Continuing ever so with this story!
We left off at a crucial moment, Zelena was about to do some serious damage on Emma, yikes!
Let's see if our beloved hero gets out of it...
Enjoy!
Emma feels herself growing weaker and weaker when Zelena's other hand grips her shoulder tightly after snaking down from where it was nearly about to brush her cheek. It's a burning pain that makes her eyes sting and her body tense. Because of this, Emma doesn't see Regina pick herself up from the floor beside her desk, and do the only thing she knows that might help Emma; she presses the button to fog her windows up. "Use your powers Emma!"
Mustering up her reserve strength, Emma swiftly punches Zelena in the gut, avoiding direct skin contact while also sending the green-skinned woman stumbling back, and thereby letting Emma go. Her fatigue and the pain are slowly dissipating, enough that Emma sees that the windows are now opaque and the only people watching her are the Mills women. She balls up her fists and stalks forward to deliver another punch to Zelena, hopefully to effectively render her unconscious. But then the room descends into chaos.
Just as DEO agents burst in through the open balcony doors, all geared up, pointing their weapons and yelling for Zelena to put her hands up, green smoke fills the room; when it clears, Zelena's flying out the window and off into the city, already two blocks away before anyone blinks. The DEO agents run to the balcony, calling for backup on their radios while Emma's fully ready to fly off after Zelena, but a quick hand makes her pause. Regina has come to stand beside her, and she looks worriedly at her as she says, "Don't. Please don't go after her."
Emma wordlessly points to Zelena and fumbles around as she tries to come up with what to say. Between the fatigue from Zelena's attack, and Regina's pleading look, it takes her a second to say, "But if I don't, she'll try to hurt you again."
"I know, but she's made of Kryptonite, which I will remind you, is your greatest weakness. I won't have you foolishly tearing off to try and chase after her without any consideration for your health or even a plan. I need you here with me, not being a hero."
"But I am a hero," Emma counters.
Regina groans. "For once I'd wish you weren't so bullheaded. I know that Emma, but right now isn't the time to be a hero."
Just then, Cora sweeps in from where she had been talking to the DEO agents. "Does someone here finally want to explain what the hell is going on? Those gentlemen are extremely unhelpful, yammering about on their radios, and your assistant-"
The doors to Regina's office burst open and more DEO agents barge in, Ruby in front, and Cora just makes a noise of dissatisfaction. Clearly she's not used to having to wait for her answers. Ruby asks, "Emma! What happened?"
"I'd like to know that too!" Cora sniffed.
Ruby does a double-take and blinks at Cora. "Who the hell are you?"
Regina bites her lip from bursting out laughing. Cora's looking so discombobulated at having someone not recognize her, nor be immediately terrified of her, that even Emma's finding satisfaction at this.
"I am the most important person you'll ever come across in your life. Now I demand to know why my very dead daughter is now green and attacking me and my other daughter." Cora certainly didn't miss a beat, and Emma figures now would be a good time to clear her throat and intervene because things are beginning to tense.
"I think we need to compare notes," she tells Ruby, gesturing to the troops of DEO agents who are waiting for their next orders.
Ruby agrees and sends the DEO agents off to marshal the MillsCo employees who are hovering, so they can get them downstairs and to their homes. They've been having quite the eventful days lately, and Regina sees it best to give her employees the rest of the day off.
Meanwhile, Regina leads the group - plus Marian who wordlessly joins in - to an unused conference room. Regina sits at the head of the table and everyone takes a seat to either side, Emma nearest to her. She wants to be close to Regina, it just feels right. Marian sits to Regina's other side, effectively cutting Cora off from sitting beside her daughter. Ruby sits beside Emma, and Cora huffs and goes to sit across from Regina at the other head of the table, clearly needing to feel important.
The meeting begins when Director Fa enters the room and sits beside Marian. She merely glances at Cora for one second, and then turns to Emma. "What the hell happened?"
And so Emma explains. Zelena's appearance, her attack on Emma, Regina's intervention and Zelena's escape. Cora tries to interject, but one cool look from Director Fa silences her, much to Regina's relief.
"I see," Director Fa says after a few quiet seconds of thought. "This woman is clearly hell-bent on revenge and will stop at nothing to get it."
Regina clears her throat. "Actually, I don't think she's acting of her own volition. My sister was working for Gold at the time of the explosion, and Zelena's insistent on getting me to stop my investigation into the laboratories. For all the sisterly hate in the world, this seems a bit extreme, even for Zelena. I think she's heeding Gold's agenda. He's the only one that gains by shutting down my investigation."
Director Fa hums. "The only way to know for sure is to get a confession. How would we do that? I'm sure he's not going to be interested in just telling us what he's done."
"Actually," Cora starts. "There is one way. We give him what he wants."
Regina thankfully agrees to go home earlier after the chaotic day, and Emma decides to accompany her. They are taking the car, on their way to pick Henry up. The ride thus far is tense, and Emma is desperate to find something to talk about. The partition is up, and Emma breaks the silence asking, "Do you think it'll work?"
She hears a sigh and looks to Regina, who's biting her lip. "I don't know. But at the same time, it's not like we have any other options. Even though my mother can be a grade A bitch, she knows how to emotionally manipulate and get results. This has both, so I think this has a chance of working. I just hope Henry will be able to understand this plan..."
Emma edges closer to Regina. They hadn't really discussed their relationship thus far, so Emma isn't too sure if her advances are welcomed, so she moves slowly, and when she finds no resistance, she wraps an arm around Regina's shoulders and pulls her closer. "Hey, I'm sure he'll understand. It's got intrigue and all that cloak-and-dagger stuff that any kid his age will enjoy."
Regina cracks a smile and leans into the hug. "That's true, maybe the complicated thing to explain will be my new girlfriend."
With a scoff, Emma asks, "What's there to explain? You're dating Supergirl."
"And right now, you're Emma Swan," Regina says, reaching out to take Emma's glasses from her face. "As adorable as you look with these glasses, I don't want to confuse Henry by saying I'm dating Supergirl but he sees Emma Swan. I also don't want to put you in the position of having to be just one half of yourself in order to preserve your identity while you're in our home. Having had to experience first hand how disconcerting it is to just see half of you, I don't want to burden Henry with it, but at the same time this isn't my secret to tell."
Emma smiles and kisses Regina's forehead. "Tell him everything. I want him to be okay with me...though I think my being Supergirl will score a lot of points for me."
Regina lets out a hearty laugh at that. "I have no doubt about that."
And indeed when they begin explaining everything to Henry, he is ecstatic at the news. "No way! I always thought you were mom's dorky assistant."
"Henry!" Regina chides.
Emma just laughs and takes it in stride. "No worries, I guess the glasses do make me look dorky."
Regina adds, "In a good way."
Henry rolls his eyes. "Are you two always going to be this sappy?"
With a nod, Emma says, "Yep; sorry kid, you're in for the long haul."
He groans but he's still beaming at the new development. Then he gets excited again. "Can you teach me to fly?!"
"Well, your physiology doesn't exactly allow for that...but I can take you for a short flight around!" At seeing Regina's expression, Emma quickly amended, "If your mom allows it of course."
"Please mom?" Henry turns his big and beady eyes towards his mom in the hopes she'll agree.
"Maybe one day," is all she says. "Now come on, we have to prepare dinner."
Dinner is full of conversation, with Henry asking questions about Emma and the latter indulging him with stories of her superhero adventures. He's fascinated, understandably so, and Regina feels guilty to have to break this bubble of happiness by telling him about the plan that will go into effect tomorrow...things could go wrong and she hates having to subject him to this, but it's the only way to stop this madness once and for all. For now, however, she needn't worry, she can just enjoy dinner and focus on how happy she is in this little bubble.
"Are you ready?" Emma asks as they silently ride the elevator the next day.
Regina's eyes coolly glare her way. "My answer hasn't changed in the past two minutes, Ms. Swan."
"Right," Emma breathes, and goes back to staring at the doors in front of her, bouncing on the balls of her feet.
The elevator dings, and Emma can barely think 'show time' before she's following her boss out and acting like everything is normal. The normal humdrum of the office greets her and helps her mind focus. Everything is just fine, she repeats to herself.
"Ms. Swan, you needn't follow me into the office," Regina's voice quickly pulls Emma from her thoughts, and Emma sheepishly smiles before going to sit at her desk.
All through the morning, Emma is waiting for the other shoe to fall. For Zelena to enact today's attempt on Regina's life.
It's around noon when it happens. The floor is mostly empty due to the lunch hour, the handful of people still there are working on page layout on the other side of the floor. Emma is still working diligently as well by her desk, and every so often she's glancing at Regina's office.
It's all so sudden.
Emma catches a sharp whistle first. Something flying through the air outside. Glass shattering into a million pieces. And then:
BOOOM!
Emma's thrown back from her desk by a great force that rocks the entire floor. She lands near Regina's private elevator, groaning and feeling disoriented, seeing that her glasses are now cracked, and the frame feels a bit crooked. Her clothes aren't probably in a much better state, but she can't focus on that at the moment. The blow has made her forget what's going on for half a second, but then she scrambles up as she remembers. "Regina!"
She rushes back to her desk and Regina's office, finding a wall of green flames and a peculiar smell blocking her from the office. It's Kryptonite. She bellows, "Regina!"
"Emma!" It's not Regina's voice, but one of her coworkers, Lily. She whips around and finds Lily looking a bit worse for wear, wincing as she favours her right foot, splaying her hand against a desk as she looks at her. "Emma come on, we have to get out of here."
"But Regina-" Emma tries, still wanting to try and make her way to Regina's office, despite the dangers of the Kryptonite blocking her way. She has to try. She can't just leave. But strong hands hold her back.
"We can't do anything for her now Emma, come on."
With a last glance, Emma lets Lily lead her away, mostly because she has no strength to fight back, letting the brunette lean on her for support. She needs to focus on something else so she doesn't turn around. "Everyone else?"
Lily takes a few pained breaths before answering, "They're heading down the stairs. We're lucky the floor was mostly empty and the rest of us weren't close by. How you survived though is a miracle. Not a scratch on you! Don't tell me that those ridiculous cardigans of yours are actually made of Kevlar or something."
Emma feels bile rising in her stomach, and barely manages to say, "Or something."
They go down the stairs and exit the building without much more conversation, and the throngs of people that greet them when they get out are overwhelming. Heading their way are worried coworkers and firefighters. It's overwhelming Emma and she just needs to get away from it all.
"Is this everyone?" one firefighter asks.
Emma hears Lily respond, but Emma isn't paying attention. She's looking up, to Regina's office, where there is a billowing wall of green smoke wafting from the broken windows. She can't focus; it's as if she's not actually there and only in a movie, watching things happen passively. She hears the cacophony of heartbeats as if far away and muffled.
"Emma!" She turns, everything coming clearer once again as Marian makes her way to Emma. "Come on, what are you doing standing around like that?"
It's then that Emma realizes that Lily isn't there anymore, but her arms and hands are still in position as if she were still helping her coworker.
"Wait, are you in shock?" Marian asks, growing worried. "You do know-"
"Yeah," Emma cuts in, clearing her throat and straightening herself. "It's just hard."
Marian nods, understanding, and pulls Emma in for a hug. Emma accepts the hug, but she wishes she could be hugging someone else, and her friend picks up on it, breaking the hug as she steps back. "Let's get out of here."
Emma feels dazed and slow, she's not sure if it's from the Kryptonite or the shock, or a combination of both. Marian takes her hand and helps her through the throng of people.
It doesn't help that she hears people murmuring as she passes by them. "I wonder why Supergirl didn't show up."
"Maybe she was busy?"
A scoff. "Did you hear who's still in the building? Regina Mills. She probably found out Supergirl's ID and our beloved hero offed her to keep her secret."
It's like a disjointed and sick conversation being played out, and Emma wants to stop and confront the crowd. But she can't. She just can't. It continues.
"Supergirl is a sham really. Saves who she wants. I once heard she let someone die."
"I think that was while she was under some bogus mind control..."
"Still doesn't excuse murder."
"But Regina Mills isn't someone you can just murder like that. There will be an investigation."
"Investigation? It's an explosion and Supergirl is the prime suspect. Like hell anyone will have the stones to try and arrest her."
"No matter what, it's happened. I guess this proves that Mills isn't a cockroach after all."
"Totally. Does this mean we don't have to work tomorrow?"
"Ha! I'm not coming to work anyway. Drinks tonight are on me. We can sing: Ding Dong the Witch is Dead!"
A sudden jostling of her shoulder has Emma refocusing on Marian. "Stay with me Emma. Now get in the car."
Emma does, and she's soon joined by Marian, who speedily drives away.
It's all so overwhelming, so incredibly confusing, and it's all so realistic, she feels her head spinning.
And then, blackness.
"Emma? Please Emma, wake up, I'm right here, I'm safe. I'm not hurt, remember?" It's Regina's voice. But no-
Yes, wasn't that the plan? Wait, what was the plan anyway? Did it work?
Questions are running through Emma's mind, and it can all be answered if she just opens her eyes, but she's afraid at first. That the reality she lived through is all real. But she's Supergirl, she's stronger than that.
Her eyes shoot open and she blinks at the bright light. Then her eyes focus and she sees Regina smiling at her, sitting beside her on the bed. They're in the DEO's med bay, and she slowly comes to her senses.
Regina's rambling meanwhile. "Oh thank goodness you are okay. Marian was so frantic on the way over when you blacked out that you had me frightened half to death...er, sorry. Too soon?"
"Maybe a bit. I'm just so glad to see you. You're okay," Emma rasps with a laugh, the last part almost sounding like a question even though she knows there's no reason for Regina to not be okay.
"Yes Emma, I am, remember, I was here the entire time. You were just with Director Fa disguised as me. Ruby sent us an update that Mulan is fine, she just has to pretend to be dead me for a little while longer until the coroner can verify 'I' am dead."
Emma nods. Right. That makes sense. "It just all felt so real. I guess after the explosion I started to feel like it was actually real, and I couldn't focus. Despite it not being part of the plan, I wanted to save you. Just jump in to the fire and the Kryptonite and rescue you. I can't imagine what would happen if I actually lost you."
"Well thankfully you don't have to think about it right now. Everything is going according to plan. The only thing that is subpar is the DEO's selection of coffee. When I agreed to this, I was expecting coffee to be up to Tiana's level. Do you suppose she'll deliver?"
It's easy to get back into the banter, sitting up slowly as she says, "To a black ops underground bunker that technically doesn't exist because it handles aliens? I don't think it's in her list of places, but I'll see if she's willing to do so, provided she waives her delivery fee in return for her silence."
Regina laughs and leans forward to plant a small kiss on Emma's lips. "While that sounds like a wonderful plan, I don't think anyone here will be okay with it. Speaking of which, is everyone here so stiff? And here I thought shareholder meetings at MillsCo were the bane of my existence, it's like a kid's party there compared to this."
Emma nods and smiles. "Pretty much yeah. Somehow Ruby has survived thus far with her personality mostly intact, but I'm still holding out for her to slowly part ways with it at this rate."
"I think that will come sooner than you expect," Regina ripostes, remembering her own recent experiences with Ruby.
"I'm so glad you're here," Emma says, and then asks, "Speaking of being here, how's Henry doing?"
Regina smiles fondly. "He's putting on a show of being sick, making me wonder how many time he's faked it. He's with Marian now in one of the suites the DEO's giving me. For such a dark place, they have pretty nice suites."
"Why's he feigning sick? He's already getting to miss school."
"I think he just wants to make sure I won't change my mind, and also take the opportunity to test his acting skills."
"Fair enough," Emma concedes.
"Now come on, let's go see him, I think he'll like that."
Half an hour after media outlets confirm Regina Mills' death, Supergirl arrives at Gold Laboratories, storming past every single security post and closed door.
Security personnel are yelling after her, pulling out their weapons until they realize who they're facing, and how useless their tazers and guns are.
The secretary in front of Gold's office valiantly tries to stop her from going any further, standing in front of the closed doorway as if she could physically barricade the way. "I'm sorry, Mr. Gold is busy right now-"
Emma ignores her and pushes past her, storming inside with a loud bang.
Gold looks up leisurely from his work, and blinks. The security officers have caught up with her and surround her, pointing their weapons at her nonetheless, but Emma isn't paying attention to them. She's looking at Gold and only him. Conveying the absolute hatred she feels for the man for trying to hurt Regina.
"It's quite alright folks, Supergirl can have her extremely unorthodox unscheduled appointment," Gold says after a moment waving his hand.
The officers holster their weapons and leave quietly, shutting the door behind them.
"You're not worried I might kill you?" Emma asks.
Gold smirks. "Not at all. For one, I know you are a hero, symbolically speaking, and heroes don't kill. Secondly, I believe you and Zelena have met, right?"
He gestures to her right, where Zelena is sitting in an en suite room, lounging on a couch drinking hell-knows-what. She cheers Emma with her glass, and winks.
"We have. So I suppose if a hero status is measured on who you've murdered, I guess that makes you a villain." She glances at Zelena. "Doubly so, at the very least."
"Me? Murdered anyone? I have no idea what you could be trying to insinuate," Gold temples his fingers together, poker face intact.
Emma narrows her eyes. "Don't play dumb with me. You orchestrated all of this, that's why you have Zelena here, because you knew I would come."
"I have Zelena here because she is my head of security, and because she's an valued employee of Gold Laboratories."
"Who is supposed to be dead," Emma counters.
Zelena pipes up, "And being dead feels fabulous!"
Gold shrugs. "Semantics. If the world wants to think she's dead, that's their problem. Why it interests you is another matter."
"I'm not interested in her. I'm interested in Regina Mills."
Zelena stands up and walks to stand at the doorway between the two rooms. Emma tenses and keeps Zelena in her sights, wary of what she might do. "And what has my beloved sister done now? Put you up as her main enforcer to get the answers out of Gold?"
Emma grinds her teeth. "Don't act dumb too. It doesn't suit you."
For a moment, Emma can see genuine confusion in Zelena's face. "Dumb? I'm afraid I don't understand."
"Zelena," Gold cuts in. "How about you leave Ms. Swan and I to talk?"
At first, it looks like Zelena will say no. But after a moment, she agrees and leaves them alone, closing the door behind her as she heads to the waiting room with Gold's secretary, muttering under her breath.
"So I'm going to guess Zelena doesn't know she succeeded in killing her sister?" Emma asks, taking a few steps forward. She ignores the fact that he knows who she is, Zelena must have told him everything, so it's moot point to try and deny it.
Gold doesn't bother to give her an answer, only downturns the corners of his lips and shrugs his shoulders.
"She will find out about it soon enough," Emma adds. "And Zelena doesn't strike me as the level-headed type."
"What is your angle Ms. Swan?" Gold asks.
Emma splays her hands on the desk and leans forward, her eyes steely as she looks at Gold. "I know you killed Regina, using Zelena to do it."
Gold sighs and stands up, grabbing the cane leaning against his desk and walking to face the windows behind him. "While I'm sure your little act might fool many, I am not the least inclined to quiver in my shoes at your accusation. I had nothing to do with Regina's death. I am deeply saddened for the loss of a great CEO and feminist icon, but my hands are absolutely clean of the matter. As you can tell, Zelena seems just as surprised at your insinuations, and she doesn't nearly have as good of a poker face as her sister has...or rather did."
His smirk as he turns around to face her again is making Emma's blood boil, and her fingers are making indentations and splintering the wood. "Don't feed me that PR bullshit, you are the only one who has motive, and Zelena practically admitted to attacking her for the past few days."
"Attacking? Oh my, I will have a talk with her. I doubt she would do such a thing."
"Who else has the resources necessary like the Kryptonite found in the attacks?" Emma is not going to let him slip his way out. She has to come out of there with something.
"Plenty of people. I have an entire department dedicated to it. It's a little bit smaller after my own unfortunate explosion, and if I'm not mistaken, your little friends from that secret department...Area 51 was it? Well, whatever they're called, aren't they holding one of my ex-employees there? What was his name? Winston? Walter?"
"Walsh," Emma ground out. She recalls that Walsh had mentioned something about trying to find a side job a year ago to help pay his rent, she just hadn't figured it'd be this. No wonder he got mixed up.
"Yes. A fine gentleman, if not for his involvement. I'd try asking him, rather than barging in here and making my employees scramble to try and deal with your unruliness because you're grieving. I can assure you, Ms. Swan, this time was a courtesy because you are a friend of the people, but next time I will go after you with the full might of the law." When Emma didn't move, he shooed her away with his hand. "That's your cue to leave dearie."
And Emma did, making sure to step a little bit harder and crack the tiles on the floor, and slamming the doors closed behind her enough to crack them.
Once she returns to the DEO, everyone looks serious and contemplative. They had heard the entire conversation, as she was wearing a next gen recording device that's meant to capture Gold's gloating of having orchestrated this scheme.
Director Fa, now recuperated and looking her healthy self, greets her with, "It was a valiant effort, you did get some valuable intel."
Cora scoffs. She's only there still because the main idea is hers - though this venture is clearly not hers as she's not afraid to berate them for the waste of time. "Valiant? I call it pathetic. She barely grilled him for anything! Gold walked all over her."
"That was the point," Ruby counters. "To get Gold to believe he's won. That Emma can only do so much without triggering some sort of legal or military repercussion."
"I still maintain we should've just done my idea entirely from the get go. This helps us with nothing," Cora adds, not caring much for Ruby's answer.
Marian steps in, a bit more diplomatically, and says, "I know what you're saying Cora, but this does help. This will get Gold to lower his defenses, and at the party, he'll admit everything. It's less work for Henry too."
Regina finally speaks up, saying, "I still don't understand why we have to use my child in this ploy. I can understand everything else: faking my death, sending Emma into the office of the man who has engineered a woman that can kill her, and trying to get Gold to confess. But Henry? I do not agree to it."
"But he loves the idea!" Cora says, grinning that fake smile that Emma's seen one too many times; too much teeth, not enough realism.
"He's not aware of the danger," Emma adds. "And it is dangerous. He's ten, any espionage idea is going to seem like something right out of a comic book."
"Exactly." Regina flashes Emma a grateful smile for sticking to her side on this debate.
"I can turn into Henry and play his part as well," Mulan suggests.
Cora doesn't agree. "No, this has to be with him. You might have fooled everyone at MillsCo, but this is Gold. We only get one chance, and only Henry can do this. Anyone else will trigger silent alarms inside his head, and we won't be able to get to him again. So Regina, will you finally admit that he's the only one for the job?"
And so Regina gives in, but not before uttering, "You are using my son for bait, and I won't be anywhere near to protect him. If Gold hurts a single hair on his head, mother, I can promise you I will hold you entirely responsible, and I can assure you that I will become your worst nightmare. So you better make sure he's fine."
She storms out of the room after that, too incensed to stay there. She knows her mother. It's all trickery and deceit with her. Everyone's just pieces on the board for Cora, to be sacrificed and discarded as she sees fit. If this hadn't been the only plausible idea to stop Gold, she would've never agreed to it. And she only agreed to the faking her death part. The rest of it was not in her purview.
Regina hears footsteps and when she turns, sees Emma approaching her. "I wasn't sure if you wanted to be alone, but I'm here if you want to talk."
The brunette appreciates the gesture, and walks closer to be engulfed by Emma's arms. "I hate my mother."
"You're not the only one...she's a piece of work. But Mulan and I managed to get a caveat in."
"And what's that?" Regina asks, wondering what could possibly help assuage the guilt and fear of Henry being used like this.
"We'll use Mulan's Martian powers of invisibility and hide ourselves in the room with Henry. If anything should go wrong, we can jump in," Emma explains, her hands caressing Regina's back in slow comforting circles.
Now that, Regina can get behind. It's still dangerous for Henry, but her little boy was growing up, and he wants to help her. She could only hope it will all go off without a hitch.
Woo okay! That was that!
I wasn't going to make everyone suffer to find out whether or not Regina had or hadn't survived, so this is where I leave off! Next chapter we'll see if Cora's gamble pays off.
And yes, Mulan is a Martian here, very useful for faking deaths haha.
Anyway! Since I'm sure no one wants to be waiting for more, and there is only one chapter left, I'm just going to get right to working on the final chapter, and hopefully have it posted within the next few days!
Let me know what you thought!