Hook's Daughter

The Fire

Disclaimer: rights to ABC and Odette Beane.

Emma met me later. She told me she had talked to Gold and he had showed her the hole in the town charter which would help Emma regain her job as sheriff. I decided not to tell her about Regina offering me to keep my job, but instead said I would help her in any way I could get her job back.

Later that morning, Regina called a press conference in her office, announcing the hiring of Sidney Glass as the town's new sheriff. Glass, of course, was beaming for the cameras, thrilled at this promotion, always so eager to do the bidding of his beloved mayor. Emma clearly could not stand the guy. Emma and I stood and watched Regina's haughty press conference for only a minute or two before Emma told me she was making her move. When Emma strode into the office, even Regina looked surprised. "This isn't set," Emma said, "she can't appoint him. We have to have an election. And I'm running." "The mayor is entitled to—" "She isn't," Emma said calmly. holding up a printout of the charter. She had highlighted the relevant passage. "She can put a candidate forward, but there has to be an election." "Fine, Ms. Swan," Regina said, not bothering to take the charter, "we'll go through with the formalities. And the candidate I've nominated, Mr. Sidney Glass, will then be the new sheriff." Sidney looked flummoxed by all this, but he kept up his smile for the cameras. "How's that?" Regina asked. "Perfect," Emma replied. The cameras all turned to her.

Later that day, I was walking to Granny's to get a coffee. Emma still was acting sheriff until after the election, so Emma was on patrol. Once I ordered my coffee, I finally noticed Henry, sitting alone at a booth. He was reading the newspaper, and he looked heartbroken. "Henry? Are you alright?" I asked gently. "Hi, Ash," he said quietly, "I'm fine." I sat down next to him and read the newspaper. The picture was of Emma's mug shot. Apparently the one Graham took when she was put in jail for drunk driving. The headline read: EX-JAILBIRD EMMA SWAN BIRTHED BABE BEHIND BARS. It was obvious what this meant, Henry was born in prison, and clearly Emma had not told Henry this before. "Hey, kid, it may not be true." "Yeah, but I won't know until I see my mom again." I pointed out the window, "There she is." Emma apparently saw us, because she walked into Granny's and looked at Henry's worried face. "What is it?" Emma asked. "You haven't seen it have you?" Henry asked. Emma sat down in the booth and grabbed the newspaper. She read the same headline and stiffened. "How did they do this so fast?" Emma exclaimed, scanning the article. The article-written by none other than Sidney Glass-included all the details about a "possession of stolen goods" incident. I did not ask Emma, and neither did Henry. "Is it true?" Henry asked quietly "was I born in jail?" She looked at him over the paper and then set it down. "It is true," Emma said, "but it's complicated. I didn't want you to know because I didn't think it mattered. Emma sighed, picked up the paper, and twisted it up. "Let's chuck this. Come on. Let's go out to your castle." "It's the same thing again!" Henry said, "evil wins because it doesn't have to play fair. You can't just throw it away. It already ruined your election." "Nothing's ruined," she said, "we'll just have to adjust." Emma reached across the table, took Henry's hand. "Besides," Emma added, "I have a new ally, Mr. Gold." "Him?" Henry said, his eyes alight, "he's worse than her." "I'm not so sure about that," Emma replied, "and besides, he has some good ideas." But Henry was inconsolable, and closed up as Emma tried to cheer him up. In the end, he crossed his arms and shook his head. "Good never wins," Henry said again, "it just doesn't." He took a breath and looked up. "It's like with Rumpelstiltskin and his son." "Rumpelstiltskin? The gold guy? He didn't have a son." Henry rolled his eyes. "His son is only like the most important thing in his life." "Is he? I didn't know that." "He was this huge coward before he got magic. He was like the laughingstock of his whole village. Except his son, Baelfire, really loved him and didn't care." Henry then told us the story of how Rumpelstiltskin first gained power, after his hubris led him to be tricked by a wizard named Zoso, locked in a curse that had tormented him for decades. Zoso tricked Rumpelstiltskin into taking the curse onto himself. It gave him powerful magic, but it interfered with his ability to feel, his ability to be human. And it made his son, Bae, fear him instead of love him. "That's horrible," Emma said. I, on the other hand, had no empathy for the Crocodile. "You're right," Henry said, "and the worst part is, it's just another story where good loses. Zoso is the bad guy and he wins." "Seems like Rumpelstiltskin is the bad guy to me, though," I said. "Yeah," Henry said, "I know. But he didn't used to be."

Emma fussed about the newspaper for the rest of the day at the sheriff's station. She was mad not that everyone was reading about this, but that Henry knew something she had not wanted him to know. I suggested Emma should go say something to Regina about it, so at the end of the day, when we closed up the office, Emma went to say something to Regina.

About thirty minutes after Emma went to talk to Regina, I got an urgent call telling me the mayor's office was on fire. I got into the police car and hurried over. It was true, the whole building was on fire. Emma, covered in soot and sweat, carrying Regina out of a burning building. Reporters were taking tons of pictures, and the EMTs rushed to Emma and Regina, as Regina slowly lowered herself to the ground, saying "Put me down, put me down." I ran up to them. "You're complaining that I saved your life?" Emma asked incredulously. "I seriously doubt you saved my life," Regina said, pushing an oxygen mask away, scowling. "Where is Sidney?" Regina exclaimed, then to Emma: "I doubt there was much danger." Emma shook her head, stood, and stepped back as the authorities tended to their mayor. "There's no winning with that woman, is there?" I asked Emma. "Absolutely not," Emma replied.

Emma and I talked to the firefighters for some time after they had hauled Regina away to the hospital and put out the fire. "Something doesn't feel right about this fire," Emma told me once the firefighters had left. "A coincidental fire? When the two of you are in there? Yeah, I agree." "Let's check the place." "Okay." Emma and I searched the building, and after a few minutes, we knew exactly why it did not feel right. When we found the rag, we headed right for Gold's pawnshop.

"You started it," Emma said to Gold, slamming the rag down on his desk. "I can smell your lanolin." Gold looked up, a careful smile on his face. "I have been here all night," he said, "I did no such thing." He glanced at the rag. "I admit there's a chemical smell. But there are a lot of chemical smells. Chemicals burn often." "I don't want to win like this," Emma said, "is this what it means to have an alliance with you? Breaking the rules? It's not who I am." "Who you are," said Gold, "is somebody who will be a real sheriff for this town, not a shill. That makes you better." Emma clearly had nothing to say to this, and so Gold continued: "Are you ready for the debate tomorrow?" "I haven't thought about it." "Sidney Glass is slippery, I'm sure he will be ready. I'd advise you to come prepared."