The Ice Wall

CS Genre: Canon divergence from 4x2

Cold.

It was the first thing Emma noticed when she came to. It was cold. The kind of cold that reaches down your throat and freezes your lungs. The kind of cold that seeps into your very bones. The kind of cold that convinces you you'll never be warm again.

Emma groaned, reaching behind her to gingerly prod the knot on her head as the ringing in her ears gave way to frantic shouts of her name.

"Swan! Wake up love! Say you're alright!"

Emma groaned again, finally opening her eyes to look into the terrified face of her….well, whatever Killian was to her now.

"What happened?" she asked, her words slurred, as she continued rubbing at her aching head with hands that were starting to go numb with the cold.

Killian sat on the ground beside her and gently pulled her into his warmth. "That woman we saw, she trapped us in the ice wall."

It all came back to her at once. The town power going out. Her and David investigating. The ice wall. Killian showing up, swaggering over to them. His quip about their second date. The woman with the icy blue dress and pale blonde braid watching them. Her going to investigate. Killian following. The woman pointing a hand at them, fear on her face. The deafening roar of falling ice…

Emma got quickly to her feet, swaying a bit as her head protested the quick movement, and rushed to the wall.

It wouldn't budge. None of them would.

They were trapped in a space roughly the size of her parents' living room…a space completely made of ice.

No wonder she was cold.

"Killian, we've got to get out of here!" she said frantically. "We'll freeze to death!"

Killian put a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Calm down, Swan," he said in a soothing voice. "I've already tried digging us out with my hook. It's no use."

"Calm down?" she asked, hearing the hysteria starting in her voice. "You just told me we're stuck in ice that we can't dig ourselves out of and you want me to calm down? We can't just give up!"

Killian pulled her into a hug. "We won't. Your father called us on your talking device. He's gone for help."

Emma remained tense in his embrace for a moment, but then the warmth of his body, the comfort his reassurances always brought began to seep in. She relaxed in his hold letting the panic bleed away.

Emma looked up at him. "How long was I out?"

"Perhaps a minute?" He said. "You were hit quite hard with a shard of ice, love."

"That why it feels like Grumpy and all six of his brothers are using their pickaxes on the back of my skull?"

He laughed. "I'd assume so." His face became serious. "Are you sure you're alright, Swan?"

She waved him off. "Concerned I'm going to freeze to death, but otherwise nothing more than a little headache."

Killian didn't look entirely convinced, but after a moment, he let the matter go with a small nod.

"You sure there's no way to dig ourselves out?" Emma asked.

He gave her a quick, assessing look. "I'm quite sure we have no hope of digging ourselves out via natural means, but perhaps…"

"Perhaps what?"

Killian took both her hands looking intently at her. "Perhaps your magic…"

Magic. Right. She was still getting used to the fact that she had magic. (How did a normal person get used to a fact like that?!)

Emma nodded firmly (and then immediately regretted it as her head throbbed) and raised her hands before her. She closed her eyes, concentrating. Thinking about the wall melting. Thinking about saving herself and Killian. Thinking about saving Henry and the rest of the town from whoever this new threat was.

Nothing happened.

She tried again.

Still nothing.

Emma growled. "I'm sorry Killian. I don't know if it's the cold or the bump on my head or what, but I just can't summon my magic."

Killian led her over to a wall and urged her to sit. "It's no matter Swan. As I said, your father has gone for help. It's simply a matter of waiting this out."

The ice wall was cold behind her, below her, her body heat melting it just enough for icy water to seep onto her jeans. She shivered, teeth chattering with the cold. Why hadn't she thought to bring a parka when she left the house this evening?

Killian glanced over at her, noting the way she shivered so much her teeth chattered. Shrugging out of his heavy pirate duster, he draped it around her shoulders. The warmth, the smell of leather and him, it was immediate and quite possibly the best thing she'd ever felt.

Emma luxuriated in comfort for a moment before turning back to him. "Killian, I can't take your coat! You'll freeze in nothing but that vest and shirt that makes me think you're allergic to buttons."

He laughed and then gave her a teasing grin. "Perhaps you'll need to warm me up, then."

Emma looked into Killian's face and an intense feeling of affection, maybe…maybe even more…washed over her, warming her as much as his coat did. Turning to him, she reached up, tugging at the back of his neck until she'd brought his lips to hers.

The kiss was long, slow, infinitely tender, Killian reaching up to cup the back of her head, let her hair slip through his fingers, much like it had when she'd kissed him outside Granny's the other day.

Whatever this was between them it was real, and it was happening. Emma waited for the fear to come, but it never did. This felt right. Maybe even with all the crap that always went down in this stupid town…maybe even though she was the savior…maybe every once in a while she could just enjoy and take advantage of the good moments.

Killian moaned deep in his throat (the sound positively indecent) and pulled away, resting his forehead against hers.

"As much as I'd like to follow this to it's logical conclusion, darling," he said, his voice hoarse, "and gods know I do, we are in a room entirely made of ice and there are simply some places a man does not wish to get frostbite."

Emma laughed, pulling away. "Good point."

"Besides," he continued, draping an arm around her and nodding in contentment when she laid her head against his shoulder, "your father should be arriving momentarily, and if he'd interrupted us, I suspect frostbite would be the least of my concerns."

Emma laughed again. "Good thing I'm a big girl and I can make my own decisions about who I kiss…and do other things with."

His grin was wicked. "Indeed. I suppose we'll simply need to wait for a more auspicious time to engage in our more enjoyable activities."

Emma leaned over and kissed him again, a quick, but thorough thing. "You're cute when you use big words."

"If they earn me kisses like that, I'll make use of the entire dictionary," he said, grinning at her.

Sudden static came over Emma's walkie talkie.

"Emma? Hook?" David asked. "Everybody doing alright in there?"

"We're fine, Dave," Killian answered. "Your daughter and I are quite enjoying ourselves."

There was a beat of silence.

"You better not be enjoying yourselves too much."

Emma rolled her eyes, taking the device from Killian. "As Killian said, we're fine dad. What's the status on Operation Dig Your Daughter and Her Boyfriend Out of the Ice Wall Before They Become Human Popsicles?"

"Just hold tight for another couple minutes," David said. "Long story, but we should be able to break through momentarily."

After signing off with her dad, Emma settled back into Killian's embrace as they waited for David to execute whatever plan he had. "Killian?"

"Hm?" he asked, idly rubbing her arm.

"If I had to be trapped in an ice wall, there's no one I'd rather be trapped with."

He smiled, leaning over to kiss the top of her head. "I feel quite the same."

Notes:

-Sorry for the long posting hiatus, but January's been a rough month—between being sick myself a few times and then my grandma having a stroke, which brought with it a lot of stress for the whole family (she's doing better now, although it will be a long road to recovery, and she'll probably never fully get back to where she was before), I just haven't had the motivation to write at all. Feels good to get back to it, even just a little.

-I don't know how the weather's been where you live, but the Polar Vortex in my neck of the woods has made it cold beyond cold this week…which is what inspired me to write this story. If I'm going to be cold, I might as well inflict the cold on my favorite characters as well, lol.

-Up next: I hope to update every other week going forward (barring any other illnesses or family emergencies), so next up will be something for Valentine's Day