A Queen Without Power (Once Upon a Time; Regina/Emma)
TITLE: A Queen Without Power
CHAPTER 20: The House of Cards
FANDOM: Once Upon a Time
PAIRING: Swan Queen (Regina/Emma)
SPOILERS: Season one (in its entirety)
RATING: PG-13/light R
SUMMARY: She had to have known Regina wouldn't make this apology process easy on her. Not that she deserved it. No, this was going to take some effort. So rather than let the former queen stew, Emma pushed herself up and marched inside, readying herself for another confrontation.
*****
Hours had passed since Regina had thrown her out, and still she remained on the stoop, unmoving. The sound of the birds had interrupted her thoughts in the afternoon; the sun had gotten in her eyes in the evening, and now she sat chilled under the stars.
She couldn’t believe what she had done. It was so rotten. There was still that last niggling part of her, telling her that it was reasonable that she would jump to such a conclusion after all she’d seen Regina do... but that was quickly buried under feelings of deep remorse and pain.
In the span of nine months, she and Regina had gone from barely-polite pleasantries, to all-out war, to unspoken kinship, to a reluctant alliance, tentative friendship, and now, finally... whatever the hell this was. Lovers? Girlfriends? Partners? She had no idea.
For so long, she had kept Regina locked away in the smallest compartment within her, only opening it to add new information about the way she reacted to certain comments and in certain situations; gathering intelligence on the enemy, in a way. After a few months, the compartment began to expand. New information came in the form of the physical: the way she tilted her head, the spark of fire that would light her eyes when she was furious, the various smiles to grace her features along with their hidden meanings, and the way she pressed her lips together or pursed them in thought.
And now, it was as if the compartment had spilled open and leaked into her system somehow. Regina was everywhere, invisible marks all over her. The way she carried herself and the way her hair moved and how her bare skin felt were suddenly all vital pieces of information, invoking in Emma reactions emotional and physical.
She envied the length of Regina’s lashes and admired the grace in her every step. She enjoyed the unique taste of her lips and shivered when she said her name. She was amused by the smirks that would start to break through when Henry was testing her, and the scar above her upper lip fascinated her.
Her blood boiled when Regina was upset, and she felt completely at peace when their foreheads were pressed together.
“...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.”
And Regina was right - Emma was no saint, either. She had made countless mistakes in her life; some of which landed her in juvy and, a few years later, jail.
But unlike Regina, Emma didn’t regret her mistakes. Without those mistakes, she wouldn’t be half the person she was now. Without those mistakes she wouldn’t have had Henry, and subsequently, she never would have been brought to this town.
Without those mistakes, she never would have met Regina in the first place.
And it was that thought that got her moving again. She pushed herself up from the stoop, muscles protesting after the few hours of being stationary, and she headed for the front door. She tried the handle, only to find it locked. But it didn’t deter her.
Instead, she took the long route, walking around the estate to get to the backyard. She knew she would be there, and there she was; sitting on the swing as she’d found her so many times before, sipping at a glass of wine.
Only this time it wasn’t wine. No, it was a concoction much stronger. The acrid scent reached her from several feet away and made her nostrils sting. She had opted for the quiet approach, but when the smell hit, she couldn’t help but comment, “What the hell are you drinking? Jet fuel?”
Regina curled the wrist that held the glass against her body, throwing Emma a dirty look. Instead of responding, she looked out at the apple tree and took another gulp of the pungent liquid.
“What do you care, anyway?” she finally responded, voice hoarse from drinking.
Emma sighed. “Look, Regina... what I said earlier was...” She shrugged, unable to come up with anything more poignant than, “Stupid. Unbelievably stupid.”
Regina looked over at her, glass tucked against her chest once more. She remained silent, just blinking at her.
Emma took a few steps forward. “I had a lot of time to think about what happened. Why I even believed him in the first place.”
Regina swallowed hard, and looked down into her glass, rasping, “Do tell.”
As she got closer, Emma got a better look at her. A blanket was draped over her legs, which were tucked up beside her on the swing. Her lips were drawn and the corners were pointed downward. One look at her eyes and she realized the hoarseness in her voice wasn’t from drinking.
Regina had been crying.
Against her better judgment, Emma went to her, half-bracing herself for being blasted across the lawn by a purple bolt. But instead Regina remained unmoving, rocking herself gently on the swing.
She sat down beside her and the swing was momentarily thrown off its rhythm. Ignoring the look of warning Regina sent her way, Emma scooted close.
“It was easy for me to believe Gold’s line of crap. It all added up and it made perfect sense.”
Regina pursed her lips. “You’re not doing yourself any favors going down this road again.”
She held up her hands in supplication. “Just hear me out.” Softer, she urged, “Please.”
The quiet plea threw her off for a moment, she could tell -- her features softened ever-so-slightly before she schooled them again, looking straight ahead once more and snipping, “Make it quick. I’m tired and I’d like to get some sleep.”
Emma sighed -- it was the best she was going to get. And at this point, she’d take anything. “Fine, I’ll cut to the chase.” Boldly, she reached out and turned Regina’s face toward her again with a thumb and finger on her chin. Once she had made eye contact, she let it out. “It was easier to believe that you were using me, because the idea that this might be genuine scares the hell out of me.”
Regina’s lips parted and she drew in a soft, quick breath. Her eyes searched Emma’s, expression softening. “What?”
“You scare the hell out of me, Regina. This whole thing does.” She scooted a little closer, grabbing for her hand and letting out an inward sigh of relief when it wasn’t instantly yanked away. “When I first came here, I hated you. Thought you were the most cold-hearted, unfeeling bitch. But the longer I stayed, the more I got to see these tiny little glimpses of actual, human emotion. When you quit being ‘Mayor Mills’ and you were just you.”
Regina swallowed hard again and glanced down at her lap, at their entwined fingers. “When Henry was trapped in the mine.”
She nodded. “Yes. And then the fire. And in the hospital. All I had to go on were these tiny little glimpses of the real you, Regina. And what scares me is the fact that even back then, even before we struck up this little ‘alliance’... I had wanted to see more. I wanted to see the real you.”
Regina looked up at her, searching her eyes with tears in her own. Emma pressed on, not wanting to lose momentum. “And it’s only gotten more intense since I’ve been staying here, in this house. I wanted to see the sides of you that nobody else got to see. The woman that raised a child on her own -- who tucked him in at night and sang to him out here on this very swing when he couldn’t sleep. The woman who used to be happy - who used to enjoy her life, before it became a power struggle. I want to see everything, Regina,” her voice broke briefly, “and that scares the crap out of me. Because I’ve never wanted to see everything in anyone else.”
“Really?”
Her voice came in a shocked whisper, some form of sadness and pleasant surprise mingling on her face.
Emma allowed herself to smile. “Yeah, really.”
And though the tears remained, Regina’s full lips settled into a scowl, and she threw the blanket off her legs suddenly, pushing herself up. “Then I guess it’s too bad you don’t want to see past the mistakes and the body count.” She flounced into the house through the back door.
Emma sighed, dipping her head for a second before calling after her, “Regina...”
She had to have known Regina wouldn't make this apology process easy on her. Not that she deserved it. No, this was going to take some effort. So rather than let the former queen stew, Emma pushed herself up and marched inside, readying herself for another confrontation.
She met up with Regina in the foyer, catching her arm before she could lock herself in her study. “So walking away is the way to resolve this? Come on, Regina.”
“What is there to resolve, Emma? You say you want to see ‘everything’ and yet you can’t see past your own initial, narrow perceptions of me. That is why it was so easy for you to believe every line he fed you.”
“No. It’s not. I promise you, it’s not. God, Regina!” She shook her head, pushing her hands roughly through her hair. “Doesn’t this scare you? We’re supposed to hate each other, or-or resent one another forever, and yet... we don’t! We care about each other. Way too much. That doesn’t scare you?”
“It’s terrifying,” she admitted, fists still clenched at her side. “The last thing I want is to feel something for you, but I do. It’s ludicrous, but I’m dealing with it. But you lashed out at me, without having any of the real information - without even asking me. Are you expecting me to just brush that off when you say something nice?”
“No. No, of course not. But there’s too much at stake for us to just sweep all this under the rug and let it dissolve. And I think there’s too much here,” she gestured between the two of them, “for us to stay mad at each other forever. We need to work together, we’re a team.” Tilting her head, she said plaintively, “We have to protect Henry from whatever’s coming our way.”
Regina paused to give that some thought. She dipped her head, and Emma watched the varying shades of deep brown obscure her eyes for a moment. Until that graceful hand came up and tucked the slice behind her ear. “We have been under quite a bit of stress lately,” she admitted.
“Yeah. We have.” She took a step forward. “Stress that could make us say really idiotic things that we don’t mean.”
Quirking a brow, she asked, “Things that could also make us feel things for each other that we wouldn’t under normal circumstances?”
Then it was Emma’s turn to pause. She hadn’t even considered that. “I don’t know. Maybe...”
“Did you ever think that... maybe the only reason we’re feeling all these things is because of the situation? Because we’re in close quarters?” Regina inclined her head just slightly and said quite matter-of-factly, “Because let’s face it - if we weren’t stuck with each other day in and day out, we probably wouldn’t care as much.”
“Maybe not.” The ‘as much’ stuck with her. “But I would still care about you. I would still want to believe that there was good in you and that you would help me protect Henry. And who knows?” She threw up her hands in a shrug. “Maybe Rumplestiltskin’s right about the blood thing. Maybe that’s the only reason too. Or maybe he cast a spell over us when we weren’t paying attention, Regina, I don’t care!”
The former queen looked slightly taken aback by the sudden exclamation, but Emma took another step into her.
“We can excuse what’s happening between us and explain it away and try to figure out why the hell it happened in the first place but to me, none of it matters. I feel it and I don’t think it’s gonna go away anytime soon. So we can either stand here and let this house of cards fall down, or we can make amends and try to move past me and my big mouth.” She finally stopped to take a breath, telling her as she let it out, “The ball’s in your court, Regina. What do you wanna do?”
Regina darted her eyes away, searching the remains of the destroyed table as if an answer was somewhere in the splintered wood and shards of glass. She looked up and Emma tried to discern the look in her eyes, tried to guess what she was thinking.
But then she was afforded no time for guessing as Regina crashed against her, hands in her hair as they slammed into the wall. Emma gasped under the force of her kiss, trying to regain her bearings, but it only deepened. Lips bruised and teeth nipped. Tongues were reacquainted and breath mingled.
It was clear what Regina wanted to do about their situation.
So Emma pushed back, pushing off from the wall and tangling her hands in Regina’s hair as Regina’s hands gripped her waist. They stumbled over the broken table, glass crunching beneath her boots and Regina’s pumps. Regina cried out into her mouth as they were stopped again, this time by the banister at the bottom of the staircase.
“You alright?” she breathed into her mouth, never breaking the kiss.
Regina nodded against her and slid her hands upward, murmuring, “Fine. No stopping,” before deepening the kiss all over again and shoving at her red leather jacket.
They struggled trying to get it off, Emma flapping her arms behind her while Regina shoved at the stubborn article of clothing, all the while never breaking the heated kiss. Once the jacket had been shucked, Emma pushed her against the wall at the bottom of the stairs, untucking her pressed silk shirt from her skirt. The kiss broke finally, only so she could allow her lips to explore the soft skin of Regina’s neck and under her ear. Softly, she breathed against her skin, taking her in, and she couldn’t help but smile when she felt Regina shudder.
“Upstairs,” the mayor murmured and Emma was all too happy to comply.
They stumbled their way up the stairs and down the hall, bumping into walls on either side of the upstairs hallway as they exchanged more fervent kisses. Once inside the master bedroom, Emma kicked the door shut with one foot and started tugging at Regina’s clothes, trying not to rip them.
Her voice suddenly stopped her. “Slow.”
Emma met her eyes.
Reading the look in them, Regina smiled and leaned in for a slow, languid kiss. “I wanna make this last.”
Nodding, Emma returned her kiss slowly, passionately. Her hands returned to their original task of ridding Regina of her clothing, though this time her approach was much more methodical. As their lips captured each other over and over again, Emma let her fingers gently undo each button of Regina’s crimson blouse, until it spread open. Slowly, she nudged the item off her shoulders, watching as it slipped away and fluttered to the floor like a fallen rose petal.
The moonlight coming through the blinds painted the room in horizontal stripes, though it did nothing to mar the beauty in front of her. Clad in only a slate gray pencil skirt and a crimson, satin bra, Regina was flawless. Her skin was pale with just a hint of an olive complexion. Her arms were dotted sparsely with the occasional beauty mark, and it became Emma’s quest to kiss each one.
By the time she was on her knees, dusting light kisses to Regina’s navel, they were both practically vibrating with anticipation. She slid her hands around her waist, to the clasp on her skirt, only to have Regina stop her. Emma looked up to see the moonlight reflecting off her pearly smile.
“Allow me.”
With a flick of her fingers, Regina had the clasp unhooked, and she slid the skirt down her legs. Emma rose to her feet to help her step out of it, her pumps the next items to go.
Emma raised her brows in appreciation. “Wow.”
When Regina looked up at her, she breathed an airy chuckle. “Last night happened pretty fast, so I didn’t really take the time to do much looking, but... wow.”
Regina smiled demurely, leaning in for a brief kiss. Instead of responding, when she pulled away she told her, “Your turn.”
Her tank top was lifted over her head, and Emma tossed it aside as Regina unbuttoned her jeans. The zipper was dragged down almost agonizingly slowly, and Emma could have screamed in frustration. Regina seemed to sense her restlessness, and kneeled to finish the task. She looked up at her as she pushed the denim over her hips, teasing her legs with soft touches on the way down.
Emma was practically squirming, and swore when she realized the boots were in the way of her pants. Hurriedly, she bent to unzip them, and Regina pulled them off before Emma kicked her jeans away. Then, they crashed together again, lips bruising and battling for control. Emma cupped Regina’s face, inhaling sharply through her nose as Regina’s hands wandered down to her stomach and beyond, teasing her through her underwear. She moaned against her lips and broke the kiss, eyelids heavy with desire.
Wordlessly, they climbed into bed together, slithering to the middle and falling into another kiss. Emma laid back, pulling Regina with her and moaning when she shifted to lie on top of her. Her hands grasped the curve of Regina’s waist, squeezing ever so slightly before sliding downward, cupping her muscular bottom and relishing the moan she was rewarded with.
Her head was forced back against the pillow when Regina’s hands tangled in her long, blonde curls, her lips pressing deep kisses to her neck and throat. Soft moans and sighs escaped Emma’s lips as she closed her eyes and enjoyed the sensations, her hands sliding to Regina’s back, unhooking the satin that confined her.
Regina was quick to rid her of the same article, and they sighed in unison when skin met skin. Then, Regina flipped them, pulling Emma over her, and she smiled against her lips. Her hand slid slowly up Regina’s forearm, which rested on the pillow, until their fingers entwined. Something about the motion was instantly familiar to Emma, like a déja-vu; it was as if she’d seen it before.
But then Regina’s hand found its way inside her underwear and all thoughts were shoved promptly out of her mind. She broke their kiss to groan, squirming against Regina’s hand. Then it slid away, and she grunted her frustration, muttering, “Tease,” with a playful smile.
Regina chuckled back and kissed her again, lacing their fingers more tightly together. Emma broke from her once more and trailed kisses down her neck and across her shoulder, sliding down to lavish attention on her breasts. Then it was Regina’s turn to squirm under the attention, Emma’s name sliding out on a sigh as she allowed her lips and tongue to tease and tantalize.
The inward slope of the mayor’s stomach was her next destination, and she allowed her tongue to dance a circle around her belly button. She lifted her eyes to Regina’s and saw the plain desire written there, as well as a glimmer of anticipation. Emma just smirked and glanced down at Regina’s waist, sweeping her hand feather-lightly over the satin that hugged her there.
“I know this is the only thing you’re wearing, but uh... it’s still too much,” she quipped.
Regina sighed, “Well, I hate to be overdressed,” and lifted her hips to allow Emma to slip her panties down her legs.
Emma was just kissing up her legs, caressing Regina’s inner thigh with her lips, when the phone began to ring. Regina groaned in frustration, throwing a glance at the clock. “Who the hell would possibly be calling now? It’s after midnight.”
Emma glimpsed at the call screen, and her heart dropped momentarily, almost pre-emptively. “The ID says ‘Blanchard.’”
They met eyes while Emma reached for the phone, pulling it to her ear. “Hello?”
“...Emma?”
Snow White’s voice sounded far off, and a bit tremulous. “Mom?” It still felt completely foreign to call her former roommate by that term.
“I think you and Regina better get over here, quick.”
“Why?” she asked, some inward part of her already knowing the answer.
“Because Henry’s gone.”
**
“What do you mean, ‘gone’?” Regina burst through the door to ‘Mary-Margaret’s’ loft, eyes wide with alarm.
Emma followed her in, lightly touching the sleeve of her jacket as she pleaded with her, “Try to stay calm.” It was advice that even she was having a hard time following, heart racing a mile a minute at the thought of her son going missing.
She had dropped the phone when her mother had told her. She just barely remembered telling her that they were on their way before she and Regina flew into a simultaneous panic, their earlier passion taking an instant backseat as they threw their clothes on in a hurry and jumped into her car. She was positive she hadn’t obeyed any stop signs or traffic lights on the way over, but Regina hadn’t objected in the slightest.
Her parents stood together at the bottom of the stairs, James’ hands on Snow’s shoulders as she pressed a kleenex to her face, crying. “We-we were sleeping,” she stammered tearfully. “Henry was fast asleep, so we went to bed. A little while later, we heard some noise down here, so we came to check it out.”
“When we got downstairs, Henry was gone and the door was wide open,” James told them, pointing toward the front door.
Emma’s pulse quickened, and she swore she could feel her heartbeat in her throat and her ears. Still, she had to force her sheriff side into the foreground. “Were there any signs of a break-in?”
Snow shook her head, tears still slipping down her cheeks. “No, nothing. It was just open, like--”
“Like magic,” Regina muttered, marching quickly for the makeshift bed that had been set up for Henry, off to one side of the main level.
Emma followed her, hoping she had an inkling as to what had happened, because she was coming up blank. And it was hard to keep her head with her son in danger, once again. “What?” she prompted, watching Regina tear apart the bed, pulling up the sheets and the pillow. “Do you think it was Rumplestiltskin?”
Then all at once, Regina froze. Emma felt the tension whip through her as swiftly as if it had happened to her. “Regina, what?”
Regina bent slightly at the waist, scooping up an item that had been on the bed and looking down at it. “I don’t think it was Rumplestiltskin... but I know exactly who it was.”
“Who?” Snow White and her husband stepped toward them.
Emma watched Regina expectantly, looking down when she placed the item in her hand. It was a large card... like a jumbo playing card, or a tarot card.
And when she turned it over, the image of a white rabbit stared back at her.
TBC
{x-posted to onceupon_fanfic and regina_emma
CHAPTER 20: The House of Cards
FANDOM: Once Upon a Time
PAIRING: Swan Queen (Regina/Emma)
SPOILERS: Season one (in its entirety)
RATING: PG-13/light R
SUMMARY: She had to have known Regina wouldn't make this apology process easy on her. Not that she deserved it. No, this was going to take some effort. So rather than let the former queen stew, Emma pushed herself up and marched inside, readying herself for another confrontation.
*****
Hours had passed since Regina had thrown her out, and still she remained on the stoop, unmoving. The sound of the birds had interrupted her thoughts in the afternoon; the sun had gotten in her eyes in the evening, and now she sat chilled under the stars.
She couldn’t believe what she had done. It was so rotten. There was still that last niggling part of her, telling her that it was reasonable that she would jump to such a conclusion after all she’d seen Regina do... but that was quickly buried under feelings of deep remorse and pain.
In the span of nine months, she and Regina had gone from barely-polite pleasantries, to all-out war, to unspoken kinship, to a reluctant alliance, tentative friendship, and now, finally... whatever the hell this was. Lovers? Girlfriends? Partners? She had no idea.
For so long, she had kept Regina locked away in the smallest compartment within her, only opening it to add new information about the way she reacted to certain comments and in certain situations; gathering intelligence on the enemy, in a way. After a few months, the compartment began to expand. New information came in the form of the physical: the way she tilted her head, the spark of fire that would light her eyes when she was furious, the various smiles to grace her features along with their hidden meanings, and the way she pressed her lips together or pursed them in thought.
And now, it was as if the compartment had spilled open and leaked into her system somehow. Regina was everywhere, invisible marks all over her. The way she carried herself and the way her hair moved and how her bare skin felt were suddenly all vital pieces of information, invoking in Emma reactions emotional and physical.
She envied the length of Regina’s lashes and admired the grace in her every step. She enjoyed the unique taste of her lips and shivered when she said her name. She was amused by the smirks that would start to break through when Henry was testing her, and the scar above her upper lip fascinated her.
Her blood boiled when Regina was upset, and she felt completely at peace when their foreheads were pressed together.
“...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.”
And Regina was right - Emma was no saint, either. She had made countless mistakes in her life; some of which landed her in juvy and, a few years later, jail.
But unlike Regina, Emma didn’t regret her mistakes. Without those mistakes, she wouldn’t be half the person she was now. Without those mistakes she wouldn’t have had Henry, and subsequently, she never would have been brought to this town.
Without those mistakes, she never would have met Regina in the first place.
And it was that thought that got her moving again. She pushed herself up from the stoop, muscles protesting after the few hours of being stationary, and she headed for the front door. She tried the handle, only to find it locked. But it didn’t deter her.
Instead, she took the long route, walking around the estate to get to the backyard. She knew she would be there, and there she was; sitting on the swing as she’d found her so many times before, sipping at a glass of wine.
Only this time it wasn’t wine. No, it was a concoction much stronger. The acrid scent reached her from several feet away and made her nostrils sting. She had opted for the quiet approach, but when the smell hit, she couldn’t help but comment, “What the hell are you drinking? Jet fuel?”
Regina curled the wrist that held the glass against her body, throwing Emma a dirty look. Instead of responding, she looked out at the apple tree and took another gulp of the pungent liquid.
“What do you care, anyway?” she finally responded, voice hoarse from drinking.
Emma sighed. “Look, Regina... what I said earlier was...” She shrugged, unable to come up with anything more poignant than, “Stupid. Unbelievably stupid.”
Regina looked over at her, glass tucked against her chest once more. She remained silent, just blinking at her.
Emma took a few steps forward. “I had a lot of time to think about what happened. Why I even believed him in the first place.”
Regina swallowed hard, and looked down into her glass, rasping, “Do tell.”
As she got closer, Emma got a better look at her. A blanket was draped over her legs, which were tucked up beside her on the swing. Her lips were drawn and the corners were pointed downward. One look at her eyes and she realized the hoarseness in her voice wasn’t from drinking.
Regina had been crying.
Against her better judgment, Emma went to her, half-bracing herself for being blasted across the lawn by a purple bolt. But instead Regina remained unmoving, rocking herself gently on the swing.
She sat down beside her and the swing was momentarily thrown off its rhythm. Ignoring the look of warning Regina sent her way, Emma scooted close.
“It was easy for me to believe Gold’s line of crap. It all added up and it made perfect sense.”
Regina pursed her lips. “You’re not doing yourself any favors going down this road again.”
She held up her hands in supplication. “Just hear me out.” Softer, she urged, “Please.”
The quiet plea threw her off for a moment, she could tell -- her features softened ever-so-slightly before she schooled them again, looking straight ahead once more and snipping, “Make it quick. I’m tired and I’d like to get some sleep.”
Emma sighed -- it was the best she was going to get. And at this point, she’d take anything. “Fine, I’ll cut to the chase.” Boldly, she reached out and turned Regina’s face toward her again with a thumb and finger on her chin. Once she had made eye contact, she let it out. “It was easier to believe that you were using me, because the idea that this might be genuine scares the hell out of me.”
Regina’s lips parted and she drew in a soft, quick breath. Her eyes searched Emma’s, expression softening. “What?”
“You scare the hell out of me, Regina. This whole thing does.” She scooted a little closer, grabbing for her hand and letting out an inward sigh of relief when it wasn’t instantly yanked away. “When I first came here, I hated you. Thought you were the most cold-hearted, unfeeling bitch. But the longer I stayed, the more I got to see these tiny little glimpses of actual, human emotion. When you quit being ‘Mayor Mills’ and you were just you.”
Regina swallowed hard again and glanced down at her lap, at their entwined fingers. “When Henry was trapped in the mine.”
She nodded. “Yes. And then the fire. And in the hospital. All I had to go on were these tiny little glimpses of the real you, Regina. And what scares me is the fact that even back then, even before we struck up this little ‘alliance’... I had wanted to see more. I wanted to see the real you.”
Regina looked up at her, searching her eyes with tears in her own. Emma pressed on, not wanting to lose momentum. “And it’s only gotten more intense since I’ve been staying here, in this house. I wanted to see the sides of you that nobody else got to see. The woman that raised a child on her own -- who tucked him in at night and sang to him out here on this very swing when he couldn’t sleep. The woman who used to be happy - who used to enjoy her life, before it became a power struggle. I want to see everything, Regina,” her voice broke briefly, “and that scares the crap out of me. Because I’ve never wanted to see everything in anyone else.”
“Really?”
Her voice came in a shocked whisper, some form of sadness and pleasant surprise mingling on her face.
Emma allowed herself to smile. “Yeah, really.”
And though the tears remained, Regina’s full lips settled into a scowl, and she threw the blanket off her legs suddenly, pushing herself up. “Then I guess it’s too bad you don’t want to see past the mistakes and the body count.” She flounced into the house through the back door.
Emma sighed, dipping her head for a second before calling after her, “Regina...”
She had to have known Regina wouldn't make this apology process easy on her. Not that she deserved it. No, this was going to take some effort. So rather than let the former queen stew, Emma pushed herself up and marched inside, readying herself for another confrontation.
She met up with Regina in the foyer, catching her arm before she could lock herself in her study. “So walking away is the way to resolve this? Come on, Regina.”
“What is there to resolve, Emma? You say you want to see ‘everything’ and yet you can’t see past your own initial, narrow perceptions of me. That is why it was so easy for you to believe every line he fed you.”
“No. It’s not. I promise you, it’s not. God, Regina!” She shook her head, pushing her hands roughly through her hair. “Doesn’t this scare you? We’re supposed to hate each other, or-or resent one another forever, and yet... we don’t! We care about each other. Way too much. That doesn’t scare you?”
“It’s terrifying,” she admitted, fists still clenched at her side. “The last thing I want is to feel something for you, but I do. It’s ludicrous, but I’m dealing with it. But you lashed out at me, without having any of the real information - without even asking me. Are you expecting me to just brush that off when you say something nice?”
“No. No, of course not. But there’s too much at stake for us to just sweep all this under the rug and let it dissolve. And I think there’s too much here,” she gestured between the two of them, “for us to stay mad at each other forever. We need to work together, we’re a team.” Tilting her head, she said plaintively, “We have to protect Henry from whatever’s coming our way.”
Regina paused to give that some thought. She dipped her head, and Emma watched the varying shades of deep brown obscure her eyes for a moment. Until that graceful hand came up and tucked the slice behind her ear. “We have been under quite a bit of stress lately,” she admitted.
“Yeah. We have.” She took a step forward. “Stress that could make us say really idiotic things that we don’t mean.”
Quirking a brow, she asked, “Things that could also make us feel things for each other that we wouldn’t under normal circumstances?”
Then it was Emma’s turn to pause. She hadn’t even considered that. “I don’t know. Maybe...”
“Did you ever think that... maybe the only reason we’re feeling all these things is because of the situation? Because we’re in close quarters?” Regina inclined her head just slightly and said quite matter-of-factly, “Because let’s face it - if we weren’t stuck with each other day in and day out, we probably wouldn’t care as much.”
“Maybe not.” The ‘as much’ stuck with her. “But I would still care about you. I would still want to believe that there was good in you and that you would help me protect Henry. And who knows?” She threw up her hands in a shrug. “Maybe Rumplestiltskin’s right about the blood thing. Maybe that’s the only reason too. Or maybe he cast a spell over us when we weren’t paying attention, Regina, I don’t care!”
The former queen looked slightly taken aback by the sudden exclamation, but Emma took another step into her.
“We can excuse what’s happening between us and explain it away and try to figure out why the hell it happened in the first place but to me, none of it matters. I feel it and I don’t think it’s gonna go away anytime soon. So we can either stand here and let this house of cards fall down, or we can make amends and try to move past me and my big mouth.” She finally stopped to take a breath, telling her as she let it out, “The ball’s in your court, Regina. What do you wanna do?”
Regina darted her eyes away, searching the remains of the destroyed table as if an answer was somewhere in the splintered wood and shards of glass. She looked up and Emma tried to discern the look in her eyes, tried to guess what she was thinking.
But then she was afforded no time for guessing as Regina crashed against her, hands in her hair as they slammed into the wall. Emma gasped under the force of her kiss, trying to regain her bearings, but it only deepened. Lips bruised and teeth nipped. Tongues were reacquainted and breath mingled.
It was clear what Regina wanted to do about their situation.
So Emma pushed back, pushing off from the wall and tangling her hands in Regina’s hair as Regina’s hands gripped her waist. They stumbled over the broken table, glass crunching beneath her boots and Regina’s pumps. Regina cried out into her mouth as they were stopped again, this time by the banister at the bottom of the staircase.
“You alright?” she breathed into her mouth, never breaking the kiss.
Regina nodded against her and slid her hands upward, murmuring, “Fine. No stopping,” before deepening the kiss all over again and shoving at her red leather jacket.
They struggled trying to get it off, Emma flapping her arms behind her while Regina shoved at the stubborn article of clothing, all the while never breaking the heated kiss. Once the jacket had been shucked, Emma pushed her against the wall at the bottom of the stairs, untucking her pressed silk shirt from her skirt. The kiss broke finally, only so she could allow her lips to explore the soft skin of Regina’s neck and under her ear. Softly, she breathed against her skin, taking her in, and she couldn’t help but smile when she felt Regina shudder.
“Upstairs,” the mayor murmured and Emma was all too happy to comply.
They stumbled their way up the stairs and down the hall, bumping into walls on either side of the upstairs hallway as they exchanged more fervent kisses. Once inside the master bedroom, Emma kicked the door shut with one foot and started tugging at Regina’s clothes, trying not to rip them.
Her voice suddenly stopped her. “Slow.”
Emma met her eyes.
Reading the look in them, Regina smiled and leaned in for a slow, languid kiss. “I wanna make this last.”
Nodding, Emma returned her kiss slowly, passionately. Her hands returned to their original task of ridding Regina of her clothing, though this time her approach was much more methodical. As their lips captured each other over and over again, Emma let her fingers gently undo each button of Regina’s crimson blouse, until it spread open. Slowly, she nudged the item off her shoulders, watching as it slipped away and fluttered to the floor like a fallen rose petal.
The moonlight coming through the blinds painted the room in horizontal stripes, though it did nothing to mar the beauty in front of her. Clad in only a slate gray pencil skirt and a crimson, satin bra, Regina was flawless. Her skin was pale with just a hint of an olive complexion. Her arms were dotted sparsely with the occasional beauty mark, and it became Emma’s quest to kiss each one.
By the time she was on her knees, dusting light kisses to Regina’s navel, they were both practically vibrating with anticipation. She slid her hands around her waist, to the clasp on her skirt, only to have Regina stop her. Emma looked up to see the moonlight reflecting off her pearly smile.
“Allow me.”
With a flick of her fingers, Regina had the clasp unhooked, and she slid the skirt down her legs. Emma rose to her feet to help her step out of it, her pumps the next items to go.
Emma raised her brows in appreciation. “Wow.”
When Regina looked up at her, she breathed an airy chuckle. “Last night happened pretty fast, so I didn’t really take the time to do much looking, but... wow.”
Regina smiled demurely, leaning in for a brief kiss. Instead of responding, when she pulled away she told her, “Your turn.”
Her tank top was lifted over her head, and Emma tossed it aside as Regina unbuttoned her jeans. The zipper was dragged down almost agonizingly slowly, and Emma could have screamed in frustration. Regina seemed to sense her restlessness, and kneeled to finish the task. She looked up at her as she pushed the denim over her hips, teasing her legs with soft touches on the way down.
Emma was practically squirming, and swore when she realized the boots were in the way of her pants. Hurriedly, she bent to unzip them, and Regina pulled them off before Emma kicked her jeans away. Then, they crashed together again, lips bruising and battling for control. Emma cupped Regina’s face, inhaling sharply through her nose as Regina’s hands wandered down to her stomach and beyond, teasing her through her underwear. She moaned against her lips and broke the kiss, eyelids heavy with desire.
Wordlessly, they climbed into bed together, slithering to the middle and falling into another kiss. Emma laid back, pulling Regina with her and moaning when she shifted to lie on top of her. Her hands grasped the curve of Regina’s waist, squeezing ever so slightly before sliding downward, cupping her muscular bottom and relishing the moan she was rewarded with.
Her head was forced back against the pillow when Regina’s hands tangled in her long, blonde curls, her lips pressing deep kisses to her neck and throat. Soft moans and sighs escaped Emma’s lips as she closed her eyes and enjoyed the sensations, her hands sliding to Regina’s back, unhooking the satin that confined her.
Regina was quick to rid her of the same article, and they sighed in unison when skin met skin. Then, Regina flipped them, pulling Emma over her, and she smiled against her lips. Her hand slid slowly up Regina’s forearm, which rested on the pillow, until their fingers entwined. Something about the motion was instantly familiar to Emma, like a déja-vu; it was as if she’d seen it before.
But then Regina’s hand found its way inside her underwear and all thoughts were shoved promptly out of her mind. She broke their kiss to groan, squirming against Regina’s hand. Then it slid away, and she grunted her frustration, muttering, “Tease,” with a playful smile.
Regina chuckled back and kissed her again, lacing their fingers more tightly together. Emma broke from her once more and trailed kisses down her neck and across her shoulder, sliding down to lavish attention on her breasts. Then it was Regina’s turn to squirm under the attention, Emma’s name sliding out on a sigh as she allowed her lips and tongue to tease and tantalize.
The inward slope of the mayor’s stomach was her next destination, and she allowed her tongue to dance a circle around her belly button. She lifted her eyes to Regina’s and saw the plain desire written there, as well as a glimmer of anticipation. Emma just smirked and glanced down at Regina’s waist, sweeping her hand feather-lightly over the satin that hugged her there.
“I know this is the only thing you’re wearing, but uh... it’s still too much,” she quipped.
Regina sighed, “Well, I hate to be overdressed,” and lifted her hips to allow Emma to slip her panties down her legs.
Emma was just kissing up her legs, caressing Regina’s inner thigh with her lips, when the phone began to ring. Regina groaned in frustration, throwing a glance at the clock. “Who the hell would possibly be calling now? It’s after midnight.”
Emma glimpsed at the call screen, and her heart dropped momentarily, almost pre-emptively. “The ID says ‘Blanchard.’”
They met eyes while Emma reached for the phone, pulling it to her ear. “Hello?”
“...Emma?”
Snow White’s voice sounded far off, and a bit tremulous. “Mom?” It still felt completely foreign to call her former roommate by that term.
“I think you and Regina better get over here, quick.”
“Why?” she asked, some inward part of her already knowing the answer.
“Because Henry’s gone.”
**
“What do you mean, ‘gone’?” Regina burst through the door to ‘Mary-Margaret’s’ loft, eyes wide with alarm.
Emma followed her in, lightly touching the sleeve of her jacket as she pleaded with her, “Try to stay calm.” It was advice that even she was having a hard time following, heart racing a mile a minute at the thought of her son going missing.
She had dropped the phone when her mother had told her. She just barely remembered telling her that they were on their way before she and Regina flew into a simultaneous panic, their earlier passion taking an instant backseat as they threw their clothes on in a hurry and jumped into her car. She was positive she hadn’t obeyed any stop signs or traffic lights on the way over, but Regina hadn’t objected in the slightest.
Her parents stood together at the bottom of the stairs, James’ hands on Snow’s shoulders as she pressed a kleenex to her face, crying. “We-we were sleeping,” she stammered tearfully. “Henry was fast asleep, so we went to bed. A little while later, we heard some noise down here, so we came to check it out.”
“When we got downstairs, Henry was gone and the door was wide open,” James told them, pointing toward the front door.
Emma’s pulse quickened, and she swore she could feel her heartbeat in her throat and her ears. Still, she had to force her sheriff side into the foreground. “Were there any signs of a break-in?”
Snow shook her head, tears still slipping down her cheeks. “No, nothing. It was just open, like--”
“Like magic,” Regina muttered, marching quickly for the makeshift bed that had been set up for Henry, off to one side of the main level.
Emma followed her, hoping she had an inkling as to what had happened, because she was coming up blank. And it was hard to keep her head with her son in danger, once again. “What?” she prompted, watching Regina tear apart the bed, pulling up the sheets and the pillow. “Do you think it was Rumplestiltskin?”
Then all at once, Regina froze. Emma felt the tension whip through her as swiftly as if it had happened to her. “Regina, what?”
Regina bent slightly at the waist, scooping up an item that had been on the bed and looking down at it. “I don’t think it was Rumplestiltskin... but I know exactly who it was.”
“Who?” Snow White and her husband stepped toward them.
Emma watched Regina expectantly, looking down when she placed the item in her hand. It was a large card... like a jumbo playing card, or a tarot card.
And when she turned it over, the image of a white rabbit stared back at her.
TBC
{x-posted to onceupon_fanfic and regina_emma