"R-Regina?" Emma mumbled silently. The woman simply stood, looking at Regina with a gapped jaw, realizing suddenly what exactly had happened. Out of no where, the beautiful brunette had appeared, shooting her own mother - not that Cora was much of a mother anyway.

Regina whispered something.

"What?" Emma questioned.

Regina then whispered it again, but this time a little louder, her voice shaking even though her words were in inaudible.

"Regina I can't -"

"YOU. ARE. A. RAT!" The mob boss finally screamed, gritting her teeth as the words tasted like bile from her lips. A few stray tears ran down Regina's face as she locked eyes with the blonde. "I heard everything. Everything Emma, everything! You were going to kill me ..."

"Regina, I'm sorry ... I" Emma began to say, taking a step towards Regina, but stopped her motion as the gun was put between her eyes.

"Don't. Just don't. I'm in no mood for some 'I was going to murder you and possibly your son, but I decided that I'll just grow a conscience!' Don't even try that shit on me. You can plead as much as you want that you weren't going to kill me, but that doesn't mean you sure as hell weren't planning to at first. What changed your mind? Hmm?" Regina inquired, tilting her head to the side; her hands and the pistol visibly shaking as the silence became pregnant.

"When I joined the group, I was still debating or not to go through with what Cora wanted me to do. Though, when I first got in, I knew I couldn't do it. I never once thought about killing you or Henry." Emma shook her head, putting her hands up in surrender, taking a light step over Cora's lifeless body on the ground.

"Then why the hell did you stay?!"

Emma let out a breath, letting the cold air have it appear as if she had taken a puff on a cigarette. "I ..." She said. "I ... fell in love with you."

Regina's facial expressions softened for a mere second, before twisting in confusion and shock. "W-what ... what the hell did you just say to me?"

"I fell for you Regina. Hard. I couldn't do it because the moment I first saw you, I instantly knew that you were someone special. Someone who was beautiful on the inside and the outside. I love you Regina Mills and that's the truth. That's why I had no intention of hurting you or your son."

Regina let out a sharp breath and shook her head as a small sob left her lips. "Don't say things like that!" She said loudly, her chest heaving as she struggled to keep the gun from shaking."

"What do you mean?"

"You can't ... you can't just say things that aren't true!" Regina's heart ached in her chest, looking at Emma through tear filled eyes.

"What if they were true? What would you do then?" Emma questioned, lowering her hands to her side as she took yet another brave step towards the mob boss.

"I ..." The brunette whispered. "I don't know." The woman walked backwards to counter Emma's advances. "Stay back or I'll shoot."

"You won't shoot me." Emma said calmly. After having one Mills woman have a gun to her head, she wasn't afraid of another. Not when there was maybe the slim chance to Emma that Regina reciprocated the feelings she had developed. But if there was too a slim chance Regina wasn't bluffing and would pull the trigger ... Emma would be at least happy she died at the hands of the woman she loved.

"Stay back!" Regina said, tears now flowing freely down her face. "Please don't come near me!"

"Regina ..."

"Don't 'Regina' me!" The mob boss choked out. "I'll shoot you. Then myself. How about that?"

"You wouldn't leave Henry without a mother." The blonde attempted to sooth.

"His mother's a murderer!" Regina finally exclaimed, her chin falling to her chest as she cried, her grip on the gun shaking. Emma could see Regina was breaking down - fast.

"You're a mob boss Regina, it happens ..."

"She was the only person I've ever killed ..." The meek voice whispered.

"What?" Emma tried to hide the surprise in her voice.

"Cora. Was. The. Only. Person. I've killed. All the boys do the killing. I'll order a hit every once and awhile, but I'm never on the trigger ... ever. For Henry. I wanted to be clean for Henry. But now Cora's blood is on my hands. His lesbian mob boss mother who's in love with a twenty eight year old blonde killed his grandmother." Regina spoke sharply, her chest heaving as if she were going to have a panic attack.

Emma's eyebrows peaked. She's ... in love with me too. God, I have to help her.

"Regina it's okay ..." Emma whispered, hesitantly moving towards the woman, laying her hand on her shoulder as she reached for the gun. Regina struggled, keeping a grip on the pistol, attempting to wiggle away from Emma. "Don't do this, don't make this harder on yourself, give me the gun." Emma wrapped an arm around Regina's waist to try and get control long enough to get the gun, but without hurting or scaring the suddenly fragile. The harder they struggled, the harder Regina began to cry, until finally, she broke out in a hysterical sob, the gun dropping from her hands onto the sidewalk.

Emma held her as close as possible. Regina's knees buckling, crying into Emma's chest as a slender hand entwined into her brunette blonde moved to sit on the sidewalk still holding Regina. The two women cuddled into an embrace on the concrete as a lifeless body lay behind them; a mob boss sobbing into the chest of an assassin.

Regina woke up a few hours later on the couch in her office, a blanket laid over her and a pillow under head. Her mind questioned heavily if all that had happened was a dream. She turned her head slightly and saw Emma sitting mindlessly in a chair on the opposite side of the room, hands folded in her lap, head back as she slept against the wall.

"Emma." Regina spoke up finally. "Emma!" The blonde jolted awake, almost falling out of her chair at the sudden voice cutting through the once silence room.

"Hi."

"Hi."

"You okay?"

"Been better. What about you?"

Emma stood up, fixing the sleeves of her sweater. She stood up and took small strides towards the couch Regina lay on, kneeling on the floor next to the beautiful mob boss. "I'm okay."

"Did you bring me here?"

"Yeah, you passed out at the park. Plus, someone would have noticed the dead body soon enough, so I carried you back."

"You carried me and walked from Central Park to here?" Regina chuckled, rubbing the sleep from her face.

"Yeah. I didn't want to wake you up. I ... I-I was really worried about you Regina ... after all you said." Emma admitted, looking up like a lost child at the woman.

"I'm sorry I freaked out like that Emma. I just ... it was a lot." Regina whispered. She pulled her knees to her chest, letting her hands run through her hair. "I shouldn't have even threatened such an act. I'm so sorry." The mob boss felt another tear roll down her face. Emma sat up on the leather and hugged the brunette again, Regina returning the embrace.

"Don't be sorry Regina. You had just done something emotionally damaging to someone, that someone, no matter how horrible, being family. Plus, finding out about me being a douche, y'know, it's enough to make someone do something stupid." Emma chuckled, attempting to lighten the mood.

Regina laughed along with the younger woman, pulling back and settling into the pillow. "Thank you. And ... if it's okay ... I want you to stay on with the group."

"Even after knowing the real reason I joined?"

"Yes. I trust you Emma ... more than I trust anyone really. You had the chance to kill me so many times in exchange for things some would call way more valuable than the life of a human being; but not only did you refrain from hurting me and my son, you went out of your way to save us. That means the world to me Emma Swan and for that ... I owe you my life." Regina smiled warmly, letting her hand move up to caress Emma's cheek. The blonde leaned into the soft touch unconsciously.

"Don't worry about it. For now, don't think about anything but sleep. You've been through a lot and I just want you to chill okay? Me and the boys have Henry covered, okay?" Emma stated, standing up from the couch slowly.

"Alright. Kiss my baby for me. I'll rest for a little bit then come be with him." Regina replied, nodding slowly, not opposing in any way to a little bit more time by herself.

"I will." Emma put her hands into her jean pockets and turned on her heel to walk towards the door. The only sound in the room now being the footfall of Emma's boots. Until that is, Regina spoke again. "Emma ... did ... did you mean?" She suddenly asked.

The blonde turned once more and narrowed her eyebrows. "Mean what?"

"What you said ..." Regina began in a blush. "About ... falling for me ..."

Emma swallowed quietly. "Yes."

"Oh."

"Did you mean what you said? That you were in love with me as well?"

Regina to swallowed silently. "Yes."

"HELL YES, I WON THE BET!" A voice shouted from the hallway, following by shushing and the sound of slapping against one's head. Both women chuckled, lifting their gazes to meet again.

"So ... can I take you out on a date then?" Emma asked, shrugging her shoulders. Regina laughed with a large grin and nodded. "Yes." The mob boss added. "Yes you can."

"Cool."

"Wonderful."

"Awesome."

Both women nodded towards the other, before Emma walked out of the room silently; Regina laying back against the arm rest in a chuckle, moving to look up at the ceiling. "Looks like I found her Danny." The brunette whispered, pumping her fist slightly. "I found her."

A/N Wow! That came out of no where! I know calling this a late update would be the understatement of the century and I apologize wholeheartedly for being such an ass. Thank you to though who are still reading this story; you have no idea how much it means to me, you sticking by me and reading my writing even though I am the QUEEN of late updates. Thankfully now though, I finally have a good laptop to write on and (even though I always say this) updates should be sooner. Don't worry - this is one story far from the ending ;) Our ladies may or may not have a little bit more trouble to wade through now that the Queen of Hearts is dead ...

Thanks for reading! Please review and AGAIN thank you for putting up with my shit! -Briar (AnotherDeadBlonde.)