Bane of His Existence
Chapter Twelve
"Are you ready?" Regina asked their wounded friend worryingly as Henry pulled the freshly sterilized knife from the flames of their campfire and handed it over to his mother, then quickly unbuckled his belt so that Hook would have something to bite down on while they worked to save his life. "I wish there was another way, but…"
"It's like… like I said, this isn't the first… time," Hook weakly replied while he looked up into her eyes, as the Queen gently took his hand in her own and squeezed it tightly. "It's okay."
When Regina released him as her son settled the folded leather belt between Hook's teeth, then Henry took over holding him for her, she breathed in and out deeply like Hook did as well. Without anymore hesitation, Regina pulled away the cloth she was holding over the arrow wound and laid the knife across it as the blazing metal seared his flesh, causing Killian to cry out in anguish through the belt while Henry fought to hold him down. When his blood finally slowed, she pulled away the blade and tossed it aside on the ground in anger over what she was just forced to do.
Henry loosened his hold over their friend, then Regina continued taking care of what little more he could for the wound and once she finished, she laid her hand over his cheek as she spoke again quietly saying, "You did good. The worst is over. You just have to do your part and keep breathing."
The pirate captain stared up at the dark skies above them until he finally just closed his eyes while he weakly responded, "Aye. I've lived and survived… for cent… centuries. I should be able to… for a few more years. Did you get… the waters? From the spring? Please… tell me we didn't come to Nev… Neverland for nothing."
"I'm afraid that Gothel followed us here and used her power to steal the magical elements of the spring before I could collect the waters we needed," she answered reluctantly and looked into her son's eyes for any small comfort. "I'm so sorry, Hook. And now, we're trapped here without magic and without a way home. But I promise you we will find a way."
"I fail… failed her," Killian whispered while tears began to fall from the corners of his eyes, though not because he was in pain, but because he felt nothing more than hopelessness. "I failed my daughter. I won't ever… be with Alice… again."
Regina struggled to keep from letting her own tears fall as well upon seeing the despair in his eyes, as she shook her head and worryingly replied, "Don't do that to yourself. You can't give up, Hook. We were so close."
The wounded man slowly opened his eyes again, yet he stared up at the sky again like before while he responded, "We've been close before. And that witch… she knows it. She's been… a step a… ahead… of us… She won't allow me to be with Al… Alice again."
"I mi… might as well be… dead," Killian despondently added as he weakly turned his head to try to look up into Regina's eyes and saw a single tear slip down her cheek despite her efforts to hide it from him. "It's the least I deserve… for failing to be… her father."
"You've never failed Alice, Hook," Henry answered for his mother when she struggled to think of the right words to say to him until she swallowed back her tears.
She then continued softly, "Henry's right. You haven't… and your daughter knows you haven't. She keeps coming around our camp just so she can see you, even if it's only from a distance. I've seen her around a few times. She wants to make sure you're alright. You can't give up now. You can't die here. Not in Neverland of all places. Because if you do, then she'll feel she's failed you too and it will destroy her. I know you don't want that. You have to hold on and keep fighting, Hook. Remember what Emma said to you when she healed your wound and you came face to face with her and your other self."
The infamous pirate from the Wish Realm struggled to remember back to that moment when he heard his doppelganger from Storybrooke speak to the Savior with steadfast belief in her as he whispered, "If it were me, you'd find a way.Find the part in him… the part that's me."
"Hey," Emma then stated as she moved around her husband and knelt down in front of the man she knew from her own brief time within the world where he came from, while she shook him gently in order to get him to try to focus on her. "Killian.You don't know me, but I know you.The man I fell in love with…"
"…until we met, he was you," she continued after glancing back at the man she loved until she turned back to the broken man in front of her. "Which means there's hope.All you need to do is believe."
When her husband's other self began to falter and lose consciousness, Emma shook him once more as she urged him to fight saying, "Hey. Hey, just look at me… and believe."
The Savior at last lowered her hand down over the knife wound in his stomach and gently began to heal it as Wish Hook gasped, at first in pain until it slowly subsided, and then in relief and once she finished when the wound was healed, he looked up into her eyes while he whispered gratefully and with sincerity, "Thank you."
Hook slowly slipped into unconsciousness once again while Regina and Henry raised their heads and looked into each other's eyes with worry for their friend. She then motioned for her son to stand and follow her into the forest again close by so they could be free to talk more openly while they gathered food the forest provided for them without disturbing him.
"He's too weak," the Queen said wearily, as fear for the wounded man grew rapidly within her. "If my magic doesn't return soon… I just don't know if he has enough strength to hold on for much longer, Henry. Not so long as we're stuck here in this hell, surrounded by nothing but evil."
"You have to follow your own advice and believe harder that he has the strength to stay alive long enough for us to get him home," Henry replied sadly. "We will get him home, Mom."
Meanwhile, while mother and son momentarily stepped away from the captain, Gothel appeared again and knelt down as she leaned over him to kiss Hook's lips, then whispered darkly, "You and I have been together once, Captain. One day, we will be so again. Even if it's by my force that we are."
She then lowered her hand over the wound that had been created by Pan's arrow to begin to heal it, causing Hook to gasp and cry out in pain, yet not fully awaken, and upon hearing his cry, Regina and Henry immediately ran back into the clearing to find the witch still kneeling above him as the Queen angrily shouted, "Get the hell away from him!"
"Have you already forgotten you have no power, Regina?" Gothel questioned snidely as she rose to her feet once again, while the good witch attempted to ignite a fireball in her hand out of instinct to want to protect their friend, though to no avail. "Don't worry about him too much anymore. He'll be alright provided you can eventually find your way off of this miserable island. I've healed his wound just enough so that he won't die as soon as he would have despite your own ministrations. I can't have him dying yet. I still have plans for him. Keep on allowing yourself to fall in love with him, Regina. Don't pretend that you're not, because I can see it in your eyes every time you look at him. Every time you lay your hand over his to comfort him and in the way you speak to him. But know that you will only wind up with having your heart broken. Hook belongs to me. And one day I will claim him one way or another, even if it must be against his will. In fact, I prefer it being against his will."
"I won't let you hurt him anymore than you already have," Regina responded angrily as she suddenly backhanded the villainess hard much to Gothel's and Henry's surprise, the ring the Queen wore cutting deeply across her left cheek as she did so. "He doesn't, and will never love you, if that's what your twisted and sick intentions for him are. Hook is a good man and you can't destroy that. You won't. Because I will protect him."
Henry quickly corrected her saying, "We will protect him. Villains will never get their happy endings no matter what you do to try. Now leave. Unless of course you're feeling generous enough to help us get back home too."
Gothel sneered at the younger man and then answered coldly, "I'm not feeling that generous, boy. You may believe now that it's impossible for someone like me to gain their happy endings, but then you've never met someone like me before. I will do whatever it takes to get what I want. When you see her again, tell my daughter that her mother says hello. And that her father won't be able to fight for her forever."
With that said, Gothel suddenly vanished from before them and Regina immediately took the witch's place at his side once again so she could examine the wound, finding that Gothel had spoken the truth about healing his wound just enough in order to keep Hook alive for some time that was unknown. Henry knelt down over their friend as well and despite feeling a small sense of relief that he was alright for now, the feeling didn't last.
