Disclaimer: I do not own the show or the characters of Once Upon A Time. There's no profit except writing practice being made here.
The plan went out the window when they arrived at the building Tamara had indicated. Climbing the stairs to the floor to find the apartment they were looking for, the pair were working under the impression that the Dragon would be an imposing magician, an exceptionally powerful wizard if he could practice magic in the land without it.
What they found instead was a room full of spices and potions that was as dusty and empty as Neal's had been.
"Anyone home?" Emma called with no reply but her own voice echoing around the room and the horns of the city outside the open window.
The spices that hung from the roof in chains - chillis and garlic - were pungent but muted by the sour smell of the vinegar; cleaning or pickling he wasn't sure for which purpose, but it as been used in excess. All of which fell to inconsequential beneath the odour of the street outside, smog, Emma had called it, smoke for cars and buildings and people, as though everyone and everything in this realm was burning the candle at both ends.
Killian moved around the living space, lifting and inspecting the glass bottles that were scattered around; roots and reptiles preserved in some viscous vinegar.
"I think he might be out. Do healers have office hours?"
"There was nothing posted in the waiting room outside," Emma's voice bounced around the room as though she was facing him, not a wall, and Emma turned to see if she was. He smiled at her when he caught her eye.
"That's because I knew you were coming," boomed a voice. Both Killian and Emma jumped at the sound, Killian reaching for his sword but not pulling it.
It wasn't quite a man standing in the middle of the room, backlighted by the rays of sun through the window, but a wisp of smoke that was solidifying into a human shape and then, finally, settling into an orange robe and a grey moustache beneath knowing eyes.
"You're the Dragon?"
"Yes."
"You're not dead," Emma frowned but Killian knew it wasn't a disappointment, even if Swan sounded it.
The figure, still hazy at the edges, clasped his hands beneath his belly. "And you have no manners."
"No, sorry," Emma backtracked, flailing, her eyes meeting his and pleading for help. Hook froze at the sight of her soft eyes begging. He claimed they made a good team and worked well as partners, but he'd never expected to live long enough for Emma to actually ask him for assistance outside of caring for Henry or fighting a battle.
"I jest, Miss Swan," the Dragon chucked, a resonant sound that filled the room with a pleasant hum.
It was at that moment that Killian drew his sword, stepping forward. "How do you know us?"
"Stand down, Captain Jones."
The man did not flinch, did not even bat an eyelash at the shining silver blade. It should have been alarming to encounter a man so unperturbed by violence, so comfortable in his power that a threat seemed meagre and a blade was laughed at. Yet Killian found himself heeding his words, a sense of tranquillity overwhelming him and insisting he sheath his weapon.
"I know why you are here," the Dragon announced. "You wish to return home. To a different time."
"Aye."
"We don't want to disrupt the timeline," Emma said, mirroring something Killian had told her earlier. He was a pirate and far from ashamed for preening at his words coming from her mouth, proof that Emma valued what he said and wanted to work with him as his partner. These were facts Killian knew already but he could not help enjoying the moments her faith in him was reiterated. "We just want to return as quickly as possible."
That all-too-knowing voice refuted Emma's claim. "I would have thought you, of all people Miss Swan, would have liked to learn whether or not New York is your rightful home. Wouldn't you like to learn if you and Master Henry would be happier here than in your magical town?"
Killian very nearly rolled his eyes at the temptation. Wasn't that just classic? Exactly the sort of fraud he expected of such a pedlar.
"I can find that out on my own," he expected Emma to say. Which she did, but she followed it up with: "How exactly could you show us that?"
The Dragon shook his head, long facial hair rustling against his robe. "You may observe yourself and your son, if you wish. No one is stopping you from doing so."
"Like I said," Emma reiterated, "We don't want to mess with the timeline."
"But you would still like to know how your story ends." It wasn't a question.
Killian shook his head. He'd managed centuries without knowing his ending, such a temptation was as fruitless as it was overused by types such as he. Hook puffed his chest out, hooking his fingers over his belt and standing comfortably on his leg, relieving some of the aches in his joints from an old injury in the other leg.
"With respect, Dragon," he spat, drawing the man's penetrating gaze away from Swan, "We have no proof you are not a charlatan and will not be tempted. Whatever you do tell us about how to return to our time will be thoroughly analysed before even it is believed. So I suggest you do not bother."
"You will be happy," the Dragon told them auspiciously. "I know you wonder that."
Hook rolled his eyes. Of course Emma would find happiness, she was surrounded by people, him included, who would help her find it. "That proves nothing. Of course Emma will find all things that are bright in life. She deserves no less."
The words fell from his mouth without his allowance, without even rum and a difficult day to loosen his lips. He wouldn't have even regretted them if not for the amused moue of the Dragon.
He could feel Emma's sharp gaze on him but Killian refused to look at her. Instead, he stared down his adversary.
"I was referring to you, Captain."
Killian blinked, his hand floating in the air, unsure, from gesturing at Emma, whether he should rest his thumb on his belt or on his weapon.
"You have wandered the realms for a long time, wondering if you would ever again find that - what did you call it? Brightness - again."
The smile the Dragon sent him was far from pleasant, but wasn't sinister either. The man was stalking toward him, classic intimidation attempt. The Dragon was weaponless and appeared physically slow. He didn't intimidate Killian. His magic did and more than that, his knowledge was quite alarming.
"Some days, you think you have already."
Killian narrowed his eyes and the wizened voice. The man had no realistic manner of knowing what was in his heart, and yet, Killian's heart felt as though it had stopped beating with the truth it had heard. Certainly, some days in Storybrooke, when the sun was shining and he and Henry were tying knots on the beach, or when Emma was practising her magic in the hallway between their rooms and had asked him, without explanation, to help her. Those days he surely felt light in his chest where the years had previously weighed him down.
"That and belonging," the Dragon continued. "All that crew and yet always so alone. You will again belong the way you wish. It is only propriety and image that stops you now, fear though not of you that halts."
Killian swallowed thickly as the idea of being part of something, just as Emma had promised him once, seemed to be so close to grasping.
"You have been starved of a partner, a true team around you for so long. Tell me, was it your grief or your fear for betraying them that kept you cloistered in your rage? Neither of them would be proud of the man you became."
"Stop." Emma's voice was small but fierce, as though she hadn't realised she spoke aloud.
"But you seem more concerned for Miss Swan's future than your own soul," The Dragon continued, smirking. "I should tell you: The both of you will be happy, once you have hope."
"My mother says the same thing."
Hook turned his head to see Emma's face. He'd never heard her call Snow White her mother before but was glad for it, and the wistful smile that overtook her face. as a lost girl most of her life, she'd probably only rarely even used the term, let alone the had a person to apply it to.
More than pride, he felt a swell of thankfulness current through him. Her mouth was pulled tight and her hands were clenched. Her words had been a distraction and a redirect for his benefit.
If he could have missed her without her residing him for it, he would have.
"I see that," the voice carried around the room, whispering and gathering power as it reverberated around the corners of the room, "But you will have happiness before Hope, too."
Emma snapped at the whimsical vagueness of the man they had sought for explicit assistance. "What's that meant to mean? This is nonsense."
"I am merely attempting to ease your mind, Princess," the Dragon moved around the room as though he hovered above the floor.
"Then ease our mind," Killian grit his teeth but kept his voice as level as his frustration would allow, "And tell us how to return to our land."
"Ah, Lieutenant," the man exhaled, his voice a whisper but projected to every corner of the room as though it echoed just as Emma's had earlier.
"It's Captain," the Captain growled.
The Dragon chuckled insubordinately. "Is it? Did you rise through the ranks of the navy as you had always hoped or did you take the place of your captain on his ship when he died. Did you ever have that made official by your admiralty?"
Killian gulped, the spite and the phrase knocking him off kilter.
"That is how you rise through the ranks," it sounded as though Emma rolled her eyes and grit her teeth.
Killian stopped himself, or tried to, from reading too much into that, but his chest swelled nonetheless with Emma's defense of him. He wasn't so ignorant to assume that's what it truly was, a personal defense rather than just urging the Dragon to get back on topic, but he was hopeful and that hope swelled through him.
"Of course, Miss Swan," the Dragon placated her angry defence, turning politely to address Emma before turning his attention back to Hook.
"But the Lieutenant here did not continue with his commission, did he? He'd hoped to continue with his studies after hus little adventure with his brother. That was why you enrolled in more courses than necessary at the academy, isn't it? Youngest graduate but you still wished to learn more. Your brother, he was the one who loved the sea and the duty of the navy, but you were just as content on land. Oh, but your brother wanted to bring you along on his noble adventure and you loved it, even if you had to watch yourself from being too brotherly with him. You were young but not young enough and you mutinied on that island, didn't you? Your first mutiny against your brother. Refused to be anything but honourable. But still, you would follow your brother to the end of the earth and when he fell off the edge, so did you. Didn't you?"
"Enough," Killian groused, predicting the next line of prodding from the other man who appeared so gentle and kind had taken a turn toward darkness. It wasn't totally surprising, Hook noted, but it had not been expected, either. Especially not the mention of Liam as the Dragon attempted to prove his prowess.
"A captain. And a pirate. And alone. All on the same day."
The old wounds wept, so easily reopening.
Hook took four steps forward before the Dragon's chest could rise with his next inward breath. "I suggest you stop discussing things of which you have no knowledge."
Unintimidated, the Dragon cocked his head, studying the pirate. "Such passion. I can see how you would lay down your life willingly for those you love. It is no wonder your death is not your end."
Killian rolled his eyes. He'd perfected and perpetuated the rumours and reputation that surrounded him, he did not need some stranger telling him his legacy would remain long after the sea had taken his body.
"He dies?"
Her voice was small and Killian turned sharply to face Emma.
"We all do, love," he told her warmly, not considering any meaning from the other man's so-called prophecy.
Emma, however, appeared to have a chill. She had turned pale, her pillowy bottom lip trembling where her mouth slightly parted, her fists shaking.
"Enough of this," Hook demanded, ashamed he had let the man ramble for so long without noticing Emma's distress. He needed to get her out of here, away from this all-seeing Dragon. "Now, tell us. How do we get home?"
The other man hummed, nodding ominously. "The boy knows the way."
