Emma tried to go about her week as normally as possible, but it proved difficult with her stunning shiner. Being marked with violence had its way of eliciting a curious array of reactions. She had gotten everything from a dramatic 'OH MY GOD' (her mother), to being completely avoided (Ariel), to a 'Mixing it up in the bedroom, I see' (Ruby). It had nearly been a week since the incident and the swelling and bruising had gone down to just a faint hint of a yellow hue. If you didn't know what to look for, Emma could pass for being unmarred.
"Ma!" Henry called and waved her over. Emma approached their booth by the window.
"Hey guys," Emma slid in when Henry scooted over and gave him a hello hug.
"My, you're looking better than the last time I saw you," Regina said with a hidden smile. Emma noticed she was wearing a very low cut top, and she made a conscious effort not to blatantly ogle the brunette's assets.
"Hey Emma, I was just telling Mom that I had a dream I was a centaur!" He laughed easily.
"A centaur?" Emma tried to picture a little half Henry half centaur and grins at the silly image. "What color were you?"
"Purple!" he said, excited she'd asked.
"I had a dream I was patrolling the town. How lame is that?" Emma shared. She picked a fry off Henry's plate.
"Did you find anything cool at least?"
"A frisbee that didn't fly?" she shrugged.
"Yeah, that's really lame," Henry concurred with a wrinkled nose. "What about you?" he directed his question to Regina.
"Oh," she pinkened lightly at the spotlight. "No, it's really silly."
"So was mine," Henry said.
"Was I in it?" Emma cracked a saucy grin.
"I dreamt that I was riding a motorcycle," Regina confessed.
Henry and Emma both laughed. Emma tried to picture it in her head: Regina's hair flying in the wind, decked out in a bikers' gang leather jacket, speeding down the streets of Storybrooke. She chuckled again.
"That would be so cool. I want a motorcycle!" Henry said.
"No," his two mothers said simultaneously.
"You guys are no fun," he grouched.
Regina raised a curious eyebrow, surprised that Emma wasn't encouraging their son's reckless wish. "I used to have one back in the day," Emma revealed. "At least until I crashed it. Not that fun, but this weekend will be, right?" She changed the subject and nudged Henry.
"Video games and Cheetos all day!" he said excitedly.
"I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that," Regina said with a frown.
"Can we spend a night on the ship again? That was so cool."
Regina minded her with a calculating look when Emma answered. "I don't think that's a great idea. Besides, you know Hook doesn't have a TV."
"Oh yeah…" Henry finished off his last fry in a large swallow. "Can I get dessert?" Both he and Emma looked to his other mother. Regina nodded. Henry leaned impatiently against Emma who was blocking his way. Emma sighed and slid out of the booth to let him by.
When Emma slid back in, it was just her and Regina. They watched him lean over the counter as he spoke to Ruby. No doubt he was ordering his favorite sundae.
"He looks forward to staying with you all week," Regina said.
Emma smiled at that. She missed not having to agree on a schedule for when she could spend time with Henry. For a while there, she came and went as she pleased from the Mill's home. That changed back to their earlier agreements of Regina getting school days, and Emma getting the weekend when they separated. Henry had initially protested but had eventually come to accept it.
Emma noticed that Regina's fingers were fidgeting with her bag. Without Henry, there was a noticeably heavy layer of tension between the two women. Emma cleared her throat. "I'll drop him off at school on Monday. I got it from here."
"Thanks," Regina said, choosing to take the dismissal. She started to gather her things.
"I'll walk you out."
They both slide out from the booth, and after Regina said good-bye to Henry, the diner door dinged with their exit. The two women had made it just a few steps out when they heard a shout down the street.
"SWAN!" Emma grimaced and kept walking. Regina side eyed her. "Emma!" There was no way to pretend that she hadn't heard him that time and Emma sighed. "Give me a second," she said low to Regina, touching her arm before walking back a few feet to meet Hook.
"What," she said tersely.
"Emma, love, can we at least talk about this?" Killian said.
"There's nothing to talk about."
"You just walk into me ship and say you're done with me? Throw me away like that? Come on, what's this really about?" He meant to touch her, but Emma moved out of his way.
"I'm kind of in the middle of something right now. Can we do this later?" She paused, wearily, "Actually, can we not do this at all?" Emma took a step back.
Hook glanced behind her to see Regina fishing her keys out of her purse to open her car door. She was keeping a light surveillance of them. When Regina's eyes met his in a thinly veiled challenge, Hook tore his back to Emma. "Her?" he spat. When Emma didn't respond, Hook grabbed the top of her arm. Emma winced at his clasp but he ignored her discomfort. His gruff voice was rising "Are you telling me you left me for that bi—"
"I didn't say that!" Emma yelled at him. She struggled against his hand but he tightened his grip.
"Tell me then!" Hook shook her arm as if to shake free her response. He brought his contorted countenance inches from hers in a sneer. "Say it isn't true," his hot breath hit her cheek.
"We're not together!" Emma spat angrily. Their arguing had gotten louder and from the corner of her eye, she could see Regina coming closer. "Now. Let. Me. go." Emma growled.
Hook had malice in his eyes as he stared her down. "For someone who's so adept at spotting lies, you can't tell one to save your life. I see the way you look at her, and I can't believe you would—"
Emma let her fist fly. She wouldn't put up with him manhandling her. Killian dodged out of the way and automatically brought his hooked hand up to block her attack. Emma cried out when the silver curve caught her arm. Hook's eyes widened at the crimson blood rolling down her arm from a small slash.
"Emma, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to hurt you!"
"Stay away from me!" Emma shoved him back roughly. Hook's brow cinched together and his lips parted slightly, but he wasn't looking at the blonde. Emma whipped her head around. Regina was marching straight at them. "Oh shit," Emma swore when she saw Regina's eyes had an eerie purple glow to them. "Regina! Stop, it's fine-don't!"
"What's wrong with her?" Hook asked, holding his ground and lifting his chin up. He didn't expect or realize what Regina was doing, but Emma knew when she cocked her arm back.
"Move!" Emma dove in front of the pirate, shoving him out of the way just as Regina lashed out. Emma gasped as Regina's hand missed Hook and sunk deep into her chest. She felt the icy clamp of fingers around her heart. "Get out of here!" Emma shouted at Hook. He didn't need to be told twice. He stumbled back a few steps before meeting green eyes. He wavered briefly as if to say 'sorry, mate' before he took off, boots slapping against the concrete in his wake.
Emma's hands found Regina's forearm. "Regina." The Sheriff winced at the movement in her chest. Just because her heart couldn't be taken didn't mean it didn't hurt. She repeated the brunette's name a little softer, lightly caressing the arm that literally held her heart. "He's gone now. It's just you and me," she tried to soothe, "and I'd really love it if you let go of my insides."
Emma quickly thought back to the first time she'd found Regina like this and how she had left this state before. Commands or pleas, Regina hadn't seemed to respond to anything spoken. She had responded to being touched, albeit not favorably. Emma winced at the memory of being thrown into the wall when she first tried to apprehend the brunette. Well, it's worth a shot.
Emma didn't know what to say—or even if Regina could hear her. She wasn't sure if it mattered but continued anyway. "You don't need to do this. Everything's okay now. He didn't really hurt me." Emma tested her luck by slowly coming forward. Regina stared right through her, but allowed the bend of her elbow. She was now directly in front of her, Regina's hand still in the blonde's chest. One hand found Regina's face, cradling it gently. With her other, Emma gently held Regina's wrist and started to slowly pull the brunette's hand out of her chest. Regina didn't react.
With a sick pop, she had pulled Regina's hand free. The sensational spike of pain, even sans heart, made Emma gasped, involuntarily curling into Regina who intersected her lurch forwards. Emma let herself be draped across the brunette until she found her breath. Attempted kidnapping of her heart, which had happened far more than she liked, was always unpleasant to put it mildly.
She wrapped her arms around Regina and rested her chin on her shoulder. "Please come back to me," she choked out. Emma met her eyes to see a slightly lighter shade of violet, almost lavender grace her pupils. Emma fixed a stray strand of dark ebony hair behind her ear without hesitation this time. Flush against her, she buried her face in her neck and snaked her arms around Regina tightly. Emma didn't know if it was five minutes or five seconds later, but she felt arms gently slide around her waist in response. Again, it was timeless until Regina eventually cleared her throat and backed away.
"Emma?" she asked huskily, "what happened?"
"You…did that thing again."
"Is that why everyone is staring?"
"What?" Emma whorled around and sure enough everyone in the diner was pressed against the glass watching them. Ruby had an arm around Henry who was looking really worried.
"Oh god, not again," Regina murmured, clearly frustrated with herself.
"Hey, it's okay. You didn't hurt anybody this time."
"You're bleeding."
"That wasn't you." Regina opened her mouth to respond but Emma cut her off. "I'll tell you about it later. Are you feeling okay?"
Regina was ready to press the matter but she let it go for the time being. "I feel…I feel fine," she admitted.
"That's good." Emma glanced back at the diner. There was a considerably less amount of people that were still watching them. "I think it's best if I'm the one to explain..." Regina followed her gaze and understood. She nodded. "You'll be okay?"
"I think so."
"Okay. Get some sleep," Emma said and then hesitated to add. "And sorry about your shirt."
"My shirt?" Regina asked confused and looked down. A quick analysis yielded a smudgy streak on her side where Emma's cut must've bled on her. "Oh."
"Drive safe," Emma said as she walked backwards from Regina back towards the diner's front door. "I'll be over on Monday."
"Okay."
A few moments later, Regina could hear the ding of the diner door open and close as Emma went inside. Regina suddenly found that she was alone. She hesitated to follow the blonde for more answers, but she had clearly been dismissed. One minute she was opening her car door and the next, she found herself snuggled into Emma's arms in the middle of the street. She tried to reconnect the missing wires for a light bulb to flicker to life, but she remained engulfed in the dark.
Regina got into her car and directed her route back to her mansion. It wasn't until she replayed the night over in her mind later that she wondered why Emma said she would see her on Monday if she was dropping Henry off at school. Regina didn't rejoice in having the entire weekend alone to mull it over, but she relented that she'd just have to wait and see.