A/N: This was inspired by my own week and a half fight with the flu (or the world's worst cold). I'm really not sure which it was, but either way it was miserable. But on the bright side, I watched all of Rebecca Mader on LOST (I guess I have the unpopular opinion of loving Charlotte Staples Lewis). I highly recommend watching it for those of you who haven't.
This takes place sometime after 5B. I haven't read any spoilers, so I don't know what happens other than Emma and Co. go down to the Underworld to save Killian (which I'm assuming they succeed in). I'm also operating under the assumption that since Ginny's pregnant in real life, they're going to work that pregnancy into the show, so Charming Baby #3 is along the way in this story.
I haven't written in quite a while, but I really want to write a Charladay fic (Charlotte and Daniel from LOST), and since I feel most comfortable writing Captain Swan, I figured writing a little ficlet for them might be a nice way to get my mojo back. That being said, I apologize for any OOC-ness and feedback is always welcome.
Disclaimer: I don't own Once Upon a Time or its characters.
Emma Swan was sick. Her immune system usually combatted any virus before symptoms even developed, but this time was different.
Her entire body hurt. Her head felt like it was going to explode. She was coughing every ten seconds, which made her head hurt worse. She was miserable.
Yet there she was, sitting at work, slumped over some unnecessary paperwork she swore Regina pressed on the Sheriff's Department just to get back at her and David for… whatever it was they did that week.
Her dad sent her yet another worried look, and she fought the urge to roll her eyes only because it would make her blinding headache worse. As if he was reading her mind, David rolled his chair closer to hers, and fixed her with a look she was sure she'd gave to Henry at one point or another.
"You don't feel good," he said, more as a statement than a question. She was about to protest and answer 'I'm fine', as usual, but she suspected the fact that she hadn't even touched her now cold coffee gave her away.
"It's just a cold," she said instead. He put the back of his hand against her forehead and frowned.
"You're burning up, Ems," the prince said. "Why don't you go home? I can handle things here."
"No," she shook her head, and immediately regretted it. "I'm okay."
"Emma", he insisted more sternly this time, "it's not just a cold. You have a fever."
From her fake memories of raising Henry, Emma knew that he was right. If the roles were reversed, and Henry was the one who was sick, she'd be keeping him home from school; fevers weren't to be taken lightly.
Then again, she'd hadn't missed a day of work in… well, she didn't know how long. She'd always dragged herself out of bed and managed to get in on time, sick or not sick. So surely she'd be fine now.
"I've had worse," she said, waving her hand dismissively. "Besides, I don't remember the last time I've called in sick… or gone home sick." Now it was her turn to frown, her face scrunched up in thought.
"Well, now you will," he said, standing up. "Come on, I'm taking you home."
"Dad‒"
"This isn't up for negotiation," David fixed her with a look that usually only Snow gave to her. It was enough to shut up anything else that was about to come out of her mouth.
"Fine," the blonde sighed, and went to grab the coat off the back of her chair. Her hand missed completely, and she stumbled forward, reaching out for anything to steady herself with. She all but crashed into David, who gripped her elbows tight.
"Let's sit you down," he said, and if she wasn't a parent herself, she'd have missed the worried undertone he tried so hard to hide from her. He guided her back down into her chair and knelt down in front of her. "Have you eaten anything today?"
"Umm…." She looked off into the distance, wracking her brain for an answer to such a simple question. "I think Mom made me toast, but I wasn't hungry."
"So that's a 'no'," he sighed. "Do you think you can make it to the car if I hold onto you?"
"Yeah."
"Okay, that's what we're going to do," he said, helping her into her jacket. Slowly and carefully, he helped Emma stand up. After seeing that she did better this time, he started guiding her towards the door. "It's going to be cold outside," he warned as he opened the front door of the building.
"It's times like these that I miss Tallahassee," the blonde joked, but it lacked her usual enthusiasm.
"I don't know about you, but your mother and I can barely be out in the sun without getting burnt," he said, "so I imagine you must, too. Yet you liked living in Florida?"
"Well… I liked the sunshine as long as I was in the shade. And the total lack of snow was pretty great, too," Emma replied.
"I imagine," he said as he opened the passenger door and got his daughter situated. He then rounded the car and got into the driver's seat, and started the ignition. "Is Killian home?"
"What?" Her head lolled to face him, and he shrugged.
"You're either going to Snow or to Killian, it's your choice."
"No sense in getting my brother sick…" Emma trailed off, and he knew what she meant.
"To the Victorian by the sea it is," he announced, and shifted the car into 'drive'. Though she'd never admit it, the idea of being doted on by her wonderful boyfriend thrilled Emma to no end, and David knew it, too. After a few minutes of comfortable silence, Emma said with a quiet voice,
"Once, before the curse broke, I got a migraine. I get them a few times a year, it wasn't a big deal. Mary Margaret thought it was, though, and she wouldn't let me leave my bed. When I had to throw up, she'd bring a trash can. It was ridiculous. If I set even one toe on the carpet, she'd give me this glare…"
"I believe it," David said, his voice pained at the thought of his baby girl being sick and him not able to be there to comfort her. "One time when I had the flu, in the enchanted forest, she did the same thing. I remember having to go to the bathroom, and it took nearly five minutes for me to convince her to let me get off the bed."
"She goes a little overboard sometimes," Emma joked, sighing contentedly as she rested her head against the cool glass of the window.
"Are you still dizzy?" He asked worriedly.
"I'm fine unless I stand up," she answered.
"Then we'll keep you sitting."
The rest of the drive was spent in silence. In fact, it was so quiet that David thought Emma had fallen asleep. He looked over, and found that she was staring off in space. He sighed internally and gripped the steering wheel tighter.
Though Killian and Emma had worked past most of their issues from their time as Dark Ones, he knew both of them still had bad days. The pirate had nightmares he refused to admit to, and Emma felt soul-crushing guilt that she didn't want to unload onto anyone else. Killian had barely looked David in the eye since the former's return, and the prince knew it was because Killian had quite literally almost killed his entire family. He'd done the right thing in the eleventh hour, and at the end of the day, David couldn't really hold anything against him, nor did he blame Emma for doing whatever it took to save Killian, even if that meant turning him into a Dark One. The only people he really blamed for the whole mess were Gold and Arthur.
Of course, Emma and Killian, being the two most stubborn people in the world, still blamed themselves. David knew that kind of guilt wouldn't go away, not completely, but the pair were making progress, and slow progress was better than no progress.
"Dad?" Emma's uncharacteristically small voice pulled him from his thoughts.
"Yeah, kiddo?"
"I‒" she sighed and closed her mouth, then shook her head slightly.
"Emma, you can tell me anything," David said, reaching over and grasping her hand in his larger one. The blonde looked down at their entwined hands and bit her bottom lip. He knew that whatever she wanted to say pained her deeply. He'd come to realize that with Emma Swan, the more she fought against tears, trying to salvage any sort of wall, the deeper the wound. So he waited her out, knowing in her own time she'd finish what she'd started saying.
"I really hate being sick," she said quickly, all her breath coming out in a rush. "It… it sucks. And, well, you know that," she laughed nervously, picking nonexistent fuzz off her black pea coat with her free hand. "So I'm sure you also know that 'sick nightmares' are the worst…" she trailed off, hoping her father would be able to put two and two together.
"Have you been having nightmares, Emma?" He looked over again and this time was unable to hide the concern on his face. Normally it would have the blonde rolling her eyes and hiding a touched smile, but she didn't even seem to notice. To answer his question, she simply shrugged, a noncommittal gesture, but he took it to mean 'yes'. After a few moments, she said,
"Usually I can handle them. They scare the shit out of me and I wake up drenched in sweat, my heart hammering in my chest, but I feel Killian next to me and I know he's alive. I had them a lot as a kid, but no one was ever there to comfort me, so…" she shrugged again, then continued, "so I guess I'm used to dealing with them on my own. And I'm okay with that. But you know when you're sick, and you're on cold meds, and you can't quite tell what's real and what's not after a nightmare? That's what I'm worried about." She chewed on her bottom lip, no longer on the verge of tears, but her anxiety was building.
"Why haven't you told anyone this?" David asked to buy time while he formulated a response that would soothe her fears.
"Killian doesn't say anything, but I know he has nightmares too. He always puts me before him, and if I told him about my nightmares, he'd push everything he's dealing with aside to help me, and he shouldn't be doing that right now."
"Yet that's exactly what you're doing," David pointed out gently.
"I know," she sighed. "I just… I feel like out of the two of us, he definitely drew the short stick, ya know? He never wanted to be a Dark One, and I took that choice away from him. And he did worse things than I did, and I know it makes him physically sick. And then I killed him, so that was traumatic. He just… he doesn't need to be taking care of me right now, he needs to focus on himself."
"Then who's going to take care of you?"
"I'm good at that," She said, eyes downcast, knowing he wasn't going to like her answer.
"You don't have to, sweetie. And believe me, we all know that you can take care of yourself, but you don't have to. That's what family's for."
"I know," she sighed, removing her hand from David's so she could wrap her arms around herself protectively. "But with Neal starting to be mobile, and another baby on the way, you guys have enough stress without having to worry about me."
At that, David slammed on he breaks, the cruiser squealing to a halt in the middle of the road. Emma flew forward a little, eyes wide, and David winced at his lack of tact.
"Emma Swan, you listen to me right now," he said, his loving voice laced with conviction, "you're our baby, too, even if you're thirty years old. It's our job to worry about you, and believe me, we do. You're our daughter, and we will gladly offer you whatever support you need. So you damn well better get used to having us around, cause we're not going anywhere."
Emma stared at him, speechless, for what felt like an eternity. At first, he thought he'd angered her, or worse, scared her. Then, finally, she put her hands up and said,
"Okay."
"Do you understand?" He asked, breathless from his outburst. She swallowed and nodded.
"Yeah."
"Good," he squeezed her hand, then pressed on the gas, and they rode the rest of the way to Emma's house in silence once again.
David thanked his lucky stars that it was a Monday; on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, Killian headed to the station after cleaning up around the house, which meant that he left a few hours after Emma. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, he worked at the library with Belle. David knew Killian would be home and more than happy to take care of Emma. As they pulled into the driveway, Emma said,
"You never answered my question."
"Oh," he said softly. "Well, I think that you and Killian will figure things out. You two tend to have a way of doing that, without really trying. Can I ask why you don't push him to talk about his nightmares?"
"Because I know him," the blonde replied. "I know he's embarrassed about them, and he wouldn't want anyone to know, especially me."
"Maybe that's his problem. You're so open with him, Emma, you let him see a side of you you never let anyone else see. Maybe he needs to learn to do the same with you."
"Maybe," she worried her bottom lip between her teeth. The front door to the Victorian creaked open and Killian emerged, worry evident on his face.
"I got it," David said, getting out.
"Is everything alright, mate?" the pirate asked before David even had the chance to close the driver side door.
"Emma's sick," David explained as he rounded the front of the car, Killian hot on his heels. Emma rolled her eyes and instantly regretted it, as it made her headache intensify. Her father opened her door and carefully pulled her out.
"I could hear you, ya know," she said, trying to inject some of her usual sarcasm. It fell flat, though, as she stumbled, and it took both David and Killian to keep her upright. Killian made a move to pick her up, and she muttered, "If you so much as have the intention of carrying me I will ki‒" she cut herself off, realizing the truth that would've been behind the threat. The pair locked eyes, and David briefly wondered if he was going to have to play Dr. Phil.
"It's okay, love," Killian smiled reassuringly, but his words sent poor Emma to tears. Both men could feel the guilt radiating off of her in waves, and the darker haired man could've kicked himself for being so stupid. Why'd he have to say those words, of all things?
Emma looked around for an escape route, as she often did recently when things got emotional. However, she slumped against her boyfriend when she realized that in her state, there was no way she could even stand up by herself, let alone walk or run.
"Let's get you inside," Killian said, and he and David managed to get her into the warm house and onto the couch.
"You should go back with David," Emma said as she wiped away the last of her tears and pulled a blanket around herself. "There's a lot of stuff to do."
"No, Emma, I'm not leaving you while you're sick."
"This isn't my first rodeo, I'll be fine."
"You can't even stand up," Killian pointed out and with that, Emma sighed in defeat.
"Fine."
"I just have to go back and switch the calls to come to my phone, then I'll be back," David declared.
"Unless Emma wants you here, I think I've got things covered. After all, how much trouble can a sick Swan be?"
"Go," Emma nodded to her father, her voice soft. "We'll be absolutely fine."
David looked torn, but finally knelt down next to her and kissed her on the head.
"I'll check in in a few hours," he promised. "I love you kiddo."
"Love you too," she yawned, and fell over from a sitting position to laying down.
"Keep an eye on her," David said quietly as Killian walked him to the door.
"Of course," Killian nodded. "I won't let her out of my sight."
With that, the pirate shut the door behind his friend and turned to face his Swan, who was now staring wide eyed up at the ceiling.
"You should sleep, Swan. Rest will help you get better faster."
"I'm not tired," Emma lied. "How about we watch a movie?"
"Whatever the lady wants," Killian bowed and walked over to their DVD stash. "What shall it be?"
"Something funny," the blonde said, not at all wanting to deal with a movie that could possibly stir up the emotions her and Killian had yet to discuss.
"What's this 22 Jump Street? If the cover is anything to go by, it looks funny."
"Oohhh," Emma's eyes lit up. "You haven't seen 21 Jump Street Yet. How about we watch that on Netflix first?"
"Sounds great," Killian said, putting the DVD in his hand onto the TV stand to watch later. "Would you like popcorn?"
"No thanks," Emma shook her head, "I'm actually kind of nauseous."
"Why don't I get you a couple of those Tums pills," he suggested. Emma had to smile at her sweet man.
"I just really don't feel like tasting anything right now."
"Water is non-negotiable," he said, echoing David's earlier words. Without waiting to see if Emma would protest, he went to pour a glass of water from the tap. When he returned, he found Emma staring at him. "What?" He asked.
"Nothing," Emma smiled and took the glass from him. "I just love you."
A/N: I originally planned for this to be a two-parter, but I have some ideas so it'll be a little longer than I anticipated. This hiatus can't end soon enough. If you feel so inclined, please let me know what you think!