"No, no, no! Do not lower your guard, Miss Swan."

"But I'm tired."

"Whining, whining, whining. Always whining."

"Bitching, bitching, bitching. Always bitching."

"You need to be prepared!"

"Then call the marines. I thought I'd landed a cushy job here. Turns out that now I need to go out in the middle of the night and shish kebab a cousin or two. And it's freakin' winter outside. Whining is my god given right."

"Then I'm entitled to bitch as you so aptly say. Now, chin up, don't let your guard down." Regina stepped behind Emma and coming flush to her back, hand in her mid section, adjusted the Princess' posture to a more appropriate stance to deflect spells and the odd sword.

"You like it when I whine."

"I do not. It's not an attractive feature. You sound too much like your mother."

"Hey!"

"You, however, like it when I bitch." It was the fact that she was just whispering right at the shell of Emma's ear. It had to be.

"Yeah." It was breathy and yes, well, sexy. "I do." And Emma could actually feel her head leaning backwards seeking out contact, which was an instinct reaction. Only instinct. Nothing more, nothing less.

"Good!" Regina snapped before she could actually succumb to that raspy voice. "That should give you some incentive."

"What for?"

"The mission, Princess."

"The mission? The mission? But I thought_"

"The mission you accepted when Roderick pressed you into a tight window space and had his hands all over your_"
"Yeah, okay, the mission, alright, already."

"Run the plan by me again."

"Regina, I remember, okay?"

"Recap it."

"Okay... Alright. Interception, engagement, assassination."

"Elaborate on interception."

"This would go a lot easier with some incentive..."

"Incentive?" Emma saw the way Regina's face screwed shut, knit at the eyebrows and couldn't help herself.

"You know… chocolate or… whatever..."

"I've spoiled you. I did great job with Henry and I am failing now."

"You did do a stellar job with Henry."

"Flattery will always work... There." She produced a chocolate bonbon the size of an egg. "Easy!" she pulled it just out of Emma's reach. "Interception?"

Emma sighed long and deep. "The troll bridge, at dawn, after you have isolated them from the rest of the hunting party."

"Engagement?"

"Tell me that the chocolate has praline cream?"

"It has now." Regina quipped.

"Praline... Okay, I do not drop my guard down, keep my breast plate on and do not offer my weakest side."

"Assassination?"

"Chocolate!" She got it from Regina's reluctant hand. "Thank you. Rowena first, Sebastian and save Roderick for last."

"No, no, no. There is no space for improvisation."

"Play nice, Regina. The rodent for last. I want to take my time with him."
"No! Eliminate the threat first. That's the point."

"The point is revenge."

"The point is you not getting hurt."

"Just so that my mom won't kill you."

Yeah, sure, whatever, Regina thought, but her chest squeezed a little more. This was a bad idea on so many levels.

"Stick with the plan, princess. No improvising. Promise."

Emma stuffed the bonbon in her mouth and nodded. She wasn't going to right out lie her pants off, so she just... postponed the truth for a little."

SQ~SQ~SQ~SQ~SQ~SQ~SQ~SQ

The Troll Bridge was...quaint. There were bits of it missing and no matter how many times Snow had it commissioned for repair, the oddest things kept on happening to the repair crews and the repair supplies and rumours were running ripe it was either haunted or cursed.

Of course, with Emma being an unapologetic non believer, it was just the perfect spot for an ambush. There was no ghost or even troll she feared more that Roderick dancing with her again and as for curses, really, what were the odds?

She hid in the pre-determined spot. James had drawn the map and Regina and Snow had poured over it and argued some and then argued some more until it had been decided on the spot she currently occupied. But that was the rest of her blind obedience.

It was with relief she heard the hunting party approaching, dogs at the head and horses and their riders, all making so much noise that if any animal could be caught unaware, they actually deserved to die, just on account of the sheer stupidity of staying close to a hunting party that announced itself almost by royal edit.

She was getting cold and generally pissed off having had to wait two whole hours just to avoid suspicion. On cue, James accelerated his mount and his men followed suit. It never fail to impress the loyalty he commanded without having to explain anything. She supposed that came with the fact that democracy was a distant memory for them all.

Also on cue, the trap set by Snow snapped to life spooking the horses that were left behind- curiously, Rowena's, Sebastian's and Roderick's. An eerie fog – certainly the work of a curse (yeah, sure)- descended over the three last riders of the party, effectively isolating and cutting them off from the rest.

Like stealing candy from a child.

Like a vengeance, Emma rose from the bushes she'd been hiding and, dutifully, and not without some relief, ran her sword through the first royal neck. Always a fly by the seat of pants girl, Emma had readily "forgotten" the planed order Regina had made her repeat until her throat was dry and no chocolate – or "whatever"- could make up for it. The Roderick, Rowena, Sebastian became the first one she caught (Sebastian that ended up his scheming, lying, conniving days on earth with a sword ran through his heart- a clean death for a dirty man) and then the others.

The problem with improvisation was the number of variables. As a hunted animal will do, Rowena turned aggressor and had time to call up her magic and cast a spell. Emma saw it when it was already too late.

SQ~SQ~SQ~SQ~SQ~SQ~SQ~SQ

Words actually failed her. Even in her mind. Emma Swan, you dumb, dumb, dumb... blond. Regina materialised right behind Rowena and, well… culled her with her own magic. And though it was not part of the plan it was only that that saved Emma Swan's pretty ass.

"A plan is a plan! Didn't I tell to stick to the plan and take care of this one first?"
"Didn't I tell you to stay home?"

"You don't get to tell me to stay home. Or anywhere else by that matter. And if I had, you'd be dead by now."
"Pfft. You don't know that."

"Yes, I do. You saw the spell coming too. And where do you think you're going, rat?" She held Roderick's body in a binding spell. "And now you're letting them escape. What is wrong with you?"

Emma snapped out of her trance. There was something just so damned sexy in this version of Regina, all anger and power and cleavage.

"Oh, just get it over with, Miss Swan. It's not polite to play with your murder victims."

"Yeah, you said that about food too, but damn, Regina..."

"It's as true for one as it is for the other… See something you like, Miss Swan?"

"Hell yes..."

"Then get on with it."

"What part?"

Roderick's face was a priceless picture of disbelief, fear and anger. Emma drew her sword. "I think you should let him go."
"What?"

"Is it polite to do this to some helpless twat?"

"The language, Miss Swan! You want me to let him go?"

"Yeah… sportsmanship and what have you…"

"Oh, very well." And Regina extinguished the spell. "Run, now, Roderick. Run!"

Those were the last words Roderick ever heard, right before his legs hit the floor and he started running for his worthless life. Emma's sword ran him through, neck to navel. It was almost as good as playing cut fruit on her phone (poor little thing, abandoned in Storybrooke). Except the gore was real. It shot something right through her lower half, a heat that was very, very distracting.

"Now I think you had asked if I saw something I liked."

"Indeed."

"And I said I did."

"That is my recollection too."

"Thought so. Did you ever do it against a tree?"

"Do what?"

"You know, the horizontal mambo, the cha-cha-cha, the…"

"Charming…" Regina backed into a tree, step by step.

"Well, have you?"

"I might." Regina replied, already breathy and flushed. There was something unbelievably sexy about this warrior Emma.

"Smart ass." Emma pressed her into the bark of the tree. "Who was it, Gina?" And her mouth descended to Regina's neck, nipping menacingly here and there. Regina sagged against the bark of the tree, surrender enough to placate Emma. She placed her hands on each side of the tree, close to Regina's waist, not quite touching, still nipping at that pretty neck. "I might have had to cast an impotence spell here or there."

"That I would like to see."

"What? I'm perfectly capable."

"Forgive me if I have my reservations."

"Should I find someone to demonstrate?"

Regina grabbed Emma's face nose to nose with hers. "You've got the attention span of a hamster."
"I'm cute as one too."

"You are amazingly self assured."

"Only with you. And come to think of it, I much prefer being the last one you'll be kissing than the first one you ever did."

It didn't take much these days. It seemed that she was permanently on the verge of tears. Regina's eyes glazed over and she tossed her arms around Emma's neck, pulling her warrior flush to her, inch by glorious inch. No, it didn't take long at all and she did begrudge a single one of those happy tears.

"Shut up and kiss me, Princess."