The worst part was how gentle he was.
He never spoke a word. Regina heard his footsteps and braced for impact, but he didn't hurt her. He put his hands lightly on her shoulders, drew them down her arms, tried to comfort her wordlessly.
He held her, and Regina was ashamed to admit that she sagged into the embrace. Maybe this stranger would free her. And when he didn't, she told herself that maybe he couldn't, maybe the room was being watched. Maybe he just wanted to offer her a moment of relief.
But if that was the case, wouldn't he have taken off the blindfold?
Despite the large, gentle hands and the soft kisses to the places on her face that weren't covered by the blindfold and the gag, he wasn't there to offer anything to her. Just like everyone else, he was there to take.
Regina cried while he raped her, the blindfold growing uncomfortably damp. And not because of the pain, although it did hurt. She was terribly sore from Whale's earlier visits, not to mention the way her visitor's weight pressed down on her injured ribs. Not because he had let her down, either.
She cried because no man had ever handled her body like that before. Leopold certainly hadn't been gentle, and with Graham and everyone before him Regina had been the one to establish a punishing pace. This was the kind of sex she'd vaguely imagined having with Daniel.
The ropes digging into her skin, the cold, hard floor below her, were enough to keep her constantly in the present, to keep her from imagining that this was an act of love. That this was something she wanted. She was furious and heartbroken that someone was taking something potentially beautiful and destroying it so completely.
Regina cried the whole time, and if the man noticed he didn't react. He still kept silent, not giving her any chance of identifying him. When he finished, he pulled the gag down just enough to kiss her.
And then someone else was coming in and Regina forced herself to stop crying. She wasn't about to let any of her other tormentors see her weak.
Regina had forgotten about the abandoned games with Henry. She'd almost forgotten that Henry was in the house at all. Her focus was on Emma, who was sleeping fitfully beside her, and on the sorts of thoughts that came over her when things were too quiet.
She was jolted from her troubled memories by the realization that someone unwelcome was outside the door, trying to get in. In that moment, she thought of Henry, even though he was probably the least likely person in the house to be hurt. But she didn't want any of her enemies getting close to her son. She moved out of bed so fast that she upset Emma, who woke to see a panicked Regina running from the room.
The brunette found Henry at the door, and the door open. Snow and Charming were on the porch.
"What is she doing here?" Emma asked as she came up behind Regina.
Henry shrugged. "You guys are all weird today. I called for help."
Regina just looked at him, feeling guilty for leaving him alone downstairs. Emma moved, gently tugging Henry away from the door before coming to stand in front of it. "You're not welcome here."
"But they're the good guys," Henry protested.
"There are no good guys." Emma had never looked so angry with her son before. Everyone seemed to shrink back a little. "Mary Margaret found your mom while people were hurting her, Henry. And she left her there. She didn't tell anyone, even though she knew I was looking."
Henry looked absolutely stunned. Regina took a few steps closer to him, giving his shoulder a squeeze. "I know it's hard to hear," she said softly.
"You're a good guy," Henry said, looking up at Emma. "You're the savior."
Emma shut the door without even looking at her parents again. "No," she said softly. "I'm not."
Henry opened his mouth to speak, but Regina silenced him with a shake of her head. The boy would be able to handle what his grandmother had done, but if he knew about Emma's recent actions he might never recover.
The blonde drifted back up the stairs, and Henry waited until she was gone before talking. "I know why you're upset," he told Regina, "but what's wrong with Emma?"
Regina bent down to his level, offering him a sad smile. "She's been taking care of me for almost two weeks now, Henry. She's really tired, and being the savior is hard work."
"Oh." Henry looked guilty, and Regina pulled him into an embrace.
"This is hard for everybody," she added. "But if the three of us stay together I think we're going to be just fine."
When Ruby called later that evening, Emma once again didn't answer. About half an hour later, Regina appeared in the doorway to her bedroom. The blonde was in bed in the dark but hadn't slept since her parents came over earlier. She wanted to be alert in case anyone else came to threaten her family, but she couldn't deal with Henry. She could hardly deal with herself right now.
But even when Regina abruptly turned on the light, Emma couldn't push her away.
"Ruby's here," the mayor told her, sitting on the edge of the bed and finding Emma's fingers with her own. "She says it's important."
"Is she here to arrest me?" Emma asked glumly.
"It's about me." At that, Emma sat up. "Something about those DNA samples," Regina clarified.
Emma trailed Regina downstairs, glancing into Henry's room on the way to see him reading a comic book on his bed. Ruby was in the kitchen sipping the coffee Regina had made her, the look on her face uncomfortable as the two came in.
"This is really weird news," Ruby said.
"Weird?" Emma asked.
"Well, the lab ran the samples through their national database accidentally even though I told them it was kind of pointless. And they found a near match for the third rapist."
"August?" Emma asked, even though she was pretty sure that couldn't be true. He'd been a puppet the last time the sheriff saw him, after all. But he was the only man in town who had ever been out of it, the only one who could possibly be in the system.
Ruby shook her head. "You."
Emma's eyes widened and she looked back and forth between the two brunettes. "That's not possible." Her gaze lighted on Regina. "You know I'd never hurt you."
"Of course," Regina reassured her, looking fairly stunned herself.
"It's a man's DNA, remember?" Ruby pointed out. "And it's a near match, not an exact match."
"What does that mean, exactly?" Emma asked. Regina, just about always a step ahead of her, went pale.
"The third rapist was a close male relative," Ruby said reluctantly.
It took Emma another moment to process, to remember that she had another male relative besides Henry. Without a word, she stormed out of the kitchen, grabbed her jacket, and hurried out the door.
Ruby moved to follow her, but Regina stalled her with a hand on her arm. "I need you to stay here," the mayor said, eyes on the door as if she could still see Emma there. She reluctantly turned back to face Ruby. "Help Henry pack up his favorite things and bring him to the town line. I'll meet you there."
Ruby shook her head. "Regina, you shouldn't be out alone. I'll go after her."
But Regina was already retrieving her car keys and purse from where they'd sat unused for weeks. "I have to do this," she said firmly before stepping out the door.