Chapter 13
"We are catching up to him. He is very near here." Regina said excitedly.
Emma turned to look at the brunette and smiled. They must have driven for almost two hours now following the directions on the map.
Suddenly, something crashed into their windshield. Emma hit the brakes hard. The object that had smashed in the windshield rolled off and fell in front of the car.
"Regina! Are you okay?" the trembling blonde turned to look at her passenger.
"Yeah… I'm alright."
Neither ladies had any visible injuries on them. There was, however, blood on the outside of the windshield. Emma got out of her bug to inspect the object that hit them.
She couldn't really see it clearly because the road was very dark. She moved closer to it. It was a body!
"Oh my god! Oh my god! Regina! Help!" Emma called for the brunette's attention.
Regina got out of the car and went over to Emma. They both looked at the body lying in front of them. It was a woman and she had a symbol carved into her forehead just like the other victims the ASF were investigating.
The ASF worked very quickly. Within ten minutes, the investigation team as well as the clean up team had arrived. They took pictures, searched the area for clues and evidence, scry the place for supernatural activities and cleaned up the place to make it look like nothing happened.
The ASF may be quick, but they still took an hour before they were done. They even repaired Emma's bug. Exhaustion got the better of Agent Swan and Agent Mills. They were so close to locating Henry but were delayed by flying dead bodies.
"I think maybe we call it a night? I mean what are we going to do when we see Henry? Fall asleep?" Emma said.
"I guess you are right. Are you okay to drive?" Regina asked the blonde.
"I actually live near here, where do you stay?"
"Nowhere close. Is it okay if I crash at your place?"
"Sure!"
The two women entered the yellow car and drove to Emma's apartment.
"I'm sorry to trouble you so much today." Regina apologised to her host.
"What are you talking about? I am happy to help." Emma handed the brunette a bottle of beer and sat down next to her on the couch.
" Well, thank you." Regina took a sip of her beer.
"You're welcome." Emma took a chug of her beer.
"Ugh! We were so close though!"
"I know. We'll find him tomorrow. He is a grown man, he can take care of himself."
"So was my husband. " the brunette stared into the distance.
Emma placed her arm around Regina's shoulder.
"What made you join ASF?" Emma asked, trying to distract the brunette from being sad.
"Well, my dad, Henry Senior, was a chief at the ASF. He was a brave man and also very smart. He and my mom used to tell me stories of their conquests." Regina said with pride.
The blonde found her adorable.
"When I was really young, I remembered telling myself that I wanted to be just like them. I guess it's no surprise that my son wanted to do the same."
"He is a fine agent." They clinked their bottles on that.
"How about you? What made you join ASF?"
"I was an orphan moving from foster home to foster home. It wasn't easy to be a witch and living with mortals. I got into so much trouble. I ran away at the age of 16. The ASF found me and took me in. There were other orphans like me there. We trained to be agents and here I am."
Regina was moved by the story.
"Were you pressured to be an agent or was it something that you wanted to do?"
"I wanted to be one. It made me feel proud. Happy. They showed me that my powers were a gift and not a curse."
The two ladies continued drinking and chatting. Although they were tired, they carried on.
Emma opened a bottle of red wine and they talked about past cases they had worked on at the ASF. Emma talked about her failed conquests with Ruby, the waitress at the diner, and many others.
When the topic of Daniel came up, Regina felt very emotional. She drank more of the wine. She was getting pretty drunk.
"I loved him so much. I miss him a lot." Regina said.
Emma hugged Regina.
This woman had a very tough year. Emma couldn't imagine how it would have been like to wake up from a coma to find out that everything was different.
Regina nuzzled her head into Emma's neck. She trailed kisses up the neck and planted one on the blonde's lips.
Emma broke away from the kiss.
"I can't do this. You are drunk and vulnerable." the blonde tried to pull away from the embrace.
"I think I am falling for you." Regina's speech was getting slurred.
"What?" Emma was not sure if Regina meant what she said.
The blonde got up from the couch and Regina fell face down on the seat. She did not move.
"Regina?"
Snore.
The brunette had fallen asleep. Emma shook her head.
"Come on. Let's get you to bed."
Emma carried the brunette to her bedroom and lay her down on the bed. She magicked a silk pyjamas on Regina and tucked her in. She took one pillow and a blanket from her bed and left the room.
"Goodnight, Regina Mills." Emma whispered before closing the bedroom door.
Doctor Whale woke up. He had fallen asleep waiting for Regina to come home. He wondered if the brunette was actually home and did not see him in the living room. He creeped around the house looking for the witch.
After looking in every room of the house, he realised that she had not come home. Maybe she did see him and went off.
Disappointed that he could not get his kill, he teleported himself out of the house.
"Why have you come here?" Gold was getting frustrated with his new coven member.
"I need your help, Master. I need help to find Regina." Doctor Whale bowed his head as he talked to Master Gold.
The sorcerer laughed.
"You? Want to go after Regina? You fool! Your power is evanescent! It could fade at any time! And you want to take on a powerful witch like Regina?" Gold mocked.
The doctor felt foolish. He was getting ambitious.
"Do yourself a favour, dearie, and find weaker prey to practice on before you start going after a beast."
"Yes, Master." Dr Whale bowed again.
"Don't come back here until you have completed your task or I'll turn you into ashes!" Master Gold warned.
"Yes, Master." the doctor teleported himself out of there.