Author Note: I'm writing chapters to my other stories, promise but this was in my head this morning and a certain someone says where it ends is good enough for a one!shot, so here you go.
Emma Swan is a lot of things; cocky, often possesses the mental maturity of a teenage child and she has a habit of running from her problems when they become too much for her to handle. She can sometimes be ill tempered, blindsiding the undeserving with her anger and doing or saying things she'll later regret. She has her redeeming qualities like anyone else but in this moment, as she stares across the room to the lone cell of her station, she is fed up.
Turning to face her father, she raises an eyebrow and questions, "Why is she in there?" She doesn't mean it to come out quite as hostile as it does, but it's too late to take it back and so when he stares, somewhat shocked, she clenches her jaw and waits.
"She uh—she attacked Whale," David replies and she tilts her head, clearly needing more than that if she's going to take the arrest seriously. He nods, understanding. "She almost choked him to death, didn't release him until I grabbed her and forced her to let go."
Her brow rises in surprise. It isn't completely unexpected considering all that has happened in the last few weeks but still, the woman had gone from being a silent, brooding hermit to an apparently snappish, violent thug.
"Alright," she sighs. "What did he do?"
"Emma..." She knows that tone, know he's about to say something along the lines of it doesn't matter what he did, she can't go around assaulting people and yes, of course she agrees—mostly.
"Don't start," she cuts him off and turns her back to him, eyes meeting those of the brunette.
Regina says nothing as Emma moves toward the cell, merely watching her approach with a look of wary acceptance. Emma finds she misses the Mayor, the woman who would greet her with a curt Miss Swan and a sneer of disdain before making some caustic remark-slash-observation to derail any possible thought she was being in the least bit courteous to someone she considered beneath her.
The good old days, Emma muses silently and notes the narrowing of eyes as she chuckles quietly to herself. She sighs, arms slipping through the bars of the cell door as she leans into it. "Wanna tell me why you attacked Whale?" she asks, not really expecting an answer but waiting patiently regardless.
After a few minutes, Regina does respond. "Because I could," she says and if Emma didn't know better, she'd think her previous musings are coming true. Except, she does know better and instinct declares the brunette is lying for some reason. Maybe to get a rise out of her, and if that is the case, it won't work. She's long past fighting for fighting's sake.
With a shrug, Emma pushes from the door and rocks back on the balls of her feet. "I guess you'll be spending the night then," she informs, accepting the reason as though she believes it. She doesn't know this Regina, isn't sure she has the energy to get to know another of the woman's personas or if she even wants to know this one.
Sending David home, she enters her office and closes the door behind her, content to while away a few hours filling out paperwork. Regina is a constant on her mind throughout. She had thought—well, she doesn't know what she had thought truth be told.
After Neverland, Regina became somewhat of a recluse and no one knew why. At least, no one knew until Emma went over one afternoon to find the woman drunk off her ass. It had been evident immediately that Regina had been crying and when Emma expressed concern, she had gotten some slurred comment about good intentions and dead mothers, which is when she realised whatever was going on had to do with Cora.
Up until that moment, Emma had forgotten what went on before they hopped aboard the Jolly Roger to chase after the people who kidnapped their son. Regina had seemed different in Neverland, more distant—definitely snarkier but Emma had put it down to the fact she was worried about Henry. She hadn't been wrong, but she hadn't been a hundred percent right either. It made her feel terrible, and it was a feeling she snuffed out the second it surfaced because it wasn't right—at least, it didn't feel right—to turn Regina's grief into something that was about her.
Regina had every right to mourn the loss of her mother, in whatever way she deemed necessary. It was the aftermath that worries Emma; the drinking, the return to using her magic for the most mundane things—the violence. She cares about Regina—god help her—and she doesn't want the re-emergence of the Evil Queen but, if she's being honest, anyone Regina has hurt so far has deserved it.
She has a mental list, one with ticks beside each name for all the wrongs committed against Regina since their return. It is an extensive list, one where names are crossed off daily, only to be added again when a certain person is either too stubborn or too stupid to learn their lesson and leave the woman alone.
Whale is a frequent annoyance and she wonders if his near death experience will keep him off the list. If not, she doesn't think Regina will allow anyone to stop her from killing him next time. Despite what her father believes, there is no chance in hell that Emma thinks he could have stopped her if Regina really did want to kill someone. He couldn't stop her in the Enchanted Forest, and here in Storybrooke, Regina is second in power only to the Dark One.
Regina could kill them all with nothing more than the flick of her wrist, and Emma seems to be the only person in the town who realises it.
"Sheriff?"
Emma sighs and stands, running fingers through her hair with a glance to the clock. Its 2:40 in the morning, almost four hours since her shift started.
The first time, it had taken two days in the cell before Regina recovered from her anger and confessed her reason for trying to drown Jefferson—Emma still isn't certain she should have intervened in that one. Insulting Regina is one thing, threatening their son is another matter entirely, which is exactly what Regina had said.
Progress, Emma thinks and moves to open her door, entering the main room as she replies, "Madam Mayor." She snags a chair from behind a desk and sits on it backwards in front of the cell, arms folded across the back while she waits.
"He said that I was a danger to my—to our son," Regina explains after a few minutes, looking to Emma as though she expects her to agree with Whale.
She doesn't. Regina may have a lot of darkness and pain inside of her but Emma will never question the woman's ability to be a mother to their son. If there is a single person in this town that is perfectly safe from the brunette's wrath, she knows its Henry. She also knows no one besides the three of them believe that and it is yet another thing Emma is tired of having to try and get people to understand.
Pulling the chair from between her legs, Emma tosses it aside and tugs the keys from her belt. She unlocks the cell and the door swings open. "Go home, Regina."
Heading back to her office, she adds, "And stop drinking so much, you'll ruin your liver," before the door closes behind her.