Ch.8
Emma was just pulling into her driveway when she saw Regina was calling her on her cellphone.
"Couldn't get enough of me? Want to plan our second date already?" Emma asked into the phone cockily.
"Emma, Christian and Dark Emma are gone! You need to come back." Regina said sounding panicked.
"Maybe they just went for a walk?" Emma suggested casually. It was Dark Emma's child after all, who were they to dictate where they went. It was dark enough, so anyone who saw them would just think it was their Sherriff.
"All the stuff is gone. The baby stuff and the research books. All gone!" Regina said.
"Well, maybe she figured it out and took her son home?"
"Emma, I don't think so. Earlier today I saw a spell book opened to a Time-Travel spell on her desk. It's similar to the one Zelena casted, but it's more powerful and needs a greater power source for the innocence ingredient. The power of this spell would most likely destroy all the ingredients used. " Regina said.
"And that powerful ingredient would be a baby born of True Love. Christian is a true love created baby." Said Emma in realization. "But do you really think she would hurt Christian just to go back in time?"
"To save her Regina? I didn't think she would at the time, but now I don't know. Do you think she would, you're the only one who would know?" Regina asked.
"I honestly don't know what she's thinking. I remember being the Dark One, and it's a cluster fuck. Every choice I made seems so bizarre to me now. It's not rational or logical thinking. It's just wanting what you can't have and doing anything to get it. No matter the cost. I could justify almost anything while I had the Darkness in me." Emma said.
"Then I bet we just figured out her plan." Regina said grimly.
"Kill her own child to save her true love. Great… Where would she go to perform the spell?" Emma asked.
"Zellena casted hers in the old barn, but that might be too obvious, and not sturdy enough." Regina suggested.
"I think I know where. The first magical, location you showed me before the curse broke."
"Under the library? Where I kept Maleficent?" Regina asked.
"Exactly. It was the first magical triumph I had. Killing the dragon. It's also hidden from public view." Emma said.
"Meet me there in five. Dress for a fight." Regina said as she hung up.
Emma waited for Regina outside the library. She had changed into her jean and red leather jacket. Her sword swinging at her side, ready for the fight. Regina was late and Emma was growing concerned. Just as she was about to call her, Regina appeared beside her. She was changed too, into tight black leather pants and a black leather jacket with bright red leather gloves. "Nice outfit, what took you so long?" Emma asked.
"I was getting this." Regina said holding up a leather cuff.
"A magical binding cuff? Do you think we can get close enough to put that on her?" Emma asked.
"Not we. Me." Regina corrected as she stormed into the library. Emma trailing in after her.
"What do you mean? Regina?" Emma asked as she followed Regina to the hidden door behind the bookcase.
Regina pulled a book halfway out and the bookshelf moved to reveal a series of pulley's and levers, which she spun and cranked until an old elevator appeared.
"I think you should stay up here. I can get close enough to her to slip this on. Then I'll call you. Just pull this lever to bring the elevator back up." Regina said pointing to the large lever on the left side.
"Regina, are you planning on seducing her to put that cuff on?" Emma asked, her eyes wide with panic.
"What other plan is there Emma? She has the power of The Dark One. Which if you don't remember is greater than ours." Regina said.
"There has to be another way. She will snap your neck without a second's hesitation if she figures out your plan. Please Regina, let me come too." Emma begged.
"No. Stay here until I call you. She will kill us both if you come down there too. And I…I can't lose you." Her eyes filled with tears. "Take this. It's the last of the squid ink I have. It will freeze her long enough for you to get out of her clutches if it comes down to it." Regina said as she quickly grabbed Emma by her jacket and pulled her close. She kissed her quickly on the lips and then on the cheek. "I won't lose you. Please stay here. Keep that ink close." Regina whispered in her ear and placed one last kiss on her jaw. She turned and entered the elevator. Slowly it lowered her down the long tunnel. Emma stood at the top and watch her descend, their eyes only breaking when Regina was too far down to see and the darkness consumed her.
When the elevator reached the bottom of the large cavern, Regina paused only for a moment to gather her courage. She took one last look up the shaft and headed toward the center to the cave where candles and lanterns were lit in a large circle. As Regina drew nearer she saw The Dark One standing in the center looking through a large book. Henry's old crib sat off to the side, and through the bars Regina could see the baby sleeping peacefully.
"Emma? Are you here?" Regina called out causing Dark Emma to look up from her book.
"Regina? Isn't this a surprise? How did you know where to find me?" Dark Emma asked.
"Location spell." Regina lied. "Christian has my blood so it was easy to find you. I figured you wanted privacy after last night with Emma spying. I'm sorry if she annoyed you, she certainly annoyed me." Regina said, pretending to sound annoyed at Emma. Luckily she has had a lot of practice in the real thing.
Regina began to slowly walk over to her, trying her hardest to seem casual. Dark Emma went back to looking through the book.
"She is very loyal to you. She will do anything to protect you. I can understand that. I thought you would want me and the baby out of the way after your date." Dark Emma said without looking up.
"Well you thought wrong. Let's just say, I was glad to be coming home to you." Regina said in a sultry voice, while her fingers played with the tassel dangling off the old book. The Dark One now couldn't keep her eyes off of her. "I was disappointed to see you weren't there, I thought you could help me have a better night." Regina lied as she closed the book Dark Emma held and took it from her, setting it on the table next to them.
"And how could I help you have a better night?" Dark Emma asked with a smirk on her pale lips. She stepped closer to Regina, towering over her in her high heeled boots.
Regina followed her lead and stepped closer as well. "By doing this." Regina said as she kissed the Dark One hard on the lips. Dark Emma picked Regina up by the waist with ease and set her down on the table. Regina wrapped her legs around Dark Emma's waist and pulled her in closer. Dark Emma had a firm grasp on the back of Regina's head as she continued to kiss her. Before she knew it Regina's jacket was off and Dark Emma was trailing kisses down to her chest. Regina closed her eyes and enjoyed the feeling, even if she didn't want to.
Emma paced back and forth in the library, out of her mind with worry. She worried Dark Emma would kill Christian, she worried Regina would be killed, and she also worried Regina was being seduced more than Dark Emma was. After twenty minutes of Emma pacing back and forth she decided enough was enough, and brought the elevator back up. Once inside she lowered herself down to the cavern below. She took careful steps across the stone floor, so as not to make a sound and hid behind a large boulder. When she peeked around she could see the circle of candles Dark Emma had created, but no sign of either woman.
Emma creeped around the bolder and quietly walked to the table. A voice echoed in the chamber from behind her, causing Emma to jump.
"There she is. The White Night come to save her Queen." Dark Emma said as she appeared from behind a large stalagmite that sat next to the bolder Emma was just hiding behind. Regina floated in front of her, the cuff clasped tight on her wrist. Her arms and mouth bound.
"Regina!" Emma shouted as she ran towards the brunette, but her attempts were futile. Dark Emma raised her hand and sent Emma flying thought the air. She landed roughly on the hard stone floor.
She then snapped her fingers causing Emma to once again be lifted into the air, but this time she was roughly pinned against the stone wall of the cavern behind the lit circle.
"Oh Emma, so predictable aren't we?" Dark Emma asked in amusement. She walked over to where Emma stood pinned and placed a matching cuff on her wrist. "There, now with you two out of my way I can finish what I came here to do."
"You would really use your own child. Kill him, for a spell?" Emma asked with disgust in her voice.
Dark Emma smiled at her and flicked her fingers in Emma's direction, sending Regina's body flying into the stone wall next to where Emma was pinned. Regina fell to the floor unconscious, and Emma strained against her invisible restraints to try and reach her, but it was no use.
"I will do what I have to in order to save MY Regina." Dark Emma said as she waved her hand again, this time sending multiple objects around the room to form a large circle. "The spell is almost complete, I just need the child." She said as she walked over to the crib and plucked the sleeping baby up.
"Why would you come here and have us watch him if you were just going to use him for a spell?" Emma asked, trying anything to delay her from casting the spell.
"I needed time to search for something. You two were just babysitting."
"But your Regina is still alive, my parents and Henry wouldn't kill her. If they turned her good again why would you care, you told us you wanted to keep her good in the first place?"
"Because I lied you idiot! My Regina was never taken, she is dead! And your parents and Henry did it." Dark Emma bit out in anger. "And now is my only chance to get her back."
"Get her back? You aren't trying to stop her from falling in love with you, are you?" Emma asked.
"No, that was also a lie. Good detective work Sherriff!" Dark Emma mocked.
"Then what are you trying to do? What is your real plan?" Emma asked.
"I'm going to go back to make Regina immortal like me. In my world there was an amulet that would grant the wearer to live forever, but it was destroyed years ago. I just wasn't sure when." Dark Emma said as she ran her hand over the slumbering child in her arms. "I got it right this time." She whispered to the baby.
"This time? What do you mean this time?" Emma asked, her heart sinking.
The Dark One turned around and smiled at her, causing a chill run down Emma's spine.
"Did you think this was going to be my first time-travel?"
"How many then?" Emma asked.
"Twice. This will be my third, but my first using this spell. I had the Mad Hatters Hat for my first two, but it was destroyed when I opened the portal to this time period. Luckily, I picked this little guy up from my last trip." Dark Emma said as she touched Christian's nose.
"What? You're not from the same time as him?" Emma asked shocked.
"My dear, I am not even from the same world as him."
Emma's eyes bulged as the Dark One's words hit her. "What do you mean?" Emma demanded.
"What I mean is, this child is not mine. He is your child. Yours and hers." Dark Emma said as she nodded to Regina's unconscious body. "Born two years from this day."
Emma pulled against her invisible bindings again, this time harder, but it was no use. "NOOOO!" She screamed.
"Yes, you see I'm from twenty years in the future. Twenty years of waring with my family, and they finally got what they wanted. Henry lured Regina, and my parents killed her. I had to find a way to bring her back. Regina's mirror told me of whispers he heard years ago about a rare neckless that could bring eternal life. So with only rumors to guide me where and when the amulet existed I set off to find it. Supposedly, it was brought to my world's Storybrooke at a time when Ariel came to visit my parents. She had found it in the sea and feared someone with ill intentions would obtain it. I haven't been on speaking terms with my parents in many years. So I had to guess a time period and I was wrong. It had already been destroyed by my parents in the first time-zone I traveled to. I knew the hat only had one more trip left in it, so I hopped to your world, this world, but two years in the future from now. I look for another hat so I could return to my own time once I had the amulet. Instead of a hat, I found you and Regina had a child. So I took him. I opened the hats portal to this time, dropped the child with you, and went back to my world. The amulet was in the ocean. Ariel had not found it yet." Dark Emma said as she pulled a glimmering red stone at the end of a long golden chain out of her pocket. "This amulet will restore Regina's life and make her immortal. We will live together, forever." Dark Emma said as she smiled her sickly sweet smile again at Emma.
"So Christian doesn't exist in your world?" Emma asked, still confused.
"No, I was surprised to see you had a child. I didn't know it was possible. My true love with my Regina never produced a child. I lied so you would return him to me once you figured out you were related to him. I knew I wouldn't be able to fool you for long with my original story, so I told you he was mine and the Evil Queen's."
Emma shook her head in confusion, she wished Regina was awake to explain it better.
"This seems like a difficult plan, just to get a neckless."
"I would travel to every time period, and every world that ever existed if I had to. I would do anything for her. I would kill anyone." Dark Emma said as she waved her hand over the circle, causing it to glow.
"We won't let you take him, we will stop you, in two years. We will stop you from taking him!"
"Oh But I have already thought of that. When I leave I will drop this potion which will erase everyone's memory of Christian and I ever being here. You and Regina will forget all about him. So in two years when you tuck him into bed one late spring night I will swoop in and take him while you sleep, and you will never see him again." Dark Emma said as she placed the baby down, completing the circle of objects for the spell. The circle grew brighter.
"You Bitch!" Emma screamed. "Don't do this! We can find another way for you to return home!"
Regina started to stir, but neither Emma seemed to notice, they were both looking at the circle.
"It's too late. It's almost done. This vortex will take me back to my world, and my time." Dark Emma said as she looked at the circle, a swirl of gold started. The spell was beginning. If Christian stayed in it too long he would be killed.
"Please, take him out now, it's started, you don't need him in it anymore!" Emma begged, but her pleas fell upon deaf ears. As the spell grew and grew, a vortex began to open causing wind to whip through the cavern.
In the chaos of the spell, Dark Emma dropped her hold on Emma to focus on the growing vortex.
Emma immediately went to Regina and tried to wake her up. Regina's eyes opened slightly.
"Regina, what do I do? We don't have magic, what can I do?" Emma asked.
Regina lifted her head. "Ink." Was all Regina was able to get out before she rested her head back down on the stone floor.
Emma thought for a moment, and looked around. She spotted a rock about the size of a baseball and picked it up. She quickly uncorked the bottle and poured ink on its surface. She walked up closer to where Dark Emma stood watching the vortex grow.
"Hey Dark Bitch, catch!" Emma said as she threw the rock as hard as she could at Dark Emma's face.
Dark Emma quickly caught the rock in midair with her magic, and laughed. "Was this your cleaver little plan, to have me catch this rock covered in squid ink? Did you really think that would work?" Dark Emma asked as she laughed some more.
Emma walked with her head down in defeat towards The Dark One. "No, I didn't expect it to work at all." And with that she threw the remaining contents of the bottle into Dark Emma's face.
Dark Emma yelled out as the ink splattered all over her face, freezing her instantly where she stood.
Emma ran to the circle to get Christian, but failed to notice how large the vortex had grown. It was complete, and sucking everything in its reach into it. Emma picked up her son and cradled him in her arms as she turned to go back to Regina she was suddenly sucked backwards into the vortex. She fell to the floor. Emma tried to grip the ground with her free arm and feet but it was no use, she was being pulled toward the center of the circle. Right into the vortex.
"EMMA!"
Emma looked up and saw Regina running towards her.
"No! Stay back, the vortex will suck you in too!" Emma yelled at her.
"I don't care, I won't leave you!" Regina said as she fell to the ground and reached out and grabbed Emma's free hand. She tugged and tugged but it was no use. Without magic they were being pulled into the vortex. Their eyes locked onto each other.
"Where will it take us?" Regina asked.
"Someplace horrible." Emma said and she held on to Christian tighter.
Suddenly, the vortex surged and expanded, Emma and Regina lost their grip on the floor and were pulled inside the green circle. Warm air rushed and whipped at their faces, and around their bodies as they fell for what felt like an eternity. When they finally hit solid ground Emma sat up, still clutching Christian close to her chest. Regina sat up next her, rubbing her head.
"Where are we?" Regina asked.
"Where, and when?" Emma asked.