I'm pretty sure you are ready

Aftershocks: Orion, Emma and Henry

"It’s all I can do right now. We know better than to just go diving into a portal, especially when we have no idea what’s waiting for us on the other side. If…that’s even possible." Emma hoped that wherever Graham had ended up…it wasn’t some kind of hell world with torture…and fire..and…no, this isn’t helping. She continued to turn the pages quickly, scanning for anything that looked like the word “portal" or “vortex" or “other world." “I can’t find anything that describes what that thing is." She sounded exasperated. “Henry, don’t go too far…" She turned to look at her son with worry filled eyes. “Maybe we should try throwing something into it…and see what happens?" Emma asked Orion, running out of ideas.

"I don’t think anyone sure of mind would go and jump in a portal if they didn’t know where it led, well at least I wouldn’t." Orion took to looking through some of the crocodile’s books for anything but like Emma, he had no luck in finding anything to do with a portal. Letting out sigh and shutting the books he listened to the sheriff’s solution. As much as he could criticize he knew she did have a better idea about what was going on. “I like that idea but what should be throw in? Maybe something that we could communicate with?"

Henry didn;t wander too far and made sure to keep where his mother could see him. Even though he had been in the shop before he had never had much time to look around on his own. Slowly he weaved in and out of the items closely examining each wondering who the items linked with. Hearing some excitement in the two other voices he went back over and joined them, just catching the last bit of news. "We're going to that portal?" he asked confused.

Aftershocks: Orion, Emma and Henry

"Listen, Hook Jr." Emma’s voice had an new edge to it, warning him not to cross her. “I was merely stating the facts. Your father mentioned in passing that he had been to other worlds. This is what I do, connect the dots." Emma’s hand brushed across her badge still mounted on her hip for emphasis on her words. “We have no idea whether or not he’s still alive…but it’s not for you to decide. Mr. Gold is a very powerful man…and I don’t think we could be rid of him that easily." Emma shook her head before turning her attention back to her son. “I’ve seen Neal beat the odds before Henry…plenty of times. Wherever your dad is…I’m sure he’s fighting to get back to you with all he’s got. I’m not worried about him..and neither should you. ok?" Emma’s blue eyes glittered with concern for her son, and for those trapped in…wherever the hell they were. Emma strode over to the book shelf and began pulling books off of the shelf, scanning the words quickly for anything pertaining to magic or portals or swirly blue vortex thingies that steal all your loved ones away. 

Orion thought better of challenging the sheriff for the moment and knew that he would cross her path again in the future but for now he wanted to find his father again and try to get him back to this land, He found it somewhat curious than the others. Watching as Emma looked through some books in the crocodile's shop Orion wandered over behind her and stared to read some of the book she had in front of her. "What are you expecting to find lass? Some instruction on how to get them back?"

"I'll try not to be worried but I can't help it." Henry said looking up at Emma. "It's just...given everything that's happened to us and to you it's hard to be hopeful." While Emma and Orion where looking through the books in his grandfathers shop Henry decided to take a little look around so that he wouldn't be in their way. He didn't trust Orion even if he was his uncle. Which was something he was still curious about but thought it best to save that question for later on. 

Aftershocks: Orion, Emma and Henry

Even though the small boy had somewhat calmed the situation Orion was still furious about being spoken down to especially since he had done nothing wrong and to be called a liar was insulting enough. “My father has only traveled to Neverland and to this one. As have I." He said not letting his glare falter even once." The pirate watched Emma closely and saw what he thought was the first time she had done her job since he met her- investigated. “So the crocodile should be dead?" he said with a sinister smile on his face that he didn’t even bother to conceal. “That is one evil out of the world."

Now it was Henry's turn to be angry at Orion. "He isn't evil!" he shouted, "he was just trying to get his son back. My dad."  Henry walked over to Emma where the coffee cup was spilled over and looked at it curiously. It was not in Gold's character to leave his shop unlocked or even with the slightest bit of mess. "He fell through didn't he? With my dad."

Aftershocks: Orion, Emma and Henry

Aftershocks: Orion, Emma and Henry

Emma was far too distracted by the words “Regina. Graham. through the portal.” to get into their complicated family tree just yet. “What do you mean, Henry?” Emma sounded urgent…distressed. “You saw them go into that thing?” She pointed outside at the swirling blue void. “When was that? What exactly did you see?” She probably didn’t even notice that she was clutching Henry’s sweater a little too hard as she frantically searched his face for answers. If what he was saying was true, then her partner was in that thing…god knows where and she had no idea how to rescue him.

Orion stood closer to Emma and his nephew, looking down at the boy to see if he looked anything similar to Orion. “How about we take it easy on the lad?” Orion said gently putting his hand on Emma’s wrist after seeing how hard she was clutching his sweater. “The lad has been through something terrible no doubt so best give him a bit of space to breath.” He looked down at Henry after making sure Emma didn’t seem as frantic as she had. “Now lad, tell us what you saw.”

"They... they fell into it." Henry replied saddened by the memory. He could hear how worried his mom sounded and wished that he had better news but he didn't. "It's just after that blue light and the shake. We went outside to go see what it was and it pulled them in." He looked at Orion and wasn't sure if he should trust him or not but still continued to tell his mother everything he knew. "I..I...came to Mr Gold's shop because he has magic and could get them back but he's not here and the back is open. Do you think he fell through as well?"

Aftershocks: Orion, Emma and Henry

  “I wish it were that simple.” Emma deadpanned back at her newly acquainted pirate companion. “His father has recently come back into his life and also has quite an influence on Henry. The kid wants to know more about his heritage, where we all came from..” Emma shrugged slightly. “He’s headstrong and determined. You’ll see.” A smile tried to make it’s way across her mouth at the thought, as they made their way down the street towards the pawn shop. Emma realized how excited Henry was probably going to be at the discovery that his uncle was a pirate. This could go so wrong, so fast. The smile that was threatening to break her stoney exterior was only a ghost now. Turning the knob to the shop, Emma was surprised to find it already unlocked. This is the part where she would have normally exchanged glances with Graham..so she looked over to Orion and for a moment..became very sad. She brushed it off quickly, as she was immediately surprised to find her son standing in the entryway of Mr. Gold’s shop. “Henry!” She knelt down quickly to wrap him into a tight hug. “I was so worried about you..are you ok?” She pressed him away from her so that she could get a better look at him, checking for scratches or bruises or injuries of any kind.

“The poor lad will only be disappointed when he learns it was his own grandfather that killed his grandmother. And for nothing.” Orion spat. He couldn’t, and didn’t even bother, to try and hide the bitterness and anger in his tone. He watched closely as Emma opened the door then was a little surprised as she turned to him and gave him a strange look. He quickly realized it was not a look meant for him but probably for the owner of the clothes he was wearing. The quick sadness that flashed on her face before turning away from Orion made him curious but his curiosity was soon turned towards the boy about half Orion’s size. Emma had rushed over to him which made him know that it was the Henry she was so concerned about. “So, you must be my nephew,” he said flashing Henry a smile, “nice to meet you lad.”

Henry didn't even have time to see who was in the shop but knew instantly by the tight hug that his mother had given him. For the first time that night he felt safe and protected. "I'm fine," he said as his mother looked him over for any sign if injury, "but my other mom and Graham....they...they fell into it..." Henry would have started to cry if a new voice hadn't chirped in the conversation saying things that startled the boy. Nephew? <\i> Henry thought to himself looking at the stranger quizzingly. He had never seen his face around Storybrooke and he was certain that Emma didn't have any other siblings or even his father didn't. Turning away from Orion Henry faced Emma and whispered, "Mom who is he? I can't be his nephew. My dad didn't have any brothers and neither did you." <\p>

Aftershocks: Orion, Emma and Henry

Emma was a little surprised by his question. What did Orion know about Gold? “He knows enough. He’s a kid though, and  wants to see good in people despite whether they deserve it or not. Gold has been showing more of an interest in Henry lately than I’d like.” Emma rolled her eyes at the thought. Mr. Gold couldn’t seem to pick a path, good. evil. It seemed to be something different every day. Emma obviously didn’t trust him. “In fact, we should probably look for Henry at Gold’s shop. It seems to be a hub for these things.” She gestured towards the portal as they made their way down the street. “what do YOU know about him?” Intrigued, she stared at him with intent. 

“When I first Rumpelstiltskin I was only a child. He was the Dark One then.” Orion thought back to that day like he had so many times. He would never forget the scale skin of the Dark One, it had frightened him as soon as he saw it but now it just made him angry. “You should have seen his skin. It was disgusting. I don’t know much other than he killed my mother and cut off my fathers hand. I didn’t know it then but it turns out your Henry’s father and I share blood. We have the same mother.” That revelation still made Orion uncomfortable. To know his mother was married to the Dark One just wasn’t something that he would ever expect. When they reached the shop Orion recognised it from when he went to confront Rumple when he first arrived in the town. He turned to Emma, “I wouldn’t let your boy anywhere near him. He can’t be trusted.”

After witnessing both Regina and Graham falling into the portal that was centre of the town Henry ran to the only person he knew of that would be able to help him. His grandfather, Mr Gold. Darting his way through the crowd of scared and confused people Henry got to Gold's shop only to find it open but empty. Calling out for his grandfather Henry began to fear the worst when there was no response but not wanting to feel useless he looked around the shop for a spellbook or even a wand to help him bring the people he cared about back but he couldn't find them. Gold has hid 'em well Henry thought. Before he could look around the shop more he heard people coming in so moved to the front of the shop to see who it was.

Looking for help // Henry and Belle

Belle nodded as Henry said that they needed to see if his other mother, Emma, was still here. She knew of her, only because Rumple mentioned her in passing as the Savior and the child of the Charmings. They had met only a handful of times too, which weren’t on the best of circumstances either. But when Henry brought up her father, she shook her head a little. “My father and I are not on the best of terms, Henry,” she said cautiously, not knowing how much she should tell an eleven-year-old about family problems. “He tried to send me over the town line to make me forget about Rumplestiltskin because he believed that I couldn’t really love a man like that. And he thought it better for me to forget my whole life than love Rumple.”

Henry was shocked to hear how Belle's father could even attempt to do such a thing to his child or that he could be so against true love. "Why would he do that? My Pops changed and you loved him. You truly loved him." 

Looking for help // Henry and Belle

The worst part of this was Belle knew, without a doubt, that without Rumple here…she had no one. She wasn’t speaking to her father after the incident where he had tried to send her over the town line and she didn’t know many other people that well because she had been locked away for twenty-eight years, so she could feel Henry’s pain when he said that he was alone and didn’t know if any of his family was here. “You don’t have to be alone, Henry,” she told him, brushing his hair a little with her hand. “I’ll stay with you, I promise. And you can come stay in our house until we figure out this mess.” Henry meant a lot to Rumple, so he meant a lot to Belle too, though she hadn’t gotten to know him very well yet.

"We need to see who is here first. My mom could be here. Not Regina. My other mom, Emma. And she's the sheriff so might know but she might be busy with everyone running around all worried." He hated that they both might not have anyone in the town especially since they where both pretty vulnerable. "Wait! The book! It said you have a dad. He would have got moved over here when the curse hit. You do have someone!" The grin on Henry's face was so wide it almost resembled that of the Cheshire Cat he saw when he was looking for the pages with the white rabbit. 

Looking for help // Henry and Belle

This situation was not what Belle had planned at all when she and Rumple found out they were having a child together. Him going through some portal to another world where she had no idea if he was coming home or where he even was frightened her because she didn’t have just herself to worry about anymore. “I’m sorry,” she apologized, looking at Henry. “I’m just…I’m worried and scared because it isn’t just me I have to think about anymore.” She looked down pointedly at her stomach and touched it with her palm. “There’s this baby, you, and the town too…without Rumple here, I don’t know what’s going to happen. But we have to figure out a way to keep order and bring them back, wherever it is that they’ve gone. It looks like the White Rabbit is our only means of figuring out what’s happened since he knows about portals. I don’t know if he’ll help us…but I hope he will because I don’t want to have this baby alone, families shouldn’t be separated, and I know that we all need the people who’ve gone through the portal.”

 Henry did not like the whole situation one bit. His family had been separated and he wanted to find his mother and wrap his arms around her and just know that she was safe. "It isn't just me that I have to think about either. There's both of my moms, my grandparents, my friends. I don't even know who else has gone into the portal. Not knowing is the worst. Not knowing means you can't find a solution. I don't know who has gone, where they have gone or when they will be back. As far as I know I'm on my own. I'm just a kid. Everyone else is grown up and can take of themselves. Not me though. Everyone I care about could be gone. And I don't even know."

Looking for help // Henry and Belle

Rumple had often told Belle that Henry was a bright boy and that he figured things out a lot on his own, even for his young age, but Belle was impressed to see that herself as he got excited for a moment and pulled out his book from his bag. Watching him flip through the pages, she saw him point to a photo of a rabbit making a portal, explaining that the white rabbit could make them. “Then I think if we find this rabbit, we can force him to make a portal again so we can get them back,” she said, determined to bring home those that had gone through the portal to wherever they were going. Belle thought for a moment, trying to remember if she had seen any rabbits around or heard talk of there being one. “I think…we need to figure out who this rabbit is and why he put everyone through a portal for no reason.”

"No.." Henry said studying the book more closely, "look at the picture. The hole is tiny. It looks like it can only fit the rabbit in." He started to skim through the words on the page that was relevant to the rabbit. "Look. It even says here. 'Alice could not return to her world with the very rabbit that bought her to the most strangest of lands as he was the only one that could fit through. He can't help like that." Moving the book over to Belle he was trying to think of a solution but because he had no idea how portals worked he just kept thinking back to his conversation with Belle. "You said we can force him. We can't. That isn't the good thing to do. He has to help us, if he can, by his own terms. Forcing people is bad. And not like what I read about you."

Looking for help // Henry and Belle

While Belle knew and realized that things happened in Storybrooke that were stranger than this for no reason, she knew that portals just didn’t appear out of nowhere. Someone had to have created it. “Well there has to be something else that creates portals…since they just don’t appear out of nowhere,” she said, trying to think logically through this whole mess. Her emotions were going up and down right now, but she was pushing them back to think through this because that’s what she needed to do. It’s what Rumple and the others needed her to do. “Does it mention anything else in the book about…magical things that can take you to other worlds besides the hat? Or maybe magical people who would have that power?”

Henry had a sudden idea when he thought about Jefferson's hat. "There might be!" he said excitedly taking out his book from the bagpack he always carried around with him. There where still flashlights from the blackout that Regina had packed for him. Flicking through the pages until he got to the specific part he was looking he stopped looking through then pointed to an illustration of a blurred rabbit jumping through a blue portal that looked similar to the one in the town. "The white rabbit! He has to have followed everyone with the curse. There isn't any other pictures other than the rabbit so I have no idea where or who he is."

Looking for help // Henry and Belle

Belle didn’t know what was going on or what had really happened, other than a portal had shown up in the middle of town and taken some people inside, including Regina…and possibly Rumple. Following Henry to the middle of town, she saw the hole where the portal had been and looked over at Rumple’s shop. The lights were not on and she knew something was wrong…something was off. “Henry…where did the portal come from?” she asked, going over to the shop, pushing the door open, finding no one inside. “It had to have been a bean…or something magical. Portals just don’t come out of nowhere. Your grandfather spent centuries trying to figure out how to get here to find your father, so I don’t think this was random.” Belle knew little of where portals actually came from, but she could assume that most were from magic beans or something of the like. Belle tried to keep her calm for Henry’s sake, but inside, she was panicking because Rumple wasn’t in the shop and no where to be found. After something like this, he would have immediately come to find her and he wasn’t here…he wasn’t anywhere.

Henry saw Belle looking at his grandfathers shop and could already tell that she had the same thought as him that Rumple had fell into the portal. If he was still in Storybrooke everyone would know it. "It's Storybrooke," Henry sighed, "nothing here is random. It all happens on purpose and for a reason." It looked as if it had closed now so there was no way to follow or try and retrieve the family he had lost. "I don't know where it came from. The only thing I read about portals in my book is that Jefferson's hat created them but King George destroyed it."

Looking for help // Henry and Belle

Belle was frozen for a moment as Henry said that the portal had been in the middle of town, knowing that was about where Rumple’s shop was. And when Henry asked if she thought Rumple fell in, she felt her heart sink into her stomach. After a moment, Rosie kicked and reminded her that she was still here and she looked at Henry. “I…I’m not sure,” she said, grabbing her phone from her pocket and calling Rumple’s number. No answer. “He isn’t answering his phone…he always answers when I call.” Belle began to worry as she grabbed her coat. “Henry, take me to where the portal showed up…we’re going to figure this out.”

Looking for help // Henry and Belle

Belle had felt the ground shaking and knew that something had happened, but when Henry said that there was a portal that a bunch of people had fallen through, her worry immediately kicked in. Kneeling down as best she could to get to Henry’s level, she knew that he needed comfort. “Henry…Rumple wasn’t here today…he was at his shop,” she told him, now worried that something had happened to Rumple too since his shop was in the middle of town and she hadn’t heard from him since earlier this morning. “Where was the portal?”

Henry looked up from the floor and into Belle's eye for comfort. He could see why his grandfather was so in love with her, she just had an air of calm understanding that reassured him a little. That faded when she mentioned Rumple hadn't been home. The shock kicked in and he froze. If his grandfather and mother had fallen through the portal than there was no way of getting them back. They where the only ones with the magic to travel between worlds that he knew of. "It's...it's...the middle of the town...do you think he...he fell in?"

Looking for help // Henry and Belle

It had been a mostly quiet day for Belle, especially now that the power was back. She had come home early from the library and was planning on making something to surprise Rumple for dinner since she had been learning to cook in secret with a few books from the library that had instructions for how to cook simple dishes. Her pregnancy was progressing, which she was thankful for because it meant that Rosie would be here soon and they would become a family. While she was reading some of the recipes trying to figure out which one to choose, she heard someone knocking on the door and shouting from the other side. It was a smaller voice, one she had heard before, so she came over and opened it to Henry. “Henry?” she asked, looking at the boy and seeing he was distraught. “Henry, what’s wrong?”

"Th-there was a light.." he stammered between tears, "and a-a big shake...mom...my mom fell though a-a portal and s-so did others...I need her back....where's m-my Pops?" He had read all about Belle in the book he had and knew that she would help, it was one of the reasons why he liked her so much was her kindness.