Hook. He's all I can think about. In the back of my mind I know this is slightly unhealthy- this is unhealthy right? I mean, it's my fault he's even here in the first place, it's my fault we're all-
"You alright sweetheart?" Mom.
Emma tries in vain to block out the silence, to listen to the whisper-like noise the blades of grass make as they're all trampled underfoot as the what? Heroes, idiots, crew? [only the middle one fits, even Robin] attempt to rescue Hook.
"Ye-yeah. I'm fine, thanks. Just, trying to… stay positive, I guess." The mother-daughter duo walk in tandem, steps slow but steady – each one with a purpose.
"Hey, we'll find him alright? Just, Emma you need to take care of yourself."
"I AM! In fact it seems that's all I've been doing for a while now!" Snow offers a sympathetic smile and doesn't even wince when she snaps at her. One hand moves between her shoulder-blades rubbing gently.
"I tell you what, Hook or, whether he's content moved on and we can't find him – I-you do know that's a possibility here, right?..." Emma gives her mother a blank stare in response. "Well, come what may, I think you and I should have a relaxing day, just the two of us… which, for us – not gonna lie, is probably going to be weapon training of some sort. So, I suppose I should ask you now – guns or arrows?" The left side of Emma's mouth lifts just a fraction.
"You know Mom… yeah. That sounds great, Hook or no Hook." But we're going to find him. We have to. We have to rescue him from the hell I've confined him to. And then, everything will be the way it was. We'll have dinner at Granny's – he got really good at remembering what I want to eat. And Regina- and Henry. Although there was one time she joined us on a date, it wasn't half bad. But yeah, and Henry. Hey there's a thought – me, Regina and Henry – and Hook, of course Hook.
"Well, Madame Mayor," –shall we pronounce a 'Free the Fairies' day? "-brooke 2.0." Emma whipped her head up at Gold's smug tone so quickly she was surprised she didn't get whiplash.
Hey, it looks just like home. Except here it's, darker somehow. Crap is that the clock tower?! …And apparently on fire, perfect. Oh f- Hook.
"And for those of us not listening, Miss Swan-"
"Hey, that's Storybrooke to you… Loan Shark." And you are a shark, an absolute shark. Not that I'm any better. Or Hook. What? No, that was the darkness taking over him, he begged me not to let him go.
"Back with us, Miss Swan? As I was saying, well, implying for those of us who are, shall we say, slower than the rest of us-"
"Hey!" Snow grabbed her husband's hand reassuringly and Emma patted him on the back.
"… Grandpa?"
"Are you going to be like this the whole time, genius?"
"Wha- I thought David's lack of intelligence was the one thing we could agree on! I'm hurt, Your Majesty."
"Great, you can vent all your frustrations in your next tell-all book: The Evil Queen and Her Abuser – She's Started Defending Peasants, Where It Went Wrong.
…Look, Gold, despite what you might think I'm not angry about that – but we're here to help Emma and we need to somehow stop getting at each other's throats if we're going to be able to move forward and help… Hook.
You know, come to think of it, what do you get out of it?" Abort, abort! I swear, Gold if you tell them about the Da-
"Why, the simple joy of helping another human being of course." Seriously?! "… Fine, I want something to hold over his head happy?!"
"Just, lemme get this straight. You, Mr I-will-finally-let-go-of-the-son-I-literally -worked-for-over-300-years-to-find, want to prolong the pirate's life to hold it over his head that you worked harder to hold onto him than your own son? I don't believe it, not even from you." Comprehension dawns and she whirls around to face Emma.
"Did you make a deal with him?" Why does she look disappointed? Damn it.
"Storybrooke has nothing to do with anything. I finally said goodbye to my son, because he was ready to move on. If a soul is, willing then nothing remains to tether them and they can continue onto… their final destination, wherever that may be. I thought you understood because of what happened with Daniel."
"… I wasn't entirely certain it wasn't another of your mind games, or Whale's incompetence – I'm not positive they're independent of each other." Henry ducked under her arm and leaned his head into her shoulder, allowing her head to rest on his briefly. Robin embraced her more securely. I don't like that guy. Still don't know why.
Enough of this, I need to get to Hook and fast, the whole thing's on fire. I can't believe I've let myself be delayed for so long. They never liked when I let that happen during one of my foster homes either – an excuse to not carry out your chores.
"Loan shark, if you could debrief us on the way then maybe Hoo-Tallahassee won't be ashes by the time we find him!"
"We, Storybrooke?" A dangerous glint in his eye and granite in his voice, in that moment Rumplestiltskin had never seemed more free of madness, or worthy of being called the Dark One.
"Well you're here, and you're a pawn after all, if not in my game then someone else's – your own perhaps?" Emma started walking ahead without a second thought.
The light rapping of footsteps – very distinct footsteps – followed closely behind her.
"I'm not in the mood right now Madame Mayor."
"-Jolly Roger." She would do anything for our son- remembering what her mother had said to her one time – and hishappiness. I'll never get tired of being reminded how great she is with him, and how wonderful she is to him, and to me, and even my mother sometimes.
"Fine, but when are you going to be in the mood? We're all here to help you."
"You really wanna help me?"
"I th- yeah. I do." Don't look at her, don't look at her.
Emma kept her eyesight constricted to her feet and the path ahead, determinedly blocking out anything, or any facial expressions, Regina might be making.
"Stay… Watch over my Mom and make sure she doesn't do anything overly stupid, please."
"I thought that was a given." Regina let out a long-suffering sigh. "Of course I will. Especially here." Why here? It's just dead- [thesubjectswhostoodupforMomwillseehersidewithReginaandwanttohurther] oh
"Why are we watching Grandma?"
"Damn it Kid! Don't sneak up on your parents like that, it's rude." Regina and Henry exchanged identical incredulous looks.
By now, the group had made enough of a disturbance that the rest of the travellers had caught up with them.
"I'm with Henry. Why am I being watched? I want to help you. Emma, I know that I often fall short of your expectations, and that I make the wrong choices but I swear I'm here to help you. Please, let me." Emma threw her arms around Snow. I love you, so much.
"Mom, I know that you want to help me. And you're not being watched because I think you're gonna… I dunno, mess this up or whatever. I just… I need you to be here when I get back-"
"What the hell do you mean when I get back, back from where? Emma, we've already followed you to the underworld. It's too late to turn back now, we're here for you." She's still not getting it. The Sheriff exchanged a look with Regina who turned to face Snow.
"While I agree with you, the only time we'll split up here is when we finally "find Hook", Mary Margaret… Rumplestiltskin just told you that this is a place for souls with unfinished business. Judging by the current decoration I can only assume a lot of their unfinished business is with me… I killed them. And I'm no-" Regina covered Henry's ears with her hands.
"…You remember what happened, with Wilma? There were a lot…thousands of villages like that one, some where it got even more personal… you remember what Cruella said. But every time I killed someone, it was always as an example for either 'harbouring the bandit Snow White' or 'aiding and abetting the known traitor Snow White'-"
"-Scoundrel and menace, yeah I remember what you used to call me. So what? That's gotta be… close to half a decade ago." Snow's words are blunt and sharp all at once.
"Not to these people. If they're here, they need some form of closure in order to move on. For some, hopefully I can do that. Others will come and- they'll be out for blood. They will target every single one of you that willingly associates with me, you too David. But, because of the way you used to stand up to me and they helped you, kept you safe, to them… you'll be the biggest traitor of all.
What I'm trying to say, is – if nobody watches you, if nobody watches out for you, whether our purpose is to save Hook or not, you're the first person here on death row."