In the aftermath, I'll hold you
in the aftermath of Emma taking on the darkness, Killian is the only one to comfort Henry.
Aka, these two just want their family back together
+ a little post s5 finale comfort to finish it off
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"What do you mean she's gone?" Henry grit his teeth, eyes darting across the adults standing in a circle around him.
He was told to go back to the apartment. That they would sort everything out and be home for hot cocoa.
The group did come home, his mum noticeably missing, everyone's heads hung low. Everyone avoided looking him in the eyes, even Hook. Eventually, his other mother had explained what happened.
"Henry..." his grandmother pleaded, reaching for his hand. Henry flinched, taking a step away from her.
"Answer me! What do you mean she's gone!"
"We told you, Henry, the darkness took her," his mother repeated her earlier words.
"Took her where!?" he snapped at her, eyes blown wide with tears stinging at the corners.
A moment of silence fell upon the apartment as everyone, once again, averted their eyes from Henry.
"Why won't no one tell me what happened to my mum?" he choked out, turning to Killian. The man was standing slightly behind Henry, off to David's side. His hook was dropped to the side, arm holding loosely to his belt. He lifted his head and looked at Henry. Brown locked with blue, and Henry saw his emotions reflected on Killian's face - fear, trepidation, agony.
Regina walked towards him, extending her arms out, to hug or otherwise hold him, but Henry slapped them away and cried out at her.
"Don't touch me right now!"
"Henry! Do not talk to your mother like that!" David cut in, fist slamming on the counter. Everyone in the room jumped, and Henry choked up a sob.
"Aye! Stop it, everyone!" Killian laid his hand on the prince's shoulder, trying to ease the storm currently brewing in the room. "We're all stressed and yelling won't help anyone." He turned to Henry, eyes weighed with unshed tears. He took a step towards Henry and the boy didn't move back.
"Lad, your mother took on the darkness, and it engulfed her. When the smoke subsided, she was gone, and all that was left was the dagger with her name on it. That's all we know."
Henry sniffled.
"Have you tried using the dagger to call her?" he asked, ashamed that he even thought of controlling his mother like that.
"Hook tried. She's not in this realm, as it didn't work." Regina stated. A muscle in Henry's jaw clenched.
"So he's the only one that even tried looking for her?"
"Henry!" his grandmother jumped, clearly offended at his statement.
"Don't Henry me! You should be out there looking for her! She's probably scared and alone, but none of you care!"
Mary Margaret glanced over at Regina, but said nothing.
"You never cared about her! You sent her away and I had to find her! When Pan's curse separated us, you didn't come looking, you went about your lives as if we didn't exist. It was Hook who came for us, and it wasn't even you who sent him!"
"I don't think Hook is a role-model for good behaviour." David sneered, shaking the pirate's hand off of his shoulder. Henry grit his teeth at the statement.
"At least he cares about her. You named your second kid after the man that hurt her! Do you even know what he did to her? And now she has to hear his name every day?"
His chest was heaving, angry tears rolling down his cheeks. He took a deep breath to steady himself.
"You never cared. She keeps breaking her back to help everyone else, but no one has ever tried to help her. She was left alone."
Regina shot him a glare. "Need I remind you that she left you as well?"
"She was a kid! Did you forget she was almost my age when she had me? She didn't have her mother there for comfort." Henry sniffed again, the words burning his throat. "And now neither do I."
He turned and buried himself in Hook's arms, head pressed into his chest as he let the sobs break from his own.
"Henry Daniel Mills!" Regina moved towards the two of them, brows furrowed in rage, but Hook shook his head and extended his namesake to stop her.
He turned him and Henry around, his back to the rest of the group. His arms came around the boy, hand stroking his soft brown hair. He held him for several long moments, until Henry's breathing evened out and his shaking sobs subsided. His arms were still gripping tightly to the lapels of Hook's jacket. Hook kissed the top of his head and whispered slowly.
"I know you miss your mother. I do too. But we won't do her any good if we run around town until we drop from exhaustion. We need rest," he tipped the lad's head up with his hook, "you need rest. We can make a plan in the morning and set right on finding her. Alright?"
Henry nodded, sighed, and rested his head back against his chest.
After a few more moments of silence, Regina spoke again.
"Well. The pirate's right with one thing, we should go to sleep now." She picked up her coat from the rack and looked over at Henry. "Coming?"
He shook his head. "I'm staying here."
Regina whispered "Suit yourself," and bid the others goodnight before leaving with Robin.
Henry stayed in Hook's arms for a little while longer, holding onto him as the rest of the world fell apart around him. His head was spinning, his legs and arms felt heavy, and there was a growing pit in his stomach. Eventually, Hook took a step back, arm and hook braced on Henry's shoulders.
"Let's get you to bed, lad. You're tired."
Henry just nodded, not wanting to fight back, and made his way upstairs. He changed into his pyjamas and crawled into the twin bed that was shoved into the corner of the room. He knew he wouldn't get much sleep, as tired as he was. He heard hushed whispers coming from below, but could only make out a few words.
"Let the boy be," Hook said, "he just lost his mother."
"That doesn't give him the right to speak to us like that." David pushed back, annoyance clear in his voice.
A moment passed.
"He was right, you know. About everything." Mary Margaret finally joined in. "Emma was alone all her life. We never made an effort to make up for that, we thought it was clear we were sorry, but now I know she needed more from us."
They continued their conversation, but Henry couldn't make out anything coherent past that. Eventually, someone stood up and made their way to the front door.
"I best be on my way," Hook said, "it's getting rather late."
"You should stay. Emma wouldn't want you alone on your ship"
Another moment of silence passed. Henry heard movement down stairs, and soon Hook was making his way up the stairs.
"Lad?" he whispered out once he reached the landing.
"I'm awake."
Hook sighed, and made his way to the main bed. He didn't say anything else, but Henry could tell he wasn't asleep. His breathing was too quick and shallow, uneven at times.
Hook taught him how to tell the difference between awake and asleep breathing. "Useful for checking if an enemy is open to a sneak attack," he'd said.
Henry stood and made his way to the corner of his mum's bed.
"Killian?" he called. Killian turned his head, eyebrow quirked up. Henry shuffled his feet. "Can I sleep with you tonight? While in New York, whenever I was upset, she'd let me cuddle with her."
Killian said nothing, simply pulled back the comforter and patted the bed next to him. Henry crawled in, laying face to face with him. They stayed like that for some time, neither speaking.
He liked Killian. He liked how relaxed he was around him, and often it seemed he was the only one that didn't baby Henry. And he tried to build a relationship with him, even outside his relationship with his mum. Killian was fun, he made his mum happy and he was always kind to Henry. The trio's weekly lunches at Granny's were one of the things Henry looked forward to the most. It felt right, the three of them together.
Henry didn't understand why everyone was so dismissive of Killian all the time. Yes, he'd done some bad things, but so did his other mother? And everyone seemed to forgive her easily. He was trying, but no-one except Emma ever supported him.
"We'll find her," Killian said eventually, "I promise you, lad.
Henry shifted, closer to Killian. He rolled onto his back and Henry set his head on his chest, knees tucked up to his chest. Killian's arm came around Henry, resting on the back of his head.
"I know, I know, I'm just..." Henry took a breath to steady himself. "I'm sorry about earlier, a lot of what I said was uncalled for."
"It's okay, lad. It's a stressful situation. I don't think anyone will hold it over you," Killian comforted.
"Thank you for being here. I know you and I can find her. We found her once already, in the alternate storybook. We can do it again."
"Aye. The three of us make quite the team, you know." He threaded his fingers through Henry's hair, in the same soothing motion his mother often used.
"Like a real family does." Henry couldn't see Killian's face, but he knew that the word had prompted a wide smile on it. Family. The three of them, together, against the world. He wasn't opposed to Killian being his step-dad. He's been acting like one already, picking him up from school when neither of his mums could, helping with homework, taking care of him. Henry has never had a father figure before, and Killian was as close as he'd ever get.
"Henry?" he whispered after a while. Henry hummed in response.
"I've been thinking. Well, your mother and I had been talking. We want to find a place for us." He looked down at Henry. "All three of us."
"Like an apartment?"
"Like a house. Maybe we could... Maybe we could find one she'd like? So we can surprise her when this mess is sorted?"
Henry propped himself up on his elbows. His face lit up. "Yes! It could be an operation!" He thought about a name for a moment. "Operation: Light Swan?"
Killian chuckled. "Sounds perfect."
They laid back down, snuggled more closely together now. They listed the features they would look for in their future home. It had to be near the ocean, have a big yard, and an open floor plan.
"How many bedrooms?" Killian's cheek and ear tips burned at the question.
"We, uh. Your mother and I never discussed that topic."
"I'm sure she'd be open to the idea."
"Aye?"
"Mhm. I can see how she looks at you when you're around me or baby Neal."
Killian smiled at that. "Well I'm sure that a few extra bedrooms wouldn't hurt."
The conversation continued, the excitement over the future easing the pain they both felt. Henry soon felt his eyelids drop, the drum of Killian's heart a low, steady rhythm under his ear. He was stroking his shoulder, drawing nonsense shapes into it with his fingers. Henry drifted off to sleep in Killian's arms, certain that the two of them would take the Darkness out of Emma.
And then they could finally be a family.
ccccccccc
"It's rather late," Emma yawned out, "we should go to bed.
They were sitting on the couch, all next to one another. The couch had more than enough room for them to sprawl out, but they all snuggled into the corner, Emma's back to Killian's chest, arms wrapped around Henry.
They came home from Granny's hours ago, having bid goodbye to the rest of the group. There was so much to be said between them, so much had happened, and none of them wanted to move on without addressing it properly.
Emma's Darkness. What she did to Henry and Killian. Why she pushed them away. Killian's Darkness. The betrayal he felt when no one believed he could fight it. His sacrifice. The race to get him back. The heartbreak Emma and Henry felt when he couldn't come with them. Henry's trip to New York and why he wanted to destroy magic.
They talked for hours, breaking down each and every wall that was still standing between them. Lots of emotions followed with tears, apologies, and hugs.
Henry stretched out, yawning. "Uh-huh. I'm sleepy."
They made their way upstairs, staying close together. They were reluctant to take their eyes off of each other, after being separated so many times already.
The master bedroom was the first bedroom to the left of the stair landing, and Henry's was across the hallway. He stopped, halfway in between the two bedroom doors, and turned to his mum and Killian.
"Hey," he said before they could even open the door. "Can I, can I sleep with you two?"
The two adults shared a confused look between them.
"I know, I'm 13 now, and I should sleep on my own, but..." he shook his head as memories of the past couple of months came flooding back once again. "Mum, I almost lost you to the darkness. And we just barely managed to drag Killian back from the dead. Surely I should be allowed to be a little clingy?"
Emma smiled at him. "After what we've been through, we're allowed to be as clingy as we want to be."
They went about their regular sleep time routine. Changing into pyjamas, brushing their teeth, the usual. Emma went to fetch an extra pillow for Henry, and Killian fiddled nervously with the brace in his arm.
"You can take it off. I don't mind." Henry had never actually seen Killian's scar, and a part of him was curious as to what it looked like. The one time they shared a bed before, after mum was taken, it was dark and Killian had kept the arm tucked under the pillow. He didn't see Killian any differently because of it - the teenager in him saw the hook as completely badass - but he knew that was a sensitive topic for him, so he never pressed him on it.
Killian looked at him, and his features softened. He undid the straps keeping the brace tight, and slid it off of his forearm.
Henry didn't stare much, not wanting to make Killian uncomfortable. The scar was mostly faded, and apart from it, his lower arm was devoid of any other distinguishing markings, including tattoos. A stark contrast compared to the rest of his body. Henry wanted to ask about the tattoos and the scars, the stories behind them, what they meant, and how he got them. Another time, he thought, there's no rush now.
Emma came back with the pillow, and the three of them climbed into bed. Killian was on the right side of the bed, leaning partially on his side. Henry cuddled into him, head tucked into the crook of his neck. Emma threw her arm around him, pulling herself close. Killian's scarred arm was wound beneath the two of them, the fingers of his other arm tangled with Emma's.
"Everyone comfy?" she asked.
"What if I told you I need to relieve myself, love?" Killian teased.
"Then I would send you right back to Hell."
"Underworld, technically." Henry and Killian corrected in unison, and the three of them burst out laughing.
This is good. This is how it was always meant to be. The three of them, together, happy, with their whole future in front of them. Henry sighed.
"You good, kiddo?"
"I'm happy."
Sleep took them swiftly, the last few weeks (months, really) having left their bodies desperate for rest.
Nothing would separate the Saviour, her pirate, and their son ever again.
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