Anne Bonnie Comes To Town

"That she would lass, she's quite fiercome is Anne." He grinned at Emma, "That sounds more like it, he's my type of pirate." He was interested to see what other interpretations this world had of pirates.

"We'll be right down Jefferson." Jordan looked back at Anne who had the appearance of a rabbit in the headlights. She waved her hand over Anne, "a calming spell, for you and the baby." She waved her hand again over Anne's face to get rid of any traces that she'd been crying and then did the same for herself. "There, everything back to normal. You ready?" With that Jordan stood from the bed and held her hand out to Anne.

"Are you sure your not related?" Emma teased "Some distant family member, cousin or something" she took a huge bite of her grilled cheese, ignoring the fact it wasn't the most attractive thing in the world while Grace piped up again. "What about Indiana Jones?! he might be related there!" Emma laughed "I forgot, your not the only Jones in the world"

"Aye...I'm ready" she felt calm, completely calm "I have been told to try some pancakes...perhaps after my eggs" she took Jordan's hand, her entire body not refusing to fight the calmness that surrounded her.

"Not as far as I'm aware, never had the chance to ask him, both of us too busy on our own quests, last I heard he was off hunting the fountain of youth." He followed Emma's example and took a bite of his homefries (an interesting invention of potato chunks, fried up with onion and garlic). He was rather partial to Grannies cooking. He frowned at the name, "Indiana Jones? Not heard that name before I don't think, but who knows, anything's possible."

Jefferson came back down the stairs and sat down, "they'll be down now, it sounded as if they'd been having quite a talk and I didn't want to intrude. I'm sure they'll tell us if they're able."

"Good, now come on, lets go see the family." Jordan lead Anne out the door and down the stairs. At the bottom she saw Jefferson, Grace, Emma and Killian all round one table eating breakfast. She waved over at them and manouvered Anne towards them and sat her down in front of the plate of eggs. "Hey guys, sorry we took so long. My fault I'm afraid, I wasn't having a brilliant morning." She squeezed Anne's shoulder, "Sorry for keeping her from you. How are you all this morning?" Jordan drew a chair up and sat down at the end of the table.

"Another movie character, professor in archaeology, he digs up people who lived long ago and studies it" Emma whispered in his ear between bites of her grilled cheese sandwich. "Anne, Jordan! Hey" Emma greeted "Its alright we all have a first rough morning in StoryBrooke, I was in jail when I arrived" at this Grace gasped "No Way!" She asked snuggling next to Anne.

Anne smiled wrapping an arm around Grace and digging in to her eggs- oh my god they were delicious as she began to eat a little quicker. "Mhmm..." She groaned before replying "You haven't lived if you haven't spent time breaking a bone or in the brig...means your living life to the full"

Killian raised his eyebrow, "sounds like an interesting fellow, although why would anyone want to study people long dead?" He turned and faced her completely, "You were in the brig Swan? My my, what on earth did you do?" He grinned at Anne, "Quite right Anne, I remember the time you had me thrown in the brig in New York Swan, and I was force fed bologney. Quite an ordeal that was." He carried on eating his homefries as he watched Grace snuggle into Anne. She seemed quite at home with kids, interesting.

Jefferson turned to Emma, "You're quite the character aren't you Emma, I remember the amount of trouble you caused our dear mayor before you broke the curse."

Emma ducked her head with flushed cheeks "Yeah I did...I uh...Regina either spiked my cider or it was magic but I bulldozed the StoryBrooke sign over..." Anne started snorting with laughed from behind her plate while Grace blinked "That's why we had a new one built" she gawked in shock. "Yeah well and On the subject of freaking New York I thought you were crazy and didn't remember.." Emma huffed "You kissed me you dork"

"Oh Yeah..." Anne felt her cheeks flush "I threw Jefferson in the brig once.." She narrowed her eyes at Jefferson "Like to share why?"

Killian and Jefferson roared with laughter at Emma's admission. "That's amazing Swan, I never put you down as a public nusance." Jefferson nodded in agreement, "I wouldn't put it past Regina to have spiked your drink back then Emma, you were public enemy number one after all, in her eyes anyway."

Killian leant back on his seat raising an eyebrow, "yeah well, I wasn't planning on you forgetting how amazing I am Swan. I thought I'd made quite the impression back in Neverland." He was still put out that his amazing rescue involving true loves kiss hadn't panned out the way he'd wanted to.

Jefferson deliberately didn't look at anyone, "yeah I remember that one. You weren't too happy with me for waking you up loudly when you had a hangover if I remember rightly? You did it a few times I recall."

"laugh it up...laugh it up" Emma shook her head, unbelievable on how her and Regina's relationship started "Leroy was next to me in the other cell and my god..." She laughed turn "I remember you called the prison in New York the worst brig of your life"

Grace watched her father's admission, was that the key to finding your true love? Throwing them in prison? Threatening them for items and all? Ir seemed that way. "You learnt your lesson didn't you, never woke me up when I had a hangover" Anne said with a grin.

"Well it was Swan, they took my fake hand from me and I didn't have my hook or anything to help me escape! That food was appalling and to top it off I was separated from you! I had to make you remember, and that wasn't going to happen if I was stuck in that place!"

"Yeah I did, you're terrifying sober, but with the hangover of all hangovers you are downright scary. I'll always make sure to have a cup of coffee ready for you these days, and a bacon roll, best cure for a hangover, I promise."

Emma grinned only more and winked at him "Still...it was a night thought that even then you were a love sick puppy dog" she reached over and stole one of his fries with a grin "Believe me Killian, you had it easy...I've been in much much worse prison's in my time" Grace just gawked even more at her "Kiddo, you have no idea" Emma leant over and ruffled her hair before turning to Jordan "You Two seem to know your way around a brig, enlighten me on some of those stories some time?" Emma asked, interested "Also your as old as magic...perhaps some lessons?"

"Yeah..." she finished her breakfast in record speed and licked her lips, still very much hungry...but she said nothing and leant back "That was very satasfying...indeed" she said softly before turning Grace who was gobsmacked "You often meet the love of your life in some of the strangest circumstances...and you won't know until they try to leave..."

Killian glowered at Emma, but couldn't quite get the grin off his face. "Yeah well Swan, I couldn't help but fall in love with you. It seems we've all had our fair share of prizon breaks round this table. You're in good company Grace".

Jordan nodded, "sure thing, we've made quite a few daring escapes in our time, we'll have to swap stories Miss Swan. As for lessons, certainly. You might even be able to teach me a few things, seem as we use different branches of magic, yours being "light" and mine being "dark". I would find it interesting to hear your take on magic, I've found it's never quite at simple as just good and bad."

Jefferson watched as Anne hoovered up her food in record time, and looked up to Anne's eyes and smiled. "Indeed, I think we can all agree we found love to be quite an adventure."

"Even with Anne's arrival things are very...quiet" Emma admitted leaning back "Perhaps we should enjoy these quiet moments? I recall someone said to me once..." she then smiled "Of course, I should update you on the adventures I've had with and without this pirate" she nudged her head at Killian "I'm not the most talented sorceress in all the land but I'll give you a few tips...from my experiences of having both dark and light magic in my system I know how that feels" she glanced down at her hand then "Its...sometimes very hard to tell the difference which is light and which is dark..."

"Grace don't be surprised if the love of your throws you in a cell or vice versa..." Anne said as Grace looked up in awe, Anne and her father seemed completely and utterly in love with each, devoted to each other at times. They knew each like the back of their hands and it shocked her since Anne only recently had come back into his life. "Tell me about...um...how your so young?" "The Fountain of Youth story? that one?" "Yeees" "Well...that is an old one..."

Jordan snorted, "It won't stay quiet if Anne has anything to do with it." She smirked at Anne, "That sounds wonderful, I'm sure when we swap stories we can do so over a bottle of rum, if that sounds agreeable milady." Jordan still wasn't sure where she stood with these people, especially with what she had to tell them. "Even if we just talk about magic, I always find that it's useful to see it from another's perspective. Light and dark magic are actually more intwined than people realise, there is a balance between them, it was easier to keep when the white fairy was around." Jordan looked down at her hands, remembering her long gone friend.

Jefferson looked across at Anne, he'd always been interested in this story but had never had the chance to ask before the curse.

"That sounds so Star Wars right now- never mind" Emma added quickly knowing half of the people around this table had never heard of the Sc-Fi adventure Henry loved with his absolute heart. "That sounds like a perfect girls night in, a bottle of rum and stories we've experienced, I should update you on some of the villain's we've faced and challenges, in exchange for some tales of you guys at sea, I mean your older than anything I know and Anne is 300...you must have some good ones"

"We'll...I was merely 28 years old at the time" Anne recalled closing her eyes for a moment "I had met Jordan by then, she'd proven her salt and worth in many a tavern fight but those are not for your ears until your older" she added quickly, some of those tales...were raunchy "But I knew that if I were to ever become a legend, a legacy among my kin...to prove myself among the male pirates I had to do something spectacular and...something that would keep me going for some time" Anne glanced at Killian "Neverland wasn't my style besides someone was already there and someone I wanted to avoid...so Jordan and me begun or search for a legendary fountain.."

Jordan raised an eyebrow...Star Wars? must be something from this world. "I look forward to it. I do have a fair amount of stories, some more, painful, than others, but that comes with a long life and I can't complain. I've got a family I never thought I'd have, even if some aren't on the best of terms with me at the moment." Her heart constricted at the thought of Rumple, that was one story that would have to be shared sooner rather than later, if she didn't want her son to manipulate things and the people around her.

Killian winced at Anne's tone of voice, whilst they currently weren't at loggerheads, that didn't mean he didn't have a long way to go before him and Anne were on good terms again. He knew that they hadn't come to Neverland, as Pan would have surely exploited that to hurt them. He wondered if they'd met Jack, he hadn't mentioned anything earlier about knowing him as it was still a bit of a sore spot, the only man to have bested him a drinking contest. Killian had lost a fair amount of money that night to Sparrow.

"I too wished to avoid Neverland, although for a different reason to Anne, there was someone on that island who'd hurt me badly. My magic can't sustain eternal youth for another, so couldn't keep Anne alive myself, hence why we needed to find the fountain." Jordan joined in the storytelling, feeling the need to chip in.

Emma then put a hand over hers and squeezed "I know from experience, that children no matter what their parents did...if the parents did something for the best intentions...then they will take time and forgive you..." she sighed "I didn't exactly forgive me parents for giving me up to become some Saviour...or something other things they did...but I understand why they did those things and I've over time forgiven them" she looked into Jordan's eyes "He will forgive you, not matter how much of a Dark One he is no matter what you've done, you clearly love him so much Jordan and he must understand that you tried so hard to make sure he's loved and that he's okay, that he had his best chance" she gave a small smile.

Anne nodded "We both weren't keen on Neverland since we both got hurt by people who liked that place" she swallowed hard before smiling "So one night we go to this nearby tavern...a wonderful place it is..and we find a man named Jack Sparrow" Grace gasped "So they did find out about him, not surprised" Anne grumbled softly "Captain Jack Sparrow was in a gambling mood, very much so indeed and claimed to have found the fountain...so naturally I challenged him for the map to it" Anne leant back, keeping the part how she had to seduce the man into giving her the item she needed "Once he was out like a light, Jordan and I travelled far across the vast sea"

Jordan squeezed Emma's hand in return and managed a small smile at the woman who clearly understood how painful family could be. "Thank you, I can only hope so. I know I'm not the only one at this table he's hurt, and for that I can only apologise. I'm afraid I couldn't give him his best chance and for that he feels as though I'm responsible for all the bad things that have happened to him. Who knows, I certainly didn't help matters."

She looked at Anne when she mentioned Jack, wondering just how much of that story she'd share. She'd made sure to put a large dose of sleeping draught in his rum to knock him out so they could make their getaway after Anne had seduced him for the map. That had always been a bit of a sore spot for Jordan, having wanted to just threaten the man with a fireball to get the map off him.

Emma nodded softly "Sadly he got his heart broken, which is a good thing in a way" she glanced up at Killian the back at Anne who was listening partly to this conversation "If its broken, it means it still works and it can be fixed...anyway" she leant back with a grin "Enough with the heavy, just how the hell did you find this one's little sister? that is a tale I must ask you to share with the table" Partly to quench her curious side, partly for Killian's sake too, since he missed so much of his little sister's adult life due to the mistakes of the past he must be dying to know what happened to her through any scrap of information.

"We sailed deep into the murky swamps of the jungle, into the heat of the hot sun and into the wreckage of ships old AND new!" Grace gasped, her breakfast now forgotten as she hung on to every word that left Anne's mouth "Aye lassie, we were just the freshest face of the island, nor shall will we have been the last...for you see the secret of the Fountain is very tricky...you need a special cup and the tear of a mermaid shed in sadness or happiness..."

Jordan leant back, knowing now wasn't the time for that story, she didn't particularly want to relive Malcolm and Rumple, she'd wait for the Charmings. These people needed to know, to keep them safe from the family drama that was undoubtably about to unfold. A smile unfolded as she thought of the day she met Anne. "I'm sure you'll no doubt not be surprised to find out we met in a bar. I hadn't been in a good place for a long time, I'm ashamed to admit I rather lived up to the legend of the black fairy, grief will do that to you. Anyway, I'd recently moved to a new town and was in the local tavern trying to have a quiet drink when a rather rowdy group of pirates arrived. I noticed their captain straight away, he was certainly a sight to behold. Maybe not the biggest pirate of the group," she smirked at Anne, "but had a presence about him. Commanding respect from all those around him and a certain edge that meant business and not to mess with him. Well, there was this one lad in the bar who'd become a bit too friendly with a bottle of the tavern's finest rum and decided to pick a fight with the new captain in town. Everyone quickly realised that this man was not someone to be reckoned with, but none learnt it quite so well as the guy who left with multiple fractured ribs, a broken nose, a black eye and a handful less teeth." Jordan paused, stealing a swig of Anne's orange juice. "I decided then and there that I wanted to be a part of this man's crew, I had been wanting a fresh start, to get away from the reputation I'd made for myself and I thought no better way than to sail the high seas. I went over and introduced myself an brought a round for the entire crew, I find pirates to be a whole lot mor accomodating if there's alcohol involved."

Jefferson was confused, "so how's Anne involved in all this? You haven't mentioned her yet and I thought it was about you meeting for the first time..."

Jordan grinned at him, "Oh but I have Jefferson. Anyway, as we were talking, a man came in challenging the captain to a duel, saying he was the brother of the man that'd been taught a lesson earlier in the evening. The captain accepted and to this day is one of the best duellers I have ever seen. In the process their shirt was ripped by the brother to reveal a corset and at the same time managed to injure the captain. As the captain tried to recover I took over and attacked the man with my magic until he backed down. I then went to tend to the captain who wasn't a man but was in fact, Anne."

Emma much like Grace was doing leaned forward, enthralled by the tale Jordan was weaving with her words and peeling by what was layers of time, centuries of time even with each word. The diner became a roaring tavern filled with drinking and general merry making, rum, whisky and beer sloshed in tankards all over the floor giving it an authentic strange smell that nobody seemed to mind in the slightest. She blinked when the mention of a male pirate, was Anne not Captain yet? was she still a cabin boy or girl? this made no sense. "Where is Anne in this story? I'm confused" then Jordan continued the story and at the reveal the male Captain Emma laughed and turned to Anne who winked and continued her own tale Emma's smile only grew wider, she hid her sniggers at the image of the reveal to the entire tavern, loosely hanging shirt revealing a brown corset and then Anne loosing her temper completely...and the poor man was a goner. "Overly-Dramatic? sounds very Jonesy"


"So we soon set upon by the beasts themselves; mermaids..." Anne said softly, keeping an ear out as Jordan told the tale of their first meeting, she shook her head before continuing her own story "Their scales gleamed in the low light of the moon as they turned to calm waves into a fierce and horrid storm...if they cannot lure you to death with their singing...they will gather in large numbers and sink a ship with lightning and magic" she put her hands on table "Lightning flashed! the mast almost cracked under its strike!" Grace jumped and gasped, a hand on her chest "What next?! what next?!" Grace demanded "Me and Jordan fought them, fired upon them and tried to keep our ship steady...we somehow survived with many a cut and bruise" she leant back and her heart castrated then, remembering this part "We of course during the fight caught a mermaid, she thrashed in the net as her conch shell was smashed to prevent her calling her brethern or the storm back upon us...he tail gold and green with each scale as a big as a penny...her hair thick black like the night's sky and with it being wet it seemed stars were embedded there..." Anne swallowed "She was clearly frightened knowing we had her cornered...but when she looked at me...with the biggest and largest blue eyes.." she glanced warily at Killian then, her gaze on his eyes "Something within me showed her mercy, in exchange for one tear from her eye and not to be attacked upon our return, we would not harm her kind or her if we ever came across them...she agreed and the deal was struck...to this day I have never harmed a mermaid to honour my word"

Jordan finished her tale and smiled, "it was the beginning of quite the friendship. I was worried she might not want me around, what with my magic, but it seemed me stepping to her aide had the opposite affect. We were inseparable and the crew I think were two scared to question us about Anne being a woman and my being around. Anne had got their respect by this point anyway, so I don't think they minded to much. I might've threatened them with turning them into fish bait if they questioned her authority, but I'll deny that if anyone asks." Jordan then turned to listen to Anne's description of their encounter with the mermaids, slightly rubbing a thin scar on her arm she'd gotten during that fight with her thumb.

Killian was torn between listening to Jordan's tale and Anne's, wanting to know every little detail. Jordan's description made him smile, of course Anne had had to disguise herself, no man would have allowed her to captain a ship back then. He was glad she'd managed to prove herself and been able to carry on after she'd been found out. His heart was in his mouth as Anne talked about dealing with mermaids, he'd never liked the creatures. Her description sounded familiar and when she glanced at him he knew why Anne had shown mercy, the mermaid had reminded her of him. He was humbled that even though she hated him, the thought of him still made her do good things. He wanted to know everything about Anne's past but right now, the fact he knew this much was nothing short of a miracle. He was surprised Anne was happy to be so open round him.

Emma exhaled "Sounds like a bond forged in fire" her hand squeezed Killian's at those words "Sometimes in literal fire, I heard stories of a tavern fight over some barmen's daughter?" she raised one perfect blonde eyebrow before turning her attention to Anne's tale, mimicking Grace's expression before frowning at the mention of mermaids. Remembering having to jump off into the Neverland ocean to stop everyone from sinking the Jolly Rodger almost drowning in the process before they had even begun to save Henry, she shuddered at the feeling of icy cold ocean water filling her lungs. Emma felt Killian tense when the mermaids description came up, dark black hair and the deepest blue eyes? the glance confirmed her suspicion on why Anne had spared the creature and her she gave his hand another squeeze, even when she had loathed him, that he brought nothing but venom to her mouth...the imagery of her brother stilled her blade, caused her to have mercy and do something very hero like, she smiled briefly up at him.

Anne realised she had the eyes and ears of the table, that everyone was listening intently. She rolled her shoulders with an exhale before continuing the tale "After the encounter with the mermaid and her kin, we began our long trek through the hot jungle, dodging danger and predator's of all shorts.." she lifted her fringe slightly to reveal a scar under there, causing Grace to gasp "A run in with a vicious jungle cat of some short, I managed to escape its claws and jaws with nothing but my wit and the end of my blade" she lowered her fringe before revealing her scarred palms too "Each one of my scars is a trial I went through to get such an immortality, to become a legend Grace...but I will never do such a task again" she closed her hands while forcing the memories back from the deepest part of her mind "The reason so many fail in such a task, not because of the mermaids, the predators or even the destination but the very task surrounding the fountain.." her eyes closed for a moment, the foggy location of the fountain revealing its self in her mind "For Grace, the trial to prove your worth, is one of the mind.." she didn't want to scar the poor girl, for the details were too dark and horrendous "There were moments even I wanted to give up..." Anne's eyes glazed over for a moment, the colour gone from her eyes as the pain she felt..the burning sensation that had her screaming and withering in pain...while her mind tortured her slowly...

Jordan snorted, "aye, that it was. I'm not entirely sure that that's a story to be told in front of a child. Maybe over a rum or three another time." She kept Emma in her periphery as Anne told her story about the mermaids and noticed the frown. She's dealt with mermaids before. Interesting, I wonder when. She made a mental note to ask about that at some point as she was pretty sure mermaids weren't permanent residents of Storybrooke harbour. Jordan reached under the table and gripped Anne's hand, rubbing the pad of her thumb over Anne's knuckles, as she remembered the pain she had to go through to at the Fountain of Youth. If only she had been able to take away her pain. It was one of the many things she still felt terribly guilty about.

Killian's heart twisted at seeing his sister's scars. He'd wanted to keep her from pain and hurt but he only made it worse, and caused her to go through countless trauma, simply because he couldn't be the brother she needed. He could feel himself go pale at her mention of what she had to go through at the fountain, from what she wasn't saying, and the look in her eyes, it couldn't be good.

Jefferson already knew parts of this from his time on the Pegasus, but hadn't realised the extent of the trials that the girls had to go through to get to the fountain and for Anne to succeed. He wished he could have been there to protect her and knew that Killian was probably feeling something similar.

Jordan looked around the diner wondering if the Charmings were coming as she had promised to tell them, Emma, Killian and Jefferson about her past. She wasn't sure if she had the courage, but knew she had to. For their safety, if nothing else. If Rumple decided to do something, she didn't want them to get hurt. She suddenly paled slightly, what if Malcolm was here? She wasn't sure she could cope coming face to face with him again, it might be her undoing.

Emma flexed a smile at Jordan's answer, there were many tales they had to be told that were unfit for Grace's ears to be honest, some she knew that Anne and Killian both tell to even remotely fix their bond. There was the case of their younger brother too...Anne clearly knew nothing about him and her reaction...the timing of such a meeting must be done perfectly. She saw Jordan eye her face at the mention of mermaids before muttering "Neverland, that's a tale I'll tell you later" exchanging stories like this, gave her a glimpse of what Killian's family was like and she relished in it. She watched Anne's expression turn glassy and see through, her mental trauma filtering through and her hand grip on Killian's hand once again tightened, to soothe him as she glanced at Jefferson.

"Then what?" Grace asked, leaning forward, looking uncomfortable at Anne's glossy look. She had heard stories of Anne Bonny back in the Enchanted Forest, when her father took her to market and she left his vision for just moments. The children of the harbour and the adults gossiped, weaving tales of the fiery demon of the seven sea's. Seeing Anne like this however, was terrifying...seeing what she had to do to become such a tale...

Anne swallowed hard, tears had begun to well within in her while her voice went raspy "Aye..." she took Jordan's hand and squeezed it before swallowing again "Aye...right the fountain...the fountain" she avoided everyones gaze and continued her tale "After the trial, the fountain was revealed to us, it was...so simple yet gave off the aura of power..." she picked up her glass of orange juice "now we approached with caution and wariness, for such a prize must be further guarded and my mind was not yet...healed from the trial" she gripped the glass tighter in her hand, memories blurring her vision.

Jordan blanched at the mention of Neverland, knowing that whatever reason she had to go there it must have been dire, no one went there willingly. Not with him in charge. She just hoped that whatever went down there, everyone came back ok. She rubbed her thumb on the back of Anne's hand, seeing her relive the pain she went through hurt her heart.

Killian could see the pain in Anne's eyes as they glossed over, which made him hate himself even more for what he did to her. He was thankful for Emma's presence, her hand in his reminded him of how far he'd come since then, hopefully Anne would be able to see that and they could move forward.

Jefferson wound his arm around and and placed his hand on her back, slowly rubbing circles with his thumb, listening to all this, made him realise just how much Anne had gone through before they met. She'd been so strong for so long, he knew that there would come a moment where those walls of hers would break, and it would be a spectacular melt down. He looked at his watch and suddenly realised the time, "Hey Gracie, sorry to interupt, but if you're going to make it to school on time, you'd better get a move on! We'll carry this on when you get home, ok sweetie?" He placed a kiss on her head, knowing she'd be pissed she couldn't stay and listen to more of Anne's stories.