A/N: Hi, guys! Sorry for the semi-long hiatus! School has been a bit busy ever since I declared my double major in literature and history and spring semester always seems harder than the fall, for me anyway. I go back home tomorrow after my last final, though, so I should have more time to write if I can summon the motivation! Review, favorite, follow, all those lovely things! Hearing from you all always pleases me. And, of course, the OUAT characters are not my own babies, just adoptees for the time being. :)
Perfect. The moment Emma was placed in Regina's arms she felt a swell of satisfaction wash over her. She was that much closer to her goal of ending the Charmings for good. She toyed momentarily with the idea of snapping the infant's neck or pulling out her tiny heart. She relished in the imagined anguish on Snow's face as she pictured crushing the tiny beating thing in front of her mother's face.
"Please don't hurt her." A voice broke into her reverie and the daydream shattered like the glass of a mirror. She turned to glare at the older of the two girls. The other, Katie, was still leaning against the cabinets crying.
"We had a deal. What I do with her now is none of your business. It would be wise for you to go before I change my mind and kill you all." Before either girl could reply, a flick of her hand and a puff of dark smoke made sure they were out of her way.
At the sudden smoke screen and the loss of the only people nearby that she knew, Emma began to cry, the noise growing from a faint whimper to a loud shriek in a moment. A growl of annoyance escaped from Regina, but she found herself rocking the infant as she glared at her, willing her to keep quiet. She looked more like Charming than she did Snow, but sweet, plump cheeked smile reeked of her mother. If the brat had belonged to anyone else, she might have found her grasp of magic so young intriguing and impressive, but as it was it was just annoying.
"Your parents are cutting it close," Regina muttered to Emma over her screams, glancing briefly at her watch. She debated checking in on them via the mirror but didn't wish to see the nauseating scene that was sure to follow the reunion of the dark haired brats and their mother. "What do you say we say we head to the hospital to meet them before you really fray my nerves?"
She began to move toward the door, heels clicking against they struck the marble floor repeatedly when a knock at the store stilled her. She held up a hand, ready to fight if need be until a voice spoke.
"Regina? It's Graham. Are you in here?"
What a stupid question to ask, she thought. Clearly she was in here—Emma's cries were a giveaway. She didn't voice her thoughts aloud, however. Instead, she smiled. She could use some company and Graham's was of the very handsome variety. Her mind flickered back to their shared night together a few weeks ago. He provided much more than simple company. She shook herself and moved toward the stairs until she was standing in the upper chamber of the mausoleum.
Regina grinned when she saw him, his sheriff's uniform replaced with a form-fitting sweater and corduroys. He looked her over appreciatively before glancing at baby Emma. She thought she saw a flash of something in his eyes and her own narrowed before he chuckled. "Don't think she likes you very much." He said in that accent of his that was as charming as his face. "Want me to give it a try?"
Shrugging, Regina all but tossed the baby over to him and with a strange ease, he calmed her, alternating between rocking and speaking in a shushed tone. Whatever it did, it alleviated the ringing in Regina's ears that the cry had caused and she pulled him inside, shutting the door behind her with an echoing finality. Any light the open door had let in was quickly snuffed out and the trio was left in a darkness broken up only by flickering candles and the tiny windows at the top of the large mausoleum.
"What are you doing here?" She asked, arms crossed. Much as she indulged in his company, he had no real business appearing.
"Heard about everything. Wanted to see if I could help."
Regina sneered. "Then why aren't you with Snow White? Letting her live was your way of helping last time, wasn't it?"
Graham nodded, seeing no point in lying. "It was. But I like how things are now. Quiet. Peaceful, more or less. No warring kingdoms or soldiers or good versus evil. If the Charmings are here, they'll change that."
Regina glared hard at him, listening for the underlying lie in his voice or the flicker of falsehood in his eyes, but she could see now. He seemed sincere in what he said though with his attention focused mainly on the infant in his arms she couldn't tell entirely. She decided to believe him. After all, she could always kill him if it turned out that he was lying.
"Fine." She relented.
Graham relaxed minutely, just the slight drop of his shoulders and the tension fading from the wrinkle in his brow. He didn't even grant himself a sigh of relief for fear that Regina, with her deep skepticism would hear and question him further. He smiled down at Emma who was snuggled against him now. He would get her back to her parents. He just had to give them the signal before Regina decided it was time to live and go and meet them to trade Emma's life for Snow's.
He started to reach into his pocket, prepared to press the silent alarm button on his walkie-talkie that alert the Charmings, who had the other. The alert would confirm that he had found Regina where he assumed she'd be—the mausoleum. The moment his hand touched the button, however, he found Regina behind him, her fingers twirling the curls at the nape of his neck before trailing down lightly with the teasing spirit of a lioness flicking her tail.
She paused in the middle of his back, feeling his heart as it slammed against his ribs. It wasn't fear that made him react as he did, but some strange combination of fear and desire and loathing. Her voice sounded seductive, the threat curled on her tongue and he could feel her lips against his ear.
"Press it, Huntsman, and your heart will beat no more."