April 30th 2013
George was going through the endless amount of paperwork that seemed to come with being the mayor of Storybrooke. He had sworn to abide by the rules of this world, a promise he was willing to keep until he could bring back the old ways. But on days like today, he was willing to throw his plan into thin air and force the new rules upon the town. How had Regina done it? As much as he hated to admit it, she had made this job look so easy.
He smiled at the thought of Regina. She was finally going to pay for her crimes. Not the one against the people in her Kingdom, he couldn't care less about the countless lives she had destroyed, the homes she had burned, and the children she had orphaned. No, he was only concerned about the crimes she had committed against him. She had cut off all the trade agreements he had spent years forging with Leopold. And she had bankrupted him, causing riots all over his kingdom. And for this she had to pay. The death of the White Princess was only a small price in exchange for Regina's head.
His smile dropped when a purple cloud formed in the middle of his office. Although his new ally had proven to be effective, she was dangerous. Even more so than Regina had ever been. He greeted the woman as soon as the smoke dissipated. "Cora, to what do I owe the pleasure of your visit?"
"Oh, please. Enough with the platitudes. You hate me as much as I hate you." She waved her hand to lock the room and cast a silencing spell. "But this is what makes you the perfect ally."
George nodded. "Your daughter has been arrested, as you predicted." His curiosity got the better of him. "How did you do it?"
Cora smirked. She didn't see any reasons to hide the truth from him. She waved her hand and glamoured herself as Regina. She laughed when the man in front of her jumped out of his chair at the sight of the Evil Queen. She waved her hand to change her appearance back. "I made sure someone saw me enter the bug's office."
"So you framed your own daughter for murder." That thought gave George chills. He had killed for power but he had never destroyed his family in the process, or at least not voluntarily.
"She needs to know where she belongs. The shepherd is only bringing her pain and misery. Once she realizes he doesn't believe her, she'll be heartbroken and ready to listen to me."
"And win you a 'mother of the year' award?" George replied sarcastically. "But why do you need Regina? From what I've witnessed you have enough power to do whatever pleases you in this town."
Cora smiled. This 'King' had no vision; she needed Regina so she could obtain the ultimate power. But the idiot in front of her didn't have to know that. So she offered him what she thought would be the best deal. "Don't you want a Queen whose beauty is unparalleled in all the realms?"
George laugh heartedly, a reaction that surprised Cora. "You… you want me to marry your daughter?" He could barely let the words out in-between laughs. "This has to be a joke."
Cora tried to keep her anger in check. "Surely you could see the advantages of marrying my daughter."
George's laugh subsided; the old witch was actually serious. He knew Cora had disappeared from the Enchanted Forest around the time of Regina's wedding but he had been convinced it was in shame of her daughter's behavior at the court. He should have known better. Cora was not the type of woman to hide in shame; she would have taught her daughter to behave better. "You really don't know, do you?"
"Know what?" Her tone was sharp; she had had her fill of the idiot. She needed Regina to be married long enough to kill the damned fool and take her rightful place as Queen once more.
George gave her a wicked smile. "According to the late King Leopold, your daughter is a lot more troubles than she is worth." He could see the anger emanating from the powerful sorceress in front of him. But in this instant, he didn't care; he was about to inflict pain on another and he rejoiced in the thought. Little did he know Cora herself took great pleasure in torturing her daughter as well. "See… the good thing about the old times was that kings didn't have responsibilities…. The royal counselors were doing most of the day-to-day work..." He looked dejectedly toward the paperwork on his desk. "... leaving the kings free to enjoy the more… subtle pleasures in life." George sat back in his chair, satisfied that the woman in front of him would hang on every single word. "Leopold was a kind king, a people's king… or so he wanted to appear."
"Cut to the chase."
George tsked her and Cora had to summon all of her self-control -the little she had anyway- to not blast him through the wall. "Not so fast, Cora. As I was saying, Leopold enjoyed the pleasures of life. And he came to my Kingdom to get what he couldn't in his marital bed."
Cora's eyes narrowed. "So he was unfaithful?" That was his big secret? That a man cheated on his wife?
George smirked. "Unfaithful, frustrated man tend to make pillow confessions." He watched as Cora's face drained of color. "And Leopold's were very interesting. How he had to force his wife to perform her duty… it was very draining on him." Cora let her mask slipped and George enjoyed watching her squirm inside. He continued. "How she was never ready for him… and how uncomfortable the lack of…. shall we say lubrication… was. How despite his best efforts, she remained barren. How…"
"Stop! I get the picture." Her rage was boiling inside. How had she dared? Cora had sacrificed much to make sure her daughter would ascend to the throne. The only thing Regina had to do was kill that wrenched pest and please her husband. Apparently, her daughter had been unable to do either. Cora sighed. Cora had thought that Regina's marriage to Leopold had been loveless both inside and outside the bedroom. After she had married Henry, Cora had had to beg him for a child and once she had what she had desired, Henry had never laid with her at night again. Cora had thought that Leopold was just uninterested in Regina since he already had an heir. She had been wrong. But since she was unable to conceive, why had Regina taken the infertility potion? What game had she been playing?
Cora was listening to George rumble on with a distracted ear. "So you see, I'm not sure why I would marry your daughter. She has nothing to offer me… although she seemed to have managed to sleep with the shepherd and bear his child. Just not for long."
Cora head snapped to him at his remark. "Bear his child?" That was impossible.
"Yes, until she miscarried." George frowned. Apparently, Cora had no idea why her daughter had been in the hospital. "She miscarried last week. Almost cost her her life." Cora was shaking her head. How had Regina swooped so low? She needed to separate her from the bad influences in her life: first the prince, then her son. George continued. "... not that any of this matter anyway. She'll be dead in the morning…"
"WHAT?!"
George jumped at the scream and swallowed hard before answering the mad woman before him. He could almost see the Evil Queen; apparently, the apple hadn't fallen far from the tree. "Her execution is planned for tomorrow morning."
"This wasn't part of the deal."
George smirked. "And I could never thank you enough for providing me with the opportunity to kill the competition." He walked toward the fuming woman. "And give me my revenge against that stupid shepherd boy!"
Cora summoned a fireball and the mayor visibly flinched. She took some pleasure in seeing the fear in his eyes. But she had to control herself; she still needed the idiot's services… until she could get Regina to stand by her side.
EC
Emma was trying to take long steadying breaths through her nose as she was driving toward Archie's office. She should be thanking whoever was responsible for her bad day for not making it worst. Apparently the good doctor had managed to keep his monster of a dog on a leash. Emma cast a furtive glance into her rearview mirror to study her own monster. She felt uneasy about making a deal with the devil but she definitely needed his help, especially with George and his two hired men breathing down her neck.
She parked in front of the psychiatrist's office and took another deep breath. When Archie had called her this morning, he had been unable to utter more than two comprehensible words in a row. She hadn't been prepared to see her mother lying lifeless on the floor. And she still wasn't prepared to come back to the scene of the crime. They got out of the car.
Her cell phone mercifully brought Emma out of her thoughts. "Hello?" She listened intently to the other man on the other side and try to hide the feeling of dread settling at the pit of her stomach. Mary Margaret's heart had been ripped out and unfortunately there were only two people in Storybrooke capable of such a deed. And she had already established that the one standing next to her at this moment had the perfect alibi. She sighed and walked toward the office.
Joe grabbed her upper arm as she passed him. "What was that about?"
"My plumber about my garbage disposal." Emma hoped the man did not come equipped with a human lie detector. To her relief, Joe seemed to have believed her. He turned his back to her and entered the complex leading to Archie's office.
As she was holding the door for Mr. Gold, Emma noticed the gleam in his eyes. She may have fooled Joe but not Rumplestilskin. He leaned closer to her ear. "Be careful, dearie. The Queen may not be worth all your efforts."
Emma's head snapped. "She is Henry's mother. She is worth more than I can offer her right now." In her anger, she let go of the door and climbed after Joe, leaving Gold to fend for himself. She also ignored the vibration in her pocket, letting her know she had a text message.
As they entered the small office, they found the doctor on the oversized armchair on the far end corner of the room, as far away as possible from the white tape marking the crime scene. Emma advanced toward the man. He had taken Mary Margaret's death very hard and she hated to have to ask him more questions. "I'm sorry to bother you again. But I was…." How was she going to phrase this? May we borrow your dog so we can ask him a few questions? He would think her insane. Hell, she even considered herself insane sometimes… ever since she had come to this town. He may not consider her insane after all; the man was used to magic. "I was wondering if we could use a dreamcatcher on Pongo?"
If the man had been surprised by her question, he didn't let it show. He simply nodded and motioned toward the general area where the dog was napping. Joe walked toward the dog, who woke in a start. Pongo growled at the intruder and the man took a step back. Emma could not help the light chuckle. "Dogs have an extremely keen sense. And this one doesn't like you much."
Joe could have killed her with his look. "Get it done, Sheriff." Emma turned to Rumplestiltskin but the deputy stopped them. "Wait! We can't trust him. How are we going to know that he is not tampering with this?"
Mr. Gold smiled. "I have no reasons to. I have no love for Regina and therefore, no reasons to protect her. Not after what she has done to Belle. And if there is another powerful dark magic practitioner in town, I want to know."
Joe and Emma considered his position for a minute. She didn't like either alternative but Gold had a point. "Get on with it!"
Gold nodded and waved his hand over the dreamcatcher. He then placed it on top of Pongo's head and they all watched in horror as Regina plunged her hand in Mary Margaret's chest and crushed her heart. When the memory stopped, Joe couldn't help the smile on his face. "More proof! The Queen is guilty and she needs to be taken care of immediately."
Emma was still recovering from what she had just saw and didn't act in time to prevent the deputy from slipping past her toward the open door. Once the words reached her foggy mind, it was too late to try to catch up with him. She was proven right in the next instant when she heard the car start in a screech. She turned to Gold. "Can you get us to the station? Now!"
"Our deal is done. Whatever happens to Regina is out of my hands!"
Emma grunted as she pulled her phone out of her pocket. If she could warn her father, he may be able to stop Joe long enough for her to reach the station. Her heart stopped when she looked at the text message flashing across her locked screen. 'Got a call. Old lady trapped on property. Left with Frank.' Emma tried to impress the urgency of the situation on the man in front of her. "Gold, now!"
Gold was staring at the dreamcatcher in his hand. The images he had seen didn't add up in his mind. Although he believed Regina to be capable of lying about the extent of her injury, she wouldn't be able to fool a dog. The images had been shaky, as if the dog had been barking at Regina in the same way Pongo had just barked at the deputy. But Pongo was familiar with Regina and if he wasn't mistaken -and he rarely was- the dog was actually fond of the former Queen. He wouldn't have barked at her. Gold settled his eyes on the sheriff. Emma was right, somebody had glamoured themselves to look like Regina and had ripped Snow White's heart. He knew of only one person besides Regina powerful enough to keep the glamour spell in place while ripping out a heart: Cora. Shivers ran down his spine.
Cora was far more dangerous than Regina, even at the height of her craziness as the Evil Queen. She was also more powerful than her daughter. In fact, she was powerful enough to almost defeat him during their last encounter. And once Cora was done with her own daughter, she would come after him and those he held dear to his black heart. Unlike the fools in this town, she was not confined to the city limits and she would stopped at nothing if it meant plunging a figurative dagger to his heart before using his physical one. She would kill Belle, and once she would find him, his son.
As much as it pained him to admit this weakness, he needed Emma Swan. He needed her to find his son in the large world outside of Storybrooke. She had made a deal and his next decision would not affect that outcome. But most importantly, he needed Regina. He needed the extra boost of magic to defeat Cora and Regina's magic would do nicely. The Savior may be more powerful but she was also untrained and therefore, useless in the short term. So he couldn't let Regina die. Besides, it would be faster if he didn't have to take a reluctant Savior on this trip. And time was of the essence. He snapped his fingers and a purple cloud engulfed the both of them.
They reappeared a few seconds later inside the Sheriff's station. In the short amount of time it had taken for Gold to make up his mind, all hell had broken loose inside the station. Joe was pointing his gun directly at a very frightened Regina, who was backing toward the far wall of her cell. "This is all you deserve! And now we will get justice!"
Emma heard the security click and drew her own gun. "Put it down! Now!" But Joe ignored her and kept advancing toward Regina. The former queen had nowhere to go and Emma was afraid she would use magic to defend herself. It would be a bloodbath. "Joe, put your gun down. Don't force her into a corner! Don't force her to use magic!"
Emma looked toward Gold, who was studying Regina intently. "Miss Swan, I don't think our dear Regina is in any shape to use magic."
Emma could not decide whether this information was helpful. She could not let Joe kill Regina, for the sakes of both her son and her father. "Joe, step down. That's an order." But the man was too wrapped up in his own thirst for revenge to listen. As Regina collapsed to the ground, Emma clicked the security of her own gun off and prepared to pull the trigger.
Regina was panting hard against the wall, tears of pain and confusion flowing down her cheeks. The man had woken her up with a loud bang against the jail's bars and had forced her to her knees, ready to execute her on the spot. Her thoughts had been scrambled from the pain medication but she had been lucid enough to look for David. The deputy had sneered down at her, taking great pleasure in telling her David had abandoned her after finding the last proof of her culpability. Regina had swallowed hard and had closed her eyes, readying herself for the inevitable shot to the head. But Gold and Emma's arrival had surprised her executioner and she had managed to slip away from him temporarily.
As the crazed man approached her, Regina tried to summon her magic to no avail. She wasn't strong enough to create a fireball. Random thoughts crossed her mind, including memories of Henry, her father, and David. She wanted to feel safe. The image of her vault flashed in her mind and a purple cloud engulfed her, to everyone's surprise.
ECECEC
February 13th 2013
Regina was sitting on her jail's bunk, vigorously scrubbing her right palm in the hopes of removing the mark Rumplestiltskin had branded her with. The exercise may be futile, but at least it gave her something to do. And anything was better than to wait for death to come claim her in one of the most frightening way. The wraith would suck her soul -the little of what was left of it - stripping away her memories and her identity until she collapsed.
She jumped when she heard the footsteps inside the sheriff's station. She silently admonished herself: a wraith wouldn't walked. Whoever this was, it was human, and therefore, something she could handle. Dread filled her as she looked around her cell. Ordinarily, she would have the upper hand with magic but in this cell, she was as good as dead if her visitor was inclined to kill her. She swallowed hard and stood, slipping her mask in place. Whoever this was, she would not let them see her fear.
She almost choked from relief at the sight of David. She stepped toward the bars, holding the Prince's gaze. Regina smirked. "This looks familiar." He had also visited her the last time they had captured her before her banishment. "And you didn't bring your wife either this time around." She tsked him. "Secrets don't make for a good marriage, dear."
"And what would you know of a good marriage, Regina? You killed your husband. Why? Was the King too kind to you?" In the split second following his statement, he saw Regina flinched. Although she recomposed herself quickly, he was sure he had seen fear in her eyes.
"What do you want?" Her tone was venomous; she had no intentions on reliving the past. "Here to put me to death again? What would it be this time: burn me at the stake, flog me, or just bore me to death with your hope speeches?"
David studied the woman in front of him. He had memories of the Evil Queen and he knew perfectly what she was capable of. But he also had memories of Regina, the mayor of Storybrooke and Henry's mother. "Henry."
The name seemed to calm her down. "What about my son?" She was worried for his safety; she didn't know if the townspeople would try to hurt him because of her.
"I don't want him to suffer any more than he already has." Regina felt her heart constrict. She loved Henry and she would never hurt him. The Prince's implications were slowly tearing her heart apart. David took a shaky breath. "I don't want Snow to suffer either." He waited until he was sure he had her full attention. "About that night…."
Regina visibly shivered. She wanted to forget about that night and the memories it had brought back. She had been so blind in her revenge that she had forgotten the effect it would have on her. "You don't want me to tell your precious princess that you fucked the Evil Queen?"
The choice of word shocked him. Regina or the Queen had always been more eloquent. Something was frightening her and the charming side of him wanted to help her. But he had to think of his family first. "No, I don't want you to. And I decided to wait until things settle to tell her myself."
Regina was surprised by his honesty. "And you think she will forgive you?" David didn't reply. "And why shouldn't I tell her that I took her husband to bed?"
"Because you didn't. You took David Nolan, and he didn't know who you were."
"Doesn't matter, dear."
"It does, Regina." He walked toward her cell, stopping close enough for her to touch him. "Because I would never have slept with you."
Regina laughed. "Do you know how many men have said the exact same words before I took them to my bedchamber?"
David shook his head; somehow he knew she was lying. "You didn't want it, Regina. And unlike the personality you gave me, I would have stopped the first time you tensed in my arms." Regina's mouth opened against her will. David continued. "I have been thinking about that night and why you were so afraid…. But you gave me my answer a few minutes ago…. Leopold." Regina was about to protest but he silenced her by raising his index finger. "I will keep your secret… whatever that may be."
Regina felt the familiar fear in the pit of her stomach rising every time she had made a deal. "In exchange of keeping yours?"
David shook his head one more time. The woman could not recognize an act of mercy when it was presented to her. "No. As I said, I will tell Snow…. I don't want you to tell her because I don't want you to have to relive it." Regina gasped in surprise. "You and I both know that Snow will be angry and hurt. But keeping this secret from her will hurt more once she discovers the truth. You and I both know that secrets have tendency to come to the surface… But you also got hurt in the process… It's time to stop, Regina. And I'm offering you a chance to not hurt yourself pointlessly."
Regina felt the anger rising in her chest, his condescending tone adding to her fury. "I don't need your help, Shepherd. I am NOT weak."
David tried to grab her hand but she jerked it away at the last minute. "I never said you were weak, Regina. But you are self-destructive. And as I said, I don't want Henry to suffer uselessly. I don't want him to witness his mother destroy herself."
Regina gasped, her anger evaporating at the mention of her son. But all this did not matter anyway. She would be dead in the next few hours. "Get out!"
David sighed. "Not this time, Regina. Not until I know you are fine." David reached for her hand one more time. This time, she didn't pull away. He rubbed his thumb over the back of her hand. "Did I hurt you?"
Tears were spilling uncontrollably down her cheeks. She shook her head. "No… I… I just can't.." She choked on the last few words. How could this man make her feel so weak, so disgusted with herself? She wrenched her hand away from him. "Get out! Get out, now!" She raised her head and David could see the unbridled anger flashing in her eyes. "I don't want your kindness… I don't want your promises… I don't want your pity."
David closed his eyes and took a breath. The woman was infuriating; there was no point in reasoning with her when she was in that state. He had learned that lesson the last time he had visited her in a prison cell. He turned his back to her and left the station silently. He waited outside long enough to hear the frustrated, anguished screams from the woman inside. Henry and Snow were wrong; there was nothing left to save.
Regina collapsed on the bunk and raised her knees to her chest. She let herself cry, images of the night flashing in her mind. But these memories were mingled with those of the King and all she could feel was the scorching heat of their kisses, the hands restraining her wrists, the burning invasion in her core, and their seeds gushing like hot lava inside her womb. She collapsed on the bed in a fetal position, trying to take deep breaths through her nose.
As her mind cleared, she was able to focus on the night she had spent with David. It had been over two weeks ago and so much had happened since then. The curse had broken and she had lost her son. Time was moving forward again. She frowned. Time had started to move forward when Miss Swan had arrived in town. She had cursed the damned Savior the first month she had had her periods. She hadn't missed the bloating and the cramps that had come with that time of the month. It had always been difficult for her: the physical pain as well as the knowledge that she had failed once again in her wifely duties and that she would be marched to the King's chambers once the bleeding stopped. She had allowed herself to cry in much the same way she had always cried on the first day of the month. Even after the King's death, she had never broken from this painful ritual. A feeling of dread settled in her stomach as she tried to remember the last time. It had been shortly after Kathryn had been found. That was over a month ago. She gasped as uncontrollable shivers seized her body.