Many thank you's to all of you who have read, favorited and followed. I truly appreciate it!
Disclaimer: This is a work of fanfiction solely.
He's taught himself not to be the kind of man who wishes things were different. He understands that things are what they are, things happen, its duty to submit at times. Wishes are for people with magic and that's not him. He can only act and choose based on what is in front of him. In front of him right now is MA public transport, a bus. He's good with maps, always has been, and a bus route is merely a map. He is going to ride the bus to the next town over where there is a marina and hopefully a position. The aspect of Captain Hook on a bus or the fact that he already walked five miles from his cottage outside Storybrooke to get to the bus doesn't disturb him. He is determined not to be disturbed by the situation he finds himself in and to simply accept. Storybrooke is where he wants to be. If he looks too closely at that, well, that's when it might break down for him. Just when he's given up rum is not the time.
The bus drops him off right at the marina. It is a very well appointed marina with the modern conveniences of brushed nickel lighting, benches, flowering trees and bushes, and a fine dock owners shop. The ships range from small skiffs to sailboats to very large motor driven boats with cabins high above the water line. His eye is drawn naturally to the sailboats. The brass instruments, colorful flags, shiny surfaces are familiar but different. These are sailboats for princes and wealthy merchants. It feels a little like home if home had been a moneyed port. Actually home had only briefly been a port, before the Royal Navy. Home since has been the Jolly but the tang of the ocean is refreshing and comforting.
The sign above the shop reads "Mario and Sons". The man behind the counter is quite young, too young to be Mario with sons of his own. He's unobjectionable looking enough, light hair, brown eyes, a gray shirt displaying large letters 'MC' and a picture of a ship on it. Hooks asks him, "Is Mario available? I am looking for a position." For some reason the lad laughs "No Mario here in years but if you want to talk to somebody you can talk to Mike, he's out there by the Sundancer". Hooks goes out the back, through the shop and the bar, past the iron café tables and out to the slips. There are three rows of slips with about thirty berths per slip. Some are occupied with runabouts and racers and a few hulking vessels with ballast tanks and towers. The walkway is wood and wide with benches and street signs such as 'Patriot's Way' and 'Revolutionary Road'. There are hoses hung neatly on pillars and odd coated cords that connect to steel boxes on other pillars. Hook is unsure why the paths have names and what the cords are about but he finds the Sundancer at the very end, almost at the last slip where it seems the biggest boats are housed.
There is a gray haired man wrinkled and tanned with prominent veins on his hands, Hook notices hands, talking to a dandy who vaguely reminds Hook of Charming. He waits patiently for the conversation to end, studying them both as the charming dandy gesticulates towards the boat and clearly demands some special treatment. The older man eventually appeases him and they separate. Hook makes his introduction, "My name is Killian Jones, and I am looking for Mike".
"I'm Mike Lewis, dock manager, what can I do for you?"
"I'm looking for a position. I have a lot of experience sailing boats."
"Sailboats? Are you good with people? Can you pilot a boat for a tour? Are you willing to do whatever we need to do around the docks?"
Hook replies, "Yes, I have experience with piloting and boats and people and I am available to help with whatever you need mate."
He has some fun thinking to himself that he has more experience pirating than piloting and he may prefer ships over people but he is sure Mike doesn't need to know that. He realizes he is interested in this place and Mike brings to mind the rugged sailors that were his crew.
Mike tells him, "All right, I need somebody now, let's go back to my office to see about things."
"Lead the way." As they walk along the dock Mike identifies various vessels and points out "That Sundeck belongs to Hutchinson, banker, lots of money, little uptight, okay to work with, the big Bayliner is Curley's, great guy, the X46 MasterCraft belongs to Adams and you can take him or leave him."
Mike's office is labeled 'Employees Only' and is in the same building as the dock shop and café. It's bigger inside with one large rectangle window overlooking the docks. Mike's desk is covered in papers and the cabinet behind him has more papers, large soft books that don't stand up on their own and three dusty bottles with sailboats inside them. There is a phone with a long curled cord and another small flat one connected to the wall. When he sees it Mike curses, "Damn it, there's my cell phone, forgot the damn thing again." There is a rectangular frame facing Mike's chair that may have a picture of family in it but Hook can't see it and can only speculate. The other modern item that is foreign to Hook but that he has seen Henry with is the computer on the desk. The frames on the wall are certifications from courts of seamanship such as the American Boat Operators, National Association of State Boating, the Federal Maritime Commission and the United States Coast Guard Boating Safety Division. There is that realm again, the United States. It's interesting that the states include water realms and there is so much governance over the sea.
Hook focuses on the questions Mike is asking. Yes, he has reliable transportation. Yes, he can be at work on time and can work flexible hours. He's certain he can work whenever needed as long as he has not been pulled into a portal or conquered by a curse. He has momentarily forgotten he is traveling via bus which has its own schedule. Then the inevitable, "What happened to your hand? Are you fully functional on a ship?" The question doesn't vex Hook at all, he's accustomed to it and as usual responds with the truth because telling a story this early in the game would probably catch up with him later, "I lost it to a crocodile and I have been captaining a ship for many years since the loss so I am quite functional, as you say".
Mike shoves some papers at him and Hook is grateful for the help the nuns gave him with numbers for a bank and numbers for identity. If he had his hook on there would be no need for numbers for identity. He would be Hook again. This world has some charms but the trade of numbers for a person's name is not resonating with Hook.
There is a ringing noise that Hook recognizes from the device he's seen Emma clutch to her ear and Mike picks up the small phone and says to the caller, "Be right there". Hook hands over the papers, completed, and they rise to shake hands. Mike bids him, "Be back here tomorrow at 7:00am and we'll show you around. Welcome to Brooke's Berth". Hook is puzzled, "I thought Mario and Sons". Mike chuckles, "Long story, let me just tell you, they were crocodiles too." And with this handshake Hook is employed.
