For those of you worried about there not being a sleeping curse, there is no need to worry. Snow and the apple is the absolute most canon part of the Snow White story, and I would never leave that out. Like I've said I'm following the show very loosely, so of course I'm going to change things. I don't want to follow the show too closely or I'll feel like I'm just copying it. Also, I don't usually spoil, but some have also been concerned that there will be a romance between Snow and Hook. Hook will make a few remarks here and there like he always does but there will NOT be any attraction from either side. Snowing will ALWAYS be the central part of this story. They'll have problems now and then like any married couple, but they will always be each other's one and only.

Anyway, hope this clears things up and that you enjoy the next chapter!


Jolly Roger. Where had she heard that name before? She knew she'd heard it before. It was in tales she'd heard growing up. Snow looked at the dark-haired man holding the blade firmly against her throat, trying to place him, but still didn't know who he was.

"You, little princess, are going to get me a fortune," he said, withdrawing his sword and bowing mockingly. "Many thanks, your grace."

She tried again to lunge at him, but the other two held her back. "You can't turn me in!" she called out. "Don't you understand? You can't do this."

"Can't I?" he said more like a statement. "Do you not know who I am, princess?" he said, and lifted his other arm to reveal a silver hook gleaming in the low light.

Her eyes widened. Captain Hook. No, that wasn't possible. She had heard stories about him growing up. This man before her only looked a few years older than her. . . how was that even possible? Never mind, she had more important things to think about. "You can't turn me in," she said again.

Hook smiled a disturbingly charming smile and bent down to her level. "And why is that, love?"

"Because if you turn me in, it'll be over. Regina will have full power and no one in this world will stop her. If you don't let me go, the world will cease to exist as we know it. Do you think she'll stop at the Enchanted Forest? She won't stop until she had conquered every last realm. Is that what you want?"

"I'm a pirate, love. I have no quarrel with anyone except for those standing in my way. Don't take it personally; I'd be quite content to let you go if there wasn't such a pretty reward on your head. Besides, what damage could you possibly to do the queen? Have you any magic that I'm not aware of?" he said, caressing her cheek with his hook. "Something tells me you have many hidden talents," he said, looking at her pointedly.

Snow jerked her face away. "Don't touch me," she said, disgusted. "I'm the only one who can lead an army against her. Who will fight for the kingdom if not their true queen?"

He scratched the back of his neck absently. "Sorry, princess, but I've always been bored of politics," he said, and made his way to the door.

"Wait," she gasped. "Wait!"

Hook scowled and faced her again. "What?" he said, dryly.

"The execution that was supposed to take place today, I'm sure you've heard of it."

"Actually, that was yesterday. You must have been asleep for a long time. Anyway I was there, what of it?"

As much as she hated it, her voice took on a pleading tone. "That man, the one who Regina took. . . he's my husband. If you don't set me free now, she'll kill him."

"That doesn't concern me, love," he said, and turned away again.

"She'll rip his heart out!" she cried. She was surprised when he turned around, stunned, so she continued. "She's done it before. She'll rip his heart out, then through her sorcery she'll use it to control him. She'll make him her slave. She'll do. . . unspeakable things to him. And if you turn me over, she'll have no more use of him and she'll do who knows what to him. Please, if you have any mercy at all, you have to let me go," she begged.

The pirate jerked his head to the door, and the three other crew members filed out. When the door was firmly closed behind them, he stared at her, as though to gage if she was telling the truth or not. "What do you mean she'll use the heart to control him? When you take the heart out, the person dies."

Had he had some experience with it before? "Not all the time, apparently. I've seen the effects firsthand. She did it to someone I know who tried to show me mercy, and now she's using him as—" she couldn't bring herself to say it.

"A bed slave," he finished for her.

"Yes," she said quietly.

"And you're afraid that the same will happen to him unless you run to his rescue?" he said as though he was talking to a child.

"I know she'll do that," she said, annoyed at his tone. "She says I'm her worst enemy. What do you think she'll do to the people I love?"

"Well," he sighed deeply. "You've put me in quite the dilemma. Help a young maiden in distress, or get rich. . . which do I choose?"

"Is all you pirates care about money?" she said angrily.

"I don't know you," he said, coming within inches of her face. "I owe you nothing."

"You must know some of what I'm going through or you wouldn't have responded the way you did. What if someone had helped you the way you now have an opportunity to help me? You can help me now, pirate, and stop any more of this evil from happening. Please. If you turn me in, it's all over, and everything I have done, everything he has done, will be for nothing. They've already taken so much from me, don't let them do this too."

He sighed again and averted his eyes. He opened his mouth to speak, but was interrupted when excited voices came from outside. One of the pirates who had been in there earlier burst through the door. "Captain!"

"What is it, Smee?" he scowled. "I told you to get out of here."

"They're here. King George's soldiers. Now we can turn her in and get the fortune that comes with it," he said earnestly.

Hook looked away, rubbing the back of his head with his only hand. He cast a look at her, and she saw that he was conflicted. She had to use this to her advantage. "Please, Captain," she said to boost his ego, "I need your help. You've been touched by this magic before; that much is obvious. If you help me, you can help me put a stop to it. Please.

The captain looked at his crewmate. "Captain," the short man said. "Shall I tell 'em we got her?"

He looked at her again, but this time she said nothing. A beat passed. She heard voices up on deck, and she fought a wave of panic away. Hers and the lives of so many hung in the balance of this pirate's decision.

"Captain?"

"Will you shut up and let me think, Smee?!" he rasped as loudly as he dared.

Swearing loudly, he scowled and stalked toward Snow quickly. Muttering more curses under his breath, he tied the blindfold back around her eyes. She didn't fight; she was on a ship full of her enemies. This time she wasn't going to escape. "I hope you enjoy your money while the world falls to ruin," she said thickly as he pulled her to her feet.

"Shut up, princess," he said. "Give me one minute," he called to the other man.

"But—"

"Do as I say."

She heard the door close, and felt the pirate hoist her over his shoulder. "What are you doing?" she said, struggling.

"I said be quiet!" he hissed.

She had no idea what was going on, but she felt herself being jolted forward, spun to one side, and nearly dropped a few times as though he was going through an obstacle course. When he finally set her down, he sat her on a platform. She heard a loud banging noise and he told her to draw back into the wall. She slid back into what she assumed was a hidden compartment. "Stay there and don't say a word unless you want them to find you."

"You aren't turning me in?"

"Don't act so surprised," he said dryly, and she heard the small door shut. Now that she was alone, she pulled off the blindfold with her bound hands. The small space she was in was barely big enough to hold her, even though she was practically curled into a ball. She could see a little light through the cracks, but nothing more. She was tempted to try to sneak out while the captain was busy, but she knew better. She would never find her way off this boat.

After a few minutes, she heard voices enter the room. "This here is my humble dwellings," the pirate drawled in feaux respect to the soldier.

"Where is she?"

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"A villager said he saw someone bringing an unconscious woman on board. Where is she?"

The pirate laughed nervously, and her heart froze. "I'm afraid you just missed that one, mate. The wench was my wife—well, not in the legal sense," he said casually. "One of them, at least. Tried to run away from me so I had her brought back. All she did was whine all night, so I sent her off."

"A likely story."

"It's the only one I got," he said, and she could practically hear the shrug in his voice. "She could confirm the story if you want, but I'll wager she's gone on some other ship searching for adventure by now."

"What was her name?" the soldier said, still not believing him.

"She called herself Lara, but I can't say if that was really her name." He chuckled. "Women like her go by many names, you see."

"Why should I believe you?"

"Look at me, good sir. What am I? A pirate? Now tell me, what good pirate would hoard a prisoner with a reward like that on her head? Believe me, if I find her, I'll be on my way for the reward without hesitation."

There was a long pause, and through the small cracks she could see the soldier nodding to another, and he called out a command for everyone to leave. Hook went with them. After what seemed like hours, the captain finally returned.

She saw him coming through the cracks, and he banged on the area above the door, and it flew open. She stared at him for a moment, suddenly feeling tongue-tied. They were in his room, alone, and it made her nervous. Any screams she might utter now would go unanswered.

"Apologies princess, but I had to put your blindfold back on. There are passages in this ship that I only know about, and I'd like to keep it that way." He held out his hand to help her out, but she didn't grab it, and slid out by herself. He raised his brows, but didn't comment on it.

"So you're letting me go?"

"I'm not turning you in, if that's what you mean," he said as she slid off the platform that she now saw was a chest of drawers.

"What is that supposed to mean? You said you would let me go," she said rigidly.

"I never said anything of the sort."

With a scowl, she ran toward him and ran him against the wall with an arm at his throat. "You listen to me, pirate. I have been through more in the past month than you have been through in your entire pathetic little life, and I am not going to let one pirate get in the way of what I need to do."

"You're on my ship, princess. I don't think threatening me is the best decision to make right now."

She stepped back. "Let me go."

"I can't."

"Let me go!"

"Where are you going to go, you fool? Are you going to walk the plank?"

Her face paled. "What? We. . . we're out on sea?"

"If we'd stayed any longer, more soldiers would have come. We're safe now."

"You're lying. I didn't feel any movement—"

"That's because you're on the Jolly Roger, love. We set out to sea right after the soldiers left."

Forgetting the fact that she was his prisoner, she strode toward him and threw a blow toward his face, but he grabbed her wrist and forced it down. "Why are you doing this? What do you have to gain from kidnapping me?"

"If you'll be silent for more than a second I'll explain it to you," he said dangerously close to her face. "Back there, this ship is just as vulnerable as anything else. But out on the sea, we'll be safe. This is my domain, princess. No one is going to go up against the Jolly Roger if they value their life."

"Those men just did."

"A mistake that I've made sure they'll never make again. I gave them a warning they won't take lightly about what I'll do if they ever come back."

Snow stared at him for a moment longer before wrenching her hand away. She turned away and raked her hands through her hair. "I have to go back."

"We can't. Not now."

"Of what use am I to my husband if I'm here?! I have to go back and get help," she said, fighting tears.

"And we will," he assured her in a somewhat gentle voice. "But after it gets safer. Go back now and they'll find you, and your little quest will really be over."

"So what am I supposed to do? Just wait here while he's out there suffering?"

"There's little more you can do," he said grimly. "And by the way, lass, I saved your life. You should be thanking me right now."

ooOoo

Abigail sat against a tree trunk, staring at the nearby fire. It had been two days since the execution was scheduled. She had been so close. So close, and she failed. Everything she ever did failed. What use was she if she couldn't rescue James? After everything he'd ever done for her, she couldn't even save him. He'd given her everything. Her husband, her family. . . if it hadn't been for him, she wouldn't have had any of it. And she had failed him.

Frederick knelt in front of her. "Abi, you need to eat something."

She looked at him through tears. "I can't."

He sighed silently, understanding her pain. "We tried, Abigail. We did everything we could. How were we to know Regina would be there?"

"We could have tried harder."

"If we had tried harder, she would have seen us and killed us, leaving our children orphans. Is that what you want? I know you care about James, and I know we owe him a lot, but I'm not going to make orphans of our children. I can't do that to them."

Abigail closed her eyes. "I know. But I still. . . Frederick, we planned everything so carefully. We were going to rescue him and—" she couldn't finish before she had to stop. Another word and she would dissolve into tears. Why did everything go so wrong? They had the perfect plan to get him out of King George's dungeon, then when they found out he was being executed they had to come up with a new plan to get him out before they killed him. If only Regina had come a moment later.

"We're just going to have to find another way. I don't know what, but we'll think of something."

"There may be a way," Abigail said.

"What do you mean?"

"Regina isn't going to kill him. If she wanted him dead, she would have just let George kill him. She needs him, and I think we both know that she wants him as leverage so she can get Snow. All we have to do is get him out of her castle."

"All we have to do? Abigail, how are we going to break into her dungeons?"

"We aren't going to break in," she said, her eyes set with determination. "We are going to use the key."

ooOoo

Rumpelstiltskin really couldn't help himself. When he found out that Regina had finally returned to her castle, he had to go see her. Everything was going so perfectly according to his plan. It wouldn't be long before everything was complete. There were other ways it could have been accomplished, of course, but this way was much more fun. He enjoyed scheming and toying with everyone's lives and seeing everything fall into place. It was what he did best, and he really was the best.

When he transported himself into Regina's castle, he went to the Huntsman first. He'd been meaning to for a while now, but he never seemed to find the chance to do it. He wasn't quite sure why. Maybe it was just because he pitied him. The man really was innocent, and Regina was crossing the line with his punishment. Like he had told her before, even he would never stoop that low. To be used as a piece of flesh that way. . . even he, the Dark One, the Imp, the master manipulator and wrecker of lives found it completely sickening. He would have just opted for a nice, clean, simple death, but Regina had a habit of drawing things out for far too long.

He watched the Huntsman for a while, but never made his presence known. What would he say to him, anyway? What was he supposed to do? Hold his hand and give him words of comfort? As if any words of comfort he uttered would even help.

When he found Regina, she was talking to her father in a large room by a fireplace. She looked different, more like she did before she took on the "Evil Queen" persona, as the people were now calling her. He stood before the doorway watching them for a moment before he announced his presence.

"Well dearie, it's nice to see a little family reunion, isn't it?" he said in an exaggeratedly happy voice.

Regina stood up quickly as did her father, and he gasped. "Regina, that's the man—that's the thing that ruined your mother. He's the one who made her what she was," he said, pointing a finger at him.

"Father, it's alright," she said, trying to calm him down. "He's only here to help me," she said in a very convincing voice.

"Help you with what?"

"A personal matter," she said softly. "Please papa, wait here. I'll be back in a moment." She left him then and started striding toward Rumpelstiltskin, anger apparent on her face. When they were out of the room and well out of earshot, she stopped and faced him.

"What are you doing here? Of all times to interrupt, you picked the worst," she said angrily.

"Calm down, dearie, I only wanted to see how you were getting on with your new. . . prisoner," he said, watching for any reaction.

"What about him?"

"I'm most curious as to how you plan on using him to find your little Snow White."

As he knew she would, she told him everything. She always gloated too much and told him her plans. "When the time is right, I'm going to send her a message that I want her presence back here or else I will kill her husband. Then I'll use the sleeping curse on her. If she refuses to take the apple, I'll threaten everyone she loves. Someone as noble as her wouldn't dare refuse," she said dryly.

"And when exactly will the time be right?"

"The curse I got from Maleficent isn't quite working the way I'd hoped. Through research I learned that it only works on certain items, such as a special kind of spinning wheel, or an apple. Unfortunately, there are no more of the kind of spinning wheels I need any more since they've all been destroyed, but there is one apple nearby."

"And?"

"It is with the blind witch. She had some sort of enchantment around the house which renders my magic useless, so I'll have to search for other means to get it. In any case, it will give me time."

"Time for what, dearie?"

"Time to play with my prisoner," she smirked.

His spine stiffened at that, but he gave no indication of his disgust. "Play, you say?"

"His heart will make a wonderful addition to mine and my mother's collection. And it will be a relief, for I'm growing bored of the Huntsman. The little prince will make a good replacement."

This time, he didn't even bother hiding his disgust. "No you won't," he said in a surprisingly normal voice.

"I'm sorry?" she said, shocked at his statement.

"You're not going to take his heart, dearie, and you are not going to lay a single hand on him while he's here."

"Who are you to tell me what to do?" she said, affronted. "As if you could even stop me."

"If you touch him, dearie, you'll have to fear for you dear old father's life."

Her eyes widened and her face paled at his threat. "You have no right. He is my prisoner and I will do with him whatever I please."

"Don't make me make good on my threat, your majesty. Because I think you know I won't hesitate to make good on it."

Her lips pursed in anger. "Fine."

"There are plenty of ways to torture a soul, Regina. Why do you love that way so much? Is it the control you desire? Or are you really even more twisted inside than the Dark One himself?"

"Snow White and her little husband are the reason my husband is dead and my son is gone. I can't show them any mercy."

Rumpelstiltskin stared at her for a long moment. "One day, dearie, you may find yourself in a situation in which you'll need their mercy instead, and you'll wish you had played more nicely." He smiled slightly when she looked at him in surprise as though she couldn't believe that there would ever be a time when she needed their mercy. She truly thought herself infallible. Foolish woman. He was the Dark One, one of the most powerful beings in the world, yet even he knew that he could be defeated somehow. Regina was so like her mother. If it wasn't for her pride and enflamed confidence in herself, she would never have gone about trying to take the throne like she had and wouldn't have been banished to that insufferable Wonderland.

"The day is quickly approaching in which Snow White will be dead, and her little husband with her. I'll need none and I'll ask for no mercy from her, or anyone else."

"It appears then, that no force in this world will convince you. Stay away from the prince," he said before taking his leave.

ooOoo

"I want my weapons back," Snow said as she stood next to the helm as Killian Jones casually manned the wheel.

He rolled his eyes and made another minor adjustment. "I don't trust you with them, princess. You'd sooner kill us all in our sleep if I give them to you."

She scoffed. "I wouldn't need my sword to do that."

He looked at her strangely. He could sense a lot of anger coming from her, and wasn't sure if he wanted to know what it was all about. In his experience, as soon as a man asked a woman of her troubles, she would tell him everything, sparing no detail. Most of the time they cried, too. If there was one thing that grated his nerves, it was a crying woman. In his long years since becoming a pirate, he'd had quite his share of dalliances. He almost always kept his dealings casual, but sometimes the women would be brokenhearted when they found out he wanted nothing more than a good night's enjoyment. Wasn't it perfectly clear to them that he wanted nothing from them? He was a pirate, for goodness sakes.

"If you're trying to convince me to give you your weapons, that was a very poor choice of words," he said wryly.

"You say you don't trust me? Well I don't trust you or your crew. Give me my weapons."

"I've given my crew strict orders not to touch you or they walk the plank."

"Do those same orders go for you?"

He looked at her wryly. "I'll not touch you unless you beg for it."

"You're disgusting," she said.

"I've been called worse, love. Words can't hurt me anymore. Very little can, these days."

She stared at him angrily for a moment before leaving to go stand at the railing. He sighed. Maybe he should have given her up and taken the reward after all. She seemed like she was going to be more of a burden than anything. After all he'd done for her. . . he'd saved her life from the soldiers and brought her somewhere safe. . . and she treated him with hostility as though he'd kidnapped her. Well, technically he had, but he'd done it with good intentions. Not in the beginning, of course. Either way, she had no right to be behaving this way.

He looked at the sky. It was quite dark now; no doubt his royal guest was tired. He called out to one of his mates who came over promptly to take over. He looked over at Snow, who was still staring out into the sea. "Your ladyship," he called out with a hint of mockery.

She glared at him slightly when she turned her face toward him. He gestured with his hand for her to come, and she did so quite reluctantly. "I imagine you're quite fatigued," he said.

She opened her mouth, presumably to deny it, but stopped and averted her eyes. It was obvious she was indeed exhausted. The place where the execution was supposed to have taken place was nearly twenty miles from the docks, and given how quickly she had gotten there, she must have run the whole way. Even with the long sleep she'd had the night before, she was probably still tired. As much as he wasn't overly fond of the woman, he was certainly impressed. Who knew that a princess could run like that?

"This way," he said, nodding his head for her to follow him. He led her through a door and down the stairs, then took a right. He stood by a door, waiting for her. She came over extremely reluctantly. He opened the door. "You'll sleep here tonight."

She looked inside, and her eyes narrowed. "I don't care who you think you are, I am not going to sleep in that bed with you," she said.

"Princess—"

"Did you not hear me say that I have a husband? Even if I didn't I would never throw away my dignity like that."

"Are you done?" he said, forcing her to be quiet. The woman was so stubborn. "I'll be sleeping with the crew. You can sleep here. Unless you'd rather keep your dignity and I'll stay in my room. I can't promise the whole crew will remember my orders to stay away from you, though."

She stared at him, dumfounded. She looked at the room again, blinking. "So you're not—"

"I told you I wouldn't touch you unless you begged for it."

She shot him a look, but it wasn't like the ones she'd been giving him all day. "I—umm. . . thank you. . ." she said awkwardly.

"Maybe you should think next time before you go accusing an innocent man," he said dryly as he left.

"Killian," she called after him. He looked at her over his shoulder. What now?

"I'm sorry. This hasn't been the best day. Or month. Or year, really. Thank you for the room and for your courtesy."

He hesitated a moment before going to her again and pulling her dagger from his belt. "Here," he said, offering it to her. She was about to take it when he jerked it away briefly. "You use this against me or my crew for any reason other than self-preservation, and I won't protect you anymore. You'll get a quick trip back to that place you call home where you'll go the Evil Queen as they now call her, and I get my reward. Do we have an understanding?"

She nodded, unblinking, and took the proffered dagger. "Thank you, again."

"Don't thank me yet," he said, leaving.

ooOoo

Snow closed the door firmly behind her and leaned against it for a moment. Emotion threatened to rise up in her, but she forced it down. Not yet.

She had seen him. How long had it been since he'd been taken away? It seemed like a whole lifetime ago, yet it somehow felt like only a breath away. He hadn't looked like himself. What had they been doing to him? She felt herself crumble as she walked numbly to the bed and sat down. She had been there. She had been mere yards away from her husband and she had done nothing. Nothing. If their places had been exchanged, David wouldn't have hesitated. He would have saved her, or died trying. He wouldn't have run away like a coward. Why hadn't she tried harder? Now he was in the hands of Regina. She felt sick when she thought about what vile and horrendous things she might be doing to him right now.

Angry, she grabbed a pillow and threw it across the room. It did nothing to satisfy her. She shouldn't have left him! Now she was in the middle of the ocean, miles away and being of absolutely no use to him. What was she supposed to do now? It might be days before she was back on land. Anything could happen to him by then.

She shut her eyes tightly to fight away tears. She wasn't going to cry. Not yet. Crying would only mean that there was no hope, and she had given up. She wasn't going to cry. She wasn't even going to allow herself to think about it right now.

She glanced at the door, and looked at the dagger that was still clutched in her hand. It did little to make her feel safe in a ship full of pirates. She went to the chest of drawers and tried to push it in front of the door, but it was nailed in place. It made sense. If the seas were violent, the last think the captain would want to deal with was the furniture in the ship flying across the room and causing even more damage. She looked around. Other than the chest of drawers, a trunk in the corner, the bed, and a chamber pot, the room was empty. She'd expected it to be littered with treasure. . . the man was a pirate, after all, but there was none to be seen. Knowing him, he probably had all the treasure hidden in another one of his compartments.

After a while, her exhaustion started to kick in, and she knew she couldn't ignore it any longer. She sat on the bed again, but felt extremely uncomfortable just sitting on someone else's bed. Instead, she blew out the lantern in the room, and pulled off the covers and settled on the floor. She'd slept on worse. She didn't think about David. She didn't think about anything. The last thought that entered her mind before she fell asleep was that it somehow felt colder out on sea.