Killian stays up for a long time, thinking. And avoiding to join Emma in bed, lest she wake and proposition him again. He's not sure he has the strength to resist her advances while they are lying in bed in together. He shakes his head and wonders how he reached a point in his life where he's trying to resist Emma's charm.

Before finally going to sleep, he decides to create a safeguard in case he does get affected by whatever or whoever caught up to Emma yesterday. It takes him a moment to find pen and paper, rummaging through the downstairs cupboards. After that quest is successfully completed, he sits down at the table and stares at the empty pages, unsure how to tell his cursed self the truth without sounding like a madman. He sighs, then begins to write.

Hey mate,

I hope you still recognize your own handwriting. I assume it will not change, but you never know. No, you did not write this in a moment of madness. Or intoxication. I know you well enough to be certain that you must have suspicions. A feeling that there is something wrong with the world. You do not know what it is but it is there, at the corner of your mind, just out of reach. You are living a dream, Killian. Granted, it is a bloody fantastic one, but It is time to wake up. Stop fighting the feeling of unease, the fear that the world is not as it should be. Embrace it. Remember Liam. Remember Milah. Remember the Jolly Roger. I know it is painful, but you must remember who you really are. For your sake. For Emma's sake. For everybody's sake.

Good luck,
Killian Jones,
Dashing Rapscallion (remember?)

He stares at the note for a long time, imagining his cursed self, trying to figure out if that man would take such a note seriously or discard it as nothing more than a prank. He cannot reach a conclusion one way or the other. With a sigh, he stores the note in one of the breast pockets of his leather coat. He contemplates sleeping in the guest bedroom, but at this point it would not only upset Henry but Emma as well.

He sighs again and sneaks into the room, putting on the ridiculous sleep wear of this realm very quietly. He stares at the bed for maybe a moment longer than is entirely prudent. He can barely make out Emma's sleeping form in the darkness, but his imagination supplies plenty of details before he shuts it down with force. He takes of his hook and brace and lies down under the covers carefully, trying not to disturb Emma.

He lies completely still even though his heart is beating at an entirely unjustified pace and he is starting to sweat in spite of the fact that he again foolishly decided to forgo adding a shirt to his sleep wear. He has spent most of the evening trying to come up with a solution as to how he could politely refuse Emma's advances without hurting her feelings in the process. All those hours were spent in fruitless labor though, because he still doesn't have the faintest clue how to pull of that feat.

It also heavily relies on the assumption that he will, indeed, be able to resist Emma. He might be vastly overestimating his self control on that front. The image of Emma in the shower that assaulted him earlier is still vivid in his memory. In his mind's eye, he can see the hot water running down her beautiful hair, over her breast, down over her stomach and her long, slender legs.

He groans and tries to shut down that train of thought. Bad form, Jones. He has fantasized about Emma in the past, of course he has, he is only human. But he knows exactly where this is heading and he refuses to engage in that activity with Emma lying right next to him. He considers spending the night in the guest room after all. Or maybe he'll just go over there quickly, get this over with and return to bed. Maybe it will help take some of the pressure out of this nightmare of a situation. Or maybe it will make things ten times worse.

He is still debating with himself when he feels Emma's arm snaking around his waist, her body scooting closer, spooning him from behind. Her head comes to rest in his hair.

"Hey", Emma says sleepily, then she's quiet again. Killian waits, his heart beating even faster than before, his muscles tense, but there is no further sound from Emma. So much for his idea to sneak out of bed. Emma's breathing becomes even once more and Killian assumes she has nodded off to sleep again.

He forces his muscles to relax, but it's no easy task. There is just so much wrong with all of this and yet on some level it feels so right, to lie in bed with Emma wrapped around him and he's not sure he can put up with this limbo for another week, hell, another day, without losing his wits. After a long time, he drifts off to an uneasy sleep.

When he wakes late the next morning, Emma is already gone and he breathes a sigh of relief. At least, he will be spared the awkwardness of another encounter until she returns from work. He makes his way down to the kitchen and is suddenly aware of the emptiness of the huge house. It's only been a couple of days, but he has already gotten used to the ruckus that Henry makes whenever he's around. Now, everything is eerily quiet and out of nowhere, he feels very alone. Which makes no sense, seeing as he spent the previous day on his own without these feelings. It probably has more to do with being the only person left with intact memories, the only chance for everybody to return to their real lives. It is a lot of pressure.

He sighs and decides that a change of plans is in order. He needs to make at least a try to convince somebody of the truth or he will surely go mad before finding a way to break the curse on his own. He gets the talking phone and manages to convince it to let him talk to David.

While he waits for the other man to respond, he hops from one foot to the other nervously, doubting his decision to reach out to David. What if he comes off as a crazy man? What if David talks to Emma about it? He needs to tread very carefully.

David replies almost immediately.

"Hey, man. What's up? Are we still on for tomorrow?"

"Err, aye, certainly. Listen, David, I need to talk to you." It still feels strange to address Emma's father in such a personal manner.

"Of course. We could meet during my lunch break?" David's voice is carefully neutral, but it's obvious he knows that something is going on. He's a lot more perceptive than Killian remembers him.

"Great. Thank you. Could you pick me up at my house?"

"Sure."

"Oh, and David, one more thing-"

"Don't tell Emma?" Certainly much more perceptive.

"Aye."

"See you around noon."

"Goodbye."

By the time Emma's father arrives in what passes for a carriage in this realm, Killian has devised and discarded five different strategies to broach the topic he wants to discuss with the other man. He still has trouble thinking of David as a friend. Which is probably for the best, seeing as, once the curse is broken, David will probably resume the protective father role, as well as his view of Killian as a potential threat to his daughter's well-being.

When he stops the carriage and disembarks, a worried expression almost concealed on his face, Killian has a sudden inspiration. The curse affected them the moment they entered town. If he can get Charming to cross the town line, maybe his memories will be restored. It's quite a gamble though, who knows what side effects leaving town might incur.

He walks up to David to greet him and is surprised when the other man embraces him in a quick hug.

"Shall we go inside?" His tone is serious, betraying his anxiety.

Killian shakes his head. "I need to show you something."

He enters the carriage on the passenger side and David pauses for a moment, then follows him.

"So, where are we going?"

"Take us to the 'Welcome to Storybrooke' sign."

David is clearly confused by this request, but to his credit starts driving without asking any questions. Killian feels suddenly overwhelmed by the extend of the blind faith this version of David has in him.

They drive on in silence. Killian almost speaks up several times, but he is never quite sure how to phrase the actual words. David is clearly aware that something is going on with him, but doesn't press the matter for the moment.

They are getting close to the town line. "Stop here", Killian requests, and David does it without question.

They get out of the car and Killian looks at the town line anxiously. Then he looks at Charming. The other man is looking back at him with a questioning expression, his eyebrows drawn up, waiting for him to spit it out already.

Killian sighs. He's aware that he is making a huge decision on David's behalf. What if something horrible happens to him once he crosses the line? He'd never be able to forgive himself. Emma would never be able to forgive him. He looks over at the prince once more. Killian thinks he knows who David really is. A man that would risk his life without question when it comes to protecting his people, protecting his family. He assumes that David would take this gamble without hesitation if there was a chance of saving the town.

"There's something over there you need to look at." Killian points at a random tree on the other side of the line.

David's eyebrows shoot up. He's likely caught on to the fact that Killian is lying to him. At the very least, he is fully aware that Killian is withholding information. And yet, he starts walking anyway, making Killian wonder once again just what they are to each other in this alternate version of history.

The second he crosses the town line, David drops to his knees, grabbing his head in pain. Killian instinctively reaches out to him, but stops himself. He cannot risk leaving town. He doesn't have Emma's magic at the moment to protect him. He cannot risk losing his memory as well. Once that happens, all is lost. So he watches David's suffering in silence, without being able to do so much as lend him a hand.

After several minutes, David finally sits up straight again and looks around. He turns to him, his eyebrows drawn together in confusion.

"Hook?"

Killian closes his eyes, breathes a sigh of relief and thanks the Gods.

"Do you remember anything? Do you know how you got here?"

David stands up and looks around.

"We - I - I drove us here, didn't I?" He shakes his head as if trying to clear his thoughts. "We're back in Storybrooke, aren't we? I - I have another set of memories. Oh Gods, my head hurts."

He stumbles closer and Killian raises his hand in warning. "Don't cross the town line!"

David blinks, confused. "Or what?"

"Or you might lose your new-found knowledge again as quickly as you attained it. When Emma, Henry and I crossed the town line, we were affected by the curse as well. Emma's magic protected her and me, but Henry suddenly remembered a different life that he had led here in Storybrooke."

David nods. "One in which you are his father. And you are married to my daughter."

The second sentence holds a clear note of warning. At least they are back in familiar territory now.

Killian clears his throat and scratches behind his ear. "I can assure you that nothing untoward has happened between me and Emma."

David stares at him and Killian resists the sudden urge to flinch away from him. Then he nods. "Good. Keep it that way." His voice is even more threatening than before.

"What's our next move?" David asks, to Killian's surprise. He expected the prince to take charge the moment his memories were restored.

"Well, we know now that it is possible to restore people's memories by physically moving them over the town line. However, it is highly likely that they will fall back under the spell of the curse the upon reentry. So, this knowledge does not actually help us with finding a solution to our current predicament. I wonder though, why it never happens that town's folk cross the line and suddenly remember their true selves."

David seems to be deep in thought. "I remember having a certain - I don't know, I guess you could call it aversion to leaving town. Maybe it's a part of the curse, something that makes the residents unwilling to leave town."

"You crossed the line without hesitation when I asked you to", Killian reminds him.

David gives him another measuring look. "The man who crossed the town line trusted you with his life." Killian's eyes widen in surprise.

"I apologize for taking this risk with your life, I didn't see any other options", he mumbles in reply.

"No, you made the right call. It gives us more information about the curse, at least. But it leaves me with two undesirable alternatives, either I stay out of town, unable to help, or I come back with you and risk being under the influence of the curse again."

Killian nods, then remembers why he brought David to the town line in the first place.

"Listen, mate, when we entered town, Emma was fine, her memories were intact. But when she returned from work yesterday evening, she thought she really was my wife." He sees something flash over David's face. He clearly did not hide the bitterness in his voice as well as he thought. "We need to retrace her steps to uncover what happened to her. Do you recall a shift in her behavior?"

David's eyebrows knit together as he puzzles the question over. "I remember thinking that both of you were acting strangely ever since you returned. I was worried, but since neither of you seemed willing to talk about it, I decided to give you some space. Then yesterday, Emma seemed to be her old self again all of a sudden, so I assumed you two had worked out whatever it was that was bothering you."

"What was she doing when she returned to being her 'old self'?"

"We were called in because of a disturbance on main street. Gold was proposing to Belle and making quite a fuss about it. I talked to him and Emma went off somewhere else. When she returned she was normal again. Well, what my cursed self thought of as normal, anyway."

"So you didn't actually see what happened to her."

"No. Sorry."

Killian hits the side of the car with his hook in frustration. This doesn't bring them any closer to figuring out who cast the curse or how to break it. They're back to square one. He's out of ideas.

"Why didn't you bring Emma here?", David asks.

"What?"

"You said her magic protected both of you when you came back to town. Maybe that could work a second time."

Killian wants to kick himself as David's words sink in. Of course. How did he not see this? A small voice in the back of his head pipes up that maybe he had even more reservations about sending Emma over the town line than he had about doing it to Charming. But now they have proof that it doesn't harm the person.

"Aye. I hadn't considered that option. It makes sense. Let's do it straight away, before whatever affected Emma in town also gets to me. Do you want to come back with me or not?"

David smiles. "Well, somebody has to drive you. And I cannot accomplish anything from here. Plus, the man I am while I'm in town trusts you unconditionally. You will still have my help, even if I don't remember the truth."

Killian nods. It's the answer he expected. Much like himself, David is not a man who sits on the sideline and waits, while others take action.

David takes a deep breath and braces himself. "Well, here goes."

He steps over the town line. For a second, nothing happens and the two men look at each other hopefully. Then, David's face turns into a grimace of pain and he stumbles. Killian shoots forward to support him and manages to keep him from falling. After a few minutes, David stands up again, holding his head, looking confused.

"What happened?"

"You had a terrible head pain. You almost passed out."

David leans against the hood of the car. "Weird. I never had any trouble with migraine before."

Killian doesn't know the word, but if it explains the situation to David, he's on board with it.

"I need to talk to Emma. Can you take me back to the station with you?"

David sighs. "Listen, Killian. I think I have been very forthcoming in playing along with your shenanigans. But enough is enough. You'll have to give some explanation about what's going on here."

Killian doesn't have time for this. Or maybe he doesn't have the nerves for a heart to heart with Emma's father.

"Do you trust me?"

"Of course. You know that. But this is not about whether or not I trust you. I'm worried about you, man. You're behaving weirdly recently. Why are we even here? I just need to know what's going on with you."

Dammit. He can see that he's not going to get the other man's help without giving him something. Time to improvise. It's a good thing he was always quick on his feet.

"Me and Emma are going through some things at the moment." David nods, looking unsurprised. He clearly suspected something of the sort. He makes a motion with his hand, conveying 'go on'. "It's going to be fine. We'll work it out. But I could really use your help and I would appreciate if you don't ask questions for the time being. I promise it will all make sense in the end."

David sighs again. "You're asking me for a huge leap of faith here."

"I know. But I can assure you there is nothing wrong with me. I know some of the things I've said and done seem strange to you, but believe me, there is an explanation for everything. I just cannot give it to you at this moment. I need you to trust me."

David stands up straight and looks at Killian, then he smiles. "Okay."

"Okay?"

"Yes. Okay, let's do it."

David enters the carriage without another word and Killian walks around to the passenger side. That was easier than expected. Now, all he has to do is to convince both Emma and David to cross the town line. Then, Emma's magic has to work once again to protect their memories. And then they still need to figure out how to break this damnable curse. It's going to be a very long day.