Chapter 29: Memories

They were back at Regina's relatively quickly, and in no time banging on her door yet again.

"What?!" Regina snapped as she pulled the door open; clearly she was not pleased to see them at her house again. "I thought I told you to stay away."

"Actually, you didn't." Emma quipped. "You just threatened to kill me."

"Well if death's what you're looking for, you've come to the right place."

"Funny." Emma said dryly. She held up the dream catcher. "You wanted proof, so here you go."

"What's this?" Regina frowned, taking the dream catcher in her hands. "A silly decoration?"

"Gold enchanted it so you can see all of Emma's memories from the past 24 hours." Neal piped up. "All you have to do is look into it."

Regina still looked skeptical. "And why should I trust you?"

Emma stepped up until she was inches from Regina's face. "Because he's my son too. And I'm willing to do whatever it takes to get him back. Even if it means working with you."

Regina sighed. "All right, I'll look into your silly dream catcher. But it's not gonna prove anything." She said stubbornly, holding it out in front of her, squinting at the circle. Everyone, save for Emma, crowded around Regina to catch a glimpse. Regina threw a dirty look at them, obvious distaste for their lack of personal space emanating from her, but she said nothing.

Emma leaned up against the side of the house. She had no desire to re watch the events of the previous day.

Memories began to play out, starting with yesterday morning, when Emma and Hook were just heading out to search the nearby towns.

"He looks really familiar…" Mary Margaret murmured, squinting at the dream catcher.

"Holy shit. It's Hook." Neal realized. He opened his mouth, clearly about to question Emma, but much to her relief Regina elbowed him.

"Quiet!" She hissed.

"Goddamnit!" Emma swore as they headed back to the Bug, which was parked by a nearby convenience store. "Third town and nobody's seen him!"

"It's alright, love." Hook said, pressing a comforting kiss atop her head. "We'll find him. I have yet to see you fail at anything."

Emma cringed as she listened. At the same time, everyone gasped.

"You…he…what's going on between you two?" Neal stammered. Was that...jealousy she detected on his face?

Regina elbowed him again. "Who cares? Shut up!"

Emma met Mary Margaret's eyes and all she could see was pure confusion and hurt. At why Emma had failed to tell her any of this. Had kept everything such a big secret.

She listened as her on screen self mentioned a hotel. And then much too soon, there it was. The moment she'd been dreading. The hotel room. Emma bit down hard on her knuckles. She could feel the weight of everyone's stares on her as she tried to keep her face blank.

"You heard me. Kill Henry and make it look like Regina did it. That way, she'll truly be left with nothing, and everyone will hate her. And that's where I'll step in. I'll help her defeat the Charmings once and for all." The tinny Cora said.

Regina gasped loudly. "What?!" Her fists curled tightly and her face became a deep red.

"YOU KNOW WHAT SICKENS ME?" Emma spat, her voice rapidly growing in decibels. "IS THAT I FELL FOR IT! I FREAKING FELL FOR IT! I FELL FOR YOUR GAMES!" Her voice suddenly broke. "I fell for you…"

Hook crossed the room towards her and grabbing her hands. "I admit, it was a game at first, a ruse, but I started to fall for you. I love you, Emma."

"Don't touch me!" Emma hissed, recoiling, a look of horror on her face. "You don't love me." She said sadly. "If you did you would've told me the truth. You wouldn't have kidnapped my son."

"I know." He sighed heavily. "I messed up, love. And I can never apologize enough for everything. But believe me. I love you." He reiterated.

"I can't believe I fell for it. I just thought, for the first time, someone loved me. Broken, fucked up beyond repair, Emma Swan. I thought that maybe, just maybe, I didn't have to be alone for the rest of my goddamned life." She stared at him with disgust. "But I should've known better. I really don't know what's more pathetic: the fact that you were working for her or that I fell for it."

Everyone turned simultaneously to look at Emma with an odd mixture of pity and sorrow. Even Regina looked unusually sympathetic, a true testament to how pathetic Emma was.

"The bastard." David growled. "I'll kill him." His face was as red as Regina's as he looked around wildly, as though Hook was just going to pop out of the bushes.

Mary Margaret looked sadly at her daughter. "Oh Emma…"

Emma allowed her mother to embrace her. She had to bite her lip to keep the tears at bay, uncharacteristically angry at herself; she'd always been good at pushing her emotions away to deal with until later. Or never deal with at all.

"I'm so sorry." Mary Margaret brushed a hand over Emma's hair.

When they got to the part with Cora on the ship, Regina whipped the dream catcher into the bushes. "I can't watch this anymore." She said, disgusted. "Can't believe my own mother would do that…"

Emma broke free from her mother's arms. "So you believe me now."

"Yes, I do." A look of smoldering fury crossed the Evil Queen's face. "First Daniel and now Henry. She has no soul." She turned away, muttering angrily.

"I'm sorry." Emma said sincerely. "I didn't want it to be true."

"Why didn't you tell us Hook was here?" Neal suddenly exploded. "We could've found Henry much sooner instead of searching all over town. Were you so blinded by his charm that you couldn't see him for who he really was?"

"Hey. Back off." David said firmly. "She didn't know."

"Don't you think I feel bad enough?" Emma snapped. "Yelling at me isn't going to help."

"She's right." Regina interjected. Emma looked over at her, surprised, not expecting Regina of all people to defend her. "Come on. Let's go save our son."

Author's note: Haha, Regina's attitude. My fav part of the ch. Now that they're going to go save Henry, will they beat Hook? Or will Hook die? You'll find out in the next ch!