A/N I'm incredibly happy to read that you all enjoyed that last chapter! I hope you guys like this chapter. By the way I've been a bit late with this chapter because I am finishing off the last chapter for my Captain Swan Valentine's Day themed ficlet 'Be My Valentine.' It's also why I haven't updated my tumblr. Please don't hate me.

Chapter 21: Journey

"Emma!" her father's voice bellowed from the doorway to the office.

Emma pulled away from Killian, looking in horror at her parents whose expression mirrored hers. The pirate cursed quietly, watching the blonde as she jumped away from his grip and started walking towards her parents.

"What is going on?" Mary Margaret said accusingly, giving the mind behind her daughter the death glare. She watched him as he walked up to stand beside the saviour, smiling satisfactorily.

Before Emma could even come up with a suitable excuse, David strode forward and punched the man beside her in the face. He stumbled backwards at the impact and she rounded on her father. Daddy Charming was definitely not happy about catching his daughter kissing a pirate captain.

"David!" Emma yelled angrily and stepped between her father and the cursing pirate. The smirk was definitely wiped off his face and he was looking indignantly at the prince. Mary Margaret was still standing where she had, shocked at her husband's show of violence – if not slightly proud too.

David stepped back towards his wife and eyed the pirate before dropping his gaze to Emma.

"If I ever see you with my daughter again, I'll use your hook against you!" he said threateningly. How was it that her parents, who were the renowned Snow White and Prince Charming, had a knack for vivid threatens – or maybe it was just Killian's effect on them?

The man bristled behind Emma and she turned to face him, putting one hand on his chest.

"I have to talk to my parents. Leave," she said authoritatively, keeping her eyes on him. He looked like he was about to protest but shut his mouth, brushing past the blonde and her parents and leaving the room. The second he left, the condemning looks turned full-force on the young woman.

"What are you thinking?" Mary Margaret asked, striding forward to stand in front of her daughter. David followed his wife, walking up so that he was beside her. This must be what it feels like to get a scolding from your parents, Emma thought bitterly. They were treating her like she was fifteen and unable to make decisions. When she didn't reply, the pixie-haired woman sighed and that was the straw that broke the camel's back.

"I'm not a teenager! Okay? I also didn't call you down here so you could give me those condescending glares!" Emma said angrily, turning around and standing behind her desk. She needed to put some space between them before her temper was really ticked off.

"What? You called us down here so we could see you swapping saliva with Hook?" Mary Margaret asked, equally disdained. She definitely inherited her temper from her mother.

"No! Do you want to know or should I just leave and contact you when I get back?" Emma said, picking up her keys as if to threaten her departure. David placed his arm comfortingly on his wife's and she looked up at him. They exchanged one of those parental looks that said 'we'll deal with this later' before dropping their stares back to Emma.

"Thank you," she said exaggeratedly and let the keys drop back onto her desk with a sharp clang. Mary Margaret flinched and her daughter softened her tone, she didn't like fighting with her parents – as unreasonable as they currently were.

"Gold came by earlier and, long story short, he's cashing in the favour I owe him and we're going on a road trip to find his son."

David was the first to respond, "Wait, when?"

"In about two hours, probably less," she replied and her parents did an obvious double take.

"What?" they asked in unison.

"Yeah, he wants to get going straight away and I can't really demand otherwise – I owe him an open-ended favour," Emma explained, leaning on her desk for support.

"What about Henry?" Mary Margaret asked, still reeling from the news of her daughter's imminent departure.

"He's with Regina so it'll be fine – can you guys catch up with him in the mornings, we have breakfast at Granny's together in the mornings."

"Are you going to tell him?" David asked. Emma looked guiltily down at her fingers; he was in class at the moment and she didn't really want to have to disappoint him by telling him she was leaving for god-knows-how-long. Come to think of it, she didn't really have any idea how long finding Gold's son would take; only that she was to accompany him.

"I don't think I can, he's in class at the moment and Gold's got me on a tight schedule… would you guys mind letting him know? Mary Margaret can you tell him after school?" she asked sheepishly.

Mary Margaret nodded and smiled reassuringly at her daughter, all previous hints of haughtiness vanished. Emma nodded and picked up her keys, looking at the clock she started walking towards the door. Her parents walked in step with her as they moved out of the precinct.

"I didn't even know Rumplestiltskin had a son," David said, still stunned at the revelation that the Dark One possessed an heir. Mary Margaret agreed and their daughter shook her head.

"I didn't know either until this afternoon. I'm guessing he'll explain it all to me on the way to finding the kid, or at least I hope he does," the blonde answered as the three of them exited the building. There was a light rain outside so they stopped undercover to say goodbye.

"Well… I guess this is goodbye until I get back," she said, facing her parents. They embraced her swiftly, and the warmth of love crept up on Emma – she still wasn't used to it. Pulling away, she smiled tightly at her parents before running to jump in her car. Waving from within the car, Emma reversed out of her parking spot and drove towards her apartment building.

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It was exactly eleven o'clock when Gold arrived at the station. She was waiting outside, bag in hand, when he pulled up in his 1980's Cadillac. Trying to avoid the rain that was pouring down in icy sheets, she sprinted to the car, running around and jumping into the passenger side – chucking her bag in the backseat in the process.

Gold looked at her with a face of indifference before he pulled away from the station and began driving towards the border – a strange browning rag draped around his neck.

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"She what?" Henry yelled, looking up into his grandmother's eyes with disbelief.

They were standing on the steps that led to the school's main building and some people picking their children up turned to stare at the two. Mary Margaret's face contorted in sympathy for the young boy.

"She had to go this morning – you remember how she owes Rumplestiltskin a favour?" she said, explaining the situation to Henry. He nodded in understanding but still looked pretty upset.

"Why didn't she wait? I could have gone with her." The boy wasn't even upset that she couldn't tell him herself, he figured that heroes had to do what was necessary and didn't question his birthmother's reasoning once. He also knew that she wasn't abandoning him – anyone who went to as much trouble as she did to get back wasn't going to be hasty to leave anytime soon, especially with what had happened of late.

The adults seemed to think Henry didn't know what was going on with the two men that had beaten his mom up but he knew. They weren't as quiet as they thought they were when they discussed the man named Talice. It was partly why he had agreed to stay with Regina – while he had protested, he realised Emma was probably better off dealing with that man without worrying about her son.

Mary Margaret smiled at the boy, pride showing in the way she cocked her head, "Henry, Emma wants to keep you safe and for her that means keeping you with Regina."

Despite their differences in the past, Mary Margaret knew Regina to be a fiercely protective mother which, in these circumstances, worked quite well. After some further comfort and promise of a hot chocolate every morning at Granny's, Henry settled down. Just as he and his grandmother were about to walk home, the young boy caught sight of someone he'd been wishing to talk to since that night he'd caught him at the hospital.

"Killian!" Henry yelled, running up to the pirate who was walking in their direction. Mary Margaret's eyes widened as the dark-haired man looked up at the sound of his name. As he saw the boy, the mask of indifference changed into one of amiable fondness.

"Henry," he answered as the young boy came to a halt in front of him. Killian could see Mary Margaret speed walking to catch up, too dignified to chase Emma's son.

"I haven't seen you since the hospital, how's the ship?" he asked, genuinely curious.

"Aye, she's good," Killian replied, remembering the boy's immediate interest in sailing at the mention of it. When they had met at the hospital it had been quite the interaction, Henry had called Killian on a bluff that he was here for reasons other than seeing Emma. In a bold move, the boy had called him by his given name – something he'd apparently read in his book of fairy-tales. He'd also been candid about his thoughts towards the pirate, something that he'd definitely inherited from his mother. Killian was slightly impressed by him, especially since the captain usually had no tolerance for children.

Henry smiled sheepishly at the pirate; he was trying to form the words to ask a question but finding it hard. Killian raised an eyebrow at the child, "What is it lad? Spit it out."

"I was wondering if you could teach me to sail."

Mary Margaret's presence was suddenly upon them and Killian's answer caught in his mouth. The young woman looked between them, alternating between a scathing glower and a light scold. She did not like the idea of Henry being fond of this man.

"Henry, how do you know Hook?" she asked lightly, trying not to sound overbearing. It didn't surpass the perceptive young lad that his grandmother was indignant towards the pirate.

"Calm down Mary Margaret, it's just Killian. He's not going to slice and dice me," the young boy said in a tone that could only be described as sass. The pixie-haired woman was silent for a second, trying to decide how best to go about the situation. Killian took his cue to interject.

"I have places to be, lad. But we'll talk soon, savvy?" he said and Henry's face dropped in disappointment. He nodded before managing a tight smile, and then the dark-haired man was walking off again down the road.

Henry turned to his grandmother, evidently annoyed, "Why do you hate him so much? He saved Emma." Mary Margaret faltered in her response. If she was completely honest, she had seen just about as much bad come out of Hook as she had good. There wasn't any actual reason to be completely disdained with him, especially since she was trusting her grandson with a woman who had tried to murder her more than once.

"I'm just wary, Henry. That's all," was her chosen response and the two continued walking down the road. They had just reached Regina's when Mary Margaret pinpointed why she felt so unwilling to give Hook a chance; he was interested in her little girl and she knew, if not the complete story, that her daughter had been burned before. As a pirate, it was expected that as soon as he got what he wanted out of Emma he would leave. That was why Mary Margaret was being cautious. It was because she didn't want Emma to hurt again, not the way she already had.

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"Where are we going?" the blonde asked, getting comfortable in the luxurious leather seat of the 1980's Cadillac. It was a nice car. Gold kept his eyes on the road, it was still raining but it was less of a downpour than it had been in Storybrooke. They had passed the boundary long ago and had been on the road for at least an hour.

"The closest airports, then we are catching a flight to New York," he answered curtly before making a left turn. The blonde beside him nodded, that wasn't the kind of answer she was hoping for.

"I mean, what's the plan for this? Do you know where he is exactly or do we have to search all of Manhattan?" Emma asked, trying to control the need to snort sarcastically. His eyes flitted to the saviour beside him and silence coated the car for a good five seconds.

"I recently came into possession of an object which will allow me to track him down. I know he is in New York because an enchanted globe pinpointed which continent he was in. When we get to New York, you will accompany me as I use the other object to isolate his location. After such time you can return home to your family and that bandit you have so foolishly elected to care for."

Her response to his plan stuck in her throat as she processed his last few words.

"Excuse me? What makes you think I care about Hook?" she asked, feigning ignorance. Gold wasn't buying her denial and smiled cheerily, but then again his cheery smiled coincided with his maniacal smile so it wasn't comforting.

"What is it that made you agree to come at such short notice? I'm sure it wasn't the lure of my presence, dearie." His words were laced with mockery, as they so often were, and it forced Emma to recall his threat that afternoon. She looked out the window, unable to tolerate the sight of the man beside her. He aggravated her more than Killian and that was saying something.

"I'm the sheriff, it's my job to make sure you don't kill anyone," Emma replied, deciding it was the best explanation for her haste to leave. He chuckled darkly; not in the warm way Killian did that sounded like vocal honey, but in a way that made small insects scuttle down her back. This man was utterly repulsive to her.

"I think we both know it was more than just your duty that made you practically run from Storybrooke with me," Gold said, "and please don't insult my intelligence by denying it. You are talking to the man who was personally involved with the union of Prince Charming and Snow White." He smiled at her and she turned away again.

This man knew too much for his own good, "What made you threaten him? How did you even know I'd take it as a threat and not a testament to you not wanting to ruin what you have with Belle?" The title of his weakness made Gold stutter in his response. That brunette was the only reason that the pirate was still breathing.

"I see the little exchanges, even if you don't. He looks at you a certain way, and as much as you'd love to deny it, you look at him a certain way too. Whether it's simple care born out of camaraderie or something else entirely, I'm not sure. However, I do know that there is something which makes him one of your weaknesses."

"Why didn't you threaten Henry then?" Emma asked abruptly, if he'd wanted to expose a weakness by using someone she cared about, all he had to do was mention her young son. Gold smiled knowingly, like he understood the protective instincts felt for children. He probably did, Emma realised unwillingly.

"If I had threatened Henry, you wouldn't have come. You would have become furious and that would have lended a greater chance to my getting blasted by some form of magic." His explanation, as irritating as it was, made sense. Thinking about it, if he'd threatened the young boy she probably would have told the Dark One to piss off and find someone else. Nothing trollops a good deal like threatening someone's child.

Emma nodded and decided she was done talking. There was nothing she wanted less than to think of the twisted relationship that existed between her and Killian – especially after what had happened only hours earlier.

Just a warning but for the next three chapters, the lovely Killian and Emma will be apart (because the plot must develop) but don't be afraid! They're still in each other's thoughts. I just need them apart so I can develop this part of the plot. Please keep reviewing and following and favouriting!