Title: But You Can Save Me From Madness, Part Six
Pairing: Regina/Ruby
Rating: R
Length: 5, 225
Summary: Ruby needs an escape and Regina's house has been empty for a long time.
"Ruby," Regina gasps as the aforementioned girl's hand moves up her stomach. For fun she turns her neck briefly and bites down on the soft flesh on the inside of Regina's thigh, leaving a mark that will bruise for days before she pivots her head returns to position, one arm wrapped securely around Regina's leg. "Ruby."
This is the smell she's come to love, sweat and sex surrounded by their own scents. It's almost as addicting as the rising gasps that break into a moan as Regina comes apart around her.
She laughs as Ruby kisses the bite mark before she continues up her jittering body to her mouth, pushing the brunette's head away as she tries to catch her breath. "You're making me feel old."
"I'm just waking you up."
"Every morning at dawn."
"Can't help it. I have all this extra energy this week. Think it has something to do with that wolf thing?" Ruby laughs again as Regina pushes her head away once more, relenting so she can rest it on the pillow next to Regina's. "Maybe that ecstasy potion's still working its way out."
"After a month, I'd like to think it's worn off by now. Whatever it did to you." Regina's sifts a hand through Ruby's hair. "Sleep. Please, for the love of god, give me an hour before I have to go into the day I'm facing."
"Poor Miss Mayor has a photo op."
"Poor Miss Mayor has bags under her eyes because Miss Lucas won't let her sleep."
"Well, if you're gonna complain…"
Regina turns to face her, kissing her slowly and dragging her teeth over Ruby's lower lip as she slides on top of her, making Ruby's stomach flutter in a way she's never felt before. "Can't have you getting a complex, can we?"
"Alright, keep your left arm straight," Ruby reminds, fixing the position herself before standing behind Henry. "Take a deep breath and take your aim. Now slowly let the air out as you let go of the arrow."
The arrow flies across the small area to lodge itself in the tree, just shy of the cardboard target she had stuck to the tree the first time they came out. Henry groans but Ruby just laughs, shaking his shoulders.
"You're getting better."
"If that had been a person, I would have missed."
"Which is probably a good thing, don't you think?"
"You know what I mean," he sighs readying his bow with another arrow stuck in the ground by his feet.
"That's why you have to practice, Henry," the voice comes from behind them and just as Ruby pulls the boy closer to her Gold steps out from the trees. She hadn't heard him, hadn't even smelled him – Ruby has no idea how this man does this little trick, but it drives her insane. "Good afternoon, Miss Lucas."
"Did you follow us here?" She asks, her hand still on Henry's shoulder.
"Of course not," the man replies with a smile. "I walk through the woods every day." His eyes squint and his grin turns sarcastic. "You can double check with Belle if you need to."
"Well, you have a lot of square footage to cover. You should probably be on your way." Henry is statue still underneath her fingers but she can hear his heartbeat going at a regular pace despite the tense attitude.
"You're quite right. If I may, though, I would like to propose–"
"No deal."
Gold laughs and gives them a parting look before turning to head back through the forest. "Well, I can't say I didn't try, can I?"
Ruby waits until the sound of limping footsteps disappear before she deflates and lets her grasp on Henry go.
"What was that about?" He asks as he tosses the arrow in his hand so it sticks in the ground like the rest, walking over to retrieve the one lodged in the tree.
"Nothing. I don't know. I'm sorry; I know he's your grandfather. He just puts me on edge."
"What was he going to ask you?"
"I'd rather not know."
Adam Nolan is born on a drizzly Saturday morning, a small crowd in the waiting room at the hospital to greet his arrival. Regina came when Henry and Ruby insisted on going to the hospital, her hand sifting through his hair as Whale comes out with the news.
Mary Margaret looks tired but happy when they walk in, Regina hanging at the back of the room with Whale as the squirming baby is passed to its father from the nurse. He has a shock of black hair on his head, deep baby blue eyes, and David's chin. Ruby stays the rest of the day, sitting in a chair next to the bed, David at her side.
She never had the chance to hold Emma, but Adam sits calmly in her arms, swaddled in the blue blanket Granny had knitted.
"He's beautiful."
"He is," Regina agrees with a small nod, her eyes already closed and her forehead pressed against Ruby's chin. "It makes me miss Henry at that age."
"When he was a little less opinionated?"
"Like there was ever a time when that boy wasn't opinionated."
"Well, who's to blame for that?"
"I'm going with the genes, personally."
The first week Mary Margaret can get free from her demanding newborn, she asks for a girl's night. Before they even find a table, she walks to the counter and orders shots, asking Ruby on the correct protocols when it came to tequila.
"Oh my god," Mary Margaret grimaces after biting into her lime wedge. "There's a reason I went thirty years without ordering this. But it's almost been nine months and I need more."
"One more of those and you're going to be crying louder than Adam tomorrow," Regina points out, the disgusted look on her face giving way as she tosses her own lime. She glances at Ruby, whose face is white even under the neon lights. "Or maybe this one will."
"Shut up," she replies holding her hand up to wave the waiter over, faltering a little as a wave of nausea hits her. Five sets of eyes give her a simultaneous look. "What? It's just been awhile."
Thankfully the conversation starts to pick up after she asks for a round of cosmos, a drink much more happily welcomed by the girls at the table. But as soon as the red liquid touches her lips her stomach turns again, Regina giving her a discreet look as she watches Ruby grip the edge of the table.
Before the next round is ordered, Regina swaps their drinks without anyone noticing, doing the same with their next ones as Ruby's face turns the same color green as the drinks Ashley gets for them.
Mary Margaret insists through the night that they have to make it through every person's drink order, but by the time they make it to Emma, she and Regina have the same flush on their cheeks. Emma helps her mother walk out of the bar, Ruby watching Regina to make sure she wasn't in the same state.
"Here I thought you were seasoned drink–" Before Regina can finish her sentence Ruby pushes past her into the house and speeds up the stairs. By the time the older woman finds her in the bathroom, her stomach is empty and she's panting on the floor. Regina kneels next to Ruby, pushing her hair back from her sweaty forehead. "Are you okay?"
"Tequila," the shapeshifter mumbles, the very word making her feel queasy again as she remembers the dry flavor and burning down her throat, "I think Ruby might have had one too many bad nights because of it."
"Do you want something to eat?" Her question is answered as Ruby leans back over the toilet to dry heave. "Maybe just some water."
Ruby feels fine by the next day, but loses her taste for alcohol for the time being. Every whiff at the diner has her head spinning and her nightly wine ration is suspended as Regina's good bottles repeatedly go to waste on her.
"This is imported," Whale insists, pushing the tumbler to Ruby across his desk.
"It'll make me sick."
"Since when?"
"Since Ruby's sense memory decided to kick in after a shot of Patron." She laughs as Whale shrugs and pours the glass into his own. "Please, don't let me ruin your party."
"I wouldn't let anyone ruin my party. Unless your girlfriend is ready, willing, and able," the blonde man replies, raising his eyebrows at her confused look. "What?"
"I've just never thought about… labels when it comes to Regina."
"What would you prefer? Partner? Lesbian lover? Fellow muff–" Whale laughs as the stapler hurtles past him. "Just Regina then?"
"Just Regina."
"I really wish you two would get along a little better," Belle admonishes over their Wednesday lunch, "I don't know what to do about it anymore. He tries, you know. In his way."
"I'm sorry. Really. I literally know exactly how you feel and it makes me look like a hypocrite." Ruby's foot bounces at the sound of frying meats in the kitchen. She wishes there was a full moon tonight because the raw meat cravings are strong this month and she knows she'll get sick if she eats anything that isn't cooked through. "But he can't… be asking for his powers. Also, I have no idea how to arrange that, so it's really a moot point."
"He thinks you can convince Regina to give him some potions or something, I really don't know. He doesn't like to talk about it and I hate hearing it." Belle smiles as Granny arrives with their food. "I thought this sobering up thing would work."
"Not everyone takes well to the cold turkey method," Granny comments, glancing around to make sure her customers had all been attended to. "Not that there really was any other way for it to be the way things went down."
"I don't know what he's thinking. He won't… I hope no one's still worried about him after all this time." Ruby gives a tight smile in response but it goes unnoticed. "I mean, Regina's had her powers this whole time and she hasn't done anything but be productive and helpful."
"That's true," Granny replies, shooting her granddaughter a glare. "Isn't it, Ruby?"
"Entirely," she replies tiredly.
She leaves them as Regina enters the diner, smiling at Ruby before she walks to the counter.
"She can sit with us, she knows that, right?" Belle asks.
"She's not afraid of you, if that's what you're asking. She's working through lunch." She nods to Regina's retreating form, a container and a coffee cup in her hands. "Someone has to keep this city going."
Belle smiles and takes a sip of her iced tea. "I'm glad you're happy. If there's anyone who deserves it, it's you. After all this time, I'm really happy for you."
"Thanks," she replies with a genuine smile. "I couldn't have been happy if my friends weren't."
"Time heals all wounds," the other girl replies.
"You never held onto that resentment with Regina. Why? I mean, I'm totally happy you didn't of course, but I always wondered why."
Belle shrugs. "I guess… I see her and Gold in the same light. They were the way they were because they didn't feel loved. They lost it all. It's hard to look down on someone for that."
The bath is steaming behind her, and for whatever reason, the warmth seems to keep the wine down for the first time in months. Regina's in the actual tub, like a normal person, head rolled back over the lip at the end.
"Tell me about your father."
"Why?"
"Because that's what people do when they've been living together for a year. Or a month. Or a week." Ruby turns her head to look over at Regina's closed eyes. "I didn't know mine, so there's that."
"I'm sorry. That you grew up without your parents."
"Well, with our particular genetic traits, not a lot of our people last that long. I never felt like I missed out, though. I mean, I didn't know my parents, so how could I miss them? I had Granny."
"But you did meet your mother."
"For half a day. And then I killed her."
"To save Snow."
"And I'd do it again," Ruby says simply, meaning every word.
Regina is silent in the tub, the occasional move of the water the only sound for a long time. "I loved my father. More than anything. He… wasn't perfect, but he loved me and I loved him."
"What happened to him?" Ruby asks.
"I killed him." The way Regina's voice sounds, so hollow and quiet, Ruby knows that her particular form of parental murder didn't have the warm, happy ending that hers ended up becoming. Which, when she thinks about it, is probably how it should be.
"I'm sorry. That you had – Jesus Christ," she's at the toilet in a second, both her dinner and the wine leaving her system.
"Ruby, you have to go to a doctor about this," Regina sighs, her morose attitude lifting as she steps out of the bathtub, a towel wrapped around her as she approaches Ruby, running a hand up her back. "I'm pretty sure you don't have a sudden allergy to alcohol."
"Well, at least I have a theory," she mumbles in return. "What's yours?"
"That's definitely not a real thing."
"You don't know that, you're not even a real doctor."
"You're thinking of Hopper, I actually had some medical experience in my life if you recall." He takes a sip of the milkshake she had brought for him, this time providing lunch for their lunch date. "So, it's only alcohol?"
"Yes."
"You feel fine otherwise?" Ruby nods. "You're not stressed or not sleeping well?" Ruby shakes her head. "Well, hell if I know. Maybe there's an allergen in certain beverages that you've suddenly become resistant against."
"You're so hilarious."
He laughs and steals one of her untouched french fries. "I don't know, Rubes. We could do some blood work, but if this started after drinking some mysterious unknown potion, I'm the wrong man to go to."
Ruby leaves with her veins untapped (because all that wolf blood apparently doesn't save her from a fear of needles), soon finding her walk pleasantly interrupted by the arrival of Mary Margaret and a stroller. The unusually warm day is a brief respite from the chilly November days that had settled on them.
"I'd say you have the flu… but if your condition was a real thing, I'm pretty sure it'd be patented here."
"Awh, your mommy is stating facts, Adam. Isn't that helpful?" She asks as she leans over the handlebar to adjust the blanket his legs have restlessly kicked away. Mary Margaret returns her comment with a flick to Ruby's temple, earning her a laugh. "Careful, that's one step closer to being Granny, grandma."
"I'm trying to lose some baby weight here, quit giving me a hard time." Ruby swoops down to press a kiss to Mary Margaret's cheek as they turn onto Main Street. "So Regina discovered the cure for alcoholism?"
"Let's see one of your fourth graders top that."
"Be quiet." Mary Margaret stops suddenly in her tracks and Ruby has to back up to meet her.
"What? Something wrong? Is Adam's long lost twin making its debut?" Mary Margaret shakes her head and gives a small smile in return, clearly working something over in her brain. "What?"
"Regina's not exactly hiding some dark secret if this is what you're getting at," Ruby says drolly as Mary Margaret presses the test into her hands. "You know she was married to your father, right? I think he would have mentioned it if something was a little different about his new wife."
"Well, if you're too big a baby, no offense beloved son," she adds to the sleeping baby in the stroller, "to get a tiny needle poked into your arm, then you can pee on a stick and rule out the impossible."
"This is ridiculous," she tries again, only to be pushed back into Regina's powder room. She tosses the test onto the counter with little interest and washes her hands, until all of a sudden her knees give out and she collapses on the floor. She can feel the tears burning down her cheeks before she can so much as take in a ragged breath, her gasps echoing in the small room.
"Ruby?" Mary Margaret asks breathlessly and she pushes open the door, her face contorted in fear. She drops to the floor, her hands around Ruby's back, pulling her crying face to her shoulder. "Ruby, it's only been like thirty seconds…"
"No," Ruby sobs shaking her head again and again. "No. No, no, no, no…"
Her voice breaks off as Mary Margaret shushes her, whispering reassuring things Ruby can't hear. She does hear the front door open, but she's paralyzed in spot even as Regina arrives at the threshold, bewildered at the scene in front of her. Regina is silent though, and when Ruby can finally manage to look up through watery eyes, she sees Regina frozen in spot, staring at the test. Ruby doesn't need to see the plus sign.
"Why in the hell would you let her drink a potion if you had no idea what the goddamn side-effects were?" Granny accuses across the counter in the closed diner. They're gathered with the Charming brood, Ruby sitting numbly in a chair next to Mary Margaret at a table in the middle of everybody.
"I would never do that," Regina hisses back. "Never, not to someone I love."
"Really? Because if I recall, you've done this kind of thing many–"
"Granny," Ruby snaps from the table, startling the room with her first outbreak since that afternoon. Granny sets her jaw but says nothing. From behind her she hears David speak up.
"It's definitely not Whale's?" Ruby's never seen such an icy glare from Regina or her grandmother, which is relatively impressive all things considered, and they immediately have David backtracking. "You just got a girl pregnant somehow, do you think we could rule out the things we need to in this situation?"
"It's not Whale's," Ruby says, staring down at the tabletop. "And I'm not having it."
She can feel every gaze on her, the silence becoming more palpable than the tension in the room. They're waiting for her to recant or continue, she knows it, but she doesn't. She can't. To her left Mary Margaret runs a hand across her shoulder, telling her that it'll be okay.
"We'll figure something out," Emma tries in vain before Ruby bolts from her seat, pushing through the door and running to the forest before she can hear the protests from the people in the room.
Regina's still awake when she arrives at the house, dressed in a new outfit for the new day with yesterday's tired look still on her face. She's sitting in the living room when Ruby enters; staring at the empty box the test came in that she's placed on the coffee table. She doesn't look up at Ruby's arrival, but her arm slides around Ruby's back before she even sits down.
"I can't have it," she says quietly, her head falling to Regina's shoulder. "I can't make something that will turn out like me."
Regina, to her credit, at least tries to keep her tone neutral. "I know, Ruby."
"Well," Gold starts from behind his counter, "this certainly isn't a problem I've run into before."
"Why are we even here?" Emma asks from the back of the shop, standing next to a brooding Granny. "Can't we just take Ruby to a clinic? Or Whale?"
"No," Regina replies with an exhausted voice. "Magic and all that goddamn nonsense."
"Our lovely mayor is correct. The only thing that will help Miss Lucas will be another potion." Gold gives them a fake reassuring smile. "One, I can make."
"We could probably stop talking about Ruby like she's not here," Belle states from Ruby's side, throwing her boyfriend an equally fake smile.
"Of course. I apologize, Ruby."
"I don't want apologies I just want this thing out of me," Ruby replies to her feet.
She causes another awkward silence, this time the patriarch of the Charming family stepping in to fill the void. "Gold, just make the fucking potion."
"You may recall that I'm not quite known for doing things for charity," Gold says, both of his hands resting on top of the cane he carries. "Unless all that rolling in the hay with your wife has clouded your memory."
"I can't give you what you want," Regina replies tiredly, cutting off David's reply before it begins.
"I wasn't aware of your ability to read minds, Madam Mayor."
"Oh, enough with the pissing contests already," Emma fumes as she steps forward to the counter. "That girl over there," she points to Ruby, "needs help. And for whatever reason, someone is twisted enough to make you the man with the cure."
"I wouldn't quite call it a cure now, would you?" Emma's hand hits his cheek in the same breath that has her other grabbing his collar. Gold's nostrils flare and Ruby's pretty sure none of them have been more glad that he doesn't have his powers as they are now, though neither Regina nor Charming try to hide the satisfaction on their faces. "I believe I have grounds for police brutality."
"That girl needs help," Emma throws back, "and, by law, I am here to ensure that she gets that help. You are standing in the way of it. Obstruction of justice. Wasn't that easy?"
Gold pulls himself from Emma's grasp, visibly calming and taking a breath as Belle leaves from her spot to walk behind the counter with him. "As I've said many times, my help comes with a cost."
"And what exactly is that?" Mary Margaret asks, her hand linked with Ruby's.
"Well, as I lack the power for many of the potions I wish to create," his eyes turn to meet Regina's, "I will require the father's help with them."
Ruby lunges at him, the glass counter breaking underneath her impact as she slams against it, the man's neck between her very capable fingers. Her nails dig into Gold's throat, she can feel his raised heartbeat under her palm, and there's nothing she wants to do more right now than squeeze until she can't anymore.
"Ruby," Regina begins, her voice cautious and controlled. "Don't."
She doesn't, but she throws him back against the wall of cabinets despite Mary Margaret and Belle's own pleas. Ruby leaves without another word, blowing through the front door and walking briskly down the street. She's sitting on the front step when Regina pulls up.
"When is he coming over?"
"Sometime this week," she replies as she reaches her.
"I don't want to be here."
"Of course." Regina sits next to her, taking a deep breath. Ruby can feel her gaze when she turns her head, but she doesn't look, only accepts the outturned hand the other woman offers. "Let's go inside, Ruby. You need to sleep. I'll run you a bath–"
"I'm sorry, Regina," she whispers, her face crumbling into tears again. "I'm so, so sorry."
"What on Earth are you apologizing for? Because if you say it's for the Gold thing, I might be slightly offended." She squeezes Ruby's hand as the girl reaches up with her free hand to brush the tears off her cheeks. "You don't have anything to be sorry for."
"I shouldn't have–"
"You couldn't have known, Ruby. You'll move on. We will. Your friends and family."
"What was it, Regina?" She asks as she meets her gaze.
Regina gives her a small sad smile, turning her head to look back out at the street. "It was… us, I guess." She turns back to look at her. "I do love you, you know?"
"I know," Ruby responds, squeezing her hand weakly in return. "I love you too."
"Your fears are perfectly valid, Ruby. Every parent–"
"Don't," Ruby starts, "Don't use that word."
"Of course, I apologize," Archie says genuinely, "that was insensitive. But there are few people out there who aren't worried about certain genes they could pass on to their children."
"I think mine kind of beats out the thin hair gene."
"What about the genes that could pass on depression or bipolar? Or the biology that could be behind why sociopaths are the way they are? Their parents certainly wouldn't wish that life on their offspring, but when two different people create a child, the outcome doesn't have to spiral out of control." Archie adjusts his glasses. "Don't you think your perception on your condition would be different if you had known about it? If you had learned to control it at a young age?"
Ruby doesn't respond, just scratches Pongo behind his ears when het lets out a whine. Archie sighs from across the room.
"Are you worried about the judgment you might receive for your choice?"
"No," Ruby says quietly.
"You're not having any moral conflicts about your decision to not keep it?"
"It's a monster, Archie, it's not a normal baby. It would put all of us in jeopardy, and not just because a child might turn into a wolf in front of the wrong person. It would grow up in this town hurting the people who love it."
"Like yourself."
"I killed my boyfriend and ate him, Hopper. I know what this kid has in store." Ruby shifts as Pongo looks up at her, feeling uneasy about the canine's stare. She always thought it was cats that were judgmental animals. "And I don't love it."
"Yet you learned to control your state easily once you had help," he sidesteps in return.
"I don't want to talk about that."
"You don't have to," Archie replies with a reassuring gaze, "but I'd like you to think about it."
Regina tells Ruby she's taking Thursday off and Ruby doesn't need to be told twice. She doesn't work; she hasn't since she found out, so she just sits at the diner all day, switching from peppermint tea and water as it suits her. Mary Margaret comes in at eleven, sliding into the booth next to her, ordering the same tea and pulling out a book. When Ruby's cup starts to clatter against the plate it's on she reaches forward to grab her hand and calm her, remaining silent because she knows Ruby well enough not to try to say anything now.
"You practically carried me through that forest," Ruby whispers as the clock hits two. Mary Margaret jumps a little at the sound of her voice, but closes her book calmly. "You knew me for, what? Two days? You took care of me even after you saw what I was."
"If I hadn't snuck into your grandmother's chicken coop I wouldn't be alive right now." Mary Margaret looks down at her own cup. "Sometimes… especially in this past year, it's like you've forgotten how much you've done for me, for my family."
"I'd still be killing people, innocent people. What kind of monster hunts so indiscriminately? Who kills its own friends and family without even knowing it?"
"Who would kill their own mother, their long lost mother at that, to save a friend they just met?" Mary Margaret asks in reply, grabbing Ruby's chin to make her look. "I can't imagine a world without you."
She can smell it before she catches Regina's own scent, a disgusting aroma that has her gripping the table to keep what little is in her stomach down. Regina slides onto the bench across from them when she arrives, waving off the waitress before she even picks up a menu.
"Give it to me," Ruby demands the second she can find her voice. Regina doesn't hesitate but she takes a moment before pulling the vial out of her pocket and places it on the table. The mist inside is a dark gray, sparks of black shooting out into the haze every now and then. All Ruby can think about is how the last time she saw a potion; it was purple and tasted like grapes. "It smells like death."
Neither of the two women sitting with her respond until she reaches for it, Mary Margaret's hand covering her own as she takes hold of the glass. Before she can say something, her best friend cuts her off.
"Wait a week. Not for… you don't have to worry about it now, so you can relax–"
"I will not be able to relax while this thing is inside me."
"She's right," Regina states, eyes glued to the vial on the table. "You're in no condition to take anything."
Ruby can't relax and Regina seems to take to her eating and sleeping habits, with neither of them doing much of either. Regina doesn't say much, doesn't do much. If it weren't for work, Ruby wasn't sure if Regina would move from her spot on the couch, where she sits and stares at the fire all night. They spent Thursday and Friday evening at the Inn, not sleeping while Regina aired out the basement so the smell wouldn't be there when Ruby returned. Regina sees Henry on her own rather than take him for the weekend, surely making an excuse for Ruby's absence in the last few weeks.
It's not until Wednesday when Regina returns home that she sees it again, the vial in her possession once more; pulled out of whatever hiding spot it had remained in during the week. She places it on the counter in their bathroom without mention, throwing a towel at the base of the door.
"You don't have to do that," Ruby says quietly from the bed, covers pulled up to her waist. Regina shrugs and joins her, turning off the lights first. She slips her hand into Ruby's as she settles in under the blankets. Ruby feels it then, her stomach turning, the hand clasped with Regina's moving to her abdomen.
"Do you feel sick?" Regina asks as she sits up, free hand brushing the hair back from Ruby's face as she watches with concerned eyes as Ruby's breaths come in desperate gulps of air, her whole body seeming to vibrate. "Ruby, what's wrong?"
Ruby shakes her head now with both hands on her stomach, one still locked with Regina's. "It's moving."
Regina looks at her cautiously for a moment before untangling her hand to press it directly against Ruby, smoothing out the fabric of her shirt, and Ruby feels it again. She's about to speak when Ruby interrupts her, looking down at their hands on her body.
"It's okay," she whispers, the words directed to her stomach coming out in small, jittering bursts while the thumb on her left hand moves back and forth slowly despite her shivering frame. "I can feel you in there. It'll be okay."
They still don't get any rest but the vial and its contents disappear before the new day arrives and Ruby never sees or thinks about it again.
