Author's Note: My first attempt at a Once Upon a Time fic – I found a masterpost the other day and started season 3, and when I saw that scene near the end of episode one, I felt a bit cheated when this didn't happen...
There's No 'I' in 'Team'
The dysfunctional crew of the Jolly Roger had at last arrived on the beach of Neverland. It wasn't the sort of beach on which one would enjoy a pleasant family holiday – rocks, branches and debris that the sea had washed ashore littered the area. Ahead of them lay the thick forest which would – if all went according to plan (and when did it?) – surrender Henry to them.
"We don't have to do it this way," Regina spoke up as Emma tried to peer into the forest ahead. "I can fix the Jolly Roger. My magic is powerful enough. We can execute the pirate's plan..."
Emma rounded on her. "Sneak attack?" she scoffed. "Let's not be naïve. Save your magic. We'll need it later, because Pan already knows we're here. It's time we stopped running. Gold was right. This land is run on belief. All of us have been too busy being at each other's throats to be believers. I was as wrong as anyone else. It's time for all of us to believe - not in magic, but in each other."
Regina raised a skeptical eyebrow. "You wanna be friends? After everything that's happened between all of us?"
"I don't want or expect that," Emma said, shaking her head. "I know there's a lot of history here and a lot of hate—"
Hook raised his hook into the air. "Actually, I quite fancy you from time to time," he felt the need to point out. "When you're not yelling at me."
"Yeah, okay..." Emma said at length before deftly getting her rousing speech back on track. "We need to start working as a team right now if we're going to get Henry back safe and sound – and we are."
Her four companions discreetly shuffled so they were standing even further apart. Emma rolled her eyes and put her hands on her hips. "Really? You want to do this the hard way?"
"...Now, Regina, draw a right angle and then another line," David instructed slowly, concentrating on the drawing in front of him that Emma had provided. He was sitting back-to-back with Regina who was using a twig to draw in the sand.
"How long is this second line?" asked Regina.
"Uh... about... the same as the last one," said David after some thought. "And then it's another right angle."
Not far away Hook and Mary Margaret were also sitting back-to-back. Hook was sticking his tongue out in concentration as he listened to Mary Margaret's instructions. Emma was pacing back and forth between the two pairs with her arms folded, looking very serious. Teambuilding exercises, Hook thought to himself, what a load of—
"Time's up!" Emma suddenly shouted. "Put down your twigs!"
Regina threw her twig over her shoulder and deliberately hit David with it. "Hey!" he exclaimed. She stuck her tongue out at him even though he couldn't see it.
Emma inspected Regina and David's work first. "It looks a bit wonky..." she observed.
"If it is it's because your father's instructions were pathetic," said Regina.
"Hey!" said David again. "You're the one who was supposed to be drawing."
"I asked David to describe a square for you to draw," said Emma. She squinted at Regina's interpretation, tilting her head. "This appears to be a parallelogram. Or a rectangle."
"Close enough," Regina shrugged, not caring in the least.
Emma walked over to Hook and Mary Margaret. "That's..." she paused to search for the correct word before settling on: "interesting."
"What has he drawn?" Mary Margaret asked Emma, looking down at the crescent moon Emma had drawn in the sand for her to describe to Hook.
"I got bored and drew the Jolly Roger," said Hook proudly. "And look, Emma, there's you and there's me –" he pointed at the stick figures with his twig – "and we're just about to entwine in a beautiful embrace..."
To Hook's horror Emma sunk her boot into his drawing. "That's enough, Fifty Shades of Innuendo."
Mary Margaret twisted around to pat Hook's shoulder consolingly as his lower lip trembled and his eyes became suspiciously wet.
"The winners of that challenge are David and Regina!" Emma announced.
On hearing that news Regina found that she did care - just a little. "Yes!" she whooped. "In your face!" She stood and jabbed a finger at the opposing team.
"We can go and rescue Henry now that we're such a great team," enthused David with a grin, high-fiving Regina.
Emma shook her head; the winners slumped, and the losers slumped even further. "I'm going to make a minefield," she said, beginning to gather some large stones into a pile in the middle of the beach, "to further enhance our teamwork and dedication to the common cause."
"Hooray," cheered Regina sarcastically.
"Just to the right a little... that's it," encouraged Hook as the blindfolded Mary Margaret attempted to navigate the 'minefield'. She wasn't allowed to talk back and Hook found he quite enjoyed the peace and quiet. "Left."
Emma's 'minefield' consisted of lots of stones scattered over the beach, with a tree to touch as the finishing line.
Hook and Mary Margaret were both doing comparatively well considering who they were up against – Mary Margaret was almost at the finishing line.
Meanwhile, with team David and Regina...
"You've blown me up again!" David shouted as he tripped over another rock and had to return to the start. "You did that on purpose!"
"I did not!" Regina exclaimed in outrage. "It's your stupid clumsy feet that are the problem!"
"My feet are perfectly proportional," insisted David.
"You keep telling yourself that, sweetheart," Regina sneered.
Emma was watching proceedings from the edge of the 'minefield' with a frown, tapping her foot impatiently.
Regina decided that she'd let David get 'blown up' another seven times at least.
"One more thing," Emma declared as they were about to enter the forest in search of Henry. There was a collective groan. Emma spread out her arms.
Mary Margaret blinked at her, a confused Hook spread out his arms as well, while Regina and David sighed dramatically.
"What are you doing now, Emma?" asked David in the same tone a doctor would address a psychiatric patient who'd just removed all of their clothing in public and proceeded to dance.
"We need to have a group hug," Emma explained, "to cement our teambuilding bonds."
With grimaces from everyone except Emma, they closed in. It wasn't the most enthusiastic hug the world had ever seen, and it certainly wasn't the most comfortable. It lasted so long that Regina started to squirm. And then so did everyone else.
Someone nearby suddenly cleared their throat loudly, and the huggers broke off to stare at Mr Gold, who had Henry handcuffed to his belt. He raised an eyebrow at the display of teambuilding (while Henry silently marvelled at the sight of his two moms hugging). Mr Gold, and by default, Henry, walked to the shore where Mr Gold eloquently waved a hand at the Jolly Roger, which was instantly repaired.
Emma ran over to Henry, skidding to a halt on her knees in front of him. "Oh, Henry, you're okay!"
"Yes, Mom," said Henry, smiling.
Emma then noticed the handcuffs. "Er, Mr Gold... why have you handcuffed my son?" she asked with a hint of anger.
"To stop him getting kidnapped again, dearie," Mr Gold explained simply.
Emma hugged Henry with tears in her eyes.
Regina wasn't far behind and she joined Emma in hugging Henry, laughing with relief.
Mary Margaret joined in after Regina, but because Henry was so small she was actually hugging Emma more than anything else.
David and Hook exchanged glances, shrugged at each other, and charged. Mr Gold let out a very manly squeak as the two men tackled him into a bear hug.
Mr Gold could barely move for all of the bodies currently latched onto him like limpets, and wondered what on earth he must have missed. And what was Hook – was he crying?
THE END