Sorry about the delay; the Easter holls dragged me out of my home for a couple of days to catch some sun, but I'm back. I actually did think how I was going to go about the next chapters while I was in the pool.

Thanks a lot for the comments and reviews and likes and follows and faves. I'm enjoying writing this! I hope you continue enjoying reading through it as much as I enjoy writing it!

Emma hadn't seen Devlin since he was discharged from the hospital a week before. She had tried calling, visiting his boat (which still bore the dried up blood puddle where he had lost his hand), texting… but nothing.

She figured she might get something out of his manager; he was always in his store. Always.

The bell atop the door rang as she let herself in. Mr. Gold was cleaning what looked like an old, folding spyglass, and he looked up at Emma as she paced to him. "Whatever it is you want, dearie, you could very well come in here during business hours. I'm closed for the day."

Emma looked at the spyglass with a frown and licked her lips as he put it back inside the glass cabinet. "You're the band's manager, so you should know…" She huffed. "I've asked everyone in town and no one has seen Devlin for a week, not even the Jolly Rogers. Do you know anything?" Gold looked at her with a poker-faced glare and she returned it with equal desultory intensity. "Last time I saw him he spoke about giving you his guitars as payment of his debt. I know you're not gonna let him off the hook so easily."

"Off the hook…" He smiled and chuckled. "Ironic that you should choose that particular wording, love." He looked at her again. "He indeed gave me his guitars, amps and pedals. In all it added up to maybe eight thousand dollars; Still not enough to cover the debt by a long shot…"

"You're not gonna cut him any slack, are you?"

"A debt is a debt, Miss Swan." He raised a finger. "If I recall correctly, you too owe me a favor there… when I allowed Miss Ashley to keep her baby."

"Oh wow, am I condemned to a ball and chain as well?" She answered seriously.

"I will make use of that favor when the time is right. However…" He licked his lips. "I too wish I knew where Kragen is. He came in with his things and I haven't seen him since."

"Why do I sense you're not telling me the truth?"

"Ah, that famous skill of yours, Sheriff." He sighed and placed both hands on the counter. "However hard you wish that I were lying, I double that wish. I do hope you find him soon, Miss Swan. It will not do him or I any good if he tries to leave this town."

"Well, I wouldn't blame him if he did." She replied dryly.

Gold grinned and stepped out from behind the counter, limping. "There is something you have to see, Miss Swan. Would you kindly come with me to the back of the shop?"

Emma squinted her eyes but followed Gold with her hand on her hip, ready to draw and shoot if he as much as twitched a little too suddenly.

At the back of the shop, he walked to a tall rack and opened the top cabinet. He produced an object covered in fabric and placed it on the table. He unveiled it and displayed a large leather-clad box… an empty box at that.

Emma sneered and looked up at him. "What am I supposed to make out of this? He gave you his guitars but stole a fiddle from you?"

Gold chuckled. "This, miss Swan, is a case for a seventeenth-century, custom-made hand prosthetic. Mr. Kragen showed keen interest in it a while back as a prop for his band image, but I refused to let him have it. It is, you could say, a wee bit dangerous, especially with a man with his particular… mental stability."

Emma frowned and closed her eyes. "A hook… it's a hook."

"Aye, that it is, Miss Swan." He closed the box. "I noticed it was missing after he came here to leave his instruments…" He raised his eyes at her. "I've known your rocking little boyfriend for a while longer than you, Emma… and believe me when I tell you that our dear Captain has all but lost the bolts on his hinges. I will not deny I fear for my life… but all the more, I fear for his…"

"Since when do you give a crap about him?" she answered coldly. "You never forgave him for taking your wife, why should I believe you have HIS best interest at heart?"

"Because, dearie…" He leaned forward, approaching her face. "...much as I grieve over the past heartache he and my late former wife caused me, he is the key to my future… and yours." Emma could have sworn she saw his eyes twinkle in gold and yellow for a second. "Miss Swan, there is much more to you than you imagine. Things are starting to take a turn for the worst. Believe me…. It's in everyone's best interest if you find him before Regina does… or before he finds me."

He slammed the box shut and Emma licked her lips. "I doubt he'd hurt me…"

"Oh, he won't…" He smiled. "He's positively besotted over you, after your little cabin rendezvous."

Emma's eyes widened. "How did you…?"

"Small town, dearie; Small town."

"You really are on top of everything, aren't you?" She blushed.

"What's important…" he smiled villainously. "It's what's behind that little event."

"It was a one-time thing."

"For now, maybe…" he walked her out to the front of the shop. "But every princess needs her prince… or her pirate." He winked at her.

Emma rolled her eyes. "You are starting to sound like my son, now."

"Am I? Well, then, if you won't hear me out, you might want to listen to the boy. He has, let's say, a far better outlook on this than most people." He side grinned. "Miss Swan, we have a new gang in town."

"Billy Bones… Yeah I know of them. Goth rock, not my cup of tea."

"They are the ones who set light to the radio station."

Emma shook her head. "How do you know this?"

He paced patiently around the shop. "Oh, I just do. One regular person would immediately think it's all about band rivalry; others, however…" he flicked his fingers upward with a cheeky grin. "…might see it as an attempt to put a damper on something that will change the course of this town's particular fate… an attempt by someone who is willing to go to any length to remain in control of everything and everyone in this town… including your son."

Emma pressed her lips together. "Regina… They're working for Regina…"

He walked to her and stood nearly nose to nose to her. "In light of the grievous kind of ordeal we face if this chain gang goes unchallenged, Emma, I suggest you find your boy and look over that book once again before you even attempt to find Mr. Kragen." He sneered. "If not… it all might just get too messy." Having said this, he turned and headed back to the back of the shop. "You know the way out, dearie."

Something in Emma's stomach twisted hard and she didn't think twice before turning tail and running out, climbing in her bug and riding to Regina's in a frenzy. She stopped a few yards from the property and produced her radio. "Hello, Kid, Operation Cobra needs help here, over…"

It took a couple of calls more for Henry to reply. "I get you, Emma, over."

"You were right, kid… this is a major Cobra emergency. Need to meet you ASAP, I'm a block away from your place. Bring your book…" Emma rolled her eyes and sighed as she said those final words. "Over."

"Why don't you come to me? I'm at the sand dune, where the castle used to be. It's empty, there's no one here, we can talk… over."

"On my way… over."

Never in her life had Emma believed there would be anything that would make her even give this whole delusion of her son's the time of day, but her instinct alone was pounding within her like Sugar Ray Leonard. She couldn't understand it; sure, he was a cool guy, famous and charismatic and god knew he was good looking; he had been the first to show true kindness to her since Henry's dad eleven years earlier and seemed to know her better than most people, but one night of sex in the cabin didn't exactly make Devlin Kragen her one true soul mate! Besides, he had just endured a terrible ordeal and was, as Gold had so eloquently put it, a bit off his hinges.

So why, then, did she feel deep down that it was just vitally important on a personal level for Devlin to be found?

As Emma parked around the curve, Henry ran to her and got in the car. "Ok, I take it you've seen that the pirates are here."

"Pirates… on Harleys. Yeah, you could say that." She nodded. "I just wanna take a look at that book of yours for a second, Henry."

As she went through the pages, she thought of places where Devlin could be hiding… as well as his entire purpose to go missing. Henry cut into her thoughts. "So, you said you had recruited Captain Hook… where is he? Does he know?"

Emma closed her eyes, and winced. "Well, he's kind of… Missing in Action right now Henry."

"WHAT?" He jumped.

"I'm actually trying to find him before the other guys do."

"Of course!" he raised his hands. "They're trying to destroy him too!" He looked at her. "We need to get them all together, fast!"

As Emma reached the page where Captain Hook was depicted fighting Long John Silver, the wind started to pick up outside. Emma turned another page and read about the famous one handed character. She winced at the illustration, showing a ravaged, angry, blue, eyed man, holding a left hook by his face, plotting revenge. The text read: "He knew, if he was to beat his foe, he needed to make it clear who he was: No other pirate could be fiercer, angrier and more vengeful than Killian Jones. But deep in his heart, his soul yearned for redemption, a magic word, a soft hand that would stop him from delivering the fatal blow to his foe. Within his solitary wooden confinement, Hook yearned for love, his only possible savior."

She looked up and sneered. "Wooden confinement?"

Henry shrugged. "I've been trying to make out what the heck that means too." He looked at Emma. "I saw in the news what happened to Devlin Kragen. I know he is the one. How did you meet him?"

"What?"

"His band is pretty awesome. I have their record, but my mom doesn't know it. It's in my iPod…" he nodded confidently.

She laughed. "Long story, kid."

"We need to get him back!"

"Yeah…" She side-grinned. "Working on it."

An increasingly powerful storm had now replaced the cold drizzly wind that had started minutes earlier. Emma looked up from beneath her windshield. "Where the hell did that come from?"

"This is Storybrooke, Emma. Expect the unexpected."

She looked at Henry and pressed her lips together. "I'm gonna have to drop you off. Can't let you walk out there."

The boy shrugged and nodded. "Ok… but we're wasting time. You need to find Hook."

"Look, I'm the sheriff, leave that to me." She smiled as she started the car engine.

As she pulled over, Regina opened the door to her porch. Henry ran out and tried to the best of his ability to shield himself from the rain as he passed by his adoptive mother and up to his room. Emma followed him and was stopped by the brown eyed Mayor with a single hand to her chest. "Whoa, Sheriff, where do you think...?"

"Kragen's missing." She blurted. "We need to talk."

Regina chuckled. "I fail to see how that concerns me."

"Well, you are the Mayor of this town." Emma challenged. "The well-being of your citizens should be your primary concern. As far as I know, that includes Devlin Kragen.

Regina huffed. "And what do you want from me?"

"The truth." Emma spat back. "That new metal band that came into town last week? They're not here for the pizza, lady."

Regina scowled and crossed her arms. "I'm afraid that you're not making any sense, Miss Swan. What have I got to do in band rivalry issues?"

"Well, Devlin's stolen a rather valuable tool to start poking a few eyes out. And given that he just lost his hand and that he has a long standing grudge with Mr. Gold that's pretty much driving him up the wall, I'm thinking that a biker gang chasing him down might just push that final button that regulates his sanity..." She raised an eyebrow. "I'm sure you don't want to speak to the papers about how Kragen gutted a guy with a thunder tattoo across his face."

Regina held her stare, but her regular, chilled grin had disappeared. "Well, I suppose that certain measures will be necessary. You of all people should know how to get to the man, what with your... little dalliance..."

Emma huffed hard and shook her head. "Small town, I know..."

That got Regina's smile back. "Smaller than you think."

"Well, whatever. Truth is, I have no idea where he is. No one does."

Regina smirked. "Looks like we might have to think it over as a team." She swallowed. "Won't you come in?"

"No thanks."

"Miss Swan, I am not going to stand here in the middle of a storm chatting and raising my voice; now either you come in or you leave my property!"

Emma narrowed her eyes and pressed her lips tight, following Regina indoors. She hated that house; it was much like her office at Town Hall: Cold, austere and much like a museum, where one cannot touch a thing. She followed Regina to the kitchen and sat on a stool by the island while Regina dove into the oven. "You might not be my favorite person in the world, Emma..." she huffed as she produced a large tray with what had to be said were some delicious looking turnovers. "But even I can hold a civil conversation with your sort."

"My sort?"

"Yeah. YOUR sort. The kind that like to dally with the bad boys, sort."

Emma sighed and started to stand up. "I don't have to listen to this..."

"Nonetheless..." Regina interrupted. "... I too have to admit when a person is right." She placed the turnovers in a tray. "Kragen's a liability; he must be stopped before he kills someone. And that... is YOUR job, Sheriff."

"I just needed to ask you one thing, Regina." Emma replied. "What do you get out of all this?"

Regina looked offended. "I beg your pardon?"

"I know there's something behind all this. I have witnesses that indeed saw the bikers talking to you the day Kragen lost his hand."

"I really don't have to explain my work affairs with you Miss Swan, but I'll play along." She took one turnover and placed it in a bag. "They did come here, on my request. I am the one who signed as responsible for Jonathan's Legwood parole and I had him see me about some irregularities." She smirked. "I have the papers to prove it."

Emma bit on her lip, thinking that perhaps she could be using his parole permit as means to get him to do her bidding.

"I was told you don't really like Devlin Kragen very much." Emma said, eyeing the turnovers.

Regina shook her head. "I don't. I am not one of those liberal hippie haired freaks who believe rock and roll lifestyles are a good example for the young. However, it is a free country." She placed the plastic bag in front of Emma.

"What is this?" Emma sneered.

"An apple turnover, Miss Swan."

Emma furrowed her brow. "Why are you giving me this?"

"I made too many."

In spite of her long standing feud against Regina for the love of their son, Emma had been glancing at the turnovers for a while, so she simply nodded, grabbed the bag and looked at Regina. "Thank you."

"You're welcome. Now I suggest," Regina replied as she dusted her hands, "...that you go find that one-handed freak and retrieve that hook from him before he does something with it!" she nodded. "You might want to try looking in the woods, close to the well. It's a much frequented stop for pot-smokers."

Emma sighed and slipped out, ran to her car and drove to the well area, still thinking about what Devlin could do with the hook he...

She was already halfway there when she suddenly realized, she had never told Regina that it had been the prosthetic hook that had been stolen from Gold's shop.

She turned with a sudden jerk of the wheel... and her passage was cut by the image of five motorbikes blocking her way... together with the five towering owners of the vehicles.

"Oh shit..." she huffed, as one of them, the biggest, stepped to her and broke the glass of her window with a bat.

"Hello there, pretty..." he growled, and pulled her by the hair, trying to pull her out through the window.

A sudden thud knocked the man to the floor. He released his grip on Emma's hair and she winced, taking her hand to the place where at least a good half inch patch of it had been ripped from the root, leaving a small bloody wound. She looked back up and in front of her, lit by the headlights, was Devlin, fighting with the man who now Emma knew had to be Jonathan Legwood. In spite of being half of Legwood's size, Devlin didn't cower and even seemed to be welcoming the quarrel. He didn't easily take a beating, either. He somehow cleverly wacked Legwood across the face with the back of the... hook. Yes, he had it in the place where his hand should have been, shining with the reflection of the headlights. Legwood was temporarily stunned and Emma saw in horror how the other four bikers were making their way towards Devlin. He didn't stand a chance.

She reached over and opened her car door, honking the horn for him. "COME ON!" she shouted.

Devlin took one look, smiled and leapt over her hood to slide himself into the side-seat. Before he could even shut the door, Emma had turned with a screeching noise and sped like hell through the rain in the highway.

Whole she was trying to recover from the shock, Devlin was exhilarated, laughing and screaming.

"SHUT UP!" she finally shouted, trying to focus on the road through burning tears. "Are you fucking insane, Devlin? Are you out of your fucking mind?"

"Every bit at that!" he laughed. "did you see the looks on their faces, love? We make a brilliant team!"

"We are NOT a team!" she shouted back, livid. "That guy broke my window! He was pulling me out by the hair, Devlin, is that really that hilarious to you?!"

Panting, Devlin was about to reply when he saw the blood trickling down the side of her head. His maniacal huffing stopped at the sight of it. "You're hurt..." he mumbled.

"Damn right, I'm hurt! Damn right!"

"Pull over."

"No" she shouted hysterically. "Not with those fuckers coming behind!"

"They're long gone!"

"No!"

"You're going too fast, love! You'll kill us both and my death is not something I..."

"Shut up!"

"Stop, Emma!" he reached for the wheel and jerked it to the side, causing the beetle to turn sideways. Emma took her foot to the pedal and the bug swerved with the tires making their trademark screeching noise. Then they had stopped.

For a few seconds, Emma remained static, her hands grabbing the wheel so hard they were going purple and trying hard to breathe properly.

"Bloody hell." He huffed and ran his now only hand through his hair. He then reached into his coat and produced his old flask, taking a swig and passing it to her. "Easy, darling..." He whispered, gently touching her shoulder. "Easy..."

Regaining her composure, Emma turned teary eyed and tried hard to once again control her breathing. She took the flask from Devlin with a shaky hand and took a sip. "Not too much now..." he spoke soothingly. "There..."

With her mind now under control, she gave the flask back to Devlin and he smiled at her. "You are one maniacal, balmy little lunatic, Swan."

"Yeah, well... I was under pressure." She panted. "Where the hell had you been?"

"Did you miss me?"

"You disappeared and you robbed that... that thing you're wearing from Gold! What the heck are you plotting to do with that?"

"Oh..." he raised the hook and turned it a couple of times as he looked at it. "Nice little article, isn't it? Truth is love, I can't afford a proper prosthetic, so I figured I'd knick this one from him. Always had my eye on it." He looked up at her and reached out to retrieve his flask, took another swig and placed it back in his pocket. "Go on... drive ahead, love. We can't stay here."

"Where?"

"Just up ahead there is a deserted farm house." He sighed. "Quite comfortable, if you don't mind the spiders. I do believe there is a first aid kit there, we have to take a look at your head."

Emma was quiet and angered as she drove on. But at least one thing was right: He was there... and he was alive.