This is for Swan Queen Week Winter 2015 Day Six: Alternate Curse AU. Enjoy
Emma cursed loudly. How fucking hard was it to find a tiny ass town in Maine, honestly. She kicked the back tire of the truck and hopped around while her toe throbbed in her boot. Yeah, that hadn't been a good idea. But then again neither had agreeing to this assignment. Go get this great breeding horse, Emma, they had said, it'll be easy they said. Right. She loved working for the stables, she did, but this was ridiculous. How could a GPS not know where this town was? Frickin' truly the middle of nowhere.
She huffed and got back into the truck and started it up again, the diesel engine roaring back to life and vibrating under her. She shifted into gear and gunned it forward. Well, if she couldn't find it she would just have to find a town nearby and ask for directions back to this Storybrooke or whatever the hell it was called. Who even named a town Storybrooke? She grumbled under her breath. This horse had better be made of fucking gold.
She drove for another twenty minutes, following the road she was on, that she had gotten lost on was more accurate, but the thing had to lead somewhere, didn't it? When she finally found this place she was going to call Donna and bitch her out for the shitty directions and the instructions to just use her GPS if anything went wrong. Yeah, like that never went wrong.
She was about to start cursing up another blue streak when she saw a sign. Welcome to Storybrooke, it read.
"Well fuck me," Emma mumbled under her breath. "Finally."
She rolled into a tiny town and looked around. It looked like she was on Main Street. There was diner and a bunch of small town shops lining the street. She didn't need the town proper at the moment. Though with as much time as she had spent lost she probably would need to spend the night somewhere before she could get back on the road. It was going to be a long drive to the outskirts of Boston tomorrow.
At least in the town now Donna's directions didn't suck. She glanced down at the piece of paper. She needed to find Mifflin Street and then she had to turn onto Old Oak Road and follow it until she found a sign for Mills Stables which would be right before the drive to said stables. Emma took a deep breath and started to scan the street signs as she went past.
She finally found Mifflin and turned down it, rolling past expensive houses. She whistled as she drove by the last on the block before the road split off into Old Oak Road and another small street. It was huge and white, a mansion basically. Damn, whoever lived in that had to be important.
She turned down Old Oak and coasted along until she found the stables. When she got out of the truck and smelled the all too familiar scent of horses she relaxed. Jesus, that had been harder than necessary.
Emma walked forward toward where she thought the stable manager's office would be. She found it on her first guess. Most barns were organized round about the same, she found. She knocked on the open door.
A woman with dark brown hair and a pair of black frame glasses on the end of her nose looked up. "Can I help you?" She asked in a clipped tone.
"Hi, I'm Emma Swan from Summersville Stables. I'm here to pick up a horse named Captain Hook. Uh, sorry I'm late but you wouldn't believe how hard it is to find this place."
The woman scowled at her, but stood. "Ah, well, I suppose if you don't know where you're going it might be difficult." She stepped around her desk and went up to Emma. She offered her hand. "Regina Mills."
Emma shook her hand and looked over Regina once more. Whoa. Since when were stable managers allowed to be this pretty? Donna certainly wasn't anything to look at, but damn was she a hell of a hard worker and even better rider. She looked up and down Regina's lean body and wondered just how well the woman in front of her rode. Probably really, really fucking well. Emma swallowed hard at the image.
Regina let go of Emma's hand and stepped back. "Just let me show you to where Captain Hook is. Since you've arrived so late do you want to pack him up tonight or would you rather wait until morning since the drive is rather long?"
"Uh, if we could wait until morning that would be cool. I'm going to need a whole day just to find my way back out of here. Donna's directions left a little to be desired in the right direction, let alone the reverse."
"Fair enough. Tonight we can inspect the horse and make sure he's up to your standards and sign the last of the paperwork. The morning will just be reserved for loading him up then. I'm afraid I'll have to ask you to come rather early. I have a class of six year olds to teach at eight in the morning and I have to prepare for that."
"Ok, early mornings aren't exactly new for me. Is six good or would earlier be better?"
Regina bit her lip and thought for a moment. "Make if five thirty just to be safe."
"Can do." She smiled at Regina while screaming on the inside about how early that meant she was going to have to wake up. She was used to early mornings, sure, but that didn't mean she liked them.
Regina led them down a long row of stalls and stopped about halfway down. She clicked her tongue and a large black horse peeked his head over his stall door. Regina scratched his forehead, right over the bright white star, and the horse whickered, pleased.
"The paperwork that certifies him as a pure bred Morgan is of course back in my office. He's been a lovely horse and he breeds very well, but he's a horse for more experienced riders and a good portion of my classes are all younger riders. A few more sign ups and I'll be out of gentler mounts." She patted him and stepped back, unlocking the door and motioning Emma through.
Emma stepped through keeping a hand on the horse to let him know she was there. She looked him over quickly, his coat was shiny and well maintained, his hooves were well shod and in good shape, his legs were sturdy. Donna had checked with Storybrooke's big animal vet earlier before the buy was truly set in motion, but it was good to have some visual confirmation. By all accounts this was the good horse that they were promised.
Regina kept talking, throwing the horse some food now that he wouldn't have to travel until the next day. "I need the room, sad as I'll be to see him go, as moody as he is." The horse snorted at that. Regina laughed and patted his neck.
Emma popped back up from her inspection. "He seems fine to me." She smiled at Regina again. Regina seemed more than fine to her.
"Mom! Mom!" A boy's voice entered the stable accompanied by the sound of pounding feet. He skidded to a stop in front of Captain Hook's stall smile wide, bright, and so very excited.
"Yes, Henry?" Regina cocked an eyebrow and glanced plainly back at Emma, trying to convey that she was in the middle of business.
Henry was oblivious. "Mom, I just took Robin Hood through those jumps you just set up. Oh my god, Mom it was so awesome and I kept my seat and everything just like you showed me!"
Regina stepped forward and dropped down to Henry's level. "Henry, what did you just say you did?" Her face had turned stony serious in a second.
"I, uh, jumped the jumps you just set up?" His voice raised at the end, making it a question.
"And what gave you the impression that you were allowed to jump in that corral, let alone jump by yourself?"
Emma almost felt bad for the kid. She had gone from soft squishy horse lover to steel spined parent in under ten seconds. But then again if he wasn't up to that skill level yet, she totally understood the need. Kid was better to get his ass reamed than his head busted open or worse.
"But you were teaching me and said I was a natural at jumping and I thought it was ok. I made it through just fine." He started to pout.
"Henry, you were on easy jumps then and under my supervision. Those jumps are for intermediate students and you did not have any supervision at all. I need you to understand that what you just did was very dangerous. You are still a beginning rider when it comes to jumps. Now just riding around the trails around here, yes, you are experienced enough to ride on your own and you have been given permission to do just that as long as you…" she trailed off so Henry could finish.
"Tell you exactly where I'll be riding and set a time limit with you."
Regina nodded. "Exactly, and those are rules for your own safety just as not jumping without my supervision is one of those rules. Do you understand?"
Henry dug his boot into the ground and nodded. "Yeah," he mumbled.
"Good." Regina stood and sighed. "But that doesn't mean you're getting out of this easily. Tomorrow morning you're cleaning out double the amount of stalls as usual and you can't be late for school."
"Ah Mom!" Henry whined.
"Nope, no buts, actions have consequences. Now, I expect Robin Hood to be back in his stall and brushed out to shining before you go back inside to start your homework, too."
More grumbling as Henry turned and slunk back out of the stables to go get the horse that'd he'd probably left in the jumping corral.
Regina turned around to Emma with a sheepish look on her face. "Sorry about that. He's hit the age where he thinks he's invincible."
Emma chuckled, emerging from Captain Hook's stall and shutting the door behind her. Hook snuffled in her hair for a moment before going back to his food. "I understand. I was like him once. The people at the horse camp I stayed at had a handful with me." She shook her head. "But then again, who wouldn't with a ten year old foster kid with attitude problems."
Regina look surprised. "Now that one isn't one I've heard before."
She scuffed her toe in the dirt much like Henry had a minute before. "Yeah, well, there was some program when I was younger for troubled kids. My foster parents at the time threw me into it to get rid of me for a few months and then in the middle of the summer decided they didn't want me at all. The woman who ran the camp was the manager of Summersville Stables at the time. She took me in when the social worker came to take me somewhere else, said she would take care of me, and did just that. I thought she only meant for the summer, but turns out she never gave me back. Taught me everything she knew about horses and riding. I think she saved me, honestly. Most foster kids like me didn't end up on good paths."
An understanding look came over Regina's face. "Yes, horses have a way of soothing away a good deal of hurt. People I suppose can do the same thing, but I find they're much more rare."
Emma nodded. "Yeah, they are."
They stood in silence for a minute before Regina shook herself. "Anyway, the last of the paper work should be signed now."
She set off back towards her office. Emma followed along obediently. It only took a minute to sign the rest of the stuff. Most of it had been completed earlier in the week. This was mostly just stuff about Emma receiving the horse and Captain Hook being in the state he was claimed to be in.
Emma sat back in her chair after she had signed everything. "Is there anywhere to stay around here for the night?"
"Granny's, she has an inn right behind the diner. If you ask she'll have you coffee and some sort of breakfast ready to go when you head out." Regina smiled. "Or maybe you should ask Ruby." Her eyes swept up and down Emma's form. "She's always looking for a bit of fresh meat to flirt with."
Emma's face heated. What the hell, had she been that god damn obvious? Regina just laughed for a few seconds and suddenly Emma really didn't care that she had apparently outed herself.
"Relax, dear, I find that having a good sense of these things makes my own life easier, if you understand my meaning." She cocked an eyebrow at Emma.
Emma flushed eve deeper. Holy hell, was she being flirted with too? Was a gorgeous woman like this actually flirting with her? Uh. What did she even do in a situation like this?
"I think I get it," she managed to eke out.
"I thought you would." Regina smirked at her and stood. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have some last minute chores to do and we both have early days tomorrow so I need to get started on them. Send Ruby my regards, will you?"
Emma stood up and turned towards the door almost as if on autopilot. "Uh, sure."
"And Emma?"
Emma turned.
"Granny makes a mean cheeseburger. You look like a cheeseburger girl."
Emma nodded. The woman was going to melt her face off, she swore it was gonna happen. How she could just flip a damn switch and go from pure business to concerned mother to business and seductress and back again she wasn't understanding. Emma barely managed to make everyday polite conversation some days.
"Uh, yeah, I'll make sure to try it."
She walked back to her truck and whistled once she was in the cab. Holy hell. What had just happened. Maybe taking this assignment hadn't been such a bad idea after all.
Zelena watched as an unfamiliar silver truck trundled back down the road. She frowned, mouth morphing into something that was almost a sneer. No one was supposed to be able to find Storybrooke, and that was certainly not a truck she had ever seen before. How in the world was this possible?
She turned and stalked from the window. There was one person that would know what was going on, and he was holed up in his study, doing whatever it was that he did in their time apart. She slammed the door open and just stood in the doorway for a long moment.
"Always with the dramatics, dearie," he said, not looking up from his work. "What have I done to anger you now? Left clothes on the floor, not done the dishes? What mundane task is it that has sent you into a rage?"
Zelena filed those slights away for later. She had worshipped this man in the enchanted forest, had rewritten an entire curse for him just so she could continue being his student, so he would allow her to cast the curse, to be important to him. She may have even loved him, though she wasn't quite sure about that. It was all idiocy. But they had ended up living together as part of the curse and a great many days she wished she just would have ripped his heart out and cast the curse the original way. And yet she supposed she was fond of him in some way or she would have killed him long ago.
"We have a problem." She stalked into the room and slammed her hands on the desk. "There was just a truck driving by."
"Oh, yes, I'll alert the presses to such odd news." He still hadn't looked up at Zelena.
Zelena read over the notes he was taking, all in Elvish, something about a seeking spell. She scowled. Why in the world would he need that? She shook it off and plugged on.
"That's not the real point, you idiot. It's a truck from an outsider! No one is supposed to be able to find this town, or had you forgotten?"
Rumple looked up at her with that little enigmatic smirk on his face. "Oh really, dearie, do tell."
"Do tell, do tell?" She screeched. "There's nothing to tell other than we must eliminate the threat to the curse, don't you see that?"
"I suppose." He scribbled something else down. "Why don't you go gather information on this so called outsider. After all, dearie, didn't I teach you that information is power?"
Zelena growled. "We have enough information to act. It doesn't matter. An outsider has breached the perimeter of the town. It should. Not. Happen. I wrote this curse myself and you approved it. Now as two of magic's most powerful practioners, if something happens that is not our will, then something is not right and we must fix it. So you need to fix it."
Rumple waved her off. "You wrote the curse and cast it, perhaps it was something you did wrong. What would there be to fix it in a land without magic?" He wrote another few words. "Besides, dearie, if the stranger doesn't plan to stay then what is the harm." He looked up at her again and Zelena did not trust the look on his face one bit. He was up to something, as he always was. She had just been far too naïve when she was younger, far too eager to please someone, anyone, but she had learned in the twenty-eight years since. She wouldn't be this man, this imp's puppet again.
"You damn well know a way to fix it, don't think I don't know that. And whether you want me to or not, I will find a way." She lifted her chin and looked down her nose at him. One quick movement and she was sweeping everything on his desk to the floor and storming out of the room.
If Rumple wouldn't help her, she would help herself. She grabbed her coat and the keys to her Benz and stalked out of the house. Even a mansion wasn't big enough to separate her from that imbecile right then. If there was anywhere that a stranger would end up it would be Granny's. She would go there first and nip this in the bud. She got into the Benz and shot off.
Emma sat down at the counter of the diner after getting a room. Ruby came up, shorts short enough to be a sin and blouse unbuttoned enough to give Emma an eyeful. She had trouble keeping her eyes up. Holy hell, did this town have a plethora of beautiful women who liked other women or was she just imagining it?
"What can I get you stranger?" She popped her gum and leaned forward a bit more than necessary.
"Uh, a burger and fries? Regina said I should try it."
Ruby bounced on her toes. "Oh, you're that horse girl she's been talking about that's coming to pick up Captain Hook."
Emma nodded. "One and the same. I got a little lost, so I'm staying a night before I go."
Ruby's eyes lit up at that. "Well, I can show you the town if you'd like." She looked Emma up and down and licked her lips.
Oh, she had no doubt she'd see absolutely none of the town, but she would see what little there was left to imagine under Ruby's clothes if she said yes. She bit the inside of her lip. It was a good offer. She wouldn't be back in town ever, there would be no strings, but Regina…
"No thanks, early morning tomorrow. Regina and I have to load the horse up and then I have to find my way back out of this maze."
Ruby looked disappointed, but when she mentioned Regina, she had an understanding glint in her eyes. "Ah, I got you. Lemme just get you your burger. You can still tell me what it's like in Boston over dinner. I'm dying to get out of here and travel the world."
Emma smiled, she knew that feeling. Ruby turned away and started to tend to the other customers after she put Emma's order in.
The bell rang over the door. Emma glanced back and saw a woman in designer clothes, heels, with bright red curls falling over her shoulders, strut in like she owned the place. She zeroed in on Emma and walked right up to her, taking the stool beside Emma.
"Hello," she smiled and Emma sensed danger in that smile. It was the sort of thing her foster mothers used to wear before they threw something at her or worse. "I'm Zelena Mills, mayor of Storybrooke. I must ask who you are, we don't get many visitors."
Emma smiled uneasily back and offered her hand. "Emma Swan. I don't doubt you don't get a lot of people. It was a chore just to find the place." She laughed, but it didn't sound genuine at all. She let go of Zelena's hand and resisted the urge to shake it. She felt like some sort of green slime was coating her.
"Ah, and what brings you here?" Zelena inched closer.
Emma scooted back as much as she could on the stool without falling off. "Just picking up a horse from Mills Stables. I'm afraid I won't get to stay long. It looks nice here, but you know, jobs and all."
Zelena seemed to perk up at that. She sat back and just like that most of the menace she was giving off disappeared. Emma had absolutely no idea what to make of it.
"Ah, well, I do hope you enjoy your stay, even as short as it is. You know the life of the politician, one must always know what's going on in their town." She laughed and slipped off the stool. "I'll let you get back to your dinner, have a nice day Emma."
Emma watched out of the corner of her eye. She had a feeling that that could have gone a lot worse and that even for the half a day she was going to be here she should avoid Zelena Mills like the plague.
Ruby appeared the next second, holding a burger and fries in one hand and a steak in the other. She plopped herself down on the stool Zelena had just vacated and put Emma's food in front of her.
"Wow, attracting the mayor's attention, you're really shaking things up. She rarely does anything. I'm amazed we keep electing her." Ruby shrugged. "Small town politics I guess. But you're not getting out of telling me what it's like in Boston, so spill."
Emma laughed, letting the tension leak out of her as she spent the rest of dinner telling Ruby was it was like to live and work around Boston. She drank up every word of it and had to be pulled away from Emma by Granny herself. Emma had smiled, given Ruby her number and told her to ask whatever questions she wanted when she could. Ruby had glowed and gone willingly back to her shift after that.
Emma climbed to her room, took a quick shower and was out like a light.
Five thirty rolled up and Emma found herself in the lot of Mills Stables, lit by one puny flood light. She yawned and entered the stables to find Regina mucking a set of stalls with Henry in the stall right across from her, dejectedly doing the same. Regina looked up and smiled at her.
"I'm surprised your actually punctual, Miss Swan."
Emma almost stuck out her tongue but managed to refrain. "Yeah, well, like I said I'm used to early mornings."
Regina put down her pitch fork and walked over to Emma, lowering her voice. "But coupled with a late night, early mornings are never fun." She cocked an eyebrow.
Emma shrugged. "Wasn't a late night." She let her eyes rake over Regina.
Regina looked thoughtful at that. "Well, I suppose that means you'll be rather well rested for your drive then." She walked off again, towards Captain Hook's stall. "Come, he isn't going to load himself."
Emma rolled her eyes and followed after.
An hour later Emma was pulling out of the parking lot with Captain Hook in the trailer and everything ready to go. She smiled at her phone which now had not one number from a hot woman, but two. Regina had given her the number as a pretense so she could call if anything went wrong with the horse, but Emma had seen right through that. She was happy enough that this drive wasn't going to be as bad as she thought.
She rolled through town once more and was just approaching the welcome to Storybrooke sign when a deer jumped out in front of the truck. Emma's reflexes weren't nearly quick enough and the truck plowed through the large buck. She hit the brakes and brought the truck to a stop. Oh holy hell Donna was going to kill her.
She hopped out of the truck and went around front. She sucked in a breath. Fuck. Everything up front was mangled and she didn't even want to think about what the underneath would look like. She wasn't going anywhere until someone gave her truck the all clear. She swallowed hard and called Regina.
She picked up on second ring. "Trouble already?"
"Uh, yeah, but not with the horse. A deer jumped out in front of the truck and it looks pretty well mangled. You have the number of a tow truck I could call?" She walked back and peeked in at Captain Hook. He was stomping, obviously a bit spooked, but looked to be fine for the moment.
Regina instantly rattled off a number. Emma wrote it down on a napkin and sighed.
"And Emma?" Regina asked.
"Yeah?"
"Are you all right?" Her voice was soft.
"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. It's a big truck. I hardly felt it really. Captain Hook looks fine, but he'll probably need a better look over later."
"I'll be out with the truck in a minute. We can hook up the trailer and bring him back here while you wait on a tow truck."
Emma let out a relieved breath. Well that solved one problem, two actually, but whatever.
"Sounds good. I'll see you in a bit. I'll call the tow truck guy and hopefully he'll be awake."
"Michael should be, he has kids to get off to school in the mornings."
She ran her hand through her hair. "Awesome. I'll see you then."
"Bye, Emma."
Emma hung up the phone and dialed the tow truck. Jesus, this trip had been a disaster travel-wise, if not people-wise.
Four hours later Emma was banging her head against a wall. Her truck was going to take two weeks to fix. The axle had cracked and a myriad of other things and parts had to be ordered. Donna was fit to be tied though she hadn't truly been mad at Emma, just the situation. They couldn't really spare any of the other trucks to come get her so Emma was on her own until she could roll out in the truck she had. She was also on her own for lodging, too. Donna hadn't exactly written two weeks' worth of hotel stays into the budget, and the emergency fund was mostly for vet bills and fixing broken trucks and the like, so there wasn't money. And Emma herself didn't exactly earn enough that she could swing that without planning some.
She bit her lip. She had an idea, but she wasn't sure if it would fly. She picked up her phone, sitting outside of Michael's shop and dialed Regina again.
"Emma? How's it going? I checked out Captain Hook and he seems to be completely fine."
Emma exhaled again. Thank god. "Trucks out of action for two weeks, my stables don't have the manpower to send someone after me, so I'm stuck here for a while. Catch-22 with that is I don't have the money to put myself up at Granny's for two weeks and I kind of get a little weird not being around horses for that long. Any chance you might need an extra stable hand for a couple of weeks? I'm totally ok with sleeping in the hay loft and subsisting on peanut butter sandwiches."
Regina snorted. "There's no need for you to sleep in the hay loft, Emma, my house has a guest bedroom. I can put you up for two weeks, food and all, in exchange for an extra stable hand. Seems like a fair trade to me."
Emma swore she could hear the smile in Regina's voice. "Really?"
"Really."
"That's great then." Emma smiled and leaned her head back against the wall. "It's nice to know I don't have to sleep in a box or something."
Regina laughed. "No, no boxes. I have a lesson in twenty minutes and it'll last an hour or so. After that I can come get you, if you would like."
"Yeah, that'd be cool. I'll probably head down to Granny's or something and grab lunch. All this worrying has got me hungry."
"I'll see you there then."
"Ok, bye Regina."
"Goodbye."
Emma hung up her phone and almost squealed for joy. She was staying with Regina. Regina, who might be interested in her. She couldn't wait to see where that would go.
She was so excited, she didn't notice the clock tower moving off of seven fifteen for the first time in years.