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After Regina had managed to pick herself up, only keeping herself from going after the queen because her magic was malfunctioning so much she could not even properly teleport , they stalk towards the car. Or actually, Regina tries to stalk but stumbles sometimes and Emma sort of waddles until Regina picks her up and carries her.
The driving style is less maniacal , but Emma is even more worried than she had been when Regina had still been driving like she wanted to kill them both. She has never seen Regina like this and it scares her. She is accustomed to always seeing Regina fight, not to this quiet version of her that holds trembling hands on the steering wheel and bites her lips.
She only hesitates for a moment before creeping towards Regina. She watches Regina for any signs of discomfort, but there are none as she slowly curls on Regina's lap. In fact, Regina seems to slowly relax, her eyes less unsure and frightened. And yeah, everything still sucks but at least they are a team. Emma will just have to trust that they will beat the odds again. That is not difficult at all.
They are almost at the house when there is a large purple smoke, the sudden movement of the car yanks Emma from her half-sleep and Regina curses, once. Emma honks in protest when there is smoke around her and Regina has suddenly disappeared. Then there is darker smoke around her and she feels herself being yanked forward, then dropped on the street.
Regina glares at the queen for that. " Keep your magic away from her".
The queen just ignores her, and Emma quickly walks to Regina as recognizes the look in Regina's eyes. It is the look she has when risking herself for Henry. She positions herself in front of Regina and immediately feels a heeled boot gently push her away. "Do not be foolish , Emma. Get behind me'. Which yeah, that is never going to happen.
Regina is lighting a fireball, stepping towards the queen and Emma is next to her – trying to focus her magic but okay with having to just use her wings if needed, because she knows they are pretty lethal- when the queen says " Stop" in an almost bored voice
Emma hates the queen a little when Regina immediately freezes but continues to struggle, her hands trembling with the effort and that sad-angry look in her eyes. She runs forward- only to fall backwards as she bounces off some sort of spell. She struggles to her feet again and places herself in the middle of Regina and the spell.
" Emma- don't " it is a swirling tornado and Regina's eyes through the darkness and Emma just thinking 'I need to help her, I need her safe, I need her away from this' all over again.
Except this time, Emma has no idea how to even protect Regina. How do you protect a person from themselves?
Still, she is damn well going to try. She stands there, focuses on her magic again. Her feathers ruffle and burn, but the world is still too small and she can still not see anything but useless feathers. Before she can push past her limits, the queen speaks again. " You are always hurting those you love. Just look at her".
And yeah, maybe Emma is feeling shitty again. Maybe she has a migraine and is nauseous and there might be blood dripping from somewhere, but that does not mean anyone is allowed to deliberately try to hurt Regina like that, to worsen her doubts and pain. She throws herself forward again, angry and vindictive and focusing all her loathing on the spell she feels in the air-
She bounces, but it breaks. It feels like she has broken as well; there is a dull throbbing in one of her wings and the migraine had worsened to the point that she doesn't even want to blink in fear of the searing pain. She is only vaguely aware of what the words 'you are free to walk again' mean and what the footsteps imply and why there are gentle hands picking her up.
The pain slowly starts to fade and she glares at the queen from where she is in Regina's arms.
" she does not deserve you. Why are you even attempting to protect someone like her? She ruins everything she touches, cannot even hold on to a part of herself" there is something cruelly knowing in the queen's eyes when she adds " are you so eager to be rejected once again? To be disregarded, like you are nothing but trash".
The arms around Emma draw her closer to Regina when the queen steps forward. " You could go with me, if you wanted to. You and Henry and I- we could do so many great things. You certainly do not have any obligations against Snow – what has that woman ever done but abandoned you and demanded forgiveness like breaking a curse justifies taking away any happiness her daughter might have had?".
It hits a little too close to home, because even if Emma does not want to, she sometimes still resents her parents for sending her away. The way Emma sees it, her best chance was not away from them. No, that was the town's best chance. And it is difficult to not resent them for what feels like picking all these people over her when they have never had the long talk they needed to. When there are such fairy tale characters, who think he crappy childhood is just the price to pay for heroism.
Still, she loves them so she picks the only way to yell ' fuck off, no way I am betraying my family' that she can think of: she hisses furiously and presses against Regina. She can feel Regina's chest move as she inhales shudderingly and she sees the surprise on the queen's face. There might be pain there too, but it disappears quickly behind a cruel twist of her lips. " You are free to make your mistakes, miss Swan".
"She is not going to choose you. So leave" it is Regina's voice and Emma frowns at the pain she hears in it. She feels like she is missing something, like there is some crucial piece of information that she almost has but not quite.
The queen smiles cruelly, her hands curled around the heart. " I am not finished " she brings the heart closer, until it is almost touching her lips. " do not tell the identity of the Swan in your arms to anyone. Hide it- but be sloppy. Make enough mistakes they will have suspicions but not enough or obviously enough for them to comprehend you are being controlled".
Emma hisses at her again. The queen hums. " she does have a very wilful spirit"
Regina keeps Emma in one arm as she lights another fireball, before the queen could take more than two small steps. The queen smiles, thinly and cruelly. Emma struggles to get out of Regina's arms when that heart is crushed but even when Regina is doubled over with pain, her grip never loosens. Eventually, the queen's does however.
She had not been doubled over like Regina, even if there had been pain in the pressed lines of her face and the free hand she pressed against her chest. " Do not move" she orders now and Emma feels Regina stiffen against her. Becoming stone without her skin actually changing.
The queen takes deliberately slow steps, lips curled up. Emma concentrates harder than ever- magic is emotion, miss Swan – and uses the nauseating mix of terror , concern and fury as fuel. Her feathers start to burn slightly as her magic spits and hisses, her muscles suddenly felt like she had tried a split but had overestimated her body's flexibility, her eyes start to burn like she has rubbed shampoo in them – she glances down and her feathers are slowly disappearing.
The happiness is fuel as well, but it never works as well as anger or the overwhelming need to protect. Her skin now feels like she has spent three hours in 40 degrees weather without sunscreen, her mouth is filled with the taste of blood, there is pressure on her ears like she is on a rising plane but –
She is stretched out oddly, her feathers slowly turning the pinkish colour she is used to, she can feel something pressing in her beak- possibly teeth trying to grow again. It is the most uncomfortable she had ever been and- the queen snaps her fingers and Emma is pulled into her arms.
" You moron" the tone is harsh, but the fingers on Emma's skin aren't. she still tries to get them off quite desperately when she can feel the queen's magic glide over her and push her magic back. She tries to fight but the taste of blood only strengthens and the pain in her head gets so bad she cries out. She bends her head, the only human thing the queen has left the tears that slip from her eyes and fall.
" You have not yet mastered that skill' the queen says, catching her lips between her teeth. Emma starts to hiss furiously at her – you threaten my family, keep me trapped like this and THEN you fucking dare to taunt me – before she actually mulls the words over. Because yes, they could easily be taken as a taunt but if there was one thing she had learned about Regina, it was that she tended to hide her love beneath sarcasm and barbs.
Emma almost relaxes when she realizes that the queen has still been a jerk. She has hurt Regina. She starts to hiss again, tries to flap her wings in the queen's arms. The queen sighs. " This is about my weaker half, is it not?" Emma honks furiously in agreement. Then tries to glare, and hopefully communicate with that glare 'do not call Regina weak' .
The queen looks behind Emma. " She is far more a knight than she is a princess, is she not? " she looks down at Emma- still flapping with her wings and generally struggling. " All the fierce protectiveness of a noble knight " she sounds slightly mocking. Emma strains even more. Damn it. I am stronger than her, usually. Why is this not working? She knows it is just that she is exhausted and almost ill after using magic like five minutes ago, but it still pisses her off that this woman could hurt Regina any moment and she would not be able to help at all.
She is even more pissed off how a part of her automatically relaxes a little at the queen's touch, like it is Regina's arm on her shoulder after they have defeated some Hell monster that came out of a hat ( and really, what kind of fever-induced dr. Seuss weirdness has her life turned into ?)
The queen presses her closer, and all that calm and comfort disappears as she walks towards a helpless Regina. Emma pinches the queen's skin, honks, flaps her wings, envisions her to be thrown away – anything that will mean she won't get any closer. The queen ignores it all. " You will return to Mifflin street. You will stay there for two hours".
The look in Regina's eyes makes Emma tremble with fury directed at the queen. It is only seen for several seconds before Regina's signature smoke takes her away. Slightly darker smoke takes Emma soon after. When the world slowly blurs into focus again, she is in Regina's vault.
She is in Regina's vault, she is on the floor and she cannot move.
The queen is in front of her, studying her. " Snow White and her shepherd are not known for their intellect. They might need a firm push to reach the conclusion that my weaker half is betraying them" .
She approaches Emma and- Emma has never really been afraid of Regina. She has been furious whenever Regina was being an A-grade bitch. She has been empathic, those times she thought she recognized someone who had been fucked over as many times as she had. She has been worried, when Regina was undercover pretending to be a friend to torturers and murderers. But she has never been afraid.
She might be a little now, helpless, uncertain and faced with a look she recognizes from the worst homes.
The queen waves her hand a throne-like chair fades into existence. The queen sinks down into it, resting her chin on her hand as she studies Emma. She is silent for a while, then slowly stands and walks towards another room. Emma hears objects being moved and hitting against walls perhaps. She is still trying to free herself -failing miserably- when the queen returns with a very large book. Emma stares at it as the queen lowers herself down in the chair again and starts to read.
Her heart is not racing anymore, even if she knows the queen is still a threat and calm like this is often less dangerous than outright anger and hatred. She has learned that after a childhood with people that had so many agendas and following people so very desperate.
The queen lays the book down with too much nonchalance. Emma tenses- or she would if she could anyways. Even if every part of her screams at her to fight and she can feel her lungs stutter and fail (does this spell freeze them, as well or is it just the panic Emma feels?), she forces herself to not fight. The only plan she has is to wait for the moment the queen unfreezes her and fight with all the saved energy then . If you mess this up, your family will suffer she says, thinking of Henry's smile and Snow's worry and David's gentle teasing and Regina's dry wit.
She cannot fail them, she cannot lose that. It is more difficult than you would expect, but she keeps repeating 'cannot fail them, cannot lose them' until the urge to fight settles a bit.
Finally, the queen is ready. She has a table with scattered ingredients – Emma prays that her plan does not involve chucking potions down Emma's throat because is that a rat's tail – and dark red powder and – a collar? Emma is so surprised that she just stares and blinks in confusion.
Until Regi the queen tries to attach that collar, which is when Emma strains and screams . She is still a swan, but it is not hard to hear that she is hurting at all and the spell keeping her frozen is very strong but so is her panic and instinct to protect so the spell shatters. The spell shatters, the queen stumbles back and Emma runs for the door.
Only for a rope to drop down from nowhere and curl around her, cutting off her breathing and tightening against her struggling. The queen's voice is nearly soothing as she kneels down and mutters 'shh shh' , her fingers quickly reaching out for Emma's neck and Emma loathes her for a moment.
Then the rope disappears, Regina shrinks and hands. Hands and fingers and skin – she laughs disbelievingly and wriggles her fingers, presses them to her face so she can they are real. She smiles and laughs and sags with relief. " I d- "she has to clear her throat, then tries again. " I don't understand".
The queen is still kneeled down next to her. Emma doesn't know what to make of her. " It is all part of a plan" she suddenly grabs Emma's chin , pulls her towards her. " And I have been wanting to do this since I saw your pretty face for the first time" and kisses her. Or perhaps kisses is not the right word, because Emma feels more like she is being conquered, possessed , claimed. The queen bites down on her lip and Emma pulls away carefully.
" We are not doing this".
" You- " .
" I may not know a lot about healthy relationships, but I am also not freaking Harley quinn. Nor do I have a goddamn Stockholm complex".
The queen's nails dig into her shoulder painfully. "You judge me even when you do not judge her?".
" I know of her past crimes and I have managed to look past them, mostly for Henry's sake but also because of the shit that has happened to her and the go – the amazing stuff she has done since then. The first time I saw you, you threatened me and turned me into a swan. You have kept me locked up for ages, taunted me with the pain of my family and hurt Regina- "
The fingers on her skin start to heat and she could've sworn she saw the woman's arm slowly star to reach for her chest. She grabs that arm. " And you might be doing this just to hurt Regina even more".
The queen leans in even more. Emma is pretty sure that is her own blood on those lips." You have no idea of our past crimes. You would do the one thing you are so good at and run if you had any idea what we were like".
" I know she is a good mother to my son. I know she has nearly died several times to protect this town. I know that she has gone down to- ".
The queen leans in more. "You have no idea what it is like, saviour. She has grown accustomed to murder and terror. You people might think that by ripping me out, she has completed her redemption but she is still me. You cannot just destroy a part of you".
' I know".
The queen's grip loosens slightly. " You- what?".
" I know. I know you, I know any version of Regina. Whether we are in an insane alternate universe or whether she is wearing a crazy hat or talking about turning me into a garden topiary , I know you. And I know she has made a mistake doing this, but it is what she wanted. And I would never tell her what to do -or not to do".
" You claim to be her friend yet you would not even keep her from- '.
" I didn't know back then. I had doubts of course, but- she was struggling. It is a scary thought, that we might have darkness that could hurt our loved ones" Emma swallows. 'Or at the very least, cause us to lose them".
Apparently this version knows Emma as well, because it is not empathy in her eyes but it is definitely understanding. "the dark one".
" I nearly lost Henry and- I know you were afraid of the same thing".
" She is weak, if she had not hidden- ".
" It's Henry. He would have never been okay with anything 'evil "she makes sure to use air quotes, because Henry might have used the word a lot and so do fairy tale characters but she has seen too much to really believe in evil.
The queen shakes her head violently. "I am his mother, he would- ".
" Regina" it is the first time Emma calls her that and it effectively shuts her up. Or maybe it is Emma's tone, firm but also kind and understanding that does it." You are talking about the kid that ran to Boston when he found the book "
" I - " the que Regina's angry snarl falters and she just looks sad to Emma. " She was untruthful . If she had just been honest from the start, if she had raised him right, he would have loved me regardless of saviours and heroes".
"I think part of what makes Henry a great kid is his upbringing" Regina is stuck between annoyance and warmth. " But I also think he would have always felt some things too awful to accept or forgive".
" Good is made, not born " her eyes are hard and Emma has not wanted to punch Regina in years, but she kind of wants now. It is only the fact that she feels this part of Regina is only as desperate for Henry's love as Regina had been during that first year that stops her.
" Maybe. But I have seen enough shitty kids with pretty good parents and nice kids from a really horrible upbringing. And Henry- I don't think it would have worked. And besides, would you really have wanted him to grow up like that?".
There is a split second of hesitation, then- " He would have been fine. He would have been protected , at the very least".
Emma wants to continue to protest. She wants to navigate this minefield- and hopefully better than she did that first year. She thinks she might be able to, now that she has fought alongside Regina and talked to her and even earned her trust. Now that they are friends, she might be able to help and not add fuel to an already explosive situation.
But instead, there is searing pain. She opens her mouth and for a moment, she thinks it is the queen. But there is no outstretched hand, there is no visible sign like – she doesn't know, burning oil raining from the sky? – there is just her double over and gagging over and over again. There is her vision narrowing and blurring and the queen shrinking and-
By the time she can breathe a little again, she feels ready to scream and cry : she is a swan again.
She looks at the queen with anger and betrayal, but she merely shrugs and reaches for Emma. Emma attacks that hand, furious, but the queen hardly reacts at all. She just grabs Emma uncomfortably tight, lifts her and immediately takes them away.
They materialize in front of a Regina that looks as dishevelled as Emma has ever seen her. Her hair looks like she has run her hands through it several times, and possibly yanked at it. Her normally perfect make-up is slightly smudged. The look in her eyes is that of an animal in captivity. She is pacing, her fists clenching and unclenching as she reaches for the door and raises her foot-
Only to lower it down again.
' The two hours have not passed , dear'. It is the queen's amusement that makes Emma flap suddenly, wild enough that the queen mutters something and Emma is freed. She lands on the floor and staggers towards Regina. Whose eyes immediately zero in on the collar around Emma's neck.
" I told you-".
" She is not a possession, yes yes it was all very nauseating" she waves her hand. A telephone number appears on the collar. " Now, listen carefully" Regina surges forward , only to stop inches away from the hand that is suddenly holding a softly glowing heart.
Emma starts to sneak towards the queen, judging the height between her and that heart when the queen chuckles and shakes her head. " Unless you want me to order her to do something like slip poison in Snow's drink… I would really advise you to stay there". Emma stays.
The queen brings the heart close to her lips again. " You are not to offer any insights on who this pet is – only lies or omissions. You will keep her family from her for the coming two days. If they have not discovered who she is by then, make sure that someone is with her when the clock strikes midnight. And that you yourself are absent".
She slowly lowers the heart. Regina's hand trembles and twitches slightly, but she does not manage to grab for it. " Enjoy your last few days having a family " the queen taunts, then disappears.
Regina's knee buckle and she nearly hits the ground really hard. She barely catches herself. Emma runs towards Regina, pressing against her hand. It will be okay. They know better than that, Regina. They know you better.
And no matter what she tries, they won't give up on you. We won't give up on you.