InsaneJournal

Who: Papa Charming & Baby Charming (David and Emma).
What: Emma has a scary dream.
When: Mid-December.
Where: Emma's home.
Rating/Warning: Low/Feelings of parental abandonment.
Status: Complete.



Emma wasn’t sure why she’d called David in a panic after her dream. Of all people, right? She barely knew the guy. Well, she was starting to. She’d invited him over a couple times to see the dog, he’d helped her look for his owners, even though it had ended up nowhere. They’d talked, David had dog-sat for her a couple times, he was a really nice guy.

Still didn’t explain why she’d called him. He’d probably thought she was crazy from the manic way she’d asked him to come over, probably thought she’d accidentally set the dog on fire or something, but Emma just needed someone and something about David was comforting, in a way Emma had never had before. Like a father, and that was legitimately crazy, because he was hardly older than she was, and he was in her dreams too. Still, she wanted -- maybe needed -- someone. And for some reason, she’d called him.

She gingerly pet the dog that was shifting in her lap, desperate to soothe her and not sure how. Hopefully David would come.

David had been surprised by the call. He was sure he was the last person on Emma’s list of people to call during an emergency, but of course he’d agreed to go over. It was partly due to him being a nice guy in general, but, beyond that, he knew it was some strange fatherly instinct taking place. He didn’t waste any time between hanging up and tossing on a jacket before driving out to Emma’s.

When he got there, David sat in the truck for a moment, almost feeling nervous. He could tell he hadn’t been Emma’s favourite person from the start (though he did feel like he was growing on her). But this was a chance to prove … Well, anything. He figured this would largely decide on what sort of relationship they’d have going forward. Sucking in a breath, David walked up to her door and knocked.

Usually the dog was at the door .3 seconds after someone knocked but the creature seemed to feel bad for her, like it could sense she was about to lose it and was certain that lounging in her lap and licking at her palm would prevent it. So Emma had to pick him up and set him on the floor to trudge to the door, trying to tell herself everything was fine. It was just a dream, nobody was really dead, and everything was fine.

She reached the door and swung it open, and she gave a heavy exhale. “Hi.” She should have thanked him for coming, or something, but instead she just stepped aside so he could come in. “I’m sorry for calling, I just…” Emma faltered off, not knowing how to finish that thought, so she didn’t.

David’s face took on an instant look of concern. Clearly, this wasn’t a typical sort of emergency, and suddenly he wondered if he was equipped to handle this situation. Also, why didn’t she go see Mary Margaret first? All right, none of that was the point. Emma was obviously in some sort of distress, and it was David’s duty to relieve that. So he put on a soft smile.

“It’s fine. Really,” David told her. “Whatever you need, I’m here. I promise.”

Emma wasn’t totally sure why she hadn’t called Mary Margaret, either. Mary was pretty much always there for her, whenever she needed someone. Still, flicking through the names in her phone, somehow she’d landed on David. And seeing him, somehow, she didn’t regret it. Even if this was weird. He probably thought she was incredibly strange, and she wouldn’t blame him, but it meant a lot he’d shown up anyway.

“Do you want a drink, or something…” Emma wandered off toward the kitchen, even though he hadn’t answered. It was the wrong time of day for it but they needed coffee. She did stall once David joined her, as there was no way to miss the dismantled toaster on the counter. Emma didn’t say anything about it, but yes, she had a problem with taking apart appliances when she was upset. “I had a dream,” she randomly offered, futzing over her coffee machine, because they needed coffee.

David let out a light laugh as he followed. “Sure,” he said, even though he knew she’d get him one anyway. He paused to give the dog a pat on the head, and politely said nothing about the toaster. But her next words caught him by surprise.

Standing up, David leaned back against the counter and watched her. “A dream,” he repeated. Of course, he didn’t know what part she might have dreamed. She might even be ahead of him or dreaming something totally different. But still … “What was it?”

Actually, Emma had been having a lot of dreams. She refused to talk about them or pay them much mind, because it was just too insane. Her dreams featured a lot of faces she had met in California, and she had been pretending she had just had acquaintances seeping from her life into her dreams. Only Ruby had the same dreams as he did, and David had said he dreamed of a town called Storybrooke...

"It was about this guy. Graham. He was... Losing his mind, he kept talking about not having a heart and not feeling anything but I was trying to help him and..." So much for coffee keeping her hands busy and mind clear. Emma did not cry easily, but remembering Graham crumpling to the floor and her pained sobs as she tried to resuscitate him... Emma gave a sudden choke as tears hit her like a club over the head.

David blinked, stepping forward a bit. She had the dream about Graham? David hadn't really known him, and he didn't have much to do with Emma in the dreams, but he knew how much it shook her up. He reached over to put his hand on Emma's shoulder.

"I'm sorry. I think I know what you dreamt, actually." Of course, David knew the back story from his own dreams, he could guess what had really happened to the sheriff.

Some people had the capacity to cry prettily, but Emma was not one of those girls. She got very red, terrible tear stains, her nose ran… just, you know, every awful crying symptom in a lovely ball. She hated that she was crying in front of David but like a faucet, they were on and she couldn’t stop it. She looked up at him, trying to find the words to explain why she was so upset, but they were too hard to track into a sentence.

She scratched at an eye like an animal that didn’t understand why it was in pain. “You… what?” she said intelligently. Had he had this dream, too? “Does he… I mean, is he…” Emma had woken up right after she’d seen Graham fall, tried to resuscitate him and failed. Maybe the ambulance had been able to revive him…

Somehow she knew that he was dead, but she would have liked a different answer anyway.

David wanted nothing more than to pull Emma into a hug, but he wasn’t sure they were at that point where he was allowed to do that. So instead, he rubbed small circles along her upper back, hoping in some way to be able to soothe her.

“I --” He paused. He wanted so badly to be able to tell Emma that, yes, Graham survived and everything was fine. But David knew he couldn’t lie to her. She’d dream it herself eventually. “There was no way to save him,” David told her, gently as he could. “I’m sorry.”

Emma had seen that answer coming, really. Obviously he was dead. He’d had no heartbeat, he hadn’t responded to anything she’d tried. She’d collapsed into tears instead of calling 911, of course he was dead. Still, it wasn’t the answer she’d wanted. Even if it was just a dream, even if Graham wasn’t supposed to be real, it had felt real. Kissing him, helping him, losing him…

She closed her eyes, trying to force herself to calm down. “I was trying to help him find his heart, you know? And Regina showed up and we got into it, and … he was helping me, at the station. We were talking, and…” It was probably weird telling David this. He didn’t want to hear about a random Irish sheriff in her dreams kissing her. “He was just … it’d been so long since somebody treated me like that.” Emma was so rough and gruff and having someone look at her like she was delicate and beautiful and deserving of being protected. “He kissed me, and he said he remembered, and then…” And then he was gone.

Okay, so maybe they weren’t at the point where they could hug, but David did it anyway. He pulled Emma over to him in a loose embrace, so she at least knew he was there for her, and give her a light squeeze.

“These … Dreams. They’re not easy. Some of them take a bit to adjust to, and some of them are awful, but you’re not alone. From the sounds of it, there’s a few of us dreaming all this, and even if no one else will listen to you, I will. I promise.”

Emma hadn’t exactly been expecting an embrace. She was usually pretty closed off with people, and they didn’t venture into her personal space. Mary Margaret was an exception to that rule, she’d never been wary to hug her. Emma was still for a moment but even though it was unexpected, she leaned against David and let him hug her. It felt … nice. Weird, but nice.

“I’m sorry for calling you and freaking out,” Emma mumbled, and she should be especially sorry for getting tear stains on his shirt. “I just… it seemed so real. Like he was really dying and there was nothing I could do.” She sniffled, shifting to cover her eyes with her palms as she tried to force herself to stop crying. It seemed whenever she cried it was like a water main bursting, and she could never get them to stop. “You … really didn’t have to come, but… thank you.”

“It’s all right,” he told her, still meaning it despite having said it a lot by now. David gave her a smile, sort of apologetic in nature. “I know. These dreams are … Strange. Storybrooke isn’t ever what it seems. I’m not really sure it’s going to get easier from here.” He squeezed Emma’s shoulder.

“If you ever need someone to talk to about them or something, you can always call me. I don’t mind at all.”

It had been long enough, he was probably thinking she was strange, leaning on him when they hardly knew each other. She was letting the David in her dreams overlap with the one in real life. She pulled away, looking slightly more recovered after she rubbed at her eyes.

It didn’t make sense, that he’d make an offer like that. He should care. He didn’t owe her anything, and it had to be a pain to run over here whenever she freaked out. Still, Emma couldn’t miss how genuine he was, so she nodded. “You … I mean. If you need something, you can call me too. Usually I’m not like this.”

“All right, it’s a deal,” he told her. David decided to get them both coffee, since Emma still seemed a bit on edge and he wasn’t certain he trusted her with glass mugs and hot liquids. He brought them to the table and sat down, motioning for her to join him.

It was weird to have David step in and take care of her, especially without asking. It was even weirder to let him, because Emma thrived in her independence. That didn’t stop her from just leaning against the counter, watching. When he beckoned for her to join him, she did. “Thanks,” she said, clearly a little more repaired now. At least she wasn’t crying. “Do you … want to talk more about your dreams? You’re in mine. Is that weird?” Yes, kind of, very. “I mean … not romantically,” Emma stumbled to correct herself. She placed a hand over her eyes as she explained, “You were in a coma and woke up when Mary Margaret read you a story, and then you wandered away but it turned out you had a wife and…” Wow, she was going to stop talking now!

“Yeah, I know,” he told her, laughing softly. “You’re in my dreams, after all. And Mary Margaret. And Regina. And Ruby.” David frowned a bit, thoughtfully. “It’s weird, isn’t it? All of us coming here around the same time and then all of us dreaming the same things.” He took a sip from his coffee.

“For the record, I just want to apologize. I know David in the dreams is a moron, but … He can’t help it. Not really. He means well. That doesn’t make him any less in the wrong about the things he chooses to do, but, it’s hard to see both sides of him. I just want to shake him and slap some sense into him, tell him to remember everything, but.” David shrugged. “I hope you don’t judge me because of him.”

“I don’t judge you. Or him. He just seems confused.” Granted, in Emma’s point in the dreams, Mary Margaret had recently burst into the sheriff’s office, nervous about the idea David had left his wife and not knowing what to do next. Dream Emma had given the questionable advice that her roommate go for it, even if the guy had just gotten out of a longterm relationship and a coma.

She just didn’t know how that shit advice ended up yet. “I met Regina. Here, I mean. I didn’t know it was her at the time. She was at the mall.” Emma paused toying with her cup. “It was weird.” It hadn’t been hostile or angry then, but Emma was not sure how much she wanted to get close to the woman now. Even understanding why she did what she did, Emma was not exactly at ease with how vicious she was.

“I met her, too. After these dreams,” he said, with a bit of an amused snort. “I can’t say it was a very comfortable meeting.” David still figured that he had been worried about Regina for nothing, but it was hard to shake the dreams off once they’d happened. “The whole thing is just messed up.”

Emma buried her head in her hands, as something had been bothering her and she hadn’t been brave enough to ask it yet. “In my dreams, there’s this kid named Henry. And he thinks the entire town is cursed.” She lifted her head up to catch David’s eyes. “And … you talk about being Prince Charming. Does that…” Mean the curse was real? That he was her father in her dreams? Oh god, this was weird.

Oh. David hadn’t actually intended on bringing any of that up. He was more than fine to let Emma worry about Graham and Storybrooke, and he was going to leave all the fairytale and cursed business out of it. He caught her look and held it for a moment before ducking his head, trying to figure out what to say. It was another thing he couldn’t lie about.

“I -- Yes,” he said, at last, answering the question she never really asked. She didn’t have to. David knew what she meant. “I think that’s … Why David is so confused by everything. When the curse hit, he was dying, he got sent to Storybrooke and put in a coma. So nothing ever had time to really stick or settle in.” David rubbed the back of his neck.

“I guess that makes sense,” Emma mumbled, because David had seemed particularly unsettled straight after waking. Like the bits and pieces he had didn’t fit together perfectly.
If Emma hadn’t heard about David’s dreams, she never would have believed it was possible. Emma agreed with Dream Emma that a town full of cursed fairytale characters was kind of insane. She didn’t believe it in the dream, and she wouldn’t have believed it in life if everyone around her wasn’t chirping that it was true. It was crazy enough to have the dreams in the first place, it was even crazier that she had met half of the cast. And her dream parents. Apparently.

“You’re … in the dream. Henry thinks that you and Mary Margaret are Prince Charming and Snow White --” and according to David’s dreams, he thought that too. “And he also thinks that you are … my …” This was possibly too weird to talk about. “But I mean … you’re not. Are you?”

David hadn’t come prepared at all. He knew that they’d have this talk some day. He just hadn’t expected it to be so soon. He cleared his throat and drank most of his coffee down.

“In my dreams, Mary Margaret and I are Snow White and Prince Charming,” he said, confirming that part, “and … When the curse was coming, we went to Rumplestiltskin in hopes of saving everyone. He said that our unborn child would be the key to saving us, so we knew we had to find a way to get our family out of there. Our daughter’s name was Emma,” David told her, “and the last thing I remember doing as Prince Charming was sending her through a wardrobe to save her. So … Yes. I think … Yes.”

Emma watched him with a very strong look, teetering on the edge of this is crazy and did I eat a pot brownie and forget? Because, really. “There was … a blanket. A baby blanket. Do you remember anything like that?” And it was kind of a test, and maybe it was stupid to test a man that was her dream father, but Emma couldn’t help it. It just seemed so ridiculous.

“Yes!” David said, almost more excited than he meant to be. It was just validation that he wasn’t crazy or grasping at straws. “A knit blanket. Granny was making it while we had our war council.” He paused. “Which sounds … Weird. I know. But it has your name on it.”

The blonde worried a lip, wondering if she should press him more. What color was it? What color was the ribbon with her name stitched into it? How big was it? Instead, she rose suddenly, probably making David think he’d said the wrong thing. Instead, Emma went to fetch something she’d woken up next to and promptly hidden in her linen closet because it freaked her out because dreams could not make items appear in her actual life.

When she reappeared, she gingerly placed the blanket on the table, because even if it freaked her out, she couldn’t be anything but careful with it. “Is this…” Something told her that yes, it was. With the white yarn and purple ribbon wound through the fabric, and her name stitched into the corner.

David reached over to touch the blanket. He had heard of people getting things from dreams, but this was the first he'd seen. After a moment, he laughed.

"The wardrobe was in another part of the castle. I had to run you to it, fighting off the queen's guard the whole way." He paused. "Not me. Dream David."

Though the dreams had a way of seeming real. This blanket, that should mean nothing to him, was stirring up a lot of emotions.

Emma returned to the spot on the table, looking into her coffee. “I don’t really … In the dream, I mean. I don’t really remember that. Just … I said something about remembering a woman with dark hair and a man with a warm smile.” That was pretty accurate of Mary and David, wasn’t it? It was fair that David was emotional, because something about the blanket did things to Emma, too.

“I don’t remember a castle or anything. But I could never get rid of the blanket, because it was nice to think about that at some point, my parents wanted me.” It sounded so awful out loud, but that was how she felt in the dreams. “Sorry.”

He smiled a bit, feeling sort of proud that that was her memory of him. A warm smile. Then he glanced down at the blanket again. “We -- Sorry, they,” he corrected, “always wanted you. Or her. Their daughter. It was so hard, putting all that trust into a hope, knowing it’d be almost three decades before anything could happen. But it was the best chance. Regina wouldn’t have given them the chance to ever be a family. If there was any other way, you know they would have stayed with their daughter.”

Emma drew her legs up close to her, holding her coffee cup between her palms. She seemed to sink into a ball when she was upset, so this was the closest she could manage. Luckily her dining room chairs were gigantic. “She would have been cursed, but maybe they could have been together,” Emma mumbled miserably, and that probably wasn’t fair. Stuck as a baby forever would probably have been miserable for all of them, especially since David was comatose and Mary Margaret was single. She just knew how miserable Emma was in the dreams, from a childhood that had scared her.

“I don’t … I mean, I don’t hold it against you.” Emma couldn’t look at him as she admitted it, but it was true. “It’s just a dream, right? It’s not like you did it to me.” Only it kind of felt like it, sadly enough. Emma had two shitty childhoods to be upset about.

David wasn’t so sure that they were just dreams. He knew how he was already feeling a bit affected by them, and he’d read enough things from other people about how the dream world starts to take over. But Emma didn’t need to hear that, not at that moment. So he gave her a soft smile and nodded. “Exactly.”