I had this idea back around episode ten or eleven, but I just got the chance to write it. I really wanted to see something comparing what Snow and Charming did with to what Emma did. I promise the promised fluffiness to endure this hiatus will be back soon. But until then, enjoy. Don't forget to leave requests, comments, and follow and favorite. And go check out my multi-chapter fic, In the Midst.

Now, enjoy.

No Choice

Emma still felt the power running through her veins, despite the cuff that was placed on her to contain and control it. It felt muffled, but was still evident. The darkness still spoke to her, still played in her head and made noise in her ears.

She was confused, hurt, angry-every emotion she had amplified due to the current situation. Killian was the other Dark One and she had no clue what he was up to, but he was angry all right. Angry at her for what she did. Not that she could blame him, but part of him had to understand why she did it. She did it for him-for their future.

Emma, lost in her thoughts, did not notice Killian flash himself into the room until he cleared his throat to announce his presence. The voices of the previous Dark Ones were in both of their heads now-he must have known she was thinking of him. It had happened other times, he would think of her and she would just know. Must be one of the perks of being co-Dark One with your significant other.

"Is that cuff bothering you, love?" He snickered at her. "To bad no one here loves you anymore, otherwise someone would help you with that bloody thing."

"They still love me." Emma gritted through clenched teeth.

"Ah, they just don't trust you anymore. Not that they should. After all the evil deeds you have done, you deserve no trust. You tricked them all."

"Everything I did was for-"

"I know, it was for me." He cut her off, angrily, "Such a shame. You did that all for someone you still lost."

"Killian is still in there." Emma whispered, taking a step closer to him.

"Your love sick puppy is gone. The man that you tried so hard to save is gone. And as a result, you have lost everything else. You truly must be the problem. Must be the reason you never got adopted as a child."

Emma ignored his bitter words. That was not Killian, it was the darkness. "I had to save you-I could not lose someone else. I couldn't lose the man I love."

"You see, love, that is where you are wrong. You make it sound like you did not have a choice, when you in fact did. And as a result, I lost my choice. You of all people should know what it is like to have you choice taken away. Yet, when someone does it to you, they are evil and wrong, but you do it, and you are some moral hero trying to save the man she loves."

Emma opened her mouth to respond, but he kept going. "When your parents took away your choice to be evil, you hated them. You would have lost them just to spite them. But you take away my choice to be good, to be the person you wanted me to be, and that is all right!? Tell me why the double standard, Emma! Do the rules not apply to you?"

"I couldn't lose you!" She yelled again. "You promised me you were a survivor and you promised me a future. You were going to die and I did whatever I had to do save you. Don't tell me you would not have done the same thing?"

"I would have respected-"

"Bullcrap, you would have. You still love me Killian. And I know you are still in there. You think you have everyone fooled, but guess what? I know what it is like to be a Dark One. In case you forgot, I am one. "

"And your point is, love?"

"That I know what you are doing. It is the same thing I did. Try and convince everyone you don't care.I can see through the ruse, I always could."

"Ah, because you knew Killian so well. If that is true, why couldn't you tell that all you were to him was a pretty distraction? A break from the main goal?" He sneered at her, moving into her personal space.

"Because that is not true. Killian loves me. And I will get him back." Emma stated, determined.

"Good luck with that, darling. Because the man you loved is dead. Because of you."

With that, Killian vanished into a red vapor.

Emma knew she had to fix this. She owed everyone, including Killian, that much. She had to make everything right and get back the man she loved. He was still in there, no one could tell her otherwise.