A man unwilling to fight for what he wants deserves what he gets. It's not one of his proudest memories, but he's been unable to shake the sentiment since his encounter with Emma. It feels like he's giving up, when that's the last thing he wants to do. But even though he didn't spend the last couple of months with the real Emma Swan, he still learned a lot about her, including her body language. And he could see perfectly clear that there was no room for argument in that moment, that anything he could have said would have been shot down with force.
He hopes that she might reconsider, that she will see that taking Henry away from his grandparents, his family, can never be the right course of action. Naturally, he also wants her to stay, wants them to stay, for selfish reasons. He is ready to admit that the last seven months were the happiest time of his life. It feels like a betrayal, in some ways. To Liam. To Milah. That he could forget about them so easily. To admit that forgetting about them made him a happier man.
He sighs. She only told him about her plans this morning and already he's managed to worry himself out of his mind. He needs to get a grip on his emotions. He'll need a clear head and a gentle approach if he wants to get anywhere with Emma. He's not quite sure yet what that approach is going to be, exactly, but he's pretty sure that punching his fist into a wall, which is what he feels like doing at the moment, is not going to accomplish much.
He has a strong feeling that Henry is not going to take the news well. Being a teenager, finding out who you are, is a difficult enough job as it is. It surely doesn't help to have an array of conflicting memories floating around in your head. At least Henry choose a different path than Emma after the spell was broken. Rather than ignoring what happened to them and trying to forget about how it made him feel, he seems to have accepted that they are more than strangers to each other now. They have fallen into an easy sort of friendship and Killian is intensely grateful for it. He's not sure he could have survived the cold shoulder treatment from both Henry and Emma.
Speaking of the devil, Emma arrives home, throwing the door closed behind her with force, looking personally offended at the woman's refusal to be found. She spots him and her features turn exasperated, like seeing him is the final straw on a shitty day. He feels his anger flare up and pushes it down, taking a deep breath.
He can already see the answer in her expression, but he asks anyway. "No luck?"
She shakes her head, switching from anger to resignation in the span of a heartbeat. Emma takes a few hesitant steps closer, her body language telling him that he is about to receive some bad news. He braces himself. How much worse than the news from the morning can it be?
"Listen, Ho- Killian." He takes her use of his given name as a small victory. "I think it's better if I move back in with my parents until Henry and I leave for New York. I- I dunno- need some space to think. And it's difficult to do that with you around." She sounds apologetic.
Killian takes another deep breath, trying to calm himself. It's not like he didn't see this coming. He's actually surprised that she stayed as long as she did.
"Nonsense, love. It makes much more sense for you and Henry to stay here. I'll take a room at Granny's."
Emma looks surprised at his offer and his heart constricts painfully in his chest as he considers what kind of man she thinks him to be, to be surprised by such a simple kindness. Maybe she expected him to put up a fight.
Emma continues her explanation, clearly prepared for more resistance. "It's just that I need some time by myself to think things over. I know it's all a bit of a mess-" She goes on for a bit, but Killian is distracted by something behind her. The window closest to the front door has caught his attention. He can see an eerie blue light wavering by outside. He's no expert by far, but it looks suspiciously like magic. After a moment, Emma realizes that he stopped paying attention and follows his line of sight to the window.
"Huh", she says, her eyebrows shooting up. Both of them quickly walk over to investigate. They open the door and the light is right in front of them, looking very much like a barrier.
Emma turns to him questioningly. "What now? Is this some sort of protection spell?"
Killian pokes at it with his index finger and gets zapped for his trouble. "Ouch."
"Poking at it. Brilliant idea." Emma's voice is dripping with sarcasm.
Killian's temper gets the better of him. "I've yet to see you come up with a better plan."
Emma just glares at him defiantly. "Let's find out if it covers all the exits. How is that for a plan?"
They part ways, checking all the windows and the back door. They reconvene back at the front door several minutes later.
"It's everywhere", Emma states and Killian nods.
"Aye. It looks like somebody is trying to trap us in the house."
Emma continues to glare at him, as if all of this is somehow his fault. Then she gets her phone out of her back.
"I'm calling for backup. Huh."
"What is it, love?" He tries to see the screen over her shoulder.
"I've got a text from an unknown number. Why do you refuse to be happy??" Emma groans, a surprisingly colourful and inventive string of curses leaving her mouth.
"If I ever get my hands on this woman, I am going to strangle her." Her eyes flash dangerously, and Killian takes a cautious step backwards.
"Maybe you could try directing that anger in the form of magic at the barrier around the house?" He suggests hopefully.
Emma gives him a deadly glare that has him unconsciously taking another step backwards. Then she steps closer to the door and spreads her hands out in front of her, closing her eyes. After a moment, he sees a small halo of light around her hands, but that's it. Emma opens her eyes again, glaring at the barrier in frustration.
Emma takes out her phone again. "Plan B. I'm calling David." She holds the phone up high, squinting at it. "Great. Just fan-frickin-tastic. No reception. Apparently magical barriers are a no-go for getting a signal."
She stomps off to do God-knows-what, leaving Killian to stare at the barrier alone. What could the caster possibly think she's accomplishing with this? Does she really believe they will just kiss and make up, simply because they are trapped in the house together? Clearly, she doesn't know the first thing about Emma Swan. Trying to force her into something will only lead to her rejecting it more forcefully. All this little stunt will accomplish is to bring out Emma's stubborn side and ensure that she will get the hell out of town at the first opportunity. He sighs. He wishes, for once, they were in control of their lives instead of always being in the midst of somebody else's scheme.
A few hours later, he's going to the kitchen to get a drink, thinking about their options. Emma is upstairs somewhere, cooling off. Or getting more upset, who knows. He passes by a window when he sees some strange commotion outside. Well, another strange commotion, apart from the psychedelic blue lights around the house. He looks out the window and there's David, waving, trying to get his attention. His mouth is moving as well, but Killian doesn't hear a sound. David motions towards the front door and Killian nods.
He takes a quick detour to the bottom of the stairs, yelling up. "Swan! Your father is here."
Killian opens the front door to be greeted by the worried faces of Henry, David and Mary Margaret. Henry probably came home and went for help immediately. Smart lad. David gestures with his hands, presumably wanting to know what the hell is going on. Killian shrugs, and tries to convey that they are trapped but fine. He has a sudden flashback to an evening spent playing charades with Emma's parents while they were under the spell. Who would have thought that those skills could actually come in handy one day. Mary Margaret pronounces one word very clearly and on the second try he manages to read it on her lips. Emma. He gives her a thumbs up to let her know that Emma is fine. Well, a thumb up, to be precise.
Emma appears behind him, holding a small stack of papers and a pen. Apparently, she already figured out the sound blocking aspect of the barrier. She writes, then holds up the piece of paper for Henry and her parents to see.
We're trapped, but unharmed. Probably spellcaster to blame. Can't break barrier. Regina?
Henry starts searching in his backpack. After a moment, he holds up a pencil and small notebook triumphantly. He hands it over to David, who quickly scribbles something down. He sends Henry off somewhere, likely to get Regina, before he holds it up for them to read.
Will get Regina. Rest. Food? Water? Air?"
Killian stares at the note, baffled. He hadn't considered they might be stuck in the house for a long time. Emma curses.
"Of course. If no sound can pass the barrier, then air can't either. How long do you think the air in here will last?"
Killian shrugs helplessly. He doesn't have the faintest idea. It's a pretty big house, so there is bound to be quite the air supply. Emma takes another piece of paper and writes.
Enough food, water. No idea about air. Find the caster.
She underlines the last sentence for good measure. Mary Margaret and David keep staring at her, clearly hesitant to leave her in her current predicament. Emma makes an impatient shooing motion with her hands that brings a small smirk to Killian's lips. The Charmings reluctantly take their leave. How they intend to find the woman who has eluded them for days, he has no idea.
A short while later, Emma is fiddling with one of the windows, seriously considering to start throwing stuff at the barrier, when she hears a grunt of pain from the front door. She quickly falls into a jog to get there. She comes upon Killian, sprawled on the floor in front of the door, rubbing his nose. She helps him up.
"What the hell happened?"
"Well, this woman is an expert at illusions, right? So I thought maybe we only think a barrier is there, when actually it's not."
"So what, you closed your eyes and tried to walk through it?" Emma asks incredulously.
Killian looks at her sheepishly. "Aye."
"You're an idiot", Emma states, but there is no bite behind the words. A small smile tugs at her lips and Killian grins back at her. Then a gush of blood starts coming out of his nose.
"Bloody hell", he curses.
"Literally", Emma agrees and grabs a tissue out of her pocket, handing it over to him. "That's what you get for walking into a wall, dumbass." Her tone is light, almost fond.
She shakes her head and gives him an exasperated smile like she cannot belief his antics and Killian suddenly feels like a huge weight has been lifted of his chest.
He sits down on the floor, leaning against the wall, tilting his head slightly to stop the flow of blood. Emma lowers herself to the floor next to him with a sigh. She looks over at him, then starts to chuckle. He must look quite the fool with the bloodstained tissue under his nose.
"Oi! I wuf onny drying do hep", he says with feigned indignation, his voice muffled by the tissue. Emma actually laughs at that, the first real laugh he's heard from her since the spell was broken. It's a beautiful sound.
The bleeding seems to have stopped and he carefully puts the tissue down. He is starting to feel light-headed, but maybe that's just his mind playing tricks on him, making him think the air is getting thin. Or maybe it's an after-effect from walking headfirst into a magical barrier. He turns to Emma.
"So, which do you think it is, is she lying or just plain incompetent?"
Emma just raises an eyebrow at him, the ghost of a smile still visible.
"You know, that woman claims that she just wants everyone to be happy, but now we're stuck here, slowly running out of air. So either she actually is trying to kill us or she just doesn't know what the hell she's doing."
Emma considers this. "Either way, she's a danger to the town." Emma worries her bottom lip and Killian's eyes are drawn down to her lips.
"Let's assume she's not trying to kill us." Killian's eyebrows shoot up, clearly doubtful of her assumption. "Do you think there's something specific we need to do in order to get out of here?"
"Like what?"
"I dunno", Emma looks straight ahead, clears her throat and declares, "I'm happy."
Both of them turn to look out the window, but the blue light doesn't change.
"To be fair, you didn't sound very convinced there", Killian says, failing to keep the merriment out of his voice. He knows he should be more concerned about their situation, but it feels like Emma is warming up to him for the first time since the spell broke and he is having trouble stopping the smile that insist on forming on his face every time he looks at her.
Emma glares at him, but there's no conviction behind it. She sighs, then stands up, reaching out her hand to help him up. He takes it and comes to his feet a little unsteadily.
"You should get cleaned up. I'll wait for Regina by the front door. Maybe we can break the barrier together. If I manage to get my magic working."
She sounds so unsure and self-deprecating that he is hit by an almost overwhelming urge to reach out and comfort her. He realizes with a start that she didn't let go of his hand after helping him up. Emma must have realized it in the same moment, because she releases his hand and steps away quickly.
He rubs his hand over his face, suddenly feeling very tired. It comes away bloody. Right, he should get that cleaned up. He looks at Emma one more time, standing by the front door, her back to him and her shoulders tense, then he makes his way to the bathroom.