Protecting Her Heart

Chapter Two

"It's a good thing I was taking Pongo out for a walk at this hour," Archie said with concern after he finally laid Killian down upon his bed within his quarters, then observed the captain as he struggled to sit up against the far wall behind him and pull his flask up to his lips before taking a drink to help quell the pain. "I have a feeling he saved you tonight. Are you going to tell me what happened, or who did this to you?"

"Believe me, the less you know the better," Hook answered despondently, without turning his head to look at the man who only wanted to help him. "And I was never in any real danger. I have clean bandages there, on the shelf above the safe. There should be a needle and thread around there somewhere as well."

The psychiatrist found the supplies as the pirate said he would and turned back to hand them down to Hook, his eyes stopping on the wounds carved into his flesh that were now visible as Killian weakly removed his jacket and shirt, then Archie immediately went to his aid to help him as he stated the single word out loud, "Villain? I don't understand, what is that supposed to mean? Was it someone from your past who's come to Storybrooke seeking revenge for something you've done?"

Killian looked into the doctor's eyes for not more than a second and upon seeing a hint of fear in them, though not fear for his welfare, but fear for himself, he immediately looked away and stared ahead as he replied coldly, "I suppose a man can never fully change who he really is, no matter how hard he tries to be a man he's not. I suggest you leave, Cricket. Believe me when I say I am not worth your time or trouble."

"No, you're wrong," Archie responded remorsefully as he took a seat on the edge of the bed and carefully continued to aid the pirate by pulling back the cloth he was using to stifle the blood in order to try to get a closer look at the lacerations, then stood and walked over to the table to pour clean water into a basin so that he could clean them before Killian could stitch himself up. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you think that I was afraid of you just then because I'm not. Like everyone in this town, I've seen how hard you've worked to become the good man that you are now. You have changed, Hook. I see how much you love Emma and know that you would do anything to protect her, as well as the rest of us. If you're in trouble…"

"If Emma learns of what happened, she will wish to seek out who did this and if she does, it could risk something far worse," the Captain interrupted the man for the second time that evening. "And I won't let it happen on my account."

The psychiatrist continued his ministrations as he spoke again out of concern, "Even at the expense of your own life?"

Killian gasped as pain suddenly flared across his chest when Archie accidentally pushed too hard and quickly apologized, then Hook answered, "Her life is far more important than my own. She is the Savior. I'm nothing more than a pirate who's done far more evils in his long life than good. Please go. Leave me to deal with this as I see fit. I'll be fine, I assure you."

"Surely whatever it is that you're so afraid of, cannot be as bad as it seems," Archie replied as he finally laid the cloth he was using to care to the Captain's wounds back down into the water and stood again to leave him be as Hook requested. "And even if it is, you should know that things will be better if you all work together to stop whatever's about to happen."

"Aye, and we will, but me telling Emma about what's happened here tonight isn't pertinent to what's coming," Hook responded callously toward himself, then he looked up again at the man standing above him. "Thank you, truly; for both your help and for your silence, doctor."

Meanwhile…

Inside of the loft, Emma continued to sit beside her friend laying on her bed and when he had finished telling her and Regina as much as he could about the Author and what he knew of Gold's and the other villains' plots, Regina left, leaving just the two of them alone again as August asked, "So, how have things been here in Storybrooke since I became… well since I became that cute boy I was again, other than you learning how to use your own magic of course?"

Emma smiled as she looked at him and answered, "I thought you said you remember everything that's gone on while you were that child? Surely you know of all of the villains we've faced since all that went down between Tamara and Greg?"

"Yes, but it's not like you've been to see me as often as I would have liked, and Papa was pretty particular and careful of the things he talked to me about," he replied quietly. "I know about your trip to Neverland to rescue Henry, I know about Neal… for which I'm so sorry for by the way. And you and Captain Hook are a thing now? How did that happen? When did that happen?"

"That's… a long story," she responded as she looked away and smiled. "Strangely enough, it all started when we were in Neverland. I thought Neal was dead, before he actually was, and Killian of all people for some reason was there for me, despite us starting out as enemies. He encouraged me not to give up and believed that I would find my son, even in the brief moment that I didn't. He saved my father, he told me Neal was still alive when Pan tried to manipulate him into working for him again even though he knew that Neal would get in his way of trying to win my heart, and we kissed. It was an accident, but amazing. And then everything happened after we returned home again and… Killian was always here for me. He loved me, no matter how hard I tried to fight against my feelings for him. At times he is so self-confident in the most annoying and endearing of ways, and yet he can also be so unsure of the good man he's become and selfless… I would love for you to get to know him, and he you."

August nodded weakly and then answered, "I'd like that. I'm happy for you, Emma. You deserve to be happy and it's clear that Hook makes you so."

Emma pats her friend's arm gently as she replied, "Thank you, August. Now, get some rest. Gold, Maleficent, and Cruella are still lose and are about to do something that isn't going to be easy for us to stop. We could use all the help we can get in going against them, including you."

"Don't worry, I'll be right as rain in no time," he responded assuredly. "I always am, aren't I?"

"Yes, you are," she stated as she stood to let him sleep. "And I'll be close by if you need me."

Emma walked over to the window and looked out in the distance toward the direction of the docks, even though she couldn't actually see the ocean or the Jolly Roger from the view of her family's loft. A war between the heroes and villains was still coming and she knew that whatever the villains' plans were, defeating them would be difficult, but after having the opportunity to speak about the man who made her the most happy she realized then that she's ever been with someone, Emma didn't allow her fear of what was coming bother her any more that night.

She thought back to Killian's declaration of love and realized that she really did love him too, but it worried her that she knew herself well enough to know that she would be too afraid to tell him so. If something ever happened to him, as tragedy came to the other men in her life, she didn't know what she would do or how she would react and being out of control over her own feelings terrified her. Emma didn't know then that Hook was in any danger, nor that Rumpelstiltskin's plans involved hurting him to get to her.