I wrote this with the intention of publishing it during the summer, before the season started. So this was all conjecture. If you see any startling similarities, then chalk it up to my brilliance. If you don't see anything, don't expect me to follow canon.

So at this point, we can call this completely and utterly AU.

You're also probably going, "What's with the title?" Oh, you'll see, bro. You'll see.

Part I
Left Once

i. oh, crap

Just because once upon a time, Emma Swan had been a thief and a bail bondsman—and now a sheriff—did not mean she enjoyed these kinds of situations. Surprisingly enough, she was a big fan of that foreign, seemingly-distant and unattainable concept of peace and quiet. She wasn't some adrenaline junkie who'd start bungee-jumping off bridges if she ever got bored. A woman needed a job. If doing what she did best got food in the fridge, then so be it.

But ever since this whole…thing became a life-or-death matter, the prospect of finding a cabin in the woods and holing herself up was becoming so much more appealing. Of course, with her luck, she'd somehow wind up in another enchanted forest.

Take for instance: now.

It would've been nice to just stroll through the trees, admiring the light of the fireflies and nighttime crystals that cast a bluish hue on the forest floor. The thick canopy of branches and leaves filtered in the softest glimmers of moonlight and starlight. Soft, rustling footsteps only added to the soft rhythm of the woods, layered by any whispered conversations.

She wasn't going to think about with whom she'd be sharing said conversations—the mother who'd been shooting her those looks or the pirate who was causing them.

Nevertheless, the peaceful buzz of the forest was dangerously absent. In its place were the pounding footsteps and labored breaths of five people who were about to be slaughtered by two-inch magical monsters.

In spite of the fact that he was the only one who actually knew where to go, Hook brought up the rear as the threat behind them necessitated his expertise. He shouted directions at Mary Margaret and Regina, who were in the lead. Henry ran behind them, gradually losing ground as exhaustion seeped in with every step. Emma ran behind or beside him, urging him to keep going.

They were running full-tilt even though the furious chiming and chittering had faded behind them. There was no way they were taking the risk of slowing down, not until they were at Hook's hiding place.

"Left!" Hook barked.

The group immediately swerved to Hook's directions. Mary Margaret and Regina simultaneously vaulted over a waist-high slab of rock, glancing back worriedly at Henry. Going off the same thought, Hook leapt up to the top of the boulder, and Emma heaved Henry up to Hook's grasp. She jumped over and turned back to steady Henry as he and Hook jumped down, and their sprint continued.

Thank God David and Gold had split off from the group and headed back to the Jolly Roger. While they could use David's fighting skills, Gold's limp and the fact that they were of the male variety who didn't have Hook's little secret advantage would've severely hindered their progress. Pixie Hollow didn't allow men, exempting little boys and insufferable pirate captains.

"How much further is it?" Emma called over her shoulder.

"It's just a ways ahead, love," Hook answered. He saw her worried glance at Henry and sped up to run alongside the ten-year-old. "How are you doing, Master Mills?"

Henry didn't have enough air to run and talk.

"Need me to throw you over my shoulder?"

Henry managed a glare this time, but as soon as he looked up at Hook's grin, the expression brightened and he did his best to smile back.

"Just a bit further, mate," Hook said, reaching out to briefly squeeze the boy's shoulder. "Then we'll see how well-suited you are to dip into my rum cache, eh?"

"My foot will be well-suited to your face, Hook, if you even try it!" Emma barked.

Hook grinned even wider. "Come now, darling. I think something else of yours would be better suited to my face."

"Like my fist? Couldn't get enough the first time?"

"I'm insatiable, love."

"HEY!" Mary Margaret shrieked at Hook, eyes wide with either disbelief, fury, or shock—maybe all three. "Where next?!"

"Just past that low bough, princess," Hook answered genially, innocently smiling as Mary Margaret shot him one last glare over her shoulder as she and Regina ducked under the thick, low-hanging branch of a massive oak.

Henry had just cleared the same branch when chimes exploded from the nearby underbrush. Seven different-colored balls of light shot out from between the thick leaves, swarming around the group.

Before Emma could even blink, Hook had his sword unsheathed, swatting at the blue and green pixies. Mary Margaret had nocked an arrow and speared the pink pixie straight through the middle. It flickered and dropped to the ground, still chiming weakly, as Mary Margaret focused her aim on the orange pixie and dropped that one too. Regina, who still didn't seem to have a good handle on how to use a sword, reacted instinctively, using the flat of the blade to smack the red light into the tree trunk like a baseball. It squeaked and dropped into the tall grass below, its light flickering before going out.

Emma wasn't about to employ the same methods and risk taking off someone's head in the process, so when the yellow pixie darted straight for her neck, she dodged back and snatched the damn thing, threw it on the ground, and stomped on it. Hook had just driven his sword into the dirt, skewering the two pixies, when he suddenly leaped forward and tackled Henry with a hoarse cry of, "No!"

But he was too late. He'd slammed into Henry just as the violet pixie blew a small puff of air that sent several red petals onto Henry's head. Hook immediately launched himself off the boy as Mary Margaret shot the last pixie. Glimmering red film shrouded the ten-year-old, his eyes fluttering shut as he fell asleep right on the grass where he'd fallen.

"HENRY!"

"Bugger, bugger, bugger, bugger," Hook hissed, picking himself off the ground and snatching Emma before she could grab the boy. "Don't! Don't touch him."

"What is that?!" Mary Margaret demanded as Emma struggled in Hook's grip.

He adjusted his arms to hold her in an embrace even as she tried to elbow him in the stomach. "It's the bloody poppy petals! Buggering pixie put him in a deep sleep! You touch him, you suffer the same fate!"

"How do we get him out?" Regina asked, hands clenching as she struggled not to touch Henry.

"I just told you—you touch him," Hook said as Emma's struggling tapered off. "You trade places. He wakes up, you fall asleep."

"I'll do it," Emma snapped. "I'll take his pla—"

"Swan, I know you're impervious to a lot of magicks, but the pixies are fairly clean-cut and simple about death. Their brutality needs no magic. They'll peel your skin off and choke you with it," Hook said levelly as he released her but kept on hand on her arm. "You wouldn't be able to escape."

She whacked his hand off, glaring at him furiously. "I'm not just gonna leave him! He's my son!"

"And this is your life," Hook shot back. There was no mischief in his eyes now. "There are a lot of things I'll risk on a mission, Emma, but you are not one of them. I will take his place."

Even Regina looked a little bit shocked. "What?"

Emma shook her head and blinked. "You just said the pixies will kill—"

Hook held up his hand. "You three stand no chance against them. If you're captured, you're dead. I, on the other hand, may still have enough leverage to survive." He looked up toward the mountains and pointed to the second-highest peak. "Hide in the safe house until the black smoke from the Indian camp there turns white, then make for the ship."

"And where are we supposed to go from there?" Mary Margaret asked. "We have no way of getting back to Storybrooke, with or without you."

"The mermaids' most treasured possession lies at the bottom of their lagoon—a trident that will stir open portals in the ocean. If you can get to it, you can get home," he replied. "Knowing all your luck combined, I'm sure you'll be fine." He jerked his chin at Mary Margaret. "Princess, I suggest scouting ahead for more of those pixies. Bring the inept sword-swinger; she might be useful again. The entrance to the safe house is hidden under the left of the two hooked roots of an old oak that'll be on your left."

Regina narrowed her eyes at him, but her face softened when she looked at Henry one last time before he walked away. Mary Margaret, though, frowned at him curiously—no longer suspicious. She glanced at Emma and then nodded at Hook. "Thank you."

He smiled—more of a grimace than anything—and nodded back.

Mary Margaret nocked another arrow before walking away, leaving Emma alone with Hook and her unconscious son. He crouched down beside Henry, sighing as he examined the shimmering red film as if anticipating the unpleasantness of the effects.

"Why are you doing this?" Emma asked softly.

He shook his head with a faint smile. "Why do you always have to question me?"

"Because you're a pirate."

"Because you've your own preconceived notions of who Captain Hook is, love," he corrected her with a bitter chuckle.

Emma frowned, lips set in a straight line. "You didn't give me the bean the first time."

"And that was the first time I ever did anything of the sort to you, wasn't it?" he asked, tilting his head up to her. "You're the one who left me with the giant, locked me in a bloody broom closet, and took my offer of help to twist it into a massive gamble that put all our lives in jeopardy, staked on the word and faith of your lovely, overly-optimistic mother."

Her mouth opened and closed uselessly, but held up his hand.

"Been around a few centuries, love, and I've learned a thing or two about things. Magic that alters a location is grounded in that particular area; it cannot be moved," he said. "Opening a portal under it would either have not worked or created a wormhole that would've torn a rift between the two realms. There was a small chance that it would've worked, but the odds weren't something I could live with—figuratively and literally."

"We found a different way, though," she reminded him quietly.

"Which should show you that there's always another option if you look hard enough, darling. Learned that through the observation of many a man, woman, child, and my own mistakes. Hindsight's clear as a cloudless horizon. Use that to your advantage, eh?"

Emma swallowed, noticing that he'd been looking up at her nearly the entire time. He wasn't lying.

That was the thing, though, wasn't it? That was how he fooled her the first time around with the bean. He'd never actually said the bean was in the bag. He'd only handed it over. There wasn't any truth to be told, only a lie by omission. Literally. He omitted the bean.

And then he sighed. "Look at me, Emma."

She blinked, frowning down at him.

"I'll not betray your location to the pixies, if that's what you're worried about," he said plainly and adamantly so she couldn't doubt his intentions, blue eyes burning her with the same open expression that made something in her twinge and shift. "I'll not escape and steal the ship before the white smoke rises. I'll not attack your father, the Crocodile, nor anyone else on our expedition. I will not betray you."

She licked her lips and at Henry. "Not gonna weasel your way through your own words and blame semantics?"

"I promise," he said. And when her expression didn't shift (even though her thoughts already had), his serious eyes turned pleading. "Trust me."

It was Emma's turn to sigh. She predicted she was gonna be doing a hell of a lot of that. "Fine. How're you getting out of this?"

Hook's serious expression warmed, and he smiled and winked up at her. "With large amounts of faith, trust, and a just a bit of pixie dust, eh?"

Emma frowned and shook her head. "Just…don't die, okay?"

"Is that your way of showing you care, love?"

"My way of showing I don't wanna deal with those damn mermaids again."

"Liar," Hook chuckled. "Now go. The rest of the bloody demon horde will arrive soon." He reached down, brushed the petals from Henry's head in one swipe, and dropped onto the grass, fast asleep and shimmering red.