Let the adventure commence... Poor Hook is not gonna know what has hit him ;P
Oh well, I'm sure he'll survive but will he ever be the same again?!
Let's find out
"Of course. I'd love to come with you Henry" Regina cooed with a genuine smile on her face "Who could refuse a treasure hunt with you?"
"Yes" Henry said pumping his hand in the air and Killian couldn't help the chuckle that escaped him as he watched the Lad "this is going to be the best adventure ever. We are going to have a strategy meeting back at the Jolly after dinner, can you come and check out the map? Killian wants to make sure that Black Beard's not cursed it or something"
Henry suddenly asked the former Queen and Killian watched as one of Regina's perfectly sculpted eyebrows slowly raised high on her head.
"Cursed you say? I think that checking it out would be very sensible, you never know what a scrupulous Pirate is capable of doing when he's trying to hide something precious. I've got a few spells that I can throw at it" she said in a serious tone but when Henry started digging into his ice cream she lifted her gaze to meet Killian's, no words were exchanged she just gave a slight nod of her head and he gave her a quick smile.
The rest of the night passed quickly, the beach bonfire was scrapped in lieu of their pending adventure and of course Regina found no issue with the map so a plan was put into place to start the hunt the following day at twelve o'clock, the tide would turn at eleven thirty which would then allow them a good couple of hours to get into the cave and retrieve the gem with plenty of time to get back to shore before the tide returned.
Killian brought his hand up behind his head as he lay in bed with Swan snuggling into his side and gave a contented sigh. Tomorrow was going to be fun, they now had a party of five which consisted of himself and Swan, Henry, David and Regina. Killian was glad that the former Queen had agreed to come, she needed to relax a little now and again and recently she had been throwing herself into work. He couldn't help feeling a little guilty about that after the whole Robin fiasco but Regina had forgiven both himself and Emma and they had moved on so there was no point in dwelling on it.
"What you thinking?" Emma suddenly asked turning slightly and running her hand up to settle over his heart.
"I'm thinking that I am the luckiest Pirate in all of the realms Swan"
He pulled her in tightly and finally closed his eyes knowing that sleep would not be an issue tonight, he hadn't felt this relaxed in a long time.
"We are pretty awesome" she murmured
"Bloody awesome" he chuckled "Now sleep, Princess. We have treasure to hunt for in the morning"
"Don't call me Princess"
He grinned widely but said nothing and in minutes he was gone waking early to find Emma gone from his side. Damn it, had she been called out? This was not how he wanted to start the day but he shouldn't have worried as she crept back through the door seconds later trying to be as quiet as possible.
"I'm awake Swan" he yawned stretching out widely on the bed.
She sagged in relief and grinned at him "It's treasure hunt day! Henry's been up for hours, he's packed a bag with "supplies" and everything"
"Well I guess we better get started, I suggest we get breakfast at Granny's before we start, my treat" Killian said throwing back the covers and hauling himself to his feet only to find his hip was quite painful from all he had put it through over the last few days.
"You need some Tylenol?" Emma asked lightly trying not to look concerned, he loved the way she worried for him but didn't overbear.
"I think that may be a good idea" he agreed with a sigh "Maybe tomorrow after I have spoken to the Cricket I will spend the rest of the day reading a good book in a hammock up on deck"
"Now that sounds like my idea of heaven" Emma rolled her eyes in wonder then groaned "But I have to work"
"Maybe I could think about joining you soon, as much as I do enjoy reading and relaxing I do miss helping at the station"
"Maybe" she replied offhandedly but he got the impression that she was just trying to appease him. He didn't push it not wanting to start an argument, maybe he'd talk to David and see if he could get him on side.
Before Killian knew it breakfast was eaten, they had made their way to the loft next to meet the others to go over the plan again then they had slowly walked their way out to the bay and now he found himself standing in front of the cave with Henry holding the map out widely studying it closely.
"I think it's this cave here" he said looking up and pointing to the right one "See how the headland comes to a point there? That looks the same as this bit here on the map"
"I think that you are correct Lad, lead on but I think we should pick up our pace a little, the tide will be returning all too soon"
They all moved as one into the mouth of the cave and Killian felt Emma's hand sneak into his and give it a squeeze, he turned his head to see her grinning at him and he grinned back, no words were needed he knew exactly what she was thinking, her Son was having the time of his life.
"Hang on Henry" Regina suddenly called out causing Henry to stop, he had been pulling out a flashlight but when Regina conjured up a sphere of blue light and handed it over he shoved it back into the bag, Regina smiled before conjuring a sphere for each of them.
"I could have done that" Emma grumbled
"And yet you didn't" Regina replied with a smirk before throwing her arm around Henry's shoulder "Now we can see where we are going let's go find some treasure"
They carefully made their way back up the dark passage, it was just as tricky as it had been two days before but this time David fell into step in front of him and Emma fell in behind so when they hit the harder bits he was shoved and pulled through making it much easier on his hip and before he knew it they were emerging into the cave.
"WOW... it's like something from The Goonies, well without One Eyed Willie's ship but we have a better ship anyway so that's cool" Henry was literally jumping up and down on the spot grinning like a fool.
"Calm down Kid you're gonna bust something" Emma laughed sliding her hand onto his shoulder to hold him down
"What does the map say? Where are we digging?" David asked peering over the lad's shoulder, he again held out the map after passing his light orb to Regina to hold as they all huddled round.
"There... right in the middle" Henry said lowering the map and shirking out of his bag.
"You want to do the honors Kid?" David asked holding out the shovel and Henry nodded vigorously taking it quickly and dumping the bag down on the sand.
But if they thought that it was going to be that easy they were wrong, Henry dug and dug and dug but every time he seemed to miss the spot and in the end he lent heavily on the shovel with a sigh
"I think it's gone, maybe we should just head back"
He looked crestfallen but Killian wasn't going to let him give up that easily, he had marked the spot with a small shell so he knew exactly where the gold box lay when he wandered over to Henry's side.
"Don't give up lad, there is still plenty of sand to dig, why not try over this way a bit?"
"Do you think?"
"Aye Lad, I have a feeling that this treasure was hidden well enough that it should still be here"
"Really?" Henry grinned again "OK, I'm not done just yet then"
The Lad started digging with renewed vigor as Killian moved towards the back of the cave and managed to slide his rear onto a conveniently large rock to watch the Lad dig. Henry wiped the sweat from his brow as he continued to dig and on his second hole the shovel FINALLY hit something metal and he looked up with eyes like saucers.
"I'VE FOUND SOMETHING" he yelled throwing the shovel to the side and dropping down onto his knees only to be joined by Regina seconds later, she seemed to have been caught up in the excitement too and had dropped her usual stony guard.
"What is it Henry, dig with your hands" she said quickly and the boy nodded again as he attacked the sand.
After a few seconds he suddenly pulled the gold box out and shook off the loose sand, the tide didn't get up as far as the cave so the box had remained dry.
"WOAW... this is AMAZING" he held the box like it was the most precious thing in the world but just then Emma leaned in and whispered in Killian's ear.
"I never did get to see that gem before you buried it"
"Well pay attention Swan, you are about to be very impressed" he replied with a grin
Emma walked forward and dropped down on the sand next to her Son as he pulled the lid back on the box and gasped again.
"There's something in here" he tipped the box, the bag holding the gem fell out into his hand and when he pulled the stone out seconds later he gasped "This is so cool, look how it swirls, what do you think it's made of?"
"I'm not sure, let me see it Henry" Regina said holding out her hand
Killian was distracted as David sauntered over "You did good Pirate"
"Thanks Mate" he replied with a quick smile
"How long until the tide turns?" David asked looking at his watch
"Not long but let the lad have a moment, we still have time"
"Well in that case I need to find a nook somewhere... I gotta pee" David grinned as Killian shook his head with another chuckle
"Well just make sure it's nowhere near where we have to walk, I do not want to put my hand in anything I shouldn't"
David chuckled as he walked off to head back down the passage and Killian suddenly realized that Emma and Regina were squabbling.
"Give it to me Swan. You will only end up damaging it"
"What? You've got room to talk. Let go of me, you'll just want to keep it for yourself"
What was going on? Henry was caught in the middle as the two fought, each had their hands clamped together as they fought over the gem.
"Mom, Mom. What are you guys doing?"
"It's OK Henry, I'll get it back for you Kid"
"No Swan, I'll give it to him, let it go" Regina snarled curling her lip, eyes dark with anger.
"Oh look at you with the "scary face", did that actually used to work for you?!" Emma spat back.
Killian had had enough now, what were they playing at? They were ruining the Lad's day and he was not having it anymore.
"What in the blazes are you doing Swan? Let the damn thing go the pair of you. Henry found it, it belongs to him" he cried out in dismay as he reached them but they weren't listening
"Let it go you hag" Emma yelled
"Hag?!" Regina cried out "Is that the best you can do? I pity you Swan, you will never have my poise or beauty. I mean I'm surprised that Guyliner has stuck around so long, he could do so much better than you"
"THAT IS ENOUGH" Killian roared and reached his hand out to grab the gem from their joined hands
"I'm going to kill you, you evil witch"
"Swan, you are merely a child when it comes to magic, you could NEVER kill me" Regina cackled in reply and gave another tug
"Really?" Emma growled and her eyes narrowed.
Killian's fingers had just managed to grasp the gem that was clutched in Emma's hand when he realized a little too late what was about to happen as both Emma and Regina raised their opposite hands and sent their magic towards each other not paying the slightest bit of attention to Killian standing between them. He managed to pull his hand free tucking the gem into his palm and raised his arm up to try and protect himself but both spells hit before he could get out of the way sending what felt like a huge electric current soaring through him wrenching a cry from his mouth.
He heard Henry yelling out his name as the pain streaked up his arm and across his chest straight towards his heart, his back arched in agony and another scream was wrenched from his mouth tearing at his throat. God's he felt like he was being split in two but the pain didn't end it just kept building, his world seemed to be falling apart but when rocks started falling around him he realized that it wasn't just him, it was the whole cave shaking. He staggered backwards being knocked off balance by a bright light that suddenly burst from his clenched fist, he tried to let the gem go but he couldn't get his hand to open.
Rocks were falling all around him now but he couldn't get his legs to work either as the pain continued to build and when another electric pulse surged through him he screamed once again as pain streaked from his head to his toes but as quickly as it had started it suddenly stopped and he fell to his knees with a grunt into the sand.
He clamped his eyes closed breathing harshly trying to stop himself passing out. The noise around him was getting louder and louder and he needed to see what was going on so he peeked an eye open again. His vision was blurry but he could just about make out Henry cowering off to his side as rocks tumbled down around them. He pulled himself to his wobbly legs reaching out with his hook to tug the boy closer, Killian was just about managing to stay on top of the falling rocks but just as he thought he would be able to get Henry to safety the cave seemed to descend on them.
Rocks hit Killian hard and he tried his best to protect the lad but in the end there was nothing more he could do as more rained down on them and Killian found himself pinned in the pile by his legs. He reached out wildly, he'd lost hold of Henry, he had to find him, he had to protect him but it was too late. Just as his blurry eyes found the Lad's form not far from where he lay something slammed into Killian's head, his vision skewed then narrowed and finally his world went dark and the Pirate knew no more.