Rockabye

Chapter Seventeen

Her green eyes drift slowly to the clock above the kitchen sink as the drowned out mundane voices fill the air. One hour and two minutes. One hour and two minutes since Emma sat down with these strange fairytale characters to discuss further action upon the town and of course the woman being held hostage beneath their feet.

"Again your unresolved issues with the Queen are no longer my concern. I am here for only one reason and once that barrier is lifted, Belle and I will be on our way," Rumpelstiltskin explains, yet again, inspiring Emma's eyes to wander back toward the clock.

One hour and three minutes.

She runs an agitated hand through her unkempt waves and really clenches tightly around her locks, suppressing the violent scream that's tingling at the back of her throat.

"We don't need your magic for protection, we will defeat her ourselves," David claims as he straightens his posture and lifts his chin like the snob he is, in Emma's eyes.

One hour and four minutes.

"Fuck," Emma groans while she releases her hair and allows her hands to fall hazardously against the old wooden table, creating an awful thump. "I'm so done with this shit."

"Emma," her mother softly protests, but her daughter is quick to jump right in again.

"No seriously," Emma lifts her eyes to hold her mother's gaze with a stern force, telling Snow White that she means business. "Have you even taken the time to sit down and have a normal conversation with her?"

The older woman shifts awkwardly in her seat as though a stick is sharply poking into her bottom. "Yes, I have..." Snow places a first against her mouth and clears her throat. "When we were waiting for you to arrive."

"And during that time did you see any signs of this 'evil' queen?" Emma mocks with her fingers producing air quotes to further degrade everyone around the table for their childish ways.

"Well...no, but Emma," Snow rushes to express her point but the blonde is already holding up her hand to silence any further venomous words about the woman she loves.

"That's because she is different now. I mean look, she's willing to risk her life for my son so he can have a better one." Emma slams her palms flat against the table and leans forward to declare her point. "And she doesn't even know him!"

"Yes, but we forced her old memories back into her mind, the awful woman is still peeking around inside of her. I've seen her...spunk, since she has been reawakened."

"Oh come on. That's bullshit and you know it! Just because she has a sharp tongue doesn't mean she's going to turn around and murder people. I'm a hell of a lot feistier than she is and you don't see me ending people's lives," Emma quickly defends knowing all too well that these people are too narrow minded to wrap their tiny brains around the thought of someone changing.

"Emma," her father begins, but again Emma can't seem to keep her mouth shut and continues rambling on.

"Listen to me, very carefully, if you ever expect a relationship with me then you need to free Regina after that barrier is down, otherwise I swear you will never see me again, or my son. There's no way in hell an eight year old little boy needs to be around that kind of behavior. That book, was already way too much for him to see and he doesn't need murder added to the list."

The table for once in the past one hour and ten minutes, is finally quiet. David is standing tall behind Snow as she sits elegantly in the seat across from Emma. He rests his hands upon his wife's shoulders, slowly adding pressure as he soaks in what their daughter just threatened.