Shit, this isn't real, this isn't real. Figment of your imagination, remember? Not real, Emma's subconscious chanted in the back of her mind. But hadn't she said the same thing about fairy tales and places like the Enchanted Forest? People like Snow White and Prince Charming? People who ended up being her parents, and a place where she'd traveled to via a portal in a hat made by none other than the Mad Hatter and where she'd already faced a damn ogre? It was all real, everything in the book, and apparently everything in a dream world she'd visited as she grew up. Including Killian Jones.

Shit. The recognition passed over his face for a fleeting moment, so fast she thought maybe she'd imagined it. They helped him out of the rubble and over to a table while she and Mulan fetched some water. She didn't know how to approach this situation. If she confronted him in front of her mother and the other two women she'd have to explain everything, and she wasn't sure she was ready for that. And what if he denied knowing her, its not like she could convince anyone she'd ever been here before. So she could pretend she was seeing him for the first time, go on with it as if she was seeing him for the first time, and proceed with the plan to get back home.

She noticed his hook was missing, and when he began to tell them of how Cora had massacred the village in his shaky weak voice, she decided to play along... mostly. She questioned him and he lied to her, she could see it in his face. She knew if he did recognize her, he would know that. If he didn't, she'd just have to explain it.

"I'm gonna let you in on a little secret," she confided while leaning down against the table so her face was mere inches from his. To his credit, he didn't flinch or show any signs of fear or recollection. "I'm pretty good at knowing when someone is lying to me."

He swore he was telling the truth, and she smiled sweetly at him to drive it home, seeing the nearly imperceptible twitch at the corner of his mouth and she straightened herself up while her mother continued speaking.

Killian was offering to be their guide when Emma made her move, holding the dagger to his throat, feeling rather than hearing the increase in his heart rate and in his breathing. His eyes widened and met hers with a silent plea but she was done playing nice for now.

When he was securely tied to the tree, he continued to feign innocence, insisting that he was just a blacksmith and had no idea what they were talking about. Aurora was feeling sorry for him, thinking maybe Emma's radar was off, but the ogres were getting closer and she knew with 100% certainty that she was not wrong about him. So they walked away, and her breath hitched in her throat when she heard his voice again, this time the confident tone she had grown to love over the years, calling out behind them.

"Good for you, you bested me." he sneered and she stopped in her tracks to reward herself with a private grin before turning back toward the man she thought she knew, still not quite sure what he was up to. "I can count the amount of people who've done that on one hand."

She rolled her eyes and approached him again, making sure she had his attention. She was frustrated by the lack of any sign that he knew her, she was sure he knew it was her. She hadn't changed that much in ten years. Unless maybe he was under some curse here, or maybe a memory spell.

When he introduced himself as Killian Jones - even though she had known all along - she felt her heart pound in her chest. He said most people knew him by Hook and Mary Margaret was evidently one of the people who had indeed heard of a man by that moniker. It clicked for her then. Captain Hook as in Peter Pan...

"Oh, so you've heard of me." he said when she spoke her thoughts out loud, sounding delighted by the idea and she met his eyes with intensity, hoping she could convey her awareness onto him, but his gaze didn't change.

He told them about Cora's plans, swore allegiance to Emma and the other women instead, vowed to help them get back to Storybrooke if they'd take him with them, and when she asked why she heard a familiar answer, a familiar half-truth.

"To exact revenge on the man who took my hand, Rumplestiltskin." he growled, and she wanted to know more, to know the other half of the story, the part that he hadn't told her the day she'd asked over 12 years ago, the part he wasn't telling now. Instead, they untied him and allowed him to lead they way to a location where they would apparently find a magic compass to guide them back home.

You've got to be kidding me, she thought when they reached the beanstalk. The beanstalk from Jack and the Beanstalk, the beanstalk they apparently had to climb and get past a giant in order to retrieve the compass. Killian - Hook, she reminded herself - corrected her knowledge of the story before revealing that the beanstalk was enchanted to keep out intruders and he only had two counter spells.

Despite the protests of the other women, Emma volunteered to go. It was her son she needed to get back to and she was sure she wouldn't fail. She also wanted to be alone with Killian long enough to determine if he did in fact remember her. She retrieved sleeping powder from Mulan to use on the giant and marched over to Killian so he could give her the cuff containing the counter spell.

He raised an eyebrow and gave her a familiar smirk before placing the cuff on her wrist, his fingers lingering just long enough for her to feel a tingling sensation against her skin and she wasn't sure if it was from the magic or from his touch. What she was sure of was that he noticed it too. Something crossed his face for a moment before it was gone, he was too good at covering up his reactions and his emotions, but she had found a crack in the mask and silently vowed to use it to her advantage.

It was going to be a long climb.