.
(when you go hunting after evil, better be prepared for what you will become.)
.
Keith grinned as he unbuttoned her shirt. Emma thrashed in the grip of the chains, metal burn her flesh. "Get off of me!" She screeched as he grabbed her by the neck. His grip made her gasp and wheeze, other hand wandering over her body.
"Call me Daddy, sweetheart. It'll make me real happy." He said warmly. "It is in your best interest to make me happy."
The ground shook beneath her feet. The faint sun vanished completely beneath the thrashing storm. "I have already have a father," she ground out firmly. "Get your damn hands off me before I crush you damn skull!"
"You didn't do the dishes," Carol informed her sharply. "You missed the pot on the stove."
Emma cried out as she remembered the heavy black pot. She'd been unable to lift it, the weight of it too much for her tiny stature. "I'm sorry!" she said as her heart pounded. "I didn't mean to!"
The tower quivered as a belt cracked against her back. Children appeared with narrowed eyes, complaining of lost toys she had never touched. Graham died in front of her and his shoes laces wrapped themselves intently around her neck. "You're pathetic," David seethed while Snow White slammed the door shut. "You lied to me," Henry told her with shame, "told me my dad was dead!"
She looked away from her world crumbling to see a ship nearing the tower.
"No!" Emma shouted as she forced the waves to pull at the boat. Take the ship back safely, she thought before forcing a surge of magic through her body. She squeezed her eyes shut tight as Keith pressed a cigarette to her shoulder. She missed the image of a man lunging from the Jolly Roger, plunging into the rolling surface of the water. As Ruth smacked her hands with a wooden spoon she missed the sight of a drenched man pull himself up onto the rocky shore.
Suddenly Killian was before her, roaring as he jabbed his sword through Carol. A belt hit the floor, tarnished by her blood. "Bloody demons, all of you!" He shouted as he began slaughtering all of the images before. "You," he seethed as the sight of Keith toughing Emma. His narrowed eyes made Emma cringe, crying out.
Suddenly Keith turned to dust, a sword having pierced his chest.
"Emma, love," Killian choked out as he touched her cheek with his wet hand. "How long?"
She cried out wordlessly, back arching. Her skin faintly glimmered silver. "You need to-" she struggled to distance herself from him, "get away from me!"
"Fat chance, lass. Either you magically undo those fancy cuffs, or I will take a swing at them." He threatened as he carefully did the buttons of her shirt up carefully with one hand. Her form was smaller than he remembered, bruised and burned, covered in blood. "I'm taking you home."
"I'm going to hurt you all!" She protested as she fought against the chains. "I can't let that happen!"
He took out a very narrow and small knife from his pocket, jiggling it around the lock. Suddenly the cuff opened and the rest turned to ash. "Imagine that," Killian grinned. "Just like magic!"
It was easy to pick her up in his arms. No matter how powerful she was, torture had made her weary and frightened. He hummed lightly as he walked down the steep stairs, pressing his lips to her forehead every so often to ensure that she knew that he was real and he was going to fight for her.
The storm had faded away into blue skies and fluffy crowds. Killian whistled and suddenly the Jolly Roger began sailing towards the island of stone. He stood there waiting patiently. "A ship always goes running for her captain," he told Emma gently. "A ship is meant to be the captain's home. He will eat, drink and sleep amongst the walls and it will guide him through storms. Except, the Jolly Roger stopped being my home a while ago. To be very precise, I'd imagined it was when we climbed that bleeding overgrown bean stock."
She looked up at him with a pale face. "I don't want to hurt you," she whispered brokenly. "I saw things, everything."
"I killed those monsters, Swan, and I'll do it again. They were lies. Anyone who is smart enough to understand that they would be damn stupid to just let you go."
"Everyone did," Emma told him. "Everyone."
"Did I?"
She trembled. "You watched them hurt me."
Killian tightened his grip on her. "No, a lie watched you hurt me. Me, I'm awfully heroic lately. You might have been preoccupied by me making my way through a damn storm to get to your side, but I did it. And I'll do it again to save you."
They boarded the Jolly Roger together. He wrapped her in blankets and let her sit in the sun, in perfect view of where he stood directing the ship back to shore. The blankets turned red and he smelled rust in the air.
