Regina's first instinct was to run after Emma. Had it not been for the violently sharp intake of breath that rose up from the ground at her feet, she would have done.
"Shit! Robin."
She knelt down beside him, lifting his head carefully into her lap, stroking the side of his face with one hand while the other fished in her back pocket for her phone.
"Nurse Rachet… Mayor Mills… yes… I need an ambulance… the Enchanted Forest… hold on…"
She muttered under her breath, staring around her blankly. She had no fucking clue where they were. She'd run blindly after Robin without thinking, barely taking the time to breath never mind note down significant landmarks on the way. She tapped the smooth screen of her smart phone, bringing up the map service, her fingers drumming impatiently on the side as she waited for it to find her position. Neither use nor ornament, the damn thing told her what she already knew. She was in the middle of fucking nowhere. She looked closer at the images that flickered in front of her. To the top of the screen was the faint line of a road. If she could get them there, she'd be able to figure out where they were.
"I'll call you back… no I'm not hurt... Robin… tell Dr Whale. I'll call you as soon as I know where we are… you too… bye."
She exhaled loudly and looked down at the man laying unconscious and semi-lifeless below her. She stood up, placing his head gingerly on the cold dirt, trying not to inflict any more damage on top of what she and Emma had already done. She shivered slightly at the recollection of Emma, the Darkness so evident in her now, so prevalent and powerful. Though on the surface she recoiled at the thought, somewhere deep down inside her, a part of her long hidden seemed to stir and thrill at it. She pushed it back down, tried to ignore the barely noticeable tug, turned her back on it and focused instead on the person who, just days ago, had been, to all intents and purposes, the fucking love of her life. Had she been of Henry's generation, she would have been well within her rights to utter the letters F, M and L into the nighttime air.
She squatted down, her long, lean muscles flexing, the hours spent in the gym over the past 20-something years about to be put to good use. Pushing Robin's head forward and propping it up with her knees, she shoved her arms roughly under his shoulders and around his chest, lacing her fingers together and preparing to move. She exhaled loudly, then half stood, half dragged, grunting ungracefully into the cold air, putting all her weight into it. They moved a good, healthy, inspirational half an inch.
It was the heels, of course it was. What was she thinking? Apart from the fact that she'd end up ruining a perfectly good pair of Louboutins, there was no way in hell she'd be able to drag Robin over yards of rough terrain in six inch heels. She shook her head, gritted her teeth, and for the second time that night, pulled her shoes off. Now with a heel in each hand and each hand clutching the other, her arms wrapped around Robin's chest, Regina tried again, bending down then pushing upwards and backwards, heaving under the man's dead weight. Again, shy of a few inches, fucking nothing. She sat back down in the dirt on her ass, Robin plonked awkwardly on top of her. Her left Louboutin bore the brunt of her ire, hurled at a small tree stump in front of them in exasperation. Dark One or not, had Emma reappeared at that very moment, the right Louboutin would have found itself somewhere where the sun very definitely did not shine.
She sighed loudly and refound her phone. As much as she hated to concede defeat, there was no way she could pull Robin out by herself. There was only one thing for it. Fuck you Emma, she thought angrily.
"Mary Margaret?... Hi, it's Regina… um yes, yes I am… yes feeling much better thanks… yes I just needed some time alone… Mary Margaret… Mary Margaret… Mary Margaret!" Her eyes rolled to the stars peeking between the dark clouds above. "Sorry to be blunt but I don't have time to chit chat. I need your help… I'm in the woods with Robin and I can't get him out… he can't, he's not conscious… no he's still alive… Emma… I'll tell you later… no, I'll tell you later! I need you to track us… because I don't know where we are Mary Margaret, that's why… sorry… it's been a long day… can you?... fantastic… we came in from the woods at the back of my house… that's all I know… well because I wasn't paying attention… Mary Margaret!... ok thanks… see you soon."
Why that woman had to be such perpetual hard work was beyond her.
She returned her phone to her pocket and stared glumly around her at Emma's catastrophic attempt at landscaping, nothing else to do now but wait to be rescued. Her fingers wrapped themselves idly in Robin's curls. His breathing was less shallow now, but he remained out for the count. She could see the faint beginnings of what would ultimately be dark, ugly bruises beginning to form around his neck, the calling card of Emma's fury. She brushed against one lightly, the tips of her fingers hovering above it, barely touching his skin. It was her fault this had happened to him. Yes, he was the one who'd gone roaring off into the woods without thinking things through, but he wouldn't have been acting so rashly had it not been for her. Had it not been for Emma.
Emma. The task at hand had momentarily wiped her from her mind. Now that she'd stopped, the blonde haired entity came rushing back in like the North Wind, filling up every little crevice of consciousness, wrapping around her, whispering sweet nothings into the back of her mind. Would that she could just erase her! Yet she knew without a moment's hesitation that she never would. Given the option of freedom from Emma, given the choice to leave her behind, to never see her, touch her, be near her again… it didn't bare thinking about. Yet the alternative, this dance, this path, this line they were both edging further and further along, what would it cost? As much as she would gain, she would surely lose if she weren't supremely careful. The Darkness that drifted malevolently through Emma's veins would demand purchase for any sliver of happiness. There was always a cost with magic and Regina knew that whatever it was that lay between the two of them, it had its twisted roots sunk firmly within some sort of alchemy. Whether it was light magic or dark, remained to be seen. All she knew was that with the surge of darkness within Emma, something that had been dormant inside the pair of them now raged like a roaring, swollen river, threatening to spill its banks and devastate everything around them. Yet Regina could no longer lie. Not to herself, not Robin, not to friends and family, and not to Emma. If it came to it, she knew she would end up paying whatever dark price she must if that meant having Emma Swan in her life.
"Regina!"
Her head whipped around at the sudden interruption. Coming through from the undergrowth was a motley crew of rescuers, the light from their torches waving in front of them like extendable light sabres. She raised her hand, waving frantically.
"Over here!"
They ran over to her, headed by Mary Margaret, David and Henry in the middle, Zelena rather haphazardly bringing up the rear. All four of them stopped in their tracks, mouths agape, Emma's handiwork stretching out before them.
"Bloody hell," Zelena said in a low voice, obvious admiration woven into her tone.
"What happened?" David demanded, staring at the huge circular gap in the woods.
Before Regina could explain, a groan rose from Robin's lips, consciousness finally seeping back into his brain. The intrepid rescuers' attention switched from one calamity to another. Henry rushed to his mother's side.
"Emma?"
Regina nodded, not saying a word. Her son frowned, his eyes darkening slightly.
"Did she hurt you?"
Regina shook her head vehemently. "She wouldn't." Henry looked away from her, his eyes unable to look at her. She placed a hand on his arm. "Henry, she wouldn't ever hurt me."
"My my sis, someone's certainly got under the Dark One's skin." Zelena was looking down at her with a wicked smile flickering across her lips, eyes dancing mischievously as she saw her younger sibling squirm with discomfort. "Remind me never to piss off Emma Swan."
Regina rolled her eyes, turning her attention to Mary Margaret, who was speaking rapidly into her cell phone. She waited impatiently for her to finish her conversation.
"Well?"
"They're sending an ambulance, they should be here in about 15 minutes. You're not that far from the road."
Relief washed over Regina. Mary Margaret knelt down next to her, putting an arm around her shoulder. "He'll be fine Regina, I promise. Doctor Whale will look after him. It could have been a lot worse." She peered at Regina. "What were you doing in here? Henry said you guys had an argument? Was it something to do with Emma?" She looked around with some alarm at the ring of flattened forest around them. "Is there something going on between you and Emma?"
"I don't know."
"Regina," Mary Margaret said softly. "If there is something, I need to know. We need to know. Right now our daughter is caught up in something that's beyond our knowledge, beyond our power. We have no idea how to fight it, no idea how to help her. But if there's something happening between the two of you, if you can see some way in to her, some way to help her, to reach her, to save her, then you have to tell us, you have to have to try."
Regina looked miserably at the floor. "Even if it means losing myself? Even if it means giving into the darkness?"
Mary Margaret placed a hands underneath chin, raising her face until their eyes met. "She would do it for you. She already did."