AN: To anyone eagerly awaiting the next S&S chapter who clicked this link and is now really upset with me, next chapter should be up in a few days.
That being said this story has been rattling around in the old noggin since the disaster, in my opinion, that was the last five minutes of 5a. I mean getting past the fact that we literally just returned everyone to the status quo for, 'reasons.' Rumple just lost every square inch of character development, Emma had gone from accepting that she needed to sacrifice hook, to raising him from the bloody dead, and Snow and David went to the underworld instead of taking care of Neal why?
Not even touching Robin, dude pays less attention to his kid then Cora gave warm hugs.
This was what I was hoping for as I watched the scene play out, and it all seemed so, perfect for one shining moment.
She lay there on the same couch she had when all her careful planning had been destroyed after a moment of carelessness on her part. In many ways her situation was very much the same, from her inability to move from this spot, to the vice like force that was crushing her heart, yes it so very similar save for one fact.
He was dead.
All her struggles and once again she had been left alone, and even though the darkness was banished from her the rest of her family was conspicuously absent. Not like they were particularly present following their return to Storybrooke, hell Regina had reached out to her more than her Mother had.
The blonde frowned, as she tried to shake off the poisonous thoughts, it seemed that one simply didn't bounce back from being the darkest force in all the realms.
Of course all this could have been avoided had Snow seen through the most obvious ruse in history, but apparently children only didn't matter if they were part dragon, or fairy, Emma wasn't sure which film she was supposed to go off of.
Her eyes trailed to the wall that was now bare, what had possessed her to hide the vial there? In a position that was so insecure that Killian had stumbled on to it.
Or you wanted your plan to fail.
She jerked upright glancing around the room as soon as the whisper pierced her mind, her voice quietly breaking the silence that ruled in their, her, home, "No."
And as if they had never gone she could hear them again, the incessant whispering of those who had come before her, the cacophony that told her that the dagger was out there.
Your dagger is out there.
She was too distracted by the latest whisper to realize that her feet were on the move, and by the time she had the presence of mind to stop her body from its instinctual hunt for her, she frowned and corrected to herself the talisman. She found that she was already standing on the sidewalk by the bug, her eyes narrowed as she glanced to and fro, trying to gauge which direction the siren call was coming from.
Her booted feet propelled her down streets, pedestrians going out of their way to avoid the ex-dark one, though that title might be premature she supposed.
Her journey came to a conclusion at the least surprising of locations as she found herself glaring at the front of Gold's shop, and with a casual gesture she broke down his lingering protection spells with a force of her own will. She shoved the door open hard, causing the tiny bell to let out an angry tirade from the extra force.
Her feet carried her up to the register and she knew that it must be in the cabinet. Her hand moved to grab the most likely object, but she stopped. What if she was wrong, or what if this was all just elaborate test, to see how tainted she truly was.
With a sigh she let her hand drop into her jacket pocket as she removed her phone, sending off a demand to Gold to show up at his place of business. With that done she braced herself against the whispers, forcing them away from the forefront of her mind.
She wasn't sure how long she fought with the voices in her own mind, but everything went silent as the bell chimed behind her, the former imp's condescending voice filling the shop, "I know this might be news to you, Miss Swan, given your somewhat colourful past. But when a shop is locked, it means that you aren't supposed to enter."
The man's tapping gait had taken him past the blonde and ended with him leaning on the opposite side of the counter from her, and she was suddenly filled with the urge to just reach forward and rip the man's heart out.
It would be poetic justice wouldn't it, to have his heart ripped out by the child he had condemned to be alone and unloved.
The fight to restrain herself took eons in her own mind, which simply seconds elapsed in the real world. She drew upon the dispassion she had built up during her time as the dark one, the lack of emotion had been useful in restraining her more impassioned impulses.
Her voice wasn't quite to the constantly bored persona she had used when they had returned to Storybrooke, but there was no mistaking that the Emma Swan who had taken in the darkness had not returned, "I can hear the dagger, Gold. It called to me, and that call brought me straight to your shop, would you care to explain that?"
The man gave out a small sigh of, disappointment? The coward dropped his gaze as he drummed his hand on the glass countertop, "I was afraid of this, but to be perfectly honest I had hoped that things might turn out for the better."
The Saviour's hand crashed against the countertop, dispassion giving way to rage as she half-screamed, half-shouted at the spinner, "Where is the dagger, Gold!"
The cripple bent down and pulled out a wooden case, the perfect size for containing the item that she had been bound to. As he positioned the box carefully in the space between them the recently self-proclaimed hero glanced at her, "Once this box is opened, you can't turn away. Just. Think on that, Miss Swan."
"Open it."
A small click filled the air of the box's latch was released, and the shop owner took out a weapon that should have been destroyed. She had felt it shatter into pieces after, after she, after she had stabbed him through the heart with it, "No, it can't be."
She didn't even feel the tears that trailed down her face, before all the grief she was feeling quickly morphed into rage, "Why do you have it!"
The man gave her an almost disappointed look, "Now, Dearie, you of all people should have realized by now that I always have a plan B. Personally when you had informed me of your intention to sacrifice yourself I decided to place a tracking spell on the blade, on the off chance that your noble act failed and left your better half still alive."
Her hand snapped forward to take the still cloaked blade, only for Gold to jerk it back, "Ah, ah, Dearie. If you want this, then the two of us need to make a deal."
Her jaw was clenched so tight that she found herself unable to speak, and instead she gave the pitiful excuse for a hero a short nod. But the man seemed to take some exception to that, "Come now, Miss Swan, you need to be more committed to this exchange."
"What do you want, Gold." The words came out as a hiss, but the overwhelming need to know what name was on the blade was pushing her forward.
The man gave her a smile as false as his teeth, "A simple enough request, you leave myself, and my affairs alone. You will stay away from Belle, from my shop, and from myself. Do you understand, Miss Swan?"
Her eyes blazed with anger at his words, but she still found herself responding, "Yes, I understand." Her hand shot forward, "Now, the, dagger."
As soon as the blackened handle was placed in her palm the whispers increased a thousand-fold, and as she reached her other trembling hand upwards she tugged off the cloth that obscured the blade.
A chocked sob emerged from her mouth as her mouth formed the words that were imprinted on the dagger.
"Emma Swan."
A tittering sound came from in front of her, and as she glanced up she found herself confronted by both variants of Gold. The scaled one tossing her a quick wave of his hand, "Did you miss me, Dearie?"
Regina was not having what could be charitably called a 'good' day.
First she had the unpleasant experience of informing everyone just what exactly had happened to her Sister. Not that there was anyone who argued with her handling of the situation, but Robin seemed to feel that this was a decision that he should have been a party of.
Of course following that she had attempted to get some work done, only to be ambushed by Henry, who was worried about his other Mother.
Not that Emma was far from Regina's mind, being more familiar with what the younger woman was going through than perhaps any other person in this town. But she also understood how hard it was to come back from the darkness, and that sometimes solitude was better than to chance a relapse. But, Henry was worried, and so she had found herself knocking on the other woman's door until she had gotten fed up with waiting.
As she shoved the front door open she noted that the barriers that had protected the house were gone now. Though Regina was fairly confident if the blonde actually put some effort into it she could perhaps even surpass the former Evil Queen in time.
"Miss Swan?" She grimaced as the words left her mouth, quickly correcting herself, "Emma? Henry told me that you haven't talked to him since, well, since last night." When no one responded she made her way further inside, "Emma?"
She frowned as a quick sweep of the house resulted in her being unable to find her Son's other Mother. An annoyed frown tugged at her lips, she knew that while the blonde may simply be out of the house, a feeling in the Mayor's gut told her that something was amiss.
"If she is getting drunk at the Rabbit Hole we are going to have words." She reached down and selected one of the innocuous objects that Emma had had shipped from New York, small things that the Saviour would play off as unimportant, but Regina knew better.
A wave of her hand and the selected object hovered lazily in front of her, keeping pace ahead of the Queen's impressive gait. But as she came to realize that her destination was Gold's shop her pace quickened even further, while the feeling that something was wrong only grew.
With a sharp shove the door swung wildly forward, the ever present bell announcing her entrance. She stopped just inside the doorway, "Gold? Where the hell are you, imp?"
A groan sounded from beyond the counter, and as Regina poked her head over the top of the counter she couldn't resist the smirk that formed, "My, whatever happened to, you."
The man shot her an unamused glare, "It seems that Miss Swan and I have a difference of opinion in what constitutes leaving my affairs alone." It was at this point that the man noticed the gash in his left arm, as he slowly twisted it so that he had a better view of the wound, "Well, that is problematic."
"What is going on, Gold. It isn't like Miss Swan to just go around and attack people without cause, so what did you do?"
The man gave out a groan as he pushed himself up, "She seemed to take some level of exception to the fact that I hid the dagger from her."
"Why would she," as the impact of the former dark one's statement became fully realized, the only sound Regina could emit was a small and pitiful, "Oh."
"Indeed, and if this cut is any indication we can assume that Miss Swan plans on opening up yet another portal to the underworld."
Regina let out a hiss, how could Emma be this stupid, was she that obsessed with the pirate that she would repeat the exact same mistake that had nearly resulted in everyone she loved being sent to hell.
She didn't even bother to check on Gold, instead teleporting directly to the Charming's loft, "Snow, Charming, you two had better be here!"
Snow swirled to face her stepmother from where she had been standing in the kitchen, "Regina? What's wrong?"
"Your, daughter. What else?" Before Snow could speak Regina pushed forward, "Emma is still the dark one, and she just took the imp's blood so that she can open another portal to the underworld."
The heavier tread of what must be the other half of the idiots sounded from behind her, "Then we had best contact Happy, if Emma is going to use anyone as a sacrifice with Zelena gone it will be him." The prince had already pulled his phone from his pocket, and moved away from the two women while he talked hastily to someone on the other end.
Regina had to acquiesce to the statement, only for Snow to pipe in, "What about Lily? The two of them still aren't on the best of terms."
Regina shook her head, "Mal has been keeping her under wraps ever since Emma was first taken by the darkness." Both the Charmings stood there starring at her, "What? I have a friend other then Emma."
David had returned by that point, "Grumpy says that Happy is with him, and they haven't seen a trace of Emma."
Regina frowned, darkness was already approaching and she knew that there was a limited time that a portal to the underworld could be utilized. Which meant that Emma was wasting valuable time if she was going to, the brunette's voice couldn't hold in the pain of the revelation that had just came to her, "She's not going to sacrifice someone, she's going to trade places with Captain Guyliner."
Snow's eyes widened, "Regina, you have to stop her." But the Mayor was already gone.
A swirl of purple heralded her arrival to the lake, and she realized that it was already too late.
In the distance the blonde, now dressed in the same outfit she had been in when they had first reappeared in Storybrooke, was already on board the ferry that would take her to the underworld.
Regina let out a huff as she once again let her magic fill her, though she was unprepared for someone slamming into her as she teleported herself, and her stowaway, on to the ferry.
As the two parties landed in a heap she could hear Emma's voice, "Regina, what the hell do you think you are doing?"
"I'm not letting you sacrifice yourself, Emma. You asked me to save you, and I failed you last time, but I never make the same mistake twice."
She could feel the person she had taken with her shift, "Plus we went over this before, Ma. We're a team."
Both of the boy's Mothers turned to fully regard the stowaway, their son, their voices echoing at the same time, "Henry!"
AN: Don't expect updates on this, I'm leaving it incomplete because I do plan on tossing a chapter up here from time to time. OUAT is a nice change of pace from my regular ME stomping grounds, but this fic is a very far third place in terms of my priorities.
Anyway, hope people who read this enjoyed it.