A/N: Hi everyone! This is my first fanfiction in about 8 years, as I've been battling writer's block and it has kicked my butt until now. I'm a little rusty but I hope you all enjoy this story as much as I'm enjoying writing it. I will probably post a chapter a day, if not two, until it's complete. This is a Swan Queen story, so if that isn't your thing, turn back now. Enjoy!
Regina felt….empty.
She remembered the look on the Queen's face when she ripped her heart out, the betrayal and horror she saw there. And yet, she'd crushed her heart anyway. She had been tired of feeling the rage, the gnawing desire to set the world ablaze for the people the universe kept taking from her. She couldn't be that person anymore, not if she wanted to keep Henry, and her new family, by her side. She'd made a very simple decision, and she should have been happy about it.
She wasn't.
She was…lacking. She felt the lack of anger, of course, but she also felt the lack of care, the lack of passion, the lack of everything that made her who she was.
It will go away, she assured herself. It's just new. The new me. I'm free.
The problem was, she didn't believe it. She felt more trapped than ever. And she couldn't do anything about it, because her counterpart was dead by her hand.
At the moment, there was a more pressing problem than the removal of her evil self: Hyde.
Hyde, who had somehow gotten his hands on the keys to Storybrooke, thanks to some deal with Rumplestiltskin, and was supposedly bringing "friends" from the Land of Untold Stories to let their endings play out, probably with a twist where the villains would win with Hyde's help. It would be the Queens of Darkness all over again, only with more villains to deal with.
The strange thing was, they hadn't seen nor heard from Hyde, not since giving his threatening message in front of the clock tower. His "friends" had yet to show, and nothing menacing was happening. The majority of the town decided to try to go back to normal, whatever normal was, and seemed to be completely disregarding the new threat, choosing to deal with it when it came rather than take preventative measures.
Idiots.
Emma and the one-handed wonder had gone home, to Emma's house, alone. The knowledge of that sickened Regina to her core. She wasn't jealous, oh no, she was disgusted by how quickly Hook had wormed his way into their family, her family, without any true attempt at redemption. They accepted his smiles and his sweet talk and hailed him as a hero, without needing much proof of him being such. He was a villain, still, and they accepted him like they'd never accepted her. Emma loved him, the bad and whatever good she saw. Regina had been tempted, many times, to share the story of his involvement in her torture, his involvement in the events that had led to Henry being kidnapped to Neverland. She wondered what they'd think of him then. But, time and time again she chose to keep it to herself, locked away, because there was a good chance she'd just hear the trademark "But he's changed" and all would be ignored and instantly forgiven, like they'd never truly forgiven her with her evil self still attached.
Even now, they all seemed to walk on eggshells around her, like she was fragile, like she was less, and she couldn't even find it in herself to be angry about it.
Zelena and the Charmings had retrieved their babies from the fairies, and Zelena had moved back into the farmhouse in the woods. When Regina had offered for Zelena to stay at the manor, Zelena had declined. "It's nothing personal, Sis," she'd said, "I like my privacy, and I need to focus on myself and Robin and our happiness out of the eyes of your prying, judgmental citizens. But feel free to visit us anytime!" The name of Zelena's daughter still made Regina cringe internally, but she accepted the homage paid to her dead soul mate anyway. Dead soul mate. The words should bring more than a feeling of loneliness, more than a feeling that she got screwed over by fate once more. Shouldn't she miss him more than the idea of him? She was glad Zelena had declined her offer, but she didn't want to think about the reasons why she was glad.
So Regina and Henry returned to the manor. Regina made an early lasagna dinner in an attempt to keep herself busy and bring comfort to Henry, who seemed to be on edge.
"Mom?" he asked quietly when they sat down to eat. "Are you sure you're okay?" Regina's brows raised. Her sweet, intuitive son, always so observant and caring. And when had he grown?
"I'm fine, Henry. Like I said, I feel free. The only thing that's bothering me is how no one seems to be worried about Hyde and the impending arrival of his 'friends'." Henry nodded, satisfied with that answer. "Well, Mom," he said, "Whatever does happen, I'm sure we can stop it. Or maybe even help whoever comes. They've been stuck in the Land of Untold Stories, kind of frozen like we were before Ma came. Maybe it'll be a good thing?"
Her son, the eternal optimist.
"Maybe so, Henry."
They ate in silence for awhile longer, the silence still deafening, before Henry said, "This is awesome as always. Ma's missing out."
Emma. That's what was missing here. Emma would wolf down the food like she'd never eaten before, go on and on about how amazing Regina's cooking was and how bad she was going to beat Henry at whatever video game they happened to be playing together at the time. Emma always said it was more fun to play at the manor because Regina owned a bigger, better TV than she did. Dinner would be followed by video games, loud shouts, and when Henry went to bed she and Emma would indulge in a nightcap and small talk.
Instead, Emma was a few blocks over, probably locked in the arms of her precious Guyliner.
Again, not jealous. Just disgusted. Regina hoped she wouldn't get a call that Emma had been impaled by that stupid hook hand.
"Mom?"
Regina, pulled from her thoughts, looked at Henry to see him watching her closely. "Do you want to call Emma and tell her we have leftovers? I doubt she'll be cooking for Hook. They'll probably order from Granny's otherwise."
Regina thought again about why Emma wouldn't be cooking for Hook, and said "I'm sure they're doing a lot of talking and don't want to be bothered, Henry. Maybe another time."
Why was Henry looking at her so strangely? He opened his mouth to speak again, but whatever he was going to say was lost in the sudden rumble that shook the manor. Both he and Regina sprang up out of their chairs, watching the chandelier above them rattle and a few pictures and paintings fall from the walls. Together they abandoned their dinner and ran outside, where they saw more townspeople gathered and looking upwards. Following suit, Regina saw a….
Blimp?
What on Earth?
Half the town was now gathered in a clearing outside of town, watching the blimp fly overhead. Regina noted with satisfaction that Hook and Emma had appeared far to quickly for them to have gotten too far into their alone time.
"What the hell is that?" David questioned. Jekyll, appearing behind him, answered, "It's a dirigible. From the Land of Untold Stories."
"What's it doing in our town?" Snow, ever oblivious, asked.
"I believe you mean my town." And there he was. Hyde stepped into view, a smirk on his face. Regina scowled, and noticed her family square up, prepared for a fight, around her. Snow stepped forward, exclaiming, "This is not your town!"
"Oh, tell that to the Dark One. He gave it to me." Hyde gloated. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I must prepare for my friends' arrival." He began to walk away. Emma sidled up to Regina, her face strained and determined. "Regina" she whispered. She was close, too close, and her eyes were too trusting. Regina began to panic. She knew what Emma was getting at, and she didn't even feel whole, let alone able to pull up enough emotion to blast Hyde to smithereens. "Emma," she whispered back, exasperated, "My evil half is gone, I don't know how strong I am." Emma cast her a sideways glance and said, "The evil did not make you strong, let's do this."
Regina was stunned momentarily. Emma. Emma, strong and determined and displaying so much faith in her despite everything….Regina shook off her daze and readied herself. "Hey! Mutton Chops!" Emma cried. As Hyde turned, the magic began to flow from their hands and toward Hyde. For a moment, when the magic connected, Hyde seemed affected. After a moment, he straightened, laughed, and dodged the attack. Regina and Emma let their magic die down, staring incredulously. Their magic together had worked on a damn hell beast before, why not Hyde?
Laughing, Hyde warned, "Be careful. Nothing more dangerous than an untold story, and the people who don't want them told."
At his words, the dirigible lost power and dropped into the forest. When they turned back, Hyde was gone. As the Charmings and Hook took off for the forest, Regina stood, again feeling dazed.
…Nothing more dangerous than an untold story, and the people who don't want them told. Why did that sentence terrify her so? Why did it feel personal?
At Henry's insistent tugging, Regina followed her family.
The site of the crash revealed that whoever had been on the dirigible had disappeared into the woods quickly. There wasn't a single person or creature to be found. Jekyll gave some cryptic warning about chaos being created by letting their stories play out, and then finally gave them a piece of useful information by saying that, with debris from the wreckage, he could create a device that could subdue Hyde like the orderly's baton had back in the Land of Untold Stories. Together they all started collecting whatever they could to help Jekyll with his task. The clang of metal on metal from a careless toss by David made Regina start, her nerves frayed and on edge. She glanced over at Emma, who was crouched down and shaking. Walking over to her, she crouched down as well and laid a hand on Emma's arm. "Emma?" she whispered. Emma shook her head and at Regina's touch, her tremors stopped. "I'm fine," she said quietly, standing up and walking away. Confused and concerned, Regina didn't follow. Emma was obviously as frazzled as she was. Maybe space was what she needed. Or, Hook. But she noticed that Emma didn't walk towards her love, she walked further away from the group to continue salvaging. A conversation for another time, maybe.
Finally, Jekyll informed them that he had what he needed to create the baton and restraints for Hyde, and they all silently returned to the Charming loft for him to begin his work. Snow dismissed the Blue Fairy (as she'd been asked to keep an eye on Neal, again), and when she left Regina took a seat between Henry and Emma on the couch, and Hook (with a disdainful look at Regina) perched on the arm of the couch next to Emma. David took seat in the chair and they all sat in silence as the frightened, small man began his work confidently, and Snow prepared tea for her guests to keep herself busy. Regina smirked to herself. Snow was so motherly for someone who hadn't spent much time being a mother.
Leaning over slightly, Regina whispered, "Emma, what happened out there? You don't look well." And she didn't. Emma looked strained, tired, distracted, and hadn't spoken to anyone since Regina noticed her shaking spell in the woods. Emma seemed to be annoyed by Regina's close proximity and shifted away slightly. "I don't want to talk about it, Regina," she whispered waspishly. Since shifting away from Regina put her closer to Hook, he smirked in triumph at Regina and slung his arm around Emma's shoulder. Regina noticed that Emma looked sicker, but didn't move. Regina glared at Hook. You didn't even notice her in the forest, you have no idea what's wrong with her and you don't care, you pompous-
Her accusing thoughts were interrupted by Snow pushing a warm mug of tea into her hands. Snow gave her a look, but why, Regina didn't know, and handed the next mug in her hands to Emma before walking away to pour tea into more mugs.
Finally, unable to stand the silence (and Emma's avoidance), Regina snapped out "Are we just going to sit here until he's finished tinkering and fly by the seat of our pants or are we going to come up with a plan?"
At the icebreaker, everyone began theorizing and planning animatedly. Regina scowled. Why the silence? Why was everything and everyone so weird right now?
By the time Jekyll was finished with his contraptions, they had a set plan: Regina would lure Hyde out of the Town Hall (where the townspeople had seen him disappear into) with Jekyll, then get him talking while Emma snuck up and blasted his ass. Then they'd slap the restraints on his wrist and lock him away under the hospital. They all finished their tea (like it was the most important thing?) and prepared for battle.
The plan was executed flawlessly. They had Hyde in his special handcuffs and a psych ward cell an hour later, just as the sun was setting. Judging by the fury in his eyes and tone, Hyde's plan had been well and thoroughly foiled. However, as Jekyll and David escorted him by Regina, he leaned over and whispered, "At least one dangerous person will see their story played out."
What in the hell did that mean?
Snow and David took it upon themselves to track down the newcomers in the forest with safe assurances and promises of assistance. Regina, Emma, Hook, and Henry gathered up as many blankets, clothes, and toiletries as they could and made their way to the diner to prepare for their new "guests".
Henry addressed his moms and Hook, "I think the smart thing to do would be to take down a name registry of everyone. Each story has a villain, and I think the villains of these stories were who Hyde was calling 'friends'. They won't know that we know their stories. Maybe if we get the villains out of the way, either contain them or send them back somehow, the stories can play out the way they're supposed to, and all these people can move on with their lives."
It sounded like a good plan to Regina, but deep down she knew that none of their plans ever turned out right the first time. Exchanging a look with Emma, she knew that she wasn't the only one with that sentiment.
Unbeknownst to Regina and the rest of the town, Rumplestiltskin had made his way to the town line under cover of darkness with a certain scroll in hand. Stopping just short of the line (just to be safe; after all, there was no telling if Regina's magic was as good as before), he stared at the figure on the other side. Her teeth were shining in the night, in a million-watt smile of victory on her perfectly made-up face. They sized each other up for a moment before she raised a perfectly manicured hand in expectation, jewels glinting. Scoffing, Rumple said, "We made a deal."
She smiled impossibly bigger and removed a pouch from her side. Holding it up tauntingly, she purred, "You first, dear."
He glared at her a moment longer before tossing the scroll over the line. She caught it in midair, laughing. "Good man," she said in delight. The border rippled as she stepped through it, and she tossed the pouch at Rumple as she breezed by him. "That should be all you need, correct? Now stay out of my way," she warned darkly before continuing down the dark road. "What are you going to do?" Rumplestiltskin asked warily, almost like he cared.
The Queen spared a glance over her shoulder, her face displaying a faux pitying look. "Nothing that will concern you, Dark One. Regina is the one that needs to worry. She will be sorry she ever split us apart."