A/N: Trigger Warning: mentions of rape in the beginning of the chapter. It's marked in italics so skip ahead if it bothers you.

Springs folded and creaked steadily like the beat of a metronome. With every creak, she squeezed her eyes shut and refused to touch him or the sheets even though she desperately wanted, needed, to claw at things to help her through the pain. She needed to avoid giving him any impression that she liked what he did and she understood clutching the sheets or the other person could occasionally be seen as a sign of passion. She absolutely did not feel that with him. Her happiness, her innocence, her love of life, and her passion had died with Daniel.

Thankfully, the torture ended early that night and she was dismissed in a hurry. The next day, however, was less than pleasant. Nothing was ever pleasant for Regina around the palace, but sometimes things were more peaceful because she was alone. As much as she hated the solitude, she was also grateful when she thought about the alternative: sex with the King—and just the King was enough to make her vomit let alone sex with him—and an insistent little girl who was the reason she was trapped in the palace in the first place.

She was going to be alone again for a week starting the next morning, but she apparently couldn't celebrate the White's soon approaching absence by curling up with a book and keeping away from father and daughter. The day was filled with boring plans that required her to be worn on the King's arm like the practical trophy wife she was married off to be. He treated her like his possession; and not his favorite or most precious possession—that was Snow—and she wasn't treated much like a possession at all. She definitely wasn't treated as needlessly as Regina either.

His grip was tight as he pulled her around everywhere and later she saw just how strong his grip had been when she uncovered the bruises on her arm before bed. But she didn't get to bed as intended that night. She'd gotten comfortable on her own mattress for all of three minutes before her presence was requested in the King's chamber.

So she made her way to his chamber as necessary and assumed he just wanted an additional night to use her body for his pleasure before he left for the week. It ended up being more. Unfortunately for her, Leopold wanted to discuss her past and future behavior. He wasn't pleased by how much he had to direct her around the grounds while they gave visiting royals a tour of the castle. She thought that was a lie considering how little he cared that he'd marked her with his bare hands in a steel grip. Either way, he wasn't satisfied and she was forced to bear the consequences anyway. Thankfully, the only consequence for her "wrongful" behavior was a lecture. Granted, the lecture involved heavy and hurtful insults that left her feeling emotionally wounded, but at least she could claim he hadn't physically wounded her.

That was until he ended his berating and commanded her to do more than lie on her back beneath him. That night, as a "temporary going away present", she learned about several depraved and degrading sex acts in order to sate his desire long enough to last him the weeklong trip. She tried not to gag or cry while she serviced him until her knees started to ache and redden from her prolonged position on the floor. She dutifully allowed him to hold her down while she laid flat on her stomach while he forced himself into her from behind, and she was actually appreciative that he didn't violate any unusual parts of her—mainly, she was appreciative he wasn't interested in anal. She hated that she felt appreciative for any of the things he performed behind closed doors, but she had to remind herself that her situation could be worse.

By the time he was done with her, she felt completely exposed and utterly used. Once she was back in her own room and went to take a long bath in a futile attempt to rid herself of the filth she felt covered in and full of, she sent her handmaiden away by frantically waving her hands and snapping at the woman undeserving of her anger. She didn't want to be touched by anyone and she refused to even strip in front of the woman who had seen her entirely bare several times before because that night had been all too much. So much so, in fact, that when she was finally alone and she had removed her sleepwear, she noticed a thin coat of sticky, red patches on the upper part of her inner thighs. He'd used enough brute force to make her bleed and knew that because her menstrual cycle wasn't supposed to occur for the next few weeks.

Getting into the bath, she realized she was already sore from the night's torture. She knew then that the next morning would be tough, tougher than most of the mornings she'd woken up with bile in her throat and aches and pains throughout her body. He'd done more to her that night than he had in the last three months and as she submerged most of her body in the nearly boiling hot water, she cried quietly for a long time. She'd cried to the point of hurting her chest and straining her throat on top of the other agony she was left to suffer through because of the King.

She'd never even gotten a chance to know what good sex, or at least consensual sex, was like and she didn't know any other reason for having sex aside from establishing who had the power or simply to selfishly satisfy one person's needs with sheer disregard for the other person's. Sex, in her mind, was a duty that kept her miserable because sex wasn't for her. It was for him.

She woke up less dramatically that night, but there were already tears on her face by the time she opened her eyes. She wanted to scream, angrily and in an attempt to finally let out her feelings about her beyond awful past that hadn't revolved around a plan for revenge against Snow White. It was supposed to be therapeutic, but the scream never came because when she sat up to release her emotions she saw something near the foot of her bed. It was a figure, a shadow. The shape looked familiar and a violent shiver shot down her spine at the fear of who might be in her bedroom.

The figure's identity was revealed in no time as it took a slow step forward and a face was lit by the moonlight that streamed through the thin curtains that covered her window. Her eyes widened in disbelief and appropriate, justified, fear.

"No," she breathed out barely louder than a whisper.

He still wore his crown and the same clothes he was buried in. There was no mistaking it. King Leopold White stood in her bedroom with his eyes sharply and solely focused on her.

Her breathing sped up and she curled her fingers in a tight grip around her bed sheets as she refused to take her eyes off of him, panic written all over her face. She wanted to flee the room, but if he was real and actually standing right in front of her she didn't want him to touch her at all. If she ran, there was a possibility that he would try to stop her and that meant risking him reaching out to do just that.

She didn't have to think about an exit strategy, however, because he moved again. He walked to his left and she instantly shuffled to the side of the bed furthest from him. She didn't know where he was headed, but she wasn't going to allow him to get anywhere near her, especially after the dream—the horrific memory—she had just woken up from.

Apparently, the universe was finally on her side, though, because he didn't make a move toward her. He went straight to the door, opened it, and just walked out of her room. She blinked and tried to control her breathing as she wondered if what she'd seen was a continuation of her nightmare or if he had really, truly, been in her room looking alive and well and un-poisoned.

She still wanted to scream, maybe more than before after that surreal experience, but it still never came. She wouldn't give the King, real or not, the satisfaction of knowing just how much he still affected her, just how much power he still had over her.

She figured making it a habit of having her morning coffee at Granny's wasn't an ideal routine, but Emma didn't want to have coffee at the station because they only bought the cheap brew on their limited budget. And she could always have a cup of coffee at her new apartment, but she ran out of her own "luxurious" brew about a week ago and kept forgetting to pick some up at the store. Of course, every morning she realized she'd forgotten to buy more, she could have always gone to get some instead of spending extra money for a single cup each day at the diner. Then again, she couldn't run into Regina at her apartment and maybe the possibility of seeing her, even if they still weren't really on speaking terms, was worth paying a little more a month for coffee.

But she didn't run into Regina that morning. The brunette had come into the diner the last two days and coming in the previous day meant Regina probably knew there was a chance she'd see her there. If Regina hadn't wanted to talk to her, if she'd wanted to avoid Emma, she would have stayed away from Granny's so as not to chance anything. And yet, she was there each day as if the next morning would garner a different result except that morning. Emma didn't want to think too much into it or spend too much time thinking about it. Regina either came to the diner or she didn't. They barely uttered a word to each other while they were in each other's sights and Emma had no reason to theorize or want there to be more reason behind Regina's appearances, and now her absence. The fact that she wasn't there, however, still left an unsettling feeling in the pit of Emma's stomach.

Emma didn't quite shake off the feeling, but she tried not to dwell on it and continued to have her coffee before she headed into the station for her usual shift. But her day was boring and there was no one at the station to keep her company. She ate a bearclaw she'd grabbed from the local donut shop and pulled up a movie on her phone just to pass the time. It did that, passed the time, but it didn't keep her mind too preoccupied. Although, distracted was the better word choice because her mind was already preoccupied by Regina and her not showing up at the diner. How easily and how much her thoughts involved—more like centered around—Regina was starting to worry her. She knew Regina was important because of Henry, but the way she thought about the brunette, the way she cared a little too much to make things right after Marian, didn't seem like it was only for Henry's benefit.

She sighed and ran her clean through her hair as she chewed the final bite of her bearclaw and wiped her glaze-covered fingers off on a napkin. The movie on her phone wasn't uninteresting, but Emma couldn't get into it when she had a nagging feeling that things with Regina had gotten way more complicated in the last forty-eight hours, and she knew it didn't have anything to do with Marian, or even with herself for that matter.

Henry was at school so she couldn't talk to him, and the last thing Emma really wanted to do was text or call either one of her parents just to have any kind of contact with another human being. She didn't have anyone to talk to during work hours so she decided to sign off on the last of the paperwork David had yet to complete before she told him to take time off, but only as a break between a few rounds of darts. Once her lunch break came around, she sprang out of the sheriff's station for two reasons. One, she needed to free herself from the empty confines of the station for a little while and two, she had to break through a few more of Regina's walls to ensure the brunette was safe and emotionally okay.

Her first stop was the diner in case Regina had decided to forego breakfast in public after all; because the more time Emma had with her thoughts the more she realized she was crazy to think Regina had purposely not avoided her the last few mornings. She realized she would have been an idiot to keep thinking Regina didn't mind being around her, even if she sent death glares her way. Aside from the time she stayed to eat there with Elsa, Regina had taken off with her food the next day, and she would have done that before she'd looked scared almost to death about the candles.

She'd gotten an answer to one of her questions that day: why was Regina spooked about candles, but she didn't have a chance to ask more questions just then. At least not yet because Regina wasn't in the diner for lunch either, just as she hadn't been that morning for breakfast.

"Hasn't come by today," Ruby answered when Emma had asked if she'd seen the other woman. "Think she's still wigging out over what I saw the other night?"

"It's definitely a possibility," Emma muttered. "Thanks, Rubes."

From there it felt like due diligence and covering bases because she went straight to the Mayor's office and ignored Anna entirely, even when the newlywed stutteringly insisted Regina wasn't there. She found out for herself soon enough, though, when she burst into the brunette's office and saw it was unoccupied and even cleaner and more organized then it usually was when Regina was working. Anna had been right. Regina wasn't in and by the looks of it she hadn't come to the office since she locked up after herself at the end of her previous shift.

"I didn't know how long I should wait for her to show up," Anna said from behind her. "She never called to say she was taking the day off and I tried to call her at home maybe ten minutes ago, but she didn't answer."

Emma sighed and closed the office door before she made her way back through the lobby.

"You should go home," Emma gently told Anna. "If she hasn't come in by now, or even attempted to contact you, then she's not coming."

She waited for Anna to grab her things and walked her out no matter how much worry had seeped into her heart and mind and screamed at her to find Regina as soon as possible. As soon as they were out of the building, Emma made sure Anna was okay to get home and then tore out of the Town Hall area like a bat out of Hell. She disregarded every posted speed limit and rushed to Mifflin Street with a loud, rattling engine and a subtly shaking car. The old Bug with way too many miles on it apparently didn't like how much she was pushing it just to get to Regina's.

She parked on the curb and all but jumped out of the car before she ran—actually ran—to the door.

"Regina. Regina!"

She didn't bother to knock nicely or ring the doorbell and instead settled on pounding on the thick, white door.

"Regina, please, if you're in there open up! You weren't at the diner this morning and you didn't show up for work. Knowing someone might have it out for you makes it easier for me to assume something bad happened to you."

She waited for several seconds with no response before she started to pound on the door again with a little more desperation.

"Regina!"

Another few seconds passed before her impatience took over and she looked between the windows on each side of the front door in an attempt to see into the house. There didn't seem to be any activity on the other side of the door, but Emma had a feeling she wouldn't find the brunette anywhere else. She slowly breathed out as she reached for the doorknob and hoped Regina wouldn't hate her further for what she was about to do.

With a turn of the knob and a cautious push forward, the door opened and Emma didn't take it as a good sign that Regina had left it unlocked.

"Regina," she called out, quieter once on the other side of the closed door.

Emma eased her way inside and shut the door behind her. She looked around for Regina—or any signs of life at all—and carefully made her way into the foyer. When she stood in the middle of the landing in the center of the first floor, she had several options. There was a dining room ahead of her complete with a drink cart, the kitchen to her right, the winding staircase to the left, a sitting room with a wide open double door to her left, or the closed door of a room near the front door that Emma knew led to Regina's study. The small gap between the bottom of the door to the study and the hardwood floor displayed a golden glow of light and Emma knew she'd found Regina.

"Regina, open up," she somewhat tiredly demanded. "I know you're in there. I can see the light on."

A few seconds passed with no response.

"Regina...whatever it is you're hiding from—"

"Go away," Regina's strained voice cracked as she spoke loud enough to be heard through the door.

"Why aren't you at work," Emma ignored Regina's request.

Silence.

"Clearly you're hiding from something."

"I said go away, Emma."

At least she's started calling her Emma again. For a while after she'd brought Marian back, Regina had started to refer to her by her last name much like Hook had before he decided he was deeply in love with her.

"I know something's wrong," Emma tried again. "I'm not leaving until you tell me what's happening. You didn't come to the diner this morning, you haven't been to your office. What changed between last night and right now?"

"Did you ever think I was trying to avoid you and your perfect little family?"

"It's been months, Regina. I know you're not still spending all your time staying away from me. Yesterday you told me someone had put a candle in your house and you're not sure what the candle did or was supposed to do, but you're pretty sure it was used with clear intent. Now you've barricaded yourself in your study and won't talk to me."

"It's none of your business why I decided not to go in to work today and you shouldn't be so concerned with my whereabouts. Don't you have a pirate to entertain?"

Emma sighed.

"We're not..." she trailed off and sighed when words failed her. "If you won't let me in...can I at least let myself in?"

Emma waited as patiently as she could given the circumstances and apparently that was a moment too long because just when she thought the other woman was going to give her an answer, or possibly even open the door herself, a lock clicked into place. Emma immediately looked down at the knob and tried to turn it only to find it was stiff and the door didn't budge when she added her weight behind a gentle push to get in.

"Go away, Emma," Regina repeated, a little more deflated.

Emma placed her hand on the doorframe and leaned into it as she widened her stance and placed her other hand on her hip.

"Fine. You can stay locked away if you want, but I'm not just walking away from you. You can push me away all you want, but I won't give up. I know there's something bothering you and even if you think I've lost the right to even say this, we're a team. So...spend your day however you want it. I'll give you some space, but I'll be back every day until I know you're alright."

Emma hesitated, but there wasn't a single sound of movement from behind the door so after a moment she reluctantly left Regina alone. On her way out, she locked the front door before she pulled it shut and wished more than anything that Regina would be okay.

The rest of her shift had been just as boring as her morning. She had spent more time thinking about Regina and why the other woman was holed up in her study, probably with some of her strong apple cider in hand. For as long as Emma had known the stubborn woman, she'd never seen her duck and cover. Ever. Aside from her disappearing act after she'd been wrongly accused of Archie's murder, Regina stood her ground and fought whatever obstacle came her way.

Within the last two days, though, Regina had done everything Emma never expected her to do. She seemed fragile as soon as Ruby had mentioned the candles and things had only gone downhill for Regina since then. It was troubling as much as it was disconcerting. Emma definitely didn't like the idea of Regina, a woman who usually growled and had some sassy comeback when faced with opposition, cowering alone in her home.

She put thoughts of Regina aside for a few hours to finish up the paperwork she'd mostly ignored before her lunch break, but every so often something about Regina's behavior popped back into the front of her mind and nagged at her until she finally gave in. Though the paperwork in front of her still had a page left of information to supply before her signature was required, Emma abandoned it as she pulled open the top right drawer of her desk and brought out a memo pad. She threw the pad down on top of the paperwork she decided she would keep ignoring and started to scribble out a couple of key words with bullet points.

Candles. Cowering.

Regina might have been pale at the mention of the candles, but she still went back to work afterward, hadn't she? What had changed since finding out she wasn't the only one who'd found a candle? Well, there was the fact that Regina had found the candle in her bedroom while Ruby had just stumbled upon them in the woods. It seemed personal with Regina. Whatever was happening somehow involved her above anyone else. So…maybe she'd found another candle?

Emma puffed out a heavy sigh and tried her hardest to make a connection out of thin air. None of it made sense. The candles, the lack of information, Regina. None of it seemed related and yet, everything Regina did was in response to yet another hint Emma hadn't picked up on.

Frustrated, Emma started to replay the events in her mind starting from the day before Regina's freak out. Regina had walked into the diner with Elsa and glared at her as per usual. She'd said hi to Henry and stared at Robin—which was also normal—and then things had gotten awkward at the Charming's table, but that had nothing to do with Regina. She'd been fine. Until the next morning. She'd been shaky and almost completely devoid of color as though she was about to be physically ill. Something had changed. Then she'd overheard the conversation with Ruby and focused on the candles like they had personally done something to her. She'd asked what color they were and then ran off when Ruby's answer had finally been sufficient enough for her. When she'd been confronted about it later, she'd admitted to having found a white candle under her pillow and informed Emma that she hadn't had a clue as to why it was there or who could have put it there.

And that was the last time Emma had spoken to her before the conversation through the study door. Regina hadn't gone to work or the diner and refused to let Emma into the study for a face-to-face conversation. She knew the last person Regina wanted to talk to was probably her, but Regina had never acted so drastically when she wanted to avoid her. What was the common factor between Regina's deteriorating social skills? One day she's fine and the next she's in panic mode and the day after that she seemed traumatized.

Her brow was knit and she looked either seriously concentrated or painfully constipated while she kept her eyes on the two words she'd written out in the pad. With her pen poised by her shoulder, she played with her pen cap while the pen's point stayed directed downward at the pad on her desk. She was so immersed in her confusing thoughts that she didn't hear the two sets of clomping footsteps as they approached her office and she completely missed a male voice call out her name from the doorway twice before the owner of the voice clomped his way over to her desk.

A hand was gently placed on her shoulder and the same voice called her name yet again. The physical contact pulled Emma from her mystery-solving groove and she looked up to see Robin say her name for a forth time before he flashed her a friendly and partially amused smile.

"Are you alright," he asked, his smile still in place.

Emma breathed out with a bit of relief, though she hadn't noticed how tense she'd made herself over the thoughts that plagued her tired mind.

"Yeah, just thinking about…stuff." Emma had almost said Regina, but then she remembered she was talking to Robin, and Little John who remained in the doorway of her office, and made sure to keep the other woman out of the conversation.

Robin gave a nod of comprehension and continued with the conversation without pressing her on what "stuff" entailed.

"Well, I talked to my Men and got two of them to agree to help. The others are pursuing other job opportunities at the moment, but I figured you wouldn't want a horde of people working here anyway. Something about a budget and more paperwork?"

Emma smiled and it wasn't as stiff as most of the smiles she offered the other blond.

"Right," she confirmed for him before she looked behind Robin at Little John. "So…it's just you two again tonight?"

"Yes," Robin answered while Little John nodded. "I told the other two that we would alternate shifts and if they wanted to give themselves a night before taking on their new responsibilities that Little John and I could cover tonight's shift."

"Great. Did you find anything last night?"

"We saw a cabin," Little John spoke up.

"There was a light on inside, but it didn't look too troubling," Robin added. "Little John walked several paces behind me so we each got a look at it and neither of us saw anything worrisome."

"None of the Men live there," Emma asked with notable curiosity.

Robin shook his head.

"No, the Men who still live out in the woods all share a rather large cabin on the other side of town closer to the main part of Storybrooke."

"So someone who's not one of the Merry Men is living out in the woods? That seems odd," Emma said.

"I suppose," Robin conceded. "Although I wouldn't say there's anything wrong with living in the woods."

"You might be a little biased on that front," Emma deadpanned. "In my experience, people living in the woods are usually up to no good."

"Shall I assume you're including my Men in that assumption," Robin joked with a grin.

That time Emma had forced the smile she flashed him. She couldn't find it in herself to befriend the man Regina had been dating until she had reunited him with his wife. It felt wrong to form that kind of relationship with him even though they were both thieves and could easily find common ground. Everything in her life seemed to point back to Regina and though Emma definitely thought to question why exactly that was aside from the obvious answer that it was better for Henry if she and Regina were at least friendly, there were more important things to focus on.

"So far you and the Merry Men haven't given me any reason to think you're scheming against anyone so no, I'm not including any of you in my assumptions," she honestly answered as her tense smile faded and the conversation turned serious again. "But I think you guys should make two passes by the cabin tonight instead of just one."

"Okay," Robin said with a nod.

"And I guess I'll leave you to it," Emma said as she stood up.

Robin started to head toward the office door and Little John moved into the work room to free up the doorway. Emma followed close behind as she gathered what she needed from her office and shut the door on her way out.

"Same time tomorrow," Emma asked as she made her way toward the exit and Robin and Little John walked her out.

"Of course, and I have your number should any concerns suddenly arise."

"You know how to use a phone, though, right? Because Hook still hasn't grasped the concept that there isn't actually an 'Emma' button built in on any phone."

Robin chuckled.

"You expect a pirate who was never part of any of the curses that befell the townspeople to understand what speed dial is?"

"Right," Emma breathed out a quick and quiet laugh with a slightly uncomfortable expression on her face, still not ready to accept his attempt at friendship, before she left Robin and Little John inside the station and headed back to her apartment.

Leopold sat comfortably in a loveseat in front of the unlit fireplace. He picked at and smoothed out the material of his robes until his interest was piqued by the sound of the front door opening. His gaze immediately lifted to settle on the man responsible for his return to the living world as that man shut the door behind him upon reentry into the cabin.

"Did all go well," the King asked and continued to relax in his chair as though it was his throne.

"Yes," the man answered with his subtle accent, a dark wooden box with a small metal grate on either side tucked under one of his arms. "If she hasn't figured out all of this is really happening, the message will be clear with this."

The man raised the box to emphasize what "this" meant before he placed the box on a table against the wall near one of two bedrooms, the table not far from the front door.

"How did things turn out for you, my King," he asked as he crossed the room and took a seat to Leopold.

"Exceedingly well," Leopold answered. "She seemed terrified of me. From what I gathered on my walk around this curious little town, she's also spent the day in her castle."

"House," the man gently corrected. "In this land, a person living in a place like hers is called a house or home."

"Her house, then," Leopold said. "You know, for all the time I have been gone she still looks much the same."

"She cursed this town, your Majesty. It froze time here for everyone until the curse was broken by the prophesized Savior, your granddaughter."

Leopold smiled.

"My dearest Snow has a child?"

"Two," the man replied. "Emma is the eldest. She's about the same age as your daughter now due to the curse, but the newest addition to the family is a healthy baby boy. Only a few months old now."

"That is wonderful news. Perhaps I shall have a chance to see them soon."

"Perhaps," the man said with a kind smile.

"Regina has caused a great deal of trouble for my family, though. I cannot let that go unpunished, especially since she is the reason I have not seen my family grow throughout the years. I was not even in attendance at my daughter's wedding."

"Yes, she has done a terrible disservice to your kingdom and many people have suffered because of her," the man bitterly agreed.

The two sat in silence for a moment before Leopold turned his head to look at the man beside him again. He smiled and assured the man, "She will soon pay for her crimes. We shall make sure of that."

Across the room, a hiss erupted from the box on the table as if on cue to reinforce the twisted promise recently made. Both men mischievously grinned with an evil gleam in their equally dark eyes in response to the sound and the townspeople were wholly and very unfortunately unprepared for their next course of action.

A/N: This chapter was a little on the short side, but we're about to get into the bigger part of the plot in the next chapter so I wanted to keep this update strictly to the last of the beginning build up. There will be more Emma/Regina interaction in the upcoming chapters too. The end of this chapter, after the door scene, was really hard for me to write because I knew there wasn't going to be any more scenes between them until next chapter so believe me when I tell you that I want to write scenes for them just as much, if not more, than you want to read them. And they're coming!

I'm also not going to take complete credit for the door scene because even though I wanted Emma to go to Regina just for Regina to be stubborn and push her away, I didn't originally plan to have it happen through a door. After 4x01 I thought using that as part of the barrier between Emma and Regina right now would make more sense , though, given what's going on with Regina so I incorporated it into the story.

Please review and let me know what you think so far. Also, thank you so much for the support and reviews for this so far. I really appreciate the feedback! :)