Red

-Earlier that morning-

"Mom?"

…

"Mooooooom?"

…

"Mom!"

Henry slammed his history book down on the desk next to Emma's head. Green eyes shot open as Emma jolted awake. She sat up so fast, her head spun a little and it took her an extra few seconds to take in her surroundings.

"Did you sleep here all night?" He asked as he took in her clothes from yesterday, rumpled slightly now, before moving over see the entire right side of her face completely red from being mashed on the hard surface of the desk.

"I, uh…yeah, I guess." Emma looked off almost shamefully and Henry sighed as he leaned on the desk.

"Mom, you gotta get it together." He knew he was being blunt, but it had been days of this and he knew it wasn't healthy.

He knew it wasn't easy and it wasn't just Emma. He could see Regina was effected by this as well. He'd been running over to the center after school just to spend a little time with her and could see the difference in her eyes. But then she wasn't moping around feeling sorry for herself. She was working. She was taking care of herself and her work and her family and making time for him in between.

So he knew this wasn't okay and that Emma could and needed to get herself together.

"I know, kid. I'm sorry for being such a dud. I…actually, that's why I was up late." She ran her fingers through her hair and sat up straighter before pulling the laptop next to her closer and waking the screen.

"What's this?" Curiosity peaked, Henry moved off the desk and leaned forward to see what she was looking at. He tilted his head, but a small smile started pulling at his lips. "Apartment listings?"

"I know living out of a hotel is fun and all, but if we plan on staying here, we may need to set some…roots." She offered her son a small smile. It wasn't enough to make up for the last few days, but it was a start.

"Staying, huh?" Henry grinned and Emma reached up to cup his cheek.

"Yeah, what do ya say? Up for a new adventure?"

"Always."

"It's in town, so it's close to the school. Plus you've got restaurants, a grocery store and shopping all within walking distance. It's a safe area..." The woman trailed off and Emma looked to Henry who was walking slowly around the apartment.

"What do you think, kid?" She grinned at the way Henry seemed to really be studying the space, looking in cabinets and checking windows and doors. It had almost annoyed her in the first few places they'd looked, but then of course he would find something wrong and Emma would have to admit that the extra attention was necessary.

He turned slowly and gave Emma a big smile.

"I like it." He nodded his head and Emma turned to the landlord.

"Where do I sign?"

The older woman looked surprised at the exchange. She smiled though, as she pushed glasses up her nose and nodded her head once.

"I'll go down and get the lease in order now. It'll just be a few moments."

When she left, Henry walked over to the door leading to the balcony and stepped outside. Emma watched him lean over the railing and for the first time since she arrived- actually the first time in years if she was being honest- she felt just the smallest sense of calm and contentment.

She knew she had screwed up. After years of beating herself up, the last few days were nothing new for her emotions. But then she had felt a bit overwhelmed at having so quickly put herself right back at square one.

It took her until last night, when an add for an apartment for rent popped up on the screen that she realized. She hadn't ruined everything. She'd put Regina on the spot and that wasn't smart. She'd over-analyzed and misinterpreted and acted impulsively. But this wasn't two years ago. Regina wasn't going to run. Emma wasn't going to lose her.

Well not physically.

The point she realized though, was that while embarrassing, it wasn't a make or break it moment. This wasn't a catastrophe. This wasn't the end.

It was the beginning.

Emma knew if she wanted this- and after two years of mourning, she knew she most certainly did- then she needed to calm down. She still remembered when she and Regina had just met and the older woman had immediately come after her for not having roots. Because how could she be expected to be taken seriously, to be dependable and respected, if she had no stability?

So no more big, dramatic shows. No more grand gestures or over the top declarations of love. No more trying to be some kind of hero. Regina was right; there are no Knights here. Everything is worked for and that's what she needed to do. Work for it. Work to be a better mother to Henry. Work to be a better friend to Regina. And work to be a better person for herself.

She took a deep breath and let herself enjoy this brief feeling. She let that small but real flair of hope ignite and tried not to over think for fear of extinguishing it.

"How are we going to get our stuff?" Henry's voice snapped her back to reality and she stepped out next to him on the balcony.

"Well, I guess we can either take a trip back and get stuff ourselves, or we can have someone send it here." She suggested, but she couldn't shake the discomfort at the thought of traveling back.

"I think maybe we should have someone send it." Henry's voice broke in again. "Just…I don't think we should leave for awhile." He shrugged and Emma wrapped her arm around him.

"I think you and I are on the same page. Now come on. Let's see if she's ready for us to sign and then we can go explore." She smiled at the instant grin on his face and the two made their way back downstairs.

"You think you wanna walk to school?" Emma asked as she placed groceries up on the belt. "It's not too far. Plus, depending on what kind of job I find, I may not be able to pick you up after school."

"Yeah I can. Actually…the school's an even shorter walk to the center. For after school, you know?" Henry said casually, but he was glancing up at Emma from the corner of his eye.

"Oh yeah. If you wanna make that a regular thing, I'm sure Regina would like that." Emma's voice was even but it was forced and they both knew it. Just the woman's name sparked every little emotion in her from fear and regret, to hope and love and even to the little butterflies of anxious, excited anticipation.

"Yeah…" Henry smiled up at her, encouraged that his other mother's name could be used without Emma moping again. This was progress.

Gathering their bags, the two stepped back into the sunlight and towards the direction of their new home. After a lifetime in Maine, Henry definitely didn't mind the warmth. This was another subject where they were right on the same page.

They were just stepping up towards their building when a horn blaring had her head automatically turning towards the direction the sound came from.

Her eyes widened as she saw a familiar car and they almost instantly found and locked on the brunette inside. But then just as Regina started pulling forward, another driver seemed to assume she wasn't coming and turned right on red right in front of her.

It was almost like slow motion. Regina seemed to hit the gas just as the other car made the decision to try and dart out in front of her, but everything kind of slowed as both cars came together.

She wasn't even aware the bags had fallen from her hands until she nearly tripped over one as she moved forward unthinkingly. When the crunch of metal exploded in her ears, she completely snapped out of her haze.

Emma was running in an instant. She didn't even glance at the car that darted out, instead running right to the Mercedes. It took all her will power not to instantly open Regina's door, but she managed to go for the back and jerked it open.

"Mom?!" Henry yelled out as he started coming towards the car. Emma didn't know which he was referring to, but she answered anyway.

"Be careful, Henry!" Her brain seemed to be functioning at the correct speed finally and she could tell everyone had stopped to see the accident. Not helping, of course, but traffic had come to a complete stop. So she didn't stop Henry as he ran to Regina's door.

Emma looked into the backseat, not letting herself over think what she'd see. She could have cried at the very open eyes aimed right at her when she saw Lilly strapped securely in her car seat, looking completely shaken, but injury free.

"Hey there, sweetie, you're okay." She rested a hand on the little girl's knee and gave what she hoped to be, a comforting smile. Lilly looked shocked and scared though, and when Henry yelled from the front, she flinched and Emma knew she was on the brink of tears.

"What happened?"

Emma jerked her head to see Luca's head whipping back and forth between his unmoving mother in the front and Emma's face, confusion and fear in his eyes.

"Hey buddy, you're alright." Emma basically repeated herself, but she was focused more on Luca's physical self than her words. She saw his hand rubbing at his neck and shoulder and could see a burn from the seatbelt. Otherwise, he seemed alright.

"Mum?" He threw the seatbelt off and shoved himself up between the seats to get to Regina. Just as Emma was going to speak again, she heard a groan.

Henry had run straight to Regina's door. Emma was checking the children first and he understood that, but he wasn't stopping for anything and jerked the driver's side door open.

"Mom?"

He saw a red mark on her forehead and realized she must have hit it on the steering wheel. He placed his hands on her shoulders and tried to stay calm as he squeezed her arms.

"Mom?!" He yelled when she didn't respond and panic started to set in.

Henry was about to yell again when he saw Regina's eyelids start to flutter. Seconds later, her closed eyes scrunched together and she groaned before finally opening her gaze.

"Mom-" "Mum?!" Were yelled simultaneously by two scared, but relieved sons and Regina visibly startled as she looked towards her older boy, who's face was directly in front of hers.

"Henry?" She squinted at him, before her eyes noticed the car in front of her and she came to the fast and painful realization.

She spun so quickly in her seat, a sharp pain shot though her skull, but she ignored it. She looked at Luca and placed a hand on his cheek, before her eyes shot to the small child, lip quivering, in her seat behind her.

"Oh, it's okay, sweetheart. Everything's okay." She immediately reassured, reaching her arm back to grab onto Lilly's leg. The girl looked two seconds from bursting into sobs, though, and so Regina started to turn back around.

"Honey, are you alright?" She asked Luca as she unbuckled her seatbelt.

"I'm fine, are you okay? You weren't waking up." His voice shook and Regina started to smile, before her eyes dropped to see the harsh red line moving diagonally down his neck.

"Luca?!" She practically gasped his name as her hands shot towards his chest. Twisted in her seat still, she gently pulled the collar of his shirt away from his neck and looked at the damaged skin.

"Mum, I'm fine. We're fine. Are you okay?" He looked so troubled. The brief moment of unconsciousness had obviously startled him quite a bit and Regina noticed he wasn't the only one.

"I'm okay, honey. Can you help Lilly?" She tilted her heads towards the child and Luca nodded, though it took him an extra second to comply. Regina pushed her seatbelt away, wanting to get moving.

"Regina?"

Regina turned back around and blinked a few times as Emma's face leaned into the car. Henry was behind her, looking as worried as Luca, but allowed his blonde mother to take over.

"Everything's okay." Regina addressed everyone at once and offered a reassuring smile to them. She opened her mouth again, but then there was a shouting from the outside and it took a second to realize the man in the other car had approached.

"She wasn't moving. So I-"

"Hey, shut the hell up!" Emma yelled right back, features twisting in anger rather quickly.

Regina didn't even think before her hand reached out and grasped Emma's forearm. The contact instantly took all of Emma's attention and she jerked back around, all anger falling away the instant her eyes locked onto Regina's.

"Everything's okay." Regina repeated quietly, her gaze and grip still holding onto Emma steadily.

She knew she needed to get out now, and get Lilly and Luca out of the car so everyone could calm down. Everyone could realize his wasn't a big deal. Just a few scratches. Nothing more.

But then Regina realized it wouldn't be so easy.

The second she planted her foot to push herself from her seat, a searing pain shot from her ankle, all the way up her leg and she couldn't help the gasp as her eyes shot open wide.

"Regina?!" Emma's face was right in front of her again, green eyes going as wide as Regina's. "What is it, what hurts?"

"My foot." She was trying to control herself, but couldn't stop a hiss from escaping her lips. "My ankle. I- ah, I think something's broken." She winced again, against her will.

"I'm calling 911."

"No, Emma-"

"I wasn't asking." Emma cut her off and stepped away, motioning for Henry to take her spot again.

Regina watched Emma with curious eyes as she called for an ambulance. She might have protested further, but since putting pressure on her foot, there was a constant throbbing pain, interrupted only when the nerves decided to shoot it all the way up through her calf and up to her knee and it was enough for her to keep her mouth shut.

Despite her pain, she smiled when Luca moved into her vision carrying Lilly in his arms. She reached out and squeezed her small hand, trying to give her some comfort.

"There're on their way. She said not to move at all." Emma stuffed her phone in her pocket and scooted back into Regina's doorway. The brunette's eyebrows lifted momentarily when she then dropped to her knees on the cement ground below them.

"I won't touch your foot, I promise. I'm just going to take a look." Emma reassured as she leaned closer.

Regina nodded mutely. She just sat completely still as Emma laid a hand gently on her knee. She crouched even lower and Regina lost sight of her face as it disappeared under the dash.

Emma kept true to her word and didn't actually touch Regina's foot, but she did wince and gape at the obvious deformity as her eyes handed on it. She didn't have a ton of experience with this, Storybrooke only have a few small fender benders in the last couple years. But there was one time, around a year and a half ago, when Leroy had a few too many (shocking) and the idiot got into his car and drove it straight into a lamp post.

Emma made it to the scene first and found him completely passed out, laying his head on the steering wheel. She'd established the alcohol was likely the cause of his unconsciousness, but as she was checking, she saw both his feet at odd angles.

After his exam at the hospital, Dr Whale explained that when he hit the post, his momentum had kept his body moving and while his seatbelt kept him mostly in place, his feet still jammed into the floor boards and with enough force to break both his ankles.

Now Emma was looking at Regina's right foot and realized it was the same situation. She winced again as she imagined the pain Regina was surely feeling, but then she schooled her features before leaning back once more.

"I think you're looking at a cast for awhile." She said sympathetically and gave a soft squeeze of her hand.

It took an extra few seconds and the realization that Regina's eyes were practically glued to the spot where her hand connected to the woman's leg before she herself was made conscious of her own movements.

It worked well for her, that the very second she flinched from the realization, was the same that sires suddenly sounded to alert the coming ambulance. Emma stood and started moving the children backwards as the truck came into sight and the two seemed to simultaneously decide to ignore the single moment.

Emma stayed focused. She was surprised everything wasn't overwhelming her right now, but she wasn't going to question it. She was needed right now and she would gladly step up.

She pulled into the parking lot of the hospital and stopped the car. Taking only a second for a deep breath, she unbuckled her seatbelt and got out of the car, turning back to help the others out.

All three kids were silent. Even with Regina reassuring them everything was fine, getting taken into the ambulance and disappearing from sight just made them all uneasy and worried.

Lilly clung to Luca's hand. Emma managed to take her other hand, though she knew that was probably only allowed because of her distraction. No matter, she led them, with Henry flanking her other side, into the hospital and to the emergency department's waiting room.

"Alright, I want you all to wait here, okay?" She looked into all their eyes. "Henry, you're in charge." She squeezed his shoulder and he gave her a nod, before she made sure Luca was acknowledging what she'd said and then she stepped away.

Emma just kept her focus. She kept her cool and her calm and tried not to over think. After getting a visitor pass from the front desk, she made her way quickly to Regina's room. She didn't want to leave the kids for too long and knew Regina would feel the same way.

She stayed back when she stepped into the open room. Regina was sitting on the bed as a doctor examined and probed her ankle and Emma frowned as she saw the woman try to conceal a few more winces of pain.

"We'll get you an x-ray, but I'd say it's broken."

Emma couldn't explain why she felt the way she did, but the second the words left the doctor's mouth and Regina stared into his eyes with such a familiar, you are literally the biggest idiot I have ever encountered in my entire life, I cannot believe I am even allowing you to exist in my presence you complete and total imbecile- look, it brought so many memories back so fast that Emma was smiling before she even realized it.

When Regina forced the most obviously fake smile on her face before overly politely thanking the man from between clenched teeth, Emma let out an inadvertent snort. The sound drew attention to herself and Regina's eyes were on her in an instant.

"Emma…" Her eyes completely softened, a move that surprised Emma, but again, she was trying not to let herself get caught up. So she just stepped further in side the room and offered the brunette a small smile.

"Kids are in the waiting room. They're all worried about you, but they're being good." She stuck her hands in her back pockets and managed to force herself to relax.

"Good. Hopefully we can get this over with quickly and I can take them home."

"I don't know about that." Emma started and Regina's eyes snapped up.

"What do you mean?"

"It's just- not only is your foot broken, the one you drive with, but your car is gonna be out for a bit getting fixed. I just mean I don't think you can take them home." She said with a sympathetic look. Once again though, she saw flashes of the woman she once knew in the frustrated frown immediately taking over her features. But then soon enough, the woman was taking a deep breath and her eyes softened again.

"Thank you, Emma. For helping us and bringing Luca and Lilly here."

"You're welcome, Regina. I'm glad I can help. Really." She really wanted Regina to understand that. That she was happy to help. To do anything for her.

"Could you hand me my purse?" Regina pointed to the table against the wall and Emma moved towards it. "I'll need to call Susan to come for us." She finished and Emma slowed her movements as she carried Regina's purse.

Regina watched Emma as she paused and looked at her hands, gripping her bag a little tighter. She stayed in that spot and Regina saw her looking like she was about to speak, but stopping herself several times. She grew a little uneasy, knowing after their last meeting, Emma was a bit unpredictable. She was grateful, of course, but right here in the middle of the hospital was not the time or place for another moment like that night. So she was surprised at what Emma eventually did say.

"Let me help." She looked up then and hid any emotions. She spoke in a completely conversational tone and that also surprised Regina. "I mean I'm already here. I have nothing else to do. Lilly's seat is already in my car…" She trailed off with a small shrug.

Regina considered that for a moment. She couldn't tell if it was as simple as Emma just wanting to give them a ride home or if there was more behind her offer to help. Emma looked sure enough. She looked genuine and Regina couldn't help the small, odd, fluttery feeling that ignited inside her.

Regina watched Emma for another moment. A nurse came back in, informing them she was there to take Regina for her x-ray and so she waited until she was being wheeled out of the room before reaching out and grasping Emma's arm gently in her own hand.

"I would really appreciate that."

With that, Regina left Emma standing alone in that small hospital room, still clutching the purse in a tight grip. Emma turned slowly towards the door she'd disappeared from and smiled softly as an odd, fluttery feeling started growing inside her.

No traumatic cliffhangers this time ;) Review maybe?