So I wrote this years ago, but never got around to typing it. I'm wrapping up my PhD and just have to work on my dissertation so I have some time to write again, which means I might update my other OUAT story. The convention for the show is in Chicago this weekend so it inspired me. Fair warning, this story talks about sexual assault within a marriage, but I don't get graphic.
Go to hell.
It had been a phrase Regina had used many times in her adult life. Now she hated those words…probably because she was actually standing in the underworld. Every step Regina took, her uneasiness grew. She…well she had killed a lot of people and she feared running into souls who had yet to move on.
She had been given a rare gift in getting to see her father and introducing him to her Henry. Being forgiven and watching her father cross over left Regina feeling drained, but somewhat more at peace. That should've been her first sign that something bad was coming. As their "rescue" team continued to move through the underworld they came to stop along main street, trying to plan their next move. As the Charming's fought over splitting up to find the pirate, Emma looked up and saw someone off in the distance. Whoever it was, they were watching the group and Emma became even more concerned. Regina felt Emma's anxiety and she soon saw what made Emma so uneasy. Regina quietly moved in front of Snow and David and Emma soon flanked her.
"Guys, not to alarm you, but we have company." The hooded figure came closer and Regina pushed Henry behind her and squared her shoulders, ready for a fight.
"Not another step." David yelled for what little good it did. The figure stopped a few yards from the group and stood there, remaining silent.
"I'm in no mood for a guessing game. Who are you?" Regina's hand glowed with a fireball that she kept ready at her side.
"Still so full of anger Regina. Can't say I'm surprised." Emma watched the fire literally go out of Regina's hand and her face instantly paled.
"Who are you? How do you know Regina?" Emma asked in an angry tone.
"I should think that I know my own wife."
Emma didn't think Regina's skin could get any paler, but hearing the word 'wife' was enough to push Regina over the edge. Robin stood by along with Henry and David who seemed more confused than anything. He inched closer to Regina and could all but feel her literally shaking in her boots. The awkward silence was broken by Snow, half whispering, "Daddy?" The hooded figure pulled back his covering and sure enough King Leopold stood before them.
"Princess." Snow had yet to register Regina's look of pure terror and she quickly flung herself into her father's arms.
"Daddy, what are you doing here?"
"What all of us are doing here darling: trying to resolve unfinished business."
"Unfinished business? With who? At this moment, Leopold looked at Regina and smiled in a way that made Emma's skin crawl.
"With my beautiful bride of course." Snow looked at Regina and finally saw what the rest of them did. She hoped that "new" Regina would be able to make amends with the husband she had murdered all those year ago.
"Regina? Say something." Through clenched teeth Regina spoke, "I am not your beautiful anything anymore."
"Regina, please, let's just bury the past so he can move on." Regina eyed Snow and then looked to her former husband.
"I am not the one keeping him from crossing over. He can leave whenever he wants."
Snow looked confused, as did most of the others. "I don't understand."
Regina eyed Snow and then threw her gaze back at her late husband, "he has to admit what really happened, then he can move on, though I cannot promise it will be to a better place."
"What is she talking about Daddy? What happened?" Leopold tried to play dumb, but he knew damn well that Regina was right. But he wasn't about to admit to any wrong doing.
"I will not apologize for taking what was mine. You were my wife damn it, what did you expect to happen."
Regina looked back at Henry, "Henry don't listen to this." Regina's warning caused her husband to turn to Henry.
"And who is this?" At that moment, the fireball she had lost moments before reappeared in Regina's hand.
"My son and you'll do well to stay away from him."
"A son? And here I am thinking you were unable to have children. Gods know you never gave me any."
"The only thing I could control in our marriage was that. I refused to give you another child, let alone an heir."
"It was your duty as queen." Leopold barked at Regina. Regina leaned forward as she yelled back, "I was 18 years old when you married me. Six years older than your prized princess and you expected children from me."
"I expected you to do your duty."
Regina shook her head and glared at him, "Enough Leo. I had no such duty and you had no such right."
"I had every right. I was King and you were my wife. I took what was mine to take."
"In my world we have a name for that." Emma knew what was coming and her heart broke for Regina.
"A name for what? A man bedding his wife?"
"No. A man forcing a woman to have sex with him. It's called rape." The word hung in the air and left everyone silent.
"Regina." Snow all but scolded her former stepmother for ever suggesting her father ever did such a thing.
"Do not scold me like I'm a child telling a lie. I know what happened to me. I know what he did to me." Leopold took a step toward Regina looking as if he were about to hit her. Regina didn't move, but Robin and Emma did. Robin drew an arrow and aimed it at the former King, leaving Emma to move closer to Regina.
"I really wouldn't do that if I were you." Emma warned and Leo looked at her confused.
"And you would be?"
Snow jumped in, "this is Emma, my daughter."
"I have a grandchild?"
"Not so fast dude, I'm with Regina, I'm not your anything."
"I see and who is the archer so keen on killing a dead man?" Robin realized this and lowered his bow, but remained angry and protective.
"Who I am is no concern of yours. Just do what Regina asks and leave."
"I see. You love her, is that it? Be careful son, she's a bit lethal with her lovers."
Henry picked just then to defend his mother.
"You don't get to talk about my mom like that."
"Your mom? Again Regina, I'm surprised. You never could produce an heir for me."
"Like any child from me would have taken the throne from your precious princess."
"If it had been a boy." Regina waved her arms in front of her and was fuming mad. "Enough. You leave my son out of this. Now I have told you what you have to do to pass on, the choice is yours."
The former King made a face that showed his frustration with Regina. "You were my wife Regina, my property. I did nothing wrong."
Snow stepped forward, closer to her father, looking bewildered. "Daddy…are you saying that you…did what Regina said you did?" Regina rolled her eyes: even when faced with the truth, Snow couldn't bring herself to say the word and admit her father had done something horrible.
"I held her to the role she married into." Snow's expression changed to one of shock, anger and a dash of guilt. She looked to Regina and opened her mouth several times, but no words came out. None felt right and she did not want to make matters worse. Snow resumed her spot behind Regina, but Regina stood her ground and would not move: even the muscles in her face.
"Either admit what you did or get out of my way, wither way this family reunion is over." Leo grabbed Regina's arm as she turned to walk away. "It's over when I say it is over." Emma and Robin both moved toward Regina, but their help was not needed. Regina quickly grabbed her late husband's arm and roughly jerked it away from his so that she held it behind his back…effectively forcing the former King to his knees before her.
"Trust me it's over. Now say it!" Everyone held their breath as they watched Leo struggle against Regina.
"Say it!" This time Regina dug her knee into her former husband back and the pain was becoming more and more intense.
"Fine…I…took advantage of you." With that Regina let him fall to the ground. Regina didn't stick around to see what did or didn't happen to her former husband. She walked past the group, brushing off anyone's attempts to stop her and calm her down.
"Regina." Emma called after her, but Regina was walking pretty quickly away from them and was heading toward the cemetery. Robin began to follow her, but Emma stopped him.
"Give her some space. I'll go after her in a few minutes. This is a lot for her to process and we need to let her breathe."
"We can't just leave her alone." Robin made a good point, but Emma assured him, "She won't be alone. I'll give her a minute to herself and then I'll go find her."
"I'll go with you. I think I owe her an apology." Emma couldn't argue her mother's point so she nodded in the direction Regina ran off to and instructed Henry to stay put. They walked for a while before they found Regina and Emma was not surprised that they found her at Daniel's grave. No one said anything for a minute, until Regina broke the silence.
"So you two drew the short stick and had to come after me."
"We care about you Regina, we know you're hurting."
Regina shook her head, "you know nothing Snow. Up till 10 minutes ago you believed your darling daddy." Snow didn't know what to say. What could she say?
"Figures he'd be here, but Daniel would be gone. I guess I should be happy he moved on, but right now…I'd give anything for him to be here."
"Regina, I know we can't replace Daniel, but we're here and we care." Emma put her hand on Regina's shoulder and offered a supportive squeeze. Regina remained silent for a while, just running her fingers over the lettering on Daniel's grave marker.
"Is Henry alright?" Emma smiled a little: even in her darkest moment, Regina only cared if Henry was alright.
"He's fine: dad and Robin stayed with him. He is not the person I'm worried about Regina."
"Emma, most teenagers don't have to hear the news that their mother was raped. I doubt he's ok, but I have no idea what to say to him. I've had decades to deal with this and yet after seeing him today, I don't know how to talk about it to anyone, let alone how to soothe my own child's anger and fear surrounding it."
Emma sat down on the grass next Regina and reached out her hand toward the other woman. "Listen Regina, I can't begin to understand how it felt to go through all that and then keep it bottled up for so many years without saying something to anyone, but I know you and I know Henry and we will figure it out together. You don't have to shoulder this secret alone anymore. And if you don't want to talk about it then we won't."
"Not talking about it made me the woman I am today Emma, not exactly a healthy plan."
"Hey, you have proven time and time again that who you are is an amazing woman: a hero, for lack of a better term. This doesn't define your life Regina, he doesn't get to do that anymore." Regina nodded and took hold of Emma's outstretched hand. She offered her a smile, one that Emma knew was forced, but she knew it was a step in the right direction. She helped Regina off the ground and they both brushed the grass and dirt from their clothes. Snow stepped toward them and played with her hands for a moment.
"I know saying I'm sorry doesn't fix anything and it can't undo what's been done, but for what it's worth, I am sorry. I'm sorry for my part in it too."
"I don't offhand recall you being the one who abused me. This wasn't your fault, it was his."
"I know, but, if I hadn't done what I did, you would've run off with Daniel and never been married to my father. My selfish wanting for a new mother forced you into a marriage where you got hurt and I was too blind to see it, so I'm sorry."
Regina sighed and looked at Snow, "if you had not done what you did, I would've run off and married Daniel, probably had a few children and lived out my life like that and that would've been great, but instead I got Henry and that never would've happened without the event the came before and now I don't ever want to imagine a life where he isn't my son. So…forgive yourself, you didn't do anything wrong." Emma watched her mother nod her head, knowing full well she wouldn't be able to forgive herself for a while, but Regina's words helped. Regina looked at Daniel's grave one more time before turning and walking back to the rest of their group. When she reached them, Robin moved to be near her, but Henry beat him to her. Regina hugged her son, who seemed content to just hold onto his mother: something he had not done in a long time.
"You ok mom?" Regina pulled away and ran her hands through his hair and settled them on either side of his face, offering him a kiss. "I'll be fine, don't worry."
"I'm sorry he hurt you." Regina feared this reaction from Henry and she tried to choose her words carefully. "I'm sorry he hurt me too, but you know what, he isn't going to bother us ever again so you do not have to worry about anything he ever did to me or anyone else, ok?" Henry nodded and moved aside to let Robin near his mother. Regina let Robin wrap his arms around her and she surprised even herself by tightening her grip on him, pulling him closer to her and trying to find comfort in the arms of a man she actually felt safe with.
"Are you sure you're alright Regina?" Regina shook her head against Robin's chest before pulling away slightly. "No, but I will be." Robin nodded and kissed Regina's forehead before letting her go. With that matter settled for the time being the group resumed their search for the pirate, everyone now very eager to get the hell out of…well hell.