Chapter 12

Emma was cooking chicken and steak for the taco bar she'd serve in a couple of hours. The sides were already done and sitting in the fridge waiting to be set out. Her mind continued to replay the earlier events at Regina's house. She knew she was too emotional with Regina and probably overreacted, but she was also trying to be realistic. She didn't want to get close to Regina only to have her heart broken. She had hardened her heart the past several years to prevent herself from getting hurt. She hated hurting Regina, but it had to be done sooner rather than later. Tears formed just thinking of what their future could've been like had Regina chosen her. There would be no Killian and no vampirism to worry about.

"What's with the tears, my little swan."

Emma jumped at the surprise and saw Mal materialize in the kitchen with a bow and arrows in hand. Wiping her tears away she immediately zoned in on the silver tips of the arrows, "What the hell is that?"

"Robin had these on him while he was stalking you during your meeting at the lake.

Emma paled at the thought of what could've happened to Tristan or Regina. "How did you know?"

Mal just smiled arrogantly, "I smelled the silver after leaving the diner so I followed the scent. I noticed someone on the roof with them and knew you were nearby so it didn't take much to put 2 and 2 together. He had binoculars and was watching you."

Emma walked up and grabbed one of the arrows while studying the tip. "That bastard. How does he know about me? Do you think he knows about Tris?", she asked worriedly.

Mal shook her head, "I don't think he knows about any of us besides you. There's no way he could. Even Russell doesn't know about Tris or Audrey. He may know about me, but he doesn't know I have your abilities nor does he know my true identity."

Emma breathed out a sigh of relief, "Yeah, you're right." Emma heard the rice begin to boil on the stove and turned around to stir it, "What do we do, Mal?"

Maleficent walked up and put her hand on Emma's lower back, "I gave Robin a warning to leave my family alone, but we still need to be on our guard. I think it would be best to avoid open places like the park for a while. At least with Tris. Only take her to indoor places and only in the daytime."

Emma nodded and continued to stir. She then filled in Mal about her meeting with Regina and then explained how she invited her for dinner.

Maleficent listened as Emma vented and then waited until she was done with her story before speaking, "Emma, sweetie, I believe Regina really does love you. From what I've heard from Henry, she loved you back then." Emma was about to protest, but Mal put her hand up to silence her, "I know what you said, but I knew Regina many years ago before she was even given the title of Evil Queen. She's always been terrified of rejection. I believe you know that fear…" Emma kept her mouth shut and huffed, but Mal continued, "My guess is she had feelings for you, but was afraid of your reaction. She went with the 'sure thing'."

Emma waited for Mal to finish before giving her rebuttal, "I kissed her right before I left hoping she would see how I felt, but she didn't. She didn't seek me out. I think that's very telling, don't you?" Emma then slammed the spoon on the counter and removed the rice from the stove. Maleficent just pursed her lips, unable to think of an explanation for Regina's behavior.

Maleficent looked at the bow and arrows and changed the subject, "We need to tell Regina about this." Emma nodded, but stayed silent as she prepared her meal and continued to slam things on the counter. Mal left her to it knowing she wouldn't want any help nor would she want to discuss things any further.

Regina was wrapping a dress and hand mirror for Tristan when Robin walked into the house with Roland. She looked up and noticed he seemed angry. 'Oh great.'

"Robin, Roland, how was your day?", Regina asked while taping the side of her present.

Roland ran up to Regina seeing the wrapping paper, "Is this present for me?"

Regina smiled apologetically, "I'm sorry, sweetheart, but this is for Tristan.

"Is it her birthday?", the boy asked innocently.

"No, it's not. She doesn't have many toys here so I thought I'd give her a little something to play with while she's in Storybrooke." Regina knew she'd need a good excuse in front of Robin. Hopefully this was believable. She looked up, but could tell Robin wasn't pleased. She turned back to Roland, "Sweetie, I have some cookies in the kitchen that I made earlier. Can you try one for me and tell me if they're any good? I need a taste tester." She winked at the little boy whose dimpled smile grew wider and then he ran to the kitchen leaving Regina to deal with his disgruntled father.

"Why are you really giving Emma's kid a gift?", he asked coldly.

Regina continued her wrapping, making sure every crease was perfect, "Tristan had mentioned to me earlier that she wanted a princess dress. I showed her a dress from my days in the Enchanted Forest because Henry had mentioned my title to her and she asked if she could have a dress like mine. I thought I would do this for her. She's really a cute little girl."

Robin studied her while she wrapped the gift and decided to leave it alone. Instead, he turned towards the kitchen to join his son, "What time is dinner?"

Regina swallowed hard, "Well, Emma has invited me to dinner this evening so that I can give Tristan her gift so I won't be here. I've left some leftovers in the fridge for you to microwave or you can order in if you'd like."

Robin stopped his trek and whirled around, "Emma again? What's going on with you two?"

Regina stood up and laid the gift on the table, "Nothing is going on, Robin. You know very well that we used to be good friends before she left. We're just catching up from missing four years."

Robin stewed and Regina could tell he wanted to blow up, but he wouldn't do so with Roland in the house. "Robin, you need to get your temper in check. I'm done dealing with it. If you can't stay calm then I will have to ask you to leave my house. I'm sick and tired of your jealous tantrums."

"Excuse me? You're speaking to me as if I'm a child!"

"Well if the shoe fits, Dear.", Regina replied coolly. She knew she shouldn't have said it, but she was done dealing with him.

Robin walked up and grabbed her arm tight which caused her to yelp, "Ow! Robin, let go! You're hurting me!"

"NO! You're mine and you're going to learn your place.", he shoved her down causing the back of her head to hit the table. Tears formed in her eyes from hitting the already sensitive area on the back of her head. Reaching behind her head, she felt wetness and knew there was bleeding.

Regina slowly stood up, using the table to help her balance. The blood on her hand got on the cute wrapping paper of the gift, but Regina didn't notice. She stood up straight and glared at Robin, "I want you out of my house. Roland may stay until you find a place if need be, but you and I are done." Regina's voice stayed calm and even.

Magic began sparking in her finger tips which Robin immediately noticed so he took a few steps back and lifted his hands in mock surrender. Roland ran out of the kitchen hearing the scuffle, "What happened?"

Robin grabbed Roland and pulled him behind his body to shield him from Regina. Regina looked at the innocent boy and smiled softly, "Nothing's wrong, Dear. Your father and I just had a little disagreement."

Robin glared at Regina and turned to face his son, "Son, we're leaving." As Robin put his hand on Roland's back, a flash of red burst through the front door and grabbed Robin by the neck, lifting him into the air and cutting off his airway. Roland was screaming for his daddy while Regina stood stock still in shock at what she was seeing.

There was Emma in front of her, holding Robin up by the neck. Robin was grasping at Emma's hands trying to get her to release her hold, but wasn't having any success. When the shock wore off, Regina gingerly walked towards Emma while still using furniture to stay upright. She finally made it up to Emma and put her hand on Emma's shoulder and leaned into her as she spoke, "Emma, please, let him down."

Emma turned to look at Regina, red eyes glowing in anger and fangs protruding from her pale pink lips, "He hurt you."

"I know, but I'm fine. Really." Regina winced and Emma looked at Regina's hand on her shoulder with the blood on her fingers. The glow of her eyes grew brighter and her grip tightened further causing Robin to turn purple.

Emma turned back to Robin, "He tried to hurt us earlier at the park."

Regina looked up at Robin in surprise, "What?"

"Apparently he was on a rooftop with his bow and silver tipped arrows watching us with binoculars."

Roland was crying and begging Emma to let his father go. His tugging on Emma's jeans seemed to snap her out of her trance. Emma's eyes slowly changed from red to green as she tossed him across the room causing him to slam into the wall. Roland ran to his downed father while Emma turned around and grabbed Regina to steady her and examine her injuries.

Emma raised her right hand and held it to Regina's head. She closed her eyes and summoned her magic to heal Regina's head injury while her left hand stayed wrapped around Regina's waist. Unlike Regina's magic, Emma didn't need to see the injury in order to heal it since she had True Love's light magic. Emma leaned her forehead against Regina's and kept her eyes closed as she worked.

Emma's magic healed the damaged skin and repaired the underlying concussion. Her magic caused heat to spread throughout Regina's body and a tightness grew in her abdomen. Her panties became damp with arousal. Emma noted the redness in Regina's cheeks which caused Emma to blush in kind. When she looked into Regina's eyes, she noticed her pupils were blown wide.

Biting the inside of her cheek to stop herself from attacking Regina's pouty lips, Emma began to taste the iron of her own blood. When she was finished, she slowly removed her right hand from Regina's head, but maintained her hold on Regina's waist while staring at her. Emma's eyes kept moving from Regina's lips to her eyes and then back down again.

Regina's bloody hand came up to cup Emma's cheek, but Emma quickly grabbed it with her right hand and stared at the bloody fingers, "You're still hurt."

Clearing her throat, Regina shook her head, "No. This is the blood from my head wound. My hands are fine."

Emma stared at the blood longingly. She swallowed deeply and released her hold on Regina, needing to distance herself from the sweet temptation. Regina grabbed Emma to keep her close, "Please don't leave."

"I can't stay here. The blood…it's too potent.", Emma's eyes kept steering from Regina's fingers to Regina's beautiful brown eyes.

Regina lifted her bloody fingers and ran them across Emma's bloody lip, gently encouraging her to open her mouth. Emma slowly complied while continuing to stare at her queen. Regina then put her blood covered index finger into Emma's mouth, gently pressing the pad of her finger against Emma's tongue to promote her to suck on it.

Emma's eyes quickly changed to a glowing red and her fangs began extending from her gumline. Regina watched entranced and slightly nervous wondering if Emma could maintain control of her cravings. Slowly, Regina removed her clean finger and added her bloody middle finger, allowing Emma to clean it off. After all fingers were sucked clean, Regina softly smiled at Emma, "You see, I knew you wouldn't hurt me."

"Papa, wake up!" Roland's cries burst the bubble around the ladies and Regina quickly looked behind Emma to Robin's crumpled form.

"I need to get him to a hospital, Emma. I can meet you for dinner afterward." Regina intertwined their fingers together in reassurance. She then had a thought, "Emma, how did you know I was hurt?"

Emma blushed and looked down at their entwined hands, "Oh. Um. I was cooking and suddenly felt horrible head pain. I was nauseous and dizzy. Mal ran over to help me and then Tris came into the kitchen complaining of the same symptoms. Mal told me you must be injured so I immediately left and ran all the way here using my super speed. As I got closer to your house, I could smell your blood so I didn't knock.", she waited for Regina to scold her for breaking her door down, but instead she felt a hand cradle her cheek.

Emma looked up to see watery chocolate orbs looking at her in admiration. Regina wanted to kiss her savior so badly, but knew Emma wasn't ready for that yet. She had to go slow and prove to Emma that she truly loved her. "Thank you, Emma."

Emma smiled in return and blushed, "Yeah, no problem. I owe you an apology anyway for my earlier outburst." Emma rubbed the back of her head as if embarrassed, "I will always love you, Regina. I will always protect you. Hell, I would die for you.", she explained and grew more serious with each confession. Her gaze grew in intensity causing Regina's eyes to release their tears of happiness. 'She still loves me.'

Clearing her throat, Emma moved back out of Regina's personal space, "Take care of the Pine Cone. I'll see you for dinner." Emma turned to look at the crying boy in his father's lap and then used her super speed to disappear from the living room.

Regina took a calming deep breath and walked over to Roland, pulling him into a hug, "It's okay, Roland. I'll take care of your Papa. Just hold my hand and I'll magic us to the hospital." She held out her hand and Roland didn't think twice. He took her hand and nodded and Regina used her other hand to grab Robin's wrist and teleport them to the ER.

David walked up to Regina in the waiting room, "Hey, Regina. I need to get a statement from you about what happened."

Regina had a sleeping Roland on her lap, "Can it wait until Henry gets here to take Roland? I don't want him to hear this."

David nodded his head, "Of course. Any word on how Robin is doing?"

Regina shook her head, "Nothing yet. They've been working on him for about half an hour." She continued to stroke Roland's wavy brown locks to keep him relaxed in sleep.

After ten more minutes, Regina looked up and saw Henry walking towards them in the hallway. She had already explained to him via text message what had happened. Regina gently nudged Roland awake, "Sweetheart, Henry's here to take you home while your Papa gets better." Roland nodded his head, not entirely awake. He silently grabbed Henry's hand and got off Regina's lap.

Henry hugged his mother, "I'm so glad you're okay. Thank goodness Ma was there." Regina hugged Henry tight, but just nodded knowing she needed to be filtered in front of Roland. Henry then grabbed Roland's hand and led him away to take him home.

David cleared his throat, "Regina, I really need to get this done. I'm sorry."

Regina took a deep breath and motioned to a table across the room for them to sit and have a little privacy. As she walked towards the table, she texted Emma that she would be delayed at the hospital.

Finally seated, she explained Robin's jealousy of her friendship with Emma and the violence that followed their heated conversation. Instead of discussing Emma's vampirism, she instead used Emma's magic to explain her abilities."

David wrote down everything and nodded as she told her story. She could tell he was trying to decide how to ask his next question. Finally, he spoke, "Why would Robin be jealous?"

"Excuse me?", Regina looked surprised at David's challenging tone.

"Why should he feel threatened by Emma?"

"I don't know, David. Why don't you ask him?", Regina shot back.

David held up his hands, "Regina, I'm not trying to imply something." He then stared at his pen debating on whether to voice his thoughts. "I just…I'm not blind, Regina. Before Emma left town, I could see how she felt about you and then that night at the diner when she returned and you walked in, I could still see the look in her eyes."

Regina pulled her eyebrows together, "What look?"

David smiled with an expression that said 'Really Regina?', "She looks at you the way I look at Snow. She has stars in her eyes. When she saw you at the diner, she had a longing look."

Regina shook her head and looked away from David so David pushed further, "And I see how you look at her. I see how you look when talking about her."

Regina closed her eyes tight and tears spilled down her rosy cheeks.

David watched Regina lose the fight with herself. He knew he was right. "Is Tristan yours?"

Regina kept her eyes closed, debating on how to answer, but finally settled with a silent nod.

David swallowed hard and his eyes grew wide, but before he could respond, Regina interjected, "You will NOT tell Snow about our feelings or about Tristan's parentage, Charming. You hear me? You will keep your mouth shut!" The defensive queen was back. She was protecting her family.

David nodded, "I won't. I hate keeping secrets from Snow, but I don't know how she'd handle this right now. Our relationship with Emma is obviously strained and doesn't need any more drama between her and Snow."

"Agreed."

A vibrating sound could be heard in Regina's coat so she dug her hands through her pockets looking for the offending phone. "They gave me Robin's cell phone and other personal effects when they took him back." She pulled out the phone and looked at the notification of a text message received. Her eyes blew wide and her color paled. She swallowed hard and kept staring at the phone in disbelief.

David put his hand on her arm, "Are you ok? Who is it?"

Regina's hand shook while holding the device and turned to screen to show David.

Killian Jones