A/N: And now there's some Dragon Queen in this fic. Oops! :D
After hours at the diner was as shady as Regina's prior meet-up with Snow, except the women she went to see at the diner were much stronger and meaner than Snow White even on her absolute worst day. Granny apparently didn't put much effort into protecting her business because Regina easily walked into the diner. Just as easily as the other three women already inside must have entered the establishment.
Immediately, Regina was reminded that villains didn't favor much lighting because the diner lights remained off even as the four of them gathered inside it. She noticed Cruella and Ursula seated on opposite sides but across from each other in one of the booths off to the left of the entrance while Maleficent approached her with a straight face, jaw set. The blonde wore a gray vest and pantsuit complete with a fedora to match and a silver silk tie and dragon brooch to add to the ensemble.
"So the rumors are true. You're back from the ashes," Regina said in lieu of a greeting as she looked over the other woman from head to toe.
Maleficent smirked as she also sized Regina up. She had her hands in her pockets and she looked much different in Storybrooke than she had her in purple and black dresses in the Enchanted Forest. The pantsuit certainly wasn't an unappealing look on the other woman, Regina had to admit.
"What are you doing here, Regina," Maleficent asked.
"Making it easier for you," Regina answered with a bitchy tone and villainous, Evil Queen-like attitude. "If you want to try and kill me, I'm right here."
Maleficent disappeared and reappeared in Regina's personal space like a chameleon blending into its surroundings before revealing itself again.
"So that's why you think I'm back. To kill you."
"I trapped you underground for thirty years," Regina flatly said with a slight growl and rumble to her voice. "And you're not big on forgiveness."
"That's true," Maleficent replied while Ursula looked to Cruella as the scene played out before them.
Cruella took a drink. Neither she nor Ursula looked too entertained by the standoff, but neither of them looked away.
"But that's nothing in the grand scheme of things. There are worse crimes that must be answered for," Maleficent added.
"Careful, darling," Cruella warned the blonde. "She's thick as thieves with those heroes."
"Not by choice," Regina darkly stated, her eyes fixated only on Maleficent. "You know how much I wanted my revenge, but in this town? I had to play nice just to survive. Alone. Watching them enjoy the happiness I was denied. If you're planning on destroying some of that happiness? I want in."
"You can't expect us to believe that," Ursula said with distrusting eyes and a cold tone.
"Of course she doesn't," Maleficent responded for the brunette. "That's why she's here. She wants us to see she's still one of us."
"I am."
"Then let's find out," Maleficent demanded with a more sultry than commanding tone of voice.
Maleficent turned and grabbed a shot glass with a full shot of clear liquid inside it. She held it out to the brunette and Regina watched her very closely. She wasn't sure what the contents of the glass were, but she knew she didn't have the time or the authority to do so. If she ever planned on successfully going undercover, she had to do what they did and what they asked without complaint or curiosity. It just wasn't the way of villains to think twice before doing something. If they wanted it, they took it.
"Are you still a bad girl, Regina," Maleficent asked with red, red lips and a stern expression on her face.
The blonde was the perfect leader for the witches. She'd been wronged many times, as had Regina, and she wasn't willing to go soft to get what she wanted most. The less than reformed side of Regina admired that. Even the more good and light half of herself admired and respected Maleficent's strength. It was one of the reasons why they were ever friends in the first place. Because, like Emma, Maleficent understood her. They understood each other and they would both go to great lengths to get what they wanted and thought they deserved.
Cruella and Ursula watched intently, both so eagerly and deviously enthralled while they waited for the brunette's answer, as Regina accepted the shot with a subtle grin.
Regina tossed back the drink without even blinking then crushed the glass in a black-gloved fist.
"The worst," Regina finally answered with calculating, fiery eyes as she let the bits of glass slip from her hand and tumble onto the floor.
She felt a little naked without her dresses and pinned up hair, but for the most part she felt an old and familiar rush. She wasn't tempted to turn back to her evil ways, but she liked putting on a show. She missed the dramatic aspects of her life after Leopold and before the curse.
"Any reason the sign out front still says open when we're the only ones in here," Regina decided to ask once she wiped her hands clean of the remaining bits of glass.
Maleficent chuckled and confessed, "We excused the rest of the customers and the old woman."
"Is that your polite way of saying you scared them off?"
"What's it to you," Ursula asked, still unconvinced of Regina's alliance.
Regina finally looked away from Maleficent for the first time since she entered the diner. She spoke directly to Ursula when she said, "Because I can't tell you how much I would have liked to see the looks on their faces. It's been a while since any of them respected me as the Queen I once was before creating this town."
It was a good enough answer that none of the other woman questioned it. Ursula, Cruella, and even Maleficent let it be while Maleficent walked back over to the booth.
"Come," Maleficent instructed with a slightly playful lilt to her words. "Join us. We have a few things to discuss."
Maleficent took her place at Cruella's side in the booth and left Regina to sit beside Ursula. She was cautious but not shaken as she made her way to the Sea Witch's side and slid into the side of the booth across the table from the other two women.
"Would you like a drink," Maleficent asked almost sweetly.
"Why not," Regina smirked as she answered.
Maleficent made a drink appear in her hand and set it down on the table in front of the brunette.
"I hope you still prefer whiskey," Maleficent said with cruelly upturned lips.
"Of course. My tastes haven't changed, dear," she replied as she lifted the tumbler of amber liquid to her mouth.
Ursula and Cruella shared a look before Maleficent let out a breath of laughter then said, "So I've heard."
Regina crinkled her brow for a moment as she took a sip of her drink and considered Maleficent's words and how she said them.
"But that's not what we're here to talk about," the blonde changed the subject. "Obviously the three of us are here for a reason."
Regina nodded and set down her drink.
"We have plans to find someone who can give us all something we desperately crave," Maleficent continued.
"Oh?" Regina was genuinely intrigued.
"We think you can help…if you're willing, darling," Cruella jumped in and asked.
"You'll still have to show us you're willing," Maleficent deadpanned as she closely watched Regina's reaction. "We want to make it so that the heroes never get another happy ending again."
Cruella looked Regina up and down several times over while the three of them watched and waited for a response from her.
Regina felt like a pet or plaything to the three women that surrounded her. She wasn't terrified like most people in her position probably would have felt, but she wasn't entirely comfortable either. She shifted in the booth and leaned forward on her forearms as she rested them on the table.
"What do you need me to do?"
Maleficent proudly and deviously grinned at the object in front of them. It wasn't at all what Regina had had in mind when she agreed to go undercover, but it was certainly better than playing chicken with a train. It was a compromise since Regina had to play hero and save the group from being rammed and flattened on the tracks, and in such a luxurious car. The least Regina could do was join in on the fun Maleficent, Cruella, and Ursula were set on having, even if she really didn't want to destroy town property.
"Come on, Regina," Maleficent encouraged her. "You get the first go at it."
Regina pursed her lips and sighed through her nose as she kept her eyes fixated on the sheriff's department cruiser that was parked in front of her on the road that wound around the town and ran past the town line. She stared too long at the car, an object she shouldn't have cared too much about in the grand scheme of things as she tried to prove herself to the other three women, but she was the mayor. It was her job to care about town property. And it wasn't like she didn't know people in the sheriff's department, people who frequently used the vehicle that sat before her as part of her Bad Girls Gang initiation.
"We've all been wronged by the so-called law in this town," Maleficent added when Regina made no further move to do what the blonde wanted her to do.
"That prince followed Ursula and I around town all day," Cruella butted in. "We can't have our fun if we're being followed."
"Besides," Maleficent began again and started to saunter toward Regina. Regina tracked her movements with her eyes. "If you've been pretending to play along with those heroes all this time, they've been holding you back. Time to let your hair down again, Regina."
Maleficent came to stand at Regina's side, her front pressed against the brunette's arm and chest due to her angle. The other woman brought her hand up to Regina's hair and gently, tenderly, ran her fingers through it as she tucked a few strands behind the brunette's ear. Regina had already had a few shots before the group left the diner and it wasn't just whiskey or Cruella's gin in her shot glasses. Between that booze hound and Maleficent's taste in all kinds of euphoric beverages from the Enchanted Forest, Regina felt a little unsteady on her feet. She also felt a pleasant buzz that made her body vibrate with ecstasy and relief.
Maleficent's touch ignited a spark within Regina as it left her with a tingling sensation that started where Maleficent made contact and then washed over the rest of her body like a wave against a shore. She fought to keep her eyes open and not look as high up in the clouds as she felt, but the other woman knew when and how to touch her, especially after alcohol had started to impair her better judgment. They'd been friends long enough, been more than friends plenty of times before as well, for her to gauge Regina's level of compliance and pleasure.
"Show me how bad you are," Maleficent purred in Regina's ear.
Instead of closing her eyes as she succumbed to Maleficent's wishes, a fireball formed in the palm of her hand in response to the blonde's words.
Cruella ran her hand over her fur coat a few times as she grinned at Maleficent and Regina and then turned to Ursula. Ursula closed the space between them and placed a hand on Cruella's lower back. Cruella closed her eyes and hummed, her grin still in place, while she slowed the hand on the fur wrapped around her chest and shoulder as Ursula rubbed circles over the small of her back.
Regina flung her fireball at the sheriff's car and flames instantly arose and crackled as the four of them watched the cruiser burn.
Maleficent chuckled beside her before she took a deep breath and then blew it out with an added heat that came from being part-dragon. When she torched the rest of the car, she turned back to look at Regina again and smirked as she brought her face close enough for her nose to graze Regina's cheek.
"You once reminded me of who I am," Maleficent told her. "Now I'm going to do the same for you."
Regina bit her bottom lip and after a moment, Maleficent continued to smirk as she playfully smacked Regina's ass then tugged her away from the car with a hand wrapped around the brunette's waist.
Early the next morning, Emma was the least pleased out of everyone to hear that Regina was trying to work with the villainous trio as part of an undercover operation. The main reason for that was because the only other people who knew about Regina's plan to infiltrate the sorceress' inner circle were David and Snow. She never once thought of Regina as an impulsive idiot before, but when her parents explained how she intended to get information out of the three new villains in town she was inclined to think just that.
She made Hook join in her search to help her cover more ground while she forced her parents to do what they should have done before Emma got involved and made them drive around the other half of town she didn't cover. If they found Regina, they were supposed to tell her right away. They'd already risked Regina's life and her redemption by letting her go undercover and Emma couldn't understand why they didn't think to be more careful and protective of Regina. The brunette wasn't just going undercover for herself. She couldn't have. She wasn't that foolish. If her parents approved of her choice to do that, it meant that they expected to get something out of it, too.
She replayed the conversation with her parents over and over again in her head as she rushed around town in search of the other woman.
"Why would you let her do this," she'd asked. "And why wouldn't you tell me?"
"Why are you so concerned about Regina," Snow had responded with a frown, furrowed brow, and question of her own.
"Because I can help! And she might need backup."
Even when Emma had told her parents to scour the entire town, no stone left unturned, for Regina, her parents still didn't understand the level of her panic. She didn't quite understand it herself, but she didn't have the time to really think about it. All she knew was that Regina might have been in trouble and she wasn't about to let anything happen to the brunette. They were a team and Henry needed both of his mothers. He'd already lost his father and Regina sacrificed herself too often as it was. If she was hurt or killed, Emma would never forgive herself for not stepping in and Henry could easily have blamed her for letting it happen, too. She'd made Henry a promise a while back and she had to commit to it for the rest of her life. Regina wasn't going to die. At least not in battle or undercover and not for many more years to come.
Hook came out of Granny's and reported that Regina had been there last night.
"According to Granny, they drank all of her liquor," he told her.
Great. Not only was Regina with the dark-hearted group of women she'd probably known, and maybe gotten along with, in the Enchanted Forest, but she'd gotten drunk with them as well. Apparently the Evil Trio took drinking buddies to a new level of entertainment and probably disaster.
She had to find Regina.
Empty bottles littered the floor in her vault and she felt absolutely wrecked. It had been a while since Regina had indulged herself in that much to drink and then proceeded to expend a great deal of magic for petty reasons like enjoyment and small scale revenge. She bent down and grabbed the two bottles left in the most frequently used section of her vault and placed them back on the drink cart she kept in the corner beside her mirror.
"Sorry we couldn't stay to clean," she heard Maleficent say just before she turned around to see the blonde in the archway with her crisp, gray pantsuit and stylistically tilted hat.
"That's okay," Regina groaned a little, though she meant it to sound more intimating than tired. "You need the beauty sleep more than I do."
Maleficent removed her coat and started to fold it before she draped it over one of her arms. Regina felt the other woman's eyes on her as she slowly sat down on the bench between the archway and the drink cart.
Regina sighed as she lowered herself down for a break between her self-imposed clean up routine and she looked down and away from the blonde. She tried to hide her face as much as possible from the other woman who looked more alive than ever after only recently being brought back from the dead. Regina was the one who looked like she'd been resurrected in the last day or two and she hated that it showed.
"It's good to see you again, Regina," Maleficent smiled as she walked over toward the bench. "Hope you had fun last night."
"Last night, yes," she answered as she started to fix her jacket and tighten it around her waist. "This morning? No."
"Maybe I can help." Regina continued to slowly fasten her jacket while Maleficent reached into her pocket for a solution to the brunette's problems. "With this world's version of magic."
Regina finished with her jacket then tuned to face Maleficent again and ran a hand through her hair just before the blonde held out her hand. Maleficent offered two white pills to her and Regina scrunched up her face with distrust and a few questions as to what exactly Maleficent was trying to give her.
"Don't worry. It's not poison. It's aspirin. They help with the pain," Maleficent shrugged.
"I know what they are," Regina said as she looked from the pills to Maleficent. "It's just you're not usually nice."
Regina's lips curled into a small grin as she considered the other woman. Maybe something had shifted between them last night. Maybe locking her up in the library's basement for almost thirty years was a crime against her the blonde had already forgiven Regina for. Or maybe she and Maleficent had done more than she could remember from the previous night.
Regina accepted the pills and Maleficent kept a straight face even as she handed over the aspirin, stepped over to the mirror, and made sure she still looked suave.
"Nice has nothing to do with it," Maleficent replied. "I need you sharp tonight."
"For what? More games?"
"No," Maleficent abandoned the mirror and turned to Regina. She was all too serious for a moment before her eyes raked over Regina's black leather dress, similar but much shorter than the one from the prior night. "Although I certainly wouldn't mind playing a few."
Maleficent smirked as her piercing blue eyes admired and appreciated the way Regina's leggings clung to her legs. She envied the way the woman could pull off ankle-high boots as well as the knee-highs like the ones she had in the Enchanted Forest. She licked her bright red lips as she scanned over the hem of the dress where it rode up mid-thigh while she sat.
"My, my, don't you look delectable as ever," Maleficent purred.
Regina subtly cleared her throat and tried to adjust her jacket again as though that would shield her from Maleficent's memories and vivid imagination.
"No need to be shy," Maleficent continued and took the few small steps toward Regina to eliminate the distance between them in the small space. "Don't forget who gave you all those leather pants when you stopped wearing those rustic, light colored vests and innocent white shirts."
Just like that, Regina was reminded of the first time Maleficent lent her an outfit when she decided she wanted to change her look. She'd poofed herself to the Forbidden Fortress after a lonely day in the palace and while she knew better than to ask for the blonde's advice, something she'd learned quickly after she first met the other woman, she did seek out the woman for comfort. Maleficent didn't pride herself on nurturing people. She had a gentle soul underneath all the makeup and plunging necklines, but she rarely showed anyone the true capability of her heart and how much compassion she could have for some people.
She wasn't exactly compassionate later that evening when she had Regina pinned to her bed, naked and moaning for more, or even when Regina flipped their positions, but her touches were gentle enough more often than not and Maleficent always let Regina stay with her as long as the brunette needed to escape. Maleficent also never passed up the opportunity to cuddle, especially in dragon form. Neck nuzzles and a few soothing or playful licks to the neck and face from her dragon friend made Regina smile and laugh until she was finally ready to ditch her innocence completely.
When Maleficent offered her leather outfits from her own closet, things were less delicate and sweet between the two of them. Both women attacked each other with a carnal desire left dormant while they started slow and took the time to learn each other a little more first. Teeth and nail marks covered both women before their time together was through and both were sated in more ways than one. But Regina also remembered the cuddling never stopped even when their gentleness and slower paces had. They would collapse beside or on top of each other and wound up curled into one another within the hour whether either of meant for it to happen.
Regina definitely hadn't forgotten that there was no reason to be shy around Maleficent. She'd given Maleficent as good as she got and the blonde had seen all of Regina. She'd seen her stripped bare and needy. She'd seen her before she was the Evil Queen and she'd seen her grow into her magic. She'd seen her become the Evil Queen and watched her friend fall apart as her revenge consumed every last part of her heart and mind. Maleficent truly had seen it all when it came to Regina and that was why Regina was more guarded around her than Cruella and Ursula. Maleficent knew things Regina couldn't be sure wouldn't be used against her later.
In the vault, Maleficent moved forward and reached out for the buttons that held Regina's jacket closed. With a few quick flicks of her wrist, her fingers pried open the jacket and she pushed the black leather off the brunette's shoulders. It was familiar and while Regina was too tired to shrug off the other woman's advances, she also liked what the woman did.
"No more games, Regina," Maleficent purred and sat down on the bench beside her.
Maleficent placed a hand on her thigh and slowly moved it toward the apex of her legs. Her palm glided over dark leggings and Regina gripped the edge of bench with both hands. She looked down at her lap and closed her eyes before she gasped and tried not to spread her legs for the other woman.
Brunette hair fell around her face and blocked her expression from Maleficent's view, but the blonde easily changed that when she brushed Regina's hair out of her face with nails painted red to match her lips. Maleficent's hand slid beneath the hem of Regina's dress and she squeezed her knees together even though her hips bucked toward Maleficent's hand. Her body wanted one thing, but her mind refused it. She couldn't appear desperate.
"You want to know why we're in this town," Maleficent asked, her breath hot against Regina's cheekbone.
Regina gulped and opened her eyes just before Maleficent stilled her hand and kept her fingers poised on Regina's upper inner thigh far enough away not to touch her between the legs, but high enough on her thigh that one swift move would have changed that.
She took a couple of seconds to collect herself and when she did, Regina turned her head to look at Maleficent as the other woman spoke to her. Her eyes were darker than usual, but were steeled over with a confidence Regina only exhibited as the controlling Mayor or the Evil Queen.
"We're after the same thing you are," Maleficent continued and continued to keep her hand still on her thigh. "The Author."
Maleficent curled her fingers and dug her nails into Regina's legs through her leggings.
Regina's lips parted in surprise that Maleficent even knew about the Author, but they also parted with the promise of a half-whimper, half-moan that she struggled to but successfully stifled.
"How do you know about the Author," Regina asked and hoped it would take her mind off of Maleficent's hand.
"Rumpelstiltskin," the blonde answered. "He spilled the whole story to Cruella back in New York."
"Well, good luck finding him," Regina smirked. "I've been looking for him for months."
"But you've been going about it all wrong." Maleficent slid her hand down Regina's thigh, back toward the woman's knee, and then started to slowly run it up and down over her thigh again and again. "What you need are some new allies. With new leads on this author."
Regina's breath hitched as Maleficent's hand came closer to her sex than it ever had since the blonde had walked into her vault that day.
"And these…new leads," Regina asked when she managed to regain some semblance of control over her actions and feelings. "Do they have anything to do with this powerful magic you're hiding?"
"Before I let you in on that little secret," Maleficent said and gripped the other woman's shoulder and neck. "I've got a little job for you."
Maleficent stared into Regina's eyes and tried to assess the brunette's reactions to her touch and overly-comfortable proximity. She grinned and removed her hand from underneath Regina's dress while she stood up in the same swift movement.
"Meet me at the library tonight. 9 o'clock. We need you to steal something," Maleficent vaguely explained.
"Steal what?"
"Meet me later and I'll tell you then." Maleficent winked at her before she sauntered off and left Regina alone in the vault.
It was because of Regina's foolish bravery that Emma followed her parents to the library later that night after Regina called Snow and asked to discreetly meet her. Hook tagged along too because he was already with Emma when Snow got the call and David also agreed to go so he figured he'd join them.
Emma didn't really care one way or the other if he went with them. Usually he just waited for them to figure it out or until at least one of them asked for his help, which was rare. But if he really wanted to play hero, she wasn't going to hold it against him. At least he wasn't just doing it for her. And if he was, it didn't really matter anyway because she had more important things to deal with. Like yelling at Regina for trying to get back in to the Evil Mafia without consulting her first.
There was no way in hell she was going to let her friend do that for so many reasons. One of which was because it was dangerous and if something happened to her it would kill Henry. Another very important and very good reason to not let her join up with any evil forces was because she was still on the path to redemption. Emma refused to see her as a villain and hadn't seen her as one for a very long time—honestly hadn't ever really seen her as one before, but there were still other people in town that needed to be further convinced she meant them no harm. On top of losing the people's already wary and potentially waning trust, pretending to be a villain was the easiest way for the brunette to relapse and go back to seeking revenge instead of happiness.
"Hey, we're here," David quietly said as the four of them walked through the main floor of the library and tiptoed toward the back of the room.
Regina slipped out from behind one of the book shelves and looked far from satisfied as she took in the turnout of their meeting.
"I said we needed to meet covertly," she explained. "Now I see you brought the entire Charming softball team and their pirate mascot?"
"We were worried about you," Snow said.
"Well then worry quickly," Regina told her. "I can't be seen with all of you."
"Regina, listen to me," Emma hurried to express her thoughts before the other woman kicked them out. "This is a bad idea. This woman, this dragon, she's dangerous and you don't know the first thing about going undercover."
Regina shook her head and was ready to scoff at the blonde before she defensively said, "I'm a quick study. And Maleficent already told me why they're here."
Emma looked over at her parents who at that point had most of Regina's attention. Snow looked surprised and David looked less surprised but definitely a little more worried. Emma looked back at Regina just before the other woman met her gaze.
"Apparently they're after the Author too," Regina confessed with a sigh.
Then Emma was the one who was surprised. She was also curious and unsure of what that could possibly mean for Operation Mongoose.
"I simply want him to change my fate," Regina continued.
"What do they want," Emma asked.
"They want to shift the entire balance so that villains win and heroes lose," Regina explained to the three of them, Hook neglected as he waited in the shadows behind the Charming family. "They feel the only way to get their happy ending is to destroy yours."
Emma was hyper-aware of the way Regina looked at her when she mentioned the last part about destroying happy endings. For a moment, she was confused, but she really didn't have the time to wonder why Regina chose to focus more on her than anyone else in the room.
"Do you think they can find the Author," Emma asked as she tried to stay out of her own head and keep up with the conversation. She had to be quick about everything before they had to leave the library in case anyone else saw them all together, but it was hard to be quick when every answer said gave Emma more questions.
Regina nodded and looked a little sad to admit, "They have a lead we don't. And tonight they want me to help them steal it."
Emma parted her lips and stared with wide eyes at Regina while she listened to the other woman share the trio's plans with all of them. It worried her more than she thought possible to hear any of what Regina had just said, but it worried her the most when Regina spoke softer as she shared one final piece of information with the four of them.
"Whatever it is."
Regina didn't even know what she was stealing. Emma had been down that road before. Theft and trusting other people and having to work with those people to pull off something sneaky or frowned upon or both.
"I'm telling you," Emma practically begged her, "these things never end well."
"I understand your concern," Regina said with some of the softest eyes Emma could ever remember having directed at her, "but I'm in."
Emma hesitated as she kept her eyes on Regina for a moment before she turned to her parents. Her parents seemed completely on board with Regina's decision and while that concerned her how easily they allowed the brunette to put her life on the line for every single person in the town—most of which were seen as the heroes with happy endings already waiting for them while Regina still fought for hers—she chose to focus on her next course of action.
"Okay, well then I'm in, too," Emma stated.
If her parents were already resigned to letting Regina go undercover and work both for and against the other witches at her own risk then Emma was resigned to being the only one that was on Regina's side. Again.
"What?" Regina didn't sound happy with that answer.
"I'm gonna stick by you," Emma said with a passive shrug with her hands in her jacket pockets like what she was saying shouldn't surprise anyone. "I'm gonna get your back while you do this."
"No," Regina insisted. "It's too dangerous."
"I said I was a part of Operation Mongoose and I'm a part of it," Emma argued. "You wanted my help, now you're gonna get it. No matter what that means for both of us."
She made sure her tone left no room for argument and she saw it in Regina's eyes that the brunette didn't want to fight about it anymore. Or maybe there was more to Regina's expression than that. Emma wasn't exactly sure how to describe the way the other woman looked at her, but she was sure Regina was done trying to push her away and keep her far from whatever her next part of the plan was against Maleficent, Cruella, and Ursula.
Regina sighed and shook her head as she looked directly into big, determined green eyes. She'd said it before and Emma either didn't want to listen or just didn't care. It was too dangerous, more than Emma could know at that point. The younger woman's decision to stick with her during her undercover operation was brave and sweet, but also a serious risk.
"Wait a minute," Snow exclaimed as she stepped between the two of them. "Emma, you can't be serious."
"Whatever she has planned tonight? I'll be there," Emma promised Regina and ignored her parents.
Maleficent had extended a courtesy to Regina and gave her plenty of time to decide if she really wanted to prove herself to the group and during the time Maleficent spent away from Regina, she was with Cruella, Ursula and Rumple in the cabin. There, Cruella learned that Regina suffered from a hangover and as if it wasn't apparent by the haze in Regina's eyes the prior night, the woman could no longer hold her liquor as well as she used to.
At the cabin, Maleficent had asked Cruella for a favor, but the blonde also offered to give her and Ursula some alone time when she asked for it. Cruella immediately did what Maleficent requested and enchanted her beautiful car to take Maleficent and Regina to the location where Regina would be tested before they all met up at the cabin again. As soon as the enchantment was enacted, Maleficent left them to their own devices with a knowing smirk and within the next few minutes, Ursula and Cruella used one of two bedrooms in the cabin while Rumple was off trying to retrieve his dagger.
As soon as they walked through the bedroom door, Cruella shrugged out of her coat and dropped it on the bed as she turned back to Ursula. The black, leather shirt she wore concealed most of her chest, but showcased her upper arms and the the rounded edges of her shoulder. There was a certain kind of seduction in the way her breasts were more concealed than expected and she could see it in Ursula's wandering eyes that it had just the right effect on the only person she cared to impress.
She scratched her head with long, red painted nails and scanned over Ursula from head to toe.
"You know, we could talk about Regina and Maleficent," Cruella started to say, "or we spend our time doing much more satisfying things."
"You just want to use that collar on me," Ursula said and crossed her arms over her chest while she cocked a hip and raised a brow.
Cruella pouted and slowly walked away from the bed and toward Ursula.
"You used your tentacles last time," she argued and continued to strut toward the other woman. "My breasts are still a little sensitive. It's only fair I get to use something on you now."
"Even if I agreed, we don't have time for that."
"Nonsense, darling. We always have time for that," Cruella flashed a devilish grin and her eyes sparkled with a wild glimmer.
Ursula rolled her eyes, but slowly started to smile.
"There's my girl," Cruella purred and stopped right in front of the darker woman. She tucked a finger under Ursula's chin and ensured the woman held her gaze for as long as she wanted them to maintain eye contact.
"If we do this, you have to make me a promise," Ursula said after a moment.
"Anything you want."
Ursula took a quick but deep breath and confessed, "Promise to be a part of my happy ending."
Cruella searched Ursula's eyes for a few seconds while her own eyes slightly widened in shock.
"I'm not sure I can do that," she confessed. "It's much too soon to make that kind of promise."
"Then at least promise you won't run when this is all over. Promise me that once we're successful with this author business, you'll stick around this time."
Cruella continued to search Ursula's eyes while she thought it over. She slowly took one step closer to Ursula, their lips almost touching, and her own features softened.
"I'll stick around," she said before her eyes dropped down to Ursula's lips and she moved in for a kiss.
Ursula fell forward before Cruella could close the rest of the small space between them and their lips pressed together in a tender kiss. It was the first one in a long time that wasn't gnashing and biting teeth or untamed passion upon its moment of intoxicating release. It was slow and deliberate and compassionate in a way the two of them hadn't been since the last time they were together, before Cruella ran off to find a rich husband to support the kind of lavish lifestyle she preferred.
When they ended the kiss, both women stared intensely into each other's eyes before something dangled just off to their right side between the two of them. Ursula smiled and Cruella turned her head to see the dog collar hanging from the tip of one of Ursula's tentacles.
"Care to do the honors," Ursula asked.
Cruella bit her lip and looked once again at the other woman. She grinned, though it was more like an overexcited smile, and she slipped the collar off of the woman's tentacle.
"Put that thing away before you hurt someone," Cruella playfully instructed.
"I think you mean before I pleasure someone," Ursula teased in response.
Cruella chuckled and undid the collar before she brought it up to Ursula's neck and fastened it around soft skin like a choker. Once it was on the other woman, she curled a finger around it and pulled Ursula toward her. She whispered into Ursula's ear first and said, "Dalmatian is the safe word, darling. I'll try to be gentle…every so often."
She kissed Ursula's cheek and the darker woman nodded afterward.
"Are you alright with this," Cruella calmly asked and made sure to look Ursula in the eyes as the woman voiced her answer.
"Yes."
Cruella smiled and leaned in again. She puckered her lips a little and then blew into Ursula's ear. Her magic left through her lips and traveled into Ursula's mind through the woman's eardrum. It was how she manipulated animals, but it was also how she could telepathically communicate with Ursula. The collar had nothing to do with her power of persuasion over Ursula because the woman wasn't entirely human. It just made Cruella hot and wet to see Ursula wear it.
Ursula closed her eyes as Cruella's magic seeped into her and told her what was desired from her. In less than a minute, Ursula pushed Cruella backward until the other woman's knees buckled from the force in which they hit the edge of the bed. She sank to her knees on the floor in front of Cruella then spread her legs and yanked down her underwear and fitting black leather pants.
Cruella moaned and tipped her head back before Ursula even touched her the way she needed to be touched by the darker woman.
"There's my girl," Cruella throatily repeated her words from earlier just a second before her lower body was completely exposed, boots quickly removed with the help of a couple of tentacles. Not long after she was stripped, she felt a skillful tongue against her and moaned with delight.
Emma traded keys with her parents and swapped her bright and obvious Bug for her father's only slightly more subtle copper and cream colored truck. She, and thankfully at least David, agreed it would be the better vehicle to stakeout and tail the meet up Regina said would take place in half an hour right outside the library.
Hook fought to keep Emma company and look out for her while she insisted on looking out for Regina, but she didn't hesitate to tell him he would only get in the way. It sounded rude as she said it and she cringed at her own words after she'd told him that, but she didn't apologize and he accepted his place—which was anywhere but near her—in Emma's plan to have Regina's back. Emma was grateful for that. One less person to fight on why and how she was going to do whatever she could to protect Regina.
She waited in the truck at the end of the street in clear view of Regina as the brunette leaned back against the library just off to the side of the main doors. The wind that night wasn't at all calm and Emma stared hard at the other woman as brunette locks twisted, curled, and blew in every direction. She wouldn't admit it out loud, but Regina looked like a model at a high-fashion photo shoot. She could have easily been posing for the front cover of a well-regarded magazine and Emma couldn't help but appreciate and admire the sight.
Regina looked less than pleased if her expression was anything to go by, but from that distance Emma couldn't tell exactly how the other woman felt about the setup. She knew from their conversation inside the library a little over thirty minutes ago that Regina didn't want her to be anywhere near Regina while she was with the other three women, but she wasn't going to leave Regina. She wouldn't.
Before she lost herself in her thoughts, a car showed up and slowed down until it came to a full stop on the street directly in front of where Regina stood. Maleficent, in human form for the first time in front of Emma, strutted over to Regina's side with a slight smirk. In that moment, Emma finally got a clear picture of the woman Regina had once described as an old friend who wouldn't want to hear from her while trapped under the library.
The woman had striking eyes and blonde hair almost the same shade as Emma's. She couldn't be sure what type of outfits Maleficent favored, but she knew the woman at least enjoyed the 1940s pantsuit and fedora look based on the bold outfit she chose to wear that night. She looked dapper and dominant and Emma wondered why Maleficent stared so hard at Regina.
Maleficent barely blinked and from her position against the wall of the library, Emma thought Maleficent might have spotted her by now. But she couldn't see Emma when her almost unblinking eyes were fixated on Regina. Emma felt tension knot and build in a majority of her body, though she didn't understand why she bristled in the first place. She tried to blame it on the fact that Regina was too close to the villains and that made her worried and uncomfortable, but something else nagged at her. She was about to shake it off and focus when she noticed Regina grin in response to something Maleficent said and then something completely unexpected happened.
Maleficent stepped forward and extended a hand to Regina. The brunette accepted it and Maleficent pulled Regina toward the pristine and thoroughly waxed black and white car with doors that apparently opened by magic. At the last second before Emma assumed Maleficent was going to chivalrously ease Regina into the driver's seat, the recently revived blonde spun Regina around with a quick tug and flick of her hand, the one that held Regina's own hand in her grasp. In an instant, Maleficent pinned Regina against the side of the car and fluidly stepped between Regina's legs.
Regina gazed into Maleficent's eyes with a hint of tenderness and a lot of dark playfulness and amusement.
The tension Emma once felt turned into something else and her face dropped, surprised and maybe a little hurt, as she watched Regina say something to Maleficent. Whatever the brunette said seemed to please Maleficent because the suspected head of the Female Villains Club leaned in and pressed her face into Regina's neck.
Emma couldn't tell what Maleficent was doing to Regina, but by the evident change in Regina's expression as her eyes slipped closed it was something Regina liked. Really liked. She saw Regina bite her bottom lip while Maleficent further buried her face in the woman's neck and Emma was captivated and, for some reason, devastated at the same time.
Emma wanted to leave. She hadn't wanted to run in a little over a year as badly as she wanted to run in that moment, but she still wouldn't leave Regina. She continued to stare at the shocking and disappointing sight of Regina as she took back some control and laced her fingers in pinned back and partially curled blonde hair at the nape of Maleficent's neck. She yanked Maleficent away from her own neck and forced the other woman to make eye contact with her before she crashed their lips together in a searing kiss. That kiss alone put all the kisses Emma had ever had with Hook to shame. It was hotter than Emma expected from the woman who had wanted to find the author of Henry's storybook so he could write her happy ending with a man who had the same scrunched up expression on his face all the time, or so she imaged that was what Regina wanted as her happy ending. Even if Regina didn't want Robin, however, she'd still dated the guy. Maleficent was a much bigger step up from freaking Robin Hood, at least in Emma's eyes.
Regina unpinned Maleficent's hair and combed through it so blonde tresses tumbled down just past the woman's shoulders. Emma thought it was a practical move because really, when Regina had tangled her hand in Maleficent's hair she'd pulled it askew. It looked much better untamed when it wasn't trying to stay coiffed because of those pins. That shouldn't have been the predominant thought in Emma's mind, though. And honestly, it wasn't. She just didn't want to think about how she felt when she saw Regina being so passionate with the other blonde. The way they continued to go at each other, Emma was most surprised by the fact that Maleficent's hat still remained on her head, though just barely.
Maleficent trailed a hand down Regina's side and Emma stared, enthralled as Maleficent hiked up Regina's dress. Although Regina wore charcoal leggings, Emma had a good view of the woman's leg. The leggings tightly hugged her thighs and ass and Emma realized she might have been a little jealous of Maleficent and the path her hand was permitted to travel.
Just as Maleficent's hand reached up and firmly gripped Regina's ass over her leggings, Regina grabbed the other woman's hat and took it from her a second before she shoved the blonde away with a hand to the chest. Then she did the hottest thing Emma thought she'd ever seen Regina do, and that included parading around in her vault in an Evil Queen dress. Regina actually put the hat on herself and tipped it down over her forehead a little, titled to one side as she victoriously smirked at Maleficent.
Both women's lipstick were smeared, but only Regina had the mind to try and wipe it off of the corners of her mouth. Maleficent just stood there with shock on her face as she looked at Regina. To Emma, that look said Maleficent was stuck in a state of disbelief because Regina had dared to turn her down and then steal her hat.
Then, Emma furrowed her brow as she struggled to read Regina's lips when the brunette told Maleficent, "Get in."
Finally, Maleficent looked satisfied and proud and still slightly turned on from what Emma could tell. She grinned back at Regina before she listened to her friend and walked around the front of the car. She slid into the passenger's seat and had Regina's attention the entire time it took her to get from one side of the car to the other.
Once Maleficent was inside, Regina's smirk faded and she looked over at Emma with a look that puzzled the younger woman. It was sad, maybe longing or unsure, but it wasn't the same as the confidence Regina had only seconds ago displayed when she talked and, soon after that, kissed Maleficent. Emma then happened to catch Regina's throat flex and suddenly she figured out that Regina was definitely unsure. She was nervous. She'd just gulped and her eyes almost pleaded with Emma to leave while she still could.
But if Regina expected her to leave, her actions didn't show it because the brunette looked down the moment before she slid into the driver's seat and shut the door behind her. Emma cleared her throat and started the truck then put it in gear and let Regina put a decent amount of distance between them before she followed the other two to a residence she didn't recognize.
She didn't wait for an invitation after she knocked on the wooden work shed door before she walked in.
"Hello, Marco. Pinocchio," Regina greeted them with a smile and a nod of acknowledgement. "May I come in?"
"Of course," Marco answered.
She didn't have to bother with pleasantries if she really was about to go through with what was needed of her to truly and officially get into the group of villainous women, but she actually respected Marco and she hoped he would forgive her later for what she had to do. It wasn't like he wouldn't, and hadn't already, done what was necessary to protect and save his son. All Regina was doing was trying to protect someone she cared about, too. So she knew Marco could relate, but not if he could forgive.
"Is, uh…is everything alright?"
Regina frowned and furrowed her brows. She refused to make eye contact with him and she felt horrible about the wave of her hand that sent both Marco and Pinocchio onto the floor in a comfortable sleep that would last just long enough for her to get away with the boy. She didn't have the time to hate herself for what she had to do. She could certainly turn right back around and leave father and son unharmed or she could do as she planned and deliver the boy to Maleficent, Ursula, and Cruella to help keep up with, if not ahead, of the villains for once.
She slowly and carefully approached Pinocchio then looked at the shed door, completely off balance while she second guessed herself. She knew right from wrong and what she was about to do was wrong. She used to revel in doing the wrong thing as long as it got her what she wanted, but she'd spent too much time not being so selfish and in that moment, doing the wrong thing—even if it meant it would help her find the Author—didn't satisfy her at all. She felt regret seep into every ounce of her being even though she couldn't allow herself to feel that way at that moment. She had to compartmentalize the things she had to do and remind herself often that what she did while undercover wasn't who she was, especially after she continued to abstain from revenge and the darkness and anger she once harnessed so well.
She leaned in and was about to reach out for Pinocchio when the back door suddenly opened behind her. She was startled and confused and hoped more than anything that either someone else hadn't caught her in the act or that Maleficent hadn't come in to watch how she handled the situation. When she turned around, she was surprised and upset to see another blonde had followed her in.
"Regina," the other woman breathed out and closed the door much quieter than she'd opened it.
"Emma," Regina whisper-yelled. "What are you doing here?"
"I was watching you," Emma answered and made sure to keep her voice not much louder than a whisper as well. "I saw you use a sleeping spell and my gut told me something was wrong."
"Well, it will be if you don't get out of here."
"Not until you tell me what Maleficent has you in here doing," Emma sternly demanded.
Regina rolled her eyes and huffed out a couple of sighs before she reluctantly confessed, "They're after Pinocchio."
"I told you these things never end well. We have to do this quickly. Let's sneak him out the back and find a safe place."
"A little snafu and you're ready to pack up? What happens when Mal finds out and decides to turn into her inner dragon?"
Regina let out more anger than concern in that moment. Emma was too damn stubborn for her own good.
"This is a child we're talking about, Regina. It's too big a risk."
"Not if I'm there to keep him safe," Regina raised her voice. "If they try to harm him, I'll stop them and try to fight my way out."
Emma shook her head, her mind seemingly blown that Regina thought that was a good idea.
"Three of them. One of you."
Then Regina's angry, bitchy mayor persona rose to the surface to lecture the other woman.
"I know you think I'm in over my head, but I got this," she insisted. "You don't know them like I do."
"Yeah, of course I don't. Because I don't let a dragon lady try to take me against a car in the middle of the street!"
Regina clenched a fist at her side and gritted her teeth.
"No, just flying monkeys," Regina quipped.
For a moment, the two of them just stood staring at each other with frowns and sharp eyes frowns much like they stared at each other when Emma first arrived in Storybrooke. Regina's eyes then darted to the door to ensure Maleficent wasn't about to walk in on them and Emma finally appeared to remember how little time they actually had to discuss their personal lives. But that didn't seem to stop her from asking another question about the personal side to Regina's time undercover.
"You're not just doing this to make your girlfriend happy, are you?"
Regina sighed again and flailed her arms in a frustrated gesture before she slapped her hands against her thighs.
"No. I'm not doing any of this for her."
"Well then enlighten me. Tell me what's really going on because ever since they got to town my superpower's been going haywire. Like…everyone…including my own parents are keeping something from me."
A flash of guilt passed over her features for a brief, fleeting moment. Emma didn't deserve to be lied to, but things had the potential to be much worse if Emma knew the truth. Things could be worse if she only knew her parents of all people were keeping secrets from her and she couldn't let Emma get hurt or angry. Not like she would if she knew what Regina knew.
Regina licked her lips and made her decision, tried her best not to give anything away in how she looked or spoke to the other woman.
"Emma, the only one's keeping secrets are Maleficent and her friends."
She saw frustration and doubt in Emma's eyes and the way her lips were downturned and pursed in a frown. She kept going with her explanation anyway.
"They've taken a page out of the heroes' playbook. They're working together, which means we have to page out of theirs and break some rules."
Emma seemed to think it over and looked around the shed with Regina to double check they were still alone, that they still had time. When she caught Regina's gaze, she held it for a moment and spoke up once again.
"You aren't one of Maleficent's friends even now that we know she's up to all of this, are you?"
Regina looked at Emma, confused. She had no idea where that question had come from or why Emma chose that exact moment to ask it.
"What?"
"You said Maleficent and her friends are the only ones keeping secrets. You aren't one of them, are you?"
"Of course not. Emma, what would give you—" Regina stopped herself mid-question and realized how everything must have looked to her.
Her parents were lying to her and she was almost certain but didn't want to believe it. Regina wasn't only pretending to work with Maleficent, she was seen making out with her. If Regina was still on Emma's side, she wouldn't have given in to such impulses with their enemy. Or at least, she wouldn't have done such a thing without making it clear it was a manipulation tactic to keep or gain the upper hand.
Regina took a deep breath and released it before she admitted, "Maleficent and I have a history."
"You don't say," Emma dryly responded.
"But I don't…I don't want the same thing she does. Not anymore."
Emma looked like a lost, wandering puppy. Out of the two of them, she was the one out of her depth, but she tried not to show most of the time. On occasion, however, she looked at Regina and let her fears, concerns, and insecurities show. Regina doubted anyone else saw them and that made keeping Snow's secret from her all the more painful.
"Do you trust me," she asked Emma.
The younger woman hesitated to admit it and chose not to explicitly state with a yes or no whether or not she trusted her. Instead, Emma looked from Regina to Pinocchio and clenched and unclenched her fists before she gave a more implicit but still very clear answer to the question.
"I will be right on your tail and if I see anything I don't like, I'll come in blazing."
Regina looked at her with parted lips and wide eyes. She thought it through for a second before she gave a small nod and then wrapped the blanket Pinocchio thankfully landed on around his little body. She lifted him onto her shoulder and carried him out to Cruella's car where Maleficent stood in wait for her.
She carefully placed the boy in the backseat and tucked the blanket a little tighter against him to keep him warm.
Maleficent smiled at the way she treated and cared for him even though he was their kidnap victim. Regina assumed that even though she lost her child, Maleficent could bond with Regina and admire the way she mothered children. At the core, both women were always nurturers.
When Regina stood up and looked over the top of the car, she saw Maleficent's smile twist into a smirk before she said, "It's good to have you back."
Regina grinned in response and waited for Maleficent to get into the car first before she pulled out her phone and held it at her hip to keep it out of Maleficent's sight. She looked down at the phone for a long moment before she glanced back at the shed where she knew Emma was waiting to blindly and belligerently follow her into chaos. She knew without a doubt when Emma said she would burst in to stop everything as soon as something started to turn sideways that she had to separate herself from Emma. It wasn't just so she could maintain her cover. It was mostly because she would be leading Emma to the lion's den, or in their case the dragon's cave, like a lamb to a slaughter.
She typed out a message she didn't intend to send that said, "I got this" and as she wrote it, all she thought was: protect Emma. She ditched the phone in the driveway and drove off with Maleficent knowing the only thing she'd done recently that she would never regret was to leave Emma out of all that mess.