Disclaimer: bit redundant at this point
Killian had gone home after Emma went to work for the day. He was sitting at his desk, drink in hand, as Smee filled him in on the new information he had uncovered. His mind wasn't on that, though. He found his mind drifting off to the beautiful blonde he had sworn himself to protect. He loved the way she tested him. He loved how annoyingly stubborn she was. He loved the way she made him feel. There was a new purpose for waking up in the mornings and a spectacular reason to smile again.
He was in love.
Which also meant he had his work cut out for him that much more. He'd lost one love to this Crocodile already. He wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of taking another. His mind shot to Milah at that moment, causing his fingers to clutch at the glass in his hand.
He felt pressure on his shoulder, pulling him from his thoughts. "Sir?"
Killian's eyes shot open. He felt pain and the rush of warmth in his left hand. Looking over, he cursed and jumped up at the sight of the blood and rum all over his floor. Evidently, he had clutched at the glass a little too hard. "Bloody hell." he hurriedly lifted the shirt he was wearing from his body and wrapped it around his hand, before rolling the chair away from the mess.
They made quick work of the floor and was now tending to his wound. Blood covered the bathroom sink and a few stray pieces of glass found themselves buried into his hand. Killian carefully peeled them out with tweezers before dumping alcohol onto the open flesh. His eyes screwed shut as whimpers of pain came from the back of his throat. "Get the wrappings. In the cabinet behind the door." he choked out.
The pain was excruciating, but he's had worse. There was one time he had to dig a bullet out of his own shoulder and continue on with chasing his mark. Now that was pain.
His left hand was shaking as he tightly wrapped the gash. How was he going to explain this one to Emma?
"Where's Caldwell?" he asked through gritted teeth.
"As far as I know, he had gone back to the hotel. Aikens ended up bailing him out."
"Bloody fool." Killian wiped down the sink with the ruined shirt before rinsing the rest with water. "What caused the fight?"
Smee grabbed at his stocking cap nervously and shrugged. "It seems that he was out looking for one, sir. He's fairly angry with your decision on laying low and seemed it fitting to create his own battles."
Killian sighed deeply. He never fully trusted Caldwell. Even in the beginning. He never seemed to enjoy taking orders or following them for that matter. Seems that he would have to remind him the hard way of who's who. "Where is his location?"
Killian's fist met Caldwell's door four times before he stood to wait. The sounds of footsteps could be heard shuffling around before the door slowly unlatched. It barely opened an inch before he shoved his way through, grabbing Caldwell by his collar and pushing him into the wall. His left forearm was pressed into his neck and his right hand reached behind his back. "Do you find it proper to disobey me?" he growled. "Have you forgotten who you are dealing with?" he smiled darkly as he pulled his silenced Beretta 92FS from behind his back.
Caldwell's eyes widened as the pistol came to rest between his eyes. "N-no." he stuttered.
"No- what?" He pressed the barrel flush to his forehead as he bared his teeth.
"No, sir." he spat sarcastically.
Killian turned the gun in his hand and punched the butt of it against Caldwell's face. He dropped his arm from his neck as he watched the man spit blood and roll his jaw around. "Continuing the disrespect." he pointed the pistol at him again, cocking his head to the side. "I will not tolerate it."
Caldwell chuckled. "We both know you won't shoot me." he smiled widely before continuing. "You've gone soft. You haven't been the same since-"
"Say it and the least of your worries will be that shoulder and a fat lip." Killian threatened. "Don't test me."
"Tell me something, Hook. At what point did you think it was acceptable to fuck the boss's harlot of a wife?" he sneered.
It only took half a second for Killian to react. The pistol moved from his face to his thigh before he pulled the trigger. Caldwell yelled out in pain as he fell to the floor, his free hand hovering over his newly acquired gunshot wound. He moved to squat down in front of him, pressing the barrel of the gun into his wounded shoulder. Another scream and whimper came from Caldwell. Killian's blue eyes met the man's brown ones and held his gaze.
"I've warned you before to never disrespect a woman in my presence. Especially Milah." his voice was laced with venom as he moved the pistol from his shoulder to the underside of the man's chin. "Do you want to further test your luck, mate? Or have we reached an understanding?"
Eventually he got back up to his feet, satisfied that, for now, his alliance was with him. If he crossed him one more damn time, he'd lose more than just the ability to walk properly.
"Clean yourself up. You look absolutely horrid." And with that, he left.
"Hello!" Ruby snapped her fingers in front of Emma's face before shoving a basket of fries into her chest. "Table 9."
"Oh, right. Sorry." Emma found herself thinking about Killian more and more as days passed. She was still ignoring the trek through the jungle of love, but was quickly realizing that she'd have no other choice here soon. It was quite ridiculous how much she missed his smart ass mouth. The little banters they found themselves having throughout the day. She missed the way his arms wrapped her in a comfortable cocoon. She missed him.
Maybe I do lo-
Regina stormed into the diner and grabbed Emma's attention, pulling those ridiculous thoughts from her head, before sitting in one of the booths. She rolled her eyes and stepped over to the table pulling out her notepad. "Pie?" she asked with fake enthusiasm.
"Sit down, Miss Swan." she ordered pointing to the empty bench in front of her. Emma was slightly confused, but obeyed. After a moment of returning her glare, she finally began. "It seems your boyfriend has brought some friends to Storybrooke. Those friends are starting fights in my town. Disrupting the peace. I can't have that."
Emma's brows furrowed in confusion. "You're telling me this because….?" she drawled with narrow eyes.
"He listens to you. Talk to him for me and pass along the message." she sat back into the booth with pursed red lips.
"And that message would be….?" she mimicked her speech from before.
"Get his accent wielding buddies under control or I'll send them all on a little swim. That includes leather jacket himself."
"Anything else Madame Mayor?" sarcasm was how she dealt with this woman. Sarcasm and fake smiles, which she had on her face at the exact moment she rose from the table.
"Yes." Regina smiled devilishly before folding her hands on the table in front of her. "I think i'll take that apple pie now."
Emma wound up having a short shift today and purposely failed to mention that to Killian, hoping to surprise him. Instead, she found herself sitting on his couch with William Smee as he ate his fill of some gouda cheese he had found in the fridge. Evidently, Killian had stepped out for a bit and Smee had no idea when he'd be back.
It was silent aside from the sound of chewing from the stocky man next to her. Emma sighed, pulling out her phone to check the time. 3:22. She had been sitting here for twenty-two minutes. Which also meant that Smee had been eating cheese for the past twenty-two minutes.
Luckily, she only had to endure the horrible sound of cheese smacking against teeth for another four minutes before Killian entered his home. "You… got off early?" he asked confused and off guard. He seemed distant in his smile when their gazes met.
She was hoping for a happier welcome, but didn't receive it. Something was off. Something was bugging him, eating at him. He always took it upon himself to make her feel better, so she'll do the same.
His eyes wandered over to Smee, narrowing into a glare. "Is that my gouda? Did you raid my fridge when I left?"
Smee's eyes widened as he shoved the rest of the chunk in his mouth. "Mo?" he coughed spewing little chunks of cheese everywhere making Emma giggle softly.
A puff of air came from his lips as he walked along the backside of the couch. "I'll just be a moment, love." When he leaned over to kiss the top of her head is when she noticed the bloodied bandage around his left hand. She darted away from his incoming kiss and simply pointed. Killian sighed and rubbed his forehead. "I may have shattered my favorite tumbler… in my hand."
"Woah, wait." she held up her hands as she moved to stand to her feet. "In your hand? As in… y-you squeezed it and it broke? That thick one?"
He stared blankly at her, giving her a nonverbal answer.
"In your hand?" she repeated, more to herself than to anyone else. Emma sucked in a breath, nodding slowly. "At least you didn't punch anybody this time."
Killian gave a humorless chuckle before exiting the living room to ascend the stairs to the bathroom.
"No." he spoke to his reflection in the mirror and sighed. "Only shot someone in the leg." This is what he wanted to leave behind. This whole double life. It's exhausting and nothing but lies. When the time comes, Emma will despise him. No, she'll hate him. With every fiber of her being.
But, maybe she'll understand. If she loves him the way he's grown to love her, nothing could stop that.
Right?
"You've know Killian for a while right?" she whispered to Smee.
"Aye, ten years." he smiled proudly. "I've never met a greater man in all my days. Why do you ask, ma'am"
Emma moved closer to Smee placing gentle fingers on his arm. "I want to do something special for him, but I'm not sure what. I know he loves music, and drawing, drinking, sailing, but the rest of him is such a mystery. I just want to surprise him. He's done so much for me already."
Smee smiled and patted her hand. "If only you knew, ma'am."
"Please, call me Emma. You sound so 18th century."
He patted her hand again, giving her a small grin. "Certainly, Emma." he straightened his posture and cleared his throat before starting, "If you really want to surprise Ho- uhh… Jones," he quickly corrected, "He's quite the gambler. Loves any type of challenge. Anything that has to do with winning, really. Darts. Poker. Dice. Oh, he's quite fond of the shooting range, though I doubt a lass like yourself would ever set foot in there-"
Emma perked up at the mention, a twinkle in her eye. "Who says I wouldn't?" she smiled broadly and kissed his chubby cheek. "Thank you! You just gave me an amazing idea! Tell him to meet me at my place at 4:30."
Emma whipped open the door at 4:30 on the dot to a stunned looking Killian. His hand was still in midair as though he were about to knock, but quickly lowered it to his side. "Punctual as usual." she chimed.
Killian straightened his jacket and gave a smile. "A gentleman is always on time."
"Yeah, well you won't be a gentleman tonight." she smirked. Emma thought that his eyebrows might actually lift off of his forehead from the shock.
"Well, I like the sound of that already!" he moved to grab her waist, but she smacked his hands away. "Feisty." he growled playfully.
"It's only our second date. What kind of lady do you think I am?" she placed a hand against her chest in mock offense.
He chuckled, offering his arm in which she took. "Apologies, lass. Where are my manners?" He placed a hand atop the one that was gripping at the inside of his elbow. "Where might we be headed?" he asked.
"It's a surprise. Trust me on this."
"I suppose I'm left with no other choice."
"Swan? Explain to me again why we're trekking through the woods?" he asked as he adjusted the small bag of food they had picked up from Granny's.
Emma stopped on a log, taking the chance to catch her breath. "I didn't explain in the first place." she looked up at him as he reached the same point as she and smiled. "Trust me."
Killian poked his tongue in his cheek before waving his free hand ahead of them, allowing her to continue. "As the lady wishes."
They finally made it to a clearing and a barn came into view. Emma smiled and adjusted the water bottles in her arms as she sprinted forward. Killian stayed behind, looking weary of their surroundings. They were in the middle of nowhere.
With no protection.
Perhaps next time he should think over the fact that he should be carrying at all times.
Emma had reappeared from the barn carrying a set of targets over her shoulders. Killian's brows rose significantly as he hurried closer. "Emma?"
She threw the target piece from her shoulders and placed it down, to turn and look at him. "Killian?" she noticed him pointing in confusion with peaked interest and she smiled. "Can you go in the barn and grab the other one? I have to find where we left our leverage." Killian looked to her strangely as he back away.
He placed the bag of food down on a barrel of hay as he looked around. It was like any other barn. Old. Dirty. Abandoned. In one corner there were nothing but targets. All sorts. Paper, metal, stands, holds. Well this is an interesting development. Did Emma know how to shoot?
He filed through some of the targets and realized that they were for different weapons. Arrows, rifles, pistols. Mostly airsoft pellet guns by the looks of them. But, she asked for this four point target gallery.
Killian placed the gallery down next to the other, not taking his eyes off of Emma while she strategically set everything up. As it appears, he doesn't really know too much about her life. He had opened up about some of his and neglected to ask her any information about hers. He tried not to pry too much in fear of upsetting her, but, perhaps tonight he could learn a bit more about Miss Emma Swan.
"There!" she smiled at the setup and took off her leather jacket revealing a grey tank over the top of her usual dark jeans and brown riding boots. "Hope you're ready to get your ass handed to you."
Killian perked up at her words and smirked. "Is that a challenge?"
"Maybe?" she tossed the jacket over to the barn before making her way inside. Upon returning she stopped to take in the view before her. Killian had taken his own jacket off. She couldnt help but notice the way his black v neck t shirt hugged his arms and hung loosely on his body. Damn those tight jeans that hugged his ass and thighs in just the right way. She bit her lip as she pushed the thoughts of forest sex from her mind. "Which one do you want?"
Killian turned at her words seeing her hold up two co2 air pistols and hummed to himself. He pointed to the black one leaving her with the silver and checked it over. He wasn't used to such light weaponry and it would take a few shots to get accustomed, but it'll be fun regardless. Emma shoved a container of pellets into his chest along with another co2 cartridge as she fumbled with her own, along with the bag of food that she placed at her feet.
"8 targets in total minus the resets. Hit anything less than 5 targets is a dare. 5 or more will be truth." she explained as she double checked the hold.
He chuckled as he checked his own ammunition. Pre-filled. "Truth or Dare with guns? My kind of woman." He raised a brow as he gave a sideways glance over to beauty next to him.
She rolled her eyes and nudged her head towards the targets. "Practice." Emma sat down on the ground, carefully placing the items in her hands down next to her, before tearing open the bag to find her grilled cheese.
Killian rolled his neck around and rotated his shoulders before holding the pistol out in front of him. Luckily his trigger hand was free of bandages, but, evidentally it didn't matter as he only hit 3 out of the 8 targets. "Son of a bitch." his hand fell to his side in disbelief of his own shitty aim.
"This will be fun." Emma laughed around a mouthful of cheesy goodness. "I already have your first dare lined up."
Killian shot her a look before hitting the resets. "Quite cocky aren't you, lass?" he lined up his shots again. 5 this time.
"Not too bad." she mused before stretching to grab a water bottle.
He reset the targets one last time, before lowering the pistol. "You talk lot of game, Swan. Care to show me what you got?"
Emma shoved the rest of the sandwich in her mouth as she got to her feet. She wiped the butter on her jeans, before bending to take her pistol in hand. She did her own loosening routine before holding it out in front of her body. Her breathing steadied as she lined up her shots. 7 out of 8.
Killian stared at her in complete shock and admiration. He was driven speechless for a second time in his life. The attraction he had for her grew tenfold at that very moment. So, Emma could shoot. "Who taught you?" he asked still completely amazed.
Emma smiled proudly as she flipped her blonde locks over her shoulder. "Guess you'll have to wait to find out." she reset the targets before walking off towards the nearest tree. "Ready to make this interesting?" she asked, switching the safety on and shoving the pistol into the space of the small her back.
Killian watched after her as she climbed to one of the thicker branches and straddled it. Pulling the gun from her back, she switched the safety off and adjusted her body on the branch. Her body lay almost flat against it. Her knees hugged the cool bark as she adjusted her aim. It would be slightly more difficult at this angle, but that was all part of the fun. His eyes studied her position and found himself feeling oddly overjoyed. His gorgeously beautiful and beyond amazing, girlfriend knew what she was doing, and she went out of her way to impress him. They could have had a nice normal dinner, exchanged idle chit chat, but what was the fun in that?
5 targets. Truth.
Not bad. Emma swung her body up and smirked down at the man below. "My father." she called down. "My father taught me how to shoot. Every summer and nearly every weekend we would come out here to this clearing and shoot around. My mother attempted to teach me archery, but I preferred the guns."
So David can shoot, too. Brilliant.
He sighed as he walked over to the tree. "Never thought Dave to be the type." He helped her down before copying her way up. The targets were angled from up here. Killian laid his body down flat against the bark, just as Emma had, and looked for an easier angle. He moved his shoulders slightly to the right and slowed his breathing.
6 targets. Truth.
"How do you feel about me?" she questioned nonchalantly.
He nearly slipped from the tree from being caught off guard by her question. Killian sat up to stare down at her. "In what context?" he asked before seeing her shrug. He threw his leg over the branch and jumped down. That was a loaded question and he wasn't quite sure which way he should go to answer it. "I feel a great deal for you, Swan. But, I wouldn't be against feeling other things." he ran his tongue over his lower lip before biting down.
She backed away from him with a satisfied small grin. "Next round."
They ended up on top of the barn. The targets were much harder to manage this way. Killian munched on his order of mozzarella sticks as he watched Emma shoot 2 of the targets and curse. He laughed and tossed the half eaten stick back in the bag and stood to his feet. "Rotten luck, love. First dare of the evening! What shall it be?" he paced the rickety roof proudly, with boosted ego, causing Emma to roll her eyes. "I dare you… to be nice to me the rest of the evening. Think you can manage?"
She got to her feet and glared. Opening up her mouth to say something smart, Killian mimicked her exact face holding up a finger in playful warning. Her mouth closed into a thin line and groaned. Asshole. "Your turn."
Killian paced the edge figuring out the best place to shoot from. He stopped, looked over the edge with a smirk before dropping down. Emma's eyes widened. She all but ran over to locate where he had gone. Hearing the shots, she looked up to see 6 of the target's gone, while Killian smiled broadly up at her from the ledge of the window.
"That's cheating!"
"I'm still technically on the roof." he countered. "I just found a better vantage point." Emma growled and pushed away from the ledge. "No help?"
"Do it you-" she stopped short remembering that stupid dare and turned back around to offer her hand. "Where did you learn how to shoot?" she asked dryly.
Killian stiffened at her question and at a vivid memory that began playing through his head.
He had to give her the truth by rules of the game. That didn't necessarily mean the whole truth. "I used to work for someone who trained me. Well, it wasn't necessarily him. It was his assistant." and then he fell quiet.
Peaked interest at its finest. This was the first she's ever heard about a job. "What did you do?" she asked.
His brow shot up at the question and he tutted. "One truth per shot, darling."
Next round, Killian earned a truth question. "I'll start off simple. If you weren't a waitress in some grimy diner what would you want to be doing?"
Emma turned to face him with a grin. "Criminal Justice. It's always been a dream of mine."
Impressed and slightly shocked Killian took his shot. "Bloody hell. Misjudged that." he muttered.
"Yes!" Emma jumped up from the ground and laughed. "I've been waiting for this! I dare you to call Regina!"
"Regina? What the blazes for?" he grimaced at her shrug and smug smile. "I thought I dared you to be nice, Swan?" he muttered as he dug for his phone.
"Call Regina, please."
He rolled his eyes and scrolled through his contacts. "What am I supposed to say?" he asked as he hovered over the phone button.
"You're a smooth talker. I'm sure you can figure it out. Oh! Put it on speaker!" she bounced on the balls of her feet, clearly enjoying this a little too much.
The phone began to ring. He felt extremely nervous as he ran a hand through his hair. Oh, what he wouldn't do to make Emma happy. "Is there a reason you're interrupting my dinner, tight pants?" Regina's voice echoed through the clearing.
"I don't know whether to be flattered or disgusted by your knowing of how tight my pants are."
"Ugh, is there a point to this?" she barked.
"Nope. Not really." he smiled widely at Emma's stifled laugh.
"You called me just to annoy me?"
He raised a single brow and smirked wildly. "Aye."
"Asshole." with that the call disconnected.
"That went better than expected." he chuckled and put the phone back into his pocket. "Next round."
Emma. Truth.
"Why haven't you followed your dream?"
Emma snorted as she played with the safety on the gun. "Neal. He thought that I would be untrustworthy if I went to school in a different town. Let alone a different state. He wouldn't go with me, either. Something about how he didn't want to just pick up and move just for a dream. Dreams fade. Love lasts. The whole stupid fucking spiel that I fell for. Now he's left town and moved on with his bimbo he continuously cheated on me with." she let out a humourless laugh before dropping the gun to her side, staring off into the distance. "I guess I was just naive. I would have done anything to keep him around because that's what I thought I needed at the time. Even though he broke my heart time and time again."
Killian stepped closer to gently take the pistol from her hand. He adjusted both pistols in his right hand, so his left could hold hers. "If it can be broken, it means it still works." he took a thoughtful breath, closing his eyes. "I never thought I would be able to love, again. I lost my first to the man I worked for."
Emma's eyebrows furrowed. Again? First? Her eyes widened in realization. The unspoken words were right there, filling the area around them with odd static. "That's a shitty boss." she whispered.
His hand slipped out of hers as he bent to put the pistols on the ground. "Aye. That he is."
"Is? You still work for him? Over here?" she questioned as they both took a place on the ground.
"I wouldn't really say for him."
"What do you do?" They both looked out to the targets as he searched for an explanation. How hard was it to explain what you do for a living?
He finally settled on the most vague answer. "Debt collecting."
She laughed softly turning her head to face him. "You're one of those annoying callers at three in the morning?"
A small smile appeared on his face as he looked down to his boots. "Something like that." A quiet moment fell between them before he spoke again. "Emma?"
"Killian?"
"How do you feel about me?" he asked softly.
Emma's stomach lurched. Well, guess it's time to start trekking. "You mean besides how annoyingly irritating you can be?"
"Aye. Preferably." Killian leaned back onto his elbows and waited for her to continue.
Don't think about it. Just say it. Don't think about it. Just say it. Don't think about it. Just say it.
"You seem to… find your way into my thoughts on a regular basis and I don't really know how to feel about it. On one hand I would love nothing more than to explore all of these new feelings with you, but on the other…. I have trusted and have been burned by it. I feel apprehensive. I don't want to get hurt again. To be let down."
Killian sat up, taking her hand in his. "Hey. I don't intend to let you down."
"I know. Maybe that's why I'm scared? You genuinely care about me and I don't know how to accept that." Their fingers laced together and she felt a gentle reassuring squeeze on her hand. "It's going to take time."
"I'll be here waiting. I'm not going anywhere. I'm a very patient man, love. Some may say stubborn and persistent." he flashed a smile that she returned.
A few silent moments passed between them before, "Where do we go from here?" she whispered.
"Wherever you want to take us, Swan."