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She'd told Elsa and Ruby that she would only be gone a few minutes, that all she needed was a little time to herself, a quick walk to clear her head.

If only she'd waited just ten minutes.

Ten more minutes and they would have been together when the entire spaceliner decided to fall apart. Now Emma was completely alone in this chaos and they had no idea where she was. Not to mention that it would be virtually impossible to find each other in this mass of panic stricken people.

She tries to walk quickly through the hallway, but there are so many bodies pushing up against her it's difficult to breathe, let alone make any progress towards safety. The fact that she is in an evening gown and a ridiculous pair of shoes doesn't make matters any easier.

The Swan gives another large jolt, and Emma's thrown to the floor. She isn't even graced with a moment to catch her bearings before she's practically trampled by the swarm of passengers hastening towards their escape pods. An anxious desperation starts to build in her chest when she suddenly feels a pair of strong hands grab her by the shoulders, hauling her up before pressing her safely into the wall.

"Are you alright, love?"

It's the lilt on the word love that lets her know who her rescuer is, and sure enough when she looks up it's into a pair of disarmingly blue eyes.

"You?" she gasps in surprise, a little more than shocked that he'd help her after how she'd treated him earlier.

He lifts an eyebrow at her, "I just saved your life, a little gratitude would be nice."

With Emma pressed against the wall there is barely an inch of space between them. She's momentarily distracted by this realization before she pushes him away slightly to give herself room to think.

"I was managing just fine, thank you very—"a rather violent quake cuts off her reply. Killian braces himself by placing his hand on the wall next to her head, the ship rocking him impossibly closer.

Emma swallows at the sudden intimacy of their position, eyelashes fluttering on their own accord.

"I can see that," his voice is so close it sends a pleasant chill racing down her spine.

"I—I need to find my friends," Emma breathes out, ducking under his arm to get away, but she only manages a few steps before his fingers wrap around her wrist and he's pulling her back.

"I can't just let the princess wander off into a terror-hazed mob while this blasted ship tears itself apart, its bad form and I'd probably be stripped of my rank. Your friends will manage, but right now we need to find the closest escape pod."

His voice is urgent, and the ceaseless trembling of the floor beneath them is screaming out to the seriousness of the situation. Emma is hesitant, but she feels slightly reassured that if anyone can handle themselves in this chaos its Elsa and Ruby.

"Alright," she glances at the horde of bodies making little to no progress in the crowded hallway, she doubts if any of them actually know where their assigned escape pod is. "But we're not going to get anywhere this way, there are backup escape pods down on the maintenance level. We just need to get to the utility stairs and make our way down to the bottom floor."

If he's surprised that she knows this he doesn't show it, only giving her a curt nod and telling her to lead the way.

The utility stairway isn't too far away and they manage to push their way through in a decent amount of time. This mostly has to do with the fact that Killian keeps Emma beside the wall and acts as a literal barrier between her and the crowd. She finds this slightly annoying, but it allows them to move through the hallway quicker, so she lets it be.

They take the stairs as fast as they feel safe doing, and Emma has to grip the railing until her knuckles ache in order to stay steady.

Killian remains silent behind her, but she can feel the tension rolling off him in waves, and it's doing nothing to calm her own anxiety. When she chances a quick glance in his direction his jaw is clenched and his eyes are set in concentration.

It's quieter once they reach the maintenance level, the alarms are still blaring, but the deafening noise of thousands of frightened passengers is gone. The floor is completely empty. Emma hopes this means the crew is up at the control station trying to save The Swan.

And she's scared to think about what it means if they aren't.

Running is difficult thanks to the ridiculous shoes she's wearing, but she manages to keep up a quick enough pace. Her feet already aching from the uncomfortable straps digging into her heels, but she doesn't let out a sound, not wanting Killian to think she can't handle herself.

She's not some delicate princess who whimpers just because of a few blisters.

They've nearly reached the backup escape pods when they pass through an observation deck. As soon as Emma glimpses the universe outside the large window her stomach drops and she pulls to an abrupt halt.

The stars outside are alternating between the smooth lines of space travel, and the fixed points that accompany a stationary spaceliner. It's like The Swan is trying, and failing, to stay in hyperspace. The sight makes Emma sick, because she knows that if they are yanked completely out of hyperspace prematurely, the damage to the ship could be catastrophic.

Killian's jaw is hanging open, and for the first time since she ran into him this evening, there is panic in his eyes.

He knows

They share a look of devastated understanding before Emma swiftly leads them down the walkway and through the next hallway.

The pod is only a bit farther and they reach it in just under a minute. The sound of the doors hissing close behind them is like a sigh of relief. They are relatively safe for now.

The escape pod is fairly small; a curved row of six industrial looking seats takes up most of the space, and one small square window is situated above the center of the bench. Besides the window, there are several cabinets built into the wall, and she guesses they are most likely filled with emergency supplies.

Emma takes a seat and straps herself in, trying hard not think about how unlikely it is that thousands of people have made it to escape pods by now, especially in all of that chaos.

She should have taken more people with her.

How hard would it have been to tell a group of people to follow her? There are four more seats in this pod, four more people she could have saved. Not to mention that the entire hallway is lined with backup escape pods.

But she can't think about that right now, because if she does, the guilt will eat her alive.

She just prays that Elsa and Ruby are safely tucked into an escape pod somewhere.

Emma takes a deep breath in through her nose to calm herself and then lets her eyes fall on to Killian. He's already managed to start the launching sequence, and after securing his pack underneath the bench he begins to strap himself into a seat two down from hers. Now that they aren't racing through The Swan, his demeanor is withdrawn and cold. Not that she blames him, considering how she'd snubbed him early that afternoon.

Emma lets out a sigh as she runs her fingers through her hair. Who knows how long they'll be in this pod until rescue comes, but she can already tell that it is going to be long.

The silence between them is thick, the rhythmic beeping of the launch countdown the only sound echoing off the walls.

So it becomes painfully obvious when the countdown suddenly shuts off at twenty-two seconds. Not even a heartbeat later it's accompanied by the largest jolt Emma has felt since this whole thing started. It leaves her breathless and rattles all the way down to her bones. A quick glance out the small window tells her that the stars are utterly motionless, they've been completely wrenched out of hyperspace.

And they're still attached to the ship.

Emma quickly yanks off her safety straps and kneels in front of the pod's control panel. They only have minutes before the spaceliner starts hurtling through space. She's not quite sure about the details of what will happen, but she's sure it can't be good.

"What are doing?" Killian exclaims, beginning to undo his own straps.

Emma puts up a hand to stop him. "Just stay there, I'm fixing the launching sequence."

"How do you know how to—"

"I just do!" She shouts, stress making her voice rise.

Killian remains in his seat, so Emma turns to the control panel and yanks open the little door. She's greeted with countless wires that she knows absolutely nothing about.

She takes a deep breath before hovering her hands over the wires, making sure to use her body to keep them blocked from Killian's view.

Emma's known for a while now that she possesses magic, though so far she's been utterly useless with it. She's not had much practice, and has a difficult time channeling and utilizing it when she needs to. It mostly just comes in sporadic uncontrolled bursts, but if there was ever a time for her to control it, it's now.

She closes her eyes and wills her magic to the surface, desperate for the feeling of her veins heating as it surges through her.

"Come on, come on…" she mutters to herself, giving her hands a little shake. "Come on, please."

She feels her magic rush through her and quickly opens her eyes to see her hands emit a small, soft, white glow that transfers to the wires and sends them sparking. Her eyes dart to the countdown clock and she can't help the smile that breaks across her face when she sees that it's on.

She did it.

Her magic must have been a little too enthusiastic though, because the pod doesn't wait for the countdown to finish before it propels itself away from The Swan. The force of the action sends Emma flying into the wall in front of her, head hitting against it sharply. She doesn't even get a chance to blink before her world turns black.

-CS-

The escape pod rocks slightly as it tries to stabilize itself following its abrupt departure from The Swan. Emma lies in a crumpled heap on the floor, and Killian lets out a quiet curse as he unfastens his straps and kneels next to her.

He doubts the pod has any artificial gravity, and so he needs to get them both strapped into their seats immediately. He doesn't think he has the patience right now to deal with trying to get a floating princess into her safety straps.

Emma lets out a soft groan as Killian grabs underneath her arms and pulls her into her seat. There's a large bruise already forming above her left eyebrow, and he's sure she'll have a significant headache when she wakes.

The lack of gravity takes affect while he's in the process of harnessing himself in. The lightness is an odd feeling, but at least being strapped in gives him some semblance of control.

Emma's hair is floating around her like a halo, and Killian can't help but find the image entirely mesmerizing. She's beautiful, even with the beginnings of a bruise darkening her forehead.

How did she do it?

Of all the skills Killian would have guessed she possessed, knowing how to manipulate wires and jump start an escape pod would not have be one of them.

He's still studying her when she lets out another small distressed moan, shutting her eyes tighter so her forehead crinkles, before slowly opening her eyes. She blinks several times and brings her hand up to delicately touch her blossoming bruise, wincing at the contact.

"What happened?" she asks, still disoriented.

"Well your highness, you managed to restart the launching sequence, which was quite the brilliant feat by the way, but knocked yourself out in the process." She winces again as he says this, and he knows her head must be sore. "I then safely strapped you to your seat and here we are."

"Thanks," she gives him a strange look before looking away, "hopefully rescue won't take too long."

Killian clenches his jaw before looking out the small window.

She probably wants to get out of this pod and away from him as quickly as possible. After all, she'd made it perfectly clear that he was nothing but a sailor.

Silence settles over them, and Killian is about to close his eyes to try to get some sleep when the lazy drift of the escape pod is interrupted by several small, but abrupt jerks.

After a particularly intense rock Killian turns to look at Emma, she's biting her lip and her brow is furrowed.

"I don't think it should be doing this," the anxiety is practically dripping off her words. "There should be stabilizers that keep us steady."

"Something must be interfering with the sensors then."

"What could possibly—" The pod shudders violently again before it sharply flips around, rocking them in their seats.

Thanks to their new vantage point, they can see a soft glow coming in through the window. Killian cranes his neck to get a better look at where it's coming from, and his mouth drop open at what he sees.

"Is that a planet." Emma sounds as dazed as he feels.

The pod shudders aggressively and begins vibrating incessantly, the shaking metal creates a thunderous hum that is nearly ear-splitting.

"Bloody hell," Killian mutters as he leans his head back against the seat and pinches the bridge of his nose. This day couldn't get any worse.

He knows now what is messing with the pod's stabilizers, it's the planet.

And it's the planet's gravity that is currently dragging them down into its atmosphere. They are descending at a white hot pace, coming in for a crash landing.

Though he suspects it will be more crashing then landing, and that's if they are fortunate enough.

The force of the pod's acceleration as it cascades downwards presses him up into his harness, causing the straps to dig into his shoulders painfully. He takes several breaths with the intent of relaxing before purposefully catching Emma's eyes, and he's sure that the look of utter shock and exhaustion he sees is mirrored in his own expression.

The next minutes are tense as they continue to plummet to the planet's surface. Killian is on the verge of losing hope for any semblance of a safe landing when a sudden impact jars him so hard the breath is stolen from his lungs. It's with relief that Killian realizes that the pod's descent has significantly slowed, their now floating down rather than dropping.

The emergency parachute must have been released.

Emma lets out a shaky, slightly hysterical laugh in relief, a laugh that sounds as though it is teetering dangerously on the edge of becoming a sob.

Their respite is momentarily cut short by a sudden crashing noise and the sound of something scrapping against the outside of the pod. They are jerked back and forth for a while as the pod smashes through what Killian can only imagine to be trees, until finally they come to a pounding stop.

They've landed.

They've landed, and they're alive, and Killian has never been so grateful for a parachute in his life.

He takes a second to calm down his ragged breathing, stretching his limbs to check for any injury. His entire body is aching and sore, but nothing seems to be broken.

Emma's own harsh breathing catches his attention and when he looks at her, she's as white as a sail. She's struggling to undo her straps, the trembling of her hands getting in the way.

Killian swiftly unstraps himself from his seat and slides over next to her before taking her shaking hands into one of his.

"Hey," he whispers softly. Emma snaps her head up so fast you'd think he'd shouted. Her eyes are wide and her pupils are so dilated the practically swallow her jade irises.

"Hey, it's alright," he keeps his voice soft and quiet, sure that she's probably dealing with some stage of shock right now. "We're okay," he gives her hands a small squeeze; "you're okay."

She takes in deep shaky breath and holds it for a second before releasing it in one quick puff of air. She gives him a small nod and he let's go of her hands before standing and running his own hand through his hair.

She affects him. He wishes that she didn't, but she does. Just holding her hand had sent his stomach flipping in a way completely unrelated to the ordeal they'd just been through.

"I'm going to go take a look at our surroundings," Killian tells her briskly, needing some air, "see where we've landed."

He doesn't wait for her to respond before opening the doors and stepping out onto the foreign terrain.

Killian takes a moment to look around the periphery of the escape pod.

Trees. All he sees are trees.

They've managed to crash into some kind of forest, not unlike one that Killian would find near his home. And at least they're not on some planet covered in ice and snow, or one covered in who knows what else.

He can deal with trees.

Killian is so preoccupied with taking in his surroundings that he doesn't hear Emma come up behind him.

"At least we can breathe the air."

He turns to look at her, she's still pale and her bruise on her forehead is more noticeable, but she seems to have composed herself.

"Aye, that is rather fortunate."

She looks up as though she's trying to see as much of the sky as she can between the leaves. "Maybe The Swan didn't sustain too much damage," her voice is hopeful, "maybe they were able to make repairs and it will just be a few hours before they send someone down to rescue us."

Killian stares at her for a moment, he highly doubts that The Swan survived its rip out of hyperspace. He's fairly certain that it suffered a fate similar to their escape pod, only that its downward spiral towards this forsaken planet most likely ended much more abysmally. But he's not quite sure how to tell her this.

"I don't know," he drags his hand down his face before continuing, "all I know is that we need to figure out where we are, what supplies we have, and how to get a signal out so that whatever rescue does come, can find us."

After all, he's sure that once word of The Swan's fate reaches the ears of their home realm, the royal family will send out every ship in the kingdom in order to bring their daughter back.

"Alright, Lieutenant," she stands up a little straighter and at this moment her demeanor is all royalty, "where do you suggest we start?"