Hook… I Will Always Find You

Chapter Twenty-Six

Emma and the others couldn't help but stare at the woman whom Liam just called 'Mother' in shock. Not because they were surprised the two brothers actually had a mother like everyone else, but because getting a chance to meet her, and in the Underworld of all places, was completely unexpected. Killian had barely begun to talk about his father only when his past had come back to haunt him the moment the heroes met Merlin in Camelot. However, he never once mentioned his mother. Emma just assumed she had died when Killian was very young, on account that she hadn't been around to keep his father from forcing him and his brother into a life of servitude.

"Liam?" the woman whispered with concern in her voice while she continued to look between him and the strangers with her son in worry. "I thought I warned you of the dangers of bringing those rebel friends of yours here. You promised me you were no longer helping them."

"I know I did, but they're not rebels," the older Jones brother answered quietly, then shrugged. "At least not all of them are. Listen… we really need you to let us in and trust me you're going to want to. We have a severely wounded man with us and Mother… it's… it's Killian."

Upon hearing her youngest son's name, their mother immediately opened the door wide as she uttered, "Your brother? He's here?"

Liam walked in as he pulled her aside with him so that Emma and David could enter along with the others, then guided the Savior and her father towards the closest bed on the main floor of the cottage where they could lay Killian down on while he responded, "He is. But he was tortured by Hades and the bastard who kept him and me as his slaves after our father sold us to him. Thankfully, Killian was able to find an amazing woman who loves him enough to risk her life by coming down here to save him."

Once Emma and David laid Killian down, the Prince stood straight again and backed away while the Savior remained sitting on the bed at his side while she took his only hand into her own, then gently laid her free hand over his chest in an attempt to use her power to heal his wounds. Unfortunately, the spell Hades had told her he cast over Killian was put in place to keep her from doing so. Not just to prevent her from using a traditional locator spell to find him. It also meant that Regina's or Tinker Bell's magic wouldn't be able to heal him either.

"So, this… this in my youngest son?" the brothers' mother whispered again when she slowly approached the other side of the bed where David had moved away from, then she nervously reached her hand out to caress the left side of Killian's cheek until she swiftly pulled away as she suddenly became afraid to touch him. "I died when he was still very, very young. A baby. He wouldn't remember me."

"He remembers the lullaby you used to sing to us," the older Jones replied quietly. "He told me so."

She glanced over at her oldest until she turned back to Killian again with fear in her eyes as she continued, "I couldn't wait for the day when my boys would both arrive here, so I would get to see the men they had become. Only now… I never wished for this. You said Hades did this to my boy?"

Emma finally spoke up coldly saying, "Yes, ma'am. He did."

"Then he will surely somehow get what's coming to him," the other woman answered when her eyes suddenly grew dark and angry.

"Uh… Mother, this is Emma Swan… the woman Killian fell in love with," Liam uttered then in order to try to change the gloom that had fallen over the room, then he also began to introduce his mother to the others. "And these are his friends… David, August, Smee, Tinker Bell, Regina, Robin, Leroy, Graham, and his friend…"

Graham took the hand of the woman standing beside him and finished for him, "Lila."

Liam nodded and then added, "And Lila. They've all risked their lives to save Killian."

"I am happy to meet each of you," she responded despondently. "I'm Alice. I'm going to go out to get some water from the brook, so we can do our best to clean my son up. If you'll excuse me…"

"Thank you!" Emma quickly called out to her as Alice turned and left the cottage without another word.

While the Savior turned back to Killian again and carefully lifted his upper body up against her chest again so she could remove the rags the deity had changed him into to humiliate him more, leaving him in his undergarments he still wore, David looked over at the older Jones again as he stated, "Your mother seems like a really great woman. I'm sorry we had to meet under these circumstances."

Liam simply nodded and stepped away, then returned a few minutes later with clean cloths they could use to wash his body down with to remove the blood and grime that covered him. Emma took them from him and muttered her gratitude, then she took a moment to remove her jacket before she continued with as much as she could until Alice returned with the water.

Everyone else walked away to leave Emma alone with the man she loved while she started to take care of him except for David, though Liam turned back to them and then he asked somberly, "What can I do to help him?"

"You're doing it," the Savior replied with sincerity when she turned her head to look over at him once more. "You found us someplace safe where we can take care of him and when he wakes up, we'll be able to begin trying to help him know how much he's loved. He will also finally be reunited with his mother again too."

"Emma… Tink and I will take care of the protection spell so Hades or anyone else won't be able to break in here," Regina said, and the blonde haired woman nodded, then the two women raised their hands and began to emit their powers to cast another spell created from light magic.

Emma gently rested Killian back down against the mattress and pillows, then laid her hand against the side of his face while she tenderly began to caress his cheek again, until he weakly began to stir beneath her touch. However, when he didn't open his eyes, she knew his movement wasn't because he was awakening, but because of how much pain he was in. Her fear was only confirmed when he began to cough while blood slowly began to trickle out from one of the corners of his mouth, and she could feel his body trembling beneath her other hand she kept firmly over his chest.

Regina walked back over to the bed and stood over her friends as she looked down at them, then without meaning to be so callous she whispered, "God, he looks awful. If he wasn't already dead, I'd say we wouldn't be in time to save him."

Emma glared up at her while she retorted brusquely, "He isn't dead! I mean… He is dead. But we were in time to save him from becoming another of Hades' mindless souls floating around in that green river. And I won't ever stop fighting to bring the man I love back to me no matter how long it takes. We just need to get him home and bring him back to life first."

"You're right," her friend answered gently. "You're right, and I'm sorry. I didn't mean to say what I said… how it sounded. I'm not so great with sympathy. You know that. Is there anything I can do to help?"

"No," the Savior responded when her eyes softened. "Thank you, Regina. All of you should try to get some rest. We haven't gotten any sleep in days. Not really. I've been forcing all of you to go non-stop trying to help me to save Killian… that I haven't thought of how exhausted you all must be."

David reached out to lay his hand over one of hers that remained resting on Killian's chest and then replied, "How many times are we going to have to remind you that you haven't forced any of us to do anything? The truth is, we've all gotten much more sleep than either you or Hook have. We slept the night before we came down here and most of the next day really because we knew what we were in for. About as much as we really could know that is."

Emma shook her head in frustration and pulled her hand out from under his, then looked down at Killian's face again as tears began to fall once more while she spoke sadly saying, "I'm not sure there's anything you can say that'll offer me the comfort I need right now. Only Killian can do that and even if and when he wakes up, he won't be the man I know him to be. The man who always knows the right words to say to make me smile. To make me laugh, or to make me feel like everything will always be all right so long as we're together. You know what it feels like to have someone in your life who can make you feel all of that, Dad. You have Mom. Just like Regina, you have Robin and even Rumplestiltskin has Belle. If I can't bring Killian back…"

"Hey, hey… Don't lose hope, Emma," her father quickly answered when he reached out to caress her cheek. "Hook needs you to hold onto every ounce of hope you possess if he's going to pull through this. And he will. Because none of us are going to give up on him. Ever since Hook came into our lives a few years ago, I couldn't ever see him as anything more than a pirate even after he started to change for the better. And the truth is, I didn't want to see anything more because I was a… a 'stubborn ass' just like he once called me while we were in Neverland. But he has changed and has become a man whom I'm proud to see in my daughter's life. No one could ever treat you better, or just as you deserved to be treated than he can. And I'll admit, he's kind of grown on me a bit. Hook has a strange way of affecting people like that, as you've come to know for yourself. Just don't ever tell him I said so, or I'll never hear the end of it."

"Thank you, Dad," she responded sincerely and then reached across the man she loved so she could pull her father into an embrace.

Once Emma pulled away from him again to return her attention on Killian, it was then that Alice walked over to stand above her son and those sitting with him on the bed, having heard most of the words shared between father and daughter, and stated softly, "I'm so happy to see that what Liam said is true. You really do love my youngest, don't you? Emma… is it?"

The Savior looked up at the stranger who was Killian's mother and nodded as she slowly rose to her feet so that they were standing face to face while Alice handed her the flask made of deer skin she used to gather the water from the brook in, then Emma steadfastly replied, "I really do. More than I've ever loved anyone before or could ever possibly love again. I was born from the true love my parents possess for one another and truthfully, I never believed it was something I would ever find. Honestly, I'm not sure that the love Killian and I share is true love or not either, but whether it is or it isn't… it feels like it to me, just as I know it feels like true love for him too. A short time ago, Killian admitted to me that I was his happy ending even when he was afraid he was going to lose me. Well… he's my happy ending too. That's why I'm here. I won't leave him to suffer, I promise you. And I promise to let him know as such, as soon as he finds his way back to me."

"I believe you," the other woman said again and then gently pulled Emma into a hug by way of showing her gratitude. "Thank you, Emma. All of you… thank you."

"You're welcome," the Savior whispered sadly. "Your son makes it easy for me to love him."

Everyone among the scene before them looked on with a feeling of happiness for their Savior and the pirate captain fighting for his life, and yet sorrow as well because succeeding in their goal to save Hook from death itself was an impossible task never before achieved as far as anyone knew.

However, Liam looked on with a different feeling he was ashamed for. A feeling of disappointment and even anger because he knew that his own unfinished business and the reason why he had been trapped within the Underworld all these years was in waiting for his brother to join him so he would have the chance to apologize for his greatest mistake, as well as for when the time would come for them to move on from this world together.

When he realized that those surrounding him might be able to see these feelings on his face, the older Jones finally walked towards the door and stepped outside to be alone. No one inside the cottage noticed his change in demeanor, or even that Liam had walked out except for Tinker Bell and while she didn't know his reasons for feeling anything other than what the rest of them were feeling, she knew something was very wrong with Liam and she was determined to find out what.

Little did he or the heroes know, that Alice Jones had a dark secret of her own. A few secrets. One which had led to the reasons why she had become doomed to live her afterlife within the Underworld, and another which she feared her two boys would come to hate her for as much as they hated their father if they ever found out the truth.