Flu Love's Kiss 11
A/N: To clarify the love flu stickings from last chapter - infection occurs when there are sexual/romantic feelings based on love/attraction only, definitely not platonic or familial love. So ordinarily a father-daughter pair would not get stuck together. Snow/Leopold's case was very rare because not only was he having impure thoughts, she was as well. Snow was grieving her mother, young and confused, and she emotionally attached herself (inappropriately) to the only person she had left essentially. Leopold is less forgivable, though grieving himself - his only credit is that he was horrified when he realised and didn't act on it physically - he never abused Snow. Although that may have been only because Regina managed to whisk Snow away. Regina was torn between killing Leopold to protect Snow and not killing him to punish her but she couldn't let that happen to a child. Eventually she got so sick of saving Snow and having to be wife to Leopold, along with her desire for avenging Daniel, that she killed him to make way for the curse so she could start her new life.
Thanks for the reviews to last chapter, I love reading your comments. Of course, the other surprise in Chapter 10 was far more pleasant - it's Regina who's in love! Awwww.
Chapter 11 – Anything for you
"What do you want with my heart, Whale," said Emma in a low voice.
The doctor was honoured to be asked about his scientific work and answered her question enthusiastically. "I've been looking for a heart that will save my brother, to reanimate him, to bring him back to life! This will be a great leap forward for Science. Ah, only the strongest heart will do."
Emma's jaw tightened. "What makes you sure my heart is that strong."
"Love Flu only attacks strong hearts, starting with Patient Zero - the strongest of all."
"And that's me?" Emma shrugged casually. "Guess it's good my heart's still in my chest then."
"Regina's going to give it to me," said Whale confidently.
"Am I." Regina's laugh was full of derisive humour, patronising him. "I think I prefer it where it is. Not that it would do you any good anyway, Doctor, since your brother's body isn't even here."
Whale's face turned stony. "You are lying. You brought everything here with the curse."
"No," Regina said it as if it should've been obvious. "I brought who and what I wanted."
"I need it to finish my work," insisted Whale. "I must succeed."
"What makes you think you'll succeed this time after so many failures, Doctor? I won't let you take a chance with another heart."
Emma watched the exchange back-n-forth like she was at a tennis match. "Yeah, so we're cool then? Nobody's taking my heart cos there's no point?"
They both ignored her. Whale started to become frantic that he would never have what he needed for his death-curing experiment. Regina had commissioned him once before to bring a young man back to life, it didn't look like she would support his work again. His brother would remain dead. His work would die as well. Everything relied on one thing.
"I need a heart!" Whale clenched his fingers into claws.
"I warn you," said Regina seriously. "The hearts in this town are under my protection."
"I know you keep them with your father's grave. Now they're gone."
The slightest crack appeared in Regina's armour of confidence.
"If you don't give me Emma's heart you'll never see any of them again," threatened Whale.
"No deal," Regina said easily, inspecting the palm of her free hand. "Why would I risk the one heart I care about for the sake of all the others."
"If you truly don't care about them then why have you guarded them all these years?"
"I like pretty things," Regina said dryly. "You should see it when they're all glowing at once."
"You will not stand in my way," he growled, incensed by her sass.
Whale lunged towards her to attack reaching for her neck but he never made it as all the force of a small body collided with him. Appearing out of nowhere Henry pushed the doctor with all the strength he had and it was enough to send the man stumbling back.
"Get away from her!" ordered the boy.
Whale took the opportunity to grab Henry and hold him in a headlock. The boy's eyes were wide with fear and though he could barely talk with the arm around his throat he cried out. "Mom!"
"Henry, just stay still," said Emma, trying not to let her own panic show. "It's going to be ok."
"Attacking my son is a foolish move, Doctor," said Regina murderously, raising her right hand as it started to glow with electric blue flames.
"Ah ah ah, no magic please, or I will kill him."
Hidden in his palm, Whale revealed a scalpel blade now perilously close to Henry's throat. With the threat now clear, the doctor lifted his chin and nodded once at Regina.
"Take Emma's heart and give it to me."
Henry cried out before the arm tightened further. "Mom, no!"
"Do it, Regina. It's Henry," said Emma fiercely.
Regina's dark eyes flashed furiously as she weighed up her options. Which heart was most important? The answer was obvious but she hated what she would have to do. There would be no forgiveness for this. With an unreadable expression, Regina pulled roughly on their joined hands so that Emma lost her balance. The blonde fell forward and onto the hand that was thrust into her chest.
When Emma straightened up her eyes widened as she saw her heart in Regina's hand.
Mary Margaret and David were halfway out the door of the Sheriff's station when the black bakelite phone on the desk rang with yet another phone call.
"David, we don't have time!" said Mary Margaret over the shrill sound, gesturing out the door.
David hesitated, agreeing with her but not wanting to ignore it if it was important. "It could be about Emma."
David grabbed the handle off the hook and barked a greeting. He listened to the informant on the other side of the line, replying with terse answers before hanging up.
"That was the hospital."
"What? Emma?!" cried Mary Margaret, jumping to panic.
"No, no, it's not Emma. Hospital security has footage of Dr Whale... he brought a whole bunch of hearts and left them there. There's hundreds of them."
Mary Margaret's face turned incredulous. "Regina's hearts? Whale found them?"
"Yes," answered David. "Security's doing their best but we need to go to the hospital and set up proper protection immediately. The town is crawling with his vigilante police by now. We don't want this to get out in case it causes a run on the hospital of people wanting their hearts back."
"David, what about Emma?" said Mary Margaret worriedly.
"Yes, of course," David shook his head quickly. "Protect the hearts... after we find Emma and stop Whale."
Mary Margaret's eyes shone with unshed tears. "David, I can't lose my baby again."
"We'll find her." David grabbed her face and kissed her quickly before they ran out the door.
Regina held the glowing heart belonging to Emma in her hand but it wasn't pulsing red like the many other hearts she'd taken custody of. It was pure white like it had been bleached and was as heavy as marble weighing down her wrist.
"A heart of stone," commented Whale. "How apropos. Give it to me."
Shocked by the strange sight not to mention the fact that she was apparently still alive without her heart, Emma glanced at Regina to gauge her reaction. But the brunette seemed surprised by the heart's pure white appearance too.
Regina held out the heart, watching Whale like a predator while they made the exchange. She placed the precious organ in the doctor's palm and then grabbed Henry by his jacket to pull him away out of danger.
Whale held up the heart to inspect it. "The experiment will succeed. My name will be forever associated with life instead of death!"
"Not without this," said Regina coldly. In a split second difference she threw out a blast of crackling blue energy at him and then the glowing white heart magically appeared in her hand once more.
The electric blue flames roared away and collided with Whale's body sending him flying back across the street where he fell to the ground unconscious. Emma and Henry held their breaths, exchanging alarmed glances at Regina's display of badass. As the book told, the Evil Queen was not to be messed with but it was something else entirely to see it in real life. They waited a few minutes, watching to see if Whale would get up, but he lay still in the middle of the street apparently down for the count.
"He won't be getting up any time soon," said Regina casually.
Satisfied that the threat had passed, the three of them stared at the white marble heart in Regina's hand glowing softly with pure white light.
"Why does Emma's heart look like that," Henry asked, sounding almost afraid.
"It's strong. See?" Regina squeezed the marble as hard as she could to show the boy. The pressure would've crushed any other heart to dust but it had no effect on this one.
Emma eyed her heart like it was a foreign object. "Is that why I can't fall in love? I don't want it back."
Regina smiled softly. "Emma, it's your heart. You made it strong yourself … but you overdid it just a little."
Emma took a nervous breath and then nodded her permission. "Okay."
Regina replaced the heart gently, settling it back where it belonged in Emma's chest. Emma felt the pulse begin to race inside her veins at the touch. She hadn't known it until now but neither she nor Henry had ever been in much danger with Regina there. Her magic was more than enough for dispatching Whale, the trade was only to make sure neither of them got hurt in the process. Regina, who had once tried to put her into a poisonous sleep, had loved her in secret all this time. Admittedly, she'd only confessed under duress but Emma knew the truth now and it was amazing. Regina had saved her. Regina was in love with her.
Emma stuffed her hands in her pockets nervously. "Thanks for... you know."
"Anything for you, dear," Regina said in an uncharacteristic display and seeming rather unsure about doing so. Their eyes held for a beat.
"Hey look," Henry cried suddenly, pointing down at them. "Your hands aren't stuck together anymore!"
Emma furrowed her brow and wiggled the fingers of her right hand in the air. She and Regina weren't joined at the hands anymore. They were finally cured of Love Flu.
"Huh. When did that happen? I didn't even notice. Did you, Regina?"
But Regina didn't answer, she merely took two steps backwards out of reach. Twirls of purple mist began to form around her feet.
"No," said Emma urgently, suspecting what was about to happen. "Regina!"
Regina's form became engulfed in the purple smoke and disappeared completely.
"Oh Mom," sighed Henry.
"I guess she couldn't wait to get away from me," said Emma, despondently watching the place where Regina had last stood.
When Mary Margaret and David found them a short while later, Emma and Henry were sitting on the edge of the curb. Emma was staring into space with a palpable sense of loss, playing with her keychain necklace by pulling it back-and-forth on the chain. She twisted it roughly, harder and harder until finally... it broke.
A/N: Emma's heart was inspired by a production still from 2x15 showing Regina holding a 'white' heart in the clocktower (the red glow is added later in post-production). I was intrigued by the idea of someone having a pure white heart and why it might happen. Note that this story follows S1 so the S2 stuff about not being able to love if you don't have your heart doesn't apply to the Storybrookers who are missing their hearts here.