"I'm sorry sir, the community just doesn't have the time or resources to organize a search."

"Please sir, this woman has been missing for almost three months. She has a son at home who is waiting for her!" August practically begs.

"She's in the hands of a maniac," Neal adds angrily.

"I am sympathetic towards you cause sir, but we just don't have the resources."

"Please…" Neal says, almost getting on his knees.

"I'm sorry, but my word is final. Now please show yourselves out."

August puts his hand on Neal's shoulder and slowly turns him away from the mayor. The two almost hang their heads as they go down the steps of another city hall. The cold, gray January sky greets them and begins sprinkling snowflakes onto the two men. Neal is especially upset. His hands are clenched into fists and he grinds his teeth together. Once they get back to his car, he slams his hand on the hood in frustration.

August sighs. "Guess it's another few days of hiking huh?"

Neal just lets out a frustrated sigh.

"I'll call Killian and the others," August says.

Neal slides into the car and puts his head against the wheel. It's been like this for the past three months, traipsing from town to town, park to park, looking for places that had cabins in the woods or forests in general. Very few towns or cities had been willing to help and when that happened, the group were forced to do hours of hiking, even days in search of Emma. It always seemed fruitless, especially since it was winter and the temperatures and weather conditions prevented them from searching properly or canceled their searches altogether. Killian and Anna were in the next town over trying to get some help and still nothing. It was becoming an endless circle of fruitless searches.

Neal feels tears threatening to fill his eyes. He thinks of Henry at home and every passing day that he's forced to live without his mother is a stab in both their hearts. Neal knows now that he should never have left, especially if something like this happened. He thinks about his son, his seemingly helpless son. This past Christmas had been especially hard. Everyone showed up and quietly exchanged gifts and ate a dinner that Mary Margret and Regina had prepared, but it was still empty without Emma. Despite the cute pictures of Jacob in a Christmas sweater and mini Santa hat, there was much gloom and desperation in the house. And when New Years rolled around, nobody had anything to be happy about and the celebration was minimal.

David was working day and night to keep this case alive, knocking on every door he could and following every lead, but the fear was that Gold was going to shelve the case in the new year. It was now the new year and the more the group was turned down by towns and cities for searches, the closer they got to this coming true. August had the unfortunate job of calling David every time this happened. The cell phone tracking hardly did anything to help, relying solely on the search group to find her. It was becoming unbearable for every person involved.

Neal starts up the car to get it warm as August climbs into the passenger seat.

"We'll have to go meet Killian and Anna at the edge of the park," August says. He tightens his worn hiking boots. "Then we'll get started."

Neal just nods and moves the car along the snowy streets.

…

Meanwhile, on the other side of the tracks, Killian and Anna were also being shot down. Killian's heart broke a little bit more. He and Anna go back to his new car, seeing how his last one was totaled. He lets Anna drive them to the edge of the park. The docks man has the unfortunate task of calling Henry, Regina and the new mother, Mary Margret at home and tell them that this community wouldn't help either. Killian did his best not to cry as Anna turned the nearest corner, out of the town.

He had joined August and Neal on their quest the minute that Dr. Whale took his cast off. Killian worked his absolute hardest to help with the investigation, even willing to do research about the areas, to see if there were any clues that would lead to Emma's location. He spent many sleepless nights thinking about her. Was she safe?

His mind always goes back to the night that she called. Her voice was so scared and so helpless, he wanted nothing more but to take Emma into his arms and never let her go. He couldn't imagine what kind of torture she might be going through, living with such a monster. Had he succeeded in his mission for her? His head begins to swim when he thinks about it.

He tried not to think about the moment when the connection was cut off and his heart basically imploded. The click of the line going dead would echo in his ears forever. He did his best to forget it, trying not to imagine what happened, but it still came to the surface from time to time. What was she going to say that was so important? He continues to think hard until...

"Pull over Anna," Killian says.

"Why…?"

"Just…"

Anna does so and Killian gets out of the car, stumbles to a ditch and vomits into the snow.

She was pregnant with the monster's baby! There was no other explanation. She must've wanted to tell him about it…

He begins to cry, kneeling down in the snow. He can't imagine what she might be feeling. The fact that she was being forced to have this baby for a bastard of a man… No, he wasn't a man, he was the lowest form of life ever… not even. What would he do to her once the baby was born? Dispose of her?

If she was found, would she want the baby? Obviously, he would be there for her, but could he raise a baby that looked like her rapist and abductor. What about telling the child the truth when they were older? It made Killian even more dizzy and upset.

The thought makes him vomit a bit more. His entire body was burning with anger and desperation.

He continues to cry. He thinks back to his nights with Emma, the way he held her in his arms, her blonde hair against his chest, her beautiful green eyes, her soft lips against his skin. He wants to go back to that night and tell her that he loved her. Hold onto her and never let her go.

At one point, as the cold wind whips around him, Killian thinks about what he'd done that second night. He'd never told Emma or anyone else, but he had not used condoms that night. Both he and Emma had run out, but he didn't want to keep her waiting, so he just went with it. He doesn't know if Emma noticed since they were both caught up in the moment, maybe she did but didn't want to kill the mood. But now he starts thinking about it harder.

Could it be his…? If she is pregnant that is… It is a possibility, but a very slim one. He would love to have a family with Emma, someday, but not while she's being held against her will.

Anna comes to make sure that he's okay and helps him up out of the snow. She asks if he is okay and he doesn't respond, still lost, deep in thought. Anna drives for an hour until they meet August and Neal at the edge of another national park. They have another few hours to start searching before it gets dark. Killian had grown to respect Neal the past few weeks because of his determination to help. Not many people were willing to basically give up their whole lives and fiancée to help with finding his ex-girlfriend.

Killian's head is still swimming as the four of them spread out in search of Emma.

…

Hundreds of miles away, Emma sits on a ratted old couch in a rundown cabin, trying to read a really bad novel that Arthur had given her as a reward for being obedient. She sits under a blanket in the cold cabin, her mind always wandering. Every day she became more and more depressed. Her hope was dimming a little bit with each day passing by. She still cried every night, especially after Christmas and the New Year passed by.

She kept thinking about Henry, her son, what it must be like to spend Christmas without her. She had always tried to make that holiday special for him, especially after Neal left. They always had a tradition to make marshmallow and popcorn strings to put on the tree, something that felt old-fashioned, but very special. It's not like a lot went on the tree anyways, Henry and her ate most of them. The thought brought a smile to her face. She also thought of her friends… and Killian. She had hoped that the two of them could exchange gifts this year and ring in the New Year together, but fate was cruel that way. She wondered if Killian was even around anymore, but she shook the thought from her head, Killian wasn't that type of person and never would be. She tried to imagine spending the holidays with those she loved.

This year, she spent the holiday in her room, away from the man whom she hated. He did not get a tree or anything… or even let her go. That had been her Christmas wish, but of course, the good tidings of the holiday did not move the man. The only nice thing he did was get her a box of candy canes, but that was it.

She was alone a lot more since Arthur apparently took a job to pay for food and other things. He definitely had to keep the pantry stuffed as Emma needed to feed the life growing inside her. She did not complain that the horrible man was not around, but when he was gone, she was alone… well, not entirely alone.

She felt trapped, in an endless limbo. She spent the better part of a month after the phone call locked in the room, only being let out for meals and when Arthur was letting her out, the snow had come and there would be no way for her to escape and not freeze to death in the cold. At this point, she was willing to risk it if she could get out of this hellhole. Emma felt like this was some sort of terrible dream and that she would wake up one day at home, safe and sound. The one thing that told her otherwise was her baby.

Her stomach was slowly starting to show the signs of growth. Her stomach was beginning to look rounder and rounder with the passing days and she attempted to hide it as often from Arthur because he would often look at her like she was a piece of meat, meat with his offspring inside.

Emma puts her hand on her stomach, thinking back to when she was pregnant with Henry. How scared she had been then and how scared she was now. She wanted more than anything for her to miscarry or something to go wrong so this baby wouldn't have to come into this cruel world and into such a dire situation.

It is then that Emma feels a bump inside her. She stops reading and rubs the spot where it came from. She waits until there's another small bump. Her heart drops in sadness, but also excitement.

The baby was kicking, letting her know that it was here. She begins to tear up and she rubs the spot where the nudge came from. She was overwhelmed with joy… she just wishes the circumstances were different. This was the baby's way of greeting people.

"Hello little one…" she whispers. "It's nice to meet you too."

Here's the time skip and there might be a few more in the future. Thank you for the reviews, you guys are amazing!