Chapter 10

Emma eyed Hook maliciously as he stepped backward, further into the cell and out of the grasp of Jack or Will. He had a caged look on his face, as well he might, and he was hiding his hook behind his back. Jack unlocked the cell again and gave the key to Elizabeth. Jack and Will both entered the cell, swords drawn toward Hook, who was now backed against the hull.

"Look now, I don't know why she thinks this is necessary, but I assure you its…" Hook began, but whatever excuse he was planning to come up with was lost when Jack pressed his sword into Hook's throat.

"The hook, if you don't mind," Will said. Hook eyed both men, trying to find some way out. Elizabeth had locked the cell behind them when they'd entered and was standing well away from the bars, eyes focused on Will.

Emma couldn't believe her luck. Of all the characters she could have met on this trip, she runs into Jack Sparrow, and Will and Elizabeth. She'd always loved Pirates of the Caribbean, but it had never occurred to her that that might be real too. Most of the people she'd met during her time in Storybrooke were fairy tale characters, but maybe every story she'd ever heard, every movie she'd ever seen, maybe all of it was real. She shook her head. Focus! she scolded herself.

Will now had his sword at Hook's throat and Jack was pulling Hook's arm out from behind him.

"If you turn it, you'll hear a click, and it should come right off," Emma called into the cell to them. Hook would pay for trying to kidnap her, she thought viciously. Hook glared at her over Will's shoulder. Emma heard a click, and suddenly both Will and Jack were backing away from Hook, swords still aimed on him. Elizabeth stepped forward and unlocked the cell again to let them out. Hook was wearing an expression of hatred, but strangely not aimed at her. He was glaring at Jack with all his might.

How could Killian have never told her that he knew Jack Sparrow? He would be getting a talking to when she got home.

The men backed out of the cell, and Elizabeth quickly closed the door and locked it up tight again. Jack sheathed his sword and turned to face Emma. "So, Emma, now what?" he asked, his accent, or maybe rum, slurring his words slightly. Suddenly she remembered how much of a crush she had on Jack Sparrow in her early 20s. Maybe that's when she first started having a thing for pirates? After Neal, she'd known she'd already had a thing for bad boys, and with pirates being the ultimate bad boys…. She forced her thoughts off that rail.

She motioned toward the hook, which he was holding by its rounded curve. "Turn it over," she said. He deftly flipped the hook over and for the first time noticed the key that was coming out of the back. He smiled at her and she went on, "and follow me."

She led the group back up the ladder, leaving Hook to stew in his own hold. When she came up to the next deck, she saw the rest of Hook's crew crammed into 4 more cells, Prince Henry shoved against the hull of his own cell now packed with pirates. She pointed him out, and he looked at her in surprise.

"Let him out," she said in a commanding tone.

"We had no deal regarding any other prisoners, love," Jack said smoothly.

"Jack," both Elizabeth and Will said in the same warning tone. Jack eyed them both, sighed, and then motioned for the guards to let Prince Henry out of his cell.

"Mother, what is going on here?" he said immediately when he joined them.

"Henry, meet Captain Jack Sparrow, and Will and Elizabeth Turner," Emma said, wishing that Regina was here to join her in the amusement of meeting these people. Henry just nodded toward the others.

"Follow me." She led them beyond the remaining holding cells and up another deck where some of Jack's crew appeared to be looting the ship, and she could hear more on the open deck above. Without saying anything else, she led them straight to Hook's cabin, the door opening next to the ladder that lead above. Without asking, she took the hook that Jack was still holding, and fit it into the lock in the safe on the shelf.

Everyone crowded into the cabin, making it feel much smaller than she remembered it ever being, and she turned the hook, opening the safe. Inside was a number of trinkets and some gold, but no hat. Which she knew there wouldn't be.

"Love, me hat would never fit in that tiny safe," Jack said dismissively. She grinned conspiratorially at him, and reached into the safe, pulling on a small lever that she knew was there, but blended into the safe wall so well, it would have been impossible to see without knowing it was there. There was a chink and a clunk and Emma pushed on the entire wall that the safe was on. The wall gave slowly and as she pushed, Will came over and began to help her push the wall.

The others watched in astonishment as a small room came into view. Objects of various sizes and value packed the room, including…

"Ah ha!" Jack exclaimed bounding into the room. A 3-cornered hat was sitting on a trunk near the back. Jack picked it up and gleefully put it on his head. He spun to face the others with a look of triumph on his face. Emma noticed Elizabeth roll her eyes, but Will was chuckling. Emma found herself grinning too.

"Now what?" Emma asked him.

"Now, we can be on our way," Jack said. "We had other plans for today."

"What about us?" Emma asked cautiously. "And Hook and his crew?"

Jack's right hand, which seemed to usually be floating in the air, the fingers moving endlessly, moved to his chin and he looked thoughtful, "hmmm," he said. "I think I might leave them in your capable hands. You seem to know this ship intimately, so I'm going to guess you know how to sail her?"

Emma motioned to the loot still sitting in the hidden room, "Don't you want any of this?" Emma felt no guilt at all about letting another pirate take this Hook's collection. Only a bit of it even looked valuable. Most of it seemed to be hoarded junk, like Jack's hat.

Jack eyed the random assortment of items, grabbed the only bag that appeared to have any gold in it, gave it a small shake and pocketed it. Then he looked around the room again quickly and shook his head, "Thank you, no, love. I got what I came for. And I suspect Captain Hook will enjoy his stay in the hold under your… watchful eyes." He hesitated, his eyes widening, as though only just noticing her face. He took a step closer and grinned at her. "You know, love, I've become accustomed to having a beautiful woman or two on me ship." Behind Jack, Will coughed pointedly and Elizabeth glared, although she looked like she was trying to hide an amused grin. "Perhaps you might be inclined to join me crew? You certainly seem more than capable."

He raised an eyebrow at her, which reminded Emma forcibly of when Killian was being suggestive. It made her miss him more, but she smiled at Jack nevertheless, and said in a smooth voice, "Captain, that is a very enticing offer, but," she cleared her throat and stepped back, talking normally again, "we really should be getting on our way. Thank you for the rescue."

The former princess in her told her she should curtsey. Of course, she was wearing jeans, so instead she inclined her head in a gracious motion. Behind her, Emma suspected that Prince Henry wasn't sure what to make of the exchange. He probably wanted to arrest Jack right alongside Hook for piracy.

Surprising her, Jack walked up to her and hugged her. Not entirely sure what to do, she stood there awkwardly until she realized that his hand just found its way to her backside and she pushed him off with an oath. He grinned mischievously at her and then bowed formally. "By your leave, darling," he said rising back up, grin still on his face. Then he turned and climbed the ladder to the upper deck.

Will and Elizabeth both gave their goodbyes, Elizabeth muttering a quick word of apology on behalf of her "captain," and then they both left too. Prince Henry gave Emma a questioning look. She shrugged and then followed them back on deck.

The sun was starting to set, and the crew of the Black Pearl was already making their way back to their own ship.

"Oh, before I forget, love," Jack called to her from the bow. He tossed her the keys to the brig below and then plunged Hook's hook into the mast. He then grabbed hold of a rope and leaped across the water, landing surprisingly gracefully on his own ship, the last to arrive. "If you ever change your mind about joining me crew…" Jack called over the water, winking to her and letting the sentence hang in the air.

Suddenly, he was calling orders and the Black Pearl was sailing away in the direction from which it'd come.

"Can… can you sail a pirate ship?" Prince Henry asked her as they watched the Pearl sail out of sight.

She looked at him, a smile playing on her lips, "I can sail this pirate ship."

"So what do we do, go back to Liamsburg?" he asked her.

"Yes, we have to pick up Regina."

"Mother, what happened last night? I don't really remember much after you left with that pirate to go find Hook."

"Long story, short? Smee and that Innkeeper fed you and the others drugged wine. You were kidnapped because they figured out who you were, Regina and Robin were dumped in their rooms in the inn. From what Hook was saying it sounded like they were probably out most of today," Emma explained. Emma thought she heard Henry growl in his throat. Studying him, she asked, "any idea what they did with our things, or your sword?"

Henry started to answer her, but then she realized that she was being stupid. She waved a hand, and her pack and Henry's pack, along with Henry's sword all appeared at their feet. As she guessed, they'd been brought on board when Henry had been. Had they been left in Liamsburg, her magic probably wouldn't have reached them. Henry cut off mid-sentence watching the items appear. Then he grinned at Emma and asked how they could start steering the ship.

Again, Emma just waved her hand, and she felt the ship lurch under her feet, turning around back into the direction from which they'd come. When the angle was right, she increased the wind too to help speed them along.

Feeling slightly awkward, she walked over to where the hook was still hanging from the mast. She plucked it out of the wood and looked at it carefully. It looked perfect as usual. Somehow, this hook never dulled, and seemed to always shine. Vaguely, she wondered if it was magicked to be like that. Staring at the hook, she realized that she was longing for Killian more than ever before. Without really thinking about it, she wandered back to the hatch that lead to Hook's cabin.

"I'm going to lay down for a bit," she told Henry. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see that Henry was watching her with a concerned look on his face.

Before she got to the hatch, she heard from behind her, "You miss him, don't you?"

She turned around to see that Henry had followed her to the hatch. She was still holding the hook like a delicate flower. "Miss him?" she asked cautiously.

"Your Hook. Your Killian. You didn't really tell me much about that situation back in your world, but it's clear that you care for him. Being kidnapped by someone who looks and sounds like him must have really hurt you," Henry said, watching her.

"When did you get so insightful?" she asked sardonically. But she smiled at him sadly, anyway. He didn't answer her, but instead just waited for her to answer him. "Yes," she sighed. "Yes, I miss him. You're right. I didn't really tell you about that, because it was clear you didn't approve of him. But he's different in my world. He's a good man. And he loves me, without a doubt, he loves me."

"You love him?"

She nodded, feeling her cheeks grow hot.

"Go lay down," Henry said after a minute of silence. "I'll keep an eye on things up here." She thanked him, and began to turn back to the hatch when she changed her mind, and quickly pulled Prince Henry into a hug. She felt him hug her back tightly, and she thought how she regretted leaving this Henry behind when she went back to Storybrooke.

As she climbed down the ladder back into Hook's cabin, she began to wonder what would happen to this reality when she and Regina left it. Would it continue on without them, or would it cease to exist? She hoped that it would continue on. Henry would be a good ruler, and he would understand why she had to go. But he would be alone.

She laid down in the familiar bunk attached to the wall, still holding the hook, and closed her eyes. She didn't want this Henry to end up alone. He was still only 14, he didn't deserve to be alone on top of being the sole heir to a kingdom. But what could she do? She couldn't stay, her real son needed her. Killian needed her. Her parents needed her. And she needed all of them.

She woke up suddenly to a tight pain on her wrists. She opened her eyes to see Hook standing over her, smiling. He had his hook back and was just releasing her hands, which were now bound in front of her and inside what appeared to be a burlap sack. She tried to sit up, but had difficulty without her hands, and was hindered further when she realized that her ankles were bound too.

"How?" was all she managed to get out.

He smiled at her again, an eyebrow raised, "Never make a cage that you yourself can't get out of, love. Something I learned a long time ago. And," he glanced at the bag over her hands, "don't bother trying magic. It won't work."

She stared at him, and despite his words, attempted to blow the bag off her hands, or untie her bindings. Nothing happened. He really had been prepared to capture the Dark One.

"What did you do with Henry?"

"Your son is fine. And back in his cell. I do appreciate you taking such good care of my ship for me, after Sparrow left. I'm surprised he did, but then, he never was one for doing what's expected. I also thank you for taking care of my hook. I admit, I was surprised to find you asleep and holding it the way that you were. This 'other me' of yours must have made quite the impression on you," he smiled at his hook and then at her.

"You'll never be him," she growled, in spite of herself. He chuckled and then grabbed her arm, forcing her to her feet.

"You've been asleep for quite some time, Your Highness," he said, changing the subject. "I had enough time to free my crew, lock up your son, turn the ship back around, and tie you up." She glanced out the window, and sure enough it was dark now. She must have passed out. "I thought you might be hungry, so I also took the liberty to have dinner brought. Won't you join me?"

He indicated the table and for the first time, she noticed two place settings and a covered tray, the smell of spiced fish rising from under the cloth. Two goblets were set out as well, with a dark liquid visible inside them. She could only assume wine. Unsurprisingly, there was a bottle of rum on the table as well.

"Why would you think I would have dinner with you? And besides, how could I, with this magic sack over my hands?" she asked, holding up her bound arms. She studied his face, genuinely curious as to his answer.

"The way I see it, love," he said, "you have a few options. 1. You agree to eat dinner with me, and promise not to try to escape or use magic, and I free your hands. 2. You don't agree to eat dinner with me, and you go back to your magic-proof cell and you don't eat at all. And neither does your boy."

She stared at him. He was holding food over her head, and not just hers, but Henry's as well.

Hook waited for a moment, but when she didn't answer right away, he added, "or there's a third option, I suppose." He paused and grinned for effect, then said, "I could feed you myself." She tried not to growl, but she felt her lips tighten and her eyes narrow at the words. What a jackass this man was.

"You would trust me to keep my word?" she finally asked, playing for time, while considering her options.

"Not really," he said, shrugging. "But even if you did incapacitate me, and get loose, I promise you won't get out of this room. My crew was given very strict orders about how that hatch and that door is to be opened after I came in here and woke you up."

"What did you do? Magic-proof this entire ship?" she said incredulously. He just smiled and waited. She sighed, feeling resigned. "If I eat with you, and promise not to try to escape, you'll take care of Henry? Feed him. Treat him okay?"

"I swear it," he said, placing his hand over his heart.

"Fine," she said. His smile widened and he pulled at a string that held the bag on her hands, and then with a knife cut the rope at her wrists and ankles. He sat down and motioned for her to do the same.

"So, love. Tell me more about this Storybrooke."