I'm so surprised and happy and grateful for all the follows and favourites so far! I'm really enjoying mapping out this story with my roomie and so elated that people are enjoying it. Prepare yourselves - here comes WishRealm!Hook :D
Emma had been replaying those first words over and over in her mind, trying to think of Killian as she knew him, speaking from a man that she recognised.
The Captain Hook of this realm was entirely foreign to her.
For starters, he had no hook at all, but two strong, weathered hands that were adorned by rings encrusted with thick jewels. As Emma had turned around, his sauntering frame had loomed over her, stockier than she knew, and tanner. Most notably, he was aged. Though the Killian she knew and loved was really centuries old, his trip to Neverland had preserved his youth. The Captain Jones stood in front of her on the deck of the Jolly Roger looked his age, which must have been in his fifties.
"Well, lass, you've found the Gods-given gift you were searching for."
It was something she would have expected him to say, especially knowing how he had been when they had first met. The rest of their conversation was entirely unchartered territory.
And now she found herself tied to the mast along with Regina and Robin, wondering where it first went wrong.
"So, Miss Swan, was it? Are you ready to tell the truth?"
"I swear, I already told you the truth, Killian."
"It's Captain Jones, lass," he said, bringing his face even closer to hers, "and this Captain doesn't believe some cock-and-bull story about your other realm with your bizarre clothes and your alternate reality."
"You love this jacket," Emma mumbled.
"So I suggest you think of something else to tell me, or we'll be forced to turn you all in to the Guard. By the looks of those posters on the dock, we'll be cashing in a hefty reward for that Queen."
Regina squirmed underneath the ropes that bound her to the mast and strained her hands against the ties at her wrists. They had established quickly that Jones did have magical objects on board, namely the magic-repellent ropes he used to capture them. There didn't seem to be a way to wiggle out of this one.
"You know the first time we met," Emma said, "I tied you up-"
"I'll bet you did."
"- and left you at the top of a giant's beanstalk."
"If that's true, then I suppose this is payback," Killian said, flashing a wicked, toothy smile.
"I don't know how to make you believe me," Emma said, defeat in her voice. It was true. They had no real evidence, and their shared history was useless to this Killian. She hung her head, no longer willing to look him in the eye.
"Then I suppose that's it then," Killian said, reaching forward his hand to tilt her chin upwards and force her to look at him. "We'll be sending for the King's Guards. Usually I like to deal with these things myself, but that rew-"
"Your tattoo!" Emma suddenly exclaimed, her eyes fixed on his wrist.
There, in faded but undeniably real ink, was the name that might help her: Milah.
"Milah! You still ran away with Milah!"
"You know Milah?"
"Yes!" Emma said, leaving out that technically the only time they'd met was in the Underworld when she was already dead. "Yes, I do."
Killian appraised her, his lined eyes sceptical beneath his arched, greying brow. He backed away, Emma suddenly feeling less claustrophobic, and he yelled to no one in particular.
"Fetch my good lady wife!"
"Wait, she's still alive?" Emma gasped. The look of angered confusion on Killian's face made her wish she'd kept quiet.
"Why would she not be?" he questioned.
Emma stayed silent.
"Where on earth are you expecting this to go?" Regina muttered under her breath, careful not to let the surrounding pirates hear.
"I have no idea," Emma said, "but there's no stopping it now."
When Milah appeared from below deck, Emma felt her stomach twist and tighten. She had expected Milah to have kept the beauty she'd witnessed in the Underworld, but the woman emerging was still a vision. Even in age, Milah was elegant beyond her circumstances; her raven hair, dark eyes and sharp jaw were stunning. Her subtly rouged lips, full and puckered, elevated her well beyond the sea-faring clothes that she donned. The fine lines that lay either side of her eyes and mouth spoke of years of laughter and amusement, no doubt a life well-lived.
"Milah," Killian said, beckoning her with his hand that was supposed to have a hook, "this Swan girl thinks the two of you are acquainted."
Emma didn't think she'd be able to speak. Milah sauntered forward, the confident walk of a woman who was used to a life on deck. She appraised Emma with that same quizzical brow of her husband, and Emma's heart sank a little further at the thought that they'd grown together so completely.
"I don't know about you, love," Milah said, assessing Emma from head to toe, "but I don't know this girl."
Emma steeled herself.
"So blondie, how is it we're supposed to know each other? Spit it out."
"I know your son," Emma explained. This was the truth, and easier to explain than their awkward meeting in the Underworld.
"Oh, our first mate?" Milah said.
Killian gestured to a man behind them at the helm, beckoning him forward. A young man, stepped around them to stand by his parents, the spitting image of the Hook that Emma knew.
Emma cursed under her breath. Of course they have a son together.
"Come here, lad," Killian said, his arm resting on his son's shoulder. "Liam, you know this tale-spinning wench?"
"No," Liam said, a smirk on his lips, "but I could get to know her."
"Urgh," Regina said, "Emma, keeping it in the family so many times is a bit much, even for you."
"What?" Robin asked from beside her.
"Aye, I'd like to know what that means as well," said Killian.
"In our realm," Regina said, "Emma is in a relationship with the dear Captain here."
"So she claimed," Killian said. "Hence why you currently find yourselves tied to the mast."
"Even if we were to disregard that fact, to cavort with your son would be particularly distasteful because she's already had a child with his brother."
"Excuse me?" Milah gasped. She raked her eyes over Emma then, suddenly frantic and agitated. "You know Baelfire?"
"Sounds like she more than knows him," Liam said.
"You have a son with Baelfire? In this realm?" Milah asked.
"And in my own," Emma said, looking to Milah, "and I need to find a way to get back to him."
And scene! I've decided that I both love and hate Old!Hook - he acts like such a ladies' man, yet underneath... well, you'll soon see! I wouldn't want to spoil any surprises ;)
The next chapter will be up soon! I was on an absolute roll on Saturday (possibly because I was procrastinating writing for my degree...) so I have a couple of chapters to spare!
