Ricochet (Once Upon a Time; Regina/Emma)
TITLE: Ricochet
CHAPTER 1: Evanescent
FANDOM: Once Upon a Time
PAIRING: Swan Queen (Regina/Emma)
SPOILERS: "The Cricket Game" (2x10) AU
RATING: PG
SUMMARY: Her eyes were red, the skin beneath a little puffy. She had been crying. Rather atypical behavior for a homicidal sociopath, Emma couldn't help but note.
*****
"Regina, what the hell?!" Emma tried to be as quiet as she possibly could, throwing a furtive glance toward the upper loft where her son slept soundly.
The smoke cleared and Regina stepped forward, her face illuminated by the thick sliver of moonlight breaking through the open curtains. Somehow, her expression was hard and soft all at once, and Emma tabled her instinctual apprehension to get a good look at her.
Her eyes were red, the skin beneath a little puffy. She had been crying. Rather atypical behavior for a homicidal sociopath, Emma couldn't help but note. And when she stood and met Regina face-to-face, she didn't miss the fact that there were still tears in her eyes.
This wasn't the same woman that had catapulted her across the lawn several hours earlier. Nor was this the woman snarking at her in the interrogation room. The woman in front of her now was broken, defeated, but with a spark of determination. The mixture in and of itself was fascinating.
"What are you doing here?" she asked, quietly.
Regina's lower lip quivered ever so briefly, but her tone was resolute. She held out her wrists, upturned in surrender. "I'm turning myself in."
"What?!" That time, she had been unable to control her volume, and a light came on in the other room.
"Emma?"
Regina shot her a look, her sharply-arched brow seeming to snipe, "We couldn't have done this quietly?"
David and Mary Margaret came bursting in, the latter of them belting a soft pink robe around herself. "What is going on in here?" When she got a good look, her own volume was uncontrollable. "Regina?!"
Another light came on, this one from the upper loft, and Emma sighed and threw her head back, muttering, "Great."
Mere seconds later, Henry bounded down the stairs, stopping short just before his foot left the bottom step. He stared at his adoptive mother as if she were a venomous cobra, and he glared slightly. "What is she doing here?"
If possible, Regina's eyes looked even more watery. One hand reached for him and fell to her side a split-second later. "Henry..."
David stepped forward at that point, folding his arms. "I think Henry's question has some merit. What are you doing here, Regina?"
Emma watched the brunette as her eyes flickered around the room, Henry their final landing place. When she looked up, her tone was once again resolute... determined, as she replied, "I came to turn myself in."
"I knew it!" Henry spat, moving toward her. "I knew you killed Archie! You're always gonna be the Evil Queen."
"Henry," Emma warned. She wasn't exactly concerned about preserving Regina's feelings, but she knew better than any of them not to antagonize a flight risk.
"I didn't kill Archie. Henry, please believe me."
Mary Margaret tilted her head, voice soft but tone unforgiving. "We saw it with our own eyes, Regina. It was you."
Emma kept her eyes on Regina as she shook her head, the motion almost frantic. "It wasn't."
David cocked his chin and asked, "Then why turn yourself in?"
"To prove to you that I didn't do it." She looked to her son. "I didn't, Henry. You'll see."
Then, Emma found herself staring into the depths of Regina's eyes as they focused on her. "But whoever did? Maybe isn't going to stop at just Archie."
Regina took a step forward and Emma held her ground, just watching her. It wasn't as if invasion of personal space was a foreign concept between them. "If I'm locked up and another person gets hurt..."
She left the implication dangling in the air between them, but it was enough for Emma to nod and murmur almost defeatedly, "She's right."
Both her parents voiced a protest and Emma turned to face them. "Think about it. Either way, this is a win. With Regina locked up, everyone is safe."
She didn't miss the wounded expression from the brunette, or the snotty, "Thanks for the vote of confidence."
"She has magic," David pointed out, his arms folded across his chest. "How do you expect to keep her locked up if she can just make the bars disappear?"
Emma stopped to ponder that -- she hadn't even considered the idea that it was a trick. Hell, Regina had tricked her before -- what was to stop her from doing it now?
"I won't use it," Regina spoke up, taking another step toward them.
David raised his brows. "And you expect us to just trust you?"
"You disappeared into thin air right in front of our eyes," Mary Margaret said, mirroring her husband's position. "How do we know you're not gonna do it again?"
Regina swallowed and said once again, more strongly, "I did not kill Archie. I don't know who you saw, but it wasn't me. And I'm willing to let you lock me in a cell to prove it."
Emma stood there momentarily, watching the evanescent former queen. She thought about everything that had happened in the last twenty-four hours, and the array of emotion was so polarized it made her sigh tiredly, "Good enough for me."
Her parents, not to mention her son, were less than pleased. "Emma..." her mother intoned, tilting her head.
"You can't do this! It's a trick!" Henry exclaimed, and Emma threw a fleeting glimpse at Regina in response, who appeared to be just barely holding it together at this point.
"I don't think this is a good idea," David was the last to chime in, and Emma cut him off on the last syllable.
"Well I'm still sheriff. I'm taking her in." Her tone ended the discussion, and she quickly changed into her jeans, throwing on her old leather jacket before grabbing her badge, her cuffs and -- just for good measure -- her gun.
Then she returned to where the four of them were still lingering, David and Henry staring at Regina while Mary Margaret kept her arms folded and stared at the floor. After slipping her badge through a belt loop and stashing her gun, Emma held out the hand cuffs.
Regina swallowed and held up her wrists. Emma glimpsed at her several times, trying to gauge her mood as she slid the first metal cuff over one wrist, snapping it in place.
"Regina Mills," she murmured, "You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say--"
"You can spare me the 'Law & Order' re-enactment, Miss Swan," she snipped, holding up her other wrist almost impatiently. "I'm aware of my rights."
Emma shrugged, snapping the other cuff in place. "Fine. Then let's go."
**
Most of the short ride to the sheriff's station was silent. Emma quietly pondered the state of her sanity as Regina sat mutely in the passenger seat, cuffed hands in her lap. Her lip remained curled in derision the entire ride while she stared distastefully at the various pieces of her car's interior.
When they rolled up to the station, Emma rolled her eyes and cut the engine. "I know it's not a Mercedes, but--"
"You don't drive my son to school in this death trap, do you Miss Swan?"
"My son," she corrected, more to get a rise out of Regina than anything else. "And no. He takes the bus."
"Well. Good." Wisely, Regina had no retort to the 'my son' comment, and instead allowed Emma to lead her into the station.
She turned on the light and practically flinched at the bright fluorescence. "You really couldn't have waited until a decent hour to turn yourself in, Regina?" she couldn't help but gripe. "You had to do this at three in the morning?"
"Take it or leave it."
Emma sighed, retrieving her keys from the desk. She flipped through them on the almost comically-large key ring, looking for the one that would open the cell. With her back to Regina, it somehow made it easier to confess, "You kinda left me in the lurch earlier."
She looked up to see the flippant hair toss from Regina, an innocent blink following thereafter. "What do you mean?"
"Vanishing like that?" She approached with the key ring, moving to unlock the cell. "I felt kind of.... abandoned. Having to tell Henry what happened."
Predictably, Regina rolled her eyes. "Terribly sorry, Miss Swan. I didn't mean to hurt your feelings while you were accusing me of murder and threatening to take my son away from me."
The sarcasm in her tone was heavy, and Emma looked up to glare at her while she unlocked the cell and swung it open.
"Just get in."
Regina stepped into the cell and turned to face Emma as she closed the bars with a heavy clank. She gripped one of the bars as she slid the key into the lock and turned. She startled when a hand touched hers, and jumped her eyes up to meet Regina's.
Her wrists were still bound, and each of her hands gripped the bars, one of them clamped over Emma's. She searched Regina's eyes for malice but found none. Instead, the onyx irides were deep... almost sad, and slightly wistful. Like when she had realized Emma could use magic.
"You believed me earlier." She nodded toward the interrogation room. "In there. I know you did. Please believe me now. I didn't do this."
Emma swallowed hard, taken in by the look in Regina's eyes. Her heart pounded with adrenaline, possibly at the thought that with Regina gripping her hand, she could still try something crazy to escape. So she yanked her hand back and steeled her jaw, eyes hard as she ground out lowly, "I believe what I saw. And I saw you choke the life out of Archie."
With that, she stepped back and stuffed the huge key ring in her jacket pocket, telling Regina, "Now I am going home to get some sleep. And now that my son and the rest of this town will be safe, I should be able to sleep pretty well."
She strolled off without another word, leaving Regina to stare after her, gripping the bars of her cell.
And Emma kept the confidence in her every step until she got into the car and slumped against the wheel. She knew she wasn't going to sleep well.
Just as she knew by the sinking of her stomach that when she returned to the station later, Regina's cell would be empty.
TBC
{x-posted to regina_emma and onceupon_fanfic}
CHAPTER 1: Evanescent
FANDOM: Once Upon a Time
PAIRING: Swan Queen (Regina/Emma)
SPOILERS: "The Cricket Game" (2x10) AU
RATING: PG
SUMMARY: Her eyes were red, the skin beneath a little puffy. She had been crying. Rather atypical behavior for a homicidal sociopath, Emma couldn't help but note.
*****
"Regina, what the hell?!" Emma tried to be as quiet as she possibly could, throwing a furtive glance toward the upper loft where her son slept soundly.
The smoke cleared and Regina stepped forward, her face illuminated by the thick sliver of moonlight breaking through the open curtains. Somehow, her expression was hard and soft all at once, and Emma tabled her instinctual apprehension to get a good look at her.
Her eyes were red, the skin beneath a little puffy. She had been crying. Rather atypical behavior for a homicidal sociopath, Emma couldn't help but note. And when she stood and met Regina face-to-face, she didn't miss the fact that there were still tears in her eyes.
This wasn't the same woman that had catapulted her across the lawn several hours earlier. Nor was this the woman snarking at her in the interrogation room. The woman in front of her now was broken, defeated, but with a spark of determination. The mixture in and of itself was fascinating.
"What are you doing here?" she asked, quietly.
Regina's lower lip quivered ever so briefly, but her tone was resolute. She held out her wrists, upturned in surrender. "I'm turning myself in."
"What?!" That time, she had been unable to control her volume, and a light came on in the other room.
"Emma?"
Regina shot her a look, her sharply-arched brow seeming to snipe, "We couldn't have done this quietly?"
David and Mary Margaret came bursting in, the latter of them belting a soft pink robe around herself. "What is going on in here?" When she got a good look, her own volume was uncontrollable. "Regina?!"
Another light came on, this one from the upper loft, and Emma sighed and threw her head back, muttering, "Great."
Mere seconds later, Henry bounded down the stairs, stopping short just before his foot left the bottom step. He stared at his adoptive mother as if she were a venomous cobra, and he glared slightly. "What is she doing here?"
If possible, Regina's eyes looked even more watery. One hand reached for him and fell to her side a split-second later. "Henry..."
David stepped forward at that point, folding his arms. "I think Henry's question has some merit. What are you doing here, Regina?"
Emma watched the brunette as her eyes flickered around the room, Henry their final landing place. When she looked up, her tone was once again resolute... determined, as she replied, "I came to turn myself in."
"I knew it!" Henry spat, moving toward her. "I knew you killed Archie! You're always gonna be the Evil Queen."
"Henry," Emma warned. She wasn't exactly concerned about preserving Regina's feelings, but she knew better than any of them not to antagonize a flight risk.
"I didn't kill Archie. Henry, please believe me."
Mary Margaret tilted her head, voice soft but tone unforgiving. "We saw it with our own eyes, Regina. It was you."
Emma kept her eyes on Regina as she shook her head, the motion almost frantic. "It wasn't."
David cocked his chin and asked, "Then why turn yourself in?"
"To prove to you that I didn't do it." She looked to her son. "I didn't, Henry. You'll see."
Then, Emma found herself staring into the depths of Regina's eyes as they focused on her. "But whoever did? Maybe isn't going to stop at just Archie."
Regina took a step forward and Emma held her ground, just watching her. It wasn't as if invasion of personal space was a foreign concept between them. "If I'm locked up and another person gets hurt..."
She left the implication dangling in the air between them, but it was enough for Emma to nod and murmur almost defeatedly, "She's right."
Both her parents voiced a protest and Emma turned to face them. "Think about it. Either way, this is a win. With Regina locked up, everyone is safe."
She didn't miss the wounded expression from the brunette, or the snotty, "Thanks for the vote of confidence."
"She has magic," David pointed out, his arms folded across his chest. "How do you expect to keep her locked up if she can just make the bars disappear?"
Emma stopped to ponder that -- she hadn't even considered the idea that it was a trick. Hell, Regina had tricked her before -- what was to stop her from doing it now?
"I won't use it," Regina spoke up, taking another step toward them.
David raised his brows. "And you expect us to just trust you?"
"You disappeared into thin air right in front of our eyes," Mary Margaret said, mirroring her husband's position. "How do we know you're not gonna do it again?"
Regina swallowed and said once again, more strongly, "I did not kill Archie. I don't know who you saw, but it wasn't me. And I'm willing to let you lock me in a cell to prove it."
Emma stood there momentarily, watching the evanescent former queen. She thought about everything that had happened in the last twenty-four hours, and the array of emotion was so polarized it made her sigh tiredly, "Good enough for me."
Her parents, not to mention her son, were less than pleased. "Emma..." her mother intoned, tilting her head.
"You can't do this! It's a trick!" Henry exclaimed, and Emma threw a fleeting glimpse at Regina in response, who appeared to be just barely holding it together at this point.
"I don't think this is a good idea," David was the last to chime in, and Emma cut him off on the last syllable.
"Well I'm still sheriff. I'm taking her in." Her tone ended the discussion, and she quickly changed into her jeans, throwing on her old leather jacket before grabbing her badge, her cuffs and -- just for good measure -- her gun.
Then she returned to where the four of them were still lingering, David and Henry staring at Regina while Mary Margaret kept her arms folded and stared at the floor. After slipping her badge through a belt loop and stashing her gun, Emma held out the hand cuffs.
Regina swallowed and held up her wrists. Emma glimpsed at her several times, trying to gauge her mood as she slid the first metal cuff over one wrist, snapping it in place.
"Regina Mills," she murmured, "You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say--"
"You can spare me the 'Law & Order' re-enactment, Miss Swan," she snipped, holding up her other wrist almost impatiently. "I'm aware of my rights."
Emma shrugged, snapping the other cuff in place. "Fine. Then let's go."
**
Most of the short ride to the sheriff's station was silent. Emma quietly pondered the state of her sanity as Regina sat mutely in the passenger seat, cuffed hands in her lap. Her lip remained curled in derision the entire ride while she stared distastefully at the various pieces of her car's interior.
When they rolled up to the station, Emma rolled her eyes and cut the engine. "I know it's not a Mercedes, but--"
"You don't drive my son to school in this death trap, do you Miss Swan?"
"My son," she corrected, more to get a rise out of Regina than anything else. "And no. He takes the bus."
"Well. Good." Wisely, Regina had no retort to the 'my son' comment, and instead allowed Emma to lead her into the station.
She turned on the light and practically flinched at the bright fluorescence. "You really couldn't have waited until a decent hour to turn yourself in, Regina?" she couldn't help but gripe. "You had to do this at three in the morning?"
"Take it or leave it."
Emma sighed, retrieving her keys from the desk. She flipped through them on the almost comically-large key ring, looking for the one that would open the cell. With her back to Regina, it somehow made it easier to confess, "You kinda left me in the lurch earlier."
She looked up to see the flippant hair toss from Regina, an innocent blink following thereafter. "What do you mean?"
"Vanishing like that?" She approached with the key ring, moving to unlock the cell. "I felt kind of.... abandoned. Having to tell Henry what happened."
Predictably, Regina rolled her eyes. "Terribly sorry, Miss Swan. I didn't mean to hurt your feelings while you were accusing me of murder and threatening to take my son away from me."
The sarcasm in her tone was heavy, and Emma looked up to glare at her while she unlocked the cell and swung it open.
"Just get in."
Regina stepped into the cell and turned to face Emma as she closed the bars with a heavy clank. She gripped one of the bars as she slid the key into the lock and turned. She startled when a hand touched hers, and jumped her eyes up to meet Regina's.
Her wrists were still bound, and each of her hands gripped the bars, one of them clamped over Emma's. She searched Regina's eyes for malice but found none. Instead, the onyx irides were deep... almost sad, and slightly wistful. Like when she had realized Emma could use magic.
"You believed me earlier." She nodded toward the interrogation room. "In there. I know you did. Please believe me now. I didn't do this."
Emma swallowed hard, taken in by the look in Regina's eyes. Her heart pounded with adrenaline, possibly at the thought that with Regina gripping her hand, she could still try something crazy to escape. So she yanked her hand back and steeled her jaw, eyes hard as she ground out lowly, "I believe what I saw. And I saw you choke the life out of Archie."
With that, she stepped back and stuffed the huge key ring in her jacket pocket, telling Regina, "Now I am going home to get some sleep. And now that my son and the rest of this town will be safe, I should be able to sleep pretty well."
She strolled off without another word, leaving Regina to stare after her, gripping the bars of her cell.
And Emma kept the confidence in her every step until she got into the car and slumped against the wheel. She knew she wasn't going to sleep well.
Just as she knew by the sinking of her stomach that when she returned to the station later, Regina's cell would be empty.
TBC
{x-posted to regina_emma and onceupon_fanfic}