A/N: Hello everybody! This is my first time writing a fanfiction, and I hope I do these characters justice. This is un-beta'd, so I apologize in advance for any mistakes. As for the setting, let's just say that it takes place after the mid-season 4 finale, before the queens of darkness come into town. The only thing that's not following canon is that Emma has her own apartment that she shares with Henry, but Killian still has a room at Granny's. Leave a review and let me know what you think!
Emma flipped through the channels on her TV for the fifth time, trying to find something that captured her attention. She was so tired she could barely keep her eyes open, but sleeping was not an option. Whenever she slept, she had nightmares. They were always different; reliving horrible foster experiences, watching Pan killing Henry, and Mary Margaret eating a poison apple were just a few. There was a common thread that weaved itself through each terrible dream—she was always powerless to do anything, and they left her waking up in screams of terror and tears.
She finally decided on a cooking show. It was only 7 o'clock in the evening, way too early for her to be sleeping anyways. Henry was at Regina's for the night, so she didn't even have him to distract herself with. She stifled a yawn as she pulled a blanket on top of herself and snuggled into the couch. It had been over three days since she last slept, and it was getting harder and harder to stay awake each night. She hadn't told anyone about the nightmares since they started; the last thing she needed was people viewing her, the powerful savior, as weak.
The images of food on the television started to blur, and Emma rubbed her tired eyes frantically knowing that she couldn't fall asleep, or else the horrifying nightmares would come back. But the tiredness was like a weight pulling her down deeper and deeper into oblivion. She could feel her eyes drooping, and was too weary to fight this anymore. Her eyes closed, and she sunk into the couch as she gave into the fatigue that had been gnawing at her for a long time.
She could feel the Jolly Roger rocking gently back and forth on the water. It was a beautiful day; the warm air and slight wind made for a perfect boat outing. Of course, she wasn't alone. She looked over at the bow of the ship to see Killian steering his boat towards calm waters, and she smiled. It had been a long time since it had just been the two of them alone, and she had been looking forward to spending quality time with her pirate for quite some time now.
He had suggested they go for a leisurely picnic on the deck of the Jolly Roger, and had insisted that the lull of the waves would make a perfect background to their date.
"Swan!" Killian called as he walked across the ship to her. "Now that we're on still water, how'd you like to get this picnic started?" He smiled at her, and the sight of Killian with a lit up face and wind mussed hair was a sight she'd never tire of.
"I thought you'd never ask," she replied teasingly. She moved to go get the blanket and the food, and Killian leaned back against the railing of the deck and watched her. That's when Emma noticed the gray arms poking through the side of the ship towards him. There must have been a dozen or so extending out, writhing about like cobras.
"Killian!" Emma screamed. She tried to run to him, but found herself immobile. The arms surrounded and grabbed hold of him, some of them pinching him, and some choking him.
"H-help," he said in a coarse whisper, struggling to breathe. Emma could see his face turning a deep purple, and she was absolutely petrified what would happen next. If only she could move, if only she could save him. She tried to fight against the invisible force holding her still, but it was no use. Suddenly, the arms completely broke through the walls of the ship and dragged Killian down. Before he plunged into the water, he grasped onto the edge of the ship for dear life.
"Swan… s-save me," he managed to say.
"I can't!" she sobbed, relentlessly trying to move. The hands reached up, released Killian's grip on the ship, and pulled him into the sea. The last thing Emma saw of him was his head disappearing under the water as she bawled and continued to scream out his name. All of a sudden, a tsunami-like wave crashed onto the ship, drowning Emma, and everything went black.
"Killian!" Emma cried out, bolting awake in a cold sweat, her heart beating so fast and hard that it almost hurt. Tears threatening to spill down her face, she opened her eyes as she came to the realization that it hadn't been real. Another nightmare. She was absolutely terrified, it had all been so realistic. There was no way she was sleeping again, she couldn't risk it; the nightmares got worse and worse each time. She noticed that she had started crying, and then came to the realization that she couldn't stop the hot tears burning on her cheeks.
No. She wouldn't allow herself to do this, it was so childish of her to be crying over a nightmare. She abruptly wiped the tears from her face, begging herself to be strong. It almost made her angry how pathetic she was acting. She slouched against the back of the couch, pulling the blanket up against her, and willing herself not to break down. But she couldn't help the tremors wracking through her body every time she closed her eyes, seeing horrendous images. What would it take to make these nightmares go away, to finally be able to sleep soundly again?
Killian shivered as he felt a rush of cold air hit him. The heat was broken at Granny's, and unfortunately there was no fireplace. Killian was about to go get one of his long leather coats to wear, but then he remembered the sweatshirt Dave had given him. At first he was skeptical of it, but it ended up being far more comfy than the cumbersome pirate fashion he was used to. He went to his closet to go find it, but it wasn't there.
Where did he leave his bloody sweatshirt? He started pacing around his room searching for it until he remembered, he must have left it at Emma's place when he was there the previous night. He had come over to watch moving pictures, apparently called a "movie", with her and Henry. He reached for the talking device and paused for a second, trying to remember how to turn the damn thing on. His fingers found a button at the top, and he pushed it. The screen lit up, and he smiled.
"Ah, there we go," he said aloud, pleased at his newfound ability to control the mystical technology that this modern world had introduced him to. He found the Emma button and pressed it, hoping she would answer. It rang once, twice, three times. On the fourth ring, he finally heard a voice answer.
"Hello?"
"Swan, it's Killian. I'm pretty sure I left my new sweatshirt at your place. You wouldn't mind if I come by right now to pick it up, would you?" There was a pause.
"Right now?" He could sense something was wrong; there was a hesitation in her voice and she sounded so…broken.
"Is everything alright, Emma?" There was another pause, like she was debating whether to let him in or not.
She finally responded, "Yeah, I'm f-fine, Killian." Ok, there was definitely something wrong. Her voice only wavered like that when she was upset about something. But what could it be?
"I know you're not fine, love," he said softly. "Open book, remember?" He certainly wasn't going to let her face whatever she was going through alone, now he was definitely coming over. "I'll be there as soon as I can."
"Killian, it's fine, you d-don't have to—"
"I'm coming, Emma. I hate when you're upset, I want to be there for you. I'll see you in 5 minutes." He hung up before she got a chance to protest. There was no way he would let his Swan suffer if there was anything he could do to make it better. He walked out the door and hurried to Emma's house.
Emma hung up the phone with a shaky sigh. She hated how perceptive Killian was, but secretly she also loved him for it. She had been sitting on the couch trying to regain some sort of control when she heard the phone ring. Seeing it was Killian, she took some deep breaths so he wouldn't see how unstable her voice was, and picked up the phone, trying to feign a cheery voice. Apparently she didn't do a very good job, because he saw right through her act.
She was actually kind of happy that he cared so much as to rush over and make sure she was alright, but at the same time, she didn't want him to see her at her worst. Hell, she was the savior after all, she wasn't supposed to be weak and fearful. And what kind of person over the age of ten had nightmares? It was embarrassing that she had this problem.
She got up from her blanket cocoon and went to the bathroom to fix herself up a little bit, since she probably looked like a mess. Her tired eyes looked into the mirror, and she immediately winced when she saw the reflection staring back at her. Her hair was disheveled, probably from tossing and turning she presumed, her face was slightly pale, and her eyes were red and swollen, with dark circles under them to match. She fixed her hair and tried to blink away the tears still threatening to spill, but one managed to slide down her cheek. She wiped at it angrily before walking back into the living room.
Still shaking from the nightmare, she sat back down on the couch. What was she going to tell Killian?
She didn't have time to figure it out because right then she heard a knock on the door. She sat still for a moment, definitely not ready for this. There was another knock.
"Emma? It's me. Please open up, love." She took a few unsteady breaths before finally standing up and walking towards the door. She opened it, and there stood an out of breath Killian. He looked worried, and her heart warmed up a tiny bit at the fact that he was concerned about her.
"Emma, love, what happened? Are you alright?" He stepped into the apartment, closing the door behind him. His jaw was set in concern as he took note of her swollen eyes and pale face. "What's wrong?" he asked softly, reaching down to grasp her fingers into his warm palm.
"It's nothing…" She mumbled, looking away as her voice trailed off, images of the nightmare coming back into her mind. She blinked back tears, trying to regain her composure.
"You're trembling, Swan. Obviously something is bothering you." He let go of her fingers to cup her face in his palm, compelling her to look at him. "You can tell me," he whispered, brushing her tears away with his knuckles. "Come here." He led her to the couch and sat down, patting the cushion next to him. She took a seat, and he wrapped his arm around her and held her. He placed a chaste kiss on her forehead, pulled her closer into him, and rubbed soothing circles on her back with his hand.
"Now," he spoke, his voice vibrating against his chest. "Care to tell me what happened?"
She told him everything. About how she kept having nightmares and hadn't slept in three days, and he listened to it all. She told him about how she didn't want to tell anyone about the nightmares because she didn't want them to view her as weak, but he reassured her, telling her that taking down her walls and letting him in was just an example of how strong she was. When she told him about the most recent nightmare regarding him, his arm tightened instinctively around her. By the time she was done, there were tears in her eyes again. She wouldn't allow herself to cry, not in front of him.
He turned to face her, brushing her hair out of her face with his hook, and he felt his heart break for the woman now clinging onto him as he saw how hard she was trying not to break down.
"It's alright, love," he soothed. "It's just me, you can let it out." She buried her head into the crook of his neck and finally let herself collapse. She somehow felt perfectly safe in his arms. His shirt soon became damp with her tears as her body shook with her sobs.
"I-I couldn't save you," she whispered, her voice trembling as she spoke.
"It wasn't real. I'm right here, love. Nothing is going to happen to me, I'm a survivor," he spoke softly into her ear. She calmed at his words, and he continued to whisper sweet nothings into her ear.
Eventually, Emma was at peace, and she listened to the steady heartbeat of the warm body underneath her. She didn't remember a time when someone had cared about her as much as Killian did. He made sure she always felt loved and cherished. She couldn't believe how lucky she was to have him, and she wouldn't trade him for the world.
"Alright, love," Killian spoke sending Emma out of her daze. "You need to get some real sleep." Emma's heart skipped a beat at the thought of having another nightmare.
"I'm not so sure I want to," she replied.
"Swan, as much as I'd love to sit here with you, you're exhausted, and you really need to sleep. You'll go mad if you don't."
"But what about the nightmares?" she asked apprehensively. "I don't know if I can handle another one." She couldn't bear to think about having more, the few she already had experienced were plenty.
"You don't have to worry about that." He placed another kiss on Emma's forehead before standing up, making her whimper at the loss of contact, and extended his arm out towards her. "Come on, I'll be right there next to you."
"What, you mean, you're going to stay with me tonight?" The thought of falling asleep in Killian's arms was definitely tempting considering how tired she was, but she didn't know if she wanted to risk falling asleep.
"Aye, unless that would make you feel uncomfortable, love."
"No, it's fine, I just —"
"It's going to be alright, Emma," he interrupted. "Trust me." Emma sighed hesitantly and considered her options. He was right, she was absolutely exhausted. And if she really did have a nightmare, Killian would be right there next to her. Plus, she could already see that he wasn't going to take no for an answer.
"Ok," she finally gave in, taking his hand and letting him pull her up. She pressed herself into him as he wrapped his arms tightly around her in a hug.
"You're the bravest person I know, Swan. I hope you know how remarkably incredible you are," Killian whispered in her ear. Her heart warmed at his words and she hugged him even tighter. He pulled back to lean his forehead against hers, and took her hand in his. Intertwining them, he smiled at her before pressing a kiss against her lips. It was an innocent kiss, soft and sweet, but the feeling of his lips on hers was enough to send a million butterflies fluttering in her stomach. He pulled away and squeezed her hand gently before leading her to the bedroom.
A few minutes later, Emma climbed into the bed, and Killian slid into the spot next to her. How the hell did she get this lucky, she asked herself as she settled into bed. Killian moved closer, and his warm body moved next to hers as he closed the gap between them. She felt a warm arm curl around her waist, pulling her into his embrace, and he kissed her softy on the cheek before speaking.
"Get some sleep, love. I'll be right here for you all night, no matter what happens." She sighed in contentment before turning to face him.
"Thank you, Killian, for everything," she told him with a yawn.
"It's my absolute pleasure, Swan. I'm always here for you." With those words in her mind, she settled into his arms before closing her eyes and falling into a deep sleep.
Emma slowly opened her eyes, squinting at the light shining through her window. She made it. She actually slept through the night without any nightmares. She turned to look at the clock to see what time it was, but found herself still wrapped up in Killian's arms.
"I see you're finally awake, love," he said softly. "Get a good night's sleep?"
"Mhm," she replied, her mind still muddled with the after effects of sleep. "Thank you for staying with me, you're like a dreamcatcher," she murmured, closing her eyes and snuggling deeper into his arms. He chuckled at her words before pulling her tighter into his embrace.
"Anytime, Swan." He let her lay there with him for a few more moments in silence, feeling blissfully at peace. "Now, what do you say we go get some lunch at Granny's?" he broke the silence. "I'm starving."
"Lunch?" She opened her eyes, glanced over at the alarm clock, and saw that it was already past noon. That meant she must have slept for almost fourteen hours. "Did you really stay here with me for this whole time?" she asked Killian.
"Aye, I didn't want to leave just in case you needed me, and I didn't have the heart to wake you up." She stared at him in awe, having a hard time processing just how much he cared for her. It was almost overwhelming, the amount of happiness and contentment filling up her heart as she looked at him, unable to believe how he was real, how he was all hers. Taking his hand, she looked up at him and smiled, snuggling into him one last time.
"Thank you."