Killian gets Magic

"I know who he is!" Henry burst into the library where his Mom, Killian, Robin and Belle were flipping through books. He held the DVD in his hands out for them to see. "It is Syndrome."

Regina looked up. "Syndrome?"

Mentally Henry made a note to have his family watch the Pixar movies. For a moment the image of the Toy Story characters running through town entered his head. He quickly pushed those thoughts away. That was the last thing Storybrooke needed, especially when they already had a villain running around. He sat down at the table with his family. "In the movie he was just a normal person who created technology to equal superpowers."

Killian closed the book he had been flipping through, gaze thoughtful. "He always carries that wand with him," he observed.

"Which means he is probably using that wand to collect people's magic," Belle commented.

"So if we destroy the wand-" Robin started.

"-we free the magic," Regina finished.

Sitting up straighter Henry asked. "Does that mean all the magic goes back to where it started?"

Rising to his feet Killian shrugged. "Only one way to find out." He looked at Regina, regret in his eyes.

Before he could say anything she nodded. "I need to be the bait." She laid a hand over Robin's before he could protest. "I am the only one currently with magic since the fairies are all comatose after having theirs stolen."

The former thief slumped in his chair. "I will be with you then."

Regretfully Killian shook his head at him. "We need your archery skills. You are going to need to shoot the wand out of his hand. I will stay with Regina."

Squeezing her husband's arm in sympathy Regina nodded her agreement. "Killian knows how to protect and work with a magic-user in battle." She turned to the former pirate. "I should be able to enchant your hook to break the wand." Her gaze moved to Robin. "I trust you to make the shot."

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Holding his bow tightly Robin watched from the clock tower as Regina and Killian stood in the center of main street arguing. Both appeared completely oblivious to their surroundings.

"They are way too good at that," Belle commented. Her eyes were continuously scanning the area. She had volunteered to be a second set of eyes.

Before he could reply a small man with bright red hair jetted out of a nearby alley, wand already out. As Robin quickly raised his bow to line up his shot he saw the wand fire and Killian tackle Regina to the ground, rolling to take the brunt of the fall. Both were quickly back on her feet. Robin muttered under his breath as Syndrome moved, ruining his shot. Oblivious to the watchers Syndrome fired again. Killian was keeping himself between Regina and Syndrome. Since he was non-magical they were pretty sure the wand's effect would do him no lasting damage. As Regina instinctively brought up her hands to use magic he hoped she remembered that that would only strengthen the wand's effects and give it a better focus. Thankfully she remembered in time and ducked behind Killian to avoid the next shot.

"He needs to stop moving so much," Belle muttered.

Robin couldn't agree more. He did not dare take a shot until he had a perfect target. There was no telling how Syndrome would react once he knew it was a trap. This was going to be their best chance to get him. Finally all three stopped moving, Syndrome seemed to be saying something while Regina's body language expressed disbelief and Killian's complete focus was on anticipating Syndrome's next attack. Robin focused on the hand holding the wand and fired. He only waited long enough to see the arrow hit, another arrow already nocked, before taking off down the stairs, Belle just behind him. They had just reached the street as Killian brought his hook down on the wand he was now holding, splitting it in half. Robin felt himself pushed back into the library as an explosion of light and pressure burst from the wand. Reflexively he put an arm out to soften Belle's collision with the wall.

"NO!" Syndrome screamed as he was knocked off his feet.

At the center of the whirling swirls of light Regina and Killian stood unmoving. Just as Robin was getting ready to go try to pull Regina free slightly more than half the lights whizzed away. Many towards the hospital where the fairies lay, others toward the wishing well. The rest just swirled around aimlessly. Slowly they began to circle Killian only, pushing Regina away from the still unmoving sheriff. Unable to stop himself Robin ran to his wife, pulling her into his arms, vaguely aware of Belle beside him. "What's going on?"

Unable to look away from the display in front of her Regina could only shake her head. "I think that is the magic that is unable to find its original wielder."

As it picked up speed Belle asked. "Is it looking for someone else to wield it?" She could no longer even see Killian through the different colored lights.

"That is a lot of magic," Robin commented, pulling Regina back several more steps.

The mayor went unresisting. "Probably of different types as well."

"How do we get Killian free?" Belle asked.

Before Regina could reply Rumplestiltskin burst out of the same alley as Syndrome had used and ran towards them. At the same time the magic swirled up into one column and dove into Killian, causing his body to glow a moment with many shades of light before he collapsed to the ground like a puppet with his strings cut. Only Belle's quick reflexes kept his head from hitting the pavement. She sat down with his head in her lap as Robin felt for a pulse.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Rumplestiltskin's heart wrenching cry tore through the quiet late afternoon.

All three turned to face the former Dark One. "Rumple?" Belle asked, starting to move Killian's head to go to her ex-husband.

Rumple ignored them all, complete focus on the still prone former pirate. "You can't have it! That is supposed to be my magic!"

Before he could reach Killian he appeared to bounce off an invisible field. At the same time Killian groaned and pushed himself to a sitting position. "What the bloody hell happened?" he asked Regina, who had knelt beside him while Belle went to the crumpled Rumplestiltskin. "I feel like my nerves are running with energy."

Regina put a hand on his shoulder to help steady the still shaken sheriff who was almost vibrating. "The magic with no home all went into you. I think you are still feeling the after effects."

He did not have time to respond before Robin called their attention to where he had moved to stand guard over Syndrome. The villain was slowly pushing himself to a sitting position. "You broke my wand," he lamented. He turned a glare on Killian. "It was mine."

"Is he an escape threat without the wand?" Killian asked wearily.

After a moment's thought Regina shook her head. "He shouldn't be. I could always put a shield around the cell as a precaution."

"You had no right to break my wand!" Syndrome was still ranting.

Head in his hands Killian muttered. "Enough." He waved his hand toward him. "We have a nice jail cell wi-" He cut of mid-word as the flame haired villain disappeared.

A moment later Regina's phone began to ring. "Henry." She answered it, listened a moment and replied. "One of us will be right there." Then she hung up, locking eyes with Killian. "It would seem your use of magic is instinctive. He is in a jail cell."

Swallowing hard Killian stared at his still upraised hand. "Me?" he asked in disbelief.

"You!" Rumplestiltskin hissed, pushing away from Belle to glare at his old enemy. "That was supposed to be my magic but you stole it just like you stole Milah and Emma and Henry. You had no right to any of them. At least Ms. Swan made the right decision in the end."

Belle shrank away from him, not missing Killian's brief flinch at Emma's name. "Rumple!" Then his words truly registered with her and she stared at him in shock. "You let Syndrome in. You put us all at risk."

Hearing the anguish and disbelief in her voice Rumple turned to her. "I had to." He reached out a hand to her but the librarian recoiled away. "You deserve a strong man, a man worthy of you," he pleaded with her.

Tears in her eyes Belle could only swallow hard. "I have spent the last several months trying to help you accept the changes. Hoping there was a chance I could trust in our love again. But it was all just another lie."

"No, Rumplestiltskin whispered. "It was not a lie. But I can't go back to the cowardly man I once was. I need my magic to be the man I truly am. The man you deserve."

Her head was shaking from side to side. "All I wanted was you, but power is still the most important thing to you." Slowly she backed away from him, turning into Killian's arms when she bumped into his frozen form.

Rumple rose, glaring at the still seated pair. "Always the Pirate," he hissed. "We could have had a good life. You walked away. You betrayed me!"

As he started to step forward Killian held his hand up, pulling Belle closer with his hook arm. Before he completed the first step Rumplestiltskin had disappeared. For a moment Killian just stared at the place his Crocodile had been. His questioning gaze moved to Regina. "Me?"

The mayor nodded looking around. "It would appear your magic tends to a protective nature. Where did you send him? Did you feel anything?"

"Over the town line, I think."

"I will have the Merry Men check," Robin said, walking a little distance with his phone out.

Carefully Killian straightened. The vibrations were still coursing through him, but not as strong. "I think I might have but the feel of the magic does not feel like a part of me yet." He glanced down at Belle. "I am sorry," he whispered. Even when it meant making nice with his crocodile he would never voluntarily hurt Belle.

With a decisive shake of her head the librarian looked up. "You had no choice. He would not have stopped. We could not continue to put Storybrooke and its residents in danger. How are you?" Her eyes searched his face.

Regina joined them, slipping her phone back in her pocket. "Gold is on the other side of the town line." Her gaze moved back to Killian, he had dropped his head wearily to lean on Belle's. "How are you doing?"

With effort he forced his eyes up to hers. "I am not completely sure. My nerves feel like they are on fire, but not painfully so. I feel worn out but also full of energy. Is this normal?"

"I don't know. I was never suddenly infused with magic. Unless you feel ill or like something is really wrong I would suggest going home and getting some rest tonight. Tomorrow we can test your magic. I have no idea if it is Light or Dark, in the middle or nothing in particular. Robin can watch Syndrome and handle the station."

Wearily Killian nodded in response. "Let Henry know I am fine and will see him after school tomorrow." Closing his eyes he tried to muster the energy to actually start home. He just wanted to be on the couch helping Belle come to terms with another betrayal by the crocodile and have her help him adjust to the magic he could feel flowing through him. Everything shifted and the pavement he was sitting on became soft cushions. It was nice to have good friend to trustin. Knowing, but uneasy, about what he would find Killian reluctantly opened his eyes. They were in the apartment, Belle still curled into his side. He suppressed a shudder. It was proving too easy to use this magic. He had to get control.

"Did you mean to do that?" Belle asked, straightening slightly from where she had been slumped against him.

The casualness of the question helped to soothe his nerves as he felt the magic settling deeper into him. "No." Shifting he settled more comfortably into the corner of the couch, stretching his legs out on the coffee table. Belle shifted as well settling onto his lap, leaning her head on his shoulder. He wrapped his arms around her. "Do you want to talk about it?" The magic was apparently not going anywhere, he would have the rest of his life to deal with it. Right now his best friend needed his support.

"I feel worn out," she said after a long moment. "But also a strange kind of relief. I have spent the last several months attempting to decide if I could trust my heart with Rumple. Trust that he truly was trying to change. But I just couldn't force myself to take that leap but nor could I give up the hope. Now it is over. Even if he does manage to return we can never go back to what we were." She refused to cry any more tears. It was time she let go of the past. After a few minutes of accepting his quiet comfort, he was always there when she needed him, she forced herself to sit up slightly so their eyes could meet. "How are you holding up?"

It was a long few minutes before he answered. She knew he was not trying to hide anything from her or decide what he wanted her to hear. Rumple had made her all too aware of that kind of silence over the years, even if she had spent much of her time denying it. At last he answered, pulling her full attention back to him. "Truthfully I am not sure. It feels like something has invaded me yet belongs there." He shifted his legs to stretch out more, head resting on the couch's armrest, without thinking Belle stretched out next to him. "This helps." His eyes closed as her head went back to his shoulder, fingers gently scratching. "It has been so long," his voice trailed off, hook arm going around her back. His other hand was lightly, absently caressing her side.

Belle did not bother to resist the desire to lean further into him. "I know what you mean. It seemed like something was always going on or I was unsure of my trust levels." Her head lifted so their eyes could meet. "Promise me we will always have this, no matter what. Our friendship and comfort in each other."

His answering smile was soft and a little sad. "I promise to always be here for you and never intentionally hurt you." The magic he now possessed imbued his words with an extra layer of promise.

Smiling Belle inched higher so her head was on the armrest as well, Killian having to turn on his side so they would both have room. She had become his safe harbor, a place to rest and recoup. And he would fill that need for her as well. Their foreheads leaned into each other as they allowed the stresses of the day to fade away, at least temporarily. On this couch they could just relax and be. Tomorrow would come soon enough.