Hello, dear readers! I know this has been done approximately 47,000 times already, but I cannot get past the incongruence of the Killian-gets-his-heart-back scene being immediately followed by a shots-time-with-Regina-! scene.
Plus I can't get myself to write the Captain Swan relationship advancing any farther without knowing where the show will have them when the hiatus is over. The little Emma and Killian in my head want me to stay canon or nearly-canon when it comes to writing them in the universe of the show.
I'd try to tackle an AU (modern, perhaps, especially because I'm enjoying some of the lovely ones out there right now), which I have done for other shows previously, but my creative side must be boycotting OUAT because I can't think of what to try for an AU that hasn't been done. I suppose if anyone has any grand ideas they want to message me for an AU, I'd consider giving a good one a try.
In the meantime, here's my scene-filler for the 4A finale, to make everything a little bit more ok in my head. It ended up in present tense somehow; I'm not sure if I like it or not. (Sorry if a few past tense outliers snuck in.) Oh, and there's a bit alluding to them not having sexytimes at Granny's that relates to a more detailed reasoning for that in a separate one-shot of mine, "Sex, Practically".
Anyway…
Between
Staring into Killian's eyes, Emma feels her smile weaken even as he proclaims himself a survivor. "You almost weren't…" she protests solemnly, her voice shaky.
Killian's gaze drops from hers with a sigh. "I know," he breathes, lowering his forehead to rest on hers.
It almost makes it worse, him admitting how close she'd come to losing him. Their heads still pressed together, Emma senses the sting of tears looming as she reaches up to run her hands over his chest. But even the reassuring thud of his heart beneath her palm can't keep her vision from growing more blurry with unshed tears.
"I'm sorry, love," Killian continues, his hooked arm holding her close as his hand strokes her hair, "It was my fault. I knew better," comes the sheepish admission, "and I still-"
She cuts him off, launching herself even closer as her arms wrap around him in a tight hug. "Just-" Her voice catches in her throat. "I don't even care right now," she manages to get out before emotion chokes her again. "God, Killian…" she murmurs, punctuating it with a sniffle as a drop finally escapes her eye.
He wasn't wrong, whenever ago that was; he is perceptive, so Emma isn't exactly surprised when he pulls back to study her face at the first sign of crying. His expression softens as he reaches up to wipe away the dampness from her cheek, cupping her face and swiping his thumb with a whispered reassurance of "Love, I'm here." Of course, the tender action just elicits a tear from the other eye, which he brushes away with the back of his hand.
The action is still moot; even as she bites her lip in an attempt at control and drops her gaze from his, more tears follow, streaking down Emma's cheeks.
Forgoing the tears, he pulls her in again, wrapping his arms around her tightly. She feels a kiss pressed to the top of her head before she hears him, his words muffled by her hair. "Ah, love," he forces out tightly, "I never meant to put you through this. Emma, I'm sorry."
And then she hears a tearful sniffle that's not her own.
In spite of herself, Emma half-stifles a sniffle-y giggle as she leans back from him in surprise. Upon seeing his bright blue eyes shine even brighter with unshed tears and damp streaks marring his scruff, she offers a watery smile. "Oh, you too?" she chides softly, mimicking his action as she wipes at his cheek softly.
But he's still serious. "I mean it, Swan," he insists, "I hate seeing you like this, and by my hand..." He trails off, his eyes falling shut and blinking out more tears as he lets his face drop into her palm.
Emma lets herself cradle his cheek softly for a moment, but finds herself setting her jaw, not willing to let him wallow in guilt. She lifts his head with her hand, physically coaxing him into meeting her gaze once more. "I don't care," she declares.
"Sw-" he begins his protest immediately, but she cuts him off just as quickly.
"I mean it," Emma interjects. "I don't care." And really, though she should – she should care how he got into this mess – she can't bring herself to be angry. She does trust him, and whatever it was that got him caught up in Gold's web, she had no doubt that it was because of good, albeit misguided, intentions. A little more gently, she repeats, "Right now I just care that you're ok."
He eyes her dolefully. "And I care that you're not."
This time she cradles his face with both hands, pulling him in and pressing her lips tentatively to his for what she tries to make a reassuring kiss. "Hey," she insists, pulling away, "I am ok. Because you are."
Killian's expression remains tinged with skepticism and guilt.
"Look," Emma continues, her voice gentle, "Gold is gone-"
"For now," he interrupts her darkly.
Emma rolls her eyes with a snort, her tears now drying as she takes on the cheerleader role. "Yeah, for now," she echoes. "But he's not here," she adds, before continuing with a playful hint in her voice, "And I remember hearing somewhere that you should take advantage of the quiet moments in between the craziness."
She smirks as she watches him shake his head at her parroting of his own words from not so long ago. Finally, he acquiesces with a self-deprecating chuckle. "Sound advice, Swan." And this time, he's the one tugging her in for the reassurance of a sweet kiss. She can't help but smile against his lips, still just happy to have him back to being himself. "So you agree?" she asks, pulling back with a grin.
Killian smirks in return, his eyes no longer glistening with tears, but his usual mischievous twinkle. "Actually, yes. I do believe I am still owed a second date, after all," he reminds her, one eyebrow cocked suggestively.
"I can get behind that," Emma laughs, smiling even wider.
This time, they simply melt into each other, lips meeting softly at first, but soon enough escalating back towards the fierce heat of when he'd first pushed her to the wall after returning his heart. Tongues dance and teeth nip as her nails dig into the soft leather of his jacket and his hand slips down behind her, into the back pocket of her jeans.
This time, Emma just doesn't care if someone sees them, if someone rounds the corner from the dining room to the inn.
This time, it's really him. She'd known something was off, that something wasn't right, and now that he's re-hearted, she just wants him that much more.
They're still drinking each other in, breathy sighs between kisses as her hands make their way up from his back, over his chest, to bury themselves in his hair as she feels him pull her hips flush with his.
She can feels the hard swell in his pants against her; she lets out a muffled whimper into his mouth as his hand leaves her back pocket to slip down inside the back of her jeans instead, massaging roughly as he presses her to the wall.
Her hands sneak between them, sliding up under his shirt so she can scrape her nails over the skin of his torso.
Someone drops something in the diner.
It startles them both, and Emma pulls away from the kiss, breathless and flushed, but reluctant to pull her hands from him, despite knowing that they'd pretty much gone as far as they could anyway.
Killian is well aware they'd hit their limit as well, slipping his hand from the confines of the back of her jeans, inquiring with halfhearted sarcasm, "Love, I don't suppose you've procured your own residence between dealing with Gold and the Ice Queen?"
She snorts at the thought of even half a second of free time to have done so in the past few days as she finally pulls her hands out from under his shirt to loop loosely around his neck. "Still with good old mom and dad and- oh shit," she stops short, freezing in place. "Henry."
Killian looks at her questioningly.
In all the mess with the dagger and the heart and everything else, when was the last time she even saw him? "I have no idea where my kid is," she admits, sure he's fine, but nerves creeping in nonetheless.
"I'm sure the boy's fine," he reassures her, his thumb now rubbing circles over her hip, where his hand rests casually.
"Yeah, yeah, I know," Emma agrees with a nod. "But, uh," she adds sheepishly, feeling her cheeks flush as she gestures to the still rather small space between the two of them, "there should be less this until I check on him."
He lets out a good natured laugh and steps back, giving half a mock bow and reaching his arm animatedly in the direction of the dining room. "Go, love," Killian urges her. "I believe the lad's other mother was out in the dining area when we arrived, was she not? Might be the place to start."
Emma gives a half smile in return, but suddenly finds herself unable to actually put her feet into motion, as if they're unwilling to allow her to walk away from Killian.
It's as if he senses her hesitation. "I'm fine, love," he promises. "Find Henry. I'll be fine. Perhaps do a little research for our second date?" He waggles an eyebrow at her again.
Yet she still finds herself hesitating, even as she gives him a wan smile. Gold is gone, everything should be fine…
The next thing she realizes, Killian is steering her towards the diner, his hand in the small of her back and look at that, her feet do still work.
"Go," he insists. "I'll wait upstairs. It's rather early, there should be time enough to go for a date once you return."
Emma finally nods in agreement, biting her lip bashfully as she wipes at her eyes, probably swollen form crying and touches her lips, probably swollen from kisses. She grabs at his jacket and pulls him in for a quick kiss, promising, "Back soon."
He nods, and then she's heading into the diner.
Where Regina looks utterly miserable.
And Emma can't help but feel a twinge in her stomach, oh-so reminiscent of when they'd first realized it was Marian who was the hitchhiker from the past through the portal. Compounded by the taste of Killian's kisses still on her lips… Once again, Emma has gotten the happy… happy something, if not ending, with Killian, and Regina lost out on Robin again.
Emma heads over slowly, weighing the necessity of tracking down Henry immediately and assuaging, even a little, the guilt in the pit of her stomach and trying to cheer Regina up.
By the time Emma reaches the counter, she's scratching near her ear nervously (that was his thing, when had she picked that up, she wonders absently), her mind made up. Drinks first, and ask about Henry in a minute.
Of course, the kid bursts in on his own, and suddenly hours are taken up heading to the mansion, and the books…
It's far later than she had promised Killian when Emma returns to Granny's after sending Henry off to spend the night at Regina's. Too late for a proper second date, but that doesn't stop her from flagging down Ruby to ask if they carry a certain brand of wine that she may or may not remember from a certain dinner with a certain pirate at the Italian place across town for totally non-sentimental reasons. She flushes under the weight of Ruby's knowing smirk, but she grabs the bottle and shoves a few bills across the counter, then walks toward the back, not caring who sees her heading towards Killian's room.
Upstairs, she raps on the door with her knuckle, biting back a smile. A smile that quickly fades into a frown when there's no response from inside.
She knows she's being paranoid and irrational, but she's still pulling bobby pins from her keychain and picking the lock a heartbeat after knocking for a second time. She calls his name as she fiddles with the tumblers, but still nothing from him.
With the wine on the hallway floor behind her, Emma quickly defeats the lock and worriedly bursts in. But she freezes and quiets immediately at the sight awaiting her.
He's asleep.
Boots and jacket have been abandoned by the armchair in the corner, but otherwise he's still dressed, dead to the world on top of the covers amidst a smattering of papers.
Emma smiles, the scene tugging at her heart as she crouches to grab the wine from the floor behind her. She enters the room quietly, pocketing her bobby pins and carefully closing the door behind her. She deposits the wine on the small table by the chair and sits, unzipping her boots and placing them on the floor next to his, her jacket over the arm, also next to his.
She tiptoes over to the bed, inspecting the array of things surrounding the sleeping pirate. Old restaurant menus from Granny's common room, an ancient phone book, scribbled notes on a few places, his phone, a pen… Date plans. She gathers the smattering of things with a smile and a warm feeling in her stomach, and moves them to the nightstand before heading back to the armchair to grab the worn, crocheted blanket draped over the back. Then Emma takes a deep breath, rounding the bed to the empty side, turning the light off on the way. She crawls on to the bed gingerly, trying to avoid jostling him at all. Inching over towards him, she delicately unfurls the blanket, placing it over his legs and tugging it up to cover them both.
Turns out she isn't quite as gentle and graceful as she thinks she can be, for the next thing she knows, he rolls over, blinking in the dim moonlight streaming through the window.
"Swan?" he asks quietly, confusion tingeing his voice, gravelly from sleep.
"Yeah, it's me," she whispers, leaning on her elbow over him as her other hand drops to stroke his cheek.
His brow furrowing from the haze of sleep, Killian says apologetically after clearing his throat, "I believe I may have slept through our date."
Emma giggles, still brushing her thumb over his cheek. "Well, I missed it completely," she replied softly.
He then rubs at his temples wearily. "I think my... dealings," he admits, "with the Dark One may have relieved me of a bit more than my heart. I'm actually quite exhausted." But that doesn't stop him from smirking at her and adding, "Which doesn't usually happen before the beautiful woman enters my bed."
She rolls her eyes even as she eases herself down off her elbow to curl against his side, her head coming to rest on his shoulder.
"You found the lad?" he mumbles a moment later.
Emma tilts her head up to find that's he's half asleep again, his eyes closed as his fingers toy ever so slightly with the ends of a few strands of her hair. "He's staying with Regina," she informs him in a whisper.
His reply is a soft and incoherent, "Mmhmm…"
Emma stays quiet for a moment, willing herself not to keep dwelling on how close she came to losing this. His fingers eventually slow and cease playing with her hair. Not sure if he's quite asleep yet or not, she asks tentatively, "...Killian?"
He's awake enough to murmur a "…Hmmm?"
Her voice catches in her throat, and she's not even sure what she'd meant to say. It's another beat before she can say anything, and she settles on a soft "G'night…"
He doesn't reply right away, and she's not even sure the "Mh" he breathes is actually a reply in the first place, or just a sleepy noise halfway to a snore. Not that it really matters.
Emma snuggles closer against him, resting her hand over where his heart beats, and closes her eyes.
She'll take quiet moments like this.