Chapter 2

The day is bright and sunny as usual as Emma walks into the Mayor's office.

For once in what seems like forever, no new enemy, curse, or problem in general has popped up to ruin the mood as everyone recovers from what happened after the black fairy debacle.

Of course, Emma figures that everyone has been through a lot lately, Regina most of all with Robin's unique death haunting her. Not to mention that even after all of her efforts, Emma hadn't been able to bring Regina's life to a happy ending either.

Since Henry is with Snow and David, it's highly likely that Regina is alone right now, and during a time of mourning, Emma figures that Regina needs to be with someone. Who better than a person who knows how it feels to lose someone you love?

As she closes the door behind her, she notices almost immediately that the Mayor looks distraught, and distant as she sits at her desk.

"Regina? Are you okay?" Emma asks softly, trying not to startle the women.

Regina seems to be in a trance and it's obvious to Emma that she didn't hear a word that she said. Emma decides to take a few steps closer to her friend, but jumps at the sight of the women sitting in the chair before her. This isn't the strong, independent mayor she had grown to know and love. The women in front of her looks pale and weak. Her hair seems to be unbrushed, and there are dark circles under her eyes. Emma also took note that there are tears threatening to fall from her eyes, but they've not quite escaped.

Emma slowly reaches her hand up to touch the Mayor's shoulder. "Gina, are you alright?"

Emma jerks her hand back instantly when she notices the frantic look on the woman's face.

All at once Regina gave a little jerk and looked frantically around her office before her eyes fall on Emma."Emma, what the hell are you doing here?" she demands.

"I came to see if you wanted to grab a bite to eat with me?" Emma explains warily, trying not to let the queen know that she's noticed the unfallen tears.

Regina glares at Emma, "Well, maybe next time you'll call and let me know that you're coming, instead of just showing up unannounced to my place of business," she scolds. "I could've been in an important meeting, and you just walked right in as if you own the place. Now get the hell out of my office."

Emma begins to take several steps back as the Mayor stands up slowly to emphasize her point. The wince of pain that crosses Regina's define features as she rises doesn't go unnoticed by Emma as she backs up to the nearest escape from the room, even as the queen makes an effort to hide it.

"I'm sorry. I should've called first - though you've never minded me stopping by before. I just wanted to see if you'd want to go to Granny's to grab a bite to eat with me. I'll leave if you're sure that's what you want. But…you know I'm always here, if you want to talk," Emma stammers out, all in one nervous breath.

Regina turns back towards the window and stumbles slightly, taking a sharp inhale of breath. She looks back, her eyes red rimmed as she holds in her tears,"Emma, just leave me alone,"she orders with a whisper, making it sound more like a desperate plea.

Emma, concerned by the broken look across the queen's face, decides to stand her ground. "No. You know that I'm absolutely incapable of-"

Emma cuts herself off when she notices Regina trembling, watching as she sways and her eyes began to flutter. Emma steps closer to the desk, recognizing how weak and pale Regina looks. and then bolts forward as Regina begins to collapse, Emma bolts forward and manages to catch the queen just before she falls to the floor.

"Regina!" she shouts as she holds her limp body in her arms, lowering her down gently so that they're both sitting behind her desk. The Savior is at a loss for words as she watches her best friend crumble and starts to cry uncontrollable tears.

Pulling her close, she mumbles comfortingly, "Shh it's okay. I've got you. I'm here." Emma whispers into her ear as she continues to hold her tightly, seemingly trying to shield her from all the hurtful things in this world that dared to harm her friend.

"Emma…can you take me home please?" Regina finally requests when her tears have run dry.

"Of course," she replies instantly. Emma stands and offers her hands out to the other women, helping her stand. She watches with concern as the queen winces in pain at the sudden movement, grabbing her side in discomfort.

"Are you okay to walk to the car, or do I need to try and, umm…whoosh us there?" Emma asks. "Or should I take you to the hospital? I really don't mind, and you seem to be in pain. I really wish you would just let me-"

"Emma, as much as I would love for you to 'whoosh' me home, as you put so bluntly, you still don't have one hundred percent control over where you land," the queen reasons,It was a blunt statement, but Emma is pleased that Regina seemed to be returning to normal. "Furthermore, I think that it'd be best just to drive home, don't you think?"

Nodding quietly, Emma leads her slowly down to her yellow bug. Being extra cautious to keep the queen from feeling any more discomfort than she has to, once they reach the car, Emma opens the door and helps her into the car.

The ride to Regina's house is quiet, as neither woman decides to say anything. Regina seems lost in her own world, and Emma's mind is too engaged with running different scenarios in her head of what could've happened to her friend, but none of them bring her to any good conclusions.

When they arrive at the manor, Emma tries to break the silence by stating with a quirky smile, "This must be serious. You haven't made one statement about my car."

Regina doesn't even acknowledge the accusation as she leans closer to the window with silent tears flowing slowly down her cheeks. Emma puts the car in park, shuts off the engine, and reaches for the door. Once she is outside of the car, she lets out a breath that she didn't realize she was holding. She walks over to the door and opens it, only to be startled by Regina's surprised squeak.

"Regina, are you sure you're okay?" Emma asks again. "I can stay with you for the rest of the day, if you'd like."

Regina doesn't answer. She merely offers a nod, but Emma is certain that she didn't hear a word she just said.

The savior offers her hand for Regina to use as as the brunette grabs a hold of her fingers and winces as she slowly exits the car.

Once inside, the two ladies sit at the bar in the kitchen in an awkward silence. Emma is looking around the room, searching for anything to look at other than Regina. She notices a plate of fresh, chocolate-chip cookies and makes a mental note to grab one of them before she leaves.

To the Savior's surprise it's Regina who's the first to break the silence. "Thank you for the ride. I'm feeling a lot more refined now that I've had a good, if embarrassing, cry. I guess it happens to the best of us. I'm just…going to take a shower and probably go to bed early since Henry will be staying with you tonight."

Emma nods, not believing the façade the mayor is trying to uphold. Emma's superpower goes off the entire time Regina pretends to be alright. She watches as the mayor turns swiftly and heads down the hall to her room, closing the door behind her.

Emma decides that it's the perfect time to overstay her welcome, running quickly to the plate of full cookies that she'd seen when they first walked into the room.

Emma pulls out her phone and is shocked to see that it's almost dinnertime. She realizes that they must've been at the mayor's office a lot longer than she had initially thought. She shrugs and decides to send a group text to Killian, and Henry:

'Hey, Regina and I want to have a girl's night. Will you guys be alright?'

After the quick responses: 'Yup, have fun,' and 'Of course, Swan!' Emma puts her phone in her pocket and walks to the living room. Finding the remote, she jumps into the comfortable armchair. She settles on an old tv show and waits patiently for the other women to come out of her bathroom.

Regina goes to her chest of drawers, pulls out her favorite black silk pajamas, and heads to the bathroom. She looks at the lady in the mirror and doesn't recognize the women standing in front of her. Dried tears flow down her cheeks, ruining the perfect makeup that she had placed on her face earlier in the morning.

She reaches down to turn the shower on and winces as she turns the handle. Carefully taking off her jacket and placing it on the toilet, she has to bite down a mouthful of tears. Taking a sharp inhale, she grabs the edges of her shirt and holds in a scream as she pulls it over her head.

Once again, she looks into the mirror at the now-forming purple bruises all over her arms from where she had been forcibly held down. Her hands run across her side along the now-black bruise that formed over her rib cage and she holds in a gasp at the pain that flares beneath her light touch."

Deciding it was worth another try, she closes her eyes and tries to summon her magic to heal the injuries, but the pain doesn't help in her concentration as she grasps at whatever energy she can muster. Eventually, she sighs and opens her eyes, seeing that not a thing has changed.

Staring into the mirror, she debates if she should go in and get x-rays, because she's pretty sure at least two of her ribs are broken. As she continues her examination she notices a two-inch gash along her back right above the rim of her pants. It must have happened when her threw me to the floor she realizes glad to see that it was no longer bleeding.

She picks up her jacket and examines it, finding a dark blotch on the back of the gray garment. It was remarkable Emma hadn't noticed it earlier.

Hands shaking uncontrollably, she unbuttons her slacks and lets them drop to the floor. Bile rises in Regina's throat as she sees the handprints and bruises now covering her once-flawless body.

She slowly steps into the scalding hot water and lets the heated shower stream ease the pain. Safe behind the curtain, she begins to cry again. She watches as the water turns red, then turns pink, and finally runs clear as the blood from her back is washed away. Grabbing her soap, she starts to scrub away the rest of the evidence of what happened only a few hours earlier.

Scrubbing until her skin was raw, the once-all-powerful Evil Queen struggles to pick herself up from the shower floor. She turns off the now-freezing-cold water and pulls her aching body out of the bathtub, being careful not to injure her ribs any further.

Regina quickly gets dressed into her pajamas, shrugging off the fact that they didn't even seem to make a dent in the comfort that she needed and craved. Stepping out of the bathroom with the dirty clothes wrapped neatly in a ball, she hears the familiar sound of the television on in the other room.

Feeling her heart jump into her throat, she feels her magic spark and instinctively readies a fireball in the palm of her hand.

Now her magic chooses not to desert her, she realizes bitterly. Just counting her blessings that it wasn't completely disabled, she walks into the living room to see who or what awaits her.

With a huge sigh of relief, she notices a familiar blonde that she distinctly remembers telling to go home earlier.

Of course, she didn't leave, Regina thinks to herself as she steps closer to the sleeping Savior, putting out her fireball as the adrenaline rush wears off.

"Emma, what are you still doing here?"

Emma stirs from her slumber, looking up and processing the question. "I wanted to have a girl's night. I already told my parents and Henry."

Regina rolls her eyes. "In other words you didn't listen to a word I said?" Regina considers rolling her eyes and letting out a small snort of frustration. "It must be a day that ends with a 'y'."

"So you completely ignore my earlier wishes, and didn't listen to a word I said? Yup, it must be a day that ends with a Y."

Settles down then removes her boots. Seems backwards to me. How about:

"Exactly," Emma responds with a sleepy smirk. Regina watches as she reaches down to pull off her boots before settling down deeper into the comfortable chair.

The room is dead silent as Regina turns and heads to her room, only to return moments later with a pair of pjs and an extra toothbrush. She tosses them at Emma. "There're extra blankets and pillows in the hall closet. You can sleep down here or in Henry's bed."

Emma nods and stands up, and starts to strip down right in the middle of the living room to put on the lilac pajamas that Regina has brought her. Regina stares at her with slight annoyance. "You know, I have a bathroom - three, to be exact - that you could've easily humored me with and used to change in. Considering that is part of the reason that a bathroom exists."

Emma smiles at the mayor's reaction, glad to see a different emotion other than the sadness she had been witnessing all day. But her happiness was quickly drowned out as she noticed the way she keeps her arms crossed over her chest and the shudder in her friend's shoulders."

"Regina, you're shaking. Are you cold?"

"A little. I ran out of hot water mid shower. I'm going to bed. Make yourself at home - though it seems you already have," she states as she turns to walk back toward her bedroom, trying not to let the other women see the comfort that it brings her that Emma will be staying the night.

"Regina, wait," Emma calls as she jumps up from the couch, not letting go of the fact that the queen tensed at her sudden movement. "You're not going to eat something?"

Letting out an annoyed breath she tells the savior a little harshly, "If I wanted to eat something, then I would've gone to the kitchen and done so. But, if you're hungry, you're more than welcome to explore the kitchen and make something that I assume will be somewhat edible."

Ignoring the blunt insult to her cooking, Emma smiles and asks "How do you like your eggs?"

Regina pauses to stare back at Emma, her stance determined and unyielding. There would be no ignoring her. Regina let out a sigh of defeat and rolled her eyes as she began to move to the kitchen. "Scrambled."