They'd gotten to the ship without incident. Well aside from the whole running into Neal's fiancée fiasco. The only reason Emma even saw that as a problem is that Neal seemed to think she would be all torn up about finding out that he'd moved on… more than a decade after she'd last seen him. Seriously, his ego knew no bounds. But other than that, they'd somehow found Hook's ship and loaded everyone on without too many problems. Surprising given that the vessel was still invisible.

When they boarded, Emma let Neal take care of his father while she locked Hook up in the Captain's quarters. She could have put him in the brig, but he'd probably be easier to manage if she did this little thing for him.

She did, however, take his hook again. Emma was careful to avoid the tip when she slid it off, she couldn't tell if the poison was still there or not and she was not about to risk it. So she hid the hook in one of his drawers of clothes, handcuffed him to the bed, and shut the door behind her. She knew that he'd probably be able to get out without too much difficulty but he was still out cold and she'd stay nearby to wait for signs of movement.

She'd promised Neal that she'd keep an eye on Gold during the journey, make sure he didn't die before they hit Storybrooke or something. They'd lain him down in the crew's quarters so she made her way over. Once she got close, she heard something that she was not expecting. Someone was singing the lullaby. Her lullaby.

Was Hook awake already? She'd just left him and he'd seemed like he was still very unconscious. But then Emma realized that the sound wasn't coming through the soulmate connection, but rather from the crew's quarters. And the voice was all wrong. Someone else was singing their song.

Emma crept closer to the opening and peered through, only to see Neal leaning over Gold's cot and singing softly. Seeing his father like this had really affected him. He was hunched over the older man, shoulders shaking from stress. She could see worry lines on his face as he smoothed down his father's hair. His lips barely moving as he tried to comfort the man.

She realized that Neal was the one who was singing. It made sense, she knew that it was his mother's song, but she'd still never heard anyone else carry those notes. It felt wrong. Like someone was infringing on something that was private between her and Hook.

"Are you almost ready to get going?" Emma knocked on the door, forcing Neal to stop singing. It felt like a weight had been lifted. The notes sounded just wrong without Hook's accented voice. And there was a difference in the tune that she couldn't quite put her finger on. Like the differences between the original version and cover of a song.

"Yeah," he looked a bit embarrassed, probably because she'd seen him acting so tender around the father he claimed to hate, "is the pirate secure?"

"Yes, Hook won't be hurting anyone else anytime soon."

Neal nodded then walked past her into the hall, making his way to the deck of the ship. Emma paused for a moment, she should stay with Gold, but her mind was filled with questions and theories that Neal could answer. So, she followed him into the fresh air.

"Henry, can you go sit with Mr. Gold?" she directed her son, not wanting him on deck for the conversation they were about to have. Neal sent her a curious look but didn't move to stop her.

"What's up, Ems?" Neal questioned the moment Henry's mop of brown hair disappeared below decks.

"I wanted to ask you about that song."

"The lullaby?"

"Yeah."

"It's just something that my mom used to sing to me as a kid." Neal was looking into the horizon as he steered the ship out onto the open water.

"Was it popular in the Enchanted Forest?"

"I know it was popular in my village, I'm not really sure about the rest. Why are you so curious about this?"

"I heard it as a kid, remember?"

"Oh yeah, that." Neal was refusing to look at her, like he didn't want her to bring up the fact that she had a soulmate. Like she'd had a choice in the matter. "Look, Ems, I left the Enchanted Forest a long time ago, I have no idea how wide spread that song got. It was just something I remember about my mom."

"Okay." Emma paused for a moment, trying to rethink how she would go about getting information. She didn't want to tip Neal off that Hook was her soulmate, it would just complicate everything further. She knew he'd use it against her and say that she was only protecting him because of the bond or that she couldn't be trusted to be rational when her soulmate was concerned. She really didn't want to deal with that, so she was being careful. "You seemed to recognize Hook back there?"

Neal didn't meet her eyes, he just kept staring straight ahead with a steely expression on his face. Emma waited for a reply, but when nothing came she pressed further.

"How do you know him Neal?"

"Why does it matter?"

"Because I'm the sheriff of Storybrooke and he just tried to kill your father. Who, by the way, is someone I'm supposed to protect. I think I deserve to know everything I can about the people trying to muck up the peace in my town."

"Sheesh, Ems, you don't have to get all bitchy about it." Emma prided herself on keeping calm in the face of that blatant misogyny. "I met him a bit after I ran away from my dad."

"Where?"

"In Neverland."

"Seriously? Were Peter Pan and Wendy there too?"

"I'm not telling you this just so you can ridicule me you know."

"Fine. I'll stop," Emma used all her willpower not to roll her eyes at him.

"Anyway, I ended up on this ship with him for a while until he handed me over to Pan."

"Wait, Peter Pan?"

"Yes. And before you ask, he's nothing like the stories they have here. He's not someone you'd ever want to meet."

Emma was used to that by now, the stories not matching up to the people she met. But it was still a bit disappointing to her. Peter Pan and the Lost Boys had been some of her favorite stories as a kid. Orphans finding a family with each other had been something that she'd dreamed of.

"Is that why you don't like him? Because he gave you to Pan?"

"Yeah," Neal glanced at her, "and what he did to my mother." That last part was muttered, he probably didn't think that Emma could hear it.

"Your mother? What did he do to her?"

Neal sent her an exasperated look, like she wasn't supposed to ask about that. But he was the one who'd brought it up so it was all fair game.

"He took her when I was a kid." There was a bitterness in Neal's voice, but Emma also heard some uncertainty. Like he wasn't quite sure that was the whole story. She didn't know what had happened between the two, but right now she had other things she needed answered.

"What was her name?" Emma was pretty sure she knew what the answer would be, but if she was right it would answer a lot of questions. It would also complicate everything. But she had to know.

"Milah. Her name was Milah."

/

Killian woke with a beast of a headache, but it was minor next to the aching pains shooting throughout his whole body. He still hadn't recovered from getting hit by that horseless carriage. His head throbbed as he came to consciousness, struggling to remember what happened. He was on his ship, in his cabin no less. That meant rum? Usually when he woke up like this it was the rum's fault. But then when he tried to bring his hand up to cover his eyes he found that he couldn't move it. He was handcuffed to the bed. And in recent experience, handcuffs meant only one thing. The bloody Swan woman had been there.

He groaned as he tried to dig back into his memories. He'd followed the Crocodile to some modern land. Had the Swan woman been there? He thought he could vaguely remember hearing she'd been with the Croc.

The Crocodile. He'd found him. Killian grinned a feral grin as he recalled sinking his poisoned hook into his foes chest. He'd won. The Swan woman must have knocked him out or something, he couldn't really remember what happened afterwards. He had no idea how he'd gotten back to his ship, or who was even sailing it. But it didn't matter.

No one could save Rumpelstiltskin now. He'd gotten his revenge.

Killian grinned wider, the familiar rocking of the ship riding through the waves only adding to his excitement. He moved his left arm up, intending to use his hook to break the cuffs, only to find that his metal appendage was missing. He should have guessed that whoever had left him here, probably the Swan woman, wouldn't let him keep his hook. She probably knew what he could do with it.

Luckily, they hadn't searched around his bed very well. It wasn't hard for him to drag out a set of lock picks and get to work freeing himself. Ever since he'd lost his hand, he'd practiced undoing locks by holding the pick between his teeth. It wasn't comfortable work, but the skill had come in handy more times than he could count.

The moment the cuff sprang open, Killian was out of bed and searching his quarters. There was always a chance that they hadn't moved his hook far. He wasn't about to face unknown adversaries without as many weapons as he could get. He knew that he should be quiet, that they might have some posted outside his door waiting for him to wake up, but he couldn't help himself. He was too high off the thrill of killing his enemy to be overly cautious. So, while he scoured his room, he began to sing.

/

'Revenge, revenge, revenge, is finally mine!'

The tune drifted through Emma's soulmate connection and distracted her from her talk with Neal. Hook was awake and Henry was with Gold. From the sound of his singing, she guessed that Hook thought he'd killed the other man. That was good. He wouldn't be looking for him yet. But she also knew that Hook wasn't really one to stay trapped by a pair of handcuffs for long. He would get out, and there was no guarantee he wouldn't stumble immediately onto Gold.

"I'm going to check on Hook," Emma said abruptly, causing Neal to give her a confused look.

"Why? He was out cold five minutes ago."

"A lot can happen in five minutes." Emma didn't give Neal another glance as she made her way slowly down to the captain's quarters. She could hear shuffling from behind the door, he'd broken out of his bonds already. Great. Hopefully he hadn't found his hook yet. She wasn't planning on keeping it from him forever, but she really didn't want to deal with an armed pirate right now.

Emma could hear drawers being opened, she remembered the layout of the room and thought that meant his back would be to the door. She could probably slip in without too much of a fuss and then hopefully get him to talk to her. She really didn't want to make a racket but she needed to keep him occupied until they got to Storybrooke and she'd rather not have to knock him out again. He had to still be injured from the car accident and she really didn't want to make it worse.

Emma slowly opened the door and peaked her head in, Hook was facing away from her. It didn't seem like he'd noticed. Emma took a small breath to steady herself before slipping through the doorway and closing it behind her.

"You're really bad at staying put," she stated quietly, trying not to startle him. She noticed his shoulders stiffening slightly.

"Pirate, love," he spoke slowly as he turned around to face her. She noticed him scanning the room, probably checking to see if she was alone. She noticed him relax slightly when he found that it was just her. This was good. He probably didn't know Gold was still alive so as long as she distracted him until they got back to Storybrooke everything would work out. "Now be a good lass and return my hook." There was his smirk. The one he used to cover up when he was uncomfortable.

"And why would I do that?"

"It's bad form to tamper with a man's hook, Swan." The grin fell from his face, replaced by a glower.

"Ah yes, and it's not bad form at all to stab someone with a poisoned weapon."

"Come now lass, we both know the bloody crocodile deserved it."

"Still, bad form to stab a man in front of his son."

"Come now lass…" Hook's eyes widened a fraction as he processed what she'd said, "Baelfire?" There was a tone of wonder in his voice that she'd never heard before. She hadn't meant to tell him that Neal was here, she just sometimes forgot to keep her guard up around him and it had slipped out. She'd thought he'd be angry about it. That he might dislike Neal as much as his father. The tale Neal had told her didn't make her think they were on good terms, but Hook's face was telling a whole different story. "Is he here?"

"He's… yes. He's here. And he's pretty pissed at you."

"Bae…" Hook was a million miles (or years) away again. He didn't seem to hear what Emma had said past learning that Neal was around. What the hell had happened between the two of them? She knew there had to be more to the story than what Neal had told her but she'd never expected Hook to react like this.

"He told me about what happened between the two of you," Emma stated when it seemed like Hook was about to ask to see him. She needed to keep them apart for now. At least until she learned the whole story about what had passed. Hook's expression changed from wonderment and joy to a small frown and a furrow in his brow. Troubled by something.

"I take it from your tone that you found the tale a mite distasteful."

"The way he told it, sure." Hook looked away, dejected. It seemed like he was honestly pained. Though if it was because he regretted what had passed or because Neal had badmouthed him she wasn't quite sure. "But, I'm fairly certain there's more to the story than what he chose to say." Hook looked up at her, something that looked a whole lot like confusion clear in his eyes.

"What did he tell you?"

"I'd prefer to hear your side of it first."

"Ah, the old constable trick to try and make each tale more honest?"

"Well I am a sheriff."

"I suppose you are." Hook fell silent as he sat back on his bunk. Emma was about to speak again, to break the silence, when he spoke up. "It's not a pleasant tale, how I know the lad."

"If you're talking about Baelfire," the strange name rolled off Emma's tongue, "he's a bit too old to be called a lad anymore."

"Aye, I suppose he is." They lapsed back into silence. This should be fine, he was obviously so lost in his thoughts that it would be easy to keep him distracted until they made port. But Emma wasn't satisfied with that. She couldn't believe that the universe would make her soulmates with the man Neal had described. There had to be more to the story and she was going to get it.

"Why don't you start with how you met Milah," Emma spoke softly, trying not to spook him. She knew he clammed up when Milah was brought up. His head shot up to give her an incredulious glare.

"How did you—What makes you think she has anything to do with this?"

"She was Nea—Bae's mother, right? And Gold's wife?" Hook looked at her another moment before turning his eyes back down to his brace. His right hand was fiddling with the straps.

"Aye, that she was." Emma was almost surprised when he spoke. His voice was soft and sorrowful when he spoke. Emma knew it had been centuries since her death but the raw emotion in Hook's voice made it seem like she'd been around yesterday.

"How did you meet her?" Emma sat in a chair at the table. She made sure to keep far enough away that he wouldn't feel cornered, but close enough that she could touch him if she really reached.

"I still don't see why this is any of your bloody business, Swan."

"If the both of you are going to coexist in my town, I need to know what happened between you too and if I need to be on the lookout for yet another stabbing."

"I would never hurt Bae!"

"That's not what he told me," Hook's face fell, "so how about you tell me what happened between you and that family. Like how you met Milah." Hook took a deep breath and glared at her for a moment. She wasn't getting anywhere. It was time to pull out her trump card. She really didn't want to go there, but if she wanted to get answers, this was probably the only way. "I get that you don't want to talk so I'll go first. I'll tell you why I deserve to know everything that happened." Hook eyed her warily.

"I doubt you deserve to know anything, Swan, this really isn't any of your business—".

"Baelfire is Henry's father."

"What?" Hook looked at her in shock.

"I've always known him as Neal, I didn't realize he was from there until today. And he's being really vague about all these grudges that have the potential to harm my son." This was a big gamble. Hook now knew that Henry was Gold's grandson. He could use him as a pawn in his revenge story. But she didn't think that he would. Henry was descended from Milah, just like Neal was.

"Baelfire is a father?"

"Yes. He's grown up a bit since you've last seen him. But now you know why I need you tell me everything. So start talking Hook."

And he did. He told her all about how Milah had begged him to save her from Gold, how they'd been planning to go back and get Neal away from his coward of a father. Then she learned about how Gold had crushed Milah's heart right in front of him, how in mere moments Hook went from having everything to losing his love and his hand. He skimmed over the next few years, until he ran into Neal again. How he'd tried to protect the boy from Pan and his forces. And how, when Neal had rejected him, Hook had turned him over to Pan.

"He was Milah's blood. I never should have let him go! I should have protected him! I failed her but I won't make the same mistake again." Hook's eyes were glistening by the time he finished his tale. Every word carried his sincerity of emotion. It could be a trick, he could be playing her, but Emma's lie detector wasn't blaring. She believed he was being honest. And now that he knew about Henry's heritage, he'd protect him too.

/

Realizing that Swan was tied to Baelfire was shocking to say the least. He still thought of him as a lad, thought it had been centuries since that was true. And now he had a lad of his own, the very same child that Swan had been fighting to get back to. The lad that Cora and Regina were planning on stealing away.

Hook wasn't supposed to know that, they had thought they were being secretive, but he was a pirate. He knew that his best chance of staying alive came with knowing what all parties were up to. And he'd been fine with their plan. Stealing the child was a good way to get payback on the Swan woman without him having to lift a finger. He didn't really support kidnapping children, but he also wasn't about to stop it. Now, though? Now that he knew more about the lad and where he came from?

Killian was glad that Swan had stepped out for a moment. He should have been wondering why she trusted him to stay put, but he was too preoccupied to care. This lad could be his second chance. He could right all the wrongs he'd done to Bae. He could guard Milah's grandson from harm. He needed to tell Swan what he knew.

He heard her footsteps outside his cabin, the door began to creak open then stopped when a loud ringing sounded out. It was one of those infernal talking devices he'd seen people using in the town.

"Hello," Swan's voice was low as she spoke to the person on the other end. She probably thought that he couldn't hear her, but Killian had better hearing than anyone expected. "Slow down Mary Margret," she paused, "yes I've got him. We'll have him back soon."

Hook felt cold. Was she talking about him? Was he about to be used as a prisoner or a gambling piece against Cora? He should have known something was up when he woke up on the ship. The Swan woman had a history of leaving him behind, she wouldn't have brought him with if she didn't have some ulterior motive.

"No, he's still alive but it's not pretty," Emma's voice was even lower this time, like she was trying to be extra careful that he wouldn't hear her. And Hook was starting to see why. She wasn't talking about him. She said someone was still alive, that could only mean one thing. The Crocodile. "He told me that Cora would be trying to get his dagger, you two need to find it first. That's all I know. Now I have to go take care of a few things, I'll see you soon."

The door creaked open and Hook made it look like he hadn't heard her talking. He didn't know how to confront her yet. What he should do. Whose side he would be on when this came to a head.