Emma sat at her desk taking rather large bites of her double-decker turkey sandwich because she hadn't eaten since sometime yesterday and she only had fifteen minutes to eat her lunch whether she finished it or not.
Her desk was cluttered with responsibilities demanding her attention; from writing a statement to be issued in The Daily Mirror to going over applications for a new secretary.
Emma was in the middle of chewing her fourth, and probably second to last, bite of her sandwich when her phone began vibrating in her pocket. She'd faced intense reprimands from not only Regina but her mother and the council for not answering the on-duty senior officer's line.
"Swan," she answered, with a quick glance at the caller I.D. and noted that it was her deputy and father, David, as a piece of turkey flew out of her mouth. She tried to pick it up off a sheet of paper before it could stain it.
"There are quakes happening in the North and West Ends of the forest. Madam Yaga says there's some spell being performed there. She claims she feels someone's magic in the atmosphere from her shop." David's voice sounded faint, like he was holding the phone away from his face.
Her father paused for a moment before continuing, this time Emma could hear him clearly. "Regina and I are going to investigate the North. I've sent Officer Lynch to assist you in investigating the West End. Regina's sent you a potion to mask your scent from most shifters just in case the Being has found someone else to do his bidding."
"Okay, I'll be there soon." She announced as she began rewrapping her sandwich. She felt a pang of irritation simply because it felt she hadn't had a single moment to relax these days. She began readying her holster with the defensive instruments Regina had given her that would protect her against magic and her regular protective instruments.
"What's going on?" Ruby asked just as Emma left her office. The werewolf's retribution was to begin in the morning where she would spend three months in the asylum which served as Storybrooke's official prison. She was only pardoned for the night so that she could unclaim Regina.
"Just something happening in the forest," Emma told her as she locked her office door. "Someone said they heard wailing noises."
"Could it be what possessed my wolf?" Ruby asked as her hands tightly gripped the bars of her cell. Worry was etched on her face.
"Could be but Regina took some precautions." Emma promised. "Don't worry."
The brunette rolled her eyes. "You're an idiot, Emma Swan. I'm always going to worry about you."
Emma couldn't help but laugh. Her friend had her there. Officer Lynch honked from outside and Emma patted her pockets for her keys just to make sure she had them.
"Alright, David, now we have to make sure Regina is back at the asylum before before night falls. If her wolf transforms tonight, she'll need to be out of the forest. So whatever goes down, make sure you try to get her somewhere safe, alright?"
Emma heard David's affirmation in her ear. "Don't worry, we also have a wolf-ward with us if we don't make it to the asylum in time. I'll just lock her in my car."
"How are her symptoms?" Ruby asked out of curiosity and to stall her friend from leaving. She had a bad feeling about it and while Emma was still her friend, she was a prisoner and thus wasn't in a position to tell Emma maybe this was a bad idea.
"Well...as she put it, she's ascertained a disturbing appetite for raw meat. Then she asked Granny to make her an extremely medium rare burger."
Ruby smirked, trying to imagine the almighty Evil Queen drooling over a medium rare burger. She shouldn't have been so amused but she was and she tried her best to make the moment last before guilt overwhelmed her again. She would be feeling guilty and alone for the next three months, she deserved to feel something good right now.
Officer Lynch honked again impatiently.
"Okay, I gotta go." Emma said to both David on the phone and Ruby. "Remember David-"
"I know, I know. Get Regina somewhere safe." David said with slight amusement. "I'll see you later, Emma."
They ended the call and Emma took one final look at Ruby. The worry lines in her forehead hadn't disappeared but she didn't have time to promise her friend she'd be okay. She trusted Regina's potion and the weapons the brunette had made for her.
It seemed she was only person, after all this time, that truly trusted Regina.
"I'll be okay." Emma promised.
Ruby nodded but it was clear she didn't quite believe her friend.
Emma sighed and grabbed her coat on her way out.
"Do you hear something?" Regina asked before pausing. She pulled David's arm to stop him from trudging further so she could hear clearly.
"Hear what?" He tilted his head as he attempted to listen. "I don't hear anything."
"Exactly," Regina noted. "Not even birds warning each other of our arrival. Which leads me to believe they've vacated the area. Someone else is here."
"Or something," David sighed as he pulled his phone from his front pocket. "I have to get you back. If the birds are completely gone from this area that means whatever's here scared them away and it had to be something pretty intimidating. Snow says the birds here are easily terrified but not of humans if they're in the trees."
Regina was disappointed to hear she wouldn't be able to stay and help investigate but she understood why. This was her life now and she only had two more nights of the new moon. "Who are you calling?"
"Snow and then Officer Nork. I'll have him escort you to the aslyum and I think I could use Snow's ability to communicate with birds right now. Maybe if we can find one, it can tell us what it saw."
Regina considered the plan and figured it was decent enough for Sir Idiot himself. "I'll go back to the car." She turned in the direction they'd come from but Charming stopped her.
"Did you hear that?" He asked suddenly in a heated whisper.
"Hear w-"
"Shhh!"
Crunch.
Regina's eyes widened. She tried to conjure her magic to the tips of her fingers so she would have it available should she need it but she felt nothing. She didn't feel her normally enthusiastic magic surge.
"I can't use my magic." She whispered to Charming.
Crunch.
David's hand went for the sword on his holster and Regina, for the first time, felt useless. She wasn't used to having to rely on someone else for protection even when she was Queen. Her guards and knights were normally the distraction she needed to get an escape plan together.
Regina could detect her magic but she couldn't use it, she couldn't get it to come forth, like it was congested.
"My darling, Regina." She wouldn't admit it, to anyone ever, but Regina's heart dropped from her chest as she recognized the voice from last night "You've returned."
"Show yourself." David commanded as he retracted his sword from his holster.
"No." The Being responded playfully. "This is between my Queen and I."
"This ends-" David's words were interrupted by a force picking him up and carelessly tossing him against a tree. There was a sickeningly dull thud but a piercing scream that came from David before he fell to the ground unconscious.
Regina started to run to him, to check to see if he was still alive, but she was stopped by the same force that had just injured her colleague.
"Not so fast."
Regina wasn't one to beg. "Just let me see if he's still alive."
"He's still alive." The Being assured. "Now, will he be able to walk again depends entirely on you."
"What do you want?" the former Mayor demanded between clenched teeth.
"The wolf."
"Ruby's at the station."
The Being chuckled. "Not her wolf. Yours."
Officer Lynch and Emma were at the entrance of the West End of the forest.
"Think the potion is gonna work?" Lynch asked as he pulled on his gloves to ward off the cold air. Lynch had liked Regina the least out of all the knights they'd recruited. He'd been retired after an injury in the enchanted forest the curse had healed him completely. Emma wondered how he could still hate Regina so much.
He swore that he didn't hate her he just didn't trust her but it was obvious by the way he refused to work with her and undermined her at every turn that his distrust went deeper.
"I know it will." Emma validated firmly. "It'd serve us both best to trust Regina."
Lynch snorted and Emma looked at him as she strapped the kevlar Regina had enchanted to center Emma's magic. It's goal was to give her a source to pull from instead of having to try to find the magic within herself. Emma had used it only once before and it worked like a charm. Because of that, Regina had been granted more hours at the station.
"Look, I get it, you wanna knock boots with the witch-"
"Excuse me?"
"But that doesn't mean I have to trust-" His sentence was cut off by a piercing scream coming from at least a hundred yards away. Immediately both officers responded by taking off at full speed in the direction they heard the scream from.
Lynch had started off in front of her but Emma had soon surpassed him when he tripped over a rock. He'd assured her he was fine and encouraged her to keep going so she had but that was a decision she would soon regret.
A/N: Sorry to leave you with a cliff-hanger. I'm working out some kinks in the next few chapters and this normally takes a day or two of me rereading and rereading until I've pretty much changed entire chapter into something new. Follow/ favorite if you're enjoying the story. Review if you're DEFINITELY enjoying. And if you're enjoying it so freaking much you just can't stand it, tell your friends about it and get them just as excited about it as you. As always, have a great day/evening/night and thank you for reading.
