Chapter Twenty Nine

"Emma!"

Henry's panicked voice stopped her short on her way back to her Bug, and she turned to see him running toward her, red-faced and frantic.

"Kid! You're supposed to be at school."

"I know," Henry said, panting, as he reached her. "But, Emma, the curse-"

Emma nodded quickly. "Yeah, I know. It broke. Come on, get in the car."

Henry shook his head. "No, I have to get to my mom. I have to make sure she's okay."

"That's where I'm headed, kid. Get in."

The drive to Regina's office was tense. The sidewalks and streets were full of people laughing, crying, hugging and reuniting, and Emma guessed it was safe to bet that everyone in the town knew that the curse had broken by now. No one looked anything less than elated - and a but confused - at the moment, but Emma knew that if Regina was right, it was only a matter of time before they set their sights on her, and Emma needed to get there first.

"How did you do it?" Henry asked quietly from the passenger seat.

"Do what?"

"Break the curse. What did you do?"

Emma glanced at him, and he was staring up at her, wide-eyed and terrified. She guessed his hero worship had dissipated the moment he realized what the curse breaking could really mean for the woman who'd raised him.

"I don't know, kid," Emma said, shaking her head. "I don't think I did anything. It just… broke."

Henry swallowed and nodded, looking back out the window as they pulled into the town hall parking lot.

"Your mom's car's still here," Emma acknowledged. "She told me she was heading into work this morning, so I figured this was the best place to start."

Henry was out of the car without a word, dashing up the steps and into the building, with Emma close behind. She nearly ran into him when he stopped dead in front of her, and it didn't take long to see why.

Ahead of them, down the hall and in front of the closed doors to Regina's office, a small mob of angry citizens had formed. There were only a couple dozen, at most, but they were banging on the door and yelling for Regina to come out and face them.

"Stay behind me, Henry," Emma ordered, as she started off down the hallway, yelling to try to get the attention of the crowd. It was no use, however, since their own yells easily drowned out her voice.

Emma knew it was only a matter of time before they managed to break the door down, but before she could get to the front of the crowd to try to stop them, the door swung open and Regina stood there, looking more severe and determined than Emma would have expected, all things considered. Regina hadn't noticed her in the crowd yet, and Emma made sure to push Henry back behind her, as she waited to see what Regina would do.

For her part, Regina appeared calm, and Emma couldn't help but noticed how the crowd subdued considerably once Regina was in view. It only took a moment to realize that in spite of the fact that they were coming for her, they were afraid of her.

She supposed it made sense, since Regina was the so-called Evil Queen, but Emma wasn't exactly prepared to witness people look at the person she loved with nothing but sheer terror.

Regina's dark eyes scanned the crowd with purpose, but before they could land on Emma, she spoke. "You wanted to see your Queen?" she started, her voice so cold it sent a chill down Emma's spine, "well, dears, here she-"

Regina was abruptly cut off by other voice in the crowd.

"Stop!"

Regina startled, and stopped, with her hands partially raised. A small smile crept up on her lips as both she and Emma spotted David pushing his way to the front of the crowd, brandishing a large silver sword.

People moved back to let him through, and though Regina looked completely unfazed, Emma gasped as she realized he really meant to kill Regina, right there, in front of everyone.

"No!" Emma screamed, reaching out toward David as if she could grab him and stop him, though he was several feet away from her.

David turned, and stopped for a moment, as the same realization of who Emma was hit him, as it had hit Mary Margaret earlier that morning.

"Emma," he said, his eyes suddenly turning softer than they'd been a moment ago.

"Don't do this," Emma pleaded with him.

David shook his head. "Emma, I'm sorry, I know you and Regina… it's complicated. But you don't understand. I have to protect my people."

"Not like this."

Emma heard a scoff from the crowd, and only then noticed Dr. Whale making his way toward David.

"The Evil Bitch doesn't get to live just because she's fucking the so-called savior," Whale said, moving to grab the sword from David's hand.

"No!" Emma screamed again. David might have been too dumbfounded to react, but she wasn't. She lurched toward Whale, and then she felt it; a familiar feeling of something that had happened to her countless times. She'd never been able to explain or control it, but she knew it was coming the second she felt that buzz in her hands. A blast of energy, like electricity, shot out from her fingertips, blasting both Whale and David - and several other people - sideways away from Regina.

Regina's eyes flashed to Emma, with a look of pure disbelief, her mouth gaping slightly.

Without a second thought, Emma grabbed Henry's hand and ran toward the door to Regina's office, pulling Henry along with her. Regina ushered them inside and slammed the door shut behind them.

Emma fell back against the wall, panting, as everything that had just happened caught up with her.

Henry had wrapped his arms tightly around Regina's waist, and though she was holding him against her and stroking his hair soothingly, her eyes were still fixed on Emma, with a look of bewilderment.

"Emma," she breathed.

"I don't know!" Emma said immediately. "I don't know what it is and I don't know how I did it! It just happens sometimes! I… I…"

"It's magic," Regina said, simply.

Emma stared at her in confusion. "Magic?"

Regina nodded, still looking calmer than she had any right to be in this situation.

Emma suddenly had hundreds of questions she wanted to ask, but the mob had apparently reformed outside the door, as the yelling resumed and people were banging on the door again.

Emma guessed the fear was showing on her face, because Regina lifted one arm off of Henry, and held it out to her, motioning for her to come closer. When she did, Regina pulled her in close, hugging her tight against her.

"Regina," Emma said as she wrapped her arms around her, trying not to squish Henry in the process. "Those people aren't going away."

"I know."

"How are you so calm right now?"

Regina sighed. "I knew they'd come for me, Emma, you know that. That's never been what I was afraid of. I was scared of losing Henry, and you, and you're both right here."

Emma nodded against Regina's shoulder. "Yeah, we are. I said I would protect you, and I will."

After giving Regina one more squeeze, Emma stepped back and wiped her eyes.

"What are you going to do?" Henry asked, turning back to look at Emma.

Emma took a deep breath and forced a smile. "I'm just going to talk to them."

Opening the door again, Emma surveyed the faces in front of her, who looked back with expressions of fear and confusion. David was the first to approach. He had his sword back, at least, and Whale was still sitting on the floor near the wall where he'd landed, looking angry but not badly injured.

"Emma, are you alright?"

"I'm fine," Emma said, wincing as she noticed the welt on David's forehead. "Are you? Is that because of me?"

David touched the spot and flinched. "I'm fine."

"You can't kill Regina."

David sighed, and looked past Emma to wear Regina stood inside her office, holding Henry tightly to her. "You're right."

"I am?"

David nodded. "Yes. But I'm not sure everyone else here is going to agree."

"So what do we do?" Emma asked, nervously surveying the crowd again.

"I can't believe I'm about to say this, but… you get Regina out of here. I'll deal with the crowd. Snow… well, your mother and I… these are our people. They're lost and confused and they need a leader."

Emma bit her lip, not quite as convinced as David seemed to be that he could control the rabble. But she didn't see what other choice she had right at the moment.

She turned to Regina and Henry, motioning for them to come with her. "C'mon, let's get out of here."