Chapter Twelve
The Jolly Roger
"As in, Long John Silver?" Emma asks and Maggie's eyes light up.
"You know him?"
"I know of him. So, we are going to this pirate island to rescue a pirate. Sounds fun. What are we up against?" Emma asks in a business-like tone.
Maggie grins.
"I knew you had to be a girl who liked a little adventure." She says with a friendly grin at Emma.
And Emma tries to smother a smirk as Maggie continues.
"We'll be breaking onto Blackbeard's ship to release John from the hold." She says, sobering.
"Blackbeard? That's who took John from you?" Emma asks incredulously.
Maggie ignores her outburst and suddenly looks Emma up and down.
"You ladies are going to need to blend in a sight better, if we're going to pull this off."
Maggie ties off the helm and moves to descend the ladder to the captain's quarters. Emma looks down at her clothes in question and then follows Maggie below deck.
She finds Maggie rifling through a large chest, pulling out articles of clothing. Emma is momentarily distracted by the sight of Killian's bed in the corner of the room. Visions of all the wonderfully decadent things they did to each other in that bed has Emma breathing unevenly.
Maggie looks at Emma, at the bed she's staring at and then grins at her.
"Don't worry darling, soon this will all be over and you can go back to raising the captain's pirate flag."
Emma snaps her eyes to Maggie's overly amused ones.
"What? No. I mean… let's just get this over with." She stammers before snatching the clothes out of Maggie's hands.
Regina and Ruby come down to join them.
"So, we came all this way to play dress-up?" Regina asks grouchily, frowning at the selection of clothes.
"Ooo… red leather pants!" Ruby squeals with delight, earning a smirk from Maggie and an eye roll from Regina.
Emma walks around the partition in the room, adjusting the leather vest that curves over her shoulders and under her bust. She is dressed in black and red striped pants, topped with a thick belt and buckle, a loose white shirt held in place by the leather vest and brown leather boots that come up over her knees.
"Is this right?" she asks doubtfully holding out her arms to show off her outfit. Maggie comes forward and ties a red bandana around Emma's forehead and musses her hair a bit.
"A little smudged eye-liner, a few more weapons and it's perfect." She says, standing back.
Regina looks up suddenly.
"What is it with pirates and eye-liner, anyway?" she asks in a haughty tone.
"It keeps the glare off the water to a minimum." Maggie answers automatically.
Regina considers for a moment.
"Really?"
"No. We just like it." Maggie replies without expression, making Ruby snort before she can cover her laugh.
Regina looks at Emma in annoyance.
"Tell me again why we are helping this woman…?" she asks rhetorically as she continues trying to find clothing to her liking.
Maggie steps over to help Ruby do up the many small buckles holding her corset together.
"Thanks." She says with a smile and Maggie smiles back at her.
"You might need to lose the cloak, pet."
"I can't. Not unless you want me on four feet instead of two." She says shrugging, before leaning over in front of the small mirror to apply more eyeliner.
Maggie tilts her head in confusion at Ruby.
"Say again?"
Ruby raises her eyebrows at Maggie in the mirror.
"Oh, I thought you knew. I'm a werewolf."
"Really?" Maggie says with an intrigued voice, leaning against the wall beside the mirror.
"I had a werewolf on my crew once. She moved on after a couple years but we became great friends for a time."
Ruby spins towards Maggie.
"You knew another werewolf? What was her name?" she asks, excitedly.
Maggie squints her eyes in thought.
"Meg. I think it was Meg. Why? You all know each other?" she asks with a laugh.
Ruby slumps, disappointed slightly.
"No. I've just never met any werewolves other than my clan… and they're gone." She turns and leans against the wall beside Maggie to watch Emma try to apply eye-liner to Regina.
"Gone?" Maggie prompts, looking over at Red with a twinge of concern.
Ruby looks down and shrugs sadly again.
"I don't know what happened to them. I've searched but they're just… gone."
Ruby smiles brokenly.
"Seems to be what people do around me: Disappear."
Maggie looks at her with a disgusted expression.
"Why would anyone want to leave you?!" she asks incredulously, making Ruby's smile turn genuine.
"Werewolf. Remember?"
Maggie gives a disgusted huff.
"If people take issue with the wolf side of you, you don't need 'em in your life." Maggie says definitively.
Ruby and Maggie watch Regina criticize everything given to her and let Maggie's words hang between them.
oOoOoOoOoOoOoOo
Snow and David's apartment
"Killian can you stop pacing in front of the TV?" Henry asks, looking up at him from the couch.
Killian looks at Henry and then the television as if he had forgotten they were there.
"Apologies, lad."
"Why don't you sit down and I'll put on a movie. It'll take your mind off things." Henry says, pausing his Xbox and putting his controller aside.
Killian sighs loudly and drops down heavily on the couch as Belle wanders in, holding Neal and shaking a baby bottle.
"Oh, can we try the history channel? I really enjoy those documentaries."
She says until she looks at the boys' sceptical faces.
"… or something with explosions and car chases…" she continues, settling into the arm-chair to give Neal his bottle.
Henry gives her a smirk and presses play on the 'Lethal Weapon' movie.
"Want me to order pizza for dinner, since Grandma and Grampa are out having date night?" Henry asks Killian and Belle as he stares at the screen.
Both nod in agreeable indifference and Henry reaches over to pick up the phone from the table beside the couch.
Killian, becoming engrossed in the movie, leans over and says,
"Extra pineapple." Before Belle pipes up.
"Oo, can you get chocolate chips?"
Killian and Henry look over at her with matching expressions of confused disgust and Henry covers the mouth piece of the phone to say to her,
"There are some in the cupboard." And he goes back to ordering them some pizzas.
Belle smiles happily and starts making faces at baby Neal to entertain him.
Pizzas ordered, the boys go back to watching the movie.
After a few minutes, Belle stands and gently shifts a napping Neal into Killian's lap.
"Sorry, but I really need to get to the toilet." She says with a hand over her small baby bump.
Killian easily holds the sleeping baby with one arm, careful to keep his hook away from the baby's soft skin. He smirks down at the little sleeping prince and softly bounces him a bit, before returning his gaze to the action on the screen.
Sometime later, a particularly loud action scene disturbs Neal and he starts fussing. Killian bounces the baby as best he can with one arm while Henry tries shushing Neal to soothe him.
Killian suddenly looks around and realizes that Belle has been gone for a long time.
"Henry, take Neal. I'm going to check on Belle." He says, moving Neal into his nephew's arms before jumping up from the couch.
Killian knocks lightly on the bathroom door.
"Belle? You alright in there, love?" he asks awkwardly. But there is no response or noise in answer.
Unease increasing, Killian glances back to Henry with a raised eyebrow of question. Henry shrugs at him, holding onto a wriggly Neal.
Killian knocks again.
"Belle? We're getting a bit concerned out here, love."
He knocks one more time and then turns the door knob, opening the door slowly.
Killian peers around the door.
"CALL THE DOCTOR!" he shouts over his shoulder at Henry as he runs the few steps and falls to his knees beside an unconscious Belle on the bathroom floor.
He scoops her up onto his lap as Henry runs in with Neal in one arm and the phone in the other.
Killian looks around for an explanation of Belle's state and sees a dark stain on the floor where Belle had been lying. Killian doesn't hesitate as he picks up Belle and stands. Covering the distance to the front door with long strides, Henry is there a second after him and opens the door for him. Killian sprints down the steps with Henry right behind him, clutching Neal.
"Take Mom's car!" Henry says worriedly at Killian as he shifts Neal in his arms and shoves the keys he grabbed off the table, into the passenger's side door of the yellow bug.
Killian places Belle on the seat and grabs the keys from Henry.
"Can you even drive a car?" Henry asks sceptically.
Killian nods once at him as he sprints around the car to the driver's side.
"Emma's been teaching me. Call Snow and David and tell them what's happened." He says hurriedly as he slides behind the wheel.
Henry stands back, holding Neal closer and listens to Killian grind the bug's gears as he pulls out and speeds away towards the hospital.