101.5. Damn it.

Emma winced down at the electronic thermometer. There is no way Snow can see this. Emma held down the power button and ran the metal tip under the steaming tap water.

She looked up at the fogged mirror only to meet unfamiliar bloodshot eyes and purple shadows lingering under her lids. That's what no sleep will do to you, she reminded herself. Her cheeks had paled and the skin around her nose had reddened from all of the tissues she went through over the course of the night. She felt like hell, absolute hell. As if sinus congestion and a pounding headache weren't enough, her stomach was still deciding on whether it was going to force out the little scraps of lunch she managed to keep down.

She went home from the station early. It was three o'clock, or something like that. Henry was shocked to see her parked outside his school. He was more shocked when he got a close look at her from the backseat.

"You okay, Mom?"

"Yeah, I'm great." She reassured her son while trying to also reassure herself. She had to be okay. There was no way Regina was getting Henry for another week. She would if anyone suggested to her that Emma couldn't handle a simple cold. Sitting in the backseat, her one and a half year old daughter, Elizabeth, turned in her car seat and reached out for her older brother. Henry grinned and took a hold her little hand, "Hey Lizzie."

Emma walked out of the bathroom to find David and Snow now home from work. They were both standing by the kitchen counter looking too concerned for Emma's liking. "Before either of you say anything, I'm fine."

Snow straightened out, "Emma…-"

"No. It's just a small cold. I'll get over it."

"You didn't get any sleep last night," David interjected.

The giggling between the two kids in the living room stopped at the sound of a faint bang. All three adults snapped their heads over at Henry who was staring anxiously at the ground. Emma hurried over at the first sounds of Elizabeth's squeaking cry.

She coddled the crying little toddler, who had obviously fallen the short distance from the couch cushion to the carpet. Elizabeth pressed her head against her mother's shoulder and calmed almost instantly. Emma kissed her soft head while cooing her down to slowing breaths. She pulled away to look into her daughter's big blue eyes, "You okay?" Elizabeth blinked away a loose tear and sniffed in one more deep breath.

"Daddy?" The toddler looked over Emma's shoulder.

"No, Daddy's at work. I can get you a bottle though."

Suddenly two hands wrapped around the front of Emma's waist. She immediately smelled the salty sea air that still lingered in his hair. Emma instinctively leaned into the man's arms while feeling his chin rest on her other shoulder. "I guess Daddy's home from work early," Emma muttered and felt a brushing kiss along her cheek.

"Why if it isn't my two favorite lasses," Killian grinned. Elizabeth smiled and bounced excitedly in Emma's arms, reaching both hands out for him. Emma turned in his embrace, bringing their daughter between them. Killian gave the little child an affectionate kiss to the tip of her nose. Emma frowned with confusion, "You shouldn't be home from the marina for another two hours."

"Aye, it seems my obligations have drawn me elsewhere." He took Elizabeth into his arms with ease.

"Obligations?"

"Yeah," a new gruff voice sounded from the front door, "obligations." Neal frowned at Emma and then looked over at Henry. "Hey buddy," he gave his son an enthusiastic hug.

"You're not looking well, love." Killian frowned, "When was the last time you've slept?"

"Oh God, not you too." Emma grumbled and looked over at her guilty parents. Clearly there were some phone calls made while she was in the bathroom. "I really am fine."

"No you're not," Neal interrupted. "Whatever it was that Ruby had, you seem to be coming down with it too. You need to take it easy tonight. It's not a good idea to keep the kids around with you sick."

"Oh come on," she turned and looked at Killian for support. His eyes were heavy with concern. "Killian, it's just a cold."

"I didn't want to say anything but you really do look sick," Henry interrupted. "Maybe it would be a good idea to hang out at Dad's apartment for tonight? We could all have a movie night." He turned and looked up at the two men for confirmation.

Neal shrugged, "Yeah I'm up for that. I have to catch up on watching the Disney movies. Snow you've got them all, right?"

"Oh sure, just don't take Snow White and the Seven Dwarves," Snow answered politely, "we're not finished watching that."

"I am," David muttered bitterly under his breath and took a sip of his coffee.

Henry eagerly grabbed a stack of them and shoved them into his school bag. Emma frowned at Killian. He chuckled and brushed a light kiss along the top roots of her hair, "Just for tonight, I promise."

Killian looked down at Elizabeth, who was sitting complacently in his arms between the two parents, "Say goodnight to Mummy."

Emma gave the toddler an affectionate kiss above the light swelling along her forehead. "Call me if you need anything; diapers, wipes, bottles, food, whatever. Let me know, okay?"

Neal smiled and walked over to the pair of them. "Emma, relax. We're not that hopeless. If anything happens you have my cell. And let's agree that not a word of this goes to Regina, for both our sakes." Killian and Neal slowly backed away from the pale sickly version of Emma. They began walking over to the door when Henry came out from his room with his game-boy in hand.

"Are you sure I can't come with you guys?"

The two fathers turned and muttered in sync, "No."

Henry could feel the two men on each side tense up when the animated shadow leaped out of the drawer. They watched with silent horror as Peter Pan made his entrance to the film, standing at the window frame proudly. The three ecstatic cartoon children cried with joy and excitement when the infamous Lost Boy offered to bring them to Neverland. Once the drifting sparkles showered over Wendy, Michael and John, the three children took flight with cheers of their happiest thoughts.

"That," Neal paused with a hard glare and directed one finger at the LCD screen, "is not how it happened."

Henry turned with an incredulous look, "You knew Wendy?"

"Yeah the Darlings took me in when I first came to this world… nice people."

"Nothing to get worked up over lad," Killian remarked while still glaring incredulously at the screen. "If remember correctly, the child spent not but a night in Neverland."

The wide-eyed gazes of the two men remained fixed on the movie while giving their short remarks. They were enraptured by this strange, foreign portrayal. Elizabeth shifted and bounced in Killian's lap, excited by sight of the cartoon children flying through the midnight streets of London. Killian looked down at the ecstatic toddler, "Don't you get any ideas, love." She giggled and looked back at the screen.

Neal frowned, "I don't get what they're on about. Flying over London was terrifying."

"Shh!" Henry threw a handful of popcorn at his dad. "Captain Hook is coming on!"

Neverland came in from the sight of the fading star. The island shined and sparkled, appearing very much like the haven that all three boys could remember from their experience. The camera continued to descend until finally it focused in on a glorious pirate ship anchored in the bay.

"At least they gave the Roger some justice," Killian smirked proudly. The movie focused in and showed a gleeful old man with a blue and white striped shirt wearing a red cap. Killian grinned with childish amusement, "Oh god… is that… oh, that's Smee. It's quite an accurate portrayal."

"Just wait," Henry grinned deviously. "You're about to come on."

"It can't be all that ba-…"

He noticed the long thick black hair first. Captain Hook leaned over a table with a cigar hanging out of his mouth. Blast that Peter Pan, the cartoon pirate shouted and jammed his silver hook into the wooden table. "Hell," Killian muttered under his breath. Elizabeth pointed at the cartoon silver hook on the screen, "Daddy!"

Neal barked out in laughter, throwing his head back with sheer amusement. Henry giggled and looked over at Killian, whose eyes had grown wide down to his daughter. "No not Daddy! Daddy is here." Despite his efforts, the little toddler bounced in his lap excitedly and kept her attention on the movie, recognizing the hook. "At least Swan's not here to…-"

Tick tock, tick tock, the cartoon Smee started to sing and stopped Killian in mid-phrase. Even before Captain Hook reacted to the building music, Killian started to pull Elizabeth closer. Henry could see his sea blue eyes grow anxious in the darkness of the living room. Sure enough Captain Hook's whiskered mustache began twitching and the crocodile's eyes peaked out from the ocean water below. "And there's an actual crocodile. Brilliant," he muttered into the palm half-covering his mouth. Captain Hook jumped and hollered, taking shelter in Smee's arms. That, right there, was the breaking point for Killian. His eyes narrowed defensively, "This Disney magician takes me for a sodding coward!"

"If you think this is bad, just wait till we get to the part about Skull Rock." Henry grinned mischievously, "Codfish."

Neal's lips curled into his mouth in an effort to stop laughing. His eyes were watering with amusement. "How have I not seen this movie before?"

Thankfully the crocodile was shooed away by the valiant Mr. Smee, which prompted the cartoon to prep his Captain for an afternoon shave. "Like I'd ever let that old geyser come near me with a knife," Killian grumbled. Neal chuckled and threw some popcorn in his mouth, "I don't remember seeing any of the crew mates shaving."

"They didn't. The men rarely even made time for bathing. Our bodies never changed in Neverland so there really wasn't a need for it."

"Would you two can it?" Henry scolded Killian and Neal while plunging one hand eagerly into the popcorn bucket. "Geeze you guys are worse than Granddad was when we watched Snow White and the Seven Dwarves!"

Elizabeth snuggled into Killian's arm and fell asleep before the movie was halfway through. He was thankful for her infantile short attention span and inability to ward off sleepiness. Of course he knew that his daughter would see the entirety of this movie eventually, it still made it easier for him to stomach down the ridiculousness of it without worrying what kind of ideas she was gathering.

Killian would begin to get used to the silly Captain Hook, even finding the strength to muster a good laugh here and there. Then he would revert back to his furious brooding and scowling whenever he would be made a fool of on screen. It was a vicious cycle.

The blonde mermaid smiled and wedged an orange starfish behind her ear. The other mermaids lounged and relaxed until they heard the music playing from Peter Pan's pipes. It's Peter! Oh! Hello Peter!

"Weird, huh?" Henry looked at the two men whose eyes had narrowed with annoyance. "They're not like the ones we saw in Neverland."

"Indeed," Killian nodded. "These creatures are far less volatile."

The lighting of the lagoon soon darkened and the music began drumming away. Peter Pan took one glance and confirmed that Captain Hook was nearby, sending all of the mermaids in a frenzy to flee into the safety of the water.

"Why do they always hide from me?" Killian griped furiously. Neal and Henry shook with silent laughter. "It's not like that appalling excuse of a captain is capable of any real harm!"

Henry grinned, "Maybe they're just afraid of your hairdo."

What makes the red man red? The Indians chanted out and danced gleefully to the beating of tribal drums. Neal shifted his weight on the couch, settling his nerves. He turned to Killian. "You remember when the Indians abducted me and a few of the other crew mates, right?"

Killian nodded, "Aye, you gave me a bloody heart attack. I had to practically drag the other half of my men back onto the island to retrieve you. There was no love lost with those savages."

Henry pulled the straw out of his mouth, "You were abducted by the Indians? How did you escape?"

"Yeah, I was almost roasted alive on a spit! The Captain and few of his other men set up a diversion and were able to cut me and a few of the other pirates loose." He turned and pointed at the movie. "If this actually happened and the Indians were somehow able to catch a few of the Lost Boys, they'd be dinner by this point."

The red numbers glowed under the television set: 2:56am.

Emma flipped her pillow over and pressed her sweating neck against the side that was dry and cool. Her temperature had gone up soon after the guys left with the kids.

At first she was bitter at Neal and Killian, but as the night progressed she felt more relieved that the kids weren't here to see her like this. She had no mere cold. Her stomach was heaving and twisting. A disgusting layer of grim coated the back of her aching throat and made swallowing anything a legitimate struggle. Her body had been shivering out cold sweats for the past hour. She lost the battle of keeping her dinner down, having made several reluctant trips to the bathroom. Snow and David were subtle about checking up on her; one would get up every hour or so to grab water while looking over to where she slept.

She reached over to her bed stand and checked her phone.

One snapchat from ncassidy. It was sent almost five hours ago. Emma held down the alert and the picture pulled up.

The snap was bright and focused in on his flat screen television. Though the glowing image of the screen was slightly blurred, Emma was able to make it out. A ginger boy with green tights and brown shoes was wearing an oversized red jacket. In his extended hand, the grinning boy seemed to be waving around a giant red hat.

Neal wrote, sitting next to one very crabby pirate.

They watched Peter Pan.

Though her throat was still burning, Emma grinned and let out a raspy laugh. She set her phone back down and fell back onto the plush pillow. Now she had something to look forward to tomorrow. Poor Killian.

Emma was still lying in bed debating over when she was going to get up when she heard the front door open and close. A set of keys fell onto the linoleum counter in the kitchen. Footsteps walked near her room, and then suddenly, Emma heard a familiar light stubborn whine. She opened her eyes and noticed Killian lowering Elizabeth slowly into her crib. The toddler's eyes were fluttering. Her fingers were stubbornly latched onto his shirt.

Killian chuckled faintly and wrapped his finger around hers. "Come now, love. Don't try and pretend you aren't tired."

"Hey," Emma called out hoarsely. Her raspy voice was still pretty weak, though the twinge in the back of her throat wasn't nearly as painful. "Did Neal drop Henry off at school?"

"Aye, that he did," he muttered. "The lad didn't get to bed till the early hours of the morning. He'll no doubt be tired when he returns home later today." There was a downtrodden tone in his voice, his eyes faltered before meeting hers.

Emma crossed her arms suspiciously, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," he bitterly muttered and turned away from her to walk out into the kitchen.

"Oh come on," Emma grumbled and followed him out into the open space of the loft. She grabbed a hold of his hand. "Something's bothering you. What is it?"

He pursed his lips, the muscles in his jaw line tensed, before he reluctantly grabbed the bag sitting on the counter. It contained all of the DVD's Henry brought last night. One by one he shuffled through them until he came across the DVD they had watched last night. Peter Pan.

He held it up, "I gather you've seen this movie before?"

Emma smiled and rolled her lips into her mouth, trying not to laugh. "Yeah."

"When we first met in the Enchanted Wood, you had already heard of me. You recognized my hook. You knew my title." He put the movie down onto the counter.

Emma's lips rolled into her mouth in an effort to stifle the giggles. Despite his apparent discontent, she couldn't help but find it hilarious. She nodded.

"Am I to understand that your first impression of me was from this?" He put his finger down on the cartoon of Captain Hook on the cover. His narrow, storming gaze was infested with raging embarrassment, "a ruddy codfish."

Emma couldn't help herself. She shut her eyes and laughed quiet, painful laughs. She wrapped her arms around him and leaned her head against his stiff shoulder. He didn't move for a moment; his body was tense and overcome with shame.

"How the hell did you let yourself get so worked up over a movie?" She mumbled into his chest. "It is just a kids' movie. You and your pride…"

He sighed at her last words which seemed to linger in his head. His arms slowly wrapped around her frame and welcomed her in close. "And to answer your question," she looked up at him, "you're only a codfish in the mornings... when you act like Captain Hook."