Arrival; Enterprise Concourse (spoilers for 4a finale)

[seekingcrocodile]

[Thump thump. Thump thump. With all the adrenaline still coursing through his body after nearly dying, he can clearly hear (and feel) his heart beating in his chest, back where it belongs. It's the closest he's ever come to dying, and an experience he hopes never to repeat.

He needs to clear his head, so of course his thought is to go to the harbor. The salty air of the sea has long been his refuge, and that's not going to change now. Emma had said something about going to find Regina -- who had, after all, just had to say goodbye to the man she loved. He would meet back up with Emma later.

Only instead of going to the harbor, he blinks and he's in some strange place. Certainly not Storybrooke, or the Enchanted Forest, or (thankfully) Neverland. Or any of the other multitude of realms he's seen over the years.

It's crowded, bustling, alien.

He has a feeling he's very far from home.]

Really? They could have picked a better time for it. Or never. Never would have been better.

Does someone want to tell me where I am and how I got here?

Comments

[treadswater]

Annie has no idea why Q has decided to make the man appear in her vicinity: she's so terrible trying to explain things, and only partly because she still doesn't quite understand.

And yet...

The man is new. Confused and lost.

Annie pulls her hands out of her ankle-length skirt's pockets and walks closer. She's a small woman with fair skin and long red hair (currently in a fishtail braid); her shirt is long-sleeved, white, and loose and over it she has a navy waistcoat, unbuttoned the way so many sailors wear them.

"Um," she starts. Stops. Tries again. "You're on the starship Enterprise. Probably nowhere near where you used to be. I'm sorry about that. It happens."

[seekingcrocodile]

There's one word that catches his attention more than the others, simply because of what that word is. "Starship? A ship among the stars?"

He knows everything there is to know about ships, and that's something new. "How does it stay in the sky?"

Physics? Not a thing where he comes from.

[treadswater]

Ah, someone with even less scientific knowledge than she has!

(Annie is being unfair to herself: there is plenty she knows, it just doesn't tend to cover things such as transport beyond normal ships, or astronomy, or physics.)

"Oh!" she says, startled. "I sort of know this one. The sky actually finishes? It doesn't extend to the stars. It stops. Outside that, is a vacuum and things don't fall down so much...as. Um. Towards planets. And stars. But this ship travels in that vacuum, between everythin'.

...as for how to really travels without water or wind, I'm kinda the wrong person to ask? I'm used to...normal ships.

But you're certainly not where you used to be."

[electro_kinetic]

"You're on a spaceship," comes his answer from a relatively young voice--the speaker is only nineteen; but hey, age is only a number, right? She's also got blue hair and an interesting set of metal gloves that should probably be noticed.

"I'm gonna guess Q did it, that's who people normally blame around here. So, teleportation." Also probably a really long way from Stroybrooke, the Enchanted anything, or Neverland. Just sayin'.

[seekingcrocodile]

He's got a less pirate-y look than he used to, but not by much. He's still got more black leather than is really necessary, and a hook instead of a left hand, so he has plenty of pirate imagery to choose from.

"Tele-what?" He's heard of telephones and even those are outside his understanding.

[electro_kinetic]

Noriko lives, practically speaking, in New York city; everyone wears black, and although not that many people wear so much leather she can't blame him for it now. It really doesn't look that bad, but she's curious at the hook, what with prosthetics having come so very far.

"Teleportation," she says, slower and somewhat clearer. "Shortest distance between two points is a straight line, right? Teleporting is when you bring the ends of the line together. Long distances, next to no travel time," she shrugs, and in between squeezing a ball of neon-colored cleaning putty gestures at the hook.

"You go old school, or what?"

[magicsprice]

Gold was on the concourse to investigate the shops, possibly even to check out the area with the idea of pitching the idea of him opening a shop on this concourse to the captain of this ship. When he spotted the man at first, he didn't give him much thought until he also spotted the hook. Needless to say, after that his thoughts of establishing a shop took back seat to the knowledge that Killian was on the ship now.

While the pirate he knew currently had something of a truce with him, this might be him from a different time or given his experience with Emma, might not even be the captain he knew personally. Best to proceed cautiously. Though part of him would have rather turned away and let someone else answer the man's questions, it might be a good idea to learn if this incarnation of the man was the Hook he knew or not.

"You're on a ship called the Enterprise. A creature called Q is responsible for bringing you here. You're quite a ways from Storybrooke and I've been told we're in the future. Over three hundred years into the future if my math is correct."

[seekingcrocodile]

That voice. Why did it have to be that voice. One minute he's enjoying a quiet moment with Emma and the next he's in some strange place and being presented with the crocodile.

Of all the people. He'd even have taken Cora over Gold right now. Cora's attempt to kill him hadn't been serious, merely a show of what she could do. Gold's attempt to kill him had been deadly serious, and would have doomed everyone he cared about to boot.

"So if I understand this correctly, I'm stuck on a ship that isn't mine, three hundred years in the future, with you."

[magicsprice]

"Indeed. I'm not entirely pleased about it myself to be honest, I was at my wedding reception when that Q creature decided to pull me here. At least one of my sons is here, so I wasn't entirely alone here prior to your arrival."

He waited for the other man's reaction to the information in that little revelation. Hopefully it would give him an idea of just what timeline the pirate was from and just what foot their current 'relationship' stood on. Depending on the state of their truce or the lack of it, he might need to arrange for another or arrange for them to keep their distance from each other to avoid unwanted bloodshed. He didn't want to end up in the brig due to the pirate after all.

[loiseau_ou_la_cage]

Elizabeth was sitting close by with her back to Killian. His appearance didn't draw her attention at first. She was reading a technical document out loud to a bundled up baby in her arms. When he spoke she fell silent and turned slowly.

This wasn't the same man. At least not the version she dreaded meeting again. A small weight fell off her heart, but she still felt like she might be crushed under the weight of the unexpected feelings.

After a moment she stood, tucking her PADD into its pouch on her belt. "Excuse me, Captain Jones. I think I have some answers for you, if you really want them." She met his eyes and it hurt, but at the same time the lack of recognition could only be a good thing. She was tired of being forced to reconcile with the ghosts of her past.

[seekingcrocodile]

She knows his name, which means she knows him, but he would remember meeting her, he's sure of it. It would have been quite some time ago -- he hasn't introduced himself as Captain Jones in years -- but even still, that is a face he would not have forgotten.

"I'm sorry, have we met?"

[loiseau_ou_la_cage]

"No." Elizabeth said, shaking her head. "I know another version of you too well, one not well enough, and you not at all. Please come with me, my father will not be as understanding about universal differences as I am and that altercation is one I'd rather not witness. I'll tell you everything I know and hopefully you'll get your bearings."

She spokes quietly and quickly, knowing there was little time before Booker would see Killian and then things would get interesting in a bad way. She motioned with her free hand toward the hallway, her expression clearly showing the strange and intense mixture of feelings she had about what the man before her symbolized.

[goldencobra]

The concourse wasn't somewhere Henry frequently regularly. But on reflection of his past months on the ship, most of them had been spent in his room in fear, so it was understandable. Now his father was here, he felt safer and happier to walk around.

Until he saw the unmistakeable hook of a familiar pirate.

He paused, hiding to start with, wanting to his mind in order before acting. He wasn't even sure he wanted to approach the man. The version of the pirate back home had a temporary truce with his father due to Neal but that didn't mean this man did. At least Gold had magic here if Hook decided to attack again.

After a few moments of simply watching, Henry decided it was best to find out which version this man was. So he plucked up his courage and approached the pirate, staying out of reach of his namesake and ready to run if need be.

"Lost, Captain?" He asked. He was glad his voice didn't waver.

[seekingcrocodile]

"Henry." The boy seems afraid of him, and he's got no reason to be. He knows Henry isn't entirely pleased at the thought of him with Emma, but he's never been afraid. Henry's never been in any danger from him. Not even when he realized the boy is Gold's grandson.

This dispute is between him and Gold, and he's not going to bring anyone else into it anymore.

"You could say I'm lost."

[goldencobra]

To say Henry was scared of Hook was really too simple of a sentence. He was the scared of the man's potential. All the boy knew for sure was the pirate's identity. He was Captain Killian Jones, alias Hook. But was he the pirate from Henry and his father's timeline? From Emma's timeline? Or from a completely different one? And at what point in time along said timeline was he from? Henry quickly studied the clothes and decided he had at least set foot in Storybrooke. That narrowed down the time considerably. But it still didn't cease Henry's worries.

Because, Henry wasn't just worried about the man before him. He was also worried about himself. Ever since Cora's death, Henry had never anything but negative feelings towards the Captain and despite the truce between him and his father, that hadn't changed. Henry was glad his own father was now aboard the ship as it gave him more of an incentive not to do anything. But first things first. Finding out the timeline.

"Well," Henry said, still cautious. "I can answer your questions if you answer mine first." Yes, first. He knows how to deal.

[savedbylove]

Emma could only smile at the sound of a very familiar, frustrated voice. "I could tell you but it would take a really long time."

[seekingcrocodile]

He can't help but smile, either, at hearing her there. "Emma." He steps closer and his hand slides around her waist to pull her to him. "Seeing as we're both here, isn't a really long time exactly what we have now?"

[savedbylove]

She smiles at him, and goes into his arms willingly. She relaxes, the feeling a bit strange to her. She is so used to having to defend herself and the people she loved, that this was a bit strange for her.

"I suppose we do. What do you suppose we do with it?"

[whereishe]

[Yuna glances over from her seat at the bar a drink in her hand. She isn't expecting someone to just show up but then that is usually the way it goes. She tries to smile rising from her seat to greet the disgruntled captain.]

It's 'Q' who brings people here and its usually random. This is a spaceship. [She knows it has a name but that meant nothing to her so she doesn't bother repeating it.]

[seekingcrocodile]

Space? [Just a moment, he has to figure out what that means.] We're in a ship among the stars?

[whereishe]

Yeah. It's a little strange.

[Yuna thinks its strange. She is used to airships but spaceships made her pause. She's been on the ship for over six months and she still isn't sure how to interact with the ship.]

You alright?

[primeverdeen]

Prim had been walking the corridor, looking for something useful to do. Again.

She saw someone appear in front of her and she blinked. Then she offered a shy smile. "They... they say this is some sort of... ship in space," she said. "It seems safe so far... and... there is food..." That was a big thing for her, even if she still suspected there would be a hidden cost down the line.

She was looking at his face, she still had not seen or noticed the hook.

[seekingcrocodile]

"Safe, and food, those are good. Not every kidnapper would be so considerate." As far as he's concerned, this is a kidnapping, because he was taken out of his life and brought to this place.

[agathaheterodyne]

"Do you want the scientific answer?" Agatha asked, coming up behind him. "Because I haven't tried to figure out the how we got here part yet, but I'm learning the where we are part. But I keep getting distracted, the technology here is simply amazing."

[seekingcrocodile]

"The scientific answer is likely to do me no good." Science isn't a thing where he comes from. "I can't even figure out how to use a talking phone. The rest of it will mean nothing."