Episode 3x20
"Drowning"
After the confrontation at the marina, Hook thought it best to give Emma and her family some space. They needed to catch Henry up on everything he had missed lately, and they had made it clear that they did not trust Hook anymore.
His resolve disappeared the moment David's text message showed up on his phone: The baby is coming. We're heading to the hospital. It seemed to have been sent to all of Snow and David's friends and allies, of which Hook happened to be one. Then came a command from Leroy to the same recipients: Defensive positions.
Hook knew he would probably not be wanted. But it did not feel right to ignore such news and be left out of the effort to protect the child from Zelena. So, against his better judgment, he went to the hospital. No one stopped him from seeking out Emma, who announced her intention to confront Zelena directly.
Hook appreciated David's vote of confidence, as surprising as it was. Emma may have had a point about "keeping secrets from loved ones." David had kept his dreamshade poisoning a secret from Snow and Emma, believing it was the best way to protect them and focus on their mission. He could understand what Hook had been trying to do.
Thinking back on Emma's words, it was not lost on Hook that she said "loved ones." Did that mean she understood and acknowledged how he felt about her?
Emma relented, allowing Hook to accompany her, but she did not speak much during their journey to the farmhouse. When she did, it was mainly to complain or argue with him. It was becoming a bit repetitive, hashing out the same arguments about the life Emma and Henry had in New York and the life they could have in Storybrooke.
It continued up to the very moment Zelena, flanked by Gold, appeared in front of them.
The two women taunted each other, but Zelena ended hers with an ultimatum. "See Emma, you've got a decision to make. You can keep your magic that makes you oh-so-sad, or you can save the man you can't wait to run away from.
As she said that, Hook realized what she intended. He was not the cannon fodder after all. He was the bait.
Before he could react, Gold flung him into the air and plunged him headfirst into the well.
He struggled as hard as he could, but Gold's magic held his upper body under the water. He could feel Emma's hands pulling on his coat, but it was about as effective as a single sailor trying to pull up a ship's anchor with their bare hands.
Hook had long ago accepted the probability of having a watery grave. A true captain went down with his ship. He had known drowning was a likely end for him, though there was also the possibility of sharks or hypothermia being the cause of death. But drowning in a tank on land, held down by the Dark One's magic, used as a pawn to hurt someone he loved—that was an entirely different matter. Of all the possible ways to die, this had to be one of the most humiliating.
Despite his instinctual panic, he understood what Zelena was doing: if he were drowning, the best way to revive him would be for someone to breathe into his mouth. And right now, Emma was the only person with him who might want to save him.
Don't do it, Emma. Don't.
He had spent so long hoping that she would come to care for him, it was strange to hope for the opposite now. But Emma had been reserved around him ever since he found her, and their relationship had long been complicated, full of betrayals and dashed hopes. Taking their history altogether, and comparing himself with her blood family, Hook was not even sure whether he mattered much to her. Why should she sacrifice her magic and risk her family's safety for his life? She should not. She must not.
As the pain grew and his senses faded, all Hook could do was cling to the hope that Emma and her family would be alright. Zelena's plan must not be carried out. If it were, Emma Swan and Henry Mills would never even exist.
Somehow, in the dark void, he felt a surge of power washing over him. Then, he was coughing up water, struggling to breathe again.
As he panted and filled his lungs with air, the world came back into focus. He was lying on his back, and had to turn his head to spit out the water.
There was Emma, her face just inches above his own, looking anxiously at him. One of her hands was on his chest, feeling its rapid rise and fall; with the other she touched his cheek, and then cradled his head.
Hook was stunned, and not just because he had been unconscious. His lips were tingling, not only with the feeling of having been touched, but with a sensation like when Zelena had cursed them—like something magical had happened.
He touched his lips, then looked up at Emma in dismay. "What did you do? What did you do?"
She did not answer. She did not need to. She looked at him with a pained, helpless, yet almost resigned expression.
She had saved him, despite the cost to herself and her family.
Some part of Hook knew he should be grateful, but all he felt in that moment was horror.
Emma tried to stop him as he pushed himself up. "Whoa, Killian, what are you—"
"Your family's in more danger than ever now," he wheezed. "We need to get back to the hospital."
"Okay, but don't kill yourself to get there!" She followed close behind him, and he felt her hand on his back when he stopped to cough. "You might still have water in your lungs," she said, wincing as she supported him.
He wiped his mouth on his sleeve. "I'm aware. It's not the first time I've almost drowned, and if we survive today, it's not likely to be the last."
They barely spoke, or even looked at each other, during their journey back. What was there to say? Hook supposed he ought to thank her, but how could he do so when his life came at such a price? Did she think him worthy of such sacrifice? He hardly thought so, weighing his life against hers, Henry's, and the baby's.
Other questions that he dared not voice out loud swirled in his mind: Did she save him because it was the heroic thing to do, or because he mattered to her personally?
When they entered the hospital, they passed by several injured or unconscious people— dwarves, Merry Men, Belle, and other townsfolk—who had stood in lines of defense leading up to the delivery room. They found David, Regina, and Henry arguing in the hallway. David's news of the Witch was bleak: "She took your brother."
Brother. Hook's heart sank even further. Emma had a little brother—just like Liam had had Killian.
"Because I failed?" Emma's voice sounded terribly young, and too ready to blame herself.
"We're all still here, so you haven't failed yet," Hook assured her quietly. If Zelena had succeeded with her time-travel spell, most if not all of them would have faded from existence.
Emma had to burst David's determination with the news that she had lost her magic. She did not reveal how it had happened, apparently not wanting to dwell on what she had done for Hook.
It was Henry who thought of another way to defeat the Witch. All this time, everyone had pinned their hope on Emma, the Savior whose magic came from love. But just that day, Regina had demonstrated her own capacity for light magic when she gave Henry true love's kiss.
Hook had never heard Henry speak with such confidence and conviction. He clearly had the Heart of the Truest Believer, if he could believe so much in the Evil Queen's goodness.
Hearing Henry's words to Regina reminded Hook of his conversation with her on the Jolly Roger, the night they arrived in Neverland.
"Greg Mendell said something funny to me. He said I'm a villain, and that villains don't get happy endings. Do you believe that?"
"I hope not … or we've wasted our lives."
At this point, Hook was not sure what to think about being a hero or a villain, and he was less concerned about his own "happy ending" than about Emma and her family's. But if Henry was right, maybe there was hope for all of them, including Regina and himself.
When they reached the barn, Robin, David, Emma, and Hook came in with their respective weapons drawn, but it was up to Regina to disarm the Witch and the Dark One. Hook once again found himself confronting Rumplestiltskin alongside the woman he loved. But this time, his old foe did not want to fight, and urged them to get the dagger.
"Do as I say, or I will destroy you both. I have no choice." He threw them back against the bales of hay, and Hook was knocked out for the second time that day.
When he came back to his senses, Emma was wielding his cutlass, the Dark One dagger was on the ground, and Regina was taking Zelena's pendant, stripping her of her power.
It was over. They had won.
Even though he was not needed anymore, Hook followed David and Emma back to the hospital. David held his son with both tenderness and fierceness. Emma stayed close to her father, touching her brother's head with the kind of protectiveness with which she treated Henry, only much gentler.
Hook came up on David's other side to say, "Congratulations, mate."
David smiled at him, a rare occurrence. "Thank you. Not just for saying that—for everything."
"I'm sorry I wasn't of more help today."
"You did what you could. And it all worked out." David smiled at his son and daughter as he said that. Emma smiled back, looking as triumphant as her father.
While David brought the baby back to Snow, Hook approached Emma outside the delivery room once more. Now that the danger had passed, and they had a moment alone, he finally expressed his thanks for what she had done, and his regret for what it cost her. He wanted to make it up to her, to show that her sacrifice was not in vain.
But when he said he was sorry about the loss of her magic, she replied, "Don't be. I won't need it in New York."
She ignored his stunned expression as she called Henry over to meet his new uncle.
Hook hung back in the doorway while Emma and Henry went in. Snow White was holding her newborn son, and she, David, Emma, and Henry looked happier and more at peace than Hook had ever seen them.
Watching the reunited, newly expanded family, Hook smiled briefly, wistfully. He supposed he had succeeded in doing what Neal had wanted, and what he had set out to do: save Emma and reunite her with her family. In some ways, Hook had accomplished even more: he had gotten to know Henry and started to put down his own roots in this town.
Emma looked so happy to be with her brother, exchanging proud smiles with her parents and son. Seeing her like that, Hook could not fathom her decision. How could she leave her long-lost parents and the brother she had only just met? How could she take Henry away from the rest of their family, when they finally had the chance to be a family?
Hook was happy that the royals were all safe and together, for now; but he wished that their joy could be complete, lasting more than just a moment … and a selfish part of him still wished he could be a part of it, not just observing from the side.
He was not without hope, but he wondered how much more it would take to convince Emma that this was where they both belonged.
Author's Notes
Hook says that he "heard the little royal was coming," but he does not say how, so I hypothesized that David was the one to let him know that.
Most of the next few chapters will be from Emma's point of view. Thanks for hanging in there through so much of Hook's introspection!