Alice didn’t expect to see him here. Avoiding him was impossible.
“Killian...”
“Oh, isn’t it my favorite appendage thief. Perhaps I should get my drink elsewhere- I do only have one hand left, you know. And I’m rather attached to it.”
Blue eyes narrowed, her grip remaining the same against his neck - although, she was certain, she was shaking. The restraints wouldn’t last long, but Alice couldn’t just leave things how they were. She had to finish this - for some maddening reason, she had to prove herself.
“It will get me everywhere,” she spoke, perfectly pointed fingernails now pushing into his skin, “If I have to spend the rest of my days doing mindless tasks such as this to get me even the slightest bit closer to him - to her - I will.”
"I may be mad, but I take comfort in knowing that I, in the least, have someone waiting for me…it’s a shame the same can’t be said of you.”
And this time he looked upon her with empty, hollow eyes- as if the light had been blown out long ago.
In fact- it had. His heart had been wrenched from his chest the moment her heart had been ripped from hers, his heart destroyed as dust became of hers.
–Or at least it seemed that way.
He couldn’t blame her, really. If he had an opportunity like that- to bring her back to him— he’d take it without a second thought, no matter who or what he needed to step on to get it. Much like what he was planning.. nothing mattered..
Nothing but revenge.
His jaw remained taught as she spoke, ice like words penetrating his skin like little daggers, just another brutal reminder that she was gone from him. The only thought that could keep him warm was the thought of the dark one’s suffering.
An empty, haunting smile found its way onto his lips, when he finally brought himself to speak. "One may only hope your heart is not as cold once you find him, darling.”
Alice was unaware of his past, nor, in this moment, did she care to hear his sob story. Perhaps, once the hook was in it’s rightful place for the evening, and she was home in her bed, she would allow her mind to drift to it - to actually feel sorry for him. But not now. Anger flashed across her eyes, “My excuse?” She spoke through gritted teeth, fingers slipping down to wrap themselves around his neck.
“I lived every moment of my life fighting the worst evil imaginable. I was alone. I was ripped from my family. I never got to know my daughter. I spent every day of my adult life wondering if mylove was alive or dead. I searched endlessly for my love. I watched as she cut off his head.”
She squeezed her hand around his neck - not too hard, not enough to do anything other than show her disdain. And though her heart was aching as she recalled such moments, she dared not show weakness. Not to a man so unworthy of it like him.
"But he’s not dead, now, is he?” He all but spat, sitting up a bit regardless of his restraints. “Neither is your daughter.Yet here you are, wasting your time with me. When you could be with them, at least looking for them."
He didn’t bother to move his neck out of her grip, instead he found himself pressing against it as he leaned forward.
His eyes bore into her, hardened as they typically were when he thought of her and of him. The mere thought was enough to boil his blood almost straight through his skin.
"Wasting your time with some retrieval mission for my hook. A hook that will get you nothing and get you nowhere.”
“Your husband may be the one who got his head cut off but it seems you were the one that lost yours.”
A groan passed through her lips as he continued to shout. Finally, once he had said her name, she turned to look at him. Although, she wasn’t really looking at him, she was looking through him like he wasn’t even really there at all. Was she even really there at all?
“Little Alice fell d o w n the hole, bumped her head and bruised her soul.” And she continued to repeat it as she stepped closer to him - a chant of sorts that sounded, undoubtedly, like madness to everyone around her. But that was fine - where she came from, the best people were. She spun the hook around in her hand, glancing back and forth between it and him.
"Mayhaps, had you been a bit nicer, I wouldn’t have taken it at all.” An utter lie on her behalf. She took a seat near him on the bed, a hand gently placing itself against his cheek, fingers stroking lightly. “But you’re rotten, Killian, and I’m honestly surprised you still have your head-”
“-and your heart.”
He looked upon her with uncertainty. What was wrong with her? He wouldn’t admit it out loud but it was beginning to make him a bit uneasy.
He wasn’t in the best position to defend himself in any case.
“And how, exactly, was I not nice?” Displeased was to calm of a word to describe him right now. But shouting would obviously get him no where.
Her touch on his cheek was unexpected, especially following that episode. But his self control kept him from flinching away from her touch.
He took a few moments just looking at her before responding, “I’m rotten? My love got her heart ripped out and crushed right in front of me. What’s your excuse?”
Oh, she heard his question, she just chose to ignore it. It was strictly business - business that should have been taken care of much earlier than it had been. Once she was sure he was secured, and there would be no way for him to untie himself before she was finished, she reached up, taking a hold of the infamous hook - a twist and a snap, and it was hers.
She sat upright once again, holding the hook in her hands, staring at it as if it were the most beautiful treasure she had ever found. A dark grin parted her lips as blue eyes moved to look into his.
“Have a good night, Killian.” With that, Alice moved off of him and went to gather the rest of her things.
He struggled against his bindings, as she began to reach above him,
Oh that clever little minx.
"Don’t you dare.” he breathed, but she did. In the blink of an eye his hook had been removed from his person and was now securely found in her hands.
“Give that back” he spat, sourly as she rose from his splayed out form. His incessant pulling only intensified.
“ALICE”
It was important- the hook was the exact same one he had stabbed into Rumpelstiltskin’s chest following the death of his beloved Milah’s death- modified to his specifications of course.
Eyebrows raised as her fingers wrapped around the rope, her eyes still entirely locked on to him. If she did this right, he wouldn’t put up a fight - it was already clear what his weakness was, and, considering how completely mad she was, suddenly changing her mind would have been…believable.
Slowly, she walked over to him, a smirk parting her lips. “Oh, the shove?” Without hesitation, and with an iron death grip on the rope, she placed herself over him, sitting directly on the other appendage that had caused them to be in this situation in the first place. She leaned forward, lips hovering over his ear, “It’s for not taking me the instant I gave you the chance.”
She sat up again, this time, the rope was missing - in reality, she had already tied the most of it to the bed. The only thing missing were his arms. She ran her hands down his arms, slowly, swaying from side to side before she gripped them tightly and forced them over his head. “Never trust a woman who’s completely mad, darling.“ Was the last bit of advice she gave him before tying him up.
[“It’s for not taking me the instant I gave you the chance.”]
His eyebrows shot skyward as her breath hit his ear. She was certainly singing a different tune moments ago. But he much preferred this song.
For that reason he wouldn’t voice his reasoning for ‘not taking her’ - she belonged to someone else. Not to say he didn’t make a habit of stealing things. But when it came to women he didn’t take. No. – they came to him
He couldn’t do much else other than look up at her, having been pinned between her body and the bed.
There were worse places.
Taking a moment to eye the rope in her hand, he found himself smirking. Now- restraints weren’t a typical component of his night life but he was a flexible man. If she was into that sort of thing- he could give it a go.
The smirk fell from his face as he realized the predicament he may have found himself in. There was some sincerity to the words she spoke.
Too late now.
"Alice” he spoke a bit warily, “What are you doing?”
It was in that moment that Alice had regained the thoughts she had previously managed to push out of her mind. The part of her brain longing for attention had taken over for far too long - it was high time she started acting like the woman she really was. Eyes narrowed at the man standing before her as she snatched the bra from his hook and quickly placed it back around her.
“I apologise for wasting your time, Killian.” She spoke softly, controlling her voice to make it seem she was still fragile and vulnerable - and, perhaps, she actually was, but he didn’t need to know that. She glanced around - the rope she had seen earlier was still perfectly in it’s place, and near enough for her to grab quickly. A few steps forward, and she was as close to him as they had been only moments before.
“But I don’t apologise for this-“
Quickly, her hands rose and collided with his chest, pushing him back with a force most wouldn’t foresee coming from a woman of her size.
His eyes traveled over her body one last time before turning his head and crossing his arms over his bare chest.
His attention was drawn back soon after by her quiet voice. "As much as I would have preferred tonight to have ended differently- Its no trouble.”
He raised a brow as she approached him- had she changed her mind? Not that he was complaining but the way she had been acting he found it rather unlikely.
[“But I don’t apologise for this-“]
He didn’t have enough time to voice the inquiry his mind had formed when her small hands made hard contact with his chest, knocking the wind out of him and successfully putting him off of his feet- and onto the bed.
He was getting very mixed signals.
He took a very brief moment to replenish some oxygen before asking, “Now what was that for?”
