Blue kidnaps the Queen.
Which seems like a horrible idea but for the woman who had once been considered to be one of the greatest powers to have existed, it makes complete sense. Because the (much) younger woman is the one who has possession of the extremely dangerous wand of the Black Fairy and after using it to help get the Dark One out of Emma, Regina had hidden it somewhere that only she knows of (presumably away from anyone who might want to use it for nefarious purposes, which Blue finds rather laughable considering).
She kidnaps Regina because she's done pretending that she's just some meek servant, some humble Charming Family sycophant. She's done being in the background and she's ready to take control in the way that she has believed that she should have done a very long time ago. And Regina, well dear stupid Regina is just standing in the way of her plans and that's simply unacceptable.
It doesn't hurt that she loathes Regina (mostly because of Cora, admittedly) with every cell within her magical body. This girl has been a nuisance since the moment of her birth and while she'd fallen head first into the imp's plans (and hers, but no one needs to know about the strings she's pulled), she is of no more use now and instead has become an obstacle and must be destroyed.
But first, she needs information.
She goes to see Regina at her office one afternoon and in her most solemn and serious voice, she quietly asks to speak to her. When Regina looks doubtful and like she might refuse, Blue tells her that it's about Emma and prophecy and something that she had just found involving the death of the Savior. And oh, of course she knows what Regina feels for Emma Swan - the only two people in this whole goddamned town who don't know it are Regina Mills and Emma Swan. But Blue doesn't need Regina to acknowledge her feelings, she just needs her to feel them and so just as expected, Regina reacts and turns her back Blue so that she can grab her cell phone in case she needs to call the Charmings or Swan or her son and that's when Blue strikes - sending a blast of energy right into the back of Regina's head and then when she spins around in her chair, already slumping forward as blood drips down from an open wound on her scalp, she sends another blast into the Queen's heart. It's just a mild shock but it's enough and Regina falls to the ground.
Blue thinks for a moment that she could just kill Regina right here and now and find the wand of the Black Fairy all on her own, but that seems a poor plan and too much effort really (she might loathe Regina, but she has to grudgingly accept that the Queen isn't stupid and likely didn't hide the wand in an easily guessable place). And besides, it seems almost too kind and easy of a death for her.
So she grabs Regina's shoulder roughly, thinks about where she wants them to be and then they're in the middle of the convent and Regina is bound to a chair with magic cufflinks (they won't last long against a magical assault but then again, they really won't need to), her head lolled forward and long chains, her chin drooped against her chest as blood continues to drip down towards the ground.
"Magenta," Blue calls out, her orders absolute and beyond question by any of these insignificant little fairies; as expected, the girl immediately scampers forward, "Get me the red vial in my top drawer. And be quick about it; this is important."
She glances around and thankfully Tinker Bell is nowhere around. Which is good because surely Green would say something. None of the others will dare go against her. Especially not for an Evil Queen. When Magenta returns, Blue leans down and slaps Regina's face sharply, waking the woman up within seconds.
"What the -" Regina groans, wincing against the pain in her head. "Fairy?"
"Not…Fairy. You will address me as Reul Ghorm."
Regina snorts in open derision at that, then looks down at her binds, her eyes widening for a second when she sees the chains. "What is this?" Then, locating the source of her pain in her head and in her chest. "You attacked me?"
"I rendered you harmless. For the moment, anyway. As for what this is, Your Majesty –" she says these words with considerable spite. "Your reckoning."
"Really? How boring. What do you want, dear? What is this really? Because we both know that you have just as much blood on your hands as I do." She lifts her hands just a bit and indicates towards the blood that's dripped onto them.
"Nonsense. I am not a murderer like you are," Blue answers haughtily.
"No, you're much worse than just a killer," Regina replies sharply, her anger flaring. "You pathetic winged gnats decide who is worthy of help and who isn't based on your own agendas. You leave children to suffer and destroy fam -"
"You were never worth saving. Not then and not now."
"We'll see."
"Oh, are you hoping that the Charmings will come to your aide? That's too bad; no one is going to save you this time, Regina," Blue says sweetly. "By the time they find you, you'll be dead, staring up at the sky, forever silenced. By the time they locate your body, you'll be with your nasty mother again. Forever burning."
Regina shifts against the chains, struggles and tries to pour her magic into her hands so she can break free, but then Blue is grabbing her jaw and wrenching it backwards. Some kind of cold bitter liquid is poured down her throat then.
"Rest for now, Regina," Blue orders, a hand reaching up to condescendingly pat the Queen's cheek. "When your senses return to you, we'll talk more."
When she wakes, everything is blurry in front of her. Her head is pounding and her mouth is dry. She looks up to see Blue standing over her again, looking quite calm as she says, "Welcome back, Your Majesty."
"Fuck off," Regina growls, blinking rapidly. Her face feels itchy and sticky and when she tries to adjust her saw, something pulls – dried blood, she imagines.
"Profane as always," Blue says disdainfully. "No, see, this is how we're going to do this. I'm going to ask you a question and you're going to attempt to answer it as truthfully as you're capable of. If you lie, you will feel as though your brain is about to explode…well, even more than it already does. Every time I see you do that, I will ensure that you feel great pain both inside and outside of your body. Eventually, that which is inside of you will be on the outside and you will die from your injuries. That is if you choose to lie to me. If you don't and I get all of the answers that I want, I will end your awful life with a single strike of my wand across your throat. It will be painless and though you hardly deserve such mercy, your suffering within this existence will be over. It's your choice."
"I look forward to tearing your heart out and using my teeth to rip it apart."
Blue smirks at that, like she'd been expecting as much. "Lovely imagery, but that's not going to happen. Let's begin, shall we? We'll even start easy because I know how naturally lying comes to you. What's your name, Your Majesty?"
"Glinda the Bitchy Witch of…well who cares?"
Immediately, Regina cries out, pain flaring in her head. She'd been expecting something, but not that. Before she even has time to process it, she feels a sharp strike of agony across her face as Blue uses her wand to cut a gash into her right cheek. "Let's try this again," Blue suggests. "What's your name?"
"I'm Emma Swan. The Savior," Regina drawls as she looks up, glaring as she dramatically swishes her hair. "I have lovely blonde hair. Don't you like it?"
The pain is sharper this time, but she's prepared and able to grit her teeth against it, her back molars crunching together as she glares up at Blue.
"You're wasting what little resistance you have left to you rather foolishly; don't you think?" Blue scolds. "Because this potion, well it's quite special in how it works. It builds and your strength lowers. Eventually, you will be unable to hold back and when that happens, there won't be anything you won't tell me."
"Fine," Regina sighs. "My name is Regina Mills. Happy?"
"Quite. How old are you?"
"Twenty-two."
She bites down again against the pain in her head, then forces herself not to react to another slash across her face, this one dangerously close to her eye.
"Your age?"
"Sixty-four. Or thirty-six depending on your point of view."
"Are you a murderer? A simple yes or no from this point on will suffice."
"I'm a lover not a fighter."
Another wince and another strikes across her cheek. "Are you a murderer?"
"Yes. A hundred times over," Regina growls.
"Are you a monster?"
"Yes. The worst."
"Finally we're getting somewhere. Are you in love with Emma Swan?"
Regina laughs. "Go to hell, you vapid self-impressed fashion-free bitch."
She feels the sharp pricks of pain in her mind, but it's nothing compared to the fist that smashes against her cheekbone, the contact causing stars to dance in front of her eyes. "It's a simple question, Regina. Are you in love with a woman whom we both know could never love you back? Do you love Emma Swan?"
"Yes," Regina says quietly, the dizziness overtaking her.
"Very good. Then all the better that you should know that once I get my wand from you, I will use it to remove the Savior's heart from her chest. Which I will then sacrifice upon an alter to finish the last ritual that will bring me to full power. I find a certain amount of romance in that. Knowing how you helped to bring about my rise and her fall – all through the power of your…love."
"Yeah, well, I find a certain amount of nausea in your delusions," Regina snaps back, spitting out blood when she speaks. "But that hasn't seemed to prevent me from being forced to listen to you babbling out your moronic grand plan."
"Oh, you really do believe you're strong enough to fight this - to fight me, don't you? But I have been waiting a very long time to destroy you and nothing is going to stand in the way of me getting what I want. Absolutely nothing."
"Except me," a voice says from Blue.
There's the sound of a buzz, then - loud and electric - and then Blue is falling forward into a heap at Regina's feet. When Regina looks up, even though her vision is still blurry and her headache has become a migraine threatening to explode her head, what she sees is Emma and David and Snow standing there.
All there together.
She laughs, the pain in her head too much. And because anything besides the bitter truth hurts, she says in an almost hysterical tone, "And there you are. My family. I knew you'd come for me. Because you are always come to my rescue; you're always there to keep me from dying. Because you're stupid fools with good hearts who think that one day I'll be worthy of your faith in me. But we all know I never will be. We all know that the Blue Bitch was right, though. The way that she sees me - the way that I see me - I'm just a horrible monster. But I'm your monster, aren't I?" She looks right at Emma. "But I'm not your monster."
"Regina –"
But before she can even get the Queen's name out, her head is falling forwards.
All she sees is a darkness that she no longer wants.
She comes to in Snow's bed and this is familiar in a somewhat uncomfortable way, but her strength is too low to fight it. When she looks up, it's Emma not Snow above her this time. "Hey," Emma says gently. "Good to have you back."
"Back?"
"You've been out for a few days; apparently, in addition to the nasty concussion that she gave you, that shit Blue forced you to drink packs a pretty vicious punch inside your body. But it's drained out now; you're going to be okay."
"Am I?"
"Yeah. Cuts heal. I've managed to close up most of them. The one near your eye was a bit harder because of the swelling, but we'll make it go away, too."
"Right," Regina replies, her finger tracing the ridge of bruises before her hand falls away and her eyes drift towards the window and the dull gray outside of it.
"Hey," Emma says, bringing her back with a gentle touch. "Talk to me?"
Regina turns to look at her, even offers a small unconvincing smile. "How did you find me?" she finally asks. "Blue was pretty certain that you wouldn't."
"Nova. She's not a Blue fan."
"Oh." Her eyes flicker up. "How much did you hear?"
"Nothing I didn't already know."
"That I'm a monster?"
"That's not how I see you."
"Yes, but you're a fool."
"You already said that," Emma replies, a hand lightly cupping Regina's cheek, undeniable (and confusing) affection shining in Emma's eyes. "And I'm sure you'll call me it again later, but for now, I need you to rest. The serum may have drained out of you but she did a number on your body; you need sleep."
"I wouldn't have let her -" Regina says softly.
"Wouldn't have let her what?"
"Have the wand. No matter what it took, I wouldn't have let her…"
"Hurt me. I heard what she said."
Their eyes meet.
"I know," Emma says and then leans down and very gently presses her lips against Regina - almost chastely if not for the undeniable feelings between them. She holds it there for a long moment, like she's just breathing Regina in.
"Emma -"
I don't believe in being worthy of someone," Emma tells her. "I've spent too much of my life trying for that and I finally realized - thanks to you and the fact that you were there for me after the whole Dark One shit - that the only worthy is inside of you. You thought I was worthy even with blood on my hands. You didn't look at me differently. I was just Emma to you. You're just Regina to me."
"Did you take some of Blue's serum?" Regina jokes. Or at least she tries to. It's hard not to feel exposed – so very vulnerable – to Emma at this moment and that's saying something considering the truth potion that she'd ingested.
"Nah, just realized we've wasted too much time keeping secrets even from ourselves. Even if it's scary, I'd rather be honest and afraid than lie to myself."
"Emma, think about this."
"Oh, believe me, I have. And yeah, it's insane, right?" She shrugs her shoulders. "But even saying that, you and me, Regina - we make sense, I think, mostly because we don't. It's only a shame it took that fairy asshole to figure it out."
"Speaking of -"
"Locked up and secure. Tink is handling it." Emma chuckles. "I think she has been waiting a very long time to get her revenge on Blue."
"She has," Regina agrees.
"So now you rest and when you wake up, maybe we can talk and do the whole truthful thing without any serums. Just you and me and…scary honesty."
"This is a mistake," Regina tells her.
"Yeah, maybe, but it's one I want to make. What about you?"
Regina thinks for a moment (long enough to make Emma nervous) and then softly and with absolute undeniable conviction, she replies with a simple, "Yes."
-Fin