Once Upon a Time in Storybrooke - OUAT DR

Chapter 16 - It Was a Long Drive

Emma had given me Neal's address the day before, so I was able to find his place easily enough despite it being New York City. When I parked my VW around the corner and fed the meter I looked around, scrunching my nose up at the smell and the noise.

I hated the city.

I wasn't impressed with Neal so far, given the location of his apartment and the general atmosphere of the block. Plus the fact he'd abandoned my sister and made her go to jail for his crime because Pinocchio told him to, making her give birth in jail and give up her son.

Yeah, not impressed.

I found the closet Emma had locked Hook in and steeled myself for what I might find - or not find, more likely. I took a deep breath and opened the door. There he was, still tied up and gagged, courtesy of Emma, I was sure. I let out a breath that felt like I had been holding since I'd found out they'd left him, relieved he was still here and not elsewhere.

He smiled (or what would have been a smile if not for the gag in his mouth, which I will admit I laughed at but that's beside the point) and I asked if he was going to behave if I took the gag out of his mouth. He nodded and I untied it.

Of course he had something obnoxious and flirty to say the moment his mouth was free, which I ignored. I asked if he was going to make a run for it and he told me no, he'd gotten what he wanted, and now he got something even better - my time. I rolled my eyes and untied him before I shoved him through the closet door and outside, showing him to my car. I pointed and told him to get in and he did so with little resistance, complimenting me on my "vessel".

My phone buzzed but I ignored it, tossing it into the back seat. Hook commented and I held up a finger and told him no, he doesn't get to talk, not after he ran away to New York, stabbed Rumplestiltskin, and endangered my sister and my nephew in the process. He told me he'd done what he needed to in order to get his vengeance, my sister and nephew were never in any danger. I pointed to his hook, which still had Rumple's dried blood on it, as proof that wasn't quite the case, he'd proven how dangerous he could be with his hook, and he got a look on his face, looking down at his hook.

I made the comment that he was lucky I hadn't taken the hook from him, and when he asked why I hadn't, taking the time to clean it now that I'd pointed it out, I told him to shush, he needed to sit back, buckle his seatbelt, and not ask questions. The only one who had earned the right to ask questions here was me, I was the one he'd betrayed and left behind for his so-called vengeance. He didn't understand the purpose of the seatbelt and complained about it the moment I helped him click it into place. I told him to shush and sit back while I got us out of this hell hole and turned up the radio.

We didn't talk until we were out of the City. Once we were on the highway toward Boston I launched into a lecture - one that lasted pretty much the entire remainder of the drive.

What had he been thinking, doing something so reckless? Leaving Storybrooke when he had never been to this realm before, on the invisible Jolly Roger of all things? Did he not understand this realm? Of course he didn't, he'd been here less than 3 weeks before running off to New York fucking City. And what about putting his trust in me? Hadn't we just agreed to start over, start fresh? And the first chance he'd gotten he'd run back to Cora and Regina to try and help him get his revenge on his Crocodile.

I then went on a rant about right and wrong, and how stabbing Gold in broad daylight while he was unsuspecting and powerless seemed a little beneath him. He'd been rash, acted thoughtlessly, and I was left to clean up the mess he'd made.

He, of course, didn't listen to my command not to speak. He interjected quite often, in fact.

He'd been to new realms numerous times, and this one was no different (tell that to the US military my guy), he hadn't been impressed with NYC and didn't understand why it seemed to be such a hub, although he did have to admit to being impressed with our buildings that touched the sky. He did trust me, Cora and Regina had come to him asking for help to find a dagger that could control the Dark One. He did so but they betrayed him, and then he saw me and knew he had no other choice but to go after the Crocodile himself and put an end to him, once and for all.