Part VI

.

.

.

Emma waited until Killian joined her in the bedroom before she began to press for much needed answers.

"What happened to you?" Her voice sounded pitcher than she had intended. The scene of Graham saving a practically dead "Hook" haunted her. "Why were you drowning in the bathtub?"

Instead of answering her, Killian quickly diverted the question to someone he was more worried about at the moment. "How's Henry?"

The man had his priorities, Emma had to admit. "He's fine. Great, actually. He remembers mostly everything."

Killian nodded, taking in the information. Perhaps things would turn out right, and not a disaster as he had initially assumed. Things in Neverland always ended as a disaster. "That's good news then. Probably the only good news we'll get until Rumpelstiltskin kills the Shadow."

"Why do you say that?"

"Well...unless you happen to know a way to get us out of here, I don't see there being any other option."

A flicker of acknowledgement of a secret unknown to others crossed her before her features froze. Emma's sudden stoic expression did not go unnoticed to Killian, and immediately, he knew she was hiding something from him.

"What happened on the other side of that door, Emma?"

He stared her down with unyielding eyes, and Emma could only frown, wanting to say something but nothing all at once.

(Flashback)

"Hook!"

Emma ran to the door, pulling Henry along and tried to grab the door knob; but once her fingers reached it, the whole thing began to disappear, as if it were a mirage.

"Hook!" she yelled again, even though it was useless.

"Mom? What's going on?"

Henry was worried. She could hear it clear in her voice, and by the looks of his confused face, she knew she couldn't have been helping by panicking herself.

"It'll be okay, Henry. We just have to find that stupid door and then we'll go home."

"You should stop promising things you don't know about, Emma."

When she turned around, Peter Pan was smirking at her.

He looked pleasant enough. But the way he stared at Henry, like a hawk waiting for a rabbit about to be road kill, was enough for Emma to know that the rumors of him (the ones that floated on the Jolly Roger, anyway) were true, and this kid really was just as fucked up as people said. Her motherly instinct beat out every other one of her cautious habits as she quickly grabbed Henry's shoulder and pulled him behind her, acting like a shield.

Her sudden defense caught Pan's attention, and he couldn't help a small chuckle as she continued to stare him down with unwavering eyes.

"Emma," he greeted. "It's so nice to finally meet you. The savior." He folded his hands together in front of him, the motion sardonic and his expression mockingly calm, like he was trying to teach a seven year old a lesson. "I've been waiting for this day."

After hearing that this boy in front of him knew about his mother, Henry stepped forward, swatting away Emma's protective arm ghosting in front of him. "Peter? What are you doing here?"

Pan's attention flew to Henry, and again, his eyes lit up. "Henry. Thank goodness you're okay," he replied, his tone over exaggerating any sort of worry he was pretending to have. Of course, this was something only Emma noticed. "I'm glad to see you again. I was quite worried about you when we parted."

"Don't listen to a thing he says, Henry," Emma firmly warned. "He's a liar."

"I've never lied to you, Henry," Pan continued without a skip in his tone. "I have something I want to show you. Something fun. Would you like to come with me? Your mum can come too if she'd like."

He sidestepped to the left as he spoke, and Emma immediately stepped to the right, anchoring Henry beside her.

"Whatever you're thinking of doing, don't," Emma warned. "We already know your weakness. You won't get out of here alive."

"You don't mean Rumple, do you?" Pan tisked. "That's not a smart idea, Emma."

"He's been nothing but help ever since we got here."

"Ahh, but he didn't tell you how Henry is his greatest downfall."

At the mention of his name, Henry's ears perked up. "What? What does that mean."

Pan turned to look at him. "It means that you, Henry, will destroy your grandfather. And he knows that. Which is why he'll do everything he can to delay saving Henry.

"Don't be hasty, Emma. Henry's only a boy. It'll be too soon before he loses himself in this nightmarish abyss."

"No," Emma shook her head, denying anything coming from his mouth. He had stolen her child from her, and sent them to fairy tale hell. Any doubt in herself would just be a naive move on her part, she thought. "He'll come through. Rumpelstiltskin's going to kill you."

It bothered her that Pan didn't even look the slightest bit affected at her statement, no matter how confident he was. Was he really unafraid of anything?

"He won't go through with it. Want to know why? Because he can't. Contrary to belief, I am far more powerful than he. And the reason for that is because he simply can't kill me. He doesn't have the courage to." He paused and stared Emma down with fierceness and such honesty, she almost gave in. The boy was certainly cunning and very convincing. "But, Emma, I'm willing to make a proposition. A trade. Just for you."

Emma replied, knowingly, "Magic always comes with a price. And why would I even want to make a deal with you. You took my son."

"Call it a pinky promise between orphans."

He held out his hand in front of Emma and stuck his pinky out. A charming smirk crossing his features. Emma rolled her eyes and ignored the gesture.

"What do you want?"

His hand fell, but Pan didn't look the slightest bit surprised. "I want an adult." His answer was as easy as ordering a special at Granny's. "In place of Henry, I'll give you enough time to save Henry. But to do that, I need an adult."

"What would that do?"

Pan licked his lips and explained like he was reading the information out of a book. "This curse eats away at you internally. But like everything else, the weaker the mind is, the more likely it is to go first. Now, considering Henry's youth as a boy, compared to that of an adult...well, I think you can gather that the curse would settle with an adult for quite some time before it even tries to go for Henry. And by the time it does…"

"Henry will be safe," Emma muttered, filling in the blanks.

"Mom!" yelled Henry. He could already tell what Emma was thinking.

"Ah, but, that would require you to abandon your son," added Pan, reading Henry's thoughts. "Wouldn't want him to feel abandoned again, now do we?"

Henry glared at him, harshly. "Stop it! Just leave us alone!"

Pan dropped his smirk, but Henry's shouts didn't take away any of the strength in Pan's confidence. "When you do come to a decision, call for me."

"He surely knows how to throw a welcome party," Killian said with sarcasm, after Emma had finished telling him about her and Henry's encounter with Pan.

"What should we do now?" Emma asked with her arms crossed together. She steered closer to Killian, awaiting his answer. "Do we just wait? Try and find a way to give a message to Rumpelstiltskin?"

"No. We take his offer." Killian walked to the window and peered down the streets. Graham's car had begun to pull away from the curb and into the streets heading towards the Mayor's office. He could see a part of Henry's hand waving after him.

Emma looked dumbfounded. "So, we should trust him? I mean, this is extremely risky. He could be lying."

He snapped the curtains shut. "I didn't say we should trust him. But not everything he says is entirely bullocks. And regrettably, this would be one of them."

She nodded, understanding his reasoning. With a sigh, she began to trudge towards the door where Henry had left. "I just have to tell Henry then."

Immediately reading her reaction, Killian quickly intercepted, not wanting her to be misunderstood. "You aren't going anywhere, Emma. I'm doing it."

She turned to look at him, surprised, but the look she gave him was one that told him, despite her arguments, she had thought a great deal about Pan's deal. "Look, if I go under, I'll have Henry there to wake me up. But if you go…"

"I'll have no one."

The sadness in his eyes was almost unbearable. It took everything in Emma to go against the sudden instinct to hold him. So, instead, she rested a hand against his shoulder, hesitant at first, but then, relaxed. "No offense, Hook, but I just don't want to risk it. I want all of us to go home, safe and sound."

The sadness was then enlightened by a flicker of something - almost hopeful - and for the smallest of moments, it seemed like the most pleasant feeling either one had had in a long while. However, his expression soon faltered, like he had just swallowed a sour lemon.

"I'm afraid it's already too late for me, love. I'm already a lost cause."

"What do you mean?"

"Did you forget? When you enter this curse, there's only one way to wake you."

Emma studied him for a minute, unsure of what he was implying. They had entered this curse together, granted he had jumped in, but once the Shadow was destroyed, they would be able to leave with -

Emma gasped and the answer was a whisper, feathering her lips. "True love's kiss."

At her realization, Killian smiled bitterly, but he said nothing.

"W-Why would you...you knew…" her voice trailed off, and her mind was flooded with questions wanting to ask, "Why," and "What were you thinking," and "Why," again. But there were too many, and Emma couldn't pick one. And so, she stared at him in reply, her jaw slack and her eyes wide, with every ounce of confusion and anger and frustration and shock and sadness.

At her lack of words, Killian explained, hoping to ease her conscience. "The only woman to ever love me is long gone. As far as we know, I've been dead the moment I made the decision to jump in that curse." He stepped closer to Emma, and took her hands in his, and his heavy heart lightened a little when she didn't pull away. "Don't leave your boy, Emma. Not when you have a choice to stay with him. If you leave like this now, no matter if it's to save him or not, he'll feel abandoned."

"What'll happen to you?"

He shrugged. His expression seemed more soothed, like he had settled an uncomfortable feeling in his stomach. Killian looked at her with his eyes wide, and Emma looked back, holding his gaze. "Not sure. If this curse really does show you your heart's truest desires, then perhaps…" He paused, and then looked away. Giving her hand one final squeeze, his fingers loosened around hers and he began to slip away, but when Emma's hand clung to him, he couldn't help but look back at her. And he was surprised to see the woman he loved stare at him with such fire.

"I swear to you, Hook. I will get you out of here."

"Call me Killian."

A/N: My story is going to continue with the plans that I have made for it, regardless of the events going on in S3. I want to finish this and the only way I know how is to stick with the plan.

This one is a little shorter, but there's some CS fluff and explanations that should give you a good look into the future of this story, perhaps.

Thanks to everyone who has stayed with me through all my crappy writing and plot holes. I'm very grateful.

Happy Thanksgiving!