Smoke

Chapter 14 Join

"Alright everyone inside..." Regina shuffles them in as the crowd leaves. "So what happened? Are you alright?" Killian worries looking at Alice closely. "I'm fine Papa," Alice insists, gently taking his hand. 

"So, we have daughter of Robin Hood, whom you killed, in order to bring back the father of this Neal, to torment him, and we don't really know where he is right now, and I'm starving carrying the dark one's baby," Regina rambles. 

"And Rumple poisoned your daughter Alice with a needle into a sleeping curse, and apparently I love her enough to break the entire curse," Regina sighs. 

"That's a lot of information to get in thirty seconds," Neal sighs. 

"Well I need to figure out how to bring back my magic, and then we at least have defense," Killian said. "It's dark magic," Neal states. 

"Just because your father chose darkness over you, doesn't mean I will over my family," Killian said looking around the room.

"Oh we're family huh?" Robin scoffed. "Uhhh, I suppose you wish to say something given the past?" Killian welcomes. 

"Really?" Robin quirks. 

"Well, you killed my father, to bring back Rumple, why?" Robin asks. "I needed someone noble," Killian states. 

"Your father was a noble man, so I killed him to bring back an enemy that I wanted to destroy," Killian explained. "And you're going to destroy him now?" Neal presses.

"Oh boy, this is a tense situation now," Killian sighs. "Papa.." Alice huffs. "Even more," Killian raises his brow and looks at Regina. 

"What?" Regina mumbles eating out of a cereal box. "I couldn't wait for you to figure this out, the baby is hungry," Regina sighed. 

"I'm going to get grey hair by the time that baby comes," Killian sighs. 

"Why do you need to bring magic back at all?" Alice asks. "Because love, it's going to help us accomplish something that I can't without it," He said. 

"What?" Neal asks. 

"Get rid of the darkness once and for all," Killian said. 

"How?" Neal wonders. "Well, apparently there was this being called the guardian, it can control the darkness, because they're all light, the purest," Killian said.

"They would be immortal, but not dark," He explained. "And you would just go back to being Captain Hook?" Alice asks. 

"Well, I can keep my hand if I want," Killian said. "Which would come in handy for diapers," Regina interrupts. "Sorry," she sits down. 

"How do we know how to find them?" Neal asks. "The dagger would tell us, but I need magic to get that to work," Killian said. 

"And frankly if the town is after Regina, I would prefer my magic to protect her," Killian said. "I can protect myself, I have magic too," Regina defends. 

"So what do we do to bring it back?" Alice asks. "Well, Regina and I can make a potion, and I can put it into the wishing well at the edge of town," Killian said. 

"Where are these potions? Rumple probably messed things up when he was trying to hurt Alice," Regina said. 

"I'll go find him, he's my Papa after all," Neal sighed. "You think  you know where to find him?" Killian asks. 

"Well, let me ask you this, is Belle here?" Neal asks. "Belle? The bookworm?" Regina snorts. "Yeah, Papa met her in the Enchanted forest, he seemed sweet on her," Neal said. 

"She's here," Killian nodded. "Good, that's where he'll be," Neal shifts and heads out. "What are you going to do?" Alice asks. 

"Just say Hi Papa, you know that gets them," Neal smirked. 

"Now, Robin... I hope you don't view what I did as against Alice, she did nothing," Killian said. "I don't, my father taught me to be noble too, and I don't know what lengths he would have gone to find me if I was ever lost," Robin said. 

Alice smiles gently at her, "just don't expect me to call you Dad quickly if this keeps going well," Robin smiles and takes Alice's hand. 

Killian nods and paces towards Regina. 

"So, you want to go make this potion with me?" He asks. 

"I suppose, can I choke you a bit when we get magic back?" Regina asks. "Only in the way I like," he winked.

At the corner of town 

Regina and Killian work to make a potion, a love potion, and they head to the edge where the wishing well sits. 

"Maybe you should drink some first," Killian draws his dagger from his coat. "The love potion?" Regina asks. 

"Yeah, maybe it will work on you," He grins. "I don't need it," She rolls her eyes. "What do you mean?" he asks.

"You don't need a love potion, when you already love someone," She smirked and poured the silky liquid to the dark well.

Killian holds the dagger over the well and suddenly a purple smoke lifts out of the dark hole. It overcasts the entire town before them. 

"Ah, there we are, I feel it," he breathes deeply. "Ah!" he gasps, and grabs his throat. "Sorry, just checking," Regina releases her magical grip. 

"Funny," He scoffs. 

"Well? Shall we go look at our town?" He smirks. "I guess," she puts her hand in his. 

The pair walk towards Granny's where things are bustling, and bright, they ring through the doorway. 

Silence ensues, and the group stares at them. 

"I've returned Magic, that's the smoke you saw," Killian said. 

"Ahh! WHAT is that buzzing!?" Alice gasps. 

"What? What's wrong?" Robin gently touches her arm. Alice puts her hands over her ears, "You don't hear that?" Alice gasps.

"Alice?" Killian comes to her side, "Oh it's louder, what on earth?" Alice stresses. 

"The dagger," Rumple states. 

"What?" Killian scoffs. "She's the one," Rumple said. "The one what?" Regina asks. "She's the guardian, that's it," Rumple said. 

"You're kidding me?" Killian scoffs. "Alice did you hear this when you were young near the dagger?" Rumple asks. "Yes, but... not like this," Alice sighed.

"Wait what's going on?" Snow asks. "The guardian is the only one who control the darkness, the dark one can hand over the dagger and the guardian can control it all, saving the dark one from the tether," Killian said.

"But at what price?" Alice asks. "You become immortal, light magic, but, tied to earth eternally," Killian said. 

"But it will free you from the darkness?" Alice asks. "Yes," Killian nods. 

"How do we do it?" Alice asks. "What? You're going to do this?" Robin asks. 

"He's my Papa, I don't want him to be a father again as the dark one, when it's taken away enough people's fathers from them," Alice looks towards Neal. 

"No, I won't let you," Killian denies. "Why?" Alice huffs. 

"Because I'm not burdening you with this," Killian says. 

"I'll find another way," He says, insistently, leaving. 

"Well at least we have babies on the way," Snow smiles to Regina. "That is what you're focused on? Is that CAKE?" Regina glares. "Yeah," Snow nods.

Regina takes the plate, "Well, there's that."