title: i'll be waiting here for you
summery: emma and henry are awoken in the middle of the night by a bloodied visitor. post 2x11
pairing: emma/killian, henry included
rating: strong T
disclaimer: i own colin o'donoghue (sadly, i actually don't. that honor belongs to his beautiful wife helen.)
notes: this is post 2x11, if killian hadn't been injured as badly as he was after being hit by the car. also, let's pretend that david and mary are not living with emma and henry.
i also strongly recommend that you listen to the song 'kingdom come' by the civil wars.
i'll be waiting here for you
The loud pounding is what wakes her from that first dreamless sleep since returning from the Enchanted Forest.
She lets out a loud sigh, sitting up in bed. "Who the hell is that at this hour?" she grumbles, glancing at the alarm clock on her nightstand. "2 am? I'll kill 'em."
"Mom? Who's that?" Henry calls from his tiny room. She can hear the tiny pitter-pat of his feet and knows he's heading her way.
"I have no idea, Henry," Emma calls back, kicking the covers off of her legs. She pads across the room and around the counter. Henry appears beside her, his eyes heavy with sleep. "Henry, stay here, all right? Just stay back."
The boy doesn't argue and remains back beside her own bed. She takes another tentative step forward, eyeing where her pistol lay locked up in the small safe that David had given her. The pounding had resumed, much louder than before.
She finally gives in, striding across the floor and glancing through the peephole. It's what lays behind the door that causes her to stifle a scream.
"Who is it?!" Henry shouts, terrified by her voice.
"It's-" she yanks on the door handle and the broken and bloodied pirate falls over the threshold. "...Hook."
/
He lays on her bed, covered in thick blankets. Henry sits beside him, ignoring her words of warning, as she paws around her bag for her cell phone. The storm had cut out the electricity without either of them knowing it as they slept on. Her phone was out and she prayed that she could find service on her own cell phone.
"There it is! Finally!" Emma pulls the phone out of her bag and flips it open, thankfully finding a few bars of service. She dials and listens. "Hello? This is Sheriff Swan. I have an injured man at my apartment, he's been beaten badly and he's bleeding. I need an ambulance-what? Are you serious? Then I'll bring him in myself-All right, fine, when's the earliest you can get through? Then what am I supposed to do until then?"
"That doesn't sound good," Henry murmurs to the heavy lidded pirate. "But you're going to be okay, Mr. Jones."
It's the sound of his real name that brings the pirate out of his hazy sea.
"How do you know my name, lad?" he asks quietly, his voice raspy and broken.
"My mom told me all about you," Henry smiles. "When she got back from your land, she didn't shut up about you for two days."
"Oh, really?" Killian manages to raise one eyebrow before wincing. "What has she said about me?"
Henry shrugs his shoulders. "That you drove her insane. And that she left you at the top of a beanstalk."
"Ha! That's-ow-" his attempt at laughter delves into a whimper of pain. He is alarmed to find Henry's hand slipping through his, giving his fingers a gentle squeeze.
"You're going to be okay," the boy murmurs. "My mom will fix this."
"How can you be so sure, lad?" he whispers back.
"Because, it was meant to be."
/
They had at least six hours to kill before the paramedics could get through. Emma had finally gotten a hold of a slightly inebriated Dr. Whale and he gave her some first aid instructions over the phone and kept insisting that she keep Hook awake due to the fact that he probably had a deep concussion or a closed head injury.
"I think we are stuck together for a while," Emma sighs as she finds another blanket and gently tucks it around Hook's form. "Henry, you're shivering."
"I'm fine," Henry answers his mother, his eyes darting back and forth between the broken man on the bed and the blonde.
"Go and get your robe or a sweatshirt. I can't have you falling ill on me."
"Listen to your mother," Killian says, smiling at the surprise in Emma's eyes. Henry obeys and disappears upstairs for a few minutes, leaving the adults alone.
"What the hell happened, Jones?" Emma asks. "What happened to you?"
"Have you ever heard of the crocodile?"
Emma lets out a moan. "Gold did this?"
"He did some of it," Killian responds. "I did the rest."
"What happened?" she asks again, more gentle. "Tell me what happened."
His bloodied face goes gaunt before he answers. "I got hit by a car."
And she knows. She knows the rest of it.
"Damn it, Killian."
/
"You're lucky my father left some of his old clothes here. We can get you out of those soaking wet garbs of yours."
"And ruin my virility?! No bloody way!"
She rolls her eyes and crosses her arms in front of her chest, the teeshirt and sweatpants gripped in one hand. "You have three choices, Hook. You can stay in those wet clothes and develop hypothermia and die. Or, I can have Henry dress you like a little four year old. Or I can help you and try to get a look at what the damage is. We are going to be stuck together for a long time and you are also getting my bed wet."
"Oh, love, you should have made it clearer the first time. Having a princess dress me is like a dream come true!"
"Shove your eyes back in your head."
/
Slowly, surely, and with the delicate and warm touch of a mother, Emma helps the pirate out of his clothing and into the teeshirt and sweatpants that David had left behind. Henry comes in and helps once they needed to get his shirt off and the warm one back on.
"Mom, look."
It's her son's quiet voice that alerts Emma to how serious this really is.
She steps around the end of the bed and manages to swallow a tiny gasp when she see Killian's back. It's bruised from neck to waist with a few slashes as almost like he was whipped. They are puckered and swollen, some open and bleeding. She could recognize road lacerations anywhere.
"Damn it," she whispers. "Henry, can you go get that towel from the bathroom? The big fluffy one?"
The boy disappears without a word, returning a moment later with the large blue towel of question as well as a bottle of rubbing alcohol. She casts him a smile, amazed at how much they could already think alike.
"Killian, this is going to hurt a bit," she breathes.
"Love, whatever you've got, I can take. I took that speeding contraption tonight and walked away." Those words are soon drowned out by the loud hiss that emits from his lips as she gently dabs the alcohol onto his back, washing away the stray bits of blood and dirt.
"Did you land on your back?" she asks, easing a gentle cloth over his shoulders.
"Yes," he sighs.
Once her fingers trace his shoulders, another whimper escapes, this time louder and more pronounced with pain.
"Your shoulder's dislocated," she whispers. "Henry, come here."
"What is it?"
"Help me ease him onto his back," Emma says. "But put that towel down underneath." Henry obeys, placing the towel down on the bed before gently easing the pirate back down.
"What are you going to do?" Killian asks, sounding just a little frightened.
"I need to put your shoulder back in," she says. "I need you to hold very still. Henry, come over to this side." Henry does that and she takes her son's hand. "Keep your hands right here on his other shoulder and press down. Be gentle but keep him still. Understand?"
"Yes, Mom." And he does just that, not without giving the pirate's wrist a gentle squeeze. They had to take the hook off a while ago, it resting safely on the kitchen counter.
"Killian, are you ready?"
He gives a pained nod. "Yes, just do it."
Her hands come down on his shoulder, her knee resting gently on his hand. "One, two...three!"
This cry of pain is the worst. And it cuts right through her like a knife.
"Okay, okay. It's over, it's over," she whispers, tears burning her eyes and threatening to fall. "You're going to be fine."
/
"Stay awake, Jones. You need to stay awake."
It's near four. The storm is lessening but still quite strong.
She is perched on the opposing chair to the bed, her eyes resting on the pirate. He is wrapped up like a burrito in two thick blankets and one placed delicately over top of his legs. Every movement that he made would be filled with a tiny whimper and every time she heard him cry out, there was another stab in her heart.
Henry was curled up on the end of the bed, having pulled himself into a ball. She had placed a comforter over his thin form. But he isn't asleep either, his eyes going back and forth between her and the pirate. Almost like he is afraid that they are going to disappear before his very eyes.
"I'm trying, love," he whispers back. "I'm so tired."
She scoots her chair closer. "Then tell Henry a story. Tell him about one of your greatest adventures at sea. Before everything happened."
Henry sits up slowly, shivering slightly in the cold air. He pulls the comforter up around his shoulders, reaffirming his spot on the end of the bed. "I'd like to hear a story, Mr. Jones."
Emma's nod reassures him.
"All right," Killian says slowly. His forehead creases in thought, almost as to like he couldn't really think of what to tell. "There was the time that my men and I went around the Mermaid's Isle."
Emma's eyebrows shoot up. "Did you meet Ariel?"
"Who's Ariel?"
Henry covers his mouth in an attempt to hide a giggle. Killian glances at him, confused.
"Ariel, she was a Disney princess/mermaid. She has red hair and blue eyes and-" Emma tries and then gives up. "Oh, never mind."
"I did have an interesting conversation with a mermaid named Esme. She warned us that if we journeyed through the Mermaids' Isle, we would be lured to our deaths by their song."
"And what did she do?" Henry asks.
"She was able to lead us around the Isle but we had to put whale wax into our ears. I was so tempted to tell the men to tie me to the mast so I could hear them sing but I knew that I would probably lose me mind."
Emma lets out a tender chuckle. "You're right about that."
"Then what happened?" Henry asks.
"Esme led us through, a safe distance away from the Isle. It didn't stop her fellow mermaids from following. We almost lost a man on that journey. He became so transfixed with one of the lass's beauty that he nearly jumped overboard. Luckily, a few of the others caught him and pushed him down," Killian says, a half smile on his lips, lost in the memory.
"What about Esme? What happened to her?" Emma found herself asking. She then gave herself a mental shake, amazed that she was actually listening to the story.
"I offered her money and wealth for saving us. She turned it down and left without a word, actually. Not even a goodbye," he says, pursing his lips just slightly.
"I wonder why."
"Isn't it obvious, Mom?" Henry says. "She was in love with Killian but she knew that they could never have a future together. She wasn't going to become human and he wasn't going to become a merman so what was the point?"
"You're very perceptive, lad," Killian chuckles. "I can see where you get it from too."
Henry smiles. "I've been told that."
"How are you feeling?" Emma suddenly asks. "How much pain?"
"There's a bit, mostly in my shoulder," he replies softly. "But those pills that you gave me helped."
"Tylenol. That was all that Whale said would be safe until you are at the hospital," Emma sighs.
"How does it look outside?"
She strides over to the window, looking out. The rain has finally stopped but the wind is as violent as forever.
"It's still pretty bad."
"Mom?" Henry's tiny voice is filled with fear. "Mom, what if-?"
"No, Henry," Emma silences him. "Don't even let those words form."
And so he doesn't.
/
It's near six. The sun is beginning to slowly break through the gray mass of clouds, it's rays coming through the window and coming to rest on the bed.
And Emma finds herself curled up on the bed beside a certain Captain Hook, one arm delicately draped over his shoulders and her leg entwined with both of his. Henry was still at the end of the bed, sitting up with the blanket wrapped around his shoulders, his eyes wide as he keeps watch over both of them.
"Killian? Killian, can you hear me?" her lips are at his ear. "Killian, please wake up."
"I'm awake, love," he murmurs. "I've never gone to sleep."
"Stay that way, all right? The paramedics should be here soon. Just...just hold on for me. I'm right here. Hold onto me."
Her fingers slip through his, her chin not daring to touch his bad shoulder.
"I don't think I can, love," he whispers. "I'm so tired." And that's when she sees the tear slowly slipping down his cheek. She reaches up, catching it with her fingertips.
"I know. But it's going to be okay," she whispers back. "You can start over."
"And how will I do that? Do I begin working at the restaurant? Do I stay at the inn?"
"Something like that," she says. "Tonight's a freebie. Don't think that after you're better you will be here at all."
"Aw, love. You've hurt me deeply."
The corner of her mouth turns up in a hint of a smile. "I can hurt you even worse. Remember?"
"Did your mother ever tell you that she knocked me cold in a sword fight?" he says suddenly, directing his voice at the boy at the end of the bed.
Henry lets out a tiny chuckle, his exhaustion evident in his eyes. "Yes, she did tell me. She thinks that you threw the fight."
"I do not!"
"That thought did cross my mind," Killian whispers. "But just as it was entering my head, a fist came up and put my lights out."
"Ha. See, I told you so."
"You got me a technicality, love. You had the compass."
"Oh, watch it buddy. You say that again and the moment you get out of the hospital, you will be back in."
/
The pounding on the door causes all three of them to jump violently.
"Does anyone need help?!"
Henry leaps off the bed in a single bound and jumps up to look through the peephole. "It's the paramedics, Mom!"
"Let them in!" Emma gets up, swinging her long legs off of the bed as the paramedics rush in with the gurney. They fire questions at her and at her boy as they carefully lift a now unconscious Killian Jones, blankets in all, onto the gurney.
"There's no heartbeat!"
"No pulse!"
"Damn it! Get the defibrillator!"
No.
It can't be. Not after all of this. It can't be.
"Killian-" she starts forward but sways dangerously on her feet. The one free paramedic manages to catch her just as she falls deep into that darkness that she welcomes with open arms.
/
She strides the floor, her boots clicking on the linoleum.
"Sheriff? You can see him now."
She doesn't stick around to hear the rest of the doctor's words as she flies into the hospital room, finding Killian Jones sitting up in bed, that familiar cocky smirk gracing his lips.
/
"I swear to God and whatever the hell else is up there, Killian. If you ever scare me like that again, I will personally feed you to the ogres."
"Love, I have always had the flair for the dramatic."
"I nearly killed myself trying to keep you alive," she sighs. "And if you died on me after all of that-" "You would have what?" She turns just in time to catch Killian watching her intently, that real smile gracing his lips. "What would you have done? Would you have missed me?"
"No!"
Henry rolls his eyes from his seat. "Oh, Mom."
"Oh, hush, Henry."
/
She feels gentle hands on her shoulders. She doesn't even bother to look up to know her mother's touch.
"Hey, Mom."
She can hear Snow's hitch of breath. It is the first time she has ever called her 'Mom'.
"Hey, baby girl," Snow whispers, lowering herself down beside her daughter on the bench. "Have you gone home yet?"
"No, not yet. I've been waiting for Killian-I mean, Hook to come back from tests. Whale said that he wanted to do one more scan to make sure that there's no bleeding hiding anywhere."
"What exactly was wrong with him?"
"He had a dislocated shoulder that I put back in, four broken ribs, and road lacerations and a concussion. He fell asleep about twenty minutes before the paramedics showed up and his heart stopped. He scared the hell out of me."
"But he's going to be all right?"
Emma lets out a tiny exhausted sigh. "Yeah, he's going to be just fine. He'll walk out of this hospital in a week. And then I am going to kill him."
Snow chuckles softly, placing a delicate hand on Emma's knee. "No, you won't."
/
He awakes to find the blond creature standing in the doorway of his hospital room, her arms folded across her chest and that little red jacket clad on her shoulders.
"Hello, love. Come to check on me?"
Emma releases a breath of air. "I came to see if you wanted to press charges against Mr. Gold."
"And why would I do that? He did nothing to me except take my love and my hand three hundred years ago."
She strides just a little bit closer, keeping her arms firmly in front of her chest, almost like she is afraid that she will fall apart. "You do not want to press charges for him beating you?"
"I started it," he whispers. "It's over."
"Why?" she hates the way her voice sounds. So tired, so sad, so broken.
Huh. Maybe they really were one in the same.
"No matter what I try to do, I cannot hurt him as badly as he has hurt me. He sent Belle away, I couldn't get to her and when I tried, this happened. The only way I could have harmed him was to take away his own heart and that was that girl. And I can't, even if I really wanted too."
She realizes then what exactly he means. What he is saying.
He's given up.
"You threw yourself in front of that car, didn't you?"
A tear escapes.
And then a tiny nod. "Yes."
"You really have given up."
Her own sob is just as small, just as tiny.
"That is not the Captain Hook that I know," she whispers. "Not the Killian Jones that I thought I knew."
"I am not Killian Jones or Captain Hook. I'm nobody."
"Stop it, okay?" Emma finds her knees starting to give out on her. She kneels down beside the bed, her fingers circling his wrist to where his hand would have been. "Just stop."
"Why do you care so much, love? Why did you even let me into your house? Near your boy? After everything that you have known me to do."
"Because I do believe in hope. In hope for something better. And besides, Henry wasn't going to let me let you bleed to death on my welcome mat. By the way, I need to get rid of that thing."
A weak smile finally works it's way onto the pirate's lips. "Thank you, Emma," he breathes. "I don't deserve your kindness."
"No, you don't. But then again, I did leave you chained to the top of a beanstalk."
/
"I let it go a long time ago. He hasn't."
"That's because you found the real thing," Emma replies.
"It's not my fault that it took him three hundred years to find the real thing."
"Excuse me?" her eyebrows shoot up in surprise.
"You really don't see it, do you Miss Swan?" Gold gives her a half smirk that turns into a full blown smile.
"See what?" A shoot of sudden stupidity runs through her before she understands. "Are you serious? Hook doesn't have feelings for me."
"Oh, he's 'Hook' again, huh?" Gold replies. "I thought he was Killian Jones."
"He is! I mean-oh, damn you Gold!"
/
She sees him slowly walking towards her down the hallway.
"They let you out?"
"The doctor said I am perfectly healthy but to take it easy for a while."
"That's good," she murmurs, glancing at her booted feet once they reach each other. "Where will you go?"
His eyebrows rise. "I would think that I was headed to jail."
She shakes her blonde mane. "I spoke to Gold. He won't press charges. He is more interested in moving past this and finding his son. He wants nothing to do with you."
"That's good because I want nothing to do with him."
"Are you ready to let this go?" she asks quietly. His tiny nod is confirmation enough for her. And then she tosses him the badge.
He catches it cleanly between his hook and his fingers, holding it up in the blazing hallway light. "What is that?"
"A job," she responds. "My father and mother are going back to the enchanted forest. I need a new deputy."
/
Leaving it there before it gets too long. I'm just dropping it off like that so you can make your own conclusion on what will happen with Emma and with Killian. Will they get together or will they just remain good friends? Will they have their happy ending? Will Killian drive her insane as her deputy?
Reviews are loved. Thanks guys. Have a great and safe week.