A/n: am I way late? Yes I am. Am I very sorry? I'm that too. Am I gonna do it again? Probably. You're getting a double chapter today in case I forget tomorrow.
Into the Deep
Devon waited with Cora at the bottom of the beanstalk for Hook to decsend. "I should have sent you up there."
"I wouldn't've come down," Devon snapped as he peered up against the rain.
"Not even for your children? Selfish."
"They're with their aunt. And if staying here means you never get near them, that's just a fathers poragitive."
Hook scaled down the last of the beanstalk and landed before them, facing away. Cora spoke first. "My dear Captain, it seems you've been on quite an adventure." She held out her hand. "The compass, please."
Hook turned to face them. "Yes, that. Well, matters grew complicated. It's eluded me for the moment. The details of the affair are a bit of a bore."
"Really?" Cora twitched her hand. Devon became enveloped in blue magic, and was forced to draw his war axe from his side. He threw the one handed man against the beanstalk, and rested his weapon on his captive's neck before Cora continued. "Stealing my protection spell before climbing the beanstalk without me might seem like a bore to you, but it me it's a betrayal."
"I was gonna bring it to you," Hook assured as he attempted to pull back from the blade. "Out agreement remains. We are going to Storybrooke together. I'll get it back."
"I don't have time for your games," Cora said, shaking her head.
"Cora, we need him," Devon ground out as he fought against the magic that controlled him.
"I've crossed through too many worlds to be brought short on the brink of success." She moved Devon slightly away. "Who was it who bested you?"
"The Swan girl, Emma. Rest assured, it wont happen again."
Cora laughed. "No, it wont. You chose her. And the consequences of that decision."
Hook was mock offended. "Oh, are you gonna kill me now?" He gestured to Devon. "Go ahead, try."
"So brave." The axe was moved closer before it and it's bearer were removed. Devon returned to Cora's side as she shrugged in her own disappointment. "No, I'm not going to kill you. I have something far more satisfying in mind. I'm going to leave you here. With your thirst for revenge unquenched, while I complete our journey without you."
"That's a bad idea, Cora," Devon said again attempting to convince her to bring Hook with them. Cora silenced him with a wave of her hand.
Hook tried charm. "There's no need to be rash. We can discuss this."
"Your pretty face buys you a lot," Cora said with a small smile. Then her smile dropped along with the temperature. "But not my time. It's too valuable."
"I can do this. I can get it back. Even your lackey says you need me," Hook practically pleaded.
She laughed again. "No, I don't." She moved away from Hook. "You've had your chance. Now, it's my turn to do this the right way."
Hook made to attack the pair, but with a wave of Cora's hand, they were transported back to the refugee camp. With another wave, Devon's' voice was free for him to use. "I'm telling you, Cora, you need to listen to me: we need Hook."
"You ever speak out of turn again, Absolute, you'll never speak again," Cora said dismissively as she reanimated some refugees to go after the quartet of women ahead of them.
Henry woke in Mr. Gold's shop with a startled gasp. "Henry? David went to his side first, followed by Regina and Orabella. Gold was already sat in a chair at the head of the bed. "Are you alright?"
"Did you see her? Did you tell them?" Gold lent forward in his chair.
"No, I didn't get a chance. Something... something happened. She... she got sucked out of there," Henry said regretfully, still waking. He groaned and clutched his arm.
"Henry?"
"Something's wrong."
Regina pulled back Henry's sleeve to reveal more burnt flesh from the room. "Henry," she gasped.
Gold switched positions with Regina. "Here," he said as he sat. "Let me take care of this." He waved his hand over the boy's arm and let his magic mend the blisters and burnt flesh.
"What caused this," Regina asked as she calmed down.
"When you venture deeper into the Netherworld instead of away, there are risks," Gold began to explain. "Someone woke Aurora before her soul was ready to return. The violence of that act tore her away and injured Henry. We're lucky it wasn't worse."
Orabella pulled a small red vial from her pocket and knelt beside the bed. "Henry, I want you to drink this. It's a little tangy, but it's a healing potion. We don't know what's happened to your insides through all this."
He nodded and took the vial, sipping it slowly. "It tastes like breakfast," he commented as he continued to sip.
"Well, I did use the yolk of a Rock Warbler egg and wheat stalks to make it, so I'm not surprised. Adding it to some orange juice is what got my kids to drink it. And in Skyrim, oranges are very hard to come by." Henry only smiled as he finished the potion.
"He's gonna need some time to recover before he can be sent back," Gold said calmly, expecting a reaction.
"Out of the question."
"Not a chance in hell."
David and Regina vehemently opposed. David stood and continued. "We'd be monsters to even consider risking his life again."
"Careful with your tone, Charming," Gold warned, standing to meet the younger man. "I understand your concern for the boy, but we know Cora." He gestured to Orabella who stood beside him. "Without our help, Snow and Emma will soon be dead. And then a true monster will be on her way to Storybrooke."
"Aurora is gone," Regina snapped, also standing. "Why do we need to send Henry back to that fiery inferno with no one there to receive our message?"
"Because someone will be there," David said optimistically.
"Who?"
"Snow."
"Thats an awfully big assumption."
"No, no, it's not. She was there once before. She can go back. She can find a way, she will. I know it." He looked between the trio ahead of him. "And I'll be waiting."
"You're going to this Netherworld?"
"Well, I've faced you. How bad could it be?"
"Where I come from, there's an expression fate likes to use in response to that line," Orabella said sarcastically. "It's 'hold my beer'."
"It's not as simple as that," Gold said calmly as he placed his hand on her arm to stop her. "You cant get there. You haven't been under a sleeping curse."
"Well, then put me under one."
"If we do that, there's a chance you might never waken up."
"Sure, I will. When I see her, she'll kiss me. And I'll be fine. Now put me under. I've spent far too much time looking for my wife. It's time to bring her home!"
"Alright!" Orabella threw a calming spell over him. "Alright," she continued once his hackles had been soothed. "Regina, go make the spell, everything you need should be in the back." The woman in question looked a little hurt. "It will be okay," Orabella said gripping her hand gently. Regina nodded and made her way to the back room.
"We're going to have to do this the old fashioned way," Gold said as he walked over to a cupboard and rooted around inside of it for a few moments.
"What do you mean 'the old fashioned way'," David asked as Orabella waved him over to a spinning wheel to help her move it.
"You're about to join quite the distinguished club, Mr. Nolan," Gold said as he pulled a spinning needle from the cabinet. "Before such innovations as the apple, back when the sleeping curse first came to be, a more direct method was required. Through blood." He held up the needle. "By pricking one's finger on the needle of a spinning wheel, one falls under the spell." He turned to Regina who had rejoined them with the curse in hand. "Your Majesty, you did his wife, I'm sure you'd like to do the honors?"
Regina took the needle and dipped it into the potion for a moment before she inserted it into the wheel. "It's all yours," she said to David before she moved away. Gold gestured for Orabella to take the spinners place.
Henry approached his grandfather before he sat on the bed. "Good luck," he said giving him a hug.
"It's gonna be all right," David assured as he returned the hug.
"How do you know?"
"Well, how did you know Emma would save you after you ate the turnover," David asked sitting on the cot.
"I believed in her."
"The way Snow and I believed she'd come back to break the curse. That's the kind of faith that runs in our family."
Henry pulled the pendant Gold had given him off his neck. "This helps control the flames in the room," he said as he bestowed it around David's neck. "It'll keep you safe."
"I will guard it with my life," David promised.
Orabella began to spin the wheel. "When you're ready."
He sighed and reached for the needle. Then pulled back. "When I wake, I'll be in the fiery room?"
Orabella stopped the wheel as Gold spoke. "Not exactly. That room is where those who have already awoken from the curse return. You, however, are being put under for the first time."
"Then how will I know where to go? How the hell am I supposed to find a room with no door?"
"And that, dearie, is the conundrum we're all depending on you solving," Gold said testily. "Now, I say this with the upmost sincerity," he continued as his voice softened. "Good luck."
Devon followed Cora into the pit where she had left Aurora, only to find it empty. "Looking for someone?" A familiar voice came from behind them.
"Oh," Cora sighed in realization. "Oh, don't tell me you were dumb enough to let her go."
"She was never going to give you what you wanted anyway." Hook shrugged.
"So you freed her, and stuck around for the petty satisfaction of seeing me suffer?"
"Oh, watching you suffer is a tempting motivation, but it wasn't that."
"Well, then you must have a death wish." She used her magic to throw hook against the wall and hold him in the rock. She disattatched his hook and used it to pull his shirt back from over his heart. "You know I have to kill you."
"You should try thanking me."
"Oh really? Why is that?"
"Because I've brought you a gift. It's in the satchel." He gestured to the brown leather that crossed his body.
Cora flicked her hand, causing Devon to rip the satchel off of the captive. "What is it?"
"Customarily, surprise is part of the fun of gift giving. Open it."
Devon showed Cora the contents. "Is that..."
"Indeed it is," assured Hook from his place on the wall. "And with it you'll get everything you want."
