Chapter 3: Liquid Gold

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Killian:

"Where the bloody hell are they?" I shout in desperation as I glance around the warehouse; how could I have let this happen? I'm supposed to be protecting her and instead she gets kidnapped by the one man we're trying to stop? I run my hand through my hair trying to think of where they could have gone.

"Calm down, they can't have gone far" Regina speaks low and carefully; David turns on her then with anger in his eyes, she's not just the saviour here, nor is she just my girl, she's David's daughter and Regina's friend.

"Can you find them?" David asks while panting with panic, can't say I exactly blame him. Regina nods quickly and heads for the stairs and out the building; David and I follow closely behind. She looks confused as we jog up the main street; it seems like we're heading for Gold's shop.

"Surely he wouldn't bring her here, he knows this is the first place we'll look" I question and Regina shoots me a troubled look, she's worried and it's showing, she's not the kind of woman to allow herself to show her emotions in a time like this, so why is she now?
Fire catches in Regina's palm; people from the town walking by stop for a second to watch what's happening but quickly think better of it and hurry into the nearest building. David and I draw our swords as Regina opens the door. Inside it seems quiet and empty; but I'm not the only one who has the feeling that we're not actually alone.
"I knew it wouldn't take long" Gold's voice sounds from the back room before he walks through the curtain with Emma at his side with his hand wrapped tightly around her arm, her jacket has a small hole in the shoulder and what looks like blood trickling down her arm slowly. I want run to her; but it isn't as simple as that, it never is. She looks calm, pissed off almost; but her eyes are terrified, worried, pleading and pain. She doesn't want us here. But why? Has he threatened her with something?
"Why here? You knew we'd come" Regina snaps, the anger in her voice seeping through her calm demeanour.
"I was counting on it" Gold grins devilishly; his grip tightens on Emma's arm and she winces in response but doesn't try to move out of his grip, why?
"Let her go crocodile" I growl quietly; Gold turns his attention to me now, his eyes narrowing and his mouth twisting into a smile, showing off his teeth.
"Come and get her, dearie" he says confidently; I see Regina's wrist move in the corner of my eye, a knife glides through the air toward Gold's chest, Emma's eyes widen and she stiffens all over, as if she's waiting for the impact, Gold's eyes glitter with mischievousness. The blade buries itself in the right side of Gold's chest; but he makes no sound of pain or even flinches. Instead Emma's face twists in agony and she grabs at her chest with her free hand as if holding a wound. Blood starts pouring from her chest and she opens her mouth as if she's screaming, but no sound comes out. Her eyelids flutter shut and she drops to the floor. I start to rush to her side but Gold flicks his hand and sends both David and me flying back into the door. Pain shoots through my back and I collapse in a heap on the floor. I scramble to my feet in rage and lunge for him; but I stop myself. That wound should have appeared on Gold, but instead Emma got the full force of it. Regina grabs my arm and hauls me back next to her.
"They're linked, you try to hurt Gold you'll kill her" she says in a low voice. David is itching to go for him next to me but he just watches Emma as she lies perfectly still on the ground, a pool of scarlet forming around her, turning her hair pink. I feel my eyes grow hot; do not crack, I can't crack. Gold laughs, a piercing sound which makes my blood boil.
"Looks like I didn't need to kill the saviour after all, the evil queen did it for me" he smirks before disappearing in a puff of smoke. We all rush to Emma's side. Regina casts a healing spell but she doesn't wake up.
"Swan! Come on Love wake up, please" I plead quietly; I can feel David's eyes on me but I don't care, all I care about is Emma and getting her to wake up. She can't be dead. She can't die that easily.
"Why isn't she waking up?" I yell at Regina; she just glares at me through narrowed eyes and tries another healing spell. Again, Emma doesn't open her eyes. David pushes me out of the way then so he can press his hands to her chest and begin CPR. I blow air into her mouth but there is no response.
"Swan, listen to me, you can't give up. You have to come back, you have too much to fight for, your son, your parents, your brother, your friends…me" I whisper as I smooth her hair out of her face. I can't lose her, none of us can. Regina stares down at her with wide, unbelieving eyes. Her face twists then into anger and she pushes both David and me back and leans over Emma.
"Come on Emma, is this all I had to do to get rid of you? Don't make it so easy for me, come on!" she shouts as she taps her hand against the side of Emma's face over and over again shouting 'come on' in desperation. David falls backward against the counter and stares at the wall while his eyes well. I put my hand on Regina's shoulder, she's crying too, and so am I, I almost hadn't noticed. Regina sits back on her heels and puts her hands to her face. She's gone. We can't bring her back. I was supposed to keep her safe. I was supposed to be there for her. I was supposed to do…something, anything to keep her alive. She was supposed to live, not me or Regina or David, she was the saviour and she should have been the one to save everyone. Pain washes through me; my heart aches, I place my hand over my heart, I wish I could rip it out, to stop the agony, but that would mean I wouldn't feel for her, and I do, I really do. I don't know what's worse, the fact that she's gone, or that I never got the chance to tell her how much I love her before she died, far too early. Tears drip down my cheeks and onto her chest. I lean down and put my forehead to hers. She's still warm. I take her hand in mine and place it over my heart.
"Swan, I love you" I whisper into her soft skin before pressing my lips to her forehead; a feeling washes through me and I feel her fingers twitch against my chest. I pull back to see her staring up at me with wide eyes and a small smile on her lips. My heart lifts and I can't stop the smile on my face or the tears rolling down my cheeks, the only difference is that now they're tears of joy and relief, not despair and agony. She pushes herself up and wraps her arms tightly around my neck. I hold her tight and close to me as she buries her face into the crook of my neck.
"Better late than never" she whispers into my skin and I laugh gently
"Aye love" he murmur; she pulls away then smiling and hugs her dad. Regina watches on grinning and gets to her feet gracefully. I join her as David and Emma hug on the floor. A darkness crosses Regina's features and her mouth twists into a thin line, her hands balling into tight fists at her sides, her knuckles turning white. Emma gets to her feet and Regina's hard expression fades into that of relief and…fondness? I wasn't sure I'd ever see Regina look at anyone other than Henry like that.
"We need to work out how the hell we're going to get rid of Gold if every time we attack him, you get hurt" she sighs heavily, relief fading from her face.
"We'll figure it out, first thing though, I need a shower" Emma frowns as she holds up a piece of blood soaked blonde hair and drops it in disgust. "And I need to figure out how to get this off" she says holding up her arm to reveal the black cuff from Pan. Regina rolls her eyes and sighs again, she does that way too often. She waves her hand over the cuff and it shatters into a million pieces.
"How did you…?" David questions and Regina gives him a smirk
"Miss light magic here might be good, but I'm better" she grins. I wrap my arm around Emma's shoulders and we walk out of the shop and back to her apartment. I've already lost her twice, I refuse to lose her again. But this time she actually died, I feel so much more protective over her now and she's going to find it irritating. But if it comes down to Emma being irritated or safe, I'll pick safe every time. My only worry is that I can't protect her. She's only ever been in danger around me; what if the safest thing for her is not having me around? My chest tightens at the thought of not being with her. I'm being selfish. I know that, but after just losing her, I know now I can't be without her. She is my happy ending and I have to do everything in my power to keep it that way. Whatever Gold has planned, I can't and won't lose Emma again. I'll do whatever it takes to keep her safe.