When the women finally ascended from the basement each went to do their set out tasks. Regina placed a protection spell on the house so no one other than the residents could enter and anyone else would get a severe sting if they tried to cross the barrier. While she was at it, she fixed the destruction in the foyer. The walls were pristine as if it had never happened. It had. It had and it had damaged them all. How could she ever want to deal with how broken I am? It isn't fair to her. None of this is fair to her.
As Regina entered her kitchen to prepare a light lunch for her and Emma she was lost in thought. She forced herself to remember the attack. The angry malice that distorted the savior's face now held the shape of Sidney Glass. Now that she knew, it was indisputable. The savior's face began to fade and Sidney's replaced the image of her attacker. The things that were shouted at her that day, the degradation she felt, the voice she heard, she consciously morphed it into Sidney's. He was the one. It was him who harmed her. Who harmed Henry. She made a conscious decision that whenever the attack came to mind she would replace Emma from her memory. I have to. I have to if I ever hope to get passed this. If I can't then he wins. He knew. He said as much himself. She recalled some of what he had ranted about, the words which didn't make sense at the time, put into context, now snapped into focus. He knew how I felt about her and he sought to destroy that. We are stronger than your weak attempts to manipulate Sidney. Thick tears poured over her cheeks as she thought about what would have happened to the blonde had she had magic. She shook her head pushing the thought quickly from her mind, wiped her damp cheek and focused on the task at hand.
Emma plopped down on her bed and picked up her cell and saw she had thirty seven missed calls, all from different numbers. She shook her head puzzled and dialed her father's number to see if there was a problem down at the station. He informed her there was not and could not offer any explanation to the strange occurrence. Emma told David about Sidney and she asked if he and Snow could retrieve the spell used to bind a magical being's magic from the blue fairy and the man promised he would. He also promised after Emma had repeatedly insisted, that he would not go and find the news reporter and skewer him like a lamb roast. They made arrangements for the boy to spend the night at the Charming's, even though Emma knew Regina would want him home.
"Did you guys have fun today?" She asked her son when David passed the phone over to the insistent boy.
"Yeah grandpa is teaching me how to sword fight!"
"Woo cool! You sure you want to sleep over there tonight?" Emma teased.
"Yeah gran got us a wii and we are going to have a battle tournament!" He gushed.
"Oh well sharpen your skills on the newbs kid because when you play against me, you'll be in for it!" she boasted.
"You're on!"
She could practically see the ear to ear grin on the kid's face and she started to tear up knowing her father did exactly what she had asked him to do and the boy was getting back to himself once more.
"Alright Mom will call you later before bed okay kiddo, I gotta go."
"Okay ma, love you!
"Love you too Henry." she replied and held the phone to her ear until she heard his side click dead.
She composed herself and started at the last call that had come in on her cell and dialed back the number.
"The number you have dialed is no longer in service. Please check the number and dial again."
"I pressed call back you idiot!" she mumbled to the recording then tried the next one. That too was disconnected and after three more she safely assumed the other 32 incoming calls had all been disconnected.
"What the actual fuck?" Emma said out loud and then went downstairs to find Regina.
Regina was standing in her kitchen looking out the window above her sink. The sun of the afternoon shown in and warmed her face. It was warm on her skin, like Emma's magic had been. Like Emma's body had been. Like Emma's tongue had been.
The object of her day dream entered the kitchen scowling at her phone, "Hey R'gina?"
The queen was startled and quickly turned to face the blonde.
"I've got a fuckload of calls from disconnected lines…" Emma grumbled still looking at her phone.
"Define "fuckload" Miss Swan." Regina stated plainly.
"Many?"
"I don't mean define the term," Regina rolled her eyes, "I mean how many calls did you receive?"
"Oh. Uh…" Emma pulled down the settings bar and recited, "Thirty Seven. I only called back a handful and every one I called was not in service, so I'm just assuming the rest are too. What's that about?"
"Thirty Seven calls?"
"Yeah, one right after another, none went to voicemail."
"That's… odd." Regina said trying to make heads or tails of it.
Emma looked up from the phone face to Regina and shrugged her shoulders. "Yeah. Well I talked to David, nothing crazy is going on either. Oh Henry asked if he could stay over at Mom and Dad's and I said it was okay. Okay?"
"Emma…" Regina drawled her name as if it was a scolding and Emma cringed.
"Look I know, but he sounded so happy and I couldn't say no and he is with David and Mary Margaret and if you'll feel better about it I can go down there and explode Mom's mirrors just like I did yours and put a protection spell on the apartment so everyone is totally safe. Okay?" Regina smiled and raked back her hair from her face and nodded, "Fine, but fix the mirrors, be mindful of your emotions Emma. Magic is emotion. Both your magic and your emotion are very strong my dear, just remember to focus. Don't let your mind wander."
"Do you want to maybe come and do it? I mean, make sure it is done right?" Emma asked second guessing her own abilities. She had never had anyone who had believed in her, and even as an adult, as brazen and self confident as she seemed, that little lost girl whom no one had ever believed capable still lurked within.
"I believe you are fully capable my dear."
Emma smiled shyly and stepped closer the the brunette. "That means a lot to me." she reached out and hooked the brunette's finger and used it to pull her closer. "What does it mean that I just want to live in your personal space?"
"I think it means you are a 3 year old." Regina quipped and returned the sly smile the savior held.
Emma chuckled, but before she could reply the phone behind her rang.
Emma picked it up and then twisted up her face and said, "What?"
"Dude I don't know what language that is but…"
Regina ripped the phone from the blonde's hand and growled into it, "Sidney when I…" she tossed the phone down on the center island. "He hung up that son of a…"
Emma interrupted, "What the hell was that? What was that shit he was saying?"
"Most likely the spell to accost you once again. I guarantee he is your mysterious caller." Regina said and folded her arms around herself then looked to Emma who lost what little color she had to her cheeks. "Are you okay Emma?"
The blonde head shook her head no. Regina could see the fear and anguish and rage within the younger woman and the mayor stepped closer to comfort only to have Emma shake her head no once again. The brunette slid her hand over Emma's sternum, "You are protected. We are safe." she whispered into messy blonde curls.
"I want to kill him." Emma whispered back. The adrenaline coursing through her bloodstream made her body shiver, but the gentle touches from the queen seemed to warm her, to calm her even if it was just a little bit. "We are safe Emma." Regina said again and looked into the swirling dark pools of the savior and recognized the darkness she once had.
No...Could she have taken in my darkness? Did I corrupt the savior?
"While you are down at your parent's house securing our son, I will pay a visit to Rumple alright? We will figure out something permanent without murder Emma."
The savior nodded her head in agreement but her entire body was still lit aflame as her rage coursed through every muscle.
Regina magicked herself just outside of Gold's shop and quickly entered into the establishment. The man in question was polishing a brass bell behind the counter and Regina walked straight up to him and said, "We have a problem."
"I sincerely doubt that your majesty." the man chuckled.
"Sidney Glass."
The two words stopped the dark one and the man lost his teasing smirk instantly.
"As I said. We have a problem."
"I am fairly certain it is still just you and your little blonde consort that has the problem your majesty."
Regina rolled her eyes at the man's attempt to trip her focus. "He is unbound. Your curse unbound him from the prison you created for him."
"His focus is nowhere near me. I still don't see how this problem is ours your majesty."
"You promised to help Emma! You made a deal Gold!" she snapped irritated he wasn't taking this as seriously as she thought he should.
"Yes, find the person who did this."
"Well since you did no such thing, I am changing the details of your deal with my… consort ." Regina sneered. "You will create a way to contain him, something that actually works."
The dark one clenched his teeth and hissed, "Careful dearie."
Regina pulled back a little and slitted her eyes with disdain. "You owe her."
"Yes yes." The man waved his hand and a small box appeared in his palm. "You must get close enough to him in order to use this."
Regina looked at the box with scrutiny. "What does it do?"
"It will reset him back to Sidney Glass, lowly newspaper columnist." the dark one replied flippantly.
"So he will just be free to live out his life? After what he did?" Regina hissed.
"Some may argue that point with you your majesty." he reminded.
"Or you imp!" She shot back.
"Indeed." a crooked toothy grin snaked across the dark one's face. She huffed realizing she wasn't going to get anywhere by arguing and well this option was better than letting Emma kill the man, and really she had imprisoned him once and that didn't exactly bode well for her in the long run. Wiping his obsession along with his memories seemed like her best option. Regina placed a tentative hand on the box and felt its power pulse as if it were a living thing. "One more thing," she said as she slid the box toward herself and looked up to the dark brown eyes of her mentor. "Emma," she worried her lip, uncertain how much detail she wanted the man to know.
"What about Miss Swan?" The man said impatiently.
"She healed me." she said motioning to the injuries that were no longer present.
"Yes I noticed dearie."
"She, well she…" Regina stammered and took a deep breath and decided to just tell him. He needed to know in order to help her. "She pulled the darkness out of my heart."
An almost unnoticeable flash of surprise crossed the features of the dark one and Regina continued with her issue when he remained silent. "Did she heal it or did she take on the darkness herself?"
"She was created from true love dearie, you know better than anyone how powerful she is."
Regina rolled her eyes, "Yes but.."
The man lifted his hand and cut her off. "The potential for greatness has an equal and opposite. The potential for darkness."
"Stop spinning and spit it out!" The queen's patience for the imp's pension for theatrics was null.
"Any darkness she has is her own your majesty."
Regina visibly relaxed. The idea she had corrupted the savior with her dark soul made her ill. "Thank you Gold." She grabbed the little box off of the counter and headed for the front door. She put her hand on the handle and turned back to him, "As long as this little thing works, consider yourself even once again with the savior."
