Wishes, Emma muses as she surveys the scene before her, are utter bullshit.

It would be really cool if Henry would just - for once - listen to her, Regina, Snow, David or anyone else that doesn't suffer from the incurable disease of being a ten-year-old-idiot.

But no, Henry had to watch that movie and get a bug up his butt about asking everyone in town if they'd ever heard of the Goblin King.  He'd dragged Emma from displaced townsperson to townsperson, demanding to know if there was any validity in the idea of David Bowie in tight pants.

Well, he hadn't phrased it quite like that, but Emma really wasn't above looking.  She’d been a teenager once, after all.  And David Bowie was fine as all get out.  Even though he’s old as fuck these days.

The problem is that everyone seems scared to death of the man, everyone save his mom, naturally. 

Regina had raised an eyebrow and sat back on her heels, regarding Emma with something akin to confusion.  She was out in her back garden, a wheelbarrow full of bulbs beside her and a trowel in her hand.  "He is real," she says, and won't say anything more, no matter how much Henry pesters her.  It's really quite annoying how tight-lipped Regina is about most things in that world, but when she pulls Emma aside later and hisses that Henry is never to summon that creature under her watch, Emma thinks that maybe, just maybe, Regina is afraid of the Goblin King.

So the only question, then, is why.

And Henry, who obviously gets his colossal idiot genes from his father (not that Emma is thinking kindly about that asshole ever again, mind), just has to go and say the magic words before Emma, Snow or David can lunge forward and clamp a hand over his mouth.

It's sort of hilarious, in retrospect, that he demanded that the goblins come and take Emma away, rather than his mom, Rumpelstiltskin, Cora, Hook, that weird yuppie flatlander who'd nearly killed Belle or some other bad guy they weren’t aware of yet.  No, Henry wants the goblins to take Emma away.  Right now. To prove a point.

For a minute after he makes his wish nothing happens, and Emma feels herself let out a shaky sigh of relief.  Maybe it was just a movie after all, Regina's certainly not above fucking with Emma for a laugh.  She's got half a mind to call the once-Evil Queen and demand an explanation, when the wind seems to pick up outside and Emma's staring, slack-jawed into the night.  The windows are rattling on their hinges now, and the one over Snow's bed flies open without its usual shoulder-breaking hesitation.

Emma doesn't care that Regina's evil, that her mom's in town and probably corrupting her, that this whole thing is really her fault.  She types out a message on her phone with shaking fingers as Henry pulls out of the worried hand that Snow has on his shoulder.

The man that appears in the window is not, regrettably, David Bowie.  Emma scowls and David's already lunged across the room to pull Henry back and behind him, his sword held in front of him in defiance.

"Come now, James, that's no way to greet a king," Comes a deep, clipped voice of a shadowy figure that's blown in with the wind and the rain, all over Snow's nice white bed sheets.  Emma takes a step forward, but Snow's got her arm around her wrist, holding her back with a frightened look on her face.  "Even if I'm not here for you."

The man turns then, his cloak's hood falling down to rest upon his broad shoulders.  Emma is at once struck by how beautiful he is, and how inhuman that beauty is.  His eyebrows grow in high arches and are so white they seem almost silver, and his face is far more youthful than it was in the movie.  His hair is yellow, blue and silver all at once, and it hurts Emma's eyes to look at him for too long.  She wonders if this is because he isn’t human at all.  She’s read stories of the fair folk, but he doesn’t look at all like the Blue Fairy, so she’s a little confused.

"Henry," he says, turning to face David and Henry behind him.  "I cannot grant your request."

And of course.  Of fucking course, Henry has the balls to step out from behind the protection of his grandfather (which is still weird and Emma's still not over it) and fold his arms over his chest.  He raises an eyebrow and looks for the world like his mother's child.  "And why, Goblin King, is that?"

"Because he takes children, Henry," Funny, Emma hadn't heard Regina come in.  Snow jumps about a foot in the air when Regina steps into view, all in black and sneering - fucking sneering - at the Goblin King.  "And while I will not argue that Ms. Swan has her moments, that's now how this works."  She inclines her head to the Goblin King and adds, almost kindly, "Hello Jareth."

"Regina," he says stiffly.

It’s this casual exchange that has Emma thinking that she’s about one hundred percent done with this.  Maybe she's up to one ten if she really thinks about it.  "You two know each other?" she asks, trying to keep her tone as mild as possibly as she turns to glance at Regina.

"Naturally," Regina's lip curls into an expression of absolute contempt.  "And how is dear Sarah?"

Emma bites the inside of her lip to resist pointing out that she was like fucking fifteen and that's just fucking creepy to the Goblin King's face.  She'll probably get cursed by two evil magic users for her trouble, but it'll be worth it.

"She is none of your concern, witch," the Goblin King hisses.  "I cannot grant the boy's wish, not precisely." And with that, he turns a pointed-tooth smile to Snow.  "I assume he is your child, then?"

"Mine," Emma spits out half a second before Regina can say the same.  Regina glares at her and Emma really wants to stick her tongue out in response, but there are way more pressing concerns than being petulant right now.

Things are about to go way south.  Emma's pretty much convinced of this.

"Then I shan't have to explain the rules.  Come along, Henry, I've a whole realm to show you," The Goblin King holds out his hand and Henry all but flies across the room to land beside him.  Emma's already scrambling forward, grabbing for the kid and desperate to get to him.  He stares at her with fear firmly etched onto his face and Emma knows that he'd really not thought this through at all.

Must run in the family.

The Goblin King turns to leave and Henry starts to kick and scream and fight against him.  He holds firm to Henry though and turns to glance over his shoulder, "And Regina?  Tick tock."

They vanish in a shower of gaudy eighties glitter and an anguished cry that Emma doesn't realize comes from her own lips until she's collapsed onto her knees beside Regina.

No one says anything for a moment and the silence feels almost suffocating. It’s only after two or three minutes that Regina crosses the room silently and takes the sword that Emma'd brought with her from the Enchanted Forest down from where it hangs on the coat rack, as well as Emma's brown jacket.  She folds them both over her arm and turns to the three of them.  "Time is of the essence," she says quietly.

Snow nods and David's jaw tightens and Emma has no idea what the fuck is going on save that Henry's just been kidnapped and fucking Regina just let it happen.  Emma lets out a shaky breath and takes the jacket and sword when Regina hands them to her, clutching them to her chest like a lifeline.

"Will you be able to return?"  Snow asks quietly, and there's something in her eyes that Emma's never seen before.  It's not fear, or desperation or even longing.  No, it's... well fuck Emma sideways, it’s admiration. Knowing what precious little of the history between the two of them, Emma is all too aware that it is probably only the tip of the iceberg.  Somehow this makes the look even odder on Snow’s face. 

"Jareth has a role to play, same as the rest of us.  Henry will be unharmed so long as we can run the maze in time," Regina says curtly.  She all but yanks Emma to her feet by the back of her sweater and grabs a handful of the glitter that the Goblin King has left in his wake.  "Don't worry, Snow, your happiness is mine alone to destroy."

Snow scowls and Regina throws the glitter into the air, her hand wrapping tightly around Emma's wrist as the world starts to spin and tilt.  The last thing Emma sees is her mother's eyes and her father's sword before she knows nothing more.

x

The maze looms large above where Emma lies on the hard packed ground, staring up at Regina and wondering why the hell no one ever bothered to tell her that literally every fucking movie she loved as a kid will somehow come back to bite her in the ass.

Every. Single. One.

"Good, you're awake," Emma winces, for Regina's voice sounds almost unbearably loud. Regina's obviously making no concessions either, pursing her lips together and drawing out what has to be a magically enhanced eardrum rupturing whistle.  Emma attempts to scramble to her feet, feeling more unsteady than she had the last time she'd tripped her way through a portal and into this realm.

As far as she can see in either direction there is nothing but a single, unbroken line of brick wall.  It's the fucking labyrinth Great Wall of fucking China.  Great.  Emma remembers from the movie that there are ways inside, but she's not an idiot.  They're fucked, and Regina's whistle is still echoing and still fucking loud as hell.

"What are you doing?" Emma demands, clapping her hands over her ears and groaning as the whistle grows louder and louder still, rattling about inside her ears and ringing painfully.

Regina stares at her with a curled lip and contempt on her face.  "I told you," she hisses and Emma thinks that maybe, just maybe, Regina is a little out of her comfort zone in this place.  It's an oddly good feeling, as she's shoving Emma's sword into her hands along with her jacket once more.  She must have dropped them when they fell into this world.  Regina probably landed on her feet, though.  Because that was just how Emma’s life worked. "I told you to stop him from saying those words."

Emma throws up her hands and backs away from Regina slowly.  "I didn't realize that it was actually true, Regina."

"Did the fact that the entirety of the town was afraid of the fae give it away, or was it the fact that I specifically told you not to do it?"  Regina looks contemplative and Emma has the itching suspicion that there really is no right answer other than that Henry is ten and an idiot.  When she says as much to Regina, Regina just scoffs and informs Emma that her son would never do something so foolhardy.

And then Emma nearly gets run over by a fucking gargantuan warhorse.  The beast appears out of goddamn nowhere and nearly bowls Emma over as it hastens to press its forehead against Regina's chest and let out a low... wicker? winny?  Emma isn't sure what sort of noise it was, but if the horse could talk, it sounds like it'd be goddamn overjoyed.

She wants to barf it's so sweet.

But, time’s a-wasting and she’s sure that there’s someone’s day that Regina’s gotta rain on.  It’s how she rolls, after all. “Why do you need a horse?” Emma demands, putting her hands on her hips and scowling at the beast before her. 

It glares right back.  Emma wants to stick her tongue out at it, but she wonders if it spits. Some horses, in her experience, did that. 

“Because this will be faster,” Regina explains, gesturing to the sword still clutched in Emma's hand.  "Strap that to the saddle so you can access it easily, unless you'd prefer it over your shoulder."

Chewing on her lip, Emma contemplates this for a moment before she shrugs on her jacket and slings the belt that she'd worn around her waist the last time she'd fucked off to Fairy Tale Land over her shoulder and fiddles with the buckle until she's pretty sure she's not going to accidentally impale anyone.  "Can't you just magic us there?"

Regina's expression is unreadable as she bridges her fingers together and indicates them with her chin.  "Boot," she says, and all but throws Emma up onto the horse's back.  Which is every bit as bony and uncomfortable as she expected, Emma scowls and fidgets, obviously knowing that she's going to have to sit behind the saddle for this to work.  Regina pulls herself up and settles herself with the ease and grace that indicate years of practice and slowly turns the horse back to face the wall.  "It's farther than you think, Ms. Swan."

Yup, the movie.

Biting her in the ass.

Emma sighs and shifts herself forward, wrapping her arms around Regina's waist for lack of a better thing to hang on to as Regina urges the horse to move. 

"So..." Emma begins after a wave of carsickness and the feeling of 'oh shit I'm going to end up like Christopher Reeve' sends her into a panic that she’s only just barely keeping under wraps.  "I've never ridden a horse before."

"Ah," Regina replies stiffly.  She's urging the horse to go faster now, running along the wall looking for an opening, Emma gathers.  It's terrifying, she doesn't know how to move with the horse and the saddle’s about to fucking break her goddamn pelvis. 

Regina, however, is very good on a horse. She weaves them through the first levels of the maze expertly, her pace never slowing.  Emma feels like she's gonna puke, but Regina's at least somewhat nice about the whole hanging-on-for-dear-life thing and Emma's grateful for it. 

They pause at what seems to be the inner labyrinth. Gone are the walls that go one forever and now the maze is smaller, but all the more claustrophobic.  Emma's half expecting some crazy Most Dangerous Game shit with Jareth the Goblin King attempting to kill them. 

"We can't take the horse any further," Regina says abruptly, slowing it's pace as they both duck to avoid another low-hanging branch.  "The Labyrinth's mistress favors them and I'd hate to lose him."

"Mistress?"  Emma asks as Regina expertly dismounts.  She has no idea how to get down and she's not about to ask for help.  Besides, she's pretty sure that she's not going to be able to walk once she is on solid earth again.  "I thought that the Goblin King controlled the Labyrinth."

Regina holds up a hand and Emma takes it and slides slowly off the back of the horse, clinging far too tightly to the hand she's been offered.  Her dignity, however, is mostly intact.  Regina hasn't said a single mocking word the entire ride.  It's something of an improvement, really.  "That film tells so little of the story that it is an insult," Regina explains as she ties the horse's reigns neatly behind its neck and whispers something quietly to it before slapping it on its ass and telling it to 'go home.'  Horses are, apparently, dogs.  Good to know.

(They probably still spit though.)

"Okay," Emma says.  She's undoing the belt from across her chest and transferring it back to being around her waist.  She's not sure, but she gets the sense that things are about to get a bit more dangerous.  Miles of seemingly unendless walls are menacing and all that, but this place looks like there might be creatures afoot and Emma's in no mood to deal with another ogre. "But who is the Labyrinth's mistress then?"

It seems like Regina's debating not telling her for a moment.  There's an amused sort of twinkle in her eyes and Emma's pretty damn sure that it's because she knows something that Emma doesn't.  That's pretty okay though, because there's a lot about this world that Emma doesn't know. 

"The maze's mistress is Sarah, from the film, and yet not Sarah.  She never did win, you know," Regina shakes her head.  "Not truly.”  She gets real quiet and thoughtful for a moment before her jawline hardens and Emma finds herself staring down Regina Mills at her most determined, “Jareth likes to reneg on his bargains, which is why we must hurry.  Four hours have already passed."

Damn.  Emma tugs her sword loose and keeps her hand on its scabbard as she follows Regina though the maze.  Emma's a little bit weirded out by how easily Regina is able to navigate the maze, but she supposes that there's probably a good chance that Regina's done this before. She almost wants to ask about it, but then she remembers that Regina had been afraid of the Goblin King too.

"Will she hurt us?"  Emma asks.

Regina says nothing, but twists her wrist in an almost obscene gesture that sadly goes straight to Emma's libido (and her very sore pelvis, Christ, horses sucked a big sack of dicks).  A small flame gathers in the space above Regina's palm, growing in strength.  Emma watches with interest as it starts a pale blue and grows into orange-ish red ball of fire.  Regina cradles it to her chest, holding it suspended between her fingers for a moment before she flicks it in the direction that they've been walking.  It rises and then shoots almost lazily into the sky.

"Point me spell?" Emma asks, remembering one of Henry's more entertaining tangents about comparative magic from the book and Harry Potter. 

"Something like that," Regina agrees.

They follow the light until they come to a door with two knockers.  Emma remembers the two knockers from the movie, only she doesn't remember them looking quite so... menacing.

"They're not going to ask us a riddle are they?" Emma mutters out of the corner of her mouth, scowling at the two decrepit faces.  They look like the grotesques and gargoyles that dot the Chicago and New York City skylines if you know where to look.  A lot less like the fairly humorous muppets from the movie.

"Why would you think that?" Regina demands, stepping forward and grasping the knocker on the door to the right.  She bangs the handle against the solid wood frame of the door and sits back and waits, her arms folded across her chest. 

If she’s really honest, Emma was expecting the Bridge Keeper from Monty Python, but she’s not about to tell Regina that to enter the Door of Doom she has to answer the door these questions three.  Still, it’d make a good ice breaker, Emma has no idea what Regina’s favorite color is.  Not to mention the air-speed velocity of a swallow.

Shaking the idea of coconuts and terrible fart jokes in movies out of her head, Emma glances over at Regina and is struck by how odd a picture they must cut.  This place is old, it has the characteristics of the labyrinths of the myths of old.  The people here are not truly people, they are something else entirely.  As humans, Emma thinks that they both look rather out of place here.  Regina, in her suit jacket and business slacks and Emma, in her jeans and ratty old sweater that she usually just wears for comfort. She hadn’t expected to have to go on an adventure today, or she would have worn a nicer top.  At least they’re both wearing boots, which is something.  Regina’s not much of a fan of practical footwear in Storybrooke and Emma’s counting down the minutes until they have to hoof it to get away from some terrible creature.

Emma’s money’s on a minotaur.

The door swings open after a moments consideration and Emma steps cautiously forward, her foot hitting nothing and sending her tumbling through thin air only to crash land in the middle of what looks to be a pile of leaves. She lets out a yelp as she falls and paws at the air until it’s forced bodily from her lungs.

Regina jumps down and lands beside Emma with a wry smile on her face.  "It's always better to look before you leap, Ms. Swan," she says smugly.

Emma glares at her and slowly wiggles her toes and then her fingers, trying to ascertain if she's broken anything.  It all feels attached and intact, and she gingerly gets to her feet.  She's gonna have a bruise in the morning.  "Owwww," she groans. 

"You'll live," Regina says dismissively after she’s touched Emma’s sore shoulder gently and made sure that Emma can roll it comfortably.

They're standing in the middle of what seems like a clearing in the middle of a hedge maze.  Emma spins around and sees that the doors that they came through have already vanished and she's starting to panic just a little bit as Regina reaches out and grabs her arm tightly.

Wincing as Regina's nails bite into her skin through her jacket, Emma whips back around to meet Regina's intense gaze.  "Whatever you do," she says in a low undertone that makes Emma think that they've done something deathly stupid.  It wouldn't be the first time, but Emma does have a reputation to maintain.  "Don't provoke her."

"Who?"  Emma demands.

"Me," The voice comes from clear across the clearing.  Emma squints in the growing darkness.  Seven hours now.  They're running out of time. 

Leaning against a statue of what looks like an undersized human-sized yeti, a woman with thick dark hair is staring at them with interest in her eyes.  Regina's tan skin has taken on a deathly pallor and Emma wonders if this is like Cora two point oh or something and they're about to get fucked. 

The woman is wearing some sort of Ren-Fair dress that makes her look ridiculous and there’s flowers woven into her hair.  She might have been beautiful, but there’s something off about her that Emma can’t quite put her finger on. 

Wishes, Emma thinks darkly, are going to get us killed. Henry is in for the whooping of his life when she got her hands on him.  For serious.

"Hello Sarah," Regina says at length.  Her voice has taken on an almost deferential tone that sounds fucking weird on her.  Emma’s gaze flicks between the two of them, processing the information far more slowly than she would have liked.  "Your care of the Labyrinth is exquisite."

Emma's mouth drops open in shock.  That's Sarah?  The Sarah who bested the Goblin King through sheer force of will, the girl he had no power over?  Emma's eyes narrowed.  She didn't look human at all. 

Emma's about to call bullshit on the whole thing when Regina shakes her head almost imperceptivity. Emma’s never been told to shut up so decisively before, so she shuts right up and grits her teeth to keep from speaking. 

Regina's fingers grow even tighter as Emma stares on at creature across the clearing.  She looks a bit like the Goblin King, all upswept angles and pointed ears and chin.  Still there's something unnerving about her - Emma thinks it's her eyes.  They still seem so human, not cold and unfeelingly immortal like the Goblin King's had been. 

"Can't say I ever expected to see you back here," Totally-Not-Sarah comments while inspecting a fingernail. She turns those terrifying eyes back to Regina and her face contorts into a look that Emma knows has been on her own face many times when speaking to Regina.  Contempt, hatred.  Loathing.  God, she hates herself sometimes. "Leopold was such a dear friend, after all."

Regina inclines her head and it's only then that Emma's brain catches up to realize who Leopold is. "Snow's..."

"Yes," Regina says curtly, shutting Emma up with a glare.  She levels the creature across the clearing with a steely gaze.  "My son has tried to wish his mother away."

"He didn't know the rules," Not-Sarah says in an almost sing-song voice that reminds Emma a little too much of Gold for her to feel truly comfortable. Fucking weirdo magic users and their crazy.  Emma’s so done with it. "And he's paying the price."

"He was not raised to fear this realm, and we are making good time," Regina counters, "And I'd ask your blessing for safe passage."

Not-Sarah lounges even more lewdly against her stone pillar cum yeti, half-petting it.  "What do you think, Ludo? Should we let the Evil Queen and her consort through our maze?"

The pillar's shoulders move in what is so obviously a shrug that Emma wants to cry at the familiarity of it all.  Fucking thing isn’t a muppet though, it’s a fucking golem or something and that’s a lot scarier. Its head slowly moves then, shaking the negative as its finger points at Regina's hand on Emma's arm.  "Stringggggg," it says ominously.

In what seems like a single step, Not-Sarah has crossed the clearing and is standing before them.  She smells like sweat and forest - her eyes flashing dangerously as she inspects Regina's hand and then Emma's. She doesn’t touch, not exactly.  It’s more that Emma feels the creature’s magic circling around her, pulling gently at places that Emma didn’t know she had on her body.  There’s a tug at her pinky and she starts, glancing down at it, alarmed.  

"Why Regina," Not-Sarah says after a moment, her tone mocking and drawling, "It seems you didn't know yourself quite as well as you thought."  She steps aside and raises her hand and Emma wants to grab onto Regina's arm now.  The far side of the clearing is changing.

The hedges part and morph together, reforming a path that Emma thinks might lead them the rest of the way. She can see the Goblin City and the castle in the distance, and suddenly this whole thing seems all the more doable.  Which is good, because Regina’s about to break her goddamn wrist if she doesn’t let go soon.

"Go in peace," Not-Sarah says quietly, winking conspiratorially at Emma.  Emma just stares blankly back at her.  She has no idea what to make of the winking thing.  She’s not sure she likes it.

"Peace be with thee," Regina replies, and Emma's being dragged by her wrist across the clearing, past the stone yeti and into the second level of the maze. 

Emma swallows and Regina lets go of her vice grip on Emma's arm as the hedges close behind them.  The feeling slowly starts to return to Emma's fingers as Regina holds up her own had in front of her face with a disbelieving expression on her face.

"What was that?" Emma asks, glancing down at her own hand and finding it looking pretty much normal, if a little paler than usual due to lack of circulation.  She shakes it slightly, wincing as it tingles painfully. 

Regina shoves her hands into her jacket pockets and shakes her head.  "I think," she says after a moment of staring back at the closed-up hedge behind them, "that dear Sarah has lost her touch."

They begin to walk once more, their pace quick and to the point.  Henry's a little shit who didn't understand the rules and certainly didn't listen, but he's got two mothers who both care about him deeply.  They're going to be fine.

Even if the way is farther than they think.

"How do you mean?" Emma asks after about ten minutes of the city on the horizon not growing any closer.  She wonders if it's possible to stop for some water or something.  She's tired and hungry, but they can't stop.  No, they fucking can't because if Henry gets turned into a Goblin or whatever, Emma's going to let Regina do whatever she pleases to the Goblin King and really desperately hopes that it's something a la season six of Buffy.

Regina bits her lip and looks away.  "Have you ever heard the story of the red string of fate?" she asks.  "It comes from Han, here," This little addition of information is enough to make Emma stop walking, hand still clutched around her sword.  Regina doesn't talk about this realm freely, she never has.  She provides information with its relevant and never adds any more detail than absolutely necessary. 

"Like soul mates?"  She raises an eyebrow and tries to discern what exactly the odd look on Regina's face is trying to say.  She'd heard the story many times on the West Coast, bumming rides and picking berries up and down California before eventually ending up in fucking Portland and that goddamn disaster. 

"There is an ancient one," Regina explains, but she doesn't stop walking.  Her hands are clutched into fists in her pockets and Emma has to almost run to keep up with her as she marches ever closer towards Henry and his poor life choices.  "Far older than even the fairies.  Her name is Yuèlǎo..."

"Moon?" Emma ventures.  She's got at passing understanding of mandarin after being stuck in a cell with an angry Chinese kid who'd boosted a car to go all Fast and Furious through rural Oregon. 

"She is a lunar goddess, a matchmaker.  It is said that she will tie a string around the ankle or the pinky of two people who are destined to meet each other and help each other at a certain time."  Regina pulls her hand out and stares at it hard and Emma can almost see the thin red thread wrapping around her pinky. 

"I thought that that was just for lovers."  She's almost afraid to look at her own hand.  While she's not above looking, Regina's about as repressed as they come when it comes to feelings.  She's not opposed to using sex to get what she wants, but Emma's not sure that she wants that.  Not with Regina, at any rate.  "On Earth it is, at least."

"You'll find the tales are similar here, Ms. Swan, which is why I think that Sarah is losing her touch."  Regina folds her hand back into her pocket and stares down the way. Her eyes are narrowed and she's whispering something so quickly under her breath that Emma thinks that it isn't even in English.  It probably isn't, Blue definitely speaks other languages when she does magic, as does Gold. 

Emma stares hard at the point that Regina's looking at with such scrutiny.  She isn't sure what she's supposed to be looking for, but there are sparks of light at the corners of her vision that don't seem entirely natural. 

Sounding almost dismissive, Regina lets out a tiny sigh.  "I knew it wouldn't be this easy."  She inclines her head towards the city in the distance.  "What do you see, Ms. Swan?"

Guessing that she's not supposed to say 'our fates intertwined,' Emma narrows her eyes and tries to will whatever magic she does have (and she's been assured that she has plenty) into doing what she wants.  "Flecks of light," she says at length.  It sounds so fucking stupid when she says like that, but it's the best she can do, really.  "At the corners of my vision."

"An illusion," Regina supplies.  She seems to steady herself, standing as tall as she can in flat boots and looking slightly muddy from their trek thus far.  She smells like the woods and like her fuck off big brute of a horse.  "That's the problem of this maze.  Jareth and Sarah both love them."  She let another sigh escape her lips, this one is far frustrated-sounding than the last one.  "They suck time, and we have very little that to spare."

Shitterfucker.  Emma swallows and tries to keep the feeling of panic from rising within her.  "Then... what do we do?"

Regina reaches for Emma then, and Emma can feel her hand almost trembling as the string around her finger becomes visible to Emma once more.  "I walked right into it," Regina says sadly. Her eyes are closed and resigned, and Emma isn't really sure how she's supposed to react.  Regina doesn't seek out comfort and she doesn't express regret.  "Like I always do," Regina adds darkly.

Emma forces a smile onto her face, because it's what she does.  She's the savior (even though she doesn't wanna be) and she saves people (in her own back-ass-wards sort of way).  "Hey," she says quietly.  "I walked right in it too."

"Then we're both fools," Regina replies, all traces of the vulnerability of a moment ago gone.  Emma wonders if it's some sort of a defense mechanism, and she's wondering if she's getting beyond the point where she has to hide herself from Emma.  Emma supposes they've both seen each other at their lowest now.  Maybe that's why they're supposed to help each other out at that certain time in that certain place.

Taking half a step back and away from Emma, Regina conjures another fireball and sends it shooting into the hedge to their left.  It burns a path that twists and turns, cutting through the layers of magic that cling around them and into the bright not-sunlight of this terrible maze.  It's leading the way, Emma realizes, and she prepares to go.  She doesn't know how much time they have left.

Forcing herself to push the thoughts of red string and destiny (Emma's had quite enough of that to last her three lifetimes) out of her mind, Emma leads the way after Regina's fireball-trailblazer.  She doesn't care that she's somehow got hold of Regina's hand is pulling her along with something that's almost akin to eagerness.

The Goblin City is full of chickens and smells like a pig sty.  Emma wrinkles her nose and draws her sword as Regina magics the drawbridge down and gate open.  "I take it that the Bog of Eternal Stench wasn't made up?"

"Well, it washes off," Regina offers before falling silent, her brow furrowed in concentration.  All Emma can think is that Henry better keep his fool mouth shut about Regina using magic to come and save his ass.  Emma's good for knocking things about, but it's been Regina who's done most of the leg work and double-speak needed to advance them through this fucking deathtrap.  "I think Jareth's used to the smell; he lets the goblins run amuck in his palace."  Her expression sours, "I do hope that he kept them away from Henry, goblins are foul creatures."

"They are?"  Emma remembers the ones from the movie  and didn't think they were that bad, for muppets.  They'd honestly been almost cute, in a way. 

Chuckling in an altogether not unpleasant way that just about knocks Emma on her ass in shock, Regina just shakes her head.  "Things aren't always what they seem."

"Next you're going to tell me that you move the stars for no one," Emma quips and earns rolled eyes from Regina and a small smile that is nothing like anything Emma's ever seen before.  Is this maybe the look of the girl that Snow met all those years ago? 

"Jareth did that once," Regina shakes her head sadly and starts walking once more.  "It didn't work out well for him."

Somewhere in the distance, a bell starts to toll.  Emma's eyes fly to the nearest church tower, staring at the thirteen-hour clock.  They're nearly out of time, and she grabs Regina's hand once more, half-sprinting up the high street and into the cluttered courtyard of the Goblin King's palace.

Regina's footsteps pound beyond her as they skid to a halt in the middle of an assembly of goblins and chickens, Henry sitting in a corner with a book propped open against his knees. 

The Goblin King is lounging in his throne, one leg thrown over the arm and tapping a crop against his leg in time with the tolling of the bells.  "Cutting it awfully close, aren't you?" he asks with a raised eyebrow that doesn't look quite right given how his eyebrows arch up on his forehead.  "I expected better of you, Regina."

Emma glances at Regina, slightly winded and hunched over, hands on her knees.  She's glaring up at him though, breath coming in short gasps.  "I trust you will honor the rules?"

"You're not late," the Goblin King replies. "Although I am sure that Sarah does not appreciate you shattering her illusion so..." he pauses, fingers brushing his pointed chin.  "Aggressively.  One would think she'd said something to rattle you, Regina."

Henry looks up at this, inserting his finger into his book.  Emma gives him a smile and a little wave and he gets slowly to his feet.  He's awfully calm, Emma thinks, and maybe even a little resigned. They just busted their asses for thirteen hours to rescue his dumb ass; Emma folds her arms across her chest and scowls at him, indicating with her chin that he should come over at least get a hug.

He probably knows he's about to get yelled at.  Good.

"What I said to the Queen is none of your concern," Emma just about jumps out of her skin, for Not-Sarah has appeared right behind them, her expression pensive.  "And they beat you, did they not?"

He looks almost defeated.  "Yes, I suppose that they did."

Emma remembers the movie, she remembers how there was that teenaged-girl fantasy element to what they'd seen, but this relationship doesn't seem romantic at all.  It's almost like the one that she and Regina share, adversarial, but with a sexual undercurrent that is almost alarming it's so strong.

And goddamn if Emma doesn't find it really creepy.  She's still so young-looking, compared to him. 

"You should be true to your word, Jareth.  I have much to tell you," Not-Sarah winks conspiratorially at Emma once more, and the hairs at the back of Emma's neck stand on end and she steps closer to Regina almost instinctively. 

"What do you think?"  The Goblin King rolls his neck, still lazing in his chair like some frat boy rather than the king of an impressive realm.  He's addressing Henry now, "Have they proven my point to you?"

Henry bites his lip, the book he had been reading clutched to his chest.  "I guess so," he says hesitantly.  He looks scared and small and Emma doesn't like it once bit.  She can see the muscles in Regina's jaw clenching and she knows Regina can see it as well. 

"If it's all the same to you, Jareth, Sarah," Regina nods her head almost deferentially.  Emma knows that it's an empty gesture, full of contempt and regal haughtiness. Regina does it all the time to Snow and David, "We'd like to go back to our time and place."  Regina says as Henry scurries to stand under the protective arm that Emma's offered him.  Regina's got her other hand, and Emma's only just realized it.  Her cheeks, she knows, are scarlet. 

This is probably going to be a thing.

Goddamnit. 

"It's been educational," Emma adds with a smile at Not-Sarah.  She's got some sort of Dumbledore eye twinkle going on right now and it's really creeping Emma out.

The Goblin King throws something at them and they vanish in a cloud of glittery gold dust.

x

They land in a heap in the middle of Snow and David's.  Emma's on the bottom, Regina pressed against her and Henry on her legs.  It's daylight and the sun is streaming through the window and Emma's poor, abused pelvis is aching under Regina and Henry's collective weights.

Still, Regina is soft and warm and despite the pain, Emma doesn't want her to move, just yet.  "Hi," she says quietly as Henry scrambles to his feet and announces that he's going to find Snow and David to tell them that they're alright.

"Hi yourself," Regina replies.  Her bangs are falling into her eyes and she still has that look of wild magic about her.  It makes her look younger, almost more dangerous than Emma knows her to be. 

Swallowing, Emma reaches up a hesitant hand and brushes the hair out of Regina's eyes.  "You were..." Emma trails off, not really sure what she wants to say.  You were a total boss when I would have probably never even gotten into the actual maze proper comes to mind, but somehow it still doesn't sound quite right. 

"You hold your composure remarkably well for a child of this world," Regina says and her lips quirk upwards into a smile.  She sits up slowly, her hips shifting against Emma's and it's suddenly very much not just a sword attached to her pants that’s happy to see Regina.  Emma’s libido is keenly interested in the way they’re pressed together.  She swallows and just about manages to keep her composure as the moment is extremely tactfully shattered by Henry banging the back into the room, Snow and David hot on his heels. 

“Goddamnit,” Emma mutters as Regina makes like she was just casually getting to her feet.  It isn’t without the slightest roll of her hips that sends the blush flying up and across Emma’s cheeks as she rolls over and gets slowly to her feet. 

“Are you both okay?” Snow’s such a mom it’s a little hard for Emma to stomach on the best of days.  She just stands there as Snow inspects the cut on her jaw and checks her over for bruises.  Emma doesn’t feel particularly inclined to tell her that Regina damn near paralyzed her with her horse of death.  She merely looks on as Snow stands before Regina and checks her over with none of the fingers on chins and quiet tutting.

“I think so,” Emma says, smiling at David.  She turns to see Henry standing at the outskirts of their little reunion and throws him a bone.  “And I think Henry learned his lesson about listening, am I right?”

He nods once and then scoots closer to Regina, wrapping his small arms around her waist and letting her smooth his dirty hair out off of his forehead.  “I’m sorry I didn’t listen,” he mumbles.  “I thought it was just a movie.”

Emma laughs quietly.  “Me too, kid, me too,” she says.

And when Regina’s eyes meet her own over Henry’s head Emma can’t help but glance down at her hand.  The string is still there, and the creature that was really, really, emphatically not Sarah from the movie really did have a point.  Their fates were intertwined and maybe this was all just the beginning.