Swan Song

Chapter 1

Hook's POV

Rumpelstiltskin cackled maliciously as he stared me in the eye. In his golden hand he held a red, beating heart. My heart. He adjusted his grip on the heart and gave it a gentle squeeze. Pain exploded from my chest and I yelled out. Suddenly I hear a distressed cry from behind me.

"Killian! What's happening?!"

Milah.

"Milah - get away! Run!" I gasp, trying to ignore the pain.

"Not so fast, dearie. Come to rescue your boyfriend?" Rumpelstiltskin taunts.

"Rumple?! What are you doing to-" Milah is cut off when the Crocodile waves his hand. I turn round slowly and my jaw goes slack when I see my love suspended in the air, her head tilted towards the sky, like someone's choking her.

"Milah!!" I cry.

"Do we have a deal or not, Captain?" Rumple asks me.

"Anything! Take anything but just please don't hurt her!" I say in desperation.

He cackles wickedly again.
"Nice to see you co-operate for once. 'Til then, Dearie!" Rumple disappears in a puff of purple smoke.

I rush over to Milah and help her to her feet.

"Killian what was he holding? It looked like..." She asks, looking concerned.

"Don't worry about it, love. Anyway, are you alright?" I say, trying to change the subject. I don't want her finding out about my deal with the Crocodile.

"Yes, I think so. It just scared me a bit. But why was he here? What did he want with you?"

"Milah... he wants you. He still loves you."

"But he tried to kill me!!"

"I know. But he came here for revenge on me, for taking you away. He wanted to hurt me as deeply as he possibly could, even if that meant killing you. He said he would make me break your heart if I didn't make a deal with him."

"And you did it."

"I had to."

"Killian..."

"Milah."

I take her face in my hands and stare into her dark brown eyes.

"I love you."

"I love you too. Just... promise me you'll always tell me if there's something wrong, okay?"

"I promise." I say, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear. I hate not being able to tell her my secret, but it's for her own good. She smiles her beautiful smile at me, and my heart melts.

"Come on, love. Let's get some sleep." I kiss her gently on the tip of her nose, and hand in hand we walk slowly back to the docks.

****

I lie awake thinking about what Rumpelstiltskin had said to me. He still has my heart, and our baby... Our baby, which doesn't even exist. I have no idea how I'm going to break the news to Milah. She'll be devastated - we can never ever have any children.

And what about my heart? Rumplestiltskin still had it when he disappeared. With it, he could kill me at any time, or worse, command me to kill my crew... or Milah.

What have I let myself in for?

****

I'm bound tightly to a tree with ropes, my hands firmly secured behind my back. I yell out for help, and ten minutes later, when I'm about to give up, I hear voices.

The voices are whispering in hushed tones, and suddenly a girl with long blonde hair jumps out from behind the tree. She points a sword to my throat.

"Woah, calm down there, love. As you can see I'm not going to hurt you!" I say, very conscious of the sharp point of her sword nipping at the skin around my throat.

"Who are you?" She demands.

"I'm Captain Hook." I say simply. She laughs.

"The Captain Hook?" She asks, disbelievingly.

"Ah, so you've heard of me!"

"Yeah in the stories I have. Hasn't everyone?"

"In these stories - what was I like? Other than devilishly handsome?" I say, raising an eyebrow and giving her a smile. She laughs again.

"If wax moustaches and perms are your thing then sure!" It's my turn to laugh now.

"Oh, I'm Emma, by the way."

Emma.

****

I wake up with her name on my mouth. She was so beautiful - and I've never seen her before, yet... there was something familiar about her.

I'm too tired to think about it now, and as it's still dark outside, I roll over and before I know it am sound asleep.

(NB: if you don't watch OUAT, the Crocodile is Hook's nickname for Rumpelstiltskin)