Hey, guys, this is my first fanfic that I have ever published online, and I just hope that you all like it. I'm starting this story out at T, but maybe it'll change to M later on, I'm not sure.

I'm just exploring what would have happened if Emma had kissed Hook on the beanstalk, and never left him there. Just so you know, I changed the beanstalk scenes so they were a bit more . . . intimate, I guess. ;) No, I just made it so that they would touch a bit more, they would be closer together. Don't judge me, I'm a romantic like that. I hope you guys like this story. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: None of the lines from the episode "Tallahassee" belong to me, neither do the characters, but the plot after the beanstalk does.

-AwakenedAngel

Chapter One
Times are Changing
"And all around these Golden Beacons,
I see nothing but Black"

Killian hopped down from the beanstalk and brushed off the dirt from his leather pants. He turned back to Emma and held out a hand. Hanging onto the vines of the beanstalk with one hand, she gripped his hand with her free one. He helped her leap onto the stone platform surrounding the long stem and took her by the waist, swinging her around onto the floor.

"Thanks." Emma breathed, straightening her jacket. She looked around at the large, destitute-looking castle and gasped. "What happened here?" She asked.

"It's where the final battle was." Hook replied, and caught sight of her hand. "Give me your hand." He said quickly.

"What?"

Hook gestured. "Your hand-it's cut. Let me help you."

Emma shook her head. "No, no. It's fine." She protested.

"No, it's not." Hook took her hand against her will and, drawing her close to him, he inspected it carefully.

Emma glared darkly at him. "So, now you're going to be a gentleman?"

Hook leaned in close and whispered, "Giants can smell blood. And I'm always a gentleman." He drew a small bottle out and uncorked it with his teeth, spitting it back on the ground, and poured it all over Emma's bloody hand.

She cringed and gasped in pain, trying to wrench her hand away from him. "What the hell is that?"

"It's rum." He answered simply. "And a bloody waste of it." He removed his scarf from around his neck and wrapped it around Emma's palm. "Now, here's the plan: We wait for the giant to fall asleep. And when he does, we'll sneak past him into his cave. It's where the treasure lies-where the compass is."

"And then?"

Hook tied the scarf in a knot with his teeth and tugged slowly, keeping his hooded eyes on Emma, looking darkly at her, holding her gaze. "And then we run like hell." He whispered in her ear.

Emma leaned back a little. "I don't have time to wait for a giant to fall asleep." She stated. "The powder Mulan gave us-we need to use it. We got to knock him out."

Hook cocked his head to the side, still standing close to her. "Well, that's riskier."

"Riskier than waiting for a giant to fall asleep?" Emma countered.

Hook looked down at her, his eyes straying just a little too far down to her lips for a second too long, and grinned. "Point taken." He said. "You're a tough lass. You'd make one hell of a pirate."

Emma let go of him and looked at his wrist. "Who's Milah, on the tattoo?" She asked, gesturing to the name etched on his wrist in a red heart.

Hook averted his eyes and walked away past her. "Someone from long ago."

"Where is she?" Emma asked quietly.

"She's gone." He responded shortly.

Emma paused, thinking back. "Gold," She realized. "Rumpelstiltskin. He took more than your hand, didn't he?" She asked. "That's why you want to kill him."

Hook turned on her angrily. "For someone who's never been in love, you're quite perceptive, aren't you?"

"Maybe I was-once.

Emma grabbed the bag of poppy powder from Hook's satchel and perched herself atop a statue near the entrance of the castle. Hook, still on the ground, dragged a bone to a large metal shield. "You ready?" He asked. Emma nodded, and Hook banged on the shield with the bone, the noise vibrating through the whole courtyard. Footsteps thundered, shaking the two of them. Emma gripped the neck of the statue and held on. When she looked back up, the giant was there, right in front of her, looking around. "Oh, damn it."

Hook slowly led the giants towards the direction of Emma. "Hey! You big git!" The giant looked down. "Yeah, you. You want to kill a human? Huh? You want to kill a human? Well I'm the worst human around!" Emma raised one eyebrow as he spread his arms wide. "So come on, then!"

Enraged, the giant grabbed at Hook and swung his face toward the statue, and Emma threw the bag in his face. The poppy powder exploded into the air, shimmering into the air. He fell to the ground, unconscious, but Hook was nowhere to be seen. Emma turned her head wildly to catch sight of him. "Hook?" She called. "Hook!"

Suddenly, he appeared out from under the giant. "He's out cold." He smiled at her. "I don't mean to upset you, Emma, but I think we make quite the team."

emma rolled her eyes and hopped down from the statue. "Let's go steal a compass."

He led her inside the castle, passing various rooms until he came upon a set of large double doors. Hook looked over at her and gave her a knowing smile. "The treasure room." He whispered exaggeratedly at her. Emma rolled her eyes and they went inside. The moment they were in, Emma stopped short. "They kill all the giant housekeepers, too?" She asked sarcastically. "How are we supposed to find a compass int his mess?"

"By looking." Hook retorted. "Start searching. I wonder how much treasure we could carry down the beanstalk. . . ." He caught Emma's glare and shrugged. "In addition to the compass, of course."

Emma looked away and began walking forward, almost tripping over a skeleton with a sword. The name 'Jack' was etched onto the blade. "What the hell?" She gasped.

"That . . . would be Jack." Hook explained, clasping his hands together as he joined her.

"As in Jack. . . ."

"The giant killer." He grinned.

Emma snorted. "What, with that toothpick?" She nudged the tip of the sword with her leather boot.

"Packs quite a wallop, you'd be surprised." Hook kept on walking, inspecting the room, when Emma suddenly pulled him back, involuntarily bringing their bodies close together. He turned to face her and smirked, putting a hand on her cheek. "About bloody time." He murmured.

Emma's eyes widened as she realized their position and brought her face away from his when he wouldn't let go of her. "It's a trip wire." She said avoiding his eyes, and looking at the cage attached to the wire. "Quite a security system."

Hook rolled his eyes. "Well, that's a plausible excuse for grabbing me, but next time," he stroked a finger down the length of her face and raised her chin with his hook, bringing her face closer to him so their lips were almost touching, "don't stand on ceremony." And then he let her go.

Emma straightened herself out, slightly flustered. "Let's find the compass and go home." She waved her hand for him to step over the wire. "After you."

He hopped over the trip wire and walked around a pile of gold, nudging it with his toe and making it clatter to the ground. Emma jumped at the noise and looked over. "So, it's just . . . in here somewhere?" She asked.

Hook shrugged. "Allegedly." he walked to a high platform. "Give me a boost, would you, love?" He asked without glancing at her, so he missed the infamous eye roll she gave him.

"So I can't see what you're pocketing? No way. You give me a boost." Hook paused with his hand on the platform and looked at her darkly. "Try something new, darling. It's called trust."

Emma hesitated at the word. "We do it side by side and fast. Who knows how long before the-" Gold crashed all around the room and thundering footsteps were heard coming closer.

"Someone's up." Hook warned. "Quickly. Get under something!" He grabbed Emma's hand and ran to a corner. The ceiling shook and debris clattered onto where he was standing.

"Hook?" She gasped. A strong hand that was bigger than Emma herself swooped down and grabbed her.

Emma struggled in the giant's fist as he squeezed her tighter. "I'm not what you think!" She gasped for breath as she tried to move her arms.

"You're a thief, and you poisoned me. So yeah, I'm pretty sure you're exactly what I think." The giant shot back.

"No!" Emma yelled. "Look, you have a compass." She explained. She tried to move around again and dropped her head down. "I need it."

"I don't care what you need." The giant retorted. He tightened his grip as Emma struggled to breath.

"No, for my son! To save my son!" Emma shouted. "Don't you have a family?" She asked desperately.

"No." The giant screamed. "Because humans killed them all."

Emma's vision began to fade in and out of focus as the giant squeezed harder and harder, and she bit him. He let out a little cry, and dropped her, and Emma ran for Jack's skeleton. She grabbed the sword and jumped over the trip wire while the giant ran to catch up with her. Emma sliced the wire in half and the cage fell on the giant. "Nice security system." Emma complimented. "Efficient." She pointed the sword at the giant's face.

"No! No, no, no, no!" The giant protested.

"I can tell by your face you know what this is." Emma stated. "Let me guess-it's dipped in some sort of poison." She rested the point on the ground. "You have a compass. I need it."

"You're going to kill me either way." The giant bit back. "Go ahead. Kill me!"

Emma shook her head. "You don't know me."

"I know your kind. They massacred us, and destroyed our beans."

"I heard it the other way." Emma defended.

The giant wrinkled his brow. "That's because the victors get to tell the story." Emma poked the sword closer. "Okay! Stop. Here." He slid the compass across the floor and Emma retrieved it. "See? I'm not the bad guy."

Emma paused. "Maybe you were telling the truth. Doesn't really matter. I have to go. Are there any more of you?" She asked as she raised the sword again.

The giant's face became very sad, and lonely. "No." He replied. "I'm alone."

Emma hesitated, then lowered her sword and began to stalk back. When her back turned, the giant broke free of his cage and grabbed a boulder covering a tunnel that leads outside, and threw it across the room. "Go."

"Why?"

"Because you could have killed me, and you didn't." The giant said. "You get one favor, now go before I change my mind."

Emma nodded and ran to where the ceiling had fallen on Hook. She shoved a small piece out of the way and grasped the limp hand she saw hanging out. She pulled him out, not without difficulty, and looked to see where the giant was. He was gone.

Hook grinned at her. "You are bloody brilliant." He praised. "Amazing. May I see it? The compass?"

Emma pulled it out of her pocket, clutching it in her hand tightly. Hook, however, made no move to take it. "It's more beautiful than legend." He whispered hoarsely. His voice was so low, Emma wasn't sure he had meant for her to hear.

Hook held out his hand for her to take, glancing up at her hopefully. "Come. Let's go."

Emma looked down at his outstretched hand for a second too long before his face fells ever so slightly, and she held it tightly in her own. Hook smiled up at her and stood up from his crouching position. "We should go." He said.

Emma nodded, not letting go of his hand. He made no move to draw it back. They looked into each other's eyes. . . .

And then she kissed him.

Why, she had no idea. She just did. Something about them making it out of this alive, and now they were one step closer to going home.

Hook let out a small noise of pleasurable surprise, and kissed her back, moving his lips expertly over hers. His hand threaded into her golden blond locks and twisted them tightly in his fist. Emma made a soft noise of contentment and reached up to twine her arms around his neck, bringing him closer to her so they were pressed up against each other. Hook walked her backwards, shoving her against the wall, pinning her there with his body and managing to never break their kiss. She gasped slightly, surprised at his movement, and kissed him a little more forcefully. Hook stroked his tongue across her bottom lip, begging him for entrance, and that one touch jerked her back to reality-or, whatever this was.

Emma was about to lean away when she realized Hook had her backed up against the stone wall, and she mentally cursed him. She unwrapped her arms from his neck and shoved his chest back forcefully.

Hook stepped away from her, slightly breathless, his face a mask of pure shock. "What?" He said, his words slightly slurred. "What's wrong?"

Emma shook her head and began walking away. "That never happened." She said firmly. "We need to go. They'll be waiting for us."

Yeah, yeah, I know, it's a crappy ending. But I had no other way to end it, and I couldn't think of anything else. So, this is it. Next chapter should be up some time later today. I'm sick, so I'm staying home from school, and I chose to spend my day writing this story. Hope you liked it, and keep looking for the next chapter!