Darkness is a Funny Thing… It Creeps Up in You
Chapter Sixteen
Nearly an hour after Killian left the diner so he could speak with the Blue Fairy and her sisters, Emma walked inside in the hope of meeting up with Killian that morning for breakfast once she finished taking care of a few things at the station. Knowing that he was an early riser even on his good days, the Savior expected to find him sitting in one of the booths waiting for her to arrive in spite of having no planned arrangements to do so. However, she didn't see him and it wasn't until Granny spoke up that Emma learned Killian had already left.
"Morning, sheriff," the old woman politely stated in greeting upon seeing her friend looking around the room for the man she knew Emma loved. "I'm afraid your pirate's already been through here and left. He ordered a bunch of food and drinks for Blue, Tink, and the other fairies, then went to go talk with them. Somethin' about wanting to ask them for help to free the old man and that witch, Zelena. Bad idea if you ask me, but I get why he feels as he does."
"Thank you, Granny," Emma gently replied to her and turned back towards the door to leave, until Granny stopped her as she spoke again.
Out of worry upon seeing Hook looking unwell and exhausted, she spoke more quietly saying, "I know this may not be my concern, Miss Swan, and he probably won't be too happy I said anything, but… instead of getting better, Hook is only getting worse. He was tired the other morning when we all were saying goodbye to Ruby, but now he's more than just exhausted. And it's clear he's doing everything he can to hide it. Especially from you."
Emma nodded and then she answered, "I know he is. Believe me, I'm not gonna let him keep going on like this much longer no matter what he says about it. But he also needs to free the old man and even Zelena from the hat if I have any hope of absolving him of his guilt that he's been holding onto since Gold first started manipulating him. Thank you, Granny."
"Sure thing," the owner of the diner responded to her, then the Savior finally left the diner.
Emma walked a ways down the street and then turned around the corner onto the connecting street which led to the convent. Almost immediately once she did so, she became surprised when she suddenly bumped into Tinker Bell because her mind was so caught up with worry for Killian, that she hadn't really been paying much attention to her surroundings in spite of knowing exactly where she was headed. The Green Fairy seemed almost just as surprised to see Emma too, but for different reasons.
"Tink… I'm sorry," the Savior immediately apologized to her friend for not seeing her before running into her.
The fairy smiled as she sincerely replied, "It's okay. I should have seen you when I turned the corner too, but I didn't. I'm actually glad to see you. Blue and I were wondering why you and Killian haven't returned yet with the dagger, and with Regina and your parents. But where is everyone? Where's Killian?"
The Savior looked at her friend worryingly, then with fear in her eyes, she asked, "I haven't seen Killian yet this morning. I just left Granny's to come and meet up with him at the convent because Granny said he was on his way to talk with you and Blue."
"He did," Tink answered with her own concern for her friend. "He left almost an hour ago to find you and the others. He wanted our help to free the old man and Zelena from the hat and Blue said we would need the dagger to do it, as well as you and the others for when we try to free that witch so she can't escape to wreak havoc afterwards."
"Something's wrong then," Emma curtly responded, just as David and Mary Margaret found their daughter and walked up to her and Tink, just as Regina, Henry, and Robin seconds afterwards too. "Ursula and Cruella's done something, and Killian is in trouble."
When she and David thought Emma already knew about the two Queens of Darkness raising Maleficent from the dead upon overhearing Emma mention the villainesses' names because of the guilt from their role in helping them to succeed in doing so, that also deafened them to hearing the rest about Killian possibly being in danger, Mary Margaret looked worryingly at her daughter as she questioned, "You already know about these witches resurrecting Maleficent?"
Regina curtly retorted, "They did what?"
"Um… You don't know, do you?" the Princess nervously asked upon seeing the look of surprise on Emma's face, ignoring Regina's brusque retort. "Right. Yes, well… they uh… We tried to follow Ursula and Cruella around this morning so we could keep our eyes on them. But your father and I… We lost sight of them for a bit."
"By the time we found them again, we saw Cruella and Ursula walking out from the library along with Maleficent," David continued as he regretfully lied about how they came to know of Maleficent's resurrection to avoid letting their daughter onto the truth about the terrible thing they had done before she was even born. "We don't know how they did it. But we can bet it wasn't without some really dark magic that they must have gotten from Gold somehow before they arrived here. If anyone knows how to bring back the dead… it'd be him."
The former Evil Queen scoffed and then she replied, "No… he can't. No magic can raise the dead. Once a person is dead, they're dead. Believe me… I know. If there was a way, I would have found it so I could have brought back Daniel. Whale was the only person who could get close to being able to bring the dead back, and we all know how well that turned out. No… if these witches really did succeed in raising Maleficent again… with or without Gold's help, then it's because she wasn't ever fully dead like we thought she was after Emma killed her."
Robin looked at her in confusion as he asked, "What do you mean? How can someone not be fully dead, if you killed them?"
"When I enacted the curse that created Storybrooke and brought everyone over from the Enchanted Forest, Maleficent was among those who became cursed… just like everyone else too," Regina answered her. "However, her curse was different from everyone else's. I trapped her in her dragon form. I cursed her to remain trapped in whatever form she happened to be in. I just didn't realize that in doing so, it would mean her soul wouldn't move on should she ever be killed. You see… just before Emma broke my curse, she killed Maleficent. Later, I learned that she remained trapped in the caves beneath the clock tower in her new mummified form. Hook knows this… I almost killed him when I used him as bait once. But of course he survived, and now…"
"None of this matters right now," Emma suddenly interrupted brusquely out of frustration and concern for the man she loved, and everyone turned their eyes on her. "Hook does. Killian is all that matters right now. Something's wrong. Tink said he was on his way to find me over an hour ago now, but he hasn't yet and he should have by now. We have to find him. Maleficent and the others can be dealt with later."
Even though David, Mary Margaret, and Regina didn't like it, they all nodded their heads in agreement, as did Henry and Robin, then Henry questioned, "Do you have something of Hook's that Mom can use to cast a locator's spell over?"
The Savior thought a moment and then shook her head as she responded regretfully, "I don't. Not on me. But we can go get something from his room at the diner, unless…"
"I think I can find him," she quickly replied when Emma turned to look at her, and understood right away what her friend was thinking. "My magic has certainly grown stronger since my wings have been returned to me once I started to believe in myself again."
"Follow me," the Green Fairy stated again after she took a moment to close her eyes while she concentrated on finding her oldest friend after their many years of remaining trapped in Neverland, before Tink finally opened her eyes once more, revealing to everyone that they were glowing green, then she suddenly transformed herself back into her fairy form, and flew up into the air. "I can sense him. He isn't far."
Emma immediately followed after her without question once Tink began to fly above her towards wherever Killian might be, while Emma's parents and son soon followed, as did Robin and Regina, who did so more reluctantly than the others did upon wanting to go after the Queens of Darkness more urgently. Even though Mary Margaret and David wanted to do the same out of worry because of Maleficent's threat she had made down in the caves, they were just as concerned about Hook, as well as their daughter if anything bad really had happened to him.
At last, they all reached the alleyway where Killian had begun to cut through, and once they all appeared at the end of the street to enter the alley, they were surprised to find each of the seven dwarfs, who were all standing around the trunk of someone's parked car as they were struggling to break inside it, until they all stopped and turned around to face their friends with surprise on their faces upon their arrival, especially upon seeing the sheriffs among them.
With just as much surprise upon seeing what appeared to be the dwarfs breaking into the car they were now attempting to keep hidden behind them, Emma questioned first, "What's going on?"
Grumpy glanced down at his car, then stepped forward as he answered anxiously, "I promise this isn't what it looks like, sister. This car here is mine. I'm only trying to get something out of the trunk, but the dang door is stuck."
"Killian," she swiftly whispered in fear, as she rushed forward and pushed through the dwarfs to get to the trunk herself so that she could also do everything she could to get its door open.
"What are you doing?" Happy asked their sheriff in confusion while she continued to struggle to open it just like they had been, even with the keys that were already in the lock when she reached it.
Tinker Bell spoke up for Emma worryingly once she became big again saying, "We believe Killian is trapped inside the trunk of your car. I used my magic to try to find him, and if it's led me in the right direction, then he should be in there."
Upon seeing Emma continuing to struggle to get the trunk's door open, Regina finally stepped forward to help and pulled Emma back while she said quietly, "Allow me."
"This trunk isn't just stuck," she then added again once she waved her hand over the door in order to try to open it with magic. "It's been sealed by magic. Dark magic. The only ones capable of wielding it here, at least those of who might want to hurt Captain Guyliner are Maleficent and…"
"Ursula," Emma curtly retorted in anger. "Can you get it open?"
Regina nodded as she responded, "I should be able to. It's powerful magic. It's gonna take me a few minutes."
The Savior looked at her as she replied firmly, "Then do it. Please."
The former Evil Queen simply nodded again and then continued to concentrate as she used her own power to break through the dark magic keeping the trunk sealed shut. The dwarfs all moved back to join with their leaders and friends, while Emma only stepped back a few steps to give Regina enough room to work, but she stayed close by for when she finally succeeded in getting the trunk open again so she could help Killian as soon as she did.
Thankfully, Regina was true to her word as the magic seal finally lifted, allowing for the car trunk to spring open at her will. Once it did so, Emma immediately rushed back to the trunk when she saw Killian lying unconscious inside, then leaned over him while she carefully used her own power to try to wake him, using her magic to also make sure he wasn't hurt any more than from what she knew were his previous wounds, one of which she could now see had begun to bleed out again upon him seeming to have ripped his stitches.
No longer being willing to allow Killian to suffer from his unhealed wounds on account of his guilt, the Savior carefully healed them in spite of what he believed he deserved, then continued to waken him from the magic keeping him out cold. At last, the dark magic wore off and her pirate finally began to come to. When he could open his eyes, Killian could hardly see the woman he loved looking down on him due to seeing more of a blur until the fog eventually lifted away.
"Hey… Killian, it's okay," she whispered as she worked to calm him by laying her hands along his cheek and over his chest once he immediately became agitated after suddenly remembering what had happened to him, while he also realized he no longer felt any pain like he should be feeling, then looked down and felt for the wound in his stomach he now knew was no longer there. "It's okay… I healed you. You were hurting so much and after finding you like this… locked inside this trunk after someone put you in here…"
"Aye, love… it… it's fi… fine," Killian stuttered out of panic and in fear. "Gold… the bloody Crocodile… He did this to me. He's returned. He's in Storybrooke."
Mary Margaret looked down on him in disbelief as she uttered, "But that's… not possible. He can't be back? How could Gold have possibly gotten back into Storybrooke with Ingrid's protection spell still up?"
Regina grumbled crossly, "Because those witches brought him here and helped him get back in. Most likely the same way we let them in. With the Snow Queen's scroll. I should have remembered to take it away from them again once they were across the town line. They lied to us! About everything."
"We have to… We have to find them then," Killian weakly answered, while he struggled to pulled himself up to get out of the trunk, with Emma's help.
"Not right now, we don't," the Savior strongly responded once the man she loved was back on his feet, while he stood shakily beside her after she pulled his arm over his shoulder and then kept a firm hold of him upon wrapping her arm around him to help keep him steady.
However, Killian objected, "Finding Gold can't wait, Swan. Whatever he's after… the dagger. He'll be after the dagger. We have to stop him. Belle might be…"
Emma finally cut him off as she replied, "We'll make sure Belle's all right. And once we see that she's fine, which I'm sure she is, we're gonna head back to the convent to talk with Blue about seeing what we can do about freeing the old man and Zelena from the hat."
"Finding the Dark One and those witches are a priority now, Emma," Killian worryingly answered her more adamantly once he pulled himself free of Emma's hold on him. "They've proven themselves to be a threat just as I've feared them to be. We have to stop them from whatever they have planned."
"It's already too late for that," David reluctantly responded, as the Captain turned his head to look at him. "He already must have helped Ursula and Cruella to raise Maleficent. In which case… he must already have the dagger too."
Regina let out a loud sigh in frustration, but Emma ignored her as she looked at Killian again and then replied, "Right now, we have no idea where Gold and these villainesses are. And so far, they haven't made an attempt to attack us, other than when he knocked you unconscious and locked you inside this trunk."
Grumpy crossly retorted, "Isn't that enough for you? Who knows what else he's up to now?"
"Grumpy's right," Sneezy added in agreement, then suddenly sneezed again before he could say whatever else he was about to say.
"He's trouble and he needs to be stopped before he can do something more than simply knocking Hook here out cold," Happy continued for him.
All of the dwarfs nodded their heads to show they all agreed, until Emma finally spoke out again more calmly saying, "I agree that Gold is trouble and he needs to be stopped before he or the witches can do anything to hurt us, but we can't do anything until they make the first move, which is when they will show their hand. We all know that we won't be able to find him unless Gold wants us to. Until they attack, there's nothing we can do. Except we can free an innocent man from the hat where Gold imprisoned him. Zelena too. Killian has been suffering from the guilt of what Gold made him do under his control long enough. We're gonna help him first."
Killian started to object once more as he tried to assure her that what he wanted didn't matter, until Emma turned to look at him adamantly in order to show him she meant what she had said, then she continued, "We're doing this. Besides… freeing them from the hat is one way to show Gold that he can't keep us down for long. We always come back fighting, and we will win."
"Aye," he finally relented in spite of being reluctant to not seek the Dark One out. "But if he does have the dagger… The Blue Fairy said that she needs it in order to free them."
"Not necessarily," Tink then said again, and everyone turned to look at her. "I mean… it isn't the only way to free someone from the hat. After you left, Blue and I did a little more research of our own and we discovered that we can free the old man and Zelena from the hat, so long as we have something of importance belonging to whoever we're trying to free."
Regina shook her head and then retorted again, "Look… we can find a way to free the old man, whoever he might be, but my sister… I'm telling you, it's a bad idea. She deserves to rot inside that hat after what she's done. I suspect it's a much better prison than any of the cells beneath the hospital could ever be."
Emma looked at Killian again when he lowered his head and stared down at the ground out of shame, then she turned back to Regina again as she answered stubbornly, "No. No, we have to free her too, and then we can return her to her cell. Zelena might deserve to spend eternity trapped inside of the hat after all she's done, but Killian shouldn't have to keep carrying the guilt over having been the one to put her there. It isn't fair to him."
"Emma's right," Robin steadfastly responded in agreement. "Zelena may have wronged all of us at one point, but no more than she's wronged me and Roland after she killed Marian in the past, then took on her form to trick us so she could split up Regina and me. And as much as I want to see her pay for her crimes against us all, I prefer to help Killian even more. He doesn't deserve to feel any guilt for imprisoning even Zelena. And if freeing her will rid him of such guilt, then it's right that we should do so."
"Thank you, mate," Killian replied to him with sincerity as their eyes met, to which the archer simply nodded.
Finally, Regina nodded, then she stated, "Then… I'll go grab her pendant, and meet you back at the convent."
However, Hook quickly answered, "Wait… meet us at the old man's home instead. It's where I brought his broom that Gold used to track him down. That broom might be enough to help the fairies free him. If not… perhaps something else there might. But first we have to check on Belle."
"All right," the former Evil Queen responded, then vanished to do as she said she would.
"And I will return to talk to Blue, to let her know where to meet you too," Tinker Bell added, when she once again became small, then flew off.
David, Mary Margaret, Robin, and Henry all started to walk on ahead towards the pawnshop, while Killian stood back once Emma turned around to face him when he whispered gently, "Thank you, Emma. But should Gold attack…"
The Savior raised her hand and tenderly rested her fingers against his lips to cut the man she loved off, then she replied lovingly, "He won't. And if he does, then it certainly won't be your fault. Whatever Gold's plans are… whatever he needs Ursula, Cruella, and now Maleficent for… I promise you, we will stop them. Good always wins, remember? We will win against them this time too. We just have to be patient and wait for him to make his plans known. And he will, Killian."
"Okay," he finally answered, choosing at last to believe in her as he always has.
"Okay," she responded with a smile while she continued to caress his cheek, then took his hand and together, they followed after the others.