"A Game of Deception"
She walked slowly, occasionally looking down at her feet she made her way through the pink roses. "Killian?" she asked with a forced breath. Looking around, she continued to walk with he sword in her hand. "Killian?" she asked again. She let out a sigh knowing that if there was any chance of seeing him, she had to use it. She closed her eyes in frustration and let out another sigh as she put her hand out in front of her, making Excalibur appear in a thick fog. She shook her head, looking anywhere but in front of her. "Dark One, I summon thee." She kept her eyes shut until he appeared. "I'm sorry, I didn't know how else to get you here."
"You could've given me a choice." He growled.
"We need to talk about this."
"Do you have any idea how it feels, to not be in control of yourself?" He asked bitterly. "The last time a Dark One tried to control me, I had to watch as Rumplestiltskin almost killed you. I had to kneel, powerless, while he almost crushed my heart!"
"I know exactly how it feels, all my life everyone abandoned me!"
"I didn't abandon you."
"I know, but I was about to lose you to the darkness." She paused and took a breath. "When I'm scared, that's when my walls go up. That's when I stop trusting the people around me. You know this."
"It doesn't make it fair, Swan." He turned and walked away, not wanting hear any more excuses.
"Killian, wait!" She begged, taking a step forward.
His feet became glued to the group as his jaw clenched, not being able to take a step forward no matter how much he wanted to.
"Ugh! I didn't mean to do that."
"Aye, but you did - and that's my point!" He barked.
She took in a breath, "That's not why I called you here!" She fought back. "I called you here because I do believe in you! I do trust you to control your own fate!" She let out a sharp breath and took a step towards him. "It's yours if you want it." She snapped while holding the sword between the two of them. She watched his expression change as he raised his hand slowly and wrapped his fingers around the grip. "We are going to get the darkness out of both of us." She paused. "And we are going to do it together." She took a step back, watching as he placed the broken sword in the scabbard. "I promise you, I will never try to control you again." She took a step back towards him and held out her hand, "I love you." She told him. She felt his hand come into her's and his eyes wouldn't separate from hers. "What?" She asked feeling her heart rate being to rise again.
He brought his eyes to hers and blinked a few times, "It's just usually I'm the one who has to say that first."
She half smiled and kept her eyes soft, "Yeah, well..."
"I love you too." He quickly pulled her into him making her body fall into his. They shared a kiss. One that was foreign but at the same time told him that this was where he belonged.
Killian pulled back and smiled. "Do you trust me?"
"What?" Emma asked causing a crease to appear in her forehead.
"Do you trust me?" He asked again with a straight face.
"Of course." She told him with a smile.
He forced a smile and stepped back. "Good." He began to back away, not taking his eyes off Emma.
"Where are you going?" She asked curiously.
"Do you trust me?" He asked again with a smile.
"I already told you I do." Emma replied.
"Good." He replied before disappearing in a thick red smoke.
Merlin sat back in the booth and pushed a rather large book away from him. He looked up at the ceiling of Granny's Diner and took in a breath when Killian appeared across from him.
"Hello Merlin."
"Hook." Merlin replied without emotion. "I see Emma's plan worked."
"You don't need me here for you to know that, you can see the future." Killian replied.
Merlin furrowed his eyebrows. "What do you want?" He asked as he watched the captain lean back in the booth.
"And by the look of things you're pretty good at it."
"Get on with it!" Rumple snapped from the bar chair on the other side of the room. "Tell him what you need!"
Merlin looked over at the image of Rumple.
"Get out of here!" Killian barked and with that the figure of Rumple vanished.
After a few moments of silence Killian rested his elbows on the table. "How do I get the darkness out of Emma?"
A crease formed on Merlin's forehead. "You still want that?"
"Aye."
Merlin swallowed and let his eyes fall to the book on the table.
"And you out of all people should understand."
"There is one way, to get the darkness out of Emma." Merlin paused. "Get rid of all darkness, for all eternity."
"And what's that?"
Merlin studied Hook's expression. "You need a vessel, someone who can house all of the darkness.
"A curse."
"To cast a dark curse, you need the heart of the one you love most and don't think for a bloody second that I will kill Emma."
"Me."
Hook turned around and stared at the sorcerer. "What?"
"Kill me."
The pirate raised an eyebrow. "No offense mate, but I barely know you, let alone-"
"Nimue." Merlin said cutting Hook off in hopes of never hearing how that sentence would end. "If you can get Nimue to cast the curse, it will work."
"That's all well and good but why do you want to die?"
Merlin was quite for a few moments, letting his eyes drop to the floor. He looked back up at the pirate and asked, "Tell me something, how does it feel to be in love with the Dark One. Knowing that they will forever be filled with darkness. That you are powerless." Hook didn't say anything. "That's why." Merlin snapped.
"I'm sorry." Killian replied. "But how will we explain your death?"
"Easy." Merlin replied with a smile. "You're the Dark One."
"You want them to think I killed you?"
"I'll be what we need for the second part of the plan to work."
Killian took in a breath. "How about telling me parts of this plan in pieces, you tell me the whole damn thing in one?"
"To get rid of the darkness, you need a vessel. Someone to contain all of it."
"That much darkness is fatal."
Merlin didn't say anything.
"You want me to die." Killian said feeling his blood begin to boil.
"On a scale of one to ten how much do you like being the Dark One? Honestly." Merlin asked.
Killian looked at Merlin, realizing that there would be only one way to get what he was asking for. "There is only one flaw in this plan of yours."
"Emma won't let you die." Merlin added.
"Aye. That's what caused her to make me the bloody Dark One in the first place."
Neither said anything for a while.
"Unless." Killian stood up from the booth. "Unless she wants me to die this time."
"By making her hate you."
Killian rolled his eyes. "Ok mate, as helpful as you being able to see the future is, it's slightly frustrating."
"Sorry." Merlin said curling his lips in.
"How will I get Emma to hate me?" Killian asked. "She knows all of the dark things I've done."
Merlin let out a sigh. "You're a pirate, I'm sure you'll come up with something."
"So when do we do this?" Killian asked.
Merlin took in a breath. "It will take me about day to get what I need for the curse. I will ad a message for you. If anything goes wrong it will have the answers."