"What is she doing here?!"
"Well good morning to you too, Madam Mayor," Emma smiled sarcastically, lifting her head out of some paperwork she'd been filling out before being interrupted by Regina barging into the station, clearly not expecting to see her there.
"She's my new deputy," Graham quickly explained, walking around to the desk that Emma was sat at and passing her a mug of hot chocolate.
"They say the Mayor's always the last to know," Regina said dryly, clearly trying her best to keep an impassive facial expression.
"It's in my budget."
"Indeed."
Emma looked between the Sheriff and the Mayor, quietly sipping her cocoa leisurely as if she were watching a game of tennis. She realised there was more to this conversation than a display of power, however she couldn't quite put her finger on what.
"Miss Swan, a word outside."
"Regina, I don't think—"
"It's alright, Graham," Emma interrupted, moving to stand, facing the other woman, "I'll follow you out."
Regina turned immediately on her heels and marched outside, letting the door slam behind her. Emma sighed at her childish display and after sending Graham a fed-up look, she walked after the mayor.
"What can I do for you, Regina?" she sighed, after making sure to close the heavy door properly so that Graham wouldn't overhear this conversation, which was almost sure to go nasty pretty quickly.
"That's hardly the proper way to address a Queen, now is it?"
It was almost the air turned ice cold as both women stared straight at each other, virtually challengingly to see who would look away first. If Regina was expecting Emma to be shocked at her statement, she didn't show it, she simply looked back at the blonde with a small smug smile tugging on the corners of her lips.
"I'll address the woman who ruined my life and the lives of everybody else in this town however I damn please," Emma retaliated fearlessly, her hands balling into fists by her sides.
Regina grinned shamelessly and laughed quietly. "I see somebody has already fallen into their hero role."
"I'm no hero, but that won't stop me breaking your stupid curse," she replied with a self-assured smile of her own.
"I wouldn't be so sure of that, Miss Swan," Regina announced in a threatening tone, her smirk still very much present, however. "If you break my curse, I'll do everything in my power to make sure you never see Henry ever again."
"You don't have the power to do that," Emma declared confidently, raising one eyebrow challengingly.
"Believe me, Swan, you have no idea what I have the power to do," she spat, her smile vanishing completely at the questioning of her abilities.
"And believe me, Your Majesty," Emma started, leaning towards the evil woman, so close that their noses were almost touching. "You have no idea what I have the power to do."
"Hi Emma!" Henry grinned as she opened the front door to find him stood there with his arms full of various carrier bags.
"Hey kid…what've you got there?" she asked, making room so he could squeeze past her through the doorway into the house.
"I bought my Xbox. Thought maybe you, Killian and Grandpa would like to play?" he explained whilst looking around the still quite empty house. "Um…did you guys have any plans for redecorating?"
"Why? What's wrong with the way things are?" Emma replied, looking around in a similar way to the way Henry just had, in case she'd missed a hole in one of the walls or some peeling wallpaper.
"Nothing, it just doesn't seem like you guys have properly moved in yet, that's all," he replied with a shrug.
"Well David and Killian don't have an awful lot of stuff and mine is currently being shipped over here by an agency from my old place," Emma tried to defend. "Give it a couple of days."
"Sure, okay," he smiled, carrying on into the living room where David was sat watching the sports channel on the TV. "Hey Grampa!"
"Hey champ! How are you doing today?" David replied with a wide smile, reaching for the tv remote so he could turn the volume down a bit.
"I'm great!" he beamed before putting down the bags and starting to attach his console up to the tv.
"Would you like anything to drink or eat, kid?" Emma asked, moving to lean on the back of the couch near David.
"No thanks, I just had lunch with my Mom," he said, disappearing around behind the back of the television to attach the necessary cables there.
"Okay, no problem," she managed to reply, doing her best not to give away how much it bothered her that Henry seemed to have a semi-normal thing going on with the Evil Queen as his Mother. How could Regina go from threatening her and generally being a nasty piece of work one minute, to having a lunch-date at Granny's with Henry the next, all within the space of an hour?
"If you're offering to make fresh beverages, love, I'd simply adore a coffee," Killian announced from the doorway, a grin firmly set on his face.
"Sorry, Jones, kitchen's that way. I'm not one of your skivvies on your ship," she shot back with a smile, causing David to laugh loudly.
"Was worth a try," he answered with a flirtatious wink, not seeming to be at the least bit bothered by David's reaction.
"You're becoming far too addicted to caffeine anyway," Emma commented flippantly, moving to sit down on one of the squishy armchairs.
"I simply have an appreciation for the finer things in life—" he smirked, sitting on the arm of the chair next to Emma so he could whisper in her ear, "—which is clearly the reason for my soul mate being a Princess."
"Soul mate or not, buddy, I'm still not making you a coffee," Emma replied after a second to try and compose an answer that didn't consist of her swearing colourfully or punching the smug pirate in the face. "And I make my own choices when it comes to my love life; just because you're my soul mate does not mean you get this any easier than any normal guy would."
"Believe me, love, I'm more than aware of that," he replied with what actually appeared to be a genuine smile. "I wasn't kidding before when I said that I like a challenge."
Emma was about to reply when Henry whooped in excitement as his game flickered onto the tv screen and he stood up so he could go and sit next to David and pass him a controller.
"Come on, Killian, you need to play too!" he beamed, holding out another controller.
Killian hauled himself to his feet, took the controller out of Henry's hands and squeezed himself down on the couch, giving the boy a teasing shove onto David's lap so there was more room for him.
"Is there something wrong with the other chair, Hook?" the Prince questioned with a sigh as Henry laughed and shoved back against the pirate.
"Other than the fact that it would mean I would be even further away from you and your sunny disposition? Nothing at all," Killian replied with a wink causing both David and Emma to sigh exasperatedly. "Now, lad, how does this contraption work?"
"Bloody hell!" Killian groaned, throwing down the controller as Emma beat him for the third time in a row.
"What's wrong, Hook? Can't handle the heat?" Emma laughed, smugly, raising an eyebrow not dissimilar to the way that the man in question was becoming notorious for.
"They clearly didn't design these things for people like me!" he tried to defend, lifting up his hook as evidence.
"You're better with that hook than most men are with two hands, so don't let me hear you whinging about being disadvantaged!"
"Alas love, you're right," he replied immediately, a sexualised smirk flashing across his face in an instant, "I am better with my hook than most men are with two hands, and in more than one way, if you catch my drift."
"That's disgusting…" David muttered under his breath, moving to stand and leave the room without another word, almost as if he was having to try very hard not to verbalise any other kind of remark.
"I'm confused…what are you talking about?" Henry replied innocently, looking between Emma and Killian with big eyes from his place next to Killian on the couch.
"Nothing, kid," Emma said quickly, also moving to stand so as she could turn off the television, thankfully giving her a reason to escape Killian's piercing gaze.
"Your Mother is right, Henry. But I'm sure we'll breach the topic when you're a tad older than you are now," Hook interjected, ruffling his hair good-naturedly.
"I'm not a kid, you know," Henry replied dejectedly, shrugging Killian's hand off.
"I know you're not," Emma sighed, moving to crouch down in front of him on the floor so he couldn't look away from her. "But Henry, if your Mom found out we'd talked about…um, 'adult' stuff with you she'd be on the warpath even more than she already is now."
"I don't care what she thinks though," he insisted adamantly. "There's things that I know about that she doesn't know that I know."
"Yeah, I know, like the curse and the whole Evil Queen thing," Emma shot back, moving to rise to her feet again. "But this is different."
"No, I didn't just mean the whole Operation Cobra thing!" he protested, grabbing Emma's arm to stop her from moving too far away.
Emma shot Killian a confused look which he returned and they both then slowly turned back to the ten-year-old boy.
"What do you mean then, lad?" Killian finally asked.
"I meant that I know that she's running secret missions with Sheriff Humbert! She's always going off to meet him in secret looking all fancy and sometimes he comes around to our house at night when they both think I'm asleep!"
"I'm going to fucking murder her!"
"Come on, love, let's just try and stay calm h—"
"You of all people don't get to tell me to calm down! Mr I-Held-A-Grudge-For-Over-A-Century!"
"It was closer to being two centuries actually—"
"That is not the point, Killian!"
"Swan, what good will getting blind with rage do anybody? I've been there, and look where it got me."
Emma finally stopped pacing around the kitchen and took a few calming breaths before letting out a growl and knocking three boxes of cereal off the table in frustration. "She's screwing around with the town Sheriff in the house with Henry down the hall! How is that responsible behaviour for a Mother?!"
"It's not, but there's not an awful lot we can do about it currently," he tried to sooth her, grateful that David had offered to walk Henry back home when he did, before Emma's temper made an appearance with him in the room.
"God, that'll be why Regina showed up at the station this morning! If I hadn't been there…she probably had plans to—"
"For the love of god, do not finish that sentence," Killian interrupted with a shudder. "Humbert is nothing more than the Queen's lapdog – in this realm and back in the Enchanted Forest – and I don't need to think about him fumbling awkwardly in a sexual manner trying to please her."
"What do you mean he's her lapdog back in the Enchanted Forest too? Just who is Graham in the book?" she asked suddenly, momentarily distracted from the topic at hand.
"I believe he is referred to as being the Huntsman?"
"He saved Snow White's life and lost his heart because of it…" Emma said quietly, turning away from Killian and looking out the window that overlooked the sea. "Without him, I wouldn't even exist."
"Precisely," Killian replied with a nod, following her gaze outside. "He has been without his heart now for many many years, who knows what that does to a man and how it affects his decisions."
Both of them were silent for a few moments before Emma laughed quietly to herself in a way that almost sounded bitter.
"I used to wish I could rip my heart out to protect myself from pain. Even now things still feel just as fresh as they did however many years ago. I mean, what's the point of even having a heart if its broken?"
Killian took a few small strides so that he was stood right behind her, as close as he could possibly have been without actually touching her. "Don't take this the wrong way, but I'm glad to hear that."
"You're glad to hear I got my heart broken?" Emma repeated back to him in disbelief, more than a little hurt at his initial comment. She turned around to look at him before he could respond again and was thrown off by his close proximity. She immediately wanted to take a step back, but something inside her prevented her feet from moving even an inch away, forcing her to stay where she was.
Killian's gaze was unwavering and Emma could physically see the deep emotion he felt being reflected out at her as she looked into his eyes before he even spoke. "If it can be broken, it means it still works."
"I don't know about that…it's been broken for over ten years now," she replied without even really thinking about the confession she was willingly supplying that she'd held as a secret now from everyone for so long.
"Ten years…Henry's father?" Killian asked, already knowing the answer after being able to instantly connect the pieces of the puzzle that she had given.
She thought about denying it, even though he already knew the truth, but she realised that this man would stop at nothing until he'd knocked down all her walls and by denying him an answer here, she was only prolonging the conversation that she almost wanted to just get over and done with as soon as possible so she could move on and try and forget.
"Yeah, his name was Neal and he was an asshole."
"I'm sorry to hear that, love," he said genuinely, reaching out to hold her hand. "You needn't tell me anymore than that now if you don't wish to. I won't force you. But if you ever want to talk about it, you know where to find me."
She managed a small smile in response and raised an eyebrow. "In order to find you, you would have to leave me alone first, and you've already made it very clear that you don't plan on going anywhere anytime soon."
"Right you are, love. Good luck getting rid of me!" he grinned good-naturedly.
"You're not so bad…at least when you're not being a douchebag, that is."
"I do not know what a 'douche-bag' is, but I will always endeavour not to be one, if that is what you desire."
Later that evening, Emma found herself sat in her still rather empty bedroom, wishing more than anything that she'd had the sense to grab her laptop when she left Boston however many days ago it was now. Her mind was full of speculation and theories and she was desperate to find a way to write them down, but she didn't even have so much as a pen and paper at the new house yet.
She had suddenly found herself alone in the house when David had shuffled out the door like a naughty teenager with a picnic basket and a quick smile followed by a "I'll be back later!", and Killian had decided to go and spend a few hours checking up on the Jolly Roger.
She had secretly been a little excited for the alone time and had decided to spend the evening trying to have some time for herself. So far, in order to try and relax, she had taken a long soak in the tub, had about four cups of cocoa and had managed to watch about two hours' worth of junk tv before she'd gotten restless.
It wasn't comfortable being alone anymore, and that was more than a little concerning to say the least.
Emma had always been by herself, a team of one, so to now be reliant on people was rather terrifying, but knowing that she had the option to lean on someone if she needed was like a massive weight off of her shoulders.
It was about half past ten when the sound of the front door opening disrupted her from her restlessness, so she happily left her room and sought out who had returned and was not completely surprised to see the great Captain Hook completely soaked to the skin and shivering violently in the hallway, his fingers unable to undo the fastenings on his jacket due to them being completely numb in the cold.
"Is it raining outside by any chance?" Emma found herself asking, having to try very hard not to laugh at the frustrated look on his face.
"It's like a bloody storm out there, Swan! I'm fortunate not to have blown away in the gale!" he groaned, giving up on his jacket for a moment and kicking off his boots instead.
"Come here, let me help," she demanded, stepping closer to him so she could help him yank off his jacket and pull him further inside the house where it was warm.
"I'm going to go and get changed into some dry clothes," he muttered grumpily, turning on his heels and squelching upstairs to his room.
Emma rolled her eyes and couldn't help the smile that spread across her face at his attitude, clearly even fairy-tale pirates weren't exempt from a bit of normal man complaining.
By the time Killian resurfaced, he was still shaking, so Emma not so gently shoved him down onto the couch, threw a thick fleece blanket over him and passed him a steaming cup of cocoa.
"Thank you, love," he said appreciatively, taking a sip of his drink before his eyes lit up and a broad smile replaced his pitiful sulk. "Am I imagining it, or does this cocoa have a bit of a kick to it?"
"I may have added a splash of rum? Thought that might warm you up," she admitted with a wink, grabbing her own spiked drink and sitting next to him, clinking their mugs together. "Cheers."
"You truly are a marvel, Swan," Killian laughed, his mood improving significantly. "Sorry I was absent so long, I was just searching for something on board the Jolly."
"Oh? Did you find what you were looking for?" Emma replied curiously, leaning back into the cushions and getting comfortable, tucking her feet under her butt to keep her toes warm.
"Not yet, but I will."
"May I ask what it is you're searching for?"
"I do believe that is a conversation for another day," he sighed tiredly. "It is not a short tale, and I feel everybody should be present to hear it."
"Oh, okay," she shrugged in reply, letting the room fall into comfortable silence for a moment before speaking again. "I wonder what David's up to, I hope he's not caught out in the storm somewhere."
"I'm sure your Father will be fine," Killian assured her, "I'm sure he'll return any moment now."
Right on cue, the front door was thrown wide open and the muffled sound of two voices talking rapidly in the hallway caused both Emma and Killian to look up at each other in confusion.
"Emma? Hook?" called David from around the corner.
"We're in here," Emma replied, putting her drink down and standing up, realising that this was probably going to be important.
"Where is she?! Where's my daughter?!"
Hook choked on his drink in surprise as all of a sudden a very un-cursed Snow White came barrelling into the room at full speed and launched herself at an incredibly shocked Emma, who was so astounded it took her a few seconds to realise she was probably supposed to contribute to the hug and then slowly put her hands on the other woman's back awkwardly.
David had tears in his eyes as he took the last few steps between the door and his family and wrapped both of the women up in his own embrace, kissing Emma on the crown of her head as Snow sobbed into her shoulder.
"You found us," she wept, clinging onto Emma as if she were afraid she was about to vanish into thin air. "I knew you would, I had faith."
Emma was completely stunned into silence, not sure at all what to say, too shocked to even cry. She had both of her parents holding her for the first time in over twenty-eight years; something she never thought she would be able to experience.
Clearly unsure what to do with himself in this private family moment, Hook silently rose to his feet and made to shuffle awkwardly out of the room before David noticed and reached out to grab his shoulder before he made a clean get away.
"Where do you think you're going? You're a part of this family too, whether I like it or not…"
"David!" Snow scolded, finally releasing Emma so as to turn around and face the pirate that was her daughters True Love. "Killian, you helped bring Emma back to us, we owe you a lifetime's worth of gratitude…thank you for bringing her back to her family!"
Before he had a chance to move out of the way, Snow was hugging him too and clearly his face did nothing to hide his distress and discomfort as it was enough to revive Emma of her shock as she sniggered at his reaction.
David wrapped an arm around Emma and kissed her on the forehead again, clearly trying to muffle his own laughter as the fierce pirate Captain Hook was almost smothered to death by the petite woman.
"How did you do it?" Emma asked her Father. "How did you wake her up?"
"The same way I woke her up the last time she was cursed," he replied with a grin, moving to pry his wife off of Killian, much to his relief.
"True Love's kiss? And it worked?" she said in astonishment, turning to Killian briefly to see if he had recovered from his assault.
"You old devil, Dave! Kissing on the second date!" Killian laughed, slapping the Prince on the back.
"Someone's been watching far too much daytime tv…" Emma murmured under her breath as David pushed Killian's hand away.
"Don't think that this makes us 'mates' now," David grumbled, doing his best attempt to copy Killian's accent, only succeeding in making him laugh even harder.
"Look, Swan! He's blushing!"
Emma did her best to ignore Hook and instead turned to her parents. "So, what, you guys kissed and it was like wham and you had your memories back?"
"Something like that," David laughed at her description.
"We will always find each other," Snow beamed at her husband, moving to give him a kiss that had both Emma and Killian blushing and looking away.
"Well I'm gonna go and make myself another drink…preferably one with more alcohol in it this time…you coming, Jones?" Emma said awkwardly, looking at him with wide eyes that were almost screaming that they were going to have to leave the room before something more scarring transpired in the living room.
"Yes, love, that's a wonderful idea!" he replied, looking grateful for the escape, heading in the direction of the kitchen and they were almost home free before Snow called after them.
"Wait! Emma, we need to talk!"
Emma froze up all over again and felt the panic set in…having her Father around was one thing, but having her Mother there too all felt a bit much.
"I…uh…well, I…I just…I don't wanna talk."
"Don't push her, Snow…" David murmured warningly to his wife, but was almost completely ignored. He'd spend time with Emma already, knew how guarded she was, and being confrontational was not the way to get through to her.
"But I do," Snow continued, disregarding David's suggestion, "okay, a drink can wait, I can't. I mean, you're my daughter, and I wanna talk to you. I know that we have talked…but I didn't know that we were talking and—"
"Look, I just don't want to do this now, okay?" Emma managed to say calmly. "We will talk, soon, but not now. Please just be patient. I have a lot to think about."
"Hold on…did you say that it was True Love's kiss that woke you up, your Majesty?" Killian asked Snow, interrupting Emma's fumbling attempt at a sentence.
"Yes, it was. Why do you ask?" she replied in confusion, looking between everybody else in the room to see if they understood where this was going.
It took her a moment, but all of a sudden Emma knew exactly what Killian was thinking. "Maybe True Love's kiss is the way to break the curse in some way!"
"Precisely, love," Killian nodded, clearly deep in thought as he began pacing around the living room, tapping his hook on his bottom lip as he walked.
"Well, have you guys…you know…" David piped up uncomfortably, looking very much like he didn't want to have to suggest it, but someone had to.
"Yeah, once…" Emma replied with a sigh, "Nothing happened though."
"I don't know about that, love, it turned you into a believer," Killian teased with a smirk.
"Maybe that amongst other things," she protested, really not wanting to have to discuss this for the first time since it happened with her parents in the room to witness it.
"I don't think breaking the curse will be as simple as that," Snow said with a frown. "True Love's kiss may be enough to wake maybe one person at a time, but I don't see how it could wake an entire town."
"Back in the hospital…" Emma almost whispered to herself, eyes wide in shock as the realisation hit her for the first time. "Dad, I kissed you on the cheek right before you woke up…"
"That's right, you did! True Love's kiss doesn't just have to be a romantic thing, it can be any type of love just as long as its powerful enough!" David replied in amazement, clearly thinking out loud. "I don't know how we didn't realise before!"
"Because we didn't realise True Love's kiss would even work here in this realm, it's supposed to be a land without magic," Killian said slowly, moving to stand in front of Emma. He looked right into her eyes with such intensity that Emma was sure that he was about to kiss her, but at the last moment he simply smiled and used his hook to brush her hair over her shoulder, an action he was repeating almost daily now, as if it was becoming a habit.
"What I don't understand is why; if you two are True Love, why the kiss didn't do at least something!" Snow voiced, looking between the two of them. "Are you absolutely sure it's True Love?"
They couldn't help it, both Emma and Killian simultaneously burst out laughing.
"Trust me, it's true enough alright," David grumbled whilst Snow watched her daughter and the pirate almost fall over each other they were so hysterical.
"God, I need a drink," Emma managed to choke out after she'd got a hold on her breathing and within seconds a small hipflask was pressed into her hand. "Thanks."
Killian winked at her as she had a few mouthfuls of rum before passing it back to him. "Don't mention it, love."
"Look, we need a plan to break the curse and save everybody!" Snow insisted, looking at David for support.
"We don't need to do anything right now, let's just sleep on it, okay?" he replied, trying to be diplomatic as it was clear to him that right now what Emma needed was a chance to process everything without her Mother pestering her until she was ready.
"That sounds like a fine plan, mate!" Hook agreed readily.
"We can regroup tomorrow and decide what the next plan of action is then, but right now the best thing we can be doing is hiding the fact that Mary-Margaret is no longer just Mary-Margaret," Emma said looking directly at her Mother. "You need to carry on as if nothing's changed. Right now, we have the advantage and we need it to stay that way if we'll ever be in with a chance of beating her."
"Emma's right," David nodded, reaching out so that he could wrap an arm around his wife. "Regina needs to believe that you're still 'asleep'. We can let her see that we're together and that we've found each other, but make her think that it's under her terms and under the curse."
"Then we worry her without really letting her in on the truth!" Snow responded enthusiastically, a wide grin spreading across her face. "Good always wins out in the end, we may not know how yet, but I know we will break this curse!"
"How can we not when we're graced with the presence of the Saviour?" Killian winked, taking a swig out of his flask.
"Crap, please don't use that word," Emma shuddered uncomfortably. "I may be the product of True Love and destined to break the curse, but I'm no 'saviour'…I'm no hero."
"What's wrong with being a hero?" Snow asked, stepping towards her daughter, desperately hoping that she would let her in.
"Nothing, it's just…not me. I'm just not cut out for the job…I wouldn't know how to be a hero anyway," she said tiredly. "I never had anybody to show me."
Snow was about to speak again, but simultaneously David squeezed her hand in warning just as Killian cleared his throat and stepped closer to Emma and threw an arm around her shoulder, pulling her close to him.
"Come on, Swan. You look beat. Shall I show you to your room?"
"Only if you bring your rum with you."
"Ah! A woman of my own heart! Luckily for you, I don't mind sharing!"
Emma sighed and managed a small smile as she turned back to face her parents. "Night guys."
"Goodnight Emma," David called back reassuringly, not seeming to mind for the first time that Hook had his hand and hook on his daughter.
"Sweet dreams," Snow said with a wide smile that seemed a little too forced, but nobody said anything.
"Up you go, lass! If you're lucky, I may even read you a bedtime story!"
"Don't push your luck, Killian. I could quite easily throw you down the stairs."
The next morning had been awkward and uncomfortable for everybody.
Emma and Killian had fallen asleep together the night before in Emma's room, after Killian spent hours retelling tales of his past, whilst they both drank him out of rum. When they woke up, they realised that at some point during the night they'd ended up cuddling and that was enough to send alarm bells ringing in Emma's head so she did the only logical thing she could think of and threw him out.
This led to incredible levels of unease at the breakfast table.
Snow had tried her best to keep a conversation flowing, but unfortunately it ended up being rather one sided as Emma wasn't talking at all and David was too preoccupied glaring at Killian, who in turn was busy sending longing glances Emma's way that she was trying her best to ignore.
Eventually Emma had stood up and announced she was going to work—nobody dared mention that she was half an hour early.
From then on, the day only got worse.
In all of the mornings' drama, Emma had forgotten how pissed off she was with Graham because of the whole sleeping with Regina whilst Henry was in the house thing, until he arrived at the station with a coffee for himself and a cocoa for her. She had taken the drink with a quiet thanks and then had proceeded to get on with work, not pausing to make small talk at any point up until lunch.
"Fancy hopping over to Granny's with me for some food?" he asked with a smile that he hoped was convincing.
"Why don't you ask Regina? Or do you prefer quiet and secret lunches at home with her?" she shot back at him without even looking up from her desk.
"What are you talking about?" Graham had replied, clearly very confused.
Unfortunately for him, Emma was lacking both compassion and patience in that moment so she didn't even miss two beats before blurting out: "I know you're sleeping with her, and frankly I think it's disgusting."
"I…wait, what? Emma, I wouldn't—"
"Don't lie to me, Graham. You may think you're both being subtle, but clearly it wasn't subtle enough, seeing as a ten-year-old was able to pick up on it."
Graham stood looking at her completely in shock, lost for words, only able to keep opening and closing his mouth like a fish as the ability to speak had clearly left him.
"I've finished all my paperwork, unless there's anything else, I think I'm done for the day," Emma said, almost challenging him to refuse her and when he didn't say a word she started packing up her things and then made a swift exit.
Realising as soon as she left the building that she wasn't ready to head home yet, Emma quickly drove to the small convenience store, bought herself a journal in which to keep all her notes and then drove to the small stretch of beach where Henry's castle was.
She sat at the top of the castle until it got dark outside and wrote down everything she could think of about the curse, all her thoughts and speculations and even started writing down a list of who was who out of all the people in Storybrooke that she'd encountered so far. The man who they'd seen by the Jolly Roger sprang to mind and Emma found herself incredibly curious as to who he was and where he fitted in with the whole scheme of things.
Spurred on by this thought, she gathered up her things and decided to head over to Granny's to see if she could find him. After all, if he was staying anywhere in Storybrooke it had to be there as it was the only B&B in town.
"We need to talk," she announced as she entered the Diner to see him sat in one of the booths with his back to the door.
"Why?" he replied without turning to face her, she could tell from his tone of voice however that he was smiling.
"Because…" she started, moving to stand opposite him, taking off her hat, "you're suspicious."
"Sitting here?" he asked innocently. "Out in the open, drinking coffee?"
She shot him a dry look that screamed to stop with the bullcrap as she'd had more than enough shit to deal with today than she already needed. But apparently he didn't get the message.
"Wonder what kind of hell I would've raised had I ordered a donut."
"Your mysterious box—what's in it?" she asked quickly, pointing to the same box that was strapped to his bike the other day and was now sat by his feet under the table, interrupting him before he could call Ruby over to place an order for a sugary addition for his coffee.
"It's awfully frustrating not knowing, isn't it?" he replied with a smug smile and something told Emma he wasn't just referring to the box, more so the whole situation.
"Just tell me," she snapped, quickly losing what bit of patience she had left.
"Why?" he asked again, "is it illegal to carry around a box in these parts?"
"No, of course it's not," she retorted.
"You really wanna know what's inside it, don't you?" he commented thoughtfully, tilting his head to look at her in a scrutinising way.
"No," Emma snapped defensively, not wanting him to think she was desperate and also making it clear that she wasn't going to beg him to tell her. However, she was incredibly curious, so she changed her answer after a second thought, finally taking a seat in the booth. "Well, maybe."
He simply grinned at her, taking a sip of his drink before answering. "I'm gonna make you wait. You're gonna have to wait a long time and watch me carry it around, hauling it to strange and mysterious places, and with each passing moment, the mystery will become more tantalizing. Your imagination will inflame, but so will your frustration never knowing, only guessing what could possibly be inside that box."
Emma shot him a suspicious look and leaned forward to him half way through his speech, wondering even more than ever who the ever-living hell this guy was and what was in the damn box. She was half tempted just to reach down and open it herself, but thankfully he offered her an ultimatum.
"Or…You could let me buy you a drink sometime, and I'll tell you right now."
"You wanna buy me a drink?" she questioned him in disbelief.
"Yes," he replied immediately, leaning closer to her over the table, the smile never leaving his face.
Emma didn't give the idea any more thought before simply saying, "Okay, a drink it is." She had to know what was going on with this man and maybe a drink with him would give her all the answers she needed.
His smile widened and he leaned backwards away from her only to pick up the box off the floor and set it in the table in front of her, undo the laches and open the lid to reveal…a typewriter?
"Really?"
"I'm a writer. I find this place provides inspiration, don't you?" he asked in the same mysterious tone he seemed to have adapted permanently whilst talking to her, and then closed the lid on his typewriter again.
"I thought you said you were here because of Hook?" she asked, feeling almost even more confused than she had done before.
"No, I was at the ship to thank Hook, that's not why I'm in Storybrooke."
"Then why are you in Storybrooke? To write a story?"
"No," he answered simply, moving to stand, throwing enough money down on the table to cover his drink and gathered his things "I'm here to help you live yours."
"Wait!" she called after him as he turned to leave. "What about that drink?"
He turned around to face her and smiled another cryptic smile, "I said 'sometime'. I'll see you round, Emma."
He disappeared around the corner again and Emma stood to follow him to try and carry on the conversation and ended up bumping straight into a clearly intoxicated Graham as he left the bathroom.
Absolutely not ready to have the conversation that was sure to follow, Emma sighed and turned to walk in the opposite direction and out of the Diner. She was just about to open the front door when a dart came souring past her head and sunk itself into the frame barely an inch away from her face.
"What the hell?!" she snapped disbelievingly, spinning around to find the Sheriff stood watching her with three more darts in his hands, giving her all the answers she needed as to who had taken a shot at her. "You could have hit me!"
"I never miss," he replied, taking a few almost predatorily steps in her direction. "You can't avoid me forever Emma, we work together."
"I'm not avoiding you, Graham. I just have no interest in having this conversation. It's your life, and I really don't care."
She sighed and then managed to make her exit from Granny's without drawing any more attention to them and the conversation they were having. Unfortunately, intoxicated Graham didn't seem to realise he was making a scene and followed her out into the street.
"If you don't care, then why are you so upset?"
"I'm not upset!" she insisted, refusing to face him as she headed for her car, frustrated that she'd parked further down the road and not outside the building.
"If that were true, you'd be at the bar with me having a drink and not running away," he persisted, running in front of her to block her exit.
"It's none of my business, really," she replied, trying to keep impassive.
"Can we please talk about this?" Graham almost begged, following after her again as she walked off. "I need you to understand."
"Why?" Emma asked in confusion, shocked a little bit by his forwardness as he grabbed hold of her arm to stop her running.
"I don't know. Uh, maybe so I can understand."
"You need analysis, go talk to Archie," she suggested, not wanting to get any more involved with this than she needed.
"I wanna talk to you," he admitted suddenly.
"Well, your bad judgement is your problem, not mine."
"You don't know what it's like with her! I don't feel anything. Can you understand that?" At this point he almost seemed deranged and if Emma was honest, she had no idea what to really do or say.
"A bad relationship? Yeah. I understand a bad relationship." God, this had nothing on her past. "I just don't wanna talk about yours."
"Look, I know you and Regina have your own issues, and I should have told you that before you took the job."
"Yeah, why the secrecy?" she pressed, not quite sure how to feel that he had obviously tried to hide the whole thing from her. "We're all adults. You can do whatever you want."
"Cause I—I didn't want you to look at me the way you are now," he admitted slowly, looking straight into her eyes desperately as if searching for something – anything else – them other than contempt.
"Why do you care how I look at you?" Emma asked, really hoping that this conversation wasn't heading in the direction that she suspected.
"Because…" he started, almost helplessly.
"What?" she prodded, waiting for a reply when it happened.
He suddenly lunged forward, covering the distance between the two of them and kissed her. She was so shocked for a few seconds she didn't react at all, but when she gathered her wits back, she gave him a hard shove and stepped backwards to regain some of her personal space.
"What the hell was that?"
But instead of an apology flying from his lips, he said in an almost dazed voice: "Did you see that?!"
"How much have you been drinking?" Emma accused angrily. "That was way over the line!"
"I'm sorry. I just—"
"What? You what?"
"I need to feel something."
She felt like screaming at him, but instead tried to keep her cool and answer him as calmly as possible. "Listen to me, Graham. You are drunk and full of regret. I get it. But whatever it is you are looking to feel, I can tell you one thing. You're not getting it with me."
"I couldn't agree more," agreed a clearly furious and pissed off Killian as he stormed towards them, dressed in his full pirate get-up, minus the hook, his eyes fixated on Graham as if in that moment, he was planning all of the many creative and bloody ways that he could commit his murder.
"Go home Graham," Emma sighed, moving to stand between the two men, knowing that even without the hook on, Killian could still do some serious damage to the drunk Sheriff.
"I'm sorry, Emma," Graham spluttered, almost as if he was having trouble focusing on what was going on. "Are you sure you didn't see it?"
"See what?" she asked in confusion, swatting away Killian's hand as it came to possessively rest on her hip as Graham stepped closer to her.
"The wolf!"
"What wolf?"
"Perhaps that wolf?"
Emma and Graham both turned to face where Killian was pointing to a solitary grey wolf standing at the end of the street watching them all as if it could clearly understand what was happening.
"That's it!" Graham replied, looking very panicked, yet he took several steps towards the wolf and it seemed as though that was what the animal was waiting for, as it then crossed the rest of the distance between them until it was curled up against Graham's leg. Almost as if he was in a trance, Graham lowered his hand to the wolf's head.
"Don't!" Emma whispered in warning, trying not to do anything that would startle the wolf, that seemed rather calm at that moment. But she needn't have worried, as it suddenly became clear that somehow Graham and the wolf shared a deep bond, or at least had in the past.
"Mary-Margaret," Graham murmured suddenly in a broken voice, "I had a knife…I saw that I went to hurt her." He removed his hand from the wolf and rapidly it darted away down a back alley into the darkness. Graham went to run after it, but Emma grabbed hold of his arm like he'd done to her before.
"Stop, you'll get yourself killed! That was a wolf, a wild animal!"
"He wouldn't hurt me…I think he's my friend," he insisted, trying to push her away.
"You seem to be in shock mate, take it easy," Killian said suddenly, clearly his bloodlust from earlier had calmed significantly.
"I need to talk to Mary-Margaret," he exclaimed abruptly. "I need to make sure she's alright."
Emma was about to question him again, but she never got her words out as Killian pulled her aside, eyes wide.
"Swan…he remembers going to hurt your mother with a knife…we already know he's the huntsman…you don't suppose he's getting his memories back in small bursts?"
"He kissed me and then started to remember things," Emma suddenly realised. "You don't think—"
"We can talk about that later …I'd rather not think of another man being able to be close to you when you will not allow the same of me, if that's alright with you," he almost snapped, turning away from her and facing Graham again who seemed to be dealing with a sudden bout of dizziness and nausea as his face had almost drained of all colour and he was struggling to stand.
Emma watched Killian wrap an arm around Graham and start walking him over towards her bug without once turning to see if she was following and a little part of her heart almost felt like it hurt. She had hurt him that morning and he'd still come out looking for her, even though he knew she was in an emotional lockdown that would rival the security measures of a high-risk prison. He had come to make sure she was alright and had found her – however how briefly – in the arms of another man, who he was now doing everything in his power to help.
To say she felt like shit seemed like the understatement of the year.
She ran to catch up with them and unlocked the car so Killian could ceremoniously dump Graham over the backseat.
"Where are we going?" he asked pitifully; clearly the stress of the evening and his alcohol intake had caught up with him.
"You wanted to see Mary-Margaret, didn't you, mate?" the pirate replied, getting in the car himself, still refusing to look at Emma. "We're taking you to see her."
"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Emma asked quietly, not sure if this would make the situation better or worse.
"We need to jog his memory properly, we can't leave him like this," Killian replied grumpily. "In future though, if you're going to go around kissing the locals, can you at least pick the ones that aren't intoxicated?"
"He kissed me!" she hissed defensively, starting the car and speeding down the main-street towards their house. "And in case you didn't notice, I pushed him away!"
"Emma, not now," was Killian's only response, his actual use of her name making the statement even more serious and unnegotiable.
The car was silent as they pulled up outside the house apart from Graham's quiet groans, and as soon as the car stopped, Killian was out the door, pulling the Sheriff to his feet and almost marching him with military precision into the house.
It was clear that the night was unfortunately far from being over.
Less than an hour later Emma found herself somehow in the middle of an incredibly heated debate and she wasn't entirely sure how she'd gotten herself into the situation and frankly had no idea how she was going to escape it either.
"She must kiss him again, maybe it'll restore the rest of his memories!"
"She can't simply go around kissing people! I'm serious, Snow. No way."
"David, you know I'm right! He just needs one last push!"
"But what if it's not the last push? What if he still doesn't remember and just gets even more confused?"
"You've got to have hope this will work!"
"But what if it doesn't?"
"Enough!" Emma finally managed to say, momentarily silencing her parents debate over whether she should try and kiss Graham again or not.
While David and Snow had both been very vocal on their opinions, Killian had almost been silent ever since they'd hauled the Sheriff into the living room and had positioned him in one of the armchairs by the fire where he too seemed to be confusedly trying to keep up with the conversation.
"Don't I get a say in the matter?" Emma asked, looking around the room at all of the faces looking back at her.
"Emma, you don't have to do anything you don't want to do. I understand," Graham said suddenly, causing everyone's eyes to turn to him. "This isn't your problem; it's mine."
"It's all of our problem!" Snow exclaimed, standing up from her seat and moving to kneel by her daughter so she could look directly into her eyes. "Emma, this man…he saved my life once…without him, I would have died long before I even met your father. I owe him everything…the sacrifice he made for me…please, help him."
Emma sighed and turned to Killian, who, although was sat next to her on the sofa, has still not even spared her so much as a glance. "Killian, what do you thi—"
"Just do it, Swan. Put the man out of his misery," he said, cutting her off before she could finish her sentence. "You may as well finish what you started."
"Hey! Don't talk to her like that!" David snapped, raising his voice in warning. "This isn't her fault."
"I kissed her," Graham piped up again, clearly starting to feel more in control of himself again. "I was out of line and I'm sorry, but there is something else going on here and if what you're all saying is true, I would really like my memories back. If not in this way, maybe we can find another way."
"No," Emma said tiredly, rubbing her face in frustration. "We can't waste time. We'll try this once more and if it doesn't work, then we look for another way—agreed?"
"Absolutely!"
"Fine."
"If she must…"
Snow glared at David in frustration at his lack of enthusiasm, but Emma just felt empty.
Why was Killian acting like this? Why was he sending her such weird mixed signals? How come one moment he was furious about her kissing Graham, but the next was pushing her to repeat it? One thing was for sure, they were in for an interesting conversation after tonight.
"Thank you, Emma, I really appreciate your help," Graham smiled gratefully, moving to stand and then holding out his hand for her to take and he pulled her to her feet so she was standing directly in front of him.
"I swear to god if you're weird around me at work after this I'll spend my time in the office launching things at you from across the room," she sighed, giving him a warning look, however, that told him she wasn't joking. "Also, don't you dare even mutter a suggestion about me ever working nights."
"I already told you I'll cover the night shifts," he replied with a small smile.
"Good." She leaned forwards and kissed him, not giving herself a chance to back out.
It was only a small peck on the lips, you could barely even call it a kiss in all honesty, but it was almost as if an electric shocked passed between them at the contact.
Emma jerked away from him – practically as if she didn't have control over her own body anymore – and fell directly onto Killian's lap, and Graham was sent tumbling back into the bookcase in the corner of the room. His eyes open, but clearly not seeing what was in front of him in the room.
"I remember…" he said quietly after a few moments of bated breath, a few tears streaming down his face as all his memories came flooding back to him. He turned to Snow and immediately dropped to one knee and bowed in respect. "Snow White…I never thought our paths would cross a second time."
"Neither did I," she beamed, taking hold of his hands and helping him to his feet, "But I'm glad they have. I'm so pleased you have your memories back."
"I may have my memories, but Regina still has my heart," he muttered bitterly, turning away from them all. "I can't believe that I've been choosing to engage in a relationship with the woman who stole my heart and made me her slave…even in this realm, I cannot escape her."
"We will help you get your heart back," David suddenly declared, walking to clasp Graham on his back in a friendly manner. "You spared Snow's life years ago and also helped me escape captivity so I could return to her once before. We owe you our lives, we shall do everything in our power to help."
"Thank you," Graham replied solemnly, nodding at the prince. "But if it's all the same to you, I think it's time I returned home. I have a lot to think about."
"I completely understand," Snow assured him. "We shall see you soon though?"
"Of course," he agreed before turning to face Emma, who was still shocked into silence in an awkward but not uncomfortable position sprawled across Captain Hook's knees. "Thank you so much, Emma, and I'm sorry again for causing you any problems," he said eyeing up the fact that Killian was still as stiff as a board underneath the blonde woman. "See you at the station in the morning?"
Emma snorted in a very unladylike manner at the absurdity of the situation, before replying a short but sweet, "Sure," and then waved at him as he made his way out of the house with one final goodbye to her parents.
"It's been a long day, I think we should all head to bed," Killian announced as soon as the front door shut behind Graham. "Would you mind moving, Swan?"
"Actually, yeah," Emma snapped suddenly, deciding she'd had enough of his attitude. "I do mind."
As the two glared at each other, David and Snow took their leave and left the room briskly, leaving them at it so they could argue and resolve the situation without an audience.
"Fine," Killian growled after realising he wasn't about to win against the stubborn woman on top of him and instead just scooped her up into his arms and carried her upstairs.
"What are you doing?!" Emma demanded, holding on tight to him in case he dropped her.
"Relax, lass. I've carried rum barrels heavier than you," he sighed, rolling his eyes as he turned into his own bedroom and shut the door behind him with his foot. "Are you done being stubborn or are you going to force yourself to stay glued to my side all night simply to make a point?"
"What's that supposed to mean?" she snapped, letting him drop her down on the bed as he immediately turned away from her and started stripping off and preparing for bed.
"Clearly you don't feel the same for me as I do you, Swan, so why are you insisting on torturing me and also yourself? If you don't wish to be in my company, just leave."
"I'm not trying to torture you."
"Well, nevertheless, you're doing a fine job of it."
"I'm sorry," she finally said, possibly more aggressively than she intended initially, but still.
"You're sorry?" he repeated back at her with a scoff, removing his shirt so he was left only in his leather trousers. "And just what are you sorry for, Swan?"
"I'm sorry about this morning. I just freaked out. I'm not…good with the emotional crap, you know?"
"Aye, as it turns out I am well versed in the 'emotional crap'."
"Look, stop it!" she shouted suddenly, raising to her feet and grabbing him by his shoulders with every intention to physically shake some sense into him if needed. "I panicked and I'm sorry, don't you ever do irrational things that you regret afterwards?"
"Emma, you threw me from your chambers like my presence physically offended you and then made no contact all day until I sought you out and found you in the arms of another man," he replied angrily, stepping back out of her grasp.
"How many times do I have to tell you that he kissed me!" she bit back in frustration.
"That's not the point, Swan!" he yelled, finally losing his patience. "You stopped to yell at him at him afterwards! If that had been me, you'd have run straight away without a backwards glance!"
"That's because I don't know how to deal with my feelings for you!" she countered back at him before she'd truly had the chance to think about what she was saying.
"Feelings?" he asked, his tone changing into something that almost sounded hopeful. "Love, do you truly—?"
"Killian, did it escape your attention downstairs that after I kissed Graham to return his memories, it was as if some form of magic gave me a literal shove back to where I'm supposed to be?" she said tiredly, trying her best to convey how she felt without actually having to say it.
"I don't bloody care about magic!" he exclaimed, covering the distance between the two of them, his eyes never leaving hers. "What I care about is you and whether you have decided to let me in yet. I'm usually a patient man, Swan, but I don't know how much more patient I can be when we both know this is it. This is right and this is forever, so why are you fighting it?"
"Because I don't want you to just stay with me because you feel obligated because of some stupid magic thing!" she finally managed to confess, and even to her own ears it sounded utterly ridiculous.
"Emma, don't you feel this?" he asked in a quiet voice, reaching out to her to move her hair back out of her eyes, his fingers brushing against her cheek and then resting on the side of her neck. "How can this be anything but real?"
"It feels like magic," she said in a broken whisper, her voice cracking at the emotion that unexpectedly swept through her whole body at his touch. "It's never felt anything like this when I've been with other guys."
Suddenly a smirk flashed across his features and he leaned in even closer so that he could whisper in her ear, his breath tickling her face. "That's because none of those men were me, darling."
"Someone's very full of themselves…" she muttered to herself, causing Killian to laugh quietly against the skin of her neck as he nuzzled himself there before pressing a single kiss against her pulse point.
"The best thing about True Love is that we were made for each other. Your body has just been waiting for me to explore it and your heart has been waiting to give itself to me…just submit, Emma…please…let me love you the way we both want and need."
She could have said a million and one things to him then, such as, she wasn't ready for that, or he was completely full of bullshit. But the truth was, he was right—that was what she wanted and needed.
Maybe, just maybe, it was time to at least slow down the run into a jog; give him chance to carry on alongside her instead of always being a couple of feet behind, desperately trying to keep up. She was nowhere near ready to stop running completely, but the thought of perhaps having a partner in the race wasn't so bad.
Killian sighed, moving to pull back out of her personal space when he didn't receive a reply after what felt like forever, but Emma suddenly realised she'd made up her mind and stepped closer to him again, pressing her own body flush against his.
"Swan, what are you do—?"
"Okay."
"What?"
"I said 'okay'. I'm willing to give this a try. Relationships aren't something I'm particularly good at, and it's been a while—"
All of a sudden, his lips were on hers and she could barely breathe. This was how a kiss was supposed to feel and this was the only type of kiss that had ever had the ability to make her legs shake and her heart rate speed up at a capacity that she was sure must be dangerous.
This was so different to the other kiss they'd shared. That kiss had been the result of vulnerability on both sides and had never been allowed to escalate past the initial shock, this kiss, however, was in no way nearing its end.
They eventually fell onto the bed in a tangled mess of limbs and took that as the moment for them to both catch their breath.
"I know it won't always be smooth sailing, but I promise I will do everything in my power to make you happy, Emma," Killian panted breathlessly, pressing an affectionate kiss on her forehead as she smiled and sighed in contentment.
"I know you will," she replied confidently before wrapping his hooked arm around her for warmth and turning out the light in the room. "But trust me, Killian, things are only going to get even more complicated from now."
"Aye, love. I'm well aware," he laughed suddenly, as the thought occurred to him. "We're going to have to find a way to break the news to your Father."
On the other side of the house David and Snow laid in bed, quietly listening whilst looking at each other warily.
"The shouting has stopped," Snow observed in a whisper, watching as her husband's face darkened aggressively suddenly as he moved to sit up out of bed, half way out of the room before Snow grabbed hold of his wrist to steady him. "Where are you going?"
"If that bastard pirate has his hands on her, I swear…"
"Charming, you know he only has one hand—"
"That's not the point, Snow, and you know it!"
"He is her True Love. Also, he's no more unsuitable for her than you were unsuitable for me; have you stopped to consider that at all?"
David looked almost surprised for a moment as her words sank in before he sighed, frustrated and silently climbed back into bed. "I only want what's best for our little girl," he said softly after a moment.
"I know, me too," Snow replied, moving to cuddle up to him in the bed to offer some form of comfort. "But Emma is a grown woman, capable of making her own decisions. If she chooses Captain Hook, then so do we."
"But he's a pirate!"
"And you were a shepherd pretending to be a Prince," she gently reminded him with a fond smile. "At least we know he'll be able to protect her."
Immediately, David was unable to hold back the laughter that bubbled through his sealed lips and it took him a moment to compose himself enough to reply: "You may be right, but who will be there to protect him from her?"