Everything I Do, I Do It For You

Chapter Forty-Six

In Storybrooke's harbor…

Killian walked in a hurry so he could make his way to the harbor since noon was approaching fast. He had been asked by Emma to see about getting people from the town out safely by boats. But Gold had also ordered him to meet him there at twelve o'clock sharp, and he was already running late because he had stayed behind at the ice wall in order to talk with Emma longer than he should have, as much as he longed to. And when the Captain finally arrived, it was unfortunate that Gold was already there waiting for him, just as Killian dreaded he would be.

"You're late, Captain," the villain snidely said to him, when Hook slowed as he reluctantly approached him.

"I came as fast as I could," Hook aloofly answered him, then he pulled out his spyglass to begin looking out over the ocean to see if the way was clear for them to escape from Storybrooke by sea.

While the pirate continued looking out at the horizon, Gold sat down on the bench overlooking the ocean and stared ahead of him as well, then he responded mockingly, "You know… I very much doubt that. You're lucky you were only just a few seconds too late. But it doesn't really matter anymore, seeing as you've finally arrived."

At first… it looked as though the way was clear for everyone to flee by sea, until Killian then saw the Snow Queen's ice wall begin to expand outward far beyond him through his spyglass as if her magic had heard his inner thoughts, while its walls surrounded them to cut them off completely from the outside world, and he spoke disappointedly saying, "No fleeing by boat then."

"This Snow Queen is good, isn't she?" the Dark One condescendingly questioned, then he looked up at his enemy and saw the disdain on his face as Hook clenched his jaw in frustration.

"Sit, lad," he cruelly continued, as he pat the bench beside him to indicate where he wanted him to sit out of absolute submission, so Killian had no choice but to obey his command against his will and complied, then the Crocodile gently pat his bag sitting on the ground against the bench beside him in order to remind the Captain where his heart currently was. "Don't forget where your heart lies. Now I have a job for you."

Gold then summoned the box containing the hat again onto the bench between them and added, "You remember how this works."

Hook glanced down at the box and uttered, "The hat?"

"Not Emma," he painstakingly beseeched the villain sitting beside him when it dawned on him what Gold might want him to do for him now while under his control, as Killian raised his head and faced his enemy so he could look into his eyes.

"No, no… Not this time," Gold answered him snidely once again with a cruel laugh. "I have a better plan. Granny's Diner is being converted into a temporary hive for the vilest of creatures… the pious little fleas."

The pirate Captain thought a moment out of confusion to consider who his enemy might be talking about until he questioned, "Pious? The fairies?"

Gold haughtily replied again, "Just like any flying pests… if you wanna eliminate the infestation, it's important to get them all. Doing so will infuse this hat with enough power to allow me to cleave myself from the dagger and then leave this town with my powers intact. A suddenly urgent undertaking. Now will you assist me?"

"You have my heart," Killian darkly responded with contempt for himself rather than towards the man beside him, knowing it was only his own fault for getting himself in his current predicament. "You know I can't refuse."

"Indeed," the Crocodile answered, as he chuckled once again to mock him. "But here's the rub, dearie. My wife has just called to inform me that she intends to spend the day sequestered amongst… said fleas. So I need you to stand by while I get her out of the way."

Hook pieced the villain's plan together in his mind, then looked over at Gold again and saw the smugness on his face while he replied brusquely, "The fairies are working to stop the spell. You're killing the cure? You do this, you condemn the entire town, and even your own grandson, to whatever happens."

The Dark One looked at him as if he was surprised by Hook's accusation, then responded cruelly, "No. I'm not leaving Henry. I will take him and I will take Belle… and I will leave this town to its fate."

"But Emma and everyone else…?" the Captain asked in frustration.

"I don't have time for everyone else," Gold callously retorted. "And if I have to choose between everyone else and me… 'Me' wins every time."

When Killian turned his head to look out again over the ocean while he continued to clench his jaw out of frustration and concern for all those he cared about and loved, his enemy looked over at him, then he stated maliciously, "You can clench your jaw… And flash your eyes all you wish, because it doesn't change the fact…"

The Dark One then pulled out his dagger from the inside of his suit coat and swiftly transformed the box back into the Sorcerer's hat upon waving the dagger over it again while he finished, "…that we're in this together."

"I don't care if I die, Crocodile," Killian answered him again, with as much strength and confidence as he could muster within himself in order to avoid showing his enemy how weak he truly felt, while he looked Gold straight in his eyes. "I brought this retribution upon myself. I understand that. But you won't win even if you do succeed in crushing my heart. Emma and the others will find a way to stop you. Of that… I am certain. Villains don't get their happy endings."

"Today… this villain does," Gold snidely replied to him once more, then stood up while he grabbed Hook's shoulder in order to pull him up along with him and squeezed it again tightly to hurt him. "I should have killed you that day so many years ago on the deck of your ship just after I cut off your hand, Captain. But then this moment here… right now, is so much more satisfying. Because you are my puppet, just as I said to you last night. Shall I remind you of that fact?"

When Hook just glared back at him, his enemy smiled cruelly, then reached down to pick up his satchel, reached inside of it to pull out the Captain's still glowing heart, and smiled cruelly at Killian while he commanded, "Bow before me, pirate. And admit to me that you really know just how much of a puppet you are. Beg me to spare your precious Savior's life, as well as her boy's."

The younger man looked at him in confusion as he responded, "But you already said you would spare Henry's life. That you were…"

"On your knees… and beg!" his enemy suddenly demanded more firmly, then began to squeeze his heart so that Killian could no longer resist.

"Please… spare Emma and her son," Hook begged of him as he weakly got down on his knees low to the ground and bowed before the Dark One, all like he had been ordered to do with every fiber of hatred within his being. "I am begging you… don't let… Don't let them die. I'll do anything… anything that you want."

All of a sudden, the Snow Queen then appeared behind the pirate while she began to laugh at him, which only furthered Killian's humiliation as he closed his eyes and lowered his head against his chest to wait for Gold to finally free him. Gold chortled at his humiliation as well, then finally loosened his grip around Killian's heart. Yet he ordered him again to stay down on his knees while he and Ingrid talked.

Ingrid then spoke before the other villain could talk to her, as she kept her eyes between both men and said cruelly, "I must say I do quite like this development in your plan to rid our world of this good for nothing pirate, Rumplestiltskin. It is quite amusing."

The Dark One looked at the woman standing across from him while Hook remained on his knees between them, and he answered her, "It is. But I'm certain this wasn't the reason why you've come to see me again. What is it you want now? I thought we came to an understanding once more."

"We have," the villainess replied. "I've come out here for some fresh air. And so I can watch those from this town tear themselves apart more easily than I can from within my lair or in the woods. It won't be long now."

"I see," Gold responded, then began to look around him, especially in the direction of the square. "Indeed. You have come to the right place to watch. However, I'd be very careful if you plan to remain out in the open like this, dearie. Should a number of people see you out here while under the thralls of your spell, they won't hold back in trying to kill you like I would if this curse were to infect me as well. Luckily for you, it won't. Luckily for you, we have come to an understanding once more."

Ingrid nodded and then she answered, "Yes. Luckily for me. Don't worry about me, Dark One. I'll be perfectly fine. And even if somehow I weren't, my sisters will soon come to want to protect me as I do them."

Once Gold finally gave Killian full control over his mind and body again, Killian stood up and turned to the Snow Queen while he asked, "The yellow ribbons around Emma's and Elsa's wrists… That's what they're meant for, aren't they? Not only to drain their magic for this bloody curse of yours, but to force them to become your sisters and to brainwash them into loving you? They'll never work. At least not the last part. Emma's far too strong to be brainwashed by you. Magic, or not. Even if she might have cared about you once until something happened between you that made her run away from you. Didn't she?"

"You're really quite perceptive, Captain Hook," she coldly replied to him, then slowly began to circle around him while they continued to talk. "I'm impressed. Emma doesn't remember our life together and so she can't remember what happened between us. But yes… she did run away from me. Because I pushed her too fast and too far in hope of getting her to be the person she is now, when she wasn't ready to be so then. Because I wanted her to love me irrefutably. She's a bright, beautiful, and strong woman. Which is why… I still can't understand what it is she sees in you. After all you've done in your past, and this mess you've gotten yourself in so deep, that you can't even claw your way back out from it? Tell me… Why does she love you?"

"Emma doesn't love me," Killian desolately responded to her, as he kept his eyes on the villainess before him whenever she came around again into his line of sight, not wanting to follow her while she walked around him. "Not like I love her. Not nearly so. But I don't blame her because like you, I don't understand what she sees in me either. Because she does care about me. And I'm grateful she does. If there's any explanation as to why… Maybe it's because I see all you see in her and I wish for her to remain just as she is. I wish for her to be happy all the days of her life. She needn't change anything about herself, though I do hope to help rid her of the walls she's built up over the years that have tried to keep her down because of people like you, Your Majesty. She deserves to be happy in the life she's chosen… as a mother, as a daughter, and as a Savior. And she cares about me because… Well, perhaps because I've shown Emma how much I love her. In my words and in everything I've done since I met her, even in the foolish decisions I've made which brought me here, to becoming the Dark One's bloody puppet. Decisions I will forever regret even once I'm long dead. But I won't ever regret loving Emma. No matter what happens to me."

The villainess looked at him darkly as she answered, "How very noble of you. I can't wait for Rumplestiltskin to show me your dead body once all is said and done, pirate. Soon you'll be dead and soon… Emma won't care about you any longer. Because she'll forget all about you."

Gold smiled and then finally spoke again cruelly saying, "I certainly hope that's so. Now if you'll forgive me, Your Majesty. I'm afraid my puppet and I have somewhere to be. As I've said, there's much to do if we wish for our plans to succeed."

"Absolutely," Ingrid replied, then reached out to caress Killian's cheek like Emma would, until he swiftly pulled away from her without speaking another word and looked down in the utmost despair. "Have fun, Dark One."

"I'll be ridding this world of more than just one pesky problem I've let live for far too long," the Crocodile smugly responded. "Of course, it'll be fun."

At last, Gold turned to leave the harbor, as he motioned for Hook to follow after him and unfortunately for the Captain, he had no choice but to comply once again. As for the Snow Queen, she remained behind on the docks and sat down on the same bench where the two men had been sitting before, then she sat back to wait for her spell to fall.