#to second chances

What if Killian had found out the truth before finding David in that cell…Based on a scene I wrote once in another fandom and suddenly seemed super appropriate to captain charming.   

(Because darn it I wanted this drama wrapped up in one episode) 

The click of the cuff around his wrist was far more insulting than anything else and Killian watched in annoyance until David’s truck vanished from sight.  But there were only so many places to go in this town.  Lifting the chain from around his neck with his hook he found a small silver key, hidden amongst the charms,  very convenient thing to have around, living in close proximity to Charmings.  Taking the key in his teeth he made quick work of the handcuffs and sprinted to Granny’s pushing open the door and calling inside.  

“Drinks on me for a week for the first person to give me a ride-” he gestured in the general direction David’s truck had taken.  

“Sure, why not,” August spoke up from behind him. Killian turned around to see the puppet had pulled up on his infernal contraption.    “But you’ll have to wear the pink helmet.”

“I’m not wearing the bloody pink helmet.”  

“My ‘ship’ my rules,”  August drawled,  then seeming to remember something he dug into a satchel.  “When you catch up with David, would you give these to him?  Honestly there’s nothing else in there but I thought he’d like to have them anyway.”   

Killian glanced down briefly and suddenly his blood turned to ice.  That face-  He must have hesitated for a moment because August looked back at him.

“Thought you were in a hurry, Cap?”  

Killian snapped the pink helmet onto his head and hopped on the demon bike without a second thought.  “We need to find Dave’s truck, now.”

They sped off in the direction that David had taken and it was no more than a couple minutes before they spotted it outside the hospital.   Killian dismounted quickly and near threw the helmet back at the puppet.  

“Need a hand?”  he vaguely heard August ask but the doors were already closing behind him.  He grabbed the first nurse he could find, demanding to know where David had gone and eventually he found someone who pointed him towards a stairwell.  

Of course.

He could hear the sounds of raised voices coming from a room at the end of the hall,  King George mocking David with his father’s final moments.  What he thought to be his father’s final moments.  The nurses were gone, the hallways empty,  apparently the title of prince had its perks, even in this land.

Suddenly the sounds from the end of the hall grew louder. The obvious escalation of a fight,  the clashing of metal against metal, the thud of someone hitting a wall.  Killian skidded to a stop outside the room, momentarily stunned by the sight of David Nolan with his blade against King George’s throat.  He barreled into the room, shoving Charming aside and then turning to push George out of the room before slamming the door behind him.

“No.”   

“That bastard admitted he killed my father,” suddenly David was charging him and Killian felt the all too familiar bite of metal against his throat.  “You take this from me and I will never never forgive you.”  

“Aye,  he admitted it,  and he told you how your father resisted temptation-”

“And it didn’t WORK! He still died.” The knife fell slack and David looked up at Killian with desperation in his eyes.  “I thought he didn’t fight for us, but he did.  He fought with everything he had.  He did the right thing.  It wasn’t enough.  What if-  What if Gideon comes back stronger and kills Emma?”  A lump formed in Killian’s throat as David’s panic echoed something inside Killian, simmering just below the surface.  “What if I can’t be with Snow ever again?  What if being Prince Charming isn’t enough, and I start losing, and it keeps going and I lose everything that matters to me?”  

Killian tried to swallow the lump in his throat but it was useless.  Seeing David,  always so strong and sure, now terrified beyond his ability to endure quietly.  David needed control… and Killian knew he could give that to him.   

“Alright, David.  You can fight your father’s murderer,  kill him if you must,  if you think that will make you feel stronger.  But there’s something you need to know first.”  David was eying the door like a predatory creature,  just waiting for Hook to move out of his way.

“King George thought that he killed your father.  He didn’t.” David’s eyes flicked from the door back to Killian and he continued.    “He ordered him killed, true enough,  but before his guards could carry out their orders…” Killian swallowed hard,  a dark whisper in the back of his mind berating him as a fool.  Because this was it.  The ring in his pocket, his hopes of one day being accepted into their family…. It was over if he finished this one sentence.  “Before they could carry out their orders,  I ambushed them. Killed the guards first,  they were armed. Your father was a witness.”

Killian watched as shock, disbelief and horror crossed David’s face in quick succession followed quickly by the worst yet,  betrayal.  Finally anger.  

“I killed your father.” Killian continued,  his voice tight but determined to tell the whole story.  “Because he saw my face when I stole the King’s Gold, when I murdered the King’s men.  He begged me for mercy,  said that all he wanted in the world was to get home to his son.  I’m sorry, mate-”  he realized too late how mocking the term must sound right now and David’s eyes flicked up.  

“Do not call me that,” David growled. “All these days searching,  you telling me I was too exhausted. That I should give up, that I needed sleep.”

“I didn’t know-”

“Why should I believe a word you say?” David cried, advancing slowly.

“I’m telling you the truth.  These last few days… I did not know he was your father.”

“You’re a liar, pirate.”  

“Then why would I tell you the truth of your father’s final moments?”

“You think I won’t do it,” David’s eyes narrowed, “you bastard, you think I won’t do it?”  David’s stance shifted ever so slightly.  David was preparing for a fight,  but Killian didn’t move.    

“I’m willing to take that chance.”

He laughed, “and you’ll what, just stand there and let me do it?” His laugh was all wrong, it was all anger and pain.

“More or less.”

David finally exploded into movement his knife flashing out again, barely grazing Killian’s shoulder as he slipped out of its reach.  He swung again and again Killian eluded his strikes,  keeping just out of reach of the wild, desperate swings.

Distracting Killian with the raised blade, David kicked out viciously, finally landing a blow that made Hook’s leg crumple beneath him. David raised the blade and brought it down,  Killian’s attempt to block it just a moment too late. A deep gash turned the metal crimson.  With a clash of metal on metal.  Killian knocked the blade from David’s hand and it skirted across the floor.  

David grabbed his wounded arm and squeezed, and Hook’s face contorted in pain.

“Why won’t you fight me?” David yelled in frustration.

“I will not hurt you any more than I already-”  His words were cut off by a fist landing hard on Killian’s jaw, knocking him back.  Killian wiped his lip, shock his head,  and pushed himself back up to his knees.  

“Fight me-” David cried,

“No,” came the quiet reply.

Another blow,  more copper in Killian’s mouth which he spat onto the floor of the cell before looking back up into David’s infuriated eyes.  

“FIGHT ME, PIRATE!”  

“No.”

The next blow was even harder, and Killian hit the ground,  spots of light dancing in his vision.  He shook his head, trying to clear it,  he was surprised to see that David seemed to have paused his assault abruptly.  When his vision cleared Killian saw that David was not even looking at him at all,  was instead looking at something that must have fallen from his pocket when he hit the ground.  David knelt and picked up the black box, staring at it in growing horror.

“Dav-”

“Get out.”

“David,-”

“Please-”  his voice was pleading now,  hands clenched.  “Get.  Out.”  Killian heaved himself to his feet and limped from the room, the door clicking shut behind him.  

King George was long gone by now, a problem for another day. Killian leaned against the wall, momentarily too exhausted to take another step.  He quickly catalogued his injuries.  He couldn’t put weight on his right leg without a bolt of agony making him see stars and blood still poured from the gash on his arm.  His vision was going dark in spots and he shook his head to clear it,  eyeing the door with uncertainty.  

David was still inside the cell, nothing more than a turned knob between himself and the man who had murdered his father.  There was blood on his knife,  on his hands,  his knuckles were split from the damage he’d done to Hook’s jaw. His hands shook,  with rage?  With horror?  Perhaps both.  

His mind was a whirlwind,  trying desperately to integrate what he’d learned with the man he’d come to know so well.  Memories invaded his mind unbidden.  Helping Emma into the pirate’s arms when she’d escaped the ice cave, the terror on Killian’s face when Emma faced Gideon.  Emma clinging to her mother as Hook lay still in the mud. The small despondent smile on her face when she’d thought they had left him in the underworld,  when she told him that they had passed the test.  That he was her true love.

True love.  

He had tried to destroy his daughter’s true love.  A cold terror washed over him and he fell to his knees, futilely trying to wipe Hook’s blood from his hands.

Eventually the door swung open again and he didn’t look up as someone entered the room. He could tell from the uneven gait that it was Hook, still limping.  

“Can I call someone, David?  I…”  Killian knelt next to him,  one hand extended as though to touch him but hesitating.   “I know you don’t want to see me but I can’t leave you alone… Emma?  Can I call Emma?”

David shook his head and Killian pressed on. “I won’t tell her about this.   It was your due.  I’ll be gone before she arrives, if that is what you-” Suddenly David threw himself forward and Killian would have been ashamed to admit that he flinched back at first,  expecting another blow.  But the strike never came.  Instead David’s head dropped onto Killian’s shoulder and a shuddering sob escaped his lips. Killian shifted so their weight was not as supported by his wounded leg before clasping his arm around the man hesitantly.

“I’m so sorry,  Hook. I’m so-”  Of all the things Killian had expected to hear,   this had not even occurred to him.  

Killian shook his head, “Bloody hell, mate,  today of all days you apologize to me.”

“Dammit, Jones, right now I… I hate you so much. But-”  His words were a sharp contrast to the tight grip his fingers dug into Killian’s arm and tears continue to slip down his cheeks.  “But you’ve done the most difficult thing that I know.  You have changed and I shouldn’t have-  I shouldn’t have-”

Hook wasn’t sure how long they stayed like that, David’s arm clasping his tightly,  his head buried in Hook’s shoulder.  But eventually Hook’s leg gave out from under them abruptly and he sank to the floor with a hiss of pain.  David looked up and was horrified to see that Killian was ashy and pale and the gash down his arm was still bleeding sluggishly.  

“Dammit,” David repeated,  “I will not watch Emma mourn for you again.  Get the hell up and let’s get you some help.”

Killian nodded and David helped him to his feet,  but no sooner had he taken his first step onto his injured leg, pain lanced up his spine and the world began to spin.  He heard David calling his name distantly,  like he was very far away and the next thing he knew he was opening his eyes in a brightly lit hospital room.  Emma sat with folded arms in a chair next to his bed and he attempted a smile.  

“Hey beautiful.”

“Don’t you ‘hey beautiful’ me.”  

Killian’s heart sank. “David told you then?” Of course David had told her. She’d a right to know.  

“Yeah, David told me, and you’re lucky I don’t lock you in the basement for it.  What the hell were you thinking?”

“I’m sorry love,  there is nothing I can say to justify what I did to David’s father.”

“David’s fa-  Killian, I’m talking about this,” she indicated the hospital bed with an exasperated gesture.  

“This?”

“Your whole ridiculous punching bag act.”

“I couldn’t fight your father, Emma.  He deserved bet-”

“YOU deserve better.” Emma grumbled in frustration and Killian’s jaw dropped in shock, a mistake he realized instantly,  a sharp bolt of pain reminding him of David’s blow.  He reached up to rub at it gently, eyes still on Emma.  “Killian I’m not going to pretend that what you did to my grandfather wasn’t despicable.  I’m not going to pretend it was somehow okay. It wasn’t.  But you have worked so hard to change yourself, to be there for me, for all of us.  And you risk all of that in some kind of archaic… honor fight or whatever the hell that was. He could have killed you-”

“I know.”

“I suppose you think you were giving him something by giving him the chance to kill you?  It was all adrenaline and anger and sure, he’s going pissed for a while but if he’d killed you it would have eaten him alive. You know that.”   Killian dropped his eyes and she moved closer, leaning in to press a kiss to his cheek; he looked up in surprise. “Not to mention I’d have to go back to the underworld and take up ambrosia gardening.

“You still-”  Emma raised her eyebrows and waited for him to continue. “I feared once you found out you would no longer wish for us to … to be together.”

“Killian, I’ve known about your history for a long time.  I’ve known that you’ve killed and darkened your heart.  And does it hurt that the man you were caused my father pain? Yeah.  Of course it hurts.   But it doesn’t change anything.  I love you.  I love the man you’ve become,  and how hard you’ve fought to become him.”

“Emma?”

“Hmm?”

“Could you please heal my jaw,  because I would very much like to kiss you right now.”

Emma smiled, raising her hand to his cheek.  He felt a warm comforting touch for a moment and the pain faded away.  He leaned towards her but she stopped him with a finger on his lips.  He gave her a quizzical look.

“Killian, can I ask you something first?”

“Aye?”  

She reached into her pocket and pulled out the black box that David must have picked up before they left the cell.  His stomach clenched in sudden nerves and he looked up, searching her face for signs of discomfort,  but all he saw was her smile.  

“Would you marry me?”

His jaw dropped for the second time in as many minutes and he shook his head, a look of amused exasperation on his face.  His hand came up to cup her face, gently brushing a strand of hair behind her ear.  “It would be my honor.”  

He drew her in to kiss her gently,  a relief beyond anything he’d felt before making him near giddy.  “At least let me do this part,” he asked,  taking the box from her.  She nodded,  smiling as he opened the box with his hook and pulled out the ring, slipping it onto her finger.

“It fits perfectly, how did you manage that?”

“An engagement present from Regina,” Killian admitted,  “it will always fit you perfectly.”

“You told Regina first?”

“Well I certainly wasn’t going to ask your mother to keep a secret.”   Emma laughed.  “I had meant to ask your father for his blessing.  I had hoped-”

“Who do you think showed me this?” she indicated the ring box and he raised his eyebrows.  “He waited with you until I got here and he gave me this before he left.  Told me it was probably the only thing that kept him from killing you.  He said it reminded him that you were not that man anymore.”  

“Should I go speak to him?”

“Not tonight.  Tomorrow.”

Killian nodded and Emma leaned forward, her forehead pressing against his gently.  “Let’s go home?”

When he knocked on the door of the loft the next morning the door was opened almost immediately despite the early hour.  However it wasn’t David on the other side of the door.

“Killian-” Snow said, opening the door wider. He hesitated a moment but she reached for him,  a gentle pressure on his arm beckoning him into the loft.  He followed her to the couch and sat, his fingers tapping nervously against one knee.

“I presume that David has shared the tale with you?”

“He left me a recording last night before he woke me. How are you feeling?  Are you alright?”

“Emma patched me up. And David … is he…”

“He’ll be all right too.  He’ll be glad to see you.”  Killian scoffed lightly and Snow moved to sit next to him on the couch.  “Killian do you think me a fool?”

Killian looked up abruptly, shaking his head in surprise.  “Of course not-”

“Do you suppose that we didn’t know who you were?  That I, who helped drag you from under a pile of corpses;  who sat in Belle’s room in the hospital for hours, trying to keep her calm when she remembered nothing of who she was…  Did you suppose I didn’t know that your past was one of true darkness?”

Her face softened and she took his face in both hands, the gesture so maternal that he simply shook his head, unable to speak around the lump in his throat.  

“You are a part of this family now, Killian, and all we want from you is what you’ve been doing for a long time now.  Protect her when you can,  make her happy.  And for heaven’s sake, let yourself be happy.”  Killian nodded, still not trusting his voice.  “I’m going to wake David now, all right?”

“Thank you,” he stammered, “I mean… for everything.”  

Snow nodded and disappeared into the bedroom.  There was silence in the loft for several long minutes and the steps that returned to him were heavier.  

David held a note in his hand when he emerged from the room.

I’m so sorry, David.  I wish I could have held you last night when you got home,  you shouldn’t have had to be alone. I know how much it hurts and I want so badly to take it away.  Emma will forgive you. I’m certain she already has.  

Killian’s here now. Be kind, David.  Be the man I know you are.  

David paused when he entered the room,  Killian was sitting on the couch, his eyes downcast.  The last time David had seen him was before Emma had arrived at the hospital.  He’d passed out cold in the cell and David had been forced to run for help, knowing that it would take far too long to drag Killian up all those steps back to the main part of the hospital.  Nurses had come down from above and loaded him onto a gurney and he had been so pale,  just like last time.

Finally Killian spoke. “I know you don’t want to hear it again, mate, but I am truly sorry.”

“I don’t know what came over me,” David admitted.  “I was so angry. And when I saw that box and realized what I’d done-  It was like waking up from a nightmare.”

“I know.”

“She ask you?” David asked, moving to the breakfast bar and opening the fridge to pull out orange juice.  Killian followed,  leaning against the bar while David poured his juice.  

“Aye.  I wanted to ask your blessing first,  but-”

“But Emma.”

“Aye,  but Emma.”

“You’re marrying my daughter,  no more rum before noon.” David poured a second glass and offered it to Killian.  “To second chances.”  David raised the glass in a toast, and Killian followed his gesture.

“To second chances.”  

Dedicated to @killian-whump , for *cough* obvious reasons.  And the captain charming crew: @xhookswenchx, @lynyrdwrites , @spartanguard , @nfbagelperson

  "In Life we try, invest and fail, because of not having a chance not trying hard enough, not being good enough, people screwed up or we did. Most of the time it's just too difficult, too scary, so we stop trying & once we stop we realize how hard it is to start again, so we force ourselves not to want it, not to need it but it's always there and until we finish, it'll always be."     Go ahead try again at whatever it is you failed ... It's very hypocrite of me to say that because .. well, I'm a perfectionist with a sprinkle of arrogance on top, I rarely fail not because I'm good at everything simply because I never engage unless wining is guaranteed. But there was one time I failed Miserably, I don't regret it, But even when I feel like I'm completely ready to try again, & once I face it, I go running the other way;  subconsciously "not this time, next time" is what I tell myself .. So maybe I'm telling you this to force it on myself. Maybe if you face your demons, I'll be inspired to face mine"