Surprise! Nothing like a pandemic to get you in the mood to write a fic that you haven't touched in years. Not sure if anyone is still around or if anyone cares but hey, here's a new chapter of Fractured Hearts. This is unedited...pardon all my blunders. It's been years without using Regina and Robin's voices so I apologize for that as well. Going off of my limited notes I found. Maybe just maybe I will finish this beast. No promises. This is one chapter. Let me know if you are still hanging around, that might motivate me to keep going. Hugs to all! Hope you are all staying safe.

Trigger Warning: Some abusive, sexual content. Nothing major but it could be triggering to some.

The first thing that registered was the bitter smell of blood and sweat. Death. It was cold where he laid on the ground, dampness seeping into his skin. He felt numb, light, like his body was floating in mid-air, yet at the same time he was paralyzed, unable to move his arms or legs.

His eyes fluttered open, his vision out of focus. He blinked several times attempting to erase the blurriness. His mouth felt like cotton and his throat longed for water. He coughed and pain coursed through him, it felt as if tiny shards of glass were piercing his skin.

"Take it easy, you have lost a lot of blood."

Robin turned his head slowly toward the voice, his eyes finally clear enough to recognize the bars that surrounded him. A dungeon similar to the many others he had found himself a guest in over the years. Slivers of light danced amongst the darkness, the small windows giving just enough light to make out a man who sat in the cell next to his. He leaned against the bars watching Robin, his skin wrinkled and sagging on his face, his eyes appeared to swell out of his head. His hair was long, grey, stringy, and his beard hung limply past his chest. Bones protruded out of his stomach. The man had clearly been down here for many years.

"What -," his voice cracked, dry from disuse. He was exhausted and every detail he tried to recall was fuzzy. If he could just get some water. "What happened?"

"The guards brought you down a few hours ago. You were in rough shape. They left you here to die, like so many of the others. I helped you the best that I could."

Robin slowly made an attempt to sit up. Every muscle ached, his bones were stiff, pain clung to every joint, every nerve. He bit his lip, preventing the groan that rose in his throat.

A sharp pain pierced through his head and a myriad of images flashed through his memory. Finding the scepter with Ellie, Hans, and the guard's sword slicing his arm and later that same sword plunging into his abdomen.

He brought his hand to his stomach, feeling for the wound that should have resulted in death but instead his fingers slid over healed flesh.

He looked towards the frail looking man sitting in the other cell, his brow furrowed, his confusion evident.

"You were nearly dead when they brought you in," the man explained, sighing wearily, "I'm not as strong as I used to be, especially here. There may still be a scar."

"Magic?" Robin's voice cracked.

The old man chuckled, but it was not a laugh filled with humour, it was devoid of any emotion whatsoever and sent a chill down Robin's spine.

"A crime that now sentences you to a lifetime in a cell."

Robin's thoughts turned to Regina and Ellie, the young girl had been by his side during the confrontation with Hans. Had she been harmed?

"Ellie?" He inquired, desperately, unsure if the man would have any idea of whom he spoke.

"The girl is fine."

Robin felt his body crumple in relief. Not completely understanding how this man seemed to know Ellie's fate, Robin innately knew his words were not a falsehood. Ellie had been unharmed and that left him with a great sense of peace. There was something else about this man that intrigued him, there was definitely more to him than met the eye.

"Who - who are you?," he asked, his voice shook with uncertainty.

The man smiled and even though half of his teeth were missing and his skin sagged from malnutrition, Robin knew the words out of this old man's mouth would be something he needed to pay heed to.

"I see many things. Past. Present. Future. The prison that encases Arendelle will soon be no more. When all hope seems lost the answers you seek will be in the mountain where the heart tree grows. She needs you.

"Who?" He breathed. "Ellie?"

He shook his head in the negative, "The one who holds your heart."

Regina's fist tightened.

Han's grip on her wrist was guaranteed to leave a bruise. Many things infuriated her, but being manhandled by a power hungry asshole and the complete vulnerability and helplessness that it invoked was what she abhorred the most. She couldn't remember the last time she felt this much hatred towards one person.

Her magic was being blocked by the scepter that much she could tell. It was the only thing powerful enough to prevent magic. Elsa hadn't mentioned that part of its DNA.

They entered a dark room and she squinted her eyes attempting to make out where Hans had taken her.

"Stealing someone else's magic wasn't enough, does mistreating women make you feel like more of a man," she growled.

Once the words were out of her mouth she knew she had made a grave mistake, she did not excel in controlling her tongue when angry.

Hans' grip grew even more severe and she gasped in surprise when he slapped her and threw her across the darkened room. Her legs slammed into something and her body fell back on a cushioned surface. Her heart dropped in recognition, a bed.

Light filled the room and Regina's eyes slammed shut, the newfound brightness blinding her. She blinked several times adjusting her eyesight. She was indeed on a bed. Hans towered over her, his pupils dilated and his face crimson red. He still clung to the scepter as if it were his lifeline.

"You need to learn how to keep your mouth shut," he snarled.

"If you lay one hand on me, you will regret it."

He moved menacingly over her, "And just what are you planning on doing, your majesty. You have no magic. No husband to defend you. Just a helpless woman - like all the rest."

His body covered hers, his weight crushing her, making it nearly impossible to breath. He roughly palmed her breast, squeezing, groping her as if he had every right to touch her in such a way. His tongue darted, wild and sloppy, across her open chest making her stomach churn with disgust. After Leopold she had vowed to herself that she would never be used by another man in this way.

She may not have her magic but she was far from weak.

She laughed then, causing Hans to pull back not quite able to hide his surprise. He had expected fear and pleading. She would not give him that satisfaction.

"You have no idea who you are dealing with," she growled, lowly, her eyes narrowing in on him, giving him the most intimidating look she could muster.

Alarm flashed in his eyes, it was quick, but it was enough for Regina to recognize and give her a renewed strength and confidence. Using every ounce of vehemence she possessed, she slid her leg up and then slammed her knee into Hans' groin.

He howled in agony, falling onto the bed beside her.

She fumbled off the bed, her heart racing and her head pounding, adrenaline pushing her passed the fear that still lingered. She knew she only had bought herself seconds to find something to use as a weapon.

Her eyes locked on a vase sitting on the table by the door and she pushed herself forward. Her feet were like lead, it felt impossible to move her legs. Everything was a blur around her, the only thing in focus was that vase. It seemed like time had both ceased and sped up. She was almost there. Her hand reached out, her fingers brushing against the smooth porcelain, her heart soaring with relief that she had something to defend herself with.

Her eyes widened in horror and she gasped when his hand grabbed her wrist, roughly yanking her away from the table, the vase slipping out of her grasp. She had been so close.

He grabbed a hold of her hair, pulling it, her entire body snapping back from the force. "That was foolish Regina," he said, his voice sending a chill down her spine. It was a tone she was well versed in, it was one she often used as the Evil Queen before she went in for the kill.

He seized the vase and she flinched as he smashed it against the table. The shattering glass exploding all over the marble floor.

Before she could even blink, he had pressed the long, jagged, broken piece of glass against her throat. She attempted to hide her wince as the glass broke through her skin. She would not give him the satisfaction of seeing any weakness. The warm trickle of blood ran smoothly down her neck.

Hans pressed against her, his breathing ragged but his demeanour was eerily calm. She knew this was the end. Her body ached in a way she had never experienced. She felt drained of all energy unable to move her arms or her legs.

She lifted her gaze to meet his, she would not leave this world a coward. Looking in his eyes full of hatred and rage, she felt relief, the lust that had reflected there earlier had vanished, only murder remained. Murder she could deal with. Murder she deserved. The glass dug deeper and her thoughts flashed to Henry, to Roland, to Robin. Her heart broke at the thought of never seeing them again, but in the end this was for the best, her death was imminent regardless. Perhaps it would be less painful this way. She just prayed that Robin would not try to avenge her death, that he would leave, live his life with Roland and Marian like he was always supposed to.

"LET REGINA GO!" Ellie's voice startled them both. It was enough of a distraction to break Hans' concentration, allowing her to break away from his grasp and grab a piece of the broken vase from the ground.

"I thought I had told you to go back to our guests," Hans snarled, addressing Ellie but his eyes locked on the glass Regina held. He moved the scepter, aiming it at her and suddenly it felt like the piece of vase in her hand was on fire. She bit back a gasp of pain but it must have shown on her face, a cruel smile slowly made its way onto his face. The object grew hotter and hotter and began to creep its way up her fingers and into her hand, but she refused to let go. She had been through worse torture through the years.

"You're hurting her," Ellie cried out.

"She throws fire from her hands, I'm only giving her a taste of what she's tortured others with through the years."

"STOP - She isn't like that - not all - not all magic is evil!" The young girl argued.

"DON'T YOU DEFEND HER," Hans screamed, he took a deep breath and in a calmer tone continued, "She has you under a spell of some kind. She is a witch, an evil - conniving witch. She will only bring me - us - destruction."

The pain was making its way to her brain and the pain was unbearable, she fell to her knees, crying out, finally dropping the glass she held.

"Look at her now," he said, "she is powerless. You're about to witness your friend die. It's what she deserves for all the lives she has destroyed with her magic."

"LET HER GO!"

A blast rocked the room, everything shook violently. The broken pieces of the vase came off the ground and began to circle around the room, slowly at first and then faster and faster. Hans eyes were wide in disbelief, his shock serving to break the connection the scepter had over Regina. She dropped her head into her hands, the relief from the pain was staggering. She took three slow breaths in an attempt to regain her composure and then slowly lifted her head, looking up to see all the shards of glass were now pointing directly at Hans.

Anna stood at the door behind Ellie shaking her head, whispering no, repeatedly, as her brain processed all that had happened before she had arrived.

Ellie's magic had broken through the power of the scepter, that was something even Regina had been unable to do. The power Ellie held at such a young age was something she had never witnessed before.

"What is this?" Hans choked, eyeing the glass that surrounded him.

"Give me the scepter and no one gets hurt," There was a slight tremor in Ellie's voice and her hands shook as she kept control over the pieces of the broken vase trained on her grandfather. Regina knew the girl was even taken back by the sheer power she had just displayed.

"You have magic?" Hans asked dumbfounded, ignoring Ellie's request.

"I don't want to have to hurt you - just let Regina come with me-"

Before Regina even knew what was happening, Hans had triggered the scepter and had turned it on Ellie. It crackled and popped and Regina gasped as a large beam of an electric type of magic flew across the room at the young girl. Ellie's powers were untrained and her magic faltered from the pure power the scepter had thrown at her. It was enough for Hans to gain control once more. Ellie's magic was frozen and she cried out as her body began to rise, slowly being suspended into the air.

"Hans", Anna yelled, finally finding her voice, "Stop it, she pleaded.

He was unhinged, his hair wild and his uniform disheveled, a far cry from the prim and proper look he had at the beginning of the evening.

"You kept her magic from me Anna." Hans stated, his voice clear and slow but void of any emotion. "Now I must kill her just like I did with everyone else."

"Please, not Ellie," Anna cried, but Hans didn't react to his wife's pleading, he continued to talk as if he were in some sort of trance.

"I ordered Kristoff to be killed. Elsa did everything in her power to save him but she was not strong enough. Her magic made her weak. And now, just like I killed Kristoff and that bastard son and daughter-in-law of his - I will kill your precious granddaughter," the word rolled around on his tongue in distaste. "She and you have been nothing but a burden for years now. If I'd known the brat was like Elsa, she would have been destroyed before she was ever able to breath air."

Regina knew there would be no way to persuade Hans to not kill Ellie. She looked frantically for something, anything, to use as a weapon. There was an ax across the room leaning against the fireplace that she had failed to notice until now. She quietly started to inch her way backward. Ellie's small frame was beginning to shake, her life being dimmed more and more by the power of the scepter. There was no time to waste

She reached out to grab the ax but out of the corner of her eye she caught Anna on the move. The Queen pulled a knife out of her hosiery and lunged toward Hans, her intention clear, there was no hesitation, no fear. She moved swiftly, pure hatred radiating from her as she pierced her husband right in the heart. Hans' eyes were blown wide in shock as he dropped to his knees, blood bubbling through his mouth almost instantly.

Anna hovered over him for only a second, her eyes gleaming with disgust before dropping the knife and immediately turning to go to her granddaughter as the King fell over dead.

"Don't touch her," Regina called in warning, causing Anna's hand to snap away from Ellie. The electrical current from the scepter still held onto the girl, Hans' death had not been enough to end its power.

Without anyone controlling it, Regina knew that the connection could be easily broken but touching it, or Ellie, with their own bodies was far too dangerous. Regina grabbed the ax and moved to the scepter where it laid on the ground next to Hans. She knew that what she was about to do would not only destroy the scepter but also any power that would help heal her own dying body. Ellie's life was worth far more than her own. Her gaze traveled along the scepter, quickly mourning her loss, she took a deep breath and swung the ax, splitting the scepter into two. Ellie's body fell to the ground, the connection finally broken, and Anna rushed forward pulling her granddaughter into her arms. Regina kept swinging the ax, again and again and again until she was breathless and until the scepter was nothing more than a pile of wood chips. All the magic it held had been destroyed along with it any chance of her salvation.