The Modern Fairy Tale Town Book 3: Secrets of Storybrooke

Chapter 2: Once Upon a Time in New York City

Meanwhile, back in the apartment complex, Emma, Rumple, Henry, and Dee Dee headed right for there.

"Gold, wait. What are you doing?" Emma asked as inside the apartment building as the older man was pushing all the buzzers.

Before he answered, the door clanked unlocked. "I'm finding my eldest son." Rumple said firmly. He opened the door and entered allowing the others to follow him.

"He's gone." Emma reminded.

"But he lives here. He'll be back, and I'll be waiting." Rumple replied and then once they were upstairs he began to pick the lock of Neal's apartment.

"Stop. You can't just break in." Emma said.

"Yeah, well actually, that's something I'm quite adept at." came the reply.

"He might not come back." Emma warned.

"Okay. Finding people is what you do, Miss Swan. I'm simply going to assist you," Rumple told her. "There may be information in here; who he is, what he does, who he loves."

"No, don't do this. There are things called laws." Emma warned him.

"I'll be lookout." Henry decided as he walked off.

"I'll help him." Dee Dee added as she followed Henry.

"No, I-" Emma said, towards the kids, then turned her focus toward Mr. Gold. "You could get arrested." she told him.

"Then my eldest son will have to testify against me, and we will be reunited." Rumple told her as he opened the door.

They soon came into Neal's apartment after the door was opened.

"Is this legal?" Dee Dee soon asked.

"Gold. Come on, please. We really shouldn't be here." Emma told him.

Rumple seemed to ignore her as he went searching.

"I don't think he's listening." Henry replied.

Emma walked inside and then after shutting the door found a very familiar dreamcatcher. However, this caused an argument that had Emma get Dee Dee and Henry to hide out in the bathroom.

"You find something, dearie?" Rumple asked, startling Emma suddenly.

"Nothing. Uh, it just looks like a dreamcatcher." Emma answered softly.

"Yeah, well, if it's nothing, why are you still holding it?" Rumple asked sternly. "You're lying to me."

"Just get back to looking, okay?" Emma suggested weakly.

"No, no, no. You saw something," Rumple clarified. "Tell me."

"You don't know what you're talk--"

"Tell me!"

"Guys, go wait in the bathroom." Emma soon told the two youngsters.

"But we can help--" Henry piped up.

"Henry, Dee Dee, go!" Emma urged before the two kids walked off as she decided to keep talking to Mr. Gold. "There's nothing here. The guy's a ghost."

"What, you think me a fool? You're holding back," Rumple glared in accusatory. "I wanna know what and why."

"I'm not holding back-" Emma tried to defend herself.

"Did he tell you something?"

"Gold--"

"Did he tell you something?!"

"Nothing. He didn't say anything."

"But you talked to--"