A/N: a huge thank you to those of you who have review, fave'd or are following this fic.

Trussed up in coarse rope, stripped of his coat and gagged, Black Beard looked nothing more than a man. Although he remained defiant with his glare fixed on Captain Hook. Emma gazed down at him after jumping of the gangplank with a swift nod at the deckhand who had provided it at Hook's request. A week in his brig had given her time to think of his intentions. The intention Hook had mocked him for. She turned to look at the Captain as he spoke with Mr Nolan.

However, her eyes were fixed on the cutlass hanging from Hook's waist. It swayed as he spoke, the conversation with his deckhand getting heated. Then it occurred to her very few simple shipmates would speak to their captain like that. She turned back to Black Beard.

'I want to know why he did it.'

Her voice rang out as she drew up to her full height. Lesson's from her mother; stand tall, let everyone know you are a Princess, but be graceful. She had missed the graceful in the presence of pirates.

'I already told you, love,' replied Hook. 'Kidnap on the orders of the Evil Queen.'

Emma spun to look at him, and Mr Nolan who has a resigned expression on his face. 'But no one has seen her for thirty years. Not since she…'

'Killed your father,' finished Hook with just a flick of the eye to Mr Nolan. 'But now she's back and…'

He didn't get the chance to finish. Emma darted forward, grabbing Hook's cutlass and pulling it free. He attempted to stop her with his hook. But the two weapons scrapped together, cutting the air with a zing. Then he felt the tip of his blade against his neck. She tried to prevent herself from shaking, planting her feet down as Mr Nolan stepped forward. His blue eyes fixed on her with one hand up, the other on Hook's shoulder.

'What's going on?' called a boy's voice on the deck.

Hook held up his hand to silence him as Emma looked at the young lad with a mop of brown hair look from Hook to her then back again.

'It's alright, lad,' Hook said to the boy.

As Emma's attention remained on Henry, Hook stepped forward. He grabbed the blade near the hilt and pulled it out of Emma's hand. She yelled in surprise. Hook glowered at her as he sheathed his sword.

'Well you're a feisty one, I'll give you that,' he said, rubbing the part of his neck where the blade had touched before looking at Black Beard. 'Toss him in the brig. You, my Lady,' he said meeting her eyes again, 'should get some rest below deck while we work out just want to do with you.'

-/-

In the sanctuary of his quarters, Killian Jones paced the length of the room rubbing the part of his neck where the Princess had rested her sword. In a chair across the room, David watched him while spinning a tumbler of rum in his hand. Thankfully, he didn't speak while Killian continued his pacing. He knew Emma wouldn't be Emma but being faced with her was a lot harder than he anticipated.

'Well, what next?' he eventually asked his father-in-law.

David raised his eyebrow at him. 'Emma'll be safe enough for now, which means we have time to find a way to end this,' he said draining the glass. 'Did that have to be so bloody?'

David's head inclines in the direction they just sailed from where the burning remains of Queen Anne's Revenge bob in the current as Killian takes a swig directly from the bottle. He raised an eyebrow at David. Giving chase to Black Beard and rescuing Emma was likely to end in blood shed. He had warned the former Prince of the likely outcome. Killian had obeyed by his owns laws when it comes to flying the Crimson Flag. Rules well known on the seas of this Realm. The ball was entirely in the court of Black Beard. He had led his men to blood shed against Killian's crew.

'We're pirates remember, Mr Nolan,' he reminded David, crossing his arms. 'Or at least they think we're pirates. We have to act the part if we're to succeed.'

'Sounds like your heart isn't in it anymore,' David observes wryly as he grabs the rum bottle, wiping the top before pouring some into the glass.

Killian doesn't even give him an answer. The joy of this life has long since left him, as David well knew, to be replaced by love. The only thing his heart is in is breaking the curse on Emma and being home. Wherever home will end up after this little sojourn. The door to the cabin opened to reveal the third member of their displaced crew. Henry closed the door waiting until he was in the room away from prying ears.

'Mom's settled,' he said, 'but I don't envy the guy you sent to show her to her cabin. I liked her more when she wasn't a princess.'

'She's always been a princess,' David pointed out, affronted by his grandson's remark but Killian chuckled, understanding precisely what Henry meant.

Killian rubbed his neck again. 'That said, princesses aren't usually adept at unarming pirates and using their cutlasses against them,' he said thoughtfully.

'Other princesses don't have thirty years of other memories trying to get to the surface,' replied David. 'I take it you taught her that little trick.'

Killian shrugged. 'How many times have we been trapped in realms outside of Storybrooke?' he reminded David, holding up his hand to display five fingers. 'I thought it would be prudent to teach her a few tricks should her magic fail her. Like now. Judging by the state of one of her captors… well, I'm not going to apologise.'

'So it's good then,' said Henry, 'she's kind of remembering things.'

'Like Regina said lad, us three taking the frankly fool hardy decision to sail into the curse disrupted it,' he said.

-/-

Killian was long used to sailing his ship alone. With the crew below deck for their supper and daily ration of rum, he had a moment to ponder the situation without David's concerned look following him. At the wheel of the Jolly Roger was the closest thing to home he would achieve here. As he pondered the horizon, sun setting in a haze of deep red, the hatch to the cabin where Emma would be residing for the time being. She's changed out of the dirty riding robes into some of the clothing recovered when they robbed the ship from the Golden Realm.

He watched her walk to the bow, hands reaching out to steady herself against the rise and fall as they cut through the waves. She remained still, the wind whipping her hair and dress as the skimmed across the water. Behind him the hatch to his quarters opened. Henry emerged on deck. As expected the young lad had taken to their mission with ease. His Authorial abilities had been useful in revealing the stories implanted into the minds of Snow and Emma.

'Alright lad?' he asked, glancing down to see if he was holding any pages.

'I just wanted to see her,' Henry replied looking down at his mother.

Killian placed his hand on Henry's shoulder, noting how much taller he had grown in the two months spent trapped in this curse. 'We'll get her back.'

The original plan had been simple enough; True Love's Kiss. Until David pointed out if Emma or Snow didn't remember who they were, then it wouldn't work. Potions to return their memories were also out of the question given the risk it could backfire to leave them believing this life was real. The counterpart Regina had created in her bid to remove her darkness had learnt a lot when came to the resourcefulness of those who would do anything for the Savour.

A cough interrupted his thoughts, soft and feminine, he looked over to where Princess Emma stood at the top of the steps to the bridge. The two men exchange a look with each other before looking back at Emma.

'Princess,' Killian acknowledges, with an inclination of his head to her. 'Cabin to your liking?'

'Yes, thank you,' she said, slightly taken aback by his question. 'Better than my last quarters.'

Of course, he had been able to read the look in her eyes. It's been a long time since Emma, his Emma, has looked at him like this. In fact, it's not entirely unlike the first time they met; her leaning across the table so they're faces were inches apart as she told him she would know if he was lying. He wondered if this cursed incarnation of his beloved retain the same ability.

'I want to know what you plan to do with me,' she said, crossing her arms over her chest. 'You were well aware of who I was and the bounty on my head.' She waited until he nodded.

Truth be told he had heard of the bounty on her head in Jarren's Outreach three days earlier. He'd responded by sailing with all haste to Mournstead to prevent anyone getting to her first. Black Beard had only reached the port ahead of him on the virtue of being far closer. Not giving chase immediately, well that had been an entirely different story…

'So what are your intentions?' she asks.

He ponders the question because between them, he, David and Henry have yet to come up with a plan. His fingers tap the wheel of his boat thoughtfully before he wordlessly asked Henry to take the helm. His gaze asking his young step son to trust him.

'I figure your mother will be demanding your return soon,' he said, cocking his head to the side 'and likely to pay more than the Evil Queen ever would.'

Emma's jade eyes flared for a second. 'What if I had another proposition for you?'

Killian raised an eyebrow. 'You do, do you?'

'The stories tell many things of you, Captain Hook. That you are a man of in need of vengeance against the Dark One,' she begins slowly, 'so I am hoping you understand me. The memory of the Evil Queen has plagued my Kingdom since my mother banished her to the Black Mountains. If you present me as my hostage, then I may be able to get close enough to end her.'

-/-

The conversation is relayed back to David once the night watch took their places. Henry, exhausted from the travelling, is already asleep on the bunk. They're voices are low as they speak of what will happen next. They still don't have a plan. Princess Emma's idea is close to foolhardy. She isn't their Emma Swan, Saviour and powerful sorceress, but a graceful if feisty princess. In part it does suit them ultimate goal of getting close enough to the Evil Queen to find a way to end all this.

The night wares on with little progress made between the two men. But a flicker of hope had started resting in Killian's belly with regards to Emma, something he has not yet told David. He clocked it as they had spoken on the bridge, glinting in the pale reddish sky resting comfortably on the finger he had slipped it less than a month before this curse. The vows he made as he placed it there echoed in his head.

As he thinks, the creaking of the boat intensifies. With the sails up, they should be doing little more than bobbing with the current. Killian raised his head as a tell-tale sound of wind squealing through the gun holes and across the deck. The night had been a clear velvet punctuated with constellations long ingrained in his mind.

It's second nature to him, pushing up from his chair, abandoning his drink to climb the ladder to the deck. The sailor at the helm, a lad who had run from the Navy, is struggling to hold the ship steady. The first smattering of rain plasters across Killian's face as David joins him. For his pocket, Killian produces his telescope, but it doesn't provide him with any useful information as a flash of lightening flares across the sky with an almighty crash of thunder.

'Bloody hell,' he muttered moving to take the wheel. 'Sound the bell, Mr Nolan, all men to their stations.'