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Thanks to RainMirror for betaing this chapter for me! Thanks to Meresger for some correction!

Warning: Emma's language and Hook's innuendo. I think these traits come by default with them so are these warnings even necessary?


"Where is he? I need to see my boy now!"

"He's in surgery."

"Why does he need surgery? I can just use magic to heal him."

Emma stared disbelievingly at Gold. "In the middle of a surgery? Where were you before? You could've helped us find Regina instead of wooing your new or old girlfriend. Whatever. I don't care. Hell, you could have prevented him from getting shot."

Gold staggered and clutched at the nearest bench. "Did Bae get shot because of rescuing Regina?" he asked weakly. "I didn't know he'd be involved."

Emma jabbed her finger angrily at his chest. She didn't care if he was the Dark One. "Well, there are a lot of things you don't know about your son. Did you even try to spend time with him since he arrived in Storybrooke?"

Gold couldn't hold back his tears anymore but Emma didn't care. Some things had to be said. She didn't know why Neal kept quiet all this time. If she were him, she would give him hell after what he had done. "He never confided in me about you, but you should've seen his expression when you were stabbed in New York. He still loves you very much. Did you know that he nearly fell down a portal again? He let go of my hand so that Henry wouldn't grow up alone like we did. If it weren't for David, he would probably be dead in another world."

Gold was shocked. He sat down at the nearest bench, trembling. "I'm sorry, Bae," he whispered. "I should've been there for you."

Emma now felt bad for lashing out at him. However, the issue of growing up alone had really hit her hard. She asked, "Where's Belle?"

Gold held his cane like it was his lifeline. He answered in between sobs. "She's still Lacey so I left her with Granny as she won't be much help. Where are Henry and your parents?"

Emma felt that her energy had been drained with the confrontation so she sat down next to him. "They're in the cafeteria getting Henry some hot chocolate. He's afraid he is going to lose his father after only knowing him for a few days." It then hit her that a lot of things had happened in the past few days since she had come back from New York. She had had the whole year to adjust to the weirdness of Storybrooke. Neal had done remarkably well with the all the violence and strange occurrences that had happened since he arrived. Although he had grown up in the Enchanted Forest, he hadn't lived in that world for centuries. Well, she hoped he would continue to cope if, no, not if, when he recovered.

She tried to console Gold with a confidence she didn't really possess. "I think Dr. Whale is a good doctor with a great track record. Neal is in good hands."

The mention of Whale sent Gold to another frenzy. "I hope Whale didn't take what I did this morning to heart," he said. "I don't want Bae to have to pay the price. But since Bae saved him this morning he ought to repay the favor."

That confused the hell out of Emma but he wasn't in any state to give an explanation. She looked around awkwardly then breathed a sigh of relief when her parents walked in with Henry.

Henry quickly hugged Gold so she was relieved from comforting duty. David sat awkwardly next to Henry. He wasn't sure what to say to Gold.

"I forgot to ask earlier," said Emma. "Where is Regina? How is she?"

"She's fine, just needs to recuperate a bit," Snow answered. "She hasn't lost her magic. She's with the Blue Fairy. "

"Well, good for her but not so good for Neal."

"Emma, you shouldn't say such a thing," Snow admonished her. "I'm sure Neal will be fine. I think Rumplestiltskin and the Blue Fairy should be able to help if Dr. Whale can't."

"Yeah, just solve it with magic as you usually do. I'm sure Neal will be so happy about it."

"Emma, what's wrong? You're not usually this cranky."

"Gee, I don't know. Nobody believed me when I said Tamara was evil, except for Henry. Then we needed to save Regina, who has tried to kill us numerous times. It turned out I was right all along; Tamara was behind all these schemes. She shot him and threw a magic bean at us. He saved me and nearly got sucked into a portal. I tried to guilt him by saying I love him and he said he loved me too before having the audacity of letting go of my hand. Luckily, David caught him just in time. Then he stopped breathing so I needed to do CPR. How is that for a day?"

Once Emma had finished her rapid tirade, she finally broke down into sobs.

Snow wasn't sure she caught all that, but she did hear the part about Emma loving him and him loving her back! She hugged Emma and said, "Oh Emma! You do love each other, just as I thought. I'm sure everything will work out in the end."

"How can you be sure of that? How can love save a gunshot wound with infections and blood loss?"

"Well, for a start, we have Frankenstein as a doctor." Emma managed a weak smile at that. "I'm sure it counts for something. Besides, I'm sure Rumplestiltskin will think of something to save his only son, whom he has sought for ages. I know I would no matter what it costs."

Emma hugged her back. "You didn't see Gold earlier. He looked so helpless. I'm sure he'll move heaven and earth, quite literally, to save Neal. Oh no! I blamed him for not helping to save Regina when I was the one to ask Neal to come along. What was I thinking?"

Snow stroke Emma's head. She had missed out on comforting her daughter for 28 years and she wasn't going to miss another opportunity. "Oh, Emma. You didn't know what was going to happen. You didn't force Neal to come along with you. Blaming yourself won't help at all."

"Thanks, Mom. I did sort of guilt him into coming along though, but later he said he wouldn't leave me alone. He said he would back me up."

Snow was thankful for that. "I think he did a great job helping you, don't you think?"

"Yeah, at the cost of his own life. I'm not sure what to say to him when he recovers."

"I think thank you will be a start. It has been a long day. Why don't you go get yourself something to eat? I'll call you as soon as I hear anything."

Emma looked at Henry who was still hugging Gold. She wasn't sure who was comforting whom. David hovered uncertainly beside them. "What about Henry?"

"Henry has eaten. He will be fine. Kids are more resilient. Go take a rest. We'll be here."


Emma was grateful for the temporary relief. She munched on a sandwich in the cafeteria. She wasn't sure how she felt. A lot of things had happened. She didn't tell Snow about Neal's apology and their Tallahassee. It was all too much to explain in a short period of time. She remembered vividly admitting her love to Neal and that he reciprocated. That was the happiest second in her life before everything went to hell again, as usual. She wasn't sure whether she'd still have the same feeling when Neal recovered. She noticed she used the word when not if. I guess mom's positivity has rubbed off on me.

She heard a familiar voice and raised her head. There was a figure at the door. She put her head on the table and counted to twenty and raised her head again. The figure was still there so it wasn't hallucination. What has she done to deserve this?

"What do you want, Hook? Come here to gloat?"

Hook had the audacity to wink and sat opposite her. "Well, for a start, I'd like your lovely company. You're not eating Jell-O, are you?" He peered at Emma's food suspiciously.

"Go away! If you want to gloat, you've come to the wrong place. Gold is over there. Wait, what? Jell-O?"

Hook seemed to be relieved that Emma wasn't eating Jell-O. "Yes, I hate that thing. It's wriggly and evil. It's not natural. Why do people in this world feed the sick with such an atrocity?"

Emma didn't want to follow up this thread of conversation. Speaking with Hook tended to make her blood boil even without the complexity of explaining the working order of this world. "What do you want, Hook? If you want to hurt Gold through his son, I think you're too late. It's done, unless you want to finish the job."

"People close to the crocodile often get hurt. He should think about it."

"Seriously? You want to go there. What's wrong with your and Regina's obsession with revenge? Get a life! You were the one shooting Belle. She was not hurt by him. Neal was shot by his fiancée and it had nothing to do with who his father was." Emma added quietly to herself, "But he did get shot because of me."

"What, exactly, do you mean by get a life? I plan to do that by killing the crocodile."

Emma put her head on the table again and counted to fifty. She was only at twenty three when Hook interrupted her, "What're you doing? You don't need to dream of me while I'm right in front of you."

Emma pulled Hook's collar. "Why did you come here?"

"I like women who like it rough."

Emma pulled his collar harder and hissed. "Please tell me what you want or I swear I will stick Jell-O somewhere the sun doesn't shine."

"I'd rather be the one doing the sticking."

Emma yanked even harder until Hook was in danger of turning blue.

"I came here to check how Milah's son is doing."

Emma didn't expect that. She released her hold slightly. "Isn't Milah the name on your tattoo?"

Hook raised his eyebrow suggestively but the effect was reduced as he was still gasping for air. "Ah, you remembered. I knew you would."

"Shut up, Hook. So Milah is Neal's mother. Does it make you his stepdad? How come he never mentioned that?"

"Swan, you need to release your hold on me if you want me to explain properly."

Emma released him.

"Well, Baelfire has always been stubborn. And he…uh…didn't take it well when he discovered that I took his mother away from his father. He never accepted me."

"I couldn't imagine why," she replied dryly. "Are you insane? Taking the Dark One's wife?"

"Well, he wasn't the Dark One when Milah left."

She rolled her eyes. "Yes, that made all the difference."

"Well, love, while I'm sure you'd like nothing more than to sit here all day flirting with me, I do have important matters to discuss with you."

Emma groaned and put her head back at the table. "Why me?"

"I couldn't possibly speak to the crocodile face-to-face without giving into the desire of stabbing him. Your father is very angry with me because I knocked him out in the sheriff station and I think you mom has similar attitudes as your dad. I might have also unleashed a giant on them."

Emma finally raised her head. "Gee, again, I wonder why. Don't you remember the last time we met, when you pushed me into a wall, then I knocked you out and tied you to a storage room?"

"Ah, I know you're into kinky stuff so I don't take it personally. All you need to do is just ask."

She aimed to take hold of Hook's collar again but he quickly backed away. He swiftly produced a stone which looked like a big black diamond. "OK, I stole this from that lass Tamara and her lad, Greg."

"Do you want to bribe me? I don't care much for diamonds. "

"I want to do more than bribing." He wriggled his eyebrows again. When he saw Emma was about to lunge at him, he quickly added, "No, it's not a normal diamond. This is apparently what they called the failsafe, whatever that means. I think your queen, Regina,…" He ignored Emma's interruption that she was not her queen. "I think Regina created this diamond to destroy Storybrooke in case the curse broke or if she was bored. Whatever she fancied I guess. Greg retrieved this diamond from her when they captured her. I managed to steal it from him when they didn't notice."

Emma crossed her hands in front of her chest. "Why do you want to help me? What's in for you? Why should I trust you?"

"Love, I might be a pirate but I don't want the blood of the innocents on me. Besides, Milah's son is among the innocents. I had done that boy a lot of wrongs and he has suffered enough. I heard he was involved in saving Regina."

"Yes, he was."

"Always trying to be the hero. I told him it'd get him killed but as I said, he's always been stubborn."

Emma remembered Neal releasing his hand from her hold. "Yes, I know what you meant. Won't you get into trouble for helping me?"

"So now you worry about me. I'm touched. Don't worry, I'll be hiding in my ship. That's why I came here first. I hope you can catch them so I don't need to face them again. Here is their hiding place." He produced a piece of paper to give to Emma. "By the way, I heard they wanted to take Henry away as well, something about that's what the Home Office wants. If I were you, I would hold on to him."

Hook's statement froze her blood. "Why do they want Henry?"

"I have no idea, lass. I've got to go before the crocodile or your parents come here."

Hook made to leave but before he reached the door, Emma called out to him. "Thanks for your help! I'm sure Neal will be happy that you warned us about Henry."

"What has Baelfire got to do with Henry?"

It was Emma's turn to raise her eyebrow. "You didn't know that Neal is Henry's father?"

He looked stunned. "No, I had no idea. I hope Baelfire recovers."

"Thanks, I guess. Henry needs his father. A son shouldn't lose his father at such a young age."

"Yes, and a father shouldn't lose his son," he added wistfully, then left.

Emma tried to decipher what he meant. Both Hook and Gold had been cryptic. Her thought was interrupted by her ringtone. She picked it up and heard her mom on the other end. "Emma, Whale has finished performing surgery. Do you want to come listen to what he has to say?"

"OK, Mom, I'll be there ASAP."


Author's Note:

-I hope they're in characters. I find it difficult to write Hook's speech.

-I inserted some humor as I can't really write full on angst.

-Next chapter: The commencement of Operation Phoenix, Rumbelle, Snowing, Swanfire family's angst plus Regina's snark. Before that, I'll update "How to Break Tamara's Spell aka Operation Swanfire" first as that only has one chapter left.

-Please let me know what you think.