Hiding In The Dark
A/N: I can't stop myself from writing this, even though I have a mountain of college work to do… Oh well XD To the guest reviewer, TheQueen, in answer to your question yes this does have a Swan Queen ending, but they have a little way to go yet, but trust me, it'll happen.
Chapter 4- Dark Hearts
The only sound in the room was the desperate spluttering from Robin who still struggled against Emma's iron grip. The blonde stared at the queen, a conflicted look on her face. Regina merely nodded at her, silently egging her on to finish the job.
She was strong; there was no denying that and the hate the flowed in her continued to spur Emma on. But yet she couldn't, something held her back, a nagging in her mind.
"Do it!" Regina's voice broke through her thoughts, a crazed look in her eye.
"Emma no." The blonde's grip slackened slightly at the voice in her mind; however it did not belong to Regina. She looked around wildly for the source, nearly dropping Robin when her eyes fell on a figure leaning casually against her throne, a sad smile on their face.
"No, it can't be." She whispered to the figure who nodded. "Neal?"
"Don't give in to your hate."
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
They sprinted through the woods, barley sure if they were going in the right direction; the path long since disappeared from view. The moon was high in the sky now, casting shadows over them. The trees seemed to arch menacingly, reaching out to grab them as they ran. Emma held Regina close, their fingers entwined, gripping one another for dear life. Yells and screams could be heard far off in the forest, but Emma no longer knew who they belonged to. David had gone out there, they could be his.
Emma shook her head, ridding it of the thoughts as she pressed on through the trees, Regina whimpering beside her as they went. The trees began to thin, and Emma could make out the faint glow of her village ahead of them.
"Up there!" She said, pointing ahead. She gripped Regina tighter, spurring her along, picking up the pace as they got closer to safety.
Emerging from the tree line, the two girls were immediately met by chaos. People were running around screaming, some carrying the injured while others merely fled for their lives. A man staggered out of the trees not far from Emma and Regina, who collapsed heavily on the ground, emitting a pained groan.
The girls rushed over to him, Emma bending down to turn him over. She shrieked and backed away in horror, her eyes fixed on the gaping whole in his throat. Regina tugged on Emma's arm, urging her away from the horrific sight.
"Emma he's gone, we need to get out of here." The blonde nodded, allowing Regina to lead them up the hill towards the Nolan Farm.
They rushed through the village, occasionally passing panicked people who would scream and run at the sight of movement. Eventually they made up to the farm house, both wildly banging on the wooden door.
Suddenly the door burst open and they were roughly pulled inside. Before Emma could speak her body was pulled into a bone crushing hug by her hysterical mother.
"I thought you were dead!" She cried, clinging onto Emma who tried to sooth her.
"It's alright, we're alright." Mary Margaret pulled away from her daughter and turned to embrace Regina, who hugged back, her face pale.
"Emma?" A voice called from the kitchen. A young man came around the end of the hall to the kitchen, his dark blonde hair, the same as David's, was messy and all over the place. He wore a shirt and work trousers, with a gun in his hand. He ran over to her and quickly embraced her, huffing in relief at the sight of her.
"I'm okay Neal." She reassured.
"Where's your father?" Asked Mary Margaret and Emma's heart sunk painfully in her chest.
"He's not back yet?" Her mother shook her head, worry overtaking her face.
"He'll be back." Regina said softly, placing a hand on Emma's shoulder.
"You two are a mess." Mary Margaret chided, looking at their muddy clothes. "Go get cleaned up while we wait for David to come back."
Wordlessly, Emma and Regina disappeared off to get cleaned up. The second they were alone Regina collapsed into Emma's arms, her body shaking all over. The blonde held her close, kissing her temple in attempts to sooth the old girl.
"What's going on?" Regina whispered into Emma's neck, who shook her head.
"I don't know." The blonde said honestly, pulling back from Regina. "But it'll be okay; I won't let anything happen to you."
"Emma there's something I need to tell you about me." Regina whispered, her hands fisting the front of Emma's shirt.
"What?"
"I never told you before because I didn't think you would understand but…"
"What wouldn't I understand? It's you Regina; nothing could ever change how I feel about you." Emma placed a loving kiss on plump lips, but the brunette still didn't look convinced.
"I don't know how to explain it, so let me show you." The blonde frowned at this. "Do you trust me?"
"With all my heart." Regina nodded and stepped back from Emma before opening out her palm. Silence filled the room as they both stared at Regina's hand. To Emma's shock a ball of fire formed in the centre, burning hot and bright right before her. She scrambled back, unable to process what she's seeing.
"Emma." Regina closed her palm, the fire extinguishing instantly.
"Wha?" Was all she could manage as she continued to gape at Regina's hand.
"I have magic." The older girl said simply.
"You don't say." Emma muttered, drawing in a long breath, slowly processing everything.
"Emma? Your father's back." Mary Margaret called from somewhere in the house. Emma stood rooted the spot, conflicted over where to go.
"I-"
"It's alright, go, we'll talk later." Emma nodded and moved to leave the room. However she stopped abruptly by Regina, tugging her forward and kissing her passionately, trying to send a message without words. She felt the brunette smile against her lips and Emma pulled back, satisfied that Regina understood her before tearing off back into the house in search other her family.
"Father?" David sat hunched over in a chair, Mary Margaret tending to a wound on his back. Overall he didn't look badly injured, but that didn't stop Emma rushing over to check on him.
"I'm okay." He said hoarsely.
"What did this?" Regina asked, lurking behind Emma.
"Vampires." He muttered and everyone gasped almost comically. Mary Margaret looked faint and the colour in Neal's face quickly drained. Emma felt Regina grip her arm and she turned to smile gently at her, squeezing her arm reassuringly.
"We're so dead." Neal muttered.
"Agreed." Regina muttered.
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
"Neal?" Emma asked again, unsure of what she's seeing.
"Don't give her what she wants." He said gently, looking up at Regina who stared at Emma worriedly.
"Emma?" She asked, looking to where Emma stared.
"Death isn't the answer."
"I am death." She said angrily but Neal merely shook his head.
"Darkness is a choice; you don't have to be this way." He said more forcefully.
"My choice was taken from me!" She yelled, ignoring the mutters in the room.
"Kill the boy Emma!" Regina's voice cut through once more.
"Remember your humanity."
"Enough!" She screamed, hurling Robin across the room. He limply crashed into a crowd of vampires, knocking them down. "I will not be what you want me to be! Not again!"
"Emma." Regina rose from her throne, but the blonde's attention was focused elsewhere. She searched wildly for Neal, but as quickly as he had been there, he was gone once more.
"I will not be your puppet." Emma growled turning on her heel and storming from the room.
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
The sound of smashing echoed up and down the corridor as furniture was thrown left and right against the walls of Emma's room. The once nicely made up room lay in tatters. Broken wood and glass was strewn across the floor, while ripped curtains and sheets hung limply from the remains of the furniture.
Emma sat on one of the wall ledges, hidden in the shadows of the room. Emerald eyes were fixed on a ghostly figure who leaned nonchalantly against the window, his gaze fixed on the horizon which slowly brightened. It was around four in the morning, the equivalent to about eight or nine at night for mortals.
This had happened before to the blonde, only once. Ghosts from her past had resurfaced to aid her in desperate times, dark times. She had come close, to close to tasting darkness once more. She was afraid of how easy it had been to slip back to the mind-set. It would have been so simply. Kill Robin and ease the anger within. Of course this was a lie; it would only fuel Emma's hate for herself.
"You're not real." Emma grumbled, watching the eerie face of her brother turn to look at her.
"No, I'm not." He shrugged. "I'm merely a figment of your imagination. The light magic within you is trying to protect you from the darkness."
"And thus I have you." He nodded. "Well I'm fine now, so you can go."
"If that were true I wouldn't be here still." Emma huffed, despite him being imaginative; he captured the essence of Neal well.
"I don't want to talk about it. I just want to leave." She whispered, looking away from Neal.
"Perhaps you could bring him here." Emma needn't ask who Neal was referring to. She shook her head sadly.
"His understanding of what I am is so vague he might as well believe I'm human." The blonde explained. "He's only eight; he isn't ready to be burdened with the knowledge of us… Of me."
"He loves you."
"And I him." She snaked a hand beneath her shirt, grasping at a chain around her neck. She pulled it free, admiring the single charm hanging from the thin metal. A book charm glistened at her in the dim light. "He loves stories, especially fairy tales."
"Just like his mother." Emma smiled, replacing the necklace.
"It shouldn't be this way, I should be with him. But instead I am stuck with the reason I stayed from him this whole time. Regina."
"Speaking of which, I'll leave you two to chat." Neal chuckled turning away from her.
"What?"
"If I didn't know any better, I'd say a hurricane went off in here." Regina said in an amused tone from the door. Emma glared at her from the wall, not moving from the shadows. Regina stepped cautiously into the room, peering up at Emma on the wall.
"I think it's a work of art, the inspiration is our relationship." Emma sneered making the brunette's nostrils flare.
"I know you're in pain right now." Regina said gently, tilting her head at Emma who laughed, turning over to look at Regina.
"Wow doc you got me there." She said mockingly. "You see Jimmy asked Katy to the prom instead of me, and-"
"Emma enough." Regina said tiredly.
"Oh I'm sorry, I thought you were here to talk about my pain?" The brunette raised an eyebrow.
"You can play games all you like darling, but you can't push me away." Emma snarled at the Queen.
"And you can stand there feeling all of my emotions but it isn't going to change anything." Regina sighed, turning away to look over the room. She frowned for a moment before waving her hand, repairing the damage throughout the room. Emma watched as the furniture flew back together, neatly returning to its original spot in the room. The blonde silently slipped down from her perch, walking past the brunette sit of the newly made bed.
"Please talk to me." Regina pleaded, sitting down next to Emma.
"Just let me go." The blonde said sadly. "This is all too much, too much pain."
"The darkness of your past haunts you, I understand that, but I can help you." The queen purred, edging closer to Emma.
"The only reason there is darkness in my life is because of you!" Emma snapped, pulling away from Regina. "All of the pain is because of you! The ghosts that haunt me every day are there because you took their lives!"
"It's not like that anymore."
"Isn't it? So what was happening in the throne room was just for fun?" Regina opened her mouth to reply but nothing came out. "You see? No matter how much you say you love me and want only me, the second you have a chance to create darkness in me, to get back what I once was, you take it!"
"You and I together were unstoppable, the perfect team."
"Of killers! I killed countless people at your will Regina, I was a puppet driven by my grief and anger, something you manipulated to your desire."
"It's different now." Regina said softly, pulling Emma towards her. The blonde struggled, but Regina was stronger, holding her in a soothing embrace. "Stop fighting me; give in to your love."
"My head and heart believe very different things." Emma muttered, slowly melting into the embrace.
"Tell me about our son." Regina whispered.
"He died." Emma said plainly, but Regina shook her head.
"What was his name?"
"Henry." Regina gasped softly, nuzzling against Emma dipped her head against her chest, conflicted by the emotions she felt. The anger towards Regina was almost too much to bear, but yet the love desperately clawed to the surface, fighting to take control once more.
"After my father?" Emma nodded, slipping her eyes shut as lips ghosted over her neck. "What happened to him?"
"Stop Regina." The princess mumbled.
"You see how easy that was? How close we are right now?" Emma nodded sadly.
"You're aren't the same person, you're unrecognisable." The blonde abruptly stood, breaking from the embrace.
"I'm sorry. I truly am." Regina said honestly.
"Sorry doesn't give me the death I should've had. It doesn't wipe my soul clean of darkness or the blood off my hands." Emma voice was soft, but the hate in her voice was as sharp as a knife.
"Emma please."
"Sorry doesn't bring back our daughter!" Emma yelled turning to look at Regina who bowed her head.
"You should rest, the sun will be up soon." Regina said dismissively.
"What now you don't want to talk? The second I bring our child up I get nothing?!"
"She was our child." Regina said flatly.
"You still don't care do you?" Emma snarled.
"I always cared, but I moved on." Regina turned to leave, Emma standing frozen watching her go.
"Do you think about her… at all?" The blonde asked, unsure if she was angry or sad.
"Every day." The queen replied, her voice barley a whisper. "Sleep well darling."
A/N: There was another child? So that was a double update so feel super blessed today! What could have happened to their daughter? Is that why Emma hates Regina so much? Please review and tell me what you think and follow for more! Till next time Kids.
Before you lot say anything Neal Nolan and Neal/Baelfire are connected but aren't the same person. The story behind Bae's choice of name will come along at some point as we explore the past.