Belle kept her arms around the baby, rocking him gently as he cried.

"I know, you want your daddy. I know. Shhh." She whispered softly, trying to coax him back into sleep.

Thomas Liam Jones was the son of Captain Hook, a man who apparently trusted her. She frowned as she held the boy, wondering how he had come to that decision; after all, she had been with Rumpelstiltskin, and the men had hated each other. However, before he had left with Emma so see David and Mary Margaret, Hook had asked her to look after his son.

"Mr Smee trusts you, as does Emma. And you managed to spend time with the Dark One without becoming corrupt." He had explained. "I don't want my son near any bad influences."

Now that she thought about it though, she wondered if his mentioning bad influences hadn't been about her, but the Charmings, and the trouble they tended to find.

"There we go. Settle down." She murmured, as the child's sobbing began to fade out.

Her eyes drifted over to Mary Margaret, who was sat opposite Henry, reading a book. She sighed and sat down next to Emma's son, hoping things would start to make sense soon. They had missed a full year. Surely over the course of that year she had made peace with Rumple's death.

Thomas started to cry, and as Belle stood back up again, she wished they could regain their memories, if only to lessen the pain her love's death that caused.

"It was right around here that the creature took him." The handsome bandit, Robin, informed them.

"I wouldn't step over that line, if I was you." Emma said, hurrying over.

"You think Little John was taking because he attempted to cross the line?" Robin asked, his concern for his friend evident in both voice and face.

Killian wrapped his arms around his body, fiercely missing his son. He had spent time without the boy before, but really only on the Jolly Roger, where his son was not too far away. But he refused to let David spend much time around the boy. Telling himself that it was irrational to worry that David would take Thomas away the moment he realised their relation didn't help at all. After all, who could resist those large blue eyes and his perfect little face?

Killian was utterly smitten with his son, his heart swelling with emotion every time he glanced at him… at least, whenever he glanced at Thomas and the boy wasn't screaming for hours at a time. It was hard to imagine that David could find out he had such a beautiful son and not want to keep him.

So the pirate was going to keep an eye on the Prince and make sure he hadn't noticed anything.

"What exactly took Little John?" Asked the man, hands on his hips as he stared at the red line.

"We didn't get a good look. Some manner of beast with wings."

"Sounds a lot like the monster that attacked me in New York." Emma muttered.

"You mean the monster you were getting cosy with?" He smirked as she rolled her eyes.

"Getting cosy with? Like dating? Or…" David managed to focus on the wrong part of the statement.

"Did you miss the part where I said monster?"

"We need to find Little John." Robin interrupted, clearly eager to start looking for his friend.

"It may lead us to where everyone else is." Emma conceded. "Take him and the rest of his…"

"Merry Men." Robin smiled at her, and Killian wondered if there was some sort of joke based on their group name.

"Right, them… run a search grid and see if you can find anyone."

"You not joining us, Swan?" Killian asked.

"Not yet. Regina's right. I'm not going to get anywhere talking to people one by one."

"What are you going to do then?"

"Talk to everyone at the same time." She clearly had a plan, and started to head back to her small yellow car.

"Swan?" Killian approached her. "Emma. Check on Thomas for me? He should have had some milk by now."

"I'll check, but I'm sure Belle is doing fine."

"I know. And, I have an extra blanket that Nancy gave me for him. He's not come across such cold weather yet, so he might need wrapping up."

"Don't worry, Hook. I'll ring David if anything happens."

"Is Nancy his mother?" David asked, coming up behind Killian as Emma drove away.

"Nancy only met him once and I am not discussing Thomas with you." Killian said flatly. He turned and headed in Robin's direction.

"Why not? He's a cute kid."

"He's none of your business." Killian replied quietly as Robin began to give instructions on what they were doing.

"Are you raising him on your own?" David asked, with a strange, sad look on his face.

"No. I had my crew." They started moving, the men keeping to small groups of three and four; enough to fight off a monkey and still cover a decent area.

"And now you're on your own?" Robin and one of his men set off in a group with Killian and David, clearly aware of their conversation even if they weren't going to interrupt.

"Belle has him for the minute. And me crew are on their way. Couldn't fit us all in Emma's car."

"They won't be able to cross the line." David told him.

"Why not?"

"I think the protection spell is still in place."

"Protection spell?" Robin spoke up, turning to look at them.

"Yeah. There is a spell around the town to keep it hidden." David elaborated. "I think that's why these beasts can only attack once people cross the line."

"Because they can be seen." His stomach knotted with concern. Would his men be able to cross the line, or would they need Emma to guide them over? Would they be able to get Emma here in time, or would these flying monkeys attack them before they entered.

"What is it?" David frowned at him, apparently noticing his sudden fear.

"Emma gave my men instructions on how to get here. What if they can't get over the line?"

"What if they get hurt before they can…" David finished his thought. "How many are there?"

"Six men. Three of them were Lost Ones and the others were part of me normal crew."

"You kept the Lost Boys?"

"Not all of them. Just the ones who wanted to stay. Some were happy to venture out on their own, but I think I was the most familiar thing to some of them."

"Because they'd seen you before."

"Aye. Some of those lads have been there for centuries. Others for decades… and they originated in many different realms. They needed something they knew."

"So you looked after them." David had a soft look on his face, a gentle smile that pulled at Killian. He scowled.

"What's that over there?" He pointed to a dying leaf, heading over and out the way of David's gaze.

"It's blood. He must have come this way." Robin said. "He's there!"

They hurried over, over the small ridge and down a bank. Pale, shaking, but still alive, Little John lay staring up to the sky. His shoulder was bloodied and it didn't look like an animal bite.

"I've never seen a bite like that before."

"Help me get him up. We've got to get him some help." Robin asked.

Killian crouched down behind the man, helping push him up. Two of the merry men supported him as he stood, and the pirate stepped back.

"Thank you." The bandit said, though he was unable to pull his expression into a smile.

"Don't worry, mate. If I have to go hunting for any of my men, I'm sure you'll return the favour." Killian gave him a small grin. It seemed to help relax Robin.

"Your men?"

"Aye. I'm a captain, and they're trying to get here." They were jogging back through the trees to David's truck.

"I will help in any way I can. You just need to ask." The man vowed.

"Thank you."

"He turned into a monkey." Robin said once again as they headed back out to his camp. "With wings. An actual monkey."

"Sit down." Killian pushed the man onto a log before he fell down. He had his left arm around the sling his son was now in, but he allowed Robin to grip his fingers.

"That's… we aren't in Oz. That's impossible." Killian didn't know where Oz was, but he didn't care.

"Clearly not."

"We're nearly back at camp. Let's not stop." Robin pulled himself up and looked around at everyone gathered; at those of his Merry Men that had joined them, at Killian, David and at Emma, who had picked up Thomas and joined them to help find Killian's crew.

"We need to make sure no one crosses that line."

"Do you know where the town line goes to in the forest?" Killian asked, wondering if the camp would need moving.

"We have an idea, but it isn't marked."

"Regina might be able to see where the spell goes to." Emma mused as she trekked through the undergrowth. "It might be an idea to ask her to help mark it."

"Hook?" Robin said gently. "Are those your men?"

Through the trees, there was a group of men wandering about silently. Killian grinned.

"Aye. That's them." He slung an arm around Robin's shoulders, pleased that the man had spoken up. "Emma?"

"You keep heading towards the camp, but if they are on the other side of the line and are this close, it might be a good idea to move." She frowned slightly, her hair hanging in her face as she turned and headed towards Killian's remaining crew.

"You can call me Killian." The pirate informed Robin. "You helped find me crew, and I don't actually have a hook these days, so…"

"I'm honoured. Thank you." Robin nodded, clearly understanding that Killian was proposing a bond of respect, if not friendship by removing the use of his moniker.

"Do you have space for a few more men? I have some where to sleep with the laddie, but they don't."

"As long as they help out, they are quite welcome."

Killian grinned and, still a few paces ahead of David, walked along side Robin.