Hello all,
This is my (very late) submission for OQ week 2 Day 2 'Caught'
I had planned for this to be a little different, but the it would have become an epic, long winded thing, so I've cut it down a bit. I may come back to it at some point if there is interest.
Warning, it gets a bit dark at the end…Hope you all enjoy! Xx
The paper slips from her fingers and catches in the wind, scattering and separating the last fragments of hope she had for a happy ending. Without waiting to see where they fall she strides away from the town line, refusing to look back at the disappearing image of her Soul Mate walking away with his arms wrapped around his family. The family he deserves; a family she will never be a part of. Climbing into her Benz she turns for home and the waiting comfort she will find at the bottom of a bottle of wine and the oppressive silence of 108 Mifflin Street.
Her keys clang loudly on the entry table as she enters the house, grateful for the stillness and the space to grieve privately. Henry wanted to be here for her, but she doesn't want him to see her like this, so she suggested he spend some time with his other mother and his grandparents this evening with a promise to pick him up tomorrow and restart Operation Mongoose.
Slipping her heels off and leaving them in the foyer she pads silently toward the kitchen to fetch a glass of wine. Halfway there something stops her and she changes direction and heads for the whiskey she keeps in her study instead. She's drinking because he isn't here, never will be again, so why not torture herself further and drink something that will burn as much from the memory associated with it as from the actual alcohol?
She removes the top of the decanter and pours herself a generous measure into one of the heavy cut crystal tumblers. As she takes her first sip, savoring the way the sharp scent and the smooth flavor of earth and smoke remind her of a certain forest-scented thief, something catches her eye. A folded piece of parchment rests on the serving table, just to the side of where she retrieved the tumbler. Holding the glass in one hand she reaches for the unassuming piece of paper and unfolds it. The glass slips from grasp, splintering into jagged shards across the hard wood floors as she is greeted with the all too familiar image of page XXIII.
"But, but how?" she questions the empty room, staring at the page with a furrowed brow. "I ripped this up and left it at the town line…" She quickly crumples the page into a tight ball and summons a fireball into her hand, watching as the parchment singes and disappears into the flames.
Suddenly the expanse of her empty house seems suffocating. The air feels thick and oppressive and weighted with something that raises the hair on the back of her neck and has a shiver running down her spine. Turning on her heel she grabs her keys, puts her shoes back on and marches out of the house; perhaps some company is what she needs after all. Shutting the door behind her she tries to shake off the shock and confusion as she walks in the direction of Granny's.
It's later that evening as she is flipping through shelves of empty storybooks with Henry and Emma at her side that she can feel a spark of hope returning. They've found the author's house, or at least where he keeps his books, so it's only a matter of time before she's able to get her happy ending. She's just pulled another book from the shelf and is hastily scrolling through the pages, when a folded square of paper slips from within and falls to the floor at her feet. Before she can bend to retrieve it Henry is scooping it up and unfolding it with a curious look on his face.
"What's this mom?" He asks as he flattens out the creases of the paper and stares quizzically at the image. She leans around to peer over his shoulder and finds herself face to face with page XXIII.
"This looks like you and Robin, but you didn't meet in the Enchanted Forest. How are you kissing in an alley in a page from the book? Did something make you forget this happened?" he rattles off question after question, waving the page around in his harried quest for answers.
"Whoa kid! One question at a time, give your mom a chance to breathe," Emma interrupts, ruffling his hair. "Regina, are you alright?" she asks then, concern lacing her voice as she notices the way the older woman's skin has suddenly lost its color and her eyes are blown wide in shock.
"Yes, I'm fine, just a bit surprised. And no, Henry, this didn't happen, it's just a possibility of what could have happened, but I destroyed this paper earlier today. Well, at least I thought I destroyed it," she answers, pulling the page from his grasp and running her finger along the edge of the illustration of Robin's face.
"Don't you see? This means the author is on your side now! You can't give up hope!" he exclaims, smiling broadly and wrapping his arms around her in a tight embrace.
"He's right. We'll get him back Regina. There has to be a way." Emma offers, reaching out and grasping her shoulder briefly.
In that moment, with her son wrapped in her arms and his other mother smiling at her warmly, surrounded by walls of empty magical books, Regina feels the spark of hope catch into a small flame. Folding the page carefully she tucks it into the safety of her jacket pocket. In that moment things don't seem quite as grim as they did that morning. Perhaps it's safe for her to hold on to hope for at least a little while longer.
They do get him back, but not in the way they originally intended. It's a couple of months later and the Queens of Darkness have slithered into town, wreaking havoc everywhere they go. They've been in town for an entire week before Regina finds out they have Robin. It takes every ounce of self-control she has to refrain from poofing herself there and rescuing him, but she knows that's a fool's errand and exactly what the Queens of Darkness would expect from her. As much as it pains her to do so, she calls for help and a plan is formed to rescue Robin and defeat the Queens of Darkness all in one go.
But things do not go according to plan.
The battle is over and Emma is rounding up Cruella, Ursula, and Maleficent to take them to the jail. All it takes is one second, one moment of misplaced concentration for Maleficent to swipe her staff away from Emma and turn. The staff glows a sickly purple color as Maleficent swings it around and points it at Robin, with her eyes focused on Regina the whole time.
"It so nice to see you again dear, allow me to leave you with a little present. You always did say love was weakness, I'm happy to take care of that weakness for you," the dark fairy cackles as she swings the staff around and sends a crackling bolt magic in Robin's direction. Regina reacts instantly, shoving Robin away and taking the hit herself.
The pain is immediate, lancing through her side and forcing her through the air. She braces herself for the impact she knows is coming, she can feel herself falling as if in slow motion, but instead of the hard ground she is expecting she's caught in strong arms and pulled against the solid plane of a man's chest. Robin's chest. He cradles her in his lap and the smell of damp earth, pine, wood smoke and something that is uniquely him wraps itself around her.
"Regina! What were you…why did you?" he's stumbling over his words, trying desperately to hold her upright in his arms and apply pressure to the wound on her side that has blood pooling around her, staining her blouse a deep crimson.
"You're alright," she sighs, reaching a quivering hand up to stroke along his jaw.
"I'm fine you foolish woman," he grasps her hand and pulls it from his face, peppering kissing along her knuckles before dropping it back to her side. "And you will be too, we'll get some help, everything will be fine."
She must see the panic in his eyes because her face suddenly softens. Her eyes are shining up at him with a mixture of relief and pain, their whiskey colored depths shimmering with love and regret.
Her hands are shaking as she struggles to pull something from her pocket and press it into his hands.
"Rob…Robin, I…"
"Shhh. I know," he chokes out, resting his forehead against hers in a disturbing echo of a previous exchange. He brings his lips up and presses a kiss to her forehead before pulling back to meet her eyes, trying to memorize every bit of her beautiful face. She's pushing that paper into his hands again and he takes it without looking, if for no other reason than to stop her struggling.
She gives him one last smile, which comes out more like a grimace, and then her beautiful brown eyes are rolling back and she's going limp in his embrace. He chokes on a sob, hauling her limp body into his arms to press against his chest, tucking her head safely beneath his chin, breathing in the lavender scent of her hair and the spiced vanilla of her perfume that still lingers behind the acrid tang of blood.
A faint glimmer of light catches his eye and he looks at the paper she'd forced into his hand for the first time. He carefully unfolds the weathered parchment and looks down at the care worn image of page XXIII; the parchment is glowing around the edges, a bright luminescent gold that begins to move and engulf the center illustration before his very eyes. He stares, unblinking as the striking image is overtaken by the sickening magical glow, disappearing in its wake. A bright flash erupts from the page and he turns his face away, shielding his eyes from the uncomfortable glare. When he looks back the beautiful portrait of a kiss that never was has been replaced by the image of another embrace entirely.
The center of the page shows a grotesque depiction of his current position, knelt on the ground cradling the blood-soaked body of the woman he loves, wrapped tightly in his arms. The simple roman numerals that once marked the page as 'XXIII' have been replaced with a simple caption, a fitting title to their heart wrenching tale, "The Thief who Caught a Queen."