Chapter 1: Introductions
She never liked being out in the rain before, but she hated it now more than ever. The feeling of her damp socks inside of her soaking wet combat boots only made her shiver and wish that she owned a pair of waterproof shoes... And an umbrella. If she hadn't already been miserable, she definitely was now.
She pulls the navy blue duffel bag up on her shoulder and adjusts the ear bud in her right ear as the song she has been listening to ends and the next one begins. A chill of loneliness runs through her body as it dawns on her that she'll only have her Spotify subscription for a couple more weeks now. She knows there are much, much worse things to worry and be upset about with her mother being gone but right now, all she can think about is how this is just another inconvenience of being all alone. What will she do without her music?
She doesn't usually walk around with her headphones in her ears when in public as she likes to be aware of her surroundings, but she is too tired to analyze everything around her right now and the music acts as a helpful deterrent for the time being. Plus, when people see the bright red cord hanging from both sides of her head, they usually don't speak to her, opting to just let her be. The soft voice plays out through the tiny speakers inside her ear and she stares at the wet side walk as she focuses on the first lyrics of the song.
There was a time when I was alone, no where to go and no place to call home. My only friend was the man in the moon, and even sometimes he would go away too, then one night as I-
The same ear bud that she just adjusted falls out of her ear as she collides with someone else on the side walk.
"Woah, you alright, Lass?" She hears through her right ear, Ruth B still playing in her left. She looks up to see a dark-haired man who is much taller than her, but that is not an uncommon trait for a person to possess.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Sorry." She answers, trying to be polite through the surge of frustration at bumping into someone while reaching for the zipper on the pocket containing her cell phone to stop the music and simultaneously leaning to her left trying to avoid her bag sliding off of her shoulder.
"Its alright." She hears him say once she finally pulls her phone out of her pocket and hits the pause button. She should explain that she didn't see him, that she wasn't paying attention because of the headphones but she is embarrassed that she ran into him at all and that feeling mixed with the severe lack of sleep has made her mind completely halt all efforts to ease the situation. She looks back up at him, noticing his black leather jacket and black pants. His jacket has no hood on it even though it is raining and he has no umbrella with him. She figures he must've been in a hurry to get indoors and that must be why they bumped into each other. He's wearing a dark colored shirt and a leather vest under his jacket and her eyes immediately catch the silver necklace with several different shaped charms on it. The next thing she notices throws her for a moment. She realizes exactly who this man is and her heart starts to pound in her chest. This is it. This is him.
What she sees is the hook that is where his left hand should be.
"You're..." She starts, but she is suddenly at a loss for words. Could there be anyone else in this town with a hook for a hand or is she correct in believing that this is Killian Jones, aka, Captain Hook. Aka, the man she has traveled all the way from Pennsylvania to find.
Everything in her is telling her to run. Give up. Go back home to figure something out. But she knows this is the right thing to do. That this is going to make her life so much easier. And besides, if she ran, that nine and a half hour bus ride would be for nothing.
Her eyes drop to the ground, taking in this new information she has received, when she notices that he dropped something when she bumped into him. When her mind finally processes that it is a cell phone, albeit an old flip phone, probably worth nothing, but still a phone and her mind springs into action. Cell phones cannot get wet! Her thoughts scream at her.
"Oh! Your phone!" She exclaims as she realizes it landed in a puddle and bends down to pick it up by the plastic covered antenna. Just go, give it to him and leave. You still got to see the town, so it wasn't all for nothing, she thinks. Ignoring those thoughts, she holds it up to the man in front of her. "Looks like it's gotten a bit of a bath."
He doesn't seem alarmed by this, in fact, she thinks she sees a look of confusion on his face. "I take it that's bad?" He asks, raising one eyebrow.
She wonders how on earth he wouldn't know this before remembering who he is and that he is from a realm without technology. "V-very, you need to place it in a bowl of rice. It helps absorb the water." She says, way too quickly, adrenaline rushing through her. When all he does is stand there staring at her, she adds, "But hurry, or it will be ruined."
He gives her a concerned look, likely wondering where this young girl with such an awkward disposition came from. She is sure he must be alarmed by her jumpiness, her whole demeanor probably screams anything but cool and collected.
But he just nods his head once and looks to his left where there is a building with a sign that says, "Granny's diner"
"In here, we'll see if they have some." He says as he makes his way to the entrance.
She follows him hesitantly. Normally, if she were in a situation like this, she would do whatever it takes to make a fast get-away. But she has a mission and she must do what she came here to do. She wants to tell him who she is, why she's here, but for whatever reason, she cannot get the words out. She convinces herself that she is waiting for the right opportunity.
She wonders if he realizes that she is not from around here.
They walk through the door of the diner as a bell above it jingles overhead and he moves straight toward the counter. An elderly woman greets him asking him what he wants. He asks for a bowl of rice, casually. She notices the way he turns on the charm when talking to her and when the lady responds by furrowing whats left of her gray eyebrows and giving him an exasperated look before noticing the presence of the young girl standing behind him, she wonders if it is because the old woman doesn't like him very much. She holds up the wet phone and the lady tells them that she will check and then comes back a few minutes later with exactly what he had asked for.
What kind of diner serves rice? She thinks.
"Now what?" He asks, turning toward her, pushing the bowl over on the counter so that it is closer to her.
"Now we stick the phone inside the bowl," she does so and then begins covering the phone as best she can with rice, "and bury it."
"And this works?" He asks, unsure. "Seems a bit ridiculous, don't you think?"
"All I know is that everyone says that when you get an electronic device wet, you should put it in rice." She replies, skipping a scientific explanation she may or may not have googled at one point.
"So then you've never tried it before?" He asks, raising his eyebrow again, leaning against the counter top.
"I've never gotten an electronic device wet before." She says, matter-of-factly. She sits down at the counter, setting her duffel bag in front of the bar stool under her dangling feet, relief flooding her body at the soft padding in the seat. It is then that she realizes how lovely it is to not have raindrops pelting your entire body. Opportunity?
Stalling, she pushes the hood of her hunter green jacket backward and pulls the white, knit hat with a brim off of her head revealing a full head of wavy, red hair that is now frizzy from the humidity in the air. At this, even though her hair is much less bright, he is reminded of the hue of Merida's messy, curly locks.
"Aye, well, thank you for your help. I didn't know you weren't supposed to get the thing wet. I don't prefer carrying it around, although Emma gets upset when I don't." He says.
"Emma?" She asks without thinking, wondering why the name is supposed to ring a bell and then she realizes that he must think she is a local.
"You know, Emma Swan? The sav- the sheriff." He says, realizing halfway through that she must not be from around here if she doesn't know who Emma is, the one who broke the curse.
She notices the way he corrects himself and wonders what exactly he was about to say. "No, I... I'm new here." She answers, nervously.
"New? Where have you come from?" He asks, suspicious. 'New' could mean that she hails from Camelot or the second curse. But if she isn't from this realm, how would she be so well adjusted to the concept of technology? He deduces that she must have come from outside the town line. Instantly he is on high alert, remembering the last time someone from this world visited Storybrooke. Greg and Tamara, the ones who tried to destroy the town and everyone in it, who kidnapped Henry and took him to Neverland.
"I'm from Pennsylvania." She says, simply, her voice soft and quiet, like her mind is elsewhere.
Alarmed by her confirmation on being from this realm, and knowing that Emma would turn up any second to meet him, he resorts to making small talk in order to keep her from leaving and to avoid suspicion. "Ah, I've never been there." He hesitantly responds.
She wonders if any Storybrooke resident has been outside of town. She remembers her mother telling her when she asked how she knew all the the fairy tale characters would still be in the town after all this time, that because of the curse, they could never leave town.
She notices that he seems like he's hiding his left arm from her view, likely trying not to arouse suspicion from her. "Its really nothing special. The town I'm from is pretty small." She doesn't know if she should acknowledge what she knows about this town. Should she act like everything is normal here or begin inquiring about magic and fairies and curses?
"Well... So is this one, but I find it has a certain..." He pauses as he searches for the right word. "Charm." He finishes, casually, impressed with his ability to small talk the people of this realm so well.
She doesn't know how to respond. Small talk has always been the bane of her existence.
She was very tired before due to her lack of sleep but the warm, dry, brightly lit diner and the shock of bumping into the one whom she came to find has woken her up and made her ultra aware of her surroundings. Of course, she's used to finding it impossible to just focus on one thing when in public, her eyes dashing to different points in the room and different people entering the building. Always analyzing, always deducing.
"What is it that brings you to the town of Storybrooke?" He asks, curiously.
At this moment, she can tell he feels distrustful of her. Perhaps they've had bad experiences with newcomers in this town. It occurs to her that he may think she is going to spill the secrets of this town to the rest of the world. But he needn't worry. She doesn't want to exploit Storybrooke, she wants to live in it.
"I'm... I was looking for someone." This is it. She must be upfront from here on out. No more stalling.
Upon hearing this, he looks at her straight in her bright green eyes, and it is in this moment that he realizes the combination of her hair with her eyes reminds him more of Ariel, than Merida. Looking for someone? Who could she be looking for in this town without knowing about the magic that was involved in it's creation? Surely, he'd be aware of anyone in this town who didn't originally come from another realm besides Emma and Henry.
"Looking for who?" He cannot stop himself from asking, so, grinning pleasantly, he casually adds, "Perhaps I may assist you with finding them."
She raises an eyebrow slightly, noticing how curious he is. "Oh, you definitely may."
He now knows there is more that she has to say. His head snaps up to her, furrowing his brows for a split second in confusion.
She takes a deep breath, gaining the courage to reveal her identity. "Do you know where I can find Killian Jones?" She blurts out. Its as if she is ripping off a band aid, the way that she says it all in one, quick breath. Obviously, she knows that the man she is talking to is Killian Jones, but she decides to phrase it as a question to give him some control over the conversation.
He stares at her unblinking, his face dark and concerned. "Thats me." His head cocks to the side slightly as his brows furrow for real this time. "You're looking for me?"
She nods, uneasiness almost making her wobble in her seat.
"Who are you?" He asks, and its as if the entire diner gets both unbearably loud and silent at the same time.
"Lucy." Her eyes focus on the metal that sticks out from his missing limb, the very object that revealed more to her than one would expect.
When he looks at her with one eyebrow raised as if her name doesn't ring a bell, she takes another deep breath. There is a jingle of a bell, the one hanging over the door of the diner, but neither of them turns to look at who entered.
"I'm Lucy Jones," her voice is full of apprehension and she almost winces at the intensity of this entire situation "I'm your niece."
A.N. (For future reference, author's notes will be in bold)
Aaaaaand thats chapter one, I guess. For anyone who is wondering, I have decided not to publish a full length story for my Spider-Man one shots. This, however, I intend to make a multi chapter story and have already written even more than this. I originally intended to put a lot of the scenes that will be in the next chapter in this first one, but as it happened, this is how I felt it should start out. Therefore, this chapter is much shorter than I planned so expect chapter 2 and beyond to be much longer. I started writing this story back in May (2016) before season 6 premiered and also, before season 5 was over so that is why there is no mention of Jekyll and Hyde or The Evil Queen. Who knows, maybe I will incorporate them in the story later on?
Also, please note that this is a first draft and details about it may be edited or changed at any time. I just wanted to see if anyone was interested in the ideas I had for a story so...
Feedback will be way more appreciated than you know. I think it will actually motivate me to get things written so please show some love to this insecure writer over here.