Title: A Life of It

Author: Roguie etc…

Part: 11/?

Fandom: Once Upon a Time

Characters: Emma/Killian

World: AU Modern

Rating: T, with the likelihood it will change to M over time, because I'm weak like that.

Warnings: Child abuse, bullying, mentions of potential molestation, all the bad things you'd expect to find in a poorly executed foster care system.

Spoilers: It's AU, so not likely.

Summary: Everywhere she was sent, he was there, her savior, the boy with blue eyes. He should have meant nothing to her, just another person that had to leave, but he meant everything. Against all odds, he kept coming back.

Disclaimer: OuaT is not mine, if it were, tackle hugs and sweet kisses would be our norm. Also, there would be way more, *cough*, sword practice scenes between our Captain and his Swan.

A/N: All I can say about this is please don't hurt me. Please remember that I am but a slave to my muse. I will happily pass along any emotional outbursts that she should be aware of, but I am innocent. I swear. I also swear I do know where this is going so just trust a girl, please. I'm sure we'll talk tomorrow when I get the next part up… until then… take a deep breath, cuddle a pirate, and enjoy the ride.

~~~?~~~

For the first time in his life, Killian Jones couldn't look someone in the eye. All cockiness, all swagger, all confidence sapped out of him as he watched her in the distance chatting with Ruby. The brunette had such a startled look of pleasure on her face, that Killian could only assume that his and Emma's midnight conversation had affected other areas of her personality. They had their heads together, giggling like teenaged girls as groups of other kids passed them by. For the first time in days, Killian saw Emma's actual school bag on her shoulder, with actual school books inside it. He met Ruby's gaze and couldn't help the smile that spread across his face to answer her dancing eyes; when she nudged her shoulder into Emma's however, drawing the blonde's attention to the approaching boy, Killian found his eyes dragging back to the ground, his cheeks turning pink.

One single thought ran rampant through his mind: if he met her eyes, she would see right through him and know in a second. He kept his eyes on the ground, biting his lip and scratching behind his ear as he approached them slowly, high color staining his cheeks darker and darker the closer he approached.

The girls enveloped him into their little circle, Emma under one arm, Ruby under the other as he leaned against the side of the school, doing his best to look cool and collected as he looked anywhere but directly at his girl. Ruby lifted an eyebrow at the feverish color to his cheeks, her own cheek twitching in amusement, a high pitched giggle escaping her lips as it dawned on her exactly why Killian looked so uncomfortable.

"Seriously?!" she gasped out between giggles.

"Seriously what?" Emma asked, looking at her friend in confusion.

"He…"

"Ruby, don't." Killian's eyes pleaded with her but the brunette was merciless as she continued laughing, pointing at him in a mild form of hysteria.

"He just figured it out!"

"Fuck me," Killian groaned, shoving his shoulder into the brunette until he could free his arm from her, rubbing that hand over his face.

"Figured what out?" Emma still looked between them, her brow furrowed.

Ruby shook her head, laughing harder. "If you can't tell just by looking at him, girl, then I'm not gonna ruin it for you. You can practically smell it on him!"

Much to Killian's dismay, Emma cocked her head to the side, turning to study him as he continued to study the rocks on the ground at his feet.

"Why do you look so guilty?"

Killian lifted his gaze to glare at Ruby who only laughed harder, shaking her head as she stepped out of striking range. When she suddenly and immediately sobered, both Killian and Emma snapped their heads up.

"Heads up, incoming douche."

"Ruby, he's not that bad."

"Yeah, well, if you don't move your asses you're about to find out how cool he is with you and Killian lounging on each other."

With a sigh, Killian removed his arm from Emma's shoulders and allowed her to take a few steps backward before Neal came around the corner.

He paused, glancing at them with suspicion before jerking his chin at Emma. "Me 'n the boys were waiting on ya, Ems. What'cha doing hanging out with the scrubs?"

Ruby frowned, clipping him up the backside of his head as she went to stand next to Killian, glaring. "Watch who you're calling a scrub, Neal Cassidy."

"Careful, Ruby, you might break a nail and you know how sick 911 is of hearing from you."

"I'm sure you're joking, but it's an honest danger considering how thickheaded you are, Neal." She scowled at him, shaking her head, slipping her hand into Killian's and tugging him towards the door. "See ya later, Ems," she called over her shoulder, pulling the solid mass of muscle that Killian had become along behind her. She lowered her voice to a murmur, only for Killian's ears. "Nothing's gonna happen at school, just chill."

Killian stiffened when Neal's taunting voice called back to him. "See you around, new guy." Even with his back turned Killian could hear the utterly smarmy grin that was curving the boy's lips.

"Pleasure as always, Cassidy." Killian called back, resisting the urge to look over his shoulder at Emma. He could feel their gazes on his back as he wrapped his arm around Ruby's waist and pulled her giggling into the school, all the while praying that Emma understood it was only an act. "God, tell me what she sees in him." Killian shook his head the moment the door closed behind them, letting go of Ruby and following her to her locker.

"Nothing much anymore, I bet," Ruby grinned. Her eyes narrowed on him, a wicked glint in her dark gaze as she licked her lips as though he were fresh prey. "Sooo…"

"Ruby…" His warning tone did nothing to sway the overly enthusiastic teenager.

"Don't you Ruby me, Killian Jones! Tell me, exactly how long have you been in love with your "sister", and don't even think of lying. I can sniff out a lie a mile away." She air quoted the word sister, her grin wicked and full of intent as she poked a single red finger nail into his chest.

Killian swallowed nervously, glancing to the other students passing them by in the hall. "Keep your voice down, would you, woman?"

"Hmm," She tapped her index finger to her lips and studied his eyes closely. "Permanent blush…"

"I don't blush."

"Sparkling eyes…"

"They're blue, they reflect the light."

"Dark circles under your eyes…"

"I didn't sleep well."

"Instant denial…"

"You've yet to say a thing that makes any sense, Rube."

Ruby's grin grew wide, her eyes dancing with mischief as she pointed her finger directly in his face. "You… had a dirty dream about our girl last night."

"RUBY! Jesus, what's wrong with you?!"

"Mmhmm, you had a dirty dream about her and now you can't get her off your mind."

Killian's cheeks darkened an even deeper red, covering his eyes with his hand as she continued to talk, completely oblivious to his obvious discomfort.

"You had a dirty dream about her and you can't get her off your mind 'coz you love her!" She announced brightly with a flourish of her hand, making him slam his head into the locker behind him with frustration and defeat.

"Has anyone ever told you that you have absolutely no sense of personal space or decorum?" he grumbled miserably as she cackled happily, grabbing her books from her locker and spinning towards their homeroom as the warning bell rang.

"Every day of my life!" She grinned at him. Just when he thought she was finally finished with him, she turned on her heel and flashed him a cocky smirk. "Doesn't blush, my ass. A tomato would be jealous of your color right now, lover boy."

"Fuck, she gets worse!" he grumbled miserably, following her into homeroom, wisely allowing her to giggle to herself. When a notebook with the name Emma Jones scrawled across the front page plopped down in front of him, he gave up entirely. Ruby Lucas had absolutely no shame, and was proud of it.

~~~?~~~

If nothing else, Ruby could keep a secret. Not a word was mentioned to Emma about Killian's predicament, not that she would have had time to say much about it anyway. Someone or something had tipped Neal off that she and Killian weren't as at odds as they'd seemed the first day Killian came to school. Every time Killian got within three feet of Emma, either Neal or one of his lackies would appear out of nowhere, ushering the girl back to their smoke encased pit on the bleachers. Killian found himself knocked into the lockers courtesy of John Little, one of Neal's followers and the largest guy in the school. He managed to swallow the curses that threatened to escape his lips as he jarred his twisted hand, making the bones ache from impact, and offer the larger boy a nod of acknowledgement as he pulled himself up and carried on to class. The next day, as he was talking to Emma at her locker, when John moved closer to him than was strictly necessary, Killian anticipated and ducked the shot that would have resulted in a repeat performance, realizing only after John pulled his fist from the twisted tin door that this wasn't going to end on friendly terms.

Small accidents continued to befall Killian through the following weeks, and he found his body littered with more bruises than he'd had since the days of foster home beatings. He took the shots silently, always careful of causing any more waves for Emma than were necessary.

She managed to text him nightly, sometimes short conversations, sometimes they talked from dusk until dawn. Every little thing she told him about the years they'd been separated squeezed at his heart painfully, her words wrapping around him, letting him into places of her soul that she'd not even allowed Neal. Each different insight into her fractured little soul drew him to her stronger. It became a fight to stay away from her during the day, the bond they were forming so visceral that he was pulled to her constantly; she became the gravity in his universe, and he willingly orbited her like a burning star.

The two weeks dedicated to end of term exams were the hardest obstacles Killian had to face. Since he'd entered school so late in the term, he was exempt from all but three exams. That left Emma alone at the school more days than not, with only Ruby to keep an eye on Neal and his bullies. True to Ruby's word, they didn't hassle Emma, treating her as poorly as they'd always done but it was status quo.

It wasn't until the night after Emma's final exam that their worlds began to implode. She'd started texting him just after eleven, random stuff, how she thought her exam went, what she was looking forward to most going into her junior year, what she was thinking of doing when it was over and she was out of high school and out of the system permanently. They'd been texting for less than an hour when she suddenly went quiet. Ten minutes passed and Killian chuckled to himself.

"Fall asleep, Princess?"

Nothing came for another five minutes and Killian outright laughed, flipping over to his side, texting her a last time.

"Text me when you wake up, pretty girl. We'll go for coffee tomorrow and celebrate our freedom."

When his phone buzzed a few minutes later, he grinned and grabbed at it, thinking Emma had received his last message and was saying goodnight. Instead, his blood ran instantly cold as dark words flooded the light screen.

"Pretty girl won't be meeting you for coffee, or anything tomorrow, brother. Y'know what it's like the day after for girls… too sore to do anything but bitch and complain."

Killian shot straight up, his hand clenching painfully around his phone, threatening to crush the glass as he hollered at the top of his lungs. "LIAM! Shit! Fuck! LIAM!"

Quickly he texted back, holding his panic and curses in check as his fingers flew over the touch screen. "Where's Emma? Just let me say goodnight to her, man, fuck."

"Been saying that your whole life, haven't you, foster boy? Where's Emma? Where's Emma? Well Emma's not interested in talking to you anymore. She's mine."

When his phone rang loud and shrill in the night, Killian jumped a mile, his nerves not helped in the least by Liam barging into his room, the door slamming off the drywall.

"Jesus Christ, Killian, you'll wake the dead hollering like that!"

Killian glanced at the unknown number on his screen before flipping it open, hoping against hope Neal had just been fucking with him. "Em? Christ, please, Em?"

"Killian?"

"Ruby?"

"Shit, Killian, get over to my place, now!"

"Is she there? Rubes? Is she there? Is she hurt?"

"Just… just get over here. I'll fill you in when you get here, but she needs you, and a fucking hospital too, but she's too stubborn to go."

Killian lost it in that second. He roared his rage into the night, saved from smashing his phone only by his brother's quick thinking. With one hand, Liam rescued the phone, getting Ruby's address from the girl and the gist of the situation before hanging up and tossing it on the bed. With the other hand he gripped Killian around the waist, holding the younger man to him in a death grip, waiting until the wave of rage flowed out of him and his body began to relax.

"Liam," he breathed through heavy, labored breaths, "Don't go with me, brother. If he… if he… if she's… I'll kill him. You can't be there."

His voice was eerily calm for the amount of emotion that had coursed through him in the span of three minutes. The look on Killian's face terrified Liam to no end, and the older man swallowed nervously.

"You're not going to lose me that easily. Let's go get your girl."

"You won't stop me, Liam."

"I won't try, little brother."

The drive to Ruby's house had never taken so long.

~~~TBC~~~

Remember, much like magic, all muses come with a price. This muse's price is that little review box down below. Please don't make her chase you for payment, it seems a bloody awful waste of her time, wouldn't you agree?