Disclaimer: I don't own Once Upon a Time
AN: Season 3B AU - This is CharmingCobraFire one shot I came up with. I've been nostalgic for earlier seasons of Once. Let's just say to revive Rumple, Neal didn't have to die so he came back to Storybrooke with everyone during the 2nd curse. They don't remember the missing year yet and Henry doesn't know Charming and Neal are his grandfather and father respectively.
Charming and Neal take high offense that Henry thinks the pirate is cool and decide to rectify that, much to Snow, Emma, and Regina's mild horror later. Not Hook friendly.
The real father/son-in-law bromance we didn't get, but should have.
Once Upon a Snowing
Reckless Fun Side
Boring. They were boring, according to Henry. And the pirate was cool. That smarmy, hygienically challenged, shady pirate was more fun to hang out with than them, according to Henry.
"Killian taught me how to sail today," were Henry's enamored words earlier and that irritated Neal. He was trying not to be jealous, but dammit...he really wanted Henry to remember. Especially since he was the one that taught Henry to sail.
Emma was being evasive about it too, even calling him selfish earlier. She was convinced he was better off not remembering all of this. But despite all the trauma they had been through, no one agreed with her. He knew Emma would eventually see reason. This was just how dealt with stuff. Denial was her knee jerk reaction.
Henry didn't know they were his family yet, but even so, he couldn't let his son think the pirate was cooler than him. Hook was only too happy to take credit for teaching Henry to navigate when it had been Neal that taught him. So Neal had taken matters into his own hands and taught Henry something much cooler than sailing. Lock picking.
"Isn't this illegal?" Henry asked skeptically.
"Technically, but I'm not teaching this to you so you can go break into places," Neal replied. Henry raised an eyebrow.
"Then why are you teaching me?" the boy asked.
"For survival reasons. Despite what we'd like to think, this is a dangerous world. If you get locked up somewhere you don't want to be or need to get in somewhere to safety, you'll have this skill. Might save your life," Neal mentioned, as Henry watched him intently and almost expertly pick the lock on his room at Granny's.
"Viola," Neal announced, as the door swung open.
"That's a deadbolt...how did you do that?" Henry asked in amazement.
"It's all about the tumblers," Neal said, as he locked the door again and stepped aside for Henry.
"Now...I'll teach you if you're still interested," he added. Henry nodded eagerly. Phase one was a success and once they were done, he gently prodded Henry off to David, promising him that he had something really cool to teach him too.
Neal wasn't alone in his ill feelings toward the pirate. David was not amused by Henry's sudden adoration of Captain Hook either; neither was Snow for that matter.
"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Snow asked her husband, as she hurried after his long strides. He walked really fast when he was on a mission.
"You said you wanted to take action, so we're taking action. Neal is with him now and it will be our turn next," David replied.
"David...maybe we're overreacting," Snow fretted.
"Our grandson would rather spend time with a pirate than us. But not after today," David said with determination.
"It's dangerous! Not to mention illegal. And what exactly is Neal teaching him right now?" Snow asked.
"Neal didn't elaborate. He just said that no pirate was going to be cooler in the eyes of his son than him. As for safe? It couldn't be safer and as far as legal? I'm the Sheriff," he reminded, as he kissed her cheek, though she looked less than convinced. Neal and Henry came out of the diner.
"So...Neal says we're gonna do something fun?" Henry asked. David grinned.
"We are," David said, as he tossed him the truck keys. Neal chuckled, as Henry's mouth dropped open in surprise.
"Are you serious?" Henry stammered. David nodded.
"If H...Killian can teach you to sail, then I thought I could teach you to drive," the prince said, as they got into the truck. Neal stood beside Snow, who looked really worried.
"This is a bad idea," she lamented.
"Probably, but he'll forget all about sailing with the pirate," Neal replied. Snow cried out and Neal winced, as Henry clipped the mailbox. Neal laughed.
"Better than my first time driving. I hit a pole," Neal joked, trying to ease Snow's worry. She smiled at him in exasperation. Though they didn't remember the missing year, Neal had fallen into an amiable friendship with Emma's parents. He found them very easy to be around and talk to; more so than he would have guessed. Despite not being raised by them, he had found that Emma was so much like her parents that it almost hurt.
He was torn, because he told Emma to go find Tallahassee, even if it wasn't with him. And she had in New York, but he couldn't help but feel that she was missing something. He wasn't talking about himself, though he was hopeful. He still loved her and always would. But he knew she would regret it if she walked away from her parents. He only hoped she realized it sooner rather than later.
Snow and David didn't say it, but he knew they would be heartbroken if Emma and Henry ended up leaving. He also knew them well enough now that they would let her go if that's what she really wanted. He had to hope it wasn't though.
"That was awesome!" Henry announced excitedly, as he rejoined them on the sidewalk.
"Better than sailing?" David asked.
"No contest!" Henry exclaimed.
"Glad you had fun, kid," Neal said.
"Yeah...sorry about the mailbox," Henry replied.
"No problem...we'll fix it," David said, as he noticed the soft smile on his wife's face.
"You know Henry...maybe after the baby is born, Mary can teach you something cool too," David mentioned.
"Oh, I'm not sure I have anything cool to teach him, honey," she replied.
"Like what?" Henry asked curiously.
"Well...Mary happens to be an expert in archery," David really.
"Really? That's awesome! I've always wanted to do archery. You could really teach me?" he asked excitedly. Snow looked surprised.
"Uh...of course, I'd love to!" she said, a beautiful smile eclipsing her face, which was exactly what David was going for.
"This has been the best day ever," Henry announced, as they entered the loft.
"So I take it you had fun, huh kid?" Emma asked, as she gave him a half hug.
"It was awesome, Mom. Neal taught me how to pick a lock and David let me drive his truck!" Henry announced. Both men winced, as Regina glared at them and Emma looked torn between annoyed and amused.
"You did what?!" Regina snapped.
"It's fine Regina…" David assured.
"Not for that mailbox," Snow murmured. Her step-mother was trying to stay mad, but the happiness on Henry's face melted her anger away.
"I guess as long as you had fun, kid," Emma said.
"I did. I thought sailing was fun, but spending the day with David and Neal was way better," Henry replied. Hook snorted derisively, but was ignored. Emma shot her father and Neal a look, noticing they were both beaming.
"What can I say, I have a reckless, carefree...fun side," her father joked and Emma couldn't help but smile back. Neal quietly watched the exchange, truly hoping that Emma was seeing that this was exactly where she belonged. Home...with her family. With them. Snow smiled fondly at the exchange too, noticing it as well.
"So...dinner at Granny's?" Snow suggested. They all chorused in agreement.
"Can I drive?" Henry asked.
"No!" everyone answered.