Dead Reckoning

Chapter Thirteen

After leaving the diner, Killian slowly walked down the street with nowhere in particular to go in mind. Normally, he would walk down to the harbor or to the beach to look out over the ocean, but after the attack that nearly had killed him and blew up the vessel that had been his only home and refuge for the last two hundred years, the ocean no longer held the peace they once did. And even though Emma had healed him, he still felt weak. Much like he was still drowning. However, he realized this feeling was more because he was overwhelmed by all that's happened. It was too much, too fast. As much as he wanted to stay with his brother and wife amongst his family and friends, he just couldn't take it any longer.

By the time Killian snapped out of his thoughts he had drifted into, he found himself within the cemetery not too far away from the center of town. He turned his head to look behind him and realized it was the area where his own body had been laid to rest after Emma had been forced to kill him to save their loved ones from the darkness trapped within himself. The area where he reappeared again after being resurrected by Zeus as a reward for helping to defeat Hades. His tombstone had been removed and the ground where his grave had been was no longer as visible since his coffin was no longer buried there, but this was a place that still unnerved him even on the good days.

He was kneeling down while he had begun to run his hand over the cold ground when Emma finally found him and before he rose upon hearing her coming up from behind him, then kneel down beside him, he felt her arms wrap gently around him while she whispered, "You shouldn't be here. Of all the places you could have chosen to walk to so you could be alone…"

Killian turned his head in her direction, but without actually looking into her eyes as much as he wanted to, he responded, "I'm not really sure why I came here. I suppose yet another near death experience has stirred up painful memories and subconsciously I somehow found myself here. Forgive me for walking out on you, and everyone. I don't mean to seem ungrateful for their kindness and their concern. It's just there were far too many people. I needed air and quiet. And seeing Liam again… as wonderful as it is, it's not easy."

"I get it," his wife answered and then helped him to stand up again while she turned him around to face her. "I really do. But Killian, right now it's too dangerous for you to wonder off on your own. Whoever tried to kill you is likely still here in Storybrooke somewhere. They might have left in the belief that they succeeded, but…"

"The chances aren't very likely that it's true," he finished for her. "We can head back in a few minutes. I'm still trying to work things through, but I can't with everyone else around."

Emma nodded in understanding and then spoke again saying, "I'm so sorry about the Jolly Roger. I know how much your ship meant to you."

The Captain smiled sadly as he replied, "It's all right. She was only a ship. A few planks of wood and a sail. She may have served me well for a couple of centuries, but what's important is that I'm still here… I suppose."

"Of course that's what's most important," she quickly responded as she tightened her grip on his hand, then wrapped her other hand around his neck so she could run her fingers through his hair. "Please tell me what's wrong, Killian. Please don't begin doubting yourself again because of what's happened. You've come so far to put your past behind you. Is this about why someone is trying to kill you, or about Liam coming back?"

"How many times can one person cheat death?" Killian answered despondently while looked away and lowered his head. "Even when I finally did die, I was pulled out and brought back to a life far too old to begin with. Not that I'm not grateful to you and our family for coming down to the Underworld, because I truly am. It's just that I should have remained there and today reminded me of this fact. Not to mention the rest of the times I've nearly died since I've returned. Like ending up in Neverland again and nearly burned at the stake. I wound up there because of my sin and now… Today, I placed our boy and Violet in harm's way. Nearly got them killed. If something happened…"

Before her husband could continue, Emma tenderly laid a finger over his lips as she interrupted, "Nothing did happen to them. You nearly died because you fought whoever those assailants were long enough for them to make their way back to shore so they could warn us of the danger. You protected them. Killian, if you're thinking that your near death experience with the Lost Boys, or nearly being killed today is because death, or fate… or whatever the hell it is that decides when we are meant to die is sick and tired of being cheated by you, you're wrong. I can't explain how I know it, I just do. You're just a survivor. You always have been. We have all changed our own fates because we weren't willing to accept what was written for us. And even if I thought for one minute you might be right, I still would have made the choice to save you from the Underworld. You're a good man, who deserves a life with the woman who loves him and not some hell forced upon you by an angry God. As for Henry and Violet… it isn't your fault. They were only in the wrong place at the wrong time."

He shook his head and then replied, "It's not only them I'm concerned about. Everyone here is in danger because heaven only knows who it was I wronged this time, or what they have planned."

"You don't know that whoever this is, is here because you wronged him," she responded in concern when her husband's brow deepened out of frustration. "For all we know, this is all one big misunderstanding. Maybe these assailants are being led by some new villain trying to rise up to threaten all of us."

"And they just so happened to arrive here in another pirate ship, as they targeted the Jolly Roger first?" her husband questioned skeptically.

Emma shrugged while she answered, "You were out on the ocean when they arrived. It's possible you were just a target of opportunity. But then, you do have a point. The chances that you're not who they're after are slim. Which is why I need you to stay close so we can protect you."

Killian nodded and then continued, "And now Liam's returned. I couldn't be happier for another chance to see him again. But his coming here could cause him to pay a high price. I wasn't eavesdropping, but I could help overhearing the last part of your conversation earlier at Granny's. I told you while we were down in the Underworld that Liam had sacrificed himself to help our old crew to be able to move on. But what I didn't tell you was that he also did so to save me from anymore of Hades' torment. Liam sacrificed himself for me too and Hades threw him into that boiling sea for it. I struggled to hold onto his hand with my own, but he kept me from falling in with him by letting go. I thought he was gone, that Liam had fallen into that 'worse place' and my heart broke. Thankfully his sacrifice was enough for Zeus to save my brother as the God saved me and granted Liam a second chance to redeem himself of his sins. If him coming here now to protect me again has consequences for violating the deal made between him and Zeus, or the Gods have trouble seeing messing with fate wrong, Liam could be pulled right back into that fiery pit again at any moment. I can't lose my brother again to that kind of eternal torment, Emma. I'm not sure I could bear it."

"We will protect him," the Savior replied sadly, then pulled the man she loved close as she wrapped her arms around him, holding him tightly against her chest when she saw the devastation in his eyes and the tear that slipped down his cheek. "We will do everything in our power to make sure that doesn't happen. But if we fail… Killian I promise you we will be here to help you through it. Try not to think the worst and have hope that everything's going to be alright."

"I would not be so sure of that," a man who spoke with a deep voice and a thick accent then retorted as a dart suddenly appeared out of nowhere, striking Emma in her neck and caused her to collapse unconscious in her husband's arms. "Hello again, Captain Hook. It has been a long time."

Killian held Emma tightly against himself to try to protect her while he raised his head to glare up at the villain who appeared before them, followed closely by four other men all with their weapons drawn. At first, the leader of this band of pirates only looked vaguely familiar to Killian, until what the brute said next made him remember exactly who the man was. Except when Killian knew him years ago, this villain was much younger and not quite as large in stature. The brute stood over Killian and the woman in his arms with a cruel sneer on his face.