Prompt over on Tumblr: Request a CS prompt and ye shall receive: Killian thinks over the horrible things Blackbeard said to him after they have a run in. He's holed up in the Captain's Quarters when Emma comes to him. He believes that he's worthless and underserving and a villain etc etc. so it's up to Emma to convince him other wise. Angst/fluff and whatever else you want to do with it.

Rated: …well mostly K+ but there's dark!Hook in here so let's go with T

A/N: Interesting prompt, thank you for that! I changed it a bit, because I felt it should be on the deck where Blackbeard left him, I hope you don't mind. I also hope that you liked what I did with the idea!

Useless.

Cruel.

Worthless.

Pirate.

All true, all very hurtful.

Even the best rum couldn't make him forget this.

Not that he didn't try, mind you. He stared at the calm waves of the Storybrooke bay, working through his collection of rum at a steady pace. His life had just taken a turn for the worst, now that the man who had abandoned him had returned to his life.

Captain fucking Blackbeard. His father.

The worst man in his life. Killian chuckled at the irony. He thought the Crocodile was his worst enemy, because he thought his father was dead. He was wrong. Gods, was he wrong. His father was very much alive.

He'd come sailing into port, all cocky arrogance (Killian tried not to see the resemblance with himself), and found him on the deck. It began as a heated argument, in which his father used the words that hurt him most.

Old.

Alone.

Done for.

Villain.

Killian, enraged, had drawn his sword and duelled the man who made him and abandoned him. He thought he could defeat him.

He was wrong.

Blackbeard left him, exhausted and bleeding, with a sneer.

My greatest mistake was you. You are nothing. Worthless. A waste of space.

Really, it was nothing but the truth, Killian knew that. Did not mean it did not hurt. Scoffing, he took another swig, the rum burning in his throat.

After who knows how many hours, he heard footsteps coming up the gangplank and on deck, and he steeled himself for more hurt and heartbreak. Instead, a blonde angel appeared beside him, leaning against the side of the ship, her grey eyes watching him with concern.

"Hey Beautiful." he said, surprised that he wasn't slurring. Still hadn't had enough to drink. "Came to see me wallow in my misery?"

"No, actually. I heard people talk about a sword fight on the Jolly. Figured it could only be you." He turned to her, but before he could say anything, she gasped. "You're bleeding!"

"Nothing but a scratch, love." he said lightly. He felt the wound, but didn't pay it heed.

"A scratch, my ass." she growled, immediately ripping a strip of cloth from her sleeveless shirt and snatching his rum from him. He made a whining sound, but one look from her silenced him. She doused the fabric in rum and started to clean the wound on his forehead. She was so close that he felt her warmth, smelled her perfume.

"Mmm, you don't normally get this close, love - "

"Killian." she said. Just his name. One simple word, but with a ship load of meaning behind it. She knew he was hurting and was just hiding it behind his smug facade. She knew everything. Just as he knew everything about her.

"What's wrong, love? Can't handle it?" He licked his lips, smiling teasingly.

"Killian. You know just as well as I that you're hurting."

"Well, the rum does sting a bit, but nothing too horrible." He'd be damned if he was going to share his pain with the only person who could destroy him completely.

"How can you live like this? So…guarded, never letting anyone in, never sharing your pain?"

That was hypocritical, and she knew it. Killian yanked her hand away from his face, his fingers wrapped tightly around her hand so she couldn't move away from him when he leaned in closer. "Look who's talking." he whispered menacingly.

Emma narrowed her eyes at him. "Let go." she said, pulling at her hand, but he didn't budge. "Hook, I swear to God…"

"Oh, and now it's Hook again."

"Yes, it is, because whoever you are, you are not Killian Jones." she spat at him.

"Maybe I'm Captain Hook, maybe I'm Killian Jones. What do you care?" He threw her hand back at her, and she blinked in surprise.

"I do care!"

"Oh, really? See, I don't believe you. If you did, you would've come to find me much sooner after we defeated that Witch!" he said, taking quick steps away from her. She followed suit. "Nobody cares about a one-handed pirate with a drinking problem." Taking his flask to take another swig, he turned around to find her right in front of him, grey eyes stormy, and a tad of danger in them. She swatted the flask from his hand, and he was too far gone to stop it. He growled at her. "You do not want to do that, sweetheart." There was no tone of affection in the name. He was full on Captain Hook, and he wasn't even trying to cover it up.

"Oh no? What are you going to do? Hurt me? Because I don't believe you can."

"Watch me, Princess."

Emma shook her head. "Give him back, Hook." she said, and Hook blinked in surprise. That was unexpected.

"Pardon me?"

Emma looked him in the eye, all fierce and determined. "Give me back Killian Jones. Right now."

"I'm Killian Jones, love. And I'm Captain Hook. One and the same." he sneered.

Emma grabbed his arm when he tried to turn around, pulling him back. "No, they're not. Because Killian Jones wouldn't say these things to me, Killian Jones wouldn't hide himself from me, like a coward! The Killian Jones I know and love…would never do the things you're doing right now. So give him back." She was flushed with angry shame. She had just confessed something massive. She had just given him the one thing that could destroy her. Her heart.

And Killian realized that.

All the anger dissipated like an air bubble that got popped. All he saw, all he knew right now was her. He lifted his hand to cup her face. "Emma…" he murmured.

She smiled through sudden tears. "Yes, Killian, I'm here. I'm not going anywhere."

His hook arm went around her waist and he pulled her flush against him, crashing his lips to hers. She soothed all his aches just by kissing him back. "Emma, Gods, Emma, I'm so sorry." he breathed against her lips. All his father's words crossed his mind again.

Useless. Cruel. Worthless. Mistake. Waste of Space.

He had just proven his father right by almost hurting the one good thing in his life. "So sorry. I'm so sorry. I'm so worthless."

Emma wrapped her arms around him and pulled him against her body, her entire being shaking and he could hear her sob. "Oh Killian, no. You're not worthless. Not at all. You've saved my life so many times, in so many different ways…you helped safe my son."

"But my father said…" he whispered against her shoulder.

"Well, no offense, but your dad is a great big bag of dicks." she said, and he had to laugh in spite of himself.

"None taken, love."

"Killian, you're the man who stole my heart. You. Nobody else. I made the mistake of falling in love with the wrong guy already. I'm not doing it again, which is why I know that you're not the wrong guy." She pushed him off, so that she could look him in the eye. He stared at her, disbelieving of her words, but so happy to be hearing them. She smiled, taking his hand and placing it directly over her heart. Killian felt her steady heartbeat beneath his palm, so strong. Like herself. "Feel that?" she whispered. He nodded. "It's yours. Killian, I've made my choice, and it's you. Actually, it wasn't even a choice at all. It has always been you, it was always meant to be you. You are worth so much, and just because your father says you're something, doesn't mean that you are. He doesn't even know you." Her fingers entwined with his over her heart, and she placed her other hand on his face. "I do."

Killian couldn't help but see blurry (he'd deny it if anyone ever asked, but he was alone with Emma, who he trusted with his vulnerability). "Emma, love." he whispered, gripping her hand tighter. "And what do you know?"

"I know that you're Killian Jones." she said simply. "I know that you're a dashing rapscallion - " He laughed, and her eyes twinkled. " - and I know that you're a good man, who bad things have happened to. I know that you love me. I know that you would do anything to protect me, and make sure that I'm happy. And most importantly, I know that I love you. Every bit of you, every part, every dark corner…" She looked him straight in the eye. "…I love you."

Killian tried to hide the wetness leaking from his eyes as he pulled her in his arms and kissed her like it was both the first and the last time. He poured every ounce of love he had for her into it. He opened his heart completely for her. He didn't care now. She could take it and crush it, he didn't care. He would be happy to die, knowing that she loved him in this moment, right here right now, when he was at his weakest.

They broke apart after what felt like centuries. They were both breathless and flushed, but grinning like two teenagers. "Now," Emma said, "all we have to do is tell daddy dearest."

His eyes widened. "David will murder me."

Emma chuckled, grabbing his hand. "Nah. He won't. You're my pirate. I won't let him." She kissed his cheek then, and pulled him off his ship.

Killian felt happier, and even David's punch and threat did not make him any less so.