Chapter 3: Old Sea Dog

"No not like that, you can't hold your breath. That's the number one rule." Emma was watching the woman take a deep breath and hold it before trying on her mask.

"How bad can it be, I hold my breath all the time."

"That depends, do you feel like dying today?" Emma shot back blankly, and the woman gaped at her. "Don't hold your breath." She repeated. She turned her attention back to the two men. "Once we are down there, you can't go shooting right back to the top either, we need to safely ascend out of the water, so don't go showing off or acting like a professional, follow our lead." She lectured.

Most of the time they weren't out at sea long enough to do deep dive's but apparently this trip included a stop at the old sunken ship, Old Sea Dog, near island C. Emma had done this dive so many times that she was sure she knew her way around that old ship like the back of her hand. "Always make sure you can see your buddy." She turned toward the woman who had been ignoring her entire safety check. "We don't want anyone getting lost down there."

"So, who's my buddy?" Neal flirted.

"That would be me, Mate." Killian spoke up quickly and Emma didn't miss the way he puffed out his chest before pulling on his wet suit.

"You're with me." Liam announced to Tamara and Emma nodded at Walsh who realized they were the last pair.

"We're down there fifty minutes, that's it. Keep an eye on your air and alert your buddy if it drops below this line." Liam pointed out the equipment to the group. "When we signal it's time to come up, you listen, no one has time to screw around."

"Aye Captain, can we just go have fun already?" Neal joked.

"Alright. Let's go."

Killian grabbed her arm before she headed toward the water. "Be careful out there, keep an eye on him, I don't trust him."

"I'm a big girl, Jones." She winked.

"I'm serious, Swan." His blue eyes glistened in the sun.

"I know. You should be careful out there. I don't think Neal likes you very much."

Killian glanced at the man standing at the edge of the ship. "You mean I haven't won him over with my dashing personality? Shame." He teased with a nudge.

Emma followed Killian as he swam out toward the ship's wreckage, keeping an eye on her group to ensure that everyone seemed comfortable before they dove beneath the surface. When she saw Liam disappear underwater and Tamara follow quickly after him, she turned toward Walsh. "You good?"

"After you." He said with a calculated smile. Emma dove beneath the surface, following the wake left behind by Liam and Killian's dive teams. Once they reached the bottom, the ship came into view. Emma turned and pointed toward the vessel and swam toward the ship's entrance.

She loved exploring the old pirate ship, diving was one of the first things Killian had taught her growing up. They had spent many days together, pretending they were pirates, lost at sea.

She swam around the ship's helm, her hands pressing against the wheel, now fused in place. Looking up she saw Walsh swimming away from her and she immediately gave chase to catch up with him.

When she reached him, she sternly pointed toward herself and then back at him, reminding him that they needed to stay close. He pointed toward the stairs, indicating his interest to enter the belly of the ship and Emma pushed forward in annoyance, leading the way. He seemed particularly interested in the old shelves from the galley, which Emma found ridiculous as this ship had been picked apart long before she was born.

Suddenly Walsh was at her back, bumping into her and sending her into a pile of broken wood. Emma turned her head as he lifted his hands in apology. Emma shook her head and then tried to move out of the rubble she had bumped into. When she tugged away, she realized she was stuck on something at her back. Reaching behind herself she tried to find the snag but found herself unable to get her fingers to the spot she needed.

Looking up for her partner she found only darkness around her. Walsh was gone. She tried to calm her breathing, she had been in uncomfortable situations before while diving, she just needed to relax and breath normally.

Killian was getting tired of babysitting Neal Cassidy. The guy was a total idiot. At one point he got lost spinning in the same circle at the aft portion of the ship. He could see the panic in his eyes as he grabbed him by the arm and stilled him in place. The man jerked his arm away and Killian could barely contain himself as his eyes rolled back in his head at how stubborn he was being.

He watched as his brother swam by them, his partner following closely behind him. He looked around for Emma or Walsh, but they were nowhere to be found. He looked down at his oxygen, realizing that they needed to start to ascend soon. Liam was at his side, pointing to his wrist and Killian gestured around that he hadn't seen Emma.

From the corner of his eye, he saw someone swim out of a hole in the hull of the ship, but when he realized that Walsh didn't have a partner with him, he swam toward him just as the man began to ascend toward the surface. Liam stared at him anxiously and Killian cursed to himself as he pointed below the deck of the ship, indicating that he was going to go find Emma.

Liam pulled on Neal and began pushing them toward the surface as Killian found the hole in the ship to lead him into the belly of the beast. He searched each corner looking for Emma until he saw movement at the end of the dark hall. Swimming closer he saw her, pinned in the corner of the ship. When he reached her, her eyes were huge, he could tell she was close to panic. She gestured to her back and Killian tried to swim above her, looking down to see what the issue was. In the dark he could see the glint of a nail sticking out of a wooden crate, snagged into the ropes attached to her suit in a tangle.

He pulled the knife from his side and cut through her suit, freeing her from her entrapment. She pointed to her wrist, and he found her oxygen was at a critical level, he grabbed her hand pulling her toward the exit, keeping eye contact with her to ensure that she didn't panic and suddenly dart to the surface. When they were finally free from the ship, he met her eye once again and nodded to her as they slowly began to rise to the surface together.

The moment they breached the water, she was tugging her mask off, her breaths coming out frantically. "Hey, look at me. Em, look at me, you're fine." He said quietly. "Just breathe, love."

She shook her head, rubbing her face with her hand. "I'm ok." She exclaimed, her breath slowly returning to normal. Slowly they made their way back to the ship, and Killian assisted Emma up the ladder and sat her down on one of the crates in the middle of the deck. As soon as she was seated and safe, he turned on Walsh.

"What in the fuck happened down there?" He yelled, invading the man's space.

"What are you insinuating?" He replied calmly.

"You never leave your buddy." He growled.

"I couldn't find her, we got separated, so I went to the surface so I wouldn't get lost." His eyes were narrowed, and Killian knew he wasn't telling the whole truth. He turned back to Emma.

"How did you two get separated?" He inquired.

"I got snagged, I thought he was going to help me, but he just left." She said in blowing out a deep breath.

"Is that true?" Liam asked angrily.

"I can assure you; I had no idea she was snagged. It was dark down there, and I got turned around." The man shrugged and Killian lunged at him before Liam wrapped an arm around his shoulder, pulling him away from Walsh.

"Take Emma down to the cabin and make sure she's alright." He said seriously.

"You don't honestly believe that bullshit do you?" He argued angrily.

"Just take her downstairs." He demanded in a tone that told Killian he wasn't asking anymore.

"Fine." He relented, putting a hand on Emma's shoulder, and leading her to the crew quarters. "Sit down and I'll get you some water."

"No, I'm fine." She said, sitting down on the bed. "Seriously, Killian, I'm alright."

"That asshole left you down there, I don't believe anything he just said up there." He pointed angrily toward the door.

"I know, I don't either, but getting angry isn't helping anything." He sat down with a frustrated sigh beside her.

"I hate this whole damn thing, Liam's right, something doesn't feel right. Neal led me in circles the whole damn time we were down there. Even if he is an idiot, no one is that stupid, he did it on purpose, I swear."

"We just need to get through the rest of the week and get paid, we need this money, Killian."

He ran his hand through his hair, tugging on the strands in frustration. "Money isn't worth losing you."

Her hand rested on his knee, a shot of electricity running up his leg. "Hey, you can't get rid of me that easily." She teased softly and he let out a shaky breath as he rested his hand on top of hers.

"When you didn't come out of that ship with Walsh…"

"Hey, I know…ok, if the tables had turned, I would have been feeling the same way if you were stuck down there. But nothing happened, you found me." He felt her head press against his shoulder, resting against him and he relaxed.

"Aye, I'll always find you, Emma."

"I know." She said softly before laying back on the bed. "I just want to sleep for the rest of the week." She laughed.

"Rest, I'll come get you for dinner." He leaned over and pressed a kiss to her forehead, closing his eyes as he relished in the feeling of knowing she was safe.

Liam watched the two men talking quietly at the bow of the ship, whispering as they passed something back and forth between them. Liam was still angry about the events of the day and had half a mind to return the ship to the island and end the entire arrangement, money be damned.

Killian assured him that Emma was alright but that he planned on keeping a closer eye on their passengers going forward. There would be no more splitting up on adventures going forward.

"So, when do we get to the real tour?" Walsh approached him with Neal in tow.

"Tomorrow we will make a stop at one of the Lagoons on the west side, I can show..." He responded before Walsh cut in.

"I was thinking we could get a closer look at Bluff Peak."

Liam laughed heartily. "That's definitely not part of this tour."

"Why's that?" Neal asked.

"Bluff Peak is not for tourists, it's a treacherous climb up the side of a cliff." Liam countered.

"Still, I'd very much like to go there." Walsh insisted.

"Mate, perhaps you didn't hear him, that's not part of the tour." His brother interrupted the conversation as he ascended from the interior of the ship to the deck.

Walsh's hand thudded against the table, a stack of crisp one-hundred-dollar bills bundled together left on the table as he stepped back. "How about now?"

Emma woke to the sound of cooking in the kitchen. She rolled over, ignoring the headache threatening to pound through her skull. The activities of the day had left her exhausted yet also extremely nervous about the guests aboard their ship. She knew that Walsh left her down in that water, there was no way he was unaware that she was stuck, they made eye contact, she saw the way he looked at her. But she couldn't imagine the reasoning the man had for leaving her down there. To admit to herself that he did it on purpose, meant that this group had malicious intent.

As she approached the kitchen she could hear the conversation between Killian and Liam.

"And when does it stop?" Killian argued loudly.

"Look, I get it, I don't like it either." Liam almost growled in response.

Emma walked into the room. "What's going on?" She questioned as they both turned toward her.

"Swan…are you feeling better?"

"I'm fine, now why are you two arguing?"

"No one's arguing, Emma. We're just discussion tomorrow's detour." Liam said with a shake of his head toward his brother.

"What kind of detour?"

"Walsh is paying fifty thousand dollars for Liam to take him to Bluff Peak." Killian announced.

"You can't be serious? None of them can climb Bluff Peak and frankly after today, I don't think I have it in me either."

"Good because you aren't going." Liam replied matter-of-factly.

"What does that mean?"

"I need you to stay behind. Tamara doesn't want to climb so she's staying on board, and I don't trust her alone with my ship."

Emma furrowed her brow at Liam. "And I'm just supposed to trust that you'll both be alright out there with…with them?" She whispered the last few words as she pointed toward the stairs, hearing the voices of their guests lofting from above them.

"Killian and I can look out for each other. We'll be out and back in two hours. I promise."

Emma frowned. "I don't like it."

Killian walked closer to her and pushed her hair off her shoulder, causing a shiver to start at the base of her spine. "Are you feeling better?" He asked, and she felt her apprehension and anger at him changing the subject suddenly melt away as he massaged her shoulder, his blue eyes staring into her as if he were afraid she would disappear if he looked away.

"I'm fine. I just want this week to be over." She sighed. Suddenly she was wrapped in the comfort of his arms, and Emma could feel the sincere concern radiating from him. "Hey, I said I was fine." She laughed lightly as he pulled back, not releasing her but relaxing the almost desperate hold from a moment earlier.

"Aye, but we almost lost you today." He all but whispered and she felt the chill in her bones, knowing his words were true. She felt them herself today, something sitting at the back of her thoughts since they returned to the ship. She almost died today, it could have been the last time she had ever seen the sun rise from the bow of the ship, or the last time she had eaten Liam's famous breakfast, but the thing that unsettled her most of all was that it could have been the last time she had ever exchanged words with Killian. For some reason, that terrified her.

She smiled up at him. "Well, lucky for you two, I'm still here. Without me, you'd kill each other." She joked nervously as she pushed against his chest with her shoulder.

The rest of the evening she thought about what life would have been like for the boy's had she not made it back to the ship that day. It had been the three of them since she could remember. Emma and her boys. She was quite sure that much of her life had been influenced by the Jones brothers. Since she was little she had not gone a day without seeing or speaking to at least one of them. They had been there for every growing pain, every heartbreak, every win, and every loss.

But she knew, they needed her as much as she needed them. They had shared experience, losing both parents. But the bond shared between them was unreplaceable, it was indescribable. They needed each other to survive.

Emma tossed and turned that night, nightmares waking her each time she rolled to her side as the ship rocked in the waves beneath them. Her feet touched the wooden planks beneath her as she stood in the dark, wandering the ship through the black halls to seek the safety she was desperately needing.

She lifted the covers and slid into the bed, her palm firm against his chest as he moved his arm to allow her to snuggle into his side. She laid her head against him, wrapping an arm around his waist as his fingers brushed her hair lightly. "Everything alright, love?"

"Bad dream." She said softly, her mind suddenly remembering all the times she had done this growing up. She could be waking in the middle of the night due to a storm or a nightmare, but she always found her way to Killian's bed, knowing that there was safety by his side. It had become their secret, something they never spoke of in the light of the morning or ever revealed to Liam.

She heard Killian sigh softly before relaxing again against the pillow and Emma closed her eyes, her heart suddenly feeling as if it had found its home, the safety she needed to finally drift off to sleep.

Killian woke as the light started to steam in through the porthole, Emma's hair tickling his arm. He stared down at the woman in his arms, resting quietly against his chest. It had been months since she had found her way to his bed, the thunder louder than he had heard in years, lightning cracking against the sky. He heard the key click in his door and knew immediately that it was her. She tried to tip toe against the floorboards as she made her way to his room.

They never spoke about it, not even the first time she found herself in his room, merely a month after her parent's had died, tears streaming down her cheeks as she stood at the bottom of his bed. He simply pulled the covers aside and let her lay next to him until she fell asleep. He didn't know when he began holding her, something that happened quite naturally once Emma had entered high school.

It never became anything more than a friend consoling someone close to them. Or perhaps that's when he began lying to himself. The comfort he provided her somehow morphing into something akin to love. Only it wasn't a love for someone who was like a sister to him, he didn't love Emma the same way that Liam did. Perhaps he had always loved her differently, more fiercely.

Emma yawned and stretched suddenly, and Killian smiled. "I fear I have lost the use of my left arm, Swan." She slapped at his chest.

"I'm not that heavy." She teased and he felt the smile grow on his face.

"Says the reason for my arm needing to be amputated." She sat up and looked down at him.

"What time is it?"

"Early, based on the noise in the kitchen, I assume it's past 7am."

"I should get back to my room. I don't want to miss Liam's breakfast." She rubbed her stomach that was now growling.

"Aye. I need to eat before we head out."

She frowned. "I don't want you to go today. Bluff Peak is dangerous, what reason could they have to go there?"

"I don't know, but I intend to find out."

She climbed out of bed, slipping quickly to the door, and turning back before she opened it. "Please be careful out there."

"Afraid you'll be stuck with the sour puss if we don't come back?" He joked.

"I don't like her. She never smiles. It's weird."

"Perhaps she's just jealous that she'll never be the most beautiful woman aboard the Jolly."

"Whatever, you're a terrible liar." She rolled her eyes and stepped into the hall, closing the door behind her. Killian fell back on the pillow and groaned. One of these days, he would tell her the truth without turning it into a joke. One of these days, he would stop lying to himself.