Disclaimer: The characters are not mine, obviously. Just borrowed them for a little while!
HURRICANE
Emma was sitting in her bug; the air around her seemed to vibrate. Or maybe Emma herself was vibrating. She'd long since passed the point of being able to tell the difference. Taking in her surroundings, Emma realized she was parked in the middle of the woods. A little unsure of how she actually got there, bits and pieces of the last hour or so were starting to come back to her. Emma remembered interrogating the Snow Queen. Remembered getting frustrated and doing her best to fight the anger and trying not to let the other woman push her buttons. But Emma was hot-headed and she knew it. The woman had picked and picked until she'd crawled under Emma's skin and the next thing she knew, there was a giant hole in the wall of the Sheriff's station interrogation room. She'd tried to remain calm but the more the woman talked it felt as if a hurricane was suddenly brewing in her chest. And then she'd snapped.
Before she knew what was happening, the Snow Queen had disappeared and suddenly her mother and father were running toward her. And Hook, of course. They never listened. She'd told them to stay back. But they never listened. Least of all Hook. Emma's hands were still radiating with light and magic and still Hook had tried to grab her, against her insistence that he stay away. The minute he'd touched her, the panic she felt caused another burst of magic and suddenly there was a lamp post coming down on their heads.
Emma shook her head, staring down at her hands. The silence in the bug was deafening. And the memory of the look on her parent's faces was enough to make her run. And she'd definitely run. Now she was just sitting in her car, waiting for the buzzing in her veins to go away. But it didn't seem to be dissipating and Emma had no idea what to do. She couldn't stop the panic and the fear that someone would find her made the panic continue to grow. She could have killed someone and now…now they were all terrified of her. Emma hadn't asked for magic and she certainly hadn't learned yet to embrace it. Now- now she just wanted it gone. Her chest was heaving and she could feel the sweat on her forehead as she watched her hands glow and her fingertips crackle with energy.
"Ma!"
Emma's head jerked up at the sound of her son's voice. She yelled at him to stay where he was, without even getting out of the car. She was afraid to. Then Henry took another step. Emma reached for the door then and shocked herself in the process. She shoved the door open and shook her hands as if the action would make it all go away. Though he was still several yards away, Henry took another step.
"Henry, stop! Please!" Emma begged her son to listen. But Henry had never been good at listening. "Henry, you have to listen to me. I could hurt you!"
Emma's voice cracked and she couldn't even begin to hide the fear in her eyes. Or the tears that were so close to breaking free. She would never forgive herself if she hurt her son. And then there was Regina. What would Regina say? They'd only just begun a tentative relationship that seemed to be growing a little more each time they were together and it had only been a few days. Regina had been right the night they'd trekked through the woods when she said that Emma would understand her magic better if she only bothered to study the craft. But what Regina didn't know was that there was a side of Emma that wished she could just make it all go away. At best, her magic was 50/50 and now- now it was just unpredictable. Under normal circumstances Emma could handle unpredictable. She had lived her entire life on the edge of the unknown. But Henry's life- his well-being was not something Emma would ever be willing to gamble with.
"It's okay." Henry yelled back at her. "I know you won't hurt me."
"On purpose, Henry!" Emma's words threatened to choke her. "I would never hurt you on purpose. You have no idea what happened back there! I can't be around you or anyone right now!"
"I don't need to see it, mom." Henry took his hands out of his coat pockets and held them out in front of his self as if it would somehow calm his mother down. "I know you didn't mean for any of that to happen. The magic is new to you. You're still learning."
"This isn't about learning, Henry." Emma cried, holding her still glowing hands out in front of her as if she were afraid to touch anything. "I. Can't. Control. Whatever this is."
"You can, mom! I know you can! You can do anything!" Henry insisted. "You just have to believe."
Emma tried to laugh through her tears, but it only came out as a strangled sob. Her beautiful amazing son, ever hopeful and full of the Charming family belief that there was always hope. Emma wanted nothing more than to believe him. But looking at her hands, all she could feel was the panic racing through her chest and making it harder and harder to breathe. When she looked up, Emma realized she'd taken her eyes off of her son for a moment too long and Henry was quickly advancing on her.
"Henry! Stop!" Emma threw up her hands like any normal person would do when they wanted someone to stay where they were. But unfortunately for Emma, this was no ordinary situation and before she could stop it from happening, a wave of magic burst from her hands and threw her son back and further away from her than where he'd been standing to begin with. Emma looked at her hands as if they didn't even belong to her. "HENRY!"
Emma could only stand by helplessly as he rolled and came to a stop. And for what seemed like a lifetime, Henry didn't move a muscle. Emma yelled at him again. "Henry?"
Finally, she saw him move and heard what sounded like a groan of pain. When Henry looked up at his mother, his face contorted in confusion and pain. Emma covered her mouth to muffle the sobs that were wracking her body. She watched as Henry pushed himself up off the ground and brushed the dirt and pine needles off of his clothes.
"That- was rough." Henry ran his hands through his hair and almost laughed. But he did his best to conceal the near humor in the situation because he knew how truly upset his mother actually was. "Dang, ma."
"Henry, oh god!" Emma finally spoke up. "Are you okay? Are you hurt? You have to get away from me."
Henry threw a hand up at her. "I'm okay, ma! Stop! I'm okay."
"Please, Henry. Please just leave. Go back to your grandparents. Or your mom. Just…give me some time, okay?" Emma begged him, hoping he'd listen.
"Okay." Henry nodded. "Just- Mom?"
"What, Henry?"
"Please come home…"
Emma nodded through the tears and promised she would come home as soon as she could figure out how to make the glowing and the crackling go away.
. . .
"Mom!" Henry flew through the front door of the mansion yelling for his other mother. From the moment he'd left Emma in the woods, Henry had immediately known what he needed to do. "MOM? Mom, where are you?"
"Henry?" Regina came out of her study as fast as she could, automatically concerned at the sound of panic in her sons voice. When she reached him, Henry's cheeks were flushed and he was out of breath, but doing his best to calm down. "Henry, what's wrong?"
"It's Ma. You have to help her, mom!" Henry forced the words out of his burning lungs. Regina couldn't help but give her son a once over and began picking dirt and leaves out of his hair and off of his clothes. "Stop, mom! We have to help Emma. You have to go help her!"
"Henry. What's wrong with Emma?" Regina was only just registering what her son was saying. "Where is she?"
"She's in the woods, Mom!" Henry spit out and then continued to tell her what he'd found out from his grandparents about what had happened at the station and how he'd snuck out of the apartment to go find her. And then he told his mom what had happened when he'd finally found Emma locked in her car. "You have to go. She won't let anyone near her."
"Okay, Henry. But you have to promise me you're going to stay right here. You don't go anywhere. Do you hear me?" Regina tried to convey just how serious she was, knowing how her son liked to do whatever he thought was right. "If you leave this house, the only place you go is to your grandparent's apartment. I don't know how long I'll be gone, but I'll bring Emma home. Okay?"
Henry nodded enthusiastically. After telling his mom exactly where he'd found his other mother, Regina was out the door and pulling out of the driveway in record time. Before she knew it, Regina found the pull off at the entrance to the woods where Henry had told her to go. Instead of pulling into the trail, Regina decided that walking in would be best. If Emma truly was as distraught as Henry had described, she knew sneaking up on her wasn't a great idea, but at the same time she knew that giving her a heads up wasn't going to do any good either. Regina decided that she'd walked through the woods plenty of times already, what could one more time hurt? Surprisingly the walk wasn't as long as she'd anticipated and soon enough, the back of Emma's yellow bug came into sight and Regina slowed her approach, unsure of what she was walking into. The one thing she was sure of was that she didn't see anyone sitting inside the vehicle which meant that Emma could be anywhere.
The closer she got, Regina moved to approach the driver's side of the car and saw Emma sitting on the ground, knees pulled up to her chest and her head in her hands. She was still far enough away that Emma hadn't heard her coming, but didn't want to spook her.
"Emma?" Regina spoke gently, but still Emma's head jerked up again and without saying a word, she was scrambling off of the ground and putting the car between herself and Regina. Regina held out her hands, hoping to calm the other woman down. She knew Emma well enough to know that she was probably wondering how Regina found her, but was smart enough to reason that she had to have talked to Henry. "Henry told me what happened."
"Is he okay?" Emma's eyes filled with tears again, looking from Regina to her hands and back to Regina once more. "Did I- is he okay? Did I hurt him?"
"Emma, he's fine." Regina did her best to reassure her. "But he's scared. And he's worried about you. And frankly, right now, so am I."
Emma shook her head and her breathing began to escalate again as she watched her hands begin to glow brighter than before. "You should- shouldn't be here. I could hurt you."
Regina scoffed at the idea, knowing that even with Emma's unpredictability, her magic was no match for Regina's. "Emma, I know right now you feel like you're sinking. And suffocating and if I had to guess, like your entire body is on fire. You can feel the magic flowing through every inch of your body and it's out of control because you are out of control. I need you to talk to me. Tell me what happened."
Emma told Regina what the Snow Queen had said to her and Regina found she wasn't the least bit surprised at Emma's outburst. She would have been pissed off too, if she were Emma. Fortunately for Regina, she had much better control of her magic and Emma was still barely learning. But Regina remembered. She remembered what it was like when her magic was new. What it felt like, coursing through her body, taking over every inch of her senses and feeling as if at any moment she could burst into flames. Regina took a few steps then, hoping Emma wouldn't panic. Surprisingly, she didn't move.
"What's happening to me?" Emma's voice sounded small and Regina didn't like it one bit. This was not the strong independent woman she'd found herself slowly falling for. This woman was clearly broken. And confused. And struggling to understand. "Why is it so easy for you? Why can't I make it stop?"
Emma thrust her hands out, showing Regina what they looked like. What they had looked like for the past couple of hours. But when she did, sparks flew and Emma jumped, nearly tripping over a root on the ground. Regina immediately lunged for her then, unafraid of anything Emma could possibly throw in her direction. Emma panicked as soon as Regina's hands were on her and she struggled to get away.
"Emma! Emma, stop!" Regina insisted, struggling to hold onto her. "Emma, you have to breathe or else this is going to stop any time soon. You have to trust me."
"I-" Emma's words were interrupted when both women heard the scuff of boots on the ground and turned in the direction of the sound.
Regina immediately held out her hand when she saw Robin approaching them, crossbow in hand, pointed in their direction. "What in the hell are you doing?"
"Regina, I think you should step away. She could hurt you." Robin's face was serious, but Regina laughed anyway.
"The only person getting hurt here is you, if you don't put that thing away and take yourself for a walk."
"Regina, he's right." Emma nodded fervently. "I-"
"Emma please stop talking and let me handle this." Regina pleaded, but not once did she take her hands off of the woman she was holding in her arms.
"Regina, I know you think you're doing the right thing." Robin spoke up again. "But I saw the Sheriff's Station. You didn't."
Regina had enough. She was tired of Robin showing up at the most inopportune moments and acting as if he knew what was best for her. What he needed to be worrying about was his wife. Not her. And the fact that he remained standing with his weapon pointed at Emma and subsequently at herself was the proverbial icing on the cake. His hero complex had finally gone too far and Regina was done with it. All she wanted in this very moment was to be alone with Emma. To calm her down and help her control her magic. To show her that it wasn't bad and that she actually could regulate it. That she could own it. She wanted Emma to know that it didn't have to be the other way around. But it was going to be hard to do when she was fighting with Robin about who knows best. So Regina decided to do what she did best. Throwing out a hand, Regina used her magic to toss the weapon out of Robin's hands, sending him scrambling after it, confused as to why Regina was risking her life for a woman who was clearly out of control.
Just as he was about to pick the crossbow up again, Regina froze him in place. All he could do was look at her and wait for whatever she would throw at him next. "Regina, why are you doing this?"
"I will tell you this once and I will never repeat myself again." Regina's tone was threatening and suddenly Emma was reminded of her run-in with the Evil Queen version of Regina. "If you ever come after her again…I will destroy you, if it is the last thing I do."
She let him go then and he stumbled to the ground. Regina watched the hurt and confusion cross his face but she just couldn't bring herself to care. The only thing that mattered was the woman in her arms. She waited until he was gone and out of sight before addressing Emma again.
"Breathe, Emma." Regina took a deep breath with her, coaching Emma along. "You just have to breathe. I'm here and I've got you and we're going to get through this together."
Slowly Emma began to relax in her arms and Regina breathed a subtle sigh of relief. Later, when she would have more time to think about it, Regina knew she was going to be pissed at the Charming's for not calling her in the first place. With herself and Gold being the only options for dealing with out of control magic, Regina couldn't seem to fathom why no one had bothered to call or come find her the minute Emma had taken off. For now she encouraged Emma to continue taking deep even breaths. She pulled Emma down to the ground with her, not caring about her clothes and the fact that they were sitting in the middle of the forest floor. All that mattered was the feeling of Emma beginning to relax.
"Emma?" Regina squeezed her gently. "Look at your hands."
Emma took a deep breath and relaxed against the woman who was quickly becoming her savior when she realized the crackling and glowing was gone. Her body was growing exhausted as she felt the magic settling down and she allowed her head to fall against Regina's shoulder. As soon as she was comfortable, Emma felt Regina's lips on her head and her warm breath against her scalp.
"I told you." Regina kissed the top of her head again. "I've got you."
"Hurricane"
No matter how many times that you told me you wanted to leave
No matter how many breaths that you took, you still couldn't breathe
No matter how many nights that you lie wide awake to the sound of poison rain
Where did you go? Where did you go? Where did you go?
As days go by, the night's on fire
Tell me would you kill to save a life?
Tell me would you kill to prove you're right?
Crash, crash, burn, let it all burn
This hurricane's chasing us all underground
No matter how many deaths that I die I will never forget
No matter how many lives that I live, I will never regret
There is a fire inside of this heart
And a riot about to explode into flames
Where is your God? Where is your God? Where is your God?
Ooooooo-ooohhh Ooooooo-ooohhh
Do you really want...
Do you really want me?
Do you really want me dead,
Or alive to torture for my sins?
Do you really want...
Do you really want me?
Do you really want me dead,
Or alive to live a lie?
Tell me would you kill to save a life?
Tell me would you kill to prove you're right?
Crash, crash, burn, let it all burn
This hurricane's chasing us all underground
The promises we made were not enough (Never play the game again)
The prayers that we have prayed were like a drug (Never gonna hit the air)
The secrets that we sold were never known (Never sing a song for you)
The love we had, the love we had, we had to let it go.
(Never giving in again, Never giving in again)
Tell me would you kill to save a life?
Tell me would you kill to prove you're right?
Crash, crash, burn, let it all burn
This hurricane's chasing us all underground
Whoa, This hurricane [x3]
Whoa
Do you really want...
Do you really want me?
Do you really want me dead,
Or alive to torture for my sins?
Do you really want...
Do you really want me?
Do you really want me dead,
Or alive to live a lie?
(Look up One republic)
(Cry just a little)