Disclaimer: I do not own the characters in this story, nor do I have any association with the production of "Once Upon a Time". I make no money off of this story, I simply write it for my own pleasure and in hopes of giving Emma and Regina the story they deserve.
Also, this will get explicit (sexually), and may be semi-triggering with references and possible episodes of self-harm.
Enjoy, please review, and please excuse any typos. I try to re-read and catch them but nobody's perfect and right now I'm sort of just going with the flow while I'm inspired and trying to get this story out before my writer's block kicks in.
It was late, how late exactly she couldn't be sure due the rather annoying lack of clocks in Camelot, but if she had to guess she'd say it was at least 2am and yet, despite the harrowing events of the past 48 hours, there was still no sleep to be found. Hook lay next to her, his hand-less arm draped over her stomach as he snored away, dead to the world. When the welcome banquet was done and they'd been shown to their rooms he had flopped down onto the bed with that look on his face that spoke of his confidence in his ability to sort out their current predicament, a confidence he had absolutely no right to have. When he'd waggled his eyebrows at her and crudely implied that he could help ease the darkness with, in his words, his considerable talents in the bedroom, she had just barely managed not to rip his heart out and toss it out the window for him to go fetch. It was only after several deep breaths, and reminding herself that he was only trying to help, that she'd been able to climb into the gigantic bed and lay back atop the intricately designed red and gold comforter next to him, mumbling something about being tired and rolling away from him when he tried to offer his ear to listen to her troubles. After a few moments of silence he had started going on about how they would figure this out and everything would be fine, how he could understand what she was going through, how he had fought his darkness with her help, and that as long as they were together they could get through anything. She had stayed stiff and silent while the nasty little imp in her head taunted and teased, advising that ripping Hook's head off would, at the very least, get him to shut the hell up for once. Luckily for him, he dozed off before he could make good on his promise to soothe all her worries and stay up all through the night if that's what it took.
So here she lay, doing her best to ignore the chill in her bones that had nothing to do with the damp darkness of this strange castle but rather seemed to be radiating from her soul itself. She swallowed a cynical burst of laughter before it could escape her throat, god forbid it wake her irritating pirate. Here she was, little orphan Emma Swan, stuck again in the Enchanted Forest, her companions a smattering of heroes and villains from a life she'd never known, a mismatched family of sorts all fighting to save her. But how could they save her when she was their Savior. How could they possibly fight her darkness when they were all so incapable of seeing it at all, even before she had become the Dark One.
But no, that wasn't quite true. There was one amongst her party who could see it, who could always see the potential for darkness in her when everyone else turned a blind eye. One lone person amongst hopeless optimists who could relate to this feeling that everything good within her was drowning. As quietly as she could manage, she slid out from under Hook's now de-hooked arm and off the mattress, the ancient wooden bed frame voicing only a small objection as she went. The stone floor was frigid against her bare feet and her ragged dull colored dress hung limply from her already thinner than usual frame as she stumbled from the room and out to the hallway. She had no idea where she was going, the castle was a maze and she'd left the banquet with Hook before the others, leaving her no clue as to where they might be housed. She stood in a daze amongst portraits of royalty long dead and statues of warriors of legend encased in their own armor. Her hands shook violently, something they had hardly stopped doing since she'd arrived in this realm, and she stared down at them with revulsion, terrified of what those hands would do to everyone she loved, to all of these hapless heroes who came dashing in to save her from herself. And Henry, dear sweet Henry, who had fought so hard for Regina's happiness, always believing she could overcome her darkness, and she knew without a shadow of a doubt he would do the same for her. But she couldn't let him believe in her like that. Not this time, not when she was certain it would do nothing but break him in the end. Somehow she had to protect him, even if that meant letting him go, forever. A tear slid from her eye but she didn't move to wipe it away, paralyzed with dread and grief at the thought of not only losing something she loved so very much but losing the ability to love at all. Before she could let her mind wander too far down the that twisted path she felt her spine tingle and knew instantly that someone was lurking in the shadows, someone extremely powerful...but not as powerful as The Dark Swan.
Without turning around, or really even meaning to do it, Emma flung her hand out behind her, pinning the unsuspecting observer to the wall and sending a nearby suit of armor clattering to the floor.
"Can't sleep either, Miss Swan?" The familiar low rumble of Regina's voice was only mildly strained by what Emma was sure was the magical pressure she was applying to Regina's throat. She spun around and locked eyes with the raven hair mayor, looking rather unlike herself in a long, light purple nightgown, very little make up, and dangling about three feet off the ground. Emma didn't move, staring enthralled as she watched the color begin to drain from Regina's face, her head cocked slightly to one side as she realized she could quite literally feel Regina's heart racing and sense the very essence of her being. Her eyes fell closed, a delicious warmth spreading through her body the more her fist clenched and the feeling of Regina's life-force beginning weaken intensified within her.
"Miss Swan..." the rasping words barely registered as Emma reveled in the warmth driving the sinking chill from her heart. Her head lolled back, her mouth hanging open. The feeling was something like that first sip of the a good whiskey on cold winters night on the streets, but oh so very much better, and more intoxicating.
"Emma. Please." Regina's voice was...gentle. Not pleading, not fearful, but rather like a mother waking a child from a nightmare. Slowly, ever so slowly, Emma opened one eye and then the other, gazing again at the pale but oddly relaxed features. "Stop this Emma. Just...put...me...down." Gasps for air punctuated her words, but still not a shred of panic showed on her face.
"I...can't." Emma stammered, glancing down at her hands, a look of utter terror crossing her features before she looked back to the woman she was robbing of life without even meaning to. "Regina, help me. I can't stop. I don't know how to stop." Before she knew what was coming, Emma felt herself flying backwards, a searing pain in her shoulder. She hit the floor hard as the last of the fireball Regina had thrown at her dispersed. She shoved herself back to her feet, furious. "What the hell was that?" she fumed as she stalked forward towards Regina, who was now standing on her own two feet and straightening out her nightgown. "You could have killed me!"
"Oh calm down Miss Swan, you're just fine." Regina gave her one of her perfected looks of complete disinterest, gesturing to the now torn, tattered, and scorched right sleeve of Emma's dress.
"What do you mean I'm fine, you hit me with a fireball!?" Emma could feel the anger buzzing in her hands, but before she had the chance to magic Regina into the next room (preferably through the solid stone wall) she noticed that, indeed, she seemed to be fine. Tentatively she raised her hand and ran it over the slightly pink but otherwise unharmed flesh where the fireball had struck. "But...how...?"
"You're the dark one now, Emma. A little fireball can't hurt you unless you let it."
It was quiet for a moment before the sound of sobs shattered the silence. Emma's entire body shook and suddenly, in a move that shocked them both, she threw herself forward and into the hesitant arms of Regina.