He bursts through the doors to the great hall, mud covering his boots and leaving slippery tracks in his wake. His shirt is drenched, soaked through with blood and rain, pink tinged drops falling in little splashes with every hurried step he takes. In his arms he cradles an unconscious Regina, blood dripping from a wound on her forehead, the source of the injury hidden by the ebony locks that are matted to her skin, curling with moisture; the shaft of an arrow juts from the flesh of her thigh, blood seeping and spilling from the wound, creating a sickening scarlet puddle below where they stand.
She has never looked so small; pale and lifeless in Robin's large arms, draped limply across him, her clothes askew, perfect skin marred and broken.
"We need a healer! Quickly!" He bellows, casting a worried glance over the woman in his arms.
"Robin, what happened? What can we do?" Snow questions, waddling over to the couple, her hand rubbing anxiously over the swell of her pregnant belly, her Charming husband following closely behind.
"You can stay back," he bites. "It's your fault she's like this. If she hadn't been out searching for that root to help with your morning sickness she never would have been attacked alone!" His tirade is cut short by a sputtering cough followed by a low groan. Regina stirs in his embrace, eyes blinking open, momentarily fogged with confusion before focusing on the man holding her.
"Put. Me. Down." Her voice is airy and low, laced with pain, but it still manages to carry its usual regality. She's twitching in his arms now, pushing against him as his hold tightens around her.
"Regina, please. Doc and Blue will be here soon, they'll tend to your wounds and then you can…" Snow pleads.
"That moth isn't coming anywhere near me," she interrupts, fighting against Robin in earnest. "Put me down,Thief. Now." She commands with as much authority as her battered state will allow.
Reluctantly he eases her to the ground, keeping one arm looped solidly around her waist as she stands, hissing in pain the moment she puts weight on her injured leg. She staggers, pressing a hand reflexively to his chest to brace herself, pulling it back almost instantly as if she's been burned. "Let. Go." She snarls, glaring up at him until he reluctantly removes his arm from around her waist and takes a single step back; still close enough to catch her if she collapses, but far enough away that a thin bubble of air separates their bodies from any point of contact. Turning away from him she pushes past Snow and Charming, limping and guarding her wounded leg as she hobbles over to the long dining table in the center of the room, before leaning heavily against it.
"Must you always be so stubborn? You could have died out there! You were alone even though you know your sister is after you, and now you're refusing to see a healer? Regina, you're barely standing, please, let Blue heal you." He follows her movment, babbling with every step, but his voice softens at the end, all of the anger and fear fizzling out and softening into quiet desperation.
"It's Your Majesty," she corrects through gritted teeth. "And that wand toting insect won't be coming anywhere near me; she's caused enough damage for one lifetime." Closing her eyes she pulls in a shaky breath and pushes away from the table, grimacing at the sudden weight shift.
He stares in fascination as her hand comes up, a shimmering glow of lilac laced with brilliant white shining from her palm, flowing out and coasting along her body, wounds disappearing in its wake.
"There. Are you happy now?" she growls, hands fisting at her side as the last of the crackling magic dissipates in the air. She sways a little, trying to maintain her balance, to appear as healed and whole as she now seems to be physically, but he knows that level of magic would have taken a tole, exhausted her already weakened body, especially after the amount of magic she must have used fighting off Zelena's guards and the swarm of flying monkeys he'd found her surrounded by.
"I'd be happier if you'd stop carelessly risking yourself like this every other day," he snaps back, moving closer to where she stands, eyes sweeping across her to make sure each wound has mended, to reassure himself that she is in fact alive and well.
"Careless? You think I'm careless?" she questions with an incredulous laugh. "This, coming from the man whose son was almost swept away by one of Zelena's winged freaks because he was too busy cavorting with his other forest dwelling friends to look after his own child." She accuses, moving into his space, eyes narrowed and voice dripping with venom.
"That's not why it happened and you know it," he barks, staring down at her, stepping in until they are toe to toe. "Don't use your own grief to question the way I look after my child. I would do anything for Roland, you know that. You've spent time with him, with both of us. You can't keep pushing the way that you have these last few weeks, you're driving yourself into the ground!" He growls, panting for breath as he tries to supress the anger sloly boiling through his veins.
"Why are you still here?! Why do you care?" she roars, eyes wide and enraged, arms spread to the side, lifting in question.
"Because I'm in love with you, you foolish woman!" he thunders back, eyes locked with hers as the room falls silent.
Her eyes have gone wide, her mouth slackened in shock as she stares at the man before her. There's no biting retort, no stinging insult, just open, vulnerable bewilderment, but then her eyes shift, a determination solidifying behind her gaze and he immediately knows what she's going to do.
"Regina, don't you dare…" he growls, but before he can finish her hands swing up between them, purple smoke trailing in their wake, whisking her out of the room.
"Well, that was awkward," Charming grumbles from his place at the back of the room, doubling over with an 'oompf' when he receives a swift elbow to the gut from his wife.