A/N: sorry this took so long. I hope you like it though. I personally do. Very mildly NSWF (I was writing it in public and couldn't bring myself to go any more detailed with people looking over my shoulder!) Enjoy anyway. There's another Medical Mystery chapter in the works too …

"Emma, I'm happy for you," Regina said, the words catching as they were forced from her lips. "I really am."

She moved forward to hug the blonde, feeling as if the embrace may in some way cover the lie she had just told. But she should have known better. She should have known that Emma could tell how she truly felt; Emma always knew what she truly felt. As long, slender, toned arms wrapped around her shoulders, the barest of whispers reached Regina's ear.

"I don't believe you."

Emma pulled back and plastered a smile on her face, ignoring the feel of the ring on her finger which was suddenly very tight. Regina's familiar scent had made her heart pound, the distant memory of the brunette lying in her arms resurfacing after their brief hug.

"So, what were you saying about the Evil Queen?" Emma asked, desperately needing a distraction.

"She escaped," Zelena said, oblivious to the tension between two of the women in the room.

"What?" Snow gasped.

"It's not my fault," Zelena defended. "I figured she was trapped in that magical cage. It's not on me that you weren't able to keep her in there," she shot at Emma.

Ignoring the retort, Emma turned to Regina. Regardless of the fact that she knew the two of them spending any time together when they were both feeling … whatever they were feeling was a bad idea, she also knew their best hope of finding and re-imprisoning the Evil Queen was if they worked together.

"Where do you think she'd have gone?" Emma asked.

"I don't know," Regina admitted. "She can't leave the town but she wasn't at Zelena's farmhouse or my vault. I didn't know where else to begin looking so I just came here." The words 'to you' were left unsaid.

"Let's go then," Emma said, grabbing her coat from the back of a dining chair and heading towards the door.

Regina followed without question, leaving Snow and Zelena alone in the kitchen.

"So," Zelena said after a while, "you're going to have a pirate as a son-in-law."

Snow beamed at the thought and nodded enthusiastically. "Yes and hopefully soon I'll have another little grandchild to spoil."

Outside, the streets were white and empty, the recent snowfall forcing everyone inside. Regina pulled her jacket more closely around her and muttered a spell to keep herself snug. She hated winters in Maine. Emma was beside her, rubbing her hands together in an attempt to warm them up. Regina looked away as she saw the ring glinting in the pale sunlight.

"Where do we start?" Emma asked, turning to Regina.

"No idea," Regina replied, truthfully.

Emma scanned the street, as if expecting to see either the Evil Queen herself on the snake version appearing before their eyes. Neither form did, of course so she began considering what she would do if she was a snake and needed to return to human form.

"Are you sure she wasn't at your vault?" Emma asked, unable to think of another place in Storybrooke where the Queen would be able to get her hands (or tail) on something which would be able to free her from her animalistic prison.

"Why did you say yes?"

The question hung in the air; frozen, bitter, pained. Emma couldn't bring herself to look at the woman beside her, couldn't bear to see the sadness she knew would be etched on the beautiful features. No answer she could give would be enough, no answer would make Regina feel better, nor Emma, for that matter. The only solution which would make either of them feel good had been vehemently refused by Regina herself. Several times.

"I couldn't wait any longer," Emma admitted before setting off down the street in the direction of the graveyard.

She had barely gone ten yards, however, when a plume of purple smoke appeared before her and she came face to face with an anguished looking Regina.

"You were still waiting?" she asked, brown eyes wide.

"I've been waiting for three years," Emma said. "You knew that. I told you, I asked you, Regina. I gave you the chance to see what was between us and again and again you shut me down, told me to give you time. Three years, Regina. Three years. And you know what? During that time I came to care for Hook. I really do. So when I found that ring, yeah, I decided I couldn't continue to put my life on pause for someone who I don't think will ever be ready to -"

More purple smoke appeared, this time swirling around both women as their surroundings melted into the distance. Emma huffed out her annoyance, memories of Regina using her magic to transport them somewhere secluded so regularly three years ago making her heart clench. She didn't know where they were going but she had a pretty good idea.

"See, she's not here," Regina said, waving her arm to illustrate the empty vault.

"Yeah," Emma deadpanned. "That's why you brought me here."

Regina blushed. "Did you really want to have that conversation right outside your parents' apartment?"

"What conversation? There's nothing to say, Regina. I waited for you for three years. We keep getting closer and then you start pulling away. Every time I think we are getting somewhere, finally talking normally again, you freak out and disappear on me."

"Do you think it's easy?" Regina spat. "Do you think I like seeing you with him?"

"I only started dating Hook because you told me we could never be together," Emma shot back. "I wanted you, Regina. I wanted us. I thought that was what you wanted too. Those weeks in Neverland were amazing, we both know that. Why did everything have to change once we got back -"

"To reality," Regina interrupted. "We came back to reality, Emma. With our son and your family and Storybrooke. You know we couldn't have continued … whatever that was. You know it wouldn't have worked."

"No, I don't know that," Emma said, "because you never gave us a chance. We've had this argument so many times, Gina. Why were you so convinced we would fail? What was it about me, or us, that you had so little faith in?"

"It wasn't you," Regina said, internally cringing at the cliché.

"No, it was you," Emma bit back, ignoring the flinch of hurt from the brunette. "You were the one who ended things. You were the one who told me to forget what we had, what we felt for each other. You were the one too scared to take a chance and -"

"I was fucking petrified," Regina shouted, the words echoing off the cold stone walls. Emma's eyes widened. It wasn't unusual for Regina to shout at her when they started their arguments about what had happened between them. But the truth, the raw, unmasked and pained truth Regina had just exposed, that was unusual. "I was petrified," Regina repeated, quieter this time. "Everyone I've ever been with is dead. I couldn't let that happen, I couldn't put you at risk like that. I had to push you away, I had to protect you from me. I'm … cursed."

She sank onto the lid of a closed chest, elbows on her knees and head in her hands. Emma hesitated before walking over to sit beside her, reaching out to pat Regina on the back.

"It's ok," Emma soothed, unsure exactly what the brunette had just admitted.

"It's not," Regina said, her voice thick with emotion. "You're right, Emma. I was the one who fucked things up. I was the one who pushed you to start your relationship with Hook. I'm the reason you're now engaged to someone you don't even love."

"I do love him," Emma said without thinking.

The body beneath her palm tensed, the ragged breathing hitching in Regina's throat. "Oh."

If it was possible to feel someone's heart break, to feel their soul shatter beneath one's touch, Emma was sure that was what was happening to Regina in that moment. Whether it was because she had magic or because Regina did or simply the strength of the emotions involved, Emma's fingertips could feel the beautiful woman beside her crumbling.

"I love you too."

The words were bare whispers but it was enough. Regina's body stilled, the tears still flowing down her cheeks but her heart tingled with hope. Slowly, she raised her face to look at Emma, the nervous smile so familiar and yet one she hadn't seen in three years.

"You do?" Regina asked, voice hoarse.

"You know I do," Emma said gently. "I've told you a million times, Regina. It's never going to change."

"But Hook -"

"Is a sweet guy," Emma finished. "But he's not you."

"You said yes to him," Regina frowned. "Why?"

Emma shrugged. "Maybe I was hoping it would spur you into action. Maybe I thought this was going to be the thing which finally made you realise what you want, what we could have."

"Which is?"

"You tell me," Emma smiled. "What do you want, Regina? You know where I stand, you know what I've wanted for three years, from the moment we first kissed in Neverland. I've never hidden my feelings for you, I've never denied how much I've wanted the two of us to be together. I don't care about this so called curse you think you have from which everyone close to you ends up dead. I've loved you for three years and I'm still standing. I was just waiting for you to realise that."

"Are you still waiting?" Regina asked.

"I'll always be waiting for you," Emma said. "As long as it takes."

Regina searched the genuine face beside her, taking in the delicate features she knew so well. She remembered lying on the forest floor in Neverland, fingertips grazing over those defined cheekbones, tracing the pale lips, cupping that sharp jaw, pulling the blonde closer until … No one had looked at her the way Emma Swan did since Daniel. Not Graham, not Robin, not anyone. She wondered how she looked at Emma, whether her eyes were equally filled with passion, desire and love. No, there was no wondering. She knew exactly how she looked at Emma. She had tried to hide it, tried to tamp down her emotions, tried to move on, distract herself with Robin. But it hadn't worked.

She reached across and took Emma's hand in her own. Gently, slowly, giving Emma more than enough time to pull away, she began to slide the engagement ring from the slender, pale finger. Emma watched, transfixed, as the band moved steadily down until it passed over her nail and dropped to the floor. It tinkled as it hit the flagstone, both women staring as it rocked for several seconds before settling on its side, the diamond facing away from them.

"No more waiting," Regina breathed, looking once again into the green eyes beside her. "I'm done waiting, Emma."

"Are you sure?" Emma asked, her heart pounding almost painfully against her chest. "I don't think I could take another rejection, Gina. If you're not one hundred per cent, if you're not completely sure this is -"

Lips covering Emma's mouth silenced the question, answered the question. It barely took a second for Emma to respond, to wrap her arms around Regina and pull her closer, moaning at the feel of the woman back in her arms at last. It might have been three years since they had last been together but the memories came flooding back. The feeling of their bodies, bare and slick against one another, moving fluidly, easily, perfectly, pressed against the forest floor, hidden by a cloaking spell Regina had cast in case another member of the rescue party came to look for them. It might have been the loss of Henry which had forced the two mothers together, that had finally allowed each of them to see that they weren't so different, that they didn't have to be enemies, that, in fact, they could be something so much more enjoyable to one another.

The kiss escalated, hands wandering inside winter coats, seeking out the bodies which had been craved, missed, desired for so long. It didn't take long for the two women to undress, lying atop their discarded clothes to protect themselves against the hard stone beneath them. It was rushed, perhaps, neither woman even able to wait their turn as fingers dipped between thighs, sliding easily inside one another, pumping in unison as they drove one another to their peak. They tumbled into their orgasms, Emma's cry quickly followed by one of Regina's as they crested, their bodies rocking against one another, slick with sweat and still hot with desire.

They could easily have spent the rest of the day in the vault, re-exploring one another, remembering what they liked, what they could do together, how it felt to be with someone who understood them so completely. But Regina's cell phone rang, the shrill noise splitting their post-coital bliss brutally apart.

"The Evil Queen," Regina breathed. "I forgot."

"I am pretty good," Emma smirked, kissing Regina once more before sitting up beginning to get dressed.

Regina rolled her eyes at the boastful blonde but couldn't deny it. Emma was by far the most attentive lover she had ever lain with. She had lost track of the number of times over the past three years that she had craved the touch of the woman now pulling her skinny jeans on, wishing she could reach out, stop the process and tempt Emma back to bed. But she didn't and instead reached for her phone to answer the call.

"What is it, Zelena?"

"We've found the Evil Queen," her half-sister informed her. "Where did you and Emma disappear to?"

"We've been looking for her too," Regina lied. "Where is she?"

"Your office," Zelena replied. "She's got Robin."

"Why?" Regina frowned.

"As a hostage," Zelena said. "Judging by the fact that this letter she sent to you is written in her handwriting, I'm guessing she isn't a snake any more."

"And she's holding hostage an alternate universe version of a man I once dated?" Regina asked, watching Emma's eyebrows raise in amusement.

"Yeah, apparently," Zelena said. "So, what's your plan?"

Regina sighed. It might not have been her Robin and the man himself had never come anywhere close to meaning as much as Emma did to her but he was still a person. He still didn't deserve to suffer at the hands of her evil self.

"I'm on my way," Regina said, hanging up the call.

"On your way where?" Emma asked, now dressed.

"To my office," Regina said, beginning to gather her own clothes. "The Evil Queen has Robin, apparently."

"Better go and save him then," Emma said.

"Indeed," Regina nodded. "But once I'm done with that, I'm coming straight back to you. Robin and I were … I mean, I liked him but … it was never … I needed a distraction, basically."

"I know," Emma assured.

"For what it's worth, I'm sorry."

"What for?"

"For making you wait so long, for hiding my feelings behind Robin, for pushing you to be with Hook, or at least not standing up for how I felt and allowing you to be captured by his … charm?"

"Hey, I'm the charming one," Emma joked.

"Indeed you are," Regina said. "A Charming I managed to resist for three years."

"But no longer," Emma grinned. "I'm never letting you resist me again." Regina raised her eyebrow. "Ok, that came out wrong but you know what I mean."

Regina laughed. "I do, and I have no intention of ever resisting you. But right now I do have to resist my desire to take all of your clothes off and go and rescue a man who is a pale imitation of someone I was once using as a distraction, sorry."

"Understood," Emma nodded. "I suppose I have a job to do too."

She bent down and picked up the discarded engagement ring from the floor, angling it in her fingers so the light refracted through the diamond. It was a beautiful ring, she admitted. But from the moment Regina had slid it from her finger, her body had felt free. She needed to go and find Hook and explain to him. She wasn't sure how he would take it but she also knew it wasn't fair to him to keep up the illusion of their relationship. No, it hadn't always been an illusion, she reasoned. He was a sweet guy and he did love her, as she cared for him. But the only reason they had got together in the first place was because Emma needed a distraction from Regina. It may have morphed into more but what she and Hook had shared would never have come close to what she had with Regina. She slid the ring in her pocket and watched as Regina stood up and buttoned her coat.

"I'll come and find you later," she said. "Once I've vanquished the evil half of me."

"You know, I loved you when you were one person," Emma said. "I loved the evil part of you too."

"The evil part of me was contained, controlled when she was inside me. The woman who's holding Robin captive is not. I need to stop her, Emma, for everyone's sake. Especially if she realises that she's not holding hostage the person who truly has my heart."

Emma grinned dopily at the sentiment. "Go and do what you have to do," she said. "I'll see you later."

Regina nodded, leaned in for a final kiss which came close to escalating out of control again before she turned and headed out of her vault. Just before she disappeared, she stopped and looked back.

"I love you too, by the way."