A/N: For anyone who reads Miles From Where You Are, first I want to thank you all for baring with me. There is a new update coming. I hit a writing snag halfway through the chapter, and then this came to me and demanded that I write it. There will be at least 1 more chapter, maybe more.
He growls, it deep; guttural, as he fights against the bindings holding him tightly in place. They had long since removed his hook, and he feels like a huge part of himself is missing. He hasn't ever felt truly right without his hook, at least not since that damn crocodile cut his hand off. Hook has lost track of how long he's been locked up in the small storage area. He's lost track of how long it's been that they've been torturing him.
Tamara and Greg. They had no qualms telling him exactly who they were or what their plans were. They had tried to entice him with the promise that they knew how to kill magical creatures. They had promised him that they would help him kill Rumpelstiltskin, and he had almost said yes. Almost.
Yes, he was villain. He was hellbent on enacting his revenge on Rumpelstiltskin for stealing away his Milah, but there were some lines that even he wasn't willing to cross. Their plan involved hurting Regina, which he had no problem with, hell he'd help hold the evil witch down while they tortured the life out of her, but that wasn't the way that they planned on hurting her. Aside from the fact that Regina was fairly powerful, they were smart. Regina, much like his own crocodile, wasn't frightened at the prospect of being physically harmed. Her fear lay with harming those that mattered to her. With Regina, there was only one person in this entire world that Regina cared about, and he was only an eleven-year-old boy.
So, yes, he was a horribly evil man. He had done horrible, horrible things, many of which he wished that he could forget, but he would never stoop to the level of harming a young boy. Especially not one that reminded Hook so much of himself at that age. Granted, he hadn't actually met the young boy, but he had watched him, witnessed how he acted.
After his refusal to help, Tamara had scoffed at him, a sneer clouding her face before telling Greg to tie him up. Greg didn't do anything halfway either, apparently, since Hook had been yanking and pulling at his bindings for what felt like a decade without them giving one tiny little bit.
He wasn't afraid of dying, in fact, he was fairly certain that was where he was headed. Death via torture. It sounded absolutely horrible, but still he wasn't quite afraid of the actual dying part. No, he was afraid of what would happen to Henry if he didn't get away from the two psycho's with an agenda.
"Ah, bloody hell!" He yelled out, as he tugged harder against the bindings. He bit his lip to keep from screaming out as something popped in his left shoulder, followed by an intense burning sensation. Tears pressed against his eyes, as his body slumped forward. The pain was almost unbearable, and his vision swam in front of his eyes.
Moaning, Hook looked around the room. Through the pain, a smirk formed on his lips. One of the torture devices sat on the edge of the counter to his left. If he kicked his leg up just right, he'd have a small chance of knocking the device to the floor. Groaning, Hook shoved off the ground with his left foot and kicked it up as high as he could. It took everything in him to not scream out at the pain that tore through his left shoulder. He fought against his darkening vision, as the heel of his boot came down on the device. Sighing, he slowly dragged his foot toward the edge of the counter and smiled triumphantly as it fell to the ground. Now all he had to do was figure out how to use the device to release him from his bindings.
The door to the same cottage is thrown open. He knows that he is making too much noise, that they'll be alerted to his escape, but he can't help it. Cradling his throbbing left arm against his midsection, Hook stumbles out into the thick Storybrooke forest. He needs to find help. He needs to warn Swan that Tamara and Greg are planning on doing something to Henry.
He hears a noise behind him, followed by someone shouting. Hook knows that they've found out he's escaped, and he knows that he has only one option: run. Without a second thought, Hook starts to pump his legs forward, his booted feet clapping against the twigs and leaves loudly. They'll know which way he went, and they'll follow him. His only choice is to move faster. He was a pirate dammit, he could outwit the two people stupid enough to leave a weapon behind that was easily able to undo his bindings.
Running, faster and faster, Hook starts to pant. He isn't in bad shape, but he hasn't ever had a reason to run as if his life depended on it before. Of course he had pissed off people in the past. Been chased out of different districts of the Enchanted Forest, but he had never felt like he was in danger before.
He feels like he's been running for hours, his chest hurts with each breath he pulls into his oxygen-deprived lungs. Looking around, he realizes that he has no idea where he is. As far as he knows, he could be running further into the dense forest, instead of closer to the edge of town. Looking behind him, he notes that he can still hear Greg and Tamara behind him. He hasn't made it far from them at all. All he knows is that he's running and gasping for air. His lungs burn as if someone had sat them on fire from the inside. His vision starts to swim, and the pain in his shoulder become prominent again. He can't stop, their right behind him. If he stops, he'll never be able to save Henry from what they might have planned. Fighting against his rebelling body, Hook continues his forward movement. One foot in front of the other, until suddenly he is face first in the dirt underneath him. His eyes are unfocused and the tunnel is slowly closing, but as the light starts to dim from his usually vibrant blue eyes, he swears to himself that he saw a beautiful angel before he fell forward.
It's his last hope, that he is indeed dying, because almost anything else would be better than what Tamara and Greg would have planned for him, if they caught up to him. As his slips into unconsciousness, he swears he hears someone call out to him. Hook tries to hold onto one ounce of his consciousness, just enough to answer them, but he loses his grip and suddenly his world is dark.
Ruby finds herself standing in the middle of a small clearing in the otherwise vast Storybrooke forest. She had been on her way to check on the dwarves and Anton's progress with the magic beans, when something had called out to her. She had know almost instantly that it was her other half that had picked up on it. A slight change in the air. What had been light, had changed to dark clouded with a hint of fear. Someone was in trouble, she could sense it. Without a second thought of who it was, where they might be, or who might be after them, Ruby had taken off, sprinting through the thick forestry. The feeling only grew stronger the further she ran, until she came to the clearing.
She knew that she was close. She could feel the fear surround her. It clawed it's way up her back, clinging to her throat, threatening to choke her. Ruby had always hated the smell of fear. It always made her anxious. Rubbing her hands together, in an effort to calm herself, she twisted slowly peering out past the clearing into the vast shrubbery, much further than normal human eyes can see. It's time like that these that Ruby is glad for her other half. The werewolf inside of her made it easier for her to see things, to find people.
When her eyes didn't pick up anything out of the ordinary, she used her nose to sniff at the air. Fighting past the stench of fear in the air, she picked up an odd scent. Something that she wasn't used to in the Enchanted Forest, and something that she was barely used to in Storybrooke. It smelt like salty water. Like the ocean. Her lips pulled back over her teeth as she growled. She knew who she was smelling, as she took off in the general direction that the smell had originated from.
Just as quickly as the trees grew dense on all sides of her, they thinned back out. She stepped out into the even smaller clearing in just enough time to watch as the pirate that she so despised at that moment collapse into an unconscious heap. Her personal feelings aside, Ruby knew she had to help him. She could see the pain in his face before he crumpled to the ground. Distant shouting could be heard from where she stood, and she knew that he was definitely the one in danger. That he was the one that the fear was coming from.
Taking a few steps forward, Ruby knelt down beside Hook's unmoving body and pressed two fingers to his neck. The flesh beneath her fingers moved in a slow, steady motion. He was alive. Glaring in the direction that the two distinct voices were coming from, Ruby grabbed Hook by his arms and started to drag him. She knew that his booted feet would leave a track, she just hoped that whoever was looking for him, wouldn't notice the track. She dragged him into the thick underbrush, before resting him against a tree. She ducked down, just as two people walked out into the clearing. Gasping, a hand over her mouth to keep herself quiet, she watched as Tamara and Greg walked past her hiding place, and disappeared into the backside of the forest.
Counting to ten and listening intently, she stood back up. She was going to go find some water, and she was going to use it to wake Hook up, because she didn't have time to wait for him to wake up on his own. She'd check out his injuries, then she was going to have him explain what the hell was going on.
Hook moaned as he slowly came back to consciousness. The first thing he noticed was the throbbing pain in his left shoulder, and remembered injuring it during his attempt at escaping Tamara and Greg. The next thing he noticed was that he was freezing cold and dripping wet. Had he fallen into a body of water of some sort when he passed out? Storybrooke hadn't been overly warm when he and Cora first arrived, but as it slowly dipped toward winter it was becoming increasingly colder. The fact that he felt as if he could be wrung out didn't help his shivering at all.
"Hey. You awake?" A voice called out. It was calm and almost soothing.
A hand gently touched his cheek, as he cracked open one eyelid. He attempted to grin at the beautiful black-haired angel kneeling in front of him, but he was certain that his smile was more of a grimace.
"Are you in a lot of pain?" she asked, pointing at his left shoulder.
Both of his eyes popped open as he took in his left arm. She had made him a makeshift sling from various leaves and twigs in the forest. Though the injury wasn't technically visible, the limpness of his arm was enough to prove that the injury was more severe than Hook had originally thought.
Realizing that she had asked him a question, he tried to shrug nonchalantly, but moaned at the pain it caused.
Ruby rolled her eyes and shook her head. "I'll take that as a yes." She mumbled, before pulling herself to her feet, as she slowly disappeared from view, he heard her mumble something about men.
Grinning, Hook tried to pull himself into a more comfortable position. He was still freezing, but at least he could shiver violently in a more suitable position. He peered around his surroundings, and wondered if Tamara and Greg were still looking for him. The thought caused a shiver to run the length of his spine, that had nothing to do with the fact that he was soaking wet.
"Here." Ruby muttered, as she thrust a bottle toward his only hand.
Hook looked at the bottle of water, before pulling it to his lips. He took generous sips of the water, letting it cool his parched throat, before handing the bottle back to Ruby.
"So. What happened?" Ruby asked, as she sat down in front of Hook.
He coughed awkwardly, trying to figure out how to explain the situation for what it was. If he wasn't mistaken, this woman was a close friend to Swan and her mother, which meant that she probably wasn't particularly fond of him.
"I went to New York, I followed Rumpelstiltskin there. I waited for my chance, and stabbed him with my hook-"
Ruby held up a hand, and shook her head. "Let me stop you there, pirate. I know all of that. What I want to know is how the hell you got back to Storybrooke and why you were running from Neal's fiancee and Greg."
Hook grinned at her, his eyebrow cocked slightly. "So you know of me."
Ruby glared at him, "Answer the question, or I pull Emma in on this."
Hook sighed, though he wouldn't mind tangling with the leggy blonde again, he simply was in no mood to deal with it all right now. All he wanted was to go to sleep and wish away the pain in his shoulder. "Fine." Hook grumbled, before continuing. "Swan locked me in some kind of room after I stabbed Rumpelstiltskin. I thought I was going to die in that Godforsaken room, until someone opened it and hit me in the head with something. When I woke up, I was in the back of some sort of vehicle with a gag in my mouth and my arms fastened behind my back."
Ruby nodded as she took in the information. Her first thought was, could she actually trust the pirate to be truthful, but then she asked herself what his reason for lying might be. "Continue."
Hook's eyes dropped to his lap, as he spoke. "When we arrived back into town, they released me from the chair they had tied me to, and removed the gag. They explained that I was a big part of their plan, and that they needed my help to make their plan a reality. Once I found out that damned crocodile was still alive, I was more than willing to help, until they explained their plan."
Ruby snickered, "Really? You haven't shown an ounce of decency since you arrived in Storybrooke, why change that now?"
He peered up at Ruby, his hair having fallen into his eyes. His blue eyes blazed with honesty as he spoke. "Because I couldn't stand by while those idiots injured a helpless child. Because that child reminds me so much of the young man that I used to be, and because I am not that horrible of a monster. I am not an evil man, I am simply a man that is looking to avenge his lost love, that is all."
Ruby gasped at the sheer honesty of his words, and got lost in his hypnotic gaze. After a few minutes, she shook her head, and cleared her thoughts. "Who are they trying to hurt?" She was pretty sure that she knew the answer to that question, but she needed to hear the words.
"Henry Mills. Regina's son."
Ruby shook her head, "No. He's Emma's son, and we have to do something. We can't let Tamara and Greg hurt Henry."
Hook nodded his head, "I agree, but no one will believe me. I don't even understand why you believe me."
Ruby sighed, "Let's just leave it at I've been where you are, and I know what you're going through."
Together, with Ruby baring at least half of Hook's weight, they are able to slowly weave themselves out of the forest undetected. Stumbling their way up main street, Ruby tries her best to ignore the odd looks that the other Storybrooke residents are giving her. Most of them know of Hook and what he had done, and the ones that didn't know the full story, knew the cliff-notes from the other people in town. To say that he wasn't well liked in the small town would be really pushing it.
"I gather that I'm not everyone's favorite person." Hook whispered softly against Ruby's ear.
Her nose wrinkled at the electricity that shot through her, as his lips barely brushed against her ear. This man had caused so much damage and destruction, she knew that, but she also couldn't deny the fact that she was no better than the pirate beside her. She too had hurt people, in fact, she had killed people. It was her fault... and Granny's, that Peter was dead. Could she really deny this man a second chance when she had done far worse things in her lifetime?
"That would be the understatement of the week." Ruby answered just as softly, as she fought against the smile that tugged at the edge of her lips.
She had to keep it together. Giving the man a second chance, and completely letting him off the hook were two totally different things. Hook would still have to answer for what he did, and whenever they were able to return Belle to who she really was, and Ruby hoped to hell it was soon, then he would apologize to her for what he did.
"Is that a smile I spy, darling?" Hook drawled out slowly. If Ruby was able to look into his eyes, she would see a playful twinkle lighting up his pale blue eyes.
"Nope, you must be mistaking and don't call me darling." Ruby huffed. She hated cute pet names, they made her queasy.
"You have it, milady."
Ruby rolled her eyes, "Maybe I should have left you in the woods to fend for yourself. At least you wouldn't be annoying me."
Hook laughed lightly, as he watched a couple of people staring at them as they continued their trek. There was something about Ruby that reminded him of Milah. It wasn't the hair, even if it was the exact same color and about the same length. It was in the way she held herself. The way she didn't take anyone's bullshit. Ruby was a straight shooter, and Hook really admired that about her, much like he admired it about Milah.
"Aye, my love, you could have, but that wouldn't have been like you would it?"
Ruby pulled to a sudden stop, causing Hook to jar his sore shoulder. He cursed under his breath, as he pulled the sore appendage to his chest. Ruby stared at him, her hands placed firmly on her hips.
"Don't for one second think that you know a thing about me."
Hook chuckled, before peering up at her. His dark hair had flopped into his eyes again, off-setting the pale blue that lay underneath his black hair. "Oh, but love, I do know you. You strong, vibrant, and beautiful, but what lays underneath that exterior is what is most important about you. You're loyal and make lifelong bonds. You don't have it in you to leave someone behind, to fend for themselves, not when that person is injured."
Ruby gaped at him, her mouth hanging open. She tried to find a way to retort what he had just said, but she couldn't. He was right, and it wasn't a bad thing that he was. Everything he said was good...and he had called her beautiful. She sighed, "Look, let's just get you to David and Mary Margaret's before Tamara and Greg find us."
Hook nodded his head, "You still haven't explained to me, how exactly you're going to get them to listen to me. I'm not exactly well liked...or trusted, for obvious reasons."
"That maybe, Hook, but I am. They'll trust me."
Hook simply nodded again, as he let Ruby help him move forward. What should have hurt his pride, he was a grown man capable of walking on his own two feet, only seemed to send small electrical pulses deep inside of him, straight into his heart. Something that he had thought had died long, long ago.
Ruby stared pleadingly at David, as she carried more and more of Hook's weight. The pain in his shoulder was rendering him almost completely useless in the way of standing. Maneuvering the stairs had been almost a work of art, until he had nearly fallen back down them. In an effort to keep Hook from tumbling down the steep set of stairs, Ruby had grabbed hold of the first thing she could latch onto, which just happened to be Hook's injured left arm. He had cried out in pain, biting his lip to keep from screaming, as he righted himself and jerked his arm out of her death grip. She apologized profusely, seeing the amount of pain that the man was in, but knew that there was nothing in the immediate future that she could do.
"Please. We have very, very important and time sensitive information."
David shook his head, "I wouldn't believe a word that came out of his mouth."
Hook nodded, the tears that he been in his eyes had long since dried. His eyes were red-rimmed from lack of sleep, and his fight against crying. "I understand that, I do. I wouldn't believe me either, if I was you, but this is important..and frankly, I need to sit down."
David sighed, as he peered backward into the apartment. Ruby knew that he was having one of his odd silent conversations with Mary, when he poked his head back out.
"Alright, you have five minutes to explain yourself." As he spoke, his eyes never left Ruby's.
Ruby nodded, hopefully five minutes would be long enough to get her friends to believe them. Well, they would believe Ruby, but she wasn't sure how they would take to it being Hook that held the information.
David took over for Ruby, noting the thin sheen of sweat that had formed on the young woman's forehead. He slung Hook's good arm around his shoulders and guided the apparently injured man into his living room, and sat him down on the couch.
David crossed the small space, and took the empty arm chair, with Mary Margaret perched on the edge of the arm, beside him. Emma was out with Henry and Neal, eating at Granny's.
"So, you have important information?" David inquired.
He didn't trust the pirate, not one bit. Not from what his wife and daughter told him of their time in the Enchanted Forest and definitely not after the man aligned himself with Regina and ultimately her mother. It also didn't help that David wasn't as openly trusting of others, not like his wife was. Emma was much more like her father when it came to opening herself up to others, and for that, David was eternally grateful.
"Yeah..." Hook started, as Ruby put a halting hand on his uninjured shoulder.
David watched as Hook's head twisted in Ruby's direction. A slight tilt of her head had Hook shutting his mouth, and merely staring at David. His eyebrow quirked slightly as he took in the scene. If he wasn't seeing things, it appeared that Ruby and Hook had something intimate between them. It was almost the same deep loving, trusting, honesty that he shared with his wife. David quirked his head and looked at Mary Margaret who had the same look on her face. So, he hadn't just been seeing things, there was something going on between his friend and the pirate.
"Tamara and Greg are bad news." Ruby started, blunt and honest. They all suspected that Greg Mendall was up to something. He was too creepy crawly for most of the residents in town, who avoided him like the plague. "Tamara kidnapped Hook while he was in New York, they tried to use his need for revenge to get him to join their side."
David's eyebrows lifted, as he stared at Hook. "Did they?"
Ruby nodded, "Once he found out what they were planning, he refused to help them. Because he knew too much, they tied him up and planned on torturing him for information."
David nodded, as he took in the information. Mary Margaret's eyebrows rose this time, "Planned on?" she questioned softly.
"He was able to escape before they had a chance too. That's how he injured himself." Ruby said, pointing at his dangling left arm. "I'm not a doctor, but I'm pretty sure he needs one."
David and Mary Margaret both nodded this time, "Alright, saying we believe what's been said here, what is their plan?"
Hook bent forward, like it was a secret only for David and Mary's ears. His eyes were wide and serious, a frown etched on his face as he spoke. "They plan on kidnapping Henry. To use him against Regina. It has something to do with Greg's father."
Both, David and Mary Margaret, stared at Hook. Gasping, they knew that he was telling the truth. The depth of honesty in his eyes alone was enough to confirm that he wasn't lying. They nodded, "Alright. We need a plan," David stated, looking at his wife, before turning back to Ruby and Hook, "you need to get him to a hospital. That shoulder looks like it's in bad shape."
Ruby nodded, as she stood up. As she turned to help Hook stand, the front door burst open. Emma, frantic with panic in her eyes, rushed forward, followed by a distraught Neal Cassidy.
"Emma, honey, what's wrong?"
Emma's mouth bobbed open and closed a few times, as tears welled in her eyes. Mary Margaret's heart dropped into her stomach at the look on her daughter's face. Something was very, very wrong.
"It's Henry. They-" Neal spoke, tears welling in his own eyes. "They took him."