"And you just left her in your room?" Regina asked with that tone of voice that implied everyone else in the world was incompetent.
Killian had shown up on her doorstep at close to 2:00 in the morning, but the hot kettle on the stove told him that she had not been sleeping. Robin slumped against the kitchen counter in a manner that signaled that he had.
"What else was I to do? I wasn't exactly in a position to make demands," he retorted.
"What, Captain? Don't know how to handle one girl?" she teased, but the jab held a little less venom than she typically utilized. Her heart wasn't in it.
He leveled his gaze at her, jaw clenching.
"So she's really back," she muttered, statement more than question.
"Aye."
Robin moved closer, placing his hand at her back, "And the dagger? It is secured in your vault, Regina?"
"Of course," she replied as she led the group out of the kitchen toward the front door, "but that's our first stop. She could get to it with enough time and effort. The only way to make sure she doesn't is if one of us possesses it."
"I will claim the dagger," Killian declared.
Regina looked him in the eye and nodded once. He could see the guilt she felt for Emma's sacrifice underneath her facade of annoyance. She did not like being in Emma's debt, and it was weighing on her.
"Well then, we should get going. There's no telling what that fool will do to this town if we don't get her under control," she said, opening the door.
Killian blocked her with an arm stretched across the door frame. "She's still Emma," he asserted.
She stood at the doorway facing straight ahead, not acknowledging the pirate's words, but not breaking the arm he had foolishly put in her path, either.
"She may be gripped by the darkness," he continued, "but she's still in there. I saw it in her eyes. It's just buried deep."
She remained still for a few moments, staring straight ahead.
"Well then we better dig her out."
And with that, she brushed past him.
Robin clapped Killian on the shoulder as a means of encouragement. "I trust you'll both be cautious," he requested. "I'll be here with Roland, but if there's any way I can help, you know where to find me."
"Aye, mate. Much appreciated," he replied, shaking the outlaw's hand, and turning to follow Regina into the night.
The town was still asleep when Killian and Regina made it back to Granny's Bed and Breakfast. The dagger weighed heavy against Killian's chest from the inside pocket of his leather coat. Regina had gathered a few other items from her vault that she thought might be of use, including a cuff bracelet like the one they tried to use against Pan's magic.
An eerie silence fell over them as they moved slowly down the hallway toward Killian's room. He carefully pushed open the door and the hairs on the back of his neck stood up. The place had been turned over, drawers flung open, his belongings strewn about, and the chair in which Emma sat when he awoke had been smashed to pieces.
And Emma was gone.
They walked quietly through the open door, and Regina illuminated the lamp on the bedside table with a wave of her hand.
"She was looking for something," Killian broke the silence.
"The dagger?" Regina offered.
"Aye," he spoke softly, walking to the foot of the bed and picking up the scarf he had swiped from her room after she disappeared. He had kept it in the top drawer of his bedside table, and now it lay among the other items she discarded in her frantic search. "It's likely she expected I'd have it," he said, tossing the scarf that smelled like her hair back on the bed. "She only sent me away so she could search for it," he added, dejected.
He remembered the way she rested her head against his, nearly pleading for his help with the gesture, and he furrowed his brow, confused.
"Why not simply kill me if all she wanted was control of the dagger?" he questioned.
Before Regina could venture a guess, the door behind her slammed shut and a burst of magical energy flung them both across the room. Regaining her footing, Regina turned to face Emma with a ball of fire dancing above her outstretched palm. The Dark Swan strode forward, extinguishing the flame and pinning Regina to the wall by the throat with one outstretched arm, coming to a stop in the middle of the room.
She stared at Regina with eyes of cold steel, emotionally detached and unquestionably willing to kill.
"Release her," came Killian's heartbroken command from where he'd landed near the window. He stood with the Dark One's dagger in hand, looking at her with pain and guilt in his eyes, his jaw clenched tight.
Emma turned her head toward him, arm still extended, and a tear rolled down her cheek. The pirate and the Dark One stared into each others eyes, each searching for a sign of hope in the other person.
Emma's hand flinched, and Regina gasped for air, doubling over and bracing her hands on her knees. Recovering quickly, she crossed to Emma and slapped the cuff on the wrist of the arm still held out in front of her.
Feeling the new impenetrable barrier to her magic in place, Emma closed her eyes and released a weary sigh, letting her arm fall back to her side.
I'm a newcomer to the world of fanfiction, so I'd love to hear your feedback! Also, look forward to some more direct interaction between Emma and Killian in following chapters now that she can't, you know, snap and kill him.
