"Ah, those two...in a fight, they're lethal. Around each other, they melt." (inspired by garysoldman's gifset on tumblr)

"Regina, where the hell are they?" Emma shouts from her crouched position behind an abandoned building. She conjures a ball of magic and quickly fires it in the direction of the lot, ducking back as soon as she hears it make its mark.

Regina, breathing hard and staring at the hideous creature being fended off by Snow and David's arrows, shakes her head rapidly. "I don't know; I told them we needed help!"

"Guys, we need a little more fire over here!" they hear David yell. They both step out, meeting each other's gazes before firing rapidly at the monstrous beast before them.

It had been released from an item in Gold's shop only an hour previously. At first it had seemed like just a tiny pile of dirt, but it soon overwhelmed the tiny space, sprouting spikes all over its body and wings that shattered the Dark One's windows as soon as they were unfurled. They had managed to trap it in an abandoned part of Storybrooke but it seemed their luck had since run out.

"Regina, on my count," Emma says swiftly, her hands glowing and eyes concentrated on the creature. "One…"

Regina does the same, fireballs appearing in the blink of an eye. "Two…"

"Three—"

Suddenly two blasts hit the creature from behind, sending it to its knees as it cries out in pain. Emma and Regina turn their heads just in time to see Hades, hair and hands illuminated with raging blue fire, emerge from behind the separate warehouse, firing another blast with a look of sheer determination on his face. The monster, having located the source of the brilliant blue flame, turns and bares its teeth at the God of Death and begins to charge.

Emma barely has time to say, "Where's—" before Zelena appears at Hades' side, firing her own stream of bright green magic and stopping the creature in its tracks. As if by some hidden signal they both immediately storm at the great beast, hitting it rapidly with bursts of magic from every possible angle, diving and swerving to avoid its massive arms and legs. Their faces are hardened with concentration and anger, eyes lethally shining as they focus on the monumental task ahead of them.

"It's about time," Emma grumbles. Shaking her head to clear her thoughts, Regina pushes up her sleeves and heads toward the fight, Emma right on her tail. They reach Snow and David before splitting up, fully surrounding the creature and adding their own blasts of magic along with Snow's arrows and David's sword.

It's in one swift moment that Regina hears her sister call out, "Hades!" and a massive column of blue flame erupts from the monster's chest as it lets out a shriek of agony, stumbling to the ground. And all of a sudden it's quiet once again. Metallic blood flows from the beast's torso, its massive eyes open and unseeing, the dust from its fall settling on the pavement. She sees Snow and David next to one another, Emma going to her parents to check on them—and she notices David's sword is missing. Zelena's face is shrouded in worry, looking from Regina to the creature and back to the spot where Hades had last been standing. She feels her stomach drop a bit; he can't be—

There's an abrupt clatter of steel and Hades reappears from nowhere, his breath heavy and a gash adorning his cheek as he flings the sword to the ground. Regina watches relief flood her sister's face as she goes to his side, one of her hands now gently reaching up towards the lesion on his face as he says something to her, his own features finally relaxing.

It's such a contrast, Regina's amazed to note as she witnesses the green glow of her sister's magic spreading over Hades' wound, clearing it up and leaving it good as new. Just moments ago they had both been in the heat of a fight, lashing out at the enormous creature with everything in them. Now, Regina watches as Hades pulls Zelena close, heads on each other's shoulders, practically melting into one another out of sheer comfort. It's almost surreal to see, she thinks dazedly.

"Are they okay?" David asks Regina, breaking her from her thoughts. She glances at him briefly before nodding.

"Yeah, they're fine," she murmurs. "I think Hades had an injury but Zelena took care of it."

David looks at the embracing couple, pensive. "He took my sword so fast I barely had time to blink. Guess he saw its weak point before we did."

Regina nods again absently. They see Zelena take Hades' hand, both going to examine the creature they'd brought down.

"It's funny," Regina hears Snow say suddenly, coming up to David's other side.

"Funny?"

Snow nods her head in the direction of her sister and Hades with a small smile. "How they can go from viciously attacking something to holding hands, being all sweet with each other. I just find it funny."

She can't fault her there. After a few moments Zelena's gaze meets Regina's and she smiles, headed to where they're standing with Hades in tow, and Regina can't help but smile back at her sister. Hades hands the sword back to David with an apology, which he waves off and instead congratulates the God on a job well done. Snow, ever the mother, takes a look at his cheek but there's no mark whatsoever to speak of and Zelena says so with a roll of her eyes. This part of post-battle Regina's very familiar with by now, everyone looking over cuts and bruises and making sure body parts are still intact. It's still a bit new to Hades, who looks vaguely stunned that they would bother checking up on him. Regina points it out to her sister and they laugh at Hades' puzzled expression.

They'll deal with the mess of the creature tomorrow, Regina decides, and they all go their separate ways back home. Zelena waves to them as a bright blue column of flame envelops her and Hades, and Regina hears Snow's words in her mind again while she and Emma head back into town on foot with the Charmings leading the way.

"It's funny," she says to herself.

"What's funny?" Emma asks, one brow raised.

Regina smiles, shakes her head. "Nothing. Just a thought."

Emma gives her a look but shrugs it off, calling ahead to her parents and asking something about Neal and having dinner at their place, but Regina isn't paying attention. Her mind is replaying the image of Hades embracing her sister, a look of peace on his face. She'd been skeptical about the Lord of the Underworld being Zelena's true love for the longest time, but even now she can't deny the level of gentleness he displays around her, the amount of love he conveys to her with just one look.

Regina has to admit it…they'll be just fine.

END

Notes:

This idea wouldn't leave me alone. Initially, I wanted Hades and Zelena to drop out of the sky and do a superhero landing, but I figured that would've been a bit excessive. I'll have to settle for them just walking in, guns a-blazin' (or rather, hands) and being badasses.

Thank you so much for reading! Comments and reviews are always appreciated. :)