A/N: This crazy little idea came to me out of nowhere and I had to write it. It's 2x22 divergent, so no Neverland, no Zelena, and hell maybe not even Hook. We'll see where the characters take me, but by nature of this story, we'll be dealing with Regina and Emma the majority of the time. It's going to be a slow, painful burn... but it's rated M because of the darkness of the tone of this story (ooo angsty) and not necessarily for explicit future sexy times (let's just say I keep mine somewhere in the gray area between pg13 and R- but they'll be there eventually, because what is SwanQueen without them?)

Disclaimer: I don't own it, wish I did, please don't sue me. I'm a broke teacher. I've got nothing to give you except this half chewed pencil and an eraser I found on the floor.

"You may not be strong enough, but maybe we are."

It should have been the obvious solution, but as soon as Emma said it, Regina felt a pang of surprise. It wasn't that she was unaware of the power the savior possessed. It was that for so long she had fought on her own, against the savior even, that she wasn't prepared for the offer. She should have been. Emma had come to her rescue several times in the past year. But though intellectually she knew perhaps they shouldn't quite be enemies anymore, her heart, cold and lonely for so long, hadn't caught up.

Henry stepped away as Emma timidly approached. They made eye contact for a brief moment, understanding together this was their last chance. Emma placed her hands over the swirling stone and almost instantly Regina felt the intense power. Gradually, the drain on her own magic lessened, and she looked back at the savior in hesitant wonder. The blonde met her gaze, scared and confused, and Regina attempted to smile as reassuringly as she could.

It was working.

The trigger's energy pulled back as if suctioned from the inside, and it happened too quickly for Regina to prepare them. The sudden tidal wave of magic felt like a kick to her chest and she was flying backwards. She landed hard in the dirt and gravel of the old mine floor and felt her breath escape her.

She struggled to get air into her lungs, her own body fighting against her. Panic started to set in, as she felt herself suffocating.

"Mom!"

And suddenly air was filling her chest and relief flooded her veins. They were alive, Henry was safe, and he was calling for her.

The former queen sat up slowly, taking stock of her sore body. She hurt, yes, but she wasn't broken.

"Mom!"

"Henry?"

Regina stood up and stumbled over towards the group standing on the opposite side. She dropped to her knees in front of her son and pulled him into a tight hug.

"Henry, are you all right? It worked! The trigger- "

Her words were cut off by Henry forcefully pushing himself out of her embrace.

"Where's my mom?" he demanded.

"What?" she asked, confused. She looked at Snow and David behind him and saw their matching pained expressions.

"My mom!" Henry shouted at her. "She's gone!"

"Emma?" Regina's first reaction was hurt that her own son was pushing her away and referring to the blonde as mom. But she quickly realized the blonde wasn't even there.

Regina blinked and looked around them, confusion rapidly setting in. She stood and peered around the empty cave. "Emma!" she shouted, her voice sounding strained and borderline panicked.

"Regina," Snow nearly whispered.

The mayor whirled around, her hands raising to thread through her hair. This was wrong. Very wrong.

"Regina, where's my daughter?"

"I don't know, Snow!" Regina's shout echoed through the mine. She picked up the trigger and gazed at the dark gem in consternation.

"We stopped it. It… it should have… I don't understand!"

"She's dead, isn't she?"

Regina slowly turned, her eyes meeting the heartbroken gaze of her son.

"Henry, I don't-"

"She's dead!" he shouted at her, tears streaming down his soft cheeks. "The trigger took her! You killed her!"

"Henry," David soothed as he picked up the sobbing child. Regina watched helplessly as her son wrapped his arms around his grandfather's neck. Snow placed a comforting hand on Henry's back, her own tears trailing down her face.

"I'll find her, Henry," Regina promised, her voice strained with the struggle of holding back her own tears. "I'll find her, if it's the last thing I do."

"I want to go home," Henry whimpered, his arms tightening around David's neck.

And it was then that Regina realized she had been wrong all along. She still had a heart, and it had never truly been broken.

Until now.

With one last long glance towards Regina, the Charming's turned and carried her son, her son, out of the mine and away from her. Why was everyone always taking her son away? Why was he always so willing to go?

The moment they disappeared out of sight Regina's knees lost the strength to hold her. She tumbled to the ground, unaware that as her heart was shattering, her wailing sobs were echoing through Storybrooke.

XXXXXXXXX

Time passed and it could have been minutes, maybe even hours, before Regina became self-aware enough to realize she was still kneeling in the dark mine alone.

Wait… definitely not alone, she realized in shock.

Quickly wiping her eyes with her coat sleeve, she gazed into the darkness. A flashlight appeared in her hand, and she shined the light around the cavern, looking for what she could feel was there. She didn't see anything, so she walked a little farther into the mine.

No, not there. The feeling she had dissipated the farther she walked.

She turned around and walked back to where she started. Setting the flashlight on the ground, she held her hands up, attempting to feel the surrounding air for traces of magic.

There, on the ground against the wall. It got stronger the closer she got to it, and as she knelt down to the floor, her own magic buzzed in excitement.

This was Emma Swan's magic. But why was it so concentrated? The environment would often absorb leftover magic, allowing magical beings to feel the trace long after the event. But this was more than an imprint leftover from deactivating the trigger. This was as strong as if Emma herself was actually there.

Regina found herself feeling on the ground and walls. She wasn't sure what she expected to find, perhaps an invisible Emma? But her hands found nothing but dirt and rocks. Changing tactics, she sent a surge of her own magic towards the area, and was surprised to receive a rebounding magical shock.

Shaking out her stinging hands, Regina slowly backed away until she stood against the stone wall. Feeling suddenly exhausted and depleted, she slid down to the ground, staring at the spot that somehow held Emma, but didn't.

Emma was alive. Emma was there. She wasn't sure how she knew, but she could feel it without a doubt.

But what it all meant, she had no idea.

XXXXXXXXX

Emma gasped as she woke with a literal jolt.

"Jesus, Regina. Was that really necessary?"

She sat up with a grumpy groan, rubbing her arms against the frigid cold.

"Did it work? Did we do it?" she asked, her eyes attempting to adjust to the darkness.

She didn't get a response, but the eerie silence, cold, and darkness settled into her conscious awareness.

"Mom? Dad?" she called out, but not even an echo of her own voice responded. Starting to panic, she stood up and attempted to make out any shapes in the blackness.

"Henry? Kid, where are you?"

Silence. Emma took a few slow steps and heard the crunching of gravel under her feet. She was still in the mine, she thought. But it was so dark and cold. How long had she been there? And where were the others? Had they left her behind?

No, she thought to herself. Her parents wouldn't have left her there alone. So, where were they?

The thought entered her mind that perhaps they had failed. Maybe it didn't work, and the trigger destroyed everything. The only problem with that theory was that she was pretty damn sure she was still alive.

She tried to remember what happened. The magic was flowing from her body through her hands as if it had a mind of its own. It had scared her, but she didn't dare stop. There had been a blast of magic, and then she woke up to what she could have sworn was Regina shocking her with a pulse of magic.

"Regina!" Emma hollered into the darkness. She listened with everything she had, but still the only thing she heard was the sound of her own labored breathing.

The mayor was here, she was sure of it. She knew the feel of the brunette's magic. She felt it combine with her own as they deactivated the trigger. It had been the same warm, tingly electric feeling she felt when she touched Regina's arm and made Jefferson's hat work. Just the thought that she had Regina with her made Emma calm ever so slightly. Though they weren't exactly on the friendliest terms, she was certain the woman would help her figure out what the hell was going on. Or, at the very least, help her to not die.

"Regina!"

XXXXXXXXX

At the mouth of the mine, Regina froze mid-step. Her eyes closed as she listened to the air around her. She took a slow, deep breath, letting the energy around her fill her lungs. As she exhaled, a single whispered word floated out with the wind.

"Emma."