Without too much preamble, here's another chapter.
Storybrooke, eleven months ago
After the first few days when Hook surprises her, being oddly quiet and subdued, letting her take care of him with minimal amount of objections, he's back to his old insufferable self by the time Emma wakes up on a sunny Wednesday morning. He's already up, banging in the kitchen, doing God knows what, so she doesn't waste any time getting up and throwing on yesterday's clothes because the level of noise is raising and she clearly doesn't have time to look for something fresh.
"Hook! What are you doing?" She asks him, practically falling into the kitchen in an attempt to stop him before he breaks something. She marvels at the fact that he even attempted leaving Henry's bed just five days after breaking his ribs.
"I was gonna cook you breakfast, since you were kind enough to let me stay with you and help me, but I couldn't find anything to start a fire with-"
"Start a fire with?! What are you- oh", she finally understands, seeing him looking at her as if she's the one who lost her mind.
"This world isn't like yours, Hook. We don't cook stuff on open fire in the backyard, if that's what you had in mind", she tells him sternly, walking around the kitchen and closing various cupboards and the fridge, which must've been open for a while because there's a puddle at the bottom of it.
"Is this the first time you're inside an actual house?" She asks, unable to hide a smile because she never imagined seeing him so confused, and maybe even a bit ashamed.
"Yes", he says, leaning against the sink and wincing a bit.
"Why don't you sit down and I'll show you how stuff works?"
He does as she says, and Emma turns toward the stove, trying so hard not to laugh out loud.
She explains how the stove works, what's the fridge for and why he shouldn't leave it open. He's hanging on her every word, occasionally exclaiming "brilliant" or "amazing", and adamantly refuses to believe that you can make an omelet in a minute until Emma sets it in front of him and dares him to try it and not like it. He looks at the plate, then back at her and tilts his head to the side, his eyes sparkling with good humor before he finally picks up the fork and digs in.
"This is unbelievable", he says around a mouthful of food, and Emma gives him a little bow, as if it wasn't the most common breakfast in the world. She sits down next to him and eats slowly, resting her head on her hand and watching him shove the eggs in his mouth as if this is his last meal. Or first.
"You are bloody brilliant", he tells her, and she shrugs, giving him a bright smile. She's not gonna argue or reject his compliment.
"I thought this was supposed to be a world without magic", he tells her, looking around the kitchen as if expecting something else to appear out of thin air.
"This isn't magic, this is science", Emma tells him, feeling a weird sense of pride on behalf of people who are responsible for everyday miracles that the world takes for granted.
"Are there more wonders like this?" He asks her, not even trying to hide his excitement.
"Finish your breakfast and I'll show you", Emma says, and spends the rest of the morning doing just that.
They're sitting on the sofa and watching Disney's Peter Pan, one of the many movies in Henry's fairytale collection, and Emma is laughing so hard there are tears in the corners of her eyes because Hook looks so bewildered with his representation in this world.
"Who made this rubbish, Emma? I want to kill him slowly. Emma, tell me. This is outrageous. I don't look like that at all. Emma. Emma, stop laughing. Emma this isn't funny. Swan, stop!"
The more he objects, the more she laughs, and she's soon completely breathless, her stomach cramping, her jaw hurting so much she wants to calm down, but she can't.
"You did this on purpose just so you could make fun of me", he says sullenly, and she finally gets her giggles under control, more out of a self-preservation instinct than anything else.
"I'm sorry. You should've seen your face just now, it was priceless", she says, wiping away tears, not even trying to deny the reason behind her popping that particular DVD in.
He finally manages to crack a smile, and it transforms his whole face. She was already on the receiving end of that smile, but this time it's not aimed at her, and it's somehow even more devastating. Just then the phone rings and he starts, jumping to his feet and appearing to expect some kind of an attack.
"Relax, it's just the phone", Emma says and climbs over the back of the sofa to reach it. "Hello. Hi, kid. He did what? Put David on. Okay. Hey. What did he say? That doesn't make any sense. Of course we will. Put Henry back on." Emma listens to Henry telling her how much fun it is to stay with David and Mary Margaret, all the while mulling over what David had just told her, trying to figure out what she should do now. Henry finally runs out of the things to say, and she tells him she and Hook watched Peter Pan, and he laughs at her recounting of Hook's reaction. She's aware of Hook's eyes on her during the entire conversation, but she doesn't turn around or acknowledge him at all. When she finally hangs up, she turns slowly and walks back to the sofa where they sit down at the same time. Emma pulls her knees close to her chest and leans against the armrest waiting for him to break the silence.
"What's happened?"
"You don't wanna know how the phone works first?" She asks, and he gives her a look that speaks louder than words. "Gold came by my parents' house."
Hook jumps to his feet again and Emma pulls him back down by the sleeve of David's hoodie he's wearing again.
"He didn't try to take them hostage, if that's what you're worried about."
"If he had, and asked you to bring me to him, you wouldn't tell me", he says, and they both know he's right.
"But he hadn't, he just came to say that he knows where you are but he won't do anything about it if you stay out of his way.
"How bloody generous of him", Hook fumes, breathing heavily and wrapping his arm around his ribs, a muscle jumping in his jaw when he grits his teeth.
"I'll bring you some painkillers", Emma says, but he follows her to the kitchen.
"Does he just expect me to give up on my revenge? I've been waiting for decades to skin him for what he did", Hook rambles, more to himself than to Emma, but is momentarily distracted when she stands in front of him and pops the pill in his open mouth, giving him a glass of water and watching him as he drinks it.
"The way I see it, you don't have much choice. Even if you could lift a sword, which you can't, it would do you no good because Gold's got magic and you saw what he can do with it."
"That's exactly why this doesn't make sense. He can come here and finish me off at his leisure, and instead he's offering us a truce? What kind of a trap is that?"
"You're forgetting one thing", Emma tells him gently, following him back into the living room, where Peter Pan is still playing. Hook looks away in disgust and raises his eyebrows at Emma.
"What thing?"
"Gold has Belle to worry about now. I think he really loves her, and even with all his magic she's still human and vulnerable, and he doesn't want her to get hurt in the crossfire."
Hook considers this for a while, appearing to accept her reasoning, but he doesn't relax at all, and Emma finds out why when he looks at her and asks her if that means she's gonna kick him out now. He sounds resigned, and it shouldn't affect her as much as it does.
"Of course not", Emma says, cursing herself for sounding so adamant. God knows he doesn't need any encouragement, because he's definitely giving her the bedroom eyes now and wiggling his eyebrows in a very suggestive manner. "Oh shut up."
"I didn't say anything", he says, his smile faltering a little.
"It's just a figure of speech", Emma tells him, and the smile is back full force.
"What I meant to say is that this isn't… It doesn't mean that I… It's just until you recover a bit."
"You're even more beautiful when you're flustered, darling", he tells her, and Emma blinks, trying not to blush. There were dozens of guys telling her she was beautiful, so why does it make her breathless when he says it?
"Henry's gonna be here in a while, and I need to start dinner", she says, desperate for a change of subject. "He's been away from home for too long, so from now on, you're sleeping on the sofa."
"Do you want me to help with dinner?" He asks, ignoring the opportunity to tease her about sleeping arrangements. She almost falls off the sofa in amazement because it's the second time today he's offering to cook, and if she's being completely honest, it's a big turn on. But she's never, ever gonna tell him that.
"You can cook?" She asks just to be sure, and he nods, a twinkle in his eye telling her he's onto her.
"Of course. I'm the Captain, and my sailors aren't all that bright, but they expect a meal under any circumstances, such as the cook being sick, or dead. I was forced to learn, otherwise I would've had a mutiny on my hand and hook every other month."
Emma smiles faintly at the pun, deciding to swing by the hospital and ask doctor Whale if he could find Hook some kind of a prosthetic hand, because she won't have him running around with a hook with Henry in the house, and she can't expect him to just get by with one hand.
"Emma?"
"Hm?" She looks up at him, shaking herself back from her reverie.
"You looked… does this bother you?" He asks, raising his stump, which is almost hidden with the sleeve of the hoodie, because David is a bit taller and has longer arms than Hook.
"Don't be ridiculous", Emma says and starts toward the kitchen, because she doesn't want to tell him that it bothers her the wrong way; it doesn't bother her because of the way it looks, it just hurts to think that he had to go through that kind of pain and live without his hand after losing it.
Hook follows her to the kitchen without questioning her answer any further, and then they make dinner.
The doorbell rings when the meal is almost ready and Emma leaves Hook in charge, racing down the hall to open the door, but it's not Henry standing on her porch. Emma tries to close the door on Regina and Cora, tries to think of a way to fight them off but her gun is at the station and she doesn't have any idea how her magic actually works. She knows she'd been too focused on Hook and Gold, and neglected these two completely, somehow managing to forget how dangerous they are.
"Relax. We're not here to hurt you", Regina says, keeping the door open with a wave of her hand, and Emma's eyes widen in surprise. She comes out on the porch and closes the front door behind her, trying to keep both of them in her line of vision.
"What do you want?"
"We heard about Gold, you and Hook", Cora says, and Regina shots her a warning look.
"I miss Henry", Regina says, sounding so sincere and soft Emma can barely believe her ears.
"What does that have to do with Gold and Hook?" Emma says, her voice like ice. If Regina thinks she can take Henry, she's got another thing coming because Emma would rather die than let her.
"I know you think I'm a bad mother, but I can do better, you just need to give me a chance", Regina says, and Emma steps back. She's glad Henry's running late, even though he's probably not much safer at her parents' place.
"You can't have Henry", she says, and Regina shakes her head.
"I just want to spend some time with him, if he wants to. Just lunch once a week at Granny's or something like that", Regina speaks fast, as if she's hoping to get everything out before Emma objects.
"Why would I let you have even that after everything you've done to me, to the people of this town?"
"Because we-"
"Mother, please. Let me handle this", Regina shuts Cora up and turns back to Emma. "Gold is dangerous and he's strong, but the two of us are stronger than him. If you give me just this one thing, we'll protect everyone you love, not just Henry." The offer is tempting, but Emma feels dirty even thinking about it, trading everybody's safety for Henry's time with this woman.
"You know that everyone means Snow too", Emma says, and she can't believe she's considering this, but she'll need all the help she can get in case Gold is only bluffing.
"Yes", Regina says, and it's clear from that simple word how much Henry means to her.
"I'll talk to Henry. If he wants to have lunch with you I'll let you know, but I'll watch you like a hawk." Emma says, trying not to sound as hostile as she wants to.
"Thank you. We'll go have a talk with Gold right now", Regina says, her smile genuine for the first time since Emma met her. Her and Cora turn and leave her standing there, trying to slow down her racing heart, wondering if she had just made a deal with one Devil to keep in check another.
David brings Henry back a couple of minutes later, but doesn't stick around because Snow is waiting with dinner at home. He's almost civil with Hook, and Emma is relieved that there would be no need for her to play the peacemaker again.
"You're Captain Hook", Henry says, walking up to Hook and looking up at him with a grin.
"Actually, my name is Killian", Hook says, giving him a genuine smile that almost takes Emma's breath away.
"I'm Henry." Henry tries to look serious as they shake hands, and Emma finds it adorable.
"I know. Your mum was really anxious to get back to you from fairytale land", Hook tells him, and Henry beams at her, his smile as warm as the sun in the sky.
She can see the danger right away, she can see that Henry will fall under Hook's spell as easily as she almost did, and unlike her, he won't put up a wall to keep him out. A part of her knows that she should either kick Hook out right now, or keep Henry as far away from him as possible, but she does neither. Henry is ecstatic that there is a real pirate in the house, even if he doesn't look like one at the moment, and she doesn't have the heart to take that away from him, not after everything else she's already put him through. Emma makes excuses, tells herself this is just temporary, that Henry's gonna be safe here, that Hook doesn't have anywhere else to go and that Gold won't come around and accidentally hurt Henry instead of Hook, but deep down inside she knows that's all s load of bullshit. The only way to keep Henry completely safe is to send Hook packing, and she won't do that, she can't do that. This is her way of apologizing to him for leaving him on top of that beanstalk, and when he meets her eyes over Henry's head, she thinks he knows that even without her saying a single word.
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