OK, today's update for you... it may be a few days before the next, I'm not sure but PLEASE be patient with me, I will get it to you as soon as I can.

As always please review.

Enjoy

:)

"As much as it pains me to say this I think that maybe you would be better going with the others" David sighed out dropping down onto the couch with a wince

"What? I thought you wanted to go" Mary-Margaret cried out dropping down next to him and giving him a really worried look.

"I do want to go" David said in a resigned voice "BUT this is important and I cannot afford for ME to be the one that lets the side down and right now I'm struggling to sit down on the couch without feeling that my arms and legs are gonna fall off"

"Nothing like a bit of dramatics" Mary-Margaret chuckled "You've been hanging around that Pirate far too long"

David's eye wandered towards the bathroom but he shook his head quickly not wanting to think about what was going on on the other side of that door "Gah...You just had to remind me about him didn't you?"

Mary-Margaret gave another laugh "Leave them alone, it's not like we've never had fun in the shower"

"That's different" David replied with a frown "SHE is our Daughter"

"Who is all grown up and already has a Son if you remember rightly" Mary-Margaret threw back getting up from the couch "Now, if I'm to go I need to get ready. Are you sure you'll be alright with all four boys by yourself?"

"You mean five" David huffed out "You forgot Captain Lothario in there and yes, I'll be fine, Henry can help if I need him too, we're probably just gonna be reading or playing in the pool anyway"

Mary-Margaret gave a tight nod "Right, I better get changed. I can't kick butt in this skirt"

With that she was making her way to the bedrooms again and disappeared from sight leaving David to his own thoughts... which kept coming back to his Daughter and that Pirate.

"I'm going to kill him" he ground out through clenched teeth pulling himself back to his feet and making his way back over to the kitchen, he NEEDED coffee.

He stood watching not really having anything else to do as the coffee brewed but his attention was drawn back towards the little corridor when he suddenly heard Emma's voice.

"Take it easy now, come on, you were doing so well"

He looked up to see a very tired looking Hook coming back around the corner practically being held up by Emma and his anger was gone in a second as he rushed over taking hold of the crutch and removing it so that he could bring the Pirate's arm around his shoulder.

"Thanks Mate"

"Back to bed?" he asked tipping his head that way in question

But Hook shook his head and tipped his towards the couch. They moved slowly but once he was down Hook gave a huge grin.

"Ahhhh... that's better" he sighed leaning back "Who knew that a shower could be so... invigorating"

David snorted "Yeah, I can see it now. You just managing to hold yourself up so your ass doesn't hit the tiles, you're not fooling anyone Pirate"

Hook's eyebrow raised high on his head and he just gave a smirk but Emma slapped his arm again "Would you just stop, no one is believing you so just give it up"

"Whatever you say Love" Hook replied with a twinkle in his eyes before he gave another heavy sigh and closed them.

"I'm gonna get changed" Emma said shaking her head "Mom said you're staying here, you two better promise to behave yourselves, I'm not coming back here to you too trying to outdo one another"

"Us?!" they both chimed in unison and David couldn't help the bark of laughter that escaped him when he looked at Hook, he had missed this.

"We'll behave Emma, I promise" David said with another little laugh "don't worry"

She just narrowed her eyes at him "Yeah, easy for you to say"

He chuckled as she walked away then he called across to Hook "You want coffee with your meds?"

"Aye Mate, that would be grand"

He quickly poured then made his way back to the couch handing over the brew and the pills to the Pirate before going back to collect his own mug and finally lowered himself down next to Hook with a slight groan.

"You OK?" the Pirate asked with a look of concern

"Coming from you that's laughable" David replied taking a mouthful of molten lava into his mouth and gulping it down quickly "I'm good, I've taken my meds too they'll kick in soon"

Hook looked appeased as he lent back and took a sip from his own mug before letting it rest on the couch next to him but his brow furrowed like he wanted to say something.

"Spit it out" David said taking another sip

Hook looked up at him nervously glancing first towards the bedrooms then at the laundry room door to obviously make sure that they were alone.

"I am scared David"

"What?" he was instantly on alert turning quickly to face his friend "Why? What's wrong?"

"That attack yesterday... I... if I have another... I... " words were failing him and when he looked up at David that damned haunted look was back in his eyes again.

"You won't" David replied in an instant "That only came on because you remembered what happened in that cave"

"Aye" Hook replied with a wry smile "And that's my point... I still remember David. The bloody Crocodile pretended to be Devin, he stuck his damned hand through my chest and threatened to crush my heart if I didn't tell him where the gem was and in that moment I realized I had changed. In the past if he had done that I would have told him to go ahead but I can't now and not just because of Junior but because of Henry and Emma too. They need me as much as I need them so I told him where it was and gave him the upper hand"

"Which he has now lost" David threw back without missing a beat "You did what you had to do to get back to your family, no one can be mad at you for that."

He watched as the words sank in "I just hope that this morning goes as planned so that we can enjoy Junior's day tomorrow"

"Me too" David smirked then gave a chuckle "You should see what Mary-Margaret has got planned, that Kid is not gonna know what hit him when he gets up tomorrow"

"Aye?"

David just nodded, he wasn't giving the game away and if Hook was going to ask more it was forgotten in the next minute when there was a quiet knock on the door.

"That'll be Rufio and Tiger Lily" David grit out pulling himself up from the couch and heading over

The next half hour passed quickly and before David knew it they were hugging their loved ones and watching as they left. David felt hallow inside, he was watching his world walk away from him but he knew that they would be fine, he was married to Snow White and had a Savior for a daughter. He needed a distraction for the morning so with a grin on his face he turned to the Pirate and raised an eyebrow high on his head.

"You up for some fun?" and when Hook just frowned at him in confusion he grinned wider "Mary-Margaret may or may not have arranged for a bounce house to be delivered late last night so that we would have it for tomorrow"

"What the hell is a bounce house?" Hook asked with a frown

"A distraction" David grinned back "Come on, you can help but keep an ear out for the kids, I don't want them seeing it until tomorrow or it will ruin the surprise but I want to make sure that's it's good enough and not full of holes, you have no idea who she got it from! You know if Mary-Margaret finds out that we had this thing out before that party tomorrow we are dead men walking"

"Sounds like a challenge to me" Hook grinned pulling himself up and getting his crutch "Lead the way Mate"

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Emma's heart was racing as they made their way across the clearing where this had all began all those months ago, she kept her head down unwilling to look up at that damned tree as it swayed in the early morning breeze.

"It's OK" her Mom whispered by her side reaching over and taking her hand as they carried on

Emma looked up to meet her eyes and gave a tight smile "Thanks Mom"

They walked in silence from then on not wanting to make any noise that would alert the Lost Ones that they were coming and finally they were standing in front of the cave entrance. Emma had never been here before but she knew only too well what had happened the last time that the Nevengers had come visiting, Henry had been attacked and Hook had nearly killed himself trying to warn her... She shook her head, she needed to focus and when she looked around her it was to realize that everyone was looking to her for guidance.

"Right... OK" she whispered stepping forward "We do this in one quick sweep, NO ONE does anything by themselves we have the buddy system for a reason. Those kids are smart and they are not afraid to use anything they can lay their hands on to get what they want and right now they will want to get away so be careful"

They all nodded silently but then Granny's voice was heard from somewhere near the back of the group "If anyone sees my crossbow can you grab it, so I can stick the pointy end of an arrow through one of these kids"

Emma smirked as she headed through the cave entrance, her Dad had been using Granny's crossbow when his truck had been wrecked but no one could find it at the crash site. Silently Emma hoped that Devin hadn't taken it, the last thing they needed was for him to be armed with a weapon.

They silently walked through the tunnels and were soon all standing in the large open space looking at four sleeping Lost Ones. Leroy gave a feral grin turning to Emma for the signal to go which she gave with a nod of the head. Then chaos ensued as they all moved at once. Emma and Mary-Margaret rushed forward and had their hands on the closest boy in seconds and he was screaming instantly.

The noise was almost unbearable as all the boys yelled and screamed but they soon had them sitting on the sand in the middle of the cave with their hands cuffed in front of them. Emma's eyes raked over each boy and when her gaze settled on Devin's furious features so grinned widely and sneered.

"Gotcha"

He narrowed his eyes at her but remained silent obviously knowing that they were beaten, Emma turned her back on him not being able to look at him without wanting to punch him in the face.

"Leroy can you and the others get them loaded into the cruiser but leave Devin, me and him need to have a chat"

The dwarves all moved as one pulling the other three boys to their feet and shoving them towards daylight leaving only Emma, Mary-Margaret and Granny behind.

"Where is my crossbow you little grub" Granny barked out suddenly dashing forward and grabbing the kid by the throat but he just smiled up at her.

"I burnt it" he laughed "It got quite chilly in here last night"

"WHAT?" Granny roared and Emma had to run forward to stop her snapping Devin's neck

"Granny... let him go" She grit out wrestling the boy from the old woman's grasp

"I got that cross bow from my Mother Emma" Granny gasped out looking close to tears

"And he'll pay for destroying it just not like this"

Devin lay panting on the ground as Emma finally knelt down next to him "Where is the gem Devin?"

He screwed his eyes up at her and frowned in confusion "Why? It's useless and you know it"

Emma just raised a brow "Never mind what I want it for just hand it over"

She watched as he rummaged in his pocket pulling something out but he didn't hand it over straight away he held it back slightly.

"How did you know where we were?" he asked narrowing his eyes in suspicion

But Emma wasn't in the mood to answer any of his questions "Never you mind"

"You... you knew I was there" he suddenly said raising an eyebrow and looking down at his hand "Outside Gold's shop, you knew and you tricked me... this gem still has it's power doesn't it?"

"You're not the only one that can play games Devin, now hand it over" she said holding out her hand

In the blink of an eye he raised the gem up so she could see it then promptly threw it across the cave. Emma's eyes followed it watching as it fell into the sand a few feet away. She turned back to grin at Devin only to find that he was gone.

"Where did he go?" she asked looking around wildly

"Oh My Gosh" Mary-Margaret gasped "I looked away"

"Me too" Granny cried out in despair "I was watching the gem"

"Damn it" Emma barked out pulling her radio out "Leroy, cover the entrance to the cave. Devin got away..."

"I can't see anything" he replied a few seconds later and it hit Emma like a slap to the face

"Yeah... that will be because he's more than likely invisible!" she replied with a sigh.

Emma couldn't believe that it had happened right in front of her eyes... they'd lost him again!