CHAPTER 12
Regina's eyes snapped open, and she gasped as she sat bolt upright in her bed. She stared around her dark and empty bedroom, her heart hammering, the silence of the night broken by her cell phone that was ringing loudly from the end table next to her bed. She immediately leapt out of bed, not even bothering to check who was calling. She raced down the stairs, her head spinning wildly. She hesitated for a moment, her quivering hand resting on the lightswitch on the kitchen wall. Deep down inside, she already knew what she was going to find when she flicked on the light. Nothing. Shae was not standing at the stove, she was not there to call out, 'Good morning, beautiful!' Regina did not get to see her smile, she never would again. Shae was gone, murdered by her own sister. It had all just been a dream.
Regina sank down onto her knees, sobbing bitterly as tears flowed down her face. Her dream had felt so tantalizingly real. She could still see Shae's face so clearly in her mind, she could still hear her voice, feel her lips against her own. She curled herself into a ball on the cold tile floor, sobbing violently, her heart aching with the loss of the woman she loved. Her mother was dead, so was her lover, and her own son didn't remember who she was. She was now truly and utterly alone.
The quiet of the night was once again broken by the sound of someone pounding on Regina's front door, but the former Queen was too weak, too miserable to get up from her kitchen floor. Suddenly, there was a loud bang, and the sounds of footsteps drawing closer. Regina didn't move, didn't care that there was an intruder in her home. She simply laid there on the floor, silently hoping that Zelena had finally come for her heart, just as she had promised, and that she would crush it as she had Shae's. Then, she would finally be able to see her true love again.
Regina heard quiet, murmured voices, but she had no idea what they were saying. She then felt hands on her arms, and she was suddenly pulled into a tight but gentle embrace. She kept her eyes shut tight, her body shaking with sobs. Regina had no idea whose arms were holding her, she didn't have the willpower to care. She sat there for a long while, her head resting against the intruder's shoulder. When her tears finally subsided, she opened her eyes, and was startled to find Mary Margaret kneeling in front of her, her husband standing close behind her. She pushed away from the person holding her, and was even more startled when she realized that it was Emma.
"Regina, I'm sorry to barge in like this. I know you're in a lot of pain." Emma said quietly, placing her hands on Regina's shoulders, her own eyes shining with tears. "I'm sorry, but I need you to be strong right now. We need your help."
Regina opened and closed her mouth several times, staring bewilderedly from Emma, to Mary Margaret, and to David. "W-What?" She breathed, hastily wiping the tears from her eyes. "What are you talking about?"
"Robin Hood and his men were patrolling the town, and they saw someone in the cemetery." Mary Margaret answered quickly. "They think it's Zelena. A-And they… They saw her… Digging."
"What?" Regina asked again, her bloodshot eyes growing wide with shock.
Emma exchanged a grave and anxious glance with her mother. "We… We think she's digging up… Shae's body."
Suddenly, all the embarrassment that Regina had been feeling over being found sobbing on her kitchen floor melted away, replaced by a pure and unyielding rage. She slowly rose to her feet, the shaking in her limbs suddenly gone, the burning, white hot fury bubbling inside her giving her strength. Emma and Mary Margaret both stood up as well, eyeing Regina apprehensively as she balled her hands into fists, her lips curling into a fearsome snarl.
"No…" Regina whispered, her voice quavering with rage. "I won't let her. I will not let her take Shae away from me again."
XX
Regina hastily got dressed, and was soon getting out of Emma's car as they pulled up to the Storybrooke cemetery. She slammed the passenger door of Emma's tiny yellow bug shut, her fists still clenched tight as she marched toward Robin Hood and his Merry Men, who were huddled together just outside the cemetery gates. Emma walked in step beside her, Mary Margaret and David hurrying along behind them. Emma pulled out her gun, and it clicked dangerously as she cocked it.
"Emma, don't you think you're going into this a little too hot?" David said anxiously.
"Hell no." Emma growled in reply. "Zelena has murdered two people I cared about, I will not let her get away."
"For once, I agree with you, Swan." Regina said with a determined nod. "Let's get this bitch, and lets make her pay."
David exchanged a nervous glance with his wife, but fell silent as Robin Hood and his men led them through the cemetery gates. They krept carefully and quietly between the headstones, slowing to a stop as they approached Shae's grave. It seemed they had arrived just in time, as there was already a large pile of dirt lying next to the headstone. They watched as the end of a shovel poked out of the hole in the ground several times, Zelena herself hidden from view as she dug deeper and deeper toward Shae's casket.
Robin Hood and his Merry Men all formed a circle around the grave, bows and arrows at the ready. Mary Margaret had armed herself with her own bow, and David drew his sword while Emma pointed her gun down toward the grave. Regina had nothing but her fists and her magic, along with a deep, unadulterated fury. She glanced over at Emma, who nodded at her. Regina nodded back, and summoned a fireball into her hand as the two of them stepped slowly forward.
"We know you're down there, Zelena!" Emma called out. "We've got you surrounded!"
"Come out and face me, you wicked green BITCH!" Regina spat furiously, readying her fireball.
"No wicked green bitches down here, I'm afraid." A very familiar male voice replied from inside the grave. "Sorry to disappoint."
Emma slowly lowered her gun, and exchanged a baffled glance with Regina. "Remus?"
Remus's brown haired head poked out from the hole in the ground. "Hello!" He said, smiling chipperly at all of them.
They all watched in silent befuddlement as the vampire hastily clambered out of the freshly dug grave. Regina extinguished her fireball, and the others all lowered their weapons as well.
"Remus, thank god!" Robin Hood exclaimed, throwing his arms around the vampire and embracing him tightly. "We've been searching for you for days!"
Robin paused for a moment, leaning over Shae's grave and peering down at the unearthed casket. "What, um… What exactly are you doing?"
Remus stared around at the perplexity on all their faces for a moment, then cleared his throat awkwardly. "Right… Yes, er… This isn't what it looks like."
"What exactly is it supposed to look like?" Asked Mary Margaret, her eyes wide.
Remus opened and closed his mouth several times, glancing from both Emma and Regina's confused and furious faces, to his friend Robin Hood, then back down at Shae's grave.
"Alright, I suppose it's exactly what it looks like." He finally admitted. "But I assure you, I have good reason."
"What reason could that possibly be?" Regina demanded heatedly.
"I don't believe Shae is actually dead."
A stunned silence fell over the group gathered around Shae's grave. They all exchanged sad and skeptical glances, and Regina breathed out a heavy sigh.
"Oh, Remus…" She muttered, slowly shaking her head.
"Wait a moment, just hear me out, alright?" Remus interjected before Regina could say anything more. "Now, there are technically only two definitive ways to kill a vampire. Do you know what those are?"
"A wooden stake to the heart is one, I believe, yes?" Asked Robin Hood.
"What? Wood? No, that's absurd!" Remus cried, looking as if he was offended. "No, it's a silver stake to the heart. Or a sword or dagger, or a silver arrow."
"Right, yeah, we know that." Emma said quickly. "What's the second way?"
"Fire." Answered Regina. "Years and years ago I found Shae about to be burned alive by Van Helsing. She told me that she would have been killed if I hadn't saved her."
"Precisely." Remus replied with a nod. "Set a vampire on fire, and eventually the flames will reach the heart, and be burnt to ash, effectively killing said vampire."
"So either way, the heart is the key." Robin Hood muttered. When Remus nodded, Robin slowly shook his head. "But… Remus, Shae's heart was destroyed. Zelena crushed it."
"Precisely!" Remus said again in an excited tone. "Her heart was crushed, not pierced with silver, and not set aflame. Therefore, she can't be dead, not really."
They all fell silent again, staring down at the ground as they pondered Remus's words. Emma exchanged another glance with Regina, who bit her lip, her eyes suddenly shining with tears.
"Remus, I want to believe that, we all do." Emma said gently. "But… But you saw her yourself. She's definitely not alive."
"No, but she's also not dead." Remus insisted. "I know, I've seen something similar to this before. I just… Forgot about it, till a few hours ago."
"What?" Emma exclaimed, her hazel green eyes growing wide with shock.
"You've seen what, exactly?" Regina asked, her own eyes just as wide as Emma's.
Remus sighed heavily, running his hand through his chestnut brown hair. "I'm hoping that Shae told you all about a man named Dracula."
"Yeah, he was the one that turned you guys." David replied with a nod.
"Excellent, then this story won't take nearly as long to tell." Remus went on, nodding back. "Right, so, Dracula had a wife, she was the very first person he ever turned, actually. She fancied herself the Queen of all vampires, and Dracula her king. Even called herself, 'The Queen of the Damned.'"
"'Queen of the Damned…'" Emma muttered quietly. "Wait a minute, was her name Akasha?"
Remus raised his eyebrows at Emma in shock. "Well… Well, yes. How did you know that?"
Emma breathed out a surprised laugh, slowly shaking her head. "Um, well, I've read the book." She replied. "Well, technically it's a movie too, but it was a book first. She wasn't Dracula's wife in it, so Anne Rice got that part wrong. It was pretty good, though."
Remus glanced over at Regina, who shrugged at him. He then quickly shook his head, and went on. "Right, moving on." He said, clearing his throat. "One day, Dracula caught Akasha in bed with… With someone else. And, as you can imagine, he was not particularly pleased about that. So, in his rage, he tore out his wife's heart. Not magically, as Zelena did with Shae's, but much more literally, and gruesomely. Then… He crushed it with his own bare hands. Thinking about it still makes my stomach churn."
"How exactly did you forget about something like that?" Regina demanded irritably.
"Well, you'll forgive me if things get a bit muddled after two centuries." Remus snapped in reply, narrowing his eyes at Regina.
"So, what happened to Akasha?" Asked Emma, cutting in as Regina opened her mouth to retort.
"Well, she died. Or so Dracula thought." Remus replied with a shrug, turning his gaze onto Emma. "After he crushed her heart, Dracula displayed her body in the center of his throne room. He said he wanted everyone in his castle to see her rotting corpse, to remind them of what happens to those who would betray him."
Remus paused, an excited grin slowly spreading across his pale face. "But, apparently, her body never decayed." He went on. "She remained in a preserved state, as if she were only sleeping, apart from the gaping hole in her chest."
"Do vampire's bodies usually decay after death?" Robin Hood asked, raising an eyebrow at his vampire friend.
"Yes, actually, they do." Remus answered with a nod. "As soon as we're killed, all the magic that keeps us immortal is drained away, and our bodies revert back to that of a mortal's. Therefore, our flesh and bones waste away into dust just like a normal human's."
"But Akasha's never did?" Asked Mary Margaret.
Remus shook his head, his excited grin returning. "No, it didn't." He replied. "I heard tell that once Dracula realized his wife's body was not wasting away, he summoned a sorceress to his castle. Apparently, she told him that, though Akasha wasn't technically alive, she wasn't technically dead either."
"Wait a minute, 'you heard?'" Regina asked, also raising a skeptical eyebrow at Remus. "So you never saw her body for yourself?"
"Well… No, not exactly." Remus admitted with a frown. "Shae and I fled Dracula's castle right after he found his wife in bed with her, um… Her lover."
"Who exactly was her lover?" Emma asked, eyeing Remus curiously.
"That's not important." Remus replied, waving his hand dismissively. "What is important is that, just like Akasha's, Shae's heart was merely crushed, not pierced with silver, and not burned to a crisp. Therefore, she's not actually dead, and, therefore, there might just be a way to save her."
"What if you're wrong?" Asked Robin Hood.
Remus barked out an amused laugh. "Oh, I'm rarely ever wrong."
"That's not conceded at all." David muttered sarcastically.
"No, it's simply a fact." Remus replied irritably, folding his arms across his chest.
"Remus, I'm sorry, but there is a chance that you're wrong." Robin cut in before David could retort, placing his hand gently on Remus's shoulder. "If you are, then you've disturbed Shae's final resting place for no reason at all. And if you open that coffin, you'll only be met with the sight of your best friend's rotting corpse."
Remus stared into Robin Hood's eyes for a moment, then turned away, staring silently down at the ground, his blood red eyes suddenly immensely sad.
"I know." He whispered. "But I have to be sure."
Robin breathed out a relenting sigh, then nodded, gently patting Remus's shoulder. Remus then turned to Regina, who had been silently fighting back tears. He quickly stepped up to her, gently taking her hands in both of his.
"Regina, I have to do this." He whispered determinedly. "If she really is still alive, then I have to find a way to save her."
Regina hesitated for a moment, gazing into Remus's blood red eyes, the same shade that Shae's had been. She then nodded slowly, biting her lip as tears leaked down her face. Remus gave her a weak smile, and nodded back. As Remus re-entered the hole he had dug over Shae's grave, Regina turned away, walking a few steps forward, away from her true love's resting place. She jumped suddenly, startled when she felt a hand on her shoulder.
"Are you alright?" Robin Hood asked her, his eyes full of concern.
Regina nodded, biting her lip again as she fought back more tears. "I-I just… If Remus really is wrong…" She stammered quietly, her voice quavering with emotion. "I can't… I can't see her like that."
Robin nodded solemnly. "I understand." He replied softly. "I truly am sorry, Regina. True love is such a rare thing to come across in this life, and to lose it… Well, needless to say I wouldn't wish it even upon my worst enemy."
Robin gently took Regina's hand, smiling sadly into her eyes. "I truly hope that Remus is right, and that you can have your true love again."
As Regina stared into Robin Hood's bright blue eyes, her heart suddenly lurched, and she felt the same pull toward him that she had felt before. For a moment, the heartache she felt over Shae's loss was suddenly lifted. For the first time in days, she felt herself smile as she stared into the eyes of the man with the lion tattoo, the man that could have saved her from becoming The Evil Queen all those years ago.
"Regina!" Emma suddenly called out. "You're gonna want to see this!"
Regina and Robin both turned around, and found the others all huddled around Shae's open grave, all their eyes as wide as saucers. They rushed over to join them, and when Regina stared down into Shae's now open coffin, she gasped audibly, clapping her hands over her mouth. Remus had been right after all. Even though she had been dead for several days now, Shae's body showed no signs of decay whatsoever. She looked as if she were only sleeping in her casket.
"My god…" Robin breathed, his eyes growing wide with shock as well. "Remus, you were right."
"Of course I was!" Remus announced proudly.
"W-What do we do now?" Asked Mary Margaret.
"Mother Superior." David answered quickly, placing a hand on his wife's shoulder. "She'll know what to do."
Remus nodded hastily, and seized both of Shae's arms, grunting slightly as he hoisted his friend's lifeless body out of her casket, slinging her over his shoulder. Robin Hood left his Merry Men as they returned to their camp, and joined Emma, Regina, and Remus in Emma's car. Regina sat in the back seat with Remus, Shae's lifeless body sitting between them, slumped sideways into her lap. She slowly and gently ran her quivering fingers through Shae's messy black hair, her heart racing, her eyes streaming with tears. She hoped against hope that The Blue Fairy would have some answers, that she would find some way to return her true love to her.
Mother Superior was slightly agitated to be awoken in the middle of the night, but once they all explained to her why they had come, she quickly changed her tone, and allowed them inside the convent. She led them to a small, empty room, and Remus laid Shae carefully down onto the bed. They all watched anxiously as Mother Superior slowly waved her wand back and forth over Shae's body. When she was finished, she continued to stare silently down at her, brow furrowed in apparent confusion.
"Well?" Regina asked anxiously. "Is she still alive?"
Mother Superior slowly turned her gaze onto Regina, brow still furrowed in confusion. "I'm afraid the question isn't that simple." She replied quietly. "The answer even less so."
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Regina snapped irritably.
"Indeed, now is hardly the time for riddles." Said Remus, his tone just as agitated as Regina's.
Mother Superior sighed heavily. "Well, it is as you suspected." She replied, nodding at Remus. "Shae's spirit has left this world, but it is still somehow… Tethered here, to her body."
"What exactly does that mean?" Emma asked, looking confused.
"I… I'm not quite sure." Mother Superior replied, slowly shaking her head. "It seems that she is not quite dead, but not quite alive either. She is somehow… In between."
Silence fell over the room for a few moments, and they all stared around at each other in silent shock and confusion. "So… What do we do?" Remus asked, breaking the silence. "How do we save her?"
Mother Superior slowly shook her head once again. "I don't know, I'm sorry." She replied sadly. "I've never seen anything quite like this before."
"Well, I don't know much about magic…" Robin Hood began slowly. "But, as I said before, it seems that the heart is the key for you vampires, yes?"
"Yes, yes, what exactly are you getting at?" Remus replied hastily.
"Right, then, I would assume that somehow restoring Shae's heart would… Restore her life… Right?" Robin went on, looking to Mother Superior.
Mother Superior bit her lip, giving them all a small shrug. "I… I can't be certain, but… Yes, I would assume that would work."
"How the hell do we do that?" Asked Emma.
They all suddenly looked to Regina, staring at her expectantly. "Well, I certainly have no idea." Regina said with a small snort. "My magic specializes in tearing out hearts, not restoring them."
"There has to be a way." Remus muttered, staring helplessly down at Shae's lifeless body.
"Regina, what about all those spellbooks you have in your vault?" Mary Margaret asked. "Couldn't there be something in one of them that could help?"
"I… I'm not sure, I suppose so." Regina replied uncertainly.
"Yes, that's an idea." Remus said, glancing up from his friend's body, his blood red eyes shining with hope. "Belle has shown me dozens of books on magic at the library. There could even be something in one of those."
"I have a few books here as well." Mother Superior offered. "I'll have my fellow fairies gather them and bring them here right away."
"Really? You're going to help her?" Regina asked, raising a skeptical eyebrow at Mother Superior.
"Yes, of course." Mother Superior replied with a determined nod. "We may have had our differences in the past, but Shae nearly sacrificed her life to save this town, twice now. I will do everything in my power to restore her to life, I promise."
Mother Superior then promptly turned on her heel, and marched from the room. The others then all turned to Remus, who was slowly stroking the thin layer of stubble on his chin as he thought.
"Right, we'll start with the books here." He muttered, then turned to Regina. "Then we'll move on to the books from your vault. I'll have Belle gather the ones from the library first thing in the morning. I'd rather not wake her now, the poor girl's been through enough already."
"Remus, I'm sorry but… We still need to find Zelena." David said slowly. "We can't just drop everything to look through a bunch of dusty old books."
"Fine, fine, you all go witch hunting." Remus replied, waving his hand unconcernedly. "The Blue Fairy said she'll help, and I'm certain Belle will as well. Perhaps I'll ask Tinkerbell, and that wolf girl too. Perhaps even that rude little man and his brothers will be willing to help as well."
"You mean the dwarves?" Regina asked, breathing out a small laugh. "Yes, they have taken a liking to Shae ever since they fought Van Helsing's wife together."
"Then it's settled." Remus announced with a nod. "You lot go find Zelena, and bring that damned witch to justice."
Remus then turned to Regina, placing both his hands firmly on her shoulders. "I will find a way to save her, Regina." He told her determinedly. "I failed to save my sister, and I have lived with that failure every day of my life since. I will not fail again."
Regina bit her lip, fighting back tears as she stared down at the woman she loved, lying still and lifeless on the bed. She then turned her gaze back onto Remus, and nodded. Remus nodded back, and Emma, her parents, and Robin Hood all exited the room, giving Remus and Regina a moment alone with the woman they both loved so very dearly. Regina sat on the edge of the bed, tears leaking out of her eyes as she pressed a kiss on Shae's cold, pale forehead. Remus knelt down on the other side of the bed, and took Shae's hand in both of his.
"I will find a way to save you, my friend." He whispered to her. "I promise."
XX
The days went by in a chaotic blur as, just as they had all planned, Emma, her parents, and Regina continued their hunt for The Wicked Witch of the West. Zelena was quite crafty, and continued to slip through their fingers again and again, all the while gathering very specific ingredients for a very specific spell. Eventually, they all deduced exactly what sort of spell Zelena was planning on casting, a spell that went against the very nature of magic itself. Zelena was going to go back in time, supposedly to change her own fate. She had already managed to gather two of the ingredients she needed for her spell; Prince Charming's courage, and Rumplestiltskin's brain. They weren't sure what else she would need to collect, but they did know that Zelena had been after one thing since arriving in Storybrooke; David and Mary Margaret's baby.
While the others attempted to stop Zelena, Remus kept to his own plan, and spent his days and sleepless nights at the convent with Mother Superior and the other fairies, carefully searching through the dozens of books on magic and sorcery that Belle, Regina, and Mother Superior were able to find. Just as Remus had suspected, Belle immediately offered to help, as did Ruby, Tinkerbell, The Seven Dwarves, and even Granny. They all spent countless hours pouring over book after book, tome after tome, trying every spell, incantation, and potion that they could. After they continued to fail time and again, they enlisted Dr. Whale's help, but even the brilliant scientific mind of the famous Dr. Frankenstein was of no use. They had exhausted every resource they had to try and bring Shae back from the brink of death, there was nothing left to try. It seemed that Shae was doomed to remain in her undead state.
After another long and tiring day of attempting to hunt down her sister, Regina stopped by the convent to check up on Remus's progress, just as she had every night since they had removed Shae's body from her grave. When she entered the room where Shae was being kept, she was startled to find that it was filled with people, all looking somber. Mother Superior was inside, along with Belle, Ruby, Tink, and also Emma. There was one person that seemed to be missing from the group; Remus.
"What's going on here?" Regina asked of the women gathered around Shae's bed. "Where's Remus?"
Nobody spoke right away, and Regina stared around at all their sorrowful faces. Emma then got up from the edge of Shae's bed where she had been sitting, and slowly walked up to Regina.
"Regina, I'm sorry." She said quietly. "Remus, he's… He's gone."
"Gone?" Regina asked, brow furrowed in confusion. "Gone where?"
"He… He left Storybrooke." Emma replied. "He gave me this to give to you."
Regina took the scrap of paper that Emma held out to her, and slowly unfolded it with shaky hands. Scrawled across the page in Remus's handwriting was a short and simple message, a message that caused Regina's heart to sink deep into her stomach:
Regina,
I'm sorry. I've failed. Again.
"W-What?" She breathed, slowly shaking her head. "Failed? I-I don't… I don't understand."
"We've tried everything." Belle said as she also shook her head.
"We've cast every spell, brewed every potion we could." Said Mother Superior.
"Even Dr. Whale couldn't help." Ruby muttered miserably.
"I don't understand." Regina repeated herself. "What exactly are you saying? A-And Remus, where has he gone?"
"Well, when I ran into him at the edge of town, I told him to go to New York." Emma answered, her hazel green eyes full of sorrow. "I'm sorry, Regina, I tried to convince him to stay, I really did. But he said he just… Couldn't. He couldn't face Shae, face you, knowing that he'd… He'd failed to save her."
"New York?" Regina exclaimed angrily. "Why the hell would you send him there? Emma, he's not from this world, he has no idea how-"
"It's alright, he's gonna be fine." Emma gently interjected. "I gave him the names and address of some friends that Shae and I made in the year that we were there. They're good people, they'll take care of him."
Regina opened her mouth to retort, but shut it again as a hard lump suddenly formed in her throat, her mind finally processing what exactly they were telling her. She bit her lip, fighting back tears as she glanced over at the lifeless body of the woman she loved. She slowly glanced back at Emma, who was silently watching her, her own eyes shining with tears.
"So… So there's no hope?" Regina asked quietly, her voice quavering with emotion. "Shae, she's… She's just… Stuck like this?"
"We're going to keep looking, Regina, we promise." Tinkerbelle told her gently.
"Of course." Belle agreed with a nod. "We'll go through all the books again, but… But I… I don't…"
Belle stammered into silence, and Tink gently wrapped an arm around her friend's shoulders as tears began to leak down her cheeks. Regina slowly walked over to Shae's bed, her whole body beginning to tremble. She sank down onto her knees, staring at the peaceful, lifeless face of the woman she loved, the woman she had been prepared to marry, to spend the rest of her life with. She took Shae's cold, pale hand in both of her own, placing a gentle kiss on her knuckles.
"Oh, Shae… Please…" Regina whispered, tears streaming out of her eyes. "Please… Come back to me."
The other five women all watched with miserable, heavy hearts as Regina buried her face in the crook of Shae's arm, her body shaking with bitter sobs. Mother Superior, Belle, Tink, and Ruby all slowly filed from the room, but Emma remained behind with Regina. She sank down onto the floor beside her, slowly and hesitantly reaching out, gently rubbing her back. Regina didn't react to Emma's touch, and continued to sob into Shae's arm, her tears soaking into Shae's favorite black leather jacket that she had been buried in. Emma sat by Regina's side, crying with her for a long while. Finally, Regina's tears subsided, and she slowly rose to her feet, her clenched fists trembling as she stared down at Shae's still and lifeless body.
"Regina…" Emma said carefully as she got up from the floor. "Are you alright?"
"No." Regina whispered, slowly turning her tear stained face onto Emma. "But I can't just sit here, I will not rest until I find my sister."
Emma drew back a step as Regina's lips curled into a fearsome snarl, her brown eyes flashing with such immense fury that it gave Emma instant chills.
"Zelena is going to pay for what she's done to Shae." Regina went on in an even but dangerous tone. "I will destroy her."
XX
The hunt for The Wicked Witch of the West went on for weeks and weeks, but Zelena remained quietly out of sight, patiently waiting for Mary Margaret to deliver her baby, the baby that was one more ingredient she needed to cast her time spell. Regina and the others attempted to confront her at her farm house several times, but were thwarted by Rumplestiltskin, who was still under The Wicked Witch's control. While Zelna remained ever elusive, the cure to Shae's undead state was even more so. Belle and the others continued to scan through the books that they had already read countless times, but to no avail. Shae remained in her lifeless state, lost to them all, possibly forever.
Within the chaos of attempting to stop Zelena, something completely unexpected occured for both Emma and Regina, the two people who had both loved and cared for Shae the most. As much as she tried to deny it, Emma couldn't help the feelings that she was developing for Killian Jones, aka Captain Hook. Meanwhile, Regina herself began to fall head over heels in love all over again, this time with Robin Hood, her other true love.
Regina tried to resist her feelings for the man with the lion tattoo, tried to stay as far away from him as she could. But it seemed that, with Shae utterly lost to her, fate was determined to draw them together. After sharing a kiss one night in Robin Hood's camp, Regina fell helplessly and irrevocably into his strong but gentle arms. Her heart still ached terribly over Shae's loss, ached with guilt over her feelings for Robin Hood, but Robin's gentle and uncommon kindness helped her through it all. Regina was continually astonished by the thief's kindness and patience, and by his love for her. When Shae had first fallen in love with her, her and Regina had been kindred souls, their hearts consumed by darkness and revenge. Shae had fallen in love with The Evil Queen, but Robin had fallen in love with her.
Robin was patient and understanding about the feelings she still had for Shae, even more so when he learned that he was Regina's other true love. She enjoyed spending time with Roland as well, Robin Hood's son. Though he was just a small boy, he had the same gentle kindness that his father did. With her own son unable to remember who she was, she was comforted by her time with Roland. Slowly, with Robin by her side, and Roland too, she was starting to heal. She was even beginning to repair her relationship with Snow White, the step-daughter that she had loathed and despised for years. Robin's love gave her a certain strength that she had never felt before, and she was finally starting to feel something that she hadn't felt since Shae's murder; Happiness.
As Mary Margaret's due date loomed ever closer, Regina and the others knew that breaking the curse that Zelena had cast could possibly hold the key to defeating her. They deduced that they key to breaking the curse was none other than Henry. He had the heart of the truest believer, and they thought that if they restored his memories, if he believed again, they could finally be free of The Wicked Witch's curse.
Regina, Robin, Emma, and her parents hunted down Henry's storybook, the book that had caused him to believe in fairytales in the first place, the book that had started it all. They found Henry at the boathouse down by the harbor, along with Captain Hook. A soon as the book touched Henry's hands, a pulsewave of magic emmenated out of it. It had worked, they had successfully restored the boy's memories to him. Henry finally remembered Regina, he finally remembered that she was his mother.
"I will never let you go again." Regina whispered to her son, her eyes shining with grateful tears. "I love you, Henry."
Regina took Henry's face in her hands, and placed a gentle kiss on his forehead. She immediately leapt back, gasping in shock as another magical pulsewave shot out from around her lips. Suddenly, memories of the past year flashed before her eyes. Arriving in The Enchanted Forest, finding Zelena in her castle, finding out she was her sister, meeting Robin Hood, and finding Remus amongst his Merry Men. Her heart ached with sorrow as she remembered the past year she had spent with Remus. He had been by her side the whole time, helping her through her sorrow over losing Shae and Henry. She remembered that after she had successfully broken into her castle, she had been prepared to put herself under a sleeping curse in attempt to quell the aching misery in her heart. Remus had convinced her not to do it, convinced her to carry on, insisted that she would one day find her way back to Shae. Remus had been right after all, but at a horrible cost.
"It wasn't me." Emma breathed, her eyes wide as saucers. "It was you."
Emma then turned to her parents, who were both smiling joyfully at each other. "D-Did it work?" She asked them. "Do you guys remember the missing year?"
"Yes." Mary Margaret answered, her eyes shining with joyful tears as she looked upon her daughter. "Everything, all of it."
"So, how did The Wicked Witch cast her curse, then?" Captain Hook asked.
Mary Margaret and David both exchanged a silent, knowing glance with Regina, who still had her arms wrapped around Henry, grateful tears spilling down her face.
"She didn't." David finally replied. "We did."
Emma and Hook's jaws both dropped open in shock. "What?" Asked Hook.
"You… Cursed yourselves?" Asked Emma, looking just as baffled as Hook.
"Zelena's weakness is light magic." Mary Margaret said, still smiling warmly at her daughter. "And you have the strongest light magic of all. You're the only one who can defeat her."
"That's why we paid the price of Regina's curse." David said, smiling as well as he wrapped an arm around his wife's shoulders. "To get back to you."
"W-Wait… Wait a minute." Emma stammered, slowly shaking her head. "The price is the heart of the thing you love most, right? Then how are both of you still alive?"
"True love always finds a way." Mary Margaret replied, gently squeezing her husband's hand.
Regina suddenly cleared her throat, turning to her son, placing her hand on his shoulder. "Henry, there's someone I'd like you to meet." She said, gesturing to Robin. "This is Robin. Robin Hood."
"Pleasure to meet you, Henry." Robin said with a smile, holding out his hand to Henry.
Henry smiled back, shaking Robin Hood's outstretched hand. He suddenly gasped when he saw the tattoo on Robin's arm, and he stared up at the thief with wide, bewildered eyes.
"It's you!" He exclaimed, smiling excitedly. "Y-You're… You're the man with the lion tattoo!"
"Yes, apparently so." Robin said with a laugh, wrapping his arm around Regina's shoulders. "Although, I have to say, things between us during the missing year were a bit… Rocky, don't you think?"
Regina laughed too. "Yes, well, you're just much more likeable here in Storybrooke."
Suddenly, the excited smile faded from Henry's face. "W-Wait… What about Shae?" He asked, his eyes growing wide with horror. "Was… Was that all real? Her funeral, a-and my dad's? They're… They're really dead?"
Their hearts all sunk as Henry's panic stricken eyes welled with tears. "Yeah, kid." Emma replied quietly. "I'm afraid so."
"Wait a minute!" Mary Margaret exclaimed, her eyes with with a sudden realization. "We might not be able to do anything for Neal, but I think we can save Shae."
"Save her?" Henry asked. "Save her from what?"
"Well, from death. Sort of." Mary Margaret replied, and when Henry continued to look utterly perplexed, she went on. "Shae's heart was crushed by Zelena, but we found out that it didn't actually kill her, at least not fully. Her spirit is still tethered to her body, and she's been… Stuck, somewhere between life and death."
"Really?" Henry breathed, his horrified eyes suddenly turning hopeful. "Then… Then we have to save her! H-How do we save her?"
"I used David's heart to cast the curse." Mary Margaret explained, placing a hand on her husband's arm. "But after he, well… Died, I had Regina split my heart in half, and it saved him. Regina, I think… I think that if you do the same thing with your own heart, it can save Shae."
A stunned silence fell over the group gathered inside the boat house. They all turned their eyes onto Regina, whose mouth was gaping open in shock.
"Oh my god…" Regina breathed, her voice barely above a whisper. "I… I think… I think you're right."
"Really?" Asked Emma.
"Yes, I think so." Regina replied, gazing around at them all, eyes wide. "The night we found Remus digging up Shae's body, I… I had a dream, a dream about Shae. She told me that she wasn't really gone, just… Lost. And I could find her again, by… By using my heart."
"Well, that confirms it then." David said, breathing out a surprised laugh. "Regina, you can bring her back. You can save her."
Regina nodded, an excited smile slowly spreading across her face. But, as soon as it came, it faded. She turned to Robin, opening and closing her mouth several times, but was unable to find any words to say to him. Mary Margaret sensed her confliction, and she rushed forward, gripping Regina's hands tightly.
"Regina, I know you're with Robin now, and that makes it all complicated." Mary Margaret said in a rush. "But you heard what Blue said, you saw her for yourself. She's… Stuck. She's still your true love, well… One of them, anyway. I think your true love can save her, just like mine and David's saved him."
Regina simply stared at Mary Margaret in silence, then back at Robin, her heart hammering in her chest. She then turned her gaze onto her son as Henry grabbed her arm, his eyes shining with tears.
"Mom, please, you have to try!" Henry pleaded with her. "Shae's my… My friend, you can't just leave her… Stuck!"
Robin then placed his hand gently on her shoulder, nodding at her in agreement. "Your boy's right, Regina." He said quietly, smiling sadly. "You have to try."
Regina stared into Robin Hood's bright blue eyes as he continued to smile at her. She then swallowed the hard lump that had suddenly formed in her throat, biting back the tears that were welling into her eyes. She then turned back to her son, and nodded.
"Of course, Henry." She whispered, gently placing her hand on his cheek. "Of course, I'll try."
XX
A short while later, they had all gathered around Shae's bedside at the convent, along with Belle, Ruby, Tink, and Mother Superior, who had been busy pouring over all the books on magic in attempt to restore Shae to life. When the others arrived and told them of their plan, they were all filled with hope, and were waiting patiently as Regina quietly conversed with Robin Hood just outside the room.
"Robin, if this actually does work, well, I… I don't know." She stammered, slowly shaking her head. "I don't know what's going to happen, what I'll do, I… I just-"
"It's alright." Robin cut in, gently placing his hand on her shoulder. "Having two true loves is uncommonly… Complicated."
Regina nodded, biting her lip as she fought back more tears. Robin then cupped his hand under her chin, tilting her head up so that she was gazing into his bright blue eyes.
"Regina, you know how I feel about you." He whispered, smiling into her eyes. "And I know how you feel about Shae. You still love her, and she loves you, quite fiercely, from what I've seen. Just know that whatever you choose to do, I will stand by you, no matter what."
Regina breathed out a surprised laugh, slowly shaking her head bewilderedly. She was continually surprised time and again by Robin's uncommon kindness and patience.
"Oh, Robin." She whispered, placing her hands gently on either side of his face. "You truly are a remarkable man."
Robin smiled again, leaning forward, pressing a light kiss on her lips. He then nodded at her, and she nodded back, turning around and entering the room where the others were waiting.
"You ready?" Emma asked her.
Regina nodded, and they all parted for her as she stepped up next to Shae's bed. For a moment she simply stared down at Shae's still and lifeless face, suddenly overcome with emotion. This was the first time she had seen Shae since she had kissed Robin Hood, and fell hopelessly and helplessly in love with him. Even though Shae was unconscious, trapped between life and death, she still couldn't bare to face her. Now that she was possibly about to wake her by placing half of her own heart inside her chest, the guilt she felt over Robin weighed immeasurably upon her.
"Mom?" Henry said quietly, eyeing her expectantly.
Regina wiped away the tears that had suddenly leaked onto her face, nodding again. "Yes… Yes, I'm ready."
They all watched as Regina took a deep, steadying breath, then grunted, her face twisting in pain as she reached into her own chest, tearing out her heart. She grunted again, wincing in pain as she twisted it, ripping it apart into two halves. Her hands trembled as she stared down at Shae, holding the now two halves of her heart. She then took another steadying breath, and leaned forward, placing one half of her heart back in her own chest, the other into Shae's.
Regina drew back a few steps, and they all held their breath, waiting and watching for any sign of movement from Shae. They stood in silence for a few impossibly long moments, but nothing was happening. Shae didn't move, her eyes didn't open. It seemed that it hadn't worked.
"No…" Henry muttered, his eyes welling with tears.
"Oh, Henry…" Regina whispered to her son. "Henry, I'm so sorry."
Henry slowly turned to his mother, his face panic stricken. "W-What do we do now?"
"I… I don't know, Henry." Regina replied, her tone soft and miserable. "I don't think-"
"Woah!" David suddenly shouted.
Henry whirled around, and drew in a startled gasp, as did everyone else in the room. Shae was now sitting up in her bed, her blood red eyes wide open. They all watched in silence as she continued to stare straight ahead, her gaping eyes hazy and unfocused. They all held their breath, watching, waiting for her to move, to speak.
"Shae?" Henry breathed, taking a small step toward her.
At the utterance of her name, Shae blinked several times, her eyes finally focusing as she was roused from her momentary trance. Her eyes then grew wide with shock, and her brow furrowed in confusion as she finally noticed the boy standing before her.
"Henry?" She asked.
"Shae!" Henry cried out. "You're alive!"
"Oh, thank god!" Emma exclaimed.
Henry leapt upon the bed, throwing his arms around the startled and confused vampire. Emma wrapped her arms around both Shae and her son, choking out a grateful and joyous sob as her eyes streamed with tears. After a few moments, Emma and Henry vacated the bed, and Shae stared around at all of them, remaining in baffled silence as they all took turns embracing her. Even Mother Superior gave her a tight hug, which seemed to confuse Shae even more.
"W-What? What is happening right now?" She asked, finally finding her voice. "A-Are you hugging me?"
Mother Superior suddenly released Shae, taking a step back and clearing her throat awkwardly. "Yes, well, I-I'm just happy to see you alive and well."
"We all are." Mary Margaret said, pulling Shae into a gentle but tight embrace, placing a kiss on the side of her head.
"My mom, she broke the curse!" Henry told Shae excitedly, bouncing up and down as he shook her arm. "I remember! I remember everything!"
"Y-You do?" Shae asked, then glanced around at everyone's smiling, misty eyed faces. "Cool… Cool, cool… That's cool… Yeah, uh… I feel like I'm missing something here."
"I think that's the understatement of the century." Ruby said with a laugh.
Shae's brow furrowed again in confusion as everyone else laughed as well. "So… W-What exactly is going on here?" She asked slowly. "I-I feel… Weird. Why do I feel weird? What's happening?"
"Shae, it's alright, you're alright." Emma said gently, sitting down next to her on the bed.
"What exactly is the last thing you remember?" Belle asked concernedly.
They all watched expectantly as Shae stared down at the ground, rubbing her forehead as she thought. "Uh… I-I remember… Zelena, she had my heart." She finally replied. "A-And she was trying to… To make me kill Regina."
Shae suddenly gasped, her eyes full of panic. "Oh god! I-I remember everything, I-I could see what I was doing but I… I couldn't stop myself! Oh Jesus…"
"Shae, it's alright." Emma said gently, soothingly rubbing her arm. "Just stay calm, ok? What else do you remember?"
Shae nodded, squeezing her eyes shut as she pondered once again. "Right, uh… Oh! Regina, she… She kissed me, and broke Zelena's spell!" She said, smiling excitedly. Her smile then faded, and she placed a shaky hand over her heart. "A-And then… Pain… I-In… My chest…"
Shae trailed off into silence, her blood red eyes growing wide with horror. "Oh shit… Zelena… She crushed my heart, didn't she?" She whispered, staring around at everyone. "I… I died, I-I was dead, wasn't I?"
"Um… Well, yes, kind of." Mary Margaret said slowly. "Since your heart wasn't pierced with silver or set on fire, you didn't actually die, not fully."
"You've sort of been… Stuck, somewhere between life and death." Emma told her gently. "Remus figured it all out, and he, well… Dug you up, and brought you here."
"Remus…" Shae whispered, hastily scanning the room with her eyes. "Where is he? Is he ok?"
"Yeah, he's fine." Emma answered. "He's um… He's in New York."
Shae's brow furrowed in confusion once again. "Say what now?"
"When he couldn't figure out how to save you, he… He left." Emma went on. "Don't worry, he's fine. I sent him to Terry and Rosa. I had to tell them that he's from some weird country in Europe, but they bought it. They're taking good care of him, I promise."
Shae nodded slowly, her eyes still wide as she processed everything they were telling her. "Right, ok… So… H-How exactly did you guys save me?"
"We didn't, Regina did." Mary Margaret said with a smile. "She, um… Oh…"
Mary Margaret glanced over her shoulder, and then around the rest of the room. The others all followed suit, and the smiles faded from their faces. In all the excitement, none of them had noticed that Regina was now gone, along with Robin Hood. Mary Margaret exchanged an anxious glance with Emma, who bit her lip, staring down at the floor.
"What? She what?" Shae asked of them.
"She… Used her own heart." David answered slowly. "She split it in half, and put part of it into you. Just like Mary Margaret did with her heart, after we cast the curse."
"Wait… What?" Shae breathed, her blood red eyes as wide as saucers. "You guys cast the curse? A-And… Regina's heart is… I-It's…"
"Inside you, yeah." Emma said with a nod.
Shae swallowed hard, placing a hand on her own chest. She then scanned the crowd of people gathered in the room, frowning when she didn't see Regina.
"Where is Regina?" She asked, looking concerned. "I-Is she alright?"
"Yeah, she's… She's fine." Mary Margaret said slowly. "She's just, um… Well…"
Mary Margaret bit her lip, exchanging an anxious glance with her husband. She then sighed, and sat down on Shae's other side, gently placing her hand on her arm.
"Shae, there's something we need to tell you." Mary Margaret went on quietly. "And I just… I need you to stay calm, ok?"
Shae nodded hastily. "Right, calm, I'm calm."
Mary Margaret sighed again, nodding as well. "Right, ok, so… You… You know Robin Hood, right?" When Shae nodded again, she went on. "Good, ok, so… A long time ago, back in The Enchanted Forest, Tinkerbell cast a spell on Regina-"
"Mary Margaret, she knows." Tink interjected, her tone heavy with sadness. "I… I told her everything."
Mary Margaret raised her eyebrows at the fairy in shock. "Oh! Oh, I see."
"Snow, what… What are you saying?" Shae asked, her eyes wider than ever. "What about Robin Hood?"
Mary Margaret exchanged another glance with her husband, then Emma, trying to come up with a way to tell Shae that the woman she loved was now in love with someone else. When she came up short, Belle stepped in.
"Shae, you have to understand, you were… Gone. Dead, technically, sort of." Belle stammered anxiously. "We tried everything, but we truly didn't think we'd ever find a way to save you."
"Mary Margaret didn't even get the idea to use Regina's heart until after the curse was broken." David threw in.
The shocked and confused expression on Shae's face suddenly turned to anger. She shakily clambered out of the bed and onto her feet, whirling around to face all of them.
"What the hell are you guys trying to say?" She demanded fiercely.
"Shae, Regina's with Robin Hood now." Emma said quickly, finally and bluntly breaking the news to Shae.
A deafening silence fell over the room as they all watched Shae warily. The vampire simply stared at Emma for a few moments, her bottom lip trembling as her mouth gaped open. She then turned her gaze onto everyone else in the room, and when they all refused to meet her eye, her blood red eyes began to well with tears.
"What?" She breathed, her voice barely above a whisper.
"They've just started seeing each other." Ruby said, her voice heavy with sadness. "But it's, you know… Pretty serious, I guess."
"No…" Shae whispered, vigorously shaking her head. "No, no, no…"
"Shae, just listen, ok?" Emma said gently, getting up from the bed.
"No, no, no…" Shae muttered, tears now spilling down her face.
"Shae, just stay calm." David said, placing his hand on Shae's shoulder.
Shae jerked out of David's grip, her head spinning wildly. She saw Emma and the others drawing closer to her, saw their lips moving, but the deafening ringing in her ears drowned out their words. She backed out of the room, her whole body shaking, and, suddenly, she was running. She raced out of the convent, disappearing in a black blur of motion as she sprinted off down the street. The others all gave chase after her, slowing to a stop in the middle of the street when they realized that she was gone.
"Where the bloody hell is she going?" Asked Captain Hook, glancing at Emma fearfully.
"I'm guessing to go find Regina." Emma replied. "She's probably at her house. Come on, we gotta hurry."
XX
Shae's legs shook beneath her as she raced through the streets of Storybrooke. She didn't stop running until she reached Regina's house, and she pounded her fist into the front door. She waited in silence, her head spinning wildly, her whole body trembling. When the door finally opened, a hard lump suddenly formed in her throat as she saw Regina standing on the other side. Neither of them spoke for a moment, and Regina simply stared up into Shae's blood red eyes, her own instantly welling with tears. She slowly reached out, placing a quivering hand on Shae's cold, pale cheek.
"Shae…" Regina whispered, tears spilling from her eyes. "It… It's you… You're alive."
Shae nodded slowly, placing own shaky hand on top of Regina's, tears streaming down her face. Regina opened and closed her mouth several times, unable to speak, unable to find any words to say to her true love that had just been dead, her true love that she had betrayed. Shae suddenly reached out, grabbing Regina by her hips and pulling her into her arms. Regina choked out a sob, wrapping her arms tightly around Shae's neck as she kissed her. For a moment, just a moment, she forgot all about Robin Hood, her other true love. She was so grateful to have Shae back, to be in her loving arms once again. She then remembered what it felt like to be in Robin's strong but gentle embrace. She remembered his piercing blue eyes, the way her heart fluttered when he smiled. She suddenly broke away from Shae's lips, her heart heavy with guilt and shame.
"Oh, Shae…" She whispered, gently removing herself from Shae's arms, her heart aching with sorrow. "Shae, there's… There's something I need to tell you."
Shae took a small step back, staring at Regina with wide, miserable eyes. "So it's true." She breathed, her voice shaking with emotion. "You and… And Robin Hood."
Regina bit her lip, fighting back more tears as she stared up into Shae's heartbroken, blood red eyes. "Shae, listen it's… It's complicated." She said quietly. "A long time ago, Tinkerbell cast a spell on me to-"
"Yeah, yeah, I know, I fucking know." Shae spat angrily, wiping the tears away from her face. "Tink told me all about it. He's… He's your other true love."
For a moment, Regina simply gaped at Shae in surprise. Her lips then curled into a fierce snarl, and she silently seethed over the fact that Tinkerbell had told Shae her secret. She then shook her head, putting the fairy from her mind and turning her attention back onto Shae.
"So… So then you understand." She stammered, taking both of Shae's hands in her own and gripping them tight. "You have to understand just how complicated this all is."
"I don't understand anything, Regina." Shae snarled, ripping her hands out of Regina's grip. "I don't understand how you could FUCKING DO THIS TO ME!"
Regina gasped, drawing back a step at Shae's sudden outburst. She placed her hands over her mouth, biting back another sob as tears began to stream down her face. Shae's blood red eyes were now filled with pure fury, her clenched fists trembling with rage.
"Shae… Shae, you were gone." Regina whispered, her voice quavering with emotion. "Y-You… You were dead."
"NO! No, I fucking wasn't!" Shae shouted, pointing an accusing finger at her. "Emma and Snow told me all about how I've been stuck somewhere between life and death this whole time. But you thought it was ok to go fuck somebody else anyway!"
"It's not like that!" Regina shouted back through another sob. "Shae, he's my true love too! He… H-He's-"
"I DON'T CARE!" Shae roared, bearing down upon Regina, her blood red eyes flashing with rage. "I was the one that stood by you for years! I was by your side through everything, NOT HIM!"
"Shae, please… You don't understand…"
"He's nothing but a stupid ass thief with a bow, no powers, no way to even begin to protect you!"
"He's a good man, Shae!" Regina cried desperately, reaching out and gripping the front of Shae's jacket with quivering hands. "H-He's kind and he's patient, he's never even seen The Evil Queen that I was. All he sees is… Is me!"
Shae placed her hands on top of Regina's, squeezing them both tight. Her hands shook, and her face twisted in sorrow as she stared into Regina's eyes.
"I only see you, Regina." She whispered shakily, more tears leaking out of her eyes. "I've only ever seen you. I didn't fall in love with The Evil Queen, I fell in love with you."
Regina's bottom lip trembled as her mouth gaped open. She stared silently into the blood red eyes of her true love, and watched miserably as Shae's face twisted in sorrow again as she choked out a sob. Shae then leaned forward, gently pressing her forehead to Regina's.
"I fell in love with you, Regina." She whispered, slowly reaching out and caressing Regina's cheek with a trembling hand. "I… I fell in love with you."
Shae kissed her again, her whole body shaking as she held Regina close. Regina tried desperately to enjoy Shae's embrace, but Robin Hood's bright blue eyes kept flashing before her. She sobbed against Shae's lips, and pushed her away, leaning into the doorway as her knees trembled. Shae gaped silently at her, and Regina's heart ached with misery at the heartbroken look in her true love's eyes.
"Oh, Shae… Shae, I'm so sorry…" She whispered desperately.
Shae breathed out a bitter, sour laugh, slowly shaking her head. "Right, yeah, of course you are." She spat scathingly, wiping more tears from her face. "As if that makes everything better."
Regina sobbed again as Shae turned away from her, stepping down off her porch and out into the morning sunlight. She fell to her knees in her own doorway, her whole body trembling with bitter, miserable sobs. Just as Shae was stomping down the sidewalk in front of Regina's house, Emma came rushing up to her, followed closely by David, Mary Margaret, and Captain Hook.
"Shae! Hey, are you alright?" Emma asked her breathlessly.
"No, no I'm not fucking alright." Shae snarled, not even looking at her as she continued walking.
"Shae, wait! Where are you going?" Emma said pleadingly, grabbing Shae's arm.
"DON'T FUCKING TOUCH ME!" Shae roared at her.
Emma gasped in fright, stumbling backward into her parents as she stared into Shae's pained and furious eyes. Shae yanked her arm out of Emma's grip, and Hook hastily leapt out of her way as she continued on down the sidewalk. Suddenly, her body disappeared in a black blur of motion as she sped off down the street, and was gone.
"Where the hell is she going now?" Hook asked, breathing out a frustrated sigh.
"Oh shit… Regina!" Emma suddenly shouted.
Once they finally noticed Regina sobbing on her knees in her doorway, they all gasped in alarm. They sprinted toward the house, and Emma was the first to reach her.
"Regina!" Emma cried, kneeling down in front of Regina and grabbing her by her shoulders. "Regina, are you ok? Did she hurt you?"
Regina shook her head, gripping Emma's arms with trembling hands, staring at her with wide, fearful eyes. "Robin." She whispered shakily. "W-We… We have to go to Robin, have to find him before… B-Before Shae does."
"What?" David breathed, his eyes growing wide with shock. "You don't really think she'd hurt him… Would she?"
"Well, if I had suddenly returned from death's door to find the woman I loved in the arms of another…" Hook began, eyeing them all darkly. "Aye, I'd certainly want to tear the blaggard limb from limb."
"Where is Robin now?" Mary Margaret asked in a panicked rush.
"I sent him back to his camp after Shae woke up." Regina answered, shakily getting back to her feet with Emma's help. "I… I didn't know how she'd react when she found out, what she'd do."
"Honestly, right now, I wouldn't put anything past her." Emma said, staring around at all of them gravely. "Come on, let's go."
XX
Shae stomped through the woods, leaves and twigs snapping under her feet, a deep, seething rage boiling inside her chest. When she approached Robin Hood's camp, she found his Merry Men already armed and ready for her. Shae kept walking as they drew their bows, her menacing, blood red eyes fixated on one single man; Robin Hood himself.
"Stop right there!" Friar Tuck shouted at her.
Shae's eyes began to glow neon red, and she threw out both of her arms, blasting the Merry Men off of their feet. Robin Hood was the only one left standing, the only one she cared about. Robin eyed her fearfully, putting out his trembling hands in careful surrender.
"Shae, please, let's just talk about this." He said pleadingly. "There's no need for violence."
"I'm not interested in talking to you, asshole." Shae snarled at him.
Robin swiftly drew his own bow, training his arrow right at Shae's head as the vampire continued walking toward him. "You know well that this arrow never misses its mark!"
When Shae didn't respond, only drawing ever closer, Robin let loose his arrow. Shae reached out, effortlessly catching it by the shaft just before it struck her forehead. She snapped the arrow in half with just one hand, never taking her blood red eyes off of the man that had stolen away the woman she loved.
As Robin Hood notched another arrow, Shae sped toward him in a rushing black blur. The bow fell from Robin's hands as Shae grabbed him by his throat, slamming him against the tree behind him. He let out a strangled cry of pain, desperately clawing at Shae's hand as she squeezed around his windpipe. An evil and wicked grin spread across her face as she stared into his bright blue eyes, eyes that were filled with pure terror.
"I haven't had the pleasure of killing someone in such a long time." Shae whispered, her own eyes wide and wild with rage. "And I'm really going to enjoy killing you."
"SHAE, STOP!"
Shae's hands were ripped away from Robin Hood's throat as she was magically sent hurtling to the side. Regina rushed up to Robin as he collapsed to his knees, coughing and sputtering violently as he gasped for air. Emma, her parents, and Hook planted themselves firmly between Shae and Robin as the vampire rose to her feet. Shae balled her hands into fists, slowly advancing toward them, glaring at them all with pure malice.
"Shae, enough!" Regina shouted, pushing passed Emma and the others. "I won't let you hurt him!"
"You'll have to kill me to stop me." Shae snarled viciously. "Just make sure you do the job right this time."
Shae's eyes glowed bright once more, and she threw out her arm, intending to throw them all backward. Regina, however, reacted quickly, and threw up her hands, shielding them all from the blast with her own magic. Shae howled with rage, bringing up her other arm, pushing back against Regina with all her might. The others all retreated back to a safe distance as the air between Shae and Regina trembled with their power. Regina's arms shook as she attempted to push Shae back, but the vampire's rage was giving her a strength that Regina had never seen before. Shae continued to slowly advance forward, now matter how hard Regina tried to stop her.
Just as Shae was upon Regina, their magical force suddenly broke, and both women were knocked off their feet. They both fell sideways, falling on their faces into the dirt. Regina immediately leapt back to her feet, raising her hands, ready for another fight. But it never came. They all watched in silent misery as Shae continued to lie face down in the dirt, her body shaking with bitter, wailing sobs. Regina placed her hands over her mouth, tears spilling down her face as she looked upon the broken vampire sobbing on the forest floor. She sank down onto her knees next to Shae, choking out her own sob as she leaned forward, wrapping her arms around her, her tears soaking into the back of Shae's leather jacket as she cried with her.
Robin Hood's Merry Men joined the others, and they all watched with heavy hearts, the quiet of the forest only broken by the sounds of Shae and Regina's sobbing. Suddenly, Shae pushed herself up onto her knees, and turned to face Regina. Robin and his men all took an angry step forward, drawing their weapons as Shae reached out, roughly taking Regina's face in both her hands.
"Wait!" Emma called out to The Merry Men, grabbing Robin Hood's arm. "Stop, it's alright! She won't hurt Regina."
The Merry Men all looked to their leader, who was eyeing Shae and Regina warily. He hesitated for a moment, but then gave them a swift nod, and they all lowered their bows.
"Take it back…" Shae sobbed, grabbing Regina's wrist and placing her hand over her heart. "I don't want it… Not like this."
"Shae, please…" Regina whispered, her face twisting in sorrow.
"TAKE IT BACK!" Shae screamed at her.
"Fine!" Regina shouted back. "Fine, alright…"
"What?" Emma exclaimed. "Regina, no, you can't-"
Emma stopped mid sentence, and they all drew in horrified gasps as Regina shoved her hand into Shae's chest. Shae grunted, her face contorting in pain as Regina tore out her half heart. What Regina did next, however, was completely unexpected. She waved her hand over the half heart sitting in her open palm, and it momentarily glowed with a soft, purple light. Then, before Shae could do or say anything, she shoved it right back into her chest.
"What?" Shae breathed, staring with wide, confused eyes down at her own chest. "W-What the hell did you do?"
"I… Cast a protection spell." Regina answered quietly. "Now no one can remove your heart, no one can control you with it except… Except me."
"You… Tricked me." Shae whispered, her lips curling into a furious snarl.
"Shae, I had to!" Regina replied in a miserable, desperate sob. "We share a heart now! That means, whatever happens to yours, happens to mine as well. I-I just… I can't-"
Regina gasped as Shae suddenly reached out, taking her face in her hands once again. "Do you still love me?" Shae asked her, tears leaking onto her cheeks as she stared deeply into her true love's eyes. "Does… Does any part of you still love me?"
Regina choked out another sob, tightly gripping the front of Shae's jacket. "Shae… Oh, Shae…" She whispered back, her voice quavering with emotion. "Yes, of course I do. I-I meant it… When I said I'd never stop loving you. But… But, I-"
"You love him too." Shae finished for her, dropping her hands back down to her sides.
"Yes." Regina whispered miserably. "That's what makes this so… So hard."
Shae squeezed her eyes shut, more tears spilling down her face. Regina leaned forward, pressing her forehead to Shae's. She slowly reached out, caressing Shae's face with quivering hands.
"I'm sorry." She whispered. "Shae, I'm so sorry."
Shae choked out another bitter sob. She then wrapped her arms tightly around the woman she loved, and kissed her deeply, desperately. Regina held her kiss for a moment, but then pushed her back, sobbing as she vigorously shook her head.
"Shae, stop…" Regina begged her, tears streaming down her face.
"Regina, please." Shae sobbed desperately. "I love you."
"Oh, Shae…" Regina whispered, her voice cracking with misery. "Shae, I-"
"AAH!"
Mary Margaret suddenly cried out in pain, doubling over with her hands on her swollen stomach. Shae and Regina both leapt to their feet, their sorrow momentarily forgotten as they watched Mary Margaret's face twisting in pain. Emma and David both rushed forward, grabbing on to both her arms.
"Hey! Woah, are you ok?" Emma asked her mother concernedly.
"Oh no, oh god…" Mary Margaret muttered, her eyes filled with fear. "The baby… It's coming!"
"Come on, we gotta get her to the hospital!" David said in a panicked rush.
David and Emma both supported Mary Margaret as they hurried back toward Emma's car. Regina made to follow after them, but stopped suddenly, turning around to find Shae walking away from her, her hands shoved deep into the pockets of her leather jacket.
"Shae! Shae, wait!" Regina called out, rushing after her. "Where are you going?"
"To find Remus." Shae muttered in reply, not even looking at Regina as she kept walking.
Regina grabbed Shae's arm, jerking her to a stop. "Wait, you can't just leave!" She exclaimed. "Zelena, she's going to come for the baby!"
"Fine." Shae replied with an unconcerned shrug. "She can have it. I don't fucking care."
"What the hell do you mean, 'you don't care?'" Regina demanded, her eyes wide with shock.
"I don't. Fucking. Care." Shae snarled through gritted teeth, glaring furiously at her. "I'm making this easy for you, Regina. Go save the baby, go play hero with your damn thief if you want, I don't care anymore. I'm out."
Regina stood in shocked and horrified silence as she watched Shae walk away from her once again. She then took a few steps forward, making to follow after her, to stop her, stopping herself when Hook called out to her.
"Regina, let's go!" He shouted. "We're going to need your help with your damn sister!"
Regina hesitated for a moment, biting her lip as Hook eyed her expectantly. She then turned back toward Shae, and gasped, clapping her hands over her mouth. Her eyes welled with tears again, her heart aching with sorrow. Shae was gone.
XX
It was well past closing time when Shae parked her old V.W. Bus across the street from the bar called Eclipse. She knew Terry and Rosa would likely still be inside, cleaning and closing up for the night. She hoped that she would find Remus with them, just as Emma had said. With everything that had happened, she needed her best friend more than ever. She needed someone to be on her side, and Remus always had been, no matter what.
Shae waved her hand over the knob of the bar's front door, and she heard a soft click as the door was magically unlocked. She hesitated for a moment, trying to come up with some way to explain to her old friends and bosses why she suddenly looked so different. When she came up empty, she finally pushed through the door, deciding to improvise. Terry was behind the bar, wiping it down with a rag, and his head snapped up as soon as Shae stepped through the door.
"Hey! We're closed, just what in the hell do you-" He started to shout, but then stopped short when he realized who exactly had just broken in to his bar.
"Hey, Terry." Shae said with a small smile.
Terry's jaw dropped open, his eyes wide as saucers. For a few moments, he simply stared bewilderedly at Shae, unable to move, unable to even speak. He then blinked several times, and shrieked over his shoulder toward the back of the bar.
"ROSAAA!"
"Jesus Christ, dude!" Shae exclaimed, clapping her hands over her ears.
Terry rushed forward, throwing his arms around Shae and pulling her into a tight hug. "Oh god, oh lord, oh dear, sweet, baby Jesus!" He cried, hugging Shae's head into his chest. "It's you, you're here, you're ok!"
"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine." Shae muttered, pushing out of Terry's smothering embrace.
"HOLY SHIT!"
Shae gave a start, and glanced up to find Rosa standing in front of the door that lead to the back of the bar. Just as her friend had, Rosa stood frozen in her spot for a moment, gaping at Shae in complete and utter shock. She then smiled, and her eyes welled with joyous tears.
"Holy shit!" She exclaimed again as she also hugged Shae. "You're alive! Remus told us that… That you were dead!"
"So Remus really is here?" Shae asked, smiling excitedly at her former bosses.
"Yeah, Emma sent him to us a few weeks ago." Rosa replied with a nod. "Weird dude, but he's-"
"Oi, what the bloody hell is going on out here? I heard shouting and-"
Remus himself was backing through the door of the bar's back room, carrying a gray plastic tub filled with washed glasses. He immediately froze when he saw Terry and Rosa standing next to Shae. His blood red eyes grew wide, and the plastic tub fell from his hands, several of the clean glasses shattering as it hit the floor.
"Shae?" He breathed, his voice barely above a whisper. "My god… I-Is it… Is it really you?"
Shae grinned at him, nodding slowly. "Yeah, buddy. It's me."
"Oh god!" Remus exclaimed, clapping his hand over his mouth, his eyes welling with tears. "Oh my god! Shae!"
Remus practically sprinted to her, and Shae laughed as he pulled her into a tight and grateful embrace. He sobbed loudly as he hugged her, tears of pure joy spilling from his eyes. Shae's eyes streamed with tears as well, her heartache over losing her true love momentarily lifted as she embraced her best friend, her brother.
"Oh god, oh Shae." Remus whispered, his hands shaking as he held Shae out at arms length, looking her up and down. "I thought I'd lost you."
"Nah, not this time." Shae replied with a laugh, wiping the tears from her face.
"What in the hell happened to you, Shae?" Terry asked, still staring at her with wide, baffled eyes. "Remus told us that you were dead, that The Wicked Witch crushed your damn heart!"
"Well, it's kind of a long story, but-" Shae started to stay, but stopped, her own eyes growing wide as she realized what Terry had just said. "Wait… He… He told you what, now?"
There was a brief moment of silence as Remus exchanged an anxious glance with both Terry and Rosa. He then cleared his throat, releasing Shae's shoulders and shoving his hands into his pockets.
"Right, yes, erm… Shae, they know." Remus replied slowly. "I… I told them everything."
"Everything?" Shae asked, glancing at Terry and Rosa, eyes still wide as saucers. "As in… Everything, everything?"
"Everything, everything." Terry echoed with a nod.
Shae opened and closed her mouth several times, staring bewilderedly between Remus, Rosa, and Terry, who were all watching her silently. She then slowly turned her gaze back onto Remus, raising an eyebrow at him.
"Why?" She asked him slowly.
"Well, it was shortly after your lovely friends here hired me as their inkeep." Remus began to explain.
"Bartender." Terry corrected with a sigh, dramatically rolling his eyes. "It's called a 'bartender' here, remember?"
"Right, right, sorry. 'Bartender.'" Remus said quickly. "Anyway, one night I was… Well, I… It… Y-You see, what… What had happened was-"
"Remus got lazy, and we saw him using his powers to stock the beer fridge." Rosa bluntly explained, cutting off Remus's embarrassed stammering.
"Oh." Shae replied. She then breathed out a surprised laugh, shaking her head slowly in bewilderment. "Ok, so… So you guys are just cool with vampires and… And magic, and fairy tales being, you know… Real?"
"Well, it was definitely a shock at first, that's for damn sure." Terry replied with a small shrug. "But I think we handled it pretty well."
"Terry passed out." Rosa said with a snort.
"Bitch, what the hell?" Terry demanded heatedly. "You ain't never gonna let me live that down!"
"Nope." Rosa snickered.
"Wait a minute…" Shae muttered, her face suddenly panic stricken. "You… You guys haven't told anyone else, have you?"
"Hell no!" Terry exclaimed. "If we started spouting off shit about vampires and witches being real, they'd cart us off straight to the damn loony bin!"
"Don't worry, your secret's safe with us, we promise." Rosa said, nodding earnestly.
Shae nodded back slowly, her eyes still wide as she processed everything they had just told her. "Shae, you must tell us, how exactly are you back from the dead, or rather the… Almost dead?" Remus asked, looking concerned. "I tried everything I could to bring you back, I swear I did. But… But nothing worked."
"Well, like I was saying before, it's uh… A long story." Shae replied hesitantly.
"Is everything alright?" Remus asked, growing even more concerned at the somber tone in his friend's voice. "You seem troubled."
Shae opened her mouth to respond, but shut it again, a hard lump suddenly forming in her throat as she thought about Regina. The other three all exchanged a worried glance as her eyes began to well with tears.
"Oh hell, girl, you look like you need a drink." Terry said, gently wrapping an arm around Shae's shoulders. "Come on, now."
They all sat down at a nearby table, and Terry retrieved a bottle of Jack Daniel's from behind the bar. Once they all had a drink in hand, Shae slowly began to recount the events of her sudden return to the world of the living. Remus had told Terry and Rosa all about Shae and Regina, and their tale of true love. They all looked positively heartbroken when Shae told them about she had woken from the nearly dead to find Regina with Robin Hood.
"Oh, Shae…" Remus whispered, his blood red eyes shining with tears. "Oh, I'm so sorry, my friend. I… I never should have left. If I had been there, I could have stopped it all, kept Robin away from her."
"Remus, it's not your fault." Shae said quietly, her voice heavy with sorrow.
"Yeah, man, don't go blaming yourself." Rosa said, gently placing her hand on Remus's arm. "That kind of shit ain't never helped anyone."
Remus nodded, sighing heavily. "Yes, I know." He replied sadly. "Oh, Shae… What… What will you do now?"
"I don't know." Shae muttered in reply. "That's why I came here, to find Remus and, you know… Clear my head. I don't even know if I want to go back and face Regina again."
"I say, fuck her." Terry threw in with a snort. "She's a damn fool if she chose a man over you."
"Terry, you love men!" Rosa exclaimed.
"Bitch, I know!" Terry replied irritably. "Which means I also know they dumb as hell."
"Yes, sadly true." Remus said, heaving another sad sigh. "Men are bloody idiots."
"Damn straight." Terry agreed, clinking glasses with Remus.
"I don't know, man." Rosa said, shrugging at Shae. "I've seen the movie, and The Evil Queen doesn't really seem like your type."
"Oh, no, Regina doesn't actually look anything like that." Shae replied hastily. "Here, I'll show you."
Shae pulled out her smartphone, scrolling through her picture gallery and finding one of her and Regina together. Emma had taken it for her when they were at Granny's, the day that Regina and the others had returned from Neverland, the day that Shae had proposed to the woman she loved. She bit her lip, fighting back tears as she handed the phone to Rosa.
"Oh damn!" Rosa exclaimed, staring down at Shae's phone with wide eyes.
Rosa handed the phone over to Terry, whose eyes also grew wide. "Oh damn!" He echoed. "Shit, even I might hit that."
"Indeed." Remus agreed with a nod.
"Great, thanks you guys." Shae grumbled, stowing her phone back in her pocket.
"Well, I don't care how hot the bitch is." Terry said, waving his hand flippantly. "Fuck her."
"Now hold on a minute." Rosa said, turning in her chair to better face Shae. "You still love her, right?"
"Yeah, of course I do." Shae replied with a nod.
"Then what the hell are you still doing here?" Rosa demanded, throwing up her arms in despair. "You've gotta go back to Storybrooke! You've gotta go get her!"
"Oh, hell, no!" Terry shouted angrily. "Don't listen to this dumb bitch."
"Hey!" Rosa chided him.
Terry ignored her and leaned forward in his chair, gripping Shae's hand tight. "Shae, if you go back there, you're only gonna make yourself miserable." He told her, staring very seriously into her eyes. "Trust me, ain't no bitch worth all that bullshit."
"Some bitch might be, if she's her true love!" Rosa countered.
"Well, her true love's got another true love!" Terry countered back. "That's just a hot damn mess. I'm telling you, Shae, it ain't worth it."
Terry and Rosa both stopped their arguing and fell silent, watching Shae as she pondered what they were saying. Shae thought quietly for a moment, anxiously chewing on her lip ring as she did. She then turned to Remus, raising an eyebrow at him expectantly.
"Well, I rather think I agree with Terry." Remus said with a tone of sadness. "I'm sorry, Shae, but… He's right. Going back to Storybrooke will bring you nothing but more heartache."
"HA!" Terry exclaimed, pointing a finger at Rosa. "Two against one, bitch!"
"It's not a competition!" Rosa cried exasperatedly.
"Look, you guys, you're all making sense, ok?" Shae cut in as Terry opened his mouth to retort. "But, I just… I-I don't think I can just… Give up, you know? I asked Regina if she still loves me, and she said she does, I know she does. I saw it in her eyes, it's…. It's still there."
"Then you've gotta go back." Rosa insisted determinedly. "You've gotta fight for her."
"Uh uh!" Terry exclaimed, shaking his head in disagreement. "No way! Love ain't something you gotta fight for."
"Indeed, love is just love." Agreed Remus. "It's simple, it just… Is."
"No, it's not!" Rosa cried stubbornly. "Sometimes you have to fight for love! It's the only damn thing even worth fighting for!"
"Girl, you are all kinds of wrong right now." Terry muttered, rolling his eyes at her.
"Guys, come on, this isn't helping." Shae pleaded with them.
Rosa and Terry both glared silently at each other, and Shae breathed out a heavy sigh. "Look, I think I just need to be alone for a bit, get my head on straight." She said quietly. "I'm just gonna… Go for a walk, or something. I'll meet up with you guys in the morning."
Before anyone could say or do anything, Shae got up from the table, and walked out the bar's door. Remus, Terry, and Rosa stared silently down into their glasses of whiskey, hearts heavy with sadness. They only hoped that their friend would find the answers she was searching for somewhere along the streets of New York.
XX
Shae slowly pushed open the door of the dark and empty apartment where, only a few short weeks ago, she had been living with Emma and Henry. She flicked on the light next to the door, and stared around the empty kitchen. She slowly wandered into the living room, and smiled when she saw Henry's Xbox controllers lying the coffee table in front of the couch, where he and Shae had left them after a round of Call of Duty. She next wandered into the bedroom that she and Emma had once shared. They had left in such a rush that most of her and Emma's clothes and other belongings were still scattered across the room. She slowly sank down onto the bed, and picked up the framed picture sitting on the end table. It was of her, Emma, and Henry at the fair, and Henry was holding the giant stuffed bear that Shae had won for him. She smiled as she stared down at the picture in her hands, her eyes once again welling with tears.
Shae laid back onto the bed, closing her eyes and breathing out a heavy sigh. She found it hard to believe that, just a few weeks ago, she had been living a completely different life, with a completely different woman that she had loved. She had gone a whole year without any memory of her true love whose heart was also linked to another. That year had been the happiest and most peaceful that Shae could ever remember. She knew that Terry and Remus were right, that going back to Storybrooke, to Regina, would only bring her more misery. Despite that, Rosa's words also rang in her ears.
"You have to fight for her."
Shae's eyes snapped open, and she sat bolt upright. She suddenly remembered a conversation she had with Regina back in The Enchanted Forest, a conversation that suddenly made her realize exactly what she needed to do.
XXXXX
Shae was lying on her back on the cold, stone floor of her dungeon cell, staring blankly up at the ceiling, listening to the rats as they scurried about, searching for scraps of food. She had been locked away in Prince Charming and Snow White's dungeon for weeks now, after failing to save her Queen from their clutches. There were no windows in the dungeon, but Shae was able to keep track of the passing of time through The Blue Fairy. Once a day, The Blue Fairy would flutter into her cell and sprinkle her with fairy dust, draining away her magic. The fairy's visits were the only way Shae knew just how long she had been away from the woman she loved.
After learning that Snow White and The Prince had not actually executed Regina, Shae had been filled with hope, hope that one day soon she would be reunited with her Queen. As the days went by, the very hope that she had been clinging so desperately to had begun to fade away. The darkness and emptiness of Snow White's dungeon was slowly chipping away at her resolve, the terrible ache she felt in her heart for the woman she loved threatening to consume her.
"I'm disappointed in you, Shae."
Shae sat bolt upright, startled by the sudden voice. She scrambled to her feet, whirling around, her blood red eyes growing wide as she saw exactly who was now standing before her inside her cell.
"Regina?" Shae breathed, looking her Queen up and down, completely baffled by her presence. "W-What… What are you doing here?"
"Oh, I'm not really here." Regina replied, waving her hand dismissively. "I'm simply a figmentation of the madness that you have slipped into while down here."
Shae's face fell into a disappointed frown. "Oh." She muttered. "Well, I suppose that makes sense. I have been locked up in here an awful long time."
"Indeed you have." Regina said with a nod. She then carefully brushed off the cot sitting against the wall of Shae's cell, and sat herself down upon it. "Which is why I'm so utterly disappointed in you."
Shae chuckled lightly, folding her arms across her chest. "You are, are you?" She asked the phantom Queen. "And why exactly is that? You know I'm powerless, don't you? Not to mention completely surrounded by an army of Snow White's guards."
"Oh, making excuses now, are we?" Regina asked, raising an eyebrow at her.
"Excuses?" Shae cried indignantly. "Bloody hell, you're even more irritating than the real Regina. Begone, will you?"
"Well, I'm afraid I can't." Regina replied with a small shrug. "As I said, I'm merely a figment of your imagination."
Shae laughed again, shaking her head slowly. "I see, so you're here just to bother me then, is that it? To annoy me even further into madness?"
"No, my love, I'm here to help you." Regina said quietly. She smiled at Shae as she got up from the cot, and slowly stepped up to her. "I'm here to remind you of what it is you have to fight for."
Regina reached out, and placed her hand gently on her lover's cheek. Shae gasped as she felt her warm hand against her cold, pale face. Her hands shook as she felt Regina's arms, her shoulders, her face. She then pulled her into her arms, sobbing gratefully against her lips as she kissed her. Her eyes streamed with tears as she felt her Queen's lips against her own, felt her tongue brush lightly against her own. She kissed her slowly, desperately, gratefully, unable to believe that she was actually real.
"Oh, Regina, I… I don't understand." Shae whispered, gently cupping Regina's face in both her hands. "How can I touch you, feel you? This… This is madness!"
"Yes, it is." Regina replied with a laugh. "I'm afraid you're completely and utterly mad."
Shae laughed too, wrapping her arms around her and kissing her again. She was confused and disoriented, but she didn't care. She enjoyed the taste of her lover's lips, breathed in her comforting and familiar scent.
"Oh, I don't care." Shae breathed, gently pressing her forehead against her Queen's. "I can stay mad for all I care. You're… You're here, you're actually here!"
The smile suddenly faded from The Queen's face, and she removed herself from Shae's arms, drawing back a step. "No, I'm not. Haven't you been listening?" She said irritably. "I'm not here! I'm not real!"
Shae's mouth gaped open in shock, her heart aching with pained sorrow. "B-But… How… W-We just…"
"The only reason you can feel my touch is because you remember the real me." Regina went on in the same irritated tone, cutting off Shae's confused stammering. "You remember what it's like to kiss the real me, to hold me in your arms. And I'm out there, waiting for you, wanting for you, while you rot away down here like some common criminal!"
"There's nothing I can do! I'm trapped!" Shae cried, more tears streaming from her eyes. "Regina, please… W-What… What do I do? Tell me what to do!"
The Queen breathed out a frustrated sigh, rubbing her forehead. "Clearly, you were not listening." She muttered, a bit angrily. "I've already told you, Shae. You have to fight. You have to stop wallowing in your own self pity, pick yourself up, and fight for me!"
"Fight for you?" Shae asked, shaking her head in confusion. "How? Regina, please, I don't understand, I just-"
Suddenly, the door to the dungeon burst open with a resonating bang. Shae jumped, snapping her head to the side. Snow White and Prince Charming were stomping toward her cell, both of them looking furious. She then turned back to Regina, and gasped, her heart aching with misery when she realized that she was gone. She breathed out a frustrated sigh. Regina had been nothing but a ghost created by her madness after all.
"You! We need to talk!" Snow White shouted angrily as her and The Prince approached her cell.
Shae slowly turned to face them, and raised her eyebrows in shock when she realized how they were dressed. "Oh! Did I miss the wedding?" She asked them. "So sorry, I've been a bit uh… Tied up, down here."
Snow White and The Prince glared silently at her as Shae laughed loudly at her own joke. "Quiet, you!" The Prince snarled.
"Oh, I'm sorry, I thought you said we needed to talk." Shae said, grinning at them as she folded her arms across her chest. "I'm afraid I'm quite confused. Do you want me to talk, or be quiet?"
"What do you know about The Evil Queen's curse?" Snow demanded angrily, ignoring the vampire's sarcastic rambling.
"Curse, curse, let me think." Shae muttered, tapping a finger against her chin as she pondered. "Well, she appears to be cursed with an unnatural beauty. Also, an unnatural flexibility. But I find that to be more of a blessing than a curse, really-"
"She means the curse she plans to cast." Charming cut in, looking thoroughly disgusted. "She just interrupted our wedding, said she's going to cast a curse on the entire realm and take away everyone's happiness."
"Oh, I see." Shae replied quietly. "Well, terribly sorry, but I haven't the foggiest idea what you're talking about. Now, if you'll excuse me, I was having a rather lovely conversation with Regina before you two rudely interrupted us."
Snow and The Prince's brows both furrowed as they exchanged a confused glance. "What the hell are you talking about?" Snow asked irritably. "Regina isn't here."
"No, of course she's not!" Shae replied in an obvious tone.
"This is pointless, Snow, she's obviously fallen into madness down here." Charming said, eyeing Shae warily as the vampire grinned at them. "Come on, let's leave this place."
"Wait!" Shae called out as Snow and Charming turned to leave. "Wait, I do know something!"
Snow White and The Prince exchanged another skeptical glance, but then turned back around to face Shae, stepping up closer to her cell. They waited, watching the vampire expectantly as Shae curled her fingers around the bars of her cell, grinning deviously as she pressed her face against them.
"I know…" She whispered, pausing for dramatic effect. "That I will see my Queen again, the real one. We will be reunited, and when we are, we'll destroy your happiness, just as she promised. We'll do it together."
Shae started giggling maniacally at the angry and frustrated looks on both Snow White and The Prince's faces. "I already told you, you'll never see Regina again." Snow snapped irritably.
"Oh, see, that's where you're wrong, Snow White." Shae said, giggling again, her blood red eyes wide and wild. "You may have left me to rot down here, but I assure you, my resolve has never been stronger. I will fight for her. I will fight tooth and nail, till my last FUCKING BREATH!"
Snow and The Prince both leapt back, startled by the vampire's sudden outburst. Shae began to cackle loudly, and Charming wrapped his arm around his wife's shoulders, ushering her away from the deranged vampire.
"You hear me, Snow White?" Shae shouted after them, her hands shaking as she gripped the bars tight. "I will get back to her, I will fight, even without my magic."
Shae's delirious and psychotic laughter rang in their ears as Snow and The Prince left the dungeon. The door swung shut with another bang, and Shae screamed into the darkness one last time, her hoarse and strangled voice echoing off the stone walls.
"I WILL FIGHT!"
XXXXX
The streets of New York were bustling with morning commuters as Shae made her way back to Eclipse. Even though the bar was still closed, Shae found the door unlocked this time. Terry, Rosa, and Remus were all waiting for her inside, seated around the same table they had been at the night before. Terry and Rosa were both looking sleepy, and were clinging to their cups of Starbucks coffee.
"Here you go, got you your favorite." Rosa said with smile, handing Shae a cup.
"Oh, uh, thanks but now that I'm a vampire again, I've kinda lost my taste for coffee." Shae told her sadly.
Rosa shrugged, seemingly too tired to care. "So, have you decided what you're going to do?" Remus asked of his friend.
Shae took a seat at the table with them, heaving a heavy sigh. "Uh, yeah, I have." She replied quietly. "Sorry guys, but… Rosa's right. I've gotta go back."
"HA!" Rosa exclaimed, throwing her fists in the air triumphantly.
"Oh lord…" Terry muttered, rolling his eyes at Shae.
"Dammit, Shae, I'm begging you, don't do this." Remus pleaded with her.
"Remus, I have to!" Shae insisted. "I have to fight for her! I can't just give up now, not after everything we've been through."
"Exactly!" Cried Remus, throwing up his hands in despair. "Look at everything you've been through, everything that Regina has put you through."
"Yeah, well, look at everything I've put her through." Shae retorted heatedly. "All the shit we've gone through, there's been fault on both of our sides."
"Shae, I love you girl, but you're being a damn fool." Terry said with a huff.
"Yeah, maybe I am." Shae replied with a shrug. "But I just… I know it's what I have to do. I've fought for her once, and I'll do it again. I… I always will."
"Hey, man, I think you're doing the right thing." Rosa said with another smile. "It ain't gonna be easy, though. You know that, right?"
Shae heaved another heavy sigh. "Yeah… Yeah, I know." She then got up from the table, and patted Remus on the shoulder. "Come on, if we leave now we can make it back to Storybrooke before-"
"Hold on, what's this 'we' you're talking about?" Remus asked, raising an eyebrow at her.
Shae's brow furrowed in confusion, and she blinked at him several times. "Uh… I mean, you're coming with me, right?"
"Absolutely not!" Remus replied with a scoff.
"What?" Shae cried. "Why?"
"Why? Well, because you're being a damn twat, that's why!"
"Hey!"
Remus sighed exasperatedly, getting up from his seat and placing his hands firmly on Shae's shoulders. "Shae, you know I love you like you're my own blood." He said, staring very seriously into her eyes. "But what you're doing is a damn mistake! I won't stand by and watch while you torture yourself, alright?"
Remus sighed again, dropping his hands back to his sides as Shae continued to look hurt. "Besides, I… I happen to like it here in New York." He went on quietly. "There are so many fascinating things and places and… A-And people. And I've gotten quite good at bartending."
"Oh yeah, he's right." Rosa agreed with a nod.
"And you should see the hunks he brings up in here." Terry said excitedly. "He's basically man candy!"
"I'm what?" Remus asked, looking offended.
"It's cool, it's a compliment." Shae told him, waving her hand dismissively. "So… So you'd rather stay here, in a world without magic, than go back to Storybrooke with me."
"Shae, it's not about you, alright?" Remus told her reassuringly. "It's just… Well, I've suddenly found myself in a whole new world, one that's vastly different than any I've ever seen. I want to explore more of it, but Rosa and Terry tell me I need lots more of that strange paper money you all use in this world."
"Yeah, travelling the world ain't cheap." Terry muttered sadly.
"I wish you'd stay and explore this world with me, Shae." Remus went on, placing a hand on his friend's shoulder. "But you seem determined in your choice."
"Yeah, I am." Shae said with a nod.
Remus nodded back, smiling sadly. "I understand. Regina is… A remarkable woman. I truly do hope the two of you find your way back to each other."
"Hey, you know what?" Rosa suddenly said, grinning excitedly. "Maybe we can shut down the bar for a few days and come visit you sometime!"
"Oh, girl, yes!" Terry exclaimed. "Oh, that would be so much fun, getting to see all the fairy tale folks! Are any of them dwarves cute? I kinda got a thing for short men."
"No. No! Absolutely not!" Shae cried, shaking her head vigorously. "No way, Storybrooke is way too dangerous! There's always some kind of threat or… Or crisis! Right now, there's a witch running around that literally ripped out my heart and crushed it."
"Right, right, and this is the place you wanna go back to?" Terry asked, shaking his head bemusedly when Shae shrugged at him. "Bitch, you cray!"
Shae burst out laughing, and Rosa and Remus laughed with her. After exchanging a quick, misty eyed embrace with all three of them, Shae got back into her old V.W. Bus. She glanced into her rear view mirror as she drove away, staring at their teary eyed faces as they waved at her from the sidewalk. Her heart ached with sadness as she turned the corner, and her friends were lost from sight. She gripped her steering wheel tight, nodding determinedly as she pulled onto the highway, following the road sign that read, 'Maine, 447 miles.'
XX
Night had fallen by the time Shae reached Storybrooke. She watched the air shimmering around her as she slowly drove her bus across the town line. She drummed her fingers anxiously against her steering wheel as she drove toward Main Street. She was nervous to see Regina again, knowing full well that she would likely find her in the company of Robin Hood. Remus had told her just before she left to give him a swift punch in the teeth from him, and Shae knew it would be extremely difficult to resist the temptation. She knew that taking her rage and pain out on Regina's other true love, again, was not a good start at winning Regina back. She would do everything she could to have Regina back in her arms again. She was determined to win her back, to show Regina that it was really her that was her one true love, not some damn thief.
As Shae pulled up to the stoplight on Main Street, she noticed that there was some sort of commotion going on inside Granny's Diner. The diner was full to bursting with people, and a number of them were spilling out onto the sidewalk, pointing up at the sky. Shae leaned forward into her steering wheel, peering out her windshield as she followed their pointed fingers. What she saw caused her heart to drop right out into her stomach. Shooting up into the sky from the distance, was a bright, swirling, orange pillar of light, a pillar of light that was obviously made by some sort of magic.
"What the what?" Shae breathed, staring at the ominous looking light with wide, baffled eyes. "Oh, that can't be good."
She ignored the red stoplight, and punched on the gas. She carefully followed the orange pillar of light, and it seemed to be leading her out of the main part of town. Her heart sunk even deeper as she realized that the pillar was coming from the barn that was next to the farmhouse on the outskirts of town, the farmhouse where Zelena had been living.
"Always a fucking crisis…" Shae muttered as she slammed her car door shut.
Wind whirled all around her as she approached the barn, the strange pillar of magic emitting a loud humming noise that reverberated through the air. As she drew closer, she was shocked to find Emma and Captain Hook standing just in front of the barn, staring at the closed doors warily as they shook violently.
"Shae!" Emma exclaimed when she noticed the vampire. "Hey! I… I thought you left!"
"Yeah, well, now I'm back." Shae replied with a shrug, glancing at the rattling barn doors apprehensively. "What the hell's going on here?"
"It's Zelena's damn time portal." Hook answered grimly. "Somehow she triggered it when she died."
"Wait, Zelena's dead?" Shae asked, breathing out a shocked laugh when Emma and Hook both nodded. "Well, that's good news. This, though? Not so much."
"We've got to find a way to close it." Emma said, reaching for the doors.
"Woah, hold on there, Swan!" Hook exclaimed, grabbing her arm with his good hand. "You don't even have your magic back!"
"Wait a minute, you lost your magic?" Shae asked of Emma. "Jesus Christ, you people are like toddlers! Leave you alone for five minutes and you break everything! I mean, how the hell did you even become Sheriff?"
"Not now, dammit!" Hook exclaimed exasperatedly, attempting to pull both Emma and Shae back, away from the barn. "We need to leave this place, before-"
Suddenly, the doors to the barn burst open, revealing the gaping, swirling portal in the center of the dirt floor. Shae, Emma, and Hook were all knocked off their feet by the sheer force of the portal's magical energy, and were being pulled toward it at an alarming rate. The pirate managed to sink his hook into the ground at the last second, jerking violently to a stop. He reached out and managed to catch Shae's hand, and Shae grabbed on to Emma's. Their faces all twisted in exertion as they clung to each other desperately, the magic of Zelena's time portal threatening to suck them into the gaping abyss.
"HOLD ON!" Shae screamed as she felt Emma's hand slipping out of her own.
"I-I can't!" Emma shouted back, her eyes full of sheer panic. "Shae, help, I can't- AAH!"
Shae gasped as Emma's hand slipped out of her's. She and Hook both watched in complete and utter horror as Emma was sucked in to the center of the portal, and disappeared from sight.
"EMMA!" They both screamed in unison.
"Dammit, one of these days I'll stop chasing this woman." Hook grumbled to himself.
"NO! HOOK, WAIT-"
The rest of Shae's sentence caught in her throat as the Captain wrenched his hook from the ground. Neither of them even had time to scream as they shot forward, and were swallowed by the swirling, orange portal. Wind rushed through their ears as they fell, and fell, and fell some more. Shae tried to open her eyes, to see what exactly was happening to them, but found that she couldn't. Suddenly the rushing wind stopped, and she heard Hook grunt loudly from beside her, the wind knocked completely out of him as the vampire and the pirate finally hit solid ground.
"Swan?" Hook groaned from somewhere near Shae. "SWAN!"
"Here, I'm here." Came Emma's muttered reply.
Shae finally managed to open her eyes, her whole body trembling. She furrowed her brow when she realized that she was now staring at grass and dirt. She rolled onto her back, shielding her eyes with her hand against the bright sunlight.
"Swan… Swan, are you alright?" Hook asked Emma in a panicked rush as he helped her to her feet.
"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine." Emma replied breathlessly.
"I'm fine too, thanks for fucking asking." Shae grumbled as she pushed herself shakily to her feet as well.
"Bloody hell, mate, I've watched you die and come back, what, twice now?" Hook said exasperatedly. "You'll forgive me if I didn't think that a simple fall through a portal would do you any harm."
"Guys… Where the hell are we?" Emma asked, her face panic stricken.
Shae turned in her spot, glancing curiously all around her. Her blood red eyes grew wide, and she chuckled bemusedly when she realized that they were surrounded by tall, towering trees, trees that looked all too familiar to her, and to Captain Hook.
"Well, either we're on the forest moon of Endor from Star Wars: Episode Six, Return of the Jedi." Shae began to say with a shrug. "Or, you know…"
The vampire paused, breathing out a sigh and running a shaky hand through her hair. She then turned back to Emma, who, from the look plastered on her face, already seemed to know what she was about to say next.
"We're in the goddamn Enchanted Forest…"
XX
