Make Up
"For a former fairy your footsteps have quite a brutish tone to them," Regina physically followed her insult, emerging from behind a short row of ancient texts, stopping short of a collision with the tiny woman.
"Mother of Faes!" the wide eyed fairy exclaimed, clutching a hand to her chest, "You scared me Gina!"
"I can't imagine why – this is my mausoleum."
"That's debatable," Tink muttered under her breath.
Regina chose to ignore the remark, crossing her arm in front of her. "Has the whole town developed an aversion to calling ahead?"
"I called, but I guess you don't get reception down here." Tink looked around, her eyes gradually adjusting to dimly lit space. "I just wanted to check in."
"Marian is doing quite well for a frozen corpse," Regina sounded resigned.
"No Gina, I meant you," Tink said with genuine concern.
"I'm fine," Regina responded automatically.
Tink knew Regina well enough to know that fine translated to tread with caution. The fact that she hadn't been kicked her out yet was a good sign. "You're looking well Gina."
The lie was well intentioned and Regina was grateful for it. "T please, you and I both know I look terrible."
Tink breathed an internal sigh of relief at Regina's small smirk and walked closer. "If it makes you feel any better, he's not looking too flash either. I saw him the other day and the bloke looks-"
"Ruggedly handsome," Regina suggested with a resigned sigh as she dropped down to sit on a cold, stone bench. It had only been the previous evening she had seen him, felt the warmth of his arms about her but it already seemed like so long ago. She really needed to establish some boundaries.
"I was going to say completely devastated, clothes all dishevelled, bags under his eyes – the works."
"Don't even try. I saw him last night," Regina said.
"Last night?" Tink probed with an inquisitively raised brow.
"To see Marian," Regina said flatly.
"Oh." Tink looked at her friend and was reminded of the first time they met. Although Regina would never acknowledge the fact, she truly wore her emotions close to the surface. With the exception of a few extra lines etched upon her face, the young woman in the Enchanted Forest and the woman before her were identical; both seemingly trapped in state of hopeless stagnation. "When was the last time you ate?"
"Breakfast," Regina answered truthfully.
"Good, I came prepared," Tink announced. The fairy opened her small leather messenger bag to reveal a paper bag stamped with Granny's logo. "It's chilly down here, let's go outside."
Tink offered her open hand and Regina accepted without protest, allowing herself to be pulled up onto her feet.
Emma and Elsa both felt the struggle of the Bug's engine on the off-road track as it shuddered violently beneath their feet. The car finally reached the cemetery's biggest monument, groaning to a screeching stop on the crunchy, gravelly dirt below.
"This is a remarkable invention," Elsa marvelled, touching the dashboard inquisitively. "I can't help but think a horse would've been faster."
"That's because you haven't been over 50 yet," Emma chuckled. "Are you okay to wait here? I won't take long."
"You don't want me to come inside?"
"Regina doesn't even want see me, so I think bringing a guest would be overkill," Emma reasoned, "Plus, it's really creepy in there. You won't be missing much."
"Okay, I guess that's best." Elsa agreed.
Emma exited the car and rounded the corner to the entrance of the tomb. She knew Regina had to be inside because the tall, rust coloured double doors were opened slightly. Also, Henry had guessed his mother's location earlier in the afternoon after they had checked the Town Hall and Regina's house. Emma pushed both doors further open and stepped inside, immediately enveloped by a bitter, cold blackness.
Regina and Tink were blinded by the sudden influx of light that pierced their corneas. The physical clash that proceed however, was less painful. Regina felt the impact of a body crash into her and stumbled sideways, careering into Tink, who completely lost her balance and toppled to the ground.
Emma gripped onto the nearest object as she steadied herself. "Oh crap, Regina?" Emma questioned, squinting into the darkness.
"Yes, that's my lapel you're groping," Regina growled lowly with undertones of irritation and amusement.
Emma registered the soft swell of Regina's chest beneath her clenched fingers and immediately recoiled. Fortunately the wave of hot embarrassment that flooded her cheeks and ears wasn't visible in the darkened crypt. "Sorry, are you okay?"
Regina pushed past the shadowy outline of Emma's figure and walked outside. "Tell me Miss Swan, how did you find me? I specifically asked my secretary not to disclose my whereabouts - especially to you."
Emma followed Regina into the light. "I like to think that finding you is one of my more Charming qualities," Emma quipped cleverly, unable to resist the word play. She soon regretted the remark however, noting the brunette's complete lack of amusement.
"Well, don't mind me you guys, I'm fine," Tink's sarcastic voice echoed from inside before she emerged, brushing the dust from her knees.
"Tink, what are you doing here?" Emma asked in mild surprise. During the past week, the only people she had seen talk to Regina outside her capacity as Mayor were Henry and Robin.
Tink drew out a crumpled paper package from her bag. "I came to see Regina, we were just about to have lunch."
"No need to look so confused Miss Swan, I have other friends you know," Regina replied hastily, "Now, what do you want?"
Emma couldn't help but grin at Regina's implication. Other friends.
"Well Swan?" Regina said impatiently.
"Oh yeah, Elsa found this." Emma dug into her jacket and thrust a photo in front of Regina's face. "This is me and the Snow Queen."
Regina snatched the photo from Emma's grasp. "Yes, I can see that. And you have no memory of this encounter?"
"None."
"And where is Elsa now?"
"She's in the…" Emma turned towards her Bug, scanning the now empty passenger seat. "She was there a second ago."
Regina rolled her eyes dramatically. "Split up, she can't have wandered too far."
Emma had an uneasy feeling in her gut. Something felt off about Regina so she had tailed her. Following the brunette though the leafy scrub without detection had been quite effortful, mostly because the woman powered through the forest like a bloodhound on Ritalin. Regina hadn't looked around at her surroundings or even called out Elsa's name. Emma thought she was doing a pretty good job at shadowing until Regina halted abruptly and spun towards her direction.
"I believe my instructions were quite clear Miss Swan," Regina started calmly.
"And I would've followed them if you didn't already know where to find Elsa."
"I don't know what you mean," Regina said blankly.
Emma couldn't tell what Regina was thinking under her mask of indifference but she absolutely knew she was lying. "Well, you seem like you already know where you're going."
Regina let out a small huff, turned on her heel and resumed walking. If there was one quality Emma and Henry shared the most, it was relentless persistency. "You may follow. Just don't ask any questions," she called over her shoulder.
The afternoon light began to lose its intensity as they hiked in silence through the thickening evergreens.
"Regina, about the other night..."
"This better not be a question," Regina interjected.
"No, last night, what you said about Robin. I didn't realise he was…"
"What?" Regina snapped, feeling the irrational angry bubbling within. She knew what Emma was going to say and raised her eyebrow, daring the other woman to pull the trigger.
"I didn't realise he was your true love." Emma said finally.
"Oh? And if you had known you would've done differently?" Regina said raising her voice slightly. "Of course not, you're the Savior."
Emma cringed at the title. "Look, I don't want to argue about hypotheticals. I'll admit it, I failed."
"Spectacularly," Regina added.
"Monumentally," Emma agreed, "and I get it if you feel like killing me right now. You can blame me and shove me against trees all you want but you have to know I'm not going anywhere."
Regina focused on the emerald eyes, searching desperately for a selfish motivation behind them. Instead, she only found warmth and sincerity and it made her sick. The bundle of Marian's hairs suddenly felt like they were burning a hole in her trouser pockets.
"I couldn't kill you," Regina said softly, although it was more an admission to herself. If only she knew how close she had come.
"Okay," Emma said with the smallest of smiles.
The forest was only just beginning to succumb to nightfall when Regina and Emma trudged back to the cemetery with Tink and a newly rescued Elsa in tow.
"I can't believe she got away." Emma exclaimed in frustration.
"I can't believe I got knocked out by a samurai made of icicles," Tink said wearily, touching her fingers to the angry red welt sprouting from her temple.
"Let me take a look at that." Regina said to Tink, leaning closer to inspect the injury.
Regina hovered her hand directly over the fairy's forehead. Emma watched in fascination as the protrusion retracted and then disappeared completely, all within a matter of seconds. She touched her sternum absently. She never thought to question whether the disappearance of her own bruises could be attributed to magical intervention.
"Thanks." Tink smiled up at her friend before retrieving flattened sandwich from her bag and passing it to her. "So much for our picnic, huh."
"Maybe another time." Regina accepted the sandwich gratefully and unwrapped it straight away. Who knew all it took to induce an appetite was a couple of hours of walking and some light duelling. She took her first bite, her teeth sinking easily into the slightly soggy roast pumpkin sandwich, and chewed slowly. As they walked, she sensed Emma's gaze flicker sporadically to the bread from the corner for her eye. She unwrapped the other half of the sandwich and held it out. "Take it before I change my mind."
Emma held her hands up. "It's okay, I'm not that hungry." As if on cue, an uncontrollably long and embarrassingly audible rumble erupted from her stomach.
Tink and Elsa instantly began to chuckle. "Your stomach seems to think otherwise," Regina teased, offering the sandwich once more.
Emma reached out to grasp the half from Regina's hands, only to find it being pulled away at the last second. Regina's playful movement succeeded in doubling the laughter behind them. "Haha, very funny Regina."
Emma held out a hand patiently and Regina finally released the sandwich into the open palm. "Sorry, it's just too fun to tease you," the brunette stated with a hint of a grin.
Tink watched the interaction between the Saviour and former Evil Queen play out in front of her with intrigue. Everyone knew that Emma had been trying to reconcile with Regina for a while now and to the best of her knowledge, they hadn't made up. Until now. She didn't know whether she was witnessing a light-hearted rivalry or a renewed friendship, but, if she squinted just right, it almost looked like flirtation.
Regina excused herself from the group when they neared the bright yellow eyesore that was Emma's car, finally returning to her mausoleum to finish what she had started before she was interrupted. The evidence of her attempt on Emma's life needed to be hidden.
She weaved through stacks of magical artifacts and tomes to the end of the chamber where deep shelves were cut into the stone from floor to ceiling. Climbing the ladder to the highest shelf, Regina drew out a polished wooden box. She reached within her trouser pocket, removing the white wisps of Marian's cursed hairs and placing them inside the palm sized box. Her fingers dove into her pocket again to repeat the action for the spell page, but came up empty.
She roughly patted the sides of her trousers and blazer, trying to feel for the thick paper. Still balancing on the ladder, she shrugged off her blazer in frustration and methodically checked and turned out each of the jacket pockets.
Regina racked her brain, trying to recollect the events of the day. She tried to visualise the beige parchment, remembering the feel of its coarse texture between her fingers. Where she had left it? Her stomach dropped at the realisation. The last time she remembered seeing it was the previous evening, on Emma Swan's bedside table.