A/N: so I kind of missed the boat on all these prompts, but I was laying bed and kept hearing this old song in my head so here we are… Trapped.
She should have known better than to step foot into the ancient, creaking deathtrap, but she knew Robin didn't like unnecessary magic, so here they were. Trapped in the library in the elevator to Storybrooke's cave system.
"I presume by the way your face has just lost all its color, that this is not what typical elevator ride is supposed to be like?"
"No," she frowned avoiding eye contact with the persistent archer. She was now, more than ever, wishing he hadn't insisted on following her on her quest to retrieve the magical urn strong enough to contain the snow queen.
"Is there anything we can do to get the vessel moving again?"
"No,"
"Shall I try to call Emma and the others?"
"No,"
"Do you suppose I could get more than a one word response from your majesty?"
"The elevator is stuck probably thanks to faulty wiring, because the technology used to operate it is practically medieval. The control panel for this vessel is at the bottom of the shaft, and we are now probably about fifty feet underground, which means there is no cell service."
"So… what do we do?"
"The elevator may begin to move again on its own. It may decide to plummet to the bottom of the shaft. Emma knows we are down here, so she may come looking for us. Or if all else fails, I use the last of my magic to get us out of here," Regina answered, failing to inform her companion that she only had enough magic to transport one, and if the time came it would him who arrived at the surface alone.
Not knowing what else to say, the thief allowed his exhausted body to slump to the floor, choosing to rest while he could. It had been a long day, preceded by a week of long days. All he wanted to do was close his eyes for a moment and not worry that the whole town would be frozen when he opened them again.
Across the tiny space, she observed him, her body language tight as a coiled spring. She couldn't drop her guard for moment around him anymore. He wasn't hers to watch, or to share her burdens with, or even hers to love. Pixie dust had lied.
"I miss you," he said out of the blue. They had been trapped close to a half hour, and aside from their original assessment of the situation, no words had passed between them, so his confession rather startled the queen, who had been trying to ignore his presence.
"I miss you," he repeated with more feeling, when it was clear she would give no response to his initial comment.
"Now is not the time," she began to say, only to be cut off by Robin returning to his feet.
"If not now, when? You have avoided me since Marian's return, but I must be heard. I miss you, Regina. I miss my friend."
Regina sniffed indignantly at the term friend. Before the return of his dead wife, she had revealed more of herself to Robin than she had anyone else in her life. Friend, ha, as if such a flimsy, useless term could define their time together.
"What would you like me to say, Robin? That I was crushed by the return of your true love? That I feel robbed of the opportunity I was offered in you? That now more than ever it is clear that I am everyone's second thought? Second choice?" she paused a moment, but he just starred at her with unshed tears in his eyes. Finally she continued. "I won't say it, Robin. I learned long ago that giving into childish dreams can only bring heartbreak. It is clear to me now that anything we might have shared was more pity on your part than affection, and I take pity from no one."
Robin was immediately baffled by her proclamation, but his confusion quickly turned to rage as her words sunk in. Stepping into her personal space, he pinned her to the wall with body and fierce gaze.
"If you think for one moment that my sentiments are derived from pity, Milady, you are mistaken. I have lov…"
"Don't you dare," Regina growled, pushing back now, with both her hands on his chest. "Don't even think about telling me that you feel that way for me when you are going home to your wife when we get out of here."
"I can't help that she is back. I didn't bring her here. What am I to do? I took a vow before god Regina, I can't just walk away from her now because you have had the courage to find me," he tried to reason with her.
She starred at him for a long moment, but she could no longer deny the love shining back at her in his brilliant sapphire eyes.
"She was right," she whispered, burying her face in his jacket, her once pressing hands, now pulling him in.
"Who? Who was right, my dear?" he questioned while trying to comfort her anyway he could.
"Tinkerbelle," she wept. "Tinkerbelle said that by not going to you when I first saw you, I was ruining more than just my own happiness, and now here we are. I miss you. You miss me. Your wife needs you. Your son needs his mother. We are all so… hopeless."
"Now, really my darling, it is not as bad as all that. There is always hope," he promised, his hand leading her face to meet his.
"For you perhaps, but for me there is nothing. If I am to be happy, I must destroy the happiness of others, and I could not do that to you or Roland."
"You have not heard me, Milady. The choice is made. I miss you. I yearn for you. What is a home without love? What is a family that can no longer connect? We are broken without you. Please, say that you will heal me again."
Regina paused, disbelief etched in every inch of her face, but then she felt the elevator begin to plummet.
"I'm sorry," she whispered, and with a flick of her wrist he appeared in a cloud of white smoke at the doors to the elevator. It wasn't until he registered the sicken sound of the elevator hitting bottom that he realized he stood there alone.
