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Chapter Eleven
A few days later at Emma's House, the Kitchen
Emma stands at the coffee maker, waiting for consciousness to drip into her mug as Henry quietly munches on his pop-tart at the table. Killian comes bounding down the steps from upstairs and gives Emma a peck on the cheek before opening the fridge door in search of food.
"There are more pop-tarts in the cupboard." Henry says absently as he stares at his phone and misses the amused but disgusted look that Killian gives him over the fridge door.
"You really eat those things? How's about I make us all a real breakfast?" he asks, looking over at Emma questioningly. She is leaning a hip against the counter allowing the first sips of coffee to touch her soul but shares a smirk with Henry before turning back to Killian.
"Maybe another day, babe." she says as the front door opens with a quick knock. Regina walks in, followed by a slightly more wary Snow and David with Neal.
"We have a problem." Regina starts as she steps into the kitchen.
Emma sighs and Killian reaches around her for the coffee, using the excuse to move in close and wink at her, making her smirk.
"Of course we do. What is it today?" she asks, sipping from her mug.
Regina drops a piece of paper on the kitchen table and Emma picks it up as Killian steps up behind her to read over her shoulder.
Jones,
I have borrowed your ship and a couple townspeople to crew it.
I will return them all in mostly the same condition.
Xoxo
Maggie
Killian reaches over to grab the paper out of Emma's hand and read it again in disbelief.
"What the bloody hell is this?" he asks Regina angrily.
Snow answers him, looking worriedly at Henry.
"That was found by Violet's father this morning, on her bed. She's missing."
"WHAT?" Henry stands suddenly, knocking his chair back.
"That woman took Violet? Why?" Henry asks, turning, with everyone else, to a shocked Killian.
"Who is this woman?" Snow asks.
Killian rubs a hand over his face and lets out a frustrated breath.
"Long before Milah, I… spent some time with Maggie." Obviously censoring his terminology for Henry's benefit.
David cuts in.
"That's why she called you 'Jones' instead of 'Hook'."
Killian nods to David.
"Aye. And it's Captain Maggie. She captain's a ship called 'The Cursed Diamond'… or did, last I knew."
Emma starts pacing as she thinks.
"Regina said Maggie showed up on her doorstep a few days ago, looking for some magic." She says, working things out loud. Regina nods.
Emma looks back to Killian.
"Any idea what kind of magic she might be after?"
Killian throws his hand up in exasperation.
"I haven't seen or spoken to the woman in over two-hundred years."
Emma grabs her coat from the back of a kitchen chair and leads the way out the door, saying,
"Well, we know she wants your ship, so let's start there."
She puts a comforting arm over Henry's shoulders as the walk out.
"Don't worry, kid. We'll get Violet back."
A troubled Killian follows Emma and Henry outside, thinking intently to himself. David catches up to him, letting Regina and Snow bring up the rear with Neal.
"Any ideas?" David asks Killian, studying his face.
Killian runs a hand over his jaw and looks at David. Lowering his voice and sparing a pointed glance at Henry's back, he says,
"Maggie has taken lasses younger than Henry's sweetheart for her crew in the past. But as I understand it, they all volunteered for the job. Something isn't right about this."
As the group approach the docks, they see the Jolly Roger just starting to pull away to sea and look at each other to decide a quick course of action.
"Well, Emma. What do you say we go throw some magic around at Captain She-Hook?"
Regina says with a smirk at Killian.
"Hey!" Killian protests at the nickname.
Emma ignores their quips.
"Let's do it." She says, marching forward, up the gangplank with Regina. Snow stands back with Neal and holds Henry's arm to stop him from following.
Emma and Regina step onto the deck and look up at a grinning Maggie at the helm, holding a frightened looking Violet.
About to start hurling insults and magic, Emma and Regina are startled by a loud 'bang' from behind them. They turn to see Killian and David fall backwards down the gangplank as it drops away from the moving ship.
"What the…" Emma begins as she rushes back towards Killian.
Another loud 'bang' sounds and Emma falls backwards onto the deck.
"I wouldn't do that, darling." Maggie says as she descends the steps toward the side of the ship, pulling Violet along with her.
Killian stands on the dock and shouts curses at Maggie.
"What the bloody hell have you done to my ship?"
Maggie turns her head to him and roughly drags Violet up to the magical barrier. She puts her foot on the side of the ship and pushes Violet over the side.
Killian and David lunge forward and Violet falls into Killian's arms. He sets her on her feet and Henry runs forward to hug her tightly.
Maggie grins at Killian from where she stands on the side of the ship and yells to him.
"See? No harm done to the girl. Now Captain, you wouldn't mind if I borrow your girl here for a little quest, would you?"
She glances back at Emma quickly and continues.
"And your bride, as well?"
Not waiting for an answer, Maggie hops down from the side of the ship and starts striding to the helm, chuckling at her own joke.
Emma and Regina give each other a silent look of agreement and then hurl magic at Maggie, but it doesn't touch her. She keeps walking up the steps to the helm, smiling at the women.
"Sorry ladies, that would be too easy, now wouldn't it."
Emma and Regina look around for other ideas and notice a red cape crumpled below the main mast. Emma runs over to find Red, lying unconscious on the deck.
Maggie looks down at them from behind the wheel.
"Ya, sorry about that. But she seemed like a better choice for crew, than the girl.
Emma glares up at Maggie, fed up with everything. She leaves Regina to handle Red and climbs the steps to come nose to nose with Maggie. Maggie raises her eyebrows and waits for Emma to speak.
"Just what the hell do you want from us, lady? You kidnapped that girl obviously to get us on board the ship and used magic to keep us here. Why?"
Maggie pauses for a moment before her arrogant expression slips and she looks away into the distance.
"I needed a crew." She states quietly.
"What makes you think that we will help you with our own kidnapping?" Emma fires back at her.
Maggie narrows her eyes at Emma.
"Because the faster that we arrive at our destination, the faster you can get back to peeling the leather off your dashing captain Jones." she says, going back to staring at the sea.
Emma squints to scrutinize Maggie, hiding a pang of longing that her image had created.
"And where is our 'destination'?" Emma asks as Regina walks up beside her, holding Red up by the arm.
Maggie gazes soberly ahead.
"Tortuga." She whispers to the sea.
The three women exchange confused glances before looking back at Maggie.
"That's that pirate island, isn't it? Why are you taking us there?" Regina asks.
Maggie, suddenly irritated, turns to them and steps forward, threateningly.
"My reasons are my own. Now, if you all plan on getting back to your precious town in good order, I suggest you start helping me get this ship sailing faster."
Emma stands glaring at Maggie for a moment and lets out a frustrated groan as she turns to stomp down the steps, with Regina and Red following her.
"Let's get this over with." She mutters.
Maggie, her smug smile back in place, calls after her.
"You seem tense Emma. You should really speak to your pirate about that."
Emma stops walking and swallows down a nasty retort before continuing to the deck.
Regina and Red follow Emma to the deck as she starts jerkily untangling some rigging.
"What the hell is going on?" asks Red, completely confused.
Emma throws her hands up in the air.
"I don't know. That is apparently Killian's ex-girlfriend and she kidnapping us for some purpose that she won't tell us about. [Emma looks at Red as a thought strikes her] I thought you were in Oz."
Red's face falls and she shrugs sadly.
"I just got back to town. I was sitting at Granny's having a drink and next thing I know… Regina is waking me on the ship."
Regina cuts in with a frown.
"I thought you and Dorothy were living it up in Oz."
A flash of pain crosses Red's face and she turns away.
"Yeah, well, I found out that sometimes someone can be your true love, but that doesn't mean that you're theirs."
Regina and Emma share a look of shock and both reach out a comforting hand to Red.
Maggie leans over the helm and shouts.
"Look to your posts, ladies! It's gonna get bumpy soon."
Emma, Regina and Red all look around to see ominous-looking clouds off the port bow.
"That's where we are headed, girls. Look sharp! That portal is going to take us just where we need to go." Maggie says with an adventurous grin.
The Storybrooke woman all grab on to the closest piece of the ship to them and hang on tight.
oOoOoOoOoOoOo
Storybrooke docks
Killian stands, watching the Jolly Roger disappear over the horizon.
David lays a tentative hand on Killian's shoulder.
"You alright?"
Killian keeps glaring out to sea.
"There are precious few things that I care about in any world and that bitch just sailed off with two of them." He says darkly, clenching his fists.
David drops his hand and turns to Snow with a silent plea for ideas.
Snow shifts Neal to the other arm and comes towards the men, saying,
"Emma and Regina can handle themselves. They both have magic again and Maggie's note did say that she would return them."
Killian keeps silently fuming and David tries another tactic.
"Do you think Maggie would purposely hurt them?" he asks.
The question makes Killian think for a moment and his fists unclench slightly.
"No. Maggie has always looked after her crew. She's gone so far as to avenge them, should they fall in battle."
He blows out a big breath as Henry steps forward, still holding onto Violet.
"Well that's good then, right? My Moms should be ok?"
Killian begrudgingly nods.
"Aye. If Maggie can keep them safe, she will." He says as they all turn to walk back into town.
Killian spares one last glance to the sea and then follows them.
oOoOoOoOoOoOoOo
The Jolly Roger, the other side of the portal
Maggie is intently watching the horizon as she steers the Jolly Roger. Emma hears her murmuring softly to the ship as she walks up to talk to her.
"Do all captains talk to their ships like that?"
Maggie spares a swift glance to Emma.
"Only the ones worth their salt." She answers, conversationally.
Emma nods and leans her elbows against the railing beside the wheel, looking off to the horizon with Maggie.
"I've been thinking it over…" Emma begins.
"I think you need us for something in Tortuga. Something that requires magic."
She turns to study Maggie's stony face and then continues.
"You put magic around the ship to keep Regina and I on board but kept Killian and David off the ship. Are you going to let us in on what we are doing here?"
Maggie, uncharacteristically quiet and sombre, answers her after thinking for a while.
"I suppose the time has come for that." She says uncomfortably and Emma waits.
"I need you to help me rescue someone." She says with conviction.
Emma tilts her head to regard Maggie in a different light.
"Who are we rescuing?"
"A man I have been searching for a very long time."
Maggie says with a deadly glare over the water.
"The man I love was taken from me many years ago and now with your help, I can finally take him back."
Emma nods in agreement after considering.
"Okay. So, you need help. [she raises an annoyed eyebrow] You could have just asked for it."
Maggie matches her glare.
"And you would have, in my place? You don't strike me as the type to go begging strangers for aid, either… and I couldn't risk the chance you would say 'no'."
Emma concedes.
"Fair enough. [looking back over the water] So, what's this loverboy's name? Just so we know that we are rescuing the right guy."
A soft smile crosses Maggie's face as she says his name.
"John Silver."