A/N: Trigger Warning: at the end of the chapter, in italics, there's a nightmare involving descriptions of rape/non-con. If it's not your thing or it is a trigger for you, you can skip the italicized portion after the third line break. There will be more mentions of rape/non-con in future chapters and I'll be sure to include warnings for each chapter they're in. I tried not to put too much detail into them, but I understand it can still be plenty triggering.

First attempt at a dark fic. This is definitely a Swan Queen story, but it's slow burn. I also posted two playlists for this fic on 8tracks under the username sultrysweet. One's a light playlist of songs that revolve around Emma and Regina's relationship, pretty much all from Emma's POV. The other is a dark playlist of songs more focused on Regina and her dark past come back to haunt her, mostly the original character/antagonist I have for this story, but also includes a certain nightmare inducing late husband.

Though there was a breeze in the chilly night air, the candle remained lit. The flame flickered with every step, but held steady enough as leaves and twigs crunched under foot. The woods were vast, but at a slightly hurried pace it wouldn't take long to reach the park. From there, the paved streets of Storybrooke were all within minutes of each other.

Black gloves covered unshaken hands as they held a white candle and a small, almost wallet-size photo. The sky revealed a full moon when the gray clouds would clear and the small town was bathed in its light, the shadows more blue than black but still terribly dark. Salt tainted the crisp air from the water and the clock tower ticked above the library as it reached 11:30pm. The streets were quiet and not a soul was out, except for the one holding the candle.

From the woods to a main road, feet traveled with purpose and the dark figure moved with determination. Past a few houses and shops, past the bed and breakfast, past another residential area, and finally a destination was reached. The lights inside were all off and the black, wrought iron gate hardly squeaked as it was unlocked and swiftly pushed open.

Without leaving a single trace, the home was entered. Dark, partially dirty work boots made no sound on the stairs they climbed and the rest of the place remained completely still aside from the soft sounds from the candle's dancing flame. The intruder hesitated in the hallway not too far from one of the five closed doors on the second floor.

The intruder slipped the picture free from up against the side of the candle and held it with one hand as the candle stayed firmly gripped in the other.

"You are gone forever, but through this spell, her dreams to which you will come," the intruder whispered over the candle, the subject in clear view as the incantation was spoken.

With the spell invoked, the intruder quickly and quietly opened the nearest door. Inside revealed a monochromatic color palette and a sleeping form dressed in a silk pajama set on the bed. As the intruder approached the bed, the candle's flame was extinguished. The shadowed figured hovered above the former Queen while the wick of the candle cooled and the picture used in the spell was slipped into a front coat pocket.

Her olive skinned face was serene enough. She didn't look pained or troubled and if she was dreaming at all then it must have been pleasant enough to keep her from tossing and turning or waking abruptly in the middle of the night.

That was about to change.

Once the wick was cool enough, no smoke emerging, the intruder gently lifted the woman's pillow and slipped the candle underneath it. No other words were spoken before the intruder exited the room and left everything in the house as it had been found upon entry, including the gate at the end of the pathway. Even on the trip back into the woods, the only sounds heard were the howling wind and footsteps across the walked unpaved trails.

Emma softly hummed as a warm and subtle smile appeared on her face while her hands cupped the equally warm mug of coffee on the table in front of her. It wasn't too cold outside, but the overcast weather made it a little cooler than a normal early fall day in Storybrooke. Without even an hour of the sun's rays beaming down on the town, the temperature tended to drop by at least five degrees. Thankfully, Granny's Diner was always as warm or as cold as it needed to be when considering the weather. Not to mention the fact that there were enough cold and hot drinks on the menu to satisfy all of the townspeople given any one of the four seasons Storybrooke endured.

Unfortunately, the diner didn't have anything to stave off the cold caused by an icy glare from Regina Mills. That was an inevitable part of Emma's day if she happened to run into the brunette and, even though they didn't need to switch weeks taking Henry until the weekend, they happened to cross paths that morning.

Emma had had barely a sip from her steaming mug before Regina had walked in. And just like most of their unexpected encounters, it was like they had a sense for the other because in an instant, their eyes locked. Without fault, that infamous icy glare was directed at Emma and, though she didn't shrink in her seat, she did grimace a little before she took a second sip of coffee.

Regina held her gaze as she drank from her mug and when she set it back down on the table, someone entered the diner behind Regina. Only then did the brunette look away from her as she focused her attention on the lighter blonde that had just walked in.

An almost platinum blonde braid came into Emma's view as it hung over the woman's shoulder and she tensed before the new patron turned from the door and showed her face to the Sheriff.

Regina softened when she looked at the woman who had seemingly come to the diner with her and Emma felt something close to jealousy as she looked at Elsa. It wasn't just that Regina had suddenly become friends with Elsa after her arrival proved not to be a threat that made her jealous. It was also that Elsa had gained control over her magic before her. That, she knew, was due in large part to Regina.

The brunette had been mentoring her on occasion between Neverland and Elsa's arrival, but as soon as Emma had brought Marian back with her from the past Regina had put a stop to their blossoming friendship. Maybe blossoming was too sweet, too graceful, of a word to use for how they'd started to become closer. No matter how it had happened, they were finally on the right track to being on each other's sides, and almost without question. But bring back that person's soulmate's dead wife and that friendship sours while that almost-friend talks only about a shared son and who gets him when.

Emma watched as Regina and Elsa settled in at a table across the room, but giving her almost a perfect view of them like Regina knew just how she felt about Elsa being her new best friend. Elsa and Tinker Bell, really, and if Tinker Bell had even the slightest bit of temper before she certainly had one around Emma after Marian was reunited with her family. Even though Emma knew bringing Marian to Storybrooke was the right thing, there was a select group of people who sure knew how to make her feel like pariah for it.

To avoid thinking too much about Regina, or Elsa or Tink, Emma pulled out her phone and sent a message to Henry.

"Coming to Granny's for breakfast or are you gonna stay with the grandparents?"

She set her phone down and left the messaging screen open while she lifted her mug and took another sip, longer than the first two, while she waited for a response.

It didn't take long before her phone vibrated against the table with a new message, but when she looked at the screen she realized it wasn't a response from Henry. Instead, it was her dad.

"Family breakfast. Where are you?"

Emma sighed as she picked up her phone and typed, "At Granny's. Wanna join me?"

Not long after the message sent, a reply from Henry came in: Be there soon.

She played with the phone in her hand for a minute or two before the bell above the door jingled and Robin, followed by Roland and then Marian, came inside. Emma dropped her phone on the table and pressed her forehead into her hand. She kept her eyes closed and her head tilted down toward the table for a moment before she collected herself and dropped her hand like she'd dropped her phone.

Robin and his family headed toward her side of the diner with smiles on their faces and Emma politely smiled back. She gave a quick wave to Robin who tipped his head down in a partial nod as his response. The smile Marian directed at her was broader than but just as welcoming as Robin's as she and her husband ushered Roland into a chair at the table in front of Emma.

For reasons she didn't understand, because she knew it would be a bad idea, Emma looked over at Regina's table. The brunette's eyes were fixated, with a twinge of sadness in them, on Robin. When Ruby stopped by the family's table to take their order, Regina's view of Robin blocked, the other woman looked over at Emma. Emma didn't see anger or a cutting stare in those deep brown eyes. She barely recognized any hurt either. When Regina had first discovered Emma had brought Marian back four months ago, Regina's eyes were filled with anger and hurt. During those four months, Regina had either learned how to better hide her feelings—which Emma already thought she was pretty good at when she'd first arrived in town over a year ago—or she no longer felt that way about the situation. For all Emma knew, Regina could have slowly been moving on and adjusting to everything. But Emma knew nothing when it came to Regina because the brunette refused to say much to her unless it regarded Henry or the town's safety. And the town had been quiet once Zelena was out of the picture.

Ruby smiled to Emma on her way to the kitchen to place Robin, Marian, and Roland's orders and Emma flashed a tight smile back. That smile faded as soon as Ruby had passed her and she looked down at her phone as if it would make her morning either less awkward or go faster.

Just above her direct line of sight, she noticed a small figure turn and hang a little over the back of the chair. Emma looked up and saw Roland stare at her with curiosity as he rested his chin on his fists as he clutched the top of the chair he knelt on. Once he had her attention, he tilted his head to the side and rested a cheek on the back of his hand.

Emma narrowed her eyes as her lips formed a tiny smirk before she mirrored Roland's curiosity and tilted her head in the opposite direction as she held his gaze.

Roland smiled and tilted his head from his right to his left and waited.

Emma copied him again and tilted her head from her right to her left.

Roland giggled and straightened up, his head no longer tilted as he looked at her with a toothy smile. His laughter and movements, and maybe even the fact that Marian had been watching the entire exchange with a growing smile, caught Robin's attention and he turned to look at Roland before he turned in his chair and smiled again at Emma.

"I think he rather likes you," Robin said, still smiling.

"Nah," Emma said as she kept her eyes on Roland. "He just likes Henry and he knows I know where he is. Isn't that right?"

Roland's smile grew and he threw his hands in the air as he joyously shouted, "Henry!"

Robin and Emma chuckled.

Though Roland was much closer to Regina, in the last few months he'd gotten to know Emma a little better because Henry played with Roland whenever they were around each other.

"Where is he," Roland asked and cocked his head to the side again.

"Coming here," Emma answered with glittering eyes as she continued to smile at his cuteness.

"Yay!"

Emma looked at him a little longer before she finally let her eyes drift toward Robin and Marian, seated across each other on opposite sides of the table.

"How are you," she asked them both.

"Good," Robin nodded as he answered. "We finally moved in to a house a bit further from the woods so Roland's closer to the children at the school, but we've got a big yard to make up for that. So he doesn't miss the forest too much. He's been so used to running around in the leaves and things, you know?"

"Yeah. Makes sense," Emma agreed.

She knew she talked to Robin and Marian with a stiffness she didn't have with Roland, but the couple didn't seem to notice it since they kept smiling and exuding a casual demeanor.

"Emma," Roland called out and captured the blonde's attention once again.

Before Emma could ask him what he wanted, the boy made a silly face at her. She smirked and stuck her tongue out at him.

He giggled and stuck his tongue out too, but it looked more like he was about to messily lick an ice cream cone than it looked like he was mirroring Emma.

"You're silly," she told him.

"No, you're silly," he said with another adorable smile and pointed at her.

Emma pretended to think about that before she looked at him again and pulled on her ears while she puffed out her mouth.

"Monkey! Silly Emma."

Emma relaxed her face just as the bell above the door signaled another arrival, but she didn't look to see who it was as she nodded and reached over her table to give Roland a high five.

"You got me. I'm silly," she confessed as she sat back down.

"Morning, Mom," Henry's deep voice filled the diner.

Emma turned toward the sound of his voice and immediately noticed he had been referring to Regina upon walking in. Regina's eyes were on her before she processed Henry's greeting, but once she had realized Henry had been speaking to her she affectionately smiled at him. As he headed toward Emma's table, the brunette followed him with her eyes, but avoided eye contact with everyone on that side of the diner. She looked back at Elsa before her eyes could wander too far and accidentally lock onto Emma's, or anyone else's really, as she tried not to look at all affected by Emma and Roland's little display.

Emma's eyes were torn away from Regina when her parents' simultaneously warned Henry to be careful. When she looked at her son, she recognized the bundled baby in his arms and smiled at the duo while Snow and David made their way to the table with baby Neal's car seat and diaper bag.

Henry went right up to Emma and she immediately moved over to the seat against the wall while Henry took her seat.

"Henry," Roland shouted and climbed down from his chair.

He hurried around Robin's chair and scampered in front of Snow and David just before they reached the table and he stood beside Henry.

"And Neal," Roland happily added as he looked down at the baby.

"Hey, Roland," Henry greeted the smaller boy with a smile.

"Play with me?"

"In a little bit. When I don't have Neal with me."

"Okay," Roland nodded, but stayed firmly in place at Henry's side.

"Roland, come back over here and let the boy eat," Robin waved his son back to their table.

"But I want to sit with Henry," Roland pouted.

"Look who's suddenly popular," David said to Henry with a grin.

"And yet I still can't get any girls to look at me," Henry replied.

"I'm lookin' at you," Emma teased.

"Mom," Henry drew out the word and grimaced.

David and Emma laughed.

"You know, if you gave Neal to Emma, Roland could sit with you," Snow gently suggested with a smile. "And you'd still be close to the baby."

Henry thought it over for a few seconds before he nodded and said, "Yeah, okay."

Emma sputtered out a few sounds of discomfort and tensed when Henry started to hand Neal off to her. She took her baby brother into her arms slowly and held him awkwardly and stiffly once she had a good handle on him.

While she adjusted herself and baby Neal, Roland climbed into Henry's lap just as Ruby came over to take the family's order.

"Hey," she greeted the newcomers with a chipper tone and a beaming smile. "How's everyone this morning?"

"Hi, Ruby," David smiled at her while she rubbed Snow's shoulder.

"We're doing great, thank you," Snow answered.

Ruby looked around at the Charming family and over at Robin and Marian. Her smile never left as she looked at all of them.

"What can I get you guys?"

Neal sneezed and the entire table looked over at him while Emma continued to fidget with him.

"Honey, he's not going to bite," Snow explained with a hint of laugh.

"I know," Emma said as she finally settled, but Neal started to stretch out and wiggle around. "He doesn't like me."

"Relax," David said. "I'm sure he just knows you're uncomfortable. Loosen up. You're not gonna hurt him."

Emma mirthlessly chuckled. "You might not hurt him. I'm horrible with babies."

"Don't you still have memories of taking care of me as a baby," Henry asked.

"Yeah, but it's not like Regina really knew what to do with you at first either," Emma confessed without thinking.

As soon as the words left her mouth, her eyes widened and she looked up at the rest of the table.

Ruby tried and failed terribly to hide her smirk, which was only downturned instead of masked. Snow and David didn't seem too startled by her comment, but Henry, Robin, and Marian all seemed shocked in their own unique ways.

After a moment, Robin cleared his throat and turned back to Marian. Snow and David shot a quick glance at Robin's back when he turned, but didn't make too big a deal out of it before they moved past the awkwardness and focused on Emma again.

"She loved you then, just like she loves you now, and that's what was important. She figured it out," Emma—a little late—added.

Henry pursed his lips while a faint smile appeared on his face and he patted Emma's back.

"Good job," he joked.

"Shut up," she muttered.

Baby Neal gurgled and wiggled around a little more as his eyes slowly started to open.

Emma took a deep breath and cradled Neal in one arm while she brought her pinky finger up to his clenched fists. She poked at one of his fists and smiled at him when he looked up at her. It took him a few seconds, but he uncurled his fingers and grabbed onto Emma's pinky. She moved her pinky around and whispered reassuring words to him as he kept his fist balled up around her finger.

"See," David started, "you just needed to relax."

Her shoulders were still a little tense as she tried to keep the baby safely in her arms, but she didn't feel the physical tension everyone could see. She only felt as light as a feather floating in the wind when she looked down at baby Neal's cute little face and his big brown eyes.

"Wow," Ruby cut in. "Even though you looked like you didn't want anything to do with him before, you're spellbound by the kid now."

Emma's smile held up as she looked from Neal to Ruby.

"I guess," she said as she occasionally wriggled her pinky around and made his fist move with it as he held on.

Ruby's gaze lowered from Emma's eyes to baby Neal and she grinned before she looked at the blonde again.

"You think you're horrible with them, but you love 'em," Ruby said with a knowing look and nudged her head at Emma's hand.

The blonde kept her pinky in Neal's clutch, but she'd started to mindlessly rub her index finger up and down his chest.

"Guess Mom wasn't so bad with me at first after all," Henry said and when Emma looked at him, he was smugly grinning at her.

Emma rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, yeah," she brushed him off.

"So, are you thinking of having any more," Ruby asked.

"More what," Emma asked, eyes wide as she looked up to regard the waitress. "Kids?"

Ruby nodded.

"No. No, no, no," Emma said as she vehemently shook her head. "Henry's more than enough for me."

"What's that supposed to mean," Henry asked with a scrunched up and confused expression.

"Just that I'm happy having you. I don't need another kid. Or a litter of them as wolf girl here might be suggesting."

She looked up at Ruby as she used the term "wolf girl" and stared at her with a serious expression, though it was devoid of anger.

"Got it," Ruby said as she laughed through her grin. "No more kids. How about Hook? What's he think about that?"

"We don't talk about that stuff."

Henry contorted his face into a look of slight disgust before he said, "Shouldn't you be talking about it though? Since you don't talk about anything else, you should be really clear about that kind of thing before…you know."

"Henry," Emma loudly scolded and caught the attention of everyone in the front room of the diner. "Okay, living in New York was a bad idea because I know I didn't talk like that with you. Even when you were prying into my dating life with Walsh."

"Is that really what's important here," Henry asked.

"I'm gonna go put your orders in," Ruby said with a nervous but amused smile before she hurried off to the kitchen.

David coughed into his hand as he struggled to cover his laugh.

Snow looked between Emma and Henry with wide eyes, completely surprised by the subject of conversation.

"Are you getting smart with me, Kid?"

Roland looked from Emma to Henry and not-too-quietly sing-songed, "You're in trouble."

Robin stood from his table and went toward Roland.

"Alright, Roland. Time to come back to our table," he said as he lifted the boy off Henry's lap and carried him back to his seat.

"Daddy," he whined.

Robin gave Emma a sympathetic look before he sat with Roland in his lap to keep him from running back to the other table.

She winced a little at his soft expression and felt guilty for making things uncomfortable for them even more so than they were for her and her family then looked back at Henry with a little more fire in her eyes than she might have had before Robin removed his son.

"I thought you liked Hook."

"I do," Henry responded.

"Then what's up with the questions and the judgment? When Regina was dating you were okay with it. I think you were excited, actually."

"Because it's Mom."

Emma frowned.

"What's your point?"

"She's…careful."

Emma's eyebrows jumped toward her hairline.

"And what does that make me? Reckless?"

"No, it's just that…Mom hasn't really been with anyone aside from Graham—and that was during the curse—and she's not the one who got pregnant then, just like she didn't get pregnant with me. So I wasn't really worried that much was going on then, or at least it hadn't gotten too far before you brought Marian back."

"Are you saying you think I'm…free like that?"

"Mom, I'm pretty sure you ran out of things to talk about with Hook six dates ago. There's only one other thing you could be doing with your time together."

A wounded look crossed over Emma's face while Henry's focus went to baby Neal. The baby started to get a little fussy so Emma looked down at him for a moment as she started to bounce him in her arms and pat his butt. When he started to settle down as Henry tickled his feet, Emma trained her eyes on the door with a sad expression that no one noticed when their food arrived. She was suddenly less interested in having her date that night.

She'd recently cancelled on Hook a few times, though, and she knew if she really wanted to be with him she needed to make more of an effort. But she wasn't sure. The only time she'd felt sure about seeing him was the night he'd confessed he sold his precious Jolly Roger for her. Then everything with Regina had gone to hell when she realized she hadn't saved just any woman from the Evil Queen in the Enchanted Forest of the past. After that, she had Elsa to deal with and Hook kept asking when they'd actually have a real date and Regina wouldn't talk to her. It just wasn't a good time. Even when, for the first time since she moved from Boston to Storybrooke, nothing was wrong and no one was in danger, she didn't feel right when she thought about her upcoming dates with Hook.

It didn't seem to matter, however, because since she found her family, Emma understood they were good people and good people didn't reschedule a date two times in a row without good reason. So, as planned, Emma dropped Henry off at his grandparents and met Hook outside of the diner. They ordered a few snack foods to go and walked along the docks.

"I'm really glad you came out with me tonight," Hook said with a smile that always looked a little more like a grin.

"Yeah, me too," Emma automatically replied as she continued to look out at the sky and how it reflected on the water.

Hook stopped and grabbed Emma by the wrist. He gently tugged her around to face him and cocked his head to the side.

"Then why do I get the feeling you don't want to be here?"

"No, that's not…" Emma trailed off when Hook raised an eyebrow in challenge to her excuse before she could even finish coming up with it. "Look, I know it's not fair for me to be like this and be so…distant. I'm sorry. It was another one of those days with Regina."

"Regina, Regina, Regina," he said, all in a long sigh. "It's always something with her. And then you feel down and you cancel."

"But I didn't cancel tonight," Emma pointed out, like it counted for something.

"We've been walking for over twenty minutes and all we've covered is that your parents are well, baby Neal is adorable, and Henry's popular with the lads but not the ladies."

"Then we've made good use of those twenty minutes."

Hook shook his head. "We spent the first five minutes eating our snacks on the way here and then you answered my one question about your family within two minutes at most. It might have been better if you'd canceled."

"Oh."

Emma frowned.

"Is everything alright with you, Swan," Hook quietly asked, a hint of concern in his voice.

Emma just stared at him with deer-like eyes, wide but acutely focused on one thing: the oncoming car. And like a car crash, Emma moved forward and the two of them slammed into each other like a rough, destructive collision.

It wasn't right and it wasn't pretty. It was sloppy and wild in a passionless kind of way. Emma could tell Hook was trying and that he at least felt something more than lust toward her, but she couldn't give him anything as meaningful back to him as she allowed herself to be the type of person, the type of girlfriend, Henry assumed she was.

Hook spun them and pressed her against the railing as he gave and gave while they kissed. He conveyed so much and yet, it didn't spark anything in her. It felt like it had when she'd kissed him every time before. A debt paid and one-sided feelings that made Emma feel wanted.

Wanted.

It wasn't smart at all, but maybe that was all she needed. To be wanted. If she just kept giving in to him in ways that mattered more to Hook than she thought it would ever mean to her—

His good hand started to slide down her stomach between their bodies and she cringed. A small sound of protest fell past her lips just as she broke their kiss with a slight turn of her head and she pushed him away with the same hands that were latched onto the lapels of his coat.

"I'm sorry," she said in a husky whisper as she walked past him and headed back toward her apartment.

When her back was to Hook, she wiped the back of her hand over her mouth and didn't bother to look back at the pirate as he remained rooted to the spot Emma left him in with an utterly bewildered expression on his face.

The next morning wasn't fantastic for Emma. Though she wasn't ready to hold her head over a toilet and wait for the inevitable, she still felt her stomach roll as she thought about the previous night. Her date with Hook hadn't ended as badly as it could have had she actually gone farther than making out, but it didn't make her feel any better for having had his tongue and hers co-mingle.

With a to-go cup of coffee from Granny's in her hand, sipping at it like it was Starbucks, she took a stroll around the town and somehow found herself at the benches by the docks. She took a seat on one and watched the calm water gently lap against the docks. She listened and let the chill whisper against her as the breeze passed her on its way toward the inner workings of the town. She lifted and tensed her shoulders as she huddled into herself then continued to sip her coffee until she finished half of it.

The solitude worked well, for about ten minutes. Before she guzzled down half of her coffee, she was already tired of the water and the calm, but mostly boring, scene. She sighed and slowly stood from the bench as she took one last look at the water before she turned back toward town. On her walk back to Main Street, her phone rang. Without checking the caller ID, she answered after two rings.

"Sheriff Swan. ...I'll be right there."

With a sigh, she ended the call and stomped her way over to Town Hall.

When Archie had called about flickers of light that resembled fire coming from Regina's office, she knew to expect the brunette using magic. What she hadn't expected, or had known to expect, was an angered Mayor throwing fireballs at a pirate that laughed at all her attempts to barbeque him. She walked into Regina's office at the exact moment Regina released another fireball and barely had enough time to dive and roll out of the way as it flew past Hook and right toward the door. The only thing out of her mouth was "shit" less than a second before she smacked into the floor and awkwardly rolled off her back and onto her feet.

"Miss Swan," Regina barked. "Get your filthy pirate out of my sight."

Emma dusted off her clothes with a scrunched up expression before she properly acknowledged the other woman.

"What the hell, Regina!"

Hook grinned when he looked between the two of them. He brought his good hand to his face and pressed his index finger to his lips while he watched their back and forth.

"If you don't remove him from my office," Regina continued and held her hand at her hip with her palm up.

A fireball started to form and a devious glint flashed in her eyes.

"Oh give it a rest, Regina," Emma said with a tired slump of her shoulders.

The fireball remained in place.

"Seriously?"

"I want him as far away from me as possible," Regina replied.

"What's the problem," Emma asked. "We're in the mayor's office and he's a citizen. Last I checked, people are allowed to complain about town business to the mayor and you're her, in case you forgot."

"I think you know very well I don't forget easily," the woman icily responded.

Emma stopped talking. It wasn't that she had intended to rock the boat with Regina because since the Marian incident that was the last thing she wanted to do. But Hook's close proximity and almost being scorched by a fireball on arrival set the blonde on edge. Hearing Regina verbally spar with her only reminded the sheriff that she had done the one thing she'd promised she wouldn't do until Regina had cooled off and found a way to handle not being able to be with Robin anymore, thanks to her.

"Except your boyfriend didn't come here to complain about town business, he came here to complain about you," Regina fired back.

Emma's mouth fell open and her eyes slid from Regina to Hook.

Hook's grin faltered and he nervously shrugged. As soon as he opened his mouth to voice an explanation, Regina talked over him.

"I might care to know who you spend time with for Henry's safety and overall well-being, but I do not want to know how you spend your time with them."

Emma glared daggers at Hook.

Hook's nervous smile immediately grew.

"So if you don't mind, Miss Swan, please keep me out of your romantic life, or lack of one apparently, and don't allow the handless wonder within a ten foot radius of me. You might want to hold yourself to the same restrictions."

Regina stood tall and confident behind her desk, her gaze set with steely determination. She kept her back straight and every muscle in her body appeared tense, but she still held herself together as regal as she'd ever been.

Emma took a deep breath and released it through her nose. Her chest heavily fell when she exhaled and within seconds her posture matched Regina's in stiffness.

"Fine," she quietly responded with a neutral expression. "Hook! Let's go."

Hook cleared his throat and looked back at Regina one final time before he turned and left the office. Emma left after him, but spared a much longer look at Regina before the door closed behind her.

Once the two of them were on the other side of Regina's office, Hook replaced his nervous smile with an amused smirk. He chuckled and scratched his stubby beard with his fingertips.

"Well, that was–"

"Don't," Emma sternly interjected before the pirate could make a joke about what had happened. "Don't say another word. It's gonna be a while before our next date…if there's one at all."

"What? Swan."

Emma shook her head as she made her way toward the stairs.

"Swan! Come on," Hook said as she went after her. "Don't listen to her. Regina's only–"

Emma spun around and angrily closed a good amount of distance between them.

"Regina what? She didn't do anything wrong. You did."

Hook frowned.

"Whatever issues you have with me about what happens between us doesn't ever get back to Regina. Got it?"

"I'm sorry, love. It's just that ever since Marian she's been hard on you and then suddenly you stopped agreeing to see me. And when you do, your mind is elsewhere unless we're–"

"Finish that sentence and you'll lose your other hand," Emma growled.

Hook huffed out a quiet sigh and looked down at the floor.

"Alright, Swan. I hear you."

When he looked up at her again, his expression was apologetic but he didn't utter words of the same sentiment. He shuffled past her and left Town Hall first without either one of them saying anything more to each other.

Emma sighed with defeat, her heavy exhale louder than expected in the quiet lobby. It was her final air of dismal before she left Town Hall as well.

Queen of Nothing. What she wouldn't give to feel like that again. As soon as possible. She may have hated being alone and neglected, may have even been vocal about it to Rumpelstiltskin, but she preferred to be alone and unbothered. Though it was miserable, it was the best part of her life as Queen, especially compared to the moments she dreaded. Moments like the current one.

Leopold grunted above her in time with his choppy and unpleasant movements. She didn't understand why he didn't just beat her if he was so angry, at least that's what it seemed like by the way he always took her to bed. Demandedher to bed, as it was her wifely duty, was more like it.

As a coping method, a way to separate herself from the room, from the situation, she wondered if every wife married to royalty was subjected to this kind of pain. She wondered if Leopold ever acted this way with his dear Eva or if maybe he was just taking out his grief and frustrations of losing his beloved on his second wife.

Though the King's pleasure was shortly achieved every single time, he seemed to take twice as much pleasure at making it that much harder for Regina to enjoy even the tiniest bit of the experience. And the only part she ever enjoyed was when it was over. But the longer she stayed married to him, the longer he seemed to keep her under his thumb even though he had previously been content with only one orgasm. Once she had settled into the routine of only having to bear five minutes beneath the sweaty, overindulged in every way King, he seemed to favor making new routines that she wasn't at all used to nor could she find a way to adjust.

She remained trapped in his bed and felt, not for the first time, like she was being torn apart. Every time he pushed in, it chaffed. Every time he moved back before lurching forward again, it burned. When he finally decided he'd gotten what he wanted out of that night, he rolled over, covered himself, and dismissed her.

She grimaced and fought back tears with every step she took as she slowly walked back to her own bed chamber, a painful throb between her legs. When she attempted to sit on the edge of the bed, she hissed and choked back a sob before she curled up on her side and avoided applying any pressure to the battered space between her thighs.

Regina woke up with a gasp and a thin layer of sweat that coated her body. It was the least graceful she had ever been with the way she scrambled around in the bed and kicked at the sheets that suffocated her when they refused to disentangle from her. She let out bursts of small but emotion-filled screams borne of terror and hurt and panic. She flailed around and landed a few stray punches against her pillows before she successfully freed herself from the twisted bed sheets. Her fingers caught on a pillow case during one of her stray and somewhat accidental punches and the pillow she had once rested her head on tumbled to the floor as she hung her legs over the side of the bed. An unexpected thump accompanied it when the pillow hit the carpet and as soon as Regina could breathe without flashing back to her nightmare, which at one time had been her horrific reality, she questioningly looked down at the floor. Near the edge of the bed she saw a partially used white candle.

She bent over and brought the candle to eyelevel for closer inspection. Nothing was inscribed on it and there was no indication as to what its use could be, but Regina knew where she kept her candles and under her pillow was not even close. Still a little disturbed by the nightmare, she gulped but managed to tightly grip the candle with one hand and with determination that never typically paired up with one of panic. She fled her room and headed down to the study to consult her books and hadn't bothered to check the time before she busied herself with research. The time, however, hadn't mattered since she hadn't gotten any more sleep that night because of her reading and what she feared she would have to relive if she closed her eyes.

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