November 2nd 2024.
Storybrooke began to return to its more boring roots and go into a normal routine, it had been relatively peaceful since the mine incident a couple days back. What had changed, however, was Graham. He had taken up drinking (not that this was his first time but it was his first time drinking like this). Dinner was being served at Granny's and he was on his tenth whiskey, shooting darts. He did surprisingly well. throwing two darts just as Ruby came with his next drink on a plate. Both shots hit the deer target dead on, one in the side, the other in the neck. As he turned to grab his next drink, he saw Sidney Glass sitting at the table closest to him with his own drink. Sidney twirled the glass left and right, a smug grin plastered his face. "Nice shot, chief. I bet you twenty bucks you can't do it again."
Oh yeah? It's on.
Graham downed his drink and placed it back on Ruby's plate. Then he readied his shot, taking a second to think it through, then he threw. The dart hit the deer right on the nose. When Graham looked back at Sidney he saw Sidney's face contort to one of annoyance. "Next round's on him."
When Graham begun aiming for his next throw, the Swan siblings appeared from upstairs. Sam seemed unbothered to see Graham but Emma looked shocked, still not comfortable talking to Graham after what had happened.
"What can I get you two?" Ruby asked.
"Nothing." Emma replied, trying to get out of there as quickly as possible.
Nothing? Like how I'm nothing? Like how it's nothing and I'm fucking crazy for thinking you're avoiding me?
When Emma got to the diner's door, Graham's gaze followed her and in a moment of drunken rage, he threw the dart, narrowly missing her and hitting the doorframe. Everyone looked up and watched the situation. Some, like Sidney, were in shock. Others, like Emma, were angry. "What the hell? You could have hit me!"
"I never miss." Graham boasted, raising his arms up slightly.
"Doesn't change a thing, Graham." Sam argued, angry too. "You want to brag, find someone willing to do your carnival trick."
"Shut up, Sam!" Graham shouted. "I thought we were friends but you've both been avoiding me? Since last night when you saw me..." Emma interrupted him. "Leaving the mayor? And yes, that is a euphemism."
Sam's anger turned to confusion. "I'm too much of a virgin to get that one." He proceeded to mumble. "Damn. I hate when I don't get jokes. This sucks."
"I'll tell you later." Emma said, now turning the conversation back to Graham. "I'm not avoiding you, Graham. I just have no interest in having this conversation. It's your life and I really don't care. Come on, Sam."
Lies! You are avoiding me! You're avoiding me right now! Talk to me, god damn it!
The Swan siblings went outside, the sky was already dark now. Graham followed them, trying to overtake. "If you don't care, then why are you so upset?"
Stop fucking avoiding me! Get back here!
"I'm not upset."
Stop lying to me!
"If that were true, you'd be at the bar with me having a drink and not running away." Graham had now overtook them and now stood in the centre of the path
Emma and Sam walked by him. "It's none of my business. Really."
Graham made no move to stop them but his insistence on following them remained.
"Can we please talk about this?" Graham begged, now sounding desperate.
"We don't care anymore, what's there to talk about?" Sam asked. "You could always talk to Archie, it is sort of his job."
Emma nodded. "Yeah, try Archie. I'm sure he's not only a much bigger help, but he actually wouldn't mind having this conversation."
"I just need you to understand."
"Why?" Emma questioned.
"I don't know. Maybe so I can understand."
Sam's brow furrowed at that last bit. "If you're having issues, again, talk to Archie."
"I want to talk to you."
"Your bad judgement is your problem, not ours." Emma replied.
Please. Please. Please just listen to me. I'm begging you. Please.
"You don't know what it's like with her."
Sam looked disgusted. "We don't want to know what it feels like."
"No, you don't understand, I don't feel anything. Can you understand that?"
Sam had a knowing look in his eyes which Graham was too drunk to notice. "So, meaningless sex."
"No. It's not like that."
"He means a bad relationship." Emma said.
"Look, I know you two and Regina have your own issues, and I should've told you both about that before you took up the job." Graham was sounding even more desperate the longer he went on.
"Yeah, why the secrecy?" Emma asked, accusingly. "We're all adults. You can do whatever you want."
"Because I didn't want those looks that I'm getting right now." Graham looked down in shame, he felt as if he was at his lowest point.
"Why do you care how we look at you?"
"I don't care about how your brother looks at me."
Sam was unsure on whether or not that was an insult or a compliment. "Uh, thanks? Hey?! Man, what the hell?!"
"Then why do you care what I think of you?" Emma asked, rephrasing.
"Because..." He stopped, staring at her, unable to speak. Emma gave him a look, waiting for him to continue. But he didn't he continued a drunken daze till out of nowhere he pulled her into a deep kiss. Suddenly, memories of his past life entered his mind and flashes of places he once remembered filled his head.
Sam pulled Graham away from Emma, breaking the connection to his old self, most of the memories were gone and the flashes of places unable to be repictured, only a select few remained in his head. "What the fuck, man? As a cop, you should know all about consent."
What was that?
"What the hell was that?!" Emma glared.
"Did you see that?" Graham breathed heavily, as if he had just been running.
"See what?" Sam looked around.
"The wolf."
"What wolf? The same wolf you said we both saw while drunk? Because in this case I truly do think it's the alcohol."
"Never mind the wolf." Emma said. "That was way out of line, Graham."
"I'm sorry, I just...I need to feel something." Graham's desperate tone came back full force, Sam would have felt bad if he didn't just witness his friend force a kiss on his sister, and Emma had lost her patience with Graham already to feel anything but anger.
"Listen to me, Graham. You are drunk and full of regret. I get it. But whatever it is you are looking to feel, I can tell you one thing, you're not getting it with me." Emma left without another word, Graham wanted to go after her but what he had seen sobered him up enough to know that was a bad idea. Sam, however, stayed. He watched Graham curiously, waiting to see if Graham started seeing something again.
Please. I'm sorry. Come back. I need you right now, please, Emma.
After a moment of waiting, Sam did speak up. "I did tell you to try Archie. He'd believe you about the wolf, y'know."
Graham was still comprehending what he saw and how he messed up with Emma all within the same minute, not properly understanding what was just said to him. "What?"
"He'd believe you. Archie would believe whatever you tell him." Sam then held his hand out. "By the way, nice to meet you. I'm Samishtara, the bad father figure that also puts forward a bad brother figure as a side gig. I know. I know. No need to thank me for any daddy or sibling issues. It's my pleasure to supply more fans to the likes of Mads Mikkelsen so their hunger can be satisfied."
What are you talking about? This isn't time for jokes, Sam.
"Cut it out."
"Oh, you want serious? Fine." Sam pulled his gun out from his holster and shoved it in Graham's face. "Touch my sister again and I make you eat your own eyeballs."
Graham was almost completely sober by this point. "Put the gun down, Sam!"
"Fine, but we do need to talk." Sam slipped the gun back into his holster. "Firstly, let Reg' down gently, or I will hurt you. Secondly, leave Emma alone, or I will hurt you. You sensing a theme here? Now, they both mean a lot to me and you aren't going to mess with their lives. You have little choice in regards to Regina, so I am not mad you don't love her. That's fine. Emma, on the other hand, she isn't the girl for you, and while you are a good man, a much better man than the father of her little bastard, I know this relationship would just hurt both of you. Don't worry, you'll find your true love someday."
"Sam, I get the brotherly concern but you can't dictate my life."
Sam sighed. "You are being a pain. I will tell you to leave them alone and in turn, you will listen. Especially if you want to figure out what you saw."
Graham's interest was peaked. "You saw it too?"
"No, but I can explain it. As can Archie and Henry."
"Henry? What would he know about this?"
Sam held his hand out again. "Either you can find out or you can try figuring it out blind. Although, I doubt you'll get far."
Graham took Sam's hand and shook it. "Alright, I'm interested."
Sam took Graham to Archie's office. Archie was checking his notes on a client when they entered. "Deputy, Sheriff. What can I do for you two?"
"Is Henry not here already?" Sam asked.
Archie shook his head. "I didn't know he was coming over."
"We need the book."
Archie glanced at Sam and then at Graham. "Does he...?"
"Only partly, I'd wake him properly but he's started remembering by himself. I don't want to risk speeding up the process, for all we know it could cause his brain to go to mush."
"What are you talking about? Remembering what?" Graham questioned, now annoyed they were keeping him in the dark.
Just in time, Henry walked in holding his storybook. "Sorry, I'm late. I had to sneak out through the window. Mom's been checking up on me more often after what happened with the mine."
"It's no problem at all, Henry." Archie replied.
"Now everyone's here, can somebody please tell me what's going on?"
"Yeah, sure." Sam shrugged. "But first, so we don't risk you denying what we're about to tell you. We need to give you some proof." His hand engulfed in flames. "Ready to make you feel like your whole life is a lie? Because it sort of is."
Holy shit! How the hell is that possible?!
November 3rd 2024.
Emma came downstairs from her bed at Mary Margaret's loft to find flowers on the dining table, a mix of yellow, purple and red. "Really?"
Without giving a second thought, Emma picked the flowers up as Mary Margaret appeared from another room. "Oh, hey, wait. What're you doing?"
Emma dropped the flowers in the bin. "If Graham thinks flowers'll work on me..." Mary Margaret interrupted. "No, those were mine."
"Oh? From David?"
"No. Dr. Whale."
Whale? The same guy who stared at another woman's ass during your date? Really?
"Why would Dr. Whale...?" They both exchanged a look and Emma caught on immediately. "Are you serious?"
"I know. It's a disaster."
"No, that's amazing. You're getting over David."
"First of all, there's nothing to get over." Mary Margaret replied, as Sam entered through the front door. "And second of all, it was just a one-night stand."
Sam gagged. "Gross. Worst possible time to walk in. But, uh, good for you and David?"
"It wasn't David." Emma said with a smirk.
"Then who?"
"Whale."
"The same guy that stared at STD-Woman, world's worst supervillain's butt during their date? Y'know I choose not to judge people too harshly when it comes to these things but I really am struggling here, why? Other than the fact he takes the good from The Good Doctor and turns it into the good-looking doctor. Because he's a pretty big douche when he isn't helping patients."
"He apologised." Mary Margaret answered.
"Must have been the greatest apology to ever grace someone's ears if it was sex-worthy. What'd he say pre-sexy talk?"
"He just said he was sorry, and then we got to talking...and then..." Sam interrupted. "You let Boba Fett slip into your sarlaac pit."
Emma made a disgusted look. "That's gross, Sam."
"The vagina does look like a sarlaac pit, and it's not gross till Boba Fett tries to crawl his way out." Sam paused. "Babies are weird now that I think about."
"Why do you even know what a vagina looks like, virgin?"
"I saw sex ed videos while in the system, it made me want to vomit and made my hands feel numb, but I watched them. Awful experience. Absolutely terrible."
Emma looked back to Mary Margaret's flowers. "Doesn't look like a one-night stand to me."
Mary Margaret mumbled her response just loud enough to be heard. "Yeah, maybe I shouldn't have called him."
"Oh, my God! You called him? That is definitely not a one-night stand."
"Okay, I'm still learning. I've never had one before. I felt guilty."
"Why? There's nothing wrong with what you did. Trust me."
"Yeah, she's super trustworthy on the subject, but not in long-term relationships. That's her biggest weakness." Sam added.
"Don't be a dick."
"It's true. You made tons of stupid decisions and that led to Henry being born. When you were having one night stands to get over your ex or whatever your reasons were, because you refuse to tell me anything, well, you didn't end up pregnant or getting an abortion."
"Is now really the time to talk about this?"
Sam looked up in mock thought. "Yes. It most certainly is. It had been a good couple years y'know. You left, came back, left again, came back again, left for a long time, came back after having a baby and you were a mess, and while I'm grateful you didn't just leave me behind, you needed to talk about it. Instead you moaned about it and not in the non-sexual way. No judgement on the process here, but I cannot help you if you are going to keep all that happened a secret. Hell, for starters, how did you end up in prison? I still don't know and if any conversation we've ever gotten close to talking about it has told me, I will never know."
Emma scowled. "You don't need to know."
"No, maybe I don't, but I need to know you're doing okay or processing things well, and not that bullshit where you just say you're fine because of your walls and armour."
"I am fine."
Drop it, Sam.
"Fine, you're fine. That's fine. Fine. Fine. Fine. Fine. At least talk to Archie about some of this. All my jokes aside, I worry about you."
There's nothing to worry about.
"I know you worry but I am fine."
Mary Margaret reentered the conversation. "Uh, I don't suppose some tea might ease the tension?"
This brought the tension back down as the Swans remembered that Mary Margaret was there with them. "Uh, no thanks."
Graham was tired and had been up all night, when he was returning home from Archie's office, he had seen the wolf again, not in his memories but in Storybrooke. He was so close to touching it but it ran off. He had followed it into the forest and refused to let it get away even when it had gotten so far ahead of him he could no longer see it. His breathing was heavy and that was the only thing that kept his eyes open after a night of non-stop running. He was still conflicted by what Sam, Henry, and Archie had told him but he was coming round to the idea more and more as he thought it over. Things connected and what was once unexplained or had once gone unnoticed by him in his cursed state were now welded into the forefront of his mind. He knew he was on the right track when he heard the wolf's distant howl. Graham stopped when he heard branches snapping to his right. He attempted to peer through the greenery but made little success at seeing what the cause was till Mr. Gold stood up and walked over to him, with a apron and gloves on. "Morning, Sheriff. Sorry if I startled you."
"Right, sorry. I thought you were a wolf."
Gold smiled. "Did I forget to shave?"
"What are you doing out here so early?"
"A spot of gardening. Yourself?"
"I was looking for a..." Gold interrupted. "A wolf. Yeah, I think I'm beginning to catch on. Y'know to the best of my knowledge, Sheriff, there are no wolves in Storybrooke. Not the literal kind, anyway. Why are you looking?"
"You'll think I'm crazy."
"Try me."
"I keep seeing one in my head and then I saw the exact same one in person a few hours ago. Did you, uh, see anything unusual out there?"
Gold got closer, his cane digging into the dirt below with each step. "I'm afraid not. I do wish I could be more helpful." Gold moved past Graham and stopped at a log. "You know, Sheriff, they say that dreams, dreams are memories, memories of another life.
Do you know too?
"And what do you believe?"
"I never rule out anything." Gold stepped over the log. "Good luck, Sheriff. I do hope you find what you're looking for." He then vanished into the surrounding greenery once more.
I need to keep going. I need to find it. It can't be that far ahead, I didn't stop for that long.
Graham had been running for nearly another half hour by the time he heard the next howl, and sure enough, he saw the fur of the wolf between the leaves as it shot past. He ran faster now and when he caught up the wolf was just waiting there, looking in his direction as if it had been waiting for him. The wolf barked and growled.
"What do you want?" Graham's tone caused it to whimper and it started walking away. "Hey!" The wolf was ready to run off again but Graham whistled and that got the wolf's attention immediately and it came back to him, sniffing his hand. It even let him put his hand on his head. More memories and flashes rushed to his brain once more and then he found himself back in the forest, no wolf in sight no matter the direction he looked.
Damn it. Where did you go? I need your help.
Sam had been called by Graham to meet up at the diner, and when he got there, Graham was nowhere to be seen. Sam stood patiently out in front waiting, that's when he heard Graham whispering to him from behind a wall. "Sam, this way. Follow me around the back."
Sam rested his head on his left shoulder. "Why?"
"Because last time was here I caused a big scene."
"Makes sense, you were lucky not to have Granny shoot you." Sam followed him behind the diner. "What's up?"
"I saw the wolf again."
"Again? That's great."
"He made me chase him down in the forest for a couple hours."
"That's why you look so tired. I thought it was just the bad night last night. Speaking of which, did you let Regina down gently?"
Graham looked disappointed in himself. "Not exactly."
Sam sighed. "'Nother time then. What happened next with the wolf?"
"Well I thought I lost him when I mistook him for Gold, who was doing some gardening."
Rumplestiltskin? Gardening? Not bloody likely.
"Why would Gold be gardening in the middle of the forest?"
"I don't know, maybe it's his hobby."
"Hm. Maybe. Say, do you remember where you found him?"
"Yeah, why?"
Sam shrugged. "I want to see it. Can you show me later tonight?"
"Sure."
"What happened next?"
"I found the wolf again and he listened to my whistle and let me stroke him. When I touched him, I saw more of my past." Graham stated, getting Sam's attention.
"So, you have a really big connection to that wolf. You would get along well with Ruby."
"How so?"
"You couldn't tell who people were the moment you started figuring things out? She's Red Riding Hood."
"Then who am I?"
"Dude, I don't know every person ever. Ask Henry, he's much better at this."
"I think I will."
When Regina arrived at the station, Emma Swan was attempting to play darts, and failing to hit the board. "Our tax dollars hard at work, I see."
"Graham isn't here. I assume he took a sick day with you."
"Oh. So you're aware of us. Good. That's why I'm here. Because I'm also aware of your relationship with him."
"I don't have a relationship with him."
Like I'm gonna believe that, Miss Swan.
"So nothing's ever happened between the two of you?" Regina moved around Sam's desk. "You forget, Miss Swan, I have eyes everywhere."
"Nothing that meant anything."
"Well, of course not. Because you're incapable of feeling anything for anyone. There's a reason you're alone with only a brother sticking around, isn't there?"
"All due respect, the way I live my life is my business."
"It is until it infringes on my life." Regina argued. "Stay away from Graham. You may think you're doing nothing, but you're putting thoughts in his head, thoughts that are not in his best interest. You are leading him on a path to self-destruction. Stay away."
He's mine. Stay away from him and Henry. They are part of my life, not yours. And when you realise you need to ditch town, you'll forget all about them. Because this is my town and my family. You're just some nobody who wound up here. The next time you try to take either of them from me again, I will have to use drastic measures to protect them.
As Regina was leaving, Sam entered, passing by her and giving her a nod, he then looked to his sister. "What did Regina want?"
When Henry heard the ring of the doorbell, he was quick to answer. When he opened the door, he found Graham standing outside. "Hey, Sheriff. My mom's not here."
"Actually, I'm here to see you, Henry. About what we discussed at Archie's."
Henry smiled, immediately excited by the prospect of talking more about his storybook. He grabbed Graham and pulled him upstairs (which he didn't need to do since Graham was already more than willing), and took his book out from his hiding spot. They sat down on his bed and flicked through the pages. "When did your flashes begin?"
"Right after I kissed Emma."
Ew. Gross. Haven't you ever heard of cooties before?
"You kissed my mom?" Graham and Henry shared a look. Henry then started flicking through the pages again. "What did you see?"
"A wolf. I saw that I had a knife in my hand and I was with Mary Margaret."
"Were you about to hurt her?"
"Yes. How do you know that?"
I've read every page of the book a hundred times over at the bare minimum.
"Because Mary Margaret is Snow White. Which makes you The Huntsman." Henry showed Graham the illustration.
Graham was in disbelief, the illustration looked identical to him. "So, I really am this other person? This Humbert the Huntsman. I couldn't have gotten a better name?"
"Makes total sense. You were raised by wolves. That's why you keep seeing one. It's your friend, your guide. It's trying to help you."
And explains the name. I think I'm gonna keep calling you Sheriff Graham.
"I'm remembering this because I kissed your mother? How is that possible?"
"Well, my mom is the Saviour and you were lost, she's destined to break the curse, which would help you find yourself. And you have a special connection. You spared Snow White, and that allowed my mom to be born." Henry explained.
"What happened after I spared Snow White?"
"The Queen took your heart. She ripped it out. It's kind of her thing. She never wanted you to be able to feel again."
Everything was starting to come together and make sense, he wanted to kick himself for not realising how obvious some of it was. All his decisions that he thought he made in his one and only life now felt completely fake. His current life was all one lie and without his heart in his chest, he felt relatively nothing about this revelation, only simple and basic emotions. It was like he was a robot. "Let me see that book." Graham turned to the next page, it had another illustration, this time with the Evil Queen in front of a mausoleum. The top of the mausoleum had a symbol that he recognised from the fragments of his past. He felt it was important when he saw it with the wolf before but he didn't understand its significance then. "What's that? I saw that too. The wolf was howling at it."
"That's her vault. It's where she put your heart."
"The wolf wants me to find it." Graham got up. "Thank you, Henry." Graham ran out the room, leaving Henry there by himself.
I hope I didn't catch his cooties.
Sam and Emma had arrived at the mayor's house in the yellow bug right as Graham was leaving. "Hey, bud."
"Hey." Emma greeted. "We hear you're having a rough day."
"Who says?"
"Pretty much everyone. Maybe you need to go home and get some rest."
"I'm fine."
"No, Graham, you're not fine. You just went to see a ten-year-old for help."
"He's one of the few people making any sense."
Finally someone said it.
"What's going on? What's really going on?"
"It's my heart, Emma. I need to find it."
"Okay. So, how are you gonna do that?"
"I just need to follow the wolf."
"Seriously? The wolf again?"
"Graham, which character are you?" Sam asked
"The Huntsman."
Finally, someone I didn't immediately get.
"That actually makes sense, alright, so your heart is locked away, we just need to find it, so find the wolf and we find the heart."
"You can't seriously be going along with this." Emma exclaimed.
"In Henry's book it looked like it was being held in a mausoleum." Graham said.
"I don't know how many are in Storybrooke, we'll need the wolf to guide us if we don't want to break into the wrong person's burial place. For all we know it's someone random. Regina doesn't have the best family relationships."
"How will you find this wolf then?" Emma asked with evident cynicism.
"Graham, whistle. You said it listened to you before, it'll listen to you again."
Graham nodded and whistled. They stood around in silence for nearly half a minute.
"See, no wolf."
Then, a howl came from the trees nearby and a wolf ran out, wagging its tail. "Yes, come on, boy. Show us the way."
They ran after the wolf and it took them straight to the cemetery. There appeared to be only one mausoleum there.
"Be careful." Emma warned, still in shock that an actual wolf had responded to Graham's whistle and took them straight to where they were talking about.
"He won't hurt us. He's our friend." Graham replied. The wolf disappeared behind the mausoleum and they followed, but he was gone. Just empty space filled with grass. When Graham looked up, the top had the same symbol. Instantly, he knew this was where his heart was being held. He felt as if he could hear his heart thumping just beyond that door. It filled his ears till everything else was almost mute, blood rushed to his face. "It's my heart. It's in there." He turned his flashlight on. "I have to look in there."
"Oh no. No. Stop, stop." Emma held him back. "You can't desecrate someone's grave."
"Fuck this." Sam said, kicking the door open.
"Fine." Emma sighed, having finally given up.
The three stepped in to find a regular mausoleum with the grave in the centre.
"There's gotta be a hidden door." Graham grunted as he tried picking things up and moving them around. "A lever." He started checking the side of the casket and even tried opening an urn.
"Graham. Hey, Graham. There's nothing in here." Emma spoke softly, trying to comfort him best she can.
"There has to be." The heartbeat in his ears thumped faster. "If there isn't, then..." Emma interrupted. "It's okay. It's going to be okay."
Then they heard a groaning sound, Sam had pushed the grave off it's spot and revealed a staircase beneath it. "You didn't think to push? After secret button's on the underside of the top, it was my first thought. Do you guys just not watch movies?"
"Alright, that is weird." Emma admitted.
"We should be quick." Sam pointed to the name on the grave. "Regina seemed to actually like her father enough to give him a grave."
"And made it into an underground lair." Graham added, he was first down, his heart calling for him.
They made their way down there, it seemed like a whole underground base due to the size. "Regina sure was busy." Sam pulled back a curtain and the new room was filled with small boxes that could be pulled in and out of the wall. There had to be over a hundred. "I think we might struggle to find it."
How are we gonna locate this heart?
Graham pointed at one of the boxes. "It's in there."
"You can tell?"
"It calls to me." Graham paused. "How do we open it?"
"It's your heart. You're connected to it. Try to just take it."
Graham put his hand to the box and closed his eyes. He wanted desperately to get his heart back but he felt nothing from him or the heart now, there was silence. "It's not working."
"It will, keep trying, Graham. I believe in you."
Graham put more pressure into his hand as he tried to believe in himself. "Nothing's happening."
"Graham, I'm sorry for not believing in you then but I believe you now, and I believe you can get your heart back." Emma put her hand over his and together they pushed down on the box.
Sam, seeing this, proceeded to put his hand over theirs.
The thumping returned to Graham's ears louder than ever, he opened his eyes to see the box pushing their hands further back as it pushed itself forward, the lock spinning. They let go of the box and Graham reached inside. He pulled out a glowing heart. "How do I put it back in?"
Sam took the heart. "Allow me." He thrusted it into Graham's chest.
Graham screamed in pain. "Agh! Warn me next time."
"The 'allow me' was the warning. Now, lets go." Sam closed the box. "For all we know Regina can sense what's happened and is rushing over here as we speak."
"He's right."
They returned up the stairs and put the grave back in place. "Am I the only one who still feels bad for messing with a grave?"
Emma nodded. "No. Definitely wrong. But Graham needs his heart back. And all those hearts need to be returned to their owners."
"Don't get too into it, sis. We need to start slow. Regina needs to be kept unaware."
"Sam, no! We need to tell everyone, we need to stop Regina, we need to save Henry!"
I don't like where this is going.
"And we will, but if we just say we know everything, we risk him getting hurt."
"She wouldn't hurt him."
"Not intentionally." Graham said. "She's going to hurt him trying to hurt you."
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Regina's voice asked from the crack of the door.
Shit.
The three stepped out, Regina scowled, holding flowers in her hand.
"What are you doing here?" Sam asked, attempting to be aloof.
"Bringing flowers to my father's grave like I do every Wednesday." Regina held her flowers up.
"Yeah, right." Emma had gotten to Regina and punched her before anyone could react.
Regina's lip was bleeding. "What the hell is wrong with you?"
"What the hell is wrong with you? Ripping hearts out like a psycho! And you tried to make Henry think he was crazy too! You are far worse than just a bad mother."
Regina glared and then punched Emma back. "How dare you insult my parenting when you abandoned him! And ripping out hearts?! Encouraging him won't help him!"
Well subtlety is dead.
"Everyone stop. Let's talk this out. I'll recap." Sam said. "Hi, I'm Samishtara, our sheriff is The Huntsman on the hunt for a better name, Regina is the Evil Queen and Emma is...well, Emma. Now Graham has his heart back, so yay that, Emma knows the place is cursed, let's make a truce before shit gets rough."
"That's it, both of you are not allowed to see Henry again, ever! No walking him to the bus! No saying hello to him from across the street! You will have nothing to do with him! And shame on you both for getting Graham to be a part of this!" Regina's anger turned to worry as she looked at Graham. "You don't look well, dear. Let's take you home."
Regina tried to pull him away but he pulled back. "I don't wanna go home. Not with you."
Why does nobody ever listen to me? I told you to let her down gently, this is not fucking gentle. This is anything but gentle.
"But you'll go with them?"
"This isn't about them, Regina. I've realised that I don't feel anything, Regina. And I know now it's not me, it's you."
Great. Just great. No going back now. We've completely fucked up any chance at going back.
"So, you're leaving me? Don't let them manipulate you, Graham."
"They haven't, they finally let me see the truth. I'm leaving you for me, Regina."
"Graham, you're not thinking straight."
"Actually, for the first time, I am. I'd rather have nothing than settle for less. Nothing is better than what we have. I feel things now, Regina, and it was no thanks to you. I feel things now, Regina, and none of them are feelings for you."
Why are we still talking? Stop saying things!
Sam pulled his gun out and shot the floor, getting everyone's attention. "Stop! Now, Graham, Regina, both of you are no longer together, both of you can move on, Emma, Regina, violence isn't the answer. Now, it's getting late. We can discuss this again in the morning. We need sleep, right now the lack of it is effecting us, especially for Graham."
Regina sighed. "Fine. Now, get lost, leave me be with my father."
Then three left in silence and returned to the station.
"What do we do?" Emma asked.
"You do nothing." Sam said, you're a liability till you accept the curse is real on your own accord.
"What does that mean?"
Sam shot a blue blast of magic from his hand throwing Emma across the room.
"What the hell?" Graham rushed to Emma's side. "What did you do?"
"Made her forget what happened today, she'll only remember parts not involving us or Regina. Most she'll remember is seeing you leaving Regina's, which means she'll be back to accepting your now-over relationship. Which you can tell her is over now if you like."
"Why?"
"She's a liability, like I said, and if she forgets, I can restore any semblance of connection with Regina. All-out war to break the curse won't get anything done."
Graham nodded, he couldn't refute that. "She isn't hurt, is she?"
"Not at all. I didn't mean to throw her, not exactly a master at memory magic, but she won't have felt it."
"So, what's the plan?"
"Just go along with whatever the following days hold. Till we know of any failsafe, or how Emma can break the curse, there's nothing we can do. Biding time is our only option." Sam picked Emma up, put her in her seat and tucked her into her desk. "You still need to show me where Gold was digging."
"Is Emma fine to be left here?"
"Yeah, she'll just wake up and think she fell asleep on the job." The two then went to the forest, pushing through the greenery. "We close?"
"Yeah, just up ahead."
"So, do you get why you and Emma wouldn't work now?"
"Yeah. I saw myself in Emma, I wasn't in love with her, I was just trying to love myself. Which I needed my heart to do." Graham stopped and pointed to the spot he saw Gold 'gardening'. "Who is Gold anyway."
"You're about to find out." Graham was unable to see Sam, just like Gold before, disappearing behind the green. Sam noticed a patch of dirt that was softer and recently dug. "Did he use a trowel?"
"Yeah."
Sam returned, holding a dagger out. The dagger had a name running along the side, 'Rumplestiltskin'.
"Gold is the Dark One."
"The one and only. Now, as fun as it would be to kill him, we need to bide our time. It may come in handy and I think it'll be a nice surprise for him."
"Where should we hide it?"
Sam pocketed the dagger. "Leave that to me."
November 4th 2024.
Sam was sitting at a table in a restaurant much fancier than Granny's (the food was more edible too). A member of the waiting staff guided Regina to the table, and pulled the seat out for her.
Regina sat down and the waiter left. "I'm still mad at you."
Sam looked disappointed but he understood why. "I get that, which is why I want to get the business part of the conversation out of the way. Firstly, I did tell Graham to let you down gently. I apologise for how he went about it. Second of all, Emma, she doesn't remember, I got rid of her memories about all that. Think of it as a thank you, you kept your terms of the agreement, you didn't harm Emma till she attacked you, and I can understand self defence."
"I want Graham back."
"No, you don't. You want someone to love you. You want someone to love you unconditionally. Maybe, you need to look at this from a different perspective. How about online dating."
"You don't get to comment on my dating life."
"Just a suggestion." Sam paused. "I want you to trust me. I really do. That's why I'm doing this." Sam reached into his pocket and pulled out the dagger, he slid it across the table.
"How did you get this?" Regina stared at the dagger in shock.
"Dug it up. Now, I trust you to keep it safe and use it responsible, I don't mind if you don't trust me but I will continue to trust you."
Regina hid the dagger in her coat pocket. "I trust you. But I swear, if you break it, I will break our own agreement."
"That's perfectly reasonable."
"Is that the end of the business portion of the conversation?"
"Yeah, so what do you want to know?"
"How do you know my parents?"
"That's a complicated question. I didn't know your father very well. Your mother on the other hand, well, she was a very complicated woman."
Regina rolled her eyes. "You don't have to tell me."
"Well, I met her when she had only just married your father. She caught my attention as I was looking for Rumplestiltskin. When I met her, part of me knew everything about her. The other half knew nothing about her. There was so much conflicting emotions and feelings, and well, I was certainly intrigued. You were born soon after, and I decided to stick around, only leaving to rule my own land. Rumplestiltskin had gone dark for a while, till I had to leave to Arendelle, unfortunately by the time we got there, the damage was done and unfixable. Gerda seemed to be able to fix everything well enough although I did wish I could have done more. Rumplestiltskin was already gone, so I returned and stuck around once more. But your mother had other plans, the back and forth of me coming and going had already been something we had discussed before. No matter what I said, she was insistent on me going, so I did, I didn't want to but I also didn't want to cause any trouble."
"So, my mother is the reason you left?"
"Yeah. But, it wasn't completely her fault. I did have the choice to reconnect with you once she died, but I took the coward's way out. I was worried you didn't want to see me again, I didn't even know if you remembered me. So, I didn't even try. A big regret of mine."
"You should have tried!"
"You're right. I'm sorry. I should have been there for you then, but I wasn't. But I'm here now, and I won't go again."
"Why didn't you kill my mother yourself? No doubt she was on your list."
"She was. I don't exactly know why I didn't kill her. I wish I did know. I just couldn't."
"Doesn't matter now, I suppose. She's dead either way."
"If I drank, I would drink to that."
"To new families." Regina said, pretending she had a glass to do a toast with.
"To new families." Sam agreed.
The waiter returned with a notepad. "Are you both ready to order?" They both nodded. "Great. What can I get you two?"