"That's Regina," Emma breathed out softly as she followed her movements through the bushes. That damn book did not do the woman justice. Emma had thought Regina breath taking before, but this was a completely new level of attraction and she was having a difficult time convincing herself not to rush out and jump the woman.

"Not Regina, love; the Evil Queen."

Emma scowled at his voice intruding on her moment of appreciation; she had almost forgotten the unwashed Neanderthal had come through the portal with her. "What the frick ever," she hissed. She wanted to yell at him, to tell him to leave her the hell alone and go find someone else to bother, but she knew that raising her voice was a good way to gain unwanted attention and the last thing she needed was imprisonment with the idiot.

Watching as Regina disappeared back into her carriage, Emma stood from their hiding spot and started through the forest. According to her irritant of a companion, Rumplestiltskin's castle was more than a day's walk from where they were and she wanted to be rid of him as soon as possible.

Bad enough that she had to save the idiot's life and lose her magic, now she was stuck traipsing through fumbuck nowhere –Gods, even her thoughts were becoming PG-13, bloody kids– and everyone wondered why she wanted to go back to New York to escape the colossal pile of weird bullshit her life had become.

"So love-"

"Noooo, no no no." Emma spun on him and clamped her hand over his mouth. Were she not in the foulest mood known to man, she would have found the widening of his eyes to be comical – but she was and it merely served to irritate and gave her rather sickening ideas about plucking them from his face with a rusted fork.

"There will be no talking unless absolutely necessary," she stated, leaving no room for argument as she kept her hand across his mouth. "We find Gold, we figure out how to get home and then you are going to stay the hell away from me because I swear to whatever higher power there is; I am this close to viciously maiming that face you're so deeply in love with."

Thinking her warning sufficient, Emma took back her hand and grimaced as she wiped it against her cloak. When she noticed his lips part in an attempt to speak, she pointed a finger at him. "I will kick you in the balls so hard, the only sounds that will escape your mouth for the remainder of your life are squeaks that only very feminine mice will understand," she threatened and his mouth snapped shut.

With a satisfied smile, she turned her back to him and resumed their walk through trees, sending a glare his way every so often whenever he felt the need to sigh mournfully. Temptation to retrieve one of the many thick branches on the ground and hit him around the head with it was constant and strong, but she resisted the desire – mainly because it would delay them and the thought of dragging him unconscious through the forest sounded exhausting and not in the least bit worth the effort.

Hours passed uneventfully for the most part, putting aside the occasional need to duck out of sight of the Queen's Guard. Killian managed to get himself stuck on a tree at one point and she delighted in having to tear his jacket free. She had the insane thought that it might convince him to find a change of clothes but alas, it simply gave him a brand new reason to whine like a child and annoy her even more with his whimpered muttering about his precious clothes.

By the time night fell, her feet were on the verge of detaching themselves from her legs and burying their own grave to lie down and die in. Fortunately- or unfortunately considering the pirate hadn't been eaten by wolves yet- they came to a clearing not long before the temperature dropped and she set about preparing a fire while he mopped and stared forlornly at the sleeve of his jacket.

Once the wood was burning, she glanced across the fire to him and rolled her eyes before she stood and left him to sulk in peace while she went in search of something to eat. She vaguely remembered the words of her mother when she last came to the Enchanted Forest. Blue and Red berries are fine, yellow will irritate your stomach and green will kill you very slowly, and painfully; so don't touch them.

She briefly wondered if Killian was knowledgeable enough to know which berries were safe, then whether she could get away with slipping him a few yellow ones as payback for being a pain in her ass the entire trip but she dismissed the thought with a dejected sigh, as an upset stomach would just give him more reason to complain.

"My my, what do we have here?" Emma froze as the familiar drawl reached her ears, the deeper, throatier sound sending delicious tingles all down her spine. She was a sucker for a woman's voice, especially when that woman happened to be the sinfully attractive mother of her son. "My Guards said there was someone sneaking about the forest, but they never mentioned how pleasing a sight that someone was."

Emma swallowed the sudden lump in her throat and took a calming breathe before she turned to face the woman. "Re…" She bit her tongue as she was reminded by the brunette's appearance that this wasn't her Regina.

Correcting her mistake, she curtsied to the best of her abilities and responded, "Your Majesty." While she may not be the smartest person in the world, she had been attentive enough when first spotting the Queen as she threatened those villagers earlier and she kept her gaze firmly on the ground.

"Charming."

Emma's eyes snapped up at the sound of her father's moniker, only to realise the Queen was referring to her behaviour and she felt her cheeks redden, lowering her head and squeezing her eyes shut as her embarrassment amused the woman who released a dark little chuckle that caused her to shift uncomfortably.

"Oh you are delightful," the Queen purred and Emma's breath hitched, the air returning to her lungs in the next moment, almost suffocating as a hand slithered across her hip and she gasped. "Now tell me, my dear; why is a treasure such as yourself keeping such filth for company, hmmm?"

Regina licked her lips as she waited for a response, her grip tightening on the hip with each passing second. She did not understand why she had an overwhelming desire for this complete stranger, but as her mind taunted her with ideas and vividly detailed scenarios to enact with the woman, her heart pounded violently against her chest. Lust, intense as it ran rampant through her veins had her tugging the blonde against her and the sharp intake of breathe stoked the fire building in the pit of her stomach.

"Come now, dear." She slipped her other hand beneath the woman's cloak, pressing against a hard stomach before sliding up between breasts. A low growl sounded in her throat as the tips of her fingers met slightly chilled flesh and she slowed her pace, guiding them across firm mounds and up a slender neck to wrap around a hardened jaw.

Gripping her chin, Regina tilted the blonde's head back and lowered her voice to a husky whisper. "It was a simple question, sweet thing," she murmured and relished the woman's whimper that followed. "I have a very pleasurable evening in mind for us, but if you don't answer my question, then I'm afraid yours will be more on the side of pain."

She smiled when the woman gave an audible gulp, fingers loosening their hold and gently stroking the side of her face as the blonde finally gained her composure enough to speak. "He is helping me find a way home," she replied and the hoarseness of her voice pooled warmth between the Queen's thighs.

"And where might this home be?"

"Another land, another time." Killian stepped out from behind a tree and Regina snarled at the interruption. "You need to release her, Your Majesty, and you need to let us leave."

Her grip tightened once more and the blonde hissed as nails dug into her flesh. "Now why would I do a thing like that?" She was half-tempted to lash out and choke the life from him, but with no idea how that would affect the woman in her grasp and because she sought a willing body for her bed that night, she strangled the impulse and stared him down instead.

He shrugged casually as he moved closer and the saunter in his step was almost enough for her to unleash her anger upon him, except the body in her arms became a worthwhile distraction as it relaxed against her, the tension that had existed from the start of their interactions; releasing from the blonde's muscles. "Because your happy ending is in jeopardy if you don't."

The words pulled her attention back to him and her brow furrowed as she tried to make sense of them. The pirate, however, made no attempt to explain himself before he spoke to the woman. "Swan, she is not the same person here and regardless of your apparent dislike for me, I don't wish any harm to befall you."

A hand shot out of its own accord and lifted him into the air by his throat as the Queen bared her teeth. "You are the only one in danger here," she snapped and flexed her fingers, watching and smirking as his legs kicked the air in his struggle for breath.

"Regina…" Her eyes widened and while hearing her name from the mouth of a commoner was surprising, it was the hands that cupped her cheeks that shocked her and her gaze dropped down to emerald depths she could willingly lose herself in. "I loathe him more than I could ever hope to put into words, but I need him to get home; please don't kill him."

What shocked her even further was the fact she realised she was actually considering this woman's plea for mercy and that, in itself was strange enough that she immediately granted the request and called the magic back to her. Neither of them paid any mind to the pained grunt as the pirate hit the ground and they continued to stare into ones another's eyes; fear, confusion and desire swirling in their respective gazes.

"Who are you?" Regina breathed after a long few seconds and her stomach fluttered as the woman smiled beautifully.

"Emma," she chuckled. "Emma Swan."

Raising her hands to wrap around wrists, Regina pulled the hands away from her face and stepped back. "Pretty name," she said. Glancing to the pirate whose gaze bounced between the two of them, Regina waved a hand and a disoriented man wearing a suit of armour appeared in a puff of smoke. "Claude, escort the Captain here to the palace and should you arrive before morning, make room for him in the dungeon."

"Hey, wait just a minute," Killian shouted and she waved her hand once more, silencing his protests as he found himself suddenly bound, hands behind his back with a gag secured in his mouth.

"Yes, my Queen." Claude bowed before he stormed over to the man and yanked him to his feet, shoving him in the back in the direction of the palace. "Move it, maggot."

Regina chuckled as his muffled shouts continued as they disappeared from sight and she returned her focus to this Emma Swan. She studied the woman for a moment, taking in her appearance before she reached out and fisted her hand in the blonde's cloak. "Now you, my dear; will accompany me to the Palace and you will tell me where you are from, why you are here and how it is you seem to know me when I haven't the slightest clue as to who you are."

The air left Emma's lungs in a rush as she landed hard on her back, her pulse beating rapidly as she noted the weight on her hips and opened her eyes to find Regina was straddling her waist. Her head spun from the abrupt relocation, senses overwhelmed with the essence of the woman's magic that still swirled around them and she tried to compose herself as she took a cursory glance at their surroundings. She was sprawled in the middle of a bed in what looked to be the Queen's chambers, and that was all she managed to deduce before she felt the hand tugging at the clasp of her cloak.

"What-" A finger pressed to her lips stopped the question before she could finish and she closed her eyes as it began tracing the contours of her mouth. Everything seemed amplified in that moment; the sound of her heart as it pounded against her chest, the scrape of a fingernail as it travelled over her chin, down the slope of her neck and across her collarbone.

"Tell me, Miss Swan." Emma shook her head. It didn't matter what the Queen wanted to know, as the chance of her brain being able to form a single, coherent thought was slim to none and she didn't think she would be capable of answering, regardless of the question.

Her eyes snapped open as she found herself suddenly free of the weight, all contact between them ceasing and she swallowed upon meeting the Queen's glare. She has been on the receiving end of Regina's anger more times than she could count, but combined with the obvious desire, she knew that this time, their clashing would not start nor end when one of them began shouting at the other.

The only time she could ever recall seeing the predatory stare directed her way was the day she took to the Mayor's tree with a chainsaw. Although she had walked from that unscathed, she had a feeling the Evil Queen would be far less merciful than her future self and she remembered the earlier threat of pain being inflicted if she refused to cooperate.

Pushing up onto her elbows, she watched as an eyebrow rose and cleared her throat before attempting to explain. "I uh- I'm not good at the whole multi-tasking thing… I'll tell you whatever you want to know, but you're kind of distracting when you're trying to take my clothes off."

Her face heated with the quirk of plump lips and she averted her gaze, nervously biting her lower lip before a hand grabbed her by the chin and forced her to look at the Queen as she spoke. "Then tell me what I want to know and we can get back to the fun part."

Emma gave a disbelieving laugh, knowing that the opportunity would no longer be on the table once Regina found out who she was, but she pushed herself into a seated position and began her tale. She started with the portal and how she, along with Captain Hook, came to be in the Enchanted Forest, leaving out certain details that weren't pertinent to their travelling back through time. She lied about who opened the portal, saying she had no idea who it was as she thought mentioning the woman had a sister that died in order to activate it wouldn't do either of them any favours.

By the time she got around to explaining how she knew the Queen, dread had taken up residency in her stomach. She could see the hate that filled the brunette the second she mentioned Snow White, quick to ease the fury in brown eyes as she told her of the curse she cast that takes them to another land where she finds her happy ending.

"And who are you to me?"

Emma winced; she had drawn the story out as much as she could to avoid having to the answer the question. After a second or two more of silence, she opened her mouth to confess she was the daughter of her enemy. "I… am the mother of your son," she said and both sets of eyes widened.

She hadn't intended to confess that… ever. Though considering the alternative, she had to admit she likely had a much better opportunity of surviving this confession. "I uh," she began, but had no idea what she could possibly add to that and the fact the Evil Queen was gaping at her like a fish out of water wasn't helping in the least.

It was somewhat comical the longer she stared, terrifying, but comical.

"I- we have a son?"

Emma pursed her lips and nodded, releasing the breath she'd been holding when Regina smiled and she could relax once more, at least until her next question.

"Are we married?"

Now Emma was the one imitating a dying fish, she wanted to respond with hell no but even in her flustered state, she still had enough sense to know that would likely end in her being brutally murdered, and also – married to Regina? In her dreams maybe; the woman hated her even on a good day.

"Um… no," she hedged after a long few minutes of Regina, surprisingly, being much more patient when 'Evil' than she was when she was simply being a colossal bitch face. "We are not. We have a thing- not we I mean, in my world- God this is nerve wracking."

She was rambling now and Regina looked as though she found it endearing which was completely fucking weird because no. "Adoption… I guess here it'd be kind of like finding a baby floating in a basket along the river? I don't know. I was unable to raise him due to… circumstances; you adopt him when he's three weeks old and he finds me on my twenty-eight birthday. We don't meet until then."

Dark eyes studied her as she spoke and she's surprised at yet another smile directed her way. "We don't get along, do we?" Regina asked and Emma laughed, the sound far too tense.

"Yeah, no." Emma shook her head. "You pretty much hate me- though I guess we sort of have a truce because of Henry."

"Henry? That's our son?" She perked up then and Emma blinked stupidly while nodding an affirmative, it had been awhile since she had heard the brunette refer to Henry as their son and it still sounded oddly heart-warming. "That was my father's name."

"I think you told me that once before," Emma said with a faint smile. She cleared her throat and moved them forward, "So yeah, you curse everyone and realise eighteen years later that it solved nothing, then you adopt a kid and redeem yourself ten years later… a few times, actually, the people of this world are kind of idiots and you get blamed for a lot of shit that isn't even your fault, really."

"How unexpected," Regina drawled and rolled her eyes before she asked, "But I'm happy now? In your world, I'm no longer miserable?"

"I…" She wanted to say yes because the whole situation was awkward as fuck, but at the same time, she had never seen Regina truly happy so what would she know. "I think so? Henry is with you, and you're seeing this… person who has another kid that you adore. I mean, you seem happy."

Her face twisted then and Emma wondered if it was confusion or disgust distorting her features. The former was understandable, and the latter made no sense considering what she had just said, but she couldn't help remembering the look she received a year prior in Neverland when Hook had mentioned their kiss in front of the entire group.

"If we hate each other, why were you so willing to sleep with me?"

Emma blushed. The thought of hate sex popped into her head briefly, but she thought that was more likely to anger the Queen and omitting the whole truth of who she was had been guilt inducing enough that she decided honesty was best. "I never said I hated you," she admitted softly.

"Ah." Understanding washed over the brunette's face and she grinned, thoroughly confusing Emma who could only stare back at her blankly. "In that case, I'll supply you with a memory potion for when you return home."

Still confused, Emma blinked and questioned, "Uh what?"

"Well dear," Regina spoke as she clamped hands down on Emma's thighs and invaded her space. "We shall take a trip in the morning to see the Dark One, I will unbind your magic and he will, hopefully, provide you with a way home. Until then…" Emma inhaled sharply as the hands moved upward another inch and the Queen smirked. "I believe I promised something in return for you answering my questions, and a gift to my future self of this night wouldn't be complete without the image of you writhing beneath us."

"Oh," Emma breathed in realisation, the exclamation exploding from her mouth as dark eyes and olive skin lunged for her.