Here it is. The long awaited confrontation. This chapter was originally going to be much longer, but I think breaking it up this way works. I hope that it is everything you lovely readers have hoped for since this story's beginning. I am eager to hear your reactions.
Before Emma knows what's happening, Regina is using her own body as a barrier against the front door. The astonished blonde watches her incredibly brave fiancé with awe, as Regina holds the doorknob firmly in her right hand, preventing the intruder from entering. She hears the older woman say in a threatening tone that sends a shiver up her spine, "Back away from the door."
The last thing Emma sees is her slender fiancé slipping through the crack of the barely open door with ease and closing it behind her, blocking any further observation.
She was numb before. But now that feeling has returned, the terror is overwhelming. She has lost sight of the woman she loves. Obviously, Regina is just trying to protect her, she knows that. But, she also realizes that the overly confident woman is not safe. Regina doesn't have her magic here. Suddenly, a horrifying thought enters Emma's mind that makes her blood run cold. No! He'll kill her!
The helpless woman listens desperately to the conversation on the other side of the closed door.
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"Where's Emma?"
How dare he speak her name! The former Evil Queen though she is, she has never felt rage like this; not even toward Snow White and that's saying something. Down to her fingertips her body is set aflame.
Even in her three inch heels, she is still several inches shorter than the bully of a man. Nonetheless, the queen boldly declares, "You are not getting anywhere near her."
Is she just this out of practice? Having countless years of experience intimidating peasants, she cannot understand why her tone has no effect on the stoic man.
"Let me guess, she's been filling your head with lies too."
Determined not to be swayed by this master manipulator, Regina confirms what she knows to be true. "I know what you did."
Towering over her, it seems, the brute inches closer to the petite woman, making normally confident Regina slightly uneasy. As he backs her into the shadows, he continues his provocation. "What? What exactly did I do?"
Those eyes. That stare. The nervous woman can feel the intimidating man undressing her with only that look. And, what's worse, she senses the things he is imaging doing to her in that moment, everything he has done to Emma, all the pain he has caused her.
Though she is well aware that this unstable man might snap at any moment and physically harm her, that doesn't deter her from uttering this simple truth, "You son-of-a-bitch."
The all too aggressive individual entirely invades the petite woman's personal space, with the goal of, not only, intimidating, but also, frightening her. As the antagonist inches closer, Regina attempts to counter his advances by backing up until she can go no further. She begins to panic when she feels her back pressed flat against the cold brick of the house.
"I will not stand for this harassment in front of my own home," he threatens; he is so close, the compromised woman can feel the heat radiating off her aggressor's body. "I'm tired and I want to sleep with my wife."
Those words rapidly heat Regina's blood to a boil. With all the venom of a vengeful Evil Queen, Regina bites back, "You mean rape her."
Bizarrely, the frightening man seems entirely unaffected by Regina's accusation. "It's not my fault she's never in the mood," he explains.
Rising to the challenge, the queen stands her ground. "Try to work out why," she responds, attempting to stare down the riled man.
In an outright condescending tone, the irritated man responds, "If I were you, I wouldn't be so bold."
Through gritted teeth and in between heavy breaths, Regina attempts to regain control of a situation that is growing increasingly more upsetting by the moment. "You have no idea who you're dealing with or what I will do to protect Emma."
In an instant the hostile man pushes his weight against the petrified woman, attempting to smother her with his own body. He furthers his assault by restraining Regina's wrists at her sides, thus immobilizing her.
Quite unexpectedly, the queen is reliving a terrifying experience. She shuts her eyes tightly as her attacker's hot breath fills her ear. "That bitch deserved everything I did to her. Every beating I ever gave her, she brought upon herself." He tightens his grip around her restrained wrists to make sure she is paying attention. Regina is unable to stifle the small cry that escapes her. "And, I will have no trouble doing the same to you if you stand in my way."
"Let her go." The voice is almost unrecognizable to the worked up man. He is certain that he had never before heard his wife speak so confidently.
"Emma, don't," the restrained woman pleads.
The sadist presses his body into Regina with more force, attempting to asphyxiate the immobilized woman. "Shut up," he warns, as the queen gasps for breath.
The composure was short lived. Fear has reclaimed its merciless hold on the younger woman. Voice trembling, Emma continues, "Get your hands off my fiancé."
The enraged man's eyes widen and he releases Regina, to the queen's great relief. She collapses to the ground, coughing and wheezing.
Automatically, Emma attempts to rush to her beloved's side, but she is blocked.
"Your what?"
Emma looks to the trembling woman before answering. Deflated by the sight of her normally composed fiancé being reduced to this, with un-shed tears welling in her eyes, Emma determinedly confronts her abuser. "I'm divorcing you, Chris. I have finally been reunited with the love-of-my-life and I am prepared to fight dearly for her."
Backing the younger woman toward the open doorway, the crazed man warns, "You think I'm just gonna let you go?"
She stands her ground. "You don't have a choice. I'm leaving, with Regina."
"No. You don't have a choice." In one swift, violent motion he pushes Emma inside the house, knocking her to the floor.
At the same time, Regina jolts up from her position on the ground, hitting the door as it slams shut. That was a mistake. She shouldn't have tried to stop it by wedging her hand in the frame. The older woman screams in agony from the blinding pain shooting up her arm. She didn't even register the sound of bones crunching.
That sound. That awful cry stabs the younger woman straight through the heart.
"NO," she screams.
Before she can rise above a sitting position, she feels the back of Chris's hand make contact with her cheek.
She hears the sound of the front door being locked behind her. Before she can recover, her attacker grabs a fistful of blond hair and yanks her head back to look at him; causing the young woman to cry out.
The queen is momentarily jerked out of the excruciating pain that has temporarily blinded her. "Emma!" she shouts in desperation. The queen feels shear and utter terror at the sound of her beloved's distressed cries. Regardless of her size and broken hand, she tries with all of her strength to break down the door that stands between her and the woman she loves.
"You're not going anywhere," Chris continues his verbal assault.
Any remaining bit of composure Emma had is lost in an instant. The young woman begins to weep.
The heartless man makes his final threat, "You're gonna pay for this."
Regina hears the first blow and Emma's pained cry. That was all it took for her magic to be triggered. She succeeds in breaking open the door, distracting Chris from his assault on the blonde woman.
"GET AWAY FROM HER!"
Chris is suddenly sent flying across the room. He slams into a bookshelf and collapses in an unconscious heap on the floor, with several small objects landing on top of him.
The blonde woman is beyond grateful to be alive. Immediately aware that she has Regina to thank for coming to her rescue, Emma searches the room for her. "Regina?" When she spots her, the older woman is doubled over on the floor. The sudden eruption of magic had taken a hefty toll on the already weakened woman.
"Regina!"
She can hear Regina choking as she rushes to the injured woman's side.
Suppressing the urge to vomit, Emma attempts to calm her fiancé. "Regina, it's okay. It's okay." Sadly, she registers the harsh fact that this woman is not at all okay. "Your hand." The sight of Regina's mangled hand triggers an immediate flow of tears from blue eyes. Any composure Emma had possessed has left. She does the only thing she can think of in this moment and holds the pale, shivering woman firmly in her embrace.
"No," Regina squeaks.
"Shhhh…it's okay. It's okay," the younger woman soothes.
"No," the broken woman repeats.
Seeing her fiancé in this state of shock is the most heart-wrenching thing Emma had ever experienced. This remarkable woman is her rock. Regina would know what to do for Emma if the roles were reversed. How, Emma wonders, can she take care of her? She is not strong enough for this. The horrified woman is pretty sure she went though ever stage of grief in the moment before she makes a decision. "Come on, we need to get you to the hospital."
With her arms still around the trembling woman, Emma begins to rise from her kneeling position encouraging Regina to stand with her. But, she is stopped by a weak voice.
"Emma."
She moves closer to the frightened woman, hugging her tightly, determined to be the anchor that she needs. "It's okay. I'm here."
"Emma," the queen repeats.
"I'm here. I'm going to take care of you. You're going to be alright."
"He…hurt…you."
The younger woman is absolutely baffled as to how this incredible woman's top concern is still her safety. She attempts to reassure the breathtaking woman in her embrace. "But, you stopped him. Regina, you saved me."
"He hurt you," Regina cries.
There is no way she is about to let this courageous woman blame herself for not doing more to protect her. "Shhhhhh. Baby, it's okay. It's okay. I'm okay."
"I promised I would keep you safe."
She has to get through to her. She must. "You did. He would have killed me if you hadn't stopped him. I'm so sorry Regina."
Regina makes the sorrowful admission, "I thought I was going to lose you."
That one strikes a chord. "I know."
Pleading brown eyes finally meet blue. "I can't lose you again, Emma. I can't."
"You won't. You'll never lose me. I'm yours, forever." Hugging the shattered woman tighter, Emma reiterates what she knows to be true. "Regina, your love for me is what made it possible for you to get him off me."
"I thought he was going to kill you."
Letting it sink in, Emma acknowledges the validity of that statement. "He was. But, I knew you would never let that happen." At this admission, Regina cries harder and grips the younger woman tighter with her only usable hand. The younger woman calmly continues as she holds the crying woman securely in her arms. "I wasn't afraid to die, because you were here with me."
"I couldn't keep you safe. I promised I would keep you safe."
Guiding the older woman to meet her eyes again, Emma articulates, "Listen to me, Regina. It's alright now. We're both safe."
The queen weakly nods her understanding.
The younger woman's focus suddenly shifts back to Regina's bruised and broken hand. Fresh tears pour from her eyes as she very gently examines the injury.
"I couldn't get to you," Regina calmly says, in regard to her hand.
That statement is almost too much for the younger woman. She shuts her eyes tightly and shakes her head in disbelief. "I never want to hear you cry like that again." She can barely get the words out. "I don't think I can survive that again."
Without another thought or hesitation, Emma allows the magic to flow through her fingertips and re-set Regina's broken bones and repair her wounded flesh. It had been such a long time since she felt magic coursing through her body, but the blonde woman welcomes it like an old friend.
A bewildered Regina confirms what she has just witnessed, "You healed me."
She can only stay strong for so long. Upon discovering that she had been successful in healing her fiancé, the younger woman gives herself permission to collapse. "I had to. I can't handle you being in pain, Regina. I can't."
The older woman returns to her rightful position as her family's rock. She embraces her fiancé, firmly grounding her in the present. Once the younger woman has calmed slightly, Regina asks, "Are you alright?"
Having recovered somewhat from the horrifying experience, Emma makes a request, "Please don't ever scare me like that again."
Lovingly cradling Emma's face in her hands and gazing into blue eyes, Regina announces, "I love you, Emma Swan."
"I love you too," the younger woman returns, placing a soft kiss on the newly repaired hand in confirmation.
Regina kisses her beloved's forehead before re-directing her attention to the forgotten man. "Do you think he's dead?"
The younger woman rises from her crouched position to check the unconscious man's pulse. "No. He's still breathing." When she doesn't receive a response, she looks around for her fiancé who had seemingly slipped out of the room unnoticed. When she sees Regina returning to the living room with a pitcher of water, the younger woman inquires, "What are you doing?"
"Waking him up. It's time for me to deal with this asshole." She empties the entire contents of the pitcher on the knocked-out man's face. Immediately, he springs to consciousness. Satisfied, Regina greets, "Hello Chris."
"You stay away from me," he orders as he attempts to slide himself across the carpet and away from the towering woman.
Maintaining her status, Regina calmly corrects, "You have that backwards. You are going to stay far away from us. You are going to sign those divorce papers and you are never going to treat another woman the way you have treated my Emma, ever again."
"Get away from me you witch!"
"You're about to find out how much of a witch I really am," the queen threatens as her eyes grow darker. She crouches down to the floor level and wraps the fingers of her newly repaired right hand around the fucker's neck and presses him into the floor. "I'm going to make you pay for everything you did to Emma," she growls.
At this announcement, a surge of dread rushes through the younger woman. She attempts to get her fiance's attention. "Regina."
Unaffected by or entirely not hearing her fiance's plea, the queen presses the fucker into the floor. "You abused her! You frightened her! You broke her spirit!"
Unable to breathe, let alone speak, the defenseless man manages through a choked voice. "Please...don't kill me."
Please, no. No! This isn't my Regina! Emma makes another attempt to get the closed-off woman's attention. "Regina."
The welcomed sight of the fucker's face turning scarlet results in a wicked grin spreading across Regina's. Squeezing his neck tightly, Regina positions her own face less than an inch from her attacker's. "Look into my eyes. Do I look like someone you know? Someone you betrayed? Think hard before answering."
"Char-lie," he can barely get out.
She's going to kill him. I can't let her do that. This isn't her! Trying a different tactic this time, Emma quietly crouches down to her fiance's level and carefully places a hand on her shoulder. "Regina, please."
This sobers the queen immediately, her eyes return to normal and she loosens her hold on the frightened man. Determined to remain poised, the older woman bites back the tears welling in her eyes as she straightens up. "This woman is the only reason you still breathe," she firmly states.
Incredibly relieved and moved by her beloved's words, Emma gently rests her forehead against the older woman's temple. Releasing her hold on the gasping man, Regina continues, "Charlie is my daughter and you will never see her or the love-of-my-life again."
The sound of sirens can be heard in the distance, momentarily distracting the queen.
"Someone must've called the cops," Emma acknowledges.
Returning her attention to the loathsome man, Regina continues, "If you have a shred of intelligence, you will sign those papers. If you don't, I will have no trouble ending your life. And, believe me. I will make you suffer until your last miserable breath."
"I got this," Emma whispers in reassurance.
Without meeting Emma's eyes, the older woman rises and swiftly slips out the front entrance undetected.
Holding the humiliated man's gaze, Emma asserts, "Make no mistake. I don't care about you, whether you live or die. But I will not let the woman I love destroy herself because of you. You're not worth it." Rising to a standing position, the blonde woman continues, "I look forward to your signature on the divorce papers." As the sound of sirens grows closer, the blonde woman picks up a photo of herself, Charlie, and Chris that had fallen to the floor when Chris hit the bookshelf. She examines the photo, then turns her attention back to the exhausted man and confidently announces, "You never deserved us."