Emma wakes up with half of her face buried in tousled dark chestnut hair, a smile making itself known on her fair face. She burrows further into Regina's dark locks smelling the still sleeping woman's shampoo of apples and vanilla. Her right arm was loosely draped around the middle of the sleeping woman so she pulled her closer, relishing the time they had in bed.
She had fallen asleep once more. In her slumber Emma was having an erotic dream about her and Regina when out of nowhere there was a beeping blaring in it. She reluctantly woke up with her arm still wrapped around the brunette. As a bright smile appeared on her face she took a deep breath, breathing in the mayor's unique scent then rolled over removing her arm and blindly grasped her phone to shut the annoying alarm off. Seeing that it was 7:30am Emma slid her way out of bed pulling the sheet up to cover Regina again.
The first thing the blonde noticed was that she couldn't hear her son's shower running. Thinking that Henry had just slept through his alarm she opened her bedroom door and trudged to the boy's room. She knocked lightly and announced loud enough to be heard through the door, "Henry, it's time to get up and take a shower. You don't want to be late for school." Getting no response she knocked a little louder, "Come on Hen, don't make me drag you out of bed and into the shower in your pajamas."
Regina woke up and saw that Emma had already gotten up and from the sound of things she was trying to get their son up, unsuccessfully. The brunette retrieved a fluffy robe and tied it onto her curvaceous figure and walked out barefoot to join Emma in the hallway. "He's not getting up is he?" Emma shook her head. "Well let's both go in and wake him up."
The blonde nodded in affirmation and turned the knob, she immediately recognized the pillows under the blankets trick Henry attempted in order to throw his mothers' off. However Regina walked over to the bed raising her voice, "Henry Daniel Mills, wake up already!"
Emma rolled her deep green eyes and walked past Regina, "He's not here Regina." As she pulled the blankets off of the pillows that were being used to imitate his body. "He must've left sometime last night." Carding her hands through her wavy blonde hair she then pinched the bridge of her nose not believing that her son would do this with everything that's going on with them.
Dark eyes widened in panic, "Well we need to go searching for him!"
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Emma called her father, who had been just starting his shift at the sheriff's office. "Emma, is everything okay? You're usually here before I am."
"No dad it's not, Henry disappeared in the middle of the night." She rambled quickly, desperation becoming evident in her voice. "I want to start searching for him, do you think you can meet us at the house so we can brainstorm to figure out where he might have gone?"
There was silence on his end of the phone for a minute before he said, "Absolutely, let me get a hold of Mulan and Merida to let them know what's going on. I'll be there as soon as I can."
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Regina was vigorously pacing in the living room, almost wearing out the carpet in the process while Emma sat on the couch, her knees bobbing up and down nervously and twiddling her thumbs when there was a knock at her front door. Regina practically ran to the massive door but Emma stopped her, "Let me answer it, we don't know for sure that it's David." Regina nodded as she wrung her hands uncharacteristically.
"Who is it?" Emma questioned with an authoritative voice.
The familiar baritone voice of her father answered, "Emma, it's me. I have Mulan here with me." That prompted the blonde to proceed in opening the heavy door allowing the two deputies in.
Regina was standing behind Emma, her eyes wide. The deep brown eyes were red and a little puffy from a bit of crying but she would never admit it to the man or his fellow officer. "Well let's go already!" The brunette exclaimed, visibly shaking with anxiousness.
Emma turned just enough to look at the mayor after she closed the door and replied, "Regina I know you want to get out there and find Henry, I do too but we need to come up with a plan before we go searching for him okay?"
Regina let out a low growl and proceeded to follow everyone to the living room. By the time she had made her way into the room everyone was sitting so she found a spot next to Emma and gracefully sat down. David began, "Okay, we'll split up. Emma, you and Regina search his usual 'get away' spots and Mulan and myself will start into the wooded area and make our way to the Apprentice's old house. Call or text each other if you find anything okay?"
Regina let out a frustrated breath and threw up her hands roaring, "What if we don't find him? Then what?!
David flinched at the outburst and quickly answered, "Uhhh..." the prince took a second. "We'll meet up at Granny's, say in two or three hours?"
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Emma talked Regina into walking to Henry's "castle" despite her vehement protests. As they were nearing the old wooden "tower" Regina suddenly stopped in her tracks. As the blonde continued to walk not noticing the other woman Regina gazed around and questioned, "Emma, do you feel like we're being watched?"
Emma, who was a few feet away, turned and looked around and answered, "Actually I do but I thought it was just me."
"I noticed it a few minutes ago." The brunette replied with a whisper.
"Well I'll keep my eyes open for someone. We're almost there, let's go." Emma said in the same whispered voice.
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David and Mulan had just entered the edge of the forest when they heard a rustling nearby. The duo stopped and looked at each other subliminally relaying the same thought. Mulan took the lead and began stealthily stepping towards the noise slowly as David followed searching for who or whatever made the noise. They traveled towards the center of the woods searching for not only Henry but the disturbance as well, finally deciding to give up their quest. "What should we do now?" Mulan inquired as concern darkened her face.
David looked at his watch, "Well it's been a couple of hours. We should start back and go to Granny's."
Mulan nodded her affirmation and the two officers turned around and headed back towards town.
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Regina and Emma trudged into the diner about an hour after the two law enforcement officers had arrived, the bells hanging from the door signaling their arrival. Emma spotted the two sitting in her and her family's usual booth first and took in their body language. She could tell from it that they were unsuccessful, 'Obviously you dumb woman' she told herself. The women sat down, Emma next to her father and Regina across from her next to Mulan. "I guess I don't need to ask if you found Henry." Emma mumbled to the table's occupants letting out a deep and frustrated breath.
A tear escaped from dark brown eyes, "Where could he be?" The mayor asked, her desperation obvious in her tone.
The sheriff stretched across the table and grabbed her co-parent's delicate hand and soothingly replied, "We'll find him, even if we have to go to the ends of the earth we'll find him."
The group discussed where they went and what they found or didn't find in this case. They also relayed their feelings of being watched and hearing someone following them. "That's weird that all of us felt like someone was spying on us, who do you think it was?" The former prince announced what they all were thinking.
Emma spoke up, "Remember what you said about the blackmailer having an accomplice?" Her father nodded as encouragement for her to continue her line of thought.
"Yeah?" The man confirmed as he waited in suspense for her to elaborate.
"It'd be pretty easy for the blackmailer to watch one group and their accomplice to watch the other. I think they took Henry to motivate Regina to meet them earlier than they had initially planned." The blonde conjectured.
At that very moment Regina's phone rang. She pulled it from her blazer pocket and gasped as she speedily answered it, "Henry?! Are you okay? Where are you? I swear if anyone hurt you it'll be the last thing they'll ever do." She put him on speakerphone.
"Mom, I'm okay. I'm just scared. I don't know where they took me but they gave me a message to give to you and ma the next time I saw you guys." He said between his plethora of tears. "I'm at home, at your place. Please come home."
"We'll be right there." The brunette hung up immediately gathering her purse. She shot out of the booth without giving Emma a second thought, actually that's a lie, Henry and the blonde were always in her thoughts. Nonetheless she bolted out the door with said blonde in her wake and hopped in, yes hopped into the yellow Volkswagen as the younger woman started it almost spinning out down the street heading towards Regina's place.