Forbidden

Back from the Ashes:

Cruella, Ursula and Maleficent all look up when Regina steps inside. None of them look particularly impressed to see her.

Regina flashes them her best "Evil Queen"-smile and barely looks at Maleficent when she says: "So the rumors are true. You are back from the ashes."

"What are you doing here, Regina?" Maleficent retorts coldly.

"Making it easier for you," Regina drawls. "If you wanna try to kill me… I'm right here."

Cruella raises an eyebrow slightly, and Regina tries her best not to flinch when Maleficent suddenly vanishes from her spot and re-appears inches from her. That woman definitely has a habit of being very much in Regina's face all the time.

"So that's why you think I'm back. To kill you." Maleficent sneers.

"I trapped you underground for thirty years. And you're not big on forgiveness," Regina retorts plainly.

"That's true, but what you did is nothing in the grand scheme. There are far worse crimes that must be answered for."

Regina raises an eyebrow at that. What crimes?

"Careful, darling. She's thick as thieves with those heroes," Cruella interjects.

"Not by choice," Regina snaps. "You know how much I wanted my revenge. But in this town, I had to play nice to survive. Alone. Watching them enjoy the happiness I was denied! If you're planning on destroying some of that happiness. I want in."

"You can't expect us to believe that," Ursula says, but she doesn't sound very certain.

"Of course she doesn't. That's why she's here. She wants us to see she's still one of us," Maleficent says silkily and smirks a little.

"I am," Regina bites and never lower her gaze from Maleficent's.

"Then let's find out," Maleficent suggests and breaks eye contact for a second as she turns around and takes one of the shot glasses placed on the table.

She hands it to Regina and her eyes bores into Regina's again as she asks: "Are you still a bad girl, Regina?"

Bad girl. What the hell is that supposed to mean? She could have said so many other things. "Are you still one of us, Regina?," "are you still a villain, Regina?". But she didn't. Of all the things she could have said, she choose "bad girl", a phrase, that to put it lightly have double meaning. Regina tries her best not to remember anything as she takes the shot glass from Maleficent, empties it and then crushes it with her bare hand. "The worst," she proclaims and congratulates herself on how steady her voice sounds.

That was several hours ago. And to "prove herself" Regina had to participate in what quickly turned out to be a regular "drinking competition". And that drinking competition had included trashing one of the police cars.

Regina reminds herself to apologize to David later.

But right now….

She groans as she closes the door to the mansion and kicks her shoes off. She's meeting up with Snow and David in a few hours, and thank goodness she has a few hours to "stew" in.

She's definitely drunk. As in very, very drunk. It probably wouldn't benefit anyone of the involved parties if she met Snow and David like this.

Regina plops down on her couch and palms her forehead. Her mind and body are spinning from the alcohol. She can't remember the last time she became this drunk, this fast.

She scoffs quietly. Let in to their little "group" and "far worse crimes that must be answered for" or not, Maleficent is still pissed at her. The blonde has never been very good at hiding her emotions, and Regina can almost smell the anger that radiates from her.

At least Cruella and Ursula had been with them, and Maleficent had seemed rather determined to keep her mouth shut in front of them.

Regina chuckles darkly. If she can do this… If she can pull this off…

If she can infiltrate "the Queens of Darkness", find out what their plan is, search for the Author, avoid getting killed by a very angry dragon, and nurse her broken heart in her spare time, she deserves a fucking medal.

A fucking medal and a drink.

Or possibly a very long holiday.

Good gracious, why is her life so complicated all the time? First her catastrophic relationship with Robin and now a very pissed of dragon ex-something alive and kicking and properly looking for an opportunity to get her alone so she can murder her.

Regina sinks down in the couch until her head is resting on her knees. It's very tempting to have another drink, the whiskey is right there in the cabinet, but she knows she can't do that. She's supposed to meet with Snow and David in a couple of hours. It would be a wise idea to be just a bit sober for that occasion.

Regina sighs for the millionth time that night. Her head is already starting to hurt. What did she even find out?

That Maleficent wants to wring my neck.

Yes, okay. That was what was to be expected, but apart from that?

That Maleficent is taking "if looks could kill" to a whole new level?

Regina snaps her head back up and frowns (a movement that hurts her head), Maleficent this, Maleficent that. What is she, twenty years old? No, Maleficent is a part of her past.

But past or not, she still owes her an apology. And one of the very, very big ones too, that is.

The question is how exactly she's gonna do that. Cruella and Ursula were clinging to them like glue, and Maleficent didn't seem awfully keen on talking to Regina.

And who can blame her?

Regina scoffs and leans her head back against the couch. She can already feel the hangovers set in, and the sound of her phone buzzing somewhere in her pocket is definitely too loud.

She scrabbles to find the damn thing and groans quietly when she sees the text. It's Snow White. Again. When did they even start texting each other? Either way, her former stepdaughter is worried and has actually texted her repeatedly for the past hour. Regina just failed to notice it.

Regina neglects to text her back. They'll see each other in a few hours, and Regina is in no state to text her back right now.

She could catch up on some sleep. She has time to sleep for a while before she once again ventures out, but she decides that sleep is for the weak. Her head is spinning from the alcohol, and her mind seems to have a life of its own.

"Are you still a bad girl, Regina?"

Her dark eyes snaps open immediately. And where the hell did that come from?! Maleficent's voice definitely has no business in her head.

She's drunk. That's what she is. Drunk and nothing more.

Regina stands from the couch and stumbles into the kitchen. There she pours herself a very large glass of water, and then she flicks her wrist and makes a cup of coffee appear in front of her. She eagerly takes the first gulp and ignores the burning sensation in her throat. She needs to sober up, and she needs to sober up fast.

"Are you still a bad girl, Regina?"

Regina closes her eyes and sighs exasperated. So her drunk self is weak when it comes to Maleficent.

So her drunk self is still weak when it comes to Maleficent.

Wonderful. Absolutely fucking perfect.

She should have known that this "infiltration" wouldn't just be a piece of cake.

She had expected this to be tricky, but not like this. Not because of this. Not because her silly, intoxicated brain suddenly is flooded with memories that have been buried so deep within her for so long.

No, it's the past. It's all a part of her past.

And what if her past suddenly decides to rise from the dead?

Then you have a problem.

Really? You don't say.

Regina makes herself another cup of coffee. This shouldn't be such a big deal. It's not the first time the past has come back to haunt her, she thinks bitterly as she remembers when Cora suddenly arrived in Storybrooke and made her life a hell.

But Maleficent isn't Cora.

No, Maleficent is something entirely different.

Regina quickly empties her second cup of coffee. She'll figure this out. She'll smoothen things out with Maleficent. If she can. Yes, that's what she'll do. She'll continue her little "double agent scheme", work out what the witches are here for, report it back to Snow and David, and then, when she gets the chance, she'll make things right with Maleficent. That's what "heroes" do, right? Make things right.

Maleficent might not be a "hero" but she's not bad either, Regina knows that. God, how she knows that. And Maleficent definitely didn't deserve to be treated the way Regina treated her.

Regina puts the coffee cup down and realizes how her hand has started trembling slightly from the realization. She wronged Maleficent. She screwed up big time, and she just have to make that up to her somehow. That's definitely a part of being one of "the good guys". To make things right with the people she can.

Her phone chimes and Regina blinks to make her unfocused eyes focus on the text. It's Snow White again, and this time, there's no way around it.

Regina will just have to meet her and David whilst being terribly hung over.

How fitting….

To Be Continued?