Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters or OUAT

And then she was gone.

Her last words echoing in the wind,

I love you.

Nobody had moved, everyone frozen in place, all eyes fixed on the spot that she was standing on mere seconds ago. The only sound heard was the quiet sobbing of Mary Margret, and the small whimper that left his mouth when his eyes slid to the dagger on the stone floor. Engraved in fancy, curved, writing was her name, Emma Swan.

The Dark One.

Killian couldn't help but wince : Oh, the irony.

Quietly, as if not to break the spell that had been put over the group, he crept towards the dagger, his breathing ragged and raged in his throat. He knelt down and stretched his hand carefully towards it, caressing the edge of the blade gently.

He breathed out a single, undying word.

"Emma."

Although it was only a whisper, his voice managed to crack on it.

His heart was being ripped in two. Killian knew first-hand what it felt like to have your heart ripped out of your chest, and could remember that it wasn't pleasant to say the least. But this, for some reason, this pain seemed so much worse. She was only just back with him, after her battle with the darkness, after the enchanted forest; he had finally got her back safely in his arms.

Only to lose her.

Again.

Again.

The hand on his shoulder brought him away from his thoughts, back to this sick reality . David had ventured up behind him and now too stared down at the blade, glaring at it as if it had caused him some personal offence. Well, he supposed it had.

Taking a shaky breath, Killian grabbed hold of the handle and lifted the dagger to the fading light, turning round to face his audience. It hadn't really hit any of them yet, that she was really gone. How could it?

"Killian?"

His head whipped round to look at David, he had never called him that before. What changed? Maybe he was trying to back in his good graces after literally stabbing him in the back.

"Come back to the apartment with us," David sighed.

Killian pulled a face. On one hand, he should go back with them, they could start discussing how to find this Merlin and he knew they would offer him a place to stay, or he could go back to the Jolly Roger, drown himself in rum, and try to forget the last 24 hours. To be honest, the latter sounded more appetizing, he wasn't sure he could deal with the Charming's speeches of hope right now, or even worse, watching them fall apart. (Or them watching him do the same.)

Just as he started to shake his head at the offer David spoke again.

"For Henry?"

Ah yes, Henry.

Someone would have to break the news to him about his mother. He may not be able to be there for Emma right now, but he could bloody well be there for her son and somehow he couldn't bring himself to not comfort the boy.

-/-

As they entered the building Henry raced up to them, asking how it went with Gold. He was only half way through his sentence when he noticed the solemn air that surrounded the group.

"What's wrong?" he asked, his eyes scanning the group. They widened when he noticed the missing member of the gang. "Where's Mum?" His voice sounded so small, so breakable.

He looked between David and Killian nervously. The silence in the group could have cut glass. Exchanging a glance with David and receiving a small nod, Killian stepped forwards and knelt down, putting a hand on the lad's shoulder.

"Henry," he sucked in a breath, " The darkness, it took Emma . It's made her the dark one, she's gone I'm ... I'm so sorry."

Killian looked down, no longer able to meet Henry's eyes, his voice filled with pain. Henry looked up to Regina in disbelief. When she gave him a small nod to confirm what he'd just heard, he let out a small sob and he flung himself at the pirate.

Killian froze in shock, hesitantly putting his arms around the boy before pulling him closer. Emma had been everything to Henry, he couldn't imagine what it must be like for the boy.

After sitting for two hours on the Charming's couch, listening to their ideas (some of them completely ludicrous) for how to find this Merlin, he couldn't take it anymore. Abruptly standing up, he bid his goodbyes quickly and stormed out the house, ignoring any calls for him to come back.

Everything felt hopeless at the moment. Everyone had thrown themselves into trying to find a way to bring Emma back but he couldn't get his head around the fact that she was gone. She had been by his side and he couldn't believe that she was now alone, the darkness taking over right this second.

No.

He couldn't let himself think like that. Emma was strong; she wouldn't let that happen without putting up a fight. He'd seen her fight battle after battle, always coming out on top. His swan was a survivor, just like himself. He refused to let that nasty voice in the back of his mind make him loose hope, the voice telling him that he might as well just give up now, he'd never see her again. And in a way the voice was right. He'd never get her back if he carried on like this. He would fight for Emma, just like he knew she would for him.

With this in mind, he turned on the spot, only halfway to the docks, and started to head back to the apartment. But it wasn't long before he found himself staring up at the clock tower, his feet taking him to the library instead of Emma's family. Surely there was something in one of these books about this Merlin everyone was so instant on finding. Seeing that the library was empty, Belle probably with the crocodile, he picked out the first book he found that mentioned the Dark One ,started to read, determined to find something useful.

-/-

And that's where they found him, hours later, surrounded by books, half sleep. No one said anything, David just helped him up and they staggered back to the apartment. It was only as they were walking back that Killian look up at the black sky and realized how late it had become. He felt a slither of guilt creep up inside of him and he hoped he hadn't kept them up worrying. They needed sleep, not that they'd be able to get it, but they needed to try anyway.

As they climbed up the steps to the apartment David tentatively broke the silence.

"Did you find anything?"

Killian looked at him, eyes questioning, before they changed to understanding, making him sigh and regretfully shaking his head. "Nothing that we didn't know already, mate."

A frown appeared on the prince's face but he nodded slowly, as if he hadn't expected anything else.

As they entered the building Regina could be heard talking to the group in sure and steady tones.

"Okay, let's go through what we know. Emma is now the dark one. Where she is right now is unknown. The only one who can take away the darkness is the sorcerer, Merlin. Who is in Camelot?"

Regina turned to Belle who had at some point apparently joined the research party.

"Yes, or at least that's what the legends say. He and King Arthur are said to have run Camelot for the last few centuries." The librarian confirmed.

Mary Margaret gasped, eyebrows furrowed. "Centuries?"

Regina ignored the remark and carried on her speech. "Right, Merlin, who is in Camelot... "

She paused, unsure how to continue, Killian piped up.

"Camelot then, is that where Emma is?" he asked, trying to hide the desperation in his voice.

Regina was starting to look a little lost now, it seemed this was the one time that she didn't have all the answers.

David took pity on her. "Why don't we go find the apprentice, he may have some of the answers we're looking for. He'll know what to do."

A mummer of agreement passed through the small crowd and they stated to make their way to the door. Killian hung back, still apprehensive. How did they all seem so optimistic? He expected Mary Margaret and David to be a mess and Henry to be in tears. He even thought Regina would be more upset than this. How could they just carry on, as if nothing had happened, treating this as if any other villain had come to town and needed to be stopped.

This wasn't any other villain, it was Emma.

Then it hit him, this was their way of coping.

While he wanted nothing more than to drink himself into an oblivion, make all of this seem like a bad dream, they threw themselves into finding a solution. They were putting all their focus on finding Emma, not giving themselves time to mourn, in the hope that they won't have to. They weren't instead playing memories of Emma over and over in their minds, desperately trying to hold on to any last connection with her so not to lose her completely, unlike himself. Huh, maybe that wasn't such a bad idea, anything to stop this whirlwind of emotions swirling up inside of him, threatening to break out. This must be why they always have hope; they don't stop, not even thinking about the flip side of things. So determine to succeed that they let nothing stand in their way.

Well if works for them, what's the harming in trying?

The first thing that registered in Emma's mind as she started to come too was that she was cold, freezing even. Curling into herself, her mind tried to process what had happened and why she was now shivering. The last thing she remembered was Killian's face looking back at her filled with pure desperation. Not an expression she sees often on him, but she couldn't put her finger on why it was there in the first place. Everything was blurry, like she was trying to do a jigsaw in her mind but everything was out of focus. However after a few minutes all became clear, the final piece put into place, and Emma wished she'd never started the damn puzzle.

It all flooded back to her, the darkness, Merlin, Regina trapped, the darkness threatening to take over the town, and then finally, the faces of her loved ones begging her to stay.

But she couldn't, there was only one way to make sure everyone was safe and she hadn't been prepared to let the opportunity slip away when it presented itself. No, this was safer for everyone. She was safely away from them where she could do them no harm. Emma could feel the darkness inside of her, starting to battle all the light and good, but she was still confident that she could hold it off, for now anyways. Hopefully she could find this Merlin fellow before it took over her completely, turning her into something she absolutely dreaded.

A shiver ran down her spine, prompting more and more to come, meaning that before she knew it she was shaking, curled up on the damp, hard, ground.

And that last thought brought her back the question at hand.

Where the hell was she?

This is my first multi chapter so I would deeply appreciate it if people let me know what they think of it. Good? Bad?

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