Regina clenched her jaw, the sight of the open door chilling her to the bone.
She couldn't even imagine having seen it before, but the feeling she got so close to the bunker made her falter.
Could she go through with this?
She narrowed her eyes and squared her shoulders, pushing past her feelings and walked through the open door before she could overthink.
She was going to be the one to end this, and she needed to be strong.
But when she wanted into the room where Owen had kept her, tortured her, her knees buckled and memories assaulted her.
Her heartbeat filled her ears and she forced herself to straighten up and face what had happened to her.
A sound behind her made her tense and she turned around.
"I was wondering where we were going. Should've known you'd want to go back to the place he tortured you."
The woman grinned at her and Regina felt a shiver go down her spine. She was around the same age that Owen had been, her skin dark and her eyes black.
Regina had her mask in place as quickly as she could. She didn't want this woman to know that she finally realized she was making a huge mistake.
She glanced around, and blinked as the woman pushed the door closed. Her heart sped up, and she gritted her teeth — she hated small spaces.
Regina asked the first thing that came to mind. "Did you take his body?"
The woman scoffed. "Of course we did."
"That's too bad. I was hoping I could...you know...burn him myself." Regina conjured up a fireball. It was small and even though panic raced through her veins at the sight of it, she didn't show it.
The woman paled marginally.
She closed her hand around the fireball and balled it in a tight fist. She didn't want to show this person that even a fireball was enough to exhaust her.
"You know, he changed the plans. He was supposed to wait until we were ready to actually take your magic."
Regina narrowed her eyes when, all of a sudden, the woman seemed familiar. She'd seen her around town.
"What happened?"
"He wanted his revenge." The woman shrugged.
Regina's heart skipped a beat when she recognized the woman. "You're Neal's fiancé."
"Oh, so you do remember me?"
"Tamara?"
Tamara smirked. "Yea. That's good, that makes this easier." She moved closer. "He thought he could get his revenge and take your magic — the cuff just didn't survive."
Regina swallowed thickly. "I think Mother Superior has the remains of it, would you like try and see if you can salvage anything?"
Tamara stepped closer. "You mean the Blue Fairy?"
"Do you think, after what Owen did to me, I'm afraid of you?" Regina asked, fighting the urge to step back.
Tamara stopped moving forward. "I think you should be. You're alone and from what I can see, not nearly as strong as you were. He really did a number on you, didn't he?"
"He did. I imagine you already know most of what happened when you came here to clean up his mess."
Tamara chuckled. "Greg was stupid, but not that stupid. He made sure that there was a record of everything he did to you — even while you were unconscious."
Regina breathed sharply.
Her magic had always been sensitive to the changes in her emotions, and even weak as it was, it roared to life.
Her hand twitched, and all she could think of was that she wanted to kill Tamara for taunting her.
When Tamara gasped, Regina realized that her magic had heeded her and she was actually choking the dark haired woman.
"I don't want to kill you." Regina relaxed her muscles and Tamara gasped for air, coughing. She held a hand to her throat. "I really don't. Taunting me with what Owen did, it's not going to help your case."
"Why?"
"My magic is volatile." Especially now, exhausted and hurting, she knew it was more sensitive.
She'd hardly slept in the past week, afraid her magic would flare up after a nightmare. She didn't want to hurt anyone.
Tamara straightened up again. "It's still not what it used to be. It it had been, I know you would've killed me already. You have no control."
Regina watched as she stepped closer, her heart beating painfully against her ribs.
"You're assuming an awful lot, thinking I don't have control."
"Actually, I'm not. We know what you're capable of because while Owen had you hooked up, we measured what we could."
Tamara stepped closed and Regina froze. "Who is we?"
She glanced around, wondering if there were cameras still. Were they watching everything?
Tamara shrugged. "That's not really important. What is, is that you got away last time and we're not done with you."
Regina swallowed, and then swallowed again. She stepped back, and from the smug smile on Tamara's face, she knew that the woman saw her fear.
Because Tamara was right, her magic wasn't what it had been and she didn't know how strong she was. Would she be able to hold her off?
She'd told Emma that her magic was tied in with her injuries and her mental state, and both were nowhere near healthy.
She cursed herself for deviating from the plan, for not telling Emma about the anger and pain and her need to know why.
"I'm not going to let you take me without a fight."
Tamara raised a brow. "You don't have much of a choice."
David had found a way to hide in the bunker, in the room where Regina had been held. He had told Emma to wait, and though Emma felt every muscle in her body tense, she waited.
He had called her, so that she could hear what was going on in the room. She had to keep herself from rushing into the situation.
She didn't need to see the two women to understand that Regina was terrified, but holding on. Tamara had come into town with Neal, and Emma knew that there would be a conversation about all of this when it was over.
There was more to the story and Emma wanted to know. She was sure that she would get the whole story.
Suddenly, David whispered into the speaker of his phone. "Now!"
Emma kicked the door, enjoying the way it slammed into the wall with the force she'd used.
She had her gun ready and trained on Tamara, and then glanced at Regina to see if she was okay.
She looked stunned, especially when David moved around her but she didn't say a word.
Emma grinned at Tamara. "I'd have to disagree, because you are under arrest for stalking, harassing and threatening the Mayor of Storybrooke."
While she wanted to add more to the list, especially involvement in torture, she knew she needed more proof. Even if David had recorded the call, they didn't have enough to tie Tamara to anything.
David moved quickly, cuffing Tamara while she was still scoffing at Emma. "I'll read her her rights and bring her to the car."
He pushed Tamara out of the room and his steady voice faded as he left the bunker.
Emma stepped forward, watching as Regina did the same. The former queen swallowed thickly, and pushed her shaking hands into the pockets of her coat.
Emma frowned. "Are you—"
Regina shook her head, cutting off the question before Emma could finish. She breathed harshly, and then looked up at Emma, her nostrils flaring with the effort to hold in whatever she was feeling.
"I need you—I need you to hold me." Before I fall apart, were unsaid but implied words. The innocence that radiated off of Regina was new.
"Of course." Emma stepped forward, and wrapped the mayor up in a tight embrace. Regina seemed to crumble in her arms.
There was no hesitation, only comfort as Regina held on tightly. Emma felt her own chest tighten at the silent cries, Regina's shoulders shaking with the force of them.
A harsh sob broke through the silence and Emma tightened her grip on the woman in her arms. Something had changed, breaking the strong woman into tiny little pieces.
Regina gasped, breathless even then.
"Breathe, Regina. Just breathe and let it all out." She rubbed her hand up and down Regina's back and bit her lips to stop her own tears.
When she felt the tears against her neck, she couldn't stop her own anymore.
"E—Emma." Regina moaned and then sobbed again.
Emma's voice broke. "You're going to be okay."
And she kept repeating it until Regina calmed down.
Regina chose to go home instead of following David to the station to listen to Tamara's statement. It felt a lot like weakness.
"But it's not." Emma handed her a cup of tea. "David can handle her and you need to take a moment to breathe, to be able to relax."
She knew Emma was right. She didn't need to be around to hear Tamara weave a web of lies around what happened to her. Tamara would have a reasonable explanation for everything.
She had already admitted to being involved, but Owen had been on his own in the kidnapping and torturing.
"Did you find out where Neal is hiding?"
Emma sighed. "I asked Mary Margaret to check on the hotel."
Regina narrowed her eyes. Emma was keeping something from her. "He's from here, isn't he? I mean — he's from the Enchanted Forest?"
She wrapped her hands around the steaming mug of tea and watched as Emma tried to find the words.
"As it turns out, Neal is Gold's son. I never thought I'd say this, but our son is related to Rumpelstiltskin."
Regina wetted her lips as her heart skipped a beat. "Just our luck."
Emma hummed. "I don't know why I didn't notice it before — I saw how Neal reacted to the imp. I just didn't think he'd be the one endangering you."
Emma leaned back against the couch.
Regina sniffed when she realized something, and even though it hurt, she gave voice to her thoughts. "He's your True Love."
Emma huffed and then laughed. "No, no way. He left me alone to deal with prison while I was pregnant. If he's my True Love, life's more messed up than I thought."
"But—" she shook her head. She didn't even want to think about how it was possible, for two people from the old world, to reproduce without True Love. "Is it over now, Emma? Is it okay to feel safe again?"
She'd felt shaky and nervous ever since they had gotten Tamara, and she wanted to be able to relax, to feel safe again. Emma helped a lot with that.
Emma turned to face her, and then inclined her head. "Yes. I think that it'll take a while, but I'll be here and Henry will be here. I think that—that even my parents will be here for you."
Regina wiped angrily at the stubborn tear that slipped down her face. "Do you think I've proven I can change?"
Emma didn't say anything for a moment and Regina looked up at her. There was so much going on that Regina didn't know what to say, but then Emma smiled.
"You've proven that you are a good person who's done some shitty stuff in the past. I think even though you've hurt a lot of people, they should see this as a second chance."
"I hope that they will."
Emma shrugged. "Maybe they will and maybe they won't. But you won't be alone."
"Thank you."
Emma made her way into the station the following morning, after having dropped Henry off at the mansion.
He had wanted to know what had happened the night before and she'd made it a point to have him promise not to harass Regina about it.
Emma pursed her lips, her mind on the way Regina seemed to pale and tense at every little sound.
That's why she'd sent Mary Margaret to the mansion, without actually talking about it with the former mayor.
Tamara was fast asleep when Emma walked in. She closed the door harder than necessary and grinned when the prisoner startled awake.
"Sleep okay? I remember how those cots feel."
"Then you know my answer."
"Hmm."
"How did Regina sleep?" It was a taunt, but Emma simply smiled as she thought about Regina.
"Actually, she slept great in my arms."
Tamara grimaced. "Fuck you."
"That's—that's bold." Emma chuckled, but quickly sobered. "David told me he'd found a way to have you extradited, which is a good thing because if you stay here you'll probably end up in the asylum."
"They'll have a hard time finding anything, just like you did. At least on me." She shrugged and Emma narrowed her eyes as she moved toward her computer. "On Greg? Well he did record what he did to a person who doesn't even exist in the real world."
Emma sat down and clenched her jaw. Tamara was right and she knew it.
While she waited for her computer to start up, she looked up at the woman behind bars.
"I'll believe it when I see it."
Tamara smiled smugly, to Emma's surprise. "You will."
Emma breathed in and opened her mouth, but tensed when her computer was finally started up. A notification on her screen grabbed her attention.
It was addressed to her, but sent to the station email.
When she opened it, she noticed the video file before anything else and she glared at Tamara.
She stood to her feet, her legs shaky as she made her way toward Tamara. "Did you send this? Is this some kind of sick game?"
She was fast, and grabbed Tamara by her throat. The woman simply grinned at her. "I didn't."
"I really hope that you know what you're doing, taunting people who have magic." She pushed a little of her own magic against the hold she had on Tamara before pushing her away.
The brunette widened her eyes. "You're one of them."
"Oh, fuck off." Emma made her way back to her computer, this time closing the door behind her and then quickly closing the blinds.
She wasn't sure if she wanted to watch the video, but she was sure that it was going to help her in a way.
She wanted to give Regina closure, bo matter the cost.