Chapter 4: Deal with the Devil

For the first time since their arrival, they were able to jest the other men without being slapped or patronised. Emma believed it had something to do with the fact that Hugo was now the second in command. As the hours passed and the crew went to bed, Emma remained on deck – enjoying the cool breeze that was occurring as a result of their momentum.

Alone, Emma was able to ponder her thoughts for the first time in days. She missed Henry so much it physically hurt but the chores aboard the ship kept her busy and surprisingly made her thinking clearer. Luckily, she realised, David was still in Storybrooke and he would look after Henry like any other loving Grandad.

Grandad.

It still floored her that she now had parents and a real family. Living alone essentially all of her life had made her independent but also guarded. She had constructed walls so that she was not privy to intense emotion, special ones built after Neal. The only person who had been able to pass those walls thus far was Henry.

She still had trouble letting her parents in, even though she understood why they did what they did.

The sound of glass breaking drew her from her reverie. It had come from the captain's quarters and Emma decided to check it out. She moved towards the door, getting closer she noticed the sound of hushed but angry voices. Emma pressed her ear to the door and listened.

"My dear captain, whatever made you think that I would be pleased about your second deal?" The voice was feminine and articulate. It was almost feline and unwittingly put Emma's teeth on edge.

"Aye, while we have a deal I don't remember giving you control over my judgments. I procured a deal with them because it benefitted me." Hook's voice was clear and calm, like he was trying to seduce the woman into agreement.

"But you forget I have the power here... I want you to kill them… leave Snow. I want to take Snow to Regina as a gift," her voice was like ice and Emma realised they were talking about the women and their deal to get back to Storybrooke. She held her breath, waiting to hear Hook's response.

What felt like an hour was actually a second when his voice resonated throughout the room.

"Bugger off."

No more than a moment passed before a guttural and terrifying sound pierced the air. Hook's cry of pain spiked Emma's ears, making her stand and push through the door. In the centre of the room was a middle-aged woman with auburn hair, she wore a navy blue dress that covered her entire body. Her hand was protruding from Hook's chest, a purple haze surrounding where it entered.

Hook's face was contorted in pain and anguish as he gasped for air. Upon Emma's entry, the two looked up and recognition was splayed on the old woman's face.

"This," she said menacingly, "must be the beloved saviour I always heard about. Your aura says as much." Emma sidestepped to grab a sword that had been laid across the mahogany desk.

"Emma. Go and get everyone off the ship! Now!" Hook ordered in the voice he used to command the crew. Emma, however, had never been compelled to listen to orders. Standing resolute, she raised the sword defensively. He cursed her noncompliance under his breath.

"And here I was thinking the saviour was an intelligent individual. You should have listened to this fool." The woman dropped Hook, turning to face Emma.

"Who are you?" Emma asked, attempting to sound intimidating. The woman smiled wickedly and cocked her head, procuring a small ball of purple haze in the process.

"Cora."

With that word, the purple haze flew at the blonde. Ducking just in time, she ran at the older woman with her sword raised. In a flash of purple smoke the old woman disappeared and Emma ran straight into the wall.

"Over here," Cora's voice came from behind Emma.

She turned rapidly, gasping at the witch's sudden presence. Emma attempted to move back diagonally so as to evade the next blow. Cora struck out her hand where her chest had previously been but instead knocked her shoulder. The force of the hit sent Emma to the ground and intense pain started to shoot throughout her left shoulder.

"You stupid girl. I was hoping to do this in front of your mother but… plans change. I guess little Henry will be missing you for a long time." Cora leant down over Emma and pulled her arm back over the saviour's chest, ready to hit her again. The mention of Henry created a stream of adrenaline that reinvigorated Emma's muscles and willpower.

In the corner of her eye, she could see Hook preparing to rush the woman leering over her. Before he could take a step, Cora moved her raised hand swiftly and a wave of power sent Hook flying to the other side of the room.

In an act of fury that surprised Cora, Emma lifted the sword that was still grasped in her left hand. With all the force she could muster, Emma lifted the blade to hack at Cora's side. The pain in her shoulder was immense and caused the saviour to cry out in unison with her attacker. As soon as the blow had reached Cora she had screamed. Now standing, the witch looked over to where Hook was raising himself up again.

"Our deal is done. You've chosen."

With one last scowl aimed at Emma, Cora disappeared in a flume of purple smoke.

-

"You should have left when I told you to, Love" Hook said drolly, moving to where Emma was panting from the exertion and adrenaline still coursing through her veins.

"You should know by now that I'm not one to follow orders, especially yours." The pirate chuckled in agreement and tried to help her up. As he grabbed her hands and pulled, she cried out in pain.

"What's wrong?" The worry on his face was evident as he dropped her hands.

"My shoulder, it..." Emma glanced down at her left shoulder, it looked wrong. Hook followed her gaze and his eyes widened slightly. Moving to her right side, he placed his hooked hand around her waist and grabbed her right hand with his own. He pulled her up effortlessly and Emma moaned.

As the two hobbled over to the bed, Hook whispered in the blonde's ear, "This isn't exactly how I imagined getting you to my bed." Too pained to restrain herself, the corners of Emma's lips turned up faintly as Hook set her down on the soft mattress.

"I think it's dislocated," Emma said, attempting to move her left arm without pain shooting through her shoulder, "I did this once when I was in Tallahassee, my friend accidentally knocked me into a wardrobe and…"

Without realising it, Emma had revealed a small part of her past to Hook. Immediately shutting her mouth and resurrecting the fallen walls, Emma looked at her shoulder and realised what she would have to do to fix it. Hook had stayed silent throughout her rambling and noticed when she suddenly stopped talking. He knew that whatever she had just talked about had been personal… unusual for her to share.

"Help me up," Emma directed and Hook lifted her again. "We need a hard surface… your doorway should do the trick." The pair walked over to the door and she leaned her left shoulder against the frame, wincing.

"I'm going to need you to push me into it to relocate the shoulder," Emma said, indicating the door frame with her right hand. Preparing herself, Emma felt Hook move behind her. He backed up slightly and then Hook suddenly pushed her forward with enough force that while her body moved forward, her shoulder stayed against the door frame and a sickening pop made Emma cry out.

As she started to move her left arm around with ease and only slight pain Emma noticed Hook was still dangerously close - his lean muscular body still pressed against her back. Catching her breath and neutralising her expression, Emma turned to face Hook just as Mary Margaret came rushing from the main deck.

"What's going on? What did you do?" Mary Margaret was furious again, seeing the strain on Emma's face and the bruises that were blossoming as a result of the fight. She jumped away from Hook. Emma was starting to see where she got her short temper from.

"We need to talk… all of us." Emma walked back into the room.

-

"So you made a deal with Cora and then us and expected not only she, but we would be fine with it?" Mary Margaret stormed forward and Emma had to grab hold of her arm before she knocked Hook out.

After retelling the earlier events to Mary Margaret, Mulan and Aurora, anger had surfaced in the former. Having known Cora and realising the danger they had been placed in, Mary Margaret was ready to kill Hook on the spot.

"Mary Margaret, she told him to kill us and he refused – that's why she tried to kill him and why I got hurt. Because he told her, quite literally, to bugger off," Emma said, attempting to reason with her mother who, at the current moment, was staring daggers at the captain.

"If you double cross us again I will not hesitate to relieve you of your other hand along with some of your more private appendages. Remember that." Mary Margaret pointed a delicate finger squarely at Hook before sitting quietly next to Emma. Did she just threaten to cut his dick off? Emma thought amusingly to herself as Hook opened his mouth to speak.

The threat seemed to have rolled right off his shoulders. He's probably been threatened with much worse before; hell hath no fury like a woman scorned Emma said to herself, thinking about how many women he must have bedded by now.

"Now that everyone has stopped yelling at me and threatening me, I have something to tell you" Hook stood, proud and arrogant in front of the women. His eyes fell on Emma as he procured two small objects from his pockets.

"While the wench had my heart in her grasp, I seized the opportunity to steal something… rather important from her." Hook placed the objects in Emma and Mary Margaret's hands. From across the room, Mulan scrutinised them and Aurora, disillusioned, continued to stare out the large window.

"What's this?" Emma asked, holding up the gold compass for inspection as Mary Margaret tapped the contents of the small vial.

"Cora was here because she was informing me she was prepared for our journey to your realm and I educated her on the deal I'd made with you all and… we all know what transpired from there. Anyhow, those ashes are from the magical wardrobe and that compass will lead us to your realm," Hook explained, all the while staring intently at Emma.

"But the magic of the wardrobe was destroyed." Mary Margaret was quick to counter.

"You are correct, which is why we take those ashes to a place where things that were once lost are restored." Hook stared at Mary Margaret, waiting for her to catch on. After a moment, she did and shook her head.

"I drank the last of it 29 years ago… there's nothing there." Mary Margaret's hopes dropped, and Emma watched the exchange, confused. Hook shook his head in exasperation.

"It may have dried up but there will likely be enough under the surface to open a portal using the ashes," Hook started pacing, waiting for the women to agree. Despite not following the plan currently being debated, Emma spoke up.

"We might as well see… what other option do we have?" She pointed the question at Mary Margaret who simply nodded in resignation. Without another word, she stood and left the room, spent for the night. She was soon followed by Mulan and a desolate Aurora. Alone at last, Emma turned on Hook.

"Why didn't you tell me about your deal with Cora?"

He smirked, "Jealous, love?"

"No, Hook. I'm angry because when we made that deal I got the short end and the least you could have done was let me know what the hell was going on! Not only did you put my mother in danger but if I hadn't been outside the door tonight, you would be dead." With every word, Emma took a step closer to Hook and was soon standing mere centimetres from the captain.

"If I didn't know any better I'd say you were actually worried but I do know better… you are right and I'm sorry." Hook paused, "by the way, not that I don't think you did a handsome job but I believe you may need lessons on how to handle a sword. If my life hadn't been in the clasp of Cora's hand, I might've laughed, lass," Hook's smirk widened to reveal a smile worthy of a toothpaste advertisement.

"Don't change the subject."

"Okay, my deepest and sincerest apologies to you, Miss Emma Swan," Hook bowed exaggeratedly and pulled her hand up to brush his lips upon her knuckle. Rolling her eyes, Emma snatched her hand back, ignoring the way her skin tingled at his touch.

She walked to the door and stopped momentarily to ask Hook, "I never actually caught the name of where we're going."

Hook smiled and replied, "Lake Nostos."