A/N: I apologise for nothing.

Disclaimer: Not my characters, not my world. Just my imagination borrowing them for a bit.

David carried him into the house, eerily familiar and yet so different from the one in Storybrooke. So far away. Killian cried out as Robin helped clear off the table and lay him on it. There was blood everywhere, his clothes almost seeped in it, his face half covered with bruises and burns. Emma refused to let go of him, her fingers gripping his hand tightly as he moaned.

Show him the truth, Hades had said, the words replaying in her mind, over and over. Show him the truth, and he's yours.

"The truth about what?" Emma demanded.

Hades only shrugged as he turned away. "You'll know. Or you won't. That's the deal."

He vanished as the cuff circled her wrist, locking on, and they were left only with the vague directions to Killian's cell, the location more obvious the closer they got to the screams.

Regina tried to wave her hands over him, her magic ineffective against such otherworldly wounds. Killian was gasping, eyes squeezed shut, his back arching off the wooden table as Snow tried to find the source of the blood.

"Help me get his jacket off, David," she asked, her voice calm though Emma could hear the notes of panic lining the edges.

So much blood, it was almost too much.

Show him the truth.

"No." Her voice was almost a whisper, cracking with the emotion she desperately wanted to hide. "No," she said again, stronger.

"Emma, we have to stop the bleeding."

"It's not real." She almost couldn't believe the words herself, but she had to. "It's not real."

David's hand went to her shoulder. "Emma, what are you saying?"

"It's not real. It can't be real. This isn't what it should be like for him."

She gripped his hand tighter, her other hand going to his face, the side that wasn't as badly bruised or beaten.

"Killian, you have to fight this," she whispered to him, fighting against the tears threatening to fall. "This isn't real."

Her father's hold on her shoulder was stronger now. "Emma," he said gently, "let us take care of him, it'll be-"

"No." Her voice was stronger now, she was sure, now. "Hades said to show him the truth. This is isn't it, I know it."

Killian's eye opened, his pained groans quieting as she stroked his cheek. "Emma," he breathed. "Emma."

She forced a smile and bent closer to him. "This isn't real, Killian," she murmured. "I know it feels like it hurts, I know you're in pain, but it's not real, trust me." His fingers tightened on hers. "I'm real, Killian. Focus on me, on my hand. I'm real. We're real, nothing else."

For a moment, nothing happened. She almost gave up, let David drag her away. But only for a moment.

Show him the truth.

"You know how I know?" she said, her fingers rubbing circles on the back of his hand. "Because the Killian I know doesn't deserve this kind of torture, the Killian I know has already made up for so much of the bad things he's done."

His chest heaved, hitching slightly as he grunted, pain flashing across his face. "It's too much," he whispered. "I've done… too much…I deserve it..."

"You've done so much good, Killian," she said, not giving up, not now, not ever. "You helped save Henry back in Neverland. You didn't have to, but you did. You brought me back to save my family, the whole town, from Zelena. You helped me save my parents when I messed everything up. You helped Ursula, you gave her back her happy ending so that she'd help us. You saved me and Henry when you didn't even remember us! And you saved us in Camelot, you risked your life to get the sword back from Arthur." She was crying now, tears spilling hotly onto her cheeks, but she didn't stop. "You saved me, Killian, you helped me open up to my parents, to you, to love. This, this can't be what you deserve, it can't be."

His breathing changed suddenly, deepening, as if his mangled and broken ribs no longer pained him. Her mother gasped and jumped back from the table. "His back, the marks, they're closing up, everything's disappearing," she said softly.

"You're healing me," Killian whispered, his voice clearer, steadier.

"No," she smiled through the tears. "You are." She didn't tell him that she had no magic then, that the deal with Hades was twofold - getting him back was only part of the deal. What good was having him if they couldn't get out of this accursed realm? So she traded her magic, temporarily, and her skills to aid in one quest, and they'd all be granted passage back to the land of the living. All of them.

"You're real," he whispered, his fingers closing over hers. "You're real."

The bruises on his face changed colour, from glaring red and purple to yellow, fading completely away in seconds. The burns too, and soon he was looking up at her, both blue eyes open fully, shining brightly.

"How did you know?" he rasped weakly. The wounds were gone, the blood as well, but the memory remained, and she knew it would take time for those to heal as well.

"I know you," she said, voice thick with emotion. "You're a hero now, whether you like it or not. And this is not how a hero's journey ends."

Slowly, wincing, he sat up, legs dangling off the edge of the table, his hand still firmly holding hers. Snow and David were together, Regina and Robin holding hands with Henry, just watching. He looked at them, all of them, his eyes glistening with tears unshed.

"I can't believe you came for me," he whispered. "I don't deserve your forgiveness." He grunted just then, his hand leaving hers to go to his neck, where it started to turn red again, the painful marks returning.

She knew his doubts, his fears, how little he believed in himself, and quickly reached for his hand, pulling it away from the quickly spreading burns. "You've earned it, Killian. You've more than made up for your past." She held his hand in both of hers as he stared at her, a pained expression on his face as he understood.

Show him the truth.

He nodded, the struggle against his disbelief obvious by the storm in his eyes. But he must have won, because the burns on his face faded away once more.

"Thank you," he said, looking around the room. "Thank you."

David stepped forward, clapping his hand on Killian's back. "You're welcome," he said, a little too loudly, a little too shakily. "But let's not make a habit of bringing you back from the dead, ok?"

Killian ducked his head, a smile creeping across his mouth. "Deal."

"Speaking of," Regina interrupted. "How about we do what we came here to do and go back to the land of the living?"

Emma nodded, her hands still holding Killian's, her eyes locked on his, as she smiled. "Let's go home."