And yet, people still choose to live in this town, Emma Swan thought wryly. Incredible.

First Greg and Tamara tried to destroy the town. Then Pan happened. Then they were all swept off to the Enchanted Forest for a year (which they could not remember), only to wake up in Storybrooke again with Zelena running around wreaking havoc. They'd barely gotten rid of her when Elsa and the Snow Queen showed up with their array of snow monsters, ice walls, and Spells of Shattered Sight.

And now, a hydra.

Emma understood that Belle felt guilty about Rumple trapping all of the fairies in the sorcerer's hat, and that she wanted to help. She knew that Belle's best asset was in research. But honestly, Belle had to stop trying every. Single. Spell. That sounded even remotely like it might get them out of the hat. Mostly the results had been inconvenient- a few small explosions, a talking painting, some very confused sparrows- but now yet another monster was crashing down Main Street.

"And we just had that repaved," Regina had groaned when she'd first come running out of her office at the all-too-familiar noises of panic and mayhem. She took one look at the giant three headed lizard thing chasing Storybrooke's foolishly loyal citizens off the streets, shook her head, and tossed a fireball at it, almost halfheartedly. And that's when all of their problems began.

Apparently, incinerating a hydra's head works much the same as cutting one off: two more grow back even angrier than the first. This was especially problematic considering Regina had managed to hit all three heads at once,

Then Storybrooke's usual Crisis Management Squad took action: Snow started herding people to safety, while Emma, David, and Regina went after the Hydra. The only person missing was-

"Ah, Swan! Thought I'd find you right in the middle of the action, as usual."

Despite the circumstances, Emma felt herself smiling as she turned around to face Killian. He was rather dashing, after all.

"Hey," she replied. "Where've you been?"

"Down at the docks with Henry, fine tuning his sailing skills," he told her. Seeing the concerned look flash across her green eyes he quickly added, "Don't worry love, the lad promised me he'd stay on the boat where he'd be safe from… whatever this thing is."

"Hydra," Emma explained. "Cut one head off, two more grow back in its place."

"Lovely," Killian remarked dryly, scrunching up his nose. "So how do we kill it?"

"We have to aim for the heart," Regina said.

"Well then you should be perfect for this task," David said to her. "Ripping out hearts is your specialty."

Regina whipped around to face him, her dark eyes flashing maliciously. She opened her mouth to retort but Emma dove between the two, giving David a reproachful look.

"How do we get to the heart?" Emma asked. "There are six angry heads guarding and from what I remember those things are poisonous."

"We need to get close to it but we'll need a shield or something," Regina said. "I'm trying to think if there's a protection spell that might be strong enough…"

"Maybe we don't need magic," David suggested. "You think a car could hold up to that?"

"Possibly," Regina said, "but not for very long."

"We don't need very long," David said. "We just need long enough for Emma to drive up and stab it in the heart."

"Woah what?" Emma exclaimed. "You don't mean the bug do you?" Regina and David exchanged a glance. "Oh, come on guys! It's not like I'm the only person in this town who owns a car!"

"We know that Emma, but the bug's small and can get in close," David told her. "And it's pretty sturdy-"

"It was made in the 1980s!" Emma exclaimed. "I'm pretty sure 'underworld demon' wasn't on the list of safety tests!"

Behind them there was a loud crack and the sound of splintering wood as the hydra ripped a telephone pole out of the ground. Regina closed her eyes and took a deep breath, trying to hold her temper. She looked at Emma.

"Miss Swan," she said firmly. "I realize you have an emotional attatchment to that car, but the rest of us have an emotional attachment to our lives."

Begrudgingly, Emma acknowledged that Regina and David were not going to back down from this, and the longer they stood arguing the more people they put in danger.

"Fine," she said. "You two lure it back toward the center of town while Killian and I get the car." She turned to Killian. "We're going to need your sword.

Killian's face lit up as a huge grin split it in to.

"Excellent!" he exclaimed. "Glad me and my sword can be of service."

"Focus, lover boy," Regina reprimanded.

"Don't worry I'll keep him in line," Emma called over her shoulder as she took off toward the sheriff's station. Killian had to jog to catch up to her.

"If French hadn't fled from his shop in terror I would have picked you up a bouquet of flowers," he told her.

"Why?" Emma asked. "You think I should give this thing a proper burial after I kill it."

"No, love, it's our fourth date, remember?" he said. "Snow monster, ice wall, romantic candle lit dinner, this."

"Killian I…" Emma sighed.

"Look, I know it's been crazy with Snow Queens and everything," Killian said. "But with her gone and Gold kicked out of town and Belle hopefully discouraged from these spells, I was hoping things could be a little more traditional between us."

"I'd like that," Emma smiled softly, leaning towards him. Their lips were hovering, about to touch when a sudden explosion overhead startled them apart. They looked up to see a shower of sparks raining down from the sky. The was a loud screech, echoed six-fold, and the ground shook as heavy footsteps raced toward them.

"But for now we have a hydra to deal with," Emma muttered in exasperation, pulling back. She turned the key in the ignition and put the bug into druve, flooring the accelerator as they raced out of the parking lot.

"Open your window!" She shouted at Killian.

David and Regina were standing at the end of the street, one waving a flaming piece of wood, the other one sending fireworks off into the sky. Emma pushed down the gas as far as it would go and leaned into the horn. The hydra's six head whipped around, and, apparently deciding the giant yellow thing hurtling down the road toward it was much more interesting, began lopping toward them. Suddenly, rows of needle sharp teeth was coming right for the windshield. Emma jerked the wheel to avoid them, almost spinning off the road. She managed to right herself and headed back toward the monster. Unfortunately, she was now on the side closest to the monster instead of Killian. She swerved again, this time into the monster, knocking it off balance and disorienting it. She spun the wheel a third time, and screamed "Now Killian! Now!"

Suddenly, thick, foul smelling black liquid spurted all over the passenger side, roof, and windshield of the bug. The squeal of the bug's breaks mixed with the dying shriek from the hydra. As the six heads fell, they knocked the bug back and forth like a pinball, finally sending it careening off the side of the road into a ditch.

"Emma!" Killian called frantically. "Emma are you okay."

"I think so," she replied. "Are you?"

"Well my nerves have seen better days, but otherwise fit as a fiddle," Killian responded. "Is it dead?"

"After all that, it better be," Emma chuckled.

"Splendid." Killian nodded. "Well then, I guess we'd better be off to Granny's- I'm sure they saw the beast fall and have already started planning the celebratory dinner."

"Killian wait," Emma said. "How about, we skip the party this time and go back to my apartment and order pizza, and make some hot cocoa, and watch a movie? We still have six hours of Lord of the Rings left."

Killian smiled. Not his Hook smile- the one of a Pirate who knew he was devilishly handsome and was not afraid to use it- but a Killian smile. It was wide and sweet and genuine and made Emma's stomach flutter happily.

"Sounds brilliant love," he said.

Smiling back at him, Emma turned the key in the ignition and the yellow bug limped it's way back onto the road.