A.N Just wanted to say a quick thanks to all of you who reviewed! It really is you guys that keep me going. Very happy you enjoyed the first chapter and hope the story continues to capture your imagination.

Charlie.

Chapter 2

Regina felt the soft lips moving against her own and goose bumps formed all over her skin. For the briefest of moments she enjoyed the sensations the kiss was creating. The havoc in her belly, the tingles throughout her body, the warmth in her heart and then alarm bells were ringing. She got her arms up and pushed Emma away from her. "Ms. Swan, just what the hell do you think you are doing?"

Emma stumbled back, a confused frown creasing her brow. "I thought I covered that. You, me… No Henry." She paused. "Are you still pissed at me? I said I was sorry. I know I was a little late last night but I was chatting to Rubes and lost track of time." She shrugged sheepishly, "I didn't mean to leave you here alone with David and Mary Margaret for that long. I know you're trying and I appreciate it… I do. I really shouldn't have been late and I'm sorry."

Regina looked at the blonde like she had gone insane, last night she had been… She… Why did her mind flash pictures of a dense forest? What had she been doing last night? She shook off the strange images and concentrated on the woman in front of her. "What are you talking about? Why the hell would your parents be here in my house?"

Emma stared at the brunette. It was Regina but something was off. The spark of happiness was missing from her eyes and it wasn't just that. There was something else but she couldn't quite put her finger on it. She still felt the familiar tug in her heart when she looked at her but it was almost like this was the Regina she had first met. The blonde grew wary, who was the woman in front of her and where was her Regina? She stepped back, her hand going to her gun. "Who are you?"

Regina let out an exasperated sigh, "Really, Ms. Swan. I think I'm the one who should be asking the questions. You are in my home after all."

"Our home."

"What?!"

"If you really were my Regina you would know that this is our home now." Emma drew her gun and aimed it carefully with one hand at the imposter. "Who sent you? Where are you from? What do you want?" She slipped the safety off, "And where the hell is my wife?"

Regina stared down the barrel of the gun, her eyebrow raised and a glare in her eye. "No one sent me. Have you finally gone insane? This is my house. Now I suggest you get out." She conjured a fire ball. 'Before something hap-" She cut off mid-word as Emma's last words sunk in, "Did you say wife?"

Emma eyed the fireball and subtly moved her unarmed hand, conjuring a barrier between her and the other woman. "Yes, wife. What have you done with her? I swear to God if she's hurt in any way…" The gun shook briefly as fear flashed through her so she took a deep breath and brought her other hand up to steady the weapon.

Regina felt the barrier pop into place and her eyes widened. When had Emma become proficient at magic? "You can conjure a barrier?" This was too much, first she was supposed to have married the blonde and now Emma could actually control her magic? This wasn't right. This had to be a cruel joke or some sort of curse. Someone had found out about her affection for Emma and was using it to toy with her.

"Surprised, huh?" Emma raised her eyebrow and smirked, "It was one of the first things you… I mean Regina taught me."

"Don't be ridiculous, I haven't taught you anything. We only discussed it yesterday…" Regina glanced around as things dropped into place and the flashes of forest made sense, last night she had been in another realm. She doused the fireball as panic began to bubble in her. "Why are we here? When did we get back from Neverland? Is Henry ok? Did we save him?" Her eyes grew frantic and she stepped forward to grab hold of the blonde but was stopped by the barrier. "Tell me, Emma! Is Henry alive?"

Emma's frown deepened and she reached up to run a frustrated hand through her hair. She stared at Regina for a few seconds, trying to make a decision. She could sense no deception in the woman standing in front of her but something definitely wasn't right. Finally she clicked the safety back on then lowered her gun, holstering it but left the barrier in place. She eyed the older woman wondering how she was going to take her next words. "Regina, we got back from Neverland almost a year ago. It's where we…" She shook her head, was this really happening? "Henry is fine. We saved him together. He's at school and will be home later."

"A year?!" Regina felt the colour drain from her face. "It's where we what?" What the hell was going on? Henry was safe and that knowledge relieved her fear for her son but she didn't understand what was going on. They had apparently rescued him so why couldn't she remember what had happened? How could she have lost a year?

Emma saw Regina go pale and concern for the other woman filled her. She fought against the instinct to drop the barrier and take the brunette in her arms. "What's the last thing you remember?"

Regina swallowed, her mouth suddenly dry. She concentrated, trying to recall her last memory. "You and I were alone and we were discussing Operation Henry."

Emma chewed on her bottom lip, she remembered that conversation well. "And nothing after that?"

Regina shook her head, "Nothing until I was in the kitchen a few minutes ago. I swear that yesterday we were in Neverland with your parents and…" She felt unexpected anger and jealousy rise in her and wasn't sure what caused it. It was yet another thing just out of her grasp. She spat the last name out, it felt bitter on her tongue. "Hook."

Emma waved her hand again and let the barrier fall. She heard the change in the brunette's voice when she had mentioned that name and knew why. Even if Regina didn't seem to remember anything after Operation Henry, some part of her obviously did. It was Hook who had almost come between them. The blonde quickly shifted the conversation away from the man, he had always been a sore spot. "Well then, I guess I know why you don't remember…" She shook her head, a sadness settling over her. "You've lost a year, Regina. You've lost…"

Emma sighed and stepped close to the other woman and reached out for her left hand. She lifted it between them and her fingers brushed across the band on the brunette's ring finger. "You've lost us."

Regina looked down in confusion and noticed the ring for the first time. "There really is an us?" She saw the ring and a part of her wanted to believe the blonde, her honest belief in what she was saying was obvious but something made the brunette hesitate, something was telling her this was wrong. There was no them. She knew deep in her heart she wished there was, that she did feel something for Emma but she was sure, in that missing year, she was very much alone.

Regina withdrew her hand and wrapped her arms around herself. She looked into Emma's eyes and saw a myriad of emotions, the strongest of which was love and it made her heart ache. She wanted to believe what she was seeing, she even wanted to believe the ring on her finger. She had always wanted Emma to be hers, had from the moment she had met the blonde. She remembered that aching desire, she remembered the number of missed opportunities but something in the back of her mind told her that Emma had never been truly hers despite evidence to the contrary. "I'm sorry. I just… I don't remember."

Emma saw the doubt clouding the brown eyes she loved, "There is an us." She reached up to caress Regina's cheek, filling her voice with as much confidence as she could. "We'll figure this out. You will remember and until then, I can show you what you missed out on." She leaned forward and brushed her lips across the brunettes.

Regina's mind puzzled over the last few words the blonde had said. What she had missed out on? Surely she meant what she had forgotten, it was a strange choice of words. If what Emma said was true, then she had missed nothing. Then the blonde was kissing her and Regina's heart stuttered at the contact and took off at a sprint, goose bumps racing across her skin. She forgot what she had been thinking about, all that was on her mind was the blonde. She wanted this, she wanted Emma. She had always wanted Emma. It was the only thing she was sure of right at that moment so she pushed the questions and doubt down, choosing to let herself believe instead, at least for the moment. When Emma deepened the kiss, she didn't push her away. She slipped her arms up around the blonde's neck and allowed her hand to slide into the silky hair at the base of the blonde's neck, pulling her closer. No matter her doubts and uncertainty, everything in her told her this felt so very right.

Emma turned to yell out the window and was startled that David was still standing there. "She's alive but her pulse is weak and she's freezing. I need a torch, a bottle of water, the first aid kit from the car and blankets."

"Got it." David ran off and she turned back to Regina.

"You hold on, Regina. You hear me? Don't you dare go and die on me. I've got things I need to say to you and I'm gonna be really pissed if I don't get to." She moved in her seat until she was sideways, slipping one leg up under her to balance. She leaned over, using the driver's seat to brace herself and ran her free hand down the arm trapped against the door. She felt a bump under the skin along with swelling and when she pulled the hand back it was covered in blood. Her heart tripped, the crimson on her palm making this all too real. No, no, no. She sucked in a breath and swallowed, fighting back the panic. Now was not the time to fall apart. Regina needed her.

She shifted again and tried to reach down past the steering wheel to check the brunette's legs but could only get as far as her knees before she was blocked by the crushed dash. She ran her hands over the rest of the brunette, trying to feel for any more damage. She felt a sting in her hand as glass from the broken driver's window pierced her but ignored the pain, pausing only briefly to yank the glass out. Her hand swept back up to Regina's neck, her fingers settling over the pulse point there, each beat a reassurance the brunette hadn't left her yet.

"Here." David held out a bottle of water and a torch. She turned to grab them, putting them on the chair next to her to take the med kit as he passed it through the window. "I've sent someone to get some blankets. Shouldn't be too long."

"Ok, thanks." She turned back to Regina.

"Em, I'm really not happy about you being in here."

Emma tensed, but kept her back to her father. "And you think I am? I'd rather be anywhere else, that this was not happening but it is and this is where I'm needed. This is where I have to be. I'm not going to leave Regina to die."

"What about Henry? If this ignites-"

Emma twisted back in the seat and sent her father a furious glare, "You think I'm not thinking about Henry? You think I want him to lose both his mothers? I don't. I don't want him to lose either of us." She shook her head in disbelief. "You really think he would want me to just stand back and let his mother die just to save my own skin?"

"No, I'm sure-"

Emma cut him off, she didn't want to hear what he had to say. "He would want me right here because he would understand. If there is a chance to save her, he would want me to take it and if the worst happens, he would know I died doing everything I could to bring his mother back to him." She snarled, "Regina is family and there is nothing I wouldn't do for my family so don't you dare try to use Henry against me. If it was Snow in here, would you really just stand back?"

David frowned, "That's different. Your mother and I…"

Emma stared into his eyes and didn't bother to mask the emotions in her own. She shook her head, "It's not. Regina… I…" A tear slipped down her cheek and she reached up to swipe it away, leaving a trace of crimson across her nose and cheek. "It's not different."

"You love her." It wasn't a question, Charming had seen fear and anguish shining in his daughter's eyes, but behind that, burning brightly, was love. How had he missed seeing that before now? When had it happened? He'd thought the two women were barely on speaking terms. He just didn't know how to feel about it, conflicting emotions battling inside him. He needed to process this new knowledge but now was not the time, Emma needed him to understand and so he tried. "What else can I do?"

Emma felt relief go through her that David wasn't going to continue to fight her on this. That he had understood and if not understood then accepted it, at least for the moment. "Get the blankets and find out where the hell the fire brigade is. We need to get her out of here now and she's pinned, we're gonna need the jaws of life." The blonde tried to catalogue the injuries without breaking but it was difficult. "Her legs are wedged under the dash and the steering wheel is up tight against her abdomen. Her left arm's broken and bleeding from somewhere. She has a major cut on her head, I'd say it split open when she hit the steering wheel. God only knows what's going on inside her." She blinked away more tears that were threatening to fall, her voice falling to a whisper. "Dad, I can't lose her."

David reached in and put a tender hand to her cheek, she leaned into the warmth allowing herself to drawn comfort for a moment. "I'll see what I can do about those blankets and chase Grumpy up." He withdrew his hand and stepped away when every instinct was screaming at him to drag his daughter out of there and away from danger. He turned around and jogged away to do as she asked before he could change his mind.

Once he was gone Emma turned her attention back to Regina. She opened the med kit and pulled out some gauze and tape. She switched on the flashlight and taped it to the dash so the light was shining on the brunette's face. In the harsh glare her pallor was even more washed out, the red shining brightly in contrast.

Emma cracked the bottle of water open and poured some on one piece of the material and started to clean the wound on Regina's forehead. It still bled but she did the best she could then placed the clean bandage over the wound and taped it down. She knew cleaning the wound wasn't enough, that it was the least of the damage but it was all she could do.

Emma grabbed the flashlight and leaned as far over Regina as she could, trying to get a good angle to see her bleeding arm. She finally found the wound on her upper arm where the window had broken and sliced into her. She taped the torch back to the broken dash, aiming it over the brunette's left shoulder so that she could see but so that the light wasn't directly in Regina's eyes. Even if they were closed at the moment she didn't want to cause her any unnecessary discomfort. She grabbed a wad of gauze and gently placed it over the seeping wound and held on, trying to stem the flow.

Emma settled herself better, ignoring the gearstick digging into her hip so she could use the hand on the back of the chair. She reached out checked Regina's pulse again, feeling it beat slowly under her fingers. Too slow. Is it getting slower? "Please stay with me, Regina. I need you. I thought I had time and… Please, please just stay with me so I can show you what you missed out on." She watched as goosebumps broke out across the brunette and turned her head to yell over her shoulder, "Where are those fucking blankets?"

A.N I don't think that's a cliffhanger… I think I'm losing my touch. ;-)