Chapter Thirty-Six: The Curse of Time

Hook woke up in his hospital bed in so much pain that he did not dare himself to move another inch. He slowly opened his eyes and saw, at the foot of the bed, Jack Harkness standing and grinning at him, appearing just the way he last saw him only without his trench coat on. The sight of Harkness brought more discomfort over Hook than his own injuries had. "I am in hell, aren't I?"

"If you consider getting plowed down by a speeding vehicle and sustaining a few cracked ribs as 'hell,' then, yes, you are." Jack jested. "I have just two questions for you, Killian."

"And why would I answer any questions you have for me?"

"Because between the fact you're in excruciating pain and that you're handcuffed to your bed, you have no other choice."

Hook glanced at his only good hand, which – as Jack had said – was handcuffed to the bed. The other arm, which was supposed to hold his hook, was missing the appendage at the moment. It reminded him of the last time he had seen Harkness. "This again, eh? It didn't work the last time. What makes you think it will now?"

"Like I said, you're in unbearable pain." Harkness indicated. "Now, for my first question – Where's Cora?"

"Go to hell, Harkness."

Jack snickered. "Already tried. You see, there's this 'condition' I have where I can't just stay dead. You wanna talk about hell so much, let me tell you this one time where I'd been blown to pieces. Every bit of my body in bits. My own remains had to piece themselves together until there were enough organs, bones, and tissue back in place to make me feel anything again." He stepped in from the right of Hook's bed, moving in closer to the pirate. "And you wanna know how it feels having a hundred percent of your body lacking an epidermis?" Without warning, Jack pressed both hands down hard on Hook's torso, causing the pirate captain to scream in immense agony. "Tell me where Cora is!"

He eased up on his torso, allowing him enough time to recover and answer. "I have no idea where she is. She has her own agenda."

"How did you two get here?"

"Is that your second question?" Harkness pressed down on Hook's torso again, prompting him to take his immortal adversary more seriously. "Alright, alright!" Jack loosened up and Hook found himself once again fighting for breath as he answered, sweat pouring from his forehead. "I took the last of a magic bean from the giant when you and Swan left me there to die. That bean, combined with water – seawater, to be precise, was enough to open a portal from the other world to this one."

"So you killed the giant to get the bean and escape?"

Hook chuckled, shaking his head. "Sorry, Harkness. You promised me only two questions. Now let's talk about something I am interested in – my hook. May I have it back?"

"You will once I've found a way to send you back to where you belong."

"That'll be impossible for even an immortal man like you. You don't have magic, Captain Harkness, or magic beans for that matter."

"No, but I have something much better – I have the Doctor."

"Ah, yes. Our good old friend. He's here in this town, isn't he? I'm awfully looking forward to meeting him again."

"Not gonna happen."

"And you're sure of that?"

"What I'm sure about is how much trouble you've gotten yourself in with a certain man by the name of Rumplestiltskin. If I were you, buddy, I'd be thinking about how to get out while the gettin's good. Because you've pissed off the wrong man."

Jack left Hook with this thought, walking out of the hospital room and feeling more informed about the situation with the pirate captain than he had before visiting him. Arriving in the waiting room, he was greeted by an emotional River Song. "Jack, is it true?"

He assumed that she was referring to the Greg Mendell situation and said, "Yes, there's an outsider in Storybrooke. He suffered some massive injuries, but Dr. Whale is…"

"No, I mean is it true about the Doctor?" River asked. "Has he contacted someone you know outside of Storybrooke?"

Harkness nodded. "Yes, it's true."

"Then why are you still here? Why aren't you out there with your friend looking for him?"

"Because, River, I have to…" He felt Greg's phone vibrate in his left pants pocket and pulled it out to see the same caller, whose name came up as just "Her," displayed on the touchscreen.

River looked at the phone as it continued vibrating in Jack's hand with the displayed caller I.D. "Who's 'Her'?"

"I wish I knew." The phone suddenly stopped vibrating and logged the call as "missed," much to Jack's relief and agitation. It's only a matter of time before this "Her" gets suspicious and drives her way over to the town, he nervously thought.

"Jack!" He looked away from Greg's phone and noticed that David was approaching them, appearing a bit unsettled. "Whale's gone."

"What?" Harkness exclaimed in surprise.

"The staff tried to page him, but his pager was the only thing we found of him other than his coat." David informed. "Ruby's got his scent and she's going out to look for him right now."

Harkness appeared very perturbed from the news. "Why the hell would he leave the hospital in the middle of Mendell's surgery?"

David shook his head. "No idea. He's been really off lately – drinking on the job, turning to Gold for help, and snapping at you." The last item he focused heavily on. "What did he mean earlier by 'that's more than enough' you 'owe' him? Do you two have some sort of history over your time in Storybrooke?"

Jack sighed. "Actually, it goes further back than that. We have history in the other world."

"What?" David reacted in understandable wonder and confusion. "How is that possible? We've only known you for the short time you've been here in town."

River understood immediately. "When we were in the fairy tale world, we encountered a Weeping Angel. It tried to siphon Jack's life energy by sending him back through history – the history of your world – and kill him in the process. What it failed to take into consideration was Jack's immortality. Jack lived through every event that ever occurred and met many of you before your curse."

"Well, you must've bypassed me, because I don't remember ever meeting you before the curse." David indicated.

"Actually, David…you did." Jack noted. "You don't remember it because it hasn't caught up with you yet. It all happened in a different life. A new curse was set into play the moment I interfered with your history. I guess the Doctor would call it 'The curse of time' – or maybe just a 'Time Curse,' whichever you prefer. I guess Whale is the only free agent of that curse, much like Regina was with hers. Don't ask me how – I'm still trying to figure it out myself."

David acknowledged Jack's facts with a simple nod. "Well, I hope for our sakes that time will be a healing rather than a curse in our situation now. The sooner Ruby finds Whale, the closer we can continue getting the Doctor, Emma, and Mary Margaret back home. In the meantime, Jack, tell me about this 'history' you have with Whale."