Author's note: Thanks for all the reviews!
Chapter 10
"Mom. What's going on?" Henry asked for about the fiftieth time. They were sitting in her yellow bug.
Emma ignored him, glaring straight ahead at the mostly empty road.
"Mom." Henry insisted. "Tell me what's going on. Where are we going?"
"Granny's." Emma muttered.
Henry breathed a sigh of relief. For a second there, he'd thought they were leaving town. "But why? Where's Scar?" He looked around, as if expecting his sister to be sitting in the backseat.
Emma didn't answer. Her face tensed.
"Mom. Where's Scar?" He asked again. "What were you and Graham fighting about? What were you looking for?" He pressed. "I wanna know what's going on."
"Henry, shut up!" Emma shouted. Henry immediately shrank back in his seat. Usually he'd continue to pester her for details, but he was smart enough to know that now was not the time.
They arrived at Granny's several minutes later. Emma dragged her suitcase inside and asked for a room, Henry following behind. She stomped past Granny and Ruby, who cast Henry looks of confusion.
"What's going on?" Ruby mouthed.
"No clue." Henry shrugged. He quickened his pace to catch up to his mother.
Emma dumped her bags into a corner and then slammed the door to the bathroom. Henry pressed his ear against the door. He heard the water run, and then something that sounded like…crying?
He knocked on the door. "Mom? Are you ok?"
There was a sniffle, the water shut off, and the door swung open. Other than her slightly red eyes, Emma looked fine.
"Yep." She said, trying for a casual tone. But Henry could tell that she was trembling slightly. "Go to bed, kid."
Henry slowly sat down on one of the twin beds, feeling the weight of the day's events crashing down. What had happened? All he'd heard was Emma and Graham yell at each other about something to do with Scarlett and Regina. From what he could discern, Scarlett had somehow disappeared and it something to do with the Evil Queen. But how was that possible?
He knew he had to find out what happened. But how, when it was evident that his parents weren't going to tell him anything?
~Long Gone~
Emma hit print on the Missing poster. Closing her laptop, she placed her head in her hands, stifling a yawn. Last night had been the worst night of her life, even worse than her very first night in jail all those years ago. She'd tossed and turned for hours, plagued with nightmares of the potential things Regina could be doing to Scarlett. All she wanted was to hunt down the Evil Queen, but she had no way of figuring out where she was, especially since she had magic.
Above all, she couldn't believe what'd happened with Graham. I fucking believed him when he was talking nonsense about all of the heart crap. She thought bitterly, crumbling up little bits of paper. Agreed to trust each other my ass!
The printer stopped humming. Emma threw aside her paper balls and stood up, grabbing the sheaf of papers off the tray. She planned to put up these posters all over town, on the off chance that Regina hadn't taken Scarlett. Besides, she knew that once people found out Scarlett was gone, they'd automatically expect Missing posters. She had to keep up appearances. Based on how Graham had reacted, she knew she couldn't tell anyone about Regina until she had some solid evidence.
Just then, there were footsteps. Emma looked up to see Graham coming in. Based on his disheveled appearance, it was painfully obvious that he hadn't gotten much sleep either.
"Oh." He stopped short. "I-I thought there was no one here."
"You thought wrong." Emma crossed her arms over her chest. "What are you doing here?"
"Last time I checked, I still worked here." He said.
"It's Sunday."
"I came to make some posters." He nodded at the sheaf of papers in her arms. "Looks like you beat me to it."
'"Right…" She looked unconvinced. "What are you really doing here?"
"I told you. Posters."
"Uh-huh." She rolled her eyes. "Which you couldn't have done from the apartment, right?"
"It's not my fault you broke the printer." He countered, immediately regretting it.
Emma's face hardened and she looked away. There was a long, awkward silence.
"Look. I didn't come here to pick a fight." Graham said finally.
"Could've fooled me." Emma retorted.
"I came here to apologize."
"Why?" She snapped. "You obviously don't think you did anything wrong. You think I'm just a crazy psycho who was stupid enough to lose her daughter."
"No, Em. That's not what I said." He ran his fingers through his hair, seemingly at a loss for words. "Look, we need to put this behind us if we wanna find Scar."
"Put what?"
"This." Graham gestured wildly. "All of this arguing."
"Well that's gonna be a little difficult. Since you refuse to believe me!" Emma shouted.
Graham couldn't help himself. "That's because it's crazy talk. Regina back? That's impossible."
"No. It's not. I saw her. I saw her with my own eyes."
"We agreed that the fever…"
"No, you agreed." She jabbed a finger at him. "I didn't say anything at all."
Graham sighed heavily. "You're being ridiculous." He hated the next words he was about to say, but felt powerless to stop them. "You're just too scared to admit that you were irresponsible enough to lose our daughter that you blame your delusions."
The next thing he knew, Emma's palm hit his cheek with a loud smack. "Go to hell." She spat, her eyes shining with unshed tears. "I don't want to see you again. You're never coming near Henry anymore."
Graham could tell he'd gone too far. "Em…" He said, stepping forward, starting to apologize, but she shoved him away. Hard.
"I want you gone." Her voice had gone dangerously low. "Out of my life. I'll be back later for my things." She started to walk away, out of the office, posters in hand. She stopped at the door, looking back. "Oh, and if it's not clear, you're fired."
~Long Gone~
"Mamaaaa…" Came a voice. Emma immediately shot up. Was it just her imagination, or did that sound a lot like…
"Mommmyyyy." The voice said again. "Mamaaaa."
Emma scanned the room, pitch dark save for the sliver of moonlight coming from the window. "Scarlett?" She called out tentatively, trying not to wake up Henry, who snored softly from the adjacent bed.
"Mommmyyyy." Scarlett said. "Come play wif me." She stood in a corner of the room, illuminated by the moonlight. Her teddy bear was clutched under her arm, and she was sucking her thumb. Her dark curls had been pulled back by a red satin headband. That, coupled with the long white nightgown she wore, made her look downright eerie. That doll like ensemble was a far cry from her usual footie pajamas.
"Scar! Oh my God, Scarlett!" Emma shot out of bed. In seconds, she'd launched herself across the room. "Are you ok? Are you hurt?" She cradled her daughter in her arms, planting kisses along her dark curls. "I love you so much, Scarlett. Mommy's so sorry." She squeezed her tightly.
Tears of relief flowed down her cheeks. She had no idea how Scarlett had gotten here, let alone knew that she wasn't living home, er, the apartment anymore. But who cared? All that mattered in that moment was that she had her precious baby girl back.
She pressed her nose to her daughter's curls and breathed in her daughter's fresh baby powder scent, savoring the feel of her baby in her arms. Dimly, Emma registered that Scarlett smelled more like rose than baby powder. But that was probably due to Regina. But wait. Since when did Scarlett have short, choppy hair?
With a sinking realization, she realized what happened. Emma slowly backed away, her tears immediately disappearing. She looked down at her daughter, and sure enough, Regina's cruel face smirked back at her, her head where Scarlett's should've been.
She let out a blood curling scream. "What did you do to my daughter?!" Emma cried. She wanted to back away, get away from Regina, but she felt paralyzed, like she was rooted to the spot.
"Come and find us." Regina's black eyes gleamed with maliciousness, and her bloodred lips curled into a bone chilling sneer. With that, she was gone in a puff of purple smoke.
"No! Come back!" She cried, clawing uselessly at the air. They were gone. Again. "Nooo!" She started pounding the wall with her fists, hoping that somehow, doing so would bring back her daughter.
"Mom?" Came a sleepy voice. Crap. It was Henry. Emma immediately swallowed back a sob and stood up, wiping her face on her sleeve.
"A-are you ok?" He sat up, reaching over to click on a lamp, bathing the room in a golden glow. His hair stood up messily in various places.
"I'm fine." Emma nodded briskly. "Just…looking for something." She groped along the floor, holding up a stray bobby pin. "Found it."
But Henry didn't look convinced. "In the middle of the night?"
Emma shrugged. "Go back to bed, kid."
"It sounded like you were talking to someone." Henry commented. Damn him and his observant nature.
"No, I wasn't." She said, but it came out a lot more forcefully than she intended, basically proving otherwise.
"Were you talking to Regina? Did you see her again?" Henry questioned. "What did she say?"
Emma pressed her fingers to her temples. "God, enough with the questions. Look, it's been a long day. Can we just go to bed?"
"Not till we talk about this." Henry insisted. "I thought the hallucinations were a result from the fever. Are you still sick? Should I call Graham?"
And those were exactly the wrong words, for Emma finally snapped. "They weren't hallucinations!" She shouted. Then stopped, realizing that she'd just screamed at her son. But she was far too angry, grief struck, and confused to stop. "Look, you of all people should believe me."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Henry was confused.
"I mean, you were the one who ran around yakking about fairy tales from a stupid book." She snapped. Then immediately regretted it, for a hurt look had crossed Henry's face.
"They were true." He said slowly, looking down. "You know that."
"Yeah, but…ugh, that's not the point here." Emma said, flustered. "Look. People thought you were crazy when you were actually telling the truth. Now the same thing is happening to me." She placed her hands on her son's shoulders. "Regina is back, Henry. You have to believe me."
But her words had the opposite effect, for her son just backed away from her, against the wall. "Graham was right. You are…never mind." He shook his head, not wanting to invoke his mother's wrath, but it was too late."
"No, tell me." Emma could feel herself growing angry again. "Tell me what Graham said. I would just love to know what that bastard said behind my back."
"H-he said that you're really stressed. That you've been really preoccupied with the whole Archie thing lately. And that you forgot Scar. Mom, how could you do that? She's just a baby."
Emma laughed dryly. "Wow. So my own son thinks I'm crazy too." She shook her head with disbelief. "Nobody believes me. Everyone thinks I caused my daughter's disappearance. That it's my fault she was just snatched out of her crib."
"I didn't say…" Henry protested.
"Regina's back." Emma insisted. "I saw her with my own eyes. You have to believe me. I've never lied to you, Henry." She hated how her voice took on a pleading tone, but she couldn't help it. "I don't know how, but I sure as hell know why she's back. And she took Scarlett."
But seeing the disbelief in her son's eyes, she just deflated. "You know what? I can't do this anymore. Can't stand trying to convince my kid that I'm not crazy." Grabbing her jacket, she strode out of the room.
~Long Gone~
Regina laughed openly as she watched, binoculars pressed to her eyes, from her vantage point, high up in a tree next to Emma and Henry's room at Granny's. Emma was close to breaking. She'd lost, in a sense, the majority of her family.
Nothing more than what I've lost Regina thought bitterly as Emma argued with Henry. At the heartbroken look on Emma's face as she realized that even Henry didn't believe her, Regina almost felt bad. Nobody deserved to have their kids ripped away so heartlessly, and she knew that the awful way in which she and Cora had hatched up to steal Scarlett was especially cruel. She, above all people, knew the pain it caused when your kids were stolen away and turned against you.
But she deserves it. Regina thought with renewed purpose as Emma placed her hands on Henry's shoulders. That is my son. My son she took away from me. And I will never forget that. She flushed with red hot anger as she remembered the first day Emma showed up in town. The threat she posed to Regina's perfectly crafted new life. How, little by little, she'd won over Henry. How stupid Regina was to think that ten years of hard work, ten years of motherhood, would be enough to keep her son from turning against her. How stupid she'd been, underestimating the power of blood. It wasn't fair, what Emma had done. Regina was Henry's mother. Emma had given up her rights to her son when she'd given him up for adoption, and that little bitch couldn't just waltz in, play the birth mother card, and walk away completely unscathed. Never mind the fact that Regina hadn't exactly been the most loving mother to Henry. But how could she, when her example to look up to had been Cora? All it mattered was that she'd tried her hardest.
She reminded herself that Emma was just getting everything she deserved for destroying Regina's life. Taking away everything she loved. She didn't touch on the fact that it hadn't been Emma's fault that Daniel was dead, but Cora's.
And there was the whole thing with Graham. Yes, Regina hadn't loved him. In fact, he was noting more than a distraction and a hot body. A toy. But like Henry, he'd been hers. Emma had no right to take them both away. Take away the two things that kept her from living on the brink of loneliness.
She was so grateful that she had her mother back. At first, it had been a bit unnerving. Despite Cora's insistence that she'd changed, Regina couldn't just erase years and years of harsh memories. Memories of her mother ordering her around, forcing her into things she didn't even want to do. If it hadn't been for her father, Regina probably would've run away or killed herself ages ago. The one saving grace had been riding, and of course Daniel. But all that had been taken away. She closed her eyes as she remembered walking in the forest with Cora, after they'd escaped from that horrible pit.
"The first thing we need to do is figure out a way to get back to your Storybrooke." Cora said as they materialized in the forest in a puff of purple smoke.
"How?" Regina asked harshly as she dusted off her clothes, adjusting to her surroundings. She'd forgotten how dizzying it was to travel by magic. "I don't have magic anymore."
"I still have magic." Cora pointed out. "I could give you some."
"Still, what good is that gonna do?" Regina sank down onto a stray stump, feeling suddenly hopeless. She placed her head in her hands. "How are we gonna get back? It's not like we can just create a portal." Regina sighed heavily. Her and her mother's vast knowledge of spells wasn't enough, for portals couldn't just be created via magic. One needed a certain, special mixture of ingredients to create a portal. Ingredients that were by no means easy to obtain: old portals and something powerful to restore what was lost.
"We'll find a way." Cora promised, placing an arm around her daughter. "I promise."
And find a way they did. The first thing they needed to do was to gather all the materials needed to create a portal. They tried to locate past, broken portals, which could be fixed up and reused. But Jefferson's hat, the obvious choice, had disappeared. Probably burned by Mulan and the other freaks. No matter how much they searched and searched for it, there was no doubt that it was gone.
"All right, let's think about this." Cora said. "What other portals, past or present, do we know of?"
"There are none." Regina said bitterly. She hated this useless feeling. While her mother was out interrogating others to find the whereabouts of the hat, probably ripping out hearts in the process, Regina was stuck behind in hiding, for she had no magic to protect herself. Cora's attempts to transfer some magic to her daughter had failed and no matter how hard Regina tried, she just couldn't do it anymore.
"Think." Cora urged. "There has to be something. Didn't you say that the savior escaped your curse? How?"
Regina searched her mind. She'd known that Emma had traveled through a portal moments before the curse hit. But how? She thought about the conversations she'd overheard back in Storybrooke. Didn't it have something to do with a…
"Wardrobe." Regina muttered. "That's it! Wardrobe! Emma traveled through a wardrobe." She wrinkled her nose at Emma's name.
Cora looked pleased. "Now all we have to do is figure out where it is."
Regina smiled slowly. "I know just the place."
After that, everything came easily. Regina took extra pleasure in seeing the wreckage that was Snow White's castle. It reminded her of everything she'd worked so hard for. They found the wardrobe, and with a flick of her hand, Cora reduced it to ashes, for it would make it easier to transport.
The next step was to travel to Lake Nostos. Though it was dry, Cora easily fixed that. Soon, the lake was back, brimming with water. Water that would take them back to Storybrooke.
Regina watched as Cora slowly poured the ashes into the swirling lake. She could feel her heart pounding with anticipation. With every passing second, they were steps closer to Storybrooke. To sweet, sweet revenge. Sure, they didn't know exactly what their revenge plan would be yet. But that would only take time. Time that they were willing to spend to ensure Emma got everything she deserved.
"Last step." Cora said. "We need to conjure up the portal now that we have all the necessary ingredients." She held up her hands, but Regina stopped her.
"Let me try." Regina said all of a sudden.
"Sweetie, are you sure?" Cora looked at her daughter in surprise. "You remember the last time you tried?"
"Yes, mother." Regina said firmly. "I think I can do this."
Cora stepped back from the lake. "Then by all means, go ahead."
Regina raised her hands. Her mother and Rumpelstilskin had always said that magic came from emotion. She closed her hands, channeling all of her emotions into her hands. She remembered what it had felt like the first day she'd seen Emma Swan in town, bringing back her son. The explosive anger as Emma slowly won over her son and stole him away. The horrible loneliness in her pit of her stomach as she watched Emma and Henry embrace in the hospital that day the curse broke, as all of her hard work came crashing down around her. The moment she realized that no matter how hard she tried, she would never ever have anyone. That she would be alone for the rest of her life.
And just like that, a swirling portal appeared. Regina opened her eyes and smiled in satisfaction. It was just like she'd never lost her magic.
"Nice job." Cora said, hugging her daughter. "Ready to go?"
As Regina gripped her mother's hand and stepped into that portal, she could practically taste the satisfaction of revenge. And it tasted damn sweet.
The next and final step in her grand master plan was approaching. But first, Regina had to drive Emma's parents out of her life. The two idiots were the last people left in Emma's life. But that would be easy enough.
She cackled loudly as Emma stormed loudly out of the room. Soon, that evil bitch would have everything she deserved.
Author's note: Well, you're welcome for such a long ch. Hope you enjoyed it! You know what to do. Hint: it starts with r and ends with -eview!