The Hooker

Summary: Captain Killian Jones meets a girl trying to get away from a brothel she works in. Soon he finds himself cooperating with her, since she just might have the ways to get him to Neverland.

Pairings: OC / Killian Jones (Captain Hook)

Rating: It shall be rated T at first (mostly for the violence) and it may or may not turn to M later.

Disclaimer: I don't (unfortunately) own Hook or other characters from Once upon a Time that might later appear in my story.

AN: So this is my attempt to channel all my feels towards a character I have loved since a child (I didn't consider him hot back then though). This fic also has some similarities with the movie Sucker Punch. Don't worry if you haven't seen it, I just said it before someone else might point it out. The story takes place at the time when Killian has lost his hand, but haven't yet found his way to Neverland. (Let's just pretend there is a long-ish time period at that part.) Now I don't have a beta (the spot is open if someone is interested), so I apologize fot the mistakes in language. Also, this is my first fic (in English) that sees the light of day. What can I say? Be gentle. :)

Chapter one: There was an attempt

"Oh stop it, you impudent man!" screamed a blond girl with her high, shrill voice. She giggled loudly and tried to dramatically push Cecco further. He just smiled widely and kissed her, pulling her even tighter on his lap. This made the whole crew and the other girls laugh and cheer. Killian himself had two very nice ones under his both arms. The brunette one with freckles was currently brushing lightly his chest. He looked down at her and gave her a smirk. She lowered her face, blushing, and smiled sweetly. She had taken the innocent role, unlike Cecco's blond girl who was just being loud and annoying. Cecco liked that though. Lasses were doing their jobs well, Killian admitted that to himself when the girl under his other arm started to nibble her way to his ear.

"Enjoying yourself, Captain?" asked the man lying on a divan opposite from Killian. He was dressed in a fashionable, fine suit. His silky top hat and a cane with silver nub (which he had only for the style, Killian assumed) were positioned carefully on a table next to him. His dark hair with a few grey strokes was combed neatly back, and his beard was shaved very accurately to its pointy shape. The whole essence of this man was so clean and successful. This made Killian automatically reserved and uneasy. Just like his crafty eyes and sugary smile. He also had a girl (a completely topless girl) on his lap. After all, he owned the place. "I've had it worse, thank you Lord Marros," Killian answered with a smirk, raising his glass of wine. He would have preferred an honest bottle of rum, but he doubted this fine Sir even owned any.

They were sitting in a dusk, fancy room decorated with big paintings and expensive-looking furniture. The windows were covered with thick, red curtains and the only light in the room came from a few candles here and there. The air was heavy with smoke of cigars that had been offered to the crew. One girl was playing jolly melodies from a grand piano in the corner and the atmosphere of the room was cheerful, full of laughter and chattering. This was of course exactly what Lord Marros was aiming for. He was going to make a bargain, possibly even start a partnership, with this famous Captain. If he could use his brothel to help him achieve that, he sure as hell would.

"So, I see you have had… an accident." Lord Marros raised his eyebrow and nodded towards Killian's new shiny hook. Captain glanced at the ceiling. They always just had to comment the hook, didn't they? It still was sort of a tender spot for him, though he could cope. He always did. "Oh, I'm fine. You wouldn't believe how good weapon it makes." Killian hoped that would be the end of the conversation, but Marros wasn't done with the subject: "You know, you could start call yourself the Hook. It's always safer for a man not to use his own name." He would know. The Hook, huh? Maybe it wasn't that bad idea after all. It would turn his weakness to strength. "I'll think about it", he muttered.

"I have heard you have made quite a few trips to the South," the older man said casually. Killian knew that he was talking about the Tropical islands. Beyond them was only hot desert and poor tribes, noting the man like him could care about. "I have," he answered and took a long sip of the spicy wine. "Lovely area. The waters are warm and completely transparent, beaches are wide and the women are exotic. As long as you can deal with mermaids and cannibals. For the same reasons," he added, laughing. The shy acting brunette took a hold of his hook and lifted it in front of her face. "Did you lose your hand for mermaids?" she asked with wide eyes. Killian laughed silently and lifted a wisp of her hair with his hook, capturing her brown eyes with his own. "Oh no, my love. The crocodile that took my hand wasn't nearly as pretty." She gasped when he leaned closer.

"I have been told, that they have some rather unique merchandise there," Marros notified. Pirate secretly smiled against the girls lips. Indeed, the islands possessed some very wanted and rare items, plants that were said to have an amazing effects on people, for example. He knew that a man that powerful must have some business apart from the whores too.

He was just about to respond, when a new girl walked inside. She was wearing a brown leather corset and nothing under it, which made her curves look marvelous. A heavy, cream-coloured skirt hung from her hips and trailed the floor as she slowly walked forward. Her hair was the fiercest red he had ever seen. It landed freely as huge cloud of curls all the way down to her waist.

"Why isn't it my beloved Scarlet?" the brothel owner said. His voice was like honey and he looked at the girl the way that made Killian pretty sure she was one of his favorites. The ones that he only gave for his best (and the most paying) customers. Good for her. Killian saw the girls face in candle light when she floated closer. She had a face of a puppet: big green eyes and thick but small lips, painted red. Lord Marros pushed the topless girl off him and gently held his hand out for her. She took it and sat gracefully where the previous girl had been.

"Scarlet, I´d like you to meet the captain of the most famous ship in the world: Killian Jones", Marros smirked at Killian and added: "Also known as the Hook." He took one red, curly lock of hair between his fingers and played with it. Captain grinned at her and winked. "Pleasure to meet you, Captain", she said and lifted the corner of her mouth. So she played mysterious role. Not Killian's favorite, but suited her well. "Scarlet here is a real jewel", Lord Marros said, smiling proudly. "She has some very specific… skills." His words didn't have any kind of impact. Her green eyes were staring into nowhere. "I have no doubt", Killian said quietly. "However, she shouldn't be here," Marros continued. "Bianca has gone worse milord. She needs medicine, quick," she said with a quiet voice. "Would you be so kind and let me get some for her?" Scarlet looked at him with pleading eyes. Lord Marros grabbed her chin. "I'll send someone."

"Only I can get the right one. It has a long name and she can't write it."

"And she can't wait that the doctor returns from his trip?"

"I'm afraid so." Lord Marros brushed her lower lip with his thumb. He sighed and pulled her closer. "I guess I will have to let you go then", he muttered and kissed her gently. She kept her forehead against his and whispered: "May I take Sera with me?"

"Go ahead," he answered absently. "Thank you, milord," she whispered, stood up and started to walk away. "Be nice, darling! Carrow will come with you. Now where were we?" Killian returned his smile and they went back to business.

If the mood in the room had been jolly half an hour ago, it was way beyond that by now. The whole crew was wasted except for their captain (he wanted to have a clear head while making deals) and some of the men had already moved somewhere more private with a nice lass. The brunette girl giggled, that her name was Honey (obviously) and she was doing a great job distracting Killian from his negotiating. He had the feeling that this just might turn out to be a very productive long-term partnership. If something sudden and unfortunate wouldn't happen, that is.

Captain almost bursted to laughter, when the door spun open right away after he had thought about this. It hit the wall so loud, that the piano-girl stopped playing and silence landed in the room. Huge, grumpy man stepped in. He held two girls from arms and shoved them inside so roughly they fell forward. The other girl stumbled quickly up and Killian recognized it was Scarlet. A trickle of blood started from her lip and traced down across her chin. She was breathing heavily.

Lord Marros jumped up and spun around. "What is the meaning of this? Carrow?" he shouted. This "Carrow" had harsh features and a messy stubble. He furrowed his eyebrows and pointed at the redhead. "She was inside the pharmacy, when she," this time he pointed the other girl who slowly stood up, keeping her eyes on ground, "told she was going to run away. She was almost at the docks when I caught her." Honey was squeezing Killian's arm hard and he could hear her breath shaking. The pirate glanced around and saw a look of fear on every girls face. He gave his men a signal not to do anything. This could turn ugly. His prediction was assured when he saw the look on Lord Marros' face. No wonder the girls were afraid.

"Is that so?" the brothel owner hissed and slowly started to circle the room. "How unfortunate. And I thought that we shared some trust and respect here." He quickly grabbed the other girl from neck and she sobbed loudly. "Tell me Sera, you weren't going to leave me like this too, weren't you?" he asked with a soft voice. Killian cursed internally. Why did he have to do this right now? He guessed Lord Marros wasn't too good at controlling his emotions after all. Or maybe he wanted to show Hook and his crew, that there was no messing with him.

"I-I-I wasn't! I wasn't!" the girl stuttered quickly. Tears rolled down her face and she was shaking hard. She was young, probably under sixteen. Killian almost felt sorry for her. "Of course you didn't. You wouldn't do that for me," Marros said like he was talking to a child. He put his other hand to his inner pocket. "And I am very proud that you did the right thing and revealed your friend's betrayal. However, we don't want snitches here, so…" He cut her throat so quick she probably barely realized what happened. Honey and few other girls screamed when the body hit the floor with a light thump. Scarlet closed her eyes. She had just stood there the whole time, staring in front of her. She had squeezed her hands to fists.

"And you, my protege!" he continued while Carrow casually lifted petit body on his shoulder and walked away. Lord Marros placed the tip of his bloody dagger between her collarbones and placed his mouth on her ear. "You of all people tried to take my most precious thing, your very self, away from me. After I so kindly took you under my wing, when your parents couldn't pay me their debt. Do you know what usually happens to people like that?" So this wasn't the kind of place where worked volunteered women. That explained the high fences and several men guarding them. Marros continued his speech: "And as if that wasn't enough, I treated you so well. I bought you nice dresses, gave you your own chambers. I made you a star, the most wanted company in this house." The tip of his dagger was shaking. Honey buried her face to Killian's shoulder and wept silently. "What else could you possibly want?" Scarlet opened her eyes. "Freedom."

For awhile the room was completely silent. Even the girls stopped sobbing and held their breath. Lord Marros started to laugh. He is crazy, Killian thought. And dangerous. The man grabbed Scarlet from shoulders and spun her to face him. "Freedom? Oh darling, you cannot be serious! Freedom to do what? Freedom to beg on the streets, freedom to get raped even without getting paid for it? I have clearly been too good for you if you can't realize what favor I have done for you, darling! And you will be punished, you will be sorry that you didn't realize that!"

"There is nothing you can do to me that you haven't already done," the girl hissed. Killian was surprised to see the rage in her eyes. No sadness, no fear. Just pure hatred. "Guess what? I'm not even going to kill you. No, darling, I won't let you out of this so easy. You will never be free, not even when you turn old and ugly. You will be mine forever!" He was shouting now. Lord Marros grabbed her hair and threw her down on her knees. "Now clean that floor."

Suddenly he turned to smile at his guests he had seemed completely forgotten. He walked casually back at the divan, wiping his dagger clean with a tissue. "I am terribly sorry, I'm sure you understand how difficult employers can sometimes be." Hook forced out a smile. "Oh, you should see how far I sometimes need to go to get these slackers to do something." It was true, he told himself. He had put up some very pretentious shows, to show his men who exactly made the rules. Still…

Killian took a quick glance at the redheaded girl on the floor. She stood slowly up, got a bucket of water and a rag from the corner and started to wipe her friend's blood off the floor. Her expression was unreadable again.

Girl at the grand piano started to play again, though you could hear her fingers were shaking. All the other girls wiped their faces and went back to their jobs. This wasn't common, but it clearly wasn't the first time either. Killian's crew was happy to put their attention back to girls, but their faces were bleak. Even though they were pirates, they didn't particularly like to see helpless girl getting killed.

Killian himself pushed back the urge to get out and leave this crazy man and his deal. He couldn't afford to be sentimental, he was a god damn pirate! It's not like he only agreed to make completely ethical deals. But he would have to be careful not to end up under Lord Marros' control. He sure as hell didn't want to end up like Scarlet.

Authors Note: Now I know Scarlet is a corny name, she won't be called that thorough the whole story! We will learn her real name soon enough. ;) Reviews would be lovely. What do you think about the language, the length of the chapter and paragraphs, Killian… I'm sure there is a lot of things to do better since I'm new.

~Janice