A/N: How you like this chapter, I had a lot of fun writing it. Please review!

Disclaimer- I do not own ouat or its characters.

Chapter 4

...

Emma didn't get scared easily, she got worried easily, she got upset easily. But she definitely did not get scared easily. Which is why it was so odd for her to feel utterly fearful at that moment. Maybe it was the tone of his voice, maybe it was the anger in his eyes, the way he picked her up by the elbow and dragged her across the deck. Or maybe it was a combination of all three. But whatever it was, it caused Emma to be completely terrified.

She was not expecting this, and maybe she should have been. For some reason she had the idea that when they found her they would be a little upset and then get over it and let her come with them on the journey. In hindsight it was a silly, stupid thought. There was a reason why people didn't sneak onto ships everyday, especially not pirate ships and Emma knew that. But for some reason she had convinced herself that nothing bad would happen.

Clearly she was wrong, this guy was definitely angry. What was he going to do? Would he kill her? 'Oh, gosh! Don't think about that Emma!' She told herself as he pulled her across the deck. He roughly pinned her against the mast and lifted his hook. She thought he was going to stab her or gouge her eye out as he lifted it to her face. But to her surprise he used it to cut the gag they had tied around her mouth. She took a large gasp of air, relieved that the cloth was out of her mouth, but before she could get too relieved he placed the hook under her chin and lifted her head.

"Hello Swan." He hissed through clenched teeth.

"Captain." She replied. It was a risky move, the tone of her voice was not at all respectful and he could have very well killed her right there.

"What's your name? Your real name?" He asked. Emma was surprised, she wasn't expecting that to be his first question. She was thinking something more along the lines of, why are you here? Or what are you doing on my ship?

"Answer me!" He yelled, but Emma refused.

She did this mostly to stall, she was hoping they could go a little farther out in the ocean before he finished questioning her. That way it'd be too late to turn around. So instead of answering she decided to spit at him, which may not have been the best idea. Apparently everyone takes it offensively when you spit at the captain because all of the men pulled out their swords. But lucky for her Hook let go of her arm to hold up his hand, a sign to put the swords away.

"Answer the question... or you'll be walking that plank with an anchor tied to your back." He whispered in her ear pointing at the plank behind him.

"Emma." She said in a harsh whisper.

Almost immediately after he heard this he pulled the hook away from her throat. But she didn't dare move, he could still hurt her and there was an army of pirates behind him. A few of which probably recognized her from their little encounter earlier. But Emma didn't want to worry about them or how mad they were at her, so she kept her focus on the man in front of her.

He looked her dead in the eyes, his expression was one of someone in deep thought. He started into her hazel-green eyes like that for what seemed like forever, then his expression changed. His eyes had that little flicker in them, the one you get when two things connect in your brain and you have a little epiphany. And then he smiled, he was actually grinning at her.

"Emma" he repeated in a sinister voice, "as in princess Emma... of the White Kingdom."

"I.. don't know what you're talking about." She said, but it was no use he had seen the look on her eyes when he said princess. There was no denying that he had guessed correctly.

"Come on now, we both know you're a terrible liar. So why try?"

She thought about it for some time, he was right, they both knew the truth. How to make that truth work out for her best interest, that would be hard. Emma was so used to lying about who she was, she didn't have much practice with making the truth work for her.

She swallowed hard, hoping what she was about to say would work. "You're right... I am a princess... And therefore you have no right to be questioning or threatening me... So let go." She tried her hardest to put on a regal front and act all prestigious, but it wasn't very convincing.

And apparently it was a little upsetting for the captain, because this time he wasn't so careful when he pinned her to the mast. Not that he had been careful the first time, but now it was worse. He held her right arm in place by holding it in between the mast and his hook then held his sword to her neck. She struggled to breathe, taking short quick gasps of air, as the situation was not all that comfortable. In fact it was rather painful, and even though she tried to hold it back a small tear ran down her cheek.

"Let me explain something to you, Emma. You see, this is the way things work at sea, and I'm not just talking about my ship, I'm talking about any ship that doesn't work for royalty. Ships like this one, are like their own little kingdom, sure we abide by the rules of whatever land we set port at. But as soon as we set sail, we enter another kingdom, with different rules and different rulers. So you may be a princess back in your kingdom, but here, on the Jolly Roger, I'm the only royalty there is, and you are no better than a lowly peasant. Actually you're worse, because you entered my kingdom illegally, which, by the way is grounds for execution. But lucky for you I'm working for daddy, and that is the only thing keeping you from walking the plank." He nodded his head at the other side of the deck were the plank was. Emma gulped, she had tried so hard not to show her fear but the mention of the plank truly did scare her, mostly because she couldn't swim. Hook grinned at her reaction, her fear seemed to satisfy him, "I see you get my point," he added before letting go of her. She fell to the ground, just barely able to catch herself due to her wrists being bound together. She took very large gasps of air as she tried to stay herself, he began walking away. "Tie her up." He said to one of the men as he passed, two of them rushed over to hold her to the mast while another tightly wrapped the rope around her.

"I thought ships like yours don't work for royalty." Emma shouted after him as soon as she got her breath back, refusing to let him have the last word. He stopped walking, Emma thought he was going to turn around but he didn't, he simply took a deep breath and then continued on his way. Emma smiled to herself for winning, then remembered that she was still tied to the mast and it was a very cold night.

...

"Is there anything I can do captain?" Graham asked as he stood in the doorway of Hooks cabin.

"Bring her here." Hook said after a minute of contemplating the question.

Graham walked out of the room and went down the hall. As he went up the stairs the sound of men's laughter grew louder and louder. When he got onto the deck he saw a group of men circled around the mast.

"Remember me sweetheart?" One of them asked.

"Leave her alone Richard." Graham said pushing through the crowd. "Get back to work. All of you."

Richard walked off along with all the other men, sending a glare at Graham as he walked away. Graham didn't seem to care though, his focus remained on the blonde tethered to the mast. Emma looked away when she saw who it was, 'why is he always the one to save me?' She wondered. He walked over to her but stopped before he got to close.

"Hello again." He said with a smirk.

"What do you want Graham?" She asked in annoyance.

"The captain wishes to see you" he stated before adding, "and it looked like you couldn't handle them on your own."

"Maybe if I wasn't tied up I could." She shot back. He stepped closer and pulled out his sword, in one swift move he cut the ropes. Then he grabbed her arm and started leading her back the way he came.

"You know... you're not exactly what I expected the princess of the White Kingdom to be like."

"That's probably because I haven't been a princess in years."

"Oh? And why's that?"

"That's none of your business. What does the captain want from me?" She asked, desperate to change the subject.

"I don't know. That's none of my business." He echoed before opening the door to the captain's cabin. "Here you are." He said pushing Emma into the room before walking away and closing the door behind him.

... "Hello princess, please, take a seat." Hook said in an almost cheery voice, with a little bit of a menacing undertone. It's as if he was trying to trick her into thinking he was being kind, that any previous emotions of anger had completely disappeared. But Emma knew better than to fall for this trick.

"No thanks, I'd rather stand." She said, then noticing he was on the other side of the room decided to add, "right here, if you don't mind."

"Of course, wherever the princess feels comfortable." He said continuing with the kind act.

Emma winced at the word princess, she didn't like the way it sounded. It sounded like a lie, not that she hadn't lied many times in the past but never to that extent. Never impersonating someone of such power, such class, such... importance. Sure Emma was technically a princess, but she hasn't been one since she was a child, and she hasn't acted like one back then. The sound of His voice brought her back to reality.

"I'm sorry, what was that?" She asked, realizing he was waiting for her to answer a question she didn't here.

"Why are you here, Swan?" He repeated.

"Ha, I was wondering the same thing." Emma said, looking around the room. "And to think, here I was hoping you would answer that question for me."

"That's not what I meant Swan, and you know it." He said, his fake nice voice slowly fading.

"Well, what did you mean Hook?"

"I meant, why are you on my ship? Why would the princess of the Enchanted Forests favorite kingdom, want to run away and sneak onto a pirate ship?" Once again she winced at the word.

"Stop calling me princess." She said calmly, she had to say it, she couldn't stand to here that word one more time. "And I didn't run away to sneak onto your ship, I ran away for a very different reason, and I don't want to talk about it. But I will tell you why I'm on your ship... there's someone I need to talk to, someone that your ship can take me to."

"What? You couldn't just write them a letter? Or have daddy summon them?" He taunted. But Emma ignored the joke.

"No, I need to talk to them in person, and the king wouldn't want me to talk to them."

"You call your father 'the king'?"

"Sometimes I call him David, but only when I think out loud or talk to myself." Why did she say that? Emma scolded herself for saying too much.

"I see... Well, I'm willing to let you stay on my ship and, if it's safe, talk to this mysterious someone. But you must agree to one thing." He paused for her to say something but Emma didn't speak. "You must promise to let me return you to your family as soon as the voyage is over."

"Why would you want to do that?"

"The trip will last a long time, I imagine they'll miss you a great deal by the end of it. And I can only imagine how much they'd be willing to give me for your safe return."

"What if I don't want to be returned?"

"Oh, my dear, I'm afraid you don't have much of a choice."