Poor Unfortunate Soul

Piper smiled as she quickly fixed a cup of hot chocolate for August in the back room of the cabin. It had been…tearful, seeing him restored, seeing that he KNEW her, he remembered her, he still saw her as his mother. She had settled him down, asked him to trust her when he spotted the other 'villains' that surrounded them, and gone to make him a hot chocolate, wanting to get him settled before she explained everything to him…and perhaps needing a moment to settle her nerves. Her stomach was churning at everything that had happened in the last few hours, all the anxiety, the worry for him, having to tell Henry the truth about everything that happened and everything they were planning. It was a lot to take in and a lot to delve into in such a short time and she knew she was going to have to do the same exact thing with August now.

It would be, likely, FAR worse a discussion than the one she had with Henry, more emotional. She loved Henry dearly, she truly did, but half the things they told him they had had to tone down in terms of how bad it truly was. And even then he still seemed furious from the PG version of events. August was her son, he was her grown son, and he knew her as well as she did him. He knew when she was lying just like she knew when he was, he would be able to tell when she wasn't being fully honest with him and he always had a way of getting the truth out of her. She didn't doubt this would be one of those moments…

And the truth, telling him exactly what happened since he'd been turned into a boy again? It would be…deep and painful…and if she knew her son, he would be furious.

At Snow White.

She would likely have to hold him down or tie him to a chair to keep him from going after the woman for the pains she'd caused, both intentional and unintentional, from curse or reality, knowingly or ignorantly. Her son loved her and he would want to protect her from every hurt, to find out that all this happened while he had been a boy, unknowing of who she was or who she was to him, it would hurt him and it would make him want to make up for it, she knew.

The spell, Gold had warned her, would take a lot out of him. He would barely be able to stand or walk a few feet without it taking more out of him till he'd recovered more. She would NOT let her son hurt himself over her.

And, speaking of harm, she tensed as she heard Ursula speaking in the other room, "Perhaps you could use a little incentive…"

August scoffed, "Oh, that knife is not gonna make me talk."

Her grip on the cup tightened as she turned to storm into the other room, when Regina chimed in, "Wait…"

"Is there a problem?" Ursula demanded.

"I knew she'd never the stomach for this," Cruella muttered disdainfully.

"Please," Regina sneered, "I was torturing people back when you were still playing with puppies. This sorry excuse for a man used to be made of wood. So let's light a fire under him and see what happens…"

"You do that," Piper pushed the door open and walked in, not even glancing at the fireball in Regina's hand, "And you four shall be bleeding out your ears before you can blink."

"As though you would risk affecting the boy or the Dark One over a puppet," Maleficent rolled her eyes, not intimidated by the threat at all.

"Oh, she won't have to risk it," Gold agreed, moving to stand behind August's chair, ignoring how the man tensed slightly at the action, "You harm him…you answer to ME."

The women glanced at each other, startled at that, at the dark promise in his words. Even August seemed shocked as he glanced up at Gold. Only Piper seemed to know that he would say such a thing, merely handing the hot chocolate to August as she smirked and stood on Gold's other side, though she placed her hand on August's shoulder.

"This 'puppet' is my SON," Piper reminded them, "And I know at least two of the four of you understand what a mother would do to protect her child."

Maleficent looked away at that, though Regina's lips pursed.

Gold gave a small chuckle, "Pip is my true love," he added, "This is her son. That means he is as good as my son by association," August nearly choked on his beverage at that, coughing into his elbow, "Attack him and I will be the one to end you. Allies or not."

Piper subtly reached out and took Gold's hand behind August's chair, knowing that it was very much true, he would defend August against the women to his dying breath, because he knew how important August was to her and he…he genuinely HAD come to care about him beyond just that. But she also knew that there was a small part of her that hoped it wouldn't come to that. As much as she would rather enjoy seeing him play the role of her dark knight again, she knew large feats of magic would weaken him, cause him more pain than what he was already feeling and trying to hide.

She had spoken of August, told him all about her son while in New York. They had first gone to Baelfire's apartment to try and gather his belongings, to take them with them to a new place…and found his apartment occupied. But that wasn't the point, the point was they had talked many times about both their sons, just as she had come to care for Baelfire and think of him as a son even before she'd met him, Gold had come to think the same about August, even about Pinocchio, from her stories. He saw the boy for what he would have been, a future son to him if events had played out differently, if the blasted Blue Fairy hadn't turned him back into a boy.

He did care about August, even more now that it was truly him, memories and all, a living breathing man once again.

"Well then HOW are we supposed to get this information you said he'd have out of him?" Ursula crossed her arms.

"I do believe it is called talking," Piper shot back, "It can be remarkably effective when one is not intimidated."

"Talking?" Cruella scoffed at that, "Torture is faster."

"Yes, it is," Piper agreed, "And I AM so very curious how long YOU would last against my torture. I would be willing to wager you would break faster than the animals you control."

Cruella glared at her, opening her mouth to challenge her, when Gold held up a hand, silencing the two Queens of Darkness, Regina and Maleficent seeming to have understood Piper's words about a mother and child and kept quiet, "Enough of that," Gold chastised Cruella.

"Yes," Piper nodded, "Enough of this, you four," she looked at the other women, "Get yourselves gone. Leave my son to me."

"Go," Gold ordered, "Continue with the rest of the plan while you're at it."

"Rest of the plan?" Regina glanced at them, "What aren't you telling me?"

Gold just shook his head, "You're gonna have to do a lot more than just kidnap a marionette and torch a few cars for us to tell you everything," he tsked, "In the meantime, be content that you've finally chosen the winning side. Now, Maleficent," he glanced at her, "If you would be so kind as to fill Regina in on the next step?"

"With pleasure," Maleficent nodded, turning to lead Regina out of the cabin, Cruella and Ursula glaring at Piper and Gold as they left.

"Mama…" August began, finishing his drink and setting it on the ground, "I'm getting the feeling I'm missing something pretty big," he glanced at his mother, "Like you and Gold being in league with other villains again?"

"Oh Key," Piper sighed, moving to sit in the armchair next to his, "You have missed…quite a few things."

"Well," he tried to smile, "I do love a good story."

Piper nodded slowly at that, before taking a breath and beginning her tale.

~8~

"Damn it!" Emma cursed, the words ringing through the apartment as she slammed down the covering of the heating grate in Mary Margaret's bedroom section of the room, "It's gone!"

"What?!" David hurried over, checking himself, but it was true, the Dark One's dagger was missing.

"That's impossible," Mary Margaret breathed.

"Truly?" Hook looked between them, "THAT's where you hid it?" he shook his head, "It's hardly effective. If you wanted to hide a treasure, a pirate would have been your best course of action."

"You tried to stab Gold once before," Emma pointed out, "I wasn't going to give you something that would actually kill him."

"What, trust me so little, Swan?"

"With Gold's life, yes."

"Maybe it would have been a good thing," David muttered, his mind racing with what Gold and Piper could be up to, what they might be planning against his wife.

"Hey," Emma sent him a glare, "He was already banished, ok, and Aunt P was devastated, you really want to consider killing him?"

Apparently Gold was back in Storybrooke. They'd been trying to find Regina last night after she gave her the slip and a sort of fog of magical smoke had surrounded Mary Margaret. Regina warned them that August had been restored to his adult self and that Gold was back. It was odd though, because Regina seemed to hesitate in telling them that part. She'd looked at David, as though considering something before saying it. She hadn't said a word about Piper though. THAT was worrying her, that Piper hadn't been mentioned. There were a few reasons she could come up with for why Gold would have partnered with the Queens of Darkness. The first was obvious, Mary Margaret HAD betrayed him, betrayed Piper, in pushing him over the town line, condemned him, and why wouldn't someone want revenge against that? She could understand he was angry at Mary Margaret, not going about it in the best way, but she had cut Piper deeply with what she'd done…and that was the other part. Piper. If Piper wasn't there…what did that mean? Had something happened to the woman? If so…there was no force on Earth that would stop Gold taking revenge against Mary Margaret for it.

If something happened to Piper outside of Storybrooke because her mother banished the woman's true love (and really she couldn't imagine anyone NOT going with their true love)…she wasn't sure SHE would stand between the two sides either. If something happened to her Aunt P because of Mary Margaret's actions, she truly didn't think she'd want to stop Gold for the right reasons. She'd stop him because 'she was a hero' and that's what they did, but she wouldn't have her heart in it, she wouldn't do it because Mary Margaret was her mother and should be protected and she shouldn't want any harm to befall her.

She shook her head, she had to just focus on hope right now, hope that nothing had happened to Piper.

"Banishment was too good for that demon," Hook agreed with David, "We should have driven that dagger through his heart when we had the chance."

"Then your name would be written across it," Emma pointed out.

"It's a small price to pay to ensure the Crocodile wouldn't come back again."

"I know you're angry, but, like it or not," she focused more on her parents for that one, "Gold IS family. He's my son's grandfather, he's my aunt, YOUR cousin's, true love," she glanced at Hook, "He's family to ME. We are NOT killing him. End of discussion."

"Fine," Mary Margaret let out a little huff, making Emma's lips purse, not sure if the woman was huffing at being ordered around or ordered not to kill the man, "The question now is, how do we stop him? We don't even know what he's planning."

"First, we save August," David declared.

"Yeah," Hook nodded, "You do that. I'll find out the Dark One's secret."

"How are you gonna do that?"

"The sea witch," Hook looked at Emma, "Ursula. Remember when I said I had a past with her? Now's the time to use it."

"How?" Emma frowned.

"By taking a page out of your book, Swan. I'm gonna return her happy ending."

Emma seemed hesitant at that, "Can you really do that?"

"Aye," he sighed, "Because I'm the one who took it from her in the first place."

Emma nodded slowly at that, she had wanted to know what he'd done in his past. At least now he seemed to want to be honest about it, "You go deal with Ursula, we'll try and get August away from Gold."

If something HAD happened to Piper…she liked to think that Gold wouldn't do anything to hurt the man she saw as a son…but another part of her knew what it was like to go to a dark place after losing someone you loved. She…hadn't exactly been the best person after she got out of jail, Neal's betrayal, giving up her child, it left her in a bad place. She'd crawled out of it, fought her way to where she was today, but Gold? With magic? And heartbreak and revenge in him? She didn't want to risk August over her faith in Gold.

And even if it wasn't gold, there were three other Queens of Darkness around him. And one was a fire-breathing dragon, she doubted that worked well with a former-wooden boy.

~8~

"And that is why we returned," Piper finished telling August, recounting everything he had missed relevant to why she and Gold were back in Storybrooke, why they were searching for the Author. She left out the details of her interactions with him in Storybrooke, knowing he would be more curious and concerned what she was doing with the Queens of Darkness instead, why she had seemed to turn against Snow White.

August shook his head and leaned forward, hugging her tightly, tears in his eyes, "It's all my fault."

Piper blinked at that, pulling away, "Key, it was in NO way your fault," she told him, "It would be impossible for it to be. You were but a boy again, you were not involved and…"

"And that's why," August insisted, Gold giving Piper a small nod of the head before he stepped into the back room, giving them privacy, "I should have been there, I should never have been turned into a boy again."

"I would rather you a boy than dead," Piper whispered.

"I would rather be your son than not," August insisted, "And I wasn't a good son. I…I didn't protect you, mama. You protected me, even when you didn't have to, even when my papa was around, you still kept me safe during the second curse and…and the Shattered Sight and…"

"You remember that?" Piper breathed, startled.

He nodded, smiling sadly at her, "Just cause the boy doesn't remember being me doesn't mean I don't remember being the boy. I'm sorry the boy didn't remember you," he reached out and took her hand, "I should have been there for you mama. Defended you or stopped Snow White or…or been there in New York or…"

"Key," she cut in gently, "I do not blame you. The Blue Fairy took your memories," she would assume that was the price of magic used to save him, "You had no hand in it, no choice. I am just glad that you still live."

"I am sorry though, mama," August continued, "You…you were hurt, so much and if I'd just BEEN there. No one would have dared doubt you because I wouldn't let them. I know you better than…than probably even Gold," he joked lightly, knowing Gold may love her more, but HE knew how she was now in this world, "I've been with you for more than 20 years, I know what you're like and it just…how could they?" he started to get angry now, "How could they doubt you? How could Snow White DO that to you? She's your cousin, mama," he shook his head, unable to comprehend how Snow White could misunderstand her cousin so badly.

"It appears she has changed," Piper murmured, "Or perhaps I am just seeing the truth in how she has always been. What she did to Emma," she let out a breath, "Because of ME? What does that mean for how she viewed me all those years?" she sighed, glancing up at August, "Key…" she squeezed his hand, "You understand what I must do, what a siren requires in an event like this."

He nodded, "I do."

"I need you to help me," she told him quietly, "I know it may be too much to ask of you, that what it would require would mean…turning against the heroes in a way, but…"

"You're my mother," August cut in gently, "I'm on your side first and always, no matter what, you will always have my loyalty above anyone that hurts you," he squeezed her hand, "Tell me what you need."

"We need to know all that you've gathered about the Author," Gold's voice spoke as he stepped into the room.

"Your father gave me your notes and scraps," Piper added, "The ones that look like the storybook. But we have not had the time to thoroughly examine them. And we have not the time to do so now."

August looked between them and nodded.

~8~

Emma was out the door of her father's pickup truck before it even came to a full stop in the woods, her parents hurrying to get out and follow her on, "Gold's cabin's up ahead," she called, "We go on foot from here."

"Anything from Hook?" Mary Margaret asked, glancing at Emma, but the blonde shook her head. She sighed, turning to her husband instead, "Think he's managed to turn Ursula yet?"

"If she hasn't turned him," David muttered.

"Really?" Emma scoffed, getting a little tired of all the distrust and worst thoughts being sent out from the 'greatest heroes' of the kingdom, "We're thinking that now? I would have thought you'd learned from what you did to Gold to give someone a chance first."

She didn't even blink as her mother flinched.

"Well, he kind of went to a dark place this morning," David defended.

"Do you blame him?" Emma huffed, "And really, didn't you do the same thing to Piper? Shove a metaphorical dagger in her heart when you banished her true love?"

"Emma!" Mary Margaret nearly groaned, "I thought we were past that!"

"No," Emma rounded on them, "We're not. You two are all about family and how we stand together and we don't give up on each other, how we always find each other. And then you turn your back on that and banish Gold, drive Aunt P away, and now that he's back, you're not even concerned why Piper isn't?" she looked between them, shaking her head at them though they glanced at each other, "If you're willing to turn you back on that notion, what else are you willing to look past for the 'greater good?'"

She frowned as she saw them wince at that last question.

"We're heroes Emma," Mary Margaret defended, though it sounded like a weaker argument, "We will always do what's necessary for good to win."

"You know, substitute 'me' from 'good' and you've basically got a 'villain's' mentality," she turned on her heel, not giving them a chance to comment, "Come on. Gold might not hurt a kid, but he's not exactly alone. And if a woman could want to make a fur coat out of puppies, imagine what she'd do to a wooden boy."

~8~

"The notes aren't all my own," August told the two of them quietly, "When I was in Hong Kong, before the curse broke," he looked at his mother, Piper nodding as she understood he meant when Emma started to break it, when he began to turn to wood, "I met a mystic. His name was 'The Dragon.' I don't know how he knew about the book, but he had been looking for the Author for years. Tamara killed him," he sighed, "I found his body, didn't know it was her at the time, but…I saw his notes there, his research about the book and the Author. And I studied it."

"What did it say?" Piper inquired.

"The Sorcerer trapped the Author behind a door," August began, "There was a picture of it, a page from the book that I took out and put in the rest of the notes. It was um…" he frowned, trying to think of it, not having seen it in…quite some time, "Made of wood, hand carved frame, gilt in gold…it's in Storybrooke."

"Where?" Gold asked.

"Wherever my notes are," August turned to Piper.

"I gave them to Henry."

He nodded, "The paper isn't just a picture of the door, the door on the page IS the door he's trapped behind."

Piper let out a long breath at that, looking up at Gold, "We cannot tell the others about that. They will target Henry."

Gold nodded, "I'll tell them that we found where the Author is trapped, that we have to find a unique door. The Sorcerer's Mansion should have enough doors to keep them busy for quite a while, long enough to contact Henry about it and have him find the page, yes?"

Piper smiled at him, taking his hand, "Many thanks Rummy," he squeezed her hand back, "I shall stay with August, will you be…"

"Yes," he cut in gently, leaning down to give her a quick kiss, "You rest here, I can handle the Queens just fine for the moment."

August and Piper were quiet as they watched Gold step out of the cabin, "He really does love you," August smiled at his mother.

"He does," Piper smiled in return, "As I do him," she glanced at August, "As I do you as well, son."

August looked at her a long while, his smile growing sadder, "Do you think your plan will really work?"

Piper sighed, "I hope it does," she murmured, "There is far too much at stake for it to fail."

~8~

Emma hesitated before the door to the cabin in the woods, not sure what traps might rest on the other side. She and her parents had been staking it out…and seen Gold leave after summoning Cruella, Maleficent, and Regina to him. That meant that August would be inside, alone…which had to be too easy, it had to be a trap, magically booby-trapped or something. So she'd insisted she go in alone, even if her parents seemed tense and very much against it. The way they were acting and shifting, she almost would have thought they didn't want her to go inside because of who was in there, but it was just August! And they needed to get him out.

So she took a breath, lifted her hands incase there was some sort of magic about to attack her, and blasted the door open.

"Hello Emma."

Emma froze the second she stepped into the cabin at that particular voice, the door shutting behind her from the force of her opening it and bouncing it against the wall.

"Aunt P?" she breathed, gaping at the woman, her eyes wide as she took Piper in.

She was dressed in dark blue, almost a midnight shade, a sort of tunic style shirt with dark black leggings and her typical boots. She seemed pale, tired, but was smiling…as she sat right next to August, who didn't seem in danger or harmed at all.

"What…"

Piper sighed, but nodded as though she'd expected such a reaction, "I assume my dear cousin told you not that I was back?"

Emma blinked at that, "Mary Margaret knew?!"

"David as well," Piper agreed, "I hope you shall forgive me not telling you myself. I was curious to see if they would be truthful and honest with you. It appears they were not."

"Yeah, I'm getting the feeling they haven't been truthful about a lot of things," she muttered, thinking back to how Regina had acted while getting a message through Mary Margaret, how she had hesitated to tell them Gold was there, how she looked at David first…Regina knew, she had to know that Piper was there…and she hadn't said. And now her suspicions about her parents being the masterminds behind Regina's undercover mission were confirmed. There was no reason for Regina to hide that fact, unless Mary Margaret and David wanted it hidden, and for them to want it hidden, they had to have known about it before Regina went undercover.

"Oh far more than you know," Piper mused, though she didn't reveal what those other things were. Now was not the time, not the place, and as much as she would LOVE to be the one to tell Emma what her parents had done…she knew enough to know Emma needed to hear it from THEM. If anyone else told her what they'd done, she would find some way to defend them, to deny it, even if she trusted that person to tell her the truth, she wouldn't want to believe it.

No, Snow White would have to tell her daughter herself about what she'd done.

And really, that sort of agony would be something Snow deserved to bear.

Emma frowned at that, but shook her head, "I'm here for August."

"He is free to leave whenever he wishes," Piper told her, "I have sworn that to him since he was a child."

"August?" Emma looked at him.

"I know what you must be thinking Emma," August began, "But trust me, there's WAY more going on than you know. And right now, Snow White is the LAST person I want to be near."

"She's not going to hurt you for helping her," Emma nodded at Piper.

"No, I'm worried I'LL hurt HER."

"Why would you…"

"Emma," Piper sighed, "Your parents have lied to you about a great many things. And the actions of Snow White have caused far more damage and danger than you have yet to understand."

"Then explain it to me," Emma demanded, "Because, from where I'm standing, the person I've been defending the last 2 months seems to be working for the bad guys."

"There is not enough time to explain, Emma," Piper began, holding up a hand to stop her speaking, "Your parents are outside, yes?" Emma nodded, "I give them barely another minute before they come charging in here. And I will not be held accountable for what I may do to Snow White if she confronts me now. Speak to Henry," she added, "He knows the truth, about everything."

"What…Henry?" Emma shook her head, "You spoke to Henry?"

"Quite often," Piper agreed, "He seemed the only one clever enough to realize I do, in fact, have a cell phone and called me while I was outside Storybrooke."

"I don't…"

"Emma," August cut in, "I know you're confused, and I know you have a lot of questions," he winced as he stood, Piper standing with him to steady him, "But you can't ask now. Trust me, it's better if…if you just 'rescue' me and ask me later, in private, than to risk your parents coming in here."

Piper nodded, helping August walk over to Emma, "Take August with you," she told the woman, "He has had…an experience," she smiled softly at her son as he gave her a grim smile back, being restored to his adult, human self had taken a lot out of him, "He needs to rest and he will be more likely to achieve that in an actual house than a cabin shared between six others."

Emma looked at August, seeing how weary and weak he really was, and sighed, "This isn't over," she warned her aunt, "I want answers."

"And you shall have them," Piper promised, "Whether or not you shall like them is another matter entirely."

Emma's lips pursed at that, but she reached out and took August's arm, helping to lead him to the door, "I'm glad I didn't have to wait 20 years to see you as you again," she mumbled to the boy as they stepped out of the cabin…only to see her parents doing exactly as Piper had predicted and making their way towards the cabin at a determined march, something that broke into a concerned run when they saw August.

"Me too," August grunted.

"August!" Mary Margaret gasped, reaching out to help him.

"Don't touch me!" he yanked his arm away from her, stumbling into Emma, shocking them all at the sheer venom in his voice, "Neither of you touch me," he glared at the royal duo.

"Guys just…back off," Emma murmured to her parents, not sure what Piper could have possibly told August to get a reaction like that out of him but…feeling like whatever the man had been told was…was actually the truth. August could spot a liar as easily as she could, came with being one himself. He would NOT be reacting like this if what Piper told him was a lie…

Which just made her even more suspicious of what her parents were keeping from her…

~8~

Emma frowned as she saw Hook enter Mary Margaret's apartment later that night, the man seeming deeply troubled about something. Henry was sitting over by August as he laid on a couch, recovering, while David and Mary Margaret were taking care of Neal. She'd gotten a call from Hook before, telling her that he had succeeded in giving Ursula back her happy ending, that the woman had been reunited with her father and that he'd also restored a singing voice to her that he'd taken many years ago. He'd managed to catch up to the woman while she'd been on her way back to the cabin which was lucky for her that Ursula hadn't made it there, she didn't want to have to confront a sea witch on top of dealing with her siren-aunt.

"Hook, what's wrong?" she asked.

"Nothing, love," he tried to smile, though her eyes narrowed, hearing the lie in his voice, "Just…Ursula."

She nodded, that was the truth at least, "You said gave Ursula everything she wanted."

"But I almost didn't," he admitted, "I was so desperate to figure out what the Crocodile was up to, I almost became the man I used to be. You have no idea how easy it is to fall back into the darkness."

"Well you started to make amends today, with Ursula."

"Aye. But it's a stark reminder of something."

"What?"

"With all this talk of authors and the book, we've never discussed one fact I was a villain."

"Yes, you were," Emma nodded, "And you're trying not to be anymore."

"But I still AM," Hook muttered, "Regina is trying not to be as well and she still lost her happy ending. If we're to believe the rules of the book, then it's only a matter of time before I lose mine."

"Wait," Emma frowned, confused, "If you're afraid of losing your happy ending, that means you found it. What is it?"

Hook looked at her softly, "Don't you know, Emma?" he whispered, stepping closer to her, "It's you."

Emma blinked at that…and stepped back. She should be touched, she knew, that she made someone that happy that they felt she was their happy ending. But…the way he was looking at her, gazing at her, it was like…it was her. Literally her, her being with him, that would be his happy ending. And it just…

"And Henry?" she found herself asking before she even realized it.

"What about the boy?" Hook frowned, confused.

Emma let out a breath at that, shaking her head as she looked away. Her son was an important, a monumentally important, part of her life…and Hook hadn't even considered him in the equation of happiness, had he? It was her, it was Emma, it wasn't anything else.

And really, how bad was that that it WAS her? If she died? If she broke his heart? If she ended their relationship? What then? Would he fall back to his villainous ways just because she turned him down? If Piper was right…he'd done just that, during the missing year, he'd gone right back to being a pirate, abandoned the others, just because she wasn't there for him to show off how he'd 'changed' around? If she ended this, he would use it as an excuse to return to his life as a villain. He'd proved it just now, that he'd gotten so caught up in NOT wanting to lose her/his happy ending that he'd gone about it like a villain would.

If what they had ended badly, or ended at all…what would that mean for Hook?

What would it mean for her if she felt she HAD to stay with him so he wouldn't fall back into being a villain?

Did it really mean that he'd changed as much as he felt he had if he could so easily revert without her there?

"Emma?" Hook reached out to her, not sure why she wasn't melting into his arms for his confession.

"Not…not now, Hook," she muttered, she had…a lot to think about, she did not want the entire weight of his redemption resting on her, nor should it. His entire life should not be based around her own, but an offshoot of it at the most.

There was a knock on the door, thankfully, keeping Hook from speaking more and Regina peeked her head into the apartment.

"Regina," Mary Margaret greeted as she heard the knock and came to answer, David following with Neal in his arms, "You're ok."

Regina scoffed, "We're lucky he's ok," she nodded at August, stepping into the room more.

August snorted at that, rolling his eyes, "Neither Gold nor Piper would let anything happen to me. I don't know why you're so concerned given YOU were the one holding a fireball to me."

"Regina!" Mary Margaret gasped.

"I was undercover!" Regina huffed.

August shook his head and laid back down, of course she was, did she really think his mother and Gold were that stupid that THEY didn't know either?

"It's ok," Emma felt the need to reassure him, "I promise."

"August," Mary Margaret smiled at him, "We need to know what you know about the Author."

"Well doesn't that just suck to be you then," August smiled mockingly back at her, "I'm not going to tell you jack, Snow White."

Mary Margaret blinked and stepped back at that, startled at his tone, at his words, at his expression.

"Hey…" David stepped up, ready to defend his wife.

"You hurt my mother," August told them, "I'm not going to help you. You want me to talk? Tough."

"We rescued you!"

"I was never in any danger," August informed them, "Which shows just how much you know about your cousin if you thought I ever was," he shot at Mary Margaret, "You are getting nothing out of me."

Mary Margaret and David looked at each other before they turned to walk off.

"August…" Emma began.

"Until you know the truth, Emma," August shook his head, "Until I know I can trust you not to share with THEM," he shot a glare at the retreating heroes, "I'm sorry."

Emma sighed, shaking her head and walking into the kitchen with a huff. Regina seemed to sense he wouldn't tell her anything either and glanced at Emma before she moved to follow, talking quietly to the blonde.

"Operation Bluebird," Henry whispered under his breath.

August looked over at him, a faint smile on his face. He glanced at the others before tapping the picture of the door that Henry had found, that just so happened to be lying on the very top of a pile of papers, "This is the door," he agreed, speaking quietly to Henry, "The Author is trapped inside the book."

"Then we have to get him out," Henry determined, "Aunt P and grandpa are depending on us."

August smiled more at that, relieved that his mother had at least one member of her blood-family that understood her and wanted to do this for her.

She was going to need all the help she could get.

A/N: Sorry this was late! My fault this time, overslept and missed my alarm, updated as soon as I woke up and saw the time lol :)

I sort of wanted to touch on something in this chapter, with Hook's happy ending being Emma. At first, watching the show, I thought 'it's a little sweet' but after that moment passed...it actually disturbed me a bit :( Hook says EMMA is his happy ending. Not Henry, her son, not being a father to him, not being a hero, not making amends for his past crimes, not being part of a family, not being captain of a ship or on the sea or just a general happiness of things Emma brings into his life...JUST Emma. It could be taken that she's a generalizing of everything she represents or brings to his life, but I feel like he would have said Swan, saying Emma seemed more personal and focusing to me. That is a lot of pressure to put on one person to be the entire happy ending of someone else. That is really unhealthy as well to make just ONE person your happy ending. I feel like that was sort of what Regina did with Daniel and we saw how that worked out :( I feel like a lot of characters will say 'you're my happy ending' to someone else, and mean it in a more general sense, of that person sort of leading to a happy ending, a home and happiness and family and good times. I felt, when Hook said it, he was being very literal in how choked up he was getting and how frantic he got to 'protect' Emma (similar to how he reverted to villainous ways when he wanted his hand back for Emma) that it was Emma and Emma alone that was his happy ending. And it rubbed me the wrong way that he completely excluded Henry, her son, in that, even in being a part of Henry's life, having a boy that might be his son one day if his hopes for Emma go through (though, then again, he DID sell his other 'almost son' out to Pan so...yeah...). It was like he considered nothing else but Emma as the entire happy ending he wanted, and nothing else in her life, nothing else she brought to it :( I wanted Emma to sort of touch on that. In this story, she's more aware of the things Hook does to try and get on her good side, she's more suspicious of his intentions regarding her son, and here it WOULD hit her more that Hook is focusing on her and nothing else, not Henry, not her family, not redeeming himself, just her...and it's putting her on edge because if it goes south...it's now on HER that he's become a villain again, which also seemed unhealthy to me to put that guilt and responsibility on someone else. He also spent that entire episode lying and taking the villain's way out behind her back and making one good decision right at the end doesn't negate all the other underhanded and harsh things he did through the rest of the episode :( But that was just my thoughts on that moment in regards to Hook.

Some notes on reviews...

I have a girlfriend in mind for August yup ;) But it won't say who just yet, though I can say we'd definitely see her play out more in the AU I have planned for them yup ;)

I hope we see more of August too in Season 5, and if not, Piper would definitely seek him out a time or two :) We might get a few more flashbacks of August and Piper through the course of the series though :) I did see the promo, it looks very cool :)

Thank you! I fixed it :) Emma's reaction was definitely a little stunned/shock, but once she processes it, she'll definitely have more moments with Piper to come ;) Yup, the people were very prejudiced and suspicious of her just for being what she was instead of considering all the things she'd done for them :( Sounds very interesting ;) I've seen the promos and I'm a little concerned too. I feel like there's so much going on that was bad that they left from Season 4 that they're really going to need some serious work to save the show. I know, personally, certain plots have made me really not want to even watch Season 5, their portrayal of some characters and how easily they're accepting certain really bad events just throws me off from seeing it as even slightly realistic :( I like the show, I want it to continue, but at the same time I'm almost hoping it doesn't go beyond season 5 (and I feel like such a traitor to say that) if it keeps up like it has been :( I would definitely try my best to save it in the stories though :)

We have't gotten to the full scope of what happened to Piper and Gold health-wise yet ;) It was touched on a few chapters back that Gold's heart was failing and weakening them both and forced him to take his own heart back from Piper, but not exactly why it was failing. We'll see that very soon ;)