Author's note: Oh my gosh thank you all so much for your responses! I hope you know how much I really appreciate it :)

Disclaimer: I don't own Once Upon a Time, or else Emma and Hook would've hooked up a long time ago.

Chapter 2: Change of Scenery

In a word, Emma Swan was bored. She couldn't remember the last time she felt this way. For most of her life, simply struggling to survive took up most of her attention, time, and energy. Every day was a battle. Even after establishing herself as a bail bonds person and having a steady income, that came with a whole new set of challenges.

Moving to Storybrooke made things a little easier, but then she'd begun her unofficial battle against Regina. Thinking up ways to one up or thwart the Evil Queen was no easy matter, for Regina was quite skilled at doing so as well. There had been the whole matter of dealing with Henry: making sure he got home in time, dealing with his fairy tale obsession, getting to know him, and of course, saving him from that cursed turnover.

And then falling into a portal and landing the Enchanted Forest hadn't exactly been a cakewalk. From ogres to giants to Regina's crazy mother, she always had to be on her toes.

Even she and Regina had been getting along pretty well. At first, Emma had been wary of her, remembering their history. But then Henry had told her that she'd played a key part in bringing them home. And the Evil Queen had looked pretty sincere. So Emma had agreed, albeit tentatively, to let Henry stay with his adoptive mother a couple weekends each month. She was his mother, after all.

So yes, Emma was bored. For the first time ever, there wasn't anything to deal with. Nothing that was threatening her life. She had enough to eat, a steady and mostly safe job, and nothing to worry about. And that was completely unnerving.

She couldn't help but think that this was the calm before the storm. Her life was never this calm. She could feel deep in her bones that something was about to happen. But what?

As per her usual routine, Emma strode into Granny's at exactly 8 am for her morning coffee run before work. Except this time, she had a coffee order for two, as David was now her deputy. He'd taken over her job during her time in the Enchanted Forest, and it felt wrong to just leave him without a job. Deputy was much more his speed than animal rescue worker.

"Morning." Ruby said cheerfully as Emma approached the counter. "Same as usual?"

"Yep. But make that two."

"Got it." Ruby scribbled something down on a pad. "That'll just be a few minutes."

"Great." Emma said as she sat on a stool to wait. Though she liked Granny's coffee, she really should invest in a coffee maker for the station. It hadn't really been a priority before, with dealing with Regina and all, but now things had died down, it would be probably be more convenient to make her own coffee every morning.

As the diner gradually began to fill up, Emma sat back and listened to the hustle and bustle of Storybrooke's residents. It felt like, well, home. She looked around the room and was startled to find that she'd actually really missed this place when she was gone.

Turning towards the door to wave at Archie, who strode through the door, umbrella in hand as usual, she suddenly spotted something out of the corner of her eye. A dark haired man in a long leather coat, striding purposefully down the street. Was it her imagination or did that look like…Hook?

Standing up, she quickly crossed the room towards the window and pressed her nose against the glass, searching the streets for him. She was startled to find that part of her actually wanted to see him. After their last encounter, in which he'd saved Aurora's heart, she'd wanted to apologize for leaving him atop the beanstalk. Turned out he wasn't that bad after all.

"Emma, coffee's up." Ruby said cheerfully, causing Emma to jump in surprise, effectively tearing her away from the window. Deciding that it was just a trick of the light, she walked over the counter. There were tons of people who wore leather coats, right?

Collecting the two coffee cups, as well as a bag of pastries she'd decided to buy at the last minute, Emma exited the diner, taking a sip from one from one of the cups, letting the rich flavors dance on her tongue. Coffee was one of the things she'd missed most in the Enchanted Forest. It was good to be back.

She walked down to the street towards her car, struggling to balance everything while rifling through her pocket for her keys. Juggling had never been one of her strong suits, and just as luck would have it, as soon as her fingers hit the cool metal of her car keys, she fumbled and they came tumbling down, hitting the pavement.

"Dammit." She cursed quietly as she bent to pick them up, placing the coffee and pastries on the ground. And that's when she saw it again. The same man in the leather coat, heading towards the park.

Coffee abandoned, she started towards him. Almost immediately, as if he sensed her following him, he quickened his pace. Emma followed suit and took off at a jog, feet flying down the pavement. He looked backwards and sped up even more. She craned her neck, desperate to see if it was Hook, but all she could see was the slope of his nose.

Why am I doing this? She asked herself. Chasing after a strange man in the park. But she had to know if it was him.

She chased him down the street, weaving in between startled pedestrians and parents walking their kids to the bus stop, all while squinting at the figure.

It was him. Emma realized with a gasp. She recognized the familiar shape of his back. And who in the world wore leather pants on a Monday morning? Was that a hook, glinting in the morning light? Yep, it was definitely him. But what was he doing here? And then it occurred to her that if he was here, Cora must be too. That was not a good sign.

He was heading towards the men's bathroom in the park. Somewhere she couldn't go. Sneaky bastard. With a renewed burst of energy, she took off in a sprint, launching herself straight at him, tackling him into the grass. They fell down, Emma being sure to keep all of her weight atop him, in case he tried to escape.

"Are you trying to kill me, lass?" He grunted, voice muffled by the grass.

"What are you doing here?" Emma growled. "How did you get here?"

"Why, I came to see you, love." He lilted. Emma rolled her eyes and wrenched his arm behind his back painfully, causing him to groan loudly.

"What are you doing here?" She repeated, twisting his arm until he answered.

"All right, all right. I came through a portal. The same one that brought you and your dear mommy back."

She sat back on her heels, momentarily startled. What? She'd thought that the portal had closed right after she and Mary Margaret jumped in. Apparently, she'd been wrong.

He wriggled beneath her until he was on his back, facing her. "You know, if you wanted me on my back, all you had to do was ask." He smiled with a cheeky grin. "We could stop this and do more enjoyable activities, if you know what I mean."

"Funny." She snapped. "You didn't answer my question. What are you doing here?"

"Change of scenery?" He tried.

"Doubtful." She shot back, reaching back for her gun. "You have one more try. What are you doing here, Hook? Where's Cora?"

At the word Cora, something shifted in his eyes, but just as quickly as it came it passed. "You know, I can read you like an open book, lass. I know that you aren't gonna use that metal wand in your hand on me, because I won't be able to answer your questions if I'm dead."

Dammit, he was good.

As if sensing her uncertainty, he continued. "If you let me up, I'll answer anything you want. I promise I won't try to run." He winked. "Who am I to deny a woman who wanted to see me so bad she tackled me to the ground?"

Watching him carefully, she stood up slowly, and he did the same. She faced him, crossing her arms over her chest. "Where's Cora?" Emma enunciated every word, her voice low and dangerous.

"I haven't a clue." Hook said as he dusted himself off. Emma glared at him. She couldn't tell if he was lying, and that bugged her to no end. What was it that Mary Margaret said? That her superpower tended to be unreliable when she let her emotions get in the way?

Right. What emotions? Right now, she was just annoyed by a smarmy, smart mouthed, innuendo loving pirate.

"You sure?" She eyed him disdainfully. "You two seem to be pretty tight."

"Well, what can you say? It wasn't like she left me to die atop a beanstalk." He retorted.

"You made it back just fine." Emma said flatly.

"The only thing I excel at is surviving." He pointed out. "Amongst…other things." He said, raising his eyebrows suggestively.

Yet again, he'd managed to dodge her questions.

She grabbed the collar of his shirt, pulling him real close, until their noses were practically touching. Vaguely, it occurred to her that she was currently pressed up tightly against his firm, toned chest. And that it felt…good? "Listen, buddy. I have a fully loaded gun and I'm not afraid to use it. I may not kill you, but I know how and where to use it to make it hurt."

He stared back at her, the intensity of his stare practically burning a hole through hers. But he stayed mum.

"Alright, fine. Don't answer me." Emma released him. "But rest assured that I'll be keeping a close eye on you from now on."

"I'd despair if you did." He simpered.

Emma rolled her eyes. "Whatever you're up to, it's gonna fail." She shot him a smirk as she turned to go.

Hook waited until she was well out of earshot before muttering quietly, "Don't be so sure, lass. I can be quite charming when I want to be."

Emma didn't know why, but she decided not to tell anyone about Hook's appearance just yet. But that was a bad idea on so many levels. For all she knew, Hook and Cora were here, ready to wreck havoc on the town. Maybe they were here to kill her and her family. In any case, they should all be preparing for battle.

She trusted that Hook would stay hidden. If there was one thing she knew about him, it was that he wasn't stupid. Highly irritating, but also sly and cunning.

Emma decided that she would just have to lie low and keep a very close eye on him until she figured out what he was up to. Better to do that then freak everybody out. The second he slipped up (and she knew he would), she would pounce. She would just have to watch him very carefully from now on.

Much to her surprise, a smile flitted across her face.

Author's note: So what did you think of their first interaction? 4 days till the Once premiere! Ahhhh so excited!