Disclaimer: I do not own or have any rights to the fantastic characters and writing on Once Upon a Time.

Rating: As of now this story will be rated T but with some mature content.

Summary: Taking place after the group must confess their secrets to free Neal; Emma and Hook embark on a journey together that may just save Henry and return them all to Storybrooke. But first they must travel to another realm where a chance encounter with a particular Camelot King may give them exactly what they need. Slightly AU but full of fun, fantasy, magic, love and red hot adventure.

Silver Savior

"When the world is old and weary,
Loveless, lawless, mirthless, dreary,
Racked with doubt, by discord torn,
One shall come, in youth immortal,
Who shall cross the gloomy portal,
Draw the sword and blow the horn."

~ Arthur Guiterman

Chapter 1 - A Thimble

Death would be so much easier if it were permanent. That's the harsh truth Emma kept mulling over as they emerged from the cave and into the brisk night air. Had she had known that she'd have to confess her darkest hopes to free him she would have stayed outside and let Mary Margaret, David and Hook take the heat. Instead she was now forced to travel on with a man who had just professed his love for her and one whom she had wished stayed dead, but she couldn't change it now. Furthermore, she wasn't about to go and apologize to Neal. She wasn't entirely certain that explaining her sudden breakdown would truly make the bitter reality go away. Inconsequently she wasn't sure if she wanted it to go away. Did she love Neal? Her eyes flickered in is direction ever so quickly that she wasn't even confident that she had looked at him. But yes, she had to acknowledge that she loved him, but admitting it and wanting it were two completely different things.

So she planned on sticking right behind Mary Margaret until she could come up with something to say to him other than, 'hey sorry for wishing you were dead'. Besides it was much easier following Mary Margaret in silence considering she had stopped speaking to David what seemed like hours ago. How long had they been in that cave? Could have been minutes, could have been hours…suffice it to say; no matter how long they had been in there the rift that now ran between them was catastrophic.

When they reached the campsite clearing Emma retreated to her usual spot beside the fire to think, or so that was the initial plan until Neal came to sit beside her. Couldn't he just leave well enough alone?

"I think Mary Margaret needs my help." She stammered out, but realized that her parents had not yet entered the campsite. Emma supposed that they needed some alone time more than anyone else; David's confession about being tied to the island surely wasn't taken easily by Mary Margaret. Emma turned her attention towards the little alcove of trees half hoping that Mary Margaret would return and save her from the conversation with Neal. Instead Hook stumbled from the brush and cursed as his flask of rum tumbled from his coat pocket.

Her eyes lingered on him longer than necessary, watching him as he leaned over and picked up the silver container from the forest floor.

"I want you to know that I'm not angry with you, Emma." He mumbled, his hand running over his face while his eyes bore into the fire.

"Angry? Why would you have to be angry?" She cracked rather defensively, snapping her eyes away from Hook and back to his face.

"You said it all to free me, and for that I can only be grateful." He chanced a glance at her, "I don't hold it against you."

Emma refrained from snorting out a short laugh, "I don't have time for this, Neal. Not now. I really don't." Her hands pushed up on the log she had been sitting on, but he pulled her back down before she had a chance to stand. "Dammit Neal, we need to find Henry, not sit here and play silly high school games with each other."

His breath was warm as it ran across her skin and moved her hair along her cheek, "You don't need be afraid of me leaving you anymore, Em. You know that." Her hand was entwined in his, and for the briefest of moments she wanted to keep it there. She wanted to believe that he wasn't going to leave her broken and alone again. Desperation for a familiar touch sometimes made you think crazy things. She shook off the feeling and yanked her hand from his.

"Do you think I wanted to say those things to you?" She finally yanked free of his grip and rose from her spot on the log, "God Neal, I came here to find my son not worry about playing house with you."

"And I want to find Henry too Emma, don't think that I don't," He stood up beside her. "I want you to know that I'm not about finding Henry and then just forgetting everything that brought us back together."

She didn't want to hear it. She knew it was coming but she couldn't bear to hear it. Her eyes pressed shut, fingers pinching the bridge of her nose, as he leaned into her back and dropped his chin to her shoulder. Why couldn't he just make this easy and leave her alone?

"I still love you Emma." He leaned in to her a bit further, "It may have taken me all this time to figure it all out, but now that I have I won't rest until you can feel it."

She jerked away, "Well what if I don't want to feel it Neal?" It was cold; she immediately regretted it as soon as it left her lips. She could see the sadness flicker across his features, but Neal was Neal and he recovered quickly.

Hooks voice suddenly hummed into her ear. "I think that's your cue to leave the lady alone, mate."

Neal exchanged a look between the two, his mouth pulling into a tight line, "I don't think this is any of your business Hook. Why don't you run along...go uncover some buried treasure or something."

"Now Bae," he chortled, "I'm not saying that it isn't a valiant effort you are putting forth. I do admire your pluck, but what's done is done."

"Hook stop," Emma shifted her body so she was facing him now, her eyes trying to plead with him not to continue.

"What do you mean, what's done is done?" Neal took a challenging step forward, his elbow practically shoving Emma aside. "What the hell are you getting at?"

Hook chuckled again, this time Emma reaching out to grip at his arm. But Neal was too quick, and he had her hand in his own, holding her back from stopping him.

"Hook and I kissed." Emma shouted, hoping that from her mouth it would cut the severity of the issue.

When she looked over at the pompous pirate his mouth had twitched ever so slightly.

"What?" Neal dropped her hand and looked down at her, "You kissed him? Willingly?"

"I am quite the charmer." He smirked, although it faltered when Emma told him to shut his mouth.

Emma placed her fingers against her forehead and sighed, "It wasn't like that Neal…it was just...we were trying to find Henry and things got out of hand, and when we thought he had saved David I just – " she just what? Even she couldn't explain why she suddenly threw herself at the man who had single handedly (quite literally mind you) tried to ruin her by working with Cora.

"I did save David," Hook snarled.

"You did what you did for yourself, like always." Neal badgered back at him. "Like stealing my mother away from me…"

"Let's not be too brash with our words, Bae," He lifted his hook just the slightest, the glint from the moon sending off a sparkle just enough to catch Emma's eye.

"Enough! Both of you!" She pounded her hands against her thighs, "This isn't about you or me or any of your passed vendettas against each other! This is about finding Henry." She shoved Neal in his arm, "And if you are just going to end up fighting with each other the whole time then I'm better off without either of you."

Emma liked these kind of moments; the moments when she was able to at least feel stronger than she usually. She stalked away from the two men and left the campsite with such a stride in her step that she had almost forgotten that she was in Neverland.

The moon had slipped behind a cloud making it difficult for her to see exactly where she was going. Keeping the campsite in her view would have been the smarter of two choices, but she chose to continue on through the brush, needing the air and the quiet to fill her body and soul. The further she walked the thicker the brush. It was as if the thickness of the night had swallowed her whole, taking her away from this place and all the responsibilities it came with. Every now and then she recalled what it had been like to be on her own. Sometimes she imagined that this was all a dream and she'd wake up back in some rundown motel off the interstate.

The moon crept out from behind its gray mass illuminating the slick rocks beneath her feet. She bent over and snatched one from the ground, rolled it in her fingers for a moment, and then threw it off into the denseness of the trees. What she didn't expect was the thud, nor was she expecting to step through the sinking branches of a dying tree and stumbling upon a decrepit old tree house.

Emma glanced over her shoulder for Pan. If this was some sort of trick by the time she called for help it would most definitely be too late. She wasn't certain how far she had wandered, but she couldn't resist checking to see if Henry was in there. What if he was? What if this was just some lucky break and she'd finally have her son back?

"Yeah right," she muttered, and began climbing the rickety old ladder up the trunk of the tree.

Reaching the top was easier than expected, although her hands were numb from gripping the ladder so tightly. Swinging her legs up over the lip she rolled into the tree house and landed on her hip with a thud. It was no wonder why things like tree houses were built solely for kids. She rubbed her hip while getting her bearings, surveying the rows of beds and old clothes that were scattered along the floor. The last time she had seen a room in this much of a shamble was back when she was in the foster care system. She leaned down and picked up a ratty teddy bear from the floor.

She smacked the bear in its belly, dust erupting from the little thing so that it changed from ashy gray to brown. Her fingers glided along a velvet pouch around the bear's neck. Carefully she slid it free still holding the bear in her left hand.

"They used to live here." A voice rose from behind her.

She screamed, turned, and then threw the bear in Hooks direction where it landed haphazardly by his feet.

"Didn't mean to frighten you love," he winked, and then leaned over to retrieve the bear.

"You didn't frighten me," she huffed, although her heart would have liked to declare otherwise.

"Whatever you say, Swan." He took a few steps to close the gap between them and held out the bear, "Didn't fancy you for much of the teddy type." He joked, and Emma merely batted it out of his hand again.

Finally regaining her breath, she responded "What did you mean they lived here?" she paused, "who are they?"

Hook looked over the beds before him and nodded to a few wooden swords stacked in the corner, "The lost boys…Pan…this was the place that used to lived. The place before …well…" he let out a short chuckle, "I don't think there was a time when Pan wasn't corrupt."

"Pan lived here?" She quirked her brow, "You knew about this place the whole time and you never told us?"

He kicked over an old bowl; the crusty remains dried and stuck to the bottom, "Why would I tell you this place existed? Not going to do us any good I tell you."

Emma stepped forward and shoved him in the chest, "Because there may be something here that we can use in order to take Pan out! Did you ever think of that?"

He opened his mouth, closed it, and then scratched his beard with his good hand, "Didn't really think that someone like Pan would be leaving his goodies out and about for us to play with."

The little velvet satchel fell at her feet, but she disregarded it, instead she began tearing through the old place. "Help me find something, Hook." She grumbled, lifting one of the old tattered mattresses and tossing it to the floor.

"You won't be finding anything here Swan, I can assure you." He raised his hands, "And even if you did you wouldn't even know what to do with it." As he turned over one of the wooden chairs he felt her hands on his shoulder as she spun him around.

"Why the hell are you even here? Where's Neal?"

Hook smirked, "Went off to gather some wood and let you cool down. I on the other hand didn't think it be so safe for you to wander around these parts without an able guide."

She let go, "I don't need you following me around, Hook."

Emma wasn't aware how close she had gotten to him until the edge of his coat slid along her bare arms. In the cool night air the leather he wore sent goose bumps along her skin causing her to shake off a shiver she didn't want to admit had risen.

"But you aren't complaining that I do…" He lowered his face to hers.

"My god can't you stop." Her cheeks felt warm so she was thankful for the dimly lit room, "It was one kiss Hook; it wasn't a damn invitation for you to get in my space when you feel like you need to get your jolly roger on."

Emma stumbled backwards, knocking into a bookshelf and causing a small box to crash to the floor. There was a click as the lock broke on impact, and another as it opened with a low squeak.

"Could use some oil," she mumbled, and leaned over to rummage through the items. The box was nothing more than filled with children's memories; inside revealing simply a dried out tiger lily flower, a watch and a thimble. "This is what Pan keeps as treasures?" She picked up the watch and tossed it at Hook, "Can you make any sense of this?" She asked, picking up the thimble after the flower crumbled into a pile of dust.

"Doesn't really look like Pan's sort of exploits."

Emma turned the thimble over in her fingers and then threw it against the wall in frustration. It bounced back and landed next to the velvet bag that she had dropped earlier.

"What's that?" Hook asked, watching her as she retrieved both the thimble and the bag from the floor.

"Nothing," she started, pulling the drawstrings back and turning the bag over in her hand, "just another pointless thing that won't help us save my son."

The silvery glint of sand that fell into Emma's hand startled her, and she lost control of the thimble and bag before Hook held out his hands in a hurried panic.

"Do not drop that Emma!" He made to hold his hand beneath hers but she yanked away.

"Why? Why? What is it?" She fearfully looked from her hands to his face and terrible warmth filled from her chest down to her toes.

"It's pixie dust, love. Very power stuff that is." He held out his hand a bit further, "now if we want to get out of here alive the best thing for you to do is to carefully pour the dust."

Emma's hands shook, "Why, what's it going to do if I hold on to it." Again, that rush of warmth filled her.

"You've been bitten by the magic bug, love. You can activate that pixie dust with one emotional thought and then, well, and then we could have even bigger issues to deal with."

"Like what?" She yelled, panic filling her face. "What if I don't get it all into your hand? What if I miss? What will happen?"

It was the slightest of movements but he saw it happen. The silver pixie dust, just a pinch, slid between her fingers and onto the floor. There was a crack in the air, followed by a great rush of wind that knocked Emma backwards and into the bookcase. Hook on the other hand, fell backwards into one of the beds and rolled awkwardly to the floor. The wind picked up, Emma trying to rise to her feet.

"Emma!" Hook shouted through the noise, dodging a book that flew off the shelf and at his face. "Emma we need to get out of here."

Emma held her hand up to her eyes, "I can't see anything," a silvery light formed in front of her, surrounding the small thimble she had dropped on the floor, "Hook something's happening…" the small thimble spun in circles, the opening growing wider with each spin.

"Emma get away from there," he shouted, "it's opening a portal." He pulled himself across one of the bedframes and steadied himself against the wall.

She pulled herself forward, the wind whipping around, tugging her in directions she couldn't control. "I can't…" she gripped the side of the bookcase, her legs being pulled with such force towards the opening.

"Just hold on." He yelled over the noise, somehow making it passed the portal opening and around a table.

When she had fallen though the portal with Mary Margaret she had felt an unusual little pull right behind her bellybutton before there was total darkness. As Hook rounded the table she could feel that little pull again, slowly warming her from her insides and tugging her towards the opening. Her fingers dug into the wood, 'think of Henry' she demanded of herself, feeling the bones in her hands ache while she held on.

The slip of her right hand caught her off guard while the pull towards the portal was too quick for her to regain her grip; the blackness enveloped her, and although she wanted to yell out she felt remarkably tired before feeling nothing at all.

She was wet. Her face was wet and she was laying down on something hard and uncomfortable.

But mostly she was wet.

Emma wiped at her face, her eyes slowly opening and letting in the unforgiving bright light from the sun. Her body ached with the familiar pain of hitting something hard at full speed. She could feel the bruises on her back and only hoped that nothing was broken. When she shifted her legs and all seemed well she sat up; a wet cloth slid from her forehead and into her lap. Well at least that explained the wet feeling.

"Didn't know how long it would be until you woke up."

She cocked her head to the side, eyes still adjusting to the light, and was met with a very close and very cocky looking, Hook. Emma tossed the cloth at his face and dropped her forehead into her hands. "What happened?"

He chuckled, "Down down down the portal hole we go." His voice rolled over his words creating that delightful hum that Emma hated to admit she enjoyed.

She snapped her eyes up and glared at him, "You think this is funny? You think ending up in some weird alternate fantasy world is my idea of fun?"

"Getting your knickers in a twist isn't going to make any of this easier, love." He pushed up from the ground and offered her his hand. "You've been out cold for a good day, let's gather our things and find out where we are. Chances are we've just ended up on another side of Neverland."

"Or chances are we have nothing, Hook. Chances are we've ended up somewhere where we can't get back." She was flailing her arms, disregarding the sore muscles and her pounding head.

With his good hand he grabbed her left arm and pulled her close, "There is always a way home Emma. I'll be sure of it." His eyes scanned the trees, paused for a moment on a flock of birds, and then pointed to their right. "If we go this way we ought to find someone."

Emma tiled her head backwards and glanced up in the same direction he had just been looking. "You can tell all that from a few swaying tree leaves and a bunch of birds?"

He laughed, "I saw a road on the other side of these trees earlier. All tracks are heading that way."

Emma brushed off the front of her pants, "So it's really been a day?" She asked, trying to piece together the little moments that she couldn't remember.

It wasn't like they had anything to carry, so he merely gestured for her to head through the trees and out through the road. "Here," he offered her his flask of rum and she gave him a pointed look, "its water. I filled it this morning while you were asleep." He watched her as she lifted the flask to her lips, paused a moment, and then took a sip. Only when she was drinking did he finally explain to her what had happened while they walked.

"And so," he finished while they continued up the road, "when I finally regained my own consciousness I made sure you were safe before setting out to find some water. That's when I found this road and that's right before you woke."

Emma had shoved her hands in her pockets a few miles back, trying to absorb everything that he had been telling her ever since they fell through the portal back in Neverland. Now she was stuck god knows where with a man who had recently professed his love for her, and they were nowhere closer to finding her son.

"Look," he startled her out of her thoughts and she followed his finger as it pointed to someone on horseback up ahead, "maybe they can at least tell us as to where we are."

Emma jogged a little to keep up with him, falling behind only because of how tired her body suddenly seemed to be. She was also aware of how cold her arms were and she suddenly wished she had a jacket instead of the plain old white tank she had been sporting.

"Excuse me, mate," Hook sauntered up to the side of the rider just as Emma finally caught up to him.

"Can I be of service to you my lord?" He nodded his head at Hook and then moved his gaze to Emma, his smile suddenly turning quite blank.

"Can you just tell us where we are?" Emma huffed out, hands falling over onto her knees while she caught her breath.

"A word of advice my lord," he said towards Hook, ignoring Emma's question all together, "it is one thing to have a head strong woman at your side, but if she is to do so she must dress appropriately. The King doesn't take kindly to his courtesans straying from his keep. "Again his eyes roamed over Emma and she scoffed.

She charged forward, "What did you just call me?" Hook caught her around the middle and pulled her back.

"Now now darling, no need to attack the gentleman." Emma struggled against his hold and only stopped when Hook's hand slipped over her hip and settled there. "My apologies sir, we wouldn't want to infuriate your King." He shot Emma a look with the hopes of quieting her down.

"Yes well, the King does have certain standards for Camelot." With a tug of the reigns he turned his horse onwards and continued on his way.

Hello all! Thanks for reading the first installment of Silver Savior. This is a strongly devoted Captain Swan fic that will tie together loose ends in Neverland but also take us through an adventure in Camelot. How will Emma and Hook react to a chance meeting with Arthur and the rest of the court? Well stay tuned to find out. Please review and comment. Feedback always helps the muse grow fonder of s story. Thanks muchly!