Breaks and Bargains

Camelot wasn't safe, not while Arthur ruled over it, not for heroes nor villains alike. This much was obvious to all who hailed from Storybrooke when they learned of how the man had dared try to enchant their sovereigns. Luckily for them Merlin was of the same mind and had agreed to join them in taking over the castle, to protect the people from Arthur's wrath, for there was no telling how far the man would go.

Piper was of the impression it should also be a concern how far he'd already gone.

He had spelled his own Queen with the Sands of Avalon, the very walls of his castle held the same sense about it, it was only fair to assume that a very real possibility was every single subject of Camelot was under his thrall and on Arthur's side.

Perhaps it had been Emma agreeing with her and giving support to that concern that had the heroes actually contemplating it. Arthur still HAD Sand of Avalon in his possession, and a dungeon full of people who stood against him that he could use it on to increase the number of his army, once the thought came to his mind. Merlin had agreed that their first stop had to be to free any and all prisoners from the dungeon, partly because Lancelot was still down there and could be of assistance (both as an ally and also his potential to break the spell on the Queen), and partly as a show of strength that Arthur should think twice about attacking them if they could muster such an attack.

Emma nearly laughed as she and Piper arrived at one of the walls of the castle that led to the dungeons. The others were still at Granny's, debating over how their best plan of attack would be, what resources they should use, magic or steel and where and when.

"I always think this is why knights wear their swords upon their waist," Piper mused as Emma reached out to touch the wall, examining it, "If one can see your sword, they know you can use it. But do not use your magic and it is as though they forget you have it."

Emma snorted, "And even if they can't forget, they wouldn't let me use it anyway," she rolled her eyes, though she knew Piper was speaking more about her own magic than Emma's.

As soon as it was decided to attack, the Charmings had insisted Emma sit this one out, claiming they were just worried about her, that it had to have taken much out of her to free Merlin the way she had. Anyone who could read between the lines knew it was their way of trying to make sure she didn't use Dark Magic without saying it. Piper though, she had only used her magic a handful of times since they arrived, and never so noticeably that it would remind the heroes she even had it. She used it to lull them to sleep, keep them asleep, but that wasn't anything they were aware of, she used it against Arthur and his knights when they freed Merlin, but that had only been Regina there and Merlin hadn't seen her in action. She doubted the heroes would have wanted Piper to use her magic either, whether because it 'had to be dark magic too' or just to not be indebted to a villain, she couldn't say, but she knew they wanted to avoid it. And so neither of them were part of the heroes' plans, nor were their magics a consideration that had to be discussed.

Ironic, because Emma was very sure that, for all their planning and strategies, it really would only take her and Piper to accomplish this without Arthur even realizing it was happening. She glanced at her aunt, the woman standing there with a hand resting on her stomach now that it was just the two of them, "You gonna be ok?"

She had caught sight of Piper in the corner of her eye while she'd been freeing Merlin, had seen her cut her song off short and drop a hand to her stomach and, for a brief moment, she'd been utterly terrified that there was something wrong with the baby. But Piper had smiled and relaxed and so she'd kept on with the light and dark magic on the tree.

Piper looked over, lowering her hand as though only noticing now that she had done such a move, "I shall," she nodded.

"You sure about that?" Emma's gaze flickered to her stomach and back.

"I felt…" Piper began, trusting Emma with this, "A flutter, when you were freeing Merlin and I holding Arthur and his men back. Like the barest wisp of magic stirring."

Emma blinked at her, "Your baby can do magic from the womb?"

"No," Piper laughed lightly, shaking her head, "No, I do not believe any child so powerful, not even one that is half Dark One but," she allowed her hand to rest on her stomach just a moment more before dropping it again, "It was as though it sensed I was using magic and reached out for it."

"It didn't hurt the kid did it?"

"No," Piper reassured her, "I think…I think it enjoyed it."

She hummed soft lullabies under her breath at night or whenever she felt the child was active, to soothe it, imbuing some of the tunes with a gentle magic. It was familiar with her voice and her own unique brand of song, but she didn't fully know what it meant that the child could react as it did. If it could sense the magic, COULD it use magic as well? Could any child do so from the womb? Or would she end up with a magic that was not her own? Would her magic connect to her child's when it wished something done and use her as a conduit of its will? She was even more eager to return to Storybrooke and to her mate to see what he may know or have heard over his 300 years, of anything similar. She would not put that burden on Emma to try and sort through centuries of memories and knowledge and overwhelm her.

Emma nodded, trusting that Piper would not endanger her child in any way and so their plan would likely work, "Remember, no killing," she pointed a warning finger at the woman, "Just sleep, like with the Snow Queen."

"I know," she rolled her eyes.

After what Arthur had tried to do she had no lost love between herself and his people, she would slaughter them all easily or, more entertaining, having them slaughter each other. She was quite curious how her magic would react to others who had fallen under the enchantment of the Sands of Avalon. But Emma had brought up a point as they made their way over, leaving the heroes to their squabbling.

Emma had given her word to Merlin that she was 'absolutely ready to change and remove the Darkness,' even though that wasn't her plan at all, not even close.

It was the perfect opening they had been looking for, to find out whatever Merlin had in store for 'freeing her' and when it came to that point, Emma would merely allow the Darkness to consume her, a result of the plan 'not working' and now look what the heroes done. But in order for Merlin to go through with it all, they had to make sure the man truly believed she was ready and willing and wanting to change, that she hadn't been infected by the Darkness at all. If they went to the prison and Piper slaughtered the soldiers within, well...Emma would likely have to take the fall for it otherwise Piper would be in a bad position and then Merlin would think she had already given in.

Even though she absolutely planned to give in, he couldn't know it yet.

So the next best alternative was to lull the guards all to sleep.

Not as much fun, Piper felt, but also less taxing than murdering them via song. She would have preferred a nice in between, causing them to slaughter each other, but that would lead to the same result Emma was trying to avoid.

Emma caught her eye once more, waiting till Piper lifted her pipe from her boot before she placed a hand on the wall of the dungeon. She concentrated on the wall, imagining it going fuzzy, imagining it becoming transparent, and grinned when Piper stepped towards it and passed through it into the castle, Emma following quickly behind. As soon as they were in, she pulled her hand off the wall, allowing it to solidify behind her.

They could have snuck all the prisoners out that way, merely hollow out the wall and let them through, but as she was 'not supposed to use her magic' she felt she could get away with one use of it than multiple.

Emma looked over at Piper and nodded.

Piper grinned and lifted the pipe to her lips, starting to play the most soothing melody Emma had ever heard, so gentle was it that Emma found herself yawning as she listened to it. She froze quickly after she realized what she was doing, her eyes wide, before her hands flew to her ears at a pointed look from Piper.

"I didn't think your magic could affect me," Emma admitted to her quietly, "Being the Dark One."

Piper just smirked and sent her a wink, playing on.

"We're not immune, dearie," the apparition of Rumpelstiltskin appeared on Piper's other side, smiling softly as he looked at the woman playing, the song echoing down the hall and around the corner, into the depths of the dungeons, "We first met her when she lured us out of the castle using only her pipe."

"Good to know," Emma muttered to herself. She kept forgetting that, even though she couldn't be killed now except by the Dagger her aunt carried in her boot, it didn't mean she was invincible or immune to other magics.

She could recall how Rumpelstiltskin had been trapped by her parents, caught via squid ink, locked away and trapped and not even his magic could help him escape. She would have to be more careful, she got the feeling Merlin would be a very big match for her new magic.

Piper glanced over at her and began to walk forward, Emma going with her, till she reached a corner and stopped, still playing but nodding her head. Emma came up beside her and nearly scoffed at the sight of the guards lined up before them half braced against the walls, their heads nodding to the side, none of them seeming alarmed by the melody or the fact that they were growing drowsy, instead just smiling contentedly…before they fell to the side and onto the ground with a thump, all down the hall and she could hear more around the other corners of the dungeon.

Piper gave her another nod and Emma returned it, waving her hand out in front of her, conjuring ropes to tie the guards, with their wrists behind their backs, their legs together, gags across their mouths…and a pillow under their heads.

Piper gave her a look for that.

"Too much?" Emma teased, before snapping her fingers and removing the pillows, wincing when there was a clatter of helmeted heads falling against the hard stone floor, but they slept on. They could always tell the heroes they'd stolen the rope from elsewhere in the dungeons but the pillows might be a bit hard to explain.

Slowly Piper brought the song to a close, seeing the men taken care of, and took a breath, "I still say lambs to the slaughter would have been more entertaining. I have had next to no fun being here."

Emma just shook her head and moved over to the first guard, searching him for keys to let the prisoners out after she'd roused them…which reminded her, "How do we wake them up?" Emma asked, moving to the first cell that had someone in it, a man in some rather soiled clothing, and searching the keys for the right one to the door, "Not another song, right?"

Piper shrugged, "I would usually slap them," she answered, huffing when Emma gave her an unamused look, "Then throw water on them for god's sake," she turned and moved down the hall to check the second guard, but Emma could still hear her muttering about how everyone was 'ruining her fun.'

She had to shake her head at her aunt, genuinely wondering if the pregnancy was making her more bloodthirsty or if she'd always been that way and she'd just not noticed it.

Could be either one.

~8~

When the blast of magic hit the wall of the dungeon and blew it open, there were only two people not shrieking or grabbing a weapon for what could only be the impending attack. Piper was sitting in a chair near a table the guards would use, her feet up on it, sipping some water from a wooden cup, Emma sitting on the table beside her boots, doing much the same, both of them carefully positioned so that, from the angle of those entering through the blast, they would see mostly Emma with Piper's foot and head on either side of her. Both women looked over, unperturbed when Hook, Charming, and Merlin stormed through the hole the sorcerer had caused, Regina with a fireball out, Robin Hood and Snow White, both with a bow and arrow ready, on either side of her right behind them.

"You're late," Emma quipped when the small army stumbled to a stop, looking over at a pile of guards, all tied up and out for the count, and the group of freed men and women huddled in the corner, with only Lancelot and Merida, who had both been thrown in a cell, having pulled their weapons out in defense.

"We were expecting you at least a half hour ago," Piper remarked, lowering her feet to the ground to sit up more, careful of how her gown and cloak fell as she moved, knowing less of her would be hidden by Emma in this position.

"What…" Charming looked around, "How…"

"Siren," Piper reminded him, standing, "While you all squabbled, Emma and I lulled the guards to sleep, freed the prisoners, and did so without alerting Arthur...who will surely know we are here now," she looked pointedly past them at the giant hole in the wall.

Emma sighed, seeing the group somewhat shell-shocked and moved over to the prisoners, "Go on," she urged, gesturing to the hole, "Now's your chance. Go. Get out."

Lancelot and Merida were the only ones to remain behind as the mad scramble of people headed for the hole, nearly shoving the other heroes aside in order to flee from Arthur's hold.

Piper sighed, turning to Emma, "Hold this," she lightly ordered the woman, though there was no intent behind it that made Emma obey due to the Dagger, which had the woman letting out a breath of relief at the further proof of how magic worked and what it meant for Regina when she held it in her possession, "I shall handle the rest of the guards…"

"They're about to enter!" Merlin warned her.

She waved her hand back, calling, "Yes, I can hear them just fine!" as she stepped out of the room.

Emma winced when a very high pitched noise made it through the door, "That's probably my fault," she told the others when it was followed by screams, "I said we should only cause them to sleep…I should have been more specific that ALL the guards should be knocked out not…" she winced again when the screams abruptly cut off.

"Rose…" Snow White breathed when Piper entered the room again, the door left open behind her, revealing a number of guards on the ground…streaks of red dripping from their noses and ears, "You didn't…" she swallowed hard, "You killed them?"

"They shall yet live," she shrugged with a smirk, "I fear they shall no longer be fit for guard duty," she looked at Emma, "I would rather them dead though."

"Rose!"

"HOW many men did your precious prince kill in defense of Emma?" Piper snapped at the woman who had glared at her for her remark, "Hmm? When he fought to get Emma to the wardrobe, how many men did he kill?"

Snow White fell silent.

"I was protecting Emma," Charming defended.

"As was I," Piper gave him a firm look, "You think those men come here only to fight against those freeing the prisoners? They come for Emma, they come to attack HER, since someone let slip to Arthur that she was the Dark One," she pointedly looked at the Charmings, continuing to speak so as to cut off their defense of 'we were enchanted' that she knew was coming, "Either she uses her Dark Magic to protect herself or not at all and you have not exactly been clear which you prefer. Forgive me if I try to actually protect my family from the stupidity and shortsightedness of heroes."

Emma felt like letting out a low whistle for that rather brutal verbal attack. But nothing Piper said had been wrong or a lie. With Arthur's obsession with reuniting the sword and the Dagger, if he couldn't have the Dagger he could grab HER or someone important to her and try to use it as leverage to obtain the Dagger. Her parents made it clear she shouldn't use her magic and she would have been forced to in order to protect herself and them or, as Piper said, let them or herself be taken and put into Arthur's psychotic hands. Piper had taken steps to prevent that happening, to keep her safe, she just chose a way to do it the heroes wouldn't have. She chose to do it because the heroes hadn't thought that far ahead as to consider what the next step a 'villain' would take when one plan failed.

Piper's methods were cruel, but efficient.

"You are welcome, for thinning down the number of enemies," Piper continued.

And she was right in that count as well. By essentially crippling the men in whatever way she had that they could no longer fight, it was less people killed in the likely battle to come and less enemies they had to face down the road, less people Arthur could use against them.

Her parents had killed in battle before, this was a shorter battle, one less like open warfare, but still a battle and war was looming.

"We should go," Merlin spoke up, "Arthur will only send more and more men," he could agree with that sentiment, but h could not say whether he approved of her methods.

"Agreed," Charming could at least give that.

"You can't trust them!" Lancelot called, rushing forward.

"It's ok," Charming turned to him, "Mary Margaret and I are no longer under Arthur's control."

"How did you break his thrall over you?"

"They didn't, mate," Hook nodded over at Merlin.

The man, who had had his hood up high, lowered it so Lancelot could see his face, "I did."

"Merlin," Lancelot gasped, for it could be no one else powerful enough of magic to break such an enchantment but him, before rushing forward to clasp hands with the man, relieved to see him freed after all this time.

"Oi, he said we ought go!" Merida snapped when the two men continued to stand there and no one else tried to leave.

"Merida?" Hook frowned, surprised to see her.

"How did you end up in there?" Charming asked her.

"Long story," she waved it off, "But after what that one did to me," she nodded over in Emma's direction as she stood beside Piper, "Helping me find my wisps is the least you can do," she glared at them, "Arthur took my wisps! They're the only way I can find my brothers."

"Right now those wisps will only lead you to one thing," Merlin looked at her sadly, "Your death. I assure you, we will find another way to rescue your brothers," he glanced around the room before nodding at the hole, "Come," he called, leading the way back out of the dungeon.

"Shall we bet whether she listens?" Piper mused to Emma as they followed.

Emma snorted, "Not a chance, she's going sneak out the second we're out of the room," before another emotion settled over her and she added, "Let her."

Merida was not her concern. The woman was grown, independent, had started her quest on her own. If she snuck out now, it would be on her own head, it would be her choice and she would face her own consequences. Idly she wondered if that was an influence of the Darkness, that...lack of care...for the woman's wellbeing, or just her own cynical view of the world, having been alone for so long herself. Either way she found she didn't truly care.

If it WAS the Darkness, well...there was something oddly freeing about not having to constantly worry about every single person around her and feeling responsible for all of them.

She considered for a moment if that was a source behind Piper's own view of others, a reason why she might care only for her family and no one else. Really no one else was their responsibility, they all went into this of their own free will, for their own reasons, whether they were noble and selfless or hesitant and selfish, they agreed to these missions and attacks. It really wasn't HER fault if anything happened to them, they made their own choices. If they were hurt, it wasn't because she failed, it wasn't because she wasn't good enough, it wasn't because she wasn't better than her enemies. It wasn't her job to keep everyone safe, when almost everyone around her was capable of it themselves.

Well...that was a new way to look at things.

~8~

With the suspicion that all those in Camelot were magically loyal to Arthur, and without risking Merlin having to disenchant each of them one by one, those of Storybrooke and what allies they could gather came together in Granny's Diner, Snow White and Charming speaking to the gathered refugees outside to try and gleam more information, anything they might know about Arthur, a reason for their imprisonment. Just like Emma and Piper had guessed, Merida had disappeared as soon as they were out of the dungeon and they couldn't risk going back in to find her, not when alarm bells began to ring to signal an attack. They had been lucky to make it out of the castle without another battle behind them.

Much to Piper's eternal disappointment.

Emma glanced over where Piper and Henry were sitting in a booth, sharing a small plate of fries, talking quietly about what happened with Violet, what would happen now that they were 'enemies of Camelot.' Henry didn't want it to be like Romeo and Juliet, a whole forbidden love thing, two warring sides that would tear them apart in the end. He was adamant that Violet wasn't his enemy, that she'd actually, in private, spoken contrary to Arthur's beliefs even when her father strongly supported them. He was concerned Violet might stand against her father in favor of HIM and he didn't want her in any danger, didn't want her father to try and talk her out of giving him a chance now that her memory of their 'date' had been erased. Piper was reassuring him that, once Arthur was dealt with, the heroes would undoubtedly wish to assist the people of Camelot, free any others who had fallen under his enchantment. Perhaps Violet's father was one such individual, and if it so happened that he had escaped the enchantment...there were many other ways to win over a knight.

Judging by the glint in Piper's eye, Emma had a feeling it wasn't so much going to be Henry winning the man over as the man being terrified of the Pied Piper and allowing a courtship.

She really would have to talk to Piper about that…or August. She could only imagine what it had been like for him whenever he had a crush on a girl or tried to start a relationship with them. He would probably know at least a trick or two to help Piper calm down about it all.

"Everything alright?" a voice spoke, pulling her from her thoughts as Merlin sat down on the barstool next to her, snagging a candy bar from a display on the counter.

"You tell me," Emma turned to him with a small frown, something niggling at her ever since she'd seen him free from the tree and growing stronger each time he spoke, "I have the strangest sense of déja vu right now," she glanced down at the candy in his hand.

He gave her a small smile, "You know, I've always wanted to try one of these. The last time I had the chance, it was in the hands of a little girl with sticky fingers."

Emma tensed, a memory coming to her, when she had been just a kid. She'd snuck into the movie theater near her foster home to watch, of all things, the 'Sword in the Stone' and she'd stolen a chocolate bar from a distracted movie watcher. She'd been about to eat it when an usher stopped her, told her 'don't' and she'd thought she'd been caught out.

The usher was MERLIN.

She remembered it so clearly now, HE had been there, HE had been there all those years ago...but how?

"You…" she breathed, gaping at him now.

Merlin looked both sad and amused at the same time, "You remember. Well, I'm flattered."

But Emma shook her head, "You were the usher…at the movie theater when I was a kid. How is that possible? You were still stuck in the tree back then!"

"It doesn't matter how I got my message to you," Merlin shook his head, "What's important is...do you remember what I said?"

"You said something about Excalibur, and you told me..." she frowned, trying to remember but it was hard to. She remembered being caught, she remembered the warning 'don't' and that was it. Once the fear had passed and she hadn't been kicked out she hadn't paid much attention.

Merlin finished for her, "That one day, you would have the opportunity to remove Excalibur from its stone."

"Well, I hate to burst your bubble. Someone beat me to it."

"Perhaps, but the sword will return to whence it came. And now that the Darkness is within you, it's more important than ever that you heed the rest of my warning," he looked at her intently, "Leave Excalibur alone. The fate of everyone that you love rests upon it."

"Something wrong?" Piper's voice cut through, nearly causing Emma to jump when she felt a hand come to rest on her shoulder, but there was something comforting about her presence, more so than her own parents. She suspected it was the Darkness in her reaching to the Darkness in herself, a kindred spirit of sorts.

Merlin gave her a wry smile, "Protective."

"Siren," Piper reminded him, "I do not appreciate others making my family uncomfortable."

Merlin held up his hands at the minor threat in her words, "Talking of Darkness would make any uncomfortable," he reasoned, before turning to Emma, "Heed my warning, Emma," he repeated, before getting up and moving to join Snow and Charming outside the doors, seeing the people were getting a bit upset and hoping his presence could reassure them.

"What did he say?" Henry asked, coming over to join them.

"I've met him before," Emma told them, "When I was just a kid. He told me, one day I'd have a chance to pull Excalibur from the stone and not to do it."

"You would not be able to even if you wished it," Piper remarked, "Rummy confirmed the stories to be true, only a true hero can pull the sword form the stone," she looked at Emma, "The Dark One is no one's hero."

"Except yours," Emma snorted under her breath.

"We are both villains, and each others," Piper murmured, even if they might, in some way, be each other's hero, the word had too much connotation to them to ever truly use. And it didn't matter what they saw each other as, if the whole of the world saw them as nothing but villains.

Emma reached out to take her hand, "We need to be careful," she looked at the two of them, "Merlin is the most powerful sorcerer, we can't risk him finding out."

Piper and Henry nodded. It had been the whole point behind breaking out the prisoners. Reassure the heroes and Merlin that Emma was still intrinsically 'good' by doing a good deed, enough where Merlin would finally trust her enough to tell her his plan on how to 'remove the Darkness' and so on. They'd had to push the heroes to amp up their efforts to remove the Darkness by letting her 'slip' in the confrontation with Hook, but now that Merlin was out, they had to carefully navigate and convince him it had to be done.

Glancing at the man gathering the crowd to him through the windows, they doubted it would happen today or perhaps in the next few days, not with Arthur on high alert for any movement around Camelot thanks to their foolish attack.

As much as it ran contrary to their plans...Piper couldn't help the small smirk that grew on her face. If Merlin wasn't going to 'free' Emma tonight, well...she might have another 'mission' of her own to see to.

~8~

Sir Morgan sighed as he finished brushing out the last of the horses. Arthur had given the order that the castle remain on high alert for any intruders, any enemies that might try to breach their walls. The knights were on double rotations, the armory restocked with all the weapons prepared and ready, and all horses and any other resources were to be at the ready at all times. At any moment they could be attacked and his king would need his favored horse to lead them into battle. It was trying work, to ready all the horses, it would be difficult to keep them all prepared and ready to go whenever his king needed, but he would do so for his noble liege lord.

He couldn't help but think that this was a blessing of sorts, the discovery that the guests from the strange world meant them harm and were their enemies, that they had lied to them and used them and were deceitful. He knew his daughter, Violet, was fond of one of them, some boy, Henry. He did not approve, even before this, for the boy was not skilled with a sword nor did he know anything of being a squire, had no desire to be a knight and if the boy thought himself good enough for his daughter he was an entitled little urchin. He needed someone brave, capable, worthy of his daughter, someone who could provide for her and protect her.

A writer was nothing of the sort.

It truly was a blessing in disguise, to him, for this revelation, for now he could be sure the boy was not worthy and he could forbid his daughter to see the boy without any feelings of guilt. She was born of Camelot, this was her home, she was obedient and loyal to her father, a boy would not be more important to her than that, he was sure of it. He had explained to her why she could no longer see Henry and, while she had been upset, she would follow his orders.

He paused in his motion of setting a bucket of feed off to the side, tensing when the hairs on the back of his neck stood up, his years of training around animals and as a knight told him someone was there in the stables with him. He grit his teeth, his eyes narrowing, as he spun around, intent to surprise the person trying to sneak in, and nearly jumped out of his skin when he saw it wasn't someone sneaking in, but someone who had already entered and was right behind him.

"Hello Sir Morgan," the blonde woman smirked, before her hand shot out and ripped his heart out of his chest.

He stumbled back, a hand moving to his chest where his heart should have been, his eyes wide as he looked at her, it was one of the strangers, the blonde one in the black cloak always off around the other blonde or the boy.

"Who…what…" he panted, "How dare you!?" he demanded, "I am a Knight of the Round Table!" he spat, turning to grab his sword from where he'd set it against the wall so it was within reach but not in the way of his tasks.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk," the woman taunted, watching him, almost amused, when he pulled the sword out and moved to lunge at her. She merely held up his heart and squeezed, driving him to his knees, "That was rude," she told him, standing before him, looking down her nose at him.

"What sorcery is this?!" he spat, panting, his eyes squeezed shut at the pain radiating through him, before he glared up at her.

She tilted her head, "Hardly sorcery, a mere trifle of a trick, really," she moved to crouch before him, holding his heart up in front of him but just out of reach, "Now, I think it is time we had a chat, you and I."

"You bit…"

"Shhh," she whispered and he fell silent, glaring at her, "Be rude one more time and I shall have no qualms crushing this," she held his heart up, "I have killed for less, I have killed with a word," she warned him, delighting in how his eyes widened in true terror at that, "I find the crushing of a heart to be a messy affair, so much dust, it gets everywhere," she looked back at his heart absently, "Gets under the fingernails. It is tedious to clean away," and glanced back at him, "Test me and I will endure it."

The man swallowed hard, "What do you want?"

"Hmm," she hummed, "It is simple, truly. You take issue with my nephew, Henry. I should like you to reconsider his place in your daughter's life. He is quite taken with her."

The man nearly lunged at her again, had she not squeezed his heart to stop him, "I will not sell my daughter!"

"I was not asking that," Piper said, "I have too much respect for women in general, that they be allowed the freedom to love and choose whom they wish," she eyed him, "Henry is taken with her, he would like to court her. You will give permission for it."

"Why should I?" he demanded, "I would rather die than…"

"Alright then," she began to squeeze his heart harder, watching as he turned pale and struggled to breathe, "I truly care not whether you live or die. Hmm…" she eased up on his heart, "Perhaps it would be for the best for you to expire. I imagine your daughter would be quite devastated to lose you, Henry would understand the loss of a father, he would not let her alone. I think she would appreciate his support. Perhaps we should see how that goes?"

"No!" the man gasped out as she began to squeeze in earnest, "Please, no…"

She smirked, she loved it when people finally realized she was serious about having no qualms with ending their lives. So often they thought her jesting or threatening but not serious. When they endured the revelation of how little she cared, it was a sight to behold how their tune changed.

"You do not control your daughter's heart," Piper stated, "You do not decide who she may like or love. Do you understand me?" she watched until he nodded, "Good. If she so wishes to be courted by Henry, you shall allow it then?"

The man panted, his eyes scrunched tight, his head bowed in defeat, "I will."

"Good, I am glad we were able to come to an understanding," Piper smiled at him, standing, looking down at him, "Oh, how remiss of me, I failed to introduce myself. I am the Pied Piper," she nearly laughed when his gaze shot up to her, his expression petrified, "I see you have heard of me."

The terror in the man's eyes was a sight, she loved that moment even more.

"Then I see you know not to cross me," she added, an edge and a threat in her voice as he swallowed hard and shook his head that he knew it, "Get up," she commanded and the man scrambled to his feet against his will, "I say this so you know what I am capable of, whether your heart is in my hand or not, I can end you. I care a great deal about Henry's happiness, and if he feels he may find it with your daughter, I will have no one interfere with that. Nor would you, I imagine, want anyone to interfere with Violet's happiness?"

Sir Morgan shook his head.

"Good, we have an accord then, you bestow Henry with your blessing should he seek it and Violet wish it, and you live," Piper moved as though to return his heart, but pulled it back, "Oh, my mistake," she added, before whispering commands to the heart, commands that he never speak of this moment to anyone, that he go about his business as normal, that he not act any differently than he normally would, before she shoved it back into his chest, "I shall leave you to your duties, Sir Morgan," she barely gave a dip of her knees in a mockery of a curtsy or a bow before she turned and strode out of the stables, smirking when she heard the man smashing things behind her in his frustrations.

Poor man, his loyalties would be sorely tested should Henry try to approach him for his blessing before Arthur was deposed and his people freed of his enchantment. She delighted in that contradictory allegiance. though she doubted Henry would do so, too fearful for Violet's safety. Still, this at least guaranteed that after, when all was safe, he might pursue the girl who clearly wished him to.

"I thought you weren't going to threaten him?" Emma's voice spoke as she appeared in a swirl of black before her, her arms crossed.

Piper laughed, "Who said anything about a threat?" she asked, linking her arm with Emma's in her stride and walking off with her, a pleased smirk on her face, "We merely came to a bargain."

A/N: I feel like it might be a tiny bit OOC for Piper to be 'playing the hero' and rescuing the prisoners with Emma, but everything has an ulterior motive to it. True to Emma's word, she won't do things without Piper's go-ahead, including something 'heroic' at the moment. And even when it appears to be that, a 'good deed' it's really more a way to trick and fool the heroes and Merlin as well.

If they see Emma doing something good, then they will assume 'there must still be good in her, the Darkness hasn't taken root yet!' which is what they want them to believe. Piper being there lines up with what Regina knows, and will likely tell the heroes at one point, of Piper being there to assist Emma control her magic so she doesn't hurt someone accidently. So it makes sense why she's there. And the heroes believe Emma wouldn't want Piper to 'kill' or 'hurt' anyone, even the guards, because a hero would never want that to happen, so when Piper just puts them to sleep they think it's because Emma asked her to. When really it's Emma thinking she'd have to take the fall for it if they died and it would ruin their plans. Piper tormenting the guards at the end was her way of reaffirming that 'Emma made the 'good' calls' in that she went off to happily torture people while Emma stayed back and so it HAD to be Emma's plan to do this without hurting anyone.

Tricks within tricks with those two lol :)

I tried to balance out the 'heroic' moment for Piper with the scene with Sir Morgan at the end }:) She didn't command his heart to give Henry his blessing, she didn't spell him with music either, they came to an agreement ;) His life for his acceptance }:) Piper doesn't really think Henry will just go up to Morgan and be like 'hey I want to date your daughter, you cool with it?' not while they're 'at war' with Camelot, he wouldn't risk that. But she's both thinking long term of 'once everyone's free' so Henry can be with Violet, and also short term of 'this man has upset my nephew, he must pay' :) Win win for her, she FINALLY got to have a little bit of fun ;)

As I was writing the scene with the guards that Piper tortures, at this point in the story, I felt like Emma would just be like 'here she goes again' sort of resigned and a tiny bit like 'I'm honestly surprised this hasn't happened more', with a tiny nod to the possibility the 'Darkness' might be influencing her less than normal care. That Merlin would be more 'that is an interesting magic, if she can cause that much pain with a song, how much pain can she take away? What else can she do with a song? What light magic can she utilize with it?' in that sort of way where he tries to get through to the villain first before condemning it. And the Charmings...

Snow and her assumption that Piper had to have killed them, and her disappointment in that thought, it fits with the way she's reacted to things Piper has done in the past with her magic that weren't 'heroic' or 'good' :/ But this time, to me, what Piper did and how she did it and WHY she did it reminded me of Charming, when Emma was a baby.

There are guards coming for Emma (Regina's/Arthur's), she's in a vulnerable position where she can't use her magic (as a baby/can't use magic or it's 'dark' to the heroes), and someone of her family steps in to protect her (Charming/Piper), and the guards are incapacitated (killed/knocked out).

Charming likely killed those guards, Piper only knocked them out, rather savagely. But for that period where Snow thought they were dead, she didn't consider that she and her husband had done the exact same in the past, killed guards, either because they were attacked or because they were attacking or because they were defending, she just see's 'she killed people.'

I really wanted Piper to remind them of the fact that even heroes have killed in the past. Without expressly saying it, it's a reminder that a hero can slaughter a roomful of guards, and if it's in protection of their daughter, it's good and right and justified. But if a villain 'slaughters' a roomful of guards, in protection of their niece, it's horrific and terrible and wrong :/

I know it's not the exact same thing or same circumstances, but it just kept coming back to my head, Charming and those guards compared to Piper and these guards :/

Some notes on reviews...

I can say Snow will definitely get a monumental smack in the face before this series is over, metaphorically...possibly physically too... }:)

Snow will realize what she's done eventually, it may be more of a one step forward two back thing though. In the show, with how many chances she gave Regina even after the woman escalated her evil doings each time, it kind of felt to me like she'd realize one thing but then be blind to two others. So she may realize what she's done in pieces, but then backtrack when something else comes up :/ She'll get there eventually, whether her relationship with Piper will ever be the same we'll have to wait and see }:) I'm glad you liked the part with Henry, I feel like, after his time in Camelot, he sort of needed that to really PROVE to himself that he really IS a hero, which is way better than just a knight ;)

It could be a set up for the Black Fairy...or it could be a set up for others, they may soon have an entire town up in arms when/if the pregnancy is discovered and may need to prove that threat is very real }:) I can say I have a few scenes from season 6 already written out, some of which involve the Black Fairy };)

I can't say if it'll be a girl or a boy just yet ;) Both Piper and Gold are hoping for a girl though after both raising a son each ;)

Salut! Je vais bien, j'espère que vous aussi! Je pense que Piper serait au-delà de la colère si Regina avait élevé Emma comme la sienne. Je ne pense pas que même le fait de tuer Cora l'aiderait à adoucir son cœur dans cette situation. Il lui serait très difficile de voir sa nièce se ranger du côté de la femme qui a tué les parents de Piper et détruit tout son royaume :( Mais, qui sait, peut-être qu'Emma serait éloignée de sa 'mère' et aurait une relation tendue avec elle et être plus du côté de sa famille biologique que Regina. Voyant comment elle et Regina se sont battues au début dans la série, je ne pense pas qu'elles se seraient entendues en tant que mère et fille, donc il était possible qu'Emma ne soit pas proche d'elle , et choisissez Piper et Snow sur elle à un moment donné. -Câlins!- (I used Google Translate to try and say: Hello! I am doing well, I hope you are too! I think Piper would be beyond angry if Regina had raised Emma as her own. I don't think even her killing Cora would help soften her heart in that situation. It would be very difficult for her to see her niece possibly siding with the woman who killed Piper's parents and destroyed her entire kingdom :( But, who knows, maybe Emma would be distant from her 'mother' and have a strained relationship with her and be more on the side of her biological family than Regina. Seeing how she and Regina fought at first on the show, I don't think they would have gotten along as mother and daughter so it could be possible Emma would not be close with her, and choose Piper and Snow over her at one point. -Hugs!-)

We might just see a Dark Rose wedding before the series is over ;) You're right, she did promise and Piper always keeps up her end of a bargain ;) I'm so glad you like them :) The canon parts of the show felt a little like things were just thrown together and not really up to the standard of 'The Dark One' so I really tried to add some depth and other levels and layers to it, give it a bit more of a foundation so I'm glad it came across :) I hope you'll enjoy the Underworld and Black Fairy parts when we get to it, I'll try to do my best with them ;)