It's been three weeks. Three, long, agonizing weeks since the Savior of Storybrooke became the feared Dark One. Regina, the Charmings, Henry, Robin, Hook, and Belle have been trying everything: reading spell books, trying to find a portal to the Enchanted Forest to find Merlin, and attempting to summon the elusive Dark One.

Mostly, it's Hook yelling at the dagger for an appearance of the Dark One, to which Regina usually just rolls her eyes and mumbles what an imbecile he is.

There has been no sign of the Dark One in the past three weeks, which makes the whole town a nervous wreck. Their Savior is in trouble. She needs to be saved. Every time Snow hears this, she breaks down into tears, while David comforts her.

Regina really had enough of this pity party for the first few days after the whole thing happened.

It still feels surreal to her. The darkness was about to consume her; she could feel her veins flooding with it. Then, her white knight sacrificed herself so that she could have her happy ending. Emma saved her. If only she had known that Regina's happy ending wasn't without her.

One night, the group, with the exclusion of Henry, is walking to Regina's office, hoping something in there can help their cause. "We have to find her before something horrible happens," Snow announces, annoying the hell out of Regina, to which she replies, "What do you think I've been trying to do all this time? Figuring out if Rachel and Ross were actually on a break?"

"Let's not get angry over this. We are all working for the same cause," David interjects, intently looking at Regina. She nods and they arrive at Regina's office. "How the hell are we supposed to find anything in here that could help us?" Hook bellows as Regina opens the door.

"You could try and stop yelling so goddamn loud all the time. I'm surprised I haven't cut out your tongue yet," a voice hisses from the inside of the office. The voice belongs to the person they've been trying to find for almost a month.

The Dark One stares at the group, clad in black leather, her white hair tied into a tight bun, blood red lipstick the only color to her pale complexion. She is leaning back in the chair, her legs propped up onto the desk, and bites into a red apple.

"Emma!" Snow shouts, the sight of her daughter catching her off-guard. The Dark One makes a disgusted face as she spits out the piece of the apple she was chewing. "Ugh, it's spoiled. Seriously, the grocery store should not sell this shit," she says, clearly not caring about the other people in the room with her. "I'll need to have a word with them. Or I should just kill them all," she growls, locking eyes with Regina. She's trying to get a rise out of us, Regina thinks, knowing the Dark One just wants to toy with them.

Snow makes a move to run toward the Dark One, but David holds her back, the motion not going unnoticed by the Dark One. "What, Dad, aren't you happy to see me too?" she jests, a sadistic smile gracing her features.

David shakes his head and pleads, "Emma, whatever this is, you need to fight it. You're stronger than this." She laughs at his "inspiring-Dad-speech" and states, "And you need to fight the urge of being an annoying, righteous jackass for once in your life. Speaking of annoying, how is my little baby brother? I bet he's dying to see me."

The Charmings shudder at this venomous mention of their child, their eyes widening and they hold on to each other a little tighter.

Belle decides to ease the tension and decides to speak up. "I know that you're high on power right now, Emma, but please, I can help you. I've helped Rumple in the past-"

"And look how great that worked for you! He looks even more like a coward than I ever imagined he'd be," The Dark One cuts her off, the intensity of her gaze causing Belle to look anywhere but her direction. "Dark One, stop this. Stop this, now. Give me back my Emma," Hook orders. The Dark One's eyes turn darker, hatred emanating from them.

"How dare you address me like I stole your girl. I hate to tell you Captain Guyliner, but 'your Emma' isn't coming back. She never was yours. I never was yours."

"Emma." Regina pipes up before Hook can get another word in. The Dark One's attention immediately snaps to the brunette, her eyes growing wide and gleaming with mischief and... is that excitement?

The Dark One stands up and waltzes over to Regina, carelessly tossing the apple in her hand in Snow's direction, landing at her and David's feet.

"Would you look at this, the Evil Queen came to grace me with her presence today. Shall I bow to you or pay you homage by slaughtering an entire village?" she mocks, her smile turning from sly to feral in a matter of seconds.

She is close to Regina, at least a half a foot away, and she can feel the coldness radiating from the Dark One. She still looks like Emma, Regina thinks. She isn't as scaly as Gold was; she has more of a shine of glitter on her skin. She may be evil, but, God, is she intoxicating.

"How dare you speak to her that way!" a voice near her knocks Regina out of her stupor. The Dark One scrutinizes the owner of the voice, and turns her attention back to Regina, glaring at her.

"You brought him? You brought fucking forest boy?!" she shouts, her anger boiling over. The Dark One takes a deep breath, calming herself. "Well, I shouldn't have expected anything less from a woman who would do anything for attention from a man," she berates. Regina gasps, truly feeling the hurt her friend unintentionally gave her.

"Emma! Stop that!" Snow squeaks. The Dark One laughs, walking toward Snow and David, her heels clicking against the floor sounding very ominous. "How the tables have turned. Snow White defending the Evil Queen instead of the Savior. It's delicious," she smirks and strokes Snow's face, causing her to shudder from her cool fingertips.

She then turns her attention to Hook, stepping right into his personal space, looking him dead in the eyes. "It's hilarious that you'd come to save the woman you love from being who she truly is. I should just rip you to shreds now...but that wouldn't be polite, would it?" the Dark One latches onto his black, leather jacket, effectively surprising Hook. "You don't... You don't know Emma... You're not her..." he stutters. The Dark One's features become grim and she utters, "I am Emma. I am who I've always wanted to be. You should get that through your thick skull before you hurt yourself," and shoves Hook backwards, making him fall to the floor.

Her attention returns back to Regina, a playful yet vexing glint in her eyes. "So, my Queen, how are you going to destroy me? Make me suffer? Punish me? Throw me on my knees and make me beg you for my release?" she drawls. Regina feels her body temperature rising. What the hell is that?, she asks herself, trying not to let her discomfort show. "Is it getting too hot in here for you, Your Majesty?" the Dark One insinuates, the devilish grin back on her face.

"Emma, don't do this. You need to let go of this darkness. Come back to us," Regina says. "Please."

The Dark One looks comically surprised. "Did you just beg?" she asks the brunette. Her voice sounds deeper to Regina, causing her pulse to quicken. The Dark One advances towards her, until they are close again. "Beg for me, Regina," she snarls. There's a plume of black smoke and she's gone, leaving the remaining five people to question how in the hell they are going to succeed with their mission.

hey everybody! thanks for reading and commenting. y'all are the greatest 3 if you have any questions, critique, or suggestions, please let me know! long live swan queen :D

you can also find this on archive of our own with my same username (onceuponahungergames)

-juju :)