Chapter 3

The woman who had been Snow White for twenty nine years, then Mary Margaret for another twenty-eight, and who was now some strange amalgamation of the two, paced around their campsite. Both Mulan and Aurora watched her with concern, though neither said a word. The sound of the falling rain outside filled the cave they'd taken shelter in, making the atmosphere oppressive and hopeless.

"How could this have happened? What's wrong with her?" Snow asked for the fourth or fifth time since her daughter had collapsed and refused to wake. The other two women looked at one another and then back at the pacing royal. Every time they'd tried to talk up until this point she'd shut them down, claiming that she needed to think things through without distractions.

"She has a cut on her hand. Perhaps it is infected." Mulan carefully ventured, trying to get through to the panicked woman.

Snow paused, and then spun on her heel to look at them, "Aurora, tell me again what happened. As specifically as you can."

"I –I -" She stuttered for a moment nervous at suddenly having Snow's intense gaze focused solely on her. The feeling only lasted a moment before she shook herself and started again. She was a princess and that made her royalty, and she would not be intimidated. "I noticed that Emma had fallen behind, so I went back to make sure she was alright. She looked like she was having trouble walking straight and when I talked to her I noticed she was very pale. She looked sick to me, tired as well, but she wouldn't let me call for you. She knew you'd make her stop and she wanted to put more distance between us and Hook. I'm sorry Snow, I should have told you anyway."

Snow opened her mouth but quickly shut it again, incriminations and placing blame would do nothing to help her daughter. As it was, it was two against one and she couldn't afford to lose the few allies she had with her temper, no matter how much she felt the young girl deserved a tongue lashing. "It's alright, you stayed with her. That's what counts. Mulan, you've looked at the cut, do you honestly think it's infected?"

The warrior sighed and then looked sadly at the dark haired woman. "No, it doesn't. But the cut is still new. It might not be showing signs just yet. Or…"

"Or she was poisoned," Snow finished softly and moved to kneel beside her daughter. She rested a hand on the girl's forehead but didn't feel anything out of the ordinary so she looked at the hand. The cut there was deep enough to have bled but not terribly so. Already she could see it was starting to heal, and it didn't look infected. Pulling the wound closer so that she could see it better in the firelight she paused and sniffed. There was a strange sweet smell that reminded her of alcohol. Could this be what had made her daughter ill?

"What's that smell?" She turned to Mulan and the woman crouched down next to her. Taking Emma's hand the warrior looked it over and then she bit her lip in consideration.

"It smells like…It smells like the liquor that they made at the village." She said thoughtfully as she dropped the hand. "It was Hook, it had to have been. He must have had some and used it to treat the wound."

"So he did this, he poisoned her." Snow growled dangerously as she looked back at her daughter. She gripped the hilt of her sword and it took all the self control she had not to stand up and hunt the pirate down like a dog. She'd just found the daughter she'd been forced to lose, and now she was on the verge of losing her again. She'd barely gotten to know the sad, broken woman her baby had become and she'd be damned if she'd lose her now. There must be a way to stop this, she thought, some cure and if there was it resided with Hook.

"It looks like a sleeping curse to me." Aurora finally said, breaking Snow's concentration and thus her plotting to kill Hook in various unpleasant ways. Snow raised a questioning eyebrow and the younger woman continued her theory. "Think about it. Outside of the fact that she won't wake, there's nothing wrong with her. She has no fever or the signs usually present with poisoning. It has to be a sleeping curse."

"I would normally say you're right," Snow responded slowly. "However there's a problem with that theory. You said she seemed to gradually get sick. That's not a sleeping curse; those happen instantly."

"Well that's because you're right. It's not a sleeping curse."

0o00o0oo0o0o

Almost instantly, an arrow was leveled at Hook's head and he could see Mulan draw her sword. Standing just outside the cave entrance, the rain pouring down around him, he knew he looked like nothing more than a black shape in the dark to them. So he took a step forward with his arms held up in mock surrender.

Once his soaked form was illuminated by their small campfire, Snow White glared at him with an unwelcoming expression. He'd seen that look on many an opponent's face over the years, it was the look of someone who was trying to decide what they wanted more, his answers or his blood. "Hook, what have you done?"

"Me?" he replied, false innocence dripping from every word. "I haven't done a thing. Her own pigheadedness got her into thispredicament."

"What did you do?" The dark haired woman asked again through clenched teeth. He could see the desire to kill him growing her eyes and he knew that her control dangled by a tenuous thread. A normal person would be terrified by her expression, and a cautious person wouldn't have pushed their luck; he was neither of those things. He was Captain Hook and he would be intimidated by no one, least of all this slip of a woman; a bow in her hands or not. So instead of explaining himself or trying to placate her he narrowed his eyes and sneered. In response her expression became darker and she drew her bow back even further.

Mulan, clearly sensing the growing tension, moved forward with her sword and it caught his attention instantly. Whether she intended to calm the situation or exacerbate it he had no idea, but he wasn't about to let her do either. He knew he would be able to, most likely, beat her in a duel. But he wasn't about to risk it, or waste more time. He was here to deal with the mother and daughter duo, the other two were nothing but problematic.

"I don't think so, girlie," he hissed, his voice dark as he pointed at the warrior. "Anything happens to me and your little 'savior' dies with me."

"What does that mean?" She replied both surprised and angered at the idea and the threat. He noticed the way her eyes seemed to be glowing in the fire light, and was very much reminded of a tiger. Snow, on the other hand, dropped her bow a fraction of an inch and her lips parted slightly in horror. Good, it looked like she was quick on the uptake. No cries of "You're lying, that's not true," to be had here. Her interactions with Cora's daughter had clearly taught her that when his kind made statement like that, they meant it.

"This links us together, if you kill me then the one she's wearing will kill her," he said as he shook the loose sleeve of his shirt to make it reveal the leather around his wrist. "As it is, she's going to die… unless you let me help her of course."

The silence that followed his statement was deafening and he waited patiently as they digested the situation. Finally, the… flowery onespoke up, breaking the quiet. "What do you mean she'll die?"

He raised an eyebrow at the girl and had to bite back a sarcastic retort. Normally he liked to play with his victims, very much like a cat with a mouse. However, at the moment he was cold, tired and wet; a combination did not exactly put him in a gaming mood. So instead he opted to just explain the situation. He wanted to sit near that fire as soon as possible, after all. "The spell imbedded in her bracer drains the energy from her body and transfers it to mine. The more she walked, the further she got away from me, the more it took from her."

"Well, you're here now, so she should get better." Mulan said reasonably and Snow, who was clearly over her initial shock, simply watched him; not saying a word. If she was anything like her daughter, a fact that was almost too bizarre to think about, he had a feeling that she was plotting the best way to kill him without harming Emma. He was fine with that, he could handle her. Not too say she wasn't good, because she was. He was just better, and frankly, so was her daughter.

"No," he paused for a moment as he tried to figure out how to best explain it. "The spell's… locked so to speak. It won't allow her to recover unless I… unlock it. Essentially she'll waste away, if her heart doesn't give out first. Thus defeating my purpose to begin with, so, if I may?"

"Your purpose?" Snow asked, her voice commanding. In that moment he could very much see the Queen she had once been, and in many ways still was.

In response he shrugged with a dashing smile, "Why, my plan to use your daughter's life as a bargaining chip to guarantee my passage to this Storybrooke of yours. I'd honestly hate to see what would happen if these lovely bracers were separated by dimensions."

They all looked at Snow, and after glaring at him for several long moments, she spoke again in measured tones. "Why do this and come after us? Why not go back to Cora?"

"Well, your highnesses, first of all you have the compass. If I went back to her without it, my reception would be, let's just say, less than pleasant. And secondly, I figure I have a better chance of actually getting there with you lot. You're all so noble after all… That and I don't trust Cora worth a damn."

"Noble? Emma left you imprisoned in the giant's castle, how can you still want to work with us?"

"True, however, even considering that you're still far safer company than the witch. Swan left me tied up for ten hours. She didn't kill me, didn't even attempt to. In fact, she made sure I was alright beforeshe imprisoned me." Hook snorted and threw the unconscious blonde a quick considering look. Then looking back at her thoughtful mother, "Cora would have killed me no questions asked. And, hey, who said anything about trust? If I trusted you I wouldn't be using your daughter's life to buy your cooperation."

Snow sighed and looked away from him and at the cave wall for a moment before she relented with a regal nod of her head. She didn't see another option. Hook pursed his lips at the action, he was normally not one to kowtow to nobles, but if he wanted to keep his advantage he was going to have to just this once.

Without another word, he crossed the cave and crouched down next to Emma under the watchful eyes of her group. He took a moment to consider her unconscious form in the firelight. In sleep, with those defiant blue eyes closed, she didn't look all that impressive. She was beautiful to be sure, he'd never deny that, but she didn't look like someone who had the ability to best him. She looked fragile and soft; with the years of pain he saw written in her every expression missing. To be honest, she looked peaceful. But that peace was a lie, and he knew it. She wasn't weak and she certainly wasn't soft. She'd bested him, twice now, and before all this was said and done he had a feeling she'd probably do it again. She was good, verygood, and if circumstances were different he probably would have offered her a place on his crew.

Mentally shaking himself, he took a deep breath to center his concentration and then lifted up her arm. Sliding his hand to her wrist he gripped the leather there and angled them so that her hand was resting on his bracer. Instantly the two items began to glow with a golden light and he heard a gasp from one of the women behind him. He ignored them and instead focused on making sure that her stolen energy was returned to her slowly, so as not to over-stress her heart and stop it. It took several minutes, but finally he sat back on his heels with a heavy breath. Not only had the process itself exhausted him; but now that her energy was gone he was starting to feel the aftereffects of his long journey here.

The second she realized he was done, Snow came and all but pushed him aside in an effort to check on her daughter. He was just able to keep his feet under him, preventing himself from sprawling out embarrassingly in the dirt, and growled at her. A little thanks for saving the idiot's life would have been nice, but no of course not, he thought to himself. It would seem that common courtesy was in short supply in that family.

It didn't take long for Snow to check Emma over and when she finished she turned back to him with accusing eyes. "She's not waking up!"

No, a thank you was definitely too much to ask it seemed. "Of course not, I gave her enough to break the lock and pull her out of danger. She'll be right as rain tomorrow. I'm not about to knock myself out to revive her; not with you three lovely ladies lurking about."

"I supposed we can expect no more," Mulan said, coming to stand near Snow before placing a hand on the other woman's shoulder. They shared a quick look before Snow relented with a frustrated sigh and stood, leaving her daughter to sleep in peace. Hook snorted and walked over to a section of wall that was nearest the entrance but still close enough to the fire that it warmed his soaked form. Then he leaned against it with his arms and legs crossed casually. He didn't feel quite safe enough to sit just yet.

"What kind of magic was that?" the flowery one asked as she looked back and forth between himself and Emma," I've never even heard of such a thing."

Hook raised an eyebrow at the comment, "You really have lived a sheltered life then, Princess."

"Well, I haven't heard of it either," Snow said crossing the space between them quickly. She stood before him with her arms folded and her stance defiant. He could see where Emma got her disposition from. "And trust me when I say Hook, I've lived anything but a sheltered life."

"So I've heard," he acknowledged with a bow of his head. Everyone had heard the stories of the great Snow White and her dashing Prince Charming. Especially when they traded with certain trans-dimensional, merchants who loved to hear themselves talk. "Perhaps they no longer use these here. I honestly don't know how long it's been since I was last in these lands. It's hard to keep track of time in Neverland."

"So what were they used for?"

"These were created towards the end of the Ogre Wars when desertion in the ranks became a serious problem," he said, launching into a brief history lesson. The sooner they understood the way the board was set, the sooner they would know their places in the game and then he could rest for the night. "Thus, it became a law that every new recruit was forced to wear one. So, if someone did decide to run these would stop them only a few miles away, and they could be brought back. No muss, no fuss and no injuries that prevented the soldier from being put back onto the front lines. I bought this spare set off a trader, interesting one he was, thought they might be useful someday. Turns out I was right."

"The Ogre Wars..." Snow paused and he could see her mind processing the information, most likely comparing it to the history lessons she would have had as a child. He tried not to smile the moment he knew she put all the pieces together and figured out what he wasn't saying. The look of utter rage and helplessness on her face was a beautiful thing.

"You put a slave collar on my daughter?!" She hissed and, with a quick move, pulled a dagger from her belt and held it up against his throat. "Take it off NOW."

He was stunned, not having expected the action from her. But then he realized he probably should have; like mother like daughter. For a moment he was amused by her futile display of temper. However when he felt the metal actually nick his skin the anger came, and it rose up in him like a dark, living thing. Clearly he needed to explain the situation better. She was in no position to argue with him, let alone threaten him.

"Yea, and lucky for me I did," he all but snarled, and then leaned forward on the blade so that their eyes were only centimeters apart. He vaguely felt the sensation of blood running across skin as the blade sank deeper, and he could see the spark on fear in the woman's eyes. "Now get this thing away from me, and don't threaten me again. I don't take kindly to it."

"You think I care what you 'take kindly to?'" she shot back, after composing herself, her tone just as venomous.

"You should if you love your daughter," he said with a dark smile, his eyes a cold steely blue. "Because I could kill her right now if I wanted to. The bracer I'm wearing is the control, meaning I say the magic word, she dies. You kill me, she dies. Do you see how this works? Now. Get That. Away. From. Me."

Snow took a shuddering breath and quickly stepped away from him, dropping her weapon to the ground as she went. She could see in his eyes that he wasn't joking; he was more than willing to kill her daughter if she crossed him. Hook re-adjusted his shirt and took a moment to rein in his temper with a deep calming breath as he inspected the cut on his neck. He couldn't afford to act rashly out of anger, not when he was so close to his goal. So he was grateful that the warrior stepped forward and all but dragged the Queen away from him.

"Now that that's settled, I think we're done for the night," he said to all three before turning away and allowing himself to slide down the wall. He sprawled out comfortably at its base- as comfortable as he could get on the cold, damp ground in a cave in the middle of the woods. The other three gathered together on the other side of the fire and he watched them converse. They seemed to argue for a few moments more and it looked to him like they were trying to calm down Snow. Finally, it seemed to work and she moved to sit by her daughter's side, though she kept her bow at the ready.

"I'll take first watch," muttered Flowers and she moved to sit before the fire, while the warrior laid down on a bed roll. He nodded to her and then leaned his head back against the stone closing his eyes and settling in for the night.

All in all he'd say he'd had a pretty productive day.

A/N: So, yea, I'm not going to sugar coat Hook's characterization at all for this. As a result the romance between these two is going to be slow going, don't worry though it will get there eventually…just not for a while. However, I promise next chapter will have lots of Emma/Killian. Then we go "Into the Deep" because YES! That episode works perfectly for my story!