Ch.63: The Apprentice
Katherine got out of the car with Henry the next day and stood on the curb.
“You sure you’re okay with this?” she asked him.
“No, but I want you to be happy.
He gave her a little push, so she made up her mind and entered the diner.
Hook was throwing darts, when she entered the diner.
He turned around to see her approaching him.
“The Snow Queen turn up? Did I miss the search party?”
“Oh, nothing to miss. There’s no sign of that ice witch yet.”
“It’s all right, Pierce. You’ll find her.”
“Yeah, I know. Uh, that’s not why I’m here.”
“Then why are you here?”
“Well, I thought about what you said last night about being a survivor. And you’re right.”
“It’s like I said, love. You don’t have to worry about me.”
He turned back around and through another dart.
“Good, ‘cause I’m here to ask you out.”
His dart fell to the floor.
He turned back around.
“To dinner or something,” she added.
“Shouldn’t I be the one asking you out?” he inquired.
“I should’ve known you’d be old fashioned, given your age. What are you, like, 300?”
“Curses and Neverland may have given my experience, but as you can see, I’ve retained my youthful glow. I happily accept on one condition, you let me plan the evening.”
“I know how to plan a date,” she replied. “You’re not the first person I’ve dated.”
“You know how to chase a monster. I know how to plan an evening out.”
“Well, I don’t pillage and plunder on the first date, just so you know.”
“Well, that’s because you haven’t been out with me yet.”
She chuckled.
“See you tonight,” he added.
He gave a smile and she smiled back, before leaving the diner.
When she got outside and went around the car to get to the driver’s side, she stepped in a puddle and looking, saw that there was water under the car and around it.
“What the hell?” she questioned.
She got in the car.
Rumple entered his shop, only to see Hook waiting for him, sitting on top of his glass case counter.
“Making yourself at home, are we?” Rumple questioned, closing the door.
“I’m here to make a deal.”
“Not interested.”
“Oh, you will be. Unless you want Belle to learn the truth about your precious dagger,” he said, knowing the dagger Rumple gave Belle was a fake.
Rumple began to walk towards the counter where he was.
“Tread carefully. I might just take your other hand.”
“It’s funny you say that, ‘cause my hand is exactly what I’m here about.”
A few minutes later, Rumple set a jar with his hand on the counter, Hook now standing by the counter.
“You kept it all these years?” Hook questioned.
“Only to remind myself I should have finished the job when I had the chance.”
“Can you re-attach it?”
“Indeed. But the question is why?”
“I’ve got a date with Katherine. Should things go well, and she wants me to hold her, I want to use both hands.”
“Oh, I see blackmail brings out the romantic in you. But this hand may bring out the worst.”
“What the devil does that mean?”
“This hand belonged to the man you used to be. Cunning, selfish pirate. If I reunite this with your body, there’s no telling what influence it could have on you.”
Hook thought he was tricking him, so he didn’t take it seriously.
“Sorry, Dark One, I’m not gonna fall for your tricks today. Nothing can change me back.” He set his hook on top of the counter. “Now give me my hand, or Belle finds out exactly who she’s married to. Because unlike me, you haven’t changed one bit, Crocodile.”
“Very well.” He magically re-attached it to Hook. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
Elsa was at Snow and Charming’s place.
Snow set a book down on the table, the baby in her arms.
“Census records from the first and second curses. If Anna’s ever in Storybrooke, we’ll find some trace of her here.”
“Your curses are very thorough,” Elsa said.
“That’s just A through E.”
Charming came over and set some more books on the table.
“Here are the rest of them.”
Snow and Charming turned to see Katherine in a dress.
“Wow,” Snow said.
“What Snow said,” Charming commented.
Elsa looked too.
“Is that just the corset? Where’s the rest of it?”
“This is the rest of it,” Katherine informed her. She walked over. “You sure you guys don’t need any help? Maybe I can get Hook to stay in for the night.”
“My sister put her wedding on hold because of me,” Elsa said. “I don’t want anyone else to stop living their lives on my account.”
There was a knock on the door, so Katherine went over and opened it to reveal Hook with one hand behind his back.
“You look stunning, Pierce.”
“You look…”
“I know. I thought since I’m finally adjusting to this world, I thought it was time to dress the part.” He handed her a rose, his hand no longer behind his back.
“Katherine?” Snow said, seeing that Hook had both hands now.
“Is that?” Katherine questioned, realizing it as well.
“Mine? Yeah,” he replied. “The Dark One kindly restored what he once took from me. It seems he has indeed changed his ways.”
“So what do I call you now? Captain Hand?”
“Killian will do,” he replied.
“Okay, Killian. We should get out of here before David decides to give you a speech.”
“Well, you can spare yourself the trouble, mate. I assure you, Katherine couldn’t be in better hands.”
“That’s exactly what worries me. Especially now that you have two of them.”
“I can take care of myself,” Katherine assured Charming.
“You sure you don’t want me to drive?”
“Goodbye,” Katherine said, and left with Killian.
Charming went over and closed the door.
“I wasn’t too hard on him, was I?” he asked Snow.
“You should have seen me when Kristoff started dating Anna. It’s the only time in my entire life that I’ve ever made someone sweat.”
Charming chuckled.
“Speaking of which, let’s figure out what happened to your sister,” Snow said.
Elsa opened a book to begin looking.
Killian sat at a table at a restaurant with Katherine.
“Shall I order us some drinks?” he asked.
“Not tonight,” she replied.
“Why, love? You a bit worried you’ll find me even more irresistible after a few libations?”
“No. I wanna stay sober tonight just in case the Snow Queen decides to crash our date.”
He put his hands in hers.
“Look, Pierce. I didn’t bring you here to worry about the Snow Queen. I brought you here to show you a good time.”
Will finished his drink at the bar and spotted her with Hook, so he tried to leave unseen, using the waiter whom was coming over to pour them drinks, to block himself from view, but he accidentally bumped the waiter which made him accidentally spill a little bit on her dress.
“Really?” Katherine commented.
Hook grabbed Will.
“Take your glass there, mate. Apologize to the lady, mate.”
Will looked over at Katherine.
“Killian. Look. It’s okay.”
Hook let go of Will, not knowing what the hell was happening.
Will stood up and straightened his jacket.
“You? You’re the thief that took off from the ice cream shop.”
Will ran off.
Katherine got up and was about to chase, but held back saying, “Nope. Not gonna do it.” She didn’t feel like running after him in heels. She also didn’t want to ruin a perfectly good night. “We are on a date,” she said, sitting back down. “And I am not gonna let some petty, fairy-tale thief ruin it. And there’s an ice wall around the town. He can’t get away. I’ll find him. But he is not gonna ruin this night.”
While she’d been talking, he hadn’t exactly been listening. He was staring at his hand. He knew something was happening, but didn’t want to worry her.
Katherine noticed him staring at his newly attached hand.
“Killian? Hey, Hook. It’s okay, it was just a glass of wine.”
She put her hand in his hand he’d been staring at.
“Sorry, love. I, uh, don’t know what got into me.”
After the date, they kissed outside of the door, he asked her out saying it was his turn to do that, and she closed the door behind herself to the apartment.
“So, how was it?” Snow asked.
She looked to see Snow and Charming sitting on the couch.
“You guys are still awake.”
“We wanna hear everything about the date,” Snow said.
“Just for the record, some of us don’t wanna hear everything,” Charming said.
“How was the restaurant? Did you go anywhere after? Was there a good night kiss?” Snow questioned her.
“That, for instance, is one of the things I don’t wanna know about,” Charming said.
“I really need to get my own place,” Katherine commented, feeling a little overwhelmed by all the questions. “Good night, guys.” She walked off to her room.
“She seems happy,” Snow commented to Charming.
“I guess he really has changed,” Charming replied.
From her room, Katherine said, “I can hear you, guys!”
Will was picking the lock of the library, when Killian saw Will.
“Bloody hell.”
“That’s what I say,” Will replied, not really paying attention. Then he actually stopped trying to break in and looked to see him. “You?”
“I’ve been a pirate long enough to know there’s nothing worth stealing in there,” Hook said.
“That’s what you think.”
“You’re drunk, mate.”
Will tried to pick at the lock again and Hook tried to stop him.
“Get off me, man,” Will said.
Hook punched him a few times and Will landed on his back on the ground.
“What the hell, mate?” Will inquired.
Hook stopped walking towards him, realizing that he was about to do something he’d regret, so he just told him, “You tell anyone about this, you’re a dead man.” Then he leaned against a corner and looked at his hand and then across the street at the shop. “The bloody crocodile was right.”
Rumple got into his car and a moment later Hook joined him.
“You were right,” Hook told him.
“Get out,” Rumple said.
“I don’t want this infernal hand anymore. It’s taken possession of me.”
“You should have heeded my warning when I offered it,” Rumple reminded him.
“I can’t control it. Remove the darn thing before it makes me do something you regret.”
“Was that a threat?”
“Aye, mate. Take it back, or Belle learns that the dagger she has is as fake as your new disposition.”
“Oh, is it?”
“Is it what?”
“Fake.”
“Well, you wouldn’t have given me the hand if it weren’t.”
“After you extracted that price, I switched the real dagger back.”
“No, you’re lying.”
“Am I? It seems you’ve lost that leverage you once had. So if you wanna part ways with that hand and get this back—,” he took out the hook. “there’s only one way I’ll help.”
“A deal,” Hook said, though he didn’t like the sound of that. “What do you want?”
“All in due time.”
“You think I’m daft enough to agree to that without knowing the terms? I’ll find another way to rid myself of this darned hand.”
“I’m afraid that’s easier said than done. You see, my magic put that hand on. And only my magic can take it off.”
Hook drove the hook into his chest.
“You think you would’ve learned the first time you buried that hook in me,” Rumple commented. “It never sticks.” He made the hook disappear.
“That wasn’t me,” Hook assured him. He looked at his hand.
“You’re losing control, dearie,” Rumple said. “Next time, you might do something to someone who can’t be so easily fixed.”
“You have a deal. I’ll do whatever it takes.”
“Oh, I do love it when they say that. Meet me at the docks tomorrow morning, Captain. We have work to do.”
The next day, Katherine was driving the car, when she suddenly drove onto a patch of ice and had to get back in control of the car.
She got out and saw the patch of ice.
“I knew it.”
She went around a building and saw her.
“Why the hell are you following me!?” she yelled, since she was a distance away from her. “Hey, stop!” she added, when the Snow Queen walked around the building.
Katherine ran after her.
The Snow Queen disappeared, so she stopped.
“What the hell?”
Her phone rang and she took it out and answered it.
“Now’s not a great time.”
“Katherine, I need you to come down to the library,” Belle said. “We have a situation,” she told her, as she stood in the library, seeing someone with a book and a mostly empty alcohol bottle sleeping. And it had appeared that he’d gotten in by breaking a window.
Rumple arrived at the docks and approached, where Hook was sleeping on a bench table.
“Morning, Captain.”
Hook woke up.
“Well…I trust you’re ready.”
Hook sat up.
“I’m ready to pay the price and get this over with.”
“Good.”
Rumple made a broom magically come to him in his hand.
“What are we gonna do with that?”
“This is gonna help me find an old friend,” Rumple informed him. “After you.”
He put his jacket on and got up and they both followed the walking broom that now had arms.
“To whom is your bristled guy leading us?” Hook questioned, when they got to a house and were following it up the steps to the house.
“Someone who wronged me long ago,” Rumple replied. “And today, he’s going to pay the price.”
Rumple knocked on the door and the apprentice answered it.
“Hello, old friend,” Rumple greeted. “Captain, please see our host to a seat.
Inside, once Hook had him seated and Rumple used magic to bring the hat out of the box, the apprentice said, “You have it.”
“Don’t tell me you doubted me.”
“Every Dark One tries. Every one fails.”
“Might be time to update the motto.”
“You may have the hat. But we both know you will never collect enough power to do what you want.”
“Oh, I will.” He set the dagger down nearby. “But, alas, you won’t be there to see it.” Rumple used the hat on the apprentice, sucking him inside it.
“Where the hell did he go?” Hook questioned, having never seen the hat before or known what it was.
Rumple picked the hat up from the floor.
“Exactly where I need him.”
Rumple and Hook were at his shop. Rumple set the jar on the counter.
“Okay, we’re done. I’ve fulfilled our deal. Now take it off.”
Rumple switched his hand with his hook.
“Our deal actually isn’t complete.”
“I say it is. You can no longer control me, mate. I just saw you use the real dagger, so I know you’re lying to Belle. You’ve got nothing on me.”
Rumple held up a tape.
“Security tape from the house we just left. How do you think Miss Pierce is going to react when she finds out what you did to that kindly old man?”
“I know how that device works. And if I’m on there, so are you.”
Rumple put his hand over the tape and then took his hand away.
“And now I’m not. But you are.”
“I only did what you asked so I could rid myself of that cursed hand, so I could become a better man. Katherine will understand that.”
“Even when she finds out the truth?”
“What truth?”
“This hand isn’t cursed.”
“But you said…”
“You were right. Dark One lies. Dark One tricks. This hand is nothing but a lump of flesh. The only thing it did was give you permission. Permission to be the man you really are. Not some puppy dog chasing after the object of his affection, but a ruthless pirate who will stop at nothing to get what he wants. I did you a favor. I helped you remember the darkness that lies beneath.”
“Then you know that that darkness will have no problem crushing Belle’s heart.”
“If you go after my love, you will surely lose yours. You threatened my marriage. Tried to destroy the only light in my life. And for that, you will owe me as long as you live.”
“What if I’m willing to take you down with me?”
“I think I know you better than you know yourself, dearie. So here we are, Captain, still in business together. I think you and I are gonna have some fun.”
Katherine was at the station with Elsa and Charming. Will was in a cell and had just woken up.
Will looked over to see Katherine approaching the cell.
“Oh, bloody hell.”
“Good morning, sunshine. Wanna tell me why you broke into the library last night?”
“The what? Oh, that’s what that place was. I just thought it was a poorly stocked pub.”
“Okay, I get it. Every town needs a village idiot. But your little stunt pulled me away from an important investigation, and interrupted my night off. Start talking.”
“The last thing I remember is running away from you, and then I celebrated my escape with a nice bottle of whiskey.”
“Did you celebrate with all your friends, Alice and the White Rabbit? This was on you in the library. This was in your pocket,” she replied, holding both books up. “Mean anything to you?”
He looked at the books and then at her, standing at the door to the cell.
“Nope. Doesn’t mean a thing.”
“How about your eye? You get a look at whoever gave you that shiner?”
“Now, that is an interesting question, isn’t it?” Will said, seeing Hook enter the station.
“Where were you?” Katherine said, turning around to look at him.
“Sorry, love. I just got your message. I…”
“It’s okay. I just need another minute here.” She turned back to Will. “You were about to tell me who did that to your face.”
“It’s a bloody mystery to me,” Will told her. “Your guess is as good as mine. Must’ve been some party, eh?”
“Well, if you remember anything, I’ll know where to find you.”
Katherine walked off.
“You’re just gonna keep me in here because I broke into a bloody library?”
“Because you crashed my date,” she said, turning back around to look at him. She turned back to Hook. “Which turned out pretty good despite the rude interruption.” She gave a smile and then saw that he had his hook back. “What the hell happened to your hand?”
“It appears the Dark One’s magic wasn’t all I hoped it would be.”
“Katherine, there’s something I need to talk to you about,” Charming said, sitting at a desk with a book, Elsa next to him.
Katherine walked over.
“Well, make it fast. I wanna go after the Snow Queen before the trail gets cold.”
“The name the Snow Queen’s been using in Storybrooke, Sarah Fisher? That name doesn’t appear anywhere in the census records.”
“What does that mean?”
“You were right. She didn’t come here by any curse.”
“Then how’d she get here? And what the hell does she want with Elsa and I?”
Henry entered Regina’s vault, where Regina was sitting in a chair.
“Mom. How’s it going?”
“No progress yet,” Regina replied, and closed the book in her lap.
“We’re gonna find the author. Make him change it,” he assured her. “I think I figured out who has all the answers we’re looking for.”
“Who?”
“My grandpa.”
“David?”
“My other grandpa, Mr. Gold. Everyone knows Rumpelstiltskin doesn’t get a happy ending. But look at him now. He just married Belle. He must have figured out how to change his story. Which means he might know who wrote the book.”
“And I’m the last person he’d ever share that with,” Regina added.
“That’s why I’m gonna find out for you.”
“How?”
“By going undercover.”
He gave a smile.
Later, he went to Gold’s shop and asked for a job and Gold accepted, telling him to just stay out of the back and not to touch anything and that he could start by sweeping the floor.
ns 15.158.61.20da2
