Hook… I Will Always Find You

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Once Hades finished restoring his throne room and all of his stolen possessions to their proper state as they were before the assault on his lair, the God vanished and reappeared upon the platform above the green river where he had left Captain Hook to suffer his fate. However, when he arrived, Hades discovered the chain that had once been wrapped around his prisoner was no longer dangling through the opening of the metal platform as it should have been had Hook become another of his lost souls, but set aside as it rested above it.

Hades could sense the cavern had been invaded. His suspicions were then confirmed when a gleam by his feet caught his eye as the fires lit up throughout the cavern and shined down on something gold left behind on the platform as the light reflected off the metal, which he knelt down to pick up, discovering it was a badge with the words, Sheriff's Department engraved around an image of a tree. Hades knew then that the Savior and her family of do gooders had saved the pirate while the band of rebels distracted him so they could.

Hades grumbled to himself saying darkly, "So… she has her pirate back…"

The ruler of the Underworld lifted his free hand while he kept a tight hold of the badge and summoned himself a crystal ball, then used his power to conjure up the moments of Hook's rescue in order to see how the heroes had managed to outwit him so they could save the man loved by the Savior. Once the images appeared within the orb, Hades watched on as Emma finally arrived within the cavern and froze when the rock path beneath her feet suddenly ended where the River of Lost Souls flowed blow.

A short time ago…

However, she immediately looked ahead of her in horror when her eyes at last truly fell on the pirate captain, as Killian hung down over the rounded platform above the river from a heavy, rusted old chain wrapped tightly around his body, which suddenly lowered him another drop with a booming squeal of the gears working to do so.

David ran out from the tunnel and remained behind her along with a few of the other heroes with her just as Emma fearfully screamed, "Killian!"

"Be careful," David firmly warned his daughter when she looked around for a way across to the platform and quickly started to walk across one of the narrow beams that led to the platform without hesitation, just as the chain lowered Killian again another inch. "God… there's not much time left."

"Hang on!" Emma shouted out to Killian even though it was clear to her and the others that he wasn't conscious to know they were even there for him. "I'm coming for you!"

Emma continued to cross uneasily, breathing heavily as she concentrated on remaining as balanced as she could, until she suddenly stumbled and almost fell. It was then that David quickly stepped out onto the beam as well to follow his daughter so he'd be able to help her save Killian once they reached him, while Tinker Bell flew out between her friends to be ready to catch them should either of them fall, her fairy dust she had spread over them having already worn off.

Liam started to walk towards the beam to join them, but August laid his hand over the older Jones' shoulder and held him back knowing that right then he would only be a hindrance to the others until they came back should the beam and the platform across from them not be sturdy enough to hold them all up.

The Savior was able to regain her balance and she kept moving forward until at last she finally reached the platform, then just as Killian was about to fall into the water barely beneath his feet, Emma swiftly grabbed ahold of him and struggled to pull him back from within the opening in the platform. Her father wasn't far behind her and David joined her in pulling Killian to safety, then gently laid him down against the metal beneath them. The Green Fairy hovered above them as she looked down on her friends with worry.

Emma gently lifted Killian's upper body up against her and held him close as she began to cry, until she whispered softly, "I've got you. I'm here, Killian. We all are."

David laid his hand down on her shoulder and then uttered quietly, "We need to get out of here. Let's get this chain off of him."

Hades continued to watch as the two of them worked together to unravel the chain from around the God's prisoner and finally Hook was freed, then both Emma and David pulled the unconscious and seriously wounded man between them as they rose back to their feet. Tink conjured up just enough of her magic to disperse fairy dust over their heads and they flew with Killian back to the others who were patiently waiting for them on the cliff's ledge. Liam took David's place at his brother's side as he carefully wrapped Killian's left arm across his shoulders and Emma did the same with his right arm despite the chains and shackles he still wore, while everyone returned through the tunnel again to rejoin the rest of their friends waiting for them on the other side.

Once the moments of the rescue ended…

The deity used his power to make the images change within the orb again in an effort to seek out where the heroes ran to try to hide themselves from him so they could help the prisoner who rightfully belonged to him. However, light magic put up in place to protect them blocked the God from being able to find them and Hades suddenly threw the crystal against the stone wall in front of him in anger as the orb shattered against the rocks.

Hades seethed through his teeth, then once he finally thought of what he was going to do about their uprising against him, he summoned the furies under his control to him and ordered them to fly throughout the Underworld to find wherever the heroes ran to, as well as to find the hunter and witch who had escaped from his wrath after their attack on his lair.

"Your furies may be able to cover a lot of ground, but they're not the only ones who can help you find them," Pan said from behind Hades when the villain from Neverland entered the cavern and stood on the cliff beyond the platform. "Even here in the Underworld, they can be killed should they be caught spying on these heroes. But I can't be… unless of course by your hand."

"If I thought you could be of use to me, I would have come to find you," Hades coldly responded when he turned around to face the demon. "Why are you here?"

Pan flew across the river and landed in front of the deity on the platform, then replied, "I had hoped to see one of my oldest enemies suffer the fate he deserves. Unfortunately, I was held up and so I arrived too late. However, I was as surprised as you were to find that Hook was saved by the Savior and the others who came with her. I will help you to find them before your creatures. I have a few ideas where they might have gone."

The God began to walk along the circle they stood on while he asked, "If I were to say yes, what should I expect to pay you in return?"

"If I bring Hook back so you can continue with his punishment and make Emma pay, I want passage from this world back to the land of the living," Peter smugly answered him. "I can do it."

"Then I won't be needing your help," Hades responded cruelly, then used his power to wrap the chain that once held Hook above the river below them around the boy before him and raised him up until Pan hung there instead.

Pan cried out angrily, "What are you doing?! You can't do this!"

The deity glared up at him while he darkly replied, "Actually… I can. No one attempts to make a deal with me acting like their services are deserving of a new life among the land of the living. If you don't want to wind up a mindless husk like your old enemy will once he's found and brought back to me, I suggest you go out like my furies to search for the heroes. If you should find them, you will only report back to me. Is this understood?"

"Yes… Lord Hades," the demon child answered fearfully.

"Don't disappoint me," Hades stated firmly, then swiftly released Pan before he finally vanished from the cavern.