Another small update before tonight's episode, cause most likely we're not going to get our Regina fix.
"I used magic."
Her voice was broken, and her eyelashes were still damp with tears.
He blinked once, trying to come up with something to say to her, then opened the door all the way.
"Why don't you come in, tell me what happened." He placed a hand on her shoulder and guided her through the doorway, catching the sound of a small sniffle that she was probably trying to hide.
She walked past him hesitantly and fell back onto one of the couches with what sounded like a sigh but came out as more of a whimper.
Archie slowly closed the door and crossed to his chair, but didn't sit.
The Queen had her head down, hair falling in front of her face. She was shaking.
"Regina…?" he asked softly. She glanced up at him, barely controlled tears running down her cheeks.
He watched her for exactly 5 seconds, then spread his arms.
"Alright, come here."
Regina clumsily got to her feet and ran into his embrace, sobbing.
Archie rubbed her back, trying to make out exactly what happened from her broken sentences.
He was able to piece together that her fiancée Daniel had come back, but was gone again, something about Dr. Whale and Charming, and then her having to let Daniel go.
"Alright, it's alright, it's okay…" he soothed, rocking her gently from one side to the other.
Archie pulled her a little closer. She seemed so small and fragile…so lost…an enormous change from the desperate yet proud woman who walked into his office that morning, talking about giving up magic like she was giving up smoking.
Whatever happened, it must have been traumatic.
He tried to soothe her, mumbling all the generic comforting phrases he could think of into her hair as she clung to him, but to no avail.
Whatever had happened, combined with his unfaltering kindness to her, was too much for Regina's already spent emotions to handle, and it was a good ten minutes before her tears showed any signs of stopping.
He waited patiently until she could speak again, doing his best to comfort her in the meantime, then gently took her shoulders in his hands and leaned her back to meet his eyes.
"Now what was it exactly that Daniel told you…?"
She took a shuddering breath.
"He said-…he said that I had to let him go…so…so I-" Her voice caught in another sob, and Archie pulled her back against his chest.
"So you did." He finished for her, gently rubbing between her shoulder blades as another sob caught in her throat, "You finally let him go. That was why you used magic."
He could feel her nod.
"Well, that's not a bad thing. You weren't using magic to harm anyone, you were finally letting Daniel move on in peace." He offered.
Archie vaguely wondered how long it had been since someone had truly given this woman a hug. Henry, believing she was the Evil Queen before the curse was broken, avoided contact, and was currently living with David. Graham, of course, had been her lover for a while, but Archie doubted that was anything more than the pair of them having a quick round and then him going on his way without a glance back.
Sydney had been the only other person he could think of who had actually cared for her, but the head writer for the Daily Mirror was far too respectful to dare touching her, and hadn't been seen since the curse lifted.
So now she had him.
A cricket.
Well, not currently, for whatever reason, but that didn't help the argument by much.
However, if he really was the only person she had left, he was going to do his best to be there for her, because right now that's what she really needed. And the fact that this was the second time she'd let him see her fall apart was a good indicator that she trusted him, not just as a therapist, as he had worried, but as a friend. A friend that she so badly needed.
Archie guided Regina over to the couch and sat down, letting her cling to him while he continued to soothe her as best he could.
A loud beep sounded from the other room, and they both looked up sharply.
"Oh…I forgot...hold on a second…"
Archie detangled himself and stood, heading for the kitchen. He had been putting on hot chocolate for himself before Regina had knocked on his door, and had forgotten about it until the stove beeped.
"Archie…!"
He turned around at the slight panic in her voice. Regina sat on the edge of the couch, a hand half reached after him. Her dark eyes were wide, and the fear and sadness in them looked like it would drown her any second.
"Don't leave…please…" she whispered.
Archie turned around, taking her hands in his and looking her right in the eye.
"Regina, I promise you that I won't leave you."
She shook her head, and started to protest, but he hushed her.
"I'm not afraid of you, and I'm not going to run away. You can always come to me for anything, and I'll be here for you. Okay? I'm not leaving you."
He placed a hand on her cheek – a rather brazen action for him – and brushed one of her tears away with a thumb.
"I'll be right back. I promise."
She watched him as he stood and left the room, but didn't say anything more.
Archie quickly took the warm milk off the stovetop, getting a second mug out of the cabinet and spooning chocolate powder into the bottom before filling both with milk and mixing them.
He picked the mugs up, but paused on the way out and doubled back to add a swirl of whipped cream to each. In this kind of situation, the extra sugar would definitely be appreciated.
"Here you go." He offered Regina the mug, and the corner of her lips twitched up into a grateful half-smile for a second as she took it from him.
He settled down by her side, taking a sip of his hot chocolate.
She followed suit, and they sat for a moment in silence.
Regina took a shuddering breath, tilting her head back slightly and blinking tears away before taking another sip of her drink. She seemed to finally be calming down, so now would be the time to act if he was going to.
Archie cleared his throat slightly to catch her attention.
"Do you…do you want to talk? Or do you just want a distraction?"
Regina glanced up at him over the rim of her mug for a second, then mumbled 'distraction' into the whipped cream.
Archie nodded, searching a few seconds for the remote and turning on the TV. He surfed channels until he had located an old-time comedy, then turned the volume down to an almost ambient level.
He settled back into the couch, watching as Regina focused her glassy eyes on the TV and leaned back beside him.
They were ten minutes in when he heard her whisper 'thank you'. Archie glanced over at her, and her eyes flickered for a second in his direction.
"Thank you." She repeated, louder. "For everything. I don't know…I don't know what I would have done without you."
Archie smiled, placing a hand lightly on her shoulder.
"Any time. After all, that's what friends are for."
"Hey Grandpa?"
"What is it, Henry?"
The boy looked up from his absent sketches.
"Is…is my mom okay…?"
"What do you mean, kiddo?"
David pulled up a stool and sat beside him. Save for a few small bruises along his collar, the boy seemed to be mostly okay, and David was relieved to see him so relaxed.
"Well…the guy that attacked me…my mom stayed behind with him…didn't she…?"
Charming hesitated half a second before answering.
"Yeah. She did. But she knew him. She told me that he wouldn't hurt her."
"But…he came after all of us…what if he does try to hurt her? What if-"
"Hey, look at me." David took Henry's shoulders in his hands, and gave the boy his best encouraging smile. "Your mom, Regina, she's the Evil Queen, right? She's super-powerful. Regina's not gonna let some guy beat her up. You don't have to worry about her."
Henry smiled at that, genuinely relieved, and returned to his sketches with enthusiasm – David noted with amusement that they were drawings of his horse.
He then stood, walking into the other room, and pulled out his phone.
Archie jumped slightly as he felt something vibrate against his arm, and shifted Regina carefully so he could get her phone out of her coat pocket without waking her. She had fallen asleep halfway through the second movie, and was currently leaned against his arm, her head against his shoulder.
He answered when he saw David's name, leaning his head on top of Regina's so he could reach the phone without having to maneuver his arm out from behind her.
Charming spoke without waiting for a greeting.
"Regina, thank God. Are you alright?"
"Um…it's actually Archie…" his other hand searched blindly for the remote and he muted the TV, "…but she's okay. Physically, anyway. Emotionally, we've got a lot to sort out…what exactly happened…?"
After a few seconds, a sigh came from the other line.
"Hope you're comfortable. This could take a while…"
Thank you for reading! I have a few more ideas which I might write up as chapters is homework isn't too overwhelming.
