Once Upon a Time in Storybrooke - OUAT DR

Chapter 8 - Heroes Can Win After All

The first week after Graham fell into the coma was difficult. Emma stopped visiting after day 4, but I continued to refresh his flowers every few days when there was downtime at work.

Since I was friends with Emma, the office staff at work wanted me to get the statements from her, the mayor, and anyone else Graham was close to in the few days after he fell into the coma. It wasn't enjoyable, but it was better than someone printing blatant misinformation about our friend or taking anything that was said out of context. If there was going to be a story about it, I was going to make sure it was told right. It wouldn't be fair to Emma, or to Graham when he eventually woke up.

He didn't though.

It had been two weeks and Emma had been wearing the Deputy badge but playing Sheriff. She'd told me in those first few days that after 2 weeks of having no sheriff, she worried the position would have to be filled, but since she was the only person working there she wasn't too concerned with rushing when the official transition occurred. We hadn't talked a lot since, she was doing that thing where she put up walls to keep the people that care about her at arm's length - but I ran into her as she was leaving Gold's. We chatted for a bit and I asked how she was doing and how she was holding up. She eventually asked me about Graham – not shocked when I expressed there had still been no change - locking that wall of hers in place.

I headed back to the Daily Mirror after we parted ways, Regina walking out the door as I was going in, brushing me aside. With Emma in the Sheriff's office, I was less afraid of being set up for some crazy crime I didn't commit, but I was still weary of our town's mayor nonetheless. Nothing scared me more than the American court system and I wanted to stay well away from it.

Sidney Glass wasn't far behind Regina, explaining to the mostly empty office that he had been made the new Sheriff. I spoke up, asking about Emma but he just laughed, explaining that Regina was on her way to fire her now and he needed to catch up with her to assume his new position. As he walked out of the office he called over his shoulder to us – the office staff - that there would be a press conference at the Mayor's Office to announce his new position later that day, and we all needed to be there.

I stood there, agape, as he left completely unaware of my reaction. I shot Emma a text to try and warn her before wrapping up at work, running straight to Mary Margaret's place knowing that's exactly where Emma would be headed if what Sidney had said was true and they had fired her.

She hadn't responded to my text. When I got there I could hear loud music playing from the loft and I knew she had in fact gotten fired. I knocked and Emma let me in, holding a glass of liquor. I perched up on one of the bar stools and watched her begin destroying the poor innocent toaster. Mary Margaret came home not long thereafter with groceries, asking Emma about the toaster and what happened. I cast her a knowing glance as Emma began to explain when there was a knock at the door. Emma opened it to Mr. Gold, so Mary Margaret and I excused ourselves so they could talk privately.

We were eavesdropping, obviously, but once they moved out of easy hearing range I updated Mary on what had happened earlier and how Emma had been fired so she was up to date on everything. She started catching me up on how she had been, what she'd been up to, and the fact that she hadn't directly talked with David since he got his memories back and chose his wife over her. Once Mr. Gold left we came back into the room and Emma filled us in on what she was going to do. 

I rushed to the Mayor's Office so I could be there for everything.

The entire ordeal with Sidney's announcement as sheriff was a huge eye-roll moment but when Emma stormed in I couldn't help but jot down a few quotes – just in case they made their way into the story that would (should) inevitably be published over this. She exposed the fact that there has to be an election for sheriff and it was agreed that there would be an election for sheriff. Afterward, Sidney directed all of us there from the Daily Mirror not to return to the office, stealing off after having a whispered exchange with Regina.