Chapter 20 Silence is Comfort

Emma had woken up the next morning with Regina curled up beside her. She had given Regina her space last night after Cora had left. She came up to the loft last night to find her asleep with dried tear tracks on her cheeks.

She kissed the mess of dark curls and pulled her closer. Regina let out a soft hum and sleepily opened her eyes to the beautiful blonde holding her.

"Good morning," she whispered, kissing Emma on the lips. Emma kissed her back, pulling her closer if it were even possible. She couldn't believe how hard she was falling for this woman. She wondered if Regina felt the same. All she knew was that she didn't want to scare her off by moving too fast.

When they pulled away Emma's hand caressed the cheek that Cora had struck last night.

"I'm ok," Regina assured her.

"She better have left town if she knows what's good for her," Emma angrily stated, fury rising up inside her for the cruel older woman.

"I doubt it," Regina said, sitting up and letting the blanket fall from her body. She was wearing a silk nightgown and Emma suddenly felt heat rising in her cheeks. She looked so beautiful. She suddenly had the urge to tear it off and make sweet love to her. She shook the thoughts from her head. Regina might not be ready for that and she didn't want her to feel pressured.

Regina however seemed to know what she was thinking. She smirked at the sheriff and took her time in getting up. Emma narrowed her eyes playfully and left the room to give her privacy.

She couldn't stop the massive grin from gracing her face as she rushed downstairs.

That morning they went through their normal routine of getting ready and getting to work. It was like any other day even with the looming threat of seeing either Cora or Leopold. They carried on the best they could.

Regina never saw it coming.

She was teaching her afternoon class when he suddenly barged in. His face was red and his eyes were dark. His fist clenched and she noticed a form being crushed in one of them. He was fuming and if she had to guess, he got the restraining order. They didn't think he'd dare to show up and hurt her in front of people. They thought she'd be safe as long as she wasn't alone. They were wrong.

"Mayor Blanchard, I'm in the middle of a lesson," she said, her voice stern and confident even if her hands shook.

He didn't say a word as he marched right on down and suddenly backhanded her across the face in front of her students. She gasped from the shock and pain.

Her students started yelling at him as he pushed her and slammed her hard against the blackboard. She could smell the whiskey on his breath and by his sloppy movements, she knew he was drunk. He shoved the restraining order in her face, his other hand tight on her throat. She could see a few of her students rushing out of their seats.

"You're not going anywhere!" he growled. "A restraining order won't keep me away. No matter where you go I'll find you and I'll find Henry!"

"Get off of her!" Ruby was suddenly beside him, trying to loosen his grip from her throat. She couldn't breathe. Dark spots started clouding her vision. The students she saw rushing over were now quickly pulling him away from her.

Ruby caught her before she could fall. She took deep breaths, coughing as her burning lungs finally took in air. Ruby lowered her to the floor, holding her as she tried to breathe.

Ruby glared at him fiercely, daring him to go after her once more.

"I'm calling campus security if you don't leave!" One of the students that had pulled him off of Regina, threatened him.

He looked at his wife who was on the floor with Ruby.

"This isn't over," he threatened and then finally walked out of the lecture hall.

Emma had gone into Grannies that afternoon for a late lunch. She didn't see Ruby anywhere and realized she's at school, Regina's class particularly. That wasn't the only thing she noticed. She rolled her eyes at the site of Cora sitting at the bar.

"I take it Regina is still upset?" she asked.

Emma's eyes flashed at those words and Cora stared her down with a cold glare. Not wanting to cause a scene she took the older woman's arm and led her outside. Cora angrily tore her arm away from her grip.

"What do you think you're doing?" she growled.

"You come in, tell her to basically go back to the man who beat her and terrorized her and then slap her in the face!" Emma snapped. "Of course she's still upset!"

"I just want what's best for my daughter!" Cora urged her to understand. "I want her to have everything!"

"You gave her nothing," Emma told her. "You forced her to get married and become a stepmother when she was still a child. You took away her life and now that she's trying to get it back, you tell her she's weak. You tell her to go back to her abuser. What kind of mother could want that for their child?"

Cora leveled her with a glare, stepping forward into her personal space. "And what do you know about being a mother?" she sneered. "You threw Henry away."

Something inside Emma shattered. She tried not to let Cora's cruel words get to her. She gave up Henry to give him his best chance. She didn't throw him away. Still, those words stung. Before she could even respond, her phone started ringing. She pulled it out from her pocket and saw it was Ruby on the caller ID. Something was wrong. Regina should still be in lecture right now.

"Ruby, what's wrong?"

"I'm leaving today," Cora said as Emma answered the phone. "Tell Regina she won't be hearing from me anymore." She walked away as Ruby's shaky voice sounded in her ear.

"Emma, you need to get to campus right away! Leopold came after Dr. Mills in the middle of lecture! We had to pull him off her and she's hyperventilating."

"On my way," Emma's voice shook, trying not to panic as she rushed to her car, not giving a shit about Cora walking away. All that mattered was getting to her girlfriend.

As she drove to campus, she called David and informed him of what happened. When Graham had stepped down and made her sheriff, she had hired David as her new deputy. She told him to get an arrest warrant ready and to await further instruction.

When she got into the class, the students had left and Regina was sitting at her desk with a concerned Ruby. She could see the red marks on her neck and the bruise forming on her cheek where he had struck her. Her breathing was fast and quick and Ruby was kneeling in front of her, coaching her to breathe.

"Regina, I'm here," she reassured her and pulled her into her arms. Regina flinched at the contact at first and then melted into her embrace. "You're safe, I got you."

"Where is he?" she asked Ruby who was standing off to the side with tears in her eyes.

"He left," she shrugged. "I think he was drunk."

Emma nodded, determined to go after him once she knew Regina was ok. Regina buried her face into her shoulder, her grip tight on her jacket. She was shaking and her breathing was getting no better.

"You need to breathe Regina," she said softly, trying not to let her anger for the mayor seep into her voice. Regina was terrified enough as it was.

"I'm cold," she whispered between breaths. Emma hugged her tighter.

"You're in shock," she said softly, hugging her tighter in an effort to warm her up. "Come on, breathe with me." She took a deep breath in and let it out. Regina followed her and soon enough, her breathing regulated.

Emma pulled away and placed her hands on her cheeks.

"Are you ok?" she asked softly, trying to get her to look at her. Brown eyes slowly met hers and all Emma saw was fear.

"I want to go home," she said and Emma stood, pulling her to her feet.

"I'm going to go arrest him and Ruby is going to take you home and stay with you until I get back. Is that ok?"

She seemed to not like the idea of being away from her girlfriend, but she knew Leopold needed to pay for assaulting her. Reluctantly, she agreed and allowed Ruby to lead her to her red car. Once they were gone, Emma headed back to the station.

Emma and David tried the office first and with help from his assistant, she informed them that he had called early this morning that he was working from home. Soon enough, they were on the porch of the mayoral mansion. Emma knocked, and when they received no reply, they tried the doorknob and was surprised when it had opened. If Ruby was right about him drinking, he must have let himself in without bothering to lock up in his drunken haste.

They slowly moved inside, unsure how they were going to find him. Would he be raging and violent or a drunken mess, Emma didn't know. She tried the study first as David did a sweep of the upstairs. She pushed open the door and was shocked to see him passed out on the couch. The study reeked of alcohol indicating he was intoxicated when he had gone after Regina.

"He's in the study," Emma told David through her walkie. Hearing her voice, he clumsily sat up straighter and looked at her with heavy eyes.

"Sheriff, come to arrest me?" he slurred.

"Stand up," she ordered.

"I see the little witch went crying to you again," he sneered as he unsteadily got to his feet.

"You assaulted her in the middle of her lecture in front of all her students!" she snapped angrily as David rushed in. "And you're drunk. I bet that will look good at the trial especially if you want Henry."

David got him in cuffs and led him out to the car before he could say anything else. She took a second before following them out. She took a breath, controlling her desperate urge to beat the man the way he beat Regina. To make him feel the same pain he bestowed on his young wife each day.

She stomped out to the car and angrily got into the passenger seat. Leopold had demanded for her to release him and it took all she had to not tell David to pull over so she could give him a taste of his own medicine.

"Don't let him get to you," her deputy had said as they finally pulled up to the station. "You're better than him."

Later that day after spending the last few hours processing Leopold's arrest and the paperwork that came with it, she was finally able to come back to the loft. Henry was doing his homework and after a quick greeting from him she came over to where Mary Margaret and Ruby were sitting at the table with mugs of tea.

"Where is she?"

"She wanted to be left alone," Ruby said, nodding towards the loft and Emma noticed her bloodshot eyes and anxious expression. After all, Ruby had seen him attack her, which reminds her she needed to put her statement together later.

"Are you ok?" she asked, placing a hand on her arm. At those words, she could see Ruby holding in the tears and the sob that threatened to come out.

"You know it's one thing to hear about the abuse, but to see it…" she paused, desperately trying to keep her emotions in check. "God, he was on her within a second and so violent I thought he'd strangle her to death." Her lip trembled as a few tears escaped and slid down her cheeks. She wiped them away quickly. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't be sitting here crying when she's upstairs terrified."

"Ruby, you have every right to be upset," Mary Margaret stood up and hugged her. Ruby leaned into her embrace, accepting the comfort.

"You helped stop it," Emma knelt down and took her hand. "She's home safe because of you."

"I was terrified," she whispered as Mary Margaret pulled away. Her friend squeezed her shoulder.

"Most heroes are," Emma winked at her, earning a laugh of disbelief from the teary young woman. She stood and headed up to the loft as Ruby and Mary Margaret spoke in hushed tones about what had happened.

"Regina?" Emma said softly, alerting her of her presence as she walked into the bedroom. Regina was sitting back on the bed with her back against the headboard. She was busy grading paper. It was as if nothing happened besides from the visible red marks on her neck and the bruise on her cheek.

"I'm busy," she said without even looking at her. A flash of frustration ignited low in Emma's belly as she realized Regina was shutting her out.

"Hey, you're doing it again," she said patiently as she sat on the edge beside her.

Regina instantly looked up at her and saw the hurt in those green eyes. She hadn't meant to shut her out. She just didn't want to talk or even think about what happened with Leopold or the weak terrified mess she became afterwards.

She moved her stack of papers off her lap and looked at her with soft sincerity.

"I'm sorry, I just…" she struggled on getting the words out. "I don't want to think about him or talk. I just want to move on."

"Understandable," Emma nodded. She suddenly had the feeling that she was also trying to mentally prepare herself for tomorrow as well. Tomorrow they were meeting with Leopold to discuss custody over Henry and to get the divorce papers signed. That is, if Spencer posted Leopold's bail in time.

Regina shifted and Emma right away saw her wince as if she were in pain. She then remembered that Ruby had told her Leopold had slammed her back against the blackboard.

"Hey, lie down," she said, getting to her feet and kissing her cheek before helping her lie back against the pillows.

"Why?" Regina's voice shook in pain from the movement as she allowed Emma to guide her down and then encouraged her to roll on her stomach.

"You're in pain," she said softly as she lifted her shirt.

"He slammed me pretty hard," Regina winced, burying her face into the pillow. Emma's eyes widened at the bruises on her back. She had to bite her tongue to keep herself from cursing out loud.

"Lie with me, please Emma," Regina whispered, moving onto her side. She didn't have to be told twice. She kicked off her boots and got in behind her, pulling her close and burying her face into the crook of her neck.

They didn't say anything. Emma didn't mind. It was as if she had found comfort in the silence of the room. This was Regina's way of processing what had happened. She didn't want to talk. She just wanted to be held.