Killian opened his eyes.

His head was pounding.

Aching made itself known throughout his entire body. The only time he'd felt worse was when he'd been struck by that infernal driving machine.

Dazed, he tried to get his eyes to focus.

But his attention was quickly stolen by the temperature.

Bloody hell, it's freezing.

Killian watched a white cloud of breath escape him, and he briefly made out what looked like some sort of white cavern, constructed of snow and ice. It was huge.

And cold.

Confusion, a buzzing in his ears, and the bloody pain, wasn't helping.

But somehow he managed to shake the memory free.

The ice wall.

The unfamiliar woman.

Emma.

Killian's eyes shot wide, fear near-paralyzing him. But he could feel it—the warmth beneath him—

Bloody hell, he was laying on her.

Cursing at the pain it woke, Killian used his right hand to push himself up onto his elbow, glad his heavycoat was thick enough that he didn't feel the icy floor through the material. He cringed when moving made his head spin, and he realized, albeit delayed, that he might have some sort of head injury.

His primary concern being Emma, Killian quickly scanned her, relaxing when he saw her chest rise and fall.

Her eyes, however, were shut; she was unconscious.

Above her left eyebrow was a nasty-looking cut, seemingly the culprit for her unconsciousness. Killian remembered with a tight chest that Emma had fallen before he'd been able to protect her. She must have hit her head, hard by the likes of it. The gash was small, and bled sluggishly down the side of her face, no doubt slowed by the frigid cold air. The sight of her hurt made Killian's chest clench.

Ice and heavy debris was still lying over his back, and Killian clenched his teeth, pushing himself up even more, lifting himself away from Emma. Aching pounded even more with the movement and it took nearly all of his strength, but the heavy pile of broken ice and snow eventually moved off him, freeing them both. Painfully, he fell to his side, hitting the hard, frozen ground beside her.

Bloody hell, that hurt.

Eyes screwed shut from the throbbing everywhere, Killian forced himself to his knees, trying to ignore the multiple pains vying for his attention. "Emma?" he asked breathlessly, touching her shoulder and shaking a little.

She didn't move.

Worry slid into his chest.

He took a moment to look around, trying to find the direction of an exit.

But it seemed as if the avalanche that had damn near crushed them wasn't the only event that transpired in the chaos; new ice wall had formed, trapping them inside. He couldn't even see the road where they'd been standing. Everywhere he looked was white or blue-ice.

They were also alone.

The ice witch was nowhere in sight.

"...mma!...ook!...me dammit!"

Killian blinked; he recognized David's voice, even shrouded in the fuzzy crackingly sound of their communication devices.

The device.

Heart skipping, Killian realized that David was trying to talk to them, and Emma had one of the devices on her.

With a whispered apology for needing to slip his hand beneath her jacket, Killian's cold fingers found the black, clunky device. Lifting it away from Emma's belt, David's voice was still fuzzy, but clearer than before.

He sounded bloody terrified.

"Emma!" yelled David, voice cracking, and Killian knew it wasn't just the fuzzy connection causing it. "Hook! Someone, talk to me! You two okay?!"

Killian couldn't even hear his shouts from beyond the ice wall, making him swallow hard. It must be plenty thick, which meant…

He looked to his hook.

There goes Plan A.

Just as quickly, Killian wondered how long he'd been unconscious himself, but the fact that snow was still settling around them and that his fingers still felt slightly warm, it must have only been minutes, if that.

"Emma!"

Killian stared at the device. "Mate?" he asked, his voice shaking a little with the cold, but David was still alternating yelling his or Emma's name; he didn't hear him.

Setting his jaw, Killian felt frustration grow. "Mate? David?"

How did the bloody thing work?!

When David just kept yelling, Killian shook Emma's shoulder again, gently but insistently. "Swan," he said, louder. "Emma!"

She didn't move.

More worry chilled him, even worse than the ice.

Killian huffed out a breath, the white cloud coloring the air before his face. He lifted the device, inspecting it. There was some sort of protrusion on one side of the box, and other… things. He must have to do something with them to communicate with David's device.

This bloody realm was so confusing.

Killian tried to remember watching Emma use the damn thing, knowing she pressed… something. So, finding something that moved inward when he pressed it, he touched it once, saying, "Mate? Can you… Do you hear me?"

David's line went suddenly silent for half a second, then, "Hook?!"

Killian couldn't help the smile. He touched the button once again. "Aye. Emma and I are… we're fine, I believe, but she's unconscious. I don't know if there's an easy way ou—"

He stopped when David's voice cut through, saying, "Damn it, we're giving you a crash course in modern technology once we get you two out of there," he muttered. "The button—the thing you just pushed—" said David, and Killian looked at it— "You've got to hold that down the whole time you're talking, or I can't hear you. Then you have to let go so I can talk. We can't talk at the same time."

Deciding for once not to argue with being told what to do by the prince, Killian pressed and held the 'button'. "Can you hear me?" he asked breathlessly, letting go when he was finished.

He heard a fuzzy burst, then David's audible sigh of relief. "Yeah—Hook, is Emma okay? Are you okay?"

Killian couldn't exactly explain how glad he was to have a way to communicate with the outside world. He pressed the button and held it again. "I am," he said, though his throbbing body and splitting headache would disagree, "but Emma's unconscious. I think she was knocked out in the fall. She's breathing, I think she'll be… fine," Killian let go of the button, setting the device down to shake Emma's shoulder again. "Emma," he said, more insistently.

Nothing.

"Come on, love," he whispered, as the device crackled again, and David's voice came through, "God, Emma…" whispered David, worry clear in his own voice. He seemed to hesitate, then his voice lowered, "I'm with the woman who… who made the wall," said David, clear, barely-tamed anger in his words. "She's dangerous, and she's threatened to leave you two trapped in there and freeze the whole damn town if I don't find some sister of hers first."

Killian shut his eyes.

Bloody hell.

He pressed the device's talking button, and tried to keep the fear out of his voice. "Mate, it's…" He swallowed, his teeth already starting to chatter. "It's freezing in here."

There was deafening silence from David's end.

Then, "I'm going to get you two out of there. This… woman, Elsa, she's convinced her sister is in town; I'll find her and I'll get her to release you. I'll bring the walkie with me—" Walkie? "—but I need you to hang in there, Hook. And…" Killian could hear the fear in his voice. "Keep her safe."

Killian swallowed.

Hard.

He would die to protect Emma, and he would do anything and everything he could to protect her.

But if David took too long…

Nothing Killian could do could save her.

If they were in here too long, they were going to die, and that was that.

Killian pressed the button. "Hurry, mate."

David assured him he would, and Killian could hear the squeal of the driving machine in the background.

Then, silence.

And Killian couldn't help thinking how much this reminded him of the coldest crypt he's ever seen.