Disclaimer: In chapter 1.
Author's Notes: So these last few months have been crazy, and I am truly sorry I haven't written more. For those who are worried about the story ending here, don't be. I have the end fully planned out, and I even got tears when I imagined the very last scene. Basically this year I got a new job with it a 60+ hour week, moved, and went back to uni. Unfortunately my writing speed isn't as awesome as hunnyfresh. I haven't had a chance to really proof read this, I just wanted to quickly get it out there for you. This update is dedicated to Anna cos she needs a smile right now. Thank you to everyone reading, reviewing, favouriting and following "Hero".
Also: If you want a Xena or a SwanQueen magnet go to Shipper Haven on Facebook and follow the link to their eBay page. Mine is on my fridge already. They have quite a good selection.
Xena and Gabrielle arrived soon after Regina sent the message. They had sent Joxer to get the guards and they arrived not long after the women. Regina stood back while Emma and Leah explained what had transpired, and with each harrowing detail Xena could see Regina's body tense.
"…and I just knew by the way this wacko was talking that Leah was in danger. So I ran here and came in just after those two did," she jabbed her thumb in the direction of the two still unconscious thugs. "I did what I could to stop them."
"Pwaise Hestia for sending her wight when I needed her." Leah bowed her head in thanks to the Goddess. She lifted her head after a moment. "She moved with the speed of a Grecian horse, and the strength of a Spartan."
Emma rolled her eyes, "I wouldn't go that far."
"Without weapons, this bwave woman disarmed and gwappled with both men."
"One of the bastards got me though," Emma grumbled.
By the end of the recount Regina paced the entryway.
"Well," Xena helped Emma up from her seated position, "You finally got to be a hero."
"It wasn't exactly planned…" Emma shrugged, still embarrassed about the whole Obsession ordeal.
"It never is," Gabrielle added.
"We'll handle these two," one of the guards said as he dragged one of the fallen men by the feet. "And we'll post some men outside the Temple."
Xena nodded her thanks to him before she turned back to the others. "Let's get Emma back to the tavern. Joxer? I want you to stay here with Leah until I get back."
"You'll be safe with me, Priestess." Joxer struck a pose and his helmet almost fell off.
"Let's not take all day," Regina snapped. "Lead the way," she gestured past her to the door.
Xena strode past, with Emma and then Gabrielle behind her. When Emma neared Regina she reached out her hand but stopped just shy of touching the woman. She shook her head minutely to herself and then followed Xena. Gabrielle noticed but said nothing as Regina fell into step behind her.
When they reached the tavern Gabrielle got her medicinal supplies from her and Xena's room and brought them to Emma and Regina's. Emma sat on the bed, as that was really the only place she could, with Regina shifting from foot to foot nearby. Xena waited by the door, the tension in the room so thick she doubted her sword could even cut it.
"Here," Gabrielle put the satchel on the bed beside Emma. She went to open the bag but Regina's hand on her arm stopped her.
"Thank you for your help Gabrielle, but I can take it from here."
"Regina, Gabrielle is…." Xena began.
"I said I will handle it," Regina growled. She looked at Xena who had her eyebrow raised. She saw the change in Xena's eyes as the brow lowered, and knew the warrior could see beyond the mask. Damn that woman and her knowing eyes, Regina cursed. "I got this." She said, softer this time.
At Xena's nod Gabrielle followed her friend out and left the two mothers alone. The air was still thick and the silence was oppressive. Regina closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She opened them again to find Emma watching her, with an expression mixed between annoyance and curiosity.
"Are you done fighting over me?" Emma quirked her own eyebrow.
"I assure you," Regina opened the bag and pulled out the salves and bandages, "I was doing no such thing." She sorted the objects into two piless – ones she would use and ones she wouldn't.
"Right."
Regina focused her task. She cleaned the gash with what smelled like pure alcohol, and muttered her apology at Emma's pained hiss. She dabbed the area dry to get a better look at it. Normally she would have insisted that Emma go to the hospital for stitches, but she couldn't exactly send her to Storybrooke Hospital, so she would have to do it herself. She threaded the needle with twine from the satchel.
Emma looked at her with wide eyes. "What are you doing?" She squeaked in alarm.
"You need stiches," Regina answered, her voice only breaking slightly on the last word, as she continued to prepare for the procedure.
"No, no I don't," Emma insisted. "Put it away."
"Miss Swan," Regina scolded, "your wound is quite nasty. It needs stichtes."
Emma shook her head like a petulant child.
Regina sighed, "Emma…."
The blonde looked at her, he bottom lip jutted out slightly. "Do you really have to?"
Regina gave a sympathetic look, "Yes." She placed her hand over Emma's who had clasped them in her lap. "I'm sorry."
"Fine," Emma huffed, and both were aware of the burning contact of their hands that neither moved.
Regina bit her lip uncharacteristically, "I can use magic…"
"No. No magic." Emma shook her head again.
"But this way will hurt."
"No magic. Just…. make it quick."
Brown eyes search blue/green ones for several long seconds, and then she gave a little nod. Regina removed her hand from Emma and checked over the items piled on the bed: the jar of alcohol, needle and thread, salve and the dressing. She laid them out neatly in the order she would need to use them. Lastly, she rolled up a spare clean bandage and handed it to Emma.
Emma nodded in understanding and took the bandage.
"This will hurt…" Regina said lamely.
"Ya think?"
Regina ignored the retort. "Ready?"
Emma nodded again, but with hesitation. "Let's get it over with." She put the rolled up bandage in her mouth and held it between her teeth.
Regina took a breath to steady herself. It was easier to cause injures than to tend to them, but she wouldn't let Emma get infected and die. She lifted Emma's injured arm and guided her hand to grip the bed covers beside her. She trailed one hand up the toned arm while the other picked up the needle and thread. She was too nervous to notice the goose bumps form under her touch. With a gulp and a final mental push she pierced Emma's skin near the edge of the gash.
Emma grunted in pain and clamped her jaw onto the bit.
Hurry up, Regina told herself. She worked quickly and efficiently; she looped and knotted to anchor the thread and then criss-crossed the wound sides together. At the end she looped and knotted again. She severed the thread and needle and put it aside. Before she lost her momentum, Regina rinsed the sown wound again, and then bandaged it tightly. She used water from the pitcher on the bedside to wash away the trails of blood that had streamed down Emma's arm during the procedure.
When she was done she rinsed her own bloodied hand, and had to push away the rip in her heat at seeing Emma's blooding covering her own skin. It affected her more than any of the atrocities she had committed during her lifetime, and she shuddered at the implications. Regina swallowed the lump in her throat before she looked at Emma.
Emma's jaw had loosened, but her cheeks were red from her efforts to stay quiet, and not cry out in pain like she had wanted to do. Tear tracks ran down her face and her eyes were still brimming.
Another tear fell. Regina reached up and wiped it away with the pad of her thumb. She did it again on the other side. Emma's hands were still clenched onto the bedcover, so Regina gently took the rolled up bandage from the blonde's mouth.
Emma moved her jaw in an attempt to check it wasn't broken. She cleared her throat, "Uh, thanks."
Regina's throat was still constricted, so all she managed was a weak smile. Emma sat straighter and quirked a lopsided smile, "It didn't hurt that much."
Regina let out a laugh before she could stop herself. All she wanted to do was wrap her arms around Emma and kiss all the pain away. But she couldn't, she wouldn't, so she busied herself with cleaning up and putting the things back into the satchel. Her trembling hands didn't go unnoticed.
"Ok, it hurt a little," Emma admitted. "But at least your hands were soft. That's always a good thing."
Regina smiled a little as she carried the sathel to the door. "I'm glad my soft hands help." Her hand froze on the knob and she back went rigid. The innuendo in her words igniting a raw desire for Emma.
Emma smirked, acutely aware of what soft hands could do in the right place. Her pain momentarily forgotten, Emma stood on unsteady legs.
Regina heard the movement and panicked. "I better get this back to Gabrielle." She left through the door and closed it behind her. She squeezed her eyes shut and took deep breaths to calm her rapidly pounding heart.
Emma quickly gulped down her second mug of ale and ordered a third. Pain management, she reasoned. They all sat around a table; Emma, Regina, Xena, Gabrielle, Joxer and Leah. While Regina stitched Emma up Xena had gone to the temple and brought the others back. Leah would stay with them until they found out who was behind the attack and why.
"Slow down, Miss Swan. You'll be passed out before our meal arrives."
Emma acknowledged the comment by pointing to her right arm, the bandage covered by her jacket. She turned to Xena, "So, nobody knew who that guy was?"
"No, they said it was the first time he had spoken in the square." Gabrielle answered instead.
"Why would anyone attach Leah though? She wouldn't hurt a fly." Joxer posed.
"Deilian priests are sworn enemies of Hestia and her followers."
"Do you think it's them?" Emma asked.
"Could be," Xena shrugged. "Looks like their dirty work."
"You stopped them once, you can do it again."
Regina rolled her eyes at the hero-worshipping.
"I haven't seen any Deilian priests since you saved my flock last time," Leah leaned in to whisper conspiratorially.
"Well, I doubt they would announce themselves," Regina chided.
"We will have a look around town tomorrow." Xena informed the group. "I suggest an early night," she looked pointedly at Emma and Joxer.
"Don't look at me – enough of these and I'll be out like a light," Emma raised her mug and took another gulp.
"Miss Swan, move over," Regina tried to nudge Emma back with her shoulder. They each lay on their left side, with Emma behind Regina.
"Can't, no room."
"Then roll over."
"I can't lie on that side."
Regina sighed in frustration. She had begrudgingly agreed to share a bed with the blonde after 10 minutes of weighing up the pros and cons. During that 10 minutes Emma had already stripped to her underwear and her tank top and gotten into the bed. She had gotten in as well after the bed won over the floor. But the situation proved difficult for falling asleep…
"Can you at least move your arm?"
"No." Emma said stubbornly. "It's the only place it's comfortable." Her arm lay over Regina's waist, so that her upper arm wasn't at risk of bumping into anything. "You make a nice pillow."
Regina's smile was hidden in the darkness.
"But your hair doesn't smell like apples anymore…" Emma said in a sad sleepy voice.
"Since when do you know what my hair smells like?"
Emma opened her eyes. She was tipsy, not drunk, so realised her slip up immediately. "Um, Henry told me."
"Perhaps next time you can bring some personal hygiene products when you pull us into a portal."
Both of them knew what's not what happened, but it didn't need to be corrected. "Sure thing, your Majesty. Would you like some warning too?"
"That would be more acceptable etiquette," Regina smirked. "I would have liked to pack."
"So you'd still come?" Emma grinned.
Regina rolled her eyes, "Only to keep you out of trouble."
Emma chuckled and then yawned. "Whatever you say."