#so this idea's been brewing since the middle of s7 - so in my head this takes place not long after the series finale

[youre-not-a-cat-youre-a-rat]

a cs 2.0 fic i’ll never write

An AU Emma pops through a portal in Hyperion Heights

She’s got JMo’s Superfly hair and she stabs car with her sword like James Marsden in Enchanted.

The normies who arrest her are like “Another one for Rogers”

She gets handcuffed to a desk at the station and is all tight lipped about who she is, and Rogers calls OG Emma to make sure it’s not her

Maybe AU Emma gets free of her cuffs and she and Rogers have a sword fight in the middle of the station, much to everyone’s annoyance

It turns out she’s sort of a vagabond in her realm. Her parents were killed and outside forces seized the throne and ran her out of the kingdom, and she just spent years as a wandering adventurer until she ended up crashing with an old hag who prophesized that she would become, like, a guardian to the Guardian - or whatever

Cuz post-Rump, Alice has become a sort of all-purpose Guardian, like OG Emma’s an all-purpose Savior (a term I’ve stolen from an Entertainment Weekly recap)

So Emma searched for a portal to fulfill her destiny cause maybe that would ease the guilt she feels for abandoning her kingdom/wrongs she’s done as a wandering adventurer, or something

So she meets Alice and they instantly hit it off, but AU Emma and Rogers are all wary of e/o at first - though Emma can’t help her knee-jerk impulse to flirt with him

AU Emma also makes friends with the Hyperion Heights crew, especially Tiana (obviously, bc the way to Emma’s heart is through her stomach) and she ends up crashing with her and helping out at the food truck

And Rogers is irritated bc he doesn’t feel like running into Emma when he’s just trying to get lunch

But then stuff happens and Rogers starts to appreciate how much Emma cares about and looks out for Alice and vice-versa, and they grow to respect e/o

Then they have some on-the-job adventure-bonding, and some late-nights-at-Roni’s-confessions, and they start to strike up a friendship

And then oh no, Rogers suddenly starts feeling super attracted to AU Emma, which is weird cuz he doesn’t feel the same way about OG Emma - but that makes sense cuz he considers them p different people - but it’s still weird yo

And then one day AU Emma runs into OG Emma and Killian for the first time, and they’re obviously married and have pre-teen Hope in tow, and she kinda freaks and flees

Rogers hears about the encounter and finds her and they go for a long walk and talk about relationships and how they’ve both always been kinda skeptical that a real romance is in their own futures

But then oh no it’s late and they’ve walked far, but they’re near Rogers’s apartment and he has an extra room so he offers it to Emma for the night

And she borrows some sweatpants and a Seattle PD sweatshirt

And they both lay in their respective beds, wide awake, for a while

And when they give up on sleeping, they run into each other in the kitchen where Rogers has started to make tea

And the kitchen’s suddenly all cramped during the tea making process

And they’re whispering bc they left the lights off and it seems like they should

And there’s hand brushing. And a tentative smooch.

And blammo, sex happens.

Emma wakes up the next day spooning Rogers and she slips out to think about things

She walks to Roni’s and she finds OG Emma having breakfast, and they introduce themselves properly and have a talk, and AU Emma comes to the decision that she wants to ask Rogers out 

She ends up eating with OG Emma and Killian and Hope (and probably Henry and Ella and Lucy)

Then she goes to find Alice to, like, ask permission to date her father, and Alice and Robin (who’s there) are overjoyed and drag Emma to a store to buy a date outfit and cook up some romantic schemes

And somehow they end up back at Tiana’s with all the Hyperion Heights women who’ve heard about what’s going down, and it turns into an impromptu date-prep party

Alice’s inter-dimensional cousin, Hope, shows up and she obviously hero-worships Alice (there’s a You’ve Got Mail moment with Hope and Jacinda where Hope’s like, I’M HER AUNT)

Anyways

Meanwhile Rogers has been kinda freaking out since he woke up alone. At some point throughout the day he realizes no one’s heard from Emma since she had breakfast with OG Captain Swan, and he starts to think she left town or something

And he spends all day looking for her to no avail

But when he comes back to his apartment that night, Emma’s standing in front of his door waiting for him

And she’s changed out of her Gilderoy-Lockhart-in-the-duel-scene, off-the-shoulder cape and boots that she’s had on throughout the whole fic

And she’s wearing a nice dress and heals that she bought with Alice, and Hope’s done her make up (cuz she learned how to eyeliner from her dad, obvi)

And she’s got a bouquet of roses cuz it seemed like a good idea at the time, shut up

And she says she came by to ask him out on a date

And Rogers feels all the panic melt away and he just beams

And they smooch

End

[killian-whump]

Forgetting Emma Swan... 1/1

I feel like this is just going to get me in nothing but trouble, but the idea hit me this morning when I was waking up from a dream about a former love... and I just couldn’t shake it. It’s not my usual thing in many ways, but here it is.

Takes place in S7, New Enchanted Forest, shortly after the events of 7x02. It’s literally just a fireside HQ chat, but with VAGUE mentions of a shitload of past!ships and some present ones and I feel like literally everyone will be mad at me about something in here, so... whatever. There’s Wish Hook, and HQ, along with mentions of past!SQ, Gothel trauma, and an Evil Queen and a Pirate who are both ready to move on from the past and find some new loves.

Enjoy! ...or don’t. Just don’t bitch at me about it ;)

The worst thing about dreaming of Emma was always that moment when Regina was just beginning to wake, suspended somewhere between her dreams and reality, when she would roll over and expect to see Emma’s supple frame tangled in the sheets... only to find nothing there. Again.

She’d had other lovers, as well, even the true love she’d shared with Daniel and Robin, but it was the dreams of Emma that shook her the most. She assumed it was the ‘what ifs’ and uncertainties that still plagued her mind. Maybe if they’d met under different circumstances... Maybe if Hook hadn’t come into the picture... Maybe... Or perhaps...

It was pointless, of course. Their paths had met and run together for a brief period of time, unbeknownst to all but themselves, and then parted ways. Maybe it could’ve been more, maybe it should’ve been more... but it wasn’t.

Sighing, Regina kicked the blankets off of herself and sat up. Going back to sleep, even with the possibility of such sweet dreams waiting to welcome her back, wasn’t something she wanted to do just yet. Instead, she got out of bed and left her tent, aiming to make some tea by the fire.

In that, it seemed, she wasn’t alone. Hook was already there, brewing something up for himself. “Can’t sleep, your majesty?” he said in lieu of a greeting.

“Don’t want to,” Regina replied simply, sitting down on the other side of the fire. She was still a little unsure around this alternate version of Hook. Ultimately, she shared the same distant history with the man that she’d shared with the Hook back in Storybrooke - but they’d both grown a lot more since that history than she and the other Hook had when they’d reconnected.

“I know that feeling well,” he said. “Were they bad dreams or good ones?”

“Good ones.” Regina sighed. “Very good ones.”

He arched his eyebrow at her suggestively, but surprised her by lowering it and offering her a sensitive response. “Sometimes, those are the worst.”

She nodded, accepting the cup he offered her with whatever he’d been brewing on his side of the fire. Normally, she wouldn’t take a drink from Hook, of all people, since it would surely be laced with Rum and gods only knew what else, but this Hook had proven surprisingly skilled at domestic pursuits. Given that, and his sobriety, it was a safe bet that whatever he was making was far better than anything she could cobble together over a simple fire. “So what’s your story?” she asked. “Did dreams chase you out here, too?”

“Not dreams,” Hook said. He tapped his temple. “Thoughts.”

“About Alice?”

A shadow crossed his features. “No. Those...” His jaw tightened into a grimace. “To say I’m accustomed to those would be a gross misjustice, but...”

“No, I get it,” Regina said quickly. “The pain becomes a part of you. You just learn to exist... through it.”

“Aye.” He smiled sadly, relieved that she understood without him having to put it into words, but sad that she’d obviously been there, herself.

Regina took a sip of her drink. As expected, it was delicious. “So what has you out here tonight, then?”

“Emma Swan.”

She almost spit her drink at him. What were the odds that the same woman, in a realm far, far away, had them both seeking solace in the middle of the night?

“Was it something I said?” he asked, arching that eyebrow again.

“No, no... I mean, yes, actually. She’s... I mean, my dream was about her.”

He grinned, and Regina was sure she was about to be treated to an innuendo... but all he said was, “They say there’s no such thing as coincidences.”

She smirked. “Who says that?”

“Oh, people... a lot of them, I’m sure... somewhere...”

She knew he was teasing her now, but... she didn’t mind it.

“So you and Emma Swan...” He let the question hang there between them.

“Yes. No one knows about it, aside from us. Well, and now you, but hopefully you’ll keep that information to yourself.”

“Your secret’s safe with me, your majesty. Cross my heart.” His expression was solemn as he moved his hook cross-wise over his chest.

“Well, now that we’ve established that we’re both harboring some unresolved feelings for Miss Swan-”

"No, my problem’s quite different from yours,” Hook interrupted. “My sleepless night is due to a profound lack of feelings for the Lady Swan.”

“A... lack of feelings?” Regina asked. “I’m not sure I follow.”

“I feel gratitude, of course, for her saving my life and giving me a second chance at reuniting with my daughter. For that, she will always hold a place near and dear in my heart, but... I’m not in love with her.”

The idea of Hook, even a different Hook than the one she was used to, not being in love with Emma Swan was foreign to her. But then, this Hook was proving to be full of surprises. She supposed this was just another one.

“And yet,” he continued, his ease with spilling his feelings proving to be yet another surprise, “if she’s intended to be the true love of Captain Hook, and I am Captain Hook, then I certainly should feel something more for her. And if I don’t, does that mean there is something amiss with me? Am I no longer capable of feeling such things? Has my poisoned heart been rendered useless?”

“Wow,” Regina said without thinking. “That’s... That’s pretty heavy for a 2am fireside chat.”

“I apologize,” he said quickly.

“No, it’s okay. I just wasn’t expecting you to be so... open.” She set her cup down and tilted her head, regarding him thoughtfully. “You know, you’re really not like him. I know the basis is the same, your beginnings are identical... but the differences are remarkable. You’re really not the same man.”

“I’m not sure if that’s intended as praise or criticism,” he said honestly.

“I don’t think it’s either,” Regina replied. “You both have strengths and weaknesses, admirable things about you and...” She grinned playfully. “Maybe some less admirable things. But the point is, you’re different. And with as many differences as the two of you have, it only makes sense that there wouldn’t be one single woman who’s perfect for both of you.”

“Well, that does seem to make sense...”

“No, you know what?” She leaned forward, getting kinda into it now. “I know that’s not how things work. I shared true love with Robin Hood... but when I brought back an alternate version of him, one from your world even... It wasn’t the same. We didn’t have that same spark.”

“Aye, but didn’t he end up marrying another version of you?”

Damn. That was right. “Well, alright, so maybe that’s a bad example...”

“It’s not like we have a plethora of examples to choose from," Hook said. “If anything, that example only indicates that there ought to be an alternate Emma Swan out there that’s just perfect for me. And yet... there’s not. I know, because I searched through all the realms for another. She is the only Emma Swan, and if she’s not the Emma Swan for me...” He sighed.

“Or me,” Regina said softly. “You said before that our problems were different... but they’re really not. Emma Swan isn’t the one for either of us.” He’d been open with her, and she was feeling the desire to reciprocate. “We’re both lonely,” she added. “We’re both afraid of never finding love again.”

“Hmmm.” Hook was looking into the fire now, not meeting Regina’s eyes for the first time since she’d arrived beside the fire.

“Am I wrong?” she asked.

“You’re not wrong.” He still wasn’t looking at her.

“But there’s something more,” Regina surmised.

Hook shrugged.

“You don’t have to tell me,” she said. “But I’ll lend an ear, if you’d like one.”

His answer was simple. “I’m afraid.”

At first, Regina thought he meant that he was afraid of opening up - but no, this Hook wasn’t afraid of opening up at all. His fear was the something more she was picking up on. “What are you afraid of?”

“I haven’t been with anyone since Alice was born.”

Regina had to smile. “It’s a bit like riding a bicycle, you know.”

“A bicycle?” At least that got him to look at her again.

“Nevermind,” she said with a shake of her head. “It’s not like it’s something you really forget how to do. And something tells me it’s always come naturally to you, Captain.” Was she flirting with him? She wasn’t even sure, herself.

“That’s not... I haven’t forgotten anything." He still wasn’t looking at her, choosing instead to fidget and focus entirely on brewing another cup of tea. The next words he spoke were so quiet, she almost missed them. “I wish I could.”

Silence hung between them for a few moments, with him silently brewing his tea and Regina trying desperately to think of something to say. He’d had a bad experience, one that had turned him off from relationships entirely for decades. She sensed he wanted to unload the burden, but she was afraid of pushing him if her reading of the situation was off.

“The woman who bore Alice wasn’t who I thought she was.” His voice was low, almost a monotone. “I laid down with a lovely damsel... and awoke with a monster. She tricked me and used me to get herself with child... and intended to abandon that infant, my child, to starve to death at the top of that accursed tower of hers.”

“Alice,” Regina said softly.

“Aye, Alice. The witch didn’t even have the decency to give her a name - not that I would’ve kept it, but the slight remains. I named her, I cared for her, I raised her in that bloody tower... and then that witch had the nerve to return and poison my heart against my Alice, my starfish, because I wasn’t a good enough father to her, because I made a mistake - a mistake! I dallied and fought a duel for my bloody pride, forgot what was really important and put my precious angel in danger... but it was a mistake. Can I not even make one damn mistake without...” His voice cracked. “Without losing the only thing I have?”

“I’m sorry.” She found herself getting up and moving around the fire to sit beside him. “I am so sorry.” He didn’t stop her from pulling him into her arms and holding him close. “We’ll help you, Henry and I. We’ll heal your heart. We’ll find Alice. You’ll be together again.”

“I can’t heal my heart without True Love’s Kiss. I don’t know of any other way. And if I can’t feel True Love...”

“You don’t know that.”

“I didn’t feel it for Emma, and she’s supposed to be-”

“She’s supposed to be the True Love of Killian Jones, I know. And she is. But she’s not your True Love. She’s his.” Regina pulled back, cupping Hook’s face in her hands and making him meet her eyes. “Your True Love is out there, waiting for you. And she’ll be real, and true, and exactly who she claims to be. She won’t trick you, she won’t hurt you... and she won’t take anything away from you. She’ll just love you, and you’ll love her... and it’ll be beautiful.”

“I wish I could believe that...”

“Then believe it. Forget about Emma. She’s happy with her True Love, and he’s happy with her... and you and I, both of us, we’ll find our own True Loves in our own time, with our kids by our side and love in our hearts.”

“If I didn’t know any better, your majesty, I’d say that sounds suspiciously like a proposal of some kind...” He was grinning at her now. The bastard was grinning at her, and a moment later, that eyebrow was going up as well.

And she was glad to see it. She knew it was his way of deflecting the heavy emotion of the moment, but it brought a grin to her lips and eased her own mind. He’d be alright. They both would be. “Don’t get ahead of yourself, Casanova,” she sassed back. “You can’t even ride a bicycle.”

“Ah, but it would come naturally to me. You said so, yourself...”

She smacked his arm playfully and moved back to her side of the fire. And if a part of her had a sneaking suspicion that they were on their way to finding their own true loves together... Well, she’d keep that to herself.

For now.