She's My Daughter

Take Me Home

Regina POV

"Yes, but this time, he has a weapon. And he intends to use it on me."

I sat frozen on the wet ground, my arm still wrapped loosely around Selena's shoulders.
"What weapon?" I whispered, dread filling my voice.
"I don't know. All I know is that by the sound of his voice, he wasn't even slightly scared. And I was meant to have defeated him in a magic battle. A magic battle, where he knows he is the only person in this town who is virtually indestructible when it comes to magic." Selena said, her brows creased in concentration and her voice still sounding sore and croaky due to what Gold did to her. My heart filled with fury as I thought of this and I rushed to my feet, my hand itching to conjure up a fireball to destroy that imp once and for all.
"I'll kill him." I growled, a fireball beginning to blaze in my palm.
"No, you won't." David said firmly, pushing my wrist back to my side.
"Don't stand in my way, Charming." I snarled, fury still eating away at me.
"Regina!" Snow scolded.
"What?" I snapped back, my hands itching with anger although I had extinguished the fire.
"Regina, it's okay." Selena whispered. I looked down at her, my eyes filling with tears as I glanced at the red marks on her neck.
"No it's not." I muttered as I dropped down in front of her and touched the marks gently. She shook her head adamantly, lifting my hand gently off her neck as she did so.
"Killing him is not the answer." She said softly, her hands trembling in mine.
"But he hurt you!" I exclaimed, pushing Emma's hand off my shoulder. "He almost killed you! I'm not going to stand around doing nothing while the man who was going to kill my daughter still roams free." I shouted as if Gold could hear me.
"Regina, calm down." Emma whispered in my ear.
"No, I will not calm down!" I snapped, whipping my head around to look at her. "What would you do if it had been Henry? What would we do?"
"We would discuss it!" Emma yelled back.
"No, we bloody well wouldn't. Just because you're the saviour doesn't mean you-"
"Oi mate! Leave the lass alone." Hook growled, stepping protectively in front of his girlfriend.
"And what are you going to do, guyliner?" I laughed without humour.
"Mom! Calm down!" Henry said loudly, trying to be heard over the now echoing shouts as Snow, David and Hook turned on me to protect their beloved blonde, while Emma tried to convince them it was okay and that I was just upset. Hearing her words, I immediately felt guilty and stopped shouting, my eyes showing my apology and guilt to Emma as her green eyes met mine. I reached out and squeezed Henry's shoulder reassuringly, my smile showing him my anger had subsided. For now. I turned to look at Selena, hoping she had managed to regain her strength during the slight, ah, disagreement. But she hadn't. She was still sitting in the same position, her knees drawn up under her neck as she wrapped her hands protectively around them, rocking back and forth as she did so as if in an attempt to soothe herself. The sight made tears prick my eyes once more.
"Selena." I whispered, walking over to her, tears beginning to leak over the boundary of my eyelids. She didn't register me, didn't even look up.
"Selena." I said again, dropping down next to her.
"Hmm?" She said loudly, snapping out of her trance.
"You okay?" I asked softly, placing my hand on hers.
"Course I am." She smiled, flashing me a fake grin. I sighed.
"Selena, I may not have had much of a chance to be your mother but I can still tell when you're lying."
She laughed shortly, her eyes beginning to show less pain.
"Okay, I'm not alright." She admitted as all laughter drained from her face and left her looking pale and weak.
"I know you're not but you will be. You're going to be okay." I assured her firmly, my eyes blazing with determination and my hand gripping Selena's tightly.
"Will I? I haven't had many dealings with Rumpelstiltskin but from what I've heard, beating him is not an easy thing. Especially for an amateur." Selena muttered, fear beginning to show itself once again.
"But you don't have to do it alone. You have all of us to help you." I said said encouragingly, trying to stop her from feeling how I had felt. From feeling alone.
"I'm not going to put the lives all these people in danger because of me." Selena said adamantly.
"Selena, their lives are always in danger. This will just...spice things up a bit." I shrugged. She turned her head to look at me, her eyes sparkling with the faintest hint of amusement.
"Well, I guess after taking on the Evil Queen, anything is possible." She smirked.
"Precisely." I beamed. "What what?"
She laughed again and my heart began to swell with the joy that I was able to cheer her up. Maybe I could be the mother I had always wanted to be. The mother I had always wanted to be to my daughter.
"Regina?" Selena asked after a slight hesitation.
"Yeah?"
"Can we go home now?" She questioned, a slight flush appearing on her cheeks.
"Of course! Sorry! Here, let's go." I said quickly, almost smacking myself at how I had let her sit on the wet ground for half an hour although the fact that she had referred to it as "home" filled every cell in my body with joy. I extended out my hand to her and, wincing, she managed to stumble to her feet. Wrapping an arm securely around her waist, I supported her over to where the others stood, still deeply immersed in conversation as to what the plan was.
"You okay, Selena?" Emma asked with a smile as she approached us. Selena nodded but I didn't miss the slight wince as she was forced to exercise her neck. And neither did Emma as she gave me a worried glance.
"You need sleep." She said firmly. "Are you taking her home, Regina?"
"Yes. Henry will be staying with you, I presume?"
"Hey, kid!" Emma yelled over her shoulder.
"Yeah, Mom?" Henry answered, walking over to us.
"You coming home with me?"
"Sure." Henry shrugged and, with a grin in Selena's direction after asking how she was, he gave me a quick peck on the cheek and headed back over to Hook.
"Since when did he get so independent?" I groaned as I watched his retreating figure.
"Since his voice broke." Emma replied solemnly. As Selena choked out a laugh and tried to wave off my attempts to fuss over her, I led her trembling body back along the dark avenue, my grasp on her hand never faltering.

*****

Selena POV

Regina pushed open the large front door, her arm still wrapped securely around my waist as she half dragged me into the house. Groaning, I collapsed onto the floor as my back slid down against the gleaming walls. Regina yanked off her coat and shoes and immediately set to work on removing mine, her slender fingers dipping in and out of the air in perfect unison as she untied my shoe laces that were now sodden with dirt.
"Sorry." I winced, as my neck gave a sudden jolt of pain.
"Why are you apologising?" Regina frowned, her eyes searching mine in confusion.
"I didn't control my temper like you told me to. I reacted to his taunts and -" I spluttered out, my voice full of guilt and regret.
"Selena, this is not your fault. Anyone would have done what you did." Regina reassured me as she slung my arm over her shoulders as she half lifted me up the stairs.
"No they wouldn't. They would have - you don't have to carry me, you know. My legs are fine."
"No." She said adamantly. "You're weak and you need support."
"But-" I began, but my objections came to a quick end as I met the no-nonsense look of my mother.
"Anyway." She continued, "it isn't your fault. He wanted a reaction out of you and he knew that, well, he'd get one because you're my daughter." She sighed. "So in actual fact, I should be apologising to you."
"Well, at least being your daughter isn't boring." I smirked.
She laughed. "No, it certainly isn't boring."
"Regina, you can let me go now. My room's just here."
"Nope."
"But it's literally two feet away!"
"And in those two feet you could fall to your death." She said solemnly. I stared at her, shaking my head.
"You really are bizzare, you know that?"
"Indeed I do." She said proudly before giving me a broad grin. We reached my room and with surprising speed, Regina pushed open the door and set me down on the bed while she rummaged around for my pyjamas.
"Here you go." She called from the other side of the room when she found them draped over my desk chair. She came over to me, staring deeply at the checkered black and purple trousers and plain black T-shit crumpled in her hands.
"Why was this hanging lifelessly over the back of your chair?" She frowned.
"Erm..." I began awkwardly.
"From now on, pyjamas are folded and put under your pillow." She scolded.
"But it doesn't matter where they are as long as - " I groaned, my fingers crossed in the hope that she wouldn't discover the carnage under my bed.
"No buts!" She repeated for the seven millionth time since I got here. "Rules are rules."
I mumbled something indistinguishable under my breath as I walked over to the bathroom.
"Yes, ma'am." I mock saluted over my shoulder.
"That's more like it." She grinned.
I rolled my eyes with a laugh before I closed the door behind me, Regina's laughter echoing around my room.
"I'm leaving your pyjamas folded on your bed." She called.
"Kay!" I shouted back as Regina's phone rang out with the usual iPhone melody.
"Selena, I, uh... I need to get this. I'll see you downstairs." She mumbled so quietly that I could only just make out the gist of what she was saying over the rush of the water.
"Okay." I shrugged, the panic, apprehension and sadness present in her voice having not reached my ears despite my superpower.

Regina POV:

"I'm leaving your pyjamas folded on your bed" I called from her room, as I threw my phone down on her bed.
"Kay!" She called back. I shook my head with a laugh, the echo of it bouncing on the walls before it reached the recipient. I smiled happily as I folded her clothes, the recurring thought that I had my daughter in my house returning to me. And she didn't hate me. My grin faltered slightly as I remembered the torture Henry had put me through when he had discovered the book and had thought I was the Evil Queen. But that pain morphed quickly into guilt and anger as I thought about the torture I myself had put my son through. I had made him believe he was crazy for knowing the truth, I had lied, betrayed and had even been prepared to kill his birth mother and yet he had given me a second chance. I would never truly deserve that boy's love just as I would never truly deserve Selena's. But boy, would I make sure I gave it one hell of an attempt before karma found a way to get back at the Evil Queen.
Just then, interrupting my magnificent flow of motivation, my phone began to sing its cheerful tune. I rummaged around Selena's bed, searching for that dammed device before my fingers stumbled upon it folded into the bed sheets. Shaking my head, I pulled it towards me and glanced down at the Caller ID.
I stopped suddenly, my breath getting caught in my throat. My heart faltered and my breathing got even heavier as my eyes registered the letters displayed on the illuminated screen.
Robin Hood.