Sorry for the lack of update last night... I was just simply too tired.
Not sure when the next update will be, I have a lot on over the weekend but I will do my best to get at least one chapter out to you.
We have a plan... will it work?
As always please review.
Enjoy
:)
It had taken him forever to get Hook to go back to sleep, the idiot seemed determined to set off for Mermaid's Lagoon even though it was still dark outside and he could barely keep himself upright. David had finally convinced him that it wasn't a good idea to go right there and then and that IF he slept now he would be more likely to be able to go to in the morning even though he was pretty sure that that was not going to happen.
Hook was in obvious pain and David could tell by his eyes that he was exhausted, it was only pig headed determination that was keeping him awake so David had dosed him up with tea by making it slightly stronger than usual... it had worked too, Hook had gone out like a light.
"That was sneaky" Robin chuckled
"Yeah well, hang around with a Pirate long enough and you pick up a few tricks" David chuckled back "He's worse than Junior sometimes and he's only five"
"Junior?" Robin asked raising a brow but suddenly David wasn't sure that it was his place to share that particular bit of news so he just chuckled and nodded his head before yawning widely.
"I was gonna try and get another couple of hours sleep but my brain has kinda gone into overdrive" he said around the yawn as he stretched his arms into the air before he remembered the shell that Hook had said was in the cupboard.
David was suddenly pulling the cupboard door open and rummaging around inside. How the hell had Hook seen that? It was quite low down and half hidden by what looked like some kind of flour although it was a very strange colored flour if that's what it was, it was bright yellow! Ignoring the flour he dug the shell out and held it up with a smile, this might just work. Suddenly he was fighting his own urge to head off into the night but when he looked back at the bed he knew he couldn't do that to Hook, it had been his idea after all. So he just carried it across to the table and put it down next to the dagger.
"You never did tell me how you ended up with Gold's dagger" Robin mused picking it up and studying it carefully
"I'm not entirely sure myself to be honest. Someone had it and was controlling Gold. They were killed just as the portal was opening, I guess they dropped the dagger and it got pulled through with us."
"It does raise an interesting quandary though doesn't it?" Robin pondered eyeing the dagger with wonder
"Does it?" David was puzzled, what was he talking about?
"Well, if we do manage to leave here and travel back to Storybrooke... do you take it back with you?"
David raised an eyebrow and stepped forward plucking the dagger from Robin's hands so he could study it. He hadn't thought about that, it may be worth considering but again it wasn't really his decision to make... Rumplestiltskin was not David's Crocodile.
"I'll let Hook decide" David muttered tossing the dagger back onto the table "Believe me when I say there is now a whole lot more going on between those two than there ever has been but that's a story that he can tell you himself"
"Sounds intriguing" Robin replied looking to the bed with a sigh "I just hope we can get him back to camp sooner rather than later. The medicine man can sort him out, I just know it. I swear that man can work miracles."
"I hope so" David agreed looking to the bed too "Because I'm not convinced that his shoulder is infection free and I've got hardly any of Tink's ointment left"
In the end David had fallen asleep again, he and Robin had laid down on their furs purely for a lack of something else to do. They had chatted quietly for a while but then suddenly David was creaking open an eye to find Robin helping Hook out of his bed.
"You sure you're fit enough to get out of there?" David asked throwing back his blankets but the reply he got was not the flippant remark that he had been expecting.
"Well it's the only place I will be going today so leave me be" Hook grumped sitting down on a chair with a grunt.
"What?" David asked pulling himself up but it was Robin who answered not Hook who now seemed to be sulking.
"It's snowing again, in fact it is currently blowing a blizzard."
"Damn" David sighed out "Is it deep? Is there no way one of us could get to the lagoon?"
"I wouldn't recommend it Mate" Robin replied dropping down into one of the other chairs "But perhaps it will pass quickly, the last snow storm lasted less than a day"
"Yeah, I remember" David agreed then added "The lagoon may be out of question but I still need to go check the traps. We are going to need more food if we can't get to camp today"
Hook suddenly looked up but spoke to Robin "You should go too, I'd feel happier knowing that he wasn't out there by himself, I nearly drove myself crazy the last time he left"
"I am here" David said throwing out his hands "Don't I get a say in this?"
Robin turned to David "No. Hook is right, it's not safe to go out by yourself, I will assist plus I have a few tricks up my sleeve that we can utilize to our advantage"
And so it was decided and David gave a chuckle as he looked back to Hook "You nearly drove yourself crazy huh?"
"Aye" Hook suddenly bit back "I already told you David, I will NOT lose another Brother to this damned island... look at you, you hardly came back from your last adventure unscathed!"
"I'm sorry" David replied straight away, he hadn't meant to mock Hook's very real concern and the Pirate was right, he must look a sight with his bruised face an cut chin. He let out a long breath "I didn't think. You must hate it here"
"You have no idea Mate" Hook sighed out deflating before him "Please, just be careful out there"
"We will" David replied gently laying his hand on Hook's shoulder "I promise"
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Emma walked into the galley to find Henry and Junior making breakfast... well Henry was making breakfast, Junior was grinning up at her while sitting on the edge of the table with his sore leg resting on the bench.
"Morning you two" she said making her way over to Junior "You sleep OK Kid?"
"Aye, P.B awoke in the night with a bad dream but I gave him a hug and read him a story and he felt better"
"Is that right? Well just you tell P.B. that if he wakes again and he needs ANYTHNG that I can come to the bunk room until he settles again"
"I will Momma" the Kid grinned "He was fine though, he found comfort in my lamp"
"That's good" Emma said ruffling Junior's hair as he clung onto his bear "Now where's Pongo?"
"Grandma took him to the park... you know... to..." Henry replied over his shoulder
"He needed to pee" Junior suddenly cried out then clamped his hand over his mouth as he giggled furiously.
"I see you're feeling better kid" Emma laughed "how's your leg this morning?"
"Henry already gave me my meds so it feels better than when I first awoke"
"Good. Now today Henry is going to school and you're gonna spend the morning with Grandma. I have some sheriff stuff needing done. THEN Gina is gonna come over this afternoon and stay for dinner, would you like that?"
"Can I not help you Momma?" he asked with a frown
"Sorry Kid, not today but you can totally help me once you're off those crutches... besides, I think you'll have much more fun with Grandma. She's gonna take you to the store to get a book to stick your photos of P.B. in PLUS she is going to see if they have any material to maybe make P.B. a pirate outfit. Would you like that?"
"AYE" he cried out lifting up the bear "You will be a pirate P.B., just like Papa. He will be so proud of you"
"Yeah he will" Henry said over his shoulder "Just don't get an eye patch, Killian would HATE that"
They all laughed and Emma found herself helping Henry with serving breakfast in the next few minutes and before she knew it it was time to head off. She kissed her boys goodbye, gave her Mom and Brother a hug, petted Pongo as she passed and set off for the station where she had arranged to meet Regina and Leroy, he was still helping out and had agreed to go with them.
She pushed through the door when she got there finding that Leroy must already be inside and when she walked into the main room it was to find Regina there too.
"We good to go?" she asked opening the drawer and taking out the keys to the cruiser
"Here Swan, I got you a coffee" Regina said with a smile handing her a cup
"Yeah because you're special... I on the other hand had to buy my own" Leroy groused pushing past them
"That's because what you are currently drinking is NOT just coffee, I was not going to pay for you to drink on the job" Regina yelled after him
Leroy suddenly turned and growled "You have changed Majesty, in days gone by you would have joined me PLUS I would hardly call it drinking on the job"
"Whoa whoa whoa" Emma yelled out stepping between the two of them "Leroy, you can't be drinking while on duty. What the hell were you thinking?"
"What was I thinking? I'll tell you what I was thinking. I was thinking a dash of whiskey in my coffee would help me get through the day. It was literally a dash Princess... I wouldn't drink while on duty. I know that you need me, I wouldn't let you down with your Father not being here."
"Fine, it was just a dash now can we get over it and get on with this?" Emma sighed before turning back and pointing at Leroy "And don't call me Princess"
Emma was the one pushing past the two of them now, she just headed straight out the cruiser promising herself that she would ditch the pair of them if they carried on like this and when they both tried to get in the front seat Emma was about to let them have it when Leroy suddenly just backed down and climbed in the back leaving Regina with a smug look on her face.
Emma narrowed her eyes in suspicion, that was weird! But they were in the car and ready to go so Emma just started to drive before something else happened. When they got there Leroy headed straight upstairs muttering that he would start in the attic and being honest that suited Emma just fine, it would keep him and Regina apart.
"His attitude stinks" Regina snarked the minute Leroy was out of earshot
"Give him a break" Emma sighed "He's been doing the job of three people"
Regina suddenly sagged and Emma watched as the truth suddenly hit her "I'm an idiot. I was so busy judging him instead of appreciating his help. I'm just going to... go... Oh, God, I'm going to have to apologise to a dwarf"
"Well there's a first time for everything" Emma laughed "I'm gonna start looking in the kitchen"
Regina just sighed dramatically and headed for the stairs. Emma made her way through to the kitchen and took in the dusty shelves that held lots of books. She gave a sigh of her own, this was going to take forever but the books weren't about to sort themselves so she just got on with it. She pulled a few down and put them on the table. She had literally just picked the first one up to look at when Regina's voice called her from upstairs.
"SWAN... GET UP HERE"
Emma was running up the stairs in no time, she ran passed the bedrooms and straight up the small flight of stairs to the attic to find Regina and Leroy standing in the middle of the floor staring at a large book that Regina held in her hand.
"What?" she puffed out making her way over
"I think I've found something" Regina said glancing up "I recognised the crest on this book, it belonged to my Mother. Swan, this book is ALL about portal travel, it has to hold the answer. Just at a glance I am pretty certain that I will be able to find something... some of these spells are insane. I have NEVER seen anything like this in my life and obviously neither has Gold. This book could have got him to Baelfire long before he did. I wonder why my Mother didn't give it to him? And more importantly how did Zelena get it?"
"Right now I don't give a shit" Emma said with a huge grin "All I care about is that WE have it now and my Dad and Hook are one step closer to getting home"
Regina raised an eyebrow and smirked back "So crass Miss Swan but I do believe that you are right... today is a good day"
"Yeah it is" Emma agreed "Our kid is a genius"
In a second Regina cranked up the playfulness "What do you expect? I did teach him everything he knows"
"Yeah" Emma threw back seriously before adding a cheeky grin "But some things just come naturally!"
Leroy was not amused "This was a total waste of time... are we done?" he was muttering as he made his way out of the room "TWO minutes was all it took, I could have stayed in bed!"
Emma and Regina grinned at each other before they started heading down the small flight of stairs again. They were just passing one of the bedrooms when Regina suddenly reached out and grabbed hold of Emma's arm.
"What?" Emma gasped in surprise
Regina had her eyes narrowed looking through the doorway "That... that looks familiar"
With that she took off into the room and Emma found herself following. Regina made her way to the bed where there was a small pile of clothing. She picked up the top garment and held it up before her eyes went wide then narrowed.
"Marian..." she muttered suddenly looking around
"What are you thinking Regina, talk to me" Emma suddenly said stepping forward towards her friend.
Regina turned quickly and held up the tunic in her hands "THIS belonged to Marian... so what is it doing here of all places?"
Emma took hold of the tunic and studied it "Maybe...maybe her and Robin..."
Regina sighed out a huge breath "Stop Emma, don't say anymore... It was all a lie wasn't it? He was never going to leave her was he? Do you think that they were planning to move in here together?"
"WHAT? No. Are you crazy? THAT is not what I was going to say. Robin would never do that to you, he loves you PLUS he would never stay in a house, he's strictly a living in the woods kinda guy. I was going to say that maybe her and Robin had raided the place for supplies" Emma quickly lied... it was lame but hey.
Regina just smirked "Yeah, great idea. "Let's raid this house for supplies and while we're here we'll leave a pile of our own clothes behind", I'm sure that's how it went Swan"
"Wait." Emma suddenly said rummaging through the clothes "These are all just Marian's clothes. Maybe she stayed here when her and Robin split up!"
"Perhaps" Regina agreed "But it makes no difference in the end, he still left with her. I still lost my happy ending and life just carries on"
"Sorry" Emma mumbled suddenly hating herself again
"Hey" Regina quickly said turning to Emma "I accepted that apology already. It's OK. This is just how things are now and besides we have a Prince and a Pirate to bring home so let's get out of here"
Emma gave a sad smile "I meant what I said you know. I won't give up on getting you you're happy ending"
"I know" Regina smiled back "But for now what will make me happy is getting this book out of here to somewhere I can read it without the feeling like my Sister is looking over my shoulder all the time, her taste in decor leaves a whole lot to be desired" Regina curled her lip in disgust as she looked around before giving a fake shudder "Quaint farmhouse is most definitely NOT my style"