Holy terror, if you guys are half as emotionally exhausted as I am by this story, I know this will make you feel better! Some female badassery and levity before the final push. This is a thick chapter, so read carefully!

Thanks again for the reviews and follows. Enjoy, My Lovelies!

Song: This is War by 30 Seconds to Mars


"Regina, what exactly is the plan," Emma asked as they materialized outside Throne Hall. Guards jerked to attention, bows and swords pointed in their direction. Emma squeezed The Queen's hand tighter.

"Destroy strongholds," Regina supplied in a quiet but confident voice.

She raised both of her hands, and Emma watched in awe as the arrows flying towards them switched directions and imbedded into necks and chests of those who used to serve her. Regina wavered slightly, still weak from lack of sleep and her night of torture, and spread her stance wider, black leather stretching and creaking soothingly. Closing her eyes, she focused her rage towards the building and sent a stream of fire into the brick and wood.

Shrieks of pain surrounded them. Guards rushed from the building. Emma reached for her magic, using the trigger of Regina's beautiful smile she'd given her only once during sex. The moment Emma knew she'd begun changing for the better, really changing in her soul and not just her actions. A pulse exploded from her hands. Men and woman, swords and bows scattered, pieces of paper in her powerful wind.

"Good, Emma," Regina encouraged, suddenly at her side but facing the opposite direction. Apparently, an attack came from behind as well. Emma trusted Regina to keep her safe.

The stench of smoke and burning flesh blanketed the air, gagging them, reminding them. Another purification of Regina's life, the destruction of this building stood for far more than the strategic attack against certain strongholds and outposts. Regina destroyed her old life, killing The Evil Queen, making way for Regina Mills. The heat of Regina's fireballs singed the back of her neck, and Emma sank into the comfort of it.

On one side gentle pulses of white energy smacked into the onslaught of guards. On the other, a magnitude of flames. Two opposing powers worked as one, towards the same end. They brought it all down, and the chills of that fact struck Emma to her core. She wanted to destroy it all as much as Regina. She wanted her family. She wanted Henry and the world she'd left behind, and the complete annihilation of this one felt like taking one step closer to that world, even though she'd never leave this one, not without Regina.

A sudden movement caught the corner of her eye, and Emma met it instinctively. Spinning off Regina's back, she blocked the sword as it descended toward her queen. A swift kick to the man's groin followed. She grabbed his head in both hands, happy for the lack of helmet and smashed his face into her knee. The sword came free in her hand as his grip weakened.

"Emma!" Regina copied her move, agile and sleek in her leathers, and snapped the neck of another guard who came close enough to strike them physically while knocking his arm to the side.

"Time to move," Emma suggested.

"Follow me," Regina instructed, turning towards the main street that lead towards Granny's diner and the library, beyond that Gold's shop. Emma grinned wickedly, falling into step beside the surprisingly swift queen.

A fierce determination settled into Regina's features, and Emma forced her own focus to the world in front of them. The sword slowed her slightly, but her superior physicality allowed her to maintain pace with the older woman. Adrenaline pounded in her ears. This really happened, and she'd never felt more liberated than while sprinting through Storybrooke while Regina exploded buildings. Supply buildings, Emma realized: the grocery store, the hardware store, apartment buildings for sleeping quarters.

She understood now. Regina wounded the army, not the sorcerer. The town appeared virtually abandoned, eerily desolate. Another body sprinted towards them, and Emma's step stuttered for one second, allowing Regina a stride ahead. Spinning on one foot, the blade of her claimed sword sliced thru the body armor and into the supple flesh beneath.

"Emma?" Regina called without glancing back, pulsing energy into the troupe of soldiers approaching her.

"I'm good!" She called, sprinting to her queen. Regina grabbed her hand as she skidded to a stop beside her.

"Help me," Regina said quietly. Emma nodded, all too weary of the growing number of bodies surrounding them. Her guards knew how to set a decent trap, she gave them that. "Release your fire, but don't control it's direction," she instructed.

Emma reached for her magic, but it refused to come. Fear and adrenaline and the sickening reality of the lives they took that day blocked the flow of something triggered by the strength of love. The soldiers possessed no hearts, no free will.

"Regina, it's not working!" She screamed, uncaring if the soldiers heard her panic. If push came to shove, she knew Regina would have poofed them to safety.

"Oh, for fuck's sake," Regina exclaimed in irritation, shocking the hell out of any within earshot of the uncharacteristic phrase falling from the queen's ruby red lips. She fisted the collar of Emma's hideous maroon jacket in clawed fingers and slammed her mouth against The Savior's. A pulse of shimmering white magic exploded into the ring of fire already circling them. Screams and the scent of charred flesh destroyed the impassioned kiss.

Green eyes stared into equally shocked and wide caramel. Two chests heaved as they absorbed the moment, the power of their combined magic, the heady sensations of battle adrenaline. Emma grabbed the side of Regina's neck, too high to care about anything else but gazing into those beautiful eyes.

"We must move," Regina urged without any real conviction or moving away from the panting savior.

"What's the plan? Are we just destroying shit for the hell of it?" She asked with a smirk. Burn it all. The feral whisper inside her mind scared her, reminded her of how closely The Savior danced to the darkness. She always had. She'd fallen in love with it, dark hair and beautiful dark eyes.

Regina returned her smirk. "Subtly was never my strong suit, dear." Emma smashed their mouths together again, unable to process their reality. The entire day felt surreal, and Emma anchored herself to Regina, the only thing that made sense.

"The water plant," Regina whispered against her lips, eyes refusing to open. "The electrical grid. We'd leave them virtually without resources," she finally formulated an actual plan besides razing the town.

"Are we poofing or running?" Emma clarified, as equally unwilling to relinquish the feel of the other woman's lips. Her entire body tingled with endorphins and ached with want of her. Given Regina's shallow breaths and glazed stare, The Queen returned the desire.

"There is a store of potions and magical supplies beneath Rumpelstiltskin's shop," she explained and nodded her head towards the barely visibly sign down the street. "I'd like to even the odds," she dripped maliciously, and Emma swallowed as a zing of adrenaline tore through her.

"I'm with you," she pledged.

Regina nodded and then took off once more, jumping and dodging bodies. Emma scrambled to keep pace, surprised by the sudden momentum. Ignoring the blackened bodies surrounding them, Emma stumbled after her queen. They were merely obstacles, not former human beings. They couldn't be, not yet, not until this battle ended for good. Right now, she followed Regina's lead, her strength. She'd forever chase Regina Mills, to the ends of every single realm and timeline.

Before they stuttered to a stop in front of Gold's shop, Regina already blasted away at the structure with magic wrecking balls, taking bites from the roof and corners. Emma added her own, sending a pulse directly thru the store. Bits and pieces of antiques and personal items unclaimed skittered across the pavement. Where was the evil bastard anyway? If this hadn't called his attention, nothing would have worked.

Regina seemed not to care either way as she pointed two fingers towards the ground and twirled them slowly, ripping planks from the floor. She dropped the gesture suddenly, and the tornado of debris dropped into the cellar below, crashing and shattering. Regina closed her eyes, presumably focusing on the rage that fueled her powers.

Emma resisted the urge to wipe the sweat beading at a dark temple. Suddenly, brown eyes flew open and a pulse of magic flew from her palms. The vibration and back blast blew both of them flat on the ground. Whatever Regina used as a trigger spiked her rage levels off the monitor. She chuckled gleefully, clearly enjoying the result of her endeavor.

"Well, well, dearie, I never thought you'd find your way into town without mommy and your puppets," a slimy, wrathful voice taunted The Queen from behind them.

Rather than engage, Regina rolled on top of Emma and disappeared in a puff of violet smoke. She wasn't strong enough to defeat The Dark One, not until they found his dagger. Until then, they only needed to keep them away from the civilians in the forest, give them a chance to find safety in the deep caves that lined the outer edge of the forest as far from town as possible. Materializing outside the water tanks and pumps, Regina leaned over and found Emma's mouth once more.

"Regina, we don't…" Emma started.

"Have time for this," The Queen finished, pulling Emma upright with persistent, unrelenting hands on the collar of her jacket. Between the acute emotional upheaval, the adrenaline endorphins, and the intensity of their magic when it combined, Regina figured she barely needed touched. Not by Emma, anyway. Emma always brought her to climax so quickly.

"Regina, later," Emma yelled and whipped them to the side, narrowly avoiding the arrow loosed a second too late to find its target in The Queen's back. As one, they reached their hands towards the perpetrator without identifying the person, sending flames of vengeance into the world. The woman screamed in pain, flesh flaking and melting.

"Azalia," Regina whispered, another favorite. She transformed her fire into simple energy and snapped the guard's neck, ending her misery instantly. Regina closed her eyes and slowly averted her gaze before blinking away the tears of rage and grief welling there. Emma's thundering pulse visible in her neck told Regina that she felt it, too.

"Come on," Emma nudged her forward, moving past the grief before it consumed her lover. Regina nodded and allowed Emma to pull her to her feet.

Repeating her intense concentration, Regina exploded the water tank supplying the town. Liquid rained down on them and a flood gushed from the huge container well. Emma snaked her arms about Regina's waist as the fast-moving water took their feet out from under them. Regina poofed them to safety, but they still slid across the gravels, scratching and scraping their leather. Emma spit water out, laughing because she couldn't cry.

"Let's not stand so close to the transformer, huh?" Emma suggested and climbed to her feet once more, stretching her back and shoulders from the rough landing.

"I concur, Darling." Regina stalked towards the hill, climbing it instead of depleting more of her magic resources.

"There is likely a chance we'll die tomorrow. No one has ever defeated The Dark One," Regina stated as they topped the hill and looked down on the power plant. Her words in meaning sounded solemn and reflective, but a deeper, sharper edge touched her tone.

Emma leaned against a tree and studied her lover. "I need you, Regina," she answered, a hidden edge of her own. "Please," she added and dropped her sword in case Regina failed to understand. Her words echoed those Regina uttered so many times after nightmares, during grief, to find clarity… to feel something real and beautiful.

Lips fell upon hers in a second. Two sets of violently trembling hands set upon the snaps and buttons of their own pants, trading immediately for the other woman's when denim and leather slid over hips. It wasn't the need for physical release that sent their hands diving into slick, clenching walls. They needed to feel something real, something tangible. They stood at the edge of the apocalypse, and nothing but raw passion for their lover held their minds together.

"Regina," Emma moaned as she brought the other woman's neck to her mouth aggressively. They were beyond fear, beyond reservations, beyond the fickle idea that the other hadn't completely marked her soul forever.

"Emma," Regina breathed against the pain of teeth sinking into her neck. Slippery walls clenched around her fingers painfully, and the hint of danger of their current location and situation combined with the power she held over the woman scratching against the rough bark jerked Regina along with her lover. She collapsed into Emma's chest, already feeling the muscles in her neck bunch and coil from the bruise forming.

"I killed Mother," Regina whispered into blonde hair. Grief dulled her tone to something akin to numb. Emma tightened her free arm around her back, comforting her without words. No words made this any better, none of it. Just this, just them. This was what they fought for because nothing else made sense, nothing else seemed to matter. This became the war of their love because Emma's arrival sparked the fuse to this bomb, toppled the first domino.

"We must go," followed the gut-churning confession. Regina pushed off her shoulders and wrangled her fingers free from Emma's suckling muscles, wishing more than anything to take Emma over that edge again and again until something made sense. Instead, she drew her magic close to her, savoring it for just a moment before sending it crashing into the power transformer.

She clasped her pants and watched the cascading sparks bounce and skitter across the ground. Emma stepped beside her, copying her motions, and Regina touched her wrist gingerly… or rather the leather burned into its flesh. Emma's brow furrowed in confusion.

"I cannot undo the magic imbedded in this bracelet, and the caves stretch beyond your limited range of movement," Regina explained, tears blurring her vision. She closed her eyes and brushed her fingers across the band. "Emma Swan, I release you," she breathed shakily.

Emma gasped as the band detached from her flesh, leaving only a thin red mark where it should have been. "I thought the only way to release me was by death," she blurted, unable to grasp the magnitude of this act.

"That was a clause written in the bylaws of my kingdom," Regina clarified sadly. "My kingdom lies in ruins, and I do not wish the same fate for you because I have left you unprotected. You're free, Emma," The Queen rasped. Her chin quivered with the reality of this last loss of the day, one she might have survived before Emma forced her to feel her own humanity.

Emma stared at her in disbelief for several shallow breaths. Nothing held her here physically anymore. If she wanted, she might have run, escaped the war with Mason. The Savior slapped both hands on Regina's cheek and brought their mouths together roughly, passionately, desperately. Hands grabbed at her waist, her hips, her back, holding tight to what Regina just released.

"Why did you pick me, Regina? You could have had anyone, made anyone belong to you. Why me?" Emma asked the burning question on the tip of her tongue since making the deal with Regina.

"You called me Regina," The Queen answered, allowing the honesty to shine in her eyes. "In the three decades of the curse, I'd not heard my name uttered once. You reminded me that day, Emma, - of who I was, who I wanted to be, why I cast the curse. I was more than a title in that moment, I was a person. You made me feel human with only the use of my name," Regina explained. Red grew slowly around her soulful brown eyes, evidence of her valiant struggle against the tears.

"I love you," Emma reiterated against her lover's still quivering lips. "I'm still yours, Regina Mills, even if The Queen has no claim to me anymore."

Tears spilled onto Regina's flushed cheeks, not having expected the genuine reaction and words from the woman who had revived her heart. "And you will always be favored by both, Emma Swan," she promised and pressed her forehead to Emma's. Neither moved for an extended moment, basking in the warmth and comfort and normalcy of the embrace.

Finally, Emma knelt and retrieved her sword, barely touching Regina's hand before they came undone in a swirl of magic, their goal accomplished. That should have kept Rumpel sufficiently busy for a while. Without Cora and without an army, his power only stretched so far, and he'd weakened himself by staying awake all night to torture her. Not to mention, wrangling control of a heart from someone else's possession require a lot of magic. There were probably guards out there who had to be affected by it but not for long.

Several swords pointed in their direction while they materialized. Regina sneered at them, clearly restraining herself from blasting those holding the weapons with magic. One by one, they dropped. Ruby shoved some of Robin's men out of the way in irritation, hip cocked in sassy defiance.

"What the hell did you do?" She demanded, crossing her arms over her chest. "We heard the explosions all the way out here.

"It remains intact for the moment," Regina assured her, meaning the diner. She touched Ruby's cheek tenderly, and the wolf swatted her away like one might have danced after walking into a spider web. Emma snickered, enjoying the sisterly exchange for exactly what it was. It offered the first ray of hope she'd seen since rescuing Regina that morning. Had it only been that morning?

"Emma." Regina took her hand and raised an eyebrow at Ruby's gaping mouth as her eyes fell onto the bite mark on her neck. "Come, Puppy, we must strategize," The Queen ordered the flabbergasted wolf as she breezed past her and into mouth of the cave. Once inside, she enacted a cloaking spell, concealing their location from anyone not already inside.

"Seriously?" Ruby exploded, unable to contain it. "I mean, I figured you guys had great sex, but I didn't think you blew shit up," she barbed her big sister while Regina rolled her eyes and stalked around the corner of the cave.

Snow and Charming looked positively mortified… Mason, too, for that matter. Emma's face burned instantly. Ruby worked her mouth like a fish out of water. Regina, of course, smirked, far too smug for her own good. Belle covered her mouth, quietly shaking with laughter.

"Uhh, it echoes," Snow stuttered, glancing further into the cave towards the hundreds of people seeking shelter there.

"Where is the pine cone whisperer?" Regina snarked. Much more prepared to deal with him than her former step-daughter and the moron rubbing her shoulders comfortingly.

"I presume you mean Robin?" Belle clarified for her own sanity, itching to move, to be useful, to distance herself from the fact that she now sat confined in a dark hole by The Queen's hand once more. Regina nodded, oblivious to Belle's discomfort.

"I'll retrieve him," she offered and scurried off. He'd given her boots and soft brown leather trousers, better preparing her for battle. Her yellow dress hung over them, meshing her two personalities together, and it sort of worked.

"Regina," Snow started but stopped when Regina's eyes seared the flesh of her face from her skull.

"Do not speak to me," she ordered aridly, unconcerned with offending the little brat. She was here to calm those who couldn't fight, rally those who could, and because Emma loved her. The thought surged through her uncomfortably, and she adjusted her shoulders, dissipating the unfamiliar energy of putting another before herself.

The Savior squeezed her hand before bringing it to her mouth for a tender kiss. Their eyes met over laced fingers, and Emma grinned around the back of her hand. Snow ejaculated a sound so high pitched that Ruby grabbed her ears. Regina rolled her eyes, and Emma sighed, dropping the still joined hands to their sides again.

"I know it's a lot to take in, guys, but I need you to deal with this," she stated firmly, deciding to meet the issue head-on.

"Emma, she's…" Snow started again, but Emma shook her head rather than relinquish Regina's hand or drop her sword.

"Not anymore," Ruby supplied the rebuke. Arms crossed in anger, she stepped closer to her sister. Regina had come so far, and not even Snow White threatened that as long as she breathed.

"Enough!" Regina yelled, her voice echoing off the damp rock of the caves. She stalked further into the cave, dropping Emma's hand, standing on her own. "I should rip all of your tongues out and serve them to the orphans," she threatened viciously. It was empty, but Snow and Charming's expressions showed their almost comical skepticism.

Graham wandered into the circle of logs near the entrance of the cave. Regina stopped abruptly until he nodded slightly, granting her permission to continue, to be near him. Nothing got resolved until The Dark One came back under The Queen's control, if she'd ever really had it. He followed her, habitually falling into step behind her until she stopped to wait for the rest of the group to join them.

"Don't trust him," Graham whispered into her ear, lips moving her hair, words barely audible. Her shoulders tightened and eyes narrowed, but other than those subtle clues, she failed to react to the cryptic warning at all. A sign that she took it seriously, very seriously. Graham knew good from bad people better than any she'd ever encountered. He sensed it, almost supernaturally.

"Sit there," she instructed Robin, pointing to a spot directly across from her. "Body odor should never be displayed so proudly," she sniped, covering her anxiety of Graham's warning. She needed Robin's influence and his men. People followed him, for whatever reason.

Emma plopped down to Regina's left, having grown accustomed to the place. Ruby occupied the right. Belle appeared with a foam plate containing a pancake, two eggs, and a pile of bacon. She handed it to Regina who looked up at her with a confused glare as she accepted it and the cheap plastic fork.

"Uhh, the children wanted pancakes," she said as if it explained everything. It hadn't. "G-granny sent that to you to help you regain strength." Still no response. Belle wrung her hands helplessly and continued babbling, "I only put a little sweet nectar on the flour cake. Oh!" She blushed. "I can retrieve more. Ruby says it's best when it gets on everything so you have enough to lick from your fingers," she offered helpfully.

Ruby choked on air. Emma laughed obnoxiously because again crying wasn't an option. Clearly, Belle had not understood Ruby's sexual innuendo. Snow and Charming looked confused. Ruby must have been super worried while they wreaked havoc if they'd failed to notice that Belle and Ruby were in love until then. Where was Peter?

Regina smirked, raising an eyebrow at her sister. "I suppose that's one form of flavored lubricant," she retaliated for Ruby's jabs about her bite mark earlier. Ruby turned the color of her name.

Belle's cheeks followed suit, and she quickly ushered Mason from the discussion, preserving what innocence she could.

"Alright, so what's the plan?" Ruby grouched, turning the attention away from her socially awkward in a totally endearing way girlfriend. No one wanted to start, no one fully processed the reality of their situation yet, which explained the amount of levity floating around them since entering the cave.

Regina offered a piece of bacon to Emma who snapped at it with the enthusiasm of a puppy. Regina took a daintier bite of the abhorrent, salty pork strip and chewed thoughtfully, releasing a deep sigh. She held the plate on her knees with one hand and placed the other on Emma's thigh, seeking her own comfort. She doubted with absolute certainty that no one agreed with or liked what she was about to suggest.

"Without his dagger, the only way to control Rumpelstiltskin is to cast The Dark Curse."