A/N: More smexy times, after the angsty stuff...


Emma instinctively rubs at her necks and lets out a loud whimper at the pain she finds. Mary goes into a mode of nurturing and shouts an order at Regina, "You haven't even tried to put anything on this, have you? Can you please grab the first aid kit? It's usually in the top file cabinet of Emma's drawer."

A part of Regina bristles at being ordered around by the other woman, but she can't deny that Mary Margaret has made a good point. Hating to leave her lover, she quickly gets to her feet and makes her way to Emma's desk on shaky legs to retrieve the first aid kit. Settling next to them again, she leans over to grab the pillow off the cot to place under Emma's head. "Relax, Emma," she whispers, digging for the first aid cream.

Emma focuses in on Regina's voice and moans her compliance. Mary's fingers continue to rake her hair, as her face fills with worry, and she can't help but take one more jab at the mayor, "I knew you couldn't take care of her." Her voice is full of sadness and her hand rests on Emma's shoulder.

Emma reaches her hand to grip her mother's and works to shake her head, letting one small hoarse word escape,"...stop." Mary looks at the Mayor in silent shock and slight embarrassment.

Regina's hand falters with the first aid cream at Mary Margaret's pointed jab. She already feels absolutely gutted that Cora hurt Emma because of her. She doesn't need Emma's fucking mother adding to her guilt and shame. She blinks rapidly several times and forces herself to breathe deeply in an effort to stave off frustrated tears. She hiccups softly at Emma's reply, but won't meet the other brunette's gaze. "Shh," she murmurs, resuming her application of the cream. "Don't speak, love. Just relax and let me finish, then I'll get you some more water."

Emma's head pulls back into the pillow, making her neck as accessible as she can to Regina's touch. She takes in small gasps of air as the cold cream hits her hot skin. Mary leans forward to kiss Emma forehead, "We've got you Emma," she whispers. Mary catches the mayor's eyes and smiles with an approval nod of her efforts.

Regina flinches with each of Emma's reactions to the cream on her skin. She wishes she was the one cradling the blonde's head in her lap, kissing her forehead, and offering reassurances. But that is not her lot at the moment. As soon as she gets a full, thin layer of cream on the livid red handprint, she's on her feet to return the kit and grab more water. Coming back into the cell, she's struck by the love that Mary Margaret has for Emma, and her guilt over turning Emma's life upside down floods her senses again. But she forces herself past that for the time being. Emma needs her, and she'll be damned if she lets her down. "I'm back," she says softly as she settles next to her lover. "More nice cold water for your throat."

Emma surprises even herself when she smiles up at the mayor. She gives a light nod and lifts her arm slowly for the bottle. Mary smiles at the blonde's first attempt at independence and then up at Regina.

Regina opens the bottle and hands it to Emma, then struggles to help her sit up a bit, shifting the blonde's support from Mary Margaret to herself. "I've got you, love," she says, taking the brunt of Emma's weight against her chest. "Go easy with that." She strokes her fingers over Emma's hair, leaning in to press a kiss to her temple.

Emma can feel some of her pain alleviate itself as her back presses into Regina. Her head falls back slightly on the mayor's shoulder as she takes long fluid drinks of the water. Mary leans over to cup her hand momentarily on Emma's face. "I'm going to go take care of Henry, Emma." Emma nods softly as she nurses the bottle. She goes to stand up, failing to acknowledge the mayor, but she pauses at the cell door and looks down at them. "Is that alright, Regina?"

"Please," Regina replies to Mary Margaret, meeting her eyes for the first time in several minutes, fear stark in her eyes. "Keep him safe, I - WE can't lose him." She returns her attention to Emma, just holding her close. "I'm sorry, Emma," she whispers repeatedly, hoping that if she says it enough, it will heal her lover's wounds.

Emma reaches her empty hand up to Regina's face and, the water having soothed her throat, croaks, "She was right, you know. I shouldn't have yelled at you." She manages a small smile and even a single exhale of laughter, which turns into a cough.

"Shh," Regina soothes, rocking Emma slightly. "Don't push yourself. I know very well what kind of punishment Mother's magic can cause. Just rest and drink your water. When you're feeling stronger, we'll go home." She starts humming the lullaby that Henry had used on her last night, mind racing as she tries to figure out a way to defeat Cora and keep her family safe.

Emma closes her eyes and lies still for what seems like eternity. She focuses on the rise and fall of Regina's chest on her back and the steadying of her own breath to match. With her eyes still closed, she reaches out her arms and stretches lightly, she clenches and releases every muscle in her body testing their function. While she aches and cramps, she knows she can function. "Regina?"

"Yes, my love?" Regina asks softly, grateful that Emma is able to move and make her body function. She knows they should be leaving here, but she isn't ready to get up just yet. Once she's up, she'll have to begin planning her attack on her mother, and that thought terrifies hers thoroughly.

Emma stirs and, to prove her regained abilities, turns to face Regina, holding her own weight with her legs crossed. She groans lightly, but manages to take a deep breath in and lock eyes with her lover. "I'm here now." She forces a light smile and even that feels bruised on her face.

Regina drinks in the sight of her lover sitting up on her own across from her. She knows that Emma is still battered and bruised, probably in a great deal of pain, but she is proving that she's a fighter. "Yes, you are. Do you need something for the pain?"

Emma smiles. "I highly doubt anything in that first aid kit is going to help." She pauses and looks helplessly at the mayor, saddened slightly. "If I only have a week to love you, can you just be kissing me now?"

At Emma's request, Regina lets the terrified sob bubble up past her lips. She shifts to pull Emma closer, kissing her with a desperate urgency that overwhelms her. She knows she's probably hurting Emma, but can't stop the need to have her closer than is physically possible.

Emma's first reaction to the contact is breathy groans of agony into Regina's mouth, but the feeling of her lover's mouth soon unleashes a flood of endorphins that boil into pleasured moans into their kiss. Her hands fight pain as they run through the mayor's hair and back. The muscles in Emma's body feel as if they are running a marathon and she begins sweating quickly from the work.

Despite her need for more, Regina gentles her kisses as she feels Emma tremble against her. She smoothes her hands over Emma's body, willing some tiny part of her magic to work and heal her lover. "Not here," she murmurs against the blonde's lips. "Don't want to waste any of the time we have, but I'm not going to make love to you on a jail cell floor." She eases to her feet and offers her hands to help Emma up. "Let me take you home."

Emma nods and, with a low sob, Regina helps her to her feet. Emma's body lurches along as she drapes her arm over the mayor's shoulders, gasping when she falls too hard with her steps.

Regina's heart breaks with each cry wrenched from Emma's lips. Each painfully stumbled step builds her resolve to end her Mother's reign of tyranny once and for all. There is no one she can trust to help her, no one who can know the truth outside of Emma and Henry, and she'll be damned if she'll put either of them in harm's way. She eases Emma into the passenger seat of her car and quickly drives home, only to repeat the slow, painful trek into the house and up to the bedroom. She gets Emma undressed and settled in the bed, pressing a kiss to her lips. "Give me a moment," she whispers. "I'll be right back."

Emma slides a nod against the pillow and lets her eyes close as she slides easily further under the sheet, moaning as the pleasant feel of the high thread count sheets rubbing against her sore body.

Regina heads downstairs and begins to mix together ingredients into a concoction she hasn't made in years, but is grateful she still has the ability to make. Returning upstairs, she grabs a bath sheet from the bathroom and moves to spread it on the bed before changing into a pair of yoga pants and one of Emma's tank tops. "Emma, my love," she whispers, stroking her fingers across Emma's forehead and cheek. "Slide over here on the towel. I have something that might make you feel better."

Emma is quick to comply. She crawls slowly onto the towel and splays herself, swallowing hard when she finally relaxes again on top of the towel. Her hand makes a path for Regina's thigh, which is where it settles.

Regina smiles, swallowing back her tears, and reaches for the bowl on the nightstand. Pulling it close to her face, she inhales deeply, letting the peppermint, lavender, and beeswax scents wash over her. Dipping in a finger, she draws a line down the length of Emma's nose. "Just relax and breathe deeply," she says softly. "Let the scent and the tingling cool surround you, enfold you, heal you. I'm right here, and I'll try not to hurt you." As she speaks, she begins to massage the lotion into Emma's skin, everywhere she can reach easily, followed by the shuffling of clothes to reach everywhere she can't. She pays special attention to the livid handprint that still radiates heat on Emma's throat.

Emma moans, sometimes with high pitched peaks, as Regina's hands cover her body. She makes sure she adheres to the mayor's rules of breathing deeply and consistently. Her back arches slowly as Regina's hand lands directly on top of Cora's flaming print.

"Shh," Regina whispers as her hand settles on the mark. She can feel the angry pulse of Cora's magic clinging to Emma's skin. For a few long, tense seconds, she lets her fear take hold. And then, remembering who this person is, and what she means to Regina, the fear dissipates. She dips her fingers into the bowl again, spreading the lotion between her hands and she harnesses the love she feels for Emma, the sense of completion that the blonde gives her, and strokes her fingers across the mark again. "What is mine cannot be taken by force," she whispers, unaware that she's even speaking. "And I do not wish to be parted from that which is mine. Leave this one, darkness, you shall not possess her."

Emma gasps as the muscles in her neck tighten and release without her consent under Regina's hands. She swallows a hard thick lump of heat with a small cough as her hands reach up to grab her throat, landing on the mayor's. She intakes a few staggered breathes through her nose and then relaxes as the fire on her throat turns to a chilled patch of tingling nerves under their hands.

The sensation of Emma's hands on hers bolsters Regina's resolve to fix her lover. She continues to murmur, feeling the magic ebb and flow under her fingers until the scorching heat fades away. The sound of Emma's breathing evening out is a soothing balm to her nerves, and she opens her eyes to look down and see that the mark is gone. "Emma?" she asks softly, fingers gently stroking the smooth, soft skin.

Emma's eyes are slammed shut and her head is jerked back but, at the mayor's sudden soft touch and words, her chin falls slightly back down. Her eyes flutter open lightly and catch Regina's. "I'm here."

Regina smiles as she gazes into those bright eyes. "The mark is gone," she says with giddy delight and leans in to press her lips to Emma's. "I didn't think I could do that! How are you feeling?"

Emma can only smile, overwhelmed and still exhausted. "I feel like I have been working out for about 3 days straight." She laughs softly and rubs her own neck with a gasp. "...that's incredible, Regina." She moans softly at her own hands on her skin, and then drags the mayor's face down to connect their lips.

Regina moans into the kiss, seeking to deepen it immediately. She shifts to stretch out next to Emma, needing to feel her lover's body. The fact that she was able to tap into magic is shocking enough. That she was also able to remove the dark taint of her mother's magic bolsters her resolve to beat the older woman once and for all. She slips a leg between Emma's. "I love you."

Emma pulls her lover into her, letting Regina's leg slide over her center. The pain in her muscles and the pleasure coursing from her sex and mouth duel for control in her body, heightening every nerve. She writhes slightly as she wraps her arms around Regina, pulling her in with a painful tug. Her mouth collides with the mayor's, knocking their teeth lightly before Emma settles on nursing the mayor's bottom lip.

Regina groans into the kiss, flexing her thigh against Emma's body. One hand slides down to cup a tank top-clad breast, teasing the nipple she finds peaked there. She shifts to get better traction against Emma's groin, repeatedly arching her hips to slide her thigh against the heat there.

Regina's hand on her hardened nipple makes Emma grab a handful of her lover's hair. Her breathing becomes slightly more rapid as she directs her hips to grind against the mayor's offering. Her first moan of pure sex cascades out of her lips as she feels a flow of hot moisture meet her thighs.

Kissing her way down Emma's neck, Regina delights in the tingle of the peppermint in the lotion and pays attention to the skin so recently marred. She shifts the tank top down to capture Emma's nipple next, biting lightly. Her hand slides down, easing into the blonde's panties, and she moans when she encounters the wet heat there. "So hot," she murmurs against Emma's breast as her fingers dance across Emma's clit and into her clutching heat. "So beautiful."

Emma's hands both pull through Regina's hair, dragging her fingernails across her scalp. Regina's warm mouth connecting with her chest is almost enough to drive her orgasm home as a whimper escapes her mouth that melds into a guttural, "Fuck," as contact is made with her clit. Emma's hips jerk as she feels the mayor edging inside her, forcing herself harder on Regina's hand, but winces slightly as the pain in her ab muscles aches.

"Shh," Regina murmurs against Emma's chest. "Let me do this for you." She shifts again, getting a better angle and starts thrusting deep and hard into her lover, thumb dancing across her clit. She shifts to tease Emma's other nipple with lips, teeth, and tongue, sucking in time with the thrusting of her fingers.

Emma stiffens and then relaxes at Regina's words. She becomes a fully receptive being. At Regina's pattern of thrusts, her head falls back. "Oh, please," she whispers as she focuses on the friction on and in her sex.

Slipping in a third finger, Regina speeds up her thrusting, thumbnail dragging over Emma's clit with every other thrust. She sucks harder on the nipple trapped between her lips, free hand shifting to squeeze and twist the other nipple.

Emma's arms wrap completely around her lover's head as she leans down to kiss her hair and then rest her forehead on her crown. Emma has never felt so whole, but so broken, and she comes hard onto her lover's fingers, letting tears slip down her face. "Oh God, Gina, yes." Her sex explodes with warmth zipping up her spine and landing heavy in her heart. She can't help but twitch her hips slightly as her orgasm subsides.

Regina slows her movements, easing her lover down from her orgasmic high. With a gentle kiss to her nipple, she slips her fingers out and stretches up to nuzzle at Emma's neck. "You are so beautiful when you come," she whispers. "I love you, Emma, more than words will ever express."