A/N: Alright, so I got some nice interest in this story. That always makes me happy! This chapter is shorter, but it is pretty much all Hook. I have never put so much effort into trying to write a character as I did for Hook in this chapter. It's a very character driven chapter, and I will be taking some luxury with his backstory. I've hinted to it in this chapter, but all will be revealed in the final installment (the third chapter). One more chapter left in this one. It's been a fun one to write, and I really hope the vision I have for the last chapter does this story justice. Until then, enjoy!


Hook groaned, as he pulled himself up off the couch that he had been sitting on. He stared at Neal, forgetting for a moment that he knew the man before him as a mere child, and gaped. He hadn't thought that they would move so quickly, but then he realized that they hadn't had a choice. He had escaped and he knew their plan, if they wanted to make sure that their plan worked, then they'd have to risk moving forward quicker than they had wanted to.

"Did you see who took Henry?" Hook asked, ignoring the weird looks that both Neal and Emma gave him.

Neal shook his head, as Emma bit back another sob. "He went to the bathroom, when a few minutes passed by without him returning, I went to check on him. He was gone."

Hook sighed, and ran a hand through his hair. He stared down at the floor, as he tried to think of a plan, something that would help them get Henry back before Tamara and Greg started phase three of their plan. Swallowing thickly, he glanced up.

"Look, I know that none of you have any reason to trust me … to believe me, but I'm asking you to do so. I might know how we can get Henry back, but it has to happen now. We don't have much time before they start the next phase."

David stalked forward, as he grabbed Hook by his long leather coat. "You never mentioned another phase."

Hook's eyes pleaded with David as he spoke, "I was hoping we would stop it before it got to the next phase. There wasn't a need to start a panic if we were able to get to Henry before Tamara and Greg did."

This time Neal stepped forward, "Wait a second, are you trying to tell me that my fiancee just kidnapped my son?" His eyebrow cocked questioningly.

Hook nodded, "That's exactly what I'm trying to tell you. Look, we can stand around here talking, or we can take action. The choice is yours, but with or without you, I'm going forward with my plan. We don't have a lot of time, if we don't hurry then they will escape with Henry in tow, that was their plan all along."

Emma crossed her arms over her chest, and stepped forward. Her jaw was set tightly, as she gained control over her emotions and allowed her anger to outshine everything else. "How do you know all this, Hook?"

Groaning, Hook ran his hand over his face. "Because Tamara captured me in New York, they wanted me to help them, but when I found out their plan I denied. They tied me up so that I would be out of the way until their plan was completed, I broke out and she found me," Hook paused to point at Ruby. "We came here, explained the situation, then you two arrived. Now, is everyone caught up? Can we go save Henry now?" He asked, completely over his limit of frustration for the day.

Glancing around the room, he saw everyone firmly nod their heads. "Alright, their plan is to take Henry away from here, to make Regina pay. I don't know why, so don't ask." He threw in before anyone had a chance to open their mouths. "That's why they stole the magic beans from her, because..."

"They're going to open a portal."

"Exactly." Hook said, as he turned toward Ruby. Beauty and brains. He was liking her more and more. "I know where they plan on doing this, if we get there before they do, we have a chance to stop them … or at the very least, we have a chance to grab Henry before they escape."

"Why are you willing to do this? You haven't exactly been helpful the entire time I've known you." Emma asked, her eyebrow raised.

Hook could feel her scrutinizing him, shrugging, he spoke, "I maybe a monster, Swan, but I will not stoop to this. I do have lines I won't cross, and hurting an innocent child is one of those lines. Plus, Henry reminds me of someone that I used to know."

Emma saw the truth and honesty in his eyes as he spoke. The only time it appeared that he lied was when he mentioned knowing someone like Henry. That would be a conversation for later, when her son was safe and sound, and everything had cooled down. "Let's go then."

Hook gave one curt nod, before making a move for the door.

Ruby snatched at his arm, stopping him at the top of the stairs. "You need a doctor." She hissed at him. She could tell that he was standing under his own weight, but the pain was evident in his eyes as his battered arm hung loosely at his side.

"Aye, there will be time for doctor's later, love. Once the boy is safe." Hook gave her a small, crooked smile before descending the stairs.

Ruby knew that he was bad news, she had known it from the day he arrived in town and she definitely knew it from the stories that both Emma and Mary had told her, but she couldn't help but see the good in him too.


Hook ran forward there was no time for backward glances, not when someone's life hung in the balance. He pushed forward, as anger propelled him faster. His lungs burned and the pain in his shoulder had intensified into something that felt like hellfire burning beneath his skin. Still he continued forward, focusing only on his anger. For once in his life he had the opportunity to do something really meaningful, something that would make ever lousy thing he had ever done worth it. Every minute that ticked by without him standing on that pier was one minute closer to Tamara and Greg escaping with Henry in tow.

He couldn't allow that, he wouldn't. Who knew what they would actually do to Henry once they got to wherever they were going. Would merely taking the child away from the people that he loved and cared about be enough torture to satisfy them, or would they go as far as to actually harm Henry?

It was a question he didn't want the answer to. He had to stop it from happening. Henry couldn't know the pain of being ripped away from those you love, not at such a young age. Tears burned in Hook's eyes as flashes to his own past flew pass his eyes in a blur. Yes, Henry reminded him so much of himself when he was younger, and now it seemed as if their lives would become similar in a much more painful way. As much as he hated that damn crocodile, he had learned something important from him … or well, his son. Evil isn't born, it's created. Hook hadn't always been the pilfering pirate that he had become. He had been wholesome and good natured. Trusting. It all fell away in the blink of an eye, and Hook had decided in that instant that he wouldn't trust anyone else, so long as he lived. It was promise he had broken over and over again, and every single time it only seemed to bring him more heartache.

Seeing the edge of the pier coming closer to him, snapped Hook out of his memory induced-daze. His insides practically jumped for joy when he realized that Tamara and Greg weren't at the pier yet. He wasn't too late. He could do something good. He could save Henry. Sliding to a stop, Hook groaned as his shoulder jerked around, as he turned around. There was no way that he was allowing them to leave this realm, not with Henry.

It had been difficult, but he had talked everyone else to staying hidden. Too many people around would only spook Tamara and Greg, and he didn't need them doing something stupid. He explained that if he was waiting for them by himself, that they would be more likely to believe that he had changed his mind in helping them.

So when the trio walked onto the pier, with Henry yelling, trying to pull away from the tight grip that Greg had on his arm, Hook tried to calm his outward appearance. Placing his mask firmly in place, he was able to hide the anger that he felt building with each new step that the trio took.

"Hook! What are you doing here?" Tamara called out.

He watched as she grabbed something from behind her back. The device was black, and he instantly knew what it was. When he had questioned how exactly it was that they would be able to help him kill the crocodile, Tamara had shown him that very device. She explained how to the outward eye it looked like a simple taser, full of electrical pulses, but what it really was, was something that Greg had cooked up in some kind lab that sucked the power and magic from any magical creature. The way that it worked was designed so that whoever they were draining of power would die.

He gulped before answering. He willed his voice to keep calm, before calling out. "I changed my mind. After I had time to think about it, I realized that what's one kid's life to me when all I truly want is that damn crocodile on a stick, preferably roasted."

Hook cringed when he heard Tamara laugh out loud, "I knew you'd come around, Captain. Now, help us out, throw this stupid bean into the water to get the portal opened. We're having some issues with the little brat here."

Hook nodded, and tried to signal Henry with a wink. He had to let the kid know that he was on his side. A subtle nod from Henry let Hook know that Henry understood. "Alright, just … throw it to me. I'm not in such good shape."

Tamara glared at him, "That's what happens when you traipse through the forest. How's the arm?" Her lips curled up, and Hook realized that she was onto him.

He watched in horror as she grabbed hold of Henry and pressed the device against his neck.

"Stop! There is no need for harm to come to the boy!" Hook called out. He held up his arms, grimacing at the pain that flared in his shoulder.

"Of course there is, you stupid pirate. That's the point of revenge. To harm something … or someone important to the person you are seeking revenge on. You of all people should know that. Isn't that why you shot Rumpelstiltskin's girlfriend?"

Slowly, Hook took a step forward, "Yes, but I still have no idea why you need revenge on Regina."

Greg took a step forward this time, pain and anger written on his features. "Because that bitch killed my father. I was only a boy, and she took him and she killed him for no reason!"

Hook couldn't say that he didn't feel for Greg, but righting a wrong with another wrong was no way to go about fixing anything. Suddenly, he realized that his ill attempt at trying to gain his revenge on the crocodile was just as bad as what Greg and Tamara were trying to do to Regina. He felt sick that his own hatred and anger had caused him to do such horrible things. He couldn't focus on that right now, he needed to focus on the scared little boy in front of him. The boy who's life was in danger.

In that moment, Hook knew what he needed to do. "I'm sorry for your loss, Greg, I am, but do you think that it's right to take out what Regina did to you on poor Henry here?"

It was exactly what he had hoped forward. The question had brought Greg up short. It was something that he had to actually put some thought into. With Greg's mind elsewhere, and Tamara watching Greg closer than she was Hook, he was able to make his move. He wasn't able to move as quickly or as quietly as he usually was able to, but it moved as fast as he could.

I'm sorry, Hook mouthed to Henry, as shoved Henry backward and ultimately out of the way of the dangerous device that Tamara was holding. Growling loudly, she turned toward Hook and shoved the small hand-held device into his ribcage and pulled against the trigger. Hook's body shook and jerked as it zapped his torso. He could feel the life draining from his body. In the distance he heard someone shout his name, and the last thing he remembered before collapsing to the ground was that he had done it. He had saved Henry's life, and if it was the last thing he ever did, it was something that he could be proud of.