A/N: I can't express my apologies for how long this chapter took to come out. This was a very hard chapter to write, and I've been going through a great deal of financial and family health related issues at the same time, so working on it became increasingly difficult. But you all have been so wonderful, continuing to offer me kind and positive words and reviews and follows and favorites and in general being so amazingly understanding about it. Thank you for that; it is greatly appreciated.
That said, the chapter is finally here, and a good 1500 words longer than originally intended!
My lovely beta Luthor informs me that I would be remiss in not suggesting you get some tissues ready. Enjoy, and by all means drop me a line if you're so inclined. I can't promise I'll respond with any swiftness, but your opinions are always appreciated.
I can also be found on tumblr as standbackufools if you like, though my replies there will likely not be any faster.
Thank you for everything
~M
Disclaimer: I still own nothing but the universe.
Trigger warnings: Torture and Death
...
Chapter XVII: If You Want My Love...
Spattered in mud and dried blood and more things he didn't want to think about, an incredibly weary Henry made his way down the drainage ditch. His progress was slow- the drain was uneven, and at times he was only barely able to squeeze his body along its length. He'd been shoved in feet-first, which helped matters little, and the only progress he could make was by scooting forward, pushing back on the slick stones with his hands.
He had no idea how long it had been since Emma had shoved him down here. Long enough that the air within the ditch was finally beginning to be less fetid. He almost he could feel a breeze, every once in a while. When he craned his neck to peer over his feet, he even thought he could make out the faint outline of trees. But his vision was swimming, deceptive; the physical pricks and holes sustained by the needles in that torture room may have mostly healed, but he had still been drained of quite a bit of his blood.
After what seemed like hours, his feet finally skidded on the stones beneath him. He kicked out, trying to regain his footing, but his legs hit only open air. The eight-year old spilled out of the drain like the blood than ran beneath him, falling into the faded rays of daylight just before sunset. Hissing as the sun's rays cast over his weakened body, he could only barely see the slight smoke that rose from his skin. He tried to find his footing, but stumbled, falling gracelessly down the end of the ditch. He was too weak, had lost too much blood for sun exposure.
Rolling to a stop, Henry pushed himself forward, clawing his way in any direction that was away from the Hive. Away from the pain and the blood and the death. Away from his grandmother. Finding a shadow large enough to keep most of the sun away from his skin, he closed his eyes and rolled into a ball, hoping somehow that if he made himself as small as possible, the pain would no longer find him. It was ridiculous and he knew it, but he was beyond exhausted, too tired and far too young to do anything more than curl up and cry. He wanted his Mom to come wrap him in her arms and kiss away his tears as she had when he was tiny. But she was inside, being tortured, and he had no idea if he'd ever see her again. The thought made him whimper.
A sudden force knocked into his shoulder, and he gasped at the shock of it, cringing a moment later when the motion caused his face to slip out of the shadow and into the sun. He screeched, drawing back in on himself. Only after he'd finished screaming could he hear the worried-sounding whine coming from directly in front of him.
Uncertainly, his eyes blinked open, dizzily taking in the black form casting the shadow he was hiding in. The immense wolf pawed at his shoulder again, another whine sounding from the back of its throat. With a gasping intake of breath, Henry's eyes opened wide, taking in the wolf and trying, unsuccessfully, to back away. The wolf whined at him again, bending down to nuzzle lightly over his hair.
"Ruby...?"
The wolf yapped happily in the affirmative.
With a ragged, chocking sigh of relief, Henry crumpled forward against the wolf, tangled his fingers in her fur and promptly began to sob. He felt more than heard the answering whine of understanding, relaxing as teeth clamped into the remains of his shirt, lifting the eight-year old off the ground as if he weighed nothing. Still crying, Henry wrapped his arms about the underside of Ruby's thick neck, and held on as she carried him backwards up the hill, keeping him in her shadow all the while.
...
Inside
...Drip.
...Drop.
For long, sickening moments, the only motion apart from the machines were the plinks of congealing gore as drops fell sluggishly from various low points of Emma's body.
As her eyes slid to Regina and the hungry-looking needles piercing her body, a low cry ripped itself out of Emma's throat. She felt her body wrench, half-stepping to the side in an uncontrollable convulsion, watching as the tubes attached to her Queen still funneled blood in small doses to their collecting jars, sparking with small twitches of electricity. With a snarl, Emma stepped fully into the room, her gaze darting around to take stock of any other threats. Only the shocked-looking Victor, his fingers twitching nervously beside one of the many machines still chugging merrily away. He looked ready to bolt. Decision made, he tried it. Emma's gun swerved imperceptibly fast in his direction, a shot blasting through the room. A glass globe shattered in a spratter of shards and sparks, the machinery within screeching to a stop. Beneath the spray, Victor fell to the floor, still and unmoving. Emma did not have to look to see the blood beginning to pool beneath him. Her eyes were riveted to Cora, to the gleaming knife in her hand, and to the figure staked with silver to the table.
Regina lay completely still, the slight shifting of her eyes the only evidence that she still lived. Her skin was far too pale and wan for Emma's liking, her body looking small and fragile beneath the weight of all the needles. Her lips parted in a slight smile, despite the obvious agony she must be in. Wordlessly, her lips made the shapes of Emma's name. Then, a low, almost hissing, more like an over boiled teakettle than anything that normally came from between lips.
"Miss Swan," Regina's voice was ragged and quiet- the suave, sultry undertones almost completely screamed away. Still, Emma could swear she still heard the smile behind it, and she realized that the hissing was Regina trying to laugh. "What took you so long?"
A sigh of relief burst out of the Hunter, a smile teasing at the corners of her lips. Regina was still able to snark. It was reassurance enough to allow Emma to stop herself from running over to her Queen's side, but only just. "Sorry, your Majesty." Her grip tightened on the handle of her gun, the glare that she turned on Cora the most ferocious she could muster. "I had to take care of a few things."
Cora was staring at the wash of red spreading slowly out from beneath Victor's body. "Pity," she murmured, just loud enough for Emma to hear. Sighing as if at the waste of good blood, the older vampire's attention moved back to Regina. "Really, my dear?" she asked her daughter, incredulity in her eyes. The knife waved casually before once more digging slightly into Regina's throat. "You expect your pet human to be your big salvation? You've become even more pathetic than I'd thought." None of her words were directed at Emma, of course. The human was only just barely above being beneath her notice.
Emma's gun hand did not waver, but that knife so close to Regina's throat gave her pause. Any other time, it wouldn't have been much of a threat at all. But Regina was weak. The large glass collectors at the end of the tubes that sprouted from the needles imbedded within her were nearly completely filled with dark, viscous blood. From the looks of it, she'd been almost completely drained. The fact that her Queen was still conscious, much less speaking at all, was impressive. Emma didn't know what losing any more blood would do to her, but she didn't like the odds. Her best chance was to keep that knife away, which meant drawing Cora's attention. Emma smirked. She could do that. "Not even you can outrun a bullet, Lady."
Cora still ignored her, her head tipping slightly back, both sets of fangs visible as her mouth opened. Her eyes flashed like a strobe light; completely black and then back to normal. Emma had seen that done before, and inwardly cursed. Cora was summoning her progeny. "I'll leave my swarm to deal with your pet, Regina," she smiled.
"Yeah, I don't think you'll find many in a state to answer you," Emma shrugged. "Most of them are puddles right now."
That, finally, warranted Cora's attention, and dark eyes flicked uncertainly to the blood-soaked blonde.
Emma's smirk grew. "Like I said: there were some things I had to take care of." The last was said more to Regina, offering a silent apology for having taken so long.
Dark eyes locked with Emma's as solidly as she could manage. Her Queen's lips formed another word, taking advantage of Cora's distraction to ask what was most fully on her mind, though she lacked the strength to fully give it voice. 'Henry?'
"He's safe," Emma smiled as reassuringly as she could. "Out of the Hive."
Regina's relief was obvious, sagging against the table and closing her eyes.
Oblivious to the exchange, Cora's mirth had disappeared, her lips parting in a grimace of anger. She tried her summons again, on anyone who would listen. And then again. When she finally realized that she was well and truly alone, Cora glanced down at her daughter, who did her best to smirk as much as she could. "...Well, then," Cora murmured, as if to herself. For the first time, she seemed to actually take stock of the blood-covered blonde before her. The corner of her mouth rose. "How hard can it be to kill one human?" With that, she whirled away from the table in a move so fast that the motion didn't even blur.
...
Outside
From her place on the hill, Granny watched as Ruby made her halting progress, carrying her precious cargo shaded with the bulk of her body. Her pace was slow but steady, moving backwards up the hill a foot at a time to ensure that Henry remained safe from the harmful rays of the early evening sun. The Alpha's lips pursed in thought, brow furrowed.
"I hope you don't honestly think you're sneaking up on me." There was an almost imperceptible rustle from behind her. She didn't turn, but her eyes rolled at the lack of response. "I didn't think it was possible, but you're even stupider than you look."
A snarl ripped from behind her, followed by a rush of motion. Granny smirked to herself, finally turning to face the threat. In her arms, her crossbow fired. A shout of pain echoed through the trees.
Cursing up a storm with a bolt protruding solidly from his leg, Hook stumbled, catching himself from completely falling by throwing out his right hand. Another yowl of pain filled the air when it impacted the ground, the earlier wound from the same crossbow having neatly shattered his right wrist. From the ground, Hook glared up at the old woman, involuntary tears in his eyes. With a grimace and a cry, his left hand snaked to the shaft of the bolt in his leg, snapping it in half. Staring up at her with hate in his eyes, he yanked on the barbed, embedded head, screaming in agony as it ripped out of his leg.
She clucked her tongue as if berating a young puppy. "You should push it through, you know. Pulling does more damage than it did on its way in."
Eyes flashing yellow, Hook threw his head back and howled as it finally cleared his skin. He tossed the bolt aside with disgust and growled, trying to get to his feet and grunting loudly at the pain it caused him. The Alpha levered the crossbow at him again. He snarled. "Put the toy away, lass. Let's settle this like wolves."
Granny seemed to pause for half a second, considering. The crossbow lowered. Seeing it as a moment of indecision, Hook jumped at the old woman, beginning to transform and charging at her as quickly as he could on his injured limbs. Suddenly, he came to an abrupt stop, his entire body jerked backwards, and he turned to look beyond her at the Hive below. "Cora..." he hissed out through elongating teeth, the long, hairy fingers of his half-changed hand coming up to grasp his chest as if his heart was at war with the rest of him. And perhaps it was. He doubled over as his transformation completed, and the large brindled wolf he became glared at the old Alpha before turning away, brushing past her to answer his mistress' call.
Narrowing her eyes, Granny hadn't even bothered to begin her change. She shook her head disdainfully as Hook passed her. "Some wolf," she spat. "You're nothing but a lapdog."
Hook snapped at her, but kept moving down the hill, towards the Hive. And, Granny realized with alarm, towards Ruby and Henry. With a shout of warning, she once more swept up her crossbow, nearly flying to the edge of the hill just in time to watch Hook barrel towards her granddaughter and the boy in her care. She raised her crossbow, loaded once more.
The bolt flew from its mooring just as a wall of flesh suddenly slammed into her from behind. Empty, the weapon went flying.
With a surprised grunt, Granny fell back, hitting the ground hard enough for the breath to leave her lungs. With blood-shot eyes, Anita pushed her mother into the dirt with all of her weight, her hands still bound in front of her. The effect of Cora's summons was powerful enough to override even the drugs in her system.
From below them on the hill sounded the shrill cry of a wolf in pain, and then the sound went silent. Granny's crossbow had once again found its mark.
Gasping, the old wolf fumbled for breath, her arms trying desperately to wrap around and contain the wild thrashings of her daughter. "Anita, stop!"
"Cora!" the younger wolf growled dangerously, single-minded and squirming and biting at anything in her path to her Queen. She gave a sudden gasp of pain, her chest literally yanking her forwards, lurching the rest of her above her mother's head, rolling towards the Hive.
Her progress, however driven, was slow, and when Granny grappled for her ankle and roughly tugged, it stopped altogether. Screeching in anger and no small amount of physical pain at moving further away from her Queen, Anita kicked out as violently as she could. "Cora!" she hissed out again, wriggling like a hooked worm, doing anything and everything in her power to get down the hill.
With a desperate yank, Granny pulled her struggling body closer to her, wrapping her daughter in her arms as she had when she was small, refusing to let go. "Shh," she whispered, giving no thought to the tears that fell down her face at seeing her daughter in such a state. "Shh, Anita. It'll be over soon."
Wrestling in the bear-like embrace of her mother, the summons still thrummed through her, forcing any higher thought out of her mind. She continued to thrash wildly, but the tight hold that Granny had on her prevented any possibility of escape. "C-Cora..." She was whimpering now, the physical pain of being away from her Queen taking a violent toll on her drug-infused body.
"Stop." A quiet voice sounded from the edge of the hill.
The heads of mother and daughter snapped up, as shocked as Ruby was when the boy clinging to her underside let go. Slowly, Henry crept forward, weak but steady, his eyes locked on the struggling mass in Granny's arms.
"Stop," he said again, and this time his voice was louder, commanding. The voice of a Queen. "Look at me." Anita's chin rose, her body so conditioned to obey, in so much turmoil for not answering the summons that it could physically no longer tell the difference between Queens.
"She's hurt you." In the shade of the trees around them, the blood-covered eight-year old came to stand directly in front of Anita, bending down to her eye-level. "She hurt me, too."
Behind her daughter, Granny cursed quietly, her heart aching for the boy. Ruby echoed the sentiment with a whine of her own, swiftly changing back to her human form.
Henry ignored the others for now, continuing to stare into Anita's eyes. "I know she's calling you. You feel like you need to answer. But you don't. You don't need to listen to her anymore. She can't hurt you. Not anymore."
In her mother's arms, Anita's struggles became more like shudders, shaking as her mind battled to comprehend what was being said. Her brain was quite literally going to war with the rest of her.
"You're tired," Henry noticed.
And she was. She was so tired. Utterly exhausted. The drugs were still pounding away in her system; enough tranquilizer to keep her asleep for hours, if she let it. She fell back against her mother's chest, whimpering like a small puppy, confused. And so, so tired.
The eight-year-old vampire Queen offered a tiny smile. "Go to sleep. You're warm. You're safe. It'll be okay. Just go to sleep, and everything will be okay."
Slowly, Anita blinked her bloodshot eyes, the tremors reducing to slight shivers.
"Sleep," Henry commanded, and her eyes closed, her body curled in on itself, resting her head on her mother's shoulder. Her breathing began to regulate, and the tranquilizers once again took possession of her body.
Shell-shocked and eyes wide, Granny looked from her slumbering daughter to the boy in front of her. "...How … how did you learn to do that, pup?" she whispered, as if afraid any jolt could snap Anita awake again.
Henry blinked, his own eyelids so very, very heavy. His knees began to give way, and Ruby stepped forward, catching him just as the last of her fur receded into her body. "Mommy..." he murmured, and whether it was an answer or just a cry for his mother, they didn't know.
Gingerly lifting her fully sedated daughter out of her arms and arranging her more comfortably on the ground, Granny glanced up, concerned, at her granddaughter. "What the hell happened to him?"
"I think he needs blood." Still holding the boy against her, Ruby was already moving towards her bag, long forgotten beneath a tree, rummaging around in it. Her fingers finally fell on a the vinyl packet within, and she let out a relieved sigh. She and Granny had brought a few pouches themselves, of course, for Regina. Just in case. Granny liked to be prepared for anything. She sat down, nesting Henry in her arms, and opened the tubing, bringing it to his lips.
Thankfully, the exhausted little boy began to drink. The two wolves looked on, watching him with wide, impressed eyes when he finally sipped his fill and curled up next to Anita, falling into slumber.
...
Inside
In less than the blink of an eye, Cora was covering the distance between herself and her daughter's little pet, knife raised and fangs bared.
A shot rang out, filling the room with the high-pitched twang of metal on metal. Cora froze for a split second. The knife was no longer in her hand, the bullet that had ripped it from her sending it spinning wildly through the room until it tore through one of the machines still chugging away, sparks bursting from its impact.
Blinking, Cora stared down at her hand, a small trickle of blood welling between her fingers.
"Let me make this clear." Emma leveled her gun, finger poised over the trigger as smoke wafted from the blood-caked barrel. "You will leave. Never come anywhere near Regina, Henry or Storybrooke ever again. Or my next shot will rip through your heart. If you have one."
Cora's fist tightened, the blood halting to a stop as the graze healed over. Her eyes darkened, filling with rage and hatred and blood. "How cute," she glanced at her daughter. "Your human thinks she has power." This time, when she moved, there was no time at all to see her. She rushed at Emma, reaching her just as the blonde pulled the trigger, and with an inhuman screech, she slammed her hand against the blonde's arm, knocking the gun from her grip and sending her flying backwards. "I don't take ultimatums from humans," she told her daughter.
Coughing from the impact, Emma rolled, getting to her feet quickly enough and glancing hurriedly around for her gun. Spotting it on the floor beneath a sparking machine, she sped towards it. But Cora came rushing at her, hands stretched out towards her chest. Ducking, Emma dove beneath her, avoiding the attempting thrust towards her heart with a parry of her arms, coming out rolling, facing Cora's side.
Unrelenting, the vampire Queen followed, lashing out with arms and legs and teeth bared, her hands again missing Emma's chest but coming to rest over her jacket. With a grunt, she pulled and then pushed, sending the blonde flying again, this time further into the room.
Emma came to a halt near Regina's table, grunting a bit as she rose from the impact.
Advancing once again, Cora shot an icy glare at her daughter. "Well!" she growled. "Your little pet seems a bit harder to kill than your last ones, Regina."
At her mother's words, Regina gave a soft cry. The flesh of her wrists was smoking and torn, each impact against Emma causing Regina to lurch a little more, struggling through her weakness to get free.
"Regina!" Emma cried, wincing at the damage her Queen was doing to herself. "Don't move!" Getting to her feet once more, Emma growled. She stumbled towards Regina, fingers desperately prying open the buckle that held the silver stake to the table. And through Regina's wrist. Golden light sparked from her fingertips.
She'd only partially succeeded in undoing the first stake when Cora rushed at her again, one hand grasping for her chest while the other aimed slightly higher. Deflecting the jab to her heart, Emma tried to pull away from the other hand. Cora swerved with her, her fingers finally catching a hold around the blonde's throat. Gagging, Emma kicked out at the Queen. Cora just grinned, evading the kicks and lifting the blonde until her feet could no longer touch the floor, hand clenching tightly around her windpipe.
"Emma!" Regina rasped, tensing against her bonds. The one wrist was now slightly looser than the other, but still staked through. She was unable to work herself free. Not at her current level of fatigue, anyway.
Smirking, Cora stepped towards her daughter, bringing the blonde up for her to see. "Are you watching, Regina? I'm going to kill your little human in front of you, dear. Again. Then, when she's dead and all that disgusting love of yours has utterly been extinguished, I'm going to finish the dearly departed doctor's work and flip that switch one more time. And when all of that wonderful Sunwalker blood of yours has finally been ripped from your body and put in those conditioning jars, I'm going to drink every drop of you, my love. And then, finally, I. Will. Be. Perfect!" she screamed.
"Heh." Even choking, Emma managed to spit out the words, causing Cora to flinch ever so slightly in shock and confusion. "So that's your endgame..." Emma lurched up, the sparks of gold building in her hands until, grunting, she clasped them tightly around Cora's wrist. Flesh immediately began to sizzle.
Shrieking, the older Queen let go, screaming as her skin bubbled and crisped under Emma's hands. "What the-?!" she bellowed, howling in rage and pain.
As soon as she was released, Emma took off. Not thinking too much about why or how she'd gotten free, Emma concentrated only on what she knew she had to do. "Sorry about this, Regina," she muttered over her shoulder. Inwardly cursing at herself for doing this, she jumped, hands outstretched, and threw herself at the jars. Her hands hit them first, followed in short order by the rest of her. They shattered at the impact, sending small geysers of red into the air before falling, like Emma, to the floor.
"No-o!" Crying out as Regina's blood dribbled out, Cora whooshed over. She knelt down, almost looking like she would bend over and lap up the blood. Smoke began to rise, the conditioning agents from the jar losing their cohesion, and Regina's blood shimmered once before falling uselessly dull. "No, no!" With a snarl, the older Queen turned her ruthless eyes onto Emma. "Damn you!" It was the first time she'd addressed the human directly.
"Sorry," Emma grunted, her body protesting the stunt, but she smirked nevertheless, completely unapologetic. "Did I mess up your plans?"
If Cora had been fast before, it was nothing compared to when she was furious. Emma barely had time to react at all before the Queen was once again around her throat, pulling her to her feet. "Not the first of them," Cora spat. "You still die, human."
Emma gurgled out a gasp, kicking her feet out as her hands struggled up against the backs of Cora's wrists, trying to force a release again. The light still poured from her fingers, but the vampire's fury had dulled her to the shock and pain, and she did not let go. Her other hand rose to join the first around Emma's neck, throttling the blonde and shaking her even as her skin was scorched away.
Gagging, Emma flailed, moving her hands and pressing them to Cora's face instead. Screaming, Cora squeezed as tightly as her aching arm would allow, rewarded at last with a satisfying crunch. Emma gurgled. Her eyes opened wide, hands freezing in place. Her collarbone had been broken.
"Emma!" Regina gasped, helplessly watching, her flesh sizzling as she thrashed against the silver that held her down.
Fingers losing their purchase on Cora's face, Emma's breath choked off in a grotesque, wet sound. With a wheezing burble, her eyes rolled up into her head, her hands finally falling away with final arcs of gold sputtering through them. "Reh...g'naaah..."
Violently seizing against her restraints, Regina screeched with what breath she had left, tears streaming down her face. Her mother gave a derisive sniff, and then tossed the motionless blonde to the side like a ragdoll. "No! No, Emma!" Regina screamed and sobbed and swore, what remained of her voice dying off as she spasmed off the table, her wrists and ankles burned down to the bone from her thrashing.
Motionless, Emma was thrown behind the shattered remains of the blood collectors. She did not get up again.
...
Outside
"Emma!" Henry's eyes shot open, springing up into a sitting position as if he were possessed.
Startled, Ruby only barely managed to grab a hold of the boy before he tried to run off. "Whoa, there, kid!"
"Let me go!" he cried, pushing her arms off him. Tears were beginning to drip down his cheeks, and above them, his eyes were flickering with gold. "Emma needs help!" He struggled, resembling all the fury of Anita's desperation only shortly before.
Ruby held fast, Granny coming up beside her to keep the struggling boy contained. "Henry!" Ruby tried to shush. "Emma'd never forgive us if we let you go back in there. Neither would your mother."
"I don't care!" Henry screamed, so agitated that his fangs were forced into prominence.
Granny's voice was so low it was practically a bark. "She would!"
Startled by the depth of sound, Henry froze, quieting a bit.
"It'll be okay, pup," Granny continued, holding him in more of a hug than any form of restraint. In the same way that he had earlier calmed Anita, Granny's command was having a similar effect on him. "That's what you told my daughter, right?" She lightly brushed some of his hair away from his face. It stuck up, matted with dried blood. "Were you lying?"
Slowly, Henry shook his head. "...But Emma must be really hurt," he whimpered. "I've never felt her like this before..." He turned in their arms, and burrowed tightly in the hugs from the two wolves.
"Trust your moms, kid," Ruby said gently. "They love you more than anything in the world, right?"
Henry nodded.
"Then they'll be okay. They'll come back to you."
"You promise?"
Ruby glanced over at her grandmother, and then down to her slumbering mother on the ground. "Yeah, kiddo," she smiled. "I promise. Family always finds each other, right? Like when you went all the way to find Emma in the first place?"
Bravely trying to form his own smile, Henry just nodded again.
"It'll all be okay, Henry," Ruby nuzzled him.
Beside her, Granny shot her a look, her eyes worried and dark. Ruby swallowed down the sudden dryness of her throat, and glanced nervously down at the Hive.
The sun had finally set.
...
Inside
"Emma!" Regina's tears burned vibrant paths down her cheeks. Her haggard voice tried to scream, but emitted no more than a heartbroken croak. "Get up, Emma!"
Paying her daughter no mind, Cora watched in disgust as her mutilated flesh still burned, the wounds stubbornly resisting her healing abilities. She grimaced in pain, shaking her hands as if trying to force the smoking holes to close over. When they didn't, she turned her burned face to look menacingly at her daughter. "Impressive," she spat. "You didn't tell me your little pet was a witch."
Tears streaking down her cheeks, Regina managed to shake her head, staring with disbelief at the machinery that hid Emma's broken, crumpled form. "...She's not." Regina swallowed dryly, her mind whirling despite her pain.
No, Emma wasn't a witch. But Regina was.
Unseen by her mother, her eyes began to pinwheel in flashes of purple and violet, her bruised and weary body frantically calling on what magic remained to her. The sun was down, her body was exhausted. There was very little at her disposal. Even so, she wiggled what mobility she had in her fingers, pouring her magic past the machinery to a place she could not see, hoping against all hope that someway, somehow, it would be enough. It couldn't be. She knew that, deep down, but still her fingertips fizzled in small fireworks of purple. The fragments of magic she could call upon were too little and far too draining to attempt a healing of this nature. This was impossible even if she were at full power. Not on a mere human. Regina knew this, and yet she could not stop herself.
"No?" Cora was only half listening. Her flesh remained unhealed. "Then explain this, Regina. No mere human could do this."
Her mother was right, but Regina wasn't listening at all, her vision becoming hazy with the amount of magic she was pouring in Emma's direction. She was growing lightheaded, her body physically unable to control what power she was trying to channel through it. "Emma..."
Something moved, over where Emma had fallen. A flicker of gold. A small smile crossed over Regina's face, and she turned back to her mother with a spark of defiance. Flashes of gold and purple burned behind her eyes before growing dark, their light going out.
Slowly, methodically, Emma got up. She shook herself, rising from the floor with blood and magic pooled behind her. Wings of red and purple and gold.
Cora's mouth fell near to the floor. Dark eyes grew wide. "It's not possible!"
Depleted and utterly spent, Regina sagged against the wood of her table, her eyelids drooping dangerously shut. A contented smile graced her face, and she answered her mother's earlier demand in a tiny whisper. "...She's not human."
With murder in her eyes, Emma stepped once over the mess of broken glass and blood on the floor. Her skin literally blazed with light, breaking through the caked blood and whatever else had dried on her. The viscera flaked away as Emma burned, bright as the sun.
Speechless, Cora backed away, truly frightened for the first time in years. Millennia, in fact.
Emma stalked towards her, climbing over whatever was in her way of getting to the older Queen. "You disgust me," she hissed. Cora tried to whoosh away, towards the door, but this time Emma was just as fast, gripping the woman by the shoulder and halting her progress.
Cora shrieked as Emma touched her, flesh once again melting away at the contact point, only this time much, much faster.
Emma's hand clenched harder, and she yanked the vampire towards her. Facing Regina. "Your daughter lies on that table, close to death. Where you put her."
"I only ever thought of her." Cora stammered out pathetically, screeching as skin and muscle literally burned down to the bone at Emma's touch. "Everything was for her!"
"You destroyed her life," Emma boomed. "Every attempt at happiness she has ever made for herself." Her hands flared with all the brightness of the sun as they wrapped around Cora's shoulders. "You killed her lovers. You kidnapped her son. Our son! You took him, knowing she'd come running."
Gasping, Cora could only blink and stare wildly. "Your son?" she yelped. "...What are you?!"
"You tortured my son!" Emma ignored her question, shaking the woman violently by the shoulders. Her hands crept up, circling Cora's neck just as she had done to her. Twice.
"And you. Tortured. My. Queen."
Savagely, Emma's hands twisted in a furious burst of strength. There was a sickening crunch of bone. Cora's neck snapped like an over-dry twig. Her strength failed, knees crashing to the floor in a dull thud. The rest of her followed shortly thereafter, dark eyes still open; wide and shocked.
Looking down at herself for the first time since she'd gotten back up, Emma found her gun back in her holster. Without questioning it, she stepped directly over the fallen vampire. Cora's vertebrae were already beginning to re-align, the bones snapping back into place one right after the other. Pitiless, Emma stood over the fallen Queen, and pressed the barrel of her enchanted gun directly against Cora's chest.
With gasps that hissed and gurgled like over-boiled water, Cora's charred face stared back with eyes swollen and bloodied, one of them already gone dark. "What... are... you?" she wheezed.
Emma's eyes burned, and when they loomed over her, for a split-second Cora could have sworn she saw the image of a great bird, blazing in red and purple and the light of the sun. She let out a strangled, gurgling gasp, a jumble of sounds cobbling together a word in a language she nor anyone else had spoken in millennia. "...Po...ni...ke?"
Emma blinked. The bird, if it had ever been there, was gone. "...I'm Regina's," she shrugged, and pulled the trigger.
Cora fell to the ground in little more than a splattering puddle of red.
...
Outside
Henry's shuddering sobs had faded away, but he gave a sudden sigh of relief, pulling back to smile up into the wolves' concerned faces. "She's okay," he sighed. "Emma's okay."
"Yes!" Granny gave a great whoop, Ruby jumping up and fisting the air. "I told you she'd be alright!" Ruby beamed.
Smiling widely, Granny let out a small snort of laughter. "Now we just have to wait for them to come out," the Alpha sighed.
"Yep," Ruby smiled. "Do you think they'll take long?" she asked Henry.
He didn't answer.
"Henry, you okay, kiddo?" Ruby came up to him, playfully swatting his shoulder. Her face fell at his expression. "Henry?!"
The boy's face had gone frightfully white, his body still as a statue. "...Mom," he whimpered.
...
Inside
"It's over." The gun clattered to the floor, Emma dropping it as if it had suddenly burst into flames. But no, that was her. She looked own at her empty hands, still nearly glowing with golden light, though the brightness of it had faded somewhat and was dissipating even as she watched. Taking a deep breath, Emma glanced down at the puddle on the floor that had recently been Cora.
"...Fuck, Regina, what the hell was that?" she gasped, staring at the puddle and down at herself as if her body was something completely alien to her.
There was no answer. Emma pulled her eyes away from herself, foreign as she was, and glanced over at her companion. "Regina?"
On the table, Storybrooke's Queen had gone as still as death itself.
"Regina?!" Emma was at her side in a moment, not even thinking about it. One moment she was standing over Cora's puddle, the next, she was at the side of her Queen. "No, no, no! Regina?! Regina, answer me, please!" She grabbed for her hand, reaching above the gaping hole in her wrist and feeling for a pulse. There wasn't one. "No..." she whispered again, her knees crumpling beneath her. She fell to the ground, her head resting on Regina's motionless chest. "No, please no!" Tears splashed down her cheeks, sinking into the tattered remains of a leather vest. "Please..."
Her sobs echoed around the chamber, loud enough that she almost missed the tiny, pained whisper. "Whenever you've finished, dear... would you mind unstaking me?"