Written for the 2014 summer Swan Queen Big Bang. Many thanks to C for the quick and effective beta'ing!

TRIGGER WARNINGS: graphic depictions of violence, sexual assault/rape (attempted and imho not too explicit or extreme, but still, beware)

Also brief mentions of Captain Swan and Outlaw Queen, but they are not the focus of the story.

Enjoy :)

"You. You did this."

"I just wanted to save her life."

"You're just like your mother. Never thinking of consequences."

"I didn't know."

The words played on repeat in Regina's mind as she briskly walked home. Away from the happy couples and away from one of the few people she'd thought she could trust. Trust. The word itself almost made her laugh out loud. What she should have trusted was that Emma would act according to her Charming genes, in that idiotic do-gooder spirit where you never had to see beyond your nose and never think about anything beyond the here and now because your intentions were good, consequences be damned.

Her fists opened and closed, the lust for vengeance – for pain – stronger than it had been in a long time. A part of her old Evil Queen persona had been awoken and it wanted to lay waste to the daughter of Snow White and Prince Charming and to the whole town who glorified Emma's infallibility. Her hands balled into fists and her nails cut into her palms as she thought of how confused Emma had looked, how confusing it was for her to do the so-called right thing and still hurt someone. Emma had been so indoctrinated with the Charmings' incessant belief in Good that she probably didn't even believe that she could do anything wrong anymore.

Regina slammed the door violently behind her and for once was glad that Henry wasn't living with her. The thought of him made her stop dead in her tracks, her frown deepening. As much as she longed to see Emma in pain, she couldn't go after her like that. Henry would never forgive her.

So Regina gritted her teeth, trying to think of another way to get rid of the crippling fury that gave everything a blood red tint. She could of course go out into the forest, blowing up trees and rocks with her magic, but that wasn't what she needed. No, she needed something more brutal. She wanted to hurt something; she wanted to see blood.

A hint of something on the floor caught her attention. When she picked it up, she saw that it was a long, bright blonde hair, the faint magic scent from it making it perfectly clear who it had belonged to. A smile slowly grew on Regina's lips, cold and feral. She knew exactly what she was going to do. It was a fairly simple spell Rumple had taught her back in the day, but as simple as it was, it was also fairly useless. Who would need to clone someone when the clone couldn't be commanded, couldn't think or act on its own and for almost all intents and purposes was merely a warm, breathing statue? Well, when you wanted to beat someone to a bloody pulp without hurting the actual person, it was the perfect spell. Regina kicked off her heels and tossed her jacket aside before placing the hair carefully on the floor a few feet in front of her. She mumbled the incantation and let all the anger she felt for Emma fuel her magic, weaving around the blond hair, covering it in a tall cloud of purple smoke.

And then Emma was standing there in front of her, wearing her red leather jacket, her face a blank, dead expression. Snapping her fingers in front of the clone's face, Regina got no reaction which only made her grin widen even further. She was finally going to have some real fun with the Savior.

The first hit landed squarely at the side of the clone's jaw, snapping her head to the side, a hint of blood pooling in the corner of her mouth. Regina's fist hurt too, but it was a good kind of pain and it only egged her on. She hit the clone again in the same spot, but besides a trickle of blood that made its way down her cheek, the clone didn't seem to notice it.

"No, you need to react," Regina muttered, calling up her magic again, pouring it into the woman in front of her. "I want to see your pain." After a moment, she saw a flicker of something – a wince? – cross the woman's face and she pulled her magic out. Without waiting, she punched the clone straight in the stomach, chuckling at the pained gasp the clone elicited when she doubled over. "That's more like it."

Regina hit the woman over and over again until both her fists were aching as if she'd broken them both – which she might just have done – and her breath was coming in short pants. Her hands were covered in blood, her hair was a sweaty mess and she'd ripped her skirt but it was nothing compared to how the Emma clone looked. Blood dripping from nose, mouth and ears, both eyes swelled shut and she looked like she could barely keep standing.

They stood quietly for a while, both women's breaths the only sounds that pierced the silence. Regina watched the clone, waiting for the pain from earlier to subside and the sense of victory to course through her body, but it never came. She felt... empty. Nothing. Her fury was gone, as was her need for vengeance. The sight of the horribly battered woman in front of her didn't give her any joy, only making her vaguely uncomfortable. She had seen enough torture to not be easily affected by sights such as this, but seeing Emma in that state was such a strange, almost alien sight. Emma had always been the Savior, in mind and body. She had seemed untouchable – sometimes almost serene – and now she was anything but.

Sighing, Regina slumped, wondering what to do with the clone. Maybe she'd be useful later if Emma was to anger her again. Flicking her wrist, she sent the clone to the basement and then turned to look at her hands. She sighed again. They were a, quite literally, bloody mess with the knuckles practically scraped bare by the hits they had delivered. Even just opening them made her wince.

"Oh well," she mumbled with a shrug before she headed up the stairs to fix her hands, feeling oddly defeated.