Author's Note: Just a fic I wrote because of all the feels and enthusiasm I've had for this show lately. I wanted to write a little something about two of my favorite characters. This is a one-shot, but I might write more chapters, whether they would be connected to this little indulgence or not, I'm not sure. :)

James liked being Sheriff; it helped him forget for brief moments that his wife and daughter were trapped in some kind of no-land. It kept him very busy, which was no shocker; it wasn't as if the town was filled with inhabitants whose minds were in a peaceful state.

When he wasn't doing the job that belonged to his Emma, he was either keeping care of Henry or helping Grumpy and the other dwarves down in the mines. Even so, there were the inevitable instances of quiet and solitude in which his brain couldn't rest. He felt guilty for having yet to find a way to save his wife and daughter, and he felt useless for not being quicker in discovering a way to break the curse on the town border. He often felt that everything would fall into place much faster if some residents could just leave. He only felt a little guilty for this thought; it wasn't as if everyone in Storybrooke was exactly a stellar human-being...being, whatever.

He knew he wasn't enough for Henry right now, what with barely being able to figure his own problems out. Henry's presence helped him though, helped him have confidence when it felt like all this responsibility and confusion was overwhelming. The flip-side of spending time with Henry was that it reminded him of how he never knew his own daughter, and the more time that passed was more time that he didn't have the opportunity.

He managed to stay fairly positive really, considering how much he missed Snow. They had so little time after their memories returned, so few caresses or even words. Apart from the emotional loss, he was not inhuman and the lack of carnal activity made him miss his divine wife all the more. The fairest of them all...he had always thought so.

Sitting in Granny's diner, getting a burger for lunch with Henry, random thoughts abounded.

He considered checking up on his ex, Catherine, who he realized in actuality he had never been married to. At first he wanted the pickles on his burger, now he found himself picking them off and giving them to Henry, who he noticed occasionally gave him probing looks. He missed having a horse; cars were so loud and ugly... Then the next second he found himself looking down Ruby's shirt and quickly checked himself, hoping Henry didn't think his Grandpa was pervert. But the next thing he knew he was checking out the legs of whomever the lovely lady was who was leaning over the counter across from their booth. His eyes slid up slowly and as they did, the woman turned around.

James choked on a piece of bun and took a quick swig of water. He was checking out Regina Mills...the Evil Queen. Is this what he had become? A man who took his grandson out to lunch to check out his adoptive mother who was also evil?

"Hello, Prince Charming. I hope you feed my son real food on occasion." Regina stood with her arms crossed over her chest in front of their table, her usual contemptuous countenance resting on his rapidly deteriorating hamburger...they had always fallen apart on David too.

"It's just David, er...James now, Regina." How embarrassing, Henry almost looked worried about him and Regina smirked faintly. "Why don't you sit and eat with us Madam Mayor, I'm not completely unsympathetic to the fact that you miss your son. I'm not as heartless, as some people."

This invitation seemed to throw off her groove a tad.

Henry sighed. "I agree. You should sit with us." The young boy gave a small smile and this seemed to make up the Queen's mind.

Regina slid into the booth next to her son and Ruby soon came by to take her order. Regina asked Henry about school and what he'd been up to and James was impressed with his civil answers, secretly wondering if he was more open to Regina because Emma was away. What did that say about James...he wasn't sure he wanted to know. He was still trying not to worry whether the Mayor had noticed his inappropriate gaze; if she had, she wasn't letting on.

He finished off his meal while watching Henry and Regina talk. He studied the Evil Queen absentmindedly during his last bites, if she was just the tiniest bit less awful she would be extremely attractive. Her masterfully formed lips were especially showcased as they closed on her fork and curved in a smile at Henry's tale of an in-class project gone awry. It seemed there was no sufficient substitute teacher for Mary Margaret...Snow.

"I have to get back to the station." He slid his jacket back on, leaving cash on the table. "I would really appreciate it if you could drop Henry off at school for me. Unless you're too busy that is."

"I always make time for my son James, or was it David now?" Ooooh, did she look wicked.

He ignored her comment, nodding. "See you later Henry!"

"Bye Gramps!"

James smiled at him, the term of endearment was less jilting now than it had been just a few days ago. He'd never been called Dad, just skipped right to Gramps. He dared one last glance at Regina before sidling out of the diner and was almost amused to find the expression on her face caught somewhere between disdain and gratitude, a most unlikely combo.

That night after telling Henry a story that wasn't in his book, James got ready for bed himself; it wasn't very late but he was tired.

He walked to the window and looked out on a starry night, thinking of Snow and Emma like he did a thousand times a day. He wished on a star that night, he felt stupid, but he did.

In the few minutes before he nodded off he thought of someone he spent most of his time trying to forget. Regina. Now there was a seriously lost woman, powerful and sexy yes, but cruel, damaged and clearly confused as well. He didn't forgive her for what she did to Snow, but the way she was with Henry, he knew she loved her son. It was all well and good to live life thinking in terms of black and white, but it was never ever so simple. He couldn't loathe her as she likely deserved, not when there was a tiny glint of goodness in her, not when she could love.

James drifted off, his last waking thought of how Mr. Gold and Belle seemed to love one another, and how that left pretty much anything in the realm of possibility.