with us. We can get you a room at Granny's and give you as much protection from him as you need."

"I'm staying with him." Belle stated with confidence.

Emma gave her a shocked look. "You betrayed him by giving us the dagger. Your live could be in danger. He is the Dark One after all."

Belle shook her head. "He won't hurt me." She turned to Charming. "If someone you loved was lost in darkness would you just leave them there or would you stay by their side and help them no matter how long it took?"

He knew that she knew the answer. He would do anything for Snow, even when she had traveled down the darkest path any of them would ever encounter, he had followed her. He would follow her anywhere and he knew that she would do the same for him.

Charming addressed Belle, "If you change your mind let us know."

She nodded her head in understanding.

"I won't change my mind." She stated firmly.

Not being able to give up on your love was the curse of True Love. Charming knew it well, which made it even more urgent for him to find Snow. He simply could not live without her. Gold reached for the dagger, but Charming's hand was faster.

"I will hold onto this for the time being." He stated.

He had no idea what he was going to do with the dagger, but he might need it again before he found Snow.

Emma grasped Aladdin by the arm and ushered him out of the shop, following behind her father and Henry. Once outside the young thief asked the obvious question.

"Are you going to arrest me? I know you are the sheriff, I have been watching you." He gave her and earnest look.

Emma sighed and answered, I really should, but I believe in second chances. So I am going to get you a job and see if you can sort out your life." She promised.

Henry smiled.

Emma wondered when she had become so soft. She had never believed in second chances or true love or fairy tales. Now, it seemed like she was living one.

Snow had been over every inch of the room where she was being held captive. I t only had one door and no windows. Earlier in the day light had flooded in from a narrow skylight. Even if she had been able to reach the skylight there was no way she could possibly fit through the small opening. There was a bed in the room and a small table on which sat a tray of food and a container of water. She figured that George didn't want to poison her, so she had eaten the food and drank some of the water. She sat on the edge of the bed and talked to her child for a while. She told him about his father and how smart his sister was. She reassured him that even though there was seemingly no escape from the situation and how even though she did not know where they were being held, the people who loved them would never stop looking.

"Your father will find us," She reassured the child once again , "It is what he does. Plus, your sister is pretty good at finding people too. The two of them will work together and they will be unstoppable." Of this she was certain. No matter what differences Emma and her father had in the past, they both loved her and this would bring them together. She could feel him relax almost as if the child could hear her and understand what she was saying. She would not lose hope or faith. She laid on the bed just to rest her eyes, but she must have been more tired than she realized. She drifted into a deep sleep and only awoke when she heard a key turn in the lock to the door of the room. The first thing that King George did when he entered the room was pick up the empty plate from the table.

"I'm glad that you ate something. I want you to keep up your strength." He reached into a pocket and pulled out the replica wedding ring.

"Why are you doing this?" She asked angrily.

He ignored the question and handed her the ring.

"Your wedding ring must have fallen off when I brought you into the building. I found it in the hall. It is a family heirloom and I don't think your precious Charming would be very happy if we lost it."

She placed the ring on her finger. It didn't feel right; something was different about the ring. But she had worn it for 28 years during the Curse and she felt naked without it. Maybe it was because she hadn't gotten used to wearing it on her left hand again or maybe it was because of the pregnancy. Every part of her body seemed to change daily. Some days she hardly felt at home in her own skin.

He handed her a pile of clothes. "Here are some fresh clothes for in the morning. I am not the tyrant that most people accuse me of being. I will see you in the morning."

With that he turned on his heel and left the room. Snow waited to hear the key turn in the lock and when she didn't her heart almost leapt up her throat. Was it possible that he forgot to lock the door? She waited for what seemed like a small eternity and tried the door. It was unlocked. She waited for another small eternity until she tried the doorknob and found that the door would actually open. She cautiously crept out of the room and found the hallway empty. She found the front door to the building unlocked as well. She did not dare to breathe until she was out of the building and down the street. She entered the first building that looked like it was an open business. She found herself in a quiet bus terminal. She went to the window and bought a one way ticket New York City on the next bus which was scheduled to leave in 20 minutes. Snow figured that she would find a way to contact her loved ones from there. There was a small coffee shop in the terminal. An older woman was working behind the counter and a small rack of post cards sat near the cash register. Up until that point she had not bothered to wonder where she was. She picked up a post card and almost laughed out loud.

"I'm in Boston!" She exclaimed.

The woman behind the counter looked at her oddly.

"Of course you are dearie!" The use of that term startled Snow and she had look at the waitress twice, half expecting to see that she was really Rumplestilskin in disguise. She realized that it wasn't and relaxed.

"Do you sell stamps for these?" She asked.

The woman opened the register and handed her a stamp. "That will be $1.75. If you stamp it and leave it in that box over there I will make sure that it goes out in the morning post."

Snow handed her the money and impulsively scribbled, "Find us" on the card.

She wasn't sure why she did it. Maybe it was because her escape seemed too easy. She placed it in the box and went out into the terminal and found a bench to sit on and wait for her the bus to New York.

King George was many things, but he was far from careless. It made no sense for him allow her to just walk out of the building. Something felt very wrong. Then it all became clear.

"Mary Margaret Blanchard!" An authoritative voice called out. "Keep your hands where I can see them, stand up and turn around." She turned and saw that a police officer had a serious look on his face and a Taser aimed right at her. King George had set some kind of trap and she had fallen right into it.