Chapter 17

After his little comment, Emma found it hard to stand next to Killian. There was something about him that was unnerving. All of his little comments, his looks, like he knew her or something. Totally ridiculous, since they'd met only two days ago.

Maybe he was a spy, sent from the family of someone she'd to jail to kill her. But he didn't really give off that vibe.

"So if you don't like Tink then who's your favorite character?" Killian asked, effectively breaking through her train of thoughts. "Pan?"

Emma shuddered despite herself. "Oh, God no." She responded. "He's a smarmy little git who likes to toy with girls."

Killian nodded. "Ah. I see."

"There's something about him too. I know he's the hero of the movie and all but the way he treats everybody pisses me off. I don't really know how to describe it though.

"Like he's a bloody little demon or something."

Emma looked over, surprised. "Yes. Exactly."

"I happen to agree with you. Pan is evil." He said, his voice hard. It almost seemed as though he had some sort of personal experience with Peter Pan.

"Yeah, no, my favorite character is, believe it or not…"

Just then, she was interrupted by a loud shout. "Daddy!" Ava cried, pointing at the screen.

Emma frowned, attention diverted to the TV. "What?"

Ava was pointing at the infamous villain of Peter Pan strutting about the screen clad in the iconic red tunic. "Daddy!"

She turned to Killian, amusement causing the corners of her mouth to rise. "Wait. She thinks you're Captain Hook?"

Oddly enough that wasn't a bad comparison. Considering her recent fascination with the villain.

He chuckled. "Aye, that she does."

"Why?"

He shrugged. "Guess Ava thinks I'm as devilishly handsome as Captain Hook."

"Uh huh." Emma responded dryly. "I'm sure she does. You know, because three year olds are oh so attuned to how people look."

"What about you?" He asked. "What do you think?" His face was suddenly too close to hers, his blue eyes dancing playfully. Emma had the sudden, wildly inappropriate urge to kiss him. And stranger even, it seemed like he wanted her to.

"I think…" She began softly. "That you should finish drying the dishes." She finished, throwing the dish towel at him.

He caught the towel, grabbing for a plate. If he was disappointed he didn't show it. "So you never did tell me? Who's your favorite character?"

"Oh, umm…" Emma hesitated. If she said it was Hook Killian would surely accuse her of saying so because she found him attractive or something like that. Which she totally didn't, of course. "Tiger Lily." She settled on, feeling lame.

His wink told her that he didn't believe her.

It was a rainy Sunday and Ava was growing fussy. They'd promised to take her to the park but it was out of the question, as it was storming like a freaking bitch.

Emma had decided to use the day to catch up on paperwork, but she couldn't concentrate with the sounds of a crying Ava filling the apartment. If Henry had been there he could've entertained his sister but it was his week with Regina.

Hook was growing desperate. "Wanna build a castle with your blocks?" He suggested.

"No!" Ava shouted, throwing a couple of blocks at him. One bounced off his forehead; Emma had to stifle a giggle at Hook's disgruntled expression. Ava crossed her arms stubbornly over her chest. It was such an Emma move that would've been very funny if they weren't so frustrated over her bad mood.

"Come on, Av." Hook said. "I know you're disappointed that we can't go to the park but we can still have fun here."

"No!" She repeated. "Wanna go to park!" Ava started screaming, her face turning bright red as she clenched her little fists.

"I know." Hook said patiently. "But it's raining. Want me to read something from Henry's storybook? I know you like that."

She ignored him, continuing to scream and cry.

He sighed, throwing Emma a hopeless look. "I tried."

It was days like this that Emma wished her daughter wasn't as stubborn as she was. She pushed back her chair. "Here. Let me try." She crossed the room and picked up Ava. "Sweetie, I know you wanted to go to the park. Believe me, I'm as mad as you are. But throwing things at Daddy isn't going to help."

"Park! Park!"

She started walking around the room with her daughter in her arms in an attempt to calm her down. "Shh. It's ok. We'll go another time, I promise."

But that wasn't helping. Ava's cries grew louder and louder with each passing second. If she didn't stop soon Emma was afraid she'd lose her voice.

Just then, she had an idea. Spying a DVD left out on the coffee table, she walked over and picked it up. "How would you like to see something funny?"

At the word "funny" Ava looked up. "Funny?"

"Yes." Emma motioned to Hook and handed him the DVD.

He scowled at its cover. "Really, love? Peter Pan?" After their return from Neverland Emma and Henry had forced him to watch it and he'd complained (rather childishly too) the entire time about how inaccurate it was. Then they'd watched it again with Tinkerbell, whose reaction had been about the same as Hook's.

"Just put it in!" Emma hissed.

He shrugged and shuffled over to the DVD player. It took him several tries to turn it on, something that made Emma roll his eyes. He'd mastered texting but still had trouble turning on simple appliances. Go figure.

"Watch this." Emma said as she fast-forwarded to the part she had in mind. She sat down on the couch and settled Ava in her lap.

Ava stared at the screen, her expression bored.

"What are you trying to…" Hook started, but Emma interrupted him.

"Just trust me. She'll love it." And then she found the part she was looking for. "Look!" Emma cried as the iconic Captain Hook came onto the screen. "That's Daddy!"

"Oh bloody hell." Hook turned away in disgust.

Ava's face scrunched up in confusion. She looked up at her mother. "Daddy?"

"Yes." Emma bit her lip to keep from giggling. "That's Daddy." She pointed at the screen. "Well, really that's Captain Hook. But since your father's Captain Hook…"

"No." Hook muttered. "That's an unattractive imbecile."

"Oh, shush. Don't be such a baby." Emma responded playfully as Ava began to giggle. "See? She likes it!"

"Hook ugly!" Ava cried.

"Oh, yes." Emma winked at an annoyed looking Hook. "Yes he is."

But underneath his scowl she could see that he was happy that Ava had finally cheered up. He reached over and scooped her up. "You like having a good laugh at my expense, don't you?"

Her loud giggles told him that she did in fact love it. "Daddy ugly!"

"Oh, you think Daddy's ugly? Well you look just like Daddy which makes you ugly as well."

"Nuh uh." Ava shook her head. "Ava pwetty!"

"Aye, princess." Hook responded, shooting a glance at Emma. "You're pretty just like your mother."

Emma rolled her eyes, playfully sticking her tongue out at him. "Liar."

From then on, Peter Pan was Ava's favorite movie.

Later that night, Emma sat on the couch with a steaming mug of hot chocolate with cinnamon. As usual, Peter Pan was playing on her TV once more.

After Ava's outburst, Emma was beginning to find Captain Hook more and more attractive. Appearance wise, he was nothing like Killian of course. But there were the similarities. Like how both were determined. Hook to defeat Peter Pan and Killian to take care of Ava, to be a good father. She'd never met a man quite like him, who cared about his kid so much and it was very refreshing. On the outside he may seem like any random man who used his looks and charisma to attract women but Emma was beginning to see that he was different.

Oh God. What was she saying? She was not attracted to Killian. You've been down this road before, Emma. She reminded herself. And it only leads to heartbreak. You know that. Men are good for nothing but a good distraction.

Just then, her phone beeped. Emma reached over and looked at the screen, greeted by the sight of a new text. Expecting something from Mary Margaret, she was surprised to find that it was from Killian.

Or rather, more correctly it was from Ava. She opened the text to find a picture of a grinning Ava and her bear, Cinnamon with a caption that read: we miss Emma!

She smiled, something warm blooming inside as she looked at the picture. Ava was just so damn cute.

Really? Emma wrote back. Using your daughter? Smooth, Jones.

Almost immediately there was a reply. What can I say? She's as irresistible as I am.

She rolled her eyes. You're quite self centered.

But you didn't disagree.

Emma could practically hear the smarmy grin in his voice. Not the point here.

Yes, it is.

Whatever helps you sleep at night.

So when can I see you again?

Um, you just left.

Your point? As you can quite clearly see, Ava misses you.

Just Ava?

Maybe.

Whatever you say, dude.

So when can I see you again?

Wow. He was nothing if not persistent. We'll see. Emma texted back.

I knew you missed us too.

Keep telling yourself that. She wrote, and then turned off her phone. It was getting late and she had a long day of chasing criminals ahead of her. As her phone powered down, she realized her heart was pounding and she couldn't stop smiling. Dammit, he was making her act like a teenager with a crush.

Author's note: Hahaha Ava thinking that Hook in the movie was ugly.