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Chapter Text

The next evening, Killian took a long and circuitous route to Emma’s home in order to foil any attempt to follow him. His conversation with Cora the night before did not bode well. She had not returned the seeking device and he worried that she would use it to spy on him. He resolved to tell Swan the truth tonight and persuade her to escape with him, while he worked on a plan to vanquish Cora and retake his ship.

Emma tore open her door, even as the pirate was reaching to knock on it. “Killian!”

“I told you I’d be back, Swan,” he said, embracing her. “I will always return to you.”

“Damn it, you better, Killian.” She kissed him as she pulled him into the apartment.

Emma bustled about, making coffee, setting out plates with croissants and cheese, while Killian, seated on the couch, watched somberly. “Swan, we have no time for this. We need to leave, and now.”

“What do you mean, Killian? You just got here.”

“Swan, I have something to confess to you,” he began.

She sat beside him, putting her index finger against his lips. “Killian, whatever you have to say, I don’t want to hear it. I love you, and you love me, that’s all that matters.”

His eyes were shadowed with ancient sorrow. “Yes, Swan, that is all that matters. But still, the truth must be told. I owe it to you.”

And so he told her, without emotion and without deception - every horror, every villainy, every love, anger, sorrow and loss, all the impossibilities of a pirate’s long and preternaturally extended life. Through it all, Emma listened silently, her expression unreadable. At the end, Killian bowed his head, accepting that she would leave him, thinking him insane. Perhaps it was for the best. He was not worthy of her, and this way, she would always be safe from Cora and his other enemies. Disconsolate, he stared at the floor. Finally Emma spoke. “You’re the Captain Hook? The one from the fairy tale?”

“You've heard of me? But yes, alas, I am he. Or so my foes have dubbed me.” He extended his left arm. In his anxiety to reach Emma, he had forgotten the false hand. “I usually wear a hook.”

In reply, Emma reached out and slowly peeled back his shirtsleeve. Her skin felt warm against his. Leaning down, she gently kissed the smooth end of his stump. “You’re mine,” she told him fiercely. “That’s all that counts, Killian. Whether your tale is real, or not, I don’t know, I don’t care, although something tells me there’s truth in what you say. All I know is I love you.”

A tear coursed down Killian’s cheek, pearl in the gathering darkness of the room. “Swan, Swan, my bold wonderful lass, you're amazing.” He laughed shakily, and reaching out, gently caressed the delicate skin just above her heart. The heart she had just willingly and unreservedly given to him, a pirate.

“Promise me, Killian, promise me, that no matter what, we’ll always be together.”

“I promise.” He took her hand in his. “Marry me, Emma Swan. Say yes and let us never be parted.”

Emma's eyes met his. “Yes, my answer is yes!”

With something akin to reverence, Killian kissed her and gently pulled her to her feet. “And now, my darling, we really must leave. It’s dangerous. Pack a bag quickly and let us be off.”

She nodded and took a deep breath. “Okay, let’s do this.”

Suddenly, clouds of dark purple smoke billowed into the room. From its depths, Killian heard deranged laughter, as he stared up at his worst nightmare.

Cora hovered in the smoke, a smile of pure evil on her face. “Oh, Captain, now I see what you’ve been playing at, betraying me and our cause for dalliance with this mortal girl.” She tilted her head, studying the lovers with poisonous amusement.

Emma screamed, as Killian shoved her behind him, at the same time reaching into his coat pocket and drawing forth his steel hook. It glinted dully in the darkness. Quickly he clicked it into place, ready to do battle.

“You’ll need more than that to defeat me, Hook,” Cora chided.

“Take me, leave the lass!” Killian yelled. “She's innocent and has nothing to do with our quarrel.” He lunged at the sorceress with his hook, but she just laughed and floated out of range.

“Oh my God…It’s all real, “ Emma cried, her voice wild with terror. “You really are Captain Hook.”

Cora snickered. “You must truly love the wench, Hook, to actually tell her the truth. I never would have taken you for such a romantic. And you offer her marriage too.” Licking her narrow lips, she stared at him. “Lucky girl to get yummy you all to herself.” She shook her head. “But why should the two of you have a happy ending? Certainly, I never did."

“If you harm Swan,” the pirate threatened, “ I'll never rest until I hunt you down and destroy you.” He smiled grimly. “And I promise your dying will be long and very painful.”

“Ah, Hook, in a few moments, you and your precious girl won’t remember any of this.”

“Run, Swan!” Killian shouted, pushing Emma toward the apartment door. “Run and don’t look back!”

Emma took a step toward freedom, then turned and looked back at the pirate. "No, I won't leave you!"

"You must," Killian said. "Never mind me, just go!"

Grinning, Cora flicked a torrent of smoke over the doors and windows, magically sealing them all in place. “Oh no, Hook, your pretty girl won’t escape me that easily.” She drifted nearer, sending more smoke toward Emma, attempting to snag her.

Emma skittered quickly back to Killian, who reached out and pulled her protectively behind him. “Who are you?” she screamed at Cora. “Get the hell out! Leave Killian alone! Leave us alone!”

Cora gazed at her with what almost seemed like pity. “I knew once what it was to love like that. But these things never work out.” She raised her arms above her head and started to chant, the purple smoke growing thicker and thicker as her voice rose.

With a muttered oath, Killian lunged again at the sorceress. He knew better than to aim for her heart (she had none), instead using all his strength to plunge his hook directly into her throat. Cora’s chanting abruptly stopped, as she stared at the steel hook buried in her windpipe. He pushed the hook in deeper, and with a vicious twist, pulled it up and out. But no blood gushed forth, and to his shock, Cora's gaping wound closed up immediately, as if it had never been.

“My Gods, you’re like the Dark One!” he cried, stepping quickly backwards and out of her reach.

“The Dark One?” For one brief moment, an expression of ineffable sorrow shadowed Cora’s face. “Oh yes, Hook, I am like the Dark One, more than you can ever know. And you can’t kill me, no one can!” With a sneer, she resumed her chanting. Purple shadows crept up the walls and across the floor, snaking ominously across the room toward Killian and Emma, blotting out the light.

Killian reached down into his boot top, pulling out the small dagger he always kept hidden there for emergencies. He threw it at Cora’s head, but the knife passed harmlessly through her, as if through glass. Desperately he pulled the terrified Emma across the room, shielding her with his body, and trying to keep as much distance as possible between them and the sorceress. Glaring his defiance, he grabbed the last weapon he'd concealed on his person - a short folding sword. To the uninitiated, it appeared to be a telescope. He pressed the mechanism with his finger, and the deadly blade emerged, its tip razor sharp.

The pirate stormed Cora, his hook and the sword aimed toward her head in a whirling, glittering arc of destructive power. If he could cut off the bitch’s head, surely even she could not survive that. The sword sliced into Cora’s neck like it was butter. Instantly, her head toppled from her body, and with a sickening thud, bounced to the floor. As if from a distance, Killian could hear Emma screaming. No blood poured from the sorceress. Her body, grotesque in its mutilation, remained standing, still swaying slightly. Repulsed, Killian raised his sword to administer another blow, and as he did so, Cora’s head flew up and settled itself onto her ruined neck.

“Oh, my fine pirate, you'll pay for your insolence,” Cora hissed, rubbing her throat. She pointed a finger at the lovers. Her voice rose, shrill in its malevolence. “I curse you, Killian Jones and Emma Swan, never more to know or remember the other again!” The sorceress grinned. “Back to the Enchanted Forest you go, Hook, where you will stay, frozen in time, until I have need again for your services. And when you awaken, you will not remember Emma Swan or your love for her. Nor will you ever know the true love’s child she has conceived with you.”

At his incredulous stare, she chuckled. “Yes, Hook, she carries your child.” A flick of her hand sent tentacles of smoke, thick and curdled as spoiled milk, reaching for him.

Moving like lightning, the pirate dodged the weaving smoke, and sword still extended, backed away to the other side of the room, where he joined Emma. He wrapped his free arm around his lover, and pulled her close. Emma's nerves were stretched to the breaking point. "Killian!" she cried. “What's she talking about? Curses, pregnancy…she’s crazy…this is all crazy! How can she know these things? How can she live? You chopped her fucking head off!”

“I will take your lover from you, girl!” Cora declared triumphantly. “And you won’t remember him any more than he remembers you. You will think your pirate was just a dream. And when the child he gave you is finally born, you will falsely believe another man to be its father. Your life will be filled with betrayal and hardship, sorrow and distrust. And you will always feel empty, for deep down you will know that something…or should I say…someone…is missing.”

She turned toward Killian, adding maliciously, “As will you, pirate.”

“Kill me if you must, you heartless bitch,” Killian roared. “But don’t harm Swan and our child!”

The sorceress stared at him. “But Hook, I can’t help being heartless!” And she laughed, as if at some old and very bitter private joke. “But I’ll grant you both one small boon, just for old time’s sake. Should you and the girl ever find each other again, True Love’s Kiss, amnesia or not, will break the spell. But after the life I’ve cursed Emma Swan with, I doubt she will ever be capable of loving you again, even if you should chance to meet.” She shrugged carelessly. “But I suppose anything is possible.”

As the smoke overwhelmed them, Emma was flung backwards out of Killian's arms. Desperately, he reached for her, but his hand had become transparent, and to his horror, insubstantial as mist on water.

Tears streaming down her face, Emma watched in horror as her lover's body wavered, merging into the smoke. "Killian!"

“I love you, Emma Swan." Killian's voice was starting to fade, like the distant echo of the wind, or a whispered dream. “Be strong, my brave lass. I will always love you, curse or no curse. And I will not forget you. Somehow I will remember. Nothing will stop me from finding you and our child. I'll come back to you, Swan - I give you my promise!”

“A pirate’s promise,” Cora scoffed.

The last thing Killian heard as the curse snatched him away was Emma, calling out his name, over and over again.