A/N: I wanted to see a knock down, drag out fight between Rumplestiltskin and the Evil Queen – and I'm guessing I won't get it until the end of season 2... If at all... So I'm going to try and write down what plays in my head. Enjoy. - YN
Emma stepped to the window as the weird purple smoke billowed past the glass, and watched, bemused, as it seeped through. Cinnamon, vanilla and something musky teased her senses as she breathed, and then it was gone.
"It's something bad," Henry insisted again. The noises of the other people on the ward buzzed in Emma's ears as she turned to Henry.
"How do you know that, kid?" He ducked past her, and picked up the book that still rested on the table beside the bed he'd occupied not long before. Henry's hands flipped pages quickly and deftly, finally revealing an illustration, of a purple fog rolling down a mountainside and across a lake, rising to engulf a castle in the foreground.
"That's what the original curse looked like, too. It's bad, I know it is." The tone of the voices outside the room changed, and Emma frowned. People were gathering in knots, exchanging dark looks, and in tones of hatred and malice, the name Regina was said, over and over again.
"Look, Henry, you need to stay here for a while, okay?"
"No way, I'm coming with you." The boy looked down at his hospital gown and a small grin came to his lips. "I want my clothes, though."
"Henry, there's no time-"
"No!" he shouted her down. "I'm safe with you. Please?" With a sigh, Emma gave in.
"Get dressed. I'm going to try and head off that lynch mob." A look of shock filled as his face as he scrambled for the blue plastic bag that held his clothes. Emma gathered her confidence and straightened her spine as she stepped through the glass doors that closed off the patient rooms from the rest of the ward. "Hey, what's going on?" she demanded. A few people turned to look, but those glances were dismissive. "I know what you're going to do. And it's a very bad idea."
"Why is that?" someone asked angrily. "Isn't it Regina's turn to suffer?"
"Maybe. But I can't just let you take the law into your own hands." Sniggers greeted that remark, ones that grew louder as she swept aside her jacket to reveal her badge and an empty holster. "I will stop you." A small, warm hand slipped into hers, and she looked down into Henry's shining face. He believed in her. "C'mon, kid," she said, giving a tug and drawing him towards the elevators, pulling him through the crowd. Every face she saw was filled with a lust for revenge, and Emma found herself praying silently that she'd get to Regina first.
They left the hospital almost running, and Emma was grateful that for once she was driving the police cruiser, not her Bug. "Get in," she ordered Henry as she popped the trunk. Locked into their holders were two shotguns and a box of shells. The smallest key on the ring she'd inherited from Sheriff Graham fitted the padlock, and she grabbed both guns and the ammunition, slamming the trunk closed and sprinting for the driver's door. She tossed the guns onto the back seat and slipped the keys into the ignition as Henry spoke, his eyes wide.
"What are those for?"
"The people in this town are pretty angry," Emma admitted, shifting into reverse and stomping on the gas pedal. "I might have to scare them off so they don't..." She left the sentence hanging, unable to finish it.
"So they don't kill the Evil Queen." She gave a small nod of assent, but shock ripped through her at Henry's next words. "Why shouldn't they?"
"Henry! She's your mother!"
"No she isn't! You are! And why shouldn't she die after everything she's done?" Emma slammed on the brakes, throwing them both into their seatbelts. She leaned across the seats and grabbed Henry's shoulders in her hands and spoke directly into his face.
"Henry, she's the woman who raised you for ten years. She may be a criminal, hell, she's the Evil Queen, but kill her? Do you really want that?" She saw the light of comprehension dawn in his eyes, and she smiled wryly. "Besides, Maine isn't a death penalty state, and mob rule should never be encouraged." Henry finally nodded.
"You're going to put her in jail, aren't you?" Emma nodded in reply.
"For her safety. Besides, none of these people deserve to have her blood on her hands." She switched to the gas again. "I just hope we can stay ahead of the lynch mob and find her first."
It turned out that finding Regina was the easy part. She was walking down Main Street, laughing and pointing. Every time she did so, something blew up, and the residents of Storybrooke were fleeing ahead of her at the same time Emma was pulling up behind her. There was an almost perceptible darkness gathering in the air around the mayor, and Emma gulped, then reached for one of the guns. After a few seconds fumbling, she'd opened the ammunition box and slid shells into the chamber.
"I want you to stay in the car. I mean it, Henry." Henry opened his mouth as if to protest, but as the front of Granny's diner disintegrated and he watched Granny and Ruby run for cover he closed it and nodded. Then Emma was off, lunging from the car. "Regina!" she hollered. In the brief silence that fell, she jacked a shell into the breech of the shot gun, the distinctive noise echoing along the street. The mayor turned, Emma swallowed hard at the malevolent look on her face. "Don't make this any harder than it has to be."
"Why, Sheriff Swan, how nice to see you," Regina purred.
"I'm going to take you into custody. Come along quietly, and you'll be in a nice, safe cell before any of the townspeople show up to kill you." Regina laughed, a throaty sound.
"Thank you for your kind offer," she demurred as she lifted a hand. Emma copied her, lifting the shot gun to her shoulder, but too slowly – Regina's magic ripped the gun from her fingers and hoisted it to hover in mid air. The slide worked rapidly, ejecting the shells Emma had loaded, and when the gun was empty, it broke into it's component parts and clattered to the ground. Regina's face held a gloating expression she took a step towards Emma, then another. "All this time you've been a thorn in my side, Miss Swan, and it's time I plucked you out. I'm going to enjoy this." Another voice intruded, familiar and yet not.
"As am I, dearie." Emma looked over her shoulder helplessly to see Mr Gold step into the street, one arm around the slim waist of a young girl with messy chestnut hair dressed in a long grey sweater and hospital scrubs. He spoke again, and a shiver ran up Emma's spine to hear Mr Gold's cultured accent an octave higher. "Sheriff Swan, may I presume on you to take care of Belle for a moment? This shouldn't take very long at all." The girl grabbed at him, her fingers tangling in the lapels of his black suit jacket.
"Rumplestiltskin, no, you can't!"
"Rumplestiltskin!" That was Henry's awed gasp, and Emma turned completely around, her back to Regina to see Henry standing by the car. There was a whooshing sound, and the air around suddenly grew close and hot. Emma yelped, and turned, and there was Regina, hands extended, a column of fire burning from her palms. But it wasn't touching her, she realised. Somehow she was safe. Gold was sauntering past her, that damnable smirk on his face, and he tossed her a wink as he drew even with her.
"You seem to be losing your touch, dearie. Care to try again?" he mocked Regina in that strange, high pitched voice. Regina stopped the column of fire and backed up a step or two as he came towards her, all signs of his limp gone. Emma skin pricked, and she lunged back to the car, grabbing the girl with one hand and Henry with the other.
"Get off the street and get down. Now!" The girl was trying to fight her, but Emma was in no mood to let her. She gave her a harsh shake and dragged her along as the air grew close and thick and hard to breathe. She peered around the sheriff's car to see Regina and Gold standing in the middle of the street, about thirty feet separating them. Leaves rustled, trees began to bend as a fierce wind started to blow, but then it stopped. It all stopped, and in the silence Gold's changed voice rang out.
"Did you think I wouldn't find her? That I wouldn't know you took her? Did you imagine that it was something I could let go, your Majesty?" Gold giggled, actually giggled, and Emma shuddered at the madness in that sound. "You've been a very wicked girl, if you don't mind me saying so, Majesty."
"Don't talk to me of wickedness, imp!" Regina retorted. "This was all you, wasn't it? Everything was you!" Emma watched as Gold placed a spread hand against his chest, eyes wide with innocence. Then the pretence dropped, and his eyes shone with pride as he bowed in a courtly manner.
"Couldn't have done it without you, dearie. But now I think you've outlived your usefulness. It's time for you to pay what you owe, Regina."
"Let someone else pay it," she sneered. "I'm done with this town." She turned on her heel and was striding away when Gold spoke again.
"Oh no, dearie, don't you dare turn your back on me." His fingers twitched, and a mini-cyclone roared through the air, heading directly for Regina. She spun on the spot, black smoke billowing around her as she vanished. Gold snarled, a bestial sound, and he vanished as well. They both popped back into view a little way down the street, Gold's slender hands wrapped around Regina's throat as he held her off the ground. There was a flash of silver, and Gold was staggering back, fingers covered in blood pressed to his neck. There was another endless, silent moment as they studied each other, and then they began to circle in the dusty, empty street, like prize fighters taking each others measure before the blows are struck.
"Nice knife," Gold said, removing his hand as the skin of his throat healed. "But it's gonna take a little more than that, dearie." Emma missed Regina's reply as she unlocked the rear door of the cruiser and fumbled for the second shot gun. She loaded more shells, then shoved a few in the pockets of her jacket for good measure, and leaned out cautiously to look over the trunk. In a day where she thought nothing more could surprise her, Regina and Gold had changed. Instead of the expensive suits they'd been wearing thirty seconds ago, Regina was wearing what looked like pants from the waist down, and a dress, with magnificent split skirts that swept the ground as she circled Gold. Regina's hair was piled on top of her head, one long, luxurious, raven dark curl dangling down and over her shoulder. And Gold... Emma tried to make sense of what she was seeing. His skin had... changed. It shone a metallic greenish-gold in the morning sunlight, and his long fingers were tipped with sharp black nails. From beside her, she heard a sigh, and she turned her head to see the girl, Belle, smiling sweetly.
"Rumplestiltskin," she said softly, and Emma was bemused to hear love in her voice and see it shining from a pair of blue, blue eyes.
"You're Beauty," Henry said, tugging at Belle's arm until she looked at him. "You're Beauty and he's the Beast."
"He's not a beast," Belle snapped indignantly. "He's-" She was interrupted as the earth began to shake beneath them.
"Uh-oh," Henry whispered as cracks began to form in the road and the buildings began to sway.
"I have to stop them," Emma gasped. "They'll destroy the town – they'll kill everyone!" The girl reached out and grabbed her arm.
"Please, please don't hurt him," Belle begged, her eyes huge and luminous with fright.
"Lady, only if he hurts me first. Can you keep an eye on the kid?"
"Hey!" Henry exclaimed.
"No," Emma snarled fiercely. "You're going to run, you got me? You're going to put as much distance between you and them as you can. Go. Now!" She shoved Belle with an elbow. "Run!" Belle stared at her for a moment, then nodded, grabbing Henry's hand and pulling him back along the street. Satisfied they'd do as she'd said, Emma returned her eyes to the fight. The air around Regina and Gold was rippling, and strange shapes slid in and out of Emma's view as she lifted the gun to her shoulder and took a deep breath. Then she rose to her feet, steadying herself with a hip against the cruiser against the earthquake. She pumped the slide and pointed the muzzle at the sky, pulling the trigger. The deafening report thundered over the sound of tortured stone, and the shaking slowed, then stopped, as the two beings paused in their cautious circling and turned their attention to her. She pumped the shot gun again, then pointed the barrel in their direction.
"This has to stop," she said, her voice flat, her nerves well hidden. Now they were staring at her, she could see Regina's lips were now blood red, and Gold's eyes were truly golden, his teeth cracked and hideous.
"Stay out of this, dearie," Gold warned. "Let me finish what I came here to do." Emma gathered her courage.
"I can't let you kill her."
"Why not?" He sounded genuinely puzzled.
"She needs to face justice for what she's done, and execution comes after the trial. C'mon, Gold, you're a lawyer, you know that." That high-pitched, mad giggle sounded again, but she rushed on before he could speak. "This isn't a fairy tale world. There are laws that need to be followed." Those large eyes blinked slowly.
"You'd really do it, wouldn't you? You'd face me down, me, for her sake." Gold was frowning, then a maniacal grin stretched his lips. "I think... I think I'm a little proud." He wiped theatrically at a fake tear, but the mirth faded and Emma shivered again. She thought Regina's face had been malevolent, but it was nothing compared to the look in Gold's eyes now as they turned back to Regina. "Stay out of the way, little dragon slayer," he dismissed her. "It's time to end this."
"I agree," Regina replied silkily.
"You do, Majesty?" Gold smirked. "Then shall we?"
"By all means." In unison, they lifted their hands, and Emma was picked up and thrown by the blast of power that rocketed down the street. She shed the shot gun and covered her head with her arms as she crashed to the ground and tumbled down the street, only vaguely noticing the cruiser cart wheeling along beside her. Dazed, confused, she shook her head to clear the ringing in her ears, her senses returning in crystal clarity as the ringing resolved into screams. The high-pitched screams of a child.
"Henry," she breathed, then Emma was up and running, blind to the battle behind her as she ran to her son. He was laying in the street, the over-turned car crushing his legs, and he shrieked his pain at the sky as Belle lay beside him, eyes open and staring and empty. She'd tried to protect him, Emma noted numbly and she grabbed for him and held him close as he kept screaming. She turned on her knees and grabbed at the cruiser, trying to shift it, to get it off her boy. Her fingernails tore as she scrabbled for purchase, her only thought to free him. Muscles straining, a high keening noise coming from her throat, she knew she couldn't lift it. But suddenly the weight, the cruiser, was gone, and Henry's blood was pooling on the road as his eyes rolled up in his head and he stilled. "Henry, Henry, no!" she gasped as she turned and pulled him back into her arms. She rocked him gently. "I just got you back, I can't lose you again," she gasped, tears streaming down her face. "Please don't die." It was only then that she registered Regina was kneeling opposite her in the bloody street, a look of pure shock and loss on her face as she stared at the boy.
They both jerked as another scream split the morning air. Gold was also close, and was holding the body of the girl in his arms. "Belle, Belle, Belle," he chanted, his high voice a moan. "No, please, I'm sorry Belle, I'm so sorry, don't be dead." He tipped his head back and screamed again, the sound of a wounded animal, before he lowered his face to the fall of her hair and he began to sob in anguish.
"Do something!" Emma raged at Regina. "You have magic, you can save him!" Regina's eyes were empty as she shook her head.
"I can't," she whispered, extending one shaking hand to brush the hair from Henry's too-pale face. "I don't have that power. But... But he does." Emma looked past Regina to the sobbing, oblivious Gold.
"Gold!" Emma yelled. "Gold!" But he was oblivious to her as he gently rocked Belle in his arms and kissed her forehead, murmuring nonsense words to her in his high voice as tears streamed down his greenish-gold face. Emma took a deep breath. "Rumplestiltskin!" That reached him, and the imp turned his head, fury and death and pain in his eyes. "I want to bargain."
"No," Regina interrupted, turning on her knees to meet that inhuman gaze. "My life for Henry's. Save him and you can do what you want to me." Rumplestiltskin gave a slow blink.
"What makes you think I care?" he snarled. "Belle's dead! My Belle!"
"Henry's an innocent, Gold, just like Belle," Emma managed to choke out. "Don't let him die, please, please save my boy!" Pleading, she reached for him, not seeing the blood that dripped from her fingers. "Please," she whispered. "I'll give you anything."
"You have nothing I want, dearie," he sneered, but then something flickered in those huge eyes as they returned to Belle. Tenderly, he slid her eyelids closed and lowered his head to kiss them softly, reverently, as he lowered her to the ground. Quick as a striking snake, his hands darted out, one closing in Regina's hair as the other closed around her throat. "But I think I'll take your bargain, dearie, oh yes." Emma watched Regina swallow, and close her dark eyes.
"Thank you," the Evil Queen managed past the hand that was choking her. Rumplestiltskin lifted her easily, his face inches from hers.
"But not today," he breathed against her skin. "Your life and death are mine. And I'm going to make you suffer before I let you die." And then he tossed her aside like a rag doll and took her place at Henry's side. "Give him to me," he commanded Emma. Hesitantly, she held out the boy, hope warring with fear. Otherworldly purple light gathered in his hands as he took Henry, and if she hadn't been so close, she'd never have heard the soft words he spoke. "I'm sorry, Henry, I didn't mean for this to happen." The light grew more intense, and there was a rushing noise. The horrible, flat, blood soaked mess of Henry's legs began to change, the blood vanishing back into his body, clicking and cracking sounds rising over the noise of the magic as the bones mended. Henry inhaled, his eyes opening to stare into Rumplestiltskin's, before he looked around wildly.
"Belle! Is she okay? She tried to-" The look in the imp's eyes was enough. "I'm so sorry, can't you..?"
"Magic doesn't work that way. She's dead, and there's no coming back from that." Rumplestiltskin handed Henry back to Emma. "Can you... Can you... look after her?" At Emma's nod, he rose to his feet and turned, hate and fury contorting his face into a fearsome mask. Emma was surprised to see that Regina hadn't tried to get away, that she was still sitting in the street where the imp had thrown her. She wasn't looking at Rumplestiltskin as he came towards her to claim his reward, she was looking at Emma.
"Protect him," she whispered as the imp reached down, and in a swirl of dark smoke they were gone, and Emma and Henry were alone in the shattered street as the morning sunlight streamed down from the crisp Maine sky.
Another A/N: Well, that didn't go at all like I expected. *shakes finger at Emma* Naughty Miss Swan, getting in the way and messing with my plans... But that's the problem with heroes, they never let anyone have any fun. - YN