Disclaimer: I do not ownOUAT or its characters.
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"I'm bored."
"I know lad."
"I'm hungry."
"So am I."
"My feet hurt."
"Same."
It was nearly sundown. They had been walking on the muddy path to the docks for hours. Three hours into Henry's complaints Regina stuffed pieces cotton in her ears and Emma stopped talking completely. Hook and Henry walked behind the group. Henry had repeated his whining for over nearly the whole trip and Killian now monotonously responded as if reading from a script.
They stopped talking. It was completely silent except for the sound of crashing waves and screaming of gulls. A sharp fishy sardine odor had now taken residence in the area and Regina pondered if it was worth it to stuff her nose with cotton too.
When the sun started to set they could see the port from a distance. Going to a nearby town they found an inn and stayed for the night. The beds reeked of something putrid and they half expected for a body to be hidden under it. Regina eventually gave up on the smell and stuffed the remaining cotton balls up her nose, glaring at anyone who cracked a grin. Hook ended up being slapped twice.
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"Wake up Guyliner!"
Slap slap slap.
"Blackbeard's here!"
Hook awoke with a start pushed Regina off him.
"Oi!" He rubbed his face, "I thought we were friends."
He gave her the saddest look and for a second Regina almost pitied him. Almost.
"Let's go Handless Wonder. Black beard's ship just landed in the port."
Killian stretched and yawned, reminding her of a cat.
"Fine, fine, Rage-ina."
This slap left a mark.
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Emma and Henry were already waiting at the port when Regina and Killian arrived. When they came into range of sight Emma and Henry seemed to find something hilarious.
"Hey Killian," Emma snickered, "Might want to check your hair."
"Wut?"
Hook felt the side of his head and he had an expression of pure horror on his face. His hair stood up on one side from sleeping in a chair. Quickly mussing it down he felt his face burn from embarrassment.
"Regina..."
She laughed, "You never asked so I didn't tell."
"Bloody hell..."
Regina and Hook suddenly spotted the silhouette of a large man against the sun looming behind Emma and Henry.
His gravelly voice made them jump, "What 're ye men doin' here?"
Hook laughed nervously before answering, "Well you see, we wanted to join Blackbeard's crew."
There was a long moment of silence and Killian smiled sheepishly.
The man stepped out of the sun and into their view.
"Well why didn't ya say so?"
The man had a wild black beard that was tied into pink ribbons and a cheery smile on his face.
"Me names Edward Teach," he held out a beefy hand, "Most call me Blackbeard 'cause you know," he pointed to his beard.
Regina gingerly took his hand and spoke in an octave lower, "Nice to meet you," Blackbeard shook her hand vigorously, "My name's William Smith."
Emma thought quickly, "August Whale."
She cringed.
"Nice ta meet ya," Blackbeard bent down to Henry's level, "and what might your name be?"
"Er, Henry Mills."
"No need to be afraid of me, lad. We'll make the best of friends."
Henry gave him a half smile.
He stood up and stared at Killian.
Hook sighed, "I know how the drill works. Killian Jones," he held out his hand.
Blackbeard crushed his hand in his own and Hook grimaced as he heard the sound of the bones cracking. Blackbeard held onto his hand much longer than normal while staring in his eyes. There was a long, painful silence as Blackbeard crushed his hand even more and Hook started to break out in a cold sweat and tried to back away.
Suddenly he broke eye contact and let go of his hand quickly. Turning around he walked towards his ship.
"C'mon then. Let's go to me ship."
There were countless words to sum up the way Hook felt, but happiness was not one of them.
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Sorry for the short chapter guys, but I felt like it should end on that note;) And thank you INEEDFICS, XxLostDreamerxX, Bonnie777, TheEvilPandaWriter (previously known as ChibiXkiwi), Lanafan7151977, connyx, katedunkle, TwilightSVU, and agentcarter45. Kudos to you for following and liking.
