Disclaimer: I do not own OUAT.

Summary: Emma had never met someone as infuriating as the captain of the Jolly Roger in her 28 years of being a talented thief. When he requires her help to find a dagger to "skin" the Dark One as he likes to say, what she's really agreeing to is late night fights, breaking her walls, falling in love, oh, and winning the war with her parents she knew nothing about. Emma Swan doesn't know what she should be mad about. How about that coin purse he tried to steal that started this whole thing….

Warnings: This is AU. There is no Curse. Hook returns to the Enchanted Forest from Neverland when Emma is 28. Emma is still an orphan. Reasons being that I prefer her to have that lost boy/lost girl connection with Hook. Henry does exist and will be explained for as the story progresses.

A/N: Thanks everyone for the follows and favs :) also thank you for the reviews!

I've decided to have a regular posting schedule for this story where I will post twice a week (given how many chapters I've been writing in a day I feel that this would be good for editing purposes and if I find chances to alter different chapters that are already written and not yet posted.) I plan to post Sundays and Thursdays, unless of course, something were to come up.

Thanks again and please review! Constructive criticism is greatly appreciated!

Hook paced within his quarters, staring intently at the map that marked where Rumplestiltskin's castle resided. It was nestled in the mountain range, surrounded by a village he once knew. One he plundered three hundred years ago with his lover Milah by his side. It was a small village but the ships that docked where always plentiful. During his original lifetime, he made a point to frequent the port as he felt it likely that he would find at least one merchant ship to raid and one pirate ship to learn secrets. He stopped moving and inhaled, looking straight at the horizon where the vast ocean and the clear sky blended seamlessly.

Soon, Milah, soon.

And so help him he would keep that corrupted demon away from Bae as well.

His crew returned with fresh faces. Hardly sailors, just bandits with no sea legs but it was easier to mold them into pirates than those with no skill in thievery. They loaded the ship with barrels of food, wine, rum, and fresh linen with the treasures they were able to hoard off that god forsaken island. He gave them a week to settle their returning urges. Eating, drinking, gambling, women. Whatever their needs were. Hook himself enjoyed several bottles of rum and three young women who gave him back his pride for his sexual prowess. He wasn't too rusty it had appeared.

They saw him as the cripple he was portraying himself as, but the last wench he toyed with. They flirted in the brothel, his cloak still draped over him and his hook. When she led him to the rooms, he kept his brace and his hook on as he had his fill of her pretty body. The fear in her eyes was delectable. And when he offered her the gold for her services she bolted, tears streaming down her face, screaming his moniker to the rest of the girls within the brothel.

Word got out that a man with black hair, handsome blue eyes, a devil's smile, and a hook for a left hand had come to life from their old nightmares. A small smirk graced his mouth.

Forces from the King and Queen had stepped into the village just as his ship pulled from the docks. Let them try and keep up with his Jolly Roger.

Hook braced his right hand on the window seat and leaned closer to the windows of his quarters, evaluating the skies. They were at sea for about a week, Rumplestiltskin's castle just at the top of a mountain range, not far from the waters. The village had rebuilt their port—they destroyed it when Rumplestiltskin was still in power—according to his crew, and it was rumored to be one of the larger ones in the realm.

Rumplestiltskin's capture meant people could return to their homes he wreaked havoc and breathed fear on. Well, only the brave ones at least. The location was still ideal for trade as it was on the outskirts of a land that pushed past most edges, allowing ships from other kingdoms across the sea to dock without a hassle of going too far up or too far down.

The gods were in his favor since his return.

About bloody time.

The sound of a bell caught his ears. He grabbed his hook that he thrust into the map and locked it back into his brace. Land already was it? Coming out into the bright sun, Hook watched his crew run across the deck, adjusting sails to slow the Jolly Roger down. He stepped past the quarter deck and approached the helm. Jameson, his second mate, a dark haired man who followed him from his brother Liam's death, nodded to him and moved aside. His right hand grazed the handles, going two notches to starboard.

"Made good time, Captain," Jameson stated, nodded to the port they were approaching.

Even from this distance, they could easily spot the castle at the top of the mountain. It was going to be a long ride up there.

"Can't argue with that. Have you heard anything else of these bandits that rest inside that castle?" Hook had a large crew, gathering information from all of them always took time.

Jameson nodded. "Aye, they're very well respected. Strong against the Evil Queen, organized, they hold several refuges across the lands. Run by a man named Robin of Locksley, his right hand man, or woman in this case, named Mulan, a warrior from the east who holds the strongest blade in all the realms. Robin is a rational man though he is a thief. Haggling with him would require information as well as reason and emotion. The people of this village not only earn their profit from trades within port but also from the spoils of their thieves that protect them."

Hook snorted and smirked. "Amongst thieves there is honor."

"Aye, Captain."

There was no need to ask if anyone knew of a dagger. No one did. Hook himself wasn't aware of where the crocodile drew his power from until Bae found him trustworthy enough to speak to him about it.

"His dagger won't be in the castle. Rumplestiltskin isn't a fool…"

Jameson 'hmm'ed. "Any ideas, Captain?"

"Perhaps if I were to tour around the castle, I'd find a bit of clues. We need to find out all we can about this Robin of Locksley. Grab a few men and listen closely to the people. If they love their thieves they won't speak of them so freely."

"Aye, Captain." Jameson moved to the main deck and started picking men best for the job.

A grim grin etched itself onto his face. So be it. He waited three hundred years to find a way to kill the crocodile. A few more months of acquiring what he need to continue couldn't be that difficult.

"Mom!"

"Henry, slow down. I'm still wounded here."

Henry and Emma were dressed in their traveling clothes that weren't designed to hide them within trees and shrubbery. They had to keep their identities as part of Robin and his brigade a secret from travelers. Kept life in the village easy. Henry had a simple shirt, breeches, and dark boots. Emma was sporting her own shirt, an under bust corset, black trousers and long, black dragon hide boots. She carried a simple satchel and kept four small knives hidden in her boots. There weren't always merchants—better safe than sorry.

The village below the castle made a pact with the thieves: so long as they protected, and shared the wealth, the villagers would never speak of the thieves, nor give the easy passage to wanderers. They all knew Emma, as she was the only blonde women within the ranks, and the villagers adored her son as they adored Roland. If he ever wandered out of her sight, the villagers kept close eyes on him; word of his location would reach her ears quickly. He was capable of being a real handful.

Emma pulled her hair into a braid and grabbed Henry's hand to walk beside him as they reached the bottom of the mountain. The easy path was always hidden. There were several paths into the castle, this one being the only one that was above ground. It was narrowed by thin wicker trees, and the path was never used in a constant way to avoid wearing the ground. Villagers who passed by always took it upon themselves to sweep away footprints that were spotted closer to the cobbled paths. While the path was easiest, the Merry Men still implemented security in order to reach, as well as get into, the castle.

"Mom, do think the docks will be full today?"

"Might be Henry, maybe we can by you some new shoes too." Her son complained that morning about how his shoes were falling apart. When she inspected them she found out that they could start talking if someone enchanted them.

"Can we get something out of dragon hide?" Henry asked excitedly. "Something like yours! They'll last forever!"

"I don't know kid. You're still growing, so they won't last forever. And mind you, I didn't really buy these shoes. Dragon boots are for royals." She found them before she had Henry, almost thirteen years ago, ripping them out of a chest she picked into with Neal in one of the inner cities of the Enchanted Forest.

"Well, I'll settle for anything. As long as my feet stop hurting." Henry waved to a few villagers who broke some smiles for him.

It was still early morning and, by the looks of it, the villagers were already bustling around to get their personal stands ready. She squinted down the path on her left and spotted several masts from several different ships. It must be her lucky day.

"Got it. Docks first it is then."

A few familiar faces for Emma and Henry offered them their first few foods of the day: apples, berries, bread, and for Emma a bottle of perfectly aged whiskey. Their arms were getting so full that an older woman offered Henry two large woven basket for the price of eight silver coins. Emma, still being careful of her bad shoulder, paid the woman and they hauled their goods to the docks, biting into the fresh apples.

"Whoa! That's a lot of ships!"

It definitely was. Before Henry was born, this port was lucky to haul in maybe two ships. That morning, there were at least ten, all full and bursting with goods and people.

"Emma! Henry!" A clerk called them over to wish them good morning.

"Hello Derek," Henry chirped to the man.

Emma wasn't necessarily familiar with the man, but he always knew her name. He was also a good and honest man.

"Shopping today for once?" he laughed at his joke while Emma's lips pulled into a tight smile.

"The villagers gave us some, you want something? I'm having a hard time carrying this…" Henry lifted his basket onto the podium and Derek hummed to himself as he picked through the items.

"These are all for growing boys! Why don't you keep it lad?"

"But it's heavy!"

"Well, it's time to train those arms of yours if you want to be anything like your mother."

Emma inhaled and looked away to the other ships. She pushed down the cold feeling creeping in her chest. She didn't want Henry to be anything like her.

She told Robin of her plans to have him study in the inner cities. She wanted what was best for him, and being a thief wasn't an easy life. Henry was surrounded by thieves everyday unfortunately, and the stories they all told brought life to his eyes. As a thief, though there was a chance to be thrown in a cell, mutilated, and killed, you were given the chance to travel, learn and expand your mind for free. Robin had reminded her of that, reminded her of how good of a man Roland came to be. But people didn't hire thieves unless they wanted something stolen or someone framed.

The life she had she didn't want for Henry, and she was running out of time to give him something else. He was already eleven.

While Henry chattered away Emma dropped her basket beside him, pulling out her bottle of whiskey. "Henry, I'm going to see if I can find you some shoes, ok?"

"Mom, I'll—"

"Just stay with Derek, please?" Derek nodded his head to her and pulled the boy into another conversation with ease.

Emma uncorked the bottle and took a large gulp to the head. She wanted the best for Henry that was all.

She cleared her throat and replaced the cork, walking hurriedly through the docks. When she reached the end, she leaned against a post and inhaled through her mouth. Neal should have been here. Helping her with Henry… They would've changed for him. They were starting to change before him. She bit her lip to stop the angry unshed tears.

But, abandoned and with Henry, she had to stay with her old ways to give her son a life. Some kind of life anyway. Thankfully, Henry wandered from her in the area of mental processing. He was optimistic, saw his life through a half full bottle while his mother saw it half empty.

Henry is happy.

That's all that should matter, right?

She took another drink and inhaled the salty air after the liquid finished burning down her throat.

Yeah, it should.

Emma shook her head and turned around to take in her surroundings, trying to find the ship or stall with the most to offer. Several men were unloading cargo nearby, laughing and greeting familiar faces among the docks. But there were a few who looked over their shoulders at her. A long-legged blonde woman, wearing trousers, a bottle in her fist, and tall dragon hide boots. They were sailors, merchants and connoisseurs, they damn well knew her boots were dragon hide. She pushed herself from the post and walked back slowly, taking the time to absorb what she could.

Several silks, carpets, furs, trinkets, exotic foods. Twice she stopped to ask if anyone could direct her to merchants with shoes, and twice she was turned away in scorn because she turned down their offers of other items. As tempting as they were, with the amount of gold she stole from her last raid jumbling in her pocket, Henry needed shoes.

Finally, she came across a stall where she saw a pair of short boots, perfect for moving in. She leaned in, careful not to touch it lest the portly man selling it would think her of stealing it. The port was believed to have many things go missing because of the thieves that everyone knew lived in the castle. However, most of the time, thieves that stole from the ports were men not tied to Robin. Emma turned her attention to the man who was red faced, huffing and struggling to lift a box up.

"Here, let me help," she offered her hand and grunted through her bad shoulder to lift the box onto the makeshift table.

"Blast it all! Having me do all this work. He's a bloody slave driver I say!" the man patted his face with the red knit cap and finally looked at her. His eyes grew wide.

"You…You're a…"

Emma nodded and gave him a tight lipped smile. This happened every time. "A woman, I know." He quickly bowed to her. "Those shoes, how much are they?"

The man chortled and walked over to the boots. He plucked them up and considered them. Emma almost smirked. They were stolen shoes.

"Well, I will say they are made of nothing of the same material as your boots!" He smiled at her and tried to regard the boots by feel and without looking at them. "Leather. Aye, fine leather to be exact. A bit small for your feet though I must say!"

"Yeah, they are. I'm looking for a pair for my son." Emma examined the boots herself. They seemed to be the right size, but Henry was still growing. They were indeed made of fine leather, laces in the back instead of the front, a strange design but she could see the logic. If stolen and sold to the right man she could fence those boots for another 150 gold coins.

Emma, Henry needs shoes.

She shook her head slightly.

"Ah! A boy..." the man shivered a bit but kept his smile. "Where is the lad?"

Emma nodded to the clerk's podium where Henry was still chattering away. He was currently showing Derek what he learned from Little John with an imaginary bow. She kept her eyes on the man before her. Her skin was starting to tingle, something that only happened when she felt danger nearby. It was sometimes a sill gut feeling that she always followed regardless but she couldn't tell if he was dangerous or just another good thief. Then as he leaned to get a good look at Henry, she noticed the curious tattoo on the back of his neck. A pirate. The purse became heavy against her hip.

"As you can see from here he's in dire need of shoes."

The man nodded. "That he is, dear, that he is. Well, this is pair definitely worth 300 gold coins!"

"Like hell it is," Emma deadpanned. The man blinked at her.

"Wha—"

"You and I both know that pair is stolen. Either out of a chest or a dead body." Emma flashed him a smile when he stuttered.

"I've… I have no idea what you're talking about. If you feel this is too much—" She grabbed the boots from him and considered them.

"Oh, I definitely do. See, those are made of fine leather, from some simple animal, certainly. Had it been the hide of a magical creature like a dragon or unicorn, it would be a different color. Because even dipping those in the proper dyes they wouldn't bring them to be common black or brown, they would remain the color of the hide, give or take a few changes in shades. Depending on the specifications of said creature. Had the creature been black, of course, the boots wouldn't be such a dull color of black, there would be luster to it."

"Then perhaps!" he snatched the boot away from her and glared, "You'd best find the quality of these shoes elsewhere, should you be able to afford it!" He placed the boot down and folded his arm over his chest.

"Well, seeing as how I'm interested, and you're in a village where everyone knows what I've just told you, I'm your best bet. Remember that we village people live underneath the Dark One's castle. We've figured what's worth something and what's not just by selling his belongings."

The man blanched, "S-selling… Selling the Dark One's belongings?"

Emma shrug. "How do you think we were able to afford rebuilding these docks?"

The man's frown returned to his face. Emma counted in her head. Wait for it…

"200."

"100."

"Are you daft? 150!"

"100."

"100!" He stuttered and grew red in the face, "and I'm not going lower!" Emma smiled. And started to reach for her purse…

Only to find it just freshly snatched from her hip.

"Hey!" she called, a group of laughing men passed by her, but she saw her coin purse in the hands of only one, the man in the front. "That doesn't belong to you!"

The men paused in their merriment and looked at her, while the dark haired man covered in black leather, who she assumed to be their leader, tilted his head to her. He gave a slow turn, weighing it with his hand, and then rattling the coin purse close to ear as if he could hear exactly how many gold and silver coins were nestled in it.

"Oh, it does now." He gave her a toothy grin and wiggled his eyebrows at her.

Emma exhaled slowly as the men laughed. She stomped over to him and held out her hand. "I worked really hard for those."

His smile grew and he licked his teeth in such an obscene way that Emma had to hold herself back from rolling her eyes. He was not a charming man at all.

"As did I, lass. You see, I had to debate heavily on grabbing you or the purse. You're a fantastic sight for sore eyes." He leaned down to be leveled with her face. Good, she'll be able to punch him if she has to.

"Especially with an arse like that," one of the men yelled and they laughed, their leader's devil-like smile taking up almost half his face. Emma, used to comments such as that because of her choice to wear pants instead of skirts, sharpened the daggers in her eyes instead of blushing.

He looked rather ridiculous. His double-breasted, black vest donned a high collar and was edged with loose fabric—it obviously had the job of keeping his chest exposed and drawing eyes to it. A long black leather coat was draped his body and the lapels spread so far from his chest it made her think of a fucking blooming flower. And don't get her started on the kohl surrounding his ridiculously blue eyes. A very prideful pirate it seemed.

Those eyes danced with mischief, "And look, you come with your own bottle of whiskey!"

Let's see if we can toss those pretty blue eyes back to the waters where they came from?

She saw something move in the corner of her eye and almost smiled. They were standing above water but they were in her territory. These were her people.

"Now, what's a pretty lass such as yourself running around in men's clothing?" He asked her.

Emma smirked, "I happen to be a better man than yourself it appears."

"Oooh," the man had a smirk of his own on his face, and it was laughing. "Well then, what are you going to do about this?" He wiggled her coin purse in her face and when she moved to snatch it, he yanked it away. That's fine, let him have his fun. "Most men would start fighting me at this point."

"I happen to be a bit more rational," she reached behind her for the boots when she saw a shadow creep between the man's legs.

"Oi—"

He didn't have time to finish his sentence as Henry swung a broad stick up between the man's legs. He doubled over and groaned just as Emma swung her bottle of whiskey, breaking it over his head. He fell with a curse and released her purse. Emma quickly grabbed it.

"Go kid!"

Henry grabbed their baskets and they ran, hearing the shouts and stomping shoes chasing after them. When she heard the blades being pulled from their scabbards, Emma shoved Henry between two houses.

"Start weaving! Meet me at the safe house!" Time to put John's training to the test.

"Okay!" he went left, she went right.

She listened to them yell their confusion and instructions to split up like they had. She didn't need to worry about Henry, he was nimble even with a few baskets to carry. Emma however, was starting to sweat—she swung the bottle with her bad arm. Bad move.

She zipped through a few more houses, hearing the neighbors open their doors and windows, not to see what the commotion was—the always seemed to know exactly what was happening—but to knock the men down flat on their backs. After two right turns, a left past two houses, and then diagonally across, she skidded on her right foot to slow her pace and then bolted to the house covered in markings that had readable meanings to her. Henry pushed open the door and ushered her inside. His face was flushed but his hazel eyes were bright from his little brave adventure. They turned and locked the door, both sliding down it to catch their breath as well as hide.

The cozy home started to grow dark as an older woman rushed to close her windows.

"Emma, what happened?" she asked.

"Ran into a few pirates. They need to learn how to be better thieves if they're gonna steal from me." Emma's head rolled back and she gulped down as much air as she could.

"Well, down the chute, both of you!" the woman moved aside a rug and lifted a trapdoor.

Henry grabbed their belongings and quickly dropped himself below. The woman, their safe keeper, grabbed a candle and handed it to Emma. "I do hope you shook them off, dear…"

Emma shrugged. "If not me then your neighbors did."

She jumped down after Henry.

Thanks for reading! And please review oxox