I decided to upload all the finished one-shots I had in my folders in gratitude for being such great friends and reviewers while I go on a (possibly very long hiatus).

Anonymous Asked You: Regina and Ruby compare their abusive mothers over several drinks: Red Queen

AN: I opted to change 'several drinks' to 'time'. Drinks are still involved in come scenes though.

Cora died three days before. Ruby watched the emotions that plagued Regina's eyes. She smelt her emotions. She saw Snow volunteer her heart and she saw Regina rip it out and stick it back in.

She knew Regina's life up to this point had been hell. She knew that no one was willing to give her a second chance. Not really. She knew how fucked up Regina was in the head. She knew because she was just as fucked up.

Regina had to take care of everything for her mother's funeral herself. She couldn't even get a minister or whoever from whatever faith Regina was supposed to be in this realm to reside over it. She had to dig the grave and she was the only one in attendance.

That was until Ruby made her presence known. She walked passed Regina, laying a blood red rose on the grave before stepping back and standing next to her.

She watched the mayor out of the corner of her eyes. She watched Regina's open, questioning mouth. She watched her brows knit as she stared at the rose and she watched the woman finally turn to her resolute on saying something.

"What the hell is this? Pity?"

Ruby shook her head, "No."

"Then why are you here?" Regina turned back to the grave and pulled the lever to lower the casket into the ground.

"I know what it's like."

Regina stopped moving, her hand stilled just as it was magically directing the loose dirt into the grave, "You know what what's like?" She continued her task.

"I know what it's like to have a mother like Cora."

Regina laughed, "Excuse me? You think you can compare your sweet little Granny to my mother?"

Ruby pursed her lips as she looked at Regina, "I think I can compare my mother to your mother. And Granny is hardly sweet."

"Your mother?"

"Yeah."

"I wasn't aware you had a mother."

"That's because I killed her."

Regina stared at the werewolf looking for signs that she was lying.

"And just like you, I was tricked into it." Ruby turned and stared the mayor dead on, "Listen, I know how easy it is to fall to the dark side. I know that you think you got nothing to live for, but the fact is, you do. You have Henry. And whether he wants to believe it or not right now, he knows that you've saved him and loved him and cherished him. He knows that you're his mother. And he damn well better know that you're not evil, and you're nothing like your own mother…"

Regina's eyes glossed over and she started blinking more due to the excess water. Ruby saw the minute quiver of her lip and she heard the lump move down her throat as the woman swallowed.

"I have to go." Regina said.

"Listen, if you ever wanna talk or... drink, or anything really, I'm here. I'm here for you, Regina."

Regina didn't acknowledge Ruby's statement. She simply poofed out of the graveyard.

~0~0~0~0~0~

That evening while working her shift, Ruby's phone went off; it was a number she didn't already have, "Hello?"

Silence.

Then the distinct three beeps of a person hanging up before a dial tone came through.

She knit her brows, but went about her business. She wasn't going to call back a number that was obviously a misdial.

Five minutes later, her phone went off again. It was the same number. She knit her brows and walked to the back, answering again.

"Hello?" She asked into the phone.

A clearing of a throat happened before Regina's ever-professional voice filled her ear, "Miss Lucas, I know you must be busy working right now, but I was hoping I could steal you away. I've found drinking alone isn't as fun as I ever pretended it was."

Ruby started taking off her apron, "Yeah, yeah, sure. I'll be over in a couple minutes." She hung up and put on her coat.

She gave Granny a half-assed excuse before darting out the door and decided to hoof it to the Mayor's. Her hoofing was faster than driving these days, so she didn't lie to Regina. She did get there in a couple minutes.

They didn't talk.

Regina simply led her to the study, poured them both some hard cider and motioned for Ruby to take a seat on the couch. Ruby did and took a healthy sip of her cider before taking her coat off.

She heard Regina move, heard her set down her drink, and then she heard the sound of a zipper. The werewolf looked up to see Regina staring at her, slipping her skirt off of her hips and stepping out of her heels. She watched Regina slowly unbutton each button of her blouse and then she watched the silky fabric flow to the floor.

Ruby knew her jaw was dropped and she hadn't blinked since she looked up. She saw the smirk grow on Regina's face when she advanced. She watched the flash of fear flow through the normally composed mayor as she got closer. The waitress managed to compose herself when Regina got close enough to touch. And she did. She let one hand trace the woman's thigh before allowing the other hand the pleasure as well.

That was all the encouragement Regina needed before she slipped astride Ruby's lap. They kept their faces mere inches from touching. They just stared into each other's eyes, into each other's souls.

Then they kissed.

~0~0~0~0~0~

Later that night, after making it up to Regina's room, as they were relaxing in the calm, soothing comfort of the bed, bathed in the low lamp light, Regina found herself fascinated with her werewolf's form.

She was drawing designs, connecting her freckles, anything to just touch her, to touch another human like this. But it was as she was doing this that she came upon a rather sizeable scar on Ruby's shoulder blade; it seemed to wrap into her armpit. And it looked like a bite mark. She studied it, continuing tracing for a couple minutes and concluded that it was from a wolf. She chanced a glance to Ruby's face.

"The first time my mother took me out to teach me how to control my wolf, she bit me because I wasn't doing it the way she told me how; I'd found my own form of control and she didn't like it." Ruby gave a pithy laugh, "It was to teach me to stick with the pack."

~0~0~0~0~0~

Regina knew that Ruby found her own scars the first night they were together. She also knew that Ruby knew she needed more time. She knew that Ruby knew that unlike the werewolf, she didn't have anyone save her from her mother, she had to get rid of her all on her own.

It was three months into their sleeping together, as Ruby traced them seemingly to sooth the long before healed flesh, that she decided to talk about the scars on her back.

"While my mother was teaching me magic, she thought the best motivation would be to learn so I couldn't get burned in life. So I could always see things coming. She meant it literally. She tied me up and ripped the back of my dress open and drug the hot fire poker across, just to make sure I understood that I needed to anticipate and be ready for the next attack because there will always be a next attack."

Ruby watched her with her undivided attention. She laid down on her side and hovered over the side of Regina's face that was exposed before kissing the part of Regina's lips she could get to sweetly.

~0~0~0~0~0~

They swapped horror stories quite often. It helped them both in the long run. They were secrets long-suppressed that they needed to get out in the open. And they found trust in each other. They found love in each other too. Though, they tried to hide it, it didn't stay hidden long.

Emma was at the sheriff's station one afternoon. She'd asked Ruby to drop by if and when she could. And when she did, she found the sheriff throwing darts, making perfect bull's-eyes.

"Emma?"

Emma didn't look at Ruby as she plucked the three darts from the board and moved back to the line. She stared at the darts in her hand a moment, "Regina seems happy."

Ruby heard Emma's heart racing, and that only added to her own. "Why—"

"Because you seem happy too. I've seen you go over to the mansion." The blonde threw a dart hitting a perfect bull's-eye again.

Ruby didn't know what to say. She knew Emma had always had suppressed feelings for Regina, but she never knew they went so deep.

Emma threw another bull's-eye, "Look. I didn't bring you here to threaten you. I didn't ask you to come so I could piss all over my territory or whatever because, fact is she never was mine even if I did think we had a special connection…" This was when Emma chose to give the werewolf a threatening, menacing look, "Rubes, I love you, but I swear to God if you hurt her, I'll put a silver bullet between your eyes. She's been through enough." She threw the last dart sideways as she stared at Ruby; she hit it dead in the center before huffing a short sigh. "Guess I did bring you here to threaten you…" She sighed again sadly.

Ruby could only smile at how protective the savior was over the 'evil' queen. "I'm not gonna hurt her. We understand each other; we're good for each other. She makes me whole, Emma."

Emma nodded. She turned and walked into her inner office shutting the door.

They were done talking.

~0~0~0~0~0~

A wedding took place not long after. Unlike Cora's funeral, everyone was there, everyone volunteered to do something, everyone was excited. Unlike Cora's funeral, it wasn't just Ruby and Regina, though it was all about Ruby and Regina.

Everyone could see the change in Regina, they could see that Ruby healed her, and that Regina seemed to fix Ruby, who nobody knew was broken. Henry spent equal time at each of his parent's house, and Ruby made damn sure that Henry knew damn well and appreciated and reciprocated his brunette mother's love.

Ruby didn't lie when she first talked to Regina at Cora's funeral.

Ruby was always there for Regina. And Regina was there for her.