Neal Cassidy x Fem!Reader - A Complicated History

Time to Believe

Previously: 

"This is not going to work," Hook grumbled. Neal shushed him as he saw the front door open. You slipped out, clutching your coat tightly to your body.

"What did I tell you?" Neal said. "Time to put Operation Cobra into effect."

"Cobra?" Hook repeated.

Neal shuffled slightly. "He wanted to name it." The two men watched as Henry started walking in your direction.



You heard footsteps behind you. You slowly clenched your fists, taking a deep breath. You whirled around just in time to stop Henry from running into you.

"Whoa!" he exclaimed.

"Sorry. I didn't...I didn't know that was you, Henry." You cleared your throat and unclenched your fists. "What are you doing here?"

"I thought I would get some fresh air and read a little."

"That sounds nice." You started walking and he fell into step beside you.

"Do you like reading?" he asked.

"Sometimes."

"I only like it when it's something really interesting, you know? Like if it's got a hero going on a quest or something."

You nodded quickly. "Those can be good."

"Hey, you want to take a look at my book? You might like it!"

"Henry, I don't think--"

"Come on," he pleaded with you. You made the mistake of glancing down at him. And you saw those big eyes that looked so much like Neal's.

"All right. But just one chapter."

He grinned up at you. "Great! But you should know, this book doesn't have chapters." He sat down on a bench, pulling it from his bag. "It has stories."

You glanced at the book. "Oh. It's a book of fairy tales."

"Yeah. But it's pretty cool." He flipped a few pages. "See? This guy looks like Mr. Gold."

You frowned slightly, staring at the picture. You had only met Neal's father briefly, but it really did bear a striking resemblance to him.

"Why is he...?"

"Gray? He's been taken over by a dark power, and it changed who he is." He flipped to another page. "But this woman, Belle, can see that he's a nice person underneath his appearance. And she loves him, which is the only power that can break the spell."

"So, your standard fairy tale," you said.

"Some of them. But some of them are about other worlds. Like this one." He showed you a picture of a man in a dark coat, working furiously on a top hat. "This is about the Mad Hatter. His hat can take him to other worlds if he puts a little magic in it."

He flipped to another page. "And some are about pirates."

"That's--" You hesitated as you saw the new figure on the page. Tall, dark hair, long coat, hook for a hand. Eerily similar to the man you had only met recently. "Is that...Captain Hook?"

"Yeah. You know the story of Peter Pan?"

"Of course."

"Well, according to this story, Hook is actually the good guy. He just wants revenge for his older brother's death."

"Is that so?"

"Yeah. Can't imagine what he would do if his sister died, too."




Hook narrowed his eyes. "This is preposterous. How on earth do you expect that child to convince her when we failed?"

"If he could convince Emma, then he can convince anyone," Neal replied evenly.



Henry flipped to a different page in the book. "See? His younger sister meant a lot to him." You saw a young woman standing on a dock. She was dressed in a dusty brown jacket, a collared shirt, dark pants, and knee high boots. Her (h/l) (h/c) hair was fluttering in the breeze, her (e/c) eyes staring off into the distance.

"Why does she look so sad?" you asked, frowning thoughtfully.

"She wanted to be a ship captain like her brothers. But they wouldn't let her, so she got a job working in a town where she kept an inventory of ships, crew manifests, their hauls, and stuff like that. She didn't like it as much, but she got to be around what she liked. This is the last time that she saw her brothers before they went on a voyage to a new land."

"Like the both of us, you had an adventurous spirit and the sea in your blood. You wanted to be a captain, too."

"What happened?"

"Liam, the oldest brother died. And Captain Hook decided to become a pirate to avenge his death."

"I have two brothers?"

"No. Just one. Liam....passed....No need to dwell on it."

You slowly reached your hand out and ran your fingers along the page. "Does this....Hook know someone named Baelfire?"

Henry smiled slightly. "Yeah. They met for a little while. They didn't get along very well, since Hook wanted to kill Baelfire's father: 'the crocodile'.

"Got you, crocodile!.....Baelfire. You look very much like your father from behind."

"And Baelfire's father is Rumpelstiltskin?"

"How did you know?"

You smiled softly. "Just a...lucky guess."

"I used to live in the Enchanted Forest with my mother and father. My father is Rumpelstiltskin."

"Your father is Mr. Gold."

"That's him in this reality."

"You're telling me that you like it here, in this dull little town? It doesn't make you feel trapped?"

"It just feels really...claustrophobic."

"We all saw how well you can handle your own. You know how to take charge, how to handle a sword."

"I will use this."

"Believe me, I know."

You quickly dropped the sword, letting it clatter against the floor.

"I know that this is a lot to take in."

"She doesn't know. You never told her."

"I was going to, but--"

"Why doesn't she know who you really are?!"

"You really don't remember me?"

"Should I?"

"I would think you'd remember your own dear brother, Cassandra."

"If you're her brother, why doesn't she remember you?!"


"This was nice, Henry. But I think I should head back to our room. Neal is probably worried."

"Okay. I should probably find my mom anyway. But we should do this again sometime." He smiled up at you.

You smiled thinly. "Yeah. We'll see."



You opened the door to see Hook and Neal standing there, waiting for you. You glanced at Neal.

"Nice touch sending him in to do your dirty work."

"It was his idea," Hook said quickly. Neal made a face at him.

You raised an eyebrow. "Look. Let's say I believe you. How come you remember and I don't?"

The men glanced at each other.