United In a Second Chance

Chapter One

Inside the Charmings' Royal Palace within the Wish Realm…

It was late at night, after a very long and trying day that ended in victory for each of the heroes upon the defeat of this realm's version of Rumplestiltskin, even though in doing so, it had sadly cost them the life of one of their own. Mr. Gold, Detective Weaver, Crocodile, the Dark One, Rumplestiltskin, or simply Rumple… whichever name most suited the long time villain turned hero best, had died in order to save the life one of their dearest friends and to rid all worlds of the Dark One for good. The darkness at last had been destroyed once and for all. And while no one knew for sure what had come of Gold's soul, each of the heroes chose to believe he too had earned his own happy ending. That he was at last reunited with his beloved wife like he so desperately longed to be.

After they'd been searching for Regina throughout the castle for a short while, Henry and his Wish Realm doppelganger, Sir Henry, finally found her standing out on one of the castle's balconies within the war room looking out over the mountains just beyond her view while she thought about Gold, as well as the future of her family and friends.

Regina heard her sons approach from behind her, but she didn't yet turn around to face them right away, as the boy she had adopted when he was a baby many years ago called out to her, "Mom?"

Before she could answer, the younger version of her son added in concern, "Everyone's been looking for you."

"I just… I needed a moment," she downheartedly responded to them, then breathed in and out before she finally turned around to look at her boys.

"They uh… well, we want to know… what's next?" Henry apprehensively asked her, now that everything they had set out to accomplish was at last finished and the day was won.

Regina unleashed a weary sigh and then she replied, "There's a lot to figure out. But we all do need to go home. And… I found something here I think might be able to help us."

Both Henrys glanced down at her hands, until she lifted up her right to reveal to them a scroll, which the older version of Henry knew all too well while she continued, "I need to cast one more curse."

"You can't be serious," her older son uttered in frustration, with a roll of his eyes.

"I am," his mother assuredly stated again, as she quickly raised her hand to motion for them to be patient and to allow her a chance to explain while she looked between them. "The Dark Curse is the blueprint for something wonderful. What if, instead of crushing the heart of the thing I love most… everyone I love and who loves me… gifted a small piece of their own? And then maybe… just maybe… instead of separating everyone… this magic brings them together."

Both Henry and the seventeen year old boy from the Wish Realm smiled at her as she continued once more, "What if I could bring all the realms to Storybrooke? There would be no more separation."

She then stepped forward and took their hands in her own, while she also smiled as she added, "For once, we can… all be together. All the realms of story, secretly tucked away in a forgotten corner in Maine."

"Operation… 'We Are Both' is a go," her adopted son answered at last, as he smiled at both his mother and his other self while he gently patted Sir Henry's back.

"I hoped you would feel as good about this as I did," Regina responded with a smile, then quickly grew somber once more. "Of course… this is going to take some time to plan. There's a lot of details to think about."

Her younger son looked between her and his other self as he said sternly, "Well… if we bring all the realms together, there's going to be all new villains running around. Like Cruella and Pan still trapped inside Rumplestiltskin's castle if we were to set them free… And who knows how many others."

She thought a moment and then she replied, "Oh… we will set Pan and Cruella free from their current prisons, but we have our own ways of dealing with villains like them. In Storybrooke, if villains attempt to hurt anyone, we lock them away within their own private cell beneath our hospital, with a magic dampening cuff around their wrists so they can't use their powers any further against us until they learn to behave. I can make sure we have plenty of cuffs available for us to use. Don't worry… if any of the villains try to wreak havoc, we'll deal with them when the time comes. We always do. Together."

"What about the timeline?" her adult son then asked her as well. "I mean… since Gothel brought us back to a separate time when no one at home even realized we were missing. At least not until today. But the timeline is still screwed up. Won't that be a bit confusing? For everyone."

"I think, I've figure out a way to solve that problem too," the Queen confidently answered once again, as she continued to look between her sons. "Both of our timelines will be merged together, though everyone's memories of both will remain intact. Also, with the Wish Realm coming over with us as well, it will mean there will be a large number of us all with doppelgangers too. Not just the two of you anymore, and Rogers. We'll just have to figure out some way to be able to tell everyone apart. Speaking of Rogers… I noticed that he disappeared once we arrived here. Sooner than I did. And he seemed a bit upset. I think I'm going to go try to find him. To make sure he's alright. Alice probably has, but…"

Adult Henry interrupted, "Go on. Go. Henry and I have some things we'd like to discuss too."

Regina smiled at them and nodded, then walked off in search of Hook from the Wish Realm, who had come to be a very good friend to her and Henry over the time since they met many years ago. However, she found Alice and Robin first as they were talking in the palace's Great Hall, while her niece and the pirate Captain's daughter were sitting together on the steps of the platform within the center of the room, where the Wish Realm versions of Snow White and Prince Charming were married and where the younger Henry had also been knighted.

When she walked into the room, Alice and Robin both quickly stood up while they faced her, as Robin's and Zelena's daughter asked, "Regina… have there been any thoughts about what's next for us? I don't know if you were wanting to return home to Hyperion Heights, or if you were thinking maybe Storybrooke…"

"Actually… Hyperion Heights is in our past and so is this Wish Realm," the girl's aunt responded, as she looked between both her and Alice too. "Unless of course if you come to visit some of your friends who might still be living here. Go talk to Henry and… well, Henry. They'll fill you in on what we'd like to do."

"Alice… have you seen your father?" Regina then asked her once she turned her head to look into the younger woman's eyes. "I saw him walk out not long after we arrived here and I was worried he might be having trouble dealing with…"

Rogers' daughter interrupted her, "With Weaver's death? I think he is. I mean… we all are of course, but he is even more so I think. I know Papa's grateful. More grateful than we'll ever know. And I know he's happy Weaver's been able to find his happy ending with Belle. It's just… I think, he's feeling guilty. He's sad because his friend and partner gave his life to save him. I also think Papa's worried he doesn't deserve to have been saved."

Regina nodded in understanding as she listened to her, then she finally spoke again remorsefully saying, "I think you're right. We villains turned heroes all feel that way. But I've known two different versions of Hook for a long time now and both of them are the same in the sense of their feelings towards themselves. They both struggle greatly with believing they're worthy of a happy ending. The original version of him still does even now to some degree. Do you happen to know where I might be able to find him? Your father… I mean."

"He told me he was going to return to his grotto, though I have no idea where it is," she sadly replied to her. "I've never seen it. He didn't want me to go with him. The truth is… I think he's ashamed."

"Don't worry, I think I have a way of finding him," the Queen then answered again, as she conjured Rogers' prosthetic hand into her own hands, and cast a locator spell over it so it would hopefully lead her to him. "I'll bring him back. I promise. Don't worry, Alice…"

When she looked between Hook's daughter and Robin again, she continued, "We're all going to be staying together at last. We won't have to be separated ever again."

Meanwhile, inside of Wish Hook's hideout…

Rogers was sitting down on the edge of the rocky platform which overlooked the ocean before him and had become lost in his thoughts. When he first arrived, he had opened up one of the chests full of odds and ends that he'd collected over the years before ever being whisked away to Hyperion Heights, then pulled out an old bottle of rum, thinking the drink might help to ease his guilt and his worry about the future. His future, and his place within it now that Alice was once again in his life, yet had a separate life of her own with Robin.

However, when he stared down at all pirates' choice of drink, he soon realized he no longer wanted it upon remembering what had come of him from having drank too much in trying to forget his pain, even though he partly yearned for the taste of rum. So instead, Hook kept a firm hold around the bottle, while he settled for staring out over the ocean and thought back to a few moments between himself and Weaver, both from their more recent lives and from within their past.

Years ago, in the New Enchanted Forest outside of Alice's and Robin's cabin…

Rogers remembered back to when he had come to Alice's home within the forest on the border of the clearing in order to check on his daughter, just to make sure that she was safe upon hearing what she'd recently been through with the Dark One, his darkness, and Dr. Facilier, only to find Gold was there already once again as well to do the same.

He could also see that whatever really happened, had caused Gold to once again become Rumplestiltskin, in his true Crocodile like form and almost immediately, Rogers could remember feeling guilty that Gold had sacrificed all his hard work at becoming a hero and to lose this version of him, all so he could protect Alice.

At last, their conversation played out in Rogers' mind as he saw himself sneak up on Rumple while he called out, "Dark One."

Rumple was immediately startled, as he stumbled and turned around to face the man who had been his enemy for over two centuries. Or least, the man who was a familiar version of the pirate Captain he had known for so long. A man whom he no longer held any ill will towards like he held no ill will towards Killian's doppelganger either. Proving just how far Gold had come along in becoming a true hero.

"I heard about what you did for Alice and Robin," Hook softly continued on when the older man was facing him, until Rumple turned back again to keep watching his daughter, as well as Zelena's daughter too.

"All magic comes with a price," the Dark One flamboyantly responded to him, in his typical Rumplestiltskin like manner, until he immediately became solemn once more. "Guess it was finally my turn to pay."

Hook shook his head regrettably and then he said, "Well… I just wanted to tell you everyone was right about you. You're not the Crocodile I knew."

Rumple turned around again in surprise upon hearing Hook admit this about him to his face while he sincerely replied, "I owe you a great debt. If I can ever repay you, I will."

"Dark One and a pirate… friends?" he then questioned the Captain once Hook reached out his hand for Rumple to shake in a friendly gesture, as a small token of his gratitude.

"Perhaps it's time for a new story," Hook genuinely answered him once again, then finally Gold accepted and shook his hand like he hoped he would while Hook smiled at him.

And when the Dark One then turned away like before, the pirate asked him out of concern, "So, what are you gonna do now?"

Without looking back at him, the Dark One responded, "Do what Rumplestiltskin does best, of course…"

"Spin, spin, spin!" the older man vibrantly added and spun around to face Hook again with a smug, yet sad smile underneath the mask he put back up in place to his own sadness before finally he just walked away from him. "Spin, spin, spin. Spin, spin, spin, spin, spin, spin, spin, spin, spin, spin…"

Two days ago, inside the Hyperion Heights Police Station…

Rogers' thoughts changed, as he remembered back to escaping from the cavern beneath their city where he had been held prisoner the night before along with the girl he had since discovered was truly his daughter, having to leave Tilly behind once she had been forced into a magical trance that he couldn't have even begun to understand before Gothel's curse had been broken. Thunder rumbled and lightning flashed wildly in the skies, while sirens all around him wailed upon the rising storm wreaking havoc throughout all of Hyperion Heights.

"Where the hell have you been?" his partner had crossly asked him straightaway once the older detective slammed the phone receiver down the moment he entered the room, and sat down at his desk across from Weaver.

And then, just as crossly, Rogers heard himself reply to him, "I need you to tell me what the hell is going on in this town. I just spent the night tied up in the bowels of the city. And I saw… things. All right? So either I'm going crazy, or Eloise Gardner drugged me, or…"

Before he could finish, Weaver suddenly answered, "Magic is real."

"Magic is…?" the younger man started to question him as he struggled to understand and believe what his partner was trying to tell him, while thunder continued to rumble in the distance.

"Real," the senior detective quietly added in complete honesty, keeping his eyes firmly on the man who couldn't remember who he truly was. "All of it. Everything you read in Henry Mills' book. We are all from another realm. Eloise is a witch named Gothel, and what you saw her doing was magic. Now, if you want proof, I imagine anything I have to offer pales in comparison to what you witnessed last night."

Rogers looked at him as he responded in frustration, "Yeah, you're right. What I witnessed last night strains reason. But so does what you are saying now."

Detective Weaver resolutely replied, "The choice is simple… madness… or take a leap of faith. Believe your eyes. Believe me."

"I'm not mad," he questionably answered him, as if he was trying to convince himself of the fact more so than his partner.

"I know," Rogers' partner then assured him and nodded.

At last, Rogers lowered his head and closed his eyes as he thought about all he had seen and of the truth revealed to him, then continued troublingly, "She said… Eloise said that Tilly is my daughter."

When his friend raised his head to look at him again, Gold nodded his head again in understanding while he responded gently, "And you felt a connection to her from the moment you met. A connection that's troubled you ever since. Isn't that right?"

"Aye," he fearfully replied. "And my heart… when I got near her, it was like I was being stabbed by a million knives."

"Gothel poisoned your heart… as a punishment to keep you and your daughter separated," the senior detective despondently answered him again. "Now that she's bringing magic back, I guess the poison must have activated again."

Rogers continued to struggle to process everything he was being told while he pieced everything together in his mind and murmured, "That must be why I couldn't rescue her."

And then, Weaver's concern deepened as he asked in confusion, "Rescue her from what?"

"I… I don't know," the younger detective wearily responded. "So the coven is locked in a ritual and Tilly is too. It's like they have her under some kind of spell."

"Well… maybe we can break it," his partner then replied to him, and started to get back to his feet so he could stand. "Get her out of there."

Rogers looked at him strangely as he questioned, "How?"

He quickly stood up after the man before him without question when Weaver compelled him, "Follow me. I have an idea."

"Hey… if what you say is true… who was… am I… in this other place?" he worryingly asked his partner however, before they could leave their office, and Weaver just chuckled when he turned back around momentarily to look at him once again, knowing that Rogers wouldn't believe him right then if he actually told him the truth.

"All you need to know right now is… you're a survivor," Gold smugly answered him by calling his closest friend that which Captain Hook always had been. "Captain."

Just hours ago…

And then his memory changed once more, and this time Rogers saw himself trapped within the snowglobe while he and Gold fought to break through the snowglobe's indestructible glass by using his hook and the Dark One's dagger to try over and over, until the now powerless man dropped to his knees in defeat and called out to him in frustration, as he shivered from the cold threatening to end their lives the longer they remained inside, saying, "Our spirit's gonna break long before that glass."

However, Rogers had refused to give up despite feeling just as cold, while he too kept his arms tucked close to his body for even the slightest ounce of warmth, and responded to him stubbornly, "We should try another area. There must be a weak spot."

"There's that unshakable determination, however misguided," the older man admirably replied to him, without rising back to his feet again to try to follow after him. "That's the reason why I kept you as a partner, Detective. That and your good heart."

"Well, seeing as we're allowing certain death to bring up secret truths, I do have to ask you… giving the amount of power that you once held… how come you never used it to destroy me?" Hook warily asked him the one question that he had kept locked in the back of his mind ever since he remembered waking up upon the curse being broken.

And much to his surprise, Gold looked up at him as he answered sincerely, "Because you were the closest thing I ever had to a friend."

Back in the present, within Hook's grotto…

At last, Killian broke himself away from his memories while he struggled to shake them off and to think about anything other than the loss he felt from losing his closest friend and partner as well. Unfortunately, all he could think about instead was the old guilt from having failed to save his daughter from her tower years ago like he had promised her he would, on top of from having been forced to abandon her upon getting his heart poisoned from fighting a duel to defend the honor he never had as Captain Hook.

From behind him, Regina walked into the grotto through the entryway once his prosthetic hand led her there before she tucked it safely within her inside coat pocket, then she watched for a moment in silence as Rogers raised the bottle of rum still in his hand and tipped it upside down to dump out the alcohol into the waters before him. Sadly, she understood what him doing so meant for him. That her friend was feeling guilty like she and Alice worried he might be, and that he had begun to turn back to drinking now that he was his old self again, only to have stopped himself, for which she was grateful.

Finally, she started walking towards him slowly, until she suddenly bumped into one of the larger chests on the platform in front of her, not having paid close enough attention to the ground as she walked over. Hook was immediately startled upon hearing the disturbance from behind him and swiftly turned his body around to come face to face with her, much to his surprise upon seeing her now standing above him.

Regina raised her hands out and quickly apologized, "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean… I didn't mean to startle you. Please… don't get up."

"I wasn't expecting you to follow after me," he dejectedly said to her as she stepped forward, and gently laid one hand over his shoulder so that she could sit down on the edge of the platform beside him on his left side without clumsily toppling into the waters, then kept it there by way of offering him small comfort in what little way she could. "I never wanted you… or anyone, especially Alice… to see this place. I only ever brought Weave… Gold here, because we were in a fight against the true Dark One. Were it not for it being a necessity, I wouldn't have shown him either. Not because of the mess… although that most certainly would be reason enough. No… but because… this is nothing more than the place where I came to drown my sorrows. A place where I came to die when I lost all hope of ever being together with Alice again."

"And yet, you have been reunited with her again and your heart's been cured thanks to Gold giving his heart to you, so why aren't you back at the palace spending as much of your time with her as you can?" the Queen almost callously questioned him, until she suddenly realized she sounded harsher towards him than she intended to be by mentioning their friend's sacrifice when Rogers lowered his head and turned away from her. "Rogers, I'm… I'm sorry. I didn't mean to…"

The Captain said quietly, "It isn't that I don't want to be there with my daughter. But the truth is, I needed some time alone to think about things. Also… Robin asked me if she could have some time alone with Alice. Earlier today, as your niece and I fought the guards guarding your prison to distract them so that Henry and the Charmings could free you, she asked me for Alice's hand in marriage. I think she's hoping to propose to her tonight."

She smiled happily while she exclaimed, "That's such wonderful news. But you know… she's worried about you. And seeing you looking so lost… I can see why she is. You're feeling guilty over Gold giving you his heart to save you. But you know, Rogers… he's finally truly happy again. He's back with Belle just like he's wanted since she died. He found his happy ending at last. I refuse to believe otherwise. And he selflessly gave his life to save his closest friend. He didn't have to tell me how he felt towards you. I could see it. He cared about you a great deal. Like he cared about all of us."

"You're right," Rogers sadly responded to her again, still without lifting his head to look at her. "But it's not only that. I mean… our loss is part of why I'm here. But this… this is my… second chance to be with Alice. My second chance to be the kind of father she needs me to be. Like I always should have been for her. I failed her once. What if I fail her again? What if… I fall back into old habits, or someone goads me into a fight by preying on my damned pride like before, and I fall for it. There is no honor in the man I was before Alice, but I knew so even when I agreed to fight Ahab in the duel that allowed for Gothel to poison my heart and yet… I still foolishly tried to protect that honor. And in the end… saving me cost Gold his life. I'm weak, Regina. And failing Alice again…"

"You won't fail her," Regina assuredly replied to him. "Just look at how much you've done for your daughter since you've found her again. Don't forget… you died to protect her yourself tonight. To save her from being pulled into Rumplestiltskin's horrible world he created just for her. You are a good man, Rogers. You've changed and have grown so much in the last few years since we've known you. Besides… you were alone back then. You're not alone anymore. And if Henry or I see you slipping… we'll smack you upside the head and get you to see it too."

When she saw him show a small smile while he kept facing downward, she smiled as well, then continued solemnly, "But I promise you… that will hardly be necessary. You poured that bottle of rum into the ocean just as I walked in here instead of drinking it, didn't you? The old you would have drank it and more. Believe in yourself, Rogers. We all do. Especially Alice."

Finally, Rogers raised his head to look over at her as she pulled his prosthetic hand again from her pocket, then Regina said to him, "I borrowed this so I could find you. With a locator spell. I wanted to let you know, I'm planning to cast one final curse that instead of tearing us apart to hurt us like all Dark Curses before, it will actually bring us together again. Everyone within every realm, brought together within Storybrooke so we will never have to be separated again. We can all finally be together. And this time, I won't have to crush the heart of someone I love most, or hurt anyone to do it, so long as you're willing to give a small piece of your own heart like the rest of us will."

"That sounds wonderful," he answered her in awe. "If that's what you need, of course you have it."

"Now that we're about to start a new chapter in our lives, which name would you like to continue to go by?" the Queen questioned him again, as she glanced down to look at the prosthetic she was still holding.

When he finally reached out to take it from her, Hook looked down at it while he responded somberly, "Hook is the moniker I gave myself when I was the man I despised. I'd like to begin again and this time… as Rogers. I've grown rather fond of it, I think. Besides… there will be two of us living in this… Storybrooke of yours once we're reunited with them. And I look forward to seeing Killian and Emma again, but I think that by going by the name of Killian Rogers, or just Rogers… and continuing to wear this hand will make it easier for people to tell us apart."

He and Regina laughed, until she was staring deep into his eyes and began to feel a strange sense of familiarity in Rogers. A feeling like she had first felt when she had been with Robin and Daniel too. Finally, she just smiled at him, before she finally leaned in to kiss his cheek. Then, he carefully stood from the ground and held out his hand for her to take so he could help her stand as well.

Rogers then whispered, "Thank you, Regina. For coming to find me. For making sure I was alright. But more importantly… for your friendship. You've no idea how much it means to me. Henry's too. Were it not for you both, or Gold… Killian's and Emma's efforts to save me then might have failed and I would have gone back to being my old self."

"You're still being much too hard on yourself," she remorsefully replied to him. "But you're welcome. Now… are you ready to head back?"

"Aye," the pirate Captain stated. "To see my daughter, and to help you however I can with this new non curse of yours."

At last, Regina and Rogers started to leave the grotto for what Hook hoped would be the last time, as he tossed the now empty glass bottle back inside the trunk containing hardly anything of worth for him to save. However, as he passed by another chest, he pulled out a smaller box containing the sea shell Ariel had given him so he could take it with him, before following the Queen back through the tunnel. And together, they returned to the Charmings' palace and to their loved ones waiting for them.