10
Regina’s whole body was on fire with electricity that ran from her head to her feet. She was thrumming with energy everywhere, except where she felt her heart clenching and knots twisting in her stomach. The moment Emma walked out of the room she thought to run after her and claim the woman as her own. She kept herself rooted in her spot, though, with her back against the now-warming wall. It wasn’t that she didn’t want Emma, she did more than she ever thought possible…it’s just that she wanted all of the other woman, who was carrying scars both physically and mentally. A few moments later with great reluctance she peeled herself from the wall and returned to the bathroom to finish getting ready for bed.
She was uncomfortable. The ache from her core was relentless and her skin still itched for touch, making her pajama set feel stifling. She was wearing too many clothes for how she was feeling. The only reprieve was that the silk material rubbed her skin softly, but she sighs with discontentment. She keeps her hands above the covers. No matter how much she wants to relieve herself she knows it won't be enough until it’s the savior's fingertips bringing her to the edge. She tosses and turns for far too long trying to find a position that is comfortable in her wound-up state. Regina doesn’t know how long it takes her to fall asleep, but once she finally does her dreams are filled with images of sun-kissed strands and strong arms around her.
Regina also doesn’t know how long she has slept. It becomes apparent pretty quickly that she had slept for too long, though, as she is woken up by Henry standing next to her bed, gently rasping her shoulder. “Ma, hey ma, wake up.”
Her eyes burn and she squints hard against the harsh sunlight of morning streaming through her open blinds. “Henry, what time is it?” Her own voice sounds a bit foreign to her as it comes out coated in sleep.
The boy turns to look at the screen of her phone on the nightstand, “8:30, I went to wake Emma first because I thought you were at work, but she isn’t here.” He turns back to her, his eyes showing concern for both her and his other mother.
Regina shoots to a sitting position and rubs the remaining sleep from her eyes. “What do you mean? Did you check downstairs?”
Henry returns to standing to his full height, which is much too tall for Regina, she’s missed so much. “No, you know Ma always sleeps late, so I figured if she was up something was wrong, that’s why I came in here.” He chuckles.
“Alright, why don’t you go downstairs and make some cereal or toast for breakfast, and I’ll figure out where Miss Swan has gotten off to, maybe she went to Granny’s or to visit Snow.” Regina grabs her phone from the nightstand and smiles at the boy, not wanting to cause him worry.
“Miss Swan, Mom, really?” Henry chuckles as he walks to the door.
“Old habits I guess.” Regina waves him off and starts dialing as she gets up to make herself presentable.
Ruby had confirmed that Emma had not gone there this morning, nor did she have a call-in order from the woman. The last thing Regina wanted to do right now was call the Charming’s, but her worry overpowered her disdain for the couple.
“Regina, I’m headed to the station now. It’s been a rough morning so I’m a little la-“
“I’m not calling about your tardiness!” Regina cuts off the rambling man on the other end of the line. “Has Emma been there this morning?”
It takes a beat before she receives an answer, “No, I haven’t seen her. Is she not at the mansion?” The worry begins to lace his voice.
“If she was here, I wouldn’t be calling you.” She rolls her eyes to her reflection in the mirror just as Henry knocks on her bathroom door. “Hold on David. Come in Henry.”
“This was on the table by the door.” He steps into the small room holding out a small white piece of paper.
Regina takes it and reads the contents. The breath being knocked from her lungs as soon as the words were processed. “I think I know where she is.” She speaks through the phone to Charming, her eyes never leaving Henry.
Fifteen minutes later both Charming’s are standing in her foyer flanked by a frustrated Henry. “I want to go with you guys, I can help!” The boy pleads.
“No, Henry, your mother is right. We don’t know what we may be walking into it’s safer if you stay here.” Snow steps to the boy. Her very pregnant belly almost touches his as she places an affirming hand on his shoulder. “I’ll call Granny and Red and see if they don’t mind watching you. I think your mom may even allow a hot chocolate given the circumstances.” She lifts her eyes to meet Regina’s.
With an exasperated huff, Regina leans and places her hands on her knees, now being eye-to-eye with the boy. “I know you want to help, Henry, but I want don’t want to worry about you too. I trust the wolves more than anyone right now to do that. Please understand that, and don’t worry about us.” Her eyes roam to the other two adults in the room, disbelief about what she’s about to say running through her “Together, we are stronger, and we are going to get Emma back.” She wraps the boy in her arms for a moment before releasing him and encouraging them all to get moving.
There are very few things that Regina could think of that she would enjoy less than being stuck in a car with Snow and David for a few hours. Both worried parents rapidly fired questions at her the moment she got back in the driver's seat after dropping Henry off at the diner. They haven’t even left Storybook yet and she’s ready to throw a fireball at both of their heads. “Can you two be quiet!” Her patience snaps. “The note said ‘I have to fix this’. This, being her. Everything that happened in the missing year changed Emma, of course, it would. Now, I don’t know what kind of half-cocked plan your daughter has or what she thinks she is going to accomplish but I know she means going back to Boston and confronting Hook. Which, none of us know what he is capable of. Other than that, I don’t have any answers for you and…” Regina stops before the tears in her eyes are allowed to fall. She takes a steadying breath, “I love her too. I’m worried about her, too.”
The admission must have been enough because both Snow and David remained quiet for long minutes after sharing a look. They ride in a loaded silence for a while. It’s David who finally chimes in “We probably need some kind of plan, Regina, and you’re the only one who knows where she was living.”
Regina’s eyes remain trained on the highway ahead and her lips glued shut for long minutes. “I can’t come up with a plan without knowing exactly what we are walking into. But there was a neighbor that helped me before. An older lady who seemed to care for Emma and Henry. She may be able to give us some insight about what we will be walking into and maybe some backup. The old woman could handle her own from what I saw.” The memories of finding Emma and Henry flash into the mayor’s mind. A mix of emotions fills her instantly. All over again she is angry, sad, and thankful. “I think the best thing is to see if she has seen anything and build a plan from there. Also, it’s probably best if mommy dearest keeps some distance. Her belly may get in the way.” Her eyes spring to the rearview mirror where they meet Snows. Neither of them will acknowledge that Regina is being protective of both mother and baby and that the sarcasm is a shield from her true intentions.
The Charming’s simply can't remain quiet for long periods of time. It’s a fact of life that Regina has come to accept at this point. She would never admit that without their intermittent conversation and questions, she would have spent the whole ride unraveling in worry and guilt. Still blaming all of her actions last night for Emma’s choices today. She tries to remain cordial as they ask far too many questions about how all of this began. How she found Emma, and what she saw happen before. She knew these conversations were going to come up eventually. She just wished it wasn’t when she was stuck in a car with the two morons with nowhere to run, and without Emma here as backup. The blonde had a funny way of knowing when the brunette was getting overwhelmed and always jumped in to steer the conversation in a different direction or take some of the attention away from the woman. Regina can’t help but smile to herself, Emma really was her savior.
The knots that began tying themselves in Regina’s stomach the moment they made it into the city choke her as she parks outside Emma’s old apartment complex. “Please, just follow my lead.” She hisses before opening the car door to escape the prison she’s been stuck in for far too long.
They do follow her lead without much argument, to her surprise and relief. When they make it to Emma’s floor the nerves in Regina call her magic to the surface. Her hands ache to release her emotions. She folds them around her stomach and leads David and Snow to the door of the old woman's unit, the nostalgic smells envelop her. She carefully knocks on the woman’s door and holds her breath as she waits for the cranky bat to answer.
When the door finally creaks open, Regina’s patience is hanging on by the finest of threads. “Ms. Summer, hello again.” She struggles not to rush into the woman’s home and drill her with questions.
“I didn’t know if you were coming to save the girl this time.” The woman rasps. “Where is the boy?” Concern fills her wrinkly features.
“He’s safe, so you’ve seen her?” Regina rushes.
“I didn’t see her, but I have heard them.” She nods. “It’s been quiet since she left, but it hasn’t been all day except the last ten minutes or so. It was obvious she was back, all the screaming and commotion. I almost called the authorities, but I don’t much like sticking my nose where it doesn’t belong.” The woman lights up a cigarette.
David takes a step forward with looks ready to kill. Regina places a hand on his chest pushing his back to his wife. “Thank you. I’m sorry to intrude, again.” She feigns a smile.
“That’s alright dear, I haven’t had many visitors since they left. Get that girl out of here and don’t let her come back again, you hear?” The woman points a wrinkly finger in their direction.
Regina nods and turns to the Charming’s, stepping away from the woman's door and closer to the one that Regina knows used to be Emma’s. “So, we know Hook is here too. I can’t use magic here, David do you have your gun?”
David pulls it from its holster and Regina grabs it from his hands. “Do you even know how to use that Madam Mayor?”
“Point and pull and hit the pirate. Simple enough.” She spits. Stepping right up to the door of Emma’s apartment. “Stay out here!” She whispers to Snow before she grabs the handle to barge in.