Emma found herself sat in the chair next to the hospital bed, still in shock, several hours later. At first, she hadn't had any clue what to say or do as she had looked back at the now very-awake coma patient who had actually ended up being her Father, but after a few seconds the monitors attached to him started to go haywire, alerting potentially everyone in the whole hospital that he was now conscious and apparently fine.

The man must have seen the panicked look on her face and determined what it was about to lead to as soon as the beeping had started. He had reached forward as best as he could whilst still attached to wires and things and grabbed hold of her hand. "Don't go, Emma. Please."

So, she hadn't, and they'd managed to make a cover story in the few moments they'd been given before a doctor came running through the door, his white coat flailing behind him. He'd charged into the room and then came to a grinding halt at the sight of the man who was now very capably sitting up in the bed by himself.

"My God…it's a miracle.." he'd said, almost inaudibly, as he finally got a grip on himself and walked slowly the rest of the way to his patient.

"Hello, Doctor," the man smiled warmly, holding out one of his hands to shake, grinning even more when the shell-shocked professional reached forwards and did the same. "Thank you for taking such good care of me."

"Yes…thank you for looking after my Brother for all this time. If I'd have known he was here, I'd…" Emma started, not one of her best performances due to the fact she was still just as shocked, if not more so, than the doctor – who thankfully didn't notice her terrible acting skills.

"It's fine, Emma, you had no way to know I was here," the man assured, turning his smile so that it was directed at her, yet again stunning her at how similar he was to Henry. "All that matters, is that you're here now. You found me."

The tears that started to flow again were in no way anything to do with an acting, performance, she was just so overwhelmed, her emotions were all over the place.

"My name is Doctor Whale," announced the still stunned man in the coat. "You've been in my care ever since you arrived here at the hospital. I don't suppose you could tell me anything about the accident you had that put you in here?"

"I'm sorry, Doctor Whale, but it all seems a bit fuzzy right now," he replied, with a cautious look at Emma, clearly not wanting to make up a story on the spot that might expose their story as a lie. "My name's David by the way," he announced, trying to change the topic.

"Well it's a pleasure to formally meet you," Whale replied with a clipped smile. "How are you feeling, David?" he asked, starting to examine him and check the stats off of the machines he was still attached to.

"I feel completely normal, fighting fit! I would very much like to be released as soon as possible though, Emma and I have a lot to catch up on," David said with a smile, reaching out to hold Emma's hand and give it a little squeeze.

"Yes, of course…I'll go and see what I can do to get you out of here as soon as I can." Doctor Whale gave another one of his tight lipped smiled before turning and walking away back the way he came with a certain spring in his step.

"He's going to go and tell Regina," Emma whispered once it had dawned on her. "I bet he's been given instructions to alert her if anything changed…she has eyes and ears everywhere, or so I've been told."

"She has no way to win this time though," he smiled back at her confidently. "This is a world without magic, she's just as powerless as you and I."

"Yeah, about that…I'm not so sure that I'm completely powerless…"


"So, you made a wish, blew the candle out and he was suddenly just there?" David asked whilst they were on their way back to Granny's in her car.

The two of them had almost emotionally blackmailed Doctor Whale to release him without staying the night to be monitored as since waking up, he felt fine…being knocked out because of a curse would do that to you, it would seem. The whole situation was insane, but it appeared to have not completely hit home with Emma yet as she had somehow managed to remain fairly calm about the whole thing after the initial shock of him waking up.

"I don't know how it happened," Emma replied, "All I know is that all of a sudden he was behind me jabbing his hook thing into me."

David winced at her choice of words and had to take a few calming breaths. "I don't need to hear all of the details, Emma, thank you."

She couldn't help but roll her eyes at his sensitive reaction and then was unable to hold back the laugh when something occurred to her.
"You do realise I have a ten-year-old kid, right? I would be more worried about any jabbing that went on back then than any going on now. I am an adult, you know?"

"I know you are…it's just going to take some getting used to," he replied, white as a sheet, trying not to make it obvious to her how queasy this conversation was making him. "You may have been born in the Enchanted Forest, but you grew up in this world…there are many differences between the two, from what I can tell."

Emma snorted and tried not to take her eyes off the road for too long as she turned back to reply to him. "Is that what you call sex before marriage and a scandalous teenage pregnancy?"

David scowled, glaring at his hands. "None of this would have happened if we were all home still…you're a Princess, Emma. You should never have had to live a life like this one if you'd been allowed the upbringing me and your Mother wanted for you."

"Trust me, I am no Princess…" she murmured quietly, pulling up outside Granny's.

"You are a Princess, though. You should have grown up getting everything you desired. Your birth right should have enabled you the perfect life…The Evil Queen tried to ruin your Mother's life with this curse and that – in turn – ruined yours…she's not going to get away with it, Emma, I swear."

Emma looked at her Father and sighed, realising for the first time the distinct similarities between them both, not sure if that comforted her or scared her half to death.

"Look, we'll address this whole thing with Regina tomorrow, right now I'm exhausted and just want some sleep," she said to him with a yawn almost as if to prove her point. "It's been a really long day."

David nodded in agreement and gestured for her to lead the way up to the room which she was sharing with Captain Hook; something David had almost thrown a hissy fit over when she'd explained the situation to him briefly as they sat waiting in the hospital to be discharged.

She had to knock on the door once they reached the room due to the fact it was locked and she didn't have a key, praying that Killian was still awake to let them in so they didn't have to sleep in the hallway outside.

Thankfully as soon as she knocked she heard movement from inside and then the door was torn open impatiently.

"Swan, where the bloody hell have you been?! It's almost morning, do you know how worried I've been?!"

She simply rolled her eyes and walked past him. She was an adult, she had every right to come and go as she pleased. "I'm fine, see? Alive and well. No big deal."

No big deal!? I was on the verge of calling the authorities to send out a search party and the last thing I wanted was to have to have another conversation with that head guard bloke!" he snapped, following her back inside, not even noticing David's presence yet as he just stood at the door awkwardly, observing the panicked man tell his Daughter off for being out too late. This was not the fearsome pirate Captain he was expecting to encounter.

"Graham is the Sheriff, not a guard!" Emma snapped back at him, crossing her arms and finally turning to look at him once she'd found the cold onion rings from earlier and started munching on them. "What is it to you anyway, Killian? You're acting like my Father, for gods' sake!"

"Emma," he replied in a quiet, almost dangerous voice that sent a weird feeling coursing around her body and she shivered impulsively as he stepped closer to her and used his hook to move her hair aside again, leaning down to murmur in her ear and drop a kiss onto the newly exposed skin of her neck. "Love, I am not your Father."

"No, you're not. I am, and I would like it if you could take your filthy hands off my Daughter!" David finally yelled, making his presence known at last before he ended up witnessing something incredibly disturbing.

"Technically, he only has one hand…" Emma muttered under her breath in retaliation, stepping away from the pirate and moving close the door to the room before they woke up any of their neighbours with the shouting match that was almost certainly about to unfurl.

"You're her Father?" Killian asked, eyebrows raised in surprise, looking at the other person in the room for the first time. His eyes flickered between the man and Emma and then settled on the storybook that David was holding as Emma had given it to him to flick through whilst they were sat in the hospital.

"Yes. And you're Captain Hook," David replied in a harsh, obviously judgemental voice. "What makes you think you're good enough for my Daughter?"

"Excuse me, mate, but what right do you have to go throwing around the protective Father role when you met the lass several hours ago?" Killian replied, clearly trying to maintain his composure, but Emma could see behind his charade and could see how bothered he was by this whole conversation.

"It does not matter how long I have known her, what matters is her heritage! She is a Princess, and you're— "

"A pirate," Killian finished for him with a tight-lipped smile. "Believe me, I am well aware of what I am. And judging by the fact that we are here having this conversation, I'm guessing that Emma is now fully aware of that too?" He looked in her direction, almost desperate for the proof that she now believed in the whole thing, she met his eyes and immediately felt the panic set in.

"Oh, yeah. I'm aware alright," she replied to him, dragging her hands through her hair exasperatedly, feeling agitated with both the men in the room with her, but finding herself unable to stop firing all of her frustrations at the one in leather pants. "Of all the men for the universe to choose to have magically popping into my kitchen, it just had to be a pirate! It couldn't have been an ordinary man or even a Prince or a Duke or whatever. Nope. For Emma Swan, she gets Captain Hook."

She wasn't even remotely finished with her rant yet, but she had to tear her eyes off Killian's face, as she couldn't bear seeing how much her words were really hurting him even though he was trying his best to look nonchalant about the whole thing. So, she turned her attention to the other man – who looked equally as concerned when he realised the flames were coming for him— and decided to shout at him for a bit too to make everything a bit more equal.

"Look, I appreciate that you're only trying to help, but you have only just met me. You don't know anything about me, about who I am as a person or anything really about what the first twenty-eight years of my life have been like. You keep going on and on about me being a Princess, but trust me, I definitely do not fit the definition of that word at all. And yes, I know he's a pirate and I'm a Princess, but I'm willing to bet the universe, for some reason, thought we were well suited for… this to happen."

All three of them immediately knew exactly what she was getting at without actually having to say the words out loud. Emma thought if anybody actually verbalised it properly, it was incredibly likely that she'd end up projectile vomiting up the three onion rings she'd only just swallowed.

It only took reading the outcome of several of the tales in the storybook to understand how powerful a wish was and what kind of outcome they usually provided. She had wished to not be alone anymore…so she had been sent the one person in the whole universe that was meant to be by her side forever…and then she had smashed him round the head with her lamp and knocked him unconscious.

It was a justifiable move at the time and she still didn't feel guilty for it. He'd been a douchebag too on arrival, after all.

But just because the universe told her he was her perfect match, did not mean that Emma was going to let it dictate her life and take her choices away from her. As it so happened, she was perfectly happy as a single woman and she had no ambition to alter that anytime soon…something she had to keep reminding herself of, as the memory of Killian's electric kiss a few hours earlier kept resurfacing in her brain, almost as if to mock her and her situation.

The room was silent for a few moments as nobody knew quite what to say, so Emma took that as the cue to finally go to bed and get some sleep. But this put her in a predicament—she wasn't too keen to sleep in her jeans again tonight but she'd not had time to go and find some clothes to wear since arriving.

Almost as if he'd read her mind, Killian threw a black shirt at her from across the room, still trying not to maintain eye contact. When she unfolded it, she realised it was his pirate shirt that he'd been wearing under all his leather previously.

"Thanks," she mumbled, shrugging off her jacket and then disappearing into the bathroom to change. As soon as she shut the door behind herself she heard the two men talking in hushed tones, probably hoping she was unable to hear them.

"Let me give you a bit of advice, Hook. She's never going to really like you."

"Is that so?"

"How could she? You're nothing but a pirate. Stay away from my Daughter."

"Well, she can take care of herself. She doesn't need your parenting, which is a good thing."

"What does that mean?"

"She seemed to turn out okay, even though you forced her to grow up alone."

"We didn't have a choice! Not that I have to explain myself to you…"

"You put your whole kingdom before your new-born child. She wasn't even an hour old before you put her in a bloody wardrobe and shipped her off! That's not good form, mate."

"I am not your 'mate'. And what would you know about good form, pirate?"

"Stop it, both of you!" Emma finally cut in after rushing to get changed and ready for bed as fast as possible to stop them before they ripped each other to pieces.

At the sound of the bathroom door being thrown open, Killian bit back the retort that was just about to leave his mouth and David had the decency to look embarrassed.

"Emma, I didn't realise you—" he started trying to explain himself before she cut him off.

"You didn't realise I could hear your conversation? Well, I'm not deaf, so… Yeah. Anyway, I'm gonna go to sleep now if that's okay with the two of you?" Emma didn't even wait for an answer, simply turned off the light and walked in the semi-darkness over to the bed and climbed in, wiggling right into the middle so that there was room either side of her. "There's just about room in here for you both, but you'll have to leave your bad attitudes and egos outside I'm afraid."

Killian began removing his clothes silently and efficiently and once he was down to just his leather pants and the harness, he removed his hook – putting it on the bedside table – and then carefully climbed in bed next to Emma, very aware of how much closer they were physically tonight than last night, due to the extra person needing to share the bed.

But, said 'extra person' was apparently not done throwing a hissy fit for the night just yet.

"Emma, you cannot be serious about sharing a bed with him? Do you know what kind of reputation he has when it comes to women?" David asked in a raised voice that was clearly supposed to reflect authority, but succeeded in making him sound slightly unhinged.

"I don't really care right now, David," she replied with her eyes closed hoping sleep would just spontaneously take her despite the noise going on around her. "I just need to get some sleep."

"But he—"

"—Is not going to do anything untoward…I assure you. I may be a pirate, but I'm still a gentleman," Killian replied, also closing his eyes, trying to get some rest.

"Also, he'd lose his other hand if he put it anywhere unsavoury, so it's really not in his best interest to attempt anything," Emma added, and she physically felt Killian shift a bit further away from her under the duvet at her statement...a smart move.

Although he still didn't look too pleased, David climbed into the bed on Emma's other side without another argument and then finally it was silent.

Thankfully, all three of them slept soundly for the rest of the night, ready to face the situation in the morning with a fresh mind-set.


Emma offered to go down to Granny's Diner to go and grab some breakfast once they'd all woken up and got ready for the day. She was absolutely starving after barely eating the day before and consequently she practically skipped down the corridor and into the heart of the restaurant to be hit by the tempting smell of cooking bacon and coffee.

"Ah, good morning, Miss Swan!" called Mrs Lucas from behind the counter, coming over to talk to the blonde as soon as she spotted her.

"Morning," Emma replied, slightly awkward at the enthusiastic welcome she'd received. "Three bacon sandwiches, three stacks of pancakes with maple syrup, two coffee's and one hot chocolate to go, please."

"You and your boyfriend feeling hungry today?" she replied with a wink, nevertheless writing down the order and passing it to Ruby, who walked it through to the kitchen.

"Hmm?"

"Three sandwiches, three pancakes…that's a lot of food for two. My portions are rather generous, you know."

"Oh, um…it's not all for us. You see, I recently tracked my Brother down and he's also in need of a hearty breakfast."

"Well, that's wonderful news!" the old woman smiled genuinely. "Family is very important to everyone here in Storybrooke, I'm glad you've found a way back to yours."

Emma managed a tight-lipped smile in return and after Mrs Lucas walked away, she took a seat at the bench so she could wait for her food to be prepared.

Unfortunately, she wasn't going to be able to wait in peace as the front door opened and in walked Regina Mills in one of her smart suits and good shoes. Regina spotted Emma and almost marched straight up to her, clearly a woman on a mission.

Emma tried so hard to not think of this woman as the Evil Queen she'd read about in the book, but she couldn't help it and naturally found herself taking an even more pissed off tone with the woman who effectively ruined her life.

"Miss Swan, might I have a quick word?"

"Do I have a choice?" Emma replied with a sigh.

"No. You don't," Regina shot back. "I want you to stay away from Henry."

"I'm sorry, but that's not gonna happen." Emma stood up again and faced the dark-haired woman properly and noticed just how tense she looked. "You may not like it, but I am in Henry's life now."

"Need I remind you again that you have no legal right to him?" Regina snapped, louder than she probably intended, drawing the attention of the people sat nearby.

"I know, but if he wants me around, then I'm staying."

"As of this moment, I am forbidding him to see you, Miss Swan. He's grounded and I intend on making sure to see through his punishment."

"You mean my punishment?" Emma realised, glaring at the other woman. "You can't use him to punish me, that's not fair on Henry!"

"What would you know about how to be a Mother?" Regina spat viciously. "If you want to do what's best for Henry, then you'll leave town, taking your boyfriend with you."

"It's like I said," Emma started, letting a small smug smirk spread across her face. "I'm not going anywhere. Especially since I recently found a member of my family up at the hospital. Thankfully, he's miraculously awake from his coma now and I intend on spending as much time with him as possible. I've not seen my Brother for a very long time, and we have lots of catching up to do."

All of the colour slowly drained from Regina's face and her eyes widened first in concern, as she realised what Emma was saying, but then they filled with fury. Then without another word she turned and left the Diner as briskly as she had arrived. Clearly, Doctor Whale had not gone running to the Mayor to tell her the news like she'd suspected.

Well, she'd done it now either way. She'd be receiving death threats by her next meal for certain.

"Your order, Miss Swan!"

At least she could enjoy breakfast then if it was to be her last proper meal.

"Thanks," she grinned at Mrs Lucas, taking the brown paper bag and cup holder off her containing her drinks. "Just put the food on the bill for my room."

"Absolutely, enjoy the rest of your day!"

Once positive she had a good grip on the food, Emma made to head back to her room, but was stopped by the sound of the door opening again and then a cheerful voice calling to her from across the room.

"Hi Emma!"

Emma looked back at Henry in surprise before gathering her wits again and gave him a dry look as he walked over to her. "Aren't you supposed to be at school by now, kid? And aren't you already supposed to be grounded?"

"I decided to miss a few classes today, so that we could catch up on Operation Cobra!" he grinned, following her around the corner and down the corridor towards her room in the B&B.

"Operation what now?" she asked, shooting a look at him over her shoulder to make sure he was still following her.

"Operation Cobra," he replied as if that was all he needed to say for her to understand what he was going on about.

"Cobra? That has nothing to do with fairy-tales," she pointed out, not quite sure where he was going with all this.

"Exactly. It's a code name to throw the Queen off the trail."

"Ah right," she grinned when she realised what he was getting at. "However, I'm not so sure how subtlety is going to work after the conversation I just had with your Mom."

"What do you mean?" Henry asked, reaching up to take the brown paper bag off her so she could manage to open the door to get into the room.

"Hang on two seconds and I think you'll know just what I mean," she replied with a smirk as she finally managed to wrestle the door open. "Oh shoot…I forgot ketchup for the sandwiches…do you mind running back to grab some?"

Henry simply shrugged at her and smiled, "Sure, be right back!" He passed her back the food now she'd opened the door and bolted back down the corridor.

Emma watched him run down the hall with a smile, he was going to be so excited to hear about all that had happened last night.

"Ah, Swan! Thank god you're back, your Father has been complaining about his hunger pains for what seems like hours now!" Killian announced as soon as she stepped into the room, leaving the door open for Henry to come back through.

"Nice try, Hook. But you're the one who I distinctly remember saying 'if I don't have something to eat soon, I may have to result to eating some of that cold grease-filled feast from last night'!" David retaliated, finishing tying his shoelaces up.

"Well don't you worry, I come with a fresh and hot grease-filled feast fit for royalty, so don't panic," she smiled dryly at Killian, passing David the hot drinks so she could open the food back and inhale the wonderful smell coming from inside it. "I have bacon sandwiches and pancakes."

"That sounds wonderful, Emma," David smiled at her thankfully, putting the drinks down on the dresser and going into the bathroom to finish getting ready. "I'll be ready in just two seconds!"

As soon as the bathroom door shut Henry ran back into the room, clutching a handful of sachets of ketchup.

"Good morning, lad!" Killian announced cheerfully at the sight of the boy. "Have you come to have breakfast with us?"

"Something like that," Emma answered for him, taking the ketchup out of his hands with a quick smile. "He's skiving school again."

Killian raised an eyebrow at him and smirked. "Atta boy! Keeping the authorities on their toes, I see! I'll make a pirate out of you yet!"

"No, you will not!" Emma replied instantly, a panicked look on her face. "His Mother would happily murder us both."

"Live a little, Swan!" Killian laughed. "Besides, he's your Son and you've got a definite pirate streak in you!"

"I do not!" she insisted, clearly affronted.

"Well, you're more of a pirate than a Princess," he winked, giving Henry a teasing shove as he moved to close the door.

Henry laughed and looked at the leather-clad man and gave him a shit-eating grin. "I don't mind being a pirate, Emma!"

"God…I'm a dead woman," she groaned, plonking herself down on the bed with a sigh.

"You didn't by any chance get any pancakes, did you?" Henry suddenly asked again with an innocent smile, clearly moving on from the previous conversation.

"Sure, kid," she gave in with a laugh. "Help yourself."

"So, we need a plan for what we're going to do today," announced David, throwing open the bathroom door and walking confidently into the middle of the room and then suddenly his eyes drifted onto Henry. "Oh, hey. Henry, isn't it?"

Henry was literally stunned to silence as he gaped open mouthed at the man who he had seen just last night still comatose in the hospital. Slowly a grin started to spread across his face, overtaking the shock and he spun around and threw his arms around Emma with such force she nearly fell off the bed.

"You did it! You woke him up! You believe!" he shouted excitedly, clinging onto her for dear life.

"Yeah," Emma replied nonchalantly, as if it was no big deal, when inside she still hadn't finished freaking out about the whole thing yet herself. "I had a bit of help though," she admitted, gesturing to the pirate who was stood watching the exchange with a knowing smirk.

"I knew you could help her believe!" Henry beamed at him, still hugging his Mother as if he didn't ever want to let go of her, and she didn't seem to want him to let go yet either.

"It was my pleasure, lad," Killian replied with a little bow. "It wasn't an easy task though; your Mother is one stubborn lass."

"How did you do it?" Henry asked eagerly, wanting to know every detail and commit it to memory.

Killian snuck a look at David and then smirked dangerously. "In the end, all it took was for me to take my clothes off for her. Seeing me half-naked is enough to turn any woman into a believer. I am devilishly handsome after all." He shot a sly wink at Emma who sighed exasperatedly at his behaviour and then turned Henry's attention back to the other man in the room to try and distract her Father from having a heart attack or murdering the pirate Captain she was somehow quite fond of.

"Henry, this is David. David, this is Henry."

Henry finally let go of Emma and stood up straight, looking at Prince Charming for the first time before he spoke. "Grandpa?"

David merely laughed as if he couldn't quite believe it either. "Yeah, kid. I suppose so." And then he moved to wrap an arm around the boy who was still grinning as if Christmas and his birthday had arrived at the same time.

"She did it," Henry grinned, hugging David back. "She saved you."

"But the question is, how?" Killian asked, moving to lean against the wall, looking between every person in the room to see if they had any explanation for it before settling on Emma. "Love? How did you wake him?"

"I'm not sure…" she answered uncertainly, looking at David for help.

"We have plenty of time to figure that out," David replied calmly, taking hold of his Daughters' hand and giving it a reassuring squeeze.

Henry, who had made a start on the breakfast Emma had provided, started flicking through the storybook with a pancake hanging out of his mouth. Once he'd found the page of Prince Charming and baby Emma in the book, he removed the pancake and chewed before saying thoughtfully, "I think we should try and see if you can wake somebody else up, to see if this was just a freak coincidence."

"That's a great idea," David replied with a nod, already letting a smile spread across his face. "And I know who we should try waking next. Your Mother will be very unhappy with me if she finds out I've spent all this time with you, Emma and she's been stuck in an alternate mind-set."

"You want to try waking Snow White?" Henry asked excitedly, his eyes lighting up even more if that was even possible.

"I have already spent far too long apart from my wife," he explained, taking the book off Henry and finding a page with a picture of Snow and sighing. "She won't remember any of this, won't remember me… we need to wake her."

Emma nodded in agreement, seeing how desperate David was to be reunited with Snow. Anyways, she also wanted to be reunited with her Mother and to be with her whole family at last; they had a lot of catching up to do.

"Wait a minute, how do we go about waking the lass when we don't know where she is or even who she is in this godforsaken town?" Killian asked, also moving to get a glimpse at the picture David was still looking at yearningly.

"Unfortunately, the pirate has a point," David muttered dejectedly.

Hook couldn't help the smirk that took over his face and he grinned at the Prince. "I'm winning you over, I can feel it."

"We already know who she is and where she is," Emma said, quickly interrupting the two men before they could start fighting again.

"Yeah," Henry agreed with her with a beam. "She's my teacher, Miss Blanchard!"

"Well at least she'd not married to somebody else in town if she's still a 'miss'..." David muttered, almost to himself.

"Her name's Mary-Margaret here," Emma carried on explaining, "She gave me a hard-hitting lecture on my dubious life choices yesterday…I should have known she was my Mom. She kept going on about the importance of hope."

"That does sound like her," David laughed, "She is very optimistic."

"Well, mate, why don't you drop the lad off at school as use that as an excuse to re-introduce yourself to this new version of your Mrs?" Killian suggested, ruffling Henry on the head, causing him to laugh and shove the pirate away. "I can't be having both his Mothers coming after me for leading the boy into a life of piracy after-all."

"What do you mean, 'both his Mothers'?" David asked, turning to Emma in confusion.

"How about that's something you and Henry discuss on your way to school?" Emma prompted, giving Henry a look which he was able to read immediately.

"Come on, Grandpa. I'll fill you in on the way!"

"That's going to take some getting used to," David laughed again at being called 'Grandpa', but nevertheless grabbed a bacon sandwich to-go out of the brown bag and then walked to the door of the room and opened it for them both. "I'll catch up with you both later, we still need to form a proper plan."

"Sure, see you in a bit," Emma called back as he closed the door behind them and as soon as she'd heard their footsteps disappearing down the hall, she turned to the pirate who was watching her carefully from his place across the room. "So, Captain…Fancy another shopping trip?"


Three hours later found the two of them sat in a booth in Granny's, several shopping bags at their feet. They had bought more clothes for both of them, toiletries and general supplies—if they were hanging around for the foreseeable future, they needed to be well equipped.

Killian had been most intrigued by the underwear that Emma had selected for herself and thrown into the basket whilst they shopped—having never seen such unusual garments before due to women of the Enchanted Forest wearing items such as pantaloons and corsets to go under their clothing. He had stood staring at the mannequin modelling such fashion items for far too long and in the end had to be forcefully dragged away by his blonde counterpart before they drew any more attention to themselves than necessary.

After since trying his first ever coffee that morning, Killian seemed to have fallen in love with the drink, and – fining it a bit more acceptable than rum to drink during the daytime – Emma was doing nothing to curb his new addiction. He was just about to finish his third since sitting down when Ruby came over with a new cup and placed it down in front of Emma.

"Here you go!"

"Thank you, but I did not order that," Emma said perplexed, looking at the incredibly tempting hot chocolate with cream and cinnamon on top and almost wishing she had ordered it herself.

"Yeah, I know," Ruby smiled deviously. "You have an admirer."

"An admirer?" Killian snapped, almost choking on his coffee. "Where? What idiot felt that he could steal my woman from right under my nose?!"

"Steady on there, caveman." Emma rolled her eyes at his possessive display before gazing around their surroundings to see who was nearby. Her eyes eventually fell on the Sheriff who was sat a few booths down looking like he was trying very hard to look the other way, innocently, only succeeding, however, in assuring Emma that he was the guilty culprit.

"I'll be right back," she said with a sigh, standing up, stretching her legs and then grabbing the cup of hot chocolate and walking over towards Graham.

As he spotted her nearing him, he pretended to be surprised to see her and then smiled, taking a sip of his own drink. "Ah, so you decided to stay!"

"Observant. Important for a cop," she replied dryly, giving him a small smile in return.

"That's good news for our tourist business," he shot back, almost grinning from ear to ear, as if he was attempting to be flirtatious with her.

"Look," Emma started, deciding to address the situation before it became even more of an issue and Killian ended up thrown behind bars for shredding the Sheriff into ribbons for looking at her in the wrong way. "The cocoa was a nice gesture and I am impressed that you guessed that I like cinnamon on my chocolate, cause most people don't, but I am not here to flirt, so thank you, but no thank you."

She put the cup down in front on him on the table and he just nodded almost as if in understanding, but his smile barely faltered.

"Honestly, keep the cocoa, I'm a coffee man myself. Anyway, I didn't get it for you to gain access into your pants, it's a thank you for your help yesterday. It became clear to me that I am a bit behind the times and could do with dragging into the modern world, so to speak. Computers and technology are not a strong point of mine."

"Well, it's like I said yesterday; you're on payroll, I get paid on delivery. I have to be efficient," she replied with a sigh, picking up the hot chocolate and taking a sip.

"Nevertheless, I owe you a debt of gratitude. Regina can be a little…trying at times," he said quietly as if he expected her to leap out from under the woodworm and attack.

"Trust me, I picked that up pretty fast," she laughed, thinking about the woman who didn't seem to know what it was like to not get her own way once in a while.

"Anyway, your help was severely appreciated and needed and I wanted to say thank you," he carried on, clearly trying to steer the conversation away from Regina Mills.

"Oh? And all I get is a cocoa?" she teased, taking another large sip before talking again. "Don't I deserve something more substantial than just that? Like a commendation? The Key to the City?"

"How about a job? I could use a deputy."

Whatever she thought she was expecting to hear, that wasn't it.

"Thank you, but I have a job," she replied, trying not to look as shocked as actually she was. If someone had told her ten years ago she'd been offered a job to work for the law she'd have laughed in their face.

"As a bail bondsperson? There's not much of that going on here," he pointed out with a smile.

"I don't see an awful lot of Sheriffing going on around here, either," she shot back, challenging him.

"Well, here's your chance to see it up close," he announced enthusiastically, "There's dental." When he realised his attempt at persuading her was falling short, he sighed and stood up, reaching into his pocket to pass her a card with his number on it. "Why don't you think about it and stay a while?"

Then he finished the rest of his coffee and bid her goodbye, heading back outside and jumping into the cruiser which was parked just outside the door.

Emma went to walk back over to where she was sat with Killian before and found him deep in conversation with Ruby, whilst she stuck out her exposed chest and played with her hair, giggling girlishly. Immediately, Emma saw red (something she wouldn't realise the humour in until later) and she marched the rest of the way up to the table and slid into the booth next to Killian so she was almost sat on top of his lap.

"Sorry that took so long," she announced, disrupting whatever conversation they'd been having, also dropping a lingering kiss on Killian's cheek for good measure and to make sure Ruby got the message loud and clear. "Not interrupting anything, am I?"

"Of course not, love," Kilian replied smugly, finding her jealously incredibly amusing. "Miss Lucas here was just telling me about the lack of fun in this town!"

Emma tried her best not to openly glare at the waitress – who was still lurking by the table for some reason – and, instead, tried to calmly respond to her 'boyfriend'.

"Well, I doubt that'll be a problem for us, sweetheart," she said, trying not to come across as passive aggressive as she smiled through clenched teeth. "We have enough fun on our own, don't we?"
This time Killian was unable to hold back the full blown seductive smirk that spread across his features as he wiggled his eyebrows flirtatiously and threw an arm around her waist, pulling her even tighter against his body. "I suppose you're right, love. We can have all the fun in the world simply from inside a hotel room."

"Erm, I'm just going to go and see to some of the other customers…see you guys around," Ruby finally muttered sheepishly before shuffling off, much to Emma's delight.

Once Ruby was far enough away, Emma tried to wriggle out of Killian grasp, but he held her flush against him.

"You're not running off anywhere, lass, after a show like that," he chuckled, leaning down to nip the side of her neck teasingly before whispering in her ear. "I didn't take you as the possessive type, Swan."

"Well I didn't see you as the type to touch a woman against her will!" she fired back defensively, giving him a shove which did succeed in putting some distance between them, however, the smile on Killian's face didn't falter.

"I'm not," he grinned, "In case you mistook me for an unobservant man, I just thought I'd point out I'm very aware just how willing you are, when you let your walls down for a minute at least."

"What's that supposed to mean?" she demanded.

Killian was just about to answer when the sound of someone clearing their throat next to them drew their attention away from each other and to Mr Gold who was stood next to the table with a friendly smile on his face that Emma wasn't sure she trusted at all, never mind Killian who had started to shake angrily at the sight of his 'crocodile' again.

"Good afternoon, Miss Swan, Mr Jones," he said politely, his eyes glancing from one of them to the other. "How are you finding our quaint little town?"

"Quaint," Emma retorted instantly, trying to smile back at the man whilst anchoring Killian down to his seat, grateful that she was still pretty much almost sat on him, blocking his exit from the booth.

Mr Gold chuckled at her response before carrying on talking as if he didn't even sense the hostility radiating off the man at the table.

"I heard through the grapevine that you have recently been united with both your Son and your long-lost foster Brother, Miss Swan. Congratulations, it's such wonderful news when a family finds themselves together again at last after a long separation."

"Oh, well, thank you," Emma replied, not quite sure where this conversation was going, or how he'd heard anything about David or Henry. Clearly Storybrooke loved its gossip.

"What are your long-term plans, if you don't mind me asking?" he pressed, looking at her intently.

"How do you mean?" she replied, feeling Killian start to relax a little next to her as his curiosity obviously got to him.

"Well, are you intending on staying in town? Your Son is here and your Brother will undoubtedly want to continue his life here as well…what are your plans?"

That took her off guard a little, which was something that seemed to be happening more often than not recently.

"I'm not really sure what's happening at the moment, if I'm honest, Mr Gold," she said carefully, not wanting to answer for Killian as well as herself.

"We are sticking around for a while though," Killian suddenly said, "to get everything in order, you understand."

Gold and Killian made direct eye-contact and Emma could feel that something vitally important was just conveyed by that one look, but she had no idea just what.

"So, you'd be happy to stay with Miss Swan to help sort her family life out even though they aren't your family or your responsibility?" Gold challenged, still not breaking out of Killian's gaze.

"Her family is my family. I'm not leaving her. Especially when there's so much…unfinished business to attend to."

"Quite right, there is," Gold smiled cordially, straightening up and looking at Emma again, but something was different this time, it was as if he was looking straight into her soul.

"Well, I just came over to say, I have a house that has just come up to rent that would probably be perfect for your needs, if you decided to make your stay a little more permanent," he said, taking a set of keys out of his pocket and handing them to a shell-shocked Emma. "The address is on the keychain, feel free to go and have a look around. Come and see me at my shop after you've had time to think about your decision."

"That's very generous of you to think of us, Mr Gold, but as I said—"

"I know, you're not sure," he replied, cutting her off. "But I will say this: if you are serious about wanting to be in your Son's life, you will need to show the Mayor that you mean to stay and put up a fight. As you must already know, she is a very formidable woman who makes an even more formidable enemy. You need to be ready to fight if you want to remain seeing Henry."

Emma was about to respond to his speech before turned and walked back through the door, letting it shut loudly behind him as he retreated towards his shop, leaving her to stare gobsmacked at the set of house keys she had in her hand.