Wow. So this is the end. My first ever fanfic and the response has been truly overwhelming. I want to thank every single one of you, from those with me since the beginning just over two years ago to those who are reading the story for the first time now that it's finished. There's some Snowing in this chapter, as requested :) I hope you all enjoy!

Snow was panicking. She hated admitting it, even to herself, but it was the truth. In any other circumstances she would be cool, calm, and collected, but when her family was at risk she somehow managed to forget that she was perfectly capable of taking control of any situation that came her way.

Maybe Mary Margaret was rubbing off on her.

She and Henry were searching desperately for the car that the other three had arrived in, but were so far unsuccessful. Snow was painfully aware of how much time was slipping away.

Henry went off ahead, which made her nervous, but she couldn't catch up to him because she had an unconscious Charming slung over her shoulder. He must have put on a few pounds during the curse because Snow could never remember him being this heavy back in the enchanted forest. Not that they'd done this sort of thing often back then. Well, not that often anyway.

In the end she resorted to setting him on the ground and dragging him by the leg, wincing every time her unconscious husband's head bumped over a rock.

"I found the car!" Henry exclaimed excitedly, bounding back into view.

"Excellent," Snow exhaled in relief. "Help me get your Grandpa there."

She moved around so that her arms were hooked under Charming's shoulders while Henry picked up his legs. Together, with a lot of huffing and accidental dropping of their unconscious charge, they managed to maneuver Charming over to the car and into the backseat.

"What now?" Henry asked, looking to Snow with large eyes.

Snow took his hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze. "Now we go pick up your mom," she said with determination. "Quick, get in the car and buckle up."

Henry instantly did as he was told – he really was a great kid, Snow couldn't help but think proudly – and she slid into the driver's seat. She looked over at Henry and tried to hide her nerves.

"Ready?"

"Ready."

X

BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP BEBEEP BEEP BEEEEEEEEEEEP

"WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?!" Nicko yelled over the noise, still pointing his gun at Reece.

Emma grinned at him from across the room. "That's our ride," she smirked when the horn finally stopped. "I guess Mary Margaret found the car without me."

"We'd better get going then," Nicko resolved.

Reece was glaring at them from his spot by the wall but the older man said nothing.

It took a few careful minutes, where Nicko walked steadily backwards through the cabin with his gun trained on Reece, who was being forced to follow him, but they eventually made it outside. Emma was bringing up the rear, her own gun at the ready in case their detainee decided to try anything.

Emma could see Mary Margaret waiting anxiously by the car, and she could just make out Henry in the passenger seat, but her father didn't seem to be anywhere.

"Where's David?" She called when the trio was almost to the car.

"In the backseat," Mary Margaret bit her lip. "He's unconscious."

There was a discussion between the three conscious, non-captive adults over what they should do next. They all agreed that Reece needed to be locked up as quickly as possible, and that Henry shouldn't be anywhere near him if they could avoid it. Nicko suggested that he and Emma should take Reece to the station and come back for the other three, but Mary Margaret didn't want to wait that long to take David to the hospital and Emma sided with her. Nicko suggested shoving Reece in the boot while they drove to the medical centre – which caused the man in question to scoff in disgust – but Emma knew they couldn't do it in case he claimed unfair treatment to get out of jail later. At one point Henry tried getting out of the car to see what was going on but Emma fixed him with a pointed look until he slid back into his seat.

Just as they were struggling to come up with a solution David solved the problem for them. He groaned loudly from the backseat, drawing their attention as he began to wake up.

Once he'd fully regained consciousness (and insisted at least three times that he was fine to his worried wife) the four of them came up with an arrangement.

David was going to drive Nicko, Emma, and Reece to the station so that the two could keep an eye on him. They'd lock Reece in a cell and David and Nicko would watch their prisoner while Emma went back to collect the other two and take them home. To placate Mary Margaret, David agreed to get his head checked once Emma was back at the station.

Thankfully, everything went according to plan.

Epilogue

Reece ended up with restraining orders against Emma, and by extension her family, as well as Nicko. Although no one was particularly happy that he hadn't served prison time, Snow and Charming especially, they were all relieved to know that they weren't likely to ever see the man again. It had been three weeks since the events at the cabin, and things were starting to settle down in the aftermath of Reece's attack.

"Henry's decided we should go back to school tomorrow," Snow informed her husband as she handed him a cup of tea. He took it gratefully sipped it as she climbed into bed beside him, careful not to spill her own cup of hot chocolate.

"Oh?" Charming replied once she was settled, in voice that was so casual Snow could tell it was forced. Since the kidnapping at the school neither Henry nor Snow had been back and he was no doubt worried about her reaction to returning. As if to confirm her hunch, he added "And what do you think?"

She gave him a reassuring smile. "I have to admit, it will be nice to get back to normal. Well as normal as things usually are for us, I suppose."

Her husband chuckled and she grinned triumphantly, satisfied she'd set his mind at ease. It was the truth too, even if she was also slightly nervous to be going back to the place where she very nearly lost her grandson.

As if he could read her thoughts, Charming's smile fell away. He twisted around to place his tea on the beside table before facing her once again. She reached over him to place her own cup beside his, and then snuggled down until she was laying with her head on his chest. She felt his lips press gently into her hair.

"We could have lost them both, Charming," she whispered after a silent moment.

"I know."

There was another pregnant pause before she felt her shift beneath her and she was forced to raise her head. He slid down beside her so that they were both on their sides, eye to eye.

Snow's heart skipped a beat, as it always seemed to do when she met the sky blue eyes of her husband. He was gazing at her with such love and admiration that the pain and fear of the past few weeks seemed to melt away, and his next few words were enough to allow her to feel truly at peace for the first time since she'd learnt of Emma's past.

"But they're okay now. We worked together, all of us, to make sure we didn't lose anyone. If there's one thing this family is good at, it's protecting each other."

X

"Do you think you'll stay in Storybrooke?" Emma asked her brother, already suspecting the answer.

For the past three weeks Nicko had been staying with Emma and her family. Henry seemed to be absolutely taken with his new uncle, and constantly pestered him to play all sorts of games. Nicko seemed to love it as much as the 10-year-old – he'd been shocked to discover Henry had never played baseball and was quick to rectify that, spending every minute he could taking the boy out to the park so he could learn.

"I don't think so," Nicko finally said, answering her question.

She had thought as much, there was just something about him that was at odds in the small town, but she was still disappointed.

"What will you do?" She wondered.

Nicko shrugged, unconcerned. "I'm not sure. Go live in the city, maybe. Find someone to settle down with. Maybe I'll write a book," he grinned. "About two kids who run away from home and find a fairytale world."

Emma returned the smile. "Will there be forests?"

"You better believe it. And a hell of a lot of swords."

She let out a loud laugh.

"I'll visit, you know," he assured her after a moment. "Bring my nephew all sorts of gifts. I'm going to spoil him rotten."

"I think he gets enough spoiling here, to be honest. Between me, Mary Margaret, and David, he's always getting away with something."

Nicko smiled at her affectionate tone, and she knew her brother could tell how proud she was of her son.

"I'm going to miss you, Nicko," she admitted quietly.

"I'll miss you too Em, but you've got this great family here, a real life, and I know you're well looked after. I want to find that for myself. But you know I'll always be there if you need me, just give me call."

"Same goes for me – we'll have each others backs, yeah? The way it's always been."

"Yeah. Sounds good, little sis."

Bit of a corny ending but I'm a sucker for things like that. I hope you all loved the story as much as I loved writing for you :) Thank you once again for being the best readers I could've asked for!