A/N: I don't where this came from honestly. I should be working on so many other things, but this thing kind of...just happened. Anyways, enjoy it and leave a review for me :)

"Papa, I want a scar!"

Killian turned his attention from the rope he was currently tying to look at his son. "What?"

"All the best pirates have scars. I want a scar too,"

"Liam, you do know that scars are often accompanied with pain?" Killian said as he finished tying the knot and sitting down. He grabbed the five year old and sat him on his lap.

Liam nodded. "But it's okay, because I know that when you got your scars, it didn't hurt. And since it didn't hurt you, it won't hurt me."

Killian smiled at his logic. Part of him wished he could let Liam keep that innocent logic, but he knew what would happen if he did. "Actually, all the scars that I have really did hurt when I got them."

Liam's face frowned in confusion. "But you're Captain Hook. The best pirate in all of the realms."

"Yes, well," Killian couldn't help beaming at that statement. "Even the best pirate felt pain when he got his scars."

Liam reached up and touched Killian's cheek. His tiny fingers gently pressed into the scar on his cheek. "Did it hurt when you got this one?" the concern was evident in his quiet voice.

Killian grabbed his hand, gently pulling it away. "Aye. That one hurt the most."

"How did you get it?" Liam asked, tilting his head just the slightest.

Killian pursed his lips. "It's a long story. You wouldn't want to hear it," he said with a small smile.

Liam quickly shook his head. "Please, Papa?"

He took a deep breath as the memories came to the front of his mind.

Killian slowly opened his eyes as he felt the sun shine on his face. He squinted and blinked a few times, trying to clear the sleep from his eyes. He slowly sat up from his straw bed and looked around the room. "Liam?" he called out.

His brother wasn't there. He shivered a little as he got out of bed, noticing a note that was on the table across from him.

It was Liam's handwriting, obviously. Killian recognized his own name and a few other letters, but the rest was a jumbled mess. He frowned, wishing he could read already. He was six and Liam kept promising him he would teach him how to read soon. But he was always doing something else.

Killian took the note and walked out of the room. Hopefully his papa was here and he could explain the note to him.

His papa was there. But he was packing his stuff in a bag. Killian frowned as he watched him. He didn't notice Killian was there until he said something. "Papa? Where are you going?"

His papa stopped and stared at Killian. He muttered a curse before reaching for his flask that he always kept in his coat pocket and taking a drink. "What are you still doin' here?" he grumbled.

Killian shifted from one foot to the other, shrugging his shoulders.

His papa just grunted before he continued packing.

"Where are you going?" Killian asked again, taking a few tentative steps towards him.

"None of your damn business!" he shouted.

Killian flinched and raised his arms to cover his face.

He heard a heavy sigh from his papa. "I ain't gonna' hit you, lad."

Killian lowered his arms and stared at his papa. He continued packing, still not giving Killian an answer to his question.

"Where's Liam?" Killian asked instead.

His papa shrugged. "Was gone before I woke up."

Killian frowned as he looked down at the note. "Can you read this?" he asked as he held it out.

His papa let out a deep breath as he snatched the note from his hands. "Liam's gone to the market. That's what it says."

Killian nodded as he took the note back from his papa. "Papa?"

"What?"

Killian swallowed hard. "Can I come with you?"

He tied the strings on his bag and threw it over his shoulder. "No. Stay here until Liam comes back."

Killian watched as he walked out the door without looking back. He ran to the window and watched his papa walking through the trees.

It was a quick decision, but once Killian made it, he wasn't going to change his mind. He threw on his cloak and shoes and ran after his papa. He made sure to keep his distance though. It probably wouldn't be a good thing if his papa caught him following him.

Killian followed his papa all the way to the docks. He watched from behind some crates as his papa handed a man a few coins. The man wrote something down on a long paper before nodding at his papa. His papa then made his way onto a ship.

Killian quickly ran out from behind the crates and made his way towards the ship.

A large hand on his shoulder pulled him back though and brought him to a stand still.

"And where do you think you're going?"

Killian swallowed hard as he stared up at the huge man towering over him. "My papa…he went on that ship."

"Where you planning on going with him?"

Killian nodded.

"You ever been on a ship before, boy?"

Killian shook his head.

The man barked out a laugh. Killian flinched at the sudden sound. "What's your papa's name?"

Killian frowned. "Um…Papa?"

The man grinned and shook his head. "I'm in an especially good mood today. You go on ahead and find your papa."

Killian smiled before running off towards the ship. He climbed aboard and stared around in awe. He had never been on a ship before. None of the sailors seemed to notice him as they walked around carrying crates or ropes or doing something to prepare the ship for sailing.

But Killian was supposed to be looking for his papa. He walked around, looking at each of the men to see if they were his papa. He couldn't find any sign of him though and Killian was beginning to worry that he had gotten on the wrong ship.

"I thought I told you to stay home,"

Killian turned around with a smile when he heard his papa's voice. The smile soon faded when he saw the look on his face. "I just…I wanted to come with you," Killian said.

His papa reached down and grabbed his ear. Killian yelped as he was dragged along. He kept his eyes shut from the pain, but he knew that they had left the ship and were now back on solid ground. His papa finally let go and threw his down against some crates. "Didn't I tell you to stay home?" he hissed as he leaned in close to Killian.

Killian swallowed hard. "I wanted to come with you, Papa," he whimpered, trying to get as far away from his as possible. But he was backed in a corner. His papa was blocking the only escape.

He laughed, taking a few steps back as he looked down at the small boy in front of him. "Why the hell do you want to come with me?!"

"Because I love you, Papa." Killian responded.

His papa's eyes suddenly went very cold. Killian never saw it coming. His papa's hand came down hard across his face. Killian yelped as he fell to the ground, holding his cheek. He could feel something wet coming down, but wasn't entirely sure what it was.

"I never want to see you again,"

Killian didn't even look up as he walked away from him. Instead, he pressed himself further into the corner, not even realizing how much he was crying. He lifted his hands to wipe his face, but only yelped again in pain. He pulled his hands back to see them covered with blood. He gingerly touched his cheek where his papa had hit him and could feel a deep, long cut.

He buried his face back into his arms again and continued crying. He couldn't remember a time in his short life where he had wished so much for Liam to be right there with him.

Killian stayed hidden in the crates the entire day. He watched ships coming and going, sailors, merchants, and all kinds of people gathered at the docks to do their business. None of them noticed the small boy huddled in the crates. It was probably a good thing. His face was covered with a mixture of dry and wet tears and blood.

"Have you seen my brother? He's six and has black hair and blue eyes! Please, someone! Has anyone see my brother?"

Killian peaked out from the crates to see Liam trying to get the attentions of the small crowd. The sun was going down so the crowd had thinned considerably. That didn't mean the people would pay any attention to Liam.

Liam spun around, running a hand through his curly locks when his eyes landed on Killian. "Killy!" he exclaimed as he ran towards him. He squeezed past the crates and quickly pulled his brother into a hug. "I told you to wait for me! Why did you leave?"

Killian didn't answer as he kept his arms wrapped around his brother. His shoulders started shaking as he began crying again.

"Killy, what's wrong?" Liam asked gently as he pulled away to look at him.

Killian didn't look up at him, afraid of what he would tell him. He did hear Liam gasp.

"What happened to your face? Why do you have blood all over it?" he asked, already pulling out a handkerchief and cleaning away the mess.

Killian hiccupped. "Papa…"

Liam's face hardened. "He did this?"

Killian nodded.

Liam grimaced as he continued clearing away Killian's face. It was now mostly clean except for the ugly gash on his cheek. "Come on, you need to see a healer. Hopefully it's not going to get infected." Liam said as he grabbed Killian's hand and started walking. At that moment, Killian's stomach grumbled. "We can get some food too,"

Killian skipped a few steps as he tried keeping up with Liam's faster pace. "Papa left." Killian said as they walked.

"I know,"

"Is he coming back?"

Liam sighed as he stopped for a moment. He pulled something out of his pocket and handed it to Killian. "Do you know what that is?"

Killian looked at the paper he was given. There were words and a drawing of his papa. "A drawing of Papa?"

"It's a wanted poster. It says Pirate Aiden 'Blackbeard' Jones. Wanted dead or alive. Reward."

"But…that's Papa…"

"I know."

"He's never coming back," Killian whispered.

Liam didn't say anything. Instead, he knelt down and motioned for Killian to climb on to his back. Killian didn't hesitate and soon they were off again.

Killian buried his face in the back of Liam's shoulder. He couldn't understand why his papa would do something like this. But as Liam made his way to a healer, Killian decided something. In his six-year-old heart, he decided that he would never become like his father.

"Papa?"

Killian was pulled from his memories as his son called for him. "Mm, sorry Liam. What did you say?"

"Your scar, what happened?"

Killian gave him a forced smile. "I got it during fearsome battle with the pirate Blackbeard."

"Did you win?"

"Aye…I did," Killian said, his tone thoughtful. He cleared his throat. "We should be getting home. Dinner's going to be late if we don't leave right now."

"Aye aye, Captain!" Liam said as he headed towards the gangplank.

Killian smiled as he watched him skip away. He went in the opposite direction, to go below deck where Emma was supposed to be. But as he headed towards there, he saw her stepping out from behind a mast. "Swan," he smiled turning his walk into a lazy saunter. "I thought you were going to be below deck, clearing out the dust?"

Emma smiled back as she wrapped her arms around his neck as soon as he was close enough. "I finished early." her smile faded a little as she brought a hand up to cup his cheek. The one with the scar. "I heard your conversation," she said quietly.

Killian looked down for a moment. "He was bound to ask questions eventually," he said with a shrug of his shoulders.

Emma nodded in understanding. She remembered the day Henry finally asked about his own father. "He's gone. He can't hurt you anymore,"

Killian nodded, a faraway look in his eyes. He pressed his hand to her baby bump. It had only become obvious just a few weeks ago. "And he will never hurt you or our family either."

Emma leaned in and gave him a chaste kiss. "Liam's going to come looking for us if we're any longer."

Killian smiled as he gave her a quick kiss of his own. He grabbed her hand, enjoying the feeling of her fingers intertwining with his own.