Chapter 16: Are you a Real Boy?

A/N: Updates will be on Saturday now for this fic.

"Fuck," Emma cursed.

"Do you think we can take that on?" Regina asked. Her voice wavered even as she barely drew out her sword. Was this it? Was this where she fought her destiny?

"A giant's no issue," Emma said nonchalantly. "It's just that he's got August."

...

"August?" Regina questioned, eyeing the metal statue in the giant's hand.

"It's a long story," Emma said hastily. "One I will explain, once we trick this giant into dropping August and run off with him."

"Okay," Regina relented even as curiosity ate at her. The giant began to lumber towards them. "So...how are we going to take him down? You said giants were easy?"

"Yea. The taller they are the harder they fall," Emma said, taking out the handkerchief from her pocket that Mal had given her. "Regina I need you to go up that path a bit and stand there. To lure him out of the pool of lava. We can't have him dropping August in. In the meantime, I'll go for his ankles."

Emma had no idea how the handkerchief was supposed to make her invisible. She should have asked for instructions. Hoping, she wrapped it over her head. "Is it working?" She asked Regina, as she heard the sucking noises of the giant emerging from the thick magma.

"I think so," Regina said, looking down to see that Emma was disappearing from the feet up. "Does it feel weird?"

Emma looked down at her body. She couldn't see anything past her waist. "Oh wow. This sure looks weird." She decided she wouldn't look down.

"Emma," Regina reminded and looked over at the giant. It had now emerged and was coming towards them. Regina raced over to the spot Emma had told her to wait at. Emma ducked around the other side of the rock. The handkerchief had almost made her invisible enough up to her neck. Just a few seconds more...

"Hey, one eye. I'm over here, come and get me!" Regina cried out as the giant gave a roar and came up to her. From it's hand August dangled limply. How would Emma fix him? Not something to think about now. Right now she had to go and free him.

She was now fully invisible and she ran to the giant, sword out. She slashed right at his ankles with practiced moves. He let out pained cries and his arms cartwheeled as he fell backwards. Emma ducked in between his legs and let gravity do the rest of her work. When he fell the ground shook and both Emma and Regina fell to their knees. But Emma was up first. With the fall, the giant had loosened it's grip on August and the metal figure went tumbling. Emma raced over to him, sheathing her sword.

"Regina, start running!" Emma shouted over to her, as she hefted the figure over her shoulders and onto her back. He was so heavy. Gritting her teeth, she started running. The magic of the handkerchief worked in making August invisible too.

So the only person that the giant could see was Regina.

He stood up with an angry roar, unsteady on his hurt ankles. He glanced wildly around to see if he could find those pesky humans. He saw Regina up head and angry, he picked up a huge boulder. He hefted it over his head and threw it at her.

"Regina, boulder!" Emma screamed out and Regina looked back. She dove to her right, just as the boulder crashed down to where she had been. Dust and pieces of it exploded and some rained down on her. She quickly got up, wincing when she'd realized she had scraped her knees.

The giant let out another angry roar at having failed to crush her. It began to race after her now, quickly making up the distance with his long legs.

"Shit," Emma cursed, awkwardly struggling to pull out her gun. She took it and fired, right at the back of the giant. It barely seemed to feel it. It seemed bullets were not a good idea. She pocketed the gun and took out her sword. Closing one eye, she aimed and flung it right at the giant. It spun in the air lodging itself right at it's ass. A bit lower than she'd aimed for.

Now, she had it's attention. It whirled around to face her, but could not see anything there. Regina still kept running up ahead. Good. Emma would have to give her enough time to get away to the ship safely, while she took on this beast.

The giant huffed angrily and pulled the sword out, throwing it on the ground. The blade sizzled from the heat. It began to sniff around, as if it could scent her this way. Could it? Shit, that would just be Emma's luck.

She decided she needed to book it too, and ran up to grab her sword and kept running. For a good while the giant didn't notice. It seemed it's eyesight wasn't all that great close up. She sheathed her sword and kept running. They were about three thirds to the ship. She could see the shore, the waves lapping invitingly so. The heat of the island was starting to disappear and soon they would be close to freedom.

Regina was already up on the shore, wading through the water. Emma was still far from her. The giant let out a mighty roar, and began to give chase again. This time, accurately. Despite not seeing her, he must have picked up her scent finally and separated it from the environment.

Fuck, she cursed under her breath. August was heavy and her hands were sweating. She didn't want to drop him from her grip. But she was getting tired. And the giant was fast. A thud came, causing her to stumble, as the giant pounded the ground a few feet from her with it's fist.

That wasn't good. That was very not good.

She'd regretted her smart ass words from before, of calling giants easy. She'd never fought one before but she'd wanted to look brave and cool in front of Regina. Hadn't wanted to worry her.

Another thud, this one even closer. Emma tried not to scream. So close, and yet so far to the ship. The giant raised his hands. This time the shadow of them loomed right over Emma. She knew he would make direct impact and she couldn't roll out of the way because she was carrying August.

Before the fists struck, there was a bang and the giant let out an angry roar. It stopped, holding a hand to it's face, blood seeping out between it's fingers. Emma kept going, on the shore now. The water slowed her down as she waded up to the boat.

Another shot that hit the giant's shoulder. And then another one that scraped by it's head.

"Emma, Emma are you there?!" Regina's voice called out from the crow's nest, where she had been sharp shooting with a rifle she must have found in the cabins.

"I'm here, in the water!" Emma yelled, her fingers a few feet from the rigging. Almost there...August was slipping from her grip but she adjusted him.

Emma wasn't sure if Regina could see her; she couldn't make her face up from down here. But then she was touching the rigging, and as if the ship could sense the danger they were in, it shot off. Emma climbed up as the ship left the shore. By the time she got up, she was tired and sore from carrying August. She dumped his body on the deck and then took off the handkerchief. Two more uses left in it.

"There you are," Regina said as she stepped off the last rung leading up to the crow's nest. "I thought for a second the ship just left you."

"You have mighty fine aim," Emma said, smiling widely. Behind them the giant roars of anger got smaller and smaller.

Regina blushed at the compliment. "So...about August...?" she trailed off, hopeful for the story.

Emma looked over at him, knocking on his head and hearing the metal echo. "He was never...human to begin with. But he was my best friend."

"What do you mean?" Regina sat down, listening intently.

"When I was younger, life wasn't great. It was terrible. I was alone, and one day I found him. This giant metal heap in a trash yard. I befriended him, as sad as that sounded. Gave him the name of August because that's the month I found him in. Real creative, I know," she let out a small laugh. "Then one night, he just came alive. I couldn't believe my eyes. But in front of me, was a living breathing human. And I knew it was him, because he could recount all the stories I told him. He told me he was granted life to protect me, because I had something very important to do and that he would be by my side until I did it. And so he did stay by my side. He protected me. I could always count on him." Emma smiled sadly at him now. "And now I don't know how to fix him. Or if he's not going to come back because this was it. This was the end of his use."

Regina could feel Emma's sadness leeching through the air. She touched the back of her hand. "Maybe Mal will know how to fix him. She's magical. If August was brought to life by magic then she should be able to fix him."

"I hope so," Emma said. "Because I owe him a shit ton."

"Let's put him below deck. Get him cleaned up and give him a good place to rest in before we take him back to Mal."

Emma nodded her head. "I just hope I'm not too late to save the others." Emma had been too late to save Leroy. She didn't want to make that mistake with anyone else.


The compass and ship lead them towards the next crew member, though Emma and Regina had no idea which one it would be. The days on the ship were filled with just them two, and more often than not, things got heated between them. Despite the danger awaiting them, they were in love. Newly discovered love, and they spent much time wrapped up together in each other and in the sheets.

Regina's moans and gasps were so lovely, that Emma could not help but rut faster into her, until Regina was coming around her, and even then Emma kept going and going, not spilling inside her before Regina had come twice more.

With a groan, Emma released inside Regina, painting her white and some of it spilling down her thighs and onto the sheets. Their bodies were sticky from the vigorous love making and they were both tired. Emma pulled out, rolling Regina over onto her side so she could wrap her arms around her. She pressed a soft kiss to Regina's neck, then another one, making Regina giggle.

"Stop, that tickles."

"Oh, are you ticklish?" Emma hummed. "Shall I find your other weak spots?" Her fingers trickled up and down Regina's sides, making the princess squeal. She turned in Emma's arms, a sly grin at this. "Two can play at this game," and she began to tickle Emma back.

What happened next was a tickle war of epic proportions that would lead to Emma falling onto the floor in a shower of sheets and pillows. Before Regina could jump on her to tickle her some more, the ship jolted to a stop. They both quickly sobered up.

Was this their next stop?

They got quickly dressed and left to the top deck. This time the ship had come to a normal looking island. Well, as normal as it could get. It was covered in a thick mist that hid the buildings and trees and anything else. It looked very easy to get lost on.

"How are we going to navigate it?" Regina asked.

"We have the compass. But that will only show us forwards and not back to the ship," Emma said.

"What if we used a rope or some thread to guide us back?" Regina suggested.

"Good idea," Emma brightened. "Let me go look for some below deck." Emma went to go fetch some, while Regina stared out at the village. A shudder went down her back. For some reason, the place felt wrong. Sad. She couldn't put her finger on it.

Emma came back with some red thread and they loaded up on guns and swords and magical supplies before heading down. Emma had tied the thread to the side of the ship so it would hold. Then, they entered into the mist. It was cooler on this island. Regina could feel the chill seeping into her bones.

"Are you okay?" Emma asked, as she felt Regina tremble next to her. They were walking shoulder to shoulder so as not to get lost.

"I'm..." Regina wanted to say fine, but she wasn't. She felt sad. She looked down at the compass in her hand and tried to not let the tears blur her vision. Why was she feeling this way? The mist curled around her head, making her feel even worse. What was wrong? "I don't know. I feel so sad for some reason. Do you too?"

"Yea," Emma admitted. "I don't know why."

"Do you think it's the mist?" It wouldn't be the strangest thing to occur.

"Must be," Emma said, her mouth quivering. She looked like she was fighting back tears. Regina slipped her hand into Emma's.

"We have to fight through this," Regina said as they walked down the empty and abandoned streets. They couldn't see another soul around. Was their crew member even here? "We have to think of happy memories. I'll go first. The time that we kissed for the first time," she said, rambling on. As she spoke she began to feel a bit better.

Emma spoke up next and she too began to feel a bit better. It was working. They felt a warmth spread from their joined hands and as they walked, the mist seemed to thin out a bit, receding away from them. They could see more of the village they had landed in, and it was all in such a sad and sorry state.

"It's working!" Regina said happily. The compass clicked into place. Someone was nearby. They entered one of the buildings. It was a saloon, filled with mist and a figure sitting in one of the chairs, slumped over, bottle in their hand.

"Ruby!" Emma was the first to recognize her. Ruby's head slowly lifted up and when their eyes met, Ruby rushed to her feet so fast she knocked the chair back. "Emma?" she asked, hope in her voice.

"Ruby, I've missed you. I was so worried-"

Ruby wrinkled up her nose. Her eyes cut between Emma and Regina. "Yea, I can smell just how much you've missed me. You've both been very busy."

Regina turned red as a rose while Emma gave an awkward laugh. "Um, well, you know-"

Ruby laughed. "I'm just glad the two of you got around to it. Though, when I'm back on the ship, keep it quiet, will you?"

"Sure," Emma said. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine that you found me. I was getting tired of this place," Ruby said with a laugh, her words a bit slurred.

"You couldn't leave?" Regina asked.

"No, the mist kept making me lose track of where I was going and my senses don't seem to really work here. It's frustrating, being able to get lost when I've always had the perfect sense of direction."

"How did you not succumb to the despair?" Emma asked, letting go of Regina's hand to hug Ruby to her, to make sure she was real. She was. Cold, but solid. Ruby hugged her back hard.

"I drank. I figured out pretty soon this mist has something in it that makes you sad. So I figured, if this is a town, it must have drink. And if it has drink, nothing makes you happier than drinking! So, I've been drunk ever since then."

"Let's get you back on that ship," Emma said, letting go of her. Their happiness at finding each other had chased the mist out of the saloon. Ruby snatched up the bottle on the table.

"Taking this with me," she said. "But how did you find me? I was figuring I'd be stuck here forever you know."

"Compass," Regina held it up.

"You finally found a compass better than me," Ruby teased.

"It was actually gifted to us- we'll tell you all about it on our ship. Come on," Emma clasped her shoulder. Together the trio followed the red string right back to the ship with no troubles. Soon, they were sailing away and Ruby flipped the island off.

"I wonder if anyone else has gotten trapped there before," Regina surmised. She couldn't imagine how sad it must be to be there all alone. Ruby was tough if she had survived so long there.

"First, do you have any grub?" Ruby asked, rubbing her belly. "All I had was saltines and old biscuits there."

"We'll eat first. Talk later," Emma said, shepherding them down to get some grub.


With Ruby and August both secured, the ship sailed towards the next island. The dark shape of it outlined against the night sky. "We should be there in a day's time," Emma reported. "If we continue sailing through the night."

Ruby put a finger up to her lips in a shushing motion. "Do you hear that?" she asked, her sharp hearing picking up something before the others could.

"Hear what?" Emma asked.

"It's so beautiful," Ruby said, coming closer to the railing, her eyes trained on the island. "So amazing. I want to go there..." she said dreamily, before throwing a leg over the railing. Immediately Emma sprung into action. "What are you doing?" she cried out, pulling Ruby back onto the deck.

"Get off of me! Let me go! Let me join them!" Ruby shouted out, struggling to push Emma off of her. Emma tried to hold onto her, but Ruby was strong. It would only be a matter of time before she wriggled out of Emma's hold.

"Regina, get the rope!" Emma cried out to the princess who spun on her heel to get it. Ruby elbowed Emma in the nose with a sharp crack, causing tears to come to Emma's eyes. But she did not let go.

"Tie her up!" Emma ordered as Regina grabbed one of Ruby's arms and tried to tie her down. It was a struggle, Ruby thrashing and screaming. But after a few minutes, she was tied up to the post. Emma took a tissue to her nose, wincing in pain. Ruby must have broken it. Blood was trickling down it.

"Are you okay?" Regina asked softly.

"I'm fine. But whatever Ruby heard isn't good for us," Emma said grimly.

"Why?"

"There's only one thing that I know that truly drives people to jump off boats like that. And we're heading straight towards them."

Regina swallowed nervously.

"Sirens."