Time to Go (new version)
The shaking of a branch, the stutter of a cricket, makes Killian Jones, or as most see him as, Captain Hook, jump, and he is not one to scare easily. He sighs, realizing his foolishness at being startled by mere voices of Nature. Still, he looks from side to side, making sure that no one or anything of the malignant nature is creeping up on him. When he feels it's safe to carry on, a familiar voice that annoyingly calls him "Hook", when he prefers Killian, calls out, "Hook!"
Killian sighs, realizing it's pointless to try and change people's habits. He knows all about the fight to change; sometimes it happens, sometimes it doesn't. He succumbs to the inevitable and scratches the back of his head to wear away the annoyance. "Yes, Dave, what is it now? Or shall I call you… Your Highness? Is it all right for me to have a pet name for you?"
David, who is happy that Killian calls him "Dave" instead of Charming, walks up looking scared. David feels that "Charming" is better left to when they are in the Enchanted Forest, which they don't believe they will ever see again. "I thought I'd find you here. You think somehow Emma is going to come over the town line and fall into your arms?" David suppresses a laugh that Killian doesn't find amusing. "Look, we have been searching all week and I'm telling you Emma is not here. You heard Regina, she is in a different world. It could be the Enchanted Forest or it could be…"
"You don't know. None of us do. I should have killed Rumpelstiltskin in his coma. This is all his fault."
"Hey," David grabs Killian by the arm, which Killian shakes off, "don't blame anyone but Emma. She thought she was doing the right thing, to save all of us, to save…"
"Yes, to save the bloody queen. Look where that got her. Regina could care less about Emma being the Dark One. She has her precious Robin Hood."
David sighs heavily, frustrated as much as Killian is. "Come back to Granny's. We are going to have a meeting to decide what the next course of action will be. You are part of this team, Hook."
"Killian. You don't like being called Charming and I prefer to be called Killian. I am not the same pirate I was before."
Killian walks off leaving David to contemplate Killian's involvement since he has refused to go along with every plan the heroes have come up with. Including his own dissatisfaction, he has come to believe that they will never find Emma, but being that "ray of hope" kind of guy he has to put aside his pessimism and fight on. A slight shutter of a bush makes his heart skip a beat. He whispers, "Emma?" He lets out a long sigh, knowing how silly it is to believe that Emma is still with them. "I sure hope we find you soon. Things are getting pretty bad around here."
Mary-Margaret and the gang gather around one of the middle tables and Belle sets down a dusty stack of books. "I found these lying around that mansion that Rumpel and I stayed at for our honeymoon. I don't know if they will be of any help but it's worth a look through."
"Thank you, Belle. I'm sure they will be of some use." David walks in, followed by Killian. Mary-Margaret gives David a reassuring smile but he shakes his head, as if telling her it's pointless. She doesn't say a word to Killian, who takes up the darts and flings them hard at the dartboard. "Okay, let's hope one of these books tell us about the Dark One."
The dwarfs grow tired standing around waiting for a course of action. Red leaves to take a run to clear her mind. Mary-Margaret is growing tired and almost falls asleep at the table. David slams the book he is reading down on the table, making everyone jump to attention. "Read this." He points to a paragraph that is written different from the rest of the text. Mary-Margaret gleams. "See, I told you something would come," he says as he kisses his wife. His precious Snow White. His statement was more for reassuring Killian than anyone else. He needed it most.
"I knew you would find something, Charming," she says with a meek voice.
"David, Mary-Margaret. You don't see me calling you Snow anymore."
"Oh, I wish you would."
Killian rolls his eyes. Their love, their bond is staggering and suffocating to him, because he isn't sure that Emma meant it when she said, 'I love you'. Those words are echoing through his mind and he can't help but feel that she is going to take them back—whenever they find her—if they find her.
"What does it say?" Leeroy asks, impatient as always.
Killian stops playing darts because he notices how intense everyone has become about this paragraph. He doesn't want to raise his hopes but he doesn't want to give up either.
"Apparently the seed of the Dark One goes beyond our understanding. It says here that the Dark One curse is created by Darkness itself, and it can never truly be defeated because a balance must be kept. Long ago, the Darkness wasn't always roaming around killing things, it once had a purpose for the balance in all things. But something happened. Humans and their greed changed the Darkness." She looks to David, then to Killian. "We need to find its balance. We have to find a way to balance the dark and the light inside Emma." She continues reading. "The Darkness must have a soul to attach itself to, for it has lost its true purpose in life. If you are to destroy the darkness within a single person you must destroy the good in them as well. For when one side dies, the other must die." Mary-Margaret knows her daughter's fate now. "So, Emma… I don't understand. We either help her get rid of the darkness while getting rid of the good in her, or she…"
"You're saying that Emma is doomed no matter what we do?" Killian says.
"No. But it makes sense. The Dark One has always been killed, except what happened to Rumpelstiltskin. Whoever accepts the dagger and its power becomes the Dark One. When they are killed, the evil dies, as well as the good that ran through the person," David says. "I'm not sure what makes Rumpelstiltskin different. Emma is different. She isn't like the other Dark Ones, she can't be."
"We are going to find a way to balance the darkness so that Emma can come back to us," Mary-Margaret says.
"You have no idea what to do. This is pointless," Killian says as he storms out of the diner.
"I have to agree with Hook."
"Charming. David. You just said…We don't do that. We don't give up."
"Mary-Margaret, we have no idea where Emma is. This hurts me just as much as it does you."
"Does it? You don't want to give up, yet you are ready to follow the hopeless pirate."
"I think I have a way of finding out," Belle says.
Belle goes behind the counter in Mr. Gold's shop and pulls up a snowglobe, but it's far from being an ordinary snowglobe. "Belle, what is that going to do?" Mary-Margaret asks.
"It's the last magical thing that Emma touched. Rumpel told me about this spell that he had been working on. Where the last magical item someone touches, he can use it to locate them and even communicate with them. There's more to it, but that's all he told me. I've been trying to find it anywhere in any book but I've come up with nothing."
"Sounds kind of too common for Rumpelstiltskin to be interested in it," Mary-Margaret says.
"He wouldn't have it unless it had very powerful magic attached to it," David says.
"So it's a bloody telephone," Killian says, looking over the snowglobe in doubt. No one heard him come in.
"It's worth a try," Belle says. "But it can be tricky. Whoever is contacted can manipulate it if they have magic."
Everyone feels defeated right now.
"How will we work it if Rumpelstiltskin is… asleep?" David asks, afraid to say the word "coma" because they all fear that Rumpelstiltskin will never wake up. "I don't trust any of us using it. He may not be the Dark One anymore, he may have no magic, but I don't think any of us can use it. It's too dangerous."
August comes into the shop staggering. He isn't drunk but he feels like it. "I may be able to help with this," he says, hanging onto the glass cabinet for support.
"Ahh, the puppet is going to solve the problem," Killian says, obviously jealous of August when he was told he had no reason to be.
"I know of this snowglobe's true power. Don't ask how." August grabs the snowglobe from Belle then shakes it and the fake snow starts to fall. There's no special building or something symbolic inside it, there's just empty space.
"Whatever it is, we are for it," Mary-Margaret says.
"Well, it's going to take a drop of blood from each person that is connected to Emma."
"Rumpel didn't mention that," Belle says, skeptical of August's assistance.
Mary-Margaret and David look at each other prepared to do whatever it takes. Killian looks down, wondering if he should even include himself. He fears with Emma being dark that her love for him is gone.
August approaches Belle with weary eyes. "Rumpelstiltskin lied to you, Belle. This snowglobe and that spell he was working on, are not connected. And I should also tell you that the blood you give is not going to tell you where Emma is and let you communicate with her. The snowglobe is going to trap your blood and instantly teleport you to where she is."
"What are we waiting for?" Killian says, ready to give his blood.
"All right, who is going to do this with us?" Mary-Margaret asks.
David smiles, giving his answer.
Just then, Regina and Henry walk into the shop with Robin trailing behind them. "What is going on in here?" Regina asks, all regal like she never stopped being the evil queen. Well has she really?
"We found something to help us get to Emma," Mary-Margaret says.
"We don't need the evil queen. Her blood won't be necessary," Killian says.
"Blood? What is going on?" Regina asks.
"You can find my mom?" Henry says, going to Mary-Margaret's side.
"Here, let me show you. But be quick. The teleporting happens almost immediately after the blood mixes with the snow," August says as he grabs a pocketknife from his pant pocket. He nicks the tip of his finger and blood drops down onto the globe. "Also, make sure your heart is true and that your mind is clear on who you are trying to find."
The blood dissolves into the glass and enters the fake snow. The flakes turn pink then red. August shakes the snowglobe a few times and then vanishes from sight.
Everyone gasps. The snowglobe and pocketknife land safely on the counter. Then David takes the snowglobe and pocketknife and cuts his finger. The blood repeats the same as before and David is gone. Mary-Margaret goes next.
Regina turns to Robin. "I don't think you will be able to go with us. It's clear, this is for people who are important in Emma's life. I only hope that I am worthy." She kisses Robin then grabs the snowglobe. Henry grabs her free hand.
"Together, Mom," Henry says, cutting his finger then handing the knife to Regina. Regina cuts her finger and together their blood spills down into the snowglobe. They shake it. They vanish holding hands.
"Hook. Are you going?" Belle asks.
"What if Emma has changed and doesn't care for me anymore?"
"Don't think like that. You need to go," Belle says.
Killian raises his hook and presses his finger down on the tip. Blood trickles down. He lets it fall into the snowglobe and watches as the flakes turn pink then red. He takes one final look at the others, and then vanishes. The snowglobe and the pocketknife sit on the counter.
"What now?" Robin asks.
"Now, we watch over Rumpel and hopefully they are able to find their way back," Belle says, watching the fake snow turn back to white.
