Author's Note:
I've gotten some questions on Tumblr as to when updates will be, and right now the plan is to update every Wednesday. When I find more free time to write however, I will be shooting for twice a week. Thank you again for all the reviews, you guys are awesome!

CHAPTER THREE
Magic

It had been a long time since Regina had found herself truly frightened.

Her mother, of course, was always able to terrify her with ease. But after Cora had been pushed through the looking glass, there had been no one left to challenge her. It was a breath of fresh air that Regina hadn't known she had been missing until it was allotted her, and the feeling of freedom it gave her – to live without fear, without bounds – was unmatched in its comfort. That wasn't to say that people didn't try to challenge her relentless tyranny as Queen, as there were many that sought to sever her head from her body or burn the flesh from her bones, but there was no one powerful enough to do so. Regina had magic on her side, something that served both as a weapon and as protection, and with it she knew no fear.

Now, however, the comfort magic had allotted her was gone, and Regina was left cowering in her house, actually afraid that these… these peasants would tear her limb from limb. It was a testament, truly, to how far she had fallen.

Why on earth didn't she think to keep a gun in the house?

But even as Regina asked herself that question, she knew the answer: Henry. Although outside of not wishing to put him in harm's way, there was also the fact that she had previously held the belief that the curse would never break. How foolish she'd been, to have underestimated the power that Emma held within her. Although in the end, it paled in comparison to how naïve Regina was, to have hoped, even for a moment, that True Love would prevail above all else.

And perhaps it had, in a sense. It prevailed over the curse, but that, it seemed, was where it's graces ended; for Regina was now left alone, powerless, and feeling emptier than she had even before she cast this worthless curse. She had wanted her happy ending, yes, but what was worse was that she had found it, only to have it ripped away the second she realized its importance. Her importance.

It was a shining example of poetic justice at its finest, and it made Regina want to set fire to damn near everything around her.

The shouting on her porch was beginning to grow louder, and Regina took a breath, chancing a look out her window. She couldn't distinguish the words that were being said, but she was certain that they were probably arguing on the proper way to kill her. Either that or they were uncertain whether the curse breaking had brought her magic back or not, and didn't want to opt for a full-frontal assault if it would result in casualties.

If only.

It wasn't as though Regina hadn't tried. The moment she realized a mob was gathering outside of her house, she had tried with every ounce of her strength to conjure a protection ward, but reaching for something that wasn't even remotely there did nothing but frustrate her to the point of smashing one of her crystal vases. Even trying something simpler yielded no results, and it made Regina deflate rather substantially, to realize that her suspicions about the magical cloud had been completely false. When it didn't take them back to the Enchanted Forest, Regina was certain that it had at least restored magic to the town.

Of all the times to be proven wrong, this one was by far the worst. For the first time in a long while, Regina was completely helpless, and if she were to be honest, she didn't quite know what to do now that she was unable to protect herself.

So she had done the first thing she thought of: she called Emma.

A part of her feared the woman wouldn't even come. But perhaps that was stupid, for even after everything, one thing was still undeniably true; Emma did love her. After all, the curse wouldn't have broken if she did not. Still, it served as a small comfort, as Regina was certain that there was no coming back from this. Emma felt thoroughly betrayed, and it made Regina's chest ache to realize that she would always live with half a heart, as the part that resided within Emma was probably never coming back.

A loud crash echoed from downstairs and Regina's heart leapt in her throat as she hurriedly looked out the window once more. Apparently a decision had been made and it wasn't in her favor.

They had broken down her door.

Regina firmly straightened the hem of her blouse as she inhaled a deep breath, trying to calm her nerves. If Emma didn't get there in time, the last thing Regina was going to do was die an undignified death. She was their goddamn Queen, and if they wished to revolt against her than so be it, but she was not about to do anything shameful like cower in a corner or beg for her life. That was not who she was, despite whatever promises she had previously made to Emma, because if nothing else, at the end of the day, Regina Mills still had her pride.

So with that thought the brunette turned, striding out of her room with as much confidence as she could muster, set on meeting her her attackers that were gathering in the foyer. However, the collective cries of, "There she is!" and "Get her!" as Regina reached the top of her stairs didn't even register with her, for it was that moment that Emma chose to come charging through the threshold at full speed.

Always the hero, even at the end of the day.

"Hey! Hey!" Emma screamed, trying to get the attention off of Regina and onto herself. Unfortunately, she was ignored. Regina stiffened as a wave of people began ascending the stairs, trying to fight her natural instinct to flee. But she was ever so much the Queen as she held her ground, at least, that was until Emma raised her gun above her head, firing a warning shot.

Everyone, including Regina, hit the ground in an instant, Emma having not bothered to look at where the hell she was shooting. The beautiful chandelier that decorated Regina's entranceway shattered, shards of glass raining down upon the unsuspecting mob. They covered their heads with their hands, trying to avoid being hit by the debris as they scattered away from the affected area.

"Miss Swan!" Regina shrieked once she had gotten her bearings, out of force of habit more than anything else. Emma froze, eyes wide and her expression plastered with guilt as she looked up at Regina's furious expression.

"…That was expensive, wasn't it?"

Regina's eyes flashed as she picked herself up off the ground, brushing off her pantsuit in an attempt to look more dignified after such a barbaric attempt at a rescue scenario. She didn't even dignify Emma's question with an answer, for Emma already knew that it was, but it didn't seem to matter anyway, for everyone else seemed to be coming back to reality as well. And their reality held quite a lot of anger and spite for the woman at the top of the stairs.

Emma seemed to realize this and made a beeline through the crowd, pushing people out of her way until she stood between them and Regina about halfway up the stairs. People were starting to shout again, but both the acoustics in the room and her current position allowed Emma's voice to reign over all of them. "Alright, that's enough!" she furiously exclaimed, the muscles in her arms becoming more predominant as her entire body went into a defensive stance.

Regina tried like hell not to stare, as there were clearly more pressing matters at the moment. Still, her gaze lingered there for a little too long before getting pulled back into reality by Emma's continuance of, "I don't give a shit where you guys are from, but you're in my world now, and over here we don't form goddamn lynch mobs! Now back the hell up!"

Some did immediately. However, there were others that continued to stand their ground.

"Oh, how terribly touching," one older man drawled, looking almost amused by Emma's show of heroism. Taka Aryeh, Regina believed his name was, though who he was before she had cursed him, she couldn't remember. His hair was jet black and he had a scar covering his left eye, and although it jogged something in Regina's memory, she could not place why he seemed so familiar. "I wonder, would you be so keen on protecting the Queen if she was not your lover?"

Emma bristled as some people in the crowd shouted their agreement of the man's assumption of favoritism. "What Regina and I may or may not be to each other is irrelevant," she snapped. "There are laws in this world and I'm not about to have you tear her apart on my watch. I'm the law around here and if you don't like it, then by all means, get the hell out of my town. No one's stopping you."

"She stole our lives; she took us from our homes!" came a voice from the back, which Regina couldn't place throughout the masses. However there were murmured, angry agreements that quickly followed. "We deserve retribution!"

"That doesn't give you, any of you, the right to try to kill her!"

"Then what the hell are you plannin' to do about it, sister?" Leroy piped up, stepping through the crowd so he could be seen. Even from where Regina was standing, now directly behind Emma as she had descended the stairs, she could smell the liquor curling off of him like smoke. "Because so far I'm not seein' her in handcuffs or behind bars, and yet you're preachin' about the law?"

"Excuse me for being a little fucking preoccupied," Emma snapped, apparently not intending to keep this professional in the slightest. Then again, she did look to be at about her wit's end. She exuded what strength she had left, but Regina knew more of Emma Swan than anyone else, and could easily see how broken she was behind the mask she wore so diligently.

The guilt from being the one who had caused it sought to tear Regina's heart in half, and she instinctively reached out for her, lightly clasping her hand around Emma's forearm. The woman moved away from her without even so much as a thought, and Regina's stomach sank, realizing that their instincts no longer coincided. Emma did not want to be that close to her.

"You ignorant girl," King George reprimanded her, stepping to the forefront. As his Storybrooke counterpart was a District Attorney, Regina was not surprised by his grievances. "There is no justice system in this world capable of dealing with this kind of situation. What do you plan on telling the state judge of her crimes? If the rumors are true, then your feelings for this… witch," he nearly spat out the word, "are clouding your judgment. We do not need someone like that in the Sherriff's office."

"Then run against me in the next election," Emma firmly responded, holding her ground. "But for now, I'm the Sherriff, and I say Regina deserves a fair trial."

Regina's eyebrows rose. "You're not seriously considering arresting me, are you?" she asked, as though the idea was unfathomable. King George had been right in that aspect; there was no justice system in this world to deal with her crimes. Not that she wished to be executed either, but there were other options that could suffice. Banishment, for example. So long as she was still allowed access to her son, and to… and to Emma, Regina could live with that.

Although she knew the latter hope was her merely grasping at straws.

"I'm sorry, do you want to get lynched today?" Emma snapped, effectively silencing Regina in an instant because no, she really did not. In the end, her solution was far better than the alternative, no matter how much Regina may dislike it. "Just be quiet and let me handle this."

"The old man is right," Taka spoke up, his eyes gleaming with challenge. King George, however, noticeable bristled at being referred to as 'old'. "Some silly little girl with a crush is not fit to make decisions on behalf of this town. Now I am dreadfully sorry to be the one to enlighten you, Sherriff, but look around you." The man smiled cruelly as he motioned to the mob behind him. "There are dozens of us and one of you. I'd say the odds aren't exactly in your favor, wouldn't you?"

Emma's eyes flashed. "Is that a threat?"

"Yes, I do believe it is," Taka responded, stepping forward. His boldness seemed to illicit it in others, for nearly half the group came up behind him, ready to advance if their newfound leader said the word. "And quite frankly, that fact that you even had to question it only gives further proof to your complete incompetence."

"Nah, I just wanted to make sure," Emma told him with a sneer, cocking her gun before pointing it at one of the man's legs just as he and the mob began to advance. "You take one more step and I'll blow your kneecap off," she told him point blank, causing Taka to come to a halt just mere paces before them. "Because to get to Regina you have to come through me, and I'm not exactly the world's nicest person when I'm feeling threatened. Understand me?"

Taka laughed. It sounded mocking and cruel. "You wouldn't dare."

"Why? Because I'm the Savior?" Emma spat, as though the title was something disgusting to her. "Wrong. The world isn't black and white, and I sure as hell am not either. I might be too good a person to kill you outright, but I'm not opposed to causing some damage. You're threatening my family. You wanna see what that does to a person? Go ahead and find out."

Although Regina was certain that the word 'family' when referring to her was nothing more than an unconscious slip on Emma's part, it still filled her with an incomprehensible sense of warmth and acceptance. However, the feeling was short lasting.

Taka opened his mouth, fury etched on his face at being so blatantly challenged, yet instead of words, a loud, animalistic roar fell from his lips. Regina's eyes widened as his form shifted in an instant and instead of an angry man standing before them, a dark lion emerged from the ashes of Taka's former self. Teeth bared and muscles poised, he immediately lunged towards the two women.

Regina reacted on instinct.

"Emma!" she shouted, throwing herself in front of the woman so violently that they both landed in a heap on the stairs. Regina quickly shielded Emma's body with her own, yet instead of feeling sharp teeth sink into her flesh as she had expected, something inside of her sparked to life.

Regina felt her magic react within her so suddenly that the intensity of its power nearly suffocated her, pushing the breath from her lungs as a protection ward shot from her body like an arrow. There were screams from the mob as it slammed into the lion so forcefully that it threw the animal across the foyer, causing it to collide with the far wall. A pathetic sounding whimper escaped the creature's mouth as the impact was made, but when it fell to the ground, its unconscious, massive body shifted to become the form of the man it once was.

The house broke out into chaos.

Frightened of Regina's magic, the mob scattered from the house like ants. Pushing, shoving, and screaming, they each fought to be the first one out the door, once more fearing their Queen's uncontestable wrath, should it suddenly be turned towards them. Their collective panic only furthered the pandemonium as the magic in the air wrapped around each of them, forcing them to become what they once were.

A loud crash echoed through the house as suddenly a twelve foot ogre shifted from within the doorway, crushing the threshold to nothing as plaster rained down upon his head. Regina stared at the scene wide-eyed, not understanding what was happening in the slightest, yet knowing that if nothing else, she had to keep the ward up in case any of the newly appearing creatures turned on them. Now that she felt the magic running through her veins, her instinctual abilities kicked in and she was easily able to control it. For how long though, Regina was unsure.

Emma's grip on her arm was bruising as her breathing shallowed, unable to comprehend the situation even less than Regina. A collection of what the blonde had previously believed to be mythical creatures, mixed with a plethora of panicking humans, was still in the process of fleeing from the house. Regina wished she could tell Emma that it would be alright, but didn't dare speak in fear that it might break her concentration. They couldn't afford to have the ward fall, as it was the only thing protecting them during this madness.

Some of the creatures were reverting back to their human forms after only moments, but others were now roaming down Mifflin Street, causing more chaos on the unsuspecting town. Thankfully, everyone had now vacated the mayoral mansion, but the repercussions of what had happened there were sure to be disastrous. However, as Regina was certain that no one was planning to turn back around and attack them, she allowed the ward to dissipate before turning towards Emma, breathing heavily from the amount of effort it took to uphold it for that long.

Emma didn't meet her gaze. She was barely even blinking. The Sherriff just stared out the large hole that was once Regina's doorway, seemingly struck into a near catatonic state. Regina creased her brow in concern, knowing that after everything else that had happened, this was probably far more than the woman could mentally handle. Regina tenderly touched her arm so as to not startle her, voice low as she questioned, "Emma…?"

Emma turned towards her, but she seemed to be looking through her rather than at her. Regina momentarily feared that this madness might be the thing that finally broke her, but suddenly Emma rose to her feet. Regina watched as the woman wordlessly trudged into her study, not even bothering to spare the Mayor another glance. It was like she wasn't even there.

Regina blinked, giving herself a moment's hesitation to process the change before she too picked herself off the stairwell, following Emma into the other room.

Regina was greeted with the sight of the Sherriff holding one of her most expensive bottles of whiskey to her lips, chugging the contents like she hoped to find sanity at the bottom of the glass. While the reaction was probably not out of the ordinary, considering the unorthodox nature of the situation, Regina still found herself cringing at the sight of Emma coughing on the contents for a moment, only to immediately bring the bottle back to her lips. She, clearly, had no desire to be competent throughout this ordeal. But dulling her senses did not in any way diminish the problem, so Regina asked, "You honestly believe this kind of reaction will help? You're the Sherriff, Emma. What use are you going to be to anyone drunk?"

Her tone came off as terribly judgmental, and Emma slammed the now half-empty bottle on the desk before turning towards Regina, a dangerous look in her eye. "A character from my favorite Disney film just tried to rip me apart," she hissed furiously. "Do you even understand how much of a mind fuck that is?!"

Regina held up her hands in light surrender, realizing she shouldn't have been so quick to chastise. She probably didn't have a place to anymore anyway. Still, Regina tried to calm her with, "Look, I really do understand that this is a difficult situation for you to grasp, but—"

"A diff—a difficult situation?!" Emma exclaimed, a disbelieving laugh bubbling from her throat. She stared at Regina like she had gone mental. "I think we've gone a little fucking far past a difficult situation, don't you? For fuck's sake, Regina, Simba's uncle is lying unconscious in your goddamn entranceway, and I'm pretty sure I don't even want to know what the hell broke down your damn door!"

Regina tried to answer, but Emma continued her tirade as she furiously grasped for the bottle once more. "And the most screwed up part of it is, I don't get a chance to even process any of this crap, do I? No. I have to fucking go out there and… and deal with everything that you fucked up! This, all of this shit, is your fault, Regina!" She waved the bottle at the Mayor erratically, some of the contents spilling out and staining the white carpet as Emma stumbled towards her, the rush of alcohol seemingly hitting her all at once. "You and your stupid ass curse and Jesus, why—why the hell couldn't you have been fucking normal?!"

The bottle was to her lips again, Emma's shoulders slouching in defeat as she dealt with her problems in the unhealthiest way that she could find. "Why couldn't I have just loved someone normal?" Emma murmured after she was finished with another swig, although the question seemed to be directed more towards herself than to the woman standing before her.

Regina watched Emma fall apart with a pained expression, for she knew that the woman had spoken truth when she placed the blame on her shoulders. This was her fault. Regina wished, more than anything else, that she could find a way to rectify it so that its reality was no longer crushing the drunken woman in front of her, but there truly was nothing she could do at this point. The damage had already been done, and now they both had to live with the consequences.

"Emma, I'm sor—"

"Don't," Emma interrupted her, eyes ablaze as she cut Regina off mid-sentence. She placed the bottle back down on the desk, furiously pursing her lips for a moment as she ran her fingers through her hair. "It's just… it's worthless, okay? So just don't. I don't want to fucking hear it."

Regina tensed her jaw, trying to not allow the sorrow that she felt become reflected on her face. There was a long moment's silence that followed, the tension in the room enveloping any hope for rationality. Still, Regina had to try. "Emma," she began softly, tentatively. "What's happened is going to cause a lot of people to panic. There's going to be more riots if we don't gain control over the situation—"

"We?" Emma interjected through a disbelieving laugh. "I'm sorry, did you just say we? Newsflash, Regina; I'm pretty sure a whole of no one is going to want you to be Mayor after this. You have no more authority."

Regina bristled, offense coloring her face. "That doesn't mean I'm going to allow this town, my town, to just fall apart! Think whatever you want of me, Emma, but I actually do care about Storybrooke."

"Well that's just great," Emma slurred sarcastically. "Fucking damn peachy to know that you care enough about a fake town to try to save it, but not enough to be honest in your goddamn relationship to save us."

It was a low blow and Regina felt it in her chest, twisting the invisible knife that this situation held within her heart. A dozen things came to mind to say in her defense, but none of them made it past Regina's lips. She just stared at Emma, helplessly faced with a problem that held no plausible solution. Its inevitability was destructive and Regina knew that it was only a matter of time until it demolished everything that they were, and everything that they could have been to each other.

Emma shook her head, trying to push past the floodgates that she had opened. "You know what? Whatever," she dismissed, beginning to cross the room towards Regina as she reached for the cuffs hanging off her belt. "You want me to do something to calm the people of this town, then fine. I'll do something."

"Emma, what are you—Emma!" Regina exclaimed as she was practically manhandled, the Sherriff having forced her to turn around as she positioned Regina's hands behind her back. Though Regina didn't struggle against her, Emma's grip was tight and immobilizing.

"You have the right to remain silent—"

"You're mirandizing me?" Regina fumed, feeling the cuffs click in place behind her wrists. Disbelief washed over her features, as she had believed Emma understood that there really was no court in this world that could try the kinds of crimes she had committed.

Emma continued on, ignoring her protests as she forcefully guided Regina towards the door. "Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to speak to an attorney—"

"I know my goddamn rights!" Regina exclaimed, feeling thoroughly humiliated by this whole ordeal. If it were anyone else arresting her it wouldn't be as bad, but as it was Emma who was doing this, it made Regina feel about an inch tall. The fact that she was in handcuffs, that Emma didn't even trust her enough to come with her to the station willingly, spoke volumes about how much their relationship had deteriorated.

Still, Emma pushed on. In the end, she knew that if she didn't finish, that it could become problematic from a legal standpoint later on. "If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be appointed for you…" Regina exhaled a hard breath as Emma continued reading her her rights, leading the detained woman towards her car.

This most certainly was not going to end well.

TBC…