Author's Note: Same warning as always… I am not a writer. But I'm trying for the same reason as always - I'm fascinated by Regina. I have to get some of these thoughts out of my head. Filed under SwannQueen because I don't think I could write a male character to save my life. No sexytimes.

The story is complete but I'm not posting the whole thing at once… I'm a tweaker (no, not that kind) and I'm not quite ready to let the next bits into the wild. I'm posting this bit to force myself to STOP making nit-picky changes.

Warning: At some point, there is talk of non-consensual sex and abuse. It's not graphic but it's there because Regina's life has basically sucked balls. Please give this a pass if that bothers you.


Both women were lost in their own thoughts and that made the drive about town a quiet one. Regina barely even noticed when Emma hopped out in front of her building to get her things and then, quite without her permission, her eyes dropped closed while she was waiting. The next thing she knew, they were outside of her house again and Emma was gently shaking her awake.

Regina blinked in confusion and then blew out an irritated breath. "You have got to be kidding me."

Emma seemed unphased by the clear breach of etiquette and even smiled slightly. Her voice was impossibly kind. "It's ok. You need the rest."

Regina rolled her eyes at that. "That may be true dear, but I will come up with a plan to get it that doesn't involve you driving me around Storybrooke like a newborn." Regina practically grumbled out the words in annoyance with herself, but something about them completely tickled Emma and she giggled the entire time they gathered their things from Regina's car. Regina was surprised to feel a lightness in her heart because of it that was quickly replacing the irritation she felt at falling asleep in the car like a child. By the time they'd entered the house Regina could even feel a smile tugging at her own lips. Emma's laughter was contagious.

Emma dropped her bag by the steps then headed into the kitchen to deposit the remaining bags that held dinner. For lack of a better plan Regina trailed behind. She noticed the files on the counter just as Emma was picking them up. "I was starting to think you'd made up that whole story." Regina quirked her eyebrow so Emma knew she was joking.

Emma gave her a slightly withering look but Regina couldn't help but notice that it was a watered down version of their normal banter; Emma was treating her very carefully. Regina thought vaguely that she should feel insulted but she just couldn't muster it. Instead she felt cared for, which was so foreign to her that she couldn't be completely sure she wasn't mistaking it for something else. It was the same feeling she'd had when she felt Emma's hand briefly against her back while they were handling Leroy's temper tantrum. It had confused her then as well.

If Emma thought their interactions were unusual she wasn't making a show of it; she just continued on like it was any other day. "Ok, I've got a couple of hours of work that I have to finish up on these files and it isn't quite dinner time yet… Do you mind if I use your coffee table for a bit?"

Regina blinked once in surprise but then covered it up smoothly enough. "Of course not." She motioned Emma towards the table in question, even as she was trying to figure out if the blond really intended to hunker down in her living room and pound out a couple of hours of paperwork.

Apparently she did. She just wandered over to the table and began to spread out her things like it was her home office. Completely at a loss, Regina cast about for something to do. She wasn't sure what she was expecting from this night, but so far this wasn't it. It was more like a quiet evening at home than an intervention. Were they having a slumber party?

With a slight shrug of her shoulders that Emma couldn't see, Regina wandered over to the bookcase and picked a random novel. Then she seated herself in her favorite chair and pulled over the ottoman so she could stretch out her legs comfortably. There was a soft blanket covering the back of the chair and she used that to cover her legs and torso and then settled in to take advantage of a rare opportunity to enjoy a good book while Emma finished up the lost paperwork that had been the catalyst of this entire bizarre evening.
-

Emma glanced casually in Regina's direction and saw that she had finally drifted off to sleep. Her book was laying open against her chest and her head rested gently against the back of the reading chair. Emma sighed silently and leaned back against the sofa, the paperwork that she'd been pretending to work on for the past half hour immediately forgotten.

It was clear that Regina needed sleep almost as much as she need a meal. Emma had left her alone in the car for barely five minutes and when she'd returned the Mayor had been sleeping soundly. When they'd gotten back to the mansion it had even been difficult to wake her, she was out so completely. So, with the help of a small fib, Emma made sure to set up the most boring environment possible so that Regina would have another opportunity to get some rest before dinner.

Of course, that now put Emma in the most boring environment possible. She didn't want to move or make a sound or do anything that would risk waking Regina so she just watched her sleep. She did so for quite sometime and eventually her eyelids grew heavy as well. Though she firmly commanded herself not to drift off the next thing she knew she was blinking herself awake and it was clearly much later.

She scrubbed her eyes and wondered what had woken her up. It certainly wasn't discomfort; Regina's top of the line sofa was amazingly comfortable in almost any position. But still, she hadn't wandered into wakefulness naturally. Something had interrupted her slumber. She glanced in Regina's direction to check on her but it was hard even to see her companion in the darkened room. There was hardly any light coming in through the windows and Emma wondered idly if there was a storm blowing in.

Then a sound came from Regina's direction and Emma knew instantly that all was not right. She pushed herself up quickly and flicked on the closest lamp. Emma felt her heart clench as the dim bulb illuminated the sleeping woman. She was crying freely as she slept and her head shook back and forth weakly. Her hands were clenched tightly, painfully, at her sides. Whatever her mind was conjuring, it was clearly awful.

Emma knelt over the chair and gave Regina a gentle shake. She didn't want to startle the woman so she kept her touch light but she didn't seem to make even the slightest impression. Regina just twisted away and called out softly. It sounded like "Please, stop," and Emma didn't even want to contemplate what that meant. She gave Regina a harder shake even as she worried about taking an inadvertent fireball to the head, but all she managed was to cause Regina to cry out it pain. Emma knew she hadn't done anything that could have hurt her but she still pulled her hands back as if she'd been burned. This wasn't working.

Emma stared dumbly down at the sleeping woman before her. She was now struggling against something that only she could see and Emma had zero idea what to do next. She was just starting to panic when Regina let out a scream - the most haunted scream that Emma had ever heard - and jolted into wakefulness.

Her eyes were wide with panic and her breath was coming in short inefficient pants. She must have sensed that she wasn't alone before she completely recognized Emma because she started to hunker back into the chair and curl protectively around herself. But then her eyes settled on Emma, who hadn't managed to yet move a muscle, and recognition shone there.

"Emma?"

Her voice was throaty and cracked but it was still the most welcome sound Emma could have heard. She grasped Regina's hands gently in her own and dropped down to a knee next to the reading chair. There was no need to tower over the frightened woman.

She kept her voice soft and soothing and made sure there wasn't a hint of the panic she had felt just moments earlier. "I'm right here. Everything's ok."

Regina looked down at their hands then glanced about the room. She was clearly trying to get her bearings and working hard to move past her nightmare all at the same time. "I fell asleep."

Her voice was still dry and raspy and Emma could see her swallowing against the scratchiness. "Let me get you a drink." Emma saw Regina tense as she rose so she gave the hands still in hers a reassuring squeeze. "I'll be right back. Promise."

After a second Regina nodded and Emma hurried to the kitchen. She was certainly gone less than a minute but by the time she returned all visible signs of Regina's distress were gone. She was no longer huddled in the chair awkwardly and her breathing had calmed - not to a normal rhythm but something closer.

Emma walk over with the water and, as she handed it over, she noticed that Regina's hands were still trembling. A quick look told her that Regina hadn't yet managed to regain any of her natural color either. Emma suddenly felt foolish for falling into that trap again - or almost falling into it. She should know by this point that Regina could drop on a mask in absolutely no time.

She wasn't sure quite what to do so she perched on the ottoman that Regina was no longer using and just waited for Regina to take the lead. She spent quite a while sipping her water but eventually brought her eyes up to meet with Emma's.

When Regina spoke, her voice wasn't as strained but it was impossibly soft - almost a whisper. "I'm sorry about... that. I don't sleep very well at times."

Emma gave her an appraising look and responded a little more honestly than she really intended. She'd been cataloguing a lot of new information about Regina this afternoon but she was going to have to start getting some answers from the woman at some point. "Do you ever sleep well? Because it doesn't look like it from here."

Regina didn't respond and that was answer enough for Emma. Instead she started to rise from her reading chair. Emma grabbed her elbow in support, not even caring that Regina probably wouldn't want her to. The woman was the color of wallpaper paste.

She didn't pull away, which Emma found surprising, but she did clear her throat uncomfortably. "If you don't mind waiting a bit longer for diner, I would like to go take a shower."
There wasn't really a question in there anywhere - Regina certainly wasn't asking her permission - but Emma knew immediately that her face showed what a horrible idea she thought that was. She wasn't even comfortable letting Regina stand on her own yet; how did this infuriatingly independant woman expect her to let her wander upstair by herself?

Regina's brow creased dramatically in response to Emma's denial and Emma quickly pulled her hand away. She's been directing Regina quite a bit over the last few hours and she could tell that Regina was starting to get uncomfortable with it. Actually, she seemed pissed. If Emma was a betting woman she would wager any amount of money that Regina's sudden discomfort had something to do with her recent nightmare.

The last thing she wanted to do was alienate Regina so she tilted her head apologetically to the side. Emma knew she had a puppy dog look and she used it now. It wasn't disingenuous - she really did feel bad that she'd upset her. "Sorry. I just… that was kinda scary for me. I was worried. But I can totally wait for dinner. Go do what you gotta do."

Regina acknowledged her apology by turning around smartly and heading towards the stairs. Before she left the foyer however she hesitated. Without turning, she address Emma and there was no anger in her voice. "I'm sorry I frightened you." Then she was sweeping up the stairs.

Notes:

Same as always - Feel free to share your thoughts if you're so inclined but please recall that I am the furthest thing from a writer there is. This is probably the best I can do.