Emma had had enough. She'd tried being civil and friendly, she'd tried pre-empting what would make the damn Mayor happy but it always resulted in a slew of off-hand remarks and sneers at her incompetence. Today was no different. After spending hours filling out reports, she'd proudly handed them to the uptight woman with a grin. Regina had flicked through them disinterestedly and slung the pile back on the desk with an eye roll. "What exactly do you call this Sheriff?"

Emma had huffed loudly. "What's the problem now Madam Mayor? Should I have put them in alphabetical order and sprinkled fairy dust on them because I was gonna do that but I'm all out."

Regina leant menacingly over the desk and narrowed her eyes at the blonde. "I don't take kindly to your tone Sheriff. If you spent half as much time checking your work as you do thinking up witty remarks, you would have noticed that these reports of yours are devoid of one crucial item which renders them useless."

Emma rolled her eyes and picked up one of the reports from the messy pile. She flicked it open and sighed. "What exactly am I missing here... oh!" She scrunched up her face and blushed. "The case number. Sorry..."

Regina straightened herself up and went to walk out of the station. "I expect these finished and on my desk by 5pm. There are some other things I'd like to discuss with you so please do not be late." She turned and walked to the door, pausing in the frame. "Oh and Sheriff Swan, alphabetically and numerically ordered please."

No sooner had she heard the click-clack of heels disappear down the corridor, she let out a frustrated groan and grabbed her hair mumbling to herself. "Yes Madam Mayor. No Madam Mayor. Three bags full Madam Mayor! I wish I could read her damned mind and just for once, once..beat her to the punch!" She sat sorting through the pile and got to work trying to reallocate each of the reports to the correct case number.

Somewhere in Storybrook, a little fairy nodded with a grin. "I hear your wish Emma. Make it so."

###

Regina sat watching the clock from her comfortable seat behind her mayorial desk. She knew the idiot would be late, now, it was just a question of by how many minutes. Her mind ticked with all the evil ways she could punish the woman for her tardiness. One extra report for each minute maybe? No, that was too obvious and not very entertaining. A cat in a tree for each minute of tardiness? That would be interesting to watch the sheriff shimmying up a tree, but cats were unpredictable with magic. No, something more direct so the woman knew her place. So that she'd have no doubt as to who her boss was. Six minutes. She stood and walked over to peer out of her window. She could see the flustered blonde almost running towards the office and she smirked. She had the perfect idea in mind.

Emma burst through the door and took in the empty desk. She was about to panic when she heard the woman speak without turning to face her. "You are late Sheriff. I hope you have a good excuse."

"Only a few minutes Mad.."

"Seven minutes to be precise."

Emma stood gaping at the back of the Mayor's head. "Ok seven minutes. Sorry, I had a call come through just as I was leaving."

Regina turned around slowly and took her seat, gesturing for the Sheriff to take the one opposite. "You have the complete reports I take it."

Emma handed the envelope to the woman and nervously sank down in the chair awaiting approval.

Regina pulled them out painstakingly slowly and examined each one in detail. "Better." 'That wasn't so difficult was it Miss Swan?'

Emma quirked an eyebrow. "I know, I'm sorry about that. I guess I just overlooked that tiny little box. Why they gotta make them so small? It won't happen again."

"I should hope not." 'for your own sake.'

Emma could have sworn she hadn't seen the Mayor's lips move with the last remark. She blinked rapidly doubting her tired eyes.

"Is there something the matter?" Regina looked at her with a mix of concern and scathing.

"Nope. Just you said you wanted to speak to me about something."

Regina tried to hide her grin. "Yes. I've been having some issues with vandals on my property. I'm having security cameras installed however, they won't be live until tomorrow so I need you to provide surveillance this evening between midnight and seven a.m." 'Seven hours.'

Emma groaned internally. She had done a full shift and was about to call it a day. "Uhm, sure. I'll see if David can.."

"I'm requesting your services Sheriff. I'd rather the whole town was not made aware of my predicament." 'Plus I've punished David enough.'

Emma looked startled. She hadn't taken her eyes off of the woman's lips and they definately hadn't moved that time. Either she was going bat shit crazy or the mayor had suddenly acquired ventriloquist skills.

Regina caught her staring intently at her and a thought crossed her mind. That got your attention now, didn't it!' "Is that going to be an issue?"

Emma swallowed unsure of what was happening. "Uhm, no I guess not. Is there anything else?" She forced a smile. If this was one of Regina's magic tricks, she wasn't about to give her the satisfaction of knowing it was getting to her.

Regina smiled back. "That will be all." 'For now at least. I'm sure I'll come up with something else to summon you for soon enough.'

Emma stood wide eyed. "Uh, great. I'll see you tonight, or not maybe, uhm. Yeah ok, bye then." She clambered to the door without turning back. The tone in Regina's voice had been unsettling even more than the fact that her lips weren't moving. She sounded predatorial, flirty even. Not for the first time since they'd met had Emma's mind travelled to somewhere inappropriate.

"Goodbye Miss Swan." Regina drawled allowing her eyes to flicker down to the ass walking out of her office. 'Mmm. Much too tight. Don't let the door hit it on your way out!'

Emma slammed the door behind her and let out a breath of relief. Her encounters with the woman were always intense but that was something else. She had finished for the day so she headed back to the apartment to try and get a couple of hours sleep and hopefully something in her stomach. Her head was filled with strange thoughts as she drove the short distance back home. She tried to shake them off but by the time she reached the apartment, she was mentally listing ingredients. She swung open the front door and quickly scanned the cupboards. Mary M was already home and she looked up at the racket Emma was making. "You okay sweetie? What are you looking for?"

Emma pulled stuff out from the cupboard and refrigerator and laid it out on the kitchen counter. "Uh, yeah I'm good thanks. Do we have ground beef and parmesan?"

Mary M laughed. "You'll be lucky if we have pop tarts left! Where has this sudden urge to cook come from? You're usually allergic to the kitchen."

Emma frowned. "I don't know. It's like I've got this whole recipe planned out in my head as if someone is reading it to me. I'm gonna go to the store. Do you want anything?"

"No thanks honey. Your father is picking up some takeout from Granny's."

Emma smiled lightly and left for the nearest store. The list just kept getting bigger and for some reason, it had Regina's accent. That was definitely not something she wanted to share with her mother. She hoped if she got this out of the way she could clear her head and have a nice sleep so she whizzed around the store grabbing items she'd never even known how to pronounce, let alone use in cooking, and piled her basket high. She was just about to check out when she heard, 'Just a small glass of the rioja whilst I'm cooking.' She rolled her eyes and picked up a bottle of wine. She was used to Regina telling her what to do at work, now even her own brain had decided to don the woman's voice and boss her around. Maybe she should go and see Archie at some point. She obviously had some issues.

She gave the checkout kid an awkward smile. She was a bit embarrassed to be buying anything other than her usual staples of cereal and bread so she grabbed a few candy bars and added them to her haul. At least the sugar would help keep her awake later on. Once home, she went to work prepping and chopping the ingredients. She took a sip of the wine and made a sour face. Definately too dry for her taste. After a while of concentrating on the instructions, she finally shoved the whole thing into the oven and her brain told her she had precisely 30 minutes to shower and dry her hair. "I washed my hair this morning!"

"What did you say?" Mary M looked up from the t.v.

"Oh nothing. Just talking to myself. Think I'm gonna go lie down for a while. I've got a headache. Would you call me in 30 just in case I fall asleep?"

"Sure honey. What are you cooking?"

Emma paused on the stairs. "Looks like lasagna but I could be wrong."

She walked off upstairs and collapsed on the bed, hiding her face in a pillow. The chatter in her head was relentless. 'Henry needs to get his grades up in math. His last test results were disappointing to say the least. Not that I should be surprised. His other mother obviously passed along more than just her looks. I can't believe she forgot to put the case file numbers on those reports. Sometimes I'm certain she does these things just to annoy me so I have no choice other than to berate her. Maybe she has a submissive side underneath all that brashness and bravado. That would be interesting. I do enjoy torturing the woman! Although maybe my punishment for her tardiness was a little exaggerated. She has trouble staying awake in that stuffy little station as it is. Where did I put that new shampoo bottle? Ah there it is! Poor Miss Swan. It must be awfully mind numbing to sit in a car for seven hours watching absolutely nothing. I wonder how long she'll last? She is quite stubborn. I'll check up on her when possible. I doubt I'll be able to sleep more than a couple of hours as usual anyway. Maybe I'll have the rest of that bottle after dinner, see if it knocks me out. I'm so tired.'

"So am I for God's sake, what is wrong with me?"

Suddenly a poof of light and a twinkle filled her room. She drew her head out of the pillow and looked around noticing the young fairy stood at the foot of her bed grinning smugly. "Hello Emma. Did it work?"

"What? Nova? What the hell are you doing in my room?" Emma was both pissed off and thankful that she was at least still fully clothed.

"Oops, sorry Emma, I just wanted to check in with you to see if your wish was working?"

"My wish? I didn't make a wish. Apart from on my birthday I mean but that was..."

Nova looked worried. "You did Emma! Today! I heard you. You said and I quote, I wish I could read her damned mind and just for once, once... beat her to the punch."

Emma's jaw dropped then she laughed. "You're kidding me right? Is this some kind of sick fairy joke or something?"

"It's not a joke Emma. What's wrong? Aren't you happy with your wish?"

"Aren't I happy with my... Jesus Nova! If I knew I still had a wish I would've wished for something a hellalot cooler than being able to read Regina's mind! Do you have any idea how much she worries about stuff, I mean constantly! I have her riding my ass all day at work and over Henry and now she's in my head! I mean damn girl! You mean to tell me I could be taking a round trip of the world right now? Cos' that is what I'd wish for! Or a private jet or to be a millionaire or something!"

Nova blushed. "I'm sorry Emma. It's done now though and you do only get one wish. But maybe this will be a good thing, for both of you. You'll get to know her better and that could help improve your relationship with her and ease your problems over Henry and work."

Emma shrugged suddenly overwhelmed by the situation. "How long will this last?"

Nova gritted her teeth. "I'm not sure exactly. It could be a day, it could be forever. Sorry, I didn't plan out the details very well. I was so excited at getting my first wish through."

Emma smiled and shook her head. "It's a bit wrong though isn't it? I mean, isn't it like an invasion of privacy or something? I sure as hell wouldn't like it is she could read my thoughts."

Nova blushed deeper.

Emma's eyes widened. "Please don't tell me she can read my thoughts too?"

"I uhm, I'm not sure. It's possible."

"Ok. Let's think. I'm gonna call her. Nova can you maybe go try and find out what you can about the finer details and please don't tell a soul about this!"

"Of course. I'll get back to you soon. Sorry Emma."

"It's fine. Don't worry about it. We'll figure something out."

Nova poofed away and Emma quickly called the Mayor.

"Miss Swan. How can I help?"

Emma stayed silent on the other end and thought as hard as she could about budget reports because that was safer than something ridiculous like bubble bath and rioja. 'Damnit concentrate! BUDGET REPORTS, BUDGET REPORTS!'

"Miss Swan? Are you there?"

'BUDGET REPORTS.'

"Emma? What's happened? Are you in danger?"

Emma let out the breath she had been holding and relaxed. "Hey sorry, I must have butt dialled you." She was about to kick herself for having such a lame excuse when she heard Regina giggling in her head.

'Haha, only a matter of time with such tight ass hugging jeans!'

"I see. Well, if you don't mind, I'm a little busy so if there was nothing that either you or your butt would like to discuss I shall hang up now." Regina stifled the grin until she'd finished the sentence, conscious that it would effect her voice.

Emma laughed out loud. The Mayor had a strange obsession with her ass and she was quite shocked and pleasantly surprised. "Okay, yeah, you do that. Both me and my butt will be outside your place at midnight as promised."

Regina grinned at Emma's words and the image it had conjured. "Excellent. Enjoy your evening Miss Swan."

"Enjoy your rioja Madam Mayor." She clicked the phone off and waited a beat.

'How on earth did she know what I was drinking? Has she already started surveillance?' Regina pulled the towel around her body tighter and twitched back the curtain slightly to look for banana yellow clues. Satisfied she wasn't in fact being watched, she returned to the task of drying her hair.

'Nine minutes. Thank you ever so much for interrupting my routine Miss Swan. Now I shall have to dress magically before serving dinner.'

Emma had been shaking her head at being mentally berated until her own mind caught up to one simple and very nearly overlooked fact.

"Holy fuck! She was naked when she answered the phone!" She blushed realizing that perhaps her suppressed desire for the woman wasn't as well buried as it should be and that the image it conjured had effected a certain part of her body instantly. She paced around the room trying to calm herself. "Okay dude, you've got this. It might not even last that long and besides, she never has to know so technically it'll be like surveillance." She was saying it out loud trying to convince herself but she felt awful. She knew if Regina knew, she'd see it as an attack and they could be back to square one. She decided there and then that no matter what she learnt, she wouldn't judge her or treat her any differently. Well... Maybe just a little bit in a harmless, goofy way. She smirked as she heard Regina singing to herself in her head.

'I feel it in my bones. Enough to make my system blow. Welcome to the new age, to the new age.'

It was cute! She had a pretty good singing voice in Emma's opinion and it seemed hilarious to her that she identified with a song titled Radioactive. There was no doubt in Emma's mind that she was.