3.10 "The New Neverland": A short conversation between Emma and Hook
Hook stood in place by the door to the Mills tomb, waiting for both Henry and Emma to enter before following them inside and down the hidden steps. The shadow was still a threat, and he was under no illusion that being trapped in Pan's body would in any way keep the boy safe.
He was about to follow the others deeper into the crypt when he noticed that Emma had stopped at the bottom of the stairs. She was facing the queen's wall of hearts, her left hand stretched out towards the glowing boxes, hovering, as though afraid to touch.
"You alright there, Swan?"
She jumped, her fingers clenching into a fist, arm dropping to her side as she turned to look at him. "Yeah... I just... I haven't been here before. Kind of creepy."
He leaned against the archway to the next antechamber and tried to get a read on what she wasn't saying. "Never been much for secret lairs myself, but I suppose I can understand the appeal."
Her lips twitched into something that tried to be a smile but her eyes went back to the beating hearts. Hook watched her for another moment, the strange rhythm of the stolen hearts filling the space between them, but it seemed she had no desire to engage in further conversation. Whatever was troubling her, she'd decided to keep to herself.
He was about to move on and leave her be when she spoke. "You said you've never seen me fail." Hook turned back to her, good hand slipping into the pocket of his coat. "On Neverland, you said—"
"I remember."
"I failed here. Before the curse broke. A good man died because I didn't believe, because I didn't fight hard enough."
Hook said nothing, walking back to stand next to her. She was fiddling with the shoelace on her wrist and his eyes went to the two empty boxes in Regina's collection. It was not lost on him that whoever she had lost must have died in the same way as Milah. It was probably too much to hope that she hadn't had to witness it.
"I knew something was wrong with Henry. I should have pushed the issue, I shouldn't have let people try and distract me. She died because I didn't work hard enough to save her."
"The fairy's death is on Pan, not you."
"I'm the saviour," she hissed.
"Doesn't mean you save everyone. You can't save everyone Emma."
"Then what the hell good am I?"
Killian shut his eyes as her voice broke despite the effort to keep her words quiet. "You're hope. Hope and the chance to fight and save ourselves." He tapped the empty box closest to him with the curve of his hook. "Regina had his heart, didn't she?" She nodded. They were facing each other now, and he made sure she was looking him in the eye when he spoke. "The deck was stacked against you then, but this isn't Neverland; Pan isn't on his home turf. You won't fail. You're not alone in it this time."
"I know," she whispered.
He saw it then—the fear flickered across her face before she could lock it behind one of her tight smiles. Not being alone meant there was more to lose. And she had lost so much already, he doubted she could bear to lose more.
He made a vow in that moment. Silently, for he knew she wouldn't accept the words. Knew that she would (rightly) say he had no way of keeping such a promise. But he made it anyway.
He would never be something that she lost.