A/N: I had got stuck with this story for a moment, but came home from work and suddenly it came out. This chapter is a bit shorter. Thanks to everyone who reads and reviews.

Chapter 10: The Search

The anger Emma was feeling was starting to boil over. How could Neal even think that kidnapping the man she loved would end with her wanting to be with him? Did he really think that if Killian wasn't there that she would fall back in love with him? She wished he could just get it through his head that they were over and nothing in this world was going to change that. The fact that he could do something that would hurt her this much proved that he cared about nobody but himself. She had a feeling that if she ran into him right now she wouldn't be able to stop herself from hitting him. Emma was so deep in her thoughts that she didn't even notice that someone was calling her name until they grabbed her arm and stopped her. Emma had been prepared to hit whoever grabbed her until she noticed it was her father standing there.

"Wow," he said putting his hands up to protect himself in case she did swing. "It's just me."

"Sorry," Emma stated calming down a little. "I guess I'm a little on edge at the moment."

"It's okay," said Charming. "I get that this is really stressful right now, but everything will be alright."

"You don't know that," Emma answered, beginning to tear up. "We don't even know if he's alive. I have no idea what to do. I've always pushed people away because I get too afraid that they are going to leave me. I can't lose him."

"You're not going to lose him," said Charming, pulling his daughter into a hug. "He's not the type to go down without a fight and he cares about you. We'll find him. If you are right thinking that Neal did this I doubt he could have gone too far with him. I don't even see how he could have over powered Hook. He's been a pirate for over 300 years, fighting is in his nature."

"Yeah," Emma stated. "I feel like I'm missing something here. I don't think Neal could beat Killian in a fight and I don't think Killian would have just given up. I have no idea where he could have even taken him."

"I'm sure we can find him," Charming stated. "All we need is something of his and Ruby should be able to sniff him out."

Emma just nodded, trying to control her emotions. Something here didn't make sense and she didn't know what to do in this situation. She spent a lot of time trying to find people and right now she was desperate to find Killian before Neal could do him any harm. Finding people in Storybrooke never turned out to be as easy as it was in the city. Nobody ever left any real trail she could follow and half the time people used some kind of magic. The only hope she had right now was that Ruby would be able to sniff out his whereabouts. Emma didn't even realize that Charming had led her back to Killian's ship. Ruby was standing at the docks waiting for them.

"Hey," she said as they approached, giving Emma a reassuring smile. Emma had never been so happy to have so many people in her life who were willing to help her, especially given Killian's reputation.

"Hey," Emma finally replied, weakly. The stress of the situation was starting to get to her and she felt like she could burst into tears at any moment. However, she needed to hold it together if she was going to be any help in finding Killian.

"I'm going to need something of his," Ruby stated, getting right to the point. "A piece of clothing or something. I could use his hook, but clothing tends to hold the scent better."

"I'm sure I could find something," Emma replied, as she headed toward the invisible gangplank of the ship. It felt strange boarding the Jolly Roger when she knew Killian wouldn't be there. She didn't like how empty it felt without him. Somehow everything seemed darker, like he was what brought light to the ship. She was sure it was her imagination or a reflection of how she felt knowing he was gone. When she arrived to his captain's quarters she found one of his chemises' sitting on a chair in the corner. It was looking like the one he was wearing when she finally told him how she felt about him. She figured it would be the best item for Ruby to use at the moment.

After she grabbed the discarded piece of clothing she made it back to the docks where Ruby and her father were still standing. She handed the shirt to Ruby and she smiled before sniffing it. Emma just watched as Ruby began to walk up the stairs to the docks and back toward the town. Charming and Emma followed and she could feel the hope that they would find him. After a minute, Ruby stopped and sniffed the fabric again, before beginning to walk down the road that leads out of Storybrooke. For a second Emma began to panic. She wondered if Neal would go as far as to take Killian out of Storybrooke. Neither of them were affected by the curse so they wouldn't lose their memories, but it would leave her and Henry as the only people who would be able to leave town to find him.

Right now, she didn't want to think about that. Emma had been used to doing everything on her own for so long. Now she actually knew what it was like to have family and friends that cared. She didn't know if she could go back to being alone and she didn't want to. So many people had gathered to help her and she hoped she wouldn't be forced to deal with his by herself. At the moment she felt like the only thing holding her together was the fact that her father was there with her. It sounded stupid in her mind, but for once she was depending on her family and she knew she didn't have to always be strong for them. Charming would cast sideways glances at her to make sure she was okay and part of that was reassuring.

Once again, Ruby stopped and sniffed the piece of clothing before walking off of the road and into the woods. This was much further from their picnic spot than she would have expected. It would take a lot of work to bring Killian all this way, unconscious or not. Neal wasn't stronger than Killian and it was hard to believe that he could have pulled this off without help. It made her realize that it was most likely that Gold had helped Neal with this little plan. His past with Killian wasn't really a secret to the town and everyone knew that Killian's original plan was to kill Gold. She began to wonder if he decided that this would be the best way to get the pirate out of his way.

Emma shook her head trying to get all negative thoughts out of her mind. She had to believe that they would find him. Killian was always strong and never gave up a fight and she couldn't give up on him right now. As they ventured further into the woods, Emma began to wonder exactly how far the town line was from their spot. She had never really made it out in this part of the woods and she didn't want to accidently cause Ruby and her father to lose their memories when they were trying to help her. The walk was beginning to make her uneasy. The further they went into the woods the more she worried. Not only about Ruby and her father, but about Killian and what Neal would want to do with him this far away from town.

Ruby stopped again before changing directions and continuing to walk. Emma had a bad feeling about this. There was something wrong and Emma couldn't place what it was. Ruby seemed confused and she began to look every direction as if she was lost. It wasn't like her. Even before the curse was broken, Ruby always seemed to know where she was going. She had once found Charming in the woods just by her own senses. She had even told Emma once that every person has their own scent and it can take days for it to dissipate. At the time she thought that was kind of creepy, but right now it was what she was relying on. Ruby stopped once again and sniffed the piece of clothing before looking in every direction.

"What's wrong?" Emma asked, almost afraid of what her answer would be.

"The scent's gone," Ruby stated. "It was strong at the docks, which makes sense since that's where he spends most of his time, but it lead me this way. Suddenly I could barely pick it up and now it's just gone. It doesn't make sense."

"What does that mean?" Charming asked, clearly noting the worried look on Emma's face.

"It's like he disappeared," Ruby stated. "Or went underground. I've never had anything like this happen before. Whatever happened, his scent is gone. I can't tell where he went. I'm sorry Emma."