Title: Winter Come (Winter Crush All)
Category: Once Upon a Time
Rating: T
Characters: Regina, Robin, mentions of others
Pairings: OutlawQueen (Robin/Regina)
Summary: Regina's been avoiding Robin to the best of her ability. But then, he breaks into her house and there's a snowstorm and they're stuck in her living room, trying to be each other's therapists.
Warnings: Some love and a shitload of angst. Okay, maybe not that much…
Word Count: 1,255
Disclaimer: I don't own anything but the idea.
Author's Notes: Funny story, I wrote this right after the finale and left it sitting in my documents for a few months. But now I'm fixing it. And posting it, so voile. Right before the premiere (we've come so far!). I found Regina's perspective strangely difficult to write from, since most of my writing is from a goofy-character's POV (or at least the one that curses a lot), so this was a little new to me. Also, my other OUAT fics are all CaptainSwan, so I kept having to delete random innuendo. So…I'll see how it goes.
"Drifting apart like two sheets of ice, my love
Frozen hearts growing colder with time
There's no heat from our mouths
Please take me back to when I was yours,"
-Daughter, "Winter"
Regina's keys jingled as she set them down. She was tired, and angry, and had a desperate need for wine. Red, red wine. Before she could break into the alcohol though, she set her groceries on the counter and began to put them away, shelf by shelf.
"Need some help?" a voice questioned from behind her.
Regina reacted on instinct, hurling a fireball at Robin that he just barely managed to miss. "What the hell do you think you're doing?" she demanded, frantically trying to stop the flames from spreading.
"I'm a thief," he replied simply. "I broke in."
"Why?" she barked, not in the mood for this. With one more flick of her wrist, the fire was put out.
"I needed to talk to you, and every time I approach you, you turn on your heel and walk away." This was true.
"Robin, just go."
Regina loathed how small and meek her voice sounded, small and pathetic. She hated how she sounded as though she was begging him. "Regina, I need to talk to you."
"Rob—"
The ringing of Regina's cell phone interrupted her protests.
"Hello?"
"Regina?"
Ugh. Emma. "Yes, Miss Swan?"
"Well, there's a snowstorm right now, really dangerous, and I'm sending out a call to the town to let everyone know that you need to stay inside. The snow's acting weird, possessed or something. It's blocking everyone's magic once they come into contact with it."
Great. Just great.
Regina hung up without replying, instead glaring at the basket of apples sitting atop the table.
"Something wrong?" Robin interrupted.
"You're stuck here. Until it stops snowing."
His cheeky grin was enough to make her want to strangle him. "Should I cook something for you?"
He had to be joking. Last time she ate his food, she sputtered it all over the front of her dress, surprised at how awful it tasted. "I'll cook."
So she made spaghetti with marinara, and they ate. Her fork clinked against the glass plate, his teeth clicked together when he chewed, and the wind outside howled like there was no tomorrow.
"We should talk," Robin decided once he had finished eating and reclined in the chair.
"Nothing to talk about," Regina muttered.
"Plenty of things to talk about."
Nothing easy, Regina thought. It was as though he was reading her mind though, because he kept talking.
"We could start with the simple things. Like the weather. It's quite odd, wouldn't you say?"
After glowering at him for another moment, Regina forced her lips to move. "I would." Slowly, she stood up and walked to the sink, dropping her plate off. She turned around, placing a hand on her hip. "Would you like to sit with me in the living room?"
Robin nodded, following her. Once they had sat across from one another, he began to speak. "How have you been?"
"Not great," she responded dryly. "You could even use the word 'awful'."
"Regina, if you would allow me to explain."
Sending a false look of distaste towards the wall, Regina scoffed. "If you must."
"When Marian returned, I was happy, of course. I had thought she was dead, as had Roland. He never knew his mother. And I love Marian."
Well, that was just great. Thank you, Robin. Thanks for that.
"Wait," he continued, reading her mind once again. "I love Marian—"
"As you've said," Regina sneered.
"But I'm in love with you. There's a difference."
"Robin," Regina interrupted. "If you love Marian, you should be with her. She's Roland's mother, she's the one that you need. She's the good one."
"You don't understand," he spoke softly.
"Marian would."
Okay, that was uncalled for; it was also extremely pathetic.
"No," he said firmly. "She wouldn't. For her, it has been weeks, maybe a month since she saw me. For me, it's been years. I've had years, Regina. To mourn her, to move on. But deep down, I'll always love her. She's the mother of my son, after all."
"And what if I can't accept that?" Regina questioned, trying to see when he would break. All he sent her was a pitiful look, and that was enough for her. "Never mind. Continue."
"In those years that I've had to mourn her, I've fallen in love with you."
"She was in my dungeon!" Regina exclaimed. "I almost killed her! She was sitting in my dungeon, waiting to be executed until Emma broke her out and brought her here. Now how do you feel?"
"She told me," Robin replied. "She told me that the woman I loved was going to kill her. I said that you had changed. You used light magic, Regina. You have a son that you care about more than anything. You've made peace with Snow and David."
"I'm not supposed to get a happy ending," Regina muttered, eyes glazing over. "Everything I love is taken from me. Daniel, Henry, you and Roland. I can't win. Villains don't get happy endings."
"What do you suppose I am?" Robin questioned. "I'm a thief, Regina. Maybe we should not get happy endings together."
"What about Marian?" Regina asked. "I'm not going to be your mistress, Robin. Even I'm above that."
"I never asked you to," Robin told her. "All I'm asking is that you give me time, to let Marian adjust to everything. So much has changed."
He was right; a lot had. The Evil Queen wasn't evil. She had a family. They no longer lived in the Enchanted Forest. They now had freak snowstorms.
Speaking of which…
Regina stood up abruptly, opening the window. She couldn't see anything, as there were feet of snow completely obstructing her view of the outside world.
"What is it, my love?" Robin questioned.
"Snow," she whispered. Shaking her head, she snapped out of her haze. "Make sure Marian finds a place to stay. I'm assuming that the woods won't fit her needs, exactly."
"I will. Thank you, Regina."
Slowly, surely, she tilted her head up and brushed her lips against his. "We should sleep."
So they both lay in her bed. He fell asleep first, snoring softly as she stared out the window, watching the snow fall.
Flames are gone
Gloves are on
I have a feeling
Love's gone mad
A/N: Review!
