Regina entered the sheriff's station with a smile on her face, which quickly disappeared when she found her guards unconscious and the cells empty.
"Emma," she growled, knowing no one else would have been so bold as to organize an escape.
She turned and left – she would find those who dared to oppose her and this time she wouldn't bother with jail cells. This time she would crush each of them, even Emma.
…
"Don't you think Regina will think to look here?" Tink asked.
She and the others were hiding out at the library with Belle's help. While Gold had remained neutral in all of this, Belle felt compelled to help.
"It doesn't matter," Emma said. "We aren't going to be hiding for long."
They had outlined a plan to begin taking out some of the groups of guards. She figured once Regina knew they had escaped she would be increasing the number of guards around town. If they could take the guards out, Emma's hope was that she could get close enough to Heather to either capture her or knock her unconscious. She was sure that Regina wasn't doing this of her volition and that Heather was the key to snapping Regina out of this.
She had cautioned everyone – including her mother – that Regina was not to be harmed unless there was no choice in the matter. And even then they needed to avoid using deadly force on anyone. These were still townspeople who were obviously being controlled by magic. For many people they were friends or family and thus they needed to make sure no one was seriously harmed.
Emma had seen Snow preparing a small crossbow that she could use one-handed since her arm was broken. It only held one shot and Emma was sure she intended that shot for Regina.
Emma knew Henry was worried about his mother. When Heather had shoved him and Regina had done nothing about it, Henry had begun to worry even more about whether his mother was really gone. Emma had assured him that Regina was still there – she knew it, she could feel it, but whatever magic Heather had used on her was turning her into someone Emma didn't recognize.
They reviewed the plan once more and Emma gave the go ahead for the operation to begin. She asked Belle to let Henry stay with her. Despite his objections that he could help, she didn't want him anywhere near this.
…
Regina was waiting.
She knew it would only be a matter of time before Emma would come to her. She had heard the reports of fighting throughout the town, but she felt no reason to become involved – not yet.
No, she would wait for Emma to get there and she would defeat the Savior in front of all who opposed her. They probably thought that victory would be easy once they took out her guards. But Regina wanted them to believe that. It would make her own victory that much sweeter.
She had been standing on the porch at the mansion. She signaled to the two guards on duty that she was going back inside. They knew to alert her to anything pressing. She stood glancing around the foyer wondering, not for the first time, why again she had given this place up. She had lived here for years, yet she couldn't seem to recall why she had stopped. The ploy, she thought, that is right; she was lulling everyone into a false sense of security by pretending to be this other Regina.
But was it right?
She was beginning to have a headache. She hadn't had one in weeks, but now she felt it itching its way to the front of her skull. She needed something to distract herself and she smiled as she decided what that would be.
Heading upstairs to the guest bedroom, she was still smiling when she opened the door and saw Heather was there. Once she had taken the woman's heart she had commanded her to come up here and sit on the bed. Regina had then used her magic to bind the woman's hands to the back board.
"You may speak now," Regina said. She had also commanded the woman to shut up as her endless talking had gotten on her nerves.
"Regina let me go," Heather pleaded. "I am sorry if I overstepped my bounds. It won't happen again, I swear, but you need to let me go."
"Oh, I need to, do I?" Regina said, moving more inside the room, but not going up to the bed. "And why is that I need to let you go?"
"My magic. It's my magic that is keeping the guards under your control," Heather said. "It needs reinforced."
"My guards are loyal to me, with or without your magic."
"No they aren't. You only think they are because …"
Regina tilted her head to study Heather as she had abruptly stopped speaking. "Because why?"
"The compulsion I gave them, they only think this is what they want to do, but if I don't reinforce it, they will go back to how they were before. As will you."
"What do you mean by that?"
Heather held her tongue and Regina rushed to the bed and grabbed a hold of her shirt. "You are forgetting my dear, I have your heart. Now tell me what you mean by that."
Regina was caught off guard when Heather's hands released from her magic and Heather grabbed a hold of her. "Listen to me Regina, don't struggle."
Regina recognized the use of magic on Heather's part this time. She tried to pull away but Heather held her tight. She felt the other woman's magic entering her, and she used her own to push back against it. If anyone had walked in at that moment they would have seen two women holding on to each other, staring each other down but no other signs of the battle that was now waging between them.
"Stop fighting me," Heather said. For a moment Regina almost loosened her grip, but something inside of her told her to keep fighting. She thought for a moment that she could hear Emma's voice telling her to fight it.
"Listen to me," Heather said. "Listen Regina. You need me. You can't be queen without me. I've done this all for you. It was always for you. I love you and you love me."
Regina pulled back, releasing her grip and breaking free of Heather's at the same time. She was breathing hard as if she had just run a marathon and she felt a cold sweat running down her back. Her mind seemed cloudy and she couldn't seem to figure out why.
Heather had gotten to her feet and was approaching Regina, who had backed up to the wall, slowly.
Regina saw her getting closer, and knew that a couple of more steps and Heather would be able to touch her and she didn't want that to happen. She transported from the room into the foyer downstairs. She moved to her office and the box that was sitting on her desk – opening it she found Heather's heart and pulled it out just as Heather came through the door.
"Regina, whatever you are thinking of doing with that, don't," Heather said.
"I told you only I give the commands," Regina said as she slowly squeezed the organ in her hand. Heather dropped to her knees in pain and Regina moved closer to her. "I could crush this now, do you understand that? I could end you for your insolence."
"Then do it," Heather said. "I don't want to live if it means living without you."
Regina looked down at the heart and for a moment wondered when was the last time she had held someone's heart in her hands and crushed it.
…
Emma and others approached the mansion. All around town they had taken out cadres of guards, who in some instances merely dropped their weapons. It was like they were waking up from a dream they said. They no longer wanted to serve Heather and Regina, or be guards and they didn't and couldn't understand why they had wanted to in the first place.
While everyone was celebrating this Emma was still worried about Regina.
When they got to the front of mansion, there was no one there. Their reconnaissance had always shown there were at least two guards stationed outside at all times, but now the place seemed deserted. Emma wondered if the guards like the others had abandoned their posts after realizing who they really were, or if this was some sort of trap on Regina's part.
She sent part of their group around the back led by her father while she took the others to the front door. She cautiously opened it, but the foyer at least was empty. That is when she heard Regina's voice.
"Office," she whispered to the others and led them in that direction.
The door was open and Emma glanced in to see Regina standing over Heather with Heather's heart in her hand. She scrambled inside knowing she couldn't let Regina kill the other woman. She knew instantly that if that were to happen she would never get the real Regina back.
"Regina, stop," Emma said. She raised her hands up as if she was surrendering, hoping that Regina would see that she meant her no harm.
"I don't take orders from her, what makes you think I would take them from you," Regina said.
"Regina," Emma said taking a step toward her. "This isn't you. You know this. Somewhere deep inside you must know this. Heather has done something to you. She has messed with your mind. She did it to the others – the guards, many of them are waking up from whatever influence she had on them. Those who haven't have been taken into custody until they too wake up or we find some way to reverse this. I know you, the real you, is in there somewhere and you are not a killer so just put the heart down or put it back in her safely. We can fix this. There is nothing that has been done that can't be fixed. Please."
Regina looked again at the heart and then at Heather. Emma kept inching closer. While she was holding out hope that Regina would snap out of Evil Queen mode, she needed to be ready in case she didn't. She was going to have to save Heather's life in order to save Regina's.
Raising her head to make eye contact with Emma, Emma thought she saw a softening in Regina's eyes, an understanding that this wasn't her. She started to smile at Regina and she reached out to take the heart which Regina now held out as if to give to Emma.
She was concentrating on Regina so much she didn't hear the twang of a crossbow. All she saw was the bolt hit Regina.
"No!" she yelled as she turned to see her mother standing there with the crossbow extended. She turned back to Regina, who had fallen to the ground, but Heather was closer and she reached out touched Regina's face.
"Remember you are the queen," Heather said.
Emma could feel an exchange of magic as Heather said it and she pulled the other woman away from Regina and pushed her away.
"Regina, are you alright?" Emma said kneeling next to her.
What she wasn't expecting was for Regina to laugh. She backed up slightly as Regina grasped the end of the crossbow bolt which was protruding from her shoulder and pulled it out with one yank. She got to her feet, dropping the bloody bolt, and looking not at Emma but at Snow.
"Your aim used to be better," she said. "I guess now it's my turn."
A fireball appeared in her hand, but before she could do anything with it Emma barreled into her at the same time she used her own magic and thought of a safe place for her to take Regina – a place where she could either reason with her or battle her.
Both women landed roughly on the ground and with her positioning and momentum Emma got a hold of Regina's hands and pinned her down. Regina was trying to buck Emma off of her or get her hands freed, but Emma held on.
"Regina, stop this," Emma said. "It's over."
"It's not over," Regina growled and a flash of light came from her hand which blinded Emma enough that Regina was able to push her off of her and get to her feet. Emma blinked away the spots in her eyes while keeping Regina in front of her. But Regina made no move to do anything else to her. In fact she wasn't looking at Emma at all; she was looking around at where Emma had taken them.
They were standing next to the remains of the stable that Regina had destroyed with her magic. The one she had been helping rebuild before all of this had happened. She was looking at it as if seeing it for the first time and Emma thought perhaps she was. The guards who had already recovered had described being in a state where they knew what they were doing the entire time, but it was more like a dream where they hadn't believed it.
"It can be rebuilt," Emma said softly. "I will help you rebuild it. It's like I said, nothing has happened that can't be fixed."
Regina turned from her, taking a step closer to the wreckage. She bent down and picked up something – a piece of wood from what Emma could see – and then she tossed it back into the pile.
"Regina," Emma said putting her hand on Regina's shoulder.
The contact broke Regina from whatever thoughts she was having and she spun around on Emma, using her magic to toss Emma through the air. Emma landed hard on her back, but got to her feet quickly.
"I do not want to fight you," she said to Regina.
"Because you know you will lose," Regina responded.
"No, because I don't want to hurt you." Emma could see Regina was tired and she was still losing blood from where she had been shot. If it weren't for Regina's magic she didn't think it would be much of a fight.
"Too bad for you that I have no such feelings about hurting you," Regina said and she threw a fireball in Emma's direction. Emma leapt out of the way from it but had to scramble again as another one came her way. The next one came right at her, but her magic flared up creating a barrier that shielded her.
She wasn't sure how she had done it, more instinct than anything else, but she hoped it remained in tact as she stepped toward Regina once more. Regina let another volley of fireballs loose on her, but the shield stayed in place and now Regina was backing up from Emma's advance. Emma was almost close enough to grab her but Regina poofed away.
Emma heard breathing behind her and she turned. As she faced Regina once more, the brunette thrust her hand into Emma's chest. Emma could feel Regina's hand grasping her heart, but she hadn't tried to pull it out. Emma looked into her eyes and saw conflict there. Emma took her hand and grabbed Regina's arm and forced her hand out. Both women gasped as Regina's hand came free.
With her hand still holding onto Regina's arm, she used her other and punched the wound on Regina's shoulder. It caused Regina to stumble back and she fell to her knees. Using what strength she had left, she got to her feet.
"Regina, give up," Emma said.
"Never," Regina said. She put her hands out in front of her like she was about to send magic in Emma's direction again, and Emma tensed, ready for it. That second was all Regina needed to dive at Emma, pushing her back into the wreckage of the stables. Emma cried out in pain as she felt something stab into the back of her leg.
This time Regina was on top of her and instead of reaching for her heart, or trying to pin her, Regina wrapped her hands around Emma's neck.
Emma reached for Regina's arms to pull them away from her. Regina's position gave her leverage and she was not only squeezing Emma's neck, she was pushing down on it. Her hands grasped at Regina's arms but she was having trouble getting her mind to get her hands to make the last ditch effort before being strangled. She began to see black spots at the edge of her vision and then Regina practically threw herself off of her, backing up while Emma choked and gasped for air.
As she recovered she saw Regina was again on her knees, staring down at her hands. Emma moved to get up, but yelled out in pain as she felt something in her leg. She couldn't see anything so it had to be something in the back of her leg—something she landed on.
"Regina. Regina, I need your help," Emma said.
But Regina didn't react. She continued to kneel there; all of her concentration was on her hands. Emma could hear sirens off in the distance and wondered if they were on their way here. When this had all started her parents had insisted on putting a GPS tracker on her phone, which was currently in her pocket.
Emma clenched her teeth and used her hands to pick up her leg. She felt something sliding out of it and once free, she rolled out of the way. It was a long nail, sticking up from a board that she must have fallen on. She got to her feet, although her leg felt like resisting. She didn't stay on them for long as she knelt in front of Regina.
"Regina." Emma said taking a hold of one of her hands. "It's ok. I am ok, and you're ok."
By the time her sheriff's car came into view, Emma was holding onto tightly to a sobbing Regina.