So, publishing "Night Swim" really set my muse on a roll! I've been toying with an idea for an angel/demon CS fic, and here it is! I hope you all like it. I'm really into these stories, and I wanted to make my mark. Please, reviews and comments are my FUEL!

Dance with the Devil

Chapter 1 - The Fall

She hit the ground hard, feeling nothing but dirt and rocks beneath her bruising body. For the first time in her infinite years she could feel pain. Even though she was still immortal, a punishment was that she could feel everything, but never die to let it end. Her legs were crumpled under her, scraped and bloodied from the hardness of the earth. Her golden hair was tinged from the force of her banishment to this world, her light dress just as battered as her body. Her hands were covered in soot, dirt stuffed under her fingernails. She was no longer the glowing epitome of light that she was mere moments ago, she was now only a dirty shell of what she used to be, what she would have to fight to become again. Falling wasn't the worst part, it was the disappointment on their faces, the others like her. She was supposed to be the pure one, the one unable to be corrupted, but you know what they say, the innocent fall the hardest.

When she finally mustered the strength to pick herself up from the ground, she looked around her. She was in the middle of a field, surrounded by darkness, bright lights shining a good distance away from her. She knew where she was, she had watched the people from this place from above, she had even made rare trips when she was needed most. She had always thought it to be a beautiful and interesting place, but that was when she could go back to her own home, to the goodness and light that seemed all too rare in the land below.

Her bare feet felt cold against the dirt, her skin pale and covered in dirt and soot. She hadn't noticed the intense pain on her back before she stood. Long lines on each of her shoulder blades were aching from injury. She painfully reached behind her and felt a warm slickness on her fingertips. Inspecting the red fluid on her fingers, she realized she was bleeding. She was bleeding like the mortals, like the humans that lived here. Instant panic filled her mind as she desperately tried to feel for what was supposed to be where her wounds were. It dawned on her what had been done. She had been clipped before her fall. Her wings had been torn off of her body shamefully and violently before she had been banished to Earth.

The tears fell in that instant, the gravity of her situation hitting home. She was no longer an Angel of Light, a beacon of goodness and innocence, helping those in need find their way back to the light. This wasn't supposed to happen to her, she wasn't supposed to fall. Emma, a Fallen Angel, clipped of her wings, and condemned to Earth. The wounds on her back could not come close to the pain that she felt in her heart, knowing she disappointed everyone, knowing she had sinned, and knowing that it would not be an easy way back up.

Emma vaguely remembered her banishment. She remembered harsh words as she was pushed to her knees, she remembered the looks on the faces of the other Angles, especially of Mary Margaret and David. She was closest with them, all three having the same purpose, but different methods of leading lost souls towards the light. She saw tears fall from the Mary Margaret's sad eyes, and she could see the disappointment in David's as he quietly tried to comfort the other. She did not cry while she was given her sentence, she did not feel her wings torn from her body, and she did not feel anything as she was pushed down into her long fall. Even now, as she walked towards the lights of whatever city she had fallen in, she felt nothing, nothing but numbness. She didn't feel any pull towards good, no pull towards evil, but she felt as if her intentions were lost in limbo, waiting for a side to claim them. Her green eyes expressed no emotion, her golden hair was now a plain platinum color, tangled and scorched. The thin, white dress she wore covered the essentials, all that someone as damned as her needed. She had the appearance of a beaten woman, a woman from nothing, and that's where she was supposed to start.

As the lights from the city became closer, she took the time she had left to go over her sentence, her charge, in her head. As part of the Fallen, she had to regain her entrance into Heaven by fulfilling an unsaid quota of good on Earth. She was to do her job, bring those who had succumbed to the darkness of sin and bring them back into the light. Instead of having divine power to do so, she had to do her work as a human, like those she needed to save. If she did this to the satisfaction of God, she was able to return to Heaven, however, her reputation would still be one of shame. If she failed, and she fell farther into sin and darkness, she would be condemned to live her immortal live on Earth, until Hell decided to claim her damned soul. Fallen Angels would forever be marred with the scars of their mistake. Not only were their wings clipped, but they would be branded with a basilisk, etched into skin, on their forearms, clearly visible to other Angels. The basilisk, the king of serpents, represents sin and is marked onto Fallen Angels to show they are tainted. Emma rubbed at the cut flesh on her left arm, right above her wrist, the cuts would heal, but they would leave an ugly scare in their wake.

When her feet finally touched pavement, she knew she was where she was to do her sentence. Looking around, she saw nothing of importance or recognition, only a sign that welcomed her into town. She stared at the sign, the wood a little beaten and torn, just like her, and the letters burned into its base. Storybrooke, Maine, was where she was to do her work, and where she was to live and suffer among the humans. She walked down Main Street, searching for a place to take shelter for the night. She found what she was looking for and froze in front of it. It looked nothing like the others she had seen on Earth before. It wasn't elegant, it wasn't as big as a palace, but it was quaint and filled with love. She walked up to the door of the church, rubbing her fingers along the grains of the wood. The sanctity of this place was supposed to bring her comfort, but all she felt was shame. Tears fell down her face as she crumpled to the ground, leaning her head against the door.

"I'm so sorry, Father," she whispered as rain started to fall around her. Even in the rain and the chilling weather of fall, she felt nothing but despair. She didn't try shelter herself from the rain, she let the water run down her body, cleansing the dirt and blood off of her, rinsing the soot out of her hair, and allowing the cold water to wash over her soul. "I'm so sorry."

She knew her apology would be heard, but not accepted. She had failed him and she wouldn't be taken back so easily. After was seemed like hours of crying and rain, she felt herself drift into a low level of consciousness, barely aware of what was going on around her. She didn't notice two women approach her in the early hours of the morning, she didn't feel them lift her cold body off of the ground and bring her inside the church, and didn't feel them set her down on a pew to face the crucifix. She began weeping once he was in view, curling into the pew bench, sheltering herself from his stare.

"Ruby, grab a towel and blanket from the supply closet," the older woman said, kneeling down to stroke Emma's hair. The young brunette hurriedly ran off and returning with the supplies. The older woman dried her off quickly before Ruby laid the blanket over her battered form.

"What do you think happened to her, Granny?" Ruby asked, concern etched all over her face. Emma could barely see their faces through her tears, but she knew they were worried.

"I don't know, I don't think I want to know," the older woman replied, running her hand over Emma's head, trying to soothe her tears. "What's your name, honey?"

Emma looked at both women, tears clouding her vision and heartbroken, she could see genuine concern for her, and for a brief second, she felt something other than heartbreak. "Emma."

"Don't worry, Emma, we'll help you," Ruby said, kneeling down and grabbing the blonde's hand, giving her a small smile. The only think Emma could do was nod before exhaustion took over her and she fell asleep in the metaphorical arms of the one who banished her.

AN: What did you think? Like it? I REALLY want to know your thoughts on it! This is just the first chapter, and I promise, there will be plenty of dark, smutty goodness in its future! I haven't even introduced Hook's character, yet. Prepare for that. haha. Anyways, I'll try to update regularly, so don't kill me! Your comments will definitely help motivate... :) -Bailey