Note: if anyone has comments to share, I'm open to thoughts and observations. Usually when I get on a narrative tear things start getting blurred so outside opinions help sharpen the focus.
Chapter Fourteen
"What is THAT woman doing in MY house without PERMISSION?!" Regina's pale face had regained quite a bit of color after resting. In fact, she was red edging toward purple. The verbal attack hit Vivien the moment she entered the master bedroom. It was accompanied by a magical wave slamming the door behind her.
"She came half an hour ago. She says she needs to talk to you but I wouldn't let her wake you up." Lake stayed near the door. The way Regina was pacing back and forth it was obvious she was looking for someone to attack.
"So you let her in?!" the Queen rounded on her, fury radiating in waves. The pictures on the walls were vibrating. Vivien thought about justifying herself. She could point out the barrier spell had tied her hands. She could argue that any other action would've only raised the Sheriff's suspicions and made the situation more complicated than it needed to be. That argument would only sidestep the real issue, though.
"Regina, she just wants to talk to you. I think she needs information or maybe just advice. It must be important for her to come here, right?"
"I am in no mood for Miss Swan's concerns!" Regina crossed her arms and spun around again, resuming her angry prowl.
"If you send her away she'll know something is wrong. You can either answer her questions now or face her tomorrow when she'll have even more." Lake wasn't sure if reason was the right path to take at this moment. She was too tired to threaten and Regina was too angry to be manipulated.
The Queen stopped pacing and ran one hand through her hair.
"I will not let her see me like this." She stated adamantly. She was still in her clothes from the day, wrinkled and sweaty from nightmares. She was perspiring and unsteady on her feet, although the anger had a tremendous stabilizing effect. Lake knew that overall, this was not the image the Queen presented to the world. Nor was it an image she'd ever want seen.
"Alright. I can help. I can buy you some relief from the spell but it'll cost you. I'll need an object, something important to you. You won't get it back." Vivien pulled away from the door. Regina considered her options before finally nodding assent. She opened a jewel box and retrieved a ring.
"My father's. One of the few things I have left of his." She fondled the accessory, studying its feel and shine before placing it in Vivien's hand. It was a heavy ring, beautifully engraved gold with a large ruby and small diamonds.
"And you're sure your pride is more important than this?" Lake held it up, skeptical. Regina tilted her head to the side, fixing Vivien with her most resolute 'you are a moron' gaze.
"Right. Stupid question. Sorry," Lake mentally kicked herself, "Go change into something else, some pajamas or something. I'll take care of the spell."
The brunette went to her dressing room while Vivien concentrated on the ring. The more powerful a spell the harder it was to break and until broken, it would continue to work at its purpose. But even if a spell couldn't be broken it could be bent, twisted, distracted; there were hundreds of ways to cheat magic. So long as you understood you'd never really win. The black spell wanted to destroy. Fine. It was absorbed in Regina so it wanted to destroy her. Ok. It could destroy something she loved, something that was part of her. Then maybe by tomorrow morning they would be able to break the spell and shake it off completely.
The ring began to glow in Vivien's fingers; Regina had come back into the room. She was more composed; lines gone from her face, hair straightened, color subdued. She was wearing a black silk camisole and shorts. Lake reflected for just a moment that the flimsy attire would not do much to dispel any of Sheriff Swan's more lurid suspicions. That would just have to be a problem for later as well.
"Keep it on you. It'll pull the spell away. Gold is good, it'll take longer to destroy. You'll have anywhere from 45 minutes to an hour. When the ring is gone, all the magic comes back on you. You do not want to still be in the room with Swan when that happens."
"I do not intend to let her detain me." Regina pulled on a silk robe that was no longer than her shorts. The ring went into one pocket and she shivered momentarily as it began to suck the dark effects out of her system. With a brief nod of acknowledgment to Lake, Regina swept out of the room. She even made Victoria's Secret seem regal.
Regina found Emma waiting for her in the entry hall. The Sheriff had her fists balled into the pockets of her jacket and looked as nervous as a tardy schoolgirl. Without a word the brunette led her unwelcome visitor into the study. If she noticed the slump of Swan's shoulder at the choice of direction, she ignored it. She didn't bother to sit, merely closed the doors and turned to the blonde.
"What can I do for you, Miss Swan?" Regina crossed her arms and cocked her head to one side, waiting for the show to begin. She saw Emma's eyes scrutinizing her pajamas, apparently filing away clues for later reference. What possible criminal suspicions was she gathering evidence for now?
"I thanked you for saving me and Mary Margaret already but I didn't actually realize how much you did. Henry says he was scared for you. Gold's spell, did you get hurt?"
"Nothing I cannot manage." Regina's hand went to her pocket, grazing the ring and feeling the supernatural frost eating away the metal. Her fingers burned where they touched. The sting was nothing compared to what hurt behind her eyes when she thought of Henry crying 'Mom!' and running to Emma at the well. His concern for her wellbeing must have been fleeting.
"Good. Good." Swan nodded, rubbing one hand on the front of her jeans.
"Miss Swan, please tell me what you wanted so urgently to discuss or excuse yourself and return at a more appropriate hour." Regina pinched the bridge of her nose and waved the woman towards the couch.
Emma relented and sat, leaning forward and working her hands against each other. One of her more telling fidgets. The Queen caught herself almost smiling at the familiar mannerism. There had been a moment today (amidst the dark magic and drama) when she thought she had failed; that she hadn't acted in time to save the vexatious blonde or her sickeningly sweet mother. She wouldn't have mourned Snow in the slightest but Emma was different. She was important to Henry so she had to be important to Regina. They had to get along, for Henry's sake. Despite herself, the Queen had been fractionally relieved when she saw the Sheriff climb out. Even in that hideous leather jacket.
"There are some things I need cleared up, some questions. Most of the people that I could talk to are either trying to protect me or trick me. I think you might be the only person I could get answers from."
"Why wouldn't I be trying to trick you?" Regina forwent her usual chair in favor of sitting at the opposite end of the sofa. The more casual position was undermined by her posture, stiffly erect and on the edge of her seat. She wasn't good at informal.
"You saved my life. You've been protecting Henry. I think we're on the same side at this point. And I think there are things that you don't completely understand either and we have to get to the bottom of it together."
"For what could I possibly need your help?" she couldn't keep the scoff from her voice.
"Magic. Like the hat. You couldn't make it work. What happened?" Swan fixed her with a steady gaze. Full lie detector mode.
Regina pursed her lips in irritation. Damn the woman. She would think of one of the more inconvenient questions. That moment when Emma had grabbed her arms in the middle of the Wraith attack had been unlike anything she'd experienced. It was different even from when Rumplestiltskin was guiding her abilities. It had felt like a power surge and for a split second anything was possible. It had been intoxicating. Never one for being out of control, Regina could only imagine that the momentary sensation was the exact high that drug addicts spend their whole lives chasing. It can never happen again.
"Magic in this world is different. I haven't had to use spells in 28 years and was a little rusty."
"That wasn't all. Something changed when I grabbed your arm. It felt – I don't know. I keep going over it in my mind and all I remember is seeing my hands on your jacket but feeling like it was my fingers touching the hat. I could see exactly what you were doing and feel everything. It all seemed like the simplest thing in the world and it made so much sense. Everything made sense. Or I thought it did. I understood things that I didn't even know and can't remember now!" Emma ran her hands through her hair in frustration. Amazing the fingers didn't get caught in that massive tangle.
Regina frowned pensively. Swan had far higher perceptivity than she'd expected. She was probably incredibly magically sensitive, which would account for her unswerving instincts. What Emma was describing was actually a natural, inevitable side effect of magical interchange. It was just that most people would never notice or understand. Swan was like a kid picking at a scab, she wasn't going to leave this subject alone until she fully understood. Lying would be no good.
"It's a trade of abilities. I didn't have enough power to get the portal to open, you did. You however, lacked the skills necessary. It had to be both of us to make it work." Regina didn't like knowing that Emma had been able to absorb any of her knowledge, even if only for a moment. She despised admitting that she'd needed the woman's help for anything.
"I don't have any powers." Swan pointed out by way of argument. The Queen smirked slightly.
"The evidence suggests otherwise. You're the product of 'true love," her mouth twisted in scorn, "That makes you a raw power source. You're something of a magical battery, Miss Swan. You don't know how to harness it but fortunately I did."
"Does that mean it will happen again?" The worry knotting her brow was difficult to identify. She was either concerned that the same thing would happen the next time they accidentally touched or afraid it would never happen again. She'd tasted the addictive high too, just in a different flavor.
"Let's just both do our best to make sure it never has to, dear." Regina smiled her most disarming expression and deftly avoided the answer and its possible effects. Emma simply nodded, surrendering the topic for now.
"I also needed to talk to you about your mom." She moved to the next subject, bracing for trouble.
"Yes. The 'real piece of work' as you so shrewdly noted." Regina rolled her eyes. Anything involving her mother was not going to be good.
"She seemed determined to follow you here, Regina. I don't know if it's to see you or Henry or just this place but she did everything in her power and I don't think she'll stop until she succeeds."
"That cannot happen. It must not." The Queen clenched her jaw tight as she spat the words. Her mother would be devastating in this unprotected place. If she got here, Regina knew she wouldn't have the strength to stop her. She never had, never would.
"Agreed. I have to apologize to you. I thought you were the worst bitch I had ever met-,"
"Thank you, dear." Regina's sarcasm cut in.
"Until I met your mom. She's beyond anything I could have imagined. When she grabbed my heart-,"
"She did WHAT?!" Regina demanded, louder than she'd intended. Yes, ripping out hearts was originally her mother's trick but she couldn't be allowed to go preying on hearts that weren't hers to target. Emma was Regina's game, fair and square.
"She had her hand in my chest, halfway to the elbow," Emma gestured to her arm at about the depth she'd seen sticking out of her own torso for a fleeting moment, "She'd been aiming for Snow."
"Dammit, Mother." The brunette growled under her breath. Again, Snow's heart was Regina's quarry. She'd sacrificed everything for her revenge. How dare her mother go try to steal it?
"But it felt so strange. Not at all like when you and I -," Emma saw the darted glance and remembered that subject was closed, "It was like there was nothing there. Just cold and empty, not even any hate or sadness or anger. Has she always been that way?"
"As long as I can remember." Regina admitted quietly, an edge of melancholy making its way into her tone before she rallied, "I trust you came away unharmed?"
"Yeah, some bright glow discharged and blew her away." Swan nodded. The mayor's eyebrow and lip both twitched in surprise. A bright glow? Like the magical blast that awoke Storybrooke perhaps?
"That's a relief. If the worst happens, I might yet have to enlist your help to protect Henry." Regina decided maybe it wasn't such a bad thing to have Emma Swan stored in her back pocket as a contingency plan.
"And Storybrooke." Emma added when Regina didn't.
"I suppose." She shrugged; regally.
"That was all I needed to ask you about. Thank you for being straight with me. For a change." Emma rose and nodded thanks.
"As you said, Miss Swan, we may end up finding ourselves on the same side." Regina rose as well to escort her exit. Emma paused at the closed doors of the study. She balled her fists in her jacket pockets once more, seeking strength from the ceiling. Just as Regina was about to lose patience, the blonde spun.
"There's a welcome home dinner tomorrow night at Granny's. Would you come?"
Regina blinked a few times, not entirely sure she'd heard correctly.
"That's hardly my sort of crowd. It might dampen the festivities somewhat." She pointed out with her usual, diplomatic smile.
"I don't care. It's my party and Henry is going to be there and I think it would be good for him to see you with us. You saved our lives, you're the reason we made it home safe on the last leg. I am not going to let a lot of stubborn grudges make me feel guilty. I owe you."
"A pot luck dinner is hardly compensation for saving two lives." Regina teased, hedging as she continued to debate her own answer. The temptation of seeing Henry was almost enough to subdue her anxiety over spending time with her oppressed enemies.
"I know but it's a start. Please, Regina. We need to make some attempt at a normal family."
"Oh. You mean normal like you and me – two women – spending time with our shared son who also happens to be my own step-great-grandson? Of course! What could be a more traditional arrangement?" the thick irony still couldn't quite mask Regina's amusement. She was beginning to smile despite herself.
"Exactly! Crazy, I know; but it still sounds better than what I grew up with!" Emma smiled as well. It had to be the delirium of exhaustion combined with the late hour.
"Very well. I will brave the hostile elements in order to alleviate your guilt and have some time to actually see my son." Regina gave a single nod of assent, committing herself before she could back out.
"Great! I'll text you tomorrow with the time and details." Emma let out a deep breath of relief and swung the study doors wide. Both women paused slightly at the sight of Vivien Lake leaning against the front door, obviously waiting for them.
"I just thought I should be nearby in case there was bloodshed." Lake straightened away from the door and moved to one side.
"Subtle." Regina chastised in a mutter.
"Sorry again for the late intrusion. Thank you for seeing me, Regina. It helped a lot." Emma extended one hand in gratitude. The Queen regarded the proffered gesture before pointedly putting her hands behind her back and leaning into Swan's space with a smirk.
"Nice try, dear." Regina purred. Emma shook her head in chagrin. It had obviously been a calculated gamble. There would be no further experiments in magical fusion.
"Goodnight. Goodnight, Miss Lake." The sheriff nodded to both women before heading out the open door.
"Goodnight, Sheriff. I hope you can rest well now." Vivien smiled and patted the woman on the shoulder in departure. Once the door was closed she spun around, leaning back against the door with a surprised smile.
"What?" Regina fished the ring out of her pocket. It festered and froze in her hand, less than a quarter of its size left. Vivien grinned and sauntered over.
"What a fascinating woman. She radiates total psychic damage and yet is capable of something this pure!" she waved one hand and manifested a ball of crackling, translucent energy. Regina's face registered surprise. To steal magic that quickly was the work of a practiced hand. It took a feather light touch to steal something physical; stealing something metaphysical was even harder.
"It would be a mistake to associate any sort of virtue with Miss Swan." She corrected.
"I don't mean moral purity. I mean filtration! This is clarified magic even beyond white! I doubt the fairies themselves could produce anything this clean." Vivien smiled as she regarded the rolling, shifting light. They both watched the magic for a space of time, hypnotized by the raw energetic potential.
"Right, give me that." Vivien took the disintegrating ring from Regina's fingers. In exchange she pressed the ball of magic into her hand. Not just making her take it but forcing it into her body. Regina stiffened in resistance at first, then relaxed into the flowing power, feeling the waves of each cleansing pulse strip away the residues of the black spell. Like a hot shower after days in the mud she could feel herself getting cleaner, lighter, sharp again. When the last of the light was absorbed into her skin she watched the glow fade away in her palm. She was herself. Better than that. She felt like the best of herself.
"You could have saved that for yourself." The Queen observed.
"I don't need it. I still have half a bottle of vodka." Vivien smiled with a shrug and strolled back towards the kitchen.
"Oh, and you're welcome!" Lake called from the darkened room when Regina was already part way back up the stairs.
"Yes. Thank you." Was the Mayor's quiet response as she resumed her trek back to bed. She doubted Lake could hear her. So why could she be so sure she was smiling?