Author's note: So this idea has been bugging me for a while, so I thought, why not give it a shot. The thing is, I don't have everything mapped out, and I don't know if it's actually worth continuing. But I'd love to hear your thoughts on it, and I'll try to whip up a second chapter soon, which will hopefully be a bit longer.
Just a note, this takes place a few weeks after "Heroes and Villains", after Rumplestinskin's banishment from Storybrooke, and disregards his actions after that. So no evil witch trio will appear in this story.
Enjoy, and if you feel like it, tell me what you think! :)
Edited, 01.01.2015: I just realized, there's no more Jolly Roger in the fourth season, so I had to change that bit. For now, this is A ship, I'll have to give it a bit more attention later on.
…
She's standing on the deck, long hair flowing freely down her back. She's looking down at him, smiling. Milah's hand comes up, finger curling. There's this wild spark in her eyes as she waits for him.
Killian Jones, standing on the dock, twenty feet from the Jolly Roger, doesn't hear them approach. He sees it at the same time he feels hands on him, a dark shadow over Milah's shoulder. He tries to move, but his arms get pulled behind his back. She's shouting his name, sword already drawn. He opens his mouth to warn her, tell her to turn around. One of the men holding him drives his knee in his stomach, and he can't breathe. His lips are still moving, but his warning is barely a whisper. The shadow is right behind her. Killian struggles harder, desperate. The grip on his arms intensifies, and they start dragging him away. He feels his shoulder dislocate, grits his teeth.
"Killian!" She's running down the steps, sword in hand, resolve on her face. He thinks, she's so beautiful.
He kicks back, hears something brake. His arms are suddenly free and he doesn't look back, doesn't waste any time. He runs to her, heart going wild in his chest. She's barely ten feet away, but the shadow is suddenly between them, and it's not really a shadow. It's the cowardly husband, except he doesn't seem fearful at all. He doesn't seem human.
It all happens at once. The raw scream that rips his throat to shreds mixes with Rumplestinskin's sick cackle and his hand is in Milah's chest.
"No, nono! Stop!" Killian doesn't realize he's falling until his face is buried in the ground. There's someone on his back, holding him down. His shoulder's on fire. He fights for all he's worth, but can manage to loosen the hold just enough to turn his head, look at her.
Her eyes are wide, surprised. As if she hasn't yet noticed her heart is no longer where it should be. And no, no, it's not fair, it's- He can't-
"I-" But Rumplestinskin doesn't let her finish, doesn't even give them a goodbye.
"NO!" He doesn't notice breaking two fingers in his struggle. He doesn't care. "Milah!"
But it's too late, and there's dust seeping through Rumplestinskin's fingers. It's her heart, and it's too late. It's-
The world stops.
He can't breathe.
Her body falls.
"This is on you."
And with that they're gone, all of them.
He wakes up screaming. "No, Mil-" A dream, it was a dream. His body goes slack against the mattress, eyes closed. A nightmare.
And that's when it finally registers, the pain. It's still dark in the captain's quarters, so it takes Hook a few moments to realize why his right hand looks off. Two of his fingers are bent in a way that shouldn't be possible, and when he tries moving them, everything goes black for a second.
There are no mirrors on the ship, but Hook doesn't need one to see the bruises that splatter his torso.
The thing is, Storybrooke's been calm for a few weeks now. The thing is, there were no fights. The thing is, when he went to bed last night, there wasn't a scratch on him.
"Oh bloody hell."
...
A/N: The title was taken from Robert Plant's song "Embrace another fall", from the album "Lullaby and... The Ceaseless Roar", released on 8 September 2014. Give it a shot, the song's really good. :)