Set during the events of New York City Serenade (3.12). AU. My interpretation of the events after Emma's memories are restored, and she heads back to Storybrooke with Henry and Captain Hook. I wrote this as part of the CS Secret Shipmate event on tumblr for killians-lady.

On the Brink

Emma had driven the yellow bug for five hours straight, with Captain Hook on the front passenger seat, and Henry at the back busy with his video games. They had only made a couple of quick stops for restroom breaks and snacks, as Emma had wanted to cover as many miles as possible before nightfall. It had been an interesting drive, to say the least, but at least it had been uneventful, and they had not been attacked by any flying monstrosities. Deciding to break the journey for the night, they checked in at a wayside motel, picking up some sandwiches from a diner across the street. Emma had taken a double room with two twin beds for herself and Henry, and a single room for Hook. Now, they were all ensconced in their respective rooms, and getting ready for bed.

By the time Emma finished her shower, got dressed in her jammies, and came out of the bathroom, she found Henry passed out on his bed (he had taken the twin farther away from the window), and the remnants of the cheeseburger and fries lay by his side. Emma sighed, tossed them into the trash, carefully extracted the covers from under Henry without waking him, and tucked him in. He could still be such a baby sometimes, she thought fondly with a smile before dropping a kiss on his forehead. Her smile dropped abruptly with a sudden rush of conflicting memories. Emma sighed and pressed two fingers on the bridge of her nose as she straightened up. She then took up the paper bag containing her grilled chicken sandwich, and hesitated for a brief moment before picking up the room's key card and her cell phone, and walked over to the door. She turned off the lights in the room, and stepped outside, closing the door behind her, and making sure it was locked. She went over to the room next door and knocked.

After a very brief interval, the door was opened by Hook. Holding up her paper bag, Emma asked, "Uh…may I come in? Have you eaten yet?"

"Yes, you may, lass" said Hook with a smirk, holding the door open for her, and added, "I was just beginning my meal." He was still wearing his leather pants, but had taken off his coat and vest, his shirt untucked and hanging loosely about him. Emma felt a blush creep up her face as she realized how flimsy the fabric was. Besides, he had unfastened all the buttons on the V-neck, giving an even better view of his chest than she had ever had before. She bit her lip and tried to focus her attention on something else. The contents of his dinner were spread out on top of the sheets—he had apparently just taken a bite out of his grilled chicken sandwich. "You eat just like Henry…" said Emma with a smile and a shake of her head.

"Do I?" said he, and sat down on the bed. "Is the lad asleep?" he asked, and pointed to the other side of the bed indicating that she could sit there. Emma sat down, and placed the key card and her mobile by her side. "Yes. He ate his sandwich and fries, and fell asleep." She then got her sandwich out of the bag, and bit down, without much enthusiasm.

"Mmm…." she said, surprised. She had not expected much from the diner.

"I grant you, it's not bad," said Hook. "Much better that that horrible bologna, at any rate," he said with a shudder.

"Oh, come on… it probably wasn't that bad…" said Emma with a smile.

"Of all the hazards I braved to get you to believe me, love—that was the worst," he said with an exaggerated inflection and a groan. "If you had ever been forced to taste it, you would know…"

"Oh, I have tasted it…" said Emma was a voice of feigned nonchalance that made Hook quickly look up at her face. He said nothing however, and finished off his sandwich, washing it down with some rum. He offered her some, seeing that she had finished her meal as well. The text notification in her mobile phone kept going off every few minutes, forcing her to pick it up and turn the sound off. She then placed it face down on the bed. There, that would take of things—for now. She knew who the texts were from, and she was in no mood to answer them.

"Where did you even get rum?" asked Emma, taking a sip off the flask.

"I can be very…resourceful love." he said with a wicked flick of his tongue.

"Stop it…" she said narrowing her eyes, a reluctant smile breaking out of her face. In the midst of all the confabulation of the old and the new, the real and the false, having him by her side, dressed in his usual pirate-garb, and being his ridiculous cocky self, with all his stupid innuendos and jokes, was somehow comforting to her, and was anchoring her to some semblance of reality.

Hook collected all the waste and put it away, then scooted back against the wall, placing a pillow behind his back. He tossed Emma a pillow as well, as she too scooted back and stretched out her legs, leaving a small but comfortable distance between them.

"So, back to Storybrooke tomorrow," said Emma.

"Yes. Back to Storybrooke." He gave her a searching look, and added, "Are you alright with this, Swan? You and Henry coming back to Storybrooke..."

"Well—isn't that what you came to get me for? To save the day, break the Curse, and be the savior once again…" There was a slight edge of bitterness in her voice.

"I am sorry, Emma," said Hook gently. "I know I am the reason you and Henry are being plucked out of your peaceful lives. If there had been any other way to save your family, I would not have disturbed you, believe me."

She looked at him with a strange expression on her face. "So, you would not have looked for me if you had not got the message that the Witch was going to recast the Dark Curse?"

Hook bent his head down for a moment, and then looked up at her. "I will confess that there was many a night I spent wrestling with my thoughts whether to find you and selfishly snatch you and your boy from the happy life and memories Regina had given you," said he, with a nod in the direction of Henry's room. "I really do not know if I would have let well alone, Emma, if the Mermaid had not shown up when she did…"

"Besides, it's not as though we could have stayed behind in New York safely. A freaking flying monkey attacked me in my own apartment building!" She shivered, still unable to forget the possibility of Henry having been injured. Hook placed his hand over hers and squeezed it gently. "He will be safe, lass. He will have a lot of people to watch over him and keep him safe in Storybrooke."

"Yes—that… I wonder why the potion didn't work on him. He doesn't have his memories yet, and that's going to be a big problem when we get to Storybrooke."

"I believe Regina told Ariel, the Mermaid who gave me the message, that that was a possibility. She made the potion to restore your memories, and as giving Henry up was the price she paid to destroy the Curse, any cure she made would be rendered powerless on Henry. And we don't know if there is magic in Storybrooke, though Regina apparently believes the Witch will find a way to bring magic into Storybrooke."

"I'm not sure how much to tell Henry. I can't spring it on the kid that Snow White and Prince Charming are his grandparents, and that the Evil Queen adopted him… He will think I've gone crazy. And Neal—he only knows him as…" Emma trailed off, unable or unwilling to say more. Hook squeezed her hand again.

"Emma. You'll figure things out. After all, as you are going back to Storybrooke, and the lad will have to know sooner or later…"

"I'm not sure if staying in Storybrooke is the best thing for Henry in the long term," said Emma, and Hook looked up at her alertly.

"You plan on coming back to New York, then," he asked.

"Henry spent the first eleven years of his life in a town slowly believing that he was either going crazy, or the rest of the town was. He and I finally got the chance to live a normal life. Once the Witch is defeated, and everyone is out of danger, it may be best for him, and for me, to return to New York."

"Is that what you told him? That you would be going back?" Hook's tone was light, but Emma could detect a slight strain in it. He had taken his hand off hers. She missed its warmth, but she made no move to pull it back.

"Told whom?" countered Emma, knowing full well whom he meant.

"Your beau. The person who kept sending you missives on your communication portal all the while we were eating."

"He didn't," lied Emma, not very convincingly. Hook merely gave her a look. Emma hesitated for a few moments, struggling with her thoughts, and then said, "Walsh asked me to marry him." Hook's eyebrows shot up far into his forehead. "The day before yesterday at the restaurant—he proposed just after you had crashed our dinner."

"What did you tell him?" asked Hook with an unreadable expression on his face.

"You know me—well, I freaked out." Hook let out a breath he had apparently been holding. "I…I told him I couldn't marry him, and that I needed a break. I haven't spoken to him since. I called him just before we left this evening," said Emma, indicating her phone.

"When you asked me to watch the boy?" asked Hook.

"Yes…um. He didn't pick up. So I left a long message telling him that I was taking a trip to deal with a family emergency, and I wasn't sure when I would be able to contact him again."

"Do you plan on getting back in communication with him once the Witch is defeated and the Curse is broken?"

"I am…not sure. I did think he was good with Henry. But now—I'm not sure of anything. I'm trying to sort out all these memories I have. We don't know if Henry will ever get his memories back. And who knows how long dealing with the Witch is going to take… I just don't know…"

Hook merely nodded his head, but did not say anything.

"Hook," said Emma, with a softer tone to her voice that made him look up at her face sharply. "When you told me you would think of me everyday—at the town line last year when Henry and I had to leave—I...I didn't know I would lose my memories and would be living a life with no idea of one part of my life."

She paused, wondering if he would say anything. He merely indicated with a nod that she continue.

She dropped her eyes and said, "I was hoping you would find me and Henry. I wanted you to find us. After all, I knew how…unrelenting you could be…" Then she lifted up her head and looked into his eyes, "And you did find us, and you helped me remember everything—my parents, Storybrooke, and the fact that my son came and found me on my 28th birthday. So, thank you!" Hook merely nodded his head, and scratched behind his ear—a quirk she had come to associate with him whenever he felt embarrassed. God, she had missed this! "I only wish…" she trailed off, unsure what to say, or even what she meant to say.

"Emma…" said Hook, breaking his silence at last. "I am a patient man—a very patient one. I told you once, in a land without time, that I would win your heart, and I would win it without any trickery." He took her hand in his again, and looked into her eyes. "I am not giving up yet…" he said. The expression in his eyes was tender as he slowly lifted her hand to his lips, giving her time to stop him if she so wished. She did not stop him. He planted a soft kiss on her hand all the while holding her gaze. Emma closed her eyes briefly as his lips touched her skin. He then he let go of her hand gently.

"Yeah—well," she said, a little flustered, "We need to figure out what's going on in Storybrooke, who the Witch is, and…" she rambled a little incoherently trying to hide her embarrassment, when she caught him smiling at her. "What?" she asked a little annoyed.

"Thank you, Swan."

"What for?"

"For not kneeing me in the nuts again,"

"Shut up…" said Emma grinning in spite of herself. And added, "You asked for it."

"Perhaps…" said Hook still grinning.

He was incorrigible. She threw a pillow at him. It was time to leave. Emma got up and stretched her arms over her head, then dropped them quickly, noticing Hook's gaze upon her.

"Well…I'm off to bed. We need to get up early. We still have about three hours driving to do before we'll get to Storybrooke."

"You forgot your communication portal," said Hook and handed her the phone with a pointed look.

"Thanks," said Emma, and bit her lip as took the phone from him. She walked out of his room, wishing him goodnight with a smile.

"Good night, lass," said Hook, and smiled back at her. He waited until she had entered her room, and then closed his door.

Once inside her and Henry's room, Emma did not turn on the light, but used the phone's backlight to lock the door, locate her bed and get under the covers. A brief glimpse at the phone's screen told her that the text messages had piled up, but she was in mood to deal with that right now—or in the near future. She had stepped back into the strange world of fairy tales and enchantments—a world where Captain Hook crossed realms to find the daughter of Snow White and Prince Charming, in order to take her back home. Home? She wondered. Is that what Storybrooke was? She was not sure. That was another question she was happy to leave for another day… She sighed as she rested her head on the pillows, and slowly drifted off to sleep, with the memory of a kiss lingering in her dreams.