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: HI Sorry, you can blame my job for the lateness of this. I've realized with the kind of job I now have, posting regularly on the days I have said I would post regularly is pretty difficult. Nonetheless I will still post twice a week ^_^

BY THE WAY! Those of you who are enjoying this story should go ahead and check out my NEW story: Practical Magic! :D pretty please with a cherry on top? Teehee, Onward!

And don't forget to leave a review behind ^_^

Emma paced in her cells like an agitated tiger.

She had wiped away all her tears of frustration some time ago and was currently trying to found a way out of her cage. When they pat her down, they found all her lock picks, daggers, and anything else worthy of removing. This included tiny ordinary objects that really would have done nothing to help her. But she long since figured that these knights knew how to deal with outlaws based on August's outlandish reasoning for her being labeled a thief.

They were right anyway… there were several decent objects in her pockets that would have helped her pick her way through the locks.

She paused in her pacing and looked down one end of the hall and up the other. Their guard had taken a moment to relieve himself and so she and Hook were quite alone. She made her way to the door and felt the lock once more.

It was an average lock built into the cells, but she would need to feel the inside, feel the tumblers to really determine how average it was. This was the Royal Palace, she expected it to be top notch security.

She sighed through her nose and looked around her cell for anything that would allow her to pick it.

"There's no use doing that, lass."

Emma's eyes darted towards Hook who was leaning in the corner of his cell across from her. He had one knee bent that his damaged left arm rested on top of. They had taken his cutlass and hook, as well as anything else that might have assisted them in escaping. King David had been kind enough to allow a healer tend to the wounds of the fallen captain, particularly the one in the shoulder as August was 'out of line' as the king stated. They sewed the captain up good, but the herbs they used to slow him down—they feared he would try to fight them off but as Hook told her on their walk to the palace he was too injured and knew when to quit—were still within his body.

If she was going to drag him out he would be dead weight against her.

If they got out.

Emma's eyes narrowed while his watched her, hooded and mirthful. This was ridiculous. They were both outlaws, if one couldn't get out the other one should have.

"You've got something up your sleeve," she hissed at him, gripping the iron bars. "I know you do, you're not one to lie down on your back so easily."

The man had the nerve to chuckle. His tongue ran over his teeth and he found his brace a bit more interesting than her. "No, darling, you're right. I prefer to be upright doing the riding."

Emma's cheeks grew hot. She slammed her palms on the bars to bring his attention back to her. They rang just like her ears were doing. "Focus! I know you still got those herbs in you but—"

"All out, darling," he hummed, twisting his neck this way and that to remove a crick.

She wanted to scream at him. "So then why are you sitting so nonchalantly over there?"

He watched her. Inspected her was a better word. His jaw rotated slowly in circular motions while his eyes narrowed with each passing second as he looked her up and down until she couldn't see the blue of them. His brows knitted together as time went by between them, with neither of them saying a word. Emma fidgeting under his gaze, feeling like a curious specimen caught by the tools of a deranged scholar.

"You're a curious person, Swan," he whispered. When Emma opened her mouth to ask him what exactly, he had already pushed himself to his feet. He walked over to his cell door and continued to squint at her. "You can't see it, can you?"

Emma wanted to pull her hair out. "See what?"

Hook hummed and then lifted his hand. She watched as he rapped the bars with his rings. It was a sharp clang, metal against metal, and she watched him as if he was already losing his mind but then stared at the bars when the movement of them caught her attention. They vibrated, giving her the notion that they were made of weak iron and could easily be loosened if they had the right leverage. Excitement burst within her and she opened her mouth to tell him, but then they pulsed and a sheen of blue light hovered over the bars. The corners of Emma's mouth fell as the light vanished as quickly as it came.

"Magic?" She pressed her forehead against her own bars.

"As it appears," he said. He started walking to his left, his right hand dragging against the bars. "The lock is simple. Easy enough for myself to get out without those mechanisms you own." Emma glared at the jab towards her. "But this magic is an added security. It needs the key to be unlocked. There isn't much for us to do other than wait for them to return with it."

"And what? Steal it off the guard? He watches us but never comes close enough for us to pick pocket him."

Hook sent a smirk her way before placing a single finger on his lips. Emma's eyes glanced quickly at the smirk before going back to his eyes. She still remembered the last kiss they shared. How soft and demanding his lips were… she wanted to kiss him… Almost craved it. Her body was giving her any excuse to want it, especially now. The Merry Men would always keep her out of harm's way, but never would they throw themselves in it as Hook did. He deserved some form of thanks, and she knew he would take nothing less than a kiss. But that was just silly, only love sick fools did that, and Emma was none of that.

"Oh, we won't need to. The Charmings will release you," He travelled back to his corner and returned to his original position. "And when they time comes, please do remember your deal with me. Much like yourself, I'm not fond of cells."

Emma scoffed and turned her back to him, crossing her arms. "Why should I?"

"Because I upheld my end of the deal. Not to mention, putting myself in danger for you and your boy. Several times."

"I didn't ask you to do all of that."

"Aye, my body is suddenly doing what it wants."

"And that would be?"

He pierced her with his eyes again. Pierced her so quickly that she didn't have time to look down and avoid his gaze. A chill bounced up and down her spine but she refused to shiver; the last thing she needed was to see that ridiculous smirk on his face. His gaze hardened slightly, and he turned away from her with a bitter lopsided grin.

"You are a cruel woman, Swan."

She rolled her eyes and turned away from him, pressing her back to the bars. "Well, forgive me for being so cruel. I'm really upset right now."

"Yes, yes Swan… we all saw."

Emma's leg stomped the bars behind her, putting her under the glowing, blue light of the magic embedded in the bars. "Now who's the cruel one?"

Emma was never one to break like that… She was finally here, only to still have her son ripped from her. It reminded her of her childhood, how alone she was when Odette was taken from her. At least with Henry, when she went off on raids he still had many friends to keep him company and make sure he was loved. Emma had no one, and she didn't want her son to ever feel that. She didn't want him to feel alone and abandoned.

She leaned her head back and felt her nose wrinkle as she stared at the stone ceiling. She dug her nails in her arm and inhaled deeply to stop the feeling of dread returning.

Her son was bright and so full of hope… he knew she would come back to him.

She released the breath she held and the whole cell seemed to quiver under the weight of it.

"My apologies, Emma."

Emma…

She cocked her head, to stare at him over her shoulder. He was scratching the back of his ear looking bashful and strangely adorable. Nothing like the captain she grew to fear as a child. Whether he was aware that she was watching him wasn't clear but one thing was… he meant the apology. It was in his body language and tone of voice. It was so sincere that the roaring tiger within her had calmed and laid on its belly.

"Mine as well," she wasn't sure what she was apologizing for but something else, that was weighing her heart down was lifted. "What's with you… anyway?"

"I'm not sure what you mean."

"You called me Emma."

"That's your name, is it not?"

"You always call me Swan. Unless something strange is happening."

He chuckled and picked a spec of dirt off his shirt. "Whatever do you mean, darling?"

She was Emma when she almost lost Henry to the mermaids. She was Emma when she was stabbed and when she was healing. She was Emma the night he made her aware of his affections for her.

When was he ever Killian to you?

She bowed her head and looked anywhere else but him.

Never. And only a part of her wanted it to remain that way. She always knew his name. She never forgot it, she just never wanted to use it. He was only ever called Hook, even by his own crew except for Jameson. Names were powerful.

"Nevermind," she murmured, shuffling to her own corner.

"It's just a slip of the tongue, Swan. Nothing matters of it. I'm well aware of your whole name, and you've yet to correct me on it." Because he was the only one who ever called her that. The Merry Men hardly ever called her Swan—they like Emma, much like Neal. Odette called her Emma, Little Swan, never just Swan. Hook was the only person she ever met who was consistent with her surname like it was a pet name for her.

In the beginning, she didn't correct him because she didn't want formalities between them when they ventured out from her home. She accepted being called Swan by the swashbuckler—it was detached, which made everything easier to deal with. He had seem to find it that way as well.

And then he started saying her name like it was a prayer. Her name was never filled with so much emotion until Captain Hook said it.

"Don't call me Emma."

She grasped the bars that allowed her a view outside and watched as the village below them started to light its lanterns. They slowly lit, one by one or two by two, until the village was under a small glow of bright light. Some of the lights were bobbing around like little fairies as people walked with their lanterns.

She wandered if everyone was warm and full. If children were still running about in the safety of their homes. She wondered if the fiasco she and Hook brought to the village was the talk of the town. Someone, other than Regina, had riled up the king and his knights. If they were set free, they would probably have objects thrown their way.

Emma frowned.

She was supposed to stay though…right? Emma felt anger at the royals rise up within her again. She knew it wasn't their fault… she didn't respond back, there were going to be repercussions for that in a kingdom dealing with a war, but it seemed the king wasn't fully aware of the hand his wife extended out to her. Emma really shouldn't be mad but the treatment from his knights was uncalled for.

Did she want to stay in a kingdom full of knights who clearly hated outlaws as much as they hated the Evil Queen? Emma could change her ways, for Henry's sake, but it looked like she would always be a thief and outlaw in the eyes of the loyal knights.

She sighed. Everything was all wrong, but she truly wanted Henry to stay. There would never be another heart as kind as Snow White's—no one else would take the wishes of an outlaw mother and help raise her son out of the darker corner of the world.

"Emma."

Her hand gripped the bars tighter. The moon was bright tonight.

"Emma. Emma."

She bit her lip but made sure to not move the rest of her body, to give him any indication that she heard him.

Just stop…

"Emma."

Her foot shifted and she cursed.

"Emma, darling," there was a clank of metal, his ring must be touching the bars again.

She dared a look, twisting her body, she might as well appease him. He had a small smile in the right hand corner of his lips as he leaned his forearm and brace against the bars of his cell.

"Detachment," he hummed. "I understand it entirely. The name Hook is for that reason as well. It's easier to be Hook these days than Killian Jones. But there are those times, I wish to be just Killian. The desire it rare, but it's strong when it comes up." He moved closer to the bars, as if he wanted to reach out to her. "What else are you afraid of, Emma?"

The man was full of audacity. She bristled at the accusation, wanting to go back to ignoring him. "I'm not afraid."

Hook chuckled and his head bobbed almost comically, "Right, Emma, you're not afraid. You're a strong-headed, independent woman who prefers to fight off anything that would dare to get closer to her."

"I'm detached," she seethed, "Because I'm tired of getting hurt."

"And what makes you think I'll hurt you?"

"You're a pirate. You're Captain Hook. All you seem to do is hurt. I've seen the bloodlust in your eyes before. I've seen you fight. You almost killed your own father—"

"To be fair, he was trying to take my ship and kill me, as the ways of a pirate."

She ignored his interruption. "You want something else I can't give you."

He chuckled again, this time it was mirthless. His smile turned into a bitter one and the chills finally caused her to shiver. He sounded like his father…Like Davy Jones. The healing wound in her side tightened and she almost doubled over at the pain as she remembered the man's dark laugh and his sword that might have killed her had Killian not spent the time to heal her.

When she looked harder at him, she saw how upset he was. It was as if he was upset that his profession as a pirate was affecting things in negative ways that weren't working in his favor. Surely, he must be used to that?

"Aye, I am a pirate. I am Captain Hook. But when have I hurt you?" Physically, he had not, emotionally, he was always treading on thin ice. More often than not, she found herself wanting to push him and run away before he caught her. She was afraid. "I won't hurt you, Emma."

She scoffed and shook her head furiously. Her name on his lips was maddening, and she knew, she knew, he was doing it to purposely rile her up. He was bored in his cell and she was his only entertainment. "Stop saying my name, it'll get you nowhere."

"I won't," his voice dove down several octaves that she had to strain her ear to hear him, she took one step towards him, "hurt you."

"Yes, you will." She said, approaching her bars with her arms limply by her side she gave him a bitter smile. "You'll hurt me, clobber me. You want me to trust you, but all I can trust is you running off on me once I do. No one stays long enough, and I'm trying really hard not to have my heart broken again."

"Emma, I won't break it," he whispered, ruthless on her nerves.

"Hook, I don't want to try this," she waves her hand between them, feeling some life return to it. "I don't want you."

"Your eyes say something else," his voice crawled over her skin, encasing her and forcing her to stay instead of flee. "You've mentioned that you've had an inkling to try. Or was that conversation in my cabin just all show and talk?"

Emma opened her mouth to tell him off, she had enough of it, but her chords closed up on her and she stuttered for an answer.

"Let me learn things about you, Emma. Let me learn what hurts you, what makes you afraid so I won't cause you any of that pain you're so certain I'll bring upon you." He gave her a laughing smile. "Henry, is all I know. If anything were to happen to him, you'd fall apart. I may have had a rocky start with him, but I'll do what I can to protect him if I can." What….

"What is with you?"

The captain shrugged and looked up and down the halls, someone was approaching them. "I'm closer to the end of my nightmare. Which means, I'm closer to you. I'd might as well get a decent head start."

Emma ducked her head and found the stones outside of her cell interesting. He was spouting nonsense, the drug was making him delirious and once it left his body, everything would go back to the way it was. He would be the callous Captain Hook who would cast her aside because she was just a key. She sighed at herself. Who was she kidding…

"Emma, whatever happens tonight, don't toss it out the window so quickly." Her head reared up at the odd statement. His voice held a touch of seriousness and it was such a quick change from the wistful tone that he had not seconds ago.

He was slinking back to his corner and slid down the wall, watching her once more before looking somewhere else.

She opened her mouth to say something else but the sound of armor was too close, and their conversation was over.

The knight, Lancelot, returned instead of their original guard who refused to share his name with her. He had a grave look on his face and Emma felt her heart plummet to her stomach. Oh god, was she not going to see her son after all?

King David then came into view. He crossed his wrists in front of him as he stared at her dead on. Emma gulped.

"Emma," he exhaled and nodded at her. "We are reuniting you with your son. But you must promise to not attack my knights or run off. Do you promise?"

She closed her eyes in relief and nodded. "I promise."

When her eyes opened, she saw a hopeful smile on the king's face. "You've read her letter, then?"

"I did, although I must say, we were expecting a letter from you in return. Forgive us for not knowing that you consented, although you refused to agree to certain terms."

Emma smirked. "You royals are crazy if you think I'm going to part with my son."

The king nodded, his eyes becoming full with something that resembled sadness. "Yes, I think we are. Lancelot."

The knight approached her cell and slipped the key in the lock, he gave it a twist and opened the cell door. "What about Hook?" she asked as she stepped to stand by the king's side.

King David hummed and placed his hands on his hips as he turned to look at the pirate captain who had a laughing smirk back on his face. "My wife and I would love to speak to you, alone, Emma. And I am still bitter at the pirate for punching me." She almost bit her lip to hold the laugh, noticing that the left side of his face was sporting a very swollen and purple bruise by the cheekbone. She had better control over her laugh.

"I take it you didn't deserve it?"

"Oi, he very well did deserve it, he caught my arm."

"You move too slow for someone with fresh blood, captain."

Emma's eyes followed them before the king's hand rested on her shoulder and he steered her away. "Let's just get you back to Henry, Emma."

Her heart swelled.

Hook whistled to the knight.

It was bloody cold. He was famished, thirsty, and damn well restless from being locked in a cage with an enchantment that prevented even his most magicless escape.

Lancelot remained behind, keeping an eye on Hook from the tip of his nose. Hook tried his hardest not to sneer.

"Seeing as how the king has taken my lovely Swan from me, care to entertain me? It's bloody well boring in here." Lancelot glared at him before looking away.

Hook sighed, looking up at the ceiling of his damp cell. "Could you at least be so kind to bring me some water? I've found I'm rather parched from having those vile herbs stuffed down my throat."

The knight grunted, pulling a ladle from a nearby bucket. Hook stood and approached the cell door where Lancelot was closest. He handed it to Hook, who nodded his thanks and drank gingerly, letting the water soothe his throat. He smacked his lips.

"I must say, I was expecting a more gentle welcoming party. I wasn't expecting the king to toss his own daughter in the brig." He saw the man stiffen and smirked behind the ladle. "Well, doesn't that just make him father of the year?"

On their walk to the palace, Hook had noticed the hushed conversation the king was having with the older knight named Lancelot, and several times, although he was growing delirious from the wounds, he caught Lancelot glancing over his shoulder at Emma. She of course took no notice of it, she was busying tending to her son who was untied but retied to the horn of the saddle of his horse. The knight might not have been aware at the time he first met Emma but he was now.

"You know nothing," the man's voice was rough but full of loyalty and care for his king and queen. "We had no idea that Princess Emma and Prince Henry were making their way to the palace." Princess Emma… that had a nice ring to it.

"Oooh," Hook sucked the air through his teeth. "She never wrote to her parents? The people she doesn't even know are her parents?"

The knight turned and slammed his large palm against the bars, looking as if he was ready to smash the captain's head in the wall. Hook squinted his eyes and ran his tongue over his exposed teeth. "How do you know the truth? Only a select few outside of the King and Queen's council know their daughter is still alive."

Hook's smirk widened and he leaned his face against the cool bars. "I'm but a very resourceful man."

Without warning, the room became colder than the bars he was touching, and Hook felt an all too familiar tingling in the air they breathed. The torches snuffed out and Hook gripped the bar as Lancelot pulled his sword free.

"No! Quick, run to—" The knight grunted as a ball of purple light slamming into his body. The light sparkled around him while he tried to blink it out of his eyes. His jaw slackened before falling to the ground, his armor clanking noisily against the stone floor. Hook bit his tongue and felt a chilling dread wash over him at the dark, feminine laugh.

"I must say, I agree, captain," There was a puff of purple smoke that spiraled upwards and they dispersed, revealing a gorgeous woman with wide, red, smiling lips. She was dressed in a tight fitting black dress that shimmered when she approached his cell. "You are a resourceful man."

The hair on Hook's body stood on end while he nodded to the Evil Queen. He would love to run his sword through a corrupted royal, but this one had magic at her fingertips, and he wasn't that insane. "Your Majesty."

She waved him off. "Formalities don't matter between us. You've won my gratitude, captain, because of your surprise to Snow with my step-granddaughter their defenses have slipped."

"So why not say 'Hello' to your estranged family, hm?"

The queen's smile downturned slightly, "Don't make me laugh, captain, you know exactly why I won't approach that wretched girl and her family."

"And yet," he hummed, knowing well enough that it was dangerous to taunt the evil queen, but he couldn't help himself, "You're still at war with them. You're still here."

Her dainty hands with claw-like nails rested on her hips as she stared him down. She quickly changed the subject. "You've spent some time with our dear Emma. I'm curious about certain qualities about her that wasn't brought to my attention until recently."

Hook said nothing. He had his theory. Ever since Emma boarded his ship he felt like whenever her emotions were at its peak some spark of magic always happened. Especially, as of late, when they touched. When she held him after taking the wound from the knight who King David called August, he felt her magic seep into the wound, licking the wounds for proper healing.

When they brought him to the healer, the man was shocked at the healing process of his wounds—but still stuffed him with herbs to finish the job. The cut on his arm from his fight with the king was but a bubbled scar.

While he believed that Emma was a fabled sorcerer child, he was no expert in magic, and her parents look every bit as human as he did.

"Emma is a rare and special person. Her parents awoken the powers of their true love by breaking my sleeping curse on Snow White, making any offspring they have become a product of that power. Emma is magic."

"Well, darling," Hook raised a brow as the woman came closer to his cell. "I can assure you that Emma has no idea who or what she id. She hasn't exhibited any sort of power—"

"Nothing?" the queen smiled again, but he felt deep in his bones that it wasn't because she was ecstatic. She was like a stalking panther who found its dinner caught in a man-made trap. "Nothing strange when her son was endangered? Nothing when she was upset with you?" she laughed. "She is Charming's daughter and you a pirate. She naturally leans towards what is good. She must have screamed your ear off the entire way here, possibly letting loose some magic on your flesh?" She reached through the bars and placed her hand on his chest. Hook twitched beneath her fingers. "I've remember your stories, captain. Your heart is as black as mine."

Hook leaned forwards until their noses were almost touching. "Absolutely nothing, Milady."

"I find that very hard to believe captain," Regina's fingers skirted along the skin over his heart, pushing aside the opening of his shirt to reveal more of it. "Once you had reached the stables where Emma was having difficulty with the knights, I saw how you gallantly threw yourself in harm's way when they fought against your dear Emma. Her father always did the same for her mother. Tell me, captain, what is the child of True Love to you? Is it enough that you will lie to keep her safe?"

The wench was inching far too close to her personal intentions for his liking. So he gave the witch a droll stare and a smirk on his lips.

"She is my key to my revenge. I seek a dagger to take the life of the man who took my hand and my love."

Regina's smile grew wider and ever so sinister. "Rumplestiltskin. Well," she waved her hand in a half circle and his hook appeared between her fingers. "It seems we now have a common goal. I seek for the dagger as well. After my last run in with Rumple's cell, twenty-eight years ago, the Charmings tightened their security. I hadn't seen the man in so long but I know that he is still alive. And I want him dead."

"You had best get in line, milady. I've been waiting for over three hundred years for my revenge."

"Lucky for you, I have a bit of…clues to help you find the dagger." She held out his hook to him. When he reached for it, however, she pulled it back with a laugh twinkling in her eye. "I say we propose a deal."

"I no longer make deals with witches and wizards," he hissed, feeling anxious of having his hook back.

"Hear me out, captain," she grabbed him by his shirt as she gave him her proposal, "I'll free you from this cell and give you the clues I have to the location of Rumplestiltskin's dagger if you bring me just one thing."

Hook gave the woman who held his hook at bay a once over. She had a few strips of silver hair from age, her brown eyes held the luster of a mischievous child even though years of weariness were ever present on her face. Once upon a time, she must have been a wickedly gorgeous woman.

"And what's that?"

She lifted his brace and clicked his hook back into place. Regina then pushed it over his frantic heart. He clenched his teeth tight.

"I want Emma Swan's heart. I've enchanted your hook if you want to make it less painful."

Hook saw red again and swung his hook behind the Evil Queen's neck, effectively pulling her closer until her face touched the bars. His cell glowed blue while her eyes darkened. He gifted her a nasty sneer. To hell with her magic, he'd slice her hands from her body for asking for something he was fighting for before she had a chance to curse him.

"Your majesty," he spat, "as tempting as your offer sounds I will flatly decline. Rumplestiltskin took the woman I love from me by ripping her heart out. I bristle at the thought of any woman losing her heart in such a way. I will not become like you two wretched beings." At that, he shoved her away, resting his arms on the horizontal bar.

The queen rose a hand to her neck as if testing for blood. Hook smirked. "Don't worry, love. I didn't nick that pretty neck of yours. All I did was warn you. I don't need magic to cause damage."

Regina's hand clenched into a fist and an ugly frown ruined her features. "I believe I have given you a fair offer."

"I agreed, but you'll have to ask me for something else than stealing Emma's heart."

"Fine, then bring her to me. To my castle. I'll take care of her myself and your rewards shall away you. She is, after all, but a key to your revenge, just as she as mine." She placed her hands on her hips again and glowered at him. "I am this much closer to my revenge just as you are. Don't let your unrequited love pull you away from it."

Hook wanted to laugh. It wasn't unrequited and Emma wasn't going to drive him from his path.

"I shall see you at your castle, your majesty."

Regina's smile returned. "Excellent decision." And with that, she disappeared, the flames reignited.

Hook released the breath he was holding, crouched down and reached for the keys on the knight's hips.

There really was only one end he was aiming for.

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