CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Hook stood calmly beside Emma, she was nervous, that much was obvious, it was odd, he had seen her face down far worse than a dinner with family, yet nothing had reduced her quite to the quivering waif of a woman that he usually found such unappealingly easy pickings.
He realised that she wasn't going to make the move to go inside herself, so he raised his hand and rapped sharply on the door. She flinched at the sound and he felt compelled to place his palm against the flat of her back, not that it took much to compel him to touch her. Away from Neverland his feelings were much clearer and far less confused with the lust their shared cursed had sparked. He found he preferred it this way.
"Easy Love. It's only family." He told her, noting the irony in those words, he supposed he knew better than anyone just how much pain family could inflict.
The door swung open and Hook slid his mask into place with practised ease; that was one thing he found so invigorating about being around Emma, there were no masks between them now.
"Emma!" Queen Snow declared her grin wide but faltering when she realised her prodigal daughter wasn't alone. Charming was beside her, his arm going around his wife supportively, but his eyes were narrowed on him, Hook knew that look, had seen it from more than a few fathers in his time. They seemed to form one impenetrable wall of parental judgement in front of him now and he relished the challenge of it.
"The Charming's." Hook grinned rakishly, his arms wide and inviting, sliding in front of Emma, who seemed to be reconsidering their somewhat press ganged decision to be here. "Or is that Mom and Dad?"
Their expressions were priceless and he heard the shocked breath come from Emma, right before he felt the slap against the back of his head.
"Killian!" she hissed, shoving him to the side and attempting to repair the damage he'd just done. He smirked, he'd promised he'd come, he hadn't promised he'd behave.
"Tell me you didn't marry this Pirate!" Snow was screeching, her nostrils actually seemed to flare with her rage. Charming looked like he'd been slugged one too many times, clearly his wife's white hot rage wasn't his thing, which meant it was probably the more slow burning kind, Hook made a note to watch his back.
Emma gave him a look that had castrated lesser men at forty paces. Oh she'd make him pay for letting that little cat out of the bag, he supposed he could have qualified it... he wasn't sure Indian Tribal Ceremonies counted when they were performed under duress, but then, he'd meant every word. Something about sacrificing a Newlywed pair to bless the next harvest. Either way he'd quite enjoyed the notion of her being bound to him, something at the time she'd clearly found abhorrent, but she hadn't yet he noticed, flat out denied the nuptials were valid which he smirked quietly to himself about.
The ranting continued, but at least they let them into the apartment, to the rather surprised looking faces of the Boy and the Evil Queen. He hated that witch, but that was Emma's bug bear, not his. He raised his hook in greeting to the kid, who smiled in response just that little too wide and trusting and for the briefest flash he saw Emma shining out of his face, as his eyes followed the metal blade with fascination. Regina placed a hand on her 'almost sons' shoulder, instantly shaking the boy out of his trance and refocusing his attention as he remembered 'it wasn't polite to stare'. Hook gave Regina a mocking salute with his hook, before spotting the array of food laid out on the table and sauntering over to pick at it before he felt the urge to rend her in two for setting him up to be beheaded by her mother years ago.
Emma was still trying to explain his comment away to Snow, as he heard Charming idle up beside him, arms crossed; up close and personal he was bigger than Hook remembered.
"What are you doing here Captain?" well, at least his manners were impeccable Hook noted.
"I was invited. Seemed the young lass was in something of a quandary about coming here without backup." Hook grinned thinly at him, trying to judge whether he needed to defend himself. Charming's hand went down on his shoulder and he leant in until they were almost nose to nose, the clear blue of his eyes remarkably like Emma's... just without her fire. Emma might have got her eyes from this man, but the spirit was entirely her mothers. Either way, he didn't appreciate the threat.
"I don't like that my daughter has somehow become tangled up in this life of yours Captain."
Hook met his strong gaze firmly. "Pity, because I do." He winked, and eased back away from the clearly fuming Prince and turned his attention to the hesitant mother-son reunion trying to happen across the room. The boy was in tears when Emma finally held open her arms for him to run into, she clung to him, lifting his feet off the floor and holding him like she truly never meant to let him go again.
It would all have been very touching if Hook hadn't noticed Emma's shadow.
It was moving.
Just not with her.
In fact, he realised uneasily that it wasn't just moving, it was making a hasty retreat towards the door. Hook moved, trying to make it look subtle, but Charming was right with him, he turned catching the other mans eye whilst trying to keep the Shadow in his eyeline hoping Prince Dimwitted would get the hint. Charming frowned... and Hook found he was rather glad that Emma had clearly inherited her wits and her spirit from her mother's side.
The Shadow that in silhouette looked like the very outline of his lady love was at the door, and turning the handle. Hook didn't want to find out what would happen if Emma lost her shadow, all he knew was that this reeked of Neverland and he'd be damned if he let it touch her again. Not after his promise. He wouldn't be made a liar, not to her.
Hook darted forward, slamming the slowly opening door shut and trying not to look like a madman doing it. All eyes were on him. "There was a draft." He smiled thinly, locking the door firmly and sliding the chain across, watching the shadow retreating around the corners of the room unnoticed.
Charming stepped up to him. "I saw it." He nodded, keeping his tone too low to disturb the barbed comments 'not' being thrown between Emma and Regina as they exchanged terse pleasantries. Charming glanced at the shadow, tracking its movement a second before refocusing on him. "What is it?" he sounded like a man who was used to slaying the thing that went bump in the night... in hindsight Hook considered that perhaps he wasn't the ideal ally for this task.
"Your daughter's shadow appears to have gone walkabout." Hook smiled through his grimace, trying to look like they were just having a pleasant heart to heart, with veiled threats, just like everyone expected.
"What?" Charming hissed, drawing a look of concern from Emma, Hook waved her concern away, more likely she just wanted the distraction but he doubted this was what she had in mind.
"You really don't get it do you Your Highness." Hook sneered, his back to the others so they couldn't see his expression as he gave into the sudden swell of anger he felt for this insufferable idiot; Charming had no idea what Emma had been through, what her life had been, what she struggled with every day. The walls Hook had needed to painstakingly prise apart, only to have them slam shut again the moment her so called family waltzed back on the scene, demanding things she was simply not ready to give. "I told you she wasn't ready... I sent Jukes here to make that perfectly clear. Royals!" He spat, "You always think you know best." He shrugged past him, "Help me corner the damn thing before it escapes and takes another piece of Emma with it."
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Emma was trying to keep her attention on Henry, on his face as she held out the crocodile tooth for him, he took it in one hand, his other was still wrapped firmly around her waist.
"I missed you Mom." He whispered, holding the tooth firmly in his grip like it was a talisman he had no intention of putting down.
"Missed you too Kiddo. I'm sorry I haven't been around much, I just have some things I needed to sort through. Besides you have your Grandma and Grandpa and Regina looking after you. You're in good hands." She kissed him on the top of his head, hating the way both Regina and Mary Margaret were looking at her; both of them looked about ready to give her a slap.
"So." Emma tried once more, grasping Henry's chin and forcing him to look up at her. "You're really not going to ask?" she smirked at him and he gave her a hesitant smile.
"Ask about what?" she'd managed to draw that excited tone out of him again at least.
Emma leant in conspiratorially. "What it feels like to fly." His eyes went wide with wonder and she couldn't help but smile.
"You can fly?" he asked unable to hide just how impressed he was with that.
"Well how else do you think we got that ship here?" she ruffled his hair affectionately, frowning as she had to stretch down to do it.
"Emma?" Mary Margaret's worried expression said it all as Emma glanced down to find her feet inches off the floor and climbing.
"How are you doing that?" Regina asked, staring up at her with an expression that mirrored Henry's; clearly flying, at least unaided, wasn't one of her many tricks.
"I have no idea." Emma managed weakly as she put her hands up to prevent her head from hitting the ceiling. "I imagine it has something to do with the damn Stardust though."
Mary Margaret was underneath her, she grasped her booted ankle firmly and tried to tug her back down, only Emma wasn't budging.
"Regina help me." Snow called, stirring the other woman into action as she grasped Emma by the other ankle and together they pulled... she bobbed like some sort of insane helium balloon but she didn't lose any more height. Even as it felt like Regina was trying to pull her foot off.
"David!" Mary Margaret called, "We could use a little help in here. You can deal with Hook later!"
Emma glanced up seeing David pop his head around a corner and give the position they were all in a cursory once over. "You seem to have it all in hand. I'll be right back." Then incredibly he disappeared back into the other room. She spared a moments concern for Hook, before remembering she should probably have been more worried about her father.
"David!" Mary Margaret and Regina seemed to shriek together, only to be met by what were unmistakably sounds of a scuffle.
"Men." Regina snapped, "honestly." She looked at Henry who seemed to wilt a bit. "Henry be a dear and go and interrupt those two idiots, let them know we have more important things... like a floating Princess stuck to the ceiling, to deal with out here."
Henry smirked, seeming to find the whole thing amusing as he darted into the back room.
"Emma, stop this, you need to come down right now." Mary Margaret scolded, like she was a misbehaving child.
Emma stared down in disbelief. "You honestly think I'm doing this on purpose?"
"Well you made it perfectly clear that you didn't want to be here. Honestly, blasting Regina off the ship like that..." Emma gave Regina a scathing look, "Oh she didn't say a word, Granny saw, which means the whole town got wind of it. When were you going to tell me that you had magic?"
Emma rolled her eyes. "Well if I hadn't before, I'm guessing right about the time I floated up to your ceiling would have done it."
Henry cut them off by stumbling out of the room looking white as a sheet, he hurried up to them, putting himself firmly behind them all and closer to the door.
"Henry dear, what is it?" Regina dropped Emma's foot and grasped Henry's shoulders instead.
"They're a little busy." He told her firmly, his expression deeply concerned now as he gave Emma a searching look. Regina looked furious as she spun, seemingly to charge in after them, but Henry grabbed her wrist. "They're not fighting each other." He added, surprising them all, so much so that Emma felt herself actually drop a few feet, Mary Margaret and Regina seemed to seize the opportunity by grabbing Emma's wrists and dragging her back until her feet hit the floor with a thump.
There was a crash from the other room. Emma charged forward finding Henry darting in front of her. "Don't go in there." He told her firmly. Emma frowned, irritation blooming, her son he might be, but she didn't like people telling her what to do, particularly not when she'd just had to be extracted from a ceiling.
She approached the bathroom door Hook and David seemed to have holed up in and went for the handle, only to have Hook come sprawling out of it to land solidly on his ass. What was concerning was the way he was struggling with...nothing. Then he turned, flipping over and she sucked in a horrified breath, he was fighting a shadow, she could see it now imprinted firmly against the floor, it's hands somehow solid, and throttling him.
"Little help Love!" Hook snarled, struggling to keep the thing pinned.
Emma froze, the others didn't seem to suffer from the same affliction, darting in to try and pin the struggling shadow to the ground.
"Is that... mine?" she asked hearing the shake in her voice and seeing Killian's dark expression as he confirmed her suspicions.
"Mom... you're like Peter Pan!" Henry declared sounding thrilled as he turned beaming to her, but his expression faltered at what she could only imagine was the absolute look of terror on her face at his exclamation.
She heard Hook swear. "Emma. You're nothing like him Love. Now get over here and help me stick this damn thing back to you."
Regina snorted, pinning the shadow by the throat as it writhed "And how exactly do you intend to do that?" she asked him pointedly. "I have no intention of falling off the magic wagon to help Miss Swan out of this mess she's found herself in."
"Where's David?" Mary Margaret asked uneasily as she held the shadow pinned at the ankles, turning her head and trying to see into the almost demolished bathroom door for him.
"He's unconscious." Hook muttered, "For a supposed warrior Prince he has a surprisingly glass jaw."
Mary Margaret looked back at the bathroom, stricken, but she didn't desert her position.
Emma was lost, she had no desire to approach the writhing thing, nor to have it reattached to her, Henry slid his hand into hers, urging her forwards slightly. "Mom, you have to reattach it, like the stories, do you remember?" he hesitated at her wide eyed look.
"You are not sowing that thing to my feet!" she all but shrieked.
"Emma what the hell is happening here?" Mary Margaret stared up at her from her position struggling despite the three of them to restrain the shadow, which seemed most definitely to want to free itself and it wasn't the least bit bothered about who it hurt apparently.
"Neverland is trying to re-claim her." Hook snapped. "And right now, this little family reunion, is making it a hell of a lot easier."
"Re-claim her?" Mary Margaret asked, sounding as horrified as Emma felt.
Regina was giving her a shrewd look. "Ah." She nodded, as if that explained everything.
"Mom. You can't leave me again!" Henry cried, startling them all as he tugged her violently towards the shadow, that seemed to want to be as far from Emma as she did to it, as it redoubled its efforts to squirm free.
Regina dropped her head, when she lifted it again, her eyes met Emma's and they seemed to be tainted with a purple hue. She reached down, right into the centre of the shadow, shoving Hook aside she seemed to grasp for the very heart of the shadow. It froze its squirming instantly as she curled her hands around its core and rose to her feet, holding it aloft like a limp doll as she approached Emma. Emma backed away, finding Henry's grip solid as Regina approached her with the god awful thing, it was too surreal to be happening, even for this town. But it didn't stop Regina from hurling the thing back over her like a cloak, wrapping it around her until she felt it seem to slide back beneath her skin and spill out behind her... attached.
They were nose to nose, Regina and her, an understanding seem to pass between them. For Henry.
"I expect you at my home in the morning Miss Swan." Regina told her curtly. "I may have made an exception tonight, but I have no intention of making this a habit; I might not use it, but I can certainly teach you how to control this magic before you put us all at risk." Emma merely nodded, what the hell could she say? She needed help, even she wasn't pig headed enough after this to deny an olive branch, even if it was Regina offering it.
"Good." Regina nodded, straightening herself out as if she wasn't still perfectly quaffed. "But right now you are far too much of a risk to be around Henry. You need to leave Miss Swan."
Mary Margaret was the only one that didn't seem a little relieved by that. "Regina, this is my home. My daughter is welcome here, if she has a problem, we'll deal with it, as a family." The remainder of that family seemed to be emerging from the bathroom, a nasty looking gash on his forehead as he grasped the door frame for support, appraising the situation.
"Maybe Regina's right."David muttered.
"David!" Mary Margaret was turning shrill as she approached him and Emma sympathised as he winced, clutching his head.
"I want Emma here as much as you do, but Regina's right." David looked clearly pained by the statement as he stared at Emma apologetically. "We can't risk Henry getting hurt. That shadow... it was wild, and it packed one hell of a punch. What if Henry had gotten in its way, he'd be the one sprawled on the floor with his head bleeding." David shook his head. "Sorry kiddo." Emma wasn't sure which one of them he was apologising too, her or Henry. "But until you get a handle on this, I think you were right and we were wrong to push you before you were ready."
Hook had slid up beside her without her noticing... it was a particular skill of his. "Come on Love. Let's not wear out our welcome; I think we've all had enough excitement for one night."
"No." Mary Margaret snapped, stalking forward and grasping Emma by the hand. "She stays!" she declared, looking for support in a room that really wasn't on the same page as her. "What if it happens again, what if she's outside and she starts floating into the sky?"
Emma felt a cold knot form in her stomach, she knew exactly what would happen, she'd wind up back in Neverland.
"Not going to happen Princess." Hook wrapped his arm around her waist as he pulled a pouch from out of his pocket; she had a moment to recognise the contents before he blew them straight into her face. His dark eyes alight with everything unspoken between them, were the last thing she saw as she felt the tug of unconsciousness claim her.