She couldn't help but be afraid that she had come so far only to have let everyone down. They had, collectively, decided to give her the dagger. They had entrusted her because she had earned it. No longer was she considered a lost cause, but instead was wrapped in the golden light of heroism and counted amongst the elite heroes who came from some long forgotten land of magic and mysticism.

She was certainly not living the life she had expected, nor was she living the life she felt she deserved. Yet, as Emma Swan laid in Regina's bed fresh from a fall from grace, Regina met with Snow White, Prince Charming, Captain Hook, and Robin Hood as if she belonged amongst them. They gathered in the middle of her living room, and took their corners so that they could deliberate on what might come next. The Dark One's dagger rested on the table between them, gleaming with Emma's name etched on its blade.

All except Regina looked at it as if it was scorching them. No one reached out for it. No one wanted to hold the cold metal in their grip knowing that taking ownership of the blade would mean taking control of a woman who had entrusted them in saving her soul. Emma had told them to save her—the right way.

"Are we willing to assume that she's gone…that she's no longer Emma?" Robin was the first one brave enough to break their silence. Perhaps, he was too far removed to understand the tragedy they were living in. He had known Emma for the least amount of time and arguably only interacted with her when Regina acted as the filter. Or, maybe he just didn't know what to do since his lover was across the room looking lost to him, and the only way he knew how to make anything better was to do something.

"I don't think that's how it works," Snow answered as her gaze shifted away from the dagger so that she could look at Robin. "Rumpelstiltskin was always part the man and part the Dark One."

"Ay, but always the Crocodile nonetheless," Hook slurred his words as he sprayed his pain into the room. He smelled like a dumpster lined with sticky runoff of stale liquor. "He was obsessed, even when there was nothing left to obsess over." It was a startlingly apt observation made by a man wizened by too much alcohol.

"But Emma's different," Charming quickly disagreed. "Rumpelstiltskin was never the Savior."

"Well, to be fair, Emma's potential for Darkness has always been a part of her," Robin tactlessly pointed out. "As far as we know, this curse might have undone everything that made Emma…good."

"No, I refuse to believe that," Snow shook her head and closed her eyes as if refusing to see anything that might reveal a reason to doubt.

"I hate to be the one to say it," Robin continued to push, "but we have to make a choice. Are we going to focus on saving the town or Emma? Because whether we want to admit it or not, whoever or whatever Emma might have become is likely a threat to Storybrooke."

"We save her," Snow answered without thought. "We don't abandon her."

Charming looked to his wife, the turmoil of his doubt clearly written across his brow. "Snow," he whispered, "Emma would want the town to be safe."

"And why does what she would want matter? She cared damn little for the rest of us." Hook harshly threw his words into the mix, obviously having lost any reason to care who he might hurt. Well…" his eyes roamed the room until they fell upon Regina's silent form, "she cared damn little for most of us," he corrected.

"Hey," Charming took a warning step towards the drunken pirate. "Emma did the right thing."

And there it was, that dastardly turn of phrase that haunted every corner of Regina's life. 'Do the right thing' was, perhaps, the greatest magical mystery of all the worlds. It morphed and changed without any constants. What was the 'right thing' in one moment could be the 'wrong thing' in the next. There was no compass aiding Regina in avoiding more mistakes. She was simply just searching for the thing to do that wouldn't make everything collapse, and if Hook wanted to be selfish and think that anything either she or Emma did was solely for themselves then the pirate could just go ahead and drink himself to death.

"Emma didn't do anything, mate," Hook pushed on, actively refusing to acknowledge the glare coming from the Evil Queen. "She made a choice and, I hate to be the one to break it to you but, she certainly didn't choose you and she sure as hell didn't choose me."

"Who knows what Regina might have done as the Dark One," Snow carelessly argued. "Emma might have saved everyone just by making sure that the Evil Queen didn't become the new Dark One."

"Whoa," Robin cut in before Hook could say anything else. "This certainly isn't going to get us anywhere. We've not come here to sling around guesses as to why Emma did what she did. We're here to make a plan. Regina?" His eyes cut to Regina and Regina knew that she could no longer maintain her silence. She would be forced to participate, and would be forced to pretend like she hadn't brought Emma into her home and shared her bed.

"I'll not tell you where she is," she spoke with the confidence she wished she felt. "I don't think anyone is ready to confront her."

"Are you saying you've seen her?" Snow stood and advanced towards Regina. "You know where Emma is?"

Regina gave a slight nod. "Emma and I have come to an arrangement," she perilously announced. "It is the closest we'll come to a truce with the Dark One." She silently dared anyone to challenge her, dared them to doubt her.

"And what is this truce costing us?" Robin asked.

"It costs us nothing," Regina quickly dismissed. "She only asked for concessions from me, which I have already granted. So I suggest we do as has already been suggested, and start finding a way to both save Emma and protect this town."

"No, Regina," Snow's desperation visibly rose as panic filled her eyes. She needed to know that her daughter was okay. "We need to speak to, Emma."

"And accomplish what?" Regina coolly asked. "You know as well as I do that Emma is not the woman you knew, and we both know you're not ready to see the person she's become." She straightened so that she was looking down at the Dark One's mother. "Besides, when Emma is ready, she'll come to you."

"My point exactly," Hook called into the silence, still desperate to put his pain in the spotlight. "Emma loves us all, she just loves one of us more, which is exampled by her going to Regina first."

"Shut up, Hook," Charming scolded.

"Maybe we should all just…take a break," Robin suggested still trying to defuse an already out of control situation. "Charming, you and Snow can just tell anyone that if they see Emma to contact us, and Hook, you should sober up."

"And you?" Hook spit his words at Robin. "Will you let your lady tell you that you're still her great love?"

"No," Regina had reached her limit. She couldn't continue to pretend like any of them would have a say in what happened. In the end, it always had and always would be settled by her and Emma. "You will all be leaving until It's time for us to talk about this like civilized adults."

Looks were exchanged, but no protests voiced. "We'll call you," Charming told Regina as Snow turned to walk out of Regina's house. After that, one-by-one they filed away and left Regina standing alone—the Dark One's dagger still resting on the table.

It was a sign of their continued trust in her even in all of the heartbreak. They trusted that she would know when to bring Emma to them. They trusted that whatever concessions Regina had given that it didn't interfere with the overreaching goal to bring Emma back.

Regina ran her hand through her hair and then reached out and picked up the dagger. Her fingers traced the grooves of Emma's name. She had not known before what it was like to connect so intimately to the grooves on the blade. Even when her mother had wanted the power of the blade for herself, Regina had not really felt the intensity of fear, loathing, and love that she felt at seeing Emma's name.

She hated so much of what Emma had become, but loved so much of the woman anyway. It was a cruel realization to have come upon just as Emma had sacrificed everything for her. It was a sick twist of fate that had made this their beginning.

Regina shook her head to clear away the melancholy that had begun to fill her. She placed the dagger over the smooth flesh of her left forearm. Her hand holding the dagger started to alight with magic that soon engulfed both dagger and flesh. Within moments, the dagger burned into her arm leaving beveled scars of its design on her flesh. Instantly, Regina felt the darkness of the dagger inside of her and let it become a part of her. Fighting it would have likely set her entire arm on fire, or killed her. She wasn't quite sure which since, before last night, she had never before attempted to absorb such an ancient symbol full of magic.

She had assumed that the spell wouldn't have worked at all. She had only tried it since Emma was sharing her bed and she needed to be sure that Emma wouldn't steal the dagger in the night and then run off. It was the most extreme safety measure that she could think of outside of hogtying Emma to a bedpost.

Once satisfied that the dagger was safely settled, Regina made her way up the stairs and slowly approached her room. She prepped herself for facing Emma both as the Dark One's love and Emma's savior. The very fact that she needed to become anyone else at all, was a complete juxtaposition of who she always was when she was with Emma. Because before… when they fought against one another and then for one another, Regina had never had to be anyone other than who she was without the spinning of tales that built characters instead of people. But, as Regina had learned many times, things changed—she changed.

Regina entered her bedroom and was unsurprised to see Emma sitting up at the edge of the bed. Their hero had obviously been listening in on a meeting that happened way too soon after the newest disaster. "They are lost without the Savior," Regina needlessly declared.

"How can I still be expected to lead them?" Emma asked, not turning to look at Regina.

"You're not." Regina would not pretend that the co-dependence of their so-called heroes wasn't a thing to be criticized and mocked. "It's almost as if they've forgotten how to do anything without you."

"And you?" Emma boldly wondered. "Are you as…" she couldn't even find the words to describe the helplessness that she had just witnessed. It was a heartbreaking realization that every one of her adversaries up to this point had been right. Without her and Regina, Storybrooke didn't stand a chance. She and Regina sustained the town and its people.

Sometimes," Regina couldn't help but confess, "I continue on even if I'm not really trying to do so." She closed the distance between them and then sat on the bed next to Emma. "I'll not pretend like it would be easy without you, but I would find a way."

Emma's eyes found Regina's. "I've always admired your strength." The words sounded like Emma, but there was a hint of something else mixed in. She spoke as if she had known Regina for decades instead of years. She spoke with blatant memory as if she had seen everything that Regina had been through since the very beginning.

"I fear that the darkness has made you more charming," Regina saw no point in running away from the facts as they were. Emma had become the Dark One. Everyone needed to understand that—really understand it so that they could all just move on and figure out either how to cast the darkness out or learn to live with it.

"I think it wiped away the inhibition." Emma raised her arm and placed it around Regina's waist. "All the reasons I had before for not getting what I wanted, don't seem as important anymore."

"Power will do that." Regina shamelessly fell into Emma's hold. "It blurs the lines."

Emma was still settling into the changes of what becoming a being of Great Darkness would mean. She didn't feel too much like the Devil. It felt more like walking side-by-side with a demon. The demon didn't control her, but it was there adding to her words and interrupting her thoughts. It asked her to consider things and think of things that before might have been untenable.

"They need to see me," Emma decided. "They need to know that I'm not going to destroy the town—I'm not the new Big Bad."

Regina found comfort in Emma's warm embrace, but little relief in Emma's words. She knew that Emma didn't intend on running through the town cursing and damning its inhabitants. The Dark One had never been a common thug. It orchestrated and planned and fed off of the deepest darkest fears of the soul it shared.

"They only want to save you." Regina closed her eyes and forced herself to pull away from the fog of love that wrapped around her in Emma's presence. "We all do."

"Robin doesn't," Emma was quick to point out. "He's ready to gather a mob and hand out stones and pitchforks." Her dislike for the man was founded in nothing else except for his deluded idea that he deserved Regina. He had done nothing for her…had sacrificed nothing. Every time Robin had a choice to either pick Regina or something else, he had always chosen the something else. He never risked anything for a woman who constantly risked everything without restraint.

"He'll not pursue anything without my approval." Regina superimposed her will above Emma's. "He's not a threat."

Emma understood that Regina was making a demand to leave Robin unharmed. Something inside of Emma felt compelled to bow down to the order. She briefly wondered if it was because of the dagger or because she didn't want to start a war over someone so insignificant. "He's safe," she assured.

"Okay," Regina said as she stood up. She reached out her hand to Emma so that she could pull the other woman up and they could start their day.

Emma's eyes fell to the burn marks etched into Regina's forearm. She reached out and traced her fingers across the lines of scars. She, of course, knew that it was the dagger. She could feel it just as much as see its marks. "Does it hurt?" She asked as she continued to caress Regina's arm.

"Only as it settles," Regina whispered. "I can hardly feel it now."

Emma stood, her hand still on Regina's arm. "I don't think this is safe."

"Probably not," Regina agreed. "But it's the answer we have, for now."

There was a part of Emma that knew that Regina's actions shouldn't have been possible, but there was so little she understood about magic and the ancient evil she now shared her body with. The only person now keeping her safe from harm was Regina—the woman who had always been her savior.

"So what's on the agenda today?" Emma tried to infuse levity into the too serious moment. "If I get a vote, then I vote for skinny dipping in the nearest lake."

Regina rolled her eyes. "You would."

Emma's hand dropped so that it was holding onto Regina's. She wasn't going to let go. "Hey," Emma protested, "I've been very good so far, but there's no reason for me to pretend anymore that I don't want you."

Regina felt her body flush, but pushed down her own desire. She didn't want to give into anything too soon, because if this was to be their beginning then she'd still make the most of it. "Why don't we just focus on getting you back to your old self for now?"

Emma smirked. "My old self wanted you, too."

"Some days, Emma Swan," Regina shook her head. "You're simply impossible."

"Only for you." Emma meant her words as a joke, but they both knew that the words meant far more than a joke. Because, for each other they would be the impossible, and do the impossible. Whether that meant wiping out the light of the moon or burning daggers into their flesh, it didn't really matter. They would always find a way to keep going, even if they were afraid and had no plan. They would take what they had, find the faith they needed to forge on and then would save the damn day.

A/N: Thank you for reading. I think I might actually have a plot in my head waiting to get out.