A/N: not that I'm abandoning Indestructible (half way through the next chapter. And I'm working on updating my other stories) this one just got stuck in my head and I wanted to get it in before 4B starts and my theories (hopefully) get all shot to hell. I'm imagining this as a 3 shot, and yes I know that everyone has done something about what happens after Killian gets his heart returned and why the hell Emma ends up with Regina at the diner and not wrapped around Killian. This is my version and it's a little different than the others.
Constructive criticism is welcome!
Disclaimer: In this particular realm, I don't own Once Upon a Time or any of its characters. It's owned by Ed Kitsis, Adam Horowitz and the ABC network.
"I told you Swan, I'm a survivor." he says in a cocky attempt to reassure her. Leaning in for another kiss, he's surprised when she shoves him away.
"Tell me." she growls. And suddenly he knows. He knows that his luck with the saviour has run out, so he confesses his sins - everything he has been afraid to tell her, everything he knows will taint the way she looks at him. He nods, and heads to his room so that they may speak in private. Killian doesn't even have to look behind him to know that she's following him, he can feel the angry heat of her glare. Once they're in his room, he begins with blackmailing the crocodile so that he and Elsa could find the Snow Queen Ingrid before she makes an attempt to hurt Emma. Killian finds that once he's started he can't seem to stop. He ends his sad and pathetic tale with how the Dark One used him to reveal the portal hidden in the mansion to Emma in hopes that Anna would leave before disclosing her knowledge of Rumplestiltskin and the magic stealing hat hours before intending to crush Killian's heart.
"Emma-" he began, his voice filled with shame. All he wanted to do was prove that he had changed, and all he managed to accomplish was provide proof that he hadn't.
"Don't," she growled out, and the fact that she couldn't meet his gaze felt like a dagger to the heart. "Just…don't."
"Emma, please-" he begged, his heart shattering as she walked away from him. He grabbed her wrist with his hand, willing to do anything to keep from losing her.
"Touch me again and you'll lose the hand you have left." she hissed. "I can't do this with you. I should have known better."
"Emma, I'm so sorry," he pleaded with her, falling to his knees. "Tell me what to do to make amends and I'll do it."
"Save your apologies for the fairies and the old man you put into the hat." she shot back before leaving his room.
Stunned, he let her go. The slamming of the door feeling like a cannonball to his chest, and suddenly he has lost everything because of his stupidity. But he can't find himself to give in to his despair, or to give up on her.
He knows what he has to do to fix this, so with a nod and a deep breath he picks himself up off the floor, gathering up the pieces of his broken heart and forms a plan. He's going to prove that he's changed, he's going to prove that he can be a hero if it's the last thing he does.
But for Emma's sake, he'll do all that he can to ensure that it isn't.