A/N: Sorry for the wait, I meant to have this up much sooner. Thank you always to those who have reviewed and I hope you like the new chapter :)
Emma was feeling incredibly guilty by the time she and David had arrived back at the house. David had gone into the living room to talk to Snow, but Emma hadn't felt much like saying hello. She had given her mother a silent wave from the hallway, but that was about all she could manage for the time being.
She decided instead to go directly upstairs to check on her son, whom she hoped would be fast asleep and not up continuing to worry about his adoptive mother. When she got to the ten year old's room however, she found his bed empty.
At the sight of it she felt a tug in her heart. She knew where he was, and she had been hoping to avoid that room tonight. She knew she could just skip checking in on Henry and continue on to her own bedroom–after all, it had been woefully underused these past few nights and she could definitely feel it–but she knew she wouldn't be able to rest without first seeing how her son was.
She attempted to force herself towards the master bedroom, but as she did she could feel her emotions building up once more and she wasn't able to continue. If this night had gone the way they had planned, she, Henry and Regina would have been more than halfway to Boston by now. Instead they were left with yet more pain, and more uncertainty.
This wasn't right.
David and Mary Margaret were standing in the dining room talking when they saw their daughter storming back down the stairs only about a minute after having gone up.
She was practically running down the steps as she threw her jacket back on.
"Emma, honey what are you doing?" Mary Margaret asked, her voice laced with concern as she and David approached the staircase.
"What does it look like I'm doing? I'm going back out." Emma answered as she reached the main floor.
"It's the middle of the night, what do you think you're going to find?" David asked.
"REGINA!"
"Okay shh," Mary Margaret urged soothingly, taking Emma calmly by the shoulder as she raised a finger to her lips. "It's four in the morning, Henry was finally able to get to sleep only about an hour ago, please don't wake him up."
The blonde gave a regretful sigh as she glanced towards the second floor. "Sorry." She said genuinely.
"It's just a few hours Emma," David said, "we'll be back out there before you know it."
"But a lot can happen in a few hours. I can rest for days once we're in Boston but for right now, Boston might not even matter if we keep wasting time like this."
"You're going to need your strength to get Regina out of town once we find her." He reasoned.
"But I can't just sit around here hoping that everything will just work out! I should be out there looking for her! Finding her is our first priority so why the hell are we acting like it isn't?!"
"But Emma you do need your rest," Mary Margaret said gently. "David's right, you'll be no help to Regina if you don't get some sleep. Wasn't that the whole point of your coming back here in the first place? "
"It was a mistake, I shouldn't be sleeping, not while Regina needs my help! How would you feel if someone was about to kill you, and your entire family decided to take a nap instead of coming to help you? I should be out there kicking Whale's ass, not letting him wander around town as he pleases. He practically confessed!"
Mary Margaret shared a sad look with her husband. "It would be different if we knew where she was."
"And it's not like we're just putting everything on hold," David added, "I told you, I called Ruby from the truck, it's still wolf's time so I knew she'd be up all night anyways. She's going to keep an eye on Whale tonight and if she finds anything she'll call us right away."
"But we need to be looking into more than just him! He can't be the only one involved. What about Gold?! I know you're too noble to want to go breaking into any houses David but I'm not, at this point I don't care."
"Emma you can't just go take on the most powerful man in town without a plan. He could kill you before you're even through the door. And I don't think he's going to take your accusations lightly, especially if it turns out that you're wrong."
"What if I'm not wrong? What if Regina is there?" Emma countered.
"Even more to my point. He has magic, you don't, you can't fight him by yourself."
"Then maybe we need to get some magic of our own. The fairies, they can help us can't they? Maybe not Mother bitch Superior but there's more than just her isn't there?"
"Unfortunately even their combined magic wouldn't be strong enough to take on the Dark One..." Mary Margaret said, trailing off in thought. She gave a heavy sigh before looking up at her daughter again. "Emma, I know how stressful this is, but you really do need to get some sleep. You're pushing three all-nighters in a row, it's not just unhealthy it's dangerous. You're the only one who can take Regina to Boston once we find her, you're going to need to be able to drive there safely."
Emma gave a disheartened, frustrated sigh. "I know."
Mary Margaret studied her daughter sadly for a few moments.
"How about this Emma," she said softly, "will you agree to get a few hours of sleep if I go out into town right now?"
Emma looked up quickly. "What? No you don't have to do that."
"Yes," Mary Margaret said softly, observing Emma's expression. "I think I do."
"But it's dangerous."
"If it's safe enough for you, it's safe enough for me."
"But–"
"Emma I've been in worse situations looking for David, I'll be fine. Please, get some sleep."
Emma passed a hand over her strained, teary eyes. Her head was hurting and she was starting to feel physically ill because of how tired she was. Her parents weren't wrong, she knew she had to rest, but it still didn't seem right.
"I just don't know what to do." She said in a small, defeated voice.
It broke Mary Margaret's heart, she could practically hear in Emma's voice what her daughter might have sounded like as a child. She hated seeing her so broken.
"I know Emma," she whispered, raising her arms softly to offer a comforting hug.
Emma's eyes raised to look at Mary Margaret, and the brunette was almost surprised when Emma barely hesitated at all to step into her embrace.
"I'll go into town to help Ruby, we'll go to the fairies at first light, okay?" Mary Margaret whispered, brushing her fingers softly through Emma's hair as the blonde rested her chin on her mother's shoulder. "It's going to be okay."
Emma closed her eyes as she surrendered completely into Mary Margaret's arms, clinging to her gently for solace.
"I miss her."
"I know sweetie. I know."
Emma stopped in the doorway to the master bedroom, she could see Henry nestled on the side of the bed that Regina usually slept on, and there was a soft grey material peeking out from under the bedcovers which she recognized as Regina's housecoat. She supposed Henry must have wrapped himself in it under the blankets.
Hugging her arms around herself, she finally gathered enough courage to enter the room.
Emma sat down beside Henry and rubbed a hand very gently over his arm, thankful that he at least, remained safe.
She felt a slight jump under her hand, and it was only then that she realized he was actually still awake.
"Mom?" She heard the hopefulness in his tone as he hurriedly turned over.
Emma saw the way his expression instantly fell when he realized it was the wrong mother sitting beside him. He began to sit up but Emma placed a gentle hand on his chest to stop him.
"No Henry don't get up, go back to sleep okay? I was just checking in on you."
"Did you find my mom?"
"No, not yet."
"Then... why are you back already?"
Henry hadn't meant it in a hurtful way, and Emma knew that, but it still came across that way and it felt like a stab to the heart.
"I–"
"She's still out there?!"
"Shh Henry," Emma whispered. "Yes, she is, but David and I are going to start looking again first thing in the morning. Don't worry, it's only a few hours until we go back out again."
"But my mom might not have a few hours!"
"Mary Margaret and Ruby are also going to keep working while we get some rest." Emma squeezed his hand comfortingly, before wiping away a tear that she hadn't realized had formed. "Henry she'll be okay. She's strong. And don't forget, whoever took her probably needs to sleep at some point too."
Henry sniffled. "But Emma what if they want to kill her tonight?"
"I don't know kid." Emma whispered. "But I'm hoping that it's a good sign they took her with them."
"How is that good?" Henry's voice broke in disbelief.
Emma ran a gentle hand through his hair. "Because if they had wanted to kill her right away they would have done it here at the house. But instead they took her, which means they need more time with her," Emma's voice quivered emotionally at the sickening words.
She cleared her throat, she wanted to remain as calm as possible, for his sake.
Henry wiped a tear away with his sleeve. "So instead they're just going to keep hurting her until she dies?" Henry's voice was raw as his eyes filled with more tears.
Emma felt a painful tug in her heart. "Yeah..." she whispered, not bothering to wipe away her own fresh tears. "Yeah I'm pretty sure."
"Emma..." Henry's voice broke.
"I know how awful that sounds, and trust me, I feel horrible for coming back here to sleep while Regina's still out there, but we have to look at it this way: she might be in pain right now, but it also means we still have a chance to save her. We have a little more time to get to her and for now that has to be good enough."
Henry nodded to show that he understood, but he didn't look convinced. He didn't reply as he closed his eyes and burrowed into his mother's housecoat to try to gain some comfort from it.
Emma silently took a hold of the end of Regina's housecoat, rubbing the soft material between her fingers before looking up at Henry again.
"It smells like her," he explained quietly.
Emma nodded with a small smile, "I figured." She said gently, tugging on it a little so that it was more securely around him.
"I want her to come back Emma."
"I know you do..." She said, brushing her fingers through his hair.
"Listen Henry," Emma said in an almost whisper. "I know you're probably upset with me for coming back without Regina, but David and I need our rest too. It's only for a few hours and this way we'll have a lot more energy to keep us going all day. If we didn't rest now we'd only have to do it at some point tomorrow." She echoed her parents words, still doing her best to convince herself.
"It's okay Emma." Henry responded truthfully. "I know you need to sleep. Grandma's been worrying about you all night."
"Me?"
Henry nodded. "She says you've barely slept in days."
"Yeah she's right about that... But I'm not the one we should be worrying about."
Henry pulled something up from under the blankets, it was his old teddy bear. He didn't think that Emma knew this, but Regina had kept it close during the time when Henry had moved out. He too, had slept with it the first few nights after his return to Storybrooke; it had smelled like Regina's perfume back then and he had found it comforting. The scent had faded by now, but Henry still felt closer to his mother by holding it tonight.
Emma placed her hand on the bear, but Henry couldn't quite read the sad smile that was on her face.
"She's already suffering, why do they have to make it worse?" He mumbled, clutching the bear tightly as he felt a fresh wave of tears forming in his eyes.
"Because sometimes when people are angry enough they make irrational decisions. They want your mom to pay for casting the curse and right now that's all that matters to them."
"But she already has paid hasn't she? She's dying! And because of the price of the curse she doesn't have any parents anymore."
"You and I both think she has, but not everyone is ready to forgive her so easily. Also, there aren't a lot of people who realize how sick your mom has been. She didn't want people to know." Emma reminded him.
"But Dr. Whale knows and you said that he was the one who took her."
"Yeah he does." Emma replied quietly. "Hey that reminds me, I've been meaning to ask you... I know he's probably the last person you want to talk about right now, but do you have any idea of who he might be?" At the look on Henry's face she corrected herself. "I mean who he might have been, you know before. His... you know his fairytale character."
"Who he was in the Enchanted Forest?"
"Yeah. I've been trying to figure it out but I just can't."
Henry sniffled. "I don't think he's in the book. Why does it matter?"
"Because I want to know what went down between him and Regina. I want to know what in the hell has him so angry that he would want her fate to be such a cruel one."
"I don't think my mom ever tortured anyone," Henry said quietly. "So I don't understand why he would want to do this to her. Maybe she killed someone he really loved."
"Maybe..." Emma sighed heavily, she still couldn't picture it: that the woman she had been taking care of had been responsible for so many deaths during her lifetime.
She pushed the thought out of her mind, she didn't want to think about Regina that way right now. The brunette wasn't that person anymore. Yes, maybe she had been a little malicious when Emma had first come to town, but her defences had come down once she'd realized Emma wasn't a threat, and in doing so she had inadvertently revealed herself to be this gentle, compassionate and warm-hearted person. The fire was still there, but it took a lot more to bring it out.
The most curious part about it was that when Regina's emotions did spike, rather than raise to the fight as she once would have, Emma now found herself wanting to do everything she could to calm Regina down again. Regina's anger used to set Emma's own temper off, but now it had almost the opposite effect. When Regina was upset, whether it be from fury or sorrow, it was like something changed inside Emma and her entire focus went into trying to make Regina feel better. Of course part of it was simply that Regina was someone Emma really cared about, but what amazed Emma was that she had never expected her emotions to be so closely tied to someone else's before.
Emma wished it was already morning so she could resume her search. At least she could be comforted by the fact that she knew at least two people were still looking.
Emma gently rubbed Henry's arm, wishing she could somehow make this easier for him. She could tell that he was on the verge of crying again by the way he was trembling, and she could hear his unsteady breaths and his sniffling. She looked back at the door, she wanted to go to sleep but she also didn't want to leave Henry on his own while he was so upset. She knew she should try to get as much sleep as possible, but she also wanted to give him a reason to stop worrying, even if it would be in the slightest aspect.
"You know... what your mom has... it's not the worst way in the world to die." She began uncertainly.
Henry sniffled. "What?" He asked in disbelief, looking at his birthmother like she was crazy.
Emma bit her lip, already regretting her decision to speak. This probably wasn't going to make things better but she had to try, and it was after all, the truth.
"I mean the kidney failure. There's something Dr. Montgomery said to me that your mom and I haven't told you about. You see, when someone has kidney failure and it's left untreated, that person might start to sleep a lot more, just like Regina has been."
Henry's brow furrowed as he nodded, he sat up as she continued.
"After a while that gets worse, and the person will start spending more and more time sleeping." She said, trying to keep her explanation as simple as she could for him.
Henry continued to listen, not seeing how any of this meant that Regina's death could be good.
"And once that reaches a certain point... well..."
"Well what?"
Emma paused, not sure if she should in fact be telling him this.
"Emma?"
"Umm, well, once they reach a certain stage... one day they'll fall asleep, but then they won't wake up again."
"You mean they die."
"Not exactly. They'll go into a coma, kind of like a sleeping curse you know?"
"I know what a coma is. Gramps was in one until you came to Storybrooke."
"Right..." Emma said a little tiredly. "Well point is, with kidney failure, if it goes untreated, one day the person who has it will just slip into a coma. Maybe for a few days, maybe for a few weeks, but after a while they will simply drift away. It's actually one of the most peaceful ways to die."
"It is?"
"Yeah," Emma heaved a pained sigh. "I know it's not ideal, and I don't want Regina to die any more than you do, but at least we can take comfort in the fact that if we don't find her, she won't suffer for long. You've seen how sick she is. If whoever took her does want to hurt her, and if..." Emma swallowed heavily, hoping this wouldn't be the case, "well... if we can't get to her in time, they won't be able to hurt her for long. Soon she'll just drift off to sleep, and then she'll never have to feel any pain again."
Emma felt her heart sink as she saw the tears falling from Henry's eyes. He remained silent for a while as he thought about this.
"Emma..." He finally said.
"I know kid..."
She pulled him into a hug, she knew it wasn't enough but she hoped she could at least give him a little bit of comfort.
"But Emma I don't want her to die at all." He sobbed into her shirt.
"I know Henry, neither do I. I know it would be better if she wasn't in any danger at all but at least we can take some comfort in knowing that she wouldn't have to suffer as much as she might if she wasn't sick."
She rubbed Henry's back comfortingly as he clung tightly to her.
"I know it's still scary Henry but I promise, she wouldn't feel a thing, not in the end." Emma's voice had become a little higher with emotion but she found that she didn't care.
"But what if they kill her before then? And there is still all that time before she falls asleep."
"I know," Emma said, feeling her stomach turn at the thought of what could already be happening to the defenceless brunette.
"Emma..." Henry's voice broke. "You need to find her. You can't let her die this way, I know she's done bad things but she doesn't deserve any of this."
"No she doesn't." Emma agreed softly. "I will bring her home Henry."
She kissed the top of his head before nudging him to lie down again. She knew she should stay with him, and so despite how hard it was to be in this room, she lay down beside him. Once she had fixed the blankets around the both of them Henry burrowed into her, thankful that he still had at least one of his mothers to turn to for comfort.
Yesterday evening she had been in a similar position to this, however it had been Regina rather than Henry who was nestled in Emma's arms. The reminder of this ate away at Emma, and it was almost too painful to handle staying in the room.
Even so, Emma held Henry close, both to console him, but also to ease her own heartache. She could hear him continue to cry until his breathing turned heavy, and she knew he had fallen to sleep. She closed her eyes and tried to let herself drift off too, but all she could see in her mind were beautiful brown eyes that were full of torment, and all the while she was haunted by the echoes of the frightened screams she had heard less than a day before. Knowing that Regina could be making that same sound right now hurt Emma more than she could bear. For the moment all she could do was hold onto Henry a little tighter, and hope that tomorrow would bring more success.
Across town: A few hours later.
Regina moaned softly as she slowly regained consciousness. She still didn't know where she was; she didn't know how she had gotten there; she didn't know how long she had been there for, and she couldn't remember the last time she had seen her family.
She knew there had been a fire and she knew the others had gotten out safely, but after that she didn't know what had become of them. She herself did not remember any of this, but had overheard tiny fragments of information throughout the night. She knew Henry had been screaming for her, but she didn't know if it was because he had seen her being taken or if he had been frightened and was looking for her. She knew her family had been the intended target for whatever needle she had been given by mistake, but she also knew she wasn't the only one who had been injected. If it hadn't been any of those who had been with her at the house, then that could only leave one person.
"Emma..." She whispered, hoping the abduction had all been a disturbing but hazy nightmare and that she was still safe in bed at home. "Emma..."
"The Sheriff's not here My Queen. She won't be able to protect you this time." Said a voice that Regina had heard almost daily during her later years in the Enchanted Forest.
Regina made another soft moan as she turned her head away, praying for sleep to take over once more. What she had heard during the brief moments when she had regained consciousness overnight was enough to know that this experience was not going to be a pleasant one.
Perhaps if she hadn't felt so ill she might have been able to handle her current misfortune with the poise and tenacity she had worked hard to perfect over her years as a royal. As for right now though, she felt as if most of the fight had already been kicked out of her. She was burnt out, tired; she knew she was going to have to be strong but she didn't know for how long she would be able to persevere.
"Whale! She's waking up." Regina heard Sidney Glass call out.
She'd been surprised when she had first heard his voice earlier, but mostly she had felt betrayed. She had never felt anything for the pitiful man but she was well aware of how he felt about her, and as such she had never believed he would ever try to hurt her.
"About time," a slightly distant voice responded to the journalist.
A still very groggy Regina was beginning to toss slowly on the ground, and after some effort she was finally able to turn a little onto her side so that some of the pressure was taken off of her back.
Just as she had managed this tiny feat however, a pair of hands moved her onto her back once more. She vocalized a quiet, annoyed exhale as she felt the discomfort return.
Next she heard the sound of tape being ripped off of something, simultaneous to feeling a tugging sensation in the back of her hand. She heard something being wheeled away but still she kept her eyes closed. She was exhausted, and she still hoped for sleep to take over just as it had every other time she had woken up.
Soon there was a familiar pressure on her wrist as her pulse was checked yet again.
"She seems to be stable. You two are lucky she's so stubborn."
From where the brunette was lying she could hear Sidney's voice muttering grumpily. Her third captor seemed not to be present.
"Feeling better Regina?" Whale asked a bit louder. "You can open your eyes now, I know you can hear me. If you're surprised that you're still alive believe me, I am a little bit too. This idiot almost killed you but luckily for you, I'm a damn good doctor."
After everything she had been forced to endure over the past twenty-four hours: hallucinations, illness, fainting spells, a panic attack, a house fire, kidnapping, and finally a nearly fatal injection, Regina could still feel the weight of it all pressing down on her as her senses finally became a little clearer. She was breathing heavily when she finally gave in and blinked her eyes slowly open. Her eyelids were so weighted that she was barely able to open them.
"That's it Regina, come on. There's a good girl. We're not done with you just yet."
It took a few moments for her vision to focus, but for the first time that night she was able to take in her surroundings. She appeared to be in a basement of some sort, it looked to be that of a private home but it was unfinished and seemed as if it had been neglected for years.
Finally her gaze fell on the doctor.
"Welcome back Your Majesty."
"Whale..." Regina's raw voice whispered. She swallowed heavily, blinking her eyes again as her vision swam in and out of focus.
"Your health declined much faster than I thought it would," he began, "you should have come to me sooner Regina. You were scheduled to start your treatment... early next week was it? Based on your current state you should have seen me long before then. Although, I'm thinking perhaps the curse breaking may have had a hand in this? Because I know I didn't misdiagnose you, you weren't this bad last week were you?" He stated more than asked. "This seems to have happened practically overnight."
"Wh–" Regina closed her eyes tight again. "What?" She breathed, wondering why he cared about how quickly she was dying. If he was going to kill her anyways what did it matter? She wondered if he knew about the other illness she had contracted, the common virus that was causing her fevers and dizziness. She supposed that he must since he had been more or less treating her overnight, just enough to keep her alive it seemed.
"As such, today is your lucky day Your Majesty. Or unlucky day... depending on your point of view. Your final days are going to be miserable, that much I promise you, but it seems you may have even less of those remaining than I thought. You don't need me to tell you how close you are to death Regina. I'm sure you can sense it for yourself."
She inhaled heavily, still slightly dazed, as he suddenly brought her into an upright position. Once he had her sitting, initially she slumped forwards against his grasp but soon she was able to gather enough strength to hold herself up. It took a lot of effort but she was able to force herself to remain steady.
She may have been up, but she looked far from okay. Her eyes were closed again, her hand was pressed against her forehead as she fought a new wave of dizziness, and her breathing was practically vocal as she whimpered quietly from the unpleasantness.
"Whale?" Sidney's voice asked.
"What?" He snapped, standing up and rounding on the journalist.
"Should we really be doing this?" Sidney asked, eyeing her uncertainly. "You didn't tell me she was this bad."
The doctor huffed in annoyance. "Don't fall for her tricks, she's toying with you again, playing mind games to get you to feel sorry for her. Don't forget about everything she's done to you, what she's done to this whole town!"
"This isn't a game to me Whale." Regina's quiet, shaking but furious voice said as she glared up at them through damp eyelashes.
"Listen to her, she's still the same Evil Queen you and I both remember." Whale said, as Regina scanned the surrounding area.
Sidney still looked a little hesitant, which caused Whale to give an incredulous laugh.
"So let me get this straight..." Whale said, almost amused, "you were willing to assist me when you thought she was healthy, but now that you know she's dying she's off limits? You knew what her fate would be when you asked to join me, don't tell me you're going to back out now you coward."
Regina could feel Sidney watching her as she pulled herself towards the wall, she knew she couldn't support herself much longer but she didn't want to curl up on the floor like a frightened child either.
Once she was settled, her accusatory eyes flicked back to Sidney's. It was hard to focus on him but she did her best to ignore the dizziness.
Stupid man. He believed this was going to make everything better. She knew she had used him many times, she knew she had manipulated his feelings repeatedly over the years, and while she could understand why he would want revenge for the way she had constantly toyed with him, she knew more than anyone that watching her suffer wasn't going to make him feel better in the long run. Hopefully he would fully realize this before she died.
She knew she should be telling him this; or that she should be playing on his guilt so that there might be a small chance of him releasing her; or that she should be tapping into the underused Evil Queen side of herself to remind him that he was the one who needed to fear her, and not the other way around. She knew she should do anything but just sit here passively waiting for whatever it was that was coming. Unfortunately she was just too drained to think of anything worth saying.
She rested her head against the wall. All she could think about was her yearning to be at home with her family again. She wanted Henry in her arms, she wanted Emma by her side, and she wanted David and Mary Margaret's comforting presence.
Her shivering was mostly but not completely due to the cold, and as she hugged herself to keep warm she felt an aching in heart. It was a longing to have familiar arms wrapped around her, protecting her from everything and anything that posed a threat. She hadn't felt this alone since Henry had left.
Whale turned to look for her and saw that she had moved against the wall. Her head was bowed, she seemed to be fighting to keep her eyes open again and her arms were tightly around herself.
"Still feeling sleepy?" He asked from across the room.
She swallowed heavily, looking up at him again. There was a tear streaming down her face and she hated herself for letting it fall, but there was nothing she could do about it now. She quickly wiped it away but she knew he had already see it.
He withdrew a needle from his pocket, raising it for her to see. "Don't worry, this should wake you up."
Regina unwittingly gave a quiet, shuddering exhale when she saw the needle.
"No," she breathed tiredly. She didn't think she could handle any more injections.
Whale nodded to Sidney. "Bring her here."
The journalist turned to look at the trembling queen, and for a brief moment Regina thought she saw a flash of regret in his expression. However, the anger he saw in her teary eyes seemed to have quickly absolved him of any guilt.
When he came towards her she only had a few seconds to decide what to do. She knew she should use her limited energy to fight him off, but she just felt so sick. Her hesitation caused her to miss her chance. When he reached for her, without really thinking Regina raised her arms to shield herself as she bowed her head and closed her eyes. She felt Sidney's hands grab her by her upper arms, and the contact finally triggered the survival mode inside her. Because of the way she was suddenly resisting, he had to practically drag her over to where the doctor stood.
She cried out in pain as he forced her to her knees.
Now was her second chance, she knew she needed to be quicker this time. She needed to fight. As soon as she had raised her arms to protect herself from Sidney just moments ago, she had regretted it. It had been an act of weakness, it was an act of fear.
"Give me her arm."
Sidney let go of her for a brief second and that was all she needed. She was off of her knees, beginning to run. Unfortunately she only made it a few steps before she felt Sidney grab her from behind. She cried out again, continuing to fight as he pulled her against him.
"Stop," he implored, gasping for air after she had elbowed him to the gut. "You're just making it worse."
Regina only continued to struggle against him but he quickly overpowered her. He had to keep a strong hold around the brunette to keep her right arm pinned against her. With his free hand he attempted to pull her left shirt sleeve back, but this proved difficult as she held her arm tightly to her chest. She was exhausted and it was taking every ounce of strength she could muster to try to prevent them from giving her whatever was in that needle, but she knew she had to keep trying.
However, with two of them against her she couldn't hold them off for long. Finally Whale grabbed her wrist and wrenched her arm straight so Sidney could pull the sleeve up.
"If I were you Regina I would relax your arm. You would think you'd know the drill by now." Whale said.
"What is that?" She asked in a furious, quivering voice. Her heart was beating frantically and her arm was practically shaking as she continued to try to pull it back against herself. Whale's grip unfortunately was just too strong.
"Just something to make you feel more awake." He repeated simply. She shivered involuntarily as he ran his fingers over her bare skin. "Relax your arm." He advised again.
She didn't listen, she gritted her teeth as he swabbed a cotton ball damp with alcohol across her skin. Next he raised the needle again, this time bringing it towards her arm.
Regina's lips pressed together in a distressed cry as the point of the needle broke through the surface of her skin. She could feel the liquid coursing through her even before the instrument had been removed from her arm. She gasped at the sensation that was suddenly rushing through her.
Once she had been released by both of the men, she fell the short distance onto her hands and knees, choking back her cries.
All of a sudden it was as if her senses had been put into overdrive. Yes she was more alert now, but she didn't feel better in the least. It wasn't like waking up from a good sleep; she felt extremely dizzy, the nausea had returned stronger than ever, and everything around her looked both unusually far away, while somehow seeming much too close. Her head was beginning to pound and she could feel the pace of her heartbeat increase by a tenfold.
She was breathing heavily again, gasping for air as her system fought to adjust. Despite the deep breaths she was taking, she felt as if she could be suffocating. She was facing the ground under her hands, and while she knew it showed weakness to have her back to them, she couldn't help it. Her main focus was to get her heart rhythm back under control; currently it was beating so heavily that she feared the organ may explode in her chest.
She gave a wounded whimper as she closed her eyes to try to shut everything out. She felt like she needed to be sick.
"Are you sure that was safe to give her?"
"Of course," Wale replied. "She'll be fine."
She could feel her muscles constricting, her neck especially was hurting, and she brought herself completely down so that she was lying on the ground. She wanted to force herself to relax in order to ease the tension, but it just wasn't happening.
"What the hell did you give me?" Her strained voice finally demanded.
Her question remained unanswered as she heard footsteps approaching behind her. Soon she could see Whale's shoes as he walked around in front of her, but she didn't look up at him as she curled in on herself.
"Now is not the time to rest Regina," Whale's taunting voice scolded. "Get up, we have work to do."
There were fresh tears in her eyes as she turned her body further into the floor, wishing it would swallow her up to protect her from whatever it was that was coming next.
"I said get up!"
"I don't think she can." Sidney said as he observed the way in which she was trying to shield herself. In all the years he'd been trapped in her mirror, he had never seen her this way before. It just wasn't like her to cower and hide.
"She'd be able to if she tried hard enough." Whale replied. "This is your last chance to do this the easy way Regina. Stand up."
"Whale..." She whimpered, closing her eyes tightly as she willed the nausea to stop. She missed the exhaustion, she missed the slowness of her senses.
Suddenly she felt a heavy, hate-filled kick to her side. She cried out involuntarily when Whale's shoe delivered a blow to the area just under her ribs. Her body was betraying her, it wasn't giving her the strength she needed to fight back. She didn't yet know what it was that they wanted, but she knew she had already squandered any chance she had to make them believe she would be hard to break.
108 Mifflin Street
Emma was tossing slightly in her sleep, every once in a while she would voice a pained moan.
"How long has she been like this?" Mary Margaret asked.
Henry shrugged from where he was sitting up in bed, he was hugging his old teddy bear as he watched his birthmother.
"Emma wake up," Mary Margaret's soft voice pleaded.
The blonde remained trapped in her bad dreams, although she tossed a little bit more at the disturbance.
"I thought you weren't supposed to wake people up from nightmares?" Henry asked.
"She wanted us to wake her at six regardless, she'll be angry if we let her sleep in." Mary Margaret explained.
"Emma, honey, wake up! Emma!"
"Regina," Emma cried fearfully as she jolted awake. Her hand immediately reached out in front of her, causing Mary Margaret to instinctively raise her own arms to defend herself. However rather than trying to attack her as Mary Margaret had thought, it seemed that Emma had only been trying to grab a hold of her. Emma was still half asleep as she continued to grip her mother's arm tightly.
"Emma shh, it's okay it's just me." Mary Margaret soothed her wide-eyed daughter. She gently placed her hand over Emma's wrist. "Are you alright? You were having a nightmare."
"What– why are you–? Did something happen? Is it Regina?" Emma dazedly asked, letting go of her mother's arm once she realized she was holding onto it.
"No we haven't found her yet. But we may be close."
"What? How?" Emma sat up, instantly on alert.
"A locator potion. I went to the convent while you were asleep and they've agreed to help us."
"Was Mother Superior there?"
"No. Apparently they haven't seen her for days." Mary Margaret shook her head, there was a troubled look in her eyes. "But Emma, this is our chance, I've never known a locator potion to fail before."
"How does it work?" Emma asked hurriedly.
"All we need is something that belongs to Regina: an object, a piece of clothing, anything. The fairies are brewing a small batch of potion for us, once it's ready all we'll have to do is pour it onto the object and it will lead us straight to her."
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A/N: Thank you for reading! Please leave a review, I miss hearing from some of you. Take care xx