ruff night
halloween is a state of mind so take this "trick or treat" prompt that came a little late bc logistics and fickle muse! and another entry for the CS spooky/autumnal bingo! a massive thanks to @jonesfandomfanatic for betaing!
rated T | 6190 words
also on AO3
summary: Henry loves trick or treating. He would just like a little less magic with his treats.
Halloween is coming to Storybrooke.
Henry sits Killian down a few weeks before for a ‘crash course’, as he called it, on everything related with the holiday. There were moving pictures on a small screen with bright images and even a laser pointer - a ‘powerpoint presentation’, the Swans call it.
He is told that there are pumpkins cut into scary faces or detailed artworks; spiders, bats, skeletons and all sorts of spooky beings litter front yards, roofs, porches and windows. There’s a dangerous amount of pumpkin and cinnamon flavoured treats flowing throughout the town; and, the boy’s favourite, everyone dresses up in costumes for trick or treat.
Trick or treat, he is told, is the best part of the celebrations. Killian agrees.
It’s a brilliant practice - adults must fill children’s buckets with candies or they get punished. Henry corrects him between giggles that the punishments are small acts of vandalism - and he wonders if vandalism is allowed only on that specific day, he had been told it was a crime. Emma tells him that it mostly involves eggs and toilet tissues thrown at someone’s house.
Killian still thinks it’s a delightful tradition. Unfortunately, he is informed that he is too old to participate in trick or treating - he could just purchase the candy, as Emma informs him, but he and the lad both agree that earning the candy is the satisfying part.
Henry is clearly excited for the celebrations - it’s his favourite holiday, he says - especially since this year he’ll be able to go out with his friends without adult supervision. “New York was way too dangerous to go trick or treating without chaperones,” he explains. “But Storybrooke is different and both my Moms said I could go with my friends.”
He also tells him that he’s thinking of reusing his costume from last year since this is the town’s first time celebrating the holiday and he wants to show off his lonely man costume. Killian smiles and nods his way through Henry’s babbling, genuinely delighted by the boy’s excitement, before he asks Swan for clarification.
“I-It’s Han Solo,” Emma corrects him between wheezing laughter, that leaves him concerned for her wellbeing. Especially since he’s still confused. “He’s a-a- oh, god.” Emma stops trying to talk until she can get herself under control, tears welling at the corners of her eyes. “He’s like a pirate but in space.” She points to the ceiling as if to explain it but Killian thinks he remembers Henry mentioning the Stellar Battles moving pictures and how they took place among the stars.
“Oh,” Killian breathes out in understanding and there’s a fond look on Emma’s face even as she looks seconds away from bursting into laughter again. “I did think it was strange.”
“I’m kinda wishing you had asked Henry about it just to see his reaction.” She giggles and his smile widens at the sound, she really does have a beautiful laughter. “He was so excited last year, I even joined him. He tried to convince me to go as Chewey but I told him it was Princess Leia or nothing.”
Killian puts away the strange name as visions of her in red flood his mind. “Oh?”
She seems to read his mind and her cheeks turn red. “Not like that,” Emma waves him away and pulls her talking device from her jeans pocket, thumbs flying over the screen. “She’s a princess, yes, but she’s also the leader of the rebellion. Here!”
Emma turns the screen towards him. Her hair is twisted on either side of her head, a long white flowing dress cinched at the waist with a metal belt and what looks like a pretend gun on one of her hands. Henry stands at her side also carrying the same type of weapon in his hand while wearing jeans with a loose criss cross belt, a shirt and a black vest.
Both mother and son grin at the camera and there’s an ache in his chest that feels a lot like longing.
When he looks back at Emma, her eyes have that soft look again like she understands him and all he can do is pull her for a kiss. Her talking device ends up on the floor with a thunk, her hands grabbing onto his arms. “You like the costume, then?” She asks when they pull away to take a breath.
“Are you wearing it again this year?” He asks in lieu of a response.
She shrugs coyly and he follows the path of her tongue over her bottom lip. “Maybe.”
“Come on, guys.” The boy’s whine from the middle of the stairs causes them to jump apart. “We said no making out in public areas.”
“We were just talking about Halloween costumes, kid.” Emma innocently counters, despite Henry clearly not believing her but choosing to accept it.
“What are you wearing, Killian?”
“Um,” He moves his hand in a circular motion, still slightly overwhelmed at the idea of disguises. “Perhaps my Captain’s coat? Show everyone what the real Captain Hook is supposed to look like?”
They had watched the animated moving picture that depicted his tale and Pan’s a week ago when the subject of his change of style came up. The night had ended with Emma’s head buried in her hands and Henry muffling his laughter with a pillow as Killian ranted and complained about the plot of the story. And even though Emma's head still finds her hands now, Henry doesn’t look ready to laugh.
“No, you can’t!” Killian startles at the strength of Henry’s refusal and even Emma looks up at it. “You have to be someone different, you can go as yourself, that’s cheating.”
“He doesn’t really know a lot about our culture, kid.” Emma reminds the boy, laying a comforting hand on Killian’s arm.
“Right, sorry,” Henry takes a deep breath, descending the stairs. “Halloween is important business,” Both adults smile at the statement and the way the boy puts his hands on his hips. There’s a sudden look of inspiration across the boys’ face. “I have an idea!”
Killian’s smile widens. “I’m all ears, my boy.”
“If there’s one good thing that comes from you two being a couple,” Henry grins at the matching blushes on their cheeks before continuing, “is that you can complete my vision.”
“Your vision?” There’s trepidation in Emma’s voice and it reaches Killian when they both look at the way Henry’s grin turns almost wicked.
The boy had gathered his whole family in the loft’s living room and began speaking a whole different language that Emma had to translate later. Killian would take Henry’s Han Solo outfit since he and Leia are a couple - his nose had wrinkled adorably and Emma had blushed in a fetching way.
Henry would wear a Chewbacca (and he still doesn’t understand who comes up with these names) outfit claiming it’s his favourite character and blushes when Emma points out how he and Han Solo are best friends, partners, waving away the way Killian beams at the realisation.
The boy quickly moves on to explain that Lucas will be Luke Skywalker, Leia’s brother, making Emma smile and tickle the baby’s belly in a way that makes Killian’s heart stutter. The prince and Snow White will dress up as Anakin and Amidala. He is told Anakin is the bad guy in the movies and that confuses him.
“Why is your grandfather a villain? Surely, there’s another character he can disguise himself as.”
Emma smirks knowingly next to him but presses her lips together, he turns to find Henry with the same expression. “Well, it’s because Anakin is L-”
“No!”
“Don’t!”
Emma and Henry’s cries startle David into silence and the baby into spooked crying. Snow White soothes her child even as she’s trying not to laugh at everyone’s expressions.
“What?” Killian asks confusedly looking around.
“He was going to ruin the movies for you.” Henry whines and David seems to understand.
“Right, sorry, kid.”
Killian turns to Emma, still confused. She takes his hand and that is almost an incentive to be confused more often. “It’s a plot from the movies, it was a big revelation when it came out and Henry wants you to have the full experience.”
“Exactly,” Henry says, pointing at his mom. “And that’s why Grandad is going as Anakin and not Darth Vader.” He looks pointedly at David who looks chastised before turning to Snow. “And grandma is Queen Amidala.”
“This would have been the perfect time to have my long hair again.”
Killian’s frown is giving me a headache. “This is very confusing.”
“All you have to know,” Emma leans her shoulder against his, “is that you are a smuggler with an awesome spaceship, a self-centred pirate with a superiority complex that ends up joining the good guys.” He raises his eyebrow at her and she grins before a blush creeps up onto her cheeks as she continues. “And you are enamoured with a rebellious princess who pretends to not feel the same.”
“So, you don’t really have to pretend too much.” Henry grins at the two of them with his comment, making his grandparent’s laugh. Emma’s blush deepens and Killian’s smile widens as he leans closer to her.
“Lad’s right, it should be easy.”
And that’s how Killian ends up walking down the streets of Storybrooke dressed in a more well-fitted version of Henry’s Han Solo costume. And he has to admit, it suits him extremely well.
Orange, purple and black decorations fill the street in the short walk from Granny’s to Snow and Charming’s loft. Children laugh and cheer at their buckets and many wave and smile at him. He sees familiar characters from Henry’s storybook and others from the moving pictures and books that Emma and the lad have been slowly introducing to him. It’s all strange and fantastic and he is in a good mood - and it doesn’t let up even when a snivelling teenager dressed up as the colourful version of Peter Pan tries to spook him.
The buzzing of the talking device hidden in one of the pockets in his belt has him shoving the plastic gun under his arm and pulling it up, laughing at the message from Emma - please hurry, my mom is already tipsy.
He’d gotten better at typing with one hand as he responded - 5 minutes love and henry? And maybe he got faster because he wrote smaller messages and was more lenient over grammar but who was going to blame him?
trick or treating, you might find him on the way
As if she had the gift of clairvoyance, a bright light flashes in his face signalling Henry’s friend Hansel dressed as another character from the Star Battles. The boy is dressed in a golden sparkly fabric and moves as if his body was made of metal, giggling every time he stumbles and glistening under the streetlights. Gretel shuffles around in a blue and white cardboard box with clothes to match the colour. Henry completes the group in his fursuit, head encased in a hood made of the same fur, a belt just like Killian’s from his shoulder to his hip.
Maybe he can check in with the lad, perhaps relieve him of one of his candies. He looks to be arguing with Gretel now who takes the lead of the group, Hansel forgets his enjoyment of the character when his sister says something because he too looks like he’s trying to stop her. Frowning, he watches as they knock on a door - the sound reaching him as he approaches - of a house without decorations but naturally suited for the holiday. Henry pulls her by the hand and they all take a step back.
A shriek reaches him even before the door opens. He sees a mess of lavender hair surrounding a short older woman’s head and a menacing voice rises up. Henry manages to pull Gretel behind him and he only sees a green spark of magic from the witch’s hand before he starts running, his plastic gun lost on the ground.
Next thing he knows, the children are screaming, his body hurts and the world turns dark.
---
Half an Hour Earlier
“Look at how much candy we have!” Nic- Hansel’s grin is wide as he lifts his arm in a robotic move making all the candy inside rattle.
“We’re going to rot our teeth with our haul tonight.” Gretel matches his grin, struggling to look inside her bucket over her disguise.
“I told you that our costumes were going to be a hit.” Henry gushes, fixing the strap over his chest.
“Yeah, yeah,” Hansel says as he stumbles over his steps letting out a giggle. “You’re just lucky you changed your mind in time. Dad was about to order my Darth Vader helmet.”
Hansel, from the fable, was talking about Star Wars while his sister, Gretel, recites how much she loves R2D2 in front of his very eyes. He loves his life.
“-just cool. You never told us why you wanted to change the group costumes, Henry?” Gretel asks and Henry hopes that the hoodie in his fursuit covers his blushed cheeks.
“I wanted to match my families’ costumes.” Henry shrugs. The twins look at him with narrowed eyes and he wants to laugh at the way the gold spray is flaking off Hansel’s eyebrows but is too busy hiding his face.
“Right,” Hansel draws out. “It’s not like you were super excited to be Han Solo or anything,” he says sarcastically.
“I prefer Chewbacca,” Henry says defensively.
“And it has nothing to do with Captain Hook being Han Solo instead?” Gretel bumps him and manages not to stumble against the cardboard edges.
“You guys don’t know what you’re talking about.” He crosses his arms, huffing. “And it’s Killian.”
The twins laugh and he quickens his pace, annoyed. “You know Henry, it’s okay to like him.” Gretel edges, rushing to meet up with him. Hansel, true to his character, tries to catch up to them in his robotic walk. “I mean, your mom does and he’s not a villain anymore.”
“I know that,” he mutters, relaxing his arms. “I just don’t want to force it on him.”
“I really don’t think-”
“Oh, what’s that?” Hansel interrupts them, stopping in front of a house on the other side of the street.
They all turn to it and Henry holds back a shiver. It looks more like a cottage than a house, even if it is in the middle of the suburban street. The roof is missing tiles, the paint on the outside is peeling off, the front lawn is either dry or missing and the front gate creeks in the wind. For some reason, this doesn’t look like someone who’s just a big fan of Halloween.
“They went all out.” Gretel grins. “Look at those.”
The trio follows her finger towards the signs written in dripping paint - “Stay away!” “Get out!” and “No children!” scattered across the lawn. He remembered Regina talking about how she made a deal with the other more unruly citizens to keep their shenanigans to themselves, or else. The open ended threat was something he chose to ignore. Adult stuff.
“Let’s go!” Gretel urges them, taking a step forward only to be stopped by Henry’s grip on her wrist.
“I really don’t think this is a good idea,” he warns, hearing Hansel whimper out an agreement. “It could be dangerous. It could be a witch.”
Unfortunately that looks to embolden the girl, puffing out her chest and pulling her wrist from Henry’s grip. “We aren’t afraid of witches.”
He chases after her when she strides up to the door, Hansel forgetting his portrayal of the character as he mutters. “Talk for yourself.”
“Gretel, don’t-” But she knocks and he finally manages to pull her back a few steps.
A delighted shriek-like laughter sounds out, startling them into taking another step back. Light purple hair is the first they see when the door opens, before they raise their head so they can see an older woman with almost glowing green eyes. Despite the fear, Henry is almost amused that she looks almost exactly like the movie, if not for the menacing look in her face.
Madam Mim.
“You’re supposed to keep away.” The witch glowers at them, fingernails gripping the doorframe. “How dare you invade my home!?”
Henry manages to pull Gretel behind him just as he sees Mim’s hand glow with green magic. He hears the twins’ stomps as they run away and inhales a sharp breath when she hurtles the ball of magic towards him, out of time to get away.
They all scream until, suddenly, he’s being pushed to the ground as the green magic finds another target. Henry looks up, eyes wide.
“Killian!” He calls out as the man is enveloped in a green cloud of magic, Madam Mim laughing hysterically from her porch.
When the cloud dissipates, a large, skinny dog sits where Killian stood before. The animal shakes its head and stumbles as it stands, due to its missing paw. That causes Mim more amusement as her laughter grows louder. Henry looks between the dog, who is observing himself and whining, the witch cackling away and the twins outside of the front gate, shuffling in pace as if considering going back in to help but too scared to do so.
“Bring him back.” Henry finds himself recklessly standing between Dog-Killian and the witch, his tone demanding. “Now!”
“I believe you are aware of a fantastic concept from this land’s law.” Mim speaks calmly as she approaches, her eyes wide with glee. “Private property.” She touches his forehead and he hears growling from behind him. “Which allows me to do anything I want with you.” She giggles and claps her hands before shrugging. “Under the guise of self-defence, of course. Now, what do you prefer? Cat or toad?”
“No, you-”
“Dealer’s choice it is!”
Her hand raises and there are the green sparks again but before it can fully form, the witch lets out a yelp. Killian’s canines are sinking into the witch’s arm and he manages to let go before she sends a blast of magic, throwing the two of them at Hansel and Gretel’s feet.
“I’m done playing with the lot of you,” Madam Mim yells, a storm cloud generating above her property. “Get out!”
Lightning strikes far too close to them and they set off running, a loud barking sounds as the children scream. They only stop when the loft is in sight, catching their breath on the sidewalk.
“That was crazy!”
“It’s your fault, Gretel!”
“What?!”
“Witches! You-”
Henry lets the twin’s bickering float around him as he pushes the fur hood from his head. He can only look at the large slim dog in front of him, who looks back at him with blue eyes. The animal’s black fur shines in the street lights and its height reaches close to Henry’s chest. Despite the missing front left paw, it’s holding itself up casually.
“K-Killian?” He mutters quietly and the dog takes a hopping step towards him before letting out a soft woof, like a reply, like the ‘aye’ he would have said if he could.
Because Killian was a dog now.
Killian was a dog.
Henry sinks his fingers into his hair. “My Mom is going to kill me!”
That effectively shuts the twins up, Gretel’s cardboard costume dented on the front from where he’s sure their argument started to turn into a brawl. They look at Henry confused before their eyes settle on the animal nudging his nose into Henry’s chest and huffing at the fur tickling its nose and they gasp.
“Captain Hook is a dog!” Gretel shrieks, bringing her hands to cover her mouth.
“An Irish wolfhound, to be exact,” Hansel mumbles, eyes wide as the dog huffs once more. “What do we do?”
“What can we do?! We don’t have magic and we are not going back to that lunatic!” Gretel keeps her tone, a much different attitude than before.
The d-Killian carefully latches his teeth to the belt across his body and pulls once before taking a few steps to the left and barking. Henry frowns in confusion and Killian barks twice more, the sound as deep as his voice usually is, and taking a few more hopping steps. Henry looks up and sees that they are standing in front of the loft.
“No,” Henry shakes his head and Killian approaches him again, tilting his head. “We need to figure this out before we go see Mom! She can’t see you like this.” Killian huffs and opens his mouth as if to speak whining when he remembers he can’t.
“Your Mom has magic,” Hansel explains and Killian barks, his tail wagging before huffing at his reaction. “I think he is saying that your Mom can turn him back.” Killian barks once more and the boy grins patting the animal’s head. Henry wants to laugh at the way the pirate was clearly enjoying the pats before taking a step back in indignation at himself.
Henry looks between his companions. Gretel seems to have calmed down from her panic now that there’s a plan, Hansel is looking at the animal like he wants to cuddle up with him and Killian is looking at him with human-like eyes and with that trust he craves so much. He pulls on his hair once more before Killian’s quiet woof stops him.
“My Mom is going to kill me…”
---
The music that they could hear from the lobby is louder as they climb up the stairs. Hansel and Gretel bring up the rear as brother helps sister with her cardboard costume and Henry walks next to Killian worried about stairs and the dog’s lack of paw.
But for all that it was a crazy situation, Killian had acclimated quite easily to the new body.
The loft door was open and he could see Archie, dressed as a peacock looking bird, colourful fabrics covering his tall body, running after a khaki wearing Pinocchio who was carrying a handful of candy. Pongo zooms by in a simple collar with a large red ball glued on it, strangely not even seeming to notice Killian’s new form. Marco walks briskly after them, carrying a cane with tennis balls glued to the end and wearing a suit.
Right, Pinocchio had been really into “Up” recently. They looked cute.
Henry stops right at the door when he sees his mom right by the door, phone in hand, white dress flowing down to her feet and her hair in buns on either side of her head. Gretel is barely able not to crash against him, being stabilised by her brother. Killian whines next to him and that catches Emma’s attention.
“Henry,” she sighs relieved, sparing the dog a confused glance. “You weren’t answering my texts.” Her tone is admonishing but the relief is louder.
“Hmm, sorry,” he mumbles and she frowns, probably at the look on their faces.
“Is everything okay?” She crosses her arms and looks at them searching. “Did you find Killian on the way? He’s also not answering his texts.”
Killian whines next to him again, clearly not able to control his animalistic reactions, and sits on the floor looking up at Emma. That catches her eye and her frown deepens.
“Who-” She starts, pointing towards the dog, glancing between all of them and their loud silence before her eyes widen as she locks eyes with the animal, inching his nose closer to her index finger. He can feel the tension the five of them create.
“Henry!” Mary Margaret greets, draping an arm around Emma’s shoulder. Her tone is loud and her cheeks are red. If he had to guess, his grandmother is drunk. “You guys look so good!” Her white outfit matches Emma’s but instead of a dress is a body suit, a belt on her waist and tall white boots. He doesn’t know how she did it but her wig looks almost natural. “But I don’t think there are dogs in space, Henry,” She wags a finger and it’s clear that she would have fallen if not for her daughter’s presence. “Even if it is very realistic,” She muses. “Who’s that?”
“Killian.”
His grandmother giggles and he thinks his mom has gone paler. “Killian?” She bends over the dog and pets his head. “That’s funny,” Her nails scratch under Killian’s muzzle and he begins to stretch his neck and his tail begins to wag. “Hi, Killian.” Snow coos and it’s that that makes Killian rear back and bark, causing his grandma to straighten up.
Emma shakes herself out of her stupor at the sound. “Killian is a dog?!”
Someone stops the music behind them and the party quiets, everyone looking at the group huddled by the door. His grandfather approaches them with stumbling steps and a lazy smile - are both his grandparents drunk? - and holds his wife’s hand, while securely holding baby Luke - dressed as Luke, ha - in his arms. The black outfit looks great on him, the layering perfectly arranged and even the little braid doesn’t look ridiculous on him. If Henry wasn’t so busy freaking out, he would have been proud of the group costumes they arranged.
“Come on, Emma, it’s Halloween, don’t ju- oh, shit!”
The revelation seems to sober the two of them up as his family looks with wide eyes at the large dog beside him. Killian whines quietly and shuffles closer to Henry. All he can think to do is put a hand on the animal’s head.
“Right, okay,” Emma rubs her mouth as she looks around. “You two,” she points at the twins who squeak in surprise, “get in, sit down, have a hot cocoa. I’ll let your dad know that you got here safe.” Emma takes a step to the side.
Gretel pats his back and they both send him apologetic looks as they walk in, letting Granny - dressed as Mrs. Hudson - fuss over them. Emma sends a glancing look behind her shoulder and a Mario-looking Leroy resumes the music, gesturing for everyone to resume the party.
“You,” Emma points at Henry and Killian and both of them startle. “Upstairs, now.” Underneath the anger, he could hear the worry loud and clear.
Henry spares a quick glance towards Killian before they rush upstairs. He hears Emma tell his grandparents to stay downstairs and keep the party going. Henry sits on the bed, hands tucked between his knees while Killian sits next to him on the floor, body slightly shaking.
Emma’s head appears at the stairs as she joins them, and she sighs as if she had forgotten the situation. She then stands in front of them with crossed arms and a raised eyebrow.
“You really do look like Leia, Mom…” Henry mutters.
“Thanks, kid.” Her lips curve up into a small smile, aware of how worried her son is, before she takes a deep breath and forces herself to relax her shoulders. “But I really need you to tell me what happened.”
Killian bumps his body against his leg, his eyes looking so encouraging, and he can almost imagine the reassuring smile that he would send him if he could. Henry sighs.
“We were trick or treating, the three of us, and there was this house that looked like someone was really into Halloween, you know? But I know that Mom said there were still people around from the Enchanted Forest that didn’t want to integrate,” His mom’s shoulders tense again. “Anyway, we knocked on the door-” Killian huffs next to him but Henry shakes his head and Emma frowns. “We knocked on the door. Madam Mim lived in the house.”
Emma’s frown deepens. “The one from the ‘Sword in the Stone’? That Madam Mim?”
“Yup.”
“Right, of course,” Emma sighs, rubbing her temples. “Carry on.”
“Well, she didn’t like the fact that we were on her property and tried to curse me.” Henry cleared his throat and rubbed his knees against his hands, looking at the railing of the loft. “Killian pushed me out of the way of the spell and…you know.” Henry gestures towards the animal next to him and then looks up to find his mom looking at the dog with a different look, a soft look.
“Killian-” She starts, her arms falling to her sides, her tone almost a whisper, but Killian barks to stop her. Barking a couple more times as if he’s explaining something but huffs and whines when he realises no words are coming out.
Emma sighs and kneels in front of Killian, his head reaching her from where he sits on the floor. Her hands frame his face and her thumbs rub under his eyes and Killian’s eyes flutter shut and a rumbling noise surrounds his frame. His mom kisses between his eyes before whispering a soft gratitude, causing Killian to huff as if to deny it. She sits back on her heels as they look at each other. It made for an intimate moment, one that he should feel weird witnessing but it just made his chest feel warm.
“His eyes are the same,” Emma muses as if she hadn’t meant for the thought to come out. “I mean-”
“Yeah, it’s like you can see the expressions he makes,” Henry agrees, blushing when his mom looks up at him.
“I know what you mean.” She pats his knee and Killian licks her cheek causing her to laugh. Emma looks at the dog pretending not to be amused before she sighs and stands up. “What are we going to do?”
The weight of guilt on his chest hits him suddenly and he sucks in a breath. “I-I’m sorry, Mom.” His voice wavers and he looks away to keep his eyes from watering. “I didn’t mean to-”
“Henry,” she sighs, tucking a finger under his chin to make him look up at her, her expression understanding and soft. He feels Killian’s weight against his leg. “We’re going to figure this out.”
“H-How?” he whispers.
Emma presses her lips together and glances between the two of them. “I’m gonna call Regina, I don’t know if just waving my hand is gonna be enough.” He nods and she rubs her thumb over his cheek. “Stay here, I’ll be right back.”
His mom pats Killian’s head who tries to lick her wrist, she sighs out a laugh before taking her phone from one of her belt pockets. With a last look back at the two of them, she steps out the window to sit on the fire escape.
Henry sighs as soon as they’re alone, hiding his face in his hands. What did he do? How could such a fun night end so terribly? Why couldn’t he have been better at stopping Gretel? Henry groans in frustration and sorrow. What if Killian can never change back? What if he is stuck as a dog forever?
A weight on his tight and a low whine brings him out of his panic. He looks down to see Killian’s big blue eyes looking up at him with concern and he can almost see the furrowed brow he would have if he was human - but that look just makes him feel worse. Killian should be mad, disappointed, not concerned over him.
“I’m so sorry, Killian,” Henry whispers, his eyes watering as he slips down the bed until he sits on the floor. “This is all my fault, I-”
As carefully as he can, Killian slips his head under Henry’s chin to lay on his shoulder. Henry doesn’t want to wait, to be careful - his arms wrap around the dog’s body and pull him into his hold, even if Killian is just as big as him like this. He doesn’t seem to mind much, there’s only a huff of surprise before he surrenders to the hug, that low rumbling noise from before louder now that they were so close.
Warmth spreads over his chest and he feels his tears slipping down his cheeks but he feels comforted, even if there aren’t arms wrapped around him or a hand caressing his head like Emma likes to do. Killian lets himself be hugged and the way his head digs into his shoulder tells him that he would hug him back if he could.
“Thank you,” Henry whispers and Killian whines as if trying to refuse the gratitude but he just holds the dog closer to him. “If it wasn’t for you, I would be the one barking around.” Killian huffs and Henry lets a soft smile stretch his lips and pulls away enough that Killian manages to sit between his legs. “You bit her too,” Henry giggles at Killian’s low growl and a soft bark and he can see the fierceness in the dog’s face, the protectiveness and his face softens into a look of wonder. “You protected me, you care about me.” Killian licks his cheek almost shyly and Henry grins before pulling him back into a hug.
“Regina, I’m really gonna need you to stop laughing,” Emma huffs as she climbs back into the room and both of them look at her sigh exasperatedly. “And I am not taking a picture, I’m n- goodbye.” She punches the phone screen before looking at Henry and Killian, her expression turning soft at the sight in front of her.
“Did she know how to break the curse?”
“Uhm, yeah, yeah,” Emma shakes her head, putting her phone back into her belt. “She says I should be able to just turn him back.”
Henry releases the tension he didn’t know he was carrying in his shoulders and his arms fall to his legs with a relieved sigh. Killian’s tail wags and he barks and twirls excitedly. “That’s great.”
“I know, kid.” Emma chuckles and waves her hand.
A cloud of white smoke surrounds Killian and when it dissipates, Killian - human Killian - is sprawled back on the floor, elbows supporting his upper body, and dressed like Han Solo.
“Bloody hell.” Killian sighs and it’s such a relief to hear his voice that Henry can’t keep himself from jumping to hug him properly.
“I’m so glad you’re back,” Henry murmurs against his shoulder.
“It’s good to be back, my boy.”
“I agree,” Emma chuckles and when they look up, she has that soft look on her face again.
“Swan,” she holds out her hands for the two of them to get up and Killian pulls her into a hug once they have their feet under them, “Thank you so much.”
“I’m just happy it’s over.” Their lips meet each other in a chaste kiss, aware of the child in the room. “Do you think you feel well enough to join the others?”
“Aye,” He chuckles, holding her hand. “I’m eager to use my two legs and show off my beautiful space princess.”
Emma blushes and pushes his shoulder even as she smiles. “You’re not so bad yourself.” She turns towards a grinning Henry holding out her arms. “Did we complete your vision, kid?”
He is ready to say yes, just happy to be with them without any more curses over them, before he frowns. “You’re missing your gun.” Henry almost accuses, pointing at Killian before his eyes widen. “Our candy!”
Emma frowns, confused. “What?”
“We must have dropped it by the witch’s house!” Henry covers his head with his hands in annoyance.
Killian’s hand covers the boy’s shoulder. “We can always retrieve it l-”
“You guys will never believe this!”
A familiar voice calls out from downstairs and the trio looks over the railing towards the door. Ruby, dressed in a dark suit, with a short skirt instead of pants, holds up three very familiar buckets of candy. “We just found these things full of candy outside!”
“Our candy!” Gretel calls out, rushing from her spot on the couch followed by her brother.
Belle giggles at Ruby’s pout as she is relieved of her treasure - she is also dressed in a short skirt dark suit but there is a familiar hat on top of her curls and he remembers her gushing about The Greatest Detective and how she and Ruby would be dressing up as Sherlock and Watson for Halloween. Everyone was being so good at this holiday.
“There was also this strange weapon,” Belle muses, holding up Henry’s old blaster pistol that he had lent Killian. “Is it yours too?”
“Actually, it’s mine,” Killian calls out and everyone downstairs cheers when they see him in his human form. Henry swears he sees the man’s cheeks blush at it when he looks down at him. “I was committed to your vision, my boy.”
Henry blushes now as he grins. “Then it’s perfect, you guys did amazing.” Emma leans against Killian with a happy smile before reaching to ruffle Henry’s hair.
“You know, I actually enjoyed this Halloween,” Killian comments with a smirk. “But I much prefer the treats rather than the tricks.”
As they laugh together, Henry hopes that this warm feeling stays there forever.
