The room becomes so quiet you could hear a pen drop. Gold almost falls with the view of his son.
"Bae." He gasps... and Neal nods
"You came back for me." Gold continues
"No." He corrects, "I came to make sure you didn't hurt her. I've seen what you do to people who break deals."
"Please, Bae, just let me talk"
"I have no interest in talking to you. You can go."
~I don't blame him... if I were sonplestiltskin... I wouldn't want to talk to my father either.~
"I'm not going anywhere." Gold states
"GET OUT OF MY APARTMENT!" Neal screams
~Man... he clearly got Gold's breathtaking anger management skills...~
"Neal..." Emma starts
"Emma, I got this." Neal mutters
~Uh oh... Yall just went and BLEW YOUR COVER. GOLD'S GONNA FLIP~
Gold seems to have caught on...
"You two know each other. You two know each other. How" Gold demands
"You sent me chasing after him." Emma explains
"No, no, no. Stop it! You're lying. How do you two know each other?!"
Just then Henry enters the room...
~dang... now was the wroooooong time for Henry to come in... ooo maybe we can play it off like he's MY son... nah the situation is too far gone now~
"Mom? Aunt (y/n), what's going on?"
you hold your arms open as he walks to you, and you hug him, and try to comfort him, because it was loud after all, and everyone is yelling.
"Who is this?" Neal asks
"My son." Emma answers
"What?"
"Is that Baelfire?" Henry questions
"(y/n), I need you to take Henry in the other room for a little while longer ok?" Emma tells you. As you nod understandingly you start to rush Henry out of the room when Neal speaks up
"Wait, how old are you?"
"Don't answer him" Emma commands
"How old are you, kid?!"
You turn and point your finger at him and take a few steps forward,
"Hey, jackass don't yell at him. I see that you unfortunately got your father's temper, but that doesn't mean you can yell at my nephew." You snap
~The more time I spend around these people, the more I find myself cursing because I've run out of alternatives... and that's sad, because I have a lot...~
"Eleven!" Henry interjects "Now why is everyone yelling?" he starts walking towards Emma
"He's eleven?" Neal echoes
"Mom?" Henry looks up to her
"Is this my son?" Neal asks
"No. My dad was a fireman. He died." Henry starts, he then turns to Emma for reassurance, "That's what you told me. You said..."
"Is this... my son?"
Emma walks up to Henry and cups his face with her hands,
"Yes." She whispers... Henry backs away from her in disbelief and climbs out the window onto the fire escape. After a moment, Emma follows him,
"Henry. Henry?" she calls, Neal starts to follow, but is stopped by Gold,
"Baelfire... Please. Please. All I want is a chance to be heard."
"Get out." Neal spits
"Look, you came back to protect Emma, to show that she had lived up to her end of her bargain with me."
"And now she has. You can go."
"Our deal was for her to get you to talk to me. If you truly want her deal to be fulfilled... you have but one choice." He lowers his voice to a whisper, "You need to talk to me."
Neal looks to you for help,
"Don't look at me... I ain't helping you... I don't know if I like you yet." You spit at him, and then join Henry and Emma on the fire escape.
"So that's him?" Henry asks
"Yeah." She answers
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"Because I never thought I would see him again. I never wanted to."
"Why not?"
"He was a thief, Henry. A liar, a bad guy, and he... he broke my heart."
"I could have taken it, you know. The truth."
"I know. He was just a part of my life I... wanted to forget. That's why I didn't tell you. I was thinking of me, not you."
"I thought you were different, but you're just like her... Regina. She always lied to me too."
~To be fair this is a completely different situation,~
"I'm sorry."
"I wanna meet my dad."
Emma nods then heads back in to get Neal. You take a seat on the steps next to Henry.
"Did you know Aunt (y/n)?"
"Well, I knew that your father was a jerk named Neal who got your mother sent to jail for his crime... but I didn't know she told you a false story about who your father was."
"Why would she lie to me?"
"Sometimes people think that what they're doing is right... and that's really all you can do. What you think is right. But you also have to understand... you mother is human. She's gonna make mistakes sometimes... I mean not everyone can be as awesome as me..." you earn a giggle from Henry. "Emma was just trying to protect you from getting hurt, like any mother would. She went about it the wrong way... but with the best intentions... so don't blame her ok? She loves you very much..." Henry just nods, Neal then joins the two of you on the escape. You decide to give them a little space, so you begin to head inside... but not without sending Neal a death glare on the way back in, and whispering:
"You and I are gonna have a conversation later ok, Sonplestiltskin?"
"Yes ma'am..."
You climb back inside. To see Emma almost in tears. You walk straight up to her and embrace her in a tight hug.
"I just don't want Henry to get hurt."
"Oh Ems... I will do everything in my power to keep that from happening... if he does anything sus... I'll be there to put him right back in his place. Trust me."
She slightly chuckles, and you lead her to the still crumby looking couch to sit.
After about thirty minutes, Neal and Henry come back in and tell you that yall are going to get pizza.
"That's great... Emma why don't you and Henry go get his backpack." You suggest.
"What?" she questions
"Just go Ems..." you repeat, widening your eyes, jerking your head towards the other room
~JUST SKEDATTLE I NEED TO TALK TO THIS GUY~
"Oh, ok?" she stutters as she goes to the other room with Henry.
You just look back to Neal.
"So... Sonplestiltskin..."
"It's Neal."
"Yeah. I know. But until you earn my approval... I call you Sonplestiltskin." Before he can get another word in, you continue, "Ok, so look... Emma is my baby sister. Henry is my nephew... I was there to get Emma out after you left her to pay for your crime. Emma has filled me in on the details as to why, but... as of right now. I don't give two flying fricks. When Emma and I were separated, I was adopted and raised by a heavily southern family... so I suggest you just don't mess with me. Now I want to know exactly what you plan to do with Henry and Emma."
"Henry is my son... and I didn't even know he existed until today. My intentions are to be his father, and to be there for him. and to never abandon him like my father did to me."
~Ok that was a decent answer.~
"Here's the sitch, we can either be friends, or I can be your worst nightmare... the way you treat Emma and Henry will determine that. So just understand... I am fully open to being friends... but I will be watching you mister... and if you cross or hurt them... believe me- they will NEVER find your body. Now. Any questions?"
"Yes ma'am."
"Ok? Shoot."
"Are you always this scary?"
"Only when I have to be. I was sent to protect Emma. The foster system separated us twice... and I will never forgive myself for not being able to protect her then... So. I vowed to never let her go again... whether she thinks she needs me or not. I am her sister and it's my job. But if you stick around long enough... you'll come to realize, I'm not so bad." You chuckle as Emma, Henry and Gold come back into the main room. You look to Neal and signal for him to act like this never happened, and then start to laugh as if you told a joke, and he, looking scared out of his mind, smiles and fake laughs along with you.
"Now... Who's ready for pizza?" you ask excitedly
"I AM!" Henry answers matching your enthusiasm
"You ready?" you turn to Neal and raise your eyebrow
"Yes ma'am!" he responds and then starts to lead Henry out of the apartment.