The Orphans

The Truth

White. Pure white. That's all she could see. She tried looking around but it seemed that she was surrounded by the white. Was she in heaven? Did she die? No... she could feel a faint throbbing in her head. How long had she been staring at the apparent endless expanse of white? It felt like hours. Maybe it was only a few minutes.

Wait. What was her name? It started with an E... Emily? No. Emma. Yes, that's right. Emma... Emma Swan. The friendless orphan, abandoned by her parents the moment she was born. She wanted to frown, but found that she couldn't. Who was the man with the ocean blue eyes? And did he have a twin? Emma kept having visions of a man with two hands but then visions of the same man with only one.

Then, he came in. Killian, she thought once she saw him. His face was broken, and his eyes puffy. Presumably from crying. His mouth was moving and Emma could tell he was speaking, but she couldn't make out any words. She was confused. Was she going deaf? No... no it must be whatever the cords hooked into her were doing.

Before she was even aware of what was going on, Killian leaned forward and did something to her. Maybe it was a kiss. Emma couldn't feel anything on her forehead, but something told her that it was a kiss.

As soon as he pulled away and she could see his face, she saw him close his eyes and stumble backwards a little bit. When he opened them, something about his expression changed. She wanted to ask him what happened, but she silently watched out of the corner of her eye as he pulled a small, glass cylinder out of his pocket.

The man's ocean blue eyes were devastated. He slowly walked back up to her and placed it against the side of her head. He pulled it away a minute later and there was some red liquid inside it. Was it Emma's blood?

-

Killian's heart was breaking when he saw that she still had a blank look in her eyes. Either she didn't recognize him, or the drugs they had her on were making her see strange things. He hoped that it was just that she didn't recognize him. When he'd kissed her forehead, his memories were returned to him. He didn't want her remembering the deal they made with Hades.

But he also didn't want her to remember her fake memories. She'd know something was up when he started acting strange and if he told her that what Regina said was true, she'd try to stop Killian.

Both were punishment enough. Mainly because they both knew that there was only one way to stop Hades once he casts the spell.

Killian was torn between actually going through with this or breaking the deal. But he knew the price that he and Emma would have to pay if they broke the agreement. Slamming his eyes shut, he started to back out the door. With a final whisper of "I love you," to Emma, he exited the room, only to bump into Snow and Charming halfway down the hallway.

He lowered his head and tried to walk past them, but a push from David showed that that wasn't going to happen.

"Back off, mate," he said, still not looking at them.

"What the hell were you doing in there? The doctors said direct family only," David retorted.

Killian looked up and glared at him. "As far as she's concerned at the moment, mate, I'm the closest thing she has to family right now. Doesn't bloody matter that you're her father. You going into that room with her awake could make her have a panic attack."

David's eyes widened as Killian spoke. "So- you remember?"

He sighed. "Aye. Just got them back. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have something I need to do." Lifting his head high, he barged past David and left the hospital. The instant he was out the doors, he bolted for the lake.

Let's get this over with, he thought, sighing to himself.

-

Two forms appeared in her line of vision. They looked familiar. What were their names? Mary Margaret Blanchard. And the man was David Nolan. The Sheriff of Storybrooke.

As Emma's vision focused better, she realized they were crying. She wanted desperately to ask why they were crying. She couldn't understand what was going on until she tried to move. Pain shock through her body like fire and the pounding became worse until it was too much to bare. It was in that painful moment that all of her memories came back to her. All of them. She couldn't tell which was the reality. The fairy tale ones or the real life ones.

Fighting through the pain, she forced her mouth open and tried to speak, but her attempts failed as the pain became too much for her to handle. The pounding in her head intensified and it felt like someone was constantly slamming her head into a hard object. Black dots appeared in his vision as nurses and doctors pooled into the room.

One doctor held a syringe in his hand and he injected her with it. It was at that moment that Emma realized she'd been holding her head in her hands and she'd been crying. Despite the pain, she was astonished. She could feel the tears streaming down her face! She wanted to smile with joy but then the liquid from the syringe took its toll on her and everything became a misty haze before her world went black once more.

-

Once Killian arrived at the lake, he was met by a fury. Except this fury was unlike any of the ones that he and Emma had experienced in the Underworld. This fury turned into a person when she landed on the lake's edge, her face clouded with guilt. He didn't even need to ask to know that she caused whatever happened to Emma.

Growling angrily, he strode up to her and took her throat in his hands. "You did it to her. You're the reason she's on the brink of death."

The fury's eyes widened as she gasped for breath underneath his powerful grip. "Hades ordered me to," she managed to splutter.

"Why?" His grip tightened as his anger grew. "Why agree to do it? You clearly don't look proud of it."

"Because Hades has my love," she spluttered. He loosened his grip and she continued, holding her neck as she took deep breaths. "He told me that he would kill him if I didn't do as he said. I had no choice," she said, her head hanging in shame.

He thrust the glass at her. "Just take it and go," he snapped.

"I'm so sorry," she whispered as she took it from his grasp. "My name is Megara. But everyone calls me Meg."

"Names don't bloody matter to furies," he snapped as he turned away and jogged away.

It took him a few minutes to reach the hospital once again. He made his way back up to the floor that Emma was on and rounded the corner. Her parents were sitting on two chairs, their heads resting in their hands.

"Where is she," he demanded. He had to see her. Snow looked up.

"She's in surgery right now, Killian," she responded before putting her head back in her hands.

Killian couldn't breath and stumbled into the wall. His Swan was dying and there was nothing he could do to help her. He cursed under his breath.

"Bloody hell. Emma's suffering because of that bloody deal she made. Hades better not-" he broke off, forgetting that the heroes were in front of him. And they'd been listening, their ears perked up in interest.

"What deal," David asked. "What does Hades want to do?"

Killian snapped his mouth shut, knowing he couldn't say a word. If he said anything, who knew what Hades would do to him-or worse, Emma-once he casted the curse.

He stared at David for a few seconds before muttering, "Nothing."

Emma's father took a threatening step forward. "It wasn't just nothing if you broke off. Tell us," he said, pushing Killian so he was against the wall. David grabbed Killian's shirt and yelled, "Tell us what Hades wants!"

Killian yelled back, equally angry. "I can't, don't you understand that? Neither of us can!" He lowered his voice. "If you make me tell you, there's no saying what he'll do. No one breaks deals with Hades."

David laughed. "So you're sworn to secrecy? Well, that doesn't matter." He turned to Snow. "Call Regina. Tell her to come here with that truth potion. It's time we get some answers."