Summary: Ever since Emma was 13, she knew she had the ability to destroy people if she wanted to, and some days, she really wanted to. After being forced to go to Greenwood Academy following a traumatizing event in her childhood that brought to the surface her ability to manipulate fire, she never thought she would be free of the place. So for nearly 10 years, she lived a solitary existence with the exception of her best friends, but that was all about to change.

Killian Jones had just been sentenced to attend the university campus at Greenwood Academy after an accident at sea caused him to be dishonorably discharged from Her Majesty's royal Navy and lose his hand. He doesn't know what to think about these newfound powers and what they spell for the rest of his now not-so-normal life.

But a chance encounter one day has the ability to change all of that. A story about love and redemption between two people that shows, if you have the right person beside you, you can find a light in the darkness.

Rating: M

Content Warnings: Mentions of Violence/Death, Brief mention of Childhood Abuse/Sexual Assault, Mild Sexual Content

Chapter Notes: Okay guys, this chapter is short, like really short. It was orginially supposed to be at the end of the last chapter, but the beta and I felt that it was best to break it up. Hopefully it will segway well into next weeks chapter, which I can't wait for you all to read. You may find out something interesting about Killian's past in next week's chapter. Hopefully that will keep you intrigued enough to stick around until next week. Thanks as always to my beta daveyjacobsthepotterhead and my artist princesse-swan. It has been a dream working with you both on this project.

Chapter 9

Thankfully, she had stopped muttering to herself, he thought.

But Killian only grew more concerned as tears started flowing from her eyes and she started fidgeting with her hands in a way he had become familiar with.

Killian tried talking to her again, to get her attention back and get her to focus on him and not what was going on in her head. "Emma, hey, I'm okay. Look at me Emma, I'm perfectly okay."

He wasn't okay, far from it actually. But he wasn't going to let her know that. Everything had been going fine, better than fine actually. But after he lost his balance and landed on top of her in bed, everything changed.

He had never seen anyone flip that fast before. He was pretty sure that he had burn marks from her hands on his chest, they had been screaming hot when they collided with him earlier.

Killian lowered his hand and wrist and scooted forward an inch, again trying to break her out of her trance. He stopped short though when she started back against the wall again, cowering away from him.

"Easy Emma. I won't come any closer, I just need you to tell me what is going on."

He watched as she continued to rub her hands together in a nervous manner, shaking slightly. "I don't know." She said, barely loud enough for him to hear.

"What do you mean you don't know Emma?"

"I don't know, I don't know!" She cried, "He won't get out of my head."

Killian, against his better judgement, lept towards her when she started tearing at her hair.

He grabbed one of her wrists to pull her hand out of her hair and she flinched back from him again.

"Leave me alone, don't touch me! Get out, get out, GET OUT!" She yelled. He pulled his hand back immediately. He could feel the heat radiating off of her through his glove.

He didn't know for sure if she was talking to him or whoever she claimed was in her head. And he wasn't too keen on leaving her in this state by herself. He had seen things like this happen to fellow officers when he was in the Navy and usually having someone with them to keep them anchored helped.

"Do you want me to leave Emma?" He asked, uncertain.

"Yes, Get out!" she said, backing away from him further.

"Okay." He conceded, "I will be back to see how you are doing tomorrow."

Killian stood slowly and backed away from her. She didn't move from her spot against the wall, shaking and not looking at him.

He grabbed his vest off the floor along with his jacket, throwing both over his arm.

He looked back at her one more time in concern before he opened the door and walked out of the room.

The sound of the door locking behind him made something in his stomach twist.

He didn't go far, he just walked across the hall and leaned against the wall. He slid down until he was sitting against the wall, head in his hand.

Killian sighed, still reeling from what had just happened. He didn't know what was in Emma's past that would have made her react like this, but he decided, right then and there, to find out the next time he spoke with her.

Mustering up his strength, he stood up, wincing a bit as his shirt rubbed against the handprints on his chest. And after putting himself back together, he headed back across campus towards the planetarium, and spent the night sleeping under the stars, dreaming of what could have been.

.o.O.o.

Emma didn't get out of bed the next morning.

Honestly, she didn't get out of bed until that night; only when she was too hungry and thought that she was going to starve did she get up.

Only to grab the tub of ice cream sitting in her freezer and climb right back under the covers.

It had taken her awhile to be able to get herself calmed down enough to finally fall asleep after everything that had happened with Killian the night before. Everything after they had gotten back to her dorm was a bit hazy, but she remembered the panic that had flared to life and the flames that had desperately tried to rise and protect her. And she remembered her horror at seeing the twin burn marks she had left on his chest in her panic.

She would never forgive herself for hurting him like that.

Which was why she had ignored him when he came pounding at her door during the day today.

It wasn't until she yelled at him to leave her alone again through the door that he finally left.

Afterward she had curled up further under the blankets, clutching her little purple teddy bear, and sobbed herself to sleep again.

She felt like she had broken something in their relationship. And she wasn't sure that it could be repaired.

Emma curled in on herself under the covers in bed and sighed. She really needed to talk to Killian.

To at least try and explain to some degree what had happened between them, to try and explain her reaction. She didn't know if she would be able to explain it to him, didn't know if she would be able to get the words out, but she had to do something more than just wallowing in bed all break.

It took a few more minutes of an internal pep talk before she was able to get out of bed and take a shower.

After a probably too long shower, she changed into a comfy sweatshirt and yoga pants, and set off to find Killian.

She found him sitting in their normal spot in the library, reading a book. He looked up at the sound of her approach though, and snapped the book shut, setting it down to get up and hurry over to her, wrapping her in a tight hug.

"Thank god you're okay." He said. He let her go almost immediately, feeling her involuntary tense when he held her.

She felt even worse about it when she saw the look on his face. He was so worried and concerned about her that she felt absolutely terrible about how she had been avoiding him for the last few days.

"As okay as I can be, I guess." She said, shrugging her shoulders a bit. She was starting to feel a bit uncomfortable under his scrutiny. She saw a muscle along his jaw twitch.

"Maybe we should talk." Killian said slowly. Emma followed him over to the couch, sitting on the opposite end and pulling her legs up to her chest, not knowing where to begin.

"I'm sorry. I don't really know what to say to make this okay," she said, looking down at the floor next to the couch and running a hand through her still damp hair.

"I don't know if it will make things okay, but you could start with an explanation." Killian said.

Emma looked over at him, a little surprised by the anger she heard in his voice. "What?"

"What the hell was that, Emma?" He asked, frustration and anger burned in his eyes when he looked at her. "Everything was fine and then you were screaming, shoving me off of you in what I can only describe as pure terror. So I think after everything we have been through you owe me an explanation for what that was."

Emma wrung her hands together, pulling her lower lip between her teeth. She didn't even know what that was herself. So she didn't even know where to begin explaining it to him. "I can't," She admitted quietly.

"Don't give me that Emma. The least you could do is try," He fumed angrily in front of her. He stood up and shoved his hand roughly though his hair.

"I can't," She said, looking up at him sadly. "I'm sorry."

"Dear God, yes you can. You owe me that much Emma," Killian said, his voice rising in anger.

Emma didn't know how to respond to the anger in his voice, in his eyes. But suddenly she couldn't stand the way he was looking at her anymore. "I don't owe you anything." She said, her voice quiet. Hard. "I can't explain what happened."

"The fuck you can't." Killian snarled at her.

Unbidden, tears filled her eyes as she stood, anger flooding through her. "I fucking can't, Killian. Because I can't even acknowledge to myself what happened to me in the past. And don't you fucking touch me right now." She said, halting him. Seeing her reaction, his face had softened and he had taken a step towards her, hand outstretched. "I can't control myself right now, and I don't want to hurt you." She could feel the heat flooding through her system, the flames swirling under her skin. This was the closest she had ever felt to her flames with her bracelets on, and it was scaring her.

Killian stood a few feet from her, a muscle twitching in his jaw. He didn't look any more pacified by what she had said.

"I also don't owe you shit. I know nothing about you!" She exclaimed. He opened his mouth to argue with her, but she beat him to it. "I don't know anything about your childhood, about your family besides that you have a brother. I don't even fucking know what your powers are! You won't tell me. And I have respected that. I don't need to know. But you can't demand to know anything about me, that I owe you any kind of explanation when I don't even know the bare essentials about you."

"I wasn't the one having a panic attack! I wasn't the one who was incoherent and inconsolable! Jesus Emma! It was like you disappeared all of a sudden and someone else appeared in your body instead. I didn't know what was happening except that one minute we were making out and undressing one another and the next you were shoving your burning hands into my chest and shoving me off, screaming all the while. I don't know what to do to fix that."

"You don't need to fix me Killian! Is that what you have seen this as? Some kind of rehab project?" She yelled back at him. She knew she was reaching, but all she knew at that point was that she was angry, and that she was feeling something other than empty ever since she forced him out of her room.

"Don't be like that Emma…"

"What am I not supposed to be like Killian?"

"I don't know, but not like this!"

Emma had had enough. She couldn't think straight anymore. She shoved her hands into her hair pulling a bit at it, trying to ground herself.

"I can't do this right now." She said, moving to leave. Killian's hand snapped out and grabbed the sleeve of her sweatshirt as she pushed past him.

"Where are you going," He demanded, getting angrily in her face. Emma whirled, pulling her sleeve out from his grip and shoving a finger in his face, causing him to rear back from her.

"I said I didn't want you to touch me. And don't try and come find me until you can have a rational conversation with me. One that preferably includes some sharing on your part." She said.

He glared down at her but didn't say anything. Turning, she left the room. When she finally made it back to her dorm, she wondered if she had done the right thing.

She really hoped she hadn't ruined everything between them.

Because in that moment, it felt ruined.