Shorter update this week which will set up the two battles - one to defeat the Black Fairy and the other to save Killian's life. Lots of angst coming at you in this installment so be prepared...
Rumpelstiltskin drew aside the heavy brocade drapery, gesturing for Emma to enter the private, back room of his shop. She glanced around warily before proceeding through the doorway with the Dark One following close behind.
"If you're going to kill a fairy, you'll need the proper tools," he advised as he continued across the eclectically decorated room to a tall wooden cabinet that featured ornately carved door panels. He tugged open the right-hand door to reveal a variety of swords and spears concealed within and selected one in particular. Emma's eyes widened as he withdrew the blade and held it out at arm's length towards her. It was the same blade that had been wielded by the hooded figure from her nightmare. The same weapon that Gideon had attempted to use against her a few days ago in a battle, one he'd lost when his sword broke into multiple pieces and clattered to the pavement. And yet, here it was, held aloft right before her eyes and it was once again fully intact, in all its razor sharp glory.
"That's the sword from my dream," Emma stammered. "The one that's supposedly fated to kill me… Gideon tried to use it against me, but it shattered during our fight. How do you have it and how the hell is it in one piece?"
"I've had this lovely weapon all along," Rumple confessed, grinning cheerfully and at the same time, menacingly. "Do you honestly think I would allow Gideon to get his hands on the only weapon in Storybrooke that can kill a fairy? The one he futilely used to battle you was merely a replica, which is why it broke. This one is plated in the finest silver available in all of the realms and coated with my specially blended potion that makes it fatal to all fairies."
"You definitely have a special distaste for fairies, don't you?" Emma quipped sarcastically as Rumple passes the weapon to her hand.
"And having met my mother, you do understand why I find the little beasts so detestable, don't you?" he echoed her query.
"So, this sword can kill Fiona?" Emma pressed, ignoring his mocking tone.
"That is precisely what the blade was forged to do. It's imbued with the Blue Fairy's magic and even if your strike doesn't mortally wound my mother, a single drop of her blood against the blade will send her on a one-way trip back to her own miserable realm."
"One way, huh? You're sure about that?"
"The potion I developed contains a blood seal which ensures that she won't ever be able to cross into this realm - or any other - again."
"Any idea where I might find her?"
"Wherever she can find objects to help restore power to her dark magic. Be assured, she knows her curse has been broken – at least partially."
"Regina sealed off her vault before the curse so that would only leave the fairy dust mines or maybe the clock tower as possibilities. Every villain in this town seems to have a thing for that damned tower…"
"Sounds like a logical place to start then."
"You're absolutely sure you don't know where she's hiding?" Emma asked skeptically. Rumplestiltskin might despise fairies but Fiona was still his mother.
"I assure you, I would divulge her location if I knew. I'd like to be rid of her as much as you would."
"Oh, you have no idea…" Emma disagreed as she stared at her own reflection on the polished flat of the blade, not entirely pleased with the image she was seeing of herself. Her gut festered with guilt over what Fiona had goaded her into doing to Killian. Her heart was still burning with hatred, but it had found a different enemy than it sought earlier today - now focused solely on the treacherous Black Fairy. "This ends tonight," was Emma's last statement to Rumple before exiting back to Main Street with the sword clutched tightly in her grip. She gave a passing glance towards her family, trying to remain focused as she caught sight of the blood pooled on the cement. She had to make it up to him before she could face him she told herself as she turned her back and walked the other way.
While Emma had been preoccupied by Rumple arming her with the weapon she'd need to confront the Black Fairy, David and Regina sought to diminish the crowd of onlookers and get them out of the street. Regina ushered patrons back into the diner and shops while David handcuffed Gideon, keeping careful watch over the would-be deputy until Zelena returned from the vault with the anti-magic cuff. The general lack of magic in Storybrooke may have temporarily neutered Gideon's powers, but no one wanted to take any chances.
David was eager to wrap things up here on the street and return the town to some semblance of normalcy so he could focus on his extended family. With Emma refusing to accompany Killian to the hospital, David had sent Henry in her place so that his new son-in-law wouldn't be alone. Her reasons were her own and he didn't quite understand all that had happened, but David hadn't argued with his daughter. The team of paramedics also hadn't argued at the teenager riding along in the ambulance even though it was a tad unorthodox. Neither dared question a Prince.
David watched the ambulance pull away just before Emma stepped out of the pawn shop, his heart aching for her as he saw her eyes drift to the bloodstained concrete. She didn't even look up at him as he watched her shift into full Savior mode. She had business to finish and David hoped that once she was done, she'd come talk to them and that she'd go to her husband's side. But that was entirely up to her. He knew better than to push but now, all they could do was wait and he was getting quite impatient with that.
Beside David, Gideon sat sullenly on the curb with his hands restrained behind his back. He seemed to sense that he and his grandmother had been defeated as he'd made no attempt to fight back or flee. David found himself a bit concerned that Gideon might be a bit too passive but Regina didn't share his opinion.
"Are you sure you can handle Gold Junior over here?" David asked Regina as she directed the last of the stragglers towards Granny's courtyard before making her way back to where David stood.
"He won't be able to put up much of a fight without his magic," Regina dismissed his worry. "Once Zelena gets back, we'll slap that cuff on his wrist before we toss him into the holding cell. If necessary, I'm sure Leroy would be all too happy to help us march Junior here to the Sheriff station."
"Good. Call him," David replied as he noticed his wife out of the corner of his eye. Snow had her phone to her ear, smiling she spoke excitedly to someone. "At least it appears that Snow was able to reach the sitter…"
"And she's smiling so everything must be alright there," Regina added, still seeing the deep furrows of frustration across David's forehead. "Don't worry about this," she insisted. "Go be with your family. We'll be fine here. I'll drag Gold back out here to deal with his son if I need to."
"Okay," David responded with a heavy sigh. "We'd better get over there. I'm sure Henry could use the relief. I can't begin to imagine what he's been through."
"He's a resourceful kid," Regina commented. "Hook may have broken the curse, but what Henry did just might have saved us all. I don't know what Fiona had planned for us, but the fact that she kept us all separated says a lot."
David nodded in agreement before turning to face his wife as she disconnected her call. "Everything okay at home?"
"Oh, yes," Snow replied. "The sitter was a little confused when the curse broke, as we all were, but everything is fine. I explained what happened, without going into too much detail, and told her we might need a few more hours. She was very understanding, but we'll probably have to double what we're paying her."
"Most likely," David chuckled, although only half-heartedly. "Are you sure you don't want me to drop you off to relieve the sitter?"
"No. We need to get over to the hospital until we get some news, and we need to be there to provide united support when Emma's ready to face this," Snow insisted.
"Send me an update as soon as you know anything," Regina implored. "I really don't want to follow yesterday's wedding with a funeral and I don't want Henry sitting there by himself for much longer."
"We'll send you a message as soon as we talk to Whale or someone else at the hospital," Snow stated.
"Who knows what repercussions there might be if Hook dies," Regina began as a new thought crossed her mind. "The curse may have been broken by his sacrifice to protect Henry, but there's no way to know if his death could trigger some sort of fail-safe built into Fiona's curse. Victor needs to do everything he can to keep that pirate alive!"
"Right now, I'm just hoping that Whale came through this curse remembering how to be a doctor," David grumbled. "Without magic, there aren't any other options available to us."
"I hadn't even thought of that…" Regina sighed. "Victor better have a very good memory."
On the other side of town, the ambulance carrying Killian Jones sped into the Emergency bay of Storybrooke General Hospital where Dr. Victor Whale and his team were waiting. The driver squelched the siren and flipped off the flashing lights as they approached, pulling directly in front of the automatic doors. An orderly stepped forward and tugged open the rear door of the vehicle, stepping aside as Henry and the attending paramedic hopped out. The teen was quick to get out of the way as the medical team pulled the gurney out, giving Dr. Whale a brief moment to assess his patient before rushing him inside the building.
"What have we got?" the doctor asked the paramedics as he stepped up to the raised gurney to get a better look. He'd been briefed about a gunshot victim but details were sketchy. What he saw before him was a pale, comatose man whose chest was plastered with blood-soaked gauze. A man who scarcely resembled the Captain Hook he knew. There was no trace of the cocky, larger than life pirate here, just a frail shell barely clinging to life.
"Gunshot wound to the right chest cavity, no visible exit wound. Compromised breath sounds on that side. Deep puncture wound to the left shoulder. Henry says he also has multiple lacerations across his back, although we didn't actually see the extent of them. His shirt was soaked with blood when we lifted him onto the stretcher. Heart rate and BP have both been erratic, BP is currently 88 over 60, but trending lower. We've pushed a unit of plasma with the saline drip but it wasn't nearly enough to replace what he's lost."
"What the hell has he been through?" Whale questioned with a quizzical raised brow. "I thought he just got married yesterday? Is his wife around here somewhere?"
"No, she wasn't there when we responded," the medic stated, which was a bit of a fib. "Henry's here representing the family until David and Mary Margaret get here. They're on the way and but the boy filled us in on what he knew."
"Alright then people – get two units of O negative stat!" Whale barked out orders to his staff. "Janet, make sure the OR is prepped and have the surgical team start scrubbing in. We need to see where the bullet is lodged. Get a portable X-ray unit brought to room 2 and when you get him in there, get these bloody clothes off of him. I've got a few questions for the kid and I'll be right in."
As the medical team rushed the still unconscious Killian into the Emergency ward, Whale turned his attention to Henry who stood just to the left of the entrance doors. The boy watched his stepfather be wheeled past him with a frightened, lost look in his reddened eyes. "Henry, are you alright?" he asked the forlorn teenager. "Your family is on the way, correct?"
"Uh, yeah… Grandpa said he'd be right behind us," Henry replied sheepishly. "Is Killian going to be alright?"
"I'll do my best, but where's your mom? I have some questions for her."
"Mom went off to fight the Black Fairy. She caused all of this and Mom won't come here until she defeats her. I don't think she can face Killian. She thinks he won't forgive her…"
"For not coming to the hospital?" Whale wondered, thoroughly confused by the boy's statement.
"For nearly getting him killed. Most of Killian's injuries were her fault," Henry explained, although his words did little to make the befuddled doctor understand any better.
"Okay, Henry, I'll ask for clarification on that story later. Right now, I'll do everything I can to save his life. The last thing I need is to draw any more ire from your family. You can wait here with Cathy at the Admittance desk until your grandparents arrive." Henry nodded in acknowledgment as the doctor hurried through the automated doors and vanished down a corridor to the left.