A/N: Large chunks of dialogue taken from S1E4: The Price of Gold.

Chapter 21

At the mention of her name, Emma rose to her feet and came forward. The man smiled and extended his hand. She shook it. "Hi," he said. "My name's Mr. Gold. We met briefly on your arrival."

"I remember," Emma said, noting that, though he sounded friendly enough, he hadn't given her his first name. Maybe it was a British thing. Or a Scottish thing. Wait, Scotland was part of Britain… at least she thought it was. Whatever. She pulled her focus back to what Mr. No-First-Name Gold was saying.

"I have a proposition for you Ms Swan. I… uh… I need your help. I'm looking for someone."

"Really?" Emma asked. "Um…" As she tried to think what to say next, she caught the look that Gold directed at Mary Margaret.

The schoolteacher ducked her head a bit nervously. "You know what?" she asked brightly. "I think I'm going to go jump in the bath." She beat a hasty retreat away from the door.

"I have a photo," Gold said, coming into the loft. As he held it up, Emma's eyes widened. She recognized the young woman at once. "Her name is Ashley Boyd," he continued. "And she's taken something quite valuable of mine."

She'd never had to hunt down a friend before. Back in Arizona, she'd become friends with Sonia after chasing her down, but she hadn't known her before that. She wasn't sure she wanted the job. "So, why don't you just go to the police?" she asked.

"Because, uh…" Gold gave her a pained smile. "She's a confused young woman. She's pregnant. Alone and scared. I don't want to ruin this young girl's life, but I just want my property returned."

"What is it?" Emma asked.

Gold shook his head. "Well, one of the advantages of you not being the police is discretion. Let's just say it's a precious object and leave it at that."

She didn't like the sound of this. On the other hand, if she turned down the job, Gold might put Graham on it, but if he had reasons for not using local law enforcement beyond what he'd told her, then he might just turn to someone less savory. Whoa. Where did that thought come from? He'd been nothing but pleasant thus far. Still, something told Emma that this man was used to getting his way and while he might prefer to use legal channels, he wasn't above other routes. "When'd you see her last?"

He smiled. "Last night. That's how I got this," he added, pushing back his long hair to reveal a cut on his temple. Emma winced. That looked painful. "It's so unlike her," he went on. "She was quite wound up. Rambling on and on about changing her life. I have no idea what got into her. Miss Swan, please help me find her. My only other choice is the police, and I don't think anyone wants to see that baby born in jail now, do they?"

Emma felt her heart sink. She'd been the one to tell Ashley that if she didn't like the way her life was going, she had to take a stand and change it. But she'd never thought… It didn't matter what she'd thought. And it didn't matter what Ashley had taken from yesterday's pep talk. She wasn't going to have a baby in jail. Not if Emma had anything to say about it. "No, of course not," she murmured.

Gold exhaled in relief. "So, you'll help me then?"

"I will help her," Emma clarified.

"Grand."

The door opened again and Henry walked in unannounced. "Hey, Emma," he greeted her. "I was thinking we…" He stopped as he realized who was in the loft with her.

"Hey, Henry," Gold said in a friendly fashion. "How are you?"

Henry smiled a bit nervously. "Okay…?" he replied, making his answer sound like a question."

"Good," Gold said, moving toward the door. "Give my regards to your mother. And," he looked back to Emma once more, "good luck, Ms Swan."

As the door closed behind him, Emma, thoughts still reeling, turned to greet her son.

As soon as Emma had explained to Henry why she couldn't spend the day with him, he insisted on coming along. She could have seen that one coming if she hadn't been up in her own head. Ashley's situation was ripping the scabs off of more than a few painful memories that weren't nearly as well-healed as she'd thought.

"Please," Henry panted, as he hurried to catch up with her. "Please, let me help."

"No." She was not dragging a kid along with her. Especially not her kid. Especially not a kid with a legal mother who was going to make things even more difficult for Emma than she already was if Henry sustained so much as a paper cut or a lost sleeve button while the two of them were together. "No, it could be dangerous."

"The pregnant maid is dangerous?" Henry asked sarcastically.

"She assaulted Mr. Gold."

Henry blinked, but the expression on his face was less nervous than impressed. "Cool!"

"This isn't a game," Emma snapped. "She's desperate."

"How do you know?"

She was trying not to go off on him, but she really wasn't feeling up to dealing with his questioning. "Because I know," she said with a finality she hoped would end the conversation. No luck.

"Well then," Henry said, ever chipper, "let's find her."

"Oh, no!" Emma groaned. "No. No, there is no 'let's'. You cannot come with me."

"Then I'll look for her myself," Henry retorted.

"Then I'll find you and bring you back."

"Then you won't be helping the maid."

Smart kid. Annoying as hell, but a damned smart kid, she thought as she unlocked the car. "I am just trying to be responsible, here."

As if to put the lie to her words, Henry jumped into the passenger seat through the door she'd irresponsibly failed to lock. "And I'm just trying to spend time with you."

And just like that, he'd won. He'd fought dirty, but he'd won. She fought down a surge of guilt. "Oh, that is really not fair," she groaned.

Henry grinned. "So. The maid. What's her story?"

In most small towns that Emma had been to, if you wanted to find out the dirt on one of the locals, you chatted up the local bartender. And, if she didn't turn up any leads by late afternoon when the Rabbit Hole opened, that was exactly what she planned to do. But in the meanwhile, Granny's seemed to be another branch on that grapevine (and they did sell alcohol, too).

Sure enough, Ruby seemed to know the situation quite well. Standing outside the diner and watching as a tow truck unloaded a red Chevy Camaro, the waitress was happy to share details. Apparently Ashley's boyfriend had ditched her as soon as she'd learned she was pregnant. Emma fought down a wave of anger at that. She'd had to handle her own pregnancy alone, too, but that had been because she and Neal had both been incarcerated in different facilities. Had that not been the case, there was no doubt whatsoever in Emma's mind that Neal would have supported her. As far as Ashley's family…

"Wait," Henry interrupted excitedly, as Ruby took the tow truck driver to task for nearly breaking the wolf charm hanging off the Camaro's mirror. "Stepmom, stepsisters, and she's a maid?"

And just like that, Emma thought ruefully, the role of Cinderella in Henry's fantasy world was assigned to Ashley Boyd. She suppressed a groan. "Henry," she was almost pleading, "not now."

"Look," Ruby went on a bit defensively, "I don't know what you've heard but it's wrong. Everyone thinks she's not ready to have this kid, but she's been trying. Taking night classes, trying to better herself, trying to get her life together. Can you understand that?"

She could understand that Ashley was doing more than Emma ever had to prepare for this. "I think so."

"Then maybe you should just stay out of it," Ruby said. "She's been through enough already."

"I've been through it too, Ruby," Emma replied. "I can help her."

Ruby gave her a long searching look. Then, with a slight nod, she seemed to make up her mind. "Then… you should try her ex."

A lead. Finally. "Where can I find him?" Emma asked.

"He lives with his dad."

Three quarters of an hour later, Emma stormed down the Hermans' front walk, feeling like she was about to retch. Instead of going back to the car, she stomped down the street, knowing that Henry was going to wonder what was going on, but unwilling to talk to him until she could do so without swearing a blue streak. It was happening again. Another scared teenager was getting strong-armed or manipulated into giving up her baby, probably tricked into a deal without realizing that other options had been available.

She stopped. If Ashley was getting roped into surrendering her child-to-be into some black market adoption, then the other options were still available. The deal wouldn't stand up in court and if it did get that far, then probably everyone involved except Ashley would be looking at jail time. Ashley didn't have to give up her baby. Only Ashley didn't know that.

Emma's jaw set. She'd been about to storm over to Mister Gold's shop and let him know what he could do with his assignment, but if she did that he'd… What? Involve the police? He couldn't; not without implicating himself. She frowned. On the other hand, Ashley had assaulted him and he had the scar to prove it. And he could probably afford a good lawyer and get off with a slap on the wrist, especially since the baby wasn't yet born and the adoption hadn't taken place. Meanwhile, Ashley could end up in prison for… for… Well, in Massachusetts, it was up to two and a half years in a house of correction; she assumed it would be something similar in Maine, though she wasn't sure. As friendly as Gold had seemed when he'd stopped by the loft, Emma remembered how nervous Mrs. Lucas had been that night at the motel, when she'd passed over the rent money. Something told her that Gold was the sort of guy who'd do everything in his power to ruin the life of anyone who crossed him.

So why did he hire me to bring Ashley back? Either it's because he knows he can't go to Sheriff Graham over this, or there's something more he wants. But does he want it from her… or from me?

Rubber-soled shoes slapped the pavement as a high voice behind her panted, "Emma? Hey! Emma? What's the matter?"

"Henry." She turned around and tried to smile and act normal, even as a nasty thought surfaced. Was Ashley's baby the first time that Gold had been involved in this sort of thing? Or had he had a hand in Henry's adoption too?

Ruby looked up as Emma stormed into Granny's, Henry behind her. "Why didn't you tell me she sold the baby?" she demanded.

Ruby flinched, but her voice was steady as she answered, "Because I didn't think it was important."

Was this more of that 'haze' Henry was always talking about? Because the only way that anyone could think that the contract wasn't important was if their brain was permanently fogged. A great deal more calmly than she felt, Emma snapped back, "Really? Considering that's why she's running away?"

Ruby sighed. "Look, Ashley's my friend. I don't like the idea of people judging her."

That was when Emma noticed the wolf-charm on the counter. "Ruby," she asked quietly, "where's your car?" When the waitress didn't answer, Emma realized that whatever her frame of mind might be, 'hazy' was about the polar opposite from it. "You didn't send me to Sean to find her. You sent me to give her a head start."

She didn't buy Ruby's protests that she'd only been trying to help Ashley. "Yes," she retorted. "So am I. Ashley's in more trouble than you know, Ruby. Where is she?" Seeing the waitress hesitate, she urged, "Don't make her deal with Gold without me."

Ruby frowned and jerked her head in Henry's direction. "I can't talk in front of him. He's the mayor's kid."

"Hey!" Henry protested. "I'm on your side!"

Time, Emma felt strongly, was of the essence. And if Ruby wouldn't spill in front of Henry, then Henry had to leave. Luckily, he saw her point and headed for the exit. As soon as he'd left the diner, she locked eyes on Ruby once more.

"She left town," the waitress admitted. "Said she was going to try Boston. She thought she could disappear there."

Boston. Hopefully, Emma would catch up to Ashley before she reached it, but even if Ashley made it there, she was headed to one place Emma knew pretty well. Odds were, she'd find her regardless, but it would be a lot easier if she managed it before the maid joined the other six hundred thousand or so people in the city—or four-point-two million if she included the whole of Boston Metro. "How long ago did she leave?"

Ruby only hesitated a moment before answering, "About half an hour."

She'd driven about a block and half, when Henry popped his head out of her back seat. "What'd she tell you?"

Emma gasped and narrowly missed plowing into a mailbox. Another night in jail averted, she thought, as she exclaimed, "Henry! What the hell?" Almost at once she realized that she shouldn't have sworn in front of a ten-year-old. If Regina found out… Yeah, like Henry was going to tell her. Her kid might have issues, but stupidity wasn't one of them. Seeing his face in her rearview mirror, she realized how much he looked like his father—who, come to think of it, also popped his head out of the back seat when I thought I was driving alone, once. "I'm going to Boston. You can't come with me."

A horrified look came over her son's face. "You can't go to Boston. She can't leave. Bad things happen to anyone who does."

"Really?" Emma asked. "Like what?"

"Uh… Well…"

"Do you actually know anyone who's tried to leave? Besides you?"

"Well, when you tried, you hit a sign and ended up in jail!"

"Yeah, and yesterday, I left town to get my stuff and I was fine. Henry, I haven't got time to argue with you over the curse. I have to get you home."

"We have to stop her before she gets hurt!" Henry insisted. "We're wasting time. If you drop me off, we'll never catch up to her!"

"Henry…" This was more than a smart kid in search of adventure and trying to spend the day with her. He was far more upset than he should have been.

"And then, Mr. Gold will call the police and he'll have her sent to jail!"

Damn it. "Buckle up," she gave in. And under her breath, as she heard the seatbelt click, she muttered, "Ashley, what did you get yourself into?"

It was Henry who spotted Ruby's car on the side of the road. It was halfway up a rising concrete barrier and, evidently, whatever work the garage had done previously hadn't sufficed for Ashley to back it down again. The hood was up, steam was coming from the engine, and the car was empty.

Emma and Henry exchanged alarmed glances when a moan drew their attention to the grass on the other side of the barrier.

"Ashley!" Emma exclaimed, rushing toward the young woman.

In obvious pain, Ashley looked helplessly at the two of them. "My baby," she managed. "It's coming!"

Getting Ashley into the bug was the first step. Emma did her best to remember her own pregnancy and how they'd moved her to the hospital, but she'd already been there before her labor pains had progressed to the point Ashley seemed to be at right now. She had to get her to the hospital as quickly as possible. Ashley, however, had other ideas.

"Take me to Boston!" she pleaded. "I can't go back there!"

And she couldn't go to Boston; not when that was four hours away if they didn't get bogged down in traffic.

"Please!" Ashley sobbed. "He's going to take my baby!"

Over her dead body, Emma thought. Aloud, she said, "I won't let that happen." Not if she realized what having a kid meant and accepted that it wasn't like having some… doll you could dress up and chuck in a crib when you got bored. "Do you know what you're asking for?" she asked, deadly serious. "If you keep this child, are you really ready?"

"Yeah," Ashley said."

"Are you sure?" Emma persisted. "Because I wasn't." She took in the girl's disbelief and nodded. "If you want to give this kid its best chance, it's going to be with someone who's ready, so know what that means. Your whole life is going to change and once you decided that it's yours, this running away can't happen. You have to grow up and you can't ever leave. Understand?"

Ashley hesitated for only an instant before she nodded. "Yes. I want my baby."

Emma nodded back. "Then sit tight and hang on. Henry—"

"You don't have time to drop me off. Besides, I know the fastest way to the hospital from here."

Two good reasons to keep him around. Emma resigned herself to the inevitable, started mentally rehearsing what she was going to say to Mr. Gold, and hoped Regina wouldn't be at the hospital—or at the very least that she wouldn't run into her until after she'd confronted Gold.

As soon as they got to the hospital, orderlies transferred Ashely to a wheelchair and hurried her through the waiting room and then past the double doors at the opposite end. Emma and Henry settled in to wait. Emma's thoughts were churning, as she tried to prepare herself for what was ahead. Henry, however, seemed oblivious, as he prattled on.

She tried to smile and nod her head, but her mind was a million miles away and eventually Henry picked up on it and pulled his fairytale book out of his knapsack.

It wasn't until about an hour later that she felt relaxed enough to give her son some attention. "Hey," she said softly.

Henry looked up with a smile. "You know, Emma," he said, "you're different."

Because she wasn't walking around with her mind in a fog? "What's that?" she asked.

"You're the only one who could do it."

Oh, not this again. "Break the curse?" She tried not to roll her eyes. "Yes, I know. You keep telling me that."

"No," Henry said. "Leave. You're the only one who can leave Storybrooke."

Yeah, when a wolf doesn't spook me into ramming a sign. Besides… "You left and came and found me in Boston," she pointed out.

"But I came back," Henry countered. "I'm ten. I had no choice. But if anyone else had to go, bad things would happen."

"You—" Emma stopped. She'd been about to say that he could have stayed in Boston with her, but realistically, that wouldn't have happened. Not without a custody hearing. Maybe she could have arranged things so he wouldn't have to go back to Maine in the interim, but between her crazy work hours and Neal having a record, she couldn't say for sure that Henry wouldn't have ended up in the System, at least temporarily. Emma swallowed hard. She might not like Regina very much—understatement of the year—but she wasn't ready to say that Henry would be better off in foster care than in his current situation.

"Miss Swan," a petite doctor approached with a smile. "Baby is a healthy six-pound girl and the mother is doing fine."

"What lovely news," a cheerful voice with a Scots accent proclaimed from behind her. Emma whirled to face its owner and Mr. Gold smiled with satisfaction. "Excellent work, Ms Swan. Thank you for bringing me my merchandise."

Emma turned to look at her son. "Henry," she said firmly, as Gold headed for the coffee machine, "I need you to go for a walk. Now."

Something about her voice or expression must have convinced Henry that this wasn't the time to argue, for he got up and left without another word. Emma steeled herself and strode over to confront the man who'd hired her.

"Well, well," Mr. Gold said at her approach. "Must be my lucky day. Care for a cup, Ms Swan?"

Emma was done with being friendly. "A baby?" she demanded. "That's your merchandise? Why didn't you tell me?"

Gold shrugged. "Well, because at the time," he replied, "you didn't need to know."

"Really?" Emma demanded. "Or you thought I wouldn't take the job?"

His eyebrows climbed. "On the contrary. I thought it would be more effective if you found out yourself. After seeing Ashley's hard life, I thought it would make sense. I-I mean, if anyone could understand the reasons behind giving up a baby, I assumed it would be you."

"You're not getting that kid," Emma said evenly.

"Actually," Gold said. "We have an agreement. My agreements are always honored."

"Even when they aren't legally enforceable?"

He shook his head. "Come now, Miss Swan. We both know what will happen to that poor child if I have to involve the police. With a mother in jail and no father in the picture, that babe will have to go into the system. Do I need to paint you a picture of how tragic that would be?"

"It's not going to happen," Emma replied.

Gold's smile thinned. "I like your confidence," he said. "It's charming. Truly. But all I have to do is press charges. She did break into my shop."

She also assaulted you, Emma thought. If it were me, I'd have led with that. Or are there so many more people in town ready to slug you than rob you that you just take it in stride? Aloud, she said, "Let me guess. To steal a contract."

"Who knows what she was after?" Gold shrugged.

Emma shook her head. "You know, no jury in the world will put a woman in jail whose only reason for breaking and entering was to keep her child. And I think we both know that an illegal contract isn't worth the paper it's printed on. You'd have to sue her in court for the baby and, uh… good luck with that. Plus, if you did go that route, I bet a lot of stuff is going to come out about you in the process. Somehow, I suspect that there is more to you than a simple pawnbroker. So," she looked at him levelly. "You really want to start that fight?"

For one terrible moment, Gold regarded her, his face inscrutable. Then, unexpectedly, he laughed in an almost friendly fashion. "I like you, Ms Swan," he said. "You're not afraid of me. Now, while that's either cocky or presumptuous, either way… I'd like to have you on my side."

Emma raised a single eyebrow. "So, she can keep the baby?" she asked.

Mr. Gold was still smiling pleasantly. "Not just yet. There's still the matter of my agreement with Ms Boyd."

"Tear it up," Emma said with a shrug.

"That's not what I do," he replied and Emma blinked. Had she only imagined hearing a faint note of regret in his voice? She must have, she decided, as he continued smoothly, "You see, contracts… deals… they're the very foundation of all civilized existence. So, I put it to you now: if you want Ashley to have that baby… are you willing to make a deal with me?"

Two hours later, Neal listened with a sinking feeling, as Emma told him about her day. "What favor?" he asked finally.

"He didn't say," Emma replied, sounding unconcerned.

Now his heart was starting to pound. "So, you just went into an agreement blindly?" Damn it, this was that miller's daughter from Papa's story all over again!

"Hey, you weren't there," Emma said. "I had him. I knew that contract Ashley signed wouldn't stand up in court and that he'd be in for a world of trouble if things got that far and he knew it, too. I think he was looking for a way of backing down that would let him save a little face. So, the next time he needs some help with inventory at the shop or his car's at the garage and he needs me to chauffeur him around town, I guess I'll be stuck helping him. Meanwhile, Ashley's got her daughter and Sean Herman turned out to be… not as big a jerk as he seemed at first. I mean, I think she can probably do better, but that's her call. And maybe he just needed to find the guts to stand up to his dad and this gave him that push. Anyway, that's over with. But…"

Neal was sure that Emma could hear his thundering pulse over the phone. "But…?" he repeated.

"Well, I'd been thinking… Ever since I found out what the 'merchandise' was that I'd been hired to recover, I was wondering if this was the first time he'd done something like this. Or if he'd maybe been doing it for a long time. Like maybe ten years or more."

If that book of fairy tales was right, 'or more' is pretty on point, Neal thought, even as he caught onto what Emma was suggesting. "Did you ask him?"

"About Henry's adoption? He told me that Regina Mills consulted him when she was looking to adopt and he started reaching out to different agencies. She wanted to skip the wait-list and he was, as he put it, 'able to find a lawyer willing to assist her'." She paused for a beat. "When I asked him if he had anything to do with the contract I signed, Gold told me that the lawyer had already drawn up that agreement and had me sign it before he got involved. Gold, I mean. Not Ross," she added, as if Neal hadn't figured out who she'd meant.

"And you believe he was telling you the truth?" Neal asked.

"My superpower didn't go off, so… yeah." She paused. "Look, I don't deny the guy's slicker than an oil spill, but he wasn't lying. Not about that, anyway."

"About something else?"

"I don't know," Emma admitted. "Nothing I can put my finger on, exactly, but I get the feeling there's a lot of stuff he's not telling me and I don't even know enough to ask the right questions. Not yet, anyway. But… I think I know a way to get to that point. At least, as long as I'm going to be sticking around."

"How long are you staying there, anyway?" Neal asked.

Emma hesitated. "I don't know," she admitted. "When I drove Henry back, I thought it was just going to be overnight. Then, he asked me to stay the week and with you away and no jobs waiting in Boston, I figured, why not? He's my son. Our son," she added.

"And now?"

"I don't know," Emma repeated. "But this place is growing on me. Or Henry is. Or the mystery is. I don't want to leave until I figure out what's going on and I know if it's safe to leave Henry here. Anyway, someone here offered me a job this morning that I'm thinking of taking, so at least I won't have to dip into our almost non-existent savings to get by."

"I should be back in Boston in about a week, the way this is going," Neal said. "And the payoff once we catch the guy should mean we won't have to worry about finances for a while."

"So come up here with me," Emma said. "Meet Henry. Help me crack this case." More softly, "I miss you."

"Miss you too," Neal said, just as softly. They chatted a bit longer before ending the call. Once they had, Neal sat on his hotel room bed, staring at the phone as though it might bite him. There was only one person whom 'Mr. Gold' could be and Neal had no intention of meeting him again!

On the other hand, he couldn't leave Emma alone to face him, not when she didn't know who she was really going up against. And it wasn't like he could tell her!

He grabbed the copy of the local paper he'd picked up in the lobby. Almost without meaning to, he turned to the classifieds. You could rent a house in Anchorage for a couple of hundred cheaper than their one-bedroom apartment in Boston. Maybe that would be far enough. He could grab Emma and Henry and…

…And Emma would never go for that without a good reason. And he'd never be able to convince her if he wasn't there with her seeing things for himself.

He exhaled noisily. He hadn't abandoned Emma eleven years ago and he wasn't about to, now. He only hoped that in the last two centuries, he'd changed enough that Papa wouldn't recognize him when he saw him!

Emma was frowning as she ended the call. She wasn't usually this secretive. Not nowadays. Not anymore. And if Neal had asked her anything about the job offer, she would have told him. But he'd sounded distracted, worried even. She knew that he was probably feeling the pressure to deliver. After all, the company didn't send just anyone on a job in Alaska on their dime.

She wondered if she was doing the right thing. This wasn't some low-level fast food or retail side hustle to pay the bills between assignments. This was the kind of job you were expected to stick with for the long haul. Emma had no intention of settling in this town. Her life was in Boston with Neal. But as long as she didn't know how long she was staying for, she did need to find some way to cover her expenses and, really, how hard could law enforcement be in a small town where the sheriff station only needed two holding cells and the biggest criminal in town was probably the drunk who'd been in the cell next to hers that first morning? She had this. At least, she did if the sheriff had been serious about his offer. And there was only one way to find out about that.

She dug her arrest paperwork out of the night table by her bed. The letterhead had both the sheriff station's phone number and Graham Humboldt's personal cell. She debated only a moment before calling the cell.

He picked up right away.

"Graham?" she said. "It's Emma. That deputy job still open?"

She could hear the smile in his voice when he replied. "Absolutely."

"Then I'm in. Regina gonna be okay with this?"

"I don't care," Graham said firmly. "It's my department. I'll see you Monday morning."

"See ya," she confirmed and ended the call. So… she had a job. In law enforcement. In Maine. She sank down onto her bed, feeling like a cartoon character who'd just realized they were running in empty air and about to plummet, as she muttered, "What on earth did I just get myself into?"