I just watched the episode of "Castle" where Beckett is shot, so that's what this chapter is based off of. Enjoy!

Even though the town didn't necessarily like Regina, they all agreed that she was a much better mayor than Snow. She got things done, and knew how to get everyone to sit down and shut up during town meetings. Except for the one time she couldn't.

It had started off like any other town meeting. People had complaints and concerns, which Regina took care of easily. She glanced at Emma in the front row every once in awhile; just to remind herself that after all the chaos was over, Emma would snuggle with her on the couch to relax.

The meeting had already been going on for an hour when a man Regina had never seen stood up. Regina tried to place where she had seen him before, but couldn't recognize him. Maybe he was one of her knights?

"I have a question," the man said. "And you better answer it honestly." Regina raised an eyebrow at his rudeness, but froze when she saw him pull the gun from his jacket. The whole room gasped, and Emma and David were quick to draw their own guns and point it at the man.

"Put it down!" Emma shouted. The man was lazily waving the gun around, pointing it at random town members.

"Hold your horses," he said. "I have a question for our lovely mayor first." He turned to Regina and pointed the gun right at her. Emma gasped and began to panic.

Regina glanced at Emma. She had to act strong for her fiancé, or the situation would only get worse. "What's your question?" she asked.

"When you cast the curse, did you feel any remorse?" the man asked. "You ripped apart families, did you know that? My wife and kids were in a different part of the country. So did you feel any remorse?"

"Not at the time," Regina said. "But I do now. And I'm terribly sorry about your family. I'm sure we'll be able to help you find them if you'd like."

The man laughed and shook his head. "That's not what I want. I found them. They're dead. Couldn't get their new life started right, so they ended up starving to death. Something that could have been prevented if you hadn't cast that curse!" By the end of his little speech, the man was shouting.

Regina felt herself start to panic. This man was clearly unstable, and could shoot anyone at any second. She gasped as Snow stood up. The man turned the gun to face her, and Regina saw Snow's skin pale.

"But if the curse hadn't happened, a lot of us wouldn't be friends right now," Snow said. "Most of us have forgiven Regina for the curse. We've moved on. Maybe you could too."

"Move on?" the man scoffed. "This pain is my power. It helps fuel the fire."

"That's what I thought too," Regina said. The man pointed the gun back at her, and Regina saw Emma's hands start shaking. "That's why I created the curse. I was in so much emotional pain, and I took it out on a lot of people. But you don't need to let the pain win."

"Don't talk like you know me," the man growled. "You don't know anything about pain and loss. All you know is how to use your magic to hurt a whole town. And now, I'm going to show you loss like you've never known."

Before Regina could even get another word in, the man fired one shot. Only he hadn't been aiming at Regina.

He'd been aiming at Emma.

The doctors tried to reassure Regina that Emma would be fine, but Regina needed to see her.

After the man had fired at Emma, chaos had erupted. The town did not take kindly to their Savior being shot.

David had fired about 5 shots at the man, but the first one had killed him. Regina had run down from the stage to Emma's side, before poofing them to the hospital. It had been 2 hours since then.

Snow and David had calmed down the town and sent everyone home before joining Regina in the waiting room at the hospital. They sat on a couch, carefully watching Regina. When she was hurt, she was very unpredictable.

"They're all going to blame me," Regina whispered.

"Who's going to blame you?" Snow asked.

"The town," Regina said. "She was shot because I love her, and that man wanted me to experience loss. It's my fault that she was shot to begin with."

"Stop that," David said. He got up before sitting next to Regina. He hesitantly grabbed one of Regina's hands, and squeezed it when she didn't pull away.

"He was a crazy man," he said. "You weren't the one that fired the gun."

"Besides," Snow said. "If anyone tries to blame you, we'll beat him or her up." Regina smiled.

2 weeks later, Emma was home. She had fully recovered, and was doing physical therapy once a week to strengthen up the arm that she had been shot in. Luckily, when she saw the gun pointed at her, she had turned her body so the bullet meant for her heart had hit her arm instead.

Her only problem was Regina. It had spooked Regina big time that she had come so close to losing Emma. Plus she still blamed herself. So, Regina had taken to working from home, and hovering over Emma as if she could be shot again at any moment. And it was driving Emma nuts.

Emma hadn't meant to snap. But seriously, she could go to the bathroom without Regina waiting right outside the door in case she needed help.

She waited until Regina went into the kitchen to prepare lunch before pushing herself off of the couch and tiptoeing to the bathroom. Regina had no idea until she heard the toilet flush.

"What are you doing?" Regina demanded.

Emma finally snapped. "Regina, I should be able to pee when I want without you having to be outside the door!" she said.

"I guess I have been a little overprotective lately," Regina mumbled. Emma chuckled and grabbed Regina's hand, leading them both to the living room. She sat down on the couch, pulling Regina down next to her.

"I love you," Emma said. "But I need you to listen very carefully to what I'm about to say. Okay?" Regina nodded.

"This was not your fault," Emma started. Regina tensed. "You were not the one that fired that gun, and you were not the one that put the bullet in my arm. Therefore, this is not your fault. So stop blaming yourself."

"I am not going anywhere," Emma continued. "No one is going to break in while you're at work and kill me. He's gone. You need to go back to work."

"And finally," Emma finished. "You need to let me pee by myself." Regina laughed as tears started falling. Emma smiled and wiped them away before wrapping Regina in a hug.

"I love you," Regina said.

"I love you too," Emma replied.