AN: Sorry, there isn't much to this chapter. I just wanted to post something so you know that I'm not abandoning it. Unfortunately, I have somehow found a way to fall miserably behind in homework the first week of class. I definitely do not plan to abandon this, it just might be a bit longer between updates.

Cora whittled away at her magical prison with heavy curses. Her body floated in a meditative position as she gathered all her willpower and strength for each new curse.

She had initially tried a series of random curses in her rage, but those had only reflected off of the sphere and hit her, burning into her skin like acid. Each one weakened her physically, but provided more motivation.

She then tried threatening the crew and dwarves, but without a magical presence over them, they would not help her. Hook was the master of the crew, now that he had their hearts.

That's when she decided to sit and enter a meditative state. She thought of curses she could use to escape- if only she understood the magic that Emma was using, she could crush her. At the sound of Snow, Charming, Regina, and Gold coming from down the street, she opened her eyes. That's when she saw the black smoke pouring for her body and slowly disintegrating her prison.

She closed her eyes again, despite the threat, and focused all of her hate into the burning fire in her chest that fueled the smoke. The bubble began to thin exponentially, but it refused to burst. The last layer remained intact no matter how much willpower she gathered.

The group was approaching the square at a quickened pace, now that they saw her plan, when a crewmember tilted his head slightly and smiled at her.

"Don't worry Cora, I'm here to help you if you hold out your side of the deal. I'm chained to the Swan girl but my trusty boatswain, Skylights here, will help you."

Skylights blasted the bubble with a bomb and Cora fell to the ground, free.

"Stop," Regina yelled, but it was too late.

Cora had already sent a curse hurtling at them and freezing the magic of Regina and Gold. In half a moment the crew was all over them. Cora then glided toward her daughter, who was flailing as the crew pinned her to the ground.

"You should never have tried to defeat me. Did you think Swan's pathetic attempt at magic could hold long? All I wanted was for you to be all that you could- a chance for us to be happy together. I came here looking for you, hoping we could get another shot. Look at the people here! They are pathetic. We could have them all at our mercy. We could have everything. But I see that as long as all of these distractions are in the way, you will never let yourself have it. I am sorry, my dear, but what I am doing is for your own good. I will tell the boy you love him before he dies, though."

Regina managed to gather enough adrenaline to get off the ground and begin to scream and thrash at her mother, but the crew threw her against the ground again, knocking her unconscious.

"Do not kill her, just contain her. I don't care what you do to the others, they are of no importance."

Skylights led Cora toward Emma's apartment where everyone but Hook was asleep. She broke in with ease and walked over to the boy.

"Wake up!"

Henry awoke instantly and let a muffled gasp escape before screaming for his mother.

This woke Emma, but before she could react, Hook was over her with his hand around her neck.

"Henry," she screamed until Hook shoved a pillow over her face.

"There's no use, love. Cora's already killed him by now."

Emma started thrashing harder but was losing all oxygen quickly.

"Oh. Don't worry, it's you turn now."

Hook pressed the pillow harder against her face and slowly every thing went black.

Everything went black and still.

Except it wasn't still.

She was shaking. It was still black, but she was shaking.

No. She wasn't shaking; someone was shaking her. But it was still black.

They weren't just shaking her; they were calling her name. They were frantically calling her name in the darkness.

'So this is death,' she thought. 'I guess I should have believed in afterlife.'

Even so, she didn't think she was in Hell. It was hot. It was really hot and dark, but she wasn't burning and she wasn't scared. But, for some reason, she knew she should be. Why did she need to be scared? She tried to connect the pieces: She had died- she had died because she was trying to protect someone. She was trying to protect- protect her son- protect Henry.

'Henry,' she thought.

She heard her name called continuously and frantically. The voice was familiar. Maybe it was Henry trying to find her. But it was so dark and hot and she was shaking- she'd never find him. But she had to!

"Henry," she called out loud.

"Emma, open your eyes. Come on! Open your eyes," she heard the voice much closer.

Were her eyes closed? She hadn't noticed. Would it make a difference in the dark? But the dark was slowly becoming lighter and the voice came closer- to her ear.

"Emma, wake up!"

"Henry," she cried again as she finally opened her eyes.

"Emma," Hook sighed in relief, setting her up and testing her temperature with his lips against her forehead again.

"Hook," Emma asked, tears pouring from her eyes.

"It was a nightmare, a bloody nasty one, from the sound of it. You're burning up and you were yellin' out Henry's name. I tried waking you but I couldn't. You gave me an awful fright," Hook told her as he rubbed her shoulder with his hook.

It was cool against her burning skin- soothing. She looked at the time. They had only been asleep for an hour or so. He whispered that everything would be okay and she, for some reason, believed him. She knew she looked ridiculous and pathetically weak, but she didn't care for once. That dream had been so real and frightened the hell out of her.

She wasn't a big human-contact person, in fact, unless it was Henry or Mary-Margaret, she avoided it at all costs- and even with them she was uncomfortable. And yet, she found herself leaning into the pirate, with her head resting on his shoulder.

He didn't even take advantage of the situation. He held her and reassured her. But by her forehead against his neck, he knew her temperature was still way too high.

Taking her hand he helped her up and led her to the bathroom, having her lean backward against the sink.

"What's going on," she asked.

"We need to bring your fever down some," he replied, grabbing a cloth from where she procured one earlier, and wetting it. "Do you want to talk about it?"

She hesitated as he turned, facing her. He rested his hook on her waist and brought the cloth to her forehead, causing her to let out a sigh.

"Come on, it'll help."

"Why are you being so nice?"

"We just made a deal didn't we? We both have to be nice until we go our separate ways."

After another moment's hesitation, they headed back toward the bed and she began to explain her dream. When she got to the part with Henry, a new wave of tears washed over her.

"I'm sorry. I'm not normally this pathetic," she sniffed, wiping back tears.

"Well, I was a nasty bugger in that dream of yours."

This comment elicited a small smile from her.

"Will it make you feel better to check on him," he asked, taking the cloth off her face.

After a moment of looking up at him, trying to control the contradicting emotions, she nodded yes.

"Alright," he replied, wiping away a tear as he caressed her cheek.

She jerked back from the intimacy of the situation, but he didn't let go of her.

"Calm down, I'm just testing your fever," he rolled his eyes playfully as he leaned down to press his lips against her forehead. "It's gone down a lot. Come on."

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

When they reached Henry's bed, Emma slid right on and pulled her sleeping child close to her, kissing his head.

"You really care about him, don't you?"

Emma glanced up at Hook.

"It must be really awful having to share him with Regina- and then being away for so long in another world-"

Emma didn't respond, she just laid down on the bed and wrapped her arms around Henry, which pulled the pirate closer as well.

"Emma, love, why don't we just sleep here? Then you don't have to worry about him tonight."

Emma, finally able to organize- though not deal with- her emotions and thoughts, laid a moment longer, before looking up at Hook. Agreeing, she thanked him and laid back down.

He smiled in reply and tried to lie down as well, but considering the angle Emma held his arm at, it was near impossible to get comfortable. He tried sleeping on his back for a while, but his arm began to go numb.

He slipped their arms down a bit, allowing her to still hold the boy, but also giving him more maneuverability.

"Are you okay," she asked softly.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to wake you. My arm had gone numb."

He twisted to the one side, as if he were to spoon her, but held his distance. But then he began to slip, so he set his hooked arm on Emma's waist for a moment to catch himself, immediately realizing what he was doing, and then pulled back.

But Emma caught his hook with her fingers, holding it in place. Smiling, she told him, "It's alright. It's not like I'm leaving many comfortable options available for you."

"Thanks," he replied, smiling and then scooting to a comfortable position, that happened to be a bit closer to her. He let the fragrance of her coconut shampoo wash over him and he was aware of how unsettlingly comfortable this was as it lulled him to sleep.

0o0o0o0o0o0o

Snow and Charming returned about an hour after the others were asleep. They walked toward the bed and found the three cuddled close together. Charming's first instinct was to pull the pirate away from his family, but Snow stopped him, telling him there wasn't much they could do and reminded him that everyone needed to get some sleep. Kissing him on the cheek, she led her husband up to Emma's bed to finally get a good night's sleep- or at least a few hours anyway.

AN: I hope you enjoyed it! Remember to review!