A/N: Thank you for all your lovely reviews! I know I said this would be two parts, but it turns out I lied. There will be a third part. Whoops.
"No vengeance." Killian's voice was hoarse and breathless, the words sounding like he was having to force them from his throat. "Swan."
Emma's heart was beating double time, had been ever since she'd seen Gold hold Killian's in his hand and begin to squeeze. The pirate's yell of pain had cut through her concentration, her magic dissipating as she focused on Killian. Pain was written all over his face, in every movement, but he barely seemed to be conscious of it as he looked at her. He blamed himself for this, she knew; she could see the guilt and unspoken apologies in the wrecked look on his face, the broken look of a man who thought he'd failed.
And she knew what he meant. It was in his voice, his words, his face. This was goodbye. He was going to die, and he knew it.
His eyes never left hers, and she could see what was written there, too.
I love you.
He staggered, still clutching at his chest, and she watched as his eyes began to lose their focus.
"No!"
She barely recognised the voice as hers as she whirled back around to face Gold. The Dark One was looking at Killian, a malicious sneer on his face as his hand gripped the pirate's heart. A slow death, Emma knew. He'd won, and he would take his time to enjoy it.
Desperation gripped her, hollow and terrifying, like a gaping pit inside her. She couldn't lose Killian. Not now. Not ever.
He'd promised.
He loved her.
She'd refused to think that, to know it, but the thought was no longer followed by immediate doubt like it had been before. She knew, now, that she was worth loving, and able to love in return.
A voice whispered that it was too late – again, too late again, just like Graham, just like –
She shoved that thought away, focused on another.
I love you.
Her magic rose up inside her, wild and strong and dark and joyous, surging through her like electricity. She'd lost control of it before, the threat to Killian distracting her, but she was beyond worry now, her magic responding to the riot of emotions in her chest. It pushed at her insides, wanting to break free.
And for the first time, instead of pushing it back down or just letting it do what it would, Emma reached back and seized it.
There was no time to think, no time to recall Regina's lessons or her own experiences. And she knew, right then, that there was no choice. Killian was not going to die. Gold couldn't have him.
Her blood thundered in her ears, her vision taking on the familiar sharpness of battle, her mind in tactical mode, analysing and strategising. The world narrowed until all that was left was Emma and her goal, everything else simply an obstacle. It felt clean, like she'd cleared away all the debris and chaos inside of her.
She turned her attention on Killian's heart, still glowing faintly in Gold's hands.
There was a burst of light as her magic once again glowed around her. It shot out towards Gold and enveloped his hand—
And to her own amazement, Gold's brow furrowed. She saw the muscles in his hand work, felt a dull pressure in her chest, but she pushed back instinctively, and it eased.
She recognised the feel of it. She'd felt it before, by Lake Nostos, when Cora had tried to take her heart. It had been a brief flash then, pure instinct driving her. This was different, more distant and drawn-out, but it was the same warmth in her chest, the same strength flooding through her.
She could feel Killian's heart now, beating faintly as her magic coiled around it, white light edged with rainbow colours. She could feel Gold's fingers around it, too, trying to crush it into dust, but her magic held him at bay. It felt like walking through water against a current, the effort of it making her breathless. She gritted her teeth and tasted copper, felt something warm run down the inside of her nose. But the light stayed, and the heart kept beating.
Gold glared at her, but she thought she saw a glimmer of fear in his eyes too. "No," he said, sounded both surprised and outraged. "No. I will have this. I will have this. You will not take this from me!"
Emma braced herself as he waved his hand, trying to knock her off her feet. But he no longer had the dagger in his hand, and she was ready for him. Her magic pulsed, deflecting his, and then Elsa was by her side and an icy blue whirlwind danced between them. It resolved into a familiar snow monster, which stomped towards Gold.
It was no match for the Dark One, of course. Gold took an involuntary step backwards before collecting himself and snapping his fingers. The monster crumbled and disappeared in a white flurry, and Gold turned to Elsa, sending her flying backwards with a flick of his wrist.
Emma shot him.
The bullet hit his shoulder and knocked him back, his other hand automatically reaching for the wound. Killian's heart fell to the ground. Emma was already running, sparing a glance for Maleficent. If she timed it right...
She'd never created a magical net before, but breaking something was never as hard as making it. Gold had recovered by the time she reached him, but he was focused on her now, not on his little trap. Emma sent a burst of her own magic at it, and felt the magical equivalent of a rope give way as Maleficent broke free with an enraged shriek.
"No!" Gold's head whipped around, eyes wide as he stared at the dragon swooping towards him.
Emma didn't wait to see what happened next. She grabbed the heart and turned to see Elsa, hands already raised. When she glanced over her shoulder, she saw an ice wall reaching halfway to the ceiling of the cavern and growing fast.
"It won't hold them for long!" Elsa yelled over the sound of crackling ice and the now-muffled roars of the dragon.
Emma was already moving, running back towards the cavern entrance. She tugged at Elsa's arm as she passed her. "Come on!"
David was still where she'd last seen him, holding Killian up. The pirate looked like he was out of it, his face pale and his eyes shut, his good arm slung over David's shoulder.
"Killian!"
"He's alive." David's eyes narrowed as he looked at Emma. "You okay? You're bleeding."
"What?" She followed his eyes with her hand, tucking her gun away and swiping at her nose. Her hand came away bloodied, but she couldn't feel anything. "Fine, yeah—"
Another shriek sounded behind her, followed by a crash. David gave Killian a nudge and tried to steer him toward the cavern entrance. "Hook? Hey, buddy, come on, we gotta go."
Killian grunted and blinked, looking dazed even as he stumbled along beside David. "What—no!" His eyes widened as he became aware of what was happening. "You need to get out of here, you have to leave me—"
"Not a chance."
"No, no—!" Killian tried to twist out of David's grip.
Two strides brought Emma to his side, her free hand reaching for his sleeve. "It's okay, we got your—"
Another crash sounded behind them, louder and longer this time, and Emma didn't need to turn to know that Elsa's ice wall was collapsing.
They had to leave now.
"Wait!" She came to a stop just inside the tunnel, aware of David and Killian doing the same. Elsa almost ran into her, and Emma grabbed her arm.
She'd never tried a transportation spell on anything bigger than a coffee cup, but once again, there was no time. Failure was not an option. They'd never even make it to the elevator before Gold cut them off, and there was no time, no time.
No choice.
She squeezed her eyes shut and reached.
Killian's head was still spinning, the after-effects of pain and adrenaline making him dizzy, but the desperate fear that gripped him eased the moment Emma reached for him.
She'd done it. He didn't know how, but he didn't need her to finish her sentence before he understood. She'd saved him.
David kept him upright and moving until Emma bade them stop, urgency in her voice. Killian braced himself for another attack, looking around a little blearily, but it never came. Instead, there was a flash of light so bright he had to shut his eyes, and then silence.
When he opened his eyes again, he was standing in the loft, still leaning on David. To his right, he saw Emma just blinking her eyes open, her expression telling him that she'd just surprised herself again. Behind her, he could see her mother leaning against the kitchen island, baby Graham in her arms.
The silence lasted another beat. It was broken by Snow's concerned demands and David's reassuring voice, but Killian barely heard them. He was looking at Emma, at the smear of blood beneath her nose, her widened eyes, her pale face.
They spoke at the same time.
"Swan, are you—"
"You okay?"
She reached for him, and he stumbled forward as they all but fell into each other. He curled his arm around her shoulders, pressed his hook into the curve of her back, and she buried her face against his neck with a slightly shaky sigh. One of her arms wrapped around his neck, the other was still tucked protectively against her chest, and he could feel it: the faint pulse of a heartbeat, echoing in the hollow spot inside him.
His heart. She was holding his heart in her hand, and he was safe, alive, a traitor no more. He clung to her like a drowning man and her hand reached around to cradle his head, and he wanted to sink to his knees.
"Emma," he said, hearing his voice break. "Emma."
She hugged him a little tighter. "Don't you ever do that again. That was way too close."
He heard the relief in her voice, felt it in the way she was holding onto him, and it almost broke him. "I'm sorry, love. I'm so sorry."
After another moment, she pulled away, although her free hand drifted down to take his as if she couldn't quite bear to let him go. "Wait, Belle—"
"I called her, she's on her way here," David said. He'd moved away from them to join Snow, and Killian felt a fresh wave of remorse when he saw that the princess had handed the baby to Elsa and was looking after a cut on David's arm.
A cut he'd inflicted. Killian opened his mouth to apologise, but Snow spoke before he could.
"Regina's still not answering." Concern was written all over her face as she looked from Emma to Killian. "I don't know who else to ask about hearts."
"Right." Emma looked down, her hand moving – reluctantly, Killian thought – as she uncurled her fingers, and there was his heart, glowing red in her palm. He didn't want to look at it, didn't want to remember how it had looked in the crocodile's hand – just like Milah's, red and bright and gone in an instant—
"It's glowing brighter again," Emma said. "That's good, right?"
Snow craned her neck to look, and nodded. "Yeah. That's how they're supposed to look. I mean, I think so, I don't really know, I've only seen mine and David's..." She shook her head, clearly unwilling to dwell on the subject. "Well, and Regina's, but hers is darker anyway." She shot them a small smile. "Evil Queen and all, you know."
The implications of that were not lost on Killian, and he swallowed, sparing another glance at his – red, it was definitely bright red – heart. "Are you sure it's mine? After what I did—"
"Later," Emma cut him off. "One problem at a time, okay?"
She'd put some of it together already, he saw. How, he wasn't sure, but he should have expected it. She was rather talented at putting together clues.
And still, she'd come to save him. He swallowed. "Aye."
"Good," Emma said. "Okay. So. The heart. How do we put it back?"
Snow looked uncertain, but drew herself up with another smile. "Well, it can't be that hard. I've seen Regina do it. You just kind of push it in."
"Oh, sure." Emma shook her head, her voice taking on that matter-of-fact tone that said she was trying not to lose her mind at the "fairytale stuff". "Just kind of push a guy's heart back into his chest, why not?"
"You just stopped the Dark One from crushing it," David reminded her.
"Aye." Killian squeezed her hand. "You can do it. Please?"
She looked doubtful. "You sure? Regina is a lot better at this stuff than I am."
"She excels at taking hearts, less so at returning them." He offered her a smile. "Besides, there's no one I trust with mine more than you."
Emma's eyes widened briefly and she got that look on her face, the one that told him he'd said too much. But before he could try to deflect it a little, she said, "All right, if you're sure."
"Aye. I'm sure."
She hesitated for another moment, then lifted his heart up to his chest, leaning it lightly against the right spot. He felt it beating, a distant echo in his chest. On impulse, he reached up to wrap his hand around her wrist, and nodded at her.
She nodded back and visibly braced herself. He barely heard her next words, muttered under her breath. "Son of a bitch."
Then she pushed.
There was no pain, but it felt strange, having something moving through his chest. It felt both lighter and heavier, full in a way that he'd missed. Emotions flooded through him, stealing his breath, and he squeezed his eyes shut against the guilt and relief and hope and fear that threatened to overwhelm him.
"You okay? Killian!"
He gasped in a breath and opened his eyes, and saw her. Really saw her again, in the way that made his stomach flip and his mouth curve into a smile. "Aye," he said. He knew that he'd have to answer for what he'd done, but the hopelessness that had weighed him down these past few days was gone. He'd made amends for his mistakes before. He'd do it again, whatever it took. "Better than okay, truth be told."
She laid her hand on his chest, hesitant but apparently needing to feel his heart beat. "It worked."
"That it did." Killian closed his eyes, took a deep breath, looked at her again. Her eyes shone, her expression somewhere between worry and relief, and his chest felt too small to contain his heart now. "Thank you."
"Sure." She smiled, but sobered again almost straight away. "I'd say 'any time', but I really don't want to have to do that again. What the hell happened?"
He'd expected to feel dread, or fear, or guilt. But as he leaned back against the kitchen table and began to talk, he felt only more relief at finally coming clean. He'd carried this secret for too long. It was over. One way or another, it was finally over.
He was free.
