A/N Hey everyone. Just want to say a big thank you for all the love this story is getting. Thanks to everyone who is following and favoriting. And thanks for all the reviews. Enjoy the chapter. :)

Disclaimer- I do not own Once Upon a Time.

By the end of the week Emma had grown well acquainted with John. Over the week of being locked up below deck the only person Emma had to talk to was John. She learned about him and he learned as much about her as she was willing to tell, which wasn't much. He was a kind young boy, not at all who Emma would expect to be on a pirate ship. But then again she didn't expect a lot of the men on the ship to be the pirate type. John was different though. For one thing he was very young, only fifteen years old. His story was very different than everyone else's too, much more... sad.

He had grown up in a small town by the sea. His father was a fisherman and his mother had died when he was very young. One day John's father got a better, more interesting job, but he couldn't take John with him. So instead of turning the job down he sent John away to an orphanage. As John got older he started working at a nearby pub where Hook would go whenever he was docked there. He would listen to Hooks stories of travel and always asked if he could join the crew, but Hook said no every time. That is until a little over a year ago when Hook finally picked him up.

Emma was both intrigued and confused by the story. Confused mostly because she never really saw Hook as the type to be so taking to children. But intrigued because the story sounded so familiar to her. A child without a mother or father, not knowing what to do except run. The circumstances were different but the story was the same nonetheless. The simple, sad story of an orphaned child.

Emma could see the sadness in his eyes as John explained his past. She wanted nothing but to comfort him, to let him know that she understood... at least a little anyway. But she knew she couldn't. Her tale was a secret that she had to keep hidden away. Telling anyone just a little bit about her past could cause too many troubles to count.

...

Emma heard the footsteps ten minutes before the knocks. Hook was back. She knew exactly what was going to happen. He would come down, already knowing it hadn't been as terrible as Emma thought, then he would tease her and agitate her for as long as he felt necessary, until finally he would hand over the key so she could unlock herself. Emma was not looking forward to the teasing or the smug look he would have on his face. But the thing that would make it all so much worse was that he was right.

It really hadn't been a bad week. The food was good, and she had good company. Sure the room got a little cold at times and the sleeping arrangement wasn't the most comfortable. Because really, who was comfortable sleeping with their arm chained to a wall? But other than that it was fine. And Hook would make sure she admitted it.

"Hello, luv. Did you miss me?" He asked as he sauntered into the room. The grin on his face was worse than Emma had expected. She couldn't help but frown the second the door opened.

"No." Emma said dryly.

Hook faked a hurt face, then turned away. "Well then I guess I should just leave since my company isn't wanted." He continued acting like she had hurt his feelings and walking towards the door slowly. 'Why is he so dramatic?' Emma thought.

"Cut the crap and unlock me pirate." Emma demanded. Hook laughed and walked back to her.

"You are no fun." He stated. As he reached in his pocket for the keys. He paused then reached into his other pocket and then looked at her with worry.

"It's not here. I think I lost it." He said. To anyone else it probably would've sounded convincing. Hook was a good liar but Emma was an even better lie detector.

"You're lying."

Hook frowned and pulled the keys out of his back pocket. He held them out but when Emma reached for them he pulled them away quickly.

"Wait."He said. "First, tell me. Was it really that horrible?" Emma frowned, just as she had expected.

"Yes."

"Really?" Emma glared at him... was he really doing this?

"No, Hook, it wasn't that bad. Now give me the damn key!" Hook smiled.

"Allow me." He said taking her left hand in his hook and using his good hand to unlock the cuff.

Emma tried to pull her hand back but Hook took hold of it with his right hand before she could. She didn't understand why, but for some reason he started frowning. A real frown. He lifted her hand higher so that it was eye level. It was then that Emma understood, he was looking at her wrist. She tried again to pull it away but once again his grip was too strong. He looked up and caught her eye.

"You tried to pull your hand out." He said, it sounded somewhere between a question and a disappointed statement.

"Yeah, I-um thought it would fit... I was wrong. But it's fi-" Emma finished the last word of that sentence with a yelp of pain as Hook pressed on her wrist with the smooth part of his hook.

"It doesn't seem fine." He countered. Emma didn't respond, he was right again. "Come on, let's get this taken care of.

...

Hook opened the door to his cabin and ushered Emma inside. The second she stepped in she felt something odd, like something was wrong. She had had that feeling before, many times in her life, but all of them happened years ago. Why was she feeling it now? And why in Hooks cabin?

She sat down on the bed slowly. Her eyes darted to every corner of the room, searching for the source of her strange feeling. It was a sensation between nausea and excitement that Emma couldn't quite describe in words. But she knew one thing, every other time she had felt it, bad things always happened.

"Something the matter?" Hook asked, seeing the look in her eyes.

"No." Emma replied quickly, then returned to looking around the room. 'Where is it coming from?' She wondered anxiously.

"Alright," Hook said slowly as he walked over with a rag and a bottle of rum. He undid the cap, knelt down in front if her and grabbed Emma's hand, "this is going to sting."

He poured the contents of the bottle over her wrist before Emma could even ask what he meant. She screemed from pain then glared at him as he dabbed away the excess rum.

"What the hell?" She asked.

"The alcohol helps to clean the wound," he explained as he began wrapping her wrist with a scarf.

"So what, you were a doctor before you were a pirate?" Emma teased, forgetting all about the strange feeling.

"No. But I know that the last thing you want is an infected wrist. Then we'd have to cut your hand off and you'd end up like me." He said. It sounded like a joke, but Emma wasn't sure if it was okay to laugh.

"How did you lose your hand?" She asked before she could even think about stopping herself. Hook stopped wrapping her wrist for a brief second then continued. The look in his face was enough to make ends regret asking in the first place.

"Oh yes, that. Well, Swan. That is a story... for another day." He said, not a hint of anger or annoyance in his voice, as Emma had expected.

"I see..." Emma said a little disappointed. They were quiet for a while as Hook finished up. The silence lasted long enough for Emma to remember the weird feeling.

"So," she said suddenly. Emma didn't know where she was going with this, but she needed to say something to make the room feel less awkward. "You seem like you're in a good mood, which is... weird."

"Yes, well the trip was fine and it wasn't as hard as I thought it would've been to find what I was looking for." He explained.

"You never did tell me what you were trying to find?"

"Why don't you guess?" Hook said with a grin, clearly thinking it would be far too hard for Emma to guess correctly.

"Magic." Emma said a little too quickly. Hook stared at her in surprise and Emma instantly regretted saying it. "I'm guessing." She added weakly.

"Right," he said slowly, as if he didn't believe her. "You're right, it's a magic of sorts. Something that will help us capture her majesty."

Hook stood up and went to his desk. Placing the bottle of rum down and opening a drawer. He pulled out a small velvet pouch filled with some sort of powder. He stated back towards Emma but she scooted away a little as the feeling grew.

"Are you sure magic is the only way?" She asked, trying not to sound to unsure.

"According to your father, magic is the only thing that can stop The Evil Queen."

There was a hint of sarcasm in his voice as he said her name, as if he didn't believe she was all that evil. That alone made a number of questions come into Emma's mind. Did he not know the stories? Did he just not care? Had he seen things so much worse that she just seemed insignificant? Or was he just unfamiliar with the queen in general? Which made Emma wonder something else... where was Hook from?

Hook sat down next to her causing Emma's mind to come back to the conversation. And also reminding her of the magic sitting so close to her.

"You're probably right." She said, then desperate to be away from the pouch, added. "Well, I'm sure there's some work we should both be getting to."

"Of course. "