when the wild calls

some know him as the man with a captive heart, locked away in the Queen's chambers, others know him as the huntsman. The lonely hunter who roams the enchanted forest with only a wolf as his companion. Now he is known as Graham Humbert, the humble sheriff of Storybrooke. {indie ouat}

[headstrongsavior-blog]

Emma frowned, unable to keep any emotion from flickering across her face when it came to the man standing before her especially as he turned away wanting to keep it professional. “So that’s how we’re going to play this then? Like nothing happened.” So much for that.

[withacaptiveheart-blog]

"As opposed to what exactly, making a scene in front of half the town? How about we work and talk later, yeah? Unless you want to take care of it now?" It was hard to keep true to form, whatever that meant for him, certainly when she kept pressing on the ways he did. Looking back at the stubborn deputy he'd take on, Graham shook his head. "Which will it be?"

[headstrongsavior-blog]

"I’ve done it before and I’ll do it just fine again. And he’s.. fine. The same can’t be said for the rest of this police force though.. No, thanks. I wouldn’t want you to pull something actually thinking for yourself. I have my own."

[withacaptiveheart-blog]

"I'm sure you can but bodies keep stacking up and I can't exactly rest easy when that's happening. So let's get to work deputy," He sets aside the extra cup in hand and takes a sip of his own, glancing towards the yellow tape before shrugging off her quip. "Another on?"

[headstrongsavior-blog]

"I guess not. Though you’re not the only one here anymore so there’s not a need for you to shadow me if that was your plan. I’ve got this. Go home and enjoy your day off while you still can."

[withacaptiveheart-blog]

"And do what exactly Swan, leave all of this for you to handle on your own? The kids still not in tip-top form and it's just you and me. Coffee?"

[headstrongsavior-blog]

"I’m sure if you really wanted the day off all you’d have to do is be a little less rested in the morning.”

[withacaptiveheart-blog]

"I tried that once I think, and then somebody called me saying there was an emergency. Can't really say 'no' to crime, can I?"

[headstrongsavior-blog]

"I thought you were off today."

[withacaptiveheart-blog]

"These days we can't get a day off if we tried, at least one of us looks refreshed this morning."

[headstrongsavior-blog]

[ he flinched beneath her touch, adding another line of anger or concern, maybe both, to Emma’s face as she dropped her outstretched hand and crossed her arms once again, taking up the defensive but feeling empty and unable to touch on the temper that’d been flaring up earlier ] Who says I haven’t been playing nice as well? [ She had been for Henry’s sake and those who’d slowly but surely become part of her life the longer she was there, like he’d been at one point, but she’d give it all up if it meant keeping them safe. ] Don’t worry about me.

[withacaptiveheart-blog]

I won't. [He nearly crumbled, recovering his sense of exterior as he turns away from her casually looking back as he once more turns his back on her. He wanted to offer more, to tell her to mind which line crossed and think about it, before getting overly emotional and careless. All Regina needed was one hearty mistake, and it was over for her.] See in the morrow.

[headstrongsavior-blog]

[ She shouldn’t have stopped. She shouldn’t have listened to him. And most of all she shouldn’t have turned around and stalked back up until she was less than a foot away from him with her seething temper in tow. ] If this is your home, then act like it. Because right now, all I see in front of me is a cowardly, little man, one who is ready to go hide at the bottom of a bottle while this town goes to shit and people keep ending up dead. And that’s not you. [ Her voice broke, anger dying out as quick as it had risen as she reached out a hand against his chest before she even realized what it was she’d done. ] It’s not. It’s her. I don’t know what power she’s got over you or why you’d rather be like this than fight for the town you call a home but she doesn’t have that power over me so fire me. I don’t care. It won’t stop me. She can’t stop me.

[withacaptiveheart-blog]

[Primal satisfaction was written in the lines of his face as she turned back around, anger radiating off of her like some mystic aura as she stalked forward. For a second he could of sworn she was going to strike him, and rightfully so as everything he threw at her was well aimed and more for sport. He hoped she might in a twisted way, until her fury withered with his amusement and he found himself stepping backwards but unable to avoid the hand that rested over his chest. It made the cold lump in his chest rise and fall, its beat out of pattern sending whatever dark, cynical comeback he had spiraling out into oblivion. 

If only she knew how his mind often circled around Regina with the obedience of a lap dog with no understanding of why, or how tainted and heartless his master truly was. He hardly question his unwavering adherence to her until he felt his heart stir beneath her touch, he hadn't flinched until right then.] I'm not gonna fire you...but you need to be careful, 'round her I mean. [It was the one thing that he could manage squeeze out of his malfunctioning skull before he moved out from beneath her simple touch putting as much distance between them as he could.] It'll only be a matter of time before she stops playing nice.

[headstrongsavior-blog]

You think that’s what you’re doing right now? Seeing things better than me because you’ve been here longer? Because from where I stand, it looks like you’re drinking yourself into an early grave just as everything is getting a bit too tough for you to handle. [ Her words were sharp, trying to cut him as easily as his nonchalance was cutting through her. This was not the man she thought she knew or the one that’d been by her side up until a few weeks before. This was a man who was giving up and it made her sick to her stomach, clenched fists that had no where to go as she stood her ground even though she knew it was a losing stand. ] This isn’t a fairy tale, I know that. This is people’s lives, this is their town, and for the time being, it’s my life and my town. I’m not going to stand by and watch it burn to the ground but if that’s what you want, have at it. [ Enough was enough, her temper had finally snapped as she shook her head at him before finally giving up with trying to talk to him, this time it was her walking away as she turned from him and started back towards the loft she was sharing with Mary Margaret. ] Get some sleep.

[withacaptiveheart-blog]

That's exactly right, go ahead and make your judgments about me,about Regina and this town because really you don't even know the half of it. This is hardly your home. [If talons hadn't been dug in him like a tick, he never would have said it, wouldn't have looked at her with the disapproving one he had now as he looked down his nose at her. A part of him didn't know where the words had even come from, flowing from his tongue without a proper thought.] Why don't you go home Deputy while you still have a job. [He held no remorse as he called after her, a half empty threat that was more real than not especially with Regina involved.] 

[headstrongsavior-blog]

Someone has to because you don’t seem to care. If you gave a shit about anything, would you be there tonight? Drinking yourself stupid in front of the whole town? They don’t need to see that. So stop making this about anything more than that. [ Giving in the exhaustion and anger in her own body, Emma held up her hands for a moment before letting them drop by her sides once again with a frown deepening on her face. He was right, to a point, but it didn’t make it any easier to hear when she’d spent the past few weeks avoiding him and everything he’d been trying to say to her. She hadn’t wanted to hear it for a reason, one that should have been glaringly obvious but she didn’t want to admit to herself. ] If you wanted a moment of rest, you sure have a hell of a way of showing it.

[withacaptiveheart-blog]

[And there it was, the single most truth about him that had come to light since heads started popping up left and right- he simply didn't care as much as the rest. It was gruesome, barbaric, inhuman things they had both witnessed, he knew morally it was wrong, an innocent life taken without any significance. He should have felt more remorse extending beyond his thick skin, he could chock it down to the job wearing on him, growing accustom to the violence that was increasing at rapid rates. A small part hoped that were the case, but lying to himself wouldn't help him or her; he accepted what he was. Unfeeling.] I don't think you've been here long enough to tell me what this town does or does not need, maybe they should be scared. We can fake whatever we need to get by in the mean time but they already know it, we're fucked until they make a mistake. [He shrugs, nonchalant and tone aloof, stoic against the heat of the whiskey in his gut, burning, the only thing that seemed to cause any sensation within him.] That's the truth about it Emma, 'least I can see than better than you, I'm not going to folly in some fairytale where we come out on top. 

[headstrongsavior-blog]

Dammit, Graham, then stop acting like it! [ She dropped her arms as she raised her voice, dropping her head with a swift shake as she moved in place but didn’t leave. He wouldn’t listen to reason, wouldn’t take what she’d offered him instead chose to dwell in the mess that was trying to drown them all and she knew that it was partly her fault. Exasperated, she gave a heavy sigh as she looked back up and over at him. ] So you can what? Drink yourself into an early grave and avoid any of your responsibilities? You can’t. Alright, you just can’t. People like us don’t get the easy way out, there’s no such thing and if you think for a moment that I’m going to stand around and let you try, think again.

[withacaptiveheart-blog]

[He seethed beneath the surface, holding back as he fixed strained eyes upon her torn between walking away or confronting her further. In the back of his mind he heard that tiny voice, that speck of reason that told him to simply let it go, to accept it, to fight it. As quick as it had spoken up it was crushed by something stronger, greater than himself silencing it as the anger slipped from his tensed features giving way to a coldness that sprawled from his chest all the way up into his head.] So I have one drink too many and now you care about what I do, or don't do or how I feel? You know, all I asked for tonight was a few moments to myself and away from the job, away from you. Just a moment of rest, that's it.

[headstrongsavior-blog]

[ Crossing her arms with an evener crosser tilt to her head as she looked at him, Emma didn’t comment on the tone he now carried with her. If not them, then who? He might have been in Regina’s pocket but it was for the benefit of the whole town, her included, that they catch whoever was behind the deaths that had been scattered all over town. They had to ignore everything else and put that first, if they could. ] Stop. I already told you. You’re not going to get any pity here, Graham. Just.. keep it together long enough to figure this out and then when it’s done, you can go about your business and I’ll go about mine. 

[withacaptiveheart-blog]

[With a toss of his head he growled in frustration, the alcohol diminishing and sense of right or wrong he might have carried with him as the darkness grabbed hold once more.] How many times do I have to tell you Emma, I don't want your fucking pity okay, or your loathing for that matter either. I don't want or need a damn thing from you, so just leave me be.

[headstrongsavior-blog]

Well you’re damn sure acting like it. [ Her words sharp even as she regretted them, swallowing thickly as she pushed aside any of the anger and discomfort she felt when she looked over him again. Her face softened as she took in a shaky breath, trying to stop herself from visibly shaking beneath both the heaviness of his eyes and sound of her own heart crashing in her chest the more he spoke. ] Maybe you’re not that man. Or maybe you are and you just need to be reminded of that. Regina aside, you’re the best chance this town has in figuring out who is behind all these deaths and they can’t      we can’t watch you fall apart. [ As she stepped closer she could see the dark circles, the extra lines on his face, and everything else that had been eating at him over the past few weeks. Some of it was her fault but she couldn’t think about that now, not when they needed to work together even if she couldn’t stand the influence Regina had over him. ] There’s a reason you’re Sheriff and it’s not her. Go home, sleep this off, and come back to me tomorrow and we’ll figure this out, together.

[withacaptiveheart-blog]

Together? [There's as much disbelief as there is uncertainty in his tone as looks at her, there was no us, no together, with a sheriff who could barely keep it together, a deputy who spent more days out of the office than in and her. She wasn't a cop, wasn't trained to be one, he threw her under the bus the day he hired her and sure, she enamored the town and was brilliant at it. If anyone should have been in his position, it should have been her.] Maybe you're right, maybe you're not, maybe some sleep will do us some good, and maybe we'll catch a break and someone will make a mistake. Maybe. [He didn't know how much longer he could fight her, the judging look she wore that cut through him and cut him down to bits and pieces. Running a hand through his hair he gave one last defeated sigh, accepting it, her, and them, the universal front they embodied that he was slowly losing faith in and he didn't even know why.]

[headstrongsavior-blog]

[ She should have let him go, knowing exactly where he was heading without even needing to hear her name. It was written all over his face when he turned around, her breath hitching in her chest as she stopped just shy of running straight into him. ] It doesn’t matter. [ It didn’t. It couldn’t. Not when there was more important things to be dealt with than why it upset her so much that he was sleeping with Regina, why he continued to work for her like some kind of pet on a leash, and why she struggled against flat out walking away from it all. ] What they need is you. What we all need is you. So to answer your question, yes, it’s too much to ask for as long as this town still has any hope of being free of whoever is doing all this because at the end of the day, they all depend on you. If you fail, you try again because that’s what you do, that’s what the Sheriff does. He doesn’t give up and get drunk where everyone can see him. If you want a pity party, go home, because you’re not going to get one here.

[withacaptiveheart-blog]

I don't want your pity. [The words are soft despite the anger that's boiling beneath his cracked surface, the anger that's losing its battle against her with everything she's saying more accurate than he wants to believe. He might as well had admitted his defeat that night in the bar, with every pair of pitying eyes on him as he found himself crumbling beneath the pressure. He wasn't sure how much longer he would last.] What am I supposed to? My mind is restless with it all, running day and night and every waking moment in between where I can figure it out. How do we fight what we can't see, huh? I bet by the time I wake tomorrow there'll be another name to add to our list and farther from the truth. [He regretted the words as soon as they came out, it was the last thing he wanted, the last thing he needed was another lost soul because of his failure.] You already know I'm not that man Emma...you said it yourself, I'm doing what I can but it's not enough. It's not.

[headstrongsavior-blog]

[ It felt like she’d been slapped, by his words more than his actions when she’d all but pushed him towards the door and out of the public eye as he drowned who knows how many drinks. Still, Emma frowned as she followed him out, her temper flaring as quickly as her heels hit the pavement before she called out to him. ] Don’t make this out to be something else than what it is, Graham. This isn’t about you or me or even her. [ Even though the thought of him going back to her place left a twist in her chest that she’d hadn’t felt in years, a feeling that was getting harder to push aside every time she looked at him. ] This is about what the town needs when people are dying and we’re no closer to figuring out who it is that’s behind them. They don’t need to see you like this. [ She didn’t want to see him like this. ]

[withacaptiveheart-blog]

[He was fine with parting ways as he huffed, his chest heaving and heart thudding in an off-beat rhythm that had his vision blurring. He wanted to drown out the sound of her coming after him, ignore the sound of her voice as it followed him like his shadow and forced him to stop and turn.] Then why do you keep bringing it up, huh? Why grab the knife and twist every, damn time Emma, why? [She had seen all that there was to see of him, the broken, shattered shards of a man who once cared but could no longer bring himself to find the remorse that outweighed everything else.] Is it? because what they need is a miracle, Emma, we are no more further to finding who's done this than we were yesterday, or the day before, and the day before that. Can't you see this is beyond us? Fucking heads show up and there's nothing, no trace evidence, not a damn clue that brings us closer. So forgive me while I try and forget, for a few hours, how I keep failing them over, and over again. Is that too much to ask?

[headstrongsavior-blog]

[ Emma grit her teeth, dropping her hand over the top of his glass as she glared at the waitress who was about to refill his glass until she backed off. ] I don’t give a shit what you’re trying to prove to yourself or anyone else but this is not what you need to be doing right now. This is not what the town needs to see in it’s Sheriff, getting drunk in the middle of the week because he ‘needs’ it. Do it at home or better yet, do it at Regina’s. There I’m sure you’ll get someone to listen to your whining because everyone else doesn’t need to hear it. [ She lifted her hand from the glass, stepping back from him as she adjusted her jacket with a huff. ] Go home, please.

[withacaptiveheart-blog]

[There's a growl int he back of her throat at her actions, even more so as the waitress seemed to do as she was instructed by his 'partner'. Looking up at her, he waits before grabbing his jacket and rising from his seat.] Doesn't that get old? Throwing her in my face like it's supposed to hurt, like it will make it easier for you to wrap your head around. Just because you don't like it, because it eats away at you, doesn't give you the right to try and milk me for more guilt. I told you I was sorry, how many times now but of course 'sorry' isn't good enough for you, is it? [He brushes past her, calling to the waitress over his shoulder to add it to his tab.] Nothings good enough for you.

[headstrongsavior-blog]

I’m going to choose to ignore that because I’m fairly certain that’s not your first drink or even close to it. Maybe you should take a walk, get some air before you say something you might regret even more later.

[withacaptiveheart-blog]

There's a first. [He takes another drink, ignoring her as he taps the glass for another.] What good will that do me? I'm perfectly fine right where I am now, why would I mess up a good thing while its going strong. 

[headstrongsavior-blog]

You said it yourself. You’re not on duty so that’s not how this chain of command works. I’m not going to say it again, go home, before one drink turns into one more and that turns into four. I know exactly how that goes. You’re no good to the station if you come in hungover tomorrow.

[withacaptiveheart-blog]

Yet I am still the sheriff, unless you want that job for yourself. I'm sure you do, wouldn't surprise me in anyway, anything to get you one step closer to the mayor.