Part one

She had said her son was her unfinished business, but that was only a half truth, and Hades knew it. Which is precisely why he assigns her to welcoming Killian into the underworld.

Before she knows it Milah is embarked on a heroic quest that she didn't ask for, or particularly want to do, but she can't help but try to impress the man who is still clearly the love of her life. If only his heart didn't belong to the gorgeous blonde who was currently trying to rescue him.

A.N. My spin on what happened in Underbrooke. AU. My first OUAT fanfiction so be gentle on me.

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Killian POV

He was floating, to where he did not know, but he knew he was no longer living. The last thing he saw before he closed his eyes was Emma's beautiful, heartbroken face, whispering her words of love and her never ending apologies.

She had nothing to apologize for though, it was all his fault. He was the one who succumbed to the darkness without even trying. It was his fault she had to run him through with Excalibur. The thought sent a pain shooting throughout his soul. He hated causing her such agony.

He would never be able to repay this particular sin. It was insurmountable. Putting the love of his life through such agony should never be forgiven. He deserved to be damned for eternity.

As if on cue, images of his past mistakes began swimming through his vision. Milah, it had been so long he had forgotten her beauty. He never forgot the pain though, he couldn't ever. The crocodile ripping out her heart and crushing it into a fine dust was an image he was to never forget. And did not need the flash back that appeared.

"No, stop." he pleaded, he opened his eyes but the blinding white light he was faced with had him hastily shutting them again. More images, this time of all the lives he senselessly had plundered all in the name of revenge, he really was a despicable person.

Now, the real torment began as her face swam into view. Emma. The first time he met her, her icy blue eyes boring into him as she called him out on his lies.

The first time he felt his heartbeat erratically looking at her, when they climbed the beanstalk. He knew then that he was a goner.

The first time she caused his heart to stutter painfully in his chest, when she jumped off the boat on their way to Neverland. She had frightened him then, the first of many times. Her driving out of town, and his life as Pan's new curse hit. Falling through that damn portal when he'd finally gotten her back. Elsa's ice cave almost freezing her to death. The darkness. The fear in her face as she took on the darkness that ruined things for them. All the times that he almost lost her. The pain causing a chasm in his very soul. Then the end, her tear-stained face as she plunged Excalibur into his chest. Freeing both of them from the darkness.

The next image that flashed through his mind was excruciating. It was clearly the present, and part of his punishment. It was Emma, and she was flung over his body clinging to him as she sobbed so hard, she couldn't breathe. Oh god what had he done to her? He could see her mother pull her off of him so the paramedics could remove him. Her sobs grew louder, and he could see Henry turn away and bury his face into his other mother's shoulder. He deserved this. This pain in his very soul, the ache he was left with not being there with her he deserved to live with it for all eternity.

"Emma" he murmured, trying to reach out to comfort her, but his hands meeting the nothingness that he was floating in.

Where was he exactly? And again, as if someone were listening to his introspection, he felt his body hit the cold solid ground with a less than gentle thud.

"Bloody hell," he groaned feeling winded.

"and that, is exactly where you are." A mirthful voice floated towards him. Wait! He bolted upright. He knew that voice. He scrambled to his feet and turned slowly; incase it was just his mind playing tricks on him.

It wasn't, there she was, sitting on a concrete wall, bundled up for the cold weather, brown eyes cheekily shining as she looked upon him, and impish smile on her face. Brown hair highlighted by the weak sunlight.

"Hey there, Captain. Long time, no see." She grinned at him.

"Milah." he breathed out and without thinking upon it at all, he took the three strides that were necessary to close the gap between them and pulled her into a long overdue hug.

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Emma POV

Staring up at the ceiling I willed my heart to stop churning and my meager lunch to stay in my stomach. Mom had tried to get me to eat, I managed to choke down half a slice of toast, sticking in my throat it took more than a few gulps of water to swallow it properly.

I was numb now, it had been twelve hours already, and the reality was setting in that Killian was dead...there's that all too familiar crushing pain that I'd be forced to live with for the rest of my life. Killian was gone, and I felt like some sort of metal vice was squeezing my lungs and heart, locked in a death grip. Death. Hmm. I almost craved that right now. Only Henry stopped me from doing so. I had lost the darkness, and yet my soul felt heavier than ever.

Now, all I was left with was the image of me plundering Excalibur into Killian's heart. My new nightmare. Only it wasn't conclusive to me being asleep. Oh god, here comes my lunch.

I just about made it to my bathroom before emptying my stomach of what little contents there was. Light footsteps told me that I was not to be alone for long. I half expected my mother, and completely unexpected was the woman who arrived. Regina. She looked upon me with an understanding pity, and I felt my stomach churn again. Although I was not sick, there was nothing left to come out.

"I didn't even know sickness was a part of grief." I mumbled as she handed me a glass of water to sip on.

"The body can go through some traumatic experiences when going through grief. And your experience, well, it might be as traumatic as it gets." She said as she leaned against the sink. An image of me driving the sword through Killian popped into my head again. Thanks for that one, Regina. "It's one I know all too well, unfortunately." She added.

"How did you deal with it?" I asked slumping against the far wall.

"Uh, I didn't. I became the Evil Queen, remember?" Her tone was gentle, but still held a hint of sarcasm in it.

"Oh yeah, sorry." I mumbled. She shrugged.

"Grief can cause you do to terrible things. It can cause you to lose all hope, it can alter your thinking, your rationality, alter your complete personality. It's a terrible thing."

"Well, relax. I don't think I even have the energy to go all evil." I snorted, she let out a slight chuckle. "I just..."I paused feeling the tears already well up. "I just miss him so damn much. This yearning, this ache, it's like a giant chasm has opened up in my very soul..." at this point I became hysterical, and Regina didn't hesitate to join me on the floor and pull me into her warm embrace. "...I can't breathe." I sobbed.

"I know, darling. I know." She soothed, stroking my hair as I wailed on her shoulder, snot and tears soaking her jumper.

"I don't want to feel this way anymore." I hiccupped, after five minutes of sobbing.

"I wish I could say that it gets better, but it doesn't. The pain doesn't ever go away, and you can't ever run from it. But eventually you learn to live with it. It becomes part of you, and you learn to cope with it better.

After another five minutes of whimpering pathetically on the floor Snow entered to see if she could help, and they settled for tucking me up in bed and taking turns in sitting with me to comfort me. It did nothing to help the gaping chasm in my very soul though. And I feared that nothing would be able to help me, unless I miraculously had Killian back.

Hmm, wouldn't that be nice. To have him back. Against all odds. Holding me, telling me it was going to be all right. That he was here, and he would never leave my side again. That's one of the things that hurt the most. He convinced me that he was a survivor and promised me that he'd never leave me. And due to my selfish actions, I forced him to break that promise, and in turn break me in a way that can never be mended.

With those lonely thoughts, and with David gently stroking my hair I fell into my first fitful sleep in almost two months.

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Things didn't look any better when I awoke, a few hours later, Killian was still gone, my heart still bled with the loss of him, the only thing that had changed was Henry had replaced my father in sitting with me. It made me smile when I rolled over to see him snuggled up beside me like he was still a little kid, instead of the tall, gangly thirteen-year-old he was now.

"Hi, mom," He whispered gently.

"Hey kid." I replied smiling.

"Did you sleep well?"

"Yeah, I guess" I shrugged. We both knew that that wouldn't really be a possibility anymore. But he stuck with the pretence anyways. "How long have I been out for?"

"About seven hours," he said sheepishly, my eyes bugged out of my head. "Grandpa wanted to stay with you, but there was a call at the station and Grandma made him go." I smiled slightly again. "Mom?" He asked somewhat timidly.

"Yeah kid?"

"Do you think…" he paused seemingly wondering if he should really ask.

"Kid, you can ask me anything, you know that, right?" I said trying to encourage him to say what he was feeling.

"Do you think he's okay? Wherever he is?"

"I really hope so, kid." I tried to hold in the tears, I didn't want him to think he couldn't ask me about Killian.

"I miss him, Mom." He said softly, and that's when I noticed the tears form in the corners of his eyes.

"Oh, Henry" I cried pulling him closer to me. "I miss him too."

We laid like that for a few hours, my arms wrapped around him, hugging him into my chest, stroking his soft brown hair as he slept. After a while I woke with a start, something was whispering in my ear. Looking around my room I was mildly surprised to find it pitch black, looks like I passed out again. I gently rolled Henry over and pulled my arm out from under him and rolled over to switch on the lamp. Nothing. The room was empty. But there it was again, the whispering. Henry was still sound asleep, so it seemed to be only I could hear it.

I listened closer to what the whispers were saying, straining my ears to hear the sounds. We are waiting for you Emma. You thought you could get rid of us, yet here we are, ready and waiting. Those voices! How was this even possible? My mind was racing as I jumped up, trying to find the source of those damn voices. I could feel my blood begin to boil, overtaking the numbness I had been feeling since yesterday. Killian had sacrificed himself to get rid of the darkness, so how were they now calling out to me? Only one answer could be possible.

"Gold." I growled, forgetting that Henry was still sleeping. I picked up my jacket heard a soft clunk on the rug as something fell from my pocket. I picked it up immediately. Liam's ring, I could remember Killian giving it to me so clearly, like it was yesterday, his lucky ring, the reason he had stayed alive all those years. The irony was not lost on me, and seeing it only fuelled my anger even more. I pocketed it, shrugged on my jacket and made my way downstairs.

"Emma?" Snow called in surprise as I made my way to the front door. "Emma where are you going?"

"To see Gold" I growled before slamming the door behind me.

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Killian POV

"So, where are we then?" I asked awkwardly stepping away from Milah and trying to cover my embarrassment. I took a good look around me, it looked like the docks back in Storybrooke, identical in fact, except for the red sky.

"The underworld." She replied.

"It looks exactly like Storybrooke" I said slightly perturbed.

"Yeah, it changed to this bleak wee town about thirty years ago or so, been that way ever since." She explained. I shook my head.

"So, what exactly is the underworld?"

"This" she said holding her hands wide and spinning in a circle, I couldn't help but smile. "A little slice of hell, where the damned can roam for all eternity, thinking of nothing but their mistakes, it's where the souls come when they have unfinished business." she shrugged.

"Do you know what your unfinished business, is?" I asked.

"Baelfire." she said promptly, I nodded my head in understanding.

"He's not here then?"

"No, I haven't seen him," she sighed. Then after a minute silence she spoke again "So, do you know what your unfinished business might be?"

"Yep," I said with certainty.

Sensing that I didn't want to talk about it anymore, she changed the topic. "Well, this is it I'm afraid, the underworld, it's run by a god called Hades, he traps the souls here, those who are lucky enough to resolve their unfinished business get to move on, but that does not happen very often. I've heard tell of another place that souls go to, one that worse than this, but you learn fast not to ask too many questions. Hades is the one of the most powerful gods there is, only surpassed by his brother Zeus, so, stay on his good side. There isn't much to do here but mope around, I know you're going to hate it, but the open water down here can kill you, and there is no boats to sail on because there's nowhere to go."

"I actually live in the town this place is based off, have done for over a year." I shrugged. "I don't mind it really."

"Ah, how nice to hear you speak so highly of the town I have so lovingly crafted." A slimy voice came from behind me, I turned quickly and came face to face with a small man, with flaming hair and a grin like a Cheshire cat.

"Hades, I assume." I said nodding my head.

"Captain Hook, my it is a pleasure, you my friend, have been one of my favourite pirates, sent a lot of business my way. I thank you for that." He grinned.

"I'm not that man anymore." I said, my jaw clenching.

"Ah yes, you're Killian Jones now, pirate turned hero, wayfarer turned homebody, and all for a woman." I could see Milah flinch from out of the corner of my eye. "You know that woman interests me. Emma Swan, daughter of Snow White and Prince Charming, the product of true love, saviour. Powerful woman, not a particularly good Dark One though, but between you and me, dark magic doesn't mix with light."

"And what of her?" I ground out.

"Killian don't" Milah hissed, trying to get my attention but I ignored her.

"She's creating somewhat of a problem for me."

"How do you mean?" I asked desperately moving forward a tad.

"She's here." He said a gleeful tone to his voice.

"What?" I yelled, if I'd had a beating heart, it would be hammering right now.

"Relax, she's not dead. Not yet anyway."

I charged forward at that point, ready to choke the life out of the little weasel. But Milah grabbed me roughly and pulled me back. "Don't, Killian, are you crazy?"

"I'd listen to her if I were you Captain." He smiled.

"Why is Emma here, if she's not dead." I growled trying my hardest to keep it together. I shrugged Milah off me and faced him again.

"To save you, of course."

"How is that even possible?" I asked, confused.

"Oh, it's possible, but you see I have a carefully honed system here, souls with unfinished business get to come here and wallow in their own misery that brought them here. No-one leaves, everyone decays. But, if Emma and her small band of followers start spreading hope, then I'm going to start losing souls. And I don't like to lose."

"Let me speak to her, I'll get her to leave here without me." I pleaded desperately.

"Ah, there, that's what I was after, proof."

"Proof of what?" I asked, jaw clenched again.

"That you would do anything to save her."

"Anything," I agreed.

"Oh, I love it when people say that." He chuckled. "See, I can't go after Emma like I would an ordinary person, and as you and I both know, she is no ordinary person. Her light magic protects her from the likes of me," he crept up towards me and leaned in to whisper, "you know, the villain." I couldn't supress the shiver that ran through me at his proximity. "So, I thought I'd teach her not to mess with my world in another way."

"How, so?" I asked with trepidation.

"By taking away the thing she loves most. Come on, Captain, you and I are going to have some fun." His eyes glowed in a menacing way, and with a wave of his hand I was suddenly transported into a dark room, where I came face to face with a giant three headed dog.

"Shit." I murmured and took off in the opposite direction. I was well and truly doomed now.

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Milah POV

"Killian." I screamed as I watched him disappear. I looked around me wildly before landing back on the demon that stood before me. "Where is he?" I asked in my most threatening voice, which fell flat.

He laughed, a great booming laugh that sent a chill right down my spine. "Oh, don't you worry about that, that is between me and miss Swan, but I can tell you, that he is somewhere truly terrible. I'd be careful if I were you by the way Milah."

"How so?" I asked trying to quell my fear.

"Miss Swan is a fearsome adversary. You and I both know that Baelfire wasn't your only unfinished business down here. And Killian, well he's moved on, found his true love. Sorry to say." He said not looking sorry at all. "Then again, she's your best hope of finding him, so good luck." And with a manic laugh and a puff of blue smoke he was gone.

"Damnit" I swore to the nothingness, I tried to think of a plan, but knowing Hades, he would be playing to Emma's weaknesses. "Right blondie let's see what you got," I sighed and headed to the spot of the SS Purgatory normally docked.

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A.N. so I decided to dip my toe into OUAT writing. Please let me know what you think. This won't be a terribly long story. I hope you all like.