A/N: I am SO SO SO SO SO SO sorry for keeping you lovelies waiting for an update for so long. School got busy, then I went on vacation with my family, I had to find a job, and then get settled in to said job. Basically, real life happened (don't you just hate it when it does?). Anyway, Comic Con got me inspired again and I am returning to this story. I am also planning on starting another story centered around either Klaroline (The Vampire Diaries) or Olicity (Arrow). You can leave in the comments which ship you would rather want a fic about. Also, if you want to get updates on fics and hear random rantings about ships you can follow me on tumblr, my url is thenotsosecretfangirl. All of my real life friends ship Swanfire so I would love to have some Captain Swan friends since they are the best.
Anyway, this story is going to be a bit AU and if you like Neal I'm sorry. Enjoy the story my beautiful shipmates!
Disoriented and in quite some discomfort, Killian slowly began to regain consciousness. Processing the last events that he remembered, he smiled at the memory of him plunging his hook into the chest of that blasted Crocodile.
However, the dull ache in the back of his head reminded Jones that the Swan girl had prevented him once again from slaking his lust for revenge. That's when he realized where he was. He was in the brig of his own damn ship! After hundreds of years of piracy, he was on the other side of the iron bars for the first time.
"Bloody hell, Swan! You bested me for the last time," he thought.
The sound of hurried but forceful footsteps then began to shake Jones from his reverie. The steps weren't followed by the thud of the Crocodile's cane and were too light to be the lad's, which only meant it could be Swan. He wasn't prepared to share words with the woman at this point as he was too bloody angry at his current state to behave like a gentlemen around her. As the sound of the footsteps drew nearer, Killian decided he had no other option but to feign unconsciousness.
However, Killian was far from prepared for what he heard next.
Since the beanstalk Killian had thought that Emma Swan had been quite the open book, but Swan had just revealed chapters of her story to his ears only. He had always known that Emma had been abandoned and that love was all to rare in her life, but he could never have guessed the betrayal she had endured. All those many years ago, Killian saw equal parts of both Milah and the Crocodile in Baelfire. It was disappointing to discover that he was just as much of a coward as his father was. He had always said that a man who does not fight for what he wants deserves what he gets. Thus, he knew that no matter what some blasted puppet tells him, he'd fight for a lass like Emma. (Bloody hell! Did he really just think that?) Baelfire's betrayal infuriated him. No self-respecting thief leaves a woman to pay for his crimes, let alone the woman who you claim to love and carrying your child. To think that the git was able to happily live his life and is now engaged to another woman while Emma guards herself with walls so high even he could barely scale past them, made him want to run his Hook right into Bae's cowardly chest.
Additionally, Hook remembered the look of understanding and empathy in Swan's eyes at the giant's lair when she saw his tattoo of Milah's name on his forearm. "Gold...Rumplestiltskin, he took more than just your hand didn't he?" He knew Regina had grown a penchant for removing and crushing hearts just like her mum, but he never would have guessed that Emma, would have understood what he went through. To know the feeling of helplessly watching your loved one fall to their floor whispering one last assuring word and then holding them in your arms as the life slowly drains out of their eyes. Killian would not wish that feeling on anyone, to have those final moments haunt you seemingly for all eternity. He still would look at that mast on the bow of his ship and remember when the ropes restrained him as he watched Milah's heart be ripped from her chest. Every glance at his hook would remind him of the Milah's eyes void of any signs of life as the Crocodile pranced in impish glee. The memories had haunted him to the point where he was a shell of the man he once was. Come to think of it, Emma Swan was the first person in centuries that he had introduced himself as Killian Jones to. That thought brought his mind back to that impossibly stubborn but brave and beautiful lass who had just bared her soul and her troubles to him.
She constantly appeared to regard him with either indifference or indignation, one of the few lasses that has ever refused his advances, but apparently that wasn't entirely true. She didn't leave him on the beanstalk because she couldn't trust him, but because she did. She had now struck him and locked him up on multiple occasions, but she seemed to actually care whether he lived or died. His quest for revenge was actually troubling her. She had a return of a former lover, a damaged relationship with her son, and sodding Cora to deal with. It would seem that he wouldn't matter enough to her that his revenge would trouble her. He could not comprehend why she worried about him enough that she went on a journey with the bloody Crocodile just to prevent him from being killed. When did he start to matter to her? In normal circumstances, Hook would love to tease his Swan with the information that she had unintentionally given him. He would enjoy watching her squirm trying to determine how much he knew after a few sly comments referring to her confession and a quirked eyebrow or a wink here and there. However, Killian Jones needed answers.
