Checkmate

54. Pirates and Proposals

"Born into my hands," Killian said firmly, pulling the captain's attention from me to him as the two men raised their swords.

"So it was you I went for. That stupid woman moved to protect you."

"She is my friend." Bellamy scoffed at Killian's words. "You are trespassing."

"We needed ship. You were in way."

"You can take mine. It is an exact replica of this one," I said as I gestured to the ship parked up next to the one we were on.

Bellamy scoffed a laugh and used his sword to point at the ship I had made. "No character, no life. It is not a worthy ship for my crew. Ze lot of them better than what Jones had back..."

His words cut off as he turned back to me, the man finally realising that during our conversation, his men had been taken. One by one, Regina had poofed them deep in the forest after being knocked unconscious. Felix's hand came to rest on my back, and I did not have to look to know he had a weapon ready. The six of us surrounding Bellamy as Mary Margaret remained with Blue below deck.

Bellamy sighed and sheathed his sword before raising his hands in a surrendering pose. He smirked before his eyes locked onto mine once more. His hand reached out slowly to, I assumed, touch my face. But Felix tapped the man's hand using a borrowed sword, his silent contact causing the pirate to snatch his hand back sharply. "Your lover does not trust me... that is wise."

I remained firm in my stance as I kept my face devoid of emotion. From below, I heard Mary Margaret call out, her words triggering David and Emma to bolt below. "She's losing consciousness. We have to go!"

"My friend needs help. You either get off my ship, or I make you get off," I warned the pirate before me.

The man took a sharp inhale through his nose, making his nostrils flare. "Take me with you."

"I'd rather kill you."

The man chortled a deep laugh for only a few seconds before he realised my face had not changed. "You are serious, Kroshka?"

"As a heart attack."

Bellamy squinted and moved a step closer to me, causing Felix to tense somehow even more than he was already. "What happened to you? So kind you once were."

"I was a child."

"There is darkness in your heart. Why?"

"Because I am not five years old anymore, Viktor." I changed my face to the look I had adopted from Pan and took a faint pleasure in watching the colour drain from his face as he moved to back away from me.

"He got you." The man took a few more steps back, and I followed until his back hit the railing on the edge of the ship. "The demon got you, Kroshka. How... How...."

"How?" I repeated, my head tilting.

"How did you escape?"

I allowed myself a quiet laugh, deep and slow as the man's eyes widened. "I didn't."

With a wave of my hand, my magic sent the man into the water before he could once again draw his sword. With the same hand, I brought my fingers to my lips and whistled, calling my shadow to engulf the mast and take us quickly out of the water. Within seconds of taking into the air, Viktor was heard as his head popped out of the water behind us. He bellowed indistinguishable words until the portal closed behind us, cutting the man off mid-scream.

Almost as soon as we landed once more in the dock of Storybrooke, Regina bolted below to assist Emma, the two of them vanishing with the fairy to the hospital. All of us having agreed that the wound would not heal with the use of magic.