"Almost free of this wretched place" Emily smiled as she noticed the leaving Storybrooke sign in the distance.

However, she was talking with no audience as Emma was no longer conscious, Emily sighed to herself. Imagining it all so differently in her head and she knew deep down despite her efforts that Emma had changed. This town and its residents had gotten her to open up again that Emma wasn't standing alone anymore, a target not as easy for her to manipulate.

This thought caused Emily to lose a bit of her happy resolve, but she only stepped on the gas harder. However, the car didn't go much faster at all the road beneath the car quickly changed, it was uneven and squishy as the wheels went over it. Then the tires became flat, all four of them at once Emily could feel the car sink like it was stuck in glue.

"Tar?" Emily realised "The roads, 'melted' " Emily gasped allowed, looking in the side mirror seeing the melted steaming road in the reflection completely undriveable.

With the bumps and the sudden stop Emma was slowly waking but struggling to regain consciousness as her head was still pounding. The sleeping world was much more peaceful. However, the pain was good it meant she was still alive, so she pushed through forcing her eyes open and not waste a chance to escape. Emma's hands went to her seatbelt trying one last time, to get free.

"No no stay there, I'll check on the car" Emily said with such sickly sweetness looking back at Emma leaning forward and putting her hand on her knee to offer comfort.

After seeing Emma nod off once more Emily unbuckled herself getting out of the car slowly. When she looked behind her at the melted road and her tires that had become a mush of rubber and tar, she gasped aloud.

"Oh, doesn't look good" Regina smiled seeing she was successful in catching Emily off guard.

"You" Emily said her anger spiking Regina had continually been an obstacle one thing she didn't have a contingency plan for.

"Years and years of planning for your happy ending, every detail only for it all to go wrong anyway" Regina said chuckling slightly.

"Everything's going fine, you think I don't know how to call an uber" Emily replied getting frustrated.

"No but I don't think you planned on me, but there's a lot of things that didn't go to plan, like all the families that wanted Emma no matter how much you chipped away at her self-worth, you certainly didn't plan for the little incident with the fire or the love of a pirate, oh and there was one last thing" Regina said getting more and more angry as she said aloud all her grievances.

"Look it's over I've won now please hurry up; us normal folk aren't used to the monologing villain speech" Emily interrupted.

"You haven't quite passed the town line yet, you're still in my world and in my world, there are rules" Regina replied.

"Rules?" Emily said putting up the pretence of being confused, but the penny was about to drop after all who else could have melted the road, other than an evil Queen who recently rediscovered her magic.

"People who plot and manipulate to get there way, villains" Regina paused for dramatic effect "They don't get, happy endings" Regina said anger rising as she noticed the blood on the back seat of the car where Emma's head rested.

"You think I'm scared of you, the evil queen" she laughed coming closer. "It's been a long time and that person, she's just a story now" Emily said but her confidence was wavering, and she looked back at Emma with concern.

"That's what you think" Regina answered breathing heavy.

"You have no control of your magic, and you can no longer take a life" Emily responded but her resolve had faded, shaking as she said it thinking of an exit strategy.

Regina let out a laugh, Emily actually thought that Regina had become better person that in this short time she could have changed her view on everything. That all the pain that had been raging in her had faded, when it was simply redirected. Now that she had someone to protect.

"Wait no" Emily exclaimed realising her final fatal miscalculation as Regina stood before her.

Wordless and with a quick flick of her wrist, Regina snapped Emily's neck as she attempted to flee, and Emily fell to the ground lifeless.

"Regina" Emma mumbled. The clear snapping sound made, by Emily's neck brought Emma back to consciousness. Very confused seeing Regina standing on the road through the front windscreen smiling.

"Emma" Regina said running over to her moment of triumph now followed by fear realising Emma may be gravely wounded.

Regina ran over the passenger side of the car ripping the door open, but she had no way of getting her medical attention. There were no doctors left in town as far as Regina knew. The only thing Regina had to rely on was the one thing she always had, magic.

"Emma, hey open your eyes" Regina said trying to get Emma to wake up.

Realising Emma may have a concussion Regina lightly slapped her check trying to get her to open her eyes. If she went to sleep now, she may never wake up Regina thought fearing the worst not even seeing the irony that.

"They're gone, I couldn't save them" Emma said sleep had started feeling like the best option right now.

"No, no they'll be fine come on Emma you have believe that, you have too" Regina said desperate trying to get Emma to keep her eyes open. But giving hope wasn't Regina's forte that was a job for her parents.

"Ok" Emma replied almost laughing at Regina's frantic response, starting to feel delirious.

"I'm going to take you somewhere safe ok, just hold on" Regina said trying to focus on where she needed to go.

Regina put her arm around Emma's shoulder closing her eyes and thinking of where she needed to be. But nothing was happening, she didn't feel anything they were still in the same place.

"Where's Emily, what happened?" Emma said feeling more alert for a moment realising with terror where she was and what was about to happen if Regina hadn't come along and stopped it.

"I'll explain, I just need to focus" Regina was frantic her emotions getting in the way of accessing her magic again. Her energy was all over the place this feeling had been all encompassing since magic had returned to her life. It was right there in front of her, but it was like trying to catch smoke with your bare hands, she just couldn't grasp on anymore.

"Dammit" Regina called out how could she have so much control one moment and have it all be gone the next. When she needed to use that power to save someone instead of kill it faded away, like the hate was the only source of her strength. Realising this Regina gave into the hate once more thinking about Emily of Snow white and of the last person she ever wanted to see again, her mother.

With those thoughts of anger and fear consuming her a swirl of purple smoke enclosed over the two of them and there were transported to a small stone-cold vault under the cemetery.

"I did it" Regina exclaimed proudly as they appeared in her vault.

"What are you doing?" Emma asked confused as the scene in front of her disappeared and she found herself in small, enclosed space. Emma was starting to think she was hallucinating all this. Realising Regina had just saved her something that seemed impossible turn of events mere weeks ago.

"I wasn't going to let that women take you away, I made that mistake once already" Regina replied for the first time in her life making amends.

"Right" Emma said, like Regina was speaking nonsense as if this was all a dream.

"You have to stay awake; you may have a concussion, just keep talking ok" Regina said holding her hand squeezing it lightly so she wouldn't drift off. Before going over to the corner of the room to grab supplies from a small cabinet.

"Sure, where are we?" Emma asked straining herself trying to stay sited upwards as she said it.

"It's a mausoleum I used it as a safe haven, I have some supplies here" Regina explained.

"Mausoleum, cosey" Emma replied almost delirious as she tried to keep her eyes open.

"Well, it may not be a what you want right now, but it's what you need" Regina said frustrated.

The conversation came to a halt as Regina continued to frantically shuffle through the glass potion bottles around trying to find what she was looking for. Emma sunk into the floor starting to drift off again.

"EMMA" Regina called out frantically after a long two minutes of silence.

"What, why are you yelling at me?" Emma said eyes opening again.

"You stopped talking" Regina replied with a sigh of relief.

"Oh sorry, I didn't have anything to say" Emma replied rather groggy.

"That's surprising, come on ask me anything" Regina said smiling as she finally found the vial, she was looking for. It may not heal her completely, but it was useful when someone had drained all their energy doing a spell, something Regina was familiar with.

"How did you stop the car?" Emma asked finally thinking of something to say.

"I melted the road, I figured out what she was planning I may have ruined our only ride in the process, but it stopped anyone from leaving town" Regina replied coming back over she also managed to find a first aid kit.

"So, you figured out the magic thing" Emma said curious, looking at her hands remembering what she did herself just earlier that same night. Curious as to what Regina's trigger was now that Emma found hers.

"Sort off, here drink this, all of it" Regina said handing email a small vial of glowing blue liquid.

Emma looked at her sceptically not sure if she could trust drinking a strange liquid from a woman who had previously tried to put her in a sleeping curse.

"Seriously, I just saved your life" Regina said trying to give the vial to Emma once more.

"So now you're telling me you actually cared this time and just forgot how to follow through" Emma said grudgingly not totally believing it.

"I have trouble expressing emotion" Regina replied frustrated "Drink it" Regina pleaded.

Emma tried not to think about it to much as this was her only option. Emma popped the top off and drunk the contents of the vial in two quick gulps, feeling instantly better her energy returning tenfold.

"Get a better therapist and give me the number" Emma said as she remembered running from her parents and blocking the door so they couldn't follow.

"Sure" Regina replied with relief as she saw the colour return to Emma's checks. Letting out a deep breath, Regina lay back on the floor next to Emma handing her an instant ice pack for her head.

"Why are we here, why not the hospital?" Emma asked as she placed the ice pack on the back of her head.

"Last I checked no one was there the whole towns pretty much gone, it's not safe" Regina replied looking around her little safe haven filled with all the essentials she needed to survive wondering how long they could survive here before the creature came for them not realising that was no longer an issue.

"I stopped it; it's gone" Emma mumbled "There all gone" Emma said remembering tearing apart that monster only to have, her family disappear with it.

"Emma, what do you mean?" Regina said remembering Emma muttering something similar earlier.

"I did something bad, I thought I was helping but the spell, it went bad and I was alone and I" Emma said as she thought about it, she was back in that moment alone the panic setting in.

"I'm sure there fine, if you destroyed that monster, they must be ok" Regina said trying to reassure her.

"No, they weren't there" Emma replied the desperation she needed to go back there and look for them.

"Will find them Emma, or they'll find us, it's kind of their thing" Regina reassured her as they continued to sit there together trying to catch their breath.

Regina had no idea what lead her to take the action she did tonight. Something in her stirred a feeling she had long forgotten. Sitting on the floor now, desperately trying to keep Emma alive Regina knew there was no pushing it down any longer she cared for Emma and there was no going back now. That little girl she met all those years ago left an opening in her heart. This was wider than ever now like a door had swung open off its hinges. This caused an outflow of pain as they sat there, she felt like she was drowning in it. But it was a path to healing to loving again.

What the future held for them was unknown, as there was still yet to be a sign anyone else was out there. If they would find them and more importantly to Regina what would happen when they did.

notes: Hey readers, hope you enjoyed this one trying my best to give Regina some sort of redemption arc as I love those kinds of stories.