A/N: Oh, Fortune. Thou art a heartless bitch ...

(I told you that Fortune was where the big stuff would start. Well. We're here.)

Chapter Ten
Fortune
"I was disappearing in plain sight. Heaven help me, I need to make it right … "

It took Emma a moment to remember where she was when she woke up the next morning … well, she assumed it was morning anyway. Propping herself up on her elbows, she glanced to the window, only to be met with the sight of more grey and white … the snow continued to fall outside.

With a quiet sigh, she made to sit up, only to feel arms tightening around her, not letting her move. "Don't even think about it, love." With a surprised squeak, she looked over at Killian. She'd thought he had still been sleeping. His eyes were still closed, in fact, but there was a smile playing on his lips as he pulled her back down with him. "It's bloody cold. Don't take the warmth away." He nuzzled against her neck, and against her better judgement, she laughed a bit, letting herself relax against him.

It was weird, but … it didn't feel weird, being here, like this, with him. She'd never spent the night with a man when it didn't involve … well. And she never stuck around til morning. But here they were, and they'd shared something that went beyond intimate the night before, and yet … she didn't feel the need to run.

"Eventually, we have to move, you know," she told him. "I have to get home or they'll send out a search party." She made a face. They would too. Hell, they might already be forming one. And the last thing either Killian or she needed was for them to find them here, together, like this. Even though nothing had happened … well, she was pretty sure David's fist would still have a few things to say to Killian's jaw. Even Mary-Margaret might take a swing at him. Emma winced a bit at the thought.

"Don't leave," he said quietly, his fingertips brushing over her jaw as he turned her head so he could press his lips to hers. "Not yet."

"Killian," she sighed, not wanting to admit how much she loved kissing him. "What do you want me to do, just stay here with you indefinitely?"

"Why not?" he said with a small smirk.

"I have responsibilities," she said. "Besides, you know we'd kill each other."

"We wouldn't," he said, rolling them so he had her pinned beneath him, a smirk on his lips. She wriggled a little, and he groaned, and she gasped, when her movements pressed her hips flush against his. "I mean to have you, Emma Swan," he said in a ragged voice.

Her heart skipped a beat at his words, the hungry look in his eyes. The way they were pressed against each other now left no room for doubt about what he meant. With a smirk of her own, she shifted her hips, knowing exactly what she was doing. She was smugly satisfied when he sucked in his breath. "I don't think I'll let you," she breathed, her own voice husky as she locked her eyes with his.

"Liar," he growled, dragging his teeth over her bottom lip, his fingertips slipping just inside the waistband of her jeans, causing her to gasp. He chuckled, the sound dark and rich. "You were saying?" he breathed, slanting his mouth down over hers.

She all but whimpered against his lips. No one should be allowed to kiss that well.

"No," she protested weakly against his lips, her heart not really in the word, as she pushed him back just a little. The last thing she wanted right now was to stop. But …

"Seriously, Killian, they are going to come looking for me. David will go out and buy a fucking snowmobile to do it, if he has to." She laughed, shaking her head, though there was a lot of truth in that statement. "Do you want them to catch us with your hand down the front of my jeans?"

"Point taken," he said, sighing heavily in frustration. "You're bloody well killing me, though."

She bit her lip and smirked at him, propping herself up on her elbows and leaning in, beckoning him to come closer as well. "I think you like it," she murmured against his lips before she kissed him again.

He groaned pleasurably then, his hand finding its way to her hair, tugging lightly on it as he returned her kiss with equal fervor. "I will have you."

"If you're very very good, you just might," she breathed. She nipped his lips playfully then, shaking her head, and pushing herself away from him, even though she really didn't want to. But she needed to get back … before they did come looking. "I've really gotta go now, though," she said, standing up.

He stood up with her, pulling her into his arms. "Only way I'm letting you go is if you promise to come back. And stay with me." The light in his eyes let her know exactly what he was asking, and Emma knew it was time for the all or nothing.

She kissed him. "I'll be back," she told him, her eyes on his. "I'll be back as soon as I'm able."

"And … "

"And I'll stay," she breathed. "With you. I'll stay with you." She felt her lips twitching upwards into a smile, and soon she was laughing.

The smile he gave her was enough to set her heart to fluttering, but in a good way. She felt good about this, about him, about all of it, and she never ever thought she'd be able to feel that, with anyone. He kissed her deeply, his hand holding onto the lapel of her coat.

"Come back quickly," he said. "I can't be long without you."

"Patience is a virtue, Captain," she said with a smirk, a playful glint in her eyes as she pulled away from him then, but not before stealing another kiss from his lips.

"I'm not particularly virtuous, if you hadn't noticed," he said with a wink. "Which is something I plan to make you glad of later."

She shook her head, laughing a little, her heart feeling light as she pushed away from him, moving toward the door now. "I'll look forward to that," she told him, turning the knob and stepping out into the wintry expanse of woods that awaited her now. It would be a cold, long walk back, but she felt so warm right now that it barely registered to her at all.

Her almost giddy feeling only lasted her as long as it took her to get back home, however. As soon as she walked in the door, she was immediately met with Mary-Margaret's frantic voice, and was pulled into her arms. "Emma Swan, where in the hell have you been?" Only Mary-Margaret could yell at you and hug you, all at the same time.

Emma's eyes widened as she assessed the scene in front of her. There were about twenty people crammed into the small apartment, and Emma only needed one guess to figure out what was going on.

"Seriously?" she said, looking at Mary-Margaret warily. "You were actually organizing a search party?"

"Oh, no, don't give me that!" Mary-Margaret said. "Do you know how worried we've been? Why didn't you call?"

"My cell phone didn't have any service," she said. "I knew you were going to worry, but there wasn't anything I could've done. I was safe and warm and … everything was fine. And I'm home now, aren't I?"

"Where were you?" Mary-Margaret asked again.

Emma cast a glance around the room, at all the people gathered there, who were watching them with great interest. Mr. Gold was among them, a fact that was not lost on her, and did not sit well in her gut. She hadn't been cold at all on her walk home, but she felt positively icy right now.

Emma raised an eyebrow and looked back at Mary-Margaret. "Somewhere safe," she said, but from the way Mary-Margaret's jaw twitched, she knew she didn't buy it. "Look, can we send everyone home? I'd like a warm shower and a change of clothes and my own bed for awhile."

It took awhile, and everyone seemed to want to talk to Emma and make sure she was really okay after what apparently should've been a harrowing ordeal, but finally, the apartment cleared out. Mr. Gold was the last to leave, and Emma was sure he was going to say something, but he just patted her on the shoulder. "So glad you're home safe, dearie," he said quietly as he walked by her and out of the apartment.

Yeah, she didn't like that at all.

Emma frowned, hugging her arms across her chest as she watched him leave, really hating the sense of foreboding that he seemed to carry around with him … or maybe she was just paranoid. It wasn't as though she wasn't keeping a big secret, after all.

"You were with him, weren't you?" David asked, moving into the kitchen after everyone else was gone.

"Who, Gold?" Emma asked, keeping her face expressionless.

"Don't do that, Emma," Mary-Margaret said, shaking her head. "You know damn well who we're talking about."

"It doesn't matter," Emma said, casting a glance to Henry, who was pretty much as chilled out as he always was, thank God. "All that matters is I was safe, I am safe, and I'm home now. It's better off for everyone if that's all you know, okay? Can you just trust me? Look, I'm sorry I made you guys worry, really I am. If there was any way I could've let you know that I was okay, believe me, I would've done it."

"I don't like that you're protecting him, Emma," David said earnestly. "I just don't know what makes you think he's trustworthy. He's a pirate, and yet, you're putting everything on the line to protect him."

"I can't explain it," Emma said, feeling uncomfortable under the scrutiny of her family now. Only Henry didn't seem at all fazed by this turn of events, but then, he'd liked Killian all along, hadn't he? "I just know that I … I trust him. I don't have a logical explanation, so if that's what you're looking for, then I'm sorry, I can't give you one. But I take care of the people that are important to me. And that includes him now, whether you like it or not. But I'm not going to risk you guys getting caught in the crossfire of the grudge between he and Gold."

"Fine," David said, holding up his hands. "I can accept that, but you need to answer one question for me."

Emma didn't like where this was going. "No," she said, shaking her head.

"Are you in love with him, Emma?"

Even Henry seemed interested in the answer to this one.

Emma shook her head. "I'm not answering that," she said.

"You just did," Henry pointed out.

"Don't help," she told him, shaking her head, to which he just smiled at her. She laughed a little then.

"You looked pretty happy when you first walked in the door," Mary-Margaret said.

"Is that not allowed now?" she asked.

"Happier than I've ever seen you," Mary-Margaret finished softly, and Emma scowled.

"Whatever I'm feeling is something I need to work out, on my own!" she said. "I don't need you three jumping all over me about it, okay?"

"But you're happy," David said.

"Oh my God," Emma sighed. She really did feel like a teenager right now. "Maybe I am … no, not maybe. I am happy, okay? Are you happy now?"

"But … he's a pirate," David said, and he sounded pretty woebegone about it.

"He's a man," Emma said dryly. "He just … happens to like shiny stuff."

Mary-Margaret burst out laughing at that, and pretty soon, Emma had joined in. She wasn't even sure what was so funny, but David and Henry were laughing then too, and she remembered that she had someone waiting for her … and in that moment, everything just seemed right in her world.

And when was the last time that had ever happened to her?

Probably should've been her first clue.

After talking for awhile longer with her family, Emma excused herself to finally go take that much-needed shower. She spent a little bit longer than usual in front of her closet then, and she didn't even try to pretend she didn't know why.

In the end, she went with jeans and pale-blue sweater made out of some sort of soft material that had reminded her a bit of a cloud when she'd bought it. She left her hair down around her shoulders, curling it just a little after she'd dried it.

Mary-Margaret was waiting in her room after she came out of the bathroom. "Leaving again?" she asked, cocking a brow at Emma's outfit.

"I need to go by the station for a little bit, make sure there's no damage control that needs to be done," Emma began.

"That's not an outfit for damage control," Mary-Margaret said blandly.

"And then … yes, I've got somewhere to be," Emma said, just as blandly.

"But after last night … "

Emma shook her head. "Nothing happened last night," she said. "We talked, that's all."

"You … talked," Mary-Margaret said slowly. "I really didn't peg him as the talking type. I mean, not about anything serious. I know he loves the sound of his own voice."

Emma smiled softly. "You'd be surprised," she said quietly. "Good listener, too." She gave Mary-Margaret a hug then. "Don't worry about me tonight, okay?"

"Just be careful, Emma," Mary-Margaret said.

"Always," she said with a smile, grabbing her white, fleece-lined parka from the back of the chair in her room before heading downstairs. "You going to hate me forever if I leave again, kid?" she asked Henry, leaning against the countertop next to the barstool he was currently sitting on.

"Nope," Henry said with a grin. He leaned in then. "Remember when I said before, that you weren't ready?"

Emma nodded, remembering the conversation from not too long ago that they'd had, when he had told her that he thought Killian liked her. "I remember," she said.

"I think you're ready now."

She smiled and kissed the top of his head. "Stop being so smart. I'll see you in the morning."

David really didn't look like he wanted to let her out of the house, but he also knew there wasn't anything he could do about it. He started to say something, then sighed heavily. She shook her head. "I'll see you tomorrow, David," she told him, kissing his cheek. "Stop worrying."

She pulled her coat on as she stepped out into the hallway, making her way down the stairs and out of the front of the building. The plows had been through, so the streets were fairly clear of snow now, which made getting around a little bit easier. Though for all the good it did, she wasn't sure, as it had started snowing again. She started out in the direction of the sheriff's station, having every intention of at least attempting to get some work done, before she headed back to the cabin.

But when she passed the turn-off for the path into the woods, something hit her as being very, very wrong.

"In a hurry, Miss Swan?" said a voice from behind her, pretty much the last voice she wanted to hear right now. "I'm afraid you won't find what you're looking for down that way, not anymore."

Emma turned to face him, an icy pit lodged in her stomach. "How did you know?" she asked.

"You know there are no secrets from me in this town, dearie," Gold said, leaning heavily on his cane.

"What did you do?"

"What needed to be done," he told her, and she didn't like that glint in his eyes. "Neutralized a threat. Never even saw me coming."

"Why?" she asked, her heart lurching.

"Dearie, believe me, it's for the best. Though I suppose if you hurry, you might be able to save him yet. If, of course, you think it's worth it." He gave her a smile. "I like to think you're smarter than that."

Emma didn't care to hear anything else he had to say. She had no idea what he'd done to Killian, but this was the man who'd cut off his hand before, the man who'd crushed a heart … there was no telling what he was capable of, and she wasn't going to sit there and play mindgames with him. Not right now. Not when Killian …

She took off running into the woods, not caring about the branches that lashed at her face, or the root that she tripped over. She twisted her ankle, but she kept running. Oh, God, what had he done?

"Killian!" she screamed as she drew nearer to the cabin, bursting through the treeline. She looked around frantically. "Killian!" Nothing seemed amiss here, nothing at all. Nothing was disturbed, the cabin was the same as it had been when she'd left this morning …

What the fuck was going on? "Killian!" she called again, her heart thudding. Something wasn't right … something was very very very wrong. She could feel the crackling in the air.

Magic.

She heard a strange, but somehow familiar pop come from behind her, then a whirring met her ears. She turned, but couldn't see the source of the noise anywhere. "Killian!" she shouted again. Where was he? Oh, God, she just needed to know if he was okay …

Suddenly, she felt something tugging her from behind, and she tried to whirl around, to no avail. The pull on her body was so strong that she lost her footing and began to fall forward.

But no icy ground rushed up to meet her. Somewhere in the distance, she thought she heard someone calling her name.

But she just kept falling.

It finally dawned on her, where she'd heard that sound before, the pop and the whir…

It was a portal.

She was in a portal.

And she was falling.