braveandstupid | post-tos } { by a gentle nor'wester how steady she goes

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post-tos } { by a gentle nor'wester how steady she goes

Ruby tells her before she leaves that it's a bad idea.

She gives her an entire download on the lay out of the Enchanted Forest. She tells her who to look out for, who to stick close to, and who can get her closer to her goal of finding Hook. Ruby would be going herself, if it weren't for the fact that she could run into another version of herself by testing this and one of the science people on this mission think that that would be bad.

Very bad.

Extremely bad.

Elena tries to reassure her that she will be fine. If Hook doesn't remember her than she'll make him remember her, one way or another, and she'll get him to come back to Nifelheim with her. Things are bad - really bad - and they need all the help they can get at this point. It's a risk, using this untested technology to drop into someone else's world and interfere, but it's a risk they have to take.

Hesiod is winning. If they stand any chance of getting Tristan back on the throne, of ending this war that she's been navigating her way through for years now, then they need all the help they can get. And in this particular case, it's requiring them to call on some old friends. They need a guinea pig - she volunteers.

Now she's lying on the deck of a ship, slightly winded and a little sore and hoping that the outfit Ruby put her in is at least seaworthy, on top of being Enchanted Forest appropriate. She gives a bit of a groan, one hand wandering to her pocket to make sure she had the device to try and call herself back to Nifelheim when she's ready, and once she's sure she has it, she starts to push herself into a sitting position.

And finds herself face-to-face with a nice set of sword points.

Well, at least she found the right ship.

She holds up her hands in surrender, giving them a small smile. "Easy, boys. I'm not here to hurt anyone."

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There's no denying that business done over a drink appeals to the pirate captain. Smirking, he gives her a bow, extending his arm towards his quarters.

"If you'd be so good as to follow me, we can discuss the particulars."

This is about to be a poor life choice for Hook, but that isn't out of character for him.

Elena nods before heading in the direction indicated, waiting until he lets her into his quarters before handing off the bottle to him. She figures he can get the glasses and such. She mostly focuses on getting a good look at the place, taking in the space and feeling of it.

In some ways it's what she expected. In a lot of ways it isn't.

Still she'll sit where he tells her to sit and wait for him to pour.

Hook's done his best over the long years to make his quarters fit the pirate persona. Fancy goblets and platters made of silver line the shelves. Maps are spread out on the table and held in place with tankards or a knife slammed through it at the corner. But if one were to snoop around, they'd see another life hidden away down in the bottom of the storage bins. They'd see his brother's things, bright and polished, all tucked away carefully.

But that's not who Killian Jones is. He's a pirate. So he takes down two pewter mugs and pours the drinks, sliding hers in front of her and taking a seat.

"So, Miss-- You know, I never got your name. How rude of me." He sets down his mug without taking a sip and holds out his hand. "Killian Jones."

She lets the fingers of one hand curl around the mug, before leaning forward and shaking his hand with the other. It's a smooth gesture and met with a smile and eye contact all the same. "Elena Gilbert. A pleasure."

Once she releases his hand, she leans back and takes a sip of the whiskey, more as a show of good faith than anything else. The memory potion in it won't hurt her - she has all her memories - and she doesn't want him to think it's poisoned.

"So let's talk business."

"Let's." He leans back in his chair with his mug, resisting the urge to kick his legs up on the table. Not in front of a lady. "Tell me more about this war of yours."

He'll just settle in for a story, taking a long sip of whiskey. Except forget the story because his head is being crammed full of memories. Or rather, the block on them has just been sledgehammered. He sputters into the mug, sitting up straight and clumsily setting the mug down on the table, eyes wide.

She cringes as she watches the potion take effect. It's not exactly an easy thing to see, and her face automatically goes from cool professional to concerned friend. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, I didn't want to do this the hard way, but I wasn't sure how else to convince you."

Damn it, Elena. Things were going well for him here. He jumps up from his chair and moves away to look out the window, taking deep breaths. He remembers everything about that life, and about his budding friendship with the young woman at the table too.

"Why?" he asks, voice low. If the Grasp had seen fit to take him back and conceal his memories, why was she here forcing them to come forward again?

She watches him as she goes, hating that she had to do this, because she knows the way the world can rear back and come at you from an angle you didn't expect. She didn't want to have to do it this way.

"Because it's getting bad," she says softly. "You aren't the only ones, either. We're trying to bring back as many as we can but Hesiod destroyed the Grasp. We had to do it the hard way."

He wants to snap at her, but he rubs a hand across his mouth first and just waits. She's a good girl and it's not her way to do malicious things, so he lets her speak first before turning to face her.

"And I suppose you can't simply all leave, because if the Nysgods destroy themselves then that will lead to all our worlds being destroyed?" Amazingly, he paid attention when he was among the candidates.

"That, and I think that leaving won't really make a difference at this point." They choose to stand behind Tristan. "If we leave, Hesiod will follow us, and I'm not going to spend the rest of my life running between universes to get away from him."

She exhales slowly, because she was in this fight, whether she wanted to be or not. But she wouldn't force Hook into it. She just couldn't have him say no without all the cards being on the table. "If you want no part of this, I understand. It's not your fight anymore. But I had to at least try."

"That was quite a risk. Coming all this way to show me the truth and then leave the choice in my hands." He comes back to his chair and eases himself into it, as if he's finally feeling all the years he's lived.

"You could have gotten me to return first before restoring my memories." He looks away. "But I would have brought my crew with me, and they're not a part of this. We were the ones chosen, you and I." He leans back, sighing. It would be easy to say no, and a part of him very much wants to. Why should he involve himself in this fight, and voluntarily at that? But if he stayed would Hesiod come? Would he take out his crew first?

"I'm no coward," he answers. Unlike some men. "I'll come back with you. We'll tell my men I'm leaving to scout out the situation and I'll return to them with my decision. They would never believe the truth."

Elena doesn't comment on her methods. She's not here to justify them, and she's already apologized for them. She'll just have to deal with the fact that he may not want to accept untested drinks from her for a while. But when he agrees to come back, she nods, fighting back the small smile at his agreement.

"Of course. We don't want anyone else to get hurt."

He's rubbing at his face, a look of resignation painted there that says he regrets this already. He so hates being dragged into other peoples' problems.

"Is there anything I need to bring with me? Sword, compass, a copious amount of rum?"

"All of the above?" Her voice is dry and sarcastic, shaking her head a bit as she does. "I lost my cauldron a while ago and we could probably use the pick me up."

So yes. Please do bring rum.

"Right." He moves around the room, gathering together a bag, bottle of rum wrapped in a cloth, and other essentials. As he does so, he thinks about what they're about to step back into. He hasn't felt noble in a long time and he certainly doesn't now, but at least he's facing this war instead of leaving it in the hands of others.

He looks over his shoulder briefly at Elena. He just can't say no to her. He doesn't know why. She's not a romantic interest, nor is she like a daughter. She's just... a friend. But a friend that he's quite certain he'd do anything for, if push came to shove.

"What would you have done if I had said no?" He turns back towards her as he speaks, bag packed. "You said you'd understand if I wanted no part of this. Would you have gone to the next person on the list?"

She glances up at him for a moment, before nodding slowly. "Well ... you weren't the only one we reached out to. We're trying to pick up everyone we can. Even if they say no, even if there's only a few of us, at least there's something. Someone is standing up to Hesiod. Someone needs to, especially if the Nysgods won't."

"They were a bunch of cowards, getting everyone else to do their dirty work for them." He sneers, remembering how the Nysgods in Gebo merrily did their monotonous tasks and then fell to pieces when they were attacked.

"Well, I've packed. There is nothing left to do but tell my crew that we'll be off." He moves towards the door, but pauses with his hand on the bolt.

"Is there anything else you wish to tell me before we no longer have privacy?"

Elena exhales slowly. Pertinent battle information that the crew shouldn't overhear? No. Personal sappy friend stuff?

"It's nice to see you. Circumstances, aside."

That makes him smile. Few people are glad to see a pirate again, except bar wenches, perhaps. He inclines his head towards her, the smile shifting more into his characteristic smirk.

"I do have a face that's nice to see, it's true." Chuckling, he comes over to her and takes her hand, lifting it to his lips. "Shall we?"

She can't help but grin a bit at that. Yes, this? This is why she missed him. She nods in agreement, before taking a step forward.

"We shall."

He leads her back out on deck where his men look nervously on as Hook explains the situation as he's presenting it. He and Elena will be going to this world to scout it out and then he'll decide if it's something he wants to involve the rest of his crew with. Reactions are mixed. Some want to go with him, others are content to sit and wait for his return. But in the end, he has his way as he always does. The ship is left to his second and he turns to Elena.

"I suppose you have a clever way for us to travel?"

She smirks a bit at that, before pushing her hair back just enough to reveal her earbud from where it had been covered. Those things are perfectly handy when they need to be. "Hey, guys? We're ready whenever you are."

The machine they have now doesn't work like the Grasp did. In fact, it's bright and showy and not at all discreet, so one minute there's a bright blinding light completely surrounding them, the next they're standing in a steel plated room, looking a weary-looking Dean Winchester in the face.

"Welcome back."

You could have warned him, Elena. Now Hook has spots dancing in front of his eyes. But once they clear he comes face to face with his roommate again and he gives a nonchalant shrug.

"Really couldn't stay away. Especially when I'm so desirable for the cause." He shoots Elena a little look. Yeah, he knows he's full of it, but he likes to pretend.

"How are you, mate?" he asks, addressing Dean again.

Dean snorts softly at that, because yeah. Dean could actually do with being a little less desirable for this particular cause, but he isn't going to say no. And honestly, it's better than whatever multiversal limbo he managed to get himself stuck in.

"Let's just say this is a vacation." Yep. Dean Winchester vacations in the middle of a war zone. That's just how he rolls. He then nods to Elena. "She fill you in on where we're at?"

"She mentioned things getting worse and about to spill over into other worlds," he answers, glancing around the room they're in. "I suppose you're here to elaborate?"

He doesn't know what they'll be doing or what good he'll do, but he's here to set things right so that the rest of the universe doesn't go very wrong.

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sob, i love special guest stars

they're the best /chinhands

did he go to chris's world to retrieve her?