I've had this little idea brewing since JMo's Saturday panel at Oz Con where she revealed that Season 4 will pick up a mere ten hours after the last crisis. This is just a look at what those ten hours might have included for the saviour. Hope you enjoy!
…
Ten Hours
…
One.
"Well you'd just better hope to hell you didn't bring anything else back."
Emma feels actual fear strike her heart in that instant, a shadow falling over her little bubble of happiness from the other events of the evening. But in a moment, everything changes as Regina's face drops from the solid bitterness of anger into sadness. Emma chances a look over her shoulder and sees Robin looking right back at Regina. Their eyes tell a tale of torment, neither really knowing exactly what to do.
It's Regina who makes the break in the end, pulling her gaze from the happy family reunion and back to Emma. But when their eyes meet again, the strength the Queen usually displays has drained from her, leaving her with a hollow look on her face. "I'm just going to go home," she says, already turning towards the door.
Having seen enough to know his mother might need some company, Henry jumps out of the booth he'd been sitting in with his grandparents and races after her, turning his head to Emma just briefly, "I'll see you tomorrow."
She nods, giving her silent indication for Henry to stay as long as he's needed.
Two.
The party has sort of died down from its earlier exuberance. The dwarves are humming a soft drunken song, leaning against one another to keep from falling into a pile on the ground, Mary Margaret has nearly fallen asleep, leaning back against David while cradling their new prince and Ruby has neglected any bar tending duties she may have taken on earlier in the night to curl up with Dr Whale in one of the booths at the back of the diner.
Emma's still feeling guilty over bringing Marian back and thinks it's about time she made a move to the comfort of her bed and the inevitability of a sleepless night. Her hand hasn't left Killian's in the last hour and, as she stands, she inadvertently pulls him up too. They sort of both stop and look down at their joined hands before Emma pulls hers out of his grasp and says goodnight to her parents. Killian hangs back as she hugs each of her family members and then starts walking towards the back of the diner where the door to their rooms lies.
He follows at a safe enough distance to not raise any suspicion, unsure if Emma's ready for them to announce whatever this is between them to the world. But as they approach their rooms and it's abundantly clear that they're the only two people in the area, Emma turns back to the pirate and pulls him in for another kiss, her hands slipping behind his neck and her body tucking neatly into line with his.
It's like the rest of the world disappears in moments like this and Emma is discovering very fast that it's something she could get used to. He tastes like the sea, like adventure and promise, but then, in the back of her mind comes the niggling feeling like she's doing something wrong.
She pulls away on a gasp, whispering apologies before they've even opened their eyes. "Emma, please," he starts and she realises that he must think that she's running from him.
"No, it's not you. I just… I've hurt Regina and starting something with you seems insensitive somehow."
He tilts his head, stepping back into her personal space, "Darling, you have done nothing wrong."
The way his words wash over her make her weak at the knees and she wishes she wasn't that girl. But that's what he does to her, that's how it is.
When he opens his door, there's no question in her mind. Her place is next to him, so that's where she'll be.
Three.
He wishes she'd stop pacing, her bare feet wearing the carpet thin.
"It's just that I don't know how my life became this." She adds chewing nails to the mix and Killian can't help but smile at her. "I mean, I'm trying to patch things up with the Evil Queen. My parents are fairytale characters who we helped get together because we fell through a portal, made by the Wicked Witch, into another realm. And to top it all off, I'm dating Captain Hook."
He inclines his head at that, "Dating?"
Her eyes widen, realisation of what she's said dawning on her. "I didn't mean…I just…we're-"
"We can talk about it later, if you wish it?"
But she doesn't. She wants to talk about it now. And that scares her. "I don't know how to feel around you. You make me happy, but happiness has been such a foreign concept to me for so long. I don't know how to do this."
She realises that there are a lot of things she's unsure of tonight, so many things that she doesn't know how to deal with, but Killian being here helps. And she is sure of them. Sure of whatever the hell is between them.
So when he sits down on the couch, leaving plenty of room for her, she takes his silent invitation, "You know what? Yeah, we're dating."
Four.
Leaning up against him was an easy decision and when his arm comes to rest around her shoulders, she moves in closer to his warmth.
"You did the honourable thing, Emma."
"It doesn't feel honourable. I've wrecked yet another part of her life."
"But you brought happiness into someone else's life."
"Robin was happy though, we've all seen the way he looks at Regina. He had moved on."
Killian presses his lips against the crown of her head. This is not the first time they've gone around in this circle. It doesn't matter how much he reassures her, Emma is convinced of her wrongdoing and confused about all the shades of grey in her choice.
It could never be as simple as saving someone's life. She had to ruin someone else's. That's the price. And there is always a price.
"Swan," he starts again, "You've accepted your place in your home, you've accepted your lineage, your family. Any one of them would have done the same thing."
She shakes her head against his chest, "It doesn't make it right, though."
"No, but it does make you one of the heroes. You made a choice in an impossible situation. You never could have known the consequences."
She sighs, knowing that anything she has to say will be defended. His faith in her and absolute confidence that she will find her way out of any bad situation will never stop astounding her. It's a shock to the system each time she's reminded of this little fact, a glimpse of sunshine through the clouds of her own doubt.
Her head tilts up and she presses her lips to the underside of his jaw.
Five.
Six.
Seven.
Eight.
She doesn't remember falling asleep but there's a slight chill in the air when she wakes up, despite the warmth of the pirate still fast asleep against her.
"Killian," she whispers, eyes looking longingly at the bed, "Wake up."
She pulls away from him a little, having to laugh lightly when his grip around her waist tightens and he mumbles, "Let the sun rise first, Swan." He really is kind of adorable in sleep.
"C'mon pirate. Bed."
At the word he immediately stirs, "I didn't think you so forward, lass."
She wonders if there will ever come a day that she doesn't roll her eyes at his innuendo wielding ways. Probably not.
"For sleep, Killian."
He smiles sleepily, following Emma's lead and standing up to walk the few steps to the bed, "If you say so."
It's so warm cocooned up in the thick blankets and Killian's arms, and it only takes a moment for her to fall back into a dreamless sleep.
Nine.
His breath is hot in her ear and she feels a rush of warmth flow through her soul and settle in the pit of her stomach, making her toes curl in anticipation. He kisses her neck as he pulls her more firmly back against him and she responds immediately, rolling her hips back gently and enjoying the strained moan that drops from his lips.
His hand slips under the hem of her shirt, the pads of his fingers rolling across the sensitive skin of her hip and over to settle just under her belly button, teasing the band at the top of her jeans.
It's that sleepy kind of haze that has them in its grasp, the gentle wave of arousal washing over them in a dreamlike way. She tilts her head back slightly and he leans up on his elbow to capture her lips with his own. Then, with her own hand, she guides his beneath the top of her pants, popping the button open and pulling the fly down to allow him an easier journey.
She moans, lazily lifting her hips into his hand to feel the pressure of his fingertips cupping her through her underwear and his response is immediate, quickly sliding out from behind her to have her resting on her back and moving so that he is hovering over her. He doesn't miss a beat and as soon as she misses his lips, they're back against hers, urgent and insistent and everything she's ever hoped for.
As he starts making his way down her jawline and to her neck, she rolls her head to the side and…
Ten.
Her phone chirps from the bedside table, lighting up with a phone call.
Killian drops his head against her chest, breathing heavily, "Darling, while I am quite fond of some modern advancements," his fingers press suggestively against the rather small piece of material covering her, "I hate the phone."
She smiles, kissing his forehead and reaching an arm for the offending object, "It might be Henry."
It isn't Henry at all, but her father, "We need you down at the station immediately. You may have brought something else back with you last night."
Emma sighs and glances at the clock on the wall, "But it's only been ten hours since the last crisis!"
David sounds just as exasperated through the phone and Emma remembers that he has a newborn at home who probably allowed them a lot less sleep than what she's even gotten. "It might be nothing, but we need to find out."
She looks apologetically up at Killian and says, "Okay, I'll be there in twenty," then hangs up the phone.
He's smiling in that knowing way, his hand still pressed against her core, "This is what I get for dating the saviour, huh?"
She kisses him again, "I'm sorry."
His hand is reluctantly removed from its position against her as he pushes back and allows her to get up, "You'll have to make it up to me later."
And it's the first time that she feels confident that there will be a later to breathe in. It's the first time that she knows where she's going to be at the end of all this. She has her home, she has her family and she has Killian Jones.
The next crisis suddenly seems very small.
She does her jeans up, pulls her hair back and kisses him once more, because she can. "You know I will."
…
Thoughts?