Emma cradles her newborn daughter in her arms. She's the most beautiful thing she's ever seen in her life, besides Henry. The little one stares up at her with Killian's hypnotic blue eyes and her mother is immediately taken in by them. The infant has very light hair, indicating she will be blonde like her other and it glows in the morning light. The baby gurgles happily and reaches her fist up towards Emma's face. The new mother takes the tiny hand and kisses it gently.
"You're my little princess," she says softly.
"She's very beautiful," Killian says, appearing suddenly in the room. Emma looks up at him, smiling happily. "Just like her mother."
He comes and sits next to her on the couch. He offers the baby one of his fingers and she grabs it with her whole fist, squeezing it.
Emma wipes a few tears from her eyes. She never thought that this is how her life would go and after her unfortunate abduction, she just wanted things to be normal. Yet, she was glad she had the new baby in her arms, a product of her and Killian's love, not the other way around. She would never have imagined a sort of happy family life, but with this new life in her arms, she felt joy and love. It's what made her strong and capable of moving on from her traumatic incident. But now, she had a loving husband, a happy son, a warm home and a precious child... everything felt perfect.
Suddenly the doorbell rings.
"I'll get it," Henry calls. He goes to the door and opens it. Emma and Killian continue fawning over the baby until they hear.
"W-Who are you?"
Suddenly a gunshot rings out and Emma watches in horror as her son collapses on the ground, a bullet hole in his head.
"HENRY!" Emma screams in horror, she wants to jump up but with the baby, in her arms, it's almost impossible. Her heart stops and her entire world collapses as a pool of blood begins to form around her son's pale face. Tears burned her eyes and her stomach twists in agony. Her daughter begins crying at the noise, making Emma's pain all the more intense.
Killian stands in front of his wife and daughter, prepared to protect her at all costs. A man who had fired the shot comes from behind the door and Emma gasps in horror. A face she never wanted to see again, hidden under a ball cap. His thick body was hidden under a sort of trench coat and a silver pistol that killed her son is pointed at them. His dark eyes seem to burn into Emma's soul and he grins, happy at the horrific deed he'd just done.
"I'd thought I'd find you here," he says in the harsh voice that still made Emma's blood run cold. "You can't hide from me forever."
"GET OUT OF HERE!" Killian yells, he grabs a vase and breaks it in half to use as a weapon.
"Sorry, but I've come to collect what's mine..."
"SHE'S NOT YOURS!" Emma shouts angrily. "SHE'LL NEVER BE YOURS!"
"I still deserve a payment, so all that torture wasn't in vain."
Arthur continues to point the gun at the three of them, the only thing drowning out Emma's heartbeat are the terrified screams of her infant daughter. He steps towards her, Killian carefully tries to approach, wanting to use a shard of the vase as a knife.
"KILLIAN DON'T!" Emma screeches.
But it's too late, her husband charges at the man and another dreaded crack echoes through the room. Killian collapses on the ground, a bullet hole in his chest. Emma screams again, her face a waterfall of tears. Her docks man lies on the ground, gasping for air. He looks at Emma helplessly and she tries to reach him, but before he can, Arthur puts another bullet in his head. Killian instantly stops moving.
Emma falls to her knees in agony. She's lost the most important things in her life, all that is left is their daughter. She wants to fight, but her body won't move. The baby screams in her arms and she knows she must run, she can't fight. Emma turns and tries to force her body to move, but her feet are like cement. The baby's wails echo in her head as she runs for a possible exit.
A sharp pain hits her shoulder and Emma screams out in pain. She feels the bullet go straight through her shoulder and blood begins flowing through her t-shirt. Her daughter is now covered in blood, still wailing. The sound is inhumane, the worst noise in the world and it chills her mother to her very soul. Emma turns and crumples onto her back on the floor as to not harm her baby. Her entire body is in pain and she feels as if she's lost control. She gasps in agony and she feels something against her chest. She opens her eyes to see Arthur ripping the infant from her arms.
"NO!" Emma yells, but her body cannot do anything to save her child. She's basically a bloody mess on the floor that can only watch in horror and helplessness.
Arthur puts the baby over his shoulder and grins at her.
"She is really beautiful and she deserves a family that is not dead," he says.
Emma struggles to get up, but then Arthur points the weapon in her face and all she can see is the darkness of the barrel of the gun.
The dreaded sound is heard.
...
Emma bolts up in bed, she's panting like crazy. Her entire side of the bed is wet from crying and sweating. Her heart is racing and her head is throbbing in confusion and adrenaline. She turns on the light in a frenzy.
"What's wrong, Swan?"
Emma turns to see Killian squinting in the sudden light of the room. His face raised from the pillow. Emma immediately reaches over to hug him.
"Y-You're alive!" she gasps.
"Of course, I'm alive," he says. The docks man sits up to return her hug.
"Henry!" Emma suddenly says. Without another word, she rushes down the hall of the apartment to her son's room. She looks in to see him fast asleep, snuggled up under the covers.
Emma lets out a sigh of relief. Killian comes up behind her, very worried.
"Emma, are you okay?"
She looks at him and then nearly collapses against the door frame. She sits on the floor and curls up into a ball. She lets the waterworks come.
"Swan...Emma," Killian says, he kneels down next to her and tries to put his arms around her.
"Don't touch me!" she snaps but continues to cry.
He obeys and just watches her. It was only the third night after her return from captivity and the hospital, and Killian felt like he was living with a total stranger. His heart went out to Emma and he wanted to just take her into his arms and comfort her. He knew the horrors that she endured would likely cause nightmares and traumatic memories, but he still suffered too. He watched the woman he loved cry out and be unable to show affection. She is much quieter than ever before, she's emotional, and jumpy and she couldn't stand being alone, which is why he was staying with her and Henry, to be there for them and the baby. She insisted that he sleep in bed with her, but she wouldn't let him touch her. He begins to worry about their unborn child, clearly, this kind of stress was not good for either of them. He wants to help her, but the comfort and reassurance that he offers would just make her uncomfortable and even worse.
"Emma... I'm here Love."
She continues to sob and shake in her tiny ball. The world felt so wrong, so evil. Arthur's face continued to haunt her. She kept dreaming about losing those she loved and it was pure torture. She was tired and always worried about if everyone was safe.
The docks man felt so helpless, it was torture to watch his girlfriend suffer and there was nothing he could do. Gone were the happy moments of reunion and it seemed that this bastard was haunting her every moment of the day. Killian just waits until Emma's sobbing slows down to a whimper and then finally just sniffing.
He cautiously puts his hand out to her shoulder.
She shudders slightly but doesn't resist.
"Emma..." he says quietly.
She looks at him through the dark and even in the dimness, she can still see his eyes. Those eyes that just a few moments ago were lifeless and full of pain.
"Do you want to talk about it?"
He couldn't understand what she was feeling. The fear, the pain, the horrors she endured. She felt so weak and she knew he wouldn't understand. She just shakes her head.
"I-I'll be okay..." she whispers as convincingly as she can.
Her bright-eyed boyfriend offers his arms out to her and with reluctance, she leans into them. His strong arms squeeze her tightly and he rubs her bare shoulders.
"Emma, it's all over and I'm here to protect you," he says as soothingly as he can. He knows this is all he can really say to her. There's nothing he can do to make her feel better except to be there for her. He knows she's going to have to get professional help of some kind. The nightmares and stress were not healthy for her or the baby. He knew he'd have to make some calls in the morning.
It felt so strange to see Emma so vulnerable. She always tried to mask her pain and be strong for everyone, build those walls to avoid pain, but now, she was a shivering mess. So, afraid, like a child scared of the dark. Now she was trying to hide that again, but this time the façade was not working.
The two sit in the hall in the dark, it's so quiet that Emma almost feels safe again. She enjoys the feeling of his chest rising up and down, it's almost soothing and the warmth of his body against hers. Emma lets out a conflicted sigh and shuts her eyes.
Soon the two are both fast asleep in each other's arms.
I'M BACK! Here's chapter 1. Special thanks to COTT FAN for inspiring the new title.
Disclaimer 1: Any and all characters, locations and situations mentioned in every chapter and the entire story belong to their prospective owners. Any characters that I create are my own.
Disclaimer 2: I do not own Once Upon a Time, or any of the related characters, locations or scenes/situations. The tv show franchise is created by Adam Horowitz and Eddy Kitsis and owned by ABC and the Walt Disney Company. This story is intended for entertainment purposes only. I am not making any profit from this story.