Chapter 7
It was hot. Emma could feel little beads of sweat rolling slowly down her face, hanging teasingly at the end of her nose before dropping with a little splash onto the ground. So it was wet also. She felt a light tickling crawl up her arm and she dragged her eyes open, looking up just in time to see a mosquito's needle pierce her skin. She shook her arm in an attempt to wave it away and the thick damp air filled with the clanking of chains. Her hands were tied above her head, chained to the stone wall behind her in a set of heavy iron manacles that had rubbed the skin around her wrists raw.
"Emma?" She looked to her left, following the sound of the raspy whispering of her name and her eyes flew wide as she took in Regina's blood stained dishevelled form. Her pants were torn around her right calf, soaked in the dark blood that was still oozing from her leg. Her hair, damp with greenish swamp water and blood hung limp around her face, a long gash muddying her hair line with drying blood and murky water.
"Regina!" Emma exclaimed, but the brunette quickly shook her head, indicating over to where the tall skeletal form of the rust haired swamp woman lurked, humming hoarsely to itself as it polished and cleaned an array of long sharp instruments.
"Henry?" Emma mouthed, and Regina turned her head to look the other way where their son was huddled on the ground, his knees drawn up to his chest, head ducked between them. Emma's eyes darkened, anger flooding every nerve ending in her body. She could feel it setting her magic alight, tingling hot beneath her skin as it itched in her palms, begging her to unleash it on the scaly demonic excuse for a woman that was currently prowling the shadows to their right. When she turned back to look at Regina she could see the same fury crackling in her dark eyes, like a live wire sparking dangerously close to water. Before she could open her mouth to silently question the brunette again one of the monstrous crocodiles that was prowling around their feet looked up at her and, noticing that she was now conscious, hissed and gave a gleeful snap. Madame Medusa froze and slowly pivoted around, a wide toothy grin stretching too tight across the almost translucent skin of her face.
"Well, well, well," she hissed. "Look who's awake. Now that all the members of the audience are present and accounted for, the show can begin."
"Sorry lady but I'm not one for drama," Emma spat. Madame Medusa cackled loudly, her horse voice dancing off of the cliff side they were chained to.
"Oh how sweet. You seem to think you have a choice," she grinned. "You see my lovely, the problem is, you don't. And I do so love to play with my food."
"Lay a hand on him and I swear to god I will destroy you!" Regina snarled, pulling sharply at her chains. Henry simply looked at his mothers, terror filling his hopeless eyes as the swamp woman tugged him sharply to his feet. She yanked his chains roughly above his head, making him grimace and fixed them in place.
"Don't touch him!" Emma bellowed, but the woman only laughed harder.
"Any last…" A loud swirling and sloshing sound filled the air, stopping Madame Medusa mid-sentence as they heard the portal that had swallowed Regina and Emma earlier open up just behind the tree line. All four heads turned in the direction of the sound and Madame Medusa hissed under her breath.
"Nero, Brutus!" she snapped, both the crocodiles turning their snouts to her, "deal with that! I imagine it's the blonde's dear old Daddy and Mommy. Give them a proper Bayou welcome," she sneered. The crocodiles slithered off on their bellies into the trees, Madame Medusa turning her attention back to Emma and Regina.
"Now then. Back to business. Or rather, pleasure," she grinned. "Any last words from the local royalty?" Regina grinned as a loud yelping echoed back to them, followed by David's full laugh.
"I'll ask you in a minute," she grinned. There was a hot flash of white light and Madame Medusa shrieked, stumbling backwards, her claw like hands raised in a pathetic attempt to shield her eyes from the combined white magic of the Saviour and the Evil Queen. The chains splintered and burst and the two women leapt forwards, Regina sending a blast of lilac magic at Medusa, sending the reptilian woman crashing into the cliff wall as Emma ran to Henry.
"I told you I'd destroy you," Regina growled, closing in on the crumpled woman. "And I always make good on my promises." Medusa's face stretched itself into a contorted waxen grin.
"I've learnt some things since you faced me last," she hissed. Leaping into a low crouch she sent a series of fast bolts at Regina's face which the Queen deflected one by one, stepping back a little each time she did. She sent a fireball at her attacker's chest, knocking her back and sending her rolling to the ground in an attempt to extinguish her burning rags. Regina sent down a branch, snatching up her ankle and unceremoniously flinging the reptile into a nearby tree with a satisfying crack. She spun round to see that Emma had now freed Henry and was now making as though to run towards her.
"No!" Regina yelled, holding up a hand to halt her. "Take Henry and get him out of here!"
"Regina…!"
"Emma take Henry and…" But before she could finish bellowing the order to leave Regina felt something heavy and solid crash into her side, knocking her to the ground with a hard thump. Madame Medusa was on top of her, clawing at her face and throat with her long spindly fingers and snapping her sharp teeth at her. The creature seemed to have forgotten whatever humanity was still inside of her as she hissed and snapped. Henry yelled out but before Emma could run towards the pair of them, Brutus and Nero launched them selves into her path, creating a thick scaly wall between her and Regina. Regina let out a furious cry as she looked up into Medusa's blood shot eyes. The woman had her hands pinned down under her knees and Regina found that her head was now dangerously close to the ledge of the chasm. She struggled, her cry strangled quiet as Medusa's sharp fingers closed around her neck. Regina gasped, desperately trying to drag air into her lungs, but to no avail. A black circle of fog began to close in on her vision, like a thick screen of smoke worming it's way between her and the reptile salivating over her as she slowly squeezed the air from her lungs. Somewhere in the distance, a long way off it seemed, she thought she could hear someone crying her name.
There was a dull thud, followed by a sharp gasp from the blurry figure above, and the pressure around her throat lifted. She gasped, sucking air into her lungs as her vision began to clear and she felt the dark shadow that the still conscious part of her brain knew was Madame Medusa fall away, like a cloud broken by the wind. Suddenly the sound of heavy footfall and frantic voices filled her ears. She blinked rapidly, still heaving air into her lungs, which grated against her tender throat and made her cough. Emma's face came into focus and she felt her surprisingly strong arms slip behind her shoulders and ease her into a sitting position. Was she mistaken, or were those tear tracks marking the blonde's grubby face?
"Thank god you're okay," Emma whispered, and Regina could feel her arms tighten around her shoulders in a sort of hug. Her eyes fell on Henry who was kneeling by her side and her heart leapt up into her throat.
"Henry!" she croaked, her horse voice scratching painfully at her throat. She launched herself away from the blonde, pulling her son into her arms. She wrapped him in a vice like hug, and in that moment she never wanted to let him go. She could feel tears running down her face but she didn't care. She didn't care that Henry's fists bunched up in her leather jacket as he clung to her, ruining the fabric; she didn't care that she had blood and dirt clinging to her hair and face; she didn't care that one of her most expensive pairs of pants were ruined. All she cared about, was the fact that he was safe. He was alive and he was safe and Madame Medusa was dead. Henry pulled back, tears running down his face and Regina took it in her hands, smiling through her tears.
"I thought you were going to die," he choked. "I thought she was going to kill you."
"I know sweetheart," Regina rasped, her throat burning with every syllable. "And I thought you would. I was so scared." She smiled at her son and placed a kiss on his forehead before turning to look back at Emma who, though her face was now dry, still had tears lingering in her eyes. "Speaking of, how is it that I am still alive?" Emma proffered a small smile and pointed to Snow, who Regina just now realised was standing close behind Henry, her husband at her side, both still with their weapons in hand.
"Snow?" Mary-Margaret nodded, smiling graciously and Regina couldn't help but return it. "Thank you," she whispered. Mary-Margaret waved away the thanks.
"Of course," she smiled. "You're family Regina. But you should really try not to speak. Rest your voice until we know what kind of damage that woman did to you."
"I think calling her a woman is a bit of a stretch," Emma muttered. "But my Mom's right, okay?" Regina smiled a little and nodded, allowing Emma to help her to her feet.
"Come on," David said, eyeing Regina and Henry with a little grimace. "You two need a hospital."
When Regina and the Charming family were finally all released from the hospital it was almost eleven o'clock at night. David and Mary-Margaret had all managed to come off fairly lightly, their injuries mostly consisting of a few lacerations and bite marks. Emma's wrists, which had been rubbed raw by their manacles, were now wrapped in clean white bandages, which matched those also sported by Henry and Regina, but other than that her injuries were fairly similar to her parents. Henry and Regina however had sustained a few more serious injuries. The abrasions on Henry's wrists were much deeper than those on Emma and Regina's, and as well as the bruises and scrapes that covered the rest of them, he had sustained a long gash on the side of his leg and along his shoulder, both of which had needed stitches. It was clear that he had put up quite a fight. Physically however, it was Regina who seemed to have come out of this worst. The bite on her leg where Brutus had clamped onto her to drag her under the water had left her with twenty plus stitches; her ribs, though not broken, were badly bruised from the impact of the surprisingly solid reptile woman as she had tackled her to the ground. The dark purple bruises matched those gracing her neck, a purple and black painting left by the swamp demon as a reminder of their little dance. Dr Whale had wanted to keep her in over night, but she had point blank refused and signed out AMA as soon as Henry was discharged. Emma had to hold back a laugh at the death glare she shot at the doctor when he had presented her with a wheel chair to take her to the front doors of the hospital.
Holding her side, Regina headed gingerly towards her car, Henry and Emma at her side.
"Oh hell no," Emma said as she went to open the door on the driver's side. "There is no way I am letting you drive in this condition."
"Miss Swan, I am perfectly capable…"
"No." Emma said. "You're not." Her expression softened and Regina could see the same concern in those green eyes that had greeted her once Madame Medusa's body had fallen off of her. "Regina, please, let me drive the two of you home. Just so that I know you both get there okay." Regina said nothing, simply nodding and heading round to the passenger's side of her Mercedes.
They drove in silence, Emma checking on Henry through the rear view mirror, then Regina next to her every ten minutes or so. Almost as soon as he had sat down Henry had fallen asleep in the back. She wasn't surprised after what he had been through today. Regina, on the other hand, seemed much more wired. She sat stiffly, one hand resting over her bruised ribs whilst her eyes flickered restlessly from the windshield, to the window next to her, then to Henry, and finally to Emma before resting back ahead of her for a brief moment before the cycle started again; her fingers drummed restlessly on her leg all the while. Emma reached over and took her hand, making the brunette look up.
"Breathe," Emma said softly. Regina let go of the breath she didn't even realise she had been holding, not letting go of Emma's hand. "He's okay," Emma said. "We're all okay." Regina nodded, not taking her eyes off of Emma, and so the blonde kept hold of her hand, only pulling it away for brief intervals to change gear, until they reached 108 Mifflin street.
Once inside Emma pulled both Henry and Regina into a hug. She felt Regina stiffen a little as she did so, but she quickly relaxed into it, her arms tightening around her son and his other mother. They were okay. She was okay. They pulled apart and Henry looked up at his mothers with large round eyes, filled with more fear than Emma had ever seen them. He didn't look like the rambunctious eleven year old that had once run away from home and made his way all the way to Boston on his own to find Emma, nor the stubborn little child who had tried so hard to save magic, nearly at the cost of his own life. He looked small, and sad. He reminded Emma of some of the kids he had shared a home with over the years, and that frightened her.
"Are you going to go back to the loft now?" he asked Emma, his voice small. Emma smiled, her arm still around his shoulders.
"Not if you don't want me to," she said.
"Do you want Emma to stay the night here?" Regina asked. "That way you know we'll both be right here if you need anything." Emma frowned at Regina, somewhat taken aback by this uncharacteristic display of openness. Usually she guarded her time with Henry with an extreme possessiveness.
"You sure that's okay?" Emma asked.
"Of course," Regina said, looking back down at her son.
"That would be nice," Henry said, and Emma smiled.
"You should get some sleep kid," she said, pulling him into another hug and placing a kiss on the top of his head.
"I love you Ma," Henry mumbled into Emma's sweater.
"Love you too buddy."
Whilst Regina was upstairs tucking Henry into bed Emma decided to make them both some tea, more so that she would have something to do than anything else. The past few days had been so manic both physically and emotionally. She felt like she had been pounded and kneaded like doe, then rolled out flat under a heavy rolling pin. All she wanted to do was sleep, sleep for days. But she needed to make sure everyone, including Regina, was okay.
"Sugar is in the cupboard to your right." Emma jumped, turning around to see Regina leaning against the doorframe, her hand back on her ribs.
"Thanks," Emma smiled, as the brunette made her way gingerly towards a stool at the breakfast bar. "Do you take sugar?" Regina shook her head and Emma slid one of the mugs across to her, seating herself opposite the woman once she had stirred more than enough sugar into her own mug.
"Have you taken any painkillers for your ribs?" she asked.
"Whale gave me some at the hospital and some to take home," Regina said, staring at her hands, which were wrapped tightly around her mug.
"You sure it's okay, me staying here? I've been here a lot recently." Emma smiled half heartedly, but the other woman only continued to stare at her mug.
"Of course," she said. "I want Henry to feel safe, and if having you here enables that then you can stay as long as he wants you here."
"I don't have any pyjamas." Regina glanced up at her and the shadow of a smirk tiptoed across her face.
"There are some freshly laundered track pants in the laundry room and a white T shirt you can borrow." Emma smiled and jumped up, heading for the hall. She stopped at the doorway, turning around.
"Where…?"
"Second door on the left, just down the hall," Regina said, that same shadow smirk ghosting her lips. Emma grinned sheepishly and disappeared in the direction of the laundry room. Regina drained the rest of her tea from her mug and slid off of her stool, wincing as her ribs protested loudly. The house felt cold, as it had done the night Emma had been ill, the night Madame Medusa had stolen her son's belongings. The thought made her shiver. She could picture her, standing under the window in the rose bush, her great scaly monsters prowling around the house as the swamp woman's magic snaked it's way into her home. She could never let that happen again. Regina made her way to the front door where she raised her hands. She sent out strong pulses of purple magic, reinforcing the protection spells she had put in place after she had found out someone had been after Henry. The magic however seemed too much for her, her body refusing to be put through any more exertion on top of the beating it had already endured that day. She pushed through however, determined to reinforce the entire house and all the magical locks she had put in place, despite the increasingly fuzzy feeling creeping it's way into her head.
"Regina? What are you doing?" Emma frowned as she walked back into the hall, track pants and T-shirt in hand.
"Taking precautions," Regina mumbled. She vaguely heard the blonde say something about, "not a good idea" and "your state" when the door before her seemed to waver and she felt the ground beneath her shift. She felt Emma's strong arms wrap themselves around her and suddenly found herself leaning into the younger woman, her vision blurry, her head feeling hot. She was vaguely aware of the woman's hand on her bruised ribs, but her clouded head didn't register the pain.
"Jesus Regina you could have fallen down the stairs," she heard Emma hiss under her breath, panic filling her quiet voice. Emma moved her away from the steps leading down to the front door and guided her down to sit on the bottom step of the staircase.
"Head between your knees," the blonde murmured, stroking a hand down the other woman's hair and gently coaxing her head forwards so that it rested on her knees. Regina let out a groan as her ribs protested and Emma continued to stroke Regina's hair, her voice soft.
"I know it hurts your ribs but it will clear your head okay?" Regina let out a long slow breath, trying to breath through the pain. She felt her head clear and when she opened her eyes her front hall appeared to have straightened itself out and come into focus. Very slowly, so as not to aggravate her already screaming ribs, she sat upright, taking note of the fact that Emma's hand remained at her back, protectively hovering there ready to take her weight should she collapse again.
"Better?" Emma asked. Regina nodded.
"Yes."
"Come on," Emma said, "I think you need to sleep. You took a major beating today and you're clearly exhausted."
"I just want to reinforce the locks and…"
"Regina, look at me," Emma said, taking both her hands in her own and Regina looked up into green concern soaked eyes. "Henry is okay. He is safe. I am okay. And you are okay. Since you found out about Madame Medusa you have more than doubled the security around this house. We will all be safe tonight. I promise." Regina dropped her gaze back down to her hands and gave the smallest of nods.
"Okay," she said. "But only because I don't think I could stand the embarrassment of having you find me passed out on the floor." Emma chuckled and stood up, offering Regina her hand. Regina glared at it. "I'm not an invalid Emma. I can stand up by myself." She went to push herself up, but her injured leg and ribs seemed to disagree with her and she winced as her leg gave out from under her. Emma caught her, strong arms catching her around the waist this time, careful to avoid her battered ribs.
"It's okay," she said, her voice low and soft. "I've got you."
Regina didn't sleep that night. She lay on her back, eyes wide and staring at the dark ceiling. The painkillers Dr Whale had given her were slowly wearing off and a sharp aching was beginning to wind its way through her ribs, as well as around her leg. And on top of it all, she couldn't quiet her mind. It flickered from point to point, showing her all the possible entry points to the house as she ran through them one by one like a check list, trying to remember what protection spells were up, which had physical locks on them and which did not. For hours she ran through her list. Front door, kitchen door, French windows in the back lounge, lower floor windows, bathroom windows, and on, and on and on. So at around three am when Henry yelled out she heard it loud and clear. She tore the covers from the bed and leapt up, trying her best to ignore the screaming complaints of her battered body. When she reached Henry's room Emma was already sitting next to their shaking son, rubbing soothing circles on his back.
"Henry what happened?" Regina asked, her voice soft as she sat on her son's other side, wrapping an arm around his shoulders.
"He had a nightmare," Emma said quietly, making Regina sigh.
"You want to talk about it?" Regina asked and Henry looked from one mother to the other, his eyes sparkling dangerously.
"She killed you both," he choked, unable to fight back his tears any longer. "She strangled you, and then turned on Emma and…" The two women pulled him into a hug, holding him tightly between them.
"We're okay," Emma said softly, planting a kiss on the top of his head. "Your mom's fine. She didn't harm any of us." Of course their son would be more traumatised by watching one of his mothers nearly dyeing than by having been kidnaped himself. Neither of them were really surprised by this.
"Can you guys stay for a bit?" he asked in a small voice, finally looking up at them both. Regina smiled.
"Well, I don't think there is really enough room in your bed sweetheart. How about we relocate to mine?" It didn't take much thinking about. Although under any normal circumstances the eleven year old would insist that he was far too old to sleep in his mother's bed, tonight all he wanted was to keep them both as close as possible. Henry nodded and followed Regina into the master bedroom, Emma trailing behind awkwardly. As Henry climbed into the middle of Regina's Queen sized bed Emma caught Regina gently by the wrist, stopping the brunette from following as Henry settled himself under the covers.
"You sure this is okay?" she asked, her voice hardly more than a whisper. Regina nodded.
"Tonight I think anything goes," Regina murmured. The women settled themselves either side of their son, the three of them snuggling close together. It wasn't long before Regina's bedroom was filled with the sound of her son's soft snores, and Emma's deep rhythmic breathing. Although she didn't sleep, she found the sound eased her mind. Eventually her body relaxed, and she spent the rest of the night studying the sleeping faces of the two people in her bed, rather than focusing on her list.
