Henry was drawing in the notepad that Dream gave him for his tenth birthday before Emma came to town. Pongo lay on the floor by Henry's feet. Emma came down from the steps where her bed was. "You plotting your escape from Shawshank, kid?" Emma asked, moving over to the table and standing next to Henry.
"No, they're blueprints..." Henry said, looking up at his birth mother. "I had some ideas for what to do if David and Mary Margaret move out. Look." Henry smiled, holding up the notepad.
"You want to make Mary Margaret's room an armory?" Emma asked him, with her arms crossed over her chest. "Yeah, you know, for weapons and stuff. To protect us... From Regina." Henry said, making Emma sigh, hearing him call the woman who raised him by her first name instead of calling her "mom."
Emma knelt down, watching Henry look back at his colored pencils. "She's not gonna hurt you or your sister... I'm not gonna let her." Emma said, placing a hand on his arm. "She hurt Archie... We don't know where my sister is. What if she wants to take me back as she did with Dream?" Henry asked, looking at his birth mother, really worried about his sister.
"That's not going to happen." Emma tried to reassure him.
Pongo suddenly got up, barking at the door, making Henry and Emma turn to look at him. "Pongo?" Emma asked when she rose back up, watching Pongo stay by the door, whimpering. "What is it?" Henry asked as Emma walked over, opening the door.
Archie was there.
Emma's mouth dropped from the astonishment, looked like she had seen a ghost. "Archie?" She asked, making Henry look over because he could not see Archie due to Emma still holding the door. "Hi." Archie smiled, stepping into the loft. "What happened?" Emma asked when Henry moved over, shocked to see Archie after hearing his voice.
"It was Cora; she kidnapped me--" Archie explained to Emma.
"Archie?" Henry asked as Archie chuckled, smiling as he saw the boy. "Henry! Oh! Oh, it's all right." Archie smiled, hugging Henry, while Emma still looked shocked. "I'm fine. I'm fine." He smiled, kneeling down to look at Henry.
"Henry, we were wrong... Regina didn't do it. The only thing she did was take Dream with her..." Emma sighed, looking between Archie and Henry. "I knew it. Maybe we should let her know." Henry said, making Emma nod as she looked at him. "Yeah. But something tells me, either way, we're gonna pay the price." Emma sighed, glancing at Archie, looking weary about going to find Regina and Dream.
*Later that Evening*
Gold and Belle drove up to the town line. Gold stopped before they got to the orange, spray-painted line that the dwarves drew. Gold turned off the car, sighing to himself. He wanted a bond with his daughter other than just getting her stuff throughout her whole life. But for the first time, she saw him as a monster.
"This would have been lost if it wasn't for you, Belle." Gold spoke up, breaking the silence. "I would have been lost." He continued, looking at the shawl while Belle looked at him lovingly. "After everything you've learned about me, after everything I've done, why haven't you given up on me?" Gold asked her, looking at Belle, who gave a small smile.
"I learned a long time ago that when you find something that's worth fighting for, you never give up..." Belle smiled, making him smile at her. "And Dream will learn to see you as the man that I see. More than the monster." She smiled at him when he nodded, replaying his daughter's scared expression in his head.
The two of them got out of the car while Belle carried the shawl. They stood by the orange line when Gold pulled out a bottle. He took the lid off before pouring the potion on the shawl. The shawl glowed blue before it went back to its normal brownish-cream color. Rumple just tossed the bottle as he did to the lid.
He turned to face Belle when she smiled, putting the shawl around his neck. "Okay." She smiled as he smiled at her. "Here we go." He said softly before he slowly started to walk over the town line. Just as he stepped over the line, blue magic surrounded him as Belle watched behind the line.
He turned around, looking at her, but neither of them said anything for a moment. "Belle." He smiled, causing her skeptical look to turn into a smile. "It worked." She smiled when they moved close to each other but stayed on opposite sides of the town line.
"Yes, it did. It did."
"Now, you can find your son." She smiled when she took his hand. "Belle. I so wish you were coming with me." He said when their smiles turned to frowns. "As do I, but it doesn't matter..." She said, smiling at him.
"And why not?" He asked when he furrowed his brows.
"Because you'll find him. And when you do, I'll be here waiting for you when you get back." She smiled at him.
Gold leaned over the line, about to kiss Belle when she leaned in too. Bang! Suddenly, a gunshot went off, causing Belle to fall over the town line into Gold's arms. "I wouldn't count on it." Hook said as Gold looked up to see him with the pistol he gave Belle for protection.
"Belle? Belle!" Gold asked, looking at Belle in his arms. He laid her on the ground when she looked up at him. "Belle!" He said, raising his voice out of fear. "Who's Belle?" She asked him, looking scared and confused.
Gold raised his hand up, seeing blood when he saw that Belle was over the town line with him. "Oh, no. No, no! No, no!" Gold pleaded, looking over Belle for any injuries. "Oh, fear not, she'll live. She'll just have no idea who you are." Hook said, making Gold look up at him again.
"What you've done cannot be undone..." Gold said, looking at the pirate.
"Well, now you finally know how it feels." Hook said, still aiming the pistol at Gold. "Well, go ahead, crocodile. Do your worst." Hook said when Gold picked up Belle, moving her over the line.
"I intend to." Gold said, creating a fireball.
He turned around, seeing a car coming their way when he looked at Belle. The fireball went away as he moved him and Belle to the side as the car drove past the town line, hitting Hook. Hook broke the front windshield, causing the driver to brake. Tires screeched when it crashed off to the side of the road.
Thunder started to crash as it began to rain when Gold looked up seeing the back license plate. Pennsylvania. 2KFL-138. This was not anyone from Storybrooke. This was an outsider.
~season 2, episode 11: "The Outsider"~
~1136 words~