I did try to finish this last night but by the time I got to bed I was just too tired so here it is this morning.
Not much left to go now, maybe a couple of chapters and then I am going to take a few weeks off before I start on my next fic.
But for now please just enjoy the reunion
As always please review.
Enjoy
:)
"What the hell was that?" Regina cried out pushing herself out of Emma's arms.
They both turned to see a huge portal swirling into life on the dock... Emma's brain froze... what was going on? They both just stood staring as the winds picked up causing the Jolly to pull on her moorings making them both have to cling on to the guard rail for support.
Then Emma's legs nearly went out from underneath her as the two figures that she had been silently praying to see flew out of the swirling mass of color to land unceremoniously on the ground. Emma's head snapped to the side to look at Regina, was she seeing the same thing or was Emma just imagining this?
"Oh my God" Regina almost whispered then looked at Emma "They found a way Swan"
That was it, they both took off at high speed down the steps and made their way across the deck to the gangplank, Emma's heart thundered in her chest as she reached the dock but it gave a sudden lurch when her Dad's voice called out above the noise.
"SOMEBODY HELP... I NEED HELP OVER HERE"
Emma's eyes fell on the unmoving figure slumped on the ground and she screeched to a stop... No no no ….. this couldn't be happening, they were back, they were supposed to be safe now. She watched as a man stooped down next to Hook and pulled him over onto his back but then she lost sight of him as what seemed to be the whole Piccaninny tribe crowded round.
"MOVE" she suddenly yelled barging forward, she had to get to him, he had to be OK!
The crowd parted and there were murmurs of recognition but Emma's eyes never moved from the two figures she needed to see and within seconds she was kneeling at her Dad's side by Hook's head. In her mind when this moment had come they had hugged and she had cried... but in reality she was crying different tears as she looked down at her love.
Hook was battered and torn, he looked sickly and his chest was lurching up and down as he lay there clearly not conscious.
"What's wrong with him?" she gasped bringing her hand up to his face to gently rub her fingers across his cheek.
She looked to her Dad for answers but it was another man who answered and when Emma looked up it was to see the tallest and broadest man she had ever seen, he was HUGE but his voice was gentle and kind as he addresses her.
"He was bitten by a Neverbeast, the venom courses through his veins..."
"WHAT?" David yelled cutting the man off "Venom... no one said anything about venom!"
"I tried to" The man said earnestly "but Apenimon cut me off, he insisted on leaving, he KNEW what had happened, he has been bitten before"
"So...if this has happened before it's not lethal?" David suddenly asked looking back at Hook with fresh hope in his voice
"Not usually but he is weak" the man sighed sighed "Perhaps Lark will know more but as far as I know there is nothing that we can do, every person bitten by a Neverbeast must face the battle themselves"
"Crap" Emma bit out reaching forward and pulling Hook up into her arms "I don't buy it, there has to be some way we can help him"
But the man's answer was cut off by Belle's voice and Emma looked up to see the happy smile fall from her friend's face as Belle's eyes fell on Hook.
"Oh no... what happened?" Belle cried out
"A Neverbeast attack" Emma replied before having a thought "Have you read anywhere of anything that can counteract the venom?"
But it wasn't Belle who replied it was Gold as he suddenly walked into view "There is no antidote... your Pirate is going to have a battle on his hands... or should I say hand?"
Just then Hook gave a groan and Emma's eyes moved from the Dark One to her Pirate in less than a second "Killian, open your eyes, talk to me"
He creaked open an eye and moaned out "Swan?"
"Yeah it's me" she sobbed seeing that he was in so much pain "What have you done to yourself?"
"He was saving me" David nearly whispered by Emma's side causing her to look at her Dad who looked devastated as he met her eyes "That should be me Emma... why did he do it?"
"It would have killed you" Hook mumbled drawing their attention back to him "You never saw it, it would have ripped your damn head off...I had to do it... couldn't lose another Brother"
Hook suddenly gave another groan and mumbled "Hurts" as he tried to curl in on himself but Emma held him tight and tried to sooth him
"It's alright, we'll fight this together OK?"
"Junior" he bit out "I... I do not want him to see me like this"
"It's OK, he's inside." Emma whispered back "We'll get you up and to the hospital alright, he can come see you once you're feeling better"
Hook let his eyes close and gave a slight nod, Emma could see the exhaustion in his face but didn't know anything about the venom, she didn't know if sleep was his friend or his enemy... this could not be happening!
Anger flared and she looked up at Gold "You have to help, find a loophole, he doesn't deserve this... this is supposed to be a happy day!"
Gold gave a heavy sigh "I cannot do anything Miss Swan, you know this... the rules of the dagger are quite clear"
Suddenly David moved hauling himself up to his feet, Emma was confused until she saw her Dad reach into the waistband of his pants and pull out Gold's dagger.
He held it up and said in a clear voice "Ignore Devin's words, help him Dark One, I command you"
Gold just smirked "You think that it is that simple? The magic is complex to say the least and what is done cannot be undone." Gold suddenly turned to look at Emma "I cannot help him but with my blade perhaps you can"
Emma frowned and spluttered "What? What are you talking about?"
"Look at the blade Miss Swan... what do you see?"
Emma looked up to realize that Gold was right, the dagger was different but she had no idea why.
"It's glowing..."
"Indeed, it has grown in power... your power to be precise, yours and Regina's. I can only presume that once the Jewel was destroyed that my dagger absorbed the magic. After all it was a dark one that created the gems to begin with so perhaps the magic within originally came from the dagger and it simply returned from where it came, I'm not sure but if I can have the dagger back I can see if your magic can be released"
Emma narrowed her eyes, could she trust him?
But it seemed that her Dad didn't care to question the trust thing as he stepped forward and shoved the dagger into Gold's hands "Do it, do it now"
Gold tentatively reached up and plucked the dagger from David's hands to stare at it in awe for a second before he raised it up. Emma looked from him to Regina who was standing just behind her, her friend gave a confident nod so Emma looked back to Gold with fresh hope... was she about to get her magic back?
"Do it"
He gave a single nod then braced himself. Emma briefly wondered why until two lines of light shot from the tip of the blade nearly knocking Gold off his feet. One was purple and snaked it's way towards Regina and the other was pure white and snaked it's way across to Emma herself. It seemed to pause for a split second as it reached her but then it surged forward hitting her straight in the chest taking away her breath.
The feeling of power was nearly overwhelming and caused Emma's head to flip back, she nearly lost her grip on her Pirate but she just managed to hang on... then it was over and she could feel her magic soaring through her veins. She didn't hesitate, she just looked straight down at Hook and brought her hand to his bitten arm concentration on her new task.
He gave a grunt as her magic started to work, his face contorted into one of pain making Emma think that something had gone wrong but then his his features smoothed out and he opened his eyes to gaze up at her as she finished.
"Hey Beautiful" he almost whispered before giving her his best smile, God she loved his smile.
She had no words she just pulled him up and hugged him as the tears fell... he was home, they both were and they were both fine
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He was home and she was there holding him tightly in her arms. Killian tried to lift his hand to pull her in but he was just too tired still and his arm fell uselessly to the side... he didn't care... they were back together. Tears fell down his own cheeks as she wept in his ear.
"I'm so happy you're home. I missed you so much, I love you"
"And I you Love" he whispered back as he grinned from ear to ear, he still found those words brought joy to his heart and when she suddenly pulled back from the hug and smacked her lips to his he thought he would lose his mind... the feeling was overwhelming to say the least and suddenly his hand was roaming through her hair as he felt his strength surge back into him.
The crowd around them were chattering and laughing until one cautious voice made everything stop.
"Regina?!" Robin gasped making Swan pull back and look up as Regina walked towards the voice. Killian found himself smiling even wider when Robin walked out of the crowd of people guiding Roland in front of himself to stop a few feet away "Is this really happening? Are we really back?"
Regina gave a shaky nod of her head and held her arms out causing both Robin and Roland to surge forward practically knocking the Queen from her feet.
"Oh my God, Robin, I thought I'd never see..." Regina was cut off as Robin crashed his lips to hers causing the crowd of people to laugh. Killian suddenly thought about the rest of his family and looked to David as he watched the scene with a smile on his face.
"Everyone is getting some action here except you Brother. Help me up and we shall reunite you with your Princess too"
"Now that's a plan I like" David replied with a chuckle.
David and Emma pulled Killian up, neither let him go obviously knowing that he wasn't fully back to strength yet and as he stood there trying to steady himself it was the bloody Crocodile of all people that stepped forward and spoke.
"Glad to see you are feeling better" he smirked
Killian knew what Gold had just done but still the imp's smug demeanour made his insides crawl, he was just about to give begrudging thanks when Gold surprised him by holding out his dagger.
"Here" Gold said giving it a shake "I will leave this with you until a time that you see fit to return it. I have wronged you and your family far too many times Killian Jones, it is time that we ended this so... I'm giving this to you"
Killian blinked widely... what the hell was going on? What was his game? But as he looked upon his oldest enemy's face he could see no trickery. Then Junior's little voice popped into his head telling him to be nice to the Crocodile for Henry and Killian found himself smirking, the boy was right.
"Keep it" he chuckled "That fact that you were willing to give it to me of all people has shown that you are willing to change." he pulled in a deep sigh and spoke honestly to Gold for the first time ever "I am sorry you know... for the whole Milah thing. I was young and naïve... I didn't care about how much it hurt you but I want you to know that I NEVER wanted to hurt Baelfire. I tired to help him when he came to me in Neverland but I failed and he left so for my part in your pain I am sorry"
Gold wore an unreadable expression, he lowered his head and pursed his lips before looking back at Killian "It is done... let us move on for the sake of the next generation"
Gold then gave a simple nod of his head before stepping back only to be replaced by Belle who beamed at Killian, he couldn't help it as he beamed back.
She stepped forward and pulled him into a hug. "Thank you Killian, you have no idea what this means to me... to both of us"
"As long as you are happy Belle..." Killian said leaving the rest of the sentence unfinished
David suddenly moved breaking the moment "Come on, you guys can catch up later"
"Aye" Killian agreed moving his gaze to his beloved ship "We have a family to surprise"
They moved off slowly but within a few paces Killian realized that he was much less sore than he had anticipated and shrugged out of David's grasp.
"I am fine Brother, I do believe that this hand would be better served upon your daughter" bringing his arm down and taking hold of Emma's hand.
"Watch it" David muttered with a chuckle
Killian chuckled back but as the started down the steps to the lower deck he suddenly found himself grinding to a halt as his breathing picked up... he was beginning to panic... why?
"Hey, it's OK" Emma soothed brining her hand up to rest over his thundering heart "He's fine, you're fine, it's OK"
Killian grasped her hand and held onto it tightly as the hollow feeling inside threatened to engulf him and he finally realized what was wrong "I cannot feel him Swan... "
"Yes you can" she said with a smile "It's just different now but it will be fine, you will love him just the same"
He tried to smile back but he just couldn't, his eyes moved to the hold door... Junior was just on the other side and that thought was scaring the life out of Killian right now, what if he saw him and felt nothing?
Gods he couldn't do this... he felt sick.
He pulled in another shuddering breath and was just about to ask Emma if he could sit in the galley for a few minutes when the door opened and Junior walked out obviously on his way to the wash room or something. He wasn't paying attention and he just turned to close the door behind himself but when he turned back around and came face to face with them standing in the corridor his little jaw fell open. The lad was dumbstruck as he stood there and Killian was having problems of his own as his legs went out from underneath him pulling Emma to the floor with him when a surge of absolute love surged through him at the sight of the boy.
He fell to his knees and held out his arms "Son?"
Junior's bottom lip gave a huge wobble and the tears were falling in an instant as he surged forward and ran into Killian's outstretched arms yelling "PAPA"
The rest was a blur, there were voices, there was a lot of commotion and Emma's caring arms around them both but Killian couldn't make anything else out until suddenly there was another boy kneeling in front of him and he reached out hauling Henry into their hug too.
"Gods I missed you all" he sobbed pulling his family in tight
"We missed you too Old Man" Henry sobbed back "Don't you EVER leave us again, you hear me?"
"Loud and clear Son" Killian chuckled through his tears "Loud and clear"
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Rumple and Belle rode in silence but every time he glanced over to look at her she grinned at him like a fool. He found himself grinning back but not for the same reasons as Belle. It had been sheer luck that they had just been heading home when the portal opened... he still wasn't sure on how that had happened but it had and he had used it to his advantage.
OK, yes he had lost the Savior's magic from his dagger, something that he had been looking forward to experimenting with but it would be worth it in the end... after all he couldn't have had that idiotic fool of a Pirate dying before he'd had the chance of torturing him first, I mean who the hell gets bitten by a Neverbeast JUST before they return home? But he supposed that this had ended up being a good result too so he couldn't really complain, he had his dagger back and to top it all off he had managed to make it look like it was Captain Hook himself who gave it back... that moment where he had held it out to the Pirate had been heart stopping but his gamble had paid off and all his hard work with the boy seemed to have held favor with his older self.
The fool had no idea what was coming and now that Rumple had his dagger back months earlier than he had anticipated he was going to have so much fun.
He mused to himself of all the things he was going to do and an almost feral grin came to his face when he thought of how he would force Facilier to take on a certain Lost Ones features and perhaps have him just bump into an unsuspecting Hook while rumple himself watched the results... Rumple almost giggled at the thought of the sheer panic that would go through the Pirate as he thought he had just seen Devin.
No one would believe him of course, the boy was dead... Whale would attest to that... this was perfect.
Yes, that would be the move to send Captain Hook down the road to self destruction. Rumple was going to have that man ready to end himself rather than face anymore. The darkness inside Rumple practically giggled with joy but he held it inside not wanting Belle to get suspicious because that was the beauty of this whole thing...
No one would EVER suspect him an any of it... he could just sit back and act like he cared about what was happening to "his family" where in truth he would enjoy every last minute of watching the Pirate that ruined his life crumble into a wreck of a man. Maybe he could turn him to drink again... it probably wouldn't take that much effort.
"What are you thinking?" Belle asked coyly looking across at him just as he swung the car into their drive.
"I was just thinking that maybe we could have a rum before bed... I thought it seemed a fitting way to end the day"