She sorted the clothing into their respective bins and listened for the sound of Henry playing. She had to get Henry's suit tailored for the Christmas party coming up, and she still had to sign off on the annual lighting of the tree ceremony. She had barely touched their own Christmas decorations, the most progress was that the boxes lay partially opened in the designated corner of the living room by the fire place. On top of that, both Kathryn and Tina had voiced to her that the owners of the stores the Pan boys vandalized were planning on pressing charges. Tina was distraught, and Kathryn was attempting to lessen the consequences. Regina had a disdain for their guardian, but the boys themselves just needed some guidance. A second chance and someone to believe in them. Just thinking of her never-ending to-do list had Regina rubbing her temples hoping to stave off the inevitable headache that was starting to form.

The phone rang, and Regina was grateful for the distraction. Glancing quickly into the room to see that Henry was playing with his medieval toy set, Regina reached the kitchen and pulled the phone off the receiver. "Mills residence."

"Hi."

Regina's heart plummeted to the pit of her stomach as her ears filled with Emma's voice for the first time since the soldier had called saying she was being deployed. It was hazy, like wind was blowing in the background, and static spurt through the silence, but Emma was okay and on the phone and fine.

"Emma?" Regina whispered disbelieving.

"One and only," the blonde sassed though there was a gentle hesitance to it.

"How have you been?" Regina asked with a quiet desperation.

"Tired," the blonde admitted, and Regina felt foolish for thinking the worst. She could hear the ache of little sleep in Emma's voice, but the greater, more selfish side of her was so grateful to hear it nonetheless. "How –zzz– you –zzz– little man?"

"Emma?" Regina squinted as she strained to hear the blonde. "I can't hear you."

"Shit," the soldier muttered as the line continued to static before it relatively cleared. "Better?"

"Yes."

"How are you and Henry?" She repeated herself.

"Keeping busy," Regina answered, leaning beside the walled phone as she played with the cord between her fingers. "Henry's growing like a weed. I bought him an outfit last year to wear for our Christmas photo, and he grew out of it before he even had a chance to wear it."

"Yeah, it is almost Christmas there, isn't it?" Emma wondered amazed. "It doesn't feel like it over here. But I got your package and your letter. Pretty sure Neal thinks Henry's my kid with him dressing up as a soldier for Halloween."

"Rexy Jr. had to match his father," Regina said emulating a certain three-year old.

"Is that who he was copying, huh?" The soldier said wryly earning a laugh from Regina. "I –zzz– "

Regina frowned and squinted. "What was that?"

"I said I missed that," Emma repeated when the static cleared. "Your laugh."

"Is that the only thing you missed?" Regina grinned as Emma nearly choked at the near-sultry tone the brunette had taken. She bit her lip pleased yet modestly embarrassed, but at the same time, she couldn't find it in her to give a damn. It had been months since she had seen Emma, touched Emma, so embarrassment flew out the window.

Emma's voice dropped down to a husky timber. "How about I fill you in on what I plan to explore?"

It was Regina's turn to choke on her words as she recalled their time on the porch swing, heated kisses and exploring hands, but with Emma's promise in the forefront of her mind, it had progressed past the less-than-innocent touches. Her cheeks flushed red and a stirring hummed deep in the pit of her pelvis as her mind continued to taunt her.

"Don't say things unless you plan to hold up your end of the bargain, soldier."

"Believe me," Emma said earnestly. "I do."

Regina grinned brightly as fluttering erupted in her chest. Attempting to hide her blush by clearing her throat, Regina asked, "Neal is doing well, I assume?"

"Oh," Emma became solemn, and the tone she took had the grin Regina wore wiped off her face. "He's still in the infirmary. He's got burns running down his neck and left arm."

"Dear god, what happened?"

"Nothing," she said hastily.

"People don't just get hurt for no reason."

The blonde scoffed and replied bitterly. "Yeah, right."

"Emma?" Regina asked worriedly.

"He got too close to a fire."

"I know how burns happen, Emma," Regina said on the verge of snapping. "What were you doing?"

"We were following orders. We had to apprehend and confiscate. He's going to be fine."

Regina nodded, then a beat of silence passed. "What happened to you?"

"–zzz–" Emma's silent contemplation was interrupted by the constant static on the line, but finally Regina heard her sigh. "I –zzz– concussion."

"A concussion?" Regina nearly shrieked. "Did you see a doctor?"

"Of course I did. It just knocked me around for a couple weeks, but then my leg was scratched up and got infected, so I couldn't walk for another week," she answered dismissively. "I'm really the last person you should be concerned about."

"Why didn't you call me sooner?" The brunette demanded.

"–zzz– –zzz–" The static was so bad Regina couldn't decipher anything Emma was saying.

"What?"

"The phone lines here suck," Emma grunted as both explanation and aggravation.

"What on earth were you doing that landed you in the hospital?" Regina demanded, her voice rising without her control.

"My job," Emma deadpanned just as strongly.

"Apprehending and confiscating doesn't lead to concussions and infections."

"It does here."

"So it was simply a mission gone awry then?" Regina deadpanned. "I told you not to make stupid decisions and to be safe."

"Nothing –zzz– stupid," Emma argued.

"What?" Regina yelled frustrated.

"It wasn't stupid!" the blonde yelled back just as annoyed.

"You got yourself hurt."

"–zzz– going –zzz– hurt."

Regina growled at the incessant static.

"I'm not dead," Emma reminded her.

"Not yet!" Angry tears clouded Regina's eyes, but she did well to push them away. She swallowed hard, mouth and throat dry as she pressed the heel of her palm to her closed eyes in frustration. "I can't deal with this."

The only thing she heard next was static then a dial tone.

Chapter 13

Chapter Notes

Disclaimer in Chapter One

AN: I'm so sorry for the delay, but I hope the lengths of these chapters have been worth the wait! Honestly, I've been doing a scavenger hunt at work for a week and a half, and my competitive side has me running around the city looking for pink three-holed buttons and Yakbaks. Anyone got IT on VHS or an Onyx Pokemon Card?!

See the end of the chapter for more notes

The only thing she heard next was static and a dial tone.

Regina's breath caught in her throat as the low hum of the dial tone sounded ominously in her ear. She fought to swallow the lump in her throat that was so thick it felt like she had been choking on a jawbreaker. Reality struck when the busy signal blared incessantly, reminding Regina that her time was up.

No. No, this can't be happening. She hadn't meant it.

She hung up frantically and pulled the receiver to her ear, but all that did was end the busy signal and restart the dial tone. The warm fluttering in her chest from the sound of Emma's voice turned into cold dread as her heart dropped to the pit of her stomach like a sky diver who forgot their parachute. A simple mistake with drastic consequences? Regina was familiar with that.

She hung up and picked up the phone twice more, each time with more ferocity and every time her rationale waning.

Oh dear god, she was an awful person, she thought as she pulled her hair away from her forehead and paced the kitchen haphazardly. Did she just yell at Emma, a soldier who was risking her life every single day because she got hurt? She shook her head at her own absurd and brash behaviour. What the hell was she thinking? She wasn't thinking, that was the obvious answer. Every form of explanation – she was worried, she was upset, she was scared – it all didn't matter in the end because as long as Emma was breathing then that's okay. Then she should have told her that! Regina smacked a palm over her forehead at her own idiocy, one she never admitted except for the rare case, and Emma was the rarest of them all.

She had to apologize. Right now. Right then and there. She growled and slammed her fist down on the island in frustration because she couldn't apologize right then and there because this distance thing was torturous and Emma was halfway across the world getting shot at and blown up and Regina started hyperventilating. Her breaths got shorter, and suddenly she felt like she was eighteen all over again sitting alone in the hospital waiting room being told her mother didn't make it and how she ran all the way to her father's tomb and––she paused and took deep breaths, slow movements to open up her airways again as the anxiety left her slowly through each exhale.

When she finally regained control of her lungs again, Regina didn't feel any less guilty. She couldn't call Emma back, and Sidney was useless. Resigned and more than a little bit desperate, Regina darted from the kitchen, quickly catching Henry as he played on the floor of his playroom, before whipping open her study room door, reaching her desk in two quick strides. Her drawer was yanked with such force it was a wonder it wasn't pulled off its roller as Regina dug through some files to pull out the first piece of stationary she could get her hands on.