AN: Happy Thanksgiving to those in the states, everyone else Happy Thursday-it's one day closer to Friday which is always good unless you really hate Fridays then it's not.

Chapter 13: The Hook Problem

Prince Charming felt completely useless.

Here he was stuck in Storybrooke holding the fort down, while his wife and Regina were gallivanting around the globe looking for Gold.

He should be with them.

But someone had to stay there to keep law and order, and it was him and Belle who was just as upset as him that she couldn't be Gold hunting.

Well, there was also Robin, Hook, and Grumpy, but they really weren't much of a force especially if his daughter came back into this realm.

He had shuddered at the thought of his daughter becoming twisted like the Dark One. It didn't seem possible to him, even though he had saw it happen.

As of right now though, Storybrooke was eerily calm. The only issue that they were really dealing with was the ongoing soap opera concerning Regina, Robin, Zelena.

But Zelena was locked up until she went to trail, if she went to trial. Storybrooke's justice system had been a little slow these days. The only competent lawyer in town was Gold, and that pretty much said everything you needed to know about law and order in the town.

Charming sighed as he stared at his phone. He had been waiting for Mary Margret to call what seemed like all day. She had called him a few times since she and Regina had flown to London, but the reception had been sketchy at best.

All he knew is that they hadn't found Gold yet, and Belle didn't expect them to.

"I have no idea why Rumple would go to London," She said. "He has nothing there."

"Maybe to start over?" Charming suggested.

Of course, that was before Mary Margret informed him that there was magic in the world. But it still didn't make sense, at least to Belle.

"Then why didn't he go there when we banished him?" She asked, "I mean, that whole Queens of Darkness business was just silly on so many levels. That would make it utterly ridiculous."

And so was the turning every hero to villain, that alternate reality had been utterly ridiculous at best. All it took to get rid of it was Henry, and that was saying something.

David frowned, Belle had a point. "Maybe he didn't know about it. I think we pieced together he didn't want to be in Storybrooke if he could have his magic."

Belle nodded. "Yes—Rumple does love power. But he's powerless now, why would he go to England for magic?"

David didn't have an answer for that. "Hopefully, we'll know more. Regina and Mary Margret are supposed to be seeing a private investigator, to help find Gold."

Belle rolled her eyes.

"What?" David asked, "I thought it was a good idea."

Belle sighed. "Do you really think a random private investigator will be able to find Rumple? I know he's no longer the Dark One, but the man behind the beast was just as smart. Well, smart enough to take that laptop."

And to use cash.

Gold hadn't touched his credit cards, or if he had he was using another identity, David noted. They hadn't had any luck tracking him. He could see Belle's point, what luck would a magical P.I. have finding Gold.

Well, magic obviously.

He told Belle this and she laughed, like what he said was funny. Sometimes Gold's soon to be ex-wife really annoyed him, thinking she was smarter than him. But admittedly she was, most people in town probably were except Grumpy.

David knew he'd never be one for brains, but he had courage and loyalty and that seemed like it was enough for his family.

Well, until Emma had disappeared and now they were on a wild goose chase trying to find the one man that might help them. There'd probably be a price though, even if he was no longer the Dark One.

Belle looked at him, "I don't want to burst your bubble, but Rumple is smart, even without magic. And as I said, I doubt he'd go to that world. Knowing him, he probably moved to Tahiti. That's where we were supposed to have our honeymoon, you know."

"I thought he was taking you to New York."

Belle frowned, "Yes, but we always talked about Tahiti. Well, before he asked me to get married. Before Bae died, he really changed after his death."

Did he?

Because as far as David was concerned, Gold was always an evil villain, though he had been at least moderately helpful until Bae died. He'd give him that.

"I'll check out the airport in Tahiti. Thanks for the tip."

She nodded and looked at him, "You know it's going to be alright, right? Whatever happens, I'm sure you, Regina, and Mary Margret will find a way to deal with it."

"You said Emma could be worse than him, I don't know how we can deal with that."

"I said she might. On the other hand, she might be able to handle the curse better than Rumple. We just don't know until we see her again."

"Then why didn't you suggest that we summon her."

"Because the transition period, isn't something you want to deal with, David. I know you're not much of a reader, but I there's a lovely book that explains some of the mythos surrounding the Dark One."

Charming rolled his eyes. He hadn't read a book since his mother had ended his home schooling. Even David Nolan didn't read. Except for maybe his lawn mower's instructions, or maybe that's how David Nolan ended up in the coma by not reading the instructions correctly—he forgot his cursed history. The point was whatever book Belle was going to lay in his hands, he wasn't going to be able to read.

Belle sighed, "Fine. Basically, I'd wait till you can talk to Rumple about probably summoning/handling Emma or wait till she appears on her own."

"Do you think she'll be able to do that?" David asked.

"Honestly, I don't know." Belle said.

She had been quite moody these past few days, David noticed. Then again, most of the time he didn't pay attention to the town's librarian. At best she was Gold's cheerleader, but even since Emma became the Dark One she had been the constant bearer of bad news and it wasn't something that Charming exactly liked.

She was the best ally he had right now. Hook was being dramatically moody. He was glad Regina had secured the dagger; otherwise, he was pretty sure the former pirate would've been summoning Emma and then some.

And then there was Robin, who was more or less bemoaning about Regina leaving him all alone with Zelena who was currently pregnant with his child.

David had spent a lot of time with Robin, mainly because he was the closest he was going to get to a deputy and more importantly both of them couldn't cook worth a flip, so they had been taking the boys to Granny's every night to get sustenance.

Oh that's right, he sort of had Henry for an ally too, but Henry was beating himself for destroying the quill.

And honestly, David really didn't feel like giving him that much of a pep talk since that quill would've came in handy right about now.

Belle frowned, "You look exhausted, David. You want to get something to eat at Granny's. They're not going to call, it's three in the morning over there."

Time changes that was something else he wasn't familiar with. "I wonder why she didn't call?"

Belle shrugged. "I know Mary Margret; she'll call you when she wakes up tomorrow. Now come on, let's get something to eat. I have a craving for a burger AND I need to talk to you about Killian."

She really liked her hamburgers, Charming noticed as he picked at his tuna salad. Finally he asked, "What is Hook doing now?"

"He asked me if I had any access to Rumple's spells. I think it's obvious; he wants to break into the vault and get the dagger. You and Regina shouldn't have told him where the dagger was, he's a pirate David. He's not going to stop until he gets the dagger."

"He won't." David said. "No one with magic is going to help him. Blue and the other fairies will refuse, and no one else can do spell work here. Well, you sort of can."

"I can do basic potions, anyone can do basic potions." Belle stated. "If they read the proper books."

At that she gave Charming a look.

"You think Killian has gotten himself a magic book."

"The library was raided last night," Belle said. "I left a message on your voice mail, but you didn't pick up."

"Sorry, I'm not the best with technology." David said,

Belle rolled her eyes, "You seriously cannot check your voice mail?"

"Well, I was in a coma for most of the curse, I really didn't have that much time to adapt. And Emma was doing all the technical aspects of sheriff duty so I never learned."

Belle cut him off. "I was locked up in the psych ward for twenty-eight years and I still can check my voice mail box."

What was her problem?

He sighed. "Sorry, not my forte."

"Whatever," Belle said. "You're going to need to intervene though, he is not going to stop until he gets the dagger, David."

"Do you really think that?" David asked. "I think Killian has enough common sense to know not to mess around with that."

Belle gave him a look.

"What? He's changed. You even sided for him instead of Gold."

"Just because I didn't want Rumple to commit another homicide, does not mean I am best friends with Killian. Though I'll admit, we had a moment. Or I thought we had a moment, I really had a moment with Rumple."

She seemed so frustrated. Not that David was that surprised if he was Gold's significant other he'd probably be having an existential crisis too.

He sighed. "You get what I mean."

She shook her head. "The point is that Hook's desperate. And a desperate Hook is never a good thing. Might I reminded you of what he almost did to me a couple a years ago."

"That was before he and Emma got together. Killian is a hero now."

Belle rolled her eyes, Charming decided he liked her a lot better as a background character. "Hook isn't absolved of his past, just because he's been doing the right thing since he's been seeing Emma."

"I thought you liked Hook and you were helping us."

"I'm just stating reality. People can change, but once you've been touched by darkness. Look, a lot of people think I'm a fool for being with Rumple. And perhaps I was. I think what my problem was, is that I didn't realize that someone can't be completely free from the darkness. Yes, they can change, but there's always going to be a part of them that's connected to the dark."

"Hook's different than Rumple."

"He ransacked the library, Charming. You saw him when he threw his epic fit about the dagger. He wants to summon her, he is going to try his hardest to break Regina's spell. And then, I don't want to think about what's going to happen."

He sighed. "Well, what do you expect me to do about it?"

She sighed, "I don't know, something. We just can't let him go on this way. Maybe talk to him?"

"Well, didn't you do that?"

Belle looked at him. "I'm his mortal enemy's wife, I don't think that exactly makes us besties."

"And I'm his girlfriend's father."

"Exactly." Belle said as she got up leaving him with the check.

David sighed as he got out his wallet, why did she have to leave him with the bill. And where was he going to find Hook.

Ruby looked at him and shook her head. "It's on the house, you look upset. Is Snow still gone?"

He sighed, "Is it that obvious?"

"Well, you do look lost without her." Ruby said. "It's okay, she looks the same when you're not here. Was that Belle who just left?"

Charming nodded. "She warned me about Hook, you've seen him?"

Ruby shook his head. "I'm betting he's probably at the Rabbit Hole. That man drinks when he's upset, Charming. It's pretty obvious that what happened to Emma really messed him up."

Charming nodded. It had been so hard for anyone in town to talk to him about what happened to Emma. It was probably difficult for them too, he thought. After all, Emma was the savior of Storybrooke. "It's okay, Ruby."

She sighed heavily, "No, it's not. I really don't know what to tell you."

He sighed. "Well, you told me enough. I guess I need to see Hook."

He forgot how drunk Killian could get.

The pirate was beyond approachable at the Rabbit Hole, and Charming was absolutely appalled when he saw that he had one of the Bimbettes sitting on his knee.

Really, Emma wasn't even gone for a month and he already had a girl slobbering all over him. Well, he guessed he should've been glad that he wasn't continuing his awful plan to summon Emma.

"Killian," He said after the Bimbette that he was flirting with had gotten up. "What are you doing?"

"Having a drink," The pirate said.

"With a Bimbette?"

The pirate rolled his eyes. "Swan is not here. And it's nothing. It's nothing. You know, she's the only woman for me, David."

"Didn't seem like it to me." He said.

Killian glared at him. "You haven't even tried to bring her back her, to save her."

"We're working on that." David said.

Killian glared at him, "You didn't even try to summon her."

"You know what Belle said," He said, "Think, would Emma want to be a threat to you, to Henry, to everyone she loves? No. We're going to do this right. We're going to find Gold and then we'll bring her back and help her."

"Waiting for the Crocodile? Like he'll help us. We'd be better off summoning her now. The longer the curse sets in the less likely Swan will still be there."

He couldn't even form a coherent sentence, Charming thought. Sighing he said, "Buddy, I think it's time you and I went home."

Hook laughed. "Home. That's rich. I don't even have my bloody ship anymore. Or do I? It's hard to remember the continuity of these things."

He had way too much to drink. "No ship tonight, if you have it. You can stay in Emma's room."

"Swan." Killian murmured. "I have to save Swan, you have to help me save your daughter, man."

"And we will," David said. "You have to be in your right mind though."

Killian gave him a look. "You suck, Charming. I hate doing things your way."

"And yet, you are going to do them my way." Charming said, "You have no choice."

"Aye, I'll figure out a way to get the dagger." Hook said. "I am not going to wait for the Crocodile."

"Good luck with that," Charming said as he did something that sort of surprised him. "Right now though, you're heading to lock up."

"I thought I was headed to Swan's room. I could do with smelling her shampoo."

David rolled his eyes. "You're publically intoxicated. More so than Grumpy usually is and more importantly you just threatened Storybrooke."

"By summoning Swan? Seriously?"

"We're not going to summon Emma, till we know how to do it safely." Charming said. "And if that means locking you up in jail Killian, then so be it."

Chapter 14 Preview: In which Harry suffers from Irritable Harry syndrome meets with an Evil Queen and tries to figure out his Gold problem.