"Have you lost your damn minds?! You want me to just hand over a heart to you? I can't even begin to name off all of the violations I'd commit agreeing to this. Not to mention that Mrs. Grant would never approve of this!" Dr. Whale whispered in hushed tones, but he made it a point to hiss most of his words so that they'd know he would yell them if he could. He was a bit over-dramatic like that.
"None of those violations are going to matter if this town gets destroyed, Whale. Not to mention that it's not like you get investigators on compliance coming to Storybrooke," Regina replied with an eye roll. Emma couldn't help but to smirk just a little at Regina's sass. It somehow always managed to add that small amount of edge that worked things out in her favor. Dr. Whale leaned against the table for a few minutes, his eyes locked on Regina as he folded his arms across his chest.
"What if...I talk to Mrs. Grant? If she approves it, will you let us do this?" Emma asked, trying to find a compromise. Dr. Whale looked over at Emma and threw his hands up.
"Fine, but I don't want any part of this. If you can get her to agree with it, then take what you need. I'm not going to talk a woman into giving up her husband's heart. I can't believe that you're bought into this. I expected this much from her," he said, pointing toward Regina.
"It was my idea. And even if it weren't, I would buy in to it. Whether you like it or not, Whale, I trust Regina..." She looked over to Regina with a small smile. "...with my life." She shot Regina a small wink just as Dr. Whale pushed away from the table and stormed out of the office, leaving the two of them there in silence.
"We just need to get passed the nurses' station" Regina said as she turned to walk out of the office. One benefit to befriending The Evil Queen was that she knew where everything was since she designed it. Emma followed her into the hallway quickly afterwards. The door shut closed behind her and Regina lifted her hands up. With purple smoke forming around them, she knew that they no longer were standing in the hallway. As the clouds broke apart, the world sharpened around them, leaving them right in front of Mr. Grant's room, looking through the window to find Mrs. Grant seated by his side.
"I've gotta figure out how to do that," Emma muttered quietly.
"If you'd pay attention when I tried to teach you before, you'd already know."
"I pay attention!"
"Only when things go boom," Regina quipped back quickly, as she reached for the door handle.
"...Good point." Emma whispered softly as she followed Regina into the room. Mrs. Grant lifted her head to see Regina and Emma walking toward her. Emma was hit hard with the grief in the old woman's eyes. God, this was going to be hard. So hard. She didn't realize how difficult this would be until she was faced with a pain of loss that she'd felt before. The glistening over Regina's dark eyes told her that she felt the same.
"Mayor Mills. Miss Swan. What...are you doing here?" She asked softly, in her usual sweet way. Emma moved beside her and rested a hand on her frail shoulder.
"Mrs. Grant, I am so sorry to hear about your loss," Regina said as her hands clasped together in front of her. Mrs. Grant gave a small smile and rested her hand on top of Emma's.
"That's kind of you both. Thank you. Even after the curse, Martin always had faith that you would find your way back to the light," she said to Regina. "I didn't agree with him at first. My husband always sees the best in people, but he was right about you, Madam Mayor." Mrs. Grant smiled and her words sank into the pit of Emma's stomach. Luckily, Regina was strong enough to broach the subject.
"Thank you for that, Mrs. Grant. You and your husband have always been gracious, despite my many shortcomings. Unfortunately, I have a very heavy request."
"What's that, dear?"
"I...need your husband's heart." Mrs. Grant let out a small gasp as she leaned back in her chair.
"Absolutely not! What on earth makes you think that I would ever allow something like that?!" Tears filled the old woman's eyes. Her hand reached out to grab a hold of her husband's lifeless hand.
"Please, Mrs. Grant. I know it sounds cruel to ask so soon. Please understand that the entire town is in danger. We wouldn't be asking if it weren't a matter of life or death." Emma moved beside her, hoping that their plea would be heard.
"You're the Savior, aren't you? Come up with another idea that doesn't consist of taking my husband's heart away from him." Mrs. Grant's words were angry, and Emma knew they were deserving of it. It wasn't an easy thing to ask, and she felt terrible for having to do it.
"It's not that simple. If you'll just allow us to exp-" Mrs. Grant's hand shot up in Regina's direction, interrupting her from speaking.
"My answer is no. I'll not hear another word about it. Please, leave."
"Mrs. Grant, I can promise you that your husband would have given his life to save this town. He spent his entire life helping his community. There's a darkness that's coming to Storybrooke and I can't stop it without him. I know what it's like to sacrifice the one I love to protect everyone else. To know that this one decision could end everything you hoped you could have. It is an absolutely terrible price to pay and I'm so sorry we are asking you to pay it." Emma's words were met with silence, Mrs. Grant staring down at the floor. After a few moments, a sigh escaped Emma's lips and she stood, walking toward Regina and resting a hand on her arm to tug her toward the door.
"Let's go," she whispered softly as she reached for the door handle. As they started to leave, Mrs. Grant's voice stopped them in their tracks.
"Do you know if it will work?" Emma turned and looked at the woman whose eyes lifted and locked onto her face. There was no way she could lie to her.
"No. We don't."
"What will you do if it fails?" That was a question Emma had been asking herself this entire time, and there was only one answer she could come up with.
"...Whatever it takes."
"Even if it means your life?"
"Yes."
"What about you, Mayor?" Mrs. Grant's eyes shot over to Regina. Back when she was the Evil Queen, Regina would have never considered risking her own life for her kingdom. Now...she'd done it multiple times, and that was part of being a hero: being that selfless leader who pushed past the fear to do what needed to be done.
"I stand with The Savior. Whatever it takes to keep this town safe," Regina replied, her words filled with conviction. So much so that her answer brought a long sigh from Mrs. Grant's lips as she stood up and spoke.
"Your parents should be so proud. Both of you. I know that Martin would want this as well. He would want to die trying to protect the people he cared about," she said softly as her eyes lifted to Regina, nodding to give her permission for Regina to take the man's heart.
"Are you sure?"
"Do it, Madam Mayor. Do it before I change my mind. Do it and go be heroes." Regina stepped forward toward the lifeless body hooked up to a vast number of machines. Emma hurried to Mrs. Grant's side and pulled her into a hug, blocking her view of Regina as Regina reached into the man's chest for his heart. Muffled sobs and sniffles hit against Emma's shoulder and she held the old woman tightly.
"You're the hero, Mrs. Grant. A greater hero than most," Emma whispered as she pressed a small kiss to the top of Mrs. Grant's head before the woman let go of Emma to create space between them.
"Don't lose her again, Miss Swan," she whispered back. The words hit Emma hard, the two women now sharing the same grief in their eyes once more. They'd both loved...and lost. She felt the tears threatening to form and fall. How did she know? Just as Regina spoke, her thoughts dissipated entirely.
"We must go quickly. Before it's too late." Regina reached out to touch Emma's shoulder. With that, the purple smoke surrounded her once more, and they were gone.
- A few minutes later, at Gold's Shop -
"What did she say to you, Emma?" Regina asked as they walked toward the shop.
"When?"
"Don't play coy with me. She said something to you at the end. It shook you up. I could tell. What was it?" Emma shook her head and waved a hand to dismiss it.
"Oh. Nothing."
"Didn't seem like nothing to me."
"It's a long story. I'll explain it all to you when this is handled." Emma knew this wasn't the time or place to spill all of her feelings. It wasn't like she could tell Regina everything and just magically make things go back to the way that they were. This was a different land and a different time. The Regina she fell in love with wasn't here and wouldn't be here. It was as simple as that, and she'd do best to remember that. It was better to focus on the task at hand. Just then, Henry came busting out of the front door to greet them. Snow, David, Robin and Killian weren't much further behind them.
"Moms! Did you find anything?" He asked, that hopeful tone in his voice. Regina reached into her jacket to retrieve the beating heart in her hand.
"Your mom and I have a plan. We're going to try and put the darkness into Mr. Grant's heart."
"Martin? Isn't he...dead?" Snow asked, eyebrows furrowed in confusion.
"Brain dead, but the heart was still working. Mrs. Grant was kind enough to allow us to take his heart. If we can transfer the dark one into the heart of a dead man, we can trap it there. That's the theory anyway," Emma replied as her hand rested on Henry's shoulder.
"Not a bad plan. Do we know it'll work?" Killian asked, his blue eyes still skeptical. Emma couldn't blame any of them for skepticism. She didn't know if this would work either, and it was more often times than not that things like this didn't work out in their favor. If it did, it came with a price.
"No, we don't, but it's the only thing we could come up with," Regina answered. Robin moved up beside her and rested a hand on the small of her back. The sight of his hands on the woman she loved so dearly made Emma scowl slightly, turning away.
"What's going to happen if this doesn't work?" He asked, which only irritated Emma more.
"Then we'll figure it out, Robin. We always do," Emma snapped before she stormed off to walk into the shop. The rest of the people stood there quietly for a brief moment, surprised at Emma's attitude. Regina's eyebrows raised in surprise, but it was in that moment that she was reminded of how painful it had to be for Emma to see her with Robin. She hadn't planned for any of this to happen. All she knew was that she loved Robin...but now, there was a growing desire for Emma. She couldn't understand these feelings, let alone explain it.
"Let's just go...find out." Regina tugged on Robin's arm as the rest followed them into the shop. Rumpel's body remained on the bed, shaking and shivering with pain as Belle sat beside him. Belle's eyes lifted to the group and she stood up.
"He's getting worse. We must hurry," Belle said as she stepped out of the way. Regina placed the heart in Emma's hand before she reached down into Rumpel's chest to pull out his heart. With a soft tug, the heart was removed and stayed in her hand. His heart was almost entirely black, compared to Mr. Grant's red one.
"Emma, I'm going to need your light magic to try and cleanse Rumpel's heart while I transfer the darkness into Mr. Grant's. Can you do that with me?" Regina asked as she set the two hearts down on a nearby table, each heart set on a clean tray in between Rumpel's dagger.
"Let's do this." Both of the women's hands came up, aimed in the direction of the hearts. A stream of white emitted from Emma's hands while red light mingled from Regina's. Their powers were focused on the hearts before them. This was not an easy task and it would be one that they couldn't accomplish on their own. Like all of the disasters they encountered, the only way to get through it was together. Darkness slowly filtered out of Rumpel's heart as the other one darkened bit by bit. Each evil deed done had polluted the clean heart, turning it to a darker red, then a purple...transitioning to where it was almost black. Each deed of Rumpel's had been removed from Rumpel's heart and placed into the other. The last drop of black fell away from Rumpel's heart, which was when Regina dropped her hands.
"I think it worked!" Henry shouted excitedly.
"So far, so good. Keep watching it," Regina said as she pulled the clean heart up from the tray and moved to place it into Rumpel's chest. As soon as the heart returned to its owner, Rumpel let out a long sigh of relief. Though tired, his eyes slowly opened and he reached out to rest a hand against Belle's cheek.
"Bloody hell, you two did it!" Killian smiled. Regina turned to lift up the other heart that was continuing to darken.
"Don't be so sure of that. Emma, look..." She picked up the heart and held it in the palm of her hand. The heart was slowly starting to shrink in size.
"What's happening?!" Emma saw how Gold was recovering and yet the heart was not maintaining the darkness.
"It's not strong enough," Regina said as the heart went from its red glow to a darker red, then a black, and now...a gray. The light from the heart gave out as it crumbled into gray ashes in Regina's hand, crushing itself without any help. The darkness from within the heart formed into a shadow above their heads, crashing against the lights before it flew out of the door and into the town. Regina and Emma's eyes met, both of their jaws locked in determination. They owed it to Mrs. Grant to protect this town, especially since their painful request for his heart ended in a rapid failure.
As fast as the shadow escaped the room, the group ran out into the street to follow it. There was a heaviness in the skies around them, and they all could feel it. Something was coming and it wasn't good. What could this mean? What would they do? Emma grabbed a hold of Rumpel's dagger as they ran out into the street, holding it tight by her side.
"What happened?" David asked as he gripped his wife close to his side for protection.
"The Dark One. It's no longer tethered to the Crocodile," Killian stated.
"Or the other heart in Gold's place," Snow replied as they all looked to the skies.
"Where the hell is it?" Regina muttered as they spun from side to side, trying to keep every inch in their sights.
"It hasn't gone anywhere. The Darkness. It's surrounding us..." Emma spoke in a low voice as she turned just in time to see the shadow swoop down from the skies. Before anyone could move forward, the blackened clouds swarmed around Regina's body in front of them. The Darkness chose its next owner.
"Regina!" Robin's voice shouted her name in panic. "What's it doing?!"
"What darkness does. It's snuffing out the light."
"Well, I'm not going to let it," Robin said as he ran toward the black storm surrounding Regina. The power hit him without being affected whatsoever, and it flew his body back. He tumbled, rolling back on his knees. Emma looked to her hands, trying to think as fast as she could. This wasn't happening. The last thing that Emma expected to happen was that the darkness would try to take Regina from her. Mrs. Grant's words echoed in her ears in that moment: Don't lose her again, Miss Swan.
"That's not going to work on this thing! We don't have a choice! We have to tether it to a person to contain it!" Emma gripped the dagger and charged toward the darkness.
"Emma! No!" Regina's voice was desperate to stop her. "There has to be another way!"
"There isn't. You've worked too hard to have your happiness destroyed!" Emma moved to plunge the dagger into the darkness.
"No!" David screamed, reaching for his daughter. Emma turned to her parents. They didn't understand, because they didn't know her feelings for Regina. Charming and Snow...they wouldn't have hesitated to sacrifice themselves for the other, but she knew the pain they were feeling. She knew the fear of uncertainty.
"You took the darkness out of me once. I need you to do it again. As heroes," she said, and before anyone else could stop her, the dagger was slicing through the darkness. Emma stepped into the dark cloud for her final moment with Regina, acting fast before it was all gone.
"Emma, please. Don't do this," Regina cried as Emma stepped into the darkness with her, an arm circling around her waist to draw her close one last time. They were alone in this darkness with the world shut out to them for only a brief moment, and Emma wasn't going to waste that precious time.
"I couldn't lose you again. I love you, Regina. Don't forget that," she replied as her head leaned in quickly to press her lips to Regina's. Their lips met, crushing together in a desperate need to be together before fate and circumstance divided them once again. As they kissed, a wave of magic rushed against them, brushing through the entire town.
Memories flooded into Regina's mind. This strange blonde woman coming to her rescue in her castle back in the Enchanted Forest. Their journey to Oz and the dancing, laughter...their first kiss followed by a night of passion and love. She remembered. She remembered it all. Regina's eyes filled with tears as the darkness pulled Emma out of her arms to engulf her entirely.
"Emma! No!" Regina tried to run toward her, panic setting in as she desperately tried to pull the woman she loved from the darkness before it was too late, but Robin's strong arms wrapped around her to hold her close against him. Emma turned as the blackness slowly covered her entire body. Her green eyes fell onto the sight of Regina wrapped up in Robin's arms. He kept her held tight to his side as the rest of the group looked onward toward her and her sacrifice.
There were tears on her face. Were those tears for her? The goodness in Emma held on to the hope that Regina loved her and would choose her, but as the darkness snuffed the light out of her, all she could feel was jealousy and rage. The voices whispered in her ears and it all seemed in slow motion. She chose him. You sacrificed yourself for an unrequited love, foolish girl. Love made you weak, but we will make you strong again. We will show you something greater than love: Power. They don't need to love you, Emma Swan. They will fear you...and that is the only truth you need. Darkness surrounded her, clouding her vision of the ones she loved before she saw only black.
And with that, the darkness engulfed her, tethering its entirety into Emma before disappearing into the night. The dagger fell to the ground, clinking against the asphalt. Regina broke free from Robin's grasp as she ran to the dagger. Snow and David ran to the dagger as well, but Regina snatched it and held it close to her heart.
"Don't fucking touch it! It is mine! She's mine!" She growled as the tears streamed down her face. The woman she loved sacrificed herself for the safety and protection of everyone and now...she was gone. Sobs escaped her lips as she felt Snow's arms wrap around her for comfort. Her head turned and buried her face against Snow's shoulder to cry. How could Emma hide so much from her? They were supposed to have time. Time to figure everything out, and now it was taken from her.
"We're going to find her, Regina. We always will," Snow whispered, smoothing a hand over Regina's hair. Her head lifted slowly, hands trembling as she looked down to the dagger in her hands that read a new name across the blade.
EMMA SWAN
Her jaw clenched tightly and she gripped the dagger so tightly, she almost cut her hands with the blade. Dark eyes stared down at the name on the dagger as she shook with rage and desperation.
"I will get her back. I swear it." Regina's words were whispered, loud enough for only Snow who was in close proximity to hear. She meant every word. She would find Emma, bring her home and destroy this darkness once and for all. This was a new mission for Regina, one that she couldn't fireball her way out of, but she was determined and for once, she had love on her side.
Nobody was taking her happy ending with Emma, not even the Dark One.