Okay, I suck. Totally suck because it's been like years since I have updated. To be fair, I'm a journalism student, so I write a lot of other stuff and spend my time in the news room. Hope you enjoy this next chapter and I'll try to get better with updates. Promise! -Mads
"Really?" Zelena leans against her doorway. "You're back already? I told you I needed time!"
"I'm not here to hound you about helping me defeat Gideon, I just needed to be somewhere and Hook is…he wants to be alone."
She watches as Zelena contemplates whether or not she should have Emma come inside. With a bit of conflict, she tells Emma to come in. Thankfully Robyn is fast asleep since she was up most of the night last night. Her sleeplessness has been taking a toll on Zelena.
Emma sits down at the table, staring ahead at the wall. She doesn't talk for a while until Zelena places a cup of tea in front of her. Never would she have thought that she would be sitting in Zelena's kitchen for comfort. Emma's always had a support system: her dad, mom, Hook and Henry. But she can't help but feel completely alone right now. Nobody wants her to defeat Gideon because of the risk of her getting hurt. But she would rather herself get hurt than the people she loves. Why don't they understand that?
"They don't want me risking myself for the town," Emma sips on her tea. "Yet I'm the only one who could beat Gideon. Even if I die trying, he'll be dead."
"And so will you," Zelena states. "For once I agree with the Charmings."
Emma arches an eyebrow at her. She knows Zelena's not saying this from a place of care; she's saying this as a mother herself. "Why?"
Zelena gets up, glancing at Robyn as she does so. "Because I'm a mother as you are too. You have Henry and your unborn child to think about. And your boy toy."
"He's not a boy toy," Emma snaps.
She rolls her eyes. "Whatever he may be, Savior. You have people that need you alive. And believe it or not, I don't think it's a good idea for you to go into this alone. That's why I'm going to help you. Under one condition."
Emma looks at her in disbelief. She never would have thought Zelena would actually agree to team up. After all, she does have a baby who no longer has a father. She would think Zelena wouldn't risk her life for anything. "What is it?"
"You're not allowed to speed up your pregnancy. I know you must be asking why is she helping me? Believe it or not, Emma Swan, I don't want to see your child hurt. I'm not a complete monster, and I know how awful sped up pregnancies are. Thanks to you."
Emma glances away from her as she reminds her of her duties as the Dark One. Speeding up her pregnancy was a last resort kind of action. She had hoped it would never have come to that considering she knows how painful it was for Belle and Zelena. Doing that to Hook would push him to the edge. "Fine; I agree with those terms."
"Good. Then I'll see you in about seven months."
"Um-what?"
Zelena laughs, pointing at Emma's still flat stomach. She's only a little over two months into her pregnancy. Of course without speeding up her pregnancy she wouldn't be able to defeat Gideon until she actually gives birth. But who knows if Gideon is willing to hold out that long. Not to mention the fact she has no idea if Gideon knows she's carrying a child. Would he really be that merciless to harm her child?
"Right," Emma gets up, a pain hitting her in her abdomen. She grabs onto the table, a tea cup crashing onto the floor. She looks up at Zelena to see if she's upset about the cup she broke, but her face is etched with concern. "I-AHHH!" Emma screams, clutching at her stomach.
Zelena rushes over to Emma, grabbing the phone as she does so. She guides Emma to the sofa and she calls the hospital. In moments, the ambulance is in her driveway and the EMTs are rushing Emma into the waiting ambulance. On the way to the hospital, Emma closes her eyes tightly. What if Gideon already beat her to the chase and sped up her pregnancy? She places her hand over her stomach, praying that the baby doesn't come now. She's not ready to face Gideon and she's not ready to leave her child motherless. Even though her child will have Hook, she wants it to have a mother as well.
"It's going to be okay, Ms. Swan," one of the EMT tells her. "We called Killian and he'll be waiting at the hospital for us. We need you to keep your eyes open."
Emma manages to nod her ever so slightly. Her eyes are trying to resist the commands of the EMT, but somehow she manages to keep them open until they get her to the hospital. She sees Hook run over to the ambulance. He's screaming at the EMTs, but she can't understand what it is he's saying. She keeps going in and out of consciousness. He's in front of her then, talking to her, but nothing is comprehensible to her.
"Emma." Hook says to her softly. When she doesn't respond back to him, he starts to panic. Hook pushes a piece of her hair behind her ear. There's tears gathering in his eyes as he keeps repeating her name, hoping he reaches to her.
A shadow appears from the corner of his eyes. Coming out from the shadows is Gideon. He tosses aside the EMTs and Emma falls to the ground. Hook rushes to her, picking her up in his arms. "You're not going to hurt her or my child!" Hook yells desperately.
"No," Zelena throws Gideon across the street with a lift of her hand. "He won't."
Gideon sits up, not too phased from the impact of Zelena's magic. Emma stirs in his arms, putting a hand to her stomach as if to make sure her child is still there. She lets out a sigh of relief and then looks up to see Gideon. And Zelena. She thrashes in Hook's arms, demanding he let her down.
"Swan-" Hook starts.
"He's not going to hurt you," she says as she walks across the street to Gideon. Zelena follows closely behind her as she approaches him.
"Hello Savior," Gideon sneers. "Come to play?"
Emma shakes off the fatigue she was feeling from earlier. He did it to lure her to him. "I've come to fight."
He laughs. "You mean you've come to die."
Emma looks at Zelena and they both lift their hands and blasts Gideon with their full powers. He shields it for a few moments until it becomes too much for him. Emma smiles, triumphant that both their powers are powerful enough to defeat him. Then she looks up to see Rumple beside him. He cuts off their magic and the two women fall to the ground. Emma lands hard on her bottom and elbows. She lifts her elbows to see the blood and gravel on them.
Wincing, she sees Hook hold his hand out to her. Zelena gets up, her hands only slightly scratched. "You okay?" Emma asks her.
Zelena shakes her head, looking at Rumple and his son. Gideon is sprawled out on his back with Rumple hovering over him. "I'll be able to hold him off for a while. Go get that checked out, Ms. Swan."
Emma thanks Rumple as Hook guides her to the hospital. The nurse checks her into a room right away where she tells her to wait until Dr. Whale comes in. The silence in the room is painful as Hook paces back and forth with concern sketched on his forehead.
"Are you insane?" he asks her, his voice full of hurt. "I told you-"
"You don't tell me anything. I make my own decisions, Killian." She crosses her arms defiantly over her choice.
Hook sits down in the chair beside her, grabbing her hand in his. "I don't want you to get hurt. My job is to protect you. And now the baby."
Emma looks at him. "I know, but you need to trust me. I would never put our baby in danger."
"But you…" he lets the air take that sentence. He knows that she's willing to die for those she loves. She's told him as much when she found out the fate of all Saviors. The door opens and Hook stands at the sound.
Rumple comes walking in. "I've detained him, but I can't say how long he'll be in there. He's strong, Ms. Swan. Stronger than anyone in this town. Stronger than me and definitely stronger than you."
Emma's face falters. "So how are we supposed to defeat him?"
She already knows. Belle told her, but she can't while she's pregnant. There has to be another way to defeat someone as strong as Gideon. Perhaps Blue may know what needs to be done. Dr. Whale barges through the door with a smile on his face. Emma wants to smack him.
"The Savior!" he laughs lightly.
"Bloody hell," Hook mutters in annoyance.
"What brings you in today?"
Emma places a hand protectively on her stomach, and Rumple exits to leave the room. He nods at her as she goes. She doesn't trust him as far as she can throw him, but he cares about Belle enough to protect her from their manic son. Which means helping the town as well. He may not be the best ally, but he's the best she has at the moment. He has an advantage being Gideon's father and the Dark One.
"Before there was this sharp pain and then-" Gideon had a hand in this somehow. He was playing with her-getting her to come out in public so he could get to her. Of course. How she didn't know that was his intention, she has no idea. "Nothing."
Dr. Whale quirks an eyebrow at her. "Then why are you here?"
"Gideon. It was him."
Hook places a hand on her shoulder as she starts to get up from the bed, but the pain from being thrown around makes her sit back down. "Maybe check to see if I broke anything. Gideon threw me pretty roughly."
Hook's jaw clenches at that. He begins to rub her back gently. "I would bloody love to put my hook through his heart."
Emma takes a hold of his hook as he continues to rub little circles on her back. "Then you become a villain."
"Already am I villain. Or was." He glances away from her.
After taking X-rays, Dr. Whale comes back into the room with the results. He slaps the folder down on the table with a smile. "Good news, no broken nose. Also good news, you're still pregnant."
Emma and Hook glare at him in tandem.
"Okay…the humor in Storybrooke still seems to be lacking. Anyway, you're good to go," he backs out of the room and Hook thanks him for his time.
"Ready to go home, love?"
He helps her from the bed and she limps out of the room. Gideon may not have broken anything, but she'll be sore for a few days from his impact. "Actually, I could really go for an ice cream sundae."
"As you wish."