#ouat ff brothers jones

[kazoosandfannypacks]

someday I'll be brave enough to post this whole fic

[anmylica]

Like Slow Spinning Redemption

Surprise! I am your Secret Santa this year, @their-seafaring-ways! I hope you enjoy this extended version of Season 5 Episode 15 “The Brothers Jones” I cooked up for you. When you expressed the interest in a Liam-comes-to-like Emma scenario, I knew I had to delve deeper, as I’ve always thought that episode was rather rushed. I also loved the idea of we-understand-each other and the concept that Emma and Killian are reflections of each other, and I deliberately tried to write these into the episode in a more apparent manner than the canon shows. This is the result.

I tried to stick to canon as much as possible, even though I was inspired like crazy for my “The Fields of Asphodel” Season 5 rewrite. I tried not to diverge, but when I did, think of it as a we-didn’t-see-everything-in-canon-so-this-is-totally-plausible type of divergence.

I am thinking this is going to be around the 15k mark, and I’m about 55% done with writing it as of now. I will be sprinting to finish it all in the next couple of days, and the next installment will be on the 28th! I hope to have it posted before I go back to work on January 3rd. I am aiming for 5 chapters!

Read it here on AO3

Tagging the usual crew: @xarandomdreamx @kmomof4 @zaharadessert @snowbellewells @sotangledupinit @tiganasummertree

Want to be added? Ask me!

Summary: Liam Jones does not like Emma Swan upon their first meeting. Of course, when he blames her for his brother’s death and subsequent entrapment in the Underworld, it’s not hard to understand why. But after seeing Emma and Killian in action (and seeing the man his brother became), he may just have to change his opinion…

Read under the cut (unless Tumblr ate it)

Liam Jones’ day consisted of restocking the bar and wiping down surfaces, the same old monotonous routine that he had followed since he had been sentenced upon his death and subsequent arrival in the Underworld.  The Rabbit Hole was one of the only establishments for which the denizens of this hellish realm could get a decent drink, and as such, it was usually heavily frequented in the evenings by souls who had no other recourse or comfort.  Liam didn’t know exactly why Hades had insisted he man the bar as his punishment, but he supposed it was the least he could serve given his actions during his all-too-short shot at life.  

The interactions he was forced to undergo with the rest of the crew from the Hispaniola were awkward, to say the least, but given that none of them suspected him of having a hand in their deaths, he could get through the paid transactions for rum just fine.  He even had begun to strike up a tentative sort of friendship with his old captain (and slaver) Silver, as strange as it was to think about.

It was on this typical evening, with no changes to his routine and duties, that he heard the words he had waited for so long to hear.  Silver had come in for his usual drink, sat at the counter, and waited to be served.  Once he had rum in hand, SIlver finally spoke to Liam, having remained uncharacteristically silent the whole time.

“So I hear that your brother is finally in town,” Silver stated, taking a sip of the libation before continuing, pretending that he didn’t notice Liam stilling out of shock, “Apparently he went by Captain Hook for a time.  Word on the street is that Hades has it out for him.”

Liam blinked, processing the information.  “Have you seen him?” he finally settled on asking.

Silver shook his head.  “I can’t say I have.  I’ve heard that there’s a woman down here looking for him, but I don’t know how true that is.”

Liam thought hard.  He wondered if Hades had Killian in the throne room; that was usually where he kept his new citizens while they were acclimated to the Underworld.  Perhaps he could go there and find out?  Hades surely wouldn’t turn him away if he sought out an audience, would he?  Hades didn’t owe him anything, but surely he would understand Liam’s need to seek out his brother one last time?  His mind made up, he continued to carry out his duties, only halfway paying attention to what it was he needed to do.  He was too busy focusing on getting to his brother to pay attention otherwise.

Liam would go to that house that he knew hosted the entrance to Hades’ throne room in the morning.  He would go into the basement, much like he had that last time he had sought an audience with Hades, and he would ask to see his brother one last time.  He wouldn’t let Killian be sentenced by Hades without trying to make things right with his brother, even if he couldn’t explain to Killian just what it was he was trying to atone for.

The next morning dawned as bright as it could in the Underworld under the sky of red haze.  Liam waited as long as he could stand before he finally gave in and made his way to that blue Victorian house he had visited when he had first arrived in the Underworld.  The house itself was an anomaly; it was a beautiful, welcoming home that Liam was sure would have housed a large family in the Land of the Living, but here it was vacant with the air of forlorn melancholy.  The rooms on the ground floor were filled with old toys, a baby’s crib, and sprinkled with a liberal application of dust and cobwebs.  The presence of the baby artifacts was always curious to Liam, but he had to push that curiosity aside the last time he had visited Hades.  He was sure that he’d push the curiosity aside once more.

When he arrived outside the house, he stopped in his tracks, startled at what he was seeing.  The lights were on inside; the last time he had been here, the house had been shrouded in darkness.  Perplexed as to what it meant, he paused.  Maybe the people to whom it belonged had recently passed, and they had claimed it as their own?  If this were the case, perhaps he could ask politely to pass through to the basement to have a word with Hades?  Surely they would allow him his request?

Squaring his shoulders, he ascended the front steps to the long front porch and knocked on the door.  He waited for a moment before a beautiful blonde woman opened the door.  Liam was momentarily taken aback by her appearance, but he quickly put his shock to the side at her greeting.

“Hi,” said the blonde with uncertainty.  “Can I-” 

Movement behind her caught his eye and he gasped.  “Killian?” He questioned, cutting off the blonde beauty in front of him.  

The blonde, realizing that this was someone that Killian must have known, stepped aside as Liam took a step forward into the house, not caring whether he was actually invited in or not.  Killian looked at him like a deer caught in a car’s headlights.

“Liam?” Killian asked huskily, not believing his eyes.  

Liam stepped further into the entryway of the house.  “So the rumors are true.  After all these years, my little brother is finally here.”

Killian stepped forward and threw his arms around Liam.  “That’s ‘younger brother’ to you,” he replied.  Liam chuckled, returning Killian’s embrace.

“It’s been too long,” Liam simply stated, feeling a bit choked up at seeing his brother after all this time.  “I never dreamed that you’d actually be here.”

Killian pulled back suddenly, leaving Liam feeling a bit bereft at their first meeting after centuries of being separated, but before Liam could say anything, Killian had turned to the blonde.  He waved her over, taking her hand and squeezing it tightly in his.  He turned to his brother and smiled. 

“Brother,” Killian began, turning back to the blonde, “this is Emma Swan, my love and savior.  Hades tried to send me to the depths of the River of Lost Souls, and she was able to save me before he was successful.  We owe our reunion to her.”  

Liam turned and looked at her and smiled slightly.  “Then we are in your debt.”

Emma returned his smile, saying as she did so, “I couldn’t let him stay down here at Hades’ mercy.  Not after all that happened before his…”. Emma stumbled a bit here before continuing, “…death.”

Liam watched as Killian’s smile, which had been genuine up to that moment, became strained and awkward.  No one said anything for several moments’ worth of silence before Emma cleared her throat and gestured towards the kitchen.

“Can I get you something to drink?” She asked.

Liam nodded.  “Water will be fine.”

Emma turned and moved into the kitchen to get them all glasses of water, Killian and Liam moving to follow her but sitting at the table.  Once they all had refreshments, Emma hovered for a moment indecisively.  Finally she turned to Killian.

“If it’s alright with you, I’m going to go check in with my parents and Henry.  Let them know what’s going on.  I’ll let you two catch up?”

Killian nodded.  “Aye, love.  We’ll be fine.”  

Liam noticed that Killian didn’t quite meet her eyes with his, and he wondered at the stilted air between the two lovers.  He didn’t say anything, just gave an acknowledging grimace that mimicked a smile at her glance his way, but he did watch her leave the room and head upstairs.

“I take it this was her house in life?” Liam asked.

Killian nodded.  “It still is,” his brother replied.  “I picked it for her as a symbol of our plans for the future.”

Liam’s brow raised in surprise.  “Plans?”

“Aye,” Killian responded simply.  “She came here from the Land of the Living to save me from Hades’ clutches, and she wants to try and restore my life.”

Liam stared.  “She’s not dead?”

Killian shook his head.  “No, none of her family or friends are.  They all came down here to help her.”

Liam shook his head.  “She wants to restore you to life?” 

Killian nodded.  He hesitated a moment, unsure of what his brother would say about the whole tale.

Liam sighed.  It seemed as if his brother needed a little coaxing into the tale of his life first.  “Well, tell me about how you lived so long.  What happened?”

Killian sighed as well and launched into that tale, of how he had turned pirate after Liam’s death and sought revenge for Liam’s poisoning.  He then continued to describe meeting Milah and running off with her on his ship, causing her to abandon her husband and young son.  He proceeded to describe how he met her estranged husband years later as the Dark One and lost his first love to the demon.  He spoke of how he used a magic bean to travel to the place where Liam had lost his life, Neverland, as a way of buying himself more time to figure out how to exact revenge against the Dark One.

Throughout the tale, Liam remained silent, choosing only to remark, “I’ve heard many a tale of Captain Hook these last few decades,” crossing his arms and looking reproachfully at his brother.  Killian had the decency to look ashamed of his actions, Liam was at least pleased to note.

Then Killian launched into his tale of meeting Emma, explaining how he had met the woman they called the Savior in the Enchanted Forest and was captivated by her light from the onset, but fought valiantly against his feelings, until it was finally too late.  He told of how many times they had been separated and how many times they had found their way back to each other, finishing the tale with their latest misadventure of becoming Dark Ones that ended with Killian sacrificing his own life to end the Darkness once and for all, only for that sacrifice to be in vain (as the imp Rumplestiltskin had found a way to take back his power at the expense of Killian’s life).  Though Killian tried to tell the tale in a way that protected Emma’s role in causing Killian’s future, the future Liam, himself, had worked so hard to protect, to be lost in a swirl of darkness, Liam could tell who he had to blame for Killian’s life being cut short.

He didn’t have to look very far, as she was just upstairs.  Liam decided at that moment that he couldn’t stand Emma Swan for wasting all of Liam’s hard work.  He knew that to say that out loud to Killian would be a mistake, however.  First of all, Killian didn’t know of Liam’s sacrifice, and second of all, Killian seemed quite enamored of the blonde (though Liam did pick up on some strain between the two; perhaps that was due to Killian’s tendency to bear the burden of guilt quite heavily?).  He would have to express his doubts about Emma’s role as hero in this quite carefully so as to avoid alienating his brother.

“She doesn’t exactly sound like someone who would encourage you to be the hero you should be.  I must admit, I’m a little taken aback that she was the one you’d pick,” Liam said, crossing his arms and pondering the story that Killian had told him, one of heroes and villains and Dark Ones and Excalibur and death.

Killian shook his head vehemently.  “She pulled me out of the darkness in which I found myself.  She’s good and true, a hero for all the realms.  You don’t know her, Liam.”

“I know enough,” Liam responded, taking a sip of his water.

“No, you don’t. You didn’t know her before she became the Dark One, you didn’t know her after she took the Darkness to save us all, and you didn’t see how she was able to overcome it.  You don’t know her better than I.  I won’t stand to hear you cast any more aspersions against her character.  She is all that is Light and good.  She makes me want to try and be the man I always wanted to be.”  Killian stared hard at Liam, trying to make him understand why Emma was his choice.

Liam considered Killian’s words for a moment before nodding to communicate his understanding.  Though he completely disagreed with his brother’s summation of Emma Swan, he wasn’t fool enough to continue to voice his opinions to his brother out loud.  After being unable to see his brother for so long, he didn’t want to anger Killian by offering an opinion that clearly wasn’t wanted.  But Liam thought it was perfectly acceptable to have an opinion on the lass that was different from his brother’s, and it was that opinion that he would hold onto.  After all, Liam hadn’t condemned an entire crew to death by drowning in a storm just for some blonde to come in and undo all of his hard work at making sure his brother had the chance to be a great hero.  Liam resolved that he would make it his personal mission to ensure that she wouldn't derail Killian’s death as one.  

He would be on his brother’s side regardless of whether his brother would want him to be or not. LIam and Killian drank their water, and after a few more moments Emma came down the stairs.  She sat down and picked up her glass and took a gulp.

“So I told my parents that we would meet them in an hour at the loft,” Emma announced.  Killian nodded.  “They told me that souls completing their unfinished business and moving on somehow manages to weaken Hades’ hold over everything.”

“So all we have to do is get as many people as possible to finish their unfinished business, then?”  Killian quirked an eyebrow at her.  “Do I understand it correctly?”

Emma shrugged.  “Apparently it can help, but I don’t know how we can figure out what each person’s unfinished business is.”

Killian hummed and played with his glass.  “Perhaps each person would have some idea of what it could be?”  He turned to Liam.  “Liam, what about you?  Why are you down here?”

Liam shook his head.  “I wish I knew.”  Liar, he thought.  “I spent countless years trying to figure out the reason.”  Liam’s eyes trailed down and stared at the right hand side of the table.  He didn’t catch Emma’s furrowed brow and the suspicious tilting of her eyes as he thought about the situation.  He hadn’t needed to spend years trying to discern a reason; the reason was sitting right in front of him, though Killian didn’t know it.  Liam had borne the countless years of guilt due to his decision that put them on the path they had followed.

Killian turned to Emma and told her, “There is no reason.  Hades has the game rigged so no one can leave.  My brother’s proof of that.  Never did a bad thing in his life.”  

Liam grimaced a pained smile that he hoped came off as geniune at Killian’s commendations.

“He even died nobly, stopping a treacherous king from poisoning the realm,” Killian finished.

Liam’s heart panged with guilt and shame.  His gut churned and he felt as if he were going to be sick all over their kitchen floor.  His palms felt sweaty, and it was lucky he were seated because his knees had suddenly gone weak and his legs had lost all feeling.

To cover his discomfort, he stated, “Stop it.  You’re making me blush.”

Luckily, Liam’s two companions didn’t notice his embarrassment.  Killian continued, “Hades has you, too, trapped down here, and that cannot stand.  The only way everyone will get free is if we defeat Hades once and for all.”  Emma nodded, and Killian turned back to his brother.  “Liam, you’ve been down here a long time.  Surely you must know something that can help us.”

Liam tried his best to set aside the guilt roiling in his gut to answer.  “I know this is a very dangerous game you’re playing,” he warned Killian and Emma, who seemed to pay it no heed.  “There are those who tried to overthrow Hades before,” he added.  “They always spoke of a… a book, which had the power to defeat him.  I tried to find it myself, but I’m not even sure what to look for.”  This was the rumor that had circulated over the years between the patrons of The Rabbit Hole.  He was sure that it wouldn’t mean anything to his brother or his brother’s lover.

Emma tilted her head in consideration.  “I think it’s a storybook,” she announced, drawing the attention of the two men.

Liam blinked.  “Storybook?  Oh, I’d wager it would take more than stories,” he dismissed.

Killian raised his right hand and waved a pointed finger.  “No, no, no, no, no.  She’s onto something.  In our world, there’s a book like this.”

Liam stared uncomprehendingly.

“Everything up there has a version down here.  There has to be one in the Underworld,” Emma explained.

Killian turned to Emma and added, “If there’s a story in that book about Hades,” he glanced briefly at Liam before turning his eyes back to Emma’s, “we can learn his weakness and exploit it.”

Liam drew a deep breath.  He had told them of the book as a throwaway comment; he hadn’t meant for them to take it seriously.  But looking at his brother, he could tell how serious Killian was about this goal.  Killian was stubborn, to put it mildly.  He wouldn't let this go until it was done.  He shrugged.

“All right,” Liam responded.  “If you believe in this, Killian, I’m with you to the end.  This fiend trapped me and tortured you.  The day you push your sailors too far…”

“Is the day mutiny begins,” Killian finished with a grin.  Liam returned it halfheartedly.  He knew it wasn’t Hades that had trapped him here in the Underworld; it was his own inability to face his worst mistake.  He just hoped he could continue to keep it a secret from his brother and from his old crew.

[jrob64]

I posted 4,239 times in 2022

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Longest Tag: 98 characters

#everything killian jones does is perfect and i will not accept any other discussion on this matter

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

Faultline - Chapter 3/3 “Aftershocks”

I’m happy I didn’t have to leave you hanging too long after that last chapter! Special thanks to the best beta in the business @hookedmom for checking it over quickly enough for me to get it posted this soon. Please see the first chapter for the list of people who were at least partially responsible for encouraging me to write this story. 

Story Summary: On the day Killian and Liam Jones meet Emma Swan, a major earthquake rocks San Francisco and the trio has to help each other survive. Based loosely on the movie “San Andreas”. 

Rating: M

Words: Ch. 3 - 7937

Total words: 21,030

Find the rest of the story on Tumblr:  Ch1  Ch2

Also found on ffn and Ao3

*********

Liam looked helplessly at his brother, seeing the anguish in his eyes over losing the woman he had come to care for, and knew he couldn’t give up on trying to bring her back to life. With renewed determination, he turned back to Emma and began pumping her chest again, all the while chanting, “Come on, lass! Come on!” 

He gave her three rescue breaths and pumped her chest twice more, then she suddenly coughed and sputtered, pitching forward and spewing water out of her mouth. Liam gently pounded her on the back as Arthur and Gwen cheered. 

“Emma!” Killian gasped, surging forward to gather her into his arms. She continued to cough and gag as she held onto him. 

“Welcome back, lass,” Liam said, smiling with relief. 

With the crisis averted, Arthur settled back into the captain’s chair and started the engine, then turned the boat and continued moving cautiously through the bay. Liam and Gwen resumed their seats too, but Killian and Emma remained on the deck of the boat, clinging to each other tightly. 

“I thought I lost you,” he murmured into her ear. 

“I’m s-sorry,” she whispered, beginning to shiver, both from being wet and the shock of what had just happened to her. Gwen stood up and moved across the back of the boat to lift the top of the bench seat, pulling out an armful of towels, which she handed to Killian. 

He unfolded and draped two of them around Emma, then one over his own shoulders. Using another, he began to dry her hair, all the while telling her how relieved he was that she survived. 

Liam watched the scene in front of him and realized his brother had already fallen hard and fast for the lovely lass they had just met less than half a day ago, although it seemed more like an eternity after all they’d been through together. 

*********

Fifteen minutes later, Arthur steered the boat up to the pier closest to Millbrae. As the trio began to disembark, Arthur stopped Liam and returned the money Killian had given him earlier. “This trip is on me,” he said firmly. 

“Thank you, mate,” Liam said, shaking the man’s hand. 

Gwen hugged all three of them, saying, “Take care and stay safe.” 

Liam carefully climbed onto the dock, then turned, put both hands around Emma’s waist and lifted her easily to set her beside him. Killian shook Arthur’s hand also, expressing his thanks, then joined his brother and Emma on the platform. All three of them waved as the boat pulled away, heading further down the bay. 

“How far away is your apartment?” Killian asked, wrapping his arm around Emma’s waist to give her extra support, since she was still weak from her ordeal. 

“About a twenty minute walk from here. There’s a dollar store a few blocks away that’s always open late, where I think we should stop and get you guys some clothes, sleepwear and other essentials. I know it won’t be top quality, but at least you could change out of those clothes.” 

“I don’t care what kind of quality they are,” Liam uttered. “I can hardly wait to get out of these bloody clothes.” 

“And he means that quite literally,” Killian chuckled. 

“We really should go directly to the Medical Center to get you guys checked out, though,” Emma said. 

“And you, as well,” Killian stated. “Near drowning can cause all sorts of complications.” 

“Where is the Medical Center?” Liam asked. 

See the full post

67 notes - Posted February 25, 2022

#4

Faultline - Chapter 1 “Tremors”

Here it is - my contribution to the Captain Swan Movie Marathon Collection! This story is loosely based on the movie San Andreas and I have many people to thank for encouraging me to write it. My very loyal beta @hookedmom was with me once again, despite being on a well-earned vacation for the past week. Thanks also to @teamhook, who has been asking me to contribute to the collection for months now, @kmomof4, who flailed over my last lines and helped me with the pic sets, @gingerpolyglot​, who helped me plot out the story, @motherkatereloyshipper, who found lovely pics of Liam for me and used her magic to make him look ‘younger’ and last, but far from least, @apiratewhopines, who has been messaging me every night to see how close the story is to being finished! The enthusiasm for it from all the ladies on the CSMM Discord has also been very much appreciated!

Summary: On the day Killian and Liam Jones meet Emma Swan, a major earthquake rocks San Francisco and the trio has to help each other survive. 

Rating: M

Words: 6072

Chapter 1 of 3

Also found on ffn and Ao3

*********

“Liam, would you please stop jiggling your leg? It’s annoying,” Killian Jones growled at his older brother. 

“I can’t help it. This interview is very important for my future, and yours as well,” Liam said. 

Killian checked the time on his phone. “You still have nearly twenty minutes to wait. Why the bloody hell did we get here so early?”

“I wanted to make sure I wasn’t going to be late. You could have stayed at the hotel, you know.” 

“I thought that would be boring, but sitting here doing nothing is probably even worse.” 

“Stop your grousing, brother. Why don’t you use your little book to plot out our itinerary for the week?” he said, gesturing toward the San Francisco tour book laying on Killian’s lap. 

After giving him an indignant look, Killian flipped open the well-worn book and began paging through it. 

A few minutes later, he heard Liam give a low whistle before whispering, “Wow! What a stunner!” 

Killian looked up from studying the book to see an absolute vision in front of him. A blonde woman dressed in a red blouse, black leather jacket, and jeans which deliciously hugged her curves, was coming up the escalator from the parking garage. He could feel his mouth drop open in awe of her beauty as she approached, accompanied by a man of average height, with slightly shaggy brown hair, dressed in a gray suit. Killian’s eyes narrowed as he appraised the man, sensing an air of superiority and arrogance about him. 

“Now, stay right here. I’ll be back as soon as my meeting is over,” he was saying, and Killian couldn’t help but notice he was talking to the woman like she was a small child. 

Evidently, she felt the same way. “Do you think I’m five-years-old, Walsh?” 

“Of course not, Darling,” he replied in an oily tone. “I just don’t know how long I’ll be gone and I don’t want you worrying about where I am.” 

“I’m sure I’ll be able to entertain myself for a while,” she said, and Killian smirked at her eye roll. 

“Very well, I have to go. Mustn’t be late and make a bad impression, you know,” the man said, holding up his wrist to check his large and garish watch. “Try not to miss me too much, Darling.” He aimed a kiss at her lips, but she turned her head to accept it on her cheek instead. 

The woman watched him walk away, then sank down into the chair across from Killian with a sigh. When she glanced up to see him looking at her, her eyes widened behind the dark frames of her glasses and then she smiled. 

Killian could feel the heat creeping into his face, but he didn’t look away. “Uh, hi,” he ventured. He felt Liam shift beside him, his elbow digging into his side a bit. 

“Hi.” she replied.

“Oh, um, I’m…I’m Killian Jones,” he stuttered, offering his hand. 

“Emma Swan,” she responded, accepting his hand and shaking it. 

“And I’m Liam Jones, Killian’s big brother,” Liam said, also shaking her hand. 

“Older brother,” Killian corrected. 

Emma giggled. “You guys don’t sound like you’re from around here.” 

See the full post

70 notes - Posted February 21, 2022

#3

My contribution to the ‘Heatwave Collection’

With the hot temperatures that many people have been experiencing recently, several of us have written Captain Swan ‘heatwave stories’. The idea was suggested by @cs-rylie on the CSMM Discord, so I owe her thanks for that, and also for looking over this story as I wrote it. Of course, @hookedmom was once again my fabulous beta, catching all my errors, and giving helpful suggestions to make this story better. 

You can find the ‘Heatwave Collection’ on Ao3 here. Be sure to check out all the great stories! 

SUMMARY: A heatwave in Storybrooke has everyone on edge, and Emma is feeling the heat of being the town sheriff. Her pirate takes it upon himself to help his wife find some relief from the weather and the pressures of her job. 

Rating: M

Words: 3623

Also found on Ao3 and ffn

*********

“Good afternoon, Love,” Killian greeted as he entered the stuffy confines of the Storybrooke police station. 

Emma looked up from the paperwork she was attempting to put in order, but was being hindered by the oscillating fan sitting on the corner of her desk. How could her husband look so damn hot when it was…so damn hot? Even the way the sweaty, rogue strands of hair fell across his forehead into his eyes was sexy. 

“What’s good about it?” she grumbled. 

He crossed the room in four quick strides, his smile fading a bit as he took in his wife’s scowling face. “Something wrong, Swan?” 

“Wrong? Oh, no, nothing’s wrong,” she spat sarcastically. “The heat is just making every citizen in this town lose their damn mind! And of course, it’s the sheriff’s job to solve all the problems around here, so half the morning was spent running from dwarf to dwarf, trying to figure out who stole whose fan. Then there was the case of the fender bender in the grocery store parking lot, where the worst damage was the ice cream that melted all over the back seat, while they waited for me to arrive. I caught hell for that! It’s not my fault it’s almost a hundred degrees and nobody can handle it!” 

Recalling how they both used those same words in the sultry jungle of Neverland before their first kiss, Killian smirked, which was probably the worst thing he could have done at that moment. When Emma looked up and caught sight of his expression, she jumped up from her chair, her hands in fists as she leaned on her desk. “What the hell is so funny, Jones?” 

He held his hand up placatingly. “Calm down, Swan, I’m not making light of your challenging day. I was simply reminded of those particular words being used several years ago, while experiencing a different sort of simmering heat.” 

Her brows scrunched together as she tried to decipher his meaning. He could tell the exact moment she figured it out, because her face melted into a soft smile. “Oh, yeah. Well, that heat was much more fun.” 

“Aye, and it still is,” he purred, sauntering up beside her and rubbing his hook against her hip, while his hand slid up her bare arm. Her attire of a tank top and khaki shorts wasn’t exactly professional, but he couldn’t say he minded. 

“Don’t start anything, Killian. This office is a furnace and I’m a sweaty mess.” 

“You look ravishing, Darling.” 

She rolled her eyes disbelievingly, but couldn’t keep the corners of her mouth from turning up a bit. “All the same, in this heat, even fooling around with my hot husband doesn’t sound appealing.” 

“In that case, what do you say we sail away, Love?” 

Emma sighed. “I can’t, Babe. I’m supposed to be in the office until five, so I’ve still got a couple hours of insanity left.” 

“I would say you’ve done enough for the fair citizens of Storybrooke today. Let them figure out their own issues for the remainder of your shift. Just think how lovely it would be to feel the sea breeze in your hair and on your face.”

“Don’t tempt me. You know Madam Mayor would be after my head if she hears I left work early.” 

He nuzzled behind her ear, murmuring, “Regina doesn’t intimidate me. Besides, this pretty head belongs to me, Mrs. Jones.” 

“Killian,” she groaned, though her attempt at rebuffing him didn’t have much effect, since she was tilting her head to allow him access to the column of her throat. 

“You know you want to get away from here,” he whispered. “No more dwarves, no more hot office, no more complaints. Just you,” he paused to nibble on her collarbone, “me,” another love bite, “and the Jolly Roger. I’ll even mix up some of your favorite concoction to bring along.” 

“Rum punch?” she asked breathlessly. 

“Mmhmm. What do you say, Love?” 

“I say you had me at ‘no more dwarves’.”

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71 notes - Posted June 20, 2022

#2

Lunch is on Me  (A CS AU Story)

This story is inspired by a post that’s been circulating on social media and I thought it was perfect for our beloved Captain Swan. Many, many thanks to @motherkatereloyshipper​​ who created Liam’s tombstone picture for the pic set, @apiratewhopines​​ who constantly fluffs my aura and who gave me useful feedback for the story, the ladies on the CSMM Discord for their help on the pic set, and (you know what’s coming next!) my dedicated and loyal beta @hookedmom​​​, who has been with me through thick and thin and who makes every story I throw at her 100% better! 

Story Summary: Emma Swan makes a mistake when ordering a DoorDash delivery and tells the driver to keep the food for himself. The response she gets moves her to tears and has her hoping to meet the man in person someday. 

Rating: T

Words: 3544

Chapter 1/1

Also found on Ao3 & ffn

*********

“Dammit!” Emma Swan cursed, reading the message on her phone. 

This is Killian, your DoorDash driver. I’m here to deliver your food. 

In her haste to get lunch delivered while she had a break between regional business meetings, she forgot to change the address for delivery to her hotel in New York City, instead of her apartment in Boston. Now, some poor guy was standing at her door with her food order, and she was going to have to resort to stale vending machine snacks. 

I’m sorry, I forgot to change the delivery address. Enjoy the food. Lunch is on me. 

She quickly checked her hair and makeup in the mirror, gathered up her room key and purse, and was on her way to the door when her phone dinged with another notification. 

Umm…okay. Thanks very much. 

Sighing, she went out into the hallway and turned left, in search of the nearest vending machine. 

*********

Emma’s meetings in the hotel conference room stretched on into late afternoon, while she grew increasingly bored and hungry. How many times could they reiterate the plummeting sales numbers and explore possible interventions to halt the decline and improve the bottom line? She knew she should be more concerned, but at the moment, her growling stomach was demanding more attention than the lack of sales. 

When the final speaker of the day began wrapping up his presentation, Emma chanced a look at her phone to check the time. Her screen displayed another message from DoorDash and as she read it, tears instantly filled her eyes. 

Thanks again for your generosity. Your home is very near the cemetery where my brother is laid to rest, and since today is his birthday, I had lunch with him there. That means more to me than I can say and I truly appreciate your kindness. 

Emma checked the time stamp and saw that the message came through over two hours ago. She wondered if she should reply to it or not, and finally decided that such a heart-wrenching admission deserved to be answered. 

Please accept my sincere sympathy for the loss of your brother. I’m glad you had an opportunity to spend some time with him, and that the food helped make that happen. I hope it was a good day. 

Noticing that the presenter was finally finished, she closed her laptop, stuffed it into the case, collected all of her belongings, and hurried out of the room, intent on placing an extra large DoorDash order to be delivered to her hotel room this time. 

*********

The week after Killian had lunch at the cemetery with Liam, he turned on his DoorDash app and scrolled through the requests. One name and address in particular caught his eye, and he sat up straighter on the couch, tapping on it quickly to claim the request. He was happy he would get a chance to thank the woman who treated him to lunch in person. 

*********

On the Wednesday after Emma returned home from attending the regional meetings, she placed a DoorDash order and was pleasantly surprised to see that the driver’s name was Killian. Of course, it didn’t necessarily mean it was the same delivery person as the one to whom she’d donated her lunch, but how many Killians could there possibly be in Boston? It wasn’t exactly a common name. 

Her question was answered with the next communication she received from him. This is Killian, your DoorDash driver. I’ll be making a delivery to you in about fifteen minutes. Will you be home this time? 

She laughed and typed out a response. Yes, this time I AM home, so I’m afraid you’ll have to buy your own dinner tonight!

She hoped the man didn’t mind her playful teasing. He seemed to be a good sport and she was curious to put a face to his name. She assumed he was an older man, since he had a brother who was deceased. Maybe he was earning some extra cash to supplement his retirement income, or was helping one of his children pay for college expenses by DoorDashing in the evenings, after working another job during the day. 

The knock at the door took her by surprise. She had gotten busy sorting through her winter clothing before storing it away for the summer and lost track of time. She hurried through the apartment, stopping to grab her phone off the arm of the couch, checking to see if she had a new message from the driver. Seeing that he had sent one a minute ago saying he had arrived at her apartment building, she threw the door open without checking through the peephole. 

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73 notes - Posted March 12, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

Where Her Heart Belongs (my CSSNS story)

This is my first contribution to the Captain Swan Supernatural Summer event, and it wouldn’t be possible without many people. 

First of all, thank you to the CSSNS 2022 mods for having this event.

I am beyond excited to be paired with @winterbythesea​​, who created not one, but FOUR absolutely gorgeous pieces of art for this story! Her banner is at the top, and the other three pieces are scattered throughout the story. I only hope it is worthy of her beautiful work!

Thank you to @hookedmom​​, who read over the story at least a dozen times to help me plot and make it as error free and enjoyable to read as possible. Thanks also to @winterbythesea​ and @snowbellewells​, who read over it to give me suggestions and feedback. It has definitely come a long way since the first draft!

Story summary: In the Land Without Magic, Emma Swan is quietly living her solitary life. When she finds a unique storybook in the library, strange things begin to happen. A canon divergent story which started out based on the movie “Somewhere in Time”, but evolved into something else entirely.  

Rating: T

Words: 9191

Also found on ffn and Ao3

*********

Emma Swan pushed through the doors of the Columbus Public Library and inhaled the familiar scent of paper and ink. She knew many people relied on various forms of technology to do their research and reading these days, but in her opinion, nothing was better than the feeling of having an actual book in her hands.

“Good morning!” greeted the man at the circulation desk.

“Good morning,” Emma returned, looking at him curiously as she placed the books she had finished reading in the return slot. In all the times she had come to the library, she’d never seen this man working before - he must be new.

“Looking for anything in particular today?”

“Umm…I’m not sure. I guess I’ll just follow wherever my mood takes me.”

“You should check out our new fairytales section on the second floor,” the man said, gesturing toward the staircase to his left.

“Oh, uh, thanks. I might check it out a little later,” Emma replied.

“Be sure you do. I think you’ll find something there that will spark your interest.” He threw her a warm, dimpled smile, before resuming his typing. Emma’s curiosity about the man was piqued even more when she noticed that instead of using a computer, he was using an old-fashioned, manual typewriter.

She walked through the adult non-fiction section and peeked into the periodicals corner, where several retired senior citizens were reading newspapers. When she reached the area containing adult fiction, she ran her finger across several of the bindings and pulled out a few books to read the summaries on the back cover. None of them drew her attention, so she decided to go upstairs to search for the area the librarian recommended.

Every now and then, she liked to check out picture books, graphic novels or books for younger readers. She rarely had the opportunity to visit libraries when she was growing up in the foster system, so she ignored the social conventions and selected whatever struck her fancy.

She preferred coming to the library in the late morning when it wasn’t very busy, since most young patrons were in school. The quiet solitude of being among her beloved books was a balm that renewed her soul, and restored the faith in the goodness of mankind that her job as a bail bondsperson often depleted.

When she reached the top of the stairs, she glanced around and didn’t immediately see the new section, but something instinctively told her to turn right and go around the corner at the end of the aisle. There, she saw two very realistic columns decorated to look like those that would belong inside a castle. As she stepped between them, she took in the dozens of books neatly stacked on the shelves.

After collecting a couple of books with gilded edges, she carried them to a nearby armchair to peruse them. Losing herself in the stories, she was unaware how much time had passed, until she pulled her attention away from one of the books and checked the display on her phone.

When she glanced around the perimeter of the area, her eyes were drawn to an oversized book sticking out over the edge of the top shelf. Rising from her chair, she approached the shelf and reached up with one hand to slide the book toward herself. Realizing too late she had misjudged its weight, she tried to grab it with her other hand, but failed to catch it. The book clattered to the floor, flipping open to a page which revealed a very detailed color illustration. She looked around in embarrassment before bending down to pick up the book. Upon getting a better look at the picture, her eyes widened and her jaw dropped.

The full-page image featured an extremely handsome, but dangerous-looking man. He was dressed in a black leather coat with a high collar, a black blousy shirt unbuttoned to the middle of his chest, and wore a chain with numerous charms around his neck. He was holding the ship’s wheel and had a hook in the place of his left hand. Mesmerized by his cornflower blue eyes and his dark, wind-blown hair, Emma dropped down to her knees to get a closer look.

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85 notes - Posted July 15, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[killianmesmalls]

Life As We Know It, Ch. 5

Summary: Just when the Jones brothers feel like their lives are where they should be—Liam is graduating from the police academy and Killian is just a couple years away from graduating high school—they get some news that turns their whole world sideways. An AU where Liam, Milah, and Bae are alive and help Killian navigate the unexpected world of being a young, single father.

Warnings: In previous chapters, mentions of date rape and Eloise Gardener, as well as a decent amount of swearing. In this chapter, references to the NICU (neonatal intensive care unit for anyone unfamiliar) in case that might upset anyone.

Chapter: 5/?

Chapters 1 & 2, Chapter 3 Chapter 4

Tagging: @hollyethecurious, @kmomof4, @courtneyshortney82, @spartanguard, @ashley-knightingale, @branlovestowrite, @wyntereyez, @hapartshapchap, @gusenitsaa, @artistic-writer Let me know if you want to be tagged and I’ll add you!)

Also, thank you to @gusenitsaa for reading over it for me!! 

Liam was confident he’d seen some of the worst places: their parents’ bedroom after their father went on a bender, various homes that morphed into one another in the memories of his foster care days. Those were a different kind of terrible, but this one? This white room and all the beeping computers and ailing infants? He was sure now that nothing was worse than the NICU.

He watched Killian sitting in the chair by the plastic incubator, his eyes unblinking as he focused on his child. A daughter, they discovered. Born at thirty-three weeks, the doctors had informed the teenage father her prognosis looked good, she just needed some time to strengthen her lungs and immune system. The positivity in their voices was lost on the younger Jones, though, as he stared at the four-pound infant he couldn’t hold like he’d imagined for months. Seeing her little chest struggle to breathe, wishing nothing more than to have her in his arms and tell her it was okay...

Liam wished so much to take all the concern and all the pain away from Killian and his newborn. With everything else they’d been through, this seemed beyond cruel. If the elder brother still believed in a god, he’d be cursing him or her to the depths of hell. 

Just then, a little twitch of the sleeping child’s hand and Killian was up like a shot, eyes glued to her tiny form. Her arm jerked and suddenly a little whimper followed by a tiny, high-pitched cry. 

"Shhhh, shhh, it’s okay. It’s okay,” he insisted, putting his hands inside the compartment, letting her little hand wrap around his index finger. The strength of her grip eased the knot twisting in his stomach, and he even managed a smile as she began to quieten. 

A breath Liam wasn’t aware he’d been holding escaped, and he took the time to look around at the other infants unlucky enough to spend their first weeks here. Their new addition was luckier than some, he knew. Just a few feet away lay another child no more than three pounds, struggling each day just to make it to the next. He closed his eyes and hoped to anything that might be listening, whether he believed in them or not, that their yet-to-be-named bundle would see home soon, as would the other children fighting their own battles near her. 

Thank the bloody stars for the nurses and doctors. One in particular had kept them apprised of every stat, every little milestone, every minute detail of their girl’s progress. It was about the only thing holding them together. 

“I think she’s hungry,” said Killian. “Nurse Tilly said this could be one of her hungry cries. I think? Right? Think we can try again to get her to eat? Hopefully this time works better than last one. She seemed to get the hang of it a little.”

“Yes, she seemed to,” replied Liam. “She’ll get there, Killian. We just need to give her a little time. And, also a name.”

“Oh, he’ll think of something,” the nurse said as she entered, giving Killian a supportive wink. “I’ve seen plenty of babies here without a name for quite some time. Can’t rush genius, Uncle. Daddy over there is just trying to be sure the name she’s given is the one his little daughter happy with, isn’t that right?”

Killian nodded, never taking his eyes off his little girl. A daughter. He had a daughter now. And one that was looking to be his and his alone if everything got settled as Weaver promised it would. 

Liam could see those wheels turning in his brother’s head, feeling the same in his own. They’d be this girl’s family. Now more than ever, as the nurse offered to settle her in his brother’s arms so he could attempt to feed her this time, the elder Jones could sense the immediate change in their family and almost see what was to come: Killian being indulgent and curious with her, Liam spoiling her slightly behind his back, maybe one day a bigger house with a playroom. One day maybe Killian would find someone to build a relationship with. Hell, maybe he would, too. They could make a family again. The foundation of something new was brick by brick being put together with every breath of this new addition to their lives. 

 “Alice,” Killian said suddenly, jerking Liam out of his thoughts. 

“What?” 

“I….I want to name her Alice. After—”

“Mam.”

Killian nodded, looking at Liam for a moment, a small smile stretching over his lips at his brother’s small nod of approval. 

“Alice it is. Any thoughts on a middle name, if you want one for her?”

Killian paused before looking up to the nurse that had kept them both sane and might as well have had magic with everything she had done for Alice since her sudden arrival into the world. 

“Tilly. Alice Tilly Jones.”

Cries. More cries. So many cries. 

Killian groaned on the couch in the living room where they’d set up the crib as there hadn’t been enough space in his room for it. She’d been home for two days and still the paranoia wouldn’t leave him, though exhaustion was starting to battle with it and he silently begged for Alice to try to sleep so he could rest just a little more. 

When another shriek escaped her, he rose to his feet, nearly bumping into the edge of the couch on his way to her. “Alright, little miss, you have my attention.”

He lifted her carefully into his arms, bouncing her slightly and feeling the fullness of her diaper. “You’re full of it more than your uncle is.”

“I heard that!” Liam groggily called from the other room. 

Killian smirked into Alice’s peach fuzz-covered head, carrying her to the changing table. “Looks like you’re not the only baby in this house, Al.”

“I heard that, too!”

“I meant for you to,” Killian replied, careful not to be too loud and further upset his baby. 

His baby. Still, settled at home with a crib, car seat, stroller, and various other items gifted to them by Liam’s work friends and Weaver’s station, Killian had a hard time wrapping his mind around the fact that Alice was here. She was his, and his already upside-down world was now twelve kinds of sideways. 

He still had tests to take, classes to finish, a job to get… A life to get in order. A life for her. Yet, even here, changing her and listening as her wails calmed, bringing silence once more to the early morning hour, Killian pushed away his concerns to plaster a smile on his face. He could worry when she couldn’t see him, when there was no risk of his anxiety reaching her. 

Once she was set with a clean diaper, Killian lifted her back into his arms and wandered to the kitchen, preparing a bottle as he’d been taught and, at this point, felt he’d practiced ad nauseum. Still, the butterflies of “what if” fluttered around his stomach, and that nagging wonder of if he was doing this all wrong came rushing back. 

“No, I got this. I can do this. Right, Al?” 

She fussily twisted in his arms, and he tested the bottle’s contents before pressing it to her lips, still breathing a sigh of relief when she latched onto it. He could feel the burning exhaustion still hanging on his eyelids, but the peacefulness of her eating made him feel strangely grateful for these late night moments. 

He took a deep breath, smelling the top of her head and letting this new world sink in. Her own eyelids began to droop, and a different kind of flutter went up from his stomach and straight through his chest. 

“No matter what happens, we’ll get through this together.”

Killian had seen some of the worst places, ones that morphed and stretched from his childhood to that beeping NICU. He hoped against hope, against logic, that was the last terrible place his Alice would ever have to see. She was home now, safe, and his. 

His daughter. Finally it began to feel real.

[killiansprincss]

Two Victims of Bad Form

Okay so this fic is inspired by this post I made last week and it blew up and I had a few requests to write it, so here it is!! I really hope you enjoy it!! 

link to A03

Tagging: @the-darkdragonfly​ @elizabeethan​ @superchocovian​ @lostintheskyfaraway​ @pirateprincessofpizza​

_____

Liam Jones was used to The Underworld. He hadn’t yet had a run in with Hades and it wasn’t too bad of an afterlife. He didn’t try to keep track of his time here, it was a waste. While he did wonder when he would see his brother again, he only wished he was living a long and happy life.

Liam does wonder what he is up to and what happened when they returned to their home kingdom. Killian was Captain of the Navy now, would he go in front of the King and reveal the true nature of that awful plant, and become a hero?

But had he also found happiness? As a navymen Liam can’t lie and say the female sex didn’t find ways to converse with them and Killian would often become flustered, not knowing the correct and best way to talk to them, as a men of the King there were expectations. But he had hoped there was a special female who he had found happiness with.

But his life-or-afterlife was pretty good. It wasn't great at first though. Accepting the fact you are dead was not something Liam was able to accept straight away, he kept playing his last moments over and over again, and wishing he could go back and stop himself from scratching the dreamshade on his arm. It was a foolish and rash decision which every day he regrets. He fell victim to bad form quickly. The Underworld was a strange town but the wide variety of alcohol was one thing he liked.

There was a bar that Liam would go to every day and the Rum was far spicier than the one he had become accustomed to in the Enchanted Forest, and it was stronger too. Apparently being dead knocks out your tolerance for alcohol. He was a mess. He grieved for his own life, all the things he planned to do and see, and he grieved for his little brother and how now he was all alone.

The owner of the bar, Alaric, was a former King of a long forgotten kingdom. He wasn’t the kindest or most understanding King in his former life, so in the Underworld Alaric devoted his time to helping others, and he helped Liam come to terms with the fact that while he was dead, it was not the worst thing in the world.

“If your mother is here, her gravestone will be up. If she’s in a better place it will have fallen, but a crack will appear if that is not the case.” Those were the last words Alaric said to Liam before he found peace.It was the one thing Liam wanted to know.

Finding out his mother’s fate was a high priority for Liam, he hoped she were in a better place and they would be reunited once Killian arrived in years to come. He hoped she could be proud of her two boys. He doesn’t know what he would do if she were in a worse place.

And there it was. A grave marked “Alice Jones”

Liam smiles. It had fallen over. She was in a better place.

Knowing his mother was in a better place, at peace likely, was all Liam needed to get on with his life in the afterlife.

Alaric was the first person Liam felt like he could speak to and open up to. And it felt good. He wanted to do the same for other people.

So Liam takes over and starts working at the Bar, working his way through the ranks until he eventually becomes manager and owner, well nobody is really an owner of any property in the Underworld, but in every sense the bar was his. He becomes to other people what Alaric was to him. Letting them grieve and come to terms with their own passing and potentially their unfinished business.

Every day he’s at the bar, he hopes his little brother will walk through the doors and they can be together again. Deal with their unfinished business and find peace together. But every day he doesn’t. And as much as it hurts not seeing him, it’s a good thing.

Every day Killian doesn’t walk through his doors is another day he is on Earth living his life. Maybe he's married to a Princess and is the greatest Captain the Royal Navy has seen in centuries. Just maybe.

These dreams keep Liam positive, until one day.

________

It started out like any normal day in the Underworld, Liam would wake, go for a morning run before his shift at the bar. It wasn’t too busy, a few regulars who would sit quietly on the other side to where he was working. Until a woman came in who he hadn’t seen before. She was beautiful, with strong bone structure and dark curls that accentuated her face. But she didn’t look in the best state. A new arrival to the Underworld Liam guesses, he’s seen that scared face all too many times.

“I need something strong.” is all she says as she sits on the bar stool to steady herself.

Liam nods as he reaches around for the strongest whiskey they stock and pours it into a frosted glass. This was a much nicer way of serving alcohol, he assumed this was how royals drank, vastly different to the dirty taverns he and Killian drank in.

“How did I end up here?” She sighs as she takes the glass in her hands.

“Well, this is the Underworld, therefore I’d say to end up here means you died. Sorry to be the one to break the news.” Liam says with a sarcastic smile.

She looks up from her glass, clearly not amused by the sarcasm, and Liam can see the pain in her green eyes. “It gets easier, I promise you that.”

“I was murdered.” She finally says. “How am I expected to feel better?”

It was an unfortunate fact that a lot of people ended up in the Underworld due to falling victim to murder.

“Well, I died because of my own stubbornness, left behind my little brother who is all on his own. It takes time to accept these facts, not saying it gets easier right away but you’ll get there in time.”

“I left my son behind with his horrible father. I am a horrible person.” She admits. “It wasn’t meant to be like this. I was going back for him and we would’ve been a family.”

Liam doesn’t say anything else, so he pours her another shot of whiskey and lets her sit there until she eventually leaves. This was her journey and Liam didn’t want to probe into open wounds. And if anyone knew anything about being left with a horrible father it was Liam. He hoped the poor lad ended up on a better path.

But the next day she comes back. “So that whiskey was really good yesterday. Got anything else?”

Liam smiles as he grabs the spicy rum he’s grown accustomed to drinking on days where he needs to drown his sorrows. “My bar is always here if you need a drink or a chat. Names Liam.”

The dark haired beauty takes the glass from Liam and takes a sip, “Milah. Have we met before? You look awfully familiar.”

Liam studies Milah for a second, her green eyes and dark curls don’t ring a bell, and he was normally good with faces. “Can’t say that I have, unless you’ve been dead longer than you think.”

__

Milah comes in almost every day for a few weeks before she starts to open up. Liam doesn’t pry, he serves her a drink while she ponders her afterlife.

“My ex husband killed me.” She tells Liam one day. Liam didn’t try to force her to say anything which she appreciates, so she doesn’t mind telling him her story.

Of all the things Milah could’ve said about her murderer, Liam was not expecting that. “I’m sorry to hear that. Do you mind me asking why?”

Milah takes another sip before saying, “I ran away. To be with my lover. He was angry that I left my son behind, but he was just a boy and the high seas are dangerous. I was going to come back for him when he was older. After I ran, my ex husband got hungry for power and revenge so he found a way to become the Dark One, and sure enough he got his revenge on me. Rumple ripped out my heart and called me a bad mother, which I hate to admit he was right.”

“I don’t think you were a bad mother.” Liam tells her. “Sure you could have handled your situation differently, but it sounds like you never forgot about your son and the fact you wanted to go back for him speaks volumes. You mention the high seas, was your lover in the Navy?”

Milah laughs. “Oh no, far from it actually. He was a Pirate Captain and I guess I was also a Pirate. We weren’t bad people, I assure you that, but Baelfire was far too young to understand anything.”

Liam gives her a disapproving look which Milah catches. “Don’t look at me like that. We both ended up in the same place. Don't tell me you were in the Navy.”

Liam just nods. “Naval Captain. Died on a mission the King sent us on. My little brother tried to save me but it was poison and it went straight to my heart.”

“Well I’ll cheers to that.” Milah says, raising her glass.

A few days later Milah is telling her story again, and giving more details about how bad her life was at home with her husband. “He took my choice away from me to have a second child. Baelfire was sick, and he was too much of a coward to steal the medicine to save his life. Rumple made a deal instead that this man would take our second born in exchange, so I could never have a second child.”

“You’ll get to face him again one day, when he arrives down here and you can tell him what a coward he was.” Liam felt horrible for Milah, she was a victim of another man's bad form and it ruined her life and led to her destruction.

“One can only hope. Anyway, it was that night I met Killian and everything changed.”

Liam freezes, he hadn’t heard that name come out of another mouth since he died. Milah notices, “are you okay?”

“Sorry. Killian was my little brother's name, I haven't heard it since, and it brought back memories. Sorry, continue with your story.”

“So he tells me he’s a Pirate, and he’s captain of the fastest ship in all the realm and he can take me anywhere I wish.”

Killian. It’s a common name surely. Fastest Ship in all the realm, Liam is sure a lot of Pirates say this. But just to be sure. “What was his name? Captain who? We came across Pirates in my Naval days, I’d be interested to know who he is.”

“Jones. Captain Killian Jones.”

Liam freezes and his vision suddenly becomes blurry.

No. It couldn’t be. His little brother, his trusted Lieutenant, a Pirate. No, not just a Pirate, but apparently the most ‘fearsome in the land.’ “I believe you’re talking about my little brother. Only when I died he was Lieutenant Jones of the King's Royal Navy.”

Milah’s eyes widened, “That’s why you look so familiar, you have his eyes.” Tears began to form thinking about what she had heard and what Killian had mentioned about his brother. “Something called Nightshade, it poisoned you, but the King wanted it for his army. Killed you as soon as you left the Island.”

Liam smiles, Killian had told someone about him. “The poison was called Dreamshade. I didn’t want to bore you with details of my death but I guess it relates. We didn’t know that it was a poison, and assumed it was a simple herb or plant used to heal our warriors. It was a strange island, there was this boy no older than 15, he told us it was deadly. Course I didn’t believe the kid so I cut myself with the plant. One thing led to another and I died because the water I drank which healed it wore off as soon as we were back in the Enchanted Forest.”

“I’m so sorry Liam. Killian spoke of his brother, of you. I didn’t put two and two together.” She felt horrible that she had been speaking about Killian not knowing his blood and flesh was right in front of her.

“Don’t worry about it, I’m not angry at you-how were you to know. I’m a little disappointed in my brother though, as soon as he became a Navy Man he stopped drinking and always believed in good form, Pirates were the epitome of bad form.”

Milah shakes her head. “No stop that. You don’t know what your death did to him. He told me the reason he became a pirate is because how could a King send his best men on a mission that had such dark consequences, he would never serve under the rule of such a cruel man. He would not let you become a victim of the King, he didn’t want the man who sent him there to die and speak crap about what a fine captain he was and what a tragic accident it was.”

“So you’re saying he became a Pirate because of me?” Liam was having a hard time understanding how the most noble man he knew would live a life like that when they had worked so hard for their position.

“I met Killian only  a few years ago, and by then he had made a name for himself in the lands. But once I got to know him, I understood he was a broken man who drank away his sorrows. He mentioned you to me but he mainly buried what happened to you inside, bottling up his emotions so he seemed hard-faced and scary to others. But not to me.” She explains. “He idolizes you, always believing you were the best man he ever knew and how could he ever live up to that. But it was the anger over what happened to you which forced him into the situation he was in, he made a statement as the King had to scramble to find a new Navy and a new ship.”

Liam smiles at the thoughts of their so-called great King realising his navy men were now a band of Pirates and convincing the people it was fine and explaining to trade leaders why he needed a new ship and a brand new legion. “Our terrible King paid a dear price for his wicked plans, I guess it’s what they call karma.”

“We were happy, Killian and I. He was happy, his men commented they hadn’t seen him like that since you died.” Milah tells Liam. That’s all she would want to know about Bae, if he was happy.

“I’m glad he was able to move on and find love. And I’m just sad it didn’t last.”

“He will be happy again. It’ll take time but I’m sure he can find what he has with me with someone else.” Milah wasn’t cruel, she wants Killian to find love again someday with someone special- he doesn’t deserve to be alone forever.

______

While Milah stops coming to the bar every day, they still keep in touch and give each other updates if someone new arrives who knows Killian.

“Captain Liam. What a sight for sore eyes you are!” Miller, a former crewmate of Liam and Killian arrives one day, explains he was killed by someone called a Lost Boy, another Pirate. “Your brother is a fine captain, Hook may be a Pirate but you’d be proud of him.”

“Hook?” Liam asks.

Miller looks confused for a second before realising, “Oh I forgot he got the hook after you died!”

Turns out the Dark One cut off Killian’s hand and in Pirate fashion he replaced it with a hook, so now he’s ‘Captain Hook.’ Well at least he now knew to listen out for Captain Hook when new arrivals came.

And sure enough this worked out, though he wasn’t fond of some of the stories he heard.

“Did you hear there will be a curse?” Milah says to Liam one day.

Liam shakes his head, he doesn't like to hear too much of what is going on up there, he’s only interested in his brother.

“There’s an evil witch or someone who is planning on cursing everyone in the Enchanted Forest and placing them in her own personal hell.” Milah explains, she leaves out the rumours her ex husband is involved. “They say they will be frozen in time for 28 years until a saviour comes.”

“28 years? That means-“

Milah finishes his thoughts, “28 years frozen in time means nobody comes down here and we are in the dark about Killian.”

Liam sighs, it had been a few hundred years in the world upstairs, and they had learnt Killian was in Neverland, a place where nobody ages. But they had learnt so much about him and were hoping to find out more, but this curse was a setback.

_____

They know the curse has broken when people start entering the Underworld. Also turns out the town where the curse put them was based off the Underworld.

At first they don’t hear much about Killian, or “Hook”. Until one day.

“They took the Saviour’s son. Hook lent his ship to the Hero’s, they’re going after them.”

Not too long after, a face Liam would recognise anywhere shows up. The boy who led them to the dreamshade. And he is joined by the Dark One himself.

“I’m not ready to face him.” Milah tells Liam.

“It’s okay, he’s the only one who knows about my brother. I shall keep your name out of it.”

“Well if it isn’t the one handed Pirate’s brother.” The Dark One says when he enters the pawn shop, which he apparently owns in the cursed land. He’d never met the man before, but supposedly he was all knowing.

“You’re the only person who can tell me about my brother. Please I mean no threat.”  It wasn’t his place to defend Milah, he also did not wish to anger the Dark One.

The Dark One sighs. “I met your brother when he was a Pirate and I was a man with no power. He beat me in a duel when I was still powerless, so it was an unfair advantage. Many years later we met again and I cut off his hand as I thought that’s where a magic bean was but alas he tricked me. The Pirate hid in Neverland for a couple hundred years to get revenge. But I will say your brother has changed while in Storybrooke, he’s in love with the Saviour who hasn’t quite admitted she feels the same just yet. But he’s changed his tune, he may be a Pirate but he’s working on being a hero.”

Liam smiles, his little brother has found love? And a hero. This woman he was in love with- a saviour, the one who was destined to break the curse? Not admitting her feelings for him, sounds like the perfect match for the ‘womaniser’ that he had rumoured to be.

“He’s on the side of the heros.” He tells Milah that night at the bar when she was sure she was not going to run into her ex.

“You’re not serious?” Milah couldn’t believe it, Killian was working on the good side?

“Dark one confirmed it himself. He also, um,” Liam begins to tell her about how he found love, but isn’t sure how she would take to it.

“What? What is it” Milah can tell he’s hesitating, not wanting to tell her something, wait. “He’s found someone-hasn't he?”

Liam nods.

Milah lets out a soft laugh, “It’s okay that he found love again. I’m not so daft to wait 500 years for him to return. Killian is not my unfinished business, my son is. Tell me about the woman he’s found.”

___

And so Liam wonders about this woman his little brother had fallen in love with. He imagines she’s strong and feisty, like he remembers his mother was, and doesn’t put up with his brother's cockiness he inherited from their father.

Killian was always destined for great things and it sounds like he is finally on the path for this greatness. He tries to listen out for little things here and there when new people start arriving, but he wants to hear it himself when he eventually does see his brother again. Although he hopes it won’t be for a very long time, he wants to hear how his brother fell in love and started a family, giving his kids a better childhood than the two of them had.

But unfortunately one day, sooner than expected, he does overhear

“Captain Hook is here.”

He arrives at the blue house by the water, it’s grand and beautiful. Knocking at the door was the hardest thing he ever had to do, but a blonde woman dressed in white opens the door, this must be the saviour.

He doesn’t know what he will say to her, does he say thank you for being the woman his brother needs? Or does he just introduce himself and hope Killian isn’t too far away.

“Hi can I-“ she begins, but that’s when he sees him standing behind her,

“Killian!” 300 years of waiting, looking a lot older and dressed in modern black leather, his little brother was finally here.

[justanother-unluckysoul]

For the drabble thing with Killian (or really, whatever comes as inspiration!): 14, 21, 56, 73, 85 :D (don't feel pressured on writing any of these, just thought I could throw in some ideas!)

Five prompts combined = 500 words :D This little scene immediately came to mind when I saw your message and I rushed through this a bit so excuse any errors. 

I hope you like some angst with your whump lol

#14 “Let’s have some fun,” #21 safety, #56 begging, #73 brother, #85 “I’m okay”

Killian is not sorry he did it, but he didn’t intend to get caught. He can see the distress on Liam’s face, the disappointment, and the desperation as he can do nothing but watch as Killian faces his penalty.

“Let’s have some fun.”

Killian will deny to his dying breath the tremor that ran down his spine at the words, at the tone, at the purely evil grin that followed it which reveals how much enjoyment his punisher will get from this. Because Killian’s supposed to be brave. He can handle the pain. He can. (No, he can’t.) The agony of the whipping overwhelms him in moments, and his mind escapes to where his body cannot, tears streaming unchecked down his cheeks. A lifetime later, or so it seems, it’s Liam’s voice that brings him back to himself. Liam’s hands on his face. Liam’s sturdy arms supporting him to safety when his knees wobble too badly to walk. His back is aflame, and in his thoughts, hazy with pain, he wonders if the lash is actually still falling on him.

“Please stop, I’m sorry, let me go, please just let me go, I’m sorry.” Killian is barely aware of the broken pleas still spilling frantically from his lips. He hadn’t taken half his punishment before he’d begun pleading for it to end, and though he hadn’t meant to break down like this, even now he can’t seem to be quiet.

“It’s over. Stop begging, Killian,” Liam demands, “Do you hear me? It’s over.”

Hearing that almost harsh tone from Liam snaps Killian out of it. He blinks a few times, stares at his own hands gripping the lapels of Liam’s coat tight enough his knuckles are white. He swallows, sucks in a breath sharply, and loosens the hold but doesn’t let go.

“There you are. Calm down now, it’s alright.”

Another shaky breath, and he forces himself to let go of his brother and lie on his stomach, the way Liam’s hands are coaxing him to do. Liam is gentle as he carefully tends to Killian’s wounds, muttering soothing nonsense whenever Killian gasps or winces in pain. It’s a gruelling process despite Liam’s cautious touch, and Killian’s drifting into unconsciousness by the time it’s done, eyelids fluttering as he fights to stay awake. Though Liam hasn’t told him to stay awake, Killian knows that’s what his brother would want. That’s what his brother would do. And Killian needs to be stronger, like Liam. His cheeks feel hot with embarrassment, suddenly, as he realizes how he sobbed like a baby in front of the crew. How cowardly he is. He fights harder against the lure of sleep and shifts a little so he can see Liam.

“I’m okay, Liam.” And damn the way his voice still trembles, giving away how weak the lashing has left him.

“No, you’re not,” Liam says tiredly, and he looks so sad as he brushes the hair back from Killian’s sweaty forehead, “but you will be.”

END

[everything-person]

Okay does this sound good? Like at least decent idea?

I’m thinking of a Lieutenant Ducklingish fic. Princess Emma Sailor (so not quite Lieutenant yet) Killian Lieutenant Liam. Possibly grew up together? There’s like a Naval Ball and the next day they set sail for a mission.

BOOM CRASH TERRIBLE STORM BOOM THE SHIPS GETTING TORN APART ABANDON SHIP WOOSH GIANT WAVE! Liam and Killian were able to get to a lifeboat as far as they know they are the only survivors. They trying to navigate to land but they aren’t sure how far the storm set them off course. They survive off what fish they can catch and a flask of rum. They wash up onto an island. They travel the jungle. They become surrounded by boys. Liam demands to know where they are and speak to who’s in charge. The leader steps forward and say they are in Neverland and there are no adults here. They fight them off and escape the boys. They set up camp on the beach trying to find a way back home. One night Killian on watch and something in the water something big. He wakes Liam they spot light coming from underneath the water then a man emerges onto the beach. It’s Captain Nemo he brings them a board feeds them and explains what he does (finding lost souls and all) asks him to join his crew. They are hesitant to trust but “Wait you travel all the realms in this fish?” “Yes she is the best vessel I’ve had the pleasure of captaining” “are you-will we be able to go home?”

Meanwhile in Misthaven “Emma it’s been a month.” “And?” “We must assume-“ “We must assume nothing! I know Killian is still alive. Liam wouldn’t allow anything to happen to them. They are alive out of stubbornness if nothing else.” “Sweetheart-“ “WHAT!? All my life you have spoke of hope and faith. And that is what I have. You don’t think I don’t hear that little voice inside that tells me otherwise whispers that they are gone. But there is another voice one that says they are alive and they will come back to not give up hope. And that is the voice I will listen to until they are home.”

Captain Nemo feeds them and tends to their wounds. They make port in Arendelle for supplies. Liam insists they go to the castle feeling they have burden Captain Nemo enough. “Thank you Captain we will forever be in your debt.” “If you boys ever find yourselves lost there will always be a place for you in my crew.” They go to the castle and gain audience with the queen. Liam is struck by her beauty. Killian speaks up telling their tale and humbly asks for help. Anna pops up from around a corner and amazed by their story telling them they would be glad to help. Elsa agrees and allows them to stay in the guest wing for as long as they need and if they need anything else they only ask. Liam speaks with Elsa about maps trying to chart their journey thus far and how far they need to go till their home. They stay for a couple days before Killian sends a bird to Misthaven. A week later Princess Emma arrives in Aredelle and is only able to keep the composure of a proper princess until she sees them alive and well then she is launching herself into Killians arms. Once she’s satisfied hes real she let’s go and embraces Liam. (If she whispers a thank you no one will ever know)

She tells them they had confirmed their ship has sunk and their lifeboat was the only one missing meaning everyone else is presumed dead. Once they are home they will have a ceremony for those men that were lost. Emma and Elsa set up a treaty amongst their kingdoms. The day comes they are to return home to Misthaven. Emma leads the Jones boys up on deck of the ship that is to take them home. “Do you like her?” “She is one of the most magnificent vessels I’ve ever seen.” “Glad to year it because she yours.” “What?” “Welcome aboard the Jewel of the Realm Captain Liam Jones and Lieutenant Killian Jones. She awaits your orders.”

And that’s all I got. If anyone wants to write this or is inspired by this go ahead. I probably won’t because it would be crap like this ^ summary or brain storm is all I got for this idea.

[allons-y-to-hogwarts-713]

Day 1: Vomiting

Inspired by @yuckwhump 29 Day Whump Challenge prompts! I don’t know how many I’ll actually get to write because my life is crazy right now, but I’m gonna try it. A big thanks to @hollyethecurious for looking it over for me. ❤️

Warnings: alcohol, vomiting

I’m on mobile, so I’m sorry there’s no cut.

-/-/-

Liam struggled to hold a stumbling Killian upright as they staggered back to the ship on which they served.

“Why do you do this, brother? You only make it harder for yourself, and for me.”

“S’better than being sober,” Killian slurred. “S’already the bloody worst anyway.”

“C’mon,” Liam sighed, adjusting his arm around Killian’s torso to help him as they walked up the ramp to the deck, no easy task as the ship bobbing in the water made it sway beneath their already unsteady legs.

When they reached the top they were greeted not so pleasantly by their captain.

“And where were the two of you?” Captain Silver questioned with a scowl.

“S’not your business,” Killian sneered. That was the wrong answer. Silver grabbed a fistful of Killian’s hair and tugged his head backward. Killian’s upper lip twitched in an attempt to feign confidence.

“I own you, boy. It certainly is my business where my property spends its day.” Silver released his grip and punched Killian hard in his stomach, causing him to double over in pain, and Liam shifted to support his weight as best as he could.

“Please,” Liam said, looking for an excuse that could spare his brother from punishment, “We were just running your errands like you ordered. We’re new to this port. We got lost.” Silver paused a moment, then stepped back.

“Got lost?” he mocked, gesturing to his crew. “You hear that, men? The Jones boys just got lost! What fine sailors they make, eh?”

“Liam,” Killian whispered, holding onto his brother’s shoulder, “Liam, I don’t—” His stomach lurched then, and he heaved, spewing bile onto the deck in front of him. Silver just laughed.

“Ah, so you were drinking again then. What sort of man are you if you can’t even hold your rum?” Silver jeered. “You best clean that up, boy,” he ordered with a much more serious tone.

“Yes, Captain.” Killian’s cheeks burned redder than the liquor had already made them, and he turned to retrieve his supplies but was interrupted.

“Where do you think you’re going?” Silver asked and approached him.

“To get the mop, sir,” Killian stopped and answered through gritted teeth.

“No, boy.” Silver forced Killian to turn back toward his pool of vomit and kicked the back of his knees with such force that they buckled and he dropped to the deck with a grunt. “Clean. Your. Mess.” Silver shoved Killian’s back and he landed face first in the disgusting puddle. Killian silently prayed to anyone who would listen for the day he’d finally get his revenge on the vile man, and held back tears as he was forced to eat his own regurgitation off the grimy deck of the ship, hoping whatever else he was ingesting might kill him before he could finish.

[gusenitsaa]

Whump-etition: Prompt from @badthingshappenbingo “I know you’re in there somewhere” fight. 

 Jones Brothers pain.  It’s me.  What do you expect these days

  @icecubelotr44 @pirate-owl @nothingimpossibleonlyimprobable

"Are you certain, Captain Jones?” Killian’s jaw tightened and the little magician flinched back a bit.  “Sir.  I meant s-”

“I was told you are more powerful that you look.  Was I deceived?”

“I can bring him back,  if you’re-”  Killian glared at the little man and his words trailed off.

“What do you need?"

“Protection.”

Killian raised an eyebrow.  “I offered you payment not protection.”  

The man stuck his chin up defiantly though it trembled a bit.  “That’s my price.  I do this for you,  you take me away from here.  Get me to-”

“I do not take passengers.”   The man opened his mouth to argue and despite the trembling in his frame it made Killian think better of him.  “But,” Killian continued.  “I can arrange your transport with a discrete person who will see you safe to your destination for the right price.  Is that acceptable?”  The man nodded and set about arranging a variety of strange items in a circle as Killian looked on.  

This is a bad idea. 

The voice sounded like Liam.  

The voice in his head telling him something was a bad idea usually sounded like Liam...

“Tell me about him.”

“His name was Liam Jones.  He was my brother.”

“I need more.”

“More?”

“Yes,” the man sounded exasperated,  more confident now that terms were agreed to.  “This is complicated magic.  A name isn’t enough.  Tell me about him.”  

“He was...”  Killian paused,  his throat tightening.  The words wouldn’t come.  How could he possibly put his big brother into words. “He was older.  Not as much older as he acted sometimes.  He could be a stubborn ass but he always...  he always knew what to do.  Was always so certain, so...”  he closed his eyes.  “He was noble.  Loyal to the realm.  Never did a bad thing in his life.  He even died nobly.  Stopping a treacherous king from poisoning the realm.”

The magician rolled his eyes.  Actually rolled his eyes.  “It’s not a eulogy, Captain. And the magic requires honesty. No one is perfectly good all the time.”  

Killian stiffened defensively.  “Liam was,” he hissed.  

The man shrugged,  “if you say so.” The magician handed him back Liam’s log book.  “This will stabilize the magic. Write it down,  what you just told me and protect it, or you’ll lose him again.”  Killian nodded,  filling an empty page with the description of his brother he’d given the man.

“Where did he die?” the magician asked finally after several long minutes.  

“What?”

“Your brother.  Where did he die?”

“My ship.”

“Get there.”

“What?”

“I’d hurry.”  

It was possible the man was playing a cruel joke.  It was possible he was a fraud and he’d be gone by the time Killian returned alone from this fools errand.  It was possible.  But maybe ... just maybe...  

Killian ran.  

His heart sank as the Jolly Roger came into view.  Nothing out of the ordinary. The men were repairing cosmetic damage to the hull from a particularly nasty squall.  No indication that his Captain,  his brother had returned home.  His face heated in anger and shame.  He’d been deceived.  Again.  One more fraud with no more power to bring Liam home than he had.  

His pace slowed as he approached the ship, gathering himself,  placing the mask carefully,  layers of sternness and anger and bitter cold between himself and the crew.  No one spoke to him.  No one dared.  

He threw back the hatch and climbed down into the cabin without bothering with a lamp, crashing to the floor gracelessly.  He was pouting like a petulant child and he knew it,  but it didn’t matter.  Not anymore.  Something hit him like the kick of a particularly ornery mule,  shoving him hard against the wall as he scrambled for his sword bringing it up just in time to block a blade coming at his throat.

"Do you really wish to add striking a superior officer to your crimes, pirate?”  

Killian’s blade fell with a thud,  no doubt leaving a chip in the polished wood of the cabin.  “Liam?”

“That’s Captain to you.” 

Killian grinned, his heart swelling for a moment as his eyes adjusted to the dimness below.  Liam wasn’t smiling. 

And his blade did not fall.  

“Liam-” he tried again tentatively

“Captain.  What the hell were you thinking, Lieutenant.  This is mutiny.  This is treason.”

“You-  brother, you died.”  He held the log book in trembling fingers.  “Gods he did it.  He actually did it-”  There was something in Liam’s eyes.  Something wrong.  Something not Liam. but Killian’s mind was spinning,  in too much shock to process it.  “The magic is tied to this book.”  He placed it carefully on the desk.  “If we keep it safe-”

“You chose treason over reporting to the admiralty?” Liam interrupted. “You always were a damned fool.”

The words stung and Killian shrank in on himself “I’m sorry Li-  Captain.  I’m sorry.”  

“You will be.  You’ll hang for this, little brother.  You’ve gone too far this time,  even I can’t save you now.”  Liam tightened the grip on his blade and looked contemplative for a moment.   “The penal code allows for some discretion.”  Liam sighed.  “Make your peace, brother.”  Something softened in his eyes for a moment.  “It won’t hurt. I’ll make it quick.” 

There were a few moments of silence in which Killian could do little other than stare.  He carefully set the book down and then suddenly Liam’s sword flew again.  His own rose to meet it by habit rather than choice, his mind still spiraling out of control. He trapped the blade against the wall, its tip dug into the solid wood.

“This ... Isn’t you.  Liam, please.  I know you’re in there somewhere. Come back.”

“I am back.  And I have to make this right.” Liam scowled.  “Don’t fight me, little brother.  Their just punishment would be painful,  it would take time.  You are a pirate and a traitor but you are my brother.  Let me give you a good death,  a quick death.  For what we once were-"  Liam jarred his blade loose and came at him again,  Killian met him blow for blow,  muscle memory protecting him with rapid parries as Liam advanced.  

The sound of metal clashing had drawn the crew to the hatch and Killian threw out a hand to stop them coming down into the cabin. “Stay back-” he ordered and they hesitated.  

“Liam, listen to me-”

“No, little brother.  Listen to me.  This cannot continue.  The treason, the piracy, the drink and the gambling.  It’s wrong.  It must end.”  

“And what they did to you?” Killian snapped,  “Should I have served an unjust King who did that?” 

“You swore an oath,” Liam spat,  bringing his blade down again,  Killian side stepped it but fell off balance for a moment,  steadying himself against the wall as Liam turned to face him again.  “You swore to serve, and you betrayed that oath.”

“No, brother.  Our King betrayed us."  

Liam advanced again,  feinting and redirecting so quickly that Killian could not quite recover.  Liam’s blade sank into his bicep and Killian cried out, sharp pain lancing up his arm and making him drop his blade.  

Liam hesitated.  It wasn’t much but Killian saw it.  Liam’s eyes slid out of focus for a moment, then locked in on Killian again,  drawn to the scarlet blood dripping down his arm.  

“I’m sorry, brother,”  Liam said,  his voice shaky now.  “I’m sorry I didn’t teach you better.  I’m sorry it’s come to this.”  

“Don’t do this, Liam,” Killian whispered quietly,  making no attempt to retrieve his blade.  “This isn’t you.  The magic that brought you back... it’s wrong... somehow.  But we can fight this.  We can fix this-” 

“Treason is punishable by death,” Liam insisted,  his eyebrows furrowed and the tip of his blade suddenly shaky.  “I swore to uphold the laws of the realm-” he shook his head,  as though pestered by an irritating gnat that he couldn’t shake.  His blade fell a fraction of an inch and then he turned retrieving the log book from the desk and examining it carefully.  He flipped open the book to the end and read for a moment.

A sigh of relief passed through Killian’s lips and he struggled to his feet, one hand still tight over his bleeding bicep.  

“The magic.  It’s tied to this?”

“Aye.”

Liam nodded and set it back down on the desk,  turning to face Killian.  

“I want to kill you.”  His face was eerily calm and Killian’s heart clenched.  “You’re a traitor to the realm and a pirate and I need to...”  Liam clenched his jaw for a moment,  his knuckles white on the hilt of his sword.  He looked at Killian for a moment,  pale and leaning against the wall. 

When Liam moved it was so quickly Killian had no time to dodge the blow.  No time to dive for his sword to block it.  He closed his eyes and waited for the pain. 

The pain didn’t come.  

Killian opened his eyes.  

Liam’s blade was stuck in the solid wood of the desk... through the bespelled log book. 

No.

Killian looked to Liam who had a small smile on his face,  a stubborn gleam in his eye and a scarlet stain of blood blooming slowly across his shirt.

“No!” Liam staggered and sank to the floor but this time Killian was there to catch him.  “Liam, what have you done-”

Liam smiled weakly.  

“Treason.”

[kazoosandfannypacks]

Just the Way We Roll by kazoosandfannypacks

Pairing: Captain Swan Rating: General Audiences Word Count: 3K Summary: Killian Jones is just a simple teenager trying to navigate life. But when his brothers try to help him talk to his crush, it doesn't quite go as planned. Author’s notes: [In this fic, Liam II is named William, and Emma and Henry aren't related.] I feel like "Killian as a middle sibling" isn't a dynamic used nearly enough in fics, and decided to play around with "his brothers try to help him flirt and it doesn't go well." Taglist: @zahara @kmomof4 @jonesfandomfanatic @booksteaandtoomuchtv @jrob64 @tiganasummertree @anmylica @teamhook @undercaffinatednightmare @gingerchangeling @lonelyspectator @caught-in-the-filter @ultraluckycatnd @cs-rylie @silver-the-phoenix @pawshapedheart  [if you’d like to be added to or removed from this list, hmu in my dms or askbox!] Also on Ao3!

 Being an older sibling seemed easy enough. Having people who always look up to you, paving your own path, never living in someone else's shadow- it all comes so easy to the oldest sibling.

 Being a younger sibling didn't seem too hard either. Your parents are more lax on the rules, they make less mistakes because they've learned from how they messed up your older siblings, and you've got older siblings to look out for you.

 But being a middle sibling was difficult. Keeping an eye out for your younger siblings, living in the shadow of your older siblings- your parents still messing up with you, yet having expectations for you from your older siblings. It was the worst of both worlds- but after ten years of having a younger brother and seventeen of having an older brother, Killian was used to it. He'd gotten used to the fact that William would beg to tag along anywhere he went. He'd gotten used to the fact that Liam would always be around to tease him. He'd gotten used to the hand-me-downs and the handing-down, to needing advice and then giving advice, to being annoyed by his younger brother and annoying his older brother.

 But if there's one thing he didn't think he'd ever get used to, it was his brothers' outgoing natures. To William and Liam both, a stranger was just a friend they hadn't met yet, whether it was a kid William met at the McDonald's playplace or a new employee Liam met at the local ice cream stand. Liam's charisma and William's enthusiasm were enough to charm the hearts of any stranger.

 Killian, however, was not so gifted at meeting new people. For one thing, he didn't really need to be- Liam's friends had always accepted him as part of the group anyways- and for another, he didn't usually care to. He wasn't a huge fan of talking to people, never knowing what to say, or how to say it, or when- it was easier if he just didn't talk at all. He had plenty of online friends, anyways, from his RPG groups and writing circles, and he'd always been content with just that.

 That is, until his older brother dragged him along with him to the local pizza parlor for dinner. Their mom was away for the night (and their dad had been away for much longer,) and Killian had been looking forward to spending an evening in, planning on proofreading a manuscript one of his friends had been begging him to beta.

 Unfortunately, Liam had decided they'd have much more fun going out for pizza that night, and William agreed- much to Killian's dismay. So, instead of reading his friend's historical fantasy WIP while listening to his favorite gaming soundtracks, he found himself eating pizza with his brother, in a seat much too close to the nearby jukebox, which was playing "What's New, Pussycat" for what seemed like the twenty-first time.

 But he didn't mind it nearly as much as he thought he would. After William had devoured a couple slices of pizza, he'd run off to play at the arcade consoles with a new friend he'd made. Liam then began talking with Killian about some of their friends, and Liam's upcoming victories as captain of the football team, and which of the Spiderman movies was the best adaptation.

 But what really made him enjoy his time- or, at the very least, made him stop wishing that he was back home by himself- was when he noticed some girls from school, sitting at a table across the way- one of those girls being the new girl, Emma Swan.

 If ever there was a person Killian was scared to talk to, it was Emma Swan. Her golden hair and charming smile were enough to turn loose the butterflies in his stomach- but her confidence, even in her new surroundings, combined with how quickly she'd fallen in with some of the cooler girls- altogether she was too cool for him to even think about talking to her.

 Fortunately for Killian, girls like her didn't tend to notice guys like him, so she didn't notice how much he was staring at her from his seat behind the jukebox.

 Unfortunately for Killian, big brothers always notice when you're crushing on someone.

 "Does she go to our school?" Liam asked.

 Killian turned back to Liam, trying to pretend he hadn't been staring at Emma- the last thing he needed was Liam meddling with his fantasy.

 "Who?" Killian asked.

 "That girl you haven't been able to take your eyes off since she came in."

 "I don't know what you're talking about." Killian said, making the mistake of glancing back at Emma and her friends- and seeing her laugh at one of her friend's jokes, which brought a tell-tale smile to his face.

 "Killian Jones," Liam said, "you are the worst liar I've ever met."

 "Am not!" Killian said.

 "You like her," Liam smiled.

 "She's just a girl from school," Killian said, "she's new; I barely know her."

 "What's stopping you?" Liam asked.

 "From getting to know her?" Killian asked, half laughing.

 "Just go over there and talk to her," Liam said.

 Killian knew Liam was only trying to be supportive, but at the same time, he could've said "just go jump in a pit of razor blades" and Killian would've been more willing to oblige.

 "Talk to her?" Killian asked, "me? It's not that easy."

 "Why not?" Liam asked, "just go over and say 'hi.'"

 "Maybe the captain of the football team can do that," Killian said, but "I don't think I could…."

 "Exactly, don't think," Liam said, standing up, "just do it.  Thinking's what gets you into trouble."

 "What?" Killian asked, his brother already having walked around the table to the jukebox.

 "This'll be your song," Liam said, putting a few quarters in the slot, "it'll boost your confidence."

 "What song?" Killian asked, getting up to look at the jukebox, knowing there was no point in trying to stop his brother when he had his mind made up.

 "Our jam," Liam put a hand on his brother's shoulder, "That's Just The Way We Roll."

 "Jonas Brothers?" Killian asked, "You want me to talk to Emma with Jonas Brothers playing in the background?"

 "Only thing better than the Joe Bros is the Jones Bros," Liam wiped a dab of sauce off Killian's face, "even if one of them needs a little more confidence."

 "I still don't know about this," Killian said.

 Their conversation was interrupted by William, who'd apparently exhausted all his arcade quarters.

 "Do you have any more quarters?" William asked Liam, "Henry and I ran out."

 "Who's Henry?" Killian asked.

 "My new friend," William said.

 "How'd you like to help your brother make a new friend now?" Liam asked William.

 "You?"

 "I don't need your help," Liam said, "but there's a pretty girl over there who's caught Killian's eye, and he needs our help to impress her."

 "I don't need…"

 "Okay!" William said, "what do you need me to do?"

 "Just follow my lead," Liam said, "and make Killian look good."

 "You got it!" William said.

 "I woke up, on the roof, with my brothers," the jukebox played.

 "That's your cue," Liam said. He put his hand on Killian's shoulder and pushed him ahead of them, towards Emma and her friends.

 "I wonder how much paperwork goes into disowning your older brother," Killian thought, as they got closer to the table and he still didn't know what he was gonna say.

 The girls at the table stopped talking and looked up at them, their eyes quizzically fixed on the Jones brothers.

 "Hi," Killian said, his stomach in knots and shoulders tense, "I uh, we go to the same school."

 "Emma, is it?" Liam reached around his brother to shake Emma's hand, "I'm Liam."

 "No need to introduce yourself," one of the other girls, whom Killian recognized from the cheerleading squad, interrupted, "I think we all know the captain of the football team when we see him."

 "Anna, right?" Liam asked, "Kristoff's girlfriend?"

 "That's me," Anna nudged the girl next to her, "and this is my sister, Elsa." 

 "A pleasure to meet you both," Liam said, flashing a dazzling smile at Elsa, then turning slightly to Emma, "and have you met my brother, Killian?"

 "I've seen you around," Emma smiled a little, not at Killian, "I didn't pick up on the familial connection, I guess."

 "Jones is a fairly common last name," Liam said, "and Killian hasn't picked up on nearly as much of the family charisma and charm as I have."

 Even if Killian had found his voice, he couldn't've argued with that.

 "And I'm William!" William piped in, "I'm their brother!"

 "Oh?" Elsa smiled at the child, "are you on the football team too?"

 "I don't even go to your school!" William said, "but I go to all of Liam's football games. I'd go to Killian's games too, if he was good at sports."

 "What part of 'make Killian look good' does he not understand?" Killian thought, before realizing it was probably the word "Killian."

 "Yet another thing that didn't run in the family," Liam smiled.

 "Would you guys like to join us?" Anna asked, sliding herself over and pulling her sister along with her, "I'm sure we can make room for you."

 "We'd love to," Liam said. He slid into the now-empty space in the booth, next to Elsa.

 Killian took a seat in the booth next to Emma, feeling a little too uncomfortable to even look at her.

 "This was a bad idea," Killian thought, sitting at the edge of the booth, hoping his cheeks weren't red from either embarrassment, awkwardness, or any more stray pizza sauce.

 Whether fortunately or unfortunately, Killian wasn't quite sure yet, but either way, William crawled under the table and popped back up between Emma and Killian, taking a seat between them.

 William tugged at Killian's sleeve and motioned for him to lean down. Killian did so, and William cupped his hands around his ear to whisper to him- but when you're ten years old, it's hard to tell the difference between "whispering" and "talking so loud the whole restaurant can hear it." Unfortunately for Killian, William did the latter.

 "Is she the girl you can't impress?" William asked, his voice somehow a million times louder than usual, "the one you needed our help with?"

 Killian blushed a little, glancing up at Liam and reading his expression, knowing that it was definitely loud enough, at the very least, for the whole table to hear.

 "I never said that," Killian scratched the back of his neck, behind his ear.

 "Shhhhh!" William reminded him they were supposed to be whispering, "you didn't, Liam did, remember? He said you need more confidence and there's a pretty girl you can't impress without our help."

 Killian hid his face in his hand, wondering now how much paperwork went into disowning himself.

 Liam pulled a few quarters out of his pocket.

 "Why don't you head back to the X-Wing Fighters game?" he asked, handing William the quarters.

 "Okay!" William said, "Nice meeting you girls!"

 "It was nice meeting you too," Anna said, as William crawled across Killian, adding injury to insult as he left the booth.

 Killian looked at Emma out of the corner of his eye, and behind her soda sipping straw was a sympathetic smile.

 "Great, just what I need," Killian thought, "she probably feels sorry for me."

 Killian hunched his shoulders and looked away from her, intently studying a stain on the table. He then remembered what Liam said about the song playing on the jukebox, and listened closely to the lyrics now playing.

 "If we lose, all the girls, they'll be laughing"

 "They'll be laughing pretty soon here if I open my big mouth and say something stupid," Killian thought.

 He looked up at his brother and took heart, knowing that at least one of the Jones brothers knew how to function in society.

 "I don't see how Liam got all the charisma and charm." Killian thought, "I want to go home- or, at least, go sit at the table behind the jukebox like none of this happened. I don't know how to talk to people, let alone girls."

 "So, do you ladies come here often?" Liam asked.

 "Anna and I do," Elsa said, "our favorite weekend hangout- this is our first time bringing Emma along with us though."

 "I just moved in a couple weeks ago," Emma said, "Anna and Elsa've been helping me adjust pretty well though. Our parents have apparently been friends since before any of us were born."

 "Glad to see you're, uh, well adjusted so far," Killian said, wondering if that sounded as awkward as he thought it did once he'd said it.

 "Thanks, I guess," Emma said.

 "Have you stopped by Scoops and Shakes yet?" Liam asked Emma.

 "Not yet," Emma said, "Elsa and Anna told me it's the best ice cream place in town though." "A slight understatement," Liam said, "one of the best on the planet. Perhaps my brother and I could you treat you ladies there tonight?"

 "Sounds pretty cool," Elsa said.

 "That was an ice one," Liam smiled.

 Emma groaned and rolled her eyes as Anna and Liam laughed.

 "I've got snow problem coming up with them," Elsa said.

 "You're quite clever," Liam smiled, then glanced at Killian, a look in his eyes that said he'd forgotten his role as wingman, but was just remembering it.

 "Care to join us at Scoops and Shakes after this?" Liam asked Emma.

 "I don't know," Emma said.

 "I'm sure my brother would be glad for your company," Liam smiled.

 Emma looked at Killian, expectantly, and he realized now he'd have to say something to her- something smooth, calculated, charming, cool- like Liam would. He opened his mouth to speak, but couldn't come up with anything.

 "That's it;" Killian thought, "I'm stopping by the county offices tomorrow and disowning myself. I'll go join Uncle Nemo's shipping company in Maine, never look back."

 "No, I, uh," Killian stammered, wondering how to avoid coming on too strong without avoiding coming on at all. "I might be able to uh," he made the mistake of looking at Emma, rendering himself entirely speechless at the sight of her smile.

 "You're really pretty," Killian mumbled.

 "What was that?" Emma asked, her tone not revealing if she liked what she heard.

 Killian covered his tracks- but covered them with the dirt beneath his feet, digging himself into a deep hole.

 "I said I need to use the privy!" Killian said, even louder than William had "whispered" to him earlier. He got up from his seat quickly, and ran to the bathroom.

 He shut the door of one of the bathroom stalls, not needing to use the bathroom, of course, but needing to step back and think, and wondering if his mom would still write to him if he ran away to Maine.

 "Curse that brother of mine," he muttered to himself, "why can't he understand that we're not all like him? I can't be him."

 But maybe that was Killian's problem. Maybe he was trying too hard to be like his brother- so much so he was neglecting to be himself.

 But if he was really gonna be himself, he'd be in his room right now, by himself, perfectly content to stay that way.

 When he left the bathroom, he saw William and his new friend playing at one of the arcade consoles, and figured it was as good an excuse as any to keep stalling.

 "How're you doing, kid?" Killian rubbed his little brother's hair. "Putting that Imperial Scum in their place?"

 "No!" William said. "We can't seem to get past this TIE Interceptor."

 Killian smiled. Taking on a whole fleet of TIEs was easier for him than trying to woo a girl.

 "May I?" Killian asked.

 William quickly stepped off to the side, and Killian took his place in front of the console. As he'd suspected, he did pretty well taking down the enemy invasion, and soon lost himself in the rush of the game and the cheers of the younger boys.

 "I think I got it from here," William smiled, pushing his big brother out of the way, "thanks!" "Man, we never could've gotten this far without your brother!" Henry told him.

 Satisfied that he'd at least done something right in the last ten minutes, he turned around, with a smile on his face. He quickly realized, though, that he hadn't noticed another spectator to his game- until he turned around and almost ran into her.

 "That's some pretty good shooting there, Red Five," Emma smiled.

 "I, uh," Killian took a deep breath, "I didn't peg you for a Star Wars fan."

 "Why not?" Emma crossed her arms, "because I'm a girl?" "Of course not," Killian said, "it's just rare to meet someone else who shares my interests, especially someone as cool as you."

 "You think I'm cool?" Emma asked.

 "Yeah," Killian said, "not many people can claim good looks alongside knowing Luke Skywalker's callsign."

 "I think someone else here can," Emma smiled.

 Killian blushed a little, his mouth an open smile as he thought of what to say next- not of what his brother would say next, but what he would say next.

 "Do you game as well?"

 "Sometimes," Emma said, "though I'm not very good at it."

 "Have you ever played the Fallen Order games?" "Haven't had the time or motivation yet," Emma said.

 "Liam and I have them on the XBox," Killian said, "If you'd ever did have the time or motivation, I'd love to show you."

 "Sounds like a date," Emma said. 

 "Only if you wanted it to be," Killian said, shyly looking down at his shoes.

 "Speaking of dates," Emma said, "did you wanna join the others over at Scoops and Shakes? I hear it's the best ice cream on the planet."

 "Liam was being facetious when he said that," Killian said, "but it is one of the best on a student's budget." They started to walk away, but he suddenly remembered his little brother.

 "William," Killian turned back to his brother, "time to go."

 "Go?" William asked, not turning his back on his game, "already? Five more minutes?" Killian rolled his eyes, then mouthed "watch this" to Emma.

 "We're getting ice cream," Killian said.

 "Finish it for me!" William jumped away from the console as Henry stepped into his place.

 "You got it, Gold Leader," Henry said, "may the force be with you!"

 "May the force be with you!" William called back, already past Emma and Killian and on his way to the door.

 "Shall we?" Killian asked, holding a hand out, gesturing in front of them.

 "Yeah," Emma smiled, and, much to his surprise, took Killian's hand in hers.

 He blushed, hoping his hand wasn't sweating too much, having never held hands with a girl before.

 As they rejoined with the others, Liam nodded at Killian and gave him a discreet thumbs up, to which Killian nodded in return.

 Killian looked back over at Emma and smiled a little, realizing that he wouldn't've gotten this close to her if Liam hadn't pushed him, and that maybe, just maybe, he didn't need to disown himself just yet.

[thejollyroger-writer]

CSJJ Day 7: Hitting the Bullseye

Killian and Liam Jones have always been competitive, but when Liam decides to have his bachelor's party at the archery range, Killian needs to practice-- or, better yet, learn. Thankfully, there's a champion archer at the range that can help him, Emma Swan. But will their shooting sessions turn to more?

This little fic was written for @csjanuaryjoy and I can’t thank the lovely mods for putting the whole event together enough! Also a huge thanks to the wonderful ladies in the discord chat, you’ve made my January hilarious and this fic wouldn’t exist without you!

Also on AO3!

This is the single stupidest thing Killian has ever agreed to. Sure, he would do anything for his brother, that's never something he has shied away from.

But this? This is going too far.

A bachelor's party at the archery range? It's right up Liam's alley, yes, but Killian? Even before he lost his hand, he had never picked up any sort of bow—the prosthetic, he would imagine, just makes everything harder.

Which is how he ended up here, by himself, at the archery range three weeks before Liam's bachelor's party, trying to learn how to shoot a bow and arrow.

With one (“real”) hand, and a prosthetic.

Damn him and his competitive personality.

He's watched a few videos, learned about the entire realm of “prosthetic archery”, thanks to YouTube, but nothing compares to actually coming to the range with his brother's compound bow and trying to teach himself how to shoot.

It's not that he doesn't understand how. The how of it really isn't that difficult.

At least, it shouldn't be.

But after a few practice draws, the bow failing to steady in his hands, he nocks an arrow and pulls the string back, but it slips out of his trigger and whizzes past his target, just hitting the corner of the wooden edge around it, turning completely off-course and somehow making a 90 degree turn across the field.

And that's when he sees her, standing in front of her own target, bright blonde hair pulled high into a ponytail, and even from across the range, he can see the toned muscles of her shoulders as she pulls her arrows out of the target and put them back in the quiver across her back. His arrow lands a few feet away from her, burrowing itself in the ground by her feet.

She must see it out of the corner of her eye, because she turns towards it, her eyes wide before she whips around to face him, tearing her headphones out of her ears.

He has already started to head in her direction, feeling the blush rise up his face to settle on his cheeks and the tips of his ears. She looks stunned, yes, but he doesn't think she's angry until she opens her mouth:

“What the actual fuck!?” she yells, quickly filling the space between her and the arrow sticking half-out of the ground before she yanks it from the dirt. “That could have hit me!”

Amazed by her sudden anger, Killian raises his hands in surrender as he tries to alleviate the situation.

“My apologies, love,” he says, trying his best to make his embarrassment obvious, unable to stop his hand from finding the spot behind his ear that somehow always itches when he's embarrassed.

Maybe it wouldn't be as severe if she wasn't the most breathtaking woman Killian has ever seen, even with her green eyes piercing angry holes into his soul.

“I really—I've never shot one of these bloody things before and I need to learn how in the next three weeks.”

Handing his arrow back to him, she lets out a short sigh with a shake of her head before the faint beginnings of a smile taking over her face.

“It's your lucky day then,” she says, her angry demeanor continuing to melt away as she holds her hand out to shake his. “I'm the range master. Emma Swan.”

If this was supposed to make him feel better, it does not. Instead, he just feels his embarrassment growing: not only did he go completely off-course with the first arrow he ever shot (misshot) and almost hit the most gorgeous woman he's ever seen—this woman is the range master. Because why wouldn't she be?

“Miss Swan,” he repeats, taking her hand in his own. “Killian Jones. Again, my deepest apologies for my mishap.”

“Would you like a few pointers?”

“Really? You would do that?”

Her smile grows, finally spreading to her other features. “It's part of my job, actually. I am a professional archer and fully certified range instructor, so it would be my pleasure to give you some assistance.”

Suddenly, his ear itches again. “I would… I would really appreciate that, actually.”

Emma smiles, then turns to take the path back to where she slung her bow on the holder.

“If you don't mind me asking, Killian, why do you need to learn how to shoot in three weeks?”

He smiles at her, the most radiant smile she has ever seen.

“It's rather humorous, actually. My, uh—my older brother is having his bachelor's party here in three weeks, and we're both terribly competitive sods, but it turns out that I've never actually fired a bow and arrow before.”

“So you're only here to compete with your brother during his bachelor's party?’

“Aye,” he says with a laugh. “And as long as you find my reasoning amicable enough, I'll have to find a way to thank you for assisting me.”

The sparkle in his eye ignites a fire in her chest, but she tries her hardest to ignore it as she leads him back across the range to where he set up his supplies. They develop a light banter, peppered just right with Killian's innuendos, but for some reason, his cocky grin and knowing smile don't turn Emma away as they usually do.

Though possibly because, though his demeanor makes him seem completely full of himself, he's a terrible shot, and every time he misses the target, his face turns an even deeper shade of red.

Emma learns that though Killian may be a terrible shot, but an excellent learner. Though he misses the target with the first dozen, he slowly starts to get better and better as they continue to practice.

He learns that her brother David owns the archery range, an ex-Army veteran who finished his time and decided to open a safe range just outside Boston, the archery range partnered with an indoor pistol range; and that she was trained to be in the Boston Police Department, but moved out of the city when her brother and his wife had their first baby to help him run the range, dedicating her time to archery instead, so much so to make her state champion three times.

She learns that Killian and his brother were also in the military, the English Royal Navy, but came to America when their mother got sick, which is how Liam met his fiancee, Elsa, who was one of the nurses that took care of their mother. Killian got a job helping with tours of the U.S.S. Constitution in the city, one of the greatest jobs he has ever had, being able to spend his days sharing his passion for ships with the visitors, but is looking to begin classes at Boston University.

As quickly as it began, over half an hour passes. Killian's aim has bettered exponentially, even hitting in the gold rings a few times near the end, and as excited as he feels seeing the arrows on the target, nothing compares to the relief they feel when they finally set their bows down on the picnic table behind them, with Killian having the added bonus of not having a sore hand because of the prosthetic.

She takes a few mouthfuls of the bottle of water sitting with her things as Killian fishes one of his own out of his backpack.

“I'm supposed to meet Liam for lunch in twenty minutes,” he says, looking around the range to avoid her emerald green eyes. “But I would—if it's not going too far, love, I would really like to see you again, maybe somewhere where I won't almost accidentally kill you?”

He scratches the spot behind his ear as he finally meets her eyes, happy to see that she is smiling back at him, an absolutely radiant beauty.

“I would really like that, Killian. Did you have something in mind?”

“Dinner, at least,” he replies quickly, the words suddenly tumbling out as if this is the only thing he has focused on during their time on the range (because it definitely isn't. Nope.) “Or lunch, if that works better for you. I know a few incredible places in the city that I've been waiting for the right girl to join me at.”

Though she wouldn't have thought it possible, Emma's smile grows at the sentiment. “Lunch would be excellent. I'm watching my nephew tomorrow while David's here, but the day after? Would around one work for you?”

“That sounds brilliant, Swan,” he says, her name breathy on his tongue, and somehow, he feels like he could say it for the rest of his life and never tire of it. “Marvelous.” But when he looks at his watch, it's slightly less marvelous: it's time to go, a realization that plays out over his features. “I'll give you my number so you can tell me where to pick you up?”

“That's perfect, actually,” she says, pulling her phone out of her back pocket and unlocking it before handing it to Killian. He takes a moment to enter his number then hands her phone back with a smile, but makes no move to leave. “I'll see you again the day after tomorrow, Killian,” Emma says with a laugh, amused by his obvious want to stay here with her.

“Aye,” he replies, the corner of his lips pulling up in the beginnings of a smile. “I'll see you then, love.”

David can tell there is something on Emma's mind as soon as she walks into his dining room. There's something in her face that gives it all away, a sparkle in her eye that wasn't there before, the ghost of a smile always present in her expression even as she stares down into her glass of water. David keeps looking up from the stove at her, but she is completely unphased by his presence in the same room as her. Staying silent, he simply watches his little sister, until she laughs out loud, the first noise she has made since greeting him, and then his curiosity gets the best of him:

“Is your glass of water telling you jokes?”

She jumps slightly at the sound of his voice, then snaps her head towards him. “What?”

David can't help but laugh at her. “You've been preoccupied since you got here, Em. Smiling, laughing into your water glass—do you have something you want to tell me?”

Sure, David might be poking fun at her, but he also wants to see her happy more than anything in the world.

Suddenly, Emma's cheeks become the same shade of red as her favorite jacket. “What? No.”

“There's nothing to be embarrassed about, Emma,” David's wife, Mary Margaret comments with a soft smile, hitching Leo up on her hip. But this doesn't help—if anything, it makes her blush deepen.

“I'm not embarrassed,” she tries, but David just laughs.

“Yeah, okay. Sure,” is all he says, then wipes his hands on the dish towel hanging from the oven before passing his wife in the doorway, pressing a soft kiss to her temple as he leaves the room.

Mary Margaret watches him walk away for a few moments before turning to Emma, her face unable to hide her growing smile as she quickly crosses the kitchen to sit down at the counter next to her. “So, who is it?” she whispers, unable to contain her excitement.

Amazed, Emma turns to her sister-in-law, eyes wide, before she quickly knits her eyebrows to make her seem confused, hoping it will be enough to throw off Mary Margaret. “What are you talking about?”

But Mary Margaret knows her too well and can see past any charade that Emma tries to play. “The sparkle in your eye, the unwavering smile? I would recognize that look from all the times I've had it myself. You're thinking about someone. So, spill! Before David comes back and you have to talk about him in front of your brother.”

Defeated, Emma sighs, then smiles. “His name is Killian. I met him at the range today, he's practicing for his brother's bachelor's party. Or, should I say, learning.”

The smile already spread across Mary Margaret's face grows, somehow. “That's excellent, sweetheart. How did you meet him?”

“He, uh… he almost shot me trying to figure out what he's doing, so I spent some time teaching him and he asked me out before he left.”

“You said yes, right?”

Emma's smile is the only answer Mary Margaret needs.

“Oi! Killian!” Liam says, not for the first time, deciding to wave his hand in front of his brother’s face.

Surprisingly, this succeeds in getting Killian’s attention, and he finally tears his eyes away from the cup of coffee sitting in front of him, the only object of his attention since Liam walked into the cafe and found his brother sitting in the corner.

Killian looks just as surprised to see him as Liam is to see him in this state. After their stint in the Navy, the younger Jones brother is always immensely aware of his surroundings, keeping a keen eye on the door and able to say how long any given person has been in their current location. Liam has always found his attention to detail in his surroundings something to be amazed by, seconded only by the details in the artistic abilities only he got from their mother.

“Oh, hello, Liam.” His voice is soft, almost as if he is as far away as his eyes make him seem.

“What is the problem with you today, brother?”

Killian shakes his head, then leans toward Liam on the table, scrubbing both of his hands through his stubble before they end tangled in his hair.

“Her name is Emma.”

Killian’s straightforwardness takes Liam by surprise. He expected to listen to his brother talk in circles, avoid his questions, plead ignorance.

When he does the opposite, he  is struck dumb, and all he can say is, “What?”

“Emma Swan,” Killian replies slowly, Liam assumes not in reply to his question. “She is the single most beautiful woman I have ever seen and I made a complete fool of myself in front of her.”

Liam can’t help but laugh at this. Killian has always known his way around a woman, and there have been more than enough nights when Liam returned to their apartment to learn Killian is nowhere to be seen—plus the few times that his brother has actually had the audacity to ask Liam to find an alternative place to stay. So hearing that he has embarrassed himself in front of someone that affects him as much as this woman does pull a smile from his lips.

“What exactly did you do?”

“I, uh—” he goes to begin his story, but he had decided that he wasn’t going to tell Liam about his need to practice archery to keep himself from making a fool of himself in front of Liam. But his clouded brain isn’t working fast enough to come up with a cover story, so all he can do is sigh. “I’d rather not say, actually. In the future, it might be a funny story, but at the moment, I really don’t want to talk about it.”

His eyes fall to the table, where he is flexing the fingers of his prosthetic hand, and after a moment, the corner of his lips pull up into the beginnings of a smile. He must feel Liam watching him, though, since his gaze slowly rises back to his brother’s face. “She’s incredible.”

“And, let me guess, little brother, you’re never going to see her again?”

“Younger brother,” Killian corrects with a sigh, just as he’s done hundreds of times, but he continues before Liam can comment. “And, actually, I asked her out. I’m meeting her for lunch the day after tomorrow.”

Liam reaches across the small table and claps his hand on Killian’s shoulder. “Look at you! I’m so proud of your bravery.”

Killian feels the blush rise up his cheeks as he quickly tries his hardest to change the subject: “Do you have everything on track for the wedding?”

Emma has never been so nervous in her life. She felt it slowly seeping through her as the minutes of the morning ticked by, an excitement that started in her chest and worked its way into every inch of her by the time she walks back to her car to meet Killian outside her apartment.

She asked David for a longer lunch, and something about her voice must have given him a clue about her ulterior motives, so instead of just lunch, David gave her the rest of the day off.

She assumes that Mary Margaret may have had something to do with it, as well.

She has to remember to thank her.

By the time Killian pulls into the parking lot beside her apartment, Emma can feel the excitement coursing through her veins, unable to stop herself from pacing back and forth in front of her car, thankfully not needing to return to her apartment before leaving.

“Killian,” she calls across the parking lot, crossing the dirt as quickly as she can without giving away her excitement. “Don’t get out of the car, please.”

He must hear her, because though his car door is open, he doesn’t get out, and she opens the passenger door and climbs in without a comment from him.

It’s only been two days, but seeing her again catches his breath in his chest, a weight over his heart that doesn’t go away for a few breaths.

After she closes the door behind her, she turns to him, but when her eyes meet his, the blue somehow even brighter against the dark interior of the car and his all-black outfit, her nervousness melts away.

“Hi,” she breathes, smiling at him from the passenger seat.

The smile he returns shines brighter than the interior lights. “Hello, love. How much time do you have for lunch?”

“Actually, David gave me the rest of the day off.”

If she hadn’t watched his smile grow, she never would have thought it was possible. Shifting the car out of park, he says, “Perfect.”

“But where are we going?”

A deep chuckle escapes his lips, and he smirks at her out of the corner of his eye. “You’ll see.”

 The afternoon that she spends with Killian is the greatest date she has ever been on. Private lunch on the waterfront, a short walk to the Faneuil Hall marketplace where they stop to watch a jazz band, and end at the Boston Common, and when they finally decide to sit on one of the benches by the pond, Emma realizes that it’s almost four o’clock, and the four hours they have spent together passed like minutes.

He is silent for a few minutes, his eyes focused on something far beyond the water in front of them, but Emma’s eyes don’t leave him.

Emma has been on a fair number of dates in her life, and most of them first dates, since almost all of her relationships haven’t made it further than that. Her heart has been broken more than enough times, and until she was almost hit with Killian Jones’ arrow, she believed it may never work again.

(There’s a Cupid joke wrapped up in there somewhere, she just can’t find it yet.)

All at once, his entire face lights up as he pushes himself off the bench, holding his hand out to her.  “There’s something I would like to show you.”

He leads her back across the city to a different part of the waterfront on the southern end of the city coast, and after she threads her fingers through his after getting up from the bench, they become inseparable. The walk back to the harbor is much quieter than their walk there, an air of seriousness passed over them that was not there before, the only thing that they share soft smiles every few minutes.

“You know, Jones, I'm glad you almost shot me,” she says after a while, leaning towards him to bump her shoulder against his arm.

“You're glad I almost shot you?”

“Well, if you didn't, surely we wouldn't be here.”

“Can't argue with that.”

 When they finally reach the harbor, he waves at the man in the booth and leads her down the wooden planks to a small ship docked at the end, flashing her a smile as he picks a key from his ring to unlock the pad from a chain across the dock.

“Welcome to the Jolly Roger, my second home and most important possession. Do you have enough time to take her out for a sail?”

Emma looks at her watch, but she's not sure why—there's nothing else she has to do today.

Or tomorrow, but Killian doesn't have to know that yet.

“It's your lucky day, Jones. I have nowhere to be.”

His smile is breathtaking as he reaches out to help her up the step onto the ship, the sun shining at her from behind his head, and Emma had never been happier in her life.

He leads her through what needs to be done to take off, teaching her in the same way she taught him two days before on the archery range. Once they're off, he excuses himself for a moment, climbing into a cabin below deck, and a few seconds later, he comes back up with two bottles of water and two bottles of beer.

“Fancy a drink, love?” he asks, holding out all of the options to her, and she takes one of each. After spending five hours together, there's not much else for either of them to say, and when he sits down against the railing, she sits next to him, her thigh pressed against his. Silent, with his arm wrapped around her shoulders and her head against his chest, they listen to the sound of the waves against the hull of the boat, lulling both of them into a wordless peace, but both of their minds traveling at a mile a minute.

Until Killian speaks, the words coming out slowly and just soft enough for her to hear. “I was five when my mother came back to America to get away from my father, but as much as it hurt her, she had to leave me and Liam behind. Liam was eleven. We lived in hell for seven years with that man, and on Liam’s eighteenth birthday, when he was supposed to leave for the Royal Navy, Brennan disappeared without a trace. Liam was forced to stay and was given custody of his twelve-year-old brother. We lived together in England, with the Navy miraculously understanding our situation and paying for him to go to college until I turned eighteen and could join up with him. We went through training and were placed together in England for two years, three in Norway, and three in the Middle Eastern theatre, and that was when our mother got sick. Brain cancer. Liam’s time was up, and they gave me a few month’s leave to visit her.

“Three days before we were set to leave, there was this crazy accident on base, an explosion in one of the buildings, and I just so happened to be right there when it happened. They told me that I could keep the hand but it would never work completely right again, or they could take it and replace it with a prosthetic. So they replaced my hand and sent me on a plane to Boston with Liam to be with my mum.  I did my physical therapy at the same hospital she was staying in. She lived for two years, if you can call it that, before the cancer finally took her. That was three years ago.”

When his words stop, a few breaths of silence pass between them. When Emma turns to look at him, she watches as he wipes his cheek with the sleeve of his shirt, and she squeezes his hand.

“I'm so sorry, Killian,” she says finally, and his eyes meet hers for just a moment, the edge of his lip curling up into a momentary half-smile.

She watches as he takes a breath, deep enough that she can see the rise and fall of his shoulders. “Liam's always been all I have, and I've wanted to impress him since the day I was born. At some point, that need to impress changed into a need to compete, and I can't even imagine how embarrassed I would be if I made a fool of myself at the range for his bachelor's party.”

With these two sentences, Killian changes the mood between them, the thick blanket of seriousness turned back as he flashes her a real, wholesome smile.

“I would imagine just about as embarrassed as you were when you almost shot me the other day.”

If Emma had not seen how quickly his entire face reddened at her joke, from the apples of his cheeks to the tips of his ears, she never would have believed it. “Aye, love,” he says through his soft chuckles. “Something like that, I would assume.”

“I can honestly say that I've never dated a man that could have killed me.”

“That's not a hard bar to set, honestly.”

As quickly as his embarrassment became apparent, her face darkens as she turns it up to look at him, her hand pressed against his chest. “You would be surprised the kind of terrors I've dated.”

He doesn't push any further, pulling her closer into his side, but after a few moments, she continues anyway, putting words together in an order that she never had before.

“When I was sixteen I met Neal. I spent much of my childhood in the foster system, until I met David on the street and his mother sort of adopted me, gave me a place to stay. But that's… another story. I never had anyone give me the kind of attention that Neal gave me, and I believed it was love, because I didn't know any better. But he was… he was twenty when we met, and a thief, a liar, a con. We were together for three years, and he told me that the last thing he needed to do before we could start a new life was—was pick up these watches from the bus station. Stolen watches. So I was waiting for him at this restaurant, all of our stuff packed in the back of my car, when I was approached by some police officers who said they got a tip that I had stolen goods in my car, so they needed to see for themselves. I let them, showed them outside and opened the trunk of my car to reveal a duffel bag full of watches. Stolen watches. They took me to jail, said that Neal called them and told them I had everything he was wanted for. So I did the only thing I could think of, and I called David, who was in college at Northeastern University, and he called Ruth, who bailed me out.

“Everything since then has been one-night stands, worthless needs to feel, and one two-year relationship with a dull businessman who only cared about his work.”

Killian doesn't know what to say, so he doesn't. Instead, he tightens his arm around her once more, pulling her further into his chest, and she surprises him once more when she speaks again.

“I really need to thank you, Killian,” Emma says softly, and at first, she doesn’t think Killian hears her.

But when he does finally turn to her, his bright eyes the same shade as the clear sky over the city. “There’s nothing to thank me for, love. I’m just giving you the first date I think you deserve.”

“Which is something that no one else has ever done before.” She’s not sure where the words come from, but once they start, she doesn’t seem to be able to stop them. “All I’ve ever gotten before is— is worthless one-night stands, liars, and heartbreak.”

“Don’t take this the wrong way, love, but I’m glad to hear that.”

“You’re glad to hear I’ve had my heart broken?”

He leans closer to her, his face just inches away from hers with his arm still wrapped tightly around her shoulders.

“If it can be broken, it means it still works.”

She stares at him for a moment, searching his eyes for…

Well, she’s not sure what exactly she’s searching for. But all she finds in the blazing sapphires is truth, honesty, sincerity, things that she’s not used to dealing with.

“Forgive me for being frank, Swan, but I would like the opportunity to give you everything you deserve.”

It’s all too much for her, and she can’t stop the tear that rolls down her cheek but quickly wipes it away with the pad of her thumb, tearing her eyes from his to look out over the deck of the ship, but the smile returns to her face after a moment.

“Well, I can’t say no to that.”

Killian reaches his hand up to softly cup her cheek, catching the next tear as he turns her face back towards him and meets her eyes with a smile.

“Good,” he whispers, staring at her for a moment.

He wants to kiss her, which is absolutely insane, since he just met her two days before, and the only thing that stops him is not wanting to make her uncomfortable. So instead, he leans his head back against the railing, looking out over the deck and into the harbor. She mirrors him, but her head rests against the meat of his bicep.

They stay silent once more, nothing else to say at the moment now that they have bared their hearts to each other.

Until, of course, Killian's stomach lets out a long growl loud enough to hear over the crashing of the waves.

He's embarrassed enough on his own, but it just gets worse when Emma starts laughing. “Does this mean we should get dinner?” she asks, giving him a moment to mirror her laughter.

“Aye, love, apparently it does.”

Together, they get the ship back to the dock, unable to stop the laughter that comes back up every time their eyes meet. Hand in hand once more, they walk up the harbor to a high-scale seafood restaurant by the aquarium, somehow able to get a seat without a reservation, and they spend most of dinner somehow finding more to talk about after six hours, much lighter conversation than that on the ship, and they end the night with a walk in the moonlight back to Killian's car parked by where they had lunch, not far from where they ate dinner.

The car ride is silent once more, soft jazz whispering out of the speakers of Killian's car, and the only time Killian unwraps his fingers from hers is when he needs to shift. Every few minutes, they lock eyes for a moment or two, a soft smile shared between them. It's ten minutes from the harbor to Emma's apartment, but by the time they make it there, Emma realizes that seven hours isn't enough—she doesn't want to leave his company.

“Do you… do you want to come up?”

“Emma,” he breathes, reaching across the car to cup her cheek in his hand. “I can't… I—I,” he stutters, not quite sure what exactly he is trying to say. “I want to see you again, and I—I respect you too much to rush into anything. You deserve that, at least.”

She smiles across the car at him, obviously touched by his words. “When can I see you again?” she asks, instead of telling him that she has never been more sure about anything, sure that he would never make her do anything she doesn't already want to do, sure that she doesn't want to say goodbye to him.

“Well, I could use some more practice,” he replies with a smile. “And I promise that I'll never try to shoot you again.”

They meet at the range at 9:30 the next day, and set a schedule to practice on alternating days after that for the three weeks, except the two where Emma has to watch Leo and one where Killian was called into work early. Somehow, they managed to avoid David all of these days (probably because he never had the knack for archery, but Emma would never admit that to his face), and Killian just told Liam that he was seeing Emma when his brother got curious.

They’ve gone to lunch, gone to dinner, and have even seen a show at a small public theatre. She’s helped him hone his archery abilities, and not only can he hit the target now, but he’s actually become pretty excellent.

Emma Swan is dating again.

And, more importantly than that, she is actually enjoying herself, enjoying Killian’s constant company.

So when two weeks have passed, Emma can’t help herself—she tells David and Graham that she is available to help with the bachelor’s party the following week that David has already taken charge of, if only to watch Killian show his brother all he’s learned. There’s only four of them: Killian, Liam, Liam’s Navy friend Robin, and his fiancee’s brother-in-law, Kristof.

Her and Killian discussed their plan the night before, the remains of a pizza sitting on the table between them. They agree that it would be a hell of a lot funnier for Liam to challenge Emma after she takes a few shots at him (not literally, of course), because though Liam’s a pretty good shot, he’s nothing compared to two things: Emma and his ego.

So that’s exactly what she does. In her jeans and a plain white tee-shirt, she stands by as David introduces himself as the range-master and goes over a few basic rules: no shooting while anyone’s out at the targets, no matter where on the range they are, no broadheads, one person per target.

Liam takes the first shot, hitting on the line between the fifth and sixth rings. Kristof and Robin both hit in the middle of the sixth. Killian, suddenly feeling much more confident, takes his shot with a chuckle, hitting right outside the gold.

“Damn, Killy,” Robin laughs, clapping him on the shoulder, and Killian turns to glance at Emma out of the corner of his eye, a sly smile on his face. “Who knew you had a knack for archery?”

A few more shots between all of them go the same way, Killian always landing in the seventh and eighth rings save one outlier, where he hits between the second and third rings. Liam takes a particularly terrible shot, missing the target entirely, and Emma’s moment has come.

Still standing behind them, leaning back against one of the poles that hold up the pavilion, she laughs, loud enough for the four of them to hear.

Liam, already angered by his terrible shot, spins to face her, his face covered with an obvious rage, and though her attention is set on the older Jones brother, she can see David's confusion out of the corner of her eye.

“What, you think you could do better than me?”

She pushes herself off the pole with her foot, arms still crossed in front of her. “Uh, yeah,” she replies, sizing up against him even though he’s at least six inches taller than her. “That’s not as much of a challenge as you might like to believe.”

“Ooh!” Kristof and Robin yell together, but Killian just smiles at her.

To no one's surprise but Liam's, Emma outshoots him with four shots in a row, landing in the gold with two of them, but neither of them perfect.

“Come on, brother, you can do better than that, can't you?” Killian jests, but Liam just turns to him, his bright blue eyes piercing daggers.

“Fine!” he says, throwing his hands in the air, still holding the bow in his left. “If you think you can do better, Killian, then by all means, go ahead!”

This is exactly what they were hoping for and Liam steps back to open the target for Killian. Together, they walk out to clear the targets, and when he steps up beside Emma back under the pavilion, he winks at her as discreetly as he can manage.  

He shoots first, a perfect bullseye.

She follows with one of her own.

He shoots again, and the feathers of his arrow land just touching the feathers from his first.

Her second falls in the same position, just on the opposite side. Robin woops at them, amused by the whole thing, standing next to David at the edge of the pavilion as Kristof and Liam stand beside each other behind where Killian is shooting from, arms crossed over their chests as they watch.

Killian's third lands low, just on the inside of the eighth ring, just a hair outside the gold. Emma follows with her arrow landing in the middle of the ninth, putting her ahead.

Time for the last shots. Killian pulls his string back, taking a breath so deep that you can see it in his shoulders, and releases the trigger to watch his arrow land just inside the ninth circle.

Emma does the same, reverberating with the adrenaline of the competition, and lands just above the tenth ring. She hangs her bow on the hook and turns towards her spectators with a smile spread across her face.

A perfect four.

Everyone cheers for Emma, who can't help herself anymore—she reaches across the space between them, fisting the collars of his dark blue button-down as she pulls his lips to hers. At this, all four of their companions fall silent immediately, and when Emma pulls away, she only has eyes for him, even when Liam speaks up as David clears his throat.

“You've been bested then kissed by a girl, Killian,” Liam jokes, and the two of them turn to face him, Emma's fists still grasped onto his shirt.

“I bloody hoped I would be, that would just be embarrassing,” Killian replies, but David seems to be the only one who has figured out what's going on.

“What does that mean?” Robin seems to be the most confused of the three, if Emma can judge by the look on his face and the tone of his voice.

“You should never challenge someone before you know who they are, brother,” is all Killian says before Emma unleashes his shirt and turns to Liam, holding out her hand.

“I'm Emma, David's sister and archery master of the range. I've also been to three world archery tournaments, and taught your brother how to shoot over the past few weeks.” Liam's mouth falls open, unable to respond in any other manner, but Emma turns to Killian to finish her thought: “Oh, and I'm totally in love with your brother.”

She doesn't know what made her say it, but as soon as she does, she knows it's the truth. Yes, it's only been three weeks, but it's been a constant three weeks, more than enough time spent with him to know how she feels.

Killian turns to her, eyes shining with astonishment, but the smile plastered across his face is nothing but admiration.

“Well, that's marvelous, darling, because I'm totally in love with you, too.”

[distant-rose]

Comet, Brothers Jones

comet: what you said the morning after.

This is mildly angsty and hints at serious abuse. Read at your own risk. I feel like as wonderful as this universe gets, there’s no amount of good will and love that make trauma go away over night.

When Liam Jones awakes for the first time on the Nautilus, his first waking thought is that he has to be dead because he hasn’t been this warm and this comfortable in years. He’s still sharing his bunk with Killian, but the mattress is soft, the blankets don’t itch and for the first time in forever, his feet aren’t cold. It takes him a moment to realize that, no, he hasn’t died. 

He was spirited away by a strange sky captain onto a submarine of all things.

He sits up in bed, alert and ready for anything. He scans his surroundings. He’s in a private room and the door is closed. There’s a lock. Immediately, he scrambles out from under the blankets, ignoring the pitiful whines of his brother, and locks it. The sound of the tumblers setting into place is music to his ears.

They’re safe. For the first time in almost two years, his shoulders relax.

“Liam, what are you doing?” Killian looks at him with confused sleep eyes.

“Protecting us.”

“From who?”

“From them.”

“Why?” Killian asks, frowning deeply. It’s very clear that he isn’t following his line of thinking. Liam does his best not to yell at his little brother, grinding his teeth in silent frustration. Even with a year and a half of servitude under his belt, Killian is still too trusting.

“We don’t know what they want for us.”

“Why would they want anything from us?”

The question is so innocent that Liam has to close his eyes against the onslaught of emotions he feels. He can’t decide if he’s angry or relieved that Killian hasn’t realized the extent of the hell they have been taken from. He’s seen the scars and the cuts and the bruises on his body, but it doesn’t seem like Killian has noticed the marks lingering underneath his skin, invisible to the naked eye.

Liam jolts as there is a knock on the door. He scrambles backwards, waiting for someone to burst through.

“Boys? You up?” It’s the gruff sky captain who brought them onto the submarine. The man whose kindness is too good to be true. “Come to the galley! We have food for you!”

Killian’s eyes immediately lit up at the mention of food and he jumps excitedly from the bed, not bothering to fix his hair and pulling at his shoes excitedly. He rushes to the door, full of energy.

“Liam! Let’s go! Food!”

“It could be a trap.”

“It’s not a trap! It’s food! And I’m hungry!” Killian whines, tugging on his shirt, causing the collar to rip more. In order to save the only clothing he has, Liam immediately slaps his hand away. Killian’s lip trembles and immediately Liam feels guilty. 

As he’s about to open his mouth to apologize, his stomach makes itself known. It lets out a loud grumbling noise. His brother’s face immediately changes from wounded to amused.

“You have the grumblies,” Killian laughs. His lips quirk upward into something that isn’t quite a smirk but also not a smile. It’s somewhere in between and Liam isn’t sure he likes it.

“Yes, I’m hungry.”

“Then let’s eat!” Without giving any warning, Killian unlatches the door and jerks Liam forward. Despite the fact he’s a skinny eight-year old, Killian has a surprising amount of strength and manages to pull him down the winding halls until they reach the gallery.

Both of them stare in shock at the feast in front of them, eyes greedily taking in the various biscuits, fruit and cheese laid out in front of them. Killian doesn’t drag Liam this time, letting go of his hand without issue. He takes a seat and immediately starts shoveling food into his mouth.

“Easy lad or you’re going to make yourself sick,” a calm and measured voice calls from behind Liam. 

He does his best not to jump, but still flinches at the unexpected arrival of the submarine captain. He stands behind Liam in the doorway with his hands behind his back. The gruff sky captain from the day before is standing behind. Both men wear expressions of amusement.

Killian’s cheeks burn a fierce shade of red and immediately he drops the strawberries down on the plate in embarrassment. The captain with the salt and pepper hair, Shakespeare Liam thinks his name is, chuckles and steps into the room. He gives Killian’s hair a quick ruffle before sitting down next to him and grabbing a biscuit. Liam’s stomach grumbles again, even louder than before, as he watches Shakespeare smother it with butter.

“You should eat, Liam,” the submarine captain says gently, reaching forward to place his hand on his shoulder. On instinct, he steps backward and out of his grasp. The man frowns gently at him but doesn’t reach for him again.

“I’m not hungry,” he mumbles.

“Your stomach says otherwise,” Shakespeare remarks. “I made the rolls myself. I promise they’re good.”

Liam glares at him, refusing to be lulled into a false sense of security.

“I don’t want your rolls.”

“They’re good, Liam!” Killian says, mouth and cheeks full of food.

“No,” he spits harshly. “I don’t want anything! Not until you tell me what you want!”

The room falls eerily silent. Both men’s shoulders stiffen as they regard Liam with intense and almost concerned expressions. He balls his fists, torn between fighting and running away.

“We don’t want anything from you,” the submarine captain says softly. “This food is freely given.”

“Nothing in life is freely given,” Liam snaps back, eyes flashing.

“You’re absolutely right,” Shakespeare says, looking at him with too much understanding for Liam to handle. “Nothing in life is free and nine times out of ten, when people give you things, they want something in return. Something tells me you’ve learned that all too well.”

Liam gives him a curt nod, his eyes focusing on the small crack on the wall in the far corner of the galley. He doesn’t want to look at anyone, not wanting to see the looks they’re giving him.

“Liam, Nemo wasn’t lying when he said we don’t want anything from you, but he also wasn’t telling the entire truth,” Shakespeare sighs. “You see, we do want something, but we hope it’s something you want too…we want to give you a home.”

A small cottage on a hill overlooking the coast and the smile of a ghost flash through Liam’s mind when he hears the word. Liam had a home once, but it had long since been lost to him and there was no way it was coming back. His fists tremble at the thought.

“We were hoping that you might like to stay…with us…we don’t have a house or anything like that, but we offer shelter and food and guidance…if that’s what you want,” Nemo says in the same gentle tone as before.

“And what if I don’t want that?” Liam asks challengingly.

“When we’ll take you wherever or to whomever you desire.”

Liam studies the man in front of him suspiciously. He doesn’t seem like he’s lying, but neither did their father when he said he would never abandon them. Liam has long since learned not to trust the word of another. 

He wants to tell them to drop them in the nearest port and leave them alone. The words rest on the tip of his tongue, but he can’t let them out. Not when his brother looks so hopeful. The reality is that Liam doesn’t have much of a choice. Perhaps on his own, he would survive but he has his brother to think about. Killian having a bed to sleep in and food in his belly is more important than anything else.

Liam takes a seat at the table across from Killian and Shakespeare. With shaking hands, he takes a handful of grapes and wonders what the catch will be for agreeing to stay. He tosses them in his mouth and meets Nemo’s eye with an unspoken challenge.

“I’ll think about it.”

send me a word + a pairing and i’ll write you a short fic! 🌙

[icecubelotr44]

Restraints (Whumptober 2018 Day 25)

For @la-vie-en-whump‘s Whumptober 2018 prompts.

What even are deadlines, anyway?

All prompts from last and this year: HERE Previous Days: Stabbed | Bloody Hands | Insomnia | Stop! | Poisoned | Betrayed | Kidnapped | Fever | Stranded | Bruises | Hypothermia | Electrocution | Stay | Torture | Manhandling | Bedridden | Drugged | Hostage | Exhaustion | Concussion | Harsh Climate | Friendly Fire | Self-sacrifice | Drowning

for Whump-etition, entry 4

Killian rocked back and forth on the chair, trying to knock himself over, trying to break the back of the rickety old thing, trying to get free.  Liam was on the other side of the cell, shackled to the wall and not moving.  He hadn’t made a sound in nearly two days - according to the chiming of the town’s clock - at first turning his head to Killian’s panicked cries, but slowly becoming less and less responsive.  Now, no matter how loudly Killian screamed, no matter how much he begged Liam to help him, his brother didn’t move.

Killian didn’t know if his big brother was still alive.

No, that was a lie.  He could see the rise and fall of Liam’s chest - just barely.  Their captors wouldn’t bother to keep coming in at regular intervals and slicing open the inside of Liam’s elbow, coating it with dark gel if he were dead.  The spidery lines that wove up his arm towards his chest did nothing to quell the terror that had settled in Killian’s gut.

“Liam?”

Sinister laughter greeted him as hands stilled the chair Killian hadn’t managed to rock off its axis.  He could feel hot breath wafting over his neck, making the hair on his forearms stand at attention.

“He can’t hear you, Lieutenant.”

Bloody Blackbeard.

The muscles in Killian’s back tightened with sheer effort.  The lacerations and bruises lit a fire down his back and reminded him he wasn’t a half-grown slave anymore.  This wasn’t Silver.  This was just another pirate captain, full of himself and full of rum.  And he didn’t have the Jolly Roger, so he wasn’t nearly as big a scourge on the seas as the Brothers Jones.

Killian was damned sure he was going to keep it that way.

And then the rope wrapped around his neck, cutting off his air and his ability to think as the spots danced wildly in his vision.  It looked like those blasted stars of Neverland, swirling around the Jewel and taunting them as they tried to leave.

Gods above, he never wanted to see that cursed island or its demon king masquerading as a bloody child ever again.

Killian didn’t realize that the rope had loosened until he was retching up the little water they’d allowed him the last time they’d come for Liam, coughing and sputtering as he sagged limply against the chains around his chest.

“You know, if you two had just been good little sailors, none of this would have happened,” Blackbeard taunted when Killian finally got his breathing somewhat under control.  “All you had to do was what the King commanded and he never would have had to employ me to do his bidding.”

Dreamshade.

Blackbeard had that godsforsaken plant and he was… gods, was he poisoning Liam?

Killian wanted to laugh at himself; he’d known that, of course he had.  That was the only explanation for everything he could see in front of his face.  He’d managed to stop Liam from testing that bloody plant on himself, the two of them watching in muted horror as one of the wild beasts that roamed the island seized and died in moments.

Liam had lasted two days already; they must be-

“Of course,” Blackbeard continued as if Killian’s world wasn’t shattering beneath his shackled feet, “we’ve only got a finite supply, so we can’t do your brother a mercy.  You understand.”

An icy tendril of sick fear shot through Killian.  It would be merciful for the poison to have ended Liam’s life quickly, not to leave him languishing in whatever state he was in.  But for the love of everything sacred in this realm and the rest, Killian was selfish enough to be glad that Blackbeard was being stingy with the dreamshade.

He nearly dry heaved at the realization; he would rather watch his brother suffer just to know he wasn't alone.

“The king is, shall we say, vindictive.”  Blackbeard strutted around to loom over him.  There was a nasty leer on his face that chased any thoughts but sheer dread from Killian’s mind.  Whatever came out of the cur’s mouth next, it was not going to go well for him.

Killian nearly laughed out loud again.  There might be something wrong with him, after all.

“Have you met my quartermaster?  He nearly was conscripted into the Navy when I scooped him up.  Might have even served with you if I hadn’t.  His name’s Noodler.”

As if he’d been summoned by magic, a squirrelly man sidled into the room with a rolled up bit of leather hugged to his chest.  The look on his face, Killian was sure, would haunt his nightmares far beyond the grave. He’d never seen that much sadistic glee written in someone’s features before and he prayed fervently that he never would again.

“Noodler’s not much of a sailor, I’ll admit,” Blackbeard threw over his shoulder without turning around.  “But he’s a very good asset in the galley.  He can fillet a fish, gut a boar, dress a game bird; whatever we need.  And he never wastes a bit of it.”

Killian didn’t need to see the tools that Noodler was drawing out of the leather packet.  He didn’t want to know what Blackbeard had planned for him next.  He began pulling at the ropes that bound his wrists to the chair arms.  He twisted in the chains wrapped around his chest.  He kicked out against the shackles around his ankles.  Killian may not have known what Noodler was going to do; he just knew that he had no intention of allowing it to happen.

Blackbeard just laughed, walking over to crouch down next to Liam before gripping his hair and lifting his limp head from the dusty old mattress they’d generously dropped him on earlier.  “Now, unless you’d rather I started with your brother, here, I’d stop trying to break my good chair.”

Killian stilled instantly.  Blood trickled from his wrists, leaving an itch in its wake that did nothing to tear his gaze away from Liam’s closed eyes.  “Leave him alone,” he hissed vehemently, nearly shaking with anger.

Liam’s head dropped unceremoniously back onto the cushion with an audible thump.

“Gladly,” Blackbeard agreed with a smile, sinking down to sit next to his head.  “You know, I’ve always liked your brother better than you. He has a more, I don’t know, a more likeable personality.  I’d hate to have to let Noodler loose on him.”

Too late, Killian realized he hadn’t been watching the other pirate.  Clammy, spindly fingers wrapped around Killian’s left wrist and Noodler leaned in close.  His breath was putrid and it took everything in him not to jolt backwards lest Blackbeard make good on his threat.

“Did you know that I lost my hands in a fight once?”  His voice was high and nasally, somehow all the more terrifying for how frightening he shouldn’t have been.  “The healer was drunk, though.  He saved them, but he made a bit of a mistake.”

Killian made the mistake of looking down, his breath rushing out of his lungs as he stared in horror - the man’s hands were on backwards.

“I like hands,” he crooned, stroking his fingers over the back of Killian’s hand.  The light touch of Noodler’s nails scratching over Killian’s skin sent shivers down his spine.  Killian’s palms were damp with sweat as he fought his own need to run, metaphorically if nothing else.

“Remember, Lieutenant, I always have your brother for Noodler’s fun.  I do have to let him off his leash once in awhile.”

Killian tried to glare at Blackbeard.  He tried to remember all his lessons under Silver’s more… creative punishments.  But as the little man began to work, Killian began to scream.

@killian-whump @gilliangrissom @gusenitsaa @pirate-owl @nothingimpossibleonlyimprobable @ladyciaramiggles @cocohook38 @nonnyj @queen-mabs-revenge @eala-captian @crystalyte @kmomof4 @killianmesmalls @whumptober2018

[bananachickens]

Lieutenant Killian Jones of his majesty’s Royal Navy.... thinking about picking this fanfic back but not sure where to take it...

[justsomewhump]

Bleeding Through the Bandages - Bad Things Happen Bingo

@badthingshappenbingo​

AO3

Word count: ~1.3k Previously written prompts

~

"Stay still."

Killian gasped, struggling to not move away or not swat at the doctor's hands as he wrapped the bandage around his abdomen as quickly and as gently as he could. He tried to concentrate on keeping his back arched against Liam, in order to give the doctor space to move his hands.

"How bad is it?" Liam said behind him.

"The axe went in pretty deep. I'll have to come back and stitch him up after I bandage the others. Try not to move much." The look on his face wasn't encouraging. He then turned to another injured sailor.

Killian grunted softly. "I'll be right here, mate." He closed his eyes for a moment and put his hand on the top of the bandages, grateful to feel them still dry.

"Come, Killian, relax. Lie back."

"Ugh. The doctor said not to move."

"You can lie down. And considering your injury's on your front side, it'd be better this way."

"Wow, brother. Didn't know you were engaging in medicine," he said and grunted as Liam helped him lie down on the bed. Hand still on his injury, he looked up at Liam for the first time. He didn't look that bad, not at all; he was dripping with sweat, and blood was smeared on his face and arms, but no injuries were visible. "Are you alright?"

"Aye. Being the captain, I expected more men to attack me."

"They didn't look at your clothes?" Thinking for a bit, Killian smiled. "They thought you couldn't be the Captain... Who's little now?"

"Shut up." Liam put a hand on his shoulder and rubbed softly. "Glad those bastards are locked up now."

Killian grunted again and turned his eyes to the wall. "Were we supposed to catch them, though?"

"Of course we were. It's an enemy ship, and we're on a war."

"We're not privateers... and they didn't attack."

"They would have. I'm not having this discussion with you."

Killian huffed. "You're not discussing your tactics with your lieutenant?"

He could feel Liam's glare. "Right now you're my injured little brother. And you're not rational."

Killian sighed, cringing in pain as it jostled his wound. He turned to look at Liam. "I'm glad you're safe."

Liam smiled and opened his mouth to talk, but a crashing sound heard beneath them had him turn his head. They heard people yelling and gunshots being fired.

Liam grabbed his sword, unsheathed it and ran to the door. "Stay here!" he shouted without looking back, closing the door behind him.

Killian grunted, wanting to follow him but unsure how long his bandages would last. He lay still for a few minutes, hearing shouts and yells, and gunshots-

And then Liam screaming.

Killian gasped in horror. It was him, he heard right. It couldn't have been anyone else. Was he- was he in pain? Was he being attacked?

His rational thinking having flown out the porthole, he jumped from the bed and tried to run to the door. His head swam for a few seconds, vision full of black spots until he saw his sword, thrown precariously at the floor beside the bed. Grunting loudly, he bent over and picked it up, clutching at his bandages with his left hand.

He gasped when he felt something wet under his middle finger. He looked down, only to confirm his fears; he was bleeding through the bandages already.

Holding his sword tightly, he raised his eyes to the door. He could still hear people yelling, and screaming... but no sound from Liam. He took a deep breath and walked to the door.

He opened it and welcomed himself to a gruesome sight; bleeding, gory bodies lay all across the floor. Some were still moving, trying to get away or reach their fallen pistols, but Killian's crew mates quickly made sure to incapacitate them. His vision finally clearing, he realized most of the injured people were from the enemy ship. But Liam wasn't there.

Killian heard his characteristic grunt on his left, and without a thought ran towards the sound, ignoring the feeling of more blood covering his palm.

"Liam!" he shouted, tightening the hold on his sword. "I'm coming-"

Another grunt from Liam cut him off, and as he turned to the door to the galley, he saw him stick his sword to a man's throat. Panting hard, Liam pushed the dead man forward, retrieving his sword. He then looked up at Killian.

Killian missed the worried look on his brother's face, as his attention was drawn to his body. There was more blood on him now, and a few small injuries on his arms, along with a bleeding nose. He looked up at him and smiled. "You alright?"

"Killian!" he said, walking towards him. "I told you not to- Look out!"

Killian had no time to turn before something blunt connected with his head, causing him to lose his balance and his grip on his sword. Instinctively, he pushed harder against his injury, and the accumulated pain made his head swim again.

He could hear faint noises of fight above him, Liam grunting and breathing hard, but he felt his senses drift away as more and more blood seeped through on his hand.

"Liam..." he whispered weakly. He tried to open his eyes, but he could only see black spots against the wooden floor; he was too worn out to raise his head.

The grunts went silent, and then someone turned him on his back.

Killian grunted in pain when another hand joined his in pushing against the bandage. Liam entered his sight, his face even more bloody and worried.

"Bloody hell! Killian, come on! Stay with me! Mr. Bisset! We need you right here!"

Killian struggled to move his head, turning it down towards his abdomen. He could see his hand, now fully covered with blood, and Liam's, already stained with his blood as well.

"Come on, come on, little brother, stay with me."

Killian felt a hand brush through his hair, rubbing softly at his forehead.

"Stay with me."

~

When he woke up next, it was dark outside. He opened his eyes to see a few lanterns lit in the captain's quarters. He breathed a sigh of relief at realizing he'd made it, and stirred Liam, who was sitting on a chair beside the bed, awake.

"Killian!" he said when he opened his eyes. "How are you feeling, brother?" His hand reached for his hair again, and Killian saw it was still stained with blood.

"Uhh..." was all Killian managed to utter. He was already feeling the clutches of sleep trying to drag him away. He fearfully looked at his belly, now covered with a clean bandage. He could see the blood underneath it, but after touching it with his also still bloody hand, he was relieved to feel it dry.

"Bisset stitched you up. You'd better not move around at all until the wound closes fully." He reached with his free hand, clutching Killian's in a fist. "What were you thinking? You were heavily injured, ordered to stay put-"

Killian cut him off with a small whimper. He closed his eyes and brought his other hand to wrap around his brother's. "You alright?" he said, realizing Liam hadn't answered him earlier.

"I'm fine, you dolt. I've proven myself in a fight, haven't I?"

"I was... worried," Killian said, struggling to stay awake. "I heard you scream."

"Aye, people sometimes shout when they fight, don't they? You thought I was injured?"

Killian nodded, closing his eyes as tears started to fill them.

"I'm fine; got a few scrapes and a broken nose, but nothing serious. Now rest; you need it. You lost a lot of blood trying to run to my rescue."

Killian didn't regret it. The worry alone over Liam's safety might have killed him where he'd lain. He only wished he didn't feel the burden over Liam worrying about him.

"Sleep, little brother," he heard as Liam kissed his forehead, and he finally welcomed his much-needed sleep.

[killianmesmalls]

Life As We Know It, Ch. 4

This chapter was a bit more of a bear to get through, since I wasn’t sure how much legal info to include. A bit of a shorter chapter, but I hope to have a longer one in the next installment!

Summary: Just when the Jones brothers feel like their lives are where they should be—Liam is graduating from the police academy and Killian is just a couple years away from graduating high school—they get some news that turns their whole world sideways. An AU where Liam, Milah, and Bae are alive and help Killian navigate the unexpected world of being a young, single father.

Warnings: So far, mentions of date rape and Eloise Gardener, as well as a decent amount of swearing.

Chapter: 4/?

Chapters 1 & 2, Chapter 3

Tagging: @hollyethecurious, @kmomof4​, @courtneyshortney82​, @hapartshapchap, @spartanguard​, @ashley-knightingale​, @branlovesouat​, @wyntereyez​ (Let me know if you want to be tagged and I’ll add you!)

Weeks dragged, easing in warmer weather and moving Killian closer to the last day of his junior year. Liam could see the strain the last two months had taken on his younger brother. Bags hung under his eyes and Liam found him talking to himself a few times. More worrying, he’d caught him a time or two sneaking some liquor from Liam’s locked stash. When the teen learned how to pick a lock, he had no idea, but it was the turn toward a crutch that sent dizzying concern through his head.

“You know better,” Liam insisted one day as he saw Killian hurry to take a shot. “Am I going to have to keep anything in my room in a vault now?” Like Mam did with Da.

Before Killian had time for his defenses to rise, Liam rested a hand on his shoulder, gently pulling the bottle away with the other. “I don’t blame you and I’m not angry. You’ve been through a lot. I’m just worried about you. And, you heard what Weaver said.”

“I know. My best chance for anything is to stay on my best behavior. Be a model student and practically an Eagle Scout. I know all this. Meanwhile, she’s getting self-tutoring somewhere, probably not even doing anything, just paying someone else to take exams for her, and won’t even tell me…”

Liam waited for Killian to finish, but the boy just reached again for the bottle, stealing one more swig faster than Liam could pull it away from him. “Won’t even tell you what?”

“Anything! How it’s doing, if she knows what the gender is yet, what the fuck she’s even doing once it’s born. Fucking anything! It’s like every day I see her, I just picture that party all over again, and she knows she has all these answers that I want and she just won’t give them to me. And I don’t want to talk to her, but I do want to find out, and I just want this whole thing to end now!”

“You’re in contact with her?” Liam asked, pulling the bottle of rum away from his brother and taking a gulp for himself. “Why in the hell would you contact her?”

“Did you not just listen to anything I said? I need to know what’s happening! I can’t keep waiting and not knowing anything, Liam. This is bullshit!”

For what felt like the millionth time since that night in the alley, Liam felt like he’d been punched in the chest. No sixteen-year-old should have the weights piling on their shoulders like Killian did. And, yet, there he was, a mess of worries about the future and nightmares about the past held together loosely by expectations and cheap liquor.

“I can’t imagine how you’re feeling,” he said honestly. “I can’t begin to understand what all is going on inside your head. I can try, but I have to figure anything I come up with can’t really come close. All I can do is try to help you where I can, and I’m telling you that this isn’t the way, Kil. However, I’ll give it to you. Probably against my better judgement, but I’ll give it to you. You can have today to fall apart. Inside this house, do whatever the fuck you want or need to. If you need an outlet, fine. Today you can have it. But, tomorrow, I’m sorry to say, we have to be back to trying way too hard to be whatever every social worker and lawyer needs us to be. Okay?”

Killian began to reach for the rum again when he paused and looked up to Liam. “Do you think I could do it?”

“Do what?”

“Be a good father. Do you think I could do it?”

Liam saw the tightrope ahead of him, nervous to take a step. Still, something in his brother’s eyes sent him forward. “I think, right now, with some help you could be a good one. I think when you’re ready and adjusted, you could be a great one.”

When silence met him, he was worried he’d misstepped and might as well have just dived headfirst to the ground. Then, Kilian pushed the bottle away. “I have some math homework I need to do. Should probably focus on that if I’m going to keep my average up for my transcripts.”

Liam thought he’d seen enough of lawyers and courtrooms to last him a lifetime. With each meeting with the lawyer Weaver had managed to secure them, with each moment Killian’s maturity or his own parenting abilities were questioned, with each look at Eloise, his stomach turned.

Just one glance at her, with those conniving eyes and that smirk she gave them when others had happened to look the other way, and he wanted someone to run her over. If it wouldn’t make things worse, he’d be tempted to tear out every one of her red braids.

As difficult as the passing months were, Liam knew they were infinitely harder on Killian. Having to face her again, having social workers debate on his character, or having lawyers imply he wanted to take her agency away when she was the one that had violated his dug deep under Liam’s skin.

“I don’t want anything to do with her, just a say in what happens to my child after it’s born!” he’d shouted more than once.

Liam almost felt like pieces of their soul were being chipped away and tested to prove something. He was about to hit his wit’s end and could see Killian inching toward the edge. He watched as his little brother rubbed his sore eyes. No sixteen-year-old should have felt the weight that had been bearing down on his shoulders since that damn party.

Then, someone somewhere seemed to smile down on them. When Eloise’s so-called plans and promises began to fall apart, the chess game they had been playing for eight months began to finally tilt in their favor. Piece after piece of hers was surrendered, and Liam could feel an invisible vice release his stomach and allow him to breathe again.

Until they got the phone call. Four weeks early.

“No, no, it’s not ready yet. It can’t be ready,” Killian started as they rushed through evening traffic.

“Let’s just… let’s just see how things are going when we get there. Something could have been lost in translation. Weaver heard it from someone who heard it from someone else. It could just be, I don’t know, whatever serious contractions that might happen toward the last weeks? Whatever it is, let’s just get there and find out.”

“This can’t be happening,” muttered Killian, head in his hands. Any temptation Liam had to ask if the teen had listened to him at all vanished with one look at him.

He took a deep breath, or as much of one as he could. That damn vice was back, and he could feel it tightening as they raced their way to the hospital.