Once Upon a Time in Storybrooke - OUAT DR

Chapter 19 - Innocent

Mary Margaret was obviously cleared of all charges once Kathryn was found. The hospital was now doing an investigation into the lab to see who doctored the DNA results of the heart that was found. Kathryn was taken to the hospital – unknown if she had any injuries or what had caused her to be missing for the last 8 days.

The next morning I went with Emma to the hospital to take notes for the report – both the official one for the Sheriff's office and the one for the newspaper.

The story? Kathryn had been in a car accident, woke up in a basement in the dark, was drugged, and then woke up in a field at the edge of town, where she began walking back to town. She didn't remember anything else and couldn't believe everyone had thought she was dead. And nobody could think of who would want to frame Mary Margaret for something so horrible or who would kidnap Mrs. Nolan.

Well, me and Emma had an idea of who.

Once we'd gotten some alone time together Mary Margaret told us of Regina's little trip to visit her while she was in jail and her gloating, confirming once and for all that, for some reason, Regina Mills was behind it all. 

For what purpose or reason? We couldn't say, but we knew it was true. Well, if August was to be believed, I guess I knew the reason...

Emma and I decided to throw a Welcome Back party for Mary Margaret and we invited as many of her friends as we could. Henry helped me make a banner while Emma put out chips and dip and started on the veggie tray. Henry and I decorated the apartment, and Emma even helped him wrap the present he'd gotten for his teacher.

A lot of people turned out – including Mr. Gold and August. August and I hadn't talked since our little field trip outside Storybrooke. Despite him telling me his story and showing me his leg, it just seemed impossible. I noticed August and Henry sitting next to one another, but I had to turn my attention back to my friend, taking the tray of glasses out of her hands and telling her to stop and enjoy the party - I would take care of anything that needed to be taken care of.

David showed up but Emma sent him to take Henry home to keep him out of there – Mary wasn't ready to see him yet. I looped arms with Mary Margaret and steered her towards Ruby and the small circle of people that were starting to form, putting a glass in her other hand. Distractions worked surprisingly well when Mary Margaret was in a funk, and I was surprisingly good at providing them.

August didn't come up to me at the party once and I couldn't decide if I was grateful or offended, probably a little of both. Once people began to trickle out I started to clean up, packing away any leftovers for Emma to take to the very empty breakroom at the office tomorrow, and made sure there wasn't a thing left for Mary to do once I left that evening. She'd been to hell and back and deserved to worry about absolutely nothing.

Emma had told me she was going to confront Sidney Glass about the bug he had placed in her office and his betrayal the next morning at Granny's while he had breakfast, so I opened the Sheriff's Station that morning after dropping off the newspapers on my way in, wishing I could be there when she confronted him and see his face once he was caught. I went to work typing up witness statements and got the file on Kathryn up to date – something Emma was not the best at keeping up with but I thrived doing. I liked chaos, but at work, I liked organization and order.

August finally made contact later that day – telling me I needed to get Emma to believe, to have her break the curse. I had seen his leg, heard his story, I had to believe. 

I put my phone on silent and decided to get lost in TV and junk food for the remainder of the night – brain OFF.

The next day at work I was minding my own business finishing up the last of the notes Emma needed for the file when I heard the clacking of heels on the tile hallway – the telltale sign of Regina Mills - and following closely behind her was Sidney Glass.

He came to "confess" to kidnapping Kathryn Nolan and storing her in a basement in hopes of finding her and being seen as a "hero" and getting his old position back at the Daily Mirror - on top of a book or movie deal and a bunch of other outlandish nonsense that made absolutely no sense whatsoever.

Huge eye roll. I didn't believe a single word that came out of that man's mouth, not even for a moment. Thankfully Emma was also able to spot bullshit from a mile away and didn't believe any of it, calling it for the falseness that it was.

Emma and I had developed this way of communicating with just our eyes or gestures. She ordered Regina into the hallway and cast a look to me, and as they left I steered Sidney into a chair at one of the desks to take his "statement" while Emma confronted Regina about the utter ridiculousness of this entire false confession, both of us knowing she was behind it all.

After Regina left, I followed Emma into her office to see what happened. She was livid – going on about how she was going to go for custody of Henry and that Regina was out of control. While I fully supported her, more than anything, and agreed that what Regina has shown to be capable of could pose a serious concern for Henry, I also reminded her she also does seem to love Henry, and that she'd fight like hell to keep him so she needed to be prepared for a very uphill battle, but Emma said she was ready, it was time, and she wanted her kid back.

My heart swelled with pride and I hugged her, not even thinking about it, but she hugged me back and didn't seem to care. 

As we stood embracing one another I could believe, in that moment, that we were sisters. I could imagine what it would be like to have that tie to Emma because it already felt that way. She felt like my sister, my closest friend, and although we'd only known each other a few months, it felt like we'd known each other our whole lives.

If the curse, the storybook, and everything August and Henry said was true, would she be happy to learn we were sisters, twins?  

I wasn't so sure how she would handle it. Hell, I wasn't even handling it.