Summary: The human body can be a duplicitous thing (AKA Regina gets sick and Emma steps up).
Disclaimer: Not mine.
Timeline: Set somewhere season 4ish, but no Hook, Robin etc. in sight.
A/N: Turns out the solution to struggling with the plot of a story in my comfort zone, is to write something with absolutely no plot, in a new genre and in an unfamiliar fandom. Clichéd as hell, written in a couple of hours and with absolutely no beta, so if it's as horrible as I fear I'll apologise and be on my way. Cheers.
Treachery
"Your son is a traitor."
The words were said without malice, but for a moment images of eighties hair, glam rock make-up and corset dresses leaving little to the imagination, flashed unbidden through Emma Swan's amused brain as she took in the power-suited mayor leaning somewhat menacingly over her desk.
Observing the other a woman a little closer, she was beginning to realise that even without the heads up from the teenager they shared that his other mother had insisted on heading to her office that morning, despite the fact that it had been "like so obvious that something wasn't right", the signs were there for anyone who even remotely understood the enigma that was Regina Mills to see. That the woman who was, for want of a better description, family continued her ridiculous insistence on hiding any sign of physical weakness from both her son, and his biological mother, was often a source of amusement for both. However, today, taking in the mayor's drawn expression, pale complexion and the discernible slumping of her shoulders, it didn't feel all that funny.
It was also clear that Emma was not the only one in the room unamused by the situation.
"If I am as unwell as you appear to be suggesting, I have been here all day and have not seen or spoken to Henry since breakfast this morning, so how exactly he would know this, I am uncertain."
The sheriff sighed, allowing her frustration to show in the sweeping of a hand through untamed blonde hair.
"Because Henry's fifteen and, despite what you may think of his gene pool, he's not an idiot."
Emma paused for a moment before trying a different tack.
"Look, if a teenage boy can see through your 'I'm fine' act, then I'm pretty sure even my mother will also be able to. So unless, you want me to call a hormonal and insanely maternal Snow White to your office right this second, I suggest that you sit the hell down before you pass out and we all end up taking a family trip to see Whale."
Beginning to see the fight drain out of the other woman, Emma subconsciously softened her tone.
"I know you're not used to this Regina, and believe me, I get it, but you don't just have to rely on yourself anymore." She paused, her next words uttered so gently, she took herself by surprise. "Just let me help. Please."
xxx
Regina wasn't sure if it was exhaustion from the mere thought of Snow flitting around her office like one of her demented birds, or the unnerving sincerity behind the blonde's words, but as much as she wanted to continue to resist the unwanted intervention into her health, it was becoming near impossible to do so. Whilst she'd successfully spent much of the day ignoring the warning signs that she was experiencing the onset of a particularly nasty migraine of the variety that would leave her unable to do anything but lie in a dark room and pray for sleep to take her, continuing to keep up the façade under the scrutiny of understanding green eyes suddenly seemed an insurmountable task. With her guard slipping she was suddenly unable to disregard the fact that her head felt like it was pulsing with every beat of her heart, leaving her mouth dry and uncomfortable, and the black spots which had been pinpricks in her vision earlier in the morning were now fighting with the suddenly too bright strip light in her office. The spinning room was doing nothing to quell the rising feeling of nausea stirring in her stomach and more than anything she just wanted to sink to floor and block out the loud, glaring world around her. Attempting to form a witty re-join, and aware that the blonde was continuing to watch her closely, she was mildly alarmed to realise that the temperature in the room appeared to be rising at a rapid rate, leaving her clammy and struggling to stay upright. Her last coherent thought was a vague amusement at the look of panic sweeping across Emma Swan's confused face.
xxx
When Regina attempted to force open painfully sore eyes, it took her a moment to realise, that rather bizarrely she appeared to be lying on her office floor. Her mind felt foggy as she attempted to piece together the events that had led to this odd location to awaken. Her thoughts were slightly distracted by the growing awareness that someone, possibly one of those damn dwarves, was taking a pick-axe to her head, and that there was a very real danger that she was going to vomit over her favourite suit jacket. Stranger still, whilst the room was spinning around her, there was the overwhelmingly comforting sensation of a cool hand caressing her face, and an anxious but soothing voice pulling her back to consciousness. When she finally won the struggle to focus her vision she found herself staring into terrified but strangely comforting green eyes.
xxx
Throughout her frustrated rant, Emma had found herself watching Regina with growing concern. The woman's pallor was increasing in front of her eyes, her breathing becoming laboured, and it was clear that it was taking all her focus just to stay upright. Just as she was about to give in and use physical force to get Regina to stop for a moment, her own breath hitched as she saw the mayor sway slightly, a sheen of sweat coating her drained complexion, before her eyes rolled back in her head and she began to crumple, like paper, to the floor.
It was, Emma considered slightly proudly, only her bail bonds person sprint start instincts, which allowed her to catch the smaller woman before she hit the ground. Unsure what to do, she supported the limp body in her arms, cradling Regina's head gently as she lowered them both to the floor. A quick check of the brunette's pulse, along with her deep, steady breaths, reassured the sheriff that Regina had simply fainted, so she settled for resting the brunette's head on her legs, carefully removing her own jacket and placing it softly over the now shivering woman. The strain of an unbearable headache, even in unconsciousness, was etched across the older woman's features, and her chest aching in sympathy, Emma ghosted gentle fingers across tense facial muscles, inordinately relieved when after several moment, pained brown eyes fluttered open.
xxx
The last few minutes coming sharply into focus, Regina's first instinct was to push herself away as quickly as possible. This plan, she thought, would have worked perfectly, if the room hadn't chosen that moment to pitch and spin on her, and had it not been for the strong arms holding her gently but firmly in her prone position.
She couldn't help but notice that the comforting hand was still on her cheek, drifting occasionally over her hair and temples in an improbably soothing motion, and much to her chagrin she felt unbidden tears trail down her cheeks. The hand, as she knew it would, noticed the unwanted moisture immediately, gently wiping it away, before continuing its calming ministrations. Just as she was hoping to close her eyes and sink into the feeling of warmth enveloping her, she felt the tell-tale sign of her traitorous stomach about to betray her, and she barely managed to turn agonizingly onto her side before, to her abject humiliation, she found herself emptying the contents of her stomach onto her office carpet. When the uncomfortable spasms finally ended, mortified beyond anything she could have possibly conceived of, she was amazed to feel warm arms envelope her, pulling her close and lifting her as if she were indeed weightless. Holding on to the undeniable source of comfort, the next sensation she felt was being lowered gently, the warm body still behind onto what must, she realised be her office couch. Her head was settled on a lightly moving pillow and when she once again felt the welcoming sensation of fingers combing over her temples and through her hair, she couldn't control the soft sigh that escaped her lips. Feeling the need to try and say something to the source of such unexpected care, the words just wouldn't come. As she opened her eyes in an attempt to convey the message in a different way, the tenderness in the green eyes staring down at her left her breathless. The hand came to rest on her cheek briefly, as a gentle voice whispered in her ear, "sshh, you're ok, just rest." So she did.
xxx
It was fairly typical, Emma thought, that just when she seemed to have the situation under control, Regina, even when barely conscious, was able to throw her a curve ball. The tears alone, she acknowledged, would be enough to earn a fireball to her head, once the other woman was coherent enough to realise she had let her guard down. Yet before that thought even had chance to fully take hold, she was startled to see all remaining colour drain from the brunette's face before she was swallowing convulsively and puking, in a very un-regal, or un-mayoral, or un-anything remotely dignified or controlled, on the floor beside her. Whilst in reality the whole thing probably lasted less than a minute or two, Emma could have sworn it was going on forever, as she pulled Regina's hair quickly out of the firing line, supporting her meagre body weight to avoid, if nothing else, being the reason the former evil queen ended up face first in her own vomit. However when the brunette was finally through, any humour, or at least irony, which in years gone by she may have found in this situation died in Emma's throat.
Taking in the teary, pale and utterly exhausted face of the woman in her lap, the blonde felt a sharp pang of what she could only describe as tenderness rip through her chest. Knowing that for both their sakes it was advisable to at least put a little distance between Regina and the scene of the crime, she steeled herself, sweeping the smaller woman into her arms, for once grateful for the woman's obsessively healthy eating habits. Realising the grip that Regina, in her dazed state, had on her shirt, she carefully lowered them both down onto the sofa several feet away, supporting the brunette's head until it rested upon her knees. Willing to try anything to ease the other woman's evident discomfort, she thought back to the few occasions when as a child she had been sick and someone had cared enough to offer comfort. That in mind, she let her fingers trace lightly across the distressed woman's brow. Her heart swelled involuntary at the contented sigh emitted by the brunette at the contact, almost bursting as brown eyes fluttered open to meet her own. Overwhelmed by the reassurance the other woman was seeking from her, Emma felt her own defences shatter, as her hand rested protectively on Regina's cheek. "Sshh, you're ok, just rest." Reflexively pulling the brunette closer to her, her other arm reached out to hold the clammy hand the mayor had draped over her still raw stomach. She was quickly rewarded as weak fingers grasped her own, and slow, steady breathing indicated that, at least temporarily, the most powerful woman in Storybrook had succumbed to sleep.
TBC (possibly)…