AN: Some things about season 5 might stay the same as they are in the show, but other things (like how Emma's attitude as the Dark One) will be my original take on the Dark Swan arc.
With only a few hours before the date, Emma was losing time to talk to Robin and only had a small amount of information to share with him. It had to be enough. She at least knew how she thought Robin should treat Regina, how he should listen to her and smile and not put anyone else except Roland before her. And that, without a doubt, was enough.
She wasn't exactly sure where Robin was staying, though. That was a problem. She thought about their usually limited interactions and where she'd found him with Little John and Roland when she'd yanked his heart from his chest. He always smelled like forest so even if he didn't live in the woods, it was likely she'd find him there again. So she made her way to the edge of the woods and started to take a walk. She had no sense of time as she wandered along the tree line. She had a purpose, but she wasn't worried. Plus, Robin was a frustrating idiot, but not entirely dense. Once she found him, she figured they only needed a ten minute conversation about what to do when he was alone with Regina later. But he wouldn't be completely alone with Regina. Hell no. After what happened at the office, she didn't trust him to even use common sense with the woman and there was no way Regina's happy ending was with a box of hair, because that was basically all he amounted to in Emma's eyes.
It was closer to sunset by the time she ran into Robin. He was at the Merry Men's camp, not too far into the woods and close to Granny's. She still had no idea if he lived at the camp with the rest of his men, but he was there at that moment. That was all Emma cared to know.
She sauntered over to him with sharp, but not necessarily angry, eyes directed at the camp as she glanced around at the Merry Men's not quite modernized way of life. Little John was smiling happily as he helped Roland cook something on the fire while three other men were gathered around each other talking, laughing, enjoying themselves. A little farther away from the rest of the group, Emma noticed familiar muscles and long, dark hair pulled back in a loose and slightly messy ponytail. Mulan?
As if the other woman heard her thoughts, Mulan turned toward the group and made her way to the log by the fire that Little John and Roland sat on. When she came to stand next to them, she caught Roland's attention by running her hand through his hair. When the boy looked up and smiled at her, Mulan's eyes filled with wistfulness.
Emma didn't understand it. The sadness didn't leave her eyes when she looked away from Roland and finally noticed that Emma was there, but it wasn't just a general sadness. Mulan had been through something and still hadn't seemed to have gotten over it. Emma recognized that much.
"Emma," Mulan greeted with a small bow of her head, a sign of her respect. "How are you?"
"Oh, you know, I had a sort of career change." Mulan furrowed her brow, confused by that. Emma explained, "I'm not the Savior anymore. I'm the new Dark One."
Mulan's shoulders slumped when she exhaled and her eyes dulled a little more. She seemed tired and possibly defeated. Or maybe just resigned to everything that happened past and present.
"I'm actually here to talk to Robin," Emma said after a moment. "He around?"
Mulan stood there for a moment before she looked down at the ground and nodded. She looked up and motioned with her head to a spot near two other Men in the distance behind her. Emma followed Mulan's movement and found him talking with the Men. He didn't seem overly enthusiastic, but he wasn't sad or upset or even worried. After the heart-squeeze in Regina's office, she figured he might have been looking over his shoulder a little more. Instead, he seemed content.
"Thanks," Emma said and smiled at Mulan before she made her way over to Robin. As she approached, she grabbed his attention by calling out to him. "I hear you've got plans tonight."
He turned to Emma immediately. He lost the careless twinkle in his eyes almost immediately. "Let's speak privately, shall we?" It was the first thing out of his mouth. Emma didn't exactly blame him for wanting to keep their conversation confidential, but it did amuse her. She couldn't hide her grin because of that.
The two of them walked off to a quiet spot away from everyone else. They even went so far as to stand behind a tree.
"So, you have a date with Regina," Emma stated with scowl on her face.
He sighed and gulped before he made eye contact with her again. "How did you hear that? Did Regina tell you?"
"More like you told me."
His face twisted into a familiar look of constipation, one he expressed often in times of confusion. How did Regina find that at all attractive?
"You think it was a coincidence that your chest hurt when you asked her out," Emma asked to help him understand.
Realization flickered in his eyes then. "I thought you wanted me to—"
"I didn't want you to do anything until I told you what to do. That's how this is going to work. You do what I say when I say it."
"No offense, Dark One, but I'm dating Regina. Why should I be taking cues from you how to date her?"
"Because you've screwed up one too many times. Regina's…she's been through a lot in her life. She deserves so much more than what you seem to be giving her. She's not happy and I'm here to make sure she is."
"Is that really your job?"
Emma let out a frustrated sigh and reached into the satchel. She gave his heart a squeeze and that time he actually fell to his knees as he clutched his chest.
"Let me make myself perfectly clear," she growled while she bent over at the waist and towered above Robin. "You aren't making her happy. I promised her I'd get her a happy ending. It's a promise I intend to keep."
"But…" he struggled to speak. "You aren't seeing her. I am."
"Yeah, and you aren't doing anything right," she squeezed a little harder and he yelped. "You should be less concerned about what I'm doing and more about what you should be doing. For Regina."
He vigorously nodded from his position on the ground, one hand pressed into the dirt and the other gripped tightly at his shirt as he clawed at the pain in his chest they both knew he couldn't physically stop. Only Emma could and she would, if only he gave her a reason to stop. In that moment, it he nod was reason enough. But just barely.
Emma released his heart and moved her hand out of the satchel. He coughed and sputtered. He gasped several times before he slowly stood up. He used the tree to pull himself back onto his feet, his fingers curled around bits of bark and it collected under his fingernails while his hands scraped against the tree.
"I'm glad we have an understanding," Emma said. "Now, a few things you should be aware of while you're on this date of yours. Make the night all about her. Smile a lot. Don't be rude and don't be sleazy."
"Sleazy? What kind of man do you take me for," he asked.
"You don't want to know the answer to that," she replied. "Next time you ask Regina on a date, you make sure I know about it first. Got it?"
He took a moment before he nodded, his eyes cast down. He looked like a kicked puppy and it didn't take long for Emma to realize she didn't care.
"Good," she said. "Remember what I told you about tonight and everyting'll be fine. Go spend some time with your son and keep in mind how special Regina is."
He furrowed his brow and stared at her with a puzzled expression while he watched her leave. She felt his eyes on her even when she had her back turned to him. She chuckled under her breath as she walked away from the Merry Men's camp and hoped she didn't have to keep hurting him because for some reason Regina actually liked the guy. To hurt him meant if she ever knew what Emma had done to him, it would hurt Regina too. There was also the fact that she really didn't want have to touch his heart more than absolutely necessary. It was gross to hold an enchanted heart. It was like squeezing a stress ball except it was squishy with human muscles instead of manufactured foam. And touching Robin's heart? That made her feel much closer to him than she ever wanted to be.
When she was far enough from the camp, Emma noticed the change in Robin's heartbeat. While she was there, before and during the time she squeezed, Robin's heartbeat had quickened. Once she was out of sight and a few minutes had passed, he seemed to have calmed down. She figured it was good that she scared him. Maybe he would do what she said and maybe there was real hope for making Robin into someone that could make Regina truly happy.
She didn't want to be there. As much as she needed to make sure Robin didn't screw up, she really didn't want to watch him on a date with Regina. It was weird and she really didn't like the guy, but more than that it was uncomfortable to supervise a date. If it was Henry's date she was looking in on, it would be one thing. He was a teen and she was his mother. Watching a grown woman's date that could actually lead to more than a painfully awkward first kiss was something else.
But Emma had to be sure Robin listened to her, did as she'd suggested. She might have been watching Robin like a hawk, but she was looking out for Regina. That was her main concern.
She followed them when they moved around the house, but she stuck to the walls on the outside. She went around the corner when they made their way into a sitting room to the left of the front door. She peered in through the window next to a tall bush and tried to hear through the glass what was being said, in case Robin said the wrong thing. Unless they raised their voices and enunciated, however, she only heard mumbling.
When they moved to the kitchen, she waited outside in the backyard in front of a window near the dining room. She didn't have the best look at the room and she knew she wasn't going to have much luck overhearing the conversation just as she hadn't when they were in the sitting room. After thirty minutes of watching Regina smile and Robin gently rub her forearm every so often, Emma wasn't too appreciative of that. It didn't quite surprise her, but she thought she would have been able to stomach seeing her own advice in action.
The plates of half-finished food were forgotten and Regina looked, well, she didn't look head over heels happy, but her eyes sparkled and she leaned in. Emma's heart thundered against her chest, her eyes widened, and her breathing went from controlled to erratic. Time slowed as she watched Regina initiate a kiss and as soon as their lips made contact, Emma spun around and turned away. She couldn't watch. That was way more shocking to her than anything else. She wanted them to be together, because Regina wanted it. Then she remembered the conversation she'd had with Regina about not having time to find passion in her relationship with Robin. As soon as she gave that some thought, she knew that was the reason she had to get some space from the intimate date. She wanted Regina to be happy, but she didn't want Regina to have sex with Robin just to see if she could feel something again. She closed her eyes and her shoulders slumped when she roughly exhaled.
She felt a little sick and maybe kind of hollow. She wasn't exactly sure what she felt because part of her wanted to run, the way she used to run before Henry brought her to Storybrooke, and part of felt a twisted urge to do something. Part of her, the sometimes more overpowering part, wanted to barge into the house and make it stop. She wanted to yank Robin away from Regina despite having watched Regina initiate the kiss. Robin wasn't ready for Regina. He wasn't yet worthy of her time let alone her love. Emma fed him enough information to get him through a nice and respectful evening, but Regina was still willing to chase passion and fire that apparently wasn't there. Although the smiles they'd shared while they ate told Emma otherwise.
She opened her eyes, which were sharper than they were before she'd closed them, and clenched her fists tightly at her sides. Her pale skin turned red on the backs of her hands, her knuckles bright white with her tension. She kept herself tightly wound and resisted her urge to break up the date. It was for Regina's happiness. She had to contain herself and her impulses if she expected to give Regina what she deserved, what Emma herself had sacrificed to give her. With shaking arms and hands, she faced the window again and tried to calm down before she peeked back through it. When she looked, her eyes locked on Regina and Robin standing close but not kissing. They'd broken apart during Emma's moment of weakness and for that the blonde was glad. It was a lot easier to fight the urge to do bad things if she wasn't tempted in the first place.
Regina had her hands on his shoulders. She continued to touch him, but it was different. It was the kind of touch Emma could actually bear to see even though she still wasn't pleased it was even happening. Her behavior was indicative of jealousy. That much she understood. It was frustrating, but she was more upset with herself that she was extremely close to acting out due to how she felt.
Emma watched Regina flash a quick but soft and warm smile at Robin and then move away from him. She started to clear the table, stacked Robin's plate on top of her own and then grabbed her wine glass. Robin followed her lead. He didn't offer to help and he only took his own wine glass to the kitchen. He held the door open for Regina, but only after she opened it for herself. Emma practically growled like a feral animal waiting to attack in response to Robin's minimal effort to help with the clean up. She leaned toward the window and wondered if it was a waste of time to continue to stand there. They'd changed rooms once before so it was possible they'd do it again. As soon as Emma became impatient a few minutes later, she made her way back to the front door.
When she reached the front of the house, still off to the side of the door, she heard something near the neighbor's yard and turned for a moment in case it was more than the wind or a bunny or something. She started to move toward the shrubs that separated Regina's property from the next house on the block, but when she was out of the shadows the next sound she heard came from behind her. She whipped around and saw Regina's front door open. Robin walked out before he turned, his back to Emma when he did, and she witnessed the other woman go through a polite dismissal of her date. At least things hadn't made it to the bedroom, or any other available surface in the house. That was something Regina wasn't ready for, not if she was trying to force something that wasn't there.
Emma threw herself backward into the bushes. Her cheeks were both tickled and scratched by the prickly landscaping when she hurried to disappear from sight. She could have poofed out of there, but she wanted to stay and watch Robin leave. Poofing also wouldn't have been subtle at all.
She witnessed a few more smiles exchanged between them, but Emma couldn't tell from that far away and squished inside thick bushes if the expressions were genuine or not. It didn't matter a moment later when she noticed there was no goodnight kiss before Robin took a few steps back and then left. She waited a few minutes once he was out of sight and the front door was closed with Regina somewhere in the house on the other side of it before she stepped out into the yard.
She picked the needles from the bushes out of her hair and brushed them off her shoulders before she finally poofed back to her new home, which was large and empty and she suddenly understood how Regina must have felt when Henry had stayed at the apartment with the Charmings. Being in such a big space and no one to share it with was incredibly lonely.
She sighed as she looked around at the dark and barely furnished place, her mood dampened as soon as she lost her focus on Regina. When her attention shifted from the other woman to her own life, there was only pain and sadness and Dark One thoughts. Maybe she didn't just need to focus on Regina's happiness to keep a promise or to ensure her sacrifice hadn't been in vain. Maybe she needed to focus on Regina to keep herself sane.
The realization that came with that thought hit Emma like a ton of bricks. She needed a drink. Thankfully, she had a brand new bottle of Merlot. She popped the cork and poured herself a more than generous glass, which was about the only thing Emma had of her own in the house.
With nothing to distract her from her conflicting thoughts about helping Regina be happy and the constantly resurfacing thoughts about death, torture, and all out destruction she was easily very determined to drink her problems away. She grabbed her glass and quickly brought it to her lips, but before she had the chance to drink a single sip her phone vibrated on the counter. She furrowed her brow and lowered the glass just a little when she reached for her cell. There was a new text message from Regina, which was at first surprising and then, after she gave it some thought, a little terrifying. Regina had no reason to contact her unless she knew Emma had spied on her all night.
She took a hurried breath before she opened the message. As soon as she read it, she blinked and furrowed her brows as she pondered the words on the screen.
Where are you?
She had no idea how to respond. Either Regina was pissed off and wanted to yell at her or she needed something. Regina never just wanted to know Emma's whereabouts without damn good reason. She typed a vague response in case she was in trouble with the brunette.
Home.
It didn't take long before she received another message.
What's the address?
Still unsure about Regina's intentions, Emma replied: Why do you want to know?
If I decide that Henry and I should, at some point, go over for dinner I'll need to know where I'm going.
Is that the only reason you want to know?
Is there another reason I SHOULD want to know where you live?
I'd like to think we're past you wanting to kill me.
That depends. What have you done?
Emma almost dropped the phone and walked away, not wanting to go down that road with Regina. Instead, she stared at the text for a few more seconds before she formed a reply.
I'll give you the address if you promise not to harass me.
I can't promise that.
Why not?
I've known you far too long now to know that eventually you do something to annoy me. Like refusing to give me your address.
My lair is sacred.
Idiot. Just give me the address.
Emma hadn't even realized she'd been smiling, but her lips were curled upward and stretched brightly across her face as she gave Regina what she wanted. Consequences be damned.
Thirty minutes later, the doorbell rang and startled her while she was in the middle of making mac and cheese. So much for blaming all of her behavior on being the Dark One. What Dark One had ever jumped in response to a doorbell?
Emma didn't bother to check the peephole before she opened the door. Her eyes widened at the sight of Regina on the other side with a container of what Emma guessed were some kind of leftovers. She guessed right.
"I brought you some salmon," Regina said in place of a typical greeting.
"This is why you wanted my address?"
"It's why I wanted to know before the end of the night, but I would have needed to know eventually if I do take you up on your dinner invitation."
Emma was caught off guard, so much so that the two of them awkwardly stood in the doorway before Regina asked, "May I come in?"
"Oh. Right. Yeah, of course." She stepped aside and motioned for the brunette to come inside. Regina didn't hesitate.
Emma's eyes roamed over Regina's back and settled on her plump rear in the same tight dress she'd worn for her date. The blonde's eyes glazed over as she took her sweet time closing the front door, far too distracted by her sudden and intense desire to run her hands up smooth, olive thighs. She imagined pushing up the hem of the dress and teasing Regina through her panties, imagined watching Regna's eyes roll into the back of her head with pleasure.
"Please tell me you aren't seriously making macaroni and cheese right now." Regina's voice snapped her out of her fantasy, a fantasy she was definitely blaming on being the Dark One, and licked her lips before she could respond to the other woman.
"I didn't know you were coming over. And I told you earlier I was thinking about it."
"Thinking about it. You weren't sure. I'm just glad I got here when I did."
"Well, if you'd texted me sooner I wouldn't have bothered at all. I just started making it a little while ago."
Regina found her way to the kitchen easily enough and Emma followed behind her. Almost as soon as they stepped into the other room, Regina's attention went to the low hum of an appliance.
"It's the single serve, microwavable kind," Regina asked and spun around to face her, completely appalled by the knowledge Emma hadn't even attempted to make a decent effort at dinner.
Emma shrugged. "I don't see the point in making something for just me if it takes longer to cook it than it does to eat it."
Regina rolled her eyes and then turned toward the microwave. She pushed it open in the middle of the countdown and removed the frozen dinner. "Do you have any plates?"
"Uh, no. Haven't really gone out a lot lately." It wasn't a complete lie. The only time she left the house was to discreetly do things for Regina's benefit.
"For a 'sacred lair' you certainly haven't put much into this place," Regina noted. A second later, she conjured a plate with a flick of her wrist.
Emma just stared. She watched Regina put the salmon on the plate and slide it into the microwave before she heated it up in place of Emma's poor excuse of a meal.
"I see you didn't waste any time before enjoying the Merlot."
"You know, Regina, mac and cheese is just pasta. Wine is paired with pasta all the time."
"Of course you'd validate your dinner choice that way. The salmon will be much better."
"I never said I was turning down a home cooked meal," she clarified.
The microwave beeped and Emma moved to the silverware drawer while Regina retrieved the plate. When she turned to Regina with a fork and a knife in hand, Regina looked at her with an expectantly raised eyebrow. Emma smiled in response and explained, "These I stole from my parents. Magic is fun, but it's also very useful."
"You couldn't rob your parents of plates when you stole those, dear?" Regina sighed and subtly shook her head. "Well, I just came by to give you a good meal since I had leftovers and assumed you probably weren't lying about your plans for macaroni and cheese."
Regina handed the plate of salmon over to Emma and started to head back to the door, but the younger woman wasn't ready for her to leave yet.
"Wait," she said and Regina turned around. She almost always turned around when Emma called out to her. "Are you serious about thinking of bringing Henry over?"
"I wouldn't keep him from you unless you gave me reason to think he wasn't safe with you," Regina said. "Although I don't want him here by himself."
"I get that. Funny how the tables have turned, right? It wasn't all that long ago I didn't want him alone around you either," she nervously laughed and stuffed her hands into her front pockets like she had before when she'd cautiously approached Regina's porch.
"You wouldn't have to know what this feels like if you'd just let the darkness take me," Regina said, her eyes filled with sadness and concern.
Emma smiled and shook her head. "Not a chance."
Regina pursed her lips and quietly cleared her throat as she looked away for a moment. She shifted in place for another couple of seconds before she met Emma's gaze again and said, "Well, I should go. I'm sure as much as Henry loves your brother, he doesn't want to spend the night with a crying baby waking up at all hours and disrupting his sleep."
Emma nodded and looked down at the floor as she pushed her hands deeper into her pockets. She felt a draft hit her lower abdomen, most likely exposing fair skin below her waist as she did. "Tell him I said goodnight?"
"I will."
"Thank you.
"For what?"
Emma hesitated before she answered, "Dinner. Considering bringing Henry here sometime. Passing along messages to him for me. Thank you for a lot of things."
Regina flashed a smile, a little unsure but still warm and friendly. She nodded then and said goodnight before she turned and made it all the way to the door. Emma didn't stop her. She even held the door open for the brunette and she watched her go.
Green eyes fixated on Regina as she walked to the curb, started the Mercedes, and drove off. She stood outside for a while, her eyes trained on the last place she'd been able to see the Mercedes before it disappeared from view. Her earlier thoughts about pushing up the hem of Regina's dress were sudden and unexplainable, but they weren't important. She had to stay focused, had to get Regina her happy ending. She was the Dark One, she had Robin's heart, and she was in control of herself ever since she'd taken back the dagger before their return to Storybrooke. As soon as she figured out what was keeping Regina from being happy, she'd use every advantage she had to give Regina anything she needed and everything she wanted.
"Even if it kills me," Emma vowed.