Killian skidded to a halt in front of the brownstone, rearing back as flames burst through the downstairs window. He never knew how loud a fire was, how it seemed to roar and growl with every passing second-and how taunting that noise was when the person you loved most in this world was trapped by it.
“Please! You have to get in there!” Killian’s begging was met with pitying glances from the assembled firefighters as he raked his hands through his already messy hair.
“Sir, the building is unstable! We can’t risk the lives of our men.” The firefighter in charge put a comforting hand on his shoulder, the pressure seeming to weigh him down even more. “Just let us do our job.”
“But-you don’t understand! My wife’s still inside!”
Obviously that bit of information was not something the firefighters had known and a flurry of action sprung up around him as he paced just inside the barricade blocking off the road. He watched as the men conversed with each other just out of earshot, occasionally shooting sympathetic looks his way. From the grim expressions and the ever increasing amount of head shaking, Killian knew the news they were going to give him wouldn’t be good.
So he did what he had to do.
He darted forward, dodging around the man stationed near the front door, all his years of soccer coming back with the quick maneuvers. He rushed at the door, bracing his shoulder for the impact he knew would hurt like a bitch.
And he was right. He burst through the door, the already weakened wood splintering with the force of his weight. The heat burst over him in a shower of sparks as a beam fell a foot to his right. He pulled his cotton T-shirt up to cover his face, cursing the fact that Emma liked these deep V cuts.
His cerulean eyes squinted through the near solid mask of smoke as he searched for Emma. He’d been dropping the kids off at her parent’s house, hauling all manner of baby equipment for Elliot while Henry watched in amusement. And he’d dug his phone out of his pocket to give her a call as he was leaving. Amidst teasing of the fun to come on their first date night since the baby had been born, he’d heard a muffled crash. The shriek following made his heart leap in terror and the shrill blare of the smoke alarms coming on made his foot fall harder on the accelerator. When Emma had stopped yelling for him, he knew she was in trouble.
He’d searched all over the block once he’d stopped the car, abandoning it with the keys still inside. And when he hadn’t found Emma, he’d confronted the firemen. Which had led him to this predicament-fumbling around in the house he knew like the back of his hand, searching for the love of his life.
***********
Emma coughed again, her hands raised above her head as another piece of ceiling fell down around her. She’d made it as far as the kitchen before she couldn’t crawl anymore. Her vision swam and sweat poured down her face, stinging her eyes.
She laid her head against the kitchen island Killian had installed for her last year. They’d redone the bottom floor and he’d surprised her with the kitchen, making it absolutely everything she’d ever wanted.
Her eyes stung for a different reason as she thought of her husband. She wasn’t making it out of here-that much was certain now. She knew the firefighters must be here by now, but no one had come for her. She’d heard a crash a few minutes before, but the roar of the fire had drowned out anything except the inevitability of her death.
She only hoped she’d pass out first.
She thought of her children-Henry, who’d gotten so big when she wasn’t looking. He was a teenager now, almost a man. His seventeenth birthday was last month and she could still remember the look on his face as Killian had handed him the pocket watch he always carried, explaining that it had always been passed father to son. She hadn’t missed the tear in Killian’s eye when Henry had engulfed him in a hug and whispered something probably unmanly in his ear. And then there was Elliott, the baby girl she thought she’d never have. She was turning into the feistiest little pirate princess ever. And Emma had endless amounts of fun teasing Killian about that.
But all that was over. She only hoped that Elliott would remember her and that Henry would still stay with Killian sometimes…Killian. Poor Killian. He was going to be devastated. He’d lost everyone he ever cared about and she’d promised not to be next…and here she was breaking that promise.
She tried, she really did. As soon as she smelled the smoke, she’d dropped to the floor, scrambling to get out of the house. But the flames seemed to meet her at every turn, as if they were chasing her. So she’d stopped, determined to just drift away while she remembered every good memory they’d made in the last 6 years.
They should have had more time. More time to grow and love and bicker and fuck. More time to do all those coupley things that she’d never had the chance to do before. More time to have more kids and to watch those kids grow into kick ass adults.
They should’ve had it all. And instead she was sprawled in her newly remodeled kitchen, gasping in nothing but smoke as she tried to tune out what was happening around her.
And then she saw him-like an avenging angel as he swept toward her, crouching down beside her as her eyes drifted shut.
“Emma! Emma, love, stay with me!”
Funny, she didn’t think he’d sound so panicked. Surely this angel was there to take her to Heaven. There was no way someone as beautiful as him could be from Hell. He bent over her, his hand and hook fluttering ineffectually over her body.
Smiling, she raised her hand to stroke his cheek. “Killian? You came?”
His eyes softened as he smiled down at her. “Of course I did, love. Now-let’s get you out of here.”
***********
“Henry…turn off whatever’s beeping…” Emma tried to roll before she felt a painful tugging on her hand. “What the hell?!”
“EMMA!”
“Mom!”
“Mama!”
Her eyes cracked open blearily and she saw the stark white room around her before glancing around, her eyes coming to rest on her family.
Killian passed Elliott to her brother and darted to her side. His good hand stroked the hair from her forehead and she nuzzled into him.
“Oh Gods, love. You had me worried.”
She smiled up at him, faint crinkles showing around her eyes. “But you came for me. Why worry when you saved me?”
“How could I not, Swan? You’re the bloody love of my life. I won’t let something as simple as a house fire take you from me. Not after all we’ve been through.” He draped himself over her prone body as her fingers wound their way through his unruly hair.
She reached her hand out for the kids who approached beside Killian. Henry grasped her hand as Elliott put her chubby little fist between them and Emma smiled.
“We have been through a lot, haven’t we?”
Henry and Killian nodded emphatically as she chuckled under her breath.
“That we have love, that we have. But no more. I’d like a nice boring life from now on, if you don’t mind.”
She burst into great heaving gasps of laughter, coughing intermittently as Henry scampered to get her some water. She took a long sip, silently thanking her son as Killian climbed into bed beside her, much to the amusement of their kids.
“Sounds good to me, pirate. Sounds perfectly fine to me.”
