Chapter 2
Emma sat completely and utterly alone. For the past hour, her eyes had been staring forlornly at the brick wall of her living room; she seemed to be memorizing the patterns of the bricks' imperfections. She was hyper-aware of everything; the strings that were coming loose from the blanket that was pulled around her shoulders, the small stain on the upper right-hand corner of the ceiling, even the chipping paint on the outer edge of the door frame. Every miniscule detail of the room was hers to scrutinize, and, not wanting to think about anything else, she did all she could to keep herself occupied.
She had just begun counting the individual stitches on her cream-colored sweater when her mother entered the scene, a concerned expression upon her face.
"I made Henry some soup for dinner. Would you like some?" asked Snow quietly. Her voice was delicate, as though she was afraid of shattering her daughter by speaking too loudly.
It took Emma a minute to answer; to be honest, she hadn't even realized that Snow was in the room until a few seconds after she'd spoken. Emma tore her eyes from her distractions and stared at her mother for a little while. She was so beautiful; even though she was sad-looking and worried, she glowed with an inner brightness that shone throughout Storybrooke. She was so full of life, so full of love. Emma was lucky to have her. She made a mental note never to take either of her parents, nor her son, for granted ever again. They could be taken from her much too easily.
You'd think that you of all people would've learned that lesson by now, her mind chastised her. Emma shooed the thought away as she answered a waiting Snow.
"No thanks." she cringed at the sound of her own voice; it sounded like she hadn't spoken in years.
Snow tried to manage a smile, and though she failed miserably, Emma appreciated the effort. "Let me know if you change your mind."
"Yeah, will do." replied Emma hastily, wiping her eyes for what seemed like the millionth time that day. Even when she wasn't directly thinking about him, his absence left a gaping hole in her heart, and she couldn't manage to keep the tears at bay.
Snow went to turn away, but thought better of it, and slowly moved to sit next to Emma on the couch. She watched her daughter's passive face; the only sign that she wasn't a statue were the tears that wouldn't seem to cease. Without a word, Snow curled next to Emma, and put her arms around her daughter's shaking shoulders. The shivering and sadness hadn't stopped since she'd come home in a dreadful state two hours earlier, after being taken from the scene of Killian Jones's death by Belle Gold. Since then, Emma had barely spoken two words to anyone, saying only that she wanted to be alone.
Emma leaned into her mother's embrace, and allowed herself the luxury of crying for only a few minutes before saying, "I'm sorry."
This stunned Snow; so much so, that she snapped back immediately, "What do you have to be sorry for?"
"I know loss better than anyone," explained Emma quietly, her voice barely above a whisper. "I've seen people die before; Graham, Neal...I shouldn't be so torn up over Hoo - over Kill - over him." she couldn't even manage to say his name without her eyes stinging painfully. Her breath hitched each time she tried to speak of him. It made her sound even more pathetic than she already felt.
"Emma," whispered Snow incredulously, smoothing her daughter's damp hair from her clammy forehead. It scared Snow so much that Hook's death was having such a painful effect on Emma. "Don't apologize for the way you feel. You loved him; you have every right to be upset."
"But that's my problem." Emma pointed out, trying to slow her breathing, which had rapidly picked up once more. "I could move on if I was just upset. I feel like I'm going to die without him. I can't see anything for me from this point. I don't know what to do, mom." Emma sounded completely empty and hopeless. She'd never felt herself exist in such a state before.
Snow was saying something else, but Emma had closed her eyes and tuned her out. She loved her mother dearly, but she couldn't help her; no one could help her. Closing her eyes, however, turned out to be a mistake, because all she could see in her mind's eye was his face.
"Killian Jones. But, most people have taken to calling me by my more colorful moniker; Hook."
The memory hit her like a tsunami; it was overwhelming. They had come so far since that first meeting, only for it to end in tragedy.
She'd lived a life before him; but now, she couldn't live without him.
"I think I'll go upstairs and lie down," said Emma suddenly, feeling a wave of nausea overtake her. She realized that she must have interrupted Snow mid-sentence, because her mother gave a surprised, "Oh! Okay, go right on ahead, try to get some rest." as she was ascending to the upper-level of the apartment.
She remembered when she'd almost lost him the first time. There'd been a moment when she'd thought she hadn't done enough, before he'd woken up coughing. That agonizing moment had scared the hell out of her, and she hadn't loved him half as much then as she would come to shortly after. Now that he was gone for good, and their true love's kiss hadn't saved him, she realized what the full extent of losing him truly meant. And it hurt.
So Emma lay down on her bed, mentally and physically exhausted, and cried herself to sleep, only to find that even in her dreams, there was no comfort. For even in her dreams, his death haunted her heart.
He woke up in hell.
Or, at least he assumed he was in hell. Being strapped to a chair in the crocodile's lair was the closest thing to hell he could imagine, anyway. His head was pounding, his throat was raw, and he could still taste the blood.
At first, everything was dark. His vision was blurry around the edges, and it took him far too long to ascertain his location. When he figured out that he was in Rumplestiltskin's office, however, he was snapped back into reality. He immediately went to stand up to get the hell out of there, only to discover that he was bound by rope to the chair beneath him. He also made note of the fact that where his hook should have been, there was nothing.
Exasperated, Killian hit his head off the back of his chair as hard as he could. How many times would the crocodile best him?
Remembering how he was bested in the first place, Killian's head looked quickly down to his chest, which had, the last time he'd seen it, been covered in his blood. He was astounded to find that while, yes, his new leather jacket was still covered in the rust-colored liquid, there was no wound and there was no pain.
"What the bloody he-" Killian began to curse loudly, but was interrupted by the smug voice of the Dark One.
"Well, well, well, dearie," drawled Rumple in his eerily elegant voice. "Finally awake, are we?"
"You!" Killian growled, wrestling to free himself from his confinements. He snarled, anger clear upon his face, seemingly ready to kill Rumple at his first chance. "You did this to me!"
"Now, now," chided Rumple haughtily, smirking at Killian's attempts to break free. "Musn't do that, pirate. You might hurt yourself."
"Oh, don't worry about me," said Killian dangerously, gritting his teeth. "It's your own neck I'd be keeping an eye on, crocodile." The insult flew from Killian's lips with practiced precision, and he could feel his more violent side emerging even more than it had been before.
Rumplestiltskin pretended to be both stunned and offended for a fraction of a moment before he dropped the act and said, "Now is that any way to treat the man who saved your life?"
"Saved?" cried Killian in disbelief, his eyes wild with fury. If he could just get his hand around the crocodile's throat - "You're the one who bloody did that to me in the first place!"
Rumple, feigning innocence still, put a hand on his chest and asked, "Why would I want to do that?"
"Don't play games with me," growled Killian lowly, his voice taking on a deadly edge. "Release me now, or I'll make you wish you had."
"Very well, dearie," said Rumple, and with a wave of his hand the ropes loosened, freeing Killian. Shocked that the crocodile had actually listened to him, it took Killian a minute to act upon his new freedom. He, predictably, stalked to Rumple with a murderous glint in his eyes. But just as he was reaching him, Rumple disappeared in a puff of smoke, reappearing several paces behind the ravenous pirate. Killian turned around, intent on ending the life of the man in front of him, when Rumple held out his hand and stopped Killian in his tracks.
"What, you think I'm going to fall for this again?" asked Killian, gesturing to the hook that Rumple offered him. "Don't take me for a fool, crocodile."
"There's nothing wrong with it," insisted Rumple, holding the hook out further. "I don't need to destroy you any longer. The work's already been done."
"What's that supposed to mean?" asked Killian arrogantly, raising an eyebrow and taking the hook. He inspected it for quite some time before actually re-attaching it to his body. When he was satisfied that it would do him no harm, he relaxed slightly.
"Just as I've said," stated Rumple, brushing the subject off. "What's important is that I have already packed your bags for you, and you are free to leave Storybrooke anytime you like." Rumple paused, taking a few dangerous steps towards Killian. "Though if I were you, I think I would choose to go sooner rather than later, dearie."
Killian actually began to laugh at the ludicrous statement. He raised his hook towards Rumple in a threatening way, the sharp point at the base of the crocodile's throat. "Why on earth would I leave Storybrooke?" he asked suspiciously. Rumplestiltskin shrugged.
He whispered, "Maybe because there's nothing left for you here."
The way he said it made the hairs on the back of Killian's neck stand up. But he was a pirate, brave and unafraid of anything, so he said, "What are you talking about?"
"Isn't it obvious?" asked Rumple smugly. "Miss Swan, of course."
Killian's blood ran cold. If there had been any conflict in his heart about killing the Dark One before, it was certainly gone now. He backed the crocodile against the wall, their faces inches apart, and asked with malice in his words, "What have you done to her?"
"Not a thing, dearie." insisted Rumple innocently. "You did all the damage yourself."
"The only pain I caused Emma sprung from the fact that I was dying because of you." stated Killian matter-of-factly. He released Rumple roughly, shoving him back into the shelves of the office as hard as he could. He continued, "I fail to see how I have lost her."
"Oh, but you didn't see her after your apparent death, did you, pirate?" asked Rumple cunningly. He began to smile slightly as he dusted off his suit and told Killian, "She was all too glad to be rid of you."
Killian's heart faltered for a minute in pain, before he realized that this was surely another trick meant only to hurt him. Confident in Emma's love, he replied sternly, "Now see, mate, I know that's not true. Emma loves me. She told me so herself. So if you'll excuse me, I'll be needing to go and find her." Killian moved to leave the office, only to be stopped once more by Rumple's voice.
"She only said that because she knew you were a dead man. She feels more relieved now than she has since you came into her life. Think about it, pirate. You've been nothing but a nuisance to Miss Swan since the moment she met you." Rumple smiled a bit as he concluded, "But you do what you feel is right. If you wish to find her, I heard that she was going out tonight to celebrate. I'm sure you'll be able to locate her." Satisfied that he'd stopped the pirate, Rumplestiltskin vanished once again, leaving Killian to his thoughts, alone. Rumple was practically glowing; for if there was one thing he loved more than killing the pirate, it was introducing him to a fate worse than death. And living without the woman he loved for a second time would certainly qualify.
Author's Note: Here's the next chapter! I don't know how long I am planning on making this, I'm just going with the flow right now. I'd like to thank everyone for the support shown in chapter 1 - it honestly blew me away! I'm glad you guys are enjoying this :) To answer one question; I wouldn't be opposed to the idea of taking a request, fire away if you have one! :) Now I know that this was a quick update, but not all of my updates will come the day after a previous one. I'd say allow a few days in between chapters :) But I have some great ideas for this, so I won't be giving up until I finish with a flourish! Again, thank you to every single reviewer, your comments mean so much to me! Hope to see you around for Chapter 3!