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Regina was sitting in her study, indulging in a glass of bourbon by the fireplace. It had been a rough day. What, with the townspeople asking her to step down as mayor, and Henry tricking her into thinking he wanted to have lunch with her. She had sat like a fool as people gawked at her at Granny’s for almost an hour before she realized he wasn’t coming. How could she have been so stupid?
What were his motives? Who knew. He probably just wanted to hurt her because he had really hated her recently. Especially since Emma came into his life. Of all the horrible deeds she had done in her life, she had truly tried to be the best mother for Henry. Sure, she had made him feel as if he were crazy with the whole fairy tale theory, but that was to protect the curse and not intended to hurt him. And how would it have looked if she told him it were true? Everyone would have thought she was crazy! And probably try to take Henry away from her… which sort of happened anyway. She had lost him in the end, so what did it really matter?
At least now that she had her magic back, she was confident she could take care of herself. Who would dare mess with her now?
There was an aggressive knock on the front door. Who could that be? This did seem rather familiar. But even if there was a mob outside again, she knew she could handle them. If everyone wanted her to be the Evil Queen, that’s exactly who she was going to be.
It was too much to hope for it to be Emma on the other side of the door. Of course, that was impossible. But as much as she had been butting heads with Ms. Swan since her arrival in Storybrooke, she’d be lying to herself if she were to say that she hadn’t been growing rather fond of the blonde. Even though she did break her curse and throw a wrench in her relationship with Henry. But perhaps they could move forward now that all the cards were on the table. Be friends. Perhaps more…
Regina walked to the door, and calmly opened it with her usual “don’t mess with me” politician smile.
She should have expected it to be Whale… again. But this time, he made the mistake of coming without the townspeople riled into a frenzy. He was alone, and would be easy to take down if it came to that. She honestly didn’t understand what his beef was with her. Aside from wrapping him into the curse as payback for what he did to her. He was one of the worst offenders at attacking her before she did anything to deserve it. She actually may never have gone down the path of becoming the Evil Queen in the first place if he hadn’t gotten her hopes up of bringing Daniel back, just to crush her into a million pieces.
“You do know I have a doorbell? You don’t have to try bashing the door in every time you want something.”
He stared down at her like she was nothing more than one of his experiments. “Now, what would be the fun in using a bell, when it’s not nearly as physically satisfying as hitting something?”
Regina narrowed her eyes to size him up. Her fight or flight was being triggered. She could feel her magic tingling at her fingertips, ready to go.
Before she knew it, he yanked her left arm towards him, and slapped a black leather cuff on her wrist.
She stared at it in a confused panic. She could feel her magic dampening. No… draining. She had gone twenty-eight years without it, but that was during the curse where there was no magic. Her magic was an elemental part of her, and ever since Gold brought it to Storybrooke, she wasn’t the same without it.
She felt her magic leave her body, which made her stumble backwards as she felt weak.
Whale held up his own wrist, which had a similar band on it. “I’d like you to meet my newest invention. These cuffs are twins. Yours is funneling all of your magic, into mine.”
The gravity of what he said, hit Regina a moment later. She wasn’t just without her magic. Now Whale had it. “You don’t know how to use magic.”
“No. But I think I can figure it out.”
He pushed the arm with the band on it forward, which sent Regina careening through the air into the wall. She landed on the floor and tried to catch her breath after the wind was knocked out of her.
More to himself than anything, Whale looked at the bracelet and said: “This is actually pretty easy.”
Regina scrambled to her feet. “Maybe we can talk about whatever is bothering you?”
“You’re what’s bothering me.”
He flicked his hand upwards, which caused Regina to fly upwards into the chandelier. Her back smacked into the light fixture, which sent shards of glass raining down on the wooden floor just before her body came back down.
For a brief moment, she didn’t move. Whale thought he’d done her in already. But then she started to crawl out of the pile of broken glass as if she were trying to get away from him. She hissed as the glass cut into her hands and knees, but she couldn’t quite get up any further.
After watching her pathetic escape attempt for a couple of seconds, Whale flipped her over onto her back.
“What… do you want from me?”
He towered over her, but she wasn’t going to cower.
“I want you to die.”
He lifted his arm and squeezed his left hand. Regina was raised into the air not unlike a ragdoll. And she was gasping for air as her throat was being constricted by the magic. Her magic… the magic Whale had stolen from her.
She made a few choking sounds, but otherwise glared at Whale. She would not beg for her life. If this was the end, she was going to face it with her head held high. She always knew she deserved a fate like this, but still didn’t think Whale was worthy of being the one to end her.
As darkness was closing in on her vision, she was suddenly being tossed backwards again. This time, she passed through the doorway to the study, until she made contact with the chaise lounge she had been sitting in before she had been interrupted.
She skidded over the sofa and tumbled onto the ground. The second she landed, she coughed and gasped for oxygen. She laid on her back, which felt as if it were broken. She stared up at the white ceiling, wondering if anyone at all would miss her. Certainly, Henry wouldn’t. But hopefully he wouldn’t be the one to find her. Please, don’t let him find her body.
Whale was in the room a few strides later. It took him just a moment to locate her.
He looked down at her in disgust. “The great Evil Queen isn’t even going to fight me?”
“I wouldn’t be fighting you. I’d be fighting myself. You’re too pitiful to kill me on your own. You had to use my magic because you couldn’t get the job done on your own. That’s just pathetic.” She practically spat the last words at him.
Regina could see in Whale’s eyes that he hadn’t thought of his attack quite like that. Of course he hadn’t. He was always looking for the simplest solution. To hell with anything else or whomever his plans might destroy in the process.
But he was also stubborn. Almost as much as Regina herself. He wasn’t going to let her win any battles today.
He gave her a swift kick in the side. As much as she hated herself for it, she cried out in pain.
That made him smile, and he kicked her again in the same spot as hard as he could.
She tried to roll over and curl into the fetal position, protecting as much of her body as possible.
He gave her a few more sharp kicks to her stomach before he gave her a moment to catch her breath.
She struggled to get her words out, but something deep within her gave her the strength she needed. “Well… done. You literally… kicked me while… I was down. You must be… so… proud of yourself.” She looked at him with pain filled eyes that still had her usual fire behind them.
He grabbed a fistful of her dark hair and yanked her face close to his as he bent over her. “Oh, believe me. I am proud of myself. I’m about to finish off the Evil Queen. And do you want to know the best part?” She defiantly glared at him without responding. The question was rhetorical anyway.
“You’re going to die alone. Exactly how you deserve.”
She spat in his face.
He smiled as he calmly wiped her saliva off his cheek.
“I was going to ask if you had any final words. But I’ve suddenly changed my mind. Goodbye, Regina.”
Whale raised his left hand in the air and made a fist. All of the glass and windows in the study shattered.
Regina’s eyes widened in fear as she processed what was happening. She covered her face with her hands, and attempted to make herself as small as possible.
He flung his hand forward, which sent all of the glass speeding towards their target – Regina. He turned and left, without even waiting for the shards to find their mark. He did manage to hear the satisfying thwacks and ear-piercing shriek as his victim was pelted.
Regina assumed she was dead. It took a moment before she realized she was still alive. Most of the pieces of glass had been small and gave her superficial flesh wounds as they grazed past her.
She took a deep breath, and that’s when she felt it. She looked down to find a large fragment of glass wedged deep within her abdomen. Bright crimson was oozing out from around the injury. She timidly touched it… but it was not going anywhere. She also remembered that it wasn’t the best idea to remove an object without being able to stop the bleeding. There was no way she could do that.
Just then, she heard someone entering the mansion. Was Whale back to make sure he finished the job?
“Regina?”
That sounded like… “Emma?” How?
“Regina? What the hell happened in here?” The blonde stopped dead in her tracks when she entered the study and took in the scene before her.
“Whale. Whale happened.”
“That son of a bitch.” Emma carefully walked closer to the broken form of the former mayor on the hearth, surrounded by a slowly growing pool of her own blood. “Jesus, Regina. Can you heal yourself?”
“No.” Regina indicated to her wrist with the cuff on it. “Whale stole my magic and used it against me. Even if I had it, I couldn’t use it since it’s what did this to me in the first place.”
Emma ran her eyes over the scene before solemnly sitting down next to Regina.
“Don’t look at me like that.”
“Like what?”
“With your cute puppy dog eyes.”
“You think my eyes are cute?” Emma smiled, which made Regina blush.
“What? That’s not what I… I don’t need your pity, Ms. Swan.”
“I wasn’t… Is there anything I can do?”
“Could you hand me the blanket over there? I’m freezing.”
Emma stared at the raging fire, not five feet from Regina. It was not cold in the room. Regina was going into shock. But she grabbed the blanket and gingerly wrapped it around the former Evil Queen’s shoulders.
Regina was shivering.
Emma gently rubbed her back, and pulled her as close as possible without disturbing the shard in her abdomen. “You know, in other circumstances, sitting by the fireplace with you could have been nice.”
“You mean, if I wasn’t bleeding to death?”
“You’re not going to die.”
“Liar. And why on earth would you want to spend time with me? You hate me.”
“I don’t hate you, Regina. Far from it. You’re a little prickly, sure. But so am I. You’re the only one in this town who really gets me. We could have been friends if you didn’t keep trying to push me away.”
“I was scared you were going to take Henry away. And then you broke the curse. And now I’m afraid…”
“Afraid of what?”
“Living without you. I know that sounds stupid.”
“No, it doesn’t.”
Regina looked into Emma’s hazelly green eyes, and let the tears she had been holding back fall. “How did you even find me? What made you come here?”
Emma evaded the question, and shushed Regina. Emma carefully laid her down, resting her head in her lap. She stroked Regina’s dark hair in a soothing manner.
“I’m so… tired. Thank you… For coming.”
“Shh. Rest.”
There was a moment of silence before Regina said what was in her heart. It was quiet, but enough so Emma could hear. “I… I love you.”
“I love you, too.”
“You’re just saying that.”
Emma placed a tender kiss on Regina’s forehead.
“Please don’t let Henry be the one to find me. I don’t need to give him any more reason to hate me.”
“Henry doesn’t hate you.”
“Yes, he does. And I deserve it.”
“I promise you, he doesn’t. He’s a kid. Kids rebel against their parents.”
“I was a rotten mother to him. He deserved so much better. At least he’ll have you.”
Emma looked at the wound in Regina’s stomach. The blood flow was slowing. And Regina’s breaths were getting shallow. “Regina, what if I could heal you?”
“What? You don’t have magic.”
“Come on. I’m the savior. The product of true love. Of course I do.”
A flicker of hope crossed Regina. “Do you know how to use it?”
“Not exactly. I honestly don’t even know that I have it yet. But I will, soon.”
Regina looked up at Emma in confusion. Perhaps it was the loss of blood or fatigue. But Emma wasn’t making any sense. “What are you saying… Emma?”
Emma gave her a soft smile. Unshed tears in her own eyes.
Flashes of recent events went through Regina’s mind. The wraith… Jefferson’s hat…. The portal…
“You’re… you’re not really here… are you?”
“Of course, I’m not. I’m in the Enchanted Forest.”
It took a moment for Regina to process what was happening. “Why… why am I hallucinating you?”
“No one deserves to die alone.”
Regina closed her eyes, and with a small smile on her face, nuzzled closer to the phantom savior, and drew her final breath.