WHO: Kiera Malone → Killian Jones WHEN: Evening of May 14 WHERE: WRAV SUMMARY: Kiera sees a pretty crappy moment in the life and times of Killian Jones. WARNINGS: Death, specifically of a sibling
With her eyes firmly on her Facebook feed, Kiera was slouched low in her chair, slowly letting it spin around with one of her feet as a song (Him & I by G-Eazy and Halsey) played on the airwaves. There would be one more song (Tell Me You Love Me by Demi Lovato) and then a string of terrible local advertisements before Kiera would be expected to put on her radio voice and feign excitement this Monday night, which left her scrolling through a plethora of updates from college acquaintances and news articles. She was alone in the booth for the moment, her broadcast assistant taking advantage of the lull to heat up his dinner, and it being late enough that the crew was fairly skeletal.
It had been a month and a half since the conversation that had ended in a sudden, but more or less mutual, end of a relationship and Kiera was finally secure in feeling more like herself. Maybe a month and a half wasn't long enough to come to terms with or get over the loss of a relationship and she wasn't under any delusion that she was, but she did feel better. There were some days that she backslid, like when she saw the "SOLD" sign in front of his house or when Lucy had come by with a box of her things that he must have found while packing, but she had allowed herself to take advantage of the support her favorite people had been willing to give her. She'd allowed herself the distraction of the cruise, then the entertainment that came with being a spectator in her brother's blossoming love life, and now she was just trying to get used to a new normal.
If she was honest, though, it felt good. Though there was no doubt in her mind that her feelings had been real, she'd decided to look at the six months as a learning experience. Kiera didn't like to wallow, no matter that it usually came with a nice helping of Ben & Jerry's. There were so many other good things in her life to focus on what she didn't have.
Which was why it was time to stop looking at Facebook, she decided, after scrolling past another cute baby picture followed by an engagement announcement. She exited the app, tossing her phone onto the desk. Her wallpaper stared up at her, a selfie of herself, Niall, and Danielle, smiling widely with an impossibly blue sky and stretch of water behind them as a backdrop. She smiled just looking at that picture, her heart feeling full as she thought about her brother and their adopted sister -- and then suddenly was in a ship.
A ship that was flying through the air.
That fact should have been more surprising, but it was old news at this point in their venture and Killian was more concerned with the wellbeing of his brother. After all that had happened in Neverland, he was struggling with even looking away from Liam. Now that they were safely in his quarters, away from the rest of the crew, he finally felt secure in talking to his brother without any worry of the crew seeing their captain's weakness.
"How are you feeling?" Killian asked, watching as Liam buttoned his uniform in his mirror.
"Ship shape," came Liam's immediately reply. It warmed Killian to see, though he noticed how serious his brother's expression turned. "Killian. I should have listened to you."
Killian let out a soft scoff, pushing himself off of the ladder that led deeper into Liam's quarters. He waved one hand, as though pushing the thoughts away. "I'm just glad you survived." That dealt with, he was keen to change the subject; Liam was alive and there was no reason to focus on what might have been or how actions could have been done differently. "What now, brother?"
"We reveal our king's cowardice," Liam replied forcefully, taking steps around the table to find the jacket to his uniform and swing it over his shoulders.
Killian's eyebrows raised. Though he agreed with his brother and would follow him wherever he might lead, that didn't mean he didn't have concerns. "Well, let's hope the realm sides with us."
"They will. To fight battles using unholy weapons is, as you say, bad form." Liam said it with such conviction that Killian couldn't help but believe him. That was a gift that his brother had, though. Even when he'd been at his worst, it was Liam that made him see and believe that he had a best to strive for.
"Liam," Killian said with a smile, moving forward to help straighten his brother's uniform. His hands pausing, he looked to his older brother with a smile, then voiced his earlier thoughts. "I will follow you to the ends of the earth, brother."
As they shared a final look, they could hear the shout from above deck. "All hands brace for landing!" A moment later, the ship fell from the sky, hitting the hard ocean below it. Killian went to the nearest window, grinning as he looked out at the familiar ocean of their realm. He was glad to see Neverland gone and no longer a part of their lives.
"What do you say, Liam? Do you want some company when you report to the admiral -- "
Killian turned, expecting to complete his thought, though the words were pulled from him as he watched Liam double over, then losing his balance entirely. He knew it couldn't be from suddenly returning to the sea; both of them had been raised on the water, even if it had been against their will. His heart immediately began racing as he called out to his brother and hurried to his side as Liam struggled to breathe.
"No! No, Liam!" He went to the floor, easing himself behind his brother in an attempt to brace him, to help him. Killian didn't know what to do, other than repeat his brother's name and then finally shout for help.
It was too late. As soon as the shout left his lips, echoing around his brother's small chambers, Killian felt as Liam's last puff of breath escaped him, as he stopped struggling and simply leaned back against his chest. "Liam," he sputtered, not making any attempt to stop the tears that immediately filled his eyes as his breathing turned to sobs. This couldn't be happening. This couldn't be happening. He and his brother had not been through so much in their lives for Liam's to end like this, all thanks to their king and Neverland.
"Liam, no." Killian's voice grew quieter still as his hands turned to fists, gripping the front of Liam's uniform. His head tipped back, the sun from outside far too warm and embracing for this. His eyes closed and he let another sob escape him. His brother was dead.
With a snap, Kiera was back in the radio station. The song changed on the radio and her phone dimmed from lack of use, but nothing else had changed in her surroundings. There was no flying ship. She wasn't a sailor for some royal navy. Her brother wasn't dying in her arms.
Her brother.
Kiera felt a sudden, visceral pain hit her unlike anything she had experienced before. It wasn't physical pain, like the time she had broken her arm in three places when she tried to leap from the monkey bars and had a less than graceful landing, but as though her heart had been ripped in two. As though she had actually just watched her brother die in her arms.
She knew that Liam wasn't Niall. Kiera didn't know how she knew, but she just did. Though he might have been Killian Jones's brother, he was not Kiera Malone's. Still, she could relate to Killian and his hero worship of his brother; perhaps Kiera didn't put Niall on the same height of pedestal that Killian placed Liam, she had long since been of the opinion that her twin could do very little wrong -- and, if he did, the list of people who could point it out to him comprised of exactly two people, herself and Danielle. And while that might have been a connection between the pair of siblings, it didn't change the fact that Liam wasn't Niall.
Kiera was still just as clueless as to what it meant that she kept seeing Killian Jones and his life in her dreams, both waking and sleeping, but with each passing glimpse, she felt their connection grow. Sometimes it felt like she was him, in some odd way. She felt everything he felt, from the very good to the abysmally bad. She understood him in a way she understood very few.
And yet, Liam wasn't Niall.
She didn't realize that her eyes were filling with tears until one skittered onto her skin. Immediately, Kiera sat up, glad that she was still alone as she blinked and wiped the back of her hand over her cheek.
Kiera didn't know what it meant that she still hadn't seen any sign of her brother in the dreams, but she could still feel Killian's pain echoing through her mind and heart. Liam might not have been Niall, but if that was just a fraction of what he felt in losing his brother, well… she didn't even want to think about it. Instead, she reached for her phone.