Don't get too close, it's dark inside
(And another headcanon for the finale. This time about the scene in which Emma and Killian encounter Hook. Hope you enjoy [can be seen as a prequel to this]!)
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With a frown Emma tries to decipher the coordinates on the chart but it's like she's trying to read Chinese without ever having a single lesson. It's hopeless.
And her pi- Killian is nowhere to be seen. The frown on her face deepens and with the map in hands she turns and faces the window, her gaze drifting from the paper to the crystalline glass, fixing on the clear blue water.
Since they had found the Jolly Roger the pirate has been acting strange. She remembers how Killian has caressed the railing - softly, gently - remembers how his smile fell from his lips and how his face suddenly became closed up, the melancholy in his eyes.
Back in the present his ship is gone and the blond sheriff princess can't shake off the feeling that it is because of her. That he sacrificed his home to find her and she still can't understand why anyone would do that for someone as broken as her.
(She knows why. Because he is broken too and because he sees something in her that she is afraid of. She has become his symbol of hope and she can't be that. She already is the savior she can't be his personal knight [or princess] in shining armor too. She's not only afraid of his feelings for her - or hers for him - but she is afraid that she can't live up to his expectations, that in the end, she is not enough and he will leave her.)
She is so lost in her thoughts that she doesn't even realize that someone enters the captain's quarters.
"And just who are you?" a familiar voice drawls and Emma spins around, the map still in hands.
Killian Jones leans against his door, his fingers dancing over his metal hook and he's ogling her.
That's just great, the moment he is back on his ship his old bravado is back in place, just perfect.
"Shut it, Hook. Now's not the time," she grumbles, eyes flying back to the map.
"Oh, I see."
She can hear the smirk in his voice and she sighs, shuffling back to the desk, placing the map back on it while she listens to his approaching footsteps.
He comes to a halt behind her, slightly on her left and she doesn't think much of it when he places his hand on the back of her shoulder and moves closer glancing over her shoulder.
"What can I do for you, darling?" he asks lowly and Emma tries her best to ignore the shivers his husky voice sends down her back.
"You need to help me with those... maps," she mutters a hint of frustration edged into her voice.
"As you wish," he says and she thinks maybe that's why she doesn't push him away when he leans in closer, his whole body pressing into hers and the tip dances over the skin of the junction of her shoulder and neck, brushing some strands behind it.
She even tilts her head to the right - to give him better access to study the chart, of course - but when his lips brush over her neck, placing a soft, wet kiss to her sensitive skin her body reacts on its own, leaning into his touch, a soft moan starting to make its way out of her throat but then she realizes what's happening and she almost jumps, spinning around in his arms.
"What do you think you're doing?! We can't afford-" she starts angrily - but her voice sounds strained and she feels desire starting to build inside of her (she tries to ignore it though).
"As much as I enjoy the act, darling, let's just drop it and get down to the more pleasurable business," he says huskily, his hand moving up her back, fingers tangling in the ends of her hair, tugging lightly.
It's then when her eyes take him in fully, noticing the red vest he wears - a garment she has never seen on him before (but he looks good in it) - and the emptiness in his blue eyes, the all consuming darkness edged into them.
"What the he-" she starts but then she freezes, her gaze flickering over the pirate's shoulder and she sees a dark silhouette looming behind him.
The stranger steps out of the shadows and into the cabin's dim light and Emma swallows hard. It's Killian - the real one.
Out of the corner of her eye she sees the frown on Hook's - because that is who the man standing in front of her right now, that's not her Killian, not the man she knows - face before he follows her gaze and turns around - right into Killian's fist that knocks him out cold.
"Killian, what the hell?" she hisses and the pirate arches an eyebrow at her.
"What did you expect me to do? He touched you," he states and she rolls her eyes.
"I'm not a damn damsel in distress, I can handle myself - and I can handle you," she adds as an afterthought.
Killian's face changes, a smirk forming on his lips.
"Can you? That-" He motions to his own - or well, past self's - unconscious body on the floor. "- didn't look like it."
"I thought he was you," she defends herself with a helpless shrug.
"And you would let me touch you like that?" he prompts, angling his body slightly towards hers.
She stares up into his eyes and for a moment she gets lost in the things she sees in them. Hope and light and life - nothing like Hook. But when he leans even closer she blinks and jerks back, her senses coming back to her all of a sudden.
"I- What? No! I was just telling, well, you to stop it," she declares and he arches both his eyebrows in a doubting manner.
"Didn't look like it," he repeats and she opens and closes her mouth a few times, not knowing how to respond because he's right - she didn't push him away immediately and if it would have been him - well, the present him - she wouldn't have stopped him - maybe, probably (most likely).
"Because you were knocking him out before I could say anything," she finally says and he sighs, running one of his hands through his raven hair, his eyes locked on the ground.
"Why do you keep running, Emma?" he asks, looking back up at her.
The moment her eyes meet his she is lost. She wants to tell him everything, why she is afraid of his feelings, of her feelings, of a future with him by her side. But she can't. She's so used to running, to shutting people out that she doesn't know how to let him in.
"Why do you keep shutting me out when I've proven to you that I won't let you down?"
She thinks that it is because that's who she is. A broken, stupid girl that is so afraid of love that she rather runs than opening up to it.
But maybe - just maybe - it's time to turn around and face her fears for once. Face what - or rather who - could be her happily ever after.
She swallows hard before she opens her mouth again, glancing up at him through her eyelashes. His face is open and hopeful it breaks her heart that after all everything she has forced him to go through he still loves her like this. Because that is what she sees in his eyes - admiration, love.
"Killian, I-" she starts but she is interrupted by a groan coming from the man on the floor that reminds them both that they are not alone and that they have a job to do.
"Get the map, I'll get the clothes," the pirate orders, his voice soft, almost tender and she doesn't question him.
She quickly grabs the map and folds it carefully. She slowly walks towards the door, giving him enough time catch up with her.
When she opens the door she feels his hand pressing in the small of her back and she doesn't mind (she still feels Hook's lips on her skin and she can't help but wonder if Killian would kiss her neck like that too - or if his lips would feel sweeter, more tender on her skin because of the unconditioned affection they bring with them).
She doesn't look back but if she would she'd see how Killian looks over his shoulder and meets the eyes of his slowly waking past self, giving him a serene look that speaks of a future - a future with hope (because she is there).