A/N: Thank you so much to the people that have read an reviewed this story, I hope I can continue to deliver something you can enjoy. -LS

Disclaimer: I don't own Once Upon a Time or any of the characters in this story.

Chapter 2 - Devil's Bargain

"The enemy is anybody who's going to get you killed, no matter which side he is on."

― Joseph Heller, Catch-22

Killian Jones could count the number of people who had bested him in just one hand, pun not intended. So it was safe to say that he was very surprised, and a bit impressed if he was being honest, when the pretty thief had pointed her knife at his middle without him noticing. He had felt the sharp ends of the crown beneath his fingers a few moment before, the ridges and curves of the tiara jutting against the top of the bag, the size of the encrusted jewels prominent. The thought of just taking it and leaving the girl to her own devices crossed his mind, he was only a pirate after all, but as soon as the castle bells began their alarm song in the distance he could see the desperation creep into her eyes. He could see the fear beneath her persuasive demeanor, and the determination in her features as she pointed out that she was not really a damsel in distress. There was something different about this Swan girl, she did not strike him as a common thief; if she had been able to steal the royal crown from the palace, well, there was something to be said about her skills, and he knew from experience that a good thief was always a good acquaintance to make. He tried to convince himself that this strategical thinking was what drove him to agree to help her instead of raising his hook to her throat for threatening him. It had nothing to do with the small spark of electricity he felt when she took his hand in hers or the way her jade eyes sparkled from the shadows of her hood, nothing at all.

As he followed her to the exit of the tavern he stopped at the table he had previously occupied with a few of his crew members to alert them of the change of plans. "Oi, Scarlet! Get the men to the Jolly as soon as you can, we set sail with the morning tide." He said to his first mate who was currently occupied with a small brunette barmaid.

Scarlet shook his attentions from the woman to stare at his Captain. "Why the change of plans, sir?"

He eyed the door as Swan exited quietly. "I make the orders, you follow them, Scarlet." He said to the pirate. "If you say as I do you will know soon enough."

"Aye, Captain." The man responded turning around to face the table of drunken sailors. "Get up ya scoundrels, fun's over!"

Killian continued his way to the front door of the tavern knowing that his capable first mate could round up the crew with no problem. Turning around as he exited to look for the hooded figure of Swan he spotted her leaning against the stone wall at the corner of the building. "Well love, care for a nightcap in a more private setting?" He said with a sly smile, "We have a few things to discuss, I believe."

"I don't mix business and pleasure, Hook." She promptly responded, unfazed by his suggestion. "But we do need to talk, is your ship nearby?."

"She's just at the end of the harbor, love, if you let me escort you." He nodded in the direction of his ship and offered her his hooked arm, which she took without hesitation, he could detect no sign of revulsion as her hand slid into the crook of his arm. As he walked along the streets with her he couldn't help but notice the nervous glances she gave in the direction of the castle and the town, her hand gripping his arm a little bit tighter every time she catched the sound of horses in the distance. "Tell me, love," he asked, "is this royal party all for you?"

She stopped abruptly and turned her head sharply in his direction. "What party?" She asked in a strained voice.

"The guards suddenly swarming into town, Swan," he explained, "are they looking for you?"

Her stance relaxed a fraction. "Oh, well, I guess you could say that," was her cryptic response. There's certainly more of this pretty thief than meets the eye, he thought.

Before he could question her further a dark figure flanked by two royal guards blocked their path before they could enter the wooden pathway of the docks.

"I told her I would find you." The dark man said.

"Sydney." Swan hissed under her breath, letting go of his arm and reaching for the sword at her hip.

Before she could fully unsheathed it he raised his sword in the man's direction and took a step forward. "I suggest you step away mate, if you want to see the light of dawn."

The man, Sydney, gave him a cold sneer. "Step away pirate, this does not concern you."

"On the contrary, mate, that is a business partner you are threatening, and I'm not fond of outside parties meddling in my business."

"Business partner?" He said and let out a sardonic laugh. "I don't know what the little brat told you, but I can assure you, no good can come out of this one." He shifted his gaze to Swan. "What lies have you been telling girl? He's waiting for you, you can't run from this." Killian heard Swan shift behind him.

"Tell him Your High-" before Sydney could continue a gush of wind swept by the side of his face and the man's next words were cut by Swan's dagger nestled in his throat. He stared at her in shock but before he could react he heard her say, "Hook, behind you!" He turned just in time to catch with his sword a blow from one of the guards. To his left he could hear the clashing of metal form the swords of Swan and the other soldier. He parried with ease the next few blows of the guard and sank his sword in the man's middle. Letting him fall to the ground he looked around to see Swan blocking attacks from the other soldier, and standing dangerously close to the water's edge. Without a second thought, he came behind her attacker and finished him from behind. When the man fell to the ground with a rap, he stood in front of Swan breathing heavy and staring at her face. The hood she had been wearing fell in the midst of the attack and the blonde hair he had glimpsed when she entered the tavern was falling over her face and shoulders in a mass of curls, almost silver in the moonlight. Her face was flushed and she was wearing a shocked expression, a quick glance down her body to see if she was unharmed showed him that her hand was shaking, the hilt of the sword unsteady in her hand.

"Swan," he said softly, reaching out to steady her grip on the sword, his hand gently clasping around her wrist. He saw her eyes shift to their joined hands and then flicker to Sydney's body laying in the ground. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, as if to steel herself. He took the moment to study her, she was even more beautiful that he had originally tough when her face was hidden under the hood, even now with her face scrunched up in either pain or shock, she was a sight. "Lass, we need to get going, or there will be more from where those came from." He said, as he carefully pulled her hood over her head again with his hook. "Are you fine?"

With her eyes still closed, she nodded and let herself be guided by him to the end of the docks. Halfway to his ship she stepped away from him, putting her sword back in its sheath, and walking with a stronger pace. He couldn't see her expression under her hood, but he could almost imagine a determined frown in her face. They stopped in front of a large gangplank at the very last ship of the dock.

"Behold, love, The Jolly Roger!" Swan's eyes finally left the floor as she took in the large warship, he placed his hand at the small of her back to guide her over the gangplank. A quick look over his shoulders confirmed that the coast was clear, at least for the moment. Guiding her to the quarter deck he showed her the door that lead to the captain's quarters. The first room of his precinct was the council chamber, a large and ornate room well lit by big windows and oil lamps. At the center of the room sat a grand table, currently littered with maps and navigation tools. At the head of the table was a high back chair, which he quickly pulled out, offering it to Swan. "Please sit down, love," he said gesturing to the chair, Swan eyed him with an inscrutable face for a moment and then gave a small nod and sat. Making his way to the liquor cabinet he took out one of the bottles of rum and a two tumblers, filling them both to the brim he turned around and offered one to his companion.

Taking the drink and sniffing it, Swan threw it all back in one gulp, making an uncomfortable face. "Easy there, Swan, you could find me even more irresistible after a few libations." He quipped.

She gave a very un-lady like snort. "That is probably the least of my problems right now, Captain."

"Ah yes, the runaway-wanted-by-royal-guards thing. Care to explain that, love?" He had assumed that the guards were looking for her because she was a thief, but after the recent turn of events he was sure there was something more to her story.

"Not really." She answered. "I … That is the first time … I mean, I've never…" her voice trailed off, as she stared at her hands. He heard her sigh deeply and clench her hands into fists. "It doesn't matter now, what matters now is that we settle our deal." She said with a no-nonsense voice.

He had the distinct inkling that today was the first time she had been in a dangerous situation like that. She didn't quite strike him has the sort of woman to kill in cold blood, or at all, she was determined and smart, that much was obvious, but for the life of him he could not detect a hint of malice in her eyes. Today's events must have had more meaning to her than just a simple setback in whatever her escape plan was. With that in mind he decided to let the matter drop for the moment, if she was indeed spending her journey aboard his ship he would get the information soon enough, after all he was nothing if not persuasive. "Well lass, you did promise me a royal crown, so how about you show me the goods?" He asked instead.

She took the hood off and tossed her cape aside so she could put her bag on top of the table, he was once more struck by her appearance, in the warm low light of the chamber she didn't look silver anymore, but a warm gold, and it made her even more alluring. "Look, I know what I said, but for me to give you the crown I need your help with a little bit more than safe passage out of here," she said. "I'm not just running away, I need to find some people at the border with the Northern Kingdom."

Killian had the same strange feeling that she wasn't being entirely honest with him, and questioned if his rash decision to help Swan was correct after all. "Look Swan, I don't know if you gathered this, but I'm a pirate, The Jolly is a pirate ship, we sail, we plunder, and we take what we want, we don't ferry around passengers. The only reason I agreed to help you was because you made a convincing argument with that kind of treasure, but I'm not your bloody knight in shining armor, I'm just here for the payment."

"And payment you shall have, Captain," she answered, opening the bag and getting a very large sack of coins, "all of this is pure gold coins, enough to pay for safe passage to the last port of Mistheaven. If you just take me there, it's yours, but I'm afraid I can only offer you the crown if you help me on land too."

He pulled close the sack of money with his hook and peered inside, taking one coin out and inspecting it, he could see it was gold of the highest quality, the type you could only find in the property of high nobility, or the best mercenaries, his own private chest in the treasure hold had a decent quantity of it. He put it back on the table and stared at his companion, she was sitting straight and still waiting for his response, she exuded an air of cool collectedness but if he looked close enough he could see the cracks in her facade, the hand that wasn't resting on the table was closed in a tight fist at her side, the set of her shoulders was a bit too tense, but most importantly she had a certain look of distrust in her eyes, a look he knew only too well, the look of someone who had been left behind. She was way too cautious to truly be at ease, and that showed that she was no fool. "You drive a hard bargain, Swan," he said at last, "and you're right, this is more than enough for safe passage out of this port, but you see, love, I'm but a greedy pirate and I would very much like to have that crown."

"I already told you what you need to do in exchange for it."

"Ah yes, and you were extremely vague too, who do you need to rescue from the midst of a war zone?" He asked.

"That is of no importance to you, Captain." She said after a moment of hesitation.

He could see how she held her secrets like a shield, too afraid to reveal any part of herself. "Just who are you, Swan?" He asked intrigued.

A wry smile appeared on her face. "Wouldn't you like to know?"

"Perhaps I would." He responded, a little more honesty in his voice than he intended.

A tense silence stretched between them as they bot sized up the other. He pondered weather taking a woman on his ship in exchange of this kind of payment was worth it, and he couldn't help but think that if it gave him the opportunity to take the truth out of Swan it definitely was. The immense treasure a jewel like the royal crown was aside, that kind of pure gold was hard to find, even in the most lavish of merchant and naval ships he had sunk. A good quantity like this was definitely worth taking someone a few ports up the coast. He was curious about the rest of her quest, even a bit tempted to agree, a bit of adventure could be good for him, but he needed to know more. "Can I see it?" He finally said, breaking the silence. "The crown?"

She carefully pulled the bag in her lap and took the glittering tiara on the table in between them. He let out a low whistle, it was certainly a thing of beauty and luxury, and he couldn't help but imagine it perched on top of her head, it would certainly suit her. The bright color of the sapphires and the constant glittering of the diamonds reflected the light across the chamber, and he was even more tempted to say yes to her proposition. "This for the full extent of your help, Captain." She reminded him, and swiftly put it back in her bag.

"I will take you to the last port of this kingdom for the gold, Swan." He said, listening as she exhaled a sigh of relief. "But if you want to convince me to accompany you in whatever quest you are on, you need to be as honest as you can with me, I don't go anywhere blindly, not even for a pretty lass like you."

"Thank you Captain," she responded, "but I'm afraid I can't tell you more."

"Well then, as much as I'd like to have that particular piece of jewelry I can't agree without more information. But worry not, I'm sure I'll know sooner or later, we have a long voyage ahead of us after all," he said with a shrug.

Swan shifted uncomfortably on her chair and gave him a challenging stare. "And what makes you think I would tell you anything more?" She asked.

He let out a small laugh at her discomfort, "You should try something new, darling, it's called trust."

The sounds of footsteps entering the deck interrupted whatever angry response she was about to throw at him. "Wait here, love, do not move." He said holding up one finger. He stood up and made his way back to the quarter deck to make sure it was his crew and not more of those blasted royal guards.

Opening the last door he could see the silhouettes of the few crewmen he had left behind at the tavern with Scarlet.

"Captain, I rounded them up as quick as I could, but that blasted rat Smee was a bit tricker to find." The first mate said.

"Oi!," said Smee from the back, "I was attending some business, mind you."

He smirked at the old man, knowing him whatever information he found would be of some value. "I'm Sure you were Mr. Smee," he said, "now, the night watch will continue as planned, look out particularly for any royal guards, they are not to put a foot on this ship. The rest of you, make preparations to sail at first light, and get any sleep you can."

Killian could see Scarlet swallowing back his question about the sudden change of plans, but he gave him a cold stare challenging to question him. "Aye, Captain," was the only thing he said.

"Get to work, men! I'll be back to check on everything soon, make sure to not make any drunken mistakes if you don't wish to be thrown overboard." He ordered before retreating back to his quarters, a chorus of "Yes, sir!" and "Aye, Captain!" following him inside.

Opening the door to the council chamber he saw Swan standing by the bookshelf at the corner of the room. "I thought I said to not move, lass." He said closing the door behind him.

If she was startled by his sudden presence she didn't show it. "You said that, but I didn't agree to anything." She said, turning around to face him. "Those where your men?"

"Aye, we will be ready to set sail at first light."

She went to the window and stared at the blurry lights of the town in the distance. "Why until then?" She asked, her voice once more strained.

He made his way to her side, standing so close that if any of them moved their arms would be touching. "If they are looking for you right now and a lone ship sailed off into the night at full speed, how would that look?" He asked to make his point.

She tore her eyes away from the window and looked up at him in understanding. "We would have half the navy after us within the hour," she responded.

"Aye, you see my point." Smart lass, he thought. "Come on, love, I will show you to your room for your time here. Don't worry, it's here in my quarters far from all the crew," he added at her alarmed expression, "the only scoundrel you have to worry about it's me."

"I'm not sure how that is supposed to reassure me." She said as she took her bag and followed him to the small hallway that exited the chamber. At the middle of it there where two opposite doors and another one at the very end.

Killian opened one of the first doors and showed her inside. "This will be yours for the remaining of our journey, I reckon you've paid enough to warrant you privacy and as much luxury as a pirate ship can offer."

Swan stepped inside and looked around the cabin, her eyes taking everything in. "Thank you, this is very generous of you," she said sincerely.

"I may be a pirate, love, but I'm always a gentleman, I wasn't about to let you bunk down with the crew, you are way too much temptation." He said.

"And I don't have anything to fear from you?" She challenged with an arched eyebrow.

He gave her sly smile, "Gentleman, love. Although if you do feel lonely at night and require some company I wouldn't refuse you." He pointed to the opposite door. "I'm just across the hall."

She huffed, "Don't count on it."

"If you say so, Swan," he shrugged, "well then, chamber pot is the last door of the hall, and like at said, if you require anything, don't hesitate to knock." He backed away until he was standing just outside the door.

"Good night, Captain." She said, starting to close the door, "Thank you," she added before fully closing it.

"Good night, Swan," he whispered to the closed door. He shook his head and headed back to deck to supervise his crew, but even as he was barking orders and eyeing the docks for any sign of activity, and even before falling in his bed for a few hours of sleep, he couldn't stop thinking of the intriguing woman who had captured his attention and was now sleeping across the hall from him.