Love in a Ruined World

Blast From the Past

Chapter 4:  Blast From the Past

"If you're looters or pillagers, I advise you to turn back now...if you know what's good for you," Leroy growled, as he clenched his axe.

"Whoa...we're just migrants trying to escape the cities. We don't mean anyone any harm," Neal pleaded.

"Yeah...we'll see," Leroy grumbled, as they looked to see an attractive couple approaching, hand in hand. Neal was instantly stricken by them, for he could see the resemblance between them and Emma. These were her parents...the people his father's curse had forced to give her up. He found himself speechless and then his eyes widened, as he finally saw her behind them.

"Neal?" she exclaimed.

"Emma..." he breathed.

"What are you doing here?" she asked.

"I was in New York...when it happened. We managed to escape before things got really bad," Neal said, motioning to the people traveling with him.

"Yeah...I hear it's pretty bad there," Emma mentioned.

"You're Neal...the man that sent her to prison?" David snapped, catching Emma completely off guard.

"David...no," Snow admonished, holding him back. She blinked, surprised by his protectiveness, but probably shouldn't have been. She saw that Neal looked a little terrified of David too and she found herself smiling a bit smugly at that. She would enjoy Neal being afraid of her father a lot more than she ever thought.

"This is a hell of a coincidence...that you just happen to head for Storybrooke," Emma mentioned. He swallowed thickly, feeling that he was going to get that punch soon, after all.

"Yeah...about that. This probably isn't the greatest place to talk. I know resources are tight...but do you think we can settle here? We've been traveling a long time," he mentioned. Emma looked back at her parents, petrified by what Neal's presence could mean. She'd have to tell him about Henry and she had lied to him about his biological father.

"You hurt our Emma and now you want us to show you kindness?" David exclaimed.

"Our Emma? Just who the hell are you people?" Tamara asked.

"We're her parents," David blurted out without thinking. The people traveling with Neal looked all had varied looks for him, all that said they thought he was crazy or something. Snow squeezed his hand. Sometimes it was easily forgotten that Storybrooke was no longer isolated from the outside world. To the people of Storybrooke, it was not strange for them to think of Snow and David as Emma's parents, despite there being no age difference. But to people outside their borders, it looked to be impossible. Except Emma noticed that Neal's expression didn't show disbelief or surprise at all. And she wanted to know why.

"You can all settle in town for now," Emma said vaguely. She didn't say that they would soon be relocating to the farmland on the outskirts of town and then next winter to the underground tunnels. She wasn't keen on any of these people following them and hoped they would get the idea eventually and move on.

"We need to talk," Emma hissed at Neal.

"Yeah...Tamara why don't you follow Snow and David into town. Emma and I need to catch up a bit. We'll be along," Neal replied, not missing the shock on her parent's faces that he knew their names.

"Snow? Like Snow White?" Greg asked in disbelief, garnering chuckles all around.

"Keep laughing at my wife and you can sleep in the woods for all I care," David growled.

"Baby please...you know it doesn't bother me. Maybe I should go back to Mary," she murmured.

"You're Snow...it's your name and it's beautiful," he refuted. She smiled at him and cuddled against him.