A/N: And I had so hoped chapter 69 would involve a little more fun for these two :p... Oh well, I guess they'll have to earn it!
A/N added during later editing - I'm slipping this in here as it will become more relevant as things go on. I mentioned this in a previous A/N, but this story was written before we, as viewers, knew anything about Emma's arrest, Tallahassee, Neal etc, so there may be instances where it doesn't match entirely with the show in terms of how she appears to feel about things. I've tried to keep it as canon as possible based on the characters and how I think they would react, but any references to events in this fic that don't ring a bell when reading are because I didn't know whether they'd be addressed, so I created my own explanations to fill in the blanks. I hope it works.
Shortly after the Hatter's departure to go and find help - while he is working the fifth chip of ice gently over dry lips - Gold jerks, startled, as Emma takes in an audible gasp of air and begins to thrash beside him. For a second, he believes she is suffering some sort of seizure, as Jefferson had mentioned, but when her hand travels shakily up to bat his own away from her face, he realises she's just entering a confused state of consciousness and breathes a sigh of relief.
"What're y'doin?...'Gina?"
Her words are husky and slurred, but he has no trouble deciphering the name she attaches to his gentle attention. Frowning deeper, he pulls fever-damp hair away from her face and places the back of his hand against her forehead.
"Emma?"
"What?!"
The abruptness of her tone surprises him, and he can't help but smirk at the way her mannerisms remain coldly true to character, whether she has a clue what's going on or not. Wetting his hand in the frigid water that pools around the remains of the ice in the bowl, he wipes his fingers gently over her fevered cheeks as her lashes flutter slowly open and she looks up at him in confusion.
"You...?"
She frowns.
"I'm afraid so, dearie."
Gold agrees.
"Where's the-...Where's Regina?"
The blonde slurs, her brow furrowing deeper as she looks around the room as best as she can from the bed.
"She'll be here soon, pet... She'll be here very soon. First, we need to sort you out, though, Emma... You've done quite a job on your arms. Do you remember?"
The pawnbroker asks, rubbing uneasily at her shoulder.
"Hurt..."
"Yes, I imagine it does. Do you think you could manage some water?"
"Where's... 'Gina?"
"Never mind that right now. Come on, help me sit you up, you need to drink."
"No... Hurt?"
"I know, dearie, I know. Shush now, we'll sort you out, just help me sit you up."
"No!"
Emma growls, and Gold sighs in exasperation, before raising an eyebrow when the Sheriff appears to do the same. Studying her pensively, a look of comprehension suddenly alights his drawn features and he shakes his head, wrestling his arm beneath her blonde and pulling her up so that she sits supported against him in the hopes she'll be able to choke down a little fluid.
"Relax, Emma. No, Regina isn't hurt. She's okay, lovey, she's fine."
"Henry?"
"Henry, too. Everyone's fine."
The pawnbroker sighs uncomfortably as he holds the young woman awkwardly in the crook of his arm; his other hand petting her thigh distractedly as her forehead burns against his cheek. At his insistence that both the brunette and the boy are fine, she appears to relax; her head rolling into the cradle of his shoulder. Reaching out for the glass of water he has placed beside the bed, he lifts it to her lips carefully, tipping it just a little to coax her to swallow while keeping her from choking on it.
Still, a fair amount runs down her jaw in freshets, dampening the front of her dress.
Pulling the glass away when the Sheriff gives a weak shake of her head, Gold lays her back against the pillows and checks the dressings around her wrists.
"I called a doctor... I can't let you go to the hospital, not now, but he'll take care of you... Why did you have to go and do this to yourself, Emma? Why?!"
"Why did you?... Why?"
The blonde counters ineloquently, her breathing shallow as she glares up at her captor accusingly.
"... It was the only way I could think to get what I wanted... Had I known you'd react in such a way, I-... I know a bad trip down memory lane when I see it, Miss Swan... Me, I find myself revisiting those times I loathe to think about and I dream of all the ways I can make those responsible suffer. How I would make them pay... I would have thought we were kindred spirits, dearie, but alas, it seems you have yet to face your demons... I imagine that was an arrest all those years back that went very wrong indeed..."
"No... You... Shut up now..."
"One can only imagine, given what you were willing to do to break free of those cuffs..."
"S-top."
"Emma, you-"
"-No more... No... So-... So hot..."
The Sheriff exemplifies her words by pulling distractedly at the hem of her dress; her pale skin glistening with perspiration. Frowning, Gold pulls her hair away from her forehead, his expression wary as he takes in the scarlet hue pinpricking her cheeks.
"I know, dearie, I know. Here. I'll get you more ice-"
"-Off... Please. I want it off."
She yanks at the soiled cotton of her dress and the pawnbroker steps in swiftly before she can do any further damage with her fitful movements. Swallowing with an obscenely surreal sense of awkwardness, he locates the narrow zip at the back of her dress and clears his throat as he shakes her gently to try and get her full attention.
"Alright, Emma, I'll take it off... Are you-... Are you sure you want me to?"
"Hate dresses."
He supposes this is as close to a coherent answer as he's likely to get and hesitantly lowers the zipper, pulling the dirty fabric gently down and out of the way. Noting the crude scar that lines the blonde's stomach, he glances up at her warily, but she remains focused on nothing in particular; lids heavy and lashes casting a shadow down her cheeks.
"What the hell happened to you, Emma?"
"Told her... Told her I did it to myself... Told her... Not why... Don't."
"Don't what?"
"Don't touch me."
"I won't... Just stay with me, okay? Stay with me, and we'll get you sorted out."
"... Hate you."
"Yes, I imagine you do."
"F-fuck you."
"If you say so, Sheriff. If you say so."
The Mayor wakes up with a start as a loud knocking on her front door echoes from the hallway. Wrapping her nightgown firmly about herself and slipping from the drawing room, she hurries towards the door with wide eyes; thinking for a moment that the fists beating at painted wood must surely belong to the blonde.
Pulling back the door, she lets out a defeated sigh of recognition.
"Miss Lucas."
The waitress's face glistens with rain and her long hair hangs in sodden clumps against her pale cheeks.
"I found something! I think I found something!"
Ruby greets her breathlessly, and Regina invites her in swiftly, taking her sodden coat before she can even second-guess the gesture, before leading her back to the drawing room lest their voices wake Henry from what is presumably already fitful slumber.
"What do you mean?"
She demands as she closes the door. Bright eyes find her own as Ruby takes a seat on the sofa, and the Mayor notes distractedly how curious it is that the waitress has come to her alone, and seemingly in favour of going to the schoolteacher.
"Emma filed documents for the storm. I kept thinking about it, but I couldn't think why it kept bothering me so much!"
The younger woman exclaims.
"I'm sorry?"
"Yeah! I just couldn't grasp it, you know? So I went to the station-"
"-You were able to access the station?"
"Well, I kind of have a key."
"You have a key?!"
"The deputy's key... For like... Helping with paperwork and stuff, and in case Emma locks herself out, and-"
"-You mean to tell me the Sheriff gave you a key to allow you free reign of the station?!"
"That's not the point! Listen! I went to the station to try and figure this all out... I mean... I didn't know what else to do, and, I just-... I wanted to be there, you know? So I went, and I kept looking at those grey filing cabinets she has behind the desk, and they just kept bugging me!... I know I shouldn't have done it - or even know where she keeps the key - but I do, and I did, and... I found this."
Ruby holds out a slim plastic wallet containing several legal documents that seem horribly familiar. Taking them from the waitress with a wary glance, Regina pulls them out for closer inspection and freezes as her breath catches in her throat; recognising them to be the very same papers she had flicked past before finding the documents that had led to her own poisonous actions. Clearing her throat, she frowns as she rifles through them.
"What about them?"
"Read them... It took me ages to get it, too. It was like one of those puzzles they sometimes have in the paper. The ones where you know the clues are all there, but you don't really know what you're looking for... I remembered them because Emma was in such a shitty mood about filing them that I offered to do it myself. She watched me do it, to make sure I didn't screw up, and then I remember her finding this one thing on there odd... All of the property damage claims in there were either for the shop or Gold's house... Except this one."
The Mayor frowns as she studies the sheet the younger woman points to with a red-chipped nail.
"Weather and natural damage caused to window and roof of 31 B Main Street?... Where's 31 B Main Street?"
She reads the address listed curiously, glancing up at the waitress in hopes of an explanation.
"I don't know... 30-33 Main Street is an apartment building, but it's separated into numbered flats. I don't know what the B stands for. It's not on the call buttons, I checked, but-... Do you think it's something?"
"I suppose we're about to find out."