A/N: TW: implications of marital rape. No other warnings apply even if it may seem so at some points. That's about all I can say without spoiling anything. Can't remember when was the last time I wrote Swan Queen so this was a bit challenging. I would love to hear what you think about it. Hope you enjoy.
Emma left Henry with... her parents and went out to get some fresh air. There was a slight buzz in her head from the alcohol she'd drank. Probably the only good part of the post-Curse celebration at Granny's was that she could down a drink or two while Mary Margaret and David were catching up with old friends. She was far from drunk though if the thoughts swirling in her head were any indication.
Regina had vanished without a trace. She wasn't at her house or at her office, or anywhere else really. Which was probably a good thing, considering the fact that there had been an angry mob out for her head. Just the memory of how scared Henry had been for his mom made her heart ache. Regina was smart though and she'd covered herself. For now. Emma knew she would be back. She wouldn't give up on Henry so easily. Especially now that magic was back.
That was another thing that worried Emma. While everyone was on edge in anticipation of Regina's next move–and probably rightfully so–she couldn't help but feel like they were purposefully ignoring the bigger problem. Gold had brought magic to Storybrooke. He needed it for something. And from what Emma had seen, he was far more dangerous than Regina was. Plus, she still owed him a favor which was even more unsettling now that she knew his real identity.
She'd battled a dragon but she still had a hard time accepting the truth about her origins. It wasn't every day that you learned your parents were the fairytale characters you'd read about in books. It would take her time to process that. And now that the Curse was broken and time was moving again, she wasn't sure that there was enough of it for her to accept the new reality. Mary Margaret's enthusiasm didn't help either. All her smiles and questions only reminded Emma of how much she'd craved that parental love that she'd never had the chance of receiving. Because she was the Savior. Her happiness had been sacrificed for that of others. The title burdened her with so many new responsibilities when the only thing she'd wanted was to be Henry's mother.
A sound in the darkness of the alley startled her and she drew out the gun she was still carrying, pointing it at the direction from which it had come.
"Emma," the voice was quiet and familiar, unlike the sound of her name coming from the mouth of the speaker.
"Regina?" she asked, her gun staying aimed at the figure she could now make out in the dimly lit alley.
"I don't have magic," Regina said as she came closer, her hands raised where Emma could see them. "I'm not going to hurt you," she said, the words sounding strange, especially in her hushed voice. It reminded her of how Regina had sounded during their fight in the hospital just the day before. She blocked the memory for it was too strongly associated with anger in her mind and she was holding a loaded gun.
"And yet, you're lying," Emma growled, her superpower going haywire. At least for the first part of Regina's claims.
"My magic's back," a beat of hesitation, "but I can't use it," Regina confessed, desperate to convince her that she was telling the truth. And this time she was. Though Emma couldn't help but notice that with Regina her power worked down to the letter. Her lie detector immediately picked it up when Regina so much as worded a sentence wrong. It was good to know she could count on it against Regina.
"What are you doing here?" Emma asked, willing to hear her out, but the gun stayed aimed at her. She couldn't be too safe around Regina.
Regina swallowed, looking unnerved but that wasn't surprising since there was a weapon aimed at her and she couldn't defend herself. If Emma wanted, she could arrest her or even kill her. "I just want to see Henry," she spoke, her voice almost breaking when she said his name.
The memories flooded Emma's mind and took over it despite her best efforts not to let them do it. "After all that shit you pulled?" Emma's voice raised and she stalked closer to Regina, pressing the gun against her chest, the image of Henry's motionless body in the hospital bed the only thing she could think about. She'd almost lost him thanks to Regina. She didn't care about the rest of Regina's dark deeds but that she would never forgive her. "I don't think so." Her finger moved to the trigger and the only thing that stopped her from pulling it was the terror in Henry's eyes when he'd learned Regina could be in mortal danger. She couldn't cause him the pain of losing a parent.
"Emma, please," Regina begged, her voice almost a whisper, tears spilling down her cheeks. "He's my son too." This time the words were firmer and echoed something Emma had said to her when Henry had been trapped in the mines.
It had been the first time Regina had refrained from denying that she was Henry's mother. And Regina was acknowledging that fact now too. If she'd only done it sooner. Then they wouldn't be in the middle of that whole mess. Emma wouldn't be the Savior. And Regina wouldn't be the Evil Queen. And maybe they could've figured out an arrangement that would suit them both. But now the shared custody proved to be out of reach. For they were both weighed down by titles and expectations, and the truth of who they were.
"Please," Regina pleaded again when she didn't get an answer. "I'll do anything." The tears kept streaming down her face and, somehow, Emma just couldn't see her as the Evil Queen. The woman in front of her was too real to be a character from a fairytale book, her tears too tangible for someone who only existed on paper. They were all too real to be held up to the images of two-dimensional characters. And that meant that everything they'd done was real too.
Emma's free hand grabbed at Regina's shoulder and she pushed her backwards until her back collided with the wall behind her painfully, jerking a yelp from her throat. "Anything?" Emma asked, the gun sliding down to the first button of Regina's shirt and putting pressure on it as it tugged it down. Her whole body pressed against Regina's in a clear sign of what was to follow.
"Anything," Regina repeated, her eyes and voice full of resolve. She didn't fight back when Emma's thigh pushed between hers and Emma used the gun to rip open the button of her shirt.
Emma's lips found her throat and she removed the gun, her hand falling at her side. She nipped at Regina's pulse point, careful not to leave a bruise. She pressed her knee against Regina's center, making her gasp. She pulled slightly away so that she could look at the other woman.
Regina's breathing was even, her pulse steady, her eyes open and clear of the tears that had stopped coming. Her stillness was far too practiced for Emma's liking, confirming her suspicions that Regina had been through something similar. Many times. At the hands of the man who she'd never known as her grandfather since Regina had killed him. Some things in the storybook could fly over a kid's head but she wasn't a kid. She hadn't been for a long time. Her childhood had been taken away by the Curse, along with her parents.
"Get on your knees," she commanded as she pulled back to allow Regina to move, her voice even and controlled, not showing anything.
Regina didn't seem to register her words, her gaze focused on a spot above Emma's shoulder, but she followed the order and sank to her knees. Her movements were mechanic since she was operating on autopilot, and the desperate plea for mercy was impossible to miss. Unless you chose to, of course.
Emma holstered her gun and offered Regina a hand. "Come on, get up," she urged gently, her words startling Regina and finally drawing a natural reaction out of her.
She seemed confused but took the offered hand and stood up with help from Emma. She gave Emma a questioning look, unable to comprehend what was going on. There was fear in her eyes at the prospect of Emma changing her mind and that was so wrong. She should've been relieved by the act of kindness, but instead she was afraid she wouldn't get what small chance she'd been offered for a terrible price.
"I believe you," Emma said, wishing to put a stop to it. It hurt too much to look at warm brown eyes welling up with despair again. "I got the proof I needed."
"You were testing me?" Regina asked, the realization seeming to hit her harder than the lie Emma had led her to believe.
Emma understood her reaction but she couldn't let Regina think that she was like him. She wasn't like any of them. Their blood was flowing in her veins but Regina's Curse had made it so that she'd grown up in another world. Alone. "You'll forgive me if I had some doubts after everything you've done."
Regina looked at her, barely keeping the tears from falling again, but clenched her jaw and nodded.
"I'll get Henry to you tomorrow," Emma said, confident it was the right decision. Regina was a mother, just like her, and she couldn't deny her the right to see her son no matter what she'd done. "Where should we come?" she asked as an afterthought, realizing she had no idea where she could find Regina.
"In my vault at the cemetery," Regina said without a trace of hesitation.
Emma nodded, her heart rested with the knowledge that she'd done the right thing. Because Regina had trusted her, believing that she wouldn't use her love for her son against her. And that just proved how different Emma was from the rest of them. But maybe that was a good thing. Heaven knew things had stayed the same for far too long.
"Thank you," Regina spoke after Emma had turned her back to her and had started walking back to the diner.
Emma didn't turn around. Regina could've said it to her face if she'd wanted to. But she was grateful too. Because now she knew that Regina wasn't the Evil Queen and she wasn't the Savior. They were both Henry's mothers. And that put them on the same side. Which made things a little less complicated.