Chapter Text
Emma sighs, glancing at the clock to see that she still has an hour left of her shift. Ever since the realms have been united, the crime rates in Storybrooke has skyrocketed. Apparently, laws didn’t really stick in the Enchanted Forest and beyond, so everyone wants to just go crazy and see what each realm has to offer. It’s exhausting.
Phillip comes into the station with another young teenager, pushing him into one of the jail cells before making his way to his desk to fill out paperwork. Emma watches out the window for a moment before focusing her gaze on the many reports she has to look through.
She’s been on maternity leave for the past four months, so there’s a lot of catching up to do. However, all she wants to do is get home to her baby. And eat something really unhealthy. Just as she’s packing up for the day, Killian comes jogging in, back from patrolling for the day.
“Ready to head home, love?”
“So ready,” she shoulders her bag, taking the car keys from his hand. “Let’s go get our baby girl.”
They walk out into the fall air; Storybrooke is getting colder with each passing day as it approaches Halloween. Another pesky holiday that will sure spike up the crime in Storybrooke. Emma can’t wait. Killian slides into the passenger’s seat as they drive to pick up Hope from Ashley’s daycare.
The two of them walk into the daycare, various cries and screams radiating throughout the building. Ashley sees them, carrying a crying Hope on her hip. As soon as Emma sees her baby, she scoops her from Ashley’s arms, kissing her on top of her head to soothe her cries.
It’s only been a week since Emma went back to work, but she’s ready for the weekend to spend the days with just Hope and Killian. No petty crimes to worry about; no paperwork to tend to; nothing pertaining to the police station at all. Just her daughter and her true love.
“I’ve missed you, Hope,” she kisses her forehead again, pushing back the blonde wisps of her hair.
Killian finishes talking to Ashley and retrieves the baby bag from her. He puts his hand on Emma’s lower back, ushering her out to the car. He helps Emma situate Hope into the backseat of their new car, buckling her in as she sucks on her pacifier. Her cries have seemed to calm down for the time being. Emma gets into the car and Killian follows after pressing a kiss to Hope’s cheeks.
“What did Ashley have to tell you today?” Emma asks.
He looks over at his wife. “Hope is adjusting, but she has her moments when she just cries her eyes out for hours. Don’t worry, love, she’s not used to being without you for extended periods of time. She’ll adjust in no time.”
“I wish I could bring her to the station,” she says as they drive the rest of the way home in silence. “All I do is sit and fill out paperwork.”
Once they make their way inside their house, Emma’s surprised to see Henry lounging on the couch. She knew he was staying for a few days after the uniting of realms, but she thought he was leaving this morning.
Emma places her things down in the hallway. “Not that I’m not happy to see you, but weren’t you supposed to be on a plane back to Hyperion Heights?”
Henry gets up, smiling at his baby sister. “We thought we would stick around for a while.”
“Henry, how are you, my boy?” Killian comes in with Hope in his arms.
“Pretty good. How was your guys’ day at the station?” Henry asks them.
Emma sits down on the couch, pushing back her shoulder-length hair. “Paperwork is oh so fun.”
Killian sits beside her, letting Hope lie on the floor with her stuffed animals. “Why don’t you stick around for dinner, or is Lucy and Ella expecting you back soon?”
“I can stay.”
While they sit down to a dinner of pizza, there’s a knock on the door. Emma looks at Killian as Hope starts to slap her palms against the table in Emma’s arms. Killian gets up from the table with a light press of his hand onto her shoulder.
The door opens, but there’s nobody on the porch. Instead, he finds a letter that states one simple word: Beware.
Killian steps out onto the porch, looking into the darkness to see who might have left this note. Knowing Storybrooke, it could either be a major threat or a teenager who is extracting revenge on the Sheriff and her deputy. Once he makes sure there’s nobody around, he makes his way back inside.
Emma glances up, taking in the sight of Killian’s distraught face. “What do you have there?”
He lays the note on the table for both Emma and Henry to see. They each give him a questioning stare, waiting for him to announce who was at the door that left the letter.
“There was nobody there.”
Henry shrugs his shoulder. “You know how bored kids can be these days. Maybe it’s just a prank.”
Emma hugs Hope tighter. “Could be, but I have a bad feeling in me. Storybrooke has been so quiet lately, in terms of villains.”
Killian moves back to sit in his chair. “I would’t lose sleep over a letter, love. It’s probably as Henry said. If it were another villain, they would make their presence known in a grander scale.”
Emma nods her head, but it doesn’t stop her heart from beating quickly within her chest. She worries the entire night, saying good bye to Henry and hugging him a little tighter. When she takes Hope up for bed, she sits in the chair beside her crib for a little longer than usual. She can’t shake the feeling that it’s more than a note. How she wishes that she could pretend it was simply a prank, but her life hasn’t been easy, ever, especially in Storybrooke.
Killian finds her biting at her nails, watching over their daughter as she snores peacefully in her crib.
“Love?”
She shakes from her trance, looking over her shoulder to see her husband standing in the doorway wearing a pair of flannel pants. “I’ll be there in a minute. I just need some more time.”
“Okay, but Emma?”
Once again looking over at him, he inches closer to where she sits. “It’s nothing to worry about.”
“How can you be sure?” She refutes.
“Because I just know. You know that I would never let anything bad happen to either of you, so you just need to trust me.”
Nodding, she stands from her chair, taking his outstretched hand and heading into their bedroom for what she assumes will be a restless night. They watch a movie until she feels her eyes getting heavy and she falls into a restless sleep.
Her dreams wake her in the middle of the night, and when she looks out out of her window, she’s met with blackness and a flash of something she can’t quite make out. Before she has a chance to move closer, it’s gone. Almost as if it was never really there.