I am so sorry for the lack of updates, my life is just so busy right now that I am struggling to fit you guys in, do not hate me.

Let's just carry on with this tale.

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:)

"Who was that?" Emma asked David after he hung up while trying not to get too much water on his cell as he stood by the edge of the pool.

"Belle" he replied giving her a meaningful look to get her to come closer as the others all bobbed at the other end of the pool. As she swam closer he dropped down into a crouch and whispered "It would seem that Devin really has just broken into the shop... and trashed it. I gotta go"

"Wait" she hissed hauling herself up onto the edge of the pool and climbing out "I'll come too."

He just gave her a smile, what was he supposed to do? She was still sheriff too even if she didn't have her powers, he couldn't stop bad things happening in town just to keep her safe and he knew it.

"OK, I'll just let your Mom know what's going on"

"I'll tell Regina too... she can keep an eye on the quartz and if Devin dares to show his face they can all get inside"

"Good idea" he agreed with a nod.

Emma headed inside dripping water all over the place as David made his way to the far end of the pool.

"Me and Emma are just heading into town... there's been a break in" he deliberately kept it vague and no one seemed to be interested in more information as they splashed about so he just shouted as her left "We'll not be long... save us some cake"

He quickly changed and before he knew it him and Emma were heading along Main Street on foot... it wasn't far but he was missing his truck and huffed out a sigh at the thought of it lying mangled at the back of the police station.

"Did Belle say how bad the damage was?" Emma asked obviously thinking his bad mood was from Devin's latest attempt at being a Royal pain in the ass.

"No" he sighed shaking his head "She just said that the place was a mess but she also said that she had got the truth from Gold... something to do with the other gem controlling him or something. I don't know, she was pretty irate"

"Well we all know that I'm not Gold's number one fan BUT if that gem was controlling him I know how he feels... I still can't believe what I did back in that cave"

"Hey" he suddenly said coming to a stop "It wasn't your fault and besides if you and Regina hadn't gone all Slytherin on us... well we wouldn't have Junior now so I can't say that I'm sorry about it"

Emma snorted and scoffed "You've been listening to far too many stories"

"What can I say? They're good stories" he replied with a shrug and a grin "And you know we would so be in Gryffindor, although I'm not actually sure how that thing works"

They started moving again as Emma asked "What do you mean? They stick the hat on their head and it tells them what house they're in"

"Yeah but... OK, look at Hook. He would totally be in Gryffindor now but back when we first met him he was much more Slytherin and look at Junior he is totally a Ravenclaw"

"I can't believe we are having this conversation BUT I disagree. Hook has always been a Gryffindor, he was just fighting for the wrong cause but his heart was still true and courageous. In his mind he thought he was doing the right thing and as for Junior, OK he COULD be in Ravenclaw with that brain of his but look at Hermione Granger... she had ALL the brains but was still in Gryffindor."

"Hmmmm... you make a good point" David agreed coming to a stop outside Gold's shop.

They both looked at the closed door then simultaneously looked at each other whispering "Slytherin". Both were still laughing when the door suddenly opened and Belle stood just inside looking very confused.

"I thought I heard someone" she said with a frown as both David and Emma tried to look more serious.

"Yeah sorry, we were just discussing..." Emma trailed off as she stepped through the door and gasped "Whoa"

"When you said he trashed the place you weren't kidding." David said in awe as he looked around "Is anything missing?"

"From what we can see only two things" Gold suddenly said stepping through the curtain looking very ashamed of himself "The red gem and an old dwarf pickaxe which I presume he used to cause this damage"

"You had the gem stone here?" Emma said narrowing her eyes at the Dark One "And it WASN'T in the safe or protected by Magic? Are you insane?"

"Look it is irrelevant now as to where it was hidden or wasn't hidden, it is gone and if you wish to help your Pirate and the boy it must be retrieved but PLEASE do not bring it near me when it is found... I do not wish to lose myself to that gem again."

David couldn't tell if Gold was lying but he certainly seemed to be genuine... if only he'd had a truth potion handy. That's even if there was such a thing, he really needed to stop listening to Harry Potter!

"So if we can't bring it to you to fix this who can we bring it to?" Emma suddenly asked

"No one" Miss Swan "This thing that has happened cannot be undone, as I said the only way that both Jones' can live an independent life is by being in different realms. If the gem is destroyed the child shall disappear so I suggest that you get both halves and you hide them where NO ONE will ever find them and get on with your lives and just hope that nothing happens to either version for a very long time"

David's heart sank at the look of distress on Emma's face but she only let it show for a split second before she stepped forward "OK that's your opinion but we WILL find another way so the only question that remains is, What are you going to do to help us find that little demon so we can get the gem back?"

"I have no idea where he is" he sighed again "and he could literally be anywhere. He can essentially make himself invisible so he could be sitting right over there and no one would even see him"

He pointed to the far end of the room, all eyes followed and as if on cue some books fell off a shelf onto the floor and a large cauldron clanged it's way into the rubble... then the door flew open.

"He's here" Emma cried out running forward to give chase but David grabbed out wildly catching hold of her arm "EMMA... you can't chase him, you can't see where he is. It's too dangerous."

"FINE" she cried back pulling her arm away quickly "But TWO can play at that game. I am going to find him and YOU are going to help me get that gem back.

She turned to Gold and prodded her finger into his chest. He did not look happy but Belle stepped forward and spoke for him.

"Of course we will Emma... WE want to make amends. Don't we Rumple?"

"Indeed" Gold replied with a small smile that David couldn't read before talking again "You have a plan Miss Swan?"

"Yip, one that Godric Gryffindor himself would be proud of... but today is Junior's day and NOTHING is going to spoil that. We can meet at the library tomorrow morning then that Lost One isn't gonna know what's hit him." With that she headed to the door turning back to look back at them "Good luck cleaning up all this crap…..Come on Grandpa, we have cake to eat"

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"May we have more cake now Papa?" Junior asked swimming up and attaching himself onto Killian's left arm so that he bobbed by his side.

"I think that we can arrange that but perhaps you should have something a little more substantial first, it is getting late and I KNOW that you are very tired. So food then cake then bed I think, come on let's get you out and dried Lad. Henry can you assist me please?"

"Sure thing old man" Henry said grinning like a fool.

Nearly all the party guests had left leaving only Ruby and Regina who both sat at the side of the pool on loungers watching them play. Mary-Margaret had taken the babe back indoors a while ago after he had become quite unsettled obviously feeling tired after their long fun filled day. As Killian made his way up the the steps he wasn't exactly sure how he was going to manage to get out without David's help but when he looked up Ruby was wading down towards him. He might have known, she had been wearing the shortest shorts he had ever seen, she certainly wouldn't get any clothing wet!

"I'll give you a hand... I mean... I'll help... sorry!"

He chuckled "I know what you meant Love."

"You can lean on me Papa" Junior cried out taking his left arm and holding it on top of his head like he so often did.

"Thank you Son" he grit out as he tried to take the first step to find that he was much more tired than he had realized.

Ruby gripped hold of his right arm clinging onto him like his life depended on it and Henry had a supportive hand on his lower back.

"Can you get the chair Henry?" he gasped out knowing that he would need to sit quickly.

The boy took off coming up the steps beside him and wheeling the chair over before putting the brakes on and standing behind it ready to push him inside once he was done. He was panting through clenched teeth by the time was sitting and he could see Junior struggling to hide his discomfort so he lent over and pulled the Lad up onto his lap before sitting back with a grimace.

"OK Henry take us inside Son" he grit out

"You OK?" Regina asked coming over towards him

"I will be fine Love but perhaps you could check my meds chart for me... we could perhaps benefit from some pain relief"

"No problem, I'll get Junior dried and into some pajamas too." she gave a kind smile and ran her knuckles down Junior's cheek "Papa will be fine in no time at all OK?"

He just gave a little nod but he leant back into Killian snuggling in slightly, the Lad was exhausted and Killian knew just how he felt.

"When are Momma and Grandpa coming home?" he asked with a yawn as they came through the door into the pool house.

"Soon" Killian replied "Come on Lad go with Gina and get yourself dried. Henry if you could just take me through to the bedroom I will get out of these wet shorts"

"I'll do that Henry" Mary-Margaret said coming forward with his pills in one hand and a glass of water in her other "You go and get yourself changed then help yourself to more party food, it's all in the fridge now and if you could sort out your Brother too I would appreciate it"

"Sure Grandma, no problem" he said hurrying off as Killian took his meds washing them down with the water.

Mary Margaret turned back to him "Do you want to have a bath? I would offer to help you shower but that might just be a little too personal for the both of us"

"I won't tell if you don't" he chuckled "a bath will be fine Love, thank you"

But the bath ended up not happening as Swan and David came back before they had even got into the bathroom and Emma took over the hair washing duties bringing in the plastic chair for Killian to sit on knowing he wouldn't be able to stand.

"You look beat" she said with a frown of concern

"I have felt better Swan believe me but it was worth it to make the boy happy"

"He is happy isn't he?" she grinned back

They were distracted from conversation after that as Emma worked to get him washed then dried. She folded a fresh thick fluffy towel onto the wheeled chair so that when he sat back down on it, it would be dry before wheeling him straight through to the bedroom and helping him into the bed. He was beyond tired and knew that he could easily just go to sleep but just as Swan was pulling his sheet up over his legs his stomach gave a huge growl and he chuckled as Swan laughed.

"I'll grab you some food" she chuckled

She disappeared and he must have drifted off because the next thing he knew he was being woken to find a bed full of happy faces.

"Momma is going to read to us as you eat your dinner then we will all have cake" Junior grinned pulling the sheet up over his legs and leaning into Henry who sat next to him.

Killian looked to Emma as she put his tray down on the bed for him and lifted the book before walking around the bed and climbing under the sheet with the boys.

"What are we reading tonight then Love?" Killian asked popping his first bit of food into his mouth

"Matilda" she replied with a grin.

This was the one that she had said that she had enjoyed as a child so as she started reading he listened but he was tired and as soon as he was done eating he could feel himself drifting off again.

"Does Papa not want cake?" he heard Junior ask Swan in a whispered voice some time later

"We'll keep him some kid" Swan whispered back then he felt the bed moving as they all climbed off so he peeked an eye open and cleared his throat.

"You better" he chuckled "I will enjoy it tomorrow. Night Lads"

"Night Papa... Night Old Man" they called back giving him a wave then they were gone but Swan stopped in the doorway.

"Go back to sleep, I'll be in soon" she said with a smile then added "He had fun today"

"It will certainly be a day that he will remember Love, thank you for making it happen and please give your parents my thanks too"

"Hey this was as much down to you as us" she said seriously "all he wanted was to have fun and you helped with that"

"Aye" was all he said in reply but he knew she was right. He could still feel the lad's happiness and as if to reiterate it he got another surge making him grin and bring his hand up to his heart "I think Junior may have just gotten his cake"

Emma smiled then sighed "Sleep Killian. Love you"

"I know" he replied with a silly grin but she just rolled her eyes and shook her head.

"Night Han" she chuckled walking out the door

"Night Princess" he called back

He closed his eyes and settled down into his pillows with a smile on his face as the yell that he had been expecting reached him, she REALLY did not like being called Princess but he didn't care, she was a Princess and her heart belonged to him.

Killian hadn't even realized that he had fallen asleep until he was suddenly lurching awake clutching at his chest while desperately trying to calm his breathing down. He clamped his eyes shut and fell to the side onto the still empty bed with a soft thwump.

What was going on?

Killian tried to concentrate his mind, to reach out to Junior but the boy must still have been sleeping, caught up in a bad dream of some sorts.

Where was Emma?

She had said that she wouldn't be long but he could tell by the light in the room that some time had passed.

Another jolt of panic hit him literally taking his breath away when Gold's leering face suddenly flew into the forefront of his mind.

Junior was having a nightmare, he had to wake the boy.

He managed to get himself to the edge of the bed but he knew that it would be unwise to try and walk so he sort of slithered his way onto the floor and pulled himself across the smooth surface towards the door but just as he was reaching up to pull the handle another great jolt of fear hit him clear in the chest and he found himself gasping again while lying face down on the tiles as another image hit him but this time it was different... this time it was Devin's face.

How could the boy be dreaming of the Lost One? He had never seen him!

But he was and all too late Killian realized why as suddenly the voice that had haunted his dreams for months suddenly burst into his head once more. It would seem that Junior was now experiencing Killian's dream first hand.

"No no no" he mumbled trying to get himself up, he had to stop this... this wasn't right.

He could feel himself starting to lose control as another wave of panic hit Junior and it was far from done as the boy's nightmare only grew in strength.

"SWAN" he tried to shout as loud as he could but his chest was hitching now as he tried to pull in air while scrabbling at his throat... there is no rope... there is no rope he tried to tell himself

"Hook?" he heard her on the other side of the door and when she tried to come into the room only to find she couldn't get in he could hear the panic in her voice "KILLIAN! DAD... he's at the back of the door, I can't get in"

He couldn't breathe and then he saw the tree and cried out in shock as he was suddenly in that clearing, the smell of the damp grass and the chill in the air were back raising goosebumps across his skin.

"Captain needs taught a lesson boys"

He tried to fight it knowing he couldn't let it take him, he tried to find Junior in all the chaos but the boy was caught up in the chaos too so instead of calming the situation it only seemed to feed it but then he felt it... he felt the moment the boy awoke... then he heard it as Junior's cries of distress reached his ears. Killian could do nothing more than slump bonelessly onto the floor and try not to pass out as he felt Swan's comforting embrace through the boy.

"HOOK... CAN YOU HEAR ME?" David's voice boomed through the wood pulling him to his senses with a groan.

Killian was panting hard and the damn shaking was back but he managed to grit out "H-hang on... I-I w-will t-try t-t-to m-move"

"Take your time, don't rush and hurt yourself, Junior is fine. Emma's got him"

He didn't answer he just gritted his teeth and started trying to claw himself out of the way. It was hard work, his limbs felt like lead weights and the shaking was getting out of control but he finally managed to get far enough away to allow David to slip through the gap and come to his aid.

"What have you done to yourself?" David more said to himself as he knelt by Killian's side.

"T-the b-b-boy... b-b-ad d-dream" he managed to get out before another shiver hit him stealing his breath away.

"Yeah... I figured. You OK? Well apart from the obvious, you haven't hurt anything?" Killian just shook his head to which David gave a sigh "Good. You ready to get back in bed or do you need another minute?"

He wasn't ready but he just nodded anyway knowing another minute would only be delaying the inevitable. Killian's world spun dramatically as David practically hauled him to his feet and slung his arm around the Prince's shoulder but worse was still to come as the nausea hit. Killian clamped his mouth shut and pulled in a deep breath just holding it in the hope that he could stop himself from puking all over the place again.

Then he was down on the mattress and his world dipped out of focus as his ribs screamed at him to stop the torture he was putting them through. He tried to curl in on himself but that just made his hip join in the party so in the end he just gave in as he continued to fight the never ending battle with his stomach.

"Hook" Emma's voice was suddenly by his side so he peeked open an eye to find her sitting on the edge of the bed clutching onto the boy "You OK?"

Again he just nodded, by the look on her face she didn't believe him but she said nothing, she just reached up and stroked the hair from his forehead and he found his eyes closing by themselves as the feeling of comfort washed over him. A few minutes later he felt the bed move and his eyes popped open again but Swan just walked around to lie a now sleeping Junior in the bed next to him before climbing in herself.

"Go back to sleep Killian" she whispered snuggling into both him and the boy "I'm not going anywhere, you're both safe, I promise"

He gave her a tired smile and let his eyes close once more but the image of her stayed in his mind as he drifted off into sleep safe in the knowledge that she would watch over them but it didn't last, the remnants of the dream kept coming back and that damned voice would not leave him alone so in the end he sighed out a breath and opened his eyes to find Swan and Junior sleeping soundly. He pulled himself over onto his left hand side to face them and as he moved Swan's eyes opened and she frowned at him.

"You OK?" she whispered reaching over to take his hand

"Can't sleep" he sighed out closing his eyes for a second before looking back at her "His voice... it keeps coming back"

Emma didn't need to ask who's voice he was talking about but she frowned again "I thought it was Junior who had the bad dream, not you!"

"It was the boy but it seems that our dreams have aligned somewhere along the way. Junior was the one having the bad dream but he was dreaming about what happened to me. Gods Emma we need to end this, he shouldn't be seeing that."

"I know" she said gripping his hand "and we're working on it. We have a meeting lined up in the morning at the library and I have a plan to catch up to Devin and this time he won't see us coming... literally"

"Aye?" he replied with a smirk "Pray tell Love"

She brought herself up onto her elbow and started "Well it would seem that the red gem that Gold had was controlling his power, corrupting him..."

"I don't believe that Love. He is the Dark one, only the dagger can control him"

"Maybe" she said with a shrug "but it doesn't matter anyway because he has lost the red gem, Devin took it from the shop this afternoon. Either Gold is pretending to be free from it's control or he IS free from it's control, either way he doesn't have a choice but to hep us now, Belle has seen to that. So tomorrow we are going to hunt that little beast down and I'll tear that gem from his cold dead hand if I have too"

Killian chuckled "Cold dead hand? You do like a bit of drama Love and just how do you plan to find him? I can see by your face you have found a way"

She nodded her head to the dresser behind him before lying back down onto her pillows "With the quartz and some of that invisibility potion. I had Regina adjust it so that we can see him but he can't see us... that's why I was later coming through to bed. I'm so sorry Killian, I shouldn't have left you for so long"

"You cannot be with us all of the time Swan. These things will happen and what you were doing was important, it's alright Love"

"You frightened me... when I couldn't open the door I thought something bad had happened"

"I am fine Love" he reassured her squeezing her hand again before looking to the still sleeping Junior "We both are for the moment but perhaps in the morning you could ask the Cricket to visit. It may help the boy to deal with these dreams. He was so frightened by the Crocodile's words that they were taunting him in his dream Swan and perhaps Archie can reassure him that he is here to stay no matter what, he has a way of making things seem a lot less... scary"

"Sure" she replied with a sweet smile "If you think it will help I'll call him first thing in the morning but right now you need to get some sleep, it's still early"

He could feel sleep tugging at him and after the distraction of the last few minutes he felt more relaxed than before. He gave a contented sigh, closed his eyes and settled into his pillows and when he felt her snuggle in closer he gave a smile.

This was just a bump in the road and he not going to let it set him back. He would be at that meeting tomorrow whether everyone thought it was a good idea or not... he was going to part of taking that damned Lost One down if it was the last thing he did.