Disclaimer: The characters from Once Upon a Time belong to Disney/ABC. I wrote this for fun, not profit - I tried filling a prompt, but I didn't actually fulfill most of the request. A+++, me!
I'd like to thank WalnutHulls, who graciously acted as a sounding board and editor for this cracked-out idea. All errors belong to me.
"We did everything we could."
"I'm sorry. You're too late."
Regina felt as though the world was falling from underneath her. This couldn't be happening. Her son wasn't supposed to pay the price. He was supposed to be a part of her happy ending - the best part.
She watched as the nurse started unhooking the monitors from Henry's body - so small against the hospital bed - and choked back a sob. "No... no, Henry... you weren't..."
Emma moved beside her, placing a hand on Henry's body. Her skin was as pale as his under the fluorescent lighting, even covered in grime from the caverns. The blonde looked at the boy for a long moment, and then turned to the nurse. "Can you give us a moment?" she asked, her voice low. Regina could barely hear her, despite the deathly quiet surrounding them.
The nurse paused, and then she nodded, leaving the two women alone. Regina hesitantly reached out to touch her little boy, afraid that she would actually feel the warmth leave his body. She half-expected the blonde woman to slap her hand away, but Emma's green eyes were focused on Henry. The mayor gently rested her hand on Henry's left arm, sliding it towards his wrist till his hand was engulfed in her own, and her heart shattered.
Her little boy was dead.
She felt the pinpricks of tears form, but she wouldn't cry. Not in front of the woman that forced her hand. "Why didn't you just eat the damned turnover?" Her voice cracked, and and she let out a strangled sob. "Why couldn't you just leave?!"
The only response was the sound of her own harsh breathing. Time seemed to stretched on, and Regina looked over to see Emma's chest rise and fall the same as hers, but...
"I... I might be able to bring him back, Regina. Even without that potion." The words rang out suddenly, and then there was absolute silence from the blonde.
"What?" She let go of Henry to reach across the bed and pull at Emma's arm. "What game are you playing at, Miss Sw-" She stopped abruptly when she made contact with Emma's skin, which was so cold to the touch that it nearly burned.
"I can make him... I can make him like me." Emma ducked her head, her blonde curls hiding her face from sight. "It's not a guarantee, and it will be painful for him, and... I don't want to, but even raising him to be like... this HAS to be better than living without him."
The sheriff finally turned her gaze to meet Regina head on, and Regina's heart leapt in her throat. She expected green irises, rimmed with red, to glare at her - not crimson flecked with gold.
Regina blinked rapidly, trying to shake the image before her. Her pulse pounded in her head, and fear skittered down her spine as Emma's eyes trailed along her neck, as though tracing the blood within her veins. "You're not human."
"...no, I'm not." Emma's voice broke slightly. "Not anymore."
The Queen never had a reason to ward herself from the vampires that stalked the nights of the Enchanted Forest; they were relegated to mere myths and legends, rumored to follow nothing but their bloodlust. Every single thing she knew about them, woefully inadequate, tumbled through her mind and broke against the truth of Emma's mere presence in her town - all except one dark fact, confirmed by the blonde's reluctant offer. She latched on to that knowledge with a desperation that overshadowed anything else she had felt in her long life: Daniel, Snow's demise, the curse... She would do anything to bring Henry back to life, no matter the cost.
"I'll do whatever it takes. Whatever you want, Miss Swan. Just bring our son back to us," Regina answered without hesitation. "Please. He can't... he can't leave me. Not like this."
Emma walked over to her then, the heels of her leather boots echoing in the hospital room.
"Then I need your blood."
Emma moved forward until she crowded the smaller woman's space; Regina shivered from the cold radiating from the other woman's body. Goosebumps broke out across her skin as hands like ice gripped her own, guiding them back into the shadows of the room, where the fluorescent lights couldn't reach.
The pressure on her hands increased sharply, and she cried out in pain. "I should make this hurt," Emma snarled suddenly, her fangs gleaming in the darkness. The threat vibrated through her entire body, shaking Regina to her core. "I should drain you until there's absolutely nothing left, until you're just a goddamn husk-"
"As well you should! It's more than I deser-"
Regina gasped as her back slammed against the wall, her head cracking against a cabinet. Emma's gaze jerked to her forehead, and she could feel something warm trickle down her temple. Red eyes, glowing in the darkness, followed it down her cheek, and a shaking finger reached up to swipe it away. Emma rubbed her fingertips together, smearing the blood around, and she shuddered.
"Maybe it is," she agreed, flicking her gaze to meet Regina's, "but Henry deserves better."
Emma lowered her mouth to Regina's throat, and paused. "This part will hurt. There's not much I can do about it," she whispered, cold breath finally ghosting across Regina's skin, "but it should fade quickly. I won't take much, just enough to..."
Regina wrapped her free hand into blonde tresses, forcing frigid lips to her jugular. "Quit stalling and take whatever you need, Miss Swan." Her voice broke. "As I said, I'll give anything to bring him back."
The taller woman shifted slightly, and then Regina felt Emma's teeth nip at her skin. Elongated canines quickly pierced through flesh and muscle, sending sharp shooting pains down her neck. At first it felt like ice water was pumping in her veins, followed by a rush of molten lava, and then everything faded into the background. There was no more pain, only a trickle of warmth that wound its way from the pulse point Emma was suckling on, down throughout her body. Her limbs tingled slightly, weighed down by sudden exhaustion, and Emma's embrace was the only thing keeping her standing.
Regina tightened her grip in Emma's golden curls, and pulled her right hand from Emma's grasp so she could try to stay upright. Her fingers scrabbled against Emma's shoulder, and the other woman pulled her even closer, wrapping her bare arms around Regina's torso. They were nearly flush together, and the smaller woman started as she felt her own blood pumping through Emma's veins. She tentatively shifted her hand down from Emma's pale, slender shoulder and let it rest over her heart. The skin beneath, hidden by that damned tank top, started to flush, but it was still so much lighter than her own. A moment later, Regina could feel the thump of a stuttering heartbeat under her palm, and her own slowed down to match its rhythm. Her pulse grew weak, and a dark maw opened stretched out behind her, pulling her into oblivion.
Emma pulled back suddenly, grasping Regina by her hips when she slid bonelessly down the wall. Supernatural strength kept her in place as red eyes pierced the shadowed veil that had fallen over her mind. "I think I took too much," Emma murmured, craning her head to examine the bite wound. She brought her thumb to her mouth and nicked it with her fangs, before bringing it to Regina's mouth. "Here, this will help keep you steady."
"I thought you needed my blood, Miss Swan, not the other way around." Regina's voice was thready, and she felt a cold sweat settle upon her brow.
"I do, but I also need you awake if this works. If it doesn't..."
Emma's words from before - "the only reason you're not dead is because I need your help to save Henry" - echoed in her mind.
The brunette nodded once, and parted her mouth. The blood was dark, darker than she'd ever seen, and it didn't smell of iron or salt. It didn't taste of warm copper, but of something sweet, like cinnamon. Emma pulled her thumb away, smearing the remnants of her own blood along Regina's lip, and turned to face Henry once more. She waited a beat, and another, and then a surge of foreign magic rushed through her body, restoring strength to her weakened limbs.
They both made their way back to his bed, and Regina's heart broke all over again at seeing her son so still. She looked up to Emma, whose face was finally flushed under the overhead lights, and waited.
"Oh, Henry," Emma whispered, brushing Henry's bangs from his face. "This is why I could never be your Savior. I'm... I'm just a monster, and now I'm using my own curse to bring you back. I hope you can forgive me.
"I love you."
Regina held her breath as Emma's blood-stained lips touched Henry's forehead.
~fin
The original prompt was submitted to beatthe0dds's Tumblr by usscaroline, who requested Vampire!Swan/Regina: "Emma is a Vampire and has been able to keep control of herself until Regina cuts herself on accident and Emma suddenly realizes that she loves and is attracted to Regina and NEEDS her. a few conditions: Emma was changed after she had Henry, Vampires in this world are able to walk in the light and have simply perpetuated the lies. can be smuty or fluffy or both. canon pre-curse break should be mostly the same. post curse break can be as au as you would like."
... I fulfilled the part where Emma was turned by a vampire after giving up Henry, and can walk in the daylight. Whoops? It's pre-SwanQueen, if that helps :/