"Man Overboard!" the unmistakable yell rings out, "Man Overboard Starboard side!" and the ship's engines obligingly slow down as all the passengers make their way out to the deck. Humans have a marked tendency for voyeurism in face of disaster, especially obvious in the kind of crowd that can afford a cabin aboard the Jolly Roger. The spotter, Leroy, is still pointing in the direction of whoever has fallen overboard, and the passengers gather near the railing, looking for a bobbing head. As Emma watches, almost every single one of the passengers makes their way out of their rooms in the hot tropical sun, drawn to the hubbub with promise of a spectacle. She exchanges a glance with Red, who is already mouthing, "Four… three… two,"- and Milah's imperious figure detaches itself from the throng right on, "...one", beckoning furiously.
"It's Killian," she says as soon as they are within earshot, "Get these people out of here." She strides away to where a knot of the crew has gathered near the lifeboats. Emma can see the lifebuoy being tossed, Will removing the cover of the lifeboat, and then Smee crouching and grabbing for a vest as he is lowered with it.
"She didn't even say goodbye," Red fake pouts, pulling her to where the crowd is the thickest and raising her voice. "Back to your rooms, folks, the captain is declaring a state of emergency." Emma eyes the crowd dubiously to see if they'll fall for it, but Red's demeanor, in addition to their uniforms, seems to do the trick, the murmurs slowly start to fade and the crowd starts moving. Closest to them is Ursula, who is practically dragging her wife (Kira? Kyra? Cru? Something.) below deck, both of them whispering furiously. The Locksleys are next to leave the deck, the cute kid being distracted by the mom. The dad follows closely, still looking vaguely green at the gills, and being supported by Regina Mills' sister. None of the others seem to want to leave.
Red drags her over to the group Red refers to as the Real Housewives. Or in the much more poetic, eloquent words of Paige, the bitchsquad. It's not possible to be in their proximity and remain ignorant about the exact nature of gossip about them: there's Kathryn Nolan who is David's ex wife who has kept his name, who's here with her boyfriend Fred. Mary Margaret Blanchard, David's current wife who didn't take his name. Rory's the one who has murmurs of lesbian affairs surrounding her, but she's married to Philip. And yet the rumours persist. Then there's Ella, who's the mildest of the lot with the teen pregnancy, and her husband Tommy who 'did the honorable thing and stepped up'. The other passengers on the cruise mainly stick to their own, smaller groups, but this party of eight is celebrating the ten year anniversary of the Nolan-Blanchard wedding. And they're determined to do so by this fairytale-themed shindig where Mary Margaret plans on dressing like Snow White. They're a customer service nightmare.
As the duo draws closer to them, Ella walks over and grabs Red. "How frightful. Can you tell us who fell? Was it one of the passengers?" Kathryn joins her immediately, but Mary Margaret is leaning over the railing, trying to spot the man, Rory by her side. Red starts giving them the "We're not at liberty to give out any information," line so Emma walks over to the other two. She can spot the lifeboat being driven over and away, and she can just make out the buoy. "I'm sorry, ma'am but the Captain has asked all the passengers to return to their rooms." Rory startles back, and when Mary Margaret seems not to hear her, Rory tugs at her elbow. She comes to herself, then, blinks rapidly and looks at Emma, "Yes?"
Emma repeats her line, and they nod, joining the rest of the women who're looking a little subdued on the face of their seriousness. They go inside without much ado, and Ruby sighs beside her. "Thank God for small mercies."
Meanwhile the ladies' better halves are trying to go back to their game, the other side of the deck. Cheshire makes eye contact with Milah, his grin visibly dimming, and then starts to shut his poker table down. Emma can see rather than hear the men start to get ruffled, but once David Nolan acquiesces, so do the others, and they go down the ramp at the other end of the ship from where Emma is.
Emma and Red gratefully move on to August, whose shamelessly flirting with Granny. "... the number of times I've been on this cruise with you guys, I should be considered one of you. You know, part of your family." He winks, and then tries to noogie Red as they step close by.
"Is this man bothering you, ma'am?" Emma jokes, and August pretends to look outraged in the background.
"Seriously, though, you need to go inside." Red says.
"Who was it, who fell? Tell me that much."
"We're not allowed to say!"
"Come on. You can even be my favourite granddaughter."
"Just go inside."
"Fine." He slouches away, and Granny heads off to where Lance and Jeff are sitting, one earbud in each ear staring into their laptop. They seem to be the only ones unbothered, even unaware of what has been going on. Red spots the Golds, and heads off to divert them, and the only people Emma can see who aren't already making their way inside, being politely nudged along by some of the crew, are Maleficent and Regina, huddled in a corner as usual. She mentally girds her loins thinking about the next conversation.
"Ah. Ms Swan. Are you here to keep us apprised of the situation?"
"I'm sorry Ms Mills, Ms Dragić, I need you to head inside for now. The captain will be making an official announcement as soon as she is done dealing with, you know, the crisis of having a crew-member fall overboard."
Regina looks almost amused as she repeats, "A crew member?"
"Or passenger. Whichever the individual might be." She's internally cursing herself for the slip, but her face has to give nothing away. She's a consummate professional, goddammit.
Regina raises an eyebrow. "I'm sure you are Ms… Swan, was it? But that doesn't really strike as relevant."
She said that out loud. She resists the urge to pull hair- either her own or Regina Mills'- when Mal cuts in, "Oh let the poor girl do her job," and Emma has never been more angry at being rescued in her life.
"If you would be so kind as to return to your cabins-" she woodenly continues, and Mal takes Regina's arm as they walk off.
The last thing she hears is "When are you going to stop provoking her,-" as they disappear, and Red joins her. The deck is almost cleared save for the crew, who're all converging where the boat will be pulled up. Red is pulling her along, as the winch laboriously raises the boat back up, and she can hear parts of sentences: "... not moving," and, "What an idiot", and, "... steady now, carefully," and, "could've drowned," before they're snatched away by the wind, which seems to be picking up.
The hushed mutters get louder and louder as the boat is pulled back up, and Smee steps down, carrying Hook. The clamour reaches a new high as Milah drops to her knees, feels his pulse, and starts her efforts to resuscitate him. Whale hurries over, and Emma can't hear anything over the sound of blood rushing to her head. Can't see anything except how his features arrange themselves to a somber expression that her brain refuses to process. Hook falls overboard almost every couple of months showing off- there's nothing to- that- no. Emma numbly finds herself walking to the circle of people gathered, Red right beside her. Milah is gently pushed aside, and when Whale tries to shift him, Hook's neck twists to an unnatural angle. Whale feels the neck and looks back up to Milah, shakes his head.
Emma feels like her hands are unnaturally heavy, but she manages to move them just in time to catch Red as she loses her balance, as the crew goes entirely quiet, as Whale's words knock air out of her lungs.
"He's dead."
Author's Note:
1. Thanks sara for being the best beta.
2. The title comes from the old rhyme sailors used to forecast the weather:
"Red sky at night/Sailors delight
Red sky at morning/Sailors take warning"