Hello again!

Man, I really am making a habit of these late updates. I'm sorry, but band sort of took up my time for a while. But I'm back, with a new chapter for you, so enjoy!

(I don't own ONCE, blah blah blah)

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It had been too many hours since Emma had given up on any hope of sleep, prowling back and forth in front of the apartment's largest window. Her eyelids stuck to the dry sheen on her eyes, buzzing with the effort to keep them open, gazing at the darkened street before her. Anytime they closed, a new image of Killian flashed before them- narrowing his blue-gold eyes as his lips twisted into a snarl, a blazing aura of anger leeching into his magic as Emma resisted him. It wasn't that that the images scared her so much as they disturbed her. She was used to seeing Killian's face clear, marred only with curiosity, concern, and determination. And now he was the Dark One, except worse, so much worse, because that power had awoken something in him, something ancient and terrible.

The power of Davy Jones- his father.

Emma pressed her lips together and again relived the feeling that had taken root in her chest when she'd learned of Killian's lineage- it kept her heart pumping, and she needed the adrenaline to keep her eyes wide. It was all too easy to place herself back in Gold's shop, Belle's hands fluttering as she pulled the book back to her chest…without realizing it, Emma's eyes drifted shut in time with the memory…

"Killian's his son," Emma said, her throat closing against the urge to cry. Her gaze became fixed on the scuffed floors beneath her feet, her fingers strangely still.

"What does this mean?" Regina said, her voice scratching against the low tone it dipped into. "Is he some sort of god now?"

A laugh bubbled up from Emma's throat and spilled through her lips; it was hoarse and ugly, but a better alternative to the tears. Killian had always had an ego fit for the gods.

Belle cast a worried glance Emma's way before answering Regina. "I don't think so. If the power had never made itself known before, he must have had a human mother. He's more of…a demigod?"

Another laugh fluttered out of Emma, this time unnoticed by either woman. She wasn't quite sure why she was laughing anymore, only that it was ridiculous for Killian of all people to possess a secret gift of manipulation. She had always been the powerful one, the one with the most to risk and lose. She had always been the one to saddle up for a fight and know she had the capability to win, while he had trailed along at his own risk and Emma's displeasure. She had always been the one who didn't need saving…and now neither did he.

"But what does he want, Regina?" Belle said, her voice pitching upwards. She clenched the table she stood at, taking a breath that reached her knees. "He must have come here for something."

"All I know is that he seems awfully interested in our Savior here, so no change there."

"So he brought nothing over at all? No possessions, nothing he picked up while he was here?" Belle tilted her head, her tone disbelieving.

Emma's head snapped up, hurtling through memories. An unnatural haze of anger rolling off her skin, Killian's pleased expression as she screamed at him- his arms raising something as she prepared to strike, something white and eerie…

"He had a sail. Pan's sail," she said, her voice steady and her eyes dry. "He tried to manipulate me so I would throw magic his way, and when I almost did, he held it up in front of him, like…"

"A shield," Belle breathed, her fingers tapping nonstop now, eyes darting back and forth as she chewed on her tongue. Emma could see exactly when she came to a conclusion; her jaw stopped ticking as her eyes widened fractionally.

"Emma, you used that sail to capture Pan's shadow to escape through realms…I think that in addition to the shadow, you snared the shadow's magic, which is how you escaped."

"Son of a bitch," Emma said, realizing what Belle's words meant.

"Excuse me, I seemed to have missed the train of thought. Anyone care to fill me in?" Regina said, folding her arms against her chest.

Emma spun on her heel, already headed out. "Killian wants to leave Storybrooke, and there aren't any more magic beans," she paused with one foot out the door. "So he's stealing my power to do the job for them."

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Emma awoke to the sensation of blood on her tongue, the memory fading back into her mind. The room was still dark; she couldn't have been asleep for more than an hour. Peeling her cheek from the window, she resumed her silent vigil at the glass, staring at nothing and everything.

A figure emerged from between two buildings, dark hair tumbling in the wind, the curves of a woman unmistakable even underneath her heavy black coat. She looked upwards, her eyes sweeping over the window Emma sat at.

"Regina?" Emma breathed, barely containing a groan. She was not in the mood to be ridiculed by the mayor for being in love with someone who was trying to kill her.

Suddenly, though, there was a blackness that crawled from the center of the street and sprawled outwards, racing towards Regina. The mayor held strong, stumbling back only once before throwing a large barrier up to counter the surge of opposing magic- but then it was gone, and there was only a dark figure standing before Regina, his stance nonchalant and deadly.

Killian.

From a distance, she could now see the intricacies of Killian's persuasion magic- his eyes seared red as his fingers twitched, Regina's eyes echoing the color. Emma could see the artificial anger filling her to the brim- just as Emma's had, her magic frothed red around her, burning into the darkness. Her eyes faded from their intense shade, but a curious sheen held over them as she squared her shoulders. Killian cocked his head and spat in the Queen's direction, who started forward to him, chest swelling. Emma froze, incapable of moving for fear- fear for both of them- as Killian again produced Pan's sail from his coat and held against Regina's coming spell. In a blind panic, without even thinking, Emma clenched her hands together and screwed her eyes shut , a light burning through her body.

When she opened her eyes, she stood between Killian and Regina, who was screaming profanities and had already shaped a ball of white-hot fire in her hands. The air whipped around them, howling almost as loudly as Regina, and Killian let out an outraged roar, beginning to rush towards the two women.

Pulling her magic inward, she swathed herself and Regina in magic as she might a blanket- it settled over them like a heavier sort of air, arching above and below them and glowing an icy color as Killian ran headfirst into it. He roared, and Emma was unpleasantly reminded of what he had done to Granny's last time he'd been displeased. Her barrier wavered in that short second of fear, and then again as Killian rained down the whole of his power against it. Beneath them, the ground buzzed at the display of raw power.

"EMMA!" Regina screamed, running to beat against the barrier with her fists exactly where Killian stood at the other side. There was a blurred flash of red from Killian's side, and Regina's screams tumbled into a new pitch, the tips of her hair literally blazing with fire. "LET-ME-OUT!"

"Regina!" Emma yelled over the ruckus both Regina and Killian's magic were causing. She could feel her magic shrinking against the weight of Killian's- they didn't have much time- and she snaked an arm out to yank Regina away from the cracking barrier. Her skin burned into Emma's, leaving blistering pink patches on her skin, but Emma grit her teeth and held on.

"Regina!" she said again, shaking her as the heat began to become unbearable. "Stop this! It isn't real! Think of Henry, think of something you love, and hold on to it. If you attack him, you'll end up powerless."

As the air cracked around them, the protective magic slipping away fiber by fiber, Emma closed her eyes and latched onto Regina through the pain, pushing the feeble remains of her magic around her specifically, more thorough than her first had been, cutting her off from Killian's hold. Achingly slow, Regina's eyes faded from a molten glow to their natural brown, her breath hitching and temperature rapidly cooling.

Regina's barrier fell just as Emma's larger one did, and the mayor crumpled to the ground, heaving huge breaths as she pressed her steaming skin into the cool ground, whimpering.

An unseen force ripped Emma from the ground, spinning her through the air and whipping her against the hard edge of a brick wall. She crumpled faster than Regina had, her world tumbling, and failed to push up on her trembling knees. Warmth trickled from the crown of Emma's head and into her eyelashes, dying them red and sticky. She struggled to lift them as Killian stalked over to her.

"Damn you!" he yelled, his voice cutting through her eardrums. She had just managed to blink her eyes open through the blood when he sliced his hand to the side, and again Emma was ripped into the air, her knees and elbows skidding raw against the ground as she landed. Every single part of her throbbed with her heartbeat.

"You don't even know what you're meddling with, Swan. He needs to pay!" he said, turning to walk away.

Emma let out a faint cough and rolled onto her hands as Killian advanced on Regina. "Your father?" she said, the sound frail and broken. "He needs to pay?"

Killian froze midstride, his back tightening into a perfect line. Emma thought she heard a small noise of surprise escape as he stood there, but it was whisked away with the wind, still whipping between them. He turned on his outstretched heel and faced her, eyes wide and teeth clenched. "What did you say?"

"I asked why your father needs to pay." Emma had, by now pushed herself to her knees and swiped at the blood trickling down her forehead. She could see every labored breath Killian took, every tremble of his teeth, and it gave her a strange sense of security. He could be taken by surprise- his pride had allowed him to think that no one could ever guess why he was here. She took note of the fatal flaw as she stood, however shaky.

"How do you-" Killian began, but thought better of it, taking another step forward.

"You're going to kill him, aren't you?" Emma realized as his jaw ticked impossibly fast, his surprise fading. "Why, Killian. Why now?"

"I didn't know before," he said, his voice thinner than she'd ever heard it since he'd changed. "I never knew he was more than a coward- but then they told me." His eyes had clouded over, listening to nothing as he bit his tongue. "They told me everything."

Emma dipped her voice as soft as she could go. "Who told you, Killian?"

He chose this moment to snap his head upwards and lock eyes with her, his pulse throbbing painfully in his neck. "The voices," he said, sounding like a small child as he let out a slight giggle.

"You're insane," Emma said before she could stop herself, Killian's eyes clearing as he stared directly at her. She closed her eyes and cursed, but it was too late; the bout of calm was broken. Killian flared back into his anger with ease, his chest rising with hatred and his eyes burning into her.

"I'm crazy?" said Killian as he twisted his hand. "I'm crazy for wanting to kill my father? He abandoned me, not even because he couldn't provide. He was a GOD!"

"Stop," Emma said as she saw his magic funneling down to surround him. "Stop!"

"I will kill him!" he said, each word punctuated with a blow of vicious magic that she barely blocked with a painful thrash of her own. "I will avenge myself, and my mother, and Liam!"

"This has nothing to do with revenge!" Emma screamed at the top of her lungs, shaking from his last bout of power. He paused with his hand in the air, his pulse still skyrocketing. "You want more power and that's it. Go try and find someone else to convince!"

She braced herself for another slam against a brick wall as his stance turned deadly again, but his hand simply trembled as he lowered it. He stalked forward to her, nose to nose, and whisked his thumb over the wound in her head.

"Don't forget, Swan," he said, lowering his eyes to meet hers. "You're mine. The only reason you're still alive is because I choose it. It would do well for you to remember your place."

His words and tone were threatening, but at such close proximity, the gold in his eyes faded, and Emma swallowed against emotion. Too long he stood there; too long to be proving a point, too long to be trying to scare her. He did not seem in control of himself in the moment, his expression softening and hardening at random intervals as his gaze flicked all over her face.

"Killian?" Emma tried, her voice low. His eyes turned to her lips, and her breath hitched with a strange mixture of lust, hope, and fear.

Roughly, Killian shoved her away, clenching his hand against his head and pulling his eyebrows together. "I'd suggest you stay out of my way, Swan," he spat, but even that seemed half-hearted, confused. He spun, walking into a small alleyway, and disappeared with a flash of magic darker than the night around them.

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Hope you loved it! Only three more chapters to go!

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