The day had finally arrived. Emma Swan checked her list, scanning it for the fifth time that hour to make sure she had everything in order for when the campers arrived. She then pulled out her phone and went over the itinerary for the day even though she knew it by heart. After working at Camp Storybrooke for the past 10 years, Emma knew exactly what the first day of camp went like: bus arrives and kids are everywhere, they get settled in, have a light snack and then they go to bed. It may be the easiest day by far, but it required the most organization to get the campers all sorted out. It was days like these where Emma was grateful to have an amazing team of councilors to work with.
Technically, the camp belonged to Emma's best friend Mary Margaret Blanchard's parents, Eva and Leopold. But the old couple had retired long ago and while they still owned the property, they let Emma and Mary Margaret run the camp together. The two girls hired a whole new group of councilors and had been working with them every summer since. The team went through some tough times, with personality's clashing and petty arguments heating up, but eventually, they had found the perfect balance.
Emma glanced at her watch and looked down the gravel path leading up to the entrance. The Camp Storybrooke bus that was chartering all the kids was nowhere to be seen. They were already half an hour late.
"Mary Margaret!" Emma called as she spotted a head of raven hair making its way towards her. "Where the hell is Ruby with the bus? She was supposed to be here 30 minutes ago and she hasn't texted me or anything."
Mary Margaret checked her watch and frowned. "Maybe they ran into traffic," she suggested, reassuring the blonde. "Oh! And Ruby's not driving the bus, she can't come up until tomorrow."
"Who's driving the bus then?" Emma asked. "David?
"Okay, Emma. Don't hate me for this..." Mary Margaret started.
"What did you do?" Emma was unsettled by Mary Margaret's sudden hesitance. Why did it matter who brought the kids here?
Mary Margaret avoided Emma's piercing green eyes. "I sort of hired someone new and forgot to tell you. I'm sorry, I should've run it by you but it was kind of last minute," she rushed out all in one breath.
"You forgot to tell me?!" Emma cried. "I'm the one who organizes the councilors when they get here, don't you think I should know who's coming?"
Mary Margaret cringed. She knew Emma would blow up about this. "Look, I'm sorry I didn't talk to you about it, but we really needed someone. We had more boys sign up this year and needed another male councilor. His resume is good and he seemed nice on the phone."
"Wait, you've never even met the guy?" Emma couldn't believe this. "What if he's a creep and doesn't get along with us or the kids?"
"It'll be fine! He's a friend of David's from college and sounded more than happy to help. He even offered to do it for free," Mary Margaret persisted, trying to calm Emma down. "Besides, Archie will be heading the Crocodile Clan with him."
At Camp Storybrooke, the kids were split into "clans" upon their arrival and did daily activities with their group. Emma's was the Swan Clan and Mary Margaret's was the Sparrow Clan. Each group had two leaders so one could take some time off if needed or could leave if their presence was required elsewhere. Eva and Leopold had heaps of money due to inheritance and had more than enough for all the staff. However, the councilors were all happy to spend the summer there and worked for much less than they were offered.
Emma just hoped this new guy wouldn't drive a knife into their well-developed system.
"Fine," Emma sighed. "But I don't like him."
"You don't even know him, Emma. Just give him a chance," Mary Margaret pleaded. "He has a cool accent too! He's Irish."
Emma simply checked her watch. Again.
"He's 35 minutes late, that's what he is."
Bloody, buggering hell! It was not Killian's day. First, he realized he forgot to pack socks, so he had to go buy at least a week's worth, which was humiliating enough without the strange look from the cashier. That little excursion then made him miss his bus that he couldn't run after with his suitcases. When he finally made it to the charter bus terminal, he had half the time he had thought to drive to the gathering place to pick up all the kids. After racing through rush hour, he loaded the children on without a glitch. Believing his luck was changing, Killian set off only to be thwarted by fate yet again. It turns out he was supposed to fill up the gas in the bus prior to getting on the highway.
So there he was, stranded on the side of the road with a busload of children singing "The Wheels On The Bus" over and over and over.
He had texted David Nolan who was up at the camp to see if he could bring enough gasoline to fill the tank for the remainder of the trip. Killian's phone lit up beside him and he answered it above the symphony of "Down By The Bay".
"David? What's the plan?"
"I'm on my way, I'll be there in five. How are you holding up?" David was concerned for the newbie of the camp. He heard high-pitched squeals in the background.
"Can you make it here in three?"
"He forgot to get gas?! I can't believe this.." Emma went on, pacing as Mary Margaret talked to David on her cell.
"Yup. Okay. See you soon." The petite brunette shut off her phone and looked wearily at Emma. "They're about ten minutes away. Would you wipe that scowl off your face? Everything will turn out fine, just go with the flow."
Emma sighed, but decided to take her friend's advice. Explanations and such could be shortened or moved to the next day or something.
"You're right," Emma conceded, "like always."
Mary Margaret grinned. Her positivity was contagious, and Emma let her excitement for the summer return.
The pair chatted for a while about how to make up for the lost hour. Finally, they saw lights coming down the driveway and were greeted by a few honks of the horn. They heard a loud "Welcome to Camp Storybrooke!" from David, followed by an eruption of cheering.
After all the luggage and sleeping bags were unloaded from the bus, each councilor was responsible for assembling their clan and taking them to their cabin. Although the clans were separated by gender, they always did activities with at least one other group.
Emma seeked out Elsa, the co-leader of the Swan Clan and asked her to organize their group. Elsa led most of the activities as Emma was managing the rest of the camp for the majority of the summer. Elsa didn't mind though, and had become a close friend of Emma's. She could sense the stress Emma was often suppressing and took on the tasks right away. Upon arrival, they had to go through the papers the kids had with them and do a final check to see if the parents had filled out the form regarding pick up from the camp. This was just to make sure everyone had a plan for when the week was over.
With her clan taken care of, Emma searched through the crowd of children, looking for...
"Emma!" She felt a small pair of arms throw themselves around her waist in a tight hug. When the kid pulled back, she ruffled his hair and crouched down to his level.
"Hey Henry! How's it going?" Henry threw himself into another hug and his answer was muffled, but Emma could feel his smile. Henry had been coming to camp for 5 years and could be a councilor himself if he weren't only 12 years old.
"Wow! You've got a lot of bags there, kid. I'll help you find your councilor. What clan are you in this year?" Emma asked her favourite camper.
Henry fished out a paper from his backpack and read the top. "It says I'm in the Crocodile Clan. Awesome! I'm with Archie and... who's Killian?"
Emma peeked over his shoulder at the name. Killian Jones. That was just fantastic. Henry was stuck with the irresponsible, negligent, careless, impulsive, immature...
"That would be me."
... absolutely gorgeous, tall, lean, striking man beside her. This was not going to end well.
"And you must be Henry. A Camp Storybrooke veteran, so I hear." Killian checked the final name off the list on his clipboard. Emma took that moment to shut her jaw (When did that drop?) and compose herself. What was Mary Margaret thinking?!
"This is my fifth year coming here and I stay for the whole two months!" Henry said, buzzing with excitement.
"Well, lad, I hope we can make this your best summer yet! Before we head off, I just need to see that your parents have accounted for your return, as you are probably well aware," Killian smiled, and looked expectantly at the paper in Henry's hand.
"You see, I don't actually, um... I don't..." Henry began, blushing slightly. He tugged at Emma's sleeve, bringing her into the conversation she had refused to join for some reason.
"Oh! I'm signing for him," she said.
And then green eyes met blue.
For a moment, everything around Emma faded and nothing was left but the vibrant blue eyes holding hers. Loathe be Emma to admit it, but this man was incredibly attractive. He had dark, unruly hair and a shadow of scruff along his jawline. His t-shirt revealed well-toned biceps and clung to his waist, leaving no question as to whether or not he was in good physical shape.
Killian himself appeared to be in a similar daze. He had heard about Emma's fire and slight case of stubbornness from David, but never did he imagine such a personality would sport such a figure. Her long blonde hair cascaded down past her shoulders, and her legs went on for miles. Killian couldn't help but stare at the way the woman before him held herself, like an angel who could kick your ass if she wanted. He met her eyes once more, and finally saw where she kept her fire. The thing that surprised him the most was the fact that she was keeping it hidden behind well-constructed walls.
Henry dug his feet into the gravel, successfully breaking the moment. Killian seemed to recover a little faster than Emma, who mentally kicked herself to stop staring at him.
"It's really supposed to be the parents who sign though," Killian said, just trying to do his job.
"It's fine." Emma took the pen off his clipboard and scrawled her signature on the line. She looked up and saw that Killian, amused, had raised an eyebrow at her shortness. She rolled her eyes. He may be hot, but she knew she would hate him. "I'm the head councilor here, we can sort it out at the meeting tonight. I'll see you later, Henry," she said to the boy, ruffling his mop of brown hair once more and making her way to the dining hall where the leaders were to bring their groups after settling in.
"Bye!" Henry called after her. He turned to Killian who was watching her go with an odd expression on his face. All Killian could think about was the fiery, yet guarded look in her eyes and the pull deep in his gut that made him want to break down the mile-high walls he recognized so easily. Bloody hell.
"So.. are we going or what?" Henry was itching to get the summer started.
"Hmm," Killian mused. He suddenly noticed that they were the last two people in the parking area. "Oh! Right, yeah. We better be off if we want to catch up with the others. Need a hand with your bags?"
After all the campers had called dibs on the best bunks and unloaded their bags, they made their way across the field separating the cabins from the dining hall and piled inside for a formal welcome. They got to hear what their week was going to look like, who their councilors were and about the general rules of Camp Storybrooke. Granny Lucas, Ruby's grandmother, introduced herself as the camp cook and discussed food allergies and the like. Finally, they received a rice crispie square and a glass of water before returning to their cabins with one of their clan leaders for the night. The remaining councilors gathered around a table to discuss the first day and how the rest of the week would play out. Mary Margaret conducted the meeting and it went smoothly and efficiently, allowing the councilors to turn in early to prepare for the long week ahead. Just as Emma was pushing her chair in, Mary Margaret came up next to her.
"Hey, how did everything go tonight?" Mary Margaret inquired.
"Well, Elsa took on most of it, but my clan seems tame enough. How about you?"
"The Sparrow Clan is ready to go! Did you manage to catch up with Henry yet? He needed you to sign his form."
"Yeah, I found him when he came off the bus. Speaking of the bus, I also sort of met the new councilor," Emma snapped, fixing a glare at Mary Margaret. "I can already tell that he is going to be nothing but trouble. And, you stuck Henry with him for the entire summer? You know protective I am of Henry.. How am I supposed to leave him in the hands of a stranger for two months?"
"I'm glad you feel that way, because I've talked to Elsa and Archie and instead of running the afternoon activities tomorrow, you two will be having a get-to-know-each-other meeting," Mary Margaret announced, as if this were a grand idea.
"You've got to be kidding me," Emma groaned. "That means I have to spend, what, three hours alone with this Killian Jones guy?"
"Emma, this will be good for you. He's really not that bad. Plus, you can take some time to explain your relationship with Henry, seeing as those two will spend an awful lot of time together."
"He doesn't need to know anything about our lives. It's not like he's going to be..."
"Emma," Mary Margaret interrupted, knowing where that conversation would have been headed. "You're going to be seeing a lot of him over the next few weeks, so I think it would be a good idea if the you learned to like him."
Emma crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow.
"At least learn to tolerate him," Mary Margaret compromised.
"Ugh fine!" Emma huffed. "But no promises. Goodnight Mary Margaret." She stormed out of the hall, hearing her friend chuckle behind her.
"Whoa! Enough maple syrup there, kid?" Emma exclaimed as she took a seat next to Henry at breakfast the following morning.
"You can't have too much maple syrup. And besides, I need some for my pancakes, waffles, sausage and bacon," Henry explained, adding to the lake on his plate.
It always took Emma by surprise at how much Henry changed every time she saw him. She was certainly not used to seeing him eat this much, with two plates for all the food the teen aged boy needed. She wished she could see him all the time, watch him grow up and become the young man she knew he would. Maybe if everything goes accordingly this summer...
"... is awesome!" Henry finished, pulling Emma out of her thoughts.
"Sorry, what?" Emma had clearly missed the first part.
"Killian!" Henry exclaimed. "He's so cool. He told our clan stories about his life training in the British navy. And look!" Henry pulled a long chain from his pocket and grabbed the object on the end. He lay it out flat on his palm. "It's a real compass," he said with awe. "I was asking Killian about exploring further into the forest this year, and he said we could go as long as I guided us. Me! I don't know how to do that! Killian said he'd teach me. Then, he gave this to me to use for the whole summer!" Henry's eyes were sparkling with excitement as he cradled the golden compass.
Well. So much for Killian being a jerk.
The tables in the dining hall were set up so that everyone ate with their clan, and there was an extra table for a few councilors and staff. They went up group by group to get their main course from the kitchens, then passed the vegetable, fruit, salad, condiment and cutlery table on the way to sit back down. The councilors also did a small roll call at breakfast to assure that everyone made it from the cabins. Killian was starting to get worried when Henry was missing from his table.
"Henry?" He called a little louder over the chatter in the hall. It was filling up and he couldn't spot the boy anywhere. "Henry?"
"He's eating at the staff table with Emma," came a voice from behind him. He turned around to see Mary Margaret settling in with the Sparrows. She sat down and dropped her voice. "Henry is a bit of a special case around here and he rarely eats with anyone but Emma. He loves all the staff, but those two have this... unique bond and Camp Storybrooke is a very special place for both of them." Killian tried to understand what she meant, but felt he was missing some information. "Emma should really be the one to explain it," Mary Margaret said, sensing his confusion. "It's not something she just shares with everyone." With that, she turned around and dug into her pancakes.
Killian stood up and scanned the room until he spotted the staff table. On the other side of the room, he saw Emma throw her head back, laughing at something Henry must have said. He smiled to himself as he sat back down.
"Okay. Let's get this over with."
"That's hardly the attitude to go into a three hour meeting with, love."
"Don't call me love."
Emma really was going to kill Mary Margaret. Killian may be good with kids, but was an annoying ass to Emma.
After breakfast, the camp had split into four groups, two clans in each, and went on nature hikes to play games in the surrounding forest. Four councilors was plenty to watch over 16 kids, leaving Killian time to mutter flirtatious innuendos under his breath as he walked by Emma, making her blush non-stop. By the end of lunch, she had to grip her t-shirt in order to restrain herself from punching him in the face. She knew he did it just to get under her skin, and was not going to give him the satisfaction of letting him know it got to her. Emma was pretty sure he knew anyway.
"Fine, alright," he replied. "And you said this was Mary Margaret's idea? If you want to get close to me, there's no need to use her as an excuse." This was why Emma couldn't stand the guy.
"Can you be serious for like, one second? Is that even possible for you?" Emma spat.
Killian was taken aback by her tone and realized he had crossed the line. Angering her would only make the next few hours hell. "I apologize, lass."
"Thank you," Emma exhaled. "So, would you mind if I asked you a few questions? I coordinate all the councilors and I need to know who I'm working with."
"Like an interview even though I've got the job?"
Emma nodded.
"Sounds good to me. Shoot." Killian leaned back in his chair. They had decided to meet in the dining hall as it was empty in the afternoons.
"What made you want to work at Camp Storybrooke?"
"Well, my mate David called me up and said you were short on male councilors. He told me about what sort of things you guys do here and they interest me, so I said I'd be glad to help out."
"And what sort of job lets you take the whole summer off?" Emma asked him, the tiniest bit curious to see what he did.
"I'm a marine biologist and I work at an aquarium. I was supposed to mentor an intern this summer, but I got the call from here and offered the lad the job for two months. He happily accepted and here I am!" That was certainly not the answer Emma had expected. Not that she'd thought about him at all.
"Interesting. What do you do outside of work? Any interests?"
Killian considered making a quip seeing as Emma had set it up perfectly, but he refrained. "I'm afraid I don't do much outside of work, I take as many shifts as possible. That way, I'm busy almost 24/7. But I do enjoy sailing and I volunteer with boy scouts. That's actually why David thought of me for this job."
Emma took a moment to consider this information. She thought someone like Killian would have people lining up to hang out with him outside of work.
"Do you ever just hang out with people? Relax and go out for a night?" She saw something flash in Killian's eyes before they returned to normal.
"But that would require effort.. and friends!" Killian laughed as he dodged the question completely, but she caught the evasion, spotting a hidden loner like herself. If anyone knew about avoiding vulnerability, it was Emma.
"So no social life whatsoever?"
"Oh, I'm social, darling," he said with a smirk. He just couldn't seem to help himself.
"I'm sure you are," she muttered. "Anyway, how about your family? Any siblings take all the good looking genes?" She could taunt him too.
"Are you saying that I'm not dashing?"
"Can you focus please?"
"I really don't see what family and friends has to do with any of this," Killian stated, his smile becoming strained. Emma saw more pain flicker behind his eyes as he looked at his hands, and decided to drop it completely. She understood that more than anything.
"It's okay, never mind," she replied quickly. Killian picked his head up and gave her a small smile, grateful she didn't push the question. "Henry mentioned you were in the navy academy. What made you join that?"
"It gave me a great education and really let me explore my options. I also learned all about boats which was pretty interesting. However, I didn't stay long enough to become of age to fight and I moved across seas when I was 17."
"That's pretty young. Why did you move?" Emma got the feeling Killian was withholding part of the story.
"There was nothing for me there," Killian admitted. Silence fell over them as Emma tried to read between the lines. Her perception of Killian Jones was rapidly being turned on its head.
"How about you, Swan?" Killian asked, bringing Emma out of her reverie.
"How about I what?"
Killian chortled. "What's your story?"
"Ha! Wouldn't you like to know."
"Perhaps I would," he responded right back with a smirk. "Mary Margaret mentioned something about you and Henry, something that you might tell me. Care to share?"
Emma's smile faltered. "Wasn't this an interview about you?"
"Last I checked, it was a get-to-know-each-other meeting."
While Emma usually escaped a conversation before ever having to talk about herself, she found herself trusting Killian more and more. This should have scared Emma way more than it did. But he was Henry's councilor after all, and deserved to know what the deal was in case Henry ever wanted to talk about it with someone other than Emma.
"Fine. But please don't bring it up with Henry unless he comes to you, he's very sensitive about it." Emma looked at Killian who nodded gently. She took a deep breath. "The first time Henry came to Camp Storybrooke, he was seven years old," Emma started. "This orphanage in town sent all the kids to different summer camps and Henry ended up here. When I heard we had a camper from an orphanage, I sort of felt like he was my responsibility because I, um.. I'm also ..uh," Emma felt her voice catch in her throat, unable to go on.
Killian's eyes softened. "You were the head councilor back then as well?" he offered quietly, choosing a route so Emma didn't have to. She suspected he knew that was not what she was going to say.
"Yeah. By the end of the week, Henry and I had grown very close. I was the only adult he trusted, so when they came to take him back, he cried and ran away to hide in the forest. We got the orphanage to talk to Eva and Leopold, who own the camp, to see if Henry could stay longer. The orphanage said they wouldn't pay for any more weeks and demanded to take him back. I.. I couldn't let those horrible people take him away, so I paid for the rest of Henry's summer out of my paycheck."
Killian's eyes widened. "Emma.."
"Wait, let me finish," she said. "At the end of that summer, Henry agreed to go to the best orphanage we could find him if I promised to take him when school let out for winter and spring break. I agreed without hesitation. I'm not even sure if it was legal, I was only 24. So Mary Margaret, David, Elsa and I spent winter and spring break here in the houses at the top of the hill and all took care of Henry. I'm sort of self-employed so I can work from anywhere, and Eva and Leo didn't charge us to stay here during those weeks. It was a perfect arrangement. By the time the following summer rolled around, Henry begged the new orphanage to let him come and apparently, his parents left him a load of money in the bank. He uses that to pay for coming here every summer to this day." Emma let out a breath. "And that's what we've been doing for the past five years. I look after him every winter, spring and summer break."
Killian was speechless, he just stared at Emma.
Emma laughed softly."Yeah, it's a lot to take in."
"Wow, Emma. I just... Wow." Killian babbled. "Thank you for telling me," he said finally. Killian thought for a moment. "May I ask you a question?"
"Um, sure." Emma prepared herself for the regular "How could you send him back?" or the "Who are you to decide where he spends his time?".
"Does he know that he's just about too old to stay at the orphanage? That he'll soon be moved to the closest group home, none of which are in this state?"
That was not what she was expecting. "How do you even know either of those things?" Emma asked incredulously. It's not as if many people knew anything on the subject.
"You didn't answer my question," he replied.
"No, he doesn't know. I'm still trying to figure out how to tell him, but I have another plan in mind that I've been working on since last year. I'm not sure how that will play out though."
"I suppose you are in a tricky situation. Thank you again for letting me know." Killian's face suddenly broke out into a grin. "Now, how about a game of 20 Questions?"
"I'm really not in the.."
"What's your favourite colour, Swan?"
Emma rolled her eyes.
"Red."
