Emma made sure the doors of her yellow bug were locked while Henry slept soundly under a blanket, a light snore coming from the back seat. The drive back to Storybrooke was long and boring enough, but between the stress of regaining their memories and the probable dangers waiting ahead, it knocked the poor kid right out. She knew how he felt, but Hook was Jolly Rogerless so the task of getting out of the city and up into Maine was hers. They'd been on the road for a few hours with a few more to go and she needed to stretch and wake up. No matter that there was a Dunkin every half mile, she wanted to still like coffee at the end of this trip, so cold night air it was.

The rest stop was quiet and up on a hill backed by woods that buffered the highway noise from any nearby neighborhoods. It was the middle of the night and only a couple of 18-wheelers were parked at the other end of the lot and no one else seemed to be pulling in at the moment. Emma stretched as Hook waited for her in front of the car, looking up at the stars. She walked over, stood next to him and he looked back at her with a sleepy smile, his hair a little tousled but his eyes sharp and bright as the stars overhead.

"A perfect night to navigate," he said to her, nodding towards the cloudless sky.

Emma looked up and grimaced. "I was never much for astronomy. I can pick out Orion's belt and that's pretty much it. Usually it's me and a GPS with outdated maps. Right now, though, I need to navigate myself up that hill to get my blood flowing and wake up or we will end up as roadkill. No glory there."

Hook gave a slight bow that barely concealed a raised eyebrow accompanied by a lopsided smirk and swung his arm in the direction of a small picnic bench he could just make out at the top of the embankment in between the trees to the far right of the building. "After you, m'lady."

Emma gave him a tight smile and walked past him but he was next to her in no time and reaching for her hand. She let him take it with a small squeeze, and felt the rough callouses on his fingers and palm in contrast to the cool, smooth metal of his rings. Sensing how tired she really was, he took the lead up the surprisingly steep incline. The air was chilly enough for them to see their breath, but not so cold that it wasn't relatively pleasant to be outside for a little while. The farther from the cars they got, the harder it was to see in front of them with the shade of the evergreens blocking what little moonlight there was, and just as they reached the picnic bench, Emma tripped on a tree root and stumbled. Before she could completely lose her balance and take them both down, Hook swung around in front of her and grabbed both her arms, keeping her upright. And very close.

"Whoa there, Swan! Not hurt are you?" Hook asked, raking his eyes over her, concern on his face and his hand traveling gently down and up her back corresponding perfectly with the shiver that overcame her.

"Wha—no. I'm fine. Just…lost my footing for a second there," Emma said, meeting his gaze again as she gripped his upper arms. She licked her lips, feeling his breath warm on her cheek. "Thank you for…" the words were lost to her as a smile began to form on Hook's lips.

"For what, darling?"

"Saving me."

"You hardly needing saving just now, love, only a little steadying."

Emma shook her head with a small chuckle. "Not that…well that, too. No, for finding me. Helping me remember. Bringing me to my family again…I'm glad it was you."

Hook tightened his arms around Emma and whispered in her ear, "As am I."

Emma pulled away far enough to look into those blue eyes of his that held the color of the sea he so loved, traced the outline of his jaw with her knuckles and relished the feel of the scruff of his beard. She searched his eyes and snaked her other hand to the nape of his neck, her fingers carding into the fine hair there. He brought his forehead down to touch hers, their noses just brushing against each other. She could barely breathe when he caressed her cheek with his thumb as his hand cradled her head.

"I've missed you, Swan," he whispered.

Emma answered him the only way she could. She kissed Hook with the voracity she hoped would make up for every moment she was without him this past year, for every time he thought of her that she couldn't match. She kissed him for every insane thing he must have done to get to her in this world he wasn't supposed to be able to come back to. Hook only separated from her long enough to take a breath before capturing her lips again. Emma could sense everything he had been feeling for her these many months—it flowed out of him unchecked and enveloped her like a cloud of magic.

Emma ran her hand from his shirt collar she had been grasping to his chest and placed it over his pounding heart. Her own heart was thundering and her blood definitely flowing now, but she could only feel the pulse of it in the one place she needed Hook to be. Hook's hand moved from her hair to her hip where he gripped her tightly to him so she could feel just how much he needed her too, his left "hand" braced the small of her back. Breaking their kiss, Emma reached down to the waistband of Hook's pants, and began unfastening the first button. Hook put his hand over hers, stopping her progress.

"I'm not really one to complain, but are you sure you want this now, love? Here?" he asked, gesturing toward the rest area.

Emma's look of determination pleased Hook to no end, but her words squeezed his heart. "Well, a quickie at a rest stop on 95 North is hardly my first choice, but you know what's going to happen as soon as we get back there. Shit hitting the fan at every turn, that's what. Who knows when we will get another shot at being alone together once we get back to Storybrooke. Are you willing to risk it? I'm not."

"As you wish," Hook said with a predatory grin, guiding her backwards a step or two until she bumped up against the table of the picnic bench. Hook wasted no time lifting her up to sit on the table so he could pull off her shoes, then roll down her tights before removing her panties from beneath her skirt with the assistance of his teeth. Emma wasn't so sure she could wait much longer for him if he was going to use that mouth of his in any other capacity and they were running out of time anyway, so she made short work of undoing his leather pants, unclasping his vest and finally unbuttoning his damn shirt. With an appreciative sigh, she ran her hands through the chest hair she had wanted to touch for longer than she would admit. Hook smiled at her and kissed her into laying back on the table and worked his hand up under her shirt and loosened bra. Emma gave a low snicker.

He paused, fingers just brushing the underside of her breast. "What's so funny, love?"

Tracing the edge of his lapel with her finger, Emma said, "You still have your coat on."

He propped himself up on his elbow and raised an eyebrow at her, giving her a smug smile. "Yes, well, it's not just to hinder the thorn of a dream shade plant, darling. It also works to conceal, not to mention cut down the chill of night. Or would you rather give a show in the open, because I could go either way."

Emma grinned up at him, wrapped her legs around his hips—keeping under his coat—and pulled him to her. "Point taken."

Taking a shuddering breath, Hook slowly pushed into her heat and Emma arched closer to him with a blissful groan. "It is now," he said with more than a little cheek as he slid the rest of the way in to her.