Here's another Swan Queen fic for you lovely readers. :)
Title: Words I Couldn't Say
Fandom: Once Upon a Time
Pairing: Emma x Regina (sort of)
Rating: E for EVERYONE :)
Summary: Emma nods, and then Regina's standing right in front of her, looking a bit fragile and heartbroken still. Emma resists the urge to wrap her arms around the other woman. Stuffs her hands into her jacket pockets instead.
A/N: So, I was supposed to be continuing one of my other fics, but I ran out of ideas for that and then this hit me and wouldn't let go. It's probably crap. I apologize in advance if it is.
~~~
It's nearly 3 in the morning when Emma is awakened by the sound of her phone buzzing incessantly on her nightstand. With a groan, she rolls onto her side and reaches over blindly, fumbling around the table for a bit before her hand finally lands on the offending piece of technology. She bring the phone up and presses the button to answer the call, without even chancing a glance at the screen to see who's crazy enough to be calling her at this time of the morning.
"Hello?" she answers, voice gruff with sleep, and is completely taken off-guard by the sound of Regina Mills' frantic voice coming over the line. Her words sound like gibberish, she's speaking so fast, and Emma's too sleep-addled to make out anything she says. "Whoa, Regina. Slow down," she tells the other woman as she sits up and scrubs a hand over her face.
She hears Regina pull in a long breath, then exhale shakily, before speaking again. "It's Henry. Something is wrong. I went upstairs to check in on him and he wasn't in his bed. He's not with you, is he? No, that's ridiculous, he can't be. I don't know where he could have gone. You have to help me find him."
In two seconds flat, Emma is out of bed and on her feet. Her phone lies discarded on the bed as she rummages around to find her clothes. She quickly pulls on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt, and slips on a well-worn pair of sneakers. When she's done, she picks up the phone again.
"Regina?" she asks, a little breathless, and is relieved to hear the other woman's voice on the other end. "I'm coming, okay? Just... give me five minutes."
Without another words, she ends the call, grabs her keys from the nightstand and heads out the door.
+++
By the time Emma makes it to the Mayor's house, the other woman is in a complete frenzy. Emma doesn't even have time to ring the doorbell before the door flies open and a very tired-looking Regina greets her with tearful eyes and trembling hands. Regina is speaking too fast again, her words flying at Emma way too quickly for her to even remotely comprehend. Against her better judgement, she steps forward and places her hands on Regina's shoulders, successfully quieting her down.
"You need to stay calm, okay? Tell me what happened," the blonde says, and the look Regina gives her is absolutely pitiful.
"I don't know," Regina says softly. "I checked in on him at around 10:30, and then I went upstairs to take a bath. I came back down to the office for a bit, to take care of some paperwork, and when I went to check in on him before bed, he was just... he was gone. I don't know why he keeps doing this to me. I just--"
"Hey," Emma says, giving Regina's shoulders a little squeeze. "It's gonna be okay. We'll find him, okay?" Regina nods slowly. "Have you checked his castle yet?"
"His castle?" Regina asks, sounding puzzled, and then it hits her. "Oh. Oh, no. I didn't even--I was so panicked, I didn't even think about it," she says, shaking her head.
Emma gives her a reassuring smile. "That's probably where he is, then. Maybe he just... I dunno, needed to clear his head or something. Maybe he had a bad dream."
Regina nods slowly.
"I'll go check to see if he's there. Come on," Emma says, one hand sliding down to gently wrap around Regina's wrist. "Come on," she repeats, and Regina numbly follows her to the car.
+++
When they arrive at the castle, Henry is sitting up top, bundled up in his sweatshirt, storybook open in his lap. Emma gets out of the car and approaches him slowly.
"Hey, kid," Emma says as she hoists herself up to sit next to Henry.
"Hi," Henry says simply, eyes never leaving the book.
"Henry," Emma says, her tone bordering on stern. "What are you doing out here at this time of the morning? Your mom called me, she's worried sick about you."
At that, Henry glances up. "She is?" he asks.
"Yes!" Emma says. "You can't keep doing this to her. Sneaking out late at night, coming here. It's not safe for you to be out here alone. You're a smart kid, I shouldn't have to tell you this."
"I'm sorry," Henry says. "But I couldn't sleep and I needed to think. And I'm always afraid to do anything with the book when she's around. What if she takes it from me again?"
"Then she takes it from you. She's your mother, Henry. Besides, you know these fairytales by heart, you don't even need the book."
At that, Henry lets out a sigh. "I guess you're right. I'm sorry, Emma."
"It's not me you need to be apologizing to, kid." At Henry's puzzled look, Emma continues. "Your mom's waiting in the car. She'll be happy to see you."
Henry nods, closes up the book, and hops down from the castle, Emma following closely behind him. When they reach the car, Regina is already out and running toward Henry. She scoops him up into her arms, hugging him tight to her. To her surprise, Henry hugs her back.
"I'm sorry, mom," he says, burying his face into the crook of Regina's neck.
Regina just clings to him tighter. "It's okay, baby," she tells him.
Over Henry's shoulder, she sees Emma standing awkwardly by, shuffling her feet in the dirt. When Emma looks up, her gaze meeting Regina's, Regina mouths the words "thank you" to her. Emma simply nods.
"I didn't mean to scare you," Henry says when he finally pulls away.
"You have to stop doing this, Henry. It's not safe and you had me so worried. And I had to call Emma to come out and help me look for you," Regina says.
"I know. I'm sorry," Henry repeats. He turns to Emma. "Can we just go home now?" he asks.
"Uhh, yeah, sure, kid," says Emma.
+++
"How is he?" Emma asks, as Regina descends the stairs.
"Asleep," Regina answers. "Hopefully he stays that way this time."
Emma nods, and then Regina's standing right in front of her, looking a bit fragile and heartbroken still. Emma resists the urge to wrap her arms around the other woman. Stuffs her hands into her jacket pockets instead.
"Thank you," Regina says, and she sounds sincere.
"Yeah, no problem," the blonde says, shifting her weight nervously from one foot to the other. "Not that I'm complaining, but... why did you call me? Why not Graham?" she asked, the urge to satisfy her curiosity getting the best of her.
Regina hesitates for a moment before answering. "You know how to get through to him," she says finally. "And you're very good at finding people, it seems. I figured if you could find him, maybe... maybe you could talk to him, make him see reason. He seems to listen to you, a lot better than he listens to me," she continues, grimacing just a little at the last part.
"Oh," is all Emma says.
There's a moment of awkward silence, before Regina says, "Well, I guess you should be going now. It's rather late."
"Uh, yeah," Emma says, as she walks toward the front door. "Hey, Regina?" she asks, turning to face the woman again.
"Yes?"
"If ever you need anything... or if Henry needs anything, you can call me. At any time. I'll be there. I just--I want you to know that," Emma says.
"Emma, I--I don't know what to say," Regina manages to get out, her lower lip quivering in the process at the look of sincerity on Emma's face.
"You don't have to say anything. You don't even have to take me up on that offer. Like I said, I just wanted you to know that I'm here. So... yeah. I'm gonna get going now," Emma says, and then she's out the door.
And standing in the foyer, with the weight of a million words she couldn't bring herself to say sitting on her shoulders, Regina's sure she's never felt so alone.