Title: Finding Home With You
Warning: Contains spoilers from Season 4.
Author's Note: This chapter will be from Killian's perspective.
OH NO! Is it too late to get back to their reality? :( They were so close! Maybe they can figure something else out :)
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Once Upon A Time characters.
Summary: (Lieutenant Duckling!AU) What would have happened if Emma and Henry couldn't help Regina get her happily ever after? Now stuck in the story the Author wrote them into, Emma and Henry will have to start a new life in the Enchanted Forrest. With a little help from a timid sailor, Killian Jones. But plagued by the new Evil Queen, the three will have to continuously dodge Snow's effort to hunt them down and end them.
Word Count: 2,292
Killian watched as the light in Emma's eyes died. Her mouth turned down at the corners and her posture became slack; she was giving in, accepting defeat.
"No, there has to be something!" Henry argued with Emma. "If Regina just gets down there in time, maybe…"
When the lad trailed off uncertainly, Killian decided to step in, to try to save Emma's last hope for happiness. "Aye, the lad's right, love," Killian urged in a voice that sounded much more emphatic than he felt. "There must be something we can do!"
"What? Just tell me, what are we supposed to do?" The Regina woman barked out her eyes glossy as though she was fighting off tears. "Am I supposed to just waltz in there, tell Robin I'm his True Love and ask him to leave his new bride for me?"
"Maybe, I dunno. Isn't there some law where you can get divorced before a year and it doesn't count as a marriage?" Henry directed his question at Emma, ignoring the sarcastic edge in the other woman's voice.
"An annulment," Emma answered in a hollow voice. "You can get an annulment before a year's gone by and it completely erases the marriage; legally, the marriage never happened. But, Henry, that's back home. This is the Enchanted Forest; I doubt they have annulments."
"I have yet to hear of one of these annulments you speak of; however, a marriage is not legal until it has been consummated," Killian provided, feeling his cheeks burn hotly when he has to fight back thoughts of consummation with Emma.
Emma cleared her throat delicately, snapping out of her catatonic state at his words.
"You can't be serious!" Regina interjected. "Why should I even listen to you three lunatics anyway?"
"You're our only hope of getting back to the world we belong in, Regina," Emma reminds her, placing a hand on Regina's arm. "And this is for you, too. Robin is your True Love, your last hope of true happiness. Do you really want to sit back and let that go, without even trying to fight for it?"
Regina looked torn for a moment, but then roughly pulled her arm out from under Emma's hand and began walking towards Robin Hood, who Killian assumed was the man standing in front of the white carriage. He and his new wife were waving happily at the crowd who had gathered for their wedding. Just as she was entering the clearing, a few feet away from the crowd of people, an arrow came whizzing through the air and planted itself firmly in her back.
The crowd gasped as the woman staggered for a moment, before collapsing to her knees.
Killian barely had time to register her calling out Robin's name, before Emma and Henry were racing off toward the woman, him following close behind. She fell forward, landing hard on the dirt ground. They reached the woman about the same time as the Robin fellow did.
He gently removed the arrow and Emma was ready with a wad of cloth she had torn off of her tunic during her mad dash to her son's adopted mother. She pressed the material down on the wound and held it in place as the Robin and Henry gently rotated Regina to lie on her back.
"That should be plenty of pressure to stop the bleeding, but there's no telling what kind of internal injuries she has," Emma said worriedly, glancing around as if a healer would appear from nowhere to help the injured woman.
Killian laid a hand on Emma's shoulder, standing behind her kneeling form. She leaned backwards, letting her head rest on his upper thigh, and took a shaky breath in.
"Mom?" Henry called from his place beside Emma. He reached out to hold Regina's hand.
"It's okay, Henry," Regina said softly, a small smile gracing her lips for a mere second before pain contorted it.
"Regina?" Robin's voice was thick with emotion. "What are you doing here?"
"I heard you were getting married," the humor behind the statement was lost on Killian, but the two supposed True Loves laughed quietly at her words.
Suddenly, Emma was standing and stalking back in the direction they had come. Henry followed her movements with wide, frightened eyes.
"Stay here with your mother, lad. I'll see to Emma," Killian offered, following the stalking figure in front of him quickly.
"Swan, love," Killian called out, closing the distance between them. "What about that Regina woman?"
"Somebody had to fire that arrow, Hook," Emma replied tersely. He knew she wasn't upset with him, but it still hurt the way she used his much unloved moniker.
"Well, aren't you a clever one, dearie?" A high male voice sang out.
Emma spun back towards Killian, and he was momentarily frightened by the utter loathing in her glare, but quickly realized it was angled not at him, but just over his shoulder. He turned to see a man dressed all in white, sitting atop a beautiful steed.
"Rumplestiltskin," Emma seethed, stalking closer to him. Killian noticed the way she placed herself between him and the strange man, angling her body defensively. He didn't particularly like that, he'd much rather be protecting her. But he knew not to argue with his Swan, especially when she was so livid. "I should have known."
"Why, whatever do you mean, dearie?" The strange man said in the same sing-songy way. Killian found it quite irritating and especially hated the way the man said everything so loudly, as if it were utterly obvious and everyone else was a fool for not seeing it earlier.
"Don't call me that," Emma bit out, her hands balling up into fists at her side. The wind began to pick up and Killian was astonished to see the sticks and pinecones that littered the forest floor around them were beginning to lift off the ground and hover a foot or so in the air, spinning lazily in circles.
"Emma," Killian called out cautiously, realizing it was her magic that was causing the chaos.
"I'm fine, Killian," Emma barked out, still facing this Rumplestiltskin man. The wind blew even harder- swirling past Killian, dancing through Emma's hair and ruffling the mane on the man's horse. "You did this," she directed at Rumplestiltskin.
As her hand flew up to point at the man accusingly, a flurry of wind, sticks and other debris flew at the man, knocking him off his horse. The beast ran away, frightened, but the man simply rose to his feet calmly.
"Is that the best you've got, dearie?" He sneered.
It angered Killian that this man was speaking to Emma in such a way, but he knew he couldn't let her hurt Rumplestiltskin. She wouldn't be able to forgive herself if she killed him, which she seemed very likely to do.
"Emma," Killian tried again, but he was pushed backwards, his feet seeming to slide along the forest floor as she flicked her wrist in his direction. It was a gentle blow, not meant to harm, but he couldn't believe she had used magic on him.
"Not even close," she yelled out. This time she shoved both hands out in front of her chest and sent even more things flying at the man. The wind seemed to hit him the hardest and he flew back a few feet, hitting a tree and falling flat on his face.
"Swan!" Killian yelled out, making his way in front of her to stop her before it was too late. "Emma, love, don't do this."
"You don't understand, Killian," Emma practically pleaded. The wind was swirling her hair all around her shoulders, tugging it backwards and whipping it forwards- yet, she looked utterly beautiful in the chaos. Her eyes shone with unshed tears and she gazed up at Killian, her eyes begging him to understand, to let her finish it.
"No, Emma," Killian demanded, cupping her face with his good hand. "You're better than this. You are a hero and this is not what heroes do."
His words seemed to physically hit her, because she staggered back a step, her face shocked. He was worried he might have caused her to pull away from him, but then she launched herself into his arms. She wrapped her arms tightly around his neck and began to sob furiously into his neck.
He wrapped his arms around her waist, momentarily, but then he knew they couldn't stay there and wait for that Rumplestiltskin man to come to. Killian didn't know what he was capable of, but anyone who was able to incite such fear and loathing from someone as pure as his Swan was a force to be reckoned with.
Emma needed a few moments to grieve for whatever this man had taken from her, so Killian wordlessly scooped her into his arms. She shifted her hold on him slightly, allowing one arm to sling over his shoulder and clutch the back of his tunic while the other rested firmly over his heart.
He felt more than saw her time her uneven breathing with his as he walked her back towards the clearing where Regina and Henry were. He wanted her to be able to have a chance to compose herself before they made it back to the others, seeing as she was still crying into his shoulder, so he stopped just inside the tree line. If he tried, he could just barely make out the huddled forms stooping over Regina, but he was quite certain they couldn't see or hear him and Emma.
Killian spotted a large tree trunk that had recently been cut and he sat himself upon it, letting Emma's legs drape sideways over his thighs so she was cradled in his arms. His good hand began to rub soothing circles on her back while he let the curve of his hook pressed softly into the side of her farthest hip, pulling her closer to him and allowing his arm to rest softly across her lap. Part of him was quite thoroughly enjoying how close he was to her, but the bigger part of him was merely concerned with her emotional well-being and trying to come up with any way possible to comfort her.
"It's alright, love," Killian murmured softly. "It's just us now; it's going to be just fine."
He continued to mutter softly in her ear for another minute or two until she stopped crying. It was odd to see her cry, since she was so strong. Or perhaps, it was simply odd because she was still so strong while she cried. Killian had seen plenty of women crying- he was, after all, employed under Black Beard for many a year- and many sobbed without control, making hideous noises and blubbering about like the poor wretches they were.
But Emma cried like a warrior. She simply let the tears fall. Sure, her face was pained and heartbroken, but she didn't blubber or wail or whimper. She merely let herself feel the pain.
They sat for a few more moments in silence, until she pulled away slightly to wipe any remaining tears from her face.
"I probably look like a mess," she sighed out, reaching up to redo the pony's tail, or whatever she had called it, that had gotten even messier from the winds she had stirred up.
"I think you look beautiful," Killian amended, glancing up at her honestly, watching her hands move swiftly through her hair. He couldn't deny that he greatly appreciated the small blush that danced across her cheeks at his words.
She lowered her hands softly into her lap and her back grew awkwardly rigid, as though she was no longer comfortable in his lap. He didn't like how much her withdrawal hurt him.
"Thank you," she whispered softly. Her eyes met his and he was shocked at how vulnerable hers were.
"It's merely the truth, love," he replied, using his hook to tuck one stray strand of hair back behind her ears; it seemed shorter than the others and frequently wrangled its way out of her tail and into her face.
Her blush grew wider and she glanced down at her hands shyly before looking back up at him boldly. "Not just that. Thank you, Killian," she said, completely serious. She cupped his face with both of her hands and leaned down until her forehead rested on his. "Thank you for stopping me. I wouldn't have been able to-"
She stopped abruptly, but he knew what she meant.
His good hand trailed up her back, down her arm and held her hand firmly against his cheek. "I know, love," Killian said gently, bringing her palm forward to kiss it softly, before returning it to his cheek.
"We should get back, check on Regina," she muttered quietly, but didn't make a move to leave.
"Aye," he agreed halfheartedly, drinking in her presence.
They sat for a few more moments before she said, "They'll be getting worried."
"Then we should return to your lad, love," Killian agreed. She stayed in her place, not moving an inch, except the steady rise and fall of her chest. "I can't get up until you do, lass," he reminded her, knowing that she needed to be with her son and her friend.
"Oh, yeah, right," she stammered out, climbing gracelessly out of his arms and blushing wildly. "To Regina," she muttered, stalking off towards the others, seeming irritated with his chuckles.
He couldn't help himself; his Swan was just too adorable. Except when she stalked off away from him, because then she was downright hypnotizing with those swinging hips and-
He shook his head and stood up, following after his Swan.