Shout out to Jet MacLeod for the name Daniel Peter. Thanks, friend!
I'm estimating 2-4 wrap up chapters, depending on the demand for them. I only have two particular scenes still in my head, but I'm creative, so throw them at me. Anything you want to see or have explained that I haven't yet?
Enjoy!
Songs: Bad Reputation by Joan Jett (My music was all over the place so I deferred to my go to female badassery song), Let it Be Me by Ray LaMontagne
Blood. Hot sticky liquid on her face, a spray, spattering. Ruby blinked once. She exhaled, wincing at the loudness of the whoosh in her sensitive ears. Belle coughed, and more hot liquid hit her face and bare chest. The world rushed into Ruby all at once, and she lurched forward, stopped by the shackles.
"Belle," she whispered when the restraints halted her forward momentum violently.
Belle opened her mouth to speak but only a wet gurgle bubbled from her throat followed by a mouthful of blood. A hollow, rasping cry tore from Ruby's throat. She struggled against her bonds frantically. Panic controlled her actions, pulling desperate whimpers and whines from her throat when they held strong.
Jacob giggled.
Yellow eyes pinned him to the spot across the room where he'd taken that fatal shot, killing the joyous noise in his throat. A thousand different emotions crashed into the angry wolf, and he froze, actually worried for the first time since taking them captive. Ruby bared her teeth maliciously. She and Belle were linked, which meant she had about two minutes to kill the bastard before Belle bled out, snuffing both of their lives.
They hadn't made it, but he was going with them.
An inhuman growl pulled her lips into a ugly snarl. The grief crashed into her, the love, the undiluted rage, the grief of an unfulfilled life. She fed them to her wolf, boosting it's power, giving it control. Liters in her neck strained and bulged, veins popped, metal groaned and creaked. Ruby loosed a low growl which turned into a hollow scream of determination. Jacob's eyes widened with fear when the chains of the shackles pulled free from the cuffs around her ankles.
He lunged for the safety of the barrier, narrowly escaping the free wolf, and scrambled up the steps. Ruby hit the barrier without slowing her chase. The magic beat against her, knocked her a step back. Her wolf rage flared, and she wanted it to, encouraging the frenzied wrath of an animal undone. The wolf was stronger, she told herself. She was stronger than the magic. She'd bested Rumpelstiltskin's magic and showed no mercy to Amelia's barrier potion.
Gathering the straggling tendrils of emotions not channeled into her wolf, she surged forward.
The barrier popped and snapped, busting like a soap bubble and flinging bits of magical suds everywhere. In the back of her mind, she registered the frantic call of Regina, her best and most loyal friend as she flew from the top stair of the musty cellar. The wolf ignored it and allowed the beast absolute control. Four paws hit the ground with a satisfying thud.
She spared a single thought to Belle's anguish from her transformation but quickly dismissed the thought. Belle was too weak to feel anything. The second heart in her chest faded with each second. Faster, she commanded the legs fueled by adrenaline and willpower.
Jacob sprinted across the open field now barely lit with the light of the almost full moon peeping over the tree lines. Silly boy, Ruby thought inside the thick skull of her most valued weapon and terrifying attribute. She overtook him quickly, lunging upon his back. He rolled beneath her, allowing the fear in his eyes to intoxicate her rage further. The hunter just became the hunted, and Ruby felt the powerful spark of that knowledge in her bones.
With a shake of her head, the fur gave way to the soft but damaged skin of a woman pushed too far. "I'm going to do far worst to you than what I did to Peter," she vowed, her voice cold and dangerous and only breadth from his ear. "You ask for a monster, you'll get a monster."
He shook beneath her, struggled, landed one blow on her jaw. She sneered and grabbed his wrist. With a flick, several sickening pops and snaps met her ears, filled her heart with joy. He squalled. She grinned and released the useless arm. The violence consumed her, egging her further into the darkness she'd fought so long. He clutched it to his chest as though it might have protected him from his fate, and she allowed the numbing call of the wolf inside her heart a little more.
With little effort, Ruby extended her fingers into the razor claws of the wolf. "This is for Emma," she whispered and dragged the nails across his chest, flaying the skin in four places. His teeth clenched, but a pained, rumbling groan broke lose from his throat anyway.
"And this is for Katy," she ripped at the crotch of his pants, humming into the warm spurt of blood from his genitals against her slightly furry wrist. She grinned into the sensation.
Screams of agony echoed in the surrounding trees. "Stop! Please stop!" He begged, sounding like the 18-year-old boy he was. She expected empathy or guilt to punch her in the gut like a bag of hammers. It never came. She felt nothing for this life. He may have been abused and mistreated by life, but he had been dead inside from the moment he shot from betwixt his mother's legs. She sensed it then and now she knew. Changed remained impossible for him. He wasn't Regina. Regina turned to Dark Magic because all other options had been ripped from her.
Ruby felt Belle's heart falter in her chest, jerking her from rumination. Time ran too short for retribution for the others in her life that he'd harmed.
"And this is for Belle," she finished. Their eyes met a moment before she plunged her hand into his stomach.
Bloodied shoulders lifted from the ground, but no scream accompanied the agonized reflex. Warm goop surrounded her hand and forearm. A vindictive smile tugged at her lips. "I win," she proclaimed and jerked upwards to her feet.
A string of intestine unfolded, yanked from his body by the sheer force of her will. It snapped and cracked, popping beneath her hand. It tore somewhere within, reminding her of a fishing line suddenly going slack when the fish wrangled the hook loose. She stumbled slightly, and touched her chest with her free hand. In Belle's condition, any other human would have passed out by now, but she held on. To watch. To be certain.
He gasped and writhed, his heartbeat elevated and thundering in her ear. She tossed the hot pliable tube organ onto his chest and stared down at him, determined to witness the life leave his eyes. He shuddered once more, went limp. His eyes stared up at the pale silver moon but saw nothing. A satisfied smile tugged at her lips, but her body felt too exhausted and weak to complete the expression.
"Ruby!" A jarring voice called, sounding only a few feet away. Ruby turned from the carcass, feet unsure, legs drained of strength. Emma caught her around the ribs as her knees buckled, throwing her forward towards the ground.
"Belle," she whispered, and Emma brushed blood-dampened hair from her face, barely holding the other woman upright.
"Regina's going to her now," Emma assured her fallen friend, purposefully avoiding the mutilated body not two feet from her.
"Take me to her," Ruby demanded and pushed against her chest for leverage enough to stand.
Jack appeared suddenly in her vision. The older wolf scooped her up and ran towards the cellar, leaving Emma to follow as she wished. Emma almost wished she remained outside. Regina sat on the floor with a bloody and pale Belle propped against her. Both hands covered a bullet hole in her chest, but maroon liquid still spurted around the pressure.
"Emma, come push against my hands," Regina ordered. A teleport to the hospital sealed her fate, too close to death to survive the strain.
Jack deposited Ruby beside her love, but the wolf's body sank onto the floor in a limp heap. "What's wrong with her?" he demanded, fear in his now brown eyes. "This blood isn't hers."
"Their hearts," Regina said sadly and pressed a kiss to the side of Belle's head. "She's still carrying Belle's heart." She sniffed, nose red from the flush of heat to her cheeks.
"We're too late," she whispered against the frizzy blonde hair of the woman who had changed the course of her life so much. She pulled one of her hands from beneath Emma's and grabbed Ruby's damaged wrist and pressed it to her mouth.
"I love you," she breathed against scratched knuckles. She kissed Belle's head again. "I'm so sorry, Bookworm," Regina cried unabashedly. Tears of a grief that would never heal dripped onto her cheeks and into Belle's hair.
Emma wiped her eyes on her wrist. Jack covered his face with two beefy paws and cried shamelessly for the daughter he'd never know. Regina held her cheek against Belle's head and closed her eyes against the tears tumbling onto her cheeks.
"You can't heal her with your magic," Emma asked, sounding like a lost little girl.
Regina shook her head, dislodging more tears from her eyes to her face. "Dark Magic… it comes from my anger, my hatred. It's difficult to heal with such magic, and I never learned how."
"Then learn how to love," Emma demanded as if it were the most natural thing in the world. She grabbed Regina's bloody hand and pressed it to her chest, smearing Belle's blood on the fabric of her grey t-shirt.
Regina shook her head calmly, trying to accept reality. "It doesn't work like that, Emma."
"Regina, do something!" Emma yelled at her, pressing her hand harder into Belle's chest. She wanted to meet the woman they'd all spoken so fondly of in the past two months. Alex needed her moms. She needed Ruby's friendship. Regina needed her family.
"Emma, please," Regina begged and dropped her forehead to Belle's hair. Emma's hysteria infected the entire room, exciting tears of sympathy as well as grief from the other two.
"Regina, use my love," Emma whispered, completely convinced of her plan's success. She didn't know that they'd already shared hearts. "Just do it! What could it hurt to try?"
"Emma."
"No!" She screamed. "I won't accept this! Why won't you believe?"
Regina's head shot up immediately and met Emma's desperate but determined gaze. Even if she never remembered, Regina would never forget. She'd said those words before in Neverland, more than once. Those words gave her a child, restored her love for the woman now silently pleading with her. Dark eyes slipped shut with a defeated sigh, and her hand slipped into Emma's chest. Emma often sensed things none of them ever did. If she didn't try, she'd lose Emma, too. To resentment if not amnesia and grief.
Quaking fingers clutched the beautiful heart gingerly. Wisps of insecurity and uncertainty touched her first, and then…
Emma gasped, falling to her hands and knees. Regina jerked, almost losing touch with that powerful life organ within her wife's chest. A surge of True Love seeped into her veins, and she absorbed its power. Not since Neal took her love had she felt such raw, unadulterated power, the power of unselfish love. This Emma produced more love than Older Emma.
She wasn't jaded or judgmental, not at this point in her life. Regina let go of Ruby's hand and covered the still weeping hole on Belle's chest. Her mind focused the love their, combined it with her magic, felt the tingle of power in her fingertips. When she opened her eyes, however, the violet shade of purple associated with darkness and hatred gave way to the bright shimmering white of Light Magic.
"Regina," Emma whispered in a pant. She'd pulled on Regina's magic once before that day on the beach but never expected the automatic response of her body. Wetness pooled between her legs, and the desire to pleasure Regina only added to the surge of energy being sucked from her heart.
Struggling to her knees, Emma covered Regina's bloody hand on Belle's chest, combining their magicks. The neon shimmer of pink energy swirled and peeped around her hands trapped against her wife's. Emma's head dropped between her biceps as a thousand images swirled inside her mind. All of them important, none making sense. Not one memory picture froze in her mind, but they left behind a feeling of familiarity and trust and love and sacrifice.
She believed, and one glance into Regina's eyes told her that the sorceress believed, too. They could do this. They would do this. Together. As they were always meant to be.
Ruby jerked upright, recovering first. Jack's head raised simultaneously, and huge strong hands covered her shoulders, stabilizing her body before she lashed out instinctively. She nodded, telling him she understood who they were, even if the details of how she'd lived remained fuzzy. He unbuttoned his flannel shirt, stripping to a plain chalky blue t-shirt beneath and held it out to his daughter.
She slipped into it gratefully and wrapped it around her body without closing the buttons. Jack nodded towards the trio, two still glowing and sobbing uncontrollably. Rolling to her knees, Ruby dropped the shirt and touched Belle's face around Emma's.
"Come on, Baby," she encouraged. "Open your eyes." Though any understanding of what happened before her eyes sprinted in the opposite direction, Ruby understood on some level that Emma and Regina just saved their lives with magic.
As if healed by her words alone, those beautiful blue eyes crack, and a smile spread on her face. "Are we dead?" She asked, brow furrowed. Ruby laughed and shook her head, lower lip clamped between her teeth.
Emma and Regina locked gazes over the bloody, chalky blonde hair. As one, they laughed out loud, dispelling the nervous energy of what they just accomplished. Regina released Emma's heart and retrieved her hand, only to cup the blonde's cheek. Her dark, watery eyes held a reverence that Emma often felt shone in her eyes. Once again, Emma Swan proved to her that love duped the darkness any day. Regina had brute magical strength, but Emma wielded something far more powerful. Belief. In them. In her. She suddenly missed her heart.
Their intimate moment caught Belle's attention, and she wiggled against the warm, unfamiliar body holding her upright, tipping her head against Regina's shoulder to see the face of the person holding her. Ruby just stared at Belle, unbelieving that they'd survived this brush with death, unbelieving that Belle asked her for marriage, unbelieving that she'd given Belle the child she yearned for.
"I want a handwriting sample," Belle demanded and blinked up at Regina, content to stay wrapped in the protective embrace with Ruby right in front of her where she confirmed visually her lover's survival.
Regina chuckled. "Done, and I promise never to leave cookies on your doorstep." Belle nodded at the answer and dropped to chin to meet Emma's bright green eyes.
"Hi, Belle," Emma said shyly, suddenly unsure of herself. Belle had been her maid of honor, but not one solitary memory of the woman pulled to the surface.
"Hi, Emma," Belle smiled and touched her cheek. Emma tensed at the intimate contact from the perfect stranger but allowed it for the moment. "You need a helmet."
The four laughed. Emma and Ruby pressed into Regina's sides. Ruby's arm slid protectively around Belle's stomach, and Emma's hand grabbed her arm. Jack watched them for a moment and then silently dismissed himself to make sure the little prick who'd hurt them had in fact met the fate due him.
Emma touched her nose to her wife's cheek and whispered softly, though she knew the other two heard, "I think I'd like to put my ring back on." Regina smiled brightly and leaned her temple against Emma's forehead gently.
Belle and Ruby smiled at each other. The timing was so perfectly them that they couldn't bear to hold back their happy news. Belle adjusted her head until she saw Emma's face. "Will you still be my maid of honor even if you can't remember me?"
The other two pulled back and gaped at their flaky and unfortunate friends. Emma recalled very little of her life as The Savior, but she obtained enough information to know that Ruby and Belle called off their first engagement and often hit rifts in their relationship that never mended completely before the next one surfaced.
Emma shrugged. "I just used magic to heal help heal a bullet wound. I think I can handle a dress and heels," came the nonchalant and slightly insecure answer.
The reality of the situation finally sank into Belle's big brain. "Regina, your magic… that was Light Magic. I thought you couldn't heal?"
Regina kissed Belle's dusty hair again, a smile on her lips. "I suppose I've never been properly motivated before. What just happened came from love, not anger or vengeance."
Belle smiled, eyes closing slowly as Regina held a lingering kiss to the side of her head. Regina rarely showed her physical affection, partially due to her own aversion to the touchy-feely their partners seemed to prefer. She felt safe, though, and snuggled deeper into Regina's chest, soaking up the warmth and protection of that simple embrace. Ruby wasn't the only person she thought of while out in the world beyond Storybrooke.
She'd denied another the respect and consideration due her. "Regina, I forgive you. For everything," she said confidently with a steady, sincere voice.
Regina gasped a tiny quiet sob into her hair and tightened her grip around her chest. Emma glanced between the two, slightly confused, but decided not to interrupt the moment that clearly needed to happen if her three companions all dripped silent, happy tears because of the heartfelt confession.
Belle snorted, breaking from the emotion first. "Even your piss poor timing. You're slipping old woman. We expected you ten minutes ago," she huffed in mock aggravation in true princess fashion, pulling them through the moment.
"Ladies, don't mean to interrupt," Jack said as he descended the stairs, "but if you wanted to poof to the hospital, I'll stay here until Jacob's body can be retrieved."
The four stiffened when the light glimpsed off the dagger in his hands. Tension snapped like a whip in the room, and Ruby tensed, ready to wrestle the power of The Dark One from her father. He stared at the dagger for a long, hard moment; they waited. With a shaking hand, he extended it to Ruby, and she snatched it away quickly before he changed his mind.
"Ruby, there used to be a time when I'd have fought tooth and nail for that kind of power," he confessed and nodded to the unconscious man on the floor just a few feet from them. "I'm not a perfect man and I won't pretend to be, but for you, a chance to share your life, I'd like to try and be a better one."
Ruby opened her mouth to retort, closed it when nothing came out. Chocolate eyes gazed up at the man who had given her life, those eyes identical to hers. He smiled sadly and shoved his hands into his front pockets, shoulders hunching forward. Uncertainty shone in her eyes, a hesitance he hadn't expected. For the first time since his appearance in the diner that day, her eyes told him that she possibly wanted him in her life.
"Whatever you want, Ruby. I have a lot to make up for. It's in your hands, so…" he rubbed the back of his neck anxiously and jammed his hand back into his pocket. "You know where to find me. Even if you just need help building something or heavy lifting," he joked insecurely with a roll of one huge shoulder.
Nothing more came from the women, so he turned and headed towards the stairs. He stepped on the first one when a soft, "Jack," pulled his gaze over his shoulder. Ruby dropped hers when their eyes met again. "Thank you," she murmured. He nodded wordlessly and left them to reunite however they wished.
Belle covered the hand holding Rumpelstiltskin's dagger in her lap. Ruby nodded as if deciding something and glanced up. "Do you think they'd let us rent a room at the hospital? Just keep it on retainer just in case?"
Regina chuckled. "Our hospital bills cost more than my house. Keeping Eva on a retainer might prove more frugal." The other three giggled, releasing the stress of the moment.
"Hey Regina," Ruby said when the levity faded, a more serious and thoughtful tone replacing it. "Can you call ahead and have them page Addison?"
Regina's eyebrows reached for the roof. "What on earth fo…" She stopped abruptly and simply observed the tender glances between Belle and Ruby, the protective arm that had yet to leave Belle's belly. A smile spread slowly. "I always wanted a puppy."
Regina tapped out a text to the doctor while Emma's gears grinded and steamed from the new conundrum presented.
"Huh?" Emma grunted finally and looked between the three, knowing for certain she'd forgotten something very important. They had a cat. Why would they need a puppy?
"I'm pregnant, Emma," Belle saved the poor woman from the smoke pouring out her ears. "Addison is an obstetrician."
"Oh," she answered stupidly. Her brow furrowed, creating three little lines in her forehead and glanced between the two mothers-to-be. "Who's the father?" It was a valid question.
"Ruby got the job," Belle replied sardonically and chuckled at Emma's comically wide eyes.
"Like an Annabel baby?"
"Exactly like an Annabel baby," Belle beamed. Ruby summarized the Emma situation perfectly. She was still Emma, just… different. The small interaction gave her hope that they'd find a way to friendship once more, just as they had when Emma had curse amnesia before.
"Belle, Dr. Montgomery is awaiting your arrival. Apparently, she came to visit Lauren and Amelia, who made it through surgery with very little complications," Regina announced to everyone though she addressed the librarian specifically. Belle's chest deflated with relief. She'd forgotten about Amelia in the new development of her near death experience.
"Wait," Ruby said, jerking from fluffy baby thought. "What happened to Amelia?"
Belle squeezed her hand again. "Jacob stabbed her while abducting us. I imagine there's a big pool of blood to be cleaned from the kitchen in the loft." Ruby gritted her teeth. No regrets at all, she decided.
Regina jarred her from the dark thoughts with a light touch on her chest. "May I please put this where it belongs?"
"Oh yeah, lay it on me, Mama Bear," Ruby consented eagerly.
Chocolate puppy eyes slipped shut in relief when Regina finally relieved her of the second heart fluttering around in her chest. Belle sighed similarly when it reacquainted with her body. Without speaking, Regina touched Emma's shoulder while that information sunk in and called her magic. Everyone held their breaths and prepared to fly apart. They reappeared in the hallway outside Lauren's room, surrounded by gasps and sharp inhalations of surprise. Regina rolled her eyes.
Katy sprinted towards them despite Snow's best effort to thwart the girl's approach. She stopped suddenly with outstretched hands intended to help them to their feet. Ruby's bloody paw in her face killed the gesture, and the girl stepped back stoically with squared shoulders and a stiff spine.
"Not yet, Katy," Ruby explained, almost wincing at the ice in her voice. She climbed to her feet on aching joints and muscles, stiffened from the electrocution. Had she not been a wolf, she doubted very much her ability to move in that moment much less stand and help Belle to her feet.
Emma hopped up and offered Regina a hand, which she took. Addison hovered, blanching slightly at the amount of blood on the four women's clothing. Belle said nothing as she pointed her feet towards the maternity unit, tucked tightly against Ruby's side. They both required individual medical assistance, but the health of their child came first as Alex always had.
Regina smiled brightly at their backs and sidled up to er own True Love, and Emma wrapped her arms around her back. They stayed still for a moment, soaking up the comfort and relief of the moment like dry sponges. Movement near the door distracted Regina, and she pulled back slightly to find Snow White holding the most powerful object in the entire town. Regina grinned and nodded, accepting the necklace over her head once more.
"Thank you, Snow," she said sincerely. Snow nodded once, nothing more necessary. They understood each other perfectly. Regina was the queen, the rightful ruler, and Snow believed that she'd undoubtedly learn how to be a better leader under her tutelage.
"Katy," Regina said and reluctantly pulled from Emma's embrace. "Let me wash up a little and then we'll go home." Emma knew she needed to shove her heart back into her chest.
"Oh, Regina let someone come with you," Snow blurted in sickly sweet concern. "It seems that Ben escaped somehow. He might be waiting for you."
Fear flashed in Katy's eyes, and Regina resisted the urge to comfort the girl physically. She used her eyes and words instead. "How strange. He can't be found anywhere?"
Snow shook her head. Regina met Katy's eyes meaningfully. "That's quite alright, Dear. I doubt he'll bother us any longer or that he'd ever dare show his face in town again," Regina ruminated innocently.
Snow sputtered, catching the meaning immediately, and retreated towards the room. Regina winked at Katy who almost smiled. Though conflicted by the loss, she felt safer, saner, with the slightly terrifying knowledge that Regina killed him and stowed the body somewhere no one would ever find it. Her "interview" lasted less than ten minutes, but Katy wagered the pain endured during that eternity was severe if swift.
Regina disappeared into the hospital room without further comment, leaving Emma and Katy alone in the hall. The Savior picked at the dried blood on her hand, Belle's blood. Katy crossed her arms and stared at the grey and pink speckled linoleum.
"You okay, Shit head?" Emma asked quietly.
One side of Katy's mouth tugged upward and then dropped as quickly as she considered the question. "Not even close," she answered honestly.
"You know you're grounded until you're 30, right?" Emma tried to joke, suddenly unsure of herself near the disgruntled young woman.
"At least I won't get pregnant again. I'm happy for Belle and Ruby, though." She stared down the hall where the couple disappeared, pain and disgust on her face. "Ruby's going to take Alex from me," she whispered almost too low for Emma to catch.
Emma blew a sigh through her lips. "She's pissed, Kid. We all are, but more than that we're hurt. Trust…" Emma scratched her forehead, searching for the right words.
"Trust is a one time deal with you people," Katy finished what she assumed to be the thought in Emma's head. "I'll pack when I get ho… to the mansion. You can drop me off at the convent and leave me as a ward of the city."
Emma softened dramatically and reached for the girl who shrugged away from the touch, hugging her arms tighter to her chest. "Is that really what you want?"
Katy stared down the hall, attempting to hide the tears swimming in her eyes and blurring her vision. She clenched her jaws and hung her head to her chest before shaking it gently, the gesture almost not there. "It doesn't matter what I want," she reasoned in a deep voice indicative of one fighting tears.
"Since when?" Regina demanded, rejoining the conversation.
Katy's head jerked up suddenly, dark blonde hair waving in the resulting wind. Regina smiled sadly at the girl and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. Hazel eyes met the darker ones of her adoptive mother, confused, searching. Regina tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and held her cheek for a moment, something unspoken passing between them.
"Let's go home," Regina whispered.
Katy blinked rapidly, knocking tears onto her cheeks, and nodded enthusiastically. Regina steered them towards the exit and reached for Emma's hand, which she freely gave and twined their fingers together. Almost everyone stared, and Katy flinched as she walked the gauntlet, ducking her head from the attention.
"Head high," Regina whispered. "You're a warrior, not a coward peasant," she instructed without looking at the girl, but Katy looked at her.
She studied her beautiful posture, her lack of guilt for the life she'd taken that day. Regina transgressed more than any of them. Without her permission or command, Katy felt her body straighten and slipped a hesitant arm around Regina's waist. A hint of a smile graced the dark woman's lips before falling into a neutral expression once more. She understood in that moment: let the rabble see your weakness and it shall be exploited. Regina would not abandon her, especially now they were so similar.
Once again, they escaped the hounds of hell and emerged victorious if a little chipped at the edges.