Regina glared at Emma, whose screams echoed off the hollow ways. All Regina could think was that she was lucky that the walls of the institution were soundproof, otherwise someone would have already been alerted. That would have been very, very bad. Regina was nowhere near done punishing Emma for all the grief the woman had caused her. Stealing her son had been the last straw though.
"Could you just shut up?" Regina barked finally, as her ears started to ring from a particularly loud scream.
Emma couldn't even focus on Regina anymore. Hell, she couldn't focus on anything. Her entire body hurt. All Emma wanted to do was pass out and ignore the pain for a while, but every single time she came close to unconscious oblivion, Regina would stop whatever magically induced pain she was causing, and it would rip Emma back into consciousness.
Though she couldn't be sure, Emma felt like every bone in her body had been broken … bent at an odd angle … or hit repeatedly in the same spot. She was certain that her body should be covered in countless bruises, but there was no actual proof of her pain. That's when it hit her. There was nothing physically wrong with her. If she wanted to stand up right that moment and punch Regina in her self-righteous face, she could. Everything Regina was doing to her, was completely mental. Regina was making Emma think she was in pain.
"This isn't real." Emma muttered under her breath, in between pants. Whether or not it was real, didn't change the fact that it still hurt. Enough to impede her breathing. Regina was trying to make her feel like she was dying, but Emma didn't quite understand why. "This isn't real." Emma spoke louder, grabbing Regina's attention. Cora's head had even swiveled around at Emma's breathy shout. "I don't know why, but you're just mentally attacking me."
Regina sneered at Emma. She had quite hoped that Emma would be dumb enough to not figure out that piece of information, if only because it made the torture that much more fun. To watch Emma squirm, thinking that her bones were broken … that she was being physically beaten. That the magical abuse would be enough to emotionally break Emma, which was ultimately her goal. Regina wanted nothing more than to emotionally break Emma … break her to the point that she would be begging Regina to end her pathetic excuse of a life … An evil grin curved across her red lips, as Regina realized that she never intended to kill Emma. Just shove her to the brink of death, until Emma herself couldn't return. Ultimately Regina assumed that Emma would finish the job herself. Yet, Emma was proving herself a hard target to break. She was too much like her stubborn parents. Holding on and fighting. Kicking against Regina's magic enough that it wasn't doing exactly what she was intending for it to do.
"You don't know why?" Regina scowled at Emma. "You stole my son from me … you took away my happy ending!"
Emma wanted nothing in that moment than to stand up, poke her fingers in Regina's chest, and scream at her. As it was, Emma was hand-cuffed to the cot she was currently sitting on. Instead, she took to the only thing she could do. Yell at Regina.
"You're happy ending was making everyone else completely miserable! Plus, are you forgetting that Henry was my son first? Oh, and don't forget the part where your a heinous, psycho bitch!"
Regina growled, the sound were feral and vicious. Emma's legs quaked at the anger that flowed from Regina.
"I didn't plan on killing you, Miss Swan, but I fear I have no other choice." The calm with which Regina spoke of Emma's death, caused a deep chill to run the length of her spine. All Emma could hope in that moment was that someone was onto the fact that she was missing, and that they would come find her.
Graham grimaced as his and Nikolai's boots pounded hard against the cold stone floor. He knew that the only thing helping them at the moment was surprise. Regina and Cora didn't know they were coming, but if they kept up the loud noise, they might as well get on the loud-speaker and announce their arrival.
In that moment, Graham wished with everything in him that they had stopped by Gold's shop. Not that the imp would help them, but on the off chance that he was feeling generous, he could have given them something to help stop Regina and Cora. At the very least, something to incapacitate them long enough to get Emma out of the institution.
"Nikolai." Graham's voice was barely a whisper, but it caused Nikolai to pull up short to a stop. "We need to be quieter. Element of surprise is very important here."
Nikolai nodded. He wasn't entirely sure what Regina was capable of, however he knew that he didn't like her just from the short time he spent with her. Of course it didn't help that he knew that she was the one that had attempted to end his brother's life. He did, however, know Cora's power. He had seen it with his own eyes, and Nikolai knew that if Regina was even half as powerful as Cora, then they were in for some trouble. He glanced at Graham, and remembered what he had promised Henry and grimaced. Graham must have known when he had promised that he would return to the boy, that he wasn't being truthful. There was no way he could know that, and in fact knowing who they were going up against, he had to know that what he had said was more than likely a lie.
"Graham." Nikolai whispered back, grabbing his brother's arm, as he made a move forward. "You do realize that you lied to that poor boy, right?"
Graham sighed, and nodded. "Yes, Nikolai, but if I'm able to return his mother to him. Even if it means my death, then he will forgive my lie."
"But will Emma?"
Graham's head hung. He knew that if he died in this mission, that Emma would never forgive him, that Emma would always hate him for dying on her for a second time. "Eventually she will get past it. But no, she will never forgive me. Not when this will be my second time dying on her. There is no forgiving that."
Nikolai nodded, realizing that Graham had come to terms with his decision. Nikolai too, had come to terms with what this mission meant. The number one priority was retrieving Emma from the basement and returning her to Henry. If that meant that both him and Graham parish, then Nikolai knew he could live with that. Ruby would be upset … she might never forgive him for dying on her before they even had the chance to bloom into something, but she would understand. Saving Emma was more important.
Silence enveloped the two brother's as they reached the bottom of the stairs. Carefully, they weaved themselves forward, staying to the side of the wall and shrouded in darkness. Creeping forward they listened carefully and soon picked up voices coming from one of the rooms up ahead of them.
Graham again, caught Nikolai's sleeve and yanked him back. "We need a plan."
Nikolai smiled softly, and once again, Graham was taken aback by how similar the smile was to his own. "Too late for that, my brother. No time for plans. It's attack or be attacked."
Graham knew what Nikolai wasn't saying. The longer they stood in the hallway discussing their plan of attack, the easier it would be for Regina and Cora to pick up their presence. It was go in guns blazing or die without trying. Graham picked option one. If he was going to die, it was going to be in a blaze of glory, trying to protect the one person that meant more to him than anyone else.
"Let's do this."
After a deep breath, Graham and Nikolai rushed forward, Graham with his sword, and Nikolai with his bow and arrow. It was do or die … fight or flight.
Emma whimpered, even though she knew the pain was only in her head, she couldn't stop herself. Every ounce of her being wanted to punch Regina, if only to put a stop to the torture, but more so, because of the look of triumphant that crossed her face every single time that Emma cried out in pain.
"Are you done, yet?" Regina poised the question for what Emma felt like was the millionth time. Just like every other time Regina had asked that question, Emma just sat stone still. More so because Emma had no idea what Regina was asking exactly. "Are you done? Do you want me to stop?"
That caught Emma's attention. Cocking her head toward Regina, Emma nodded, "Please." She hated how weak she sounded, begging Regina to stop the torture, but she couldn't help it. Part of her thought the pain would be easier to take if there was a physical injury for her to see, but knowing it was all psychological only made it worse.
"Say it. Say that you want me to stop. Say that you give up. That you're done. Beg me to end it all."
It hit Emma then exactly what Regina wanted. She wanted Emma to beg for death. Regina thought she had pushed Emma to the brink of mental breakdown, and that Emma was broken enough to rather face death than to endure one more ounce of torture. Regina obviously didn't know who she was dealing with. It was in that moment that Emma realized just how much like her parents she truly was. She obviously didn't know her father well, in fact, she didn't know him at all. At least not the real him. She only knew the version of himself that had hurt Mary Margaret. She did, however, know her mother. Even as Mary Margaret, Emma saw the strength and the willingness to fight through any obstacle put in her way. Emma wasn't about to give up on life. Not when she had so much to live for.
"Never." Emma whispered, her throat raw from all the screaming.
Regina sneered. "I didn't plan on killing you, but you're making that option seem all the more interesting."
Emma's mouth bobbed open then closed. She peered into the darkness, and smiled. A gasp sounded from the darkened corner, and Emma realized what was happening.
"Let her go." The thick Irish brogue would be noticeable anywhere, but in that moment it was the only sound she wanted to hear.
"Ah." Regina grinned, as she turned toward the dark corner. A purple ball of magic formed in her hand. "If it isn't Graham Humbert. I thought I had dealt with you properly."
Graham growled, "Apparently you didn't do a good enough job. Then again, you were working with Rumpelstiltskin, so it's no telling what kind of fine print he put into the curse that you cast. Maybe making Emma the savior wasn't the only additive."
Regina glared at Graham. "This time I'll make sure that you stay dead."
"I wouldn't do that. My brother has something very important to you. I'd hate to ensure that she dies for real this time." Graham held up a box, before removing an object from within.
"My mother's heart? Where did you get that?"
"I'm not stupid, Regina. I knew that you were hiding my heart in that mausoleum of yours. I just didn't know how. Not until we found Henry … When he told us how he escaped the mausoleum that your mother was keeping him in, I knew how to get down there. I only guessed that her heart was down there as well. Now," Graham pointed behind Regina.
She turned slightly, as glared at Nikolai took a step out of the darkness, Graham's sword was pressed tightly to Cora's neck.
"Mom." Regina's voice cracked slightly, before turning back to Graham. "Let her go."
Graham shrugged, "Funny thing is, Regina. Your mother can free herself anytime she wants. You know that as well as I do, but my brother here, he gave her the ultimatum that we're going to give you. I don't think she liked it very much."
Regina's eyebrow lifted. "What's that?"
Graham took a step toward her. "Option one; you let Emma go, and we'll release your mother … you can have her heart back to with it what you wish. Though if I were you, I'd put the organ back were it belongs, maybe then your mother might actually care about you. Option two; I crush your mother's heart, and then we kill you … and Emma still goes free. See how one option gives you a happy ending, and the other one just ends with you dead?"
Regina's glare softened lightly. Was Graham right? Was Cora the way she was because she literally didn't have a heart? If that was true, then that meant that her mother would rather die then have Regina put the heart back into her chest. Regina growled, before turning back toward Nikolai and her mother. She made a move toward the both of them.
"You've made your decision." Graham mumbled, assuming that Regina was going to attack his brother, his hand clenched around Cora's heart.
Cora cried out in pain before sinking down to her knees. With her last breath, she whispered, "I'm sorry."
Regina turned back toward Graham, "You killed her!"
"You made the wrong decision if you wanted her to live, Regina."
"I just wanted to talk to her! I just wanted to know why she didn't love me." Regina's resolve. Her anger, fell away, as Regina crumpled to the stone floor. Her knees burned with the contact that they made with the hard surface, but none of that overwhelmed the pain she felt at knowing that her mother was truly gone this time. "How could you?" Regina mumbled.
Graham nodded toward Regina, and Nikolai made a move forward to keep an eye on the mourning woman. Graham then rushed toward Emma and untied the bindings from her arms and legs before pulling her into his arms.
"I love you so much." He whispered, as he placed a kiss to her hair.
"I love you too." Even as she said the words, she couldn't get passed the image of Graham crushing Cora's heart, and watching her fall to the ground. It was all too hard to relive to the time that it was Graham that was collapsing. Soon, Emma was sobbing as everything that had happened came crashing down on top of her.
"Ssh. It's okay, Emma. I'm right here. I'm not going anywhere."