Summary: CS AU, Savior!Killian, Hook!Emma.

A/N: I know it's been forever, but I'm still totally invested in this fic! I've been dying to write this chapter since I started writing this fic, and I'm pretty pleased with it. Let me know what you think! :)

The World Turned Upside Down

What is this feeling that I can't explain?
And why am I never gonna sleep again?
What is this thing I've never seen before?
A little boy lost in a breaking storm
Hide and sob, and away they fly
To write your name in the summer sky
Life has really only just begun
Life that comes
And everything under the sun

Part Three

The plan they devised was so simple that Killian almost worried it wouldn't work, but it did perfectly. When they banged on his front door, the giant charged out and tripped right over the bit of beanstalk he and Hook held between them, allowing the pirate ample time to throw Mulan's poppy powder right into his face.

Killian breathed a sigh of relief as the giant began to snore, the powder putting him right to sleep. "You know," he called over to Hook, "We make a pretty good team."

She smiled at him from the other side of the giants collapsed form. "I assure you, we would make an even better one in the boudoir."

Killian snorted, shaking his head in amusement. He was glad that she seemed to be back to her sultry self. "Come on," he said, gesturing inside with a nod of his head. "That compass isn't going to find itself."

Carefully skirting around the giant, they entered his castle togther, Killian peering around him in wonder. Everything towered above them, ten times the normal size, though most of the foyer appeared to be in ruins just as the courtyard had been.

"What happened here?" Killian asked, his voice hushed despite them being alone.

"This is where the last battle was fought," Hook explained in the same low tone. She surveyed the room sadly. "The humans invaded the castle and slaughtered all of the giants. Except for our friend back there, of course." She ran her fingers over what once was probably a beautiful tapestry, but was now tarnished with lack of care. "Quite the shame. The giants once had a very rich culture."

"I thought they were all savage monsters," Killian said, brow furrowed in confusion.

Hook shook her head, turning away from the tapestry. "That's just what we were led to believe," she explained, her expression souring. "You forget, history is written by the winners, and the losers are rarely painted in a fair light."

Leaving him with that poignant thought, she brushed past him and continued on into the castle. Killian followed, trying in vain to clear his head and focus on the task on hand, but he couldn't get the image of Hook's tattoo out of his mind. He knew he should just come out and tell her the truth; it's what Prince Charming would do, after all, but no matter who his parents were, he was no knight in shining armor and his life sure as hell hadn't been any kind of fairytale. The shrew, calculating part of him that had developed post-discharge from the Navy told him that he needed to keep the information to himself. No matter what he thought of Swan now, and he couldn't deny that there was something about her, she was still a pirate and could and would have no qualms about turning on him, and if that moment came, he would need to have some kind of leverage.

His train of thought was interrupted by Hook humming appreciately as they came upon what appeared to be the treasure room. There was treasure from wall to wall, from ceiling to floor; gold, jewels, clothing, rare objects, and Killian felt overwhelmed by the sight of it. Hook seemed to be in her own little happy place as she gravitated towards a table with a pile of coins on it, surrounding a gold chalice. Killian felt his anxiety rise as she stopped to appraise them.

"So much treasure," she murmured, her concern over the plight of the giants seemingly gone in lieu of being face to face with their riches.

Killian peered around him, eyes darting to and fro. "How the hell are we supposed to find the compass in this mess?" he asked, turning back to her.

"With a fair bit of searching," Hook mused distractedly, picking up the chalice. After a moment of admiring it in her hand, she slipped it into her satchel.

Killian rolled his eyes. "Can we get on with it then?" he asked dryly.

Hook nodded her assent, prying her eyes away from the gold. "Aye," she agreed. "There's no telling when the warrior's poppy powder will wear off." She gestured ahead of them with a confident smile. "Come, I happen to be an expert at finding buried treasure."

Killian started backpedaling, all the while shaking his head at her, and was startled by her sudden shout and her pulling him back in her direction and straight into her arms. She was looking down, and he followed her gaze to find that he'd been inches away from tripping a wire. Above them, they spied tons of rubble suspended in a net, ready to come crashing down on the unsuspecting person who triggered the primitive security system.

Killian jerked his head back to Swan's to find her face only inches from his. "You...saved me," he said, no small amount of wonder in his voice.

"I—," she stuttered, her green eyes searching his as if she too was shocked by her own actions. She swallowed. "It was the right thing to do." She blinked and looked away, shaking her head a bit as if to wake herself up, and when her eyes met his again, her walls were back up, a sultry smile sliding across her lips. "Besides, look how cozy this is," she purred, pressing herself closer to him.

He narrowed his eyes at her even as he struggled to put some distance between them. He was, after all, a man, and she was a beautiful woman, his body clearly starting to respond to that. Something in her eyes caught his attention, though, even as he untangled himself from her. Beneath her seductive and arrogant facade, there was something else: Fear. But that was ridiculous, wasn't it? What had she to fear from him? She was Captain Hook, one of the most infamous pirates of all time, and he was the sheriff of a town full of fairytale characters.

She turned her face from his, but not before he observed a steely determination spreading across her features. "Come," she commanded brusquely, eyeing something on the ground behind him. He turned to look and spotted a skeleton on the ground, a long sword clasped in it's grip. "We don't want to end up like Jack here."

She gingerly stepped over the trip wire, and Killian glanced back at the skeleton one more time before following after her. "Are you telling me that's Jack from the stories?" he asked incredulously.

"Aye," she replied. "She must have put up a hell of a fight before she died."

She? Killian wanted to say, but refrained. Was Peter Pan actually a girl, too? He just shook his head, focus returning to finding that damned compass.

"We'll cover more ground if we split up," Killian told her.

"So you can find the compass and leave me here?" Hook snorted, about facing to cast him a dubious look. "I don't think so, darling."

She turned to go, but he grabbed her arm, and her eyes flashed at him dangerously, but she didn't run him through with her hook so he plowed on. "Look, if we're going to have any chance of finding this compass, we have to figure out how to trust each other," he reasoned.

"The only person I can trust is myself," she hissed, ripping her arm out of his grasp. "How else do you think I've survived all these years? No, we search together, until we find it."

Killian opened his mouth to reply when suddenly the whole palace shook as if an earthquake had struck it. He and Hook exchanged a look of pure dread and both jumped when a loud, angry roar echoed through the room, causing treasure to fall all around them.

"Hide!" Hook yelled, but it was too late.

The giant appeared at the end of the long hall, charging towards them, causing the floor to convulse with each of his heavy footsteps. Before Killian could do anything however, bits of ceiling were raining down on him, trapping him, and the last thing he heard was Hook's voice frantically yelling his name before a piece of rubble nailed him in the back of the head. Then, there was only darkness.

The throbbing pain in his head was what woke him. He was still trapped under the rubble, but now that the smoke had cleared, he could see a way out. Contorting his body as well as he could, he had navigated his way out from under the worst of it when suddenly a slender, ringed hand appeared before him. He grasped it and was guided out the rest of the way, kneeling on the ground to catch his breath.

"Thank you," he said to Hook gratefully.

She nodded, looking down at the object in her hands and it took a moment for him to process what it was. "The compass!" he exclaimed. "How did you get it?"

"The giant and I came to an understanding," she told him quietly. Something was off with her, but Killian couldn't focus on anything but the compass. They had it, finally, and he was one step closer to getting back to Victoria.

"Brilliant!" he said, feeling himself smile for the first time since he and Mary Margaret had fallen through the portal. He held his hand out to her. "Come on, let's get out of here."

What happened next was so quick that if Killian had blinked he would have missed it. Hook pocketed the compass and used her free hand and hook in tandem to clasp a heavy pair of manacles around his wrist. Killian stared down at the cuffs dumfounded as Hook backed away.

"What—what are you doing?" he gasped, leaping to his feet and staring at her in disbelief.

Hook's face was pale and grave as she regarded him. "Jones, I can't, I can't—," she started, eyes blinking down to the ground, avoiding his gaze.

Killian struggled to remain calm. "Emma, look at me," he said, and the use of her name caused her eyes to flit up to his. He held her gaze as best he could. "You don't have to do this."

"You would do the same to me if the tables were turned," she argued, but without any real bite to it.

"Actually no," Killian replied, because the thought hadn't crossed his mind once. There was a pull there, between them. There was something about this woman, this pirate, that made him think that maybe, she was a kindred spirit; someone who life had dealt too many blows, someone who had lost too many people and who found it hard to trust after they'd been left behind so many times. That's why she was doing this. She thought she had to leave him behind before he did the same to her, but the truth was that she didn't. And if she didn't see that...well, it was time for him to use his leverage. "I have to get back to my daughter, Emma," he said fervently. "She needs me." Killian took a deep breath, hoping he was playing his hand at the right time. "And your son needs you."

Her expression became fierce, and she moved closer to him so they stood toe to toe. "How dare you," she snapped. "My son is—"

"Alive," Killian interrupted firmly.

She froze, searching his eyes for the truth, using her "magic power". "Alive?" she breathed. "How—how do you—?"

"About this tall, dark brown hair, goes by the name of Henry?" Killian asked, and Swan nodded her head mutely, unshed tears gleaming in her eyes. "I recognized him from your tattoo. He's back in Storybrooke. Mr. Gold's been masquerading him as his grandson for the last 28 years."

"Henry is his grandson," she said distractedly, and Killian filed that information away for a later date. Hook's features darkened. "That bastard, all these years, I thought—" she stopped, taking a deep breath. "You're—you're quite certain? Because if you're lying, Jones," she trailed off, leaving the threat hanging in the air, and Killian could see she was struggling not to get her hopes up.

"I'm not," he said gently. "Henry Gold, 10 years old, smart, wise-cracking best friend of my daughter Victoria. He's part of the reason I came to Storybrooke in the first place. Henry's the one who convinced Victoria to come and find me."

Hook didn't say anything, turning her back to him, and Killian could see a distinct tremor to her shoulders. In that moment, she wasn't the hardened pirate or the flirty wench; she was just a mother longing for her child. The urge to take her into his arms and comfort her came out of nowhere, but he restrained himself, allowing only a hopefully soothing hand on her shoulder. She flinched a little, but didn't move away.

"Set me free, Emma," he started, choosing his words carefully. "All we have to do is get those ashes from Cora and then we can go to Storybrooke, together. I promise, you will see your son again. You can trust me."

She inhaled a shaky breath. "It's been a long time since I've trusted anyone," she whispered. Killian's hand fell away from her shoulder as she turned to face him, her expression set with a determined resolve. "But I would do anything to see my boy again, so I suppose there's no time like the present."

TBC