The Queen let her finger graze gently over her captive's cheek, earning her what seemed to be a half-sigh half-shudder. She had just woken up yet her head was already dipping back down allowing her dark hair to fall forward, curtaining her face. Obscuring those soft and sad brown eyes. The woman found herself bound with her hands positioned uncomfortably above her head by ropes of magic (and a few chains for good measure). She jerked her right wrist feebly against shackles fastened just too tight for them to be comfortable. She stopped jerking, not wanting to cause herself anymore pain.
A truly delicate thing she is, the Queen mused as she watched the woman's wrist grow burning and raw pink. The Queen almost feared that she'd break her. Not that it mattered if she did. It would probably be more beneficial to her if she did just tear the woman's heart from her body and watch her cringe and squirm as she crushed it.
But that would be no fun.
No fun at all.
The Queen had a new pet, and she'd play with it, until it was in her best interest to…let it go. And she'd have just as little sympathy for this one as she did for any of her other victims. After all it was her own fault; the woman, a mirror image of the Queen's own self, had let herself get caught.
And really it was only fair.
This version of her.
This Regina had already crushed her heart.
The Queen would never miss a shot at revenge, even if it must be taken upon someone so like herself. She is me, the Queen corrected herself, pacing about with her arms clasped behind her back as she pondered. Not that the reminder would serve to benefit the more fragile Regina.
The woman in question whimpered so quietly to herself, that the Queen almost didn't have the delight of hearing it. She looked up, squinting into the semi-darkness of her dank new home.
The Queen acted the opportunity to address her, "I suspect that you already know why you're here?" she slowed her pacing to a halt in front of Regina.
Her counterpart offered her not even a word of reply. She simply swallowed nervously and shifted uncomfortably against her bindings. The chains that looped around her slender wrists rattled icily in the brisk, musky air.
The Queen tapped her fingers against the cool metal, noting the way Regina licked uneasily at her lips before pressing them firmly together.
With a particularly nasty snarl, the Queen yanked Regina's head upward, her nails digging into the woman's scalp. She winced, knowing that she couldn't mask the pain. She couldn't hide anything from someone who had once been a part of her. She could feel the blood welling out of her newly broken skin.
"Answer me when I talk."
"How do you want me to answer, your majesty?" Regina replied hoarsely and not without familiar and expected sarcasm. "Do you want me to say yes so you know you have my compliance? Or do you want me to say no so you can explain precisely what I did wrong?"
Regina saw it coming, the sharp and piercing slap that left her left cheek a stinging red.
She tapped her head back against the wall knowing that she would have slapped herself too if she were in the Queen's position.
She was in the Queen's position, but all at once, she was not. Why are you hitting yourself? She laughed bitterly as the childish mantra crossed her mind.
At the unsolicited expression of joy Regina's counterpart lashed out again, this time she struck with the back of her hand. The Queen's ring—a pricy sliver thing tinged with onyx—left a thin gash along her cheekbone. She had received it for her birthday some years ago, Regina recalled. A gift from her departed mother. The warm blood that flowed down her cheek was almost calming. It was steady and slow. She liked steady and slow.
She shut her eyes.
"Why am I here?" Regina finally asked. "Surely crushing your heart doesn't warrant this kind of should I call it torture? Is that what this is? After all, it crushing it seems to have caused you little harm anyhow."
"It's all about intent." The Queen wiped away Regina's blood with a calculatedly rough sweep of her thumb. "Intent is everything."
Regina thought about a discussion she had with Mr. Gold during simpler times. Times when her curse still held. Times when she actually thought things through before taking action. Regina chided herself, you let this woman out. What did you think would happen?
"But believe me, dear," the Queen spat the pet name out with such a venom Regina found herself shifting with discomfort. "That isn't the only reason you're here. You see, you are in my way. You've built the two of us such a wonderful start. A son, a family, a few friends…The only thing standing between me and my happiness is you."
"And you're scorn." Regina muttered softly. She shut her eyes expecting another swift slap.
It never came.
Instead she found herself overcome with a choking sensation.
The Queen held her hand out, eyes glowing with murderous intent as she watched the life slip from Regina's eyes. The way they seemed to grow dimmer and dimmer as the seconds passed. She caught sight of the woman's teardrops intermingling with droplets of blood—a liquid mixture born of despair.
Just as the woman found herself on the brink of slipping away, the Queen bought her back. Allowing just enough air into her lungs before restarting the process.
"Now, let's wait our turn to speak." The Queen suggested with a pseudo-sweetness.
She let Regina's head dip forward. The woman took in ragged and desperate breaths that burned her lungs and jabbed her sides profusely.
"I will take everything you love." The Queen vowed. "You can rot down here alone and suffering while I finally get to be happy."
"You can be happy." Regina stated, she winced upon realizing she had just spoken out of turn. With the damage already done she continued, "you were happy."
"Until you decided that you didn't want me!" The Queen hollered, her face mere inches from Regina's own. Her dark eyes burning with rage.
And Regina could see the pain within them.
"I know. I understand you. I am you. I was you. If you could just let me know, I can help you change…"
"Change? Me?" The Queen laughed. "You are the good half. I am the dark. You can't change the dark." She paused. "And even if you could, why would you?" She closed the space between them leaning in so that her lips nearly grazed Regina's ear. "No, it's much safer this way."
Regina closed her eyes, a dull ache forming behind them.
Magic.
Of course it was.
Overcome with fatigue she let her head fall again. She thought briefly of Henry and Emma. And even of Snow. She wondered if they were looking for her. If they realized she was missing. Of course they hadn't, she'd only been gone for a few hours at most. They probably thought she had went home.
But her time to ponder had come to an end, her eyes quickly growing as heavy as her head.
Her vision blurred and faded altogether.
The Queen stepped back and cupped the mayor's chin in her palm. A delicate thing indeed, she mused. It was embarrassing. How had she become so weak? Whatever those 'heroes' did to her, she would undo it.
She would undo it and then take her place.
It served Regina right for trying to take her out of her happy ending.