A/N: Just a little follow up from tonight's episode (6x06). I didn't have time to write a big Dance with Demons chapter for tomorrow because of grad school so if you read that story, I hope you enjoy this little one instead and it holds you over until next week! Let me know what you think! Enjoy!
The front door swung open, Killian waiting hesitantly beside the frame. Somewhere inside was Henry, probably playing with that hook-hand discriminating game box, or smuggling away the Pop Tarts he thought Killian didn't know he had. Not that Killian could find it in himself to mind. Especially since Emma also had a box squirreled away in her glove compartment. Pirates. A whole family of pirates.
A whole family just made bigger. Well, if the man standing beside Killian agreed to it.
Liam was standing stiffly in the doorway, looking into the old Victorian. There was a time, years ago, that Killian had also stared into a home. One that belonged to blood relatives but felt like the farthest from family. One that felt like betrayal. Anger. Hate. A deed to be done and a childhood stolen. That seemed like a lifetime ago, yet, Killian's stomach still clenched with the horror at what he'd done.
And now here was the child he had once looked on. Filled with rage at the mention of his name. Killian's brother's name. Liam, the man who had kept him safe, even through years of slavery. The man who had made a deal with the God of the Underworld himself to keep his little brother safe, no matter how much it cost his soul. At that point, looking into his father's new home, tucking his new boy into bed and not abandoning him in the middle of the night for a rowboat, nothing else mattered than striking that man who'd made a poor imitation of Killian's hero from the realm.
But that was years ago. Killian had said his goodbyes to the older Liam in the Underworld. A proper one, not holding his brother's dead body, screaming for help. Had been forgiven by his hero for centuries of revenge. Had his decisions and his chosen family blessed by the man. Killian had made his peace with the passing of Liam.
It was time to now make peace with a new Liam.
"Brother?" Killian asked hesitantly, watching the pale face of the younger man.
Liam startled at the voice, turning towards Killian. As Nemo was to still be in the hospital for at least another week, the blood loss and internal damage much worse than Liam's concussion, Killian had offered his house for Liam to stay at. Doctor Whale had said the pressure of sailing in Nautilus would be too much until Liam was healed. That had left Killian with a decision- book a room for Liam at Granny's or take him back to his house. His family's house. Liam's family's house.
Coming to Killian's home hadn't been Liam's first choice. But it wasn't as if Liam's home was a safe choice and Belle was living on The Jolly and Killian wouldn't risk disturbing her. Nemo had actually been the one to convince Liam to stay at Killian's house under the promise of living on the Nautilus with him after release from the hospital until they figured out what to do.
"Sorry," Liam answered quietly, scratching behind his ear. Killian had to bite his lip to stop it from dropping. So it was a family trait. "It's a lot, I know."
"How would you know?" Liam's tone was somewhat bitter, that residual anger that being reunited with Nemo hadn't quite been able to squash, flaring. Killian tried not to get defensive. Because he shouldn't. Liam had been through hell because of Killian. Losing his own father to Killian's hand. Then thinking he'd lost his adoptive father for years as well through an attempted murder gone wrong. Killian had ruined this man's life.
"Because, not too long ago I didn't belong anywhere," Killian answered, trying to be honest. What was the point of lying? Anyone in the town would tell him Killian was one a feared villain. Hell, Liam knew that himself. And Liam deserved Killian as the better man he was trying to be. "Emma, my girlfriend, the one you'll meet when she gets home from work, she once chained me to the top of a giant's beanstalk. And then to a radiator. And then a park bench. Honestly, at this point I'm about ready to steal her handcuffs." Killian snorted at the absurdity of his start with Emma Swan. "Her father's punched me in the face numerous times. And that's not counting all the other people you'll meet here in Storybrooke who've had a go at me. I deserved it, it isn't half as bad as what I've done to some people, but I'm just saying, I didn't belong here for the longest time. Sometimes I think I still don't. I look at this big house full of potential and promise and I feel like I should never step foot across the threshold for fear of dirtying it."
"But you do?" Liam asked, glancing towards Killian.
"Aye, I do. Because my family is in there. A family who went quite literally to hell to get me. I'll not ruin my family again."
"We could have been family." Bitter tone. Angry eyes.
Killian nodded sombrely. "Aye, we could have been. In another life." There was no chance Killian would have accepted Liam before. Not before the Underworld and certainly not before Emma. "But in this one, there's still a chance we could start fresh?"
"Maybe," Liam answered slowly.
Feet slapped down the main staircase and Henry came into view. "You guys gonna stand there all day? You're letting the heat out."
"Sorry, lad," Killian called back. "Liam? Would you like to come in?"
"It's not like a submarine," Henry added. "You can get out whenever you want."
At Henry's reassurance of an escape route, Liam nodded to himself then stepped inside. Killian shot a grateful smile at Henry, following his brother in and shutting the house door. While Liam studied the hall, Killian pulled off his leather coat and toed out of his boots, straightening them against the hall wall. Liam followed his lead, boots together, toes flush to the wall. Just like Killian's.
"Hungry?" Killian asked to keep from feeling too much hope that they shared traits. It was too early for that and Killian really didn't feel he had the right to think this may be easy.
"A bit," Liam answered tentatively. "That brig's food isn't the best."
"At least they didn't give you bologna," Killian answered with a laugh, waving his hand a moment later to dismiss the statement when Liam gave him a confused look. For once Killian wasn't the least adapted person in the room. And he really didn't know how to explain that meat. If it could even be explained.
"Do you have cash? I'll order pizza," Henry suggested helpfully. "Don't let Killian cook," Henry went on, now talking to Liam. "He'll make oily fish."
"I like fish," Liam answered, still mildly confused. Again Killian felt that trilling of hope that maybe they could have a relationship, that brotherhood that had been lost to them through a series of mistakes. "And I don't know what pizza is."
"Well, you're in for a treat, then," Killian laughed, resisting the urge to clap him on the back. "Order enough for your mother too," he instructed Henry. "And please, only pineapple on half." Henry nodded his assent and then bet back up the stairs in search of his cellphone.
That left the two Jones brothers in the hallway, standing quietly and more than a little bit awkwardly. Killian cleared his throat. "Uh, I'll get you set up in here," he started, moving towards the living room. "I'm sorry but we don't really have the spare bedroom set up yet because of all the Hyde madness. I'll see if Emma can magic a bed into the room but for now, are you okay here?"
Liam surveyed the sofa before nodding and sitting down. "It's better than my bunk on the Nautilus."
"Aye," Killian agreed. "Just wait until we find you a proper modern world bed. Moving onto one of those after the Jolly was like nothing I'd ever imagined."
"The Jolly's your ship right?" Liam asked as his eyes scanned the room. Eventually they fell on the one framed picture the room had, a picture of Emma, Killian and Henry at Granny's during a victory celebration. "You still have her?"
"Aye, she's still mine. A friend is living on her currently. I almost didn't have The Jolly though. Lost her for a while."
"How?" Liam asked, tearing his eyes from the picture with reluctance. Maybe a little longing.
Killian nodded back at the picture Liam had just looked away from. "Because of her. Emma. I traded The Jolly for a magic bean to get to Emma after we were separated."
"You gave up the thing you were using to get your revenge for a woman?" Liam asked, disbelieving.
"For the woman."
"She must be something special since you killed Papa as part of your revenge."
Killian hung his head and flopped down on the sofa next to Liam. Of course this would come up again. Killian was honestly surprised it had taken this long. "I can't expect you to forgive that. I can't. My relationship with our father was a very different one than you had. Brennan sold me into slavery. My brother too, the one you're named after. Spent years as slaves, being abused and treated like cattle, trying to pay off our father's debt. At one point I thought that made it alright. But it still doesn't excuse what I've done. I can't go back and change my actions but I've spent so much energy trying to hold this new family I've found together so the same doesn't happen again."
"I remember some of the stories," Liam answered after a long while. "Papa told me once that I had brothers, that I was named after one and they'd long since died. But I didn't know the whole story." Liam swallowed. "I didn't know you were sold into slavery."
"Would it have made the situation any easier to bare?" Killian asked, eyebrow raised slightly.
"No." Liam glanced down at his lap, almost guiltily.
Killian shrugged, unoffended. "You had a childhood. You had a Papa who reformed his ways for you. You had everything I wanted. Save for our older brother. I had him," Killian amended. No one could take away his older brother from him.
"You keep mentioning him. Papa never told me about Liam really, only that he was a good boy and Papa was sad he was gone." There was a question in Liam's tone, one that made Killian chew on his lip.
Killian was almost glad that his father had never mentioned Liam, never tried to make up what he didn't know. Because Liam wasn't just a well behaved boy. Liam the elder was brave. And strong. And noble to a fault. And even more loyal and protective of Killian. Liam's memory hadn't been tainted by false stories falling from Brennan's guilty lips. But at the same time it meant his namesake didn't know how to keep his memory alive.
"Would you like to hear about him? Liam?"
"Would you mind?" Liam asked and in hearing that hopeful tone, one Killian at times had even used talking to his own older brother, Killian knew he'd made the right decision.
"Liam was your brother too. As much as it angered me once." Maybe telling Liam the younger about the eldest Jones would start to heal the strained relationship the remaining two brothers had. It had been the breaking point as it was, Killian murdering Brennan after hearing Liam's name given again to a different boy. Maybe Elder Liam could also be the mending point. Killian knew his older brother would have liked that.
"Okay." Liam nodded and offered a tentative little smile, nothing more than a tipping of the corners of his lips.
So Killian told Liam about his namesake. About the times he would crawl into Killian's bed and hold him through nightmares or after a terrible lashing from Silver. About the day Liam nearly paid off their debts. Of the storm that saved them and the deal it had cost. Of their time in the Navy, Captain and Lieutenant. The Jewel of the Realm. Of Neverland and Pan's cunning and Liam's nobility. Of the Underworld and their proper goodbye. Of the legend Killian had made of his brother. The idol. The role model. The hero. And then the man he'd come to know at the end.
Killian had been speaking, sometimes through throat closing emotion, for the greater part of an hour when the doorbell rang. Liam jumped at the sound, seemingly pulled from the trance Killian had been weaving about their older brother. Killian hadn't even come close to telling Liam everything, just the major milestones, but it had been enough to enrapture Younger Liam.
"Pizza," Killian offered in way of explanation for the sound of the doorbell as it rang again. "Pizza," he repeated louder for Henry to hear. Henry rushed down the stairs while Killian paid the delivery guy, balancing the large box on his hook as he shut the door. Henry grabbed the box from Killian before moving into the living room.
"So what is this?" Liam asked, peering into the box at the cheesy monstrosity inside.
"Pizza," Henry stated, as if that explained everything.
"It's bread, and tomatoes and cheese and toppings," Killian added, rolling his eyes at the teen who had already begun stuffing a slice in his mouth. "Looks like bacon and pepperoni on one half and pineapple and ham on the other?" Killian looked to Henry for conformation, getting a nod in return. "Your mother will be thrilled at all the vegetables on it," he added drily. Henry rolled his eyes in a motion so like his mother's that Killian couldn't even be mad. Killian reached in the box and took out a slice of bacon pizza. "Go on, take one. Careful though, it's hot."
After watching Killian take a bite of his own slice Liam finally reached in and grabbed one from the same half Killian had instead of the pineapple side Henry was currently demolishing. This time Killian failed when he tried to squash down the hope that they could find a brotherly relationship. Because the Elder Liam's tale had been cathartic. It had been a start, an explanation. It wasn't everything but it was a chance. And Liam the younger seemed to be trusting enough after the story to follow his older brother's lead with food choices. Maybe one day that trust could grow.
Both Henry and Killian watched Liam as he chewed a small bite from the end of the slice, eyes lighting up as he swallowed. "It's good!" he gasped, surprised, going in for another bite.
"It's the best," Henry answered. "But you know what's better?" Liam raised a brow in question. "Video games. Hook has trouble with it because of the, well, you know, hook, but you might really like it. Want to try?"
Liam glanced at Killian, thoroughly confused. "This realm has its own brand of magic," Killian explained with an encouraging nod towards the controller Henry was offering to Liam. "It's a game with moving pictures that people like to play together."
"Like a bonding exercise?" Liam asked, looking towards Killian.
"Uh, sure," Henry answered, distracted by the game, before Killian could ask if that was something Liam might be interested in. Killian didn't want to pressure Liam. The issues they had were ones that wouldn't magically heal in a day. Maybe the story had been enough for Liam at that point and all he wanted from Killian. Killian held his breath while he waited for Liam to choose what to do.
Liam looked down at the controller now sitting on the table so Henry could use his own to set up a game. Then Liam looked up, momentarily examining the TV before his eyes once again locked on the picture of Killian's family on the wall. Liam chewed his lip for a few long moments, seemingly lost in thought, before nodding resolutely.
"I'll need someone to explain this to me," he said, looking back at Killian.
"I think we can manage that," Killian answered, handing Liam the game controller and settling into the couch to watch.
And that was how Emma found them two hours later. A mostly eaten pizza sitting in it's box on the coffee table. Henry on the floor, controller in hand as he concentrated on the naval war game on the television. And the two Jones brothers sitting on the couch, Liam controlling the boat battling Henry while Killian yelled out instructions for Liam, words strung together into nautical terms that Emma couldn't begin to fathom. But when she looked back at the screen she had to admit they must mean something important because the team named BROJO was crushing team AUTHOR.