Slay Me Weaponless

Chapter 6: Storybrooke

The problem with Zelena is that no one's quite sure what to do with her. She'd been locked in the asylum when she'd first been brought back to Storybrooke, a magic-dampening cuff slapped onto her, but that hadn't worked for long. This is a woman who will cut off her own hand and reattach it, who has no limits and who isn't at all stable. And now, they're six weeks gone and Zelena is even more unstable than she'd been before.

Regina is still furious with her for whatever she'd been trying in New York– Robin has assured her that nothing happened , but she has her doubts. And Marian could have died where Zelena had left her, and actions have to have consequences– except. Except that Zelena's consequences hardly seem to bother her, because she's someone with absolutely nothing to lose. Except that being furious with Zelena is like being furious with a baby for biting– because she doesn't understand , she has no concept of right or wrong, and she has never had anyone teach her how to be a person.

So here Regina is, in the middle of a crisis, driving over to the farmhouse where Zelena must be holed up to check on her sister. Sister, like a dream come true, except that there is nothing dreamlike about Zelena. Regina has dreamed of having family for so long that she'd never considered exactly how fucked up that family might be. She should have guessed.

She should have known.

When she pulls up to the farmhouse, she sees Zelena at once, standing in the middle of a flat field with a cloak whipping around her as she stares into the distance. Her eyes land on Regina and stay, and there is something about them that is so haunted, that feels so much like the eyes that Regina has seen in the mirror. Mother's eyes, perhaps, or the eyes that Mother had given them.

She walks slowly to Zelena, and Zelena turns, her eyes wild. She doesn't move from her spot, still holds the cloak closely to her, and Regina approaches as one might approach a spooked creature. "You're too late," Zelena says, and she pulls the cloak tighter. "She was already here."

Regina notices abruptly that Zelena is shivering. "She?" she echoes.

"Your precious savior ." Zelena spits out the word. "Don't tell me that you came here for me. She came. She did some–something–" The shivering grows more violent, and something maternal and complicated sweeps over Regina and takes hold.

"Okay," Regina says, taking a breath. "Okay. Get in the car." There is nothing else she can offer to Zelena right now, alone and terrified in the middle of nowhere, and she reproaches herself for noticing how close Emma's lair is and not thinking anything of it. Zelena follows her without complaint, which speaks volumes about whatever had been done to her, and she keeps her hands tightly on her lap as Regina drives them back to Mifflin Street, quaking with every turn.

Henry is at school. Regina had warded his bus and his school and it isn't foolproof, but it's good enough for now. David is supposed to be keeping an eye on Henry's comings and goings, letting him live a normal life while they deal with this new threat, and he'd reported that Henry had made it off the bus and into the building without interference.

Right now, Regina is relieved to know that he's out. Zelena is unsteady as she walks into the house, and she stands in the middle of the foyer, her eyes staring into nothingness. "Come," Regina says, and she puts a hand on Zelena's elbow and guides her into the kitchen.

She'd frozen some soup last week– no, seven weeks ago, back when life was fraught with magic and villains but the villain wasn't someone she cares about– and she pulls it out of the freezer and puts it in a pot to defrost. Back then, she'd thought that Emma might have wanted some, had had some grand plan about sitting Emma down in the midst of her emotional turmoil and offering her some soup and a listening ear. They'd become the kind of friends who talk to each other, who trust each other above all, and now that's...