Chapter 1

Neal came home drunk, yet again. He and Emma's relationship started drifting when Henry was about four. He started drinking shortly after and it's gone downhill ever since.

It started off with them spewing off hateful comments at each other, then she had said something she shouldn't have- in regards to him and his father- and Neal snapped, he hit her, he bought her roses the next day, promising that it'd never happen again. That happened when Henry was six.

He's ten now, and the cycle just kept repeating itself. Henry's a smart kid, he isn't oblivious to it all. He just doesn't understand why he and his mom can't just leave. He doesn't like his dad anymore. He isn't like he used to be, but Henry just wants his mom to be safe.

After his dad left for work, he went in their room and laid next to his mom until she woke. It didn't take long, about fifteen minutes later, her eyes fluttered open. "Morning kid." He hugged her and buried his face in her stomach. "What's wrong?"

"I wanna go." He murmured into her shirt. "I wanna go away. Away from dad."

Emma shot up in bed, inspecting her son. "Did your dad hurt you Henry?" He shook his head. "Did you guys have an argument?" She asked, tone softer.

He shook his head again. "Dad didn't hurt me mom. I promise." He squeezed around her abdomen tighter. "I'm scared of him."

She wrapped her arms around him. "What is it kid?"

"He hurts you." He sniffed. "I see sometimes. He tells me not to say anything, but," he paused, letting his mother's shirt soak up his tears. "I don't want to be here with him anymore."

Emma's face went pale. How long had he known? How many time has he seen it? She pulled him into a tighter embrace. "I'm so sorry kid."

He looked up at her, a confused expression written across his face. "For what? It's not your fault… it's his. It's dad's fault."
"I wish you never had to see that kid." She started getting up, breaking the embrace. "Go pack an overnight bag kid."

Henry obliged and in less than ten minutes later, they were on their way to the front door, when she heard keys jingling on the outside, she instinctively pushed Henry behind her. "Em, i forgot my…" he trailed off, seeing Emma and Henry both with bags on their way to the door. "Wallet." He finished. "What the hell are you guys doing?"

"I'm uh, taking Henry to Dylan's house… for a sleepover."

He scoffed. "I don't like being lied to Emma! Henry doesn't go places without permission from me, and if he's going to the sleepover, why the hell would you need an overnight bag too?"

Emma pushed her bag into Henry's hand. "Baby, go in your room and lock the door."

"Mom-"

She shook her head, "Now Henry."

He reluctantly obliged, once his door, was shut, he clamped his hands over his ears to try and block out the screaming, but it did no good. He kept hearing loud noises and knew that it was his dad hurting his mom, but he didn't know what to do. He just sat there, his hands over his ears shaking with sobs.

He wasn't sure how long it was until he heard the loud banging on his door, he knew it wasn't his mom, she never knocked like that, even if he was in trouble, she always knocked softly. "Henry!" His father yelled. "Open this damn door!"

"Go away! Go away! I hate you! Leave us alone!" He screamed through the door, sobs not wavering.

He heard his father grumble something, then heard him yelling at Emma again. "Get up! Go calm the damn kid down!" He heard his mom say something, but it so quiet he couldn't hear. "Well maybe he needs to man up." His father grumbled, then stomped away.

He heard him moms soft knock. "Henry, baby, open the door. It's okay. He's gone upstairs." She sounded so weak, maybe asking his mom to leave his dad was a bad idea. "Please Hen. It's just me. It's mom. I'm okay kid. Unlock the door. I have your dinner kid."

He slowly made his way over to the door and unlocked it, then opened it. His light was off, so he couldn't see his mom's face. "I'm sorry mom." He cried. "It was a bad idea."

She pulled him into a gentle hug, mindful of her injuries. "No." She said firmly. "You're right. We need to get out of here. I'm scared too kid." She slowly released him, then he helped her up onto the bed, next to the window, where they ate. "Remember that set of cool magnets your gramps sent you in the mail?" She asked him after they were both finished eating.

"Yeah."

She squeezed his hand gently, noticing the shakiness of his voice. "Can you go get it for me?" She couldn't really see because the blinds were closed, but she assumed he nodded because he let go of her hand and came back a few seconds later with his lunch box full of magnets.

Emma opened the blinds, so she could manipulate the magnetic alarm system that Neal had installed last year. Her son gasped at the bruises. "Mom." He whimpered. Nearly the entire left side of her face was covered in bluish bruises and her lip was cut open.

She cursed under her breath, she should've thought about the light from the window. "Hey, hey. It's okay. It'll heal. I promise."

"I'm so stupid." He murmured to himself, kicking the air in front of him.

She firmly, but gently grabbed his shoulders. "You are not stupid. I don't ever want to hear that word come out of your mouth again. Understood?" He nodded. "You're the smartest and the bravest kid I know." He looked down at her words and she lifted his chin up, so they were making eye contact. "You are."

"What are you doing with the magnets?" He asked, changing the subject.

She sighed. They'd just have to finish that conversation later. "I'm tricking the alarm system." She gave him a pointed look. "I swear to God kid, if you ever try this- to sneak out or something- you'll be grounded for life." That got a small smile out of him. Good. "Anyway. When I put this magnet here, and the window opens at the same time, it tricks the alarm into thinking that the window is still closed." Henry nodded. "So when I say so, you open the window at fast as you can." He nodded. "Okay kid. 3… 2… 1… now."

He did it perfectly and they both smiled when they didn't hear an alarm. "I did it."

"That you did kid." She kissed his head. "Let's go baby." He climbed out first, then waited patiently as Emma climbed out much slower, due to some of the injuries Neal gave her. They were walking down a path in the woods and Emma noticed that Henry kept glancing at her worriedly. "I'm okay Hen."

"Does it hurt right now?" He whispered, on the verge of tears.

She sighed. She wanted to lie and say it didn't, but in all honesty, it hurt like hell. "Not as bad as it did earlier kid. It's getting dark, we should find shelter."

After about another hour of walking, they found an empty camping ground and decided to stay there for the night. Emma awoke a few hours later to the sounds of distant screaming, she immediately recognized his voice.

"Henry. Baby, I need you to get up. We gotta go kid."

He started rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. "Mama? What time is it?"

Emma helped him up to his feet. "I'm not sure kid, but we really have to go now, okay?"

That's when he heard the distant, "Emma!" and "Henry!"

He and his mom made their way through the dark woods as fast as they could, which wasn't very fast, they both heard Neal's voice getting closer and closer. She panicked, when she felt someone put a hand over her mouth and pull her behind a tree, with Henry still clinging onto her.

She was struggling, when the man whispered to her. "I'm not going to hurt you, but you need to be quiet."

Emma nodded and repositioned her son, to where his face was tucked into her abdomen, so his cries couldn't be heard by Neal, she stroked his hair in attempt to soothe him, she was glad when she realized it was working.

They all held their breath when the heard Neal a few feet away. "Dammit Em, where the hell are you?! He's my kid too!" He yelled angrily. "Henry! Come on bud, it's dad!" He took a deep breath. "I'm sorry Em, I won't do it again! Henry! Get out here!"

Henry buried his face further into his mother's stomach. He just wanted his dad to go away and leave them alone forever. Emma stroked his hair, settling his nerves in the slightest, feeling how truly terrified he was, he was trembling with fear. They all let out sighs of relief when his voice trailed down the pathway.

The man removed his hand from Emma's mouth. "You guys alright?"

Emma nodded, pulling her son into a tight embrace, ignoring all the pain she was in, she looked up at the man. "Who are you?"

He held his hand out. "Graham Humbert. I heard the screaming from my cabin, didn't have time to call for backup." Emma looked at him questionably. "I'm a cop at the 2-7. Well, I was. I'm transferring."

"If you're transferring, why are you in the woods?"

He chuckled. "I like spending weekends here in the summer. I thought I'd spend one last weekend here before I go, I was actually heading out, when I heard him yelling." She still looked at him distrustingly. "I can show you my badge." She nodded and he pulled a badge out of his pocket and slowly handed it to Emma.

"You have a flashlight?" He handed her his light and she inspected the badge, just like her father taught her. "Where's the nearest bus stop? What direction? I need to get to my parents, in Maine."

"Maine? That's where I'm going, for my job. Storybrooke. Odd name, I know-"

Both heads snapped up at the mention of Storybrooke. "That's where Gramma and Gramps live. Are we going there mom?"

She bent down and pushed his short brown locks out of his face. "Yeah baby. We're gonna see Gramma and Grandpa." She saw a smile come across his face, one that she hasn't seen in so long. "There's that amazing smile that I miss." She kissed his forehead.

"I don't wanna sound creepy or anything, but you're welcome to ride with me, since we're all headed in the same place."

She glanced at her tired son and sighed. It wasn't safe for them anywhere near Boston right now. "What do you think kid? You okay with riding with Mr Humbert."

Henry nodded. "Great." Graham said, leading them to his car. "You can call me Graham by the way."

"Okay Graham." Emma got Henry situated in the backseat and sat with him until he fell asleep, then she moved to the front seat. She noticed that he had iodine and cotton balls sitting on the dashboard. "What are those supposed to be for?" He pulled down her overhead mirror. She grimaced. "I didn't realize how bad it looked." She glanced back at Henry, no wonder why he'd been so worried for her. "Poor kid."

"Let me clean it? It'll be easier than doing it yourself." She nodded and he cleaned it skillfully. He wasn't surprised by her amount of flinching, but he was surprise at her lack of wincing. "So, what's your name?"

"Emma Cas-... Nolan, Emma Nolan."

His eyes widened. "N-Nolan? As in… Sheriff Nolan's… daughter?"

"The one and only. Look uh, there's a shop just in Storybrooke, my aunt runs it. Can you just drop us there? I… I don't want my parents and Leo- or Henry for that matter- to see me like this."

He nodded. "I think I know the place, I passed it on my way to the interview last week. It's totally fine. I understand."

XXX

Emma walked into her aunts shop, looking at the floor, Graham was waiting outside and Henry was with her. "Is Zelena here?" She asked, not making eye contact with the receptionist, Jessica.

"Do you have an appointment?"

Emma rolled her eyes. "No, but-" she looked back at Zelena's office. "It's an emergency, she's family."

The receptionist looked up for the first time. "Emma?"

"Hey Jess." She's known her for a while, they went to high school together. "Is she in her office?" Jessica nodded, with a worried look on her face. "Thanks." She turned to Henry. "Kid, do you remember Jessica?" He nodded. "You sit here and stay where you can be seen."

"Emma, what's going on?"

She shook her head and made her way to the office in the back and knocked on the door. The door opened almost immediately. "Emma?"

Emma walked into the office and shut the door. "I need you to do something for my Aunt Z."

"Why aren't you looking at me?" Emma kept her eyes trained on the floor. "Look at me Emma." She hesitantly lifted her head up and grimaced at Zelena's wince. "Neal did this to you? Where the hell is he?!"

"We left… I need you to cover it up. Or try to at least. Please Aunt Z. I've already scarred my son with this." She gestured to her face. "Don't really feel like doing it to Leo too."

"Where's Henry? He out there with Jessica?" Emma nodded. "Alright. Sit down. How'd you guys get here anyway?"

Emma sighed. "Ran into dad's new deputy in Boston. He saved Henry and I, then offered us a ride home, I only accepted when I saw his badge."

XXX

Emma and Henry walked home, it wasn't that far a walk from Zelena's shop. She knocked on the door and braced herself for the interrogation to come. "Emma!" Her mother's cheery voice said from the doorway. She pulled Emma into a hug, Emma held back a wince at the pressure in her ribs. Mary's eyes trailed to her grandson, clutching his lunchbox of magnets. "Henry!"

"Hi gramma." She crushed Henry into a hug, with his hand still gripped onto Emma's, causing him to drop the lunchbox. Emma nearly jumped out of her skin, gasping. "Mom?"

She faked a smile. "It's fine Hen, just startled me is all." She chuckled nervously. "Why don't you go raid gramma's fridge. I'm sure she has sandwich stuff." She kissed his head. "Go on baby." He reluctantly obliged, then mother and daughter made their way to the couch. "Where's Leo and dad?"

"David took him to the station today." She eyed Emma worriedly "Okay, Em. What's going on?" She inspected the cut on Emma's lip and the visible swelling under her eye. "Talk to me Emma. What happened?"

She sighed. "I need a beer."

Emma started towards the kitchen, but Mary caught her by the wrist, not missing Emma's flinch. "You're worrying me honey. You've never been this jumpy before Emma. Never."

She slumped back down on the couch bottom lip quivering. "I went to see aunt Z, before coming here. I had her cover it up, I didn't want you to see..." She trailed off. "And I didn't wanna scare Leo."

"See what Emma?"

She glanced back at her son at the kitchen island eating a sandwich. Then she grabbed her mother's hand. "Henry, your gramma and I are gonna be down the hall if you need something, okay?" He nodded and Emma lead her mother to the bathroom.

"Sweetie, what's going on."

Emma took the make-up wipes out of the cabinets. "I-I'm gonna show you." She went to start removing the make-up, but her hand wouldn't stop shaking. "Dammit."

Mary gently took the wipe from Emma's hand. "Let me sweetheart." At first Emma shook her head. "It's okay, it's okay baby. Let me do it." She reluctantly nodded. Mary started with the left side of her face and gasped when she saw all the bruising. "Emma." She continued wiping her face until the make-up was gone. "Who did this to you?"

"I… it… I'm fine."

Mary pulled her daughter into a quick gentle hug. "You're obviously not fine Emma." She stroked Emma's right cheek. "Sweetie… did-did Neal do this?" She took Emma's silence as an answer. "How long has this been going on Em? It's okay, you can tell me."

"I mean… it happened first when Henry was six." She started, then noticed her mother's eye widen. "But it was my fault! I compared him to Gold! I-I deserved that. I shouldn't have-"

"No." Mary cut her off. "He shouldn't have. When couple have arguments, they say things, but it's no reason for him to put his hands on you. Do you hear me? It's not your fault."

The heard a faint, "we're home Mare!" From David and "Henry!" From Leo.

Mary squeezed Emma's hand gently. "I'm going to go get your father. Stay right here. He needs to see this." Emma slid down the wall and buried her face in her knees and Mary left the room to go talk to her husband.

"Hey Mare." David greeted when he saw his wife approaching, then noticed the upset expression on her face. "What's wrong?"

Mary looked over at her thirteen year old son and ten year old grandson, she sighed after noticing how little Henry was talking. "Emma's in the bathroom. You need to go in there and talk to her."

David nodded, scanning the house. "Where's Cassidy?"

She stiffened at the mention of his name. "Not here, and it better stay that way." And with that, she stalked off.

David's brows knitted in confusion. That was weird. He went and knocked on the bathroom door. "Come in." He heard his daughter reply.

David opened the door and saw his daughter, on the floor with her face lying atop her knees, with the way her body was shaking, she had to be crying. He sat across from her and took her hand stroking it. "Hey kiddo." Her sobs became audible. He's never seen Emma like this, he was starting to get worried. "Em, what did he do?"

She slowly lifted her head up and saw her father's eyes widen and fill with anger. "Dad."

"I'll kill him."

Emma grasped her father's hand. "Dad."

David moved, so he and Emma were sitting shoulder-to-shoulder and she fell into his arms sobbing. "I've got you Emma. I won't let him hurt you again." He promised.

"I should've listened to you." She whispered. "You told me he was changing dad. You told me that six years ago dad. Two years later, it started to get bad, but I thought it was my fault. And it was, this is all my fault. If I'd have just believed you. I just thought you just didn't like him dad. I thought-"

"Shh, it's okay. He's never going to hurt you again. None of this is your fault."

Emma just laid on her dad's shoulder, content for the moment. "You know, your new deputy probably saved mine and Henry's life."

"What?"

Emma smiled. "Transfer from Boston. He was in the woods camping when Henry and I were… hiding. He heard Neal yelling and the things he was saying. He hid Henry and I, then when we found out we were all going the same place, he offered us a ride."

"And you just… said yes?" He said, holding a chuckle back.

Emma looked up at her father laughing. "No dad. I made sure the badge was real… them I may or may not have went through his phone to verify that he was in contact with you."

David smiled and kissed her head. "I'm glad. But I'll have to tell Humbert to get a better password on his phone. Just out of curiosity, what was it?"

Emma smirked. "1234." David laughed, then Emma's eyes trailed up to the mirror and she sighed. "I have to cover this back up."

"You don't Em."

She raised an eyebrow. "Do you want me to scar my brother?"

"Been there, done that." Emma raised an eyebrow. "Remember when you were sixteen and you walked in on-"

Emma put her hands over her ears, making a disgusted noise. "Don't remind me!"

David laughed. "Okay, okay. I'm just saying… your mother and I decided to start locking doors last month, poor Leo."

Emma looked at him eyes wide. "Dad! Gross! Oh my God! I actually feel bad for the twerp!" Things went quiet for a few minutes. "I don't want to scare him dad."

"You hate makeup. You told me that much at your junior prom." Emma smiled at the memory. "Do you really think your mother isn't out there explaining to Leo what's going on?"

Mary walked in the kitchen where Henry and Leo were sitting down. Henry looked over when she entered the room and she smiled at him. "Gramma, I'm sleepy. Can I go upstairs and lay down?"

She kissed the top of his head. "Go ahead sweetie."

When he left Leo went over to where his mom was standing. "What's going on? Henry will barely talk to me and I haven't even seen Emma yet."

She grabbed his hands and led him to the living room couch. "Leo, something happened between Emma and Neal."

"Are they getting a divorce? Is that why Henry's so sad?"

She stroked his hand. "It's more than that baby. You know how not all husbands are like your dad?" He nodded. "Neal… he hurt Emma sweetie. Her hurt her pretty badly."

His bottom lip began to quiver. "Is she okay?"

"She will be, but that's why Henry's so sad. Sweetie, when you see Emma, you have to be gentle with her, okay? She has a lot of bruises baby."

"Why'd he do it? Nobody wants to hurt Emma. Emmy's awesome. She's the best sister ever!" … "Did he hurt Henry too?"

Mary shook her head. "If he hurt Henry too, Emma would've come home a lot sooner. She only left when he asked her to. You know that this is no one's fault but-"

"-but Neal's. I know mom." He hugged her. "I hate him. I wish that he and Emmy never moved away. She would be okay if they'd have stayed. I hate Neal mom, I hate him." He hugged his mother again. "I wanna go see her. Can I go see Emma?" He didn't wait for Mary's response, he shot up and went to the bathroom door.

XXX

Emma was lying her head on David's shoulder, when they heard an annoying rapping at the door. "The twerp's arrived." She joked half heartedly.

David and Emma both stood up, the latter much slower. Then David answered the door and a thirteen year old Leo ran in and hugged Emma as gently as he could. "Never ever leave again Emmy."

"Miss me that much twerp?" She joked weakly, until she felt the tears soaking her shirt. "Hey. Leo, I'm okay." He looked up and saw the bruises on her face and the quivering in his lip began to increase. "They are just bruises. They'll heal. I promise." She looked up at her parents, with her brother still hugging her, he wasn't quite ready to let go. "Where's Henry?"

"He said he was tired, he went upstairs to lay down."

Emma nodded. "I'm gonna go see Mal today. Get the divorce papers started, I'm gonna let Henry come if he wants." She looked down at her brother. "Twerp, I'm gonna go check on your nephew, you gotta let go." He obliged and Emma made her may upstairs to the guest room, that Henry declared his room when he was five.

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