Running Out Of Time

Topic: Once Upon a Time

Pairing: Swan Queen (Emma and Regina) but it's a full ensemble of characters.

Rating: T (for the odd bit of bad language)

Disclaimer: I do not own Once Upon a Time or any of the places or characters in it. This is all just for fun blah blah blah…

Summary: My take on how the end of season 3/beginning of season 4 could go. Emma must follow Zelena to the Enchanted Forest of the past to preserve her and her family's future but can she save an ailing Regina in the process? Adventure/Drama story.

WARNING! It starts with a bit of OQ and there is a lot of Hook and Emma interaction and very little Regina and Emma interaction because of the nature of the plot. It is however a Swan Queen story through and through so if you are a Captain Swan fan then I would keep away as I don't want any annoying hate reviews just because you don't like the 'ship. Consider yourselves warned.

Chapter 1

Regina's POV

The night lights outside of Granny's twinkled and lit up the area outside the diner surprisingly well. The whole town seemed to be inside the diner celebrating the rather impromptu marriage of Arial and Eric. Regina couldn't understand why anyone would chose to get married when there was a wicked witch roaming around trying to ruin everyone's lives. Well, Zelena was trying to ruin her life anyway but was certainly making everyone else miserable in the process. Despite her own doubts about having a major celebration at such a time Regina had been inside trying to enjoy the party too until Robin had asked her to come outside.

At first his cute little son Roland had been with them but one of Robin's Merry Men or whatever ridiculous name they called themselves had taken Roland back to the forest with them leaving Regina and Robin alone. It left the two of them stood in awkward silence.

The former outlaw was silently gazing at her and she had no idea what to say or do. Relationships were not her strong point, nor where emotions and she had no idea of how to talk or act around this man who was supposed to be her soul mate. When they had interacted in the past he had been the one to initiate the conversation. Tonight there was a strange tension she'd not felt in his presence before.

Just as she was about to try and speak to him the door of the diner opened and Hook came storming past, his leather jacket flying behind him and slapping Regina's legs as he pushed between the two of them like they were not even stood there. Something had pissed the Pirate off but he was gone as fast as he came leaving Regina still stood awkwardly with the man with the lion tattoo.

"Is everything alright?" she finally asked; weary of the long silence that had fallen between them.

He smiled weakly in response before leaning in and pressing his lips against hers. The action surprised her but she stayed still, leaning into the kiss slightly. It was nice. Not earth shattering but it felt pleasant to feel somebody against her. After a few seconds he pulled away and looked at her again, his expression unreadable.

"You are not who I thought you'd be" he said darkly. His expression went from unreadable to a swirl of emotion that Regina couldn't hope to understand. She just knew that something really didn't feel right.

"I'm sorry" he continued, "I truly am sorry but I had to do this."

Regina eyed him with suspicion as he spoke. There was guilt written all over his features but also a steely determination to see whatever he was doing through. She felt sick to the pit of her stomach as all the pieces began to fit into place.

"Do what?" she asked him even though she was sure she already knew the answer.

"I gave your heart to Zelena" he answered honestly, looking away from her as he spoke. "She is going to bring back my wife. My son needs his mother."

Regina scoffed at his words. She wanted to shout at him and scythe him down with sharp words about how she had a son too. She wanted to tell him that no one could bring his wife back from the dead; magic just didn't work that way. If anyone knew that it was her. She had spent years trying to find a way to reunite herself with Daniel. There was little point telling him these things or arguing with him when the handover had already been made.

"Was that the plan all along? Is that why you followed me everywhere?"

Regina wished she didn't care that he had led her on. She wished she didn't care about him. She had been starved of romantic love for so long though that she had instantly fallen for the idea of him. He had given her the attention she had craved ever since that fateful night her mother had ripped Daniel's heart out of his chest and crushed it.

"Yes" he admitted, guilt lacing his voice for the first time during the conversation. "I delayed giving it to her because you really are so much more than the Evil Queen you were painted out to be. But in the end...I like you Regina...but I love my wife."

It was tempting to curse him into next week but she saw the truth in his eyes and in his words. It was hard for her of all people to criticize someone for acting selfishly and she didn't feel like she had much fight in her. If Zelena had her heart it was over. When the witch cast whatever curse or spell she was planning Regina would more than likely be dead.

Robin shifted uncomfortably before her and reached into his pocket. When he brought it out of the pocket he was holding a glass vial that he held out towards her. She gazed down on it and recognised its contents immediately. It contained one of her hairpins from the Enchanted Forest, broken and with a drop of liquid hanging at its tip. It felt familiar like she should remember something about it. What she did know was that the liquid was sleeping potion. She'd recognise it's hue anywhere.

"How do you...?" she began to ask but Robin cut her off.

"Zelena took it from you whilst we were at your castle in the Enchanted Forest" he explained. She cringed at his words because it meant that he still had his memories. He really had fooled her.

"I'm a pick pocket remember?" he continued and he placed the vial into her hand. "I thought it may spare you whatever pain she may have planned for you."

Regina closed her hand around the vial and stepped back and away from him until her back hit the dinners white picket fence. Was this the kind of 'care' she deserved? The man she believed to be her soul mate had turned out to be the enemy. He had turned out to be a fraud and had betrayed her. Yet apparently he cared enough about her to not only tell her what he had done but feel guilty enough to give her an easy way out. Perhaps that was deception too, more lies to push her down onto her knees and submit to her fate.

Robin, who had been avoiding her gaze, looked at her one last time before walking away. She watched him go; waiting till he was finally out of sight before letting her walls crumble. She slid down the fence and sat on the floor still grasping the vial. She had spent her whole life feeling alone but never more so in this moment when whatever hopes she had of that solitude ending had been so cruelly dashed. How could she have been so stupid as to just follow the fairy dust blindly? She had let her hopes rule her head and put her faith in a man she did not know all on the evidence of a tattoo. Her mother would have enjoyed this moment had she still been alive. In this moment love, or Regina's own starvation for it, really had been weakness.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Emma's POV

"Hook why an earth would you think that I would want to marry you?!" Emma growled, desperately trying to keep her voice down so no one else at the party could hear her. When the Pirate had pulled her into the quietest corner of Granny's to 'talk' she had expected him to proposition her yet again but she really didn't expect him to produce a ring from his coat pocket.

"Swan I know you are still mourning the loss of Baelfire but you and I could be happy" he tried to reason with her, holding the diamond ring between them like he still thought she may take it. The blond looked around the room desperately hoping nobody else was paying too much attention to them.

"For god's sake this isn't just about Neal it's about me" she tried to explain to the infuriatingly eager looking man. "I've been ignoring your advances because we are not meant to be together."

His face fell but he still stood his ground holding out the ring. Emma felt sorry for him because he really was trying to be a good man for her. She genuinely didn't want to hurt him but this had now gone on too far. It had been fun when he was just giving her a lot of attention but she could not and would not marry him or even date him. It was her fault for allowing his infatuation to continue because it flattered her. Now she had to fix it.

"Hook you are a nice guy...when you want to be...and I admit I think you are good looking but I don't want to be with you in that way. No matter how much you try to prove you are father material or whatever else it is you are trying to prove I just can't picture us together."

Finally he dropped his hand away and placed the ring back in his pocket. He went to turn away but then stopped himself, his face now full of anger.

"So all I am good for is helping to fight your battles and babysitting?" he snapped at her.

Guilt hit her hard again because he was right; she had used him and treated him appallingly. He had a good heart despite his dubious record and she was fond of him and even a little attracted to him. She was also grateful for helping them rescue Henry from Pan. Hook was aware of all those things so it was hard to explain to him why they could never be anything more.

"No" she tried to protest, "I want to be your friend."

He snorted with a mixture of laughter and frustration. It probably was the last thing he wanted to hear from her right now but she hoped that after the disappointment had settled he would accept her as a friend too. For now though he was too angry to reason with and he turned away and started to storm out of the diner.

"Hook" she called after him, ignoring the looks she got from her parents and other guests.

She followed him to the door but once she reached the doorway she decided to let him be. He had stormed off into the night and it would do him some good to cool down. She was about to head back into the diner when she saw two figures stood on the pavement just outside the diner. One was the distinctive figure of Regina. Even with her back to the diner Emma could recognise Regina anywhere. The other person was taller, a man, but Emma couldn't quite make out who it was because he was stood in the shadow of the archway. Just as Emma was getting really curious the man stepped into the light and kissed Regina. It was Robin Hood. She should have guessed really as the outlaw had been keen on the brunette for days.

Emma knew she should probably go back into the diner and leave them to it but instead she found herself frozen on the spot. It was surprising to see Regina lower her walls enough to allow someone to kiss her and it made Emma feel odd and uncomfortable. If it had been anyone else then she'd have described the feeling as jealousy but she would not feel that way about Regina. It just wasn't sensible to have any sort of romantic feelings for Henry's other mother.

The kiss was brief and led to a hushed and awkward looking conversation that Emma had no chance of hearing. The blond didn't need to hear what was going on to know that something was wrong. Regina's body language was all wrong. The brunette's shoulders were low and her normally rigid and perfect posture was slumped. Robin handed her some sort of bottle which piqued Emma's attention even more. She was itching to go over to the pair but she resisted.

After a few more seconds Robin walked away and Regina slid down the fence and out of sight. Emma's heart suddenly pounded in her chest, unsure of what was going on and very suspicious she dashed out of the diner and to the pavement. Regina was sat on the floor grasping the small bottle, eyes closed but with tears rolling down her cheeks.

"Regina" Emma called out her name softly as she approached. She stood over the brunette and Regina looked up at her, tears streaming down her face.

"Em...Emma?" the brunette chocked out.

The only time Emma had ever seen Regina cry was when they thought they had lost Henry after the sleeping curse. If the brunette was crying then something terrible was happening because as little love as Regina had experienced Emma was sure she wouldn't just cry over a man.

"What the hell happened?" Emma asked as she slid down the fence and sat next to the brunette. Regina wiped at her tears with the sleeves of her jacket which was both undignified for such an elegant woman but also ineffectual as her jacket was made of leather.

"Robin gave my heart to Zelena" Regina explained. "She has everything she needs to complete whatever evil deed she is planning on."

"How did Robin get your heart?" Emma asked instantly. It wasn't till she saw the pitiful look on the brunette's face that she guessed the answer. "Is that were you hid your heart?! With a stranger?!"

Regina gave up trying to wipe the tears away and instead buried her face into her gloved hands, muffling a strangled sob. Emma raised her own hands to cover her mouth as she struggled to know what to do or say to calm the older woman. Regina's tears were breaking her heart.

"He was meant to be my true love" Regina choked out. There was little conviction in the brunette's voice and it sounded very much to Emma like she found her own words ridiculous.

"What?" Emma asked. Regina and Robin had only known each other for a few days and Emma had seen no signs of Regina being passionately in love. Yes the brunette had seemed flattered and perhaps a bit infatuated by the rugged outlaw but not in love.

"Remember Tink said I was the reason why she lost her wings?" Regina began to tell the tale. "Well not long after I had married the king...your grandfather...she stole fairy dust to find my true love because I was so unhappy. It led us to a tavern and to a man with a lion tattoo on his wrist. I was too scared to go in though and she was punished."

Three things struck Emma from Regina's story. Firstly, she had presumed that Regina had done far worse to Tinkerbelle and had said as much whilst in Neverland. Secondly, she had seen Robin Hood's wrist and she knew he had a very garish lion tattoo. Thirdly, had Regina actually just taken Robin and his tattoo on face value all because of some fairy dust? For starters there could be several men with a lion tattoo on their wrist so he may not have been the man the dust led her too and Regina didn't seem that trusting or fairy magic or anything or anyone.

"You thought Robin was that man because he has the tattoo" Emma stated; deciding it was better to avoid criticizing Regina when she had already been kicked to the ground. She needed to support the brunette; they were now allies, sort of friends and sort of co-parents even f Henry didn't remember yet.

"I thought I was getting a second chance at happiness. I should have known better. I'm a villain right? Villains don't get happy endings."

Emma had heard that phrase before from both Gold and Regina. The more she heard it the less she believed it especially now she was getting to know and understand the brunette better. Regina deserved a happy ending just as much as the next person and Emma no longer saw her as a villain. She was a woman who had made terrible mistakes and made terrible choices, some due to the manipulation of others and some borne out of hate. The brunette was walking a path of redemption and in that process had been the hero time and again.

"You are not a villain" Emma stated firmly.

Regina turned towards her and the tears that had began to dry up started to flow again. Emma watched as the suffering brunette tried to dab them with her leather sleeves again before taking pity on her. She pulled up the sleeves of her own leather jacket so that the sleeves of her turtle neck jumper were exposed and shuffled in front of the brunette. Emma gently pressed both her sleeved wrists against Regina's cheeks and the brunette grasped them and guided them against the damp skin without question.

Once the tears had been sufficiently mopped away Regina released Emma's wrists but rather than pushing the blonde's arms away she began to roll her jacket sleeves back down. Once that task was completed Regina released Emma's arms and the blond relaxed against the fence again.

She was shoulder to shoulder with the brunette and as they sat there she felt Regina shift and lean her head against the blonde's shoulder. This need for physical comfort was out of Regina's comfort zone and out of Emma's but the blond risked reaching her arm around Regina's shoulders. The older woman didn't flinch and just relaxed even further against Emma's side. Emma began to draw circles against Regina's leather clad shoulder and the brunette's exhaled as some of the tension released from her body. They sat like that for a couple of silent minutes but once the brunette had settled Emma knew they had to get up.

"We can't just sit here Regina and we can't just give up" Emma sighed. "We need to tell the others and we need to act quickly to try and stop Zelena."