The Ever After of Captain Swan

Chapter 14

"Where's Hook?" Regina demanded. "He's sleeping, something he hasn't done in days. So unless it's absolutely necessary to wake him up, I'd like to let him rest," Emma responded firmly. "Alright," David said, "We found Gold." Emma didn't like the way they sounded discouraged instead of encouraged by this. "What's bad about that?" Emma asked, raising an eyebrow. "We took him back to the station and locked him up with the magic cuff on and started questioning him, and he said he's not going to give up on capturing Sayloire," David paused to take a deep breath, "He wants her for Zelena's time travel spell. He wants to go back to before he was the Dark One and change everything about his life."

"What about Belle? He loves her, he has a good life with her!" Emma asked. "Well, he said that he loved her, but she deserved better than him. He said Milah, however, did not deserve better, so he was going to go back and make sure she didn't leave him for Hook. That way, Hook never would've lost his hand, never would've needed revenge, met Cora, and then came here. He would never get a happy ending, nor would you, or anyone else really. As harmful as it has been, him being the Dark One has shaped our lives," Regina explained.

"But what's the significance of using Killian's first born child?" Emma asked, still confused, "There are plenty of babies around here these days." "Well, he didn't say about that, but I'm sure it's to erase any possibility of a happy ending for him. So even if the spell doesn't work, he still won't have his child, and Rumple will have succeeded in taking two of his children from him," Mary Margaret said. Emma shook her head in disgust, vowing then and there that she would stop Rumplestilskin from taking away the happy ending of the man she loved.

"So what can we do to stop him?" Emma asked. "Well, we have his body contained in the jail and his magic contained by the cuff, so at the moment he's not a threat. However, the jail and the cuff have had their shortcomings on him in the past, so we should come up with a plan quickly," Regina said. "We need to take away his magic," Henry said suddenly.

"That's a wonderful idea, but how would we go about doing that?" David asked. "I could write it in the book that he just woke up one morning and didn't have magic anymore," Henry offered. "That's sweet of you to offer, but you know you're only supposed to record events, not create them," Mary Margaret told him.

No one had any new ideas for a few minutes, and as they sat thinking in silence, Killian woke up. He entered the room holding Ralley. "Her crying woke me up, so I thought I'd bring her to join in the fun," he said with a smile, handing her off to Regina. "How did the hunt for Rumple go?" Killian asked, getting serious now. "Well, we found him, and we know what he wants, but we don't really know how to stop him," Emma said.

"Well, you could've put him in jail, just as an example," Killian said sarcastically. "We did, and we have his magic temporarily contained, but we all know those things don't work for long on him, so we have to think fast," Regina replied, for once trying to calm the pirate down instead of egging him on. "What does he want?" Killian asked.

"Lots of things, most of them involving you," Henry said. Killian raised an eyebrow, not liking the sound of this, but intrigued nonetheless. "He wants to go back in time, which using Zelena's spell requires a baby, and he wants to make sure Milah never left him in the first place. Somehow in all of this, he's going to ensure that you don't get your happy ending," Emma explained apologetically. "Although, if I were you I might let him do it. It works out better for you to never lose your first love, or your hand," Regina offered jokingly.

"Also I never would've met Emma, or any of you, and Henry never would've been born, because Baelfire would never have run away, and Regina would still be evil, if any of you existed anyway. If he never became the Dark One, he wouldn't have been able to train your mother, Regina, or you, or your sister. Without him, there's no way Cora would've married your father, so you would never have been born. David, when your brother died Rumple was the one that chose you to take his spot as Prince, and without that you never would've met Snow, so there would be no Emma. There goes my happy ending, and everyone else's in this room, so Regina I don't think I will let him do any of that," Killian ranted. He hadn't appreciated Regina's joke.

Emma put a hand on Killian's shoulder. "We're not going to let him do any of that. We have him locked up for now, and we're looking for a way to take his magic away, but if you think the only way to stop him is killing him, you deserve to do that," she told him, "But I think we can find another way."

"When you take the magic out of someone that old, there's not much man left. We saw that in New York," Robin explained. "True, but is his death really the worst outcome of this situation?" David asked. "David!" Mary Margaret scolded, "We have to think about what's best for everyone, including Belle, which is not the death of her husband." "Agreed, but we do need to figure out something to do with him," Regina pointed out.

"Is there some way we could fight him with our powers and it be sort of a...winner take all type deal?" Emma asked Regina. Regina considered this. "There are a few potions that if two willing parties were to drink before a duel, the powers of the one that lost would instantly be transferred into the one that won," she told Emma. The mood of the room lifted slightly before Killian interjected. "It's far too dangerous for you to go up against the bloody Dark One," he told Emma.

"You've been the Dark One, you understand that there are limits to the power. I know those limits and can use them against him," Emma argued. "Love, I hate to be the pessimist in the situation, but the chances of you beating this man who's dealt with this power for hundreds of years are not that great," Killian attempted to reason with her. Regina could tell this tactic wasn't working, so she went in from another angle.

"Emma, you and Guyliner share a heart, so as much as I hate to protect him I have to warn you that if you and Gold fight and you lose, which will more than likely result in your death, Hook would die too," she said. Emma considered this deeply, but then she shook her head.

"I have to try. Besides, we don't know that he would kill me just because I lost the fight," Emma said. Everyone raised their eyebrows in disbelief, knowing full well that that is probably exactly what he would do. "I've mostly gotten my magic under control and I think I'm powerful enough to win, but Regina, I need you to train me a little so I know how to focus it when I need to." Regina nodded. "We can start tomorrow," she said. "Good," Emma responded.

Killian was desperately trying to convince Emma not to do this. "How do you know you could even get the Crocodile to drink this potion?" "His arrogance will make him believe that he can win, but most of the time he overestimates his powers," Regina said. "I say we train for two days and then I fight him," Emma said, "Because I'm ready to get back to my happily ever after."