Twice Upon A Time {reader x once upon a time}

Red Handed

Friday night, March 20

Emma had taken David back to the station to question him again, but just like that morning, she didn't get the feeling he was lying when he claimed to not know anything about the phone call. With nothing concrete to accuse David off, Emma let him go, after suggesting he got a lawyer. David went home, but in the middle of the night, he woke up in a trance and went to the woods to look for someone.

August was at Granny's talking with Ruby while she worked, but Granny wasn't happy about it. She called Ruby over, scolding her out loud for flirting while working, and started mentioning new chores and responsibilities she wanted Ruby to start taking over. The conversation quickly turned into an argument and Ruby ended up quitting. 

Mary Margaret and Angie saw Emma walking on the street and hurried to catch up to her

"Is he okay? David?" Mary Margaret asked when they reached Emma

"Oh, yeah. He's a little shaken up, but he's headed home" she assured her friend "He's fine"

"Any word from Kathryn?" Angie asked

"Nothing new" Emma informed them

"Did you check with Boston again?" Mary Margaret suggested

"She's not there, Mary Margaret" the blonde replied

"So we have no idea what happened to her?" the teacher insisted

"All we know is that she found out about you two, gave you a well-deserved slap, and then disappeared" Emma said

"Well-deserved?" asked Mary Margaret softly "Do you really believe that?"

"No" answered Emma "I'm just preparing you for what everyone else is going to think" she explained "you two are going to look bad until we figure the truth out"

"You mean David?" Mary Margaret wondered "That people are going to think that, in order to... be free with me..." Mary Margaret couldn't even finish the sentence

"Some are" Angie said sadly

"And he's not doing himself any favors" Emma added "So, if there's anything you could think of to pin down his whereabouts that night?" she asked to her friend

"He wasn't with me" Mary Margaret said "We really are through"

The three women had been walking down the street while they talked and when they turned the corner they saw Ruby at the bus stop talking with Dr. Whale

"Sorry, no. I don't need a ride" Ruby was telling him

"It's awfully cold out here" Dr. Whale pointed out

"I'm fine. Really" Ruby replied

"I can carry your bag. Where are you headed?" he insisted

"Dr. Whale?" Mary Margaret called, startling him

"Mary Margaret" he said, turning around "Emma, Angie. Hello there" he addressed the other women

"Hey" said Angie giving him a questioning look

"I was just having a talk with Ruby here" he explained "But I should, um..." he trailed off

"Yeah. Yeah, you should" Emma said

"Yeah" Dr. Whale repeated before leaving

"Was he bothering you?" Mary Margaret asked Ruby

"The day I can't handle a leech is the day I leave town" Ruby said "Which this is, I guess" she added, pointing to her suitcase

"Your leaving?" Angie asked surprised

"I had a fight with Granny. Quit my job" Ruby explained

"You quit? Where are you going?" Mary Margaret asked worried

"I don't know. Away" Ruby replied, chuckling

"Yeah, well, buses out of town don't really happen at this hour" Emma said "And you might want a destination first"

"Hey, if you need a place to figure things out, you could always come home with us" Mary Margaret offered

Ruby looked at both her and Emma hopeful, and although Emma was caught off guard, she replied "Yeah, uh, just for a little while"

Ruby smiled softly "Thanks"

"Come on" Mary Margaret said

"Good night girls" Angie said, waving goodbye to her sister and friends

Saturday, March 21

Mary Margaret was walking through the woods when she found David, still in a trance and still looking for someone. When she realized David wasn't responding to her, Mary Margaret went to the Sheriff's Station to get Emma.

At the station, Henry was trying to help Ruby find a new job. When the phones kept ringing, Ruby started answering the calls. She was in the middle of one when Emma arrived. Remembering she had some money in the budget, Emma offered Ruby a job at the station, which she gladly accepted. As Ruby was about to leave to get some food for Emma, Mary Margaret arrived and told her friend about her encounter with David in the woods and how he didn't seem like himself.

Emma was getting ready to leave to see David while Henry hid his book in one of the drawers at the station. When Ruby came back, Emma asked her to come with her to the woods.

After looking for a while, Ruby suddenly and inexplicably found David. He was on the ground, unconscious and with a small cut on his forehead, near his hairline. When Emma woke him up, he admitted not remembering anything after talking with Emma the previous night. Emma took him to the hospital, where Dr. Whale determined this trance was the same thing David had experienced when he first woke up. They were discussing just how conscious could he be during one of this episodes when Regina came by. With Kathryn missing, she was considered David's emergency contact once more.

Emma was leaving the hospital when she called Ruby to go to the Toll Bridge for her and look for anything they might have missed. Following her instincts again, Ruby started digging near the bridge. She found a jewellery box buried and when she opened it she started screaming, closing it immediately and dropping it.

Back at the station, and after getting a confirmation from Emma about what was inside the box, Ruby decided to quit and with some words of encouragement from Emma, she also decided to go back to Granny.

Sunday, March 22

Ruby walked into Granny's dinner, Granny was rubbing her arm in pain, like after every full moon. Ruby apologised to Granny and confessed that all the responsibilities she wanted her to take over had scared her, but Granny assured her that she could do it without problem and that she was proud of her.

It was late in the afternoon; Mary Margaret was talking with David at the animal shelter when Emma came in. She told them about the box they had found and that it contained a human heart. Since no one else was reported missing, the chances of it belonging to Kathryn were very high. There was one more detail she shared with them: the fingerprints found in the box belonged to Mary Margaret