"Damn Gold to the deepest pits of hell," Emma seethed.
"Emma?" He called from the steering for a bit more of an explanation, not that he really disagreed with that statement at any given time.
"Remember that barrier he put up to keep Bell on and no one else getting on or off? Well apparently he never really took it down, I can't just poof us up there."
His relife at seeing the old girl floating along as natural as could be in these waters was not long to live, not when both of them were now quite sure Henry was being held there against his will. He was sure even if Regina had come along, rather than trying to follow down another lead with the Merry Men out in the forest, Rumplestilskins magic would still always be a problem in their life.
"Then we'll just have to get up there another way luv," he told her with confidence, abandoning the helm of their pilfered ship.
They'd spotted no one in the crows nest, nor anyone upon their closer inspection of the ship. From their angle it hadn't even been clear if there was anyone steering. Pulling them as close as he could he reached out and tentativly rapped his hook against the prow of his ship, and there seemed no repercussions. Giving her as reassuring a smile as he could, he turned about until they were just beneath the loading bay, the thin uneven divuts dug out of the side of his ship as close to makeshift handholds as they'd be using to getting aboard.
"What on Earth?" She asked in confusion even as she began lifting herself up without one look back, not with the notion her son could be above.
"These are a story for another time luv," he promised.* He was already following, this being no more of a struggle than the beanstalk. If anything, under other circumstances, the trip would have been a bit more pleasant.
Instead, night had now fallen, and the worry he could no longer temper back was thrusting harder than any wind he'd ever had to sail through. Henry had been alone far too long in certainly no good company. They had to get him back.
"Henry!" She'd hauled herself over the side with more practice than any landlubber really had a right too, yet another reason he'd fallen so madly in love with her was how easily she adapted to everything. She'd called her sons name not in question though, but in recognition, and knowing it wouldn't be that easy, he too swung himself on board with his sword drawn in the same breath, prepared for battle.
It was as he'd feared, the madman responsible for this. Blackbeard remained on the starboard railing, a look of deep hatred lighting his eyes as Henry remained all limbs tied up at his feet, a gag in his mouth. A flourishing bruise was lingering on the side of his face and there was the smallest pool of blood under his side, but his eyes were open and alert as he watched them approach.
"Hook," he acknowledged first, always one to enjoy his posturing as long as he could. "I knew you'd try to go back on our deal. I haven't yet decided what to take as collateral, your life, or his."
"I'm not here for the ship," I scowled, my blade keeping aim right at his heart. "She's yours, as promised. I'd have delivered her myself if I knew how to cross realms. Just let the lad go and we'll be on our way." The words would never be able to leave his mouth without the traitors taint for his beloved first real home, but he'd never spoken truer words with his family in danger.
Blackbeard threw back his head with laughter, the point of his blade remaining lodged near Henry's neck. "A man unwilling to fight for what he wants deserves what he gets." Killian swore his heart stopped in his chest, as if the man had reached in and pulled it out to crush it already. No, he would not loose these two, not with the crocodiles words echoed back to him like that! "I'll gladly leave, this little town holds no interest for me."
The blade dug deeper, the rustic red upon its surface from countless other victims still shiny anew with Henry's blood, the coppery taste in his own mouth fueling him to take a forceful step forward. "Then what else do you want?"
Emma's hands were raised, prepared to do anything she could in her magical ability to save her son's life, but with the risk of his head being removed before she could twitch a pinky, she was as forced to stave herself as he was.
"Oh, nothing you could give me any longer Hook. Unless you're wanting to play another round for this lovely lass your with? I can almost see why you gave up this vessel for such a treasure," his leering eyes landing on her in the worst way nearly had him launching forward in outrage, but Emma had never been one to stand idly by and let others handle her.
"How did you get to this realm, and more importantly, how do we send you back?" It was hard to believe the same gentle loving tone she'd used to wish Henry a good day this morning came from the same woman now delivering a death sentence to the man across from them. Ah Emma, always quick on the uptake.
"Now look who's asking the right questions," Blackbeard agreed, that disgusting face of his hitching into an even more reactive glint in his eyes even as he continued raking her bodice from so far away. Killian still had half a mind to step in front of her no matter how little good it would do anyone. "Alas, it's not something you can be of any use for, I'm awaiting someone far more useful in company. Tally along, the both of you, before I change my mind."
"We're not leaving without Henry," the confidence in her voice was not to be argued with by even the darkest of foes.
"I found him aboard me ship when I reclaimed it, makes him mine just as these woods below our feet," Blackbeard snarled. Killian saw something from the corner of his eye, a flash of movement that he would have liked to dismiss as a sail in the breeze, but his attention focused solely on Henry left him with no desire to even check his back for threats. Emma however...he finally glanced over his shoulder and felt his heart seize at the velvet green dress flapping, her long braid catching each gust of wind and never quite seeming to settle down. Her eyes were now the deepest black of the sea around them.
"About time you showed up," Blackbeard addressed her at the same time. "Let's get on with this then, while I've got my first three new crewman where I want them."
Jane gave him that same beatific smile she'd given Killian earlier, one that promised no good was coming of this, and before their eyes a door appeared quite literally out of nowhere beneath their problems. Blackbeard only had time to look down in surprise before the handle turned, and he fell through with a curse of surprise. It slammed shut and was gone again before Henry even had time to register he was no longer being pinned down.
*I'd originally intended to indeed implement a backstory and flashbacks of why he'd do that to his ship, but I couldn't hammer out the details in time, and then a particular episode in season five ruined it anyways. Still, the idea Hook has more than just his gangplank to get onto his ship lingered, so I kept those there even without backstory.