Chapter Fourteen: Waking in a Nightmare
Killian Jones returns to consciousness slowly, blinking in a dim, windowless room and squinting against the throbbing pain of his skull, where he knows he was struck from behind. Unsure where he has been taken, at first he can barely see far enough to make out his surroundings. However, as his eyes adjust, Killian can see he is in some sort of basement or hidden cellar. Windowless, cement floor and walls border an almost empty room beyond the table before him and the chair he has been tied to: wrists secured on the armrests and ankles lashed to the chair legs. The fact that this place seems so remote and probably soundproof does not escape him, making a worried surge of adrenaline course through his blood, but he strives to reign it in, maintain control, take in as much about his surroundings as he can before his enemies make their next move.
Killian forces his pounding head up and pries his heavy eyes open fully, trying to straighten while bound literally hand and foot. But it is as he does so that his eyes find his wide-eyed companion within this prison. Emma is seated across from him, at the opposite end of the long table from where he is, bound in exactly the same manner.
She sucks in a sharp breath the moment she sees that he is awake and his eyes are open. Her relief is palpable, even with her eyes blown wide in shock and fear and her lower lip trembling with emotion, "Killian!" she breathes out, "Y-you're awake!" She starts to move forward unthinkingly, only to have her bonds pull her back, yet her gaze never leaves him, the watery sheen in her eyes giving away the terror she'd held that he would not wake up.
"Aye, Lass," he murmurs, head still pounding mightily, but giving her a nod he hopes will be mildly reassuring. "Are you alright?"
For a moment, a gentle half-smile quirks up the right corner of her mouth as she glances down at her hands tied to the arms of the chair, then back up to him wryly, "Relatively, I guess, considering…Now, anyway…" she trials off softly, drinking in the sight of his awake, aware face in a way that lets him know her answer hinges on his wellbeing.
"Glad I am to hear that, Love," he affirms; wishing he could reach her side, run a calming touch down her arm and grip her hand in his, loan her assurance and strength. "You were the one unconscious when I reached the meeting place with Gold."
"You went –" she stops herself, sucks in another breath, and tries again, looking nearly beside herself with stunned disbelief and pained guilt. "Why would you…?"
"Don't you know, Emma?" he speaks low and fervently, blue gaze boring into hers across the space between them, making sure she hears and understands. "I'd go to the ends of the world for you, do anything to assure your safety. Unfortunately, I feared he would kill you then and there if I tried to retaliate. Now we may both be in worse straits."
A tear runs silently down her cheek which he aches to brush away and put a kiss in its place. She has shared enough with him for Killian to know she believes no one could care for her that much, could give up their own safety to insure hers and wish so sincerely for her happiness. "You should have let them have me…" she whispers at last, barely audible and shaking her hand sadly.
Clenching his jaw, Killian's answer is terse and simple. "Never," he argues.
She glances back up to his face, blinking rapidly, gratitude in her expression even if he can tell she wants to fight him on the point. "A-at least I'm not sitting her alone and terrified. …Thank you."
He nods, feeling his mere presence is not nearly enough, but glad that it eases her.
"Thank goodness they didn't get Henry," she says honestly, "That we hadn't met up with Ruby yet. She'll keep him safe. She'll take care of him."
Killian does not like the tone of her voice at that last statement. Obviously he too is grateful that Emma's lad is not here and will not be hurt by these beasts, and he naturally feels the same relief for his partner, but he does not like how Emma seems almost resigned to Ruby keeping Henry in her care for more than a temporary span of time. "She would give her life for him, Swan, as you well know. Ruby will watch him for you until you return. But you will return to him. It may look bleak at the moment, but we'll make it out of here. I swore it to you once before, Emma, but I'll die before I let them hurt you."
A panicked exclamation of distress escapes her mouth and she shakes her head wildly, vehemently, opening her mouth to argue, "Killian, no! I don't want – "
Her thought is interrupted and left unfinished when the door against the far wall swings open and two people step down the last of a flight of stairs and into the dim, dank room with their prisoners. It is hard to make out exactly who they are at first in the near dark, though Killian can tell by the odd gait and tap of a cane that one of them is Gold himself. Once they have neared the table and Killian and Emma's chairs, he reaches up to pull the chain on a bare bulb hanging from the ceiling and a stark light floods the room, making both Killian and Emma squint against the brightness.
"Well, well, what have we here?" a silky, feminine voice asks, sounding deceptively cultured and sweet but making Killian's blood run cold and his muscles tense even further. The dark haired woman standing before them with Gold, looking as controlled and respectable as that monster always does, has frigid, calculating eyes, and is clearly enjoying the opportunity to toy with her quarry like a snake with trapped mice. This can be no other than Gold's shadowy, infamous female associate Cora Mills, otherwise known as the Queen of Hearts.
Emma looks to him, silent but curious eyes seeking answers, and he is infinitely glad he has not told her of this particular threat. Swan does not need to sit here helpless, knowing how the fiendish woman likes to finish off her victims when they are of no further use. The crime scene photos he has seen have been nearly enough to turn his stomach, and he had previously thought himself hardened to most anything and having seen it all. Emma will not suffer that fate; he will not allow it.
"You're a pretty one, aren't you?" Cora coos, falsely sounding friendly, even soothing. Neither Killian nor Emma have answered either of her questions, but Killian finds himself nearly vibrating with the frustrated urge to break free from his bonds and put himself between his Swan and this lethal woman. The Queen of Hearts is right beside Emma now, leaning down just slightly to gaze into the younger woman's eyes and trail a manicured finger down the side of her face. Emma merely glares back silently, defiance in every line of her bearing despite how frightened Killian knows she must be inside.
"I'd hate to mar the flawless beauty of such a lovely face," the older woman continues, voice almost a purr and betraying her lie. It's clear from the pleased, anticipatory gleam in her eye that she will love every ounce of torture she inflicts when it comes to that. And Killian Jones – for all his valor, experience, and training – feels despair nearly overwhelm his soul. He knows it will come to that with suddenly startling clarity. Neither he, nor he suspects Emma, will break and give these two fiends any information. This is all a twisted game to their captors; neither of them is meant to see the light of day again, regardless of how they respond from here on out. Robert Gold and Cora Mills intend to learn anything useful their captives might know first, however. Even if Emma survives, even if he finds some way to save her – he doesn't spare a thought for his own life now – she isn't going to leave here unscathed. His heart breaks knowing it, but he steels his resolve once more.
Killian watches, biding his time, waiting for even the slightest momentary slip on these villains' part. Something has to happen to turn the tides just a bit in their favor. Fate surely cannot be so cruel a third time. He lets out a soft sigh of relief when Cora turns away from Emma slightly, seeming to have shifted her focus for the moment without doing Swan any injury. She practically leers across the space between them at Jones as she speaks once more. "Of course, I would expect no less from a consort of yours, Agent Jones. I've always thought it quite a shame that someone as sinfully handsome as you was so stalwartly loyal to the good guys." She practically simpers at him, teasing mercilessly and thoroughly enjoying herself.
Killian clenches his jaw, practically grinding his teeth, before biting out his reply. "That really has no bearing on the matter. I'd have no interest in being near a sadistic witch like yourself regardless."
"Oh!" she bursts out, a wide, Cheshire cat smile on her face as she practically dances with glee. "Sadistic, am I?" She turns back toward Emma, gloating at him over her shoulder as he and Emma both tense, realizing his mistake and what could be coming. "You haven't seen anything yet."
The woman grips Emma's chin in a firm hand, holding her face still as she curls in the pointer finger of her other hand, exposing the jagged point of the ring she wears, a cruel metal claw, and without another pause, draws it down the side of Emma's face from temple to jaw line, tearing the skin open as she goes. Killian can see Emma's body tremble and she whimpers lowly before clamping her mouth closed, but she doesn't cry out. Her wide eyes fly to his, and he dares not even blink, desperately trying to impart every bit of strength and support to her that he can, viciously proud that she won't let them see her beg – even as he mentally berates himself for provoking their foe to Emma's harm.
Cora Mills finally stands up straight, pulls away from Emma slightly and drops her grasp, letting Emma's head fall forward and allowing his Swan to turn her face away. The dark older woman removes the wickedly sharp ring and flicks it carelessly onto the table between them, Emma's blood dripping onto the table surface beneath it. "Will you still find her so irresistible when I've finished with her?" the villainess taunts.
"If you mean to torture me, do so," Killian speaks softly but firmly, anger so beyond anything he has ever felt that he has gone beyond rage to a deadly still calm. "Deal with me directly and stop playing games."
"Oh," another sinister voice breaks in coolly as Gold moves around from behind Killian into his view, "your turn will certainly come. You've been a nuisance on my tail for years, and it is long past time you were dealt with. But Miss Swan is the one with power to really hurt my operation at present. Ms. Mills has been a valued partner for some time now, and I find it pays to let her have her fun."
Seething inside, Killian strains once more against the ropes holding him down. He knows it's no use, but there is nothing else he can do at present. "You may be more powerful now, you filthy demon," Killian vows, his voice as still and deadly as Gold's has ever been, his piercing blue eyes chips of ice frozen in hate, "but even demons can be killed. I will find a way."
Gold chuckles in assured disbelief and has the gall to pat Killian on the shoulder as if the agent has told a joke to entertain him. "We shall see," he replies carelessly. "We shall see."
He and Cora leave them then, warning that they will return shortly to begin true questioning. The moment the door closes behind their tormentors and he and Emma are alone again, Killian turns repentant eyes on her, wanting to beg her to forgive him the injury he has inadvertently prompted.
Those green eyes of hers look to him just as immediately, somehow showing no anger or blame. In fact, she is looking at him as if to drink in every detail of his face, as if he's her last shred of hope to which she can cling. "I'm alright, Killian," she whispers before he can even voice the question.
"I am so sorry, Swan," he whispers, wanting nothing more than to caress her, soothe her, and tend to the still bleeding wound on her face. Instead he gives her all he can, his solemn vow. "But I will see you out of this, Emma. We will find a way."
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That same night, though several hours have passed – too many for Ruby Lucas, who knows all too well what could be happening to Killian and Emma in the meantime - back at the local Arcadia police station, Ruby has spoken to David on the phone and anxiously awaits her superior and a select few of her fellow agents' arrival so they can move forward. Henry is curled in the same large rolling office chair with her, tight against her side , clinging to her shirt as if he fears she too will vanish if he lets her out of his sight. Ruby strokes a gentle hand over his soft brown hair and bends her head to give him a light peck at the crown of his in what she prays is a reassuring gesture. She can't even imagine how upsetting and horrible this must be for a child; she is an adult in a job that anticipates danger and cruelty, and she is still so tense and worried right now that she feels she might explode at the pressure.
With a deep sigh, Ruby lets her shoulders slump and leans forward with a sigh, brushing a hand back through her own hair as she stares at the computer screen before her dejectedly. Her hope that tracking Killian's phone might give them some lead on where he and Emma had been taken seems to have reached a dead end. The cell stopped showing signs of movement on the screen some time ago, near an abandoned warehouse not far from the fair's midway. The police have already swept the structure and come up with nothing. Obviously, his cell was dumped by Gold and his cronies not long after Killian was taken. Another worthless trail, and it makes Ruby want to tear her hair out. Crime scene is seeking clues and trace evidence, of course, but she knows better than to depend on them finding much. There has to be something she can do; sitting and waiting is slowly making her crazy.
A few endless-seeming minutes tick by as Ruby waits anxiously for some sign, some lead, some order to follow and help her partner one way or another, while Henry sniffles softly and she feels his tense little body start to loosen and lean toward sleep as the evening grows later. She is just thinking that she should find some place in this squad that is quiet enough for him to sleep when a tentative knock sounds behind her on the doorframe to the office that she has taken over. The brunette agent turns carefully, trying not to rouse Henry too much from what little comfort he can find while he rests.
"Hello?" a soft voice asks kindly, belonging to a petite, auburn-haired woman peering into the room with a gentle smile. "You're Agent Lucas, right?" the woman continues, taking a step closer and giving her a small smile. She is dressed in a pretty skirt and cardigan set, with ridiculously high heeled but adorably stylish shoes, and she crosses and uncrosses her arms around her middle anxiously, as if worried about disturbing Ruby's work.
Ruby forces her tense face into what she hopes will resemble a smile. "Yes, that's me," she affirms with a nod.
"Oh good," the other woman says, ducking her head a bit awkwardly with a nervous little chuckle. "I'm Belle. I work the phone switchboards," she goes on to explain with a shrug. "They called us a moment ago to say that your boss, SSA Nolan, just landed at the airport and is enroute here. I figured you would want to be able to meet with him immediately and get out there looking for your partner upon his arrival. I wanted to offer to let Henry stay with me in my office. It's just me in there, and it's totally safe and quiet. If you want?"
Ruby gives Belle the first really genuine smile she's had since finding Killian's message. "That's really nice of you, Belle. I was just wondering where I could make him comfortable now that he's fallen asleep. At the same time, he pretty much hasn't let go of me since we realized his mom was gone. I'm afraid if I leave him with someone he doesn't know, he'll wake up and be even more scared."
The sweet young woman nods her understanding and starts to back out of the room. "That's fine. I get it. I just wanted to offer. I wish you luck finding his mother and your partner."
Before Belle can retreat however, Ruby calls her back. "I do need to be free to go with Agent Nolan when he arrives though..." She shifts stiff and too-long-cramped muscles and then stands, picking Henry up in her arms as she does so. She motions Belle forward with her head, indicating that she intends to follow. "Maybe if I take him there now, wake him up enough to let him know what's going on and introduce you two, it will be alright."
Belle grins broadly, clearly pleased that she can be of some help and quite possibly as charmed by Henry's adorability as Ruby had been on first sight. They wind through the halls of the building until they reach the nondescript door of what Belle dubs her 'communications den'. She ushers Ruby into the warm space, decorated in cheery yellows and all sorts of book lover's memorabilia and daintily painted teacups on the random spare surfaces. Ruby bites her lip not to show her moment's amusement at the innocent and girly décor for such a serious workplace, but in the next moment feels badly for making assumptions and reassured that this will be a welcoming, nonthreatening place for Henry while she has to be away from him.
Thirty minutes later, by the time David plows into the room at full speed, Henry is awake once more and has made Belle his fast friend. The sweetly comforting woman has rummaged some instant hot cocoa from a cupboard and microwaved it for him before presenting it to him in the teacup she dubs her favorite. He is chortling happily and playing with the mini marshmallows Belle used to top the drink off when Ruby's superior arrives.
"CSU found something!" David barks without preamble, knowing that every moment is precious at this point and that Ruby will be as anxious for any sort of lead as he has been. "We may have caught a break, and we need to get out there."
"You got it," Ruby nods, immediately snapping to attention and all business. She hesitates just a moment, turning back to give Henry a small smile. "Be good for Belle, okay?" she whispers, ruffling his hair and hugging him tight. "We're gonna go get your mom, and Killy too."
He holds onto her tightly for a heart stopping moment when Ruby fears she is going to have to push him away and leave him, but then the little boy lets go and looks back at her solemnly, in a way that allows Ruby to suddenly see exactly what Emma has meant all those times her friend talked about her little boy being wise beyond his years. He nods then, as if he understands, and when Ruby looks back over her shoulder as she slips out the door, Henry blows her a guileless kiss and waves goodbye. She knows she shouldn't have made him such a confident promise. Emma and Killian could be severely injured, or even dead, after so many hours have passed, but she can't bring herself to regret giving a little boy hope. She will just have to make sure she can follow through on her words.