CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
°⋆∴☽°:۵≼
i. wonder !
storybrooke maine .
— ONCE KILLIAN AWKWARDLY EXPLAINED WHO THE MYSTERIOUS CAPTIVE BEFORE THEM WAS, a silent hum of understanding settled over the group- each of them worried for the mental and physical health of the now human-sized giant, and each with the intention that they couldn't leave the poor man to his own devices, especially if it were in Cora's clutches.
"So Cora used magic to make him travel-sized?" Leroy rhetorically asked, a hidden sympathy buried in his eyes.
"Whatever she intends to do with him, it's important." Killian added, regretfully observing the giant he had faced down with Emma Swan not long ago. The very same giant she had abandoned him with.
David turned to the pirate with a certain condescension in his voice, disdain in his features, "Oh, I think you know exactly what she intends. You're holding out."
Killian scoffed at the accusation, his good hand finding a resting place on Christopher's shoulder as the boy leaned against his side in a silent show of support, "And why would I lie? I have no concern with her interests. My interests lie only with myself, and the boy I swore to protect."
This wasn't good enough for David, who carefully nudged Christopher out of the way before slamming Killian's already battered body into a stack of linen covered wooden crates, a hand forming into a threatening claw at Killian's throat, "You're a lying, cheating, pirate- what makes you think, for one second, that I'll actually believe the 'good intentions' act?"
"David." Winnifred scolded quietly, understanding their suspicious natures, but not the thorny, lashing aggression that it nurtured. Killian's good hand raised in a nonchalant way, gently waving off Winnie's concern as he stared into the prince's eyes and dared him to see the truth within his own.
"I don't know what she's planning." He assured, producing a key from his jacket pocket and holding it up in plain sight, "Why don't you wake the bloody giant, and ask him yourself?"
Placing her bow off to the side, Mary-Margaret took the key in her gloved hand while David reluctantly let go of the man as they all surveyed the situation, staring down at the crate in hesitant thought.
"Winnie." Finally, David came to a decision, lifting a hand with a finger pointed towards the sky, before he circled it around in a symbolic gesture meant specifically for the woman mentioned.
"Where?" She muttered, observing the deck and missing Killian's curious glance.
"The higher and closer, the better." He stated simply, also looking around the ship, "Just make sure you've got a good angle."
"Alright." Winnie nodded, moving closer to a lineup of crates as she shrugged her canvas bag off with a new purpose. "Killian, do you mind if I move these?"
Killian stifled a groan as he pushed away from the railing he'd been using for support of his broken body, "They're awfully heavy, love, let me help you-..."
The intentions of his statement were lost entirely, as he watched Winnie not only hike up a crate into her arms, but turn it to its driest side before she placed it atop another, hardly breaking a sweat as she skillfully constructed a higher vantage point, as was her goal.
"Or- not, I suppose." He uttered incredulously, wondering how in whatever hell this kind, sweethearted woman had such a hidden strength within her. As if that wasn't enough surprise, watching her pluck a crossbow from her abandoned canvas bag certainly raised his eyebrows.
"Christopher, darling, stay with Killian, please." Winnie smiled as she climbed the stack of crates and cleverly loaded a bolt into her crossbow, holding it comfortably and non-threateningly at her side.
"You really wanna trust your kid with the beaten up pirate?" Leroy scoffed a laugh, "Dude can barely walk, sister."
Her smile softened, not bothering to respond as her gaze ran over Christopher, who had tucked himself back into Killian's side after the man had tugged them both away from the caged crate. Despite Leroy's words, she knew her son was at his safest under the beaten pirate's protection.
Once Winnie had offered David a silent symbolic gesture of her own, he stepped back and allowed his wife to unlock the captive man's prison, the hinges squeaking as she knelt next to him and placed a gentle hand on his shoulder.
"Hey." She began softly, jumping slightly when the man woke up with a start. "It's alright. You're safe now."
His eyes shifted nervously at his surroundings, barely even turning to acknowledge when Mary-Margaret asked for his name, though he uttered it out of polite habit, "Anton. Where's that witch?"
Anton's growing anxiety seemingly fell away when he was assured of Cora's absence. He finally seemed to relax and take in his situation, looking at Mary-Margaret and the world around him in woeful confusion, "What did she do? She made me small!"
"Come on," David spoke up, placing a firm hand on the man's arm, "let's get you out of here."
"You." Anton spoke, glaring at the prince, who confusedly furrowed his eyebrows.
"Me?" He asked, seeking an answer for the giant's sudden hostile tone.
Even from Winnie's heightened view, it was difficult to make out exactly what had happened- but in a split second Anton began throwing punches, knocking David down onto the main deck and pushing Leroy away with heavy, uncoordinated ease.
Not even sparing a look towards Killian and her son, trusting the two would stay out of the fray, Winnie took aim with her crossbow and fired once she had found the right angle, the bolt flying through the air with a pronounced whistle and embedding itself in the ship's siding mere inches from Anton's hand, gathering his full attention.
"Sorry, dear, just precaution." Quickly and precisely, Winnie reloaded another bolt, the crossbow emitting a light mechanical groan as she pulled back the string and carefully took aim, her free hand pushing her gold-framed glasses further up her nose before comfortably coming back to support the weapon in her grasp, "Do understand, though, that I do not miss."
Anton's frown was deep, confusion and anger etched into his features, almost as if he were ready to challenge the woman.
"Make the right choice, please, and step away from my friends." Winnie spoke softly, but with an air of determination and prowess, a plea and a warning wrapped up in the very same sentence.
Noticing that Mary-Margaret had also grabbed her own bow and had an arrow nocked, Anton seemingly decided this was a fight he would be foolish to continue, "You may have me outnumbered, but this isn't over. You think I forgot what you did?"
His harsh tone was directed towards David, but it was clear the man had no idea what he had done to cause the sudden violence and pummeling.
"I didn't!" Anton shouted in an accusatory manner, as he fled from the ship. "You'll pay for your evil. I promise, you'll pay!"
Snow and Winnie both followed the giant with their weapons, making sure that he was out of their sight before they could even fathom lowering their guard. Once they did, Mary-Margaret rushed to pull David to his feet as Winnie hopped down from her crate pile and met Christopher in a hug.
"Oh, bother." The woman muttered as she noticed her bolt had put a small but firm split in the ship's bulwark. She patted Killian's arm sheepishly as she stepped past him, "Sorry."
"She's sturdy, love, don't worry." Killian dismissed, patting the ledge as he watched Winnie kneel to observe the damage her bolt had done, her eyes worrying over the split in the aged paint.
"I could fix it if you'd like?" Winnie offered, one hand coming to rest against the siding as the other gripped the feathered arrow and carefully tugged it from the wood. "Or- well... I could try."
"It's no bother." Killian rolled one sore shoulder, still unbothered by the scarring of his beloved ship, having been too impressed by Winnie's strength and skill to really care about the slightest blemish, "You've one hell of a shot."
Christopher grinned, "She never misses."
The pirate arched a curious eyebrow, humouring the boy as his voice adopts a surprised and elated tone, leaning down as if Christopher's answer was the single most important thing in the world, "Never?"
"Nope." He shook his head, proudly bragging of his mother's skill.
"The tricky part is knowing what you're aiming for... Never missing is easy-as-pie if you don't know where you're aiming." Winnie chuckled, ruffling the boy's hair before their conversation was interrupted by the others finally coming to terms with their odd predicament.
"David, did that giant just say he'll 'make you pay'?" Mary-Margaret asked, supporting her slightly disoriented husband. "For what?"
The man shrugged slightly, his eyebrows raised and hand caressing his chin- which would undoubtedly start to bruise given the amount of force that had gone into the punch he'd been met with, "I have no idea. I've never seen that guy before."
"Well, he sure knows you." Leroy quipped, rubbing at the back of his own head that had bashed against the ship's siding when he'd been pushed
David sighed, as realisation hit him, "No. It's not about me."
Killian stayed behind Winnie and Christopher, leaning against some rigging to support his exhausted form as he quietly listened in and observed the crossbow comfortably held in the woman's loose grip, a colourful puzzle piece settling into the complete wonder in his mind that was Winnifred Robin.
"Your brother." Winnie spoke with the slightest hint of sourness, the understanding now reaching her as she unloaded her crossbow, the mechanism snapping slightly in her indelicate procedure, "Bastard."
"It's the only thing that makes sense." David nodded, agreeing with Winnie's comment and remembering that she once, if only briefly, had met his selfish, crude, boorish twin brother. He turned towards the steps of the ship, "Come on."
"Where are we going?" Snow asked, nonetheless following after her husband.
"To find out just what kind of trouble my brother got himself into." David tilted his head in Leroy's direction as he addressed the man, "Leroy, get your head looked at, then gather the dwarves. You need to keep an eye out for this giant."
He nodded diligently in response, stepping off the ship and through the cloaking magic, being followed closely by Mary-Margaret.
"Winnie." The prince turned to the remaining trio.
Winnie shook her head with a slight smile, tucking her crossbow back into her canvas bag and bringing the straps back over her shoulders, "I think we've had quite enough excitement for today."
"Good." David nodded, agreeing with the woman, but still eyeing the pirate behind her.
"We'll take care of him." She pointed a thumb in Killian's direction, practically ignoring David's stressing of her name once again. "He needs someone to take care of him, David."
"I can swing by the station and lock him in a cell, he'll be out of your hair, and off of my conscious-" He tried, though his attempt was fruitless as Winnie simply shooed him away, so he reluctantly switched his tune, "Be careful."
David glared over his shoulder at the pirate, who had raised his eyebrows and was mockingly waving goodbye with a broad smile despite being hunched over in pain, uncomfortably leaning against some rigging.
"Always am." Winnie grinned brightly as she nudged him over to the stairs, "You call if you need anything, now."
author's note
i'm sorry if these chapters are kinda crappy btw, I know there's like a lot of expectation now that Killian is here, I really am trying my best to fit his character development in without making the main plot completely impossible
anyway- how are you guys? What have you been up to? I missed y'all,
let's chat a bit 😭
Thank you again for sticking with me, I know it's not easy, but I love and appreciate you for doing so, it really does mean the world 💕