Author's Note: It seems that a new pattern is emerging from the OUAT writers: episodes in need of quick Swan Queen fixes. Here's mine for 2x10.
"So Mommie Dearest, what have you been doing while I've been working so hard to make our little friend here chirp?" Hook asks, with a theatrical wave at Archie.
"I was visiting my daughter."
"So you've finally been to see her then?" Hook muses, "A week of spying on her from the garden was enough for you."
"Just watching," Cora replies, dropping her parasol on a bench and sitting down next to the restrained Archie.
"What are you waiting for? Is she not broken enough yet? Do you need to go kick her puppy?" Hook asks, seeming amused at his own wit.
Cora however is not amused. She merely scowls, looks at Archie, and asks, "Did you get anything out of him today?"
"Not a word. Here's a stubborn little bug isn't he? Ah, well, maybe tomorrow then." Hook runs the sharp metal of his fake hand down the therapist's chest before turning and leaving Archie alone at last.
Hours later, once Archie has convinced himself that his captors are probably asleep, he makes his move. He takes a moment to muse on how people always seem to underestimate the innocent little cricket or the mild mannered, unassuming counselor. It's an insult really that Cora and Hook didn't even bother with magic, merely ropes and chains hold Archie. But the thing is, they underestimated the man who had grown up picking pockets and staging cons. Archie has been studying Hook all week and had finally managed to steal the key from right out of Hook's trousers hours earlier.
Archie would take a moment to gloat at the fact that he of all people is managing to escape from the woman that everyone Storybrooke is afraid of if only it didn't hurt so much to move. Miraculously it seems to him, Archie manages to make his beaten body crawl out of the boat and onto the dock.
Luckily Archie doesn't need to walk far because once he's out of the invisible ship he is almost immediately spotted. He stops moving and lets himself fall to his knees.
For a moment Emma doesn't believe what she's seeing. Despite fighting ogres and jumping through a portal there is still something unbelievably disconcerting about seeing a man who is supposed to be dead standing right before your eyes. Emma isn't snapped out of her stunned state until she sees James running towards the man in front of them. Emma follows her father, and together they help Archie to his feet and into the squad car.
Emma spends two hours at the hospital with Archie trying to sort everything out. Archie tells her what he can once Dr. Whale has patched him up, and after going through the details a second time, Emma decides that it's time to let the poor man sleep.
Even though it's three in the morning and Emma's shift has long ended, she stalls on going home. She returns to the police station, telling James that she wants to file reports about the evening's events while they're still fresh in her mind. But three hours in the station and Emma has gotten nothing done. She can't stop thinking about Henry and, for reasons that Emma refuses to examine too deeply, she can't stop thinking about Regina either.
They haven't heard a word from Regina since she had disappeared in a cloud of smoke. Emma knew that the former queen had returned to her home, but no one has seen her leave the house in days.
Emma had assured Henry that Regina wouldn't be a threat to him, but beyond that Emma has tried her hardest not to think about the other woman. The sheriff had never doubted her gut before, and now after having been swayed by magic to do just that, she knows she never should have.
That is a conversation - an apology really - for later. Henry will be waking up soon, and Emma needs to talk to him before he hears this news from anyone else.
Emma walks into the apartment she shares with her family to find Snow and James sitting with Henry making awkward conversation over breakfast. They're stalling, Emma knows, so that she can be the one to tell Henry the news. Because she's his mother. Only she isn't. Regina had been right when she had told Emma that she knew nothing about being a parent, because right now she has never felt more lost in her life.
"Hey Emma!" Henry greets her happily. He's all smiles, like he doesn't have a care in the world, like Emma hadn't told him a week ago that the only mother he'd known for the first ten years of his life had killed a man.
Emma sits down at the table, and she isn't sure why this feels as hard as telling Henry what she had believed to be true a short week ago. But it does. "Henry, I have something to tell you." Henry seems slightly nervous as he looks up from his cereal. "Dr. Hopper's alive."
"What? You said he was dead...You said my mom..." He hasn't called Regina his mom since Emma told him the news. He's barely acknowledge that he feels anything at all for her. But now, Emma watches as Henry's face falls and tears spring to his eyes. "She didn't hurt him?" he asks, almost like he's afraid to hope. Emma's heart is breaking, because she's the reason he lost hope, she's the reason he doesn't believe that his mother loves him.
"No. Cora tricked all of us."
Snow gasps from the background, "Cora's here?" Apparently James hadn't filled his wife in on all the evening's events.
"Yes," Emma says without turning to look at her mother. "Henry, your mom didn't do anything to Archie. Cora set it up so that we would think that Regina killed him." Tears run down Henry's cheeks, and he looks so young.
"No need to cry," Emma tells him with a smile, because she honestly doesn't know what she's supposed to do with a crying kid. "Everything's ok." But Henry's face makes it clear that nothing's ok. And really how could it be? The kid had believed that his mother was capable of cold blooded murder. Emma feels guilty for believing it; how would Henry not feel the same?
"I can take you to see her now, Henry," Emma tells her son eagerly. She's pretty sure she's saying it largely to assuage her own guilt, because honestly if ever there were a time to not drop in on someone unexpectedly it would be now. If Emma had been in Regina's place she probable would have finished off all the alcohol in the house. But Emma needs to do something, because she can barely contain the guilt she feels. Like mother, like daughter, she muses briefly. Emma had robbed Regina of the only thing in her life that she's cared about, and the blonde has to find a way to make it right.
Henry shakes his head frantically. "I have to go to school," he says, standing up and getting his backpack from next to the door. Then, turning to James instead of Emma, Henry asks, "Can I walk to the bus myself?"
"Sure," James says. "We'll pick you up at the bus stop later, ok?"
Henry nods and then he's gone.
Emma buries her face in her hands, and Snow puts a hand on Emma's back. "You can't blame yourself Emma," Snow says, and suddenly the soft, soothing voice is enough to drive Emma mad. She stands up from the table abruptly. "Where are you going?" Snow asks.
"To talk to Regina."
"Oh Emma. Are you sure that's a good idea?" Emma asks.
"Yes" is all Emma says before slamming the door behind her.
She drives to Regina's house more quickly than she probably should considering that she's the sheriff. But even those five minutes feel too long, because it hurts, physically hurts when Emma thinks about what she's done to Regina.
Emma rings the doorbell a few times and is unsurprised by the lack of response. So she uses the spare key that Henry had given her months ago, opening the door slowly, and immediately yelling to make her presence known. "Regina? It's Emma." She doesn't want to be attacked by a defensive former queen with magical powers.
There's no answer so Emma walks further into the house. She peers into the living room and kitchen, and finding no one walks up the stairs towards the bedroom. "Regina?" she calls again as she walks down the hallway. The door to Regina's bedroom is open and when Emma looks in she sees the brunette curled up facing the window.
"Regina, can I come in?" Emma asks. Regina doesn't answer; doesn't move. Emma walks in anyway.
Emma isn't sure where this courage comes from but she walks to the far side of Regina's bed so she can face the brunette. It's almost like looking at a different woman. Regina's eyes are red, her face is puffy, and there are tissues scattered around the bed. In a million years, Emma could never imagine Mayor Mills leaving dirty tissues laying around. But this woman looks nothing like the woman who Emma had met two years ago. Regina looks tiny and fragile and so very broken.
When Regina doesn't acknowledge Emma's presence, the blonde sits down on edge of the bed. "Regina," Emma says again, because it is incredibly jarring to have someone completely ignore your presence.
"What do you want Miss Swan?" Regina asks. Emma notes sadly that there's no heat to the the way the other woman has said her name; no emotion at all.
"I need to talk to you."
"Have your parents decided on a punishment for me?" Regina asks, without making any move to sit up.
And Emma, never one for well crafted words, simply blurts out, "No, Archie's alive."
"What?"
"We found him last night. He's alive." Regina's face finally shows some expression as happiness and relief wash over her, and Emma realizes just how much this man means to Regina. "I am so sorry. I should never have believed that you killed him."
"It doesn't matter now," Regina mutters, turning away from Emma.
"It doesn't matter?!" Emma asks incredulously. No response. "That's bullshit." Regina finally sits up, but her posture is slumped and Emma feels like someone drained all the fight out of the woman in front of her. And then there's the horrible realization that the person who did that was Emma herself. "Look Regina, there are no words for how sorry I am. And I know what an awful situation I created for you. But we'll get everything straightened out, I promise."
It catches Regina off guard to have someone apologize to her. Since she was a small child people had been taken pieces of Regina until finally there seemed to be nothing left. No one had ever apologized before. "It doesn't matter," she repeats.
"How can you say that? Archie's alive. We'll clear your name, and things can go back to how they were."
Regina laughs mirthlessly. "How they were? My dear, I have a child who hates me, who believes that I am capable of murdering his therapist. I was begging you just for a few minutes with my son. I have nothing to go back to."
"That's not true," Emma says too eagerly. The words bubbling inside her are begging to get out. You have me. It makes no sense really, because why should Emma care about the Evil Queen? Why should she care about this woman at all? But she does. There's something there that Emma has been feeling for months now. She's been pulled towards the fiery brunette since they met, and seemingly endless nights in the Enchanted Forest thinking about Regina had made Emma realize that there was more than just Henry drawing her towards this woman.
"You know," Emma says, "You were right about me not knowing what to do with Henry. I fed him french fries for breakfast yesterday." Regina makes a horrified expression, and Emma thinks that it's the first time in the conversation that the older woman has looked like herself at all. "You're his mother, and I'm sorry for ever saying otherwise. He needs you."
"He has you," Regina says, the words burning her throat.
"He does, but he needs you too. You were right, he should come home. This is where he belongs."
"I don't want your pity because you feel guilty," Regina says, her pride getting the better of her. All she wants in the world is for her son to come home. The desperation with which she wants this one thing kills her. As if she has no control over her tear ducts anymore, Regina's crying again. She's crying in front of Emma Swan, and Regina doesn't even try to stem the tears. Why keep up appearances when it's already clear that she's broken, that she's been defeated at last?
Emma is tired of seeing people she cares for cry today. She follows her gut and closes the space between herself and Regina so she can press a soft kiss to the brunette's lips.
Regina's crying stops immediately, shock overtaking her. Beyond the shock of how incredibly good Emma's lips feel, there's more. Someone is offering Regina compassion and care, and those are things that she hasn't felt in so very long. Regina responds to the kiss gently, her tongue pressing softly against Emma's lips, a hand moving up to Emma's cheek, steadying the younger woman against her.
When they pull apart Regina can barely believe what she's done. She scrambles to disentangle herself from the blankets, but Emma grabs her arm before she can get off the bed. "There are people who care for you, Regina, and you cannot give up now."
"You're saying that you care for me?" Regina asks, her eyes looking just a bit hopeful.
Now or never, Swan. "Yes."
Regina stills. This must be some cruel trick. "You thought that I murdered Archie."
"I'm sorry," Emma repeats.
"Don't apologize. Why wouldn't you think that? I've killed before. I've done awful things," Regina says, her voice breaking slightly. There's nothing like a week lying in bed alone to make you think about your sins, to finally admit to yourself that that's exactly what they are.
"People change," Emma says, echoing what her parents have been telling her.
"How do you know that?" Regina asks. It's not mocking at all. It's merely a genuine question.
"I don't really," Emma says with a shrug. "But I'm trying to believe it."
Regina sees her own fears reflected back in the blonde's eyes. She sees the desperate attempt to have faith in yourself even after a lifetime of being told that you aren't good enough. It tugs at Regina's heart, makes her feel deeply protective of the blonde. It's an instinct that Regina has begun to feel lately, and she's being forced to come to the conclusion that it has little to do with Henry and quite a lot to do with the rush of emotions that Regina had experienced when she and Emma had kissed moments earlier. With a kind smile Regina tells Emma, "You stayed."
Emma nods. "Well if I can change after a lifetime of running then surely you can change too." Regina seems a little stronger now, a tiny bit more hopeful. There is so much that they need to deal with right now, and as much as Emma wants to keep the horribly painful truth from Regina, she can't. "There's something else I need to tell you...Your mother is in Storybrooke."
The look of fear on Regina's face is horrifying, and Emma knows immediately that this is a fear born from years of unspeakable cruelty and abuse. Years in the foster care system have made sure that Emma would know that haunted look in an instant. Emma wraps her arms around Regina, who simply clings. It's still strange to see Regina needy and open, but everyone has a breaking point. And Emma recognizes that Regina has finally reached hers.
Regina pulls away a few moments later completely mortified. In one day had she really just kissed Emma and cried in her arms? "I'm sorry about that," Regina says, pulling herself together at last.
"No need." Emma looks down at her hands. She feels like an awkward teenager again. All she wants to do is reach out and touch Regina.
"Let me make us some coffee," Regina offers. She needs to have this conversation somewhere that feels less vulnerable. Though any mention of her mother makes Regina feel vulnerable if she's honest with herself, it will undoubtedly help if she puts on real clothes and gets out of bed.
"That sounds good. Do you want to take a shower first?" Regina quirks an eyebrow at Emma. "Not that you smell or anything. I just thought that you might want to shower."
"I'll be quick. Help yourself to whatever you'd like in the kitchen. I'll be down shortly." With that Regina disappears into the bathroom.
When Regina comes downstairs - looking perfect once again - a half hour later, Emma has practically chewed off all her nails. It turns out nervous habits are particularly difficult to change.
Regina busies herself making coffee and setting out cookies for a few minutes before sitting down at the small kitchen table. When Regina chooses the seat next to Emma, instead of across the table, the sheriff can feel her heart speed up immediately.
"How do you know that Cora is here?" Regina asks finally.
"She kidnapped Archie. She set you up," Emma says cautiously. She isn't sure what response to expect from Regina.
Regina doesn't answer for a long time, and when she finally does it's obviously that she's trying not to let her voice shake. "You need to take Henry and leave Storybrooke."
"Woah. Slow down."
"Emma, please. If you love him at all, you will take him and run as far as you can. If she gets to Henry, she'll kill him. You have to protect him."
"We'll protect him together," Emma assures Regina. And while the sentiment is sweet, the words are naive. A lifetime of going up against Cora has taught Regina how futile such efforts are.
"No. My mother won't stop until she's taken away everything that I love. I can't stop her, and I can't let her hurt Henry. Please." She looks at Emma, begging her to understand how much she truly loves Henry, how much Regina would sacrifice for him.
Emma reaches over and takes Regina's hand. Regina can feel the frantic pounding in her chest calm slightly. "We will stop her together."
"You don't know..." Regina trails off. There are so many things that Emma doesn't know, that no one can know about Cora unless they had suffered through the childhood Regina had.
"Let's try to figure out a plan. It's not like running away is fool proof, you know. If Cora can follow you across worlds, she can probably follow me across state lines." It's meant to be comforting, but the panic in Regina's eyes just grows. "We'll figure this out, I promise." Emma sounds far more confident than she feels.
Regina nods. "Promise me that you will protect Henry. It doesn't matter what happens to me as long as Henry is safe, do you understand?" Regina's killed before, but this feeling that there is someone in her life that she would die for in an instant is new. If anything is enough to make her a different woman, she thinks, certainly it must be that.
"I promise." Emma doesn't bother to protest, though hell yes it matters what happens to Regina. But that is an argument for another day, and anyway, Regina might have suspicions about the blonde's feelings on the subject given the number of times she's saved the brunette's life.
Regina gives Emma's hand a squeeze of thanks before pulling away and wrapping both hands around her coffee cup. "I think we should go see Henry," Emma says. She takes a long sip of her coffee, suddenly feeling the exhaustion of being awake all night rush over her.
"Isn't he at school?"
"I'm sure he wouldn't mind taking the day off," Emma says, though she isn't exactly sure how Henry will react to either herself or Regina showing up at his school. "You both need to see each other right now."
They get to Henry's school during recess, and Regina can see her son on the playground in the distance. She's terrified. She wants to run. She wants to fall to her knees and beg her son to believe that she's a good person because she can barely believe it herself. She wants to pull him into a hug and never let him go.
And as she and Emma walk towards the playground, she also wants to grasp Emma's hand and feel the comfort of the other woman's touch. But Regina stops herself. The suddenly extremely complicated nature of Regina and Emma's relationship is definitely a conversation to have with Henry on a different day.
The two woman make it to the edge of the playground by the time Henry spots them. He freezes in his tracks, and Emma is afraid that he's about the turn and walk away. But he doesn't.
Instead, Henry runs at full speed towards Regina. She bends down and puts her arms out, catching Henry as his full weight barrels into her. Henry's crying in an instant. "I'm so sorry, Mommy," he tells her, using an endearment that Regina hasn't heard in years.
"It's ok, Henry. You don't need to apologize," Regina murmurs, her lips pressed against her son's hair. Henry cries harder, and Regina rubs a hand on his back, the other tangling in his hair. "I'm the one who should be sorry, sweetheart."
Henry shakes his head no, because the more he thinks about it, while his mom may have a lot of reasons to be sorry, very few of them have to do with him. "I want things to go back to how they used to be." It's the plea of a boy who ran away from the innocence of childhood, only to realize how much safer the world felt in his mother's arms.
Regina's eyes tear up, and she's fighting not to become a sobbing mess in front of her son. She wants nothing more than to go back, but such things are not possible. She offers the best she has, for both of them. "I love you, and I will always love you. No matter what else changes, that won't. You're my baby boy. I'll always take care of you." She feels a small nod against her shoulder, and she hopes that Henry can believe what she's said.
When Henry's tears calm, Regina asks "How about we go home?" The words are out of her mouth before she remembers to ask Emma's permission. But when Regina looks over at the blonde, she's met with a warm teary smile.
"You're going to let me skip school?" Henry asks, wide eyed, looking every bit like the little kid he'd wanted to be again.
"Just this once," Regina answers, trying her best to sound stern and failing miserably.
"Awesome," Henry says, keeping an arm wrapped around Regina's waist as they walk to the car. "Can we stop for ice cream?" he asks, seeing how far he can push his luck.
Henry seems distracted as he chatters on, so Regina reaches out and grasps Emma's hand, making it clear that she's coming home with them as well. The future is uncertain, but in this moment Regina feels warm and whole.