A/N: We're getting there! Apologies for leaving the last chapter on such a cliffhanger. I currently have one night free for (fanfic) writing a week and I'm trying to post what I manage to get done rather than leaving the story hanging for weeks as I've had a bad habit of doing in the past :). Things should be easier now that the end is in sight, as I think most of the rest of this should be fun to write and less stressful in that I can go back to focusing on the main storyline/ relationship of the fic and not the problems I accidentally set up for myself when writing earlier chapters. (That's probably why some clever people plan what they're going to write, at least vaguely, before just typing up whatever comes into their head... I should try it, but I probably won't). Anyway, enough rambling. I hope you like this chapter :) Comments/ reviews would be lovely!
"What the hell have you-"
But the rest gets choked up in a yelp of surprise as Regina understands what the blonde intends to do a second too late. Enough goes through her mind to try and grab the younger woman's shoulder as Emma ducks past her; succeeding in catching a handful of curls that slip through her fingers as the Sheriff throws herself against Hyde in a bid to force him through the enchanted glass.
"Emma! No!"
She cries, pivoting on the sharp point of her heel as her mind feels an infuriating step behind, and she lunges forward in a bid to try and snatch at the younger woman's jacket in a bid to keep her from following their charge through the mirror. Raking her fingers desperately over rough leather, she grabs hold of the blonde's wrist and tightens her grip with all of her might.
A moment later, she understands that this is precisely what Emma had intended for her to do.
"Ouch..."
She groans, her instinctive hold on the Sheriff pulling her through the glass to land on top of the woman in question. A commiserating grunt from below causes her to push herself up shakily; standing with her hands caught in her hair as she drinks in the human knot created by Hyde and the blonde sprawled across polished oak floorboards that should not be.
Or rather, that we shouldn't be standing on...
"Emma!"
She yells furiously, dark eyes wide as she meets the younger woman's slightly dazed expression, before taking in her surroundings dubiously.
"What the hell have you done?!"
She demands, although she knows. Oh, hell, she knows just what the blonde has gone and done.
"Calm down, I- get off me!"
Emma growls, giving Hyde a hard boot to his side as he claws at her hand. Pushing herself up with a wince, she touches her fingers to her temple and admits ruefully
"I think I hit my head pretty fucking hard just now."
"I'm about to hit you much, much harder, dear. What were you thinking?!"
Regina snaps, gesturing at their unfamiliar surroundings anxiously.
"I was just- what did I just tell you?!"
The blonde snarls, writhing in Hyde's grip as he staggers to his feet and clutches her arm. Unlike before, he fails to loosen his hold on her; looking from the Mayor to the Sheriff with feverish understanding.
The Swan bitch fucked up. She fucked up and this was never part of the plan. At least, not Her Majesty's plan...
Clinging onto this presumption as well as Emma's shoulders, Hyde wrestles with her as she strives to throw him off before flinching - grimacing - when the brunette raises her hands to force him off of the young woman she appears to be inexplicably enamoured with.
The Queen wished for her to rot... What happened?
He muses distractedly as he readies himself for a blast of magic that never comes.
"What...?"
Regina hisses fretfully, shaking her hands and trying again before addressing the blonde with panic evident in her tone.
"I can't use my magic! You brought us over here and I can't use my magic!"
Shaking her head at the utter stupidity of the one person she's come to fully trust, the brunette curls her lip with uneasy distaste as one of Hyde's large hands closes over the Sheriff's throat, before Emma elbows the troublesome man violently in the gut, causing him to double over with a pained yelp.
"Come on."
The blonde urges hoarsely, slipping free of Hyde's clutches and pulling the darker woman hurriedly towards the mirror.
"Wait, Regina!"
She warns as they stumble in front of the glass, extending her arm to stop the brunette in her tracks.
"You have to go second."
She reminds the Queen, taking a step forward as her hand reaches blindly for Regina's own; finding slender fingers and clutching them tightly in order to pull the darker woman through the mirror in her wake.
"Fuck, fuck, fuck!"
The Sheriff mutters as they tumble back through onto the cold stone floor of the hospital's basement, scrambling onto her hands and knees as she scrubs furiously at the blood seal bordering the pilfered mirror.
"What are you doing?"
Regina frowns, pushing herself up from her undignified sprawl so that she sits with her expensive pants on the dirty floor; her palms supporting her weight either side of her, and her knees pointing up at the ceiling.
"I figure just in case..."
Emma mutters distractedly as she climbs shakily to her feet and begins rubbing away swathes of semi-dried blood from the top of the mirror for good measure.
"That should be broken now, right? Now that the glass isn't rippling anymore?"
She turns around to address the Mayor who simply sits staring at her; her complexion pale - bloodless - with rage.
"You... Idiot!"
Regina hisses eventually, earning herself a predictable roll of green eyes.
Calm. Always so infuriatingly calm, those eyes!
"Look, I just-"
Emma starts, hitching her shoulders in a sheepish shrug that in no way betters the brunette's mood as it would appear the wayward lunatic knows enough to be aware of the fact that penitence is in order.
"-I know full well what you just!"
The darker woman hisses, pushing herself to her feet and raising a hand with a sharp breath through her nose as she unleashes just a small portion of her anger.
"Ow, Regina..."
The blonde grumbles, staggering to keep her footing as she's thrown roughly against the wall of the cell by an invisible hand.
"Just checking that everything's working as it should, dear. Honestly, did you even think about whether or not magic would work in a realm you know nothing about?!"
"Well... No... But-"
"-Save it. Seriously. If you know what's good for you, you'll bite your tongue for a little while, Miss Swan."
"... It worked."
"What did I just say!?"
The Queen barks, massaging her temples before lowering her attention to the cut made to her forearm.
"And if I'd known you were going to do that, I would have insisted you bleed, as you suggested... You clearly relished the idea."
She muses in a softer tone, holding her hand over the injury and working her magic. Inspecting the aftermath, she sighs irritably as, yet again, the toll of her intent has left her with a hairline scar blemishing perfection.
"I mean, I only offered like a dozen times."
Emma points out, touching her throat where Hyde's grip has left the skin flushed red.
"I can't believe you did that..."
Regina mutters, rolling her sleeve down as she offers the blonde a bitter glower.
"Really?"
"I thought you had more respect for me than blatantly ignoring my wishes."
"I was just trying to help."
"You were trying to get your way."
"Our way. I didn't want you to pay a price you didn't owe. You told me in the car that if I could think of a way that got us both off the hook, I was welcome to take it."
"I don't recall wording it quite that way."
"Okay, sorry I didn't quote you verbatim, but... Come on. Are you really that mad at me?"
"Of course."
Regina replies automatically, pulling her jacket back on with a sigh.
"Always."
She concludes with less venom in her tone.
"...I'm not sorry."
The blonde admits bluntly; her voice firm but her expression slightly nervous, and the Mayor nods wearily as she's hardly shocked by this confession.
"No, I know. Even though I plan to make you sorry, I know you don't actually feel that way."
"Is that a threat or a promise?"
"Honestly, it's a little of both at the moment."
"... Well, alright then."
"That could have gone all shades of wrong, Saviour."
"But it didn't."
"But it could have!"
"Yeah. I guess. And so could the conversation we had in Daniel's cottage. Turns out, I get kind of risky when it comes to you."
"Mm. Now that is a statement that demands further exploration."
"So, you forgive me?"
"I never said that."
Regina shakes her head as she turns around and heads for the door.
"You do."
Emma decides, following her with a dismissive glance cast back at the mirror; once more ordinary, save for the blood smeared across its surface.
When they reach the reception area in the basement - a ridiculous concept with the town running as it does nowadays, and a gross waste of anyone's time - the Mayor stalks past Nurse Ratched as she fishes her keys out of her pocket.
"You won't have to deal with Mr Hyde anymore, dear."
She advises in a tone that invites no follow-up questions. Not the sort to abide by such arbitrary social niceties, Ratched frowns and demands impatiently.
"What? Where's Hyde?"
"Dealt with."
Regina elaborates cryptically, holding the door open with a pointed sigh of impatience as she waits for Emma to take the hint. Letting it swing shut on the nurse's confusion, she heads towards the elevators as the last of her shock and anger dissipate, leaving her feeling much lighter than she has since they decided to deal with the matter of the madman in the basement once and for all.
"You could have at least tried to explain a little."
Emma scolds her as she joins her in waiting for the cart.
"I could have."
She agrees.
Leading them out of the hospital and back to her car, she sighs as a thin layer of snow has settled over the windscreen during their visit. Slipping inside and turning on the heat, she attempts to remove it with the wipers before reaching over and pulling the scaper out of the glove box.
"Here."
She hands it to the blonde, her tone entirely expectant, but she waits curiously to see what the Sheriff means to do. Unsurprised when Emma simply accepts the tool and steps back outside to put it to use, she closes her eyes and rubs her hand distractedly over the freshly healed scar beneath her sleeve. Opening them again as a cold gust of air greets the younger woman reclaiming the passenger seat, she glances over and informs her silkily
"I could have just used my magic to do that."
"Yeah. Now that you don't need to worry about it and all."
Emma bites back without missing a beat, and the brunette shakes her head as she backs out of the parking space; habit suggesting she should meet the younger woman's bold response with rage, but she's unable to hide the small tug of amusement that finds her lips - her heart - and so she says nothing more on the matter.
"Are you coming back with me?"
She asks finally as they make their way through the softly falling snow towards Main Street.
"Not yet. Will you drop me off at the Station?"
"... Why?"
Regina frowns, sincerely hoping she doesn't sound as disappointed as she feels.
"Well, with the weather like this, the roads might need sorting."
"Since when have you bothered to do anything about the roads before they become realistically dangerous?"
"Since never, but David enjoys riding the gritter and he won't say no."
"So, call him."
"Why? Are you mad I'm ditching you?"
"I'm mad about a lot of things, dear, but not that."
"Really?"
"... Don't push it."
"Fine. I just figured I'd go and let one of the others know that everything worked out fine today - thanks in large part to me - and-"
"-If you want to walk, just say so and I'll pull over."
"No thanks. Fine. I just figured I'd let him know how it went so that he can tell mom and Henry later, and I don't have to feel guilty about ignoring any messages or phone calls."
"Hm... You sound almost as though you imagine you might find yourself otherwise engaged later."
"Well, I did sort of agree to this thing tonight."
"Say it."
"Huh?"
"Say it. Call tonight what it is."
"Don't be gross."
Emma sighs as they pull up at the Station, stepping out of the car before the Queen can get another word in. Undeterred, Regina rolls down her window and calls out after the Sheriff.
"Be at mine for seven."
"Will do."
"Now go and tell David how you almost got us both killed."
"I did not."
"Trapped, at the very least!"
"I'll go tell him that everything's taken care of and that I'm brilliant."
"Now, you and I both know that's a lie."
"That I'm brilliant?"
"That you would ever tell anyone that with a straight face."
"I just told you, didn't I?"
"Not so straight."
"Yeah... Well..."
"What? No crude retort, dear?"
"Hm, no. I'll pass. I'm not going to try my luck with a woman with a knife in her pocket."
"Ah... I see that made quite an impression, Saviour."
"I mean... I-"
"-Emma? What are you doing? Aren't you freezing?"
David pokes his head around the front door to the Station as he frowns at them quizzically.
"I better go."
The blonde takes her chance to retreat from the Mayor's dangerous smirk as she turns around and jogs up the path to find refuge in the warmth of geriatric heaters that smell permanently of dust.
"See you at seven."
She calls over her shoulder, rolling her eyes when the brunette responds with a bemused shake of her head before winding up her window and pulling away.
"Uh oh, were you two arguing?"
David sighs knowingly as he follows the blonde into the office.
"No, just sorting out dinner."