Disclaimer: I don't own the characters or Once Upon a Time. This is my first go playing with this world, I hope I do it some justice.

Author's note: I enjoyed the final and my wish for the next season...lots of Captain Cobra. Henry really impressed me and wow hasn't he grown! Here's my version of season five. I challenged myself to get it done quickly and I've tried a different style to my usual writing so if it sounds a little awkward in places that's why. Please let me know if it's unreadable.

Proof

Despite finding Isaac in New York on his own, tracking down the second best bandit of the altered Enchanted Forest on his own and defeating Blackbeard and stealing a pirate ship. His grandparents continued to treat him like a small child. Hook tells him it's not really about him. That they have a lot of issues around protecting children and although their attitude to life sounds like a beautiful way to live, constantly looking for hope and happiness, it can quickly and change into a sort of desperate kind of denial.

They'll settle down. He tells him. Or they'll end up being proved right. So Henry plasters a smile on his face for his grandma, and pretends like he appreciates their promises of things turning out alright, pretends he can't hear their whispers of doubt, pretends it isn't strange for Hook to join them for dinner in the loft. For his gramps to study the pirate behind his back, for his grandma to force him to promise he'll join them again tomorrow.

They were all unsure how the pirate was going to behave after his mom sacrificed herself to the darkness. Belle had hidden his grandpa away in their home, terrified that Captain Hook would appear looking for his bloody vengeance. He'd seen Charming's eyes frequently flicker to the docks and the masts and sails of the Jolly Roger, checking that they continued to tower over the neighbouring roofs. Snow had never really warmed to Killian, her experience with him in the Enchanted Forest had somehow permanently stained her opinion of him. She'd been happy watching how happy he'd made Emma, but away from her daughter she still treated him as a untrustworthy pirate, only now she seemed totally focused on him when he was in the room, like she was trying to catch him in a lie. Which made her constant mothering of him all the more strange.

After a week though, Henry had decided enough was enough. He hadn't seen Emma since the party at Granny's and he wanted to take action. He didn't care if they had their issues to deal with, wrapping him up in some protective bubble of fake happiness wasn't going to fix anything.

He'd just opened his mouth to deliver a carefully worded speech to his grandparents, when Hook suddenly materialised in the middle of the loft. He stumbled immediately and David jumped to catch him but the captain shrugged him off.

"I'm fine. Just the change from sea to land shouldn't be so sudden." He took a breath and righted himself and Henry realised his jaw was still hanging open. Hook was back in his full pirate regalia. The familiar heavy long coat, complete with sword and pistol slung at his waist, but his vest was a deep patterned red Henry hadn't seen before. Hook ran his fingers over the brocades before chuckling and tilting his head to the ceiling.

"Spitefulness is quite unbecoming of a lady, Swan." He called out. Everyone held their breath but of course there was no answer.

One of the things Hook had taught Henry was a lot of the time you gained far more by hanging back and watching than jumping straight in at the start. So he took advantage of his inaction and analysed his family each time they met. He noticed the flash of relief each time David saw Hook. The way Snow waited expectantly when he arrived for dinner, and was rewarded with a slight nod. Emma was visiting Hook and only Hook, not every day, but often and his grandparents were very worried about him.

They were concerned about Emma's well being obviously. They were busy trying to shield him from any bad news. But with Hook it was like they expected him to be found floating in the bay one morning. He didn't understand that. He knew absorbing the darkness that gave the Dark One its name wasn't going to be shrugged off, no matter how strong his biological mother was. But his grandpa had been under its influence for hundreds of years and still found love within himself for Belle and Henry's father. He'd never physically hurt her had he? And Emma loved Killian, Henry had no doubts about that. He'd seen her face when he'd died in the alternative reality. He'd heard her speech to his mother, full of pain and regret.

Then one evening Killian came to dinner in his old high collar shirt and a dark scarf around his neck. Mary Margaret and David could barely take their eyes off it while they ate, the silence growing.

"I've really just brought more attention to it." He said suddenly. "Better to have just not come."

"Don't you dare." Snow scolded. "I'd have never forgiven you for worrying us."

"I would have called." He replied, irritated at the slight against his manners.

Henry asked to see under the scarf but was met by immediate protests from his grandparents who then basically pushed him up the stairs to bed. Killian just gave him a sad but understanding smile. Next time I see you, it promised, we'll talk about it. But Henry didn't see Hook again until three days later, no one did.

Mary Margaret was nearly vibrating with tension, amazingly it was Regina who managed to distract her enough to calm down. The two had formed this strangely strong bond. Henry had always wished for his adoptive mother to have more of a family, and amazingly she'd found it at last with her previously hated step daughter and the Prince of Thieves.

Robin himself had been working with David, helping him run down every lead or possible sighting of Emma. Henry had tried to join them at first, but that had been a lost battle before he'd even got started.

Instead he stayed indoors with his baby uncle, as his grandmother and mother fussed over them both, and poured over books and the internet learning everything he could about The Dark One and the sorcerer Merlin. After all that had happened he'd gotten pretty good at filtering out the fiction designed to dramatise the facts. He ignored how his notes always ended up written in lovely full prose instead of messy bullet points.

Again Hook just appears in the middle of the room, Emma's first instinct seems to be to send him home to her family. Hook looks as surprised as them before giving a deep sigh of relief. They immediately start peppering him with questions, which he gives only brief answers to. Yes he had been with Emma. Yes, she was physically well. No, she seemed to still be in a battle with the dark influences inside her. No, he didn't know what she was planning to do now. Yes, he was fine.

That last one was a lie so obvious Belle wouldn't have fallen for it. Killian looked exhausted and standing awkwardly with his left arm behind his back was making him list to one side. Snow motioned for him to sit down but he shook his head and stepped towards the door. He needed to rest, he'd come back later. Emma was done with him for a while he was sure.

The women looked unconvinced and a moment of silence fell in the loft quiet enough to hear the soft drop of something hitting the floor. Everyone's eyes floated down to Hook's feet and the steady drip of blood behind them.

The flurry of angry voices and motion was brought to an abrupt halt when Mary Margaret managed to yank Hook's left arm from behind his back and display the bleeding stump at the end of it. He tried to pull away but Snow White's grip was stronger than it should have been for her small stature. Regina was already waving her hands partially healing whatever major arteries were damaged, before slowly untying the sodden bandage wrapped around the end of his arm.

They'd obviously forgotten Henry was in the room, or they would never had let him see. His skin just ends in a ragged edge where his wrist should be. The muscle and sinew torn into lumps, clinging to visible white bone. Snow was making horrified squeaks, while Regina complained of the lack of tissue for her magic to repair.

"Sorry your Majesty. I didn't have as sharp a blade as the Crocodile did the first time." Hook said, the teasing tone completely out of place for the situation.

"You did this to yourself?" Snow asks, disbelievingly.

"She gave it back and I didn't want it." He replies simply. They all stare at him, unified in their opinion on his sanity.

Regina starts mumbling about needing a potion to finish the repair and Snow is already dialing Charming. Henry is distracted by the bandage now lying on the floor, a torn piece of cotton t-shirt material, the ends of which are still bright white. Nothing Killian owns is made of material like that. Emma must have torn it from her own clothes. He can imagine her panicking when Hook cuts off his hand, trying to stop the bleeding before remembering she's now one of the most powerful magic wielders in the realms.

For the first time he feels true hope. He'd have never given up on his mother, but this? This is real solid proof. His Emma is still out there.

He feels the weight of a gaze on him and looks up into crystal blue eyes, recognising the reflection of his hope and something he's not felt since Emma left. Solidarity. They are in this together, they're fighting together and they'll get her back together. But they still need to have that talk.

Hook gets sent to hospital, much to the pirate's annoyance. Despite the Queen's magic he lost enough blood to need an overnight stay for a transfusion and antibiotics. They want to do skin grafts and tidy the stump but he looks so horrified when Whale is explaining the process to him that the doctor gives up fairly quickly. Regina promises to make sure it heals correctly, which seems to surprise her as much as everyone else.

It's an unnecessary gesture though, the next evening Killian arrives for dinner like nothing happened, his hook glinting at his side. Snow demands answers, all she gets is a shrug and "Magic."

Dinner is tense, they all know not talking to him about Emma is pretty stupid at this point, but his grandparents just can't bring themselves to break the faux calm they've spent so much time creating.

Then dinner is over and Killian begs off dessert already backing towards the door. Henry is desperately trying to come up with a reason to speak to him alone before he goes.

"Henry, feel like spending a night on the Jolly Roger?"

"Yes!" The word's out of mouth before his brain really processes the question.

The usual protests start from his grandparents but he ignores them running to the stairs to collect his things.

"The lad won't come to any harm." He hears Killian reassuring them. "We'll get some hot chocolate at Granny's, set some hammocks on deck and lie under the stars. The change of scenery might do him some good."

"That does sound nice." Henry smiles at the wistful tone to his gramps' voice.

"Aye, and it's high time the two of us discuss his mother." Killian's voice has dropped all attempts at reassurance. Henry recognises the commanding captain he's only met a couple of times.

"I don't know. I don't think Regina wants Henry involved in this." Snow splutters lamely.

"I'll call Mom on the way." Henry declares as he runs down the stairs and straight out the door. Killian joins him on the street after a minute.

"It was poor form to run out on your grandparents without a goodbye or thank you." He says frowning.

Henry winces "Sorry I know. I'll text them."

"Well you might as well wait a minute, you've missed your opportunity to ring the Queen before your grandmother. " Henry winces again. "I know you've had a frustrating time of it, you shouldn't need me to tell you they've been acting from a place of love. They were scared of making everything worse."

"So that's why you never said anything either? You're the only one who's seen my mom and you were just coming to dinner everyday and talking about the weather." It was Killian's turn to wince.

"I apologise to you lad. Despite our many battles together and whatever bonds we've formed, I'm not your family. I thought it proper to defer to them."

Henry wanted to correct him, point out his grandparents wouldn't have forced him to dinner everyday to check on him if they didn't feel he was part of their family. But he knew Killian wouldn't believe him and he didn't want them to get side tracked.

"So, what changed?" He asked instead.

"Being away for those few days. When I... got back I suddenly realised how much you've grown in the short time I've known you. You're not that small lad who got kidnapped by Greg and Tamara. You're practically grown."

They'd reached Granny's but Henry stopped them entering for a second. "Thank you Killian."

Later Henry gazed up at the expanse of stars above him. There were thousands, even with the low glow of Storybrooke's street lights behind them. In New York there was so little sky between the high rises, and as a desperately cool preteen he'd not had much inclination to look up, even if he had he would never have seen this.

"They're different aren't they?" He asked. "You mentioned once that you had to learn them when you came here."

"Aye, they're always different. " Killian replied. Henry's eyebrows raised at the short reply and leaned forward to look over the edge of the hammock at him, but all he could see was a tuft of dark hair and the cup of hot chocolate held tight in his right hand.

"It was your idea to get me out here to talk. Why are you being so quiet?" Henry prodded. Killian huffed a deep breath. "Maybe a little rum would help?" That earned a chuckle. Henry had been unsuccessfully trying to coax his first taste of alcohol out of Killian for weeks, it had become a running joke between them, so it was a shock to be handed the worn leather bound flask. He immediately popped the top but Killian's hand grabbed the flask before a drop was spilled.

"Just for taste lad." He warned, gesturing to the cup of chocolate in Henry's hand. "Might as well give your mother an actual reason to kill me." Henry went still.

"Is that what she's doing? Why?"

"No lad, it's just she's not quite used to her new strength." Killian replied, with a smile that Henry guessed was supposed to be reassuring.

"Is that how you got hurt the other day?" He asked nodding towards the faint graze still visible on the man's neck. Killian scratched behind his ear.

"Yes." He said, clearly not willing to elaborate on the exact details. "She was pretty upset about it later, which is how the fuss with my hand came about."

"I don't understand that either. I remember her saying something about your hand not working out before, why would she force that on you if you didn't want it? And that stuff with your clothes. What was that? You said it was spiteful. And you disappeared for three days and didn't call once, which I know you wouldn't do, which means that you couldn't..."

Henry was breathing hard, he had plenty more questions built up but found he couldn't get them out. Killian leaned on the edge of his hammock, making sure they could look each other in the eye.

"The darkness is a funny thing." He said carefully. "In the normal course of things you're not aware of the moment it takes you over. It builds slowly. One day you just find yourself doing something you thought you would never be capable of. When you look back you might find them, those moments that changed your life , that changed you. But at the time you're just living your life."

"But it's different for Mom."

"Yes. The darkness has been thrust upon her and it is not really her own." They fell into silence while Henry digested that.

"So she's fighting it, instead of it being something that's grown inside of her heart without her realising, it's trying to take over immediately and she's trying to stop it."

"I believe so."

"Then why is she staying away from us? We can help her." Henry demands.

"Darkness takes root in your deepest fears and desires and amplifies them until you are ruled by them." Killian continues. "Think of Gold." He says when it's clear Henry still can't see the problem.

His grandfather was a coward and selfish on top of that. His actions in the alternative reality had finally let Henry see what Hook and his father had told him. The darkness made him into a miser, hoarding power so only he could wield it, so no one else could use it against him. Removing threats before they were even aware they could be a threat, and only focusing on achieving his own goals.

For Emma her paranoia surrounded the strength of her relationships, her insecurity making her forever wait for the next shoe to drop. Her urge used to be to run before she got hurt, to prevent the bonds forming in the first place so breaking them wouldn't also break her heart. But the last years in Storybrooke changed that, she has already formed strong relationships with her family, with friends, with Hook. She's got a mother's relationship with Henry, something she never thought she'd be able to have. And yet the fear remains.

"She still expects us to reject her." Killian said sadly. "The darkness is amplifying that."

"That's why she's not been to see me?" Henry asks. Killian sighs.

"Partly lad. I think she just decided to start with me. Last thing the bloody woman said was that she loved me. Then she throws herself to that maelstrom before I can say anything in return." He gives a laugh. "I'm sure she didn't think I'd last this long."

Hook explains it's all a sort of test. She's trying to prove to herself and to them that he'll break his promise and leave her. Like everyone before Storybrooke. She started by straight out asking him to leave, appealing to his self preservation, then asking him to leave with Henry, to protect her family. Then she started to show him how she had changed, how the darkness was affecting her, thinking he'd be horrified somehow.

"The clothes were an attempt to offend me and how I've changed." He explained. "The injury was an unfortunate byproduct of her trying to force me to act against her." He didn't talk about his hand and Henry knew better than to ask.

While he could prove his love when he saw her, the darkness could whisper to her doubts all the time. Each refusal to leave her, gave her some strength but also made her more frustrated, her actions when under the darkness becoming more inconsistent, more violent.

"She loves you very much, she doesn't want you to see her that way. She can't risk hurting you... and she couldn't survive a rejection from you."

"But you just said she's trying to force one from you! So the darkness can prove to her that her fears are right and she should just give in." Henry replied exasperated at the circular conversation.

"But she's scared of it remember. What she has with you is something no one else can share. You're her son, her flesh and blood. I'm just another of many men in comparison."

Henry fell silent again. It made sense and it really didn't at the same time. They lay under the stars and spoke only briefly after that. Henry falling into a dreamless sleep without realising, he didn't even try his rum spiked chocolate.

Now some things were out in the open the situation at home became more tense but also much easier. Henry started being involved in everyone's conversations about Emma and the search for Merlin. So when they discover a solid lead in England, a place called Glastonbury, Henry finds himself asking to join his grandfather and actually being listened to.

"You'll need him to sail The Jolly Roger." Killian's voice rings out halting discussion about missing school and whether or not the realm without magic is more or less dangerous than Storybrooke.

"Where will you be?" David asks, although they all know the answer.

"Right here mate. I promised your daughter I wouldn't leave. This'll prove my point quite nicely." Henry and Killian share a look. Solidarity. When one can't fight the other'll take up the sword. Together we'll win. "There's an argument the ship is his anyway, he did knock out the captain and steal it from under him." Henry can't control the smile on his face.

The sun is already high as The Jolly Roger pulls out of the bay. He's more nervous than he expected, he's responsible for Killian's ship, his home and he's never been on it without him before. David, Robin and Regina are all following his instructions so far. This is his chance to prove himself to them, to show them how much he's grown under their guidance.

His gaze drifts back to the docks, feeling a pang for the figure in dark clothes standing and watching them leave. But as Henry watches a cloud of coloured smoke appears next to him, clearing to reveal a smaller figure in white with golden hair. The dark figure and the light golden one lean into each other before drawing apart and waving.

The End.

Author's note: There you have it. Thanks for reading, hope it was easy to follow.