Chapter 1: Anchored
A fish-soaked dock, a couple of old sailors, and a foggy town was all Hook could see from his telescope. As the Jolly Roger pulled its way up to the dock, one thing and one thing only was on his mind:
Rumplestiltskin.
Hell hath no fury like a man who seeks vengeance. And Hook's vengeance smoldered and burned like a man at the stake. Since his beloved Milah's death and the loss of his hand, his days had been spent devising a plan for the demise of Rumplestiltskin. Here now, in Storybrooke, the deed would be done and vengeance would be his.
"Well, are you getting off or are you going to keep posing on that little tugboat of yours forever?"
Hook started. He had forgotten that, with the plan to kill Gold came the key piece along with it: Cora. He didn't quite trust her, but he could see her motives, and therefore he could stay one step ahead of her.
"Of course, darling. We don't have all day. Or, I should say, night." Killian stepped off his ship and sauntered down the dock, his hook shining silver in the eerie moonlight.
"Hey, mister! You gotta pay to keep your boat here!" The voice came from behind him, and he turned to face a pudgy old man with a weathered blue coat and galoshes. Cora raised her hand to no doubt blast the poor man to smithereens, but Hook stopped her. He felt a bit of pity for this man, and though he enjoyed evil deeds, did not want to see him killed.
"Wait, Cora." Killian stooped in front of the old man.
"What's this about paying?" Hook unsheathed his sword and started wiping it with a cloth.
"You—er—have to fill out a form to dock your boat. Otherwise I—uh—have to report you to the sheriff."
"The sheriff, eh? You see this hook I have on my hand? It's a nice, shiny hook, isn't it? Why don't you tell this sheriff of yours that the day I pay for where I leave my ship is the day that my nice, shiny hook goes right through his heart." Hook smiled menacingly, his pale blue eyes mirroring that of a rough, storm-laden ocean.
"I—I still have to report you. Sheriff Swan won't like to hear about this." The old man tottered away, looking back every few seconds to see if these unwelcome guests to Storybrooke were following him. But Hook had a glazed look in his eyes.
Swan.
Killian felt something in the pit of his stomach. No—it couldn't be her. And as the thought flew through his mind, he realized that it could—and definitely was her.
Aw, hell. He thought, as he realized that he had overseen one very complicated knot in his plan, and that was the existence of Emma Swan. Emma had come into his world just a few weeks ago, and with her glorious entrance almost immediately came her wounding betrayal in the giant's lair.
If he was going to do this, he was going to have to leave his feelings completely behind.