So….it has been a long time. I know I mentioned this in the last author's note, but wow.

Anyways, this is the first chapter of season 2, so let's hope I get to keep the momentum going *fingers crossed*

In this chapter, the curse is finally broken, chaos ensues, and emotional turmoil is rampant. And oh criminy is getting everyone's names right a chore.

This is gonna be good :D

As always, special thanks to Can't-Stop-My-Fandoms for helping me write this thing.

Disclaimer: Yes, yes, we all know I don't actually own anything other than my OCs. Our loss.

Second Disclaimer: Shout out to ByTheDawn for their Enchanted Forest Map for the names of kingdoms.

Thanks for the reviews, and thanks to queen of kickass, mikatos, Fangirling is now a job, RevanIRL, and Eedysihea for following and favoriting this story.

Enjoy!

Broken Things

February 29, 2012

A strong wind rushed over Killian as he held on tightly to his girls, each of them clinging to him. His eyes were shut, and he moved to huddle them closer to Emma and Henry.

The wind soon died down with unnatural speed, allowing Killian to open his eyes as an electric feeling ran through his mind.

He shouldn't have been surprised that they were in the hospital, nor should he have been surprised by the presence of Mai and Phoebe.

Killian wasn't surprised.

Captain Hook was more than taken aback. To him, this hospital was a strange place with odd beeping instruments, and the people around him were unfamiliar.

The last thing Captain Hook remembered was standing around waiting for Cora-

Cora. Where the bloody hell was she?

Killian began looking around for her, noticing everyone pulling themselves together, wondering if she was just waiting in the shadows somewhere.

"D...Daddy?" A little girl's voice asked.

Captain Hook looked down and saw a little girl looking at him. Killian looked down and saw his little girl looking at him.

"Tien," Phoebe breathed out, once again looking close to tears.

Once the little girl looked at her sister again, she cried out "Thumbee!" She then leaned out of Killian's arms and allowed 'Thumbee' to hold her.

"We're okay," 'Thumbee' said as she held Mai - Tien - tightly. "We're both okay."

The teenager then looked at him questioningly. "Dad?"

I'm no father, Captain Hook thought grimly. I can't be a father, not to anyone. Not after what I did.

Killian, on the other hand, smiled at her and held the girls. "It's alright, Phoebe. I'm here."

"Thumbelina," Phoebe replied as she pulled back to look at him, 'Mai' looking at him curiously. "My name's Thumbelina, and this is Tien."

"No, it's Thumbee," Mai/Tien replied.

Phoebe looked at her exasperated before clarifying to Killian, "She's always had trouble pronouncing Thumbelina."

"It's better than Phoebe," 'Tien' - bloody hell this is confusing - said.

"You mean 'easier'?" Thumbelina asked. When the little girl nodded after a pause, the teenager sighed. "Phoebe works for now. Can...do we still call you Killian or something else?"

"Killian works as well as anything," he replied instantly. It was his name after all, but he'd been called 'Hook' or 'Captain' or both for so long...it had been years since someone called him by his real name.

"Good to know," Emma said, and Killian's heart settled when he saw that she and Henry were alright. Even as she looked at him inquiringly, perhaps trying to sort out who he was, he felt lighter in her presence.

Emma looked over at David and Mary Margaret - or rather, Prince Charming and Snow White - and she suppressed a flinch. Neither of her friends - parents - saw as they were too happy to find their daughter returned to them, but Killian saw. He could tell she was still trying to process everything that was going on.

Even without the dual memories, he knew that her world had once again turned on its side.

"Why are we still here?" Declan asked, bringing attention to him. When he held his egg, it was far more delicately than Killian had ever seen him handle the object before. After checking it over for cracks, he asked, "I thought...once the curse broke, that we'd all go home. So why are we still here?"

"No idea," Emma said, her resolve steeling her once more in a way that drew Killian to her. Then, to the room she said, "I'm going to help Henry change. Then, we are going to get some answers."

After getting Henry changed into more appropriate clothing, Emma made sure he was ready to go before taking him out. A nurse still had the sense to come at Emma with discharge paperwork, and stood by to take the hastily completed work before smartly getting out of Emma's way.

With her son in hand, the group walked down the hallway and into the elevator with the intention of heading to the lobby, and getting out of the hospital.

That was the intent...until Ray suddenly remembered something and swore, "Oh shit, Freddie."

LJ stared at his uncle, mouth agape before slamming his finger down on a random floor button to slow their descent.

One complaint about his finger and an incredulous look later, LJ pressed the button for the floor a blushing Ray directed them to.

What appeared before them was chaos.

Patients and staff alike wandered around, calling out names in an attempt to reunite with loved ones. Whoever wasn't frantically milling about was sitting on the floor with blank stares. Some were clutching their heads, or stumbling around as if the world was crumbling around them.

"Looks like not everyone's taking this well," Ray said as he led the way.

"Not surprising." David commented, making sure to stay close to Emma, Mary Margaret, and Henry. "My head's hurting keeping everything straight."

"Plus Ray swore," Declan smiled mischievously. Then something dawned on him. "But, your name isn't really Ray, is it?"

"Not in my first life, it isn't," 'Ray' said with a look that was too strained to be as at ease as he tried to seem. "My name is Percival de Troyes."

"But you can call him Percy," 'LJ' added. "My name's Galahad, but you can call me Gal if you want."

David took on a thoughtful expression. "Why do I know that name?"

"Ray?" A voice called from down the hallway, and they saw Freddie poke his head out of one of the rooms, looking at them thoughtfully.

David was the first to react, silently waving at Freddie, and following him into the room-

That is, until David suddenly jumped back, only going forward to grab the door handle and nearly slam the door shut.

"David, what is it?" Mary Margaret asked as she approached him.

"Freddie, get out of there!" David whispered as loudly as he dared, and Mary Margaret's accompanying gasp of shock solidified that something bad was in there.

Giving in to curiosity, the rest of the group began huddling around the door, and through the crack they saw it.

A fucking lion.

"Freddie," Emma said in a low, warning voice, seeing that the lion was circling around him. "Can you get out of there?"

She went for the gun in her holster, but nearly swore when she realized she'd wasted all of her bullets on Maleficent.

"Well, yeah, but why?" Freddie asked as he moved forward, seemingly oblivious to the animal walking around him, and began to open the door.

David firmly held it shut, and the rest of them held the children back, who were still trying to peek in despite the clear trepidation on their faces.

"Dude, it's a big fucking cat," Declan whispered as he hid behind Ray with LJ.

"Big cat?!" LJ whispered back incredulously.

"A lot is happening right now, dude," Declan replied defensively as his cheeks reddened.

"It's okay, it's okay," Freddie told the group through the space between the door and the wall. His hand was on the other side of the handle, but at least he wasn't trying to force it open.

"Mate, I don't know how to tell you this," Killian said with a disbelieving and wary look, keeping the girls back, ready to make a run for it if need me, "but you've got a lion in there."

"She's a lioness," Freddie clarified calmly. "Her name is Art. Come on, she won't hurt you unless you try attacking us."

"Androcles?" A woman's voice called from the room, surprising everyone outside. "Who are they? Do...Do they work for Rumplestiltskin?"

"The hell we are!" Killian couldn't help but say outraged. Not a second later his expression changed from indignant to stunned.

At first, Emma thought it was because he swore in front of Mai (or Tien), who tilted her head confusedly at the new world, especially at the nervous laughter that bubbled out of her older sister. However, something didn't seem right. There wasn't embarrassment on Killian's face, but rather shame. Something deeper than swearing in front of your four-year-old daughter.

Whatever it was, Emma's focus was soon taken by the appearance of a woman at the door.

The woman brushed her brown hair out of her face, and her blue eyes stared inquisitively at each of them.

"Who are you?" The woman asked seriously.

David eyes flitted toward the lioness warily, who by now was laying on the floor licking her paws.

"I'm David," he replied after swallowing a lump in his throat. "Nice to meet you. You know, considering."

Surprisingly, the woman scoffed goodnaturedly. "Oh she's alright." She then went over to the lioness, and Emma leaned over Mary Margaret's head to see the woman scratch a spot behind the lioness' ear, and it purred. "See? Wouldn't hurt a fly."

"But a fish, that's a different story," Freddie added as he kneeled down next to them, and Emma thought she saw them smile warmly at each other.

Mary Margaret looked at all of them before she began to open the door.

"Snow, wait," David said warningly, with the other adults joining him in their protests.

"It's alright," Snow told him encouragingly, though she couldn't quite get the nervousness out of her eyes.

Snow slowly entered the room by herself, or at least that was the intention since David, unwilling to let his wife face this danger alone, carefully entered the room with her.

The lioness suddenly stood up, and damn if there were no bullets in her gun, Emma would hit that thing if it tried eating her parents-

"Hey, hey, easy girl," Freddie told the animal as she began to huddle into a corner. "It's alright, Art, they're good people. They're not going to hurt you."

Maybe it was the fact that Art hadn't attacked her parents, or how she shivered in the corner she found herself in. Something finally clicked in Emma that this thing - while by no means not a potentially dangerous animal she would leave alone with the kids - wasn't actively hostile. She took her hand off her holster, letting the empty gun remain there, and stepped inside the room.

The presence of more people made the animal more skittish, and she hid herself in Freddie's arms.

"Shh, shh, it's alright," the woman told the lioness. She then looked at the assembled group, half in the room, half still outside. "I'm sorry, but she doesn't like crowds, so you're going to need to leave."

"It's fine," Ray said as he simultaneously poked his head into the room while keeping LJ and Declan at bay.

Or should it be Percival and Galahad?, Emma thought, a new headache forming at these changes. First chance she gets, she'll ask them and just stick with whatever name they chose.

"Freddie, and uh…" Ray trailed off as he looked at the woman questioningly.

"Belle," the woman answered.

Ray started, "Right, Freddie and Belle-"

"Actually, my name is Androcles," Freddie responded. "But if you want, you can still call me Freddie."

After a pause, Ray started gain, "Okay, uh, I guess Freddie and Belle, have you seen Graham anywhere? He went after Regina-"

"Regina? She's here?" Belle asked worriedly, looking around the room as if she'd appear any second.

To Emma's surprise, for the first time since they'd met, Freddie looked murderous, and Emma could hazard a guess as to why.

Was there anyone in this town whose life Regina didn't personally ruin?

Whatever it was that Regina did to Belle, it wouldn't happen again.

"She won't hurt you," Emma promised. "But we do need to find her. Graham-"

"The Huntsman," David interjected before looking at Emma's face and apologizing for the interruption.

"He was after her," Emma said. "And we need to find them both fast. Have you seen them?"

Both Freddie (or Androcles) and Belle shook their heads.

Great.

"We should get going," Mary Margaret told the group. "Everything's in chaos, and people are going to get hurt."

"Especially with Regina out there," David added. "If magic's back, she's probably got hers back, meaning anyone who gets to close could be in danger."

At this, Declan's face twisted in worry.

"Let's get going," Killian said in a voice too low for everyone to hear, and guided the girls back to the elevator before anyone could stop him.

"What about Jefferson?" Ray questioned. "Graham said he was here."

"August is here too," Declan added.

"August is here?" Emma asked in surprise.

"We're going to make a lot of hospital visits," LJ - or Galahad - muttered wearily.

"We'll look after Jefferson," Belle offered. "I hear he's the reason Freddie found me."

Despite her nervousness, Art huffed indignantly, and everyone but Belle and Freddie stepped back.

Belle placed a hand on Art's head. "After you, of course."

The lioness purred.

"You sure?" Emma asked them both.

The two of them looked at each other before nodding. "We have a lot of catching up to do," Freddie answered.

Soon enough, the group joined Killian at the elevator. As they waited, Emma whispered, "You okay?"

"Hmm?" Killian hummed distractedly. "Oh, yeah. Except for having the worst headache I've had since my first hangover."

"Mm," Emma hummed back. There was a lie in there, but she couldn't pinpoint what it was.

One elevator ride and wading through a crowd of frantic people later, everyone managed to get outside. It was about as chaotic as what was going on in the hospital, but at least everyone had enough space to avoid running into each other.

Ray spotted down down the street. "Ruby?"

Said woman was walking toward them, and her grandmother, Leroy, and a few other men following her lead.

Ruby smiled at him softly, though the smile cracked in uncertainty.

If everyone's getting their memories back, Emma thought, and both sets of memories are still there...this is going to be a mess to deal with.

Emma didn't miss the discouraged look on Ray - Percival's - face.

Ruby then caught sight of Snow, and immediately ran over to embrace here tightly.

Snow's eyes closed as she held onto her friend like they hadn't seen each other in years. Meanwhile, David was busy hugging Mrs. Lucas as Leroy and the other men approached.

"Your Highness?" Leroy asked Snow, who broke her hug with Ruby to look at them.

Leroy and six other men - one of whom Emma recognized as Mr. Clark, another Walter the security guard - bowed to Snow, who soon ran over to hug Leroy. The man hugged her back, and the other men joined in a big group hug.

"Emma," Ruby said as she looked at her in amazement.

"Hi," Emma said awkwardly, and suddenly Ruby enveloped her in a tight hug.

"Oh, Emma," Ruby whispered out in a choked voice. She pulled back, placing her hands on Emma's arms as she searched her face with a smile. "Oh, I knew it. I knew you'd be beautiful."

Emma's face flushed, especially when Mrs. Lucas took Ruby's place and gave her a big hug.

"Why are you all furry?" Mai - or was it Tien - asked the women suddenly, but was quickly shushed by Phoebe.

Ruby and Mrs. Lucas stared at Mai in shock, not to mention the wariness clear on their faces.

"Have you guys seen Graham?" Ray asked the newcomers. "He was chasing Regina."

"Speaking of," Leroy started, his once happier expression turning sour, "did she do something else?"

"What do you mean?" David asked him.

"Why are-" Mr. Clark sneezed. "Why are we still here?"

"And what was that smoke?" One of the older men in the group asked.

"Magic," Mother Superior said as she joined the group, walking toward them at a brisk pace.

"Hi, Blue," Tien greeted the women with an excited wave.

'Blue' simply nodded at her with an overly calm look, the kind you get when you're trying to be polite to someone you don't want to be around.

Emma looked at Killian, both sharing identical incredulous looks of What's that about?

"Magic's here?" Henry asked Blue.

"Yes," Blue answered. "It's here. I can feel it."

"Me too!" Mai/Tien eagerly added. "It's-it's like all these colors going around in the air-"

"Yes, thank you Tien," Blue gently interrupted. "Phoebe, did you sense anything?"

"A little bit," Phoebe admitted hesitantly.

"You're the Blue Fairy," Henry told her. "Can't you do something magical to get everyone home?"

"It's not quite that simple, Henry," Blue explained. "No wand. No Fairy Dust. And it's extremely complicated magic involved".

A bunch of people suddenly ran past them, seemingly in a hurry, definitely with a location in mind.

"Hey, hey, hey," Killian called out to one of the random men. "Where are you going?"

"We heard someone cornered Regina at her house," the man said with an angry look on his face. "We're going to pay her back for all of this."

The man ran off.

"Oh, she's definitely going to get her ass kicked," Declan said with a mean smile.

"For once the kid makes sense," Leroy said in a gravelly voice, ignoring the offended look on Declans' face. "Let's find the person responsible for bringing magic - and us - here."

"This wasn't Regina," Emma told the others. "She wasn't the one to do this."

"And," Killian said with a touch of regret as he saw that some members of the mob were carrying bats, sticks, and other blunt objects, "we might want to head over before the angry mob descends."

"We can't let them kill her," Henry said firmly. He looked imploringly at Emma. "I know she's a bad person," and didn't that hurt Emma, knowing how hard it was for Henry to say it aloud, "but she doesn't deserve to die."

Leroy looked ready to protest, but the others' looks silenced.

Emma kissed him on the top of the head. "And she won't die."

No matter how much she deserved it.

Emma looked at the others. "Come on. We've got a witch to save."

They were standing in a world strange to Androcles but familiar to Freddie. Nearby, a lioness sat where a kitten had once been, a great beast named Art rather than a feral baby animal named Missy. Outside the room, they could hear people frantically moving about, with cries and shouts permeating the air.

That reality was far away, and even as the foundation of his world cracked in two, one thing united the minds of Androcles and Freddie.

Belle, in his arms, holding onto him as firmly as he was holding onto her.

What's more, he was human. Not the humanoid freak he had spent every day and night as between banishment from Rumplestiltskin's castle to being imprisoned by Regina.

"She won't hurt you again," Freddie promised.

Do I think of myself as Freddie?, the man wondered grimly. That's not the name I was born with, certainly not the one my mother gave me, but I've technically spent more time as Freddie than I ever did as Androcles.

"Or you," Belle said determinedly, looking up at him, her eyes beautiful as they filled with resolve.

Guilt filled him, "I'm so sorry."

"Sorry?" Belle questioned as she pulled back to look at him. "What have you got to be sorry for?"

Images forced themselves into the forefront of Freddie's mind. Knights in black armor descending on them. Androcles trying to use his monstrous form to force them back, but being overwhelmed by lances and then chains. The heart stopping fear of watching Belle being forced into a caged carriage.

"I tried to get out," Freddie tried to say, but it came out as a choked whisper. "I always tried to escape, tried to figure out where you were, but by the time I managed to get out of my cell, the curse came and...I'm so sorry."

"You stop that," Belle said gently but firmly as she grasped his hand. "It wasn't your fault, and it wasn't mine. Okay?"

Freddie paused before hesitantly nodding.

Belle's eyes became misty, and Freddie thought that perhaps the stress of everything became too much. However, the smile on her face and the happy way she looked at him put an end to that.

The door opened suddenly, catching Freddie and Belle's attention as a man in hospital scrubs stormed in.

He scanned the room before shouting to someone in the hallway, "She's not here!"

"Who are you?" Belle asked as she and Freddie stared at him. Something was incredibly familiar about him.

"Prince Phillip," the man quickly replied. He took a step into the room before scrambling back when Art growled lowly at the stranger in the room. His hand went to his hip, but found no weapon there.

"Honestly, it's as if no one's seen a lioness before," Freddie said, feeling Belle nudge his side.

Prince Phillip swallowed as he raised his hands in a peaceful gesture. His eyes nervously followed Art's movements, probably thinking she was aggressive, but that was ridiculous. Art was just scared of new people and protective of him and Belle.

Then again, this man didn't know that, and his next words showed why he bothered to stick around.

"Have you seen a woman named Aurora?" He asked, his body language screaming his hesitancy in staying and readiness to take off. "She has auburn hair and blue eyes, but…" the man paused as a sorrowful feeling took over. "She was put under a Sleeping Curse. She- Hold on. Haven't we met before?"

"Phillip!" A voice called out, and soon one of the security guards, Lea Wen, appeared at the door. Upon catching sight of Art, she threw an arm over the prince's chest and pushed him back, pointing the security guard's standard flashlight at Art as her only weapon. "Get back, it-"

Freddie gasped as he realized who stood before them, flashes of a forest and a beast who, like him, was trapped in a terrible form.

"Mulan?" Belle asked as she stepped forward, her eyes lighting up in recognition. "Mulan, and Prince Phillip. Oh my...I can't believe I didn't recognize you."

Mulan looked at Belle's face before it hit her. "Belle?" Her eyes then moved over to Freddie. "Who…?"

Freddie softly replied, "It's me. Androcles."

"It can't be," Mulan said as she looked at him. "The Androcles I knew was a half-human, half-lion being. Did...did you break the curse?"

The small hope in her voice made something in Freddie crack. "I hope so. I haven't changed back yet, so maybe it did work."

Belle looked at him with a hopeful look of her own.

Mulan lowered her flashlight, and he thought he saw a whisper of a smile on her face.

Phillip smiled at him. "It's good to see you again." He began to step into the room, but Art growled lowly.

"It's okay, girl," Freddie told her. "They're friends of ours."

"Ah, so this is Art," Phillip said with a hesitant but mostly happy smile. "Glad to see you got her back."

"Us too," Freddie smiled back before he realized something. "Wait, you're looking for Aurora?"

Instantly, their happiness died down, and Freddie kicked himself for it. They must not have broken the Sleeping Curse on her yet.

"Yes," Mulan said unhappily. "We lost track of her when the curse took hold. We both worked here at the hospital - Phillip in the morgue, and myself as a security guard - but our memories are so jumbled we...we have to find her."

"And we will," Phillip swore to Mulan before looking imploringly at Freddie and Belle. "We know so much is going on, but could you please help us locate her? We tried to talk to someone in the lobby, but no one was there to help us. We know it's a terrible imposition but-"

"Of course we'll help," Freddie immediately said before looking at Belle. "Unless you want to stay."

Belle shook her head. "I've rested up enough."

"But the sun-" Freddie started.

"If it's a problem, I'll deal with it," Belle told him firmly before she addressed the room. "Come. Let's find your princess."

Mulan handed them an extra walkie talkie, having already given one to Phillip, and the group split up.

As predicted, the bright lights were a hassle for Belle, but the presence of Art loyally staying by her side prevented anyone from getting too close to her. In fact, it made it quite easy for them to make everyone give them a wide berth. Freddie would've stayed too, but Belle urged him to search the floors.

As they searched the floors, Philip in the lead, they were starting to lose hope in finding the princess.

Just as Freddie and Belle were, for at least the ninth time that day, explaining that 'No, this lioness is not dangerous, she's quite lovely when you get to know her' when the walkie talkie in Belle's hand crackled.

"I found her," Phillip said, his voice cracking. "I found Aurora, she's...she's still asleep."

Belle and Freddie looked at each other worriedly. Something was wrong.

"What floor?" Mulan asked, and when Phillip didn't answer she repeated insistently, "Phillip, what floor?"

Phillip took a moment before telling them what floor he was on, and what room, before he went silent again.

"Let's go," Freddie said as the three of them made their way into the elevator. As the doors shut, he asked Belle, "Do you think Aurora will be alright?"

"I hope so," Belle replied, blinking heavily at the fluorescent lights above them. "I also hope that True Love's Kiss will work. It's the only thing I know of that can break a Sleeping Curse."

"Phillip would've tried that by now, right?" Freddie inquired. "He said they were engaged, so it'll probably work."

"Engagements don't always mean love," Belle responder hesitantly. "Especially not for people in our station."

Right, her fiancé, Freddie thought. Belle had mentioned the man, Gaston, once, but never after that slip up when they talked about their lives before Rumplestiltskin. He didn't get the sense that Belle hated or even disliked him, but she never seemed taken with the man her father wanted her to spend the rest of her life with.

Freddie would've pressed her on it if the elevator doors hadn't opened, and the three people waiting for the elevator hadn't started screaming in horror at the sight of the lioness.

Art yowled in annoyance, and Freddie couldn't blame her. The sooner they found Aurora, and got themselves into a wide open space, the better.

The three of them made their way to the room Phillip described. They eventually arrived in an area with two rows of hospital beds on opposite walls, with most of its beds filled with hyperventilating patients. On the wall furthest away from the entrance were two rooms separated from the main area by glass partitions, and only one of the rooms was still occupied.

Once again, the presence of a great animal didn't help the nerves of already frightened patients, but it cleared the way for the trio to head to the room where Mulan and Phillip were. The one where they tried and failed to rouse from her sleep.

"Aurora," they heard Phillip say as they entered the room. "Aurora, my love, please wake up."

"Phillip," Mulan said with a concerned look. "You should try it again."

"I have tried," Phillip insisted before he caught sight of the newcomers. His distraught expression confirmed their doubts. "I...I keep kissing her on the lips, the cheeks, the forehead but...she won't wake up. I don't understand."

"We'll find a way to break this curse," Mulan promised him before she looked at Belle. "Did you ever read of another way to break a Sleeping Curse?"

Belle shook her head.

"What about the person who cast it?" Mulan asked further. "Could we force Maleficent to reverse this?"

"No," Belle replied sadly. "Even if Maleficent wanted to, she couldn't."

"So that's it?" Phillip asked in shock. "She stays like this, and there's nothing we can do?"

To that, no one had an answer.

The curse was broken. Everyone got their memories back. And from what Henry saw, no one was any closer to getting home.

"Maybe the curse isn't completely broken," LJ theorized as the kids followed closely behind the adults. "That would explain why we're still here."

"No, it can't be that," Henry assured his friend. He hoped that LJ - or Galahad - would still be his friend.

I mean, why wouldn't he?, Henry thought as something spike unpleasantly in his chest. No one was that different from their original self. So Galahad should be my friend like LJ...right?

"How do we know for sure?" Phoebe asked, falling behind as the adults began talking amongst themselves as they marched forward. The adults did glance back at the kids often enough to make sure they hadn't run off.

"Because True Love's Kiss should've completely broken the curse," Henry said firmly. "But...the one thing I don't get is why magic's here."

"This town was built on magic," Phoebe pointed out. "Maybe there's still some magic leftover?"

Before Henry could rebut this, he spotted his old home...and an angry mob assembled in front of it, spilling onto the porch.

"She's powerless!" Someone shouted.

"Get her!" Another urged and the crowd began to force themselves forward.

"Stay back," Emma ordered the kids, the adults directing them to remain next to the hedge at the front of the yard before they moved forward.

Through the gap of people, Henry saw Graham pushing Whale back, gripping one of Regina's arms in one of his hands. Her arms were behind her back, so Henry guessed he must've cuffed her by now.

"I said back off!" Graham ordered Whale.

The man didn't look impressed as he began to step forward. "Why should I listen to you?"

Henry's mom grabbed Whale's shoulder and pushed him away. "Because he's still the Sheriff and I'm still the Deputy."

"Because she saved you," Grandpa David said as he and Killian herded one side of the crowd back. "All of you."

"And because no matter what Regina did, it does not justify this!" Grandma Snow declared as she and Ray pushed the other side of the crowd away.

"We are not murderers here," Emma told them all.

"Well, we're not from this world," Whale retorted, and the way he squared up to Henry's mom made the boy flinch. He felt Declan sling an arm around his shoulders, while LJ covered his other side.

"Yeah, well, you're in it now," Emma rebutted.

When Whale began to press forward, David and Killian quickly got between them, with David pushing Whale back.

The doctor shook his arm off. "Back off! You're not my prince."

Henry saw his grandpa make a curious face. "Who are you, Whale?"

"That's my business," the man replied sharply.

"Maybe your business should be avoiding letting this town go down the drain," Ray told the man as he approached.

Seeing that he was well and truly outnumbered, Whale finally backed off.

"Something's wrong with her," Henry heard Tien - the little girl also known as Mai - whispered to her sister.

Thumbelina, Henry reminded himself. My mom is dating Thumbelina's dad.

Life was unreal.

David addressed the assembled crowd. "We have a lot to figure out. And this isn't the way to do it."

Snow moved to be by his side, while also glaring daggers at Regina, the woman who had tried to ruin the lives of everyone in the town. "And Regina's death won't provide any answers. She needs to be locked up. For her safety, and more importantly, for ours."

"So it's our suggestion," Killian announced, his tone leaving no question that this was anything but a request, "is that you all use this time to find your loved ones. Don't waste your energy on her."

Despite some further waves of grumbling, the crowd did dissipate, with Whale being among the last to leave. Once the mob left, the kids began to enter the front yard.

Regina, at last, saw him. "Henry."

Henry felt someone grab his hand and pulled him back, and to his surprise he found that it was Phoebe. The teenager tried to make him and Tien stand behind her, glaring at Regina with an expression that teetered between terrified and furious.

Regina tried again, "Henry-"

"No," Emma said firmly, standing in front of Regina and blocking Henry from her sight. "You don't get to talk to him."

"He's my son," Regina said indignantly.

"You lost that right when you nearly killed him," Killian told her angrily.

"Not to mention all the other crimes you committed," Graham said as he began leading her none-too-gently by the arm toward the street. "Oh I've waited years to say this. Regina Mills, you're under arrest for assault, kidnapping, attempted murder, and murder. And that's just for starters."

As Graham began to lead Regina down the street to his car, which he must've been in hurry to get out of since it was parked halfway onto the sidewalk, Henry walked up to his mom.

She instantly wrapped him up in a hug, and he saw his grandparents reach forward to touch him, gently squeeze his shoulder, smooth down his hair.

"You okay?" Emma asked Henry.

"What's going to happen to her?" Henry asked back. "The town...everyone's really mad at her."

The looks on the adults faces - even as they looked after the other kids - showed that this was not only an understatement, but more widespread than just the mob they saw assembled there.

"She's going to jail now," Emma told him. "She won't hurt you."

"Can she get out?" Phoebe suddenly asked. She might've flushed at the attention suddenly given to her, had she not looked so pale. "Is there a chance she could get out?"

"We're not going to let that happen," Snow assured her.

Not even Killian hugging the teen to his side could get rid of the sick look on Phoebe's face.

Regina did something to her, Henry thought. Not that his adopted mom hadn't done something to everyone in town, but this was more personal than being taken away from your home and made to believe a lie.

What did she do to you?

Graham appeared again, and when Declan went up to him, Graham wrapped his arms around him. He made sure to keep an eye on the car Regina was now unwilling in.

"She wasn't able to use her magic," Graham explained to the group. "So I guess we have one less thing to worry about."

"Problem is," Killian interjected, "there's still magic here. The Blue Fairy told us as much."

"So what does that mean for us?" Graham asked the group.

No one had a clear answer.

"One step at a time," Emma told everyone. "First, let's focus on making sure the town doesn't rip itself apart."

Once Regina was safely locked up, it was agreed that Mary Margaret (Snow) and David would take over watch of Regina. Graham plainly didn't want to be in the same room with her, that was sure. None of them did, but something about Graham seemed off to Killian. The entire time he locked her up, he seemed to be doing his damndest to avoid touching her.

The relief on his face when Snow and David offered to keep watch was clear, and it was only partly because it allowed him to reconnect with Declan, or whatever his real name was.

Though Killian only saw this through a window outside the sheriff's station. His concern was on his two girls, as Phoebe plainly refused to enter the station as long as Regina was there, and she kept a tight hold on Mai to prevent her from leaving.

"Phoe- Thumb-" Killian interrupted himself. "Um, first thing's first - what do I call you?"

"Our names," Mai/Tien said like it was obvious.

Killian repressed a sigh. "Yes, but since you have two of them, it'd be easier to know what to call you."

Both girls deeply contemplated this...well Phoebe did before the little girl holding her hand blurted out, "Tien. It's my real name."

"And a beautiful name at that," Killian smiled, causing his girl to giggle. He then looked at the teenager for an answer.

"Uh, Phoebe I guess," she answered. "By the way, who are you really?"

Ah. He knew someone was bound to get to that question eventually.

"Killian will do," he told them. "Just Killian Jones."

"You got to keep your original name? That's lucky" Phoebe said incredulously. She then started looking around. "We should look for Blue. She said she doesn't have the magic to send us home, but maybe she has an idea about how to get started."

"We'll have to wait for the others," Killian told her as he too looked around. "Who knows what's out there..."

He had some idea. Rumplestiltskin. Cora. More loathsome individuals who would have no problem harming two young girls to hurt him.

I'm putting them in danger just by being around them, Killian thought grimly. If he was smart, he would distance himself from them as soon as possible, play off their relationship as a mere side effect of the curse altering his personality.

It could work. After all, who in their right mind would think Captain Hook would care about two little girls?

Tien hugged his leg, looking up at him as she said, "Um, Daddy, I'm hungry."

"We'll eat, love," Killian said before he saw her raise her arms up, and he automatically picked her up and held her, beckoning Phoebe forward when she looked at them longingly.

...An attempt was made at least.

How could he resist when his girls looked at him like that?

Such a thing caused him to look around, searching for any danger to the girls, when he spotted Emma outside the station with Henry in tow. She must've been there for some time, as she was looking at him curiously.

Emma curiously stayed behind as Henry approached Killian and the girls.

"Hey Henry," Phoebe started sympathetically. "How are you doing, with, you know…"

She nodded toward the station.

Henry deflated, though tried not to show it. "I'm fine, I guess. By the way, Mom wants to talk to you."

"Why?" Phoebe asked.

"I think she wants to know about who you are," Henry suggested, but something seemed off about his tone. "Who you really are."

Phoebe and Tien looked at Killian, who gave them permission to go talk with Emma. Phoebe took Tien's hand and led her to the deputy, though she needn't have bothered. The moment they were within range, Tien raced forward and hugged Emma's leg.

A smile came over both Emma and Killian's face, though Emma seemed a bit surprised by the girls' approach.

Killian looked down at Henry, and the smile dampened as he saw Henry shift from foot-to-foot.

"What's on your mind, lad?" Killian asked the boy.

Startled out of a thought, Henry stammered, "Um, uh, nothing really."

Unimpressed, Killian raised an eyebrow. "Emma didn't really want to talk to them, did she?"

"She did," Henry insisted, though at Killian's look amended, "just...not that soon. I wanted to talk to you."

"About what?" Killian questioned.

"I wanted to know how you were doing," Henry told him. "Everyone's kind of off their game since the curse broke. Plus," Henry smiled a little brighter this time, eyes gleaming with excitement, "I finally get to ask who you are."

A knot of trepidation coiled in Killian's stomach. What did Henry expect him to say? That he was some grand hero from his storybook, or perhaps even just a simple shiphand. The former was a great lie, while the latter would've been from a time when Killian could've been at some peace with the man he was.

As it was, he wondered why Henry looked at him in such a way. He was such a good lad. Couldn't someone as good as him sense there was something wrong with Killian, wrong with Hook?

For so long, Henry looked at Killian with admiration and respect.

And Killian didn't want that to end.

Instead, Killian answered Henry's question with one of his own. "I should be the one asking how you are. You just survived a near death experience, and you've been out of the hospital for less than twenty-four hours. What you need to do is focus on recovery."

"But I feel way better now," Henry protested, though one look in his eyes told Killian that he didn't miss the older man's attempted deflection.

Regardless, Killian wasn't going to give him the opportunity to press the matter. At least not at the moment.

"While you sit in bed recovering," Killian started, allowing his lips to quirk up at Henry's indignant groan, "you can pour over your book and see if there's anyone we should be on the lookout for."

Like a black-hearted pirate.

The thought threatened to further sour Killian's mood, and he couldn't deny he feared what Henry's reaction to that little discovery would be.

Or Emma's reaction at that.

Henry crossed his arms over his chest. "I do know more about the book than anyone else," Henry conceded, though he looked from far convinced. He mulled over something before saying, "Hey Killian?"

"Yes?"

"You know you're good, right?" Henry's question sent a spike through Killian's heart. The sharp look on his face only sharpened that feeling.

No one would ever accuse the lad of being dumb, though how much did he already know?

The younger boy continued, "When everyone was cursed, they acted different than they normally would, but not that much. Grandma and grandpa were still good people, so are my friends. You've…always been nice to me." At that, Henry temporarily glanced away with a light blush on his cheeks. "And you always helped me and stuff, and...if you were a bad person, it would've shown in the curse. Just look at Mr. Gold or Mo- the Evil Queen."

Henry's eyes were now firmly downcast, and Killian instinctively and silently placed his remaining hand on the boy's shoulder, squeezing it gently.

When Henry looked up, Killian said, "Come. I think it's time we rejoin your mother."

Henry nodded, and let Killian lead him over to Emma and the girls, occasionally looking up at Killian questioningly.

Oh yes, no one would ever accuse Henry of being intelligent.

It was only a matter of time before he or someone else figured out who Killian truly was.

Snow's baby was all grown up.

The last time she had seen Emma, she was a wrinkly, tiny newborn that Snow would've given anything in the world to not relinquish. She did though, because as terrible as it was, that little newborn girl wrapped in Granny's knitted blanket was the Savior.

Snow hardly had time to imagine what would happen to her, as the last thing she remembered before the world disappeared was holding her bleeding, unconscious husband as Regina smirked down at her.

And here Emma was, standing in front of an assembled crowd of townsfolk, the Huntsman by her side trying to keep everything from falling into chaos.

She looks so much like David, Snow thought lovingly. But with my eyes.

Speaking of, Snow turned to her grandson, who stood beside Killian, Phoebe, and Mai (sorry, Tien). He looked like a mini-Snow, especially the eyes he and Snow shared with Emma.

Snow smiled, both joy and sadness mixed in the expression. A grandson. I have a grandchild, and I didn't get to watch either him or his mom grow up.

Feeling an arm wrap around her, Snow looked at David, who gave her the same smile as he hugged her to his side.

She wasn't the only one suffering.

"Now everyone, off to your stations!" The Huntsman - Graham - told the crowd, who dispersed to their assigned tasks.

Now was Snow's chance. With one look shared between her and David, he silently nodded before letting her go.

She waded through the crowd until she got to Emma, who was still answering some questions from people.

"Emma," Snow said, hoping to catch her daughter's attention. When Emma didn't seem to hear her, Snow tried again. "Emma, I know you're busy, but if you have any time-"

"I'll be with you soon," Emma told Snow, sending her a single glance. It went by so quickly that Snow almost missed the wary look Emma gave her.

Her heart clenching, Snow said, now with less confidence, "Yes, there's a lot going on, but it's been so long since I've seen you-"

"We can talk. Later." Emma told her as she sent a now more apologetic glance Snow's way before returning her attention to the frantic townsfolk.

Seeing that she was just in the way, Snow stepped back to let Emma deal with business.

Maybe there was a way she could help. After all, Emma and Graham would need all hands on deck, right? Even though Emma seemed to have it under control at the moment. From what she remembered as Mary Margaret, Emma was always so independent, to the point where she tried to avoid ever needing someone-

Of course. Snow missed so much time. Was it too much? Emma was 28-years-old. A grown woman with a child who hadn't had an easy life. Her heart ached, wishing more than anything to vanish that pain, to do something to make it better.

I can't change the past, Snow thought as she pushed the sorrow away. I can try to help now.

Returning to David's side, she soon found him talking to a woman she used to know as Nancy, with her little boy in her arms. There was also the Granny's cook Alan, and a number of others she didn't quite recognize.

"Hello," Snow greeted the group, who bowed, though Snow noticed tension in their movements. "It's good to see you. How are you?"

"Well, Your Majesty," Nancy told her, holding her child tighter in her arms.

"It's alright, Marian," David told her. "Whatever happened in the Enchanted Forest doesn't matter here. We just want to help."

Marian and 'Alan' shared a look before Marian once again looked at Snow. The woman lifted her chin. "My name - my real name - is Marian, and these are my Merry Men."

"The infamous Maid Marian and her Merry Men," Snow said appraisingly. "I heard you caused Regina quite a bit of grief."

The tall man known as Alan spoke up. "No more than she caused us. Little John, Your Majesty."

"I don't doubt it," Snow said before her expression grimmed. "I heard about Robin Hood's death. I'm so sorry for your loss."

The assembled group grimaced, and Little John placed a hand on Marian's shoulder as her face became like stone, though her eyes betrayed her grief.

"Robin wouldn't want us to give up," Marian told Snow and David, who nodded. "He fought against King John before he the kingdom was absorbed by the Evil Queen, and Robin fought against her tyranny too. We'll keep fighting for those who can't fight for themselves."

"Papa hero!" the little boy - Fernando had been his name in this land - in Marian's arms piped up proudly.

Marian's stony expression softened. "Yes he was. This is mine and Robin's son, Roland."

"It's very good to meet you, Roland," Snow said softly.

Roland then looked around. "Where Mai?"

The echoes of Mary Margaret's teaching self reminded Snow that eventually Roland would learn how to use apostrophes.

"Her name is actually Tien," David told the boy. "You might get to play with her if her dad says okay."

"Who is her father?" Marian asked curiously. "I mean, I know Killian was his name here, but does anyone know who he was before?"

Snow and David looked at each other, but neither could come up with an answer.

The lack of answer didn't reassure Marian or any of the Merry Men. Roland couldn't have cared less, as he kept asking his mother when he and 'Tee' could play.

Snow searched through the crowd, and saw Henry speaking with Killian now.

Her brow furrowed. Who was this man that was so close to her grandson and daughter? She knew the man from Storybrooke, but who was he in the Enchanted Forest?

She would have to find out soon.

"Poor Phillip," Belle said as she and Freddie walked through the streets of the town, Art walking beside them. The presence of the lioness did not put people at ease, as they hurried away at the sight of her.

Nonsense really. True, Belle had been shocked by Art's presence back when the three of them were in Rumplestiltskin's castle, and make no mistake, she was still a dangerous animal. However, deep down she was as gentle as the man whose arm Belle's was linked in.

"Poor Mulan too," Freddie said as he led Belle through the town, mindful to keep her steady in case her weakened knees failed her. Being trapped in that forsaken cell did nothing to help her strength. "All that time they spent looking for the princess, only for True Love's Kiss not to work."

"What if it wasn't True Love?" Belle pondered. At Freddie's quizzical look, she elaborated, "Phillip told me that his father and Princess Aurora's father arranged their marriage. They seemed to get along, but getting along isn't enough. And for the Sleeping Curse, even love isn't enough."

"I wish it was," Freddie said. "I don't know much about the princess, but I can't imagine wishing that fate on anyone."

I can imagine a few, Belle thought darkly. King Midas and the Evil Queen, for starters.

The images of those royals brought someone else to mind. Not a royal, but a Duke, one who was probably looking for her.

"Freddie," Belle said as a hand subconsciously reached out to Art for comfort, petting the yellow fur the moment the lioness came within reach. "Have you seen my father?"

Freddie shook his head. "His name was Moe French in this land, but we didn't talk much. The most I heard was that he- did something stupid."

Belle raised an eyebrow at his hesitation. "What did he do?"

The man paused before saying, "He stole from Mr. Gold...the Dark One."

"He stole from-" Belle cut herself off in shock. "Of all the- why would he do that?"

"Probably because Moe stole from a crooked pawn shop owner, not a dark magician with a penchant for cruel irony," Freddie answered through gritted teeth.

"We have to find him. We have to offer some protection." That's when Belle's mind lit up. "That's it. If we offer him help against the Dark One, then he'll feel obligated to shield you from King Midas."

"Belle, it's a nice idea," Freddie said hesitantly, "but your father is duke. Midas is a king with enough gold to throw around to either buy your father off, or to fund wars to get me back."

Freddie's grip on her arm tightened, and this time it was Belle, through held his hand in hers, that provided support.

The little Freddie would say of what King Midas put him through was enough to fill Belle with anger. The kind that acted as fuel for one thought: I must keep him safe.

She had already failed in protecting him from Queen Regina, she couldn't fail again.

"Belle!" A familiar voice called out, enough that Art instantly started growling at someone behind them, causing Belle and Freddie to hurriedly turn to see who it was.

There were many strange things about this world. One in particular was what Freddie called a 'phone' (it sounded much more efficient than messenger birds), but Belle didn't think the strangest sight so far would be the Dark One...as a normal man.

He hurried to stand before her, his brown and human eyes no longer reptile and gold searching her face.

"You-" Belle said. "You're-"

Strike her previous comment. The next strangest thing in this land was that Rumplestitskin, the Dark One, was now hugging her.

Before he had embraced her, Belle caught a glimpse of the true distress, shock, and relief on his face. It was more human emotion than she'd ever seen in him before, and it was part of the reason why she hugged him back after a moment of hesitation.

That didn't mean she couldn't sense Freddie and Art bristling beside them.

Eventually, the Dark One pulled back, his hands on her arms as he stared at her. "I...I didn't think you were alive. I was told-"

"I'm alive," Belle said as her arms laid limply by her side, feeling more than a little uncomfortable with the way he was looking at her. Human emotion or not, this was still the same man who hurt Freddie, who turned him into the half-man out of nothing but spite.

That thought was enough to get Belle to pull back.

"Belle-" Rumplestiltskin started before he finally caught of Freddie and Androcles. At their hateful stares, Rumplestiltskin exchanged a look of indifferent smugness. "Ah, I see you made it through the curse in one piece."

"No thanks to you," Freddie replied tersely. "Thankfully, my ribs healed from that time you sent me to the hospital."

"What?" Belle asked aghast.

Before Rumplestiltskin could reply, Freddie said, "He seemed to have it in his head that I killed you, and that I deserved to be beaten for it." That's when Freddie realized something as he looked at Rumplestiltskin. "Wait, why did you think she was dead? And why did you think I killed her?"

Something dark and angry brewed behind Rumplestiltskin's eyes as a thought entered his mind. "I was told that you tore her to pieces. It seems I was misinformed."

"Even if you were," Belle said hotly, "you had no right to attack him."

"Belle-" Rumplestiltskin scoffed, but Belle was in no mood to conciliate him.

"If Freddie did attack me in that form, which he never would, it would've been your fault," Belle said. Seemingly stunning Rumplestiltskin with her words, she pressed on. "You are the one that cursed him. You are the one that banished us from your castle. You are the one who stole Art."

"He seems to have recovered since then," Rumplestiltskin said in a blase tone that only further infuriated Belle. He then looked at Freddie curiously. "How did you manage that by the way?"

"Since you banished us from your castle, I don't think it's your concern anymore," Belle told him sharply.

"But, as I see it, that cat is still my properly," the Dark One said as he pointed at Art, causing Freddie to pull the lioness back protectively. "I could just-"

"Just stop it," Belle told him, her tone now a mixture of a plea and an order. She took in a breath as she looked into Rumplestiltskin's eyes. "We mean you no harm. If you let us walk away, we will not bother you. We just want to be left in peace. Can you understand that? Can you understand that we just want to have some peace after everything that's happened?"

Truth be told, she didn't know if he would, and perhaps he was spiteful enough to take Art when they least expected it.

Whatever the case, Rumplestiltskin said nothing, which Belle and Freddie took as a sign to leave as quickly as possible. They didn't give another moment's hesitation, with Art following, they hurried in the other direction, trying to put as much distance between themselves and the Dark One as possible.

It was nearing sunset, and Emma knew there was a lot more work to be done. There were countless people still looking for their loved ones. People who were cursed with families completely different from their original ones. That was apparently what happened when an evil queen separated then mixed and matched families. Children were "adopted" by false parents, or partners were switched up. There was even one ugly case where a woman got pregnant by her fake husband, and now she, the fake husband, and the real husband had to deal with the fallout.

Oh, and the dual memories on top of all that. Couldn't leave out that part.

Henry leaned against Emma's side as they made their way into the loft. He was holding one of the items they grabbed from Killian's apartment, the bird house project the kids had been working on (god, didn't that feel like years ago).

Looking back at their group, Emma saw that Henry wasn't the only one who looked exhausted.

Snow and David leaned against each other as the woman took out the key. Copper - who had missed them since staying with the neighbor - lovingly nuzzled himself against Emma's roommate's leg.

Roommate, mother, what's the difference?

A headache formed in Emma's head.

Nearby, Killian was tiredly holding a sleepy Tien in his arms, steadying the girl on his left hip, while Phoebe leaned against Killian's right side. The teenager held Lady's leash in her free hand, and even the puppy seemed exhausted.

After everything that happened, Emma and Snow used the little time they had to talk to agree that it would be better for Killian and the girls to stay the night. Safety in numbers and all that.

Emma saw David whisper something in Snow's ear, causing the two of them to smile lovingly at each other. They then looked over at her with the same amount of love, though Emma couldn't help but look away.

Once the door was open, the dogs eagerly raced inside (Phoebe offering no resistance as Lady pulled her in), followed by everyone else slowly moving inside.

"Come on kids," David said with as much pep as he could muster. "I think the couch is a pullout."

The kids offered a lackluster "Yaaaaaay" as Henry went to his room to hide the secret project, and Phoebe went to help David clear up some space.

Killian moved to seat Tien down on a nearby chair, probably to help. Tien curled into a ball, her face scrunched up in sleepy crankiness at the notion of being disturbed.

Emma opened her mouth to talk to him, to just have a moment to speak to him, when Snow came into view.

"Hey, Emma," Snow said gently. "I know you said we could talk later, and I figured that maybe now would be a good time."

Shit. Emma did not have the energy for this. "I know, but I'm kind of tired, so maybe-"

Desperation seeped through Snow's eyes. "It's a lot to take in, I get it, but please understand this is the first time we've been together again in years. I mean, look at you." Snow's hands were already ready to cup Emma's face before she realized what she was doing, and how Emma startled at the motion. Hesitantly putting her hands back down, Snow gave Emma her best smile, though it was dimmed by tiredness and disappointment in Emma's reaction.

That's when David came back. He must've overheard their conversation, because he immediately picked up with, "Everyone is tired and confused right now, but things should go back to the way they used to be."

Emma couldn't help but ask, "The way they used to be? It used to be that the worst thing we had to deal with was my custody battle or literally anything else Regina threw at us. Now we have to deal with magic and evil queens and who knows what else?"

And there it was. The 'normal' Emma was used to and the one David described were not only incompatible, but complete opposites.

That's when Snow - her face slightly taut with worry - jumped in with, "You know, you're right. It's been a hectic day and we're all tired. This is an adjustment period, but everything should be fine." She then hastily asked Emma, "Do you want anything to eat or drink?"

Emma shook her head. "I'll be fine."

"Just ask if you need anything," Snow offered, and for a moment, Emma could pretend it was her roommate's natural tendency to be concerned that was responsible for it. Emma was still trying to process the woman looking at her with maternal affection.

Emma nodded half-heartedly before walking toward Henry, helping him push some more items out of the way to better make room for the pullout.

As she did, she watched Tien sleepily walk over to help Killian and Phoebe on their end, picking up small items like books or a tiny potted flower before walking away and gingerly setting them on the other side of the room. The whole while, Killian kept an eye on both the little girl and Phoebe, who seemed determined to prove her worth by nearly breaking her back moving a piece of furniture that was heavier than she was.

Emma automatically smiled, and wanted to say something about Killian being watchful as ever, but the smile dimmed when she thought of something.

So far, she'd learned who most people in her circle actually were, even if some of these revelations were...a bit much, to be honest. However, the one person who'd been pretty tight-lipped about his true identity was Killian.

Was Killian his real name? He hadn't corrected any of them from calling him that, even when everyone stated their preference for their original or cursed name.

Killian must've seen something in her face, before his eyes became downcast.

"Em-" A tiny yawn. "Emma?"

Emma looked down and was startled at seeing Tien standing closely before her (when did she get there?). The little girl then leaned against Emma's leg, too tired to raise her arms to hug it.

"Hey, kid," Emma said as she placed a hand on Tien's head, smoothing down some errant hair. At feeling the little girl sway, Emma took the chance to bend down and pick Tien up. She secured Tien on her hip, and was rewarded with one of Tien's hands clasping the lapel of Emma's jacket, her head tiredly resting on Emma's shoulder.

"You tired?" Emma asked her, and received a quiet "Mhmm" with a half-hearted nod.

Emma held her closer.

"Hey, Emma," Phoebe said as she walked up to them, and Emma noted Henry, David, and Mary Margert fixing the pullout couch. "I, uh, wanted to say thank you. For earlier. I should've said it before, but-"

"Don't worry about it," Emma told Phoebe. She then saw the shy smile Phoebe was giving her. "What is it?"

"Nothing," Phoebe lied. At Emma's raised eyebrow, Phoebe amended that with, "I mean...I think it was really cool how you saved Henry, all of us really. Then you kept standing up to people, and, well, you know." Phoebe's cheeks began reddening a touch at revealing that much, and her eyes shyly averted from Emma's gaze.

"Did you kill a dragon?" Tien mumbled against Emma's shoulder. "People say you did."

"That's riiiight," Emma drew out the word as she adjusted her hold on Tien.

"Woooow," Tien replied, trying with all her might to lift her head, but the draw of sleep was too strong. Not enough for her to cross the threshold to dreamland, but close enough.

Phoebe once again looked up at Emma, her eyes lightened with excitement. "How did you do it? I've only heard of people saying they did but you can never tell. Did you use a sword or a crossbow, or-"

"I'll tell you about it tomorrow," Emma told her.

Phoebe nodded, but a concerned look came over her. "Is, um, Regina going to be on lockdown?"

"Yes," Emma affirmed. "She's not leaving anytime soon."

"Good," Phoebe said with a hard expression. "What about Mr. Gold?"

Emma saw Killian's head turn towards them, his eyes darkening.

That was a harder question to answer. For all intents and purposes, the man (or creature?) was roaming freely, and there wasn't a lot any of them could do about it. Emma just knew that if Phoebe so feared Mr. Gold back when everyone had fake memories, there had to be some connection between them back in their original lives.

"He won't be any trouble to you," Emma promised, resolving to keep that promise. She needed to keep that promise. She didn't know if she could take Phoebe remaining in a state of fear when it came to Gold.

Besides, she hoped that Killian would take her words as a hint to not do anything rash.

At seeing the not totally convinced look on the teen's face, Emma suggested, "Maybe you should get ready for bed."

"I'm not ti-" Phoebe yawned. "Okay, fair enough."

Tien finally managed to raise her head, though the action resembled a flop rather than a rise, as she tried and mostly failed to look into Emma's eyes. "Are you and Daddy gonna get mar-"

"Uh, I think it's time for bed, Tee," Phoebe said as she and Emma both began to blush.

"Yes, time for bed girls," Killian said before he went over to hug Phoebe. "I'll be back soon."

"Where are you going?" Phoebe asked as she and Emma looked at him in surprise.

"I'll be back soon," Killian repeated as he began to leave the apartment.

Shit, Emma thought. Passing Tien to the still alarmed Phoebe, Emma began to leave.

"Mom?" Henry questioned, getting ready to follow.

"Stay here, kids," Emma told them as she followed Killian outside.

Closing the door, Emma looked down the hallway and found Killian was already halfway down. "Killian, wait."

Killian did stop, but he didn't turn around or make a move to return to the apartment.

"It's late," Emma tried for a cajoling tone. "Everyone's tired. We should all just go to bed."

Killian turned halfway toward her, his brow furrowed and his face and body tense. It took her a moment to realize that feeling wasn't meant for her. "There's still business to be done."

"About Gold?" Emma asked him as she walked toward him. "Or Rumple-"

"Don't," Killian interrupted.

"Don't what?" Emma challenged as she at last stood before Killian. "What happened between you and him? What actually happened?"

Killian looked away from her. No, not just away from her. He concealed it well after a second, but he glanced in the direction of his hand just long enough for something to click in her mind.

"Did he have something to do with your hand?" Emma asked.

Killian's eyes darting up to look into hers was all the answer she needed.

For that question at least. She had one that came out of her mouth before she could stop it. "Who are you?"

"Killian Jones."

"Who are you really?"

A pause. "My name is Killian Jones…" the man before her trailed off, closing himself off from her for the first time since they'd met.

"Hey," Emma said softly, taking a chance with him like he had with her, back when she was the stranger to him. "After everything we've been through, I think I've earned some leeway." Emma stepped closer until there were only inches of space between them. "Who are you Killian?"

Her eyes looked into his, and try as he might, Killian couldn't look away. He could lie, try to hope that he could trick her inner lie detector.

Even if he felt he had the talent, at that moment, Killian simply didn't have the will.

"I...was a sailor, once," Killian at last confessed, his voice picking up in volume, a reminder that if he didn't get this out now, he might not possess the courage to do so later. It was cowardly to hide it, and to do so to Emma of all people was simply bad form. "Then, after my brother died I became a pirate. I...crossed paths with the Dark One in regards to a woman named Milah. He killed her, and took my hand. I was determined to avenge her, and I wouldn't let this," he raised his left arm slightly, "become a disadvantage. So, I fashioned a hook to the stump, and became known by a more colorful moniker….Captain Hook."

"Captain Hook?"

Both Emma and Killian startled, and turned to look at David and Snow peeking out from the open door of the loft. David's expression was stunned while Snow's eyes hardened.

Emma looked away from them to return her gaze to Killian, only to find that he could hardly look her in the eye now.

This...was a new complication.

Despite Phoebe's previous exhaustion, she found it difficult to go to sleep. The bed was soft, the lights were dim, and Tien was already passed out next to her under the warm covers.

Truth be told, she was preoccupied with pretending to be asleep while eavesdropping on the adults' conversation.

"So...you're...Captain Hook," David said slowly in slow comprehension. "The Captain Hook?"

"Yes," Killian said tersely, for the second time since the adults came back in and sent the kids to bed.

Phoebe stilled at the admission, briefly wondering if Henry could hear this at all. She wouldn't put it past him to at least try to listen in.

Captain Hook. Phoebe had heard rumors about the black-hearted pirate. He stole, that was a common theme, and he was rumored to kill. The how varied from story-to-story. Sometimes, he and his crew killed whoever crossed their path, setting port towns on fire or sinking a ship with everyone still alive. Other times, there would be survivors who told the tale of Hook slaughtering the captains and first mates but leaving everyone else alive...after taking their loot of course.

None of those stories fit Killian at all.

This was the same man who got a puppy for her and Tien, who took them in, even after Phoebe stole from people's garbage and lied to him. The same man who was the only father figure she'd ever had.

Mom would've liked him.

Phoebe's throat threatened to close up.

"You lied to us," Snow replied in a harsh whisper.

Snow didn't seem to like him.

Emma whispered something back to Snow, something Phoebe couldn't quite make out. Her back was turned to them, so she could only tell from the tone Emma was using that she didn't take kindly to Snow's assertion.

Killian's...he's not like that, Phoebe thought to herself. All she had ever known was a kind and gentle man who never even raised his voice to her.

Even though he admitted it, how could he be that killer pirate of legend that everyone spoke about in hushed tones? It didn't make sense.

When Emma spoke again, Phoebe could hear her more clearly.

"Snow, you've known Killian for years." A pause, then after some whispers, "Okay, technically several months, but come on. You can give him some credit, right?"

Phoebe couldn't help but smile. At least someone was standing up for him.

An exchange of whispers, this time between Emma and Killian, spoken in soft tones.

They're supposed to be together, Tien had whispered to her before sleep claimed the little girl.

Phoebe had chuckled at her little sister's insistence, but the more she thought about it, the more she started to wonder. Of course, it could just be something carried over from Tien's time as 'Mai', the dream that their dad could marry a woman that Tien wanted as a mommy. It even had the benefit of giving them a brother in Henry if it happened.

And yet, Phoebe thought back to things that happened to them in the Enchanted Forest before the curse. How Tien would babble about 'lines' in the sky, tracing the patterns from where Nova, Blue, and the other fairies would take flight. Phoebe never saw them herself, and at first figured that it was just something from Tien's imagination. But when she brought this up to Blue...the look on Blue's face…

Maybe this was part of Tien's deal being a changeling, maybe there was something more to her statement that simply a little girl's wish for a big, happy family.

Whatever it was, there were more dampers in their plan than just Killian's supposedly true identity.

They were stuck in this new world, and while Phoebe didn't particularly mind (indoor plumbing was fantastic), she knew others didn't see it that way. The fairies were cut off from their magic, and none of them were happy about it. Hardly any of the adults noticed that she listened in on their conversations about how they had been separated from their families, and were trying to cobble them back together.

And Rumplestiltskin was still there. So was Regina. Emma promised that Regina wouldn't get out of her jail cell, so Phoebe's mother's killer was out of the way for now.

I hope she feels alone.

The unkind thought startled her, but the anger she felt soothed that worry. Somewhat. She then banished the memory of her mother's lifeless body lying on the ground.

Phoebe looked down at a still sleeping Tien, subtly using a bit of the blanket to wipe some drool from her mouth.

The Dark One was still a problem to deal with. She didn't know if he would try to take Tien again, but she'd rather die than let him get his filthy hands on her. Even in her life with fake memories, there was one thing both sides - Thumbelina and Phoebe - had in common: Tien had to be protected.

"Look, let's just figure this out in the morning, okay?" Emma told the group. More whispers, but the group's conversation ended before Phoebe heard two sets of feet walking away.

She closed her eyes and waited, particularly when she felt someone stand next to the pullout. She tried to breathe slowly, one long inhale...one long exhale.

Phoebe then felt the blanket over her shoulder being lifted higher until it was by her neck, and she just knew it was Killian.

He soon walked away, and new whispering started.

"Never would've guessed Killian was Captain Hook," David whispered in a tone Phoebe didn't like. "It just doesn't make sense."

"No, it doesn't," Snow replied, her own tone betraying her wariness. "What are we going to do? He already tried keeping this from us."

Because he knew you'd react this way, Phoebe thought defensively.

"And I know there's something he's not telling us," Snow continued. "I can believe Rumplestiltskin is capable of murder and mutiliation, fair enough. Still, what are his motives? The Killian we knew would never have done the things Hook has done, so…" she let out a tired sigh. "I don't know, David. We've heard the stories, but...I just don't know."

"We'll keep an eye on him," David assured her. "Maybe...maybe he's changed, but if he hasn't, we can at least protect the girls."

We don't need protection, the teenager thought fiercely. Killian would never hurt us.

"You're right," Snow told her husband. "Emma's right too. Let's try to get some sleep."

The whispers ended there, and soon they were getting ready for bed.

Phoebe, despite her own worries and suspicions, was angered on Killian's behalf. They didn't know how true those rumors were. Maybe it was a big misunderstanding.

...Okay, the many, many tales attributed to the legend of Captain Hook might have some truth, but that couldn't be all there was to the man.

For Killian's sake, Phoebe was also going to keep an eye on him, and anyone else that might try to hurt him.

What do I call myself now? Ray? Percival?

For the man known both as Raymond Fitzroy and Sir Percival de Troyes, it was a question he'd been asking himself ever since he remembered.

Then again, for simplicity's sake, he's introduced himself as "Percy" to anyone who asked. If they wanted to ask more, he'd just say his title of 'Sir' and move on.

You're the son of a king, his father once told him, his eyes showing signs of wrinkles and his hair growing more white with each day, the heir to the throne. Not the upjumped bastard's play knight. You're a prince, not a mere knight.

His father, if he was still alive, could rot in hell as Percy used whatever name he damn well pleased.

"Uncle Percy," Galahad looked up at him.

"Mhmm?"

The young boy paused as they made their way back to their apartment, still several blocks away. "Do...do you mind if I go by LJ? I know I said Gal was fine, but I think I like LJ more right now."

Percy looked down at Lainey's son, and he replied, "Use whatever name you want."

LJ smiled. "Thanks. It's just that, I don't know. It feels weird being called Galahad. I mean, it's my name, but also not…"

Percy smiled and placed a hand on LJ's shoulder. "You don't need to explain it. I understand."

"Thank you," he responded with a smile of his own.

One that soon faded.

"What is it?" Percy asked.

"Do you think the witch is here?" LJ asked in turn with a grim look. "Morgana."

An old feeling curled a clawing hand over Percy's heart, one that reopened an old wound. "If she is, I promise she won't touch you."

She killed Lainey, and if I ever get my hands on her…

"Ray!" Someone called out from the end of the street.

Uncle and nephew looked up and found Ashley, Sean, Alexandra (in Sean's arm), and even Sean's father walking towards them.

Ashley was the first to reach them, and gave them both a strong hug.

"I'm so glad you two are okay," Ashley said gratefully before releasing them. "When we didn't see you all day, we got worried."

"We're fine, Ashley," Percy told her.

"Please, call me Ella," she replied.

Percy nodded his head. "Then please, call me Percy."

Sean reached out his hand. "I'm Thomas."

Percy shook Thomas' hand.

Thomas' father then stepped forward, seemingly unsure on what he should do, before he stiffly nodded his head. "King Charles of Naucratis."

Percy bowed. "Your Majesty." He then bowed to Ella and Thomas, "Your Highnesses?".

Ella and Thomas told them there was no need, though they did confirm they were royalty, as was Princess Alexander.

Charles asked, "And whom am I addressing?"

"Sir Percival of Listenoise," he responded.

"Sir Percival?" Thomas questioned as the royal family looked surprised. "Like the legend."

"Yes, like the legend," Percy answered, having become so used to the question over the years that he was able to hide his exasperation in exchange for a pleasant demeanor.

Ella then addressed LJ, who said his name was Galahad, but if they could please call him LJ, that would be great.

"Sir Percival," Charles said formally, and Percy's memories from his life as Ray brought up images of a stern and overprotective judge.

However, the king before him then said, "I want to thank you. Because of the curse, I regretfully turned against my own family." The shame on his face was genuine. "However, you cared for my son and daughter-in-law, and especially my granddaughter." The older man reached over to brush the soft blond hair of the baby in Thomas' arms.

Charles once again addressed Percy. "If ever you need anything, all you have to do is ask. A reward for your kindness."

Percy replied, "Your Majesty is very kind, but no reward is necessary."

"I think it is," Charles said firmly, in a tone that felt remarkably like Here is my kindness. Accept it or not, it is yours.

"Understood, Your Majesty," Percy replied. "I wish we could talk more, but I need to get LJ home."

"We'll see you tomorrow?" Ella asked hopefully.

"Yes," Percy told her. "I think we could all use a good night's sleep."

Everyone agreed, and soon departed, ready to enjoy some relaxation.

Little did they know that their respite would be short-lived.

Regina held up her hand for the umpteenth time. Just like all the attempts before it, no magic came.

With a harsh sigh, she dropped her hand and almost slumped in her seat. No, queens don't slump. She straightened her back and kept a cool look on her face.

This was a temporary setback, one she would rectify the moment she got an opening.

Did anyone seriously think they could hold her in there indefinitely?

The very idea of her in a jail cell galled Regina to her core, and not just that.

Everything she had sacrificed for decades - her father, her magic, her crown - to receive her happy ending, and all of it was for nothing.

Snow White got her family back, and her damned daughter was responsible for it.

Emma, Regina cursed the name in her mind, cursed the fact that the bitch didn't die when her car crashed the night she tried leaving Storybrooke.

That woman had the nerve to steal Henry away, poison him against her, and claim she was a threat?

Regina had never raised a hand to Henry. She'd given him everything he'd ever wanted. He was her little prince, and she raised him as such. Oh, she was going to make Emma pay for taking her child away from her.

Out of spite, Regina once again raised her hand, trying to will out the magic she knew was hidden away.

"Magic is different here, dearie."

Of course he would come here, Regina thought as she lowered her hand once more, and turned to look at the imp in human form. "I noticed." She nodded to their current surroundings. "I assume this is your doing."

The Dark One stepped closer to the bars of her cell. "Most things are."

"Get to it, Rumple," Regina snapped impatiently. She knew he no longer needed her. She knew he could easily see her dead with how helpless she was, but she wasn't about to let him see it. She stood up and stepped closer to the bars to confront him. "What do you want? Are you here to finish the job?"

"No, no, no," he told her with a crooked smile. "You're safe from me."

"I feel so relieved," she replied sarcastically.

Rumple put a hand where his heart should've been, and pretended to look offended. "Whatever could make you think I would do such a thing?" He lowered his hand. "No, see, after talking with someone today, I realized that killing you wouldn't be the correct route to take."

Regina tilted her head, pretending to feign interest though part of her was genuinely curious. "Who could elicit such a response from you?"

"Belle."

Shit.

"She's alive?"

How did he know? How did she get out?

"You are a dreadful liar," Rumple told her. "I should've seen through it when you told me the beast tore her to shreds. A simple enough lie even you could keep up with."

Thinking quickly, Regina said, "I could have killed her, but I didn't."

"Oh, you certainly kept her alive," Rumple replied in a tone that leaked out the dark anger he must have felt. Regina wondered if he still had his magic. "Though only so you could kill her when it suited you. A fate worse than death...which, incidentally, is exactly what I've got in store for you."

Before she could react, Rumple's hand darted through the bars of the cell, grabbing Regina's hand and pulling it to him. There was only a moment of time for Regina to realize he was wearing gloves as he pressed an amulet against her open palm.

Her heart nearly stopped when she recognized the markings.

Regina gasped as she felt a searing pain in her palm, "Is that…"

"Yes, dearie," Rumple told her with a hard smile. "The one thing no one can escape - I promise, yours is particularly unpleasant."

He released her, and even as she pulled her hand back, even as she glared at him hatefully, she knew it was done.

She was dead. Her body just hadn't realized it yet.

Henry didn't truly fall asleep, but he had been drowsy enough to drift and out of total consciousness.

He should be happy, right? The curse was broken, no one thought he was crazy anymore, and Regina wouldn't hurt anyone. Even better, he was with his real mom, a good mom, and his family was around him. He'd gotten everything he wanted...so why did he feel so down?

The boy tried to let the silence of the loft quiet his mind, but if anything it was too distracting. It allowed his mind to race with questions.

Why was everyone still here?

Was everyone having trouble with magic?

Did they have any other villains they needed to worry about?

Who was Killian?

Annoyed with his lack of sleep, Henry quietly (so as not to wake up his mom, whom he sure was asleep) and quickly got out of bed to retrieve his walkie talkie before getting back under the covers.

Hoping that the blankets would muffle the sound, Henry pressed the button on the walkie talkie.

"This is Bookhead," Henry said quietly. "Does anyone copy? Over."

Silence on the other end.

"Hello, this is Bookhead," Henry said once more, keeping an ear out in case he heard any movement. "Over."

"You don't-" a long yawn. "You don't have to say over, Over."

Henry laughed as quietly as he could. "That's hypocritical, Declan."

"Excuse you," Declan teased sleepily. "It's Delinquent."

"This is Goody Two-Shoes," LJ said. "What's up?"

"Yeah, what's up?" Ava's voice said.

Henry blinked in surprise. "Ava, when'd you get a walkie talkie?"

"I asked our dad for it," Nick said. "Oh, this is Sweet Tooth by the way."

After a pause, Ava said in a tone that practically screamed of an eye roll, "This is Action Girl."

"Wait, do I get a nickname?"

This time it was LJ who responded. "Paige, when did you get on here?"

"And how is this all linked?" Declan questioned.

"I don't know, magic?" Henry thought he heard Ava mumble.

"I found a walkie talkie in my par- my cursed parents' things," Paige explained. "And...it's Grace, actually. My name."

"Cool," Ava said. "My name's Gretel, but you can still call me Ava. I don't mind."

"I like Nick more, anyways," Nick added.

"So...do I get a nickname?" Grace asked.

Codename, Henry corrected in his mind, but figured he'd keep it to himself. "Um...anything you like?"

Grace paused before replying, "I like rabbits, and tea parties."

Henry's mind sparked an idea. "How about Tea Time?"

"Yeah," Grace said with a tone that he imagined was said with a smile. "Yeah, I like that."

A silence fell over the chat.

At first, Henry thought that they had fallen asleep, and was about to feel some jealousy for their luck.

That was until Nick spoke, "Hey, guys...are you okay?"

"What do you mean?" LJ asked.

"I feel different, but the same, you know?" Nick replied.

Declan was the next to answer. "Yeah, me too. Like I know some things are the same. I still like fucking swearing for one."

Everyone gave a laugh.

Declan himself chuckled before his voice took a more somber tone. "I started thinking about other things, and people. I'll remember them one way, like how they were in the Enchanted Forest, but other times I'll remember them like it happened here."

Another pause before Ava admitted, "I tried remembering my mom." She cleared her throat. "Back home-" a frustrated sigh. "It's hard to say what 'home' is. As Gretel, it's this small home in a forest. Here it's a house on a street."

"I think it's going to take awhile to get used to all this," LJ said.

"We'll figure something out," Henry offered, trying to stay optimistic.

"Speaking of," Grace said, "have any of you seen my papa?"

"You're missing your parents?" Nick asked.

"Just my papa," Grace told them. "My mom died when I was a baby. My cursed parents were our neighbors who used to babysit me. Before the curse, he...he went to do something for the Evil Queen."

"Fuck, really?" Declan questioned, and Henry himself couldn't help but question to sanity of such a plan.

"I know, I know," Grace said, sounding upset. "I begged him not to, but he wouldn't listen. I was hoping that maybe one of you might've seen him, because he could...he could still be…"

"We might be able to find him," Ava said as reassuringly as she could. "What does he look like? What's his name?"

"He has brown hair, and blue eyes," Grace told them. "And his name is Jefferson."

"Wait, Jefferson?" Henry asked. Why did that name sound familiar?

"Shit," Declan swore. "You mean that crazy guy who got stabbed?"

"My papa's not crazy," Grace said defensively before Declan's words caught up to her. "Wait, stabbed? Did you see him? What happened?"

Hearing the panic in Grace's voice, Declan quickly said, "Uh, well, I saw some guy in the hospital and I heard that he'd been stabbed, but he seemed mostly okay. You know, besides being stabbed and all…"

"I have to go see him-"

There was a crashing sound, and LJ screamed.

"LJ!" Henry shouted, no longer caring that he was making noise. The others must not have cared either as they were shouting his name too.

"Henry!" He heard his mom shout, and the sound of heavy and fast footsteps followed.

Henry paid no mind as he got out from under his covers, not even when she and the other adults came in. He just continued shouting LJ's name.

"LJ! Come in!" Henry shouted as his mom approached him, and the silence on LJ's end frightened him more than the screams. "LJ!"

After several painfully long seconds, a crackle was heard.

"I'm...I'm okay," LJ said, and everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

"LJ, is everything okay?" Graham's voice asked. Declan must've alerted him.

This time, it was Percy who answered. "We're fine. Something crashed through the upper levels. I just checked and it destroyed the above stairca- what in the world?!"

Emma grabbed the walkie talkie from Henry and pressed the button. "Percy, what is it?"

Percy responded, "It's some sort of creature. It's dark a-and is covered in tattered robes and flying." A pause, and then, "And it's heading to the sheriff's station!"

One call to Ruby from Snow was all it took to get the werewolf to babysit the kids. They knew only one person was still at the sheriff's station, and as loathsome as she was, they still had to try to save Regina.

None of them knew exactly why or how, but they could try.

David sat in the driver's seat of his truck while Snow clambered in after him. Killian hesitated on who should get in - him or Emma - even contemplating on sitting in the truck bed.

Emma simply said, "Get in!"

Once Killian did so, Emma got in and sat on his lap, shutting the passenger door.

Despite the seriousness of the situation, Killian felt his heart jump and his skin flush, though he also avoided David and Snow's piercing gazes.

David gunned it, and soon they were racing down the streets of Storybrooke. Not long after, they heard the siren of Graham's car, and deep down Killian had no doubt that Percy was on his way as well.

The car tires squealed as David flew into the parking lot, hitting the brakes and sliding them to a stop.

Killian saw the front doors of the sheriff's station completely broken open from the outside, metal bent and glass strewn about on the ground.

"It's here!" Emma said as she pushed the door open and got out, Killian and the others hurrying to catch up by the time Graham and Percy's cars arrived.

They all carefully made it past the ruined door to get inside, glass crunching under the soles of their shoes, and heard an unearthly wail from the bullpen.

Emma and Killian were in the lead, an unnatural wind picking up inside the building, and were the first to come upon the monster.

It floated above their head, and was covered in tattered black robes just as Percy described, resembling a phantom more than anything else Killian's mind could come up with. The creature's arm - or what was left of it with rotted and decayed flesh - was outstretched toward Regina. It seemed curious to Killian's mind, taken aback at the sight of the creature, that a being that was black produced a colorful ray of light - a melding of blue that resembled a flame - to suck Regina's soul from her body.

David caught up, and grabbed a nearby chair. "Hey!"

He raced forward and hit the creature with the chair, but it used its other decayed arm to swat it away like it was a fly. The chair flew out of David's hands, and Killian ducked to avoid it as it slammed against the wall.

David once more tried to attack the creature, but it hit him, and now David was the one sent flying.

Killian went to help David up, and when he looked up, he gripped the man's arm and dragged him out of the way as a desk came flying toward them. Graham and Percy hardly made it out of the way, but they retained enough of a momentum to keep going forward.

The pirate started to say, "David-"

"I'm fine!" David shouted over the wind as Killian helped his friend stand.

Gunshots rang out in quick succession. Killian saw Graham aiming at the creature and firing his gun, but it did nothing to it.

"Hey!" Graham shouted before gunshots. "Look at me, you ugly bastard!"

The creature then sent another desk his way, and this time Emma had to grab Graham and fling them out of the way.

Percy had grabbed a flashlight and was trying to keep the creature's attention on him, and that was when Killian saw Snow creeping up behind it...a canister in one hand, and a lighter in the other.

"Over here!" Snow shouted, and the moment the creature turned its red-eyed gaze to her, Snow lifted both items up.

A click of the lighter, and a press of the canister's release, and a line of flames shot out and hit the creature's face.

At last, that broke the creature's concentration, and it released its hold on Regina with an unearthly wail.

Snow didn't let up the pressure, and followed it with her improvised flamethrower.

The creature let out a horrible screech that felt like a needle against Killian's eardrums. Before they could do anything else, the creature flew out the window, its howling sounding further and further away.

Percy had gone over to Regina, who was stunned on the floor, and gentleman though he was, even he seemed reluctant to help her up. He still did though, not that Regina thanked him, or prevented herself from ripping her arm out of his hand.

Percy rolled his eyes.

"You alright?" Killian asked David, who nodded but couldn't quite meet Killian's eyes.

Ah, he thought, trying to not let any hurt show. Still processing my identity, I see.

David looked like he wanted to say something to Killian, but that attempt was soon interrupted.

"What the hell was that thing?" Emma asked the group.

"A Wraith," Regina answered as she tried catching her breath, her face paler than it should be, and there was an unmistakable undertone of fear in her eyes. "A soul sucker."

Killian sucked in a breath through his teeth, recalling the tales of such a creature in the dead of nights on the Jolly Roger, before he saw something on Regina's hand. He walked forward quickly and grabbed it.

"Hey-"

"Enough," Killian told her in a hard voice as he turned the palm up, and confirmed what he saw. "You've been marked. By who?"

"Who do you think?" Regina snapped back.

Killian squeezed her wrist. "You are currently at the mercy of people you've tried to destroy. I'd be careful about your next move."

Regina spotted Graham over Killian's shoulder. "Graham-"

"Don't you look at me," Graham said in a voice that spoke of unimaginable rage and pain, even if it was only done in a terse voice. Killian glanced at the man's face. His expression was hard, but there was something in the eyes that made Killian's stomach sink. He didn't know exactly what it was, but from the others' expressions, he wasn't the only one to notice.

Killian returned his stare to Regina. "Who marked you?"

Regina's eyes burrowed into him as she admitted, "Rumplestiltskin."

He released Regina's wrist as Snow asked, "Did I kill it?"

"No," Regina said. "It's regenerating. It'll be back. It doesn't stop until it devours its prey."

"So how do we kill it?" Emma asked her.

"There's no way," Regina said, and it seemed that the concept of her own impending mortality was starting to get to her. "Can't kill something that's already dead."

"Then we have a problem," Emma surmised.

"No, we don't," David said. "Regina does."

They all turned to look at him with varying levels of surprise.

"You wanna leave her to die?" Emma reiterated, as if waiting for David to take it back,

He didn't. Instead, he doubled down. "Why not? Then it goes away, then we're safe."

Regina scoffed, as if she couldn't believe he'd go through with it. "It's quite an example you're setting for your daughter."

"No," David raised his voice as he stepped forward, only held back by Percy. He looked as if he was ready to throw her to the Wraith himself. "You don't get to judge us!"

"Gold, Rumple, whatever you want to call him," Regina said, "cursed me-"

"Well this is more than you deserve," Graham told her in a surprisingly hateful tone. "After everything you've done to us-"

"We can't let her die."

"What?" Graham demanded of Emma.

She stepped toward the group, who soon came together close enough to speak quietly so Regina couldn't hear.

"Listen," Emma reasoned, "I hate this woman just as much as you do, but you know who doesn't? Henry."

"Emma," Snow tried to say, but Emma wouldn't let her.

"She is evil, but he still might have a connection to her," Emma told the group. "We don't know how her death might affect him. Besides, there are still so many people whose lives were upturned who don't have answers. She might still have those answers."

Snow glanced at the woman who destroyed her life, the lives of her family and so many others. She had once before made the mistake of letting Regina go, indirectly allowing all of the ensuing misery to follow. Would this be a way to rectify that mistake? To prevent more Regina-led tragedies?

Perhaps. However, Snow couldn't reconcile being an executioner when so much was at stake. So for now…

"If it can't be killed," Snow asked her stepmother, her tormentor, "then what do you suggest?"

Regina thought about it before she said, "Send it somewhere it can't hurt anyone. For that, we need to get Jefferson's Hat."

Courtesy of Graham, Regina was still handcuffed, her wrists in front of her, when he brought her to Town Hall.

Emma saw him grip her arm tightly, but at enough of a distance that she was at least a foot away from him. His body screamed of pent up anger, of a need to keep Regina away from him. It didn't come as much of a surprise to Emma. Back at the station, Graham had reluctantly offered to take Regina to the Town Hall as Percy retrieved Jefferson's Hat (apparently it was at the mausoleum).

Graham pushed her forward with surprising roughness.

"Calm down, Sheriff," Regina said unperturbed. "That might count as police brutality."

"Consider it a step toward making us even," Graham told her. "Oh, and as some penance for nearly killing Jefferson."

David shook his head, trying to wrap his mind around the fact that they're trying to save this witch.

"I don't know what you mean," Regina said.

"Do you ever stop lying?" Graham snapped back at her. "Or are you going to try to say he ran into your knife?"

"Whatever happened to...whoever your talking about is none of my concern," she replied with a calm look.

Emma just looked at Regina, who soon took notice.

"What?" Regina asked her.

"You had it all along," Emma realized. "Jefferson's Hat. He's been trying to recreate the damn thing for years, and all this time it was with you."

Regina didn't acknowledge this.

Soon enough, Percy came along with a hat box, and soon pulled out the infamous object.

"This better be it," Percy warned Regina.

"It is," the woman told him, holding out her hands for the Hat.

Percy looked over at Emma, and when she nodded, he reluctantly handed it over.

"So, how does it work?" Snow asked as they all moved toward the main hall.

"It will open a portal to our land," Regina told them, and they soon made it to the center of the empty main hall. "All we have to do is send the Wraith in there."

"Oh, yeah, just that," David said.

"So this means...our land is truly gone?" Snow questioned, hoping against hope that maybe she was mistaken.

Regina looked at her for a moment before responding with, "We'd be sending it to a place that no longer exists. That's banishing it to oblivion."

As Regina placed the Hat on the floor, Emma looked up and saw her parents' downcast looks. Hell, everyone's moods seemed to have dropped more at that declaration then at the fact that there was a soul-sucking monster on the loose.

Emma couldn't pretend that she missed a place she didn't remember, but her heart still hurt for those who did.

Regina attempted to spin the Hat, but the movement was hampered by the cuffs. She looked at Graham and raised them up questioningly.

"Not on your life," the sheriff told her firmly.

Shaking her head, Regina once again tried to spin it, but was interrupted by the sounds of objects in the room shaking. The flickering of lights was soon preceded by the Wraith's wailing.

They all held up some normal wooden brooms as Snow lit the ends of it with her lighter, before dealing with her own improvised torch. Fire seemed to be the only thing that could hurt this creature, so it was better than nothing.

"Regina…" Emma trailed off, her body readying itself for a fight.

"I'm trying," Regina said tersely as she hurried in her attempts to spin the Hat.

The doors to the main hall blew open, and the Wraith soon flew in, searching for its prey.

The men ran forward to intercept it, forcing it back as best they could. When the Wraith went in one direction, one of the men would cut it off and push it back in place.

"Regina," Emma said again, knowing they could only hold it off for so long.

"I'm working on it," Regina retorted.

Emma stood guard while Snow grabbed a nearby bottle of liquor and poured its contents onto one railing, then doing the same to the other.

"Guys, now!" Snow shouted.

Killian and Graham fell back to close the gate, Percy and David working extra hard now to keep the Wraith's attention. Once they slid the two sides of the railing together, they stepped back, allowing Killian to set the railing alight with his torch.

"You might want to pick up the pace!" Killian told her.

"It's not working!" She shouted back, now an edge of franticness there as she tried and failed to get the magic flowing.

Worse still, the Wraith was getting smarter, faster. It was timing its strikes. No longer was it on the defensive, strictly avoiding the flames. Now it was on the offensive, making fast, clawing strokes at the faces of the men, who now struggled to avoid being touched by it.

"What is the problem?" Emma asked, hoping there was something she could do to help. The guys could only hold it off for so long, and she didn't want to imagine what the Wraith would do to them.

Emma crouched down as Regina slowly said, "Magic...it's different here."

"Now would be the time!" David shouted as he shot out the end of his broom, the fire slowly dying as it ran out of improvised kindling toward the creature, but the Wraith swooped down at the last second, gripping the wooden base and throwing it away.

"David!" Snow screamed as the creature reached for David's face, her husband falling to the floor to get away from it.

Killian switched his grip on the broom, holding it like a bat, and smacked the Wraith in the face with the flames before it could touch David. The Wraith reared back, letting out a pained screech as Graham and Percy held it at bay, allowing Killian time to help David up.

Emma turned her attention back to Regina, and grabbed her arm. Ready to run, ready to throw her out of the way, something.

At the same time, Regina spun the Hat once more, and this time something happened. It spun and spun and spun, a vector of purple wind emanating from the object as an unnatural wind picked up. Unlike the Wraith, this wind felt almost welcome. It settled a feeling in Emma's bones that felt less like an omen of terrible things to come, and more like a feeling of Welcome back.

As Regina and Emma stood up, Emma couldn't help but look down at her hands, and feel something wanted there, itching to get out.

Unbeknownst to the two women, who were too entranced by the sight of the portal, the vector coming from the Hat began to suck enough air out of the room that it smothered the flames on the railing.

This caught the Wraith's attention, who zeroed its focus on Regina and raced forward.

"It's coming!" David shouted as the Wraith flew over their heads. He also saw Killian make his way over the charred railing.

Emma looked up, saw what was happening, and shouted, "Regina!" as she pushed the other woman and herself out of the way.

The Wraith flew straight down into the mouth of the portal, and disappeared from view-

Emma felt a tug on her leg, one that knocked her off balance and started sending her into the portal.

Her breath caught in her throat, and her body felt weightless even as it was being pulled down.

Suddenly, there was pressure, a grip on her wrist that sent her body taut.

With a pained groan, Emma looked up from the neverending blackness of the portal below to see Killian was holding her wrist.

"Hold on!" Killian screamed over the winds of the portal, though even he started slipping further in. His shoulders were closer to the edge, then his upper chest.

Suddenly, Killian, as well as Emma were being pulled back up. The howling of the Wraith grated her ears, and she held onto Killian as tightly as she could. However, she also noticed the portal was getting smaller. This Wraith wasn't willing to let her go, and if need be, she'd let go to avoid Killian facing the same fate.

The thought of Killian being stuck in oblivion filled her with anger, and this feeling shot out throughout her body-

The Wraith screamed again, this time in pained anguish, and suddenly the weight on her leg was gone. Emma was soon lifted up and up and up until Killian managed to get up enough to grab her under the arm and lift her out of the portal mere moments before it closed.

They stumbled over each other, and Emma landed on top of him, both of them breathless and their hearts racing.

Not how I would've imagined this kind of scenario, Emma distantly thought as she looked down at him.

"Are you-" They started saying at the same time, stopped, and then couldn't help let out an exuberant laugh.

"Looks like you're both fine," Graham's voice snapped them out of it.

Emma looked and saw everyone staring concernedly at them. Blushing, Emma got off Killian, and was helped up by her parents.

Snow's hands hovered over Emma's body. "Emma, are you hurt? Did it hurt you?"

"I'm fine, Snow," Emma said, though when she rolled up her pant sleeve, she saw a bruise already forming from where the Wraith grabbed her.

She stood upright, and David crushed her in a hug, followed by Snow.

"We almost lost you," David said, though he was clearly relieved as he cupped the back of her head.

Emma paused before hugging them back. Just...she just needed this, alright?

Looking over their shoulders, Emma saw Graham and Percy had helped Killian up. They locked eyes and smiled that the other was okay.

"That thing has seen better days," Percy commented, looking at the now tattered and ruined hat lying pathetically on the floor.

"Killian's a regular knight in shining armor," Graham announced as Emma's parents slowly let her go. He even slapped a hand on Killian's shoulder, though grimaced in remorse when Killian winced.

Killian shook his head. "Percy is the one who pulled us back in time." He looked between Emma's parents, not saying anything, and seemingly not expecting them to say anything to him.

David opened his mouth, but then his eyes caught sight of Regina, who was looking at her hands. "Alright, it's gone now. Back to your cell."

Regina clenched her hands into fists before uncurling her fingers. She then slowly looked up at them and smiled.

Something clenched in Emma's stomach.

"Is that a fact?" Regina asked before she raised up her hands.

Suddenly, something wrapped around Emma's neck and torso, and flung her backwards until the back of her head hit a wall. She tried to move her legs but something wrapped around those too. She managed to look down enough to see that they were vines, ones that were growing from the walls themselves. Looking sideways in both directions, she observed that everyone else was in the same trouble.

Emma caught sight of Regina once more, and watched as the woman twisted her wrists, and the handcuffs unlocked and fell to the floor.

Regina let out a sigh of relief. "That's much better." She looked at her victims on the wall and smiled confidently. "Thanks for dealing with the Wraith." She walked slowly toward Emma, who was having more trouble breathing.

As Regina stood in front of her, she smiled, "I'll be sure to tell Henry you fought brave- Ow!"

Hardly any of them noticed it before it happened, as they were too busy trying to wrest themselves free or simply breathe to notice. However, out of the corner of their eyes, they did catch a glimpse of something running at Regina.

Sucking in a breath, Emma managed to look down enough to see Tien was there, having sunk her teeth into Regina's lowered hand. Regina grabbed the little girl's hair - Don't you touch her - trying to yank her off, but Tien was fierce. She refused to let go, and as she bit deeper, something odd happened.

Emma didn't know how, but this loosened the grip of the vines, and the adults there coughed and took in as much breath as they could.

"Get off," Regina ordered as she prepared to strike the girl.

"AH!" A fierce, high-pitched scream resounded, and Emma saw Phoebe race forward, having apparently grabbed the empty liquor, and slamming it onto Regina's forehead.

This, at last, was enough for the vines to loosen completely, and the adults dropped to the floor. They hastily got up, and to Emma's shock she saw Henry, LJ, Declan, Ava, Nick, and Grace running forward to help, to stand around, or do something as Ruby quickly followed them. She intercepted the kids and held Regina to the ground, trying to stop Phoebe's assault.

The sight before her - one of six middle schoolers, a high schooler, and a pre-schooler - trying to fight an evil witch in their pajamas and hastily put on jackets and shoes might have been funny. However, she took note of Tien's scared face as LJ pulled her away, of Henry pleading with Phoebe to stop as she continued her assault on Regina.

"Stop, Phoebe!" Henry tried to pull the older girl back, but she wrenched herself away and continued hitting Regina. She tried to avoid hitting Ruby though.

"Phoebe!" Killian shouted as he ran forward, grabbing Phoebe by the middle and pulling her away.

"No! Let go of me!" Phoebe shouted back as she tried to wriggle out of his grasp, a look of rage and pain on her face.

Emma tried to comfort Henry as the other adults hurried the kids back, all of them wondering how they got there.

"S-S-She," Phoebe stuttered as tears fell down her cheeks. She sucked in a breath before crying out, "She killed my mom!"

There was that cold feeling. That sense of things falling into place in Emma's mind, a puzzle that was solved where the answer was about as unpleasant as you could imagine.

Emma and Killian locked eyes, and she knew some things had just clicked for him too.

Phoebe lost all strength then, her arms growing limp as she let the liquor bottle fall to the floor. Killian wrapped her arms around him and whispered to her over and over, "It's okay. It's okay."

"Henry," Emma said her son's name, looking down at the boy who had tears welled up in his eyes.

"We knew you were in trouble," Henry told her. "We just wanted to help."

Stupid. Reckless. Brave. An act of love.

A cry of pain, and at first Emma thought it was one of the kids. However, she was soon proved wrong when she looked over and saw Ruby had twisted Regina's arm behind her back, keeping a hold of her as she forced her on her feet.

Henry gently broke away from Emma's hold as he approached Regina.

"Henry," Emma warned, pulling him back.

Regina looked at him, and her expression softened, "Henry-"

"You tried to kill my mom," Henry declared, looking at her with such hurt. "You tried to kill my family, people I love."

"No, that's not-"

"Yes it is!" Henry shouted, interrupting Regina's attempted lie. "You really are the Evil Queen. I don't wanna see you again."

"No, don't say that," Regina pleaded. "I love you."

Henry shook her head as his expression began to scrunch up. "I don't think you do. Just...just leave me alone. Leave me and everyone else I care about alone!"

Emma managed to turn Henry around, and Graham told Ruby that she'd help her escort Regina back to the sheriff's station.

"No, Henry," Regina called out, though Henry only curled into Emma's side as they and the other kids and adults began to file out. "Henry. Henry!"

"I could find another room," Freddie told Belle.

"Don't be ridiculous," Belle replied as she emerged from the bathroom, having changed into some spare pajamas Granny (the old woman insisted on the moniker) had given her. "With Rumple around, I'd rather not risk you being alone."

Oh, of course, how silly of him to forget an immortal imp would like to see him dead?

Rumple - gods, he never thought he'd get himself to refer to the Dark One by such a name - seemed determined from killing him thanks to Belle, but who knows how long that'd last?

Still, the thought of company at night was nice, especially Belle's. Besides, he always felt his apartment was off somehow. Art had made it more bearable as a little kitten, but now that she was a great cat, it was simply too small. This room at Granny's was nice and spacious.

The old woman hadn't been thrilled at the idea of a lioness roaming around her inn, but she allowed it solely because it helped keep the more rowdy patrons in line. She did swear Freddie and Belle would pay for any and all damages Art caused.

As the lioness hopped onto the bed, he sincerely hoped a broken bed wouldn't be one of them.

Freddie had already changed into his pajamas, and let the rest of the clothes he and Belle took from his apartment stay in his suitcase. He was about to shut off the lamp light, which would have plunged the room into darkness.

""No," she sharply said.

Both Freddie and Art, who had curled at the end of the bed, looked at her strangely.

Belle flustered. "I mean, you can keep that on. I just would like to stay up a bit."

Something in her tone wasn't right. "You sure?" Freddie asked as he sat down on the bed.

"I'm fine," she said unprompted. She then closed her eyes and turned her head down, her brow furrowed.

An image flashed before Freddie's mind, one of when he found Belle curled up in a ball in her dark, dimly lit cell.

He didn't want to presume, nor did he want to let this go unquestioned.

"Come here, please," Freddie requested, and after a moment Belle opened her eyes and sat down next to him on the bed. "What is it?"

Belle looked away, and Freddie plucked up the courage to bring his hand up, lifting her head so she could look into his eyes.

"I know it's been awhile since we last talked," Freddie conceded, "but you can still trust me."

"I know," Belle said quietly, reaching her own up to hold Freddie's.

Freddie didn't say anything, waiting for Belle to respond.

She didn't keep him waiting, though he couldn't say he was pleased with the way she swallowed a hard lump in her throat, the underlying tone of some raw emotion. "After so many years...in truth, it only felt like months but...months. Months stuck in that dark place. No memories, no one to talk to, no visitors except-" Belle had to cut herself off to retain her composure. "It's a silly thing to get upset about, I understand, but…just for now, could we please keep the light on."

"Of course we can," Freddie said. "And it's not silly."

Belle only released his hand so that she could hug him. He gladly hugged her in return, hoping his embrace said what was in his heart:I'm here for you, whatever you need.

Art gave her own signal for that too, even if it was a lick to their faces.

After some more shifting around, Belle and Freddie got under the covers. Freddie instinctively reached to turn it off, but reminded himself of his promise, and got back under the covers. Art's head rested on Belle's blanket-covered legs, while the rest of the lioness' body was curled in a ball.

She was being remarkably cooperative now, though Freddie wouldn't doubt he'd wake up in the morning with her on top of him, as she was wont to do.

"Good night, Freddie," Belle said sleepily.

"Good night, Belle," Freddie replied, unable to stop a smile as he got his best friend back. "See you in the morning."

Henry was scolded, told never to follow them into danger, do not do something so reckless again, etc.

He nodded, gave little resistance. He was allowed to drink some water when they got back to the loft, and he let himself take some sips before he went to the bathroom. He passed by Phoebe and Tien, and though both girls had cried, Phoebe looked worse off than the 4-year-old.

Hitting your mom's murderer with a bottle will do that to you.

Henry frowned, burying the guilt he felt as he cleaned himself up, washed and dried his face, and went to his bedroom.

I love her, he thought sadly. Even after everything she did, I still love her. I hate her too. How does that make sense?

Seeing the heartbroken look on Phoebe's face, the way the teenager who'd been so strong before crumble in Killian's arms...how could Henry keep loving Regina?

He sat on his bed with a sigh, but made no moves to get under the covers.

Exhaustion crept on him once more, but the urge to sleep hadn't yet risen.

She's responsible for all this, and you still care about her?, Henry berated himself. She tried to kill Emma!

Henry rubbed his eyes, trying to banish the thoughts away.

A knock on the door.

"Henry?" Killian's voice said through the door. "Can I come in?"

The boy paused before giving his permission.

Regina didn't ask permission.

Killian opened the door and saw Henry sitting on his bed. "I wanted to see how you were holding up."

Henry shrugged.

The older man paused before walking forward until he was at the edge of the bed. "Can I sit down?"

Henry silently nodded.

Killian sat next to Henry on the bed. He took a moment to collect his thoughts before saying, "I'm not here to scold you. I heard your mother and grandparents already got that covered. I just want to know if you need anything."

Henry paused before shaking his head, not looking at Killian.

Killian tried to reach out for the boy, and Henry glanced at the man's prosthetic hand before things came to mind.

Killian's hatred of Rumplestilskin.

The fact that he had no hand.

Tien's constant assertions that he was a pirate.

The way his grandparents whispered about him on the way back to the loft.

"Are you Captain Hook?" Henry impulsively asked, the illustration of a man, spurned on by vengeance, at the helm of his ship, holding up his hook came to mind.

Killian paused, stunned, lowering his hand onto his lap. Henry looked up, and now found that this time it was Killian who wasn't looking at him.

His gaze to the floor, Killian at last answered with a quiet, "Yes, lad...yes I am."

Silence. Killian was waiting.

For Henry, maybe? Waiting for some reaction...not just a reaction, Henry realized.

Back at the sheriff's station, he had avoided answering Henry's prompts, and now Henry understood why.

Shame. Fear of his rejection. The belief that he deserved it.

Why would he? This was Killian. Kind, good, brave Killian who always stood up for him, who guided him, who made him feel like he was worth talking to, and listening to. Who loved Henry's good mom and treated her like the princess she was. Who cared for Phoebe and Tien like they were his daughters; they were his daughters.

"That doesn't make sense," Henry finally said. "Captain Hook is a bad guy, and you're a good guy."

Dismayed, Killian prepared himself to disabuse Henry of the notion that he was good. Half-way decent? Yes. Certainly not good. Not after all the things he did.

"Maybe the book doesn't have everything right," Henry offered, thinking there had to be something he missed. It talked about Captain Hook and Rumplestiltskin's mutual hatred, but he would need to go back and read to make sure he had all his facts straight.

This time, it was Killian who shrugged, and said, "Perhaps."

"I'll just have to compare materials. The book, what you say," Henry then dared to nudge his side playfully, "and the movie."

Killian immediately groaned, and Henry laughed at the look on the man's face.

"That abomination is a defamation of my character," Killian said in an affronted tone.

"I think it captures you perfectly," Henry smirked.

"Oh really?" Before Henry could stop him, Killian started poking Henry's sides in a way that caused him to squirm and laugh.

"Okay, I give, I give," Henry pleaded through peals of laughter, catching his breath when Killian stopped his assault. His eyes were heavy now.

"See, a white flag of surrender in defense of my honor is good form," Killian teased with the first real smile on his face since this night began. He nudged Henry into bed, and put the cover over him. "Now, do me a favor - stay in bed this time."

Henry yawned, "No problem."

Killian smiled again as he went to the door and turned off the light. "Good night, Henry."

"Good night, Killian," Henry mumbled as he sunk further under the covers.

He was asleep before Killian closed the door.

While Henry and Killian were having their talk, David and Snow were talking about Killian for the second time that night.

This time, the tenor of the conversation was different.

"He did save my life, twice," David quietly told Snow as they stood in the kitchen.

Once more, Phoebe and Tien were in bed, though this time Emma was talking to them. What they were talking about, he couldn't be sure. Whatever it was, he just hoped the girls would be able to sleep now.

After Killian managed to calm Phoebe down, she made no move to attack Regina, nor did Regina attempt any escape or retaliation. Either because she knew she was outnumbered, or because something had gone wrong with her magic. She just kept rubbing the bite mark Tien had given her as she was escorted back to jail (with some medical attention for her bruised forehead).

Snow, having followed his gaze, let out a sigh. "That poor girl. Losing her mother because of Regina."

David looked away.

"Hey," Snow said softly as she put a hand on his arm. "Saving Regina was the right thing to do, and-" she emphasized that at David's doubtful expression, "the pragmatic thing to do. We don't know what else is going to happen with the curse broken, or what else Regina might've broken. You know, I ran into Nereida earlier. Turns out, she's Ariel."

"The mermaid who saved your life?" David asked.

"One and the same," Snow told him. "She still doesn't have her voice, but she was able to communicate to me that Regina took it. We've got to help her find it, and help whoever's still being affected by Regina's actions."

"And we can't do that with her dead," David admitted, loathe as he was to do so.

Snow nodded. Then she said, "About Hook…maybe there's more to him than just the rumors."

"And boy were those nasty rumors," David replied. He shook his head. "I still can't reconcile it. Killian's my friend. He's a good man, not this murderer of the high seas."

"I know that," Snow replied looking just as perplexed. "I spent months praying for him and Emma to realize what was right in front of them and get together. How are our brains supposed to match that with Captain Hook?"

"I…" David trailed off. "He still cares about Henry and Emma. He wouldn't have risked his life to save her from that portal if he didn't, and I know he wanted to talk to Henry about something."

"Maybe to remind him not to do something so reckless in the future," Snow said absentmindedly.

David couldn't help but laugh.

"What's so funny?" His wife asked him.

"Henry's our grandson," David reminded her. "I think it's impossible to ask him not to do something we wouldn't do for each other a thousand times."

Snow looked like she wanted to argue, but couldn't stop the begrudging smile on her lips.

A smile David couldn't help but kiss. Again. And again. And-

"David," Snow laughed lightly as she separated them, laughing a little more at his pout. "I'm tired. You're tired. We're all tired."

"Mm," David grumbled, only stopping when Snow gave him a little kiss.

Holding his wife close, David said, "There's a lot to go over, but we've got each other now. More than that - we've got Emma and Henry."

Snow smiled in a way that brightened her eyes. "Our baby. All grown up." There was a threat that sadness would overtake her features, but then Snow said determinedly, "We'll make it up to her."

"Yes we will," David promised.

No matter what, David would make it up to all of them.

In the end, the only people still awake were Emma and Killian. Both were changed into their pajamas, and both were ready for bed...or so they thought.

"No," Emma told him as she saw him try to place a blanket and chair pillow on the ground.

"Emma-"

"You're not sleeping on the floor," Emma interrupted him.

"I could sleep on the chair," Killlian offered. When Emma pointedly looked at the pullout, Killian replied, "The girls need their space."

"I'll take the floor," Emma said. "You take my bed."

"Oh, no, not going to happen," Killian said.

"Why not?" Emma asked.

"It's- because- it's your bloody home," Killian stumbled, namely because the image of him and Emma curled up in bed had crossed his mind.

Truth be told, the same image crossed Emma's mind only moments after she made her offer.

Killian then added, "It's fine. My back can take it. I've slept in the worst conditions, believe me."

"So?" Emma questioned as she stood in front of him, slowly herding her back to her bed. "I've slept on floors before."

"Try a deck," Killian challenged even as he knew she was leading him backwards.

"Try an empty concrete squat swatting away flies," she retorted.

"Oh, mere flies?" Killian smirked. "I've seen kitten-sized bilge rats-"

The back of his knees hit her bed, and this time, Emma was the one to smirk at him.

"Well, look at that," she said. "Looks like you're closer to the bed. You take it."

"I, okay," Killian stumbled once more, raising his hands up. "How about - hear me out - a compromise?"

"Yeah?"

"Yes," he answered Emma's questions. "We can share the bed. Not under the covers. I mean, not both of us under the covers I mean."

Get ahold of yourself, Jones.

"How about you go under the covers and I stay above them?" Killian offered, his body starting to heat up in embarrassment, like he was the same naive sailor from years and years ago. "That way, neither of us need to suffer?"

Emma looked at him, and for a moment he thought she was going to reject it.

However, she then said, "We can try it, but we need to have a talk first. Sit."

Killian complied.

Emma sat on the edge of the bed next to him. She had her own questions she wanted to get out, and she wanted to have some of them answered. After all, she never did sleep well when there was a mystery hanging over her head.

But first, there was something pressing she needed to say.

"Thank you," Emma told the man before her. "Thank you for looking out for Henry."

Not just today, but all the times before, especially when she wasn't here and Henry had to go home to Regina every day.

"It's no trouble at all," Killian told her. "Henry's a good lad."

"Still, thank you," Emma repeated, meaning every word of it.

Killian nodded before he said his own piece. "You know, I must commend you on your restraint. I don't know anyone else who would've fought to save an enemy like Regina's life like you did."

He certainly wouldn't have.

Emma shook her head. "It was the right thing to do. Besides, I worry about Henry. I don't know what kind of impact her death could have on him."

"You might have to keep worrying," Killian told her honestly. At her curious look, he said, "Regina's made many enemies, and the people in this town are only going to wait so long before they clamor for vengeance."

His own enemies might not be far behind.

As if sensing his train of thought, Emma placed her hand over his. Since she was on his right side, it was his flesh hand she held.

Killian froze.

Emma thought she had taken it a step too far, but when she started to pull away, Killian turned his hand over so that he could hold hers.

The two of them waited a moment, feeling right in holding the other's hand.

Eventually, Emma said, "I want to make something clear. Whoever you are, or whoever you used to be...promise me you won't lie to me. Promise me that you'll stop avoiding me like you did earlier."

Promises are easily broken, a voice in her mind sneered. He can do that too. What's stopping him?

Fuck off, Emma told the voice.

Killian replied with, "Like you've been avoiding your parents?"

Emma frowned and looked away.

Killian sighed before gently squeezing her hand. "Emma, look at me."

She paused before doing so.

He looked into her eyes as he said, "To prevent an impasse, how about this: I promise to stop avoiding you if you promise to try to talk to your parents." He scooted closer to her. "I know you're lost, but they're lost too. I see it every time they look at you. Just give them a chance, alright?"

It was impossible, couldn't be done. Too much time had passed. They wanted a baby, right? She wasn't. She was a grown woman who'd seen and done too much. She wasn't…

What did it matter what she was at this point? The rules of how things worked were upturned, overruled, and otherwise disregarded. Sure, Emma couldn't get that nagging feeling out of her mind that she wasn't good enough, that they'd be disappointed.

Then again, maybe this frame of reference - a deal, an unofficial contract - could at least open the door.

Snow and David were waiting, they were willing, to at least try.

Emma could try too, right?

After steeling herself, Emma agreed with, "Okay, I'll try."

Killian nodded with a smile that brought a smile out of Emma too. "Then I promise to try as well, with you. For you."

Before she could stop herself, Emma leaned forward to kiss his cheek.

When she pulled back, Killian's face softened.

Emma whispered, "I think I missed."

"Is that right?" Killian asked, holding her hand a little tighter now.

"Yeah, that's about right," Emma responded before learning forward and pressing her lips against his.

When Killian kissed her back, Emma felt that things were already a little bit better.

YES! IT'S DONE.

*immediately slumps down to floor*

See you next week!