A/N: Hello everybody! I hope you are all well. It is a crazy time right now. The best we can do is to stay at home and limit interaction with people outside of your household as much as possible. I've only started working from home on Monday (my government mandated it starting this week). It's such a weird experience. I hope this latest chapter can entertain you a little bit during your quarantine.


The day Regina had been dreading had finally arrived. Sure, she wanted to retire from the cage, but no sportsperson would have wanted to retire due to severe injury or death. Most sportspersons would have wanted to retire at the peak of their success. The point where they are convinced that they couldn't outdo themselves any longer and people remembered them for being legends.

The brunette's best-case scenario was to get a convincing permanent injury. Fans are ruthless when it comes to injury. Any sign of faking or lies, they would find out about it somehow. The media would try to get hold of the medical records to confirm that the injuries were, in fact, serious and that the fighter would not be able to fight anymore.

The worst-case scenario would be to die in the cage. She needed to survive the 'Dragon Claws Farewell' in order, to take care of her frail mother, even though Regina was in this situation because of her. The fighter was the only family Cora Mills had left.

The changing room was eerily quiet. The crew did not talk nor make any eye contact with Regina. They knew what this fight had meant even though they did not know the full story. They had not seen Regina for so long. Her face was a little sunken and her body was slimmer than it used to be although she still had some muscular definition on some parts of her body.

During the weigh-in the day before, Regina had just made the minimum weight for the flyweight category, which was 116 pounds compared to her previous weight of 125 pounds.

The reaction from the attendees at the weigh-in was mixed. While the media and MMA experts were fixated at the drastic change of strategy where weight was concerned, Regina's fans were worried about her health and safety. Some even petitioned for the fight to be rescheduled.

Many of the people who have been following Regina's career had picked up on clues that the former Queen of the Cage was not in her usual fighting shape. Some controversial theories have spread across social media platforms and even seeping into mainstream media.

Regina was unaware of this. After the usual press conference and photo ops, the observations from the public were not brought to her attention.

Gold, on the other hand, could not avoid the news popping up in his face at every turn. He would need to have some explanations soon for Regina's planned, hopefully fatal, knockout. There was bound to be an inquiry as to why an experienced manager allowed a fighter who was visibly unwell to fight.

"Belle!" Mr. Gold called out the moment he spotted his secretary walk towards the changing room.

"What's wrong, sweetie? Why do you look so flustered?" the young woman asked, trying to sound concerned.

"Her damn fans are making it difficult for the plan to go unnoticed." The manager explained.

"The plan? Oh right! The plan for Regina to…"

Mr. Gold's rough hands shot up and covered the secretary's mouth before she vocalised the plan.

"Shut your mouth! The walls have ears!" The old man said menacingly in her ears.

Belle looked apologetically at the manager. She almost got a confession from the man on tape.

She took a deep breath and put on her flirty secretary persona when the old man removed his hand from her face.

"Is there anything I can do for you?" Belle said as she played with Mr. Gold's tie.

Gold grabbed hold of the secretary's hands to stop her fiddling with his tie. He wasn't in the mood to be distracted by the young woman.

"Keep an eye on Regina. I need to make sure the result of the match does not come back and bite me in the ass."

The manager did not even wait for a reply from Belle. He stormed off down the corridor.

The FBI agent smiled knowingly. It gave her pleasure to see the vile old man panic, especially since this would potentially be his last day as a free man.

*.*.*.*.*

It felt like a strange dream. Emma wasn't sure how she had ended up on the way to the venue for the UFC where Regina was due to fight the Russian fighter. The blonde boarded the plane at San Francisco Airport in a daze. All she could think about was Regina's fate.

It wasn't until she was stuck in the busy streets of New York City when the car she was in honked its horn that she snapped out of her daze.

She looked around and realized she wasn't in a cab but was in an expensive-looking car, being driven by a man she vaguely remembered picked her up at the airport.

Emma looked out the window and saw that she was near Barclay's Center where the fight was taking place.

Large posters lined the street. Regina Mills appear in one of them. She looked like a warrior focused on her kill. The blonde couldn't help but beam with pride before the realization set in that the brunette fighter might die that night.

Emma was grateful that Gold arranged for her to be there but she was sure that the manager of Dragon Claws had a sinister motive for bringing her across the country.

*.*.*.*.*

"Belle!" finally, a friendly face! Regina was glad to see the FBI agent she had gotten close to lately enter her changing room.

"How are you feeling?" Belle asked.

"Very nervous. Belle, I don't think I can do this." As if a cork had been popped, the fighter's anxiety came bubbling to the surface and Regina started hyperventilating.

The FBI agent grabbed hold of Regina's shoulders to remind the fighter that she had somebody in her corner.

"Hey! Look at me!" Belle did her best to not draw attention from the others in the changing room but was loud enough to snap Regina out of her worrying thoughts.

"You got this! You have worked hard preparing for this. You need to focus on the moves we practiced." Belle reminded the fighter in a whisper.

"You're right. I'm sorry for freaking out." The fighter took deep breaths, focusing on the agent's calming blue eyes.

"It's understandable given the circumstance. You are very strong, Regina, and you are the bravest person I know." The FBI agent said sincerely.

"I'm sure that's not true but thank you for saying that."

Belle pat on Regina's hands. "You're welcome."

*.*.*.*.*

An hour after Mr. Gold had left the changing room, he reappeared again with a sly smile on his face. Regina stopped whatever she was doing to see what he was up to. Another person entered the room right after him.

"Emma!" the fighter gasped.

She couldn't believe that she got a chance to see the blonde fighter once more. Her feeling of joy was cut short when she saw a black metal pressed to the side of Emma's head. A gun! The door was shut quickly behind the bearer of the firearm.

"What's going on?! Why is Emma here?" And most importantly, why does she have a gun to her head?! Regina knew better than to ask the latter out loud.

"I brought her here from San Francisco." Gold answered matter-of-factly.

"Why?"

"Motivation."

"What?" Regina was close to shaking her manager to get him to spill his rationale without her having to play a game of Twenty Questions.

"Miss Swan is here to ensure that you keep your word. Any attempt to break the deal will have immediate consequences."

As if to drive the point further, the gunman pressed the barrel harder against the blonde's temple. Emma let out a yelp.

"This is unnecessary. I gave you my word!" the brunette couldn't stop tears from welling up.

"It doesn't hurt to have a little bit of persuasion."

Regina looked apologetically into Emma's green eyes. The blonde, in turn, smiled sweetly at her girlfriend, silently encouraging the brunette to not give up.

"Now that Miss Swan is here, I want the two of you to do one more thing." Mr. Gold flashed a sinister grin.

"What?" Emma asked warily.

"You, dearie, will be standing outside the cage with me. When Regina meets her demise, I want the press to get a nice picture of you mourning your dead lover."

"You monster!" Regina growled and lunged forward.

The gunman pressed the gun even harder against the blonde's temple to the point of tilting her head in an uncomfortable position.

The brunette stopped in her tracks.

Belle cleared her throat. "I believe Regina's match is coming up next."

Robert Gold was impressed that his little plaything was not fazed by the events that had just played out in the changing room. She's a keeper. He thought to himself.

The secretary led Regina towards where she had placed her gear. The brunette kept glancing at Emma, making sure that she was not harmed.

"Hey, I know it's going to be difficult with Emma around, but you need to put your head in the game if you want to live." The FBI agent reminded Regina.

"Right."


A/N: Yes the next chapter is the actual final match. What will happen? Will Regina survive? Will Gold get arrested? Share your theories!