A/N: Well! Here's the next part.

Chapter 8

As he and Cora stood above the swirling vortex, hands clasped around the compass, he realized he was out of options. The witch was smart and she'd made sure to keep the perfect defensive distance between the two of them, by making him open the portal. His plan to overpower her while she worked her magic would never work with their current positioning, she'd stop him before he could take his first step. She may have been willing to let him come with her, but she also wasn't fool enough to trust him. So, left with no other option, he subtly reached into his pocket and pulled out the bean with his hook. The only thing he could do now was leave it behind for them, and hope they found a way out of their imprisonment. It wasn't something he was overly worried about, Emma was a resourceful one, and he knew she'd find her way here eventually. Then surely at least one of them would be able to deduce what he had done the second Lake Nostos had entered the equation. Thankfully he didn't have to, as an arrow sailed through the air with terrifying accuracy and knocked the trinket out of both their hands.

Killian felt something almost a kin to pride as a small smile spread over his lips. There they stood imposingly on the other side of the vortex, the warriors of their party. They'd made it out and all on their own too. Though it looked like they'd left Flowers behind for the moment, not that he blamed them for that; she couldn't be trusted.

"Get the compass," he heard Snow yell. So he pulled out his sword - in a show for Cora as she too ordered the same - and he turned to search for it. Once he had it Cora would become superfluous and he could finally take her down, maybe knock her rudderless into the vortex, with some help from the ladies of course. They would make a lovely diversion for him. He'd just bent down to look when movement caught his attention and he snapped his head to see Emma racing around the portal to him.

"Glad you could finally make it, love. I was worried you'd miss all the fun," he said with a smile when she came into hearing distance, but she didn't stop and he was forced to bring up his sword quickly to block a wild swing. He gasped in surprise when jolt raced up his arm from the force of their collision, and the screech of steel against steel was loud his ears. The look of utter rage and loathing on her face and in her eyes was both highly concerning and very confusing. When he'd left her in the cell she'd been shocked and upset, but not vengeful and murderous.

"Give me the compass Hook," she hissed as she broke away from him with a powerful kick to the chest. Instantly three hundred years worth of fighting instinct kicked in and he dodged her next strike with easy before they began to circle one another.

"What are you doing Swan?" he growled, anger seeping into every part of him, she had the same walled look in her eye she'd had when she left him atop that blasted plant, only darker, far darker. He would not allow her to cross him again, he couldn't afford to. His leverage against her was gone.

"I'm going home, you son of a bitch." she hissed as she swung her sword at his head and he easily blocked her novice attempt to hurt him. Something had gone very wrong, something had changed between the cell and this lake. She wasn't just upset, she was enraged, murderous even, and if he was reading her right, she was hurt. But why? He'd let her go, he'd taken the noose from around her neck so to speak, what was she upset about? Betraying him he could see, but she was out for revenge and he didn't understand it.

"Emma, stop this," he snapped as he tried to control the multitude of emotions he was feeling at the moment, most he couldn't even put a name too. "You can't win in a fight with me."

"Screw you," she said coming at him again and he brought up his blade to stop hers. Killian grit his teeth, he needed to end this before she hurt herself trying to hurt him. So in a quick move he was able to snake his blade around hers and wrench it out of her hand.

He then leveled his blade at her and smirked at her shocked expression. However, much to his horror, it did seem to stop her and he saw the intent in her eyes half a second before she acted. Quickly, he angled his sword away as she charged him and he grabbed her by the shoulders as she tried to run past him; flipping her to the sand. Thankfully, by some miracle, he was able to prevent her from being skewered on both his hook and sword. She laid there stunned for only about a second before she tried to crawl away from him and back toward her fallen weapon. Killian heaved a sigh, slammed his blade into the ground, and leaned down to grab her ankle hauling her back to him. Unknowingly dodging an arrow Snow aimed at him in the process. "Emma! That's enough! I have three hundred years experience and you don't even hold the blade right."

"Let me go," she snarled like a wounded animal and then she said something that shocked him so much he almost dropped her ankle. "I can't believe I ever trusted you!"

"What are-"

"NO!" the yell was loud and it reached his ears over the roar of the water. Glancing up he felt his heart skip a beat as he watched his satchel flying toward the swirling abyss. If it fell through the chances were good that Flowers would die and even if she didn't she would never get her heart back again. Visions of Milah's heart dissolving into dust filled him mind's eye; if he let this happen he would be no better than the Crocodile, worse even because she'd trusted him. So he reacted instantly.

In a move that was both instinctual and stupid, he used Emma as a counter weight and threw himself outwards; just managing to catch the bag as it fell. His breath left his body in a laugh as the strap landed securely on his hook and, with Emma's unintentional help, he was able to pull himself back from the brink. As soon as his feet were stable under him he let her go and she ran to her sword, spinning to stare at him beside the warrior, shock clear on both of their faces.

"I may be a pirate, but I bristle at the thought of a woman losing her heart," he said as he unhooking the bag and threw it to the warrior, eyes firmly focused on Emma as he picked up his sword again. Just in case she decided to attack. "Unless it's over me of course."

"I didn't realize you had a soft side," Emma hissed after gesturing the other woman away, her tone almost mocking as she came to stand before him again, sword at the ready.

"I haven't crossed you Emma," he sighed as he raised his blade and he tried to reason with her. Somewhere between their camp and that cell this contrary female had started to trust him, which is why she was so upset about his seeming betrayal. Clearly her trust, such as it had been, was a fragile thing; he thought trying to avoid the fact that his words and actions in that prison had not exactly been conducive to trust. In fact. if he'd known she trust him then, he would have gone about things much differently.

"Screw you, I can't believe I fell for this bullshit again, you're just like him," she snarled and threw a swing at his stomach that he dodged with as much grace as the sandy terrain allowed.

Again?... Him? In an instant Hook realized that this wasn't about him at all. Well, to be fair, at least part of it was; but a larger part of it seemed to be coming from somewhere in her past. Something about this situation had not just opened old wounds but clearly ripped them asunder. It would certainly explain why her trust was broken so easily and why she hadn't seen that he was acting for Cora's sake. She hadn't been able to see the truth behind the clouds old pain had cast.

I've been in love… once.

I can't take the chance I'm wrong about you.

Ah, so that was it, she'd trusted someone before, someone he clearly reminded her of, and it had gone poorly. Very poorly, if the way his arm was vibrating as their swords clashed was any indication. She was taking out her anger at that man on him because she thought he'd done the same. Killian's eyebrows furrowed as another piece of the Emma puzzle fell into place. This must have been what she'd held back during their talk the other day. He looked into her hard eyes, seeing the old pain, and he was sure. Her memories of that man were the true reason why she'd refused to trust him for so long. "Emma, I didn't betray you. I'm not him."

"Yeah, that's why you left me in a jail cell!" she snarled and the way she said the words caught his attention; there was something there. The way she focused on where she was left was important and he stored that information away for later. "Why you were standing over the portal with Cora ready to jump."

"Emma there's more than one way to get home. I was going to leave you the bean," he replied, blocking her swing and bring them close together again.

"Aw, thank you, a dried up and useless magic bean, how kind of you." she hissed, throwing his words back at him and he flinched, his moment of temper working against him like he'd known it would.

"It's not useless, dip it in the lake and it will work again," he said quickly and quietly so that there was no chance Cora would overhear. He needed to make her see reason, and he had to do it quickly. The longer this went on the greater chance there was that she was going to get hurt. If they were simply sparring that would be one thing, but here she was honestly trying to hurt him. Her aggression brought to the fore three centuries' worth of instincts he was fighting mentally just as much as he was fighting her physically.

Her left side was open, he could gut her easily. Her grip was wrong; he could knock away her sword and send the hand with it. Her footwork was dismal; he could trip her and follow through with a stab to the stomach. Her guard was too low; it would take less than half a second to take her head. There were a hundred different ways he could kill her in this moment and in the darker part of his mind he considered it. That darkness was screaming at him that he should just kill the bitch and be done with it, move on, and get to his Crocodile. But the rest of him? The rest of him couldn't bear the thought of causing her harm.

"Yeah, sure it would," she snorted, clearly not believing a word he said, and he had to wonder about this other man she was seeing in place of him. What had that bastard, for he had to be one to break such an amazing woman so horribly, done to her that reason meant nothing? Whatever he'd done they would have to deal with it later, as it stood he was done playing around. In a quick move he expertly latched his hook around her ankle and pulled her feet out from under her. She slammed into the ground again but this time he followed her and threw himself down across her legs; placed his sword to her throat. For half a second he thought she was going to try to fight back and he placed it there more firmly.

"This stops! I am on your side" he whispered fiercely, leaning over her, their faces only centimeters apart. From this distance it would be completely and utterly impossible for her not to see the honesty in his gaze. Too late he realized what a mistake this had been. He could almost feel his sense leaving him as she panted beneath him. Her warm breath moved across his lips and the faint scent of lavender drew him in even further. The urge to move forward and seal her lips with his, to show her physically why he hadn't, and would never betray her; was almost overwhelming. But fight it he did, because kissing her now would not help his cause by any stretch of the imagination. For a second, though it was enough, the tactic seemed to work and her eyes cleared and a different emotion filled them. She seemed to see him again, not the phantom she was fighting. But just as quickly, once she realized what she was doing, the look was gone and he felt like cursing.

Stubborn bint, "Dammit Swan, stop fighting me!"

"Why would I do that when I'm winning?" she asked with a sneer and held up the compass. He looked at it and, mind still muddled, he leaned back without thinking. She had the devils luck she honestly did. It was the only reason that things seemed to fall into her lap like this. Too late he realized his mistake and he paid for it as she again kicked him backwards and off of her.

Hook groaned as he rolled away onto his feet, he was done with this. If his little hell-cat didn't want to see reason then he was going to stop trying to make her. All it was doing was wasting his time and giving him bruises that he was going to feel in the morning. He didn't want to hurt her but she was leaving him very little choice. They came at one another again and he was able to angle their blades away, almost forcing her to let go of hers. It was his second mistake in as many minutes.

"Thanks," she crowed and then connected her fist with his head. He stood there, stunned for a moment as she glared victoriously at him, and then the world went black as he fell backwards. His last thought; that this would have been devastating if he didn't have another way to Storybrooke.

0o0o0o0o00o0o

As his body fell before her Emma felt a brief moment of pride. She now knew that he'd been telling her the truth, he hadn't betrayed them, not really. But the realization hadn't cooled her anger. If anything, it'd made it worse. The things he'd said, that fact that she hadn't been able to see that he was lying, and the terror she felt when she saw him standing over the portal preparing to use her only way home to her son. All of it had coalesced into a maelstrom of emotions, and she didn't much care about why he'd done what he did, only that he had.

"Now let's go home!" she yelled turning to face her mother; let the conniving bastard find his own way home. Let him use that bean he was so proud of to get there, because he wasn't coming with her. As she turned she froze for a moment at the sight that lay before her.

There stood Cora and her mother facing down one another. All she knew in that instant was that Cora was dangerous and that put her newly acquired family in serious jeopardy. That was something she couldn't allow to happen, so she reacted without really thinking and still fueled by anger, she ran at the witch with her sword. This turned out to have been the completely wrong thing to have done, because the second she reached her the witch disappeared in a cloud of smoke. Emma realized with horror as her stroke fell, that all she'd done was allowed Cora to get behind them and their escape.

Their way out now blocked, she and Snow looked at one another briefly. Almost instantaneously they agreed on a plan, even though it was futile, and ran at the same time same toward the portal. Cora smiled at them as they came toward her and then, with her hands held out, she sent them flying backwards. Both women landed on the sand several feet back and were momentarily stunned while Cora stalked towards them. Snow was the first to recover, having only been thrown down once, and was on her feet by the time the witch reached them. Emma too tried to get up, but was thrown backwards yet again for her trouble. This time she stayed down as the world swam before her and she tried to catch her breath.

"Why do you want to go to Storybrooke?" Emma heard her mother's breathless query over the cotton in her ears, and she forced her uncooperative limbs into a sitting position. She'd been thrown too many times today and her brain was still bouncing around in her skull.

"Because my daughter needs me," Cora said with a smile, as if it was the simplest thing in the world. However, Emma had a feeling that it was anything but, "and now I'm going to give her the one things she's always wanted. Your heart."

"Goodbye Snow," she said as she reared her hand back and with a gasp Emma's heart overruled her body. Jumping to her feet, her vision swimming, she pushed her mother out of the way at the last second and Cora's hand entered her chest like a hot knife through butter.

"Emma!"

"Oh, you foolish girl!" Cora laughed as Emma gaped at her, barely able to breathe due to the pressure in her chest. It didn't hurt per say, but it was a disconcerting and uncomfortable feeling. However the lack of pain might have been a symptom of shock or her already addled brain; she wasn't sure. Either way she was sure that she'd be feeling it very soon if the smile on Cora's face was anything to go by. "Don't you know, love is weakness?"

Emma made a strangled sound, as Cora actually squeezed her heart instead of just held it. Like she'd known it would, pain raced through her body as the witch tried to rip her heart out of her chest. Then something happened that no one expected, and Emma looked from Cora's face to her hand and back. No matter how hard the witch pulled or how many times she tried, her heart stayed right where it should be. Cora finally gave up, though she kept her hand in Emma's chest, and looked up at her with confusion and fear in her eyes. As they stared at one another a realization came to Emma, quick and fully formed. It was as if she'd always known it but somewhere in the long painful road of her life the knowledge had gotten lost. That love, true love, was stronger than any curse. Which meant love was the most powerful and dangerous thing there is, was, or ever could be; so how could it ever be a weakness.

"No," she said breathlessly as she stared down the older woman. "It's strength."

Instantly she felt a powerful energy surge through her, like her words had broken a barrier somewhere deep inside her, and light filled every part. Then, when it became too much for her to contain, the energy spilled out in a tidal wave of power that she distantly thought looked like starlight. It knocked Cora back and slammed her to the ground as it spread outwards in all directions leaving Emma standing there shocked and confused.

"What was that?" she asked her mother, voice terrified as the other woman came to inspect the area where her heart resided, finding her whole and undamaged.

"That," she panted, "Is a great subject for discussion when we get home."

Emma nodded, not actually wanting to deal with this latest revelation, and held out the compass which Snow took with a smile and ran ahead to the portals edge. She moved to follow, but a black shape out of the corner of her eye stopped her. It was Hook's unconscious body, and as she looked at him a resigned feeling settled in her. It was like that explosion of power had somehow taken her anger and hurt with it. She felt lighter and her mind was clearer, and now that it was she realized that she couldn't leave him here. Not with Cora. After everything he'd done the witch would definitely kill him.

She didn't want that.

"Emma come on!" Snow yelled over the wind at the portals edge when she noticed her hesitation. Emma gave her a defeated look as she quickly jogged over to his prone body. "What are you doing?!"

"We can't leave him here," she yelled back as she reached him, and held up her arm to reminded Snow of the bracer. It was an excuse, an invalid one now that the magic was no longer active, but Snow didn't know that and she didn't have time to explain the real reason. Simply put, she'd left him behind before when he'd trusted her and she wouldn't…couldn't do it this time.

"You annoying bastard," she grumbled as she grabbed his good arm, threw it over her shoulder, and hauled his dead weight as best she could. She took a step forward and looked up to see Snow shake her head before moving to help her carry him. It was clear that her ploy had worked and her mother wasn't going to put up a fight about it. "You can't just be who you're supposed to be."

"I'm pleased you've come to your senses," he muttered into her ear and she jumped slightly before turning to look at him as he gazed up at her his eyes still clearly dazed; the expression made him look half drunk. "However, I think its best we get on our way."

"You-" she muttered and then shook her head as she helped him stand a little straighter. "How long have you been conscious exactly?"

"The stardust woke me," he said and her hand gripped the back of his shirt reflexively at his description. Was he talking about that strange explosion of magic she'd caused? Had it woken him? Shaking her head she pushed aside her thought for later analysis, she was doing that a lot today, and grabbed his shoulders as he started to slump again.

Then the world came out from under her.

Her eyes snapped shut at the light before her and a loud sound reverberated through her body as it made her ears ring. She felt weightless for a second, the wind whistling in her ears and her hair flying around her, as she flew backwards away from the others. Then her back forcefully met the sand and for a scary second she couldn't breathe. Her world narrowed to the feeling of heat on the front of her body, the sting of fast moving sand, and the ringing.

There were a lot of moments in Emma's long painful life were she could have sworn that her heart skipped a beat. Something would happen, never a good something, and her heart seemed to have a visceral reaction to it. Things like the first time a foster parent hit her, or the realization that the woman running the orphanage she'd been living in for two years didn't even know her name. But the moments where her heart actually stopped and her brain ceased to function were rare. She was a strong person, made tougher by the life she'd been given, and there weren't many things that could affect her to her core. In fact, she could only really remember three. The first was actually her first memory and it was the realization that her foster parents weren't coming back. That they'd left her in cold place that didn't love her, like they'd promised they would. The second was when that police officer had told her to raise her hands. When she'd realized that Neal, another person who'd promised to love her, left her alone in an unforgiving hell. Then there was the most recent one. When the son who'd found her and given her a home lay seemingly dead in his hospital bed. The newest person to promise her happiness and yet leave her with nothing but pain. Her only comfort, cold as it was, that he hadn't chosen to leave of his own volition like everyone before him. He'd been trying to prove a point in typical child fashion, he'd never intended to die, to leave.

Emma's breath left her completely this time and she saw stars as she was slammed into the ground for the fifth time since the fighting began. Completely unable to move her limbs she could only turn her head and watch as Snow began to fall backwards into the abyss pushed by the force of Cora's blast. She watched helplessly as the witch made a grab for the woman's falling body with her magic but it was too late, far too late. The damage was done. Whatever magic the portal held clearly cancelled out the witches own. She was already past the point of stopping and so she fell; bright eyes wide with horror, a golden compass sparkling in her hand.

And for the fourth time in her life Emma's heart stopped.

And I'm going to end there! Chapter 9 should be up, hopefully, sometime next week. Till next time!