They arrived at the building where the Charming's believed Regina was being held. Hook split up from everyone almost immediately. He was sure they had stopped once inside to figure out where the two groups would go once they split up and what they should do once they found someone, but Hook didn't listen. He broke out into a run. In fact, the only thing he could hear was his heart pounding in his ears; that, and the words of Regina from earlier that day.
"Why can't this be enough for you? Storybrooke and tea and this house and me."
He needed to find her. His searching became frantic. He needed to tell her that it would be enough to live here with her. It would be enough to live anywhere with her, to do anything with her. Being with her would be enough for him. He needed to find her.
By the time he reached the top floor, he felt as if his feet were acting on their own accord. He went in whichever direction he went. There were no thoughts. There was no planning. He just ran, with one hand on his sword and his mind on one thing: getting to Regina before it was too late.
Finally he found a door and he somehow knew she was in there before he even saw her. He opened the door so fast that it bounced back a little when it hit the wall behind it.
And there she was.
He had never seen her look so small. She was secured to a table; her wrists seemed bruised around the straps. There were wires stuck all over her body. Her head drifted to one side as if she was sleeping.
He walked over to her slowly, grateful that the room was empty and sending a quick, uncharacteristic prayer that the Charming group had caught whoever it was that did this to his Regina.
When he reached her he quickly unfastened everything that tied her down and then allowed himself a moment to check the damage that was done. He put his finger on her neck to check for a pulse; faint but there nonetheless.
For a moment he slipped out of reality. He forgot that they were in danger and they needed to get out of there quickly. He forgot everything and he just simply looked at her. He cupped her cheek with his good hand. He took in the fact that she was breathing. She was alive, even if she didn't seem like she was in that moment.
Suddenly he found two big brown eyes staring back at him. Hook had a habit of getting lost in those eyes. They were capable of changing his emotions and scrambling his words if he stared for too long. But this time, he needed to look into them for as long as he could. Something inside of him told him not to look away; which was good because he couldn't. He couldn't even blink. All he could do was study those brown eyes. They were emotionless. There were no signs of pain or anger or even… anything. He wanted to ask her something. He needed to get her to speak, to tell him if something hurt. He couldn't find the words though. All he could manage was, "Regina."
And the moment ended. Her eyes closed. It seemed like she had been awake for minutes, but it had only been a matter of seconds. And the seconds slipped away too quickly. She was gone, sinking back into unconsciousness.
He didn't have time to wonder if that was a good sign or a bad sign. In one quick movement he scooped her up into his arms; one arm under her knee and the other behind her back, cradling her as close to him as possible. He walked quickly, but carefully, though if Regina had been awake she would have said he didn't check his surroundings enough. Then she would have rolled her eyes and made him put her down so that she could lead the way. Such a stubborn lass.
Hook snapped out of his thoughts when he heard commotion coming from somewhere behind him.
He needed to hurry.
Moments later he was at the Charming's apartment once more, except this time he carried Regina in his arms. She was light and limp as Hook placed her gently on the bed. He sat beside her and immediately let out a sigh of relief.
He had done it. He had gotten her out safely and she was alive. Regina was alive and safe and right beside him.
Hook barely even had time to smile. The door was flung open and the Charming's rushed in. They were all out of breath and talking at once. From what Hook gathered, though, the general consensus was triumphant.
"We did it, Hook!" Neal yelled as he shut the door to the apartment behind him.
"Snow and I fought off Greg, who went running out of the building like a scared child. Unfortunately he did manage to take a bean with him. Emma and Neal handled Tamara."
"And we can see it worked, because you have Regina," Snow said with a smile. She looked relieved.
"Yes, I have the Queen," Hook said as he stood up and walked over to the group. "She hasn't woken up yet but she's alive; that's all that matters. I owe you all my deepest gratitude. Without your aid, Regina may not have…" he trailed off, not wanting to even finish the sentence. "Just… thank you."
They all nodded, save for Emma who had started glancing around the room.
"Where's Henry?"
Suddenly everyone stopped what they were doing and started looking around too. Sure enough, the boy was gone. There were no signs of Ruby either.
"Was he here when you got here, Hook?" Neal asked.
"I, uh, I hadn't noticed," he admitted. "I brought Regina to the bed and you lot came in shortly after."
"He's gone. He's not here," Emma told them, panic already starting to set in.
"Ruby is gone too. Something isn't right," Snow said.
"You don't think something happened to them, do you?" Charming asked Snow.
"Who would want to hurt Henry and Ruby? This doesn't make any-"
"Snow!" At that moment the door was once again flung open and Ruby ran in as if on cue. Hook used the distraction to glance at Regina, who was still out cold on the bed.
"Ruby, where is Henry?" Emma practically yelled. Hook could tell that she already knew this was bad.
"Tamara and Greg… they-they-they came in here and-and took us," Ruby stuttered out in a rush. "They tied me up and took Henry. They were running. I-I-I don't know where they went!"
Hook watched as Emma's world collapsed around her. He was certain she would have fallen over if Neal hadn't grabbed onto her arm.
"Why would they want Henry?" Snow asked as tears started to fall from her eyes.
There was a silence that was filled with worries that no one dared to voice.
"Wait a second, Hook, didn't you say there was only one way Regina would have freely given herself over to Tamara and Greg? If they threatened Henry." Hook nodded. "That's why they took her then. It was all a distraction. They've been after Henry this whole time." Neal let go of Emma just to walk over to the front door and slam it shut out of frustration.
"Well then we have another problem because they also have a bean with them."
Everyone sighed as Emma gathered her things. "We have to go."
Neal was right behind her. Everyone started to move except for Hook.
"Wait. What are we going to do about Regina? We can't very well just leave her here," he said to them.
"He's right," Neal said.
"Neal, we have to go. Henry is out there with a bunch of psychos. We can't wait any longer," Emma said before she looked at Hook. "Regina would want us to go."
Hook looked into the eyes of a mother without her child. For the first time since meeting Emma, he saw fear; cold, hard fear. She was silently pleading with him to let her go save her son. Hook knew he couldn't ask her to stay. He couldn't ask her not to go after Regina's son.
"You two go, we'll be right behind you," Snow cut in before Hook had the chance to speak. Still, Emma and Neal looked at him and waited for him to nod once before rushing out the door. That left only Snow, Charming, Ruby, Hook and an unconscious Regina.
"Okay!" Snow said as confidently as she could with shaky hands and a weak voice. "We need to wake her up."
"The only way I know how to wake someone up is with true love's kiss," Charming said wearily.
Hook could feel all eyes on him.
"I couldn't… I don't think I'm the one to…" he stuttered, cursing himself for suddenly becoming so nervous.
"Hook," Snow said as she stepped up to him. She had that caring look on her face that made him want to roll his eyes. He stopped himself though. Now wasn't the time. "Have you and Regina said that you love each other yet?"
He sighed. "Yes."
"Well I understand that you're nervous because-"
"Because she might not bloody wake up."
"Yes, she might not wake up. But you don't strike me as a person who would say something you don't mean. And I know Regina well enough to know that she wouldn't do that either."
He shook his head and looked back at Regina, whom was still lying peacefully on the bed. "Saying it is one thing. Sure we could both mean it but… Regina's true love was Daniel. I'm not enough to wake her up. I can't."
"Regina loved Daniel. She really, really loved him. He was her first love. But she lost him a long time ago, just like you lost Milah. And she has grown and changed and learned a lot about herself since then, just like you have. And now she loves someone else. "
"We've all seen it Hook. We've seen you two together. You can wake her up," Charming chimed in
Hook looked back at Snow to receive an encouraging smile. Charming was behind her and he gave Hook a nod. Even Ruby seemed to believe in him and he didn't exactly consider her a friend, nor she him.
He was still nervous. He still didn't think it would work. He knew his love for her was true. He had loved once before so he knew very well that with Regina it was deeper. It was much more real. He was confident about his role in this. But what if Regina felt differently? What if her love for Daniel was stronger than her feelings for Hook?
Regardless, he slowly walked over to Regina and took a seat by her side again.
"Regina," he said quietly so that no one in the room could hear him, except for maybe her. "Please come back to me, my love."
He leaned down and kissed her gently, careful not to hurt her and also still rather scared that his already damaged heart would be irrevocably broken in a few moments. As he pulled away, he was certain his heart had stopped. Time stood still. No one in the room so much as breathed.
Until finally, Regina opened her eyes.
Hook breathed a sigh of relief. He heard everyone behind him celebrating lightly. He turned to look at them as they hugged and laughed, not even having time to think about how Regina and him had true love together. All that mattered was that she was awake, really awake, not like before. She was really looking him this time
"Regina, you've no idea how happy I am to see those eyes looking back at me," he told her with a chuckle.
He didn't notice the look in her eyes or the way that she wasn't smiling back. He didn't realize that she had tensed up at how close he was to her. It wasn't until she flinched back a little that he noticed something was off. He looked at her curiously. No one else in the room seemed to sense anything was wrong until a few moments later. The room had grown quiet as everyone waited for her to speak.
And then finally, she asked the one question that sent them all into an even bigger panic than they already were in.
"Who are you?"
A/N: Got this chapter up as soon as possible. School started so I will try to write the next one whenever I have free time. Hope you enjoyed this! Thanks for reading, as always. And sorry about the cliffhanger!