STORYBROOKE, Maine
There was a stranger in Storybrooke.
Regina was scared.
No outsider was able to cross the Storybrooke border and stay – never in twenty-eight years until Emma Swan came into town did they have a permanent stranger living among them. And now they had two! The man had been speaking to Henry when Regina hurried over to her son only to watch the mysterious stranger ride away on his motorcycle. 'Who was that?' Regina had asked Henry. Who was he? How was he here? Why was he here? What did he want? A million questions were running through Regina's mind but she knew that she had something much bigger to deal with today.
Rebekah.
Her younger sister was pregnant and Regina refused to allow such a thing to happen. The only pregnant person in Storybrooke had been pregnant for twenty-eight years until a few months ago. Things had been frozen – it was impossible for anything to move forward -- which meant that it was absolutely impossible for any Storybrooke resident to become pregnant!
But of course Rebekah would defy the odds.
The unborn child that was invading her little sister's womb was Jefferson's, Regina had no doubt about that. And she wanted nothing more than to march to his home and rip out his heart but she needed to be smart about all of this. He didn't know Rebekah was pregnant, and Regina knew that Rebekah was unaware, so what if they never found out? It'd be simple enough.
Which was why she was standing outside of Rebekah's apartment door with a basket full of muffins and a fake apology ready to be told. She knocked on the door and listened as her sister let out an annoyed groan. She pressed her lips together to fight a smile of amusement while she looked at her watch to check the time. It wasn't too early, but Rebekah was acting as if Regina was showing up at 3 AM, banging on her door.
The door flung open and Regina raised her brows in surprise to see Rebekah looking so...awful. There was never a time that Rebekah wasn't beautiful – but right now, she looked horrid. Dark circles under her eyes, terrible bed head, and mismatched pajamas and a robe with no belt.
"Good morning," Regina said with an amused smiled. "You look awful." Rebekah glared and moved to shut the door on Regina but a shiny, black high heel stopped the door from closing all the way. "I'm only joking, Rebekah," Regina said, and then held up the basket full of Rebekah's favorite muffins. "Banana nut." She tried to tempt Rebekah. Her younger sister narrowed her eyes at Regina suspiciously but opened the door wider for Regina to come inside.
Her home was always well kept, and even during her early phase in pregnancy Rebekah still managed to keep her apartment tidy. Regina frowned for a moment, thinking back to the Enchanted Forest when Rebekah was only a small child and their mother would demand her to clean her bedroom until there was not a speck of dust left. She had only been five at the time and wanted to play in the forest or go to the stables with Regina but Cora was so hard on Rebekah. There were times Regina would sneak into Rebekah's bedroom while their mother was busy and would help her little sister clean her bedroom.
"Two against one," Regina would tell Rebekah when she voiced her concerns of Cora finding out that the eldest Mills sister had helped clean the messy bedroom. "As long as we stick together, Mother can't hurt us."
She shook her nostalgia away and walked to the small table outside of the kitchen and placed the basket of muffins down.
"Tea?" Rebekah grumbled as she walked into the kitchen.
"No." Regina tried her best to not sneer. Tea. Jefferson and his damn obsession with tea. "I'll have coffee."
Rebekah made a grunt of a noise and Regina couldn't help but smile. It seemed that while pregnant, her younger sister was absolutely miserable to be around. Perhaps her attitude alone would push Jefferson away. But she doubted it.
After a few minutes, Rebekah came back holding a coffee mug and set it down in front of Regina before taking a seat across from her. Regina looked down at the coffee and saw that Rebekah had made it just the way she loved it. "You remembered."
Rebekah let out a huff of a laugh and looked to Regina. "Not too long ago it was my job to remember how you like your coffee, Regina."
She was the only one who knew. The new assistant Regina had hired was absolutely awful at making coffee and got it wrong each time which left Regina attempting to make the coffee but failing as well. Rebekah made it a certain way and no matter how hard Regina tried to replicate it, she couldn't.
"I haven't had a good cup of coffee since you left," Regina said and lifted the cup to her mouth to take a large sip. She smiled at the taste and then looked back to Rebekah. "What was your secret?" she asked. "There must be an ingredient you use that you aren't telling me."
"Spit," Rebekah said dryly and Regina couldn't stop herself from laughing which prompted a smile from her younger sister. "You're in a suspiciously good mood. Did you get laid?"
"Oh, if only that were the case." Regina smirked and Rebekah quirked her brow up in amusement. The eldest Mills daughter set down her cup of coffee and made sure to make eye contact with her younger sister. "I came to a revelation this morning."
Rebekah sat back in her chair after grabbing a muffin from the basket. "Do tell," she said as she picked at the pastry.
"I miss you."
The look on her sister's face was priceless and if Regina wasn't lying to her sister right now, it might have pained Regina. She looked...shocked. Her facial expression read more like Regina had just told her that she had met an alien – not that she was missed. Rebekah looked shocked and sad and hopeful all at once. It would have been painful if Regina meant what she was saying.
"I miss seeing you every day – I miss having you in my life. I miss watching you with Henry and I...I miss my little sister."
Rebekah opened and closed her mouth and had the look in her eyes again that might have caused Regina's stomach to clench up and her throat to go dry, if she truly did miss Rebekah. The raven-haired woman cleared her throat and picked up her cup of coffee to take another drink.
"I'm still here, Regina." Rebekah set down her muffin. "You haven't lost me."
"Sometimes it feels like it, though." Regina spoke honestly. "There was a time where we were so close and now it feels as though we are strangers. I miss being a part of your life, Rebekah. I miss you being a part of my life."
Rebekah seemed so confused by the entire exchanged and it was clear to Regina that her little sister did not miss her. (Not that Regina truly missed Rebekah. No. She didn't. Not at all. Not even a little. This was just a lie.) When Regina had first learned how to create the curse, it called for the heart of the person she loved the most and who loved her just as much in return. She thought it would have been Rebekah because despite everything, Regina had loved her sister and was crushed when Jefferson stole her away.
And after years of searching for her to punish her for leaving, Rebekah finally came back home begging Regina to save the life of her true love. She hadn't been sure that Jefferson had broken through the dark magic that kept anyone from entering Rebekah's bedroom all those years ago – but when Rebekah pleaded with Regina to save Jefferson, she knew that it worked but that it had taken much longer to kill him than it would any other ordinary person.
It was the perfect situation for Regina. She would get her sister back and tear apart her happily ever after. And the cherry on top of the cake? Regina would get her curse. But Rebekah's heart didn't work because she no longer loved Regina. Not in the Enchanted Forest and not even in Storybrooke, it seemed.
Not that any of that mattered. Regina didn't need her sister's love. In the end, the curse had worked and for the last twenty-eight years, no one had gotten their happy ending. Until Emma Swan came to Storybrooke with her stupid yellow Volkswagen beetle and everything began to change and time began to move forward.
Rebekah cleared her throat and Regina looked back to her younger sister. "I used to worship you, Regina."
She was well aware. Regina had placed new memories in Rebekah's head for the curse but most of them were from when they were both young and living in the Enchanted Forest. She only changed the setting and time. Rebekah's false memories of her teenage and adult years were vastly different from her life in the Enchanted Forest, and Regina made sure to make her little sisters' life absolutely miserable out of spite. But there was only one thing that was always constant about Rebekah while in Storybrooke. No matter what Regina did to her, Rebekah was still loyal and never walked out of her life.
That had changed, too.
"You were more of a mother to me than our own mother and I loved you so much," Rebekah admitted. Loved. Past tense. "I don't know what happened but over the years that made you become so cold towards me but..." Rebekah sighed and shook her head. "You are still my sister. And...if you want me to be in your life again...I will."
She was acting as if Regina was asking her for a damn kidney!
Regina forced a smile and reached over the small table to grab Rebekah's hand. "I'd really like that," she told her. "And...I don't want anything to ever come between us. So, I'll set aside my jealousy towards Emma for not only Henry's sake, but for yours as well. I know you two had formed a friendship and I would never want to make you feel uncomfortable."
Rebekah genuinely smiled. "I really appreciate that."
"Why don't you come over tonight for dinner? We can have a few glasses, or bottles, of wine." She winked causing Rebekah to chuckle. "And we can catch each other up on what's been going on with our lives. I'd really like to know more about your new job. From what Gold has allowed me to see, everything is coming together quite beautifully."
"Tonight?" Rebekah said slowly with a small frown.
Jefferson. Dammit. He already had his hooks in her. "Unless that's too much too soon for you."
Regret flashed across Rebekah's face that she quickly replaced with a smile. "I'd love to come over tonight, Regina."
"Are you sure?" Regina asked. "You don't have somewhere more important to be?"
More guilt. She'd keep packing it on until Rebekah felt so much guilt that she'd practically move in to Regina's home.
"No." Rebekah cleared her throat and moved her hand to rest over her stomach as her face turned a little green.
"Uh oh," Regina said. "You look a little sick. Did you eat at Granny's yesterday?" Regina knew that Rebekah did. Her younger sister nodded her head. "I heard a few people got food poisoning."
Rebekah groaned and ran from the table and headed towards her bedroom. Regina grimaced as she listened to her sister's throwing up in the bathroom. But she knew if she was going to get Rebekah to believe that she actually did care about her, she'd need to put in more effort. Words were nice, but actions spoke louder than words.
Regina got up and walked through Rebekah's bedroom until she was in the bathroom and found Rebekah huddled over the toilet still getting sick. She took in a deep breath and moved to stand behind her younger sister and hold back her hair. Regina even went as far as to rub Rebekah's back in soothing circles.
When Rebekah was finally done, Regina dropped her hair and watched as she moved to lean against her bathroom wall as she closed her eyes.
"I want you to come stay at my house today," Regina told Rebekah.
"What?" Rebekah croaked, her voice raspier than usual. "Why?"
"I only have a few errands to run with Kathryn this morning and then I'm home for the rest of the day. You getting sick like this probably isn't good for your ribs," Regina said and Rebekah sighed and nodded her head as she moved her hand to rest above her ribs and winced. "I want to keep an eye on you until you're feeling better. I don't feel comfortable with you being alone here. Especially with the storm that's coming."
"I'm not," Rebekah started to say but quickly closed her mouth to stop from saying anything further.
I'm not alone. Yes, Regina knew that Jefferson made frequent visits at night now.
Rebekah looked like she was about to come up with some lie but quickly moved back to the toilet and started to get sick again. She groaned and Regina grimaced yet again as she moved to stand behind Rebekah and hold her hair back while she threw up.
"Rain check on the drinking," Regina told Rebekah as she rubbed at her back. "Only soup for you, today. And apple cider as dessert."
Rebekah agreed and finally allowed Regina to pack a bag for her after protesting it when Regina first brought it up. But when the eldest Mills daughter explained to her younger sister that if she got sick again, a change of clothes might be nice. She even told Rebekah that she'd pack a few books so that she would be entertained while Regina ran errands with Kathryn. It seemed that Rebekah was too tired to argue because she told Regina to pack whatever and took a quick shower to wash off any of her puke that didn't get into the toilet.
Regina couldn't get Rebekah drunk while she was sick; that had foiled her plan on a way to get rid of the baby. But there were other ways to get rid of a baby. And she was going to the pharmacy with Kathryn to pick up a pregnancy test for the woman.
She just needed to keep Rebekah in her sights and away from Jefferson.
_
"If you're looking to blame me for the storm, I think you're taking things a bit far now."
Regina had seen Emma's patrol car when she had exited the pharmacy with Kathryn while parting ways for the morning and decided that now was the perfect time to find out exactly what Emma knew about this stranger in their town. No, her town. Emma did not belong here. Regina moved out from behind the car and to where Emma stood.
She crossed her arms over her chest before saying, "I need you to look into something, Sheriff." That seemed to peak Emma's attention for a second before she went back to filling her trunk with emergency supplies for the storm. "Someone's in town – someone new."
"Yeah. I know," Emma replied. "I gave him directions to Granny's the other night."
"You talked to him?" Regina stepped forward. "What did he say?"
Emma made a face. "He asked for directions. What's the big deal" Emma threw a bag in the trunk and looked to Regina, suspicion in her eyes. "Who is he?"
"I don't know," Regina answered honestly. "I asked around, but no one seems to know anything." She looked off into the distance as she tried to rack her brain with just who he might be. "There's something about him...something familiar."
Emma smirked. "He must be one of the untold millions you cursed."
Regina snapped her head in Emma's direction, caught off guard by her words. "What?"
"Oh, you know, the curse, Henry's whole thing." She went back to loading her car.
Regina needed to change the subject. "Sheriff, I need you to find out who he is, what he's doing and what he's doing here."
Emma took in a breath and moved to stand straight once she put another bag in the trunk. "You know, as hard as you tried to find one in my case – there is no law against visiting Storybrooke."
No. But the curse made sure to keep out strangers who weren't from their world. But because of Emma, so many things were changing now.
"This isn't about the law, Ms. Swan." Regina put on a stern expression. "You're gonna do this because I asked you to. And because you will see that it's the right thing to do."
Emma shut her trunk. "And why is that?" she asked.
"Because he was in front of my house taking particular interest in the one thing we both care about – Henry."
That seemed to change Emma's mind. She breathed in heavily and nodded her head. "I'll look into him."
Regina left just as the thunder began to rumble in the sky. She had dropped off Rebekah earlier and was glad to see Henry was awake and more than willing to visit with his aunt (a distraction to keep her from Jefferson), and before Regina left Rebekah at the house, she had pocketed her little sisters' phone and went through her messages. There was a message from an unknown number telling Rebekah not to go with Regina and stay home which had made Regina smile in victory – but she still tried to hurry while with Kathryn so that Jefferson didn't do anything crazy like show up to her house.
If Regina had Rebekah's phone, there was no way Jefferson could get in touch with her. And from the onslaught of messages that followed, Regina knew he was getting antsy.
She drove through town and watched as everyone prepped their stores for the storm that was brewing and took the short drive to think of ways to get Rebekah to take the pill she had purchased at the pharmacy when Kathryn was busy.
Regina could smash it up and put it in her soup, she could really do that with any liquid substance. But the man had told Regina that the pill had a bitter after taste. She needed to find a way to mask the bitterness so that Rebekah wasn't suspicious.
The pill was in a little white bag tucked into her purse in the passenger seat and Regina kept looking over at it as she drove through her neighborhood getting closer to her home.
Can you truly go through with this? Can you do this to your sister?
It was the only way. If this pregnancy woke Rebekah from her curse, there was no stopping her. True Love's kiss didn't work because both people had to believe that the curse was real in order to break it – that's what frightened Regina about Rebekah spending so much time with Jefferson. And now that she was pregnant, Rebekah might believe whatever Jefferson told her.
The pregnancy had to be taken care of; Rebekah could not go through with it. Regina had to stop it. As she pulled into the driveway, Regina remembered the look of Rebekah's face when she told her that she missed her and felt her stomach churn.
Rebekah will never know.
Regina pulled her keys out of the ignition and grabbed her purse before exiting the car. She shoved the pharmacy bag a bit farther into her purse and got out of the car. When she walked into her home she could hear Henry talking animatedly to Rebekah about some comic he was reading and chuckled a bit listening to Rebekah's 'hms' or replies.
"How's our patient?" Regina asked Henry once she walked into the living room. He sat on the end of the couch that Rebekah was laying down on and had his comic book lying on his lap.
"Tired," Rebekah answered for Henry.
"She only puked twice," Henry added.
"That's very good." Regina chuckled as her son grinned at his aunt who stuck her tongue out at him playfully. "Rebekah, if you're up to it, I was wondering if you'd like to join me in the kitchen while I make your soup."
Rebekah stretched a bit and sat up. "Sure," she mumbled and wrapped her arms around herself, hugging onto the sweatshirt she was wearing. When they were in the kitchen Rebekah plopped herself up on the counter only to wince.
"Ribs?" Regina said as she moved closer to her with a large bowl in her hands.
Rebekah closed her eyes. "Dizzy." She took in a deep breath when Regina stood in front of her and began to sway. Regina dropped the bowl as Rebekah fell forward and listened as it shattered against the ground while keeping Rebekah from falling to the ground as well.
"Rebekah!" Regina yelped as she tried to lift her sister up. She felt her heart pounding in her chest as Rebekah took in a shallow breath but made no other movements. "Henry!" Regina shouted as he son ran into the room after hearing the shattering of the bowl. "Get my car keys!"
Henry ran around the kitchen island and grabbed Regina's keys out of her purse. The young boy ran back to Regina and moved to help keep Rebekah up. "What's wrong with her?" Henry asked, his tone laced with fear.
And for some odd reason, Regina was scared too.
"Go start the car."
"Maybe we should call Emma."
"We don't have time! Go start the car, Henry!"
"Mom..." Henry said in a scared tone causing Regina to look down at him. He stood next to her and Regina saw that there was a little pool of blood forming, dripping down from the counter.
Regina should be relieved. Rebekah was miscarrying and Regina hadn't even needed to do anything. Things would go back to normal and she wouldn't have her curse broken.
But she wasn't relieved.
She was scared.
With all her strength, Regina lifted Rebekah from the counter and picked her up. "The car, Henry. Now!" She ordered her son who darted out of the kitchen with the car keys in his hand. Rebekah was heavy, but Regina wasn't exactly lifting weights every day for the last twenty-eight years, so she struggled to hold onto Rebekah the entire way to the car but managed to not drop her. On the way to the hospital, Regina called Dr. Whale and told him to be ready for them. Henry tried to get in touch with Emma but wasn't able to get a hold of her. The storm was getting stronger and rain pounded against the car's windows. Regina could hardly see the streets as she sped down the roads until she was in town.
"She's still bleeding," Henry said from the backseat in a panicked tone. "Did she sit on something?"
"Keep trying to reach Emma, Henry," Regina said, wanting to distract her son.
Dr. Whale and a team of doctors were waiting outside for Regina when she pulled up to the hospital and they carefully took Rebekah out of the backseat and lifted her up onto a gurney. "Does she know?" Dr. Whale shouted over the downpour.
Regina shook her head and tried to shield Henry from the rain. Rebekah was unconscious on the gurney with her hair and clothes now soaked from the rain. Regina watched as they took her inside the hospital, and when Henry tried to follow after them, she gripped her son's arm tightly to stop him.
"Let go!" Henry yelled. "I want to be with Auntie Bex!"
Regina felt water run down her cheeks and shook her head at Henry. "We'll go inside but I have to move the car," Regina told him as more water fell. "Please, come with me."
Henry frowned as he looked at her and Regina could have sworn she saw the briefest hint of pity in his eyes before he nodded his head and got into the car. Regina took a moment before she got into the car and tried to collect herself.
This is a good thing.
It's what she had wanted.
Regina got into the car and pulled it into the parking lot. When they were parked and the car was stopped, Henry moved his hand to grab onto Regina's. "I knew you still loved her."
Regina blinked and felt the wetness on her cheeks again. She looked away from Henry and into the rearview mirror and saw now what he had seen. Tears. Regina had been crying. She inhaled deeply and let go of Henry's hand. "Of course I love her!" She snapped at him. "She's my little sister!"
Did Regina truly mean that?
Did she still love Rebekah?
Regina sat by Rebekah's bedside.
They had managed to stop the bleeding and the baby survived.
"Quite the fighter, she's got." Dr. Whale had told Regina when he explained everything that had happened.
Regina felt ill. Hours ago, Regina had been plotting for a way to get Rebekah to miscarriage and now...now all she felt was guilt and torment that she had tried to snuff out something so innocent.
When Rebekah's hand began to twitch in Regina's, the eldest Mills sister yelled for Dr. Whale to come in the room. Rebekah blinked a couple of times as she began to wake up. "What happened?" Rebekah rasped as her eyes adjusted to her surroundings.
Dr. Whale and Regina had spoken privately after they had managed to save the baby and Rebekah when she told him she had been working up the courage to tell Rebekah about the pregnancy but hadn't gotten the chance. Dr. Whale informed Regina that he was telling Rebekah as soon as she woke up and Regina couldn't argue with him on that.
Regina couldn't go through with harming the unborn child her sister was carrying even if it was risky and could lead to Rebekah remembering. But there was one factor that would surely help Rebekah remember her past life and that was Jefferson. He needed to be gone.
Her mind drifted to a conversation she had with Jefferson the night Graham died.
"You're right, Jefferson. I don't have my sister's heart...but there are still ways I can easily break it."
Dr. Whale moved to stand at the foot of Rebekah's bed and smiled down at her. "How are you feeling?"
Rebekah swallowed and sat up a bit only to wince. "Confused." She groaned.
Dr. Whale looked at Regina for a brief moment before looking back to Rebekah. "I got your blood work back," he told Rebekah causing her attention to fall on him. "I actually was about to call you when your sister called me and told me that she was bringing you in. You're lucky you weren't alone," Dr. Whale added. Rebekah looked over at Regina and smiled a little before looking back to Dr. Whale. "Look, there's no easy way to say this, Rebekah. You're pregnant."
Silence.
Regina looked at Rebekah and tried to muster up fake concern. "Rebekah?" She said her sister's name. "Did you know?"
But Rebekah remained frozen, mouth open slightly with no words coming out and very wide eyes.
"You're pregnant," Dr. Whale said again.
Rebekah closed her mouth and looked away from Dr. Whale and began to move her fingers as if she were counting.
"Your body went through a lot when you were in your car accident, that on top of the distress of losing Graham–"
Rebekah held up her hand and stopped Dr. Whale from continuing.
Regina looked to Dr. Whale who visibly swallowed. "Rebekah."
"Shhh," she hissed.
"Rebekah, the baby is safe," Regina said as she grabbed her sisters' hand. "They managed to save you both." Rebekah took in a deep breath and looked to Regina, her eyes wild with fear. "The both of you are fine."
"I," Rebekah began to say but closed her mouth.
"I know that you went on a date with Eric from the docks a while ago. Is it his?" Regina asked, pretending she didn't know exactly who the father was. "Is Eric the father?"
Rebekah took in another deep breath and moved her hand to rest on her stomach. And then she smiled. "No," She whispered. "He's not the father."
Regina looked over at Dr. Whale with a glare and he got the message. "I'll leave you two alone for a moment."
When the door shut, Regina squeezed Rebekah's hand lightly to break her from the trance. "Rebekah?" She said her name and Rebekah looked back at Regina. "Who is the father?"
Rebekah lowered her head. "Jefferson." She said his name in a tremble. Rebekah looked back up at Regina. "I know you told me to stay away from him – and I did for a while. But...I have feelings for him."
"Stop," Regina said.
"Regina, I know you don't like him-"
"There is a reason I told you to stay away from him, Rebekah," Regina said.
Here it comes.
Rebekah looked at her in confusion.
Regina inhaled deeply before looking Rebekah in the eyes. "Jefferson and I dated."
Her face fell and Rebekah dropped her hand from Regina's.
"It didn't end well, clearly." Regina continued on with breaking her sisters' heart. "I wanted a child and Jefferson couldn't be bothered with one. He told me that kids were never his plan – that he only wanted me. He was furious when I told him about wanting to adopt. Jefferson went wild with his rage and threatened to kill himself..." Regina looked away from Rebekah. "I didn't think he'd actually go through with it."
"You?" Rebekah's voice broke.
"It was a week after I adopted Henry – that's when he hung himself. Luckily I had gone to his house to see him and make sure he was okay and was able to get him down in time before..."
Rebekah's fingers gripped her stomach as her lower lip trembled.
"The reason why no one in town has seen him in so long was because he was at a mental facility for the last decade. The day he got out he came to me and told me he wanted me back and when I told him I had moved on he grew so angry. Jefferson told me that he would make me suffer – that he would break my heart like I broke his."
Rebekah took in a quick breath and covered her mouth with her hand.
"I wanted to tell you, Rebekah, but I was worried about your safety. That's why I had Graham tailing you!"
Rebekah dropped her hand from her mouth. "Graham knew?"
Regina nodded her head.
"That...that doesn't make sense. Graham...he knew about me and Jefferson."
That, Regina hadn't known.
"Graham didn't know about my past with Jefferson – just that he had been released from the mental institution recently." Regina spat out more lies. "You know how much Graham loved you and wanted you happy. But if he had known the whole situation, he wouldn't have let Jefferson near you. God, Rebekah. I am so sorry. I didn't think he'd stoop so low as to use you to try and make me jealous."
"I'm going to be sick," Rebekah said and Regina quickly grabbed the bedpan and moved it in front of Rebekah just in time.
"Rebekah, I'm so sorry," Regina said as she held back her sister's hair. "God, I am so sorry."
The sound of Rebekah puking was replaced by loud sobs and Regina felt as though she would get sick, too.
It had to be done.
"I'm sorry," Regina said as she got into the bed with Rebekah, letting her curl into her side as she continued to cry.
Regina looked over to the door and saw Henry standing outside of the room, eyes narrowed at her suspiciously.
She'd get away with this. Jefferson had been a hermit the last twenty-eight years! He was never seen in town. It could be believable that he had been in a mental institution. But the less people to know about this, the better.
"No one has to know, Rebekah," Regina whispered. "We can say that it was Graham's. Everyone already assumed that you two--"
Rebekah pulled away from Regina in shock. "No!" she cried.
"Do you really want the town to know that you got pregnant by a man who seduced you solely to get back at me? I have no love for Jefferson, believe me when I say that. But I worry for his sanity. If anyone found out what he did he might go mad again and now you and this baby are involved." Regina pushed Rebekah's hair away from her face. "Unless...you don't want to go through with this pregnancy."
Rebekah was quiet for a long time before she spoke to Regina. "I want to keep it. I just..." She sniffled. "I don't ever want to see him again." Rebekah sobbed.
"You don't have to." Regina pulled Rebekah close to her. "I'm going to make sure that Jefferson gets the help that he deserves." Her younger sister cried loudly as she held onto Regina tightly. "And you won't have to see him ever again."
Regina had won.
But the cost was Rebekah's heart.
She had intended to use it to create the curse but hadn't been able to. Now, to make sure the curse wasn't broken, she had to break her little sisters' heart.
It had to be done.
_
The storm had cleared and it was quiet in Storybrooke.
Regina knew exactly where Jefferson would be, and when she pulled up to her home, she saw him pacing at her front door. "Good morning, Jefferson." Regina greeted him as she got out of her car. He stalked over to her with his hands balled into fists.
"Where is she?!" he seethed.
"Jefferson...please. Try and stay calm." She faked concern when the ambulance from the hospital pulled up to her home as well, hidden behind the tall bushes. The four nurses from the mental facility underneath Storybrooke hospital got out of the ambulance and made their way over to Regina. "I don't want any trouble."
"Where is she?!" He screamed now. The second he was in front of her the large male nurses walked around her bushes and over to Regina. Jefferson looked at them and then back to Regina. "What did you do?" Jefferson said slowly.
"We're only here to get you help, Jefferson," one of the nurses said.
He glared at Regina. "You bitch," Jefferson seethed.
"Why don't you come with us?" another nurse said as the four large men surrounded Jefferson. Regina smirked at her brother-in-law as his eyes grew wide in fear. "We're not here to hurt you."
"Regina, please!" Jefferson looked back at Regina, "Rebekah needs me – she's pregnant! She's pregnant and she doesn't know!"
Regina pursed her lips together and shrugged her shoulders. "Seems like even more reason to keep you away from her, Jefferson," Regina told him. "With how unstable you are, I can't risk their safety."
Two of the nurses grabbed Jefferson from behind and pulled him away from Regina. "No! Stop!" Jefferson shouted. "Let go of me! You can't let her do this! She's evil! She's the Evil Queen and we're all cursed! She's only doing this to hurt me!" He screamed now, thrashing around as they dragged him to the ambulance. Regina followed after them while smirking. Jefferson wasn't helping with trying to make them believe he wasn't mad.
"Don't worry, Jefferson. I'll make sure Rebekah is safe," Regina said as she walked around to the back of the ambulance. Jefferson managed to get out of the nurse's stronghold and lunged at Regina, knocking her down on the ground. His hands went around Regina's throat but he never got a chance to squeeze. His body slumped on top of hers and his hands dropped from her neck.
Regina managed to kick him off of her and saw one of the large nurses was holding a syringe. Regina pushed herself up off the ground and cleaned herself off. "Thank you," she said to the man. The three other nurses grabbed Jefferson off of the ground and carried him to the back of the ambulance. "I want to make sure that someone is watching his room at all times. I want him sedated every day as well."
"Don't worry, Mayor Mills," the male nurse said. "Your family is safe. With how heavily you're having him medicated – the guy won't even know his name."
"Good," Regina replied. "Go on now."
She waited until the ambulance pulled away to give into her smirk.
Everything was working. Rebekah would not remember, and Jefferson was gone now! Everything was getting better.
Regina got into her car and decided to treat herself. She drove into town and decided that instead of going to Granny's, she'd go to the local bread shop. Regina pulled her car in front of the store and turned off her engine, still smirking from her victory. She grabbed her purse and moved to get out of the car only to stop when something caught her eye and parked in front of the store.
Her blood began to boil at what she witnessed.
Out in the open, in broad daylight: Mary-Margaret Blanchard and David Nolan kissing.
Regina looked away from the pair and tried to contain her anger.
She needed to handle this delicately.
She managed to break up one True Love couple's happily ever after. At least when it came to this one, all Regina would feel was absolute joy from stealing away their chance at happiness. She started her car up again and headed to the hospital. There was no time for treats, Regina had to pick up Rebekah and bring her back home.
And after that...Regina had some work to do.