Chapter One
Present day...
"Regina, I'm taking Henry with me to New York." Emma watches as her breath condenses in front of her in the chill Storybrooke morning air. "Regina, I would like to take Henry to New York with me for a few days. I promise I'll have him back in town in no time...No, that's worse." Emma rehearses the speech in her mind as she makes her way to Regina's house. She watches the ground beneath her nervously, as she places the toe of her boot near the line on the pavement, turning her walk into a game. At least with a game, she can pretend not to be thinking of all the damned thoughts that are crowding her mind.
Emma couldn't help being nervous. She'd barely spoken to Regina since the apology. She hadn't trusted her instincts and as a result, she let herself believe Mary Margaret and James, but deep down she knew that Regina hadn't killed Archie. Just like a few weeks later, she knew Regina hadn't really joined forces with her mother again. Her parents were ready to go to war, but Emma had calmed them down, forced them to halt their plans. Sure enough, later that night, Regina had come to her, appearing out of a purple mist in her bedroom.
Regina had apologized for everything and begged Emma to believe her.
"Regina, you don't have to apologize. I'm sorry I didn't believe you. I want us to work together, for Henry, and..." Emma wasn't sure what she was trying to say, but Regina had a lot to communicate and not much time before Cora noticed her absence.
"Emma, please. I need you. They only way we can defeat my mother is if we bind our magic. Together, she won't be able to stop us. We can get rid of her for good."
The binding ritual was intense. Sensations bubbled through Emma's body that she didn't even have words for. In the midst of it, she began to feel Regina's heart, beating along with her own. It was painful at first, but slowly the two synced together, like two drums beating out the same rhythm. In her mind, there was a surge of darkness before her own light magic washed over it and then the light and the dark continued to ebb and flow into her mind like waves. She could feel the change in her thoughts, as each beat of her heart and then Regina's brought a different perspective with it. At first, Emma feared the darkness was taking over, but Regina eased her fears, explaining that now they each shared the dark and light magic, both of them twice as strong.
"Emma, Please take your parents and Henry and come hide in my family vault, while I confront Cora."
"But we can help you. You don't have to do this alone."
"You have already helped me Emma, by binding your magic with mine. We are both twice as strong now. My mother can't win. The only thing that she can use against me is you and Henry, and she's already threatened Mary Margaret, so..."
"I don't understand-"
"The vault is enchanted with my strongest protection spell. No one can enter but me and those I allow in. Once you're all safe, I will lock you inside and she won't be able to get to you- to use you against me during our battle. But we have to hurry."
"Regina" Once again, Emma was at a loss for words. "Thank you."
Regina was right. Cora never stood a chance.
Emma was disgusted with her parents, thinking back on what happened. Those backwards fools were planning to murder Regina; to execute the other mother of her child, simply because they blamed her for all the hardships that they had faced in the last 45 years. A small voice inside her cried out at the injustice of it all. She pleaded with them that Regina, having vanquished Hook and her mother, should be given a reprieve and it looked like for the time being, Regina would not be tried for her crimes. But Hook and Cora's visit had left worse fallout. Henry and Regina were far from repairing their relationship and the boy could not be brought to trust his adoptive mother after she had been accused of murder. Emma couldn't leave him with Regina and her parents irked her. Let's just say she wasn't having their bizarre notion of justice rubbing off on Henry.
Neal was Henry's biological father and he had a right to meet his own parent, even if Neal didn't want to come back to Storybrooke with them. Rumple had backed out of the trip at the last minute, leaving Emma to find Neal all by herself. She wasn't thrilled. She wanted some company to keep her mind off seeing the man who deserted her, but a part of her wondered if she was being selfish using Henry as a diversion for her endless unsettling thoughts.
Regina braced herself against the kitchen counter to stop the room from spinning. She tried to remember the calming exercises Archie had taught her; the counting and breathing and keeping her eyes closed until she felt prepared to face whatever challenge was causing her to hyperventilate. She forced her teeming thoughts to subside and with her lips parted just slightly, she exhaled gently and imagined her distress billowing outwards and dispelling like so much purple smoke.
Regina knew if Emma took Henry now, there was a good likelihood she would never see either of them again. Especially since the Sheriff intended to take her son to see his biological father; the itinerant thief was recently revealed as Rumple's long absent son. No, it was unlikely that they would ever return. She sensed this. No matter what the Sheriff was saying to her now, the whole town considered their ex-queen an unstable lunatic and had she seen fit for there to have been a custody battle, Henry easily would have chosen his two vagabond delinquent parents over her.
Regina had not stood in his way when he left, only stopping him to administer an unwelcome embrace before he ran to the yellow beetle, dragging a suitcase filled with the very last of his belongings. She took her shame and self-loathing to Dr. Hopper's office and with his help, she had tamed her mind adequately enough that she now safely considered her outbursts 'A.E.O.': for Archie's ears only.
Over cider in the study, she rebuked Emma firmly, "I am afraid, Miss Swan. Emma." Regina corrected, "I will not have you take Henry out of Storybrooke. He belongs here. His home and his family are here. He is too young for whatever misadventures you have planned. Have you any idea what kind of damage it would do if he finds the man wants nothing to do with him? Or worse to find that man, the father he idealized, is no more than a common criminal?" Emma smirked at Regina's veiled insult. "Oh, I'm sure he's more the uncommon criminal type, like yours truly." Since their interrogation session, Emma had perfected the ability to stare Regina into submission. "Whatever your past, Emma; you have clearly made the necessary changes, during your time here, to make you a fit mother to our son. Can you tell me this is also the case for your old companion, Mr. Cassady? Can you guarantee it? Because until you do, I will not allow this man to have any contact with our son."
"It's barely your responsibility to make decisions like this anymore." Emma knew her words would sting Regina where it hurt most, and she regretted them the moment they had left her tongue. "That's right. Your custody of Henry is undisputed, yet here you are, asking my opinion. This could hurt him irreparably, Emma. You have to see that." And despite all her anger, Emma couldn't argue, but her crappy mood won out. "Check him out yourself, Regina. Leave me out of it, then."
"So I will accompany you to New York. It's settled."
"Wait, what? No. I don't-You're under house arrest. You can't-"
"You are still the Sheriff? I would be in your custody for the whole trip. Even your parents would not argue with that logic." Emma's drew her lips into a thin line and rolled her eyes. She tried to concentrate as her mind's eye mapped out a thousand ways their trip could turn south.
"Did you hear me Emma? I'm coming with you, I insist!" Regina was the last person she wanted for company. Emma prided herself on not really having strong feelings about anyone, but Regina was the one person she made an exception for. Now they were 'bound' together and Emma didn't even know what the repercussions of that would be in the long term. The woman got under her skin, so much so, she was actively spending time trying not to think about her. This was gonna be a helluva trip.
