Cold dread pooled in the pit of Regina's stomach and the hair at the nape of her neck prickled and stood on end.

Nik.

But it couldn't be him. He was dead. She'd killed him. She'd buried him. Yes she was beginning to think he was haunting them but that didn't mean… Spirits couldn't just manifest like that. Could they?

Regina wished Mal were there. The wise older woman would have known the answer to that. She would have known what to do. She'd have known how to fix everything. Why hadn't they gone to her sooner?!

With Mal gone that left only herself to stand up to this never ending threat that Nik had become.

She braced for the worst, terrified of what she was about to see. Would he still have the casting needles through his eyes? Would he be rotting? God she hoped he wasn't rotting. Squinting her eyes, Regina peeked around Emma in the direction Nik's voice had come from.

"Zelena?" She questioned, confusion replacing the apprehension she'd been wearing.

She'd heard Nik's voice as clear as day, she was sure of it, but he wasn't the one who stood in the archway of the kitchen. Regina wriggled her body to the edge of the table, her bound wrists making it as difficult to maneuver her legs over the side of the table as it was for her throbbing head allow her brain to think straight. "Zelena did you do this? I thought- what the hell is going on?"

A hard mocking laugh sounded from the redhead and froze her in place, her hands stilled against Emma's shoulder where she'd placed them to steady herself as she stood. The dread that had initially settled in Regina shifted to horror.

That wasn't Zelena's laugh.

"Ooooh Gina," the body of Zelena cooed, the masculine husk unmistakable. "I think you know exactly what's going on. Did you really think it would be that easy to get rid of me?"

That wasn't her sister at all.

"Whaaaat the…"

Regina ignored Emma's lowly muttered curse. Now wasn't the time to humor the woman who had her gun free of its holster and trained at Zelena's feet, ready to use should the situation escalate. Not when her heart struggled to beat and her palms began to sweat. Not when her sister wasn't… "Nik?"

Again a low rumbled chuckle filled the kitchen. "In the flesh," he answered with a flourish of Zelena's hand. Smirking, he lewdly stroked his hands along the curves of his host's chest and hips all the while holding Regina's gaze with nothing but cruel smugness reflected in his piercing stare. "I hope you don't mind my choice in loner. It was really my only option. I feel I should thank you for that. Without your use of her blood when you brought me back I'd never have been able to make the connection."

"You parasite," Regina spat and moved to take an aggressive step forward but was stopped by Emma's sprawled hand against her stomach.

"What the hell is going on here Regina," Emma asked, her wide eyes never leaving Zelena though it was clear her words were directed at the brunette she'd once again positioned herself in front of. "You were… You were telling the truth. About everything."

"Of course I was!"

"You really killed him?!"

Zelena, or rather Nik, pushed away from the archway he'd been leaning against and stalked into the room, a smirk firmly fixed to his host's lips. "Oh Emma. Sweet, naive, Emma. You really have no idea what you've stepped into here do you? Well allow me to enlighten you. She and her sister took my life and now-" he paused, his murderous gaze landing on Regin. "I'm going to take theirs," he growled and launched with an enraged howl at the woman who took him from this world.

There were screams. Lots of screams. And just as many shouts. Commands to stand down and begging to not shoot because that was still Zelena in there somewhere.

It was anarchy in the kitchen.

Nik slammed the full weight of his borrowed body into Emma, knocking her to the floor in his pursuit of Regina.

"DID YOU THINK YOU COULD GET AWAY WITH THIS," he raged.

Emma hissed and scrambled to her feet, her gun pushed too far under the table to grab even if she wanted to. She was working on adrenaline and fear. Fear of hurting Zelena, fear of what Nik would do to Regina if she didn't hurt her sister's body. It was that raging worry that sent her rushing headlong at him- her- whatever Zelena was. Her arms curled around the redhead's body, yanking him back as he advanced on Regina who'd made a run for the cabinets at the other end of the kitchen.

She should have expected it. It's one of the first thing they teach you at the academy when learning to apprehend a resisting suspect. But even then, in the heat of the moment, she didn't expect Zelena's head to come hurling back to connect with her face.

Tears blurred Emma's eyes and she lost her grip on the body she held. She could feel the tell tale trickle of warmth in her nose but she didn't care, not when Nik was halfway across the room and closing in on Regina.

Regina blew at the bonds on her wrists as she clumsily ran, the rope that held her captive burning away with the incantation she no longer needed to say aloud for the casting to work. She could hear the scuffle behind her but her focus was on her cabinet of herbs. If she could get to the ground poppy dust-

She felt the painful yank of her hair before she heard the lowly hissed words at her ear.

"You bitch, you thought you could take her from me?! From her destiny!?"

And then she was falling, her legs unable to keep themselves under her body as she was shoved into the cabinet and no amount of reaching for the counter could save her from impacting with the floor in a breathtaking slam.

The cry that fell from Regina's lips as the back of her head collided with the floorboards rivaled the frightened one from seconds before. Darkness danced around the edges of her vision, threatening to pull her under. Nausea and all manner of dizziness flooded her at once and for a long standing moment she couldn't hear anything but ringing.

Her eyes sluggishly rose to meet the sneering gaze above her. She tried to make out what her sister's lips were saying but her head hurt too much. The ringing was too loud. She couldn't focus.

This is how you're going to die, she marveled as Nik pulled a butcher knife from the block on the counter. I love you, she thought with a fervid push of power, hoping it would be felt by her children, by Mal, Zelena. She couldn't think of Emma. Not directly. It wasn't love. Not yet, but when she closed her eyes she could see how effortless it would be to fall for the detective. Like breathing.

Regina's heart stuttered with resignation. This was it. She forced her eyes to open for one last look at her sister who wasn't her sister, hoping to see a glint of something that would let her know Zelena was still in there when a flash of blue and blonde and body hurtled above her head landing square against Zelena's chest knocking the redhead back.

"Emma, no!" Regina's voice was strangled and hoarse and her arms wouldn't listen long enough to push her body up to allow her to see anything. She didn't stop trying, not until she could vaguely hear through the din in her ears. The muffled sounds of struggling and fists- something metal clicking against metal- and then retching. That was her own addition to the bedlam as the world swayed and continued to fog over.

Regina's eyes began to droop closed, the darkness so inviting it couldn't be refused much longer until the commanding voice boomed around them.

"What in the name of Hecate is going on!?"

Mal.

Relief as sweet as a warm summer storm washed over Regina. A salve on her terrified soul. They weren't alone. Auntie would know what to do.

Auntie would…

And everything faded away for the second time that morning.

xXx

BIP… BIP… BIP… BIP...

Regina groaned and tried to turn away from whatever was making that god awful noise that was keeping tempo with her throbbing head but it didn't do any good. The noise was everywhere- around the room, in her head, rattling through her nerves. And god did she still feel nauseous, maybe she shouldn't have turned her head.

A loud biiiing joined the ongoing racket and it made her whimper. What the hell was making all these horrifically loud noises? She was going to be ill if they didn't stop. She could already feel the queasiness roiling into something more substantial.

"Regina? Oh thank god. I was starting to get really worried!"

For the second time that day Regina was startled by the sound of the voice near her and much like earlier she fought to open her eyes. "Em… ma?"

"Ssssh, hey don't push yourself. Take it slow," Emma coaxed, brushing the tips of her fingers along the forearm closest to her. "How are you-"

"I'm going to be sick," Regina interrupted, her usually warm complexion taking on a sallow sickly hue as clamminess erupted across her brow. She tried to sit up but pain and dizziness held her captive against what felt like a bed. All she could do was press the back of her hand against her mouth and hope Emma would find something for her to be sick into.

Oh god don't let me throw up on her, she silently pleaded to any deity within hearing distance.

Springing into action, Emma grabbed for the first thing she could reach and thrust the unused water pitcher in front of Regina, barely making it before the woman lost control of her stomach. She couldn't help but wince with each hard heave that rippled through Regina's hunched form. "Just ride it out, it's alright," she assured, tentatively brushing chestnut locks away from Regina's sweat slicked face with her free hand. "Feel a little bit better now?"

Regina's whimpered grunt was all Emma got in way of an answer. Dark eyes lifted in confusion, finally taking in her surroundings.

"Where?"

"The hospital. I brought you here. You really scared the hell out of me Regina."

Once sure that there would be no more episodes of Linda Blair-itis, Emma sat the ruined plastic pitcher down on the counter behind her chair and moved to take her seat again. "Do you remember anything that happened at the house before you passed out?"

"I passed out?"

"Yeah, well I guess it was more like you lost consciousness. I don't know. You must have hit your head again or something because when I looked back from cuffing Niklena you were out. I thought you were dead. If your Aunt hadn't been there to assure me that she could feel you- which, by the way I will need a full explanation for when you're feeling up to it because holy shit this witch bs is kind of crazy and way more like that Craft than I'd like-"

Regina groaned and brought a hand up to cover her aching eyes. "Emma."

"Oh, shit. You're probably in a lot of pain. Here let me go find someone- they probably need to know you're awake," Emma admitted as she popped up from her seat with an apologetic smile that was missed by the woman in the hospital bed. "I'll be… Just- yeah. I'll be right back."

What the hell had happened to land her in the hospital? No matter how hard Regina tried to think back nothing would come other than mind numbing pain. It pulsed deep behind her eyes and radiated out through every inch of her skull with every bip that sounded from the monitor at her bedside.

If only the pain would stop so she could actually try to think straight.

"Aaaah I see you're finally awake Regina," an amused voice called and brought her attention to the man who walked in with Emma. He flipped through a few pages on his clipboard as he neared her bed before discarding it on her lap in favor of taking out his penlight to check her eyes. "Can you remember my name?"

A loud scoff left Regina's lips and she rolled her eyes so dramatically it hurt. "Of course I know your name Dr. Whale. You dated my sister and delivered both of my children. It would be very difficult to forget the man who had his hand up my-"

"And their names are…" He prodded with the utmost patience as he checked her pupil dilation in one eye and then the next, completely ignoring her agitation with a smirk he didn't even attempt to hide.

"Henry Daniel Colter and Robyn Alexia Colter. Are we really going to go through all of this? It's 2017 and there is a cheeto in office. I didn't eat breakfast this morning because I went to speak with Emma," she groused with a nod in Emma's direction. "But it would have been oatmeal. There. Have I covered all of your superfluous questions now? I don't need questions. What I need is for this headache to go away and to stop feeling so nauseous so that I can go home Victor."

Emma's snicker that came out as a poorly concealed cough was the next recipient of Regina's glare before she returned her hardened stare at the doctor who also chuckled.

Dr. Whale dropped his penlight back into the pocket of his lab coat and nodded. "Well, your irritability combined with your poor pupil response is leading me to confirm that you do indeed have a mild to moderate concussion but I'll need to do a few more simple exams to be sure. Your CT scan came back in the clear for swelling and there was no bleeding we could detect. There was also no fracturing at the back of your head despite adamant suggestions we double check to be sure," his humor filled gaze darted to Emma at that before quickly returning to Regina. "I'll go get you something for the pain and nausea before we continue with the exam, alright?"

"Uh, yeah Doc?" Emma said, her hand raised as though this were school and she was waiting to be picked to answer a question nobody asked. "She sorta threw up when she woke up. She's gonna need a new water thing," she grimaced and nodded toward the ruined pitcher on the counter.

"Ahhh, I see. I'll see what I can do."

Regina glared down at her lap and said nothing. Her clenched jaw the only indicator that she was struggling.

As soon as the smug Doctor was out of the room Emma inched closer to the bed cautiously. "You gonna be okay?"

Emma watched Regina try to shake her head no, at least she assumed it was no. The movement didn't get far enough to be anything but a twitch before a shudder of what she could only assume was dizziness or nausea overtook the brunette, causing her ashen features to contort.

A traitorous tear slipped down Regina's cheek followed by another and another and another. She vainly tried to swipe each offending tear away. She tried but there were too many to contend with. Too much hurt. Too much confusion. She gave up fighting and pressed her head back into the stiff pillows at her back with a mewl of agony.

The tenderness at the base of her skull clouded her senses. Her tears turned to sobs that in turn did nothing to ease up the hamming inside of her head. Why wouldn't it just stop?!

"Heeeey."

Instantly Emma was at her side, the tips of her fingers brushing along the trails of tears, over the bridge of her nose to continue to take the traitorous moisture away and it only served to make Regina cry harder. God she missed feeling this. Feeling like someone gave a damn. Like she mattered enough to be comforted by gentle touches and soothingly whispered words in darkened rooms.

"I know it's a lot but we're going to get you out of here, get you filled in on what went down and then… We can talk to your Aunt and figure this all out. I promise. You just have to hold on a little longer and we'll be out of here," Emma ensured, her forehead pressed against Regina's temple as she leaned over the bedrail, the need to comfort- to touch and protect- the crying woman surpassing her internal revulsion at so wildly invading someone's personal space like she was. "We'll be out of here soon."

xXx

The 'soon' Emma had promised turned out to be hours of waiting. Waiting for confirmation on a concussion they all knew she had. Waiting for paperwork to be filled out. Waiting to be discharged. Waiting for her god damn life to not be so god damn messed up.

By the time they left the hospital the sun had set and the world around them was thrown into darkness and stars. The beauty of the night felt at odds with her thoughts as Regina wondered what they'd be walking into as they pulled up in front of her Aunt's.

Would Zelena be herself? Did Mal take care of it? What were they going to do about Nik? Was there anything they could do? The one time she'd called the house Mal had blatantly refused to speak of anything but how she was doing and when she'd be home. While that had been comforting it had also been worrying. What did that mean for her sister?

"You ready to go in?"

Emma's soft voice pulled Regina from her thoughts. She looked over at the blonde who had stayed with her through every minute of her stay at Storybrooke Memorial and smiled tentatively. "If I say no will you drive away?"

A warm chuckle filled the rental car. "Where would you like to go m'lady?" The joke died on Emma's lips and her eyes dropped to the steering wheel, grateful for the darkness that concealed her quickly heating cheeks. "I mean, yeah, I could just drive away but we don't really get a choice in backing out do we? We kinda have to go kick some poltergeist butt or whatever it is he is, right?"

Regina watched her fingers play with the ID tag that still adorned her wrist absently rather than risk catching Emma's gaze. "You do. You have a choice. You don't have to do anything more than you already have Emma. You can leave and never look back. This isn't your world and certainly not your fight."

Silence settled thick and poignant around them and Regina began to think this was it. She would say goodbye to the detective and that would be that. It would be better that way. Emma would be safe, she would save her sister with Mal, and she would never have to wonder if Emma had stayed because of a spell she'd cast when she was seven.

Everyone would win. Kind of.

Fingers, as tentative as ever, brushed against the back of her hand before curling around to offer a firm squeeze. Regina drew her eyes up slowly and the look she was met with in those stormy blue eyes took her breath away.

"I promised you we would do this together and I don't go back on my promises," Emma said with a hint of a smile curling up her lips. "Let's head inside and see what your Aunt has to say… And maybe you can explain this whole my suspect is possessing your sister thing a little more, cause I'm still a bit fuzzy on that."

Regina snorted but nodded her head in agreement, her fingers constricting in a grateful squeeze. "I think we're all a little fuzzy on that." After a long pause she broke the quiet connection between their hands and slowly pushed the car door open. "Come on, Mal will be waiting."

Emma nodded and followed suit, stumbling out of the car to take up her place at Regina's side as they walked up to the house. "Soooo," she drawled, stuffing her hands deep into the pockets of her jacket, a hint of a dimpled grin tugging at her lips. "Does this big powwow with your Aunt include some awesome coffee? It's been a loooong day. Some crazy lady woke me up at like five this morning, totally walked in on me in my boxers and started ripping up my pillows. I then had to follow her home and throw down with her kitchen knife wielding sister- who wasn't even really her sister apparently- and then had to sit at the hospital all day with her while getting hit on by the most disgusting peroxide dipped doctor to ever grace this planet despite telling him repeatedly that I'm gay. I could really go for some otherworldly good coffee..."

For the first time in what felt like days Regina laughed. Hard. Her shoulder bumped into the detective's as she chuckled, nodding her head as her eyes glittered teasingly. "Yeah, I think that can be arranged."