𝐅𝐄𝐀𝐑𝐋𝐄𝐒𝐒 ➶

𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚛𝚝𝚢 𝙵𝚘𝚞𝚛

"Let me guess," Henry said, stepping up next to Ruby, "I get to go with Ruby."

"You got it, kid," Emma said before looking to Ruby. "Thank you."

Ruby nodded and put a hand on Henry's shoulder. "I'll keep him out of the crossfire," she promised. 

Naomi moved to be next to Mary Margaret. She did not look happy, or even angry for that matter. Her face was blank and unreadable in deep thought. "How are you feeling?" Naomi asked. 

"As good as can be," Mary Margaret lied. She hadn't torn her eyes away from the truck. Naomi gave the woman a small side look, but chose to ignore the false statement. 

Fifteen minutes later the group stood in the back of Mr. Gold's shop. They had set him gently on the small bed. Mr. Gold had sent Emma in search of a large glass jar, and she returned from the other room with it a moment later. It was an amazing jar full of emptiness. 

"Did you find it?" He asked quietly. It must've hurt to move his chest in order to speak. The cloth they had been sure to replace once off the ship was already nearly covered in blood. 

"Yes, but there's nothing in-" Emma shook the jar a bit and heard something clink around inside. Naomi frowned and put her hands on her hips. "Wait..." Emma reached inside and felt around. She pulled out a small, invisible piece of something. 

"Invisible chalk; it's magic," Mr. Gold stated. "Draw a line in front of the door and a magical barrier will be created for when Cora does come knocking. It'll buy us some time," he instructed. 

Emma nodded and turned away as Mr. Gold continued, "The rest of you had better get ready for battle."

+ + +

Naomi had rushed back to the loft to get her bow and returned to the shop only minutes later. The invisible chalk line had been drawn in both doorways between Mr. Gold and what would soon be Cora. Now all that was left to do was wait. 

She sat on the table in the room Emma, Neal, and Mr. Gold were waiting in. The old man was too weak to protest. Neal stood next to Naomi. The two of them had a lot of catching up to do before Cora killed them all. 

"So where did you learn to sail?" Naomi questioned him as she pulled her dark hair back into a ponytail. 

Neal sighed and glanced back to where his father lay. "I may have ran into Captain Hook along the way," he said. Naomi frowned deeply. 

"Oh," she spoke. She stared down at her legs. "I see."

"He wasn't that bad a guy when we last talked. Looking back on it, any arguments we'd had were just one big misunderstanding-" Neal began to explain. 

"But why were you on his ship?" Naomi asked, sharply shifting her eyes to him. He sighed. She shrugged indifferently, keeping her gaze matched with his. "It would've been after I'd left."

"Yeah, why did you leave Neverland? You've never told me the story," Emma piped in, earning a grateful glance from Neal. Naomi ignored her. 

She hopped down from the table and glared up at him. "Surely you weren't going back to the island, right?"

"Naomi, surely we can discuss this later-"

"Why were you with him?" Naomi pressed. She was not willing to give up. She didn't care if she was being too nosy or looking into things that were none of her business. She had risked her relationship with Pan to get Baelfire off that island, and now he claimed he'd gone back. What could possibly be that important?

But no one could have left that island without Pan's permission. He must have known all times when Bae left and when he arrived. Yet he made it seem as if Bae's whereabouts had always been a mystery to him. What game had Peter Pan been playing?