Once Upon a Time in Storybrooke - OUAT DR

Chapter 12 - A Pleasant Morning

Hook and I spent the night, alone, sharing my bed. There may have been some banter between the two of us, maybe even some heated flirtations, but even with our history in the Enchanted Forest - having spent the night in his arms once before after waking up from a horrible nightmare - Killian remained a gentleman and kept his arms to himself. 

I checked my phone and there were messages from Emma and Snow about the mystery man who came into town. They'd figured out his name was Greg Mendell and Dr. Wale - who was Dr. Frankenstein which was a lot to take in, the knowledge made worse knowing Snow SLEPT WITH HIM when they were cursed - had disappeared last night. Ruby had found him and convinced him to do the surgery to save the stranger, which he did. 

No mention of Regina. 

I called them back and let them know the night spent trapped in my apartment with the pirate went without issue, getting the update that Greg had made it through surgery, Emma had already talked to him, and he hadn't seen anything. The town and secrets were safe. I asked if anyone had checked all of Regina's haunts -  her house, office, the cemetery, but they were all too caught up in the stranger and Dr. Frankenstein thing they hadn't found her yet. 

I told them not to worry and just focus on getting some rest after being out all night, Hook and I could wait.

The pirate smiled at me, leaning in the doorway with a look of trouble about him, asking if that meant we were going to get to spend the day together. I rolled my eyes but said yes and asked if he wanted some coffee before he got up to whatever it was that had that look on his face. He laughed and asked what I could possibly be talking about and I just gestured vaguely to his overall person in answer, pouring us both a cup of coffee. I told him I could tell he was trying to get a rise out of me and figured we deserved to be caffeinated before he did whatever it was he was planning on doing. He acted insulted but I could tell he was playing with me. 

I handed him his coffee and we sat on the back balcony, looking out at the ocean, a record playing inside on the record player. He remained on good behavior despite his earlier look of trouble. 

The morning was nice, I'd even go so far as to call it pleasant. As Killian and I sat together we seemed to have an odd sense of familiarity - we worked well together, we got along, had similar interests, and complicated pasts - and we were always gravitating toward one another. I enjoyed his company, genuinely, and felt his presence was both calming and exhilarating at the same time. 

As morning turned toward afternoon Killian took the time to inspect my apartment - which he'd called quaint and creepy the night before - commenting on every bone, skull, or coffin-shaped piece of decor as he went. He found my style and choice in decor mecab but perfectly fitting to my style. He asked if I was some kind of witch, but I just laughed and explained I liked the darker parts of life - life had been dark for me and I had found a way to find peace in that darkness, and now that my life was full of light I still loved it. 

I got a call just as he reached my bookshelf and inspected a little cemetery moss terrarium I'd made a few years ago and I excused myself to the balcony. It was Emma. Gold had found out about Hook and his quest for revenge. Since Belle no longer had her memories there was nothing standing between him and killing the pirate, or her father - the man that had caused her to lose her memories in the first place. 

Of course, he didn't know the truth of Killian's revenge, nobody did. Only I knew that story. 

However, the thing Gold wanted more than to kill Hook or Belle's father - who was recovering from the car wreck in the hospital - was to find his son, Baelfire. So, he was cashing in on the favor my sister owed him in order to keep him from hurting anybody. She was going to help him find his son, and if anything happened to Belle while they were gone, we'd all pay that price. 

Emma agreed to go but wasn't going to leave Henry behind with Cora in Storybrooke. He was going whether Mr. Gold liked it or not. Snow and David promised as soon as Gold, Emma, and Henry left they'd find Regina and have her break the spell on my apartment. 

When I got off the phone Killian was standing in the doorway once again, asking if he'd heard right and the Crocodile was leaving Storybrooke. I told him it wasn't nice to eavesdrop but yes, Emma, Henry, and Mr. Gold were all leaving Storybrooke today so he could find his son. A strange look went over him, almost like a dark cloud, and I had a sinking feeling revenge was circling around his mind once more. 

I didn't know what caused me to move forward and lay my hand on his chest, but I did, our eyes meeting as I told him there was more to life than revenge, giving him a small smile before moving past him and going inside. He'd been alive since Rumplestiltskin, the Dark One, was still just a man. He'd been on his journey for vengeance longer than I could fathom, and I wasn't so naive as to think just because we shared some type of connection that he'd abandon that journey for me.

It wasn't long after Emma, Henry, and Gold had left Storybrooke that Regina was finally found.