The Pirate: Chapter 2 "Ignore, Avoid, Deflect"

Below deck, Regina and Mr. Gold made their way through the ship to Regina's cabin. A mixture of anticipation and worry boiled through Mr. Gold. When he left Belle, he truly thought he would never see her again. He had left with the full intent of dying during this journey to save his grandson. Sacrificing his life did not bother him in the least, he had been The Dark One for hundreds of years and when faced with death before had made his peace with his life ending. What he could not bear as easily was that when he would not have Belle at his side in his final moment should it come. Whatever it was that Regina was asking of him, he felt it as a small price to pay to be able to see his true love again, in case he should meet his end. The two entered the cabin and Regina shut the door behind them.

"All right, Regina. Show me this mirror of yours, and I'll decide whether we have something more to discuss."

Regina walked over to the corner of her room and took out a small wooden box from her belongings. Regina opened the box to reveal a silver handheld mirror with a rounded frame. "Well, that will depend on how much it means for you to see your dear Belle." She held the mirror in her hand and spoke into its surface. "Show me... Belle" The mirror crackled and flashed a bright green light around the edge of the mirror, the reflective surface shined brightly and lit up the entire room. As the light from the mirror simmered down an image slowly began to take shape. Regina turned the mirror toward Mr. Gold showing him the image as it gradually faded in. At long last Belle's brown hair and blue eyes were able to be seen clearly as she searched through Rumple's shop for the materials she would need to enact the cloaking spell he had left her. Her voice could be heard faintly as she spoke softly to herself, worrying about being able to protect the town.

"Belle..." Rumple whispered softly.

Regina knew Mr. Gold would agree to nearly anything after seeing Belle again. While he continued to look on at Belle, Regina said calmly "If you're quite satisfied, I think it's time we talked about what you are going to do for this." Rumple, mirror now in hand, looked up at Regina

"All right, would you have me do?"

"Do you remember before in your castle that mermaid we talked about?"

"The Atlantean princess," Rumple paused for a moment as he recalled. "Ariel?"

"You might recall, that her father controls the sea."

Rumple looked up in curiosity, "Go on."

"He does this with a powerful magical item...a trident. I had planned to use his daughter as leverage in exchange for the trident before, but now I need you to retrieve for me."

"Your son has been kidnapped and you worry about power?"

"This is FOR my son," snapped Regina "If Pan is as powerful as you've said, we need to make sure we've done everything to make sure we don't fail. You're the only one here who can manage this task. Do we have a deal?"

Rumple looked back down at the mirror as the image faded out. "We have a deal."

Back just below deck Mary Margaret was pacing off toward her cabin while trying to process one of the most awkward moments of her life. Her mind raced with the implications of what she had seen; the scenarios played in her head of the people on board finding out about Hook and Emma. She wondered how to tell her husband, if she would tell him. Would Henry accept Hook in his life in that way? It was impossible to imagine Hook as part of their family after all the bitter history between Mr. Gold and Hook. Emma walked after her mother, still a disheveled mess.

"Mary Margaret, wait!" Mary Margaret stopped and turned toward her daughter. She didn't say a word but wore a frazzled look on her face. Emma took a breath, and tried to regain a sense of composure. "Mom, we should talk about this."

The racing going on in Mary Margaret's mind transitioned right into words as she spoke. She could not escape the awkwardness of the moment, "Yes we should, how about starting with this: What the hell are you thinking!? Do you have any idea what your father is gonna say!? What about Henry?!"

Emma couldn't help but be amused to see her mother like this, somehow seeing how embarrassed her mother was made Emma relax. From Mary Margaret's reaction she could see this was more about just seeing her daughter in a compromising situation than anything else. "Look, it just happened. It's not a big deal, so can we not tell David about this?"

"Not a big deal! And you want me to lie to your father about this?!" Mary Margaret said, still dizzy in her own thoughts.

"Not lie just; omit. I mean, I think everybody's mind should be on things other than my love life, don't you?"

Mary Margaret began to gain a sense of calm. She knew Emma was right and bringing this out in the open now would only add more tension to a situation that already had plenty of it. Mary Margaret sighed and now had a more lighthearted tone in her voice. "Alright, this stays between us, but please if this is gonna keep going on, try to be a little more discrete." Mary Margaret smiled as she continued, "I hate to break it to you but the way you were today with him wasn't exactly subtle."

Emma felt the relief wash over her as she smiled back and hugged her mother, "I'll try."

"Just one thing though; why Hook?"

Emma was still tangled in emotion from what had just happened with Hook. She didn't even understand what she was feeling at that moment let alone could she explain it to anybody else. Emma and Hook shared a special understanding of one another, she had felt that since the first time they met. She thought for a moment of how best to explain this to her mother.

"It's complicated. All my life it's like I've had to go out and find people. It's what I've done my entire life. I was left alone for one reason or another and it ended up with me having to find someone. With Hook, I left him and he's the only one that's come back after me. There's something I feel when I think about being the one that's found for once."

Mary Margaret had a soft smile now on her face, maybe she couldn't understand Hook the way Emma clearly did but she knew the feeling of being found. So much of her own love with David was based upon them finding each other and to hear how closely Emma's feelings paralleled with her own love story, it was enough to put her mind at ease for the moment.

The next morning the crew of the Jolly Roger awoke to an overcast day, the winds from the night before had not let up and blew strongly in the sails. Hook was at the helm; he hadn't seen Emma since last night and wore the look of someone who was deep in thought. The events of the past evening replayed in his mind; he didn't regret what had happened. At the time he only wanted to be what Emma needed. To further complicate matters, Mary Margaret also knew of what had happened, he wondered whom else she had told about what she saw. Hook knew there was enough to worry about since they still had not seen any sign of the Lost Boys or Henry.

Regina now walked up toward him, arms crossed and stepping in a very direct manner, "Captain may I have a word."

Hook quickly turned his expression as she came closer. "Of course, Regina. How can be of service?"

"Is there anything, any sign to tell us where we need to go?"

Hook stepped around from behind the wheel looking off toward the island. "They're called the Lost Boys for a reason. They are not particularly easy to find or track. Rest assured, once we have some sort of lead we will make landfall and get back to the business of rescuing your son."

Regina walked over to the end of the ship and leaned back against the railing. "Well, Hook, before we do that; have you ever been to the waters above Atlantis?"

Hook's eyes widened at the mention of the place, "No, because I value my life and my ship. What's this about Regina?"

Regina paused a moment as the thought how best to explain her plans "Rumpelstiltskin has agreed to go journey there to retrieve something we can use against Pan. There is a—"

"A trident," Hook quickly interrupted, then continued with a smirk and a chuckle in his voice, "Yes, I know of it; so you wish to send the crocodile on a suicide mission to steal King Triton's trident."

Hook's knowledge of the trident had left Regina in a mild state of surprise. "Yes, that is correct."

The captain responded with a sly smirk across his face shaking his head. "Well, as much as I enjoy the idea of Rumpelstiltskin being left to die underneath the waves, you shall not sacrifice my ship along with him."

Regina stepped close and said decisively, "What kind of chance do you give us right now against Pan? With that weapon, we can beat him, we can save my son."

Hook thought for a moment as he looked over to see Emma standing with her parents as they had just arrived on deck. "I'll do it, but everyone aboard must be made aware of the danger we face in attempting to sail those waters."

Emma stepped out on to the cool gusty deck with a renewed sense of focus in her search for her son. Emma walked over toward the railing and looked over to the island in the distance. Mary Margaret walked up next to Emma and leaned in to talk to her daughter in a hushed tone.

"So are you gonna talk to him about it?"

"To David? Emma said, surprised. "I thought we agreed that everything was gonna stay between us?"

"No," Mary Margaret smiled, "To Hook." Mary Margaret nudged her daughter and motioned over to Regina and Hook speaking by the helm.

Emma knew she would eventually have to talk to Hook about the night before, but at this moment, all she wanted to do was look through her spyglass and find something even resembling a lead.

"I don't know," Emma said, turning back toward Mary Margaret. "Talking about stuff isn't really my thing. Ignore, avoid, deflect these words have been very good to me."

"Well, then, if that's what you're gonna do you'd better get to it because he's coming this way."

Emma walked toward the mast of the ship and she could see Hook and Regina walking toward her. Hook had a look of seriousness on his face quite a difference from the way he usually carried himself and it reflected in the way he spoke, "Emma, we need to talk."

Emma hadn't expected Hook to be so direct about last night, and apparently to want to bring everything out in the open in this way. She began to walk past him quicker and spoke back over her shoulder at him as she walked up toward the stern. "Hook, do you think we can do this whole thing a little later?"

Regina looked back and forth at Emma and Hook, puzzled. "Ms. Swan, it's important that we discuss this."

Emma turned around confused about why Regina would find what happened with Hook even the least bit important. Amused by the look on Emma's face, Hook quickly interjected to remove all the confusion. "Not about that." Hook couldn't help but laugh. "It's something else, Regina has a plan."

"Oh," said Emma with a tinge of embarrassment in her voice. "Well, I'm gonna get a better look at that beach, just explain it to me after."

Mary Margaret snickered to herself and David looked suspiciously at Hook then back at Emma.

Hook and Regina then began to explain to them the details of what they were planning to David and Mary Margaret. Emma focused back on her searching and began to survey the beach through the spyglass. At first everything seemed normal, the green of the trees swayed with the wind, the white sand of the beach and the light blue water. Then she noticed along the beach there seemed to be a small dark tinged area in the sand along the coast. Emma lowered the spyglass, excited, and rushed down to tell the others.

"I found something!" Emma handed the spyglass over to Hook and pointed toward the spot on the beach. "Look, see that dark area on that beach, someone had a fire there."

Hook shook his head as he lowered the spyglass. "A dark spot on the beach could mean any number of things, love. You really need to hear about this plan."

Emma flared up with impatience at Hook's dismissive response. She stormed up toward the helm and turned the ship toward the beach suddenly, causing all on the deck to lose their balance. Hook yelled out to her as he ran up to the helm after her. "Emma! What the bloody hell are you are doing?!"

"Following a lead," Emma snapped.

"What you're going to do is sink the ship over a dark spot on a beach!"

Emma looked up at Hook and told him again "It's a fire..."

As Hook looked back into Emma's eyes he knew she was not going to let this fixation go. "Fine, you and I will take a rowboat out to shore so you can get this infernal idea out of your mind."

Hook and Emma returned to the lower deck to prepare to take the rowboat to shore. Mr. Gold, now on deck, stepped toward the captain curious as to what was going on. "And where are you two going?"

Hook continued to help Emma with the boat and responded in an annoyed tone, "Emma wants to go investigate that beach."

Mr. Gold looked at Emma who had a look of determination on her face as she and Hook finished preparing the boat. "Why on earth, would she want to do that? Does she know of our plans yet?"

Emma stomped off over to Gold then answered quickly slightly out of breath. "There was a fire on that beach, I saw it, that's our lead."

Regina, now looked bothered by what Hook and Emma were doing, interrupted, "We're not really going to waste valuable time over this?"

"If it's a possible lead we should follow it, Regina," David said insistently.

"Well, it seems between being daddy's little girl and" Regina paused as her tone turned suggestive, "'First-mate,' I've been overruled."

As Hook and Emma began to enter the boat, David stepped in front of Hook, and said, "I'll go with Emma; mate. We need someone still on board that can maneuver the ship."

Already frustrated Hook backed off and walked back to the stern as David and Emma entered the rowboat and made their way to the shore. Once on the shore David and Emma made their way down the beach to the spot Emma had seen through the spyglass. Upon reaching the spot, there were embers from a fire that still looked fairly fresh possibly from the night before. Emma and David both smiled then split up and began to look around for signs of where whoever had this started this fire had gone. After searching the beach Emma walked up to the tree line and finally found something that made her heart leap.

"David!" Emma called out excitedly. Emma held in her hand as she ran up to her father. Henry's scarf.

David touched the scarf then looked up at Emma as they returned to the boat and then rowed over back to the ship. Once on board everyone looked with wide eyes at the scarf. Regina grabbed the scarf from Emma, and smiled with a slight tear in her eye, asked "Where did you find it?"

Emma shared the same look of joy as she answered, "Just inside of the tree line there's trail in front of a campsite, it was tied to a branch."

Hook walked over to the group and said slyly, "I owe you an apology Emma. You were right. Much like your gumption, it seems like your cleverness is also genetic."

Still thrilled, Emma wanted to waste no time and get back to the beach to go after Henry. "Ok so lets get back out there. The embers were still fresh, we should start back now so they won't get too far ahead of us."

Mr. Gold stopped Emma as she was returning to the boat, "Not so fast, Ms. Swan. We still have another matter to attend to."

"More important than this?" Emma asked, annoyed.

Mary Margaret could see that her daughter was intent on getting back to that island but she also knew that the plan Regina had in mind was important to them succeeding in rescuing Henry. "Emma honey, you need to hear this."

From the tone in her mother's voice Emma could tell whatever it was that Regina had planned needed her attention. She looked back over at the scarf in Regina's hand, and then began to listen as Mr. Gold explained his task of retrieving the trident from Atlantis. After hearing the plan Emma turned back over to the railing of the ship and rested her hands on the wood and looked back at the beach. "We can't just let this lead go, if we let them get too far ahead of us we'll lose them."

"Agreed," exclaimed Hook; "We must divide our forces then, Emma and I will take the crocodile out to sea for the trident, David will take Mary Margaret and Regina to follow after our dear boy Henry."

Regina looked over at Hook as she said in a sarcastic tone, "That's a great plan Hook, except that not one of us your sending has every been to that island."

Hook, with a look of concern on his face answered back to Regina. "The waters above Atlantis are quite parlous. Emma's only been sailing a short time, my services are best used here."

"Regina's right," Mr. Gold interjected. "Emma is fully capable of sailing the ship, she'll take me out there—"

"And I'll go with them." David quickly interrupted as he looked over at Hook.

A look of dejection grew on the captain's face "Very well then, I'll lead the party on the island, and Emma shall take the ship out to its destination. I'll prepare a heading, if I may have a moment to show Captain Swan." As Hook headed below deck, Emma walked after him—leaving the rest of the crew on deck.

Hook brought out the charts and began to explain to Emma the best course to reach the waters above Atlantis. At first Emma was focused only on the maps, then she looked over to Hook as he continued speaking. Emma grabbed his hand where he had it rested on the table. The captain paused, then motioned his head toward Emma as they fell into a kiss. Hook broke for a moment and whispered to Emma "Don't do this." Before kissing her again.

"We both know I have to. You know the island, and I can sail the ship. There's no other way." Emma said, as she ran her hand against the stubble of Hook's beard.

Hook's eyes filled with worry, "You don't understand the danger you face out there in those seas."

Emma smiled at Hook and coolly said, "I'll be fine. You just get to that island and bring my son back to me."

They heard footsteps approaching and took a step back from each other. David entered the room and moving his eyes back from Hook to Emma said, "They're ready to go."

Hook turned and said with a smile, "Right, Lets get on with it then. Mustn't keep the ladies waiting."

Back on deck Mary Margaret kissed David and hugged Emma before following Regina down into the boat. Hook turned back facing David, Mr. Gold and Emma. Though he wore a smile the concern in his eyes was still noticeable to Emma.

"Good luck, Crocodile, I had hoped I'd have the pleasure of killing you myself but I leave that to the Atlanteans." Mr. Gold rolled his eyes as Hook turned toward David.

"Mate, not to worry. Your wife is in capable hands." Finally, Hook stepped towards Emma.

"And Captain Swan." He removed his silver chain necklace from his neck and placed it over Emma. "Since this is your first commanding voyage, it's only fitting that you look the part of a captain."Emma held her breath as she looked into Hooks eyes. David gritted his teeth and turned away, walking toward the bow of the ship. Emma opened her mouth to speak, but before she could get any words out Hook quickly descended into the rowboat. As each group parted ways to their respective journeys; Emma stood at the helm, looking down at Hook's necklace as she held it in her hand, and Hook kept his eyes fixed on the Jolly Roger as it sailed on off toward to open sea.