Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

“Swan!”

Emma's eyes went wide. She turned to Mary Margaret, the other woman's mouth already agape. “Was that-”

“Killian,” Mary Margaret nodded, already grabbing Emma by the wrist and pulling her in the direction of his voice. They ran through the alley, water sloshing around their feet and pounding down on them. They froze when they saw him, one demon holding him still while another conjured a fireball in his hand.

“No,” Emma shouted, whipping Killian away before forcing the demon’s fireball towards his friend. It's friend disappeared in a burst of flames and screaming. Mary Margaret threw a vial of blue potion at the first demon, causing it to disappear in much the same way. They both ran towards Killian when the smoke cleared. “Killian?” He groaned, drawing their attention to where he was laying in a pile of black trash bags. “Thank god,” Emma murmured, falling to her knees and wrapping her arms around him. She pulled away, scanning over his features to check for any cuts or scrapes or just any sign that he wasn't okay. “Can you stand?”

He nodded, graciously accepting her help to his feet. “Emma, what-”

“I'll explain later,” she promised, brushing a lock of hair behind his ear. She gave him a small smile before turning back to Mary Margaret. “We have to go.”

“Emma-”

She leaned closer so that only Mary Margaret could hear. “He's about to pass out and I'm sure there's more of them coming now, I'm doing it.”

Mary Margaret nodded hesitantly before taking Emma's hand. “Okay.”

Killian’s brows furrowed together. “What's she so nervous looking for?” He whispered to Emma.

She turned towards him and pressed a kiss to his cheek before taking his hand in hers. “Home,” she sighed. He gave her a puzzled look before the soft, tingly sensation of orbing was the only thing they could feel.

As the floor of the manor rematerialised beneath their feet, Emma watched as Killian's eyes closed and he fell down onto the floor, unconscious. “Dammit,” she breathed, kneeling down beside him. “Killian.” She lightly slapped his cheek in an attempt to wake him.

Ruby sat up from her place on the couch and looked down at Killian. “Well, Emma,” she said slowly. “You always wanted him to fall for you, right?”

Emma glared up at her sister.

He could hear quiet murmuring around him, feel something cold being pressed to his forehead, but he didn't dare open his eyes.

“-should've told him,” someone - Emma? - grumbled.

“Really?” Scoff . “Do you remember what happened the last time I did?”

“That was different.” A heavy sigh .

“That was Robin and he got himself killed. And then Regina-”

“Mary Margaret, please go downstairs,” Emma begged.

“There’s no need to be snippy,” the other woman sighed, her footsteps growing further away as Emma dabbed a cloth over his forehead.

“Swan,” Killian murmured, attempting to open his eyes.

“Don't do that,” Emma said, her voice changing on a dime to the soft and soothing voice he remembered from when he was sick as a kid. She reached up to cup his face, her thumb brushing soothing circles over his cheek. “Just keep your eyes closed, okay? I'm right here,” she promised, taking his hand in hers. “I'm not going anywhere.”

He gave her a small nod. “What happened?” He asked, though he was almost positive that he already knew what it was.

But he trusted her.

And she couldn't lie about her “secret” anymore after what he'd seen.

“I-” her voice cracked. He gave her hand a reassuring squeeze. “Killian, you promise you won’t run?”
“Swan, when have I ever been one to run?” He asked, tilting his face into her hand.

She let out a chortle. “Killian, I have...magic.” She said slowly, her voice soft and scared.

He slowly pushed her hands away from him, handing the towel back to her before he opened his eyes and sat up. She watched him hesitantly, a deep set frown on her face. He reached up to rub the smudged mascara away from her eyes and gave her a soft smile. “You think I didn’t know that already,” he smirked, looking up at her through his lashes.

“You did?” Emma asked with wide eyes. He nodded, attempting to get to his feet. “Hey,” Emma interrupted, her voice stern.

His shoulders fell and he frowned. “At least let me sit up,” he huffed, crossing his arms over his chest. She cracked a small smile and took his hand, helping him to sit up properly.

She sat down next to him and crossed her arms over her chest. “Explain,” she demanded before he could even utter a thank you .

“I've known you since we were four and you thought I wouldn’t figure out your secret?” He scoffed, quirking a brow. Her arms fell to her side and she looked down at her lap. He sighed, reaching up to bring a finger up under her chin, forcing her to look at him again. “I also think the fact that you’ve been cleaning out every closet in our apartment for hours at a time with the door closed was the first tipping off point,” he shrugged, making her blush. He leaned forward to press his lips to hers. “Plus there was that one time when all the books flew off the shelves when we were-”
“Emma!” Ruby called.

Killian grinned, scanning over the flush rising on Emma’s cheeks. “Saved by the sister,” he teased.

She rolled her eyes, but couldn’t help a small smile. She pressed her lips to his again and reached up to run her fingers through his hair again. “In the attic,” she called back, not looking away from his face.

Ruby pushed open the attic door and started rambling on about something to do with a demon, probably, before she stopped dead in her tracks. “Emma, I didn’t know Killian was here,” she said, her fake smile evident in her voice.

“He knows,” Emma sighed, turning to look at Ruby. Killian’s gaze fell to his lap as he scratched behind his ear.

“Oh,” Ruby said, a bored tone in his voice. “Okay,” she sighed, walking across the attic to a thick, hardcover book with weathered pages sitting on an elegant cast iron stand. She flipped through the book as Emma stood, crossing her arms over her chest.

“Ruby, you were going to say something,” she sighed, raising a brow.

Ruby pursed her lips and looked up from the book. “I was just going to say how we have the end of the world on our tail yet you’re busy with staring intensely into lover boy's eyes.”

“I wasn’t staring,” Emma mumbled, making Killian chuckle. She turned back to him, both brows raised as if to say you really want to get involved in this? He gave her a small, hesitant I love you smile in return. She sighed crossing the attic to get to Ruby and peered over her shoulder to look at the book. “That’s bad.”
“That’s not just bad,” Ruby frowned, shifting from foot to foot.

“Fine,” Emma huffed. “It’s really bad.”

“How bad is really bad?” Killian asked, raising a brow.

“Buffy the Vampire Slayer, doomsday bad,” Emma said, looking up at him with a shrug. He was sure she meant to play it off as nonchalant but she looked ever so slightly distraught.

“You’ve dealt with this before, aye?” he asked hopefully.

“We’re not Apocalypses-R-Us,” Ruby huffed, crossing her arms over her chest and jutting out her hip. Killian raised a brow. “Yeah, we’ve dealt with this before,” she sighed, looking down at the book again. “Just another Tuesday.”

“So...what is it?”

“They’re called Avatars,” Emma sighed, not lifting her gaze from the page. She waved him over as she continued reading.

Killian stood, walking the short distance to her, wrapping his arm around her waist out of habit. He looked down at the fancy text, a small illustration of three people of different ethnicities in sleek black robes with their arms folded behind their backs. He reached forward and rested his fingers on the edge of the page. “Interesting,” he breathed, scanning over the words written in front of him. He looked up at Emma and Ruby, a snarky comment on the tip of his tongue but froze when he saw the look on both of their faces. “What?”
Emma smirked, licking her lips. “Told you,” she smiled, looking over at Ruby.

“Historically, the women on this family don’t pick the best partners,” Ruby sighed. Emma raised a brow. “You weren’t there when Mary Margaret's boyfriend turned out to be a warlock the day after we found out we had powers.”
Emma placed her hand down over his and gave it a reassuring squeeze. He quirked a brow when she gave him a smile. “The book likes you,” she explained. “If it doesn’t close when you touch it then it means you’re good.”
“You needed a book to tell you that?” He frowned, his shoulders falling. Emma reached forward to tuck a strand of hair behind his ear, the kicked puppy-esque expression on her face most likely mirroring his own.

“I did,” Mary Margaret interrupted from the threshold of the attic. She shrugged when he raised his brows high on his forehead, slowly crossing the floor to him, Emma, and Ruby. “We’ve been burned with bad boyfriends too many times in the past,” she explained.

“Yeah,” Ruby nodded. “Even Dorothy had to do it.”

“Was I the last one to be told about your secret?” Killian whined.

“When you know you’re more of a target,” Emma said, rubbing her thumb back and forth over his knuckles.

He nodded, looking down at the book again. A small breeze pushed the pages forward. “ The Truth Spell ,” Killian murmured, reading the top of the page. “Why would it-” He froze when he looked up at Emma and Ruby again. “I don’t want to assume anything, but-”

“It was just a temporary spell,” Emma grimaced.

“Swan!”
“I wanted to know how you’d take things,” she defended. “It was when I just found out and we weren’t dating yet and-”

“How long?” Killian asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

“I think I hear David calling,” Mary Margaret said, a fake cheery tone in her voice. “I’ll come back later,” she nodded, turning and nearly running out the door.

“It was long enough,” Emma shrugged, crossing her arms over her chest as well.

“How long?” He repeated, stressing each word.

“I think I hear him calling my name too,” Ruby laughed, fast-walking towards the door.

“Emma.”
She swallowed hard, dropping her shoulders. “Twenty-four hours,” she said quietly.

“Are you joking?” He asked, eyes going wide as his arms fell to his sides.

“No,” she frowned, looking down at her shoes. He huffed, walking towards the door. “Killian, don’t-”

“Nope,” he said, shaking his head as he started down the two flights of stairs.

“I just wanted to see how you’d react,” she said, running to grab his hand when they were half a flight above the first floor.

“And how long did I have to react?” She pursed her lips. “How long? An hour? Five? Ten minutes?”

“A few seconds,” she said quietly.

“Are you joking?”
“Am I joking?” She nearly shrieked. “You were avoiding me all day and you wouldn’t take my calls! I was lucky to have seen you at all!”
He sighed, nodding. “Fine, I probably was, but a few seconds ?”

“It wasn’t my fault I didn’t get to talk to you until the end of the spell,” she defended.

He frowned, crossing his arms over his chest. “At least tell me how I reacted.”
“You may or may not have passed out,” she shrugged.

“Oh, God,” he groaned, slapping his hand over his face.

She smirked, stepping closer and taking his hand in hers. She carefully pried his other hand from his face and leaned forward to press her lips to his forehead. “Come on,” she said, lightly trailing her fingers over his cheeks. “Let's go help out.”

“Aye,” he nodded, taking her hand in his and walking the rest of the way down the stairs. They walked towards the kitchen only to stop when they saw the absolute mess that had been made.

“Add cardamom,” Mary Margaret instructed Dorothy, looking back down at the book in front of her.

“What're you guys up to?” Emma asked, slowly crossing the floor to the small group that had gathered around the kitchen table.

“Dorothy’s on that potion to get rid of the Avatars and I'm making dinner,” Mary Margaret smiled triumphantly. Emma walked dropped Killian's hand and walked over towards Mary Margaret, happily humming on about how great her sister's cooking was.

Killian walked over to the opposite side of the kitchen and took the seat next to Dorothy. She offered him a brief smile before looking back down at the book in front of her. She handed him a cutting board, knife, and a few sprigs of an herb without looking up at him. He started carefully chopping up the greens before he finally looked up at her again. “How did you take this all when Ruby told you?” He asked in a low whisper so only she could hear.

Dorothy shrugged, taking the cutting board from him and carefully pouring what he'd cut up into the old copper pot. “I was terrified,” she sighed, looking up at him with a sympathetic smile on her lips. “Ruby and I actually stopped seeing each other for a few weeks when she told me.”

“Really?”

She nodded. “I came around to it after a little bit, but I was mostly scared for her.” She reached in between them for a glass jar filled with what looked like peppercorns before pinching a few between her fingers and throwing them in the pot. “I couldn't really wrap my head around how she did it.”

“Did what?”

“Faced off against monsters and demons and other creatures and still managed to get up everyday,” she shrugged. “It's stressful and we've talked about it a lot but I still worry for her.”

He hummed, looking up at the women standing on the other side of the kitchen. “They do a lot,” he sighed, looking back down at the book in front of them.

“Agreed,” Dorothy nodded. She threw something in the pot, the resulting explosion making them both lean back.

“Does that happen every time?”

“If you do it right,” she smirked, just as Ruby walked in the room.

“Potion done?”

Dorothy nodded, grabbing a ladle and a small glass vial. “Being packaged as we speak,” she smiled. Ruby grinned, leaning across the table to meet Dorothy in a chaste kiss

“If that's the reward for making potions, I hereby volunteer to make them from now on,” Killian teased, making Emma chuckle.

“I may just take you up on that,” she winked. He looked back down at the small potion vials Dorothy was filling with a translucent blue liquid. She carefully passed him one, nodding towards the corks laying in front of them. They wordlessly filled the vials as the sisters all circled up. “Any idea what the plan is?” Emma sighed, cocking a brow at Ruby and Mary Margaret.

“Sometimes I wish Regina were here,” Mary Margaret sighed, resting her head on Ruby's shoulder. “She always knew that to do.”

There was a flash of light and Emma, Ruby, and Mary Margaret all froze before shaking their heads.

“Oh, my god, enough,” Emma snapped, drawing the attention of the other women to herself. “You’re just pissed I didn’t grow up as part of the stupid original power of three,” Emma snapped, glaring back and forth between the other two women. “I’ll never be Regina and I can’t believe that I’m still listening to you comparing me to her! It's been years!”

“The orphan card rears it’s ugly head!” Ruby scoffed, throwing her hands up in the air.

“Ruby!” Dorothy scolded from beside Killian.

“The what ?” Emma growled.

“Oh, my god,” Mary Margaret scoffed. “Every time anyone brings up family you back out and make a scene of how awkward you are and I don’t know why you can’t just get over it!”
“What's going on?” Killian asked Dorothy as they got to their feet.

“No idea,” Dorothy said, walking over to her girlfriend.

“Get over it?” Emma repeated. “It’s not a show! I’ve been on my own my entire life! That was, until you two showed up and then I had magic and I couldn’t do anything outside of Charmed one duties without a show from both of you!”
“Alone?” Ruby asked, letting out a clipped laugh. “No, you weren’t alone. It was always you and...and him!” She pointed at Killian, making him step back a pace.

“Me?”

“Oh, yeah, let’s talk about Detective Killian Jones,” Mary Margaret said, letting out a scoff. “You two are everything ! He comes with you wherever you go and now he knows our secret-”
“Which you didn’t even consult us on, by the way,” Ruby said, crossing her arms over her chest.

“You two are ridiculous! And oh my god, do you have to hold hands and kiss and stand so close to each other every goddamn second of the day?” She hissed. “You’re disgusting.”
“ We’re disgusting?” Emma scoffed. “Have you seen you and David together?”

“Excuse me-”
“And you ,” she said, glaring at Ruby. “What about you and Dorothy? You two are exactly the same way!”

“Emma, that may be a little-”

“Oh, grow a spine , Killian!” Emma scoffed, turning towards him. “You’re going to let them talk about you- me- us like that? You’re such a coward. What happened to a man unwilling to fight for what he wants deserves what he gets ?”
“Swan?” She never spoke to him like that. Sure, they’d gotten into spats before, they we only human, but she’d never said something like that to him.

“I thought you two were together through everything,” Ruby laughed.

“Step off,” Emma growled,

Killian sighed, grabbing Emma’s hand and pull her back. “Stop fighting, this isn’t any of you. You’re under some kind of-” Spell. It was probably a distraction of some sort. Something to- He froze when a woman suddenly appeared across the room, the black robe wrapped around her reminding her of something he’d seen before...or maybe...someone- no She was from the book, she was an Avatar . “No!” He shouted, running past them at the moment that she threw something. An energy ball, fire, something- he didn’t know. All he knew was that it didn’t hurt as much as he expected it to.

And then Emma was hovering over him, a horrified expression on her face.

And then he couldn’t breathe.

And then there was nothing.

They were fighting. Emma didn’t know why but she was just angry and and she couldn’t stop yelling and she even yelled at Killian. But he ran past her, Ruby, and Mary Margaret and there was a flash of light...and then he was laying on the floor, bleeding. She didn’t remember any of what happened next, but she remembered the loving look he held in his eyes when he looked up at her.

The next thing she knew, she was standing, Ruby and Mary Margaret staring at her with wide eyes as the room lay in ruins. “Killian,” she breathed finally coming back to herself. She could see his body- no, not his body.

A body meant someone was dead.

She ran over to him, quickly pulling random pieces of rubble off of him. “No, no, no, no,” she knelt next to him, pulling his head into her lap. “Killian,” she sniffed, gently slapping his cheek. “You have to wake up for me,” she begged. “David!” She called, looking up at the sky. “David!”

A blue light illuminated the room, drawing her attention away from the ceiling. Small orbs of light turned into the outline of a man before becoming David himself. “Emma, what-”

“Heal him,” she begged, grabbing his arm. He pursed his lips, looking down at Killian before meeting her gaze again, a deep frown set on his face. “Don't give me that look,” she begged, tears slipping down her cheeks. “Heal him.”

Her bottom lip began to quiver when he reached up to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear. “I can't heal the dead,” he whispered, cupping her cheek.

She closed her eyes as a gentle warmth overtook her, all physical pain melting away. “He can’t be dead,” her voice came out choked off. “He can’t be-” she paused, shaking her head. The book. The book would have a spell! She closed her eyes and imagined the book. Just get to the book , she thought, letting herself transport up to her last resort. She stood from her position on the floor and ran towards the book, nearly tripping over herself to flip through it. She sniffed, flipping through the pages of the book. Bring a lost trinket back, bring back the weather, bring back clothes, bring back - “There's nothing here,” she shouted, slamming her fists down.

“Emma, honey-”

A clap of thunder erupted behind her, the sound echoing in the empty attic. “No,” she growled, looking across the room towards Mary Margaret and Ruby, both of them looking at her hesitantly. Lightning flashed across the sky. “No, he can't be gone! There has to be a way to bring him back! He can't be-” her voice cracked. She swallowed hard, looking back down at the book. She continued turning the pages, only stopping when Mary Margaret placed a hand on top of hers. Emma looked up at her with watery eyes. “He loved me.”

“I know,” Mary Margaret nodded, closing the book and wrapping her arms around Emma.

Emma tucked her face into Mary Margaret’s shoulder, finally allowing herself to break down. “He said he wouldn't leave me,” she sobbed.

“I know,” Mary Margaret repeated, her voice softer. She slowly rubbed her hand up and down Emma's back.

They’d gotten rid of the Avatars before they could do any damage.

Most of the actual vanquishing came when Emma broke down, her magic going haywire and nearly killing everyone except for Mary Margaret, Ruby, and David until Ruby finally grabbed her hands, begging her to snap out of it .

She’d orbed home before anyone could see her cry, her fingers digging into the fabric of Killian’s pillow as she lay in their bed. She didn’t move for a long time, unable to decide on what to do next. Mary Margaret and Ruby let themselves in a few hours later, curling up next to her on either side and holding her close to them. She remembered a quiet I’m sorry having been whispered at some point but nothing much after that until she woke up alone the next morning.

She finally pried herself out of bed around noon when her stomach wouldn’t stop growling. When she finally walked into the kitchen she saw his badge lying on the kitchen counter, next to her keys.

“The big bad is gone,” she breathed, looking down at his badge. She carefully ran her fingers over the gold plated metal, a gentle smile finding its way to her lips. “I miss you,” she frowned, fighting the fresh wave of tears that was threatening to spill over.

“Emma?”

She turned towards the sound of his voice, his badge nearly falling from her hands when she saw him. “Killian?” She breathed, rushing across the floor to him. She tackled him in a hug, nearly throwing him over the edge of the couch with the force of her. “But you-”

“Died?” He interrupted, raising a brow. He nodded, taking a deep breath. “Aye, but I was brought me back...apparently. I guess that means that I did something right.”

“Does that mean that you're a-” he nodded, offering her a small smile. He opened his mouth to speak, only to be interrupted by her capturing his lips with her own. He froze, seemingly unable to move as she held him close. She pulled away. “I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-”

He cut her off with the press of his lips to hers. She smiled against his lips, wrapping her arms around his neck as she pulled him close. She slowly pulled away, a soft smirk finding its way to her lips when he followed. He chuckled, resting his forehead against her own. “You know,” he sighed, reaching up to brush a few stray tears from her cheeks. “I believe you may be in need of a new Whitelighter. You and your sisters tend to be a handful on occasion.”

“I suppose we are,” she chortled, rolling her eyes.

“You think David would mind if I assisted him in his Whitelighter duties?”

“I think,” she leaned forward to press hers lips to his again in a chaste kiss. “He'd be overjoyed to let you take the reins. Can you start immediately?”

He hummed, cocking his head to the side. “Maybe Monday. I think I'll be busy with you all weekend.”

She chuckled, pulling him down into another kiss, happily letting him pull her legs up around his waist and walk her back towards their bedroom.