AN: This is my first published fanfic, so I could really use any and all feedback that you can give me. So please let me know what I need to work on, and if applicable, what I did well so I can improve my writing for the upcoming chapters :D Sorry this first chapter is also relatively short. I guess it's more of a prologue than a full chapter... And last but not least, I obviously don't own OUAT or any of the show's characters. Enjoy :)
Emma pushed through the debris, a mixture of fallen rocks and random objects that had collapsed when Anton first came thundering through the, for lack of a better term, castle. Hook was still alive here somewhere, she knew it and sure enough, pushing a particularly large chunk of ceiling out of the way, Emma heard the reassuring sound of Hook scrambling to emerge from the rubble.
"You," he gasped, catching his breath as the first genuine smile Emma had ever seen on Hook spread across his face, "are bloody brilliant. Amazing. May I see it? The compass."
Emma stared at his extended hand, her own hesitantly grabbing the cool metal in her jacket pocket and holding it just out of Hook's reach. Her eyes never left the compass as he examined it, remarking on its beauty. She knew she couldn't trust him. She couldn't trust him with the compass, she couldn't trust him with Snow's life and she sure as hell couldn't trust him with her one chance at getting back to Henry. And that was why she had to do this; she was doing this for Henry, for Snow and for herself. She just couldn't afford to take a chance on him. Sure, she felt bad about betraying Hook like this, but it had to be done. Emma had learned long ago that sometimes, she had to do the wrong thing if she wanted to survive.
And so, with a shake of her head and mere reminder that, oh yeah, this guy was a pirate, every shred of doubt Emma had over Hook's true allegiance vanished. Quickly pocketing the compass and slowly backing away, the blonde swallowed her guilt and prepared to make her exit, the plan racing through her head as she eyed the shackle at Hook's feet.
"Come. Let's go," Hook said, indicating that they should get a move on.
But just as Emma was about to reach for the hand cuff, her attention was caught by a flash of purple light just behind her. Taken by surprise, she moved to turn around and in the process, took a step back. A rush of color, the sound of Hook's voice screaming her name, the feeling of being shrunken and sucked into a miniscule pipe, and a moment later, she was gone.
"Swan! No!" Hook knew exactly what had just happened and he knew he had exactly two options to choose from with a limited amount of time to make the choice: leave Emma and find another way to Storybrooke or follow the girl through the portal. Of course, his self-preservation instincts were screaming at him to just walk away, but she had the compass. And if he thought Snow was about to let him just stroll on down the beanstalk alone and walk away with a beating heart, then he was a bloody fool. Not to mention, Emma had trusted him to help her get back to her son, and for one reason or another, the idea of leaving her out to dry like that didn't sit well with him.
The portal was growing smaller and Hook was running out of time. He knew what he had to do. With one last, exasperated glance around the giant's lair, Hook concentrated on the portal in front of him. "Dammit, Emma." And he jumped.
AN: I know a lot of what just happened may not make complete sense, especially how the portal was created. But I promise it will all be explained in the next chapter :)