Emma is the bane of a certain knight's existence. And he will do anything to get rid of her, including selling her to pirates. But Emma won't go quietly nor will she let anyone hurt her family. Will a pirate captain step up to bring down the Kingdom?

The ship finally stopped rocking and an eerie silence settled on the deck above her head. Emma loosen her death grip on the bars in front of her. From the moment she had heard the commander yell that they were under attack from pirates, Emma had braced herself for a bumpy time.

What a sight she was, Princess Emma, ward of the Evil Queen, begrudging the Kingdom's sweetheart, was locked in the brig of her own ship. And whose working was that? The Commander, she loved to torment him, it made her day. They were like oil and water, they did not mix. She had tried many times to get him to step down and in retaliation he would try to convince the Queen that Emma was a threat to the security of the Kingdom. But here was the thing, Emma was a threat and the Queen knew it. That was exactly why she needed to keep Emma close, to keep an eye on her.

Above her head, on the deck, there were a few footsteps. Emma wondered which side had won. Although it didn't really matter, her life wasn't better off either way.

She sat down on the uncomfortable cot and waited. Someone would find her.

Two sets of footsteps now made their way down the stairs. Emma held her breath.

"Now what do we have here?" said an unfamiliar voice.

Emma tensed up and her eyes slid across the room. Two men stood there, bloody and menacing. Pirates, by the looks of it. So the Kingdom had lost, that was good, a blow to their ego was just what they needed. But. Emma concluded, she might be in a worse spot. Just the way they were looking at her made her feel like she was up for sale.

But she had to remain collected. "I don't know about you, but I see a dead man." Collected but harsh.

That did not sit well with the pirate. He turned to his friend. "You think we can have some fun with her then kill her without the Captain knowing?

His friend nodded and they came closer to her cell.

What was she supposed to do now? Of course she could defend herself without a problem but that would blow her cover.

Suddenly an idea dawned on her , maybe a way out.

Just as the pirate was about to unlock her cell, Emma spoke the magic word. "Parley."

The two of them stopped and stared at her, shock and confusion were on their faces.

So Emma repeated herself. "Parley, by pirate law…"

"I know what it means." He turned to his friend. "She wants to be taken to the Captain." He opened the door and attempted to be a sorry excuse for a gentleman. "After you."

Emma made her way to the deck and the slight that met her eyes made a tiny smirk appear on her face.

The whole royal crew were held at sword point, captured and humiliated at their defeat.

There was one man surveying the success so Emma assumed he was the pirate captain. He was nothing like any captain or commanding officer Emma had ever seen. Much younger than most, easy on the eyes and he was confident. Too confident in her opinion.

"And who is in charge of this fine vessel?" The pirate captain asked, the question was thrown to the defeated crew.

Commander Pan got to his feet to answer the question. "She is."

Suddenly all eyes were on her. Emma was taken back by shocked and turned around. Was there another woman on board? What was he doing, throwing her into the spotlight?

"She is the princess." Pan explained.

Then it dawned on her, he meant to ray her out to the pirates, blow her cover. Well, two could play that game.

Emma turned back to face them all. "They just pulled me from the brig. Last time I checked, that's not where you keep royalty." She spat.

The pirate captain looked her over. "She doesn't look like a princess, more like a bed companion."

Her eyes widened in horror. How dare he? Yes, she had seen better days and this ship did nothing to make sure she looked her best, he of all people did not have to make off color comments. She scanned the deck for something to wipe that grin off of his face.

"She is the princess. She is Princess Emma Nolan of Misthaven. Or depending on her mood, she is Emma Swan, ward of the Queen." Pan told the short version of her life story.

But by the look on the pirate's face, he wasn't buying any of it.

Which worked in Emma's favor. "If you are going to lie about something, at least make it believable." Emma kept the sass in her voice.

"Maybe Captain, we can reach an agreement. You let us go and you keep the princess." Was he seriously making a deal for his safety? "A man such as yourself shouldn't have an empty bed."

The pirate chuckled. "While I appreciate the thought, I don't need your help with that. Besides she already proved she is too much to handle."

"You have no idea." Emma couldn't help but agree.

But Pan persisted. "She just needs to be taught where her place is. Then you could do anything you want with her. Imagine the price a princess would fetch."

"I am standing right here. Can you not talk about me when I'm in earshot?" Emma was getting annoyed. She wanted to end it right now.

"Princess or not, she doesn't seem worth the trouble." The captain sounded very final.

"Thank you, I think." She half complimented him. And in return he had the nerve to wink at her. Was he trying to change her mood?

Pan was visibly disappointed and took a different approach. "Then might I change the person in question?" Suddenly his hand found a hidden dagger in his belt and he threw it at Emma's head.

And she acted as she would normally act. She held up her hand and used her magic to stop the blade a few inches from her face.

"Now how much would an enchantress fetch?" Pan asked.

Emma's eyes widened. Her cover was blow, it was more than blown. "Son of a bitch!" She screamed and attempted to launch herself at him, ready to choke the life out of him.

And she would have been successful if she hadn't been caught by the captain himself. His arm was tight around her waist.

That wasn't going to stop her from yelling. "Anything to get me out of your hair? You're trying to trade me off for your own safety?"

"Yes, my dear. I need you out of my way so I can complete my plan."

"And what plan is that, pray tell."

"The Queen can't live forever, despite what she tells herself. And I believe that there is only one person who can uphold her legacy. Me."

"You really think that? There's a second and third in command already. You have to get rid of both of them first." Emma pointed out the obvious flaw in his plan.

"With you here, he will be easy."

Emma froze. Pan wanted to hurt her family. No one did that and lived to tell the tale. "Don't you dare touch him!" She tried once again to get closer to Pan, but the captain had an iron grip on her.

"What do you say, Captain? I take down the queen and you get the girl. Captain Jones, how does that sound to you?" Pan finally laid out his offer.

Captain Jones? So he did have a name. The wheels in his mind were turning, Emma could tell. She held her breath, what would his answer be?

All he did was nod.

Pan smiled. "Good choice. Enjoy, just a warning, she bites."

Maybe the third time was the charm. Maybe now she could get herself out of his arms. But he was faster and had the nerve to throw her over his shoulder and carefully walked back to his ship. He didn't speak to his crew, didn't respond to the whistles directed at him. He simply entered a cabin and placed her back on her feet.

Emma took a quick look around, this had to be his personal cabin. So things had gone from bad to worse.

"Are you her?" He asked her.

That threw her for a loop. "Her?"

"The Savior." His entire manner changed, all the darkness in his eyes was replaced with hope.

"How did you hear about… her?"

"Stories do reach out this far, and they are the talk of the taverns I visit. Are you her?"

"Give me one reason to answer your question." She wasn't going to give him any information without knowing it would save her.

He nodded and went to a small chest of drawers. He pulled out a jacket and carefully placed it on the table. Emma softly gasped, it was an royal navy uniform.

"Lieutenant Killian Jones." That title sounded odd to his own ears. "Are you her?" He repeated his question a third time.

Lieutenant Killian Jones, Emma tried to remember what she had heard about him. Former upstanding officer who suddenly planned a munity and now attacked the royal fleet. He was against the queen just as she was.

"Do you want me to be?" She asked quietly.

"Yes. I want you to be everything the stories say you are. I need you to be her." Killian took a step closer.

Emma held her ground. "Give me one good reason why you need me to be the Savior."

"The queen sent my captain and myself on a mission for a plant that could save her troops. It turned out to be a poison."

"So you learned the hard way she is evil, how is that my problem?" She still wasn't seeing how this concerned her.

"I want her to pay. You can make that happen." Killian explained to her.

"Can I? What if I don't want to? Say I am the Savior, what if I want to ignore all the problems she had caused?"

"Saviors can't do that. My problems are everyone's problems. How she hurts one person, she will do the same to the next person. The savior can't not help people."

"Watch me."

Those two words confirmed Killian's suspicions. He was really standing in the presence of the savior, the one woman who could end all the suffering of the realm. "You have a responsibility. You can't let people down."

"Are you seriously lecturing me about responsibility? You of all people? I don't want to help people. People have never helped me." Emma said quietly. She was losing her ground.

"Did you ever let people help you?" He asked curiously.

Her head popped up to stare at him. Who was this man? Certainly not the pirate captain she had met on deck. Did everyone have two sides? Did that include her?

"What happened to your captain?"

"He fell."

"You must have greatly admired him to give up everything after his death." Emma commented, knowing there was a bit more to the story.

"He was my brother."

So this was now all about family. Emma sighed and sat down on the chair. She would only admit to herself that she did care about family.

"Thank you." Killian said.

"I didn't say I was going to save anyone."

"You didn't say no either."

Reviews?

Heads up readers, i might keep this one plotline going. Its interesting, a savior who doesn't want to save and a pirate who wants to. Maybe maybe. I have a few other projects right now.