"Into the Deep"
Hook jumped the remaining few feet of the beanstalk, ready to be back on the solid ground. His arms ached, and he could feel the swelling returning in his right wrist from all the abuse it had borne in the past day. As his feet touched earth and he managed not to fall from sheer exhaustion, a voice behind him sounded.

"My dear Captain, it seems you've been on quite an adventure. The compass, please." Cora said.

Hook turned around to face her. "Yes, that… Well, matters grew complicated. It's eluded me for a moment. The details of the affair are a bit of a bore." He would be lying to himself if he said that his ego wasn't still hurting from being bested by Emma, to say nothing of what his heart was going through.

"Really? Stealing my protection spell and climbing the beanstalk without me might seem like a bore to you. But to me, it's a betrayal," she said harshly.

Hook lied to cover himself. There was no way he would let Cora know that he truly was planning on betraying her for Emma. "I was going to bring it to you. Our agreement remains. We are going to Storybrooke together. I'll get it back." Tens hours with a giant, and several more descending the stalk had allowed multiple gears to begin spinning.

"I don't have time for your games. I've crossed through too many worlds to be brought short at the brink of success. Who was it who bested you?" He could practically hear the smugness in her voice, reflected directly into her face.

"The Swan girl. Emma. Be assured, it won't happen again." He was surprised that she had guessed the truth so easily. Was it becoming that easy for someone to get the better of him? How was Cora managed to get under his skin so easily?

"No, it won't. You chose her, and the consequences of that decision."

Hook's heart clenched. If she did anything to Emma, he would find her heart, one way or another, and destroy it. "Oh, you gonna kill me now? Go ahead. Try."

"So brave. No, I'm not going to kill you. I have something far more satisfying in mind. I'm going to leave you here with your thirst for revenge unquenched. While I complete our journey without you." Cora's words were final, but Hook would not let her get away from him so easily. If he lost contact with Cora, that would mean she could get to Emma, and who knows what could happen when those two came head to head?

"There's no need to be rash. We can discuss this." The only reason he had joined with Cora in the first place was to get to Emma. If she left him now, and did something to his love that he could have prevented, he would have nothing, and he couldn't live with that.

"Your pretty face buys you a lot but not my time. It's too valuable," Cora said, her lips twisting in her resistance to the look that typically had women puddling at his feet.

"I can do this. I can get it back. You need me." He was pulling out all the stops to save this partnership. Alone, he had no chance of getting Emma's trust and being with her again.

"No, I don't. You've had your chance. Now it's my turn to do this. The right way." Smoke took the place of Cora's body, and surrounded Hook as he reached for her. With nothing to catch him, he fell to the ground, cursing the fact that he was now alone.

Dusting himself off, he searched through his mind to find a plan that would work. If he caught up with Emma and her companions, they may have enough faith in him to allow him to work with them again. Then again, Emma had left him on top of the beanstalk because she didn't trust him. If he couldn't get her on his side, what chance did he have with those other women?

Despite his misgivings about what would happen when he approached them, he decided to track them and deal with the fallout when it came. It took several hours, but the women had not been very careful about covering their tracks, so it was easy enough to follow them.

It took several hours, but finally, Killian could sense that he was close. The tracks they had made were fresher and more distinct. He had decided once he caught up with them that he would tell Emma the whole truth. She probably wouldn't believe him like she had told him earlier, but he could at least start breaking down her walls again.

"Aurora? Aurora!" a voice shouted in the distance. Killian recognized it as the warrior's. His pace increased, curiosity spiking at what could be causing the ruckus. Before he caught sight of Emma and her friends however, a few men came out between the trees. One of them carried a thrashing, angry figure thrown over his shoulder.

"Let me go you brute! Let go of me right now!" she yelled.

Killian let out his breath sharply as he recognized the voice as not being Emma's. He surmised that it was Aurora, and her capture was the reason the warrior had been yelling for her. As the men stumbled forward, Killian gasped again, recognizing one of them as the dead man he had used for cover right before he was found by Emma. That man, all the men in fact, had been in the island sanctuary - and had been killed by Cora. He didn't know how it was at all possible, but here they were now, walking and fighting against Cora's enemies.

The men carrying Aurora stopped mid stride and abruptly changed direction, following an unspoken order. Still keeping and screaming, Aurora was carried away from her friends. Killian didn't pay much attention to where the men were taking her, more concerned with getting to Emma. Whatever happened to Aurora was a secondary concern. Until he remembered.

"Cora," he murmured. He began following the silent men at a safe distance, not wanting to lose them, but wanting even less to be seen. Luckily the screams of the sleepy princess continued unabated, creating a signal that was impossible for Killian to lose.

After walking for an hour, his suspicions were confirmed. Aurora was shoved roughly into a natural cave with a heavy door preventing access. After the men emerged, Cora appeared with a tray of food. She went in, and Killian started to formulate a plan while he waited for the witch to reemerge.

If he freed Aurora, she would not only be in his debt, her innate trust of him would be justified, and could extend to the other women looking for her. Once he did so, there would be no going back to Cora. She would know that he was the one who had released the princess. He would be placing all his trust on Emma.

He fingered the bean Anton had given him. Getting Emma and the other women to this mysterious place that could restore the bean without Cora finding out would be the greatest challenge. With her ability to travel anywhere in an instant, appear in the guise of another, and kill with removing hearts, she was an extremely difficult enemy to have, and making her one was not to be done lightly. If he could get any leverage against her, they may actually stand a chance.

From his cover, he spied Cora exit the cave. "Make sure to alert me if anyone comes near," she ordered one of the men and pointed him to the door. He gave a silent expressionless response which Cora must have taken as affirmative. She walked away, and Killian knew that now was the time to strike. But he was still trying to decide exactly what his strike should be. Escape with Aurora? Allow her to leave and attempt to deal with Cora? Wait for Emma and company to arrive and aid them? None of his options seemed extremely favorable to him.

He stared at his hook as if it would provide the answer. Minutes passed, but it finally did.

Killian breathed slowly and evenly to avoid detection. His steps were measured and soft, picking a path through the green and living earth that wouldn't betray his presence. The soft breeze on his face gave him another advantage as he reached out for his prey.

"Sorry mate," he murmured before snapping the guard's neck. The swift move was not exactly what he expected when the head not only separated from the spine, but from the entirety of the body. Everything crumpled, and Killian shook the feeling of disgust from his body. He focused his attention on unlocking the door as silently as possible to avoid any form of detection.

Once the door was opened, he was gratified to see the princess fast asleep, her head cradled softly in her arms. He watched her slow breathing and calm face for a moment, hesitating about the action he planned. Once his entire motivation was revealed, he knew he could gain Emma's forgiveness. But at least initially, he was about to make his True Love hate him.

"I'm doing this for her," he told himself. "She needs to get back to Henry and she can't do that if Cora is hunting her down."

Killian closed his eyes so he couldn't see or feel what was happening, and he focused all his thoughts in Emma - remembering her face, hearing her laughter, feeling her kiss, blocking out any errant thought of Milah and how she died.

There was no movement from Aurora, and a dull thumping told him that his task was done. Still unable to actually look at what he had done, he put the beating object into his satchel, and breathed in and out deeply to rid himself of his heinous act.

"Wake up. Wake up. Come on, sweetheart, wake up. Wake up. Wake up. On your feet, hurry." Hook said, shaking the princess slightly, and lifting her to her feet when her eyes opened.

"No, no! Are you here to kill me?" she asked, panicking and backing away from him.

"If I were here for that, then waking you first might not be the best course of action," he pointed out.

"So what? Did Cora send you here?" Aurora asked.

"Cora has no idea I'm here," Hook said, trying to gain the woman's trust. He used his hook to break the shackle that kept her bound to this tiny room. If that didn't let her see his intentions, he didn't know what would.

"I don't understand," she murmured.

"Well, I know you're sleepy. Isn't it obvious? I'm setting you free."

"What is this, some sort of pirate's ruse?" she asked.

"Cora is denying me passage to Storybrooke and my vengeance. And now I'm gonna deny her her wishes, starting with the compass. In pirate terms you might say, I'm firing a shot across my enemy's bow," he explained. He needed at least one of the women on his side, and Aurora seemed the most naïve of them.

"You'd risk your life to break in here, all so you could thwart Cora?" Aurora wasn't as naïve as she appeared.

"I don't like being double crossed. Now go," he ordered. It took her a moment to respond, but finally she began to walk away.

"Thank you."

He grabbed her before she could leave him for good. "You can thank me by doing me one favor."

"What?"

"Give Emma a message. Tell her that the deal still stands; if she provides me passage back to her realm, I swear, I will help her find that dust that opens the portal." He played up his emotions, knowing that Aurora was a believer in True Love, and having that kind of relationship with Emma would be seen as an asset.

"You really want to assist us?"

"What hurts Cora helps me; 'course I do. Now go," he said. As Aurora left, he thought about how letting her go would help endear himself to Emma. But he couldn't take anymore chances. The heart in his satchel ensured that Cora would still need him as well.

"Looking for someone?" Hook asked, walking towards Cora.

"Don't tell me, you were dumb enough to let her go," Cora said.

"She was never going to give you what you wanted, anyway," he replied.

"So you freed her. And stuck around for the petty satisfaction of seeing me suffer," she said.

"Watching you suffer is a tempting motivation, but it wasn't that," he said.

"Well then, you must have a death wish." Her hands lifted, and Hook was slammed against the wall. She had trapped him with the rocks themselves and strode forward commandingly. With the utmost violence and malice, she twisted his hook out of its attachment. She brought the hook up to his chest, and his breathing increased. It couldn't take his heart out anymore, but that didn't mean it wouldn't hurt him. "You know, I have to kill you."

"You should try thanking me," Hook said.

"Oh, really? Why is that?" she asked, obviously disbelieving his words.

"Because I brought you a gift. It's in the satchel," he said, motioning to it with his head.

"What is it?"

"Customarily surprise is part of the fun of gift giving. Open it," he said.

His hook still at his chest, she yanked the satchel, breaking the strap. Her voice caught slightly as she asked, "Is that?"

"Indeed it is. And with it you'll get everything you want," he said. He had truly hoped that he could be the one to restore Aurora's heart, but it seemed that Cora was now the sure way to get to Storybrooke. They still needed the compass however, and when they caught up with Emma and her friends to get it, he would finally be rid of Cora.

"...you could have defeated Cora together. That the two of you could have gotten the remains of the wardrobe. Without him you'll have to go up against her all by yourself. He only wants to help. I think he might care for you," Cora spoke into the heart.

"Nice touch that," he murmured, assuming that the Cora was exaggerating what she thought were his feelings. He had done everything in his power to keep the older woman in the dark, hoping that Emma wouldn't get caught in the crossfire of their plan.

"But you know she won't trust you," Cora warned.

Hook's suspicions were confirmed, and he continued to play into them. "She doesn't have to. All I need is her to believe that I was genuine in letting the girl go. Which - in a way she does now. You're welcome."

"Impressive. You took a heart."

"Now you have a princess," he said proudly.

"Indeed I do."

"Now can we go on with the business going to Storybrooke? Together?" he asked.

"Why not? I hate to travel alone. All we need is the compass," Cora said.

"Which shall soon be delivered."

He took the opportunity to slip the wardrobe ashes into his satchel. "I will retrieve the compass for you," he said, attempting to leave Cora behind.

"You think I will trust you again pirate? No, you and I will visit dear Snow and her daughter together. Luckily, they are already in a cell. As soon as we reach them, they will be trapped, and unarmed," Cora explained.

AN: Sorry for the slightly longer time between updates. I got busier than I expected. Plus, I wasn't super happy with this chapter because I just couldn't get over having Killian take a heart with how he feels about Emma and trying to get her to trust him. I hope at least some of the reasoning presented makes sense.

thank you so much to all you lovely readers out there. Now go fan girl over the awesomeness of CC and Colin's bicep!