Hey! This chapter is a bit longer than the first two, but I had a lot that needed to happen in this chapter. I know that when reading, I prefer longer chapters, but you guys may want faster updates rather than longer chapters! Let me know!
Also, to the guest reviewer that said Emma needs to threaten Whale in person – we're getting there! I think we all know our White Knight won't let him off the hook that easily!
I've seen other authors post songs they listened to while writing that inspired them, and while I don't have any specific songs, I listen to Imagine Dragons a lot while writing SQ, so if you like to listen to something while you read, I'd recommend it!
Enjoy this new chapter, and please review! They're very much appreciated!
Emma and Regina entered Rumpelstiltskin's shop together. Emma was determined to do this, and she'd pay whatever price she had to. Emma gave Belle a small smile – she'd become friends with the quiet librarian – but didn't say anything to her. She wanted to stay focused on the task so that Regina couldn't trick her into giving up and going home.
"Hello, dearies. What can I do for you?" Rumple said. He came out of the back room that held the more dangerous artifacts of his shop.
Emma took a deep breath. "Regina said there's a spell that can bond our emotions together. I need you to do it." She said.
"Always one to get straight to the point, Sheriff Swan." Gold said with a quiet chuckle. To Emma's ears, it sounded more like a cackle, but she didn't comment on it and pretended the involuntary shiver sent up her spine was merely because she was cold. "Why would you need me to do such a spell?"
"None of your business." Emma said.
"I was attacked, and Miss Swan here finds this necessary because I refuse to press charges." Regina said. She knew that they would receive no help unless they told him what he wanted to know.
"Ah, because no one would defend the Evil Queen?"
"Former Evil Queen." Emma said with a glare.
"Of course, dearie. I suppose I could help you. At a price, of course."
"Yeah, yeah. All magic comes with a price, we know. One condition – the price is mine to pay, not hers." Emma said.
Rumple nodded. "I want your blood." He said. Seeing the horrified look on Emma's face, he shook his head and laughed. "That came out a bit wrong. I merely meant a vial of it, taken completely humanely. Product of True Love, dearie."
Emma nodded, the color returning to her face. "You've got yourself a deal, Gold."
"Emma, you don't have to do this." Regina whispered. "There's no telling what the imp is going to do with that."
"I don't care. You don't get to die. Be quiet." She muttered.
Rumple rolled his eyes. "Both of you give me your hands. It will only take a moment." He said. When the two women complied, he instructed them to hold hands. He whispered an incantation and a bit of magic flowed from his fingertips. In a few seconds, he released them. "The spell will take effect in a few minutes. Belle, please take some of our lovely Sheriff's blood and put it in a vial, if you wouldn't mind."
Belle nodded and followed his instructions, retrieving the vial and needle from the back. Emma barely noticed the needle going into her skin, and when it was over, she smiled at her friend.
"Please keep this quiet, Belle." Emma said. She knew the woman would – she was quite trustworthy – but she still felt that she had to warn her.
"You're secret is safe with me, Emma. Have a nice day." She replied quickly.
Emma nodded and the two newly bound women left the shop together. "Wanna go get something to eat? I'm hungry."
"Aren't you always, dear?" Regina asked.
"Probably." Emma said with a shrug. "Granny's?"
"I suppose so." Regina said with a slight nod.
Emma nodded, and once they were both in the car, she started to drive. She felt nervous, and she wasn't at all sure why until she looked at Regina. "Is that you?" She asked.
"I don't know what you mean." Regina said, tilting her head to the side. She was genuinely confused.
"Are you nervous? Because I feel nervous and I'm pretty sure it's not me. Is it you?"
Regina was silent, and that was all the answer Emma needed.
"Okay. You can wait in the car, if you want? I'll just grab some takeout and then I can take you home." Emma said. She wouldn't push Regina if she wasn't ready yet.
"No, I'll be fine. I'll have to get out and about sometime, I suppose." Regina said with a slight shake of her head.
"Alright," Emma said, returning her eyes back to the road as she made the short drive to Granny's. When she parked her car on the side of the street and got a glance inside the diner, she turned to Regina. "Change of plans. Wait in the car."
"Miss Swan, I am fine. I can handle going into a diner." Regina protested with a roll of her eyes.
"Can you handle seeing Whale right now," Emma asked in a quiet voice. "Because he's inside. And I'd really like to have a word with him."
"I'll wait in the car," Regina said quietly.
"I'll be back out in a minute." She replied. "Don't worry, okay? Just.. Take a deep breath." She put a hand on the brunette's arm briefly before getting out of the car. "Lock the door behind me." She said, and then slammed the car door shut.
Now that she was away from Regina, Emma allowed herself to get angry. Not just a little angry, but full on Evil Savior angry. Not that that's a thing, but Emma was going to pretend. She practically charged into Granny's and made her way over to Whale. The only other people in the diner besides Whale, Granny, Ruby, and now Emma were the dwarves, and she suspected they already knew.
"Sheriff Swan, you do know you can't have people arrested for crimes they never committed, don't you?" He asked in a cruelly teasing voice.
"I'm not the Sheriff right now, but I am one VERY pissed off mother. My son could have been home. My son could have come home to see his mother like that. If you EVER lay a finger on her again, I WILL kill you, Whale. Without a bit of fucking hesitation. The only reason you're still walking is because I really enjoy my fucking freedom, and I'm not an idiot." Emma said each word slowly and carefully. She was trying to stay calm, but her hands were shaking and they were balled up into fists.
"Your kid would be better off without that bitch around him. She's the Evil Queen. You know, for a Savior, you're not the brightest." He said.
For a second, she didn't reply. Then she brought her arm back and swung it forward, her fist connecting with his nose. There was an audible crunch – it was clearly broken – and then he fell to the ground unconscious. Emma flexed her fingers, which were now hurting. Her knuckles were a little bloody, some of it hers and some of it his, but she didn't care.
"I need my usual and Regina's too, Rubes. Also, someone might want to wake him up after I leave to make sure he doesn't die or something. That would be unfortunate." She muttered the last sentence, but Ruby heard it and laughed.
"Nice punch, Em. You want some ice for that?" She asked, grinning at her friend. Emma was grateful that Ruby didn't seem to care, seeing as she hated Whale just as much as Emma did. Nobody was particularly fond of the man.
"Yeah, that'd be great, actually." Emma said, and then turned to Leroy and the other dwarves. "Do me a favor and give me at least an hour before you tell Snow that just happened, okay?"
"I ain't lying to her, sister." Leroy said.
Emma took a deep breath. "I'm not asking you to lie. I'm asking you to withhold the truth for an hour. Please? I'm really hoping that being the Savior wins out over being the daughter of Snow White and Prince Charming right now."
"Alright, Sheriff. But if she asks, I'm tellin'." Leroy said seriously.
"Fair enough." Emma said with a nod.
Ruby returned from the kitchen a few minutes later with an ice pack and 2 bags filled with Regina's chicken salad – dressing on the side – and bottled water and Emma's cheeseburger and extra fries with a strawberry milkshake.
"Thanks, Rubes. I'll be in at the station tomorrow, but I've got some stuff to take care of today." She said. She gave her friend a quick smile before shoving the ice pack in a bag, picking them both and the milkshake up, and going out to her car. Once inside the yellow bug, she put the food on the backseat and the milkshake in the cupholder, then grabbed the ice pack and put it on her throbbing hand.
She let out an involuntarily hiss when the cold ice hit her skin, but said nothing else.
"What did you do, Miss Swan?" Regina asked, raising a perfectly arched eyebrow.
"I kinda punched Whale in the face." She muttered. She had started the car but hadn't pulled off of into the road yet.
Regina held back a grin. "That wasn't very Sheriff-like." She replied.
"I made it pretty clear I was off duty at that moment."
"How'd he take that?" Regina asked.
"I don't know. He's kinda unconscious at the moment."
"I suppose I really have underestimated you, huh?"
"Damn right," she said, "I've thrown my fair share of punches, Regina. Against guys much bigger than Whale, I may add."
"Part of a bounty hunter's job?"
"Part of growing up in the foster system, but yeah, that too." She replied with a careless shrug of her shoulders. At that, she pulled off into the road and began driving back to the mansion. It was clear that Emma had ended the conversation, and they made the three minute drive in silence. This was one of the few times Emma was grateful that almost everything was within a twenty minute drive in Storybrooke. When they pulled up to the mansion, Emma reached in the backseat and handed Regina the bag with her food in it. "I'll bring Henry by later, and we'll make dinner. No arguing, kay?" Emma said.
"I'm not an invalid, I'll have you know." Regina replied with a roll of her eyes, but she made no move to argue.
"I know. When was the last time someone cooked for you instead of the other way around?" She asked, raising an eyebrow.
Regina was silent.
"Exactly. Just let me do something nice, kay? Henry will want to help." Emma said. Her voice was calm, but Regina could see the pleading behind those green eyes.
"Alright," Regina said. For some reason, whenever it came to Emma or Henry, she was unable to say no. She blamed it on the fact that the blonde had the same pleading face as Henry, but she knew it was more than that.
"Thank you. I'll see you later.. Please try not to get into any trouble, will you?" Emma said. Her tone was serious, but she lightened it with a soft chuckle.
"Of course," She replied.
Emma nodded and Regina got out of the car. She watched the brunette walk up to her door and waited until she was inside to start the car again and begin driving home. She tried to convince herself she hadn't been staring at Regina's backside the entire time and that she had only been waiting to ensure the other woman's safety, but she knew it wasn't true.
She glanced at the dash and saw that it was only noon. On a normal Saturday, she would have managed to get in a run already, but she hadn't had the time, and now she needed to go home and face her parents. With a sigh, she drove to the apartment she shared with them as slowly as she could go within the speed limit. Unfortunately for her, it was also a three minute drive from the mansion – five if you drove slowly like she was. While she drove, she tried to think of anything other than her parents or Whale so she wouldn't get angry and have Regina get upset with her for having too strong of an emotion. She just laughed to herself as she drove.
"This is fucking insane." She muttered to no one.
Although she didn't regret her decision in any way, it was still weird to have her emotions tied up with someone else, especially Regina. The two women were probably two of the most private people she knew, and now they were forced to know each others emotions whether they wanted to or not. Emma was glad Regina had chosen not to comment on the sadness she knew Emma felt when she made a foster home comment earlier because truthfully, she wasn't sure what she would have said.
After a minute of sitting in the parked bug, she finally got up and went into the apartment, carrying the bag of food into the house with her even though she was no longer hungry. She didn't bother to use her key – the door was almost always unlocked during the day – as she entered the apartment.
"Emma! There you are! Leroy said you got into a fight today, what happened?" Snow asked as soon as Emma was in the door. When she saw her hand, she let out a dramatic gasp. "Oh, honey! Are you alright?"
"Damn dwarves." She muttered. "I'm fine, Snow. It was Whale, and frankly, the asshole deserved it. Sorry, kid." Emma muttered to Henry, who was sitting on the couch reading a comic book.
He just waved a hand to say he didn't care, and Emma smiled.
"You hit Doctor Whale? Why on earth would you do that?"
"Didn't David tell you what he did?"
"Yes, but I can't see why you would care!" Snow said.
Emma immediately got angry, and there was nothing she could do about it. Then, she realized Henry didn't know yet, so she turned to him. "Hey, kid. Something happened with your mom last night. She's okay now, but Doctor Whale attacked her. We're gonna go over there later and you can stay there for the rest of the week, if you want. I know you hate being cramped up here, and I want you to look out for your mom, okay? Also, I punched Whale. You good with all that?" She said to him.
"Yeah. Mom's okay though?" He asked. Emma nodded. "You punched Whale?" Another nod. Henry grinned. "Cool. Thanks for looking out for my mom, Ma." He said.
Emma gave him one last smile and then turned to Snow. "I care because he cares. I care because it's my job to care, and I care because she's Regina and doesn't deserve this."
"She cursed an entire realm!" Snow whispered.
"Henry, go upstairs." She said. Without argument, he complied. Emma knew he'd still be listening, but at least he wouldn't be in the same room. "I don't give a damn what she did twenty-eight years ago OR what she did in the Enchanted Forest. Nobody, especially not Regina, deserves what he did to her. She's not the Evil Queen anymore. Henry sees that and I see that, and you will NOT talk about her that way in front of our son if you'd like to continue seeing either of us, do you understand?" Emma said her words carefully, trying to keep her voice steady. She was literally shaking with anger, and she made a mental note to apologize for it later to Regina, because she knew she'd be feeling it too.
Before Snow could reply, Emma's phone rang. It was Regina. Taking a deep breath, she answered it.
"Is everything okay?" Regina asked.
"Everything's fine, Regina." Emma replied, not making eye contact with her mother.
"Then why are you so angry? I feel like you're about to throw a fireball at someone."
"I'm angry because I'm arguing with my mother, and you're right, I may. Everything's fine, I promise. Henry and I may be over a little earlier than expected, but I'll text you if we are." She said. When Regina acknowledged her words, she hung up the phone.
"How does Regina know how you feel?" Snow immediately asked. She had only heard bits and pieces of what Regina said, but she had a general idea.
"After Whale attacked her, she refuses to press charges, and I needed to know she was okay. Gold bonded our emotions or whatever, so if someone tries to hurt her again, I'll know because she'll feel scared and I'll feel it too. It works both ways."
"Why would you do that? Oh, Emma, honey, we need to go talk to Gold and get this fixed right away! You shouldn't have your emotions tied to Regina, there's no telling what she'll do to you! Did she make you do this?" Snow said, shaking her head.
"God, you really are dense." Emma muttered. She counted to three in her head and took a deep breath to calm herself. She couldn't remember the last time she was this angry. Well, she could, but she was choosing not to think about the apple turnover situation.
"She didn't force me to do anything. It was my idea. Regina would never hurt me, or anyone else at this point. Whale's still standing, even after what he did to her. She didn't use magic against him. She almost died, but she didn't use even a bit of magic to stop him. Stop assuming the worst of her. She had twenty-eight years to kill everyone in this town, but she didn't. Get the hell off of your high-horse and leave Regina alone.
Don't you ever talk about Regina in front of Henry again. She is a good mother to him." Emma said. She was trying to stay calm, but that wasn't easy when Snow just didn't know when to stop.
"You're Henry's mother." Snow replied, as if she hadn't been listening at all.
Emma didn't say anything for a moment. She counted to ten, and then to twenty, then thirty. When she decided she was calm enough, she yelled to Henry. "Kid, let's go. Now!"
Only seconds later, Henry was down the steps and out of the house without a word to his grandmother. Emma didn't spare her another glance, choosing to just follow her son out to the car. She slammed the door behind her and unlocked the car door. Neither of them said anything as they got into the car, and they made the drive in silence. Once they were on Mifflin street, Emma turned to Henry.
"I'm sorry you had to hear all of that, Henry, but I need to talk to you for a second before we go inside."
"It's okay," He said, shaking his head. "You defended her. It's okay. What do we need to talk about?"
"Your mom. I need you to tell her she can use magic again, Henry. I know your mom, and she's okay. She won't hurt anyone. She needs her magic, kid."
Henry nodded. "Is that why she didn't use magic to stop Doctor Whale?" He asked, looking guilty.
Emma didn't lie to him. She knew he'd know. "Yeah, kid, that's part of it. But it's not your fault, okay?"
He nodded. "Okay."
"Good. Now go inside and give your mom a hug, okay?" She said, and both of them got out of the car.
As soon as Emma got around to the other side of the car, Henry hugged her tight.
"I meant your other mom, kid." She said with a quiet laugh, but she hugged him back just as tight. She'd never been much of a hugger, but that was different when it came to her son.
"I know," He mumbled into her stomach. "But thanks for taking care of my mom. Nobody else does."
"I can promise you one thing, Henry. No matter what, I'm always gonna look out for you and your mom." She said, and then released him. "Now go give your other mom a hug too." She said, giving the kid a sad smile.
He nodded and ran up to the door. Emma realized she'd forgotten to text the other woman, but she had a feeling she wouldn't mind. Now that Henry was away from her, Emma started to feel the anger coming back again.
Regina answered the door, and before she could even say anything, Henry wrapped her up in a bearhug. "I love you, Mom." He whispered to her.
Regina's eyes began to water, but the tears didn't fall. "I.. I love you too, Henry."
Emma smiled at the scene in front of her. The anger was still there, but it was put on the back burner for the moment.
After a few more seconds, Henry let go and whispered in Regina's ear, too low for Emma to hear. "She defended you to Grandma, that's why she was mad. She's going to tell you nothing happened, but don't listen to her!" He said, and then ran past her to go upstairs to his room and read more comic books.
Henry was right, of course. Emma had no intentions of telling Regina what had happened between her and Snow. She didn't want to have to tell the brunette about anyone else who disliked her, and she really didn't want to have to tell her about the cruel things Snow had said. Henry was ensuring that she didn't have a choice, even though she didn't know it yet.
"Hey, Regina." Emma said once she was on the porch.
"Emma," She greeted.
"Are you okay?" Emma asked.
Regina nodded. "I could ask you the same question." She pointed out.
Emma just shrugged. "I'm fine, don't worry about it. Snow was just being a bitch and we got into it." She said.
Regina smiled and let the topic go for the time being. "Alright. Come on inside, then."
She nodded and came inside. She ran her fingers through her hair and tried to calm herself down so Regina didn't ask any questions. Clearly the whole emotional bonding thing was going to be harder than she thought. Still, Emma didn't regret her decision. It was a necessary one, and despite the awkwardness of it now, she knew she'd eventually get used to it, and if it eventually came in handy, she'd learn to love it. Taking a deep breath, she followed Regina into the kitchen.
Okay, I really hoped you all enjoyed that chapter! So, guest reviewer, did that satisfy you? ;) Please continue leaving reviews, guys! I love them! If you have any suggestions or comments on anything, let me know. Thanks for reading! New update tomorrow most likely.
