AN: I am so sorry! I've been so inactive D: With college and life and stuff though, I haven't had much time for fanfiction :/ BUT here is a one-shot I hope you will enjoy! Once Upon a Time is now my favorite show (thank you Dragonfire Alchemist ;). So yeah, this was bound to happen eventually. Sorry it ends so abruptly! It was late and I had to go to bed and now I don't know what I could do to make it better ;_;

(no, I haven't forgotten about Pocket!John either! Like I said I've just been really busy. I'm also working on a personal project, so that's been taking up a lot of my writing time. Anyways, I'll stop blathering now. Enjoy some tiny!Hook and adorable Neal!)

Neal fought off the vicious beast, only just barely holding it back. It was the middle of the day, but the monster darkened the narrow alley with its evil presence. Hook watched, helpless and hidden under a discarded box. Flinching at every swing of the enormous beast, he wished for nothing more than to join the fight and help his friend. In his present circumstance, however, that was next to impossible. Hook had recently found himself under the curse of a witch (what he could have possibly done to offend her he had no idea). This particular curse had proved to be rather difficult to break as it had shrunk him to a mere three inches in height. A difficult size to accomplish anything at. And now he was cowering off to the side while Neal was fighting for his life and he couldn't do a damn thing about it!

Neal, for his part, was not doing too well. The monster had him backed into a corner. With one swipe, it knocked his weapon from his hands. Before Neal could recover, it had him pinned under a massive paw.

He couldn't stand by anymore, Hook /had/ to do something. He didn't care anymore that it was stupid and pointless. Neal was going to die if he didn't. Despite the danger, and the obvious fact that he could do nothing at this size, Hook ran out from beneath his cover.

"HEY!" He yelled as loudly as he could. Waving his tiny arms, Hook tried to get the beasts attention. "Hey! Over here, you big ugly monster!"

His voice was small, like his body, but it did the trick. The creature's attention shifted from Neal. It tilted its head, staring straight at Hook with its coal black eyes. They burned with a fiery black hatred.

He tried to run at that point. The thing would have struck gut-wrenching fear in him at his normal size. But now, it was downright stupefying. So he ran, but he didn't get far. In the blink of an eye, it had him trapped. He felt its crushing weight as it pressed him into the concrete. In all honesty, Hook thought he was dead. So he was greatly surprised when the pressure vanished almost as soon as it had appeared.

Neal scrambled for his sword as soon as the monster released him. He thought he heard Hook's voice. Had the pirate come to help? When he stood, however, all he saw was the beast, its back turned and vulnerable. He literally leapt at the opportunity, striking down on the phantasm with one fell swoop. The summoned creature dissolved into splintered shadows, disappearing on the breeze with one last howl of rage.

Falling to his knees from exhaustion, Neal leaned on the hilt of his sword. He was just starting to recover when he noticed something small moving on the ground.

Hook tried to push himself back up, but quickly discovered that his body was not quite ready for such an exertion. All he could do now was hope Neal did not accidentally step on him.

"Hook?" A breathless voice asked somewhere above him.

Oh, well now things were certainly about to get interesting.

With a rueful smile, Hook attempted to move again. He only just managed to roll over and was immediately confronted with Baelfire's confused and concerned face.

"The one and only." He managed to wheeze out before his body was wracked with a fit of coughing.

"What the hell? What happened to you?"

With a huge effort, Hook pushed himself into a sitting position. "Oh I'm fine, thanks for asking."

Neal's tired brain was still trying to work out what had just happened.

"You saved my life."

Hook only shrugged, wincing as pain shot through him at the motion.

Frowning with concern, Neal reached for him slowly. When Hook noticed the enormous fingers closing in around him he understandably panicked a little.

"Woah woah, easy there mate!" He shouted up at the man while trying to push the hand away. Neal withdrew a little.

"Sorry. It's just... You're hurt." Neal's brow was furrowed with worry.

Hook crossed his arms over his chest, trying (unsuccessfully) to hide how much it hurt.

"It's only me, Hook. You don't have to be afraid."

"I'm not afraid!" Hook snapped. But then he sighed in resignation. If he was going to survive this curse, he was going to need help. And honestly, Neal was probably his best bet. "It's just that... Anyone would be disturbed by a giant hand coming towards them! And I'm still, adjusting to this situation."

"Point taken." Neal nodded, and, instead of his entire hand, he simply offered the other man his index finger.

Hook gave him an appreciative smile before grabbing hold of the digit and hoisting himself up. Neal then laid his hand out palm up so Hook could step on of his own volition. The pirate steeled his courage and limped onto the the platform of flesh. He thought he might actually be okay with this. Until Neal stood up that is. Hook was forced to grab onto his thumb in order to steady himself. Neal curled his fingers around him protectively and held him close, afraid he might drop his tiny passenger.

"Where are we going?" Hook asked once they started moving.

"To get you patched up and break whatever curse is making you like this." Neal smiled at him reassuringly.

Suddenly feeling extremely exhausted, Hook smiled back.