Hook stood at the wheel of the Jolly Roger looking out at the horizon as he sailed determinedly out of Storybrooke.

They'd all gone mad. All of them, even Swan. What manner of fools these heroes were. Willing to risk all of their lives–the lives of everyone in the town–for the miniscule chance of saving the Evil Queen, of all people.

The Evil Queen whom they should rightly want to see dead for her part in trapping her in this strange little town in the first place.

He'd returned to town with Greg and Tamara, seduced by their vow to help him kill his Crocodile once and for all, but it had been the work of mere moments to realize the pair were blithering idiots, mindless zealots for a cause they didn't understand at the behest of a master they didn't even know.

When they'd revealed the full extent of their plan to him–destroying the town and everyone not born in this land, he'd realized he'd been an utter fool to throw in his lot with them. Aye, their plan would kill the Dark One, but it would also kill everyone else in this town, including him.

Including Swan. How she'd so thoroughly gotten under his skin, even after she'd betrayed him–twice: once on the beanstalk and then again when she locked him in a broom closet in New York–he didn't know. All he knew for sure was that she'd been right.

The two of them understood each other. There was some manner of tether connecting her to him, one that he hardly had time to ponder with the end of the word staring him in the face.

For a split second he'd actually considered staying the course, letting the failsafe do its job and ridding the world of the Dark One forever.

But then he'd remembered the conversation he'd had with Regina in the mines. Do you ever think this constant pursuit of revenge is the reason we have no one to care for us?

He'd spent centuries hunting his Crocodile, willing to do all manner of dastardly deeds in the furtherance of that goal, but this … this was a step too far. Hook had never minded committing villainous acts to those who deserved it, those who got in his way, but Greg and Tamara proposed massacring an entire town of innocents.

It was the height of bad form.

And so he'd turned to the heroes, and for a moment he'd thought they'd found a solution to their problems–until Queen Snow had convinced the rest to go along with her hare-brained scheme of tossing the failsafe into a portal.

He'd taken his leave then, ready to wash his hand of the entire town–heroes, villains, all of them. The only one he could depend on was himself.

As he continued to sail, he looked down at the sparkly magic bean in his hand, and his eye caught the letters he'd carved into the helm on that day so many years ago.

Bae.

He'd let the boy down, serving him up to Pan on a silver platter, as it were. Of all of his deeds, that was perhaps the one of which he was the most ashamed. He'd chosen himself over the boy, over his Milah's son.

And now he was doing the same to Bae's lad.

Hook closed his eyes as the pain washed over him. He didn't want to be that man any more. He'd made the selfish choice centuries ago, but he needn't repeat that error. He blew out a long breath and then pocketed the bean, slowly turning the wheel to head back into port.

This plan was still reckless. It was still stupid.

But it was the right thing to do. He might well perish in a matter of hours, but at least he would die doing the right thing.

He would die a hero.

Notes: Sorry for the delay! I got caught up writing birthday fics, and this rewatch drabbles series fell a bit to the wayside.

As you can see from the title, this particular chapter kind of encompasses both 2x21 and 2x22. The truth is, there wasn't much in 2x21 that inspired me, aside from themes I've already explored earlier in the series. In contrast, I really, really wanted to explore things from both Hook's and Emma's perspectives in the events of 2x22, so I decided this was the best option. Combining 2x21 and 2x22 and writing a chapter from each character. Emma's reflection should be up (assuming the muse cooperates) tomorrow, and then it's on to Neverland!