Writing Challenge: Breaking Point, Chapter Twelve (12/12)

Title: Breaking Point
Summary: Emma leaving town was out of the question, and that was perfectly fine with Regina. As a matter of fact, Emma absolutely must stay in Storybrooke for a long, long time. And she knew just how to accomplish that.
Spoilers: Up through 1x19, "The Return."
Characters: Mostly Emma, Regina, and Mary Margaret, with special appearances by Henry, August, Archie, David, and Dr. Whale along the way.
Rating/Warning: PG-13, mostly for language.
Disclaimer: Once Upon a Time and its characters were created by Eddie Kitsis and Adam Horowitz and are owned by ABC. I'm just playing in someone else's sandbox. Please don't sue me! You won't get much.
Author's Note: Coming in at 56 pages and a final word count of 24,728, according to Works, "Breaking Point" is the second-longest fanfic I've ever written. Posting this last chapter is rather bittersweet for me. It's been ages since I've written something this long and this challenging, so seeing it through to completion feels amazing. And yet, I'm kind of sad that it's over. From inception to finish, this thing was an absolute blast.

-----

After four long and trying days, Emma Swan had finally regained the freedom the Evil Queen herself had stolen from her. As soon as she set foot outside the hospital doors, she turned her head up to the sky and let the sun beat down on her face. Looking down at the outside world had become a source of strength for Emma in the hospital. At first it was a reminder of what she’d lost--and taken for granted--but it soon gave her the first of many reasons to find a way to escape her locked tower.

It was the normalcy, she’d decided. Knowing that the rest of the world went on even as her own private world crumbled around her. It helped her shift perspective enough to realize that Regina could only win if Emma allowed her to win. From there, everything else fell into place, and Emma, with some help from friends, had figured out how to beat Regina at her own game.

Regina. She certainly had a lot to answer for.

Emma let out a heavy breath and, out of the corner of her eye, caught her roommate regarding her with an amused smile on her face. No, not her roommate. Her mother. Yeah, Emma was not at all ready to have that conversation. Maybe tomorrow or the day after. Or maybe she’d pencil some time into her schedule next week.

Either way, that was not her immediate problem; something else was. She told Mary Margaret that she had a stop to make before heading back to the apartment. Mary Margaret gave her a puzzled frown and offered to go with her, but Emma assured her that it was a quick errand; twenty minutes, half an hour tops.

“All right,” Mary Margaret shrugged and told Emma she’d see her at home.

They separated, Mary Margaret heading for her car with Emma’s overnight bag and Emma heading down the sidewalk in the opposite direction. Everyone she passed told her it was good to see her out and about again and asked if she was feeling better.

The pretty much universal response surprised her. She’d expected people to stare after her, ignore her, whisper behind her back, or some combination of all three. None of them could possibly know what precipitated her attack on Regina but something told her that they all understood.

Emma reached her destination and stared up at City Hall, her heart pounding in her chest. She was livid and tense and everything in between. What she was about to do would either make things better or worse. She didn’t know which, but she did know that this was something she needed to do. After taking a deep breath to calm her nerves, she stepped inside the building.

She found Regina seated at her desk, working her way through a tall stack of paperwork. Emma assumed it was real paperwork related to the running of Storybrooke. Otherwise, the curse had really screwed Regina over if she got a lifetime of filling out pretend paperwork out of the deal.

Actually, now that she thought about it, Emma hoped it was fake. Something about the Evil Queen constantly having to fill out mundane paperwork in order to keep up the illusion amused her.

Emma cleared her throat and relished the flurry of shock then rage that crossed Regina’s face when she looked up from her task. Obviously, whoever fed her information from the hospital hadn’t yet filled her in on Emma’s release. “So, how does this work now? Do I have to request audience with the Queen or can I just show up?”

“What do you want, Ms. Swan?” Regina asked with a put-upon sigh, her expression finally settling into its typical annoyed yet bored incarnation.

“How’s your cheek doing?”

Almost unconsciously, Regina’s hand went up to lightly touch the fingernail scratches running down her cheek. “Shouldn’t leave any scars.”

“Too bad.” Regina glared sharply at the sheriff for that, and Emma gave her a nonchalant shrug in return. “Anyway, I just wanted to let you know that despite your best efforts, you didn’t win this battle. And you won’t win the war.”

Regina raised an eyebrow. “The war?”

“You’re the one who said I declared war, Regina. I didn’t understand at the time what you meant, but I do now.”

“Ah, yes. Well, we’ll see about that, won’t we?”

“I guess we will.” There were so many things she wanted to say. So many things she wanted to ask. How could Regina have stood there in the sheriff’s station with tears in her eyes and told Emma that Graham was a good man when she was the one who’d killed him? How did she live with herself? How did she sleep at night? Not just for what she’d done to Graham, but for what she’d done to everybody. But the one thing, the only thing, that came out of her mouth was, “Why?”

“Why what, Ms. Swan?” Regina asked with more than a tinge of impatience.

“Why Graham?” The question had come out pained, for which Emma mentally kicked herself. She’d already shown weakness to Regina once and spent four days on a psych hold for her troubles. She’d had no intention of repeating that mistake.

For a long beat, Regina didn’t say a word. She stared past Emma with something vaguely resembling regret in her eyes and real pain etched on her features. Which was rather disconcerting to Emma, to say the least.

Then Regina shook herself back to the present. Her usual smirk was back in place by the time she met Emma’s gaze. “Unfortunate cost of doing business.”

Emma felt her blood turn red hot. Could Graham’s death really be nothing more than collateral damage to Regina? Her hands clenched into fists as the mayor returned her attention to her paperwork, dismissing her visitor.

But Emma wasn’t done. She set her hands on Regina’s desk and leaned forward. “This is the beginning of the end, Your Majesty. If I were you, I’d take a good look around because this comfortable little life you have for yourself? It could all be ripped from you in a heartbeat.”

Regina set her pen down, crossed her hands on top of the desk, and looked Emma in the eye. “Is that a threat, Sheriff Swan?”

Emma maintained the eye contact, making her voice just as hard as Regina’s as she said, “Yes, it is.” Then she turned and stalked out of the mayor’s office, leaving Regina narrowing her eyes after her.

-----

As soon as Emma disappeared around the corner, Regina Mills smacked up a cup of rather expensive pens off her desk. They scattered this way and that, but Regina barely noticed them. Her source at the hospital would most certainly pay for allowing her to be blindsided by the woman’s visit, but that was the least of her problems at the moment.

Emma was out, and not only was she out, but now she knew. Regina never would have confessed if she’d had even the slightest inkling that Emma would find the strength to fight through her emotions enough to ensure her release from the hospital. She’d figured that since Emma was so tightly wound, once that dam came crashing down, the rush of emotion would drown her.

But scrappy little Emma had managed to kick her way to the surface, and now she had knowledge that could destroy everything Regina had accomplished. Before, Emma hadn’t been actively trying to break the curse. The curse was crumbling bit by little bit, yes, but that was all simply a side effect of Emma’s presence in town. The determined look in Emma’s eyes when she’d issued her threat was proof enough; she would stop at nothing now to break it.

This time, Regina’s underestimation of Emma Swan may have been a fatal mistake.

However, she would not go down without a fight. She hadn’t come this far just to have everything ripped out from under her by the likes of Emma Swan. “I hope you sleep well tonight, Emma,” Regina muttered under her breath, “because this is nowhere near over.”

-----

The surprise Mary Margaret had in store for Emma turned out to be a small welcome home party. Since inviting everyone under the sun would have overwhelmed her roommate, Mary Margaret had kept the guest list small: Archie, Henry, August, Ruby, and Granny. To get around Regina’s new Emma prohibition, Henry had told his mom that he was having dinner with Archie. Which, in fact, he was so it wasn’t a complete lie.

The diner had provided the sandwiches and beverages, Granny’s way of letting Emma know she’d been worried about her and was glad to see her back at home. Archie had brought bags of chips and pretzels, and August and Henry had baked snickerdoodles per Mary Margaret’s instruction while she picked Emma up at the hospital. The cookies had turned out a little misshapen but still delicious.

The party had been going on for close to two hours when Emma excused herself and plopped down on the stairs to the loft. She was emotionally and physically exhausted. Pulling the covers over her head and sleeping for the next couple of days, nightmares be damned, sounded really freaking amazing right about now. However, since this party was being thrown in her honor, disappearing to pass out would have been rude. So she had to settle for simply bowing out of the conversation for a little while.

From her vantage point now, watching the party guests interact, she realized that this was the perfect opportunity to act on the idea she’d had at the hospital. With a smile, she headed upstairs to make a quick phone call.

When she emerged from her bedroom, she found Henry waiting for her at the bottom of the stairs, a dessert plate piled high with cookies in his hand. “How’re you feeling?” he asked, his eyes shining, the grin on his face a clear indication that he was thrilled to have her back home.

“Much better,” she told him even though it was becoming an effort to hold her eyes open. She reclaimed her seat on the steps, and Henry sat down a couple stairs below her. When he raised the plate to offer her some of his snickerdoodles, she swiped two.

Good,” he said, “because we have all kinds of Operation Cobra things to discuss.”

“Hey, buddy, give her a break,” August gently admonished. He joined the two of them on the steps and snatched a cookie from Henry’s overflowing plate. “She’s asleep on her feet.”

“No, he’s right,” Emma interrupted, hiding a yawn behind her hand. Maybe the sugar in the cookies would help wake her up a little bit. “We do have a lot to discuss. As a matter of fact, I already got started on something. Let’s call it a side mission.”

“What is it?” Henry asked, so excited that he was practically bouncing up and down, which struck Emma as rather adorable.

“You’ll see in a few,” she told him, not wanting to ruin the surprise.

Not even ten minutes later, there was a knock on the apartment door. Since Emma had a good idea of who was on the other side, she let Mary Margaret answer it.

There stood David Nolan. Mary Margaret flinched upon seeing him but waved him inside. She glanced over her shoulder, her confused eyes searching the room. After finding Emma and company huddled on the stairs, she sent all three a questioning look. August and Henry shook their heads and Emma gave her a tiny shrug in return, as if to say she had no idea what he was doing there.

Ever the gracious hostess, Mary Margaret put on a smile and poured David a glass of punch. After a few seconds of awkward silence, he asked her something, she answered, and the two of them began to talk.

Henry looked from the royal couple to Emma and grinned. “You invited him here, didn’t you?”

“Hey, kid, you have your Operation Cobra, and I have mine.” She shared a smile with August before returning her attention to Mary Margaret and David. She’d never played matchmaker before and it was ridiculously weird having to play matchmaker for her own parents, but it was also … heartwarming.

And now she was starting to sound like a freaking Disney movie. The Parent Trap, starring Emma Swan. Fantastic.

With a quiet sigh, she leaned her head against the railing and watched her parents until her eyelids became too heavy to hold open any longer.

It seemed like moments later when someone gently shook her by the shoulder. “Come on, Emma,” a voice whispered. Mary Margaret’s voice.

Her mother’s voice.

Like a small child who had missed her nap, Emma allowed Mary Margaret to take her hand and lead her up the stairs. “Tell everyone I’m sorry,” she murmured, sitting down on her bed.

“They’ll completely understand,” Mary Margaret whispered back as she pulled Emma’s shoes off, right foot first, then left. Emma curled up on her side as Mary Margaret drew the covers around her roommate’s shoulders. After giving Mary Margaret a grateful smile, she let her eyes close.

She heard Mary Margaret’s soft footsteps heading for the stairs. Then, almost against her will, Emma opened her eyes and propped herself up on one elbow. “Wait a sec. Will you stay with me? Just until I fall asleep?”

She had no idea why the hell she’d asked that. She was a grown woman, for crying out loud. She’d managed to survive the past twenty-eight years just fine without ever requesting someone sit with her until she fell asleep. Not that she’d had anyone to ask, but that was kind of beside the point.

Apparently, Mary Margaret didn’t know why she’d asked, either, because for a brief moment her brow wrinkled in bewilderment. Then she smiled and said, “Of course.”

Mary Margaret settled down on the other side of the bed, much like Emma had done for Mary Margaret herself not so long ago. Instantly, Emma felt … safe.

Maybe in the morning, she’d try to analyze why something as simple as Mary Margaret lying next to her would make her feel that way. Right now, she was way too tired. Emma shut her eyes and turned onto her side, facing Mary Margaret. She unconsciously inched closer to her as she snuggled deeper under the covers. The last thing Emma felt before drifting off was Mary Margaret brushing a stray lock of hair out of her eyes and tucking it behind her ear.

That night, there were no nightmares. Only dreams of victory, of a family that had been torn apart reconnecting, and of good triumphing over evil.