Chapter 4 - Operation Cobra Something

Henry wasn't surprised Hook was heading toward the docks. He was a pirate, but as far as Henry could tell, he didn't seem to have a ship anymore. He was still trying to reconcile his conflicting memories to sort out what had and hadn't really happened. He was pretty sure the afternoons spent with Killian Jones learning how to play dice or use a sextant (which was far more useful when the stars were visible, Killian had insisted) were real. And even when Henry didn't remember he was Captain Hook, he knew the strangely-dressed man had a major crush on his mom.

As the masts of the taller vessels came into view between buildings, he saw Hook head for one of the larger sailboats. It was tiny compared to the Jolly Roger, but it was probably the largest non-magical vessel Hook could sail on his own. Henry stayed hidden in the darkest shadows of the boathouse as he watched Hook prepare the ship to sail. This was very bad. It would be easy for Hook to sail off quietly into the night and never be seen again. While Henry didn't really understand all this heart business, it made sense to him that Hook didn't love Emma without his heart. Obviously the heart was key, so Henry took off running in the direction of Regina's office.

Henry was panting by the time he neared the town hall. He'd spent too many hours playing video games on the couch in New York. The building looked dark, and he carefully slipped his keys from his pocket. He'd had a couple extra keys on the ring that he couldn't remember owning, and yet he hadn't thrown them away. Now he was glad to still have a way into Regina's home and office. He slowly inserted the key in the lock and turned, trying to make as little noise as possible. He closed the door gently behind him before heading to Regina's private office, hoping she'd left the heart here instead of taking it straight to her vault because that was going to be a lot harder to break into.

Henry crept slowly through the office, making sure his sneakers made no sound on the marble floor. The room was dark save for the dim glow of the streetlight shining through the window. The white patterns on the floor and walls jumped out at him in the dark, making the place more eerie than he'd ever seen. He could just make out a box on Regina's desk that seemed to have a glow of its own. Henry closed his eyes and opened them again. Nope, still glowing. That had to be it. He gently eased the lid of the wooden box open to reveal the heart inside. Henry started to reach his hand inside, thought better of it, and grabbed the entire box. Choosing haste over caution this time, Henry ran out the building and back to Granny's.

"Mom. Mom! Wake up!"

Emma shot up out of bed, nearly knocking Henry over as he'd been trying to shake her awake. She paused for a moment while the rest of her body caught up to being awake.

"Henry, what's wrong?"

"I know what's wrong with Hook. Regina took his heart!"

Emma stared at him for a moment and then glanced at the clock on the nightstand. "It's after midnight, kid. I don't want to talk about this right now."

"You don't understand," Henry insisted. "She really took his heart. I can prove it!"

Emma turned on the lamp and shielded her eyes for a moment. Henry could see her eyes were red like she'd been crying. He shoved the small wooden box at her again, and she finally took it.

"What is this?"

"Just open it, please," Henry pleaded.

Emma lifted the lid and nearly dropped the box when she saw what was inside. "Where did you get this?"

"Regina's office."

"In the middle of the night? What were you thinking?"

"Mom, you're not listening. That's Hook's heart. You have to find him and put it back. You have to hurry!"

"Henry, calm down. First of all, how do you know this is Hook's? And even if it is, maybe he asked Regina to take it."

Henry was becoming exasperated. "Because I saw them. And it makes sense. Without his heart, Hook can't love you."

Emma couldn't believe that she was starting to agree with Henry. It would explain his odd behavior, but why would Regina do that? Yes, she was pissed about them bringing Marian through the portal, but...oh. Regina went after Snow for years after Daniel's death, and now she'd apparently wrecked Regina's second chance by saving Robin's wife from execution. Well, wasn't that messed up.

"Where's Hook?"

"The docks. He was getting ready to sail."

Emma grabbed her red leather jacket and threw it on over her pajamas. With keys in hand, she and Henry ran to the car.

Emma should have had herself arrested for breaking every traffic law on the short drive from Granny's to the docks. She made record time, killed the engine, and leapt from the car. Henry was just a few steps ahead of her when he stopped short.

"It was there." He pointed to an empty slip. "We're too late."