Chapter 39: Hooked
To be honest, he probably shouldn't have tried to kidnap the Evil Queen.
He should've known better. But he had to think of something. He had been so sure Belle was going to be here. Her father was being arraigned and all. It was suppose to be fairly simple. Kill the Beast's beauty. No looking back. It was that simple. And he would satisfy Cora and his need for revenge.
Of course, he'd like the Dark One's head mounted on his wall, but it would be a start.
Killian sighed. This whole thing was weird. From the fact that Cora had taken his bloody heart out, to the fact he had tried to kidnap Regina.
And had failed quite epically.
How was he supposed to know that magic existed on the other side of the town?
That and that Regina wasn't going to be merciful with him.
Well, he sort of figured that. He wouldn't be merciful with himself either, he did try to kidnap her after all.
To be fair, he really thought she was Belle.
They both had dark hair. And Belle, while shorter than Regina, usually wore those ridiculous high shoes. So, it would make sense that he'd thought they were the same height.
Or maybe he'd been hitting the rum a little hard.
Sad excuse, but it made the most sense. And he hadn't listened to Cora when she said her daughter might be in town. He really tried not to listen to Cora. If he listened too much he might get upset with her and that would give her an opportunity to squeeze his heart into nothingness, a fate that he really did not wish to deal with.
However, the smart looking business suit should've really given him a clue. Not really librarians wear. But she was going to court.
Oh, Lady Logic, how she failed him.
Once again, too much rum.
And when he grabbed Regina, let's just say things didn't go so well. He had been waiting for Belle to fight back, but he had been expecting kicking and clawing, not magic fireballs hitting him right in the bum and then getting tied up on the bed. Like he was a character from that horrible novel that Cora always tried to hide she was reading from.
Regina was a demon .
Almost as bad as her own mother.
And to make matters worse she was staring at him all creepy like when he woke up.
"Bugger." He said.
"Is that how you address me." Regina stated.
"Well, I didn't know it was going to be you." He said, "Your mother would kill me. Now, can you let me go?"
Yeah, a long shot. He should've known it wasn't going to work. Especially with the evil glare the queen gave him.
"We're going to have a little chat." Regina said. "I want to know everything. Why my mother sent you here? Who are you looking for? And what you planned to do to me?"
"Um…" Hook said.
Regina rolled her eyes and put her hand through his chest and instantly frowned. "You've got to be kidding me."
"Well, love, she is called the Queen of Hearts for a reason."
"Shut up."
She reminded him of her mother at that moment. And it scared him. Not enough to wet his leather breeches, but enough to make him know that even if she couldn't grab his heart, Regina was about to make him very uncomfortable.
She sighed heavily before waving her hand. Hook found he couldn't breathe.
Regina smiled. "Think you'll talk now, pirate?"
He sighed heavily when she allowed him to breathe again. "If she didn't forbid it."
"Oh, there are ways around heart magic." Regina said.
Hook shook his head. "You don't…"
"I was the Dark One's apprentice. And unlike my mother, I didn't waste his tutelage by having illicit dalliance."
"They slept together?"
Hook was horrified. Then again, Milah had slept with the Dark One too. But before he had been the Dark One, and that made the difference (sort of—okay, not really).
Regina rolled her eyes. "Really? You didn't know that. Why did you think she wanted you to kill Belle?"
"I never said that."
"Yeah, but it was sort of obvious. I mean, you probably thought I was Belle from behind."
"You're like half a foot taller than her."
Regina rolled her eyes. "We all know that you have an obsession with killing the Dark One. Not that I blame you, he can be a pain in the ass. And I know that my mother is less than thrilled he moved on."
"You and your mother don't keep in contact." Hook said, "How do you know?"
Regina laughed. "I'm not stupid. Besides, after what she tried to do to Harry it was very easy putting the pieces together."
"You don't know everything." Hook said. He bit his lip. He probably shouldn't have said that.
Especially with the way Regina eyed him.
In another life, he could've seen Regina as an attorney. She really looked the part today with her sleek suit and blow out, and cat catching the canary type grin. He gulped.
"You're such an idiot." She said, "You just made your stay here a lot less pleasant."
He sighed heavily. "You know I'm really not a good person to squeeze for information. Cora's will protect anything important."
"If she's watching you." Regina said. "And I have a feeling mother's a little preoccupied right now."
Hook smirked. Oh, she was. With Regina's son or should he say with her son's heart.
He really shouldn't be smirking about the matter. Henry Mills was a child. Emma's child. But since Hook was currently heartless, he couldn't help but feel like he had the upper hand over Regina.
Regina looked at him. "Talk, pirate."
"I want something out of this." He said.
"Do I look like I'm willing to negotiate with you?" Regina asked, "I am not the Dark One."
No she wasn't. He would've killed her if she was. And it wasn't like he'd make a deal with the Dark One either. He was smarter than that.
He hoped.
Occasionally, he knew he had a dumb moment like now. But he didn't entirely blame that on himself, he wasn't entirely whole.
Right now though, he needed to focus on the game. "I think you'd be willing to negotiate if you heard what your mother had planned for you and your son."
"Henry?" Regina sounded alarmed. "What does mother want with Henry?"
Hook sighed. "Terms."
"I swear to you, pirate…"
"All I want is my heart, and the ability to go after the Dark One. And maybe get ice cream with Swan."
"Seriously, ice cream with Swan?"
"Well, you didn't look happy to see us together."
"Because you're sleeping with my mother."
"And I'm a villain."
"Oh, come on. You know I don't buy that heroes versus villains bull shit. It sounds like a really lame plot for a TV show that wants to bring in a lot of guest stars. Next thing you'll be talking about princesses of evil or some other nonsense."
She had a point.
Hook really didn't consider himself a villain. He really never gave any thought to the whole thing. He was just a man of circumstances. Of course those circumstances lead to some horrible things. And that's probably why Regina didn't want him around Henry. Not that he blamed her, especially after what he did.
He sighed thinking about what he was tasked to do. He had taken the boy to Cora. Made him prime for her manipulations. And he helped her make contact with him.
"Hook," Regina said. "I want to know what you did to Henry? Please. If not for me for Emma…"
He sighed heavily, "Cora will kill me."
She would too. He had no doubt about it. Cora was a crazy bitch. If she knew that he told Regina her nefarious plan, she'd kill him.
But could he do it? Could he really let Swan's kid die because of him.
"I want my heart back." He said.
"I'll see what I can do." She said, "You're going to have bigger problems if you don't tell me what my mother wants with my son."
He sighed heavily. "You're really not going to like it."
"Try me."
"Henry is special."
"I know that." Regina said.
"No, like really, really, special." Hook said. "Your mother. She took my heart and gave me a task that I'm not proud of. Remember that night, Belle's son ran off?"
Regina nodded.
Hook sighed. "I…I took Henry to see Cora. She needed him."
"For what!" Regina snapped.
He didn't like the look on her face.
"You promised you wouldn't hurt me."
"I didn't say anything about bodily harm. I want to know what my mother did to my son."
He sighed. "Your son has the heart of a true believer."
"How did she…No! No!"
"Regina," Hook said. "Calm down, I haven't finished. But yes, she has his heart. For now."
"For now? Is she going to crush it?"
Hook sighed. "Originally, yes. I think. It's hard to keep track of Cora's scheming. But I know she wanted to use Henry to get close to you. However, when she found out that his heart was of the truest believer, well, she asked for an old contact of mine."
Yeah, old contact meant mortal enemy. He really had to get squeezed for that information because the last thing he wanted to do was to deal with Peter bloody Pan.
But that's who Cora wanted to talk too. And he was just glad he was out of town so he didn't have to deal with the little demon.
Regina eyed him. "Why do I have a feeling that I'm not going to like this old contact?"
"You're going to hate him." Hook said, "He…he needs a heart like Henry's. And Cora, well, she likes to make bargains with devils."
"Where are they?" Regina said.
"You're just going to poof in there. Shouldn't you like plan? It's Peter freaking Pan and your mother. And she has my heart, I don't want to end up dead. You promised me."
Regina rolled her eyes. She wasn't very attractive when she did that which was a shame. She had a nice body. Not as nice as Swan's, but she definitely had curves in the right places.
Too bad she was the Evil Queen and related to Cora.
"Answer. Me." Regina said, "Where's my mother?"
"She's at the lighthouse." Hook said. "We've been living there for awhile. I don't know when Pan is coming to town or if he's already there. You better hurry though, if he does have Henry's heart then your boy doesn't have much time."
Regina was gone.
Hook groaned realizing he was still tied to the bed in the hotel room with no one to untie him. This was going to be a long night. However, his night would be nowhere near as long as Regina's.