Awwww... you guys made me so happy with your reviews. Glad that you have joined me for this story too. * waves *
Emma was driving through town, August was by her side and Ursula lay passed out in the backseat of the bug. In all honesty she didn't know what she had done to the witch. Her eyes took in the woman's slack features in the rear view mirror and Emma sighed, Ursula didn't look like she was waking up anytime soon. She had been on her way to the station but a sudden thought had her turning at the top of dock street and heading towards the harbor instead.
"Thought you were taking her to the station?" August said raising a surprised brow.
"I was... but now I'm hoping you will do that for me! I need to get out there, you know, I need to find him and she is not waking up anytime soon so is gonna be no help to me whatsoever. Please will you do this for me? All you need to do is take her there and lock her in one of the cells then you need to rest, you look beat. Go find your Dad..." she trailed off as he lifted his hand
"Of course I'll do it Emma but then I am helping with the search. I can see how much Hook means to you, it's written all over your face." he gave her a warm smile as they pulled up close to the edge of the pier.
"Thank you" was all she said, there was no need for any other words.
Emma looked out across the dock, there were people milling about everywhere but right there in the middle of all the action was her Dad. Where he had managed to get all these people from so quickly was beyond her, she hadn't been that far behind her parents when they left the cabin! She threw her door open and leapt out, stepping carefully so as not to fall over the edge and into the water.
"Dad" she yelled and his eyes came up to meet her's
He immediately said something to Leroy, clapped him on the shoulder then jogged over to where she stood by the bug.
"What you doing here? I thought you were going to the station first"
"Well it looks like I may have incapacitated the witch for longer than I hoped so August is going to take her the rest of the way." Emma replied giving August a little smile as he came up to stand next to them.
"I'll just drop her off then come back, I can help. Where do you need me?" August spoke to her Dad
"Being honest right here, I need someone to co-ordinate. Normally Mary-Margaret would do it but with Neal I think it is going to be a struggle."
"No problem, that I can do" he smiled
"Anda I cana help" a voice came from nowhere
Emma turned to see Marco striding over, eyes full of emotion. He came to a standstill in front of August, raised his arms and pulled him to his chest.
"My boy, I thoughta I hada lost you again"
"I'm fine Papa." August soothed as he hugged Marco back.
Emma was so busy watching the happy reunion that she failed to notice as the sea witch slithered her way from the bug and stalked over to the edge of the pier.
"STOP" David yelled and Emma spun around just in time to see Ursula send her tentacles out over the side of the harbor and down towards the water. She turned and smiled the widest smile.
"You should have killed me when you had the chance" she cackled, throwing her head back in laughter. She finally dipped the end of the tentacle into the sea and in an instant she transformed into what looked like a giant green oil slick that seeped over the edge of the harbor, disappearing into the water below.
"NOOOOO" Emma screeched running forward to the spot, damn it, she had gotten away.
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Ariel broke the surface yet again, where had he gone? She didn't know who it was that had hit the water but she knew that someone had. She had stayed back at first unwilling to attract the attention of Ursula for any reason but in doing so had lost sight of the man.
She ducked back down and spotted something in the murky water, a dark shape floating beneath the waves. Her heart sank, he must have been taken by the sea after all. She dived down further reaching out for the figure but was confused when it had no weight to it, it wasn't a person, it was just their outer garment, what did they call it again? A coat? They must have pulled it off to make swimming easier. She kept hold of it and surfaced again so that she could see it better in the sunlight.
The "coat" was made of leather and was very heavy, she could see why the man had removed it, it was beautiful in her eyes and the thought of keeping it for her own collection of human possessions was practically overwhelming. Guilt bit at her for a second or two as she remembered that the poor man had probably died but there was nothing she could do about that now. She raised her gaze from the jacket and realized that she was quite close to the shore, she could just make out the sandy beach. Swimming forward with one thought in mind, she needed to get out of the water and try this "coat" on but as she moved something caught her eye, what was that? Something was glinting in the sun further up the shore.
Changing direction she surged forward swimming up shore until she could finally make out what had caught her eye. Ariel gasped, her hand coming up to cover her mouth at the horrible sight before her.
Hook! It was Hook that had been thrown into the water, of course it was, it had been his ship after all! She was such and idiot, why had she not thought of that before. She hit the shore, instantly dropping the leather coat and retrieving her bracelet, popping it on her wrist. She stood quickly and ran to the Pirate as he lay face down on the sand, falling to her knees by his side.
"Hook!" she almost whispered
He was battered, scraped and a watery trickle of blood seeped down the side of his face from a cut she could see behind his right ear. The Pirate had betrayed her the last time they had met but she couldn't help feeling the pain that he had obviously gone through in the last hour. She carefully leant forward making sure not to get too close, she didn't know what to do, was he even breathing?
"Hook... please wake up" she whispered but the Pirate remained still
She started to reach forward to check his breathing but stopped short, what if he was dead? She had never touched a dead human before and it frightened her but in the end the need to know if he was alive overrode her fear and she finally placed her wet hand in front of his slightly open mouth.
"Thank goodness, you are alive" she breathed out as she felt his breath puff out against her skin
But now this raised a whole new issue, how was she going to get him back to town? She looked at his hook wedged in the trunk and jumped up grabbing it, she yanked it hard but it didn't so much as move even a tiny bit, it was jammed solid. There was no way that she could free it and even if she could she didn't really want to pull him back into the sea, he was already frigid and human's did not do well with the cold. She would have to go to town and bring someone back. She jumped up and ran back to the coat, picked it up and ran back to it's owner. It wasn't much and it was very wet itself but perhaps it would help to warm him a little. She placed the coat over his back and stepped away to look at the cove he was in, she would need to be able to describe it and it's location. She suddenly realized that if whoever was going to come was coming by land they could possibly miss Hook, he was lying behind the huge tree, no one would see him.
She gave it some thought for a few seconds then darted up the beach, picked up a stick and drew a big arrow on the sand that pointed to the fallen Pirate, no one could miss that. She gave a satisfied smile then ran back into the surf pulling her bracelet off and slipping beneath the waves, she moved quickly with one destination in mind, she had to get to Storybrooke, she had to find help fast.
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David and Emma were moving quickly, they had driven down the coast as far as the town line then headed for the shore. They both carried back packs filled with medical supplies and provisions, if the Pirate had been in the water for any length of time he was going to be cold and the day was only going to get colder as the sun dropped in the sky, they had to find him sooner rather than later.
Emma stumbled over a loose rock and David reached out to save her from face planting into the ground but no words were exchanged they just carried on like nothing had happened. The surface was hard work, there was no path, they were literally just scrambling along the coast stopping every few minutes to look for any sign of Hook. David hoped that they'd find him soon, this was bad enough for him but the tortured look that Emma wore on her face was breaking his heart.
They trudged on for what seemed like an eternity until they finally broke out on to a wide cove. David stopped and pulled his back pack off his sweat covered back.
"Come on Dad, keep going" Emma raised her arms in frustration.
"Just hang on for one minute. Here, drink this while I check the map" He thrust a bottle of water at his daughter, he did not need her dehydrating herself.
"Devil's Cove" he read aloud
"What?!" Emma gave him a confused look between gulps
"We're in Devil's cove, it's about half way between the town line and Storybrooke" he replied sticking the map back in the bag and taking a bottle of water for himself.
"GREAT, we're already half way back and there's no sign of him" Emma muttered under her breath
"Hey, we don't even know if he is this side of town. The others might have more luck further up the coast" he soothed
"I just need to know that he's OK" she sighed out
"I know" he replied, he had nothing else he could add, he couldn't tell that it would be OK when he didn't know if it was true, he wouldn't lie to her.
He shoved the now empty bottle into his bag and stood up swinging it around to put it back on his back when something on the sand caught his attention. He frowned, trying to see what it was. It was an arrow! Someone had drawn a huge arrow in the sand. Hook! If he could do that he must be alright. A huge grin appeared on his face.
"What?" Emma said, turning quickly to follow his gaze.
"I think we may just have found our Pirate" He pointed to the arrow before heading off at a jog towards the large tree trunk that Hook must have been sheltering behind.
"Pretty cool spot you picked..." His witty comment died on his lips as he came round the root end to find Hook lying face down in the sand, clearly not conscious.
Emma thumped into his back as he stopped dead in his tracks.
"What?! Dad?"
"Emma, stay there" he put his arm out to stop her from moving, her eyes followed his gaze and she gasped at the sight before them.
"Promise me you won't move until I tell you. If... you know... he's not OK... I don't want you to see that" he said turning to look her straight in the eye.
She simply nodded her head, tears already falling from her lashes.
David pulled in a deep breath and turned back to the Pirate, he better be alive or so help him he would find a way to bring him back just so he could kill him again for doing this to his girl.
