Taking the shot
Anonymous asked for a oneshot of Charming rescuing Emma.
Emma paced the hospital corridor nervously. She's messed up. Her parents were going to be furious with her. They'd probably ask her to leave. The door opened behind her and Emma turned nervously to see her mom.
"How is he?" Emma asked shyly.
"He's awake." Snow said with a small smile. "And asking for you." Emma felt her heart beating harshly against her ribs.
"I-is he mad?" Emma stammered. Snow looked confused.
"Mad? Why would your dad be mad?" Emma looked down at her shuffling feet.
"You both should be." She said quietly. "He got shot because of me." Emma saw her mom's feet come up beside hers. Next thing she knew her mom had wrapped her in a hug.
"Nobody is mad at you." Her mom assured her. Snow let her go and gently nudged her towards Charming's hospital room. "Go on, I'm sure he'll make you see." Snow told her. Still feeling like her dad was going to tell her he never wanted to see her again, Emma reluctantly shuffled into the room.
"Emma." Charming said sounding relieved. "Are you alright?" This caused Emma to look up.
"You got shot and you're asking if I'm alright?" She asked, shocked. She looked down again. "You should hate me. I got you shot." Charming's heart broke looking at his daughter. How could she even think that?
"Emma, come here." He said gently, holding out his hand. Emma shuffled over and felt her dad take her hand, gently rubbing circles on her hand with his thumb.
"You didn't get me shot, George did." He said firmly.
"But he was trying to shoot me. If I was paying attention I would have been able to see him and move out of the way without you needing to dive in front of me and take the bullet." Emma said guiltily. "You could have been killed. I could have taken Neal's dad away…" Emma trailed off, biting her lip to stop herself from crying.
"Not you Emma, George. He could have killed my daughter, and I wasn't going to let that happen. Of course I'd take a bullet for you, Emma. It's my job to keep you safe."
"It just seems like all I do is land you in hospital." Emma sighed, thinking of how he had carried her to the wardrobe. Charming knew what she was thinking.
"I'll say it again, it's my job Emma. Keeping you, your brother and your mom safe is my number one priority. And it always will be. If Henry was going to be shot you'd take the bullet for him wouldn't you?" He asked her.
"Well yeah…" Emma said sheepishly.
"Exactly. We protect our children. It's just the way things are. Remember, if while I'm still in here you see George walking about just leave him, ok? He could still be armed." Charming warned her. Emma raised an eyebrow.
"So you want me to leave him to shoot you again?" She asked sarcastically.
"Yes." Charming replied seriously. Emma rolled her eyes.
"Must you be so dad like all of the time?" She asked. Charming chuckled.
"I'm afraid so angel. Why don't you get your mom in? I'm guessing you were a little upset before you came in here and she'll be wondering how you are." He suggested. Emma nodded and got up to fetch her mom. Charming smiled after her. The bullet was totally worth it to keep her safe.