Chapter One: Come on, Come on.
Emma bit her cheek trying to concentrate on the paperwork in front of her. Her tired eyes blurred out of focus as she read through David's hastily written reports in her absence. She didn't need to be there but appreciative of any reason to be out the house with all the commotion and drama confined only by the glass walls of the sheriff's office.
She leaned back in her chair and closed her eyes, struggling to relish the quiet of the town after lunch. She hadn't slept in days with the never ending family developments and the drama of babysitting crazy fairy tale characters. She desperately tried to focus on something that would take her mind off it. It took her several minutes to notice her fingers absentmindedly clutched around the cold metal of a hook. His hook, actually.
With a soft sigh she purposefully released it from her tight grasp and extended her hand brushing papers over the lost appendage. She still hadn't found a place for it and had taken to carrying it with her. She couldn't think of any place she could hide it where it wouldn't be immediately found by a certain stab-happy theatrical pirate.
Speaking of which, she hadn't seen him in a week. She stared out the window contemplatively as if she'd find him simply by looking. No, that was something she was certain had no productive or positive end and had firmly decided that she really didn't want to know.
"So, you are what passes for a man of the law" sounded a low, drawled voice from the open door.
Emma's head shot up in surprise. Her startled eyes fell on the drained form of Captain Hook under the fluorescent lights leaning casually against the door frame. Still displaying an oddly precise scruff over a rugged jaw but he seemed to be missing that wolfish grin and snarling eyes he had worn earlier. She looked him over once, not at all surprised by his presence but in the lack of his spiteful attitude. Chipper for a dead guy would make an excellent title for his biography.
"Person," Emma responded quietly.
The corners of his mouth twitched upwards at her reaction.
"Suddenly your draw to tying men down can be seen in a much more prolific light." His dull, weary eyes sparkled to life as he strutted in to the office with an aura of confidence that followed him wherever he went.
"I, of course, am not going anywhere" he said gamely with a subtle wink. Hook strolled around her desk to set his weight on the edge and faced her with a wide grin.
"What happened to being done with me?" she asked, unfazed, with a single, raised, wavering eyebrow. Hook wasn't the type of man who forgot easily but one who did know which way the wind blew.
He sighed, his face close to something like humility. "A hasty decision on my part. I'm learning not to bet against you, lass. Perhaps next time you might do me the honor of returning the favor."
He smiled widely at her, fluttering his baby blues in a way that had probably seen many better people than her drop at his feet.
She simply blinked before narrowing her eyes in response. This wasn't exactly the Hook she was familiar with, this was a man who wanted something.
"Cora's dead." She stated. Crossing her arms over her chest she gauged his reaction carefully. He wasn't the only one who could use shock value to their advantage.
He barely bat an eyelid.
"As I said, Swan," his voice steady. "It would be unwise to bet against you." His stare growing more admiring as sincerity crept onto his smile. His rapt attention seemed hungry with anticipation, like he couldn't wait to see what she'd do next.
They're eyes locked in a heated struggle filled with fascination while wordlessly daring the other. His dark mysterious eyes swept into her soul and replaced her reality. Insufferably attractive, he reminded her of a painting brought to life and then by his will, his own passion, destroyed.
With a repressed shiver she spared a side-long glance at him and at herself, dragging herself back to reality. Emma used the opportunity with his eyes fixed on hers to lean forward, hoping to cover the barest hint of his hook with her arms.
"I would think twice about your next move here, hook"
Unblinking, his face advanced towards hers, only too happy to raise the stakes in their staring contest. She could feel the heat of Hook's breath swirl around her face. "I plan on it, darling," he whispered giving her a roguish grin.
Her head tilted slightly to one side in interest. She narrowed her absorbed gaze on his as if trying to pluck the reason for his visit from the mask of assured confidence of his eyes. She wasn't used to holding someone's attention for so long.
"What do you want?" the words slipping out in a hushed voice.
"What were you doing with that monster, when you stole my ship?"
Emma had been expecting this. Her shoulders lifted in a shrug. "I owed him a favor and now it's done. We're finished."
Hook nodded understandingly though the muscles in his jaw visibly tightened.
"What. Do you want?" She repeated slowly. Eyebrows raised expectantly.
His smile faded slightly, curling sharply into a snarl. "You know what I want." Darkness passed over his face etched with the years of tireless planning.
They were so close she barely dared to breathe. Both sets of eyes studied the other, willing them to fold.
"You don't need me" she stated quietly, her mouth dry. She wasn't necessary in whatever he was planning that lurked behind his old eyes, and they both knew it.
For a brief moment realization passed over his face. As if he had just become aware of that fact. He exhaled, pulling away. "No, as it were. I merely need that." He leaned past her to reach for the only half-hidden hook. Fingers grazed her flesh causing the hair on her arm to stand on end. She inhaled till a loud click shattered into her reality as he snapped the hook back in to place.
"But I must admit, I am not particularly fond of your infuriating need to come between me and my vengeance."
Emma scoffed, arching an eyebrow sky-high. "Well, I'm not particularly fond of the way you like to make everything worse, buddy"
"In that case, I believe it may be prudent to come to a sort of agreement between our respective forces."
Her brow knotted in confusion. "Are you asking for a truce?" she frowned. Neither of their actions recently had merited the title of friend. He had to know by now that asking her for help was pointless.
He sighed exasperatedly. He obviously wasn't used to people not blindly following him. "I am asking that you merely keep an open mind as there may come a day when you need me"
Her hand reached up instinctively to her necklace only to find bare skin. She rubbed her collar bone, noticing how his eyes trailed the path made by her hands.
Emma grimaced. "And you'd rather be on the winning side."
His skimmed the length of her neck before returning to her eyes, meeting her gaze up through his thick lashes.
"Well, I'd rather it were you than the witch."
"And until then?" she asked.
"Until then, I suggest we go our separate ways." His eyes threatening, making it clear what his future intentions were.
"Do you really not see how this ends?" she pleaded. Surprised at her own desperation. Emma had no idea what she could possibly want from him now or in the future, but she didn't seem to want him dead. "You can't win, Hook, even if you succeed you'll never win"
He winced slightly. Stiffening at the sound of his own dirty name coming from her lips.
He turned his gaze downward. "Winning was never an option, love." He reached down to gently take her hand in his with a sad smile. "I've already lost." He finished quietly as he brushed his firm lips over her knuckles.
Regina knelt in the dirt. Digging her knees into the soft soil she reached carefully into her rose bushes. Her frantic hands shaking as they combed through harsh stems and thorns in a fruitless search that made her face hot with rage. Tears welled up in dark eyes that darted in a desperate search for a single perfect rose.
They were all wrong, the roses. The petals, the stems. Wrong. All pathetically imperfect. All undeservedly alive. Not nearly red enough and not nearly bright enough. And she just wanted one.
She closed her eyes and tried to focus on her task as her emotion swelled. She opened them to find the flowers blinking, smiling back at her.
With a frustrated shriek she the grabbed the roses before her, using all her strength to rip them from the bush. But there were still more.
She dove into the bush. Wild hands clasped at stems ripping out the flowers. She grasped desperately at petals until she had demolished every last one only leaving a small drop of blood that trickled down the length of her finger to show for it.
Her chest heaved and she looked on to see the fruits of her work to find nothing.
Someone cleared their throat behind her. "Might I be of any assistance?"
She froze at the sound of The Dark One's voice oozing over her. If he were any other man, he'd be dead. She wanted him to be dead. She straightened her back carefully, proudly, like a queen. Her nails cut into her hand as she spoke in a barely contained, biting voice. "Go to hell."
She could feel him slithering nearer, sensing his greedy hands always searching for a weakness.
"Yes, well I'm afraid we haven't time for that," said Gold absentmindedly. Impatiently. Her eyes burned. He would wait for her.
Her neck twisted sharply as she glared over her shoulder only to find a kind of sympathy forged onto his face that made her blood boil. She rose tersely not bothering to wipe the tears from her wet face. There would be no point.
"What do you want?" she spat.
"I have a proposition for you, dearie," he stated simply, leaning forward on his cane. "I'd like to help, if I may."
Her eyes narrowed. She stepped forward, glowering over him. "No" she snarled, throwing his sincerity back in his face. How dare he ask her that. How dare he come to her. She didn't care what he wanted, she didn't want him and she certainly didn't need him.
Regina brushed the dirt off her black dress and marched past him, not sparing him another glance. Her heels clicked angrily across the pavement as she made her way to her car.
Once inside, tears fell from her eyes again. She held her hands in front of her, channeling all her pain into one specific location.
In that instant, a single red rose blossomed before her. A single red rose more dazzling in vivacity than anything grown naturally. A single red rose as red as blood. A single red rose for her mother's coffin.
It was perfect.
A/N: Hey guys, thanks for reading. As you probably noticed I am still looking for a beta if any of you are interested :)