Runaway
Carly asked for a oneshot of a mother/daughter fight.
The crying. The constant night time crying. Emma opened her bloodshot eyes and rolled over to check her clock. It was three twenty two am. She groaned, grabbed a pillow from behind her and slammed it over her ear. She loved her little brother, but this was getting ridiculous! It had gotten so bad that she'd decided it was better for Henry just now to stay with Regina. Now she was alone with the relentless wailing. What made it worse was things were changing in the town. They were trying to re-create the system they had back home in the Enchanted Forest. Which meant Snow and David were involved in a lot of meetings, and Emma's offer to babysit "whenever" was being heavily abused. So she had been told there was a meeting tomorrow morning, and she'd need to be ready for seven to allow them to leave.
Emma tried in vain for several hours to sleep again. But every time she did Neal decided to start crying again. When she did manage to drift off for a couple of hours, her alarm woke her all too soon. She grouchily switched it off and slumped into the shower.
Half an hour later, Emma came down the stairs, trying to hide her mood as best as possible. Snow and David smiled when they saw her.
"Neal's in his crib." Snow told her, as David helped her with her jacket. "He didn't sleep much last night so I suspect he'll be no trouble for you."
"Ok." Emma replied simply, sitting down on the couch.
"We should be home by two. There's bread and ham in the kitchen so just make yourself a sandwich or something." Snow instructed.
"Right." Emma sighed. Snow could tell something wasn't right with Emma, but she didn't have the time to push her right now. They had to get to the meeting. As soon as the David shut his car door, Neal started wailing again. Emma groaned, running a hand down her face. "I'm coming, kid!" She called, slowly getting up.
Emma didn't have time to make herself lunch. Neal was clearly having a bad day. She couldn't put him down for two minutes without him starting again. She couldn't wait for her parents to get home so she could go to the station and nap. She could not have felt more relieved when she heard the car pull up at three.
"Better late than never, ay?" Emma muttered to her brother, as she bounced him. More gently than she had earlier, after he'd puked on her…twice.
When her parents came in, Emma practically tossed Neal into her mother's arms.
"Hope your meeting went well." Emma said, grabbing her jacket. "I'll see you tomorrow…"
"Actually Emma," David said, freezing Emma on the spot with her hand closed around the door handle. "Things didn't go so smoothly today. This is only a break. We'd appreciate it if you would watch Neal while we try and sort things out in a few hours…"
"Are you kidding?" Emma snapped.
"Emma." Snow said, shocked at her tone. "It's not like we want to leave you like this…"
"Oh really?" Snow snapped. "You dump me before I'm even an hour old and now I'm stuck here babysitting my own damn replacement? Hell no, watch your own kid." Emma spat, storming out.
"Emma wait!" Snow called.
"Don't bother!" Emma yelled, getting into the cruiser. "Go look after your real kid!" Then she was speeding off. Just as she did, Neal started crying. Snow sighed, looking outside, torn.
"I'll get him." David told Snow. "You go find Emma."
"Thanks." Snow said, putting her jacket back on. "I'll call you when I find her. Or you call me if she comes home." Snow assured and told him, rushing over to the truck.
"Emma!" Snow yelled, her voice going croaky. She'd been calling out for Emma for four hours now. It was getting dark, and she still hadn't found Emma. She'd called Red to check the beach, and the dwarves to check the nooks and crannies while she roamed the woods. "Emma!" She yelled again. She paused, was that someone moving. She brought out her torch and searched the forest floor. She sighed, she'd found her. Emma was sitting on the forest floor, and had clearly been trying to scurry away from Snow. Snow walked over to her. Although she was relieved to have found her, she was furious at the same time. Emma looked up at her mother and sighed. Caught.
"Can you get up?" Snow asked grouchily. Emma rolled her eyes.
"Sure mom. I thought I'd just sit here for fun." She replied sarcastically. Snow held out her hand, which Emma reluctantly took. Snow then pulled her up harder than was necessary. Emma didn't react, feeling now wasn't the time.
"Can you walk?" Snow grumbled. Emma nodded. "Good. It's probably just a sprain then." Snow said, supporting her back to the truck and helping her in. "Where's the cruiser? Someone will have to pick that up." Snow asked coolly. Emma shrugged.
"I'm not sure where now. I left it at the edge of the forest. I just wanted some space." Emma told her as Snow started moving, after texting everyone to let them know she'd found Emma.
"I tried to call you at least ten times." Snow said with a cold tone. Emma looked out the window.
"I needed some space." Emma replied quietly. Snow didn't reply, she just drove on. Emma gave a great sigh. "Look, I understand that you're mad you missed your meeting but…hey!" Emma finished, after Snow stomped on the brake, halting the car. She whipped round to face Emma.
"You think I'm mad because I missed the meeting?" Snow asked, clearly furious. Emma just looked at her.
"Well, yeah…" She replied. Snow ran a hand through her hair.
"No, Emma, I am not mad because I missed some stupid meeting. I'm mad because my daughter decided to storm off alone where anything could have happened! What if you'd crossed the town line? It's not like I could have found you again!"
"Well I didn't, did I? I was just walking around the woods to clear my head. I still would be if some stupid root hadn't tripped me up…"
"Oh, because that's much better!" Snow said, sarcastically. "You went off into the woods alone and unarmed, where anything could have happened! Especially after you hurt yourself! Emma, there are people in this town who would do anything to get to you, or even try to kill you. Did it not even occur to you to call someone once you hurt your ankle?" Snow asked her. Emma shrugged.
"I was fine. I'd have been able to walk by myself in another few minutes…"
"Oh Emma don't talk such rubbish!" Snow snapped. Emma shut up, feeling a little scared. She'd never seen this side of her mom before. "You've got a rather nasty sprain, you can tell by the swelling. And when you get inside the house you're going straight to the couch and I'll get you some frozen peas to put over it. And quite frankly you won't be leaving the house for the next fortnight!" Emma blinked a few times.
"…Have you basically just said you're grounding me for two weeks?" She asked tentatively. Snow's eyes narrowed.
"Yes, I suppose I have." She replied.
"So, you're going to 'ground' the thirty year old sheriff? The only police figure in this town?" Emma asked, not believing her mom.
"Your dad can handle things. It's not like you'll be able to move much on that foot. And maybe next time you'll now think before putting your life at risk!" Snow lectured her. Emma rolled her eyes.
"I'd hardly say my life was at risk." She mumbled under her breath.
"Oh, so if…let's say George had found you like that, you would have been absolutely fine?" Snow questioned her.
"Oh, and George was just going to be strolling through the woods as a wanted man, was he?"
"Emma, you can bet George will have someone watching each of us twenty four-seven. We're lucky nobody got to you before I did." Snow sighed. "Life isn't just about you anymore, Emma. You have a whole family to think about. A son, parents, a little brother. Can you imagine how we would have felt if we lost you?"
"Pretty irritated you lost your babysitter I'll bet." Emma snapped.
"Enough!" Snow shouted. "I don't like this attitude, Emma. You know very well that you are far more than some babysitter to me. You are my daughter, whom I love very much. Yes, even when you're being unreasonable!" Snow shouted, leaving Emma taken aback. Snow didn't say anything else after that, she just started the car and headed home.
"Couch." She reminded Emma as she helped her out of the car. "For at least two weeks." Emma didn't complain, she didn't want to tick Snow off any more than she already was.