Disclaimer: I do not own Once Upon a Time
AN: So this is a two parter - this is Part I
Ghosts From The Past
Emma reached across the table at Granny's and scooped up one of Killian's fries, dunking it in ketchup, before depositing it in her mouth. "Now see here, Swan," Killian playfully wagged a finger at her, "you have your own perfectly good lunch sitting right there." He pointed to her grilled cheese and onion rings on the plate in front of her.
Emma shrugged, "Maybe I like the way yours tastes better."
Killian's eyes darkened, "Why do I get the distinct feeling you're no longer interested in eating?"
"Oh, I'm interested in eating, just not food." Emma murmured, her voice low and throaty.
"Bloody hell, Swan." Killian reached in his pocket and pulled some cash out, dumping it on the table before latching onto her wrist and yanking her up, her body immediately gravitating towards his. "Dave and Robin are covering the station this afternoon and evening right?"
Emma hummed, "And Regina has Henry this evening." Emma slipped her hand underneath his leather coat and into the back pocket of his black jeans, "I'm yours until 9am tomorrow, Captain." She murmured in his ear, "Do with me what you please."
Killian growled and crashed his lips onto hers, his tongue probing into her mouth, seeking out her own to wrap around, "Hey, now you two take that home. I won't have babies being made on one of my tables." Granny called out.
The tips of Killian's ears turned red, but Emma didn't even flush, "Sorry about that, Granny. We're just leaving."
Ruby snickered from her place by the dart board, "You get that fine pirate captain ass, girl!" She leered as Emma latched onto Killian's hook to pull him from the restaurant.
Ever since Killian had brought her back, effectively helping her to rid the world of The Dark One permanently, Emma had been very honest and open in her affections to everyone. Particularly in regards to Killian. Her walls were gone because of him and she felt lighter and happier than she ever had in her life.
For thirty-one years her life had been a roller coaster of emotions. She'd never been truly happy for long. Now she had a home. She had parents. She had friends. She had a son. She had Killian. And hopefully the two of them would be happy together for the rest of their lives (maybe even with a few little ones - she'd been hinting at that lately and Killian was over the moon about it - they'd made the decision to ditch her birth control completely a month ago).
Emma was still laughing as she tugged him down towards the coast to the little house they'd purchased from Belle (it had been one of Gold's properties before he died, another blessing for Storybrooke and for Belle who was happily settling into a relationship with the former thief Will Scarlett) a couple of months earlier. She stopped laughing when he wrapped his hooked arm around her waist, tugging her back into his chest. The feel of the metal slipping under her white tank top and pressing against her warm skin was a welcome sensation, and she found herself biting back a moan. Raising his hand, Killian tangled it in her hair and angled her head back, his teeth and scruff scraping the pale column of her throat. "You're not leaving our bed until morning, Swan." He promised her darkly, "And I'm going to make you scream until you're hoarse. You're going to have to explain to your father why you can't talk at work tomorrow."
Emma let out a long moan, tipping her head back further as his lips moved down to the swell of her cleavage showed off by her top, "More." She moaned as his lips moved lower, his teeth nipping at the edges of it, threatening to pull it down so his lips could latch onto one of her nipples that he could already see hardening through the thin fabric of her shirt before they even made it into the house.
"You're such a wanton, needy thing, my Swan, all flushed and begging. I bet you're already wet for me." Killian's voice was deep and rough, his accent more pronounced as he dropped to his knees, pushing her against one of the columns on their porch, his hand and hook both sliding up her shirt, his lips skimming her flat stomach, "Mine." He growled, his hook sliding down to press against the apex of her thighs.
"God, just want you, Killian. Now." She moaned, her moan turning into a growl as he nipped at her hipbone.
A throat cleared behind them, "Killian?"
Killian stilled, his lips still on her stomach, his hook still pressed against her core, at the voice he recognized, but hadn't heard in centuries. Emma wrenched her eyes open at the voice, her head turning to land on a beautiful brunette with ice blue eyes. Her stomach dropped. After a moment, and a gentle nudge of her knee against him, Killian's head turned as well.
"Milah." He whispered.
The woman nodded stiffly, her eyes narrowed on Emma's flushed and disheveled form, "Hi." She murmured.
Standing, Killian scratched the back of his ear nervously, "What, how, what?" He stuttered. The woman didn't answer, her gaze still locked on Emma.
Instead, it was Emma who cleared her throat, "Perhaps we better take this inside, before someone from town comes wandering down or we accidentally send Leroy into a tailspin panic." She tried for a bit of humor, but it didn't work. Deciding to force them both into action, and to put a little space between herself and the star-crossed lovers, Emma shoved past them and unlocked their front door. "Inside." She pointed through the doorway.
Killian followed almost immediately, "Swan," he came up behind her, "I don't know"
"Killian," She spun in his arms, her eyes flying to the woman dressed in leather behind them, "you need to talk to her. You need to be the one to find out what happened. She's confused and scared and she knows you."
Leaning his head down, he pressed his forehead to hers, "I love you, Swan."
Emma sighed, her hand raising up to stroke through his hair, "I know, Killian. I love you, too." Turning to Milah, she motioned towards the living room, "Please make yourself comfortable." She faced Killian again, "I'm going to go for a run, but I have my phone if you need me." She smiled softly at him, "Just press the Emma Button."
"Aye, love, I shall." He promised, pressing a kiss to her forehead before she could retreat to their room. Killian and Milah were silent until after the front door shut behind Emma.
Milah sat in a chair across from Killian. She wasn't sure what to say or do. She hadn't expected him to even be alive. Though she shouldn't be surprised. Her pirate was always a survivor. And she sure as hell didn't expect to find him with another woman, looking every bit the dashing man who swept her away some three hundred odd years before. Clearing her throat, Milah finally murmured, "You look well, Killian."
Killian nodded and scratched the back of his ear nervously, "Aye, thank you. I just, I don't understand." He admitted.
"You? I woke up on the deck of the Jolly." She told him. "Just out of the blue. One day I'm at peace, the next I'm laying on your ship, and you're not on it." She looked down at her hands, "I went below looking for you." She paused, "I didn't expect you to be alive." She admitted, "I should've known better, though." She sucked in a breath, "The ship has changed much."
"Aye," Killian nodded, "a few of us did some work below, so that it's suitable for voyages."
"She was always suitable for voyages." Milah reminded him sharply.
"I don't have the crewmen I had before." He told her, "I needed enough quarters for our family."
"Your family." Milah repeated, her eyes watering at the fact that she was no longer included in that.
Killian cleared his throat, "Aye, um that was Emma." He motioned to the door Swan had left through earlier, "She has a son. He's fourteen now and I felt he may like his own quarters. And I wanted room in case her parents or brother, or Henry's, her lad, other mother and her boyfriend and children came with us."
"Boyfriend?" Milah snorted, "Is that what she calls you? A boy?"
Killian leaned back and chuckled, "Aye, that's what it's called in this realm."
They were silent for a full minute, just studying each other. "Where are we, Killian?" Milah finally asked timidly.
"It's called Storybrooke. It was developed during a curse. People from our land were brought here. We can't get back, not that I think we want to now. This has become everyone's home. Everyone is happy here."
"And you? Are you happy here?"
Killian could hear the hidden meaning beneath her question. Running a hand through his hair, he nodded, "Aye, darling. I'm the happiest I think I've ever been in my life."
"You're no longer a pirate." Milah pointed to his outfit, "And your dress is strange."
"This is how they dress in this realm. I'll always be a pirate at heart. I was one for far too long to give that up now." He hesitated, "I suppose though, that Swan has made me a hero."
"That's not who you are, Killian." Milah stood and crossed the small space to kneel in front of him, her hands automatically landing on his thighs, "She's changed you." Milah scowled, "I can see it in everything. This is not who you are. This is not who you are supposed to be. Let me show you, Killian." Her hands skimmed up his thighs lightly, "Let me remind you."
OUAT
Emma's feet continued to pound on the pavement as she made her way back into town. Her mother and Regina should be at Granny's by now for their late lunch. She needed to know how Milah came back. She needed to know what was expected of her. She needed someone to assure her that Killian belonged to her, not to some ghost who's risen from the dead. It took both of them too long to abandon their ghosts and demons and fully let down their walls. She wasn't going to lose Killian to Milah. She wasn't going to lose anything else to that family.
Emma threw the door open to the diner. She could feel her magic pulsing through her fingertips as her emotions and fears nearly ran away with her. She hadn't felt this out of control since she was The Dark One. Over the past couple of months since she'd been saved she'd been nothing but blissful and happy.
Of course that fucking had to change.
"Emma!" Her mother's voice was concerned. Ruby had just informed her that Emma and Killian would likely not make an appearance until the next morning. And now here she was, dripping in sweat, in running clothes. "What's going on?"
Emma slid into the booth and dropped her head to her hands. Taking five deep breaths, she determined that she wasn't going to assume the worst until after she'd talked to Killian. Killian loved her. And Milah had been dead for centuries. He'd moved on. Emma felt her magic pulse again, so she took another breath until she was sure she wouldn't break anything.
"When Killian and I got home, there was someone waiting for us." She murmured. "Milah."
Regina snorted, "Emma, Milah is dead. Even the strongest magic, light or dark, can't bring people back from the dead." She chastised Emma.
"Well she's here." Emma snapped, finally looking up. "And she's staring at Killian like the world revolves around him in our living room."
"And you just left them there alone?" Snow asked incredulously. "You need to be there making sure that this woman"
"Mom!" Emma protested, "I'm trying to trust and be happy and all of that, which seems so pointless now that the man that I love apparently has a woman he once loved sitting in our living room."
"Oh, Emma," Regina rolled her eyes, "you don't honestly believe that Killian would leave you for a woman who died over three hundred years ago?"
"He spent three hundred years trying to get revenge for her. Why wouldn't he?" Emma asked quietly, shoulders sagging.
Regina stood up and scooped Marian up in her arms, the happy baby gurgling, "Don't be ridiculous and stop whining. We're going. Now." When Emma and Mary Margaret made no effort to move, she dropped her voice into the tone that made Robin, Roland and Henry jump to attention, "Did I stutter? I think not. Let's go. Now." She picked up Marian's baby bag and moved to the front door.
Emma stumbled after her as Mary Margaret gathered Neal in her arms and dashed after them, "What's your plan, Regina?" Mary Margaret asked as they moved to the SUV Regina had acquired just before Zelena had Marian.
OUAT
Emma swallowed hard at the scene in front of her.
Killian sitting on the sofa, staring down at Milah, his blue eyes wide.
Milah on her knees in front of him, her hands dancing up his thighs.
She felt what little she'd eaten at the diner earlier churn in the pit of her stomach. Vision swimming, Emma turned from living room, the door she'd quietly opened banging shut behind her as she tore down the gravel driveway.
"Swan?" Killian flew to his feet as blonde hair sped out the door. Catching the door with his hook, he threw it open, just in time to hear Mary Margaret and Regina's protests as Emma disappeared from view altogether.
"What the hell did you do, pirate?" Regina snapped. Her eyes flew over his shoulders, "And you must be Milah."
The brunette nodded curtly, "Yes, I am."
"Well allow me to show you the way out of town and out of our lives." Regina adjusted Marian on her hip as she marched up the steps.
"Now, Regina," Mary Margaret looked down the path where her daughter had disappeared, at Killian and then finally at Milah, "you know she's probably confused and disoriented."
"I don't care what she is. My town is finally quiet and I intend on keeping it that way." Regina informed the coolly.
"Look, perhaps then you can find out how Milah bloody rose from the dead. I need to go find Emma." Killian moved to the steps on the porch.
"You're really going to leave me here, Killian?" Milah asked quietly. It was the same tone she used when she begged him to take her with him. When she begged him to save her from her marriage to the crocodile. He found himself hanging his head. She was right, he couldn't just leave her. This world was so different from theirs and she was all alone and he couldn't leave her, even if his baser instincts pulled him towards Emma.
"Come back inside," he pushed the door opened, "perhaps you two would also like to come in as well."
Regina glared at him as she shoved him aside. "You owe Emma." She snarled as she settled on the sofa with Marian on her lap.
Mary Margaret bit her lip, glancing between the doorway and the sofa, "Maybe I should"
"Give her some time." Regina advised. "The pirate needs to be the one to go after her. We need to know how the hell someone could rise from the dead."
"Regina, language, Neal could repeat that." Snow reminded her.
"Okay, Milah," Regina motioned to a chair, "spill. How did you get here?"
OUAT
Emma let out a shuddering breath as she pulled the door to the Sheriff's Station open. She wasn't sure where else to go. The only thing she knew for sure was that she needed someone. Anyone. And her father seemed like the best option at the moment.
"Emma?" David looked up from his desk where he was hunched over paperwork, "What's going on?" Opening her mouth to respond, Emma could only let out a sob. "Sweetheart?" David was by her side in an instant, shooting a worried glance at Robin, who was seated at another desk. Opening her arms, she let herself be wrapped up in his embrace, his hand automatically raising to cradle her head against his chest. "What happened?" He repeated quietly.
"She's back. She's here. And she was touching him and he wasn't stopping her and I just" She let out another sob.
David knew she was talking about Killian, but he couldn't even begin to figure out what 'she' Emma could be referring to. There were only two women in Killian's life. Milah, who was long dead. And Emma. There was Tink, but Tink and Little John were doing something now and he highly doubted there was ever anything substantial to Tink and Killian anyhow. "Who is she?" David asked quietly.
"Milah." Emma sobbed out.
David's eyes connected with Robin's. "Emma, sweetheart, that's not possible."
Emma pulled back, her eyes dark, "She's sitting in my living. She's sitting in my living room with her hands on my pirate's thighs. He belongs with me. He's mine. He's not hers anymore. He hasn't been for a long time. He's my boyfriend. I'm his girlfriend and I just" she let out another sob.
"Oh, Emma." David pulled her tighter into his chest as she continued to shake.
She let her father rock her for a few minutes before pulling back, "What am I supposed to do now?"
Stroking her hair gently, David gave her a small smile, "Try talking to Killian. He loves you, nothing and no one can change that. Not even a past love. Just give him a chance."
She sighed and wrapped her arms around herself, "It's just, things are so good right now. I don't want that taken away from me. Not now. Not ever. And I haven't even told him" her voice trailed off at the end.
"Told him what?" David asked quietly.
Shaking her head, she sighed, "He needs to be the first to hear it."
Robin cleared his throat, "Why don't you take Emma home, Dave. I can watch the station."
David nodded at the offer, "Thanks, come on, sweetheart, let's get you home and all of this sorted out."
OUAT
XOXO
MAS