Disclaimer: Property of A&E and ABC. Not Mine.

There's a fluttering sensation in the pit of his stomach as Hades turns the key. It isn't question of insecurity; it doesn't take a rocket scientist to organize a few books. He's bothered by the responsibility. The heroes actually trust him to do this. It's weird, the accountability of it all. He's not sure he likes it.

He shrugs out of his new tweed jacket and hangs it on a peg in the back room. Emma Swan may not be overly fond of him, but she was generous with the donation of clothing. Recently laundered as well – the sickly sweet smell of fabric softener is lingering in his nostrils. Where'd she get all those shirts and pants? How'd she know they'd fit? But logic says he's better off not knowing. Don't look a gift horse in the mouth and all. He has more important things to do than worry about whose khakis he's wearing. Things like this job.

He dedicates the next twenty minutes to examining every nook and cranny of the library. It's not much different than the one he created in the Underworld. There are two back rooms off the main area – one much larger than the other. All need tidying, as books are scattered everywhere. The front, including the circulation counter, is also a shambles. There's a small stairwell far in the back that leads to a locked door. He'll have to ask Regina about that later.

He spends the morning cleaning up the front, including wiping down the circulation desk and the front windows. There's nothing worse than staring at dust all day. Hades has seen enough grime and soot to last a lifetime. When that's finished, he focuses on tidying up the back rooms, piling the books for re-stacking later. But once he's done filing them all away, there won't be much else for him to do. The whole place has been meticulously organized; Belle ran her library like a well-oiled machine. Hades has to give the woman some credit. She might not be good for much, but books were definitely her cup of tea.

He wonders what will happen if and when she returns. The rumor mill back at the mansion says the Dark One is in a distant land, looking for a new way to wake his wife from the sleeping curse. A part of him, a sliver of a part really, does feel sorry for Rumplestiltskin. The man loves his wife dearly, but True Love has been denied to them. At least Hades could say he had it, even if it all went to hell in a hand basket twenty-four hours later.

As the afternoon progresses, it seems he and Belle might be the only true bookworms in this two-bit town. Regina wasn't kidding when she said his first days might be slow. His only patron thus far is a tall, thin man with curly red hair who speaks in overly cheerful tones. Hades pegs him as a hero from the moment he walks through the door. He isn't sure which one though, and the book the man borrows on historical psychology offers no clues.

Hades plops his rear onto the black leather office chair behind the counter. Twinges of boredom are eating away at his mind. He spins around slowly, wondering what the hell Belle did here all day. He opens the drawers and cabinets of the circulation desk, and finds nothing but files and a dog-eared paperback. Maybe she read when things were quiet. Given her nature, it probably was heaven for her. He could use this free time for research – priority one being restoring his body and power. He'll need both if he ever thinks to get his revenge on Zelena.

Fifteen minutes later, as the mid-afternoon sun is highlighting the few remaining dust motes in the air, Hades is nose-deep in the Iliad. He ruled out the idea of research when he saw his favorite book's cover jutting out from the pile on the table in the back room. It's a beautiful copy too, older with a thick mahogany leather binding and laced with the telltale scent of aged paper and ink. He's at the scene in Book III, where Alexander is about to battle Menelaus, when the slam of the library door jars him out of his reverie. The window next to him rattles as his latest customer stomps towards the back room. It's his young benefactor, Henry. Curious, Hades follows him.

"How might I help you?"

The teen doesn't respond. Instead he walks to the table overloaded with books and starts shuffling them around, pushing some to the floor.

"Hey," Hades hollers. "Hey kid! I have to clean that up you know. What are you looking for?"

"The book. It has to be here."

"Which book?"

Henry sends him such a disparaging look that Hades has to smile. Teenagers are so impatient. It's entertaining. Maybe he can get him to do that eye-roll thing, too. "I'm certain we can find it," Hades says in his best patronizing tone. "This is a library after all. There are many books. Why don't you let me help you?"

That does it. Henry slams both hands flat onto the table and shouts, "Why does everyone think I need their help? I am not a child any more!"

Oh, this is too easy. "You sure? Because you're doing a pretty good impression of one right now."

Henry's words are peppered with indignant rage. "If you were me, you'd understand."

"Kid, I was you. All us boring adults were teenagers just like you at one point in time. You study Biology in school yet? Maybe you need a refresher course."

Hades is delighting in baiting the boy, but Henry's next response catches him off guard. The boy stares straight through him, a scouring gaze that seems to dig right into his soul. "You're different, aren't you? You sure don't sound like a knight. Why is that?"

Whoa. Kid is perceptive for his age. Given his hero parentage, Hades wonders if it is a precursor to magical ability. Then again, isn't the kid the Author too? Hades brushes him off. "I read a lot. I pay attention. That's all."

"No," Henry states simply. "I think it's more than that. Which means, you might be able to help me."

Hades raises an eyebrow in question. "Oh? And now you are willing to accept my help whereas five minutes ago I was persona non grata?"

"Keep talking like that and you'll just prove my point further."

"Keep disrespecting me and I'll tell both your mothers you were disruptive and rude and a hot head. Again."

They both glare at each other for a full fifteen seconds. Then Henry smiles, which makes Hades smile, and within moments they are both grinning like idiots at each other.

"Truce?" Henry asks.

"Truce." Hades sticks out his hand, and the teen grasps it firmly and shakes it, as an adult man would. Interesting. He did this last night too. Hades has to ask. "Someone teach you how to do that?"

"Do what?"

"Shake hands like a man."

Henry's eyes are downcast. "My dad did."

Hades scans his memory. Who sired the boy again? He is the Savior's, from a teen pregnancy, but he can't remember anything beyond that. Damn it, it's someone with significance too. With a flash of insight, he realizes he doesn't have to remember, he can actually ask the boy. It's a foreign concept, actually communicating with people to learn about them, rather than studying them from afar. "Tell me about him."

"His name was Neal when he was with my mom, but he grew up in the Enchanted Forest years and years ago as Baelfire. You know Rumplestiltskin? The 'wizard' that brought you all here? He's my grandfather." Henry's words are factual, but the tone behind them echoes a mixture of sadness and pride. He adds, "My dad was his son."

Hades studies the boy again, this time with a different, critical eye. Little Henry has a pretty powerful family tree behind him. Yet there really aren't any hints of it, neither good nor evil. Intriguing. Hades asks another leading question, unsure why he's encouraging the teen to talk, but doing so just the same. "He sounds like he was important. Was he a wizard too?"

"No, he was just an ordinary person, like you and me. He was smart, though. And brave. He could fight too, if he needed too. He loved my mom a lot." The boy's tone drops a notch. "He died, saving my grandfather."

There is a hint of dissention in that last statement, so Hades pokes at it a bit, curious to see if the boy will admit it. "It must bother you, seeing your mom with another man. The pirate."

"Honestly? It did at first but now it doesn't so much. My mom really loves Killian – that's Captain Hook to you. I pretty sure he loves her too. She's not the best with emotions, but he stuck by her when she pushed him away. He's been good for her."

The boy's loyalty, it's staggering. Truly the offspring of heroes. Hades is about to let the conversation die off when Henry continues, "He's cool and all, but he's not real great with the whole 'dad' thing."

Hades barks out a laugh. Imagining Hook with a baby like Zelena's in his arms, dressed in dad jeans and living out the simple life is hysterical. Yeah, that'll never happen. Henry's eyes are narrow slits, and Hades swallows his amusement into a cough. Recovering, he says, "Pirates aren't known for their parenting abilities."

Henry's next statement blindsides him. "You have any children?"

"Me? No."

"Married?"

"No."

"You have a girlfriend? Someone that came with you maybe?"

"Kid, what's with the third degree? I'm just an ordinary guy. Nothing special."

"Uh huh." Something sparks in the teen's eyes. "I can look you up, you know."

"What?" A chill runs up Hades' spine. Seems that flash was insight. Young Henry clearly inherited the Dark One's sharp mind.

"In the book. The storybook. I can go find your story."

Uh oh. Did his pages ever make it back into that blasted book? Zelena had them last, right? What if there are new ones – about his reincarnation from the Void and becoming Rhye the Knight?

"I doubt I'm in your book, kid. I'm not that interesting."

"Help me find it, and we'll see." There is absolute smugness in Henry's tone.

Hades can't help it. He's starting to like him.

ooooooooooooooooooo

They eventually find the godforsaken storybook resting on one of the carts in the far corner of the room furthest from the front door.

"This book is what makes all of this," Henry says with a sweeping gesture, "possible. This is the book that came with the curse my mom Regina cast to create all of Storybrooke. It has everyone's story in it."

This isn't news. Hades is all too familiar with the rotten book. "Why do you need it?"

"I want to use it, to help the people like you who came here finish their stories. I did something similar in the Underworld… that's like Hell I guess to you… to help the souls that were trapped there." Henry scowls. "My moms are against the idea, they say it won't work. That I shouldn't write at all. But I want to prove them wrong, and I need the book to do that."

Hades tries to keep his expression neutral. He's more than aware of what the boy did with his Author abilities. "How can a book help people?" he asks. It certainly didn't help him, now did it? But he needs to let Henry explain, so that it doesn't appear like he knows more than he should.

"Oh! I am the Author." Henry reaches into his jacket and pulls out an oddly shaped fountain pen. "I can write people's stories, and what I write comes true."

A new idea dawns in Hades' mind. What if Henry could write him back into his body? The Fates said the magic was rare. Nothing is more rare than the Author – there's only one per generation as far as he knows. The young boy has no idea what type of power he holds. With one sentence he could change Hades' fate. He could change anyone's fate.

"That's a pretty powerful pen. You can change almost anything, with just a few words."

"Yeah, but… I can't. I won't. The previous Author used the pen for his own selfish needs, and it corrupted him."

Of course. Noble all the way. "I see."

"I did use it - once. It was a mistake. It didn't make things better. It actually put a lot of people I love in jeopardy."

Hades isn't aware of this part of the story. The last he knew, Henry had the book, the pen and the ink from the Underworld and was damnably freeing all his lovely doomed souls. He plops down on one of the chairs by the table piled with books. "Sounds rough. What happened?" He gestures for Henry to sit as well.

Henry frowns. "I don't want to talk about it." There's nothing but remorse in the boy's words.

"Hey kid, nobody's perfect. You're only mor… human after all." Whoops. Hopefully he didn't catch that. Hades drones on, "We all make mistakes, right?" Henry isn't buying it, so he digs a little deeper. "Even I've made mistakes."

Something clenches in his gut when he says the words aloud. It's uncomfortable, and Hades struggles to dismiss it. It's lunacy – this concept of guilt. Gods don't make mistakes. Gods do what they want, when they want, and to hell with everyone else.

Luckily for him, the admission seems to have softened Henry, and the teen does pull up a chair next to him. "You are different," he tells Hades, "but I'm not sure it's a bad thing." He heaves a sigh, one more suitable for an adult than a drama-laced teenager. The boy's eyes darken to a deep olive color. "I'm going to trust you. This isn't something I want everyone to know. You okay with that?"

The way he says it, it is almost like a spell is being woven. Maybe he does have magic. If Hades agrees, he has to own up to it. He has to actually be trustworthy and keep the boy's story a secret. "Yeah, I get it. So… what happened?"

Henry then proceeds to tell Hades about Robin Hood's death, and how it broke Regina's heart. Yeah, nothing new. However, the teen then took it upon himself to solve the problem – he would remove all the magic from this world, and then people couldn't use it to kill. Hades is intrigued and horrified to learn that a piece of the Olympian Crystal remained after he died, and that Rumplestiltskin used it to consolidate all of Storybrooke's magic in an attempt to break the sleeping curse on Belle. Hopefully Henry will say what happened with the crystal, as that could be another piece of the puzzle to return him to his rightful state. Options are appearing by the minute, and it's Henry who seems to be the gatekeeper of them all. Suddenly, it all makes sense. Henry is the ally Hades needs.

He returns to listening to the teen, who is explaining how he used his Author's power to take the crystal from the Dark One. That's a noteworthy little tidbit – the crystal isn't exactly that easy to conjure around. Henry then hopped on a bus to New York City, of all places, to pursue his dad's quest to destroy all magic. This led him to a library, and the discovery of many other copies of the ever-annoying storybook. "That's why I need this one," he tells Hades. "I want to use it to see if I can get the stories from the other ones to show up in here. That way I can finish those stories."

Hades would have just gone and stolen them. "I take it stealing the actual books from this library is not an option?"

The look of affront on Henry's face is almost comical. "No way! The New York Public Library's security is probably doubled after what we did there." The boy actually thinks about it for a second before replying, "No. It wouldn't work. I need to get the stories here using magic somehow."

Hades actually wants to hear what happened with the crystal, so he steers the boy back on track. "What did you do at that library?"

"Violet, she's my uh… friend, she found the Dark Grail in a cabinet in the room where the books were. We kind of smashed the cabinet and stole it. My theory was that the Light Grail, the one that brought magic into all the realms, could be counteracted by the Dark One. It could take all the magic away."

"Did it?"

"Yeah, it did. I was going to use it on the crystal right there in the library, but my grandfather came and took it from me. My moms had followed me into New York City somehow, and when they found me and Violet, I told them what happened. Then they went after Rumplestiltskin to get the crystal back. They needed it to get my other grandparents and my aunt and Killian back from some other land."

Henry looks at Hades with mind astonishment. "Hey! Your land! That's where they were! They got trapped there because I took the crystal out of Storybrooke, but I didn't know that back then." Henry sighs again. "Violet and I followed my moms into the hotel where my grandfather was, and I used the Dark Grail on that crystal and drained all its magic."

Hades can't hold back his gasp. Damn! The crystal is toast. There goes that option. Wait, what did he say about his aunt?

The boy's words are mired with regret. "I never should have done it. If I wasn't able to get the people of New York to wish them back, my family would have been trapped in your world forever."

Okay, the kid needs to back up a bit. "Wait, who are these other grandparents and the aunt? How did they get to my world?"

"Oh! Yeah, so you met Snow White, right? And her husband, David, the sheriff? He's Prince Charming. They mentioned they ran into you knights a couple of weeks ago. Anyway, they're my mom Emma's parents. And my aunt is Zelena. She's my other mom Regina's sister. Zelena is… well she was the Wicked Witch of the West from Oz but I doubt you'd know where that is. She and my mom used to fight a lot and really, my aunt wasn't the nicest person. She's done some pretty nasty things in her day." Henry pauses for a moment, looking out towards the street. "She and my mom Regina both have. But now she's better and they're better… because… well, they went through a lot. And Killian…er… Captain Hook you already know."

Henry's description of Zelena is telling. He's unsure what she did to Henry, but she certainly did something. The teen hasn't quite forgiven her, but he's trying, probably for Regina's sake. Hades prompts the boy again. "You have quite the complicated family tree. So how exactly did they get trapped?"

"When I took the crystal out of Storybrooke into New York City, I took the magic with me. It messed up a portal Zelena created and sucked them in. I don't know a lot about what happened with them, it was all going on at the same time I was trying to get rid of magic."

"And you brought them from my realm to this New York using… what? Wishes?"

With this, Henry blushes a bit. "Well, I kind of made people believe in magic. New York City is, well, it's part of a land with no magic. No one believes in it there. But they're wrong! There is magic in it, it's just different. One of their ways of magic is to use a penny – it's a type of money - to make a wish. You close your eyes, make your wish, and then toss the penny into a fountain of water. Once, when I was living there with my mom Emma, I made a wish. I knew she was sad, so I tossed a penny into that exact fountain and wished for her to be happy. A few days later we came back here to Storybrooke because Killian found her. And she was happy."

The boy's eyes are earnest. "See? It was a type of magic. So after I realized what I did by destroying the crystal, I got up and asked the people, all the people that were around, if they could help me. I asked them to toss a penny into the fountain, and make a wish for my family to come home. All they had to do was believe, just for a second, that their wishes could come true. It took some convincing, but the people finally started tossing pennies into the fountain and making wishes. According to my mom Regina, the crystal started to glow again. More people showed up and did the same - and then a portal opened, right in the middle of the fountain, and my grandparents, my aunt and Killian all came through."

Hades tries hard not to gape at the boy. Henry has no idea of the power he holds if he can get New Yorkers to agree to make a wish on his behalf, and have the sheer act of believing actually generate enough magic to recharge the Olympian Crystal and create a portal to a lost realm.

"Wow. That's some story." Hades taps the book in the boy's lap. "Is it in here?"

"No, I don't think so. I haven't written it, and only I can write the stories."

Hades has to know. "What happened to this crystal?"

"Oh! My mom Regina brought it back and infused it back into Storybrooke." Henry motions towards the front of the library. "She did it right in the street out there."

Well, that ends that option. Hades doubts the crystal could be extracted out from the enchanted town. It's gone, as is his hope of using it. However, he might not need it. His new young friend might be the real solution to all his problems.