The Dark Tower

Storybrooke

Emma was here.

Not of her own volition, of course, but that was what Regina was for. She held the dagger up towards the crack of light and demanded that Emma Swan, the Dark One, come to the Clock Tower. And there she was.

"Regina," Emma smirked, her eyes void of emotion, "How nice to see you."

"You too, Miss Swan, or would you prefer to be called the Dark One, nowadays?"

Emma - the Dark One - chuckled, and turned to Killian.

I love you.

"You too, pirate? And here I thought you had more sense than that."

He swallowed at the words that weren't hers and gawked at the face that he had once known better than his own. He could see the dark power encircling her, an aura that had once been filled with so much brightness and hope, turned black.

"Well, you know me, love, always looking for trouble." He smirked weakly, disheartened by the taunting chuckle he heard in response.

"I'm sorry to pull you away form your," Regina looked at Emma, concealing her disappointment through a disapproving frown, "fun, but we have something that you want." She waved the dagger at the woman, running a finger across its jagged edges.

"Give it to me." The voice that spoke was not Emma's, too harsh, too empty. The tone was void of anger, presenting only power without restraint.

"No. Because I order you, to stay here, in this tower, until I say otherwise."

Emma turned to Killian, her eyes roaming his body before settling on his face, her amusement evident in her voice when she spoke, "Fine. I can't think of a better way to spend my afternoon." Her tone was flirtatious, and Killian hated it. It was filled with silky promises and a lustful greed that Emma - his Emma, at least - didn't possess.

Regina walked carefully past Killian, stuffing the dagger into his hand as she strode out. His gaze remained locked on the woman in front of him, as if daring her to make a move.

"Well, pirate," She hummed, "What do you want to do today?"

The Enchanted Forest

"No." Snow glared at her husband angrily.

"Snow-"

"No. I am not going to lie to our child for years."

"We can't just force her destiny on her!" Charming argued. The pair had gone on a ride through the woods and the conversation had turned to how Snow would broach the subject of Emma's duty as the saviour.

"You're not the one raising her. I am." She bit.

"Snow-" They were interrupted by a barking sound to the left of the forest, Snow immediately jumped off her horse and ran after the sound. "Snow!" Charming said again, this time in worry.

He tied up the horses quickly before following his pregnant wife into the trees. When he caught up to her, she found her nursing a dogs head on her lap.

"Charming, he's hurt," She pointed to his reddened paw, "He can't walk."

He bent down by their side, ripping his cloak to bandage the injury. "We'll have to take him back to the castle so he can heal."

The two royals helped to move the dog onto Charming's horse as the rode back to the castle.

Storybrooke

"So, Hook," Emma smirked again, playing with the ends of her hair as she spoke to the pirate, "All alone in the tower, with no one to watch over us or interrupt us, I wonder what we could do."

Killian bit back a groan. He couldn't let the Dark One see her influence on him, even if this particular Dark One was Emma. "Well, love. I suggest you stay quiet and in your corner and I may just let you out on good behaviour."

She sat forward, her smile glinting dangerously in the dim light.

"You must have chosen this place for a reason," She crawled over to him, "All alone, up here, with no one to disturb us," She purred into his shoulder, smirking at the moan he released. "I'm still me, Killian," He fought the urge to reach out to her as he heard his name rumble against his skin, "I still want you."

With willpower he didn't know he possessed, Killian manoeuvred her away gently (because she was still Emma - still his magnificent Swan) and walked over to the railing.

"Not today, Swan." Behind him she pouted.

Henry sat at the foot of his bed, staring at the empty story book. Regina had decided it would be best to bring him to her house, instead of having him surrounded by all of his mother's things.

"I shouldn't have broken the pen," He whispered, leaning into his mother's touch.

"It wouldn't have made a difference, the darkness would still exist." She stroked a hand through his hair soothingly.

"It didn't exist in Isaac's world." He looked up at her, tearful.

"Isaac's world was full of darkness, it was made of it. There would have been a Dark One there too, we just hadn't met him."

The boy sniffed, burrowing his head into his mothers arms in a way he hadn't since before Emma had come to Storybrooke, before Henry had even started looking for her. For once, they were mother and son again. Regina held back a sigh of content, remembering the awful circumstances that brought them here.

The Enchanted Forest

The sheepdog sniffed the bedding suspiciously. The couple had brought the dog back the the castle, and Snow had decided that they were keeping him for the time being.

Snow stroked him, laughing as she guided him to his bed. The dog took a step forward as if to circle the bed, but fell to the floor limp.

"Oh no, you have to rest that paw or it will hurt, you're not going to be able to walk for a while," Snow tickled his ears in an attempt to coax the pout away.

"He probably did it on purpose," Charming laughed at his wife's affronted expression, "What? He knows his mommy will do anything for him, don't you, boy?"

"Mommy?" Snow asked, tears forming in her eyes.

"Hate to break it to you, Snow, but you're going to be a mommy very soon."

"I know, I know. But it seems so soon now, doesn't it?" The couple shared a smile, the dog's eyes glinting with something akin to human recognition.

Storybrooke

"Killian," Emma sung, head tilted towards him in false innocence. He grunted his response, his eyes sealed shut.

"You're not very good at this guard thing are you?"

He kept his eyes closed, attempting to ignore her. He felt something on his leg. Startled, he scrambled against the wall of the tower, his eyes finally fixing on Emma. Emma who was rubbing circles on his knee, crawling further up until-

He jumped to his feet, one hand carding through his hair as he tried to right himself. When he eventually felt composed, he turned back to Emma.

She smiled.

"Oh Killian," She sighed, "When are you ever going to learn?" Her sweet smile turned dark, "Never turn your back."

She held the glinting dagger in her hand and with a swish of her hand she disappeared from the tower in a cloud of purple smoke, just like the Dark One would do.

Killian swore, pulling out his phone, he was going to have to tell David.

The Enchanted Forest

The sheepdog padded out the castle three days later, heeled and wagging his tail as he headed for the forest. Behind a tree he paused, shaking as though he was wet.

Blue smoke surrounded the dog, leaving a man in his place. He adjusted his robes and checked behind him, before bounding through the forest on two legs.