Chapter Three.

Killian & Will's Adventure Pt. 1

The next day when Hook walked into the library, he was surprised to find that once again, Belle was not alone. Sitting across from where she always sat was Will Scarlet with his nose stuck in a book.

"I see you've recruited more help in finding the spell." Hook said, as he held the door open.

Belle looked up, "Oh, Killian, good you're here. Will just brought some books in from the back. They might be worth looking at."

As she said this, Killian noted how her eyes flitted to the young man sitting across from her, and how her lips turned up just a bit at the sides. He also noticed how she seemed happier than she had been in quite a while. It was a nice change.

When she noticed the way Killian seemed paused at the door, looking between her and Will, she shut her book, "Oh, right, sorry. Killian this is Will, Will this is-"

Will cut her off, "We've met before."

He too put his book down and shot a look over his shoulder at the all too familiar pirate, "I have permission to be here this time, no need to give me another shiner."

Killian laughed, but Belle didn't find it funny at all. She shot a worried look towards Will, "What?"

Before Will could explain, Killian spoke, "Sorry about that, mate. Let's just say I was having a pretty bad week."

Killian walked over to the table and held out his good hand towards the thief, "How about we leave the past in the past, and start over?"

Will looked at the man's hand before looking over at Belle. She was still staring at the two of them, completely confused.

He knew Belle thought of Hook as a friend, and he also knew that if she knew exactly what had passed between the pirate and him, she would be encouraging him to forgive Hook. To make make friends with the unlikely hero.

So, even though he was a bit hesitant, he looked back to Killian and grasped his hand with his own, "S'pose I could that."

"Great!" Killian smiled. He let go of Will's hand and looked at Belle, "So how's the spell coming along?"

It didn't take long for Will to decide befriending the pirate was as unlikely as him growing a third arm.

In the few measly hours that Killian had been plaguing the library with his presence, Will had decided there was no one more arrogant or annoying than the pirate currently pacing back and forth in front of him.

It had taken Killian only three hours to completely abandon the books and instead distract the other two from their own. He insisted on asking questions he knew Belle couldn't answer, on huffing at the lack of progress any of them had made.

Will was irritated because Hook's attitude was the absolute last thing Belle needed. As if she didn't already put enough pressure on herself to find the spell, now the pirate wanted to add more. For him, this simply proved that Killian wasn't nearly as invested in finding a way to save the faeries as Belle was.

"Six weeks!" Killian suddenly exploded, "And still nothing. Still those faeries are trapped in that bloody hat."

Belle was startled by Killian's outburst. Unlike Will, she had learned over the past month and a half to ignore the pirate's bad habits. "We just have to keep working at it."

She looked at Will as she continued, "But we will find a way to save them. We just have to keep our faith."

"Yeah, 'mate'. Have faith."

Killian shot a dirty look at the thief, "Easy for you to say, you haven't been at it this whole time."

"And you 'ave?" Will scoffed.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Belle saw the tension growing, and she quickly tried to diffuse the situation, "You guys, this isn't helping."

Will and Killian didn't even hear her. Will pushed his chair away from the table and stood up. He turned to glare at the pirate, "What I mean is that for the last three hours, you've been doin' more bitchin' an' moanin' than you 'ave been readin' them books."

"I have too!" Killian defended himself, "Just because I read faster than you-"

"Like bloody hell you 'ave! You barely skimmed 'em!"

"How dare you suggest I'm not doing everything I can to help the faeries."

"I ain't suggestin' nothin', I'm sayin' you ain't!"

Belle could see the two men in front of her were close to throwing punches. She pushed herself between them and put as much space as could between the two heated men, "Enough! This isn't helping anyone!"

Her interruption brought the men to a sudden stop. Killian turned and began pacing again, his pent up frustrations threatening to boil him over the edge.

Will dropped back down into his seat. He wanted to punch the pirate, he really did. It'd only be fair too. A shiner for a shiner, but that would hardly be something Belle would want.

"He started it." Will muttered.

Killian glared at the thief, "I most certainly did not, you stupid-"

"I don't care!" Belle shouted so loud that it blocked out whatever insult the pirate was forming, "Out of my library! If you two can't get along, then neither one of you can stay here."

"What?" They both exclaimed.

"You can't kick me out, this was my search in the first place." Killian argued.

Will rolled his eyes, "Funny considerin' she's the one doin' all the work. And this is her bloody library, she can do what she wants!"

Belle grabbed both men by their jackets and began dragging them to the door, "Out! I mean it, both of you."

They tumbled out of the door, and as she stood at the door staring at them she added, "And until you two learn to work together I don't want either of your help."

They were both looking at her crazy, but she didn't care. She couldn't focus on saving the faeries if she constantly had to referee those two.

But she had to admit the idea of going it alone was a daunting one for her. So as she slammed the door shut in their faces, she really did hope they managed to work things out quickly.

"What the bloody hell is your problem?" Killian glared at the thief.

"My problem? My problem is you and your arrogant attitude." Will countered with a glare just as heated.

Killian resisted the urge to roll his eyes. He wasn't arrogant and he sure as hell didn't deserve to be lectured by some low life thief, "Arrogant? I was in there trying to help the faeries. It's you who can't put aside his petty anger to see the bigger picture."

Killian turned and started walking towards the Sheriff station.

Will wasn't going to let him walk away from him, "Petty anger? You seriously think this is about you punchin' me?"

"What the hell else could it be?"

Will grabbed Killian's jacket and yanked him to a stop.

"My problem," He said, "Is that you think you're searching for a way to save the faeries, that this is your big moment, your big quest to be a hero, but it ain't you who spends all day readin' those damn books. It's her."

"I never said that Belle wasn't a big part of this search. I'm not trying-"

"You might not be tryin' to, but it sure as hell is comin' off that way."

"Look, Knave," Killian growled, "I never said Belle wasn't important to this search and you have no right to stand here and tell me I haven't been working just as hard as her."

"Really?" Will asked sarcastically, "She wakes up at the crack of dawn and goes to that library hours before openin' time. And she don't leave til well after closin' either. Everyday. I know that because unlike the rest of this bloody town, I see her. I see the way the guilt is eatin' through her. I see that there ain't gonna be no gettin' better for her til she finds a way to make it all right in the world again."

All through out the Knave's rant, Killian listened silently. He watched how animated the man became as he defended Belle, and how soft his eyes went while describing her.

"You've got it worse than I thought..." Killian said softly to himself.

"What?"

"Never mind." Killian sighed, knowing this was hardly the time to point out how lovesick the Knave was, even if he didn't realize it himself.

Will threw his hands into the air, "Unbelievable. You didn't listen to a word I said, did you?"

Shaking his head in disbelief, Will turned to leave.

This time, Killian stopped him. Killian hadn't realized how much of this quest of his he'd been putting off on Belle. He hadn't realized just how much of this search had been consuming her. He had been too distracted with his own guilt to take notice of hers.

Some friend he was.

Perhaps the Knave was right. Maybe he was being selfish... arrogant.

"Wait." Killian said, "You're right."

Those words brought Will to a sudden halt.

"I haven't put in as much effort as I should have been these last few weeks." Killian sighed, "This is every bit as much her quest as it is mine. If not more."

"Damn right it is."

"Honestly I'm worried there isn't a spell at all. We've gone through almost every book in that damn library and still we have nothing."

Will hesitated for a moment, "There might not be, but if there is, then she'll find it."

"It's all that damn crocodile's fault!" Killian cursed, "If he hadn't found that bloody hat in the sorcerer's house none of us would be in this situation."

"No." Will agreed, "But he would 'ave been up to somethin' all the same. People like him can't stop themselves from mucking things up."

"Well anything would have been preferable to that hat."

A thought occurred to Will, "Wait a minute. I think I'm havin' an idea. You said the hat was at the sorcerer's house?"

"Yes, it all seemed to connect back to the house: Arendelle, the snow queen, the hat, and the crocodile's plan for world domination."

"Right, well since everything was connected to the house, what if the answer to savin' the faeries ain't in the library, but in the house where the hat originally was?"

Killian thought about what the Knave said. It certainly made sense. Why would the Author or the Sorcerer (or whoever the hell it was) leave books about the hat for just anyone to keep in their libraries? It would make a lot more sense if the books were kept hidden, just like the hat itself.

"Emma and I searched though the house, but you could still be right." Killian said, "She and I had been more concerned about finding more weapons of mass destruction than looking through the author's private collection of books."

"Well," Will said, "What are we waitin' for?"

I had fun writing Killian and Will, but it was also the most difficult part of writing this chapter. The chapter was a little shorter than I like to normally post, but I felt I needed to end it where I did because there wasn't going to be another good spot for awhile. I hope you guys enjoyed it!

I think next chapter I'll give you guys a peak into what Rumple is up to. Fair warning though, I don't plan on following the canon storyline. I'm going to give Scarlet Beauty a fighting chance by letting them get to know each other and actually fall in love, THEN I'm going to f*** shit up by throwing Rumple into the mix. *cue evil laughter*

Anyway, thank you so much for the reviews and follows! I'm so glad you guys are liking it so far, and I'm glad for your feedback.

SoulWriter101. I'm glad you and I agree on Scarlet Beauty. I wish more people would give it a chance. I don't like to think of Belle as a weak character, mainly because I did really like Beauty and the Beast, but I've always had a hard time reconciling the two Belle's in my mind. I feel like the writers really dropped the ball with Belle's character, but I think this season they're trying to fix that. If only they would give her more screen time!

MinhUsagi134. I agree. Rumple has had too many chances. You can only break someone's heart so many times before they stop giving it to you. Belle deserves someone who is her equal. She doesn't need someone to give her the world, she can find it on her own. She just wants to share it with someone else. I like Will and Ana. I finally watched the whole series. But I didn't find myself in love with the pairing like I am with Will and Belle. Then again, I couldn't really give them a fair chance, considering I was distracted by Alice and Cyrus (they were so freaking adorable). As for slowing down, I agree. That's why Emma and Killian are going to be making a few more appearances in the next few chapters. They'll be keeping the two separated a bit.