CHAPTER SIX
Revelations

"God, you reek."

Emma looked up, her haggard appearance accented by the gauntness of her eyes. After taking another long pull from the cigarette between her fingers, Emma's exhale came out like a hard sigh, the smoke curling around her like a protective barrier. "Don't doubt it," she murmured in response, eyes shifting towards the ground. The area around the bench was littered with cigarette butts, indicating just how long Emma had failed to move; failed to do anything but silently brood in the stillness of the park.

Ruby scrunched up her face a bit at the sight of her friend before apparently deciding that she could stomach the stench of sorrow, and sat down next to her. "Things aren't going well, I take it?"

Emma laughed. It sounded hoarse, broken. Her lungs felt like they might collapse at any moment, yet she pulled on the cigarette once more, finding that the movement had become more routine than anything else at this point. "Understatement."

The past few days had brought nothing but headaches. Although they had finally found enough volunteers to place Regina under house arrest, Emma found that having access to her office left quite a lot to be desired. Her days were filled with frantic townspeople filing missing persons reports for their love ones that still had yet to be found, and an above average call-in rate for complaints of property damage and theft. Hook was threatening the Lost Boys lives if Emma didn't 'get off her pretty ass and take legal action for the damage to his damn ship', and Elphaba had been making a scene at Gold's shop the last two days, claiming he had stolen her precious ruby slippers.

Needless to say, the witch was now banned from the property for constantly disturbing the peace, and Emma had to look into the so called 'theft', as though something like that was actually important in the grand scheme of things.

It was ridiculous, and yet things like this had actually become part of her job description.

In the end though, she supposed it was better than magic going haywire again, but David's worry that there hadn't been anymore incidents had started to rub off on her, and Emma felt like she was hanging on the edge, waiting for the other shoe to drop. Because, in the end, that was all her life ever amounted to anyway; waiting for the next shit storm to make its appearance.

Emma took a long sip of her water bottle, feeling the vodka she had filled it with burn its way down her throat. It was the only constant in her life that held some sort of comfort, as its endgame never came as a surprise.

Ruby arched an eyebrow at her. "Don't you think it's a little early for that?"

Emma's eyebrows rose in surprise as she turned to face her. She had thought the clear liquid wouldn't be distinguishable, but clearly she had been wrong. "How did you…?"

Ruby tapped the side of her nose softly. "I have an above average sense of smell. Which is why you stink something terrible to me right now, by the way."

"Oh." Emma put the cap back on the bottle, feeling a little embarrassed to have been called out like that. Even Mary Margaret, who Emma assumed knew how she managed to get through the day, never said anything. "Right. The whole… werewolf thing."

Ruby searched her face for a long moment, trying to judge Emma's reaction before deciding to just straight up ask, "That freak you out?"

Emma exhaled a long sigh, flicking her cigarette to the ground before crushing it with the heel of her boot. "Honestly? I think it's kinda gotten to the point where everything is so fucked up that I really only have enough energy to dwell on the worst of it. So no, even though it probably should. Fuck, maybe I'm just too drunk to care anymore. I don't know."

There was a long pause as Ruby tugged her red cloak around her body a little tighter, the light breeze in the air beginning to make the area a little chilly. "Have you spoken to Regina?" she asked after a moment, genuinely curious, however the look of death that Emma shot her made her hold up her hands in light surrender. "Alright, not a good topic of conversation. Sorry."

Emma ran her fingers through her hair before quickly reaching for her pack of cigarettes, finding the need to chain smoke once more at just the mere mention of the brunette's name. Emma had been trying not to think of her, but that was much easier said than done. After Regina had gotten out of jail, she had gotten her personal affects back, which included her cell phone. Not even an hour afterwards, Emma had gotten a text message that read:

"I know you don't wish to speak to me right now, but please, whatever you do, do not take that potion. You know me well enough to know that my pride doesn't condone begging, but that's what I'm doing. Please… I know I deserve your anger, but I couldn't bear it if you went to such extremes. Losing you so completely like that would kill me, Emma. I beg of you, don't do it."

The intense wave of emotions that Regina elicited with her words sought to make Emma ill, and so she threw her phone against the wall, shattering the screen with the impact, and then proceeded to scream at Mary Margaret for telling Regina about that. It seemed unnecessarily cruel, not just to Regina but to her as well, and all it stood to do was make the situation worse. Emma wouldn't lie and said she hadn't been tempted, but in the end, it was something she knew she couldn't do. At least, not at this point in time. It hurt, yes, but Emma was dealing with it; maybe in a really shitty, unhealthy way, but she was surviving, because that's what she did.

Now she was afraid that Regina would become frantic over it, scared that Emma really would do something like that, and it opened the door up to more communication between them that Emma really could not handle right now. But she had fucked up her phone without thought, and now she couldn't even text Regina back and tell her that it wasn't going to happen.

Really, all in all, her life was going swell.

"I just… I really don't wanna think about her right now, Rubes," Emma responded, her tone apologetic only because of how she had glared at woman for it. But then she remembered something and amended, "Red, sorry. This whole thing's kinda—" Emma waved her hand a little, indicating the insanity of it all, before placing another cigarette between her lips.

Ruby shook her head though, dismissing the correction. "No, I… actually like Ruby better."

Emma raised her eyebrows, surprised by that. Everyone else seemed to go back to their original names, and Emma had been having a hell of a time trying to remember to call them something different; she failed at it about ninety five percent of the time. After lighting her cigarette, Emma asked her, "Why? I mean, not that I'm not glad for it or anything, cause it does make things a hell of a lot easier for me, but… everyone else has kind of, I don't know, I guess dismissed who they were during the curse; cause it was such shit for them, or whatever else…"

"Shit?" Ruby repeated, chuckling a little in disbelief. "Do you want to know what's shit? Having to wear this," she pulled at the edge of her cloak, "because I'm afraid that if another magical incident happens and I'm around it, that I'll turn back into a wolf and not be able to control myself. Shit, Emma, is knowing that you're dangerous, and that you could seriously hurt people, if not kill them. And shit is remembering that you already have once before."

Emma stared at her, the cigarette hanging rather lifelessly between her fingers as she tried to process that information. Everyone had been so happy that the curse had broken that Emma hadn't even considered that there could be people in Storybrooke that weren't better off for it. Everyone blamed Regina for ruining their lives, and yet there Ruby was, actually glad for what the woman had done.

Ruby sighed softly, picking at the bottom of her cloak. "I know Regina's curse was supposed to take away all our happy endings, but honestly…" she looked up at Emma, sadness and loss brewing behind her hazel eyes, "being Ruby? That was the happiest, easiest time of my life. And maybe it's horrible to say, but if given the choice… I'd much rather be her."

Emma looked at her for a long moment before finally needing to turn away, taking a long drag of her cigarette to try to distract herself from her plaguing thoughts. "Yeah… I get that," she admitted softly, because not a day went by when Emma didn't wish for the blissful ignorance she had before the curse broke. It was so much easier, and God, she was happy. It wasn't perfect, not by any means, but Emma craved the feeling of loving and being loved so desperately that it tore her heart in half, to know that things would never be like that again.

She missed just being with Regina. She missed feeling her in her arms, she missed their playful banter, and hell, she even missed being fussed over because of the stupidest of things, like getting herself soaked in the rain because she forgot her umbrella. She missed the teasing, she missed the kisses, she missed the smiles. She missed how hard it was for them sometimes, because it made it so much more worth it when they figured things out. She missed the feeling of completion when she was around the woman she grew to love so deeply.

And yet, it didn't matter. The moment Emma began to miss her, not long afterwards she would be reminded of why they couldn't be together. Lies, betrayal, curses, murder. And so Emma would drink until she puked, desperately trying to run from the cycle she was trapped in, yet the next day would come, and it would inevitably start all over again.

God, what she wouldn't give to just turn back time. Emma didn't care how fucked up that was, didn't care that she'd rather forget the person Regina really was to just be happy again, because she hated living like this. It got worse every day and she didn't know how to make it stop.

Until later that night, when she was sitting on her bed practically drinking herself into a damn coma… she finally did.

[x]

Although Regina was thankful for being back in her own home, a large part of her detested it. The walls screamed with memories, her bed sheets still smelled distinctively of Emma, and yet the masochist in her dwelled where the blonde had resided the most. It truly was pathetic, what she had been reduced to, and yet Regina found herself reliving the pain of loss as she trudged around the house in one of Emma's oversized band t-shirts, unable to let go of the desire to have the other woman near. It was a pale image of her – a measly garment that had clearly seen better days – and yet as it was the closest she could get, Regina wrapped herself in its memory.

She wanted to tell herself that it reminded her of when they were happy, yet all it really did was prove to her how much she had lost. Still, a part of her needed it. Despite the pain it elicited, it also brought her some small semblance of comfort that Regina found she sorely needed.

She felt so terribly alone.

Henry had been texting her, but being unable to see him in person only stood to make that a small comfort. He didn't seem angry, but then again, they had yet to speak about anything that had gone on since she dropped him off at school the morning the curse broke. She was glad for it honestly, as that was a conversation they needed to have face to face, but she worried that despite his insistence that it was Emma keeping him from her, that a part of him was glad for the separation. Henry's hatred towards 'the Evil Queen' had become clear over the past few months, and despite his belief that True Love had changed her, Regina still worried that he feared all that she could do, all that she had done.

That was a part of her life that she never wanted Henry to know about, and yet within the span of a day all of his suspicions had become truth, casting a blinding light on the darkest part of her. Regina may have never been a truly good person, but she had always tried to do right by him. It was those memories she wanted Henry to have of her, not the ones his maternal grandmother was sure to fill his head with.

Regina desperately wanted her son back, but at the same time, there was a part of her that knew that wasn't the best thing for him right now. She wasn't allowed to leave her own home, there were still many residents of Storybrooke that sought her head, and she was awaiting a town trial to decide her fate. That was not something that a child should be around to witness, and although it pained her not to see him, Regina trusted Emma with Henry. He would be taken care of for the time being, at the very least.

Regina exhaled a long breath as she descended the stairs, bare feet padding along the mahogany paneling as she made her way down to the kitchen to make herself a late dinner. Her gaze flickered over to the front door for a moment, scowling at the half-assed construction job the dwarves had done after an ogre had torn the thing off its hinges. It was terribly ugly, yet Regina supposed beggars couldn't be choosers. In the end, the only reason it was fixed was because she was being held there; otherwise, she was certain no one would have bothered.

Regina wasn't exactly high on the list of Storybrooke's most well-liked people.

When Regina turned the corner however, heading towards the kitchen, she nearly jumped out of her skin at the sight of someone in her peripheral.

"Apologies, Your Majesty," Rumpelstiltskin drawled, placing his hand upon his abdomen as he gave her a little head bow. "I didn't mean to startle you…"

"What the hell are you doing in my home?" Regina snapped, furious that he had managed to make her noticeably flinch from his unexpected presence. "I'm fairly certain that Mulan didn't let the Dark One in through my front door."

"A correct assumption," Rumpelstiltskin concurred, taking a few steps towards her. "However, you have two doors and only one guard. I shudder to think of how easy it would be, should someone come here with ill intent." His smile was unsettling, yet Regina merely narrowed her eyes in response. "Perhaps you should ask our dear Sherriff for more protection…"

Protection? They were her jailers. Though they were supposed to serve both purposes, Regina was fairly certain that should she be in danger, no one would come running.

She was the Evil Queen that had cursed them, after all.

"What do you want?" Regina asked, getting straight to the point. She crossed her arms over her chest, standing up straighter to look at least a little more intimidating than she felt in that moment. But then again, it was hard to look menacing when one is only wearing an oversized t-shirt and panties that were, thankfully, covered by the length of the shirt's fabric.

She felt entirely undignified; although to be fair, she hadn't exactly been expecting company.

"I believe I owe you something?" Rumpelstiltskin asked, the question quite rhetorical as he withdrew a stack of photographs from behind his back. Regina's eyes widened, realizing what they were, and she immediately swiped for them. However, they were torn from her reach in an instant. "Ah, ah, ah," he tutted her, making Regina's gaze darken substantially.

"Emma and I broke the damn curse; that was the deal we made," she reminded him furiously. "Now I suggest you hand over the pictures, less you wish me to pry them from your fingers myself."

"Temper," Rumpelstiltskin chided her, as though he were scolding a child. "And yes, that was the deal we made. However, it seems we have run into a slight problem."

Regina's eyes flashed. "And what might that be, exactly?"

"The curse did not break correctly."

Regina blinked, confusion washing over her features. "What do you mean?" she asked, not expecting that answer in the slightest. Everyone had their memories back, didn't they? Unless they were supposed to go back to the Enchanted Forest, and instead…

"The town line is still very much intact," Rumpelstiltskin informed her, looking terribly displeased by that little fact. "Once someone wanders across it, Storybrooke disappears. And that, dearie, was not supposed to happen."

Regina raised her eyebrows. "And how exactly do you know that?" she challenged, though already knew the answer by the uncaring shrug and tiniest of smirks that followed the question. She shook her head disdainfully. "And I'm the one that's locked up. Tell me, who is the poor soul you sent skittering across the line? I assume someone who couldn't put up much of a fight, because, well…" Regina smirked at him, eyes shifting downwards to his cane, clearly indicating his physical incapability.

Rumpelstiltskin shot her a dark look at the implication, yet answered, "That, Your Majesty, is really none of your concern."

"No?" Regina countered. "Because I'm fairly certain it became my concern when you broke into my home just because your little experiment went wrong."

"That isn't the end of my grievances," Rumpelstiltskin told her, beginning to circle her in some vain attempt to make her feel trapped, or some other such nonsense. Regina however stood her ground, not one to be intimidated by something so trivial. "Magic, it seems, is not quite as accessible as it should have been. This is also a problem; one that very much needs correcting."

"And what the hell do you expect me to do about that?" Regina snapped, her patience beginning to wane. "This was your curse, not mine; so if something went wrong, I don't believe that it was my doing, nor is it my problem. I held up my end of the deal, now I expect that you will do the same. Hand over the damn pictures, now!"

Regina furiously held out her hand, expecting to be handed the photographs, yet instead she nearly gasped out loud when magic shot through her veins so violently that it made her stance falter, and a large fireball erupted out of her palm. "Shit, shit," she frantically cursed, almost accidentally letting it go by how surprised she was by its presence. Thankfully, she covered her hand just in time, dissipating it to nothing.

God, if she had set the damn house on fire…

"Well, well," Rumpelstiltskin purred, his pupils practically dilating at the intriguing information. "Seems someone here does know how to access magic in this realm…"

"That was an accident," Regina snapped, rolling her fingers into her palm to flex them, making sure the magic within her had dissipated. If she couldn't control it, she didn't need to be using it; that just spelled disaster.

Although, quite honestly, the fact that she couldn't worried her. She hadn't expected it, and even when it came, it felt both wild and untamed; not at all like how it happened the first time, when she had been protecting both Emma and herself. Perhaps though, it was just the nature of the spell; offense versus defense. However, Regina really couldn't be certain.

Rumpelstiltskin tilted his head to the side for a moment, assessing her and the situation before finally asking, "I'm curious, dearie… is this where the curse broke …?"

Regina eyes darkened. "I think it's time for you to leave." She knew what Rumpelstiltskin was implying, and if her manor was the only place where magic could be accessed, she really did not want him around. Regina didn't trust the man's intentions and it worried her, to still be unsure of why he wanted the curse to break in the first place and why he needed both magic and the town line to work in his favor.

"Oh, I don't think so, Your Majesty," Rumpelstiltskin responded, his lips turning up into the tiniest of smirks. "At least, not yet. You see, my problem is, in fact, your problem as well. And unless you would like me to tell our dear Sherriff that your current place of arrest allows you the use of magic – which, I assume, no one in this town would be so quick to condone – you will help me figure out what went wrong with the curse."

Regina narrowed her eyes, not exactly fond of being blackmailed… again. But, in all honesty, she did not want to spend more time in that damned cell, and it infuriated her that Rumpelstiltskin seemed to know that. "If you'd like answers, I only have one for you: you chose the wrong people to end the curse," she snapped. "Emma may be my True Love, but we are damaged. If you wanted results, you should have shoved the two Charming idiots together; their love, I assume, is pure." Regina said the last word with such disdain, finding the whole thing rather sickening.

"Oh no, dearie, it had to be you," Rumpelstiltskin told her firmly. "Well, no actually, it had to be the Savior; however, it certainly seemed fitting that you were the one destined for her. Quite the example of poetic justice, wouldn't you agree?"

Regina just snarled at him.

"So search your brain for answers, Your Majesty, because something went wrong that day, and I intend to find out what it was," Rumpelstiltskin continued, advancing on her. His lips upturned into the tiniest of condescending smiles. "In the meantime, however, I am a man of my word…"

He held out the photographs, and Regina wasted no time snatching them from his grip. Rumpelstiltskin smirked. "Do enjoy those, won't you? I'm sure they'll bring back a lot of fond memories, just as that disastrous little garment you're wearing does…"

"Get. Out. Of. My. Home," Regina growled, eyes flashing dangerously. Her hand was gripping the photographs hard, the veins protruding from her wrist from the force. She was not about to just stand here and allow him to make her look the fool. She felt horrible enough as it was.

Rumpelstiltskin merely smirked before giving her an overdramatic bow. "Until next time then, Regina…"

Regina refused to give him any words of parting, instead choosing to watch him like a hawk as he turned, making his way towards her back door. Once he had gone, Regina quickly clicked the lock into place, feeling her hands shake in rage at how humiliated and used she felt. She hated that—

But before she could even finish her train of thought, the anger within her pushed outwards; magic coursing through her body in such an intense, blinding flash that the expensive crystal vase placed delicately on the side table in the foyer shattered in an instant. "Damnit!" she cursed out loud, furious with herself for her lack of control, which only furthered her rage and snapped the table it was previously on into nothing more than kindling.

"Shit, shit…!" Regina swore, immediately placing her hands on her temples, closing her eyes in an attempt to get herself under control. Taking long breaths – in through her nose, out through her mouth – Regina tried to focus on anything else but how she was feeling in that moment. She needed to be able to get a handle on this, because if she didn't she could end up bringing her entire house down. The accidents had been small thus far, yes, but Regina knew how much power resided within herself, and she knew if she didn't begin to control it, it could open the floodgates to something rather disastrous.

After a few long moments, Regina began to feel herself calm. Opening her eyes, she took a long breath before moving towards the kitchen, deciding that perhaps some tea would help her relax more fully. Placing the photographs on the countertop, Regina grabbed the kettle off the stove and began to fill it with water from the sink faucet.

But before she could place it back on the burner, heavy knocking on the front door nearly made her jump out of her skin. Feeling herself grow agitated because the unexpected sound had startled her, Regina made a point to pause for a moment and breathe, wanting to be certain her emotions wouldn't get the better of her.

The knocking continued; heavier, louder, and more insistent.

Exhaling a hard breath, Regina reluctantly trudged out of her kitchen and to the foyer, intent on giving whoever it was a piece of her mind about disturbing people at this late an hour. However, when she ripped open her front door, everything that she had planned to say died in her throat as she stared at her caller, eyes widening in disbelief and surprise.

"Emma…?"

TBC…