Bringing the hilt of her sword down on the head of one of the lost ones, Emma looked around wildly for her next adversary and was surprised to see that there were none. She cast her eyes over her allies hastily, noting that they were mostly unharmed.
Since magic worked differently here in Neverland, it had taken the magic of both Regina and Gold to create the cloaking spell to hide the Jolly Roger, and they had had to stay aboard the ship for it to last more than a few minutes. The rest of them - Emma, Mary Margaret, David and Hook - had spent each day searching for Henry in the jungles of the island. Today they had come across a group of lost ones with a smaller boy in tow, a sack covering his head.
Satisfied enough that no one else was hurt badly, Emma quickly checked the unconscious bodies for Henry. 'He's not here,' she said quietly, shoulders slumping in dejection.
A warm hand gripped her shoulder tightly. 'It might not have been him, Emma,' David said hesitantly.
'How many children do you think they're trying to hide from us?' Mary Margaret asked.
'They know who we are,' Hook said, bending over to check for what she assumed were familiar faces since Emma had already checked for Henry. Mary Margaret walked off, looking over the ground at the edges of the clearing. 'Or, who I am at least, and they know who we're after. That very well may not be your lad under that hood, but if it's not then that's who they want you to think he is.'
'A decoy?' David asked.
'Exactly. They're smarter than you think they are, if you haven't figured that out yet.'
Emma sheathed her sword and dusted off her hands. 'Fine. We split up.'
Hook turned back to Emma and narrowed his eyes at her. 'No one is going off on their own,' he warned.
'There's two trails,' Mary Margaret called out, straightening from where she crouched. 'I didn't see how many of them got away, but it looks like there's three reasonably fresh trails heading in different directions.' She jogged back to Emma and squeezed her in a quick hug. 'We're so close and there's no time to waste. David and I will meet you and Hook back here in...'
'In two hours,' Hook supplied, looking up at the sky. 'The sun will be setting in three, and I won't have anyone out past sunset. If we haven't found him by then the search continues from this point tomorrow.'
They resorted their packs quickly to make sure that the right teams had a spare everything in case of emergency, Emma resenting every second. As soon as Hook straightened and began pulling on his pack she was jogging off in the direction Mary Margaret had pointed.
'Swan, wait!' Hook caught up to her after only a moment, grabbing at her arm. She promptly shook it off. 'Emma, if you go too fast you'll miss the tracks,' he warned her.
She slowed her pace but only slightly. 'I know how to track,' she snapped.
He fell silent and she immediately felt bad, but she pushed those feelings aside. Finding Henry was the most important thing, the only thing, and they had been so close to him. She refused to believe that it hadn't been him underneath the sack, only metres from her until he was dragged away once again. She didn't know how much more of this she could take. If she didn't find him today after he had been within her reach...
Hook was thankfully quiet as they hurried through the trees, murmuring a hint here or there as he recognised something or saw something that she hadn't. They had been frequent companions when it had called for them to split up, and she was inclined to agree with him that they made a pretty good team. Normally the quiet air had been filled with his quips and shameless innuendos, but not today. Which, she realised, was quite odd. 'Why are you so quiet?' she asked breathlessly, not slowing her pace.
He didn't answer straight away, and in the pause she regretted giving him an opening when he was actually quiet for once. When he did speak he surprised her. 'We've never been this close before.'
Taken aback, she stopped, turning to look up at him. He almost walked into her, grabbing her by the shoulders to steady them both. 'What?' Alarm began to form on his face and she wondered what expression was on hers.
Several responses flew through her mind, starting with "thankyou" and ending with "nothing". The concern and hope that had been in his voice exactly mirrored what was going on in her head since that quick glimpse of someone hidden. Adding this to the list of things concerning Captain Hook that she was going to have to deal with once Henry was found - she was getting a little scared of that list since she'd had to add the idea of feelings for him on there - she decided to play it safe and say nothing. Using his words to fuel her determination, she checked the ground once more and set off again.
She didn't know how long they walked for. It mustn't have been an hour yet, since Hook would have turned them around. The last time she'd disobeyed him and stayed out after dark had resulted in a poisoned bite from a beast she hadn't even seen and still didn't know what it had looked like. Rescue had come from yet another ridiculous source - Tinkerbelle. Hook had summoned her and the fairy had saved her life with her fairy dust, since Regina and Gold's magic was unpredictable here and Hook and her parents had been unwilling to let them try anything. That was another thing on the list of things to deal with later; he claimed that they hadn't gone their separate ways on the best of terms the last time they'd parted, and if the pixie had been in a different mood it might have been his life at stake.
'Stop!'
Emma froze, one foot in the air, eyes wide. She heard Hook curse and slow footsteps on the grass as he circled her. 'What is it?' she whispered, her chest tight.
She could tell he was trying to look reassuring, but she could see the suppressed panic in his eyes. 'Booby trap,' he said quietly. 'An old one, I wouldn't have seen it is it was set properly, but it's still dangerous.' He pointed to a point on the ground slightly ahead and to the side, and she saw that instead of grass there were barbs. 'If you step on them it will cut through your shoe and poison you, and I don't think I could call on Tinkerbelle twice in one week.'
Her leg was starting to hurt from holding it. 'Where can I step?' she asked. They didn't have time for booby traps, dammit!
'Here.' He pointed to the ground before him and then reached out his hand to her. 'You'll have to jump.'
It wasn't that far... 'Ok,' she muttered, swinging her raised leg back to give her some momentum. As she jumped forward she reached out for his hand. His fingers covered hers in a vice grip and he pulled hard, stepping back as he did so to get her as far across as possible. As her feet touched the ground she squeezed her eyes shut anticipating the feeling of sharp edges cutting into her feet.
But that feeling didn't come. After a few seconds she let out the breath that she hadn't realised she'd been holding and opened her eyes. Only then did she realise that Hook still had a hold of her hand, and his other arm was wrapped around her tightly. He was breathing heavily too, his face pressed against her hair.
He'd been worried about her. Suppressing the emotions that stirred - adding them to the list, she gently pushed him away since she didn't dare step back. 'Thank you,' she said softly.
He didn't smile like she'd expected, just looked at her.
Somebody screamed.
She was running immediately, the danger of the forest and the past few minutes forgotten. It had sounded like Mary Margaret, and she couldn't let anything happen to her mother. Not so soon after them finding each other. She vaguely heard Hook calling her name and cursing behind her, but she didn't slow.
Until they broke out of the trees and were stopped by a cliff. Craning her neck, she looked upward and found she could make out the top.
Henry.
He dangled at the top, held over the edge by a pair of arms belonging to a body she couldn't see. A cry escaped her as she realised how helpless she was - there was no way to the top.
She felt a hand on her waist and a hook around her arm. 'Oh, Emma,' Hook said softly, his voice sounding pained.
'Bring him back from the ledge, Pan, please,' she heard Mary Margaret cry out desperately. Emma's heart jumped. If Mary Margaret and David were at the top, maybe they could get to Henry before he was dropped...
But with the next few moments were heart was dropping again. She heard a boy laugh, but it wasn't the joyful sound like her son made, but bitter, malicious. 'You can have your boy back. If you get through all twenty of us!'
Her breath hitched and Hook cursed, tightening his grip on her. Mary Margaret and David couldn't take on twenty, even if the twenty were children.
'At least that wasn't Pan,' Hook whispered. 'If Pan were there he'd be the one taunting them.'
'And that makes a difference?'
'It may. At least there's no one there that can fly.' She felt him stiffen and he moved around her so that he was standing in front of her. 'Emma!' he said urgently. 'Flying!'
Unable to make the link but knowing he must have one, she tore her eyes away from Henry to look up at Hook. There was fire in his eyes. 'What? What about flying?'
'I don't know what's in your stories but I know that you know Pan can fly. It's the fairy dust. And you -'
'Tinkerbelle used the fairy dust on me,' Emma finished. The panic in her only heightened. 'Hook, I can't fly!'
He grabbed her shoulders. 'Emma, you can! You have to. There must be lost ones blocking David and Snow from the front, but there's no one between Henry and the cliff. You can snatch him from whoever's holding him. You can save him!'
He sounded almost as desperate as she felt. And that was the problem. 'But in the books you need to think happy thoughts to fly.'
He cursed again. 'Come on, Emma. I know you can do this.'
She stared at him wide eyed, hoping he wasn't serious but knowing that he was. There had been so many ridiculous things that she had done since meeting Henry and Storybrooke, up to and including fighting dragons. And although she knew she had magic inside of her she was yet to do anything extraordinary with it. And flying, how farfetched! But...
She had to try. Closing her eyes and taking a deep breath, she tried to focus on anything happy.
'Don't hurt him!'
Snapping her eyes open, she looked up at the top of the cliff. David and Mary Margaret's shouting almost drowned out Henry's cries as whoever held him shook him over the edge, holding him out slightly further.
'I can't do this,' she groaned, the panic mingling with dread. 'How can I think of anything happy when they're doing that to him?'
'Hey,' Hook said quietly, trying to draw her attention to him. 'Emma.' He cupped her cheek with his good hand and pressed his hook around her neck, making her look at him. He looked determined and his eyes bore into her. 'We have been looking for Henry for weeks. We have gone to a different world, to Neverland, we have hunted and been hunted and have exhausted ourselves in the effort. But love, we almost have him! He is just there, right there, within our grasps.' A grin broke out on his face, startling her almost as much as his passionate words did. 'Against all odds, we're right where we need to be.' He took a slow breath. 'All you need to do is believe...'
Believe. Belief. She closed her eyes and pushed aside her doubts, not allowing them any space in her mind. Putting her hands on Hook's waist, she allowed herself to believe that she could do this. She would fly. She would get to the top of the cliff, and she would grab Henry and fly him to safety. Just at the thought of it her doubts began to creep back in but she squashed them violently. 'I can,' she whispered.
'You can,' Hook agreed, his voice right next to her ear. She hadn't realised that he was so close. She felt him stiffen again. 'Oh!'
Springing her eyes back open she followed his gaze back up. Whoever held Henry now had him dangling only by the neck of his shirt.
'No,' she growled, and put all of her emotion into the feeling of him being in her arms again.
As her feet left the ground it wasn't slow and graceful like in the movies. She shot straight up like an arrow, taking less than a second to cover the distance to the top of the cliff. Before she even had time to worry or marvel or be scared she was on them, wrapping her arms around Henry's waist and kicking against the boy who held him with all her might. 'Take that you son of a bitch!' The force of her kick pushed her backwards as the boy was knocked forwards, but she managed to steady herself and stand on a ledge she imagined in the air. 'Mary Margaret, David, run!' she yelled. There were about two dozen of the boys standing at the edge of the cliff and her parents were on the other side of them. The boys and her parents stared at her wide-eyed with shock, but her parents recovered first and they sprinted off into the trees.
Not waiting around to see if any of them had the poison darts she'd heard about, she sprang into a mostly controlled dive back toward the ground. As they neared the grass she tried to pull up but the ground came so quickly.
'Swan!'
Hook cried out just before she hit the ground, twisting so that she'd take most of the brunt of the impact. As Henry landed on her the air was pushed out of her lungs but she didn't care, trying to wrap her arms even tighter around him. 'Oh, Henry,' she whispered, eyes stinging.
'Emma, love, talk to me!'
The urgency in Hook's voice brought her back to reality. Henry was struggling against her. 'Mom, are you all right?'
Drawing in a shattered breath, she smiled at him. 'I've never been better,' she told him. He was here!
'Gods, Emma!' Henry was pulled from her arms and Hook's face swam blurrily in front of her face. 'Dammit woman, answer me! Did you break anything?'
Blinking away her tears, she took stock of her body. 'I don't think so.' She took his offered hand and let him pull her to her feet. She put one arm around Henry, unable to keep a distance between them. She felt twinges all throughout her body. 'I think I might be paying for that tomorrow,' she muttered, but she was unable to feel anything but relief that -
Henry was safe!
She realised Hook was still staring at her, but as she raised her head to look at him he looked up at the top of the cliff. His mouth tightened. 'We have to go. They were looking over the edge before but they're gone, which means that they're either coming for us or going after the prince and Snow. Did they get away?'
'It looked like it,' she said. 'We'll head straight back to the ship then, Mary Margaret and David will know to meet us there.'
After the first few steps Emma knew she wouldn't make it the whole way back. Not by herself. She gritted her teeth and pushed through it, focusing on the boy by her side and letting Hook navigate their way through the forest. Henry seemed to know that now was not the time for questions as he kept unusually quiet, but she knew he was only saving his endless stream of questions for later. He kept a tight grip on her hand where it rested on her shoulder, seemingly as unable to let go of her and she was of him. Her heart was so full of emotion that she didn't even try to sift through it. But they weren't quite safe yet.
Keeping up was getting harder and harder. Each step sent agony through her bones, her shoulders, hips and back. After an hour's walk, with the sun beginning to darken, she tripped on an upturned root and fell, almost pulling Henry down with her.
'Mom! Hook, help!'
Hook was by her side in an instant, wrapping an arm around her to help prop her up. 'Emma, what happened?'
Tears clouded her vision again, but this time it was from the pain. 'Everything hurts,' she whimpered. 'I don't think I can walk any further. I don't think I can get up.'
Hook looked worriedly up at the sky, but when he turned back to her he looked almost convincingly reassuring. 'It's ok, love. I've got you.'
She bit her lip hard as he lifted her into his arms, his hooked arm beneath her knees and his hand holding tightly around her waist. She twisted to get Henry back in her sight and gasped as he almost dropped her. 'Gods woman, keep still!'
'I'm right here, Mom,' Henry said, popping up at Hook's elbow.
The constant up and down of this anxiety and relief was making her feel lightheaded. 'I'm never letting you out of my sight again, kid,' she warned him half-heartedly.
Wrapping her arms around Hook's neck, she tried to be still and ignore her pain as he carried her back to the Jolly Roger. She knew they couldn't be that much further, and although she knew he was taking every care to be gentle, every step still seemed to jolt her joints. 'I bet you think you're a real knight in shining armour right now,' she muttered against Hook's neck.
He shifted his grip on her slightly and she saw the corner of his lips lift. 'On the contrary, I'd say you were rather the shining knight here today,' he said quietly, bending his neck to look at her.
Satisfied that she could see Henry out of the corner of her eye, she kept her eyes focused on Hook. She wouldn't have been able to focus herself and summon her courage today if it hadn't been for him. The completion that she felt at having her son back and having this pirate's arms around her - whatever the reason - made her realise just how important that list was getting.
But there were still things to come beforehand.
'Shouldn't you be looking at the path?' she whispered.
He smiled. 'Perhaps,' was all he said, keeping his eyes on her for a few more drawn out seconds before looking up at the path.
Taking a deep breath, she sighed and rested her head in the hollow of his neck. Henry looked across at her and smiled.
They'd won. They'd got him back.
AN: I hope this wasn't terrible, it's the first fic I've written for a while. I hope they were cannon enough. I had this idea in my head of someone from Storeybrooke flying in Neverland and hadn't read it in a fic yet so thought I'd spin it out. Let me know what you think :)
I did have another fic planned to go separately but as I wrote this I found that I could tie them together. So there may be another chapter hopefully soon.
xx