Trigger Warning: Chapter contains themes of assault. If this causes a bad reaction for you in any way, please read only at your own discretion.
Regina moaned quietly as she slowly regained consciousness. She didn't know for how long she had been asleep but she could tell that whatever amount of rest she had gotten, it wasn't nearly enough. She had been expecting to wake up in more pain than she was currently in, and she had to wonder if perhaps her body had gone into shock. That however, did not seem to fit.
She could tell that she was no longer on the cold stone floor of the basement, but instead seemed to be lying on something softer. She almost dared to hope that maybe she was back in her bed at home, and this had all just been a horrible nightmare. If she kept her eyes closed she could keep up that fantasy, but she knew if it were untrue, she had only a little bit of time before her captors came back and therefore she needed to use her time wisely.
She blinked her eyes open slowly. The last thing she remembered was being left on the floor in the basement of whatever building she was being kept in. She had been nursing a broken arm while lying on a few shattered ribs, but everything after that was black.
She reached for her arm to see if the move to this new location had made it worse, but was astounded when she discovered that her bones were completely intact. She took a sharp intake of breath as she forced her eyes open. She pulled her arm up to her chest, slowly in case of any sudden spasms of pain, and then ran her hand along her arm from the shoulder all the way down to the wrist.
Her heart rate increased slightly as she tried to make sense of what was happening. Had she imagined her bones being broken? Had she been hallucinating again? Or maybe she was hallucinating now?
Sometimes it was hard to tell. She had thought she had seen Emma at one point a few hours earlier but she knew that could not have been real. If it really had been Emma she wouldn't still be trapped here. She knew something had happened to her friend, she just didn't know exactly what yet. She feared that Emma had been killed, but something inside her kept telling her it wasn't true.
Trying to remain calm, Regina used a few moments to take in her surroundings. She seemed to be in what could charitably be called a bedroom; it was quite bare, and had a neglected feeling that was similar to, but not as intense as the basement had been.
Someone had put a blanket over her but she was still quite cold due to the building having no heat. She made a motion to try to sit up but instantly found herself regretting it as her head began to spin. The movement also brought her attention to the IV drip that was once again attached to her hand. She hadn't noticed the tube sticking out of her vein until she had tried to move the blankets and it had snagged on the fabric.
Sucking in her breath again, she closed her eyes as she waited for the dizziness to pass. Whatever it was that was in the IV this time, it wasn't making her feel better. The first IV hadn't either, by any means. But at least that one had managed to bring her back from the brink of death after Sidney had injected her with something her system couldn't handle. This one on the other hand seemed to be keeping her in a state of debility. She hadn't realized how weak she felt until she had tried to move. She realized now why she wasn't restrained. Even if she removed the IV, chances were she wouldn't have the strength to free herself from the room before they would hear her attempts at escaping. Her limbs felt very limp, and her legs especially, felt quite heavy.
Just as she was eyeing the IV and preparing herself to remove the needle from her hand, she heard a key turning in the lock on the bedroom door.
Regina quickly lowered her other hand away from the IV to hide what she had been trying to do.
"Ah so you're awake again. Good." Whale said as he entered the room and closed the door behind him.
"Wh–" Regina began, but had to stop when trying to speak had irritated her dry throat. She swallowed, lightly touching her neck with her fingers as she closed her eyes again. "Where are we?" She asked in a coarse voice."You still haven't told me."
"Oh does it really matter where we are Regina?"
Regina blinked back a few tears. "Are we still in Storybrooke?"
"Yes. I should have thought that obvious since after all, it was you who put that damn barrier on the town line."
Regina closed her eyes again. She wondered how close Henry was right now, her home couldn't be very far away. She wished she could go there, at least just one more time. She hadn't known the last time she had been there that it would indeed be her last time. She wanted to know, beforehand, when her last moments at home would be. She wanted to have the chance to appreciate them more than she had this time. She still couldn't even remember what her last moments at home had even been. She could assume that they weren't anything pleasant, but she still wanted to know what had happened in that fire. It was quite possible that she didn't even have a home to return to.
"Where is my son?" Regina whispered.
"Your son?"
"Yes," Regina opened her eyes to look at him. "Henry... Is he okay?"
Whale didn't respond as he moved over to an old desk. He placed a bag he had been carrying down on it, and then began to search through it.
Regina continued to watch him, desperately waiting for an answer. "Please, I just need to know that he's safe."
"You know, you could see for yourself how your son is doing..." Wale said, sitting down on the bed beside her.
Regina's eyes flicked back up to his at the comment.
"If only you would just use your magic. I've been telling you this whole time Regina, you can stop your suffering at any time."
"Whale," Regina whispered almost angrily. She tried to sit up again but found herself unable to. After sinking back into the pillow she was lying on and closing her eyes for a few unpleasant moments, she forced herself to continue.
"How, after everything you've put me through today, how can you still be so stupid as to think my magic has been returned to me? If it had, why wouldn't I have used it to heal myself by now?" Regina's voice wavered. "Why wouldn't I have used it to destroy you for all you've done to me. Do you think I enjoy being this sick? Being constantly on the brink of death?"
Whale smiled as he leaned in closer and brushed her hair back gently. "I think you enjoy keeping your family close," he said softly. "I think you know they're only staying by you because you're sick and they don't want Henry to know they would abandon his dying mother. Deep down you know, the minute you get better they'll turn on you, there's too much bad history between you all for it not to happen."
"That's not true." Regina whispered.
"It is. And I'm going to prove that you still have your powers."
"How?" Regina's voice quivered involuntarily.
"By seeing how much farther an Evil Queen needs to be pushed before she can no longer handle the pain."
Regina swallowed nervously, blinking back a few more tears.
"Whale... how many times do I have to tell you? I don't have any magic."
"Then why Regina, why has everyone else's magic been restored to them?" He responded gently. "What makes you so different, that when the magic was brought to Storybrooke it neglected you, and only you? Don't tell me even the magic is sick of you?" He sneered.
"I can't explain it," A quiet-voiced Regina nearly sobbed. "I think it might be something to do with my state of health. Magic requires a lot of energy, and that's something I'm afraid I just don't have."
He gave a tired sigh. "If I were you Your Majesty, I would give up this charade now. Give in, it will save us all some time. And in your case it will spare you from more of this great, unnecessary suffering."
"You want me to use it to send you back to your land," Regina tiredly repeated his words from earlier. "But what I still don't understand is, if you truly do believe that I am hiding my magic, why aren't you afraid that I'll suddenly decide to use it to burn you to a crisp?" Her voice was suddenly laced with venom.
Whale gave a small chuckle at that. "Because when you do I have something extra special to stop you."
While she had been focusing on the conversation, she hadn't noticed what he had taken out of his supply bag until he suddenly took her arm. She tried to pull it away from him but she had been caught off guard, and she really didn't have the strength to fight him anyway.
Before she knew it he had fastened her wrist to a bar on the side of the bed with a restraint that had clearly come from the basement of the hospital.
"What are you doing?" She asked in a hushed voice.
"Preventing you from taking this out," he said, indicating the tube sticking out of her hand. "You'll want to be more careful Regina, I can see this has been pulled by something, you could have really hurt yourself." He grinned, inspecting her slightly inflamed skin.
Regina huffed, pulling against the strap and ignoring the pain it caused as he stood up. Trying to distract him from whatever it was he was doing, she tried to keep him talking.
"Why do you want to go back so badly? What was so great about your life back home?" She asked tiredly as he took a hold of the blanket at the bottom of the bed and folded it back so that it was no longer keeping her legs warm, but was now covering her torso only.
Knowing better than to try to lift herself up to see what he was doing, she ignored the pounding of her heart as she saw him reach towards her legs. "If I recall, you weren't nearly as successful over there as you are here, and might I remind you that the only reason you have your career here is because I gave it to you."
"Oh I see," Whale drawled. "You think I should be thanking you don't you?"
Her breath caught in her throat as she felt a slight pressure on her thighs, simultaneous to the sound of a click, followed by a thump on the floor below the bed. It was then that she realized she had been restrained after all, at least her legs had been, and Whale had just removed the strap that had been keeping her there.
"Well I won't." Whale continued. "Because of you an innocent person... someone I cared very much for, was robbed of her chance at a future. So let me ask you one thing, why do you think you deserve to live when you denied another her opportunity for a second chance?"
Regina looked taken aback. "What are you talking about? I have absolutely no idea who you–"
Suddenly she stopped herself as something clicked in her mind.
"Frankenstein," Regina whispered slowly, saying Whale's real name for the first time since the curse broke. "This isn't about the curse at all... This is about Elizabeth isn't it?"
"So you do know her?" Whale grumbled.
"No," Regina breathed softly. "I never knew her personally, but I've read the tales about you in this world. You can't possibly blame me for her death, I had absolutely nothing to do with it."
"Nothing to do with it?"
"I didn't even know her; she died years before you and I even met."
"Yes she did. But Regina, when you cast your curse you left so many people behind, and my Elizabeth... well she was one of them."
"She was already dead when I brought us all to this world. No one can deny that."
Whale took a deep breath. "I know you had the ability to bring the dead with us. But you decided to leave everyone else's families behind didn't you? You were selfish, you only brought your father." He snarled.
"Why does it matter?" Regina rose to the fight. "You wouldn't have remembered her anyway, and it's not like you could have brought her back to li–" Regina stopped herself. She knew now why Whale was so upset. Before the curse he must have been trying to resurrect his true love.
"Now you're getting it." Whale said.
"You were trying to bring her back to life, weren't you?" Regina asked in anguished disbelief.
"She and my brother, yes I was." Whale responded coldly, breathing a little heavily himself.
"But I thought your brother was the one who killed her? After you had already brought him back from the dead..." Regina was trying to quickly piece together what she knew about him in her mind. "Wasn't he angry with you and he sought his revenge by killing Elizabeth?"
Regina didn't expect the angry blow to the side of her face.
"You should know more than anyone that our stories as told by this world are full of lies." Whale replied angrily. "No, my brother did not hurt Elizabeth. But she did die, and because of you I was robbed of the chance to bring her back!"
Regina shook her head, and despite his current rage she gave a laugh of disbelief.
"What?" Whale asked short-temperedly.
"Don't you see?" Regina gave a tearful but malicious smile, "I did you a favor by leaving her behind. If you tried to bring her back now how do you think she would react? She would hate you." Regina's voice shook in quiet anger. "She would loathe you. Her life would be dark and bleak, so full of pain. And that being said, I believe I did her a favor too."
Regina fought her exhaustion as she continued to taunt him. She didn't know why she was antagonizing him but she couldn't help it, it was one of the only responses she could think of.
"You're a letch here in this new world Whale. Did you honestly believe Elizabeth could still love you once she learned how many women you tried to seduce after she was gone? My stepdaughter and Miss Lucas being the two latest."
She suppressed a cry of pain when he hit her once again, harder this time.
"You're one to talk." Whale fumed, not responding to her latest taunt. "Bringing me from another land to the Enchanted Forest so I could bring your dead fiancé back to life."
Regina could taste blood as she raised her fingers to her face, feeling the damage using her free hand.
"I was young, I didn't think of the consequences an action like that may bring. And don't forget that I had..." Regina's voice caught in her throat as she thought back to him. "I had Daniel..." she took a deep breath. "I had his body preserved by magic. I don't believe you had the ability to do that for Elizabeth." Regina shook her head, taking in a deep breath. "Imagine what that would feel like to her? After all that time passing by, of having her body rot and wither after her death... to all of a sudden be brought back and forced to live that way? She would never forgive you."
"I succeeded with my brother! I could have with her too, if only you hadn't ripped us all from our lands!"
"I'm sorry," Regina actually whispered. "I know what it's like to lose the person you love more than anything. I know well the pain of being separated from those closest to you, but Whale take it from me, revenge won't make you feel better. Hurting me for taking you from her... it won't bring her back. Whale I know that you know I don't have any magic. You know there is no way I can take you back to your land. So please, stop this now before it's too late."
She sniffled, taking in a shaky breath as she tried to stop her tears from flowing. He had turned away from her now and was going back to his bag.
"Do you think Elizabeth would still love you if she saw the monster you've become? I can't reunite you with your family Whale, and I am really, truly sorry for that. But..." Her voice caught in her throat as she tried to keep her emotions under control. "But you can still take me back to mine, it's not too late. And if you do that you can start being the person Elizabeth would want you to be. You could live your life the way she would have wanted you to, not with a heart full of vengeance, but with compassion."
"Don't talk like you knew her." Whale replied darkly as he turned to face her again.
"No... you're right I didn't know her." Regina responded softly, her eyes full of tears. "But for you to love her so deeply she must have been something really special. I've known you a long time and you were never a bad person Whale, I can see now why you're doing this, you're just heartbroken."
"I do miss her, but you're wrong Your Majesty. I'm not heartbroken, I'm angry. Angry at you for playing god for so many years; for killing hundreds of people for no reason, for torturing them... for ripping thousands of people away from their homes and families because you believed you were the only person in the world whose happiness mattered. That's why I'm doing this to you Regina. You need to feel the pain you caused. You need to feel everyone's pain."
The tears were spilling down Regina's face now. "I'm sorry. I do wish I could take it all back. I'm not that person anymore Whale, you have to believe me."
"It's too late for sorry, and yes Regina, you will always be that person. The world will be a better place without the Evil Queen in it."
"Whale please," Regina's voice broke. "It's taken a long time but I'm finally becoming a better person. My son was a big part of that. I truly do want to help the people of Storybrooke, I want to make up for what I did to them, but I can only do that if you give me the chance to. Please, let me go back to Henry, let me go back to my family."
"They don't love you. How could they? Maybe I'm the one doing your family the favor by ridding them of you." Whale threw her earlier insult back in her face.
Regina choked back a sob, she was quickly losing control of her emotions and it was getting harder to keep herself from falling apart.
"My greatest enemy is now a part of my family once again. Do you really think Snow would have let me back into her life if I was still the Evil Queen from all those years ago?"
"Yes," Whale growled at her. "Because Snow White is weak. She needs to see the best in everyone, even when it's against her best interests. She's always been too trusting, and that, that will be her downfall."
Regina wiped away her tears but they were quickly replaced by fresh ones.
The door behind them opened just then, and they both looked up to see Sidney entering the room.
"Ah, speaking of people you tormented," Whale continued, standing up. "Here's one of those people you hurt the most. You had to have known the day would come where they would seek retribution?"
"You're the one who's going to kill me... aren't you?" Regina asked Sidney in a quiet, shaky, and almost even hopeful voice as tears still poured from her eyes.
"Oh Regina, he's not going to kill you." Whale answered her. "No, your suffering is far from over."
Regina sniffled as she looked away from the both of them, she knew she was trembling again, both from the cold and out of fear, but there was nothing she could do to prevent it.
She could feel Sidney sitting down on the bed beside her. Her vision was blinded by tears as she turned her head away from him. She could feel Whale removing the IV from her hand but she couldn't bring herself to open her eyes to observe what he was doing.
"Please," she said in the quietest, most tortured of voices.
There were tears streaming down her face when she felt Whale take her arm. She didn't waste her energy trying to resist his actions, but she still jumped a little when she felt him give her another injection of some sort.
"I want to go home." She whispered in a shaky, desperate, and almost silent voice. "I want to go home. I want to go home..."
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A/N: Thank you for reading, please don't forget to review xx