I own nothing except my delusions.
Emma grinned as she stepped into the alleyway behind the loft, seeing Killian folding his winds as he settled in.
"You okay out here?" she asked him.
He nodded his large head. "Aye. Besides, it's only for a little bit."
She stopped right in front of him, resting her hand on his nose.
He closed his eyes in contentment, resting against her.
"So we have to go to Regina's?" he asked after a moment.
"Yeah," she nodded. "She wants to summon Cora's spirit or something and ask her about Zelena."
"Tell me why I have a feeling this is gonna end badly?" he sighed.
She smirked in amusement. "Cause it's Regina's family."
"Too right," he replied.
Chuckling, she moved so she could lean against his side. He shifted so she could rest on his arm, preventing her from having to sit on the ground.
"Where will Henry be while we do this?" he asked her curiously.
"I asked Granny to keep an eye on him," Emma replied. "Nothing's getting past her crossbow. Belle offered, but because Zelena controls Gold right now, he would be able to get into his own shop, so that's not safe for him."
Killian released a small huff in agreement.
Content to just sit with him until it was time for his change, she relaxed against him until a loud metallic noise coming from the street made her start.
Realizing that it was around the time Regina was supposed to bring Henry over so they could make sure he was safe, Emma jumped up, nearly sprinting towards the street.
"Stay here!" she called to Killian.
A large group of people stood in the streets, frozen as Zelena stood in the middle of the street with Gold and seven of her monkeys. Regina's car was stopped in the middle of the road, the front totaled and the windshield shattered.
Regina stood beside the car, shielding Henry right behind her.
All thought left Emma's head, her only focus getting to her son.
She faintly realized her parents had come from the loft, hurrying to Henry and Regina.
"Regina, I only wanted to meet my nephew," Zelena said loudly. "I'm rather hurt you didn't introduce us."
"Keep away from him," Regina snarled.
Moving to stand beside Regina to shield Henry, Emma spoke in a low voice to her son. "Henry, get to the alley. Killian is there. He'll protect you."
Henry nodded stiffly, his limbs rigid as he moved to run to safety.
Seeing the movements, Zelena spoke to her monkeys. "Stop them."
Four monkeys screeched as they launched themselves into the air.
Not caring who they were, only that they were a threat to her son, Emma drew her gun, but before she could fire a shot, a loud roar sounded behind them. Knowing the sounds of the monkeys was what drew him, she watched as Killian moved to block the monkeys from attacking them, covering her and her family.
She saw Zelena's shocked face, the other woman clearly not expecting them to have a dragon.
One monkey flung itself forward, only to get caught in razor sharp teeth before it disintegrated into ash.
"Get it!" Zelena nearly screeched.
The three other monkeys in the air moved to attack, splitting up to attack either of Killian's sides. Acting quickly, his chest glowed before releasing a breath of fire, making one of the monkeys disappear. The other two were luckier, digging their claws into his neck.
Killian released a low growl of pain before snapping at one of them, disintegrating one while the other dodged him.
Emma watched in horror as Killian suddenly froze, realizing night had fallen.
"No," she whispered in panic. "No, no, no."
She fired off a shot at the last attacking monkey as she sprinted forward to him, just clipping its wing.
The sounds of its screech was lost to her, her ears only picking up the sounds of Killian's bones reforming.
The simian she had missed dived towards Killian, slashing deeply down his side with its claws.
Her breath caught at the wound even as she pushed herself forward, able to see the reforming bones and organs through the cuts as they healed.
She heard David fire off a couple shots as she reached Killian, setting her hands on his still scaled skin as she tried to cover him.
The last three monkeys Zelena had replaced the one David had taken out, moving to attack and dodging the bullets Emma fired at them.
Emma felt the tremors still wracking Killian's body as he suddenly shoved her behind himself as the monkeys reached them, her gun falling from her grasp. The next thing she registered was the feeling of warm blood on her, her heart stopping as she realized that Killian bore the brunt of their attack.
Looking up, she saw what would be instantly fatal wounds, including long slashes across his chest and throat, unable to protect himself as he was protecting her.
Grabbing her fallen gun, she quickly fired off at the monkeys from the short distance, turning them to ash like the previous ones.
"Enjoy this moment together, because you don't have many left!" Zelena yelled before green smoke encompassed her and Gold, leaving nothing behind as it dissipated.
"Killian," Emma said faintly as she forced herself up, her legs unsteady as she moved to him.
Standing in front of him, she rested her hands on his shoulders as she checked him over, seeing through his shredded shirt that his injuries had healed.
"Are you okay?" she asked in a low voice.
He nodded stiffly. "Aye, I'm fine, Swan."
Taking in his expression, she saw he wore a look nearly identical to the one he wore when he first came to the town, particularly after Gold had put word out to the town.
Chancing a look around them, she saw the reason for him being so closed off.
Nearly the entire town had been present at the time of Zelena's attack, meaning that they saw Killian's arrival, as well as saw his change and his body healing the would-be fatal wounds. Many looked scared, with some people even looking sick. A few people, including her parents, Belle, Granny, and Ruby, wore an expression similar to the one Emma knew she wore.
A new swell of panic took over, wanting to protect him from all of the people watching him, but was also torn because she wanted to go to Henry.
David suddenly stepped towards them, removing his jacket to help cover Killian as if sensing how vulnerable he was.
"Henry's fine," he muttered. "Just really freaked out. C'mon, let's get inside."
Emma nodded, wrapping an arm around Killian's waist, silently letting him know that she was staying beside him.
"What happened?" Mary Margaret asked Regina as soon as they entered the loft.
"Zelena just appeared in the middle of the street and sent a monkey to attack my car," Regina said angrily. "It's not bad enough she took my heart, but now she's coming after my son?"
"Wait, she has your heart?" David asked.
"I gave it to Robin to keep safe," Regina explained, her voice calmer. "She sent Gold to retrieve it and had him threaten Robin to get it. My heart or his son, Roland. He made the choice any parent would."
Seeing everyones uneasy expressions, she shook her head. "Don't worry. I put an enchantment on my heart so she can't control me."
Henry quietly moved so he was next to Emma. Shifting to wrap his arms around her for comfort, he stopped as he looked at her, his eyes wide.
Emma looked over him in worry before realizing what made him stop; that she was covered in Killian's blood.
"None of it's mine," she told him quietly.
He nodded, looking at Killian uneasily.
She knew he was worried, that Killian had barely spoken a word since Zelena left.
"Are you okay?" she asked her son.
Henry gave her a small nod. "Yeah, I think."
Exhaling, she held him close to her.
"I'll set up a few protection spells around the loft and my house," Regina said. "Something even blood magic can't break."
Mary Margaret nodded gratefully. "Thank you."
All of the adults looked at Henry before looking around at each other uneasily. None of them wanted to leave him alone after the attack, but couldn't risk him being there while they tried to contact Cora.
"I'll block off your room as soon as we get home," Regina finally said as she looked back at Henry.
He nodded. "Am I still going to Granny's?"
"No," Regina replied with a shake of her head. "We're making a safe area for you in the house but away from where we'll be trying to contact my mother."
Looking nervous, he nodded.
"We'll give you a ride up," David offered. He looked back at Emma and Killian, both covered in blood, the latter's shirt nearly shredded. "We'll let you both clean up. Are you okay here on your own?"
Emma nodded. "Yeah, we'll be fine."
David nodded in return.
Reluctantly letting go of her son, she watched them all leave, leaving her alone with Killian. Swallowing, she fought her nerves as she looked at him, determined to talk to him.
She felt just like when Killian had first come to Storybrooke, seeing him shielding himself from everyone. It felt like all of the progress he had made in the last year had been for nothing.
"Talk to me?" Emma asked softly.
"Everyone saw," he nearly whispered.
Exhaling, she stepped forward to touch him, only for him to step away. She ignored the stab of rejection, reminding herself not to push him too hard.
"Yeah, they did," she confirmed quietly.
He didn't meet her eyes. "Now everyone sees the monster the Crocodile turned me into."
Her breath catching in her chest, Emma cradled his face, making him look at her.
"You are not a monster," she said fiercely. "You know what everyone saw? They saw a man with a curse he doesn't deserve protecting people who care about him."
"Swan, I've hidden my transformations for a reason," he argued weakly. "I saw the faces of everyone. Of your family."
"You let me be with you when you change," she reminded him.
"That's different," he responded. "With you… I want you to be able to see me."
"And I do," she said before brushing her lips to his.
Breaking apart, she pulled away enough to look at him.
"We'll get through this," she promised him. "You're not alone anymore, and you have people who care about you."
Exhaling, he nodded, letting her see him lowering his walls to her.
"I didn't hurt you earlier, did I?" he suddenly asked worriedly.
She shook her head. "Don't worry, you didn't."
Looking at both of their clothes, she dropped her hold on his face to instead take his hand in hers. "C'mon. We need to get cleaned up."
He followed her up the stairs, going with her to pull some fresh clothes before looking at her in surprise when she stopped him from going downstairs.
"There's no need," she said. "We're alone, and I think you could use some help getting all the blood off."
She felt a small spike of relief at his small smile.
Tossing the bloody clothes into a pile minus Killian's shredded shirt, which was promptly thrown into the trash bin, Emma immediately turned the water to a warm temperature in the shower before leading him under the spray.
"Too hot or cold?" she asked him after giving the water a second to warm up.
"It's fine, love," he said as he passed her her shampoo.
Emma tried not to think about how much blood ran down the drain with the water as they helped each other become clean of it, finding herself taking special care around the areas she had seen the injuries.
"It doesn't hurt," Killian told her, knowing why she was so hesitant. "It doesn't even feel like anything ever even happened."
She couldn't explain the sudden sting in her eyes as she looked at the smooth skin, only that she kept seeing the ragged flesh each time she closed her eyes.
She finally understood more of the horrors of the curse Gold placed upon him, especially knowing that Killian had inflicted similar injuries upon himself before.
Strong arms suddenly wrapped around her, Killian pulling her against his warm chest. She suddenly realised she had been shaking, his hold steadying her as she ran her hands up his scarred back to his shoulders.
"It's alright, Emma," he whispered as the water ran over them.
"No, it's not," she whispered back.
She felt him kiss her temple before the water was suddenly shut off. Reluctantly letting go of him, she stepped out of the shower to dry off, her movements mechanical.
Emma wanted nothing more than to grab Killian and crawl into bed and just lay with his arms wrapped around her, but knew they didn't have the luxury.
"We need to hurry," she told him quietly. "They're all waiting for us at Regina's."
He nodded in agreement, something in his expression telling her he wanted the exact same thing she did.
The cabin was cold and dark as Emma followed Killian inside, making her draw her arms up around herself.
She turned on one of the few small lamps to help light the room as Killian went to the fireplace, throwing a couple logs into it before striking a match and throwing it in.
"Sorry," he apologized. "It will warm up over here in a minute if you want to come beside the fire."
She nodded as she hurried over to the hearth, the growing embers a welcome relief.
Killian pulled her into his side, rubbing her arm to try to warm her further. Curling into him, the main thought on Emma's mind was that she was thankful that he wasn't retreating away from her like he had before given the events of the day.
After the seance they had to summon Cora that had originally failed before she possessed Mary Margaret to show the feud between their families and Belle finding out that Zelena was preparing to cast a spell to travel through time, they had all retreated to Granny's for a quick dinner before everyone went their separate ways. The visit had been just like when Killian first arrived in the town yet also worse, with many of the patrons throwing him various looks, ranging from unease to pity to even disgust. While Emma didn't do it outright, Granny had snapped at a couple of the people for watching Killian. Emma had thrown a couple glares herself, silently daring the people to say something.
He didn't say anything, but she knew it all bothered Killian.
"You know you didn't have to come here with me," he said quietly. "You could have slept in your own bed tonight."
Emma shook her head as she looked up at him. "You needed a break and I didn't want to leave you all alone."
He hummed as he rested his head on hers. "Well, I appreciate the company."
Smiling, she found herself snuggling into him further before her smile began to slip. The threat of possibly being erased from existence loomed over her, tainting the moment of peace.
"I don't know how we're going to be able to protect the baby," she said quietly, thinking of her unborn brother or sister.
"We just have to do it long enough so we can take Zelena out," Killian reminded her.
Emma nodded. "I know, but she has Gold now. And now she knows you're a threat."
They slipped into silence, the crackling of the fire the only noise as he held her a little tighter.
"I never did thank you for earlier," she said a moment later as she watched the flames.
"What for, love?" he asked.
She smiled, knowing his brow was pinched in confusion before it slipped away as images of him maimed resurfaced in her mind.
"You took that attack so I wouldn't get hurt," she said quietly.
"Which I will gladly do again," he said simply. "It's a cross I'm more than willing to bear. I will make sure you and your family are safe, no matter the cost."
She didn't need her lie detector to know he was completely honest with her, but she pulled away enough to look him in the eyes.
"Why?" she asked softly.
A tender smile curled his lips as his blue eyes softened. "Don't you know, Emma?"
Her breath caught as his words sunk in, knowing what he was telling her without actually saying the words. He knew she wasn't ready to hear him say it, but was telling her in a way she could handle.
She felt her heart fluttering as she closed her eyes to press her lips to his, knowing deep down that she felt the same herself, even if she wasn't ready to admit it. A new warmth wrapped around her different from the fire, one that felt like security and comfort and happiness and homecoming.
Making sure to follow him, she gently pushed him back so he was laying on the rug with her hovering above him.
Teaser: A look of regret crossed Regina's features. "I'm sorry, but I don't know."
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