In my Once Upon A Time FanFic, Twice Upon A Dream, Killian, Emma, Snow, David, Henry, Regina and Robin are pulled into the dreamscape via a curse. They have seven days, seven hours and seven minutes to get themselves back to reality, all while running through their own dreams, and the dreams of others in Storybrooke.
In this dream, Emma has just spent an eventful night with “Deckhand Killian” (we all remember him from the Season 4 finale), and now Killian has remembered who he is just in time for Blackbeard to return….
“Step away from her.” Killian’s voice was low, and all the more deadly for it.
Blackbeard made a grab for Emma, but she brought a hand up, sending out a shockwave blast that tossed him into a nearby wall.
“She’s magic!” he spluttered.
“Aye, that she is,” Killian replied. “She can kill you with a flick of her wrist, but I’m hoping she’ll leave you to me.”
Emma made a sweeping gesture with her hand. “He’s all yours,” she smirked.
“Shall we take this topside?” Killian asked. “The blood washes off the deck much easier.”
Blackbeard gave him a dark look, but followed up the stairs, with Emma close behind.
“Is this some sort of a spell?” He looked over at Emma. “If so, it’s highly entertaining. But putting a cutlass in a man’s hand doesn’t make him a master – or worthy to captain a ship.”
“Why don’t you give me a try?” Killian taunted. “If I’m the buffoon you think me to be, this ought to be child’s play for a captain as…fearsome as you.”
He stepped back so that Blackbeard could draw his own cutlass, and they slowly began to circle each other. Blackbeard lunged first, but Killian easily sidestepped, whirling to catch him on a backhand that nearly knocked Blackbeard’s blade from his grasp. He feinted right, but Killian was too quick for him, anticipating his move and their cutlasses clashed together. They fought on for several minutes, blade against blade, dodging obstacles on the deck as Blackbeard realized he’d underestimated his opponent.
Killian, for his part, was enjoying himself tremendously. He leaped up onto a rum barrel, dodging a low slash that Blackbeard meant to cripple him with, then grabbed a rigging line and swung down, planting his boots firmly in the center of Blackbeard’s chest and sending him reeling. Blackbeard recovered quickly, giving a glance over his shoulder at a thoroughly uninterested Emma, who appeared to be examining her nails.
“Rest well,” he growled. “I’ll be seeing to you when he’s finished. You’ll be on your knees begging for death when I’m done with you.”
Emma raised a brow. “Sorry – I’m only on my knees for one man – or should I say captain,” she smirked. She looked over at Killian, who’d just jumped down off the barrel.
“Are you finishing this anytime soon?” she asked. “I’m hungry. And bored.”
“Sorry to keep you waiting, love,” he apologized. “I was just having a bit of fun.”
“I can see that,” she smiled. “Sorry to interrupt.”
“You’re never an imposition.”
“Enough!” Blackbeard bellowed, charging at Killian again. Their cutlasses clashed again and again as they circled, lunging and feinting until Killian finally gave Emma a nod and pressed forward with a series of parries so fast, his cutlass was a blur in the air. He forced Blackbeard down to one knee, then struck the cutlass from his hand, bringing his own blade to bear on the pirate’s neck.
“You won’t do it,” Blackbeard sneered. “You don’t have the guts.”
“No, I simply don’t have the interest,” Killian said, slamming the hilt of his cutlass down on Blackbeard’s head and knocking him unconscious.
“Enjoy your workout?” Emma said, sidling up to him.
He grinned widely. “I did. I really did.”
She leaned up to kiss him. “I know.”
“The rest of his crew is trussed up below,” he said. “They should be awake by now so they can carry him to the dock.”
“And then?”
“Then we push off, and sail off into the sunset.”
“Hmmmm…” she said, pulling him closer. “Something about a good old-fashioned pirate swordfight really makes my engine hum.”
His eyes flashed, and he leaned in with his lips barely hovering above hers. “Does it now?”
“Let’s take out the garbage, sail the hell out of here, and then I’m going to peel off that leather and have my wicked way with you.”
“Again?” He quirked a brow and gave her a randy smile. “You rob me of my virtue and now I’m a slave to your desires.”
Emma bent down to get Blackbeard’s cutlass, then headed for the stairs to the crew deck. She paused to look back over her shoulder. “I did promise I’d be on my knees for the captain…” She smiled a slow, secret smile and walked away, hips swinging.
And a thoroughly dazed and bedazzled former deckhand followed her.
Twice Upon A Dream is the sequel to the rollicking ride of These Dreams, and you can find it at Fanfiction.net or Archive of Our Own (AO3).
Britt DeLaney 