In the Enchanted Forest, one year ago…

"So… it's not here." Ruby said after a long moment, staring at Killian uncertainly as he stared out across the empty beach before them, the sea stretching beyond that. "You're sure this was the last place you saw it?"

Killian sighed. "This is where Cora and I set sail from," he finally tore his eyes away from the wide open ocean, a longing look in his eyes as he turned towards the she-wolf. "If not here, I don't know where to look."

Ruby frowned, reaching out to touch his shoulder. "Not to worry… we'll find it. As it happens, I'm the best tracker in the Enchanted Forest." She put on a small smile, and Killian couldn't help but feel slightly reassured, despite his doubts... and the fact that he wasn't sure tracking was going to help matters much. "We should find a town, ask around, see if anyone's seen an abandoned ship floating around?"

"I suppose it couldn't hurt," Killian ran a hand back through his hair, he didn't have any better ideas, and who knew? Maybe his ship had made its way to a safer port… one way or another. He had a feeling it had some help with that, and whoever was behind that was going to pay a steep price. But for now, he let Ruby lead the way to the nearest town, which she assured him wasn't far.

"It's been a long, hard day, love, and I'm tired of sleeping in the woods." Killian cajoled her, taking her by the arm and leading the way through the maritime town Ruby had found them. "Also, taverns are great places to get information."

"Not to mention rum," Ruby raised an eyebrow at him knowingly, and Killian just chuckled.

"That too, but we can't very well just stay out in the streets. It's getting dark out, who knows what kind of unsavory sorts will be out and about." Ruby could already hear the rowdy crowd at the tavern, swearing and singing and causing a riot. Sounded just like the kind of place a pirate would like.

"More unsavory than a lecherous pirate and a werewolf?"

"Lecherous?" Killian sounded taken aback. "I don't know what you mean."

"You think I didn't see the way you were looking at Tink back in Storybrooke? If you two weren't bumping uglies then I'll eat my corset."

"Keep the corset on, love, it shows off your assets." Ruby couldn't help but notice how he didn't deny it, and she smirked with amusement. Truth be told, she had nothing against taverns, she was just giving Killian a hard time because… well, it was fun. And he was less mopey when he was sassy. "You might need them, if we're going to get any information out of this surly lot."

"Are you expecting me to flirt for information, Captain?" She turned her head towards him sharply, feigning horror at the very thought.

"A bit, yeah." Killian nodded without missing a beat. "You've yet to actually make yourself useful, sweetheart. I didn't bring you along for your pretty face."

"Apparently, you did." Killian chuckled as he pushed open the tavern door, letting Ruby enter ahead of him, lifting her skirts slightly as she stepped onto the wooden floor, she sniffed slightly. The scent of sweat, sea salt and sour ale filled her sensitive nostrils as she stepped inside, her eyes flickering over the worn wooden tables, the wine stained floor and the raucous crowd of drunken men and women ferrying tankards of ale between the tables and the bar, laughter and swearing filling her ears. She glanced at Killian as she felt his hand on her waist, before he nodded to an empty table in the corner, and they parted ways as he took a seat and she went to the bar. She smiled at the tavernkeep. "We'll take a pitcher of ale and two flagons, and two rooms."

The man glanced towards the pirate in the corner over his thick mustache, turning his dull brown eyes back towards her as he started filling a pitcher of ale. "Plenty o' ale, but we only got the one room left." Ruby frowned, handing over a coin.

"We'll take it," she said simply, taking the empty flagons in one hand and hefting the full pitcher in the other as she returned to their table.

"Bloody hell, woman, how drunk are you planning on getting tonight?" He eyed the pitcher, even as she sloshed some of it onto the table while filling each of their cups.

"Not very, that's all you're getting." She ignored his scandalized look as he pulled his flagon closer, and then rolled her eyes. "You can have mine too, if it makes you feel better. It just has to look like I'm drinking. Now, can you manage to look threatening or is pretty the best you can do?" His angry glare made her smile. "Good pirate, keep it up." Killian scowled after her as she took the rest of the pitcher to the next table over, refilling the cups of the men sitting there. He didn't miss the way she leaned low over the table as she did so, clearly flirting with the men as she asked them about their recent travels.

A troubled look came into his eyes as he felt a familiar pang of longing for something long lost, and he glanced down to his right forearm. The tattoo wasn't visible beneath his sleeve, but he had stared at it so often and so intently as to have memorized it. Something about the she-wolf brought Milah to mind, and not just their uncanny similarity in appearance. Over the last few days, he had recognized many more similarities between the two women, things that he had long since forgotten about his lost love brought to mind by the young werewolf. They had the same spirit, the same thirst for adventure, the same longing for more than what life had given them. He had spent so long now, so consumed with getting vengeance, that he had forgotten the things about Milah that had made him love her. Ruby brought those things to mind again, and he couldn't say that it was in an entirely unwelcome way.

He shook his head to clear those thoughts, it was Emma who had made him realize he wanted to love someone again… it was Emma he had fallen in love with, he told himself, taking a long draught of his ale, his eyes drifting back towards the brunette as she laughed along with the bulky men while she gave away all their ale. He scowled, this plan of hers had better be worth it.

In Storybrooke, the present day…

"You really think this might work?" Ruby frowned, glancing away as soon as she saw the needle. It wasn't that she was scared of needles, no, scared wasn't the word… but was anyone really comfortable with getting their blood drawn? She looked up at Mother Superior instead, but the fairy could only shrug at her hopefully.

"I think it might, and it can't hurt to try." She had been working on a cure for the Flying Monkey plague that had afflicted an unknown number of townspeople, and as she had explained to Ruby earlier, she thought that because of the werewolf curse, there could be some magical shapeshifter properties to her blood that would help change people back. Ruby didn't really get it, but she wasn't about to withhold her help when it might help a lot of people she knew, especially since all Blue wanted was a vial of her blood.

"There we go, all done." Whale announced, pressing a cotton ball to the crook of Ruby's arm, she looked over to see him flipping the vial of blood over and over, before he handed it to Mother Superior. "You want a lollipop?" Ruby gave him a scrunch-faced look, shaking her head at him.

"Thank you, Ruby. Hopefully, with this, we'll be able to help those poor souls." Ruby smiled, well, there was her good deed for the day. "If only we could find them… you know, we could really use your skills as a tracker-"

"What, and risk losing your best shot at curing this thing?" Whale interrupted, surprising Mother Superior, who blinked at him curiously. Ruby smiled softly, before she looked up at the fairy.

"Tell you what, if you manage to get something you think will work, I'll see about joining the search party to catch one." Ruby glanced towards Whale, who had popped a yellow sucker into his mouth. Mother Superior nodded gracefully, before excusing herself to get to work on the cure.

"You sure you don't want one? They're delicious." Whale held up a red lollipop, and after pursing her lips for a moment, Ruby reached out and took it, ignoring the victorious smile that came to his face.

"So… when do you think you're going to start telling people?" Whale asked as he walked her down to the hospital lobby. "You'll start to show soon, you know."

"I know, I just want to avoid the questions for as long as possible." She sighed, running a hand back through her hair. The last thing her reputation needed was for people to find out that she didn't know who her baby daddy was.

"Fair enough. You'll need to come in for an ultrasound soon, though. You should book that while you're here." He stood with her at the front desk while she picked out a time, sorting it out with the front desk lady. While she waited for the lady at the desk to book her in, she failed to notice the way a decidedly out of place pirate paused beyond the glass doors of the hospital, quirking an eyebrow as he looked inside at the pair of them.

She didn't notice until she was leaving the hospital a few moments later, and said pirate matched her stride as she strolled down the street. "You've certainly been spending a lot of time with the good doctor."

Ruby jumped slightly, looking at him with wide eyes. "You've certainly been spending a lot of time stalking me." She blinked, not even trying to keep the disgust out of her voice.

"Stalking? I was just passing by." He frowned, looking hurt. Ruby almost felt bad… almost.

"Passing by, eavesdropping on my private conversations, care to explain your sudden interest in my life, Captain?" Killian couldn't help a slight smile at the way she addressed him.

"The truth?"

"Please."

"Right… well, believe it or not, but in the last year, you and I actually spent some time together, love." He explained, and Ruby looked confused.

"But I thought the whole reason you weren't swept up in the curse was that you left the Enchanted Forest?"

"That's true. And so did you, for a little while at least. You came with me to help me find the Jolly Roger." He explained, watching as surprise spread over her face, followed by a delighted smile.

"I… did? Really?" She laughed, and for a moment, Killian was sure he'd never heard a prettier sound. "I mean… I figured I just stayed with Snow and did… you know, the usual, but I actually went off and had adventures?" There was a light in her eyes as she looked at him, one that he hadn't realized he missed seeing until he saw it now.

"Aye, love, many adventures. We never did find the Jolly Roger… well, I did, but you left before then." He explained, glad to see the smile on her face once again. "And in that time… well, let's just say that I came to care for you… your well-being. So what you've interpreted as my 'stalking,' is actually just my way of trying to look out for you."

"Hmm… I wonder if that would sound less creepy if you were wearing less eyeliner." She joked, and Killian rolled his eyes, smiling slightly. "I don't suppose you would know… how this happened?" She pointed at her tummy and lifted her eyebrows. "It wasn't anyone on your crew, was it? The last thing I need is to have some… random pirate's baby."

Killian paused, a brief look of panic crossing his face, before he shook his head. "Sorry love, but you didn't mention anything to me about it before you left."

Ruby frowned with disappointment, well, at least she was no worse off than she had been. And besides… at least now she had something to distract her. "So tell me about these adventures! Was I a total badass? Did we strike fear into the hearts of our enemies?" Her face lit up, and Killian laughed, agreeing to walk her back to the diner and tell her all about their time together.