Why should I help you?
I was thinking about ways to work Hook back into the storyline, and this is what I came up with.
A lot of people are speculating that he's already back and Emma knows. I suppose this could fit with that hypothesis in a pinch, if you so choose.
Disclaimer: I don't own OUAT. If I did, it'd be a very different show. It would be much less straight-white-middle-class-couple-drama-cliffhang ers and much more intersectional, queer, and complex. The characters would already be together and would be living through the relationships. :)
Note: This is un-beta-d. Just me, myself, and I.
How he had escaped handcuffs, commandeered a boat, and sailed back to Storybrooke without a map and all on his own, she'd never know. And he certainly wasn't telling. But Storybrooke's resident pirate was back in town.
And locked in her cell.
"Attempted murder," she had told him as he glowered at her after waking up in the cell.
"No handcuffs, luv?" he taunted, "I'm disappointed."
She swallowed.
His eyes narrowed as silence enveloped the room like a wet blanket.
Finally he broke it.
"What's the problem, Lass?"
…
She thought it would be easy to explain, but it wasn't.
It took far too long, and his silent focus unnerved her.
She asked him to pledge his allegiance to the Charming Family.
She feared Regina going off the deep end again.
She feared the outside world coming here.
She feared Neal taking Henry away.
She feared her own magic.
She feared herself.
But he understood her better than anyone and they made a great team and he knew people better than her and she was finding that her super power was not so reliable after all and he was so good at playing the game of life and manipulating the pieces and they could do anything if they joined forces.
…
"Why should I help you, Swan?" he challenged. "After all you've done to me, all the times you've tied me up and left me, why would I help you?"
Her eyes flicked down to the floor.
She wasn't ready for this yet, wasn't ready to share this feeling.
"Because I was wrong to do them," she murmured, raising her head, "And I am sorry."
His eyes bore into hers. He said nothing. He simply waited.
"I was afraid to trust you," she finally murmured, "And I won't make that mistake again."
He nodded.
She smiled.
For now, it was enough.