Forbidden
The Next Disaster:
Her skirt is ringing.
That's the first dumb thought that enters Regina's mind the following morning. But after rubbing the sleep out of her eyes, she corrects herself. Her skirt isn't ringing. Her phone lying inside the pocket of her skirt is ringing.
Regina carefully ducks out under Maleficent's long arm and scrabbles after the phone in her pocket. Never a moments peace. She could have used a minute to wake up. To acknowledge the warm body next to her and more importantly, to acknowledge what happened between them last night, good god her head is hurting. But sadly, life isn't exactly encouraging these kinds of ponderings right now.
"He…" her voice is hoarse from sleeping and drinking and she quickly clears her throat and tries again. "Hello?"
"Regina!" Emma's voice comes in the other end. "I've been trying to call you for the past hour!"
"What happened?" Regina mutters. What now? She raises on one elbow. Maleficent is waking up next to her, and Regina flashes her a halfhearted smile.
"Is it Lily?" Regina asks when her brain finally starts to work. "Is she okay?"
Next to her, Maleficent stiffens and her hand curls into a fist
"It's not Lily. She's fine. Still out cold according to Granny. It's Gold."
Fuck. Rumplestiltskin. Regina completely forgot all about him and his plans. She was so focused on finding Lily.
"What about Gold?" Regina inquires and Maleficent's hand immediately relaxes again.
"He's planning something," Emma says. "He wouldn't say what, but I think perhaps Belle knows more. She said it was something about the Author."
Shit. The Author. Regina completely forgot all about that too. Operation Mongoose had quickly gained the lowest spot on her priority list. Damnit.
"Can't the bookworm unleash her lovey-dovey powers on him and stop him?" Regina suggests through gritted teeth. Here comes the next crisis. Why is it that she's always needed when she's hungovered? And have carpet burns on my back.
Maleficent raises an eyebrow.
"Possibly. But either way, we need to hold a crisis meeting," Emma says firmly. "And prepare for whatever hell he's going to unleash."
"Okay, okay," Regina surrenders. God, her throat is completely dry, and her head is pounding. This is definitely not her day. "That sounds reasonable enough."
"The library? Ten minutes?" Emma says.
Regina confirms that and then ends the call. Great. A crisis meeting. In ten minutes. When she's hungover. And has carpet burns on her back. God, she should have known better than to drink. It always comes back to bite her in the ass somehow.
"What's going on?" Maleficent asks calmly. At least she sounds just as tired as Regina.
"Rumple is planning something. The Charmings have summoned me for an extra ordinaire crisis meeting down at the library," Regina quickly explains as she untangles herself from the blankets. She doesn't have time for a shower. That will have to wait. Damnit. Everything is happening way too fast these days. And she could have used a shower. She feels sticky.
"I'll go with you," Maleficent says and pulls her legs out of the tangled mess of blankets.
Regina frowns. "Weren't you trying to retire from chaos?"
"I'm a citizen of Storybrooke too," Maleficent calmly retorts. "I deserve to know what's going on."
Regina immediately acknowledges that, but there's still one problem…
"Snow and David are gonna be there," she warns.
"And nobody is forcing me to talk to them," Maleficent states plainly. "I'm just there to listen."
"Okay," Regina surrenders. "Get dressed then. We only have about ten minutes."
Maleficent gracefully stands from the blankets and waves her hand, trading her nudity for another one of her trouser and blouse outfits. Another wave of her hand, and her blonde goes from being in unruly tangles to elegant curls flowing down her back. Then she turns to Regina. "How's the head?"
Regina quickly re-dresses by magic too and runs a finger through her hair. "Not good," she sighs. "I'm never drinking again."
Maleficent flashes her a little smile. "That sounds like something I've heard before."
Regina sighs gravely.
This is another hectic morning, and she's not quite sure how to handle things. She's definitely not prepared to discuss Rumplestiltskin's shenanigans right now. She would much rather take a moment to acknowledge that she and Maleficent got drunk and slept together last night. But of course, there's a crisis. Of course, there are more important things to take care of. Isn't there always?
Maleficent raises an eyebrow, and Regina knows its only a matter of time before she asks what's wrong, and apparently, there are far more important things to do than to think about something as trivial as feelings.
"We better get going," Regina mutters.
Within ten minutes Regina and Maleficent arrives in front of the library, and Regina pushes the door open and steps inside, followed closely by Maleficent.
"Regina! There you…" Snow White trails off completely when she spots Maleficent behind Regina.
Maleficent gives the princess a "fight me"-look. "I think I'm as much entitled to be here as you, princess."
The last word is more or less hissed out through gritted teeth, and Regina can't blame Snow for cringing. "Yes, of course you are. I'm so…" Snow says but cuts herself off abruptly at the look Maleficent is giving her.
Regina is tempted to roll her eyes. Is Snow White seriously choosing to apologize for that?
Emma looks from Regina to Maleficent, then back to Regina. And then the Savior raises an eyebrow and gives Regina a quizzing look.
Regina ignores that. Instead she turns to Belle who's standing behind Emma and Killian. "What is your husband up too now?"
Belle quickly explains the situation to them. Apparently, Gold has somehow managed to find the Author. And he wants to shift the entire balance. Turn villains into heroes and vice-versa.
"So, he's sticking to the original plan," Maleficent says and folds her arms.
"The original plan?" Regina echoes and turns to the dragon. Clearly there's something Maleficent hasn't told her.
"That was what him, Cruella, Ursula and myself were planning when we first arrived here," Maleficent says and as opposed to how she looks at the other ones present in the library, her eyes don't flicker when she looks at Regina. "Before Ursula got cold… fins, and the thing with Cruella went south, we had this grand plan about wanting to shift the entire balance. Make the villains victorious and the heroes, well…"
"I thought he wanted to darken Emma?" Killian protests and wraps one arm around said blonde.
Maleficent shrugs. "the dark one is excellent when it comes to multitasking."
"One thing at the time," Regina says. Her head is definitely gonna explode one of these days. Why did I drink last night? She turns to Belle. "You have to convince him not to. I doubt he gives a damn about the remaining villains. He's probably convinced that he found an ideal way to keep you by his side."
"What do you want me to do?" Belle asks.
"Persuade him to abandon his plan. If he's doing this out of love for you, you're the only one who can stop him."
"It wouldn't be the first time people have acted irrationally in the name of love," Maleficent says quietly, and Regina immediately thinks of Lily.
"I'll talk to him." Belle says. "If anyone can get through to him…" she doesn't finish the sentence. She simply leaves the library.
"Is Henry aware of what's going on?" Regina asks Emma.
"That's a fine point. Killian, do you mind?"
"I'll explain it to the lad," Killian says, gives Emma a kiss on the cheek and then follows Belle out of the library.
Did we just put our entire fate in the hands of a bookworm?
Regina then turns to Maleficent. "Do you happen to know how he's planning to enact this thing?"
"I don't," Maleficent says. "He wouldn't tell me anything after I went to the Savior to get help with finding Lily."
Regina ignores her curious audience. "And can I count on your help to solve this?"
"Of course," Maleficent nods. She too ignores Emma and Snow and David, and she looks directly at Regina when she says: "I'm on your side."
Regina breathes a sigh of relief. Good. That is good. Very good, actually. It would appear that they're mending things slowly.
"What do you want me to do?" Maleficent asks plainly.
"Go alert our daughter," Regina says and thereby confirms Snow and David's suspicion. Why keep beating around the bush?
Maleficent's flashes her a little smile at the admission. "Of course. I will." She turns around to leave the library, but now Snow speaks up, and Regina silently admires her courage.
"So Lily is your daughter," the pixie haired woman says and looks at Regina.
"Yes, that's correct." Regina confirms.
Snow's green eyes widens as she looks at Regina and Maleficent, and David looks like he's slowly starting to realize things. He doesn't bombard them with a million of questions, he just utters a very quiet: "Oh."
Maleficent has kept quiet during their little exchange, but now she seemingly can't keep her mouth shut: "I suppose this makes it a lot harder for you, doesn't it? To know that you didn't just take my daughter. To know that you in fact kidnapped Regina's daughter? Your friend's daughter. Doesn't that just make you want to go back in time and change it all?"
"Yes, it does. But not just because Lily is Regina's daughter too." David says seriously, and Emma shifts uncomfortably.
Maleficent sneers at both Snow and David. "I made a vow to Regina not to hurt you but come near Lily again and I will not be held responsible for my actions."
The dragon sorceress then spins around on her heel to leave the library, but before she leaves, she gives Regina's wrist a light squeeze
Regina tries to wrap her head around the newest crisis, and she barely hears Snow send David away to alert the dwarves. Oh god, I'm so hungover. I can't deal with this right now.
"Yes?" Regina says when she finally picks up on the fact that Snow is looking at her.
"Lily is your daughter." Snow echoes.
"Yes, we've already established that." Regina says distracted and wonders what the next step is gonna be. If Belle can't put a stop to Gold's horrendous plans, they're pretty much screwed. And where is the Author even? Where is Gold keeping him?
"How… I… How?" Snow says, and Regina can see that she's desperately trying to make sense of it all.
"Magic." Regina says shortly. "It's rare, but it can happen when one part is out of control. And that part just so happened to be me."
Snow opens her mouth, but Regina beats her to it: "I didn't know about Lily's existence until three days ago. Maleficent took the memory from me to keep her safe."
"She's your daughter… and we took her," Snow says quietly.
"Maleficent is the one who suffered the most," Regina sternly reminds her former stepdaughter. "She's the one you need to make it up to. Not me."
Snow nods, and then, very quietly: "How long have you known Maleficent?"
"A very long time." Regina says plainly.
She doesn't say anything else. But she can see that Snow knows. Knows that Lily's creation wasn't just a one time thing as they say.
Emma has kept quiet during Snow's little "interrogation", but now she flashes Regina a little smile.
And then the library door is flung open and Lily comes rushing inside. "Regina-mom, what's happening? Mom's just told me…" she stops abruptly when she sees Snow, and her brown eyes darkens.
"Eyes on me," Regina warns, and as Lily continues to look at Snow: "Lily. Look me at me."
Lily tears her gaze away and the smoke coming out of her nostrils quickly vaporizes. Thank god.
"So, what's happening?" the young brunette asks again.
Regina closes the distance between them but makes no attempt at touching her daughter. "I'm afraid the Dark One is scheming to get things the way he wants."
"Yeah, Malefi- mom told me as much." Lily mutters.
Regina sighs. "I'm sorry for dragging you into this. This is hardly what you expected when I brought you here."
"And I didn't expect turning into a dragon either," Lily scoffs. "But I did, and now I'm here. And I've decided to stay. At least for a week. I'm not sure what I'll do afterwards."
Regina nods. One week is better than nothing. Seven days is better than seven hours.
"So, what are we gonna do?" Lily asks.
"His wife- ex-wife is currently trying to knock some sense into him. Let's hope she succeeds," Regina mutters. "Otherwise I don't really know…"
"He sounds like a right bastard," Lily comments dryly, and Regina almost laughs.
"He's definitely good at looking out for himself," Regina half-agrees.
Lily's attention suddenly shifts from Regina to Snow, and her dark eyes narrows again.
"Have you had breakfast yet?" Regina asks. Don't blow up the library, please. Not that too. One disaster at the time.
Lily shrugs and shakes her head.
"Well, if you go back to Granny's, you'll probably find Henry," Regina says.
Lily smiles a little. "Maybe I should. Seems only fair I'm getting to know my brother." She touches Regina's shoulder lightly and then she leaves the library.
So, my daughter doesn't hate me after all. That's gotta count for something. And she's staying for a week. She's not just taking off.
Pretty soon Snow White leaves the library to assist her husband with "alerting their friends", leaving just Emma and Regina in the library.
"I should get back to my vault," Regina mutters. "It doesn't harm to go through my old books. Just in case…"
"I'll go with you," Emma immediately offers.
Soon they arrive at Regina's vault, and Regina immediately starts scouring her books, she's already gone through them about a million times in her search for the Author, but she can't exactly ask Gold where he's keeping said Author. And if it really comes to a showdown between the "heroes" and the Dark One, she'll need to brush up on her magic.
"So?" Emma says as they plow through the books.
"Hmm?" Regina says distracted. There's gotta be something they can use. Why is it that Rumplestiltskin has to involve the entire town in his marriage problems?
"Any particular reason Maleficent was attending the crisis meeting?"
"She lives here, miss Swan," Regina says without looking up from the book. "She's entitled to know what's going on."
"Is something going on between the two of you?" Emma asks plainly.
"That is not relevant right now."
"You arrived together," Emma points out.
"I'm aware," Regina says through gritted teeth. "Look, I really don't have time for girl talk right now, Emma. In case you haven't noticed, the next crisis is looming above us."
But Emma seems relatively un-phased by that, and she doesn't even look up from the books as she asks: "Are you together now?"
Regina breathes slowly and counts to ten. "I'm trying to make things right with her, okay? It's the least I can do. Snow and David aren't the only ones who wronged her, remember?"
Emma doesn't ask anymore. Instead she bows her head over the books like Regina.
But they haven't been busying themselves with the stacks of books before Regina hears the sound of footsteps coming into the crypt, and then someone clears their throat quietly to alert her.
Regina looks up from the books and sees Maleficent standing in the shadows.
Emma looks up from the books too and looks pending at Regina.
"Regina, a moment of your time?" Maleficent asks plainly and looks right through Emma.
Regina nods wordlessly.
"I think I'll go and find my parents," Emma lamely excuses herself. "See you later, Regina."
"Yes." Regina says and nods.
Emma leaves the vault and Regina listens as the sound of her footsteps becomes fainter and fainter.
Maleficent comes closer and her fingertips barely brushes Regina's as she says: "We should probably talk about last night."
"Yes, that would probably be wise." Regina says and looks up from the pile of books.
Maleficent absentmindedly runs her finger up and down the book spine. "I'm glad you agree. I feared you would dismiss it as nothing."
"Well, that would be rather cowardly of me," Regina says dryly.
"Lots of things happened last night." Maleficent acknowledges. "Lots of things I hadn't thought would happen..."
"But it did" Regina nods.
"What I'm interested in hearing…" Maleficent says and releases her grip on the spell book. It falls back on the table with a thud. "Did it mean something? Or do you consider it to be a drunken mistake?"
Regina turns away from the pile of books and looks at Maleficent. "It meant something." She says firmly. And she means it. She's perfectly aware of what she felt last night. What she still feels. "I stand by everything that happened last night." crying and drunken apology included.
Maleficent's face lights up in a smile, and she takes Regina's hand. For a moment, Regina thinks that she's going to kiss it, but she simply holds it.
"Good." Maleficent says plainly, but that smile never leaves her face.
Regina can't help but smile too. "How do you feel about reading about how to defeat a dark one?"
"I couldn't think of a better way to spend my morning."
To Be Continued?