TITLE:

Theory-Based Story Portions

SUMMARY:

Story portions (multi-part) and one-shots stemming from my theories on Tumblr, regarding the show and its characters. They're rough drafts of how I think certain events from the show are going to play out. #1 is a Pilot Redux with Captain Cobra Swan, the CS Baby and the return of the Evil Queen to Storybrooke as one possible scenario for S6 and 6.01.

AUTHOR'S NOTES:

Hey, all! So…I decided to get back to my writing this summer (and not just the analytical kind). It has been positively forever since I've actually written something (of the story kind), so I wanted the practice before I took on anything bigger (like an ebook). That and there are times when I get story portions in my head and I just feel absolutely compelled to write out a small story bit until I actually get to the part I want to write. I don't know if that's what's considered a "drabble" or a "one-shot" or…whatever. I confess, I don't quite understand the lingo going around anymore. Once Internet 2.0 put the pedal to the metal, I've been left in the dust (which I really don't mind), so…

Anyway! In my head, these count as me brainstorming my theories in a more entertaining (and organized) fashion, rather than in a random brain dump post that probably doesn't make sense to anyone but me. At least this brain dump is in story form! :-P

Pilot Redux

So this "short story" or "drabble", or whatever you want to call it, came out of a theory I've been kicking around in my head as to what we're going to see in 6.01. Considering it's 33,000+ words long, it's obvious we're not going to see all of this played out (or even set-up) in 6.01, but one scene I do have quite a bit of confidence that we will be seeing in 6.01 is the Evil Queen returning to Storybrooke. And the thing that got me excited, the thing that made me want to write this little (4-part) story portion was this idea:

What if the Evil Queen reintroduced herself to the citizens of Storybrooke the EXACT same way she was introduced by the writers in the Pilot?

Except instead of it being at Snow and Charming's wedding (like it was in the Pilot), in 6.01, it would be at Emma and Killian's pregnancy announcement.

So we have ourselves a Pilot Redux, with our main couple (Captain Swan) in place of our model couple (Snowing), and the celebration of a physical union (a baby) rather than the celebration of a superficial union (a wedding).

It goes without saying that these stories are going to be based on my theories. If you need to catch up: Emma is pregnant (and has been since 4.10) and Killian is the Sorcerer (and has been since 5.11). There! You're all caught up! :-D There are small theories incorporated into this story (and a few new ones I developed while writing it), but those are the two big ones you'll need to keep in mind. Once again, this isn't a complete story, just a story portion. I don't want to write out an entire season only to be disappointed when it actually airs. It starts from the end of 5.23, and goes until the Evil Queen shows up in Storybrooke. It's in four parts, because each portion is long-ish. I'll be posting a new part of the story every other day (or every day; it depends on what I decide).

Enjoy! :-)

PS: For those of you who follow me for my Harry Potter stuff, I promise I'll get back to that soon. I want to finish the story I already have on here, Serendipity (three chapters left, and they've already been outlined for years), and start a new one full of one-shots (or whatever they call it) featuring the family and the kids over the years. It's on my "To-Do" list for the summer. Soon! I promise! :-D

DISCLAIMER:

I own nothing. All the familiar characters (and storyline which I use as my model) have been created by Adam and Eddy and ABC and the Brothers Grimm and JM Barrie and Hans Christian Anderson and Robert Louis Stevenson and Oscar Wilde and God, and so, so, SO many more. I vow to find my own story one day, though. Probably with characters from the public domain, if I ever find a good enough tale. Anyway!

Theory-Based Story Portions #1: Pilot Redux Ch.1: The American Dream

Emma followed Killian into the diner, his hand a steady comfort in hers. The tip of her thumb stroked the knuckle of his, absentmindedly, as her thoughts wandered. She had chickened out on telling him. Again. Instead, she had settled for a simple, "I love you," and left it at that. Now, given, it was an improvement for her, and Killian knew her well enough to recognize that, hence the very nice kiss the two of them shared outside. But it wasn't what she really wanted to tell him. Not really. Emma just didn't know how to break it to him.

Killian knew there was something else, though. Something that she wasn't telling him. But he didn't push her. Emma figured that he was probably counting his blessings that he got that much out of her. She would be too if she were him, truth be told. Emma was locked up tight beneath her armor, and though Killian had broken through most of it, there was still one last layer he hadn't penetrated—her fear of abandonment.

Her fear of abandonment by the father of her unborn child, in particular.

Neal had done the most damage.

Her parents' abandonment of her was something she eventually came to understand after she was forced to give up Henry. But the fact that she had to give up Henry in the first place, even though she didn't really want to—the fact that she had to make that choice for the sake of her child's well-being—broke her. Neal framing her for his crimes, she could've forgiven. Neal sending her to jail, she could've forgiven. But Neal leaving her, leaving them, when they needed him the most… she couldn't forgive. She had wanted a future with him, she had wanted a family with him, they had even picked out a place by the water!

All he needed to do was come back.

If he had come back, she would've kept the baby. They would've been a family, and Emma wouldn't have spent two years adrift, waiting for him in the town by the water. Her baby would've been in her arms, where he belonged, instead of in the arms of a woman who tore her away from her parents just as swiftly as she tore her son away from her. None of this would've happened if Neal just… came back. Being with him, for some reason, gave her strength, even though she found herself encouraging him more often than he did her. There was something about the two of them together that made her feel stronger, so that when he left… she had none of that left in her. Not even for her baby boy. The Light of her Life. Emma knew Henry deserved better than her. If she wasn't good enough for his father, why would she be good enough for him?

At least that's what she thought at the time.

She knows better now, of course, thanks to Killian. Out of everyone who went with her to Neverland, Killian is the one who changed her the most. Before Neverland, she had doubts about her ability to be a mother, her ability to protect her baby and be there for him when he needed her. That was until Killian came into her life and told her she could do it—that he had yet to see her fail, and that he saw the strength in her that she didn't even see in herself. He was the one who turned his ship around, who brought them to Neverland so that she could save her baby, and then brought them back "when" that was done. He was by her side the entire time, being her back-up, her support system, and her guide. Killian's faith in her never wavered from the moment he decided to come back. It was from his encouragement that Emma found the strength inside of her again—a strength she thought she lost when Neal left. She found out that she could be a mother, especially to her baby boy, and that she did have it in her, and that she did deserve to have Henry in her life, just as much as he deserved her.

Killian did for her what Neal didn't—he changed everything by coming back.

So when history started repeating itself with Killian, and she found herself at the wrong end of the equation, she did everything in her power to try to prevent it.

It all started when she absorbed the Darkness and became the Dark One, all for the sake of saving Regina, Henry and the rest of the town. Killian had begged her not to do it, but she did it anyway. She was "the Savior" after all. Wasn't it her job to put her life (and soul) on the line for everyone else? Isn't that what Saviors did?

Then the Darkness told her she wasn't the only one in there. That there was a second soul in her body who could absorb it easily if she didn't feel so inclined to absorb the darkness into her own soul. If Emma knew she was pregnant, she wouldn't have taken the Darkness on in the first place. She absorbed it in order to protect Henry, for Pete's sake! Of course she wouldn't knowingly put her unborn baby in the line of fire!

But she had. It was done. The only thing left now was to control the Darkness so that it stayed away from her baby, which unfortunately meant giving up her own soul to it (which was surprisingly easier to do than she thought), and finding the Sorcerer, Merlin, so that he could take the thing out of her and she wouldn't have to worry about it infecting her or her baby anymore. And, of course, Killian spearheaded that mission just as doggedly as she did. If not more so. If he wasn't spending his time keeping the darkness from infecting her soul (which only made her worry more about the baby's soul, but worked nonetheless), he was spending his time poring through spell books and records and following any and every lead that would help them get Merlin out of the tree. Sometimes Emma wondered if he knew, if he had found out somehow through some other means, and that he just wasn't telling her that he knew.

But he didn't. That fierce determination to protect his loved ones, that was just who Killian was. Every night, he would try something different to try to get her to sleep, but it never worked. After Killian stayed up with her until dawn one night, and then flat-out refused to go to sleep the night after, Emma vowed to pretend to go to sleep, just for his sake. So every night she would let him hold her, and then after she was sure he was in a deep sleep, she would carefully climb out of bed and start making her dreamcatchers until dawn. Just one more, she remembered telling herself back then—just one more will be good enough to protect her family. If she just had enough of them, she would be able to keep her family safe and whole this time around. When she got pregnant with Henry, she only had one hanging on the windowsill of her and Neal's hotel room, and she had lost the both of them after that. So Emma made more than one this time around. She made one for each of them, four in total—one for her, Killian, Henry and the baby. And then she made an extra one just in case she had twins and the Darkness just hadn't told her about the second one. And then she made a second set of four, just in case, and she hung them all on her windowsill.

Killian knew she wasn't sleeping. Every time she wandered away at night, he would sense it somehow, get up and follow her. Emma knew she no more had him tricked than she had herself tricked into thinking he was tricked. They humored each other, the two of them. Killian gave up trying to get her to sleep and merely settled for taking short rests at night (an ear always open for where she was in the room), and Emma settled for making her dreamcatchers in bed next to him. Or, at the very least, in the same room as him. Killian was the only one who could drive away her demons, after all (though she still worried about where they disappeared to, hence her obsession with her dreamcatchers). She always felt protected with him, her strength.

Which was why what happened next made her nauseous just thinking about it! She did manage to free Merlin, alright, and he did manage to tell them how to get rid of the Darkness. But Arthur's grudge against Merlin, and his obsession with completing Excalibur for a reason far less urgent than Emma's, led to her family being kidnapped and Killian being slashed with the sword. So when Emma tried to put it back together again, its ability to kill reactivated, and Killian collapsed in her arms, dying.

And that's when Emma lost it. That's when Emma flashed back to Neal and him leaving her in jail, pregnant and alone. That's when Emma flashed back to the day she gave birth to Henry, and nobody was by her side. That's when Emma flashed back to Killian telling her just that morning that a future with him was nothing to be afraid of, and she responded that she did want a future with him; that she did want a family with him! And that family was already on its way! That's what she didn't tell him. What she couldn't tell him. Even in that moment of abject desperation, she couldn't blurt it out. She told him that she needed him to stay—for her and for their future—for their child. Their children! Emma couldn't forget that Killian and Henry had worked together to find a house for all of them—a house by the water, just like Tallahassee. Henry was just beginning to accept Killian as the father-figure in his life. And that's what Emma flashed back to while Killian lay dying in her arms—two children without a father, a house by the water, and an empty space in her bed. Killian was her strength. He was her support system. She couldn't raise this child alone, their children alone!

So she did the unthinkable—she attached him to the sword. She took Merlin's Sorcerer magic away from him and put it into Killian. Of course, she did it to him in order to keep him from dying, even though he begged her not to. And she did it via Excalibur, which was sort of the opposite of the Holy Grail, so instead of making Killian the Sorcerer, like the Holy Grail did Merlin and Nimue, it instead made him a Dark One. If Emma wasn't so distraught by everything that happened and what she did, she would've laughed at that turn of events. They were partners in everything, it seemed—even in Darkness. Of course, when Killian found out about everything (both times), nothing was funny for anybody. To say he was supremely angry would have been the understatement of the century. And then to top things off, she tried to hide the sword from him, which he rightly interpreted as her desire to control him. And that certainly didn't bode well for her or their relationship at all!

After that, there was no stopping Killian from giving in to his darkness, and acting on his desire to exact revenge on Rumplestiltskin. He was willing to do anything and everything to do it, including killing Merlin (who was much too resigned to his fate for Emma's comfort, now that she thought about it), and activating a Dark Curse (which, suspiciously enough, Merlin had already prepared for Killian, now that she thought about it as well). But when Henry had been marked for death by Nimue, whom Killian summoned from the Underworld, then Emma knew she had to let him go. He had wanted her to do that to begin with, but her desire to have him there with her-for herself, for their child, and for Henry-made her want to hang on to him to the point that she turned him into a Beast just to keep him. And then realized too late that she lost the handsome prince that was man she loved anyway.

So she decided to give it all up—everything. Emma realized how monumentally she screwed up, all for her desire to have a complete family with the man she loved, so, like Neal, she decided to turn herself in—give up her life and the freedom of being alive. Yes, she was pregnant, and yes, she knew it, but she had started this descent into darkness with this baby, she was going to finish it with this baby. If she had the time, maybe she would've sped up her own pregnancy as well, just like she did Zelena's, so that her child wouldn't have had to suffer the same fate as her, but thanks to Nimue's presence, and her strict timetable, she didn't have that luxury. So when Emma decided to take the "fall" for all the "crimes" that she committed, and decided to absorb all the Dark Ones and kill herself with the sword, she made that decision with the comfort of knowing that her family (including Killian) would stay safe and alive (and free) in Storybrooke. And, with any luck, she and the baby would have a place for themselves in the prison that was the Underworld (or wherever they manage to end up). Perhaps her house by the sea would be there, with a fully decked-out nursery for her baby. That would be a tolerable jail cell for them. Much better than the one she and Henry had the first time around. And when the time came for Killian to join her, she would be there—ready to introduce him to his child. Emma had this all worked out in her head when she made the decision to do it.

Except she failed take into account one thing—the strength that Killian got from her. Emma had been so wrapped up in trying to protect her loved ones that she completely forgot that Killian was just as driven as she was (if not more so) to do it as well. So when she was threatened by the Darkness, Killian likewise got the strength from her that she got from him whenever he (or Henry, or baby) was threatened! And just when the time was right, and she would've gladly taken the sword from him to carry out her plans to completion, that's when the man she loved decided to make a reappearance! That's when Killian came back to the surface and did everything with Excalibur that she was about to do! So everything that Emma planned out so perfectly in her head went to hell (quite literally) in a hand basket! And instead of her paying the price for the crimes that she committed, and instead of her being sentenced to the Underworld for those crimes, it was Killian that ended up taking the fall for her!

Emma did to Killian what Neal did to her.

Emma couldn't stop throwing up that night. And it wasn't just because seven weeks of morning sickness were finally catching up with her. If Emma had just let Killian die a hero in the first place, he probably wouldn't have ended up in the Underworld. He probably just would've gone straight to… wherever it is that heroes end up in after the Underworld. But now, because of her, and because of what she did, he was down there! He was stuck in that prison because of something she did to him!

So of course Emma took advantage of the first opportunity she found to go back to the Underworld to get him. She would've wanted Neal to come back for her in prison, she would have been damned if she passed up an opportunity to go back for Killian in his new prison. She was going to do for Killian what she wanted Neal to do for her! But of course it didn't end up the way she wanted it to. Nothing ever does for the two of them.

That entire time, though, she still couldn't work up the courage to tell him about the baby. Her brain kept coming up with reasons to avoid telling him. At first, she said she'd tell him after she found him and they successfully shared a heart. Because she figured he'd object considerably to the heart-split if he knew she was pregnant. So she decided to forego that potential argument and just tell him afterwards. And then the split heart thing didn't work, and she just about freaked out. Especially when she remembered she had a fully decked-out nursery in her living room implying that her baby had a place here in the Underworld just like she did! (Of course, that's what she had been banking on to begin with, but she wasn't about to tell Killian that!) His eyeing the nursery furniture suspiciously just about gave her a heart attack. What if he asked? What would she tell him? Then, out of nowhere, Emma found herself facing the very real possibility of him staying in the Underworld despite her efforts to save him and bring him back. She found herself debating with herself about what she would tell him then—does she tell him about the baby, or does she leave him feeling satisfied with what he achieved in his life and how he died?

Ultimately, Emma decided that if Killian was going to come back with her, and be her partner in all things, including the raising of their children, then Killian would have to come back with her of his own free will. She didn't want him coming back with her because he felt obligated to be there for her kids, like Neal did. Emma wanted someone who wanted her, to have a family with her, who loved her for her, and not for the kids he had with her. Yes, their children would absolutely take priority (which was part of why she was avoiding telling him about the baby), but Emma didn't want Killian staying with her out of obligation! Emma wanted Killian staying with her out of love.

So she didn't tell him about the baby then either. They said their goodbyes in a way that still hurts her heart, just thinking about it, but she left him thinking that he had no Unfinished Business left in Storybrooke. Emma didn't want to hold him back, she wanted to set him free! And, unfortunately, telling him about their baby would just do the opposite of that. So she let him go. She made him promise to find a way to set himself free, and then she swore to herself that when their baby got older, and he asked about his daddy, that she would tell him that his daddy died a hero of the highest caliber! She had lied to Henry about that the first time around. It wouldn't be a lie this time, though. No… Killian was no Neal.

She was.

She was the scared one.

With Killian's resurrection, Emma worried about Regina's reversion back to the Evil Queen, and before any of them knew it, Rumple made to steal Storybrooke's magic and Henry ran away with the crystal. Emma found herself chasing after him along with Regina, and then the next thing she knew, Henry got rid of magic and Killian and the others were stuck in another realm! Emma didn't even get a chance to breathe, much less tell him about the baby, and now they were separated by realms! Again! She swore to herself right then and there that when this was fixed (Killian always said "when" when it came to them), she would tell him. The very second they had a quiet moment to themselves, she would just blurt the damn thing out so that he would finally know truth after everything they had been through!

Except she didn't.

She chickened out of telling him. Again!

She figured that she hadn't even gotten tested for real yet. She had yet to take a single pregnancy test. Maybe the Darkness was just playing with her when it told her she was expecting. Maybe it wasn't true and it was just a trick meant to get her to absorb it into her soul more quickly.

Emma knew it wasn't true before she even finished her thought. The first time she and Killian had slept together, the night they were celebrating the Snow Queen's defeat and (unbeknownst to her) what Killian suspected was his last night on Earth, was the first time (out of many) they had unprotected sex. They didn't even plan to have sex that night. It just happened! Which was probably why it was unprotected. It was raw and passionate and emotional and beautiful and he brought her to completion three times before he even thought of his own desires. And when they were both sated and exhausted, they talked for hours about anything and everything until she fell asleep in his arms. Killian thought it would be their only time. For Emma, it was their first time. She wouldn't be surprised if she finds out their baby was conceived that night. That magical night. No… Emma didn't want it to be a trick. She wanted it to be true. She wanted to have another baby. And now, now that they had finally gotten rid of the Evil Queen once and for all, now would be the perfect time to do that.

"Emma? Are you in there, love?" She felt a tug on her hand that brought her back to the present.

Emma shook her head to clear her thoughts and turned back to the handsome man at her side—the one she thought she would never see again because of the realms (and death) that separated them (twice in less than forty-eight hours; that has to be some kind of record). She gave him a lazy smile. "Yeah, sorry. I was just… thinking."

"About what?" He smirked, raising an eyebrow at her.

Oh, the middle of Granny's, in front of her parents and others was certainly not the place for this particular conversation! "Uh… nothing. Just the stuff we've been through the last few weeks."

"Yeah, you two are trying to set some kind of record, I reckon!" Ruby chucked as she dropped a couple of milkshakes and a giant basket of onion rings at their table. "It's like Emma and Killian here are looking to break Snow and Charming's record for the Truest True Love couple ever." She winked at them before turning to the aforementioned couple, "And no offense, you two, but in my book, these two have you beat. Anyone who goes to hell and back for their lover is a champion in my book. Oh!" She blew on her nails and brushed off her shoulder. "Look at that! That includes me!" She winked.

"Hey! We went to hell too, you know!" Snow argued playfully.

"Yeah, but you went there together!" Red retorted with a laugh. "She went there to get him, and he literally came back for her."

"Excuse me! Nobody is going to beat my True Love's Kiss with her." Charming added with a smirk, jerking his thumb at Snow.

"Just you wait and see, Prince Charming. You're not the only charming one at this table." Red snorted.

"Why thank you, luv!" Killian beamed.

"Excuse all of you!" Emma butt in with scowl, yanking the giant family-sized basket of onion rings over to her and claiming the whole thing for herself. "Killian and I are not trying the beat my parents, we're not trying to be my parents, we don't want anything to do with any of that!"

"We don't?" Killian raised an eyebrow.

"No!" Emma retorted, popping an onion ring into her mouth and talking around it. "We just want a nice, quiet life here at home! No danger, no villains, no sleeping curses, no need for True Love's kisses. Just our house by the sea, our white picket fence, our two-and-a-half kids, and our dog." Seeing the bubbles in her father's milkshake caused Emma's stomach to roll.

"Two-and-a-half kids?" Killian frowned in confusion.

"Curious way of describing it." Jekyll chimed in from where he was sat next to them.

"Describing what?" Killian asked.

"Well, isn't it-" Jekyll started, pointing to Emma in confusion.

"It's an expression." Snow explained, saving Emma the trouble of talking around the two onion rings, slathered in ketchup, that she just popped into her mouth. The onion rings were heavenly. The grease marks left on her fingers and the wax paper on the basket… not so much. Emma felt her mouth start to water (and not in the good way) as her gag reflex started acting up. "It's meant to be the embodiment of the American Dream, the stereotypical American Family—a husband, a wife, two to three kids, a house with a white picket fence, and a dog."

"Mmmm!" Charming blew bubbles into his milkshake in his efforts to pull away fast enough to make a comment. "The half-a-kid is just meant to reflect the average number of kids in each American family." The first bit of bile made its way into Emma's mouth at the sight of Charming's slimy, frothy milkshake bubbles.

"Yeah, two-and-a-half kids is the numerical average for all the families in this country." Snow nodded.

"Nobody actually has half-a-kid."

"Oh!" Jekyll nodded. "Silly me!" He chuckled, "I thought it referred to a woman's pregnancy." Killian's head shot towards him.

Emma dropped the basket of onion rings onto the table and shut her eyes tight, massaging her temple and forehead with her greasy fingers. "Are you alright, Emma?" Ruby inquired with a frown.

"We have the white-picket fence, though." Killian chimed in, still confused and eyeing Emma in concern. "I saw it around her house. Our house."

"Yes, but what I think Emma was saying was that she just wanted a regular, normal, everyday 'American dream' type life without any excitement." Ruby explained. "Or villains. Or sleeping curses. Or the need for True Love's kisses."

Just then, Henry and Regina burst through the door and made a beeline for the Charmings' table. "Mom! You guys! You're never going to believe who mom and I just ran into!" Henry panted frantically, as if he just ran there from wherever he and Regina came from.

"Oh, lad, not again!" Killian groaned. Emma now had a mouthful of bile and half-chewed onion rings she didn't think she was capable of keeping in for much longer, especially now that Henry had just burst in with apparently urgent news.

"Who, Henry?" Charming pushed.

"Mr. Hyde." Regina answered grimly.

"Wa—wa—wa—wait, what? WHAT?!" Jekyll stuttered, half-popping out of his seat and then sitting down just as quickly, his eyes darting around the room, on the lookout for his evil alter ego. "What? What?! What do you mean Mr. Hyde? Mr. Hyde is here?!" His eyes popped out of their sockets when both Regina and Henry nodded.

"Bloody hell." Killian sighed, putting an arm around Emma as he leaned back in his seat with the face of a man resigned to his fate, "There goes our two-and-a-half kids, luv." He murmured.

"What?" Henry frowned in confusion.

It was all Emma could take. In her haste to make it from her seat to the bathroom in time, Emma tipped the giant basket of onion rings, spilling the greasy treats, ketchup and ranch dressing all over the floor. She had to push Red, Regina and Henry all out of her way, but at this point, she didn't care about what they would think. If she opened her mouth for formalities, she knew she would throw up all over whomever stood closest to her. So she just shoved them out of her way, threw the bathroom door open, slammed it behind her with enough force to rock the entire diner, and threw her head into the toilet just in time to lose her breakfast. Or lunch. Or whatever meal she had eaten last. She vomited until she could vomit no more, and she was left dry-heaving until her throat decided to give up the effort.

"Emma?" She heard her mother's voice before she heard the familiar footsteps, but with a single wave of her finger, Emma was able to lock her out of the room.

"I'm fine, mom!" Emma said, as soon as she was able to catch her breath. Her highly nasal voice made her cringe, and the sensation of bile in her nose made her nauseous all over again. She yanked at the toilet paper to blow it out right when her mother knocked on the door.

"Are you sure?" Knock. Knock. "Are you okay?"

Emma rolled her eyes. She had just answered that question! Yes, it was a lie, but still!

She blew her nose, wincing at the chunks of semi-digested food that flew out of it, and threw the wad into the bowl. "Yes, Mom, I said I'm fine!" She hissed in return, proud that she managed to make herself sound semi-normal this time. "Just give me a little privacy, would you?" She flushed the toilet to try to prove her point, using the flusher to pull her to her feet as she did so.

"Okay. We'll be out here in case you need us." She heard Snow murmur through the door.

Emma felt the snark at the tip of her tongue. She really wanted to let it rip, but held herself back. Her mother, and everyone else out there, was not her concern right now. From what she heard about Mr. Hyde, he wouldn't be anything but a nuisance for her. A nuisance with super-strength, but she had magic! Super-strength was nothing against her! Snow, Charming, Regina and everyone else could handle Mr. Hyde. Emma had more important matters to take care of.

Emma looked at herself in the mirror and cringed at her reflection. Her hair was amok, her nose was red and stuffy, her eyes had rings around them, and she had a bit of drool on the corner of her mouth. "Ugh…" She turned on the faucet, determined to wash her face until she looked like a decent person again.

First things first—she needed to find out for sure that it was true. And she needed to do it now. Her little mad-dash to the bathroom a while ago was bound to arouse suspicion, and if she kept on doing it, then someone was bound to put the pieces together eventually, and Emma would be damned if Killian heard it from anyone else but her to start. Pulling out about sixty dollars from her wallet, she poofed the money into the register of the local pharmacy while simultaneously poofing every kind of pregnancy test they had in stock into the bathroom with her. This question was going to be answered once and for all, right now.

Half an hour, and some twenty positive pregnancy tests later, Emma was pretty sure she had her answer. She had tried ten different brands of pregnancy test twice in order to ensure that she had it right. And they all came out the same—positive. Not only that, but Emma was pretty sure she was showing already anyway. If she figured the conception was the night they had first made love, then Emma was about 4-5 months along right now. If the Dark One curse had suspended her pregnancy for the six to seven weeks she was the Dark One (which may or may not have been the case, considering the Darkness practically used her baby to manipulate her), then she'd only be around 3-4 months along right now. Emma figured the best assumption that she could make would be if she split the difference between the two possible timelines and went with the assumption that she was about 4 months along right now. Either way, she's not going to be able to hide this baby for very long, so she needed to tell Killian now!

Knock! Knock! Knock!

"Emma, luv, are you alright?" Killian's voice drifted in through the locked door. "You've been in there an awful long time, and Snow said she heard you retching a while ago. Do you need me to get you something, Swan?"

Emma took a deep breath and closed her eyes, trying to breathe in the strength to do what she had to do. Opening her eyes, she sniffed, stuffed the last pregnancy test into the paper bag she kept them in, and turned on the faucet to wash her hands. "No, it's okay, Killian. I'll be right out."

"Yes, Swan, but you didn't answer my question." Killian carried on the conversation as if there wasn't a door between them or six nosy ears eavesdropping on them from around the corner.

"Which was what, exactly?" Emma continued, shutting off the faucet and wiping her hands and face. She knew the answer to the question before she even asked it.

"Are you alright?"

There it was. Was she alright? She didn't know. Was she alright? "Alright" was a relative term, wasn't it? Emma was more than "alright", technically, but she wasn't "alright" right now, after just having lost the contents of her stomach due to the hormones the contents of her uterus were inducing.

"I'm fine for now, Killian." She settled for a half-truth, gripping the paper bag full of positive pregnancy tests tight in her hand before unlocking the door and pulling it open.

"And what about later?" Killian asked, his face etched with worry. "What about in general? You left rather quickly a while ago, Swan. Something wasn't right there."

Emma took a deep breath. Her clench on the paper bag tightened. "You're right. Something wasn't right." She admitted, much to Killian's surprise. "But this is neither the time nor the place for us to discuss this."

"Then name the place because the time is right now." Killian declared. Now it was Emma's turn to raise an eyebrow in surprise.

"But what about Hyde?" She began to question.

"Jekyll, Regina, and your parents can handle him. You need a break!" He grabbed her hand. "Come on!" He started pulling her towards the back door, but before either of them could take another step, they were both enveloped in a cloud of white smoke.