Mr. Gold's black Lincoln sped down Main Street, double the legal speed. The first half of the ride was silent, but eventually he broke the silence.
"There are a number of ways Miss Swan could have done this. To determine which method she employed, let me ask you this: Did she have possession of the dagger?"
Killian glanced down at his lap and sighed. "No. She gave it to me before she left."
The engine revved and the car sped up, slamming Killian against the back of his seat. Mr. Gold's fingers gripped the leather steering wheel, his eyes focused on the road.
"Is that bad?" The pirate asked.
"Well, it's not good." The other man answered. "If she tried to cleave herself from the dagger, as I did, then her state is only temporary. She would just be in a comatose state until her heart and the rest of her body heal."
"But you don't think that's the case?"
"To perform the spell to cleave the Dark One from their dagger, the dagger has to be in their possession. So, as you say it was in your possession, no I don't think it's what she did."
They arrived at the docks in record time. Killian jumped out of the car and ran toward the ship, with Mr. Gold following closely behind. As he led the other man to where his beloved lay prone, he couldn't help but chuckle at the irony, despite the dire situation. He'd spent so much time protecting himself from this man. After what had happened with Milah, he'd sworn to himself that Gold would never catch him in a vulnerable position again. Now, not only was he asking for help, he was leading him right into the belly of the beast.
They reached the door and Killian knocked gently before pushing it open. Henry was curled up in Killian's desk chair, fast asleep. Instead of waking him, Killian pulled a blanket from the end of the bed and draped it over him. He glanced over at Mr. Gold, who had paused in the doorway, and motioned for him to move closer to the bed.
He did so, examining Emma closely. The man seemed frustrated as he did so.
Turning to face Killian, he said. "I don't miss the power. I do, however, miss the magic." He sighed. "The preservation spell. That Regina's?" At Killian's nod, Gold continued. "Do you remember what Mary Margaret and David did to Lillith?"
"Aye."
"They completely took the darkness out of your Miss Swan and transferred it to another human being. That's how it is with all darkness. Darkness doesn't just disappear. Just like when I spliced myself from the dagger, my darkness left my body and went out into the world. Except, it can't last more than a few minutes without a vessel. If it gets desperate enough, it will latch onto the first living thing it can find." The man fell silent for a moment, lost in his thoughts. "So, if Emma didn't try to release herself from the dagger, the only other way that she could have gotten rid of the darkness is by channeling it into someone else."
"Emma wouldn't do that." Killian hissed angrily.
"Human beings are animals, Hook." Mr. Gold said, his tone making it obvious that he didn't like what he was saying. "When cornered, we take extreme measures to get out of said corner. If she was being pressured to let go of the power, it could have gone one of two ways. One, she could have gone off the deep end and destroyed the entire town in some insane example of power."
"And two?" The other man asked quietly.
"She could have gone to extreme measures to get out of that corner, as I said."
"What do we do?" Killian looked down at Emma, angry tears welling in his eyes.
"We need to find out where she sent the darkness. If we can find it, we can kill it and potentially rid us of the Dark Magic once and for all." He bit his lower lip and thought for a moment. "Where did she disappear to?"
"I don't know. She wouldn't tell me." He sighed, swiping at the tears.
"Alright. Well, she's not going to fade today. Let me look around the shop and see what I can find that might help us track that person or thing down." He turned toward the door and paused. "Ah, perhaps you can do me a favor in the meantime?"
Killian cocked an eyebrow, not wanting to do anything for the man but knowing full well that he owed him plenty.
"Will you take Belle to lunch while I search the shop?"
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Mr. Gold drove the Lincoln down the street decidedly more slowly on the way back. Killian hated to admit it, but he felt a bit relieved knowing that he had help beyond the heroes. Maybe someone with an intimate knowledge of dark magic would be helpful. Regina knew of Dark Magic, being trained by Gold and all, but she'd lost her touch.
As he'd said, she'd done too much good.
"What's that saying, trouble in paradise?" He asked Gold, trying to lighten the mood. He felt that if things stayed the way they were, his head was going to explode. He needed to be strong for Emma and Henry. He knew that her family was going to look to him for support, and they'd already had to take care of him once.
It was time to be a man.
"Not that it's any of your business, but there's no paradise to have trouble in." He grumbled. "Belle made it clear last night that she's moved on and I plan to honor it."
"Tough break, mate." Killian said. "So, you want me to distract Belle while you rifle around the shop because you don't want to see her?"
"Something like that." Mr. Gold said through clenched teeth.
They pulled up in front of the pawn shop and Killian hopped out. After waving to his driver, he ducked inside, not looking forward to explaining the recent events to Belle.
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As much as he enjoyed seeing Belle, all he could think about was getting back to Emma. Maybe he'd read to her, as Mary Margaret had done with David. It had woken him up. Hell, they were even in the storybook now. He could read them their own story.
After an hour, his phone buzzed.
Gold: Meet me at the docks. I found out where she sent the darkness. Hurry.
Killian jumped up, apologized profusely, and dashed out of the restaurant and down the street. By the time he made it to the ship, he was drenched in sweat and panting like a dog. Mr. Gold's black Lincoln was parked at the end of the docks, the man himself leaning back against the hood.
"You know who it is?" Killian asked.
He nodded. "I'm sorry. You're not going to like it."
A/N: You guys are awesome. Really, you are. I'm plotting out my next story now. But I am open to one shot prompts. So, lemme have em!