Tinkerbell didn't stay with them for long. As soon as she learned they had no means to escape she left them back at square one. Hook's next plan was to visit Baelfire's home on the island. It was a painful visit for Belle. The boy's marks on the wall reminded her of her own time in captivity and the mutual pain suffered by father and son.
When they discovered Neal's map Belle volunteered to decode it. Although she generally relied on her books for research she had been fascinated by astrology as a girl and memorized a great deal. As the other women in the group sought a way to get a message to Henry and the men searched the jungle for vines, Belle sat staring at the stars intently searching for answers. She spent so much time on her task that her head began to hurt and she was forced to take a break.
Not wanting to interrupt Mary Margaret's time with Emma she went in search of the men. It didn't take long to find them but when she did she saw David on the floor with Hook standing above him.
"What did you do to him?" Belle demanded rushing to David's side.
"Nothing!" Hook replied offended by the accusation.
"It's Dreamshade isn't it?" Belle guessed shaking David. She had spent a lot of time watching her companions and she could tell that something was different with her friend. Occasional exchanges between David and Hook had narrowed down the options and now there were no alternatives.
"Here." Hook offered handing her his flask.
The booze smelled potent and Belle cringed at the odor but the taste had the necessary effect and David choked his way conscious.
"Give him another." Hood recommended refusing the flask Belle tried to return to him.
"No." David protested getting on to his feet. "I'm fine."
"No you're not." Hook said pushing him against a tree as Belle scurried out of the way. "I thought you had days left. Let me see."
"No!" David guarded his chest in protest to Hook's prodding.
"Let him see David. He's been to Neverland before. He knows about these things."
Reluctantly David lifted his shirt to reveal dark lines outlining his veins.
"The Dreamshade has almost reached your heart." Hook noted. "It's hours. You have to tell your family."
"No. Not when I can still help them save Henry." David protested.
"Hook is right. You have to tell Mary Margaret and Emma. They'll want to know. There must be something we can do." Belle reasoned, searching her brain for anything she might have read about Dreamshade. "Rumple can help."
"Gold!?" David exclaimed in disbelief. "The man who left us before we reached the island. I bet."
"I'll call for him. He'll come. He'll help."
"Don't waste your brea-" David stopped in mid-sentence, his attention drawn to an object on the ground.
"What is it?" Belle wondered watching him pick up a leather strip.
"It's military insignia." David said brushing dirt off the object. "Jones. You know him?"
"Aye." Hook replied catching the item David tossed. "He was my captain and my brother. We voyaged this infernal island a long time ago. This was on the strap of his satchel. He lost it in a duel with Pan. It must have washed down in the rains that wrecked the Jolly Roger."
"From where?" Belle asked looking up into the dark sky.
"Deadman's peek. I thought it was gone forever." Hook somberly replied staring at the memento.
"What was gone?" David pressed, eager for anything to help in what could be his last hours.
"No. It's too dangerous." Hook said walking away.
"What's too dangerous? If you know something that can help us...Don't hold back." David pleaded following Hook.
"If this insignia survived all these years then perhaps my brother's satchel did as well. And inside that satchel is a sextant that can help us decode Neal's star map that can get us off this island."
"I know how I'm going to spend my last hours. We're gonna find that thing." David's eyes flared with determination as he looked up into the sky at their target.
"Well look you might reach the top but you'll die before you return."
"Then come with me and make sure the sextant gets back to Emma. You'd be a hero." David hated offering his daughter as a prize but he knew she could do whatever it takes to save her son.
"I don't know Mate."
"David. You can't do this. You must tell Mary Margaret that you are sick. Let her go with you," Belle suggested. "We can all go."
"No. They need to get a message to Henry. They need to find him before Pan does anything worse. I can't be a distraction." David insisted unmoved by Belle's pleas. "I'm going. Are you coming with me?"
"Might as well." Hook agreed with a casual shrug.
"Good. Let's go tell the others." David said leading the way back to camp.
"Where did you learn reverse psychology?" Belle asked once David was out of earshot.
"I'm a man of many talents."
"I bet." Belle replied coldly, unmoved by Hook's charm. "What's really up there?"
"Quite possibly the only thing that can save him."
