This one's really long, you guys. I hope you enjoy!

Good Form

The group of adults and Emer were still nosing around Baelfire's cave home when the Lost Girl turned at the sound of the Savior pulling sheets off of the makeshift, padded rock bed.

"Need a hand, luv?" Killian asked her when he heard, turning and stepping toward Emma and the bed she was on the adjacent side of.

"Is that a joke?" Emma asked as she shook out the sheets and tossed them onto the cave floor, frowning a little.

Emer couldn't be sure since she had just met the blonde, but Emma's general mood seemed to be cynical and sour. It wasn't exactly fun to be around, considering she'd spent the last two-hundred years with wild, loud, rambunctious boys. But at least, for the most part, they were happy. She couldn't help but wonder if almost all adults were like that.

Killian chuckled a little, still reaching like he was going to aid Emma. "No, I'm being quite serious." He lifted the padding Baelfire had used as a mattress, and it revealed tally marks chalked across the wall by his bed. One for every day he'd been there.

Emer stepped forward to look, unable to stop herself from wondering how many of those tallys she would've managed to count out over her centuries on Neverland.

"Whoa," the Savior mumbled as she leaned forward, almost like she was going to count every five-block of tally marks Bae had drawn on the wall beside his bed.

David looked her direction at the sound. "What is it?"

"It appears Neal marked his days trapped on this island," Killian explained, staring at the same tallys.

Emer looked at them a little closer, but before she could, Emma jumped onto the flat rock to get a better look at them all, blocking Emerlyn's view completely.

The dark haired Lost Girl backed up a step, frowning slightly. Why did adults think they could push kids around like that? She probably hadn't even noticed, and Emer thought that might've been worse. Not only was the Savior distracted by… well, almost everything in the cave, she was ignoring the person who had been on Neverland the longest, and knew it almost as well as Pan.

It wasn't just a rude thing to do, it was a stupid thing to do. Especially if the only reason she was being ignored was because she was a young teenager.

"What's wrong?" Mary Margaret asked, stepping toward the mess Emma had made of Baelfire's bed.

Emer had to catch herself before answering, realizing that the short-haired woman wasn't talking to her, but, of course, to her daughter.

The Lost Girl stepped back again. She wanted to leave the cave to get out of their way completely, but she was afraid Pan would find her if she did. He always had a way of popping up at the worst times.

"Look here," Emma replied, hand on the tally-covered rocks. "Neal stopped counting."

"Because he got off the island," Mary Margarent guessed.

Emerlyn shook her head a little, but Emma spoke first. "He was here longer."

"Then why would he…?" David asked, moving forward to look at the markings himself.

"He lost hope," Emer said simply, her voice soft.

"You got that from scribbles?" Regina asked the Lost Girl, though her tone wasn't snappy. She knew if any of them had a clue as to what he had done while there, it was Emer.

Emer shrugged slightly. "When you lose hope, you stop counting. No one can count to forever. If you're stuck here that long, you don't want a reminder at how long it's been. It just… makes you sad."

Killian's jaw ticked for a moment, his gaze down, away from Emer and the other adults. He couldn't help but wonder how long it was before his sweet Emerlyn had given up on counting the days until he saved her. A decade? Two? Maybe even five? She was a stubborn child, like her mother had been so many centuries ago. But, still, she had given up on him. And for a while, he had given up, too.

It was something he could never forgive himself for.

David looked between Emma and Regina. "You think the same thing's happening to Henry."

"Pan said it would," Emma confirmed softly.

"Hey," David said softly, stepping toward his daughter, voice insistent and slightly confident. "We're going to rescue him."

"Yeah," Emma agreed quickly. "I know that. And you know that. But Henry doesn't know that. Pan wants him to lose faith."

"So, what?" Regina asked quickly, her expression looking as though she were searching for anything they could do, but not truly believing there was a solution. "You want to send him a message? Because I haven't seen a Neverland post office. What are you suggesting?"

"We take a page from Pan," Emma said quickly. "We start being clever. We need to send a simple sign. A sign that we're coming."

"That's much easier said than done," Emer mumbled, knowing the adults wouldn't listen even if she'd tried to use a normal tone. Emma was on a soapbox, and none of them were going to listen to a child while the Savior had their attention.

Luckily, Regina had the same point as the Lost Girl, and she could voice it and be heard. So she did. "With Lost Boys running around trying to kill us all?"

"Yeah," Mary Margaret agreed, "maybe it's time we use that to our advantage."

"How?" Regina shot back, disbelieving once again.

"Follow me," Mary Margaret said quickly, starting toward the cave exit. "I'll show you."

The other adults began to follow, Emer following after Regina, seeing her father cut off the Savior out of the corner of her eye, stopping her to say something in private.

Emer bounced forward a couple of steps, trying to pick up her pace. She did not want to hear what her father was going to say to the blonde. She was sure it would be more than she'd like to hear, and she wouldn't approve anyway.

The Lost Girl couldn't make herself trust the Savior. She was just too abrasive, too callous, and the others seemed to put all of their faith and trust in her, and she'd seen no real proof as to why they should.

Emerlyn wasn't ready to believe in the Savior yet.

"A trap?" Regina asked in disbelief as the three adult women strung vines together to form netting. "That's your plan?"

"The Lost Boys want to come after us, we need to go after them," Snow White said as she braided netting together, and Emer returned with David and an armful of vines. Even with injured hands, she could scale trees to higher heights than he could, reach more vines and make full use of all the trees nearby, saving them lots of time.

At least Prince Charming seemed appreciative of her skills.

"You really think a Lost Boy is going to betray Pan?" Killian asked in disbelief, still not looking quite comfortable with Emer going anywhere without him, even if David promised to protect her while they were out.

"Thanks for the advice," Mary Margaret said quickly as she weaved more vine.

She looked up at her husband as he dropped another bundle of vines at their feet. "David, we need more vine."

"On it," David promised, turning to head back into the jungle from their small camp clearing.

Emer turned to follow him. She could see the Dreamshade was starting to wear him down, and she was trying to help him keep the poison at bay as much as she could. It just wasn't enough.

"You're coming with us, pirate," David said, his tone a little sharp as he marched back toward the jungle with Emerlyn hot on his heels.

"Oh, so now you need my help," Killian snarked in reply, only arguing because David hadn't wanted his help before, just to steal his daughter away to work. "And why is that?"

"Because we need more rope," Emma told him sharply.

Killian stood with a sarcastic bow. "If the lady insists."

Emer rolled her eyes and tugged on her father's hook to move him along.

He almost laughed a little at her action before he followed Emer and David back into the jungle.

Emer bounced her way up a tree to untangle vines at their full length for the two men to tug down.

Killian couldn't help but smile. She'd always been an apt climber, but she'd had two-hundred years on a jungle island to perfect the skill since then, and now she could scale a barkless tree with few branches with ease.

He was pulled from his proud, fatherly thoughts by David's panting as he pulled down the vines that Emer dangled for them.

"What would you like to yell at me about now, Dave?" Killian asked, his sour attitude back in full-force.

"Stay away from my daughter," David said simply as they moved through the trees on the ground level, Emer bouncing alongside them from the canopy.

Emer rolled her eyes. How much of this adult pining nonsense was she going to be forced to listen to?

"Well, she can take care of herself," Killian replied as he pushed brush out of his path. "She doesn't need you're parenting. Which is a good thing."

"What does that mean?" David asked, turning to look at him for a moment as he wrapped the vines up around is arm.

"It means you're gonna die in a day or so, anyway," Killian reminded quickly.

"Nothing I can do about that," David said simply. "But I was hoping to keep that information out of your daughter's airspace, too."

"She already knows, mate," Killian said simply. "She guessed it."

"How?" David asked with a shocked frown.

Killian half-smirked and half-smiled. "Because my daughter is very intelligent. She gets it from myself, and from her mother."

"And," Emer called as she dropped from a tree back to the ground with vines draped over her shoulders like a feather boa, her near-smirking look very similar to Hook's. "Because you're not nearly as subtle as you think you are."

David shook his head. "Well, if I do die—"

"When," Killian and Emerlyn insisted at the same time.

David exhaled in slight exasperation before continuing. "—it will be in helping my family." He turned his gaze completely on Killian. "And, outside this one instance with your daughter, that's something someone like you can't understand."

Emer frowned slightly. He clearly didn't know about Uncle Liam, how much he and Killian had loved each other, and how much they loved her. They hadn't been a big family, or a normal one, but that didn't make them any less of one.

Killian took his daughter's hand and squeezed it, kissing her tangled dark hair and picking small leaves from it as David continued to march forward, and the pirate spoke up. "What if I told you there was a way to save you?"

Emer looked at her father with wide eyes. She knew that David could never make it to the spring, and even if he could, he'd then be trapped on Neverland forever.

That was a fate she wouldn't wish on anyone.

"I'd say no," David said quickly, turning to look at Killian as he and Emer walked forward again to catch up. "Because anything that takes us off course of saving Henry is selfish. But, of course you would think that was the way to go."

Emer's frown deepened. She wasn't sure what made David think he had the right to treat her father like that, especially when he treated no one else the same way. Her father was a man of honor, a former Lieutenant in the King's Navy, only stringing up the pirate flag after their supposedly honorable king sent them on a mission to gather a weapon that could decimate entire peoples. Piracy sounded like the better option to her, too, even if she hadn't been there to join her father in it.

"Bugger off," Killian finally snapped, moving a half step in front of Emer like he could protect his daughter from the harsh words that weren't even directed at her. "What, you think I'm being selfish? I'm risking my life and my child's for all of you. Every moment I'm aligned against him. Because I got what I was after, but I'm still here, putting myself and my daughter in his crosshairs when I could make a deal with him, and have us on our merry way out of this Hell."

"Please," David scoffed, "you're not still here out of any nobility. You're still here for Emma. And let me tell you something else. You're never going to get her. I'll see to that."

Killian almost grinned. "It's a good thing you're gonna die, then."

David's expression twisted into a snarl, but his attempt at swinging a punch was sluggish and weak, just like the growl he'd tried to make sound.

Emer stepped back out of her father's way as he ducked the slow swing and all but held the prince on his feet, though the other man still tried to struggle as Killian tried to place him on the ground.

"Alright, mate, stop," Killian said in a rush as David continued to struggle. "I don't fight invalids."

Emer finally understood where the Savior's temper came from as David passed out as Hook lowered him to the ground.

"Oh no," she whispered, eyes wide as she knelt beside her father and looked at the unconscious man.

"Mate?" Killian tried quickly, grabbing his face and beginning to tap at his cheeks to try urging him awake. "Mate?!"

Emer watched anxiously as Killian tipped a canteen into David's mouth just in time for him to wake up and cough. "Ugh."

Killian helped him sit up quickly. "Have another drink, mate."

"No," David replied quickly, sitting up like he was trying to shake off the effects of the poison in his system. "Thank you. I'm okay now."

Emerlyn crept forward a few steps, checking on him herself as David continued to cough and try to stand. She'd seen this far too many times in far too many Lost Boys from Pan's terrible games.

"No, you're not," Killian said urgently, pushing David against a rock face to lean on. "I thought you had days left. Let me see." When David started to make a noise of protest, Hook's tone grew sharper, more insistent. "Let me see."

Panting, David lifted up his shirt, revealing the black veins of Dreamshade poison that crept across his chest, almost to its murderous destination.

Emer couldn't stop her sorry expression when she saw it. He had less time than her father had expected, far less.

"The Dreamshade has almost reached your heart," Killian told David, voice softening and a little apologetic. "It's hours now. You have to tell your family."

"No," David insisted quickly. "Not when I can still help them save Henry."

"Can you?" Emerlyn asked softly. "Hours are practically minutes when time around you doesn't move, take it from someone whose lived like that for centuries. Killing yourself won't save Henry. Take a breath, calm down, or you're only going to make it spread faster."

David sat back, his breathing heavy and labored as he tried to catch his breath.

Killian took a step away to give him space, moving toward his daughter like he hoped she wouldn't watch David dying.

"We have to get him to the spring," Killian whispered to his daughter. "It's his only chance."

"I know," Emer said in the same tone, trying to think through their options, any plan they could make. But she saw something in her father's eyes. He'd put something in place already. "You already have a plan, don't you?"

Killian nodded slightly. "Let's just see if he takes the bait."

"And if he does?" Emer asked hesitantly, her mind running a thousand beats a minute as she thought of a plan of her own, one that would keep him alive until they made the falls. "Are you sure he can make the journey?"

"Seems like you've already got an idea for that," Killian said with a small, proud smile. "My bright star."

She smiled a little. "Maybe. I think I can use my magic to stay the poison, but only for long enough for us to get him to the falls. It's by no means a cure, but Pan's had me use it before on one of his Lost Boys until he could get him to the water. The only thing I'm worried about is that the poison wasn't this close to their hearts."

Killian took a deep breath. "It's a chance we have to take. We just have to see if he takes the bait at all." He leaned down and kissed her temple, whispering one last instruction of, "just play along," before he turned to glance at David again.

The poisoned prince had leaned down to pick up something he saw glinting in the dirt—a piece of leather with a small gold military insignia on it, the name Jones engraved on the backside.

"What's that?" Killian asked, pointing to it.

Emer knew the game now. Killian dropped it, making it look like it had been there for ages, so he could lead them to the sextant her Uncle Liam had given him before the first journey to Neverland. But instead of the sextant, they would head for Neverland's spring.

The next step was to play her part.

She peeked around her father, looking curiously at the leather as David looked examined it.

"A military insignia," David said, his voice a little confused and curious. He flipped it over and saw the name on the back. "'Jones'."

Killian and Emer traded feigned surprised looks as David tossed it to the pirate.

"You know him?"

"Aye," Killian said softly, the hurt in his voice true at the thought of his lost brother. "He was my captain. And my brother."

Emer didn't have to fake the sadness on her face as Killian continued to explain.

"We voyaged to this infernal island a long time ago. This was on the strap on his satchel. My brother lost it during a duel with Pan." He looked up the rock facing. "It must've washed down in the rain from the storm that wrecked the Jolly Roger."

"From where?" David asked, leaning forward a little and seeming fully invested in the story.

Killian looked up the rock face and motioned. "There. Dead Man's Peak."

David stood, creeping forward to look at where the pirate had pointed, up a steep rocky cliffside high above them.

"Papa," Emerlyn tried softly, looking at the piece of leather like she was afraid it would unravel if she touched it. "Do you think that means it's still up there?"

"It's possible, Em," Killian said with a small smile. "Even though I thought it was gone forever."

"What was gone?" David asked, looking back at them with large curious eyes.

Killian looked up at him for a moment before turning away, handing his daughter the small leather piece before they started walking off, Emer's expression crestfallen as her father spoke. "No, it's too dangerous."

"What's too dangerous?" David insisted at far too quick a pace for a man as ill as he was. "If you two know something that can help us, don't hold back."

"If this insignia survived all these years," Killian started, pointing to the piece in his daughter's thin, calloused hands, "then perhaps my brother's satchel did as well. And inside that satchel is a sextant that can help us decode Neal's star map. That can get us off this island."

David looked at them with a sure expression. "I know how I'm going to spend my last hours. We're going to find that thing."

Killian looked at him with an unsure expression. "You might reach the top, but you'll die before you return."

"Then come with me," David insisted, "and make sure the sextant gets back to Emma. You ready to be a hero?"

Emer rubbed the metal military insignia with her thumb before stepping forward. "David," she said softly, "I… I might have a way you could survive the trip. I can't guarantee it'll work, but I think it's work a try."

David looked at her with an expression that was clearly open to ideas. "What is it?"

"When the Lost Boys would play with Dreamshade, and one of them got hurt, I was able to use my voice to stop the poison from moving any further, but only for a little while." She took a shaky breath. "My magic can slow its effects, but I've never tried it when it's this close to someone's heart already."

He smiled slightly. "It's worth a try, right?"

Emer nodded a little, motioning for him to sit against the rock face and pull up his shirt.

"I hope this works," she whispered as David pulled up his shirt to reveal the black veins webbing across his chest. She gently pressed her hand to his sternum, closed her eyes, and began singing softly.

"I'll tell you a tale of the bottomless blue

And it's hey to the starboard, heave-ho

Look out, man, a mermaid be waiting for you

In mysterious fathoms below

Fathoms below

Below

Where once wayward westerlies blow

Where triton is king, and his merpeople sing

In mysterious fathoms below"

Her voice was soft, almost shaking with her nervousness, worry that it wouldn't work, but Killian and David could both feel the power that pushed through the air surrounding them, the magic in its purest form that made her young voice so sweet and strong, like the ripest fruit or the warmest day.

The black veins of Dreamshade flashed with a light bright blue color that matched the purest ocean seas, and Emer sat back, moving her hand from David's chest.

"Did it work?" David asked hopefully.

Emer nodded slightly, her face pulled into the same half-smile half-smirk her father wore. "It worked."

Killian kissed the top over her head again, smiling proudly at her. "That's my girl."

She couldn't help but smile back. "Now let's go get that sextant."

"A sextant?" Emma demanded, frowning with a slightly betrayed expression as all three of the adult women got to their feet. "And your telling us about this now?"

"How do we know you're not lying to us?" Regina said in a highly suspicious, snappish tone, her hands on her hips.

"Oh, you don't," Killian said simply, looking over them and tugging Emer close again as he stepped toward the three women. "But we're not. This is the best hope we've had of an exit plan. And don't forget we're gonna need one."

"Then what are we waiting for?" Emma pressed again, her patience clearly running thin.

Emer wasn't exactly sure she had any patience. She hadn't seen much proof of it while the heroes had been on Neverland.

Killian sighed a little, looking down at the ground before looking back up at them. "Emma," he said as he stepped toward her, momentarily letting go of his daughter to take some roped vines from the Savior. "You were right. You need to get that message to Henry. Every day without hope is a day closer to becoming a Lost Boy. Your father, Emer, and I should go."

Emma turned and shared an uneasy look with Mary Margaret.

"Why not leave Emer with us?" Mary Margaret asked. "Wouldn't she be safer?"

"Maybe," Killian agreed, "but she's the best climber of any of us. We might need use of her skills if the satchel is hung on something." Not to mention he didn't want to leave her without him just yet. He could tell she wasn't quite comfortable with the others.

"Hook's right," David said quickly.

"Uh," Mary Margaret started, eyebrows raised in surprise. "You want to split up?"

"It's the last thing I want to do," David corrected, walking toward his wife and daughter who had puzzled looks on their faces. "But if there's a chance he can get us home…"

"Okay," Mary Margaret said, expression softening as she agreed.

"Emma," David said, "while I'm gone, just—"

"Listen to my mother?" Emma guessed.

David chuckled softly. "Be careful."

"I always am," Emma assured with an almost nonchalant shrug.

"And when you send that message to Henry, add something to it for me, would you?"

Emma hummed in agreement.

"Tell him…" David's expression grew with an almost nostalgic smile. "Tell him Grandpa loves him." He quickly pulled Emma into a hug that she clearly wasn't expecting.

She hugged him back with a hesitant pat on his back, her voice confused when she replied. "Good luck."

Emer turned around and edged toward the other side of the camp, where they would leave. She was anxious to go. She didn't know how long her magic would hold back the Dreamshade.

David finally turned toward Emer and Killian, and the three made their way to exit the campsite and climb Dead Man's Peak.

"How are you holding up, mate?" Killian asked the prince as he led them forward, Emer between them as David sort of lagged behind.

Emer was starting to wonder if the Dreamshade had started moving again.

"Don't worry about me," David said quickly. "Just worry about getting us to the sextant."

"I meant the goodbyes," Killian corrected quickly as he turned his body to slip through a pair of trees. Emer slipped through them without having to turn as her father continued. "It looked a bit stormy back there."

"I did what had to be done, and I did it out of love," David replied, sounding like he completely believed that. "Emma and Mary Margaret will understand that."

Emer rolled her eyes. She understood that Emma and Mary Margaret would both rather have him there and alive. Most people would rather have their loved ones there for them than dead for love.

"You're going to tell them that from beyond the grave?" Killian asked as he turned slightly to glance back at Emerlyn and the prince that was holding his side.

"No," David said quickly. "You two are."

Emerlyn turned to look at him with large blue eyes on a disbelieving expression. He wanted them to do what?

David continued when he saw the matching looks of disbelief on their faces. "You're gonna tell them that I died a hero fighting for their way home. What neither of you are going to tell them is that I left already a dead man."

"So we're lying for you?" Emer clarified with a small frown. She'd never liked lying, but it was made even worse after the King lied about Dreamshade all of those years ago, and it resulted in her Uncle Liam's death, not to mention the centuries of Pan's deceits that had twisted and blackened her heart because of all he'd had her do. From using her magic to draw Lost Boys, grow more Dreamshade, or torment the mermaids in the lagoon for his entertainment.

"The last memories of me won't be of a liar," David said firmly.

Adults and their pride, Emer thought, a little bit exasperated with it. She knew there was nothing she could do to change his mind.

"And why should I help you?" Killian asked with a raised eyebrow from where David had passed both of them, the pirate hanging back to make sure Emer passed him so she stayed in between the two adult men.

David chuckled a little, the sound almost cold. "Well, because if you didn't steal that bean, they wouldn't have had a chance to take Henry. We wouldn't be on this island, and I wouldn't be dying of Dreamshade."

"Fair point," Killian conceded, though he didn't sound very sorry. It had gotten him back here and allowed him to save his daughter. "At least you got to say goodbye. Most people don't get that much."

Hook pushed by him again, keeping the Lost Girl in front of him as they pushed through large leaves and brush to inch toward Dead Man's Peak.

Emer took her father's hand, trying to look at him reassuringly. He hadn't gotten to say goodbye to her when Pan stole her. She wasn't sure about Liam, but she had to guess he didn't get to say goodbye. And her mother, who died giving birth to her…

"You lost someone, didn't you?" David asked. "Besides Emer?"

Killian changed the subject. "This is where we ascend. Emer and I will climb ahead and throw down the rope."

Emerlyn looked up the side of the peak, steep rocks, but plenty of hand holds where she could grip and fit her small bare feet.

"It was your brother, right?" David guessed. "I had a brother, too, you know. A twin. He died before I ever met him."

"There were two of you?" Killian said, shaking his head a little. "I can barely stomach one."

David laughed a little. "Oh, you would've liked him, he was a thief and a liar."

"Yeah?" Killian retorted. "You would've liked my brother. He could be a stubborn ass."

Emerlyn huffed a little, halting in her walk and turning to look at them with her arms crossed. "Will you two grow up?" She said with a huff. "If we want to get that sextant before the Dreamshade starts moving again, if it hasn't already, then don't you think you should stop arguing at least until we make it up Dead Man's Peak?"

"You're absolutely right, Em," Hook said quickly, smiling at her before looking at David with the smile turning a little smug. "We should get going."

She turned back around and led them the rest of the way to their destination, arriving at the base of Dead Man's Peak.

"Wait here," Killian said quickly.

Emer jumped up onto the highest rock facing she could make it to, waiting for her father before she climbed any further.

Emer pulled herself to the top of Dead Man's Peak just before her father, sitting on the edge and watching her father finish pulling himself to the top before he stood, helped Emerlyn to her feet, and started to toss down a rope for David.

"I'll never understand how you're so good at that," he said with a smile, shaking his head in a little wonder.

"Years of practice," she said with a smile as she stood.

Killian chuckled a little before turning to throw down the rope.

"Don't pull him up yet," a dreadfully familiar voice said from behind Emer and Killian.

Cold dread and heart-stopping fear made Emer's chest tighten. She didn't have time to react before she was behind her father, holding her close to his back with his hand.

"Calm down, luv," he assured when he saw Emer's panicked blue eyes. "I only want to talk. Alone, just the two of you."

"What do you want?" Killian demanded, refusing to move any closer.

Emer still clutched onto the back of Killian's leather coat, heart pounding in her chest so hard she was afraid her father could feel it. He found her. What was he going to do to her if her father couldn't help?

"To offer you a deal," Pan said simply, his voice as calm as ever, but that made him no less frightening. His tone rarely changed from that one, even when he was torturing and tormenting. "Come back and work for me. Like the old days."

"I don't miss the old days," Killian sneered, still holding Emerlyn tight to his back.

"What if I were to offer you something very hard to come by?" Pan asked, disappearing for a moment and reappearing only inches from Killian. "Passage off the island."

"Still not interested." His tone was getting harder by the second, angrier and more threatening every moment Pan was within feet of the Lost Girl trembling behind him.

"What if I were to sweeten the deal?" Pan asked, smirking a little. "You can take someone with you. Emerlyn."

Killian growled lowly and held Emer tighter. His feelings for Emma were too strong to ignore, but he would never abandon his daughter again. "You'd never let her leave the island. She's too important to you."

"I have a condition or two," Pan admitted with a small shrug. "Like you two would have to stay in Neverland every now and again so Emer can call Lost Boys for me—after all, she works so much better than my pipe. But other than that, you two can be a family again."

The offer was far too tempting, but he wouldn't abandon the others. He couldn't, and not for himself. He knew the guilt of leaving behind the others, Henry included, would eat his little girl alive. She cared about other people too much to leave them behind. She'd never forgive herself.

"We've known each other a very long time, Killian," Pan said simply. "We've done business before. And I think this is the perfect time to restart that relationship."

Emerlyn was shaking like a leaf, and she hated being so afraid. But she'd run away from him, finally made it back to her father, and the last time she'd even gotten close to that… she still bore the scars on her hands.

Pan was a nightmare, the worst thing in the world for her. Her father couldn't make a deal. They needed to escape Neverland forever.

"What if I'm not interested?" Killian snapped, wishing he could do something about his daughter's shaking, but with Pan so close he refused to move from in between them.

"Of course you are," Pan said simply. "Because that's what I always liked about you. You're good at surviving. A… useful trait you passed on to your daughter."

"What do you want me to do?" Killian asked. He had to take any chance he could to save his daughter, even though he couldn't really make himself do it. He had to help Emma, too, if he ever hoped to win her favor. And he hoped to badly. But he had to hear what Pan's proposition was anyway.

"You'll be in my employ. Do my dirty work, like your daughter has for ages. Just a little more… hands on."

"What dirty work?"

"When the time comes, I'll let you know. But first, I need a signal that you've taken my deal."

Emerlyn felt like she was going to explode. She had never wanted to run from her father so badly, and it was all because Pan was so close, and her father hadn't planted a hook in his eye yet.

"So my word, right now, isn't good enough?" Killian guessed, her grip on Emer never wavering.

"You know me," Pan said simply, disappearing again, and reappearing behind Killian's shoulder, almost pressed against Emer. "I like action."

Killian whirled around, keeping Emer behind him so he stayed in between Pan and the Lost Girl.

Pan smirked a little and continued on. "I'll know you've taken my deal when I see the Prince's dead body up on that peak."

"Well, you'll see that anway," Killian informed sharply. "He's on his last legs thanks to Dreamshade."

"I want to see you kill him before the poison," Pan almost hissed. "I want to see your hook inside his body."

"And what if I don't take your offer?" Killian's blue eyes met Pan's gaze, the pirate's expression as sharp as daggers as he stayed between Pan and his daughter.

Pan leaned close to whisper to Killian, though his eyes burned a hole into Emer. She hated those eyes.

"Remember what happened last time you didn't listen to me?" Pan pulled Hook's leather rum flask off of his belt and forced it into his hand. "Have a drink. You know it always helps you think."

He disappeared, and Killian immediately turned to soothe his trembling, near-tears daughter.

Emer held onto her father tight for any kind of stability and comfort.

"It's okay, Em," Killian whispered into her hair, squeezing her close to his chest. "He's never going to get to you again. I promise."

They were interrupted by the sound of David grunting, his hand appearing up the side of the rock as he finished the climb up without the rope.

"Bloody hell, mate," Killian said quickly, moving Emer quickly to his side, one arm still wrapped around her. "I told you to wait."

"Were you talking to someone?" David asked as he made it over to them.

"Yes," Killian replied sharply, still on edge. "My daughter. I'm still allowed to do that, aren't I?"

"You could've at least done what you said you would with that rope," David grumbled.

"Apologies, mate." Hook's tone was more than exasperated. "It isn't much farther now."

He squeezed Emer one more time before they started forward.

Emerlyn inched carefully around the overgrown brambles of Dreamshade, able to press herself close to the rocks and create more distance than the two grown men had from the poisonous thorns.

Despite the minuscule extra space she had, Killian kept his arm pressed against her torso so she was separated from the thorns.

She didn't argue. She knew there was no convincing him otherwise.

Killian let out a slight breath of relief as he and Emer slipped out from behind it unscathed.

Once David had also slipped out, Killian took Emer's hand, and the two Joneses stepped back from the thicket. "Since you're already dying from the stuff," Killian started, "you won't mind if we stand back while you…?" He motioned to the thorny branches.

"Yeah," David said, a little breathless as he turned toward the branches, walking around them for a moment before pulling his sword, Killian and Emer between the prince and the brambles of Dreamshade. "I know about your deal with Pan."

"You heard that, then?" Killian asked, though it wasn't really a question as he raised one hand toward David, almost in surrender.

"Yeah," David snapped. "I heard that."

"Then you know I didn't agree," Killian said, trying to keep his voice calm. But that sword was a little too close to his daughter for the captain to be comfortable.

"Yeah," David said quickly. "You also didn't disagree. How could you? It guarantees you get to take your daughter home."

Killian winced a little as the sword forced him back a step, a little closer to the Dreamshade.

Emer jumped forward and pushed at David, trying desperately to be watchful of the sword. "Stop it! This is what he wanted. Pan wanted to turn us against each other."

David twisted his sword and backed Killian up almost into the Dreamshade. "Well, it worked."

"David, please!" Emer begged, knowing that he was too large for her to push back, even while he was weakened from Dreamshade.

"You're making the poison spread quicker, mate," Killian reminded quickly, tensing in front of the Dreamshade thorns.

"I don't care," David snapped. "I just have to last long enough to get the sextant back to my family. Now take me to it!"

"Tell him the truth, Papa," Emerlyn urged quickly, trying to push David away from her father again. She managed to make him stumble back a step, but no further. She was getting increasingly frustrated and worried that David was going to kill her father.

"What truth?!" David demanded as he tried to stand steady against the Lost Girl's insistent barrage of pushing.

"My brother didn't lose his satchel up here," Killian explained quickly, clearly getting more nervous about being pushed so close to the brambles. "I made that up."

David let out a sharp exhale of shock, shaking his head a little, sword lowering slowly. "What about the insignia?"

"I dropped it on the path so you'd find it," Killian admitted, taking a small step away from the Dreamshade and toward his wide-eyed daughter as he rubbed his neck.

"Why?" David asked, expression confused and almost hurt.

"Because I knew you'd never make the journey here if I told you the truth."

"The truth?" David asked, voice almost cracking. "The truth, you brought me here to die?!"

"No," Emerlyn insisted quickly. "We brought you here to save you."

David couldn't believe it, shaking his head. "You're lying."

"Why would I lie?" Emer demanded, frowning deeply.

"Because your father told you to." David marched forward and tried to swing a punch at Killian.

The pirate pushed Emer away from the assault before he ducked and swung a returning punch, knocking out the weakened prince almost instantly.

Killian and Emer dragged David away from the Dreamshade that blocked the healing Neverland spring.

The pirate sighed heavily to himself. "Bloody hell." He turned to Emerlyn, and kissed his daughter's forehead. "Stay with him. I'll be right back."

"Be careful," Emer said softly.

Killian pulled a scarf up over his face and turned to begin hacking at the tangles of Dreamshade. He filled his canteen, breathing heavily,

Emerlyn reached to take the canteen from him as her father checked himself for any pokes or cuts from Dreamshade.

She knelt beside Davd again, trying to wake him up with a soft shake. "David? Wake up."

David coughed as he came to, starting to jump back from her.

"Wait, wait," Emer assured softly. "Trying to help."

"In that canteen is the water that will stop the Dreamshade," Killian explained, kneeling beside the Lost Girl.

David continued to cough as he spoke. "That's why you two brought me up here."

"Yes," Killian said with a small huff.

David looked at them, expression softening slightly. "You knew I wouldn't come on my own. That I wouldn't leave my family."

"That you were stubborn," Killian clarified simply. "Yes, I think we both gathered that rather quickly."

David took a moment to catch his breath before he looked at Emer, holding the flask. "Well, give it to me."

"There's something you should know first," Emer warned softly. "It has a steep price to pay."

Killian sighed softly and continued explaining. "Because its power comes from the island, once you drink this water, you can never leave Neverland."

David looked down, clearly thinking it over, but it didn't take him long to nod slowly. "It's a small price to pay for what I get in return. The chance to save my grandson, and to help my family get home."

Emerlyn hesitantly held the canteen out for him.

Once he'd taken it, she pushed back to her feet and stepped over to her father. She was trying desperately not to show how shaken she still was from Pan finding them.

Killian pulled her close to his side gently. "He's never going to hurt you again, Em."

She smiled a little, starting to reply until David laughed a little as his wound and the Dreamshade healed completely.

Killian helped David to his feet, and the prince couldn't stop himself from asking, "One question. Why risk your life for me when there wasn't anything for you in return?"

Hook leaned a little closer to him. "I didn't do it for you, mate. Besides, my daughter makes me soft."

"Don't blame me for this," Emer protestred, but she was still smiling.

Emer heard the flames crackling in Regina's hand as they pushed out of the brush, back into the campsite.

"You can stand down," David assured as they popped out one by one. "It's us."

The adult women relaxed.

David immediately went to kiss his wife, much to her surprise.

Regina turned away with an, "ugh, and a disgusted expression.

Emer made a disgusted face of her own, nose wrinkled and tongue just barely poking out of her mouth.

The expression made Killian laugh, his hand on his daughter's shoulder.

"Where's the sextant?" Regina asked, still trying to ignore the couple behind them.

Killian sighed. "I'm afraid Pan got to it first."

After a bit more complaining about David and Mary Margaret's… closeness, David explained why he was so happy.

"Hook," he said as he looked back to the pirate. "He and Emer saved my life."

"You sure you want to tell them that, mate?" Killian said in surprise.

Emer raised both eyebrows, wondering exactly what he was going to tell them. She figured it wasn't going to be the truth.

"You sure you want to tell them that, mate?" Killian asked in surprise and some concern.

It wasn't.

"On our trek, we were ambushed by Lost Boys," David explained, "pinned down, outnumbered. But Hook, he risked his life to stop me from getting hit by a poisoned arrow. And then Emer used her magic, and scared them away. If it weren't for them, I wouldn't be alive."

Even the lie made Emer blush.

David walked toward Hook and stopped right in front of him. "Your flask, please?"

Killian handed it to him before putting his hand back on Emer's shoulder.

"I thought they deserved a little credit."

Killian smiled a little. "Thank you."

The Lost Girl nodded in agreement.

David tipped back the bottle before he passed it to Mary Margaret.

"To the Joneses," the short haired woman said before she took a sip herself. She handed it to Regina.

"I don't do rum," the evil queen said simply before turning to walk away.

The bottle then went to Emma. "To Hook."

Emerlyn moved away before she was caught between his pining for Emma again. She just followed Regina, who didn't seem to mind so much.

She just wanted to shake away her unease about having Pan so closer to her again.