The Life We Will Fight For

Where the bloody hell is my ship?

He pressed his hand against his head as he struggled to get up and the blood was painfully pounding through his veins. What the bloody hell happened?! He opened his eyes and jumped around, ready to fight back whoever had attacked him. But there was no one. And... there wasn't Storybrooke either!

He frowned and mumbled to himself: "What the..." He looked around. This was most definitely not Storybrooke anymore. He was back in the Wish Realm, and that over there, right in front of him, was the tavern where he had just won back his mother's ring. With a quick grasp into his pocket he made sure that he still had it on him and let out a sigh of relief. At least it hadn't all just been a dream. But all the rest...

He had just been walking down Main Street, hadn't he? He pulled out his phone and confirmed that just a few minutes had passed since he had left his ship to head straight home. And he must indeed just have been talking to Regina. He could remember it so clearly... he had won that dice throw, finished his ale, then boarded his ship and sailed it back home to Storybrooke for a night and a day. Or... hadn't he? Maybe he had just been imagining things... maybe he had drunk more than he remembered and passed out right here on the docks? But then, had he really talked to Regina or just drunk called her somehow?

None of this made any sense... But most importantly, he needed to speak to her again right away. Even if there was just the slightest chance that she was expecting him, he needed to let her know immediately that he was nowhere near being back home with her. He pressed his phone against his ear, but the line was dead. He cursed to himself. Of course! There was no mobile phone connection in the Enchanted Forest...

Well then, be that as it may, back up on his ship and off he would go. But then...

"Where the bloody hell is my ship?!"

He had moored it right here... hadn't he? Of course! He looked left and right, none of the other ships looked familiar. And now, he had enough! With a few decisive steps he was back inside the tavern.

"Jones!", he was instantly greeted by his old pirate buddies, friends and enemies alike, "Did you come to give me back my ring, how noble of you!"

They all yelled with laughter, slapping their thighs.

"Very funny indeed, now cut the crap and give me back my ship!", he hissed between his teeth, letting his hook gleam dangerously in the candlelight that was illuminating the different tables.

"And what in the seven hells would I do with your ship?"

"Don't try to deny it! I know you had me distracted during our game of dice to steal my ship!"

"May I remind you that it was YOU who pranced in here like you owned the place, demanding the chance to win back your dearly departed mommy's ring? We're all REAL captains and sailors here, Jones, we don't have any use for a pathetic little nutshell like the one you steered into port yesterday."

"If this is so, where is it then?!"

By now he was leaning on the table, the other pirate had risen as well and was doing the same, the tip of his nose almost touching Killian's, his eyes glaring menacingly.

"How would I know?", his breath stank of ale, "I happen to have seen you board your vessel and sail away with it when I stepped outside yesterday to take a piss. So stop bothering me and march your pretty face out of this tavern, go back to where you came from!"

"You saw me sail away on my ship?"

"Aye", he sat back down and reached for his jug, done with this conversation. Killian, however, was anything but.

"Then why am I back here?"

"Why, maybe you missed me?", he replied in a high pitched voice, winking at him, and the others screamed out laughing.

Killian grabbed his collar. "If I find out that you're lying to me... then my hook will help you discover holes in your body that you never even knew existed!"

"Hey hey... easy! Back off, mate!"

"Did you drug me? What's going on here?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about! We've all been sitting here all night, just like yesterday. Nothing's going on!"

"I need to get back home to my girl! How the hell am I supposed to do that without a ship? If there are strange things happening here, she needs to know... And may the sea demons take pity on your soul when she gets a hold of you!"

"Who, your girl?? Buahahahaa!", he bounced up and down, cackling, "Who's your girl then, the bloody queen or what? Buahahahaha!"

All the other pirates joined in, laughing out loud, pointing at Killian like he was a court jester.

"If you must know... yes!", he proudly raised his head, "Queen Regina is the woman I'm about to ask for her hand in marriage, with that very ring I took from you because you suck at dice!"

"Buahahahahahaha!!", he just kept laughing louder and louder, holding his fat, round belly, "Of course she is! And my wife is Ursula, the sea witch. Come to think of it, I'd better scuttle home or else dinner will get cold and she'll slap me with one of her tentacles."

When everyone just kept on laughing at him, he slowly had to realize that there was no proper conversation to be had here tonight. If he wanted to get back home, he had to go look elsewhere.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

"Hey... mom?", Henry knocked against the wall of her vault to signal his presence, "How are you doing?"

She didn't even look up from her books, let alone respond.

"It's late. Come on, let's go home."

"I can't", she mumbled.

"Yes, you can! How long have you been here? Have you eaten anything at all?", he gently placed a hand on her shoulder, but she pushed it away. "Mom! Please... think of..."

"... I AM thinking of my baby, thank you very much, that's why I'm down here, and that's why I can't stop!", she looked up at him now, and he was shocked by how devastated she looked.

She wasn't crying anymore, but her eyes had lost all their shine and were dark and dull, looking right through him, her skin was almost grey and she had dark bags under her eyes. She hadn't slept at all since Killian had disappeared, and most likely she hadn't eaten either.

"Mom", he swallowed, "Please... come home! Take a break. For me..."

She shook her head and went back to searching through her books and scrolls of parchment. "No... Rumple's gone... Bell's gone... and none of you others is any help at all! So I will have to find him myself, won't I?"

"You won't find anyone if you kill yourself in the process! You look terrible! You're putting your unborn child in danger, whether you care about it or not. And I won't let that happen, because I'm its big brother!"

"Go home, Henry!", she yelled, then gasped and pressed her hand on her stomach, her eyes widening in surprise.

"MOM!!", instantly he was next to her, holding her as she bent over and squirmed in agony, breathing heavily, "What's going on?! You're in pain..."

"Leave me alone!"

"No, are you insane?! You need a doctor!"

"I don't need a doctor, I need Killian! Aaaaah!", she panted and fell to the floor, the pain that was shooting from her belly through her entire body was so excruciating that it was blurring out her vision and almost choking her.

Henry though didn't want to hear anymore and didn't care about her objections, he picked her up on his arms and carried her out of her vault and straight to the hospital.