A/n: Written as a prompt by an anon on tumblr (I am lovingcaptainswan) - "emma is thrown overboard the jolly roger by regina, and killian jumps in to save her-he doesnt want to lose another woman in the arms of the sea". Warning: Danger to major character involved.

Hook's heart pounded in his chest and salty water choked him when yet another wave struck his body, sending him tumbling into the hull of the Jolly Roger. His already beaten ribs were pulsing with new pain. Where are you, love? Show yourself to me, please. He begged her through his thoughts, his eyes scanning the angry sea through the darkness. Dammit, Emma, don't you dare leave me like this, Lass. I'm not done with you yet! If he ever saw Regina again, which he would -assuming he made it out of this mess alive - he'd rip her to shreds with his hook. All he remembered before the icy waters that now surrounded him was Emma's cry as he watched her slip over the rails, and Regina's mock-sincere attempts to catch her before she fell.

He strained against the rope he had hurriedly tied around his waist before he had jumped in after her, regretting not removing his heavy coat as he felt himself sucked into the deep yet again. He came up coughing and sputtering, feeling his strength slowly begin to leave him. No! He wouldn't lose another woman he cared about to the arms of the sea. Images of Milah's sheet-covered, lifeless body bobbing in the ocean haunted him as he dove under the next wave, this time of his own accord, opening his eyes and struggling to see something, anything that would lead him to her.

All he saw was black.

Hook was no stranger to the sea and its treacherous ways. He knew that if he didn't spot her within the next few seconds, there was little hope of either of them coming out of this alive. The storm had picked up significantly in the last hour and from the looks of the skies and the waves, it wasn't going to stop its torments anytime soon.

~ASMG~

"He's been down there too long," David stated solemnly, holding onto the mid-section of the rope – one end tied around Hook, the other around the mast - as he fought to remain standing through the fierce weather. He stared at the crashing waves with the utmost scrutiny, but could see nothing. "We have to pull him up," he shouted past the now roaring winds.

"What if he doesn't have Emma?" Snow's eyes were wide with panic as she clutched at her husband's jacket for support.

David didn't answer, and instead turned to Regina. "You! Help us!" He ordered, having no regard for her prior status as queen or mayor. His eyes burned with unspoken fury as she moved to obey – finally struck by the full impact of what she had done. He turned his attention back to the rope, feeling his muscles burn as he pulled with all of his strength.

~ASMG~

All too soon, Hook felt his breath leave him in an instant when the rope yanked him sharply back. "No!" He screamed as loudly as his lungs could manage, but he knew that they couldn't hear him past the gusts and waves. Not yet. I haven't got her yet. Please, just give me more time. He pleaded in his thoughts, fighting the steady backwards pull of the rope and the crashing of the water around him. His lungs ached and every muscle in his body burned agonizingly from the effort he had already put into defeating the storm.

"Emma!" He shouted, and again, he knew that it was a worthless effort. He blinked past the rain and looked up at the rope that secured him, considering slicing through it with his hook. He knew that would only be sentencing himself and the rest of the people on his ship to death. So few knew how to captain the Jolly Roger, they couldn't navigate the magical ship without him, even with Regina's magic. And even if he did manage to find Emma, how could he get her to safety without the rope?

His battered body repeatedly struck the side of the ship as he was unwillingly pulled up and over the edge. He collapsed onto the deck, his body limp as he coughed up the seawater that had accumulated in his throat and lungs. "No," he moaned, barely able to find the strength to do anything else. "I don't have her," he shakily began to lift himself onto all fours. "Why did you pull me up?" he growled, coughing again.

Mary Margaret and David fell to their knees next to him, and carefully eased him onto his side again ignoring his weak resistance, and allowing him to catch his breath. Snow's face was streaming with tears that were mixed with the harsh rain pelting them and she choked out sobs. Regina watched silently from a distance, soaked through and looking something similar to remorseful.

"I have to go back out there."

"Hook… " David spoke, his voice shaking with emotion as he tried to speak past the howling wind.

"No!" He thrashed violently against their gentle hands that held him to the deck, shrugging out of his coat and retying the rope around his waist again.

"Hook, it's suicide!" David shouted, but didn't fight the pirate and instead helped him to stand. "I'm going with you! Where's another rope?" Snow's hand clutched at his shoulder wordlessly.

"They can't pull us both up, Prince!" Hook found his voice again, but it still rasped from the exertion. He made his way back to the edge, preparing to throw himself back into the waves – not entirely sure what animal had taken over him in order for him to commit such a stupid act for the second time. All he knew was that he needed her. He couldn't lose her. Not when he'd barely had her.

"What are you doing in my quarters, Swan?" He had just removed his hook and coat, and his black shirt hung to his shoulders by only a few buttons.

The surprise in her expression at seeing him half undressed wasn't lost on him. "I couldn't sleep."

His lips curved into a soft smirk. He took a few steps closer and suggestively moved his hand to the remaining buttons, slowly undoing them. "I've been waiting two weeks for you to say that, love."

"I wanted to thank you," she continued, ignoring him. "For what you're doing for me… for Henry. We couldn't do this without you." The sincerity in her voice betrayed her closed off stance and her eyes drifted down his chest, unashamed. In that moment, he knew that she was there for far more than a mere 'thank you' that she could have told him anytime.

Hook shrugged off her thanks and casually relieved himself of his shirt as if she weren't watching his every move. "I'm not one to turn down an adventure, Lass," he replied, turning around to set his discarded shirt onto his bunk.

"This isn't just some adventure, Hook. It's dangerous. So thank you."

"I'm also not one to fear danger."

Emma grabbed his bare arm and turned him back towards her and he smiled at the contact. She was clearly annoyed that he seemed to be ignoring her thanks. His proximity was obviously affecting her, and without thinking, she took his stubbly cheeks into her hands and kissed him. They were both breathing hard when they finally broke contact from each other and Emma's hands drifted his face and neck.

"What do you think you're doing, love?" He eyed her straying hands suspiciously as she drew her fingers down his chest.

"Maybe I did come for something else…"

Hook's breath caught in his throat when she pressed her lips into his again and he kissed her back with equal passion. "Well, it's about bloody time."

The captain peered down from his ship into the swirling ocean, not waiting for permission from Charming.

"Fine!" David consented finally. "One minute!" He yelled, grasping the rope again, his hands already burned and bleeding from pulling him up the first time.

Hook nodded without looking back, his eyes still fixed on the sea. Lightning flashed – a godsend if he ever knew of one – and just then, he saw a briefest flash of hair amongst the water, then the red leather jacket she had been wearing. Emma. He didn't recall throwing himself overboard and he barely felt the bite of the icy ocean on his already numbed skin. He didn't process the discomfort of water sloshing into his lungs. He dove underwater, using his hand and stinging eyes to search for another glimpse of her. After what felt like hours, he grasped what he knew to be her jacket and he pulled up with inhuman strength, adrenaline coursing through his veins.

And suddenly she was there. Emma Swan. She was in his arms, her head limp against his shoulder, her weight threatening to drag him down. She didn't move against him. He felt no breath on his neck.

Please, love, please. Don't leave me yet. Hold on. You're bloody stronger than this, I've seen it. You bested me, more than once. What's a little water when you've faced a giant? The words flooded through his brain as he slipped back under and into the depths, close to accepting his own impending drowning, but refusing to accept hers. He kicked with what little energy he had left, and just as he reached the surface and took a gasping breath of air he felt the pain of the rope again. He held onto her tightly and allowed himself to let out a sigh of relief.

"Give them some space!"

Hook wasn't sure who had shouted it. He didn't care. His head was fuzzy from the cold water that he had choked on.

"Hook, you can let go. You've got her on the ship, let her go."

He assumed it was David who was shouting out the commands, but his arms tightened around Emma's body subconsciously when hands tried to pry her away – though stronger than his were currently, they eventually succeeded. Ever so slowly, the world began to come back to him. His body began to shiver, the pain inside and out of his broken body became more prominent, and his eyes fluttered open, still stinging from the salt of the sea. He was able to raise himself just enough to get into a crawling position and look in the direction of Snow and Charming crouched over Emma's limp figure.

"Is she…" his words caught in his throat and he coughed profusely as he watched David pump his hands at her chest and blow air into her mouth. Snow clutched her daughter's pale hand tightly as she sobbed, her lips moving, silently begging her daughter to come back to her. He used the rest of his strength to move until he was at her at her side.

"I just wanted my son back." Regina's words were quiet and full of regret. No one seemed to hear her.

After a minute, David pulled away. Tears were streaming down his face and he fell back onto his knees. Mary Margaret began sobbing more hysterically, crushing her daughter's lifeless hand against her lips.

"Wait, what are you doing?" Hook questioned frantically. "Don't stop, she's not… she can't-"

"She has no pulse, Hook," David said in a tone that sounded dead, lacking all life and hope.

"No," he groaned weakly, running his hand through her wet hair.

In over 300 years of being a pirate and living at sea, he was no stranger to drowning, but this didn't seem real. This was Emma. She was strong, invincible even. In the short time that he had known her, he had grown to admire her. The feeling when she had pulled him into her body to save him from the trap at the top of the beanstalk had awakened something in him that had been long dead, and he hadn't even had the chance to tell her. It had only been days before he had felt her against him, kissing, touching, feeling for the first time in so long and he yearned to be able to feel that again.

"Don't do this to me, Emma. You bloody infuriating woman, you convinced me to go on this damned venture in the first place. We were supposed to find your boy. We can't find him without you, love, so you need to come back to us. Not for me, for the boy." The words spilled from his thoughts and out of his mouth as he continued to stroke her hair, his metal hook pressed into his stomach as he leaned over her.

"Hook," Mary Margaret's voice finally interrupted him. "It's too late." Her voice cracked.

Without thinking, he tried the last thing that he could think of and pressed a chaste kiss to her blue lips. He waited for something to happen, to feel magic or at least some sort of rush – but nothing came. He painstakingly broke contact with her icy skin and he knew it was too late. He didn't know what he had expected. He hadn't been her true love - not yet. They hadn't had the chance. One night hadn't been enough. Tears burned the back of his eyes but none came, but his vision began to blur and his head swam.

He tried to stand, but his limbs had stiffened from the cold and he stumbled sharply. Failure. He was a failure. He had failed to avenge Milah's death, and he had failed to save his last chance at love, if that's what it may have turned into. He felt strong arms grasp him as he collapsed and slowly, the world went black. The last thing he remembered thinking was that maybe the gods would be kind to him and finally take him.

When he woke in his bunk the next morning, pain radiating through his entire being, he knew that he hadn't been so lucky.

A/n: I know that the anon probably wanted a happy story, but this is where my HORRIBLE muse led me with that prompt and they didn't specify. xD Omg, just let me go ugly cry now. Please review and let me know what you thought so I didn't make myself cry for nothing. xD