Killian and Liam pulled together the last pieces to close the business down for the season. The boat had already been packed up and stored and the life jackets put away for use again in warmer weather. Most of the booze for their summer cruises had been boxed except for a bottle of rum that the brothers would traditionally finish on the last day of the season.
With everything finally put away, Killian placed the padlock on their shed by the water and headed down to the end of the dock, sitting on the edge to let his toes graze the cool surface of Lake Champlain. That's when he felt his phone buzz, alerting him to an incoming text. He pulled it out to see a picture of Emma and Henry in front of a "Welcome to Storybrooke" sign with her golden hair glowing from the setting sun in Maine. "We miss you! See ya soon!" the text under it read. Killian smiled warmly. "You two look amazing. I'll see you tomorrow!" he typed out and pressed "Send" on his phone.
It had been almost a month since he had left Henry and Emma back in Storybrooke so he could finish up his job with Liam, and he missed both of them more and more each day.
He was glad he had picked up Henry to say goodbye to him in person before getting out of town but at the same time, it only made leaving that much harder. He still remembered Henry's arms clutched around his neck, telling him he had to stay for so many reasons. Killian promised he'd come back and would send Emma updates on how things were going in New York until he returned. It almost broke his heart to see the tears forming in Henry's eyes as said goodbye to his son.
"Wipe those away," he had said quickly to distract himself from his own emotions threatening to break through. "I'll be back soon, I promise." He waved and watched Henry go inside the school before climbing into his car, blinking rapidly to try and get the wetness out of his eyes.
"Brother! I bring rum!" Liam bellowed from behind him, pulling Killian out of his memories.
He turned and smiled, taking a glass from his brother's hand and holding it out as Liam poured the amber liquid from the bottle in his other hand. "I have been waiting for this," Killian said.
"To another successful season!" Liam said, holding the glass up high and clinking it against his brother's before they both quickly downed the first of many shots for the night.
As the sun dipped below the horizon, Killian was thankful he had decided to walk to work that morning instead of driving his black car. It would be a miracle if he could even walk straight by the time they finished this bottle of rum. Usually, there isn't much left by the end of the season, but the final bottle of Captain Morgan's was pretty full when they packed up the bar this year.
Liam took a deep breath and looked out over the calm water and golden trees. "I'm glad you came back to finish the season with me, Killian," he admitted. "I know your mind hasn't always been on work since Henry found you, but I'm proud of you for sticking with me."
Killian smiled. "Anything for you, brother." He heard Liam scoff next to him. "What?" he said, a smirk forming on his lips.
"There was a time once when you wouldn't have hesitated to stay away as long as you could," he said. "You've definitely changed."
"Yea, I guess I have," he replied, looking down at the glass of rum in his hand.
Liam put his arm around his brother and pulled him close. "You are an amazing brother to have by my side, Killian Jones."
Killian just smiled, too emotional to find any words in response. The two brothers stayed like that on the end of the dock, drinking their rum while listening to the water lap against the shoreline as if they were the only two people on the lake at that moment.
"Well," Liam said, his voice breaking with emotion as he took his hand from his brother's shoulder, clearing his throat before continuing. "You ready for tomorrow?"
"I really am," Killian answered earnestly as he stared out over the water. "I hope you are too. You're going to like Henry!"
"I don't doubt it, Jones. He is my nephew."
"You're going to like Emma too, I promise."
"That one may be a little harder," Liam replied with a bit of skepticism.
Killian took a deep breath. "Listen, I know that I've been a little critical of Emma in the past -"
"A little? I think that's an understatement, brother."
Killian gave him a tight smile. "I know, but I was wrong," he replied. "Emma really is bloody brilliant and I hope you'll be able to see that in her too."
"For you, I'll try," Liam answered before tossing back the last of the liquor in his glass. "Who would've ever thought that when we had a drink to start the season, that we would end it talking about your son and ex-girlfriend?"
Killian laughed. So much had changed since they launched their boat at the beginning of the summer, but it had been for the better. Sure, there were definitely some major bumps in the road and there were plenty more to come, but for now he was finally truly allowing himself to believe that things were good.
"C'mon, brother," he said, clasping Liam's shoulder as he pushed himself to his feet. "Time to get some dinner and sleep off this rum if we want to drive to Maine tomorrow without a hangover."
Killian walked over to Liam's apartment the next morning, feeling better than he expected after drinking almost half a bottle of rum. The Grand Slam breakfast he had for dinner at Denny's the night before definitely helped. Nothing staves off a hangover quite like lots of eggs and toast.
But while he physically felt fine, his emotions were running wild. He was jumpy with the excitement of seeing Henry and Emma again - and the fact that he would introduce them to Liam. But as he got closer to Liam's place, there was the nagging realization that he had to tell Liam about what to expect from Henry. Killian knew the lad had a strong belief in this whole fairy tale thing and he didn't want Liam to react harshly to it the first time Henry told him of his theory. And knowing Henry, that would probably be in the first five minutes of meeting his uncle.
Killian used his key to open the front door to his brother's apartment and was immediately greeted by the smell of fresh brewed coffee. "Morning, brother!" Liam yelled. "How you feeling?"
"Not as bad as I thought I would," Killian replied, walking into the kitchen to grab a travel mug from the cupboard and fill it up.
His brother dropped his duffel bag by the front door next to Killian's and joined him in the kitchen. "Me neither," he said, grabbing the pot of coffee. "Who said an early start to drinking was a bad thing?"
Killian gave him a slight smile and leaned against the kitchen counter, staring down at the mug in his hands.
"Something wrong?" Liam asked casually.
Killian took a breath and set his mug down. "I need to tell you something about Henry before we leave," he replied.
"What about him?"
Killian nervously scratched behind his ear. "As soon as Henry meets you, he's going to want to tell you a story and I want you to be prepared. He's only 10, you know? And I want to make sure you don't act surprised or discourage him or whatever."
"Well, you have definitely raised my interest with this one, Jones," Liam replied, a smirk forming on his lips. "What exactly is my nephew going to tell me?"
He had to swallow hard in hopes of steadying his voice. It was just a book, it was just a stupid story, but Henry believed it so deeply that even Killian began to hope that maybe some little bit of it was true. "So he thinks Storybrooke is cursed."
"Cursed?" Liam asked.
"Aye. He thinks everyone in town is a fairy tale character who was sent to Maine by a curse and they can't remember who they really are. But the curse can be broken by true love's kiss, which is why he came to find me."
"You're going to break a curse by kissing someone you love?" he asked sarcastically.
"Um, no. Actually, Emma apparently has to kiss her true love to break the curse." He took a deep breath. "Henry thinks that's me."
"Interesting," Liam responded with a bit of intrigue in his voice.
"There's more," he muttered before taking a deep breath. "Henry thinks our father is one of the people in the town who is cursed." Killian looked up to see Liam staring at him. "I know that sounds crazy, Liam, which is why I wanted to tell you before we -"
"Who does he think our father was?" Liam blurted out.
"What?"
"Who does Henry think our father was before he was cursed?"
Killian started to stammer, thrown off by his brother's question. "Um, right, yea. So Henry thinks this fisherman named Eddie is our father. But before the curse, he was Captain Hook."
Liam quickly pushed past his brother into the living room, searching for something on his bookshelf. Killian followed him and watched intently as Liam frantically searched the book bindings or something in particular. Then he pulled out a tome with a green cover. Even though it was missing its dust jacket, Killian still recognized it immediately. It was their old copy of Peter Pan.
"This Captain Hook?" he asked, flashing the title on the binding in Killian's direction.
"Aye," he responded. "What of it?"
Liam began to quickly flip through the pages before he stopped in the middle of it and pulled out a yellowed envelope. His hand was shaking as he held it out. "I didn't show this to you before because I thought it was a joke or something." He thrust it closer. "Take it!"
Killian grabbed the envelope from his brother's shuddering hand. "I don't understand."
"When we showed up at the Joneses and couldn't remember where we came from, Mum pulled something from my pocket, but I never saw it again. Then I found this with her things after she died."
Killian turned it over in his hand, finally noticing some words written neatly in cursive on the front. The Darlings, London.
"What is this?" he asked, looking up at Liam for some guidance.
"Read it," his brother commanded, trying unsuccessfully to hold back the emotion in his voice.
Killian pulled out the yellowed paper from inside and unfolded it to find more writing that matched the front of the envelope.
"Wendy, Michael, and John -
I'm no longer in Neverland and therefore no longer protected from a curse that is about to be enacted by the Evil Queen. I believe I have found a way to get us to safety with a portal, but I ask that you watch over my sons Liam and Killian if I am somehow separated from them. You are the only people I know who are not a part of this world and thus the only people who can help us. Please put aside whatever prejudices you have towards me for the sake of my sons. You're our only hope.
Hook"