Thanks for all the lovely feedback. I hope you're going to enjoy the ride - and feel free to let me know what you think!

xxxxx

"Where the hell have you been?"

Snow was yelling at Regina, running towards her as the other woman entered the apartment. "Where is she? Have you seen her? Have you spoken to her?"

Her eyes were red and puffy and it was obvious she had been crying for the past few hours.

Hook was right by her side, looking completely lost.

"Regina, where's the dagger? You should give it to me, I'm going to take care of it", he told her, trying to stay calm.

"No, give it to us", Snow interrupted him. "No offense, Killian, but Emma is our daughter, we know what's best for her."

Regina shook her head, needing to sit down.

"I brought the dagger to a safe place and I am going to keep it."

"Regina, no, David and I – "

"Have done a terrible job protecting her so far", Regina interrupted her former enemy in a strict voice. "The dagger stays with me. I'll figure out how to handle the situation and until then, the dagger is going to stay where no one, especially not Emma, can find it. I'm sorry, Snow, but I know more about dark magic than you and I know that Emma is going to try to get her hands on the thing as soon as possible. I have no idea what the darkness is going to make her do, what her plans are, but if anyone can handle the possibilities, it's me."

Snow swallowed audibly as David let her hand rest on his wife's shoulder.

"My mom's right", Henry supported Regina. "We have to trust her with this. And we're going to find a way to get her rid of this darkness… right, mom?"

Regina sighed.

"Right, Henry."

But was he really right? Regina had, in fact, absolutely no idea what to do. All she knew was that as soon as everyone else tried to get involved, things would only end up being more complicated. Gold had managed to live a relatively normal life as the dark one in Storybrooke, but Regina knew that it was different with Emma. She had seen her change during the last couple of weeks, had seen how the situation with her parents, Lily and killing Cruella had affected her and – above all – she had seen the new Emma. She had seen the look in her eyes, had heard that manic laugh, had heard her say these things about Hook and her family… Emma was going to be a difficult case and if she didn't act quickly, she knew it might be too late. She was not going to risk that.

"Then where is she, Regina?", Snow interrupted her thoughts, the desperation in her voice slowly reaching its peak. "Tell us!"

Regina closed her eyes for a second as she took a deep breath.

"I don't know", she replied truthfully. "I saw her briefly and she told me something about finally not being the savior anymore, something about being free…"

"Why didn't you bring her to us? I need to speak to her, Regina, now! Can't you just call her with the dagger so she has to talk to us? I want to see my daughter!"

"Enough now, Snow!" Regina growled, "You need to calm down, do you understand me? I don't think Emma wants to see anyone right now or she'd probably be here by now. She's free to go and do whatever she wants and right now it's pretty clear that she wants to be alone."

Snow was crying again and David, who apparently had no idea what to contribute to the conversation, kept stroking her back, his face unreadable.

"Regina…", Hook started, slowly approaching the woman. "Did she say anything about me? Maybe it'd help if I talked to her in private. Do you have any idea where she might have gone? Maybe I can talk some sense into her."

Regina had to keep herself from laughing bitterly, clearly remembering what Emma had said to her not too long ago. She felt almost sorry for the pirate who seemed to be nothing more to this version of Emma than a really bad lover. She realized she didn't even have the heart to tell him the truth – a truth she would have enjoyed rubbing into his face any other day.

"She didn't mention you. And as I said, I have no idea where she went. If I see her, I'll let you know."

Hook nodded, sinking his head as he opened his flask.

"And if you'll excuse me now, I need to start doing my research so this situation can be handled properly", Regina said firmly before poofing herself out of the building and leaving behind two stunned Charmings, a concerned Henry and a mildly depressed pirate.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Emma was leaning against a tree, breathing heavily. She was aware of her situation, yet she didn't have the power to do anything about it. She could feel that there was still a small bit of sanity left in her brain, but it felt as if there were suddenly two souls inside of her head, both trying to get what they want. And one was definitely stronger than the other.

While some tiny little voice told her she probably had to leave Storybrooke in order to save everyone from what she might become, that other part made it hard to think clearly. The other part wanted people to suffer for what she had gone through in her childhood. Wanted to hurt or even kill abusive foster parents. Wanted to rip that one girl's heart out who had once humiliated her in jail. Wanted to smash the police officer's head who had called her trashy and useless after he arrested her. She was thirsty for revenge and she was angry.

Rage was building up inside of her and she made a fist, not knowing how to slow her feelings down. She tried counting to ten but pictures of her past were repeatedly dancing in front of her inner eye, feelings she hadn't felt in years suddenly all rushing through her in waves of hyper realistic flashbacks. Loneliness, anger, desperation, disappointment, fear, hopelessness… every single negative emotion she had experienced in her life seemed to hit her with full force. Being abandoned by countless families. Giving Henry away right after he was born. Watching Neal die in her arms.

Emma couldn't take it anymore as she brought her hands up to her head, tugging on her hair and letting out a desperate cry. She punched the tree hard. Once. Twice. Until her hand was covered in her own blood.

"Make it stop… Make it stop", she whispered to herself as tears were streaming down her face and she sank down onto the dirty forest floor, hugging her legs in front of her chest and humming a melody to herself that had used to calm her down when she was little.

If that was what it's like to be the dark one, to be trapped in your own thoughts and your own nightmares, she would fight back. She'd find ways to compensate. She was extremely powerful and not a weak little girl in a dirty foster home anymore. Maybe it was her time to make them all pay. Maybe she'd make every single person responsible for this pay their price and maybe she'd find peace. She needed that fucking dagger.

The dagger, however, was in Regina's control and in a completely weird and unexpected way, the thought excited her. Somehow, in all of this, she pictured Regina by her side. Regina was the only one who'd understand. The only one who had gone down such a dark path and who knew more about revenge than most people did.

Emma had always felt this certain fascination when it came to the other woman. Had always felt their connection and always enjoyed her company. But now, ever since the darkness had started to fill her entire being, her feelings had intensified. It felt as if raw instincts had kicked in, telling her to be near the other woman. To make her see what she was capable of. To make her proud. Arouse her, even.

What could be better than having the Evil Queen by her side in all of this? Maybe Emma didn't need to be saved, maybe it was Regina who needed to be brought back on the right path. All the things they could accomplish together, with their combined powers… the possibilities were endless.

Emma felt herself calm down again, silently laughing to herself. She couldn't believe she hadn't realized it sooner. Yes, what they had was special. But what she had in mind was far better than 'special'. It was fucking magnificent. And together they would be invincible.

She was looking down at her bloody hands when something inside of her seemed to click.

She wouldn't be hurt anymore.

And she wouldn't let anyone hurt Regina.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Regina was in her bedroom, her head spinning from all the reading on the dagger and its curse she had done in the previous hours. So far it had all been extremely frustrating as it was obviously neither an option to keep Emma in the state she was in, nor to let her die.

She wondered where Emma might be right now, where she would sleep, what she had planned and what the hell was going on in her head.

Her thoughts were drifting back to their conversation in the woods and the things that had happened that she certainly wouldn't be able to tell anyone about. Their relationship had never been very physical as both women had usually been very controlled when they were around each other. The fact that Emma's new dark side had turned everything upside down was scary and yet somewhat… thrilling.

The feeling of Emma's lips pressed forcefully against her own while being pinned against a tree was not only unexpected, it was something Regina usually despised. All her life she had hated people who were trying to control her in one way or another, had hated everyone who treated her disrespectfully… but this? This was different.

Regina desperately needed to know why. Why Emma would even think about doing this, think about kissing her or, god forbid, more than that. Darkness had usually always made her want to do the things she had most desired. It had stripped her of all moral values, stripped her of all rational thought and compassion whenever she wanted to achieve her goals. But certainly Emma had never felt that way about her before, had she?

She had ignored all of Robin's incoming calls for now, not knowing what to say to him. She didn't want to see him, even though she knew it wasn't fair to him to shut him out like that. But what was she supposed to do? Cuddle in bed and come up with a master plan together? The man meant a lot to Regina but, truth be told, he was just a thief after all. He had no useful knowledge when it came to dark magic and he didn't know Emma very well. Not the way she did.

Regina was lying on her bed now, toying with the dagger, completely lost in thought. She closed her eyes for a moment, trying to go through her options once again, when suddenly she felt her own body stiffen.

She wasn't alone anymore and even though she had a pretty good idea who to expect when she'd open her eyes, the thought scared her to no end. She gripped the dagger harder.

"You do know I can always make you leave?", she managed to bring out, finally opening her eyes and staring straight into Emma's who was standing right next to her bed, looking at her with a smug grin on her face.

"Something tells me that you don't want me to. Why else would you be clinging to my dagger as if you missed me already?"

Regina sat up, turning on the small lamp on her nightstand in order to see the other woman better.

"What are you doing here, Emma?" she asked, trying to read her face. "I'm not going to give you what you want."

Emma chuckled.

"Oh I know, Regina." She paused, scanning the other woman with her eyes and appreciating the silky nightgown with raised eyebrows.

"But did you ever think that maybe I could give you something that you want?"

Regina stood up, acting more confident than she felt as she returned Emma's challenging gaze.

"And what would that be, Miss Swan?"

Emma came even closer, reaching out her hand to softly brush a strand of dark hair out of Regina's face which made the other woman visibly shiver.

Her voice was soft but firm when she spoke.

"More than you can imagine right now."