He left the library feeling…lighter, somehow. He might even go so far as to say he felt "good" about how he'd left things. No, she wasn't moving in again, they'd barely touched, and the truth had been brief and broad, but it had been honest. He hadn't told her much, but what he had told her had been the most important part of it. It left the door open for more, and though he'd suspected that saying what he'd said might leave him feeling naked and vulnerable, he found it wasn't a terrible thing. With Belle safe inside the library, he set the protection spell over her property and somehow had the feeling he was sealing his own secrets in with her.
He felt hopeful where he and Belle were concerned, comfortable with where they'd left things. He was embarrassed, perhaps even a little disappointed in himself that he'd done something so foolish that meant he wouldn't be by her side as she explored this new world, but the more he thought about it, the more he acknowledged that Ruby might just be the perfect person to help her through that. He knew from Baelfire that he could be protective, perhaps too protective. That was one of the reasons they'd gotten here, after all. If he were by her side for this transition, he'd want to do everything for her. He'd want to pay for everything, sign every form, handle the money, run the library. She wouldn't like that. It would have caused tension and grief between them. So, this was good. He'd watch from the shop to be sure she was safe, he'd keep his distance, and then when she was experienced in this world, they'd be together again. They'd go for a hamburger. They'd return to each other.
And in the meantime, there were other things he needed to have done. There were ways that he could protect Belle with more than just a spell, and he intended to do just that. There were villains in this world, some big and some small; the events in the mines proved that just fine. Both were dangerous but in their own ways. He could do very little about smaller villains in this world simply because they were too numerous to weed out. But the right lesser criminal did have one particularly befitting feature…they could lead to the greater threats.
After leaving Belle, finding Smee was easy. His grandmother had cast a spell on him that made it difficult to locate him by magical assist, but that was over a century ago. And now…now he had his hat. It was so easy to find him it was almost laughable. In fact, when Smee turned on the docks and found him staring back at him, the sound Smee let out before he used magic to hide him away did make him laugh.
Under the shop, there was a basement, where he stored rather large items he had no interest in selling. He used his magic to send Smee there, bind him, and put him to sleep as he considered his plan of action. It wasn't really Smee that he was interested in, but rather the man he suspected had kept him alive for all these years…Killian Jones, now known as Captain Hook.
He had no evidence of that, no proof, only what he could deduce from what he saw. When he'd first met Smee, he'd been interested in staying young forever. They'd made a deal, not for eternal youth, but rather to turn the clock back and make him a boy again in exchange for a magic bean to take him to Bae. Smee had found the bean, but he'd never gotten it to him. Milah and Hook, when he'd still had two hands, had intercepted Smee and kept him as a prisoner. They'd proved it with the same fucking hat he now held in his hands. They'd brought him to the ship, and that was the last location he knew of for Mr. Smee. He'd argued and fought with Milah and Jones. He'd killed Milah, then taken Hook's hand under the presumption that it held the bean he needed. And then he'd left, only to discover later that Hook still had the bean, and it appeared he'd used it for himself to escape to Neverland.
He'd heard nothing about Smee. But he'd searched for the man afterward and found no trace of him. He had concluded that where Hook was, there he would also find Smee. Now, looking at Smee, who should be dust in the ground, and knowing that Hook had flitted off to Neverland, a place where individuals never aged, he suspected more than ever that was true. Still, there was only one way to prove that. And there was only one way to find Killian Jones. He had no intention of being surprised by that pirate again or risking Belle to him either. He needed to know where Hook was. He needed to kill him before he killed Belle.
By the time the sun started to go down, and he heard hoots and hollers from the basement, shouts of "help" from Mr. Smee indicating he was awake, he had a plan. A timid plan, one that depended on another individual, but one he was confident he could carry out. Of course, it depended on the information that Smee gave, the story that he told. So, he cast a spell over the shop to keep the sound isolated, ensuring that Smee could scream as loud as he wanted and no one would ever hear before he grabbed his hat and wandered down into the basement. Smee was silent by the time he opened the door, suggesting some intelligence. He hoped that continued.
"You're probably wondering why I brought you here," he pulled out the red hat he'd found in the mines, the one his grandmother, Mama Odie, knit for him before protecting him all those years ago. He'd been protected, but now that he was in front of him, that spell couldn't save him now. "I found this in the mines, Mr. Smee."
He lay the hat on his lap, and his eyes went wide with fear. "I am so sorry. I didn't-"
"I'm not interested in apologies," he interrupted. "I'm interested in information. About the man you work for."
"I'll tell you anything you want to know about Moe," he smiled.
"No, no. Not about Moe–your captain." He felt a small thrill of hope shoot through him at Smee's willingness to sell Moe out. Could he be bought that easily? One could hope. "Where is he?"
Smee shook his head. "I've never seen him in Storybrooke, I swear. For some reason, when the curse hit, it…it didn't take him!"
So it was confirmed. He was right. Smee had been with Hook all these years.
But he didn't believe his side of the story. Not for a second. If Smee was as young as he was, then he'd been with Hook until the end. As far as he knew, the Captain, and therefore Smee, had no issues with Regina, so unlike Frankenstein, he couldn't imagine a scenario where Regina would take him but leave Hook. It didn't make sense.
"Then, where is he? If you're here, then where would he be, Mr. Smee?"
"I don't know. We were separated in the Enchanted Forest, just before the Curse hit."
"The Enchanted Forest?" he clarified. "Not Neverland." While it made sense for them to have been there if he'd been unknowingly swept up into the Curse, it still didn't make sense why he would have come over, but Hook wouldn't.
"No," Smee confirmed. "We live in Neverland, but Pan sends us back and forth to other worlds on his own business, to make trades."
"And you were on one of these runs when you were separated from your Captain."
"Not exactly, no."
He rolled his eyes. "Then why were you in the Enchanted Forest, Mr. Smee."
"To kill someone," he answered quickly, a line of sweat dripping from his temple into his beard. His eyes were wide, and he could see the desperation to please him in his eyes. Perhaps he should believe him. "We were to make our usual trades, but before we left, Pan informed Cap of a prisoner that the Evil Queen had in her towers, someone that he saw benefit in killing."
He sucked his breath in as Smee explained and felt his stomach clench painfully. A prisoner in the tower that would benefit both Pan and Hook if killed? He hadn't known at the time, but now he knew there was someone there who fit that description. It didn't settle his stomach. His father knew? About Belle?
"Who?" he demanded.
"I don't know. The conversation was private, Cap'n only told me that much. When we arrived, we docked in the Evil Queen's territory with instructions to make the trades while he was away and promised that we'd meet him after it was done. We disembarked, made the trades, and spent the night in town, but the Curse struck before any of us could return to the ship."
So, they'd been separated, but that still meant that Hook should have come over in the Curse.
"So, where is he now?"
"I don't know," Smee stressed. "I swear I don't, I told you the truth, I've never seen him in Storybrooke, but I've barely seen the other crew members! He could be anywhere."
Anywhere indeed. And was Smee being truthful now? Or was he protecting the Captain, who had obviously protected him all these years ago? He appeared spineless, but he knew those could grow over time. He'd find out if it was true or not. For Belle's sake, he had to. But not this moment. He had a plan. If it worked out, then he just needed to stick to it.
He placed the red hat over Smee's wiry hair and, without any further explanation, left him there in the basement. He locked him in, made sure the spells were secure, and took his cell phone from his pocket. He was in the front of the shop gazing into the library, the second-floor apartment windows lit for the first time since he could remember, when his call went predictably to voicemail.
"Things are beginning to pile up, Mr. Dove, and while I understand your disinterest in continuing our partnership, I'll remind you that it appears we are going to be in Storybrooke for quite some time, and it is only because of that partnership that your parents enjoy rent-free accommodations in their old age. It is also because of our partnership that you and several family members enjoy your lifestyle. I have a job for you. You are a Prince, Mr. Dove, but without a Kingdom to rule for the foreseeable future, you might consider sticking with what you know."
He hung up, eager to see what his message would get him.
And with this, we conclude the 2x04 chapters. This was another fun one to write. The end of that conversation with Smee was something that we never got to see on the show, so getting to write how I thought that might have gone was exciting. And then, of course, it ends with a sort of re-introduction to bring Dove back into the fold (flock?). We haven't seen him in a while. If you'll recall, we last saw him just after the Curse broke, and he was...less than thrilled about the circumstances they found themselves in. I imagine that's why he ignores his call here, and Rumple has to leave that message. Will it go over well? We'll just have to see about that, won't we.
Thank you, Alarda and Grace5231973, for your reviews on the last chapter! I'm super happy that you've enjoyed the chapters for this episode, even though the content wasn't always fun. This week we're pretty clearly in the 2x05-2x06 chapters. They're sort of interim chapters that will start ushering us into the second half of this fiction. We know Rumple's not with Belle at this time, and we know that his "balanced life" is still fairly compartmentalized right now, so as you can imagine, there's going to be a lot done on the town Curse. If you like magic and that old Hook v. Rumple rivalry...these chapters are totally for you! Peace and Happy Reading!