Oh Captain, My Captain

Disclaimer: I don't own Once Upon A Time (the television, its characters, dialogue, all of the other fairytales that Once Upon A Time has redone or etc.) I also don't own any other book, movie, song or character I may have mentioned along the way. I just so happened to use it for non-profitable fun in my spare time.

Author's Note: This is an AU story for Hook and Meg. In this story Meg is an OC until something happens to her to make her a version of Ariel that we know from Disney. This story is an AU because the timeline that this story follows sort of slaps the OUAT in the face. It is also AU because obviously there is an Ariel on the show now and this Ariel is not the Ariel. This story is really more for those of you who just really want to read a HookxOC story, not for someone who wants it to follow the show… or any of the rules. Please enjoy!

A Whole New World.

"Hi, Ariel!"

She looked up to find Henry waving at her, a blonde woman at his side. From what she'd heard around town, this was his biological mother who'd gotten the job of Sheriff. Things had been changing around the town and she'd been enjoying the change. Her life had been too stagnant as of late. She needed something to shake things up.

"Hello, Henry!"

"Ariel? Really?" the woman snorted. "And she has no legs. Clever,"

"Shh!" Henry snapped at her, as she rolled closer. "How are you?"

She shrugged. "I'm alright. Is this your mother?"

He nodded. "This is Emma Swan,"

She reached forward. "Nice to meet you, Emma. I'm Ariel Waters,"

She took her hand with an uncomfortable smile. "Cute name,"

"How about you?" she asked, turning her attention back to the boy. "I haven't had you over for tutoring in a week or two now,"

"Sorry, I've been busy. Hopefully I'll be seeing you next week,"

She smiled. "Alright. Have a night day! Nice to have met you, Emma!"

She watched the two of them walk away from her. They looked in a bit of a hurry as the moved down the street, strides long and fast.

She envied people who had legs.

She had them, sure. But they didn't work. She'd been wheelchair bound ever since the car accident where Mr. Gold had t-boned her on Main Street. It had left her paralyzed from the waist down with no hope to ever walk again. Now he paid for her to live. Despite this, Mr. Gold had taken her legs form her and it was something that she just couldn't forgive the man for no matter how hard her psychiatrist, Mr. Archie Hopper, tried to get her to. It was part the wish to walk again and the feeling that she was missing something.

Sometimes she really did feel like her namesake.

She'd rolled from one end of Story Brooke to the other and everywhere in between since the car accident to build up her strength. She was determined to keep herself busy to not let herself fall into the depression that Mr. Hopper was worried about her for but it was hard. There was only so much she could do in Story Brooke and sometimes when her arms ached and she had to ask for help, she wished that she could make a deal with the devil to give her her legs back.

So she tried to keep herself busy in other ways. She'd start out the day swimming in her pool, excursing her body in the only other way she could. She didn't really like swimming much but it was nice to be able to feel free and able to move ever once in a while. It was sometimes better to be a mermaid instead of a cripple.

Next she'd stop by for lunch at Granny's before going to the hospital to volunteer. Usually nothing new happened there but rolling down the halls and keeping people company with her stories made her feel useful. Then she'd go home to wait for the students whose parents paid for her to watch them and tutor them until they got off of work. She'd then end the day eating alone.

But today, as she rolled through her living room to put away her groceries, someone chose to interrupt her daily schedule.

The annoying trill of her doorbell paralyzed her for a moment in shock as the sound rang through her house, bringing her from her thoughts. It wasn't often she got visitors and they almost never rang the doorbell. Mr. Hopper sometimes made house calls to check on her state of mind but he always did the shave-and-a-hair-cut knock. Sometimes Henry came over to study or read his story Book when he needed some quiet. He alternated between knocking and ringing the bell but she'd already seen him today and he wouldn't be coming over for a week. It definitely wasn't Ruby, who visited her the most. Ruby usually let herself in unless the door was locked, and in that case she just shouted until she was forced to unlock the door for her. Knowing this, she wasn't surprised to find someone else at the door; she was just surprised to find a complete stranger.

The man was incredibly handsome, his dark hair was a start contrast to his piercing blue eyes which most women would die for. He had an unkept look about him that she had the feeling was very much practiced. But the odd thing about him was that he was wearing all black leather. It made him look like the lead in a goth band or a twenty-first century version of Jack Sparrow's brother. He only wore his black cotton shirt and black leather, the leather layering him from head to toe.

The shock was the hook that curled out from inside his left sleeve.

He'd originally had a handsomely sarcastic smile on his face that could have won the hearts of many a woman… including all the lonely moms at Disneyland… but as soon as his eyes settled on her face his expression changed. It was as if he had been expecting someone else and then had seen a ghost.

"Meg?"

Adrenaline went through her seven though it wasn't her name. Maybe she had reacted because he was a handsome man who'd mistaken her for someone else (though she had no idea how he could mistake his Meg for her, a woman in a wheel chair). Whatever the reason, she still didn't have that name.

"I'm sorry. You have the wrong house," she told him apologetically, putting her hand on the doorknob to get ready to close it. "Probably wrong street too,"

"Wait!" he exclaimed, throwing his arm against the door to prevent her from closing it.

She eyes went wide when she saw where his hands should have been. Most amputees either had a plastic hand or nothing but this guy had a shiny metal hook. The tip had created a dicot in her door, chipping the white paint a bit.

Her eyes, still as wide as saucers, turned to look up at the man. He seemed more desperate than anything, now looking down at her with a bit of guilt. Regardless however, adrenaline was pumping through her veins and her face was hot with a blush. It got worse as he continued staring at her, emotions in his blue eyes that she was uncomfortable having aimed at her.

Now she was just uncomfortable. "What?"

He seemed to snap out of it when he heard the tone in her voice. The smile she'd originally seen on his face didn't return however, which seemed to be the usual look on his face. Instead his expression was neutral as he looked down at her. He removed his hook from her door and put his hands behind his back, looking as if he were standing at a very cocky attention.

"Sorry, lass. I thought I knew you for a second but you clearly don't know me,"

"… No, I don't," she said with a shake of her head. "So… I'm going to go,"

Before he could put another nick in her door to stop her, she shut the door on him. With the door between them, she could let out a breath, shaking her arms to get rid of the excess adrenaline.

"Okay,"

But then the oddest thing happened…

She remembered.