"There's someone under there!"

Finally! He was exasperated that it took so long for these women to come his way. The dead bodies he had to bury himself under were starting to smell. Cora had ordered him to befriend Snow White, her daughter, Mulan and Aurora so they could learn about the Land Without Magic. She felt his looks and charm could somehow bring down their defenses and let him in their circle. When he came upon the village, he was disgusted at the destruction and death Cora left in her wake. He needed to end the acquaintance with Cora soon before he eventually turned into one of Cora's victims.

"Please help me!" Hook pleaded as he looked up at Snow White. Seeing her up close was much better than staring at her caricature from the wanted posters. So this was the woman Regina hated so much she released the dark curse upon the Enchanted Forest, he thought. She was rather attractive with her alabaster skin and dark hair. He recognized the two other women as Mulan and Aurora who have stayed in the village before.

Then his eyes wandered to her. It would have been preferable to have seen her from a distance first rather than look up and have her right before his eyes. He felt like he was punched in the gut with a million butterflies. She was stunning. She had long glistening blonde hair, bluish-green eyes with flecks of gold, flawless skin, and lovely features. Her mouth was luscious and utterly adorable. He could picture himself nibbling on her pink lower lip for hours.

He was surprised to realize this beautiful woman must be the Savior. He looked down to recover himself. He knew he needed to be convincing as a shell-shocked victim if he wanted to gain their trust and this beautiful blonde lass was definitely helping with the shock factor.

The ladies helped him to the table where he could recover. His ears were attuned to the conversation that the blonde had with Mulan as she went to get him a glass of water.

"He's a blacksmith. Came to the camp a couple of months ago and he lost his hand in an ogre attack."

"Why would Cora leave a survivor? It's messy. It doesn't make sense."

"You think he's lying?"

"I think Cora's tricked us before. Don't want that to happen again."

She placed a drink in front of him. He needed to be convincing.

He looked up at her with the kindest expression he could muster and said "Can't thank you enough for your kindness. Fortune seemed fit to show me favor."

He thought, "one look at you darling, I'd say fortune was definitely on my side today."

"An island full of corpses, you're the only one to escape. How exactly did that happen?" she asked.

He already planned out a story that would gain their sympathy and tried to sound weak. Even if it didn't work, he still had a backup plan to tell them about the compass and he could get away from Cora.

"She attacked at night, slaughtered everyone in one foul swoop. When she started ripping out people's hearts, I hid under the bodies of those that had already been killed. Pretended to be dead myself. Mercifully the ruse worked." He looked up at the blonde to search her eyes to see if she had bought his story but at the same time, bristled at the thought of this woman thinking he had acted cowardly and weak. He was Captain bloody Hook, the most ruthless scourge of the Seven Seas and the most feared pirate in all the realms.

"So much for fortune favoring the brave."

He started seeing flickers of doubt in her eyes but he still continued the ruse. "It was all I could do to survive."

She then leaned on her elbows on the table to look into his eyes and whispered, "I'm going to let you in on a little secret. I'm pretty good at knowing when someone is lying to me."

"I'm telling you the truth." He looked into her eyes to try to convince her but deep down he knew she didn't believe it. He was a pirate who believed in resorting to trickery first before using brutal force. He preferred to be less barbaric. He didn't want to use force with this lass. The small smile she gave him made his stomach drop to his feet.

Mulan interrupted, "We should leave here before Cora decides to come back."

Snow then added, "We should start searching for a new portal back to Storybrook. I only got five minutes with my husband, not to mention my grandson."

"You have a grandson?" The breathtaking blonde had a son? He wondered if she had a husband, too.

"It's a long story."

"Well, I know this country well. I could guide you.." He felt a hand grab his hair and a knife to his throat. Bloody hell. This is not the usual treatment he received from females. Usually when a woman grabbed his hair, it was during a much more pleasurable experience. She had not believed his story about surviving Cora's attack. He wondered if she was born with soothsayer powers.

He couldn't believe it. They had actually tied him to a bloody tree after arguing whether or not he was telling the truth. The blonde lass overpowered the others in her argument which was why they started to help her. She clearly was the de facto leader of this strong group of ladies. She then let out a loud, piercing whistle.

"You want to talk to us or do you want to talk to the ogres when they tear you limb from limb?" He really had not expected her to be so bloodthirsty and he had not expected her to be so experienced at tying knots. He was also a bit disappointed that she had not fallen at his feet because of his good looks. It caught him off guard. Bloody hell, what had he gotten himself into? He might have been safer in Cora's company.

They turned to leave.

"You can't just leave me here like this!" His voice grew desperate. He tested the bonds and realized he was not going to able to slip out of the rope that easily. She tied a damn good knot.

"What if he is telling the truth?" Aurora said giving him a worrying glance back as they all walked away.

"He's not" the blonde said with sureness.

"Good for you! You bested me. I can count the amount of people who have done that on one hand." It took him great effort to give up the charade. It hurt his pride. He couldn't help but be impressed with this woman. She would have made a damn good pirate.

She stopped, turned and asked, "Was that supposed to be funny? Who are you?"

With a resigned sigh he answered her, "Killian Jones. But most people have taken to call me by my other colorful moniker, Hook."

Snow repeated with recognition, "Hook."

"Check my satchel." Snow looked in his satchel and pulled out a sharp metal hook.

She rolled her eyes and asked, "As in Captain Hook?"

A big smile spread across his face, "Oh so you've heard of me?" He was pleased his name was known in another realm and by this beautiful woman.

They all turned around to hear the ogre approaching.

"They are getting closer so unless you want to be dinner you better start talking."

She was blood thirsty indeed. "Cora wanted me to gain your trust so I could learn everything there is to know about your Storybrook. She didn't want any surprises before she got over there."

Understanding dawned on her face.

Snow said, "She can't get there. We destroyed the wardrobe."

"Ah, but the enchantment remains. Cora gathered the ashes and is going to use them to open up a portal." He realized that he could tell the truth and they may still leave him tied to a tree to be an ogre's lunch so he tested the rope again. The ogre sounded like it was getting closer. He started smelling the ogre's rancid breathe which meant that it was less than a mile away.

"Now if you'll kindly cut me loose."

"No." Mulan said, "We should leave him here to die to pay for all the lives that he took."

"That was Cora, not me." He spat back. These women were on his last nerves.

She said, "Let's go."

"Wait!..Wait!"

They stopped.

He said with confidence, "You need me alive!"

She turned around and asked, "Why?" She was skeptical.

"Because we both want the same thing…to get back to your land."

She stepped towards him. "You'll say anything to save yourself. Why are we supposed to believe you now?"

"I arranged for transport with Cora but seeing how resourceful you are, I'll offer you the same deal. I'll help you, if you promise to take me along." He hoped she would take him up on his offer and he wouldn't have to accompany Cora anywhere. It would be more stimulating to accompany this blonde hellfire.

Snow demanded, "How are you going to help us get home?"

"The ashes open a portal, but to find your land, she needs more. There's an enchanted compass. Cora seeks it. I'll help you obtain it before she does."

She said, "So Cora won't make it to Storybrook and we'll be one step closer to getting home." She looked back at Snow. Snow shook her head and said it sounds too good to be true.

Damn these women. "Only one way to find out." The groans of the ogres were getting closer.

She then took a much closer step and held a knife to his throat. "You tell me one thing and whatever you say I better believe it. Why does Captain Hook want to go to Storybrook?"

A flicker of rage crossed his handsome visage. His gaze got dark. His voice got low and deadly. "To exact revenge on the man that took my hand. Rumplestiltskin." He spat out his name like a curse.

Emma believed and understood his motivations. She wasn't going to leave him to die so she untied him and made him show them the way to the enchanted compass.

They walked for several hours until they came to a break in the forest.

"It's just over the ridge." It was a shame they made him walk several paces ahead and he couldn't get a better view of her slim, graceful physique. From what he saw earlier, whatever material her pants were made of delineated every curve and line of her legs in a way that made him want to see more of her.

As he took sight of the beanstalk, he stopped. He figured one of these lovely ladies would be climbing up that huge monstrosity with him and he was hoping it was Emma. He learned the lovely blonde's name on their trek to the beanstalk.

"Let me guess. The compass is up there." She hesitatingly said with a humph.

"Oh yeah."

"So..how..do ..we ..get to it?" Her eyes slowly followed to the top of the beanstalk. It half hid itself in the clouds.

"It's not the climb you need to worry about it. It's the giant at the top."

Emma finally stepped ahead of him and he enjoyed a nice view of her derriere. That is, until Mulan started lightly poking him with her sword.