Once We are Descendants

Chapter 49: Discipline and Devotion

Several of the Storybrooke adults have gotten up, ready to break up the conflict, especially Regina, who can feel her hands warming up with magic.

Evie is immediately on the floor, frantically trying to pick up the beads, unable to hide the tears appearing in her helpless brown eyes. Doug gets on the floor next to her.

"It's okay Evie... it's okay," he says, but anyone could hear the hurt in his voice that Harry had destroyed something he'd made for his girlfriend. "We'll find them."

Mal's eyes glow a very bright green as she stands up and raises her hands. She mutters a spell under her breath and throws her palms up to let the magic flow through... except, like before, nothing happens. The daughter of Maleficent internally kicks herself for forgetting about this but decides to use her enhanced strength to still teach this punk pirate a lesson.

Just as she's about to grab the front of his belt and vest, someone beats him to it.

Killian hooks the back of Harry's collar and pulls him roughly away from Evie.

"That'll be quite enough mate," the adult pirate says in a low, threatening voice.

Killian and Emma have arrived on the scene and the real Captain Hook pulls his son forcefully across the restaurant and outside onto the front patio. The shock of being manhandled like this makes the kid's eyes go wide in surprise. He tries to writhe out of his alternate father's grip, but he is forced to comply as the real one-handed pirate is far stronger than him.

"Everything's fine, go back to your breakfasts," Granny calls to the concerned looking customers that were either standing at the counter or eating in the booths as both Regina and Snow follow the "alternate parents" outside.

"Ease up there mate," the kid grunts, when Killian finally unhooks his son, forcing him to stand in front of a picnic table. "Ye think ye could be a bit more gentle?"

"I hardly think you deserve it after what you just did," Snow says, sternly crossing her arms over her chest.

Both Emma and Killian are nervous about what they are going to be doing. Sure, Emma has had experience dealing with disciplining kids, but Henry was never as arrogant or as seemingly cruel as this kid was. She was so angry at the way he'd bullied the other kids and deliberately ruined something that was obviously special to Evie. The father of Harry was also especially angry, he hated seeing this boy be so harsh to the other children, but it also made his stomach turn. It was like looking into the past, seeing him pick on the meeker people because they refused to fight and destroying something precious to them. He'd done it to Rumple, destroying his family, although one could argue that the Dark One got him back by destroying his hand and Milah many years later. It was like watching an immature child pick a fight and it made both the parents sick to think about.

However, before either of them could say anything, the Evil Queen had to say her piece first, as always. She grabs the front of Harry's shirt and belt, pulling him towards her so that they were eye to eye.

"Don't you ever touch my daughter again," Regina snarls, her Evil Queen side immediately rearing its ugly head again. Despite the fact that she'd rid herself of "the bad apple" side of her personality, once and a while that darkness resurfaces, especially when her loved ones are threatened. She leans in closely and whispers in the teen pirate's ear. She grinds her teeth as she speaks. "You are so lucky that you're a kid and that I have a moral compass. Once upon a time, I wouldn't have hesitated in tearing out your beating heart and crushing it into tiny little pieces of dust right in front of you..."

"That's enough Regina," Snow says sternly, putting her hand on her step-mother's shoulder. "Let Emma and Killian handle this."

The dark-haired queen hesitates, grinding her teeth slightly while staring into this child's bright blue eyes. She can tell that he's trying to be brave, remain calm and collected in the face of potential death, but she knows that he's terrified. She can see it in his eyes and the way he's breathing, having threatened people during her reign as queen allowed her to see when a person was truly terrified, especially when faced with harm or death. She still has an effect on people to make them immediately fear her, especially when someone she loves is being threatened. Eventually, she releases him but has to get the last word in like always.