"Fuck stop" she erratically exhaled.
"Why?" I whispered, not stopping.
"Because… if you don't… stop now… don't you dare… stop… after…" she was having a really hard time trying to make sense and speak. But I understood her.
I pulled back away from her. "I'm not sure I will be able to control myself if we keep on" I apologetically smiled at her, before realising what I was saying. She's your enemy, Swan. Get it back together.
I looked around and saw the remains of the house, all around us. Regina licked her lips, cleared her throat, and ran her hand through her hair. She then exploded the protection bubble and walked away.
"Where are you going?" I screamed.
"To Belle and Ruby." She simply answered.
Chapter 9. Lost.
I ran after her.
"You know we can teleport, right?" I asked.
She didn't answer me, and kept walking. I followed her, hating myself for forgetting my best friend. But as we moved, I get disturbed again. I could not focus on anything but the way she walked… her legs and her whole body. I stopped going forward before doing anything stupid and I teleported, thinking of Ruby.
I landed in a clearing, lighted by the sun rising. Ruby was standing in front of Belle, and they were talking. They seemed quite peaceful, not fighting as I had expected. Henry was a few meters away behind Ruby, looking at the women, afraid. I went to him. Belle noticed me first. I didn't say anything, but offered my hand to my best friend, waiting for her to grip it and leave with Henry and me, back home, away from this mess. Ruby looked at my hand, and back at Belle. Reluctantly, she seized my fingers. I was about to teleport us one last time when I noticed Regina, standing at the border of the clearing. Our gazes locked, and I saw this betrayed and sad look again. We vanished, and the next thing I was seeing was the face of my men, who had been waiting for us.
"No problem?" asked Hook.
Ruby looked at me.
"None, thank you. One of you speaks French?" I answered.
"Gaston does. He's on the fifth floor." Neal said.
"Great. Bring the boy to him. Make him explain everything." I turned to Henry: "Henry, ça va aller, ne t'inquiète pas gamin, d'accord ? Cet homme va t'emmener rencontrer Gaston. Et Gaston t'expliquera tout ce que tu dois savoir. Je viendrai te voir demain, pour savoir si tout va bien pour toi. Ok ? (Henry, everything's gonna be fine, don't worry kid, ok? This man is going to bring you to Gaston. Gaston will explain to you everything you need to know. I'll check up on you tomorrow, to know if you're doing alright, ok?)".
Henry approved, obviously not really reassured. When he left, I turned to Ruby, and asked the men to leave the room.
"What did she say, Rubes?" I urged my friend.
"She said…" she paused, obviously conflicted. "She said they weren't our enemies…"
"And I suppose you believe her", my voice was harsh, bitter.
"I don't know…" Hers was uncertain.
"You think there's a slight chance she said the truth" I tried again.
Her hesitation lasted a few seconds.
"Yes."
"Why?" I asked, desperate. I wanted to believe that so bad.
"Because she made no attempt to hurt Henry. Nor me. She was civilized. She seemed sorry for all this. And she didn't seem to like Cora very much…"
"But…?"
"But how could we trust them? If they're not our enemies, what are they? They deport people and God knows what they're doing with them?"
"She didn't say were they deport them?"
"Nope… she said Cora prevented it, but I don't know how… a magical spell, maybe." She truly wanted to believe Belle, too. I could see it in her eyes.
"I suppose Regina tried to say something like that. But I interrupted her…"
"What happened?" Belle was intensely staring at me.
I turned away from her, trying to escape her gaze.
"Nothing relevant. We fought. We could not defeat each other, our powers are too much alike." I paused. "We also kissed."
"Oh my God." Ruby sounded shocked.
"Surprised?" I turned to look at her.
"Can't say I am. But I didn't think you would kiss her, while knowing all the things she's done."
"You're the one who wants to believe they have nothing to do with all this crap." I attacked.
"I would be naïve to think such a thing. They're obviously involved in this mess. And even if they're manipulated by Cora, it doesn't right all the wrongs they've done, Emma."
She was defeated.
"I know." I simply answered. I didn't know what I could possibly add to her statement.
"And yet you're in love with her."
"As you're in love with Belle…"
We stared at each other, silent. Our desperate looks probably matched. We were both in love with our nemesis.
We remained this way for several minutes, up until Killian came back.
"Henry's not a wanderer. He's a talener."
"What's his power?"
"He reads people." Killian simply answered.
"What does that mean?"
"I think you should see by yourself."
He led me to the boy. He was sitting with Gaston. Killian and some other boys were also there. Neal however, was not.
"Hey, gamin ! Alors comme ça tu peux lire les gens ? Comment ça marche exactement ? (Hey kid ! So tell me, you can read people? How does that work?)"
"Ben… je sais pas trop. Mais je sais que tu t'appelles Emma Swan. Que tu étais orpheline, mais qu'un homme t'a recueillie. Il n'a pas vraiment été gentil avec toi. Tu as beaucoup de pouvoirs. Et je crois qu'il n'y a qu'une seule autre personne qui en ait autant, et tu es amoureuse d'elle. (Well… I don't exactly know. But I know your name is Emma Swan. You were an orphan, but a man adopted you. He wasn't really the kind type. You have many powers. And I think there is only one other person who has as many powers, and you're in love with her.").
The more the kid talked, the more I blanched. As did Gaston who understood everything. The rest of the team was lost, but the look I sent to Gaston and the way we both turned white did not go unnoticed.
"Est-ce que tu as lu les deux femmes qui étaient avec nous tout à l'heure? (Did you read the two women who were with us earlier?)" I eagerly asked him.
"Je n'ai pas eu le temps de lire la femme avec qui vous êtes restée. Mais j'ai lu Belle. (I did not have the time to read the woman you stayed with. But I did read Belle.)" He answered.
"Et? (And?)" I urged him.
"Et c'est un vampire. Elle voulait travailler pour Cora parce qu'elle pensait que ce serait une bonne chose et qu'elle serait un bon chef. Mais elle s'est rendu compte que ce n'était pas le cas. Elle veut vous aider, mais elle ne sait pas comment faire sans que Cora soit au courant. Alors elle utilise des pseudos avec une de ses amies pour vous donner des informations importantes. (And she's a vampire. She wanted to work for Cora because she thought it would be a good thing, and she would be a correct ruler. But she realized she's not. She wants to help you, but she doesn't exactly know how without Cora knowing it. So she used nicknames with a friend of hers to give you some important information…)"
I thanked Henry and asked for an urgent meeting. We all went to the first floor. Before we entered the room, I quietly asked Gaston not to repeat any of the things he had heard about me. He nodded, and swore.
"Okay guys. The kid just told me that Belle and Regina secretly work for us." I loudly said.
The reactions were immediate. Ruby almost cheered and screamed. Killian's mouth fell open. The rest of the men started to speak quickly and disbelievingly, not trusting Henry with such an affirmation.
"I can assure you, Henry could not have lied. He perfectly read through me." I calmly said.
"So what now?" excitedly asked Ruby.
I indulgently smiled at her… my relief probably matched hers… there was no doubt in my mind that "Belle's friend" was indeed Regina.
"Now, we act like we know nothing. Any change in our behaviour could endanger the both of them. They probably wanted the kid, because Cora knew his power. And she wanted to find the moles in her team. Which is why Regina and Ruby went to take him and did not send anyone else."
My reasoning was logic. I did not doubt Regina anymore. She was working with us. I had known all along I could trust her. She was probably trying to minimise the consequences of her mother's actions.
"Nevertheless, we need to do something. We need to discover where they all are deported."
"What if… what if you infiltrated the Government?" suddenly said Ruby.
"What?" The woman was clearly losing her mind.
"Think about it, Saviour. Regina and Belle will not tell Cora who you are if they're working with us. Cora once asked you to join her team. She never saw you were among the resistant movement. She will never guess you are the Saviour. Your powers are as great as Regina's! She would never turn down such an addition in her team!" Ruby explained.
I thought about my friend's reasoning. This weirdly made sense.
"This is nonsense, Red!" Killian angrily said. "What if they had already told Cora about the Saviour, just in order for them not to be suspected of anything?"
"We need to contact Regina." I calmly answered him.
Ruby smiled widely at me.
"How do you want to do that?" Gaston asked.
"Contact Snow-White. She will ask directly Regina if Cora knows anything about me."
"And what if Regina is not Belle's friend Henry was referring to?" Gaston interfered.
"Wait, Henry did not mention Regina?" Ruby said.
"Well, not exactly, but I know he was speaking about her." I defensively answered.
"What if he was not? We can't risk it, Emma! Snow-White should go to Belle! And ask her about Regina and what Cora knows." Killian said.
I wanted to fight back, but I knew he was right. I could not allow my feelings to cloud my judgment.
"Fine" I answered. "Contact her now. I want my answer in an hour!"
Nobody moved, all looking at me, as if they were trying to make sure I was not joking and really intended to infiltrate the Government.
"NOW" I shouted.
They all stood up at the same time and left, except for Ruby who had not moved an inch.
She was staring at me, smiling.
"Stop showing your teeth like that, you're scaring me" I teased her.
"You're as relieved as I am" she simply stated.
I smiled back at her.
"Of course I am." I simply answered.
"So… if it turns out you do infiltrate Cora's team… you do realize you will see Regina daily, right?"
I only grinned wider.
"Think you will fuck the daughter under the mother's nose?" she innocently asked.
I loudly groaned.
"Don't pervert me with those thoughts. The daughter turned me on quite enough for one day" I sarcastically answered. "You want me to give Belle your heated letters?" I teased her.
"I'd rather you to bring her ass back to me" she sadistically smiled.
"I'm quite sure you wouldn't be that happy if I brought only her ass back…" I laughed.
"True that… but I wouldn't be completely disappointed either …"
We were giggling like two schoolgirls when Gaston and Killian came back.
"Snow-White has been contacted, Saviour. She's on her way to the vampire" Killian said.
"Fine. Thank you, guys."
They nodded and exited.
"I wish I were Snow-White, right now…" childishly complained Ruby.
"You wish you talked to a vampire?" I pretended to be shocked. "How sinful of you!"
"What can I say? I'm a sucker for bloodsuckers" she grinned.
"That you are, girl" I laughed. "Training?"
"Let's go" she confirmed.
We were just getting started when Killian came back once again.
"So?" I eagerly asked him.
"So Cora doesn't know a thing about you. And Regina is indeed working against her mother"
I victoriously smiled. We finally had some good news.
"What happens now, Saviour?" asked hopefully Ruby.
"Well. Now we infiltrate the Government."
"Ok. How do you want us to proceed?" Killian intervened.
"You will highjack the Government's system to deliver a message, as we said. I want Cora to think you're the number one threat. Ruby will replace me and you will help her. If you have any question, you ask Snow-White, who will come to me. As for me... I will teleport myself to Cora. Tomorrow."