"Is everything ready?" Mary Margret asks Mother Superior at the tent and tables they've set up as a home base for all the searchers. Several of the sisters were manning the tables that had bottled water, granola bars, trail mix and fruit on them, as well as backpacks and maps of the city. There were also tables with hundreds and hundreds of fliers with Emma's picture on them for the people to hand out as they went.
The entire group had set up in a local park that was close to the bars where Emma was last seen. Ruby and the other close friends of Emma were going to be group leaders, organizing any volunteers who came into groups and leading them on a search of the cities, going through neighbourhoods, forested areas, downtown, other parks, down by the harbour and so on. There were even some news cameras set up to capture the event for TV.
"Yes, I think so," Mother Superior says, standing up from the registration table. She looks over at the heavily pregnant teacher. Mary Margret leans on the table carefully, trying to keep her baby bump supported. "You've done an amazing job, Mary,"
"Thank you,"
"I'm sure when we find Emma, she'll know that you love her so much,"
Mary Margret swallows hard and wipes away a few tears. Mother Superior puts her arm around her.
"She will be found; I have faith in the Lord that he will guide us to her,"
Mary Margret smiles and hugs her friend tightly.
"I hope so,"
David is instructing all of Emma's friends on how to keep a group together and make sure they search thoroughly.
"Remember to keep track of everyone in your group, we don't want any more missing people,"
"We will David, we promise," Ruby says.
David goes over to Leroy, who has a few cadaver dogs with their trainers ready to go with the groups, to talk to him about the organization of the search parties. Each animal was trained to sniff out certain scents and the trainers were given an article of Emma's clothing to get their dogs on the trail.
Killian stands by, happy that he was released after security cam footage cleared him of any suspicion and proved his alibi. He was very worried about what might happen during this search. He was praying that they didn't end up finding Emma's body or anything like that, but he was so grateful that Mary Margret put everything together. It was a testament knowing about how many people cared for Emma and would do anything for her. He had only known Emma for a few months, but he knew that she was loved and well-cared for, even though it wasn't in the most traditional sense.
Henry walks up to one of the tables, with Violet trailing him.
"Who's this Henry?" Mary Margret asks.
"This is Violet, one of my friends from school," Henry explains. "She managed to get a bunch of the swim teams to come and help."
"Oh that's wonderful, thank you so much, Violet, it's lovely to meet you," the teacher says, holding out her hand. Violet happily accepts it.
"Thank you very much, I want to help Henry as much as I can,"
"Well just sign here and we'll have you put into a group,"
Violet does so as Henry stands by. Killian moves closer to the Lad, knowing exactly what was going on.
"She's quite the beauty, isn't she?" Killian whispers.
Henry turns bright red and steps away from Killian.
"She your girlfriend then?" Killian says, raising his eyebrow.
"No!" Henry says quickly. "It's none of your business anyways."
"I think she really cares for you mate," Killian says.
Both of them watch as Violet gets a few snacks for herself and then texts her friends.
"She's really nice," Henry admits. "She always makes my heart race and the way she smiles, it's just so great!"
"It's how I feel about your mom," Killian says softly.
Henry looks up at the docks man for a few moments in confusion, but also slight understanding. Now that he knew what it was like to have a crush on someone, he could relate to Killian. Killian gives him a gentle smile and pats him on the back.
"Make sure you're in her group Mate," he says before walking away.
Soon enough, more people begin showing up. Several teachers from Mary Margret's own school, even some of her older students, MeyLing's hockey teammates, a few people from Zelena's law firm, a bunch of Henry's classmates, people from Phillip's work and Killian's roommates.
"Glad you could make it mate," Killian says, patting Will on the back.
"Just want to do my part," Will says.
Killian's smile fades slightly when he sees Robin, Robin can tell that there might be some tension after he had poked holes in Killian's alibi.
"Kil, about the…"
"Don't worry about it," Killian says. "I've been proven innocent. I know you can't tell a lie and it's better that I came clean now instead of later."
"Right," Robin says. His gaze goes over the growing crowd of people. He catches Regina's face in the crowd. Her raven hair is pulled back into a ponytail and she looks ready for a hike. She's handing out snacks to the searchers.
He swallows and then goes over to greet her. Regina's face lights up when she sees him
"Ah, the archery personal trainer," she says with a smirk.
"Hello again."
Regina's heart is racing and she can feel her cheeks flushing very hard, she pretends to hand out more snacks and not look into his gorgeous eyes.
"We really didn't get a chance to talk the other day," Robin says. "I never got to ask what you did for a living."
Robin felt his heart race as well, he found her very sculpted face and ruby red lips appealing. There was an air of mystery to her and some sophistication. He hadn't had a chance to see it before as he was distracted fairly quickly, but he thought that she was very pretty.
"I'm a real estate agent," Regina says, taking a break from her job and turning to face him fully.
Immediately she gets lost in his eyes, his light blue eyes. They look like uncharted waters of the sea, she can feel her entire body go weak and her head spins like he was making her putty in his hands. She instinctively pulls a few loose strands of hair into her ponytail and straightens herself up. She hasn't felt like this in a while, it was an exciting feeling, one of passion and of eagerness. This man was so wonderfully handsome; unlike any man she'd seen before.
"That must be quite interesting," Robin says.
"Usually it's quite boring but…"
"Regina!" a voice calls out from the crowd.
Regina turns to see Graham rushing up towards her. The Irish man with thick brown hair and a matching well-trimmed beard and dark blue eyes that drink Regina up with great enthusiasm.
"G-Graham… hi!" Regina says in utter surprise.
The large DJ reaches over and gives her a big hug. Robin is taken aback by the friendliness.
"What are you doing here?" Regina asks.
"You invited me to this remember? To help find your friend?"
"Oh that's right, I'm sorry, I've been so busy that I forget things so easily."
"No trouble, I understand," Graham says, he finally looks at Robin. "Who's this?"
"This is Emma's boyfriend's roommate, Robin Locksley; he's come to help with the search."
"Well that's great, the more the merrier," Graham says brightly. He reaches over to shake Robin's hand. Robin accepts it with a firm grip.
"We're hopin' to bring Emma home safe," Graham says. "I think it'd be good if we were in the same group so you can tell me more about Emma."
"That's…fine," Regina says, she looks over at Robin, his expression unreadable. "But first you have to register."
"Which table is that?" Graham asks.
"This one, I'll show you," Regina begins to guide him through the growing crowd of people. She takes one last look at Robin before she disappears into the crowd.
However, close by, Zelena was watching the exchange and as soon as Regina is gone, she makes her move.
"Hi I'm Zelena Jordan, another friend of Emma's" she holds out her hand.
Robin snaps back to reality and shakes her hand. "Nice to meet you," he says.
"You must be Killian's roommate?"
"Yes… yes, I am," Robin says, looking into her blue eyes.
"I'm sure Killian is happy about having the support," Zelena says. She steps a little bit closer to him.
"It's the least I can do, he and I have been friends for a long time."
"As have I with Emma," Zelena says smoothly. "I've actually known her longer than Regina has."
"Really?" Robin says. "That's good to know." He turns back to see if he can get a glimpse of Regina again.
Zelena puts her hand on his shoulder to get his attention again. Robin is taken aback by her sudden closeness. "Do you have a group yet?"
"Uh…no, I don't."
"Well, you can be in my group," the red head chirps, cracking a half-smile. "I'm sure we can get to know each other a bit more this way. Come over here."
Zelena puts her arm around Robin and guides him into the crowd of people, her smile growing ever so big. Robin is confused by this strange woman's friendliness, but he lets it pass by him.
Meanwhile, in another part of the crowd, Ruby is counting the number of people who are joining her group. She suddenly notices a head of bouncy black/brown curls.
"Dorothy?" Ruby says loudly, going over and grabbing the woman's arm. The girl turns and her smile widens. Ruby reaches over and hugs her.
"Ruby, how have you been?" she chirps.
"I wish I was better honestly," Ruby says, looking deep into the woman's brown eyes. The two girls smile and Ruby moves some of her dyed hair from her face.
"I know I'm so sorry to hear about your friend, but ever since you texted me, I thought I'd better come."
Ruby and Dorothy had been texting a few times back and forth since their foursome last Friday night. They laughed and giggled about what they could remember about that night, but they hadn't seen each other in person since then.
"That was so nice of you," Ruby says, smiling widely. "I'm so happy all these people are here to help."
"Well, we do what we can to make a difference. And if it means I can skip my shift at the shoe store, I'm happy about that," Dorothy says.
"I didn't know you worked in a shoe store,"
"My best-kept secret," Dorothy says sarcastically. "My father owns a shoe department and I'm stuck working there."
"Really? Because my grandma has been trying to keep me at her restaurant. She says it's a family commitment thing and everyone has to help each other out."
"Oh my gawd, my dad says the same thing all the time I mean…"
"Will everyone please find a group please, the search is about to commence!" David's voice calls out of a bullhorn.
"Hey, do you have a group yet?" Ruby asks.
"No,"
"Well you do now, come on," Ruby says, grabbing the girl's hand.
Back at the registration table, a man in dark clothing waits his turn to sign up. Mother Superior greets him with a warm smile.
"Just put your name here and the time you checked in. Then you can go grab a map and some water."
"Thank you," the man says, wiping sweat underneath his graying hair.
He signs his name and then goes to get his supplies.
Mother Superior looks at the name on the sheet of paper.
Neal Cassidy
Nice cliffhanger here. Please follow and review.