How Deep Is Your Love
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Back inside Killian's mind…
All of a sudden, Hook rushed through the door into the lobby of Neal's apartment building and swiftly ambushed Emma as he knocked her to the ground, then he lunged for Gold and immediately pinned him against the elevator gate behind him. The Pirate Captain glared coldly at his enemy, then without hesitation he stabbed the Dark One in the chest with his hook.
The darker villain held the piece of metal that gave him his name inside Gold's chest for several seconds before pulling it out and raised it above him, about to strike again while he sneered cruelly, "Tick tock. Time's up, Crocodile. You took Milah, my love, my happiness. And for that, I now take your life."
However, before Hook could stab Gold again, Emma regained her senses as she quickly got back onto her feet and grabbed the lobby's umbrella rack, then crashes it down over the back of his head to knock him out. The next thing he remembered was waking up within a tight, pitch black room he later learned was a storage room which Emma had locked him up in.
All of a sudden, his memory changed again and Killian watched as his darker self walked up behind both Belle and Gold while they stood at the town line, the love of his enemy still within Storybrooke and the Crocodile himself just across the line wearing the shawl that allowed him to cross without losing himself, then fired a single shot from the gun he stole from Belle earlier that day on his ship. The bullet ripped into the back of the beauty's shoulder as she collapsed against Gold, who gasped in fear and shock upon the sudden attack against his love.
Killian heard himself reply to Belle's declaration that she'd be there waiting for the shopkeeper's return from his journey to find his son while he said angrily, "I wouldn't count on it."
"Belle?!" Rumple stated in panic as she struggled in pain within his arms. "Belle? Belle!"
"Wh… Who's Belle?" she asked with confusion on her face as she stared up at the man holding her until he lowered all the way down to the ground.
Mr. Gold quickly looked around him as he stammered, "Oh, no. No, no, no, no…"
Hook kept his weapon raised at his enemy as he responded coldly, "Oh, fear not. She'll live. She'll just have no idea who you are."
"What you've done cannot be undone," Rumple answered while he kept his eyes on Belle beneath him.
"Well, now you finally know how it feels!" the pirate shouted as the smaller man finally turned to him. "Well, go ahead, crocodile. Do your worst!"
The Dark One rose to his feet and conjured a fireball within the palm of his hand as he replied, "Oh, I intend to."
He was about to throw it while Hook stood there and smiled at him cruelly in anticipation, until a car suddenly barreled down the road towards them out of control. Mr. Gold immediately stifled the flame, grabbed Belle within his arms, and rolled them both out of the way. But as it crossed the town line it suddenly crashed into Hook, knocking him up across the roof of the unknown vehicle, into the windshield that shattered as he hit, then finally onto the side of the road where he became unconscious.
After Emma and her parents arrived at the scene of the crash, Killian listened as Hook mocked her a bit before he laughed over what he had accomplished and then struggled to get back to his feet as Gold approached him slowly, while he asked the Savior, "Did you see his face? His one true love, gone in an instant! Just like Milah, Crocodile! When you took her from me…"
"But you took her first," Gold responded cruelly as he suddenly lunged at Hook, then dug his cane into his neck, causing him to cry out until Emma shoved the man off of Hook once again lying in pain upon the ground.
"Gold, are you insane?!" she cried out with force.
As Rumpelstiltskin bent down on top of the man who just shot Belle and began to strangle him with his cane, he answered vigorously, "Yes, I am!"
Both David and Emma struggled to pull the smaller man off of the pirate as the Prince called out, "You can't do that!"
"I can if you let me go," Gold replied while he refused to let up.
"You don't want her to see that," Emma responded with more remorse within her voice as she continued to help her father pull the Dark One off of Hook.
The shopkeeper turned his head towards the Savior as he answered, "I'm a stranger to her."
When Gold turned back to Hook beneath him, she quickly replied, "Murder is a bad first impression."
"What would Belle want you to do?" David finally asked worryingly just as Killian watched himself nearly lose consciousness once more until an ambulance arrived and distracted Mr. Gold long enough for David to pull him off of Hook.
"Bloody hell, you were so close!" the shadow of Captain Hook suddenly cried out with anger as the images before him and Killian froze, and Killian turned his head toward his double while he glared coldly at his past self. "You almost had him. If you didn't freeze up while you were in New York and stabbed him over and over again like I know you wanted to, our greatest enemy would have surely died. You wouldn't have even needed to depend on the poison's effects to take over for you. He was weak and powerless. Tell me, Killian. Exactly how good did it feel for you, to thrust your hook deep into his chest? And don't lie. You can't lie to yourself."
The pirate turned hero looked away, his guilt over those events as well as all of the other terrible things he's done in his long lifetime plaguing him, and regretfully responded, "It felt good. At the time, it felt great."
Hook looked over at the image of Emma as he answered, "Yes and then you allowed a pretty blonde distraction turn you against who you are really meant to be."
"She isn't just a pretty blonde and you know that as well as I do," Killian replied curtly.
"Yes I know," the evil part of himself smugly responded. "You see her as your precious Savior. Big deal. She's everyone's Savior and she simply can't help herself, whether you deserve her help or not. And you, Killian… don't. You don't need her."
Killian shook his head and with frustration he answered, "You're not going to convince me to believe a word you say."
Hook nodded nonchalantly and then replied, "Maybe those weren't the best memories to begin with. Or least not the memories that will change your mind. Clearly you feel guilty over what we've done to Belle and though you've taken delight in remembering the Crocodile's suffering over nearly dying from dreamshade, then losing Belle for a time… You need something more, something worse, to remind you that Emma will never forgive you for everything you've ever done. And I think I know just what that is, but first you need to wake up."
"Wake up!" the apparition of his dark self shouted when all of a sudden, Killian gasped awake within a room inside Whale's clinic, then looked around in panic until Emma appeared in his line of sight as she grasped his hand tightly to assure him she was there with him.
"Killian?" Emma whispered worryingly upon seeing the panic in his eyes as he struggled to focus on her and David, who was also now standing over him. "Hey, you're going to be alright. We're right here. Can you hear me?"
He finally looked at her and quietly responded, "I hear… hear you. Where is he?"
Emma looked over at David in confusion, then turned back at Killian as she asked worryingly, "Where's who?"
"No one," he answered weakly upon realizing that Captain Hook was only a figment of his imagination taunting him in his mind, until he looked past David and saw the villain he used to be, or might still be, standing behind his friend and immediately looked away before he struggled to sit up.
"Forget I said anything, Swan," he continued as he glanced towards where he saw Hook moments ago and saw him thrust the pointed end of his hook against David's throat as if getting ready to strike. "I was disoriented, that's all. Are you...?"
She interrupted him saying, "I'm fine. We're all fine. It's you that you should be worried about. You were almost killed, again. I'm sorry, Killian. I should have…"
Trying to ignore his delusion, he cut her off in return as he retorted, "You've nothing to apologize for, love. Nothing."
