Disclaimer: The TV Show Once Upon A Time and its characters are not mine. As well as some of the lines I've tweaked a little from the show.

A/N: I'd just like to thank the people who showed their support for this story. It does help a lot with the fact that I'm a bit lazy when it comes to updating so I'm glad that people actually take time to drop a favorite, a follow, and a review. Hope this chapter was worth the support. Enjoy!

P.S. I've left some hidden gems (lines from the show) here for you guys to find, kudos to whomever finds them (They're actually quite easy to spot so)!

CHAPTER 2

As the endless spiral of light surrounded him, Killian thought immediately of his destination. If time travelling had the same principles as jumping through realms, then thinking of where he wanted to be should get him there.

His mind wandered instantly to Milah. Milah. Alive. Milah. Alive. Milah. Alive. Killian chanted over and over in his mind, hoping the portal could hear him. He closed his eyes and pictured his lover: her pale white face, her long dark curls, and her eyes… They were the lightest of blue, almost like silver, Killian remembered. He'd always enjoyed looking into them, and whenever Milah catches him, she'd laugh.

"You're staring again, Killian." He remembered Milah say one day. They were aboard the Jolly Roger at that time, sailing across the seas. It had only been about a few weeks after they'd confessed their feelings for each other and Killian just couldn't get used to having the woman he loves right in front of him.

"I'd wager that as a good thing then, love," Killian countered smugly as he strolled towards Milah and reached for her waist. "At least I found someone worth staring at other than myself." He smiled before leaning in to kiss her temples gently.

Killian smiled at the memory, but realized it wasn't the time he wanted to be in. So instead, he tried replace it with another one. The next memory he managed to conjure was the opposite of what he previously remembered. This time he saw Milah in his arms, her eyes full of tears as she placed her frail hand on his cheek. "I love you." She had managed to say before her eyes fell shut permanently.

The time before she died. Killian thought pleadingly, tears forming in his eyes. I want to see her again.

In an instant, as if the vortex heard him, Killian felt the wind whipping past his body as if he was being sucked out of a tube. The next thing he knew, the soil spat him out, leaving him flying out to an unknown forest until he crashed heavily to the ground. Pain immediately screamed bloody murder in his spine and he groaned. To his surprise, he heard another do the same.

"Ow!" An awfully familiar voice screamed behind him. It took him a second to recognize it before he cursed to himself. Please let this girl be a stranger. Killian thought, silently wishing to all the gods that he didn't bring her along. Carefully, Killian turned around only to be damned by every god he prayed to. There, pulling at the hem of his leather coat was the Swan girl, lying on her side, her blonde hair a disheveled mess on top of her head. Her arms were still clinging to his coat and Killian figured she must've somehow snuck behind him and grabbed his clothing during his fall.

"Bloody hell, Swan!" He yells at the blonde in front of him before standing up. Wincing at the sudden pang of pain on his back, he asks a little too harshly, "What the devil are you doing here?"

Emma shoots him a vicious glare before she too stood up and brushed the dirt off her skinny jeans. "Thanks, I appreciate the help, Captain." She returns, each word dipped heavily in sarcasm.

Killian chose to ignore her. "I don't recall you answering my question, Swan." He sneered. "What are you doing here?"

"I think the real question here is why are you here?" Emma raises her eyebrow and stares him down with her hand on her hips. In her stance, Killian couldn't decide whether she looked like a mother coaxing a confession out of her misbehaved child or a local constable, interrogating a suspect (Both of which he found extremely intimidating). He decided both.

"I have my own business to take care of," Killian says smoothly as he crossed his arms. "Why do you care?"

Emma squinted and stared at him a little while longer before letting him go. "Well thanks to your business, I was accidentally sucked in when I tried to stop you."

"How is that my fault?" Killian deadpanned. "Nobody bloody told you to stop me!"

"Well I'm sorry for trying to stop you, but I couldn't just let you waltz up here and mess with the past!" Emma fumed. "Look, I don't know anything about this time-travelling thing but one thing I do know is that messing with the past has its consequences."

"It flatters me that you're concerned, Swan, but I think I can handle whatever consequences the fates throw at me." Killian turns to leave and scans his surroundings for the first time. It was almost sun down, seeing how the sky was turning into hues of light orange. He faces her again. "I think I better be off. As you recall, I still have business to attend to and I presume you won't help me."

"What? Are you even serious?" Emma looked livid. "We're in the middle of god-knows where and you suggest separating? We don't even know how we're going to get back to Storybrooke!"

"I don't need to get back to Storybrooke, love," Killian said. If his plan succeeds, he might just disappear on sight, thinking his eternal youth days in Neverland might be altered and he'll live like any other normal person. He then eyes Emma, pushing down his guilt when he realizes he just banished her here along with him without a way to get back to her family. "But I guess I'll help you find a way back…"

Emma opened her mouth slightly, like she was going to say something but she closed them abruptly and instead gave him a skeptical look before nodding apprehensively.

"Good," Killian said. "'Cause we need to get going and find a village we could settle in before sun down or we'll have to wait the night out here."

"Let's go then."

Emma had let her mind wander. Walking through the forest with Hook seemed less like a chore that way. Especially when said person won't even talk. She wondered what this place meant to him, and why he jumped in that portal in the first place, but although she was itching to, she couldn't bring herself to ask, only wonder.

The Hook right beside her wasn't like the Hook she met back in the Enchanted Forest, the one who would shamelessly flirt at any given chance and make an annoying conversation out of almost anything. She actually liked that man better as a companion than the man walking with her.

"You're awfully quiet." Emma finally said, breaking the shroud of silence she had been enduring the whole time they started walking. She kept her eyes firmly on the path ahead of them when she spoke, not entirely sure if it was a good idea to start a conversation.

Hook turned to look at her, a slight smirk stitching its way to his lips. "What, miss me, Swan?"

His sudden change of character unsettled her. He acted as though they hadn't spent the last hour completely trying to ignore the existence of the other and she wasn't sure if she'd consider it a good thing or a bad thing.

"No, I just…" Emma trailed off, trying to make a decent sentence in her head before opening her mouth once again. Hook had merely raised an eyebrow at her, with a look of amusement playing at his eyes. "I know we barely know each other and I have no right to tell you that you're acting a bit differently from when we were in the Enchanted Forest, but I'm telling you, you are." She says, fixing her gaze in his. "And I think it has something to do with this place," She manages to say. "Look, I'm trying not to pry into your personal affairs but I think since we're in this together, you'll have to tell me what we're actually doing here sooner or later."

"You know, I actually enjoy looking at you all stiff and nervous. You look less intimidating that way," Hook said thoughtfully, tilting his head a little to study her face.

"I'm not playing, Hook." Emma says sternly, battling Hook's humor-filled eyes.

"Aw, even after all we've been through, trying to kill each other and all, you still call me Hook," He pouts mockingly. "You wound me, Swan."

Emma sighed. "Killian, then."

"Ah that's better, love." His smirk returns, even wider this time.

"Now tell me why we're really here, Killian."

"You're no fun, love." Hoo—Killian said, tucking a stray hair off her face gently with his hook. Emma tried not to appear bothered by the gesture and stood firm.

"Answer me." She presses further.

Sighing in defeat, Killian pulls his sleeve to reveal a red heart-shaped tattoo on his right wrist. "You remember this?" Her eyes scanned the ink on his skin. She remembered it perfectly. She saw it once when they climbed the beanstalk. The heart, the uneven shaped dagger piercing through it, and the name… Milah.

"Milah." She voices out, looking into Killian's eyes for confirmation. He closes his eyes for a moment as if he was recalling a painful memory and nods lightly in approval.

Emma remembered the last time she asked about Milah. The moment her name passed through her lips, she saw Killian cave. Like someone had destroyed his walls; destroyed his heart. The look he had back then mirrored the same emotion Killian had right now. Even after all those years, Milah's death still pulled a great deal of hurt in him and Emma finally understood. Why he did what he did. Because saving Milah would change everything. Both Milah's and his life.

"I want to help." Emma says, reaching out her hand to squeeze Killian's arm. Somehow, despite their history with each other, she wanted the man to be happy. Everything he's ever done in the past after all, was all because he wanted to avenge the woman he loved. Now, with a chance to recover what's been taken from him, he could finally live without dedicating his whole life on revenge. He'll finally be free.

The look Killian showed when she said those words were indistinguishable. Was he happy, surprised, or mortified? She couldn't tell. But when he suddenly wraps his arms around her, Emma decided he was grateful.

"Thank you." Was his reply when he'd let her go. There was not a hint of sarcasm or humor he'd so fondly gotten attached to. He was genuinely thankful, and she was glad she found this rare side of Killian. A side she wishes she'd always see from now on.

Happiness.

Killian had continued to walk side by side with Emma. This time though, the inevitable silences weren't as deafening as the one they had a while ago. He had resorted to teasing her along the way to which he could tell she had grown to get accustomed to by the way she responds. She'd become a bit less uptight and although he knew she was worried deep down for her family, she tried to hide it. Plus, teasing her helps takes his mind off of his growing exhaustion. They've stopped a few times already, and although he needed another one, he couldn't risk the time wasted if they stop to rest again. It was almost nightfall after all. And nightfall in the middle of an unknown forest is dangerous and unpredictable. He couldn't take the chance.

He was still deep in thought when Emma suddenly clamped her hand on his mouth and pulled him to the ground behind a shrub.

Before he could even protest, Emma had shot him a vicious glare before turning her eyes to her left. Curious, Killian followed her gaze and bit back a curse from escaping his mouth when he found an ogre snoring soundly against a tree across from them.

"You think there are others?" Emma whispered softly, her concern etched evidently on her face.

"Ogres go in packs. They don't usually go alone. And this guy being by himself might mean that he really is alone," Killian observed quietly. "Right now we have two options. We could either avoid it, or we could kill it in his sleep. What do you think shall we do?"

Emma seemed to ponder on it for a moment before speaking. "I can't believe I'm saying this but I think we should kill it," She says. "Because if we leave him be, he might find us when he wakes up. Might as well take care of it now that we have the upper hand."

"Ah, I knew there was a pirate in you somewhere, Swan," Killian grinned at her to which she responded to in the form of an eye roll. "So how do we kill it?"

Emma then pulled something out of her boot. When she held it out to him, he looked confused.

"A gun, Killian. It's called a gun," This time it was Emma who grinned. "Come on."

Carefully, Killian and Emma treaded around the snoring ogre, taking a bit more time to make sure there weren't any dried leaves or stray twigs to step on. From what they learned back in the Enchanted Forest, ogres being bereft of sight only heightened the skill of their other senses—their sense of hearing, most specifically. With that in mind, they both knew that risking even a single whisper around the creature could most probably make them regret ever planning to pursue it in the first place. So slowly, they walk until they found their location close enough to be able to aim at the beast's eye.

Killian watched as Emma pulled out her contraption from her back pocket. He never fully understood what it was or what it does, but when he sees the lass aiming at the ogre with her left eye slightly closed, he figured its purpose resembled that of a crossbow but a tad more handier.

Bang.

He heard the loud blast that had apparently burst out of the gun as Emma had called it. His eyes went straight to the ogre they were facing, and from the looks of things, the fact that the beast was able to growl and struggle to stand up meant only one thing: their plan failed; Emma had missed.

Taking Emma by the arm, Killian turned and ran, ignoring the tremor of the ground and dodging every tree and shrub that went past them. He took a quick peek behind him to see just how far their attacker was only to find the monster gaining on them, with a violent scowl and a bleeding ear visible on its face. When he returned his focus back on the track ahead of them, he seemed to have missed the root on the floor and tripped him, leaving him falling with his face flat on the surface. He turned instinctively, crawling backwards when he saw the ogre stopping before him, sniffing the air, and finding him almost immediately.

Killian looked around, searching for the blonde lass he pulled her along with. But when he didn't find her, he didn't know what to feel. Should he feel betrayed that the Swan girl had left him, or relieved that she was able to get away. He decided not to think about it in that moment. Wherever the hell she was, it didn't change the fact that he was here, an ogre just a few steps away from him, ready to kill him. And he might just be. He knew that running wouldn't help this time, considering how close the creature was from him. It could easily take him with his hand even if he tries to run away.

Bloody hell, this wasn't how he imagined he would die.

Bang.

He heard it again, the loud boom that accompanied the weapon that Emma Swan had. He turned around and saw her, panting rapidly with a fierce look on her face as she aimed the gun on the ogre.

She came back.

It was all he could think about when he saw her. He'd barely even noticed the heavy thud that followed after, but he did and cautiously turned to see the giant lifeless on the forest floors with blood oozing from his left eye.

"Killian!" He heard Emma call his name, but he stood frozen on his place, unable to move, his mind still in shock with what had happened only moments ago. He almost died. He actually thought he was going to die. But he didn't. Emma had saved him.

He felt footsteps padding over to where he was and soon enough he met Emma's eyes. She was holding his shoulders, shaking lightly. "Talk to me, Killian. Are you okay?" She said, her face full of concern. He took a look at her eyes again, it was the first time he ever looked at them up close. They were green as they always were but this close he noticed there were flecks of brown in them, just a little near her pupils. He found them quite beautiful, never having to see anything quite like it. "Beautiful." He heard himself say before he even registered that he did.

Emma glowered at him, letting go of his shoulders and crossed her arms. "You're unbelievable, you almost got killed by an ogre and the first thing you do is flirt. Are you even okay?"

Blinking, Killian cleared his throat and nodded. "Thank you, Emma. I thought you were going to leave me."

"You really think I'd let you die?" She said, suppressing a smile from her mouth.

"Given our history can you blame me for being uncertain?" He too couldn't help the automatic simper that made its way to his lips.

"I guess not. But at least now you know I wouldn't leave you just like that."

Her words held an inaudible promise in them and Killian actually believed her. Risking her life for him was proof enough of her declaration. He trusted her.

Killian watched as Emma places a hand on his shoulder and lets out a small genuine smile at him. He would be a lying to himself to say that he didn't feel a slight flutter in his stomach in that moment. He tried his best to ignore it before giving her a smile in return.

"Thank you."