They come to a realisation that they'll have to drive to New York, given that there's no Wi-Fi to book flight tickets. Emma contemplates making a quick stop at Granny's before remembering it's currently closed. "We'll have to stop on the way for food. I haven't eaten since yesterday," she yawns moving to settle into her seat to start the car.
"Wait, Emma let me drive the first half?" Regina offers.
"Wait, really?" Emma questions touched.
Regina nods, "It's about a six hour drive. I'll do the first few hours, and you can rest."
Emma chuckles softly, smiling at Regina and wondering if it's possible to fall in love with the woman even more.
Henry watches them both looking at each other with doe-eyes and yearning looks and gives himself a mental pat on the back.
Yes he may have put their home and the entire world in jeopardy – okay fine he did do that and he does feel horrible.
But at least his moms are getting closer because of it.
Hopefully when they find The Apprentice and figure out a way to get the pen back and undo everything, his moms will keep getting closer and eventually they'll just give into their feelings. And Henry can feel good about it without the niggling feeling that he kind of almost destroyed the world.
But for now, baby steps.
Emma and Regina quickly swap seats, get comfortable and then Regina starts the ignition and they drive off.
...SQ...
About an hour into the drive, Emma realises they haven't told anyone where they're going. Given that she'd told Snow they would be right over after turning off the Wi-Fi and didn't turn up, her mom will most likely send out an entire search party thinking the worst has happened – which okay fine, in Storybrooke that is a possibility. So Emma decides she should probably update her mom at the very least.
She reaches inside her pocket for her phone; then remembers it's lying at home dead under piles and piles of snow.
If the snow hasn't melted yet that is.
She thinks back to what she had seen her and Regina doing just before the snow had shown up.
It is a possibility that the snow has already melted.
Because that was hot.
Okay, now is not the time to be thinking about this. Emma shakes her herself, trying to stay focused on the task at hand.
"Hey Regina I need to borrow your phone, gotta update my mom."
"What makes you think I have Snow's number?" Regina asks nonchalantly.
"Please Regina, you and mom are like the best of friends now," Emma says with an almost imperceptible edge to her voice. If Regina wasn't so aware of the blonde she wouldn't have picked up on it.
But she is and she did.
Regina's brow furrows in slight confusion.
Is Emma jealous of her and Snow's friendship?
She looks over at the blonde noting a small scowl on her face before Emma can do anything to hide it.
How interesting.
"Is that a hint of jealousy I detect?" Regina asks, throwing a smirk towards the blonde.
"No," Emma replies defensively, crossing her arms over her chest subtly. Of course, she is a tiny bit jealous of Snow and Regina's newly developed and rapidly growing friendship - and sometimes fine it's a lot more than a tiny bit jealous - but there's no way she's admitting that.
Regina watches her for a moment. A thrill shoots through her as she realises that the blonde is in fact jealous, she focuses back on the road before saying "Not to worry Emma, there's enough of me to go around." Emma's jaw drops at that.
God, why is Regina like this?
Regina glances over at Emma and chuckles inwardly at the blonde's expression. She's still so easy to rile up. "Relax Emma, I'm kidding. Yes you can use my phone but I'm going almost 70mph and with the traffic we're in, I hardly think it safe to be taking my hands off of the wheel even momentarily," Regina replies, "Can it wait for another half hour or so, we should be able to find a rest stop by then."
Emma gathers herself taking a deep breath, "You know I don't mind. But let's be real Regina, it's already been almost two hours since I last checked in with my mom, do you really hate the townsfolk that much that you would subject them to my mother's incessant worrying?"
Regina throws Emma a pointed glare before continuing to eye the road, "Ms. Swan, I'll have you know that I've turned over a new leaf. I no longer need the anguished cries of the townsfolk to help me sleep at night," she says sarcastically.
Emma rolls her eyes fondly; Regina can be so dramatic at times. The brunette huffs then, "It's in my left inside pocket. Hurry up and don't distract me whilst I'm driving."
Emma pauses for a minute; then tentatively moves closer towards the Queen. She feels her breathing pick up as she leans over the central console. Her heart thunders in her chest as she softly inhales Regina's scent – gorgeous, just like the woman it belongs to, how Regina always manages to smell so enticing Emma will never know. She mentally chastises herself when she realises she is taking far too long to carry out a simple task.
Get it together Swan.
Regina holds her breath sensing the blonde move closer. She attempts to lift her upper arms slightly away from her body while still keeping a tight grip on the steering wheel, in the hopes that Emma will be able to quickly reach into her inside pocket and grab her phone. Why she thought to put it in that pocket today she doesn't know, but she cannot have Emma's hands touch her in that area, not while she's driving at least.
Regina hopes the blonde's natural clumsiness will have decided to take a day off, she can feel puffs of warm breath on her neck as Emma leans in and-
No.
No.
Emma's clumsiness most definitely hasn't decided to take the day off.
Emma accidentally brushes her hand against Regina's breast while pulling the phone out and Regina ends up swerving the car almost crashing into another in the next lane before gaining control once more.
That inadvertently makes things worse as it causes Emma to drop the phone in Regina's lap and topple into her - one hand landing on Regina's outer thigh and the other on her breast, squeezing it in her process of righting herself.
Emma feels Regina freeze and doesn't realise what has happened until she looks at where her hands have landed, her eyes widen and she gulps. A few seconds pass and Regina is painfully aware that the blonde is making no effort whatsoever to move.
This is absolutely preposterous.
She is trying to drive.
Regina clears her throat, "Emma?"
No answer.
"Ms. Swan, if you could kindly remove your hand from my breast."
"S-sorry," Emma quickly snatches her hands away as if she's been burnt and Regina misses the warmth from them already. The blonde grabs the phone from Regina's lap, grazing the brunette's inner thigh in the process.
Regina feels a twinge in her most sensitive area and her temperature shoots up. But before she can say anything, Emma has already moved back to her seat and is looking down in concentration as she fiddles with the phone in her hands.
When she is certain Regina has her eyes back on the road, Emma darts a glance over to the other woman and exhales. She didn't mean to do that but the feeling of Regina's soft round breast in her palm is now burned into her memory and she feels a blush spread across her cheeks. Focus Emma. She looks back down at the phone and starts typing.
Regina: It's Emma
Regina: Wi-Fi plan didn't work. Headed to New York. Be back soon
Snow: When's my birthday?
Regina: What? Why?
Snow: Just answer it
Regina: April 15th?
Snow: Ok good :)
Regina: Why?
Snow: I had to make sure it wasn't your kidnappers messaging me
Regina: Lol
Snow: Unless it's really you Regina, in which case I don't mind if you've kidnapped my daughter at all ;)
Regina: MOTHER
Regina: What's THAT supposed to mean?
Regina: And what's with the winky face?
Snow: Nothing honey, I just think you both should spend more time together ;)
Regina: So you want her to kidnap me!?
Snow: Emma I am your mother and I only want what's best for you ;)
Regina: By getting me kidnapped!?
Snow: If it's Regina kidnapping you then yes ;)
Regina: Why? And mom stop sending winky faces
Snow: Be safe honey. Give my best to Regina ;)
Regina: Mom you didn't answer my question
Regina: And you just saw Regina like 2 hours ago
Snow: Just give my best to Regina ;)
Regina: Mom do you have a crush on Regina?
Regina: OMG is that why you want her to kidnap me?
Snow: What? Honey I'm a married woman
Regina: That's not a denial :/
Snow: Honey you're misunderstanding
Regina: That still doesn't answer my question
Snow: Be safe honey :) Goodbye xx
Regina: Mom?
Regina: MOM
Emma stares at the conversation thread for another few minutes waiting for a reply she knows isn't going to come. She huffs, her mom is so weird.
"Everything okay?" Regina asks, glancing towards the blonde. She's had a few minutes to calm down after the incident and is feeling more like herself again.
"Yep, fine. Mom is just being... well mom," Emma smiles over at her. Regina hums quietly.
Emma takes a few minutes to just watch her side profile. Regina has always been beautiful, but from this angle, with the sunlight filtering in through the trees, it bathes her lovely warm olive skin in a soft glow and Emma feels herself kind of melting into the seat.
She so badly wants to talk to Regina about them.
She doesn't really know if there is a them, or if there ever will be.
Maybe... hopefully?
Okay most likely not. But a girl can dream, right?
Emma turns to look at Henry currently sleeping in the back; she knows they may not get another opportunity like this, but she just doesn't know how to start the conversation.
Regina seems to sense the tension in the blonde, "I'm glad he's resting; he's too young for all of this. To bear the weight of the world," she says, misinterpreting Emma's anxiety.
Emma exhales, perhaps it would be best to talk about them another time, when they're not facing certain impending doom, "Yeah, he's just a kid," she agrees turning back to face the front.
Regina nods, glancing over to the Saviour before turning her eyes back to the road and asking, "And how are you doing Emma? With all of this?"
Emma shrugs her shoulders, "I mean we're basically taking over the world. I feel like I should be sat in an evil lair wearing black leather, stroking a cat and cackling maniacally."
Regina chuckles softly at Emma's goofiness, shaking her head in fond amusement. Then she remembers Emma has a habit of adding humour, especially self-deprecating humour, to a situation when it worries her and she doesn't know how to talk about it.
"Emma, I know your heart has the potential for evil, but you could never be so. Trust me, I know evil. I was evil."
"Well I am deathly allergic to cats, and let's be honest out of the two of us you rock black leather way more so..." Emma trails off. The car is silent for a few minutes, then a quiet admission - "I guess sometimes I do worry that I'm not good because I want to take the easy way out, even when it's wrong."
"Yet still you choose not to Emma. Isn't that what it means to be good? Choosing to fight through the harder path because it is right, even though there is an easier; darker way?" Regina asks.
"Well if anyone would know, it's you Your Majesty. I've watched you continue to choose the harder path and fight and grow through it every day for the last four years," Emma smiles over at Regina, noticing a soft blush now spreading across her smooth, velvety skin. She feels her fingers twitch. What she wouldn't do to be able to just reach out and softly stroke Regina's face.
"Then you know that I won't let you make the same mistakes as I once did," Regina looks over at her and smiles back; then focuses on the road. They both fall into a comfortable silence after that and when Emma falls asleep, she doesn't know.
...SQ...
Emma jolts awake a few hours later and hears Henry let out a small chuckle behind her. She smiles back at him, but feels the smile quickly drop as her heart plummets when she finds Regina is nowhere to be seen.
"Relax ma, she just went to pay for gas and get food," Henry supplies, sensing his mother's apprehension. Emma lets out a loud sigh of relief and visibly slouches, the tension leaving her body immediately. It's then that she notices that they are in fact parked at a gas station, she chuckles quietly to herself. "And you wonder why I want you both together," Henry mutters quietly.
Emma hears him, but before she can speak, the door flies open and she is met with the most delicious smell – pizza and fries and... doughnuts?
Oh she wants to kiss this woman right now. Consequences be damned.
She lifts up from her seat and is about to move forward when bags full of warm food are shoved in her face.
"Emma can you take these please? I need to go and grab the drinks" before Emma can respond, the brunette drops the bags on her lap and rushes back inside.
Emma inhales the mouth-watering smell and her stomach rumbles loudly. She hasn't eaten since yesterday. She eyes the bags of food sitting in her lap in thought, stuck between wanting to dig in and wanting to wait for Regina.
She should probably wait for Regina.
It's the right thing to do.
After a few minutes Regina comes back with a cardboard drink carrier in hand, containing what looks like three milkshakes. And Emma can't help the large grin that spreads across her face. She hopes it's strawberry milkshake, she loves strawberry milkshake.
Regina settles down in her seat, placing the drink carrier on top of the dashboard momentarily while she passes out the food and then moves to pass out the drinks respectively, "Chocolate milkshake for Henry, vanilla for me and strawberry for you Emma," she says.
Emma feels herself tear up. She looks down at her food; then at her milkshake and then over to Regina with adoring doe-eyes. Henry snorts catching a glimpse of her heart eyes expression. Regina - hearing Henry's snort - follows his gaze to Emma.
"Everything okay Emma? If you don't like it I can get you something else," Regina offers slightly nervous.
Emma just watches her, the cute little frown lines appearing between her eyebrows and she wants to say something absurd like 'marry me' because she absolutely means it – which is absolutely terrifying and Regina doesn't have her magic so can't fireball her face - but then she thinks Regina could still slap her, so she settles for a soft "It's perfect Regina, thank you."
Regina smiles in relief. She nods, looking down at her food, a slight blush covering her beautiful skin and Emma's heart flips. She looks down at her food attempting to shake herself out of it. And they all begin to eat in silence.
After they've eaten, Emma collects the rubbish to dispose of in the nearest trash can before swapping seats with Regina so that she can drive the last half of the way and Regina can rest.
...SQ...
Regina blinks her eyes open and hears a soft "Hey sleepyhead," coming from the woman beside her. She smiles sitting up properly, no longer leaning against the window. "We're in New York, should be at the library in about 10 minutes," Emma says, Regina nods then looks ahead, her eyes widening.
"Emma lookout!" she shouts, causing Emma to slam down on the breaks stopping the car immediately and jolting them all forward.
"Everyone okay?" Emma asks looking at Regina and Henry; when they both nod she takes a minute to look around. One minute she was driving down a road and the next she was driving down the aisle in a church, almost running over the happy couple at the front currently saying their vows.
This is so not what people mean when they say they crashed a wedding.
Emma takes a closer look at the happy couple and her eyes nearly fall out.
It's her and Regina.
They're the happy couple.
They're getting married.
She nearly crashed her own wedding.
Well not her wedding.
Emma feels something break inside at that realisation, grieving for the loss of what was never hers. She feels a scream try to claw its way out of her throat. But she can't do this. Not right now. She glances over to the woman sitting beside her, willing herself to calm down. This is not the time or place. She lets out a huff; then jumps out of the Bug.
Meanwhile Regina is stuck in her own thoughts. Seeing her and Emma exchanging vows caused something to shift inside. Something she can't make sense of. She remembers the silent vow she made to herself after she was freed from being Leopold's Queen - a vow that she would never marry again. Never give anyone that power to be an equal. Yet here she is standing a few metres away; very clearly marrying Emma. Regina knows that her feelings for the blonde are much stronger than those she had even for Daniel, but it's still strange to see herself marrying again. She's broken out of her thoughts when she hears Emma slam the car door shut.
Emma exhales deeply, hoping the cool air outside of the car will help her to calm down. She needs to make sure the car is alright so that they can find the damn Apprentice and get the damn pen back. She forces herself to take deep breaths, knowing that she cannot lose her cool right now, not when they are this close to fixing this whole mess.
"Emma? You okay?" Regina asks tentatively, standing beside her open car door watching the blonde walk around the car and observing the tires.
Emma looks up at her and sighs, "Long day. The tires are okay; let's just go find The Apprentice," she starts moving back towards the driver side door. Regina nods, but before she can sit back down in the car, she hears loud rapid gunfire and finds that the seat she was about to sit in is now riddled with... bullets?
Oh that is it.
"What the hell is going on!?" she screeches, her rage boiling. She knows if she had her magic right now - and if it worked outside of Storybrooke of course - she would probably be throwing fireball after fireball every which way. Uncaring of who gets hit.
Well apart from Henry.
And Emma of course. Let's not forget Emma.
"Regina, get down!" Emma shouts, quickly ducking and running to the passenger side of the Bug where Regina is, grabbing her wrist and pulling her down towards the ground. Regina's anger disappears and is instantly taken over by fear. Emma tries to catch a glimpse of where the bullets are coming from, but can't manage to pop her head up as whoever is shooting has no intention to stop.
Damn, they're probably using machine guns.
They sneakily move to Henry's door using the Bug as a shield and manage to get him out of the car.
"Henry, are you okay?" Regina questions worriedly, furiously checking him to make sure he isn't hurt.
"I'm fine mom. What's happening?"
"I don't know, but we gotta get outta here," Emma answers trying to think of a way out.
"Emma can't you shoot them with your gun?" Regina asks.
"Regina they're using machine guns, my glock won't make much of a difference," Emma replies. And at the pleading look on the brunette's face she sighs, 'I don't have it on me, it's back at my place."
"What? Why? You don't have your gun the one time we actually need it. Moron!" Regina shouts, her anger and fear growing rapidly with each second.
"I just- I couldn't get to it this morning okay? We can't discuss this here; we have to find another way out!" Emma replies, ducking further to the ground in an attempt to avoid being shot. She hears a clink behind them then and quickly turns to see a small black cylindrical object lying on the floor discharging streams of gas from either end. Emma's eyes widen as she realises what it is, oh no knockout-
Before she can finish that thought her body feels heavy; in seconds she's pulled under and everything goes dark.
...SQ...
Emma wakes feeling groggy and disoriented. As far as she can tell she's laid on a cold tiled floor in a small room, she eyes the ceiling and walls and can see it's all boarded up with wooden planks. Hearing a groan from somewhere to her right – Regina - she jolts up instantly and finds Henry and Regina both crumpled up on the floor beside her. Emma lets out a sigh of relief and then helps them both sit up.
"What happened?" Regina holds her head tightly, her eyes closed and forehead creased.
"I'm not sure," Emma replies looking around trying to get her bearings.
"You're safe here," a voice says from behind them. The three immediately jump up and turn around.
"DG?" Henry asks surprised. DG smiles and nods. "What's going on?"
"It's a mess Henry, they're furious with you," DG replies seriously.
Henry scrunches his eyebrows together, "What are you talking about? Who are 'they'?"
"Come on, there are some people you should meet," DG turns around, gesturing with her hand for them to follow and walks away. Henry looks at his mothers', Regina gives a small nod in return and the three begin to follow the girl out of the room.
They step into what seems to be an enormous warehouse with a high roof ceiling. On either side are rows and rows of computers, people sitting in front of each one, talking amongst themselves and furiously typing away. There's a wide aisle going straight down the middle to the far end where there are a number of large screens covering the entire far wall showing thousands of various images and videos of Emma and Regina.
What the heck is going on? Emma thinks for the umpteenth time that day. She looks over to see Henry and Regina sporting the same look of confusion she's sure she also has on her face. They hesitantly continue to follow DG straight down the aisle to the far end, hearing excited murmurs and squeals as they pass, which causes Emma to furrow her brow even more.
By the time they've gotten to the far end and have stopped, Emma's patience has worn out – stuck between feeling extreme confusion and feeling extreme anger, she naturally sets on extreme anger.
And can you blame her?
She woke up today watching numerous versions of herself exist in various intimate situations with the woman who she loves, which is completely unfair because she didn't even get to have her planned lunch with Regina today, and it wasn't even a date but she still wanted to pretend it was in her head. Yes, they ate in the car together but Henry was there and as much as she loves her son, she just wanted to sit and watch Regina take dainty bites of her food while they chatted away about mundane things, because she's so adorable when she eats and-
Okay she's getting off track.
Back to the point, she has been attacked by a multitude of irritating cartoon characters, then found out she's basically unintentionally taking over the world. She's been abducted and taken to a strange place; her, Regina and Henry were just caught in the middle of a shootout, not to mention-
Oh no, her poor Bug.
Great, just another thing to add to her list of what's going wrong today.
It's going to cost so much to get it repaired, if it even survived.
No.
Nope.
The Bug survived. She has to stay positive.
She can see a number of people dotted about standing; facing the large screens showing her and Regina doing so many different things and she is ready to snap.
"Can someone please tell me what the hell is happening!?" she roars, her anger taking over. Everyone falls silent. Though she's still facing toward the large screens, Emma can feel the weight of staring burn into her back. There are probably at least a thousand pairs of eyes looking at her right now. She feels uneasiness prickle across her skin, making it grow warm and most likely red.
Damn her pale complexion.
The people at the front have all turned to face her by now too, some watching with raised eyebrows, a few of them slack jawed like they can't believe she's actually there.
It does nothing to calm her emotions and Emma feels herself start to become overwhelmed. In a desperate attempt to curb that feeling she looks over to Regina standing beside her, seeking out the Queen's mesmerising orbs and once she finds them she keeps her eyes glued to them.
Regina senses Emma's unease immediately. Placing a hand on Emma's forearm she squeezes and softens her gaze looking into the blonde's sea-green eyes, trying to convey to her to keep calm and just take deep breaths. Emma seems to relax instantly; she looks back at the people in front of them, the large screens looming behind.
DG gestures over to a young woman who is watching them in slight admiration. The woman nods back, then turns to the rest of the room.
"If everyone could kindly resume what they were doing please, our guests don't need to feel any more uncomfortable thank you," she says calmly and the entire atmosphere resumes to how it was previously, the room once again filled with continuous chatter and people typing away at their keyboards.
The woman then turns and looks at Emma before she starts walking towards them. She smiles, her warm brown eyes focusing only on the trio as she moves closer. She has bronze skin, a few shades darker than DG's and is wearing a black blazer over a dark red shirt with black dress pants; her long dark hair in a side braid.
"Welcome Henry Mills, the Saviour and Your Majesty," she says, bowing her head in respect. It causes Regina to smile and nod in response. "I have to say it's an honour."
"Who are you? And where are we?" Regina asks, feeling slightly less on edge.
The woman smiles again, "I am RS. And you are currently at Ao3."
