Title: Dark Swan Rising

Full Summary: The Dark One is reincarnated in Storybrooke as Emma Swan and heralds a twisted game none of the heroes wish to play. As they race to find a solution and save Emma, the heroes must face consequences for their past actions rippling into the present and the wrath of the Savior gone dark. Snow and Charming must deal with unforeseen consequences of sharing a heart as Regina and Robin are forced to examine their relationship when Zelena's pregnancy comes between them. Killian must learn to face his demons alone when the woman he loves is no longer there to tether him to the light. Henry finds himself thrust into a hero role he is not ready to accept and Belle is torn between her heart and her brain as Rumplestiltsken clings to life without his magic and an old friend returns to Storybrooke. In the shadows, a threat greater than any they have yet faced has awoken.

A (somewhat) rewrite of 5A in four parts.

Ships: OQ, CS centric, some Red Beauty, and background Snowing. Not Rumbelle or Swanfire friendly, some actively anti sentiments in the text.

AN: There were a lot of things I wish had been done differently in 5A. Here's my solution (plus a few things that I knew were never going to happen.) Please enjoy!


I. The Dark Swan

There's a moment of intense quiet.

Emma's never realized it before, but she's never truly heard silence before. There was always something. The murmur of other kids through the walls of the homes. The occasional shouts of troubled foster parents from downstairs. The sound of cars outside. The first apartment she'd ever had was next to the train tracks and right under the power lines. The quiet hum of life running around her, moving so quickly it didn't even stop to notice that it was trampling someone beneath it.

Then it starts.

"It's a miracle baby."

"We didn't think we could ever have kids of our own. That's why you lived with us. Sometimes families just can't have more than one."

"What was that? What the fuck was that?"

"You let her do this?"

"Did it all on her own."

"This'll teach you to disrespect my property, disrespect the house you live in."

Harris. Johnson. Marsden. St. Kate's Home. Hanson. Keller. Angel Home for Children.

"—disciplinary issues—"

"—can't keep her, I'm—"

"—much to handle—"

"—not what we wanted when we signed up to foster—"

"Ms. Swan, do you have any idea how much trouble you're in? Stealing is not something to be taken lightly."

Crack. Flicker. Burn. Shatter.

"It's like my whole life is darkness and... When you're around, things are brighter."

Ingrid smiling, we're gonna be a family.

All wrong. Lies.

"Stop the car, Emma."

Run. Run.

"Tallahassee, baby."

"Almost home."

Burn. Flicker.

"It's a boy, Emma."

I can't be a mother.

Tennent: Rent is three months overdue. The terms of the lease clearly state eviction after three months of no payments.

The burn of a flashlight through her back window. "Miss, you can't sleep here."

The shattered front windshield of the bug.

"Whore!"

"Don't mistake this as an invitation back into his life."

You're the Savior, Emma. Bring back the happy endings, Emma. It's your destiny, Emma. It's your responsibility, Emma.

Henry collapsing, and everything is real.

"If I'd known who you were, I never would've gone near you."

Neal. Henry.

He knows, he doesn't tell.

"Neal is alive."

"It's not what I wanted."

Thundering cloud heralding grief and forgetting and "Happy endings aren't always what we think they will be."

Killian, come back to me.

"Prince Neal."

Elsa smiling. Elsa leaving. Like everyone else.

They lied. They've been lying about everything. They made her forgive them because that's what she's supposed to do but they lied.

Then Emma's thirty again, telling Killian she loves him before taking the Darkness and letting it sweep over her, cloying and heavy and tempting.

And there it is. The darkness. Slotting itself in next to her light magic, pushing it aside and filling her veins with unabashed power. Unabashed courage and determination and the startling feeling of selfishness and the darkness pushing her to revel in her hurts, to sink into her anger and bitterness that she's pushed down for so long and use it. She's earned the right to be bitter and harsh and angry, and damn anyone for making her think otherwise.

It's like the snipping of strings, one by one. Sweet release from the baggage each memory placed on her soul, replaced by this fiery anger that she's never allowed herself to feel.

And she is afraid.

We've been waiting for you, Emma Swan.

She screams.


The dagger falls, the sound of it striking the pavement loud and sharp.

Regina flinches, holding tighter to Robin's arm. If she holds tight enough, she won't start shaking. If she gets angry enough, she won't feel sad.

"Where is she?" Snow White's voice is thready and thick. A mother who has just lost her child.

Again.

Because of me.

Regina swallows hard. Snow's eyes turn to Regina, seeking something, and suddenly Regina is thrown backwards in time, when Snow was a young girl and looked like Regina like she had all the answers.

"I—I don't know." Regina can't fix this. She should've done something, tried something else

The pirate looks shell shocked in the worst of ways, and he takes a tentative step forward towards the dagger before he halts again. "We can call her to us," he says quietly. "If she's in this realm, we can call her to us."

No one volunteers to do it.

They stare blankly at one another, the tension thick and ebbing when mere minutes ago there was none. There was joy and happiness and celebration and Regina thought that maybe this could be—

It doesn't matter what she thought. It doesn't matter what she hoped. What matters is what's in front of them.

David is the one to break their line, the one to stride without fear towards the dagger that now bears his daughter's name on the blade. (No, because without fear, there can be no courage… There's a reason Zelena wanted his bravery above all others.)

Regina watches as he bends to take the dagger in his hand. He handles it as though it is sticky, covered in some substance he does not wish to touch for too long.

"Emma, I command you to appear," he calls out.

Nothing happens. The road remains empty.

Hook curses under his breath before he speaks up again, "You might have to—" She sees his jaw clench, his hands fisted hard at his sides. David eyes him in desperation. He finishes, "Call her the Dark One."

David tries again. "Dark One… I command you to appear."

A horrendously loud sound of tearing blasts through the street, and David stumbles backwards into the steadying hand of Snow as Emma appears in a great burst of swirling black and white smoke. It crackles with static and Regina has the oddest sense of being pulled in two directions until it dissipates.

She looks more or less the same. Although instead of standing heroic in the face of the greatest darkness in all the realms, she's collapsed onto her knees, completely curled in on herself. Her clothing is dirty, as if dragged through dirt, and her blonde hair looks wild, snarled, and unkempt. It completely shrouds her face. She's visually quivering, shaking as though she were freezing, and her arms are wrapped around herself.

Killian approaches her with some caution, but little hesitance. "Emma," she hears him say, so gently and quietly Regina isn't sure she heard it in the first place.

"We've been waiting for you, Emma Swan."

That's not Emma's voice. It's almost a multiplicity of voices, all combined into one genderless, haunting, dark essence that slides down Regina's spine in the worst way.

Then she screams, and her magic explodes.

They are hit by one of the most powerful blasts of dark magic Regina has ever felt in her life. More powerful than Zelena. Than Cora. Than Rumplestiltsken himself. They're all hurled backwards by the wave of dark black and purple made of fear and rage that Regina can feel so potently she very nearly awakens her own dark magic in response.

She loses her grip on Robin and feels a flash of panic before she hits the ground hard and skids to a stop.

She can hear the sound of car alarms going off, thinks she feels the crunch of broken glass beneath her back, and wonders as the world starts going gray what exactly it is about her that seems to breed misfortune.


Open our eyes, Emma Swan. See what we've done.

The voice sounds gleeful, proud.

She doesn't know when she became aware of her body again, but suddenly she can feel everything. Her arms curled into her chest and her knees pressed into the ground. The rush of magic over her skin (but it's different now. Dark. Cloying. Rich. Thick. Powerful. God, so much power.) she can feel the ebb and flow of the magic all around her in a way she never could before. She can feel the latticework of the curse holding the town together, tethering it to a world it doesn't belong in. Everything is loud in a way it's never been, even though she's fairly certain there's no noise at all.

She opens her eyes and looks up, and everything quiets.

She doesn't see the damage. Every window within a twenty yard radius is blown out. Car windshields and front hoods are caved in. The car alarms blare, but she barely registers them.

"No," she whispers.

Her mother and father, hurled twenty feet away from her and lying completely motionless. Regina lying in a spray of shattered glass next to the car whose windshield Robin was nearly thrown through. And Killian.

She sees the alternate book all over again, watches him die in the street for her and her family and he was dead, she had seen it, but this isn't the book and he's not moving

"Mom!"

Oh god, she can't hurt him too.

Henry races down the street, worry in his voice and the determination of a hero in his stride. He slows to check on their family.

The truest believer, the voice hisses in her head, an Author of great power. We could use him.

She stumbles to her feet, nearly tripping backwards in her haste to get away from her son.

Magic, dark magic, crackles in her hands, but she will not hurt her son, too. The magic is building, aching for an outlet, and she can sense the power in Henry, different from her magic or Regina's, but it's power and something in her wants it, wants to reach out and hold him, wants to reach out and corrupt-

Her eyes slam shut, her hands clenching into tight fists. "No!" she growls. "I can't hurt anyone else."

"Mom," Henry tries again, and her eyes snap open. He's approaching slower now. "Everyone's fine. They're just knocked out. You didn't hurt anyone, and you won't."

He might say that, but he doesn't feel the power in her veins, doesn't hear the voice in her head. "Please, just… just stay right there. I can't control it, Henry," she says.

Henry doesn't stop. Why didn't he stop? See, the voice croons, the Author wants us.

"You won't hurt me-"

"Henry!" she snaps, and her magic courses through her fingertips, crushing the hoods of the cars in even further. The car alarms suddenly cease.

She gasps, folding her hands underneath her arms as though that might somehow stifle the uncontrollable power flowing through her. She remembers what it was like to lose control of her magic before.

This isn't like that.

She then realizes that they're not alone. Many Storybrooke residents have come out to see what the commotion is about, and Emma can feel her heart pounding in her chest.

"We've been down this road," she tells Henry shakily. "I've hurt you before, and I'm not sure that I won't do it again. So please, please just stay away from me."

She moves on instinct as she flicks her wrist and is engulfed in black and white smoke as she teleports herself as far away from everyone she loves as she can get.


Moments after Emma disappears, her family begins to come to.

Snow's body aches, but otherwise, she feels just fine. She pulls herself into a seated position, spying her husband lying not far away. He seems to be coming back to himself as well, and she moves to his side. "David? David, are you okay?"

He nods, wincing as he does so. "I'm fine. My head hurts a bit, but I'm fine." She helps him sit up, and they assist each other to stand. He still has the dagger in his hand, and he sheaths it somewhere in his coat.

Snow turns to see the condition of everyone else.

Regina is checking on Robin, who is gingerly removing himself from a car windshield, and Killian is already standing and talking to—

"Henry!" Snow cries, and moves quickly to check on her grandson.

"I'm fine, Grandma," he says, answering her unasked question. "I didn't come out until after she…"

"What the bloody hell was that?" asks a distraught Robin who leans heavily on Regina.

"That's the Dark One," Killian answers tightly. Snow feels compelled to hug him, but she's hardly emotionally stable enough to offer comfort to anyone else right now. "I'd heard stories about the transformation in my travels, but I had no way to confirm them until now."

Regina asks, "Does that mean…" Snow watches as Regina's hands fidget so slightly. "Does that mean we can't save her?"

"I don't know," Killian answers. "What I do know is that she didn't look any different from when we last saw her. That might mean that the transformation is not yet complete, and it could be possible to stop it."

"We can," Henry says, determination and bravery written on his face. Snow wishes she could feel pride in that moment, something other than the gaping emptiness she's felt since Emma looked at her with tears in her eyes and told them that they'd have to remove the darkness from her again. "She said she was afraid to hurt us. She lost control of her magic before, and she figured that out. We can help her do that again."

"Your optimism is appreciated," Hook says, "but I'm afraid the Dark One curse is a much more dangerous beast than light magic."

"He's right," Regina says. "Gold is living proof that you can't live with the Dark One curse. We have to find some way to destroy it."

"How do you suggest we do that?" Robin asks. "Because my entire body isn't liking the idea of going near her again if what we just saw is the result."

"Even if we don't know how to save her yet," Snow says, "We can't just leave her to deal with this on her own."

"But we can't go chasing after her either," Regina points out. "If that blast of magic was any indication, she's far more powerful and even less in control."

"The magic blocking cuff," Henry suggests suddenly. "Maybe she'll agree to put it on."

Hook says, "Excellent idea, lad, but without the cuff, how can we contain the Wicked Witch?"

"Pandora's box," Henry answers without missing a beat, "I know Grandpa still has it in the shop. We can use that to trap Zelena until we help Mom."

"It won't hurt the baby will it?" Robin asks.

Regina replies, "No. Pandora's box traps the prisoner in a contained moment of time. The child won't be harmed."

It's the spectre of a plan, and certainly not a bad one.

A few silent moments pass, and Snow realizes that they're all still standing in the middle of the street. Waiting for direction. It had been easy to forget delegation when Emma was always there to lead them, when Emma would unflinchingly make decisions for the group.

It's just another thing that drives home the fact that her daughter is gone, and it punches Snow in the gut once more. She tries to remind herself that she was a leader, once. A princess, an army commander, a queen. When she tries to summon up that person, though, she fails. Because at the end of the day, she's right back where she started: a mother whose daughter has to be sacrificed for the greater good.

Regina's voice disrupts her thoughts. "Well, we're not going to do Emma any good standing around. Robin and I can go to Gold's shop to get Pandora's box."

"I'm coming with you," Henry insists.

"Henry—" Regina tries.

"No, she's my Mom. I want to help. I'm not a kid anymore."

Snow can practically hear Regina shout Yes you are! just by the expression on her face. The mother in Snow understands, and wants to send Henry as far away from them as possible to protect him.

"It was his plan," Hook concedes.

Regina's burning glare at Hook could have leveled just about anyone, but Hook meets it with steely resistance. "Fine. But after we get the box, I'm going to get the cuff from Zelena myself."

"Whoa, Regina, going after her without backup sounds dangerous," David says.

"It sounds dangerous because it is, David," Regina intones flatly.

"Maybe you can take her outside the town line, like we did with Pan," Snow suggests. "Zelena would be far less dangerous without her magic."

"No," Regina says immediately. "I'm not setting foot outside this town while there's an out of control Dark One on the loose. I can't take the chance she might cast a spell and trap me out there."

"She's still Emma," Snow insists.

"Maybe, but she's dangerous. We all saw her. She's never wielded dark magic before, and you can trust me when I say that the first taste makes you do unspeakable things." Regina gathers herself for a moment and continues, "Once we get the box, Robin and Henry will go to the library. There might be something there that we can use."

"We should ask Belle for help as well," Hook suggests. "Aside from myself, no one knows the Dark One curse better."

Regina nods, taking in the information and organizing the plan around it. Snow is tempted to feel pride again because this is the Regina she'd looked up to as a child, now older and wiser, and an almost unparalleled leader. "Okay, you go to the library first. Get a head start, and Robin and Henry will bring Belle with them and meet you there."

Regina then turns to Snow and David. "Start looking for Emma. If you find her, be careful. We don't know how much control she has over her own actions. We'll use the library as a rendezvous point."

Regina meets Snow's eye with a determination that Snow just knows is meant just for her. It is the determination of a friend, of a fellow mother, of someone who wants her to know that I will fix this for you.

"Let's save Emma," Snow says, nodding in affirmation at Regina.

The group disperses until it's just Snow, Charming, and Hook lingering. Snow and David are turning to leave when Hook's hesitant voice stops them. "I—I'd rather come with you, if it's all the same."

They turn back, and Snow's breath catches. Hook had seemed to be holding it together rather well while they were strategizing, but now… now he looks more broken than she's ever seen him. It's a vulnerability that Snow's never seen on the reformed pirate, and she goes with her first instinct and lets go of David to wrap him in a hug. He seems startled by it and only reluctantly returns it for a moment before Snow pulls back. She leaves a hand on his shoulder and squeezes tenderly.

"If she comes back, we need you here. I know Regina's going to try to keep Henry as far away from her as possible, and we need someone here who we know can get through to her," Snow tells him.

Hook swallows heavily, and nods wordlessly as Snow pulls away.

"We'll get her back," David assures, imparting Hook with an affectionate grasp on his bicep. "We've done it before," he adds wryly. "This family has a bit of a tradition of finding each other."

"I've heard many a time," Hook says quietly. His voice is rough and far from steady, but then he straightens and it's almost like watching a different person step out from behind a curtain how quickly he shifts from vulnerable to confident. "Optimism. One of the many benefits of being a hero, no doubt." Before he turns to walk away, he says, "You should get to your search. The dirt on her clothing looked too dark to be from the forest, so if I were you, I would start in the mines. Godspeed."

Snow and Charming watch him go for a moment before they turn to each other. "She found us while we were cursed," Snow says. "Time to return the favor."


Regina isn't sure what to expect from a Rumplestiltsken free of the Dark One curse, but whatever image she'd been building in her mind is shriveled and confused when she looks upon the scene before her.

A completely comatose Mr. Gold prompts Henry to ask, "What's wrong with him?"

Belle sighs. "I don't know. I called the fairies, they're going to come take a look at him to see if there's anything they can't do. He's still breathing, but he's just… not waking up. I think it has something to do with losing the Dark Curse the way he did, but I..." She shakes her head. "It doesn't matter right now. What can I help you with?"

They quickly catch Belle up on their situation, and bring her in on the plan. When she hears what Emma did to save all of them, Belle gasps, her hand coming up to cover her mouth (but Regina can't help but feel a pang that Emma did it for her. You've worked too hard to have your happiness destroyed. She sure doesn't feel like she deserved that much.)

"Is Killian going to be in the library?" she asks. When Regina answers the affirmative, Belle says resolutely, "Good. He shouldn't be alone right now. As soon as I get Pandora's box, I'll head over there. It's just in the back."

Belle returns moments later, the intricate box in her hands.

Regina takes it from Belle and sighs. "Time to go deal with my sister. That's always fun. Henry, go with Belle and Robin to the library. I'll meet you all there when I'm finished."

Belle and Henry move towards the shop door, and Regina goes to follow them until Robin gently draws her aside. "I'd like to go with you," he murmurs, "to make sure you stay safe."

She shakes her head. "She'll just try to use you against me. And I'm sick and tired of seeing you suffer because of me."

"What happened to me is not your fault," Robin assures. "Zelena is the only one who should shoulder that blame."

"The only reason she's interested in tormenting you is because it torments me. There's plenty of reason for me to be guilty about that."

"Regina, I know how self-sacrificial you can be, and I don't want to make you face her alone-"

"And I don't want to make you face her at all. I'm doing this by myself," she finishes, tone brooking no room for argument. She turns and leaves. She can hear Robin following her out, but she trusts that he won't follow her further.

He would never say as much, but Regina is quite certain he's glad she insisted on going without him.


The scrape of her boots against the stone of the town's extensive cave system is the only sound that accompanies her labored breathing and the voice in her head.

Seeing what she'd done to everyone she loved-

It pleases us, it hisses.

"No," she whispers,

You are nothing to them, the voice says. You are their Savior. They don't want Emma Swan, not the way we do. She stumbles out onto the beach where Anna and Kristoff washed up on shore, and she collapses in the freezing surf.

She buries her sparking hands in the water, hoping that the shocking cold will dull the torrent of heat coursing through her.

Because she doesn't want to listen to what the voice is saying, she doesn't want to feel everything she's never allowed herself to feel.

Your parents name their child after the one who betrayed you and hurt you, and they never cared to ask. Your parents don't want you, they want him. He's what they wanted, isn't he? You're just their burden, the child that is theirs but isn't theirs, it says, and she doesn't agree, she doesn't agree, she doesn't agree.

They who put you in a wardrobe for the greater good. That's all you are to them, Emma Swan. You are their sacrifice for the greater good.

"No," she says weakly, her body shivering in the water but the heat still blazing in her heart. "No, they love me."

Then why do they never ask? Why do they never ask about your life before them? You want them to, Emma Swan; we can feel it. But they never do.

Would you like to know why?

"Please stop," she whispers into the uncaring waves lapping at her thighs.

You already know why, yet you refuse to admit it. You should say it, Emma Swan.

"They're my family," she says. "They're my family. They are everything I've been waiting for all my life."

And yet, look where you are. Look at what you've given them. What have they given you?

"That's not-"

Her magic is building, increasing with every small thing the voice says. She's trying not to break, because she's supposed to be good, she's the Savior, (she never asked—) but she's… she's supposed… She's supposed to bring back the happy endings for everyone, not selfishly claw after hers.

Why not? Don't you deserve it? the voice says, and—

Sometimes families just can't have more than one.

Tallahassee, baby. Almost home.

We're gonna be a family. Stop the car, Emma.

It's a boy, Emma. (You can't keep him.)

It's not what I wanted. (You're not what I wanted.)

Bring back the happy endings, Emma. (You never asked for this.)

Her hands are shaking as she breaks.

She screams, loudly, and it doesn't just come from her lungs, it comes from deep within her, something primal and viscerally painful and her magic explodes.

She's felt power before.

She's felt it even when she didn't realize she had it. She remembers feeling it when she pulled the bridge together under her feet, when she fought the snowman, when she helped Regina, when she's stood near Rumplestiltsken and watched him try to kill—

It's nothing compared to this.

The sand, the very earth beneath her shakes with a loud groan, the water parts around her in a rush of magic so heady she feels as though she could happily drown in it. The waves grow choppy around her, and rocks from the cliffs above her fall into the sea with a cataclysmic roar.

But above the sound of her destruction, Emma's scream prevails.


The trio arrives at the library to find Hook already feverishly combing through the shelves. Henry doesn't think he's ever seen Hook this desperate, this directionless before, and it brings a sadness to his heart that he can't place.

"Killian," Belle prods, and he jerks back into himself when he notices them standing at the entryway.

His eyes quickly find Robin and he says, "I don't think Snow and Dave are enough of a force looking for Emma. Would it be possible for you to rally your Merry Men to the cause?"

Robin nods. "You're right. The more eyes we have on the lookout, the better. They also have Roland and I'd rather have them appraised of the situation if they happen across her." He turns to Henry. "Stay here. Don't go anywhere unless you're with someone, and wait for your mother to arrive. I imagine she'll be along shortly if everything with the Wicked Witch went as planned."

Henry nods, feeling bad for already planning his escape to help look for his Mom. He can't just sit around and wait for her. She won't hurt him, and he knows that she's stronger than she gives herself credit for. Maybe even stronger than Rumplestiltsken. Maybe she'll be able to fight it better than he ever did.

Robin claps his shoulder once, smiling tightly at all of them before leaving the library.

Belle and Killian settle into a practiced system, one that Henry clearly has no place in, though they both try to include him. It annoys him deeply that Mom sent him to the library to keep him out of the way. He doesn't want to be out of the way, he wants to help, and more than anything he knows that he can't help here.

In a small lull of the research machine that is Hook and Belle, Henry suggests, "Maybe I should go take a look at what's in Mom's vault. She has a ton of magic books and stuff down there. I might be able to find something to help us."

Belle looks at Killian. "That could help."

"Indeed," Hook agrees, and Henry begins to grin until Hook says, "but you're not going alone."

Henry holds back a groan. There goes the one person he thought would be an ally in this. "I'm not a kid anymore," he insists.

"While I appreciate your ability to make a plan, your mother's not wrong when she says it's dangerous out there."

"My Mom won't hurt me."

"I know she certainly doesn't want to hurt you," he concedes, "but the change from human to Dark One can be… drastic. There's no way we can predict what she might do."

Henry's mouth opens to respond, but before he can he's cut off by the piercing sound of a scream. It doesn't echo from somewhere, but rather it sounds like it's coming straight from his own mind.

Belle and Killian must hear it too, because Belle's hands go up to futilely cover her ears and Killian flinches hard and his eyes squeeze shut.

A series of disorienting images flash before his eyes.

Piercing headlights. A smiling girl he doesn't recognize. A shattered plate. A garbage bag full of clothes. Prison bars and gray jumpsuits. The sound of crackling electricity and a bright medical lamp shining in his eyes. Flashes of green. Neal. Hook lying on the ground.

It ends several long moments later, abruptly cutting off and sending Henry groping for the nearest steady surface to hold himself up on. The lightheadedness clears quickly, but his ears are still ringing. His confusion is palpable, and is matched by the look on Belle's face.

Killian, however, has a look of fear. He murmurs brokenly, "Emma," and runs for the door.

Henry doesn't hesitate when he follows.


Regina tells Nurse Ratched to check Zelena's cell if Regina isn't back in five minutes.

The fluorescent bulbs above her glare brightly, the sound of her heels echoing off the stark walls her only accompaniment to her sister's cell. As she approaches, the sharp clacks of her shoes almost drown out the sound of a muffled voice, but when she halts outside the door there is no doubt about what she is hearing. It's Zelena's voice. But it's… it's gentle and soothing in a way Regina's never heard from her sister before. She leans forward, careful to keep out of sight of the small window.

"Would you eat them in a box? Would you eat them with a fox?" The Wicked Witch of the West then pitches her voice lower as she says, "Not in a box. Not with a fox. Not in a house. Not with a mouse."

Even if Regina hadn't read Green Eggs and Ham to a young Henry more times than she could count, she would still recognize the dulcet rhymes of the Dr. Seuss classic.

In the back of her mind she starts thinking up an appropriate censure for whoever had disregarded her orders to not give Zelena anything besides her food, and she leans her back against the wall as she adjusts Pandora's box in her hands.

She studies the cracking ceiling (she should really find some money in the budget to fix that) and listens as Zelena's voice continues.

She feels a pang that she shouldn't, so she gets herself angry. This is the woman that deceived Robin in the most despicable way imaginable, who makes it her mission to destroy every small step of progress Regina has made away from who she used to be, who threatens her family and happiness on a regular basis-

Regina steels herself. This is no time for sentimentality or giving Zelena sympathy she doesn't deserve. Her town is in danger, and Regina will act accordingly.

She tucks Pandora's box into her coat and enters the room.

Zelena cuts herself off mid-sentence and makes a face as though she smells something rotten. Green Eggs and Ham is open on her lap, her hand holding the pages open. "I neither need nor want you here, sis. I'm all trapped away, just as you'd like me to be." Zelena smiles, and Regina can easily forget the woman who'd been reading Green Eggs and Ham to her unborn child not moments ago. "However, if your dear Robin is outside, please tell him that I think our child wants it's daddy."

Regina grits her teeth against the well-crafted jab, and chooses to not answer. "I need that cuff," she says instead.

"Ooh, sorry, dear, but you're the one who insisted on having me without my magic. Unless you'd like for me to have that back, I imagine this is going to stay right where it is."

Zelena is cocky and clearly gearing up to make another joke about what she did to Robin, so Regina chooses that moment to reveal Pandora's box. "I don't know why I didn't think of this before," she says as Zelena's face falls. "Seems a far more fitting punishment for what you've done."

Green Eggs and Ham falls out of Zelena's hands and slaps onto the floor. Her hands curl protectively around her belly. "No," she says, "You can't do this to me."

Regina activates the box, the magic swirling out of it and curling around Zelena's feet. She tries to run, but there's nowhere to go in the small cell, and eventually the box begins to pull her in.

"Stop this!" Zelena screeches, all pretenses dropped.

"Don't want to go in here, sis?" Regina asks, teasing, but then she goes dead serious, "Well, let's see how you like doing something against your will."

It's only when Zelena has been completely immobilized by the magic pulling her into the box that Regina reaches for her sister's wrist and tears the cuff off.

Barely a heartbeat later, Pandora's box engulfs her completely, and traps her within its confines. The magic dissipates and Regina bends over to pick up Zelena's new prison.

Suddenly, Regina feels another burst of powerful magic (Emma.) and then the screaming begins.

The cuff and the box fall out of her hands as dark magic floods her veins and she sees things even though her eyes are closed against the temptation to lash out, to awaken dark parts of herself that she always tries to bury. She recognizes Henry's biological father, the pirate, blood, the green flashes of a portal, Henry, voices that tell her she's not enough, the overwhelming feeling that she needs to be enough

It breaks off as quickly as it began, and Regina gasps, her knees shaking and hands clenched against the feeling of the dark magic that had just invaded her mind.

She has to get to the library.


Snow and Charming are making their way through the tunnels when they hear her.

Her scream pierces their ears, but covering them does no good. A deluge of confusing images flash before their eyes. They recognize Neal, Hook, the girl from Emma's old video camera. There are prison bars and the burn of a medical lamp, and flashes of green—

And then it's gone, leaving them with ringing ears and light heads.

"Snow?"

"I'm okay. You?"

"Yeah."

"What on earth was that?"

David's mouth opens to answer, until they hear a great roaring coming from up ahead. It sounds as though rocks are tearing themselves in half, as though the mine might come down on top of their heads. "I think that might be our answer," he says.

The race for the source of the sound.


"Emma!"

She hears her mother behind her, and the sound of her voice makes her halt her magic with a pained grunt. She nearly sobs against the force of holding it back.

She tries to remind herself that the Darkness is inside her, making her feel a lot of things, so she reins herself in, but she can feel her magic stirring, and after the display she just put on, she's worried.

"You shouldn't be here," she manages through gritted teeth, "I'm dangerous."

Then comes the voice of her father, "No, you're our daughter. There's nowhere else for us to be."

With your son, pops into her head but she doesn't say it.

She raises from the water and turns, the freezing surf dripping from her clothing but she doesn't feel it.

Their worried faces slam into her with the force of a truck, and she wants to just fall into their arms, but—

beating her fists against the truck, crying, screaming, wishing that her parents could take her away from here, imagines that they will come and save her

The Darkness nudges her memories, nudges her anger.

"We have a plan," Snow says then.

Something in her leaps.

imagines that they will come and save her

"We do?" she asks.

"Or at least, the beginning of one," Charming amends. "We're going to get the magic cuff from Zelena. Make it so you can't use magic."

The heat flares in her again, and in an instant, she's thrown violently back into when her parents were scared of her magic, when she tried to get rid of it and nearly killed herself, Elsa, and Hook in the process with their encouragement (with their fear).

A violent "No," spits through her teeth, "You won't take my magic from me again." It feels as though the Darkness pushed the words out of her, but it felt good, so good, to say it. She slaps a hand over her mouth anyway, knowing that she really, really shouldn't like the Darkness. "That—that wasn't me," she stammers.

Her parents shift uncomfortably, but David says, "It's okay, Emma. We know."

They fear you, Emma Swan.

"No," she whispers under her breath, "they fear you."

"Emma, who are you talking to?" she hears Snow ask, but she barely hears it.

We only reveal their fear to you. It was there all along, you just refuse to see it.

"Emma," her mother tries again, and this time Emma looks at her. Snow doesn't flinch at the intensity of Emma's gaze, but Emma can tell that it's a near thing.

"Do you know how to get it out of me?" she asks. When they don't answer, her voice raises, "How are you going to get the Darkness out?"

"We don't know yet," Snow says.

"But don't worry. Everyone is working on it," David continues. "Robin and Regina, Hook and Henry, even Belle. We'll find a way, Emma. You'll be back to normal soon."

Normal is nothing, Emma Swan.

She flinches but doesn't say anything, merely nodding at their words.

"Come on," Snow prompts, holding out a hand, "Everyone will be waiting for you."

Waiting for their Savior to return.

"Maybe just try to not invade our minds again with that screaming?" David asks, clearly trying to lighten the tension to no avail.

"What was it that you showed us?" Snow asks then. "When you did that. What were all those things you showed us?"

"You would know if you had asked," Emma answers.

"What?"

"You would know what those things meant if you had just asked." She breathes harder now, the temptation to lash out strong, rising in her like bile. "But you never did. All you wanted was to connect with me but you never bothered to get to know me in the first place." She scoffs loudly. "It was all 'you must have questions about us' and never the other way around."

"Honey, you were so closed off. We just wanted you to come to us on your own time," Snow answers.

"Parents are supposed to know their children. You should've known that I—" she sucks in a heavy breath, trying to drown her hurt in anger and it's working. "You should've gotten to know me before you started trying for another one because I wasn't what you wanted—"

"Emma—" David tries, but Emma doesn't let him.

"I was never enough you you, was I? Before I was even born, you tried to fix me," Emma hisses. "You say you were trying to protect me. But see, I think you were just trying to fix a problem before that problem was even born. Who assumes the worst of their own child?" She stares directly at Snow, hoping that her glare is every bit as cutting as she wants it to be. "How could you think that when your child was growing inside you, when you could feel them getting bigger day after day, when you first felt them move and respond to your voice… How could you ever think that there was something to fix?"

David says, "Emma, there's so much you don't understand about our lives before you were born—"

Something inside Emma snaps.

Her hand flies up, and she lets her dark magic loose.

Invisible nooses tighten around their necks, but she doesn't cut off their air, not just yet. She wants them awake for this.

"I don't understand your lives? You dragged me out of my life and made me into a Savior. I am so sick of villains, and I am sick of you deciding to sacrifice my happiness for the greater good!"

She stops trying to fight the Darkness because it's right. She's been so angry for so long, and she's always been expected to just bury it, to forgive and forget. But Emma is done forgiving. She's done allowing others' happiness to eclipse her own. It starts here.

Until—

"Swan!"

"Mom!"

Their voices are like a breath of fresh air she'd never realized she was missing. Her eyes flicker away from her parents, finding Henry and Killian slowing their running just shy of where she stands.

Hook places a protective arm in front of Henry, and she feels anger flare up because that's her son—

"Emma," he says gently, and his voice is a balm, but it isn't enough. "Please stop."

He doesn't understand, it hisses.

"You don't understand," she tells him. "I have to do this. I deserve to do this."

"Listen to your words, this isn't you speaking," Killian says. "Remember what you told me about no one deciding who you are but yourself? Make that choice, Emma."

We have, it says.

"I have."

"I don't believe you. Look at what you're doing." He starts to edge around her so that she can see her parent's squirming against her hold in her peripheral vision, their hands clawing at the invisible grip she has. "Those are your parents. Your mum and dad. Your home is where they are, right? In Neverland, you told us that you always felt like an orphan," he says gently, and she tenses while the Darkness coils. "If you do this, you'll be the one who made yourself an orphan. When you get scared of being hurt, you push people away. This isn't pushing away, love. If you kill them, you can't fix it. You can't find them again."

She trembles at his words, and she can feel horror and revulsion rising up in her, but she doesn't release them. The Darkness pushes at her.

"Swan, you've got to let them go," Killian prods gently. He steps closer until he's right next to her. He's so close she can feel the heat off his body and if she could just touch him-

The pirate doesn't make our choices for us, the thing inside her says, vehement and more violent than she remembers from before.

"You can't make my choices for me," she echoes, but something twists in her heart as she says it.

"I couldn't do that even if I tried," he says.

He's wrong, the Darkness insists, but she doesn't listen. She keeps her eyes glued to his.

"I—I know," she says as she looks back at him. He's right. It's always been her choice. He's right, so the Darkness—

It's like she's been falling and she's finally found the bottom. The Darkness isn't right about him, so maybe it isn't right about…

"Let them go, Mom," Henry adds from behind Hook, and Emma realizes that she's trying to choke her parents in front of her son.

"I—I don't know if I can," she manages. Because it's revolting and dark and nothing she's ever let herself feel before, but at the same time it's a catharsis and deep-seated relief.

Killian smiles softly. "There she is. Come back to us, love."

As she lets her parents go, much to the Darkness's dismay, and they collapse, she can feel the temptation to do it again, to give in to everything that she still feels. She turns to Hook, nearly falling into his ready embrace, because it's safer here.

His arms tighten around her and she sighs in absolute relief because she doesn't feel the pull, doesn't hear the voice, and God, she just tried to kill her parents.

(She can hear them gasping for air, can hear Henry checking on them to see if they're okay.)

She doesn't pull away from him, half afraid that if she does, all the Darkness will come rushing back. (It's only at bay. She can feel it in her, deep and tucked away, but it's there.) "I'm sorry," she chokes out, and her eyes are stinging. "I'm sorry."

She brings herself to look at them. Her parents stand away from her, shell-shocked and breathing hard. She spies the dagger in David's hand. The Darkness in her leaps, and Killian must feel her tense, because he pulls away, and determinedly meets her eyes with his own. "Stay with us, Swan."

"Mom," Henry says, prompting her to look at him. "We'll figure it out. It's going to be okay."

Her beautiful boy, so full of hope and faith in her. She breathes, focuses on him and Killian's warmth and feels the Darkness recede once more.

"Okay," she says, nodding at Henry and trying to put on something resembling a smile. Killian's hand threads with her own, and she grips it like a lifeline.

Her parents have approached her now, and she can already see the bruises forming on their necks. "I'm sorry," she says, voice small. (She can also see the dagger still in David's hand. The Darkness wants.)

Snow looks like she wants to reach out, but she just twines her hands in front of her, twisting them as though nervous. "We will figure this out."

David nods in agreement, and he shifts the dagger in his hand, and it's like it's another piece of her body that he's holding, and she's so hyper aware of it it makes her head hurt. "Dad, can you—" she struggles to not lunge for it, it's right there, and they can't stop her—

"The dagger, mate. Put it away," Killian finishes.

David startles, as though he hadn't realized he was holding it in the first place, and moves to sheath it behind him. "Sorry," he says.

Once it's out of sight, it's easier to forget it, but the awareness only fades to a low hum. "So you… You said you had a plan? To get the Darkness out?" she asks.

"We can talk about it more once you have the cuff on. Then you won't be afraid of hurting anyone," Henry says.

She nods, smiles at Henry because no, she doesn't want to hurt anyone. She doesn't.

The Darkness rises and makes her shudder, and she holds onto Killian tighter.

We know you, Emma Swan.


When Robin returns, he finds himself mid-conversation between Belle and Regina.

"...It clearly had something to do with Emma, because Killian knew what was happening right away and ran off with Henry."

"I'm sorry, he what with my son?"

Belle says, "He was going after Emma, and Henry followed him. I doubt Killian was thinking very much about anyone's safety except Emma's."

Regina grumbles something under her breath that does not sound complimentary. Before she turns to him. It's a balm to his soul to see her shoulders relax and her face slacken into a small smile when she sees him. "Anything from the Merry Men?"

"No signs that Emma was in the forest," he reports. "I have them on the lookout around the camp and small groups sweeping the forest, but it would seem that she found someplace else to be her safe haven."

"Roland?" Regina asks.

"Worried about Emma," he says, "but Scarlet's got him well occupied."

Regina nods with a small sigh of relief. "Good. At least one of our sons is safe."

"Henry's a headstrong lad," Robin says, "I doubt Hook would've been able to, or even want to stop him from following after the..." He searches for an accurate term, but comes up dry. "Mind-screaming? What exactly was that?"

"It's what we were talking about when you joined us," Belle says.

Regina nods. "It's something I've read about; magical projection into other's minds. But she didn't just manage to project images and sounds…"

"There were feelings, too," Belle says.

Regina nods. "Exactly. The fact that she managed to do it even to people without magic says that she's incredibly powerful, even if she's wildly out of control." Regina strokes a hand over the leather cuff. "Let's just hope she gets here soon so we can put this on her."

Her motion with the cuff draws his attention to her hands, and he spies Pandora's box sitting on the table behind her. His body draws in a sharp breath against his will, and he tears his gaze away. His palms have begun to sweat, and he tries to casually dry them against his vest.

Robin turns to Belle, "Could you give us a moment?"

The woman who once saved him from torture and certain death in Rumplestiltsken's castle nods. "I've got a few books in the back I'd like to look through," she says, and leaves the couple in silence.

"Are you okay?" Robin asks.

She stiffly. "I have the cuff. Zelena's trapped in Pandora's box. Everything's going according to plan." Regina seems to be doing everything in her power to hold herself together, and Robin gladly pushes aside his own aches to ease hers.

"Hey," he prods. He grasps her shoulders in his hands, forcing her to meet his eyes. "We will find a way to save her. You know Emma. She's strong. She'll fight this, and we'll help her."

"But she shouldn't have to," Regina says, "She shouldn't have sacrificed herself for me like that. It's should've been me who took the Darkness. Emma barely understands magic as it is, and if I'd taken it, maybe I could've controlled it better or…" she trails off in frustration.

"Then it would've been your name on that blade, lost and alone and frightened. Besides, you heard what the Apprentice said. The Darkness is chained to a person so it does not destroy the realms. Had Emma not intervened, it would've destroyed you and the rest of the lands. And after Marian and Zelena, I—" Robin takes a steadying breath. "I can't lose you again." He cups her cheek in his hand and she leans into it. "I will forever be in Emma's debt for bringing you back to me."

Regina closes her eyes. "I should've been able to do something."

"You are," he says. "Emma made a choice. An impossible choice between saving everyone she loves and putting herself on the line to do so. There are some situations where there are no winners. You just have to pick up the pieces and move forward. You are helping us move forward. You are going to help Emma. It's just who you are, Regina. Out of the direst of circumstances, from a life of loneliness and pain and anger, out of the destruction you often created yourself, you find a way to move forward. And you'll do so again."

Before Regina can respond, the bell over the door chimes.

Then comes the voice of Snow White, "We found her."


Snow and Charming enter first and announce their arrival; Henry follows but stops in the threshold, his eyes cast backwards at them.

Emma hasn't let go of Killian once since the beach, and when she stops, he halts as well.

"I shouldn't go in there," she says, "I don't want to hurt anyone."

Henry assures, "You'll be okay, Mom. We have the cuff. Once we get it on, you'll feel better."

She doesn't say anything, just nods, but Killian knows that look on her face. He hasn't seen it in some time. He's seen variations of it, to be sure, but not this.

She's the lost girl again, and it breaks his heart.

She looks to him, her eyes searching.

He remembers fearing what they would find when he and Henry tracked her and her parents to the beach. He's seen what becoming the Dark One does to someone. Turns their skin scaled and metallic, blackens their heart, and preys upon the darkness of their soul.

But she had looked the same. Same cable knit sweater that she'd put on despite his kissing her bare shoulder and insisting that they could afford to be late to the celebration by just a few more minutes. She does look a bit worse for the wear, dirt and seawater smudging her clothing, but she still looks like her. So despite watching Emma, a woman voraciously dedicated to her family, attempt to strangle her parents, it was seeing that pale skin and jade green of her eyes that convinced him she could still be saved.

It is, however, disconcerting to see this fear in her, this woman who he loves more than his own life. It hurts him to see her trembling, to see her fighting so hard against the Darkness he's spent centuries trying to destroy. In that moment, he feels a pang of epic failure in his bones. If he'd succeeded, she never would've had to take this burden upon her soul.

"Emma," he breathes, "You can do this. You are stronger than it, love. I know you are." He can practically feel her fear, her uncertainty rolling off of her in waves, so he swallows his own fear and smiles at her. "Besides, you certainly don't look like a crocodile."

She chokes out a laugh. "I guess I lucked out," she answers, and he's relieved because she doesn't look so lost anymore.

Henry is still looking at her with that belief of his, and that seems to break down the last of Emma's resistance as she allows him to lead her inside the library.

Regina and Robin stand next to each other, and Belle is walking out of the library's back room and then coming to lean on the library front desk. He nods briefly in greeting to his friend, who was probably worried about how he'd rushed off without explanation.

Regina is eyeing Emma with trepidation, and at Snow with concern. Emma's parents must have filled them in on what happened while they were outside, and Regina is clearly not eager to see a repeat performance.

"How are you feeling, Emma?" Despite her trepidation, Regina is still clearly filled with concern.

Emma's grimace becomes some semblance of a smile as she says, "Like I've got the greatest Darkness in the world in me. I'd like it out."

"Here." They turn when they hear Snow, and she's holding out the cuff.

Killian steps away, and watches as Emma's expression falls. Her hands clench so hard he can see them trembling hear the knuckles crack.

"Give it to Henry," she nearly gasps.

Snow shies backwards the slightest bit, but doesn't raise complaint as she hands the cuff off to Emma's son.

"I'm sorry, I just—" Emma tries. "I just don't think I can keep you safe if you get that close to me."

"We understand," David says, placing a hand on Snow's elbow. They share a loaded look that Killian can't decipher.

"Ready?" Henry asks.

Emma nods, and holds out a fist. She's no longer shaking, but Killian can tell from her expression that it's a near thing.

When Henry slides the cuff over her wrist, they all tense, waiting for some new explosion of magic or something other than an anti-climactic silence.

But the latter is what they get, and it seems that the room breathes a collective sigh of relief.

"Well, now for the hard part," Regina says. "How do we get it out?"

Belle meets Killian's eyes, and they say simultaneously: "Merlin."


In the quiet of the loft, the Dark One stirs.

Her body is not tired, nor is her mind.

She wishes that she hadn't sent Henry to Regina's. She wishes that she'd taken Hook up on his offer to stay on the Jolly Roger. She wishes her parents hadn't insisted that she would stay in her bed, trying to convince her and themselves that they are not afraid of her.

She can hear the deep breaths of her parents below her, can hear the fluttery heartbeat of her little brother next to them in his bassinet.

But more than that, she can hear the Darkness.

Your mother took her bow out of the closet.

They're afraid of you. They claim they love you, but they're terrified of you.

You cannot love someone you fear. You cannot love someone you do not understand.

And they do not understand you, Emma Swan.

And alone, Emma listens.

Alone, Emma remembers.


20 Years Ago

Strange as it sounds, Emma likes washing the dishes. It makes her feel like a part of things, like she's a part of a necessary system. Her foster mother, Sylvia, washes and hands them to her to dry, and she puts them away.

The kitchen normally smells like heavy, outdated air freshener, but now the scent of orange dish soap fills the air. The cabinets are cheap wood veneer, the shelves sagging with their age, but to Emma, it seems like nothing could be more perfect.

Her foster father retreats to the living room with a case of beer, even though he'd already had a few glasses of scotch with dinner.

He shouts something at the TV, and Sylvia flinches, and then begins to hum. Emma doesn't recognize the song, but it makes her smile.

Sylvia notices Emma's smile as she hands her another plate.

And just after that, just after Emma begins smiling and Sylvia begins to hum a little louder, the plate falls.

Shatters.

Sylvia falls silent, the color draining from her face.

"What was that?" he yells from the living room. Emma's stomach drops when she hears angry, drunken footsteps approaching the doorway. "What the fuck was that?"

When he reaches the doorway to the kitchen, he grabs the frame and surveys the scene before him. "You let her do this?"

Sylvia can't meet his eye, and doesn't look at Emma when she says, "Did it all on her own."

He can move so fast, and then his hand is grabbing Emma's hair, and she's so scared she can't even scream. She just pants, whimpers, can feel her eyes burning from the pain in her scalp as he drags her off her stool.

Emma grabs at his fingers, trying to dislodge them from her hair as he drags her out into the garage that houses the Pontiac station wagon but he's too strong and her hands are too small and Emma begins to cry.

"Shut up," he says as he pops the trunk. "This'll teach you to disrespect my property, disrespect the house you live in."

He pushes Emma inside, and closes the top. There's overwhelming quiet for a moment, the only sound she can hear is her breathing scraping her throat, and then the muffled sound of yelling.

There are a few stark moments of shock as Emma stares into the darkness of the trunk, her tears hot on her cold face until she begins to pound at the top of the trunk.

She finds her voice through the fear, begging, crying for someone to come save her. She loses track of time as she beats her small fists until they're bruises and cracked, cries until her voice goes hoarse.

When her arms collapse back down to her chest, exhausted and painful, she imagines her parents, gives them imaginary faces and strong arms as they carry her away from her fear, from this house, from all the houses. She imagines the way her mother might pick her up, the way her father would smile at her.

That night in the trunk of a Pontiac, Emma dreams of her parents and the home that they could give her.

Thirty-odd hours later, when the police pull her out of the trunk and call her social worker, some part of Emma realizes that no one is coming to save her. No one is coming to find her or give her a home.

The imaginary spectre of her parents shatter just as surely as her hope had shattered the instant she dropped that plate.


We have so many plans, Emma Swan.


When Snow awakens in the morning, it's to the piercing sound of her cell phone ringing. Neal immediately begins crying.

Snow reaches over to her bedside table. "David, can you—"

He grunts and rolls out of bed. "Yeah."

She checks the caller ID, concern flickering through her heart before she answers. "Regina? What's-"

"Pandora's box is gone," she says without preamble.

Snow asks, still sleep addled, "What? How is that possible?"

"It's not. Unless someone managed to shatter my protection spells."

"Who could do that?" Snow's mind begins to snap to awareness, and she doesn't want to believe what she knows must be—

"You and I know exactly who. Get the dagger, because I think Emma's trying to set Zelena free."

David's managed to quiet Neal's cries (mostly protest at being awoken than any real discomfort) to soft whimpers, and he looks at her in question. "Emma took Pandora's box." David's countenance drops. "Get the dagger. We're going after her."

Her husband gently places Neal back in his bassinet, and goes over to the enchanted box Regina had given them to house the dagger.

He freezes.

"David?" Snow asks.

"Snow, what's going on?"

When David turns, Snow knows immediately what's wrong.

"Snow?" Regina asks.

"Emma has the dagger."


Outside the town line, Emma releases the lock on Pandora's box and steps back. As the smoke coalesces into a solid figure, Emma immediately steps up behind her.

Zelena staggers when she solidifies, the echoes of a rageful scream dying in her throat when she realizes she's free.

Emma seizes the Wicked Witch and places the dagger against her throat. "Don't move."

"Why, the Savior would never dare harm an expectant mother," she says. Despite her nonchalant words, Emma can feel her captive readying herself for attack. Zelena raises a hand, and flicks with her fingers, clearly expecting a magical advantage to free her from Emma's grip.

When nothing happens, Emma feels Zelena stiffen and try again.

"Why can't I feel my magic? What have you done to me?" She can't see Zelena's face, but her tone betrays her panic. When Emma doesn't answer, Zelena looks down. "Well, hello Dark One," she says, her tone shifting as she sees the new name adorning the dagger, "A much lovelier body you've inhabited this time around, I must say. But it looks like just enough of Emma Swan has stuck around in there to carry over her boorish instincts." Zelena tries to throw an elbow backwards, trying to catch Emma unaware.

Emma blocks it. "Don't overestimate my sympathy," she whispers and then kicks out Zelena's left knee. The witch cries out in pain as her leg buckles, sending her down to the pavement. Emma follows, keeping the dagger pressed harshly to her throat.

"You're on my turf now, Greenie. And you're going to be doing a few things for me."


In a grand room of Camelot, three figures stand around a round table.

"This is our best chance," Guinevere says. "With the Dark One curse tied to the Savior, it will be at it's most vulnerable. This is the chance we've been waiting for, and it will never come again."

Lancelot says, "As much as I balk at this plan, Guinevere is right. If we're to move forward, we must get to the Land Without Magic."

Their leader stares contemplatively out the window, his fingers gripping the hilt of Excalibur. His deep brown eyes flicker down to the red stone at the pommel before closing. "A great man gave up his life to get us this sword. I will not allow that sacrifice to be in vain." He turns. "Now is our chance to fix my grievous error, and rid the living world of the Dark One curse forever."


In the ever-changing landscape of the Underworld, a distinguished gentleman looks upwards and smiles.

"It's time."


Coming next...

II. In The Dark

The Knights of Camelot have arrived, led by Red Riding Hood, but not all is as it seems. Emma sets Zelena loose on Storybrooke to devastating effect while the pieces of her plan fall into place. Robin and Regina face some difficult history in the aftermath. Belle makes some crucial discoveries about the Dark One curse that could hopefully lead to saving Emma. Killian finds himself confiding in Charming when he fears his control over his dark impulses is slipping.

AN2: Please consider dropping me a review and/or come shout at me on tumblr. My OUAT blog is slow-smiles.