Chapter 10
Regina woke up disoriented and in a great deal of pain. She quickly sat up which she regretted immediately but continued to look around to figure out where she was. She heard a noise in another room and slowly got up. Now that her eyes were more focused, she could see where she was and remembered that she and Emma left the hospital and made it to her father's cottage.
She sighed with relief, but that was short lived when she heard the strange noise again. Searching the room looking for a weapon she quietly moved toward the closet and found the old baseball bat her father kept from when he was a child. It was his favourite sport and could never part with the bat that his father used when he played a short stint in the minors.
She grabbed the bat and made her way out of the bedroom and towards the noise. She peered around the wall and what she saw took her breath away, Emma in just a white tank top and matching underwear cooking in the kitchen.
The small gasp caught Emma's attention and she quickly turned around holding a spatula up defensively, "Shit, Regina you scared me. What are you doing with that bat?"
"The same thing you're doing with that spatula, I thought you were an intruder. I didn't realize you were already awake." She replied then leaned the bat up against the wall. "What are you doing?"
"I thought I would make some breakfast well late lunch I guess now looking at the time."
"Do you normally cook while in your underwear, Miss Swan?" Regina asked with a quirked eyebrow.
"Yes, does that bother you? And what's with the Miss Swan anyway? When did you go back to calling me that?"
'The moment I wanted to take you up against the wall and kiss you.' Regina thought to herself. "I'm...well I'm being..." Regina tried to answer but she couldn't keep from ogling the blonde woman in front of her. Shaking her head, she then pinched the bridge of her nose, "I apologize, when I'm stressed or nervous I tend to be standoffish, it's habitual. I'll do my best to say your name but if you do something to..."
"Piss you off?" Emma interrupted.
"Yes indeed, piss me off then I will most likely revert back and call you Miss Swan. Though knowing that you don't care for it, I may call you that more often just for my...pleasure."
When Regina said pleasure, Emma almost groaned. She knew Regina was checking her out and she wasn't sorry in the least wearing her tank and underwear, seeing how flushed the brunette was she was determined to wear more skimpy clothes when she could.
She realized she was staring at Regina and felt flush from the way Regina said pleasure that she quickly turned around and tried to finish preparing breakfast. "So how do you like your eggs?"
"I'm not fussy really," Regina began then walked closer to Emma. "I like scrambled, or omelettes or...hard." Regina replied standing directly behind Emma, causing goose bumps to form down her arms.
"Um..." Emma tried to reply but her mouth went dry. "I...I like it the same way. I mean eggs! I like eggs like that too. I think I'll just go for scrambled for now."
Regina smirked and turned back towards her bedroom. If she wanted to walk around in her underwear, surely she could take a little flirting. She called back, "I'm just going to have a quick shower I won't be long."
When she arrived back into her room, she sat down on her bed frustrated. 'What the hell are you doing? You're hiding from an assassin and you're flirting with a married woman who has a child. Get it together!'
She went to her suitcase, gathered some things to take a shower, and went to the bathroom. Thankfully, Zelena bought the toiletries that she herself buys. It's nice to have a small bit of familiarity when dealing with dangerous uncertainties.
She gasped when she took off her blouse and noted that her bandage was saturated with blood. She gently took it off and examined the wound recognizing there were a few broken stitches. "Just great, I hope the first aid kit has more than just a few Band-Aids in it."
Her shower was quick if only to wash away the memories of the night before. She dried off, wrapped the towel around her, and went back to her room. She began digging around in the suitcase Zelena packed for her and frowned when she saw something unfamiliar to her. Pulling the garment out Regina let out an exasperated growl. "Zelena I'm going to kill you!"
Emma rushed in when she heard Regina yell, "Are you all...right?" She asked but stopped when she saw Regina in only a towel holding up a pair of..."are those daisy dukes?" Then not being able to stop herself, she began to laugh.
"This is not funny, Emma! I don't know what Zelena was thinking. I don't own nor would I wear something like this!"
"That's a shame." Emma replied unfortunately out loud.
"What?" Regina fumed, "I'm afraid to continue searching for something to wear now."
This brought Emma's attention back to the brunette wearing only a towel and she felt the warmth spread to her neck and face. She continued to check her out knowing she was naked underneath then she noticed blood trickle from Regina's wound. "You're bleeding!" Emma shrieked then she was instantly at Regina's side seemingly very upset grabbing the facecloth from Regina's hand and placing it on the injury.
"Yes, I'm afraid I may have broken a stitch or two, it's not that concerning. I'll put another bandage on it once I find something decent to wear."
"Are you sure? You don't think we should stitch it back up or go get medical attention?" Emma asked as she pulled the cloth away.
"Its fine, Emma I assure you." Regina replied. "See, the bleeding has stopped its fine."
"Um sure, if you're okay. Um...I should let you get dressed, you're okay to get dressed? I mean do you need any help with anything?"
"I should be all right, I'm going to bandage this first though."
"Oh hey, here let me bandage it for you, Zelena packed a large first aid kit. I'll go get it stay right there."
Emma ordered as she left the bedroom.
Emma was only gone for a moment, not long enough for Regina to put on something more than just the towel. So she sat there and allowed Emma to bandage her wound. "It doesn't look infected which is good." Emma informed her as she placed the last piece of medical tape on Regina's shoulder.
"Thank you, I'll get dressed now though I may forego a bra today, it chafes the wound." Regina said mostly for her own benefit but realized what she said and noticed how Emma was blushing.
"Great, I mean sure, sure that's okay you...you do that and um oh breakfast is ready um it might be a little cold now but um yeah, I'll go back out to the kitchen. Bye." Emma stuttered and left the room like a bat out of hell.
Chuckling at the blondes' antics, Regina went back to her suitcase to find something of hers to wear.
Emma ran back to the kitchen and leaned her forehead against the cabinet. Groaning she knocked her head a few times on it, 'get your raging hormones under control, Emma! The woman is injured because she saved your life, just because she's in that room naked...just calm the fuck down.'
"So, breakfast?" Regina asked when she walked into the kitchen seeing Emma leaning against the cabinet door. She found a pair of grey sweat pants and a white blouse. Putting on a t-shirt with her injured shoulder was a little more than she could handle. And she wasn't going to ask Emma to assist her. She wasn't a fool, she could see the desire in the woman's eyes when she was in the bedroom but it couldn't happen. This wasn't the time to succumb to passion. They needed to focus and prepare what they were going to do to survive and get their lives back.
"Um yeah, have a seat and I'll get you a plate." Emma replied, opened the cupboard, and took down two plates. She dished up the eggs, and toast, took them over to the small kitchen table and then brought over two mugs of coffee.
"Thank you Emma, this looks delicious, I didn't realize how hungry I was."
"Oh, which reminds me, your sister filled your prescription, it was amongst the groceries, and I really think you should take it today."
"I just might, my shoulder is still throbbing after last night's getaway."
"Well you eat up and take your medication and I'll check the place out a little more. I've already washed the dishes they were a little dusty. Oh by the way, would someone else know about the cottage? The generator looked as if it was well maintained it started without a hitch."
"Thank you for doing all of that. Did you even sleep? And to answer your question, the only other person would be Michael. He's had the truck since my father passed. He most likely knows that I am here."
"Is that a good or bad thing?" Emma asked as she worried her lip. The main reason Regina wanted to come here was because she was the only person who knew about it.
"It's both I would say Michael and I were best friends when we were children and Daddy brought us both here during weekends and summer holidays. We were inseparable then but as we got older, we went different ways, lead different lives." Regina began with a smile remembering the few happy memories of her childhood but those were few and far between and the smile left her face.
"I left Storybrooke when I graduated high school planning on never going back and stayed away for over ten years working at a consulting agency in New York. When my father became ill, I came back and stayed with him until he passed then Mother wanted me to stay to help her with the firm and Daddy's business, a little café. I never really got back in touch with Michael when I came back; I haven't really made any effort in resuming old friendships with anyone."
"Sounds lonely, what do you do when you're not working?"
"That's just it, I find myself always working. I have both of my parent's businesses to run, it's never ending really."
"You're going to run yourself ragged Regina; you need to take time for a break, time for yourself."
"Well if the circumstances were different I would say this is a small break from my never-ending schedule."
"Yeah no shit, some break this is." Emma scoffed as she stood up and took away the empty plates. "Go take your meds, I'll clean up."
"Oh no, you cooked I'll clean, Miss Swan." Regina argued then smirked watching the underwear clad blonde walk to the kitchen.
"When your shoulder isn't killing you, then I'll agree but for now I'll clean up the dishes you go lay down." Emma concluded looking back at the brunette raising her eyebrow then turned back to the sink. She knew Regina was checking her out when she walked back to the kitchen; she made sure she put a little more sway in her walk.
"As you wish Miss Swan," Regina conceded then got up and before she went back to her room, she turned back, "Thank you again for breakfast, Emma."
"So what did you find out?" Agent De Vil asked as she walked into the security office at the hospital.
"Well he wasn't hiding from the cameras this time. I don't think he really cares if we see him any longer." Heller began, "He chats up the nurse and they leave together but then he comes back alone, you can see him mixing up a drink and taking it to the officer outside Mill's room and then leaves or something. He disappeared from the video for a while."
"Most likely hiding, there were no nurses there at first, they probably came back and would notice him. What else do you have?"
Heller had the security officer play the remaining of the video, watching as Regina Mills came out of her room and checked on the officer. You could see the panic on her face when he slumped over. She retreated back into her room then came back out alone with her belongings and walked down the hallway.
They watch as she caught up with Emma and it looked as if they were discussing something before going towards the stairwell then changing their minds and going to the elevator.
"Why was Swan out of the room and how did they know the pass code to use that particular elevator?" De Vil asked and jotted down some notes.
"We'll have to interview the officer when he regains consciousness; whatever he was drugged with was strong." Heller replied then went back to watch the monitor.
"They took the elevator to the bottom level, the morgue, and an area for delivery of supplies." The security man informed as he switched over to another video. "You can see them get off the elevator here and they continue on."
"So they're almost out of the building but then go into another room." Heller noted and then they see a staff member walk through and out the door. "We'll need to interview that man as well do you know who he is?"
"Yeah, I do, his name is Victor Whale, and he works in the radiology department. He goes out that way for a smoke."
"Well we'll need to talk to him right away. What else happened after that?" De Vil asked looking up from her phone.
"Well they come out of that room and make their way to the exit, they speak to Whale for a moment then leave through the back parking lot, and we lost them after that."
"Are there any cameras in the parking lot? Keep searching, I want to know which way they went. We need to find them." De Vil reiterated and was about to leave when the man showed her another shot.
"The man that drugged the officer came out here, if you want to continue."
"Yes, yes keep going, man."
They watch as the assassin goes into Ms. Mills' room and then comes out looking very pissed off and runs down the hallway the same way the women went. He too started towards the stairwell but it looked as if he heard something and went to the elevator.
They watched as he swiped the stolen ID and waited for the elevator then got in. The video again switched over and they could see him leave the elevator making his way down the hall just like the other two.
"He wasn't far behind them, how did he ever miss them?" Heller asked out loud. Then they could see that something made him backtrack and then the elevator opened with the security guard coming out.
They talked and the assassin brought out his gun and took the guard's taser gun and they walked into a room.
It then shows, Whale coming back and taking the stairs and the assassin goes out through the exit and into the parking lot.
"Get me eyes on the parking lot, I'm going to call our technical analyst, he'll call you and give him everything he asks for, got it?" De Vil demanded more than asked.
"Yeah, I got it, no worries. Moe is a good buddy of mine; he didn't deserve what happened to him. I want this bastard caught too."
"Good, keep searching and I'll get back to you." De Vil realized that this man was helping and didn't need to be berated when his friend was seriously injured.
She and Heller left the office and went down to emergency to talk to the officer and nurse, hoping that Detective Prince and Knight were able to get information from them.
When they got down there, Detective Prince was walking out of a room and they waved him down. "So what did you find out?" Heller asked not wanting to wait.
Detective Prince gestured to another room where he could speak privately to them. It was a hospital after all, the gossip mill was better than TMZ.
"The nurse said he was nice and that he was waiting to hear word about his dad who was in surgery, complete bull but she bought it. She said that he was tall roughly 6 to 6'1. He had blonde hair and blue eyes and very tanned, she said it was too orange, very fake but she fell for his kindness and smile." The Detective began.
"She suggested they take a walk outside to get some air that she had a 15 minute break if he was up for it. And he said yes, they walked a bit and then he pulled her in between a car and a van, she thought he was going to kiss her but he smacked her head on the vehicle until she passed out. He must have then dragged her behind the bin where she was found."
"Another disguise and he's leaving people behind alive. This is not his normal M.O. are we sure that this is the same Unsub that we've been after for years?" Heller questioned his partner. No one ever knew who this Unsub really was. They knew he had a flair for the dramatic kills but other than that, no one alive had seen him this closely.
"He's losing it." De Vil surmised. "He never misses; he always completes his target except for this one time because of Mills. Then he goes in for another attempt and fails at that. He's desperate, he only cares about the kill now, and he's leaving witnesses behind, making mistakes. It won't be long before we have him."
"Let's just hope you do that before he does complete this mission and kills both Miss Swan and Miss Mills." Detective Prince said wearily before leaving the two agents in the room.
Walking down the corridor, Prince met up with Detective Knight. "Hey, was he awake, what did the officer say?"
"He said that it was just some male nurse who offered him a coffee because he looked tired, he wasn't familiar to him, but he was feeling sleepy so he drank most of it, which he regrets very much. He also said that Emma wanted to talk to her son and borrowed a nurse's cell phone and went down the hallway to talk privately." Detective Knight stated reading from his notes.
"He said he watched her for a bit but the call seemed to be a bit emotional for her, so he went back to his seat. He said he could still hear her talking so he knew she was okay. That was just before the male nurse gave him the coffee. He was that close to her and didn't know it. How fucking lucky is this woman?" Knight finished shaking his head with disbelief. "All of them really, he could have killed the nurse and the officer but didn't. This guy is an enigma, you think he's going to do one thing but does something else entirely."
"Hopefully she'll continue to be lucky. Hopefully he never finds her and Miss Mills. I don't have a good feeling about this, Knight. Those agents are in it for the hunt, they don't seem too worried about Emma and Regina they just want their man.
"Yeah I hear ya, I think they felt that too and that's why they went on their own. They're gutsy I'll give them that." Knight mused.
"C'mon let's go back to the station, something just doesn't feel right. I want to check some stuff out." Prince instructed and walked towards the exit.
The phone rang twice then stopped. Then rung twice again and stopped. He took it off the table and when it rung again, he answered, "Hello?"
"Where are you?"
"I'm hiding out like you said. Why are the cops and Feds looking for me? What the hell happened at the comic-con?"
"Just know that the task was not completed. They're looking at you because they know he was a hired killer."
"What? Fuck! What the hell am I going to do? You said this was a foolproof plan. That they would believe it was a stalker and I would be fine!"
"I understand, and I assure you that this mess will be dealt with. Stay hidden; do not go out whatever you do, you are not to be seen by anyone. I'll get in contact when I'm able."
"You'd better; this is on you as much as it is on me. If I'm going down, you're going down too."
"It won't come to that, just be patient, and remain hidden, that is all you need to worry about for now."
"Fine," Walsh said to no one as the call had already been disconnected. Running his hand through his hair, he sat down hard on his great uncle's office chair letting out a long breath.