Disclaimer: Once Upon a Time doesn't belong to me. I merely borrowed its characters for fun and have used some of its lines for inspiration.
Chapter Two: You Need Me!
"So what is the plan?" Emma asked as she pulled herself, hissing as she cut her hand on a broken branch.
Regina simply turned, inspecting the forest, no path in sight. She didn't want to admit to the younger woman that she had no plan, had no idea what was to come, or that she had no idea where they actually were. She was briefly reminded of The Woodsman who she had condemned to wander the woods for eternity looking for the children she had already banished there. Did they feel frightened, alone and without hope? Did they feel as she did in this very moment?
"Regina!" Emma shouted, and watched the brunette spin to face her.
"Be quiet," the former queen hissed.
Emma stormed towards the other woman, her feet snapping branches, their cracks echoing through the silence. She was within inches of the smaller woman who could only glare before jumping at the growls above them.
Emma's eyes widened, "What was that?"
"Ogres! Ssh…" Regina whispered as she pressed her back against the tall tree.
Emma laughed, "As in fee-fi-fo-fum…"
"That's giants, you fool!" Regina snapped, and the growl overhead became louder. Emma jumped back at the sound, falling onto breakable twigs, each one snapping louder than the first. Regina's dark eyes shut as heavy footprints near them.
"Oh shit," Emma shouted as she laid eyes on the approaching monster, firing her gun aimlessly at its hideous head, crawling backwards. She yelped when the beast grabbed her gun, crushing it as if it were a mere insect. Emma's back hit against a tree and the ogre hovered above her, she glanced behind him seeing Regina stand with determination. The older woman, waved her arm, pulling twigs loose from the ground and with a swift flick of the wrists sent them flying like arrows into the ogre's head. He crashed to the ground, causing the blonde to yelp and jump to her feet.
"They react to noise," Regina said without emotion. "So it would be wise Miss. Swan if you didn't make any."
"I can't believe this is all happening," Emma grumbled as she ran her fingers through her hair, ignoring the dirt that graced her entire form. "So what do we do now?"
Regina pursed her lips, her brow pulling together in a frown. She glowered at the blonde, "What makes you think we do anything now?"
Emma couldn't help but be stunned at the coldness from the brunette. She moved closer to the brunette, "Because WE have a son and if something were happen to one of us he would hate the other…"
"He already hates me."
She had spoken so softly that Emma almost didn't hear the older woman. She looked around her, seeing the ogre's dead form amongst the towering trees, branches protruding from him, green blood pouring from his wounds.
"You saved me from that… you know you need me," Emma hissed. "And as much as I hate to admit it, I need you."
Regina studied the blonde for a moment before sighing, brushing the wrinkles from her clothes ignoring the tears and dirt that graced the expensive material.
"We need to find another portal," Regina said.
Emma exhaled and nodded, "And where do we find one of those?"
"Home," Regina stated clearly, holding her hand out for the younger woman to take. Emma studies her suspiciously and the brunette shakes her head. "Or we can walk, but that could take weeks…"
Emma took Regina's hand, preparing herself to be transported, her green eyes meeting the dark brown eyes. She felt the wind pick up around them, whipping leaves against her body as they turned within the clouds of purple dust, but despite the fear within her stomach she could not take her eyes from the older woman.
The landing was more graceful than the last one. Both women still standing, still looking into each other's eyes, still holding hands; Regina was the first to move, clearing her throat as she stepped away releasing the blonde from her hold. Emma turned around, seeing that night was falling rapidly through broken windows. She looked around and saw furniture covered in blankets of dust, upheaved from their rightful positions, some in smithereens, some cracked, some whole. The walls adorned with unlit torches and shredded tapestries, the floors of wood and stone hidden beneath old blood and grime.
"Let me guess, your majesty," Emma spits out. "Your palace?"
Regina laughs bitterly before clicking her fingers, lighting all the torches along the walls, illuminating the ruins, warming its grounds and allowing a mind to imagine what it once was. Emma turned and saw these were not the ruins of a place of evil but of love and hope. She looked at Regina expectantly and Regina laughed without feeling.
"It was once mine, then it was your mother's and then yours… if only briefly."
"So why are we here?"
"Because the day I cast the curse was the day you were born," Regina explained, her voice soft. "Your parents were told that you were to be the saviour so they placed you in a…"
"Wardrobe," Emma finished. "I know. Henry told me and I ended up on the side of the road in Maine… I should be in an asylum."
Regina chuckled at the blonde's statement, "I imagine, all of this is a bit too much…"
"Too much?" Emma snapped. "I woke up this morning, prepared to leave Storybrooke. Ready to leave my son behind, leave him with you… only for you to poison him and for true love kisses and fairytales and curses all to be real. I fought a fuckin' dragon! Life was normal this morning… I should've taken him away last night…"
"Taken him?" the brunette asked, her voice dangerously low, her eyes almost black.
Emma looked at her, her own green eyes daring, "Henry begged me to bring him back, to save everyone from the curse… to save everyone from you!"
The two women stood straight before Regina broke the silence, "And then asks you to save me."
Emma nodded.
Regina cleared her throat, before turning to climb the stairs, "We need to find the wardrobe."
Emma pulled one of the torches from the walls, using it to light their pathway. She gasped when they reached the room, seeing a knocked over crib, toys of many types scattered across the floor, a broken rocking chair smashed across the wall, and the remains of a wardrobe rooted in the centre of what was once a nursery.
"This is where I slept?"
Regina shook her head, "You never had the chance. Your parents placed you within the wardrobe minutes after you were born. They knew I was almost here and the curse had been cast… when I had arrived you were gone."
Emma nodded, "Would you have killed me?"
Regina did not answer for a moment before shaking her head, "I wouldn't. You would have been consumed by the curse like everyone else… only Snow would not have known you as her daughter."
"Bitch!" The sound of the slap echoed through the walls of the castle. Regina gingerly touched her cheek where Emma had struck her, tasting blood on the inside of her cheek. Emma turned to the wardrobe, touching it softly.
"How do we make it work?"
Regina frowned as she approached the wood, touching it with her fingertips, her brow knitted in confusion, "That makes no sense…"
"What? It doesn't work?"
Regina shook her head, "It's magic is quite potent… strong enough to carry us both which makes me wonder why…"
"If someone had told me that my daughter would be working with the daughter of Snow White, the saviour… well I would have ripped their heart out," Cora's cackle made both women jump. "Regina, my daughter, are you honestly helping this woman?"
Regina stood tall, approaching her mother, "Mother, you have no control over me anymore… you can't break me and make me be slave to your wishes… I have something I treasure…"
"Ah yes, Henry," Cora stated. "You really had to name him after your father, didn't you? Is he also snivelling wimp of a man? I've been waiting to find a way to your new world and thanks to you my dear, I have found a way."
Regina screamed as she tried to hit her mother only to be pushed back and tied to the walls by tentacles of stone. She was frightened and Emma saw it, real upon her face. Regina whimpered as the tentacles tightened against her ribs.
"Don't think I won't get to your son," Cora promised. "He can only be an improvement on his mother… but then you're not his mother, are you?"
"Mother please," Regina begged, her voice just above a whimper.
"Because you can't have children… just another one of the many disappointments you have bestowed upon me."
"Hey!" Emma shouted, waving her torch with fierceness. "You will not be getting to my son."
"Oh really, and how do you propose to stop me?"
"Like this," Emma declared, tossing her torch upon the wardrobe, watching as it became engulfed in flames.
"No!" Regina screamed.
Cora laughed, turning to her daughter. She waved her arms, and smiled as her daughter was dropped from her prison. "Seems like you will have to find another way darling."
Cora turned to Emma and smiled widely before disappearing into nothing. Emma ran to the brunette's side, seeing tears stream down her stained cheeks.
Regina shook her head, turning her glare upon the blonde, "You just set fire to our only way home…"
Emma shrugged, "I couldn't let her get to Henry… she is stronger than me and you."
"She is not stronger than me," Regina declared, standing up, her tears falling without her permission. "I defeated her once… I'll do it again."
Emma nodded, "Good, we will defeat her and we will find a way home and we will protect Henry from her…"
Regina smirked, her eyebrow arced, "Your optimism is obviously inherited."
Emma shrugged, "I wouldn't know about that."
"We should leave here… we need to find an old friend."
"Who?" Emma asked.
"You know him as Captain Hook, I believe." Regina stated with a raised eyebrow.
Emma snorted before looking at the brunette, "Are you serious?"
Regina merely nodded and held out her hand. Emma looked down at it before turning back to the nursery. She felt her chin quiver as tears sprang to her eyes before turning back to the witch, "You took this from me…"
Regina nodded.
"Don't you even feel the tiniest bit of remorse for it…"
The older woman sighed, "We should go..."
Emma glared at the brunette, her body itching to strangle her. She took a breath before taking the offered hand, gripping it maybe a tiny bit too hard, enjoying the pain the other woman surely felt. Green eyes met brown eyes, and the blonde squeezed the hand harder again, letting her nails dig into the smooth skin. Regina whimpered slightly, closing her eyes and allowed them to be engulfed by the purple cloud. Emma, on the other hand, kept her eyes open, gripping harder, digging deeper, ignoring her own pain. Regina's eyes shot open and she shouted above the whipping winds that encircled them.
"The curse gave us Henry!"
Emma fell backwards, barely managing to keep her balance as she looked around the open meadows where they had landed. She looked at Regina who appeared unaffected by what had happened.
"We need to rest," she stated.
"We need to get home," Emma argued.
Regina turned to the younger woman, "Miss Swan, I know you have this urge to be a hero and to fight all the time. But I have been a part of this world for longer than you have existed and I know its ways. You on the other hand Sheriff Swan do not. You can either do things my way or you can leave."
Emma almost stamped her foot at knowing the older woman, "Where are we sleeping?"
Regina pointed to a cottage hidden by darkness, "There."
Emma pushed past the smaller woman towards the cottage, "This does not mean I trust you…"
"Of course not dear," Regina smirked condescendingly before flicking her wrists, lighting the candles within the small cottage.
A/N: Thank you for the interest in this story so far. I hope you stick with it and that I can provide a story worthy of kind reviews