Author's Note: Hello, everyone. This is the start of a new multichapter story. Those who've read my other stories will know I am a CS-shiper and although there will be elements of that, this will head away from romance. Just a warning so no one gets into this on false assumptions.

Without further ado...Imagine a universe where Zelena just died when Rumple stabbed her, no cloud of magic, no time portal, no Elsa, and no kiss outside Granny's, and that dear readers is where we start this tale. On a cold and misty night a couple of weeks after the naming party for baby Neal.

I really hope you all enjoy reading it.

Disclaimer: I own nothing from Once Upon a Time, I am only using their ideas and then messing them up.

…..

Prologue

His Mom and Robin had finally gone to sleep, or at least it was quiet on her side of the house. Henry crept out of bed and tip toed to his window. With a soft click he opened it and leaned out to stare across the town. He felt a surge of memories as he watched the hands of the tower clock click around, finally having a moment of peace to really enjoy being home.

He used to sit in this window and wish for his life to change, for his monotonous loneliness to be over and then everything had changed. Miss Blanchard had given him a magical book and he'd learned the truth about the town, found his birth mother, broken the curse, saved his grandparents, helped his other mother find her ability to love again and then things had really changed.

His mind skated over losing Emma to the Enchanted Forest, to the relief when she and his Grandma came back before getting snagged on getting taken to Neverland and his foolishness falling for Pan's tricks. He wanted to be a hero just like the rest of his family but all he'd done was cause more pain.

His eyes drifted up to look at the stars hanging above the town. Hook had taught him a few constellations, and he found them easily, the pirate's lesson proving to be more effective than he'd given him credit for at the time. Had his father really learned from the same words or had it all be a story to make Henry feel better? He didn't think so. He'd got to know Captain Hook and he'd always treated him fairly and his Mom obviously trusted him a lot, not that she'd admit it out loud.

At least Emma had let go of her panicked ideas about running back to New York. She'd literally run from his uncle's naming celebration rather than talk to them about it and once Hook had convinced her to come back there'd been a very heated conversation where Regina's accusations of kidnap and Snow's watery eyes had just made everything worse. Henry had finally gotten her to promise to wait for things to settle down and see how she felt after a few days, a deal she obviously thought would go her way, expecting the next crisis to appear within hours, but nothing world threatening happened and with gentle encouragement from her family and friends Emma had finally admitted that Storybrooke could be her true home.

Henry let out a sigh and slumped down against the wood window frame. He should be happy, it felt like his family was always growing and he no longer had to worry that no one really cared about him, he was surrounded by love. Everyone was finally living their happy endings...and yet.

His eyes searched the heavens fixing on a single point before he closed his eyes.

…..

Chapter One

KILL ONE PN

Emma and Charming both stood in front of the vandalised brick wall reading and re-reading the crudely written bright green words.

"You know," David said, "This is actually kinda nice. Just some honest graffiti. It was probably one of the lost boys feeling bored. Although it isn't exactly a teenager's initials in a heart."

Emma hid her smirk at how naive her father was being. Although she had seen Chris + Goldi 4eva carved on the docks the other day.

"So what's a PN?" She asked. "And why should we kill one?"

"No idea," he replied. "When we find who did this we'll ask them."

"That's confident," Emma said, "Unless we happen to walk up and catch them in the act these sorts of crimes hardly ever get punished."

"That's big city talk, this is Storybrooke and the Charmings always find their man," David scoffed, earning a laugh from his daughter.

"Please don't tell me you've had that printed on T-shirts." She ignored the look of inspiration that crossed her father's face at the idea and turned to look at the opposite shop fronts. "Actually," she said noticing the security camera pointing at them. "I should probably know better than to doubt you when it comes to finding people." David beamed at her.

"I'll call Leroy to come clean this off," he said, waving at the wall as he slung his arm over her shoulder.

...

"But why do we need T-shirts?" Mary Margaret asked. Emma and David had had a wonderfully uneventful rest of the day, the only real work being applying to get the CCTV footage, and were back home with plenty of time for dinner and the station phone on redirect.

"It's not about needing them," David replied. "But -"

A knock at the door interrupted what was sure to have been a prize argument. Emma hopped down from the counter stool, throwing her mother a supportive look of exasperation and opened the door to find herself face to face with a smirking pirate.

She swallowed nervously at his sudden appearance so close to her and then cursed herself when he spotted her reaction and grinned. Dammit, she'd never denied he was hot and all this crossing realms to find her business had forced her to admit he had more depth to offer her than just his swagger and flirting, but she wasn't ready for him to know that.

"Relax Swan," Hook said, his voice a new mix of fondness and gentle teasing that did things to her heart rate. "I'm not here for you." The this time was more than implicit in his bright blue eyes and Emma found herself mentally scrambling to come up with something clever to say to diffuse the moment.

"Ah, Hook. There you are," David called from behind her. Hook gave Emma a wink as he slinked past her to enter the loft, moving just a hair too close to be considered polite. David pulled a small barrel from under the kitchen counter. "Water from the spring of Neverland," he announced. As he spoke Hook's attitude completely changed, his body going stiff as he frowned at the barrel.

"Is that all of it?" he asked.

"Yes all that's left," David replied, also frowning now. Hook had sounded like he hadn't expected there to be any water left when he'd asked about it earlier. Why was he upset to see there was keg full? "I tried to use as little as possible, until Gold… you know." He shared a worried look with Snow and Emma.

"And you're just giving it all to me? Are you mad?" Hook demanded.

"What?" David asked, now completely confused by the pirate's anger.

"This water will heal any illness, buy possibly precious time to get a cure for what ails anyone and you're just handing it all over?" Hook asked exasperated.

"It's not like you're some stranger off the street," David replied defensively.

"But you would wouldn't you?" Hook asked. "If their story was pitiable enough? You know what? Don't answer. I don't need all of it just a sample." He pulled a small stoppered bottle from his pocket and handed it to David. "And for God's sake find a place to hide it properly after I'm gone."

David snorted at the ridiculousness of being chastised by a pirate, but appreciated how he spoke from a place of concern for his family. Before they'd gone to Neverland together David would have bet good money against Hook having any sort of feelings beyond his own hollow revenge. How times change. He dipped the bottle into the water, collecting a few drops before handing it back and closing the barrel.

"What do you need it for anyway?" He asked. "Worried about turning grey now you're back in the real world?" Hook gave him a sarcastic smile but Emma's curious gaze caught his eye and he shifted uncomfortably under the scrutiny.

"No," he said, carefully choosing his words, before facing Emma properly. "I promised not to keep secrets from you anymore love, not after the debacle with Zelena. So, in the name of full disclosure, I've been feeling... off."

"Off? What do you mean off?" Emma asked stepping closer and her eyes running over him looking for any signs of illness.

Hook couldn't help but smile at the worry directed at him from the Saviour's face. She'd brought him back from the brink of death, sacrificing her own magic in the process and Hook had hoped it finally signalled that Emma did think of him as a man worthy of her affection. However, if anything, she'd been actively avoiding him since. He had worried that he had put more emotion into the whole event than she had, that she would have done the same for anyone and just didn't know how to let him down easy, but if she was looking at him which such concern there must be some feeling behind it. Mustn't there?

"I don't believe it's anything to worry about per se," he said still smiling. "It started a couple nights ago as a slight twinge but now it's becoming distracting, which is a danger in this town."

"You think the water will cure it?" Emma asked, her eyes still roaming over him looking for a clue to the problem and not liking the vagueness of his answer.

"Actually the water is for Tinker Bell, she has an idea to test a hypothesis I have."

"Hypothesis?" Emma asked, starting to lose her patience.

"Aye love, I think what I'm feeling is... Neverland dying." They all stared at him in surprise and he continued without giving them a chance to cut in. "During the year we spent back in the Enchanted Forest I noticed the Neverland star, the second star to the right, was fading. The other stars have all remained as bright so I can only surmise that now Pan is gone and children's dreams no longer take them there, that Neverland itself is fading. Tinker Bell says she has a way to magically confirm that that cursed island is in its last throws and for that she needs a piece of Neverland itself, hence the water."

They were all shocked. They'd been told over and over that Pan controlled Neverland but the consequences of his leaving never occurred to them. Emma was now officially worried, and it must have shown on her face as Hook hurried to explain further.

"I'm pretty sure I won't suddenly turn to dust," he reassured her. "But I did exist there for centuries, drinking the water and eating the food, maybe the place left a mark within me. Tink will let us know if I'm just blowing hot air. As your father pointed out maybe I've just forgotten how it feels to grow old." Emma didn't feel reassured but returned his fake smile with one of her own.

...

Author's Note: I hope you enjoyed this introduction. Please let me know what you thought in a review.