The missing children, Day one.

Life can alter the course of even the bravest, boldest pirate's life. Who would have known; I was once Captain Hook, loathed and feared, loved by my crew and one woman who paid the price of her love for me with her heart. Other pirates bowed before me; no other man in the realm was as skilled a bladesman as I…

And now I sit, in the middle of my very well rooted apartment in Storybrooke, ship-less and tame, weeping for those whom I've lost to an unknown foe.

When I returned from my place of employment (Of course I have employment!), I found Emma sifting insanely through our home…

The children. They were gone.

She seemed desperate as she clung to my arms and I had a hard time making out what she was saying, but I did manage to understand when she said "I'm the savior… and I can't save my family."

We know not why, where or who took our children. All I know is the feeling; The feeling of seeing Emma Swan, the strongest, boldest, most beautifully audacious woman I've ever known, thrown in a heap of tears by the couch; The feeling of looking at toys and blankets scattered around the apartment in woeful silence; the feeling of emptiness upon seeing those broken picture frames on the floor, holding the precious memories of our two little ones and our boy; the feeling of longing and yearning as I hold the wee blanket of my little girl to my nose and I can still smell her.

I could not help myself. I fell to my knees and wept. I wept and sobbed and heaved and quivered until I felt my wife's embrace from behind me, sharing the burden. As always… my beautiful princess.

As it turns out, it seems ALL the babes in Storybrooke have gone astray. We received a desperate call from David, asking if per chance, if per blessed chance, we might have brought wee Neal home with us for some reason. Snow has no recollection of what ungodly event took place, she only remembers placing him in his little bed for nap time, heading down to her kitchen and feeling dizzy and sick…. Waking up on the floor and finding her little boy gone.

I still cannot think straight. The pain is far too intense. I miss them terribly.

It's an interesting thing, when these things happen to a person. When they happen to someone else, you feel sympathy and a modicum of ache for their loss… but when it happens to you, no sympathy, no small amount of empathic affection or words of wisdom suffice to dull the throbbing, pulsating ache of not knowing where your children are, of wondering if they've been fed or bathed if they're cold or warm…. alive or dead.

They are only children! What would anyone want with them? Henry and my little ones! Gods….

I shall, to my earnest, stand straight for Swan. I always have… I can't crumble much now. She is one who loses her own faith rather quickly and we all need our savior again. If there is anyone in this realm who can set this to sorts, it is her, although I do not want to utter this out loud, lest she feel burdened with such overwhelming accountability. Odds are, every child in Storybrooke is gone into the ocean and dead, or could have been taken away to another realm and finding them all will be near impossible for her…. But I still know she will do her best. Starting by the fact that she has over four thousand calls in wait at the precinct.

The missing children, Day Three.

My suspicions were correct. Not one infant has been found in town. The playgrounds are vacant, the schools are closed and all nurseries are temporarily suspended until further notice.

Swan blamed me first. She always does. Then she came about and forgave me even when I had done nothing wrong.

I'm use to her doing this; someone has to be accountable. I am her partner in life and I am more than glad to take the fist chest shot form her, because I know that her attempts at making heads from these dreadful tails we've been dealt are just that.

But for the life of us… we have no clue.

Regina and Rumple are at a loss as well. Rumple's wee one is also, as Swan says, M.I.A., so the meeting this particular time was somber and tearful, to say the least. I took one look at Belle and I was instantly reminded of my Swan three days ago. And even I have to say the Crocodile's demeanor is heartbreaking. David and Snow are no better; that poor woman has lost all her children to curses and witches; sure, she's recovered them, but such a kind soul shouldn't have had to, to begin with.

"What interest could anyone possibly have with our children?" David quipped. "They're only children!"

"Maybe it's the potential…" Regina sneered.

"Potential to what, finger-paint the entire town to oblivion?" Emma snapped.

I placed a hand on her shoulder and she toned down. "Swan…"

Emma looked at Regina and shook her head. "I'm sorry. I just…." I knew she was fighting tears and that made me fight my own. "Many of these missing children are no more than a few months old, days, even!" She huffed. "Whale has reported that the entire maternity ward has also disappeared!"

There was a collective gasp. It hurt to even think of it; newborn babes away from their mothers? This could prove to have a tragic outcome.

"That's what I mean, Miss Swan." Regina nodded calmly. "The potential. This could be something big."

"Could be?" Snow sobbed. "It already is."

"No, wait…" Rumple cut in and stood from holding Belle. "She's right. What is the one thing any of you lot can think of that would selectively pick out all the youngsters under the age of eighteen and make them disappear?"

I looked up into his eyes. "A curse."

"Indeed, pirate. Indeed." He nodded.

We all exchanged confused glances.

"But…" Belle sobbed. "Why would anyone cast a curse to take away all our children?"

Regina shook her head and walked to the other side of the room, where Robin sat, somber, one hand on his forehead. Marion hadn't even showed up; she had fallen ill at the loss of little Rowland. She placed a hand on his shoulder and looked at all of us. "Whoever did this… will not go unpunished. I suspect that whoever did this, is doing it to weaken the morale of the town."

"So… what, they're planning a takeover, whoever 'they' are?" Emma sneered.

"Does that surprise you, Miss Swan?" Rumplestiltskin shook his head.

David shook his head and sighed. "Anything can happen in this town…" he looked up to Regina. "Do you know of any curses that are designed only to take children?"

She shook her head. "No." she looked up to Rumple. "We have work to do, Mr. Gold."

"Aye, we do…" He nodded back. "In the meantime, I suggest we all go about our regular routines."

I laughed. "I don't know about you mate, but I truly have no desire to labor at the docks knowing my little ones are gone…"

"And that is precisely the reason WHY you have to do it!" David barked at me. "If Regina and Gold are right, Hook, whoever did this is trying to get to us. We shouldn't give him or her that advantage."

"Wait…" Emma frowned. "There was a new guy in town."

"Yeah…" David frowned. "He came in with the tide, caused a freak rise in the waters a week ago."

"Aye, I remember that. You called, needed extra hands…" I shrugged. "Or… hand."

That got me a little hand squeeze by Emma. I at least could still bring a little humor into her sunken, aching heart, at least. I live for moments like those.

Belle stood up. "Wait…. His name was John Piper." She licked her lips. "He came into the shop one afternoon, remember, Rumple?"

"I don't recall." He sneered.

"Yeah!" she nodded back at all of us. "He was all dressed in red, said he had only the memory of one thing he possessed… he said he was from the Enchanted Forest and that he had come to Storybrooke looking for one article that might have been swept away with the last curse!" she looked to the floor. "He seemed rather desperate, now that I recall. He left his name jotted on a piece of paper if I should find it."

Regina paced to her. "And just what was he looking for, Belle?"

She frowned. "I… can't recall. But I believe it was a…" Realization befell our local young beauty. She looked at all of us, her mouth open. "…a flute."

Snow gasped. "John Piper…"

"The Pied Piper of Hammelin." Emma shook her head and sighed. "Well, at least we have a start."

"Wait…" Rumple cut in. "Pan had been the one to lure the children with his pipe. He nearly lured Bae away right under my nose…"

I huffed. "Pan is dead."

"That, he is. So if this man is the real pied piper, he must have taught Pan the arts of luring children away."

"Belle…" Emma stood up. "Time to get into your dusty old books, find out all you can about this man. Regina, Rumple…" She turned to them. "Let's see if you can figure out a way to recreate this curse."

Robin finally held his head up to us. "And what will the rest of us be doing? I don't fancy sitting idly by, conjuring up ideas of where our children could be."

"We'll be getting ready." She replied. "I've crossed realms before to get my son, I know what I have to do." She turned to me and fell into my arms. I held her and rocked her, reassuring her that she was on track, before she turned back to all of them. "If this is the guy and he's done what we think… then I know where the children all are. Killian?"

"Yes, darling?"

she grinned. "I know it's not the Jolly Roger, but do you think you'd be able to Captain one of the larger ships we have?"

I grinned and winked at her. "Hey… it's me!"

"Excuse me!" Regina cut in. "Just what will the point of that be?"

She turned sharply to Regina. "We'll need a large vessel… to bring them ALL back." She huffed. "We should also find a bean. Someone get Anton to hand one down."

"Pardon me love… who is…Anton?" I sneered.

She turned a look of disbelief to me. "Tiny!"

"Oh the little fella! Yeah, I remember him." I smiled at her. "Hard to forget the shackle in his palace…"

She smiled at me. "A day after we met…" She stepped close to me.

"Aye…"

We kissed. I sensed that's what people in love do.

"I hate to break up your little valentine's date, but there are children missing!" Regina urged.

I looked at her and stepped up to the once upon a time Queen. "Listen, love… right now, she is all I got and I'm all she's got. I sense the same applies to all of us here. So please, spare us the bitterness. We WILL find these children. " I turned a grin to my Swan. "I've yet to see her fail…"

Regina sighed and nodded. "Fine then. Let's all find something of use to do until we can get to…" she turned to Emma. "Where is it we're headed to this time, Miss Swan?"

Emma grinned confidently. "Hamelin. I can bet my butt that the town named Hamelin in Germany was named after a whole realm. If the pied piper exists, so does this place."

Snow stood and hugged her daughter. "You never let us down, Emma."

"I hope I don't…" She wept as she held her mum back. "For all our sakes…"

Later that night, Swan and I lay in bed, simply holding each other in silence.

"Darling…"

"Hmm?"

"Whatever happens…" I said to her. "Let's not ever, ever fall apart."

She chuckled and held me to her. "Not on your life, Pirate."

I kissed her head. "We WILL find them, love. Have faith. You can do it. We can do it!"

She looked at me. "Why do you always have such faith in me?"

I shrugged. "And why should I not? Not even Cora was able to rip out your stout heart, my love, and she was the most powerful witch in all the realms. You, Emma Swan…"

"Jones…"

"Swan, for practical purposes…" I continued. "…you are the Savior. You are the one who can do this."

"Killian…" she whispered. "what if they… what if…?"

"Shh don't!" I stopped her. "They are alive. I know it, they're my blood too and I can feel it! And should I be wrong…" I caressed her face. "I will remain at your side. No matter what."

That was the last thing uttered this day. We shall set sail to this Hamelin place as soon as we have the bean and the ship is ready.

I SHALL get our children back; alive or dead, they WILL return home to Storybrooke.