CHAPTER TWENTY TWO
Slippers
I'll be stronger.
That was the promise that Emma gave to Regina later that night, because God, there was only so many times she could fall apart before she could barely even stand to look at herself in the mirror anymore. The image of herself, of what she had become, completely disgusted her. When Emma was in the system, she used to look down on those who wallowed in their self-pity, because the last thing it did was change anything. It wasn't productive, it was pathetic. It was weak, and Regina had been absolutely right in her assessment of the person she had turned out to be.
Emma didn't want to be that way anymore. She was tired of feeling sorry for herself, tired of living half her life in denial, and tired of not being happy. And maybe she'd never really be wholly happy, but that didn't mean that she had to live her life in misery instead. It wasn't one or the other; that wasn't the way the world worked. Nothing was black and white, and so Emma strove to find a balance in her life that she had needed for a very long time.
And maybe she wouldn't find it right away, but she was going to try. And what was more than that, was that Regina had firmly taken her chin in her hand after she had said that, looked her dead in the eyes, and fiercely told her, "Good, because I'm no longer going to accept anything less than the woman that I know you are. Both of us deserve better than that, Emma; better than this."
Emma had nodded her understanding, and even from just those simple words, it caused her to feel so much less crippled by all of this. Because Emma had leaned on her, and should Regina have continued to let her, the blonde knew she would never be able to walk on her own again. And Emma wanted that, she wanted to finally pick herself up and move forward, but if she had the option of falling safely into Regina's arms, then they both knew that she would take it without hesitation. It was the simple answer, the easy way out, but yet when she indulged in it, all it had done was drag them both down.
Regina's words were her own promise of the same though, to stop acting like less than she was, because in the end, they both knew it wasn't just one of them that caused their relationship to become so broken. They fed on each other's weaknesses, on each other's misery, and that wasn't a way to live. If nothing else over these past few months, they've managed to prove that neither of them know how to have a healthy breakup. In fact, neither of them really know how to break up at all.
And maybe they never would be together again in the way they once were, but they needed to call some kind of truce in the meantime. Doing nothing else but fighting and fucking wasn't really helping either of their sanity. Emma was already screwed up enough by actually admitting out loud that she had more parental issues than she had originally let on, and since she didn't really know how to fix that, she decided instead that she was going to try to focus on what she could fix, on what she was fixing.
Emma hadn't had a drink in eight days. And maybe in the long run that was nothing to celebrate, considering she still found herself thinking about wanting one at least a couple times throughout the day, but it was still something. It was proof that she wasn't as much of a fuck up as she had thought she was, and that even though she felt really weak at times, she wasn't; not completely. Because it… it took actual strength to do something like that, and so instead of dwelling on how pathetic it was to fall into an addiction in the first place, Emma just had to learn to accept that it had happened, and focus on how to get better.
So yeah, maybe it was small, maybe it was nothing in the grand scheme of things, but Emma would take her wins where she could get them, because it still mattered. It had to, because without it, she didn't really have much else going for her.
Emma wrinkled her nose at the sound of heavy retching, her fingers fisting tightly in Regina's hair to get it out of her face before the woman began hurling into the bushes on the side of the road. It was strange; to be the one on the other side of things, even though this had nothing to do with Regina being drunk. Still, to be the one taking care of her for a change actually made Emma feel like a decent person, which if she was being honest, she hadn't felt like in quite a long time.
A car door closed, and as Emma was running her hand down Regina's back, she glanced at Neal, who was leaning against her bug with his face scrunched up in disgust as he watched his son's adoptive mother empty out the contents of his stomach. "She gonna be alright?" he asked tentatively, even though the question was probably stupid, given what he was witnessing.
"She gets air sick," Emma explained, her tone a little tense, like for some reason she felt the need to defend Regina even though this was beyond her control. "She'll be fine."
"We landed two hours ago."
Another sickening sound came from the woman hunched over the foliage, and Emma winced as she started rubbing soothing circles at the base of her spine. "Yeah, well, clearly the car ride didn't help," Emma snapped at him, before turning her attention back to Regina, who was now spitting the remnants of her sickness in probably the most unladylike manner that Emma had ever witnessed from her.
Regina groaned, sinking down on her haunches as she tangled a hand in her hair and closed her eyes, just trying to breathe enough to move past it. Emma sunk down to get on her level, her brow creasing in concern as she brushed the hair away from the brunette's eyes. "You need some water?"
Regina nodded, her breathing uneven as she tried to fight her nausea. "Please."
"Kay," Emma murmured, giving Regina a soft smile as she placed her hand over the one that lay on Regina's knee, giving it a slight squeeze before looking up at Neal to ask that he hand her a water bottle. The words didn't come when she was confronted by this knowing look on his face though, with one eyebrow raised and an expression like he was judging her, and it caused Emma to scowl.
"What?" she challenged, daring him to say something to her. Neal didn't take the bait though, and just shook his head as he turned away from the women in front of him.
"Nothing." Clearly whatever he had to say, he didn't want to discuss in front of Regina. "Where's the water?"
"There should be a few bottles in the trunk."
After Neal retrieved it and tossed it to her, Emma twisted off the cap and handed it to Regina. The woman drank almost its entire contents, trying to get the taste of bile out of her mouth as Emma's fingers weaved through her hair, trying to get it to stop sticking to her forehead. Regina still didn't look well, even though she didn't seem like she was going to pitch over again.
"Better?"
Regina took a couple deep breaths before nodding. She moved to stand and Emma grasped ahold of her hand, helping her to her feet. "You want to drive?" the blonde offered. "Sometimes that helps with motion sickness."
"No, although I do wish you would learn some semblance of responsibility and just slow down," Regina told her, her tone biting with aggravation over getting that sick in the first place. The last time they flew, she had only felt nauseous. This time it had actually amounted to something, and she clearly wasn't happy with it. "You drive like a reckless teenager, and that piece of junk can barely run as it is. Are you planning to send us all to our deaths, dear? Because that's what it seems like every time your foot hits the gas."
Emma took a few deep breaths, and began counting backwards from ten.
"Hey, this thing is a classic," Neal defended, sounding just as offended as Emma felt every time Regina shit on her car, and that thought made her want to punch a hole in the nearest wall. Eight, seven…
Regina shot him an irritated look, almost as though it was taxing for her to just breathe the same air as him, let alone actually speak to him like he was worth addressing. "I don't believe Emma needs nor wants you to defend her, so please, do us all a favor and only give your opinion when it's explicitly asked for, and perhaps go sit in the car until you actually become relevant."
"I wasn't defending her, I was defending the car that I gave her," Neal corrected, his expression indicating that he wasn't going to just put up with Regina's attempt to make him feel insignificant. "The bug is in excellent condition given its age, and if you can't see that, then maybe you're the one who shouldn't be giving their opinion, lady."
Shit.
"The car that you…?" Regina began, her tone angry and disbelieving before her eyes caught Emma's. She didn't finish her sentence though, having more class than to get into an argument in front of witnesses; so instead Regina just tensed her jaw, her eyes flashing as she brutally ripped open the passenger side door before getting in, the thing slamming in her wake and making Emma nearly jump out of her skin at the sound.
Fuck. Damnit.
A scathing look was shot at Neal. "Why?" Emma asked him, throwing out her hands furiously. "Just… why?"
Regina was already on edge because she was sick, but now she was going to be jealous too? Or worse, she might think of it as some kind of betrayal; that Emma would keep something of Neal's even after they fell in love, and—Jesus, this was not going to be a fun car ride. Emma was already feeling the onset of a massive headache, and they still had another hour and a half before they even got to Augusta.
"Hey, how the hell was I supposed to know you didn't tell her?" Neal defended, holding up his hands in surrender in response to the look of death that was being shot his way. He sighed heavily when the look didn't dissipate, shaking his head. "Why does it even matter that much anyway?"
Emma's hand slammed down on the hood of the car as she was coming around it to get to the driver's side, and she shot him a glare as she hissed, "You know why." Because Neal wasn't stupid, and Emma knew that he was aware that something was going on between her and Regina, despite her insistence that they weren't together. "Just get in the damn car, alright? And maybe do me a favor and not piss her off even more while you're at it, because we have a long way to go and I'm already starting to get a migraine."
Emma opened the car door with an exasperated sigh before bending down and addressing Regina. "You need another water before we go?"
"I think I'll manage without your help, dear," Regina responded tersely, without even sparing the blonde a glance in her direction. Emma exhaled a tired breath before slumping into the driver's seat.
Yup, this was going to be fun.
[x]
In hindsight, Emma should have probably expected this.
And the bickering, she did. Regina treating Neal like he was nothing more than an annoying peasant with even more annoying demands? Yeah, Emma saw that coming, just as she saw Neal getting pissed about the way he was being spoken to, because the man really did not enjoy getting told what to do, even if Regina did have all the rights when it came to their son and what she expected him to do once they finally met.
But what Emma didn't see coming, and what she probably should have, was that with Regina already feeling sick, her patience had a much shorter fuse than normal. That overlooked fact caused Emma to scream furiously, "For fuck's sake, I'm trying to freaking drive!" when Regina had hit her limit and grabbed Emma's hand, syphoning magic from her for a short moment so that she could deal with her little 'problem' in a way that was much less violent than expected, but still effective all the same.
And now Neal was strapped in the back seat by more seat buckles than one should normally be wearing, with one of them being wrapped tightly around his mouth like a gag. He was furious, and should Emma have not been driving, she probably would have laughed at how ridiculous he looked right then. But she was driving, and so that caused her to snap, "Are you out of your damn mind?!" instead, because Jesus fucking Christ, she nearly swerved off the road!
"He was irritating me," was all Regina gave in response. Not an apology, just he was irritating me. Well great, thank you, for nearly causing an accident and being so concerned about it. Emma fumed and violently hit her hazard lights before pulling off to the side of the highway in one fast, jerking motion that caused Regina to look a little green as her shoulder slammed into the door.
"What the hell—!" Regina tried to yell, but then she blanched and murmured, "Oh God…" before practically shoving the car door open and tumbling out onto the grass. Her throat made a disgusting sounding croak as she dry heaved, and Emma winced. Okay, maybe she shouldn't have pulled over that quickly or roughly.
Sighing, Emma glanced back at Neal, who was still strapped in and completely unable to move, before deciding she probably needed to deal with one thing at a time, and just left him there as she stepped from the car. His muffled sounds of protest as he fought against his bindings were cut off as Emma closed the door, stepping around the side of the vehicle to come towards Regina.
"I really think you should just drive," Emma tried, noting that this time, Regina didn't seem to actually be vomiting up anything. That was good at least, even though dry heaving wasn't the most pleasant thing either. "I think it'll help your motion sickness and, you know, then you might actually be too damn distracted to almost get us into a freaking magic-induced accident too. So, bonus there."
Regina shot her a dark look, but said nothing as she tried to regulate her breathing and fight her nausea. While she did that Emma popped the trunk of her car and grabbed another water bottle, before holding out it to her in offering. Regina took it and had a few sips before leaning against the side of the car, exhaling a loud sigh.
"I'm sorry," she finally apologized, side-glancing the blonde beside her. "You're right; I shouldn't have done that while you were driving, it was terribly dangerous. I wasn't thinking."
"Look, I'm obviously not Neal's biggest fan either," Emma responded, pushing her hair back from her eyes and squinting in the glare of the hot afternoon's sun. "And trust me, I get having the urge to just tie him up and gag him, but at some point, you guys actually need to come to some kind of agreement about Henry, and all this is doing is pissing him off more."
The brunette said nothing; she just stared out at the trees, her nails clicking against the plastic of the bottle.
"We made a deal, Regina," Emma reminded her, not really fond of that fact either, but knowing better than to try to fuck it off. "And like it or not we should probably stick to it, otherwise Neal might just go behind our backs to meet our son and that'll… well, that probably won't make either of us Henry's favorite person. I mean, the kid's gonna be pissed at me enough as it is for lying about him being dead, and I just… I really don't wanna add more shit on top of it."
"I'm aware what deal we made, dear, and I will uphold it," Regina responded tersely. "But I am already irritated with the fact that my motion sickness has yet to dissipate, still distracted by the theory that I may be cursed, and really, I don't wish to add anything more on top of it like dealing with an ignorant man who actually assumes he has any say in this matter."
Emma's brow creased in concern over her fear. "You know, it's not necessarily you who's—"
"Of course it's me," Regina snapped, her gaze connecting with Emma's. "You weren't in that world long enough, unless you were cursed in the womb. And really, dear, if anyone was going to do that, it would have been me."
Emma tended to agree, but see, this is exactly why she didn't want to tell her about this. Regina was gonna consume herself with worry and paranoia, when they didn't even know if it was justified yet. "His theory might still be wrong," she tried. "It could be something else. But when we… when we get to Storybrooke, we can figure out if it's true or not, okay? Gold's gotta have some way of testing it."
Regina snorted. "Apparently you seem to have forgotten that I've been banished. I cannot go back with you."
"Regina, I can't use magic without you," Emma reminded her, shooting her a look like she should have realized. "And those slippers need magic to work. You have to come back, even if it's just for a little while. My…" Emma hesitated for a moment, but made herself push though it and finished, "parents, you know, they'll understand; they'll get it. I mean, if the only way Neal and I can get back is you, then it doesn't really leave much room for argument anyway."
Regina sighed heavily before taking another sip of her water. "Still," she murmured. "It is unlikely that they'll allow me there longer than an hour. I'll be lucky if I can even see Henry in that time."
"We'll figure it out, alright?" Emma promised, because she knew they had to. Emma wasn't going to just let Regina leave Storybrooke before finding out whether or not she or herself were actually cursed, regardless of what her parents thought about it, and they needed Gold to do that.
Regina didn't comment, probably not wanting to allow herself to hope for anything. Silence passed between the two women then as the brunette continued to drink her water and breathe in the fresh air, and after a moment Emma glanced over at her, chewing on the inside of her cheek. She really needed to clear the air between them before they got back in the car, because this journey seriously didn't need any more drama. Still, Emma wasn't exactly thrilled with broaching the subject.
"Look I'm… I'm really sorry," she mentioned, nodding her head towards the bug as she rubbed the back of her neck, "you know, about the whole car thing; I probably should have mentioned that sooner. And I swear, I—"
"I'm not jealous," Regina retorted before she could even finish, her expression fixing into a challenging glare. "If that's what you're implying. That man's existence is barely even above my notice; what he may or may not have given you is really of no concern of mine."
"Right," Emma deadpanned. "Because that being the first thing out of your mouth before I can even finish my sentence doesn't indicate jealousy at all. But then I suppose neither did you glaring at me and stomping off once you found out either, huh?"
Regina tensed her jaw at her retort, her nostrils flaring. "I just hardly see the reasoning for keeping this piece of junk for as long as you have. If you want a new car, dear, I will gladly buy you one."
Emma rolled her eyes. "Regina, I don't need you to stake your claim on me by buying me a new car. I like this car, alright? And not because Neal gave it to me. It's just… it's been like the one constant in my life that's been full of change, you know? And it's not like you don't know what emotional attachment is to inanimate objects is like; I mean, you have your damn tree, don't you?"
At the mention of her apple tree, Regina's face fell. She had had to leave it behind when she left, and that obviously didn't sit well with her.
"Which we'll figure out how to bring with us when we move, okay?" Emma tried, since yeah, she knew what it was like to need something that was a part of her past. "But just… lay off the car, alright? I know you hate it – you hated it even before you knew Neal gave it to me – but I like it, and I don't wanna get rid of it. Besides, it really does run fine; maybe not as good as your Benz, but it's not gonna fall apart from underneath you either, so I'd appreciate it if you stopped exaggerating."
Regina was silent for a moment, still looking out at the trees as the light midafternoon breeze blew her hair back from her eyes. "I wasn't."
Emma's brow furrowed, not understanding what she was referring to. "Wasn't what?"
"Trying to 'stake my claim.' Believe me, dear, I'm aware I no longer hold that right."
Emma pursed her lips, feeling a slight sense of guilt inhabit her gut at the woman's words, despite not being entirely sure of why. Maybe it was because, after everything they had gone through in the last few months, it didn't even begin to resemble the truth anymore. Emma had tried very hard to distance herself from Regina after the curse broke, but how successful had she been, really? It seemed in the end, Emma's life would always be tied her. And while once she had hated that fact more than anything, now it seemed to be far easier to accept the truth of it, because it wasn't going away.
It really was easy, Emma found, to love Regina. It just wasn't as easy to forgive her, and there were times when Emma wanted nothing more than to be able to, despite how terribly difficult it was.
Emma had already been betrayed by someone she loved once and had vowed never to be so stupid again. But she had, and she had gotten hurt, and it was just difficult… to believe that if she took Regina back, if they worked through all their problems, if Emma actually began to understand why her past was the way it was and forgave her for her transgressions, that the woman wouldn't turn around and hurt her again. She trusted Regina with her physical and mental wellbeing, but emotional? She couldn't, not anymore.
Still, in the end, did it even matter if Emma trusted her with it? Regina might just have the most influence over that than anyone else, whether Emma wanted her to or not, because she did love her. And so Emma voiced a truth they both knew, but probably bore repeating anyhow.
"Yeah well… pretty sure you have it more than anyone else anyway, so my point still stands that you don't need to assert it by buying me flashy things."
Emma didn't look at her when she said that, her toe digging into the soft grass. She could see Regina side-glance her out of her peripheral, but Emma didn't want to continue this conversation, so she fished her keys out of her pocket and held them out to her instead.
"Just drive, please. It'll make you feel better, I swear."
Regina's gaze flickered to the offering for a moment before exhaling a soft sigh and reaching out for the keys. "Fine, but that man is staying gagged for the rest of the trip. I don't want to deal with him."
Emma sighed heavily. "Regina."
Regina just raised an uncaring eyebrow in response as she crossed around the car to get to the driver's side. "It's either that or I lock him in the trunk," she told her, opening the door. "If you wish, you may ask him which option he prefers."
Emma just rubbed her temples, trying to dull another forthcoming headache. Why she thought she would be able to survive a car ride with both of her exes, she really had no idea.
[x]
Driving, at least, seemed to help with Regina's motion sickness, and in turn, she became much easier to deal with, which benefited Neal as he finally got released within the last half hour of their trip. He really wasn't happy about what Regina had done to him, but Emma just shot him a look that pleaded with him not to start, because while the brunette might be a little more forgiving at the moment, that didn't mean she was going to stay that way, and really, Emma could do without any more drama today.
"She's insane," Neal told her as they leaned against the bug a little while later, watching as Regina strode through the doors of the Department of Health and Human Services with a fiery purpose. As far as plans went, this wasn't exactly the best, but it wasn't like Emma had brought her badge when she left Storybrooke; she hadn't really thought she would need it. Right now she wished she hadn't been so stupid though, because it would have been a hell of a lot easier for an officer of the law to pull Dorothy out of their custody.
"She's temperamental," Emma corrected, folding her arms across her chest as she stared at the building. "And very territorial. Henry's her son, Neal. She already had one of his birth parents barrel their way into the kid's life, and believe me when I tell you that you got off easy; she made my life miserable for months after I got to town. And while she trusts now that I won't take him away from her, she doesn't trust you. You gotta earn your way into Henry's life, if you actually want to be a part of it."
"I do," Neal assured her, a wave of unexpected emotion passing over his face as he shifted his weight between his feet. "He's… he's my son, Emma. We used to talk about having kids one day, you know? And maybe this isn't the way either of us wanted it, but—"
"Let me make one thing perfectly clear," Emma interrupted, rounding on him. "This isn't our second chance at a family, okay? That right was lost to us the day I gave him up, so the best either of us can hope for is that Regina continues to allow us to watch him grow up. We will never raise him, Neal. We will never have a family together, with Henry or any other child. I don't take well to betrayal, and at most, all I can really offer you is tolerance. You're here, in my life again, and maybe I don't like that, but I have to accept it, for Henry's sake. Our child, Neal, is the only reason you are getting leeway, otherwise I would have beat you senseless by now."
"I wasn't—!" Neal tried to defend, but he just looked frustrated as he exhaled an impatient sigh. "I'm not an idiot, Emma. I know I fucked up every chance of us ever being together again. I don't expect to ever get you back, and that's okay with me. It's been ten years, and I've moved on. But I still care about you, and even if I never can, I'm still gonna try to make things right between us. I owe you that at least."
"Really wouldn't hold my breath over it, if I were you."
Neal sighed heavily, but didn't push the issue. He knew things weren't going to be fixed between them overnight, and honestly, Emma was having a hard enough time forgiving Regina, the woman she loved, so what chance did he have, really? She would tolerate him, because he was there. But that was about it.
Silence passed between them for a few moments before Neal nodded his head towards the building. "You really think she can pull this off?"
"Trust me," Emma responded, "if there's one thing Regina is good at, it's making everyone else feel insignificant. She was a Queen, then a Mayor. If anyone knows how to assert superiority, it's her. She's probably scaring some of those people half to death right now just by a single look."
"She's still gonna have to explain herself."
Emma laughed at that. She couldn't help it. "Regina doesn't explain herself, Neal. She dictates, and people either fall in line or get caught in the crossfire. Trust me, I know that firsthand."
Neal smirked as he guessed. "Crossfire?"
"Yeah, well," Emma shrugged, a small smile crossing her face as she remembered. Even though it was hell back then, a part of her was still fond of it, which probably meant nothing else than that she really was stupidly in love with the woman. "I don't really like getting told what to do."
"And that's why she respects you, isn't it? You stood up to her."
Neal's deduction caused Emma to side-glance him. "Don't get any ideas. She won't take it well if you try; hell, she barely took it well when it came to me. So unless you plan to—" But she caught herself, and her words fell away to nothing. Neal, however, had already gotten the general idea.
"What, sleep with her?" he guessed. Emma shot him a death glare, and he held up his hands in surrender, taking two steps backwards; probably because he knew his next words wouldn't get received well. "You know, for someone who says that you're not dating, you're kinda territorial about her. But I mean hey, if you're just using her or whatever to get close to Henry, then maybe we can—"
Emma didn't think, she just moved. Her fist collided with his face before the man could even finish his sentence, and Neal spat blood on the pavement from where his tooth cut his cheek. As he held his bruised flesh, Emma's eyes flashed as she advanced on him. How fucking dare he think something like that; Regina was more than just some damn mark.
"Fuck, alright, I'm sorry!" Neal quickly apologized, moving away from Emma before she could do any more damage. "But Jesus, Em, it's not like that was entirely out of left field; we used to screw people over for a living all the damn time—!"
"Yeah, ten years ago," Emma spat, furious at the implication. "I'm not that person anymore, Neal, so you can just fuck right off with your idiotic assumptions. What's between me and Regina is none of your business, and it's going to stay that way, do you understand me? I'm warning you, don't bring it up again."
Neal just shook his head, a furious expression plastered on his face as he spit blood once more. He looked like he was about to retort, but Regina took that moment to exit the side door of the building, a firm grasp on a young girl's arm who looked like she was about two seconds from bursting into tears. She seemed terrified, and it was then Emma realized that out of everyone to send in there, it probably shouldn't have been the freaking Evil Queen.
"Get in the car!" Regina snapped, her pace quickening as she dragged the girl along with her. Her demeanor didn't leave any room for interpretation; she hadn't taken Dorothy from there with DHS's permission, and from the looks of it, it didn't even seem she had the girl's permission either.
"No, please, I'll give you whatever you want, just leave me alone—!"
The front door of the building burst open then, two guards having realized that something was off about Regina's appearance in their facility. When they caught sight of her dragging Dorothy, one of them pointed and yelled, "There!" presumably so other people could help detain them and, Jesus, this was not how Emma wanted this to go down.
"Shit, go!" she shouted, practically shoving Neal into the passenger side door on her way to the other side. The man grunted on impact, but quickly sprang into action and opened the back door for Regina first before clambering into his own seat. Dorothy looked too afraid to actually outright fight Regina, but she was still dragging her feet and it caused Regina to have to practically manhandle her towards the vehicle, as they hadn't come all this way to get stopped now.
Emma got that the kid was scared, but fuck, they'd have to explain it later. They really didn't have time to give her assurances right now.
"Let's go!" she exclaimed, slamming her car door and shoving the keys into the ignition. In her peripheral Emma could see the guards catching up, but with one hard shove Regina had Dorothy sprawling into the backseat, before getting in right behind her.
"Drive!" she ordered before she even had the door closed, and Emma peeled out so fast she left skid marks on the pavement.
"Jesus, what did you do, kidnap her?" Neal asked as he looked over his shoulder at the state of the girl. She was practically shaking with fear, tears now streaming down her cheeks.
"Well it wasn't like I was left with a lot of options," Regina snapped, not about to get lectured by him of all people. "Those incompetents kept spewing nonsense about paperwork, running me around in circles so they could no doubt confirm my story, which in case you've forgotten, was not true! So yes, when I saw Dorothy pass by wearing those damn shoes I did what I had to do. And it wasn't like I was taking her from some kind of safe house; they had the poor child under psychiatric watch for Christ's sake, just because she told them her name!"
"Yeah, well, in this world she's supposed to be fictional," Emma reminded her. "Of course they were gonna think she was delusional." She glanced in her rearview mirror then, making sure that they weren't being followed, before allowing her eyes to connect with Dorothy's through the reflection of the glass.
"Hey," Emma greeted softly, trying to give the girl a sense of comfort now that they looked like they were safe; at least, for the time being. She was sure they took down her license plate number though, so that feeling probably wouldn't last long. "We're the good guys, okay? We're gonna take you home. Do you know who I am?"
Dorothy sniffled, and God, Emma didn't really think she'd look like Judy Garland or anything, but she wasn't expecting that she would be this tiny rail of a thing, redheaded, and covered head to toe in freckles either. Which then made her wonder if Regina had even gotten the right girl – as kids stole stuff from each other all the time in the system – but those worries dissipated as soon as Dorothy nodded her head.
"The Savior," she whispered, looking at Emma as though she was the one that was some kind of mythical creature. It was kind of disconcerting, but Emma responded with a soft smile anyway.
"Yeah," she admitted, still finding that title weird, as she never really felt like much of a Savior. "And I know what it's like to be stuck in a place like that, okay? And even though we came for your slippers, we're not going to just take them and leave you here. We're gonna bring you back with us; bring you back to the people who care about you. So… don't be afraid, okay? I know getting escorted outta there like that by Regina probably warrants a freak out, but she's not going to hurt you. None of us are; we're here to help."
Dorothy swallowed hard, trying to combat her instinct to fear being grabbed out of nowhere by the Evil Queen that had cursed her, cursed them all, and side-glanced Regina warily. The brunette, now having a chance to breathe after her rapidly on-setting panic of being caught, finally gave Dorothy an apologetic smile.
"I'm… sorry," she hesitantly told her, as though she were afraid that her apology wouldn't be taken well, just because of who she was. "I didn't mean to frighten you, but we had to leave quickly. Did I… did I hurt you at all?"
Dorothy pursed her lips and shook her head, looking so much younger than her years. If she had once been a confident girl, she certainly wasn't now. But then again, getting thrown out on her ass in a world she barely knew anymore, all while being held up by social services and being told she was crazy just for being honest about who she was… well, Emma couldn't really blame her. That was probably a lot to deal with, and God, the blonde's heart ached for the girl. Gold was such a bastard for doing this to her; Dorothy really didn't deserve it.
The redhead's eyes landed on her shoes then, her brow furrowing as she asked, "How… how do you expect to use my slippers though? Their magic doesn't work in this world; I've already tried. I don't… I really don't think there's a way back."
"You just let us worry about that, dear," Regina told her, her voice affectionate in an attempt to put her at ease. Dorothy still didn't look all that thrilled about sitting next to the Evil Queen though, so Regina sighed softly, probably realizing it was foolish to even bother, and looked towards Emma. "We're probably going to have to find somewhere to stash the car," she told her. "No doubt the police are already looking for us."
"Yeah, I know; I'm on it," Emma answered, turning on her blinker and checking her rearview mirror before turning off the main road. She really didn't know this area at all, but hey, if there was one thing she and Neal were good at it, it was running; and between the two of them, she knew they would be able to at least find something.
[x]
"A parking lot?" Regina asked disbelievingly as Emma pulled into the twenty four hour Wal-Mart the next town over. "I thought we were going to hide this eyesore, not—"
"Relax, I know what I'm doing," Emma told her impatiently, before turning off the ignition and looking over at the man sitting next to her. "Tool kit's in the trunk."
"Got it," Neal replied, without needing anymore instruction than that as he climbed out of the car. Regina just sighed heavily, not particularly enjoying being left out of the loop. Emma resisted the urge to roll her eyes at the woman's irritated demeanor though, and turned around to explain.
"If I have to leave my baby behind, I'm not about to let it get impounded by the cops. Hiding in plain sight is a lot better, trust me; people are in and out of this store twenty four seven, it's doubtful anyone will notice a singular car in a parking lot this big that is nearly always full, regardless of it being bright yellow. Normal people, by nature, are pretty damn self-absorbed, and really aren't all that observant."
"Then what on earth is he doing?" Regina asked, nodding her head towards Neal, who was rifling through the trunk.
Emma pursed her lips, knowing how this was going to sound. "He's… uh, changing the license plate."
Regina's raised a singular eyebrow at that information.
"Look, before you get all judgmental on me, it's a precaution, okay?" Emma explained, sighing softly at the look Regina was giving her. It wasn't like it was any secret that both of them had knowledge in this area, damnit. "They're gonna be looking for these plates, so if we take an out-of-stater's and ditch ours, it's doubtful the other owners will even notice until they're far away from here. Besides, most people tend to assume the shit just fell off in transit anyway, especially if they were old and beat up, and rarely even bother reporting it missing."
"You're forgetting something, dear," Regina told her, apparently thinking she was one step ahead of the people who actually knew what they were doing. "The police are going to run your plates, if they haven't already; that will give them all of your information, and while it's true they cannot find Storybrooke, it will no doubt pose a problem for us once we move."
Emma shifted her gaze. "Yeah… no, that's—it's fine."
Regina, sensing that the blonde wasn't telling her something by her shifty demeanor, asked, "How, exactly? Because if you have some way of guaranteeing that this little… extraction won't be traced back to us, I would like to know what it is. Call it a comfort, if you will."
Yeah right. In the end, none of it would land on Regina anyway. Still, what she did effected Henry, which Emma supposed in turn effected Regina, so the blonde sighed softly before admitting something she really didn't want to. "My… uh, information isn't linked to the plates. Never has been."
"And why is that, dear?"
Emma chewed on the inside of her cheek for a moment, shifting in her seat before mumbling underneath her breath, actually sounding a little ashamed of herself, "Cause the car's stolen…"
Regina exhaled a judgmental sigh before propping her elbow up on the door in a huff. "Of course it is. Why did I even bother to ask?" Scraping her nails over her scalp, Regina shook her head and told her, "You really should just allow me to buy you a new car, Miss Swan. This… thing, is not worth the risk, I assure you. And if you actually think that I'm going to allow you to tote our son around in a stolen vehicle, you have another thing—"
"Oh my God, just lay off," Emma snapped, sick of getting shit on because of her perfect car. "I love it, and it's not going anywhere; just deal with it. And I stole it ten years ago, so really, I doubt the original owners are even still looking."
Regina didn't comment after that, but still did not look happy. Emma sighed heavily, turning her attention to her rearview mirror to check on Neal's progress. She just didn't want to have to listen to Regina's car issues right now; they really had way more important things to deal with. Besides, she was sure this wouldn't be the last she heard of it anyway, so it wouldn't kill Regina to put the conversation on hold.
After a while Neal knocked on her window to signal it was done, and Emma looked back at her two passengers. "Alright, everyone out; it's go time."
The group of four left the parking lot to head across the street to the woods, where hopefully they would find themselves out of view from anyone who might be watching. Emma hated leaving her bug behind, but she knew the likelihood of Dorothy's shoes being about to transport a car were slim to none. As it was already, they were merely guessing that it could take more than one person, and fuck, that was gonna really suck if it turned out they were wrong.
"Alright, so… how does this work?" Emma asked Dorothy once they were successfully away from the populous. "Do we hold hands or something?"
"I would assume so," Dorothy answered, though didn't really look too sure herself. She shifted her weight between her feet for a moment before telling them, "But I still don't understand how you expect them to work, when I've tried countless times with no result."
"Emma and I have access to magic, dear," Regina explained, holding out her hand in offering. Dorothy hesitated for a moment before taking it, and the two other people followed suit. "According to Rumpelstiltskin, we should be able to activate them by our combined power. I suppose we'll see if he's correct."
Dorothy didn't look all too convinced, but nodded anyway before closing her eyes, taking a deep breath, and squeezing their hands. "There's no place like home," she began chanting softly, clicking her heels in an attempt to make them work as Regina began syphoning magic from Emma, assuming that it would jump start the slippers' power.
However, nothing happened.
"Fucking hell," Emma muttered, growing frustrated by how much of a failure of a plan that was. "Now what? If the slippers don't work, then—!"
"Oh, calm down," Regina chastised her, looking at Emma as though she was nothing but an irate toddler on a tantrum. "We're hardly out of options. Perhaps they won't work because she is not the one who possesses magic."
"So then you wear them," Neal suggested, but Regina practically rolled her eyes at what she took as ignorance, instead of just simply being unaware of their situation. Emma scrunched up her face in light protest, knowing where this was going.
"It's not my magic that works here," Regina told her, as though just the mere fact that Neal even opened his mouth to speak irritated her to no end. "Emma is the one made of True Love, the only thing strong enough to exist outside the boundary; I'm merely the one that's able to wield the power she holds. She is the source, I am just the tool."
"Yeah well, half of that sounds right at least," Neal muttered under his breath, which made Regina's eyes flash as her jaw dropped in offense.
Christ.
"Alright, alright!" Emma interrupted, putting her hands up to ward off the impending bitch fight between the two of them. "Everyone just relax for a minute and lemme try the shoes; we don't have time for drama right now."
Regina and Neal continued to shoot daggers at one another while both Dorothy and Emma removed their shoes, trading with one another. After stumbling a bit and needing to lean on Neal to get the damn things on, Regina's expression only darkened further, causing Emma to sigh heavily. God, that was just the way she had started falling; it wasn't her fault. Personally she was just glad she didn't end up face first in the dirt, because that would have been really freaking embarrassing.
And as it was, she already felt like an idiot with these flashy things on.
As they all began to take one another's hands again, Emma flushed lightly at how ridiculous she felt and asked, "Do I really have to say the thing?" Because Jesus, this was just weird.
"I think so; that's what I was told anyway," Dorothy answered, shrugging lightly, because in the end, she barely knew how they worked either. "You have to close your eyes, click your heels three times, and repeat it until you find yourself back home."
Emma exhaled a breath, feeling like an idiot but resigned to do it anyhow. If this was their best shot, then she had to do what she had to do, right? Closing her eyes, she squeezed Regina's hand to let her know she was ready, before clicking her heels and beginning, "There's no place like home." It took a lot of effort to resist rolling her eyes at herself; she sounded ridiculous. "There's no place like—"
Neal, however, did not have that much self-control, and snorted at her awkward display.
"Neal!" Emma exclaimed furiously, opening her eyes to glare at him. Jesus, there was a lot of pressure on her already, and he wasn't making this any damn easier. "Do you wanna get punched in the face again? Cause I swear to God, you're getting close."
Regina smirked with satisfaction at that information, no doubt having wondered why the man's face was bruised. Apparently she approved.
"I'm sorry," Neal responded, although was still chuckling at her expense. "Really, just—continue. I'll try not to look at you or something."
Emma sighed heavily, the breath of air blowing a strand of hair away from her face before she turned her gaze away from him, looking at Regina momentarily before closing her eyes. After clicking her heels for a second time, Emma tried to concentrate on Storybrooke, on her home; Henry, her parents, her friends. "There's no place like home," she began again, feeling Regina access the magic from within her. "There's no place like home. There's no place like home…"
Emma let out a yelp of surprise when suddenly it felt like she was being ripped from the earth, and all she could do was hold on to Regina and Neal as hard as she could as the world twisted and spun around them. Though the feeling must have only lasted for a few seconds, it was still enough to disorient all four of them as they landed in a heap on the hard wood floor; Emma sprawled half on top of Regina and Neal, and Dorothy atop her.
Well, as far as landings went, that was entirely less than graceful.
Regina groaned in pain and Emma swore, rubbing the back of her neck where Dorothy had elbowed it in her landing. None of them had really seemed to distinguish yet where they had ended up however, at least that was until the sound of feet echoed off the floor as more than one person ran over to them in one hell of a hurry.
Mary Margaret's gasp filled the room. "Oh my God…!"
"Moms?!"
TBC…