A/N: A HUGE thank you belongs to my lovely Bel for helping me stay sane (or properly insane) to write this. Without her, this would not have been possible. She is my Smuse (yes, that's a thing), my cheering section, my beta, and often (as with this one-shot) my inspiration. Thankyouthankyouthankyou, my adoraBel.
Now, as you well know, I don't own anything, or I'd be rich and visiting Bel. Please R/R. Enjoy!
The foliage was almost as thick as the air. That was the first thing Emma decided she didn't like about Neverland, or more to the point: what she didn't like about being off of Hook's ship. If anyone asked her though, she'd deny liking the "floating hunk of wood," as she frequently called it, but she'd recently found she vastly preferred it to traipsing around in the woods.
Despite her fondness for the Jolly Roger, Emma still feigned ignorance. Most of the time it was used specifically to bait the ship's Captain so she could see the flames lighting behind his sea-blue eyes as he defended 'his lady'. The looks he gave her in those moments were preferable to the stoic, yet somehow defeated and deadened, gazes he usually had as they made their way through their search of Henry. Emma suspected that Hook was quickly catching onto her game though; so while part of her was trying to come up with new ways to draw him back to the land of the interactive, an entirely different part of her was attempting to decipher why she would even bother with caring in the first place.
Her epiphany with that little snag had come at the hands of her over protective father and her entirely too perceptive mother, the day before they'd left the ship to traverse the island that was Neverland.
David had simply remarked that he didn't like the way the pirate looked at his daughter sometimes, prompting Snow to respond with a list of reasons explaining why her husband shouldn't be overly uncomfortable with the glances. Emma had been headed back to the crew's quarters to try and get some sleep, something she'd been having trouble with since they'd gone through the portal, but stilled her hand when she heard her parent's voices drifting through the door.
"Besides," Snow lowered her voice to a conspirator's level, and from her barely concealed perch in the hallway, Emma had to lean closer to the door to catch every word her mother was saying. "Captain Hook might like her, and the challenge she presents. She is my daughter, after all." From the pause, Emma guessed Snow had winked at her father and she could practically hear David rolling his eyes in response. "He respects her too; no argument there. But it's Killian Jones that cares for her."
Emma had shot away from the door, as if burned, fleeing back to the deck of the Jolly Roger. The ship had seemed entirely too small then as she'd frantically looked for a place to hide. The only thing she could focus on was Hook standing in his usual place at the helm. Merely the sight of him seemed to settle her, and as she realized this, Emma had a fresh wave of panic sweep over her.
"This is not happening," she'd bit out quietly, launching herself at the Captain's Cabin and banging the door shut behind her, pressing her shoulders into the wood for support as she surveyed her surroundings. Anything to keep from admitting that what her mother said might have been true. Or worse, admitting to herself that she might have actually cared for Killian in return.
He'd come looking for her after awhile, questioning her relentlessly about her strange behavior. Teasing her with innuendos, in that positively ridiculous accent of his, about making a habit of waiting for him in his quarters. Emma had watched him carefully, fearful of her mother's words for a reason she couldn't quite place, but now endlessly curious about whether or not she could find any truth behind them.
Shaking herself from the memory Emma once again cursed the flora around them. Tendrils of leaves seemed to reach out and snag any loose bits of clothing, perhaps trying to drag them off into the darkness surrounding the traveling group. The brushes with the damp and waxy surfaces only served to augment the humidity and heaviness of the air, making it feel as though they were wading through soup, instead of forest.
They hadn't spoken since they set off into the trees, Hook leading the charge with his sword, swinging it in wide arcs to make some sort of dent that could have pretended to be a path, in any other forest. In this one, as Emma found when she glanced back, the leaves fell back in such a way that there was no trace of their previous steps. Hook had told them that the 'bloody trees' would try to turn them around and separate the group, but to not lose sight of the shoulders in front of them.
Even though the sound of a sword cutting through leaves, branches, and vines was, in an odd way, comforting to hear continuously; Emma still found the silence between the group's members deafening in its entirety.
"So... this is the Neverland forest?" She started lamely, internally berating herself for even beginning to speak in the first place. Watching the pirate in front of her as close as she was, she still just barely caught the casual shrug of his powerful shoulders. 'Stop thinking about his shoulders, Emma,' her mind hissed at her.
"Well it's certainly not Wonderland," Regina laughed from behind her, causing Emma to glance back at her warily. The former Evil Queen turned Mayor held up her hands in a placating gesture, her smile faltering only slightly. Hook seemed to ignore the comment entirely, trudging along without so much as an acknowledgement that Regina had even spoken. Though, Emma heard his response in the swing of his blade as it cut through the air with a little more force than necessary during his next few thwacks at their path.
"I know we have to worry about the trees trying to eat us," Emma tried, speeding up her steps enough that, if she'd wanted to, she could have reached out and placed her palm flat between the leather-clad shoulders in front of her. 'But you won't,' there was that voice in her head again. 'You don't want to touch him. Stop thinking about his shoulders. In fact, stop thinking about him. Period.' She had to shake herself to bring her original thought back into focus. "Is there anything else we should be on the look out for?"
"Normally, I'd say fairies," Hook finally answered her, between swings. It seemed that the trees were finally thinning out a little, giving them enough room to step between trunks and branches, allowing him to rest his sword arm for a few seconds, here and there. "The Hollow isn't anywhere near this part of the island though, and they usually don't venture this far away from it. Obnoxious and mean little things, if you ask me. Best we don't run into them anyways."
"This place is so big and wild, and yet, fairies are the only thing we should worry about?" Incredulity was thick in its coloring of Emma's tone as she kept pace behind their pirate leader, sparing a moments attention to find the distinct footfalls of the other four in their group, before turning rapt attention back to Hook. He smirked over his shoulder, a playfully indulgent look clear in his cobalt eyes.
"Well the Lost Boys did have stories. They used to try and scare the boys who wanted to leave with the tales of them..." He trailed off with another shrug. He was clearly trying to get some further interaction out of her, his entire demeanor shifting into one of mischievousness. Emma welcomed the change with an exaggerated huff of impatience.
"Out with it, Hook."
"Rats," he stated simply as they came to a small, round clearing between the trees. Emma stared at him, confused, but still willing to play along.
"Err. Rats?" She plainly needed to ask for clarification, feeling as though she had missed something. Which she was sure, he had planned. Why would these Lost Boys, which Hook had made extremely clear were obscenely dangerous, tell stories about mice to frighten their more unwilling members to stay put? Snow's eyes seemed to be silently voicing the same question as she came to stand beside Emma.
"Aye, lass. Rodents. Rather large ones, actually," he grinned, with a wave of his hand, as if to dismiss the notion entirely. The gesture relaxed Emma more than she cared to admit in that particular moment, but the truth of it was there, none the less. She believed he'd protect them from whatever was in the forest. "The older boys always said they were big enough to swallow the smaller lads whole. Served as a wonderful reminder that Neverland was constantly trying to kill you if you weren't on your toes, or with someone who could protect you," he finished with a wink, sticking the point of his sword into the soft dirt underfoot and raking his hand through his hair, making the inky locks stand up and jut out in random directions.
"You've never seen one though?" It didn't hurt to make sure he knew what he was talking about. Emma steeled herself against the strange compulsion she was feeling to traverse the few steps between them and straighten out his hair, if for no other reason than to see if it was really as soft as it looked. 'Stop that.'
"A rodent of an unusual size? Never came across one. To be honest, I'm starting to think they don't exist. Those boys would make up any story to keep those of us that wanted to go home, from leav-..." A guttural cry rent the air, cutting off Hook's speech as a blur of brown flew out of the brush to his left, aimed roughly at his chest.
There was a flurry of movement around Emma: Snow immediately notched an arrow into her bow and stepped back to try and get a clear shot at the beast, Hook just barely managed to dance out of the way and snag his sword as he moved towards her, both Regina and Gold conjured fire balls in their palms, and finally David drew his sword and stepped to his wife's side.
The large blob of what Emma guessed was fur, landed a good distance away, not even bothering to try and slow it's momentum as it barreled off back into the brush. She heard it stop a few feet out of view and shivered at the growl easily cutting through the stunned silence. Hook placed himself solidly between where they had seen the thing disappear and Emma, startling her into the action of drawing her own sword finally.
"Please tell me that's not what I thought it was," her voice was barely a whisper, but they were all standing so close anyways, there was no point in speaking up. The rumbling growl shifted closer to the tree line of their little clearing and was joined by a few more snarls that only served to make all the humans clutch their weapons tighter.
"It seems as though, whatever you think it is, love, has brought friends," Hook mumbled, shifting his stance slightly to cover more of her. Somewhere in the back of her mind, Emma was sure the movement should have irritated her, but she could find nothing but a grateful feeling for his presence.
No sooner had he spoken, nine of the beasts galloped out of the trees and rocketed themselves at the group.
The fight didn't last long, but there wasn't a pause or moment to breathe once it started. David had stayed practically glued to his wife's back, both of them trusting the other to cover them. Snow had saved both Killian and Regina a few times, from the teeth and claws that had gotten a little too close for comfort. Gold took up a position close to Regina after blasting away a hay-bale sized projectile of fur away from it's eventual destination of her throat. Hook, for his part, had quickly flitted away from Emma to decapitate a snarling mass that was headed for Gold's back, stepping only a few feet out his defensive reach of her.
That split second and scant amount of extra inches was all the invitation one of the last fur ball's standing needed. Using it's powerful hind legs, it made to tackle Emma, aiming for her jugular with it's gnashing teeth. The thing was almost as big as she was, and with a burst of panic, she realized she had no hope of defending herself once it was on her. So she did the only thing she thought was appropriate at the time; closing her eyes, bringing up her sword in a defensive stance, hoping the flat of the blade would keep the monster's teeth away from anything vital until she could stab it, and bracing herself for its impact.
An impact that never came and was made all the more startling by the sudden lack of battle sounds around her. Peeking open one of her eyes, she found a familiar set of irises as blue as the sea staring down at her. Hook was standing too close to her to be considered decent, their breaths mingling together in the space between them. It was an odd set of thoughts that danced quickly across her consciousness, and Emma knew she'd chalk them up to adrenaline and thankfulness for still being alive, when she reflected on them later. 'If either one of us speaks, it'll be against the other's lips. That's almost a kiss. If I just shift my head this way...'
Her eyes shot wide as their noses brushed together, earning her a smile that stole her breath. Hook closed his eyes and leaned forwards, pressing a chaste kiss to her mouth. As he drew away, he used the opportunity to nuzzle his nose against hers.
"Pirate!" The word was a warning, sounding strangled from David's throat but it served its purpose, snatching them from the moment.
Emma looked up to try and see over the leather covered shoulder blocking her vision. 'Really? The shoulders again?' She was about to sigh at herself when her breath caught in her throat. Floating just behind Hook was a rat. A giant, disgusting, angry look rat.
"Killian, look out!" Without thinking, Emma dropped her sword to the ground, bunched the black leather of his jacket in both of her hands and hauled him forwards as she stumbled backwards. He hissed in pain at the movement but allowed her to back herself towards the nearest tree and maneuver him so she was between the overgrown rodent and her pirate.
In the next second, several things became clear, all at once.
Hook had clearly seen the rat moving to attack Emma and somehow managed to put himself between the thing and herself. From what she could discern just having glimpsed at the area, Gold and Regina had both used their magic to freeze the rat, mid-leap, but judging from the crimson dripping from its claws, not before it had managed to get them into her pirate.
Emma turned her face away as her father stepped forwards and brought his sword down in a smooth arc, efficiently separating the monster rat's head from it body. A pair of arms snaked around her waist and pulled her solidly against a muscled chest. She thought briefly about struggling and removing herself from the hold, deciding quickly against it. 'Moving like that could hurt him,' she tried to reason with herself. 'Uh-huh. Sure.' She didn't believe herself for a second.
Hook buried his face into the curve of her neck, trying to stave off the pain radiating from the four puncture wounds high on his right shoulder, cursing himself simultaneously for moving away from her side in the first place and for seeking comfort now.
"Okay, so the rats do exist," he said lamely.