A Strange Cage Chapter 2

Emma stood just outside the entry doors of Dracula's castle, looking in Regina's general direction. She'd worked a double shift today, and both had been at the Castle, but that wasn't guaranteed. She'd already explained this to Regina. "I work here second shift tomorrow though, and I'll do my best to grab any shifts here that come up." Emma promised. She'd probably get some strange looks, but she'd deal with them. "And I know you said there's no magic here, but there's so many spells and stuff in the world that some of it's got to work. I'll start looking tonight and print them off so you can look them over."

"Thank you." Regina said, her voice full of real gratitude. She didn't really expect Emma to have any success, but the important thing was that she was willing to try. Nobody had gone out of their way to help her in years, even before she'd been reduced to an impotent ghost. Emma gave her an easy smile.

"It's no problem."

"I know. I just...thank you." Emma nodded, suddenly awkward.

"Hey, I know what it's like to be trapped and alone, even if it's never been as extreme for me as it's been for you." She brightened. "Besides, if anyone can get you out of her it's me. I'm like Houdini."

"Who?" Emma's shoulders slumped and she blushed.

"Oh, right, you wouldn't know who he is, would you? Forget it, not important."

"Right." Regina said slowly. "Well, good night Emma."

"Good night Regina." Emma replied, giving a smile in the older woman's general direction. Regina gave a small smile as the blonde walked off. She never slept anymore, she couldn't, but she had a feeling that this night wouldn't be so bad.

Thirty minutes later-Emma's foster home

Emma looked around as she put the computer into incognito mode. Compared to some of the other kids in the home did on the computer what she was going to look up wasn't bad, but it was weird enough that she didn't really want anyone else to see the history. But her embarrassment wasn't enough to deter her. As she'd been driving home she'd realized something-Lagoon was closed from November to May. That meant that for the past seventeen years, Regina had spent almost six months without ever seeing or hearing another person. Emma shuddered. That...she couldn't find words to describe how much that sucked. And now that she was aware of Regina, she couldn't just abandon her. Right then and there, Emma promised herself that she'd find a way to help Regina before the end of the current operating season.

The next day-Dracula's Castle

Regina bent over, looking at the sheet of paper Emma was holding up for her inspection. They were in the storage/breaker room just off the 'front porch'. Emma had volunteered to finish closing the ride herself, and so they were alone as Emma showed Regina the papers she'd printed off. She hadn't found much, most spells and rituals about ghosts were aimed at exorcising them or forcing them to move on rather than freeing them, but she had found some. "That...is a locator spell." Regina said slowly, some of her frustration bleeding through. She'd already ruled out three quarters of the sheets Emma had printed off. A few of them had been real spells, just with drastically different purposes than what they claimed to do, but most were so strange that they couldn't possibly be real spells in any world. Emma sighed.

"Alight, how about this one?" She tossed the paper aside and showed Regina the paper underneath it. Regina stared at it, baffled.

"I have no idea what that's supposed to do. None of this resembles any spell I've ever seen, and it uses salt."

"...So?" Emma asked, confused.

"Salt dampens magic. It's often used to ward against magic entirely." Regina sighed and stood up. "This is pointless."

"Come on, let's just keep looking." Emma said trying to be calm.

"Why? You clearly didn't find anything worth the effort it takes to read." Emma glared in her direction.

"Hey! I spent, like, three hours getting all of these! The least you could do was say thanks!" She snapped.

"You're right." Regina said in a falsely sweet tone. "Thank you for wasting my time." Emma stood up, grabbing the papers.

"You know what? I don't have to take this! I worked hard to find these spells for you. Remember, I'm not getting anything out of this. But if you just want to be a bitch, then screw it. Because guess what your majesty? Unlike you, I can leave." Regina stared after her as she left. At first she was furious. Who did Emma think she was, talking to her like that? Then, slowly, she calmed down. Emma had spoken the truth-she wasn't getting anything by helping Regina. She'd been doing it out of kindness. And Regina, to be honest, hadn't really expected to find a spell that'd help. But she had had some hope, and to get hope, however small, after almost eighteen years of hopelessness and then lose it? That had been more than she could bear.

Regina sighed. Some ten years ago she'd promised herself that she'd always be honest with herself. And she knew that she'd been unnecessarily harsh towards Emma. She nodded sadly and slipped back inside the 'castle proper' determining to apologize to Emma the next time she saw her.

Four days later

Emma winced as she looked at Dracula's Castle. She hadn't planned in avoiding Regina for this long. It was just that she had four other rides to work besides the castle. She hadn't traded away any shifts with Regina, she just hadn't traded for them either. And now she was opening by herself. Emma took a deep breath. Her pity for the woman was waging war with her sense of annoyance, but she'd decided to give Regina another chance. So she went through the first steps of checking over the ride, then stepped into the entry hall. "Regina?" She called out, looking around.

"You came back." Regina said from behind her, sounding somewhat stiff.

"I said I'd come as often as I could."

"You said a lot of things."

"I know." Emma said slowly. "And I'm sorry."

"Are you really?" Emma got the distinct impression that Regina was raising a skeptical eyebrow, and it pissed her off again.

"Yes." She snapped, turning around and walking off. There was a sharp intake of breath.

"Emma, wait." Regina said, moving quickly to catch up with the blonde. "I'm sorry. I was frustrated and upset and I took that out on you. I shouldn't have done that, and I'm sorry." There was a long pause and Regina reached out to put a hand on Emma's shoulder. "Emma, please..." Her voice trailed off as she stared at her hand. Rather than just going through Emma's shoulder as expected, it stopped, resting on the blonde's shoulder. Emma turned her head to stare at her shoulder. She couldn't see anything, but she could feel the hand.

"Regina, is that your hand?" Emma asked slowly. Regina nodded, staring at her hand in amazement.

"Can you see me?" Emma winced.

"No, sorry." Regina shook it off.

"But you can feel me?"

"Yeah." Emma gave Regina a small smile that the older woman returned. Regina reached out with her other hand and tentatively pressed it against one of the thin wooden walls. She let out a small cry of pleasure as her hand was stopped by it. For the past seventeen years those walls had been as insubstantial as air, but now...There was a quiet rumbling noise as one if the carriages rolled by them on its test run. Regina removed her hands from Emma's shoulder and the wall and stepped in front of it. Emma, who couldn't see what Regina was doing, looked around in worry when she heard a grunt followed by a thud as the carriage briefly shuddered. "Regina? Are you okay?" Suddenly two arms wrapped around her in a tight embrace.

"Thank you." Regina breathed as she buried her face in Emma's neck.

"I didn't do anything." Emma protested.

"Before you came along I had nothing. Nobody could hear or see me, and I couldn't feel anything. There were days when I wondered if I even existed. And then I met you. Just...thank you." Emma's eyes widened as she felt a few drops if warm liquid hit her skin. Was Regina crying? Emma hugged Regina as tightly as she dared, giving the other woman the sensation of touch that she'd been denied for so long.