Chapter 2: Arguing Up a Storm

"What is that?" Emma yelled loudly to anyone who would listen.

Danny had come running onto the deck when the ship had started rocking dangerously, she looked up and saw David and Mary Margaret at the helm struggling with the wheel.

Regina stormed up to them, "What the hell are you two doing?" She cried.

Mary Margaret shouted back, "Trying to keep it steady!"

David piped up soon after, "Hold on!"

Hook ran up taking control of the situation, "Prepare for attack!"

Regina looked at him, confused, "Be more specific."

"If you've got a weapon, then grab it!" He retorted quickly.

A loud high-pitched shrieking pierced through the air. Emma ran to the sides of the boat, looking down at the water, "What's out there?" She cried. "A shark? A whale?"

"A kraken?" David asked worriedly.

"A narwhal?" Danny shouted excitedly, a giddy grin making its way on her face.

Hook's voice caused her smile to drop when her responded, "Worse," there was a pause as the screeching grew closer. The passengers looked over the sides seeing humanoid shaped torsos with fins for tails. "Mermaids." Hook finished, a tremor of fear heard in his voice.

"Mermaids?" Emma shouted incredulously.

"Yes, and they are quite unpleasant," Hook supplied.

"You think?" Regina retorted irritably holding onto one of the ropes as she looked overboard.

"I'll try and outrun them," Hook responded urgently.

"How many of them are there?" Emma shouted. As she said that the mermaids attacked them all at once, hitting the side of the boat with their strong fins.

David had enough, "I will not be capsized by fish!" He cried angrily. Running to one of the cannons, he grabbed the cannonballs and gunpowder as he went. Danny ran to help him as Mary Margaret called Emma to help her catch one of the mermaids with a net. Danny lit the fuse as David whirled the cannon around and took aim at one of the mermaids closest to the ship. They heard an inhuman shriek of pain and anger when the cannonball hit the water.

"We caught one!" Danny heard Mary Margaret shout over the gunfire. Danny briefly thought about how pissed Hook would be when he found out that they'd brought a mermaid aboard his ship. He didn't seem to be very fond of the creatures.

"One?" Regina asked, tone incredulous. "There are dozens of them!" She rolled her eyes before raising her hand, a ball of flame on her palm. "Enough of this." Pulling her arm back she threw the flame out towards the water at the mermaids.

The boat creaked as Hook struggled to maintain hold of his ship, while Regina sent another volley of flames towards the fleeing mermaids.

The water stilled slightly, and Regina stood up straighter, satisfied, "There, they're gone," she said condescendingly.

"Not all of them. What about that one?" Emma panted, slowly pulling the trapped creature up the side of the boat.

With a flick of her fingers, Regina had transported the mermaid onto the deck of the ship, and entangling her within the netting.

Danny looked over at the struggling mermaid as she realized what had happened. Out of the corner of her eye, Danny saw Hook stare at the mermaid with surprise and contempt.

The mermaid writhed under her bonds as Hook shouted angrily, "Get that thing off my ship!"

"No," Regina refused. "Now we have a hostage."

David shook his head, "I hate to say it, but I'm with Hook. Those things just tried to kill us."

"And perhaps we should find out why," Regina retorted.

"How? By torturing her?" Mary Margaret asked skeptically.

"Well, if need be. Sure." Regina said quickly.

Danny saw the mermaid reach for something. Knowing it couldn't be good, she jumped down the stairs, racing to get to her, "Stop her!" She shouted, but it was too late.

The mermaid had picked up a conch shell and blew it loudly, echoing across the sea. A distress signal, Danny thought with dread.

"What the hell is that?" Emma demanded when the mermaid lowered the shell.

"A warning," she grinned knowingly, "let me go or die."

David grabbed the shell holding it up to her, "What it this?" He demanded. "What did you do?"

She looked at him seductively, "Let me go," she said softly.

"Not until you tell us." Regina cut in, threateningly. "Or we make you tell us."

Mary Margaret stepped in, irritated at Regina's attitude, "Threatening her isn't the way to motivate her."

"Well, I'm all out of fish food," Regina deadpanned.

"Doesn't matter if you get her to talk!" Hook shouted. "You can't trust her. Mermaids are liars."

"Of course they are," Emma rolled her eyes at him.

"Maybe they're just scared of Pan. If we let her go, maybe they'll be on our side," Mary Margaret tried to reason.

"Or maybe she and her friends will come right back to kill us," Regina shot back.

The mermaid's tail flopped smugly, "You'll kill yourselves. Now let me go." Her words ended with emphasis when thunderstruck loudly by the ship. Danny watched silently as the mermaid grinned up at the clouds.

"What the hell?" David asked surprised.

"It's a storm," Hook replied pointing at her, "She called it. Don't let her go! She'll swim off and leave us all to die. At least with her, we've got leverage."

David drew a sword that was close by, holding it up to the mermaid's throat, "Stop the storm. Then we let you go."

The mermaid just smile unperturbed by the sword and shook her head. In his anger, David grabbed her hair roughly and put the sword up flush against her throat.

Regina laughed mirthlessly, "That's more like it, Charming. Filet the bitch." She bent down next to him, daring him to do it.

The mermaid struggled uselessly as he wrestled with the decision. Looking up at Mary Margaret's horrified face, he promptly let her go, "No," he resolved quietly, "We're not barbarians."

The storm raged, waves crashing against the boat as it became more brutal.

"What we're going to be is dead," Emma shouted desperately.

"Hold on," Hook had an idea. "I'm gonna turn her around." He said, spinning the wheel quickly clockwise. "I've outrun many a storm."

Regina leaned in, speaking to the mermaid, "Make it stop or die."

"We are not killers!" Mary Margaret shouted.

"Yes, you are," the mermaid shouted, instigating more conflict. "And you've brought this death upon yourselves.

"This is why we should free her!" Mary Margaret responded.

"That feel-good nonsense, Snow, might play in the enchanted forest, but this... This is Neverland." Regina shouted back.

The ship lurched, causing everyone to sway, almost loosing their balance, "Keep your grip, pirate!" David shouted angrily over the storm.

"It wasn't me, mate! It was the ship!" Hook responded frantically. Hook let go of the wheel rushing to the sides and looking over, "We're taking on water!"

"Now may I resume killing her?" Regina yelled.

"No!" Mary Margaret and David yelled back in unison.

Danny and Emma looked back and forth between the two arguing parties, helpless to stop it.

"You kill her, and her kind will have a personal vendetta against us," Mary Margaret argued.

Hook interrupted, "Look the queen is right! They've already tried killing us."

Danny had had enough, "Stop! That's enough! We need to think this through!" She tried shouting, hoping that they would listen.

Regina looked coldly at the smirking mermaid, "I already have." Waving her hand over the mermaid, she cast a silent spell, turning the mermaid to stone, "there." She said confidently. "That should stop the storm."

"Regina!" Emma shouted horrified. "What did you do?"

Looking up at Emma's exclamation, "No," Danny saw a massive tidal wave bearing down quickly upon the boat.

"What have you done?" Emma shouted. Dread filled the group as they scrambled to hold onto something as tightly as they could.

Water rained down upon them as the wave crashed down around them, drenching them and the deck of the ship.

Danny rushed up to the helm, grabbing the wheel to help a struggling Hook. "I thought you said you could outrun a storm!" Danny taunted, questioning his skills.

"This isn't a storm!" He shouted back with dread. "Its bloody damnation!"

Danny heard the storm strengthen as Mary Margaret and Regina began arguing again. Danny looked over at the pair just as Mary Margaret slapped Regina in the face, bringing on another wave of thunder. When David tried breaking up the fight, Hook intervened, saying something tactless about Mary Margaret. That sent David into a rage, causing him to attack the captain. Danny let go of the wheel in realization as Emma tried reasoning with them.

Putting two and two together, Danny ran to to side of the boat, stepping up onto the railing and facing the storm. If they weren't going to stop fighting, she would force their hands.

"Its not the mermaids," she grunted loudly, holding onto a rope and looking down at the sea below. "Its us," She shouted trying to get their attention. It was no use though, so Danny chose the next best option.

"Danny!" She heard Emma shout as she leaped of the rail, causing the others to look up at her panicked scream. She heard David cry out as well, but it was too late.

Everyone raced to the side of the boat as they saw Danny fall into the water. A piece of metal had been blown off of the boat into the water, knocking Danny unconscious as she fell through the water. Hook looked on horrified as Danny never resurfaced, rooted to the spot with dread. David launched onto the the railing, ready to follow her when Hook snapped out of his daze.

"Wait!" He called, stopping David in his tracks.

"She'll drown-"

"And so will you! Let me help!" He said desperately. He reached over quickly for some rope and handing it to Mary Margaret, "Here, tie him." He said pulling up more rope.

David dove in the moment the knot was tied, searching wildly for his daughter. Looking around, he found her floating a few feet away, unconscious and slowly sinking. Racing towards her, he grabbed her around the waist and kicked up with his feet desperately. Breaking the surface, David gasped for breath, still holding Danny's limp body.

"He has her!" Hook said quickly, looking out over the edge. "Pull!"

The four of them steadily pulled David and Danny up. Hook took the rope and wrapped it around a hook attached to the ship, "I've got it." He said, using it like a pulley, and pulling them up to the boat easily with the leverage.

David grabbed the railing, grunting as he pulled Danny up, Regina and Mary Margaret rushed to help her over the side and lay her down gently on the deck.

Hook leaned closer to the group, his face betraying his worry.

"Danny," David said softly, leaning over her, while Mary Margaret cradled her head in her lap. Emma crouched on Danny's other side, worried about her twin.

"No," she whispered softly.

Danny choked up the water in her lungs as she came around, her throat raw from inhaling seawater. Hook sighed softly, his shoulders falling in relief when he saw her sit up weakly. Danny looked up at the sky as the storm cleared quickly, before looking down and whispering hoarsely, "I tried to tell you, but you wouldn't listen," she grimaced.

Hook turned away trying, but failing to mask his relieved smile. His heart had dropped, thinking the worst when he saw them pull her unmoving body onto the ship. Despite trying to squash his growing feelings for her over the past few months, he knew that he had to try and get her to come around to him. Because of those short days in the Enchanted Forest, he was positive that she could be his, and he would do anything to feel that again, especially now that he was half in love with her.

Mary Margaret and David smiled widely seeing that Danny okay, while Emma grabbed her and hugged her tightly.

Danny grunted in pain, before joking lightly, "Geez, you guys, you can give me a little room, its not like I almost died."

They reached land using the dispatch boat that Hook had for small envoys to travel to and from land. Emma stepped out first, and stood in front of the group.

"We don't have to do it this way," Regina complained causing Hook to look at her, irritated. "I can fix the Jolly Roger. My magic is powerful enough. We can execute the pirate's plan."

"Sneak attack?" Emma asked incredulously. "Let's not be naive. Save your magic. We'll need it later, because Pan already knows we're here," she argued logically. "Its time we stop running. Gold was right." Danny rolled her eyes at the mention of the imp, but remained quiet. "This land is run on belief. All of us have been to busy being at each other's throats to be believers." Danny opened her mouth to retort, but Emma shot her a look, quieting her. She sighed, "I was as wrong as anyone else. It's time for all of us to believe, not in magic, but in each other."

Regina looked skeptical, "You want to be friends? After everything that's happened between all of us?"

"No, not friends necessarily," Danny said walking up to Emma, crossing her arms, "we don't want or expect that." She huffed before continuing, "I know better than most that there's a lot of history here and a lot of hate," She said glaring darkly at her feet.

"Actually, I quite fancy you from time to time," Hook flirted, trying to get a reaction from her, "Especially when you get all fired up."

Danny clenched her jaw, and looked up at him with narrowed eyes. Emma took over again, seeing her sister angry, "We don't need to be friends. What we need to know is the only way to get Henry back is cooperation."

David motioned to Hook and Regina doubtfully, "With her? With him? No, Emma, Danny, we have to do this the right way."

"No, we don't. We just need to succeed," Emma argued. "And the way we do that is by just being who we are: a hero, a villain, a pirate. It doesn't matter which, because we're going to need all those skills, whether we can stomach them or not."

"And what about you and your sister's skills, 'savior,'" Regina asked dubiously.

"I'm a survivor," Danny growled.

"I'm a mother," Emma said forcefully, "and now I'm also your leader. So either help me get my son back or get out of the way." The two sisters turned and stalked away from the group at the end of Emma's speech.

Hook watched Danny walk away, grinning softly to himself as he saw the telltale shine of metal on her hip. She was wearing his sword.

He looked back at Regina, shrugging at her before following the others into the forest.