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[cursebreaking]

"You've reached Emma Swan. Leave a message and I'll get back to you as soon as possible."

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[belovedson]

[His mind is still reeling, thoughts spinning in circles as questions come and are shoved away. He doesn't want to know, doesn't want to hear any of this, because that makes it real. He's learned that there's so much uncertainty when it comes to anything, things that people think are set in stone turn out not to be. He thought he'd lost Emma eleven years before she showed up in Manhattan. His dad, centuries before that day.

But final? Final's a hard thing to get past. Then Emma shuts down, and yeah, Neal recognizes it. She's protecting herself, because they both know she sure as hell can't protect him from it. Final and it's partner, I'm sorry, twin hammers driving the truth home, except Neal's pretty sure it'd easier if someone were pounding actual nails into his body.

She's not going to give him more than that without him asking. He knows it just from the way she curls inward, and that's probably good. There's no part of this he wants, but that doesn't mean there aren't things he has to ask. His mouth has gone dry, words still not coming easy, yet he's got responsibilities. Beyond asking how or why or anything like that, there's someone else he needs to take care of first, so Neal forces out the words, somehow trying to make them sound less broken than he feels.]

Does Henry know? [Has he lived through the horror of losing his dad, Neal breaking his promise to be there? But if he thinks about it, Neal may already have the answer to that too. The way Henry had hugged him when he first showed up, the looks that didn't quite make sense--

God, how the fuck did any of this happen?]

[cursebreaking]

[She nods slowly, finding that confirmation to be easier than words -- of course Henry knew. She could never keep that from him; they had grieved together, were still grieving, having secret meetings in Henry's room where they discussed how to handle this, what to tell Neal, if to tell Neal. Whether or not they told him hadn't been a question for more than a moment or two, but this wasn't how it was supposed to be -- not that any other method would have been better.]

He knows. He's-- he's never dealt with something like this before.

[Archie's death hadn't quite counted; even when they'd truly thought him dead, they weren't faced with the prospect of telling him. Loss was still new to Henry. He was young -- he hadn't experienced the same continued losses both of his parents had early in life.

She knew exactly what Neal had to be thinking. He didn't want to leave Henry alone, didn't want to abandon him the way his own father had abandoned him.

So much for those dreams. Outside of Wonderland, there was nothing that could be done about it.]

I promised him I would tell you when the time was right.

[belovedson]

[He huffs out a breath, almost a laugh, but it's short and bitter. Great. The one lesson Neal actually gets to teach his son is that people die, even his dad, so get used to it now, kid. He would've much rather stuck with the play swords, thanks. He would rather have been a father, spent those years with his son and giving him everything Neal had once had before his own dad went Dark. Instead he ran, and kept running, and by the time he finally started to get things right?

He's dead.]

Nice to know one of us managed to keep our promises. [He mutters it more to himself than to Emma, slowly shaking his head. Even thinking he made it back to Storybrooke has lost all sense of comfort now. He still doesn't know how or why he dies, but does it even matter? He does, he can't change it. No one can, and it's too fucked up for him to handle.]

I can't deal with this right now. [Family traits, right? As much as Neal's tried to get away from it (ha), he's his father's son. Running is what he's good at, and he falls back on it almost on instinct. Sliding out of the booth, he barely even looks at Emma. It isn't her fault, she did what she had to, and on some level Neal knows that. But right now, it's too much. Too fresh, too painful, and he might actually throw something if he sees her twisting that ring one more time.

He's not going to stop. Unless she actually grabs him, Neal's going to be out the door without looking back.]