A/N: From a prompt by an anonymous message on Tumblr-Swanfire prompt: Neal becomes the (new) Dark One and Emma is the only one who can save him from darkness. This is a bit AU from the beginning of Season Three, Part Two. To make things easier, Henry calls Neal and Emma "Dad" and "Mom" because he still has no memories of his life in Storybrooke.
Heart of Darkness, Heart of Light
Neal's POV
It happened so fast that Neal didn't even realize what he had done until he saw the blade in his hand and the name on the blade change from "Rumplestiltskin" to "Baelfire". Neal dropped the vile thing on the ground and ran as fast as his legs could carry him out of the forest and back to his father's castle. He stumbled inside and crumpled to his knees in front of the fireplace, sobbing into his hands. "Papa...no..." he wailed, rocking back and forth. "I'm sorry Papa, I'm so, so sorry..."
A ribbon of black smoke had trailed behind Neal the entire time he ran and when he fell to his knees, the ribbon had ample time to wrap around the sobbing man and envelop him like a cocoon. Neal's sobbing stopped and he gasped, feeling the blackness tighten around him until it became part of him. He was the Dark One now. And he needed to find a way to get rid of the curse. Baelfire stood and growled loud enough to shake the walls of the castle, stomping his way down to the dungeon where he found the one thing that could help him–his father's map of the Enchanted Forest. The map would guide him to every villain in the vicinity who could possibly help him rid himself of the curse. Perhaps they only needed a little...persuasion.
Baelfire's first destination–the bayou lair of one Dr. Facilier. If anyone knew about demons and possession, the good doctor just might. Neal just wanted to get rid of The Dark One and return to his family. He knocked on the doctor's door and waited not so patiently for the Shadow Man to answer. Had he just been the old Bae, he would have shivered at the atmosphere surrounding the voodoo man's run down shack. The darkness seemed to calm him and he wondered if he could harness some of this darkness to control the good doctor and force the man to rid him of this all-consuming darkness. Being so new at this existence, things would probably backfire.
The rickety door soon opened and the lanky dark Shadow Man appeared. He grinned and the gap between his teeth showed big as life. "Can I help you?" he asked.
Baelfire looked at him and smirked. "I believe you can," he said. "May I come in?"
"Why of course," Dr. Facilier said. "I would never deny entrance to the Dark One's son."
Baelfire held back a laugh. "What about the Dark One himself?"
Dr. Facilier blinked in disbelief. He knew the history of the blade. What evildoer in the Enchanted Kingdom didn't? But he was still in awe that this young man had killed Rumplestiltskin. "How did you do it?" he asked.
Baelfire scratched the back of his neck. "Defending my son," he said simply.
"How ironic that the son kills his father to protect his own son," Dr. Facilier said, smirking.
"Yeah, ironic," Neal said. He was losing patience with the witch doctor. "Look, I need to find a way to reverse the curse of the Dark One. And you are going to help me or else, got it?"
Dr. Facilier chuckled. "Or else, what, Baelfire?" he asked, suddenly standing at his full height and towering over Neal.
Neal's eyes glowed red before the went to full blackness and he said, "Or else, you will pay with your life." But the voice coming from him was not Neal. It was some otherworldly growl that made the voodoo witch doctor shake violently and cower before the Dark One.
Emma's POV
Emma and Neal had arrived in the Enchanted Forrest just in time to see Rumplestiltskin about to kill their son. Emma had pulled Henry to safety as Neal lunged for Rumple, forcing the dagger into his father's heart and killing him. Fearing the worst, Emma had shielded Henry from viewing what had happened. She watched in horror as Neal dropped the blade and ran. Emma and Henry approached the site of Rumplestiltskin's demise and Emma crouched down, picking up the jagged blade. She gasped as she saw the name on it. "Damn..." she cursed under her breath.
"Mom?" Henry asked, putting his hand on Emma's arm.
Emma looked at her son. "Well, kid, looks like we have our work cut out for us," she said.
"Is that what I think it is?" Henry asked, staring at the blade that had ended his grandfather's life.
"I wish I could say it wasn't," Emma replied, putting the tainted object in her satchel. "We need to find the Evil Queen's castle and figure out a way to destroy this thing."
Henry nodded. "What do we do about Grandpa?" he asked, indicating the body of Rumplestiltskin.
Emma frowned, looking around the forest for a safe place to put the body. She leaned against a tree with a huge knothole and conveniently the answer came to her as the trunk of the tree opened inward like a door. "I'll never get used to that," Emma said, taking Rumple under his arms and nodding for her son to get the man's feet. They stored the corpse inside the tree and pulled it closed. Emma looked at it and raised her hands, putting up a simple protection spell against anyone who may want to do harm to the former Dark One. Regina had taught her one thing, and that was protection. Emma hated how frequently she had to use those types of spells while in the Enchanted Forest.
Henry blinked at his mother's magic, still in awe that she could do any of it. He was still convinced that magic only existed in books and movies, and that real life was too mundane for the likes of what he had seen recently. "Cool."
Emma laughed. "You come from a long line of magic, kid," she said, wrapping her arm around his shoulders and kissing the side of his head.
"So you keep saying," Henry said, grinning up at her. He was getting taller, but was still shorter than Emma, and Emma hoped to keep it that way for a long time.
Emma was fully on her guard, knowing what dealing with The Dark One could mean for herself and her son. She wished that she had some way of communicating with the rest of their family, but they were back in Storybrooke. It was safer that way, especially with Mary Margaret's pregnancy. It was funny how a year could change Emma from being kind of a loner to going into full-on Mama Bear mode when her family was threatened.
"What do you think we'll find at the castle?" Henry asked.
"I don't know," Emma admitted. "But I hope we find something to save your dad."
"Me too," Henry said. "We only just got him back."
Emma smiled at her boy. If he only knew what she knew. (Well, he had known, he just doesn't know that he knows, you know?) As much as she wants to live where she was meant to live all along, really she'd just rather have her family safe and together. Getting Neal back was her top priority and then everything else would fall into place later. What kind of savior was she if she couldn't help her one true love?
"Mom?" Henry said, snapping Emma out of her own thoughts.
"Yes?' Emma asked. It was still strange for him to call her that, even if he'd done it for a year.
"What if...what if there's nothing we can do to help Dad?" Henry said in a small voice that made him sound half his twelve years.
"We can't think like that, Henry, okay?" Emma said, stroking his arm. She pulled him closer and kissed his forehead. "We'll get him back and then we'll be a real and proper family. Just you wait and see."
Henry nodded, but Emma could tell that her son was having doubts. She didn't blame him. She had her own doubts about the outcome of this little adventure. Thankfully, they reached the castle gates and wee able to go inside to their home away from home. This was the place that Emma should have lived out her younger years. And it was the place that Henry should have gone to when visiting his grandparents. Not that their life in Storybrooke was bad...it just wasn't anything like what they had been meant to do. Emma led Henry up the winding staircase to the tower where Regina had lived as the Queen for so long. There had to be some sort of potion or candle or spell that could break the hold that the Dark One's dagger had on Neal. Emma was determined to find it so that she didn't get the villain's ending.
Henry had been looking through one of the many books on the shelves, his tongue sticking out of his mouth. The problem was, neither he nor his mother knew what they were looking for. After about and hour or two of looking, Henry put the large book down and sighed. "There's nothing in here...nothing about true love or the heart of the truest believer...or anything. It's useless."
Emma looked at her son, holding her place in the book she'd been skimming. "Maybe we should use a little magic of our own to make it easier," she said, winking.
"I thought you weren't supposed to do magic for personal gain," Henry said, giving her a weary look.
"I don't think this is personal gain, Henry," Emma said. "We're helping your dad."
"Who is in love with you," Henry pointed out.
"And who also doesn't deserve to be the Dark One," Emma shot back."Personally, I'd rather that there were fewer villains in this world, wouldn't you?"
"Point taken," Henry said.
"Your dad was never really a villain. You know that, right?" Emma said, grabbing Henry's hand and giving it a squeeze.
"I know," Henry said. "I don't want him to be one. I know he had some issues with Grandpa...and I believe him when he says he wants to be my dad."
"He really does," Emma said. "And you know I'm still kicking myself for not telling him about you."
"I know that too, Mom," Henry said, closing the distance between them and hugging her.
Emma kissed the top of his head and held her son close.