Apologies on the delay, life caught up with me in a not so pleasant way, but all is on the way to being well.

Ok, a couple of quick things. Obviously I'm not going to change papa-Jones' name in this story from Davy (Since that would essentially change the storyline and whatnot), but I'm also not including the Liam junior aspect (I'm mildly conflicted about the inclusion of that in the show. Unless they want to bring Liam junior back later so he can seek vengeance against Hook and have a weird/awkward family reunion? Idk. There's a potential show plotline there, for sure. Season 6 material maybe?). For the sake of this story, the last time Killian saw his dad was when he abandoned them to servitude on that ship.

Notes over. Read, Review, and share the love.

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Reading books in the library was the exact opposite of what Emma Swan had in mind when she envisioned the town coming together to help her find Killian Jones. She wanted tracking spells and setting sail on the Jolly Roger to hunt down the Dutchman. She wanted a looking glass that would show her where Killian was at that exact moment and that he was ok. What Emma wanted was action; tangible proof that whatever she was doing was going to bring Killian back. What she didn't want, and what was currently setting her on edge, was to sit around in the library reading books like she was preparing for a final exam.

The two days since spotting the green flash saw a fidgety Emma, her parents, Regina, and a rotating cast of various townspeople scouring the library for answers about how to find the Flying Dutchman and anything having to do with the underworld. Emma paid no attention to specifically who else was in the library with her at any given time, but constantly felt the warmth of the large group of bodies in the enclosed space. The heat of them did plenty to warm her physically but very little to help calm her chaotic and frenzied heart. The closest to calm she managed was when she was over-gripping Killian's ring in her hand and listening to everyone's attempts at information gathering.

"What about this story, Persephone in the underworld? She's taken by Hades to be his bride and has to stay in the underworld for six months every year, one month for every pomegranate seed she ate while down there?" Regina suggested. "There could be something to that. Maybe you're not supposed to eat anything from the underworld if you're a living person?"

"That doesn't help us get to Killian though," David reminded them. "Here's one that might help. Orpheus goes to the underworld to bring back his wife and uses his musical talent and wit to do it. He sings his way past Cerberus and wins over Persephone and Hades enough that he has a chance to bring his wife back to the land of the living."

"They don't make it back though David," Regina told him. "Orpheus is supposed to walk away from the underworld and trust that his wife is following him even though there's never a sign that she is. In the end he turns around too early before she can finish leaving the underworld and she has to go back. The only way they end up being together is in the Elysium fields."

"Could someone just find me something about the Dutchman? I'm not trying to go to the underworld, just the ship!" Emma complained, slamming her hands on the table. Her suddenness surprised the small group of fairies that were helping them find relevant texts and they all cast startled glances at Emma, who turned away to hide her growing guilt at her outburst.

"Sorry Emma, it's just what we've pulled down so far," Tinkerbelle explained hurriedly. When Regina had told the green fairy about Emma's Flying Dutchman theory and that Hook might still be alive, Tinkerbelle sprang into action. She gathered up several of the other fairies and brought them with her to the library where Emma, Regina, and her parents were already neck deep in research, proclaiming that Killian had helped her leave Neverland and it was high time she returned the favor in some way. "Try this one. It's mostly sea lore from this realm but there are a few stories from ours too." She held the book out between them with her arms outstretched and her body leaning backwards, as if moving closer to Emma was too dangerous, even to give her a simple book.

The silent message was clear as day. People were more than willing to help find Killian but they didn't trust Emma anymore. She was the new specter at the feast, the new town pariah. The people of Storybrooke would glance over their shoulders and watch her movements fearfully until she proved to them that she would not go dark side again. The broken trust stung deeply, but it was a feeling Emma could deal with in the meantime, a feeling she had been on the receiving end of for most of her life. So as much as it hurt, Emma tried to push the feeling aside by throwing herself into the research necessary to find Killian, no matter if it led anywhere or not.

She snatched the book from the fairy's outstretched hands and ignored the way the fairy took a quick step backward at her hastiness. Instead she focused on how the leather-bound volume reminded her achingly of the veritable library in Killian's cabin on the Jolly Roger, which only served to further remind her of him. She flipped through the pages eagerly, eyes scanning every line for something that might help her. There were stories about the Bermuda Triangle, mermaids and sirens, and more than a few about sailor superstitions. It wasn't until she neared the end of the book that she found a reference to ghost ships and the origins of the Flying Dutchman. According to the book, in her world it was thought to be a Dutch man-o-war lost in a storm off the Cape of Good Hope that became a ghost ship doomed never to make landfall. In another version of the story the ship's crew were killed by a hell-sent plague for some horrid crime they committed and cursed never to make landfall until they paid their penance. And in yet another telling the ship and it's crew were raised from the depths and sold to a man looking to flee execution and a sordid past.

She growled in frustration. How were those explanations supposed to help her find the ship? They had nothing to do with anything from the Enchanted Forest and they definitely did not help her find a way to locate the damn ship.

While Emma was trapped in her musings and growing anger Mary Margaret burst through the front door, arms laden with overflowing bags of food. "Sorry I'm late getting back!" Mary Margaret apologized to everyone, setting the mass order of Granny's takeout on the table amid the clutter of books and notes. "I needed to drop Neal at playgroup and Aurora was telling me about this dream she had in the netherworld fire room the other night. It sounded like one I had last night and she said something about a strange man being there too and asking her-"

"Is this story gonna help the search in any way?" Emma snapped once again, her anger boiling over. Mary Margaret flinched at her daughter's outburst and another wave of guilt washed over Emma at the sight. "I'm sorry," Emma muttered, hiding her face in her hands and taking what were supposed to be several calming breathes.

"It's alright Emma," Her mother assured her, taking a tentative step forward and laying a hand on her shoulder.

"I need to find him," Emma muttered helplessly into her hands, the weight of the past two days catching up with her.

"You will sweetie, we'll find him together. Finding people is what we do in this family," Her mother soothed before settling into the chair next to her and opening up a book of her own.

Emma's eyes glanced through her fingers and she caught sight of several fairies whispering and casting dubious looks at her. She could not hear them but she could guess easily enough what they were saying, and the continued distrust, however well earned, stung even more. Emma stood abruptly, startling everyone once again as her chair scraped loudly against the linoleum floor and she stalked off to one of the empty back aisles.

If Henry were there he would tell her that it didn't matter what other people thought so long as she knew what was important. That finding Killian and her own happiness was more important than what anyone else said behind her back.

She sighed. Henry wasn't there with them. He had been holed up at Regina's house doing his own research and refusing to even see Emma. The distrust from the townspeople she could handle, especially with the strength of her family by her side, but Henry's continued absence left a hole in her heart that threatened to consume her in regret and self-doubt. Regina had told her that he just wasn't ready, that he wanted time to himself first until Emma proved she was trustworthy again. Emma wondered belatedly if this was how Regina felt after the first curse was broken.

Emma was so lost in thought walking up and down the aisles that she failed to notice anyone else in the aisle with her, and ran into the town librarian head on, sending the stack of books in the smaller woman's arms tumbling to the ground.

"Oof! Oh, I'm sorry Emma! Are you ok?" Belle apologized, reaching down to pick up the mess. Emma followed her to the floor, piling the books into some kind of order, when her hand brushed over a book that wasn't like the others.

"Um, Belle? Why do you have a book about sightseeing in Washington DC?"

"Oh Gods! I didn't mean for anyone to see that!" Belle scrambled to cover up the travel book with a more productive looking tome about ships sunk by mermaids, but Emma's confusion remained.

"Are you gonna have a book delivered here from the Library of Congress or are you planning a trip?"

"The latter," Belle admitted, a guilty blush coloring her cheeks. "Not long before Killian was taken Rumple actually told me to go out and see the world, to have the adventure I always wanted to have. Honestly, I think he was just trying to get me out of town before something terrible happened. I got as far as the town line before I came back."

Emma narrowed her eyes at her friend. "So do you not want that adventure anymore?"

Belle's eyes widened, as she insisted, "No, I do! It would make me so happy to finally see the world, but I don't want to do it alone. I told Rumple that I wanted him to come with me, that the only thing that would make me happier than going on this adventure was if we could go together."

Emma stood up slowly in awe. "Belle, wow, I mean that's…"

The librarian mistook Emma's awe for hurt and was quick to stand and reassure her. "It's not like we'd be gone forever, or even right away! We're planning to go after we help you find the Flying Dutchman and Killian."

Emma's voice failed her at Belle's words. All she could do was smile softly at the petite woman and hope she understood how much it meant to Emma that she was putting her happy ending on hold for the search.

They split the large pile of books between them and walked back to where the rest of the group sat at the main tables, only to find David arguing with Regina.

"Killian's linked to the sword now, right? I still don't see why we can't summon him with Excalibur or at least use Excalibur and a tracking spell to find him," David complained, shutting his book with a heavy thud that told Emma exactly how poorly his research was going so far.

Regina rolled her eyes. "Because it's not a personal item of his and Gold already told us that Killian is in a realm that's dead, or at least between realms. You can't summon a person from another realm."

"We summoned Cora's spirit here," David reminded her. "And what about the apprentice's wand? Can't we use that again?"

"That was just her ghost. Last time I checked we were trying to bring back a living person," Regina rebutted. "The wand will only be helpful if we know where we're going, and it'll probably be useless if we're trying to go between realms. There's no way of even knowing which realm the Dutchman is in at any given time when it does appear."

"Well, we know it has to go to the underworld eventually, right? But I'm guessing we can't just use the wand to go to the underworld and back. That would be too easy?" David huffed in frustration.

"If it were that easy people would be using the underworld for vacations," Regina told him before heaving a sigh. "Ok, look, maybe the sword isn't as much of a lost cause as it seems. We couldn't summon Emma from a realm away with the dagger, but maybe the sword is different? How about I go grab the sword and I can work on it while looking for more information? What we really need though is to find some kind of pattern to the Dutchman sightings. We know there is always a green flash whenever the Dutchman travels between realms but there have to be other signs too. A rare type of cloud in the sky, a strange tint to the water, something! If we could just figure out some way of predicting the Dutchman's next stop then maybe we could intercept it."

David heaved a sigh. "The only thing I've managed to find about the location of the Dutchman is that it appears to the dead, or those who've seen death, no matter if they were drowned at the bottom of the ocean or killed in a shipwreck or eaten by a shark. So unless you know where a shipwreck is going to be anytime soon?"

"We have to predict a shipwreck and hope the Dutchman shows up? Peachy," Emma deadpanned.

"Maybe we don't need to predict the next location ourselves," Belle told them, thinking out loud with her eyes glued to a passage in her text. "Maybe all we need is to find someone who might know where the Dutchman is going to be."

"What do you mean?"

Belle hastily dropped her open book on the table and pointed to a passage regarding magical sea creatures. "The Dutchman exists on the ocean and passes between realms as needed. But it's not the only sea-based thing that can pass between worlds," The librarian explained.

"Mermaids," Mary Margaret realized.

Belle nodded. "Yes, but not just any merfolk would know where to find a ghost ship like the Dutchman. We would need to talk to someone powerful, someone with authority over all the seas. Someone who knows what's going on in the domain at any given time, whether that's a great shipwreck or a massive storm."

"Is this going where I think it is?" Emma questioned warily.

"We need to talk to Ursula, or maybe even her father," Belle told them definitively.

"But she's realms away! How are we supposed to talk to her? My cell plan doesn't exactly cover inter-realm phone calls," Emma complained.

Belle pleaded with her. "I know, but Ursula and her father have to know just about everything going on in the oceans, and I have to believe that includes any Dutchman sightings. We just need to find another mermaid in town and then maybe we can send a message?"

Mary Margaret chimed in, all too eager to add hope to the conversation. "Maybe Ariel is around town? I bet if we ask her-"

"She's not here. She's a realm away with Eric living out her happily ever after," Emma spat out. She had not meant for her words to sound so bitter and jealous but she couldn't help it. It seemed like every time she finally caught a break after saving the day some other villain would drop out of the sky and claim a vendetta that always involved mass casualties.

"Ariel isn't the only mermaid in existence Emma," Regina reminded her. "Tink, could you and the fairies ask around town for-"

"A local mermaid? No problem. I'll call you when we find someone," Tinkerbelle answered. She and the other fairies sprang into action, gathering their things and organizing into groups to decide who would search where within the town. Emma quickly saw an opportunity closing on her, a chance to leave the library and physically do something to further the search, and stepped forward.

"I'm coming too," Emma insisted, hand clutching onto Killian's ring like a totem.

"Emma, I don't think-"

"I'm coming too. You all can keep reading and flipping pages if you want, but I can't just sit here anymore. I have to do something," She insisted.

The fairies shuffled nervously for a moment but remained silent and Emma knew they were less than thrilled at the idea of having her around. The further reality of just how little the townspeople wanted to be around her cut into Emma and she fought the urge to hunch her shoulders, which only resulted in her shoulders tensing up to her ears.

Mary Margaret stood quickly in front of Emma with her hands gently resting on her daughter's tense shoulders in an effort to calm her.

"Emma, sweetie, why don't I go with them?" Her mother suggested, although to Emma's ears it sounded more like a royal decree than an offer. "You'll be my first call when we find someone and I'll send you a text every hour so you can follow our progress. Does that sound ok?"

Emma silently fumed, knowing it was probably the only way she would know what was going on with the new search but infuriated that she wouldn't be out there doing anything.

Mary Margaret seemed to read her mind though, and offered, "I have an idea. Why don't you go with Regina to get Excalibur? You two will probably be able to come up with a way to use it so we can find Killian," Mary Margaret offered, trying to placate her daughter.

Several heartbeats passed where Emma swore everyone in the room held a collective breath at her silence, waiting on the edge of their seats for her answer, as if whatever she said would somehow dictate whether or not she would go dark again and turn them all into stone statues. She was half tempted to maintain the quiet, to torment them all further, because she recognized the suggestion for the brush off that it was.

A smaller part of her recognized the diplomat her mother was trying to play, the peacekeeper who just wanted to take control of the situation and diffuse the tension before things could blow up in their faces. Keeping Emma content meant keeping her moving around instead of stuck in the library, but keeping the fairies calm meant separating them from Emma, and if they didn't know exactly where Emma was then they would only be on edge and unhelpful. At least if Emma went with Regina they would know where she was and she might be able to physically do something… Possibly…

In the end Emma finally relented, breaking the silence and freeing the group from the oppressive air she held them in.

"Fine," Emma conceded. She ignored the relief that passed over the faces of several younger fairies; turning to gather her things and walking out the door without another word, knowing Regina would follow after her shortly.

She heard her mother call her name, a pleading and apologetic note in her voice, but Emma never turned around. She shoved the doors open and stomped a short ways on the sidewalk before coming to a halt.

"I'll call you when we're headed back!" Regina called back into the library, knotting a scarf around her neck and joining Emma on the sidewalk, sending her an expectant look.

"We're not poofing there this time," Emma insisted. She stomped forward, needing the physical movement to stave off her earlier melancholy.

The momentum of moving meant she was doing something and in her mind that meant she was that much closer to getting Killian back. But, only minutes into their trek across town, Emma found herself wishing she had asked Regina to transport them straight to the vault after all. The main street was filled with people, all of whom cowered at the sight of Emma and only relaxed again when they saw Regina. Emma thought once again of the role reversal that had occurred between them since the first curse, and forced her eyes to the pavement. Looking at the ground was better than catching the eyes of the townspeople who now feared her, not to mention the gray of the pavement so closely matched her souring mood.

Things only improved slightly when the gray pavement in town transitioned to the green grass of the lonely cemetery as the pair arrived at Regina's vault. With no one to hide from Emma felt a little better lifting her head up, well enough to enter the vault with Regina to grab Excalibur. Once the sword was retrieved from its hiding place, with Regina thankfully maneuvering around the protection spell this time, they left the vault for Regina's house.

"I have some potions there that might help us, and a few spell books with incantations that could be rearranged to suit our needs… Possibly," Regina explained after sending a message to Mary Margaret and David, updating them on their plans.

Emma's heart tightened as they walked, not at Regina's cynical words, but at the prospect of whom she might see at the house when they arrived. Would Henry be there, she silently wondered? Would he want to see her? She missed her son, missed his endless optimism and belief. And while Regina had told her before that he wasn't ready to see her it didn't stop Emma from wanting to see him. But she was so afraid of that future encounter. Afraid that Henry would take one look at her and realize he was better off without her, that he would decide he never wanted to see her ever again no matter what she did to prove herself to him. Worse still, she was afraid there would be nothing she could do to get him back at all, just as the chances of her seeing Killian again were ever-dwindling with every impossible rescue plan.

Regina noticed the wide-eyed look of hope and fear in Emma's face and her mouth flattened uncomfortably, realizing the other woman's thoughts were likely leading her to their son.

"Henry's not there. He went to a friend's house for the afternoon," She added, seeing the further conflict on her friend's face.

Emma shook her head and blinked back the wetness she hadn't realized was gathering in the corners of her eyes. "No, I get it, it's um… It's probably for the best right now," She replied weakly. Regina didn't look convinced, and a strange and contemplative look came over her as she stared at Emma, who crossed her arms tightly and took a shaky breath as she continued. "I know using Excalibur as a tracking tool probably won't work, and we might not find another mermaid in town to get our message to Ursula, and there's a million ways we won't probably be able to do this at all but…"

"When have impossible odds ever stopped us before?" Regina finished with the beginnings of a smile. "Not to parrot your mother, but wherever Killian is we will find him."

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You guys seriously have no idea how excited I am about some of the potential plot lines that are coming for 5b (It's actually something I've been thinking about since we learned the basics of Hook's childhood origins back in S3, but the last episodes were just icing on the cake for my head canon! More on that in coming chapters.)! Some of those head canons have already made their way into this fic, or at least into the chapter plotlines I have written out (Not all of them, but some of them).

Additional note about this chapter, I deliberately have Belle including a magic-free Gold in her travel plans for several reasons. Most of those reasons revolve around not wanting to see them fall back into the issues that have plagued their relationship for so long (Rumple's need for power/control and Belle feeling like she has to constantly pick up the pieces being just a few.). I understand the writers probably need Gold to have magic for some reason in 5b, but it's mostly just frustrating to watch their characters seemingly go backwards after everything that's happened.

Anywho, that's my logic and for this story I'm sticking with it. Let me know what you think!