How about Into the Deep, huh?
The previews released yesterday for Queen of Hearts were something, too. Shout-out to all my fellow shipmates freaking out about Killian smacking Belle:
Calm yo'selves, guys. He's Captain-frikkin'-Hook for crying out loud. He's gonna do shit like this once in a while. Relax. He's not even as big a baddie as Rumple or Regina or Cora…he's not beyond redemption.
A very wise shipmate who goes by the Tumblr handle we're-only-halfway-there has said that there is one quality that makes any villain redeemable: the ability to love. Regina's got it. She's rebuilding a relationship with Henry. Rumple's got it. He's got quite the pretty little romance brewing (no pun intended) with Belle. And is it there for Killian? Hell, yeah! Captain Swan is happening, people! Let's buckle in and enjoy the ride!
Note: I couldn't resist the temptation to bring the Sword of Triton into play here. It seemed like a fitting weapon to give Killian, and I thought, what the hell? Especially since they didn't call it that in Pirates 4. And it looks so much better on him than on Blackbeard. Mmhmm :)
And I couldn't resist slipping in the "some are dead, some are alive" line from the Pirates 3 song "Hoist the Colors". Yeah…can you tell I've been brushing up on my "pirate"?
Disclaimer: I don't own Emma, Snow, Killian, Storybrooke, blah, blah, blah. I'm ever so jealous of Eddy and Adam. Bastards. Just kidding—I love those guys.
She claimed his lips with hers, softly, gently. His stubble brushed against her nose and chin as she kissed him with a mixture of hope and desperation.
Come on, Killian! Wake up!
Since when was he Killian? Why was she calling him Killian?
And then she felt it: a flicker of warmth in his skin as she kissed him, and out of the corner of her eye she saw a flutter of movement. She gently broke the kiss and looked down. Her other hand, her right one, rested on the ground as she knelt at Killian's right side, and his own right hand was now lying bare centimeters from hers. She could have sworn it had been lying at his side only moments ago. Had the kiss…?
She slipped her left arm out from behind his head and shoulders, laying him gently back down. "Killian? Kill—Hook?"
On Killian's left side, Aurora laid a light hand on his forehead. "I'm sorry, Emma," she said sadly. "It didn't work."
"No! It did! I swear it did! His hand moved, and he felt warm!"
Aurora hadn't moved her hand from Killian's forehead. "Emma, he is cold as frost. He isn't warm at all."
"But he was!"
"Emma!"
Two figures appeared at the end of the forest path, racing at almost break-neck speed, gaining by the second. Snow's voice rang out again.
"Emma!"
Emma stumbled up from Killian's side to meet them as they came running up. "Mary Margaret!"
"We have the seafire," said Mulan, bent nearly double and breathing hard. She plunged her hand into her pocket and brought out what looked like four large blue mint leaves, faintly tinted with sparkling white. She gave them to Snow, who handed Emma two of the leaves.
"We need to shred them…" Snow gasped. "Make a poultice out of them…Aurora—flat stones…two of them…"
With a quick nod, Aurora left her place at Killian's other side and began scouring along the path for the desired objects. Even as she gasped for breath, Snow began shredding the two leaves she held into little pieces in her hands. Emma copied her, taking great care not to drop a single speck.
"Here!"
Aurora came running with two flat white rocks in her hands the size of flattened grapefruits.
"Will these do?"
"Yes, thank you, Aurora," said Snow, taking one from her and motioning for Emma to do the same. Holding the flat stone in one hand, she carefully piled the shredded pieces of seafire leaves on it, and Emma followed suit.
"You'll need this," said Aurora, passing the strap of the water flask over her head and unstoppering it.
"Indeed, thank you," Snow said, accepting it. With the utmost care, she trickled just enough water onto the mulched leaves to moisten them into a paste, and did the same with Emma's.
"One of these goes onto the wound. He has to swallow the other."
"He's still breathing," Aurora said as she bent her ear to Killian's lips and nose. "We don't have much time left."
"Then let's not waste it," said Emma.
She went to Killian's right side again, knelt on the grass, opened the long black coat and began to undo the buttons of the black leather vest. Parting the torn black shirt, she removed the damp and bloodstained scarf, and promptly winced at the sickly green color of the skin around the wound. Carefully she transferred the leaf-paste by pinches from the flat white stone to the wound, gently spreading it out to cover the entire gash. No sooner had she finished than the whole pile of wet, shredded leaf suddenly glowed a bright blue, and then faded just as quickly.
At the same time, Snow cradled Killian's head in her lap, gently parted his lips, and dropped the leaf-poultice into his mouth bit by bit. As soon as she let fall the last pinch, Killian gave a jerk and his eyes opened, shining bright vivid blue—like twin blue stars. He choked without a sound as the paste went down, and he drew a long, shuddering, gasping breath as the glow in his eyes faded, leaving them their normal sea-after-a-storm blue.
Emma slumped in relief. "Thank God…"
Aurora smiled brightly past the tear falling down her face, and even Mulan looked somewhat relieved. Smiling warmly down at him, Snow said, "Welcome back—Killian."
Glancing from one face to the next, Killian said weakly, "Any other day, your angel faces might have had me fooled…but if this is heaven, I'm a bloody fairy's uncle." He winced and his good right hand went to the wound. "Smarts too damn much…but still—" he looked around at their faces again, and a faint attempt at a roguish smile curved his lips. "I've been wrong before. You lovelies could be just hiding your wings…"
Emma and Mulan rolled their eyes, and Aurora laughed. Snow smiled, and gently took away the paste from his wound pinch-by-pinch. Underneath, the wound was still gaping and slightly bleeding, but the eerie greenish hue had gone from the skin around it, leaving it a healthy, rosy pink.
Killian squeezed his eyes shut for a moment. "Not that I'm not grateful to you girls, but I think we should get moving."
"To where?" said Mulan.
His eyes drifted to Emma's face for a moment. "To my ship. We'll be much safer there. I don't know about the rest of you, but out here I feel like an exposed nerve…just waiting for Cora to pop out from behind a tree or something."
"Out on the water we'll have a slight advantage," said Snow, looking around at Emma, Aurora and Mulan.
Aurora appeared a little reassured, but Mulan looked wary, and Emma gave Snow a nod, saying wordlessly, I trust your judgment.
"Even more than you know," Killian said, gritting his teeth and wincing as he struggled to sit up. Between his one hand and Snow's two, his wounds were patched up again within seconds. "Get me to the water's edge," he said as he and Snow worked. "I'll take care of the rest."
Emma narrowed her eyes. "What are you talking about?"
He gave her a knowing, roguish smile. "At least half the fun of a surprise is the actual element of surprise, darling. You'll find out soon enough."
She went back to her former place at his left side as Snow helped him up, drawing his left arm around her shoulders again.
Darkness was falling on the forest behind them as they reached the end of the path. Emma trod the sand carefully, trying not to twist an ankle in the soft, shifting ground, and at the same time attempting to keep Killian from twisting his as well. She stopped just where the wet sand started, and Snow, Mulan and Aurora gathered around them.
Emma looked up at Killian, half-expectantly, half-skeptically. "Okay, then. Have at it, Captain."
He cocked an eyebrow mischievously at her use of his title, and the mischief laced his grin as he reached down with his right hand and drew his sword.
"As you wish, milady."
He took one firm step forward, planting his right boot in the wet sand, and the incoming waves lapped up around it, darkening the leather of the toe. In one smooth, solid motion, he thrust his sword out over the water, straight at the horizon, and the blade glowed a faint blue. The sun had almost completely gone down below the water; only a sliver remained, and just where the golden-tinged water met the darkening sky, a shape appeared, black against the waning sun. It grew larger and larger with every passing moment, and the glowing blue blade shook a little in Killian's hand. Within seconds, they could see a huge ship—some hybrid cross between a galleon and a merchant—plowing through the water, casting out large white-capped waves behind her as she hurtled across the sea towards them. Her sails were black, and the wood that formed her was almost as dark, save for the faded yellow paint that clung to her hull.
Emma's jaw dropped, and she realized it a split second later. She shut it with a snap, but it was too late. Killian had not turned his head, but his wickedly triumphant smile indicated that he had seen her out of the corner of his eye.
The ship slowed down as she neared them, and Killian's voice radiated with pride as he said, "Ladies, may I present to you the most faithful of companions, my staunch Jolly Roger."
Snow was staring at the sword in his hand with her mouth open. "That's…that's the Sword of Triton, isn't it?"
Killian made her an elegant bow. "It is indeed, your Highness, and I thank you for your notice."
A smaller shape was making its way down over the side of the ship. It hit the water with a splash, and promptly started towards them. A longboat, moving—sailing—by itself. It glided smoothly up through the shallow water and slid to a stop before Killian.
He gave the boat's prow a smart tap with the flat of his blade before gently disengaging his left arm from Emma's shoulders and setting one foot in the boat. "Shall we?"
Snow gave Emma a brief nod, and they all took their seats in the longboat. The instant they were all sitting down, the boat slid away from the shore, coasting sturdily through the water up to the side of the huge ship. Killian gave a short jab with the sword's tip in the direction of somewhere up and over the ship's side, and ropes came whistling and snaking down to attach themselves to the prow and stern of the boat, pulling them up the side. The longboat landed gently on the ship's deck, and the first thing Emma noticed was that there was absolutely no one around. Not a single living soul moved on the ship's deck from one end to the other.
"Where's your crew?" said Snow.
"Gone," was Killian's short reply. "Some dead, some alive but taken by the curse. I believe my first mate to be in that Storybrooke of yours." He cast a backward glance beyond the beach to the forest. "If you ladies don't mind, I'll bear the Roger out to open water for the night. At the least we'll be out of Cora's reach for a while."
Snow nodded. "By all means."
Killian stabbed the sword up in the air. Ropes wriggled and coiled and twisted this way and that, and the sails billowed and swayed with almost deafening whooshes as they obeyed the commands of their master. He seemed to watch their progress with a critical eye, and once he was satisfied he thrust the point forward towards the horizon. Aurora, Mulan, Snow and Emma stumbled and grabbed onto what was nearest as the Roger lurched forward under their feet, ploughing toward the vanished sun.
Casting his eyes about the deck once more, Killian gave a short nod as if to himself, and sheathed the sword. "The ship's lodgings are yours, ladies. All the rooms in both bow and stern are yours to choose—" and suddenly the mischievous glint was back in his eyes. "Even mine."
"Forward," said Emma, rolling her eyes.
Mulan nodded a little curtly, and Aurora murmured an assent.
Killian heaved a deep sigh and placed his hand over his heart. "You wound me, fair maidens! Very well, I shall do as you wish."
He showed them to bunks of decent comfort in the Roger's large bow section. When he bowed and made his graceful exit, Mulan shoved her sheathed sword under the pillow of a bottom bunk and settled in, and Aurora climbed into the one above, yawning. When Emma made no move to get comfortable, Snow paused on the ladder to the top bunk.
"Something wrong, Emma?"
She shook her head. "Naah. Think I'm gonna go get some air. I'll be back in a bit."
Snow nodded and gave her a smile. "Okay."
Emma had to pinch herself as she stepped out on the deck, with the brisk sea wind rippling her hair out behind her, and the moon already high and bright, sprinkling the sea with ripples of white light.
I'm on the frikkin' Jolly Roger. The Peter-frikkin'-Pan Jolly Roger. Henry would love this.
Her heart gave a painful hiccup. Henry.
"Not sleepy yet?"
She turned to see Killian a few steps behind her, his boots barely making any sound on the Roger's deck. She shook her head. "Not yet."
He came to stand beside her, gazing out over the moonlight-strewn water as it rushed past.
"No matter where I am," he said quietly, "Or what sea I find myself on, I always feel most peaceful right here. On deck, under the moon and the stars. If the Roger is under my feet, even the night holds no fear for me."
Emma felt his eyes on her, and she stole a quick glance at him. At first, his expression appeared unreadable, but there was something else beneath the surface, struggling to hide? Struggling to come through?
"Swan…Emma…you and your friends risked discovery by Cora to help me. You would have been able to move a lot faster without me weighing you down. You could have gotten here to the sea in a lot less time. You had the ashes. You could have gone home. Why did you save me?"
The hidden emotion flashed in his eyes for a brief second. Vulnerability…respect…and wonder. Emma could have said "You saved me", but her voice balked at the words. She saw the hint of mischief mixed in with the wonder and respect and vulnerability in his eyes, and she had no desire to fan that little spark into a blaze.
His own words rose to her lips instead.
"It was the honorable thing to do."
I'm debating whether or not to continue, guys. I kinda like where this is, and I have a sort of bad record for not finishing some of the fics I start. Depending on how Queen of Hearts goes, well…we'll see.
Thank you all for favoriting, following, and reviewing! Your unwavering support and encouragement made this fic possible!
~Elizabeth