Killian shifted slightly, his hand instinctively reaching out to curve around Emma's hip. She made a contented noise and slid backwards, snuggling into him.
"Killian," she mumbled sleepily.
No matter how many times he heard it, he'd never tire of his name on her lips. He'd been "Hook" for so long to so many, he forgot the simple power of a man's given name, especially when murmured in a sleepy voice by the woman he held in his arms.
"It's all right, love," he whispered. "We won't make landfall till after dawn. You can sleep a bit longer."
She pulled his arm up, settling his hand on her chest.
"And what if I tell you I'm wide awake?" she asked.
He kept his eyes closed, but cracked a smile. "How awake?"
"Awake enough," she rubbed herself against him.
"You've become quite insatiable," he said, gently lifting her leg back and over his, then positioning himself at her opening. He pulled her back against him as he slid into her deeply, his hand moving up to cup and pull at her breast as he began to slowly and seductively move within her.
"I think being a pirate has been good for you," he praised, his lips brushing her ear.
"Is that..." she pushed back on him, rolling her hips and making him groan. "So..."
"It's been bloody good for me," he quipped, and she gave a short laugh, followed by a ragged moan as he upped his rhythm, sliding his hand down and nearly losing the tenuous grip he had on his control when he felt the two of them together, the slide of himself within her beneath his questing fingers.
Emma moved her own hand over his, her fingers stroking and curling around the underside of his shaft as he moved his own fingers up to play over her, gritting his teeth, determined not to be unmanned before he brought her to completion. He wasn't sure he was going to make it when Emma let out a stifled cry, turning her head into the pillow as the pleasure rippled through her, pulling him in, squeezing and milking every inch of him as he buried himself deep and lost himself in the feel of her.
They lay panting in each other's arms, and he was sure Emma could feel his heart thundering against her back. He kissed her neck, her hair, nuzzling his nose against her ear.
"Are you tired now, Swan?"
"Mmmm." She turned her head to the side and smiled at him lazily. "I don't think I'll ever be tired of that."
He kissed her softly. "Neither will I, love. Neither will I."
###
Robin stood at the bow with Killian's spyglass held to his eye.
"I don't see any sign of a greeting party," he said. "The shoreline appears to be clear."
"Yeah, well, let's not forget last time," Emma reminded. "We've gotten ambushed before."
"According to Killian, this inlet is bordered by a large marshland and not easily accessible," Robin said, collapsing the spyglass. He gave a wave up to Killian at the wheel to let him know it was safe to take the ship in.
"I'd better see to the anchor," he said, leaning in to give Regina a quick kiss before heading back to the stern. Regina looked over at Emma, self-consciously tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. She happened to catch Emma mid-yawn, and the sight of her brought a yawn from her as well. There was a brief moment of silence and then Emma broke into a sideways smirk.
"Not much sleep for you, either, I take it?"
Regina shook her head ruefully. "No." She glanced back at Robin. "As crazy as all this is, we somehow still managed to find each other."
Emma smiled. "Yeah. Guess we just naturally gravitate where we belong."
Regina's eyes shifted up to the wheel deck, then back to Emma. "I guess so. Strange world, isn't it?"
"We're in a snowglobe," Emma deadpanned.
"Not for long."
Emma nodded. "Henry's going to figure this out."
###
"So whadda ya got?" Officer Kent asked his partner.
"APB out on a runaway kid," Officer Jeffries replied. "Hopped a train from New York to Boston, then a bus up to Rockland, toting a bike along with him. We'll follow the highway up the coast and search the area where he was originally picked up. His foster mother says he's looking for his bio mom. Thinks she's gonna come back and get him or something."
"So he's out in the woods somewhere, waiting on a woman who abandoned him?"
"Looks like it. I've got two other units meeting us north of Rockland. We'll fan out on foot around once we're there. I think they've got a K9 unit they're bringing along."
"Shouldn't take long, then," Kent replied.
"Nope. Shouldn't take long."
###
Henry leaned back against the wishing well, pulling open the book once more and leafing through the pages, just in case there was anything new.
"They defeated King George?" he exclaimed. "Way to go Grandpa and Grandma!" He flipped the page and the writing stopped abruptly, just a few paragraphs down.
"My Moms are on a journey back to the Enchanted Forest...but why? Where exactly?" He gnawed his knuckle, thinking hard as he stared at the picture of his mothers, on the bow of the Jolly Roger. The shoreline behind them was unremarkable - it didn't tell him anything. He started to turn the page back when something odd caught his eye.
"Wait a minute..." he said, leaning in to look at the book. "What's this?"
There at the bow of the ship, right at the apex where the ship came to a point was...
"A snowglobe?" Henry's face screwed up in a confused look, and he turned the page back, a bit of a memory niggling at him. Two pages before, the picture of King George's castle...and right there on the table, next to the mutton was...
"A snowglobe!"
Henry paged back through the book, and there it was, again and again...in Mr. Charming's shop, in the Schoolteacher's cottage, in the cell with the bandit queen - over and over again - was the snowglobe. Henry set the book down, reaching into his pack and pulling it out. He looked at it closely, giving it a shake and watching the snow swirl around. And once it settled, he realized he wasn't looking at Manhattan.
He was looking at Storybrooke.
"They're in the snowglobe?" he said incredulously. He held it up, staring at it intently. "They're in the snowglobe!"
He looked around, as if help were going to come from somewhere, and then realized once again that he was on his own.
He settled back against the well, stuffing a fist under his chin as he stared at the snowglobe.
"Now what?" he asked nobody.
And nobody answered him.
###
"We need to head inland," Robin said. "The marsh ends just around this bend and we can start through the trees."
"Keep one eye on the treeline," Emma said. "We don't want any surprises."
"Speaking of surprises..." Regina walked up to a rather large tree, next to the coastal road. "Take a look at this."
Nailed to the tree - and to every tree lining the road - was a wanted poster, featuring all four of them, offering a reward of a hundred pieces of gold for each of them, courtesy of Queen Belle. Regina ripped the poster off the tree, holding it out to the others.
"Unbelievable!" Killian exclaimed.
"I know," Robin commiserated. "But it won't be the first time I've been branded a criminal."
"I'm not talking about that," Killian replied testily gesturing with his hand. "Look at my nose! They never get the nose right!"
Emma rolled her eyes. "Come on, gorgeous," she smirked. "Let's get off the main road before someone recognizes the rest of us."
They'd just stepped into the trees when an arrow whizzed through the air, embedding in one of the wanted posters. Robin turned instantly to the threat, and Killian drew his cutlass, but Emma put out a staying hand.
"Hold your fire," she said. "I know that arrow."
Snow and David stepped out of the trees a few dozen yards away.
"Emma!" Snow ran forward, hugging her daughter tight. David took a moment, looking the four of them over.
"No Henry?" he asked, his eyes clearly showing his worry.
"Yes and No," said Regina. "We've found him but we can't get to him. The big news is we've found us."
"Us? You mean, you know where we are?" Snow asked.
"Yeah - and you're not going to believe it," Emma said. "We need to get to Lake Nostos as fast as we can. We think we may have a way to reverse all this."
"Well," said Rumplestiltskin, who suddenly appeared, leaning on a tree. "Isn't that wonderful news." He pushed off the tree, glaring at them. "Only, it isn't. Your agenda does not align with mine in the least, so you'll have to forgive me if I don't play along."
"We know where we are," Emma said. "We can get things back to normal!"
"And why would I want that?" Rumple replied.
Snow looked at him in shock. "You really want Belle to be evil?"
Didn't you go through that once before?" David asked. "And all you wanted was to get her back, remember?"
"That was different," Rumple said coldly. "Lacey was a lush with no ambition beyond her next drink or her next companion. Belle is a queen now, and with her in power and me behind her - she's unstoppable."
"This isn't who Belle would want to be," Killian said darkly. "Doesn't that count for anything with you?"
"You don't know that," Rumple said, waving a hand. "Perhaps now that she's had a taste of that kind of power, she wouldn't want to let it go. Most don't."
"Most aren't Belle," Emma reminded him. "Don't do this to her...to us. And Henry's all alone out there - you have to help us all get back to where we belong. Please."
"I'm afraid the course is set, Miss Swan," Rumple said calmly. "Your best course of action is to simply stay out of our way."
"That's not going to happen," Regina said firmly. "I'm getting my son back. And you're going to get out of my way." Regina felt the fireball forming in her hand, and she gave a nod to Emma, who felt the current gathering in her own palms.
"You think you're powerful enough to face us both down?" Emma asked, narrowing her eyes. "I wouldn't take that gamble."
"Oh, I don't need to," Rumple replied. "I don't need to go against you at all. Not when I can take it out on all of them." He gave a careless flick of his hand, and Robin, David and Killian hit the trees, pinned to the sides of them by clinging vines that sprang up out of nowhere, winding around them and sliding across their throats, choking them and cutting off their air as their hands clawed and pulled at them in a futile effort to draw breath.
"As long as their lives are in my hands," Rumple said with a smile, "You're going to do exactly as I say."
Emma shot a panicked look at Regina, whose own eyes showed her mounting horror.
"Stop!" Regina said, the fireball in her hand winking out.
"Don't do this," Emma begged, closing her own hands and stepping back, her eyes on Killian and her father. "Let's talk - please!"
Rumple stayed his hand for a moment, and all three men took a huge gasping breath, though the vines still held them in place.
"The time for talking is done, dearie," Rumple replied. "And I think I'll keep my new toys close to me from now on, just for good measure. Sort of an insurance policy, against your good behavior."
"Let them go!" Emma threatened.
"My dear Miss Swan," Rumple said in a condescending voice. "This may be the realm you were born into, but it isn't a realm you command. Leave the orders to the ones in power, and find a better pasttime than a filthy pirate."
While Rumple had been giving his speech, Snow had been digging in her pocket. She turned her head sharply, looking past Rumple and over his shoulder.
"Look! Over there!" She shouted. Rumple's head whipped around and she raised her bow, firing off a shot straight at him. He turned back, grasping the arrow in mid-air before it hit him.
"A little trick I learned from my father," Rumple said with a wide smile - a smile that slowly began to fade. "What have you done?" he said, the realization beginning to dawn on his face.
"Petrifying powder," Snow said smugly. "I coated the shaft with it. Sometimes you don't need magic. Just a bag of tricks. Now let's go."
Regina waved a hand and the men dropped to the ground, scrambling to their feet and following as Emma took the lead, pushing through the trees.
"Wait," called Robin. "Let me guide us. I can get us to the Lake on the fastest route."
"Regina and I can get us there faster," Emma said. "Come on, Regina, let's poof."
"All the way to Lake Nostos?" Regina said, raising her brows.
"You say I'm powerful. And I know you are. That powder isn't going to hold him forever. Let's get this done."
Regina nodded. "We've got nothing to lose." She looked over at the others. "Ready?"
Everyone nodded, and Killian reached out, taking Emma's hand. She glanced over at him.
"Poofing, here," she reminded him.
He gave her a lopsided grin, dropping her hand. "Have at it, Swan."
Emma nodded to Regina, and concentrated.