Chapter 3 – He Who Must Not be Named

Emma

Emma is sitting in a booth at Granny's excitedly waiting for her usual order (gods, she has missed Granny's) when the thought strikes her that Hook had been staying at the inn the last time she had been here. She hadn't thought of that when she told her parents to meet her there to have lunch with Henry after school let out. Before she can start panicking, she hears the door open behind her and just the thought that it might be him has her heart stopping.

She pushes that feeling away as she hears David and Mary Margaret's bickering as baby Leo babbles in between them. Emma doesn't know how she feels about her brother, she'd barely stayed for his naming ceremony and had been too busy chasing the literal Wicked Witch of the West to really sit and think about it all. Until she was all alone in her apartment in New York one weekend that Henry was with Regina and realized she missed a baby she'd only held twice. Despite how she had felt in Neverland when Mary Margaret confessed to wanting another baby, Emma loved her baby brother. And after the gift of Regina's memory for that one year where Emma was Henry's mother and had always been, she understood her parents wish for a second chance even more. After all, she had given Henry away too.

Mary Margaret sits down in front of her and places Leo's car seat next to her as David slides in and flashes Emma a smile. It hits her then how much she misses them. She'd seen them twice when they visited her and Henry in New York and they often called her just to check up on her. And while Emma appreciated their calls and always enjoyed talking to them, she was always left feeling hollow when she had to say goodbye and sit in the silence of her apartment.

"Emma! How are you darling, was the drive okay?" Mary Margaret's said as she reached for the menu and passed it along to David.

"It was fine, felt shorter than usual." Probably because she had spent the whole time singing (read: yelling) songs to drain all the jittery energy coursing through her body at the thought of going back to Storybrooke, thought Emma.

The truth is, Emma wasn't nervous to be in Storybrooke, she was excited. She had missed it. And some nights when she couldn't sleep, and she thought of her bed in the loft it started to feel a lot like home. Or as part of it. But she was too scared to come back and realize that she was fooling herself and that maybe absence does make the heart grow fonder. It is a difficult thought to believe as she gazes at Mary Margaret and David joking with Ruby as she takes their order.

David's phone goes off and Emma struggles to catch a name before he excuses himself quickly and walks away to take the call. Emma turns to her mother and catches a strange look passing on her face, but Mary Margaret quickly schools her features and turns to Emma.

"Where's Henry? I thought you were picking him up from school?"

"He wanted to ride the bus; said he had new friends on the route. Say Mom, does Dad have a case right now?"

David had taken up the position of Sheriff when Emma had left, and she'd advised him to hire at least one deputy. While things had gone back to normal - as normal as Storybrooke could be - there was always some petty squabble to settle or a drunken visitor of the Rabbit Hole to escort off the premises. Emma had considered vouching for Hook for a second before she talked herself out of it. While he had assisted her greatly before, she hadn't been sure if that was something he would be interested in, and she was too busy avoiding him to ask.

Weeks later when David told her he'd hired the Merry Men and some others as deputies and park rangers that would be working part-time at the station, the docks and the forest, she had bitten her tongue to not ask him whether Hook had been one of them.

"I don't think he does. He does help Regina with some mayor business so it might be that." Mary Margaret's smile was too bright for such a simple statement and Emma knows that she is not lying. But she is not saying everything she could say either which frustrates Emma.

David comes back before she can question her on it though and Emma is forced to let it go once again.

"Sorry, Robin had some urgent questions. He's on shift today" David says as he sits back down, not noticing his daughter's mood. Emma immediately whirls to him in search of answers.

"Is Robin one of your deputies? That's kind of ironic isn't it, though you did say that the Merry Men were your deputies."

"Uhm yes, they all work part-time. Robin has taken the position of deputy sheriff though, so he has started to spend more time down at the station. Your mother wants to go back to giving classes so it would be handy for me to have a more flexible schedule. Although I must admit at first, I was also concerned at the irony of hiring Robin and the Merry Men. But they're good men."

"I got that impression too. And well, imagine if you had asked Hook. That also would have been hard to explain so your options were limited." Emma had not meant to mention him, but she also really wanted to know more about what he had been up to lately and she was willing to be sneaky for information on him.

She doesn't miss the look that her parents share before awkwardly chuckling and her irritation spikes. Right before she can say something though, David coughs and rubs his neck.

"Well, I asked him. But he said it didn't feel right. He was the one who put me on the path to ask Robin and I do think it worked out for the best this way"

Emma tries to push the thought away that pops up as soon as she hears that. A job means a stable place to be, a job would have meant staying. And she didn't think Captain Hook was job material (but Killian Jones might be, whispers the voice in the back of her mind). She repeats her father's last words in her mind and her irritation reaches new levels.

"What do you mean by that? Are you seriously implying he wouldn't have been fit for the job because he is a pirate? I thought we were past this David! He helped us in Neverland and with Zelena and we never even properly thanked him!"

David and MM shared panicked glances before turning to Emma at her outburst. However, before they could even open their mouths Emma had continued her rant.

"And you, mom! You were a bandit in the Enchanted Forest! And you're always talking about second chances and what not and- "

Mary Margaret looks scandalized at the accusation before her face morphs to one of confusion and then to one of dignified anger and she softly slams the table to draw Emma's attention.

Emma isn't even sure why she is so offended on Killian's behalf, especially since she had convinced herself that he had left Storybrooke and was happily sailing the seven seas or whatever it was pirates did when they didn't stay and got jobs to set roots, but she couldn't stop. One look at her mother's face though had her looking like a deer caught in headlights and she could feel the blush spreading through her cheeks. She felt like a teenager about to be scolded by her mother. She tucked that feeling away in her heart and lifted her eyes to wait for whatever scolding she was about to get.

"Emma Evalyn Swan! What has gotten into you!? Of course, we don't think that way! And I am not sure who this 'we' is that you keep talking about. I for sure know that I thanked Killian repeatedly for his help and so has David I believe!" David just nods his head vigorously at his wife's words.

"Then why won't you even mention him?! You avoid his name like the plague!" Emma tries not to flinch at how her voice breaks and prays her parents didn't notice it.

"Emma, because you told us to! That first weekend we visited you in New York we mentioned him a couple of times and you snapped and told us that if you had wanted to know what Killian was up to, you would have stayed in Storybrooke. You seemed pretty upset about it too."

Whatever Emma was about to say back dies on the tip of her tongue at Mary Margaret's statement. The first time Mary Margaret and David had visited her she had been miserable, it had been two weeks after she left Storybrooke, and they'd come to pick up Henry for the first custody switch. Emma had been miserable the whole week but having them there with the thought that they were all leaving had made her downright rude. She had been missing her parents and Storybrooke. But hearing his name had made her downright ache at the thought of seeing his blue eyes and flirtatious smile or hearing his voice. So, she had tried to subtly ban any mention of Storybrooke and its inhabitants, and by default of him, that weekend. It seems not only had she not been subtle, but her parents had known it was about Hook more than it was about anything else and had extended the ban indefinitely.

"We figured that it was better not to mention him at all since you never asked, and we figured you really did not want to know anything about him." David says with a soft smile but throwing a questioning look her way.

"Because I thought he'd left!"

"Emma, you can't seriously mean that! I know you know very well that there are no more magical beans left and the only way back would have been with another curse."

Mary Margaret seems to once again be losing her patience and Emma notes she might have to fix her tone next time she opens her mouth before she gets put on time out. She wouldn't put it past Mary Margaret with the way she was glaring at her. She'd never really seen her mother angry at her or been scolded in a loving manner. Regardless of how weird it might seem; it truly warmed her heart.

"Besides, how far did you expect him to get without his ship?" blurted David.

Emma didn't miss the glare Mary Margaret shot her dad the moment the words came out of his mouth, and she knew she was already on thin ground with her, but this was the closest she'd gotten to resolving this mystery, so she jumped at the chance to finally get an answer to at least one of her questions regarding Killian Jones.

"What do you mean without his ship? What happened to the Jolly Roger?"

David glanced uneasily between her and Mary Margaret and sighed deeply. "That is for Killian to answer, not us. It is a personal thing."

Emma had ignored her mother's use of Killian's name, but she couldn't ignore this. Since when was he Killian and not Hook, in a derisive tone dripping content, to her father? David had despised the pirate and Emma had taken that as her sign that she was right not to trust him and to steer clear from him and any feelings he might have evoked in her or not. The thought of David liking him now made her panic. Her dad was not allowed to change his mind about Hook because if he did, what did that mean for her then?

"Since when is he Killian to you!?" Emma demands.

David looks uncomfortable and looks at a smirking Mary Margaret before sitting straight – is he blushing – and facing Emma.

"I guess he has become sort of friend these last few months. He's not that bad you know. I mostly didn't like the way he looked at you. And I think- I think I owe you an apology in that regard Emma. I kind of knew since Neverland that Killian was more than the pirate he chose to show to the world. But I just got caught up with the overprotective father role –"Mary Margaret snorts and David rolls his eyes at her but continues.

"Look, I might have overdone it and that wasn't fair to your or him. I have actually apologized to him for it, and I guess now it's your turn. I'm sorry princess, I do trust whatever decisions you want to make in your life you know. I know you can handle everything, I just want to be in your corner all the time"

Emma suppresses the feeling trying to bloom in her chest at her father's words because; how exactly did Killian Jones look at her that even her father noticed and was her father vouching for her to get with Hook? That train of thought makes her so uneasy, she tries to joke t o lighten the mood before she starts questioning her parents more.

"Who would have thought, Prince Charming and Captain Hook being besties"

She's too lost in her thoughts to notice Mary Margaret giggle and David harrumph at her joke. Just then the door opens and Henry walks in, pushing all thoughts of Hook to the background.

Its hours later when she's in bed that she realizes that for David to have formed a relationship with Hook he had to have stayed in Storybrooke to begin with.

He hadn't left.

Emma, her parents, Henry and even Regina (joined by Robin and Roland, Emma raises her eyebrows at the Mayor at that, but she ignores it) plan a picnic at the park the next day. David and Robin play swords with Henry and Roland and Emma and her mom do their best to have a friendly conversation with Regina. To Emma's surprise its easier than usual and she ends up getting along with Regina in a way she never thought she would. Don't get her wrong, Regina still had a difficult character, but it seemed that Robin (and Roland) had softened her up a bit these past few months.

Suddenly she hears Robin mention Hook to David and her ears immediately perk up, they're standing too far away though and Regina has a knowing smile on her face as Emma turns back to her and Mary Margaret that stops her from further paying too much attention to what is being said.

Later, when they say goodbye to Robin and Regina he turns to David and whispers to him, and this time Emma gets to hear what he whispers to him with a frown on his face.

"Will you let me know as soon as he contacts you? I am slightly concerned now"

Emma spends the whole car ride home wondering if he had still been talking about Killian and worrying whether everything was okay. After all, she'd been in Storybrooke for two days now and she hadn't so much as glimpsed Hook. There was no leather to be seen or rum to be smelt around Storybrooke and it had Emma a bit more than discomforted.

Hours later Emma is sitting with her father at the kitchen table when his phone goes and he scrambles for it, this time Emma does manage to glimpse the name on the display and the name Killian Jones sends a jolt through her. The thought of Captain Hook with a phone makes her giggle but her amusement is cut short as she realizes that not only does he have a phone, she doesn't have his number. Emma watches as David quietly speaks into the phone and wonders how it would be like to exchange late night texts with him. She shivers at the thought and sighs; she had meant to teach him all about this new realm and she frowns at the thought that maybe someone else did. Maybe it was them he texted late at night when he couldn't sleep rather than her.

Before she can spiral further down that depressing thought David comes back with a sheepish look on his face and Emma knows he is not going to be forthcoming with whatever information he has on Killian Jones.

"Was that Hook? I thought he didn't work with you as a deputy, rather late for him to be calling you, isn't it?" Emma unsuccessfully tries to keep her interrogation tone dialed down in her questioning.

"Hmm, what? Yeah, but it was something urgent and I had told him to call me so it's no problem really."

As answers go, it is not the vaguest she has gotten this weekend, but it is still not enough to satisfy her though, and Emma prepares herself to grill her father. Maybe after all that exercise in the park this afternoon, he will be too tired to have his defenses up for her interrogation techniques.

Mary Margaret comes breezing from their bedroom right at that moment though, as if summoned by a panicky David who suspiciously avoids Emma's eyes.

"Emma! Your father was invited to the Rabbit Hole and his usual drinking buddy is unavailable, why don't you join him? Ruby, Belle and Tink will surely be there. Don't you want to catch up with them?"

Emma perks up at the thought of going out to a bar and having drinks with people her age but quickly deflates. She doesn't truly belong here, and they were all her parents' friends, not hers. She wasn't a fairytale character like them. If she went with David, she would end up feeling like an outsider the whole time. Besides, the Rabbit Hole seemed like another spot with high possibilities of her seeing Hook and she sure as hell didn't want to do that with alcohol in her system.

"Sorry, I don't think I'd be good company. I'm tired and I have the drive back to Boston tomorrow, besides Henry is coming over tonight and we're having a movie night."

She can see Mary Margaret is about to argue with her and decides to kill two birds with one stone.

"In fact, why don't you join Dad tonight? I'm sure me and Henry can watch Leo tonight, like a sleepover. It will be fun! And that way Dad can have his drinking buddy back for this weekend"

Mary Margaret smirks and is about to say something when David stands up to put an arm on Emma's shoulder.

"Are you sure? We could always ask Granny to babysit, she does it often. And it would be fun to go out with your parents don't you think?

"Yea, I'm sure. It will be nice to spend some time with the boys. Besides, I'm pretty sure it is an older sibling rite of passage to have to babysit the younger sibling. You should go and have fun."

David and Mary Margaret exchange a look and a smile and demand a promise that next time she will join them. Emma laughs and nods, but she can't help but wonder when that next time would ever be.

After all, she's leaving again tomorrow and has no plans to come back in the near future.

The next morning after they have had breakfast, Emma is washing the dishes before she and Henry leave when she turns around to her parents ask how their night had been. She hadn't heard them when they came in, and despite Henry and Leo dozing off around midnight she'd stayed up way past that wondering if somewhere in town a blue-eyed pirate was leaning against a bar, giving a flirtatious smile to some woman that wasn't her.

"It was a lot of fun honey! Even Ashley and Sean were there last night. Though I didn't live up to the standard set by David's usual drinking buddy, I think I did a good job."

"Wait, I thought you were David's drinking buddy and were unavailable because of Leo?"

From the corner of her eyes, she sees her Dad sit up straight and start rubbing his neck nervously.

"Actually Emma, usually I go out for drinks and to play some pool with Robin… and well, and Hook. He's my usual drinking buddy."

"But Mom said he's unavailable. How come he wasn't there last night if almost everyone was?'

Emma refuses to think of all the other things (and people) he could have been busy with this weekend and glares at her father without meaning to. The thought of Killian in a more intimate setting than a bar with another woman flashes through her mind and the light overhead starts flickering.

"Ehh well, yes. He is out of town right now, but he should be on his way back soon." David glances nervously between her, Mary Margaret and the flickering light, palms up and stretched towards her as if trying to appease her.

Emma blinks at him. Killian Jones, out of town? Out into the real world, outside of fairytale land Storybrooke, where no one knows of his past as Captain Hook? She'd never seen that as an option for him, and she isn't sure why she hadn't considered it. After all, what is as sailor if not an explorer?

Unfortunately, there is a knock at the door before she can question David further and she seethes at the bad luck she has had lately with her prying. Mary Margaret opens the door for Regina who has come to say goodbye to Henry and Emma stores all her burning questions away. Maybe she'll have better luck with Henry on the drive back home.

Minutes later when they are standing next to the bug saying their goodbyes, David turns to Regina and Emma manages to catch what he asks Regina in a low voice.

"Regina, before I forget. Have you heard from Killian? I managed to speak to him for a couple of minutes last night, but his signal was so bad that I barely understood anything he said."

"I had the same issue when me and Robin called him this morning, he sounded fine though. Robin promised to try again later tonight, I will let you know if he has more luck then."

Regina answers curtly before turning to Emma and raising one eyebrow in challenge. The thought of the witch playing with her incenses her, and she blurts out the questions that she has been swallowing all weekend.

"Where is Killian? Why is he not in town? What is he doing?"

Regina smirks at her as her parents exchange glances and Emma knows she is about to get some bullshit answer that will make her want to strangle her.

"He is out conducting official business on my behalf as Mayor of Storybrooke and frankly Miss Swan, I do not see how that would be any of your business. Now, if you excuse me."

She smiles at Henry who waves back right before she disappears in a cloud of purple smoke. Having had enough Emma turns to her parents, she says a rushed goodbye and promises to let them know when they make it back to New York. When Henry gets in the car and she drives away, she looks at her parents in the rearview mirror and tries not to think how this goodbye is very similar to the first one months ago. Back then she'd been wondering where Killian was too.

She spends the whole drive back fighting tears as Henry softly snores in the seat next to her.