Alert! Alert! Witch fight time! Witch fight time!
They were facing each other, Zelena bending slightly forward like a predator readying for a jump. Regina was not amused and retained her regular stance; straight backed, head held high and magic tingling in her fingertips. Even if Zelena might be more powerful there was no way Regina would go down without a fight – and she had a few tricks up her sleeve as well.
"He should have chosen me", Zelena growled.
"Who?" Regina asked, never wavering in her gaze.
"Rumplestiltskin!" Zelena responded, her voice dripping with hatred. Regina's eyebrows shot up in surprise.
"That's what this is about?" she asked, feeling a mocking smile creep up on her lips. "You're jealous of me?"
Zelena pulled back somewhat and Regina used the opportunity to throw her arms up in the air and use her magic to grab the traffic light dangling on a cable above their heads, sending it flying towards her opponent. The Wicked Witch reacted at once and deviated the attack, sending the object skidding along the ground. Some of the townsfolk who had gathered for the fight had to jump aside to avoid being hit by both the traffic light and the sparks it sent out all around it. Gasps and startled cries where heard from their audience and many moved further back, but none of them dared to leave the scene. Regina did not know exactly what Zelena had done before she got there but obviously something since not even the Charmings or those newcomers dared to take a stand against her now. Which was exactly how Regina wanted it as well; this was her fight and she would be damned if she allowed any of them to help her win it.
"You still don't realize what you had", Zelena said as the two sorceresses circled each other. "You never did. You got everything you ever wanted and you didn't even deserve it!"
Her voice lowered to a growl once more.
"But I'm going to take it all from you!" she exclaimed and flung out her hands. Regina felt the wave of magic and tried her best to block it, but instead found herself flying back and landing on the windshield of a nearby car. Pain surged through her body but she climbed off the hood with a grunt and turned towards Zelena again. The Witch smiled triumphantly and Regina gritted her teeth. She was begging to be turned into a pile of ash.
She walked towards her opponent again and waved her hand, feeling the familiar surge of magic as her most loyal spell, the fireball, took effect. One more step and she would be able to throw it without any interference. She raised her hand and saw Zelena flick hers in response, and suddenly the magic disappeared, along with the fireball in her hand. Regina gasped. This was not going as planned. She turned towards Zelena again and saw the Witch coming closer. A green-gloved hand rose up and suddenly Regina could not breathe, or move for that matter.
"You can't beat me, little sis", she heard Zelena say as the Witch lifted her off the ground, her face turned up towards the dark sky. Forcing her gaze down she managed to catch a blurry image of her half-sister's triumphant smile.
"Everything he taught you, he taught me too", Zelena continued. "But I was the better student."
She spun around and Regina felt herself fly upwards, through the air and away from the crossroads they had used as their battleground. Something broke around her and she felt as if someone had stuck a thousand little daggers into her back before she landed on a cold, metal grate. Grunting she slowly came to her senses again and realized Zelena had sent her through the face of the town's clock. She pushed herself up on her elbows just as the green smoke signalling her sister's arrival appeared in front of her. Zelena's eyes were filled with disgust as she looked down on Regina.
"What are you waiting for?" Regina asked, trying to sound challenging as she sat up. "Kill me."
"I never said I wanted to kill you", Zelena answered. "I said I wanted to destroy you, and to do that..."
She knelt down, her face close to Regina's and her voice lowered to a threatening hiss.
"I need your heart!"
The next moment the Wicked Witch plunged her hand into Regina's chest and Regina struggled with the pain she felt. It was not the first time this had happened and she doubted it would be the last, seeing as she was the Evil Queen and many wanted to rip her heart out, but she hated the feeling of those fingers grappling inside her chest. Perhaps even more so now than before, considering who it was that now performed this action.
However, as she looked up she could see Zelena's triumphant smile fading as she realized that something was very wrong. She pulled her hand back out and found it empty.
"Where is it?" she yelled. Regina pushed herself up somewhat more so that their faces were even closer.
"Our mother taught me one thing", she said, feeling her own triumphant smile creep up on her lips. "Never bring your heart to a Witch Fight. Something you'd know if she hadn't abandoned you."
Using whatever strength she had left she pushed Zelena back and managed to maintain her triumphant glare and smile as the Witch stumbled back.
"You haven't won, Regina", Zelena said, her voice rising to a scream. "I will get your heart! I will get everything you ever had!"
She flicked her hand and, out of nowhere, a broom appeared. Regina restrained herself from huffing; of course the Wicked Witch of the West flew around on a broom.
"Not today", she instead remarked. Zelena glared at her for a few moments more before mounting the broom and flying out through the hole in the clock. Seeing her disappear Regina relaxed back against the fence surrounding the grate she was on. She heard the door leading from the library to the Clock Tower slide open.
"You alright?"
Emma's voice. Of course the Charmings would be the ones to come save her. Their steps ascended the metal stairs to her left, but she did not bother to look at them.
"I'm still alive, aren't I?" she instead replied. In the corner of her eye she saw them reach the topmost level, the one she was on, and found that two of the newcomers had also come along; both of them girls, one with short blonde, blonde hair, the other of Indian descent. Regina had not bothered to learn their names.
"Gold disappeared", David said and helped her get back up on her feet. "We thought that meant..."
"She defeated me?" Regina filled in. "Hardly."
"You won?" the blonde girl asked. Regina remembered glaring at her at Granny's that same morning for questioning her knowledge of the Wicked Witch and now she gave her another one.
"Don't act so surprised", she said, before turning to look out through the hole that had once been the face of the clock. "As it turns out Zelena wanted my heart. It's a good thing I wasn't stupid enough to bring it with me."
"Your heart?" the girl of Indian descent asked. "Your actual, physical heart? Not something that the heart can be a metaphor of? Why?"
"Well, she got Charming's courage", Regina said, "and now she wants my heart. It can only mean one thing."
"She's trying to cast a curse?" Emma asked.
"What kind of curse?" the blonde girl filled in.
"I don't know", Regina answered with a shake of her head, "but I'm going to find out."
"But", Mary Margaret said, her hands moving to her swollen belly, "we're already in Storybrooke. We've already lost our memories. What else could she do to us?"
Robin had torn off his jacket long ago; the tension coursing through his body keeping him warm instead. If he held his breath and listened intently he could hear it, the soft beating of the dark heart buried beneath a few stones on the other side of the tall tree he used as his shelter.
Regina's heart.
When Rachel had appeared at the camp and asked him to meet Regina at the fallen tree once more he had not expected this to be the reason. Hell, he did not know what he had expected, but certainly not showing up an hour before sundown and watching Regina plunge her hand into her own chest, tearing out her own, glowing heart and asking him to guard it during the fight. He had been even more surprised to find himself agreeing to it without questioning her or even asking her to put it back inside of her out of fear that Zelena could do something that would break the connection between heart and owner. In fact he had just vowed to protect it with his life, earning him a sad smile from the woman in front of him before she hurried away.
He had tried to determine what was happening in town through the change of rhythm in the beats. There was a time when they had come so fast he had considered abandoning his post and rushing to her aid before they slowly calmed down again. Now the beating was a little faster than normal once more, but not so fast that it scared him.
Steps approached and he tightened his grip on the crossbow before he heard the breathing of the runner. He could recognize her even by that.
"Did the plan work?" he asked, stepping out from his hiding. She pointed the light of a modern torch at him, her face worried.
"That depends; is it still here?" she asked.
"Right where you left it", he responded and walked all the way around the tree, leaning the crossbow against it. He then knelt down in order to remove the top stones resting above the hiding place while Regina illuminated it for him, exhaling in relief.
"Then it worked. I just needed to find the one thing I had that Zelena didn't."
He reached down into the hole with his right hand and pulled out the dark, glowing, warm object. It fascinated him that it was so dark, yet rays of red light still managed to escape from its core. Regina was not all dark, he had seen that before, but this was another proof of it.
"And what exactly was that?" he now asked and raised the heart towards her. To his surprise he found that she hesitated, looking at his hand for a few moments before reaching out a red-gloved hand to take the object from him.
"My heartless mother", she responded, studying the heart intently with a slight smile. He considered her words in wonder, along with the reaction she had displayed when accepting the heart from him. In the end he decided not to inquire about it further and turned to cover the hole once more.
"My sister was right about something", she said behind his back. "She said I don't always realize what I have right in front of me."
He rose with a slight grunt and faced her. They were standing close to another again, but somehow it seemed like they were meant to do it.
"What's that?" he asked, gazing intently at her. She no longer fought to keep the Evil Queen face in front of him, which gladdened him, but she still kept a lot of things hidden. As she opened her mouth to answer and then closed it, rethinking her response, he realized this was yet another of those things.
"Just that I didn't always appreciate things", she eventually said with a slight smile. It was a multicoloured response, he knew, but it still made him feel warm inside, like he often felt whenever they were near each other. His gaze dropped to her lips momentarily; blood red, matching her gloves. She was still smiling and he managed to return it before she suddenly grabbed his hand and placed a black satchel in it. He could feel the steady beating of her heart through the fabric; of course she had not put it back in, that would be too dangerous.
"Would you mind holding on to this for a bit longer?" she asked. His lips parted in surprise.
"You're really going to entrust something so valuable to a common thief like me?" he asked, glancing momentarily at the object before meeting her gaze again. She leaned closer, a genuine smile playing on her lips.
"You can't steal something that's been given to you."
His mouth opened in surprise again. There was familiarity on those words, spoken with her voice. Had she said them to him before? Was this how she had felt when asking him if they had met back in the Enchanted Forest? His gaze dropped to her lips again and he felt like a man dying of thirst; he needed to kiss her. Damn, he would die if he had to live this entire cursed life without kissing her.
She seemed to sense his thoughts and quickly turned away, releasing his hand with the satchel and starting to walk away. Not again, he managed to think before he spoke.
"You still owe me that drink."
She paused her walk, but did not turn back. Still, when she responded she could hear her smile seep through in her tone.
"Yes, I suppose I do."
And more OutlawQueen *snickers heartily* let's just hope Robin manages to keep Regina's heart away from Zelena...