A Queen Without Power (Once Upon a Time; Regina/Emma)
TITLE: A Queen Without Power
CHAPTER 19: Afterburned
FANDOM: Once Upon a Time
PAIRING: Swan Queen (Regina/Emma)
SPOILERS: Season one (in its entirety)
RATING: PG-13
SUMMARY: "You crackle with energy, Princess Emma. And we both know Mummy and Daddy haven’t a magic bone in their bodies."
*****
The pawnbroker leaned back only slightly from examining the piece, allowing his eyes to drift to each one of them without moving his head. “Come again?”
Snow retained her small but smug smirk. “You heard me,” she intoned lowly. “I am now your queen.”
“Is that so.” Gold tilted his head, traveling to the next set of glass counters as their eyes followed him. “So you mean to tell me that this is the platinum crown bestowed upon your dear stepmother when she married your father?”
“The very same.”
Emma and James just watched the interplay, each understanding that Regina had perhaps given Snow explicit instructions about how this supposed ‘deal’ should go down.
Gold returned to them with a magnifying glass in-hand, passing it over the crown as he leaned over it once more. The four of them were in a silent limbo as he took his time scrutinizing the piece. Finally, Snow White seemed to grow weary.
“Satisfied?”
At that, the pawnbroker straightened with his lips set in a firm line. “You mean to tell me that Regina actually abdicated the throne... to you?”
“Please,” Snow sniffed, lip curling in derision. “She always said I’d only have this crown over her dead body. And now I do.”
He smirked. “Which means...?”
“I had to take my kingdom back, for the sake of my family, and Regina was the only thing standing in my way.” Nonchalantly, she shrugged. “So I killed her.”
“Is this true?” He glanced to Emma.
She stared him down, her best poker face already firmly set. “You bet it is. I helped her do it.”
Gold pressed his palms to the glass countertop, leaning forward as he addressed Emma quietly, but still loud enough for her parents to hear. “That wasn’t a conflict of interest for you, dearie?”
Emma searched his eyes, wondering what game he was playing now, when something glimmered in her periphery. She glimpsed downward and noticed his hands, his wrists -- they were dotted with gold splotches. As if he’d been painting his skin in gold. She lifted her eyes once again, asking him, “What do you mean?”
“Well, the last time I popped by for a visit, you and our fallen ruler looked quite... close.”
Emma’s heart bumped into her throat. She didn’t dare look at either of her parents for fear that she’d falter and give something away. Instead, she kept her eyes trained on Mr. Gold, narrowing them slightly. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Of course.” He glanced away, setting aside the magnifying glass. “I apologize. Perhaps I misheard all that ‘caring about each other’ chatter that had been going on at the time.”
Emma bristled but tried not to let it show. “I could care less about Regina. I just needed to gain her trust.”
He looked up at her again, head tilted and a small smirk on his lips. “Well it was a rather convincing act, I must say.”
Emma opened her mouth, but her father jumped in before she had a chance, barking at Gold, “Enough! We didn’t come here to be harassed.”
“Then why did you stop by, your royal highnesses?”
Snow White lifted her chin regally. “We wish to broker a new deal with you, in exchange for this priceless crown.”
“And what’s that?”
“That you leave Storybrooke. You cancel whatever grand plans for revenge you had been making, and slip away quietly.”
James stepped forward with his own addition. “And, you will not make any more of your 'deals' with any of our subjects. Ever again.”
“In exchange,” Snow jumped in again, “you will hold in your possession a crown so valuable that you will be left wanting for nothing as long as you live.”
“And the, uh...” He lifted his eyes, “power? Behind the crown? I’ll have that as well?”
Emma furrowed her brows. “What?”
“Well, if you want to unload a dusty old crown, that’s one thing. But handing over the meaning behind the crown... that’s something else entirely.”
Emma took a step forward, eyes narrowed at Gold. “You really expect them to hand control of an entire kingdom to you?”
“I had assumed that was the irresistible portion of the deal.”
Snow White glared. “No. It’s bad enough my father’s kingdom fell into Regina’s hands when she murdered him. There is no way I’m handing control over to someone just as unstable.”
“Even more so,” Emma corrected, sniffing a short laugh and raising her brows without taking her eyes off Gold.
He shot her a look, taking his gold-scaled hands off the counter before he turned to Snow White. “Then I’m afraid I’ll have to pass.”
“I don’t think you understand how valuable this crown is,” Snow pressed, and Emma could sense her mother was beginning to panic.
“Oh I understand quite well, Your Majesty,” he told her, polishing his magnifying glass with a soft rag. He glanced up. “But you see, what you fail to understand is the fact that I’m not interested in riches. What I’m interested in... is power.” He then waved her away, as if she were a pesky little gnat. “Now if you’ll please... I have some bookkeeping to catch up on. Feel free to stop by again when you have something I might be interested in.” And he sent her off with a smile.
Snow White drew in a frustrated breath and slammed the ornate case closed, hugging it to her chest as she flounced off with James at her heels. Emma glared at the pawnbroker before starting to follow after her parents, thumbs in her back pockets.
But his voice stopped her. “Oh Princess Emma, before you leave... mind if I have a word?”
Emma stopped in the doorway, rolling her eyes. “It better be a good word,” she quipped.
He ignored the quip and instead waved her closer. “Come.”
Sighing irritatedly, she folded her red-leather-clad arms across her chest and stepped up to the counter. “What.”
He leaned on the counter once more. “Tell me... did you really think I’d fall for that little one-act play?”
“What are you talking about?”
“I know a Regina caper when I see it. And that...” he pointed to the door her parents had just left through, “had her fingerprints all over it.” His eyes moved over her slowly, and he added with a hint of a smirk, “As do you.”
“Excuse me?” She hoped the surprise hadn’t registered on her face.
Gold smiled to himself, dipping his head. “You crackle with energy there, Princess Emma. And we both know Mummy and Daddy haven’t a magic bone in their bodies.”
“So?”
“Not to mention, you’ve been somewhat of a recluse since you broke that curse.”
She rolled her eyes, despite her heart thudding in her throat. She folded her arms. “What the hell’s your point?”
“There’s only one other person you could’ve imbibed that power from.” He leaned in, each word softer and softer until it was just a taunting hiss. “And that’s our dear... fallen... Queen.”
Emma just glared, forcing herself not to break her stone-faced resolve. He wasn’t going to get a damn word out of her.
Gold smiled and leaned back, as if he suspected as much. “I’m sure at the time she made it sound like a perfectly rational idea. Perhaps had one of those old, leather-bound magic books out to back her up, since you’re ever the skeptic.”
She swallowed as lightly and inaudibly as she could, her stomach beginning to churn.
“Bet she didn’t tell you about the, how to put it, ehm...” He feigned thought, a golden, scaly finger pressed against his chin. “The afterburn, of sorts.” He smiled, his voice a bit higher, a bit more taunting, as his eyes flashed gold. “The side effects.”
Emma took a soft breath and shook her head, attempting to keep her voice level. “I’m getting a little sick of this. Are you done yet?”
He ignored the comment, his smile growing more and more gleeful by the minute. “So I take it she hasn’t told you. Didn’t bother to warn you that once you’ve taken her magic blood, that you would become suddenly stricken with feelings of desire. Physical attraction. You would begin to want her.”
Her heart dropped into the pit of her stomach, and she knew for certain her expression was completely transparent as she thought, No...
Out loud, she told him shakily, “You have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Don’t I? You’ve known her a mere nine months, dearie. But I...” He pressed a hand to his chest. “I have been observing her for years.”
“Enough of this. I’m outta here.” She whirled on her heel and started for the door.
His voice stopped her. “I’ve been told she’s quite the seductress when she wants something.”
She briefly flashed back to their night together as she lingered in the doorway. She turned around slowly, nauseated by what she was hearing. “What?”
“She’s skilled in the art. You see, there’s always a pattern. Draw them in... get those defenses down and gain their trust... seduce... and then go in for the kill.”
Emma just stared.
“You think you can save her? Turn her around? Then she’s got you fooled. You’re just another in a series of pawns for our dear monarch. You’ll be discarded once you’ve served your purpose, just like all the others.”
Emma didn’t stay to hear another word. She merely yanked the door open, making sure it slammed into his glass shelving, before yanking it closed behind her.
Outside, her parents were waiting for her, eyes wide in confusion and concern. “What was that about?” Snow asked.
Emma stayed leaning against the door briefly, her hand still on the knob behind her. Her eyes moved frantically across the air in front of her, back and forth, as she assessed what had just been laid in her lap.
It was impossible. But at the same time... it made perfect sense. Regina was using her. For what, she had no idea. His words ran endlessly through her head: You’ll be discarded once you’ve served your purpose...
Her purpose -- what purpose? Was she just there to act as a bodyguard for Henry while Regina geared up for her magic battle? And then once it was over, Regina was going to take Henry and then get rid of her? It was ridiculous. And yet...
“Emma!”
“Huh?” She snapped out of her thoughts, meeting eyes with her mother.
Snow White’s forehead creased in concern. “Are you alright? What happened in there? What did he say to you?”
She shook her head and with it, shook off her mother’s concern. “Nothing. Nothing important. Let’s go.”
She felt their confused stares following her to the car, but she ignored it, not knowing how to address what happened in the shop. So instead, she remained silent for the drive home, until they pulled up in front of the estate.
Once they had parked, she looked up at them suddenly. “Would you guys mind taking Henry overnight again?”
Snow and James exchanged a glance, an unspoken conversation passing between them, before they turned to their daughter. “Of course not,” Snow told her, “But is everything alright with you? You’ve been incredibly quiet since we left the pawn shop.”
Emma nodded, feigning her best brave face. “Yeah, I’m fine. Sorry, I just... have a lot on my mind. Regina and I need some time to...” She shrugged, struggling for a lie. “Figure out what our next move should be.”
“Of course we’ll take Henry,” James assured her softly.
“Great. Great, thanks.” She climbed out of the car before they could ask her any further questions. “I’ll go get him,” she called over her shoulder, striding toward the estate.
Henry was the first to greet her, sitting on the stairs surrounded by a pile of comic books. “There you are! How’s Operation Python progressing?”
“Just fine,” she told him curtly, marching purposefully up the stairs and into his room. All the while, Rumplestiltskin’s words went round and round in her head, taunting her and making her more furious by the second.
Henry stood in the doorway and watched her as she threw a pair of his pajamas and some clothes into his backpack, along with his storybook. “What are you doing?”
“Packing a bag for you.”
“Why?”
Zipping up the bag forcefully, she slung it over her shoulder and started down the stairs again. “Because you’re spending the night with David and Mary Margaret.”
“You mean Prince Charming and Snow White.”
“Yes.” She was practically seething she was so angry.
Henry followed after her, continually looking up at her with a mix of worry and confusion -- almost the same expressions her parents had worn just minutes earlier. “Are you okay? You’re not blinking.”
She cocked her head ever so slightly in a half-nod, keeping her eyes straight ahead as she told him, “I’m just fine.”
“O...kay...”
He followed her out to the truck and she tossed his backpack inside, helping him climb in. When he was seated and pulling the belt around himself, he gave her another look. “You’re sure everything’s okay?”
Emma nodded, and forced herself to give him a smile despite her insides burning. “Just fine, kid. Don’t worry. Have fun with your grandparents. I’ll pick you up tomorrow.”
“Alright.”
And the trio in the truck continued to look at Emma curiously as they drove away, so she feigned another happy smile to reassure them and waved goodbye as they rounded the corner out of sight.
She heard the door opening behind her. “Hey, is Henry staying overnight with them again?”
Emma’s smile disappeared as the fury crept back up. She dipped her head, trying to keep her breathing even. Just as she had when she’d heard Regina’s voice in Henry’s hospital room -- after she’d figured out who she was.
Shortly, she responded, “Yes,” and turned to head inside, brushing past Regina.
“Oh!” Regina followed her in, the coy smile evident in her voice even though Emma couldn’t see her. “And uh...” Once inside, she closed the door, meeting her in the middle of the foyer. “Any special reason you wanted us to be alone tonight?”
“Yeah.” Emma slowly turned to face her, leveling her with a hard stare as she ground out, “There was.”
Before Regina could so much as open her mouth, Emma held up a hand and sent her flying, her back slamming against the front door. But before she could fall to the ground, before either of their hearts could so much as get through half a beat, Emma had surged toward her, propelled by her fury.
She clamped a hand around Regina’s throat, eyes hard. “You knew what would happen if I took your blood, didn’t you!”
The skin between her brows wrinkled. “What are you talking about?” And she choked slightly as Emma’s grip tightened.
“You knew. You knew the whole time that this would happen. That I’d be your willing little... pawn!” she spat, her face mere millimeters from Regina’s. “And you played me. Every step of the way. The spells, the book, the ritual, the kisses, the rescue, the sex. It was all an act, wasn’t it?”
Regina’s face contorted, pain and sadness fighting for dominance in her features as she breathed out, “What are you talking about?”
“I should’ve known there was no hope for you. You’re rotten to the core. I just can’t believe I fell for it.”
She let her go and Regina dropped to the floor, coughing from the choke-hold and glaring up at Emma through her lashes. “How dare you,” she grumbled, palms pressing into the floor as she pushed herself up. Her legs shook as she stood. “How dare you walk in here and accuse me of something so, so--”
“So true!” she yelled. “Just admit it.”
A crack of purple lightning exploded from Regina’s hands and Emma was tossed into the air, her back hitting the table and vase in the middle of the foyer and crashing straight through it. She laid on shards of wood and glass and she pushed herself up, feeling the trickle of blood at the corner of her mouth.
“I’ll admit to nothing,” Regina growled, “because I’ve done nothing wrong. Rumplestiltskin had a run at you and you took the bait, you gullible little child. And now you’re too far gone to even see what’s real and what isn’t.”
“Right, because there’s no way he could possibly have a valid point here! You screw with everyone, Regina, everyone. Everyone plays their own little part in your game and I’m just another piece on the board.”
“You know what, you’re right, Emma,” she patronized her. “You’re exactly right. I conjured up the idea of you and I having some weird magical connection, just so I could give you magic, just so I could maybe have a crack at getting into your pants. You’re right, that makes perfect sense. Just like how I saved your pathetic excuse for a life and kept you from falling down an elevator shaft for my own personal gain.”
Regina planted her hands on her hips, standing over her. “There’s no possible way I could have seen any sort of value in keeping you safe from harm, of making sure you stuck around to take care of our son once this whole thing is said and done. And it’s completely ridiculous that, in the middle of this unholy alliance, I began to feel something genuine for you. Something that became so powerful that it made me regret all of the horrendous mistakes I’ve made over the years. It’s not as if you’ve ever made any mistakes in your life.”
“Yeah, well...” Emma got to her feet, glass crunching under her boots as she tilted her head, sighing, “At least my mistakes don’t have a body count.”
That did it. Regina’s jaw clenched and her spine snapped into a straight line. She lifted her nose and said with the last bit of integrity she had, “Get out.”
“What?”
“I said get... out.”
Emma huffed, pressing her palms to her forehead, thumbs just under her ears. She closed her eyes. “Regina... look." Her hands dropped to her sides, shoulders slumped. "This is getting way out of hand. I just... I talked to him and he said some things that...” She sighed. “Made way too much sense.”
She met Regina’s fastly hardening brown eyes, watching her swallow hard. Tears filled her eyes but her voice didn’t quaver. “So, rather than chalk it up to his insanity and staunch fervor to gain all the power he possibly can while sparing no cost... instead, you decided to give him the benefit of the doubt.”
“I--”
“Get out.”
Her heart thudded in her throat, her stomach falling far past her feet now and straight through the floor. She knew she’d committed an unspeakable wrongdoing... she’d gone way too far. Regina’s walls had just started to come down and now with a few choice words, Emma had succeeded in building them higher.
“I said get out,” Regina ground out again, pointing toward the door.
Emma nodded, resigned to her self-imposed fate, and headed for the door. Regina slammed it behind her before she had barely passed the threshold, and she threw a glance over her shoulder at the closed door.
She had taken only a few steps before the gravity of what had just happened caught up with her, and she sat down hard on the concrete stoop. She propped her elbows on her knees and dug the heels of her hands into her eyes.
What the hell had she done?
TBC
{x-posted to onceupon_fanfic and regina_emma}
CHAPTER 19: Afterburned
FANDOM: Once Upon a Time
PAIRING: Swan Queen (Regina/Emma)
SPOILERS: Season one (in its entirety)
RATING: PG-13
SUMMARY: "You crackle with energy, Princess Emma. And we both know Mummy and Daddy haven’t a magic bone in their bodies."
*****
The pawnbroker leaned back only slightly from examining the piece, allowing his eyes to drift to each one of them without moving his head. “Come again?”
Snow retained her small but smug smirk. “You heard me,” she intoned lowly. “I am now your queen.”
“Is that so.” Gold tilted his head, traveling to the next set of glass counters as their eyes followed him. “So you mean to tell me that this is the platinum crown bestowed upon your dear stepmother when she married your father?”
“The very same.”
Emma and James just watched the interplay, each understanding that Regina had perhaps given Snow explicit instructions about how this supposed ‘deal’ should go down.
Gold returned to them with a magnifying glass in-hand, passing it over the crown as he leaned over it once more. The four of them were in a silent limbo as he took his time scrutinizing the piece. Finally, Snow White seemed to grow weary.
“Satisfied?”
At that, the pawnbroker straightened with his lips set in a firm line. “You mean to tell me that Regina actually abdicated the throne... to you?”
“Please,” Snow sniffed, lip curling in derision. “She always said I’d only have this crown over her dead body. And now I do.”
He smirked. “Which means...?”
“I had to take my kingdom back, for the sake of my family, and Regina was the only thing standing in my way.” Nonchalantly, she shrugged. “So I killed her.”
“Is this true?” He glanced to Emma.
She stared him down, her best poker face already firmly set. “You bet it is. I helped her do it.”
Gold pressed his palms to the glass countertop, leaning forward as he addressed Emma quietly, but still loud enough for her parents to hear. “That wasn’t a conflict of interest for you, dearie?”
Emma searched his eyes, wondering what game he was playing now, when something glimmered in her periphery. She glimpsed downward and noticed his hands, his wrists -- they were dotted with gold splotches. As if he’d been painting his skin in gold. She lifted her eyes once again, asking him, “What do you mean?”
“Well, the last time I popped by for a visit, you and our fallen ruler looked quite... close.”
Emma’s heart bumped into her throat. She didn’t dare look at either of her parents for fear that she’d falter and give something away. Instead, she kept her eyes trained on Mr. Gold, narrowing them slightly. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Of course.” He glanced away, setting aside the magnifying glass. “I apologize. Perhaps I misheard all that ‘caring about each other’ chatter that had been going on at the time.”
Emma bristled but tried not to let it show. “I could care less about Regina. I just needed to gain her trust.”
He looked up at her again, head tilted and a small smirk on his lips. “Well it was a rather convincing act, I must say.”
Emma opened her mouth, but her father jumped in before she had a chance, barking at Gold, “Enough! We didn’t come here to be harassed.”
“Then why did you stop by, your royal highnesses?”
Snow White lifted her chin regally. “We wish to broker a new deal with you, in exchange for this priceless crown.”
“And what’s that?”
“That you leave Storybrooke. You cancel whatever grand plans for revenge you had been making, and slip away quietly.”
James stepped forward with his own addition. “And, you will not make any more of your 'deals' with any of our subjects. Ever again.”
“In exchange,” Snow jumped in again, “you will hold in your possession a crown so valuable that you will be left wanting for nothing as long as you live.”
“And the, uh...” He lifted his eyes, “power? Behind the crown? I’ll have that as well?”
Emma furrowed her brows. “What?”
“Well, if you want to unload a dusty old crown, that’s one thing. But handing over the meaning behind the crown... that’s something else entirely.”
Emma took a step forward, eyes narrowed at Gold. “You really expect them to hand control of an entire kingdom to you?”
“I had assumed that was the irresistible portion of the deal.”
Snow White glared. “No. It’s bad enough my father’s kingdom fell into Regina’s hands when she murdered him. There is no way I’m handing control over to someone just as unstable.”
“Even more so,” Emma corrected, sniffing a short laugh and raising her brows without taking her eyes off Gold.
He shot her a look, taking his gold-scaled hands off the counter before he turned to Snow White. “Then I’m afraid I’ll have to pass.”
“I don’t think you understand how valuable this crown is,” Snow pressed, and Emma could sense her mother was beginning to panic.
“Oh I understand quite well, Your Majesty,” he told her, polishing his magnifying glass with a soft rag. He glanced up. “But you see, what you fail to understand is the fact that I’m not interested in riches. What I’m interested in... is power.” He then waved her away, as if she were a pesky little gnat. “Now if you’ll please... I have some bookkeeping to catch up on. Feel free to stop by again when you have something I might be interested in.” And he sent her off with a smile.
Snow White drew in a frustrated breath and slammed the ornate case closed, hugging it to her chest as she flounced off with James at her heels. Emma glared at the pawnbroker before starting to follow after her parents, thumbs in her back pockets.
But his voice stopped her. “Oh Princess Emma, before you leave... mind if I have a word?”
Emma stopped in the doorway, rolling her eyes. “It better be a good word,” she quipped.
He ignored the quip and instead waved her closer. “Come.”
Sighing irritatedly, she folded her red-leather-clad arms across her chest and stepped up to the counter. “What.”
He leaned on the counter once more. “Tell me... did you really think I’d fall for that little one-act play?”
“What are you talking about?”
“I know a Regina caper when I see it. And that...” he pointed to the door her parents had just left through, “had her fingerprints all over it.” His eyes moved over her slowly, and he added with a hint of a smirk, “As do you.”
“Excuse me?” She hoped the surprise hadn’t registered on her face.
Gold smiled to himself, dipping his head. “You crackle with energy there, Princess Emma. And we both know Mummy and Daddy haven’t a magic bone in their bodies.”
“So?”
“Not to mention, you’ve been somewhat of a recluse since you broke that curse.”
She rolled her eyes, despite her heart thudding in her throat. She folded her arms. “What the hell’s your point?”
“There’s only one other person you could’ve imbibed that power from.” He leaned in, each word softer and softer until it was just a taunting hiss. “And that’s our dear... fallen... Queen.”
Emma just glared, forcing herself not to break her stone-faced resolve. He wasn’t going to get a damn word out of her.
Gold smiled and leaned back, as if he suspected as much. “I’m sure at the time she made it sound like a perfectly rational idea. Perhaps had one of those old, leather-bound magic books out to back her up, since you’re ever the skeptic.”
She swallowed as lightly and inaudibly as she could, her stomach beginning to churn.
“Bet she didn’t tell you about the, how to put it, ehm...” He feigned thought, a golden, scaly finger pressed against his chin. “The afterburn, of sorts.” He smiled, his voice a bit higher, a bit more taunting, as his eyes flashed gold. “The side effects.”
Emma took a soft breath and shook her head, attempting to keep her voice level. “I’m getting a little sick of this. Are you done yet?”
He ignored the comment, his smile growing more and more gleeful by the minute. “So I take it she hasn’t told you. Didn’t bother to warn you that once you’ve taken her magic blood, that you would become suddenly stricken with feelings of desire. Physical attraction. You would begin to want her.”
Her heart dropped into the pit of her stomach, and she knew for certain her expression was completely transparent as she thought, No...
Out loud, she told him shakily, “You have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Don’t I? You’ve known her a mere nine months, dearie. But I...” He pressed a hand to his chest. “I have been observing her for years.”
“Enough of this. I’m outta here.” She whirled on her heel and started for the door.
His voice stopped her. “I’ve been told she’s quite the seductress when she wants something.”
She briefly flashed back to their night together as she lingered in the doorway. She turned around slowly, nauseated by what she was hearing. “What?”
“She’s skilled in the art. You see, there’s always a pattern. Draw them in... get those defenses down and gain their trust... seduce... and then go in for the kill.”
Emma just stared.
“You think you can save her? Turn her around? Then she’s got you fooled. You’re just another in a series of pawns for our dear monarch. You’ll be discarded once you’ve served your purpose, just like all the others.”
Emma didn’t stay to hear another word. She merely yanked the door open, making sure it slammed into his glass shelving, before yanking it closed behind her.
Outside, her parents were waiting for her, eyes wide in confusion and concern. “What was that about?” Snow asked.
Emma stayed leaning against the door briefly, her hand still on the knob behind her. Her eyes moved frantically across the air in front of her, back and forth, as she assessed what had just been laid in her lap.
It was impossible. But at the same time... it made perfect sense. Regina was using her. For what, she had no idea. His words ran endlessly through her head: You’ll be discarded once you’ve served your purpose...
Her purpose -- what purpose? Was she just there to act as a bodyguard for Henry while Regina geared up for her magic battle? And then once it was over, Regina was going to take Henry and then get rid of her? It was ridiculous. And yet...
“Emma!”
“Huh?” She snapped out of her thoughts, meeting eyes with her mother.
Snow White’s forehead creased in concern. “Are you alright? What happened in there? What did he say to you?”
She shook her head and with it, shook off her mother’s concern. “Nothing. Nothing important. Let’s go.”
She felt their confused stares following her to the car, but she ignored it, not knowing how to address what happened in the shop. So instead, she remained silent for the drive home, until they pulled up in front of the estate.
Once they had parked, she looked up at them suddenly. “Would you guys mind taking Henry overnight again?”
Snow and James exchanged a glance, an unspoken conversation passing between them, before they turned to their daughter. “Of course not,” Snow told her, “But is everything alright with you? You’ve been incredibly quiet since we left the pawn shop.”
Emma nodded, feigning her best brave face. “Yeah, I’m fine. Sorry, I just... have a lot on my mind. Regina and I need some time to...” She shrugged, struggling for a lie. “Figure out what our next move should be.”
“Of course we’ll take Henry,” James assured her softly.
“Great. Great, thanks.” She climbed out of the car before they could ask her any further questions. “I’ll go get him,” she called over her shoulder, striding toward the estate.
Henry was the first to greet her, sitting on the stairs surrounded by a pile of comic books. “There you are! How’s Operation Python progressing?”
“Just fine,” she told him curtly, marching purposefully up the stairs and into his room. All the while, Rumplestiltskin’s words went round and round in her head, taunting her and making her more furious by the second.
Henry stood in the doorway and watched her as she threw a pair of his pajamas and some clothes into his backpack, along with his storybook. “What are you doing?”
“Packing a bag for you.”
“Why?”
Zipping up the bag forcefully, she slung it over her shoulder and started down the stairs again. “Because you’re spending the night with David and Mary Margaret.”
“You mean Prince Charming and Snow White.”
“Yes.” She was practically seething she was so angry.
Henry followed after her, continually looking up at her with a mix of worry and confusion -- almost the same expressions her parents had worn just minutes earlier. “Are you okay? You’re not blinking.”
She cocked her head ever so slightly in a half-nod, keeping her eyes straight ahead as she told him, “I’m just fine.”
“O...kay...”
He followed her out to the truck and she tossed his backpack inside, helping him climb in. When he was seated and pulling the belt around himself, he gave her another look. “You’re sure everything’s okay?”
Emma nodded, and forced herself to give him a smile despite her insides burning. “Just fine, kid. Don’t worry. Have fun with your grandparents. I’ll pick you up tomorrow.”
“Alright.”
And the trio in the truck continued to look at Emma curiously as they drove away, so she feigned another happy smile to reassure them and waved goodbye as they rounded the corner out of sight.
She heard the door opening behind her. “Hey, is Henry staying overnight with them again?”
Emma’s smile disappeared as the fury crept back up. She dipped her head, trying to keep her breathing even. Just as she had when she’d heard Regina’s voice in Henry’s hospital room -- after she’d figured out who she was.
Shortly, she responded, “Yes,” and turned to head inside, brushing past Regina.
“Oh!” Regina followed her in, the coy smile evident in her voice even though Emma couldn’t see her. “And uh...” Once inside, she closed the door, meeting her in the middle of the foyer. “Any special reason you wanted us to be alone tonight?”
“Yeah.” Emma slowly turned to face her, leveling her with a hard stare as she ground out, “There was.”
Before Regina could so much as open her mouth, Emma held up a hand and sent her flying, her back slamming against the front door. But before she could fall to the ground, before either of their hearts could so much as get through half a beat, Emma had surged toward her, propelled by her fury.
She clamped a hand around Regina’s throat, eyes hard. “You knew what would happen if I took your blood, didn’t you!”
The skin between her brows wrinkled. “What are you talking about?” And she choked slightly as Emma’s grip tightened.
“You knew. You knew the whole time that this would happen. That I’d be your willing little... pawn!” she spat, her face mere millimeters from Regina’s. “And you played me. Every step of the way. The spells, the book, the ritual, the kisses, the rescue, the sex. It was all an act, wasn’t it?”
Regina’s face contorted, pain and sadness fighting for dominance in her features as she breathed out, “What are you talking about?”
“I should’ve known there was no hope for you. You’re rotten to the core. I just can’t believe I fell for it.”
She let her go and Regina dropped to the floor, coughing from the choke-hold and glaring up at Emma through her lashes. “How dare you,” she grumbled, palms pressing into the floor as she pushed herself up. Her legs shook as she stood. “How dare you walk in here and accuse me of something so, so--”
“So true!” she yelled. “Just admit it.”
A crack of purple lightning exploded from Regina’s hands and Emma was tossed into the air, her back hitting the table and vase in the middle of the foyer and crashing straight through it. She laid on shards of wood and glass and she pushed herself up, feeling the trickle of blood at the corner of her mouth.
“I’ll admit to nothing,” Regina growled, “because I’ve done nothing wrong. Rumplestiltskin had a run at you and you took the bait, you gullible little child. And now you’re too far gone to even see what’s real and what isn’t.”
“Right, because there’s no way he could possibly have a valid point here! You screw with everyone, Regina, everyone. Everyone plays their own little part in your game and I’m just another piece on the board.”
“You know what, you’re right, Emma,” she patronized her. “You’re exactly right. I conjured up the idea of you and I having some weird magical connection, just so I could give you magic, just so I could maybe have a crack at getting into your pants. You’re right, that makes perfect sense. Just like how I saved your pathetic excuse for a life and kept you from falling down an elevator shaft for my own personal gain.”
Regina planted her hands on her hips, standing over her. “There’s no possible way I could have seen any sort of value in keeping you safe from harm, of making sure you stuck around to take care of our son once this whole thing is said and done. And it’s completely ridiculous that, in the middle of this unholy alliance, I began to feel something genuine for you. Something that became so powerful that it made me regret all of the horrendous mistakes I’ve made over the years. It’s not as if you’ve ever made any mistakes in your life.”
“Yeah, well...” Emma got to her feet, glass crunching under her boots as she tilted her head, sighing, “At least my mistakes don’t have a body count.”
That did it. Regina’s jaw clenched and her spine snapped into a straight line. She lifted her nose and said with the last bit of integrity she had, “Get out.”
“What?”
“I said get... out.”
Emma huffed, pressing her palms to her forehead, thumbs just under her ears. She closed her eyes. “Regina... look." Her hands dropped to her sides, shoulders slumped. "This is getting way out of hand. I just... I talked to him and he said some things that...” She sighed. “Made way too much sense.”
She met Regina’s fastly hardening brown eyes, watching her swallow hard. Tears filled her eyes but her voice didn’t quaver. “So, rather than chalk it up to his insanity and staunch fervor to gain all the power he possibly can while sparing no cost... instead, you decided to give him the benefit of the doubt.”
“I--”
“Get out.”
Her heart thudded in her throat, her stomach falling far past her feet now and straight through the floor. She knew she’d committed an unspeakable wrongdoing... she’d gone way too far. Regina’s walls had just started to come down and now with a few choice words, Emma had succeeded in building them higher.
“I said get out,” Regina ground out again, pointing toward the door.
Emma nodded, resigned to her self-imposed fate, and headed for the door. Regina slammed it behind her before she had barely passed the threshold, and she threw a glance over her shoulder at the closed door.
She had taken only a few steps before the gravity of what had just happened caught up with her, and she sat down hard on the concrete stoop. She propped her elbows on her knees and dug the heels of her hands into her eyes.
What the hell had she done?
TBC
{x-posted to onceupon_fanfic and regina_emma}