Ever since that man had chosen to identify himself, the questions about the location of his father were never ending. Regina had always evaded, never giving the satisfaction of an answer, and really, the answer truly wouldn't be satisfactory anyway. In some twisted form of compassion Regina still felt the man who had been a child so long ago, one that she cared about and had wanted to take in as her own, years before Henry, Regina thought that by not answering she was doing him a favor. He didn't want to know the true fate of his father, not really. Apparently he didn't agree in the favor department, as he and his pretty little back up had kidnapped her and stashed her in the cannery. Now, she was hooked up in more places than she could count to a machine that produced a torture unlike anything the Evil Queen could've concocted at her most foul and aggressive in the Enchanted Forest. Granted, such technology hadn't been available to her, but the pain it brought was what she was sure the equivalent of being struck by lightning a thousand times in a row was. Still, she refused to answer. As long as he wanted something from her, she'd be kept alive. Stalling was what it was; Regina knew Emma at the very least would be looking for her. And with her handy skills in finding people, she was sure it wouldn't take her horribly long. As soon as she lost that leverage, as soon as she were to speak in a moment of weakness, she'd be dead. She had no doubt in her mind that she wasn't being given the full capacity of the machine. Crank it up all the way and she'd be fried in a second.
No, she wouldn't answer even if her insides boiled. She had to wait until Emma found her, and then she'd deal with the rest of the consequences. They both would, together. It was what they did. Regina changed for Henry and for Emma and she'd be damned if all that change was for nothing.
"Where…is…my…father?" Greg spaces the question out, each word punctuated with increasing rage.
Regina clamped her mouth shut and just a second later her body seized once again, absorbing the shocks that were being sent through. It was impossible not to scream, but at least while screaming she was unable to form coherent words. When those screams of pain escaped, she couldn't answer him even if she wanted to. Which she didn't.
Her safe haven, even in pain, was Emma, and Henry. The thought that she'd be found and would be able to return to them relatively soon was what kept her going. An average body would have given up at this point, but Regina Mills had never been what you'd call average. She was magical, dark magic or not, and she shared the most powerful connection with a person anyone could have. Not only did she have True Love, she had it with the woman that was the product of True Love, which made it twice as powerful. She knew that because if one party didn't want it, basic True Love could be avoided if an active effort was made. And Regina had tried her damned hardest not to fall for Emma Swan, also once the curse had broke, she knew Emma had tried her damned hardest not to fall in love with the Evil Queen, former or not. Both tried, quite actively, to avoid being connected in such a way. It had been bad enough that they shared a son in Henry, they hadn't needed the extra complications. But True Love had made magnets out of them, and they were helplessly drawn to each other. So much so that their love became more epic than that of Snow White and Charming in time, which is something that Regina never in a billion years would have expected to experience personally. Regina had believed the pull of True Love to be a fluke in her case, but the fact that her True Love was the Savior, the White Knight of all people was hard to file as a coincidence. Their love surpassing that of the two who literally crossed worlds for each other time and time again was nothing short of a rarity the likes of a supernova.
Emma Swan and Regina Mills were two people that were never, ever supposed to meet and much less to fall in love. Technically, Regina looked the same age since 1983 when Emma was born, but where Emma aged Regina simply grew old in the same repeating day until Henry brought Emma into Storybrooke. If the curse hadn't been cast, Regina would likely be dead by 2011. The Enchanted Forest didn't have many of the luxuries life in Storybrooke provided. If not for the curse, most of the Storybrooke residents would also be dead, and Henry wouldn't be in existence. The three of them were never supposed to become a family unit. But sometimes, anomalies happen and so they became the biggest anomaly of all.
Regina had been destined for greatness indeed, although it was nothing like her mother had intended. Yes, Regina had been Queen, but the power of True Love with this intensity, Queendom may as well be the ant one burns with a magnifying glass in comparison.
"This is the end of you, Regina! You will never be able to hurt anyone ever again!"
Regina would have snorted at the absurdity of the source of that statement, if her body hadn't started to seize again. She thought it odd that she didn't hear herself scream this time, but she credited that to the fact that with all the screaming she'd done already, her voice was shot.
Shortly, Emma burst into the room. There were others with her, of course, David, Neal, and Mary Margaret, but they scattered to take down Greg and Tamara, leaving Emma alone to tend to Regina. How they managed to get those pains in the asses to abandon their torture technique, Emma wasn't sure, but she was immensely glad for it. Regina needed some serious help.
Emma fought to keep clear vision, but it proved to be impossible as she set to work disconnecting Regina from that horrible torture device. She just wanted to get her out of here. The poor woman had endured far too much already. Her heart ached for her and she had to make do with working through blurry vision. The tears began to fall when Regina remained unconscious even when the last of the electrodes had been removed. "Regina…" Emma cupped her cheek and gasped when she felt skin that was hot to the touch, as if she had a high fever. "Come on, baby, wake up. We've gotta get you home." She stroked her cheek with her thumb for a few moments as she thought and waited. Finally, she decided to press a kiss to her incredibly chapped lips. Nothing. She pulled back, hardly able to see Regina's form due to her overflow of tears. She felt her lower lip begin to quiver. "Damn it, you're scaring me!" It was a hissed whisper, the lump in her throat was growing too hard to speak over. Her hands went to her shoulders, giving her a firm shake.
Regina felt it, coming to once more. "Emma," she murmured. She struggled to sit up and when she did she threw her arms around her, not wanting her to be upset. She felt her, warm and solid, but the embrace wasn't returned.
More confusing, Emma was still trying to wake her up. "Regina, wake up!" her voice sounded more frantic, revealing a tone of fear that she shouldn't be feeling at this point.
"I'm right here." Regina drew back and cupped Emma's cheeks in her hands. "I'm right here, Emma!" She looked into her eyes but felt the eeriest sensation of being looked through rather than looked at. It was as if Emma truly couldn't see her even though she was right in front of her.
Suddenly, Emma collapsed right onto Regina's chest and Regina couldn't have felt more relieved. "Regina…"
Regina wrapped her arms around her again. "Sssh, it's okay." She stroked those long blonde locks. "It's okay."
"…Why? Regina, why did you leave me? Why did you leave us? Why?!"
"Emma, I haven't left you," Regina insisted as she held her tight. "I haven't gone anywhere." She got an odd feeling again. It was like Emma wasn't hearing her even though she was right there in her arms.
A few minutes later Emma sniffled and got back to her feet. "What am I going to tell Henry?" she asked brokenly.
"You don't need to tell him anything." But she was speaking to empty air. Emma had spun on her heel and fled from the room.
Regina stood up to go chase after her and her composure cracked. Worry bubbled up and she ran a hand through her hair, her head turning to the side. She froze and her eyes went wide. She was still on the table, even though she was standing just next to it. Her mouth fell open and closed, silently babbling.
Everything clicked into place. Regina Mills was dead.