Killian Jones was a simple man.

Well, maybe not, but as far as Henry Mills was to know until further notice, he was.

Henry was to think that Killian was Lucy's father. He wasn't.

Henry was to think that he was the sheriff. He wasn't.

Henry was to think that his wife was on a business trip in Maine. He wished it was that simple.

Henry had to trust him, to believe he was a simple man in order for their plan to work.

Henry couldn't know that Lucy was Killian's granddaughter, that he wasn't the sheriff, but a king, that his wife was Henry's mother. He especially could not know that Killian was his step-father.

So maybe he wasn't a simple man. But to get Henry back, to get Emma and the kids back, he had to play the role of one.

They'd been in this town for two months. They'd known it was coming. What shocked them all wasn't that the curse occurred, rather that a select few of them actually remembered.

Days after he ended up in Fairydale, Regina came to his door. They soon realized they both remembered everything. The curse, the war, the executions... And they found Lucy hiding out in the woods, searching for her parents, as well as Rumple down by the harbour, looking for Belle and their children.

Killian had to admit, the spell had been created well. Fairydale was almost as clever a name as Storybrooke. He just didn't understand why the four of them, some of the most likely to be able to save themselves, were left with their memories.

"Hook!" He was jolted out of his thoughts when Regina burst into the station.

"As much as I enjoy you presence," Killian said, his tone heavy with sarcasm, "I should remind you it is quite late, and your diner opens quite early tomorrow."

"Are you kidding me? To hell with the damn diner! Why didn't you tell me Lucy found Henry?" She demanded.

"Well, probably because she's ten and doesn't really have a concept of texting me to let me know-"

"You're hopeless!" She waved her arms dramatically.

"Look," Killian sighed, pouring two glasses of rum, "we sent him to you first. I apologize for not informing you beforehand, but convincing him to stay in the first place proved to be a feat."

Regina took the offered glass, but continued to glare at him before groaning and digging her phone out of her pocket. "Does Gold know?"

"The lass went to get him. I assume we should discuss our plan going forward once he arrives?" Killian downed half his glass in one go.

Regina just nodded in response.

***
The Enchanted Forest, six months ago

"Alex!" Her voice rang out through the woods, but no answer came.

You had one job.

The words played over and over again in her mind.

"Dammit, Alex, where the hell are you?"

The trees and ground shook violently from the bombs that were destroying towns just miles away from where she stood, and despite the fact that Hayley Jones stood within the safe borders of the palace, she knew it would only be a safe space for so long.

Her twelve-year-old brother, Alex had a life goal of endangering himself. She shouldn't be surprised given the fact that their father was Captain Hook.

But still. Alex was second in line for the throne, dammit, and running off to "help us win the war" was not going to earn the approval of the people. Hayley should know, she was first in line.

"Alexander Liam Jones, if you don't get your ass back here in the next five seconds I swear to g- what the hell?" She exclaimed, shielding her eyes from the bright light accompanied with smoke that appeared in front of her. She turned around quickly to see her brother standing on the balcony of their parents room. There he smiled smugly with a bow and quiver -her bow and quiver- with another stun arrow aimed at her.

The little shit.

She ran inside, after him, only to run right into her mother.

"Whoa, kid, careful," she laughed. But it seemed forced. In her seventeen years of life, Hayley only ever seen her mother unhappy a few times, but these past few weeks had been hard.

Between her dad being sent into battle, her uncle's death, and Alex almost getting past the guards numerous times, Hayley knew her mom was in pretty rough shape right now. But she continued to defend her kingdom and fill the people with hope of a victory soon.

Hayley knew hope was futile at this point. She knew her mom did too, but as the queen, Emma Jones' responsibility was to assure her people's happiness.

"Hayley, can we talk? I received a letter from your father last night and we should discuss it. Alex will be fine, I have Henry keeping an eye on him," her mom said. Hayley just nodded and followed her.

She hoped to hell this letter wasn't a death notice.

***
Storybrooke, Maine, two months ago

Emma woke up in an eerily familiar bed with an equally familiar sense of dread.

To confirm her suspicions about where she was, she got up to look out the window.

Storybrooke.

It had been almost a decade since she'd been in the town that used to be her home. Now it just filled with fear. The curse worked. And judging from the empty bed and cold sheets that had been beside her, the promise had been fulfilled.

Killian wasn't here. And of course, because if he was, she was sure they'd find a way out of this. It was then that she heard a familiar voice call out.

"Mom?" It was Hayley. "Did it work?" She asked, voice shaking.

"I don't know..."

It appeared so, but why did they both remember? Where was Killian?

"Is Alex here?" Emma asked, Hayley shook her head.

"Dad?" Hayley looked as though she knew the answer already.

"No," Emma whispered.

She just hoped her boys were together.

***
Fairydale, Washington, present day

Lucy didn't waste time knocking on Rumple's front door, she simply walked in.

"He's here," she said when she found him flipping through an old paper. "Any luck?"

He'd been looking for a way of contacting the rest of their family. From what Regina had found, they were in Storybrooke. Until last week, they hadn't done much searching, Henry being their first priority. Once they located her father, Rumple began making calls and plans to get to Maine by next week.

Rumple shook his head at her question. "Nothing new," he mumbled, "does Regina know you found him?"

Lucy breathed out a laugh. "She does now... I saw her storming across the street as I was leaving the station. Grandpa said he'd handle her."

Rumple raised an eyebrow at that. Lucy knew a few details of the long history her grandfather and great-grandfather shared, and their relationship was still slightly rocky.

The two headed out of Rumple's home-turned-pawn-shop.

They didn't even make their way across the street before another problem presented itself in the form of a drunk dwarf. She didn't even know which one it was, and it was way too late for this.

Rumple simply weaved the two of them around him and the went into the station to find Regina and Killian arguing about who knows what.

This would be fun.

***
Manhattan, New York, present day

A tall man swiftly paced down the street, followed closely by a young teenage boy.

They were on a mission, looking for something. The boy spotted a fire escape and held a picture up, as if to compare the picture and the spot in front of them. The two nodded to each other before entering the building the fire escape was attached to.

They found the apartment they were looking for. The door opened easily with the key the man held, creaking as it did.

Dust littered the front room, it looked as though no one had lived there in years. The boy trailed his finger over a letter addressed to Neal Cassidy. He pointed it out to the man, who picked it up, brushing off the dust, and smiled. He put the letter down and continued into the back room.

Pots and pans littered the kitchen, dust covered everything. The boy found some children's books on a shelf. He saw a bow and quiver against the couch. He picked it up. It could prove to be useful. The initials R.H. were engraved into the quiver.

The man came back to the front room with a journal in his hand. He opened it to see phone numbers.

Regina, Emma, David.

"You don't actually think those will work, do you?" the boy asked, a disbelieving edge to his voice.

"Only one way to find out," came the man's reply, as he dialled the first number, Regina's. Nothing. He then tried Emma's. No luck. David's was next, and the call actually went through this time. But it wasn't David who answered.

"Fairydale sheriff station, what's your emergency?" Came an accented voice they both knew very well from the other end.

"Killian, you might want to sit down. I have something that might help you find your family," the man spoke evenly.

The other end of the line was silent for several moments. Then, "I'm listening..."