Chapter 21: Searching

Since there were no signs of Facilier or his shadows, Killian and Emma spent the next few days looking for Smee. Smee was always on the lookout for information or objects that he could use for money or leverage, and Killian thought his old first mate might have the most recent knowledge of the whereabouts of the Jolly Roger. Killian wasn't even sure if she was in this realm. Smee was difficult to find though, and that was strange. Typically if he smelled an opportunity, he was immediately underfoot. A few days later, late in the afternoon, they found him attempting to steal the very boat Killian and Henry had been working on. Smee had just unmoored the vessel and turned around to find a hook placed precariously against his neck. "I didn't think even you were foolish enough to attempt to steal from me," Killian said.

Smee quaked slightly, his eyes full of fear as he stuttered, "I-I-I…I thought this ship belonged to the dwarfs, Captain."

"Doubtless you know I've been refurbishing her, and as I've spent a lot of time and effort, I feel a certain connection. I've seen you lurking about the docks. If you want to move around undetected, perhaps you should get rid of that hat. Now why have you been hiding from me?"

"Oh, not hiding, sir. Watching."

"For what?"

"You really don't know?" Smee asked, smiling faintly.

"Know what?"

"I have information you may find useful," Smee sniveled, and then looked down at the hook, "but I find it difficult to concentrate at the point of your hook."

Killian lowered his arm and gestured for Smee to continue. Rubbing his neck, the former rat glanced at Emma, studying the situation as an opportunistic glint flashed in his eye. Emma was definitely starting to show, especially because she was carrying twins and usually kept to her typical wardrobe. The man took notice and said, "It seems circumstances have changed, if I can be so bold as to make an assumption about your…relationship. Congratulations, sir. After what happened with Milah, well—"

Sensing that Smee's congratulations were less than heartfelt, Killian interrupted, "Why don't you keep your speculation about my life to yourself and answer the question."

"Well, sir, it seems the stakes are higher for you. I thought you might be a bit more…motivated. That's the only reason I mention this." Smee smiled at Emma and said, "If I may offer you my congratulations as well, I'd—"

"What is it you want, Smee?" Killian interrupted again with less patience.

"Ideally…I'd like to get back to work. If anyone can take care of this problem, it would be you. I'd like to serve again as first mate, get back to what we do well. But I'm not sure if you're ready to reprise your role as the most fearsome Captain the high seas have ever known."

"Are you attempting to grovel by stating the obvious?"

"You always did see the truth, sir," Smee continued. "Well, if you aren't soon taking on another crew, all I'm really asking for is a token of your appreciation in exchange for the information I have to offer."

Killian nodded like he understood, a smile that seemed to make him all the more a pirate crossing his lips as he offered, "I do have a prize for you, Smee. Something of incalculable value. Something that, once lost, can never be reclaimed."

"I'm listening," Smee said, hopefully.

The pirate's smile dropped from his face and his expression grew stony and cold as he said, "Your life."

"We're in Storybrooke now," Smee negotiated. "There are laws here and you're standing next to the sheriff. You can't threaten an innocent man out for an evening stroll."

"Innocent man out for an evening stroll?" Emma asked. "That's not how I remember it at all. I remember a man attempting to steal a boat from some of the citizens of this town. If I were to try to arrest you and you were to resist…well, Hook would do whatever he had to do to protect me."

"It's easy to see why I'm so taken with her," Killian said to Smee. Lurching closer, he added, "Now…this information you've mentioned?"

Smee started answering quickly, "I'm assuming you want to find the Jolly Roger before Blackbeard does, sir, if you haven't already. He survived after you made him walk the plank, but I'm assuming you know that as well. Should have taken him further out to sea. Rumor also says he knows for a fact that you parted with the Jolly Roger for a single magic bean. He said you really have gone too soft to remain a pirate, and the Jolly Roger rightfully belongs to him."

"Do I look soft to you?"

"Well, no, sir. Of course not."

"Desperate times called for desperate measures and negotiations had to be made. Where is she? What do you know?"

"I was hoping you had the ship already. That's why I've been watching you, hoping to find out where you're keeping her."

"Clearly I don't. Now do you have useful information or should I go find someone who does?"

"I know what I've heard. A few members of her former crew are here. They were sailing several weeks ago, and, the next thing they knew, the ship was gone, and the crew was in the water. Those who were able swam ashore, and found themselves here, in Storybrooke, and the Jolly Roger was nowhere to be found. Some sort of witchcraft or magic, they suspect. I was hoping you had something to do with that. I know how much she means to you."

"Odalee," Emma whispered.

"Where are these survivors?" Killian asked.

"I haven't seen them for a few days. I believe some have left. They were a bit shaken since the incident. Some of the survivors fear that this power that took the ship may come after them. I could keep an eye out," Smee offered.

"Do that."

"They say the ship is cursed and death will fall upon any man who dares set foot on her."

"Who says that?" Killian asked.

"Everyone," Smee definitively replied.

Killian seemed satisfied with the interrogation, and Emma said, "Want him locked up?"

"What? Why?" Smee asked nervously. "I've told you all I know."

"You were trying to steal this boat," she replied.

Killian answered, turning to Smee, "You can earn the right to stay out of the brig if you find me those crewmembers who were last on my ship."

"Understood, sir. Thank you, sir," Smee answered and hurried off.

Emma asked, "Do you really think the ship's cursed?"

"No," Killian answered without concern.

"How can you be sure?"

"Superstition is part of a life at sea, and pirates are perhaps the most superstitious of all. So that is exactly the tale I'd spread if I wanted to keep everyone away from her. She's out there. All we have to do is find her."

"Do you think Odalee was the power that took the ship? She had to take it from someone so she could put us on it to follow her little...quest."

"Likely. And if so, there's no need for us to fear whatever power seized the ship. It was all part of her plan," Killian answered as he signaled for her to follow him below deck on the dwarfs' boat.

"We're going to figure out where your ship is, and how to get it back," she said as he descended below deck. She took a few steps down the ladder and said, "Why are we even here?"

He wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her down so he could carry her. "I'm giving you the tour."

"This is not your boat."

"It may not be, but I have permission to be aboard, and I thought we'd take advantage of it. Pirates take what they want," he said as he put her on her feet but maintained their closeness.

"Do they?" she chuckled at his overt playfulness. He braced his hand on the wall next to her head, keeping her in place. Seeing the look in his eye, she could figure out his intent, and she shook her head, "I don't know what you think is going to happen here, but—"

He cut her off with an unexpectedly furtive kiss that ended suddenly as he said, "I know exactly what's going to happen here." He punctuated the following words with a brush of his lips against hers. "I'm spending a little private time with my betrothed."

She started to kiss him again, but when she realized what he'd said, she pulled back enough to talk, "So it was a proposal!" she practically yelled.

"Of course it was. But I think you know that."

He didn't look at all hurt, as she feared he would have been after their last discussion about possible engagement, so she asked, "Why are you smiling?"

"I know you, Swan. You panic. Repeatedly. Each time, as long as I'm patient, you always come around. You always seem to figure out I'm what you want. So I'm patiently waiting for you to decide it was a proposal."

"You didn't technically propose."

"I had a ring made of things of value to me in one way or another. You knew what it was, and I asked if you wanted wear it…you're not one to jump into things. Had you any misgivings, you would have pulled away when I offered you the ring. But you didn't."

"That's what you think?"

"It is. I also think that, for you, saying 'I love you' was far more difficult than saying 'I do' would be. It's not commitment you fear, Swan. It's connection, admitting that I matter to you. You've accepted our connection, our love… The difficult part is done."

"You think you know me so well?" she smirked flirtatiously.

"I know I do. Although I did have one other theory about your denial of an engagement."

"What's that?

"Perhaps you knew all along, but since you're not a huge fan of convention, you wanted to be the one to propose," he teased.

"Hey, I'd be clear about it."

"How's this for clear: Emma Swan, I want to marry you. I have waited for more years than I care to recollect to feel this way about a woman. So I'll wait until you're ready to accept this proposal. For now, that ring can mean whatever you want it to mean. And when you're ready for it to mean what it truly means…tell me as much."

She stared for a few moments, and said, "Who would have thought I'm into much, much, much older men with unconventional prosthetics?"

"I could have told you that a long a time ago," he confidently grinned.

She cleared her throat and said, "I want to marry you. I accept."

"Didn't even have to wait all that long."

Their lips touched, sealing the deal that they'd made. Emma was sort of overcome. The whole thing had been so casual. He accepted her as she was, with all of her quirks. He accepted how she'd pushed him away in the past, and he trusted that they'd be together. It was overwhelming. It was beautiful. It felt like a fairy tale, a story of love for the ages that her grandchildren would one day tell her great-grandchildren, maybe while reading their story in a book. She felt her ring as their fingers entwined, and she thought about the gift and what it meant, and she realized that the one gift she wanted to give him was his ship. She wanted to find a way to bring it to him so he didn't have to go sailing off into unknown dangers. Her desire to give him something so valuable swelled in her to the point where she almost couldn't take it.

He stepped back for a second, looking at her with a quizzical look and asking, "Did you hear that?"

There was a thudding against the side of the boat, like something was bumping against the hull. "Is someone knocking?"

"Takes something larger than a fist to make a sound like that," he observed, unsheathing his sword and dashing toward the ladder.

Then they both heard someone yelling, "Hook! Are you in there?" so frantically that it seemed there was an emergency.

Belle was on deck with Leroy and the two were gaping, wide-eyed at something at sea. Killian turned and there, floating next to the dwarfs' boat, was the Jolly Roger. "How in the hell…" he began.

Leroy declared, "It was like someone was dragging it here, right to this spot!"

"I saw it too," Belle agreed. "It moved with ridiculous speed."

Killian looked at Emma for an explanation and waited, and she finally said, "I was thinking it would make a nice engagement gift. Apparently I wanted to get it a little too much."

"You did that with magic?" Leroy asked.

"I think so," Emma answered.

"You have some powerful mojo, sister," he replied.

"Looks like we have our transportation," Killian noted, smiling fondly at his ship.

"Now all we need is a way to defeat Facilier," Emma added.

"I think I can help with that," Belle said as she came closer, holding out a book. "The concept is easy, although the execution may prove more difficult. Each of the talismans or objects he controls to become more powerful all become weaknesses. If you can locate and destroy one or two of these, you can temporarily weaken him. But I'm sure he keeps them hidden…so finding them might not be easy."

"That's a great start, but I think we need to do more than temporarily weaken him," Emma replied.

"In order to render him powerless, you have to find his primary source of power and destroy it. If my research is correct, he has to keep that primary source close at hand."

"Will that destroy the man?" Emma asked.

"It will strip him of his powers, but no," Belle answered. "The man should remain."

"Maybe once his power is gone, the man he once was can be dealt with."

"What's to stop him from doing this again? From finding new sources of power?" Killian asked. "I don't know if that will guarantee the safety of our children. He may pursue their power, and yours, to regain his strength."

"Once he's powerless, we'll see what's left. He may be completely different," Emma reasoned.

"Or he may not," Killian cautioned.

"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it. For now, we need to update everyone else on what's going on so we can figure out our strategy and spend the next few days preparing your ship for the journey. We need to be ready to go. I know it seems like we have time, but the clock is ticking," Emma said as her hand went to her tummy.

"When are you due?" Belle asked.

"I'm still not sure. I should probably figure that out before we leave."

"You know twins are often early. And this doesn't exactly seem like an ordinary pregnancy," Belle noted, gently.

"Killian? Does this sound like a good start to you?"

He eventually answered, "Henry and I can begin preparations tomorrow."

"I'll talk to Rumple. See if he has any other suggestions," Belle offered.

"The dwarfs will be happy to help ready your ship," Leroy offered.

"Much appreciated," Killian answered.

Belle and Leroy left the docks, and Emma said, "Looks like we're making some real progress. Don't you think?"

Furrowing his brow for a second, he looked at her with determination and said, "I know you want to give everyone a chance, you want to bring them to proper justice. But I will do what I need to do to protect us and our family. And if that means destroying the man behind this monster, I will not hesitate. Hesitation can be the difference between survival and meeting the tip of a man's blade or being dragged down into the netherworld. I need to know that you're going to respect my decision if I need to make one in the heat of battle. I need you to trust me to do what's best if it comes to that."

"You don't even have to question that," she answered. "I wouldn't agree to marry a man I didn't trust. The most important thing to me is that our family is safe. And I know you will do the right thing to make sure that happens. I want you to do whatever it takes so, after Facilier is defeated, we can come home and get that house and have these babies together."

Killian's chest swelled a little at her affirmation and he tilted his head toward the Jolly Roger, "You did that…for me?"

"I guess so," Emma chuckled. "Your floating engagement present."

"Better give her a quick look over. Care to join me? Maybe cast a little protection spell on her to hide her from prying eyes?"

As soon as she nodded he grabbed her hand and dragged her to the edge of the dwarfs' ship. He used a few yards of rope to pull the vessels closer together and then he climbed from one to the other. Putting his hand on his hip he declared, "See, love, there's no curse on this ship. Just pirate tales and nonsense."

He offered his hand to help her as she climbed over and said, "Good thing you were right about that, or we'd have another curse to deal with."

"I wasn't worried. Worst case, it was a real curse, and you'd have to break it. But…just in case…," he suggested, pointing toward himself.

"You want curse insurance?" she giggled.

"I have to be more cautious, as everyone keeps reminding me, I'm about to be a father."

"Can't argue with that logic," she dryly said before she closed the gap between them, smiled, and offered him the insurance he was looking for.

Behind them, the last gasps of the setting sun colored the ripples of the ocean before it disappeared over the horizon. The joy of love and new life had been constantly tinged by the darkness cast over them by Facilier and his demons, and the time had come to hunt down and destroy this threat that had hung over them. They were ready to step out from under this shadow.