Hello lovely readers, its me again! So this is my biggest work to date. It was supposed to be short and fluffy but then something happened and this monster popped out. Anyhoo, have as much fun reading it as I had writing it. And don't forget to review!
Disclaimer: If I owned OUAT it would be on HBO, just saying.
Emma saw the white figure disappear down an alley way and she immediately picked up speed. She had her. The Snow Queen was screwed like a snowman in summer.
Emma's days as sheriff have taught her well about the layout of this town and she knew that particular alley was a dead end. She reached the entrance with her gun in hand, ready to make an arrest, but stopped dead. The passageway was empty; nothing but a bin, some litter, and a few small boxes. There was nowhere to hide. But how could this be? She saw the woman go in here not 10 seconds ago. Unless her magic could make her disappear like Regina's does. If so then this case just got a whole lot ha-
A hard body crashing into her back knocked her out of her thoughts and made her stumble forward.
"Watch it, pirate." She snapped. She was exhausted and easily triggered.
Killian reached for her to steady her then moved a step towards the alley.
"What are you standing around here for, Swan? Let's go get her."
"Are you blind? She's gone. We've lost her." She sighed in defeat. "Let's go back to the station and regroup."
"Have you checked the door?" Killian moved further into the dark path.
"What door?"
"My, my, love. You don't even know about the door."
"What door, Hook?" She didn't want to deal with this right now. She was tired and aching and quite frankly she had better things to do.
"Touchy today, aren't we." He strolled over to a stack of boxes near the back wall. Emma hadn't even thought twice about them because quite frankly they didn't look big enough to hide behind. The possibility that they could be concealing a door hadn't even crossed her mind.
Killian began moving the boxes aside. "Here's your door, Swan." He turned the handle and the door swung open. "Ladies first."
"Ever the gentleman." Emma muttered as she made to move past him.
"And don't you forget it." was his only reply.
The room the door led to was cold. Really cold and really dark. Emma could barely make out anything even with the light from the open door. She pulled out her small flashlight in order to find the light switch. From what she could tell in her search for some light, it appeared to be some kind of storage room, more than likely belonging to one of the shops on the main street. Emma could hear Killian fiddling with something on a shelf behind her.
"Swan…"
Emma found the switch and turned it on, but at the same time the door to the alley slammed shut. She hurried over to the door but it was too late. It was locked. Great, she thought sarcastically.
Giving up on the door, she turned around and surveyed the room for the first time since the lights went on. Even more great.
The room was a decent size with not a hint of colour anywhere. Everything was light grey. There was a bench on the other side of the room holding an assortment of bowls and spoons in all different shapes and sizes. Next to her was a line of freezers, all turned off and empty. Emma would have thought this odd, except for the fact that every item in the room was covered in layers of ice and frost. She knew exactly where they were.
"The ice cream shop? I should have known."
"I tried to tell you. That was definitely ice cream in those tubs." He pointed over to where he was investigating before. Rows and rows of large ice cream barrels lined the walls, all frozen solid.
"I guess it's the front door for us then." Emma walked over to where Killian was standing by the only other door in the room.
"Actually, I've already tried it. Locked too." Emma gave it a turn anyway, just to check for herself. However, the moment she touched it she could feel something resonating with her magic.
"That's not just locked. The mechanisms been frozen." Emma put her hand out and concentrated. Nothing. The Snow Bitch must have charmed the room in a way that lets her connect with her magic but not use it. "Magic's out too." She sighed and moved back to the middle of the room. "The door's not opening unless it's unfrozen or broken down. And that can only be done from the outside."
"What about the other one? Isn't there that bunch of keys that will open any door in town?"
"Yes, but the mayor has it, not the sheriff." Emma began pacing the room.
"Your mother's the mayor now. Just use the small communicator device and ask her to bring them." Emma pulled her phone out of her pocket and looked at it.
"It's called a cell phone and there's no service. We can't call anyone." She moved to sit on a crate. "She's trapped us. We're stuck here until someone finds us."
"Excellent." Killian said, sitting down on the crate next to her. "Now what?"
"Now… we wait."
Five minutes later and Emma was full on shivering. The warm weather lately meant that Emma has been wearing thinner clothing and leaving her jackets behind. Even with all his layers of pirate gear, she knew Killian was feeling the cold too. Not that he would ever admit to it.
"Hypothermia t-twice in a week. That's got to be a record, e-even for Storybrooke." She heard Killian chuckle.
"You know, love. We could always look on the bright side of this."
"W-which is?" Her teeth were chattering and Emma really wished she had brought her beanie with her.
"We won't be going hungry." He got up off his seat and approached the nearest ice cream barrels. "Banana or Blood Orange Gel-a-to? Actually that one doesn't sound very nice."
"No, Killian. We're not e-eating ice cream. That's stealing."
"Aye, but it's stealing from the Snow Queen, love." She knew where he was coming from but as head of law enforcement in the town, it would be both hypocrisy and setting a bad example. Not to mention that she hasn't stolen a thing since she was a teenager and she would like to keep it that way.
"Snow Queen or n-not, she's still a business woman and it's illegal. B-besides, it will lower our body temperature and w-we'll freeze even faster." Killian looked like he was contemplating eating it anyway, but eventually gave in.
"Fine. But only because I don't want to freeze. I don't care about the woman losing her ice cream."
"Good enough for me." It really wasn't but she didn't want to get into an argument and use up her energy. She knew what this was like from the last time she was stuck in a similar situation.
The silence from earlier returned as Killian reclaimed his seat and Emma went back to figuring out how they were going to get out of the giant freezer room. So far she was coming up with zilch, and the cold wasn't helping her brain function.
"You're shaking, love." Killian put his arm around her and started rubbing up and down in attempts to warm her up. After a minute he stops and begins to remove his leather coat.
"Whoa." Emma put her hand up in the universal gesture for stop. "W-what are you doing?"
"You're freezing, Emma. I'm giving you my c-coat." He continued to lift the leather off his shoulders.
"No y-you're not. I won't l-let you freeze too."
"I've survived many a cold n-night at sea. I can handle it." He stated, matter-of-factly.
Emma looked at him. Of course he had. The enchanted forest didn't exactly have electric heaters and lighting a fire on a wooden ship in the middle of the ocean probably wasn't the best of ideas. But at least he had blankets that he could rug up in back then. Not to mention that as cold as it got, he probably wasn't surrounded by ice. This situation had to be affecting him more than he was letting on.
"T-then why are you s-stuttering?" She pointed out.
"I haven't a clue what y-you mean." He even had the nerve to look offended, like she was insulting his manliness.
"You can't fool me. You're lips are t-turning blue." Killian turned on his most seductive smirk. Given that they were both about to freeze to death, it was a fairly impressive feat.
"Well then maybe you could help m-me warm them up?"
"Nice try b-but not this time. C'mere, we'll share your coat."
Emma gestured him over to her and helped him remove his jacket the rest of the way. She wasn't going to deny it, she had thought of doing this many times before. Just not exactly under these circumstances. He took his precious leather from her and she was silently grateful. That thing was heavy. She couldn't imagine wearing it all day every day. She wondered what his body would look like under his clothes just from heaving that thing around 24/7, but quickly shook herself out of it. She let herself blame it on the cold.
They sat back down in unison and he draped the coat around both of them. Even huddled together like they were, they just fit.
"Cuddle up together, I like w-where you're going with this." Emma rolled her eyes at his comment.
"No, it's j-just that body heat is good for k-keeping each other warm." She regretted the words the second they were out of her mouth. She was usually good at keeping in the innuendos - god knows he shares enough for the both of them – but it seemed like the ice has somehow shut down her filter.
"Body heat, eh? I like this one even b-better." She nudged him in the shoulder.
"That's not what I-I meant and you know it."
Despite her words, Emma found herself wrapping her arms around his body and resting her head on his shoulder. A smile graced her face when she felt him drop a small kiss on the top of her head.
"K-Killian?" Emma lifted her head to meet his eyes.
"Yes, love?"
"Thank you." Her voice was small and meek and she gave him the tiniest hint of a smile. That's all she needed and honestly it's all she could give.
"What f-for?"
"For being there f-for me. You've always got m-my back and I've never had someone like that b-before."
Killian pulled back slightly and shifted himself so he was facing her. He grabbed both of her hands in his one. They were freezing.
"Emma, you n-never need to thank me for that. I will always remain by your side for as long as y-you want me there. Forever and always." Killian stared deep into her eyes and she knew he was telling the truth. She knew it with every fibre of her being. It scared her, but she was through running away. She loved the way this man made her feel. She loved that she felt one hundred percent safe with him. She loved that he never pressured her into anything, he always let her move at her pace and she never felt guilty for it. She can very honestly say that she has never felt this way about anyone in her life before. It was about time he knew that.
"If we're g-going to die in here-" She began.
"We're not going to d-die. You were in a similar situation the o-other day and it turned out fine, remember?" As true as that was she didn't want to go through it again. It was terrifying, and to know that Killian's life was in danger too made it worse.
"That's b-because you, David a-and Elsa were trying to get m-me out then. No one knows we're h-h-here."
"Well think of it this w-way. There was an entire i-ice wall in the way then. This time there's only a d-door."
"But what if we're not f-found in time?" She looked away from him and stared at the opposite wall. What if they found their dead, frozen bodies? Her parents had only just gotten her back after losing her multiple times. She couldn't put them through this again. She could feel her pulse speeding up from anxiety. She felt like she couldn't breathe.
"Don't think like that d-darling. Someone will find us. In f-fact, isn't that your family motto? You always find each other, r-remember? Your father is m-most likely already on his way as we speak." She nodded in agreeance but it did nothing to calm her nerves. She removed her hands and stood up, continued her pacing of the room. She tried both doors again just in case they were suddenly, miraculously unlocked. They weren't.
"He should h-hurry up then. I don't want us to end up l-l-like I was with that giant ice b-bucket. I don't think my dad can c-carry the both of us." It was a poor attempt at a joke, she knew, but it seemed to help ease the tension.
Silence descended once again but this time Emma could feel her eyes getting heavy. She leaned against the nearest wall and closed her eyes for a few seconds.
"Emma, love, d-don't sleep."
"I know. I'm j-j-just so tired."
"Talk to me, l-love. Tell me about something h-happy."
She bowed her head and thought. She didn't really have all that many happy memories, and most of the ones she does have involved him and there was no point telling him if he already knew what happened. However there was one thing…
"Do you remember w-when we met? Back in the Enchanted Forest when I h-held a knife to your throat?"
"Aye, of course I r-remember." He looked at her with a small, wistful grin on his face. "You w-were the most beautiful woman I'd s-s-seen in all my 300 years. How could I f-forget?"
"A-Anyway," She said, letting out a light chuckle. "When you said people c-c-call you Hook, I was surprised."
"Aye, c-coming from this world, finding out that y-your stories are s-somewhat true, it must have been d-difficult."
"It was, but that's o-only half the truth."
"Must have b-been my devilishly handsome g-good looks then." Even in times of crisis he could manage a joke about his appearance.
"Funny, but n-no. It was that you weren't the v-v-villain I always thought you were." Yes, he most definitely wasn't a good guy back then, but she could tell that there was more to him. After all, a villain is only a victim who's story hasn't yet been told.
"What do you mean, l-lass?"
"It's t-true that the real you could be c-considered far b-b-better looking," Killian scoffed at this. "but it's m-more than that. Even though you w-were lying to us from the beginning, there w-was still something about y-y-you that told me I could t-trust you." He nodded at her.
"And you can. I've n-not lied to you since, h-have I?" Emma didn't even need to think back through their interactions to answer this.
"N-no, you haven't."
"I'm glad you b-brought this up, love, but how exactly is it a h-happy story?"
"B-because it was the beginning of one of the best things in m-my life."
Killian slowly stood and made to move in front of her. He stared at her with eyes full of raw emotion. He opened his mouth a few times as if to say something, but nothing was coming out. He seemed to be at a loss for words.
"Killian, you a-are one of the best things that h-has ever happened t-to me. You, Henry, m-my parents… I don't know h-how I ever lived w-w-without any of you and I-I don't want to ever a-again."
"Emma, I… I don't know w-what to say. You are the m-most amazing human being I h-have met in over 300 y-years of life. You're strong, i-independent, smart a-and beautiful. And I…" Killian looked like he was going to say something else but was conflicted. He clearly decided not to say it as he suddenly cradled her head in his hand and lowered his mouth to hers.
Emma's eyes fluttered shut as their lips connected and for a moment she was filled with warmth. His mouth was surprisingly soft against hers as they moved in sync and said everything that words could not. Her heart was beating a million beats per minute, and she happily gave just as much as she took. But as perfect as the kiss was, something just didn't seem right.
All too soon Emma had to pull away. She looked up at him as she realised what the problem was.
"Killian, I… I can't f-feel my lower l-legs." Emma grasped at him frantically, trying to keep herself on her feet, but her legs were getting weaker and weaker.
"What?" He looked panicked.
"Killian, c-catch me."
Emma let go of the effort of keeping herself standing and sunk to the floor, dragging Killian down with her.
"Emma! Emma, are y-you ok?"
"I can't s-s-stay awake." Emma tried her best to keep her eyes open as Killian wrapped his arms around her in attempts to get her off the cold ground.
"I can't pick y-you up. My arms are t-too weak."
"What d-do we do? We can't stay here m-much longer." Emma was on the verge of tears. How did she let them get into this situation in the first place? She should have seen the trap coming a mile off.
Killian shifted himself so he was sitting right next to her. He wrapped his coat back around her and pulled her into his side, rubbing her arms again.
"Hey, its f-fine. It's going t-to be fine." Emma knew he was lying, even without her inbuilt lie detector. It wasn't going to be fine. Not this time.
"I'm s-so tired, Killian. I'm sorry, I-I can't do th-this." Her voice was barely a whisper. She shouldn't have talked so much. She should have saved her energy.
"Emma n-no! Stay awake! P-please, do it f-for me!" Killian's voice drifted off as Emma finally started to lose consciousness.
"I'm… I'm s-sorry…" was the last words she could get out before everything went dark.
"Emma? S-swan, wake up! EMMA!" Killian finally stopped shaking her as he realised it was completely ineffective. She wasn't waking up.
Killian slouched back against the wall, still with Emma in his arms. He needed to get them out of here now. There was no time to lose. He didn't know how much damage had been done already, and he couldn't risk the possibility of more.
Maybe he could try to break the doors down? Emma said earlier that it couldn't be done from this side, but maybe if he put enough force into it, it might work.
He let Emma go to get up on his feet, but found that his arms and legs couldn't support him. He tried to grab on to something to hoist himself up, but still, his limbs were just too weak to hold his weight. He sat back down in defeat and tried his best to pull Emma into his lap. At any other time it would have been a simple task. She was small and light, and he's carried her before. However this time his muscles strained with the effort. He managed to get her half on top of him and covered with the leather jacket by the time exhaustion forced him to give up. That will have to do for now, he simply couldn't do any more. He was starting to get tired himself, and simply holding his head up became a challenge.
Killian was afraid. Truly and terribly afraid. Not just for himself, but for Emma too. She's been unconscious for too long now, who knows what it's doing to her brain. He didn't have much medical training but he knew if they were stuck in here for any longer, she might not make it.
"I'm s-s-sorry, my love. I'm s-so, so sorry. I've f-failed you. I swore that I-I would never let a-anything happen to y-you, and l-look at us now. Human i-ice blocks. I'm s-sorry. P-p-please forgive me." His voice was raspy and his throat hurt. He didn't know how much time he had left either.
He placed a feather light kiss on Emma's forehead as another form of apology. Her frozen skin burned at his lips. She was as cold as ice. He feared he wasn't much better.
It was then that he heard something. Voices. Voices calling out names. Their names. It was David! He had found them at last.
Killian opened his mouth to shout for him, but his voice was nearly inaudible to his own ears, let alone to the man in the next room. He looked around him for something he could make noise with. Then he spotted it. It was just out of reach but if he extended his leg enough…
Doing just that, Killian reached out for the stack of large metal ice cream tubs. He could just reach. He put all of his remaining energy into his leg and threw it at the barrels. It was very nearly not enough, but thankfully his kick had enough force to topple over the ice cream, hitting the ground.
The noise was horribly loud in the quietness that was the past hour or so. It was sure to be enough to gain the attention of Prince Charming, though he was disappointed that it did not wake up Emma.
A few moments later came the rattling of the door knob and heavy pounding against the door. Finally after one last hard strike, the door gave way. By this time Killian's vision was blurry and going dark around the edges. He could only just see David rush in to the room and over to them.
He finally let go now that he knew that the hardest part of their ordeal was over. He slipped into the darkness, letting out two last words to his mate.
"Save. Emma."
Beeping of machines was the first thing Emma heard when she woke up. What is that? She thought. Is that a heart monitor? Am I in hospital?
She finally gained the courage to open her eyes, and in doing to was nearly blinded by brilliant white lights. Squinting, she waited for her eyes to adjust before taking in her environment. She was right. She was in a hospital. What happened?
That's when it all came back to her. Chasing the Snow Queen, the giant freezer room, sharing Killian's coat.
Killian! Emma gasped. Where was Killian? Was he ok? Please let him be ok.
Apparently Emma's gasp was loud enough to gain the attention of the other people in the room, because before she knew it she was surrounded by worried faces. Her family. Everyone except the one she wants there most.
"Emma? Are you ok?"
"Mom, what happened?"
"You need to lie back now, Emma."
"Emma-"
"Stop. Please stop." She croaked out just enough to bring back the quiet. All of a sudden a hand appeared next to her with a plastic cup of water. She took a sip and instantly felt it sooth her throat.
"Thank you. Now, please, where is Killian? What happened to him?"
"He's alright, Emma." Her father told her. "He's resting next door. He's been checked over and he will be fine."
Emma let out a sigh of relief before her mother spoke up.
"Emma, honey, Doctor Whale needs to take a look at you now. Apparently you were out for a while there and he has to make sure there is no obvious damage."
"I feel fine, honestly." That was a complete lie and everyone knew it. She had a horrible headache and her extremities were feeling stiff and more than a little sore.
"Nevertheless, I need to run some tests. So if you will please look into this light?"
The rest of the check-up went without another word and before she knew it he was finishing. He turned to her parents.
"Emma seems to be in relatively normal health. She's quite de-hydrated so we've put her on a drip to keep her fluids up, but other than that she should have nothing more than a sore head and limbs. A few days of bed rest and she will back to work, good as new."
"That's great to hear!" exclaimed her mother, giving her a hug that felt more like a death grip.
"It is." said another voice from the door way. Mary Margaret moved out of the way to reveal Killian leaning against the door frame in all his hospital gown glory.
"Mr Jones, you shouldn't be here." Doctor Whale made to stop him, but one glare was all it took for him to back down.
"I know and I don't care. I have to see her." He stood up and moved to her bedside. He sat down on the best and grabbed her right hand. Everyone else seemed to take the hint and filed out of the room.
"How are you?" he studied her up and down with his bright blue eyes.
"I'm exactly as the doc just said, or didn't you hear?"
"Aye, I heard. But I want to hear it from you." The purple of his lips had faded and his cheeks were rosy red, as if he had just enjoyed a hot drink to warm him up.
"I'm ok, Killian. I feel fine." He smiled at her. A smile full of relief.
"I'm glad. Listen, Emma, I'm sorry ab-"
"No, I'm sorry." She cut him off. "It's my fault you were there in the first place. I shouldn't have dragged you along on that stupid chase." He wasn't even supposed to be there. Technically he's not a part of the sheriff's department, no matter how much time he spends at the station.
"It was the Snow Queen's fault for giving us a reason to chase her and for locking us in there."
"Ok, I'll agree with you on that one. We'll get her back for that." She smiled and gave a little chuckle, receiving one in return.
"That we will." His smile faded and his face grew serious once more. "Emma, what you said in there…"
"About you being one of the best parts of my life? I meant it. Every word." She looked him deep in the eyes so as to convey just how much she meant those words.
"So did I." He replied. Emma's heart skipped a beat. She never thought she would ever have someone like Killian, and she wasn't sure she would ever get used to it.
"Thank you for being there with me. I wouldn't want you to have to go through it at all, but I'm not sure I would have survived if it weren't for you."
"You are more than welcome, my love. I will always be there for you, no matter what." He leaned down and gave her a sweet, gentle kiss on the mouth. The kiss was full of tenderness, love, trust and everything that makes up their relationship. He pulled back and gave her one last smile.
"Forever and always."