Hell Hath No Fury Like the Devil Scorned
Chapter Twenty-Six
Hours after he had fallen asleep, ten year old Killian Jones awakened and found that his father was no longer in the small quarters onboard the ship they were sailing on, then started to panic while he ran over to his older brother, Liam, who was asleep on the cot beside him, as Killian cried out fearfully, "Liam? Liam, wake up! Father's gone!"
When he is unsuccessful in rousing his brother, Killian finally ran over to the door to open it, only to bump into a man who enters the cabin as he asked, "Are you looking for your father?"
"Look out there," the man continued, forcing the young boy back into the room by sauntering toward him as he pointed out toward the ocean over his shoulder. "He rowed away an hour ago."
"Rowed away?" Killian asked with confusion. "Why?"
"Your father ain't what you think," the pirate responded as he shoved Killian down onto his bed behind him, then also took a seat beside him as well. "He's a thief, a fugitive from the law. He heard there were soldiers waiting at the next port, so he bought my old rowboat... and left."
The boy still didn't understand as he asked more angrily, "Why would he leave us?"
The man replied cruelly, "How do you think he paid for the boat? He traded you and your brother into my service."
"No!" Killian shouted in disbelief, refusing to believe that his father could do as this man had said he had done. "No, he wouldn't do that!"
The pirate stood as he answered sternly, "Now you know what kind of man your father really is."
Back in the present…
Killian sat alone in the one chair of the room that faced away from the others while he struggled against the harsh words his father spoke to him minutes earlier until his mind brought him back to waking up the night his father had abandoned him and his brother, but he was suddenly pulled from the memory again by his darkest self once Dark Hook spoke as he chided cruelly, "Poor, pathetic fool. So much more broken than you ever let on to your brother, and even to the woman risking everything for a man undeserving of their love and sacrifices."
"You may be right about that, demon, but you're still nothing more than a cruel delusion conjured up by my worst fears because of a God who has to resort to bloody mind tricks in order to defeat us, which he still won't do," Killian growled darkly in as low of a voice as he could while he glared up at the man only he could see. "Get out of my he…"
"Killian!" Emma suddenly cried fearfully after she had come over to sit upon the floor in front of him and reached up to take his hand and hook within her hands upon seeing he had become lost in a battle against the demons in his head again, feeling him tremble when her touch startled him, then pulled him back to her. "Hey… are you with me? Just listen to my voice and look at me. Look into my eyes. I'm right here. Whoever it is you're talking to, whoever's trying to convince you they're real, they're lying. Don't let them goad you. Killian, you're so much stronger."
He shook his head sadly and Emma laid her hand that had been holding his hook seconds ago against the right side of his face while he responded, "Not right now I'm not. Emma, I don't know if I can fight them much longer. They're only growing stronger. They're not just in my head anymore. I can feel them, touch them as though they're as real as you are. Their words are almost seductive and I fear I'm losing this battle."
Both Snow and Brennan listened to them in silence from where they were sitting on the couch where they had been talking as well until Emma stepped away to help Killian once they heard him begin to argue with his ghosts. Snow's heart broke for the man who loved her daughter so deeply, while Brennan wasn't so sure what to think.
"Who are you seeing right now?" Emma asked again quietly as she tightened her grip over his hand so he could feel her even stronger than moments ago. "Is it still Nimue?"
"No… This time, it's myself," he replied darkly, continuing to avoid looking into his love's eyes while Dark Hook remained standing above her with a malicious grin on his face and darkness in his eyes. "The man I was while I had been a Dark One. But I'm not the only monster I've been seeing. It's been Rumplestiltskin and even you, your own darkness. And she's the worst of them all."
The Savior closed her eyes tightly in order to keep her tears from falling, then reopened them before gently nudging him again to finally get him to look at her as she whispered, "You are stronger than she is. Than they all are. Remember that day on your ship, when that woman I was before you saved me tried to entice you into loving her despite being the Dark One? You said you loved me. Not as the woman I was in that moment… but as the woman I was before, the woman I am again thanks to you. And while you didn't know it then, inside you were still a Dark One as well. You resisted the Dark Swan's seduction then and you can do so again. And this time I'm here to continue to help you fight against her as well as the others, including yourself."
He was about to say something more until all of a sudden, the door to the apartment was forcefully kicked in, as Guy of Gisbourne and Jack burst into the room and the bodyguard immediately charged Emma, knowing in that moment she was their biggest threat after witnessing her power down in the caverns below, by shoving her back hard against the wall before she could even apprehend the invasion despite her quick attempt to fire her magic at their assailants. She screamed when her back and head hit, but Gisbourne grabbed her head by her hair and roughly forced it back into the wall again to render her unconscious.
Killian cried Emma's name as he tried to help her by yanking the brute off of her, but Jack swiftly fired an arrow from her bow she carried into Killian's shoulder to knock him to the floor, then turned her attention on Snow White when the Princess also tried to help her daughter and the two women began to fight hand to hand. Brennan stood frozen while he watched the attack go on before him until he heard his son cry out as the guard grabbed Killian by his hair on the top of his head and forced him up onto his knees, then grabbed him tightly by his throat and began to squeeze. The oldest Jones finally picked up the bow the giant slayer had dropped once she began to fight against Snow, then used it to strike Guy across his back in order to get him to release Killian.
The attack worked, but as Killian fell again to the floor, Gisbourne turned on the pirate's father and immediately struck him roughly across his face with the back of his arm, knocking him down hard against the floor, then used the hilt of his sword to strike him in the head to stop him from putting up a struggle against him.
Once more, Killian struggled to rise despite the blurriness that shrouded his vision, but before he could regain control of his senses, his dark self, the Dark Swan, Rumplestiltskin, and Nimue all reappeared before him again as they stood in his way when he attempted to help those he loved. Dark Hook stepped out from among them, then suddenly shoved a dagger into his stomach, just as Killian had done to his father so long ago. And while it wasn't real, while these were nothing more than the demons inside his head, Killian could no longer distinguish what he saw and the pain he felt from the truth of his reality.
When Gisbourne watched the pirate struggle against his insanity, he turned back to Jack who had finally managed to overpower Snow as she shoved a knife up to her throat and kicked her knees out from under her, but the guard immediately ordered her not to kill the hero. She simply nodded in compliance and dragged Snow out of the apartment, while Guy also grabbed Brennan to pull him back to his feet as well, then left with him in his grasp as well, leaving both the pirate Captain and Emma behind.
Meanwhile…
Regina, Henry, Robin, and David followed Graham back down through the tunnels and caverns below the streets as he led them in search of the Erinyes who hurt their friend on Hades' orders. Robin was right that they had killed a number of these winged creatures, including one who had attacked the archer some time ago in Storybrooke, nearly dragging him down here into the Underworld as well. Though then, the creatures were more like a terrifying shadow with glowing red eyes than the physical human like beings they appeared as in Hell.
In order to break the silence that had fallen over them while they continued deeper beneath Underbrooke, Regina quickened her step to catch up to the man she had killed years ago and spoke quietly saying, "So… you seem oddly comfortable down here. Or at least you appear to know where you're going. You don't…"
"Reside down here?" the huntsman answered before could finished her sentence. "I have a small dwelling somewhere within the middle of the woods. But I've hunted a number of animals down through these tunnels. However, right now I'm following the tracks these furies have left behind. Not physically… Never mind. It doesn't really matter how. I just need you to trust me. We're close."
"Of course we trust you," David responded from behind them. "If you don't mind me asking, why are you still trapped here in the Underworld? I mean, you said you've forgiven Regina for… well, for crushing your heart. Is there something else that's kept you here?"
Graham took a moment to think about his answer and then replied, "At first I think it was because I died while I was still cursed and was in the process of remembering who I really was when it happened. Once I woke up down here, I remembered everything, but I still struggled to come to terms with both my old memories and my cursed memories. So, I took time to find myself again. After that… I found there were a lot of people trapped down here who were also struggling against the pain caused by Hades and I figured I would stay to try to help as many as I could while keeping low so as to not draw attention to myself. I've never helped anyone to be able to move on…"
Henry cut him off as he said, "You've helped more than you think you have."
"Unfortunately, or fortunately really, you're going to want to finally move on after we succeed in helping Hook," Regina answered sternly. "You might not have been under Hades' watchful eye before, but there's no doubt you are now."
"Just so long as I'm able to help you save the man Emma loves," the hunter responded firmly. "I owe that much to her. And to Hook for being the man I couldn't be. It is really good to see all of you again."
All of a sudden, the heroes heard a loud screech and Robin immediately pulled his bow from over his shoulders while he called out, "Guys… I think they've found us!"
Graham quickly pulled his own bow and an arrow from his quiver as he replied, "That's because we've located their lair."
"This is right back where we rescued Hook from before we returned to the loft," David stated as nearly a dozen furies flew down into the corridor and started to attack the heroes while they fought back, the two archers with their arrows, David with his sword, and Regina with her magic, while Henry once again took cover to allow his family to fight without him getting in their way.
"Again… how are we going to take one of these things alive?" Robin shouted as he fired one of his arrows at one as it charged him and burst into flames, while David killed another by running his sword through its chest before it could harm Regina from behind her. "I think they'd prefer death over being taken captive."
The huntsman aimed another arrow carefully and fired it into one of the furies' head between its eyes before it could attack the Prince, then answered, "We need to aim for the creatures' wings. And then bind it somehow."
The Queen shot a fireball that disintegrated two more as they charged her and then retorted, "Actually… I have a better idea."
"Henry!" she then fearfully cried out as one of the Erinyes came up from behind the sixteen year old through the hidden wall and attacked him, grabbing his face between its claws while it began to shoot its dark magic into his mind, causing the teenager to scream. "No!"
David rushed between his friends and the remaining furies to try to get to his grandson until he was grabbed by another from behind, which Robin killed with a knife through its back before it could fly off with Charming in its grasp like they had done to Killian earlier that morning.
Henry continued to scream in pain until the creature hurting him suddenly became engulfed by blue smoke, then pulled into the same compact mirror Regina had used earlier to find Emma and her parents. Once the fury was captured, she used her power to blast all the rest of them into oblivion, then rushed to her son as she knelt down in front of him and pulled him into her arms while David knelt down with them as well to check him over with his mother.
The boy was still conscious, but his head was hurting so badly that he kept the palm of his hand firmly against his forehead and his eyes squeezed closed tightly. Regina raised her hand to the side of his head and used her healing power to try to help Henry with the pain and once she finished, he weakly looked up at her, blinking his eyes to try to clear his vision.
"Mom?" he questioned out of confusion upon seeing everyone looking down at him with concern, then he slowly sat up. "What… what happened? Why is everyone looking at me like that? And where are we?"
"We just got into another fight is all," she responded worryingly, looking at him carefully for any sign of something being wrong, yet seeing anything physically wrong with him. "How are you feeling? Are you alright?"
The teenager pulled her hands away, then rose to his feet with David's help as he looked around at everyone and replied, "I promise, Mom… other than a slight twinge of a headache, I'm fine. I just don't remember coming down here, or… finding Graham? When did we find him?"
David looked back at the huntsman, then turned again to Henry as he answered, "He actually found us. Henry, what is the last thing you remember?"
"I remember coming down into the Underworld to save Killian and then talking to all of you about writing the pages I had written in my sleep last night," he responded. "Did something else happen between now and then?"
"Let's just get back the others so we can help Killian now that we've captured what we've come down her for," Robin replied as he patted the teenager on his back, then turned to Regina and nodded by way of encouraging her to let her worry go for now unless something more should happen.
A short time later…
The group of heroes who had captured the fury finally arrived back in town after Regina transported them all out of the tunnels. However, when they started walking speedily towards the Charmings' loft, they were stunned and worried when Guy of Gisbourne and Jack the giant slayer appeared before them with Snow and Brennan as their hostages.
Upon seeing the bodyguard holding a dagger up to her throat, David immediately rushed towards her while he shouted out, "Snow! You son of a…!"
Gisbourne forced the Prince to stop by pushing the blade harder against his wife's neck as he interrupted, "Ah! Uh, uh, uh… I would stay right where you are for now. We'll have our chance to fight for her life. But first we need to talk."
"Where are Emma and Hook?" Robin asked curtly while the heroes glared at the villains standing before them with one of their own and someone they were trying to save held against them.
"They're both still inside," Jack answered snidely. "The Savior ought to be fine eventually, once she wakes up. And the pirate… well, I don't suspect he'll be alright, seeing as his insanity's caught up to him and has rendered him of no use to you any longer. We're sorry about that."
Guy smiled and let Brennan go by shoving him forward into Graham's arms, then responded, "We're not really all that sorry. Robin Hood… It's been a long time. If you all wish for Jack to release the Princess here, Sherwood Forest's best archer has to agree to fight me. One on one, hand to hand. Without any help from the rest of you. What do you say, Robin? Do you still have the fighting skill you once did?"
Regina reached out to grab his shoulder worryingly as he stepped forward in agreement to the villain's proposal, but he simply looked into her eyes and smiled, then turned back to his enemy and replied, "It's hardly going to be a fair fight, seeing as you're dead and can't really be hurt. But if you release Snow, I'll cooperate."
"We have a deal," Gisbourne answered, then Jack shoved Snow to the ground at David's feet as he quickly bent down to help his wife stand and held her close.
The former guard to the Sheriff of Nottingham struck out against Robin first as the archer immediately blocked his punch. The combat continued on while his friends and Jack watched the two men worryingly. As much as the heroes wanted to help Robin, especially after he was suddenly knocked to the ground with a hard kick to the back of one of his knees, no one attempted to do so out of worry of the consequences for breaking the deal. Unfortunately, that no longer mattered when Hades suddenly appeared among them, along with Barnaby, Edgar, King Driscoll, and Pan as the villains all surrounded the heroes.
Inside the loft…
Emma finally reawakened and struggled to regain her bearings while she looked around for the others she remembered had been with her when their apartment had suddenly been attacked. Neither her mother or Brennan were anywhere to be seen, but she quickly turned her head upon hearing shallow breathing across the room and found Killian was on the floor sitting back against the wall behind him, his head tilted at his side and his eyes closed tightly against the obvious pain he was in.
The Savior uttered his name as she weakly crawled over to him and laid her hand over his face to try to bring him around again, then pulled his hand away from where he held it against his stomach, gasping in fear when she saw blood seeping out between his fingers as well as through the cloth of his shirt and vest.
"Hold on," she whispered sadly, laying one hand against his cheek and the other over the knife wound to heal it, then did the same with the arrow wound in his shoulder as well, though he didn't come around right away even when she finished. "I need you, Killian. Please…"
Finally, he slowly opened his eyes and lifted his head to look towards the sound of Emma's voice. However, Killian didn't see the woman he loved kneeling in front of him, but Nimue and almost suddenly, he lifted his hook as she attempted to strike the Dark One down until the Savior caught his arm to keep him from hurting her while she struggled to snap him awake from his delusion forcing him to do the unthinkable.
The woman who once loved Merlin glared at the Captain as she sneered, "Give in to the truth, Captain. The longer you continue fighting against me and yourself, the longer your suffering will continue. Kill me if you want, but I am not alone. You're not alone and you never will be until you accept who you really are. Kill me!"
Emma cried as he looked through her, but she continued to fight against what little strength he had while he tried to kill her and then the Savior spoke again saying, "I won't lose you, Killian. I refused to give up on you after you died, so I sure as hell won't lose you to one of Hades' cruel tricks. I love you. Come back to me."
"I'm sorry I didn't listen to you today," he suddenly heard himself speak again to the woman he loved as the Savior touched the side of his head and emitted a memory shared between them into his mind, then he watched as she walked out into the middle of the street while he swiftly chased after her, then finally used his hook to grab hold of the crook of her elbow to turn her around so that she was facing him. "All right, I know you feel like you've got the weight of the world on your shoulders. But at some point, even though we're quite different, you've got to trust me."
"That's what you think this is about?" she asked while she spun around to face him and stared at him in surprise. "That I don't trust you?"
Hook looked back at her feeling slightly confused as he questioned, "Is that not what it's about?"
The blonde woman responded firmly, "Of course I trust you."
"Then why do you keep pulling away from me?" he asked again in frustration upon raising his voice in anger.
"Because everyone I've ever been with is dead," Emma cried out in fear, his eyes softening upon hearing her confession as she continued to admit how she felt as though she was desperate to get the hard truth she'd been hiding from him all this time out into the open. "Neal and Graham. Even Walsh. I lost everyone. I... I can't lose you, too."
Tears came to her eyes as Killian kept his gaze on her, his expression being one of comfort while he replied brazenly, "Well, love, you don't have to worry about me. If there's one thing I'm good at, it's surviving."
Emma's own face softened while he continued to look into her eyes for a few moments and she into his before Killian suddenly pulled Emma firmly against him and began to kiss her passionately. This time, her instinct to push him away never came as she continued to kiss him back, not wanting this moment between them to end.
When the memory ended, Killian no longer fought against Nimue on account that when he blinked to clear his vision, it was Emma looking back at him with tears in her eyes and feeling her love she had just poured into his mind, there was no doubt in his mind that she was real. As she saw the recognition in his eyes, she immediately embraced him while he hugged her back and pleaded with her to forgive him.
She pulled her head back and smiled at him while she answered, "There's nothing to forgive. Just hold on a little longer. This will all be over soon. Do you think you can help me find where those villains who attacked us took Mom and your father to?"
"Aye," he then responded as she helped him back to his feet and together, they ran down from the loft and headed towards town until they came upon the fight going on between Robin and the man who had broken into the loft, while the rest of their loved ones were being surrounded by Hades and some of the others they've been fighting against since their arrival in the Underworld.
"How the hell are you upright and back to yourself?" Jack asked Killian in frustration when she turned her head and saw him and the Savior approach them. "We watched you fight against whatever illusion you were seeing until it attacked you."
Hades smiled coldly upon seeing him and Emma and then for Hook he replied, "It's amazing how resilient the mind can be, until it completely shatters once a person's fear becomes too much. It won't be long now if you've already started to become physically attacked by your delusions, Captain."
All of a sudden, the God of the Underworld held out his hands and blasted his power against the ground before him as the street crumbled until a deep crevasse through the earth opened up and the fires of the Worse Place rose up from within, then he turned back the villains while he called out, "Go to work!"
"Emma, behind you!" Killian shouted and the Savior spun around in time to see Jack charging her with her sword in her hand, then blasted the slayer backwards through the air with her light magic.
"This time, I will kill you," Gisbourne growled angrily at his oldest enemy and struck him down hard against the street, then was about stab the archer through his chest until Gisbourne was suddenly forced back when Regina propelled him through the air to protect Robin, causing the guard to fall into the crevasse as Jack screamed out.
The giant slayer pulled her sword and charged Regina, who quickly caught David's sword as he tossed it to her to defend herself, then the two women clashed their blades together while the Prince turned to fight hand to hand against the King of Longbourn. Snow and Emma then began to fight Pan, as the Savior used her magic to defend herself and her mother against his own.
Finally, Killian, Brennan, and Henry fought the remaining two pirates from Hook's old crew as Edgar and Barnaby pulled their own swords. Hades simply stood among them as he watched the fight continue on until he suddenly fired a burst of his power towards Regina in an attempt to strike her down. However, Jack fell into its path and screamed in terror when she was forced back hard until she fell into the fires as Gisbourne had minutes earlier.
Unfortunately, it wasn't long before Killian could no longer see those he loved and cared for, when Barnaby strangely became the Dark One who had come before Rumplestiltskin who then turned to continue his fight against Brennan, who also suddenly transformed into another of the Dark Ones. Killian looked around him and all he saw were the dark hooded figures of those he had summoned into Excalibur and betrayed the night he died, except for Emma as she became caught off guard by Pan. However, Killian didn't see the demon from Neverland striking her down.
Killian stumbled back as he watched all of the Dark Ones fight against one another, being unable to tell from the heroes to the villains. However, he did see Emma was in trouble and swiftly picked up a fallen cutlass from the ground, then thrust it through the Dark One's chest as it dispelled into thin air leaving behind only Pan. The villain turned to face the pirate Captain as he pulled the blade from his chest unfazed by the attack, then was about to thrust it into Killian until a fireball from Regina blasted the villain back through the air. Instead of returning to the fight, Pan flew away, leaving the others behind.
Emma stood again with Killian's help, but before she could thank him, they heard Brennan cry out as Hades then lifted the oldest Jones off the ground by a force around his neck and Killian suddenly saw him as his father again and shouted, "Hades, please… I'm the one you're angry at. If you want to hurt someone…"
The God of the Underworld smiled cruelly and then answered, "You're right. Which is why what I'm about to do, is going to hurt you even more than when you almost lost your brother too. And this time, there won't be a white light to guide your father to a peaceful afterlife."
The battle between heroes and villains suddenly ceased as everyone seemed to freeze in place when the deity flung Brennan back through the air until he fell through the crevasse. Not unexpectedly, as Hades did so, Killian immediately ran forward and caught his father by his wrist. However, the force of his fall downward was too strong and Killian also fell in as Emma screamed his name when she watched him disappear over the edge, only to be surprised when she reached the hole in the ground to find the man she loved had caught hold of the crevasse's edge and hung on by his hook while keeping a tight hold of his father with his hand. The Savior quickly grabbed Killian's arm and held onto him the best she could in hope it was enough so that he wouldn't fall should his hook come loose from it brace.
"Father, you have to climb…" Brennan's son uttered to him as he struggled to lift him up enough so that the older Jones could reach the ground to do what was needed until Emma, as well as David and Robin who both had joined her, could reach him and pull him back up the rest of the way. "I can't hold you much longer. Please…"
"We'll get him," David said assuredly, calling down to his friend while he leaned down into the pit as far as he could without falling in himself to try to reach out for the older man once he began to climb like Killian had asked of him. "Hook, hold on!"
However, Brennan suddenly lost his grip on the crevasse wall and pulled Killian down further as his son cried out against the anguish from being pulled in both directions until he also began to fall. Emma screamed out for him and made one final desperate reach for the man she loved, then before she understood what was happening, she suddenly engulfed herself and Killian, as well as his father within a cloud of smoke as they all vanished, reappearing a few feet away from hole in the ground.
Both David and Robin let out a sigh of relief upon seeing they were all safe, while Emma immediately pulled Killian into her arms and held him as he continued to struggle against the constant pain and demons within his head whom she knew he was still seeing when he attempted to look around him, only to close his eyes desperately to avoid seeing anyone or anything.
Hades screamed in anger and disappeared within flames without another word as the crevasse magically closed again upon his departure, then the villains who remained simply turned and walked away once they knew they wouldn't be able to defeat the heroes any longer without the God to help them.
Both the Charmings raced over and knelt beside their daughter and Killian who was trembling as he kept his eyes closed against the strain on his mind. Then, carefully they laid him down with his back against the ground as Henry quickly pulled off his own jacket to lay behind his head. Brennan just stood by in silence while he watched the heroes do what they could for his son.
Dark Hook and the Dark Swan reappeared again as they knelt down before the heroes and stared darkly at the man they haunted, then continued to taunt him despite him refusing to look up at them, as his illusion of Emma spoke to him cruelly saying, "You can't close your eyes to us forever, Killian. We will always be here. And you'll only wind up in a nuthouse sooner than later. But if you give in…"
His dark self continued, "…if you give in, you'll be free of this pain you're putting upon yourself and free from going mad. Stop fighting the inevitable!"
"Regina!" Emma fearfully cried out to her when Killian weakly opened his eyes and stared through them at whoever it was only he was seeing, as tears slowly began to fall down his cheeks.
"Hang on," Regina stated quietly as the Savior looked between her parents and the Queen, while she quickly pulled out the mirror she had trapped the Erinyes in and summoned the creature into its glass. "You fulfilled Hades orders when you forced whatever visions into Hook's mind and he's suffered just as he wanted. But if you ever want to be free again, I suggest you fix whatever the hell you've done, or you'll remained trapped in this mirror for all of your eternity. I hear it's a cold, dark place that's quite unpleasant."
The fury screeched its response that somehow Regina seemed to understand, then she added, "If you try to flee, I will kill you like the rest of your kind. Up in our world you creatures weren't so easy to take out, but here we're far stronger than you are and you furies are easy to squash."
Finally, she released the Erinyes who flew up above them, then hovered over their prey as it laid its claws on both sides of his head and forced its dark power through his mind, causing Killian to scream while Emma, David, and Robin desperately clung to him when he began to writhe in agony. Graham stood back as he held onto Henry for support while Regina quickly joined them along with Snow. Brennan still stood frozen, staring down at his son as his own tears slipped from the corners of his eyes.
At last, the creature released him and flew up above them as it said darkly, "It's done. We have concluded our business?"
"You're free like I promised," Regina responded and then watched as it flew away until everyone turned their attention back to the man now lying unconscious between them.
"Killian?" Emma whispered gravely as she stared down at his slackened face, then gently lifted his upper body against her own, caressing his right cheek in hope of bringing him back to her. "Please… come back to me. I need you… because I love you."
Another minute passed between the heroes in silence as the heroes all slowly began to lose hope that they had managed to save their friend's sanity in time, until all of a sudden Killian let out a desperate breath and struggled against his pain, then finally opened his eyes in order to look up into the woman's above him.
He let out a sob and then weakly he cried, "Em… Emma. I'm still… still here."
The Savior laughed in relief and lifted him higher against her body as they desperately embraced one another, while everyone else smiled down at them until the Charmings both wrapped their arms around their daughter and the man she loved to hug them as well. Henry quickly hugged Regina and Robin, while the Queen then turned her head towards Graham as she reached out her hand for the huntsman to accept by way of another apology he assured her wasn't needed.
Later…
The clock tower was about to strike midnight as Emma stood with Killian on the cliff above the fiery Hell leading down into the Worse Place, while both Graham and Brennan stood upon its edge as they prepared themselves to move on. The rest of the heroes remained back in silence.
Graham spoke first saying, "I'm glad to have been able to help you one last time and this time as myself."
"Thank you again, Your Highness," he quickly called out to Regina. "And to the rest of you. Thank you."
"Be happy, Graham," Emma said quietly as she pulled him into hug him and he simply embraced the Savior back, then turned to walk into the light that awaited him.
They watched in awe as a wide open forest appeared before them, as well as a lone wolf which the heroes all remembered belonged to him long ago and the beast waited for its master to join him before they ran off together. The light faded and Brennan cleared his throat before finally turned around again to face his son.
Before Killian could say anything else, he looked at the man before them with surprise while Brennan expressed, "Killian, I… I was wrong. This amazing woman who loves you and her family told me of the good man you've become. I couldn't see it before because I suppose a part of me didn't want to see it. They were right. I was holding onto my grudge against you despite you trying to prove to me that you were no longer the man who himself had become lost in his pain all those years ago."
His son felt Emma's hand tighten around his own as he looked into her eyes, then turned back to his father and replied, "What made you change your mind?"
"You nearly sacrificed your own soul to save mine when you fell into that pit yourself alongside me," he answered sincerely. "Despite the tortures Hades forced into your mind, you managed to fight against them with a strength I've never seen in any man in all my life. It's just that I suppose… I had to see it for myself. You're not that man who killed me anymore and I forgive you. I'm sorry for being such a fool."
"There's no need for an apology," Killian responded gently, then immediately embraced his father while Brennan hugged him tightly in return.
Without pulling away, the oldest Jones continued as he then asked, "Can you forgive me for abandoning you and your brother all those years ago?"
His son nodded as he sincerely replied, "Aye. I already have. I love you, Father."
"And I you, Killian," Brennan answered, then started towards the light which then appeared again before them, revealing a small cottage where a woman stood waiting for him whom Killian somehow knew was the woman who had loved his father until she died from the plague. "Don't give up fighting for a new life with your own love. You can defeat Hades. Be safe."
"He's right," Emma responded once Brennan was gone and the light had vanished, then the others walked away to give them a moment alone.
Killian nodded, then asked, "Is everyone alright? I heard Henry was hurt earlier."
They slowly walked to leave the cavern as she replied, "He was, but Regina assured me he's fine. He only lost his memories of the last day."
"And you?" her love asked softly. "Are you alright?"
"You came back to me," the Savior answered as Killian leaned in to kiss her. "No matter who you saw, you still saw me and fought back. I love you."
He kissed her again and then whispered, "I love you too, Swan."
She smiled as she stated, "I know."
The End