#only getting away unscathed off of an insane stroke of luck

[allpromarlo]

halfway through the luofu story on my hsr replay and i really think mc should’ve gotten to be meaner to kafka

[writing-oof]

what am i if not a dog - El (4)

(or: the E.G.G.s have superpowers. this, surprisingly, is only the beginning of El's problems.) (or: or: El Quackity gets rehabilitated like a rabid dog, Quackity yoinks his evil little brother, and A1 is safe and sound at the end of things)

TW: dehumanization, conflict, self-loathing

El really, really wishes he could have all of actual Quackity's skills.

One would think that being someone's clone--or whatever the change was that had made the nameless, faceless Federation Worker he was before into the person he is now--would give you that person's skills.

If El had even a modicum of Quackity's ability to fight, he probably wouldn't have had three arrows sticking out of him, only healed because Pomme had come prepared with spare potions in her backpack.

By some stroke of luck, they manage to get away from the monster relatively unscathed.

There's still at least ten minutes of forest left to walk through, mobs probably hiding around every corner, but they're not in immediate danger.

Pomme, insufferably, has decided to take advantage of their temporary safety by driving him insane.

'But why do you hate everyone?' Pomme signs with the sort of fearless curiosity that's going to get her killed one day.

El wishes he could get away with just turning away from her, pretending like he didn't see, but he's now well aware that she will tug on his pant leg until he trips.

"Because everyone fucking sucks," he says, scowling. That, at least, he doesn't have to fake.

He used to think that his superiors got on his nerves sometimes, but now that he knows the islanders he wishes he could go back to that blissful ignorance.

It's not like he can really be blamed for hating the islanders. They hated him first.

Nothing's really changed about that either. He knows that even the ones who aren't openly hostile are just waiting for him to be vulnerable, trusting.

It's not hard to keep his guard up, most of the time.

Pretty much every islander can be lumped into one of those two categories, with one glaring exception. Roier is in a tier of his own.

He's trying to kill El through the slow and incredibly painful method of annoying him to death.

Worst of all is that it's working.

Every time Roier drags him out to do something around the island, El can feel the cells in his brain withering away alongside his patience.

Seriously, El might end it all himself if the man takes him on one more glorified treasure hunt or drags El to his house to 'catch up' before roping him into some ridiculous scheme.

The man is insufferable.

Almost as insufferable as Pomme, who looks at him with painfully curious eyes and asks, 'Do you hate me?'

El stops short, literally stumbling to a stop.

"I--"

Pomme doesn't look disappointed, or even surprised.

She just asks, unfearingly, 'Is it because of Tilín?'

Pomme is lucky that she's talking to El who has to pretend to be upset at the mention of Quackity's daughter and not the man himself, who had more success trying to kill the E.G.G.s than the Federation ever has.

"Don't talk about her," he says, continuing their walk out of the forest, but he doesn't sound as snappish as he likes.

'Okay,' Pomme agrees, probably choosing the next item on her list of increasingly-upsetting things, 'Are you working with the Federation?'

Technically, the sign for the Federation is a combination of watching, evil, and mean, but he knows what she means.

The sign the E.G.G.s use isn't too hard to pick up, especially for someone like him who's always had an unusual skill for learning new languages, but sometimes he wishes he'd never bothered to learn it.

"Should you really be asking me that alone out in the woods?" El asks instead of yelling at her, but he probably should have started off by denying it. A rookie mistake.

Pomme looks at him, disappointed and a little surprised this time, and signs, 'You know they're evil! Why would you work for them? They're terrible!'

You're terrible, he wants to say, You're a monster we made by mistake.

He keeps his mouth shut tight as they near the treeline.

Emphatically, maybe even a little bit angrily, Pomme signs, 'You had so many friends! Why would you throw them all away!? The Federation hurts everyone!'

El thinks of Quackity, crumpled in a cell with more blood visible than skin.

He thinks of the monster in front of him, the parasites the Federation is trying to destroy.

"You don't know what you're talking about," he snaps, stalking through bushes that prickle and snare on his skin.

Pomme follows at his heels, staring at him, her eyes digging into his skin like tiny knives. Finally, they breach the treeline into open fields, the sun shining overhead. Having cleared the danger El should have left the E.G.G. in, he stops. His legs feel like lead beneath him.

'I'm sorry,' Pomme signs, her face painfully despaired.

El looks away.

(So is he.)

---

El should have left her at spawn.

Really, he should have left her in the forest, but at the very least he should have left her at spawn. His supervisors would be on him like bloodhounds if they knew he was being so irresponsible.

Unfortunately, he is susceptible to nagging, so he ends up setting course with Pomme all the way to the edges of La France.

He's not so susceptible that he agrees to go inside with her. He knows how it looks, him of all people trying to be alone with an E.G.G. He'd be lucky if all he got was a sword rammed through his gut.

Even if he could manage to convince her parents that he wasn't actively trying to kill her, the hassle wouldn't be worth it.

Now that he thinks about it, he's surprised they haven't already hunted her down swords-drawn.

"I'm not going inside," he says for the umpteenth time, unswayed by the near-teary disappointment on her face, "I doubt we'll even make it to your house before your parents show up anyways."

Pomme's face lights up and she signs, 'Oh! I commed them! They're waiting at home.'

El thinks about her insistence they go to spawn and feels suspiciously like he's been played.

If he weren't so fucking tired, he might appreciate her drive to join Roier in the annoying him to death category of islanders.

Not that she's really an islander, since the islanders are people.

"Great," El says flatly, relieved to finally pass through the borders of La France.

Then, spotting an islander before they spot him, El ducks behind a structure. He wouldn't want to fight Etoiles even if it wasn't in his own literal backyard. Pomme looks at him funny before spotting Etoiles too and grinning.

'Thank you for taking me home,' she signs, smiling so brightly it hurts, 'Bye!'

She's off like a shot before he can say a word.

He eyes the two of them from his comfortable distance, watching as Etoiles scoops her up into his arms and spins, laughing with audible relief. Pomme beams, her smile an eerie shadow of his.

Etoiles pops her back down on the ground and steadies her when she stumbles a bit. He says something quietly before leaning down and kissing her hair with a soft look on his face.

Her eyes sparkle with an identical warmth.

El turns away from them, his gut churning; he shouldn't be watching this.

He's seen enough, anyways.

Pomme isn't a person, and her stolen face is proof enough of that.

(El tries to keep from thinking about how his own face hadn't always been Quackity's, or how the bridge of his nose looks more like Roier's with every passing day.

It doesn't work.)

---

Part 4 of ? First Previous Next

[aprilqueen84]

When You Least Expect It (13/13) Part 1

A/N: Hello there! I am so very sorry that this has taken so long to get finished. I hope that there are still people interested in this story. This is the first part of the last chapter because it was getting too long so I split it in two. Once again thank you to @hollyethecurious​ for being my awesome beta and I hope you enjoy! It’s been forever so if you changed you @ please let my know.

Tag list:  @hollyethecurious, @resident-of-storybrooke, @kmomof4, @jennjenn615, @nikkiemms, @kingofmyheart14, @xemmaloveskillianx, @angellifedeath, @facesiousbutton82, @a-faekindagirl, @kymbersmith-90, @winterbaby89, @ekr032-blog-blog, @laschatzi, @teamhook, @ilovemesomekillianjones, @capswantrue, @bmbbcs4evr, @kday426, @tiganasummertree, @killianjonesownsmyheart1, @Ifh1226-linda @met8, @meganhinsley, @capthamm, @sals86, @odonogosh

Summary: Killian and Emma had been wanting to start a family for a while now, but not had any luck. Soon they would learn that the best things happen when you least expect it. Except not everything is as it seems.

Chapter 13 (Part 1): The End

As soon as Gothel disappeared Emma frantically started to pull at bars, hitting and kicking them with everything she had. When she realized her attempts were fruitless she slumped to the ground, resting her back against the metal. 

“Shit!” she exclaimed, leaning her head back.

“Emma,” Amelia whispered quietly as she came to stand right next to her.

Emma looked up into the scared face of the little girl who she had come to care so very much for. “Oh, sweetheart. Come here,” she said, opening her arms out to her.

Amelia immediately collapsed into Emma as sobs wracked her small frame. Emma gently stroked her hair until she finally calmed. It was then that she noticed a similar cuff like her own on Amelia’s wrist. It seemed that Gothel thought of everything, Emma thought bitterly.

They stayed that way for what seemed like forever until Amelia pulled back and looked at Emma. “Are we going to die?” she tearfully asked.

Emma didn’t know what to say to that. She didn’t want to scare Amelia anymore then she already was, but she also didn’t want to lie to her either. 

“Amelia,” she said, cupping her face. “I promise you that I will do everything I can to get us out of here. Okay?” she vehemently told her.

Amelia nodded her head and gave Emma a tearful smile. “Okay.” She grew quiet again and her face fell slightly. “Emma, I’m sorry.”

Emma looked at her in confusion. “Why are you sorry, baby?”

“Because this is all my fault. You wouldn’t be in danger if it wasn’t for me. It would have been better if everyone had never even met me,” Amelia said, her lip starting to tremble. 

Emma shook her head. “No! Amelia none of this is your fault. You have been so brave and strong through all of this and I am so glad that I met you.”

Amelia’s eyes widened at that. “Really?”

Emma nodded with a smile. “Really. So no more of that kind of talk, we need to find a way out of here.”

“That won’t be possible,” a voice said from behind them.

Emma and Amelia sprang to their feet, watching as Silver, who was dressed in a black robe, hurried to the prison. “I don’t care that I have this cuff on me. If you touch her I won’t need magic to take you out,” Emma threatened

Silver quickly looked behind her. “Be quiet,” she whispered. “As I was saying, escaping won’t be possible. Not without help,” she responded, reaching into the pocket of her robe and pulling out a small vial filled with a dark liquid.

“What are you talking about?” Emma asked confused while pointing to the vial. “And what is that?”

“You’ll see. Now stand back,” she said as she threw the contents of the vial at the bars.

Emma watched in amazement as the bars began to shimmer and then disappear before her eyes, leaving behind a hole just big enough for them to go through. She looked at Silver with suspicion. “What are you doing?”

“Getting you two out of here. Now hurry, I’ve subdued Gothel but I don’t know how long the spell will last,” Silver said, gesturing for them to follow her.

 Emma grabbed her by the arm to halt her. “First things first before we go anywhere with you. What did you do to my husband and son?” she demanded.

Silver looked down at the hand on her arm and then up into Emma’s face. “I assure you that I did not harm them, I merely did the same thing I did to you. Gothel has them trapped inside the convent, so if you want to free them we have to go now!”

Emma took Amelia by the hand and hurried down the tunnel behind the fairy. “Why are you helping us, when you helped her bring us here?”

“Because I can’t be a part of this anymore. When Blue banished her I thought that I was free, that I could forget the things I did for her and then I found out she was back and I knew it was only a matter of time before she dragged me back into her hell,” Silver said, her voice full of regret.

Emma stopped, realizing exactly what she meant by that. “You mean you were there the first time she tried this spell?” she asked, horrified.

Stopping as well, and letting out a heavy sigh, Silver turned and faced Emma. “Yes. I was responsible for keeping the children asleep while she went out to retrieve more ingredients for it, and I hated myself for doing it.”

Emma could tell that Silver was being truthful in her remorse for the part she played in bringing them here. So, she simply reached out and placed a hand upon hers, and said. “Thank you.”

The dark haired fairy merely nodded and the four of them continued down the tunnel. It seemed like they were going around in circles, every turn identical to the last, when finally Silver called out. “It’s just up ahead!”

“What is?” Emma asked bewildered, because all she saw was what looked like a dead end.

“The exit.” Just as she said that a door suddenly appeared in front of them.

Their pace began to pick up at the thought of freedom when suddenly they were stopped in their tracks by an invisible wall. “NO! NO!” Silver screamed, banging her hands against it.

“Now did you really think that pathetic spell was going to hold me Silver? I am ten times more powerful than that, I thought you would have figured that out by now,” Gothel said as she  emerged from the shadows of the tunnel.

“No more, Gothel. This is sick and wrong! What you did to those children was an abomination.”

“What I did, you mean what we did. If I’m not mistaken you were right there cheering me on,” Gothel interrupted her with a sneer.  

“I was naive. I thought that you were doing it for the greater good of the fairies, for our species.” 

“Please! You knew what you were doing. You just chose to follow me, chose to help me take those children’s powers from them. You have no one to blame but yourself,” Gothel said.

“Maybe. And I may have to live with myself for it, but I won’t follow you. Not anymore.” Silver threw her hands out, and an invisible wave of magic barreled toward a surprised Gothel, knocking her off her feet and into the tunnel wall.

Behind them the invisible wall disintegrated making way for their escape. Emma tugged on Silver's robe sleeve. "Come on, now's our chance. Let's go." 

As they turned to flee, Silver was suddenly lifted up off the ground. "My, my. I didn't think you had that in you. Too bad it was all for nothing,” Gothel said winded, but relatively unscathed from her meeting with the wall. “I am truly sorry about this Silver. I did consider you my friend.”

Silver met Emma’s horrified gaze, trying without words to say how sorry that she wasn’t able to save them. “Turn her away,” were the only words she managed to get out before she let out an agonizing scream.

Emma turned Amelia away from the terrible scene in front of her, and covered her ears as the screams continued, until finally silence was the only thing that could be heard in the tunnel other than their harsh breathing. 

“It’s okay baby, it's okay,” she whispered to the little girl as she turned back around and saw black robes on the ground where Silver used to be.

"Such a pity. Good help is so hard to find nowadays," Gothel said nonchalantly. "Now back to the business at hand.” She stretched out her hands and from them magic in the shape of a robe flew towards Emma and Amelia, wrapping itself tightly around them.

Emma struggled against the magic that held her. “You won’t win.”

Gothel laughed. “Oh, my dear, I already have. Nobody is coming for you two.”

Emma shook her head. “You're wrong. If there is one thing my family excels at, it’s finding each other.”

“I admire the hope you have, but I’m afraid it’s all in vain. Your beloved husband and son are trapped, and nobody knows where you are. You are completely alone,” the witch taunted.

“You’ll see. They will come and we will defeat you,” Emma said with conviction.

Gothel jerked the magic robe until Emma’s face was inches from hers. “Enough! You have been a thorn in my side, and it will be a delight to dispose of you. And the only thing that your beloved family is going to find are your lifeless bodies,” she hissed before throwing her hands in the air and the three of them disappear in a plume of smoke.

Killian paced up and down the length of the foyer for what seemed like the millionth time. “Why isn’t it working?” he asked impatiently as he turned to Blue and the other fairies as they ran their wands along the panel of the door.

Blue sighed in frustration. “If you would stop asking me every five minutes, maybe we would be able to concentrate.”

“Oh, I’m sorry if I’m bothering you. It’s not like Emma and Amelia are being held by an insane witch,” Killian sarcastically said.

“I am fully aware of the situation, but we are not going to get anywhere if you keep interrupting us,” Blue said, becoming increasingly annoyed at not being able to remove the spell that kept them trapped.

“You’re supposed to be the blasted Blue fairy. Although, I shouldn’t be surprised you can’t fix this, you didn’t even know that one of your most trusted fairies was working with the enemy,” Killian said snidely.

Blue whirled on him, anger clear on her face. “I don’t believe I asked or wanted the input of a pirate. So why don’t you just stay out of our way and do what you're good at... nothing.”

Killian opened his mouth to bite out another insult when a voice called out. "Stop!"

Killian and Blue turned to see Henry standing off to the side with a stricken look on his face. "Just stop. Listen, we are all worried, but yelling insults at each other isn't going to help solve our problem."

They hung their heads in shame. Both appalled at the way they had behaved. "Aye, you're right. I'm sorry, my boy." He turned to Blue. "Forgive me, I spoke out of fear and it was uncalled for."

Blue could tell that he was being sincere, and regretted speaking so harshly to him. She admitted that she had held a grudge against him for his role in trapping herself and the other fairies all those years ago. But she could see now how unfair that was to him, and how much he had changed to be a better man. “I’m sorry, too. I haven’t treated you fairly, and that was wrong of me.”

Killian was slightly taken aback by Blue’s response. He had a feeling that she wasn’t talking about their shouting match just now. He gave her a nod of understanding and then cleared his throat. “Alright then, let’s get back to it.”

After several minutes one of the fairies let out a cry of excitement, “It’s working!”

Killian and Henry snapped their heads up and watched as a shimmery line of magic began to dissolve all around them. “Oh! Bloody good show, ladies. Well done!” 

Racing over to the main door, he practically tore it off its hinges in a hurry to get out. He had just made it out onto the top of the stairs when he saw Regina, David, and Snow standing on the ground below him.

“What the hell is going on!?” Regina exclaimed with her hands on her hips.

“Mom, Grandma, Grampa!” Henry called out with joy. Running down the steps and into his mother's arms.

“Regina. Where’s Emma?!” Killian asked frantically when he reached the group.

Regina pulled away from Henry’s embrace and looked at Killian with regret. “I don’t know. When I noticed that she had been gone awhile I went to check on her and found the cell empty. Both her and Gothel were gone,” she explained 

Killian felt like his legs were nearly about to give out. “No,”

“I immediately called Snow and David. When they met me here, we saw the force field around the building.”

“Killian, what happened?” Snow asked 

“I’ll tell you what happened. Gothel had an accomplice amongst the fairies. Silver. She incapacitated Henry and I, and took Amelia,” he said distressed.

The trio stared at him in shock. “What!” Regina said, disbelief clear in her voice.

“She trapped us in the convent,” he said, swallowing roughly before continuing. “So she could help Gothel take Emma.”

They were all at a loss for words. David looked over at Henry who’s eyes had begun to well up with tears, then back at Kilian. He reached over and placed a hand on each of their shoulders. “We’ll get them back,” he said with determination.

“How? We have no idea where Gothel has been hiding or the first place to even look,” Killian said despondently. 

“There has to be some sort of clue about where she is. What about Silver? Maybe she left something behind, we should check her room.” David suggested.

Killian let out an aggravated sigh. “Fine. It’s worth a shot. Let’s get to it.”

The five of them headed back inside to hopefully find anything that will help them locate Emma and Amelia.

X

After an hour of searching, which had resulted in nothing, tensions were beginning to rise. “This is a waste of time!” Killian said, running his hand through his hair in frustration.

Snow, ever the optimist, tried to remain positive. “We can’t give up.There has to be something we are missing.”

“We have searched everywhere and there’s nothing! And every second we waste is another second that Emma and Amelia are in the hands of that monster!” The last few hours of fear and uncertainty had finally started to bubble to the surface, causing Killian to lash out with his hook and swipe at the contents that were on the dresser he was standing next to.

When everything clattered to the floor an old jewelry box broke open and the five of them watched in shock as a plume of smoke rose from it. 

“What the hell?” Regina said as a figure began to materialize.The figure of Silver.

The young fairy looked nervously around before speaking. “I must be quick. If you are seeing this then my part in Gothel’s plan has finally been made known. It also means that I am most likely dead. I know that there is nothing that I can do to atone for my transgressions, but I hope that when you do find this message that it’s not too late. I’ll be attempting to rescue Emma and Amelia from Gothel myself, but if I am not successful I have brewed a potion that will take you directly to the entrance of her hideout.” She stopped suddenly, her eyes darting nervously to the side. “I must go. Please hurry.” Then the connection winked out.

As soon as the image faded, there was silence for several seconds before Killian finally broke it. “She was trying to help us. Let’s not have it be in vain. We have to find that potion,” he said urgently as they set to work, hoping that they wouldn’t be too late.

To Be Continued in Pt.2