Chapter 22: Because if you do (fall apart)

"Are you living here now, Ma?" Henry asked as he spotted Emma coming out of the guest bedroom in Regina's mansion. She stopped rubbing her eye halfway, freezing at his question, thinking it over.

"Um, no?" She sounded uncertain.

"You spend so much time here. You haven't even gone home yet." His inquisitive eyes meet hers. This is true. It's been how many weeks now of Emma staying over. Not each night, but often enough that Henry has spotted her coming out of the guest room, getting dressed for a shift at the station. Regina and Emma have never really talked about this fact, just accepted it for what it is.

"It's because your mom and I are looking for something very serious. And we're super busy. Also your mom is very sad about Kat. So, she needs someone strong to rely on." Emma tells him and he seems to accept this fact.

"Are we going to be a family?" He asks her hopefully, and this question, she cannot answer.

"You know I used to be super gay before I met you," Emma confesses nonchalantly as they're out on the back porch sipping some iced tea to cool down on the hot summer day. "Then you made me like dick."

Regina nearly does a spit take on her drink. Emma pats her back as Regina tries to clear her throat enough so that she can raspily respond, "what?"

"It's true. I thought I was gay and I only went after beta or omega girls, but then I got a crush on you and found out you were an alpha. I was kinda freaked out at first to be obvious because I thought I was super gay. And then, you proved me wrong. And while I do still prefer women over men, I find I can more or less tolerate them if I find a decent enough male."

"Ugh, I don't wanna know about the men you slept with," Regina crinkles up her nose.

"Jealous?" Emma wags her brows because while she normally tries to defuse Regina's jealous moods, she doesn't mind it when there's no one around for Regina to threaten directly and immediately.

Regina scoffs. "No, I'd just rather not know. I'm sure you wouldn't want to know about my sexual conquests."

"Well, you're the married one," Emma points out and it's testament to how far Regina has come that she doesn't crumple from guilt on it. A hurt look passes behind her eyes and Emma chews on the inside of her lip, internally berating herself from bringing it up when Regina bounces back, playing with the cup in her hands.

"Didn't mean Kat and I did much in bed. I pretended I was much too busy. And I controlled my ruts so I wouldn't make...so I wouldn't make a mistake," Regina said, unsure how else to word it.

"So you wouldn't make another situation like with me," Emma says gently. "But she was your wife. Things are different."

"Things were different. I didn't even know you had a child. I just didn't want to have one with her so soon. And then I had one, and...you saw how things ended up, but enough on that," Regina swept the topic away. "I'll keep my talk on Kat to my counselor." Because she had started seeing one to help her deal with the grief and guilt she felt. It had really begun to make a difference in the three months she had gone. "But, other than you? I only ever slept with one or two other people in college."

Emma is in disbelief. "Really?" Regina must be so pent up. Imagining her letting loose on Emma all of that concealed desire...the blonde subtly shuddered and swiftly redirected her thoughts so she wouldn't get aroused right now.

"Really. I never felt the need to find someone else. I was much too busy for it anyways. And there wasn't anyone I liked. I always felt like maybe something was a bit off about me because I had only ever liked you and I couldn't find anyone else. Everyone seemed to be dating people left and right and I was just...stuck on you. So when the arranged marriage came I was almost relieved to take it. Because I felt like I had another chance to be loved and to love. But, things didn't work out how I wanted them to." She looked down at her brown drink, the ice clinking in it.

Emma's hand lands on her shoulder, making Regina look up to met her eyes. "Even when I was with Neal during my youth, and even when I slept with other girls, I never felt about them the same I do about you. I couldn't stop thinking about you and sometimes I thought I was going to go crazy from it. So, you're not alone. And it makes me happy to hear that you're as badly messed up as I am about you as you are about me." Emma gave a wry crooked smile.

Regina chuckled, though it was a more pitying sound directed at herself. "And what of Graham? Is he finally the one?"

"The one to erase you?" she clarifies.

"Mm."

Emma looks off into the beautiful garden Regina has cultivated. A butterfly dances by on the wind before she answers, thinking long and hard on this topic. "No. I don't think he is. Even though he has been the closest one in years. But, I truly think we're mates, Regina. And no matter what we do, or where we go in life, we will always choose each other over anyone else."

"How terribly romantic," Regina sighed out. She had heard of mates. Everyone had. But it wasn't as common to be mated. Sure there was the sexual act of it. But that was mating. To be mates, was to be beholden to each other, two souls intertwined and unable to let go. They would always want each other no matter what.

They had found their mate bond at such a young age, but what of it? Life had gotten in the way. Would they always be doomed to feeling this unfulfilled? Regina was single now, but the timing was all wrong. And Emma didn't just want to dump Graham out of the blue.

"Yea," Emma chuckles dourly in agreement and lifts the cup to her lips.

They sit in contemplative silence a while longer before Emma breaks it. "I think I have good news."

"For once."

"It's about your mother."

Regina says nothing, just waits. Emma fiddles with her cup. "I wanted to tell you this earlier, yesterday, but things got in the way. Anyways, I think I found some dirt on her." Regina sits up straighter, eager to know. "Using my old bounty hunting contacts, I was able to dig deep into her past and well...I think we can get her for tax evasion."

Regina snorts at this, bursting out into chuckles. Emma just looks on adoringly as Regina laughs. She can't remember the last time she has done this, and Emma soaks up the sound, glad she's been able to make Regina react this way, even if it is unexpected.

"Tax evasion?" Regina nearly wheezes when she finishes. "Why- of all the ways to bring down my mother, tax evasion?" She shakes her head. "Are we really going to do that?"

"I mean, it's an option," Emma shrugs. "Surprisingly she hasn't killed anyone, so I can't send her to prison for that."

"Tax evasion," Regina murmurs. "Of all the ways. Well, I suppose it's better than nothing."

"We should act quick. Who knows when your mother might strike."

"She might have already and we don't even know about it," Regina said, thumbing her cup. "It's been quiet for too long on her front."

"Is she still even in town? I haven't seen her around."

"I think she's in the next town over, something to do with work. But, I did talk to her a month ago, when she called me and insisted I stay away from you while she find me another wife."

Emma let out a puff of air. "Your mother does not wait. How could she be looking for another wife for you already? That's sick!"

Regina stares down at her drink, solemn. "That's why she needs to be stopped. I can't handle her anymore. She's too much and she doesn't understand words." Her mother was incapable of loving her. Regina would make herself incapable of loving Cora too. She would steel her heart, against the only family she had left. No, that was wrong. She had family. In Henry and Catherine, and dare she hope, in Emma too?

That is, if she didn't lose her to Graham. She's never thought ill of the man, but the way he's with Emma makes her skin prickle and her inner alpha rage. How dare anyone touch Emma like that? But she pushes her feelings aside but she has no right to claim Emma. No more right to even hope for a relationship with her. It's all in the past.

And yet, every second of Regina's present is suffused with it.

"Alright, let's go get your mom," Emma said and finished off her drink.

Emma should have known things were too quiet on the Cora front. For two months, Regina had mourned Kat and Cora had stayed away. She possible cared an iota about her daughter, which allowed her to be so lenient with her feelings. And then Regina had gone to therapy during her second month of grieving and it had turned into a three month thing. Cora had come crawling back, slithering into their lives like a snake. But even her appearances were few and in between. They mainly instructed Regina to get her shit together, get rid of Emma, and be ready for another omega. One which would care for Regina's kids.

Regina hadn't wanted any of that and there had been arguments that left Regina running back into Emma's arms, the blonde comforting her and soothing her until she was okay again.

So, it had been five months, a more peaceable five months than Emma thought they deserved.

Which was why she was caught so badly off guard.

She entered her apartment in the early hours of the morning. She hadn't been here in a while. She needed to get a few items of clothing and bring them over to Regina's place. She might as well move in there and stop paying rent on her apartment here.

Not bothering to turn on the lights, Emma went into the kitchen to get herself a glass of water first. She poured herself one straight from the facet and began to gulp it down, tired and hungry from her late shift. She washed the glass and was about to step away from the sink when the door to her food pantry creaked open. She didn't notice it over the sound of running water; didn't notice the stranger until his hands were around her, wrapping a wire around her neck and pulling back.

She gasped as she was pressed flush against him, hands scrambling to try and pull the wire off. But he held tight, his nasty breath snarling in her ear.

"Cora sends her regards," he told her as he held her in that position, exerting pressure with the wire against her neck, choking her. She had to get free. She couldn't let it end like this. Adrenaline coursed through her system as she reached out with one hand, grabbing the glass from the dishwasher she had just washed. She broke the glass and used the sharp and jagged edge to drive it blindly at him. She couldn't see where she was aiming but she struck gold. She could feel the glass connect with his face with a jarring impact and he screamed out in pain as he pulled free.

She fell to the floor, gasping for air, black spots dancing in front of her vision.

Fuck that bitch. Fuck Cora for sending a hitman to kill her!

Emma tried to scramble up to her feet, pulling herself up using the counter. The man, a huge hulking brute, was screaming and cursing under his breath as he clutched one hand to his eye where glass was sticking out, blood running down his enraged face.

"I'll kill you for this bitch!" he declared, blood foaming around his lips and flecking his spit.

Shit, she had to get out of here.

But if she ran, and he got away, there was no telling what damage he could do. What if he went after Henry?

For not the first time, she wished Storybrooke cops had something other than a baton to use. It was a good thing she had a taser packed up in her nightstand from her days as a bounty hunter. This was where she ran to, breath rattling in her chest and neck feeling so damned tight.

"Where do you think you're going?" he screamed at her, rushing after her. She just made it into her room, and dragged her taser out of the mess of her night stand drawer before she felt his hands on her. He threw her across the room, like she was a pillow, making her smash right into the mirror.

She fell with a pained grunt, glass showering down, and her loose hair getting into her eyes. Luckily she did not drop her taser, her grip on it hard. She brushed hair out of her eyes, noticing the glint of a serrated knife in his hand. He lifted it up, to deliver a shocking blow. Fingers shaking, she fumbled with the taser, inching away from him on the carpet, cutting her hand on the glass there as she moved back, other hand pointing the taser at him.

He tumbled to his knees with a groan, screaming as electricity coursed through his body. Still, he tried to inch towards her, knife in his shaking hand. Cursing under her breath, Emma got to her feet, upping the voltage of the device. He began to foam at his mouth before he finally fell face forward with a scream. She turned it off as soon as that happened, not wanting to cause any unneeded damage now that he was out. Breathing heavily out of adrenaline and shock, she edged around him, watching him to make sure he wasn't going to get up and stab her in the ankle as she walked by. For good measure she kicked the knife out of his hand and under her bed, before grabbing her cellphone where she had dropped it off in the bowl by the front door.

Her bloody hand made it hard to dial the numbers but she eventually did, calling for back up and an ambulance. "Yea, Graham, we have situation," she said when he finally picked up.

When Emma messaged Regina she was in the hospital, the mayor's heart stopped cold.

Oh God. What had happened to her?

The phone fell from her hand and she put a hand on her mouth.

Cora. It had to be Cora. Call it a gut feeling, but Regina just knew it had something to do with her mother. She was filled with rage, and concern and fear. Cora had finally made her move and it had been a big fucking one. Regina should have prepared better. She should have known not to trust Cora would stay silent for longer.

Regina had to go see Emma and now. Had to make sure she was okay.

"Henry, come, we're getting in the car," she burst into his room, catching him in the middle of homework. He was instantly off of his bed. "Why? What happened?"

"It's...Emma. We need to go help her," Regina said, too scared to leave Henry alone in the house. What if her mother got her claws in him? Sent someone to hurt him? Luckily Catherine was at a daycare program right now because Regina was technically working from home. Regina trusted that she would be alright there; she couldn't even bring her baby to a hospital.

He followed her as she snatched up her purse and went to her car. They were barely buckled in before she took off, gnawing on the inside of her cheek in worry as she tapped her hands impatiently on the wheel. She told Henry to call Emma, but she wasn't picking up anymore and that only made her more anxious.

Was she badly hurt? Would she be okay?

They pulled up to the hospital, the front street full of cars and rushing traffic. Regina waited impatiently for the light to change, clamping down on Henry's hand hard. If it hurt he did not say anything, keeping his words to himself.

They crossed into the hospital. "We need to see Emma Swan, now," Regina demanded.

The receptionist knew better than to argue with the mayor and nodded her head before pulling up some files and directing them to the correct room.

Regina entered the room, finding Emma was sitting on the bed, her hand bandaged up and more wrappings around her neck. She looked better than Regina had feared.

Henry ran from her to his mom, enveloping her in a tight hug which she was surprised by, because she hadn't expected them to get here. "Whoa, why are you two here?" she asked, patting Henry's head with her not hurt hand.

"You texted us you were in the hospital. How else were we supposed to act?" Regina said, voice shaky as she felt relief flood her. Emma was okay. She was fine. She longed to rush over and hug her, but she held herself back.

"I've just got a couple scrapes. I'll heal. I only came to the hospital in the first place because I had some glass embedded in my hand."

"And why is that? What happened?" Regina demanded.

Emma looked down at Henry. "Hey, bud, do you mind allowing me and your mom to talk in private a bit?"

Henry reluctantly let go. "I was worried Ma," he told her, sniffing.

"Hey, it's going to be alright. Trust me. I've taken on worse bad guys, okay?" she told him, smiling widely. Henry nodded his head and went to go sit in one of the plastic chairs outside the room where they could both see him through the glass windows. Regina closed the door.

"What happened?"

"Cora happened," Emma said. "She sent some goon after me. I took him down and he's in the prison cells right now. If we get him to confess, he'll rat her out and we can send her to prison for hiring a hit on my life. And finally, we'll be rid of her," Emma said too cheerfully.

"That fucking-" Regina cut herself off here, pushing a fist up against her mouth to prevent herself from screaming. She wanted to yell, to punch something, but she had to be composed. She tensed her body to prevent herself from going something regrettable. Anger coiled inside her, ready to snap. How could her mother dare to hurt her mate?

Because that was what Emma was. Even if they weren't together, couldn't be together, Emma was still her mate and there was nothing Regina wouldn't do to protect her. To keep her safe.

"Hey, relax. It's better this way. We can get her on more incriminating charges-"

"This isn't okay, Emma. She told me she would get rid of you if I couldn't. This is all my fault. I should have done something as soon as I could-"

"It's not your fault, Regina. You were grieving. You needed time and rest. I don't blame you for not spending any thought on your mother-"

"Still!" Regina said loudly, cutting her off. Determination blazed in her eyes, the first real spark of life ever since she'd lost Kat. "I cannot let this stand any longer. She's hurting my family." With that Regina swiveled out of the room on her heels. "Henry, stay with your mother. I have to take care of something." He nodded his head in understanding.

As Regina stomped down the halls, her phone buzzed. It was from her mother. Regina saw red as she read the message. I'm outside the hospital. I saw you running to her. Pathetic. We need to talk. I believe she's made you ill in the head.

"You're the one whose ill in the head!" Regina snarled out, bursting through the hospital doors.

She saw Cora just outside, standing by a car. Her beady eyes were hard, and her stance proud, as if she'd done a good thing. Regina charged towards her mother.

"You!" she declared with as much disgust as she could. The rush of cars on the main street, was not loud enough to drown out her anger.

"I told you what would happen. It's a shame he couldn't get the job done. Seems Emma has more brains than I'd given her. She's like a toe fungus that just won't leave."

"You're the one whose like a fungus! You are an irreparable stain on my life!" Regina shot back and Cora drew back, as if how could her own daughter say that to her.

"How dare you-"

"How dare I? How dare you!" Regina jabbed a finger into her mother's chest, forcing her to back up. Regina was steaming mad. She'd never been this angry before. "All my life you have belittled me and abused me emotionally. And I let you do it, let you use me like a little puppet because all I ever wanted to do was make you happy. And yet, it was never enough. No matter how I let you play dress up on me, or even who I let you marry me off to, it was never enough." Regina kept jabbing at Cora's chest painfully. Cora slapped her hand away but that only made Regina shove her now. She shoved her mother right off of the sidewalk, Cora nearly stumbling under the unexpected edge as she stepped down.

"But I draw the line at you coming after my family."

"She is not your family. I am. You must do as I say!" Cora's mouth grew pinched in choler and she pushed Regina. Regina barely felt the push. All if did was push her forwards to shove back even harder against her Cora.

"You're not my family any longer," she said as Cora went flying backwards so hard, she ended up into a lane of traffic where the car could not stop on time. It hit her and she went rag-dolling forwards, the car screeching to a halt. Regina was so angry that all she could do was breathe heavily and stand there in shock as the driver got out of the car, rushing to Cora's side.

More people rushed over from the hospital where they'd seen this happen, trying to get Cora's vitals. They hovered over her, blood seeping out from the tight circle they'd made. The seriousness of the situation sunk into her.

Regina turned on her heel and fled.