Hellbrooke. What a funny little name. Hades had thought of it himself, thinking it was amusing with all the resemblance to Storybrooke. In Hellbrooke he rules them all. The souls do the bidding, he just commands them. Piece of cake.
Of course a ruler would be too bored without a little rebellious uprise now and then. He may keep the souls he puppets around heartless, but that doesn't mean every one of them would behave. Other methods are used to ensure their good behavior.
"We've been expecting you, Emma" A voice came from the mayor's office. Hades stood by the desk in his black suit and his hair sleeked back with hair gel. "Emma, Emma, Emma. You dear have had quite the past I see" Hades said as looked through a book. A book she assumed he had information about all the souls he had for the moment in the underworld. "How do you know?" Emma asked carefully. What she thought was the closest secret protected could now potentially be exposed to everyone else. She was ashamed. "I'm Hades. Presume I know everything" He told her, a smug smile at the corner of his lips. "Why did you poof me over here? I assume you know why I came here" Emma asked. "All in its time dear, I'll tell you what, I'll make you deal. I will let you walk out of here with your beloved Captain but in return I want your heart" Hades offered. "If I don't have my heart I can't split it to return Killian back to life" Emma said, not wanting to give up her heart. "Sure you can. I have the hearts of every soul down here, and I'll give you Killian's if you give me yours" He explained. "How can I believe you?" Emma asked not wanting to trust Hades, she knows he can be tricky. If he had her heart he could crush it instantly, then she'd be stuck down here. "You will give up your heart to Cora tonight, or I will kill your family and I'll make sure Jones never get to leave this place" Hades said as he disappeared through a blue smoke out of there, leaving a gut wrenching choice for Emma to make.
"With this silence you could imagine there to be fog with children coming out to ask if we want to play." Regina sarcastically said as they were walking down the town centre. They hadn't seen a single person since they arrived.
"We have to find Hades" Mr Gold said as Emma stopped in their tracks.
"Hades? so we just walk up to him and ask to take Hook with us? We can just find Killian and get out of here as soon as we can." Emma said as this place made her uneasy. She just wanted to find him, to be in his arms. She couldn't even think of another night without Killian.
"You don't think he would just let us steal a soul from here and walk out unnoticed do you, dearie? I'm quite certain he is expecting our arrival" Gold replied.
"Where would we even begin to look?" David asked.
"I think I have a pretty good idea where" Emma said as she changed direction and headed down to Granny's with a big sign that spelled HELL. He couldn't have made it more obvious, but then again he's probably a sadistic showoff Emma thought. The sign on the door said OPEN.
They all walked into the building together. It was empty. No food on display, no people. The coat stand had no coats either.
"This is ridiculous" Regina stated as they looked around.
"Hades wouldn't have chosen his office as king of underworld in a common diner. I suggest we go looking in the mayor's office. I would like to see this man and ring his little neck for taking Storybrooke as his display of hell and to dare use my office "Regina further explained as she had her hand in a clenched fist. She saw the others look at her and she relaxed her grip.
"Sorry, old habit" She said as she cleared her throat, and Robin chuckled behind her. Emma didn't say anything and rushed outside again.
The place wasn't as empty anymore. It looked like the town had just woken up. Children were crossing the street, a woman helping them. The woman noticed them and walked over, confused.
"Rumplestiltskin, what are you doing here? Did someone finally manage to kill you?" She asked bitterly.
"Milah, nice to see you again, dear" He replied sarcastically. Milah? Emma looked at the woman confused.
"Do you know where Killian is?" Emma asked quickly. Milah had a look of surprise.
"He's here, in the underworld?" She asked.
"Yes, we're here to bring him back from the underworld" Emma explained. Milah had forgotten all about the kids now.
"Why would Rumple be here to bring him back? Surly he would rather see him rot down here than bring him back to life" Milah angrily said looking at Rumple. She had not forgotten she had fallen dead by his hands, and nor would she ever forgive him for it.
"He's doing me a favor" Emma spoke up.
"And what exactly is your relation to Killian Jones?" Milah asked.
"I'm his" Not finding the right words she paused, Milah's eyes trailed down her chest onto the ring on the chain around Emma's neck. Emma clutched the necklace.
"I see" Milah said with understanding, all anger gone and replaced by a slight sadness.
"I didn't mean to..." Emma began as she was cut off.
"I see you were someone special to him." She explained "Go to the mental institution, it's where Hades keeps his special collecting of souls trapped, no one in this town is informed of who is down there. If you are lucky you might find him there" She said.
"This is Henry" Emma said as she motioned her son to come stand by her side.
"This is your grandson. Baelfire's son" Emma explained as she introduced them to each other. She wanted Milah to know who he was, she deserved that.
Milah looked at the boy in front of her.
"Hello, Grandma" Henry said as she touched his face and smiled.
"How can that be? You look so much like him when Baelfire was young" She said to him.
"Who is his mother?" Milah asked the others as she looked away from Henry.
"I am" Regina and Emma replied in union.
"This family is complicated" Emma said as Milah motioned the kids to cross the streets without her.
"I better go. Hades wouldn't like me if I didn't get the kids to school on time, I wouldn't like to go back to isolation. When you find Killian, tell him..." Milah struggled with what she wanted to tell him. She had so much to say.
"Just tell him I hope he's happy" She eventually said and gave a comforting smile before Milah turned around and walked away.
They all left to the hospital of the mental institute. When they walked down there it wasn't as bright as it used to be back in Storybrooke. The light was dimmed and glowed slightly orange. It wasn't as quiet as it used to be either. This was different from Storybrooke. This place looked like it had been built for prisoners instead.
Terrible noises came from the rooms. Noises she couldn't explain what was. Emma swore she saw something that didn't look human like in the corner of her eye. They walked down the corridor when she spotted Killian. Bloody and bruised all over, he looked defeated.
"Killian, what have they done to you?" Emma whispered to his unconscious body.
They had cleaned him up, and he was waking up.
"Swan, you shouldn't have come" He whispered and she shushed him softly.
"Don't waste your breath we're getting you out of here" She told him.
"Not so fast" Cora said, stopping them from breaking out.
"Give me your heart now Emma, and I'll let you all walk out of here unharmed" Cora explained.
"Mother, what exactly do you think you are doing?" Regina asked.
"What I was told to do, Darling"
The others were quite confused still. They didn't know what choice Emma had to make. Her mind was on getting Hook out of here, even if that meant giving up her heart.
"Then what are you waiting for? Take it and be done with it, so we can leave" Emma said angrily.
Cora stared down at Emma, her ears wondering if she had heard correctly. Emma was really giving up her heart. Cora reached down. A hand gracefully wavering over Emma's chest before moments later she embraced into the touch. Cora's hand grabbed around of the touch of Emma's heart. Emma let out a small yelp before she gathered her composure. Wrecked by guilt Emma couldn't stare anywhere but down on the floor. Cora extracted the heart quickly. She almost dropped the heart of what she saw. A gasp came from, presumed to be, Snow in the background of the scene.
"Oh, that's peculiar" Cora almost whispered to herself as she turned around. She squeezed it as if to make sure it really was Emma's heart. Emma whimpered, still looking down. She knew exactly why they were all surprised and she was ashamed by it. Cora made a swift glance at the rest of them, before she looked back down at the heart. Half red, half black.
Emma was afraid to look up. To see the disappointment looks on her parent's faces, her son and Killian.
This was the moment Hades in walked on the scene before him. Hook's heart in his hands. He walked over to Killian and pushed the heart in, a bit forcefully. Killian let out a loud groan. He collected the heart Cora had in her hands in a safe box he had brought with him.
"I see you made the right choice Emma. I think I will leave you alone now. You will need some time to explain the matters to your family. Come here with me Cora" Hades said as he disappeared as quickly as he arrived. Emma was now left alone with her family.
"Emma, I don't understand. What's going on?" Snow said, trying to make sense of the situation. The lengths she and David had gone through to protect her daughter from all harm and darkness, to prevent her vision to truly become real. She felt like it had all gone to waste now.
The trip back from the underworld was quiet, no one had said a word on the whole journey. They all went to Emma's new house and they all sat down. Emma decided to speak up.
"I had just become 15. I had run away and didn't know how to survive with no money or food. I scraped what I could and it wasn't before a few days later I was approached by someone. They had an offer. They had watched me being new to the town; they knew what I would need. I did what I was told, and in return they gave me protection, food, a place to live. It started with small jobs and then they required more from me. The essentials was based on stealing, collecting money or valuable items. One day they told me to kill a man. He was innocent and had a family. He just owned something valuable to them. The man didn't want to give it up and the price was his life."
"You were an assassin?" Regina asked baffled.
"Yes" Emma replied. She didn't look at Hook who looked at her from the side.
"I tried to leave. It's a very easy business to get in, but very difficult to leave, they don't just let you walk out of there unharmed" Emma began.
"You did" Regina said, holding the conversation. The others didn't say much.
"Believe me it wasn't easy. I left, and I was on the run but they have eyes everywhere. I couldn't use my own name anymore. I changed my ID to Caroline Paulsen. I moved to Alaska. I lived there for a few months, but I couldn't take the constant fear of being watched. So I started using my own name again. They found me not long after. I got another offer. I received a few weeks to make a payment of a couple of million dollars, or they would exchange the money for my life. I used the skills they had taught me and my fake ID. I got the money and haven't heard from them since"
Emma got up and walked out of the room, the others exchanged a few looks before she came back with a book in her hands.
"This is a record of everything I did. Every job I was told to handle, every name I was associated with" She explained as she handed the book to Killian. He was surprised he gave her the book as he expected it to go to her parents.
"Don't read it in front of me" Emma said as he took the book he was handed.
"Why not?" He asked her.
"Because you won't love me once you do and I can't see that happen again" She said giving out choked tears threatening to fall. She remembered him as the dark one, but a part of her knew it was the darkness itself talking, not him. This time it was different.
Emma woke up at Granny's. She had rented a room for her to stay in for the night. She woke up feeling empty and more so when she remembered her heart was gone. She still had Hook's necklace. She didn't get up right away; she stayed in bed quietly holding it. In another few moments she would have to get up and face him, her parents and her own son.
Emma couldn't bring herself to go inside the house; because that meant that in a few moments she could risk losing her life in Storybrooke.
"Sit down, have breakfast" Snow said as she walked inside. Emma did as told and it was unusual quiet. When she didn't think she could handle the quiet, Killian walked in.
"Hey" Emma said as she saw him. He looked down and didn't respond. He proceeded by sitting down and eating the food in silence. The tension made Emma feel suffocated, but she had no choice but to just take it. She didn't leave the house, yet she couldn't just leave. No one had said anything yet for the whole morning. It was in the late afternoon, and she was reading an old book alone in the living room.
Killian walked in. The record book in hand. He held the book up then he threw it into the fire burning in the fireplace. The book burned up quite quickly.
"I didn't read it, nor did anyone else" He explained.
"Why not?" She asked, a bit relieved they didn't read it.
"What happened in your past is your business. What is happening for your future is ours" Killian said as Emma had started to tear up. He walked the few steps closing their distance and Emma crashed into his hug, letting go of the tears.
"This doesn't mean I am not upset with you. I still am." Emma nodded and continued to hug him.
This was the moment her parents walked in. She noticed Henry hadn't arrived this morning, nor had she seen him since he stormed out of the house.
"Henry's not with you?" She asked and they shook their heads. Snow hadn't given much expression for what she was thinking but she went over and hugged her daughter.
"He'll come around. He just needs time. He has thought of you as a savior and a hero this whole time. This wasn't something he saw coming, and he feels very upset right now" Snow explained.
"I wish I could have been the mother you would have needed at the time, I wish I could have protected you from this" Snow said embracing her daughter tightly.
"You don't even know what I've done" Emma exclaimed in tears.
"It doesn't matter what you've done. You are my daughter and I will love you no matter what" She replied.
"Your mother is right. We will love you always" David said cutting in and giving a kiss on Emma's head.
"We will get your heart back Emma, and defeat Hades, it's what we do, it's what our family does." Snow reassured her daughter.