A/N: most of the fan fic I write is for Bones, and for those still reading Young Mastermind: I am SOOOOOO sorry! I'm trying to finish the next chapter but my plot bunnies are fighting me hard on it. And they fight dirty. Still working on it though, hope to finish it soon-ish.
In the meantime, they (my devious little plot bunnies) have been shipping Captain Swan pretty hard and this is some of what they came up with. This is obviously my first OUAT fanfic, would love any constructive criticism, but please be gentle. Hope you like it.
In this series, I start off as if Hook was invited along with Emma and Snow back to Storybrooke as part a deal she made with him to ensure his loyalty to her over Cora. Might explain that fully in another chapter. This chapter will be mainly fluffy fun.
Disclaimer: if Once Upon A Time were mine, Hook and Charming would be running around in far less clothing. Like an eyepatch for Killian, and a sword for Charming...Just the way that my twisted mind works. Nope, they belong safely in the hands of people with names like Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz, and of course ABC.
Worth The Trouble
Seems that while Emma was in the enchanted forest searching for a way home and being harassed by the pirate of pirates, her father was convincing everyone to try and be productive members of society. Many of them continued the jobs that they were doing back in the Enchanted Forest. This included being farmers whose land disputes seem to have travelled with them to Storybrooke. Sometimes those arguments resulted in nothing more than harsh words and finger pointing.
Today they led to mud slinging.
Actual mud slinging-as in pick up a hand full of mud and crap and throw it at someone. And of course Emma just had to get caught in the crossfire, taking a mudball to the chest and one in the back. To top it off, she slipped and her butt managed to find a stray cow patty, not to mention that she managed to somehow lose her favourite necklace in the mud. She and the remorseful farmers searched for it for half an hour before getting frustrated and giving up. They promised that if they found it they would return it immediately. With a glare that told them "you'd better", she took her leave, ignoring their offers to 'hose her down' and instead spread the newspaper she had brought with her on the driver's side seat of her cruiser. Growling, she called David up, told him what happened and asked him if he could start his shift early. He agreed, and she headed home, patting herself on her mud encrusted back for her decision. If she had gone back to the station, she was likely to shoot the next person who tried to file a complaint.
Getting out of her car, she peeled off the newspaper with a groan, glad that most of the mud was dry, though it didn't smell pleasant. She tossed in the garbage and trudged upstairs to her apartment, thinking of her shower with a longing that she had never remembered experiencing before.
"I'm home!" Emma called out with a sigh, only to find no one there. She remembered that it was Regina's week with Henry, and her mother and father moved out of the apartment the week before. That only left Killian, her houseguest/house arrest prisoner. Okay, not so much prisoner as someone she needed to keep an eye on. Emma knew that he had a lot to adjust to in her world with all of the technology, customs, clothing, not to mention grudges he would carry with him. She had managed to broker a temporary truce between he and Gold, at least until they knew for sure Cora couldn't make her way back to Storybrooke. Emma was still haunted by the fact that the bean Killian stole from the giant was missing, and with Cora being able to restore Lake Nostos, it didn't take a genius to figure out the possibilities. And so a truce was reluctantly agreed upon. Belle kept an eye on Gold to make sure he kept his part of the deal, and Emma watched out for Killian. For the most part, he did behave himself, with the exception of the constant stream of innuendo that he aimed at her, and with her help he was adapting rather quickly to her world. In just a few weeks, he was quickly becoming as much a slave to modern conveniences as the rest of them.
She didn't see him at his usual perch on the couch, marveling at the magic mirror (otherwise know in the modern world as an flat screen TV) but now that he was addicted to it, the joke was wearing thin.
Emma absentmindedly wondered where he was, but considering that she was covered in mud and manure, she figured that she would worry about that after a nice long shower, she just hoped that wherever he was, he wasn't stirring up too much trouble.
Once she got to the bathroom, she closed the door and peeled off her clothes and tossing them into the garbage. The dark skinny jeans weren't a huge loss-she had a dozen of them, same with the white undershirt, but she was going to miss her gray ruffled cardigan. It was a light shade of gray, and was nice and soft, when it wasn't caked in crap. She supposed that she could put in in the washer and hope that it could be salvaged, but honestly, there was no way that she could see herself wearing any of it again after today.
She flicked on the switch for the ceiling fan before remembering that it wasn't working. She was going to have to call David up to look at it for her when he had some free time. She gave a small smile, thinking that it was nice to have a father that was handy and could fix things for her. Having parents around at all was something that she was slowly but surely getting used to. She even caught herself calling them mom and dad occasionally, which they seemed to love, but thankfully they didn't pressure her to call them that more often.
She opened the small window in the bathroom to let the excess steam out while she turned on the shower. Stepping into the almost scalding stream of water felt good, really good and she could almost feel some of the frustrations of the day melting away. She squirted some of her favourite tuberose scented body wash into a sponge and let the aroma envelope her while she scrubbed away the more stubborn bits of dirt. She then shampooed and conditioned her hair, noting as she rinsed off that she already felt a hundred percent better. She could even tolerate Killian with a smile.
As she shut off the taps, she wondered with a small grin what he could be up to, and what he would say if he knew that she was thinking about him in the shower. She chuckled and shook her head at the thought, though when his antics went from being annoying to slightly amusing, she wasn't sure. They had even become...dare she say it, cute?
"I must be getting soft in the head." She muttered to herself as she reached for a towel when she heard a peculiar sound. When she recognized what it was, she felt her whole body freezing in place.
She paused, listening for it again, a buzzing that seemed to taunt her, circling around her before she even saw the source of it.
"Oh no..." She whimpered. She cast a cautious eye around the small room when she saw it, heading straight for her and felt rather than heard a bloodcurdling scream erupt from her lips.
In the meantime...
Killian had heard Emma's arrival, but he found himself enjoying the comfort and feel of her bed too much to get up. Besides, he figured that he might as well enjoy it while he could, because as soon as she discovered him in her room, she would be sure to chase him away, relegating him to the lumpy, saggy, wholly uncomfortable piece of furniture she called a "sofa". Torture device is more like it. Unless you slept on it in a certain way, pieces of metal would jab at you. At first, he thought it was some sort of cursed object, until young Henry revealed the secret to him. Killian complained about this to Emma, finding her unsympathetic, even when he came up with the solution to share her bed. She told him it was either the couch or the bathtub. He liked sleeping in her bed much, much more, but apparently it wasn't an option...yet. It was not only comfortable, but it smelled of her, and it didn't bother him that he had many a fantasy about being invited to share it with her rather than stealing moments upon it.
When she didn't immediately burst open the door, yelling at him for invading her privacy, and/or for finding him in her bed wearing just a white t-shirt and boxers, he figured that she either went to the galley-or kitchen as she calls it-to fetch herself some food. Or she went to take a bath.
That brought to the fore some other tantalizing fantasies, making him grin as he burrowed his face further into her rose smelling pillow.
Then suddenly, he was jolted awake with a bloodcurdling scream coming from the bathroom. He knew without doubt who that scream belonged to, and before the thought was even fully seated in his mind he jumped up from the bed and headed fr the bathroom, hook at the ready as he burst into the small room to fight whoever or whatever threatened his Sheriff.
"Emma!" He called out, eyes frantically searching the room for any signs of danger, and finding nothing but a very frightened, very wet, very naked Emma, who just so happened to be so very wet and so very naked. It took every ounce of his will to put aside these facts and concentrate on whatever made her scream in terror.
"Emma, what's going on?" He asked, looking at everywhere else but her.
"B...b...b.." she stuttered, her eyes wide with fear, clutching the shower curtain in a not very successful attempt to cover herself, somehow failing to notice that the shower curtain was sheer.
"Who's there?!" He bellowed, thinking her under some enchantment. He almost hoped that The Crocodile known as Rumplestiltskin was to blame, for despite Killian's promise to Emma, Rumplestiltskin daring to attack her would render their deal null and void, giving him an excuse to finally put an end to the reptile. "Show yourself!"
"Bee!" Emma squealed, diving down into the tub and huddling down.
That's when Killian saw it, the offending insect that made his woman scream in terror, buzzing lazily about. He stared at it for a moment, jaw dropping.
"That is what caused you to scream?" He asked incredulously. His Emma had battled dragons, ogres, the undead, evil sorceresses and giants without so much as flinching, and this tiny little thing buzzing about the room had her terrified. He almost laughed out loud until he saw the look in her eyes. He saw fear there, but he also saw shame. She didn't want anyone-let alone him to see her like this.
"Just get rid of it," she pleaded, looking away from him. "please."
"Fear not milady," He replied with a gentle smile. "I shall not stop until the vile bee is no more."
"Less talk, more extermination." She growled.
"Your wish is my command." Killian grinned at her, thinking "That's my girl" but not daring to say it. He tracked the bee with his eyes, hoping to chase it out the window, since he couldn't rightly blame it for being attracted to the sweet smelling woman. Unfortunately, it didn't want to cooperate with Killian's plans and instead it headed straight for Emma and landed right on the tip of her nose.
She let out a squeak, and he dropped to his knees, knowing what unfortunately had to be done.
"Killian..." Emma whimpered, and once again, Killian found himself struggling to focus on the task at hand.
"Relax love," he said gently, slowing down his movements so as to catch the bee off guard. "Hold still a moment. I've got you."
Just then, the door burst open again, this time Charming rushed through. Seeing his daughter crouched naked in the bathtub, with Captain Hook hovering her clad in a shirt and underwear made his blood boil over.
"Dad!" She gasped in surprise as Charming grabbed Killain by the collar of his shirt, pulling him up one handed and slamming him into the wall.
"What the hell do you think you're doing with my daughter?" Charming roared, pressing his forearm to Killian's throat.
"David, no!" Emma yelled, curling up in a sitting fetal position as the bee was startled enough to leave its perch on her nose. "He's helping me."
"Were you two..." David let go of Killian, paling at the thought that he had walked in on his daughter and the pirate on the verge of having sex made him want to be ill. Then it made him want to break the pirate's face.
"You're not good enough for her!" He growled, throwing Killian against the wall again.
"Dad!" Emma screamed again, ducking as the bee swarmed around her. "Bee!"
"What?" muttered David, puzzled as he eased up on Killian.
"She's afraid of the bee Highness," croaked Killian, rubbing his throat. "I was merely attempting to remove the insect from the princess' company."
"You, are afraid of a bee?" David asked incredulously, surprised as Killian was at this tidbit of information.
"I'm allergic to bees, okay?" Emma hissed. "Can you guys laugh at me after the bee is gone?"
David let go of him, and it was then that Killian spotted the bee meandering out the window. He quickly shut it, and leaped to the other side of the room, grabbed the towel hanging on the towel ring and draped it over Emma.
"It's gone," Killian said simply. "We'll let you get dressed.
"With that, he and Charming left the room and headed to the kitchen.
Emma Took the towel that Killian draped over her and wrapped it around herself. She hated the fact that both Killian and her father saw her like that. Most of all, she hated that Killian knew she was lying when she said she was allergic to bees. She could see the words "we need to talk" in his eyes as he left the room.
She snuck into her room, taking her sweet time. The last thing she wanted was to face either of them. Sure enough though, half an hour later she heard a knock on her door.
"Go away Hook!" She bellowed, somehow knowing it was him.
"Emma, your father had to return to the station. He just came over to return the necklace you dropped while battling the farmers," he informed her. "He left it on the kitchen table."
"Thanks." she muttered, hoping against hope that he'd get the hint and leave her alone.
"May I come in?" Killian asked hesitantly.
"Sure, if you can get through a locked door." Emma scoffed before remembering who she was talking to and giving herself a mental head slap. Before she could take the words back or explain that she was trying to go for sarcasm and clearly failing, Killian had gotten in.
"Pirate love," remember?" He smirked, answering the question practically written on her face, happily taking a seat on her bed.
"Is that your go to answer for why you don't seem to respect people's boundaries?" She all but snarled.
"You were the one who said I could enter if I was able to 'get through a locked door'," He reminded her. "However, if you really want me to leave, I shall respect your wishes, if you will just hear me out."
"Fine." Emma huffed, crossing her arms over her chest, half wondering when he would bring up the fact that he had seen her naked only a few moments before.
"I have an aversion towards spiders," he sighed, his eyes downcast as if he were ashamed to admit it. "Filthy creatures with all of those legs, they make you sick when they bite you, and they spin those vile webs that cling to your hands and hair and clothes. They're absolutely disgusting."
"You're afraid of spiders?" She asked, biting back a smile. She knew what he was doing and she found herself appreciating the effort.
"Not afraid, hate," he corrected. "I hate spiders, just as you hate bees."
Emma gave him a full, genuine smile which he returned. Yeah, Hook can be dickish at times, and he can drive her nuts with his innuendo around family and friends, and not respecting her personal space, but there were times when Killian surprised her.
"I'm not really allergic to bees," the words came spilling forth from her lips, and she had no urge to stop them. Not with Killian.
"I knew someone who was though," she continued with a sigh. She didn't have to look over at him to know that he was listening intently. "I was 7, and I was living with a really nice family. When you're in foster care, sometimes the nice families are worse than the bad ones, because you get a taste of what it's like to have a home and have a mom, and a dad, and siblings, so when you have to go away, it really sucks."
She paused to take a seat beside him on her bed. She was close enough for them to almost touch, but not so much that her intentions could be misconstrued.
"Anyway, the Kerns were nice people, and I managed to stay with them for awhile. There was Ginny and Josh, their biological daughter Lexa, and the foster kids-me and a little boy named Colin who was 5. Lexa was 10, and Colin and I followed her around whenever we could like we were her ducklings. She was the closest I ever had to having an older sister. One day, we were playing in the backyard when we saw this weird looking papery blob in the corner of the house. Lexa said that it was a bee hive, and that we had to get rid of it, or else the bees would attack us. We didn't question her, we thought she knew everything. So we got some small rocks and started throwing them at the hive. We managed to bring it down, and that's when they started swarming us. She yelled at us to run for the house, so we did. Colin and I made it, Lexa didn't. I watched her as she fell, flailing her arms, trying to swat the bees. I wanted to go after her, but I was scared and I didn't know what was going on, why she didn't get up after she fell. Ginny was in the basement doing laundry, so I ran to get her, but it was too late. Turns out Lexa had a fatal allergic reaction, and ended up dying steps from the house. That evening, someone from CPS took us. Ginny and Josh couldn't even look at us as we were leaving. By the next afternoon, I was in a new foster home, and so was Colin.
"That bee ended the closest thing I had to a family." She mused, realizing that it had been years since she had thought of the Kerns.
"You have family now Emma," Killian said softly, his thumb brushing away an errant tear she didn't even realize she had shed. "And they aren't going anywhere. Neither am I."
"I know." She replied automatically, giving a fake half smile before looking away.
"Someday lass, you'll be able to say it and mean it." he sighed.
"Now that's cleared up, I do have a confession to make," declared Killian, looking serious.
"If you're going to tell me that you were sleeping in my bed, knew that already." Emma chuckled.
"Yes I did, but that was't what I was going to confess," he grinned his mischievous grin and she knew that there was trouble coming. "When we were in the bathroom and I was battling that accursed insect, I took a glance at your gloriously naked body. More than a glance actually."
"Thanks for the admission, but I knew that already too," Emma could feel her face grow hot, just imagining the look on his face. "And don't worry about it, you did save me from a bee, so lets just pretend that never happened."
"I can do no such thing," he replied, his voice deep and husky. "You beauty is seared into my memory. I'm afraid that there's only one solution to our predicament."
"And what's that?" As soon as the words left her lips Emma gave herself another mental head slap. At this rate she was going to give herself an imaginary concussion.
"I saw you naked, you should have the right to see me naked," he grinned seductively, standing up from the bed. "After all, it's only fair."
Emma was so stunned that she neither did nor said anything as she watched him pull his shirt over his head to reveal a broad and well defined chest under a masculine pelt of chest hair, not to mention his sculpted abdominal muscles. At least, that was what she told herself when she realized she was staring...and possibly drooling.
"Haven't got to the best part yet." He chuckled and winked, as he noticed her eyes trailing down his athletic body. He could almost feel her imagining tracing a finger over every ridge of his corded muscles, and the thought left him nearly breathless with anticipation.
She watched as he hooked his thumb into the waistband of his boxers before her senses and self preservation instincts kicked in.
"Uh uh, not happening," she muttered, pushing him out the door and doing her damnedest to ignore the fact that her hands were touching his bare skin. She shoved him through the doorway so hard that he actually stumbled, nearly falling over before she slammed her door.
"Oy, what about my shirt?" he yelled amusedly.
She pulled the door open long enough to throw his shirt in his face before slamming the door again. He chuckled, reveling in the tiniest of victories.
"Someday Swan." He called out just loud enough for her to hear before heading to the living room.
Emma sat against the door, listening to him walk away. She smiled to herself before whispering "someday Killian."