A/N: This is mainly fluff and an excuse to have them dress up in costumes. I know I time jump a bit in this, but their relationship has evolved into something yet indefinable, perhaps they will find out this evening.
Huge thanks to my beta Jrob64, she is so gracious with her help trying to fix my grammar mistakes.
Disclaimer: I have no idea how real-life Space travel works, well I kinda know in general but details here are figments of my imagination.
Chapter 2A FEW MONTHS LATER
"Are you sure it's okay I dragged Graham along?" Liam asked and adjusted the high collar of his old-time navy officer jacket. He'd topped the costume off with a Tricorn hat, which had a feather attached with a gilded brooch.
"Aye, the more the merrier was what Emma said when I asked." Killian clapped his brother's shoulder.
"I didn't want to impose," Graham mumbled beside Liam and shot Killian a furtive glance.
"I've met the lady Lucas a few times now." Killian chuckled recalling the many times he and Emma had lunch at the diner. The brash waitress would always make a few suggestive inquiries of what he and Emma would do when they got home. "Don't worry, she won't mind."
The trio walked into a dance hall, part of the diner/inn Ruby's Grandmother ran. It looked crowded already. Killian scanned the room for any sign of Emma.
"What is she dressed up as?" Liam asked.
"Who?"
"Emma." Liam nudged Killian's shoulder with a knowing smirk.
"Dunno." Killian shrugged and scratched behind his ear, hoping the dimmed light would hide the red rising over his ears.
"Hmm."
Killian ignored his brother and scanned the room again, but it was impossible to get a good look at who was there. "How many did she invite?"
"Quite a lot it seems…" Liam gasped, "Isn't that Elsa North, your fellow astronaut?"
Killian looked to where Liam pointed and sure enough, Elsa was there, dressed in a long, slim, fitted baby blue dress. He chuckled. She'd sure gone all in with the Disney teasing he and Al had been doing in the past months. If Al was Disney Aladdin, Elsa was doing a pretty good impression of Elsa from Frozen.
"Who's with the blonde?" Graham asked with a strained voice, and when Killian looked at the man dressed as a huntsman, he looked smitten. Graham was Liam's friend, but Killian had been with him enough times to know that the quiet man rarely openly paid notice to the women. This was new.
Dressed in a corset-styled short dress, Ruby cut a pretty figure. It could be a pirate's wench costume, altered a bit with some fur trimmings at the neckline and the bottom of the skirt. Perched on her dark hair was a pair of wolf's ears.
"That is our host for the evening, Ruby Lucas." Killian offered him a sympathetic smile. If Emma's stories about the woman were true, Ruby ate guys like Graham for breakfast..
Graham groaned and rubbed his face, "I need a drink." He didn't wait for the brothers to follow him to the bar.
Elsa moved to the side and lo-and-behold, there stood Emma in a pale blue princess dress, full skirt and all, shoulders bare and a gold necklace resting on her collarbone.
"Bloody hell." Killian looked to the ceiling and closed his eyes. She looked bloody gorgeous dressed up like that.
"Come now…" Liam nudged him again, "Don't tell me the dashing Captain Hook is afraid of an itty bitty princess."
Killian glanced down at the fake hook he clutched in his left hand, and smoothed his other hand over the lapels of the long leather duster he wore. The room would become too hot at some point, but the coat was part of his costume.
"Piss off," Killian grumbled and strode forward with purpose. His heart only faltered a quick second when she spotted him. Her green eyes filled with surprise but soon a smouldering look took over, giving away how much she liked what she saw. This knowledge gave him a final boost and soon he bowed over her hand and whispered, "Greetings, Princess Swan."
Emma covered her mouth with her hand, hiding her knowing smile, and made a show of trying to curtsy. "I did not know that pirates were allowed at this party."
Ruby's wolfish laugh interrupted the heated stare between them, "Oh, all kinds of personalities are more than welcome here at my Halloween bash." Ruby gave him a brilliant smile, "Good to see you again, Killian." Her eyes moved up and down his form and she smirked, "I like this version of Hook far better than the poofy Disney version." She nudged Emma. "Don't you think so too, Emma?"
"Hmm." Emma moved closer and slipped her hand into his, "He looks quite fine to me."
"Who did you bring?" Ruby asked and looked at Liam, who had followed him to the group of women.
"This is my brother, Liam Jones." Killian glanced over his shoulder towards the bar, "And Liam's mate, Graham, is drinking up some liquid courage at the bar, I believe."
"Oh," Ruby scanned the bar area, "who is he dressed up as?"
"A huntsman," Liam offered and added, "Thank you for letting us join this party."
"Oh, I love big parties, so yeah the more the merrier." Ruby flipped her thumb to Emma, "I asked Emma to cajole some of her coworkers, too. That gave us the lovely Elsa here. I already love you, girl." Ruby toasted with Elsa and beamed around at the rest of the party.
Elsa gave Killian a sheepish smile and shrugged, "I've been talking a bit here and there with Emma and it just seemed like a fun Halloween party. My sister is away to visit her Norwegian boyfriend."
"In Norway?"
"Oh, yeah," Elsa laughed. "She fell hard and fast." She shook her head in wonder and Killian noticed how she shot his brother a quick glance, which resulted in some rose colour rising into her cheeks.
This party was going to be interesting for sure. While he'd been talking with Elsa, it seemed as if Ruby had slipped away and when he looked to the bar; he saw her talking with Graham.
"Emma?" Killian asked.
"Hmm."
"Should I be worried about Graham's safety after Ruby is finished with him?"
Emma laughed and tugged herself closer to his form, her full skirt making it difficult. "He'll survive. She isn't as bad as some might think." Looking at the bar, she commented, "She seems to be taking it far slower than her usual tactics."
"Good." Liam said, then he bowed to Elsa and asked, "Care to dance?"
Elsa blinked a few times in surprise, before taking the offered hand and following Liam out on the dance floor.
"Now I might ask you the same thing about your brother," Emma said.
"Oh?"
"Yeah, I've become good friends with your colleague there, so should I be worried?"
"My brother is a good and honest man," Killian reassured her and twisted them around so he could drape his hooked arm over her shoulder. "How about I show you how a pirate dances?"
"Oh, I don't dance." Emma tried to slip out of his embrace.
"Darling…" Killian whispered into her ear, "It's only a matter of finding the right partner, one who knows what he's doing."
At this, Emma lifted an amused eyebrow and followed him to the dance floor.
The night was a flurry of drinks, more dancing, and observing how things progressed with Liam and Elsa. To Killian's surprise, something also seemed to develop between Ruby and Graham.
After another slow dance with his princess, he followed her out into the foyer for some cooling down. The dance hall was getting more stuffy by the hour.
"Having fun?" Emma asked and wrapped her arms around his waist, her eyes a little glassy from the various drinks she'd had tonight. The woman had become a lover of rum, much to his delight. He still couldn't believe he and Emma had reconnected again like this. The past months had been a flurry of work and training, gruelling training, then more work. Whenever he had a break or free time, he'd been with Emma. He knew things had changed between them, especially when she'd initiated a kiss after another evening out. That kiss had played on repeat in his mind ever since.
"What ya thinking about?" Emma's breath tickled his chest hair and right now he cursed the costume choice of having his shirt so open.
"You."
"Oh…" Emma blinked up at him and a blush crept over her chest and neck.
"You look ravishing in that dress, love." He'd hung his hook at his belt, the leather duster was off now, and if Emma's searching hands were anything to go by, she didn't seem to miss it.
"You don't look too bad yourself." Her hand lifted to the open V of his shirt and when her fingertip came in contact with his skin, he groaned.
"Bloody hell." He clenched his jaw and curled his fingers into the light blue tulle at her waist.
"What's the matter? The cat stole the fearsome pirate's tongue?" Her finger swirled into his chest hair.
"You are a minx, princess." Killian took a deep shuddering breath.
"Hmm." She pressed closer, "And you're too damn hot in this gear. How is a woman to think clearly when you…" She giggled, it was a typical drunk-Emma-giggle, "fuck it."
He had no time to think before she pressed her lips to his, but he wasn't one to complain. He returned the kiss with the same intensity and curled his fingers into her intricate hairdo, most likely ruining the hard work she'd put into it. But right now she didn't seem to mind as her lips duelled with his, her tongue slipping into the battle as well.
Killian groaned into her mouth and they only pulled apart when a gaggle of partygoers strayed out into the foyer. But Emma snugged her face into his neck, her warm breath tickling over his skin.
"I like you," Emma whispered.
"Hmm, and I… I really like you too." Killian took a deep breath, "What are we… I mean…" He cleared his throat, "What does all this lead to?"
Emma looked up at him with her lips pursed in thought. "Think I finally want to put a label on this." She pointed at him and then herself. "This between us is special and I want to keep you in my life."
"I want to be in your life." He cupped her face and smoothed his thumbs over her cheek. "I've always liked you, you've been in my heart forever." He sighed, "I was just a damn fool to never have taken this next step with you when we were younger."
"No reason to dwell on all the could haves, let's focus on the now and here." Her hand covered his hand on her face. "The future." She gulped and a flicker of doubt or sadness flashed over her features.
"What's wrong, love?"
Emma sighed, "You're going to space soon." Her eyes flickered to his chest, and he felt the tremor rushing through her.
"Bloody hell." Killian pulled her closer and cradled her to his chest. "I know love and I'll miss you every nanosecond. But I'll be back, I swear."
Emma let out a small weak laugh, "I'm a space engineer, I fucking know how dangerous those rockets are."
Killian placed a kiss on her hair. "I know love, and you're a damn brilliant rocket engineer.I trust you and your team have been able to build the best possible space station modules for us. And for the spaceship taking us there, I've seen the new improvements that you've made."
"I know all that," Emma mumbled against his chest, "But the difference now is that you'll be on that rocket ship."
"Emma." Gently he urged her to look at him and when her watery green eyes finally looked up at him, he smiled, "Look let's be honest here, aye I'm going to space, I'm going to bloody orbit the moon for four months." He took a deep breath, "I'll miss you like crazy, but I don't want our remaining months from now until then to be filled with worry and heartache." He swallowed hard. "I want us to start this amazing thing between us right here and right now. I don't want to wait until I return."
"Oh."
"Aye." He leaned closer, "You're important to me. I love you, Emma."
Her eyes blew wide at his last words. "Seriously?"
"Aye, I love you." He brushed his lips over her cheek. "Don't let the worry ruin the happy times we can have now, together."
"I…" Emma curled her fingers into his side. "I think I'd like that." She turned her head and kissed him. "I love you, too."
Killian didn't need to know more, his heart soared at her words. She loved him. He hoped she could put her worries aside and enjoy the time they had together before he would go on the mission. The kiss became more and more frantic and he realized that he'd maneuvered them into a darker corner of the foyer and her back was now against the wall. She was pressed flush against him and her arms wove behind his neck, her fingers toying with the strands of the hair at his neck. The gentle touch of her fingers sent shivers through his body and he groaned out when she gyrated against his groin. He was rock hard by now and his brain shut down, only feeling the soaring elation of finally being able to kiss Emma. Gods, he'd even dreamt of this back in their teenage years, but he'd been too shy to do anything about it.
"Killian?" A voice called out from a distance. It seemed so far away, lightyears even. It took all his willpower to pull away and scan the room behind them. His brother had spotted them and a shit-eating grin spread over his face.
"Piss off, brother," Killian groaned and stifled another groan when Emma pressed a tender kiss to the exposed skin at his collarbone.
"Oh, pardon brother, we got a bit worried when we couldn't find you," Liam started, and looked to the entrance. "Elsa, I've found them."
"Oh perfect, I wanted to ask… Emma?" Elsa blinked in surprise when she took in their dishevelled state. Killian grimaced, Emma's intricate hairdo was ruined beyond repair and her lips were swollen and void of any lipstick.
"Hi," Emma giggled and pointed between them. "I… we… we were just… you know…"
"Kissing the ever-loving daylights out of my co-worker it seems," Elsa laughed and stepped up next to Liam. It didn't go unnoticed by either Killian or Emma if her giggle was anything to go by, that Elsa slipped her hand into his brother's.
Killian lifted a curious eyebrow and asked, "Think you have something to share too, brother?"
"Piss off, little brother," Liam chuckled and tugged Elsa towards the dance hall. "Just glad you finally had the balls to kiss your lady Swan there. You've been pining over her for years.
"Bugger off," Killian grumbled, and said a little louder as Liam had almost slipped inside again, "and it's younger brother, you git."
Emma laughed at this and when he looked down at her, she hiccuped and wiped tears away. "You guys have always been like this. I love you."
"Hmm." Killian pressed a kiss to her forehead. "Just be glad I love you far too much to be pissed at you mocking me."
"That's good to know." Emma slipped her arm around his waist and suggested, "Why don't we have a bit more fun with our friends before going home."
"Home?"
Emma shrugged, "I don't know, my place or yours?"
"I live with my brother, so your place."
Emma laughed, and they walked inside to dance and have a grand time with their friends. The news of their changed relationship status had travelled like wildfire, so there was the expected ripping from Ruby who was perched on Graham's lap. The huntsman looked happy, and quite taken with the outspoken Ruby, but Killian saw no sign of Ruby being a tease. She genuinely seemed quite taken by the mild-mannered man.
The evening dwindled, and Killian followed Emma home where they crashed for the night. Both were far too tired to be doing more than cuddling and sleeping, but Killian knew that they had started something new tonight, something fantastic that he was looking forward to exploring even more. The next months would be focused on the mission along with building up a strong and loving relationship with an amazing woman whom he loved to the moon and back.