They watch as he stumbles into the pawn shop. Belle is instantly at his side, propping him up. Emma rushes forward too, but stays back. She won't touch him, not like this.
"Are you still under her control?" She's wary. She should be.
He nods and Belle turns frightened eyes on Emma even as she clings to the man who still holds so tightly to her.
"Has she commanded you to do anything?"
"Not yet. Not now. She doesn't know I'm here." He's shaking as he faces them all, but standing on his own, suit torn and dirty, but head held high.
Hook pushes forward, keeping clear of Emma. He wants no mistakes, no worries about kisses that could harm or kill. It's not a position he ever thought he'd be in. Used to flirtations and kisses with women of all walks of life, he can't even reach out and kiss the woman he loves. Of all people, he's found the one who attempts to comfort him the most is Belle. She's been there, she insists, not able to kiss her love for fear of destroying his curse, removing his magic. The comparison is uncomfortable. At least he doesn't have to wear the ridiculous high heels she wears.
"I can't kiss her," Hook says, gripping onto Rumplestiltskin's shoulders and staring him down. Rumplestiltskin raises his hands and pushes the taller man away.
"What do I care for that?" he mutters. "We have bigger concerns than your love life."
Belle gives Rumplestiltskin a tremulous smile and leans in close. "It's a curse."
Rumplestiltskin's eyes snap back to Hook. As he eyes the pirate, Rumplestiltskin looks more himself than he has since they found him cowering in the woods. One hip is cocked out a bit, hand raised in a flourishing gesture. If there wasn't the threat of Zelena's control hanging over him, it would be just another day in Mr. Gold's pawnshop.
"A curse." Hook's mouth glows green for just a moment. "The Kiss of Death? She really used that one on you. To what end?"
Emma steps forward, still as careful around Hook as he is around her. She doesn't know if she actually wants to kiss him, but she'll take no chances of any sort of accidental contact. She won't even put a hand on him, choosing instead to slide past with her hand on one of the many cabinets that make up Gold's pawnshop. "To neutralize me."
"Ah, of course. The savior. You're a threat, you know." Rumplestiltskin points a finger at her. "You always have been."
"She wants to remove my magic." Emma sounds annoyed at that and Regina scoffs.
"It seems you're coming into your own then, dearie. Removing your magic could very well kill you." He glances at Hook, watches as the pirate's already fair skin lightens even further. "She didn't tell you that, now did she? Of course not. She tends to leave out pertinent information from time to time."
Sometimes it seems that Rumplestiltskin is talking to himself. Sometimes it seems that he's talking to the rest of them. Only Belle seems to understand what is directed at whom. She doesn't exactly play translator, but her eyes fall on various members of the group and will them to respond to him. Emma finds it somewhat disconcerting watching the connection the pawnshop owner…no…sorcerer…has with the petite librarian whose arm is linked with his. They're a strange pair, one dark, one light, yet they seem to fit together as if they had always been meant for each other.
"You need to remove it." Emma's voice has an undercurrent of urgency.
"Yes," Rumplestiltskin responds with.
"Really?" Emma sounds surprised at his quick agreement.
"Oh yes. But not because I care one bit about whether or not this pirate can kiss his lady. If that's all it was, I'd just leave it all be." He winces a bit as Belle digs an elbow into his side. She clearly does it without thinking, used to this part of her love's personality, and she looks somewhat horrified that she does it now, considering all he's still going through.
"Then what?" Hook looks downright hostile for a moment. Sometimes Emma forgets there's a long history between these two men, longer than anyone can imagine. Rumplestiltskin is immortal and Hook, while not immortal, spent enough time in Neverland that she suspects he's near to the same age as the sorcerer.
"I need that curse, dearie. It's the only thing that's going to save us all." His words are matter-of-fact, but there's a bit of nervousness behind them. He knows better than anyone what someone can do if they hold the Dark One's dagger. He once told them Cora would level Storybrooke and walk off with Regina and Henry, the sole survivors of her destruction. Emma has no doubt that Zelena will kill them all eventually. Unless they can even the odds, unless they can get the Dark One back.
Or neutralize Zelena's magic.
"You want it to stop Zelena." As soon as the words are out of her mouth, Emma is certain she's right.
"Now you're catching on." Rumplestiltskin points a finger at her and if she's not mistaken, there is a wink and a slight spring in his step as he approaches her. "I need to transfer the curse to myself and then use it to end Zelena's power."
She'd still have the dagger, but once her power was gone anyone could overcome her and steal it. It's as simple as a kiss. Though there is first the curse transference to worry about.
"How do you do that?" Emma sounds honestly curious and perhaps she is. Magic is intriguing, and gets even more so the more she knows of it, the more she experiences it. She understands a bit more now why others view it as a sort of drug. It is addicting, though she has not crossed that threshold entirely just yet.
Belle's voice comes from behind them. No one saw her step away to pull open Rumplestiltskin's large book of spells. Always the librarian, Belle could not resist peeking into the book to find out more about the curse. She's a scholar at heart and Emma thinks in another world she would have made an excellent researcher in whatever field she might have pursued. "The Kiss of Death cannot be transferred unless both parties are willing. The curse is transferred through…" Here she pauses and Rumplestiltskin's face breaks out in a terrible smirk. Emma knows this is not going to be good.
"Go ahead, sweetheart," he murmurs.
Definitely not good.
Belle takes a deep breath. "The curse is transferred through a kiss from the affected party to the one wishing to take on the curse."
"A kiss?" Emma's voice is slightly high as she realizes the implication.
Belle nods. "A kiss."
Rumplestiltskin is still grinning like a loon and Emma realizes he's enjoying this. Oh, not the fact that he has to kiss his old nemesis. But that there's only one way out of their predicament and it requires Hook to kiss him…on the mouth.
"I don't think I want to see this," Emma murmurs, holding her hand over her stomach.
"Wait," Hook suddenly says. It seems he's been somewhat dumbfounded by the conversation. Emma almost laughs at the way he blinks slowly. But it's really too much to even think on. "I have to kiss the crocodile?"
Belle lets out a rather undignified sound and claps her hand over her mouth. Emma's eyes are wide as she stares at the other woman. How can she find this so amusing?
Regina finally steps forward, glances between the two men. "This I have to see." She offers a slight sneer as she turns to Rumplestiltskin. "I think I'll get a front row seat. Can we sell tickets?"
"No," Hook says. "I won't do it."
"You have to." Emma turns toward him. "Or do you never want to kiss me again?"
"Are you going to kiss me after I've had my mouth on that…that…"
"Careful, dearie." Rumplestiltskin wags a finger at him. "Besides, I've never heard a complaint from Belle."
Belle lets out another giggle, her eyes wide with mirth. Rumplestiltskin's arm snakes around her for a moment and he whispers something to her that sends Belle into another fit of giggles. Emma has no idea what he's said but somehow the whole thing suddenly seems so ridiculous. She's standing in a pawnshop, waiting for Captain Hook to kiss Rumplestiltskin, while the Evil Queen stands by with a smirk on her face and Belle, the Beauty who is in love with the Beast who, as it turns out, is actually Rumplestiltskin, giggles over the whole thing. Ridiculous. Absolutely mind-bogglingly ridiculous.
She finally reaches up and shoves Hook on the back of his leather coat. That seems safe enough. There's no skin to skin contact at least.
Hook stumbles forward, biting back the word "no" once more.
"I promise I'll kiss you again, Hook," Emma says, crossing her hand over her heart. "Just as soon as you rinse with some mouthwash."
"With some what?" Hook says, turning to look at Emma.
Rumplestiltskin waves his hand in the air and when the air clears of the purple smoke of his magic, he's holding two bottles of mouthwash. "This," he says as he hands his former enemy one of the bottles. Emma tries not to laugh at the fact he's offered Hook the orange stuff. It doesn't taste like orange. It tastes like medicine gone wrong, but it looks pleasant enough. "Just don't swallow it or you'll have more things to worry about than who you've kissed today."
Snarky rejoinders have always been Rumplestiltskin's thing and Hook is generally no different, but at that moment he can't even offer a suitable return remark. He nods dumbly and takes the mouthwash, setting it on the table beside him. Anything to put off the inevitable, Emma imagines.
"Can we just get this over with?" she finally asks. Every moment this drags on is a chance Zelena will realize she's lost her pet and call him back. It's their one chance to end this once and for all. But men…if it were her and Belle, she was pretty sure this would be over by now. Hell she would kiss Gold if it would end this whole crazy situation.
"Fine, fine," Hook says and takes a step closer to Rumplestiltskin. He eyes the smaller man with a slight sneer on his face.
"Just pretend I'm Emma," Rumplestiltskin offers, with a small flip of his hand.
"You're about the right height," Hook grumbles.
"You…don't really want him to do that," Emma points out, remembering the heat and passion of their one kiss.
"Right," Rumplestiltskin responds with. Hook still has that look on his face, a little green about the gills, and Emma is certain he's going to run off and hurl if he has to go through with it. She wants to shout taunts at him, about pirates who can weather any storm but can't even kiss a man, but doesn't. She knows that goading him will get him to just do it. But she knows he has to do it on his own. One thing she's learned about magic is that there has to be intent behind it, emotions. Without intent, this might not work. Without intent, it will just be a curse and somehow that's even worse.
"I can't…"
"Look, you are not the one who has to kiss a man with facial hair. I can't even pretend you're anything but who you are."
"Will you just get this over with?" Emma finally says. "The faster you do this, the faster we're done with this and we can get on with our lives."
Hook grumbles for a moment more and finally Rumplestiltskin takes the initiative. Which surprises Belle, really. She's the one to initiate all their kisses. She's the one who is the driving force behind all their passionate encounters, even though he is more than just a willing participant. Watching him make the first move, even if it was just a curse transference was, she had to admit, kind of arousing, especially with his hands grabbing onto Hook's jacket to give him some leverage. There really was several inches of height between the two men and it must seem kind of awkward for Rumplestiltskin to have to go up on his toes to kiss someone. In her heels, they have always been at just the right height.
When their lips crash together, noses smashing against each other's, eyes screwing up in what looked like horrible pain, it was awkward at best. For a moment nothing happens and Belle holds her breath. This has to work. If it doesn't, if Rumplestiltskin cannot return to Zelena and neutralize the witch, they could all be dead. And soon.
"Maybe try some tongue," Regina offers with a slight sneer.
Emma glances at her enemy-turned-mentor with wide eyes.
And then, finally, there is a rush of something that engulfs the two men, shooting outward from them. Belle sees the green around Hook's mouth light up and then slither across their pressed-together lips to engulf Rumplestiltskin's. As soon as all of the green leaves Hook, Rumplestiltskin shoves the other man away.
"There," he sneers and for a moment he looks almost feral. He wipes the back of his mouth and looks to Belle. The green light fades quickly, first leaving his eyes and then finally fading from around his mouth. "Mouthwash, sweetheart?"
Belle hands it to him with a smile and he steps away. He's only in the back room for a moment, leaving the rest to stand awkwardly around while Emma offers the bottle to Hook and watches as he nearly chokes while trying to swish the disgusting stuff around his mouth.
"Next step?" Emma asks. Hook steps closer to her. He can now, with no fear. The curse is in someone else, someone who is used to carrying a curse within him. Rumplestiltskin seems strangely calm about it all.
"I kiss someone even worse than you." Emma realizes it's not over for Rumplestiltskin. He has another job to do. She watches as he reaches out to Belle, holds her close for a moment. She can hear him murmur into her ear, but can't make out the words. But it seems to appease Belle, who leans forward and rests her forehead against his.
And then he's gone. A small wave of his hand and he's engulfed in his magic and the pawnshop is strangely empty, as if he had taken up so much more space than he physically was able to.
"Are you ok?" Emma asks finally, turning to Hook and embracing him. He holds onto her for a moment and then leans back.
"It wasn't actually that bad, Swan." Hook murmurs and glances at Belle who is still watching him with a look of amusement lurking somewhere in her eyes.
"Like he said, I have no complaints." With a shrug, she escorts them out of the pawnshop. Soon this whole nightmare ordeal will be over. Soon Rumplestiltskin will be back with her. And she really does need to ask him to take the lead sometime once he's back. She thinks she'll enjoy that.