A/N: Warning for Hook in this chapter, as well as some depictions of violence.

Chapter Two


Emma felt panic start to set in almost immediately. Just a few short days ago, she'd thought that Regina was cold and unfriendly, but she'd never been able to bring herself to believe what everyone was saying about her. She just couldn't believe that the woman was evil.

And then she'd seen her kill Archie.

Now she didn't know what to believe. Her internal lie detector was on the fritz and she was torn between wanting to believe that Regina really was trying to change, for Henry, and knowing that all the evidence pointed in the other direction. She'd gone to great lengths to try to prove Regina's innocence, but now, lying in a bed in Regina's home with no idea how she got there, and Regina hovering over her, Emma could only fear the worst.

"What is the last thing you remember?"

Regina was asking her a question, but Emma was barely paying attention as her fight or flight instincts were kicking in, and she knew she needed to get out of here. She tried to sit up again, pushing against Regina's hands on her shoulders, but she was shaky and weak, like she'd been hit with a terrible flu.

"Emma, please don't try to get up," Regina insisted.

"What did you do to me?" Emma asked again, her hand moving to her forehead, where she felt a sudden sting. She managed to touch the wound before Regina could stop her, and her fingers came back wet with blood. "I'm bleeding."

"I'm aware," Regina said, starting to sound annoyed. "I offered to heal you but you refused."

"I don't want your dark magic on me," Emma said, disgusted by the idea.

Regina pursed her lips. "It's not all dark, you know."

"Tell me what I'm doing here," Emma said, locking her eyes on Regina with intensity. "And why I feel like I've been hit by a truck."

Regina raised an eyebrow. "That's the very thing I'd like you to tell me, Emma. As I said, you came here, hurt and incoherent, talking about how you saw Archie on a boat. I'm starting to think it was all a drugged induced hallucination."

"I don't do drugs, Regina. And if you think you can make anyone believe that I do, to get Henry back, it won't work. No one will buy it."

"You think I don't know that I have no credibility in this town? And that I haven't, for a very long time? The vast majority of this town wants me dead, Emma. There's no a whole lot I could say about you to make them see you as anything other than the perfect savior, so why would I even try?"

Emma shook her head. Regina didn't seem to be lying, but at the same time, she was a desperate woman, and as such, she couldn't put it past her to act out of that desperation, even if the plan made no sense.

"Well," Emma started, slowly. "If neither of us knows what happened to me, what do we do now?"

"Whatever you were drugged with is clearly affecting your memory, but luckily, there's a way to get that memory back."

Before Emma could process what Regina was saying, she watched a dream catcher materialize in her hands. Emma shook her head, quickly. "No. You're not using your magic on me. How do I know you won't curse it or something, to make me see whatever you want me to see?"

Regina held out the dream catcher to Emma, appearing unfazed. "I won't use my magic. You know how this works. Do it yourself."

"And what if I refuse?"

"Well… I can still use it myself to extract the memory I need from you, and if I can find Archie alive, it really doesn't matter what I'd curse you to believe, would it? But, if you'd like to know how you ended up here, well… the choice is yours."

Emma stared at the dream catcher, as she propped herself up on one elbow. She felt less vulnerable that way, than she did just lying there. "Okay," she said finally.

"Okay." Regina nodded, and Emma noted the expectation in her eyes as she fixed them on the dream catcher. Whatever Emma had experienced, Regina really was eager to know.

Emma focused her own energy on the dream catcher, trying to will her magic forward as she had before, but it was a struggle. She breathed deep, clearing her thoughts and letting her emotion take over, but nothing was happening. She didn't feel her magic at all.

"It's not working," she muttered, closing her eyes to try to focus her energy more.

"Keep trying," Regina said. "It's inside you Emma. Channel it."

"I am trying!" Emma shot back. "It's not working."

Emma jumped a little when she felt Regina's hand on her own, but the little jolt of energy was all that Emma needed to kickstart her magic, and soon enough she felt it surging through her. She opened her eyes and stared at the dream catcher, as the image began to clear.

Emma was on the docks, pacing. None of this made any sense. She'd been so sure that Regina was telling the truth, and somehow she'd been wrong. Everyone else had believed it so quickly, and yet, Emma couldn't help but hold onto hope. Even now, when she knew the truth beyond a shadow of a doubt, she had hope.

Emma was startled from her thoughts by a creaking sound beside her. She turned, half expecting to see a boat pulling up to the dock, but all she saw was water.

"What the fuck…" Emma muttered as she heard another loud creak beside her, and turned her attention upwards. She shook her head in disbelief at what she saw above: seagulls, perched in thin air.

Emma didn't know much about magic, but she knew enough about the laws of physics to know that was impossible. She thought back to her teenage years, reading about Harry Potter's invisibility cloak, and she got an idea. She knelt down and picked up a stone, and tossed it into the water. Only, it didn't reach the water. Instead, it bounced off of some sort of invisible force field and landed back on the dock.

"There's something there," Emma whispered to herself. She stepped up to the edge of the dock and reached her hand out. Sure enough, she met resistance. She ran her hand along the surface. It felt like wood and it moved slightly, like a large boat in the water.

She looked around the dock, and quickly discovered a bag of sand. She grabbed a handful and tossed it toward the invisible boat, and it landed, just making out the surface of steps leading into nothing.

Against her better judgment, Emma decided to see where they would lead.

She was only three steps up before the boat materialized before her eyes. Well, boat wasn't even the right word; it was a full on pirate ship.

"What. The. Fuck?" Emma managed to squeak out, debating whether she should explore this ship or turn and run. As far as she could tell, it appeared empty, and she let her curiosity get the better of her, though she wished she had her gun on her now.

The top deck was deserted, so Emma made her way to the stairs that lead below. She found sleeping quarters that likewise were empty, so she began to look around. She didn't get very far, however, when she heard a muffled sneeze from somewhere below her, and froze on the spot.

Emma trained her ears, trying to hear any sound that would betray the whereabouts of the other person on the ship. Moments later, another sneeze, followed by whine of someone who sounded like they were in a lot of pain.

"Hello?" Emma called out. "Is someone there? Are you hurt?"

Immediately, she heard muffled cries for help that seemed to be coming from below the floor. She spotted an area that looked like a trap door of some sort, and hurried to it, pulling up the false floor to reveal a cubby below. And in that cubby-

"Archie!" Emma cried, her eyes widening as she took in the sight of the man below, his face bruised and swollen, his hands bound and a gag in his mouth. "Archie, you're alive! I'm gonna get you out of here."

"Not so fast, love."

The voice behind her sent a shiver down her spine. It was a familiar one - one she'd hoped she'd never hear again.

"Hook," Emma said, before she even turned to look. You did this."

Hook didn't respond, and instead grabbed Emma by the hair, yanking her back to her feet as she cried out. He threw her against the nearby wall, and it took her a moment to regain her footing and turn to face him.

"How the fuck did you get here?" Emma demanded, hoping her voice didn't betray her nerves. "And what are you doing with Archie?"

"You're not really in a position to be demanding answers, love," Hook said, reaching out, as though he was going to touch Emma's face. "Now be a good girl and run along home. No more playing hero, understand? Or you're going to get yourself hurt."

If there was one thing that Emma hated, it was being condescended to by a man. She twisted up her face and lifted her leg to kick him hard in the thigh. She'd missed her mark due to his close proximity, but it was enough to send him reeling for a moment.

Not long enough, she found, as he grabbed her again and knocked her to the ground, her face hitting hard against the rough wood planks below her. It knocked the wind out of her, but she still scrambled to try to crawl away from him. She reached the doorframe and attempted to pull herself up, only to be met by Hook's boot, hard into her ribcage. She gasped, and even the small, quick intake of air hurt, and she knew her some ribs must have just broken.

"Now, you listen to me, princess," Hook drawled, as he crouched down in front of her, and produced a small vial of liquid from his coat. "I was saving this for the cricket, but now I'm going to give you a choice. You drink it, and get the fuck out of here, or I can just kill you now."

"I'm not drinking that," Emma snapped, spitting in Hook's face for emphasis.

Hook wiped the saliva away, and pushed the smooth side of his hook against Emma's forehead, forcing her head back. "You're lucky I like looking at you," he snarled as he emptied the contents of the vial into her mouth. He dropped the vial and clamped his hand over her mouth until she swallowed.

"What was that?" Emma asked, wearily, once he'd released his grip.

"Just a little something to help you forget what you saw," Hook said, standing and turning, and heading back over to the cubby to close Archie in again.

Emma wanted nothing more than to stay and help Archie, but she was physically in no condition, and she knew she needed to get to Regina immediately and tell her, before she lost her memory.

Emma raised her eyes to look at Regina's face as the dream catcher showed her staggering her way to Regina's house. Regina's mouth was open slightly, as she watched, and Emma knew she hadn't realized her eyes were on her yet.

"You really didn't do it," Emma whispered, snapping Regina's attention to her.

Regina shook her head, slowly. "I really didn't."

Emma swallowed. "But I saw you. In the dream catcher. How?"

"Well… if Hook found his way here, someone else may have as well."

Emma closed her eyes at the realization. "Your mother."