I couldn't resist writing another story that takes off from the season finale and spins in a completely different direction. This particular one will eventually become Evil Charming, but there will be a lot of other character interaction as well. It probably won't make a whole lot of sense in the beginning, but everything will be explained, so hold tight.
I'd love to hear thoughts, and whether or not I should put more time into this one. Thanks, and enjoy!
Deception
Emma knocked Hook's offered hand away and pulled herself up off the deck of the ship. "Why does going through a portal always have to be such a violent experience?" she asked no one in particular, brushing a hand through her hair in annoyance.
Regina rolled her eyes while Gold answered her question. "Well, you didn't think it was going to be easy now, did you, dearie? We're moving through different worlds – ripping holes through space. It's not exactly a walk in the park."
Emma thought about making a smart-ass comment about that being a poor comparison since he walked with a cane, but decided it was best to keep it in. He was helping them after all – something she was still having a hard time believing. It had been a very quick change of heart.
When she caught sight of where they were, however, she pushed all thoughts of Gold aside. Passing where her father was helping Snow to her feet, Emma went straight to the side of the ship. "This is Neverland?"
"Not very pretty, is it?" Hook asked, moving to her side.
It was a dark world. The water below moved turbulently and if she didn't know better, Emma would think it was threatening them with what waited below; whatever that may be. She shivered involuntarily. The land off in the distance didn't look much better. It was dark and dancing with shadows, but Emma couldn't find a source of light that would be causing them.
As if knowing what she were thinking, Hook spoke again. "It's a form of punishment here in Neverland. If you don't follow the rules laid down by the Shadow, or if you do something he doesn't like, he separates you from your own shadow."
Regina stepped forward then. "It's a very unpleasant practice. One's shadow is rather like a piece of your soul, and being ripped from it is an extremely painful process. No one is the same after it has been done."
Gold raised his eyebrow at her and Hook looked slightly surprised, but Emma wasn't paying attention to them.
"Jesus, Regina! Henry's out there."
Snow stepped forward hesitantly. "I'm sure he'll be alright, Emma. They wouldn't have brought him here unless they had a reason. I'm sure they wouldn't do anything to hurt him."
"Not right away, at least," David said.
"David!" Snow snapped, looking at him incredulously.
Regina gave him a sharp look and Emma's mouth opened like she wanted to say something, but she couldn't find the words. She couldn't believe he'd say something like that.
"I just mean," he amended quickly, "we should hurry. They wouldn't hurt him right after bringing him here, so we still have some time to get to him before anything happens."
"Yeah," Emma muttered, shoving her hands into her pockets. She made eye contact with Snow who tried to give her a reassuring nod, but Emma could tell she was just as unconvinced as she was.
Regina cleared her throat. "He's right. The sooner we find him, the better. We're wasting time even talking about it, though we can't do much of anything until we arrive." She looked pointedly at Hook who moved off, returning to steer the ship.
"Can we get out and push?" Emma mumbled in frustration. At this point, she felt like she could swim to land faster than they were moving. She looked to Regina, the one other person on board that should be just as terrified as she was, but Regina was unnaturally calm.
Now even more unsettled then she'd been before, Emma shifted uneasily on her feet. She'd always been a person of action, and not being able to do anything was killing her. The fact that Regina, the woman who'd always played the part of overprotective mother, was now standing calmly in the face of Henry's kidnapping was putting her on edge. "I'm going below deck," Emma said suddenly, turning on her heel. "Tell me when we're getting close."
Looking up at David, Snow gave him a pained look. "I'm going to go talk to her."
Expecting another argument about not wanting to push their daughter, Snow was surprised when David only nodded. She almost stumbled looking over her shoulder at him as she walked away; he wasn't even looking back. She quickly turned back around and frowned down at the ground in thought as she hurried after Emma.
Gold glanced at Hook and scoffed irritably. "I think I'll go below as well. Wouldn't want to upset the delicate balance, would we?"
David and Regina were alone now, and David turned away from Regina, heading to front of the ship. With their backs turned to Hook, Regina fell into step next to him, keeping only a short distance between them.
"What was that?" she hissed.
"What do you mean?" he asked innocently.
"You know very well what I mean! That comment back there almost gave you away. You're supposed to be concerned for Henry's safety."
"Me? What about you? You're the one who's supposed to be his mother, for god's sake. Instead you're spouting off knowledge about the Shadow."
"Because it's something I would know."
"You don't know that."
They stopped when they reached the bow of the ship and Regina turned to face David. "We're both just going to have to be more careful from now on." She tilted her head almost imperceptibly at Hook, who David now noticed was watching them with interest. There was no way the pirate captain could hear what they were saying from that distance, but he could certainly notice the oddity of Prince Charming and the Evil Queen having a private conversation.
"Agreed."
"Good. We shouldn't talk again until we're ashore and truly alone." With that she stormed off, looking offended, and after a second, David realized she was putting on an act. For his part, he glared after her with a mixture of hatred and disgust. It wasn't too far-reaching at the moment; she'd never made things easy for him and the current situation was giving her a big head.
So far, this mission was proving to be a challenge and he knew it was only going to get worse.
It was bright; unnaturally so. That was the first thing she noticed as she slowly opened her eyes. Everything felt sore, so she didn't move at first. She was lying on some sort of bed attached to a wall, though it wasn't very comfortable. The wall next to her was smooth, not like stone, more like some kind of plastic. She furrowed her brow in confusion. The ceiling above her was almost all lights and she squeezed her eyes shut again at their harshness and turned her head to the side.
"Regina?"
Her eyes snapped open once again and she sat up quickly, grimacing at the pain that shot through her body at the movement.
"David?"
The fourth wall of what she now recognized to be some state of the art cell was made of clear hard plastic and she could see directly across a hall was an exact copy of the same cell, containing Prince Charming.
She put her hands up and gripped her head at the throbbing that had settled in.
"The pain will go away in a few minutes," David told her. "I think it's an after-effect of the drugs they used to knock us out."
Regina noticed now that both of their clothing had been replaced by white jumpsuits and she stood, pulling at the fabric before walking up to the clear wall and peering as far down the hallway both directions as her containment would allow.
"It looks like it's just more cells," David told her, "but as far as I can tell, they're all empty. We're the only ones here."
Regina huffed out an irritated breath. "I can see that, thank you." She placed her hands on her hips and looked at him across the hall. "Where are we?" she demanded.
David smiled in dark amusement. "You think I know? I only woke up a few minutes ago myself."
The sound of a door opening somewhere off in the distance had him up on his feet, moving to stand at the wall just across from Regina, only separated by the four feet of hallway between the cells.
Footsteps echoed through the eerily sterile environment and David thought he saw a flash of fear in Regina's eyes before her cold mask slipped back into place. He couldn't blame her; he was terrified.
"You're awake!" A man said, finally stepping into view of both of them. He was short with a full head of thick light brown hair, green eyes, and a smile that could make anyone nervous. "It's about time. We were worried we may have given you too large a dose; wouldn't want to kill you so early on. It'd be a shame not to learn as much about you as we can first."
Regina pulled her head back a bit, the only detectable change in her demeanor, but James slammed his fist against the clear wall. There was a light thud, but the wall didn't even vibrate.
"Why are we here?! What do you want with us?"
"We just want information. Information only your kind can provide us."
"Our kind?" David spat. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"Oh, you know. Magical folk. People not of this world." He smiled at them both in turn. "I think this will prove to be a very interesting study."
Regina raised her eyes to meet the stranger's, and her cold gaze met his equally indifferent one. "Who are you?"
"Who we are is not important. Not to you, at least. All you need to know is that we're in control here. It would be best for you if you were to cooperate. You're not in Storybrooke anymore." He nodded at both of them before turning to leave. "I'll be back later."
"If we're not in Storybrooke, then where are we?" David called after him.
"Very, very far away and nowhere you've ever been before," was the man's amused answer. Faint sounds of laughter echoed back to them before they heard the door close behind him.