Something
Completely AU. Emma is a successful private detective currently residing in Chicago, IL. Typically her detective duties, along with her trusty sidekick August Booth, involve investigating failed marriages and cheating wives. She is a single mom, trying to figure it all out. Eventual Swan Queen.
I know Boston is Emma's city, but I'm in love with Chicago, so I switched it for my own selfish reasons. I feel the city should almost be a character at the end and I don't know Boston well enough to capture the voice of it. So, Chicago it is!
I've aged Henry... by a few years. I like young adults way better than pre-teens.
Presently, Emma sleeps with men, because she just doesn't understand herself yet. But I won't write heterosex, so no worries there.
Robin Hood is involved, but I can't say more than that. YOU WON'T LIKE HIM, I PROMISE.
And don't worry - it's eventual Swan Queen.
Also, I love constructive criticism, so leave a review! Happy reading!
Obviously I do not own the characters of Once Upon a Time. Sadly.
Emma Swan slowly opened her eyes. She pushed herself up on her elbows and looked at the clock on the window sill. The soft glow of the street lamps were illuminating the room just enough that it wasn't pitch black. The red, digital numbers slightly came into focus as she squinted.
4:15 AM
She groaned, rolled over and immediately bumped into something… Oh, right… someone. Emma picked her head up from the mattress and glanced over at the sleeping form next to her. Another one night stand with another guy she would never talk to again.
She quietly extracted herself from the warm bed and threw on a pair of fleece lined running pants, a sports bra, and running shoes. Hopefully by the time she returned from her run the man would have taken the hint and would be gone. Emma tugged a pullover on, rearranged her blond hair and then stole one last glance towards the sleeping form.
Dammit… Why do I keep doing this?
"How was your night last night?" Emma asked, breaking the silence. Henry looked up at her from his homework as she continued to make dinner. She flipped the turkey burger on the griddle and then glanced over at her son. Their eyes locked, his left eyebrow arching. "What?"
"I should probably be asking you that, Ma."
"What are you talking about?" Emma hoped that he didn't see the deep blush cross her cheeks. Her overnight visitor had been gone when she returned from her run that morning, thank goodness. It never was something she planned when she went out with her friends, but typically someone ended up going home with her. And the trysts always ended the same way. A morning run and walking into an empty apartment. The only thing that remained this morning was a piece of paper on the bathroom mirror, held up with a piece of scotch tape. Thanks. – B
"Mmhmm. Mom, I'm 16. I know what happens when parents have nights to themselves."
Emma started to laugh. "Oh, sure. Seriously, though, how was your night? Did you and Jacob finally beat that damn game?"
Henry smirked. "Nice subject change." He stole a fresh french fry from the basket on the bartop. "Actually, we did. And we found another level. One that is I guess super hard to find and super hard to beat. We're supposed to meet online on the Playstation tonight to try to beat it together. I don't know if we can beat it but I'm so stoked." He looked at his mom and smiled, "What?"
"Stoked?"
"Yes, ma, stoked. Don't even act like you don't know what that means."
"Oh, I know what it means. It means you've been hanging around that record store and those hipsters far too much."
Henry's eyes shot open wide. "Ma! Holy cow, I totally forgot to tell you." He ran out of the kitchen and into his bedroom, quickly returning with a plastic bag. He pulled out a vinyl album cover and spun it in his hands, both corners held firmly. "Eat your heart out!"
Emma's smiled stretched from ear to ear. "HENRY! I cannot believe you found that!"
"AND it's an original copy. This is legit, Ma."
Emma set the spatula down and made her way to her son. He was so cute, standing there with his used copy of a TLC Ain't 2 Proud 2 Beg vinyl album and his goofy grin. "I don't know where you got this eclectic music taste from, but I am super happy about it." Emma put her hands on either side of his face and kissed him on the forehead.
"I got it from you, ma. You know that."
She looked straight into his hazel eyes. "Yes, I suppose you did."
"I got you something, too." He gingerly set the TLC album on the kitchen stool and then slid out another album from the plastic bag for Emma. "I know you really love The Beatles, and I don't think you have this one on vinyl."
Emma felt her eyes tear up when she looked at the album. "Henry, I love it. Thank you." She looked between her son and the album. "Why don't you go put it on?"
"Sounds like a great plan," Henry said as he bounced over to the record player. He purposely skipped the first song and started with the second.
Emma smiled as she plated their burgers, fries, and salad.
Something in the way she moves…
"August!" No response. Emma pushed the steel door closed of the loft apartment that she and August had turned into their office. She dropped her leather messenger bag on the countertop in the small kitchenette to the left and shouted again, "August!" Still nothing. "What the hell… August?!" Emma heard a couple of thuds and then an even louder crash.
"What?!" came a voice from the upstairs loft.
"August, seriously. What have I told you about falling asleep at the office?" A couple seconds later, she was brewing a cup of hot chocolate in the Keurig. She glanced toward the loft area up the small staircase and waited for an answer.
August poked his head over the loft railing and smiled sheepishly. "I'm really sorry, Em. I was here working late on the new file system and I just lost track of time and honestly, this futon up here is way more comfortable than anything at my apartment."
Emma couldn't help but smile at him, his hair sticking straight up and clearly unaware that he still had a post-it stuck to his forehead. "It's okay. As long as you're alon-"
"Auggie, honey, what's all the noise about?"
August's face dropped, "Em, really, don't." He hung his head in shame. "I know. I'm in trouble."
Emma's face was on fire. "10 minutes, August. And she'd better not be one of our clients' wives." Just as she said that, her eyes made contact with his and he shrugged sheepishly. "Are you fucking kidding me?" she hissed.
He sighed as loud as he could as he disappeared from sight. Emma heard a scuffling and then what she was pretty sure was kissing and possibly more, ew, ew, ewwww, and then 20 minutes later, August emerged from upstairs, a perky, blonde in tow. "Emma, you remember – "
"Oh, Mrs. Johnson." Emma swirled around and rolled her eyes. "Great to see you again. I'm certainly happy that your husband is paying us to spy on you while August here fucks you. Just wonderful."
"Emma!" August screeched as he ushered the woman out the door. She kissed him, he shoved her out, and then he slammed the door in her face. "What the hell?!"
"Don't."
"Em."
Emma turned and pointed her finger at him. "August. Don't." She walked over to her desk and started shuffling through papers on what she referred to as the reception area. Really it was just August's desk and she was thankful that at least he knew how to be a loyal assistant. "Where are the forms for the new clients? There's a new client coming in this morning – kind of why I was hoping you wouldn't have been here with a WOMAN, but whatever – and I'd like to appear to be professional."
August slid past her while combing through his messy, messy hair, the post-it finally found. "Em, man, why didn't you tell me that I had a post-in stuck to my forehead?"
Emma chuckled, "I figured Mrs. Johnson would have told you. Now where's the paperwork?"
He glared at her, pointed in the direction of a tall cabinet with paper sized cubby holes in it. "I rearranged everything. It's all in order, alphabetically. I also color-coded all the forms, too. New Clients, pink, old clients, blue, miscellaneous, green. But you don't have to pull papers anymore, because there are new client folders in your office on the bookcase. I'll label them with the label maker after you're finished with the initial check." He moved between Emma and the cabinet. "Please do not screw this up. It took all night." August smiled, "Well, not all night."
"Gross." Emma pushed him out of the way and eyed the cabinet. "This is awesome, August. I'll overlook the fact that you fucked a woman on the futon upstairs."
"It wasn't just on the futon."
"Don't."
"The chair."
"August!"
Emma heard the metal door to the loft slide open from her office. Moments later, August was greeting the client, asking about coffee or water or tea, or a cookie.
"I'll let Detective Swan know that you're here." August made his way towards Emma's office and pushed open her door after softly knocking. "So, the client is here."
"Okay, great. Thanks, August." She looked up from her desk at him. His eyes were huge. "What? Have you slept with this one already?"
August shook his head. "Uh, no. Not at all."
Emma laughed, "Have I slept with this one?"
"Not that I'm aware of," August whispered. "But she's," he whistled a long, low whistle. "Yeah, she's good."
"She? I thought this client was a husband?"
August chuckled, "Sorry, no. This one is most definitely a woman."
Emma tilted her head. "I thought we were only servicing men right now? Men that wanted to find out if their wives were cheating?" She checked her appointment book. "All this says is 'Mills'."
"Well, I might have put the ad for business on Craigslist."
"Great." Emma shook her head, discouraged. "Now what?"
"You're gonna be okay with this little fuck up of mine."
"Why do you think that?"
"Because she is hot as hell."
"So?"
"No, Emma. No. You don't understand."
Emma leaned back in her chair and smiled. "August, unlike you, I'm not trying to sleep with them, so I know how to act around women." She stood up and made her way around August. "Watch and learn, my friend. Watch and learn." Emma slipped past her friend and grabbed a new client folder from the stack in her office as she did so. The woman was sitting on one of the leather chairs in their waiting area. Her back was towards them. So far, all Emma could see was dark brown hair, a gray overcoat, and a pair of heels. "Hello, there, sorry to keep you waiting." And just as she said that, the woman stood up, turned, and there went Emma, stumbling over her own two feet and almost falling completely on her face. She caught herself, shouting out Holy Shit as she did so, and dropped her new client folder. The papers went everywhere. "I am so sorry, ma'am. I don't know what happened. I think I must have just tripped."
"Oh, yes, there's a loose board there, Emma," August said, his words iced with sarcasm. Emma turned around from her kneeling position and glared at him.
As she stood, the woman walked over towards her. She held out a delicate hand, "I'm Regina Mills."
Emma's heart was in her throat. What the hell is happening to me? Her eyes wandered over the brunette's features, noticing immediately the small scar on the right hand side of her upper lip. The lips, of course were painted in a very red lipstick. Her eye makeup was flawless and her hair was styled perfectly. Clearly she came from money and the more Emma stood and gaped at her, the more nervous she became, especially since the woman clearly had no emotion and hadn't even cracked a smile at Emma's sheer lack of grace of almost falling face first into a reclaimed barnwood floor. "I'm Emma Swan. Detective Swan." She shook the outstretched hand, the warmth surprising her.
"I didn't know that I would be working with a woman," Regina said with an air of confidence Emma wasn't sure what to do with.
The corner of Emma's mouth turned upwards. "That makes two of us. Come with me. We can get comfortable in my office." She turned on her heel and made immediate eye contact with August. He knew what she was saying with just a look, which just so happened to be: You're lucky I like you so much or I would fire your ass. Emma closed the door behind Regina. "Can I take your coat?" She watched as unsteady fingers worked at the buttons on the gray coat and then shed it off of her bodice. Emma took the coat, hanging it on the hook next to the door. She made her way around the chair and sat down on one of the chairs on the side of the desk where the clients normally would sit.
Regina looked at Emma cautiously. "Excuse me, Miss Swan, aren't you supposed to sit there?" She gestured towards the chair behind the desk. Hey eyes lingered on the chair next to Emma.
Emma smiled, "Yes. But I do things a little differently. I feel that sitting behind the desk is too impersonal. Does this bother you?" Emma noticed that the brunette looked as if she was going to crawl right out of her skin. "I can sit there if it does." She went to get up when Regina stopped her.
"No, no. It's fine. I'm just slightly nervous."
Emma sat back in her chair. "No need to be nervous, Mrs. Mills. We are just going to talk right now."
Regina moved around the chair. Her visible deep breath hitched in her throat as she slowly sat down. An uneasy sigh escaped from her lips. "I'm not usually a conversationalist. I prefer to keep my thoughts to myself."
"Well, clearly there's something you need to get off of your chest."
"Yes." Regina stared straight ahead. The large window in the office looked out onto Halsted Street. She could see Downtown Chicago perfectly. It calmed her in a way. Knowing that she was finally here. Regina glanced over to her left at Emma. "I think my husband is planning to have me murdered."