"He's sick. I knew something was wrong, but he wouldn't tell me. I think it may be his heart," Belle said with her voice trembling in fear. Her arms were wrapped tightly around herself in concern. They had almost lost him in the past. Was it likely that they would lose him this time for good? Emma could see the questions and fear shining in her eyes as she stared over toward the Charming family.
"His heart? How is that possible?" Emma asked as the crew walked toward the bed that held an unconscious Mr. Gold. He trembled and shook in his sleep, gripping his left arm in his own delirium.
"The darkness. It's overpowering him. It happens to every Dark One at some point or another. Usually, magic keeps the darkness from killing its host, but he'd lost his power after he left Storybrooke to go to New York. It's possible that it damaged his heart beyond repair. We have to get the darkness out of him, and even then, it's not guaranteed that he'll survive it," Regina replied, the expression on her face showing that she did not want to be the bearer of this bad news, but it was definitely a possibility that they had to be prepared for.
"Well, that's great news," Emma muttered under her breath, her green eyes staring down at the broken shell of a man she'd only known to carry great power. "How do we reverse this? Is that even possible?" She finally pulled her eyes off of Gold and lifted her gaze to Regina. If anyone knew how to fix this, it was her. In that moment, Emma realized just how much she and the entire town relied on this one woman to be able to know how to fix everything. Emma just punched her way through things, but Regina was the brains of almost every operation. She couldn't help but to wonder if maybe Regina should have been The Savior instead. Things might've gone a lot smoother.
"I don't think there's a way," Regina replied, looking down to the man before them dying.
"There's always a way. We always find a way." Charming stepped in with an arm that rested on Snow's shoulder. Sentimental...but sometimes, it was annoying. Even for Emma.
"Dad, I don't think it's that easy. Not unless we can get him another heart or something," Emma grumbled and turned away from the group, cursing under her breath when doing so.
"Emma! That's it!" Regina's eyes shot up at her with a smile. It was that smile that indicated to Emma that Regina had a plan...and it actually might work.
"W-What's it?"
"We just need another heart to transfer the darkness. Then, we just have to let the doctors do the rest." Her eyes stayed on Emma, expecting Emma to understand before anyone else. Robin rested a hand on the small of Regina's back to interrupt.
"Sorry. Where are we going to get a heart? It isn't as if people have extras lying around," Robin said, and while he wasn't trying to come across as sarcastic, Emma struggled to keep from rolling her eyes. Regina, however, simply smiled and stepped out of his grasp as she turned to explain. For that, Emma felt a little cheer emit deep within her soul. She hated him touching her.
"You forget who I am, Robin. I'm the Evil Queen. Hearts are my specialty," she said in a cool tone, as if somewhat angry with him for having to remind him that she was someone she wasn't always proud to be. Emma piped up before anything else could be said.
"It's worth a shot. If that doesn't work, we can go to Plan B."
"Plan B? What's that?" Regina asked, cocking her head to the side curiously. Emma smirked a little in her direction.
"We'll have to figure one out, like we always do. Together."
- [ Regina's Vault ]-
With a flick of Regina's wrist, the doors to Regina's vault flew open, causing a rush of cold air to escape and hit both she and Emma swiftly. The creaking of the metal doors echoed in the midst of the cemetery as the two women stood beside one another. For reasons that Regina couldn't explain, she wanted to be here alone with Emma. She didn't want Robin or the Charmings hovering over them with expectations of fixing this situation. While it didn't bother her most of the time, there were times that she couldn't help but feel the frustrations that came with the responsibility of taking care of an entire town. How could Snow and Charming consider themselves as Queen and King, when they looked to her for solutions so often? They called it teamwork, but it didn't always feel that way. At least with Emma, she didn't feel alone.
"You should really consider getting a heater in here or something," Emma said as she wrapped her arms around herself, hands rubbing over her arms to try create warmth. Regina grinned as her hand lifted from her side. Heat formed as orange light broke up the darkness from the vault as fire emitted from Regina's palm. A small laugh escaped Emma's lips and she lightly rolled her eyes.
"Right. Nevermind," Emma added with a chuckle, her green eyes holding a hint of amusement. Did her gaze linger? Regina would be lying if she didn't admit to herself that the warmth she felt didn't come from the fire in her hand. It came from Emma's laughter, and it wasn't until then that she realized how long it had been since she'd heard it.
"You should laugh more." Regina spoke before she realized that her thoughts left her lips. Emma arched an eyebrow as she turned a little toward Regina.
"Yeah? Why's that?"
"Because...it's...nice. And you don't do it very often. I hear it's good for the soul," Regina replied, letting the fire light lanterns as they walked into the main vault. The fires created a little more warmth in the midst of the cold room. Emma leaned against one of the tables and folded her arms across her chest comfortably.
"Well, if you like it that much, you'll have to give me more reasons to laugh then." Emma winked jokingly, laughing once more. Regina's heart stopped for a moment before she slowly stepped in closer to Emma. She wanted to laugh along with Emma, but there was something that stopped her. Something that had her closing the space between them. Her hand reached out to take a hold of the scarf that Emma wore on top of her usual red leather jacket. She let the soft, knitted material rest in the palm of her hand, thumb rubbing over the material. If anyone asked her why she felt the need to stand so close to Emma, she wouldn't be able to answer it.
"I'm sorry, Emma. I'm the cause of so much heartache for you. If it weren't for my hatred and need to destroy your parents, you could have had such a wonderful life. You'd be happy in the Enchanted Forest. You would have never gone through any of this…" she said softly, her dark eyes piercing into the green ones that stared back at her. Regina could see the swirling emotions in Emma's eyes and couldn't understand any of it, but she knew it was there. Emma reached out to rest her hand against the curve of Regina's neck, fingers gently brushing across her jawline.
"Gina…Don't say things like that. If it weren't for you, I wouldn't be who I am now. I wouldn't be the Savior, and I wouldn't have everything I have. I wouldn't have Henry. Henry wouldn't be who he is without you. You're a part of this family, and my life already is wonderful. Besides…I'm so stubborn that I probably would have found some other ways to create heartache for myself if you hadn't done it for me," she said with a small laugh that made Regina laugh also. Regina couldn't stop her heart from pounding at Emma's hand on her neck. Could she feel the pounding underneath her palm? Her eyes slowly lowered to Emma's mouth, curved in a small smile until she bit her bottom lip ever so slightly. How was it that she could feel Emma's bite as if it were her own lip?
"Well…" she replied with a small swallow and a playful grin. "…I suppose the last part is true. You are unbelievably stubborn." She laughed when Emma scoffed and dropped her hand away from Regina's neck. Her hand tightened on Emma's scarf as she playfully tugged on it, which instantly killed the playful moment when Emma's body pressed against her own. A soft gasp escaped their lips as she felt Emma's arms wrap around her waist to hold her there. Regina's hands lifted to rest on Emma's biceps, gripping the jacket as they stood there frozen.
"Look, Regina. I need to tell you something," Emma started, right as the sound of her phone ringing interrupted the two of them. Emma was the first to step back, and the moment that they let go of one another, Regina was hit with an immediate feeling of loneliness that she didn't realize was there before. That thought alone flooded her with guilt. Robin loved her, and here she was in the arms of another. A woman at that! What the hell was she doing? Just then, Emma shoved her phone back in her pocket.
"That was Henry," Emma said as she reached for Regina once more. This time, however, Regina took a step back. She couldn't do this, knowing what it would do to Robin. Knowing that there was a bigger mission for them right now. They had to figure out a way to contain this darkness that Gold was about to lose control of before it was beyond their powers. Even still, Regina couldn't help but to feel the knot in the pit of her stomach at the pain in Emma's eyes when she pulled back from her touch.
"We need to figure out a way to save Gold before it's too late," Regina replied quietly, her arms moving to hug her own midsection.
"…Yeah. Okay. " Emma didn't pursue the matter and turned to walk toward the books resting on a nearby table. Why was there disappointment dwelling in the fact that Emma didn't push for them to talk about what almost happened? Regina shouldn't want that, and yet there was this part inside of her that wanted Emma to fight for her…but that wasn't a luxury that Regina could afford. Even still, it gnawed at her inside to know that Emma simply gave up.
"Okay?" She asked, a small scoff escaping her lips. Emma's hands came down onto the books, slamming onto the pile with a thud as her head lifted up to gaze in Regina's direction.
"What do you want me to say, Regina? I want you. I love you. I have loved you, and I can't force you to love me in return, so I have to let you go. You love Robin. Who am I to get in the way of that?" Emma's jaw clenched tight and she lowered her head to flip through the first book. Regina stood there, stunned.
"I…I didn't expect that. How long…?"
"It doesn't matter how long. Only that I do."
"Yet you're so willing to let me go to Robin?" Regina arched an eyebrow. She was surprised and excited and anxious all at the same time. What did this mean for them? What did this mean for her? Why didn't she feel like this before, yet now…it was there. That warmth in her heart for Emma. How did this all begin?
"If that makes you happiest," Emma said softly, her gaze locked on Regina for a moment more. Then, her eyes turned away to look back to the book. Regina didn't know what to say. Did Robin make her happiest? She would have thought so, but now she wasn't sure. Why was she having such conflicting feelings? Rather than saying something that could tip their fates, she stayed quiet and simply moved over to the book.
"You…said you had something to tell me. Was that it?"
"Not entirely, but I'll tell you later. We need to figure out a way to somehow tether this darkness elsewhere to spare Gold and keep it from destroying this town." Emma's jaw set tightly and Regina, for once, didn't want to push the matter. When Emma's jaw tightened, her mind was made up. She'd figured that out about Emma by now. Sometimes, it wasn't worth fighting. They would have time to discuss all of this later.
"All right. So, then, how do we fix this? We could easily put the darkness in a heart, but then we would have another Dark One on our hands. We want to tether it to something that can't…be the Dark One." Sinking her teeth into her bottom lip for a moment, she considered their options. They just had to find a way to tether it. It was then that Emma's head shot up.
"Regina! What about the hospital?" Regina's eyebrows furrowed in confusion.
"The hospital? What about it?"
"We need to tether this darkness to a heart that isn't in an actual body. So all we need to do is get it in a heart nobody's using. Mr. Grant had a stroke and has been declared brain dead. Mrs. Grant hasn't taken him off of life support. Could we use his? It's not like he'd be able to come back to life."
"Use a dead man's heart? I don't know if that would work, Emma…"
"But we could at least try, right? Otherwise, we're in the same boat we're in now."
"Only with less time," Regina reminded her, but she knew that Emma was right. It was worth a shot. She couldn't fathom the possibilities of failure. She reached out to give Emma's arm a squeeze, but Emma stepped out of arm's reach before she could, walking toward the doors. It wasn't malicious or meant to hurt Regina in any way, yet Regina couldn't help but feel the small pang of disappointment at not having Emma's touch at her own disposal. A small frown was brushed away with a few bangs out of her eyes before she followed Emma, who led them toward the local hospital.