Part 3 of Vengeance

Above the sleeping women, the dreamcatcher's sinews glinted, catching and casting a bit of the fire's glow along its webbing, sparking off an twined intersection.

Emma stepped into the foyer of the New York apartment she could now afford because she'd finally made it. She was officially half-owner of Big Apple Bail Bonds. She had become so good at her job, using computer traces to track criminals, she had quickly migrated off the street hunts to sitting behind a big desk in her own office, telling other people where to go to find their wayward subjects. No more bruises. Henry was ecstatic about that, having seen her beat up on one too many occasions. But she hadn't had them for a couple years now, gradually showing her worth in using the new technology that her boss "Brooklyn" Vicuny, that grumpy gus, couldn't be bothered with. She had known that community college course would pay off eventually. She couldn't remember now where she'd taken it; taught by a sheriff, she remembered, in his off time. She glanced down at the shoelace tied around her wrist, a pang of sadness she couldn't explain.

She flipped on the light. "Hey, I'm home." Emma frowned when she heard no response, no movement at all; usually she could hear the hum of the TV, even if Henry was wearing his game player headphones.

Glancing at the clock, she frowned. It was past six. Maybe Henry had skipped down to to the corner for pizza from Antoine's. She fished in her pocket for her phone and came up pressing the 1 key to auto-dial her son.

The call went to voicemail after two rings. Emma sighed. That probably meant Henry was playing Space Paranoids and couldn't hear the ringing over the bleeps and zaps from the game. She'd just head down to Antonio's to collect him. Maybe grab some takeout for herself, she added, hearing and feeling her stomach rumbling.

Three flights down and outside on the sidewalk in rapidly approaching twilight, Emma looked toward the south corner of the block where Antoine's was located. She frowned and turned toward the north corner. Something in her gut suggested she go this way instead. She pulled out her phone anyway and called Antonio's. "Hey," she said without preamble, "Angie, did my son Henry come in tonight for pizza?" She pursed her lips and frowned. Henry wasn't at the pizzeria.

She was pocketing the phone and just reaching the corner of the block when, in her distraction, she slammed into a body. "Hey!"

"What the-!"

Emma grabbed the arms of a body falling against her, dropping her phone in the process. Dimly she heard the clatter of it against the pavement. But her focus, her whole world, suddenly narrowed to brown eyes. Well, not quite. Her quick peripheral vision and detail skills noticed a pantsuit - black with white trim on the lapels, over a tailored white blouse hugging very feminine curves. The brown eyes were set in an olive face framed by a tumble of dark brown hair, over a small nose and dark lips bearing a tiny scar.

"Damn, I'm sorry." She backed up, holding the nearly overset brunette until she regained her footing on her own. "I should've been looking where I was going." She watched the woman dusting her pantleg and adjusting her jacket, and bit her lip, expecting a fiercely blistering cussing out in the next few seconds, once the woman regained her breath.

The brown eyes returned to hers. "It's all right if you don't know where you're going. I have no idea where I am. I was looking at the blasted map app-"

Emma frowned deeply but then smiled slowly. "Well, okay then. So we're both a bit at fault."

The dark lips smiled at her; Emma felt dizzy. "Where were you going, dear?"

"I'm looking for my son actually," Emma said then stopped, dropped her eyes and wondered at herself. Since when was she ever so free with personal information? She brought her eyes back up only to find that the brunette's eyes had widened and showed… empathy? "You're son is missing?"

"I got home late from work, thought he'd gone to Antonio's for pizza." She gestured back to the southern corner. "But he didn't."

"What's in this direction?" the woman said.

"The arcade's down another block," she suddenly remembered. "I got him his own game apps for his phone, but the kid still likes to hang out in actual arcades."

"Well, let's go."

Emma felt her hand taken by the stranger, warm, soft, but somehow less substantial than she expected for all its strength. The pull on her body was disconcerting. She tugged her hand free and asked, "What's your name?"

Emma opened her eyes into the darkness and frowned. Snippets of her dream mingled in her fogged brain with the details of the reality. It had felt like she was back in New York. The scents of garlic and pepperoni and the almost constant stream of car noises, from belching exhausts to horns of impatience she could almost still smell and hear. She exhaled. It wasn't a real memory or even a fake one from Regina's gift; Emma had never lost Henry like that in the year they were separated from Storybrooke.

She turned her head and saw Regina asleep, facing away, head propped on her hands on the pillows. And of course she'd never met someone who looked like Regina on the streets.

But there she'd been, and instantly helping Emma to search for Henry.

That was it, Emma decided, that was the meaning of her dream. She and Regina would always come together when it came to Henry. She rolled back to her side and tucked her own hands under her head, noticing the fire was barely embers in the fireplace. But the heat continued to hold in the obviously well-built little cottage.

The dreamcatcher shimmered again in the moon's light, the storm having fully abated for the moment, another intertwining pair of lines glimmering suddenly and a white feather turned gray.

"Go see," Tinkerbell said. "What have you got to lose?"

A lot, Regina thought. If Leopold found out… She shivered.

"You deserve love, Regina," the fairy nudged with a smile. "We can figure out everything else later."

"But what if he doesn't?"

"He's your soulmate. He will. These things are Fate," her fairy friend gushed, even sighing girlishly. Regina wanted to feel that way again; the same as she had with Daniel. So badly.

So she went to the tavern. Not wanting to completely embarrass herself, she wore a cloak, hood pulled close over her hair. She'd thought about completely changing her appearance somehow, but if this was her soulmate, she wanted him not to fall in love with an apparition, but the real her.

She pulled open the tavern door, instantly assailed by the smells of alcohol and unclean bodies so overpowering her eyes watered. She brushed her arm across her face, wiping away her tears and looked up. A blonde tavern server had bounced to a stop when the door opened, expecting to be greeting a new customer. Her attire was common to the position, a simple pale blue dress with tight waist and extremely low neckline, showing far more of her feminine bounty than was proper, but no doubt kept the drink requests flowing.

Green eyes flickered over her. Wide eyed, Regina hesitated.

"Are you comin' in? It might be spring, but it's still warmer in here than out there."

"I...I'm here to meet someone," she said.

"Aren't they all?" The blonde rolled her eyes. "Well, if you want to ply your trade, the owner's asked you to keep it outside, you know that."

"Ply my -! How dare you?" Regina felt herself growing angry. She started to draw up, fisting her hands on her hips. "I'm a noblewoman." At least that had always been true.

"Then I suggest you turn around and head back to your quiet little life, madam." The woman arched an eyebrow and then dropped into an overly dramatic curtsey. "None of 'em takes too kindly to a no."

She fretted; she had to at least see this soulmate. She cast a glance beyond the serving woman to the rest of the occupants. No one had taken note of her entrance, and no one looked like the least bit of a candidate for a soulmate.

Her gaze fell back on the blonde woman. She shook her head. "Well it doesn't appear he's here anyway. I'm sorry to bother you."

The green eyes lifted again. "Who's the one you're looking for? Maybe I can pass him a message for you."

"For a couple of pieces of gold, no doubt," Regina replied.

"For a smile," the blonde replied with a shrug. "I ain't seen much happiness. Might be a nice thing to help someone make some for herself."

Regina was startled by that answer. She frowned. "Thank you." She bit her lip. "But I don't have a name…so I can't leave a message."

"Then how about I just get you a drink?" The woman's green eyes crinkled and pale pink lips tipped up into a smile.

Regina felt her hand taken by the strange woman, warm, soft, but somehow less substantial than she expected for all its strength. The pull on her body was disconcerting.

Regina blinked open her eyes, studying the view out the cabin window - snow-covered bushes and trees painted by moonlight. She exhaled; nothing to be done about anything until morning. Determinedly she shut her eyes to reality for a few more hours. She glanced around, the fuzzy images in her dream from the tavern blending in and out with the structures of the room. The stale air of the tavern lingered on her tongue and she licked her lips to wash it away. It hadn't been real, she told herself. In reality, she hadn't even crossed the threshold of the tavern and she'd spotted Robin and his tattoo from across the room.

So what was the purpose of Emma in her dream? That serving woman had indeed looked and sounded like Emma, though her dream-self couldn't place a name. And because of her interaction with the woman in her dream, she hadn't seen or found Robin.

But the woman had offered to help her find him.

That, Regina realized, was Emma's purpose in her dream. She'd been thinking about fate and soulmates and how she'd first met Robin, all on a trip with Emma to go find him again.

She rolled her chin over her shoulder and took in the profile of Emma on her side in the bed next to Regina, facing away, slumbering peacefully.

With a sigh, she rolled back to her side and resolutely closed her eyes. She was beating fate; she was. This was just her doubts trying to derail her.

Above the bed, the dreamcatcher shimmered again in the moon's light, another intertwining pair of lines glimmering suddenly and a gray feather tucked in a brown bead turned black as pitch. Outside the snow began to swirl, heavy and thick, wind taking it aloft and circling it about the tiny cabin.

Regina paced the floor, snapping at the curtains which she was suddenly, painfully, aware were wide open. "Damn it! Stop."

She snapped her head toward Emma. "I can't. That thing is after me, I know it."

"Well, it's not going to get you."

"Who else? We were told it goes after the one most tempted to darkness. Unless we have a dwarf named Evil-y, last I checked that's me."

Emma shook her head and stepped forward. Regina recoiled, stumbling into the table. "Hey, hey. We are not going to give you up to it. That's final."

Regina fumbled onto a couch cushion, looking earnestly at Emma who sat more calmly opposite her. "So why are we hiding in my office?"

Emma shrugged. "You're more comfortable here. Snow and David are out looking for the thing. After it left the clock tower perch-" Emma cut herself off. "It's just like The Birds, geez."

"You're comparing this situation to an Alfred Hitchcock film?"

"Oh, so you've seen it?" Emma chuckled. "Yeah, no, you're definitely not Tippi Hedren, too blonde for one. And a helluva lot smart-"

"Can we return to the subject at hand?" Regina was annoyed by Emma's penchant for rambling, even though she recognized it as having relaxed the strain of tension in her back. She smiled to take any sting from her command. Emma smiled back; she'd known what she was doing.

"What do you know about this...Chernabog?" Regina smiled wider at Emma's continual bafflement about the magical world and its denizens which had been her birthplace.

"It feeds on darkness. What else is there to know?" Regina threw up her hands then sank on herself, rounded shoulders, arm loose on her thighs. She sighed.

Emma reached across the table, grasping one of Regina's hands. "C'mon. You tell me all the time. Think. There's a way to defeat this thing. We just have to find its weakness."

"It's a being entirely made of magic," Regina started.

"Entirely? Not a cursed part-human thing?"

"No. It's… never been human."

"So it's here, now, in a Land Without Magic."

"Technically it's not. It's inside Storybrooke. We have magic."

Emma's green eyes gleamed. "Oh yeah?" She smacked the back of Regina's hand and sat back. At the same time Regina said 'ow' Emma slapped her own jean-clad thighs. Regina was confused, Emma looked like she was about to have a fit. "Oh, hey! Wait a-" Then she shot to her feet and Regina was certain of it. "Oh! Yeah!" Emma clapped her hands. "The town line! Magic ends at the town line!" Emma grabbed Regina's hand, ignored the resistance, and dragged Regina toward the door. "Let's go!"

"Where the hell are we going?"

"We're gonna lead that damn chernan-thing to the town line and it's gonna go boom!"

"You're going to just run out in the street - drag me right into its sights! - and hope we can outrun it?"

"Nah, we're gonna take the Bug."

Regina's eyes widened in alarm, shock - terror, even wider than they had at the initial idea. "That metal death trap couldn't outrun a snail!"

Emma shook her head. "That's where you're wrong. C'mon!"

Regina covered her head and her ears at the overwhelming screeching as she ran for Emma's car parked out in front of city hall. Emma had thought they might have to wave at the Chernabog to get its attention, but just like a damned homing pigeon, it spotted them the second they stepped out onto the circular drive in front of the building and dove toward them. She barely registered Snow and David, in David's truck, parked on the library corner, keeping an eye on the Chernabog which launched itself now from the clocktower perch.

Diving right for them.

"Get in!" Emma yanked open the driver door. Regina felt, panicking, for the handle on the near door. It pushed outward into her hands. "Get in!" Emma shouted at her, grabbing for her hands, from inside the car.

Regina stumbled on her heels getting in, landing awkwardly in the seat. The car lurched forward before she could even settle herself. "Wait!"

"What?!" Emma shouted next to her. "I'm driving! You don't need your purse."

"I need my seatbelt! So do you!"

Emma rolled her eyes, hunched over the wheel, but she pulled on her seatbelt as Regina did the same. "You are insane, sometimes, but I love you," Emma said, glancing quickly through the various rearview mirrors and punching the gas once more.

As the car shot forward, Regina blinked. "What?"

The Chernabog had overtaken the car, dropping from the sky directly in front of them. Emma swerved, but the Bug and the Bog collided. Regina screamed; it was on her side! Emma's screamed, "No!" echoed and everything lurched again.

###