Disclaimer: I don't own the characters, I just borrow them for some fun. I promise to put them back happy and satisfied and (mostly) unharmed.

A/N: We're almost at the end, folks. Thanks for all the reviews, faves, and follows. :)

Neal looked up when the door to the shop opened with a clang. "Oh, hey, Belle," he greeted the newcomer in friendly surprise. "What are you doing here?"

"Hey, Neal. I heard that you decided to stay and take care of Rumple's shop," Belle explained. "I just thought I'd say hello and see if I could help."

"You heard …?" Neal gave her a look.

"I went to the diner to see Ruby," Belle said with a smile. "And while she wasn't there, Granny was and …"

"She told you," Neal finished her sentence. "I forgot how fast news in a small town travels."

"You don't sound like you want to remember what small town life is like," Belle prompted.

"No, it's not that," he replied quickly. Then he sighed. "No, that's not true … after New York City it's going to be tough to get used to this sense of … claustrophobia again, I guess." He shrugged. "But Henry is here …"

"Henry, yes … and Emma?" Belle's tone conveyed nothing but honest curiosity.

"I'm staying for Henry," Neal insisted. "I know that I don't stand a chance with Emma anymore … maybe I never did after what I did to her, and I probably never deserved one …" He lifted a trinket and looked at it from all sides with no idea what it might be. "It's going to hurt a while, but I've seen Emma with Regina and it's just so clear that what they have is—"

"True love?"

Neal nodded. "Real love, the best kind. "He picked up another object. "I truly believe that Emma would lay down her life for Regina if she had to, and Regina would do the same for Emma … and to be honest, I'm not sure if I'm even capable of loving someone like that."

Belle gave him an understanding smile. "They really do love each other," she agreed. "And they make each other happy … but they could always use another friend in Storybrooke."

"And that's why I'm staying." Neal hesitated, then looked up at the ceiling. "Did you hear that?"

"Hear what?" Belle asked.

"Not sure," Neal muttered. "I thought I heard something … probably just the wind. Maybe there's a window open somewhere."

Belle looked outside at the completely unmoving trees outside. "Maybe," she said slowly. "Or it's …"

"Yeah, one of the things in here," Neal said. "I think I'm going to have to ask Regina to help me with some of the stuff around here. I know some things about magic … but there are so many things in here that I have no idea what to do with."

"And some are definitely more dangerous than others," Belle pointed out.

Neal studied Belle for a moment, a question in his eyes that he didn't know how to voice. "Do you …"

"What?" Belle cocked her head. "Is there something you need?"

"I was just wondering … do you know where my dad kept his dagger?"

Belle's eyes widened. "The dark one's dagger?" She shook her head almost viciously. "No idea … and I don't want to know either."

"Maybe its best that it's lost," Neal mused. "But what happens if someone finds it?"

There was another noise, and this time both Neal and Belle heard it. "There's something moving around up there," Belle whispered. "Or someone."

"I haven't been upstairs yet," Neal revealed. "What's up there?"

"A sort of attic," Belle replied. "Storage space for yet more magical objects." She paused. "You know, I guess that might be where …"

There was a crash upstairs, interrupting Belle and before Neal could say anything Belle was moving towards the rickety stairs in the back. With a shrug Neal followed.

o o o

It wafted over the rooftops of the town feeling for that special something that would draw it, would call out for it. Hmm, there was something there, there, there, and it swooped a little lower to get a better feel. Ah, it recognized that call, it was a taste it had had before — albeit indirectly — but alas, it was human and frail and had recently been purged, so it was useless.

Higher then, again, and onward.

A few moments later it stopped in midair as a surge of darkness hit it with a wondrously, lovely shiver, the likes of which it hadn't felt in too many centuries. It circled the building, ignoring the humans inside, until it found a way in. Then it hovered, waiting, feeling for the dark, where where where … the pulses were getting stronger but the exact location remained elusive. The darkness was hidden, and hidden well, or being coy … Excited, it moved around more quickly ignoring the small mirror that crashed to the floor.

There were footsteps getting closer and still it hadn't joined with its new home. It settled on top of a tall armoire and watched.

o o o

David watched Snow mutter under her breath and pace the length of the room from his perch on a stool at the breakfast bar of their kitchen. "Snow, why don't you sit down and talk to me," he suggested. "Have some tea, try to relax … you've had a rough few days …"

Snow whirled around to him. "And I missed a lot apparently," she said. "How did Emma go from being with Neal to being Regina's true love?"

"Emma hasn't been with Neal since before Henry was born, Snow," David reminded her gently, although. "I know that Emma told you again and again that she wasn't interested in being with Neal, no matter how much you wanted them to have true love." David stood and took a few steps towards his wife, but didn't touch her. "There is no doubt that Regina is Emma's true love, and Emma is Regina's … they're connected in every way … even their magic is connected."

"Maybe that's all it is," Snow wondered. "How do we know that's not all it is? Just some kind of magic?"

David grabbed Snow's shoulders to stop her pacing and force her to meet his eyes. "That's not all it is, Snow," he said seriously, keeping his voice gentle. "There's no spell, no curse, nothing. Do you really think I was happy about the whole thing when I found out? Of course not … but once you see them together and you actually see them, there's no denying it."

"It just seems so wrong, Charming," Snow muttered against his shoulder. "Our baby girl and the Evil Queen."

"Yeah, you better not call her that in Emma's presence," David reminded his wife. "She really doesn't like that."

"Calling her Regina doesn't change our history."

"But it sounds better, at least to Emma and Henry," David pointed out. "Give them a chance, Snow."

"What if I can't?" Snow asked against David's shoulder.

"Are you prepared to lose Emma a second time? For good?"

Snow leaned back. "What do you mean?"

"You can't come between them, Snow," Charming replied. "Emma's not going to accept that … and if you make her choose …"

"She would always choose her family," Snow insisted.

"Yes," David agreed. "And her immediate family? That's Regina and Henry. Oh, don't worry, we're also her family but, Snow, they will always come first for Emma … It would hurt her to have to choose, but she would do it, and you can't make her go through that."

Snow just stared at David.

"Snow, promise you'll try to accept them! Or at least not say anything to them , if you can't." David's voice was firm. "Regina saved your life and your heart … you owe it to her to give them a chance!"

Snow didn't say anything for the longest time. Then, all of a sudden, she stared into the distance. David shook her shoulders, gently, but she didn't react. "I need to go," she breathed after several moments.

"What? Where?" David sounded just as confused as he felt. "Where do you need to go now?"

"I'm not sure …" Snow muttered hesitantly, unable to explain the pull she felt. "I'll know when I get there." She turned and walked quickly to the front door and out of their house.

David followed her after a moment, grabbing his jacket as he went. None of this felt right. "I'm coming with you!"

o o o

"There's nothing here," Neal said after he and Belle had taken a good look around the cramped upstairs space. "Nothing but … junk and magical objects that can do who knows what … and lots and lots of dust."

Belle ran a finger along a dresser, then wiped it on her dress. "Yeah, it's pretty dirty up here …" She looked around once more. "Still, something feels off somehow. Don't you feel that?" She wished Ruby was here with her; she was sure Ruby would feel what she felt.

To her surprise, Neal nodded. "It feels, I don't know … malicious up here?" he mused aloud. "More than downstairs, I mean."

"Yes, exactly."

"But that could be any number of things that my father has stored up here," Neal pointed out. "Let's go back downstairs. I'm going to tackle this room some other day."

"A bright and sunny day," Belle suggested as they climbed down the stairs.

The ashes gathered into a neat pile and settled in to wait, feeling for just the right incentive.

o o o

Emma and Regina appeared in front of Gold's shop. Regina was ready to storm right in, but Emma held her back. "Wait! What do we do if this evil thing or whatever is actually in there? How do we get it before it finds a new home?"

"I'm not sure," Regina replied. "Maybe we could trap it somehow … bind it inside a neutral object, something magical but nothing that this being could use for its purposes."

"You talk about it as if it's alive," Emma said.

"It is," Regina replied. "Or at least if not alive then at least … aware, if that makes sense? It did leave the leather pouch and killed two people, and I don't think it was just because they were there. Well, maybe Spencer but Blue …"

"There was a connection there between Blue and that thing … being … and it just removed a loose end?" Emma theorized. "So what do we do? Find some object and then …?"

Regina turned her wrist and when the purple smoke cleared there was a small metal box in her hands.

"Did you just pull that here from your vault?" Emma asked.

"My bedroom, actually," Regina replied absent-mindedly. "It's a simple jewelry box. I bought it in this world."

"So it's not a magical object?"

"Not yet." Regina put the box on the ground. "You might want to call Neal and ask him where he is. If he's inside the shop, tell him to come out, but behave normally."

"Why don't I just go inside and look for him?"

Regina sighed. "I don't want you in there, Emma," she breathed. "Not with evil magic flying around that we know nothing of, and that could kill you."

"Got it," Emma replied, pulling out her phone. "Not leaving your side."

"Thank you."

Regina focused on the box once more, seemingly deep in thought while Emma dialed Neal's number. They could hear his phone ringing inside. "Neal," Emma said when he answered. "You need to leave the shop now," she ordered. She heard a breath on the other end, and stopped any questions by just continuing. "Just act normal, but come out now. We're waiting for you outside."

Two seconds later, the door opened and Neal and Belle walked out looking slightly confused.

"Belle," Regina sighed.

"Regina?" Belle asked. "What's going on?"

"Emma?" Neal asked, sounding more suspicious than confused.

"Dear, would you explain the situation, please," Regina mumbled. "I need to think."

"What's going on here?" Snow suddenly showed up from around the corner, slightly out of breath and followed by David.

"What are you doing here?" Emma growled but stopped talking when Regina rested a calming hand in the small of her back.

The gesture didn't go unnoticed by Snow. "I don't know what I'm doing here," she replied, ignoring the hurt she felt at Emma's tone. "Something was drawing me here … and now you're all here. So what's going on?"

Regina pulled Emma closer so she could talk to her in private. "I think that just about confirms that the being is in the shop," she whispered directly in Emma's ear while keeping up small, soothing motions with her fingers on Emma's back. "I think Snow was drawn here by the dark magic … there must be some kind of trace left, like a memory …"

"We can't risk Snow being anywhere near that thing!" Emma hissed back.

"I know, which is why I want you to explain to them what's going on," Regina said. "Preferably as far away from here as possible. Granny's, maybe?"

Emma reared back. "Oh no, I'm not letting you deal with this alone," she said at a normal volume. "You're not playing the hero here, risking your life. At least not without me."

"Would somebody please fill us in before we draw even more of a crowd?" David asked reasonably, pointing at the few people who had stopped at a distance to watch.

"Emma, please …"

"No, Regina," Emma insisted. "I'll explain it to them, then I'll send them off, but we're doing this together." She cupped Regina's face, not caring that they were in public and Regina was not a fan of PDA. "We're better together, remember? Besides, what kind of chance does that evil stand against our combined magic?"

Something pinged in Regina's brain at that. "You're right," she sighed with a heavy heart. "This might need us both."

Emma was happy enough about those words that she pulled Regina into a short kiss, before turning to the others to explain.

Regina tuned out Emma's words as she focused on the box. Even their short kiss had spiked their magic inside of her and she could feel something inside the shop reacting to it. There was incredible darkness in there, and she knew it wasn't just the dark magic they were chasing. If that magic combined with any of the truly dark objects in Gold's shop, they were doomed. No, she had to lure it out by making it believe that the darkest object in the vicinity was the harmless jewelry box before her.

She sighed, eyes closed in dismay, when she realized what she needed to do.

o o o

Inside the shop, the ashes perked up at the almost disgusting feeling of good, light magic in the vicinity. It recoiled a little, tensing up as much as it could while in this form, then began to move.

o o o

Emma looked at Regina and was by her side in an instant when she saw the look on her face. "Regina?"

The dark eyes that met Emma's were haunted. "I know what I need to do, what we need to do," Regina said quietly. "Did you explain …?"

"I did, they're up to speed," Emma replied immediately. "I'm going to send them off now."

"Good." Regina nodded, then added as an afterthought, "Tell David to stay behind."

"David? Why?"

"Just do it, Emma." Regina's tone left no room for argument, so Emma turned to do as requested.

"I need you all to leave now," Emma told the others. "You know it's too dangerous to hang around."

Neal and Belle nodded but, predictably, Snow balked at being sent away. "I'm not going anywhere," she insisted. "This is dark magic you're dealing with … you might need us."

"Need you to do what?" Emma snorted. "You really want to be used as a vessel for darkness again, Snow? Does it speak to you?"

"I'm not the dark witch here," Snow snarled with a look at Regina.

"No, you're just the person who tried to kill the woman I love and used our son to do it," Emma growled right back. "Remind me again how that was light and good?"

Snow opened and closed her mouth a few times. "That wasn't me," she finally said. "It wasn't …"

Neal shook his head with a sad smile, knowing this was the exact wrong thing to say. David frowned and pulled on Snow's arm. "I think it's time for us to go," he said. "Emma and Regina can handle this."

Snow made no move to leave.

"You have to leave, Snow," Emma repeated, almost pleadingly. "I don't want to have to be afraid for Regina again."

"Afraid for Regina?" Snow asked, sounding broken. "Are you afraid I'd hurt her?"

Emma nodded. "So please, go with Belle and Neal to the diner. I'll call you when this is over, okay?"

"What about Charming?"

"He needs to stay," Regina said. "The rest of you need to go. Now."

Neal and Belle turned to leave, and Snow followed, visibly reluctant. It wasn't until the other two flanked her and gently prodded her along that she took longer steps. At the corner, Neal turned back to Emma and gave her a thumbs-up, allowing the sheriff to let out the breath she was holding. She knew that if he had to, Neal would knock Snow out to keep her away from here.

Regina called David over. "What do you need me for?" he asked immediately.

"Yeah," Emma added.

"David," Regina said urgently. "In order to make a trap for the dark magic, I have to make it believe that this box is the darkest of objects." She looked at Emma with a sad smile. "Which means I have to drag up the darkest magic possible inside of me and put a dark spell inside the box."

"Wait," Emma grabbed Regina's hands. "Is that really the only way?"

"Access the dark magic inside of you," David muttered. "That sounds a lot like you have to be—"

"The Evil Queen, yes," Regina confirmed, not taking her sad eyes off of Emma. "That's why I need you here."

"So you have someone to kill?" he tried to joke.

"So if I can't pull back from that … if I don't come back …"

"I'll pull you back," Emma swore. "Our magic will pull you back."

"That's what I'm hoping for, and I'm almost sure it's going to work," Regina soothed her. "But just in case, on the off-chance … David, if Emma … if our love can't pull me back … I need you to kill me."

"Are you out of your mind?" David asked. "I can't do that … I won't do that."

Regina smiled sadly at the irony. "David, please." Her tone was both pleading and insistent. "If it comes to the worst, someone has to make sure I don't hurt the people I love …"

"But—"

"And would you really want me to have to ask Emma to do it?"

"God, no," David replied immediately. "Okay, I'll do it," he finally sighed. "But you'd better do your damn best to come back."

"Regina," Emma murmured. "It's going to be fine. I believe in you."

Regina swallowed hard. "I hope you're right because we'll need both of us for the second part of this …" She pushed a lock of hair behind Emma's ear. "But just in case—"

"No," Emma interrupted. "You're not saying goodbye to me. We'll do this, together."

"I love you."

"I love you, too."

They both looked up when there were sounds coming from the empty shop. "We better get started," Regina rasped around the tight feeling in her throat.

"So you put a dark spell in the box to draw this thing out and when it's in there—"

"We'll use our combined magic to lock it inside the box and neutralize it," Regina finished. "And then we're going to bury this box where nobody will ever find it again."

"Your vault?"

"I was thinking more along the lines of the Mariana Trench, to be honest," Regina replied. "We'll find a place, but I don't want it anywhere near my vault."

"The bottom of the ocean it is then," Emma agreed. "Ready?"

"No," Regina replied more honestly than expected. "But we're going to do it anyway." She picked up the box and walked inside the shop, locking the door once Emma and David were also inside.

Regina set the box on the counter and closed her eyes as she focused on finding the darkness inside her own heart. To her dismay — and disgust at herself — it was easier than she had hoped. Almost without conscious thought her arm stretched out towards the box, hand curled into a fist, then opening.

Emma swallowed as she saw the black smoke grow inside the hand that she knew so well, but what made her heart stop and stutter was the empty look in Regina's almost black eyes. Her face was a mask, her mouth curled into an evil smirk as she twirled her wrist with a short jerky move that sent the black ball of pure darkness hurling into the box.

Emma wrapped her arms around Regina's waist from behind, holding her close, breathing into her neck. "I love you, Regina," she whispered. "Feel me, feel our magic." She pressed her hands against Regina's stomach and her lips against the nape of her neck, willing her magic to find its counterpart inside Regina.

Regina growled at being held tight but the feeling wasn't all bad, which was the only reason Emma wasn't currently flying through the room. Then, just as she was about to push Emma away, she felt something in her body connect with Emma's magic, and the feeling was so intensely joyful and light she almost sagged in relief. The darkness inside fought against the light for a few more moments, causing Regina to breath harder, but it only took a short time for the light magic to come out on top. The dark spell from the box, however, kept on pulling at her. "The box, Emma," Regina croaked. "Close it."

Emma let go of Regina and slammed the lid of the box shut before jumping back to Regina's side just as her lover crumpled on the floor, panting hard. "Regina! Regina, are you all right?"

Regina fought off the urge to slap Emma into next week as a last wave of darkness rolled around her body before fizzing out. She took a deep breath, then another, relieved when that seemed to keep the darkness at bay and center her. "Emma, we need … to move … get away from the box. Let it serve its purpose …"

Emma nodded and pulled Regina to her feet, taking on most of her weight. "Come on," she grunted as she walked with Regina into the back room to get away from the box that made her skin crawl and Regina wince. "It's going to be fine."

Once they were huddled in a dark corner in Gold's back room — Emma on the floor with her back to the wall and Regina resting against her — Emma tried to take stock of the woman in her arms. "Are you okay?" she asked running her hand over every body part she could reach.

"I did not receive any kind of bodily harm, if that's what you're checking for," Regina rasped. "I'll be fine."

"Did it work?" David asked from where he was crouching next to them. "Are you … you know, you?"

Regina smiled when she saw that he had his hand on the grip of his gun. "I'm fine, David," she tried to reassure him. "I'm … me."

"No urge to kill me? Or Snow White?"

"Not more than usual," Regina replied dryly. She smiled up at Emma over her shoulder. "I'm sorry I worried you, darling," she whispered. "You pulled me back. I could feel you inside me."

"I'm not letting you go anywhere without me," Emma swore with a half grin. "You better get used to it."

"What do we do now?" David interrupted the moment once he became a little uncomfortable at the look Emma and Regina were sharing.

"You need to open that box again, David."

He went immediately, returning after a second. "Now we wait and watch," Regina said, turning her a little to look at him. "I don't think it will be long. Maybe you should go join the others at the diner."

David relaxed and shook his head. "Nah, can't do that," he said with a grin. "Not when this isn't over yet."

o o o

The ashes floated towards the stairs at the utterly delicious feeling of darkness that suddenly came from downstairs. The pull even overpowered the elusive darkness it had been searching for before, if even for a moment. That other darkness was still stronger, offered more, but this? This one was there, and enticing, and promised a home. It could always move to another, better home later.

The ashes floated slowly down the stairs towards the source, its new home. It felt the humans in the area but decided to ignore them for now.

Its need for a new home was greater.

o o o

"There," David whispered urgently as soon as he spotted movement. "Is that it?"

Regina nodded, tensing in Emma's arms. "Time for phase two, I guess," she muttered, moving slowly and carefully into a sitting position so as not to draw attention. Since the ashes continued to move straight for the box, she assumed they were going to be ignored, at least for now.

"What now?" Emma asked, barely audible.

"We wait until it's inside the box, then we hit the box with our combined magic to seal it inside, dear."

"You make it sound so easy," Emma murmured.

"It's going to be anything but," Regina replied. "We need to infuse the box with so much light magic that it can contain the darkness inside, trapping it, allowing us to get rid of it somehow."

"The Mariana Trench?"

"Or something similar."

The ashes were hovering over the open box now, and the three of them watched as the small cloud collected into a more cohesive heap, then dropped into the box. Regina could have sworn she heard a sigh as that happened. She jumped up quickly. "Now! David, close the box, then get out of the way!"

David jumped and closed the box, then dived to the side, well out of the way. The box began to rattle but by that time Emma and Regina were ready, standing strong, holding hands, fingers laced together tightly. Emma focused all her thoughts on her love for Henry, for Regina and directed a stream of pure white magic at the box on the counter, imagining fusing it shut, turning it into an object of pure light magic itself. Regina joined her own magic to Emma's, and it was bright red, not the usual purple. Together, both streams engulfed the box, which was struggling and moving, trying to escape the assault.

The box crashed to the floor, and for a split second Emma thought they'd lost it, but their magic never let go of the box, following its path down to the floor and across it as it tried to skitter away. The perfect opportunity for them to intensify their assault came when the box worked itself into a corner of the room, and their stream of magic could focus on a full-frontal attack.

Emma felt the sweat running down her back and face, and exhaustion taking over. Even combined with Regina's magic and the sheer force of their magical power, using that much magic was tiring to the extreme, as Emma remembered well enough from the day she had been chasing Regina all over Storybrooke. "Regina," she breathed. "How much longer?"

"I don't know," Regina panted hoarsely and Emma took her eyes off the box for a second to look at her partner at the rough sound. Regina looked much worse than she did, which meant that either Regina was still exhausted from fighting off her own darkness inside or — Emma felt a tingling in the hand that was connected to Regina — she was actually feeding Emma energy at the cost of her own.

Emma tried to pull her hand away, only for Regina to hold on tighter. "Don't," came the bitten-off command from the older woman. "Just a … little … longer."

"Regina …"

"Just … a … little …"

There was sweat running down Regina's face in rivulets from her hairline, and her hair was sticking to her head in places. Her skin color was getting paler by the second, and she had a nosebleed. Emma remembered what came next from her own experience, but there wasn't much she could do. "Dad!" she called out.

David was by her side in an instant. "What do you need?"

Emma shook her head wildly. "Not me," she panted. "Regina … she's going to crash … you need to hold her up."

David gasped when he saw the state Regina was in and was behind her in a flash. He rested his hands on her waist to prop her up if necessary. "I've got you," he whispered, and received an almost imperceptible nod.

Emma tried not to split her focus between the box and Regina but she found that to be impossible. She was just too worried about her lover.

"Don't … lose … focus," Regina groaned. "Almost … there …"

And then — almost anti-climactically so — the box stopped moving.

"Is this it?" David asked.

Regina shook her head with a groan. "Have … to make … sure …"

Emma nodded and didn't let up. Her arm was shaking and she was feeling slightly nauseous, and she couldn't even imagine how Regina felt. "Regina … we're done … this is … as much as … as we can do …" She yanked on her hand and broke their connection just as Regina crumpled and fell back in David's arms. Their magic fizzled out, and Emma stared anxiously at the box.

It remained quiet, still, only emitting a white glow for long, long moments until it went back to normal, and just sat there.

"Is it done now?" David asked as he gently lowered an unconscious Regina to the floor.

"I hope so," Emma croaked as she sank to her knees next to her lover. "Because we're all out of light magic." Her eyes blinked, staying closer longer and longer. "In fact, we're all … out … of everything," she wheezed and collapsed right next to Regina.

David sighed at the sight of the two women on the floor before he remembered seeing a sofa in the back room. He carefully carried first Emma, then Regina into the other room and placed them on the sofa, arranging them as comfortably as he could.

He watched over them for a few moments, smiling when they curled into each other even in their unconscious states, then went back to the front room to watch the box.

Hoping it would stay harmless.