Chapter Fourteen: Hook, Line, and TARDIS

Mulan realized that they were bypassing the haven where they departed from on the previous day to a more secluded area in the forest. She, Aurora, Snow, and Emma had been following River, who was moving at a pace much faster than the four of them. It was becoming a chore just to keep up with her without tripping and falling, and Mulan had grown agitated. "Where are you going?" She asked River. "The encampment is the other way!"

River stopped for a moment to turn to Mulan and sternly address her. "If Cora was Lancelot the entire time she was there, then everyone in the encampment died at any time we were away."

Her assumption was strong enough to surprise the other women. "How do you know that for sure?" Snow asked.

"Call it a hunch, sweetie."

Mulan refused to believe. "No…No, you can't be too sure. I'm going back with or without you."

"If you go there and see that I'm right, then what'll you do?" River rhetorically inquired. "The only chance we have now of getting a step ahead of Cora is the TARDIS."

"The what?" Aurora uttered with confusion.

Snow and Emma both took in the mentioning of the Doctor's dimension-bending, time-traveling machine in the fairy tale world. "Wait. The TARDIS can't be here," said Snow, who exchanged a baffled glance with Emma.

"Yeah, we saw it back in Storybrooke." Emma added.

"Another version of it exists here." River notified. "When we returned to Storybrooke, something separated the Doctor and me – split the TARDIS into two forms within two different planes of existence – one here and the other there."

Hearing this, hope began to ring over Snow. "Then we have our way back home! Surely the TARDIS can take us back!"

River smiled. "That's what I'm hoping, darling. But we first have to find Jack. I trust the TARDIS to get a fix on him. Of course, with him being immortal, that might be something of a problem."

River continued leading the women through the forest until they finally came upon where the TARDIS was situated. Upon seeing the strange blue box, Aurora seemed highly perplexed. "This…is the…the…thing you were talking about?"

"I've heard of stories about a 'magic blue box' that traveled over many lands, including this one." Mulan said. "This 'Doctor' you all speak of…the legends about him are true, aren't they?"

Snow looked to Mulan and nodded with a smile. "Yes, they are. He's helped me many times in the past, even when he lost his identity and became 'John Smith.'" That one piece of information made River frown with suspicion, yet she didn't have the time to question about it. "And, if he were here now, he would surely help us in our predicament."

Listening to her mother's last comment, Emma's eyes shifted over to River, recalling her earlier remark about the Doctor's trouble with magic. She watched as River got the doors to the TARDIS open and allowed them all inside. River expected Mulan and Aurora, who were entering the TARDIS for the first time, to have questions over its larger interior upon discovering it. However, the usual "Bigger on the Inside" moment was suddenly sidelined as soon as the women discovered someone already in the TARDIS, standing by the console.

"What are you doing here?" River asked the intruder, so surprised by his presence that she took out her gun and aimed it at the intruder's head. The intruder turned and faced the women. It was a bearded man donned in black and had a hook in place of his left hand. None of the women recognized the man, which prompted River to ask, "Who the hell are you?"

"Killian Jones," the man responded, "but most people have taken to call me by my more colorful moniker – Hook." He lifted his hook to his face for emphasis.

"As in Captain Hook?" Emma asked.

Hook grinned. "Ah, so you've heard of me."

"How did you get in?" River questioned, not once taking her aim off of Hook.

"I've been inside this enchanted blue box before, courtesy of its owner – the Doctor." Hook explained before revealing a silver key that was fastened onto a silver necklace he wore. "He entrusted me with this key to his vessel after I'd done him a huge service. If I were to ever need his help, then I only need to step inside this blue box and ask for it."

"And what kind of help does Captain Hook require?" River asked.

Hook's face grew intense as he answered: "To exact revenge on the man who took my hand – Rumplestiltskin."

Listening to Hook, River half-turned to Emma's direction and asked her, "Is he telling the truth?"

Emma appeared a bit surprised. "Believe it or not…he is."

Accepting this confirmation, River lowered her gun. "Alright, Hook. You should know the man you're searching for is in Storybrooke, the very land we're trying to get back to. And, unfortunately for you, the Doctor is also in Storybrooke at this time."

This news displeased Hook. "Well, then…I suppose I acquire more assistance than I expected." He then regained confidence as he added, "That is, unless one of you ladies happen to know how to work this machine."

River then reluctantly admitted, "I can."

"Marvelous." Hook said. "But to find your land of Storybrooke, we'll need more. There's an enchanted compass that we need."

"Where do we find it?" Snow asked.

Hook smiled. "How good is this box at climbing beanstalks?"