Another episode!
FFN finally fixed their famous error No. 2. Glad! I needed to keep going!
I won't limit myself anymore; this was intended to be a 2 chapter fic and look where it's headed! I practically am rewriting the whole season 1 with extra tidbits of 2 and 3, lol!
Thank you all for the likes, follows and reviews!
In the two weeks that had passed since Kragen had been brought in with a terrible hand injury, the hospital hadn't quite recovered from the constant visitation of press and fans wondering if perhaps they had kept a photograph, a record, his robe... So it was quite a blow for the staff to her that he was coming back, and that this time, it seemed even more serious.
Emma and Mary Margaret rode in the ambulance and were both surprised (though not overly shocked) to find crowds of people were already there. News spread fast; Small town indeed. Maybe Mary Margaret had had a point when she had mentioned the liabilities of keeping someone as popular as Devlin Kragen around.
As the ambulance pulled over and orderlies rushed to the ER reception lounge, screaming unfolded and lights started to flash. Emma jumped out of the ambulance and tagged alongside his stretcher as nurses rolled it into the ITU. "Dev! Devlin, can you hear me? Dev!"
A nurse tried to pull her away. "Miss, please, you have to wait outside..."
"I'm not going anywhere!" Emma snapped back before returning to Devlin's paled face.
Whale rushed in with his little light torch in hand. "God, not again..." He moaned as he lifted first one eyelid and then the other, checking for ocular reflexes. "No pupil response..." he sneered, and then looked up at Emma. "What happened? Did he hit his head? Take an overdose?"
Flustered, Emma handed him the remains of the turnover. "He had a bite out of this... I think it's poisoned."
Dr. Whale sneered and checked his airway. "But it's clear, his airway's fine... did he convulse? Shake? Anything?"
"No! He took a bite out of this and collapsed!" She continued to shake the crumbled turnover before Whale's face.
"He is showing no symptoms of poisoning or neurotoxins of any sort!" he replied, equally flustered. "so whatever is going on with him, that thing isn't the culprit!"
"Well, then what the hell could it be?"
"Now he just had a surgery, it could be that there was a clot or something I his bloodstream, or... I don't know... But I will try to find out."
Emma was hyperventilating. "But... he's going to be ok, right?"
Whale rolled his eyes to her. "For the time being we just need to stabilize him... Is there anything else you might remember? Any detail?"
"Well..." she shook her head. "There was that cabin... it was old, dusty, maybe he picked up something in there, mold, bacteria, I don't know!"
"Is that it?"
"Look I told you all I know, now DO SOMETHING!"
"Sheriff Swan, I can understand your frustration, but for the time being, I don't have a clue what it is I'll be treating here! It's like... like..."
She gazed at him and at Devlin, breathing hard. "... like magic..." she whispered.
No sooner had she said it, the colorful imagery flooded her head and visions of an entire lifetime in another land, another time and with other people flooded her eyes, like a 3d film; David and Mary Margaret holding her, with her blanket, running from armor clad guards, placing her in a wardrobe to save her from a curse... visions she had only seen in Henry's book of dwarves, wizards, talking crickets and carpenters who had wooden little boys for kids, fairies, ogres, evil witches, a vile-looking man with golden skin and alligator eyes... and swashbuckling pirates with eyeliner.
She snapped back into reality and gasped, looking at the doctors and nurses as they pumped Devlin full of oxygen. "It's all true..." she whispered amidst the tears of realization. "It's all true..."
She ran out to the lounge and found Mary Margaret sitting, waiting... her mother? Really?
The young brunette stood up and walked to Emma. "Emma! Is he ok? What happened?"
She ran a hand through her blonde, wavy hair. "They don't know... they're trying to stabilize his vitals..." she looked up at her and gave her a sudden hug.
Mary Margaret gasped and chuckled. "Oh... erhm, ok, all right!" she smiled at Emma. "He'll be fine, Emma."
Emma nodded. "Look, I need you to stay here, call me if anything happens. Gold should be here soon, he'll know what to do..." She started to walk quickly out of the hospital.
"Emma! Where are you going?"
"To get my son!" she shouted.
As she pushed past the door, she was met by a barrage of press and lights. The questioning, the shouting and the onslaught of merciless photograph flashes made it somewhat harsh for her to make her way out of the hospital grounds. They prodded, followed, shouted at her... and she could have sworn she even felt someone spit at her.
Once away from the crowds she turned to the quiet street where she shared her apartment with... Snow White, apparently. She looked at the broken glass of her car and shook her head, still trying to convince herself that none of the people she had shared the past months of her live could indeed be fairy tale characters... and that she was one of them!
She jumped into the car and closed the door behind her. She huffed and bit her lip, remembering the characters of the book, one by one. "Killian Jones... Devlin Kragen is... Killian Jones." She sneered. "My god, he really is a pirate..."
She started the engine and sped to Regina's. She parked right outside the tiny gate that led to the massive semi-circular porch, and banged her fist repeatedly on the door. It took Regina about ten seconds to open and was slightly startled at the sight of her, not just because she was actually there, but because Emma pushed past her into her home. "Henry!" she called. "Henry!"
"Miss Swan, what the hell do you think you're doing?"
"Shut up!" Emma spat back at Regina and continued calling for Henry, until he peeked his funny freckled face from the top of the railing.
"Emma?" He smiled "What are you doing here?"
Catching her breath, Emma looked up at him and smiled. "You were right, kid... about everything. It's all real..." From the corner of her eye, Emma saw how Regina's face went from anger to astonishment. "I saw it. I saw it all, Snow White and Charming, the wardrobe made from magic oak, the Pirates, the curse... I believe it all."
"Great!" Henry nodded. "Then we can defeat Long John Silver and you can break the curse!"
Emma's face fell, thinking of her very own pirate in the E.R. . "Get some of your stuff, Henry, we'll talk about it in the car."
"Wait, what?" Regina sneered.
"Oh, I'm all set!" Henry disappeared for less than a second and returned with a backpack and his book, speeding downstairs. "Let's go!"
Regina stopped him by the shoulders. "But Henry..." she tried to smile. "You can't! I just..."
"No." he moved away from her. "You are the Evil Queen! You always have been and you always will be evil!"
"Don't say that!" she scorned, visibly hurt.
"Well, prove it!" he retorted. "Until you do, I am going to be with my mom and Mary Margaret." Having said this, he walked out of the house and ran to Emma's car.
Emma began to turn tail and walk away, when she was stopped by Regina's words. "You'll pay for this, Miss Swan..."
Without warning, Emma turned and jumped on her, pushing her against the far wall and holding her forearm to her neck. "NO I WON'T! That apple turnover you gave me, Devlin ate it! HE ATE IT!"
Regina looked startled. "No... No! It was meant for you!"
Emma released her, grabbed her from her jacket lapel and slammed her again. "Why? WHY?"
"Because as long as you're alive, Henry will never be mine!" Regina shouted back at her, tears of her own already welling down her face.
"Well, if I'm the one you want, why the HELL are you going after Devlin? WHY?" She shook her. "You hired that band, that gang of ruthless, heartless bastards, they chased us! They are still chasing us! WHY?"
"TO GET TO YOU!" Regina finally pushed Emma back.
"Well, you did this, you're the one that can fix him. Wake him up!"
"I can't!"
Emma caught her breath and swallowed. "Don't you... have magic?"
Regina sighed three times and looked to the floor, shaking her head. "That was the very last of it."
Emma turned around her axis once, hand in her hair, tears running down her cheeks. "What's it going to do to him?"
Regina bit her lower lip. "I really don't know... magic is pretty unpredictable here."
"So... he could just... die?" Emma sobbed. After Regina nodded, the blond girl staggered backwards and once again looked at her. "So what do I do?"
Regina huffed and walked to her living room. "Since you already won and you have Henry, I really don't see why I should answer that. But in light of that last opinion my son just blurted out, I will." She looked at Emma. "You need help. There is one other in person in town, one who knows about magic... one who's always known."
It didn't take Emma more than a second to put two and two together. "Mr. Gold."
"Actually..." Regina retorted. "...he goes by the name of Rumplestiltskin."
"Rumplestiltskin?" she replied, wide-eyed. "Really?"
Regina nodded. "He's been watching over the pirate from the day Storybrooke first came to be. He's known of this day from the beginning. The curse... was of his making; I only cast it. He should know what to do."
Without as much as a thank you, Emma turned and left the house, leaving Regina in a mess of tears in her living room.
...
Upon returning to the hospital, Emma and Henry thought they'd have a hard time getting past the crowds. Small as the apparently sleepy town may have been it still held quite a powerhouse of rock n' roll fans, it seemed, and they all went insane when Emma and Henry made their apparition. What had been the cabin rendezvous had become known to everyone, much like had happened to Mary Margaret when it was heard about her affair with David. Only in Emma's case, it was like having a gold backstage pass: The people moved aside, almost in acknowledgement that this blond bombshell (who also happened to be sheriff) was probably the rock idol's one and only.
As they passed through the one relentless crowd of press agents, Emma was met in the front lounge by a very somber Mary Margaret. Mr. Gold sat there, one hand on his cane and the other covering his face. Emma walked, panting energetically, to Mary Margaret.
"So?" she gasped for air. "Any news?"
"Oh, Emma..." Mary Margaret shook her head.
It took Emma one second to put two and two together. She turned to Rumplestiltskin and cried out. "Look at me!"
The withered man looked at her with a sad gaze. "Miss Swan."
"I know of you." She sneered, feeling tears sting her own eyes. "Regina says you're the most powerful wizard anywhere..." a single tear finally left her right eye. "Save him!"
"I cannot." He shook his head. "I know not what particular spell he is under. And even if I did, the deed is done. He is gone. No spell can bring the deceased back to life." He raised his eyes to her, also welled in tears. "This whole curse... it was made for a single purpose: To enable me to find my boy... your rock n' roll boy was supposed to be your... well, whatever he was supposed to be, he was the key. But he's gone. She's won. We're all trapped, forever... I failed."
The whole world slowed down in Emma's head and for a second she could swear she could see everything moving past her in slow motion. She walked upstairs to the E.R. lounge and was met by the saddened face of Dr. Whale. She looked at him, expectantly, but was met with the dour face of sheer disappointing despair. "We tried everything, Emma, did everything we could. We're so sorry."
Barely breathing, she walked past him to where the nurse removed the breathing aid from his now lifeless albeit still beautiful face. Emma exhaled hard and managed to take a single glimpse at the monitor beside him... all in flat lines, a second before it was turned off. He looked drawn, white and moreover, lifeless. The images of the past few days played unstoppably in her head: smiling, grinning, laughing, kissing and touching, singing her song with that beautiful, velvety voice; The winks that caught her breath, the fluttering of miles of eyelashes that shaded the bluest eyes she'd ever seen, that spark, that vitality that she had tasted only a few hours before, the powerful laughter, the soft touch of his hand on her face and the feel of his lips, yearning, soft and completely hers, his energy passing onto her during a single night, making love by a warm fireplace... all were gone. He was gone. What remained was only the beautiful vessel of what had been Devlin Kragen... Or Killian Jones... Or Captain Hook... or all.
She slowly stepped to him, the tears taking a life of their own and the knot in her throat unavoidably coming undone, making her feel as if she had swallowed a baseball. She reached him and touched his face: Ice cold, rigid, lifeless... and the sob finally found its way out of her lips, those same lips that not so long before had been all his own.
"Oh no..." she sniffed, mussing the short, black tresses from his forehead. "I failed you. I failed everyone. I am so... so sorry, Dev. I was too scared... to come to grips with this whole thing. But now... there's nothing left." She ran a finger across his bushy, black eyebrow, now sitting softly still above the shut eyelid that concealed the infinite blueness of his once lively eye. She sobbed again, her lower lip quivering uncontrollably, and she leaned over, whispering into his oddly-shaped ear. "I don't know why... but you are taking my heart with you... wherever you go." She migrated her lips directly over his. "Rock star, pirate, whatever you are..." She grinned and whispered. "I love you, Killian Jones..."
And amidst the tears that fell from her eyes to his face, she placed a gentle, soft kiss on his now barren, unresponsive lips.
It took less than a second, but Emma could have sworn it was minutes before she felt a mild tickling on her lips... and the breath that followed them, flooding her own nostrils, caught her completely off guard. She could have been dreaming... she didn't move, wondering if perhaps she was losing her mind. But when he suddenly drew breath and gasped for air, she definitely took a step back.
A shockwave of color emanated from him as his eyes followed the light, wide open and blinking. He caught his breath while everyone in the town was touched and bathed by the colors of the energy that had suddenly dissipated throughout Storybrooke.
She stared at him in awe, lips slightly parted, waiting for him to see, to look, to say anything. Still breathing hard, he turned his head slowly to her, and that smile she thought she'd never see again, returned suddenly. "Swan..." He whispered. "You did this... you saved my life..."
"What the fuck..." she managed to mumble, thinking she would very probably pass out any second.
"True love's kiss!" Came Henry's voice. Emma turned and saw her little boy smiling, holding his book. "I think you did it, Emma! I think you broke the spell!"
"That... she did. Quite observant of you, lad!" He sat up and then turned to look at her. "And you... Emma Swan..." He smiled at her and reached out his hand, which she promptly grasped. "... you can't begin to fathom how much I love you... Savior..."
She laughed and allowed herself to fall back into his arms, that warm embrace that in spite of having been hers only once, she had grown to love to the point of not knowing how she had made it so far through life without it. She held his face with both her hands and he cupped hers with his right in response.
"I no longer know what to call you..." She chuckled a teary laugh.
"Devlin... Killian... Hook... any will do, Swan." He replied, before landing a quick and playful peck on the tip of her nose. "As long as it is you calling any of my names, I'll abide..."
"Can we comfortably throw the 'dashing rapscallion' thing out the window?"
"Well there IS that!"
She laughed and jumped around his neck, kissing him hard. "Don't ever fucking die on me again..." she grunted.
He chuckled. "What you said... about me taking your heart... did you mean it?"
She grinned and nodded. "I know it's insane, I know I've known you like a month, but..."
"It matters not, darling. It's all because it was meant to be..." He kissed her intently one more time before sliding his legs out from under the hospital sheets. He huffed at the sight of the hospital gown and his bare legs. "If you don't mind, I'd like my clothes, please?"
After dressing up, he followed Emma and stood face to face with Gold. A cheeky, challenging grin escaped his lips. "I will deal with you some other time... crocodile..."
Gold returned the challenge. "I'll be waiting, Captain Jones. But for the time being..." he shook his head cockily. "You might need your sword and since your wakening and Miss Swan's breaking of the curse have placed me in a particularly good mood, I'll inform you that it sits behind the cash register in my shop." And as Killian pushed past him, thumping his shoulder, Gold produced a loud grin and a cackle he only heard himself. "I'm counting on it, dearie..."
The crowds outside, now dazed from the memories coming back, looked at the pirate captain with a combination of awe for the man whom had been the only real rock star in town and a slight apprehension at the memory of his reputation as one of the fiercest Pirate captains of all times. Emma paced at his side and daringly grabbed his right hand in her left. The people trusted her and she figures that this way, they might get to see the Devlin Kragen she knew... the real Killian Jones, as opposed to a cutthroat bandit. He gripped her hand hard and spoke. "Where's my hook, love?"
"In the car..." She released him and ran to her bug, pulled out the appendage through her broken window, and ran back to hand it to him. With a mild scuff, he cleverly strapped it back in place and looked at it with a smile. "Ah, a thing of beauty! Who needs a hand when you can have a hook..." he turned his eyes to Emma. "All of him..." he added with a wink.
Emma grinned and shook her head. He was practically the same guy; same character, same body language... except maybe this guy had a history of slaughtering people, robbing, kidnapping and trafficking in rare objects. But all the same, any man could be redeemed, or so claimed Mary Margaret... her mom. Snow White. And that would probably make David... well, Prince Charming! Wow. Her parents were practically her age. NOT the family reunion she had envisioned her entire life, but hey, it could have its perks...
She had to put aside the nagging thought of putting her family tree together to focus on the current events. "So... What now?"
He placed his hooked arm around her shoulders and kept walking. "First, we retrieve my belongings from Rumplestiltskin's business. I need my sword, my spyglass and my whistle."
"Whistle?"
"Aye. Need to summon me crew..."
"Wait... crew? You're going somewhere?"
As they turned around the corner, his gaze was fixed on the distance and a smile shone on his face as he lifted a brow up and pointed his head in the direction his eyes were set. "Just want to get her ship shape..."
Emma turned. That thing hadn't been there before... but now it was. In the place where Devlin's small boat used to be, now sat a large, proud, XVIIth Century clipper, a pirate ship in all its glowing glory, sails lifted and the infamous skull and crossbones flag proudly whipping the air under the gusting wind.
"Holy shit..." she whispered.
"She's a beauty, isn't she?" He stood by her side. "My loyal love... The Jolly Roger."
"And she really sails?" Henry asked, eyes wider than dinner plates.
Hook looked down at him. "That she does, my boy, every bit at that. And after we finish this battle, I will personally instruct you how to sail her..."
"COOL!" Came Henry's response.
"Wait..." Emma stood before him. "We have other issues right now! That gang is still out there!"
Seriousness returned to Hook's face. "Aye... Long John Silver and his crew... an old foe." He looked at her defiantly. "Listen, Swan: I want you to take your boy and go to the Jolly. I will send some of me crew men to guard you both; I must fight Silver on my own..."
"Hey, hey!" she shook her head. "Enough with the patronizing! I thought you'd said I'd make a hell of a pirate!"
He side grinned. "That you do, lass. And I did." He leaned in and kissed her hard. "You're a tough negotiator, Swan... Can you wield a sword?"
"I'm a fast learner."
He nodded and then went down to be at the boy's eye level. "Listen to me lad. Go to your mother's home, stay indoors... and let nobody in. Nobody."
"But I wanna help!" replied the little boy.
Killian smiled from ear to ear and caressed the boy's head. "You have done so already, lad. More than you'll know. Now if you want to help some more, you'll let me deal with these scoundrels. I know them... and you know about it better than I." He winked at Henry, who seemed satisfied with the answer.
He turned to Emma. "I'll see you at Mary Marga... at Snow White's loft... mom."
Emma laughed and hugged him. "Take care, kid. Do keep everything locked."
The boy ran off in the opposite direction and Hook stared at Emma. "The lad takes his passion from you, Emma." He touched her face with a finger. "He will be a fine man when he grows..."
She grinned and nodded. "Come on... we have a town to save..."
He simply smiled and nodded, clasped her hand in his, and led the way to Gold's shop, emerging a few minutes later with his things and a saber for her. He smiled, took the whistle to his lips and blew.
One by one, from the crowds that were starting to scatter, some men began to close in around them, lining up under the sound of "Aye, aye, sir!"... Five of them Emma recognized as his band, the Jolly Rogers.
Hook sighed with joy and paced before his men. "Aye, aye, you mangy gutter rats! Twenty eight years, we've been here living like hens, now who among you yearns for a little bit of a scuffle?"
The whole crew shouted in return. "Well then, you pathetic excuses for sailors, get to the Jolly Roger's armory, because tonight, we have that chance... the chance to have our long standing foe, Long John Silver, sliced and tossed into Davy Jones' locker from the Roger's plank! Who wants to join me?"
Another loud roar.
"Well, what are you waiting for, lads? Dismissed! Go! Be back at this spot at oh-three hundred and not a minute late if you're not willing to walk the plank yourselves!"
The men cheered in unison "Captain Hook! Captain Hook! Captain Hook!", and then rushed like a pack of wolves to the ship that bobbed on the Storybrooke pier.
Emma bit her lower lip. This was very much like watching a Disney movie... only for real. She was startled by the feel of his hand on her waist. "Now Sheriff, you are the supreme ruler of this town, and I do play in good form, so..." he twirled her hair with his hook. "...any rules to follow?"
"Can you try to deliver that guy to Jail and not... slice him and make him... walk the plank?"
He side grinned. "The men will protest... but aye. It can be arranged. So... your deal is for us to defeat them, but alas, not... kill them."
"Yah! That's it, precisely!"
He pulled her to him. "Aye, aye, mam... You have my word." and kissed her again.
She smiled. "You run a tight ship, Captain..."
"Well, my love, we're pirates... you can imagine the risk of mutiny if I don't..."
"Have you ever really... made anyone walk the plank?"
"Aye..." he replied non-chalantly. "Sharks are loyal friends, they must be fed if they are to continue at our bidding..."
Emma stood before him. "Any chance you might want to not do that anymore? Killing people, I mean?"
His smile disappeared, but he simply fiddled with the zipper of her jacket. "For you?"
"Yeah... for me."
He nodded softly. "Aye. But mark my words... should anyone come near you and try to harm you, your boy or anyone you deem worthy of your love, I shan't be withheld..."
The moment was suddenly cut by the sound of motorbikes ripping through the streets and people running and screaming... only now there were certainly more than five. At least thirty Harleys paraded the area. A whole crew.
Hook turned his face and scowled. "Long John..."