You wouldn't know, but in the basement of the New York Public Library, they have locked sections of boxed books, flyers, and sometimes antiques and even decorations for holidays. But on this certain day in the middle of Feburuary, another thing you wouldn't know is that one of those locked and gated rooms had been cleared off all boxes, and replaced with things entirely different. A twin bed complete with it's frame, a freezer stocked with food and drinks, an iPod dock and charging station, a desk with an Apple laptop, and even a tiny purple race car bed for a little boy or girl. Yes, on this day, a mob group was preparing to keep it's top lady and her son safe from the worst kind of harm; the harm brought upon you by vengeful family. If Regina Mills and Henry Mills were going to be hiding out until the Queen of Hearts was dead, well then the boys wanted them to be safe in style.
"I can't believe you did this for us!" Regina chuckled, running her hand through her hair. She was shocked that people would go to such an effort to make her and her son comfortable.
Henry on the other hand was already running and jumping into the race car bed of his own, cuddling the various plush Disney characters that had been laid upon the pillows.
Emma laughed and laid a hand upon Regina's back. "If we're making you guys sleep and stay in the f- freaking basement of a library, you might as well be happy. We put all your files on the computer so you can still work if you want. There's access to a Netflix account so you guys can watch movies and such. It's all here." Emma smiled, but it was replaced with a shocked expression as the mob boss hugged her lightly.
"Thank you." The brunette soothed.
"You're welcome." Emma chuckled, returning the embrace.
"I'm fucking going to win this bet." Jumper whispered to Spinner, gaining a slap upside the head from the other men. "Shut up!" "We're listening douchebag!" "C'mon!"
Henry giggled, hugging tightly a doll of the famed hooked pirate from Peter Pan. "Captain Hook." He smiled his big toothless smile.
Emma pulled back and laughed. Without hesitating, Emma pulled her left hand into her sleeve, making only curved finger visible. "Well if it isn't Peter Pan!" She said in a gruff voice, standing tall. "It seems that you and your Lost Boys are no match for me and my crew!"
"That's not true!" Henry said loudly, standing up on the race car bed to put his hand towards Emma. "We will defeat you smelly pirates!"
A unanimous laugh echoed through out the room, Regina practically in stitches. "Peter, Peter!" She cried in a high pitched English accent, pretending to be tied up. "Help me! Help me help me!"
"I'll save you Wendy!" Henry called out, bending his knees and jumping off the bed; flying through the air for a moment, only to be grabbed midair by Emma. "LET ME GO YOU SCURVY DOG!" The little brunette boy tried to sound serious, but when Emma than began to tickle him, Regina joining in, the only sound in the room his intense giggling.
"I'm going to win." Jumper whispered once more, but this time, no one shushed him. Cause they were beginning to see he was right.
An hour after the group's little trip to Neverland, Emma and the boys left the library. They all piled back into the van, going over verbal and mental checklists of everything else they needed to take down the Card Knights. But when they stopped at a random red light, it began.
A single shot was first fired at the van, denting the metal from the outside.
"The fuck?!" Shepard called out. Before anyone else could also react, three more bullets were sent into the shell of the van.
"Damn it, it's an ambush!" Red swore, grabbing one of the large rifles off the wall. The other men did the same, Emma grabbing her pistol from her holster and she began rolling down the windows so they could retaliate.
Spinner fired first, shattering the one windshield of the other gang's car. Then Red and Frosty did the same, clipping the arms of two different Card Knights. But before Red could duck, another gun shot sounded and he fell backwards.
"Lucas!" Emma shouted, dropping her gun as she rushed to him. The echoing sounds of more gunshots from both sides faded in the background as Emma tuned them out, focusing on her friend. "Don't worry about me." He coughed out, blood spilling over his chest. "You just take care of the Evil Queen and kill the Queen of Hearts okay Savior? Take care of Henry and Regina ... Tell Belle ... I love ... her..." Red's eyes closed slowly as his body relaxed. Emma closed her eyes tightly and let out a shaky breath. The pops of the guns came back into earshot, her eyes opening like a glare as she grabbed her gun and opened the back door of the van.
"Savior!" Spinner called out. "Get back in here!"
But Emma didn't care, stepping out in front of the van with her hands up in surrender. "Don't shoot. Just listen to me!" She screamed. "You tell your fucking Queen she has two hours to turn herself in to the White Knights! She comes alone, unarmed, to the angel fountain in Central Park. Tell your coward fucking Queen! Go! Tell her now!" She screamed, shooting off a round into the air for no purpose. Slowly, never taking her eyes off the other mafia group, she climbed back into the van. Shepard drove off instantly just as the sounds of police sirens began to replace the sounds of gunshots from moments before.
"You're stupid." Shepard sighed.
"You're gutsy." Spinner admitted.
"You're a douchebag." Frosty swore.
"She's smart and knows what's she doing. Now, stop fighting everyone! We just lost a member of our damn team! Someone's son, someone's boyfriend, someone's brother, our friend. Have a little respect!" Jumper yelled, his voice breaking as he wrapped Red's body in a black blanket.
"Jumper's right." Emma soothed. "I know tensions are high and we're all upset; we're worried about Regina and Henry, we're worried about not being able to take down the Queen of Hearts. I know. It all sucks. But have to all calm the hell down!"
The van returned to head quarters, everyone going inside without a word. Spinner carried Red into one of the spare rooms, laying him down slowly. "I'll call his parents tomorrow." He whispered to Emma as he walked through out the hallway; joining the rest of the guys in the game room, the guys already getting into the endless supply of liquor.
Emma on the other hand, slipped into Regina's office. She took a moment to breath in, smelling Regina's favorite perfume "Fame." She looked at the various Broadway posted hung around; Anything Goes, Chicago, Rent, Wicked. The various pride flags she had hung, an Italian flag, and a New York state flag. Little things Emma had seen over and over, but never took the time to think about how they said so much about the mob boss who owned the office. Pictures of her and Henry in various stages of his life from infancy, to his first steps, to his first day of preschool. How anyone could want to kill such a beautiful child and his mother was beyond Emma's definition of sanity. What also was crazy what the person wanting to spill the blood was blood herself.
Emma sighed and pulled out her phone, quickly dialing Regina's cell phone. Ring. Ring. Ring. "Hello?"
"Hey Regina. You guys doing okay?"
"Yeah, we're fine! Henry's watching 'Alice in Wonderland' on Netflix and I'm laying in bed resting. How's everyone at the group doing?"
"W-We're all okay."
"Emma."
"What?"
"Don't lie. What's wrong?"
Silence.
"Emma?"
"We were attacked today."
"What?!" Regina said loudly, then lowering the phone for a moment to say something to Henry. "What happened?" She said once again, this time in a hushed tone.
"The Card Knights ambushed us at a stop light and started shooting. We fought back, but ... but Red was killed."
"Oh my god." Regina whispered. Emma could hear her lower the phone again, but this time she could hear the beginning of muffled tears. The crackling of the phone moved came once more. "Did y-you call his family?"
"We're calling in the morning. Tonight though I've got a meeting."
"With whom?" Regina's voice returned to it's normal volume; faint sniffling too coming from the mob boss due to her tears prompted by the sudden news.
"The Queen of Hearts."
"What?! Emma you can't do that! She'll kill you!" Regina yelled. Emma could hear Henry ask something in the background, his voice getting louder as he came near Regina.
"Is Emma okay..?"
"Emma's fine darling."
"Who wants to hurt her?"
"No one's going to hurt Emma baby boy, now go finish your movie darling."
"But you said someone wants to make her die."
"No one's going to hurt Emma." Regina repeated, her voice calming. There was another pause as if Regina was waiting for Henry to walk away once more. "Now, what the hell are you thinking doing this?!" Her voice came over once more, just as panicked.
"I think that this needs to end; Cora needs to be killed and I'm going to do it myself. Screw three days, I'm taking her out tonight and bringing you and Henry home safety and you can't tell me no, cause even though you're my boss, I am leading this raid and I don't give a damn what you think!" Emma rambled, her own voice breaking slightly.
Silence.
"Regina?"
"Okay." She soothed.
"Okay?"
"Kill her. I trust you. I know you can do it."
"Okay. After tonight Regina, you and Henry will both be safe from her - for good."
"Thank you for all you've done Emma."
"You're welcome." Emma smiled from behind the phone. They said their goodbyes and Emma hung up, slipping the phone back into her pocket as she sighed. She grabbed her black revolver and another clip off Regina's desk and slipped it too into her pocket. It was time to behead the Queen of Hearts.
Emma pulled her leather coat around her tight, the crisp Manhattan air chilling her to the bone. Her fingers were practically frozen, unmovable almost. She could make out a figure in the dark. "Hello Cora." She said with disdain in her voice.
"Hello Swan. You're looking well. Haven't seen you since you threw betrayal in my face." Cora said with a Cheshire Cat grin; stepping out of the darkness to meet with Emma under a street lamp. "You are so ungrateful, like my daughter."
"Don't you talk about her!" Emma snapped, lifting her hand to point at Cora.
The Queen of Hearts laughed sadistically. "The key word there was my daughter. She's nothing to you. You should bow before me! I saved you from that orphanage! You have a pure talent Emma for shooting. I found that in you, you were my best assassin. That's why I entrusted the mission of killing Regina unto you."
"I wouldn't have accepted if I had know you were just using me to kill your child!"
"But Emma darling, even if she hadn't been my child and was just a random mob boss I wanted to take down ... Regina still would have been someone's daughter. You would have killed her then and her parents would have mourned her. Friends, colleagues, ... children. What would have been the difference? Just that you know the parent and the parent is the one ordering the death?"
Emma stayed silent, her anger boiling as she looked Cora in the eye, listening to her speak so calmly about an action so horrid.
"Now Swan, tell me what I am doing here instead of wasting my time."
Emma took a moment, shoving her hands into her pants pocket. "Yeah. You're here to say goodbye." Emma gripped the gun in her pocket, pulling it out to point it directly at Cora; undoing the safety, then attempting to pull the trigger. Attempting. Emma gasped as she was unable to move her finger, the damn cold hand freezing her hands.
The Queen of Hearts laughed, then moving to mirror what Emma did not moments before, pulling out a silver revolver. "Nice try Swan. See, now three people are going to die. Not just my daughter and grandson, but now you. It's a shame. You could have gone far in this business with your talent, but no. Oh well. Goodbye." Cora released the safety and too lifted her finger to the trigger.
Emma closed her eyes and braced for the pain. A gunshot rang out. But there was no blinding pain. No white light, no blood, nothing. Emma opened her eyes and looked down to see the Queen of Hearts at her feet, a bullet in her head instead. Emma stuttered quietly, lowering the gun in her hand to her side, looking up. She could barely make out a figure coming towards her, gun in hand, smoking of course. It only was when the person stepped from the darkness and into the light, did Emma gasp.
"Hello Emma."
"Regina?"
