It was two am when the infernal talking device started to blare at him. He ran his hand over his tired face and wearily stabbed the green telephone button just as she had taught him. He groaned into the phone.
"What the bloody hell do you want at this hour?"
"It's happening again!"
Any annoyance he'd had when he answered the phone disappeared. He leapt out of bed, grabbing clothes off the floor, hastily dressing and clicking in the cool metal of his hook. There were several loud crashes as his erratic movements knocked items from his cabin to the floor, but he didn't bother to set them right as he climbed the ladder on to the deck and met the cruel, cold night.
He had only one thing on his mind as he ran through the dark streets of Storybrooke.
Emma.
—–
He could hear it from outside the apartment; her screams reverberated down the stairs as he leapt up them, two at a time. Without hesitation, he threw open the door and scrambled up the stairs to her bedroom where the whole family had gathered. Well, perhaps gathered was not the right description.
Henry sat huddled on his bed in the corner wrapped in blankets with a worried expression; his gaze focused on his grandparents trying desperately to wake their daughter and quieten her frantic screams. Her father was hunched over the bed, holding his oldest child down to protect her from herself, her mother stroking her sweaty golden hair and attempting to sing a lullaby. The newcomer froze at this scene for mere moments before his love's screams took a different turn.
"Killian! Please…no! Don't hurt him..please, Killian!"
He was at her side in an instant, the king and queen moving aside to let the pirate get closer to their princess. With one touch, her entire body relaxed and, though her nightmare was not over, her voice was quieter with her next words.
"Killian? Help me." She whimpered.
"I'm here love," he whispered as he brushed a lock of hair out of her face "No one can hurt you now, just wake up."
With a sudden intake of breath, Emma sat up. She looked around with wide, terrified eyes that frantically passed over all in the room before meeting deep blue eyes that conveyed so much love. She threw herself into his arms and continued to breathe heavily before trying to speak.
"You…I…I was going to…but…I…"
Killian quickly stopped her panicked ramblings by tightening his hold on her, letting her brain recognise that she was now safe from whatever monsters there were in her nightmares and memories. He heard the shuffle of feet behind him as David muttered something about needing a hot cocoa that was followed by the patter of three people heading to the kitchen below.
—–
Several hours later, when Henry had fallen asleep on the sofa downstairs and the house was quite again, Emma whispered into the shirt-clad chest of her pirate,
"I dream of loosing you, you know."
In his half asleep state, Killian murmured in response,
"What was that love?"
"When I have nightmares, I dream of losing you. I, the Dark One, hurt you and I'm trapped in my own head and I can't do anything! I can't stop myself from hurting you."
She wasn't even aware she was crying till his calloused thumb ran under her eyes to dry them. Burying herself further into his body, latching her fingers into his necklace, she felt Killian take a deep breath and reassure her with the mantra that he had been repeating ever since she had returned to him,
"Swan, you are safe now, we are all safe now because of you. You're a saviour, love, truly."
With a hum, Emma snuggled in even closer, legs tangled and bodies pressed together. The Princess's eyes drooped and she felt happy, completely happy and safe for the first time since she had defeated the Darkness. Surrounded by him.
A/N So this is my first fanfic and there was no Beta, so all mistakes are my own. What do you think? Did I do alright?