Chapter Three
Emma was surprised to find so many people crowded into the station when they arrived. Before she had chance to ask what they were all doing here, Henry pushed his way to the front, having ran here from his office where he was the editor at the local newspaper.
"Mom? What's going on? They said that Hope is missing or something?" he asked her, full of concern.
Emma gripped his shoulder and gave him a rather sombre smile before she nodded. "We believe she has been taken," she answered him.
"What?" he asked aghast. He adored his little half sister.
"We'll explain in a moment," she said and then turned to the crowd that had gathered. Along with
Leroy, Happy, Granny and August who had already been there, Archie had just arrived with old Pongo in tow. "Why are you all here?" she asked them, confused.
"We were at Granny's with August, when Sean called him to come in. He told us what was going on before he left," Leroy replied.
Emma looked around at everyone. "But…"
"We want to help," Granny interrupted. "You know we all love that sweet little girl. We'll do whatever we can to help find her."
"Thank you." Emma gratefully looked to each of them, touched that they would drop what they were doing to help find her baby.
"How about you tell us exactly what happened?" Sean requested, already with pen and paper to take notes.
Emma nodded and looked to Ashley, and between the two of them they explained what they knew. Someone impersonating Killian had gone to the pre-school and collected Hope before Emma had arrived. The real Killian wasn't currently in town, but out on his ship on a job. Now they hadn't a clue who had taken Hope, where she was or why they would take her.
August turned to Ashley, "Was there anything unusual about this impersonator?" he wondered. "Any inkling that who he claimed to be was a lie?"
She shrugged. "I don't know, home time is a busy time with parents in and out. No, hang on. I did notice that he seemed to be in rather a hurry and that he had little patience with Hope, which wasn't like him at all. I just...I thought he was having a bad day. I'm sorry," she told Emma.
"I told you, I don't blame you. You couldn't have known."
"Right, well we all know what the child looks like," Sean began.
"A cherubic angel," Granny nodded.
"What was she wearing today, Emma?" August asked.
"Erm…" She thought back to just this morning when she had dressed Hope and bit her lip, trying not to cry. "A...a pink sweater, denim dungarees and...and pink sneakers." she told them as he made a note.
"We need to form search parties, scour the town, the forest, the harbour, everywhere."
"We'll gather the rest of our brothers and search the mines," Leroy decided, grabbing hold of Happy and heading out.
"And I can start a search of the forests…"
"The forests?" Snow interrupted Granny as she and David rushed in. "Why are we searching the forests? What's happened?" she looked around the gathered townsfolk with concern.
"Mom, Dad," Emma sniffed and fell into their arms. It would seem no matter how old you get, sometimes you really did just need your parents.
"What is it Emma?" David asked her, stroking the back of her head.
"Hope's been kidnapped," Henry answered for his mother when she seemed unable.
"What?" David glared at everyone around the room.
"No!" Snow gasped at the same time. "Oh honey," Snow hugged her daughter tight, becoming upset at the idea of her granddaughter missing.
"What happened?" David asked. Everyone began to fill them in on what they knew. "Right, search parties," he clapped his hands as though to get everyone started. "Your mother is the best tracker we know, Emma. We will find her."
"And with Granny's nose," August pointed out her heightened sense of smell thanks to her wolf genes. "You two should split searching the forest between you," he suggested.
They all began to plot and plan. With Leroy and the other dwarves already searching the mines, Snow was going to take David and Sean with her to the north forest. Granny would take August to the south forest. Ashley had to collect her daughters from school, but promised to come back and man the station to keep everyone in touch with each other through phones and walkie talkies.
"I can go door to door and ask if anyone has seen her and see if they would be willing to help," Henry decided.
"I'll go with you and help, Henry," Archie offered.
"Wait, kid," Emma stopped him before they left. "Before you do that, can you find Regina and let her know what's going on? We might need her magical knowledge to help find her."
"Okay, sure thing Mom." he nodded straight away.
"Thanks kid," she pulled him into her arms and held on tight.
"We'll find her, you know," he assured her. "And she'll be fine. My kid sister might be small, but she's pretty resilient, look at her parents!" he smiled, being hopeful.
Emma gave him a tight squeeze and then let him go with a slight nod. He and Archie left the station, along with Pongo who was eager to get outside.
"I need to call in at home and get my bow first," Granny told August as the pair of them prepared to leave. Both August and Sean had retrieved their guns from the lock up, but she deemed another weapon necessary.
"Are you going to be all right honey?" Snow asked, not wanting to leave her alone.
She nodded. "Yes, please I need you out there searching for my baby. I want to join you so bad, but...I also, I need to wait for Killian to get back. He should hear this from me."
"Of course," she gave her an understanding brief smile. "We're going to find her, I promise," she hugged her daughter once more.
"We'll have her back safely in no time," David added, giving his own hopeful smile. Her parents were the most hopeful and optimistic people she knew and right now Emma needed so badly for them to be right. "We'll keep in touch, okay?" he added before taking Snow's hand and following Sean from the station.
Emma wandered back towards the docks with her arms wrapped around herself, feeling more bereft than she had ever felt. And considering the nightmare she had lived whilst trying to save Killian from the darkness and then rescuing and losing him in the Underworld, that was saying something. This was about her baby though, an innocent child who was part of her body and soul and a product of the true love between herself and her husband.
By the time she got back to the harbour it was with some relief to finally see Killian's ship returning. She paced the boards impatiently as he gently guided the Jolly Roger into her usual berth. Before Mr Smee had even had chance to tie off the lines, Emma was moving the gangway into position before hurrying onboard.
Killian was busy preparing to leave his ship for the night, furling the sails and securing the hatches as his passengers gathered all their gear together to disembark. Emma pushed past them, flying up steps to the upper deck and flung herself into Killian's arms. He caught her with a slight exhale of 'oof' and wrapped his arms around her.
Chuckling to himself, he kissed the top of her head. "You know it's quite flattering that after all these years together you still miss me so much when we're apart for a few hours," he teased as he rubbed his hand up and down her back. Smee, witnessing the public display of affection quickly made himself scarce as soon as he'd tied off the mooring lines.
Emma had her head buried against his chest and didn't respond to his light teasing. She just held him tight and then he heard the sniffles against him.
"Emma, love?" he asked, stroking her hair. "What is it?" he asked, his instincts instantly on alert, knowing something was wrong. He looked up then, glancing around the ship and frowned. "Swan, where's Hope?" he asked.
Emma finally raised her head to look up at him, biting her bottom lip as the tears she hadn't allowed to fall in front of anyone else, ran down her face. She hadn't a clue how she was supposed to deliver this news to him. Hope was his pride and joy. This was going to devastate him.
"What?" he asked, watching her face, knowing it was something bad by her expression and the fact she was avoiding his gaze. "Emma, what's happened?" he asked, his eyes full of fear now as he held her shoulders at arms length.
"Hope," she whispered their little girls name, "she's been...Killian, someone's taken her." She finally told him as she screwed her eyes shut, both to avoid his reaction and to try to stem her tears. She dashed them away with the back of her hand.
His eyes widened in shock and a distraught expression took over his face, one of disbelief, fear and anguish. "What?" he demanded as his hands fell from her shoulders and he began to pace the deck.
"Someone has kidnapped our baby Killian! And...I don't know what to do, I don't know where she is. And I'm just so, so scared and...and…" she began to panic in her distress as she tried to wipe away the tears and snot running down her face.
"Hey," Killian abandoned his pacing to return to her side as she fell into his arms again. He just held her, silently running his hand up and down her back with his chin resting on top of her head as the situation slowly sunk in, anger filling him. He was about ready to storm off, punching anyone that got in the way of him getting his girl back. But he knew that would achieve nothing and right now his wife needed him more.
"What happened?" he asked after some time. "How did someone get to her?"
Emma sniffed and took a deep breath as she explained, again, as much as she knew, finishing with the news that by now, Hope had been missing for at least an hour.
"What do we do?" he asked, itching to do something, or just use his hook on someone.
She told him about the search parties already out there, how the townsfolk were helping. How she'd wanted to wait for him first and break the dreadful news. "We can go start our own search now, patrol the town in the bug and…"
"Who the bloody hell would have taken our daughter?" he asked then, overcome with anger.
She shook her head, not understanding this at all. "I can't imagine anyone in town wanting to hurt our little girl. She loves everyone."
"Even bloody Leroy!" Killian added with a dramatic roll of his eyes. "As soon as we find the bastard who took my daughter, well, they're going to become rather intimate with my hook!" he threatened in a menacing tone as he admired said hook. Emma hadn't heard that tone from him in a very, very long time.
"I might be able to help with that." Another voice joined the conversation. The pair turned to find Regina joining them. "Henry told me what happened. I have a locator potion," she held up a vial of blue liquid.
"Of course." Emma sagged against Killian in relief. If the potion worked how it was supposed to, they would be reunited with Hope very shortly.
"If you have something belonging to the child?" Regina requested, "then we can get started."
Emma nodded and carefully pulled a plush, floppy eared rabbit from her pocket. She'd taken the toy from her backpack, wanting to keep something of her daughter's with her, something meaningful as though that would keep her daughter with her. "Mr Bunnykins," she whispered, gazing at the toy. "It's her favourite stuffie," she explained.
Hope had had the plush toy since birth, it had been a gift from her older brother. She still took it everywhere with her, hence it's rather ratty appearance these days with it's chewed ears and the missing tail. She held the toy close for a moment and shared a look with her husband, the two of them each recalling many a tantrum or meltdown they'd dealt with whilst they searched the entire house whenever Mr Bunnykins had gone missing and Hope refused to sleep without it.
Emma held the toy in her palm and Regina poured the potion over it. Emma suddenly found herself absurdly worried that the liquid might ruin it, Hope would never forgive her if it did!
They waited, all eyes on the rabbit and...nothing happened. Regina frowned at the toy.
"What's wrong? Why isn't it working?" Emma asked urgently.
"Give it a moment!" Regina snapped, hating having her magic questioned.
They gave it another moment and then a couple more, but still nothing happened. "Shouldn't it be glowing or floating or something right about now?" Killian asked, familiar with what the potion was meant to do.
Regina scowled at him and then sniffed the vial the potion had come out of. Sticking her finger inside, she then licked it. "It's just water," she said irritably.
"What?" Emma yelped, all optimism draining again.
"It's just water. Someone has tampered with my potions, they've switched this vial for water."
"Then go and get another one!" Emma demanded.
"I would like to, Ms Swan, but this was the last of my supplies." she replied, rather sharply.
"Then go and make some bloody more!" Killian snapped,
"Don't you think I would, pirate? Potions aren't like brewing coffee, they take time. And this one happens to include an ingredient I don't currently have."
"Then go and bloody get some more," he sighed, finding her nothing but irritating now. "My CHILD is out there somewhere!" he needlessly reminded her.
"I am aware! But I am afraid this ingredient happens to be a berry that comes from a bush that only bears fruit in the month of January. So unless you would like to wait three months?" she asked, rather rudely. The pair of them slipping back into their scathing exchange.
Killian frowned at her, giving her a look that would curdle milk. "For fuck's sake!" he spat and kicked the step on his ship. "This is all a bloody waste of time! You can't ever trust magic!"
"Oh calm it down, Captain," she snapped in reply.
"Some utter bastard has my daughter! They're doing fuck knows what to her! Do not tell me to calm down, your majesty!" he scoffed.
Emma sighed irritably at their behaviour. "You know what, you two can continue arguing amongst yourselves. I'm going to go find my baby!" she snapped at both of them and stormed off, shoving the stuffed bunny back in her pocket.
"Emma, wait," Killian chased after her and grabbed her hand.
"No, I can not wait!" she shook him off. "She's out there Killian! Our baby! And we're wasting time, we have to find her!"
"I know," he nodded. "Which is why I'm coming with you. Let's go." he took her hand and the pair of them began to leave the ship.
"Hold on," Regina called back. "I haven't tried the spell for locating someone." She held her hand out again for the toy.
"Fine. Try it," Emma stepped back towards her and handed it over.
Regina held her hand over the toy and closed her eyes, waved her hand a little and pulled it back. Nothing happened.
"Well, do it then!" Killian grumbled, wondering what she was waiting for.
"I did!" she shot back at him. She tried again and still nothing happened.
"What's wrong?" Emma asked, becoming rather panicked. "Why isn't it working? Wait...would it not work if...if there's no...rightful owner available?" Tears filled her eyes. "What if...what if she's been taken to another realm or if..she," she hiccuped as her sobs grew, "if she's...gone," she finished in a whisper.
"Hey, no," Killian said, taking her into his arms. "She's not, Hope is...okay. She...she's not...gone. I know it, I feel it, here," he placed his hand over his heart as he tried to reassure her.
Regina shook out her hand and then tried to summon a fire ball and nothing. "What the hell is wrong with my magic?" she yelled, repeatedly trying.
Emma dashed her tears away and looked to what Regina was doing. With a roll of her eyes, she tried to cast a simple spell herself. Nothing. "Has someone blocked magic?" she asked when nothing worked for herself.
Regina growled in frustration under her breath that advanced to a rather high pitch scream of utter annoyance.
Emma shared a glance with Killian over Regina's little tantrum, both of them more than a little peeved at her ridiculous childish display.
"Come on," Killian took Emma's hand, "we've wasted enough time."
"Hold on," she said, tugging on his hand. "Just one second," she promised him when she noted his dismayed expression. She turned to ask Regina then, "If magic in town has been blocked or whatever," she shook her head in exasperation at something else going wrong, "then how the hell did someone glamour themselves into Killian in order to take Hope?"
"Obviously they glamoured themselves before blocking the magic in town," Regina answered in a sneering tone.
Emma ignored her jibe. "So we're looking for someone with magic?" she assumed.
"Not necessarily. They could have a magical minion working for them. No point in hunting out everyone in town with magic, Ms Swan."
"Fine," Emma sighed, having had enough of Regina and her personality now. "We'll get going."
"Just one more moment," Regina requested.
"What now?" Emma snapped. She was ready to get moving, wanting to feel as though she was actually doing something productive.
"Someone glamoured themselves to look like your husband, correct?" At Emma's nod of agreement, Regina continued. "Then how do we know this person is truly who he says he is?" she asked, giving Killian a look of some disdain.
Emma snorted. "I think I would know my own husband, thanks! Besides, I saw him come in on his ship not 20 minutes ago!"
"Are you willing to gamble your child's life on your foolish stubborn pride?"
"It's not…" Emma huffed as she rolled her eyes, finding this all unnecessary and a huge waste of time. "Fine!" She grabbed Killian's elbow and tugged him away from Regina slightly, not wanting her to overhear her personal business. "In Neverland, when we kissed, what did I say after?"
Killian gave a slight smirk, obviously remembering that kiss that changed everything for him. "You said it was a one time thing," he replied immediately.
Emma nodded satisfactorily and gently squeezed his fingers before turning back to her. "That's my husband. Happy now?" she asked.
"Fair enough," Regina held her hands up.
"If we're done wasting time, can we go?" Killian asked, already stalking off ahead of everyone.
"Fine. Whilst you start looking, I'm going to find my sister and head to my vault. We'll try to work out what's going on with the magic in town," Regina muttered to herself.
Emma and Killian took off in her bug. They searched every out building, barn, abandoned house or hut that they came across. They checked all around the now abandoned Sorcerer's Mansion and Gold's old cabin. Hunted around the stables, dilapidated farm yards and all the old farm houses, including searching every last inch of Zelena's old place. They spent hours driving back and forth around the outskirts of the main town area, walking through fields and meadows all the while checking in with Ashley and the other search parties for any news.
But absolutely no one had seen any sign of Hope or her kidnapper anywhere.
All the search parties kept at it well into the night with the use of flash lights and lanterns, refuelling occasionally back at Granny's where the cook, Floyd, had been told to provide coffee and nourishment for everyone involved.
There was still no real news to share. Snow had found some partial footprints and broken brush in the woods, suggesting someone had recently been tramping through there with heavy boots on. The dwarves had found nothing in the mines. Granny and her team had thought they'd seen some activity near an old barn, only for it to turn out to be nothing but a moose when they went to investigate.
Emma was growing ever more despondent, although everyone seemed intent to keep looking for Hope, all night if necessary. So, it was with renewed conviction that the teams resumed their search efforts, determined to find the little girl so loved and cared about in this town.