Author's Note: The song in this chapter is Can't Help Falling in Love. Originally done by Elvis Presley, but if any of you actually want to look it up, check out the version done by Twenty One Pilots. It's dope. =)
CHAPTER 10
Shae groaned, picking her head up from her pillow and reaching over to the end table next to the bed, fumbling around for her cell phone. She finally found it, and managed to snooze her alarm. She sighed heavily, burying her face in her pillow and throwing out her other arm, frowning when her hand did not make contact with any part of Emma's body. She picked her head up again, frowning even more when she found Emma's side of the bed empty.
Shae rolled over and sat forward, burying her face in her hands, frustrated by yet another night of being awoken by the same horrible dream. Nearly every night for the past year, Shae had been having the same recurring nightmare about being trapped in a room that was on fire. Every time the dream ended the same way, with her calling out for someone named Regina. She was continually left puzzled. She couldn't remember ever meeting anyone by that name, and, if she really had, why was she so convinced in her dream that this Regina could help her?
Shae shook her head, and rubbed the sleep from her eyes. She shuffled sleepily out of her and Emma's bedroom, and made her way down the hallway, slowly opening the door to Henry's room. The boy was fast asleep, his arm draped over the side of the bed, his mouth hanging open as he drooled into his pillow.
"Henry…" Shae mumbled, poking the boy's shoulder. "Up and at 'em, broseph. Time for school."
Henry groaned, rolling over and pulling his blankets over his head. "Five more minutes…" He grumbled.
Shae chuckled. "Alright, alright… Five more minutes."
She carefully pulled Henry's door closed behind her, and grinned when she heard the sound of the shower running. As she stepped into the bathroom, Emma called out to her.
"Shae, is that you?" She asked from the other side of the shower curtain.
"Mm-hmm." Shae answered as she stripped off her t-shirt and boxers.
"Can you hand me another bottle of shampoo? Mine's empty."
Shae retrieved Emma's shampoo from underneath the sink, and stuck it through the shower curtain. "Thank you, I- Oh!"
Emma gasped as Shae climbed into the shower with her, then grinned, wrapping her arms around her neck. Shae pulled her in close as she kissed her, Emma's naked breasts pressing against the scars on her chest. Shae had been the victim of a bear attack when she was younger, leaving her chest and back mangled and scarred, with three long scars running diagonally down her face as well. Emma didn't mind Shae's disfigured torso, and had often voiced that she thought all of Shae's scars were quite sexy.
The warm water washed over them, steam rising around their bodies as the two lovers kissed slowly and deeply, their tongues brushing against each other playfully. Shae gently explored Emma's naked body, running her hands down her sides and over the curve of her buttocks. She drew her hands up again, and Emma gasped as Shae fondled her breasts, gently pinching her nipples between her thumbs and forefingers.
"Mmm… Good morning." Emma muttered, grinning against Shae's lips.
"Good morning, beautiful." Shae replied, grinning back.
Emma hummed happily against her lover's lips as Shae kissed her again. She bit her lip, smiling as Shae moved her lips to her neck, then down to her collar bone, pressing gentle kisses all the way down her torso.
"This is quite a wake up call." Emma observed, grinning again as Shae got down on her knees, kissing along her hip bone.
"Well, they say breakfast is the most important meal of the day." Shae told her matter-of-factly.
Emma gasped with delight as Shae placed a deep, slow kiss in the center of her womanhood. She leaned back into the corner of the shower, throwing one of her legs over Shae's shoulder. She gripped two fistfulls of Shae's hair, biting her lip again as Shae began slowly licking her. Emma had been with a decent amount of people in her thirty years of life, but she had never found anyone that was better with their tongue than Shae, her current partner of nearly five years. Shae had been the first woman Emma had ever been with, and would likely be the last, as Emma was deeply and irrevocably in love, and Shae with her.
Emma gasped again as Shae found her clit, and began working it with her tongue vigorously. "Mmm… Oh fuck, Shae…" She cooed softly.
Emma could feel the grin on Shae's lips as she began licking her clit faster and faster. Emma moaned softly, trying to remain quiet as her arousal swelled. She bit hard into her bottom lip, her breathing becoming more and more labored. She dug her nails into the back of Shae's head, pushing her face in deeper to her womanhood. She smiled as she felt Shae moan softly from between her legs as she raked her nails up her back, which was something Emma knew her lover liked very much.
"Oh… Oh god… Oh… FUCK!" Emma cried out, unable to help the volume of her tone as she reached her climax.
Shae grinned again, slowly licking her from end to end as she came. A deep, satisfied moan escaped Emma's lips, and she wrapped her arms around Shae's neck as she stood up, resting her head against her chest. Shae smiled, gently kissing her forehead as she held Emma tight. They stood there together in silence for a moment, the warm water flowing down their bodies as they both tried to even out their ragged breaths.
"Oh god…" Emma whispered, placing a gentle kiss on Shae's neck. "Oh, I love you, Shae."
"I love you too." Shae whispered back.
Emma smiled up into Shae's piercing blue eyes, placing her hands on either side of her face as she kissed her. They both suddenly froze, staring wide eyed at each other as they heard the sound of the bathroom door creaking open.
"Henry?" Emma called out.
"Yeah?" Came Henry's voice, still slightly groggy.
"What, uh… Whatcha' doin'?"
"Brushing my teeth."
"Now?"
"Well, yeah!" Henry replied obviously. "I'm not going to school with morning breath. Gross!"
Shae stifled a laugh, and Emma chuckled, shaking her head slowly. They waited patiently as they listened to the sounds of water running in the sink, and vigorous brushing. They then heard the sound of Henry spitting, and the tap turned off.
"Morning, Shae!" Henry said chipperly.
Both Shae and Emma's eyes grew wide again. "Uh… M-Morning, Henry." Shae replied hesitantly.
They both burst into laughter as they heard the door swinging shut, and Emma buried her face in her hands, resting her forehead against Shae's chest. Once they had finished their shower, Shae and Emma both returned to their bedroom, where they both began getting dressed for the day. Shae donned her usual frayed blue jeans, a Metallica band t-shirt, and a plaid flannel top, her favorite pair of red Chuck Taylor's sitting next to her feet.
"So did that weirdo from the other day ever end up coming back?" Shae asked of Emma as she sat on the edge of their bed, pulling on her socks.
"You mean that guy who said he was an 'old friend' and tried to kiss me?" Emma asked from inside the walk-in closet. "No, I think I scared him off after I kicked him in the nards."
Shae chuckled. "Well, if he ever comes back let me know. I wanna give him a nice fat knuckle sandwich for good measure."
Emma raised an eyebrow at her as she stepped out of the closet, only half dressed in jeans and a black, lacy bra. "Shae, the last time you gave someone a knuckle sandwich, he sued you. Or do you not remember the whole two months we spent in court?"
"Oh, I remember." Shae said with another chuckle. She then got up from the bed and stepped up to the woman she loved, placing her hands on her hips. "But for you, I'd get sued a billion more times."
Emma smiled, wrapping her arms around Shae's neck as she kissed her. "Yeah, I don't really think you can afford that on a bartender's salary."
When her, Emma, and Henry all moved to New York about a year ago, Shae had landed a job as a bartender at a local gay bar called Eclipse, owned by a gay man named Terry Richards, and managed by his long time friend, Rosa Marcos. Rosa, who herself identified as bisexual, immediately took a liking to Shae, but was disappointed when she found out Shae was with Emma. Regardless, Shae was offered the job, and Terry and Rosa were both highly impressed with the business she brought in. Along with tending the bar, Shae also performed on stage with her acoustic guitar on the open mic nights the bar hosted. Much to Emma's dismay, the queer women of New York positively swooned over her girlfriend, but Shae reminded her lover time and again that she only had eyes for her.
"What is with you today?" Emma asked, grinning as Shae began kissing at her neck, gently squeezing her firm buttocks. "I mean, you're normally pretty insatiable, but damn!"
Shae laughed, placing a light kiss on her lips. "I dunno. You're just extra gorgeous today."
Emma raised an eyebrow at her curiously. "I didn't do anything different."
Shae shrugged, smiling into Emma's hazel green eyes. "Eh, you didn't have to."
Emma smiled back, her cheeks flushing, her heart fluttering in her chest as she gazed up into the brilliant blue eyes of the woman she loved. She grabbed the front of Shae's flannel shirt, pulling her in close for another kiss.
"So, are you excited for tonight?" Shae asked, wrapping her arms around Emma's waist.
"Yeah, actually, I am." Emma replied, gently running her fingers through Shae's messy black hair. "I never went to my high school prom, it was too lame for me. But… I dunno. I think this one will be fun, with you and Henry there."
In collaboration with a few of the other local gay bars and organizations, Eclipse was hosting what they announced as "Queer Prom" at the local community center. It was to be an all ages party, inclusive to all members of the community who wished to attend. They had a DJ lined up, a photographer, a decent sized bar for the adults, plenty of punch, soda, and snacks for the kids, and they even purchased a plastic crown and tiara for the winners of the Prom Drag King and Queen. A special live performance by Shae Cormac was advertised on the fliers, which caused quite a stir amongst the women of New York's LGBT community. They were expecting a pretty large turnout, and the regulars at Eclipse had been all abuzz over the event for weeks.
"Good, cuz you'll definitely be seeing some of my famous moves." Shae said with a quirky grin. "I do a pretty mean sprinkler. Check it out."
Emma giggled as Shae began doing the sprinkler in the middle of their bedroom. She threw her arms around Shae's neck, stopping her awkward and goofy dancing with another kiss. She sighed contentedly, her heart full with the blissful happiness of her life with her son and loving girlfriend. She couldn't remember a time when she had ever been happier.
After they finished getting dressed, Emma, Shae, and Henry shared a hasty family breakfast of cereal and milk. As Emma finished getting ready for her job at the bail bonds office, Shae packed Henry his lunch.
"You're gonna be late." Emma chided Shae. "You know how Terry gets when you're late."
Shae rolled her eyes. "I know, I know… Such a drama queen. Come on, Henry. I'll walk you to the bus stop."
Shae gave Emma a quick kiss goodbye and, just as she promised, walked side by side with Henry to the bus stop just down the block from their apartment. Henry sat on the bus bench with his backpack beside him, and waved at his mother as she got into her tiny yellow bug. He watched as she drove away, and vacated the bench as soon as the yellow bug turned the corner.
"She's gone!" Henry called out.
Shae poked her head out from around the corner of a nearby building, grinning at Henry. "Operation Soaring Falcon is a go!" Henry said excitedly.
"Dope." Shae said, giving Henry a high five as he ran up to her. "Come on, let's hit it. We're gonna have to stop and get coffee for Terry and Rosa first."
Shae and Henry made their way to the subway station, where they hopped on a train going downtown. Henry liked riding the subway, and he grinned excitedly up at Shae as they sat side by side. Shae grinned back at him, gently ruffling his hair. They made a quick pit stop at a local coffee shop, then headed toward the community center. Shae had promised her bosses that she would help them with setting up the decorations for the prom, and Shae, unbeknownst to Emma, had pulled Henry out of school to help. Henry was excited about their super secret mission, and he and Shae had come up with the code name, 'Operation Soaring Falcon.'
"You remembered to call my school, right?" Henry asked Shae as they walked up the sidewalk toward the community center.
"Yeah, of course! Told them you were super sick and kept pooping your pants." Shae replied with another grin.
"What?" Henry exclaimed, looking horrified. "You didn't really tell them that, did you?"
Shae chuckled, shaking her head slowly. "Nah, I just told them you had the flu." She replied reassuringly. "Come on, do you really think I'd embarrass you like that?"
Henry shrugged. "Well, you are kind of embarrassing sometimes."
Shae gasped, placing her hand over her heart in mock shock. "I am not!"
"You are too!"
"Am not!"
"Are too!"
When Shae and Henry finally entered the community center, they found a small group of people already busy hanging decorations and setting up tables. They found Terry and Rosa over by the stage, blowing up rainbow colored balloons.
"You're late." Terry said, raising an eyebrow at Shae irritably.
"I know, I know, I'm sorry." Shae said apologetically. "But, I brought you guys 'Sorry we're late' coffees."
"Dope." Rosa said, grinning as Shae set the carrier of drinks she was holding onto the stage.
"One grande peppermint mocha with soy for Terry." Shae announced, handing Terry his coffee.
"No whip?" Terry said, pointing a finger at Shae.
"No whip." Shae confirmed with a knowing nod. "And one small coffee for Rosa, as black as your soul, as you so often say."
"Damn straight." Rosa replied with a sharp nod, taking her cup from Shae.
Shae smiled, handing a cup to Henry as well. "And one hot chocolate with cinnamon for my main man Henry."
They all tapped their cups together, and sipped the hot beverages carefully. Shae smiled fondly as she looked upon her bosses, who had quickly become two very good friends to Shae and Emma, and even Henry too. Terry was a tall, bald, stockily built black man with an over the top, dramatic personality, always dressed to the nines in something from either Gucci or Prada. Rosa and Shae often quoted the movie Mean Girls, poking fun at Terry and saying that he was too gay to function. Rosa was a short, thin, latina woman with a bushy, wild mane of black hair, just as dark as Shae's. She had a sharp and gruff personality, but deep down she was a total sweetheart, but very few people actually knew that.
"Mmm… Girl, I forgive you so much." Terry said gratefully as he sipped his latte.
"Thanks for letting me help set up for the prom." Henry said, smiling at Terry and Rosa.
"No problem, little man." Rosa said with a grin, giving Henry's shoulder a gentle punch. "We'll need your help with the balloon arch. You know Terry can't tie these balloons to it with those sausage fingers."
"Excuse me, miss sasquatch feet?" Terry exclaimed sassily.
"Hey!" Rosa snapped, pointing an accusing finger at Terry. "My feet are only slightly larger than average!"
"Mm-hmm…" Terry replied with a dramatic eye roll. He then looked down at Henry, and his brow furrowed when he noticed that the boy was dressed in his school uniform, his backpack slung over his shoulder. "Shouldn't you be in school?"
"Shae's letting me play hookie today." Henry announced, smiling excitedly up at Shae.
Shae grinned sheepishly as her bosses both raised an eyebrow at her. "Does Emma know that?" Terry asked, folding his arms over his chest.
Shae exchanged a nervous glance with Henry, who shrugged at her. "Um… Well, not exactly."
Terry gave another dramatic eye roll, and Rosa only chuckled. "That's so cool." She said in admiration. "I wish my mom's girlfriend would have let me ditch school."
"I didn't know your mom was gay." Shae said in surprise.
"She's not." Rosa replied, then gasped. "Maybe I wish my mom was gay!"
"Girl, if your mom was gay you wouldn't be here." Terry said with a flippant wave of his hand.
"Hey, where's Anthony?" Shae suddenly asked, searching the small group of people gathered inside the community center.
Terry snorted, rolling his eyes once again. "You know that bitch ain't coming."
"Nah, he'll show up, just at the last minute." Rosa said with a small chuckle. "He'll do like one thing to help, then complain about how hard he worked for like a month."
Anthony was the other bar tender that Rosa and Terry had hired. After the influx of sales they gained after hiring Shae, they both thought it would be a good idea to bring in a handsome gay man to draw in more male customers. Anthony was also a black man, tall and exceptionally muscular, with a jawline chiseled by the gods themselves. However, where he excelled in looks, he was lacking in general work ethic and punctuality.
Shae left Henry with Rosa to help her set up the rainbow balloon arch, and Shae and Terry worked on hanging the rainbow streamers. Much to Shae's dismay, Terry refused to get on the ladder, so Shae stood shakily on the top step, taping the streamers to the wall, Terry holding on to the ladder below her.
"Bro! Will you actually hold the damn ladder, please?" Shae said irritably when she noticed Terry staring down at his phone, his other hand resting lazily on the side of the ladder. "You know I don't like heights!"
Terry rolled his eyes again, stowing his phone in his pocket, placing his other hand on the ladder. "Who would have thought someone so tough as nails as you would be afraid of heights?"
"Hey, I never once claimed to be tough as nails." Shae replied defensively. "You know I love romantic comedies. Pretty Woman? Fucking. Amazing."
"Girl, don't I know it!" Terry heartily agreed. "Speaking of romance… You got anything special planned for your girl tonight?"
Shae shrugged as she reached up, placing another piece of tape on the wall. "Uh, yeah actually. I'm gonna propose tonight."
"SAY WHAT?"
Shae grabbed on to the wall as the ladder shook dangerously from Terry's sudden outburst. She glanced behind her, raising an eyebrow at Terry, whose eyes were wide as saucers.
"Oh my god, oh my god, OH MY GOD!" He exclaimed.
"Dude! Why are you freaking out right now?" Shae asked after she carefully climbed down from the ladder.
"Girl, you can't just drop a bomb like that on me!" Terry shouted, frantically waving his hands in the air. "Oh lord… Oh lord, this is all wrong! Why do we have so many balloons? Shae… Shae, there's too many balloons. TOO MANY BALLOONS!"
"Bitch, calm down!" Shae exclaimed, grabbing Terry's hands and shoving them back down to his sides. "There's a perfectly acceptable amount of balloons! It's all good, I've got it all planned out."
"What? What are you gonna do?" Terry asked, squeezing both of Shae's hands and jumping up and down excitedly. "Tellmetellmetellmetellme!"
"Alright, alright! Jesus!" Shae replied, shaking her head in amusement. "Here's what I'm gonna do. I've got a special song that I learned just for tonight, and I'm gonna play it at the end of my set. Then, you know, I'm just gonna… Get down on one knee and… Hope she says 'yes.'"
Terry drew in a deep, dramatic gasp, gripping Shae tightly by the arms. "Oh, girl, that is the most romantic damn thing I've ever heard!" He exclaimed. "What does Henry think?"
Shae raised an eyebrow at him again. "Uh… Henry doesn't know yet."
"SAY WHAT?"
"Dude, you've got to stop yelling."
"You didn't tell Henry?" Terry asked, looking horrified. "You didn't ask him if it was ok?"
"Er… No. Should I have?"
"YES!" Terry shouted again. "Dammit, Shae, he's her damn son! What if he doesn't want you to marry her?"
Shae's mouth gaped open in shock. "Uh… I… I didn't think about that. I mean… Why wouldn't he?"
"I don't know!" Terry exclaimed, throwing his hands up in despair. "Maybe he don't like you that much. Maybe he thinks your haircuts stupid or something."
Shae frowned at him. "You think my haircuts stupid?"
"Girl, have you even tried brushing it?"
"Shit, Terry, I think you're right." Shae muttered, her bright blue eyes wide with shock. "Not about the hair, about Henry. I gotta tell him."
"Damn right, you do! Go on!"
Terry shooed Shae off, and she hurried over to Henry, who was still tying balloons to the arch around the doors of the community center with Rosa.
"Hey, Henry, I need to talk to you for a second." Shae said nervously.
She led Henry down the nearby hallway toward the bathrooms, and stopped when they rounded the corner, out of sight of everyone else where they could talk quietly.
"What's up?" Henry asked, eyeing Shae curiously.
"Um… W-Well, there's uh… There's something I need to tell you." Shae stammered anxiously. "Um… Listen… Y-You know I love your mom, right?"
"Uh… Yeah, of course." Henry replied slowly, his brow furrowed with confusion over the nervousness of Shae's tone. "Shae, is everything ok?"
"Yeah! Yeah, actually… Everything's great." Shae replied with a smile. She then knelt down in front of him, taking both his hands in her's. "Henry, I uh… I was gonna ask your mom to marry me tonight. I-If it's ok with you, obviously."
Henry's jaw dropped open in shock, and Shae waited anxiously for his answer. Slowly, a wide, joyous smile spread across the boy's face, and his eyes shined bright with excitement.
"Of course it's ok!" Henry exclaimed, throwing his arms around Shae's neck. "T-That's so awesome!"
Shae breathed out a relieved sigh, laughing as she hugged him tight. "C-Can I be the best man?" Henry asked her excitedly.
Shae laughed again, nodding at him. "Of course you can, kid."
"Awesome!" Henry exclaimed again. "So when's the wedding? Should I write a speech? Oh my god! I-I'm gonna need to get a tux, right?"
"Slow your roll, kid!" Shae told him with a another laugh, shaking her head slowly. "She hasn't even said 'yes' yet!"
"Well, she will!"
"You think so?"
"Duh!" Cried Henry. "She loves you! Of course she'll say 'yes!'"
Shae laughed again, nodding her head. She then cleared her throat and took Henry's hands again, staring very seriously into the boy's eyes.
"Now, listen, Henry there's… There's something you need to know." Shae said slowly. "That kid at school that was picking on you and calling you names because of… Of your mom and me, there's… A lot more people like him out in the world. And if me and your mom get married it… It might get worse, ok? I just… I want you to be ready for that."
Henry shrugged unconcernedly. "That's ok."
Shae breathed out a surprised laugh. "Really?"
Henry smiled as he nodded. "People like that are dumb anyways." He said with another shrug. "You make my mom really happy, and you make me happy too. That's all that matters."
Shae shook her head in utter disbelief at the young boy's resolute wisdom. She laughed, smiling broadly as Henry hugged her again.
"I… I love you, Shae." Henry told her quietly, hugging her tighter.
Shae gasped, and she swallowed the hard lump that had suddenly formed in her throat, her eyes instantly welling with tears. This was the first time Henry had ever said that to her. When Shae first found out that Emma had a son, she was hesitant to pursue a relationship with her. She had never spent much time around children, and she wasn't sure if she wanted to take on the responsibility of being a co-parent. But, all that changed the moment she met Henry. Emma's son was kind, funny, and uncommonly smart. He and Shae had an instant bond, and spent a lot of time together playing video games and watching cartoons. Emma often joked that her girlfriend was secretly a child herself, which was why she and Henry got along so well.
"Oh, Henry… I… I love you too, buddy." Shae whispered as she held him tight, grateful tears spilling down her cheeks.
Henry pulled away from their embrace when he heard Shae sniffling. "A-Are you crying?"
"What? No! Shut up! You're crying!" Shae exclaimed, hastily wiping the tears from her face.
Henry laughed, and Shae laughed with him. "I'm just, uh… Really happy, Henry."
"Me too." Henry replied with a smile. "Hey! D-Do you have the ring? Can I see it?"
Shae nodded, and stood up again, removing a small, black jewelry box from her pocket. She paused before opening the box. She chuckled, rolling her eyes exasperatedly.
"I can hear you guys breathing back there!" She called over her shoulder. "Just come see, already!"
Terry and Rosa poked their heads out from around the corner, smiling excitedly. They rushed over to Shae and Henry, and they both gasped when Shae opened the ring box. Sitting inside, was a thick, silver banded ring engraved with crescent moons on either side. The stone was round, smooth, and jet black, small particles sparkling from inside it, like stars in the night sky.
"Awesome!" Henry breathed, his eyes wide with wonder.
"Dope." Rosa said in agreement.
"It's not a diamond, so I know it's not exactly traditional." Shae told them with a small shrug. "But me and Emma have never really been a traditional couple, so…"
"Oh, honey, it's perfect." Terry said earnestly, placing his arm around Shae's shoulders. "Emma is going to love, love, LOVE it!"
They all laughed as Terry snapped his fingers sassily with each of his words. "Seriously, dude, it's pretty damn awesome." Rosa told Shae with a grin. "Where did you get it?"
Shae opened her mouth to respond, but shut it again, her brow furrowed as she stared down at the ring sitting in its box. As she tried to recall where exactly she had gotten the ring, she realized that she just… Couldn't, which she found very strange.
"I uh… I don't know." Shae replied with another shrug. "I don't really remember. I've kinda just always… Had it, I guess."
They all shrugged it off unconcernedly, and returned to work. Henry gave Shae one last tight hug before he returned to the balloon arch with Rosa, and Shae smiled as she hugged him back, her heart lighter than ever before. After spending her entire childhood getting tossed around from foster home to foster home, she was immensely excited to finally have a family of her own. She truly could never remember a time when she had been happier.
Shae was grateful to be done atop the ladder once she and Terry finally finished hanging the streamers. They were now busy putting together the place settings for the tables. They glanced up suddenly as Rosa began cackling loudly over something Henry had said to her.
"You know, that is one special kid you've got there." Terry told Shae, smiling fondly over at Henry. "You and Emma did good by him."
"Eh, I didn't really do anything." Shae replied with a shrug. "He gets it all from Emma."
"I dunno, he's gotten an awful lot from you too." Terry said with a knowing smile. "He really looks up to you, you know."
"Hey, Shae! Check it out!"
Shae turned around and found the balloon arch finally finished, Rosa and Henry both standing back and admiring their handywork.
"Pretty dope, right?" Henry asked Shae with a grin.
"Super dope!" Shae replied excitedly.
When Shae turned back to the table, she found Terry staring at her, eyebrow raised. She laughed, throwing up her hands in surrender. "Alright, alright. Maybe he has picked up some stuff from me."
Shae suddenly felt her cell phone buzz in her pocket, and she pulled it out, smiling as she saw she had received a text from 'Swan Song.' Stakeout is boring, I miss your face. Wanna do lunch? The text read.
"Yo, you guys cool if I go grab lunch with Emma?" Shae asked of Terry.
Terry sighed, rolling his eyes dramatically once again. "First you show up late and now you wanna leave for lunch?" He asked, raising another eyebrow at Shae. "Ugh… You're just lucky I'm a sucker for true love."
"'True love?'" Shae asked with a snort. "Come on, you don't really believe that bullshit exists, do you?"
"I dunno, girl. You and Emma sure seem to have something special."
"Yeah, we sure do." Shae muttered in agreement, smiling down at the picture of her, Emma, and Henry that served as the background image of her phone. "If true love really does exist, then I guess I've finally found mine."
XX
"Where the hell is she?"
Emma glanced down at her phone, frowning as Shae continued to be more and more late. She and Henry had been ready for almost an hour already, and Emma was beginning to grow a bit irritated. She had never really been one for dressing up, but she made a special exception for tonight. She chose a red, knee length dress, with red heels and lipstick to match, her long blond hair styled in loose, wavy curls. Henry was dressed in a black button up, black pants, and a red tie to match his mother's dress.
Emma jumped slightly when her phone suddenly chimed in her hand. She opened the text from Shae, which said: Come outside. I have a surprise.
Emma and her son hurried from their tiny apartment, and made their way downstairs. When they finally stepped outside, they both gasped when the found a black limousine waiting on the street outside of their apartment building. Shae was grinning at them, her torso poking out of the limo's sunroof.
"Get in, losers! We're going to prom!"
"AWESOME!" Henry exclaimed excitedly.
Emma laughed as Shae ducked back down, and clambered out of the limo to greet her girlfriend. Shae was also dressed in a black shirt and pants, her red tie the same color as Henry's, and once again sporting her red Chuck Taylor's. She wrapped Emma in a tight hug, placing a gentle kiss on her cheek.
"Wow…" Shae breathed in wonder as she observed Emma's outfit. "You look… Beautiful."
Emma smiled, her cheeks flushing just as bright as her red dress. Shae planted a light kiss on her lips, and they both laughed when Henry rolled his eyes at them.
"Shae… This is… Amazing." Emma said, glancing over at the waiting limousine with wide eyes. "But… How did you even afford this?"
"You know I make hella tips on ladies night." Shae replied with a grin. "Come on, let's get in. We're already late."
Henry smiled excitedly up at his mother, and climbed into the limo after Shae. As the driver took them to the community center, Shae popped open a bottle of champagne, and poured two glasses for herself and Emma, and a glass of sparkling cider for Henry. Emma and Shae laughed as Henry stuck his head out of the sun roof, throwing his arms up and bellowing excitedly into the night air.
When they arrived at the community center, they found the 'Queer Prom' already in full swing. The building was packed with people, all dressed up in various kinds of dresses, gowns, suits and ties. Mostly everyone was gathered on the dance floor, but others were milling about elsewhere, drinking and chatting, and a number of children were chasing each other about.
"Welcome to Queer Prom, y'all!" Terry exclaimed when they found him and Rosa standing by the bar.
"You guys, this place looks amazing!" Emma said as Terry and Rosa both greeted her with a warm hug. "You look amazing!"
Terry had come to the prom as his drag persona, Tayanna Sinclaire. He was garbed in a long, flowing, black sequin dress, with glittering black pumps to match, causing him to tower over everyone even more so than he already did. His makeup was done up to perfection, and he had donned a long, bright blonde wig. Rosa, however, was dressed much more simply than her long time friend. She wore a simple, dark blue dress that fell past her knees, her mane of black hair as big and wild as ever.
"Honey, ain't nobody surprised by that." Terry replied, flipping back the long blond hair of his wig.
"You guys look fly as hell." Rosa said, grinning at the three of them. "Love the matching ties."
"Twinsies!" Shae exclaimed, giving Henry a high five.
Emma took her son over to the snack table to get him some punch, leaving Shae with her bosses. "So, you nervous?" Rosa asked her.
Shae shrugged. "Uh… Yeah a little, I guess."
"Don't you worry, she's gonna say 'yes.'" Terry said, waving his hand unconcernedly. "And if she don't, then she's a damn fool anyway."
Shae laughed, and Rosa gave her friend an impressive eye roll. Henry spotted some kids from his school, and he disappeared to join them. Emma was a bit reluctant to join her girlfriend on the dance floor, but eventually relented. She was immensely relieved when, after playing several top pop hits, the DJ switched to Faithfully by Journey. Everyone gathered on the dance floor found their partners, and they even spotted Henry nearby, slow dancing with a young girl in a purple dress. Shae laughed, giving him a thumbs up as he smiled nervously at her.
"You having a good time?" Shae asked Emma as they danced in a slow, swaying circle.
Emma nodded, smiling up into Shae's bright blue eyes. Shae smiled back, and leaned in, placing a slow, tender kiss on Emma's lips. Emma sighed, gently running her fingers through the hair on the back of Shae's head. When Faithfully was over, the DJ cut the music, and Terry, aka Tayanna Sinclaire, took the stage.
"Ladies and gentlemen, especially ladies…" Terry said into the microphone, giving the crowd a wink. "It is now time for a very special live performance by Eclipse's very own, SHAE. CORMAC."
The crowd cheered and applauded as Shae stepped up onto the stage, and Emma was jostled about as she was surrounded by various women pushing their way to the front of the dance floor. Henry rejoined his mother, accompanied by the girl that he had been dancing with.
"That's my mom's girlfriend." Henry told her proudly. "She's really awesome."
Henry and his friend both smiled excitedly up at Emma, and she laughed, gently ruffling her son's hair. "So… Are you excited?" Henry asked her.
Emma furrowed her brow at her son. "For what?"
Henry's eyes suddenly grew wide as saucers. "Uh… Er… Nothing! N-Nevermind."
Emma continued to stare curiously down at her son, but shrugged it off, turning her attention back to the stage as Shae began to play her acoustic guitar. Emma had bought it for her shortly after they had moved to New York. During the move, Shae's old guitar, which she had fondly named Bianca, had somehow just disappeared. Emma knew how much Shae missed playing, and she was overjoyed when Emma gave her the new guitar. Emma had been anxious, since the guitar she had purchased was not anywhere near the quality of Bianca, but Shae insisted that she absolutely loved it.
The crowd danced and swayed to Shae's music, and burst into raucous applause every time she finished a song. Emma's heart fluttered in her chest as she listened to her girlfriend's singing. She loved the sound of Shae's voice, and the way she so skillfully strummed her guitar. Emma often said that she had immediately fallen in love with Shae the first time she had ever heard her sing.
"Thank you! Thank you so much, everyone." Shae said into the microphone after the cheers and applause had subsided. "I have one more song to play for you guys tonight."
She stepped away from the mic, and removed the strap of her guitar from around her neck. She set the guitar down behind the DJ's table, and when she stepped back up to the mic, she was holding a ukulele. Henry suddenly grabbed on to Emma's hand, and began pushing through the crowd, dragging his mother to the front of the dance floor. Terry and Rosa pushed their way to the front as well, and Emma stared curiously at all of them as they grinned excitedly at her.
"This is a very special song, for a very special lady here with me tonight." Shae said into the mic once again, smiling out at the crowd. "Some of you probably know it, so please sing along."
Emma felt her face flush a deep red as Shae turned her eyes onto her. "Emma Swan, this song is for you."
As Shae began strumming out a few chords on her ukulele, Emma felt her eyes welling with tears once she realized what song it was. Shae had played it for her once before, the first time she had told Emma she loved her. She smiled, wrapping an arm around Henry's shoulders as Shae began to sing.
"Wise men say,
Only fools rush in.
But I can't help falling in love with you.
Shall I stay?
Would it be a sin,
If I can't help falling in love with you?
Like a river flows surely to the sea.
Darling, so it goes,
Some things were meant to be.
Take my hand, take my whole life, too."
Emma smiled as Terry wrapped his arm around her shoulders, his other around Rosa's, and they all slowly swayed in a line, singing boisterously with Shae. "Cause I can't help falling in love with you!"
Shae smiled down at Emma as she sang, more and more members of the crowd singing with her, their arms around their loved ones.
"Like a river flows surely to the sea.
Darling, so it goes,
Some things were meant to be.
Take my hand, take my whole life, too
Cause I can't help falling in love with you."
Shae paused the song for dramatic effect, strumming her ukulele slowly, the entire crowd singing the last line of the song with her.
"Cause I can't help falling in love with you!"
As the crowd clapped and cheered, Shae set her ukulele down at her feet, and lightly leapt down from the stage. Terry and Henry both gave Emma a gentle shove forward, and she whirled around to question them. She stopped when she felt a hand in her's, and turned back around to find Shae standing in front of her. A sudden hush fell over the crowd as Shae took both of Emma's hands in her own.
"Emma, I love you." Shae told her quietly, smiling into her eyes. "And I love Henry. The two of you are… My whole world. I want us to be a family."
Shae released Emma's hands, and Emma gasped, placing her hand over her mouth as Shae dropped down on one knee before her. Her eyes welled with more tears, and her heart began to race as Shae reached into her pocket, removing a small, square jewelry box. She opened the box, and took Emma's hand, smiling up at her.
"Emma Swan. Will you marry me?"
Tears rushed down Emma's face, and she nodded. "Yes… Yes!"
The crowd erupted in applause, and Shae stood up, removing her ring from its box and slipping it onto Emma's finger. Emma's head was spinning as Shae pulled her into her arms, and she wrapped her arms around Shae's neck, holding her tight as she kissed her deeply. Tears of joy leaked out of both Emma and Shae's eyes, and they were both suddenly lost from each other's sight as they were bombarded with congratulatory hugs and handshakes. Henry hugged them both excitedly, his own eyes shining with tears. They received hugs from both Rosa and Terry as well, and they all laughed as Terry frantically fought back his own tears, not wanting to ruin his flawless makeup.
The rest of the night was a blur for the newly engaged couple. They were both given several drinks in celebration of their engagement, and Emma was suddenly immensely grateful that Shae had rented the limo. She smiled fondly as she watched Shae carrying Henry up the steps to their apartment. He had spent most of the night on the dancefloor with his friends, and had almost immediately fallen asleep on the drive home. Once Shae had carefully placed Henry in his bed, she joined her now fiancee in their bedroom, where Emma was sitting on the edge of the bed, removing her heels from her aching feet. She stood up when her fiancee entered the room, and she threw her arms around her, starting on the buttons of Shae's shirt as she kissed her.
After several rounds of vigorous love making, Shae and Emma lie in each other's arms, Emma's head resting on Shae's chest. They laid there in silence for a while, both of them feeling lighter and happier than they ever could remember. Just like Shae, Emma had spent her entire childhood in foster care, without of family of her own. Now, she finally had one. It may not have been a traditional sort of family, but it was her's, and she loved it. She loved her son, and she loved Shae. She was blissfully excited to start this new chapter in all their lives.
"Who's going to take whose last name?" Emma suddenly asked, tilting her head up to look into her fiancee's eyes.
Shae's brow furrowed, and she gently ran her fingers up and down Emma's bare back as she pondered. "Um… I dunno. I haven't really thought about it."
"You can take mine if you want." Emma replied with a shrug.
"Shae Swan." Shae muttered, testing out the name. "I dunno. Kinda sounds like something off of a Chinese take out menu."
"Shae Swan, Shae Swan…" Emma muttered as well, then grimaced. "Yeah… Yeah, I hear it."
"What about Emma Cormac? That's not bad."
Emma smiled as she shrugged, propping herself up on her elbow and placing a gentle kiss on her lover's lips. "We could come up with our own last name." Shae offered. "What about… Emma and Shae Skywalker?"
Emma gasped excitedly. "Yeah! Or, how about… Emma and Shae Solo?"
"Dope! I love it." Shae replied with a grin.
Emma laughed, placing another kiss on her fiancee's lips. Shae sighed, wrapping her arms around Emma as they slowly and gently enjoyed each other's lips. Emma pulled away slightly, and tenderly caressed Shae's cheek, gazing into her brilliant blue eyes.
"Shae, I… I'm just… I'm so happy." Emma whispered, her eyes welling with tears once again.
Shae nodded, smiling back at her. "Me too."
They kissed again, wrapping their arms around each other, holding each other tight. After another round of passionate love making, they both fell asleep in each other's arms. Shae wasn't plagued by her recurring nightmare that night. She slept peacefully all through the night, holding the woman she loved in her arms, completely unaware that the very next day, her and Emma's world would be turned completely upside down.
XX
Emma walked Henry down to the bus stop the next morning, and got into her yellow bug, leaving Shae in the apartment alone. Shae had assumed that Emma was going to work, but, unbeknownst to her new fiancee, Emma was on her way to a different apartment downtown. Emma had lied to Shae about the strange man that had showed up on their doorstep and tried to kiss her. She had seen him again, and he once again babbled on about some town in Maine called Storybrooke, and that her parents were there, and were apparently in danger. When she failed to believe him, told him that he was crazy, the strange man gave her a slip of paper with an address on it. Emma couldn't quite shake the feeling that something was off, so she decided to investigate. What she found shocked her to her core.
The address was for a tiny apartment downtown, an apartment that happened to belong to Neal Cassidy, Henry's Father. Emma hadn't seen Neal in years, and Henry had never even met him. But, somehow, Neal had a camera in his apartment with Henry's name embroidered on the strap. Emma was floored, and her head spun wildly, her heart racing. How was that possible? When she left the apartment and had the photos on the camera developed at the local drug store, she grew even more shocked. There were pictures of her, Henry, and Neal, and other people that Emma didn't recognize, all in a town called Storybrooke.
Emma got back into her yellow bug, and drove hastily down to the county police station. She had turned the strange man in to the police the day before when he once again found her. Her heart raced as she stood outside the police station, waiting for the stranger to be released. Fear bubbled in her stomach. What the hell was going on? Why couldn't she remember anything from the pictures? Was the strange man really telling the truth?
As soon as the stranger stepped out of the doors of the police station, Emma bombarded him with questions. She demanded to know just what the hell was going on, insisted that he had photoshopped the pictures on Henry's camera. He remained persistent as ever, once again going on about her parents, about a life that she had lost, a life that she couldn't remember.
"This again?" Emma asked irritably as the man held out a small, blue vial to her.
"Trust me, Swan, if you drink this, everything will make sense." He insisted. "I know you can tell somethings wrong. Deep down, you know I'm right."
Emma shook her head vigorously, rubbing her aching forehead. "I-If what you're saying is true, then I'd have to give up my life here."
"Swan, this life, your life, it's all based on lies!" The strange man cried in a desperate tone.
"No, it's real!" Emma shouted back. "And it's pretty damn good! I have Henry, a-and a woman that I love, a fiancee!"
The stranger raised an eyebrow at her. "You mean the vampire?"
"The what?"
"Shae, I mean. She's your fiancee?" The man asked, and when Emma nodded slowly, he went on. "I see. Well, perhaps there's someone else that you love in the life you've lost, and someone else that she loves too, her true love."
"True love?" Emma asked heatedly. "What the hell are you talking about, man?"
The man sighed exasperatedly, once again holding up the blue vial. "Look, if you want the truth, then drink this." He said, staring very seriously into her eyes. "Do you really want to live a life of lies? You know all this isn't right. Trust your gut, Swan. It'll tell you what to do."
Emma drew back a step, eyeing the strange man warily. "Shae always says that."
The man nodded at her. "Right, then if you won't listen to me, listen to her."
Emma bit her lip, staring down at the ground as she thought, her head spinning wildly. He was right, she did have a sinking feeling that something was definitely wrong. She sighed, giving the stranger a nod. He nodded back, and Emma took the blue vial from his hand. She uncorked it, took a deep, steadying breath, and took a sip of the liquid inside.
She gasped, all her memories from her previous life, her real life, rushing back to her with that one sip. Memories of things that had happened to her flashed before her eyes. Henry showing up in Boston, going to Storybrooke, meeting Regina, breaking the curse. The first time Shae showed up in Storybrooke flashed before her, as did her first encounter with Regina in the cemetery, finding the box with her name on it in Regina's vault, and finding it empty. Tears leaked from her eyes as she remembered Neal, telling him that she loved him as he fell through the portal, finding him in Neverland, only to lose him again to Pan's curse. Emma remembered Shae drinking the potion that made her human, dragging her away as she screamed for Regina. She remembered Regina raising her arms toward the rolling green clouds of Pan's curse, casting the spell that would wipe Storybrooke from existence.
Suddenly, the flashes of memories stopped, and her vision cleared. She stared down at the sidewalk for a moment, her chest heaving, her heart racing. She then turned her wide eyes onto the man standing before her, whom she now recognized.
"Hook."
XX
Shae whistled an upbeat tune as she walked down the street toward her and Emma's apartment, a paper bag with a bottle of wine inside it tucked under her arm. Terry and Rosa had given Shae the night off in celebration of her engagement, and Henry had arranged to spend the night at a friend's house. While Emma was at work, Shae had spent her day cleaning up the apartment, preparing for a romantic evening with her fiancee. She grinned. 'Fiancee.' She was still getting used to the word.
When she stepped into the apartment, she immediately froze when she found her fiancee sitting at the kitchen table with a strange looking man. He had dark brown hair, and a layer of equally dark brown stubble on his cheeks. He was dressed very strangely in a long, black leather coat, reminiscent of the kind some sort of pirate would have worn. He wore a black leather glove on one of his hands, which didn't actually appear to be real.
"Uh… Hey." She said, giving Emma a nervous smile. "Who's this?"
"Killian Jones." The man at the table answered with a grin. "Old friend."
Shae was about to question him more, but stopped when Emma got up from the table and hurried over to her. The look on her face made Shae extremely anxious.
"Shae, right now, I need you to trust me, ok?" Emma said in a rush. When Shae nodded, she held up a small, blue vial, half full with some sort of liquid. "I need you to drink this. There's not much left, but I… I just hope it's enough to work."
"Work? Work on what?" Shae asked, glancing between her fiancee and the man named Killian. "Emma, what's going on?"
"Shae, please." Emma said sternly. "Please just trust me, and drink this."
Shae stared into Emma's hazel green eyes, stared at the serious and slightly panicked look on her face. She then nodded, and took the vial out of Emma's hand. Emma and Killian watched her anxiously as she drained the remaining liquid in the vial. Shae gasped, stumbling backward as her memories rushed back to her, flashing before her eyes.
She remembered everything. She remembered her homeland, becoming a vampire, losing Nadia, thinking that she left Remus behind after she went through the mirror, meeting Regina. Her eyes welled with tears as she remembered Regina, her true love. She remembered returning to Storybrooke, finding Emma there, going with her and Snow White to find her heart. She remembered fighting with Regina in the cemetery, accepting her deal, Regina finally restoring her heart after twenty eight years. She remembered realizing she was still in love with Regina, waking up from the sleeping curse by her kiss, fighting with her once again as she destroyed the bean field, staring down helplessly at her unconscious body after she had been tortured by Greg Mendell. Lastly, she remembered getting down on one knee, putting her ring on Regina's finger, and screaming in horror as Emma dragged her away from her true love.
Suddenly, the visions stopped, and she was once again standing in the dining room of the apartment that her and Emma shared. Emma was still standing in front of her, her hands over her mouth, her eyes shining with tears as she watched Shae's memories returning. Shae finally turned her eyes onto the man still sitting at the table.
"Hook." She whispered, staring wide eyed at the pirate.
Captain Hook grinned at her. "Miss me, love?"
Shae leaned back against the wall, her heart pounding, her head spinning. She ran shaky hands through her hair, once again staring at Emma, her fiancee.
"Holy shit…" She breathed, tears now spilling out of her eyes. "Emma… W-What… What the hell is happening?"
Emma sighed, glancing over at Hook. "Just… Give us a minute, ok?"
Hook nodded, and Emma took Shae by the hand, leading her back out of the apartment. Shae's head was still reeling as she walked with Emma's hand in her's, blood pulsing loudly in her ears. Emma stopped once they had reached the rooftop terrace of their apartment building, and turned back to Shae, whose eyes were still wide as saucers.
"Shae, listen, there's been another curse." Emma told her quietly. "Storybrooke… It's back."
"Back?" Shae asked, running her quivering hands through her hair once again. "S-So… I-Is everyone else-"
"Yeah, they're back too." Emma finished for her. "My parents, Neal, and… Regina."
"Regina…" Shae breathed, her bright blue eyes welling with tears once again. "Shit… Holy shit…"
"What do you remember?" Emma asked suddenly. "A-About us, I mean. Our fake memories."
Shae chewed on her thumbnail as she thought, her head still spinning. Suddenly, her arm fell back down to her side, and her eyes grew wide once again.
"We never broke up." Shae answered in a voice barely above a whisper. "When you told me you were falling in love with me I… I didn't leave, I said I loved you too. We stayed together, a-and… You… You never gave up Henry. We moved to New York a… Year ago. Holy shit… They've all been gone for a year."
Emma nodded slowly. "Yeah, that's what I remember too."
Shae breathed out a shocked laugh. "Regina did say she wanted us to be happy. I just didn't think she meant… You know…"
Emma nodded again, and the two of them fell silent for a while, both their heads spinning with their real memories and their fake ones. They both thought about their life together, and about the ones that they loved back in Storybrooke.
"Shae, I need to ask you a question." Emma suddenly said, glancing back up at Shae with tears in her eyes. "And I… I need you to be completely honest with me."
Shae swallowed the hard lump that had formed in her throat, and when she nodded, Emma went on. "Do you still love Regina?"
Shae nodded again. "Yeah… Yeah I do." She answered quietly. "A-And you? Do you still love Neal?"
Emma nodded too. "Yes."
Shae continued nodding, and began anxiously chewing on her fingernail once again. "I need to ask you another question." Emma said, taking a step closer to Shae. "And please… Please don't lie to me."
"I can't lie to you, Emma." Shae replied with a slight chuckle. "You'll know it if I do."
Emma nodded, and took a deep, steadying breath before she posed her question to Shae, who was now her fiancee. She bit her lip, fighting back tears.
"Do you… Do you still love me too?" Emma finally asked.
When Shae didn't answer, and only stared silently down at the ground, Emma went on, her voice cracking and breaking with emotion. "Because I… I still love you, Shae."
Shae squeezed her eyes shut, and silent tears leaked down her face. When she opened her eyes again, she found Emma's face streaming with tears as well. She breathed out a slow, shaky sigh, and nodded.
"Oh god…" Emma whispered, placing her hands over her mouth as more tears spilled down her cheeks. "Oh god, Shae… W-What… What do we do?"
"I don't know." Shae whispered in reply. "Fuck… Dammit, this is crazy. This is… This is FUCKING CRAZY!"
Shae kicked out at a nearby chair, sending it flying across the rooftop and crashing into the cement wall. Emma placed her hand gently on Shae's arm, but Shae recoiled at her touch, drawing back a step.
"No… N-No, don't." Shae stammered, shaking her head vigorously. "I-It'll just make everything worse…"
"Right, you're right, I-Im sorry." Emma said, taking a step back. She took another steadying breath, her whole body shaking. "We… We have to go back to Storybrooke. We can… Figure the rest out later."
"Such a shame… Just when I was really starting to like you guys."
Emma and Shae both jumped, and whirled around as a man stepped out of the shadows. Shae clenched her fists when she realized that it was Walsh, their next door neighbor. Shae never liked Walsh. The first day that she and Emma had moved into their apartment, Walsh started flirting with Emma, and even asked her out. He had been disappointed when Emma told him about Shae, but otherwise left it alone. Still, the guy gave Shae the creeps. Anytime they were coming and going from the apartment, Walsh just seemed to be… Around. She just couldn't quite shake the feeling that there was something off about him.
"Walsh… W-What are you doing up here?" Emma asked, eyeing the man warily.
"I really wish you guys hadn't drank that potion." Walsh replied in a low, menacing tone.
Both Emma and Shae's eyes grew wide with shock, and they exchanged an anxious glance. "What?" They asked in unison.
"You two just couldn't leave WELL ENOUGH ALONE!" Walsh bellowed, knocking over a chair as he walked slowly toward them.
Shae stepped protectively in front of Emma. "Who the hell are you, Walsh?"
Walsh stopped in his tracks, grinning deviously at them. Emma and Shae gasped as Walsh's pupils suddenly began to glow bright red. Shae reacted quickly, and pulled Emma to the ground, throwing herself on top of her as Walsh rushed at them. He tried to stop himself before he reached the edge of the roof, but it was too late, and he went hurtling over the side. Shae and Emma both scrambled to their feet and leaned over the edge, peering down into the street.
"WOAH!" Shae shouted.
Where Walsh's body should have been, was instead what looked to be some sort of monkey, a monkey that had wings, and it was flying up toward them. They leapt back as the monkey landed on the edge of the roof. He screeched at them, and threw himself upon Emma. Shae acted quickly once again, and she grabbed a lead pipe that was lying on the ground.
"GET DOWN!" She shouted at Emma.
Emma stopped her struggling with the flying monkey, and threw herself to the ground. Shae swung the pipe at the monkey, and there was a hollow sounding thump as the pipe made contact with the back of his head. The monkey stumbled backward, once again falling over the edge of the roof. Emma staggered back to her feet, and rushed over to the edge next to Shae. They both watched as the monkey that was once Walsh landed hard in the street below, his body crumbling into black dust.
They both whirled around again as they heard a bang from behind them, and Shae raised the pipe in the air. She lowered the pipe when she found Hook standing in the rooftop doorway, and they both breathed out a sigh of relief.
"What in the blazes was that?" Hook asked them, his eyes wide with fear.
"Oh, you know, just a flying monkey." Shae replied with a shrug, tossing the pipe to the ground.
"It was more than that." Emma said, shaking her head as tears welled into her eyes. "It was a reminder that we were never safe, Shae. All that we wanted, all that we thought we could have… It's not possible, not for us. Not for the savior."
"Emma…" Shae said slowly, gently taking her by the hand.
"Don't!" Emma shouted, wrenching her hand out of Shae's grip. "It'll just make things worse, remember?"
Shae sighed, and she nodded slowly. She momentarily exchanged a glance with Hook, then followed after Emma, who had stomped back inside. Once back in the apartment, they left the bottle of wine Shae had bought abandoned, instead turning to something stronger to drown their worries in. As they sipped on their whiskey, Hook told Shae everything he had already told Emma. He had been in The Enchanted Forest, aboard The Jolly Roger when he received a note attached to the bottle of memory potion. He had no idea who the note was from, but it warned him that a new curse was coming to take the whole land back to Storybrooke, and that Hook needed to find Emma, to once again return as the savior and break the curse.
After several drinks, Shae and Emma left Hook in the living room to sleep on their couch. Once they had gotten ready for bed, Shae and Emma stood on either side of their bed, staring awkwardly at each other.
"Um… I should just go… Sleep on the couch." Shae stammered. "I'll make Hook sleep on the floor or something."
Shae turned to leave, and Emma rushed around the bed, stopping her by grabbing her arm. "Shae, wait…"
Shae turned back to face Emma, whose eyes were once again shining with tears. She placed her hands on Shae's chest, and Shae watched sadly as tears began to leak out of her eyes. Emma gazed up into Shae's bright blue eyes, eyes that had once been filled with so much love for her, eyes that now showed only pain and confusion. Emma gently cupped Shae's face in her hands, and kissed her full on the lips. Shae hesitated for a moment, but she then sighed, wrapping her arms around Emma's waist and kissing her back. Emma snaked her arms around Shae's neck as their lips parted. They kissed slowly, passionately, and desperately, both of their hearts filled with sorrow and confusion over Neal and Regina, and their love for each other, which was still strong, despite their returned memories.
Emma pulled back from their embrace, staring up into Shae's eyes. "Shae… Does this… Does this feel real to you?" She asked in a whisper, gently caressing her olive toned face. "Because it… It still feels real to me."
Shae squeezed her eyes shut, and more tears leaked down her face. When she nodded silently, Emma choked out a sob, and buried her face in Shae's chest. Shae hesitated for a moment once again, but then she wrapped her arms around Emma, holding her tight as she sobbed into her chest.
"I-It… It's gonna be ok." Shae told her as she gently rubbed her back.
"Is it?" Emma asked, pulling away and staring into Shae's bright blue eyes, her face twisted in sorrow. "I mean… Jesus, Shae… What are we even gonna do? W-What do we tell Henry?"
Shae shook her head, more tears streaming down her face. "I… I don't know." She admitted miserably. "Look, let's just… Try and get some rest, ok? We'll figure it all out in the morning."
Shae turned to the door once again, but Emma held on to her hand. "Shae, wait… Please." She said pleadingly. "There's a reason I gave you the rest of the memory potion and not Henry. I… I can't face all this alone."
Emma's face twisted in misery once again, and she gripped the front of Shae's t-shirt, choking back another sob. "Shae I… I need you."
Shae nodded as Emma began sobbing again, and she carefully helped her into their bed. Shae climbed into bed as well, and laid down next to Emma, pulling her into her arms as she cried softly. Tears streamed from Shae's eyes as she held Emma in her arms. She thought about Regina, and her heart ached with misery. She so badly wanted to see her, wanted to hold her, kiss her, tell her how much she missed her. But, at the same time, she couldn't ignore her feelings for Emma. She was comforted by her smell, her touch, her kiss. She knew Emma was struggling with the same feelings for her, and for Neal, the man that she still loved, the father of her child.
"Oh god, Shae…" Emma whispered between sobs. "What are we gonna do?"
Shae held her tight, burying her face into the top of her head. "I don't know, Emma. I just… Don't know."
XX
The next morning, Emma, Shae, Henry, and Hook all piled into Emma's tiny yellow bug and set off to Maine. Emma told Henry that she had a case to work in Storybrooke, and that he and Shae were going with her. Henry was perplexed by the fact that his mother was pulling him out of school for an unknown amount of time, but he otherwise seemed to accept her white lie. Emma and Shae both felt terrible about lying to the boy but, without his memories, they were left with little other choice.
Night had fallen by the time they had crossed into the state of Maine. Henry had fallen asleep in the back seat next to Shae, his headphones in his ears. Emma drove with Hook in the passenger seat, both sitting silently as Shae talked on the phone with Terry.
"Honestly, I have no idea how long we'll be gone. Might be a while." Shae said into the phone. "Yeah, I'll keep in touch. Tell Rosa I said bye, ok? Cool. Thanks, Ter-Bear."
Shae ended the call, and stored her phone back in the pocket of her leather jacket. Now that she was herself again, she left her frayed blue jeans and flannel shirt abandoned. Instead, she returned to her old way of dress. Combat boots, black pants, an ACDC band t-shirt, and her old, black leather jacket. Shae breathed out a sad, heavy sigh, rubbing her aching forehead.
"You alright back there, mate?" Hook asked from the seat in front of her.
"Look, dude, I'm not your 'mate.'" Shae snapped irritably. "I've got my memories back now, remember? I haven't exactly forgotten about how you helped Cora dump me in the middle of the harbor. Or about how you helped Greg and Tamara kidnap Regina. Did you know the asshole tortured her for hours?"
"Shae! Watch it." Emma chided her, staring nervously into the rearview mirror at her son.
"Don't worry, he's asleep." Shae replied dismissively. "Henry, I'll give you twenty dollars if you wake up!"
When Henry remained with his head slumped against the window, his eyes closed, Shae nodded in a satisfied sort of way. Emma sighed, falling silent once again as she focused on the road in front of her.
"Listen, ma- Shae." Hook said, turning in his seat to look back at Shae. "I should tell you that I… Regret the things I have done to you and your Queen in the past, and I apologize. I have been… Trying to turn over a new leaf, as of late."
Shae sighed, gazing out at the trees whizzing past the window. "Yeah, I know." She replied quietly. "Sorry I snapped at you like that. I'm just… All this, it's just… A lot, you know?"
Hook nodded solemnly. "Aye, I imagine it is."
"Hey! Look!" Emma suddenly exclaimed.
Shae sat forward, and Hook turned back around as Emma slowed the car to a stop. Sitting off to the side of the road on their right, was a green road sign that read, 'Now Entering Storybrooke.'
"Holy shit… It's actually here." Shae breathed, her eyes wide with shock.
"Yeah, looks like it." Emma replied, looking back at Shae in the rearview mirror. "You ready?"
Shae chuckled bitterly. "I don't even know if I can answer that question."
Emma sighed, stepping on the gas once again. "Yeah… Me either."
The car slowly rolled forward, gaining more and more speed as they neared the Storybrooke town line. They held their breath as the car crossed the line. The air shimmered around the yellow bug as it broke through the magical cloaking barrier. When they continued across the line unharmed, they breathed out a collective sigh of relief.
"Well, me made it through." Emma said with a small shrug. "Now, we just gotta-"
"AUGH!"
Emma and Hook both jumped as Shae doubled over in the back seat, crying out in apparent pain. Hook whirled around in his seat, and Emma slammed on the breaks. They gasped as a pulsewave of magic shot out from Shae's body.
"What the bloody hell was that?" Hook asked in alarm.
"Shae! Shae, are you ok?" Emma asked.
"I… I don't know…" Shae replied shakily. "S-Somethings… Somethings wrong, I don't- AHH!"
Shae doubled over in pain again, and her whole body began shaking violently. Emma and Hook cried out in alarm as Shae jerked back in her seat, her body convulsing.
"What the hell is happening?" Hook asked, turning his fearful eyes onto Emma.
"I don't know!" Emma replied. "Come on, we've gotta get her out of the car."
Emma and Hook both vacated their seats, and Emma rushed around to the passenger side door. When she threw it open, Shae was continuing to convulse violently, and her body was now covered in a thick layer of sweat.
"Mom?" Henry asked as he finally woke, pulling his earbuds out of his ears. "What's going on?"
"It's alright, Henry, Shae's not… She's not feeling well." Emma told her son in a panicked rush. "I need you to stay in the car, alright?"
Henry nodded uncertainly, and Emma and Hook both seized each of Shae's arms. They quickly pulled her out of the car, and her convulsing suddenly stopped as they laid her down in the grass. Emma and Hook exchanged a worried glance as she continued to lie motionless on the ground, her eyes closed.
"Shae? Shae!" Emma shouted, shaking her by her shoulders.
Shae gasped, her eyes snapping open. Emma and Hook gasped too when they saw Shae's eyes. They were now glowing a bright, neon red. Hook and Emma both leapt to their feet, drawing back a step as Shae's back arched, and she let out a loud, agonized scream.
"Bloody hell! S-She's changing back!" Hook exclaimed, staring down at Shae with wide, fearful eyes.
"What?" Emma asked in alarm. "How? How's that possible?"
"You heard The Evil Queen, remember?" Hook replied. "She said that potion that turned Shae human would only work in a land without magic. Now that she's back in Storybrooke, where there is magic-"
"She's changing back." Emma breathed, her eyes wide with horror. "Holy shit… W-What do we do?"
They both stared helplessly down at Shae, who was once again convulsing, groaning and screaming in pain, her eyes glowing bright red. Emma glanced over her shoulder, and saw Henry's face in the back window of her car.
"Go, get your boy out of here. He can't see this." Hook said quickly, grabbing Emma's arm. "I'll stay here, make sure she's alright."
Emma didn't bother arguing. She knew that if Henry saw Shae changing back into a vampire, it would only make everything she was already dealing with a million times worse. She rushed back to the car and got back into the driver's seat. Hook watched her drive away for a moment, then knelt back down at Shae's side once again.
"Shae, can you hear me?" Hook asked as Shae groaned in pain. "What can I do, mate? How can I help?"
Shae shook her head, her whole body shaking like a leaf in a violent breeze. "You… C-Can't." She choked out, slowly turning her glowing eyes onto the pirate. "Just… Just go…"
"What? No, I won't leave you like this!"
Shae reached out and grabbed the front of the pirate's jacket, pulling him down closer. "You… Have to." She rasped. "Go… Warn… The town…"
Hook hesitated, staring down at Shae's sweat covered face. Shae suddenly pushed him back, and Hook fell backwards onto the ground.
"GO!" Shae screamed at him. "GO, NOW!"
Shae let out another agonized, blood curdling scream. Hook slowly rose to his feet, watching in horror as Shae kept screaming, her body shaking and convulsing more violently than ever before. He then turned and sped off down the road, Shae's screams of pain ringing in his ears.
Shae closed her eyes, digging her nails into the dirt as unimaginable burning, white hot pain shot through her entire body. She had felt the same pain only once before, when she had been bitten by Dracula over two hundred years ago. She knew exactly what was about to happen. Right now, her human body was dying. She would soon black out, and when she woke, her skin would be pale and cold to the touch, her eyes a deep blood red, and her heart would no longer beat. She would then be consumed by a powerful lust for blood, and she wasn't certain she'd be able to control it. She gasped, feeling her heart stopping dead inside her rib cage. Her last thoughts were of Emma and Henry, how happy she had been with their life together the past year. She then thought of Regina, her beautiful, piercing brown eyes swimming before her. Then, everything went black.
XX
Emma sat in the corner booth at Granny's Diner with Henry and her parents, her head spinning with everything her parents had told her the night before. Apparently, the last thing they both remembered was Emma driving away from Storybrooke with Shae and Henry, then they woke up in their beds in Storybrooke, as if they had never left, as if no time had passed at all. It was blatantly obvious that time had passed, though, since Mary Margaret was now several months pregnant. No one else in Storybrooke seemed to remember the year they spent in The Enchanted Forest either. No one knew who had cast the new curse, and why their memories of the past year had been erased.
Emma had been forced to introduce David and Mary Margaret to Henry as old friends, which she could tell broke both her parents' hearts. Emma didn't have the time nor the mental energy to be worried about them, though. She was too worried about everyone else, and about who had cast this new curse. But mostly, she was worried about Shae. No one had seen her since the previous night, and they had no idea where she had gone.
Emma was roused from her silent musings at the sound of glass shattering. She turned around in her chair, and her heart sunk when she saw Regina, standing rooted in her spot, a broken glass lying in pieces at her feet. She stared wide eyed at Henry, who only look confused, and slightly shocked.
"Regina!" Emma exclaimed, rising from her seat and rushing over to her. "Regina, hey! We need to talk."
Regina didn't, or couldn't, respond. She only continued to stare at her son, her mouth gaping open in shock. Emma sighed, grabbing Regina's arm. Regina followed in silent shock as Emma led her out of the back of the diner and into the hallway of the bed and breakfast.
"He looked right through me." Regina breathed in horror, her brown eyes shining with tears.
Emma sighed again sadly. "Because he doesn't remember you."
"But you clearly do." Regina said, her tone now slightly irritated. "Why are you here? How did you know to come back? I gave you all new memories. You and Henry and… And Shae."
"It was Hook." Emma answered. "He got a note saying to come find me. The note was attached to a memory potion. I drank some and I… I gave the rest to Shae."
Regina's eyes grew wide with shock, and a smile slowly crept across her face. "You did? So… So Shae remembers everything?"
Emma nodded, and opened her mouth to tell her about how Shae was once again missing, but stopped when the door to the bed and breakfast suddenly burst open. It was David and Mary Margaret, and they were both grinning at Regina.
"Regina, you'll never guess who we just found!" Mary Margaret said excitedly.
Another man suddenly stepped through the door, a man that Emma had never seen before. He was obviously new to Storybrooke, as he was dressed in medieval style black leather armor. He was tall and thin, with a short crop of messy, chestnut brown hair that stuck up in the front. Emma's brow furrowed when she noticed that his skin was a pale gray color, and his eyes were a deep, blood red, just like Shae's.
"Remus?" Regina asked, her eyes wider than ever before.
The man turned his blood red eyes onto Regina, and his pale gray face lit up with joy. "Regina!"
The man named Remus pushed Mary Margaret and David aside, a little roughly, and rushed toward Regina, throwing his arms around her. Regina laughed in surprise as she hugged him, and David and Mary Margaret smiled as they watched the two old friends reunited once again.
"My god, you are a sight for sore eyes!" Remus exclaimed, releasing Regina and holding her out at arm's length. "Look at you, you look wonderful! I love what you've done with your hair."
Regina laughed again, and threw her arms back around Remus. "Oh, Remus, I've missed that devilish charm." She said with a smile. "I just… I-I don't… What are you doing here?"
"I'm just as clueless as everyone else, I'm afraid." Remus replied, glancing over at David and Mary Margaret. "One moment I was in The Enchanted Forest, the next I woke up in this strange town."
"We think someone cast another curse." David told him with a grave nod. "It looks like our memories of the past year have been erased."
Remus's blood red eyes grew wide with shock. "Bloody hell, a whole year? Who would do such a thing?"
They all fell silent, and Regina's mouth gaped open when Emma, David, and Mary Margaret all gave her a pointed stare.
"It wasn't me!" She cried indignantly. "Not this time, at least."
"Oh, so this is the land that your curse took the kingdom to?" Remus asked Regina.
"Yes, it is." Regina replied. "Wait a minute… How exactly did you escape the first curse?"
"Er, well, that's a bit of a long story." Remus replied hesitantly.
"Why don't we all go sit down?" Mary Margaret offered.
Remus and Regina both nodded, and they all went in to the empty common room of the bed and breakfast. Once they were all seated around the table, Regina posed her question to Remus once again. For some reason, the vampire seemed quite nervous.
"Yes, well… That is uh… Well, because of your mother, actually."
Silence fell over the table, and they all stared at Remus, mouths gaping open in shock. "You knew Cora?" Mary Margaret breathed in surprise.
Remus nodded. "For a short time, yes. Lovely woman."
"How?" Regina asked, shaking her head in disbelief.
"Well, as you know, after spending several lovely weeks at your castle, I left in search of a cure." Remus explained.
"Cure?" Asked Emma.
"For my uh… Blood sucking condition." Remus replied with a grimace. "I had been searching for one for quite some time. I was on my way to a far away land called Agrabah in search of a genie when I ran into your mother along the way. She was travelling with a devilishly handsome pirate at the time, and, well… You know me."
Regina chuckled when Remus gave her a knowing wink. "Yes, that would be Captain Hook." She said with a nod. "I'm sorry, Remus, but I'm afraid our one handed pirate is very fond of women."
Remus sighed heavily. "Yes, all the good looking ones are, I'm afraid."
"So, what happened with you and Cora?" Mary Margaret asked.
"Right, well, Cora told me of a place called Lake Nostos." Remus went on. "She said that the waters there had restorative powers, and could potentially restore my humanity. So, I offered up my services, and in exchange, Cora would take me to this lake."
"Looks like you never made it there." Emma said, looking Remus up and down.
"Well, no. Not with Cora, at least."
"What do you mean?" Regina asked.
"After taking up with your mother, I soon learned who exactly she was, and what she was planning to do." Remus answered. "She was going to freeze an entire corner of the kingdom for twenty eight years to avoid your curse. As you can imagine, I wasn't very keen on wasting that much of my time, so I attempted to escape."
Regina chuckled dryly. "Let me guess… My mother wasn't exactly happy about that."
Remus chuckled too. "No, she certainly wasn't. And I'm sure you also know just how powerful of a sorceress she is. So, I ended up frozen in her spell for twenty eight years anyway. When I came to, she and Captain Hook were gone, and the land was in ruins. I travelled to the lake your mother had mentioned myself, but unfortunately found it completely dry."
"So how exactly did you end up in Storybrooke?" Asked David.
"Well, as I said, I'm not exactly sure." Remus replied with a shrug. "I had been travelling with Robin Hood and his band of Merry Men when we apparently got swept up in this new curse."
"Wait a minute… You were travelling with Robin Hood and his Merry Men?" Mary Margaret asked, breathing out a surprised laugh.
"Yes, of course!" Remus replied. "'Merry Men?' Do you really think I'd pass up that opportunity?"
They all laughed as Remus grinned cheekily at them, a grin that mimicked the kind that Shae was often sporting. Emma suddenly gasped, and her eyes grew wide with realization.
"Holy crap!" She exclaimed, causing everyone at the table to stare curiously at her. "You're… You're that Remus! Shae's best friend!"
"Yes, that's right." Remus replied with a smile. "Is Shae here too? Where is she? I would very much love to see her. I've missed her terribly."
"I-I'm not sure." Regina said, looking to Emma anxiously. "Did she come back with you and Henry?"
Emma bit her lip, and nodded slowly. "Yeah, she did. But… But as soon as we crossed the town line, she started to… Turn back into a vampire."
Silence fell over the table once again as both Remus and Regina stared at her with wide eyes. "What?" Breathed Regina. "How's that even possible?"
"I'm not sure." Emma replied, shaking her head. "Hook thought it had something to do with the potion you gave her, how it only worked in a land without magic."
"Potion? What potion?" Remus asked, glancing at Regina.
Regina sighed, and they all took a moment to explain to Remus what had happened with Peter Pan's curse, and how Shae had been living as a human for the past year. Remus seemed deeply troubled by this news.
"Where exactly is she now?" Remus asked of Emma.
"I'm… Not sure." Emma admitted sadly. "Hook stayed with her after she started turning, and I left with Henry. I… I didn't want him to see. He thinks that Shae is sick in the hospital right now."
"So… She's missing?" Remus asked, and when Emma nodded, his blood red eyes grew wide with fear. "Oh dear… Oh, that's not good. Not good at all."
"What are you talking about, Remus?" Regina asked the vampire.
Remus sighed as he sat forward in his chair, staring around at all of them very seriously. "A newborn vampire is by far the most powerful and most dangerous vampire of them all." He explained. "Their blood lust is… Unchecked, uncontrollable. Shae might have some control over it since she's been through it all before, but… But still, she could be a danger to this whole town, and to herself."
"My god." David breathed, looking just as fearful as Remus. "W-We've got to do something, we've gotta find her."
"Remus, your ring!" Regina suddenly exclaimed. "You can use it to find her, right?"
Remus gasped. "Yes, you're right! I nearly forgot." He then began fumbling around inside his black leather armor. "I stopped wearing it on my finger years ago when I lost my hand to a particularly aggressive griffon back in my home land."
"You lost your hand?" Mary Margaret asked, brow furrowed in confusion.
"Well, it grew back." Remus replied with a shrug. "Ah! Here we are."
The vampire removed a silver chain from around his neck. Attached to it was a silver banded ring with a black sparkling stone, just like Shae's. Remus's ring, however, had two suns engraved on either side of the band, where Shae's had crescent moons. They all stared in wonder at the black stone as the stardust forged inside the obsidian began glowing bright.
"That's strange…" Remus muttered, staring down at the ring in his hand. "It looks as if Shae's ring is in this very room."
"Er… That's because it is."
They all turned their eyes onto Emma, and gasped when she removed her hand from underneath the table. Shae's ring was still on her finger, the stardust in it's stone glowing bright, just like Remus's ring.
"W-What?" Regina breathed, her eyes wide as saucers. Her face then fell, and her lips curled into an angry snarl. "Why the hell are you wearing Shae's ring? My ring?"
"Regina, listen." Emma replied gently. "You… You gave us new memories, remember?"
"Yes, of course I do." Regina snapped in reply.
"Right, ok, so…" Emma went on in the same slow and careful tone. "You know that… That you made it so Shae and I never broke up… Right?"
Regina nodded, and then, suddenly, her eyes shone with horrified understanding. "No… No, she… She didn't."
Emma nodded too. "Yeah, she, uh… She proposed to me."
"What?" David and Mary Margaret both exclaimed in unison.
"What the bloody hell is going on here?" Remus demanded angrily.
Once again, they all took a few moments to explain to Remus what Regina had done to cast the spell to stop Pan's curse. As Remus listened quietly, his blood red eyes grew wider and wider with shock.
"My god…" Remus breathed, running his hand through his hair. "This is quite a conundrum you've created, Regina."
"Yes, well, I… I didn't expect to ever see Shae again." Regina replied bitterly. "I… I wanted her to be happy, and I wanted my son to have a family."
"She was happy, Regina." Emma said quietly. "We all were. And Henry, he-"
"Look, I hate to interrupt all of… This." David cut in. "But I really don't think now is the best time. We need to focus on finding Shae."
Regina sighed, and nodded. "Yes, you're right." She said, then turned to Remus. "You remember the last time Shae disappeared, when she drank human blood, right?"
"Yes, of course." Remus replied with a nod. "I found her hiding underground in an old ruin. Is there somewhere like that here?"
They all fell silent for a moment as they pondered, and Regina suddenly gasped, urgently grabbing Remus's hand. "My vault!"
"Yes! That's it! She's gotta be there!" Emma exclaimed.
"Right, we must hurry." Remus said with another nod.
David and Mary Margaret stayed behind to look after Henry, and Emma, Regina, and Remus got into Emma's car, and she drove them speedily out to the Storybrooke cemetery. Remus, who was a few inches taller than Shae, struggled for a moment to remove his long, lanky limbs from the back seat of Emma's tiny yellow bug. Once he was safely out of the car, they followed Regina to her father's mausoleum. They pushed aside the stone coffin, and Regina and Emma made to descend the steps, but Remus stopped them.
"No, no, you two stay here." Remus told them sternly. "As I said before, her bloodlust will be out of control. If she catches even a whiff of your scent, she might go into a frenzy. Even I might not be able to stop her then."
Emma and Regina exchanged a silent, anxious glance, but then they both nodded. Remus nodded back, and he carefully made his way down the steps. He checked the small, cluttered room to his left, and when he found it empty, he turned back around, and started down the long, dark hallway.
"Shae?" He called out. "Shae, are you down here?"
Remus stopped in his tracks when he saw a shadow move across the back wall. He then breathed out a sigh of relief as Shae slowly sidled around the corner, and a smile slowly crept across his pale face.
"Remus?" Shae breathed, her now blood red eyes wide with shock. "Remus… I-Is that you?"
"Well, I certainly hope so." Remus replied with another cheeky grin. "Otherwise, I've been wearing the wrong underpants."
Shae laughed loudly, and she rushed forward, throwing her arms around her old friend. "Oh god, Remus… It's you, it's actually you!"
"Oh, it's good to see you, my friend." Remus whispered as he hugged Shae tight. "I've missed you so much."
"I missed you too." Shae whispered back. "What… What are you even doing here?"
"I'm not quite sure." Remus replied with a frown. "Apparently I got swept up in some sort of curse. I only just woke up here a few days ago."
"So… So you don't remember anything either?" Shae asked him.
Remus shook his head. "No, apparently we've all had a whole year wiped from our memories. Lord knows what I did in all that time."
Shae laughed again, once again throwing her arms around her friend. Remus laughed too, and hugged her tight once again. They stood in silence for a moment, and, in that moment, neither of them cared about who exactly had cast the curse, and why they wanted everyone in Storybrooke in the first place. They were both just immensely grateful to be reunited once again.
"What about you? Are you alright?" Remus asked, holding Shae out at arm's length by her shoulders. "Regina told me all about what happened with Peter Pan's curse."
"You've seen Regina?" Shae asked with an excited smile. "H-How is she? Is she ok? Does she remember anything?"
"No, unfortunately, she's just as clueless as the rest of us." Remus replied with a shake of his head. "Apparently, she's-"
"Shae?"
Shae gasped, her blood red eyes wide as she stared over Remus's shoulder. Remus spun around, and found Regina herself standing at the bottom of the steps. He opened his mouth to chastise her for disobeying him, but stopped short when Shae shoved him roughly aside. As he stumbled into the stone wall, Shae rushed over to Regina, and swept her up into her arms.
"Oh god… Oh, Shae, it's you, you're really here!" Regina exclaimed, her eyes welling with tears of joy as she held Shae tight.
"Yeah, yeah I am. I'm here." Shae whispered, grateful and joyous tears leaking out of her eyes.
Regina pulled away from their embrace, and gently cupped Shae's face in her hands, tears rushing down her face as well.
"You came back." Regina whispered, smiling into Shae's now blood red eyes.
Shae smiled back, gently caressing Regina's cheek. "I always come ba- AHH!"
Regina gasped as Shae suddenly shoved her away from her. Shae stumbled back a few steps, knocking in to Remus, holding her hand over her mouth and nose.
"Stay back!" Remus shouted at Regina, who had taken a step toward Shae. "Shae… Shae, are you alright?"
Shae only groaned in reply, and she stumbled back into the wall, clutching either side of her head. Regina stood rooted in her spot, watching the woman she loved as she began shaking violently, groaning as she attempted to fight off the bloodlust that was consuming her.
"Dammit, Regina, get out of here!" Remus bellowed furiously.
"REMUS!" Regina shouted, pointing behind him.
Remus whirled around, and only had time to let out a startled gasp as Shae, whose eyes were now glowing bright red, seized him by the front of his armor, and hurled him against the wall. As Remus crashed to the ground, Shae rushed at Regina, who was too shocked and horrified to react in time. She cried out in pain as Shae grabbed her by her throat, and slammed her against the wall. Regina stared into Shae's glowing red eyes as two long, sharp fangs shot down from her gums.
"SHAE, NO!"
Remus was on his feet again, and he grabbed the back of Shae's jacket, pulling her away just as she was leaning in to Regina's neck. Remus sent his friend hurtling down the long hallway, where she crashed into the wall, hitting the ground hard. Shae snarled furiously at him, and scrambled back to her feet. Remus threw himself upon Shae, and the two vampires grunted and groaned as they wrestled around on the ground.
"Regina?"
Regina whirled around, and found Emma hurrying down the stone steps, looking worried. "Are you alright?" Emma asked her. "I heard shouting."
Emma and Regina both jumped as Remus cried out in pain. Shae had managed to wrestle her arm free from his grip, and clocked him right in the forehead with her elbow. Remus fell backward, dazed from the blow to his head, and Shae rose to her feet once again. Emma and Regina both stared in shock as Shae turned her glowing red eyes onto them, her long, sharp fangs protruding from her lips as they curled into a snarl.
Shae lunged at them, and Emma brought up her hands protectively in front of her face. Two beams of glowing white magic unwillingly shot out of both her hands, hitting Shae right in the chest. The vampire was blasted backward, and the back of her head smacked into the stone wall. She crashed to the ground, where she lie face down, completely motionless.
"Woah…" Emma breathed, staring down at her own hands in shock.
"Remus!" Regina exclaimed, rushing over to him. "Remus, are you alright?"
Remus groaned, sitting forward and rubbing his aching forehead. "Fine, I'm fine."
Emma and Regina both helped Remus to his feet, and he glanced over at Shae, who was still lying senseless on the ground. He breathed out a sigh of relief, then turned back to the two women standing before him.
"Come on, let's get out of here before she wakes up." He grumbled.
The three of them left Regina's vault, and pushed the stone coffin back over the hidden staircase. Once outside in the cemetery, Remus rounded on Emma and Regina.
"Do you two got shit in your ears?" He spat furiously. "I told you to stay here!"
"I'm sorry, Remus, I… I needed to see her." Regina replied shakily. "I… I just… I couldn't…"
Regina stammered into silence, biting her lip as tears leaked out of her eyes. Remus exchanged a quick glance with Emma, and then he sighed heavily.
"It's alright." He said gently, smiling as he placed his hand on Regina's shoulder. "No one got hurt, that's all that matters, yeah?"
Regina nodded silently, hastily wiping the tears off of her face. Remus nodded too, then fixed them both with a grave and serious stare.
"Now then, is there somewhere in this town where you can gather the townsfolk?" Remus asked them.
"Uh, yeah, the town hall, I guess." Emma replied, raising an eyebrow at him. "Why?"
"We need to warn them about Shae." Remus said in a grave tone. "I will do everything I can to help her through this, but she will need to venture out to hunt. Everyone will need to stay as far away from the woods as they can, just in case."
"Wait a minute… That gives me an idea." Emma said, and Remus and Regina exchanged a curious glance as an excited smile slowly spread across her face. "Right, lets round everybody up. I think I know how we're gonna find who cast this curse."
XX
Later that afternoon, the entire town of Storybrooke was gathered inside the town hall. Emma tried her best to maintain order, but things quickly got out of hand. Apparently, there were more winged creatures like the one that had been posing as Walsh, and they were attacking anyone who got near the town line. Several people had already gone missing, including a few of the seven dwarves, and Little John, one of Robin Hood's Merry Men. The people of Storybrooke grew even more frightened when Emma told them about Shae. She attempted calm them, told them that Shae didn't actually want to hurt anyone. But her words seemed to be falling on deaf ears.
Regina stood at the back of the hall, clenching her fists and gritting her teeth as the townsfolk hurled accusation after accusation at her. Even though she denied having cast the curse over and over again, the people of Storybrooke seemed determined to place all the blame on her. Unbeknownst to them, that was a major part of Emma's plan. The townsfolk needed someone to blame, to be distracted, while Emma, with Regina's help, searched for the real culprit.
A sudden hush fell over the town hall as the doors swung open, and Remus stepped through. "Where's Shae?" Regina asked as he came to stand next to her. "Is she alright?"
"Yes, she's fine." Remus replied with a gentle smile. "She's awake now, and safely locked away in your vault."
"What the hell is he doing here?" Growled Leroy, staring daggers at Remus.
"Oh, wonderful, the tactless dwarf is here." Said Remus, rolling his eyes at Leroy. "Ever so lovely to see you again."
"What exactly are you doing with her?" Dr. Whale demanded, pointing an accusing finger at Regina. "What kind of allegiance have you sworn to The Evil Queen?"
Remus glanced at Regina, then back at Whale, raising an eyebrow at him. "Well, none I suppose." He admitted with a shrug. "Shae is my dear friend, which makes Regina my dear friend simply by association. Also… Well, I suppose I just like her better than you lot."
"Thank you, Remus." Regina said with a grin.
"You're very welcome, Regina." Remus replied, grinning back.
"Then you're just as evil as she is!" Shouted Granny, pointing a finger at Remus.
Remus gasped dramatically, placing his hand over his heart in mock shock. "Evil? Me? Oh, I take offense to that. At best, I consider myself to be a chaotic neutral."
"I don't give a damn what you consider yourself!" Granny snarled, taking an angry step forward. "You probably helped her cast this damn curse, you and the other damn vampire!"
"Excuse me, but that 'other damn vampire' nearly sacrificed her life to save all of you a year ago!" Regina snarled back. "Or did you forget about that too?"
"Regina, please." Pleaded Archie as he pushed his way to the front of the crowd. "Just tell us the truth. We'll all understand."
"Speak for yourself." Granny said with a snort.
"I am telling the truth!" Regina insisted furiously. "If I had done this, then I'd certainly have my son, and Shae by my side, not Remus. No offense."
"None taken." Remus replied with a shrug.
"Yeah, you're not getting anywhere near Henry." Emma said in a dangerous tone. "Not until I get to the bottom of all this."
"Oh, so you're siding with the rabble now as well?" Remus asked, raising his eyebrows at Emma. "We've already been through this. Regina is bloody innocent! We both are!"
"I'm not so sure I believe that." Emma replied, narrowing her eyes at Remus.
Remus put his arm out protectively in front of Regina, and they both drew back a step as the citizens of Storybrooke began rising out of their seats, and slowly advancing toward them.
"Come any closer and I'll rip your bloody lungs out!" Remus snarled viciously at them.
"Have you all forgotten who you're dealing with?" Regina asked in a low, menacing tone. "If you all really want me to be The Evil Queen, then fine. That's exactly what you'll get."
Regina stepped in front of Remus, and threw out both her arms. A pulsewave of energy shot out at the townsfolk, and they all began panicking as the earth began to quake violently beneath their feet. Regina then placed her hand on Remus's shoulder, and disappeared with the vampire in tow with a whirl of purple smoke.
When they reappeared safely in Regina's mayoral office, Remus let out a low chuckle. "An earthquake? Oh, that was bloody brilliant, it was."
Regina sighed heavily, sitting on the edge of her desk. When she didn't respond, Remus's brow furrowed, and he stared at her concernedly.
"Oh, come on! Don't tell me you were bothered by all that nonsense?" He asked with another eyeroll.
"Well, you saw how quick they were to blame me for all this!" Regina cried.
"So what?" Remus replied with a snort. "The Regina I used to know wouldn't give a rat's ass about what the common rabble thought of her. All she cared about was getting revenge, and a certain dark haired vampire almost as charming as I am. Almost, but not quite."
Regina laughed as Remus grinned cheekily at her. "Yes, well, I'm not exactly that person anymore." She sighed again, rubbing her aching forehead. "Remus… A lot has changed since you've been… Gone. I've changed, and so has Shae. Before we got separated, I was trying to change for my son, to be… Good. And Shae… She was trying to change too. For me."
"Yes, I can see that." Remus muttered in reply. "She speaks so strangely now. She kept saying this word, 'dope.' What the hell does that even mean?"
Regina laughed again, shaking her head slowly in amusement. "Yes, that does sound like her." She replied quietly. "Oh, Remus… I… I miss her so much. I know a year has passed but… It feels like just yesterday I was saying goodbye to her, for what I assumed was going to be forever. It… It broke my heart."
Remus frowned as Regina bit her lip, fighting back more tears. "And now… Now she's back again." Regina went on. "But she's… Engaged to someone else."
Remus sighed, and he sat down next to Regina, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. "Regina… None of that was real." He told her soothingly. "What you and Shae have, that's what's real, yeah? And I'm going to do everything in my power to return her to you as soon as possible. I promise you that."
Regina smiled up at him, and nodded slowly. "Thank you, Remus." She said, leaning her head against his shoulder. "I'm glad you're here. I've really missed you these last twenty eight years."
Remus smiled back, gently rubbing her back. "Oh, I've missed you too, Regina."
Suddenly, the door to Regina's office burst open, and Emma stomped in, looking quite angry. "An earthquake?" She demanded. "Really?"
"Well, I had to make a statement, didn't I?" Regina asked, pushing away from the desk. "Besides, you're all fine."
"Do you think they fell for it?" Remus asked of Emma.
Emma nodded. "Yeah, I think they did. Now we can find out who really cursed this town."
Emma gave Regina the small blue vial that once held the memory potion given to her by Captain Hook. A miniscule amount of the potion still remained at the bottom of the bottle. Not enough to be used, but Regina was confident that it was just enough to replicate. While Remus returned to Regina's vault to look in on Shae, Emma stayed with Regina, waiting anxiously as the former Queen carefully brewed her own batch of memory potion. Emma held her breath as Regina drank the potion, and her heart sunk when Regina hurled the bottle across the room, where it shattered into pieces against the wall. It hadn't worked. Regina didn't remember anything, and there was no more of the original potion left to use.
With little else they could do, the two women decided to give up for the time being, and were both about to leave for their homes. Regina was about to walk out the door when Emma grabbed her arm.
"Regina… Wait." She said. "There's uh… Something we need to talk about."
Regina turned back around, and eyed Emma expectantly as she bit her lip, nervously fiddling with the zipper of her jacket.
"Look, I know everything going on with Shae is complicated enough as it is." Emma began slowly. "But… I just… I don't want to keep anything from you, ok?"
Regina's brow furrowed in concern. "What? What is it?"
Emma took another moment to respond, choosing her words carefully. "Well, um… Now that our memories are back, Shae and I both know that we… We have other people here in Storybrooke, people that we both love." She went on. "Shae has you and… And I have Neal, once I find him. But… Um… T-The thing is… Uh…"
Emma sighed, running her hand through her long blond hair. "Getting our memories back… It… It didn't exactly… Erase our feelings for each other."
Regina's face fell, and her brown eyes grew wide with shock. "What… What are you saying?"
"I'm saying that… That you're… You're Shae's true love, you know?" Emma replied, her voice cracking with emotion as she fought back the tears welling in her eyes. "A-And Neal, he's the father of my child, and I love him. And Shae… She loves you. But… We still… We still love each other too. Our feelings for each other are still very… Present. A-And, you know… Real."
"No…" Regina whispered, shaking her head vigorously, tears welling in her own eyes. "No, it can't be. Your memories, your life, it was all fake!"
"That's the thing, Regina! It wasn't fake, at least not for us!" Emma cried desperately. "For us, and for Henry… The last year was all very real. And it was… It was good. Really good. We were really happy. And for that I… I guess I have to thank you."
Regina breathed out a bitter, sour laugh. "Oh, yes, please do thank me for making my son forget who I am, and having my fiancee fall madly in love with you." She spat furiously. "I'm so glad that you've enjoyed having the love of the two people that I love most in this world. Yes, you're ever so welcome for that."
Emma squeezed her eyes shut, tears rolling down her cheeks as Regina stomped away from her. She stopped at her desk and leaned her hands against it, hanging her head as tears streamed down her face, her heart aching with sorrow.
"Regina, I'm sorry." Emma said miserably. "I know this is all insane… But I'm obviously not going to stand in the way of you and Shae, alright? I… I would never do that. I just… I thought you should know."
Regina didn't respond. She dug her nails into the edge of her desk, biting down hard into her bottom lip as tears continued to flow down her face. She heard footsteps from behind her, and she watched as Emma placed Shae's ring on the desk next to her.
"You should have this back." Emma said quietly. "It's yours anyway."
Regina remained rooted in her spot, listening as Emma's footsteps grew fainter and fainter. When she heard the door to her office click shut, she finally broke down. She grabbed Shae's ring from off the desk, and slowly sunk down onto the floor, leaning her back against her desk. She held the ring tightly in her fist, pressing it against her forehead as she sobbed.
Her heart ached with misery over her failed attempt to replicate the memory potion. She had been filled with so much hope that she would be able to restore Henry's memories, so her son would actually remember who she was. She had hoped that she would finally get her son back, as well as the woman she loved, the woman that had proposed to her what felt like only days ago. She sobbed bitterly as she thought about Shae. She so badly wanted to go to her, to hold her in her arms and tell her how much she loved her, how sorry she was that she had let her go. But, after seeing Shae consumed by her blood lust, she knew it was best to stay away. She knew Remus would take care of her, and he had promised to return Shae to her as soon as he could. Regina took a deep, steadying breath, nodding determinedly to herself. Remus had brought Shae back to her once before, and she had to remain confident that he would do it again.
XX
"Are you sure this is a good idea, Remus?"
Remus glanced over at Shae as they walked through the woods, raising an eyebrow at her. "No, actually, I think I've changed my mind. It's a horrible idea."
Shae stopped in her tracks. "What? Really?"
"NO!" Remus exclaimed, throwing his arms up in in despair. "That's the third bloody time you've asked me! Now just shut your fat old gob and come on!"
Shae stuck her tongue out at the back of Remus's head as she continued walking. After spending several days safely locked away in Regina's vault, only venturing out to feed on various wild game in the woods, Remus thought it was time for Shae to be amongst humans again. Shae was nervous, but Remus insisted that he wouldn't let anything happen, to her or anyone else.
"Where exactly are we going again?" Shae asked her friend.
Remus sighed exasperatedly. "I told you, the men I had been travelling with have a camp set up just outside of town."
"Right, right." Shae muttered in reply. "So who are these guys?"
"Well, they call themselves The Merry Men." Remus replied with a chuckle. "Their leader is a man named Robin, Robin Hood."
Shae's raised her eyebrows at him in surprise. "Robin Hood? The Robin Hood?"
"Yes, do you know him?"
"Well, no, but I know his story." Shae replied. "He's a human right? In the movie I saw he was a fox, and Little John was a bear. And there was like… A chicken with a lute. I dunno… It was pretty good though."
"Movie?" Remus asked, brow furrowed in confusion. "What the bloody hell is a movie?"
"Oh, right, uh… It's sort of like… Um… Moving, talking pictures."
"Moving pictures?" Remus exclaimed, then breathed out a surprised laugh. "I say, this world is utterly fascinating!"
"Yeah, it's pretty damn cool." Shae said with a grin. "I have got to take you to New York sometime. Oh, and Los Angeles! Oh, man, Remus, you'd love L.A. It's hunk central down there."
"Really?" Remus asked, grinning back.
Shae nodded earnestly, and Remus laughed. Shae was about to tell him more, but she stopped when she spotted a campfire in the distance, along with several rows of tents. She tensed up as a breeze blew by, and she clenched her fists, gritting her teeth as the scent of humans washed over her.
"It's alright, you'll be fine." Remus said gently. "I'll be right here with you, yeah?"
Shae nodded again, and Remus smiled, nodding back. Shae trailed along behind Remus as he led them into Robin Hood's camp. A group of men were seated around the campfire, all with mugs in their hands, looking sullen.
"Oi! Why the long faces, gents?" Remus asked of them.
"Didn't you hear?" Asked a portly bald man with a brown beard. "It's Little John. He's been turned in to some sort of winged beast."
"Winged beast?" Remus asked, his blood red eyes wide. "Bloody hell… How exactly did that happen?"
"Not sure." The same bearded man replied. "Some sort of dark magic, it seems."
"I see… That is sad news indeed." Remus muttered sadly, exchanging an anxious glance with Shae. "Er, Shae, this is Friar Tuck. Friar Tuck, Shae."
"Oh! So this is the friend you were always going on about?" Friar Tuck said with a warm smile. "Come, sit, drink with us. Any friend of Remus's is a friend of ours."
There were some 'Ayes' and other murmurings of agreement from the rest of the men as Shae and Remus sat among them by the fire. They were both handed mugs of ale, and Friar Tuck raised his own into the air.
"To Little John." He said solemnly.
"Little John." The others echoed.
"So, this uh, 'winged beast,' did it happen to like a monkey with wings?" Shae asked of Friar Tuck after a moment of silent drinking.
Friar Tuck exchanged a glance with several of the other men, and then nodded. "Well… Yes, actually. How did you know?"
"I've seen one before, just a few days ago." Shae replied. "It was posing as my next door neighbor, seemed just like a regular guy, till he, you know… Changed."
"Just like Little John." Said the man next to the Friar, his eyes wide.
"Do you know where they might have come from?" Friar Tuck asked.
Shae shrugged, taking another sip of her ale. "Well, the only person I know of that uses flying monkeys is The Wicked Witch of the West."
"The what now?" Remus asked, raising an eyebrow at his friend.
"Er, well, she's from a land called Oz." Shae replied, shrugging again. "In this world it's just a story, but… I dunno, I guess Oz might actually exist. I mean, I didn't think Robin Hood and his Merry Men were real, but here you all are."
"Who says I'm not real?"
Shae shifted in her seat, and found a man standing just behind Remus. He had a short crop of dirty blonde hair, and a layer of stubble on his cheeks to match. He was dressed in blue jeans, hooded sweatshirt, and jacket of the modern world, but he also had a weathered green scarf around his neck, a kind that was obviously of another time, and another land.
"Ah! Remus, there you are!" Robin Hood said with a smile. "I was beginning to wonder where you had run off to."
"No need to worry, I was just taking care of my friend here." Remus said, patting Shae's shoulder. "Robin, this is Shae. Shae, Robin of Locksley."
"Oh! Well, I've certainly heard a lot about you." Robin said with another warm smile. "Pleasure to meet you at last."
Shae smiled back, nodding as she shook Robin Hood's outstretched hand. The sleeve of his jacket pulled back slightly, and Shae's once again unbeating heart dropped straight out of her chest. On Robin Hood's arm was an interesting tattoo, a tattoo of a lion. Shae stared up at him, her mouth gaping open in silent horror.
"It's you…" She whispered, her blood red eyes wide as saucers.
Robin Hood's brow furrowed at the mortified look on Shae's face. "Er, sorry, have we met before?"
"No… No, no, no…" Shae muttered as she shook her head vigorously.
She rose from her seat, her mug of ale dropping out of her hand. She backed away, from the campfire and from Robin Hood, her head spinning, her ears ringing. Remus, Friar Tuck, and the rest of the men all eyed her curiously. Remus said something to her, and she said something back, but she had no idea what. Suddenly, she was running, the trees whizzing past her in a green and brown blur as she sprinted full tilt through the forest.
Shae slowed to a stop as she realized her legs had carried her to the abandoned cabin where she had stayed while Regina had been in Neverland. She pushed her way through the door, and as soon as it swung shut behind her, she collapsed. She fell to the floor on her hands and knees, her whole body shaking. She squeezed her eyes shut, tears dripping down from her eyes and onto the hardwood floor. He was here. The man with the lion tattoo, Regina's other true love, Robin Hood, was here in Storybrooke. He was now closer to Regina than he possibly ever had been, and Shae was terrified.
She collapsed sideways onto the floor, her quaking limbs unable to support her body anymore. She laid on her back, staring up at the ceiling as silent tears flowed down the sides of her face. Her heart ached with misery, with fear, and, most of all, confusion. As she lie shaking on the floor, her thoughts wandered to Emma, how happy she had been just a few short days ago, blissfully unaware of the other life, and the other love, that she had left behind. She remembered how it felt standing on the stage, singing to Emma what was, in Shae's opinion, the greatest love song ever written. She remembered her then still beating heart hammering in her chest as she got down on one knee, how it pulsed with excitement and joy when she said 'yes.' She remembered feeling much the same when she had posed the same question to Regina. Though her heart was, at the time, still and unbeating, gazing into Regina's beautiful brown eyes, seeing her smile, made her undead heart flutter all the same.
Shae suddenly pushed herself to her feet, her body still shaking. She had to go to Regina, had to find her, tell her how sorry she was for what happened with Emma, how sorry she was over the confusion in her heart. She had to tell her how much she still loved her, despite her feelings for Emma. She couldn't spend another moment without her, not with Robin Hood, her other true love, now so near.
She marched over to the door, and let out a startled gasp when she threw it open. There was a woman standing on the other side, her fist raised to knock on the door. She had long red hair that fell in loose curls down to her shoulders, and piercing, ice blue eyes.
"Oh! I-I'm terribly sorry to disturb you." The woman said in a rush. "I'm new to this town, a-and I'm afraid I've gotten myself horribly lost in these woods."
"Oh, uh… Ok." Shae stammered, still slightly startled. "Um… Right, I-I'm Shae."
The red haired woman smiled at Shae, holding out her hand. Shae shook it, though a bit hesitantly. There was something about the look in this stranger's ice blue eyes that made the vampire anxious.
"I'm Zelena. Pleasure to meet you."
XX
