KILLIAN

The crewless Captain brought the heel of a hand to his head, the blood of his wound having dried but it didn't stop the pounding. The skin around Killian's wrists was raw and bleeding from his endless struggles and he pulled them taut uselessly once more with a frustrated sigh. For once there was more at stake then his pride and there was no knowing what his father's men had in store for them. He wasn't even considered a Greyjoy anymore; he had disgraced his name as his father would undeniably say. Silence was interrupted by the odd rustling of chains and the continual dripping of water from the decks above them. He could make out Emma's figure in the darkness of the cell opposite him but neither had spoken since being brought down below.

'Emma?' Silence. Chains. Drip. Drip. 'Emma?'

'Just because I tell you my name it doesn't give you the excuse to use it fifty times in one minute.'

'I just counted and I'm sure it's just two.'

'Oh good you can count, a shame you can't see a massive ship coming towards us.'

'What happened to our tender little moment at the mast? I thought we'd passed the sarcastic hatred?'

'I think I'm passed most things by now.'

'Then what's wrong?' Killian's voice softened and he pushed himself toward the bars. He could list the possibilities but till now she still had the fire he'd seen on deck, even if he had wanted to sew her mouth shut during that moment.

'The thought of him touching me…I can't…'

'It won't come to that. I won't let it come to that.' His grip on the bars tightened as the thought of it sickened him too. Iron men weren't known for their kind-heartedness, quite the opposite in fact.

'How can you say that? We're both chained up in here!' Emma snapped before she quietened once more. Killian couldn't answer because in truth she was right, the best he could do would be to flail against the bars and throw the foulest of curses he could muster.

'Everything is gone. My ship, my crew, the cargo…everything.' Killian whispered after some time as he slumped back against the bars. At least however, they had quick and honourable deaths in battle and even though he was stuck here there was one thing that he wanted to do and that was to survive.

'The pirate is finally getting a taste of his own medicine.' Emma spoke up and despite knowing it to be true he found himself hurt by her tone. The probability of being a salt whore to two dozen iron men would pierce the barriers of any strong willed mind.

'Why didn't you take it Emma?' Killian had given it to her for this very reason. Perhaps she was a fighter like he was and the risk was worth taking but was she reconsidering her decision now?

'I wanted to keep it for a rainy day and before you ask, yes I still have it and no, I won't be taking it.' Emma answered and his head quickly turned as he could suddenly see her tuck a strand of bedraggled blonde hair behind her ear. A gruff but young looking man, aged by the harsh weathers of the Iron Islands sauntered in and toward Emma's cell, a lamp swaying in his fist.

'I hope it hasn't been too cold down here for ya. The Captain wants the bed warmed after all.' His sniggering left Killian wanting to run his sword through his chest.

'If you think I'm going to come quietly then you are sorely mistaken.' Emma growled at him but still kept her distance toward the back of the cell.

'Aww, isn't that sweet? The tainted whore thinks she has a choice.' These men were used to hardened women and they would prefer one who put up a bit of a fight, Killian hated that he knew this. He saw leaving the Iron Islands not as a betrayal but as an escape.

'If you touch her you'll be faced with me and the entire of Saan's fleet. I wouldn't want that, would you?' Killian tried to be calm and threatening but it came out in gritted unrestrained anger. They wouldn't touch her, they couldn't touch her.

'Is that so? You always had your head in the clouds not the sea didn't you Killian?' The man turned to face him and after a moment of studying the face Killian's eyes widened with recognition.

'Gendall?' The menacing grin on the man's face answered for him and although he shouldn't, Killian felt a pang of betrayal. 'If you valued our frie-' He was interrupted when Gendall spat at him, a look of pure distaste on the face of his once childhood friend.

'You are nothing more than a bastard! You turned your back on all of us!' Gendall shouted and moved to Killian's cell, inches away from the bars. 'And you know what? Perhaps I'll have a little go of her myself, I'm sure you'd love that wouldn't you?' Killian growled at his threat and before Gendall could step back he slammed his head into the bars, the shackles cutting painfully into him with the effort. Gendall slumped unconscious to the floor and Killian grunted as he ignored the pain and stretched through the bars to reach the keys at his belt.

'What are you doing?' Emma asked but her face was once again shrouded in darkness as the lamp had all but smashed when it hit the floor.

'What does it look like love?' Killian scoffed lightly and he grimaced as he felt a slow trickle of blood meander down his fingers but soon sighed with relief when they hooked on the ring of keys. He unlocked his cell but none fit his shackles.

'I know you're a pirate and used to this type of thing but-'

'How gracious of you to remind me.'

'But what happens after we get out of the cells? If you couldn't take on the crew with all of your men how are you going to do it on your own?' Emma continued to question and it was a pretty good one at that. One which he didn't have an answer to.

'I'll think of something.'

'That's your plan?! Just see how it goes?' Killian was close enough to see her incredulous eyes stare up at him as he opened the locks of her cell.

'You're just going to have to trust me on this one. Can you do that Emma?' Killian asked seriously, offering out his hands to her. If she didn't then there was really no hope of this succeeding. She continued to stare at him until she had come to some silent decision in her head and her chained hands reached up to take his.

'The last time I trusted someone it didn't go so well.' Emma whispered as he helped her up onto her feet. A silence came between them as he looked to their hands but it wasn't an awkward one, not in his eyes anyway.

'That someone wasn't me now was it?' Killian replied tilting his head as he looked back up to her. He matched the smile that crept across her face but it was if she had realised what she had been doing and it disappeared as quickly as it came.

'How can I trust a pirate who intended on selling me on to some unknown person across the sea?' She scoffed and stepped around him and bent to pick up the sword at Gendall's side. He moved to take the sword from her hands and weighted it in his own; the shackles wouldn't let him move to his usual style of fighting so he would have to fight two handed.

'It seems we're all set but don't go wandering off.'

'Where am I going to wander off to?' She questioned a hand moving to her hip and Killian rolled his eyes before he pushed Gendall with his foot into his cell. That was one less man to have to think about. That was when another voice sounded from the stairs that led below deck. He shushed Emma and pulled her with him into the shadows by some stacked barrels.

'Gendall? Captain's sick of waiting!' The voice was closer than before and heavy footsteps creaked down toward them. 'Gendall!' Killian tightened the grip on the sword, waiting for the right moment in which to strike. Of all the possibilities he didn't expect the six foot man to fall to the floor with a barrel lid shattered across the back of his head.

'Couldn't let you have all the fun now could I?' Emma breathed and a laugh escaped her as Killian gaped.

'How is it possible that you are becoming even more attractive as time goes by?' His devilish smile returned and it widened at the narrowing of her eyes. Shaking his head he quickly decided that they couldn't waste any more time and he beckoned her to follow him. At the top of the stairs, he thrust his blade through the back of a one eared man and a gurgling moan left the dying man's lips as he collapsed to the deck. He silenced one more grisly faced iron islander before the ship came alive. Sword wielding men ran at him from all corners of the ship, voices ringing out to alert the others. A few slick parries and another dropped to the deck, blood soaking the weather worn boards. He spun when he heard one from behind him but a flash of blonde and his towering frame fell clutching at his gut.

'Look out!' Emma motioned with her blood tipped sword as the men started to overwhelm and surround them.

'Didn't I say you'd make a hell of a pirate?' Killian's sword clattered against another but he had to retreat backwards when two more swords flashed toward him.

'Have you thought of something yet?' She panted, her back pressed against his. No. He hadn't thought of anything. After hearing what they had planned for Emma he just wanted to do something.

'What is this!?' Every single head snapped to the top deck when Captain Orlick shouldered out of his cabin. All hope was beginning to slowly slip away from Killian's grasp, the only strand left was that he had distracted and delayed them from touching her. He had promised he wouldn't let it come to that.

'The turn cloak is being overprotective over his bastard wench!' A man hollered as he turned back and stared at Killian with a snarl. A silent gesture from Orlick and the fence of swords that surrounded them were hoisted up and the swollen nosed Captain stepped into the space. The crew remained quiet out of reverence but Killian didn't loosen the grip on his sword.

'You disgrace your name and yet the sea still runs through your veins. You would have been a fine Greyjoy, but you chose a path of dishonour and now you fight alone, shackled and imprisoned, and foolishly protecting this whore. Aye, she may come to fetch a few coins but unlike you I like to know exactly what I'm bargaining with.' Orlick's arms crossed his chest with a challenging smirk but his words only infuriated Killian more.

'My direct orders were that she was not to be touched! If you do then you would have to settle the anger of Saan's benefactor!' Not even Killian knew who this person was that had tickled the pirate's fancy but Saan's eyes had practically flashed gold.

'I will not cower to the commands of any man!' Orlick raged, spittle coating his cracked lips. 'And I will not take orders from a dead man. That is where we are taking you boy! We are taking you back to the home you deserted so that you can be judged and punished for your betrayal.'

'Who is she to suffer for my crimes? You see honour where there is none!' Killian countered and his crew turned to look at him. It was a useless argument but he was desperate to put this to rights. 'Punish me but not her.'

'Don't…I'm not worth it.' It was Emma's turn to try and silence him and she placed a hand at his arm but he wasn't going to back down.

'You will be rewarded more than a few coins if she is returned unharmed.' Killian added to prove that very point. Orlick studied him and then Emma for what felt like an age and his expression gave nothing away. He hated that both of their fates were in the hands of such a brutish man.

'The pirate wants to cheat your Captain out of some harmless fun! So, if the he wants his wish then he'd best provide the fun isn't that right?' Orlick addressed his crew and they hollered in agreeing unison. All that effort in rebelling was quelled in an instant and Killian was seized, disarmed and dragged away from Emma's side.

'No! What are you doing?' He heard her call after him but he was powerless to do anything but struggle as he was pushed against a blood-stained mast. For a reason unbeknownst to him, his shackles were removed and he stood alone in the middle of the deck, the entire crew surrounding him in a sneering circle.

'Who wants the first jab at our fearsome little pirate?' Orlick asked to the crowd mockingly, his meaty arm wrapped tightly around Emma. It was a sight that spurred him past the fear and replaced it with a bubbling anger. A grizzled man, decorated with horrific scaring across his chest and throat stepped forward with thundering cheers from the crew. He didn't speak but just growled hoarsely before limbering up. 'This is your last chance boy, is she really worth it?' Emma recoiled from Orlick's touch as he stroked her cheek.

'Aye, that she is.' Killian answered confidently, her eyes widened and she shook her head slowly as his eyes met hers. It was a tender moment that was quashed with pain as the scarred man used it as an opportunity to land the first punch. Killian was propelled back with the force and grunted as his back connected with the mast.

'You'd best make it a trade worthwhile!' Orlick taunted him as Killian righted himself as quickly as he could manage. He could taste the tang of the blood that dripped from his now broken nose and the dizziness he had felt earlier had increased drastically. However, he had to follow through if he were to protect Emma and after a brief circling he hit back with a punch of his own, connecting with the man's jaw. He didn't waste the time that the scarred man used to recover and fought back with another, this one hitting his weakened scars at his throat. The man gasped for air and Killian stepped back triumphantly seeing that he'd so quickly found the man's weakness.

'Have the iron islanders softened in my absence?' Killian asked with a smirk and there were roars of protests from the surrounding men. Another stepped forward, this one smaller than the last but his glare was cold and unrelenting.

'Give him a dousing first!' Orlick interjected before the bawl began. Killian arched an eyebrow in confusion but then a freezing cold bucket of salt water was thrown at him, he held back the hiss of pain as the salt sought out every cut and sore. This man was tougher than the last and the power of their punches were evenly matched as they both continued to withstand each other's blows. Killian's lip was cut, he felt bruised all over and the wound on his head had reopened. A kick to the groin though and his opponent fell, there had been no rules after all. The second dousing of salt water was more painful than the last, this time he cried out in pain and shook his hair of the water that dripped down his face.

'Leave him alone! He doesn't deserve this!'

'It was his choice. He could have just shared his little whore.'

Killian's chest heaved and his strength was draining rapidly as the third was set upon him. He managed to land a few jabs but they lacked the power of his previous ones and his hands became heavy and his movement laboured.

'This is for Hadrian.' His rival growled when he saw that Killian was all but defeated, and punched him so that he collapsed onto his knees. Hadrian must be a man they had killed during the poor excuse of a rebellion and they must have been friends for that punch had made quite an impact. He spat blood to the deck and weakly lifted his head to squint up at the blurry figure that loomed over him. He heard the slice of a sword being drawn from a scabbard. The cold bite of metal scraped across the stubble of his cheek and down to his throat.

'No! No don't!' Emma's voice cut through all the shouts and he used the moment to try and recover, every part of him ached and a quiet groan trembled from him. He couldn't do anymore, there was nothing left to give but he hoped it was enough.

'That's enough! His sentence is not for us to carry out!' Orlick stopped the death that Killian had thought would come. 'That said, we can't have any more repeats of earlier now can we?' He added and he continued to talk but Killian couldn't catch it as his focus was on blocking out the pain.

'Wait, what are you doing? You've had your fun you bastards now let him go!' Emma yelled as Killian felt himself being lifted up off the floor. He was laid out against something hard…a barrel? He closed his eyes as there wasn't much difference with them open and he couldn't struggle as he was being held in position. 'Stop! He did as you asked! Stop!' It was the last thing he heard before it happened. The pain was indescribable. He thought that he had no strength left but he had enough to let out a gut wrenching scream as the pain showed no sign of ceasing and he continued to do so before the blackness consumed him.