Chapter 21: Just A Dream…?

Darkness. That's all Emma could see. Darkness.

She was in some sort of dark, empty room. Running her hands along the walls, she groped for something. A light switch, a torch, anything. But the walls were empty.

"Hello?" She called out cautiously. "Anyone there?"

Silence.

Emma sighed, irritated. Where the hell was she? She was willing to bet that her hot headedness had gotten her into some sort of trouble. Again.

For a moment, she wondered if she was under the sleeping curse or something. But wait. Mary Margaret had told her all about the effects of the sleeping curse, and this dark room was most certainly not the fiery room her mother had described.

Just then, there was a small pinprick of light. And then another, and another, and another. Emma shielded her eyes against the brightness. "What the hell?" She muttered.

"Not what." A familiar voice said. "Who"

Emma lowered her hands to see Cora standing in front of her, bathed in a pool of light. She immediately tensed, wishing she had a sword or something.

"What do you want?" She growled.

"Relax, dear. I'm only here for a little chat."

"Somehow I find that hard to believe." She shot back.

Cora only laughed. "Oh, believe me. If I was here to hurt you, you'd be dead already."

"Ok. So what do you want?"

"I'm here to warn you." She began pacing around the dark room, the light following her as she walked.

"About what? That you're here to kill me? Good luck getting to Storybrooke."

Cora rolled her eyes. "I don't need luck. That pirate you're so fascinated with? You think he's so wonderful? Well. You wouldn't love him if you knew what he was really up to." She said mysteriously.

Emma frowned. "What's that supposed to mean?"

But Cora started to fade away. "Well, dear what's the fun if I tell you?"

Emma awoke with a start, her heart pounding, the blankets tangled around her legs. She looked around Hook's apartment wildly, half expecting Cora to still be there. The other half of the bed was empty, and she could hear the shower running.

A dream. It was just a dream. Nothing more. But it had felt so real. And what about what Cora had said? That she wouldn't really love Hook if she knew what he was really up to? What was up with that?

Part of her, the rational part, wanted to just disregard everything Cora had said. After all, it was just a dream. But another part, the part that still struggled to wrap itself around the whole magic thing, had a suspicion that Cora had been right. After everything she'd been through magic wise, she knew what nothing was just a dream anymore.

But had Cora been right? It was true that Emma still didn't know why Hook was here. He claimed it was for her, but had he lied?

Damn her lie detector and its tendency to be inaccurate when her emotions were involved.

Just then, the bathroom door opened and Hook came out wrapped in nothing but a towel, a torrent of steam following him. Normally she would've stopped to surreptitiously admire his bare, toned chest without having to listen to a flurry of innuendos, but she was too distracted.

"That thing you call a shower is truly a miracle of God." Hook commented as he walked towards her, hair still glistening with moisture. "That bothered by my absence? Not to worry, love. I'm here now." He said upon noticing her pinched, sour expression.

"I had the weirdest dream." Emma murmured.

"Would you care to enlighten me?" He sat down on the end of the bed.

"Cora was there. We were in this dark room." She recounted. "And then she kind of told me in her own little way that you were up to something." Suddenly, Emma noticed the tight way in which he gripped the bedspread and the paleness in his face. "What? Why do you look all nervous?"

"What?" Hook looked up. "Nothing."

"Is she right?" Emma pressed. "Is that why you look like you just swallowed something sour?"

Hook fought to keep a straight face. "No, of course not.

She narrowed her eyes at him. "If you say so." But it was obvious she was unconvinced.

"It was just a dream." He reached out and brushed a piece of hair out of her face.

"Was it?" Emma fired back. "Because I know now that nothing is never as it seems. I mean, you never told me why you're here."

Hook swallowed back his fear. "Listen to me." Using his hook, he forced her eyes to meet his. "Emma. You know me. You can trust me. If I was up to something, you'd know. It was just a dream." He reiterated.

This was not good. This was so not good. He'd managed to convince her for now, but he knew that in time, she'd start to doubt him. Emma was smart. Much, much smarter than the average woman, and he was sure that with another warning or two, she'd corner him against the wall with a sharp knife and demand to know what was going on.

Hook knew with a dead certainty that that had most certainly not been just a dream. It was Cora's way of telling him that time was running out. That he had to (gulp) kidnap Henry as soon as possible.

But her warning had just doubled the difficulty of this task. Now Emma would be alert, keeping an eye on him to make sure the dream had been just that. A dream. How exactly was he supposed to kidnap her son without her noticing? Especially since he had two mothers, a father, and grandparents?

This just reinforced the fact that he had to go to the Crocodile for help. As soon as humanly possible.

Author's note: A bit of filler, I know. Studying for midterms taking up all my time -_-