Emma was lost, left alone with her thoughts; she kept turning over the bits of information in her mind. It was getting to be early morning, but she was still unable to sleep, tossing and turning in bed as she reconsidered the evening. It had seemed impossible to Emma at first, that Regina would be involved in this in any way, but as she thought about things more and more, it seemed likely, almost probable, that she was. And it pained her that she hadn't seen it before.
Her dreams plagued her again that night, turning into nightmares once again. Emma was tied to a chair, the heavy metal chains cutting into her wrists, all around her voices echoed. She couldn't see anything, the thick wool blindfold wrapped tightly around her head had prevented it, muffling sounds. She thought it had to be a group of people, she couldn't make out how many though, but she thought there were at least two, maybe three voices.
A shrill laughter, more of a cackling sound caused her to jump, it had seemed too close, she swore she could feel hot breath against her neck, feeling long bony fingers ghosting across her flesh. Footsteps reverberated around her, splashing in puddles of water, the entire room smelled musty, moldy, it had to have been empty for a while.
A screeching of metal on cement next to her drew her attention, a voice, one she couldn't place followed, and she thought she heard what sounded like someone taking a seat next to her. A cold blade could be felt at her neck. The voice spoke in a harsh whisper, "Don't you dare fight me. I've got you cornered."
There had to be a second figure around her, her chains were roughly pulled at, their clinking metal signaling someone was messing with them. They fell off and hit the floor with a clatter, hands grabbed at her, rough, calloused, firm, definitely male, and she felt disgusted. Panic rising in her body, she couldn't mask her fear at what would happen, her shaky voice called out, feeling distant, separate from her body, "What are you going to do to me?" It quivered and shook, rising and falling, changing pitches desperately out of fear and an attempt at masking it, she had tried to sound brave but it wasn't working.
She was afraid no matter what she tried to convince them of and it showed. The voice that had whispered, it let out a sultry laugh, deep and rich, a powerful melody that she would have recognized in a different time and place, one she would have fallen in love with.
She mentally pictured the owner of that voice, female, older, mysterious, and most definitely beautiful, the image coming to mind reminded her of Regina, but that couldn't be it, she wouldn't do anything like this. Emma convinced herself it was just because of her current infatuation with the brunette and the turn of events that evening, she felt slightly betrayed by all of it.
She heard more shuffling from around her, muffled whispering, and footsteps walking away, a heavy wood on metal creak sounded, impossibly large for the confines of the room, following by a slam, the boom filling the room, deafeningly loud. If it hadn't been for the slam filling her ears she may have heard footsteps walking back towards her, but she missed them, and relaxed ever so slightly.
It was when a set of ice cold fingers touched her neck, sliding around behind her, fingers tangling in her long blonde locks, she realized she wasn't alone and jumped, letting out an ear piercing shriek, as though she had just been attacked by an escaped murderer, the type right out of horror movies.
"Shhh," came the voice, the mystery owner of which, was currently in front of her, it was gentle, comforting, despite the conditions that caused their meeting. Whoever the voice belonged to was currently in front of her, moving closer, another hand slipped behind her head, moving to untie the blindfold that held her unseeing.
A pair of tender, full lips, collided with hers as nimble fingers tugged gently at the knot, working it loose. Emma lost herself in the moment, savoring the last bit of human contact she may ever have, unwilling to lose it, unwilling to break away, she gasped hungrily, reaching for the other person standing in front of her. Reaching blindly, her fingers grasped, making contact, pulling them closer, desperately needing more.
The kiss ended as the blindfold dropped, Emma was scared to open her eyes, afraid of who she might see standing in front of her, moments passed as she prepared herself, unsure of who she might see in front of her.
She felt those lips slowly making their way, trailing kisses down her neck, hands sliding down her chest, finding the hem of her shirt, playing with it, daring her to do anything, wanting to go further but unable to. Green eyes looked into brown, and her breath caught, Regina stood in front of her, only inches separating them, and she pulled her back into a kiss, desperate for anything she might be able to get from the other.
It ended all too soon as the door across the room slammed open once more, three figures storming inside. Fear etched its way into Emma's bright green eyes as she recognized each of the figures.
Regina had turned around, breaking any contact between them and sunk to the ground, kneeling as another figure made its way over to them, flanked by both Neal and Daniel on either side.
There in the middle stood someone Emma had never thought she'd see again, then Queen from her first mission, walking towards them, perfectly upright, an ornate dress flowing around her, her makeup every bit of impeccable it had been the first time and not a hair out of place, piled atop her head, a crown wrapped around it. She held a gold scepter, decorated with rubies, and a giant ruby in the shape of a heart at the top, between her hands, lightly like one would a fan.
Neal and Daniel followed a couple of paces behind her, careful not to step on the train of her dress. A look of shock crossed Emma's face as her mind reeled back to the first time she saw the Queen, the guards that had found her and brought her to the Queen. She let out a slight gasp in realization, They had to be the guards, but her mind could not figure out Regina's connection, though she was sure there was one, there had to be a reason for her to be present.
Regina had looked back at Emma, shooting her a dirty look upon hearing the sound that had escaped, it was impolite to be heard when not commanded, and this insubordination could mean her life. Emma had barely caught the look, but was unsure of the meaning, but continued to watch as the Queen elegantly glided her way over towards Emma, an evil smirk playing upon her face. Her eyes held an evil glint to them, and her voice made Emma's blood run cold, "Funny we should meet again, too bad they are under such unfortunate circumstances," it was sickly sweet, dripping with fake concern, almost obviously so, and it sparked a feeling of distrust.
Emma wasn't sure what was going on, but something was happening, and she wondered if this was actually happening or another dream, would the pieces fall into place here or was this just paranoia striking out?
"They would certainly be less 'unfortunate' if I wasn't held prisoner."
"Oh, my dear, you are no prisoner, you are a guest, do not be confused."
"You treat all guests like this? I'd hate to see how you treat family."
"How I treat my family is none of your concern."
"So why am I here then?"
"Oh you don't know?"
"We're not at that stage yet? I thought it was time for your monologue where you detail your evil plan as I try to escape. That is how it tends to work after all, you catch me, I'm held prisoner, you enter the room, tell me of your evil plan and how you've won, I secretly work on a way to escape, manage to do so, you finish your evil rant and discover I've disappeared. You in turn try to find me while I defeat your plan. Isn't that how this works?"
"This isn't some bad spy movie," the Queen was now pacing back and forth in front of Emma, watching her with an unblinking gaze, like a lion stalking its prey. Emma couldn't help but gulp and pray that this did in fact end up being a bad spy movie, at least then she knew she could escape.
However, despite her assurances, the Queen did break into an evil monologue detailing her plans, "You have cost me two good men, granted they were expendable as they all are, but they had experience and charm which others do not, and here you are, worming your way into others. I know you are working for Gold, and you should have taken heed the last time, but I fear I may have let you off too easily. It was a bit of a shortcoming, not that I have many of those that I care to admit, but I aim to correct that problem in due time.
I know what he has on you, he has offered to keep you alive, but I can offer you eternal life, something he will never give you."
Emma chanced a glance at Regina, who remained kneeling at her side, head bowed, unwilling to look up and meet her gaze, she swallowed her nervousness, trying to hide her fear, "What is it you want?"
"That's simple, I just want you to report back to him with some false information, you will become my spy."
Emma let out a short, sharp laugh, "Ha! You want me to spy on death? You really think it'll work? He knows everything, he controls everything, he's got the fucking grim reaper working for him, who do you think you are anyways?"
She maybe hadn't meant to say the last part, but it slipped out, though she was genuinely curious as to who this person was that called herself the Queen. She slipped a mask back on her face, hoping she didn't catch the look of shock that had come across as she realized what she said.
But obviously, the Queen had seen it, judging by the look on her face, a raised eyebrow and a smirk, "Oh? He didn't tell you? Now why does that not surprise me. Do you know what it is that you are doing even?"
"He told me, when I'd died," Emma paused at that, it was the first time she'd actually said it, had to admit it, that she'd died, "that he'd return me to life if I'd track down some people for him that had discovered immortality, that if I helped him restore balance to the world, he'd keep me alive."
"Of course he did, too bad the story's so much bigger than that. You never questioned anything he said did you?"
"No, I didn't think I needed to."
The Queen stopped her pacing, a smile spreading across her face like the lion had cornered its prey. She took the seat that had been abandoned next to Emma, vacated earlier by one of the figures in the room, she had wondered if it was Regina who had sat there.
"Leave us," the Queen commanded, followed by a shuffling of feet as everyone exited the room, leaving the two of them sitting there, alone, an eerie silence falling deafeningly loud over the room. A minute passed before the Queen began to speak again.