A/N: Updates are surprisingly prompt at the moment! I have written loads of chapters in advance so I'm certainly not short of material. The story's taking shape, hopefully some of you will get where I'm going with this!
DISCLAIMER: Don't own Once Upon A Time, blah blah blah. Please don't sue me.
Reviews are always appreciated!
Chapter 3
Stretching out stiff limbs, Emma Swan ran a hand through blonde curls and cracked her knuckles. The air was icy and heavy with dew, she could smell moisture; it would likely rain later. She checked her satchel and was pleased to see everything still present. She kicked damp leaves over the remaining embers of the fire to smother it, then turned her attention to the woman on her other blanket.
She was still slightly confused by her companion. She was exactly the kind of person Emma immediately distrusted and actively avoided. She'd been kicked around by her type enough when she was too young to defend herself, and past experiences had ingrained an entrenched hatred for people like her. This process would not be easy, but it was necessary.
She observed her resting. She slept curled in on herself, her body tense, brow furrowed. Her dark hair was pushed out of her face, smooth skin raised with gooseflesh from the cold. Even in sleep she looked uneasy. This would certainly not be practical; the woman was clearly totally unaccustomed to the forest. She had watched her just walk straight in to a gang of thieves and done nothing to try and get herself out of it. Emma rolled her eyes; such extraordinary beauty, and clearly no common sense at all.
She walked over to Regina and nudged her with the toe of her boot.
"Oi, come on, wake up. We've gotta go."
The brunette stirred and opened bleary eyes before immediately jolting to attention, flexing slender fingers and sitting upright.
"Where are we going?" She asked quietly, adjusting to the morning.
"Anywhere other than here. We've gotta keep moving to avoid...let's just call it 'unwanted company'."
Regina subtly stretched out aching muscles, still feeling run down, but ultimately a lot better. She was, however, starving. She wouldn't say so though.
She rose to her feet, folding the blanket immaculately then handing it to Emma, who murmured thanks while internally mocking the uptight nature of it all. She realised that she would have to explain her intentions pretty soon, but, knowing the other wouldn't take it particularly well, she decide to put it off as long as she could.
"We should find something to eat. I'll keep an eye out along the way." She stated before slipping on the satchel, shouldering her quiver and taking up her bow. Glancing around to make sure she'd got everything, she once more offered Regina a drink, which she begrudgingly accepted, then headed off out of the clearing with a "Right, let's go!" leaving Regina no other option but to trail after her.
They left the campsite behind them and began walking through the forest in silence. Emma was pleasantly surprised to see the other woman keeping up with apparent ease.
The quiet couldn't last forever.
"I'm sorry, it's not that I don't appreciate what you're doing, but where are you taking me? You don't seem like the type to randomly assist people in need." Asked Regina after ten minutes of trekking.
Emma scoffed at the reference to her "type", only just admitting to the hypocrisy of this before deciding to answer carefully.
"I'm taking you out of the forest, I'm helping you out of a rare moment of goodwill. I thought that would be enough, seen as you're quite clearly desperate-"
"I'm not desperate." Muttered Regina bitterly.
"Really? Because you looked pretty desperate to me, princess."
"Don't call me that." The brunette snapped instantly.
Emma raised her eyebrows, feigning resignation but smirking all the same.
"Ok, whatever you wish, princess."
Regina twitched irritably at the oh-so-ironic nickname, but refused to give this ruffian the benefit of a reaction.
A few more minutes passed, before Regina voiced her query once more.
"I didn't tell you where I lived. You have no idea where I want to be but you seem pretty fixed on a destination. Why is that?"
"I just - I just wanna get you out of here as quickly as possible-" stammered Emma.
"Rubbish." Accused her companion. "You know exactly where you're going, and it isn't an easy route to throw me out of the forest. You're not telling me something, and seen as it so clearly concerns me, I demand that you tell me what the hell is going on this instant!" She ordered.
Damn, maybe the airhead wasn't as stupid as she'd originally thought. Come to think of it, that was even more impractical than having an idiot; at least idiots don't ask questions.
"Ok, fine. I'll tell you what happening. Let's stop and eat first; you're undoubtedly hungry."
Regina opened her mouth to argue, before deciding that a meal would not go amiss, and she couldn't acquire one on her own.
"Ok. But no more stalling."
Emma was about to turn around and ask when on earth did she start making the rules, before deciding getting into another argument would be unwise, so simply stopped by a large boulder and indicated for her to do the same.
"Wait here. I'll go and get something. I would say start a fire, but I doubt it'll do any good." She said before sliding an arrow out of her quiver and loading her bow, then stalking off into the forest, leaving Regina leaning against the boulder, decidedly irate.
Before being fully conscious of making the decision to do so, she had begun breaking dry branches off the trees around her, collecting them into a large bundle and dropping them on the floor, surrounding the pile with damp leaves. Having no experience in the natural starting of fires and adequately driven to prove the blonde thief wrong, she flicked her wrist and set the branches alight. That'd show the Swan woman not to treat her like a child.
She was once more leaning against the boulder when the other woman returned, only a fire was burning in the makeshift fire pit. Emma raised a mildly impressed eyebrow but said nothing. She carried an arrow; skewered on the end of it was a small rabbit, hanging limply by its middle. She held it up. "Had rabbit before?"
The brunette didn't flinch as Emma had expected her to, but shook her head as a negative.
Emma set about preparing the rabbit while Regina stood back and watched her skin and gut the animal with morbid fascination. Emma sat crossed legged on the ground, slowly turning the meat over on the fire, counting down the seconds until Regina decided she'd had enough and would start asking questions.
Once the blonde decided the food had been cooked all the way through, she ripped a piece off and handed it to Regina, who tentatively took it from her, blowing on it to cool it before taking a delicate bite. Emma watched with amusement, tearing large chunks off her own portion and swallowing them while still steaming.
Regina was not impressed with the meal, but was so grateful to have something in her stomach that she ate everything she was given. The pair stayed in silence, Regina standing and Emma sitting, taking it in turns to observe the other out of sheer curiosity when they thought they weren't looking.
Eventually, Regina lost her patience and, having begrudgingly wiped her hands on her skirt, addressed the blonde.
"Ok, no more diversions. Tell me what you're thinking."
Emma, still reluctant to let anything slip, adopted a sickeningly innocent expression. "What makes you think I'm thinking anything other than what I've told you?"
"Don't insult me, I wasn't born yesterday. Common goodness doesn't exist; everyone wants something. You have something to gain from helping me, and I'm not refusing to cooperate, so the least you can do is tell me what you want from me."
Chewing slowly on the last of her meal, Emma leaned back onto her hands to look at Regina with an expression worryingly close to appraisal. She nodded.
"Ok, fine. You're right; I do want something from you, and the likelihood is you aren't gonna like it, but it's the only way I'm getting you out of the forest and to...wherever you want to go."
"I'm listening. What do you want?"
Emma sighed heavily. "I need your help."
"Why?"
"Because you can do magic, quite successfully, going by what I saw during that...dilemma, despite being a little rough round the edges. I need the help of someone who is powerful enough to help me get back something that is rightfully mine, and you, princess, are powerful enough."
Regina narrowed her eyes, still wary. "What is it that is 'rightfully yours' that you need my help to retrieve?"
The blonde paused before answering, glancing away from Regina to look out into the trees.
"My son."
"You son?" Regina asked disbelievingly.
"Yes; my son."
"Who has your son?"
"A very powerful man, the most dangerous you're ever likely to have the misfortune to meet. He's got him."
"Wait, how-"
"It's a long story, and not one I want to tell. In short, he tricked me. He took him from me and has kept him from me for the six years he's been alive and I have no way of getting him back because I don't have magic. It's time I got him back, by force, seen as it's come to that. When I saw you fight off that gang, it seemed so...convenient."
"Of course saving me wasn't just human decency..." Said Regina, rolling dark eyes.
Emma laughed. "Don't be naive, princess, it's every man for himself out here...or herself. Just be glad you convinced me you were worth saving."
Regina wished she had never run into this forest, never come across those thieves and so had never had to have been saved. They both knew full well that Regina owed Emma a debt.
"So...what does helping you get your son back involve?"
Emma sighed. "It involves a journey, and not a short one. It involves travelling to the residence of the one who's got him and it then involves taking him back. That's where you come in. The place is likely to be very well guarded and will definitely take magic to break into."
Regina nodded her understanding, then decided to push it a little bit.
"And I should help you why?"
Emma fixed her with a look so stern that someone weaker than Regina may have buckled.
"Because I saved your life, that's why. Because there is no way you are ever getting out of here alone and therefore I am your only hope. Because I've helped you, so you now have to help me. Because it's the right thing to do, princess." She hissed.
Regina laughed internally. Since when has she ever cared about doing the right thing? Certainly not after her marriage. She suddenly thought that maybe this thief had stronger morals than she did.
"Ok. That seems...reasonable. I'm not happy, but I'll comply." She said carefully.
Emma Swan brushed off her hands then pulled herself to her feet an extended one to Regina.
"We go to save my son. You do everything you can to help me get him back. In return, I get you out of this forest safely, and take you wherever you want to go after we've succeeded. We part ways and you never have to see me again. Deal?"
Regina sighed in resignation, but it appeared once again that she had very little choice in the matter.
She took the blonde's hand and shook it. "Deal."
"Right. Come on, let's move. We'll travel a bit further then stop for the night when I find somewhere to camp." Said Emma, shouldering her bow and quiver. Regina nodded mutely and followed her out of the clearing.
"So...how long will it take us to get to this man's house?"
Emma slowed down, biting her lip.
"Yeah, here's the thing, I don't...I don't actually, per se, know where he lives..."
"Great!" Exclaimed Regina. "So where on earth are we going now then?"
"Hey, relax, princess, I know a place where we can find someone who will know where to find my son. It's a day or two's travel, and we can stop for supplies when we're there."
"Ok. I don't have any money though..."
Emma scoffed. "Of course not, unprepared once again. Luckily, I'll be able to pay for anything we need through my own means."
Regina got the implication immediately, and it ultimately didn't affect her. It wasn't the actually illegality that bothered her about thieves, she couldn't care less in that respect, it was the temperamental and ruthless nature that usually came with common criminals. The unpredictability; that's what set her on edge.
She chose to just accept her rather unfortunate situation and get on with it. The sooner they rescued this woman's son, the sooner they could part ways and Regina could get on with the new life she dreamed of having, somewhere far far away from her husband and her palace and indeed from people like Emma Swan. Although, she imagined there would always be people like Emma Swan there to inconvenience her.
"Fine. Lead the way then."