Chapter Specific Warnings: Mentions of Violence
Chapter Notes: Okay everyone, this is a chapter that I have been super excited for you all to read! I saw this chapter in my head pretty early on into the story, so it was written before a lot to the middle happened. It took a lot of time, and some editing in the chapter to get it to flow well with what was currently being written, but I knew this was something that was integral to Emma and Killian's story. I noticed pretty early on that while this was a story about people with supernatural abilities/powers, there wasn't a lot to writing where we saw them use their powers. We got a glimpse of what Emma could do earlier in the story, but now we get to see a bit more about what other powers exist at Greenwood Academy. Thanks again to daveyjacobsthepotterhead for helping me integrate this chapter better into the story and princesse-swan for making some amazing art for the story as well. (part of her Killian photoset might finally begin to make more sense…) Enjoy!
Chapter 10"I don't know Emma, maybe he was genuinely interested in getting to know you better." David said, trying to placate her.
Emma huffed in response. She had gone to David after they had gotten back to campus, trying to get someone to help her figure out what was going on inside of her head after she had had that argument with Killian a week ago. She had been studiously trying to avoid him, since she wasn't entirely sure why she was upset with him either.
There was just something about the way he was pushing her that got entirely too far under her skin, and it unsettled her a lot.
She didn't let many people in, so the fact that someone wanted to get to know her for a change was something she didn't necessarily know how to handle.
Emma looked over at David as they continued to walk towards the middle of campus, since they were meeting Ruby and Mary Margaret after their lecture let out in 5 minutes.
"Yeah, I really don't know either. There is just something about him that just gets under my skin." She said, wrapping her arms around herself.
"And who said that was necessarily a bad thing? You have already told me that he understands you better than the rest of us can, considering the fact that he is a High Risk student like you are. You might not know what his powers are-"
"But that's the thing! I don't know anything about him, how can he demand to know everything about me?" Emma countered.
"Emma," David said, stopping her in her tracks and placing a hand on each of her shoulders, looking directly at her like a parent would if they were trying to have a serious conversation with a young child. "Yeah, maybe you don't know much about him now, but you won't know anything about him if you never open yourself up to listening to him. Maybe he wants to tell you but doesn't think you will understand what happened to him. Did you ever think of that?"
She hadn't. But that shouldn't necessarily have any bearing on her decisions either.
"Hey, what are you guys talking about?" Ruby asked, walking up next to her.
"What do you think?" Emma muttered, turning away from David and looking a different way across campus.
"Well, based off that tone, I can guess." Ruby commented dryly. Emma forgot how much her friend heard sometimes.
"And speak of the devil…" Mary Margaret entoned.
"Hey David, how have you been? Long time no see!" Said Robin, walking up to the group. Emma turned to see Killian following not that far behind him.
"Hey Robin, Long time is right, not since last fall term, right?" David asked, pulling him into a one arm hug and slapping him across the back.
Killian stopped just off to her left, watching David and Robin catch up. She tried to ignore the heat emanating from him, how comfortable she wanted to feel around him. She did feel comfortable around him, and that was what was scaring her, how he just got her to open up without even having to try.
"Emma, can I just say something." He asked under his breath. He leaned in closer to her when he asked, probably so her friends couldn't eavesdrop on them.
"I don't know, are you going to be rude again?" Emma said, rubbing her hands up and down her arms. A ball of anxiety was starting to form in the pit of her stomach. Something more than just his presence next to her was starting to make her uncomfortable.
"Emma…" Killian started, sounding tired, before being interrupted by Ruby growling under her breath.
All conversation in thier group stopped as they all turned to look at their friend. "What is it?" Mary Margaret asked.
Ruby turned her head up towards the sky, turning in a slow circle, scanning the skies for something, but Emma didn't know what.
"Something's coming." She said. David moved in closer to Mary Margaret as Ruby's normally soft brown eyes began to glow an eerie shade of hazel and her canines began to elongate.
Emma turned to look around the campus, all of the students who were out milling the commons had all come to a stop, looking up at the sky and around them as those with powers to sense an incoming threat began to speak up.
The entire campus had gone silent. Watching and waiting.
With her own senses seemingly heightened, she was hyper aware of Killian's presence as he moved in closer to her as well, his right arm brushing hers.
She stilled. Off to her right, coming in fast from behind them, was a flash of heat, one that was both familiar and foreign at the same time.
She whipped around at the same time Ruby did, focusing on the incoming projectile breaking through the upper cloud layers.
Students all around them began to scream, running for the surrounding buildings.
Emma and her friends stood still, watching as the missile broke through the final lower cloud deck and aimed straight for campus. Killian wrapped his hand around her arm, but she shook him off; focusing on how fast the missile was coming in.
She began counting back in her head, Five.
Four.
Three.
Two.
One.
Killian slammed into her as the missile hit the protective barrier surrounding the campus, knocking her to the ground as the world rocked around them.
All around campus the warning sirens started going off, amplifying the screams of the terrified students.
Emma opened her eyes, not even remembering that she closed them, and pushed up off the ground as far as Killian seemed to be letting her, and looked around campus. The students were in a mass panic, running to and from buildings on campus, trying to make it to a designated shelter building. Many stumbled as another strike hit the barrier above them.
"They're trying to take down the barrier." She said, not quite believing what she was saying. Never had anything like this happened to one of the campuses.
"Emma, we have to get out of here." Killian said. She turned to find him looking around the campus at all of the students running around them. He looked back down at her, "Did you hear me? We have to get out of here!"
Emma pushed him off her, but didn't make any move to leave the general area. Her gaze snagged on what had seemingly already caught David's attention.
The line students and soldiers that were now advancing on them.
"What in the-"
"Robin, get the women out of here." David said, moving to spearhead their little group.
"What!? David, you can't possibly think-"
"Don't argue with me Mary Margaret, you know your powers will do you no good here." David yelled, angrily cutting her off. Mary Margaret looked like she was about to argue, but stumbled as another missile rocked the campus. The barrier gave an ominous groan in response.
Robin moved to grab Emma's arm away, but she pulled away from him. "I'm staying" she said.
"Emma-"
"No!" She yelled, cutting off both David and Killian. "I can help, don't make me go with them." Mary Margaret and Ruby were already taking off away from the advancing line.
"Emma, you can't do anything with those bracelets on, and you know that!" David said, trying to reason with her.
"But I can feel them! The flames from the missile blast, I can feel them! If you can get me out of these bracelets, I can fight!"
Whatever response both men had, since Robin had taken off after the women, was halted as the ground rumbled beneath them.
All three looked up to see Gaston, a student with the gift of earth manipulation, charging out ahead of the line. Fissures in the ground opened up where he his feet landed, unsettling the ground further. Without warning, two boulders came flying at the trio, one right after the other.
David lunged out in front of her and Killian and grabbed the first one right out of the air above his head. He grunted as he stopped it's momentum and swung it back at the other boulder flying towards them, both shattering mid air.
She lunged for her friend, extending her wrists. "DO IT!" She yelled over the roar of another missle hitting the barrier. One more hit and it was likely that the barrier would fail.
David's eyes were conflicted as he looked at her for a fraction of a second, but then reached and pulled at the bracelet on her left wrist. After a heartstopping second, Emma felt the metal begin to give, and her flames began roaring up inside her.
"The other one, Quickly," She said, thrusting her right hand at him again.
He took this bracelet between his hands and pulled at it, sweat beading at his brow with the effort to loosen the mechanics in the bracelets.
Finally, the second bracelet's mechanics failed as well, and she was free.
Shucking the remains of the bracelets off her wrists, she turned towards Gaston, who was still advancing on them, working to build up his next attack.
Noticing her at the front of their group now, Gaston signaled to the troops advancing behind him as he continued to stride towards her, a ghastly smirk appearing on his face.
Emma scanned the lines behind him, noticing other students intermixed with the unfamiliar faces. Why were they doing this?
More importantly, where was the academy's security? The sirens had been going off for at least 5 minutes, some kind of response had to be on it's way by now.
Gaston stopped a football field away from her, his hands twitching and flexing at his side. Right as he pulled back to send his next strike at them, the last blast the barrier could take hit.
Both of them staggered as they tried to keep their balance, the roar of the missile's implosion even louder without the barrier to muffle it.
Emma looked up to see the swirling flames now bursting through the gaping hole in the invisible structure protecting them and smiled.
.o.O.o.
Killian and David were both blown back as Emma took control of the flames that came from the missile impact, a tornado of fire dropping out of the sky and slamming into the ground around her.
Killian looked up from where he had hit the ground in awe and terror as the flames continued to swirl and expand in the sky. They filled the area of the barrier that had failed and continued to swirl outward, apocalyptic storm clouds swarming over campus.
The flames that had shot out of the sky turned into a ring spinning around her, flaring out in response to Emma's movements, as if they were no longer two separate entities, but one in the same.
The mass of people that had been moving towards them stopped when the earth thrower had stepped forward, and Killian noted with satisfaction that they looked like they wanted to turn and back away, not realizing the force they had unleashed. As he scanned them further, he was relieved to see that they didn't have any visible weapons on them.
Killian had known she was powerful, she had mentioned it off handedly to him a few times, but judging by the equally awed and terrified expression on David's face, even he didn't know what Emma was capable of.
It also seemed that this other bloke didn't know what to do about her now either. They obviously hadn't been expecting anyone to stand up and fight back against them. But it seemed that indicision had passed, because a cruel smile spread across his face as he turned and launched a multitude of boulders Emma's way.
Heart leaping to out of his chest, Killian regained control of his stunned limbs and moved to get up and... do what he didn't know. All he knew was that he had to try and protect this precious thing of his.
A hand on his arm stopped him in his tracks. Killian turned to see David eyeing him warily.
David had to yell to be heard over the roar of the flames, "What are you doing, trying to get yourself killed?"
He looked away from David's skeptical gaze. He didn't know what he was going to do, but he had to do something.
He was the only one in their group who had seen actual combat before for fuck's sake.
Killian watched with bated breath as Emma launched herself out of the way of a boulder, flames exploding from her feet to propel her through the air and a safe distance from the first impact. While working to avoid getting crushed, she also was trying to press her advantage, desperately flinging balls of flame out in the other fighters direction as well as the mass of troops behind them.
All of a sudden, someone from the troops behind them yelled, pointing up at the sky, his words drowned out by the crashing of boulders into the ground.
David and Killian looked up to the sky simultaneously, seeing the next missile incoming, straight for where the last one had breached the barrier.
"Fuck," David intoned next to him. Yep, that about covered it.
But, as the missile struck the swirling flames protecting the school, it imploded, adding to the heat and intensity of the flames above them.
Emma, using the distraction of the missile's explosion to her advantage, struck. Meteors of flame launched down from the emboldened blaze in the sky, striking down into the sea of people and causing them to scatter.
Where the flames hit, the person fell to the ground and didn't get up.
Killian blanched, after everything that happened to him, he couldn't stand the idea of killing someone like that.
David, seeming to notice his reaction, stated, "They aren't dead, they are restrained, look."
Following David's finger, he noted that what his friend said was true. Rings of flame encircled their necks, waist, wrists and feet, preventing them from rising without actually burning or injuring them.
That's when Killian had an idea. A stupid idea, but an idea nonetheless.
"Break it off," He exclaimed, startling David away from whatever he was watching.
"What?" David asked, looking confused.
"My Glove, it is a suppression object of sorts. Break it off." He extending his right hand out to his friend, hoping he wasn't making a huge mistake.
"You don't even know how to use your powers, what good will doing this be?" David asked, but still reaching to inspect his hand. They were running out of options.
While another missile had struck and was again destroyed by Emma's flames, she was slowly losing the upper hand when it came to her battle with the other gifted person.
"Well I have to do something, I can't leave her to fight this all on her own," He said. He flinched as a boulder came at her unawares, slamming into her extended arm and knocking her down from where she was propelling herself through the sky.
David began scouring the ground, looking for what, he didn't know.
"Are you sure you aren't going to do more harm than good?" He asked, picking up a piece of concrete about the size of a brick. David gestured towards the ground.
Killian knelt down and extended his hand, placing it palm up in front of him.
"This might hurt," David said, lining up with his hand. "You still haven't answered my question."
"I guess that is a risk we have to be willing to take," He said looking up at his friend.
Indecision warred in David's eyes. But whatever he seemed to see on Killian's face, the indecision gave way to determination.
With a grunt of force, David slammed the concrete into his gloved hand, cracking the metal plating. Killian barely noted the discomfort in his hand from the blow as he felt it as that nameless thing in him came swimming back to life.
David watched him, seeming to wait for something to come exploding out of him.
Thankfully, that didn't happen.
He watched Emma carefully, waiting for her to get as safely situated as possible, fighting to keep that darkness inside of him so he didn't end up hurting her on accident.
Taking a deep breath as she came to a stop, he released that barrier inside of him, and the world plunged into darkness.
.o.O.o.
Emma stumbled, panting, as the world went dark around her, the black so deadening that even her flames winked out.
She didn't dare try to reignite them for fear of placing a target onto her back.
She blinked a couple of times, trying to get her eyes to adjust.
The darkness surrounding her didn't seem like it would hurt her.
It was a quiet, peaceful sort of darkness. Warm like a summer night of pleasant dreams.
Emma heard the screams of others as the world darkened around them, and the noise of what seemed like bodies hitting the ground.
But she held her place, watching in surprised delight as what seemed like stars began winking into existence around her.
After what seemed like an eternity, the world became quiet around her.
She reached a hand out towards one of those stars in front of her and her eyes widened in shock as the star flared brighter in front of her once her finger came into contact with it.
She heard what sounded like ragged breathing next to her before the world came back, blindingly bright around her.
Blinking rapidly to get her eyes to adjust, Emma looked around in horror as she saw the bodies of everyone laying around her, the ones who had her flames restraining them remained untouched.
Killian stood just off to her right, breathing wetly.
"They are just asleep Swan, don't worry about it." He said, bending over to place his hand and wrist on his knees, sweating profusely as he struggled to get air into his lungs.
She noted then that his ever present glove was missing from his right hand.
"That was you?" She asked in revelation.
The slide action of a rifle stopped him from answering.
It seemed like campus security had finally arrived.
Emma immediately threw her hands into the air, turning to look wide eyed down the barrel of a gun.
"Don't. Move." The security officer said as more armed officers swarmed in around them.
"On your knees, now." Emma's eyes slid over to see Headmaster Riggans storming towards them as she slowly made her way to her knees. She couldn't see if Killian complied next to her.
Whatever he was going to yell at them was cut off as what sounded like another body collapsed to the ground. This time disturbingly close.
She turned to see Killian had passed out beside her.
Panic flooded through her in an instant. But before she could get beyond that initial moment of rising panic, her hands were shoved violently into a pair of suppression gloves, and the world went dark.