Sitting at the top of the stairs with her head in her hands, Emma flinches as metal scrapes inside of metal down below. She holds her breath and looks up, her body rigid with apprehension as a key turns in the lock of the front door. The stairs form an L shape, keeping her partially hidden, and she leans forwards warily to peek out between the bannisters to survey the hallway. The door opens slowly with a seemingly similar movement of caution, and she watches intently as a smart heel crosses the threshold before being followed by its owner.
"Emma?"
Regina calls in a hushed voice, closing the door behind her and looking around nervously.
"Emma, where are you?"
Little more than a harsh whisper, and the blonde swallows, feeling overwhelmingly relieved and yet not quite daring to move.
"Miss Swan!?"
The brunette hisses, glancing at the vacant sofa in the living room before stalking towards the kitchen. As she does so, she murmurs beneath her breath; her words quiet, but the blonde catches them nonetheless.
"Oh, god, please be alright..."
And that breaks the spell the younger woman had been frozen under; those words a kind relief after being stuck in the presence of the Queen. Pushing herself up, she descends the stairs slowly- cautiously- and follows the Mayor into the kitchen.
"Regina..."
She greets, and the darker woman jumps in surprise before whirling around to face her.
"Don't do that!"
The brunette scolds angrily, before walking over and assessing her shrewdly.
"Well, you look alright. Are you alright?"
"I'm fine."
Emma nods with a shaky smile; her mind going back to the handcuffs and knife in her bedroom.
"I just couldn't get out of here."
She elaborates, and the brunette nods as she continues to keep her attention on their surroundings; her stance indicative of one on high-alert.
"Yes, Henry said."
"I couldn't call, or email, or anything. I didn't know what else to do... But I found the walkie and it seemed like it was worth a shot."
"It was a good idea. You're lucky it worked."
Regina smiles thinly, and the younger woman nods in relieved agreement.
"Don't I know it?! We need to get out of here, Regina. I don't know when she'll be back. I have no clue what she had planned after she... She... Well, she kind of made herself seem like me. She met you out at the ship I think...?"
Emma asks awkwardly, and the brunette raises a brow in surprise.
"That wasn't you?"
"No... No that wasn't me."
The blonde shakes her head, and the brunette studies her with a disconcerted frown as she strives to process this alarming information.
"I can't believe she's back."
She sighs unhappily, before looking back up at the blonde and stating quietly
"I really thought I'd sorted everything out this time. I thought it would finally be the end of all this."
"It's not your fault!"
Emma consoles firmly, and she places a hand on the darker woman's arm and squeezes lightly.
"Regina, it's not your fault that this happened, we just need to find a way to get rid of her!"
"You say that like it's easy."
The brunette laments, dark eyes lowering to where the blonde's hand rests on her sleeve. Emma follows the direction of her gaze and swallows awkwardly as she pulls away slowly.
"... You know it also wasn't me this morning... In the dress and everything."
She confides uncomfortably, and Regina looks up at her with a low exhalation of realisation.
"Oh. Of course... Of course that wasn't you."
The brunette replies stiffly, and Emma pulls a face as a heavy tension sits between them threatening a storm.
"I... I'm sorry."
She appeals awkwardly, and Regina shakes her head as she pulls herself together briskly, almost scoffing in her attempt to appear unfazed.
"What for? It was just a bit of an odd encounter. No harm done."
"... Okay."
The younger woman offers, but she sounds unconvinced as she feels there's quite a lot more that needs to be said on the matter. She worries her bottom lip between her teeth as she waits for Regina to say something else, but the brunette simply looks away with hot blood colouring her cheeks.
"...Of course it wasn't you."
Regina repeats beneath her breath as she walks towards the door, and Emma hesitates as she watches the distinct change in the Mayor's composure; the brunette drawn into herself with her head down.
"Hey, look... It's... It's alright. It was just weird."
The blonde assures uncomfortably, and she offers an awkward smile when the brunette turns to regard her with a troubled look.
"We should get out of here."
Regina sighs eventually, and Emma nods as she walks over and holds out her hand to show the darker woman her restraint.
"You have no idea how much I second that notion. That woman is vile... Sorry."
"She is."
Regina shakes her head as she agrees quietly, and she takes a hold of the younger woman's forearm to study the cuff encircling her wrist.
"You can take it off, right?"
The blonde asks hopefully, and the Mayor runs her finger over cool steel before looking up into green eyes with a guarded expression.
"You saw what happened earlier, didn't you...? You saw how I... How I was around you when I thought it was youlooking and acting that way?"
"...Yeah."
Emma admits uncomfortably, before looking back down at the cuff on her wrist expectantly.
"I'm such a fool."
The brunette mutters bitterly, and the blonde frowns as she appeases gently
"No, you're not. It... It's fine. Things have been... Things have been a bit weird recently."
"You've felt that way, too?"
The Mayor asks quietly, and the younger woman shrugs awkwardly as she motions down to her wrist.
"I... I don't know. But come on, we need to get out of here. This isn't the time to-"
"-You feel something, too?"
Regina interrupts, her grip tightening on the blonde's arm as she studies her intently.
"Regina, we don't have time to do this right now! You have to take it-"
"-Please!... Emma, I need to know..."
The brunette insists, and the Sheriff looks up at her warily, opening her mouth to argue that they have no business discussing anything so overwhelmingly complicated while at the potential mercy of a psychopath, but the words dry up in her throat. There is a glitter of such pained confusion and uncertainty in the darker woman's eyes that she finds herself struck by a deep wave of empathy. Looking away with a disbelieving shake of her head, she admits almost in a whisper
"Yes... And maybe what I feel is just confused and lost, but I feel... Something."
The words feel like shards of glass leaving her lips, each excruciatingly painful to allow to escape, and she realises that her legs are shaking a little. The last time she'd noticed such a thing had been when waiting to speak to the doctor when she'd been in jail, and it strikes her as absurd that she should show such fear in the face of admitting a very carefully buried truth, when she had been able to face the wrath of the Evil Queen with commendable poise.
"I-"
But she stills, eyes widening and the colour draining from her face as full lips stretch into a slow smile, and the Mayor begins to laugh.
"Regina..."
"Oh, this is just too rich!"
The brunette cries elatedly, her body shaking with her mirth as she regards the stunned blonde through tears of amused disdain.
"How wonderfully touching and pitiful! How-"
"-Regina!"
Emma shouts, her face a picture of horror and rage mixed with just a touch of helpless confusion, and the darker woman sighs dramatically as she lets go of the blonde's arm and makes an elegant gesture with her hand; turning respectable makeup dark and seductive, and expensive wool to tight, sinful leather.
"Are you really so idiotic that you'd think I'd let you go so easily?!"
The Queen goads cruelly, before taking a step back with a snarl when her cheek flares with pain as the younger woman lashes out with a choked sound of fury.
"Bitch!"
She screams angrily, thrusting out her hand and sending the blonde hurtling backwards into the wall. The younger woman stumbles to her knees with a pained grunt, before pushing herself up and regarding the brunette with pure venom.
"Says you..."
Emma hisses; her voice shaking with rage. It is an anger born from the greatest form of betrayal; she has always been one to keep everything close to her chest, and the Queen's despicable ploy to garner her recent admission has the Sheriff feeling nauseous with hate. When she had been a child, she had been prone to a terrible temper in the face of feeling backed up against a proverbial wall, and as an adult, that same fury has remained only partially tamed. It had evolved and increased tenfold when she'd been living with the darkness of the dagger, but there had been a great number of reasons to struggle desperately to keep that black anger on its leash. Now, she feels the first splinters of that terrifying wrath begin to dig beneath her skin, and she squares up to the Queen defiantly as the latter closes in on her with her teeth bared in a dangerous smile.
"You are going to pay for that..."
The darker woman confides in a tone that suggests she's very much looking forward to doling out retribution, and she pushes the blonde back up against the wall forcefully; pinning her there.
"I can't believe you admitted it..."
She smirks, and Emma recoils with a deadly glitter in her eyes, before shoving the brunette back roughly.
"It's just a matter of time before we figure out a way to kill you..."
She bites back, and the Queen laughs richly; finding the Saviour's defensive avoidance delicious.
"I suggest you mind your manners, dear, that kind of talk is hardly that of a hospitable host."
The brunette teases, and she moves back in on the younger woman, pushing her hips into the blonde's and leaning into her heavily; scarlet lips brushing the Sheriff's cheek.
"Fuck you."
Emma growls, shoving the Queen away once again, and this time she regrets it with a yelp as the brunette catches hold of her wrist and throws her into the hallway with unnatural force.
"Gladly."
The darker woman concedes, and the blonde scrambles back to her feet and backs away with her hands held up combatively.
"Stop now... Stop now or I swear you'll regret it!"
She warns, and she knows that she makes an empty threat, but right now that dark rage is all-consuming, and she barely feels the trickle of blood running down her chin from where she's bitten her tongue on impact with the wall.
"Oh, please..."
The Queen scoffs, stalking closer and backing the blonde up against the door to the basement.
"This is everything you want... You said so yourself. You want me, Sheriff, you-"
"-No! I-"
But the younger woman's words are lost in her anger- simply becoming a growl- as she lunges for the Queen, only to be pushed back with both power and flesh. A wet snarl sounds in her ear as her fury is matched by depraved intent, and the brunette slams into her once again to send both of them crashing through splintered wood and tumbling down into the darkness that festers below the blonde's house.
"...Fuck. Ow."
Emma pants, clutching her hand to her stomach with a pained wince as blood trickles from several new places.
"You..."
A voice boiling with rage seethes from the shadows, and the Queen stalks over with a pronounced limp, her eyes like black diamonds in the darkness, and her cheek sporting a bloody scrape from her fall.
"How dare you?!"
She screams as she falls down over the blonde, her hands shaking in her anger.
"I should have killed you the moment I had a chance! Look at what you've done, you little bitch! I will have your pirate's head for this! But not before I relieve him of every other extremity first! I will wash away this vile encounter with his blood, and then I will go after your parents."
She promises, her eyes narrow and her teeth bared as she can't recall the last time she has felt so enraged at another's insolence. Emma looks up at her with her breathing audible as she simmers, her hands curled into tight fists. Her sweater has ridden up to expose the small of her back to the damp earth of the floor, and she can feel the dark power and the wrath of this hateful place coursing beneath her- into her- like a living thing.
"I will start with your brother. Their darling son. The child that you could never hope to be for them. I will cut his throat while those traitors watch; relishing the sound of their begging turning into wails of sorrow."
The Queen continues- pure darkness, no redemption since being split from sanity- moving slowly over the blonde and lowering herself down; straddling the younger woman as she moves her hands to her throat.
Green eyes flicker to the mound of stone from which she had pulled the sword, before travelling the dank walls of the cavelike room and drinking in the deep gouges and destruction that had been the result of her darkness.
Of the blackness that still lies within her beneath the surface.
But not nearly as deeply as I thought...
"I will leave them unharmed long enough to allow the truth the fully sink in- the pain to take root- and then I will commence with the deed that I should have committed long ago. My one true wish, Saviour; to ruin your family. To destroy their happiness if it is the last thing I do."
The Queen promises hatefully- her grip tightening to leave nail marks down the vulnerable column of the blonde's throat- before leaning down ready to brush her lips against Emma's.
"Any last words?"
She smirks, and when she is met by silence, she gives the younger woman her kiss; revelling in victory before sharp teeth sink into the soft velvet of her tongue, and everything goes black.