A/N *Trigger Warning*
-violence… just a tiny bit, again, Blame Sidney!
"Wake up, Sleeping Beauty!" Sidney hissed, done tying the blonde up and ready to lay into her now.
Emma did her best not to show a reaction as the man slapped her across the face, yanking on her hair. If Sidney thought she was already dead maybe he'd leave her alone. There was pain shooting through her injured arm at having it be yanked at an awkward angle, bound behind her back. Her legs were bound at the ankles and just above her knees. At least the vile serpent hadn't taped her mouth shut. This really was getting old. Maybe the city was safer.
Sidney snarled at the woman before him on the ground in the middle of the mine. Anger consuming him at this pathetic excuse for a person his beloved chose as a mate, he lashed out and landed a kick to the woman's left hip. "Good for nothing omega bitch! Regina is mine!" He shoved the sheriff over onto her side. "Regina is worth all the stars in the galaxy, far more than the likes of you should ever have had the honor of experiencing. I know you ran to her like a whore, then rejected her afterwards."
This had Emma's brows furrowing. Rejected… she never rejected Regina. Regina had rejected her. Despite knowing why now, it still hurt and made dating a bit more challenging since that trust was still broken. Regina had really been trying though, making her heart swell, completely unaware that her lips had curled into a smile.
"Waste of space entitled brat!" Sidney delivered another kick to still bruised ribs causing Emma to cry out in pain. "You are unworthy of her! Your own parents didn't even want you. The only reason you replaced Graham as sheriff is because Maya is Regina's best friend. Completely unfit to do a sheriff's job."
"Is this supposed to be some shocking revelation, things I don't know?" Emma rolled her eyes, annoyed at the disgruntled madman. "Regina was never into you. She had a whole lifetime to show otherwise if she was. Who really is the sad, pathetic excuse for a human being? I am not the one hung up on an unrequited love. How do you think Regina's going to respond when she learns what you've done to the mate she chose?"
The reporter scoffed, glaring down at the woman. "With you gone, Regina will realise I am everything she needs in life. I can be strong where you are nothing but weak. I will never abandon her or reject her," he shook his head, looming over the swan. "I can be everything she ever needs."
Green eyes rolled. "I suppose you're going to take it up the ass then?" Emma smirked in amusement at the man's confusion. "Oh, did you think a powerful alpha like Regina was going to be bearing some wimpy beta's child?" The blonde couldn't help but laugh at Sidney's delusional world.
"Enjoy your death down here." Sidney snarled, unwilling to continue this pointless argument with his enemy. Emma Swan would die in these mines, either from lack of oxygen or from a wall collapse, the structure not very stable. Regina would grieve in his arms and then discover him her true mate soon enough.
SQSQSQ
"Lacey?" Regina rushed over as she saw the woman passed out on the shortcut to Emma's house. Carefully she rolled the woman over, relieved to find a pulse. "Lacey, wake up!"
The unconscious woman groaned, her sister-in-law's voice filtering through. "Wha- Regina?" Blinking open her eyes, she came face to face with the mayor. "Where's Emma?"
Regina looked around quickly despite knowing Emma wasn't anywhere around. "Emma was with you? What happened?"
"Sidney Glass… he threw some sort of powder at us and then," Lacey gestured to herself sprawled on the ground. "He had such crazy eyes!"
"Are you injured?" Regina helped Lacey to her feet before tugging her along to the house. "Sarah, Maya, we have a problem!" The mayor followed the muffled voices through the house before coming to the living room where David, Sarah, and Maya were standing over the puppy, tongue lolled out of her mouth.
David spun to glance at his wife's best friend. ""Regina…L-Lacey?"
Regina rolled her eyes, making her way over to the group. "Glass did this. He gave them all something to knock them unconscious."
Dark blue eyes narrowed as Maya stepped into her friend's personal space. "He took Emma." When Regina nodded, Maya roared in rage. Oh this man was going to pay!
Sarah shook her head. How could this be happening to her baby again? Maybe small town Storybrooke would no longer be their home soon. "I'll go track down Glass." She turned to Maya. "You go get Ai. We'll need her assistance." Turning to Regina, she sighed. "Find Emma, you can now smell her the best."
"Where are you going?" Regina's brows furrowed in confusion as the ice cream maker made for the staircase.
"I can't go hunting this town for my daughter in these clothes." Sarah rolled her eyes before stomping the rest of the way upstairs.
Maya stared after her wife before turning back to Regina and Lacey. "She's going to want to move now. Emma had better luck staying safe in the big city."
Regina pulled her friend in for a hug. "We'll find her. Go grab Deputy Zhang. Lacey, go find my sister and start looking." She didn't wait for a response before she was out the door. There was one person in town who would know what happened and where Sidney was holding Emma. It took her several minutes, but she finally stalked through the door to the little shop, hissing at the bell signaling her arrival.
"We're closed."
"You will damn well make time!" Regina stormed towards the muffled voice in the back of the shop, pinning Gold with a glare before becoming confused. He was… mixing a potion? "You dirty little imp!" In a flash she had the man pinned to the wall by his collar leaving him to dangle in the air. "What have you done, Rumple?"
"Who is this Rumple, dearie?" Gold smirked at her before gasping as his oxygen was cut off. "You won't kill me."
Regina pulled him slightly away from the wall only to slam him hard enough to crack the plaster. "Tell me where he took Emma, and don't play dumb or you will wish I had killed you."
Rumple debated the options. Him dead voided his whole purpose in preparing the potion for himself and Belle, the daunting efforts to locate Bae. "Your genie."
"I know the goddam genie, Rumple!" Regina delighted in his struggling now as she continued to deprive him of air. "What did you do? Where is Emma?"
Gold struggled, eyes wide before the mayor allowed him a lungful of air, no doubt to be taken again if he didn't talk. Regina hadn't even shown this level of care for her stable boy. "He didn't say, just asked for poppy powder."
Regina swore to herself. Poppy powder in small doses was good to produce drowsiness. Too much and you could damage the heart and wind up killing someone. It also masked a person's scent. Now she'd have to rely on other means to find her Emma. "Where'd he go?"
"I don't know, Your Majesty. He was ranting about Emma and somewhere the sun didn't shine." Gold grunted and hissed in pain as he was dropped unceremoniously to the floor, glaring as Regina was already moving towards the door. "Beware, Mills, Once the curse breaks, magic will come. You will not wield all the power anymore!"
Pausing, Regina turned to face the man. "You will still be a beta." Smirking as the man raged at that, she ran out of the shop. There were only a few places in town where the sun didn't shine… the psych ward, which was too public, her vault which was locked up tight, and the mines which was supposed to be blocked off due to its instability. If Sidney was intending to hurt Emma, he'd take her to the mines. Cursing that her car was at home, Regina threw off her heels and ran to the park that housed the entrance.
The caution tape and the boards sealing off the mine were moved. Had she not overseen the installation of them, it could have been easily missed. Reaching out for the tape, the yellow plastic floated off the edge of the entrance and began to flutter wildly in the breeze. Damn Sidney! Ripping off the boards, Regina used her phone's flashlight to guide her through the winding tunnels. "Emma? Emma, are you here? Can you hear me? Emma!"
The mine tunnels were beyond dark. The air became dusty the further in Regina crept. As the overhead clearance became shorter, Regina hoped the damned man hadn't been able to get Emma in too far. "Emma?!"
"Regina?" Emma hoped that her mind wasn't playing tricks on her from lack of oxygen in these damn tunnels. She'd gotten up after a long struggle once Sidney left, trying to navigate the area in the dark. It felt like forever, but without any luck, Emma had dropped to the ground again.
"Emma! Call out again, darling. I'm here!" Regina followed the sweet voice only to crash into a wall. "Emma?"
Emma sighed, dropping her head on the wall closest to Regina's voice. So close, yet so far. Out of all the things she'd been through, Emma never thought a mine would be her end. "Gina."
Regina could hear the defeat in Emma's voice, unsure how long her girlfriend had been down here. "Hold on, Emma. I will find you!" The mayor cursed herself for the pain shooting through the soles of her bare feet on the rough terrain. A few minutes of helpless fumbling in the dark, making Emma talk to her, and she found the tiny cavern Emma had wound up in. Rushing over, she tripped on a rock, sprawling and winding up on top of Emma. "Shit, I'm sorry!"
Emma struggled to breathe, being without fresh oxygen for ages. She was just overjoyed Regina was actually here. "Sidney, h-he," choking on a sob she hadn't realized how scared she was until now.
"Shh, darling. I know." Regina smoothed hair from Emma's face before cupping soft flesh, leaning close to kiss the centre of her forehead, moving to rain kisses over the rest of the gorgeous face beneath her. "Let's get you untied." The mayor quickly going to work on the arm bindings. "Damn it!"
"It's okay. Let's get out of here first." Emma struggled to stand, even with Regina's help. The binds on her legs made any movement but hopping or worm crawling impossible. "Go get help. I'll stay."
The mayor glared, pulling her omega close. "Listen to me dammit! I'm not leaving you behind. Anything could happen. We're in this together!"
Before Emma could reply a loud rumble erupted as the ground shook. Emma's eyes widened, barely able to make out the face before her as the phone dropped and skidded away a few feet. "What-?" The nearby exit to the tunnel began to collapse before the rest of the question could be uttered.
Both Regina and Emma let out distressed cries as their exit disappeared. Regina charged at the opening only to slip in the dark and crack her head against a jagged rock. The mayor felt blood begin to pour from her head as more rocks crashed on top of her.
"Regina, move!" Emma watched in horror as the rocks continued to fall, knowing the brunette was now injured and trapped, their only light from the phone quickly fading out. She wriggled and scooted, ignoring her own pain until she was next to Regina. "Regina, please!"
Hating the sound of her mate in distress, Regina somehow found the strength to pull herself out of the pile of rubble, inching as close as she could manage to Emma, the pain searing through her just everywhere indicating serious injuries. "I'm here, Em."
Emma couldn't help the tears that started leaking down her face. "What do we do?"
"I tell you I love you, and I'm sorry I haven't before now." Regina laughed weakly before coughing, the desire to close her eyes and sleep off the exhaustion creeping up rapidly. "I never win."
"I know you love me, you idiot. Why do you think I put up with your bullshit?" Emma maneuvered so she was laying the same direction as Regina, scooting as close as she could. "Don't you dare die on me!"
Regina tried to focus on Emma's words instead of her life force fading on her. There was no magic here to save her, nothing was going to come save them. Tears falling freely down her face, she leaned forward, mere millimeters from the blonde's face. "I love you, forever my darling." Creeping to close the final distance, bright red lips captured pale pink ones tenderly, both their eyes slipping closed and missing the blinding flash of rainbow sheened light escape and expand outward.
Gold was waiting at the well, uncapped vial ready to pour down the thing to return the magic. As soon as it hit, he was knocked off his feet, glass falling down and crashing to the bottom of the well. As the noxious purple clouds funneled from the old bricks mere minutes later, he cackled in delight. Now to find his Belle so they could leave.
Sarah and Maya had met up, trying to catch whiffs of Regina's scent in order to figure out where the mayor had disappeared to. They were getting desperate when Lucca had chased them down, barking like mad as she sprinted towards the park. The blast of light through them as the reached the mine entrance had the puppy whimpering, knocked off course to her destination.
The snow queen turned to look at her wife, tears in her eyes. All her life she'd been searching to replace her sisters, impatience almost costing her the beautiful creature before her and their daughter…. their daughter who was trapped in the mines. "Maya?"
"It's actually Maleficent, dear, and we can talk after we get our girl." Mal shook her head to try and separate truth and fantasy, struggling to reconcile that Regina gave her such happiness.
"We can't go in there without a gameplan or at least schematics of the mine." Ingrid frowned, frustrated and upset she couldn't save her girl this time… and then the purple fog washed over her, sending tingling, much like enhanced pins and needles. through her entire body. Her magic was back!
Mal smirked as her powers returned, thanking the fates that be for such a gift right now. "You get our girl. I'm going to hunt down a certain genie." She leaned in and kissed her wife, her wife, before poofing away.
Ingrid felt giddy, like their first date all over again. Shaking it off, she focused hard and soon her daughter and the mayor were at her feet. A flick of her wrist and Emma's bindings were removed.
"Regina!" Emma gasped as her mate lay unresponsive on the grass, blood still sticky and oozing from her head. Carefully cupping the woman's face, she yelped as a bright white light began to glow from her hands. "Mom?"
"It's magic, my Emma." Ingrid bent down next to her daughter, pride swelling in her chest at the fact Emma finally had her magic. "You're healing her. Keep going."
Emma had no idea what the hell she was doing as she tried to concentrate on bringing Regina back to her. Magic? She had magic? Magic was real and apparently she and her mothers had it? Her own head throbbed as she tried to process it all.
Regina was groggy, unsure what was going on, but she felt magic, strong, pure magic mending her internal injuries, the jolt of power felt exquisite.
Not wanting to be left out, Lucca bound forward, pleased to see her mistress, bouncing all around her, licking everywhere she could causing Emma to laugh and Regina to snarl in disgust. Normally Lucca hated anyone getting close to her mistress.
Across town Lacey and Lena were trying to find Regina when the blast of light hit them. Belle blinked a few times before looking in fear at the sudden stranger before her. "Lena?"
"Lace,." Zelena was suddenly on edge, waiting for her world to be ripped from her. Lacey, Belle, belonged to the bloody imp, no matter what this false world had given her, Belle was about to take it all away from her.
Before Belle could voice any of the thoughts streaming through her head, both were enveloped in a ghastly purple cloud. When it dissipated, both were standing just before the town line, Rumple waiting for them, suitcase in hand.
"My Belle." Rumple moved forward, doing his best to ignore Zelena. "Come, I've made a potion so we can leave this place, start over, and find my son."
Belle reared back, pleased and surprised to find Zelena's warm embrace coming around her. "I'm not yours, Rumple. I don't wish to leave or to find your son. Lena and I are staying here. I love her."
Zelena's heart burst at the news. Belle, her Lacey, was choosing to stay with her instead of going back to the Dark One! Leaning down, she nuzzled at her mark on the brunette's neck.
"Don't be silly, Belle. You don't love her, it wasn't real." Gold stepped forward, glaring at the red head. "Zelena, the Wicked Witch, probably doesn't even love you. I have my powers now. Together we can leave, become a family again with my son."
"This isn't about having your powers, Rumple. I've always hated you chose power over love. I don't care about some child you threw away. I'll never matter more than your son or your powers." Belle turned to find blue eyes smiling down at her. "Alpha or beta, I know Lena loves me. I choose her."
Rumple snarled, ready to force Belle with him. "She is a Mills, and Mills women are incapable of love. They only know how to destroy, evil."
Belle scoffed. "Rich coming from the man responsible for them being that way." She waved her hand dismissively before leaning back into her alpha. "I still choose her."
Zelena shot her magic out at the imp as he moved to snatch her love from her, whatever red vial he was holding smashing into the street below them as the man flew over the line.
Both women stepped forward to watch in confused awe as the imp hobbled around confused, muttering about his son and a crazed witch. The brunette turned to 'the witch' with concern in her eyes. "He's forgotten who he is completely."
"Probably for the better. The Dark One is no more. At least he cannot hurt you anymore." Zelena suddenly became uncertain, staring at the woman before her intently. "You really choose me?"
"Of course!" Belle moved forward to embrace the tall woman. "I may have to get to know who you were, but I know my Lena, and I love you. You would have let me go if I chose to. I do believe we have to save your sister now."
Zelena couldn't believe the woman before her was even real. No one had wanted her for her, not her mother, not her adoptive parents… she wasn't even sure Regina wanted her, but this magnificent creature did. Sweeping Belle up in her arms, they disappeared in a puff of green smoke.
SQSQSQ
Snow choked as the curse broke. She wasn't a teenage mother of a baby she'd had to give up because her affair with a married man. Her daughter, her Emma, was here… here and dating the mayor, Regina, her nemesis. Her daughter she couldn't find a connection to in order to save her life. Oh but now she had to find her husband, to help everyone trapped here figure out where their families were.
"Snow!" David found his wife, well his real wife, wandering the streets looking distraught and a mess, like she'd been crying before they woke. Then he remembered what life the curse had given her, the life it had given him.
"Snow, Prince James!"
The royal couple was soon surrounded by their subjects demanding answers, people in panic about who they were now, how they were going to find their families, demanding blood and justice. People were scrambling around like madmen, chickens without heads as if they'd suddenly forgotten the twenty plus years on how to function in Storybrooke. It had taken a few hours to organize everyone, Snow, Charming, Ruby, and Blue doing their best to quell the mob.
"Off with the Queen's head!"
Snow just rolled her eyes at the chorus of agreements that followed. As much as she personally needed words with Regina for how she'd suffered, Snow recognized the changes in the woman since… "No!"
"No?" Charming turned to his wife.
Leroy shook his fist. "Someone must pay! The queen cursed us! Death to her majesty!"
"I said NO!" Snow stood up, quieting the crowd immediately. "Regina cast this curse, yes, but no one lost anything but me. I suffered, not you. Regina gave you all equal footing, self sufficiency in this town, our town. No royalty, no poverty, just skills and intelligence. Many of you didn't even know how to read in the Enchanted Forest. Think of all we have here now."
"No, Sistah, someone must pay!" Leroy couldn't believe his ears that Snow of all people wasn't demanding the queen's head on a spike.
Snow glared him down. "Let us figure things out before we have blood." Her face softened, thinking of the newborn her daughter once was and then to the gorgeous woman she is now. "Besides, my daughter has found love in the mayor. All Regina has ever wanted was happiness, and Emma seems to be it. If we wish for blood, how about the men who have attacked her, the pirates who intended to rape and kill her."
The crowd shuddered. The whole town knew what the sheriff had endured, and now to know the blonde was their princess, uproar started again, most marching off to find the pirates in order to get their blood while Grumpy surged forward, unhappy. "The queen must face consequences."
Ingrid stepped forward, helping Emma and Regina despite the magic healing them. Both were still weak and exhausted. "They already have."
Charming wished he had a sword to pull right now, stepping in front of Snow in case the Evil Queen got any ideas. "Witch, step no further."
Regina rolled her eyes, anger flaring. Before she could snap at the man though, Emma placed a hand on her forearm, a light kiss pressed to her cheek.
"We have both suffered enough. In this world the law is different. No crime has been committed by the mayor, and since I'm the law, I suggest you shut up before you find yourself in a cell." Emma glared the short man down before eyeing Mary Margaret and David.
David surged forward, crushing Emma in a hug, not noticing how stiff and uncomfortable the sheriff was. "Emma!"
"Please release my daughter. She's been through an ordeal and needs rest." Ingrid knew the beta was just itching for a fight now at her claim, but she was undeterred. Turning to the former princess, she addressed Snow White. "The genie, my wife is hunting him right now. He left Emma in the mines to perish. I would find him for your justice before he exists no more."
"I am Emma's father, Snow her mother. Who the hell are you?" David stepped towards the strange blonde only to have the mutt he'd unknowingly given his daughter a short while ago surge forward, snarling at him.
Snow walked forward, placing a hand on her husband's arm as Emma quickly retreated from them. "We haven't been her parents in a long time. Emma has claimed her. We must respect that."
The man growled. "The hell I will! We are her parents!" David wished he could take on the alpha, but it'd be certain death. How he and Snow were simple betas he didn't understand. "Emma, please, I'm your father."
Emma shrugged, stepping closer to Regina, snuggling into her side. "You may be why I'm here, but Sarah and Maya are my moms… or whatever their true names are. I am not giving them up just because you claim DNA."
Snow gave a resigned nod. She had always hoped her daughter would break the curse and fall into their arms ready and willing to be their perfect little princess, to let them care for her, but she never accounted for the person Emma would grow to be without them, that she might not need them once the curse had broken. "We understand. Regina knows where I live when you're ready."
Regina was shocked Snow had given in so easily. No fight, no tears, nothing. It was bewildering to see the princess just surrender the daughter she'd spent twenty three years crying over. It demanded answers… after she and Emma had recovered. Nodding at Snow and her shepherd, the mayor poofed herself, Emma, Sarah, and the puppy to the blondes' home for much needed rest. The rest of the town could mob and rage, so easily swayed and eager to follow, especially in the conquest of blood. This is why nearly all were betas. The pirates and her former genie were looking at a world of hurt.