A/N: Thanks to all taking the time to follow this story, I know the pace is a little slower than some might like but I go where my brain takes me! Anyways, there are big things to come so please feel free to leave a comment- love, hate, indifference...you're all welcome!

Disclaimer: There's no ownage of characters here, just a dream and a laptop!

CHAPTER 3:

Emma couldn't remember the last time she'd been up at five am. At least not in any meaningful way that involved motor function and actual human speech. But there was no way she could go back to bed knowing that her carbon copy was wandering about the apartment touching her things, leaving her fingerprints all over them.

Their fingerprints.

The thought made her shudder.

It also wasn't lost on her that this could be the start of possibly the best frame-up job ever but she forced herself to push the suspicion deep to the back of her mind as she towelled her hair dry. For all their similarities, her double seemed almost as immune to distrust as she was to respecting personal space so there didn't seem much point dwelling on what schemes she might have.

Sometimes you just had to let someone play their games out so you know how to react.

Derk, her boss had taught her that the first day of her bounty hunting gig all those years ago. And to be fair Emma had more than enough experience of what it'd take to cause her doppelganger some real pain if it came to it. She knew all her own little weak spots after all.

Brushing the hair out of her face, Emma wondered for a moment if that made her a bad person.

Maybe her unwanted twin was on the level. Maybe she was here to help.

And maybe she wasn't skulking in another room as she'd been assuming; perhaps she was just waiting for the question to break; the one that hung so plainly over the both of them- unasked and unanswered.

Emma swallowed hard as she remembered those awful words from last night and the bleak, hopeless look buried in green eyes immediately after. It couldn't have been a lie.

It couldn't…

And if it was, she seriously needed to reconsider a career on Broadway because the wave of despair pouring off her double had been almost real enough to taste.

She was going to destroy everything.

Everyone.

Henry. Her parents.

Regina.

After everything they'd made it through. All of them. Gone. No more coffee dates at the diner, no more arguments across the dinner table about etiquette and how much ketchup was too much ketchup. All of that wiped out. With nothing to leave as legacy but a bunch of cartoons printed and printed then reprinted across the world in an effort to teach kids how to behave. How not to do things.

And Henry...

Henry wouldn't even get that.

Her mind screamed at her to stop this train of thought immediately but she couldn't….because Henry would be lost completely. Nothing but a name buried in an archive on a government database. At best forgotten.

…And at worst stolen by someone looking to create a cover story; a criminal or some heartless undercover cop. Someone who didn't give a shit about the boy who'd loved comics and hated cauliflower except when it was drowned in cheese; all they would care about was a date of birth and how much use it could be to them.

No thought Emma angrily. That's not happening.

This is not happening.

"How do I do it?" she yelled suddenly and after a brief hiatus saw a flash of blonde appear in the doorway to the bedroom.

"Do what?"

She wrinkled her nose. "Don't play coy, it hasn't worked since grade school."

The other Emma frowned at the sudden turn in atmosphere. "I don't have an answer…just a series of images bundled up together in my head. That's what makes it so hard to...explain."

Emma growled in frustration. "So how can you know..."

"I know what I felt before I woke up here; it's weird but that doesn't seem to fade."

She steeled herself.

"So what did you feel?"

"Guilt. Oil black guilt." That desperate expression was back, sliding across those familiar features a few feet away. "And anger. At something I'd done, something I'd been convinced was the right thing to do at the time but hadn't worked out that way… I think. It's all so messed up it's hard to tell."

Well there it was. She'd finally asked.

And after all the build up, it had gotten her precisely nowhere.

Emma rubbed her temple tiredly. "Then how are you supposed to help me?"

"Gut instinct?"

There was a wan smile.

"Maybe the memories will come back at some point but until then I guess I'm going on old-fashioned gut instinct."

"How comforting."

"We've had to get by on less."

She couldn't really argue with that. Not that it made the churning in her stomach subside any. Or the desire to grab the other woman and shake her stupid until some real answers fell out of her mouth. Anything that might help her figure out what the hell she was supposed to…

"Hold up!"

The blonde dropped her towel at the unexpected shriek, watching as it coiled up on the floor.

"Christ on a bike, what?!" she said.

"I remembered something. A colour." Emma II whispered excitedly.

"A colour?"

"Wait. Not any colour, one with something to do with dust...and faith. Yeah dust and faith. And secrets." Emma watched breathlessly, fighting the urge to ask any questions as her counterpart wrinkled up her nose sifting through her new memories with as much speed as you could when forced to wade through sludge .

"Dust and faith and secrets. " she murmured. "Tunnels and spires."

"Spires like a church?"

Emma almost slapped herself for opening her mouth but the wide eyes that shined back at her quickly wiped that away.

"Yes! The church, the one on seventh and Remada!"

"The one where Mother Superior runs the shelter?"

"Mother Superior..." The other blonde suddenly smacked Emma's upper arm with such force that Emma took a grumbling step back.

"Mother Superior! Rheul Gorm, the blue star! That's it; you're a genius. It was a talisman. Ice blue like her dress, small; just before everything went dark. I remember trying to grab it... the thing was weirdly cold in my hand."

It didn't sound like anything Emma had ever seen before but the new piece of information set her skin ablaze as she tried to work out what and where it might be in her Storybrooke. Ablaze with the possibility that they could change her fate and no-one would ever have to be any the wiser.

"Sounds like magic played a major part then," she mused. "Which is great news considering I don't have mine anymore."

A flash of surprise crossed her counterpart's face but she didn't say anything merely pushing a lock of hair behind her ear.

"But it was small enough to fit in your hand?"

"Yeah."

"We need to work out whether it was an amulet or a talisman then."

Her double looked at her uncomprehendingly and Emma felt a brief flash of something resembling pride course through her.

"Look I don't know much about this stuff but back before I lost my magic Regina taught me that when people used objects to cast a spell, you either had to use an amulet or a talisman. An amulet was an object with natural magical properties but a talisman was something that had to be charged with power by the person using it."

The same confused green eyes waited. "I'm not sure how that makes..."

"Well it'd tell us if the person who used it had magic or not, right?"

Her double almost appeared impressed.

"That's actually kinda smart."

"Thanks very much," groused Emma although her mind was working overtime on the small piece of information they'd gotten so far. Without her magic she was pretty much working blind though. What they really needed was someone much more well versed in the subject. Someone who'd had experience in this area, who had learned it from the best.

Someone like...

Regina.

She felt herself go a little green at the idea of seeing the Mayor again. The last time they'd spoken had been the big reunion when Robin had caught sight of his long dead wife and the room had blossomed into a sea of smiles and delight. All except for one. Regina had looked at her then like she'd stuck a machete deep into her gut and she hadn't even had the chance to explain why she'd done it before the brunette had run from the room away from all those glossy eyes. Away from the landslide of happiness that threatened to bury her whole.

Remembering it made Emma want to retch but she caught her double's eye nonetheless.

"We're gonna need some help. And from someone who's really not going to be happy to see me."

Alternate Emma shrugged as if she didn't even need to ask who they were talking about; a fact that was equal parts reassuring and annoying.

"Again not a new experience for us."

There was a new smirk on that face though that Emma found at odds with the pit of worry growing at the base of her own stomach.

"Do you think I should take some flowers or something, like a peace offering?"

Her double smiled grimly as she threw her jacket over to her. "Probably best not to give her anything she could potentially stuff down your throat."

Emma moaned. "Fair point."

As she grabbed her keys from the bowl on the counter, a million contrary emotions tumbling through her and her brain staying away from imagining what might happen when she got to the mansion she knew so well, Emma held a warning finger up. "You stay here."

The other Sheriff blinked, "But I need to ask..."

"If she sees two of us, she might just think its ok to axe murder one coz she still gets to yell really loudly at the other until the end of time so you wait for me to come back."

Anticipating the argument that was about to come Emma quickly slapped a hand over the other's mouth. "Not up for discussion, ok?"

A frustrated nod was her answer.

She was out the door in under thirty seconds, sneaking a quick glance to make sure her instructions were being followed as she went.

Then she stepped onto the street and it was just her and the stockpot of nerves bubbling away in her belly.

Heading to Regina's to ask for a favour.

She wasn't sure this morning could get any worse.

It had taken her less than fifteen minutes to walk across town to Mifflin Street. Not nearly enough time for her to build up anything resembling courage but just enough to make her want to bolt with every fibre of her being.

But she couldn't go back with her tail between her legs to a pair of expectant eyes. Her own eyes at that...or close enough.

She had to do this.

For her. For Henry. Hell for all of them- Regina included. Although she might not realise it yet.

Lifting her hand Emma held it an inch from the door as her mind darted back and forth between rapping as hard as she could and beating a hasty retreat back to the dark street.

Neither reflecting well on her...and Regina could hold either against her if she found out.

Standing there, she couldn't work out which was worse. Watching your own cowardice play out like an out-of-body experience or knowing someone you'd wronged was about to see it.

Someone who had once been a friend…

Who could have been more…

Cutting the thought off at its root, she growled softly and thumped on the hard wood, bouncing a toe up and down as she waited for a response. Hoping this wasn't going to be as painful as she imagined especially given the fact it was stupid o'clock in the morning.

After a moment, there was a hushed whisper from inside. The sound of fabric on marble then the door slid open an inch, a pair of obsidian eyes glaring through the gap.

It only took a second before the door was slammed shut again with such force that the wave of air hit Emma solidly in the face.

Awesome. Only Regina Mills could get a punch in without even raising a hand.

She rolled her shoulders out, resisting the need to puke.

"Regina, please open the door."

There was a pause as Emma tried to work out whether the brunette had retreated to the back of the house. Hoping that she hadn't, that there was something worth salvaging...

"I did open the door, dear" came the cold reply then. "I think we've established that I'm not the one here who bucks convention for the hell of it."

So she hadn't gone. She'd just been standing there on the other side of the door waiting for ...something.

Was that good?

Biting her lip, Emma began scanning the street hoping there weren't any early morning joggers out this way.

"Then would you please open the door again so that I can explain why I'm here?"

"I know why you're here."

I seriously doubt that, thought Emma.

"…And I have no interest in hearing another mewling apology. One would be pathetic enough but a constant tirade gets a little tiring."

Silence descended.

"I am sorry," said Emma finally in a soft tone.

It was the worst thing she could've come back with apparently as the door was flung open in a fit of rage and the slender shape of the Mayor emerged, eyes lit up.

"It's half past five in the morning Miss Swan. Henry is up there sleeping in case you'd forgotten; I know how things tend to fall out of your brain but if you could write his name on a post-it as a way of remembering his existence that would do us all a big favour."

A little shocked Emma went to open her mouth again but Regina held a shaking hand up silencing her.

"Sorry is an easy word to say Miss Swan but it doesn't undo the pain that came before it and its continuous repetition takes away any power it might once have had. "

Emma swallowed hard in response, mesmerised by the deep bags under those eyes and the flickering dullness coating Regina's skin. She'd never seen her so angry.

Actually that was a lie. She'd never seen her so angry since she'd begun to make changes in her life. That was the old Regina. The scared one.

And the idea that she might be backsliding into the resentful person she'd used to be because of a stupid momentary decision on Emma's part only made her insides roil more turbulently.

"Please, I never meant…"

The words died in her throat as Regina stepped forward until her nose was an inch away from Emma's and the chords in her neck strained with the effort of keeping something unnameable in check.

"Stop. Saying. It."

"I can't." stuttered Emma. And she couldn't. Couldn't stop the words from trying to escape her mouth, couldn't stop trying to make Regina understand how much she….

"Why?" hissed the brunette. "Why can't you just leave me alone?"

"I don't know."

A hard smile lit up dark features at that. "Because just like your parents you think you can solve everything with a word and a smile."

"No…I…"

Regina suddenly sneered at her grabbing her wrist. "Do you think Henry heard that word those first few days you turned up here and suddenly all those nightmares of being lost and left in a giant brick furnace just fell out of his head?"

It felt as if she'd been physically slapped. Emma hadn't known he'd been having nightmares before he'd come to find her let alone a recurring one with such a horrific plot. It was too much to take in. Her brain screamed at her to leave so she could get some air, try and process that revelation before saying another word but as she tried to pull her arm out of the older woman's grip but there was no let up in the hold.

An action that might once have made Emma smile but now sent indistinct chills through her flesh.

"Do you imagine the few times that you've allowed yourself to call them Mom and Dad since rediscovering your heritage make up for the coldness in the way you treat your parents? That they can't feel your resentment despite the words that fall from your mouth?"

Emma wanted anything but to be touching Regina now but she was held in place forced to listen to that gruff cold voice spewing its venom.

"Do you think that if anyone had sticks and stones at their disposal a single word would be said? No. There would be blood and rage and the clashing of swords but no-one would be speaking."

Emma's legs barely held her up. All of a sudden it seemed like it was only the older woman's grip that kept her standing and Emma stared up at her with watery eyes.

"I hate you."

A sob broke from the blonde at that and she shook her head despairingly for all the good it did.

Regina tightened her grasp. "You understand that don't you? I hate you for being allowed to act without thought and to wrap those actions up in the banner of goodness. And everyone's best interests." Her voice fell into a cold whisper. "I hate that you show remorse and your copybook gets whitened accordingly. I hate you... for being forced away from your parents for an entire lifetime and somehow managing to embody their worse qualities when I couldn't escape the presence of mine and still get punished for behaving like them!" Her breath came out in hot puffs. "Do you know that I never hated you before. Oh, you were presumptuous and irritating and I…I admit there was an element of envy to my actions back in the beginning. "

Emma's head sprang up at that but she didn't have the chance to ask what Regina had meant because the brunette wasn't about to stop now. Not when she finally had the chance to say all the things that had been burning in her chest."

She released Emma's arm and took a step back, brushing a hand through her hair as if it could erase the red rimming her narrowed eyes. "Everything came so easy to you. Friends. Loyalties. Well not this. And let me make myself very clear. I have no interest in anything you might have to say Sheriff. Now or in the future. You've destroyed the only thing I've allowed myself to put faith in since I lost this town to you so please go celebrate your victory somewhere else. It's the only gallant thing left for you to do."

Hot tears leaked from Emma's eyes as the she stared at the pursed lips that seemed so alien now on the other woman's face and Regina raised a single knowing eyebrow.

"You can reduce this down to hurt feelings and jealousy if you want, no-one would blame you but the truth is I hate you because you pushed and pushed for me to change when you've never had to bend even an inch. I suppose this qualifies as the answer to that preposterous riddle. This; this is what happens when an unstoppable force meets an immoveable object. I have nothing more to say to you. Don't come back here."

Stepping away Regina turned a shaking back to her guest and just like that, in the blink of an eye made her way inside the foyer without turning. Without acknowledging the other woman's hysterics at all.

"Please Regina, I need your help!" Emma begged, pride totally stripped away.

The sound of a quiet voice echoed on marble although the brunette kept her position. "And I needed yours. I needed you to show the rest of them that the good inside me was as deserving as the good in any of them but you didn't, all you saw was a life that could be added to the sums in your column. One more tally."

The white door swung closed then with a hard thunk as the latch caught and Emma sank to her knees on the steps too drained to even pretend tears weren't pouring from her eyes. Too bruised and battered to attempt any more explanations regardless of their importance. She wasn't capable of thinking about anything but the jagged pain in Regina's face. In her words. It was everywhere and everything. Inside of her and out.

She never knew that inside the house, outside of her earshot the brunette meanwhile was leaning heavily against a wall as she sucked in a series of deep cleansing breaths, trying her best not to give in to the overwhelming urge to scream. Henry was still upstairs after all and she wasn't about to lower herself to do exactly what she'd accused Emma of. She was better than her. Better in every way. She had to be.

A wry voice floated down from the stairs. "That was impressively mean."

Regina closed her eyes. "It had to be said."

"Impressively eloquently too. We are quite the vision when we're angry."

Sighing, the brunette's eyes blinked open again and she stared forlornly up at the woman standing so regally above. The one who looked exactly like her down to even the smallest microscopic detail. The one who seemed to be judging her for the emotional outburst that had just occurred.

She couldn't have that. Wouldn't have it. Dragging herself up to stand with her back straight, the Mayor offered a glimmer of a smile and pointed towards the kitchen with as much conviction as she could.

"It seems an appropriate time for a drink. And since it's a little early for cider, what do you say to a coffee?"

Her mirror image nodded as she started making her way downstairs. "I think that sounds lovely."

TBC...