A quick fic I decided to do because Liam, and Killian, and pain.
Enjoy.
Liam has never been one to believe in good form- or at least not like his brother. That's not to say he's not a good man. He's a wonderful, wonderful man that only wants things to be fair and right. But that's just it. He never said it had to be fair and right for everyone. As long as one person comes out of it with what they deserved, that's good enough form for him.
He never realized that he felt this way until the one person he never expected to be here is.
He shows up the same way everybody does: disoriented, upset, and dead, but with him, it's different. He's never had to greet anyone upon their arrival to the underworld, which he supposes is a bit of a blessing, but at the same time, now that he's finally seeing the person he loved and cared for the most after all these years, he can't say that he's really that disappointed in his arrival.
The reunion is an emotional one, as to be expected. The second his little- excuse me- younger brother steps glumly off the small vessel onto the backwards land that he now calls home, he's enveloped in his arms.
His eyes fill with shock at the familiar embrace and soon they're just a big mess of tears unwilling to let go of the other.
And for the first time in hundreds of years he can feel again. His heart is no longer a cracked, dry thing that sits in his chest and only makes him shiver even in the deepest pits of hell. His heart beats and he's filled with warmth. He actually smiles and the fog that had enveloped his mind and made him nothing but an automaton that lived the exact same way for hundreds of empty, lonely years, is lifted. Thoughts finally plague his mind, once again, and he finally, finally has a purpose once more.
Never let his little brother leave his side again.
This plan is going almost perfectly, after he convinces him that they will be alright, that as long as you subject and make known your loyalty to the overlord, Hades, living here could be everything it was and more before he had died. Killian promises to send in his letter of subjection to the master of hell as soon as he possibly can, and despite the strong sarcastic undertone (when did he become so bitter?) he believes him. And everything is going perfectly, until they show up.
They arrive bearing weapons and determined frowns that cause the protective thoughts in his newly cleared mind to go rampant; yelling at him to do everything he canto keep them away from the one person who's made him feel anything after years of being alone. But no sooner than they've come and have started making judgments on their smoky (but quaint) little town, does he find his little brother in the arms of some woman who seems to have squirmed her way into his heart.
They claim they're there to save him, to bring him home to a town full of people anxiously awaiting his arrival; making his brother grin from ear-to-ear. And it's selfish, he knows it, but who are they to take him away once more?
Sabotage was never something he was particularly fond of. After years of playing navy and king with his little brother as children, and Killian always saying that he'd do the thing he'd been commanded to do, but then running off and doing the exact opposite, further claiming that he lived by his own rules not those of any king, it's something he's highly against. However, the threat of losing loved ones is something that can make you reconsider many things.
It's starts with little things. Assisting that last ingredient for the portal back to their land in its disappearance, leading them on a wild goose chase to find a mythical man who's dealt with escaping the underworld before when he honestly has no idea where such a man could be, pretending not to have seen anything that could help them when he may have just found the motherload. It was nothing too serious, it couldn't be if he wanted his brother to still approve of him. But when they started getting too close to getting Killian "home," that's when he stopped caring about secrecy- and that's when Hades was alerted.
That's also when everything went downhill.
From that point onwards, it's a constant battle to keep Killian as far away from the god of the underworld as possible. To keep him from becoming a permanent resident of the one place he could never return from.
Unfortunately, that's exactly where Liam wants him to be. So he does what he has to; he betrays him.
He takes his little brother by the hand, looks him in the eye, and promises that he'll be restored to life and the woman he loves, and the grateful tears that well up in those big, blue eyes that have seen too much almost convince him to actually keep to that promise, but he can't. Not with knowing how it feels to be an empty shell. It wouldn't be fair. Not through his eyes.
So he drags him across the town. Past all of the run down stores, past the broken clock tower, and right on by the safe haven where he would have taken him if his form had ever been as good as his brother's. Instead he brings him to the heart of the town where he swears upon his life that he will never be found.
Hades is there within minutes, thanking Liam for his constant support.
The look of betrayal on Killian's face is withering, and he's ashamed of himself for turning away, but not even a former captain of the high seas who's seen the terrors of war can face the look of such heartbreak without being overcome by guilt.
"Liam," his voice echoes through the empty streets where souls rest behind closed doors. "Liam how- how could you? You promised- you promised on your life that you would help me." He was trying to sound mad, he really was, but instead, he only sounded hurt, broken, like a delicate thing that had been dropped many times before, but had chosen only now to fall apart. And, once again, he nearly broke, for throughout the nineteen years Liam had spent with his younger brother, he had never broken, but only hardened. Tears were shed when their mother died, of course, but afterwards he took her death as an opportunity to solemnly swear that he would become the hero mother would have needed. And he definitely did have moments after Father left where he would fret and ask his big brother of he was being a bother, like he had bothered Father, but once reassured that he was not, Killian made sure that Liam knew he would never hold him back from fulfilling his potential as a captain.
You see, Killian was always one to become stronger from these events, these losses; the betrayals he was constantly facing. However, the betrayal he was staring down now was far worse than anything he'd ever felt before. The betrayal bestowed upon him by the man who he's looked up to his entire life, who he's loved for just as long, and who he's desperately wanted to see once more since the day he became a pirate. It hurts, and it aches, but it's dulling, and he's becoming numb. So he resigns.
He does not become infuriated and swear to no longer trust him, for he could never not love Liam, but rather, he simply stops. And this is what almost breaks him; the relinquished look on his cracked brother's face, but he is still too far gone in protecting what's precious to him to stop now. So he speaks.
"I'm sorry, brother," he whispers, softly. "I swore on a life that I have already lived. A life-" he chokes, "a life I lived for you, to protect you, that I would never let you be found. And I'm fulfilling that promise, little brother, for you will never be found, not by those people who caused you to come here. But we will be happy, I promise you that we will move on as brothers, and I will keep you safe. I cannot lose you, brother, I can't live without you." His eyes are watering, and he knows how selfish he is, he's a bloody bigot, but he's that close to spending forever with the only person he could have wanted that with. So he looks to Hades to make the next move.
And move he does. His bony arm is outstretched and a small wave of blue fire is sent towards the frame of Killian, who's head is hanging low in pure despair, and he makes no move to avoid the invasion. The fire touches his skin and he flinches as it spreads over his body, a blue glow encasing his very soul, engraving him into this hell forever. Hades' eyebrow raises as Killian collapses to the pavement below him and he smirks an evil thing as the shadows incase him and he disappears.
Liam rushes to his brother's side, and he lifts him to his feet.
"Let's go home, little brother. You're safe now. I promise he will never hurt you again, but it was the only way to keep you here, and the only way to keep you safe," Liam holds him close, begging that he will forgive him. However, his conscience begs for him to yell and tell him what a bastard he is.
Instead, he's met with a small sigh and words of a man desperate to make amends.
"May I see her one last time, Liam?" he asks with a quivering lip and eyes that beg for approval. "May I at least say goodbye to my dear Emma?"
It's all he can do to make his brother trust him.
"Of course, my boy," he holds him tighter. "Of course."
It doesn't take much for the group of the living to find them standing in the middle of hell.
"Killian?" the blonde one calls out, shakily. "Killian, are you alright? What's happened?"
He turns to look at her with tear-filled eyes, and they run to each other, desperate for the other's embrace.
"Emma, love, I'm so sorry. I'm so very sorry. You came all this way, and I've failed you again. I've failed you, and it's all I can ask that you forgive me and move on to be happy," the words spill out of his mouth, and soon so does the entire experience. They're both left in tears and begging the other for forgiveness from their trespasses, for neither knows when their time together will end, and neither wants to risk saying goodbye without resolving all that they had done to hurt the other.
It's no surprise to anyone that all sins are swiftly forgiven.
However, Liam is caught off guard by several things being said after the apologies.
"Killian, you don't deserve this. We don't deserve this. You fought so hard, you've sacrificed so much. You're a hero now," she wants to hold onto him forever, she wants to spend forever with him, yet he's being taken away. After they both did so much to be with the other. She doesn't care that she's babbling now. She will be lost without him. How could he possibly expect her to move on?
"I know- I know, love. Emma, I love you so, so much, and I know that after how hard you've fought to get here that this is not fair. But one day, I promise you, that things will work out." He brushes his thumb across her cheekbone and places a soft kiss to her lips. "With or without me, everything will be alright. You will be happy…"
His speech goes on. A truly lovely thing filled with reassurances that seem almost believable, and promises of love that will be fulfilled from beyond the grave, but Liam tunes out after the word "fair." For there that word is again; fair. Telling him that that's why he's doing this. He's doing it so that things will finally be fair, for him. That he'll finally be happy and will finally have his brother's love.
But he's disregarded one thing: his brother.
The man who's only gained more and more cracks since the day that he died in his arms. And who has life been unfair to? The man who's lived for hundreds of years unaware of his own existence, or the man who's spent centuries on earth being tortured and punished and beaten for having the audacity even to breathe? Who has been more deserving of a rebirth allowing for happiness at last?
He knows the answer, and though he may not believe in good form- at least not like his little brother does- he is indeed, a good man. A wonderful man, even.
So in those final moments where tears are being shed and promises of never forgetting, and those of moving on are being exchanged, a deal is struck. A deadly deal with Hades himself is made within mere seconds.
"So you want to make an exchange, do you?" the cold voice whispers in the corners of his mind. "No need to answer that, I already know the answer. I own you." He can hear the smirk. "I own you and, honestly, babe, that means I have no need of anything you can give me."
The iciness that has filled his mind begins to fade, and Hades presence is fading with it. A panic overtakes him.
"Ah, but wait. You think you still have something that I want?" the god's voice mocks him, but Liam knows better. "Know what, babe, you mean nothing to me. However, I like you. You make for a loyal soul. Which makes your offer just that much harder to accept, seeing as you'll die and all. But I also like your brother, and who wouldn't fall in love with those two love birds over there? So, make it a good death- amuse me, and I'll make sure that the rest of your heart-throb brother's life is fair." The ice disappears from his mind, and he feels himself beginning to burn.
The blue glow reappears on Killian's skin, but rather than attacking his soul, it seems to be fleeing from it.
His eyes widen, and Liam's eyes shut with a contented smile.
"Brother, what's happening? Liam! What's going on?" Killian's voice reaches out to him through the white that is slowly enveloping all of his senses. Through his haze, he's able to find Killian's warm hand (along with Emma's) and give them a reassuring squeeze.
"I'm sorry, brother," he sighs, once again. "Return to your life, and be happy, little- younger brother. Live it with the form that I never had."
A sob rips through the white, as well, and he's sure that heartbreak is thick in the air as the hold on his hand gets tighter.
"It was good form, Liam," a whisper of a voice tells him. "And yours was the best."
His eyes filled with Snow as his body went cold, but in that moment his heart was a burning flame. He could feel once more, he had gained good form, and his little brother- his little brother was safe.