Daddy's little Saviour [Gold/Emma]

I'm not just a Savior

Emma was looking anywhere, but at the front door trying to understand just what sort of person lived here. Of course, after getting shoved into the real world setting, she'd given up the idea of false hope. Not wishing to trick herself into thinking she was getting anything remotely considering a forever home. Not after the last five or six homes had abandoned her and the seventh abusing her so she didn't hold much faith in this foster system. If she had her way, she'd have probably run off by now, but her social worker had promised her this time would be different. It was practically the only reason she did anything these days trying to please the people around her knowing now that sometimes it was dangerous to have an opinion. Still, she would try to be as friendly as possible towards her new prospective father figure. Granted, she wasn't hold out much hope that this would be any different and already had some thoughts of running away. Standing behind Eric, her social worker she felt someone safe even if he was far from trusting in her belief. After all, he had been the one that had sent her to that last home which had been a disaster if the scars and broken wrist were anything to go off of. She watched Eric knock on the door while she stood behind him just in case the new man tried to hurt her.

It was almost an expectation now despite Eric's constant attempts to assure the young girl that she was safe. She was never going to be safe because she didn't matter. Foster kids never mattered and were often treated so cruelly it was amazing that Emma still retained that loving, caring nature at all. She sighed contently tucking a lock of hair behind her head as she gazed around at the big house. It certainly was more than enough for her to explore at a later date assuming she didn't mess this up. It certainly seemed like it was her fault a majority of the time. She heard the door click open making her tense on instinct as she snapped to attention, her injured arm hidden behind her social worker. She swallowed thickly, shifting nervously from foot to foot as she tried to decide what to make of the man standing in front of her. He didn't seem very mean at the very least, but then again so did her last foster home making her sick just thinking about it. If anything, she started shaking and looking to Eric who tried to reassure the child knowing that was something needing to be discussed. On top of that was the fact she was on pills for her arm at the moment and would likely need that taken off.

"Mr. Gold I take it? Yes, this is," replied Eric as he offered his hand towards the other man.

Emma cast a long uncertain look towards the man, tilting her head to the side as she tried to figure him out. However, when he asked for her name, she took a rather uncertain step backward. She heard Eric sighing gently knowing that it was partly her fault for her sudden quietness. True, he hadn't been the one to abuse her or anything of the sort, but he had been entrusted with her care and had put her there to begin with. So of course, he was going to feel some of that guilt in what had befallen Emma as he tried to coax her into talking. She seemed to consider it for the longest time as she looked between both men, sizing up who was the biggest thread to her. Lowering her head though, she eventually moved forward though it was slow and cautious as Eric tried to guide her forward.

"My name is Emma. Emma Swan," replied the sweet young girl as she turned to greet the man despite it taking longer than it perhaps should have.

"She's a little on the quiet side at the moment, but she'll open up. I'm her social worker, Eric. I'll be checking up for the first little bit just to help with the adjustment process," replied Eric as he gestured for Emma to slowly move inside the house.

Emma tried to push back, but Eric eventually managed to convince her to get inside the house after Mr. Gold had allowed them entrance. She had to admit if she stayed longer than a few days, she wouldn't mind really trying to explore this place. Given how huge it seemed, odds were that were a few secret passages or something. That was what her curious nature suspected from the books she had read about. She sighed contently, as she set her jacket up in the closet and gazed around at the seemingly expensive taste of this man. She wasn't so willing to call him Dad just yet as none of them had even come close to fit that bill yet. Until further notice he was simply a man that was interested in her and that was all.

that's only half of who I am.

I'm not just a Savior

Eric knew it was more than just shyness plaguing the young girl's mind and making her became rather skittish. He juxt didn't want to traumatize her further by bringing up the abuse that she had endured. At least though she had been able to give the man her name even if it had taken her quite a bit. You couldn't really blame the girl after what had happened to her, but at least she hadn't taken off which was a good start. Normally, he tended to receive a lot of trouble from Emma the first little bit when he would try to set her up with a new home, but this time she had nodded and gotten into the car that morning. Which brought them to this moment running a hand over his face. He knew the first day was always the hardest what with the first meet and having to inform the potential parents of anything critical. It was definitely going to be a long day which was why he had headed out early noting that it was about 10 in the morning. Emma didn't really seemed to care though as if she had resigned herself to some fate even if he was determined to, in his own way, protect her. He could only hope that this would be the last time she had to move, but the future seemed so uncertain at this point in time. He hoped so for her sake at least as Mr. Gold eventually stepped away from the door allowing them inside.

He, of course, walked in without any sort of hesitation as he took a look around the room, but as predicted Emma stood hesitantly at the door. She glanced around nervously trying to get a sense of the place or even of the owner as she turned her head debating whether to turn and run. She knew Eric wouldn't let her get very far as it wasn't like she even really knew this place so even by that standard there was no point. So she slowly stepped into the house, startling as the door was closed behind him while Emma moved to hang up her jacket. It wasn't much of a warm jacket considering most of her clothes were packed up in the trunk of Eric's car at this point. Her eyes roving around the house as though scanning for any potential threats unaware of the connection she could have had with the man in front of her. In fact, the only thing she knew was that she'd been abandoned on the side of the road and shipped from foster home to foster home. That was the extent of her knowledge of this world as curiosity got the better of her and she felt the temptation to explore. Except, for the small fact that she was trying not to get herself worked up so that when this failed it would hurt a little less.

She turned though when Mr. Gold started speaking again saying how he hoped to make this arrangement work. That through her for a curve ball considering he didn't seem the type to like children. Still she would try to give him the benefit of the doubt and try to stop just making assumptions of people. Worse case, she could stay just long enough to orient herself and eventually run off when things too a turn for the worse. She wasn't stupid and she knew the older she got the harder it was going to become for her to get adopted. She was lucky enough to get adopt now at her current age so in a couple of years it would next to impossible.

"Emma, don't go wandering off just yet. You'll have plenty of time to do so later," replied Eric, startling Emma out of her thoughts having been unaware she'd left the front entrance way.

Emma heard the man offer to go into the living room and talk, but that didn't seem like her ideal moment. She was tired from the drive over here and having to get up rather early. She just wanted to get herself comfortable and sleep off the pain which was starting to register under the blue cast around her wrist. Still, she knew better than to disobey her social worker even if he didn't really hold much authority over her. She just allowed him to think that way most of the time and she did know he still felt truly awful about the events of her last foster home. Stepping back down the stairs, she slowly came and made her way into the living room as Mr. Gold suggested they should. Making her way into the room, she immediately moved to settle on the couch as a tired yawn escaped her lips. She really could just about fall asleep right here as the couch was rather comfortable. In fact, she had just started to doze off when the music started to seemingly come out of nowhere startling her.

"It's alright, Emma. It's just my alarm on my phone. Emma why don't you see about getting yourself some water," replied Eric reassuringly knowing it was probably the time to talk to Mr. Gold.

Emma grumbled something rather unintelligently as she slowly dragged herself off the couch after taking the two pills out that Eric offered her from the small pill bottle he carried. Nothing major just some pain medication to help with her arm and other pain filled areas of her body. She hesitantly glanced her way towards Mr. Gold, before slowly shuffling out of the room and allowing the two adults to talk briefly about the matter at hand. The fact that she'd been regretfully left in an abusive situation which was the reason she was so skittish and shy. Eric didn't want to sugarcoat anything knowing that this would come up on its own and telling him about the medication designed to help with her arm and other injuries. He had just finished though as Emma returned from the kitchen carrying a glass of water.

"Find everything okay, Emma?" asked Eric carefully as she came to sit down a safe distance from either adult.

"Yes, sir. Thank you, for taking me in," replied Emma as an afterthought knowing it was probably the polite thing to do as she stiffly sat back in the chair. Almost like she couldn't be certain whether it was okay to even be there in the first place. She gave the man a small smile which in turn made Eric relax if only slightly. If she could even get that much out over this short period of time, then he was confident that this may just work itself out in the end. Provided they both worked at it and both actually wanted this relationship.

that's only half of who I am.

I'm not just a Savior

While her social worker had talked to Mr. Gold, Emma had busied herself with a bit of a tour of what she assumed to be her new home for awhile. Even if it was just temporary and he eventually gave her back because of some unknown instances that she couldn't quite be sure of. After all, there always seemed to be something that came along and destroyed any bit of happiness she might have come to know. Which was why she stopped allowing herself to indulge in fantasies because they just simply didn't exist in her life. No one was going to come and rescue her so that meant she was going to have to do it herself. At least, that was what she was believing to thinking from the countless families letting her down. Foster children were rarely well received in most cases anyways and some just tended to be luckier than others. She sighed gently running a hand over her face knowing she'd already had a rather long day. She wanted nothing more than to go to sleep even though it was still fairly early in the day. Wasn't like she was sleeping properly though from the constant nightmares.

She figured the adults were more than entertained and so she had decided to investigate the man level of the house. Managing to find the kitchen relatively fast and a few other rooms. Hard to believe that it was all hers to really explore later on. Preferably when the man was asleep as she sometimes did her best adventuring late at night. Not always, but she didn't want to run the risk of getting punished for having a nightmare. It only would show him how pathetic she was and then he'd probably send her back as quickly as possible. Surely, she would at least attempt to give him a chance. Even if she had more than enough reason to be hateful of all new families and not even try. No one could really blame her, but she still retained that sweet loving nature within her and would do what she always did. Attempt to befriend the man and do whatever she could to avoid being left abandoned once more. She wasn't going to kid herself knowing that she was probably a lot more work than a regular kid.

She continued to explore the house finding the washroom much to her relief and a few other rooms including a very nicely laid out dining room. She stared in awe of it all before she figured that she had wasted more than enough time and went to get herself some water. Locating a glass took some time, though considering a lot of them were on shelves far too high for her to reach. Still, she was a resourceful young thing and ended up grabbing a chair to place in front of the shelves. Picking up one of the glasses firmly in her hand she made sure to carefully ease off the chair. She made sure to put it right back by the smaller table and filled the cup half full of water. It hurt using her bad arm, but it was mostly protected by the cast even if she was starting to feel the effects of having a broken wrist. At least the doctor was nice enough to wrap it up all pretty like so that it was blue which was one of her favorite colours at the given time. She had only just arrived back as Mr. Gold mentioned that she was safe with him. Making her hang back just a moment or so,

"I'm glad to hear that. She deserves it after what she's been through. I've already failed her so many times," admitted Eric, feeling a little downtrodden about it all as he ran a hand over his face.

Emma was a bit surprised to hear the remorse in her social worker's voice as he mentioned that he had already failed her enough times before. Carefully she had taken that moment to ease into the room as Eric tilted his head up and gave her a small encouraging smile. He, of course, had asked her if she had any trouble getting herself some water, but she merely shook her head. She was smart and had already begun to figure the place out. It was certainly going to take her awhile to adjust to this big house, but she was good at adapting to new situations. It normally only took her a couple of days to get herself sorted out, but with people it took much longer. Sitting back down in the chair after taking her pills which Eric had kindly offered over to Mr. Gold, she attempted to settle herself. However, unlike where she normally went quiet and didn't talk, she actually surprised herself by thanking him for letting her stay with him.

He then looked to her with a small smile which made Emma feel perhaps just a little bit better. That maybe this arrangement wouldn't perhaps be all bad. She still wasn't sure why he was calling her by her last name. After all, most of the people in her life just called her Emma because that was her name. She looked to Eric, but he gave her the hint to just go with it which is what she did. Turning as she looked at him, finding it surprising when he thanked her in return. She blinked a few times as though in confusion since nobody had ever said that before. She really didn't even know what to say in return to that. Eric seemed to take the opportunity though to speak once again,

"Well now, why don't we see about getting your stuff out of the car. We'll do a few little paperwork things and then I'll leave you two to get settled with each other," suggested Eric as he looked to Emma gauging her reactions a lot of the time.

Whether she was happy, sad, withdrawn or even scared as one tended to have to focus alot on her body language rather than her words. At the moment though she seemed to perk up a little knowing she enjoyed unpacking boxes and exploring every new room that she was brought into. Sure, she only got herself hurt later, but she couldn't help it. She loved organizing her new rooms every chance she got. She immediately jumped up and took off towards the front as Eric tossed her the keys to the car. He just laughed a little glad to see that she still had that little childish innocence still in there. Slowly rising to his feet he moved to help Emma with her things.

that's only half of who I am.

I'm not just a Savior

Even though she was a bit hesitant to start to even consider getting close to another human being, Emma was always still fond of decorating a new room. It was after all the one pleasant thing she enjoyed about it all even if sometimes it seemed like a waste of time some days. She just couldn't help it and at times it seemed like a curse that her curiosity sometimes seemed to get the better of her. She knew Eric was just trying to get her to branch out and well attempt to give the man a chance. She always did even if it left her heartbroken and depressed. He just was so good at reading her that it almost sad to believe she'd known this social worker for just about all of her life. That it was her social worker that was more parent than any of the others that had taken her in. She knew he was always good at getting her in a better mood. Starting with the unpacking of boxes which always put her in the happiest moment even for a temporary time. She may not know where her future would go, but for this briefest of moments she would try to accept what was there in front of her. Plus, she was rather curious about what her new bedroom was going to look like even if she didn't last long in the house.

Of course, she had booked it out of there without even a second glance at Mr. Gold with the biggest smile on her face. Eric just merely chuckled as he followed his little protege out the door. Scolding her when she attempted to unlock the trunk and take out some of the much heavier things. Things she should certainly not been talking upstairs while her wrist was in such a state making Emma wince a little. Eric sighed heavily as he tried to placate to Emma that he didn't mean anything by it. He knew she was still just a little too sensitive around things of this nature. That she would be scared of punishments like she'd received from the old family that was currently facing charges. Not hard considering they had seen the father beating on her as they came to collect her that very day. He was utterly horrified when he saw that and knowing Emma had been just so scared living with him never saying a word for it at all. He couldn't even begin to know how much she had endured only that it was bad from the nightmares and consistent wetting of the bed.

He felt truly awful about it all, and while he had tried to get her to open up, Emma was simply too scared. So he'd let the conversation go in hopes later on she might open up the idea of it all. Until then it was mostly under speculation what had befallen the young girl. So for awhile things would be strained and confusing as she tried to adjust to a new home and new rules. He just hoped that this man could be the match she needed. Be the person that would be there for her when and if she decided to open up about those two weeks. Gently running his hand over her shoulder to comfort her, he ignored the flinch knowing she'd have to get use to physical touch once more. He gave her a small smile before gesturing for her to take something a little lighter. Carefully she picked up a bag containing some of her clothing. Really she didn't have much on her except her clothing and few mementos from one of her other homes. After all, it wasn't like she stayed long enough at any of them for it to even really matter what she had but it was enough she supposed.

Probably long overdue with a trip to get new clothes and maybe toys since she really had nothing except a teddy bear from one of the homes. Making sure to use her good hand while Eric carried the box containing some of those mementos including a few snow globes from Eric himself for her birthday she headed back to the house. She gave Mr. Gold a shy smile as she stopped awaiting Eric as he followed along behind her. Giving her a small encouraging look she slowly followed the man up the stairs and down to hall occasionally glancing at a few of the rooms that had the doors opened. Most of them were kind of small except for the one that he eventually came to opening the door to her room. She stared in awe at it all as did Eric as she looked around noting a window seat and a rather large room. She was almost afraid to step inside it worried she might get in trouble with the man. Even though it wasn't decorated, it was more than enough for a little orphan girl. Realistically, anything even so small as getting a new room was big for the little girl. Unlike most she didn't take things for granted like some kids might.

"Well, would you look at that? All this space to yourself? You're going to need to get more stuff," joked Eric, trying to lighten the mood knowing she was a bit apprehensive.

"Oh..that's alright..I'm fine," lied Emma, making Eric sigh as he moved to set the box in her room and moved towards the young girl.

"Emma, things are different now. I know you're happy with just the basics, but wouldn't you like some new books and stuff?" asked Eric trying to get Emma to believe she worth something.

"No...too expensive, not good enough," mumbled Emma, backing away from Eric when he tried to take her hand.

Eric attempted again to take her hand and try to get her back to a happier time, but she backed off and actually started running down the stairs. Eric cursed hoping she wasn't going to start this again knowing she did have a habit of running away. He was going to need to stop joking around with her so much. He knew that she was dealing with a lot and that this perhaps may have been too much, but he just had a good feeling about this man. When he didn't find her outside, he looked through the house finding her out in the back garden. He wanted to go to her, but he knew that she may not take to that very well and it wasn't like she could go very far. He sighed instead deciding he would give her some time alone and get the remainder of her stuff before leaving them be. He knew Emma just needed some time alone to adjust to her situation and find herself again.

"I think I'll leave the paperwork for you to sign and just give you the rest of her stuff, Mr. Gold. She's well, she just needs some time. If you do have any problems, Emma knows my number and it's on this business card. Just be patient," replied Eric as quietly as possible just in case Emma decided to eavesdrop. That said he went back out to the car grabbing the last two small boxes from his car, the paperwork and his business card bringing them to the house. A few more simple words and he took his leave for the day knowing he'd be back in the morning.

that's only half of who I am.