Killian Jones was no longer a stranger to death. He had always branded himself a survivor, having managed to outwit the end of all ends more times than he cared to admit. The proverbial "cat o'nine lives" had nothing on him… not until the whole Dark Ones snafu that had occurred only a few months prior. That time, that time he had tasted the brassy flavor of blood in his mouth, not once, but twice: first, as the cut of Excalibur on his neck drained his vessels, and the second time, with Emma piercing his heart with the same blasted blade. He'd been to hell (or the underworld, but to him the venture had been basically the same thing if not worse than hell itself) and had experienced the worst of final goodbyes after allowing his beautiful savior, his Emma, to ascend back into the light while he remained there, in the depths of a dark tunnel, dead and trapped.

He was alive only on the whim of a grateful god, nothing else. His nine (or hundred) lives were spent; he knew that the next one would be final.

So, when Emma first confessed that she had foreseen her own death, his heart nearly stopped beating altogether. Why would life have pardoned him from death, only to come back and witness his love, his true love, die at the hands of yet another foe? However, in the few years he had shared with Emma and her sometimes obnoxiously good-natured family, he had managed to glean from them the concept of hope, and having let go of the dreadful quest for revenge that filled his heart in to accommodate his growing love for Emma, he was determined to not just support her and be with her through thick and thin, but to follow her to the underworld himself if he needed to. Whether it was ten minutes or ten decades, Killian would remain by her side. And for reasons he was yet to disclose, he knew she needed him now… more than ever before.

He would not fail her.

He arose early the next day, as he always did, and after stretching his body head to toe with a grunt, he sighed and turned his head to the right, contemplating the goddess that lay beside him, heaps of silver blond hair, held in what was now a messy braid, lips partially parted and pouting, her eyes lightly shut. He beheld her for a few seconds while a second, more subtle sigh joined his contented grin. Soon after, her eyes flickered open and she returned the smirk.

He looked beautiful when he was just Killian Jones; no leather, no black kohl framing his profoundly blue eyes, lashes long and black, as black as his raven hair, mussed and cowlicked by the pillow. He was even… pretty.

She didn't really know when and where she had started loving him so much; All she knew was that she just did.

"Bad form captain, spying on an unconscious woman like that…." She spoke through her grin, sounding deliciously sleepy still.

How he adored this woman.

"Can't fault a man for wanting to behold a sleeping angel, love."

Emma chuckled. "Did you rehearse that line?"

"Over and over, Swan." He leaned in and kissed her gently. "Good morning to you as well…"

Emma stretched and her strained moan, combined by the image of her rounded breasts and hardening nipples peaking through the cotton fabric of her tank top were enough to start making the captain's body "rise to the occasion". He licked his lip and bit it when he felt the twitch.

"What time is it, Killian?" She sighed as she sat up and stretched her neck.

Hook swallowed. "Too late to call it the dawn and too early to start fighting enemies." He sat up and ran a finger down her neck, raising goose bumps under his touch. "I say we take our time, then we start the day."

She looked over her shoulder playfully, staring at the rapidly darkening eyes of her love. "And just what do you have in mind there, Jones?"

"Oh, I don't know…" He nestled into her back, gently pressing his lips to the same spot his fingers had gently caressed seconds earlier. "As a pirate I'd say it's my duty to explore this… sacred temple of gold I got my hands… or hand on. And after that I may or may not thoroughly pillage it to extract its holy nectar, to the very last drop."

"Jesus…" Emma chuckled, her goosebumps travelling down to her breasts, nipples hardening at the huskiness of his voice and the feel of his kiss on her skin, as it feverishly travelled from her neck to her shoulder. She swallowed hard as he continued his depictions.

"…and once that is done, I will bask in the beauty of my loot..." Emma turned around and faced him, as his lips drew closer to hers. "…and forever worship my newfound goddess…" He kissed her, gently at first, then intensely and hungrily, his hand-less arm wrapping around her waist.

Emma lay back down under his adoring gaze. "You talk the talk, pirate…. Can you walk the walk?" She smiled as she looked up into his lustful gaze, also adoring, and reached up a hand to caress his cheek.

"Oh, I do love a challenge." He growled as he bit his lower lip.

Emma was quick to feel his body's response: fast and hard, and yet supple and full of love, his engorged groin pressing into her hip. Kissing her from her neck to her chest and back, her own body responded in like, her "nectar" now suddenly almost gushing out in preparedness. He trailed his kisses down her chest and gently tugged her tank top down, one perky breast bobbing up almost directly into his hungry mouth. Engulfing it, his tongue rough and yet kind, Emma gasped at the contact. In spite of all the times they'd done this before, making love with Killian always somehow felt new and exciting, the rough and sandy scrub of his short, hard scruff, against the wet and slippery feel of his agile tongue on her pink bud, rising hard, as hard as his own response. "Killian... oh… Killian…" She sighed, her tongue pressed against the back of her teeth, drifting away into the powerful lure of pleasure.

He briefly looked up at her and smiled, the sound of his name on her lips serving as a powerful aphrodisiac, his tongue still servicing her nipple, gently held between his teeth; his blunt left wrist, while handless, was not lacking for skill, as it had somehow found the twin breast and also ministered the lustful bud, perked up as hard as it's rosy little sister. His lips still glued to her left breast, the handless wrist suddenly abandoned its post and travelled slowly down, velvety touch cruising over a taut belly and the pool of the navel, hair rising wherever it trailed over, until it found its way under the elastic of Emma's underpants, caressing a fleshy mount covered in short, springy curls.

Her response was instant and hungry: Her legs parted, one knee bent up and the other leg angling outward, still laid flat out on the bed. It had to be said that having lost a hand did not incapacitate Killian Jones any; his skill at using his stump was remarkable in more ways than one. Thus, his use of it as something of a sex toy could definitely not go unnoticed; she loved how he worked her clitoris and the moist, shallow entrance to her body with it, making good use of her wet arousal, which he welcomed with a happy smile. Her hips gently swaying to the rhythm they set together, he pulled away from her breast and stared into her eyes, observing her reactions as her arousal drove her more and more into an impending ecstasy. He said nothing… just stared at her with a kind grin. She would occasionally open her eyes and smile back, only to gasp and close them again, sharp breaths and gentle moans the minstrels and precursors to what he knew would be her first climax of their union this morning. And by god, he could not deny her any pleasure! As much as he had always found dirty talk arousing and exciting, there were times where he could not bring himself to even uttering a word to soil the pure perfection and beauty that were the soaring orgasms of Emma Swan, and it was not long before her eyes rolled back, and a gasp echoed after a loud moan, her whole body spasmed and quivering under his touch, toes curled, beads of sweat travelling down her temples, her now exposed breasts under a wet sheen, and her throbbing veins a mirror to her pulsating sex.

"Aye, that's what I'm talking about…" He muttered, a satisfied grin plastered on his face, as he quickly and urgently shed off his one undergarment. This time around, Emma didn't have chance to look at or touch him, hard, long and beautiful; she didn't even get a chance to talk before he was between her and sliding into her, his own body instantly responding to the deliciousness of the union with a pleasured groan. "Oh yesss…" . Emma too gasped, her walls now stretched by his body, and she felt she needed tethering before she fell into an abyss again, so she held on to his forearms, "Oh… oh god… K…Killian…"

"Bloody hell…" He swallowed and simply leaned into his love, depositing a ravenous kiss on her somehow still unresponsive lips, before plunging in completely, hard on wet, and began to "pillage the holy temple of gold" that now lay near boneless under his body. With every thrust, he could feel Emma's body once again begin to tighten around him, her moans louder and her breathing faster. "Come on Swan… come on love…" He'd whisper, feeling the response almost immediately after every word. He dove into her neck, pressing lips and teeth and tongue into it, kissing her ear, her collarbone, anything to taste her, then rising up and catching a glimpse of the pleasured abandon on her face. He worshipped her with heart and soul, and his body was no exception: She deserved it all, his savior, his love… his Emma. "I love you so much, savior…" He muttered harshly into her neck, barely able to word his feelings at all. "Heavens help me, Emma, I love you so much…"

At the sound of his passionate, heartfelt love vow, Emma once again reached her orgasmic bliss with a loud moan, and the feeling of her inner walls pulsating around his rock hard cock, mixed with the sound of her convulsed groan were such a delight to him, it wasn't long before he too fell and fell hard into his own spilling climax, filling her up with the juice from his own soul.

"Emma…. Em… ma…" He finally gasped as he thrust his seed hard into her, spilling every last drop of his "nectar" into her, collapsing his own shaken, pillaged and plundered body on top of hers, a welcome weight of post-climatic pleasure.

As he rolled off her, she could feel his seminal juices gently dribble out of her and she swore she hadn't felt so content before he came into her life. He sighed and rose (she knew he wanted to fetch a towel for her), but she pulled him back. "No…. stay here with me for a bit." She sighed. "I want to feel this."

Killian raised one brow. "Didn't you say the linen was new and wanted to keep it thus, Swan?" He grinned, still shuddering.

"My sheets, my rules." She smiled "The mess is part of the fun, captain."

"Aye, well..." He huffed as he slumped back beside her. "I suppose waiting a short while holding my seed won't endanger you to become impregnated by me, will it?"

Funny you should mention that, she thought as she grinned and turned to her side, looking at him adoringly, her heartbeat slowly climbing back down to a normal rhythm. She reached out and mussed the tendrils of sweaty black hair on his forehead away. "By the way… I love you too. I just couldn't say it because I didn't have breath to speak." After his response was a delightfully big smile, she snuggled into his chest and let out a deep breath. He responded by embracing her, her nude silhouette feeling like fine silken velvet under his touch.

"So… what's in store for the savior today?" He finally spoke after a few minutes of happy silence.

Ugh…

"Knowing me, probably another day of danger and near-death experiences…" She laughed softly.

"Hmm." Killian nodded, his hand trailing small circles on her back. "I've become accustomed to said life at this point. Have any more specific thoughts?"

"I want to go to Gold's shop, see if there is anything there that may indicate who the cloaked figure is."

Oh aye, that demon set out to kill my love, he thought, a dark shadow once again clouding his previously contented soul. "All right then Swan. Let's do that and figure this out and stop whatever blasted evil this is." He looked at her. "You will live. I don't know how, but I swear it."

Emma felt her heart break just a little bit at the sight of his face, his determination still unyielding, even after all this time. She pressed her lips together into a sad smile. "Oh Killian. After all you've been through for my sake… Why do you still love me so much?"

"The right question is, why wouldn't I?" He smiled back, joy returning to his face. "You're bloody amazing, Swan. In every way imaginable. I owe you a great deal more than you owe me, make no mistake, you've saved me in every way any man can be saved. In honor of that debt and for the love I hold for you, I swear: We will defeat this foe together, love."

She saw him in her mind's eye, by her side, welcoming their unborn child into the world. This man had already braved death, so raising a baby with her would probably not be a huge challenge… if she lived. Maybe she was wrong to be hiding her pregnancy from him; maybe they would find a way to change her dark, ominous fate. Maybe… just maybe, he would support her idea of accelerating the pregnancy if all planning didn't work and her destiny was unavoidable.

"Killian I…" She swallowed. "…remember that thing we spoke of yesterday?"

"Ah, yes. That secret of yours." He nodded, his hand caressing her arm. "You said you'd tell me when you were ready."

"There's much more to that… thing with me shaking and the hooded figure." She looked up into his eyes. "There's so much more at stake."

Killian remained calm, but furrowed his brow. "What is it, Swan?" When she stuttered a little, he reached out for her hand and side-smirked. "It's ok. Whatever it is, you can tell me."

Emma licked her lips, his gentle little side grin inviting her more and more to open up and trust him… trust him… trust him… The words were stuck at the very tip of her tongue, all her sudden momentum rapidly disappearing under a hailstorm of "what-ifs". She remembered the time she was close to telling him how much she loved him, right after thwarting Isaac and Gold's scheme to re-write the story, after she thought she'd lost him for good before even having a chance to let that last wall down, only to once again feel the dread of loss take over her and stopping her from simply saying "I love you". This felt eerily similar. She knew she wanted him to know but the fears that always drowned her in doubt were coming back like a raging tide, tying her tongue and stopping from simply uttering a few simple words.

Killian immediately saw her hesitation, and knew she would not be able to voice her fears of her own volition. He sighed deeply, and closed his eyes… and the words that suddenly followed shook her very core. "Emma… how far along are you?"

The utterance that left his mouth, calm, uninterrupted, and way ahead of her own, felt like a sudden slap out of her impending panic attack. She stared at him, wide eyed, as he calmly continued to hold her gaze, same little smile annoyingly tracing his lips. "Wh…. You… knew?"

He licked his lips and nodded. "Aye. I've known for at least a week."

"H… how!?" she exclaimed, shocked, annoyed and relieved all at once.

Killian sighed deep again as he stood up, finally pacing swiftly into the washroom and returning with a towel. He placed his cotton undergarment back on and sat next to Emma as he gently placed the towel under her hips, and then looked back at her. "I noticed you weren't eating your full meals, or barely even touched them at all. Seemed a bit out of character, you usually have quite a healthy appetite. You also began to look drawn and pale and you struggled to remain awake. I was concerned for your well-being, so I was about to ask you if you were well, when I heard you disgorging in the yard when Henry made pop-corn the other night. Add to that the sudden change in your mood, you've been brooding for days. I just pieced it together." He grinned and caressed her cheek. "I may never before have had any woman carry my child but I am not oblivious to the evidence. So… How far along then, Swan?"

In spite of her annoyance at being such an open book to him, she was grateful that she didn't have to fess up any more. She sat up as tears came to her eyes. "Going on thirteen weeks." She sobbed. "I'm sorry, Killian… I… I should have told you before but…"

"Hey… it's ok…" She fell into his embrace. "It's ok." When she pulled back, his gaze was serious but still full of that love that had won her heart over a long while ago. "I hold to my word, Emma. I'm not going anywhere. I just wish you'd have told me sooner."

"I couldn't bring myself to." She swallowed. "There's just… so much going on."

Killian nodded. "Aye… aye there is."

"You're not… angry with me? For not telling you before?"

"How could I ever be mad at you, love?" He whispered back. "No. I know you have a lot on your mind… and I understand that your fears of death are heightened as it is, even more so now when you have a child to worry about." His eyes travelled to her belly, and a gentle ringed finger followed as he traced the line from her belly button to her pubic mound. "I get it. You feel it's bad enough that I'd lose you. I've a long history of turning into the worst version of me when that happens. You dread to think what would become of me if I lost you AND our unborn child as well." Emma finally broke down completely, a tidal wave of emotions finally released, and she fell on his chest, his head gently kissing her hair.

As he held her, the visions of her death came suddenly back. Her hand shook violently, her eyes widened, and his sudden call of her name sounded miles away. She saw it, the hooded figure, tall and dark, and she saw the obnoxious blade that ran her through, right where her child would grow. She saw her family looking at her, unable to help, her son's eyes filling with tears, her mother falling to her knees and Killian's distraught expression as a loud, painful "NO!" rang through the air.

"EMMA!"

She gasped and looked back at him. She regained her breath and took her gaze out the window before looking down at her hand.

"Again?" He asked, ducking his head to meet her gaze.

"Yeah…" She nodded fervently. "This thing will kill us both, Killian. I can't … I can't lose our baby."

"We will find a way, love. We've got to tell your family and Regina and…"

"No!"

"Swan, be reasonable!" Killian pressed on. "This is major. I will do anything it takes to save you, even more so now. You declined the use of the shears and I swore I'd not use them on you, but I will find another way and right now, we need help. You know this."

Defeated at her own game, Emma rolled her legs down the side of the bed and sighed, thinking briefly as she leaned her elbows on her knees and her face sank into her palms. "Ok. Ok, you're right, we have to tell them." She huffed as she sat back up and stared him sternly in the eye. "But I make the final call. I will do anything it takes to save this baby, Hook. Whether I live or die, this child will NOT perish with me; So if it comes to that, if it comes to choosing between me and our child, you WILL do the right thing and choose our child over me. You save the baby and you raise it even if I am not there. Swear it to me."

"Emma, you won't…·"

"Swear it!"

Killian bit his lip and clenched his jaw, feeling tears come into his eyes. He fought them and failed miserably as he huffed and looked down, before meeting her eyes again. "If that is your wish Swan, I will not deny you my vow. That is MY child you carry and I can understand where your priorities now lie. I will honor your request, if it should come to that, for the sake of our babe. But I will not allow that moment to come, I will not lose you, not without a bloody good fight… and you have to also promise me, that whatever happens, you will NOT give up unless all hope is shattered beyond repair. You will fight with all you have so in the end… your family and I can save you both, and me and you can come home and raise our child together. Do I have your promise as well?"

The words "raise our child together" softened the intensity of the moment, and Emma felt herself smile. "Ok. I promise." She replied softly.

They then embraced tightly and even if he had hidden it well, Emma could feel the fresh tears on his face as they dripped down on her shoulder. When he looked back up, his gaze had softened and a proud grin crossed his face, the momentousness of the actual simple confirmation of the news, of his Swan being pregnant with his child, tiding over him. "A child Swan… our child. After all you've done for me you find a way to bestow me yet again, this time with the greatest gift a man like me could ever hope for. As I said, how could I not love you, Emma Swan?"

Emma nodded with a teary-eyed grin. "Hey… it took two."

Forehead leaning on hers, he returned the grin. "That it did, love. Job well done."

The day's events unfolded rapidly after that; it was agreed that they'd first visit Belle, who regaled them with a book written entirely with squid ink. Emma cleverly used her magic to pull the ink from the pages and into a tiny pill box in her hand. They then paid the pawn shop a visit and Hook taunted Gold as a distraction while Emma quietly tiptoed behind the imp, and without hesitation blew the contents of her pill box on him, paralyzing him. It was not long after that Emma found the blade that would (might) take her life. Without hesitation, they called for a meeting at the loft.

Since her parents were cursed by Regina's crazy evil twin, they arrived at the loft to find David was taking the night shift while Snow slept soundly, cursed and oblivious. Emma laid the sword on the table, and explained that she knew this was the blade that would do the deed they were all dreading.

"Where did it come from?" Henry sneered, appalled not only at the sight of a weapon on his grandmother's table, but also at the thought that this could very well be the sword that might end the life of his mother.

David grabbed it. "The hilt looks like it was made somewhere near Longbourn." He studied it. "These blades are rumored to have been commissioned by fairies to defend magic in the Enchanted Forest. There aren't many of these left." He admired the straightness of the blade and the perfect craftsmanship. "I only ever heard of them in tales, but this… red stone here, it's a telltale sign. Yeah… This blade is embedded with magic." He put it down. "Rumplestiltskin hates fairies! What the hell is it doing in Gold's shop?"

"Dad, what the hell is ANYTHING doing in Gold's shop?" Emma sighed as she shook her head. "All I know is this thing is going to be used to kill me by someone who I'm pretty sure isn't a fairy."

Regina held her hand over the hilt. "David's right. This thing has magic. Some of it anyway." She looked to Emma. "I may have an idea. This thing is loaded with magig and probably holds a memory of who it belongs to. If we take it to my vault, I may have a way to trace it back to its owner. Then we might be able to shed some light into who wants to kill you, Emma… and why." She shook her head. "I still have my doubts that the hooded figure it isn't my worse half, but this is the only way to be sure."

Emma nodded and she and Hook exchanged a look. He rubbed his brow and stepped forward. "Sounds like a plan… however, before we do that, there's something else you should know. Something quite pivotal."

Emma fidgeted as three pairs of expectant eyes burned her skin.

"Yeah.. well… Uhmm…" Emma sat down. "I may need help much faster than I thought." Regina looked at her questioningly, David crossed his arms with a frown and Henry sat down next to her. Emma gulped and exhaled. "If I die…. It won't be just me who dies." She hoped that would have done the trick, but apparently the penny hadn't quite dropped on anyone. "Ok. Look, I… It seems that…"

"Emma is pregnant with my child." Killian cut in quickly, his eyes rolling. "If this figure cuts her down, it will not only kill her, but our baby as well. So, it would appear we are pressed for time."

The six seconds of awkward silence that followed felt to Emma like an hour.

"Whoa…" Henry's eyebrows went way up.

David ran a hand down his face; he wasn't so much shocked. After all, he had accepted the pirate into the family a long time ago. But the thought of a grandchild being in peril together with his precious daughter, felt like an added burden. He sighed and turned his back on the group, pacing to the kitchen.

Regina also raised her eyebrows, mildly surprised. "Oh! Well, I'll save the congratulations till later Emma, because I do believe we now have even greater reasons to figure this out." She looked at the sword. "Whether your baby is a key part to this whole mess or it's just a happy coincidence with terrible timing remains to be seen, but I am suspecting a ploy here, so, shall we?"

Emma nodded and stood up, not before turning to her father. "D… dad?" She cautiously stepped towards her father. "Please don't… don't be too mad. We love each other and this would be really great news if we didn't have to… you know, worry about me dying."

David stood in the kitchen, one hand clasped over his mouth, the other under his elbow. He turned to Emma and she was shocked to find actual tears. He paced to his daughter and simply embraced her in his typical fatherly fashion. "Oh Emma…" He then pulled away and held her by the shoulders. "I'm not. I'm not mad. I just wish you could just… have a happy moment without the threat of something looming over our family every time." He turned his eyes to Hook. "I'd really like to congratulate you both but… Not until we see this new thing defeated." He smiled, looked contained, and suddenly just walked to Hook with open arms. "Oh, what the hell! Congratulations!" He hugged Hook, who responded with a sudden gasp and a chuckle, gently patting David back.

"Thank you." He nodded. "We're both thrilled. Now let's do what needs to be done and defeat this thing." He looked pleadingly into David's eyes. "I can't lose them both, mate."

Henry stood up and hugged Emma. "Don't worry mom. We'll defeat this, like we always do; Then it'll all be smooth sailing and I'll get to be a big brother. It'll be ok." Henry smirked.

Emma nodded. "Yeah kid. We'll do our best. We all will." She looked up to Regina. "Ok. Let's do this."

David clapped his hands together and nodded. "I have to wake Snow soon. Should you tell her or should I?" He beamed.

Emma grinned back at her dad. "Maybe you could do that, dad. We're going to be a bit busy trying to figure out where this thing comes from." She turned her face to the sleeping figure of Snow White, her mother, on her bed, before picking up the sword again and following Regina out the door, tailed also by Hook.

On their way to the vault, they discovered that this sword, this magic embedded sword, could easily kill the Evil Queen without hurting Regina. Magic sword indeed! It would at least take one worry off Emma's mind and break the hideous sleeping curse on her parents! But then, once they had conjured the magic necessary to obtain any information on the blade, all they came up with was a bleak image of the hooded figure: A tall somewhat handsome young man with dark eyes.

"Who in blazes is that?" Killian sneered.

Regina took a closer look at the hazy image before them. "I've no idea." She turned to Emma. "I don't think he is even a resident of Storybrooke."

"Maybe he came with the people from the land of Untold Stories?" she looked at Regina. "A helper to Hyde maybe, one of those wardens?"

"Why would a warden want to kill YOU?" Regina frowned. "No, it's too messy, it doesn't make any sense…"

Killian closed his eyes. "Perhaps it's the child they want dead." Emma and Regina shot their faces at him; he opened his eyes and continued. "Maybe there is much more to a child born of the savior than meets the eye."

Emma looked down, her mind travelling back to the little secret buried in the nook of her yard, wondering if it was safer for her to carry the child; if whatever villain wanted to hurt their baby, it would be a lot easier to do so once the child was born. On the other hand, if her visions proved true, they'd both end up dead anyway. If the child was out of her, they could at least try to hide it, to save it. She looked back at Regina, fear etched in her eyes. "Is that a possibility? That they might be after our baby and not me?"

Regina grimaced; the thought of harming a baby, even more so an unborn one, was far too dark, even for her old ways. She felt for Emma when the young Savior's green eyes suddenly became glossed over with tears, reaching out and finding the embrace of her pirate; the captain too looked terrified, authentic fear visible under his hooded brow, as he hid his face in her shoulder. What Regina hated the most was not being able to quell their fears. There were evils out there far greater than hers or even Rumpelstiltskin's, evils that would not hesitate to use the soul of an innocent for the darkest of means.

Angered by the prospect of the foulest type of murder, she turned her attention back to the young man. "Who are you and what the hell do you want?"

Time was fast running out. Emma knew something had to be done. And she'd do it.