Rockabye

Chapter Thirteen

Emma's eyes slowly begin to flutter, but the weight of her eyelids is far too heavy to pry open. Her body buzzes with an unfamiliar tingle despite how groggy she feels. An involuntary groan stirs in her throat as she tries once more to peel her eyes open.

"Emma," his voice calls out in a soothing manner, one she associates with when she's sick or hungover.

Her thick eyelashes begin to pull apart to welcome the dark atmosphere and blurred vision. She rubs her eyes to regain focus as he gently calls her name again. She sees an unfocused blur before her and she knows it's Neal. Her eyes dart frantically around the room as she her mind fumbles for missing pieces to the puzzle in her mind.

Where am I? What happened? Regina. Oh god where is Regina?

Emma springs forward into a sitting position and scrambles back against the armrest of the couch. Her heart races from the unknown as she gasps desperately for air.

"Hey, it's me, calm down Emma," he coos hoping to settle her panicked state.

"Neal," she breathes. "Where's Regina? Where are we?"

"Just try and relax everything will come to you in a minute. Things are just a little foggy right now from the magic," he explains as he reaches out to tuck away her wild curls.

Emma shakes her head vigorously and presses her heels into the cushions to dodge Neal's unwanted touch. The man sighs and drops his hand before ever making contact. Emma squeezes her eyes shut and takes a few steady breathes as the events from earlier slowly crawl back into the forefront of her mind.

"Where's Regina now? Why the hell was I knocked unconscious?"

Neal rests his elbows against his knees and hangs his head low. He intertwines his fingers as he contemplates on what he should say next.

"Regina's fine, she's downstairs still-"

"Locked in the basement?" Emma instantly cuts off his explanation. "Then she's not fine!" She snaps as she begins to push herself off the couch. Neal spins around abruptly to halt her actions.

"Wait, just relax a second," Neal flashes Emma his most concerned puppy dog eyes, stilling her for a brief moment. "My dad just spoke with her and I don't think your parents are going to allow you anywhere near her right now."

Emma's green orbs immediately begin their search for her so called parents. She spots a small hallway with a kitchen at the end. Her mother seems to be relaxed and making tea as if this were just a regular Tuesday. While her father, Little Red Riding Hood, Rumpelstiltskin and former friend August all sit around a table discussing things she cannot hear.

"You knew who I was? You knew about all this bullshit?" Emma interrogates while she leans into his personal space so everyone else doesn't hear her distraught voice. Her boyfriend just nods in response as he keeps his eyes focused on his antsy fingers. "This is insane, you know that right? Fucking ludicrous. How can I believe that my parents are Snow White and Prince Charming? I mean out of all the absurd speculations I had about my birth parents not once did my thoughts wander to something so fucking insane!" She snaps in a harsh whisper shout.

"Emma I know baby, that's why I wanted to keep you away, especially with all this magic-"

"Wait, you never answered my question before. Why was I knocked out from your father's magic?"

Neal sighs heavily and finally faces his girlfriend. "He claims you have magic." The simple statement is enough to make Emma's eyes as wide as saucers. She falls back against the armrest while her eyes gloss over. "You were so agitated, your emotions were running rampant. You could've hurt yourself or maybe someone else so he needed to calm you down."