Morning's Golden Light

A/N1: Shout out to Jehc for her patient nudging to keep up with this fic, she's a very effective nudgenik.

Part Six

Emma carefully pulled her shirt back on favouring her ribs as much as she could before slowly buttoning the front.

"You can come in now David."

Her father ducked his head around the curtain to see Emma tucking her shirt in one handed, reaching her right hand over her torso to get to the left side of her body. He stepped up and silently helped tuck in the last few inches over her left hip where she couldn't reach, smirking at the startled semi-glare she aimed at him.

"Hey don't give me that look, I'm your Dad, I'm allowed to help." He grinned at her small snort, warmed by the fact she hadn't pulled away from him, or tried to gainsay his claim. David decided to accept the actions for progress and didn't try to push his luck any further.

They'd arrived at the small ER suite just before 5 am and the next two and a bit hours had been taken up with examinations, x-rays, an MRI and waiting for the results allowing the on call Doctor to treat his patient and give her medical advice he was pretty certain she was unlikely to follow. Emma now sported a set of butterfly stitches over the gash on her cheek and had been told she was lucky that her ribs were only severely bruised and not cracked or broken. David had already had the prescription filled for the anti-inflammatory cream Emma needed for her severely bruised ribs and her black eye and some painkillers to help ease her discomfort.

Emma grabbed her jacket and fished her cell phone out of the pocket before she headed for the gap in the curtain pulled around the examination cubicle she'd been in for the better part of an hour.

"I'll meet you by the cruiser, I'm just gonna call Ruby and see how Regina and Henry are doing, then we can head over to Gold's."

"Emma, it's only just gone seven, it's still too early for that. Why don't we stop in at Granny's, let her know where Ruby is and grab something to eat?"

"I don't give a rat's ass how early it is David. Regina is suffering and I'm not about to wait around for Mr High and Evil to rise and shine at his leisure and just let Regina hang." The blonde growled out before continuing her path to the ER exit. David pulled her gently but firmly to a halt.

"Emma, wait a minute. I've told you I'm going to help you and that's what I'm going to do, even if sometimes that help is on my terms and not yours." He pre-empted her protest with a raised hand.

"You haven't slept properly in over a week, and hardly at all in the past 24 hours. You've just taken one hell of a physical beating and you're angry and scared and not thinking clearly. If anything had changed or gotten worse with Regina, Ruby would have texted or called one of us." Emma ducked her head a little sheepishly, taking David's logic on board reluctantly.

"You need to rest a little, eat something and then plan exactly how we're going to approach Gold so that WE can best help Regina." He was interrupted by the very loud gurgling and rumbling of his own stomach which had him blushing furiously before he mumbled a finishing statement.

"Yes I'm hungry and want something to eat too, so sue me."

Emma might have swung back toward feeling annoyed with David if her own stomach hadn't voiced its equally audible agreement at just the right moment. Her blush now matching her fathers she grudgingly acquiesced to his plan of action and they both headed to the parking lot. David grinned and wisely refrained mentioning anything about shared familial traits.

Ruby yawned and stretched, cracking the kinks out of her neck and stood to return the book she'd finished to the bookshelf. She smiled a little sadly at the two sleeping figures, now both on the bed, Henry having somehow migrated in his sleep to cuddle directly against Regina's body. Ruby had noted the event when it happened but hadn't intervened because the closer proximity had seemed to completely calm Regina's writhing and her whimpers of distress. The older woman had remained quiet and still for more than an hour now but in the light of the morning sun Ruby could clearly make out how tense her body was and the strained and distressed expression on her face.

The brunette felt her phone vibrate in her pocket and not wanting to wake Henry she stepped out of the bedroom into the adjoining bathroom to answer the call.

"Hey Em what'd the doctor say?" She listened to her friend's health update and the plan for her and David to grab a bite to eat before tackling Gold and the Blue Fairy.

"Yes, everything is fine here, well I mean Regina's still asleep but she has been calm, no thrashing or anything, especially since Henry sort of rolled over onto the bed and cuddled up to her." The brunette glanced through the door at her charges once more to make sure both were indeed still asleep before pushing the door to and leaving it slightly ajar so she could still hear if anything happened in the next room.

"Should I wake Henry up to get ready for school or should I let him sleep? Gotta say, the poor kid's had a difficult night and he looks like he's out for the count."

Emma hesitated in her reply as she weighed the pros and cons, but finally she confirmed it would be useless to insist he go to school while his mother was still in the same condition, he'd probably just skip out the minute he was dropped off and go back to the mansion. She told Ruby to leave him sleeping until either he woke up on his own or until about 10:00am and then make sure he got some breakfast.

"Any idea when you'll be back Em? You know I'll be here as long as you need me, but Granny will need to call someone in to cover for me if I'm going to be here past noon, my shift starts at 12:00 today."

Emma confirmed either she or David would try to be back at the mansion well before noon and if they couldn't make that then they'd let Ruby know as soon as they could manage. Planning ahead to deal with Ruby's absence in the afternoon in case she or David weren't able to get back in time she tried to figure out who she could trust to with Regina's safety and realised her options were woefully few. The only person Emma could think of, who remained on friendly terms with Regina after the curse broke was Kathryn Nolan. Unlike the other people in the town she seemed to continue to relate more to Regina the Mayor and loving mother she knew during the time of the curse than the evil queen from the Enchanted Forest. Emma knew that she was the only person other than her and Henry who regularly interacted with Regina these days

"Listen, just in case things go haywire and we can't get back in time, could you call Kathryn and fill her in on Regina's condition. If she's willing, could you ask her to be on standby to relieve you if we need her?

"That's a great idea Em, I'm sure she'd be willing to help, I think she's about the closest thing to a friend Regina has, other than you that is."

"Uh, right, great. Thanks for this Rubes, I owe you, like a lot."

"Hey, no worries, I have a lot less issues with Regina than a most people in Storybrooke and besides you're my friend. Good luck with Mr Gold."

Ruby disconnected the call and went back into the bedroom. Noting the pair in the bed seemed quiet she moved the chaise longue away from the bed and back under the window but angled it so she could still see the bed. She figured if she was going to be here for another few hours she should try and catch a few winks herself. Confident her wolf senses would alert her to any problems the brunette closed her eyes and drifted into a light doze.

Twenty minutes later a slightly disgruntled David sat finishing off his breakfast in the police cruiser outside Emma's apartment while he waited for her to change her clothes and gather a few things to take back to the mansion. When they got to the diner Emma had ordered their food to go and informed Granny of Ruby's whereabouts, while he'd texted Snow to let her know he was on his way but he'd be home a little later than usual from his night shift.

When he finished his meal he stepped out of the cruiser to toss his empty take out bags in the dumpster at the side of the apartment block. His thoughts wandered back to when Emma had first moved into the small building just over two months previously.

David recognised the move was for the best, it really had been ridiculously crowded fitting three adults and an eleven year old into a one bedroom apartment once Snow and Emma had returned from the Enchanted Forest. They'd muddled through for a few months, but the serious lack of privacy was a major issue and after both Emma and then Henry had walked in on he and Snow at the most inopportune moment, Emma had made the firm decision that she and Henry needed their own space.

Snow had been quite upset, adamant that they all needed to bond properly as a family and the only way to do that was for them to live together. She'd come up with a few creative and some decidedly bad ideas to convince Emma to stay, including the idea of evicting Regina from the mansion so they could move into the larger house as a family. Emma had totally lost it when Snow had made that suggestion, especially as she'd made no mention of where Regina was supposed to relocate to and had continued to voice her opinion that Henry shouldn't be staying with Regina at all and Emma should not be fraternising with the Evil Queen either.

David closed his eyes and leant his head back with a sigh. Emma had found this apartment the day after Snow had made the suggestion about the mansion and she and Henry were completely moved out the day after that. Emma had tried, in her way to be gentle yet firm with her mother about what her own needs were in relation to her parents, but Snow's stubbornness and seeming inability to actually listen to what Emma was telling her had finally caused the blonde to snap. The argument, as usual had been threaded through with the issue of Regina and Henry and Emma's obvious growing friendship with their long time enemy. Emma had combined the points she was trying to make about her relationship to Snow and David and that between Regina and Henry with her final cutting remark before she stormed off, that sharing DNA did not a parent make.

Snow had been devastated and David had tried to console her even though he happened to agree with Emma. He knew that even though nearly a year had gone by since the curse broke, Snow was still struggling with the reality that the baby she had so loved and had held for mere moments when she was born, was a full grown and independent woman with her own history and personal issues. They'd talked about it at length and he was becoming a bit frustrated with Snow's refusal or possible inability to allow Emma the space and time she had asked for to process all the extraordinary changes in all their lives.

After hours of talking, he'd finally gotten Snow to grudgingly agree it was a good thing for them to have the space they needed to be able to properly reconnect as a couple, but he imagined it was Emma's eventual agreement to twice weekly family dinners that had really allowed Snow to slowly accept the new living arrangements. That said, she still worried at the issue of Henry and Emma's interactions with Regina like a dog with a bone.

"Okay let's get going."

Emma's voice and the opening of the cruiser's back door snapped David awake and back to the present. As soon as the blonde was buckling in beside him he started the car and they headed to the loft apartment so they could fill Snow in on the situation. Emma had accepted his earlier suggestion that they should split their resources and send Snow to talk to the Blue Fairy while he and Emma went to tackle Gold.