Prompt: Mal telling Regina about killing Sidney and Regina's phone call with Roland
Mal's nervous. Has been since she came in, and Regina doesn't really understand what's going on, but sees her friend chance a glance at Robin as he walks away to use his phone.
"Mal, what is it?" she asks firmly.
"I have to tell you something, and I don't know how you're going to take it."
"What's wrong?" Regina prods, holding the blonde's hand and squeezing in reassurance.
"Nothing's wrong, just..." she sighs, taking a deep breath before she whispers, "I killed him."
"What? What are you talking about?"
"Sidney, I... I killed him."
"Well, yeah, I know, they told me, self defense."
"No, that's the story I told everyone, but it's not what happened. We cornered Sidney in an alley, and your boyfriend beat the hell out of him, had him bleeding on the floor and wheezing all these threats, gloating about killing you... Robin was about to pull the trigger on him when Dr. Midas called to let us know you'd be okay."
It doesn't shock her to find this out. It worries her, sure, but it doesn't shock her. Robin has been feeling guilty for what happened, and she knows if given the chance, he would've finished the job himself.
"I shot Glass in the head, on purpose, and then we fed that self-defense story to the police and the rest of the Secret Service to get me off the hook."
"Mal," Regina gasps, distraught by the whole thing.
"I wasn't going to just let him walk away, Regina, and you know he would've ended up at some mental hospital, disguising his man-pain as insanity, I wasn't going to let that happen, not after what he did to you."
"But why subject yourself to that burden? Why carry that around in your conscience?"
"I don't feel guilty for doing it, so don't worry about my conscience," Mal scoffs, her voice softening as she adds, "I just wanted you to know the truth."
"I…" there are so many emotions running around in her head, so many conflicting thoughts she can't quite place, but it's all overpowered by one thing, relief, so instead of voicing all those clashing ideas, she settles for a heartfelt, "Thank you."
"Really? You're not mad at me?"
"I'm many things, mad isn't one of them. You protected me, Mal, and I can't say I'm sorry to see him go, but this is a dangerous thing you did, what if you get caught?"
"Everyone thinks he was about to kill us before I shot him, I doubt there will be questions on the matter, they're calling me a hero," Mal says in a bored tone, mockingly straightening her back and posing smugly, making Regina laugh a little.
"I know how adamant you are about political transparency and eradicating corruption, so if you feel like you have to tell the authorities what I've done, that's fine, I'll deal with it, I don't want to put you in a compromising position."
"I'm not telling anyone anything," Regina resolves after taking less than two seconds to think about it. Bottom line is, Mal did what she did to protect her and Robin, she won't condemn her for it.
"Really?"
"It'll be our secret," she says with a small smile, squeezing her friend's hand tightly, and Mal smiles back.
She takes a deep breath, and then her attention shifts to the words Robin is speaking on the phone, promising someone on the other end they can take care of her when she gets back to the White House, and her heart slams in her chest, anxiety building as she realizes who he's talking to.
"Is that Roland?" she asks, watching him nod. "Please, let me talk to him," she pleads, stretching out her hand to take the phone. Robin tells his son someone wants to speak to him, and then hands the device to Regina, her hand trembling as she brings it to her ear.
"Regina?" a timid voice asks on the other end.
"Hi, sweetheart," she gasps.
"Someone hurt you?" he replies, his voice shaking.
"It's okay," she assures him, "I'm okay." but the moment he hears her words, he bursts into tears, sobbing into the phone, making her heart shrivel up with the need to hold him as she comforts him.
"Oh, honey, don't cry, I'm here, I'm fine," she insists.
"You promise?" he asks.
"Yes, Roland, I promise, I'm just a bit banged up, but it's like your daddy said, you can take care of me when I go home, okay?"
"Okay," he sniffles into the phone, and "Does it hurt?" he questions then, sounding a little more calm now.
"Oh, yes, so I'm going to need lots of hugs and kisses and Disney movie nights when I get back so I can feel better. Are you up for that?"
"Yes," he mumbles, still sounding a little sad, but comforted now that he's heard her, and Regina feels a weight lifting off her own chest now that she's finally spoken to him.
"Okay, then I have a job for you, I'll be home in a few days, so you have to pick one movie for every day I miss, alright? And then when I get there, we'll watch one every night before bed, just the three of us, and in the mornings we'll make daddy get us apple juice while we stay in bed and act lazy for the day. How does that sound?"
The boy giggles slightly at her suggestion, tells her daddy hates being in charge of juice, and Regina smiles, tells him she's the queen, daddy has to listen to her, and Roland laughs and says okay.
"I've gotta go now, honey, but we'll call again tomorrow and you can tell me all about your day. Paint me a picture of the flowers in the greenhouse after breakfast, okay? So I can see it when I get back?"
"Okay, Regina. Love you."
"I love you, too, sweetheart, I'll see you soon."
She hangs up the phone, and then Mal offers to cover for her and Robin so they can have a few minutes alone, adds some lewd joke before she leaves, making them both grin and shake their heads.
She beckons Robin closer, waits for him to settle beside her on the bed and snuggles up as close as she can, smiling when he drops a kiss on her forehead and tells her to rest.
She kisses his chest, taking in the scent of him and letting it lull her to sleep almost instantly, exhausted, but full of hope now that it's all over...
