a/n: so i wrote this and put this on tumblr a few days ago and i got a lot of messages about doing a continuation. i finally finished the second part, so that'll be the second chapter of this. enjoy!

ps. title is from "never too late" by three days grace

There was a burning pain in Emma's side, but she continued to march onwards. The sword was heavy in her hand and her lungs were aching from fighting against all of these stupid little minions and lost souls and furies that Hades had been unleashing on her ever since she landed in this Godforsaken realm. But she would do it all over again and again and again if it meant that she would see Killian again and be able to bring him back to the land of the living.

It didn't take long after Storybrooke Contingent landed in the Underworld to figure out what was going on. After a brief (and strange) encounter with Cora, they headed her warning: "there are forces at play here beyond your understanding." After Regina relayed the message to the group, Emma knew that maybe Hades wasn't only a myth. That maybe he was indeed the King of the Underworld and that they would more than likely have to face him to be able to bring Killian back.

But what Emma wasn't expecting was the endless stream of dead people trying to kill her at every turn and fucking flying things trying to kill her and what the fuck was her life-

"Behind you, Your Majesty."

Emma twisted around with her sword in the air, just as she saw the black little monster (what the fuck was the Underworld, honestly?) be chopped down with the twist of a saber from her companion.

Ah yes. Captain Liam Jones of the Jewel of the Realm.

At her service, naturally.

"Thanks," Emma said with a deep breath as they marched closer and closer to the castle Hades apparently had Killian locked up in.

She could only hope the word of Hercules and Meg was trustworthy.

(God, and Hercules had been one of her favorite movies and it was all real? What the hell-)

"It was my pleasure, Your Majesty," Liam replied, his accent lilting over each letter. She had tried-tried-to get him to stop with the 'your majestys' and the 'your highnesses,' but it was to no avail. Liam continued to use it since she was royalty after all. "We shouldn't be much farther."

"Been there before?" Emma asked nonchalantly, looking up at the looming dark towers and the large bridge they would eventually have to cross. Contrary to how Storybrooke had looked down in the Underworld, the castle looked untouched. The bricks and stones looked as if they had been laid only a day ago, which Emma was positive was not the case. The Underworld was as old as the world itself.

"Aye," Liam spoke in a tight voice and Emma risked a glance over in his direction, noticing the tightening of his hand on the handle of his sword where it swayed in its scabbard. "Hades like to personally welcome his new guests, especially ones that seem to be famous down here."

A shiver shot down Emma's spine at the assumptions Liam's statement meant. She had to get Killian out of there, no matter what. No matter if she died doing it. He had died for her (multiple times) and if she had to die to make sure Killian could be returned to the land of the living, so be it. She would make sure Liam knew it. She would make sure Liam got him out of here and left her behind because she deserved it after everything she did to her family and to Killian-

"Emma?" Liam spoke and she turned her head to look at him, slightly raising her sword in case she had to fight off some more furies or whatever the fuck those things are. But she was met with his worried stare, his eyebrows pulled together and God it hurt how much he looked like Killian. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah I'm fine-" Emma began stating when suddenly, the clouds above cracked open and a flood of furies came flying straight toward her and Liam. She heard the unsheathing of his sword and a muttered "bloody hell" as she held her own sword tightly, remembering that her magic didn't exactly like to participate in a place where you were supposed to be dead and therefore not be able to use magic.

"We should run," Emma stated, eyeing the distance to the bridge ahead and looking back at the looming crowd of furies that were quickly gaining on them.

"I agree," Liam replied and without another word, Emma and Liam ran, their shoes scuffing against the dirt road that led up to the bridge.

The batting of the furies' wings surrounded them, their ears roaring and blood pumping and they were almost there, the cobblestone of the bridge now under their feet. She could see the gate just ahead, wide open as if Hades had been expecting her and Liam (and he probably was). She could hear Liam wheezing beside her, just as he was when she first came across him with the group, being attacked by those little minion monster things.

It had taken her two minutes to bond with the man and five more to determine that they and they alone would go to Hades' castle to retrieve Killian.

(Man, the grin on his face when he heard that his little brother had fallen in love with an honest-to-God princess.)

They ran and ran and ran, the wound in Emma's side continuing to burn with every wheeze and with every heavy step against the stone. They were nearly there-only twenty feet or so from the open gates-and she could nearly feel Killian in her grasp. She could almost smell his leather and rum. She could nearly see those blue eyes that she had feared she would never see again.

She would reach him.

She just needed to believe.

The furies screeched overhead, announcing their arrival to their future dinners, and Emma and Liam forced themselves to run faster. The gate was coming closer and closer-fifteen feet, ten feet, five feet-and they were suddenly within the gates. Without a word, the gate closed behind them and yep Hades was definitely expecting them.

But as they began walking through the maze of the castle, listening to the screeching of the furies from outside of the castle, nothing came to fight them. Not even one of those little demon things showed themselves to Emma nor Liam. Emma eyed Liam and he glanced back at her, telling Emma that he found that a little suspicious as well. There was just silence, except from the noises of the outside world and the clacking of their shoes against the stone of the castle floors.

Emma could feel in her gut that something was not right.

"Stairs," Liam spoke and nodded to his left, Emma turning to notice the spiraling stairs that went down. She only assumed that those would lead to the dungeons, so Emma followed Liam down.

Her heart pounded with every step, knowing that she was getting closer to Killian and closer to getting out of this literal Hell. She kept her head even, looking over Liam's bobbing mop of brown hair, and tried to steady her heart. She would see him again, but she would rather not die of a fucking heart attack before she saw him. That would just make things more complicated than they already were and Emma was not dealing with more complications.

The stairs seemed to go on forever, continuously spiraling downwards as if this was some form of purgatory. Emma heard Liam sigh in front of her and she laughed under her breath because she was sick of Hell and she had only been here for a few days. She couldn't imagine how it had felt for Liam, who had been here for centuries and was helping his brother's girlfriend fish said brother's ass out of the land of the dead.

"Killian better be bloody thankful for this," Liam muttered under his breath. "I'm too old to be doing this."

"Figured you wouldn't feel old," Emma murmured in response, more for herself.

"After centuries of being dead, you somehow begin to feel it, Your Majesty," Liam replied and Emma snorted. "Tell me, how did my little brother win over a princess?"

Emma laughed breathlessly. "Well, that's one hell of a long story. I'll tell you when we get him and get the hell out of here."

"Of course, Your Majesty," Liam spoke, looking over his shoulder and slyly winking at her.

(Meet the fucking Jones Brothers, everybody.)

Finally, the stairs evened out. Liam immediately moved to the left to allow Emma to step down, firmly standing in the dungeons. She stared out ahead and saw bars on both sides of the seemingly never-ending hallway. They began walking past each cell, noticing that they were all empty. Emma didn't know why, and it appeared that Liam didn't know either, as he shrugged when Emma looked over at him. She reached up and grabbed the chain for the necklace that held the ring underneath her shirt, tugging it until she was able to grasp the ring in her hand tightly.

She gripped it as though the ring would lead her straight to Killian.

"He gave you the ring?" Liam asked from her side, staring straight ahead as they continued to wander past the cells.

Emma subtly gulped and glanced over at him for a moment. "Is that a problem?"

"Not in the least, Princess," Liam replied immediately and Emma wanted to sigh, but it at least wasn't 'your majesty' again. "Our mother gave that to me shortly before she died. And then I gave it to Killian just before our voyage to Neverland. I'm not surprised he gave it to someone he loved, being the romantic he was."

Emma's heart lurched because no matter how much she knew Killian loved her, it always shocked her to hear it from others. She was sure it would always be like that, forever the lost girl who wasn't used to hearing that someone loved her and cared for her. But Emma was determined to fight for her happy ending, after fighting for everyone else's. Dammit, Emma deserved her own happy ending and that's why she was trudging through the fucking Underworld to get his ass back.

"Yeah well, I love him too and that's why I'm down here," Emma told Liam and she didn't miss the grin that spread across his face as they marched down the hall, eyeing every cell they passed.

And suddenly, after admitting her love to him and gripping that ring tightly in her hand, pain coursed through her. An unbearable, utterly debilitating pain that Emma nearly bent in double from. She gripped a bar from the cell at her right, holding it to keep herself upright as the pain rested in her heart.

"Emma, what's wrong-"

"It's Killian," Emma replied immediately, letting go of the bar and running down the hall. The pain guided her past the endless line of cells. She knew what the pain was-she had read the storybook one too many times and she knew that Killian was in danger and in pain and she had to find him now.

(She wasn't going to think about what the repercussions of the pain were. What that meant for her and Killian. She wouldn't do that now.)

Liam ran behind her, following her closely as she allowed the pain in her heart to show her where Killian was and she just hoped that she got to him before he was gone.

(Where do you go when you die in the Underworld?)

She ran and ran and ran as her breath came out in pained wheezes, but she would keep running until she found the man that she loved and had him back in her arms, where he was safe and sound. She looked at each cell as she ran by them, hoping for any sign of Killian and the pain continued to grow in her chest. Emma thought it would kill her before she reached Killian, but she pushed through it and continued to run.

And where the pain grew to its strongest, Emma finally saw him.

With that little demon shit's hand in his chest. (Panic, she faintly recalled his name.)

"Get the fuck away from him!" Emma shouted as she stood at the bars, her heart pounding at the sight of Killian unconscious on the dirty floor.

A smug grin spread across Panic's teal face, his sharpened fangs stark against the darkness of his skin. "Make me."

Emma reached forward and suddenly, magic burnt her hand. But no, Emma was much more powerful than a stupid little protection spell on these bars. She continued to reach through, gripping the bar under her hand as she willed her magic outwards. She knew she was not powerful down in Hell, but her magic still followed her will and did as she wished it to. Panic's eyes grew alarmingly wide as Emma grinned at him, the protection spell shattering around them and Panic disappeared in a swirl of smoke.

Emma threw the door open and collapsed beside Killian as Liam watched the hallway for anybody who was coming for them. She placed her hands on Killian's cheeks, feeling his clammy skin under her soft hands. She felt a sob building in her throat, fearing that she was too late and that he was gone forever, even from the Underworld.

"Killian, please," Emma begged him in a whisper, pushing his hair back from his forehead. "Killian, wake up."

And with her urging, his eyelids fluttered open as he took a deep breath. Emma finally allowed herself to breath for the first time since she ran him through with Excalibur back in Storybrooke. His eyes darted around the cell until they settled on her face, only a foot or so from his as she hovered over him. But where Emma thought there would be joy and happiness on Killian's face, all she witnessed was the furrowing of his eyebrows in confusion.

"Who are you?" Killian asked quietly.

No.