"Another round, boys?" Hook asked, grinning devilishly as he pulled the pile of gold coins he'd won in liar's dice in towards his body.

"Actually, I'd prefer 'nother round of drinks, Cap'n." Jenkins said, rubbing his scruffy beard stressfully as he watched Hook pocket his life savings. Hardened a sailor he was, nothing hurt like losing everything to a man half your age. "Need to drink this one off, me thinks."

"Very well," Hook sighed dramatically, dumping the scuffed dice back into their beaten cup. He rapped his silver hook hard on the wooden table, summoning the buxom barmaid with the thumps.

"Can I get you anythin', sir?" She asked, scurrying to his side from across the dark tavern.

He glanced over her quickly, noting straw-colored hair and pink-tinged cheeks. Her apron tied around her waist emphasized womanly curves and she had an easy smile. Hook gave her one of his signature half-smirks and laughed inwardly as she predictably flushed and attempted to flutter her eyelashes. "Yes you can, love," he said, leaning in close so she could hear him over the roar of the bar. "How 'bout you bring my men another round of that watery swill you call beer."

Her face drooped slightly in disappointment, but she straightened back up and nodded, hiding it well. "Right away, sir."

As she turned to disappear back behind the wooden bar, Hook's hand reached out and clasped down around her thin wrist.

"And then, after we're done in here, maybe we can...talk." The barmaid's mouth dropped open slightly as his blue eyes shined with promise. "I'm only docked here tonight and I could use some company."

The barmaid gave him a shaky smile, nodding her head eagerly. "Y-yes, that sounds nice."

Hook have her another melting smile and released her, turning back to his crew and collapsing back into his chair. "Looks like I've got a girl for tonight," he laughed, downing the ounce of beer left in the glass mug in front of him. "Good luck to the rest of you sorry dogs."

The crew roared with laughter, happily offering up their mugs for a refill.

"Anyone else for a game?" Hook asked, leaning back in his chair and propping his black leather boots up on the table carelessly. "I feel lucky tonight, and I was enjoying my winning streak."

"How lucky?" the voice came from behind him, and Hook turned to see who had spoken.

The man was tall and wiry, wearing clothing made from the stinking fabric of what appeared to be mangy animal pelts. An unkempt, stringy gray beard and mustache hung off his sallow face and his teeth were brown behind thin lips.

"Well, well," Hook sing-songed, winning at his crew. "Don't believe I've seen you 'round here before. You certainly aren't in my crew, since I'm fairly certain we don't take in strays."

The crew laughed again, the more drunken of the pirates sending alcohol dripping down their chin and clothes with the action.

The man grinned, displaying even more mottled teeth and the gaps from those that had rotted out. "I'm a slave trader. From the Old World."

"The one that the Queen destroyed?" Hook asked, frowning slightly.

"Aye. Was peddlin' my wares south of here in the Badlands when the bitch spread her curse. Didn't get to me."

Hook shrugged, motioning for the barmaid to step forward and fill his own glass mug again. "I don't see why I should care. We have no need for slaves on my ship, old man."

"Ah yes," the man laughed, leaning heavily on his walking stick. He stuck his fingers to his lips and let out a sharp whistle. From the tavern's swinging doors entered a huge, muscled man, naked save for a dirty loincloth and holding an unconscious woman over his shoulder, only her backside visible in the air. "But I've got a little lady here I'll think you'll be real interested in...Captain. We ain't got to play for her, 'neither. Ye can just buy her. I never was good at dice."

Hook raised his eyebrows, taking a deep swig of the bitter brew before speaking. "In case you haven't noticed, stranger," he began, looping the curve of his hook in the apron's waistband of the nearby barmaid and pulling her to him. "My crew doesn't need to buy its women."

A roar of support and encouraging whistles exploded from the pirate crew at their Captain's haughty words. The barmaid squealed and blushed a deeper shade of pink.

"This is Broq." The trader continued, gesturing to the big man holding the girl, ignoring Hook's words. "He's one-eighth ogre."

"Apparently." Hook said shortly, releasing the wench from his hook. "That much ugly can't be human."

Broq emitted a guttural growl, but the trader hushed him. "Put the girl down so our pirate friend can see her, Broq."

The giant of a man groaned and swung the unconscious woman off his shoulder roughly. She crashed limply into the long wooden table, sending the mugs rattling. The crew seated at the table winced sharply at the fall. Her blonde hair hung in her face and her head lolled to the side, but she still did not wake. Broq let out a harsh bark of a laugh and turned to leave the tavern.

"Well damn, you bastard," Hook said in dry amusement. "Have you killed her? I believe that lowers her value, it does."

"She isn't dead. She's under the power of a sleeping poison." The trader corrected, wagging a finger at the Captain. "I've been forcin' it down 'er skinny throat every time she's woken up. She'll come 'round in a few hours." He winked. "Ye can't see it now, but the wench has the purdiest hazel eyes."

Hook set down his mug again with a thud and wandered over to the woman, looking her over. Her chest rose and fell just slightly as a sign of life. The crew was hushed as he reached out with ringed fingers to sweep the blonde hair out of her face, surveying her features. High cheek bones dusted with long eyelashes were evident, but the black bruising under her eye and the pale blue tinge to her lips from the poisoning masked her beauty slightly.

Hook laughed, dropping the tendrils of hair. "Did you think I was so desperate for a pretty face that you could throw one at me and I'd come runnin' to pay your price?"

The man grinned, taking a step forward to collapse on a nearby rickety bar stool. "I caught her in the forest. She'd wandered 'way from her group and I shot her with one of me sleepin' darts -"

"You're boring me." Hook interrupted, waving the man away with a hand. "Get the wench off the table so we can continue our fun. I don't care for your story. "

"But I think you'll enjoy the end, you will." The slave trader said, grinning maniacally. "Ye see, at first me though she was just 'nother slave to sell in a port town. But when I put her under, she began talkin' in her sleep."

Hook rolled his eyes. "Let's get this over with quickly, please." he spat. "What did the lass say?"

The old man's black eyes shined. "She spoke of Cora."

Hook's amused look melted off his face. "Cora?" he asked, his voice slightly strained. "The sorceress?"

"Is there 'nother Cora?"

Hook shook his head. "That's impossible. Cora's gone. She was pushed through the looking glass by the Queen."

"Which saved her from bein' affected by the curse, now dinnit?" The man asked, knowing Hook was almost, well, hooked.

Hook drummed his fingers on the table, leaning over and bracing himself with his hands. His eyes were shut, his thoughts running through his mind like madmen. "Then where is she now?"

The trader gestured lazily to the unconscious blonde slouched over the long table. "Well I'd be assumin' that's why ye'd want to buy the gal, Captain. She can tell you."

Hook frowned. "How much?" His hand went to the velvet pocket on his chest, where the latest handful of Jenkins' gold rested.

"Twenty pieces."

Hook laughed at the unlikelihood, closing his pocket imperiously. "That's highway robbery, old man. Do I look like a fool?" The smile on his face was unfriendly.

"I've heard the rumors," the trader said, his grin wavering under the dangerous look in Hook's eyes. "Ye want to get to the other world more 'n 'nything else. The wench's information makes her worth a little extra gold to ye, don't it?"

Hook pretended to think about it for a moment. "No, actually," he said finally, his hand pulling the sword at his side out cleanly with a hiss. "It doesn't make her worth that since I have no way of knowing exactly how much she knows. She might be babbling nonsense in her sleep for all we know." He moved closer to the trader as he spoke.

The slaver swallowed thickly as he watched the pirate approach him with a drawn weapon. "Sixteen pieces?" he said weakly, trying to scramble backwards. The heavy table, however, blocked his escape.

Hook smirked and shook his head. "Too high." He leaned forward and laid the flat of the blade against the man's throat. "Now," he said calmly, blue eyes flashing. "Would you like to find out what Neverland steel feels like?"

The man shook his head slowly, trying to avoid slicing his jugular. "Fourteen?"

"Still too high." Hook said, applying slight pressure to the blade with his wrist.

"But you can use 'er for information and a good romp!" The slaver choked out, squirming at the force on his windpipe. "She'll be worth it!"

Hook barked out a harsh laugh. "I don't need a slave to find a willin' woman, you old dog." He turned to the drunken crew that was still managing to watch the scene intently. "That's what the baby-blues are for, ain't it?"

The crew laughed at his joke, tipping back more of the beer. If this erupted into a fight, his men would be quite sluggish.

"Wait..." the man hissed, scared to speak above a whisper now. "T-there's somethin' else ye'll want to hear."

"Indulge me." Hook spat. "Quickly now, before my hand slips."

The trader eyed the blade warily, his tongue coming out to wet his dry lips before he spoke. "S-she," he stammered, body shaking under the weapon. "She said m-more than just Cora's name. She also said..."

There was a silent beat for dramatic buildup, and he choked out; "...R-Rumplestilts-skin's name."

The color from Hook's face drained, and from their close proximity, the trader saw the line of the Captain's jaw tighten. "It can't be." He mused to himself, holding his hook up into the lit tavern to watch the lights glimmer off its slightly-tarnished surface.

It'd been a long time since he'd heard anyone else say that name. Like always, the sound of it sent bile up his throat and he felt his heart tear slightly as the memories of that awful night flashed through his head again. Milah's lifeless form in his arms...his oozing stump where his hand had been taken from him...two hundred years in Neverland had faded the pain in his heart, but at this moment it came back again like a fresh wound.

"Ye see? Fourteen pieces?" The slaver asked hopefully, wringing his bony hands in front of him.

Hook shrugged the feelings away that were bubbling up inside of him. "I'd prefer free, actually."

"That's ridiculous!" The trader wheezed, wide eyed. "How'm I spose'd to eat?"

"Eh, just run 'im through!" A drunken crew member yelled, swaying as he stood to call out. "Nobody speaks to the Cap'n that way!" A chorus of agreement broke out among the men. Hook raised his silver hook for silence.

"Okay, okay!" The man protested weakly, holding his hands up as a sign of surrender. "Ten pieces? Ten pieces is fair!"

"You're hardly in a position to be making demands, sir." Hook said over politely, flexing his wrist and genuinely enjoying the terror in the shaking man's eyes as he felt the pressure of the blade's flat side on his throat. "However, I understand that to just steal the girl would be bad form to someone who came all the way here to see me." He sheathed his sword and held his hook up to the man's neck instead. Reaching into his pocket against with his free hand, he plucked a single coin out and folded it into the trader's sweaty, shaking hand. "Here's a little somethin' for the road. Get yourself a whiskey, won't you?"

With that, Hook released the gasping man, turning on the heel of his leather boot to walk back over to the table. "A final round of ale before we leave, boys?" he called to the table, grinning at their cheers. "I've got me a new woman to try out tonight!"

The crew wolf whistled at him encouragingly and he smiled back devilishly, but Hook's real reason for wanting to get the blonde back on his ship quickly was to fully interrogate her about everything she knew about Cora and Rumplestiltskin.

"Watch out, Cap'n!" Jenkins hollered. Hook spun around quickly, and barely managed to duck to the side quickly as the trader went hurtling past him with a brown bottle clenched angrily in his hand, up in the air ready to crash down on the pirate's skull.

"Woah there!" Hook said as he straightened back up, laughing at the man's pathetic attempt. "When I said to get a whiskey, I meant one to drink, old man."

The trader's face paled as he watched Hook slip the sword out from his side again. "N-no...Captain..." he pleaded, backing up into a wall of pirates. "I-I don't know why I did that...please..."

Hook grinned from ear to ear. "That was a mistake."

"No, please..." the man protested as Hook stalked closer like a wolf. "I'm sorry."

"Aye, you are." Hook agreed. He dropped the sword at his side. "Which is why I'm not gonna kill you, you bilge rat. "

"You're not?"

Hook smiled in what almost appeared to be a friendly way. "No." Instead, he reeled back with his good hand and landed a strong punch directly in the man's gut, angled up towards his ribcage.

The man fell to his knees, unable to breath. He choked there on the moldy wooden-slat floor, gasping for air. "I want you to spread the word about the merciful Captain Hook." Hook explained extravagantly, hiding his arms out for effect. "But I want to make sure the scars left on you strike fear into the hearts of every man who hears my name."

With that, the rugged captain kicked the breathless man in the temple with his boot. The slaver collapsed, blood trickling from his mouth and ear, silent on the floor.

Hook turned away from the man and walked over to the long wooden table, towards the blonde woman who lay still across it. With a heave, he picked her up around the waist and slung her over his shoulder, in the same way the ogre had done earlier.

"I'm sorry, but I don't think I'll be much fun tonight." Hook said apologetically to the bar maid as he made his way to the tavern door. "I'll be takin' a rain check, I believe. Next time I'm in port?"

The barmaid nodded, her expression glum as she tossed a sour look at the unconscious woman over his shoulder. "Is it because you have her now?" she spat, folding her arms across her very large bosom.

Hook grinned and nodded. "Knew you'd understand." he said, leaning in and giving her a rough kiss on her smooth cheek.

Then he turned at addresses his crew. "Make sure to rough that man up a bit. He needs a lesson. Maybe a missin' tooth or two? A broken nose?"

The crew cheered in agreement.

"We sail at sunrise!" Hook yelled as he turned to exit. "Make sure all you stinking rats are aboard."

With that, Hook exited the smoky, reeking tavern, making his way towards his ship that rocked steadily by the docks, with a woman slung over his shoulder who was suddenly to the key to his wildest dreams.

Oh, how right he was.
X-X

Did you like it? I'm LOVING this ship right now, it's ALL I can think about!

Leave me a review to let me know if you want more. Feel free to tell me what you like, don't like, or critique/correct my writing!

Love you guys 3