Author's note: Thank you for all the reviews! Unfortunately, they're not enough. I've lost all motivation and have decided to stop writing. So this will be the last ch of Long Gone. So very sorry but it is what it is :(

Chapter 12

"Took you long enough." Regina smiled sardonically. She looked like the epitome of an evil queen, sitting regally in a high backed chair, perfectly poised in a dark gray tank dress and black stilettos. "Not up to your usual standards, I'm afraid."

Emma just stood there, panting. She looked like a complete mess next to Regina, with her dripping wet jacket, mud streaked boots, and stringy hair. Her heartbeat raced in her ears, making her head throb. She'd been imagining this for a while now, and she was painfully aware of how outnumbered she was compared to Regina, despite the fact that there weren't any other people in the room.

"I was beginning to think you weren't going to come for your precious daughter." Regina simpered. "Poor little Scarlett, all alone, thinking that her mommy abandoned her just like how her granny abandoned her mom. My my, what a twisted family you have over there."

"Yeah. Thanks to you." Emma snapped. Her chest rose and fell rapidly. "Where's my daughter?" Her voice was low and dangerous.

"Awww, how cute. All defensive. As if you really cared about her. If you paid closer attention to her, you wouldn't have this problem." Regina sneered.

"Like hell that's true." Emma crossed her arms over her chest. "You manipulated all of this."

"Oh, did I now?" Regina faked a look of innocence. "But I don't have any recollection of ever doing so."

"I'm not here to play games, Regina!" Emma shouted. "Where's my daughter?"

"Somewhere safe, where you can't hurt her anymore."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Poor Scarlett." Regina said, getting up from her chair and pacing the room. "All alone, abandoned by her mommy who's supposed to love her the most. Overlooked, while work was chosen over her. Left alone all by herself. It's a good thing we rescued her when we did."

Emma was too angry to notice that Regina said we. "Rescued her? You kidnapped my daughter!" It was all she could do to stop herself from lunging at the evil queen. She reminded herself that she was horribly overpowered, since Regina had magic.

"Kidnapped?" Regina laughed meanly. "Why, that makes me sound so…evil." She continued to pace. "It's not like I, I don't know, killed Archie to keep you busy while haunting you and making you seem crazy. Oh, wait, that's right. I did." Her bloodred lips curved into a leer.

"Wait. What?" Emma clutched the wall for support, feeling dizzy of a sudden. "That's why you killed him?

"That's right." Regina picked up a mini statue of a glass swan on her fireplace and admired it.

"Why?" That was the one word throbbing through Emma's mind. "Why?"

Regina shrugged casually, as if they were talking about the weather. "I needed someone who had dirt on all the info in town. Someone who wouldn't be missed. Something to keep you occupied. It was rather well executed, I daresay."

"So you, what, killed Archie just to get to me?" Emma asked, stunned. "Why hurt someone innocent?"

"I was bored. It was fun. Do the math." Regina shrugged again.

"Y-you're sick." Emma's fists curled tightly. "Do you even know all the damage you've caused?"

"Me?" Regina placed her hand on her chest, fake offended. "Me." She said, suddenly angry. "How dare you have the nerve to blame me when you're the one who's caused all the trouble?! You ruined my life." Something dark shifted in her eyes as she glared at Emma.

"Still painting yourself as the victim, I see." Emma snapped. "Hasn't it ever occurred to you that everything that's happened was your fault? Henry chose me. Graham chose me. Nobody loves you, Madam Mayor. You're a sick psycho who's incapable of doing anything except hurting the people around you. You say I ruined your life? Well maybe you ruined it all on your own. You certainly can't love and can't expect that people will love you."

"Funny you should say that." Regina rolled her eyes. "I sure do remember those awful words your family said to you. And you thought they loved you." She clucked her tongue fake sympathetically. "Poor little orphan Emma. Unloved by her parents, her husband, and now her kids."

"That's only because you manipulated everything!" Emma roared.

"On the contrary, my dear, all I did was expose their true feelings about you." Regina replied. "I particularly enjoyed the part where even Henry didn't believe you."

Emma didn't say anything, for the evil queen's words had a ring of truth in it.

Regina continued, walking in a slow circle around the seething Emma. "Oh, don't look so sad, dear." She simpered. "I'm sure Scarlett did love you, until you forgot all about her."

"I would never forget my daughter!"

"Just love how you're so sure about that." Regina sneered. "Who was the one who left poor Scarlett all alone in that big apartment? Oh wait. That was you. I'm the one who rescued her, took her home, fed her, made her happy. I make a good mother, if I do say so myself."

"You will never be Scar's mother."

"Au contraire." Regina countered. "Scarlett loves me now. She's even calling me mommy."

Emma's heart broke at the sound of those words. She tried to tell herself that Regina was just bluffing. "That's not true."

"Is it?" Regina waved her hand, and Scarlett appeared. She wore the same nightgown like in Emma's vision back in Granny's.

"Scar!" Emma cried with relief at the sight of her daughter. "Oh, honey. You're ok." She held out her arms for the toddler, just like how she did everyday at home, but to her horror, Scarlett's face darkened at the sight of her mother and turned towards Regina instead, reaching her arms out.

"Mamaaaa!" Scarlett cried, cooing happily as Regina held Emma's daughter close. "I wuv you mama."

"No!" Emma cried as Regina tickled her daughter. "Scarlett!"

"See?" Regina smiled. "Scarlett's forgotten all about you." She set Scarlett down on the floor, and she toddled away without a second glance at Emma.

And just like that, Emma saw red and she lunged straight at Regina. The evil queen, though taken aback at first, recovered nicely and easily threw Emma aside to the floor. She landed with a hard thump on her back near the fireplace. Everything hurt, but years of practice had prepared her for this. She quickly got back up, pulling out her gun and aiming it straight at Regina.

"How stupid." Regina mocked as the two women circled each other. "You think that's going to protect you." With a flick of her hand, the gun disappeared in a puff of purple smoke.

It was very exhausting, fighting against Regina, since she had magic while Emma did not. Emma found herself whirling around in circles and clawing at the air in frustration as Regina disappeared seconds before Emma could hit her.

"Regina!" Emma cried angrily as the evil queen disappeared and reappeared across the room for what felt like the hundredth time. The brunette waved mockingly and then vanished in a puff of purple smoke yet again. "Stop being such a coward and hiding behind your magic!"

"Gladly." Regina said from directly behind Emma as knocked her on the back of her head, hard. Emma fell forwards on her face, her knees slipping on the hard marble floor. Before she could get up again, Regina grabbed her ankle and sent her sliding across the room, slamming into the wall. Emma leaped to her feet, wiping the blood off her busted lip. Regina stood across the room, waving with a smirk on her face. With a guttural growl, she ran straight at Regina again, but the evil queen disappeared and Emma just hit the wall.

"Yoohoo, over here." Regina said from across the room. Yet again, Emma missed her by seconds, hitting the wall.

"Miss me?" Regina snapped as she slammed into Emma from behind again. But this time, Emma was ready as she instinctively elbowed Regina's stomach, spinning around and wrestling her to the ground while punching every bit of the evil queen that she could find, sinking her fist into Regina's stomach repeatedly. She could barely feel Regina's fists hitting her jaw and pulling at her hair so hard it brought tears to her eyes. All she could think about, all she could see as they grappled on the floor was Scarlett. How Scarlett had called Regina mommy. How Scarlett's face had darkened when she saw Emma. How Scarlett, her daughter, had chosen Regina over Emma. Did 2 years of trying so hard to be a good mother mean nothing? For the first time, Emma caught a glimpse of how Regina must've felt when Henry chose her.

Just then, Emma noticed that Regina had stopped struggling. She just lay there, limp on the floor, blood gushing from a broken nose, a dark bruise blooming on her forehead. Emma sat back on her heels, panting. Had she really just won? It felt too easy. Slowly, she got to her feet, noting how everything hurt. Taking one last glance at Regina, who still lay on the floor, she tiptoed towards the hallway. She knew she didn't have much time, since Regina was most likely unconscious, not dead.

As quietly as she could, Emma crept down the dark hallway, checking in each doorway for her daughter. The plan was to grab Scarlett and get the hell out of here. But each room was empty. She quickly reached the end of the hall. There was only one door left. It was closed. Praying hard, she pushed open the heavy wooden door.

Much to her relief, she saw her white nightgowned daughter. But…there were two Scarletts. One wore the white nightgown from earlier and her vision. One wore purple footie pajamas and had her thumb in her mouth. Emma whipped her head back and forth, trying to make sense of this. Two Scarletts?

"Mommy!" The Scarlett in purple footies ran straight towards Emma, unsteady on her little toddler legs, as she reached her arms out for her mother. "Mamaaaa!" She squealed. Emma stared hesitantly. There was something terribly wrong here, but she wasn't sure what. While the purple pajamaed Scarlett continued to reach towards Emma, the one in the white nightgown and headband started crying at the sight of Emma. The purple pajamaed Scarlett reached Emma, hugging her mother around her legs. Emma reached down and picked her up, still staring at the other Scarlett. The Scarlett in her arms smelled exactly like her daughter, a mix of baby powder and Graham's woodsy scent. The other one smelled like rose perfume. And then she knew. The white nightgowned Scarlett was a fake.

"Scar!" Emma buried her face in her daughter's hair, breathing in her familiar scent. Tears of joy rolled down her cheeks as they embraced, Emma completely losing sense of where she was. Standing with her back to the door, she didn't hear the high heeled footsteps behind her until it was too late.

"I'll take her back, thanks." A woman's voice said from the doorway. Emma felt the hair on her back stand up as she spun around in horror. An older looking brunette who looked like Regina stood in the doorway, a cruel smirk on her beautiful face.

"Over my dead body." Emma snapped.

"Well, if that's the case then…" The older woman shrugged.

Shit. I have to get out of here. Emma thought frantically.

Cold fear gripped her body as Emma quickly assessed the situation. There was a small, high window that she could probably shimmy her way out. But she had to keep the woman distracted. She spotted a small wooden chair nearby. That could serve as a weapon, right? All she had to do was throw the chair at the woman and then climb the wall towards the window. While simultaneously keeping her grip on Scarlett.

But before she could put her plan into action, someone stepped into the doorframe. Regina. The bruises had faded and her nose looked new.

"Thought you'd killed me, didn't you?" Regina rolled her eyes. "Stupid, stupid Emma."

Stupid Emma indeed. Emma mentally kicked herself. She was terribly outnumbered, for Regina had magic and the older woman most likely did as well. Emma's eyes jumped from the window to the two women again.

"That's right, dear. There's no way out." The older woman laughed, sounding a hell of a lot like Regina, while Regina smirked and cracked her knuckles. They were advancing on her, dark eyes gleaming with hatred, arms reaching out hungrily for her baby. Emma instinctively held her daughter closer to her. She could feel Scar trembling with fear.

"Regina. Don't do this." Emma begged. "Think about the consequences. Henry will never forgive you."

Something primal and dangerous shifted within the depths of Regina's eyes. "Don't you dare speak to me about Henry!" She screamed, causing Scar to start crying. "You took him away from me! He was my son! And you stole him! Made him hate me!" She lost all control as she pulled on her hair; she looked quite mad. "And you will pay!"

"That's quite enough, dear." The older woman placed her arm on Regina's arm. Regina took a deep breath and seemed to calm down.

Dear? Was that woman Regina's…mother?

"Goodbye, Emma Swan." The older woman said quietly as she and Regina raised their arms at the same time.

Several things happened simultaneously. Emma felt Scar being ripped from her arms as her world began to darken. She struggled to keep her hold on her daughter as white hot pain filled her body, rendering her unable to breath. The last thing she saw before she surrendered to the blackness was Regina and her mother's bone chillingly cruel sneers. And all that was left behind was a leather jacket, fluttering to the floor, staining the once spotless marble floor a deep crimson.

Author's note: APRIL FOOLS! DID U REALLY THINK I WAS GONNA ABANDON THIS AMAZING STORY THAT ALL YOU AMAZING READERS LOVE?! (admit it, for a second there y'all thought i was being serious) REVIEW PLZ! You know you wanna :)