Author's Notes: This is my Swan Queen Week 5 (Summer 2015) contribution. It is complete, will be posted in parts, and covers like 4 of the week's trope prompts in some fashion. I'm posting this primarily for the Saturday, July 18th Swan Queen Week prompt, Trapped Together . It also has elements of many other SQW trope prompts this week: bed sharing (Sunday), assumed to be a couple (Wednesday), jealousy (Monday), and act of true love (Friday) in resolving the story.
Beta Thanks to dragonwriter for her advice on the title and making me not feel insane for writing this.
Vengeance Gives Succor to The Darkness
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"This would have to be the year for snow in May," Regina huffed, blowing a dark lock of hair out from in front of her eyes.
They had been doing fine on the drive to New York. Companionable company in the car; Emma letting Regina control the radio as a "driver's choice" personal rule, and she found she liked most of the same music - a little scary, but comforting nonetheless. However, almost as soon as they left Maine and entered Massachusetts, the weather turned gray. Emma flipped to a news station to find out that a rare spring blizzard - for god's sake, the equinox had been two week ago! - would be upon them in just three hours.
"I can keep driving," Regina said.
"No. I changed out the snow tires. We won't be able to drive safely if it gets much more than a light half-inch," Emma pointed out.
Regina glanced several times between the sky and the road. When she put her foot on the accelerator, Emma put her hand over Regina's on the steering wheel.
"There's nothing for it," Emma said. "We'll continue to New York as soon as the weather breaks."
"But -"
"Just pull off into the next hotel you see," Emma cut her off. She was annoyed by Regina's insistence to go after Robin anyway, though she didn't really know why. The woman was entitled to pine after the man, she supposed. Even if he was married. She scoffed mentally at the whole notion of soulmates. She tried to shrug it off. "So, today's drive is cut a bit short. We'll make it up tomorrow."
"A blizzard could stop us for days, Emma," Regina said, even as she searched the highway information signs for the little house symbols that always meant lodging.
"We'll stay next to a highway. Don't go too far into some town. The plows always hit the major thoroughfares first. Don't worry."
Regina fretted, but chose to trust Emma. She was anxious about this trip, and recognized that meant she was probably not thinking clearly. "All right." She spotted a sign indicating a hotel could be found at the next exit in two miles.
Once off the highway, Regina guided Emma's car onto a long hidden drive that wound back into the woods, following the hotel's cheerful pink and blue sign at the roadway, Garnet's Hideaway Cottages. She pulled to a stop before a small tan building with dark brown painted wood slats on the windows, a high peaked roof, levered windows inset in the equally dark brown door beside which hung a sign that declared 'Office'. When she stepped out, Regina had to pull her coat tightly around herself to guard against the icy biting wind whistling through the trees.
"C'mon," Emma said, already moving quickly to the building's front door.
Looking out at the woods around them, Regina frowned. She didn't even see the other lodging buildings, the woods were so dense. She looked back up the road they had come, and it disappeared quickly. If not for the sign, she wouldn't have known there was a hotel here. Hideaway indeed. Hidden away was more like it.
A gust of wind blew her hair into her face.
"Regina!" Emma shouted from the door. "Get in here."
Quickly she complied. Emma remained beside her as she turned back to close the door behind her. When she turned around, she saw what had stopped Emma in place. They had stepped into a small space that had clearly, at one time, been a combined living space and kitchen. What had been the kitchen counter/breakfast bar displayed a sign 'check in'. Behind that, only a few feet away was a kitchen sink. The space for a stove had been replaced by a stool next to a computer set up on the next counter.
That boded well, Regina thought. Someplace still connected to the outside world.
"What can I do for you?"
Emma and Regina both turned from staring at the computer to the bent shouldered gray-haired man stepping in from a back stoop, stomping his heavy boots to dislodge dirt.
"Um, yeah. Hey," Emma said. "We'd like rooms for the night?"
He straightened and Regina realized he was easily more than six feet tall. He made her think of a lumberjack, particularly in his flannel red shirt and a small hatchet tucked in a belt loop. He had a black pen tucked into the breast pocket of his shirt and brushed at it a moment with a faraway glaze in his eyes. Then he scratched at several days growth of grizzled gray beard while leveling his gaze at them. "Well...Now, lemme see if I have something. It's huntin' season, y'know."
"We didn't, but, yeah, I guess." Emma leaned on the counter. Regina stepped up beside her. She felt a need to put her hand on Emma's back.
When she looked up from her fingertips, she found the gray haired man studying them pensively. Then he smiled and nodded, taking a step back to look at the computer screen. "Well, now, yes. I do see. I do have a room for you."
He leaned back and opened the cabinet just above his head, reaching inside. Regina heard metal keys clinking together. When his hand emerged, he came out with a single key jangling on a ring with a hand-made leather tag bearing the number 7.
Stepping up to the counter, he slid it across. "Heah ye go. Room seven. It's just out that door, to the right, and down the pa-"
"We need two rooms," Regina interjected quickly.
"Already trouble on the honeymoon, huh? But sorry. Don't got two. Jus' one."
Regina's gaze narrowed; Emma put her hand over hers on the counter. Emma studied him, then shrugged. "OK. We can just go somewhere else," she said. "C'mon." She tugged Regina back from the counter.
"But there are other rooms here," Regina said. She narrowed her eyes at the man. "I heard other keys in the cabinet."
He shook his head and gave a quick chuckle. "I ain't." He stepped back, reached for the cabinet. "Come see for ye'sef."
Regina stepped around the end of the counter, looking into the cabinet. The empty cabinet.
"OK. Then we'll just be going." Emma slapped the room 7 key back down and put her hand over Regina's on the counter.
"Nearest other place is ten miles. And it ain't as easy to find as my place."
Emma shrugged. "I'll drive." She wiggled her fingers at Regina. "Keys, please?"
Regina handed Emma her keys.
Emma opened the building door only to be caught by a sharp icy cold gust that pulled it out of her hand and slammed it against the outside of the building. Emma and Regina both jumped.
"And theah's that stohm comin'," the man said. He nudged the key toward them again. "Room's nice and cozy. Good place to wait it out." He added, "Got its own fireplace and kitchen."
"Thanks but we don't have any food," Emma said.
"Check the fridge. Small, but stocked." He nudged the key toward her.
Emma frowned.
"Pay on check out in the morning. If you don't like it, OK, I'll comp it. Free of charge." He shrugged.
After staring at his face for several long seconds, Emma snatched the key off the counter. "Fine." She turned to Regina. "C'mon."
Emma stalked down the path to the right, searching the thick trees on either side, then back to the car. All the while she held her arm out in front to block most of the wind. "Get in."
"Aren't we leaving? You should give the key back."
"We're going to look at this room, and if I don't like something, we're leaving." Regina couldn't help but notice Emma's insistence was the same as the warning she'd given Regina when she went undercover to figure out Cruella and Ursula's plans.
Regina settled into the passenger seat. Emma quickly turned the key on the bug and shoved it into reverse, grinding the gears. Regina winced.
"Em?" She tried again when the blonde didn't respond. "Emma?"
"Yeah?" Emma was not looking at Regina, instead she hunched over the steering wheel, both hands fisted at the top, searching the woods on either side of the dirt path. It hit a rut and the shocks didn't absorb anything.
Regina winced as she protected her head with a hand to the ceiling.
"Sorry, road's not in the best shape."
"It's not really a road."
"Yeah, I got that." The path opened up a little and Emma stopped the car. Regina looked out and saw another simple building. "This looks like it," Emma said.
They both sat staring at it without speaking for several seconds. Then Emma turned to Regina and Regina turned to Emma.
Gazes meeting, measuring, they both spoke at the same time. "Are you sure about this?"
"OK," Emma pushed open her door. The wind from the oncoming snow storm had gotten sharper and icier in just a few minutes. She hid herself behind the window for a long moment before finally standing up. "I'll open it up."
"I'll get our bags."
"No." Emma waved her to stay seated. "Stay here. I want to be sure it's safe first."
Regina quirked. "Safe for the Evil Queen?"
"You haven't been that in a very long time, Regina. Let me do this."
Subsiding at the light amusement in Emma's voice - her intention with the comment being to lighten the mood just a little, Regina watched Emma walk to the small building's front door. She took in the details of the outside, which looked almost identical to the office building, except for the numeral 7 burned into the wood plate to the left of the door.
Emma put the key in the lock, jiggled it a moment, then turned the knob. The door swung inward, revealing only darkness beyond. Reaching to the interior wall, Emma appeared to be searching for a light switch. But when she withdrew her hand, the light level inside the cabin had not changed.
Regina sat up straighter, alertly watching the dark doorway when Emma stepped inside and quickly moved out of view. She jolted to her feet, ignoring the wind whipping her hair around her head, and rushed to the door, slamming both hands into the jamb on either side of the opening. "Emma!"
Inside, the darkness was total. Regina didn't immediately see the blond, then she felt movement and snapped out a hand to grab for it next to her. Her hand slammed into something sturdy but soft.
"Hey!"
"Emma!"
"I was just going to open a curtain, get some light in here. Doesn't appear to have working lights."
"But does it have electricity?" Regina asked.
"I have no idea. Yet." Emma walked across the floor to the faintest outline of a window. With jerky motions, she yanked open the curtains. Daylight, though faint from the storm conditions, cast illumination into the room. "I've got a flashlight in my stuff," Emma said. "Looks like we'll need it."
Regina took inventory of what she could see in the room. The fireplace the man had mentioned dominated the wall opposite where Emma had opened the window. there was a small counter a few feet in front of it. Two chairs sat on either side of a table in the near corner to her left by the door. Angled out from the back wall, next to what was the back door, stood a four-poster bed, the headboard and footboard looking to be minimally stained hand-hewn oak. Above the headboard, hanging on the wall, which seemed to be a very utilitarian white (or off-white; it was hard to tell when the lighting was this low), was a dreamcatcher, the saplings woven together around the outside had been turned so that any branches spiraled toward the center. Several hues and varieties of feathers were interspersed, tied into the sinew webbing.
The window Emma had revealed rattled in its pane, from the wind outside. Regina stepped further in as Emma stepped around her to return to the car.
"I'll be right back," Emma said, her hand brushing Regina's shoulder as she passed.
"Yes, of course," Regina said, distracted. She crossed to the bed, which was covered in a thick woven blanket mixing varying width stripes of black, brown, gray and white. The sheet, visible and flipped outward under the pillows, was a promising crisp white.
"You find anything powered yet?" Emma asked, stepping back in sweeping a flashlight in front of her. Emma flipped it off before tucking it into her pocket.
"I…haven't looked."
Emma nodded toward a bedside table. "Try the lamp."
Regina now noticed the very short squat lamp on the right side of the bed, away from the door. The left side had no matching table. "Oh." Quickly she reached under the shade and pressed her finger to the switch.
Light erupted, almost blinding her because she was staring at the lampshade which bore an image of a long-necked swan in flight.
"All right. Light." Emma walked into the kitchen space. Regina's gaze followed her. She ducked out of sight behind the counter and Regina heard clattering. Then Emma said, "Eureka!"
Emma stood, lifting several things into view. Regina noted a bag of hard rolls, a chunk of deep yellow, almost orange, cheese, and a small bottle of store-bought milk. "Check that before you drink it. It could be spoiled," Regina cautioned.
Glancing at the label, Emma declared, "May 24. At least two weeks. Must've just been bought."
"Why would an out of the way place like this store something as easy to spoil as milk in a guest room refrigerator?" Regina wondered.
"Beats me, but it means we can have grilled cheese, if I can get the stove…" Emma looked around. "There's no stove. Just the fireplace."
"Look in the cabinets for an iron skillet. You can cook it over the fireplace once we get the fire started."
"Fire started?" Emma ventured. "With what?"
"Firewood, matches. It's a fire."
"Oh, right." Emma started opening and closing the drawers and cabinets, obviously looking for matches.
The clattering of wood and utensils assaulted Regina's ears. "I'll go find some firewood."
Outside the air had finally become icy enough for flurries. Regina hid her face from the worst of the wind and looked around on the ground for small twigs and a few larger branches suitable for the fireplace. Though it was still several hours until sunset - Regina checked her watch; it was only three in the afternoon - the lighting was essentially dusk conditions. Turning every so often to check she did not get out of sight of the small building where Emma was, Regina moved around the clearing and first layer of trees and bushes until she had a small armful of wood.
When she returned inside, Emma looked up at Regina and smiled, holding up a box. "I found matches," she said.
"Good, I have some wood." Regina studied the fireplace hearth as she approached it to put the stack of firewood down next to the opening. The bricks were multi-hued, ranging from vaguely tan to a faint strawberry red, to a deep clay red, in no discernable pattern.
"You know how to start a fire?" Emma asked, coming up next to her. Regina shot a glare over her shoulder. "Without magic?"
"I lived in a realm with no electricity for most of my life."
"You had servants. I dated a boy scout once. Doesn't mean I know how to start a fire."
"It's hardly the same thing."
Emma held up her hands in surrender. "OK. OK. You win. Here's the matches. Have at it."
"You could make yourself useful and get our bags from the car."
Regina turned to work at the fire, clearly dismissing Emma, until she heard Emma swear. "What is it?"
"Do you need anything in particular?" Emma asked.
"Yes. What? Why?" Regina stood, dusted her hands together and looked toward the doorway where Emma stood.
"Car's already covered with snow."
"What?"
"Take a look." Emma gestured to the door, stepping aside.
Regina came alongside and looked out. Snow had begun to gather on the ground in short drifts, still falling in thick waves. The hood of Emma's car, and the top, had attracted a great deal of snow. At least ten inches had already accumulated. This is absurd! No snow falls that fast. "It only just started!"
"Yeah." Emma stepped outside.
"Where are you going?"
"I'm gonna clear some of the snow, try to get our things." She shoved her hands into the snow, without benefit of gloves. "Damn this is cold!"
"Use gloves."
"I didn't bring gloves, Regina. It wasn't supposed to snow in MAY!"
Regina rolled her eyes, flicked her hand - and nothing happened. Of course, they weren't in Storybrooke any more. "No magic."
"Right." So give me a hand here."
"Then we'll both have cold hands."
"We can warm them by the fire."
"Which I haven't started yet."
"Well, get on it." Emma strained as she spoke, pushing the last of the snow off the hood, and yanking up on the Beetle's sticky hood catch. "Woot!" she cheered her success when the thing opened. "OK." She rubbed her hands quickly on her coat and reached in, grabbing one suitcase handle in each handle. "Heave! Ho-holy shit, Regina, what did you put in your bag?" The brunette's bag wouldn't budge. Emma set her own bag, far lighter, on the ground next to her, and reached in with both hands to lift Regina's suitcase.
"Never mind that. Get in here." Regina moved out of the doorway. "The snow is starting to come down harder."
"Yeah, I can see that." Emma winced as snowflakes landed on her face and cheeks. Not so thick they weren't melting, but big and fluffy, and COLD nonetheless. Straining with Regina's suitcase weight, she waddled it into their room. Mere steps inside, she dropped it with a clunk and went back out to retrieve her own suitcase, having to shake it free of snow already covering it.
When she returned inside, throwing her suitcase on one side of the bed, she told Regina, "You can move your own."
Regina stalked over and pointed. "Don't put that there! It's wet from the snow, and probably has oils from your car. We have to sleep there."
Emma sighed and pulled her suitcase onto the floor, wincing when she saw the damp spot it left behind on the blanket. She sat down on the bed and bent over, going through her things. Regina continued to stand over her. When she looked up, Regina was staring kinda through her, or past her maybe. Emma turned and realized her line of sight was the bed.
She pointed to the fireplace. "We need that fire or we're not gonna eat or be warm much longer."
Emma could see Regina's throat as she swallowed back something - probably a retort, Emma thought, sighing. This was going to be a long night. She quirked her lips at the brunette, hoping to smooth over whatever it was. Regina turned and stalked over to the fireplace, setting up the kindling and logs. Soon Emma smelled the sulfur of struck matches.
She stood up, her sweatpants in hand, and walked over to the fireplace behind the kitchenette's counter. "Hey, need something?"
"We need paper or something, easy to burn, get a bigger flame going so these will have time to catch fire."
Emma nodded. With a quick dash, she ran back out to the car, buried once more under snow. Kicking through a drift against the driver door, she rummaged inside for papers. An old Storybrooke police report. She'd already filed it in triplicate and been using a copy to get an address last week. Along with the report, she grabbed gas pump receipts and her last repair bill on the bug, before hurrying back inside.
Her hands were shaking as she handed over the paper scraps. Regina eyed them then nodded, crumpling one into a long roll, she lit it at each end, folded it and tucked it under the center of the kindling stack.
The fire was small, but gradually grew. Emma stood beside Regina's crouching form, watching the flames lick at the bits of wood. Tiny flames caught eventually. When Regina rolled back on her heels Emma realized her hand rested on the woman's shoulder.
"Thanks," Emma said.
Regina stood, looking back over her shoulder at Emma's smile. She gave a halfhearted shrug. "You're welcome."
Emma's smile widened. "It'll be a bit before we can cook over that. I'll tend it. You move your suitcase."
Regina looked at her bag beside the door where Emma had dropped it. She frowned as she recalled Emma saying it was heavy. Without thinking about it at the time, she'd moved it into the car with magic.
Now she didn't have that. She swallowed and licked her lips. OK. She bent her knees, grabbed the handle and pulled up. It wouldn't budge. She angled it to drag it across the floor. Other hands joined hers on the handle and a shoulder bumped hers. She looked up into Emma's green eyes. The woman quirked another smile at her.
"Together," Emma said.
Regina looked back down at their fingers wrapped together around the handle and nodded. Several tugs later, she laid it flat on the floor on opposite side of the bed from Emma's. Unlatching it, she flipped the top up.
As though sprung like a Jack-in-the-Box, her clothes, shoes, and several bottles scattered around the opening.
Emma chuckled; Regina shot her a narrowed look. Emma laughed. As Regina shook her head, Emma walked back to tend their fire.
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