Killian's eyes fluttered open at the sound of creaking floorboards outside his room at Granny's. When the footsteps paused at the other side of his door, and the keyhole glowed with magic as it gently clicked open, he jolted awake and swept the hook from his nightstand, locking it in place at the end of his arm with the speed of three hundred years' experience.
His eyes strained against the almost complete darkness. He remained in bed, not to tip off the intruder to his knowledge of their presence, gaze trained on the door as the knob slowly and silently turned. His eyes followed the lithe silhouette that crept through the sliver of moonlight coming through the curtains, and the figure disappeared into the darkness beside the wall at his back.
Closing his eyes, the pirate listened, waiting for the intruder to creep closer. When his foe paused at his back, close enough to hear their controlled breathing, he pounced. Twisting and launching himself at the shadowy figure, he pinned her against the wall, his hook against her throat.
Her?
Faces inches apart, the slice of moonlight glinting off of the blue-tinged silver quality of her skin, he stared into the eyes he had seen every night in his dreams for the three weeks since she disappeared in a swirl of darkness in the middle of the street. In the instant he looked at her, before he even drew his next breath, Killian saw fear, desperation, and maybe a faint glimmer of hope reflected back at him.
And in a flash it was gone; replaced with a hardened barrier of complete darkness.
"Swan?" he breathed as the air rushed out of his lungs. With a small flick of her hand, a wave of magic swept over his body, paralyzing him where he stood and causing his hook to vanish from his arm, only to reappear dangling from the coat rack across the room.
Killian gazed into her eyes, looking for that glimpse of emotion he saw before her guard was up, and her face rushed toward his. Her forehead collided with him in a headbutt that knocked his stiff form off his feet, and he fell straight backwards - unconscious before he even hit the ground.
As the world came back into focus, Killian let out a low groan and rolled his head around in an attempt to quell the throbbing. He quickly realized that his head was the only part of his body that he could move. He was seated on the floor of his room, leaning against the bed, his limbs still frozen by Emma's spell.
Emma. She sat facing him in the armchair on the other side of the room. Her legs were crossed casually, but her back was ramrod straight and angled toward him, and her hands clutched at the arms of the chair as if fighting the impulse to go for his throat. The way her elbows jutted out to each side reminded him of a predatory bird.
And she was hauntingly beautiful.
In any other situation, the way in which the black leather clung to her figure would have inspired some lewd innuendos, but Captain Hook was overwhelmed with empathy for the creature before him, struggling with all her might to fight off the darkness.
"Swan, love…" he began, but she abruptly silenced him.
"Shut up," she spat, holding up her hand and shutting her eyes. "Just give me a second."
He waited for a few seconds, but his nature quickly got the better of him, and he muttered through a crooked smirk, "Emma, if you wanted to restrain me, all you had to do was ask."
"Killian." She cut him off with a curt tone. "I would really love not to kill you. Could you maybe do me a solid and stop drawing attention to the fact that you're immobilized… unarmed… isolated…"
As she listed off his disadvantages, she leaned out further from the chair, slowly creeping toward him like a leopard stalking its prey. Losing her fragile hold on control, she leapt forward, coming to a stop right beside his face in a feline crouch. Her eyes gleamed with the desire to kill, and he stared back at her, unblinking. He never even flinched.
She closed her eyes and released a shaky breath.
"Kilian," she murmured, her voice strained. "In a few seconds, I'm going to release you. I need you to slowly and quietly slip out the door. Once you're in the hallway, run. Get to Regina's house as fast as you can and tell her I'm here and that she needs to figure out a way to contain me."
She moved in closer, touching her forehead to his. He shut his eyes and gently leaned into her touch.
"Don't tell anyone else," she added. And much too soon, she shoved away from him, and released him from the hold of her dark magic.
He looked up at her, still just inches away from him. Her head was bowed, her eyes shut tight, and tension rolled off of her in near-tangible waves. Resisting the urge to reach out and pull her against his chest with the promise that he would make everything okay, he slipped away from her. He retreated to the door, silently retrieved his hook from the coat rack, and, with a quick glance over his shoulder, stepped into the darkened hallway.
