A/N: I wanted to let everyone know that I appreciate all the favs, follows and reviews. I don't always have time to respond to them but they mean a lot to me. And I wanted to acknowledge the best people that I have ever had the chance to get to know, my two betas. Steph-the-fangirl-925, who also is Stephanie with Just4FunVids925 on YouTube, and Aimeeloren. Thank you to both of you. I don't know what I would do without you.

Disclaimer: I do not own the major characters contained within this story. They belong to the franchise of Once Upon A Time.

Chapter 11:

Killian had had enough. Enough of Rome. Enough of classes he neither wanted nor understood. And enough of the hallucinations that had become part of the nightmares he woke up from daily.

He'd been in Rome for almost two months. By his schedule, he knew he only had one month left before he could return home. If he hadn't gone insane before he could catch a plane heading back to the United States.

The young girl Father Bastian had been treating killed herself the night before. She had ripped her flesh and chewed at her own arms and legs to escape the bonds she had been placed in for her own safety. And, once again, before she threw herself from the top of the hospital, she tormented Killian. He and Father Bastian had appealed to her and the demon inside to not jump. Instead, the demonic voice laughed at them announcing they were next.

Killian dismissed the threat until once more it produced the necklace he had returned to Emma. In the demon's own voice, speaking perfect English, it said if he couldn't have the pirate turned priest it would go after everything Killian loved. Killian had assumed the demon meant the church but it must have read his thoughts, as demons were thought to do. It laughed and Killian had never been so scared in his life than at the sound of that laughter, not even when he had dreamed of Milah losing her heart to some scaly beast who crushed it in its human hand.

"Killian Jones loves but one. Only one left to mourn your death," the demon announced.

Killian stared down the demon in the young girl's body refusing to show fear. "I love none who are still alive, demon."

The creature laughed again and pointed to him. "Just because you don't remember doesn't mean you will not feel the pain. For the best thing I could give you, to destroy you, is to make you remember. I shall have you destroy your love and then have you weep as you see the blood on your own hands."

"I shall not do your demon's work," Killian shouted.

"No, you shall do the work of the church. You will destroy the person who loves you thinking that a demon resides within. And when their life's blood flows over your hands, you'll remember. You'll be alone once more, Captain Hook. Like you were always meant to be. Alone and tortured and as selfish and villainous as you were written."

"I am no fairytale character."

"So you believe." The demon held up the necklace waving it back and forth like a pendulum in a clock. "Belief is a trial of wishing something were true. Knowledge is when you find that the belief is true. So, which is it? Do you believe you are not Captain Hook? Or do you know you are Father Killian Jones?"

"Stop, demon," Father Bastion screamed in his broken English. He began to chant his prayers louder in Latin as he approached scattering holy water, blocking Killian from the demonic force.

Taking a deep breath, Killian tried to steel himself for round two when he heard a strangled cry. He glanced up and saw Father Bastian leaning over the edge of the building. Killian rushed over and saw the girl's body limp and bleeding on the street below. A small metallic sound caught his ears. Looking around, Killian saw the necklace hanging precariously from a ragged edge of a stone off the side of the building. He stretched as far as he could but could not reach it.

Father Bastian saw what Killian was trying to do and brushed him aside. Being slightly taller and lankier, Father Bastian was able to barely reach it and pulled it up, handing it to Killian. "Guard your soul. We shall need it against that one."

Killian nodded and clenched the necklace in his fist. He watched Father Bastian take one last look over the side of the building before the older man shook his head and began to walk back to the door leading inside the hospital. Killian opened his palm and stared down at the silver charms. Not sure what to do with it, he slipped it over his head and tucked it under his shirt.

Even the next morning, Killian thought that the necklace seemed to settle as if he had been wearing it for years. The necklace should feel weighted but it was more like something had been missing. He clenched the charms through his shirt, causing him to grab the cross that also rested around his neck. Two parts to a whole. One person, two separate selves.

He decided to skip class that day. He needed to rest. His dreams in the night haunted him as much as the demon's own threats.

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Emma didn't know what else to do. She and Robin had been in Rome for almost two months and there had been no progress with Killian. Of course it was hard to have progress when the man avoided them.

Maybe she had come in too hard too fast but she had missed him so much. Now, she missed him even more.

The only thing keeping Emma occupied was the mystery of the ring. Robin, however, did not have the same luxury. So, Emma was determined to tell Robin to go home, back to Storybrooke. Emma didn't need him as a babysitter. She was a big girl and she could handle this. Robin would have bigger issues once he returned. She didn't envy him his position on having to choose between his wife and Regina. On one hand there was Marion, his wife and the mother of his child. On the other was Regina, the woman who held his heart, and literally could do so.

Emma heard how hard Robin tried with his wife when they spoke on the phone. Once he had had Marion on speaker and Emma had overheard. Marion must have been so traumatized by her stay in Regina's dungeon that she kept deferring things to Robin to say and remember. Emma could tell this frustrated him but Robin tried his best to let it go. She knew exactly how frustrating it was to deal with someone who just couldn't remember. And the cracks it left in your heart.

Knowing Robin's pain had made Emma's decision to send him back that much easier. She almost went online and purchased the ticket for him herself but she decided to wait to discuss it with him first with the hope that he'd agree readily enough on his own.

It made Emma sad to know she was soon to be alone in Rome. Even if Killian was still here, it didn't matter as he was hardly ever at the boarding house anymore and refused to spend time with her.

Wanting to feel close to him, she walked over to the drawer in which she kept the necklace. After the last time when Killian had given it to her, she had gone out and purchased a small lockable box at a local seller to store it in. Emma had the only key.

Pulling the key from where she had it resting around her neck, she opened the tiny box. Her eyes grew wide as she discovered it empty. What the hell? Where had the necklace gone?

No one could have gotten in to steal it, as she even slept with the key. And the key was special. It looked like a puzzle piece. It needed to be placed just right on the square on the bottom of the box to release the catch. It had been part of the reason she had purchased this particular container. The seller had assured her it was one of a kind and that she shouldn't lose the key because otherwise the wooden box would have to be smashed to release the contents.

What was with Rome that kept making her have to discover mystery after mystery? It was like she stumbled into an old episode of Scooby Doo. And in all honesty, she wasn't very fond of the show or the movies. Dealing with all this made her even less so.

Picking up her phone, Emma cursed. She didn't have time to figure out where the necklace was. She was late for dinner. Emma closed the box and shoved the drawer shut, stuffing her phone in the back pocket of her jeans. She ran out her door and proceeded to the dining room.

Emma stopped short upon entering. There was only one chair left at the end of the table, which normally didn't bother her as it seemed her usual spot. However, there was usually an empty spot across from her because Killian hadn't been coming to dinner. Today, there was only one seat left, the one next to a very present Killian Jones.

He looked up and saw Emma staring at him. Her mouth hung open and he smiled. She walked forward slowly and he rose to pull back her chair.

"So, now you're being a gentleman?"

"I'm always a gentleman," he told her as he pushed her chair back in.

"I'm surprised to see you, Father."

"I noticed," he said with a wink. "I thought you were just taken aback by my good looks." She glared at him and he laughed quietly, so only the two of them could hear. "If it wasn't my stunning visage, what had your jaw dragging the floor?"

"As I said before, I was surprised to see you. You haven't been here that much lately."

He leaned in and whispered in her ear. "Don't worry, Swan. I've missed you as much as you missed me."

Emma turned to him and gave him a cheeky grin. "So, not at all then."

Killian looked around and saw everyone involved in a lively debate over the most recent decision passed down by the Pope. Turning back to Emma, he grasped her chin with his thumb and forefinger, his eyes boring into hers. "It's not polite to lie to a priest."

She cocked her head but didn't draw her face from his fingers. "Who said I was lying?"

He stood, letting her go, his chair scraping on the aged wooden floor. "Scusi, Signora Assante. Miss Swan and I will return post haste to enjoy your lovely meal."

Even the hostess fell under his spell when he applied his charm and she smiled and waved them away. "I be sure to save you both some warm food, Padre."

"Grazie." He gave her his most charming smile.

Putting his hand to Emma's elbow, he ignored the stares and guided her from her chair and out the door to the parlor. Emma rounded on him, her eyes filled with anger.

"What was that all about?" Emma waved her hand in the direction from whence they came.

"You and I need to talk."

Emma crossed her arms over her chest. "About?"

Killian stepped closer, their bodies almost touching. "Firstly, about the fact that you're lying."

"I'll have you know that I have other things to do than wonder what you're doing."

"Oh, I'm quite sure about that, Swan. But for a woman who can detect lies, you sure are horrible at delivering them."

He watched Emma's arms drop to her sides, her eyes growing wide. "You remember?"

"For some reason, I remember that. Maybe we did cross paths in Storybrooke." Killian shrugged. Even he couldn't pinpoint how he knew that about her but once the words left his tongue he knew with absolute certainty the truth behind them.

"So, you admit to some memory loss?" she asked him with interest.

"Before I left to head for Rome, I collapsed in the church and hit my head. I've had my suspicions that some of my memories were affected by the fall but I was assured by a physician, that I was fine and capable of travel."

"Killian," Emma said with a slight sob to her voice. Her teeth captured her bottom lip, as if to hold it back.

He reached his hand out and caressed her cheek. "Shh. I'm just fine."

Emma nodded and he wiped the tear that escaped from her eye. Killian reached into his shirt collar and removed the silver chain he had put on the night before.

"This is the other reason we needed to talk." He handed her the necklace with the skull head and dagger charms.

Emma accepted it and stared down. He watched her expression change at least four times with different emotions, from astonishment to relief to anger to shock. When her eyes returned to his, her hand held it fisted and close to her heart. "Thank you."

"You're welcome. It seems to keep finding its way into my possession."

Watching, he saw Emma lower her hand and open it, staring down at the necklace. Her eyes welled up with tears as she held it out to him. "Maybe you should keep it."

Killian shook his head. "It means more to you than it does to me and it isn't like a priest can run around wearing such a thing."

Emma reached out and took one of his hands in hers. She laid the still warm chain in his hand. "It's yours. It always was yours, long before I ever knew you. You should keep it."

He looked at her in confusion. "If it's mine…" Killian cleared his throat and tried again. "If it's mine, then…"

She nodded. "What you said the other day, about Captain Hook. It's true. I can't prove it but I can show you this."

Emma pulled her phone from her back pocket. He watched fascinated as she unlocked her phone and scrolled through some pictures. She seemed to find the one she was looking for and smiled. Emma handed him the phone.

It was a picture of him. Just not him. A man with the same face as his own stood there at the helm of a ship. He was clad all in black leather, except for the black linen shirt that lay open exposing the chain that lay currently in his hand. Next to him was another man with blonde hair and a regal air. Killian pointed to the other gentleman. "Who's that?"

"David Nolan."

Killian glanced over at her once more confused. "I thought Robin said David Nolan was your father."

He saw Emma lower her gaze to the floor as she shifted from one foot to another. Deciding to stop her before she began, he said, "You're horrible at lying, Swan."

She looked back up and sheepishly smiled at him. "He is."

Killian looked back at the picture, which he had to keep touching to keep active. The man that looked like him was around the same age as the other man. It couldn't, no shouldn't be, possible. "When was this taken?"

"Over a year and a half ago."

"That recent? He looks our age."

"Really good genes." Emma laughed. "Not as good as yours, apparently, but we do pretty well."

"Where was this?"

"On your ship. The Jolly Roger."

He knew there was more to the story that she wasn't telling him. He wasn't sure how he knew but he did. "Either I'm crazy or you are."

He shoved the phone back at her and she accepted it, giving him a lopsided grin. "Both?"

Killian shook his head and stepped back from her. "I can't handle this right now. Let's go eat. I need to think."

"Of course." Emma turned and walked back toward the dining room.

Killian lowered himself onto the settee, tossed the necklace next to him, and raked his hands through his hair. He had questioned her about everything but the one thing that most concerned him. In the picture he had a hook instead of a hand attached to his left arm. A hook that had been haunting his dreams. No just any dreams but the ones that featured Emma, for the most part. He had thought it was God's way of warning him off. Now he wondered if the dreams were memories that he couldn't recall in the bright light of day.