Emma looked in wonder at the Charming's castle in all it's glory. This was how the castle must have meant to be seen, instead of the ruins she was shown. As they entered the gates, the people in the courtyard stared in amazement as Emma rode through. She wondered why they were all staring at her like that. They began to murmur as Hook was dragged through the courtyard, some even threw garbage at him. Emma looked back in sympathy at Hook. He didn't deserve this. Once they stopped, Emma immediately jumped off the horse and ran to untie Hook. He looked at her in surprise when after she did the ropes, she checked his wrists for rope burns, gently caressing his skin with her fingers. The soldier strongly urged her away from him as two others roughly grabbed his arms and dragged him behind her. They were lead into the courtroom, where the nobles gasped and the room fell silent as they entered. Emma looked up at the royal thrones to see David, her father, stand in shock. He ran to her with tears in his eyes, cupping her cheek. David was many years older, lines around his eyes and mouth. His blonde hair had streaks of gray in them, and he had some small scars on his face.
"Emma, is it really you?" he said in disbelief.
"David, what's going on?" she said, lowering his hand.
"David," he asked in confusion. "You always called me Father. Are you okay?"
"I'm sorry...Father. Why are you looking at me like that?" Emma asked. David let out a chuckle and laid his hands on her shoulders.
"Other than not knowing where you got your clothes, we thought you were dead! We saw the Jolly Roger catch on fire sink to the bottom of the ocean- right after Captain Hook kidnapped you. No one could have survived that explosion," Charming explained.
"Someone blew up my ship?" Hook asked in anger. It was then that the King saw Hook restrained and promptly went over and punched him in the stomach. Hook let out a wince of pain.
"What are you doing?" Emma said, going over to Hook and standing in front of him. "You don't just punch people!...well, you don't without reason." David looked at her as if she had lost her mind.
"Don't you remember what he did to you?" David asked. "Two years ago, this man saved you at sea and, against my better judgement, I rewarded him by allowing him in my court. Then he tried to steal my throne and was captured and scheduled for execution. On the day he was to be executed, he escaped and kidnapped you. That's when we tracked him and saw the ship explode. How can you not remember this?" Emma and Hook exchanged glances. Emma thought that maybe the Captain Hook of this world was more ruthless than the one she knew. Hook, who seemed to be reading her thoughts, shook his head no in response to the look in her eyes. David went back over to Hook and punched him in the jaw. "Take him back to jail. He'll be executed in the morning." The soldier holding Hook kicked him in the side before dragging him out of the courtyard.
"Emma, you can't let them do this!" Hook called out. Emma looked after him and turned back to David.
"Father, you can't do this. He hasn't done anything!" Emma protested. She was telling the truth. Her Hook hadn't done anything in this world...yet. David shook her off and returned to his throne.
"Your Mother will want to see you. Call the Queen!" David said. Emma was wondering why Snow seemed to be absent. As she heard footsteps from the hall, the court became silent and everyone bowed their heads.
"Regina?!" Emma gasped upon seeing who entered. Regina's lips thinned as she saw who was sitting next to David.
"Hello, darling," she said through her teeth. "It's wonderful that you have returned." She opened her arms to her, but her voice and posture dripped with anger.
"This isn't my Mother. My Mother is Snow White!" Emma declared. The court gasped and David grew suddenly angry.
"That woman's name can never be spoken in my court. My love is Regina. That woman may be your mother, but she is a liar and a murderer!" David bellowed. "Send the princess to her chamber!" Two soldiers came up and took her by each arm.
"David! I don't understand! Where's Snow White? Where is my mother?!"
"She's dead," Regina said with a smile. "I am queen." She went to David's side, to which he wrapped his arm around her proudly.
"You'll remember who your true mother is, Emma, I promise. I'll send clerics to heal you," David called after you.
"Make sure they have scourges," Regina added.
The soldiers were rough as they threw Hook to the floor of the jail cell. As he rose off the ground, one soldier slammed him into the wall while the other removed the hook from it's holster. They punched him in the ribs and threw him back down to the floor before slamming the door to the jail cell. Hook rammed into the door and shook the bars.
"I appreciate the extended warm welcome. Just hope I don't return the welcome someday," he threatened. The guards laughed, taunting him with the hook just out of his reach before going to stand guard by his cell. He banged the bars again and sat on the floor of the jail. He ran his hand through his hair with what to do next. If Emma is in charge of my fate, he thought, I'll be dead by morning.
Meanwhile, Emma was in her own prison. She was locked in her room with a guard outside her door. She went to the window, which had bars on it and the door to the balcony was sealed shut. What was David thinking about treating her like this? And married to Regina?! She picked up books and anything she could grab and threw them towards the window- nothing. Suddenly, one of the objects she threw hit a rock on the wall that fell to the floor, revealing a hole in a wall. Emma went to inspect where the rock fell and found the object inside. It was a journal- written by the Emma in this world. She flipped through the contents of the book, hoping to find an answer. After all, it was technically hers, right? "After spending time with the infamous Captain Hook, I am seeing a new side to this pirate. He is more of a gentleman than I realized, there is compassion in his eyes like none I have ever seen. I could get lost in his eyes." Emma flipped through some more pages. "Killian and I are in love. He wants to take me home to ask permission from my father for my hand in marriage. I can't believe it. I never thought I deserved to have a happily ever after, but Killian makes me feel loved more than I ever thought possible." Emma flipped further into the book. "Father threw Killian in jail, accusing him of trying to steal the throne in asking for my hand. I've begged him to reconsider, but he refuses to listen. My stepmother is encouraging him to move the execution date to tomorrow." Emma read the last couple pages and closed the book.
"They ran away together."
The soldiers continued to mock Hook in his cell. Hook sat in silence, ignoring the harassment. "You know, gentleman, once I get out of this cell, you're going to find a hook in your neck," he said casually. The guards continued to laugh at him, until they both fell to the ground unconscious. He looked at the heap of limp soldiers in confusion when Emma came into view. "Oooh, I love a woman who can handle herself." Emma shushed him as she grabbed the keys and his hook off the guards. She unlocked the cell and handed him back his hook. "And you brought me a gift. How sweet," he said, locking it back in his holster with a click.
"We have to get out of here. They're going to kill you tomorrow," Emma whispered.
"And what makes you think they can?"
"Save it, I'll explain once we get out of here," she said. The two of them took the swords off the guards and snuck through the caverns of the jail. They reached a long dark hall and ducked around a corner to catch their breath. "We can't stay here long. Once they discover the guards, this place will be swarming." Suddenly, there were bells ringing outside the courtyard.
"The princess is missing!" a soldier called in the distance.
"Great," Emma said under her breath. They kept moving down the dark corridor until they ran into a familiar sight- Rumplestiltskin's cell. Hook quickly knocked out the guard and went to the cell to see if there was anyone in the cell. "Hook, we don't have time for that."
"Vengeance is vengeance, lass. If I get to kill him twice, all the better," Hook said, rattling the bars.
"Oh, I would listen to her, sonny boy," a voice from the ceiling said. They backed away from the bars as Rumplestiltskin crawled down the bars and jumped on the ground. "She's the only way you'll get back home." Hook and Emma exchanged glances.
"What do you know," Emma asked. Rumplestitskin giggled with glee.
"You're not the princess from this world. You're from another universe," he said with a flare. "And I see your pirate came with you."
"He's not my anything," Emma said firmly, to which Rumplestitskin laughed again.
"We'll just see, dearie," he said before turning to Hook. "And you're just angry in every world, aren't you?" Hook took a swipe at him through the bars, which Rumplestitskin jumped and landed on the opposite wall before climbing down like a spider. "Tut, tut, don't try to hurt the only one in this world who wants to help you."
"Help us? How?" Emma asked. Rumplestitskin pulled a parchment out of his jacket.
"Here. Follow this route, and no harm will befall you," he said, handing Emma the paper. "Don't worry about a deal, dearie, this one's for free."
"That makes no sense. And it's just a blank..." Hook started. The parchment started to swirl with ink and made a map. The two looked back at Rumplestiltskin before starting to run back down the corridor.
"Just remember- the way you came in isn't the way back," Rumplestitskin called after them. Hook and Emma continued to follow the map, dodging the guards the parchment warned them about. Soon, they found a secret passage out of the castle. They followed it for a long time and it dropped them in a field far outside the castle walls.
"Great. There goes my shot at Rumplestitskin," Hook said, throwing his arms up in the air. Emma rolled her eyes at him.
"Why don't we focus on getting home so you can kill the right one," she said. "And you're welcome for freeing you." Hook put his arm around her waist.
"Would you like me to thank you properly," he asked. Emma pulled away from him and pulled out the book. "What's that?"
"It's my, well, her journal. It seems that this Emma was not kidnapped by Captain Hook or that you tried to steal the throne. It looks like the me from this world ran away with the Captain Hook of this world," she said, flipping through the pages. Hook quickly took the book away from her.
"Oh, really?! Well, at least that princess had good taste," he said, flipping through the pages himself while Emma tried to take the book back. He dodged her with ease at every attempt to take it back. "WOW! This page is extremely interesting. Someone was really lusting after me that day," he said, reading one of the pages.
"That's private," Emma said, taking another swipe at the book. Hook held it over his head and held his hook out to put some distance between them.
"Ooh, embarrassed are we? Tell me, does the Emma of my world think that my lips are irresistible?" he said with a grin. Emma clenched her jaw and looked down. "Are you blushing?"
"Just stop. That book also says that my father is furious that you proposed to me and you were up for execution until I got you out of prison," she said, finally able to grab the book away from him.
"Well, that's interesting," Hook said, looking at the book over her shoulder, which made her quickly shut the book. "I take it from the proposal part that they were in love."
"I guess they were," Emma said, looking at the book again. "It doesn't sound like they could have escaped this world with a portal. They might still be in this world somewhere."
"Well, if they've been gone for six months, I take it they're pretty good at hiding," Hook observed. "So much so that the king thought they were dead." Hook thought for a moment then got his sly look. "I know exactly where they are."