"Killian! We need to leave now! Before the Dark One returns! Killian!" he felt Milah shaking his arm trying to get his attention and eventually he did snap out of his trance. He was stunned that Emma disappeared with the Dark One in tow. Did she not know the danger he presented? Fear of not knowing what was happening between her and the Dark One struck his heart.

"What about your son?" Killian turned to her. "What about Bae?"

Milah shook her head. "We can't find him now. We need to leave before he finishes the job and kills us!"

Milah was still clutching her chest with one hand where the Dark One had his hand.

Killian put his hand overs hers.

"He almost tried to.." he swallowed his answer. He didn't even want to think of what could have happened. "Are you hurt?"

"I'll be fine."

He watched her cringe as she still felt the dull ache through her chest just as he did. Almost having your heart ripped out hurt like hell. When the Dark One's hand had been in his chest, it was like shards of ice were piercing his heart. He shivered at the memory of it and the memory of watching Rumpelstiltskin's hand enter Milah's chest.

Rumpelstiltskin would have killed her. He knew that deep in his gut and his stomach had been roiling since he watched helplessly as the Dark One invaded Milah's body.

The feeling of helplessness was a familiar one when as a young boy his father sold him and his brother into servitude in exchange for a row boat to get away from the authorities who were after him. They were enslaved to a cantankerous sea Captain that had a belligerent, short temper who would punish them for the slightest infraction. Once Killian had accidently broken the bottle of the Captain's wine and he was about to be punished. He was supposed to get ten lashes with the cat o' nines but Liam stepped in knowing his younger brother was too small to take the whipping and confessed to the crime. Killian fought and screamed against a sailor that was holding him back by the arms as his brother was bound to the mast, his shirt torn at the back and he had to count the strokes. As each lash flayed the skin off Liam's back, Killian felt each excruciating wound Liam took deep in his gut and his mind. He cursed the day his fugitive father sold them to this hellish existence. It was this same anger that stroked the fire in his mind, the rage in his heart wanted to shatter its bonds and unleash the beast, to kill the Dark One for daring to make him feel helpless while another person he cared for suffered in front of him.

But Emma…

She was with the true Beast. He was torn with wanting to go after Emma but he didn't know where she went and had no way of tracking her. The only reason he could think of to stay in town was to go after Bae.

"You can't leave your son with that demon, Milah!" Killian reasoned.

"We asked so many people in town and they didn't know where he was. For all we know he could be…" Milah didn't want to say the word "dead." Would Rumpelstiltskin kill his own son? The Dark One just might.

"Fine. We'll set sail." Killian decided. He wasn't suicidal that he would keep his ship at dock. He needed to go before the Dark One found his way back and kill him, Milah and his crew.

"Make ready to cast off!"

"Aye, Cap'n!" his crew waited for hopefully was their cue to exit this place. They all scrambled to their stations to start casting off. Killian was at the helm steering the boat from the dock while Milah was doing her part while having a perplexed, sullen look on her face.

Killian decided to sail close to land until he found what he was looking for. A big cove that was enough to conceal them from ships that happen to sail by but wide enough they could escape if another ship tried to enter the cove and attack them. Once he dropped anchor, he started walking towards his cabin and signaled for Milah to follow him.

Once he arrived there, he waited for her to walk in the cabin they shared. As soon as she walked through the door, she threw her arms around him.

He put his arms around her relieved to feel her warm body against him.

"I was so scared," Milah said with a shaky breath. "I thought we were done for."

Killian grinned. "Aye, it would be a shame to put an end to a devilishly, handsome rogue like me."

She laughed and playfully swatted his chest.

"Aye, it would be," Milah agreed. "What do we do now?"

Killian paused to think for a moment. Emma saved their lives and was currently putting her own life in peril. He was desperate to know what was going on between Swan and Rumpelstiltskin. The sinking feeling in his stomach was still there despite the distance he put between the dock and his ship.

"The Dark One would expect us to be far from here," Killian mulled a plan over in his head. "We can go ashore and find Bae. He would never expect us to do that."

Milah's eyes grew wide as she looked at her lover.

"Are you insane? He's the Dark One! We barely escaped this time, we won't be so lucky next time!" Milah was shocked that he would propose this.

"Give it one day and if we don't find him, we'll leave," Killian argued trying to use reason.

Milah couldn't believe what he was saying. She stepped away from him to try to clear her head and get a better view of him to judge what his real motivation was. She thought she knew this man.

"Are you proposing this because you want to secure Bae's safety?" Milah asked.

"Of course," Killian answered looking at her expectantly.

"Or do you want make sure your Golden Swan is safe?" Milah screwed her eyes at him.

Killian looked at her sternly and said, "She has magic, she can take care of herself."

Milah looked at him with a bit of uncertainty and suspect.

Killian went on to convince her, "I know you'll always regret leaving without knowing what happened to Bae. Maybe not now, but eventually you'll always wonder what became of your boy."

Milah knew he was right. It would eat her alive if she just fled and she didn't at least try. She would have hated herself for being as much of a coward as her estranged, newly Darked husband.

"You're right. Of course, you're right. We'll go back to find Bae," Milah said with some misgivings.

Meanwhile…

Emma circled the new Dark One to take his measure while he was throwing daggers at her with his beady, reptilian eyes. She had transported them in the middle of the woods, far away from the docks. It would give Captain Jones and his crew time to set sail and escape.

"That was quite an ex-lover's spat. So did the pirate steal away your girlfriend and now you're mad?" Emma taunted him.

"Actually, she's my wife," Rumpelstiltskin snickered back. His anger was barely visible, just under the surface, but it was there.

Emma raised her eyebrows. That pirate captain got himself into a whole heap of trouble there. Stealing away another man's wife and the man happened to be the Dark One to boot, boy, he was tempting the fates.

"And she left her son, Bae, your son," Emma said putting the pieces together. She had a thought. "So where is Bae, your son?"

With that, Rumpelstiltskin growled, "That's not of your concern."

So she guessed right. She looked down at the magic bean in her hand wondering why he needed it. Why would he go to another land when he had all the power at his disposal here, unless he lost something.

"Is that why you need this?" she opened her hand and showed him the bean.

"You kept me from my revenge. You're going to pay for that," Rumpelstiltskin said with his rage barely contained, ready to bubble to the surface.

Emma's eyes flashed. She had been calm up until now, despite being in the Dark One's presence.

She slowly walked up to him until they were eye to eye.

"And you think you have nothing to pay for, Dark One?" Emma said in a deadly whisper. "You think you're the only one that wants revenge? You're the one that's going to pay."

Rumpelstiltskin started to look at her with new eyes.

"You were the victim of a past Dark One, I see," Rumpelstiltskin grinned slightly. He needed to find out who she was and how she had magic. She was a worthy opponent, his first test as a Dark One.

"One day I'm going to find a way to end you forever," Emma said with her fury barely controlled.

"Only if you can live long enough," he taunted her.

"First, you'll never get your hands on this bean," Emma showed him and put it in her satchel. "Now I'm going to take you some place you won't like."

Emma whisked them both away to a place that she knew from her past. She just needed to make sure it was still there before she entered. She saw the towering bushes as tall as trees in front of her and she knew that it was the perfect place to leave him. It was a labyrinth that was constructed way before Emma was born. Emma had a feeling it would still be there as enchanted as it was. Once you entered the labyrinth your magic leaves you and you need to make it out by your own wits. It was where a Minotaur was trapped and if you crossed its path you would be lucky to come out of it alive.

Emma transported them somewhere in the middle of the maze.

Rumpelstiltskin found himself unfrozen from the squid ink and acted quickly. He was about to hurtle a fireball at Emma when he realized he couldn't form one. He tried and tried.

Emma looked at him rather amused at his attempt to try to form one.

"What is this? What have you done?" he demanded with a rising hysteria in his voice when he couldn't work his magic.

Emma laughed, "You're magic is gone."

She wondered if she could kill him now and swiftly unsheathed her dagger, stabbing him with it. When she slid the dagger out of his gut, she saw no blood. His wound was open but he was still upright, albeit staggering backward leaning against the thick bush walls with a look of shock on his face. He started sniveling, about to turn into a weepy mess.

"Damn!" she was extremely disappointed that he was still alive and looking shocked that she stabbed him. "You're still alive. Well, no matter, I'll find another way."

She thought this could work, that she would kill the Dark One once and for all without becoming another Dark One. His magic was gone. What else could protect him?

She quickly punched him in the face and he fell down. She turned and ran through the maze which she knew like the back of her hand having been through there many times before as a girl. She heard the snorting of the Minotaur nearby and she ran away from the sound. She had been hoping the Minotaur would find the Dark One and torture him so she had more time to get away.

The screams of terror from the Dark One filled her ears and she smiled at the sound.

Rumpelstiltskin was completely horrified at his predicament. He had no magic, no power. He was as helpless as the man he once was. He had not been a Dark One long enough to learn about the labyrinth or any of the magical places of this world. If he ever got out of this, he swore she would make whoever that blonde witch was pay for her transgressions against him. Then he would seek the knowledge of all the magical objects and places in his world. He never wanted to be this weak again.

A few hours later, Emma finally found her way out of the maze and felt her magic return to her. She made sure that the Dark One wasn't following her out of the labyrinth and from his screams started getting very far away so she figured he had a few more hours in there. She teleported to the edge of town and walked toward the book shop. She checked to make sure she still had the magic bean and it was still sitting in her satchel.

As she walked down the flight of steps into the secret magic hideout, she heard muted voices chatting. Stealing herself for an unknown reception, she walked into the room as casually as she could.

"Hello," Emma greeted the two men who were sitting in the room.

One of the men who was leaning back in his chair with his feet resting on the table having a cup of something hot, now planted his feet on the floor and sat forward in alertness. He had a rugged and rough look with his overgrown dirty blonde hair and beard. Despite being rather handsome in a dangerous way, he had the look of a man that has lived a bumpy and uneasy life. He was about in his late thirties, maybe even early forties. The other man who was reading a book when Emma came in, reacted more carefully and was wide-eyed with wonder looking at her. He was younger of the two in his twenties and seemed more refined and gentler looking with his light brown hair and blue eyes.

"You must be Emma," the younger man supposed.

"That's right," Emma answered, proceeding to enter further into the room.

"Well, well, well.. if it isn't the golden statue come back to life," the older rough man said. "Rufus told me your story but hell if I believed him. And here you are."

Emma felt a bit uncomfortable by his predatory stare as if he was trying to see through you and he was coming closer. She stood her ground.

"Yes, here I am."

"How do we know you weren't lying to Rufus?" the man said in a challenging tone.

"She's not," another man wearing glasses called out coming from the bookcases. The older man turned to question him.

"The illustration in this book looks just like her," the man with glasses held out a book to the man confronting Emma and he looked at the picture. He compared the picture to Emma and saw it was the same woman.

"I guess Rufus was telling the truth," the older rough man said with a smile that showed his dimples. "Welcome back to the land of the living."

"Thanks for the warm welcome," Emma said in a sarcastic tone.

The man with glasses who found the book of illustrations held out his hand to shake hers, "It's nice to meet you, Miss Swan. I've followed your story ever since I was a young boy."

As he was shaking hands with her, he couldn't help but be fascinated that he was talking to a legend and one of his favorite bedtime stories as a child. A bright smile couldn't help but blossom across his face.

He suddenly remembered himself and let go of her hand that he had been shaking for a longer time than necessary, "Oh, I'm forgetting my manners. My name is Oliver William Endicott, the third. Ollie for short. I do a lot of the research around here."

"Nice to meet you, Ollie," Emma answered.

"And this rather dodgy, distrusting fellow is Bane Hunter," Ollie held out his hand to the dangerous looking man. "He is more of the muscle."

Bane licked his lips and with a sly smile he said, "Welcome back to the land of the living, Miss Swan."

"It's nice of you to make me feel so welcome," Emma with a sickly sweet smile that could be termed as satirical.

The other man got up from his chair to greet her.

"And this is Stephen White," Ollie announced.

"You're just as lovely in real life," Stephen said. "Here, pull up a seat and tell us of your adventure since awakening."

He held out his hand to a comfortable, cushioned chair by the fireplace. He offered her some food and refreshment which she was wary of putting in her mouth since she didn't know them very well.

"Where's Rufus?" Emma inquired.

"I'm right here," Rufus declared as he just came from outside, taking off his jacket and hat leaving them on the hook on the wall. "I see you've met the band of misfits."

Rufus asked after their latest adventure. They had just come back from a trip to a kingdom nearby to take care of some midget troll infestation in some of the residential homes. After settling themselves on the couch, they all looked expectantly at her, waiting for her to tell her story of where she was the last few hours.

Emma took a deep breath and told them about the Captain who woke her with a kiss and the Dark One.

Stephen was mesmerized by the tale of the labyrinth.

"I've always wanted to see it," Stephen said with a faraway look as if he were picturing what the labyrinth looked like.

Ollie looked quite alarmed.

"You faced the Dark One and lived? Amazing," Ollie stared at her in awe.

Then Bane added, "Hope you broke his nose."

"Which comes to this," Emma held out the magic bean. "He wants to travel to another realm, possibly to get his boy. Anyone know if my guess is right?"

"Bae, the Dark One's son, did disappear after his father turned into that evil creature and it was rumored that Bae wanted his father to be free of the Dark One's curse so he was overheard talking about traveling to a Land without Magic, but no one knows for sure," Ollie surmised.

"Would it be so bad to send him there?" Emma asked. She had been turning the idea over in her head regarding whether or not she should give him the magic bean and be rid of him, but this was the Dark One. Nothing was ever as simple as that.

"We don't know if he is planning to leave our world for another or doing something worse," Rufus concluded. "It's best if we keep the bean away. I say we keep it in the vault."

Everyone seemed to agree including Emma, so she went to the vault to put the magic bean in a box and chanted several protection spells around it. A plan was discussed with the group to monitor the Dark One and do research into other ways of getting to the Land without Magic.

Emma felt a familiar nostalgia. It may have been a thousand years since she had convened with her friends and family to stop the newest threat to them and the kingdom, but to her it was only a short time ago. The late night discussions & brain storming, drinking hot chocolate with cinnamon, noses buried in a book trying to look for a clue as to what the current villain was up to. It left her with a feeling of melancholy. She would never share those same moments with people she loved again.

Tamping down those feelings threatening to drown her in sorrow, she glanced through the pages of a book looking for spells that would take someone to a Land without Magic trying to find a way to get her mind away from the past.

An hour passed when Bane announced he was going to the pub for a drink. Emma offered to go with him. She figured she needed to get to know this current group of characters. Bane seemed like the one with the most interesting past. Stephen wanted to come along needing a break from the books and the thought of swallowing down some ale was appealing to him. Ollie and Rufus decided to stay since they were engrossed in their current reading material.

It was dark when they all walked to the nearest pub that they frequented when Emma felt a pair of eyes on her. She stared at the beggar covered in tattered robes that was crouched in the street. She kept an eye on the beggar when he got up and started following them. Emma entered the pub and sat down at a table to order ale and a hot beef stew and spent some time chatting with the men. The beggar did not enter the establishment. It was over an hour when they left.

Emma told the men to go on ahead while she took a short walk to clear her head. The men were hesitant to leave her on her own but she reminded them that a person who can face a Dark One could take care of themselves so they left her.

She made her way through the streets still mindful of the beggar that was following her. She ducked into an alleyway to confront the beggar following her. When he came close enough, she came out of the shadows and pushed him against the wall.

"Who are you and why are you following me?" she said as she twisted his arm behind him pushing him against the wall.

"Always a pleasure, my Golden Swan," the beggar said in a familiar, lilting voice.

She turned him around to pull the hood off his head. The strikingly handsome face of Captain Jones appeared before her. His smoldering gaze made her heart skip a beat in the same way that her past true love always did.