A/N: Nonstop action in this one, hopefully to make up for that last cliffhanger! Reminder: This fic is rated M for violence, and there will be some here. Nothing too graphic, but if you don't stomach it, please be warned.
Ninth Circle of Hell
Emma had no idea what was going on.
One minute, she was furiously setting up the virus to wipe the program, the next she was being roughly pushed up metal service ladders to the main deck of Gold's yacht. She was scared, that was for sure, especially when Gold himself stepped out to greet them. Everything Killian had warned her about, everything she'd learned about the ex-agent over the last week, didn't help calm her nerves at all. And the way Killian was looking at her as he pointedly avoided the other man's eyes just flat out terrified her.
And then Gold held the gun to her head and threatened to kill her. She swallowed, nerves twisting, wrenching in her gut, certain that Killian wouldn't let him pull the trigger, but she couldn't control her body's reaction to being in danger. She could only watch, frozen in fear, as Killian looked at her, flinching at Gold's words. He was just as scared as she was, if not more. But there was something else, a different look in his eyes, as he resolved himself to give in to the other man's demands.
Almost… an apology?
But when Liam emerged from the stateroom, unharmed, unguarded, it didn't matter anymore. She saw how Killian swayed on his feet, eventually falling heavily to his knees, shock written across his face. Anger coursed through her as well - she didn't want to be right, she didn't want to think that Liam could betray his brother like that, betray her, the entire mission, and she'd spent the last day hoping she had been wrong in her original assessment.
But Killian's reaction had been so intense, and her fear surged to match her rage.
Emma wanted to do something, anything, but she didn't know how to handle the situation - hell, she barely knew how to handle any field situation, putting her on this mission as her first international assignment was such a joke. So she waited, watched, listened, hoping to learn something, find an opening, anything she could use to gain the upper hand. They had her tablet, though by now the virus should have started its initial deconstruction of Gold's program. They'd also taken the silenced pistol Killian had given her in the car and all the extra ammunition as well. She had nothing, and even if she wanted to fight the men beside herself and Killian, the three guards on the deck were easily much bigger than her, and armed. Even with all the self-defense courses she'd taken over the years, she didn't stand a chance on her own, and Killian wasn't in any state to get dragged into a brawl.
She didn't even know what to think about Liam anymore.
"No," Killian whispered brokenly where he knelt on the deck, his eyes glazed as he looked off somewhere in the distance, unfocused. "It can't be."
"Killian," Liam tried again, stepping forward. But one of the two guards next to Killian grunted and moved beside Gold, and Liam didn't come any closer.
"How could you?" Killian muttered, still lost somewhere else. "How could you work with him?" He bit out the last word, finally turning his head to face his brother, but not before Emma saw the anger building steadily across his features.
"I had no choice, brothe-"
"Don't lie to me!" Killian snarled, still on his knees. "Don't stand there and tell me you had no choice, not after you went behind our backs to come here. Don't you dare." Emma could see his nostrils flaring as he spoke, his words harsh and biting, and Liam winced visibly as his brother berated him.
Gold nodded to the guard still beside Killian just then and the large man dragged him up by his good arm until he stood. Killian gasped at the sudden movement, his face tightening in pain as he got his feet under him, but it was almost like he didn't notice he was now upright. He was clearly furious, breathing hard - too hard, Emma thought. How much was his broken ribs and how much was his anger, she couldn't quite tell.
"After everything he did to us, Liam,," Killian spat, "to me. He tortured me in Kabul, for days."
Oh, God.
Emma realised it at once, her jaw dropping. The same goosebumps she'd felt that first night, when Liam had quietly mentioned the ever-elusive Kabul mission to Killian, returned twice as strong, her head spinning as she tried to process everything.
The tortures Killian had described, Milah killed, it was all Gold?!
She had no idea how the hell she'd missed that, but it explained so much. Killian's fear of the mission, his reluctance to get involved in it originally, his "connection" with the man who used to be his partner, his absolute terror when Liam had been "taken", what he hadn't wanted to tell her earlier in the car…
It all made so much sense now, Killian's fury more than justified. At least Liam had the decency to look ashamed of himself. Gold, on the other hand, was smirking quietly at the Jones boys' exchange, and Emma wanted nothing more than to punch the smile off his face, for everything he'd done to Graham, to Milah, to all the other agents, but especially to Killian, who looked as if he was barely holding it together anymore.
"He hurt me," Killian growled at his brother. "He laughed while I screamed, and you watched him do it, Liam! You know what he's capable of! And you still chose him!?"
"I didn't have a choice!"
"HE KILLED MILAH!" Killian shouted, the cords of his neck standing out with the strain.
"Don't you think I know that?" his brother yelled back, face red with anger. "I was right there the whole time! I watched him kill her, just like you did! But a minute later, you were unconscious and I wasn't. You didn't see how he took the knife from her body and held it over your heart, how he was going to kill you! Only I had that distinct honour! I couldn't let him kill you, I couldn't just sit there and watch it happen!"
Killian fell silent, his eyes calculating, flashing darkly at Liam. Despite her anger and disappointment, Emma felt her heart twisting in sympathy for the older brother, forced to watch someone he loved being hurt so badly, threatened like that.
"You gave him the access codes," Killian said quietly, his voice hard, "didn't you."
Liam let out a slow breath, his fist clenching at his side. "Killian, I-"
"DIDN'T YOU?!"
"Yes!" Liam cried. "Yes I did! To save your life, I gave him what he wanted!"
Killian squeezed his eyes shut, his breathing stuttered and far too hard for it to be good for him, not after all the trauma he'd so recently suffered. Emma wanted to do something, anything to help him, but the guard at her side was watching too closely. She only prayed the virus was doing what it was supposed to, at least some good would come of the mission.
"I begged you not to tell him," Killian said, his voice low and cracking. "It was the reason I held on through all of that, the only reason, and yet you gave it all to him. To save my life so I could, what? Be your pet agent on a leash, while you lied to me for five years? I know that you didn't want me on this mission. Hell, I didn't even want to be on this mission, but I should have figured it out then, why you wanted to keep me away from all this, and don't you dare say it was to protect me, because we both know that's not true anymore."
"I… I couldn't let him kill you, Killian," Liam begged quietly. "I didn't have a choice."
"You always had a choice," Killian growled back. "You chose to let all those other agents die, instead of me. Every single one of them is dead, because of you, what you chose. What did he promise you, Liam? Besides my life. What else did he give you?"
"He- he told me he'd leave you alone," Liam said, so softly Emma almost couldn't hear him, "he wouldn't chase after you. As long as I made sure you and everyone else never found out he was using our system. And… he arranged our extraction to the British base."
Killian said nothing, just closed his eyes, a pained expression on his face that Emma was certain had nothing to do with his wounded shoulder.
The guard at Emma's side stepped forward then, handing her tablet to Gold. He frowned at the screen, tapping it uselessly. "As much as I'd hate to interrupt this little family reunion-"
"Go to hell," spat Killian, snarling at the ex-agent.
Emma wasn't prepared for the speed of the blow, and neither was Killian. The guard's fist slammed into Killian's midsection, hard. Killian collapsed to his knees, hunched over and gasping for breath, his eyes clenched shut as he wheezed, and Emma swore she felt the punch in her own stomach, watching him curl around himself.
"As I was saying," Gold continued as if nothing happened, "I'm going to need you to shut down this virus." He handed the tablet to Liam, who squinted at the lines of code scrolling across it.
For a moment, Emma was worried, really worried. If Liam stopped the virus, if he found a way to restore Gold's program, then everything was for nothing, everything was a wast-
But Liam frowned, too, glancing worriedly at Gold. "I- I can't stop it. This isn't the same code I gave her. I don't know how to use this one."
Her eyes widened. The code. She'd completely forgotten. She'd switched the codes and never told Liam about it. Only Killian knew that she wasn't using his virus, the virus that would never have worked anyway.
A harsh chuckle broke through just then. "You're bloody brilliant, Swan," Killian laughed, flashing her a dark smile before turning to his brother. "She didn't trust you, Liam. Swapped out your code for one of her own. You can't stop it, only she knows the way around it."
Gold's face hardened, his lips pressed together firmly. He grabbed the tablet from Liam and marched across the deck to where she stood, his cane thumping against the wooden floor with each step.
"Stop the virus, Agent Swan," he demanded, shoving the computer at her.
Emma swallowed, her throat suddenly dry as she shook her head. "No," she said hoarsely. "I'm not doing it."
Killian laughed again from the floor across from her, his good arm wrapped across his stomach. "Good for you, Swan. Don't do it."
Gold handed the tablet to the guard standing silently beside her and gave her a wide smile. It unsettled her, his eyes full of fury despite the gesture.
"Have it your way."
He motioned to the other guard, the one beside Killian, and terror Emma had never known settled firmly in her chest.
No, he wouldn't-
She didn't have time to finish her thought. The guard lifted his foot and kicked straight into Killian's wounded shoulder, pinning him against the side of the yacht. Killian screamed, clawing at the booted leg holding him in place with his hand, the guard's foot pushing against the bullet wound and broken ribs at the same time, but he couldn't move it off of him.
"No!" she cried out, stepping forward, but her guard held onto her, his grip so tight around her arm. She could do nothing but watch, tears filling her eyes as Killian's cries softened into loud gasps, his face twisted in agony as his feet scrabbled uselessly against the floorboards.
"You swore to me!" Liam shouted as he took two steps toward his brother, fury across his features. The third guard stopped him, grabbed his arm and twisted it behind his back, the guard's forearm wrapped around Liam's neck, holding him back. "You swore you wouldn't hurt him," Liam choked out. "You swore you'd leave him alone!"
Gold only shrugged and grinned. "The game changed," he said. He focused on Emma, his eyes dark. "Stop the code, Agent Swan, and I'll stop hurting Killian, you have my word."
Emma's gaze jumped to Killian. "Don't do it," he managed to grunt out. "Don't tel-aah!"
A pang shot through her as the guard pushed his foot harder into Killian's chest, cutting off his words with a sharp cry of pain. She was breathing too fast, decisions swirling too quickly through her head, and she needed everything to slow down, to just stop. Killian's agonised groans made her want to do anything Gold wanted, anything to make it stop, but she couldn't do it, not knowing what Gold would do with the restored program, not after witnessing the exact same fight between the brothers.
Killian had thought himself weak for cracking under the torture in Kabul all those years ago, but she understood now, she knew exactly what Liam had gone through. Having to watch his brother in pain for so long when he had the power to stop it, to make it end. Liam was the one who'd broken in Kabul all those years ago, not Killian.
And now it was happening all over again, only she had to make the same choice Liam had been faced with. To do the right thing, the hard thing, what Killian wanted her to do despite the pain it caused him, or the easy thing, to give in and let the blame for any agents' deaths fall squarely on her shoulders. Not to mention how furious Killian would be if everything he had gone through - both in Kabul and throughout this mission - was for nothing.
"I'm not doing it," she whispered, her eyes locked on Killian's face.
Killian managed a lopsided grin, despite the pain clearly written on his face. "Good," he rasped.
In the periphery of her vision, she saw Gold look quickly between the two of them.
"Well, isn't this familiar," he sneered, walking slowly across the deck to where Killian was still pinned at the short wall. "What do you think your agent friend is going to do when we really get going, Jones? Choose to stay stubborn, listen to you scream? Or will she choose to save you?"
"She's not… going to do it," Killian ground out slowly, fixing Emma with a hard stare before turning to look at Gold. "She doesn't… care about… me…" He broke off with a groan.
Of course I ca- Emma almost said out loud, and she was momentarily shocked at her reaction, though she knew she really shouldn't have been surprised at all. During the week she'd known him, she'd let Killian into her life deeper than she'd allowed anyone, ever - her scars as visible to him as his were to her. And he definitely didn't have much experience opening up to others, that much was abundantly clear from the minute she met him, yet he'd shared his fears, his tragedy, just… himself, with her, only with her. Despite the seriousness of the case, despite the lies and secrets they both kept at the beginning, she knew him, she understood him, and she realised she did care about him, more than she'd cared about anyone in so long - more than Neal, more than Graham. She felt safe with Killian, she knew that her broken pieces didn't make him want to run, to leave her behind, like everyone else. He trusted her, not just her skills but her, and it gave her a strength she hadn't known herself capable of.
Maybe she didn't care about him that way, the way Milah had, the way Liam must, not yet. Maybe that could come later, and maybe she was curious to find out if it would.
Assuming they both survived this, of course.
Gold knelt down next to Killian, and Emma had to strain to make out his words. "I think you're lying," he murmured, almost gently, into Killian's ear. "I think you care about her more than you want to admit, and she feels the same. I remember how you looked at my Milah when you first met her, I remember how she looked at you. True love, and all that nonsense. You're afraid to let Agent Swan care for you that way, and especially to feel the same way back. But guess what?" He leaned closer, still smiling.
Killian didn't reply, gasping for air instead.
"It just makes it easier for me." Gold stood, and the guard removed his foot from Killian's chest. Emma breathed a sigh of relief when Killian gulped in lungfuls of air, his hand clutching at his chest. He nearly fell over, but at least he could breathe.
Her relief was short lived. Without any warning, Gold raised his cane and swung it around at Killian's head, striking him across the face at his left temple, and this time, Killian did fall over, with a short cry of pain as he hit the floor.
"NO!" she shouted uselessly, her guard pulling her back roughly by the arm. She could see Liam struggling against the large man holding him, fighting to gain some sort of leverage against him, but he couldn't get free either.
Gold ignored her as he lifted the cane again, slamming it down on Killian's wounded shoulder. Killian cried out, blood trickling across his face from the gash at his eye, his body writhing to escape the strike. Gold hit him, again, and again, the cane crashing onto Killian's arm, his back, his chest. Killian couldn't draw enough air to scream anymore, he was wheezing, trying desperately to catch his breath, face twisted in absolute agony with each strike of the cane, but Gold didn't stop.
Emma could feel the twin tracks of tears carving down her face as she shouted, twisting wildly in her captor's grasp. She could hear Liam's choked cries, his pleas to take his brother's place, for Gold to just leave him alone, but Gold didn't listen, didn't even acknowledge them, just continued raining blows down on Killian's body.
Finally, Gold stepped back, breathing hard. Killian was half-curled on his side on the floor, motionless aside from the shuddered breaths that shook his chest, his right hand limp on the deck. He coughed, spitting out blood across the wood beneath him, gasping for breath, gasping in pain, but he didn't move.
Liam sagged against his guard, looking completely defeated as he watched his brother. Emma couldn't take her eyes off Killian, each breath he took a small victory, a tiny bit of relief in her chest, but for how long? How long could he hold on? How long could she?
"Well, Agent Swan?" Gold smirked, wiping his hair back from his forehead with one hand as he turned to her. "The code?"
The guard beside her nudged the tablet closer, but she didn't even look at it, her gaze focused only on Killian. He coughed again weakly, blood dripping from his lips, and slowly opened his eyes and looked back at her. The blue in his eyes was so bright, and so full of pain, but he smiled, the sides of his lips twitching upward.
"I'm… I'm not doing it," she repeated, her voice catching just slightly.
Gold grinned, and lifted his foot to step forward - directly on top of Killian's right hand. Killian gasped, his palm under Gold's heel, and when he looked at Emma, there was only fear in his eyes.
No! Emma thought in horror.
"Do it, or he'll lose the hand," Gold smirked, rocking forward. She could see Killian's fingers twitching from under Gold's shoe, his eyes wide and panicked. He winced in pain as Gold leaned forward again, putting more pressure on the trapped limb.
"Don't," he muttered quietly, and Gold picked his foot off Killian's hand and kicked him in the stomach. Killian grunted, snatching his hand to cradle it against his chest, but he continued gazing up at Emma, a smile back on his face.
"You're a… hell of a partner," he rasped, still grinning. "Sorry I couldn't be… better backup…"
Something clicked just then, something she had missed entirely. With all the chaos, the terror, events spiraling out of control, she'd completely forgotten the tiny pistol tucked into the back of her pants. She'd worn it pretty consistently since they left Switzerland, she didn't even feel it anymore. The guards hadn't really frisked her that well, concentrating on her computer and the obvious weapon that had been strapped to her side.
The gun was still there, comfortably snug against the top of her pants.
"I'm not doing it," she grinned at Killian, and his smile widened.
Emma waited until Gold turned back to Killian, waited until the first strike of his cane fell on Killian's bruised and battered side, before she slid her hand behind her back slowly, eyeing the guards carefully. They weren't watching her, all three pairs of eyes intent on the beating instead. She ignored Killian's hoarse groans, forcing herself to focus. Ever so slowly, she slipped the gun from her pants, flicking off the safety and cocking it as quietly as she could.
Before anyone could react, she whipped out the weapon, aimed it at the guard beside Killian, and pulled the trigger. The man fell back with a short cry, likely dead before he hit the deck. She didn't wait to find out. Her arm still in motion, she pointed the gun at the guard beside her, the bullet going straight into his temple, and she was momentarily grateful he released his grip on her arm before he fell over.
In the surprise of her attack, Liam had managed to break free of his captor. He twisted around, punched the third guard in the neck and then across the face, a crunch of bone as his fist struck the other man's cheek. The guard went down and didn't move.
Emma held her gun out, aimed straight at Gold. He looked around, confused for a second, but then flashed her a wide smile. "Get away from him," she growled, before he had a chance to speak. "Drop your cane."
The bloodied wooden walking stick fell to the deck as Gold raised his hands in surrender. He took two steps backwards, and tripped on the body of one of the fallen guards, landing hard on his back with a quiet grunt.
Emma glanced over at Liam. He'd picked up one of the weapons from the disabled guard, trained it on Gold. He looked at her, pain and anger clear in his eyes, something she now understood just a little too well.
"Go help Killian," he said quietly. She nodded, switched on the safety, and pocketed her gun, making her way across the deck to the fallen Jones.
Killian's face was covered in blood, a dark bruise just starting to swell along the left side of his face as he lay there. His breaths were short, shaky, a rattling sound on each inhale. She was afraid to touch him, afraid to move him, fearing the damage.
His eyes slid open as she crouched beside him slowly. "Hey, beautiful," he whispered with a wink, his wink, a slow grin creeping across his face.
She smiled back. "Hey."
"You're a… bloody hero… Emma," he murmured, pausing for air, his eyebrows creased in pain.
"So are you," she said gently.
"You saved me," Killian shook his head weakly. "Saved all of us."
"Like you said in Switzerland, never go in without backup," she smiled.
He grunted just then, reaching out to push himself up. "Little help?" he muttered. She held his elbow and helped raise him to sit up, his back against the wall of the boat. He looked around the deck, eyeing the dead guards, the fallen Gold who remained on the floor, hands raised as Liam kept his gun trained on him.
"You really can handle a weapon, love," Killian murmured, flashing her a small grin. He tried to use his feet to stand up, his hand gripping her arm tightly.
"You need an ambulance, Killian," she admonished. "I don't think you should be moving."
"I just…" he started, breaking off with a wince. "I will, I'll go to the hospital, Emma, I promise. I just want to get off this boat."
He looked at her, his eyes full of pain, but she knew it wasn't just the physical pain. The mission that started five years ago on another continent, the mission that took so much of his life from him, was finally over. She was sure the virus had done its job by now, the program was utterly destroyed. And Gold was being guarded by Liam, who had nothing else to trade, nothing to gain by betraying them now, even though she didn't think he would, not anymore. It was finished, over, and Killian just wanted to start putting it all behind him.
Without another word, she held his arm, pulled it across her shoulders, and helped him stand. He was trembling as he leaned against her, she could feel each burst of air in his chest as he gasped, trying to breath evenly. But he stood, though he let her hold far more of his weight than she would have liked.
They started to make their way to the ramp, toward the docks, when Liam called out.
"Killian."
Killian stopped, turning slightly to face his brother. He didn't look angry anymore, just… tired. "What is it?" he asked.
Liam swallowed, his gun still pointed at Gold. "I'm sorry, Killian. For all of this. I hope you can forgive me, one day. I hope you don't hate me."
Killian sighed softly, and she could see tears forming at the edges of his eyes. "I don't hate you," he said quietly. "But… I need some time, yeah?"
His brother nodded.
"Clean up your mess, Liam," Killian murmured, starting to turn away again. "We'll talk later."
Emma saw the movement from Gold before anyone else, had her gun out, safety off, hammer pulled back, before either of the brothers could make a move. Gold had one of the guns from the fallen guards, raised it up while Killian and Liam spoke, aimed straight at Killian. Emma pulled the trigger on her small pistol. Gold's head snapped back with the force of her bullet, a neat hole in the centre of his forehead as he collapsed backwards.
But not before she heard the sharp report from Gold's gun, felt Killian rock back, his full weight suddenly dragging her shoulders, pulling her down as he fell to the deck.
Emma twisted against him, Killian's arm falling heavily to the floor as she sat over him. She didn't hear Liam's shout as he raced over, didn't hear his panicked voice calling for his brother, didn't notice anything at all.
All she could see was Killian, lying completely still on the wooden floor, as blood slowly pooled under him from a fresh gunshot wound at his head.
The Ninth Circle of Hell, in Dante's Inferno, was reserved for those guilty of betrayal and treachery.
