Disclaimer: I do not own Once Upon a Time or any recognizable characters.
A/N: I'd like to say a big thank you to Hunnyfresh for doing the beta work for me on this. Thank you! I am a huge fan.
TW for violence, muderer attempt and language.
Summary: It's been seven years since the attempted murder of Emma Swan, and Regina Mills is safely behind bars. That is until someone begins stalking both of them. Now both under federal protection, will they continue this game between them or will a common threat bring them together?
Sickness Love
by ~brokenhearstillbeat
Prologue
Humming softly at the song playing in the room, she approached the bed, watching very carefully the still sleeping form of a woman lying completely naked on bed. The once peaceful rise and fall of her chest became a little more frantic, and her blonde curls waved a little as she struggled, finally awake.
An almost evil smirk appeared on her lips as she silently watched the young blonde fight against the shackles restraining her movement to the bed. Hands cautiously pinned to the headboard, her legs placed apart and firmly tied.
Swaying her hips to the low bass sounds, she glanced around the cheap motel room before walking even closer to the woman. Roaming her leather-covered hands in the soft pale skin, she watched the woman squirm against her touch, finally aware of her presence.
"Glad to see you are awake, dear." Her voice was hoarse, almost guttural, like velvet. She felt the woman shiver under her touch and smirked.
"I wouldn't try to move if I were you. You are not going anywhere…" She almost purred, looking straight to the black cover, blinding the woman. She inched her face closer to the woman's neck and whispered almost seductively.
"Shhh let me help you with that." She finally moved her fingers against the delicate face, unknotting the blind, and watched as green eyes blinked fast, trying to adjust the sudden and unexpected light as they roamed the room, acknowledging the space and then finally landing on the brown-haired woman dangerously close to her.
"Hello Ms. Swan." She smiled at her, almost devilishly, showing her perfect white teeth.
Understanding washed the blonde's face, as her eyes widened in shock and she tried to scream, only to find her mouth stuck.
"Careful dear, I can smell your fear…"
A single tear slid down her face, and the leather covered hand wiped it with a thumb.
"Do you know who am I?"
Emma just nodded her head no, as more and more tears came to her eyes, silently sliding down her cheeks.
"I see…" The brunette reached to the bedside table, where a metal platter had been placed and examined its contents.
"Do you know what I'm going to do with you?" This time she got an affirmative nod, as tears fastened in the woman's face.
"Why are you crying?" The woman finally selected a lancet and brought it closer to the blonde's chest. "Are you afraid?" Without waiting for an answer, she caressed the skin with the pointed metal, still not enough to cut. "I am not going to hurt you… much."
The blonde shut her eyes close, squirming under the cold metal.
"Tell me, Ms. Swan… Do you like apples?" She roamed the lancet to a delicate breast and smirked, rounding the nipple with the metal, and then dislocating a little to the side.
"Look at me." She commanded in a guttural tone, waiting until green eyes locked with her deep brown ones. Just then, the pointed metal cut through skin and blood flowed as said brown eyes watched in amazement.
She heard the blonde muffled cries and screams as she completed her artwork.
"Now you are mine." She whispered, getting another tool off the metal platter at the bedside table, a large syringe.
"Do you know what cyanide is?" She asked without taking her eyes of the liquid filling the syringe.
"I prepared this specially for you." She smirked finally looking at the green eyes, filled with horror.
"Do you know how it will affect you dear?" She questioned almost smiling to the blonde. "It will very, very slowly, kill you."
"At first…" She started, "It will paralyze your system…" She brought the syringe closer to the woman, looking for a good place to inject the poison. "And since I am not injecting a large amount of the substance directly, it won't kill you fast, I will watch as it slowly makes you choke without breathing… "She finally released one of the blonde's arms, and almost laughed as the woman tried to move the numb limb.
"I am going to watch you die." She whispered in her ear.
And then, the most unexpected thing happened, the motel door was forced open as a dozen of FBI agents entered the room pointing infrared lasers at the brunette's back.
"Freeze! Drop the weapon and turn around very slowly. Step away from the girl." They commanded.
She did exactly as told, turning around very slowly; she gave them one of her best smiles as she dropped the empty syringe to the floor.
It was very fast, the military ordering her to kneel and proclaim her rights, as a man cuffed her hands behind her back.
The only moment when almost everything came to a slow motion, was when the blonde gasped, choking in the bed as a cap tried to unknot her feet.
The brunette released a guttural laugh as they asked repeatedly what she had done. However, as she just kept laughing at them, she felt a sharp pain in her skull and everything went black.
Boston, 7 years later.
Emma
Her body is shaking violently, completely out of control. She cannot move or breathe.Little by little, she feels that she is dying.She knows it before it happens as she feels her lungs burn, drowning in nothing and struggling for air. Her eyes cannot seem to focus on anything, nor her ears. There are dark spots on her eyes as she tried to focus on the person standing next to her.
"Get a paramedic here! Now!"
"What did you do to her?"
There are just voices here and there. Fading. Just like her. She is fading. Her eyes shut and she is sure someone is holding her body to the bed; someone is putting a hand inside her mouth.
"She is suffocating."
"Someone help me hold her!"
She feels her limbs shake more violently against the hold as she tried to stay awake. Nevertheless, she cannot. She has no force to fight anymore. The last thing she hears is a maniacal laugh, as her world collapses in black.
Emma jerks awake on her bed covered in a cold sweat.
'That dream again…Fuck' She glances at the bedside clock and realizes it is still 3:00AM.
"Emma… Are you alright?" She hears her roommate knock gently on her door.
"Yeah, I'm fine."
"Can I come in?"
"Sure." She adjusts her covers and waits patiently as her friend opens the door and take a good look on the room and then on her.
"You were screaming again… Nightmare?" The woman smiles sheepishly at her.
"You could say so…" Emma scoffs.
Those nightmares had haunted her for almost every night after that day, for a long time, until they became only a dark memory. A non-cicatrized wound. It had been a long time since she dreamed about it. About the day she had died, or at least the normal part of her. Because since that day, her life had turned upside down. She had been like a zombie, sleeping less than 3 hours a day, that if she could have any sleep at all, because honestly, she barely could sleep without any pill to help, or having any of those fucking nightmares.
Until several years passed, they did not heal, but they obliged her to live. To be stronger, and to build her life again, closing those memories under her walls.
"Emma?" Her friend touches her shoulder, leaving her hand there.
"Yes?"
"Are you sure you're going to be all right? Can I bring you something?" She locks eyes with her. Emma hates the pity she sees there.
"It is ok Rubes, I'm fine." She reassures her friend with a weak smile. "I will just go back to sleep." She lies, because truly, what else can she do?
"Ok Em, rest well." Her friend squeezes her shoulder for a brief moment in a comforting gesture before giving her a reassuring smile and leaves the room.
Emma sighs, leaving the weight of her body fall limb against the bed.
"Fuck!" She mutters to herself, closing her eyes, only to snap them back open.
There she is, inside her mind, tattooed under her eyelashes, mocking her with that devilish smirk and scarlet painted lips. Beautiful like an angel, and evil like the devil. Emma covers her mouth as a traitorous sob escapes her lips. She just nestles against her pillow, and muffles her cries on it for dear life.
She does not know why that woman is haunting her dreams again, so she just allows her tears to fall, sure that Ruby can hear her from the other room, but right now, she knows her friend is more than used to that.
She does not bother to cover the tears, she just cries a little more, until her alarm rings, sharply at 6 o'clock, remembering her that her week is beginning. Moreover, her life most goes on.
The winter in Boston is very strong this year, covering almost everything in snow. Emma press her hands together trying to create some heat as she waits outside her office for her friend to pick her up.
"C'mon Ruby… You're late girl." She speaks to herself, and then she sees the red car turning the corner and honking at her.
"Sorry Em. Had to avoid a few blocks, the snow is blocking a few streets."
"It's ok." Emma relaxes as she enters the car and feels the warmth of the heater.
"So, how was your day?" Ruby smiles at her through the view mirror.
"Good. It was good. We were testing those new games… There were pretty cool." She smiles.
"Geek."
"What? You have asked."
"I know. Sometimes I just forget that you are a geek." Ruby winks at her.
"I am not!"
"Yes, you are." Ruby chuckles. "I'm still waiting for you to create the new iphone thing."
Emma rolls her eyes. "I work with the games department Ruby…"
"Yeah… Ok, ok… Sorry. I just like to tease you because you're the smart one." She stops the car at the garage. "C'mon, let's get inside and make some cocoa to get warm!"
"Sure thing." Emma smiles and went after her.
After changing for a more comfortable pair of clothes, Emma goes downstairs to find Ruby sitting at the kitchen counter eyeing a box suspiciously.
"What is that?" Emma grabs her mug of cocoa, sipping the hot liquid.
"I dunno. It was on our mailbox. Addressed to you."
"Who sent it? Was it my mother?" She places her mug on the counter, grabbing a knife to open the box."
"There is no return address."
"I see…" Emma mumbles getting the box open.
The first thing that reaches her is the smell. It is sweet, and yet metallic. Something that she could understand before she even saw. Nauseating her system. She listens to Ruby screaming before she can do anything, and then she glances inside the box. It is a strange shaped thing, wrapped in a very bloody rag.
With shaking hands, she grabs her phone and calls the only one who call help her now.
"Detective Graham!" He answers quickly. Almost too quickly that she know something is wrong.
"Graham… It is Emma."
"Emma?" She can hear the alarm in his voice. "Are you okay Emma?"
"I'm… I am ok… But I need you to come over Graham."
"What happened?" He asks her.
"There was…" That is when she breaks in a sob. "I'm sorry…" She mutters, but his only answers is that he is on the way, before the line went dead.
She leaves the box on the counter and walks to the panicked brunette hyperventilating on their couch.
"Emma?" She cries. "Was that…? Was that?"
Emma shushes her in a hug, sitting next her until they hear someone knocking.
"Emma?! It is Graham!" He knocks strong on their door. As she opens it, he gives her a bear hug.
"What happened?" He asks without letting her go. Her head is resting in his chest; his hands are soothing her hair. In moments like those, she remembers that he was the person that held her still when no one could. She ever wondered why she could not reciprocate his feelings.
She points the counter with her head, and get away from him.
He looks at her reassuring then goes to the box.
She sits on the couch with Ruby, and watches as he does every calls he needs too. Soon their house is crowded with police officers and detectives, asking them every kind of question.
"Emma?"
She notices Graham kneeling before her, a worried look on his face.
"Emma?"
"I'm sorry." She mutters.
"I asked if you are ok."
"I am… fine." She sighs.
"Good. We will leave a patrol outside your house and two men inside to make sure you are safe. You and your friend should rest. Tomorrow when the results of the expertise come, we will know what this is."
"Ok." She nods almost too tired to argue.
As she climbs the staircase, she asks him without looking. "Do you… Do you think is it… is it her?" She swallows hard.
"She is locked out on a federal prison Emma. I am sure she did not plant it here. But we will look around it too ok? I promise you."
She nods and goes upstairs, finding her friend hugging herself in a fetal position in her bed. She does not ask, she just removes her shoes and get on bed besides her.
Ruby moves to face her. Her makeup is a mess, her eyes are red, her nose is runny, but when she hugs Emma and sobs aloud, nothing else matters. Emma hugs her back, and they pray for this to be over.