A/N: In a review to I am the Night user R Evil said "This is AWESOME! Please do more. Like an embarrassed Henry explaining to Emma that Regina sometimes make him wears the Robin costume."
Well thanks mate! I'm glad you enjoyed it. I hope you enjoy this one as well because I had to do a bit of research. I was a Captain Planet fan so I didn't follow DC or Marvel, haha.
If you didn't read I am the Night, go check that out first and this will make more sense. :)
Emma's suspicions were roused one Saturday at brunch with Regina.
That's right, brunch with Regina. Emma never would've imagined herself as the type of person who creates a meal between breakfast and lunch, nor had she ever imagined she'd be meeting her son's mother every Saturday to discuss familial things like who gets Henry next weekend and if she's been feeding him more than Pop Tarts and french fries.
Which she has, okay. So Regina can shut her gorgeous mouth.
Anyways, this week is Emma's weekend with their son and so Regina's turn is next week. Except, last night while watching Friday night stand up with the kid—and oh crap, she just realized that Regina probably wouldn't approve of that so she'll need to remind Henry to keep it to himself—she saw a commercial for a comic book convention that was coming into town. Her town. Boston. And she's dying to take the kid. Henry would love it and if she's honest with herself, going to one had been a fantasy she'd never foreseen coming true when she was a kid.
Actually, there are a lot of things she never would have imagined would be true. Storybrooke just had that effect on her.
Emma was trying to plead her case and negotiate a trade off—which, okay sounds horrible in reference to their kid—and give Regina two weekends in a row in exchange for next weekend. She thought that was a fair trade, right? But of course, as with all things dealing with the nefarious Mayor of Storybrooke, Emma found herself at the end of a denial.
"Absolutely not, Ms. Swan. You think that just because I've agreed to be civil and share my son with you, that you have the right to..."
And it was at that point that Emma drowned out the rest of the rant. Okay, so that was the wrong approach. Regina clearly needed some sort of bribe or.. maybe blackmail. Did she have anything on her at the moment? Emma racked her brain to try and figure out if any of Storybrooke's citizens had gone missing lately. Then she felt bad because, as the Sheriff/Savior/Princess she probably should be keeping up with the missing persons reports anyways. Had Mary Margaret and David even come home last night? Regina could've—
"...You don't want to tempt me Ms. Swan. I am vengeance!"
Wait.. what?
"Wait what?" Emma responded, swiftly knocked out of her thoughts by that last statement. "Did you just... did you just quote Batman?"
Regina seemed taken aback by the question before clicking her mouth shut. She then immediately went on the offensive, which Emma found wildly suspicious. "Were you paying attention at all or were you daydreaming?"
"You totally just quoted Batman." Emma decided.
"I have no idea what you're talking about." Regina glared, before swiping the napkin from her lap and tossing it into her plate. "And since I'm done with this discussion and this mediocre excuse for a Caesar chicken salad, I am leaving."
Emma watched her storm away with a confused and intrigued squint. Confused because she knew what she'd heard and intrigued because Regina was obviously hiding something. Ruby, Granny, and Henry could all vouch that she loved the Caesar chicken salad at Granny's—it was all she ever ate. Emma chuckled to herself as she left money on the table for their meals, before frowning as she realized she'd been paying for all these brunches the entire time.. huh. Regina was sneaky, but Emma was a woman skilled at finding things. And whatever Regina was hiding, she will find it.
I will always find it. Emma snickered.
Emma didn't know exactly what she was looking for, but she knew where where to start. Regina had reluctantly given her a key to use to get into the mansion for emergencies, and so she abused that power to break into the mayor's home while she was at work. She'd just swoop in and head over to the mayor's DVD collection and see if she could find any incriminating evidence. Although, liking Batman wasn't really a crime per se, but it was hilarious to imagine The ex-Evil Queen as a fangirl. She wondered what Regina would like like in spandex... or a catsuit.
Whoa.
"Ok, they've gotta be here somewhere..." She murmured to herself, digging through the cases that she belatedly realized were alphabetized, so she really didn't need to make such a huge mess. "Or not," she sighed.
"Hey Emma," She heard before jumping a mile high. Oh, it's just Henry.
"Hey kid," Emma said, turning to him with a nervous smile. "What are you doing home so early?"
Henry kicked off his shoes and tossed his overstuffed book bag onto the sofa. Emma watched it bounce under it's own weight. What the hell were they giving these kids for homework?
"It's actually past three, I always get home around this time." Henry responded. He raised an eyebrow at the mess. "What are you doing?"
Emma looked back the the pile of DVDs and couldn't think of a lie quick enough. "Looking for Batman."
Henry's face screwed up into a frown. "Why?"
Emma chuckled at his disdainful expression. "Not a Batman fan, eh?"
"Not really," Henry explained. "I always preferred the Marvel Heroes. They are a lot cooler! The X-men, Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk.."
Emma smiled and nodded. It was amazing how much her kid was just like his mom. She should probably start listening to them more but they do this thing where they go off on tangents where a simple 'yes' or 'no' would easily suffice. Suffice. Wow.. Regina's starting to rub off on her—
"...but my mom always made me dress up as Robin."
"Wait, go back to that last sentence!" Emma interrupted.
Henry sighed, shrugging his shoulders. "I wanted to be Iron Man for Halloween?"
"No, after that!"
"But my mom always made me dress up as Robin." Henry admitted, embarrassed.
Emma swallowed the giggles that would only prove to make Henry glow an even brighter red. "Why would she do that?"
Henry shrugged again, "She had a weird thing for Batman and she thought I was adorable as her Robin I guess. She had a costume and everything."
That time Emma couldn't hold back an amused snort. She'd suspected Regina was a fan but this, this was golden. Regina had a costume! She had to see it!
"Do you know if she kept it?"
Henry narrowed his eyes at her as he contemplated her reasons for wanting such a thing. "Why do you want to know?"
She couldn't very well tell him she was going to use the evidence to selfishly blackmail his mother into giving her next weekend so they could drive to Boston for the convention. What kind of person would she be if she ruined the surprise?
"Uh, it's a secret. I can't let you know until I have evidence. Think of it as a secret operation.. Operation.. Dark Knight." Emma reasoned.
"But you're the White Knight.." Henry said, a bit confused as to how he could be in on a secret operation that she wouldn't tell him about.
"I know, that's why we're so perfect together." Emma murmured.
"What?"
"Just trust me kid," Emma sighed. "Help me find evidence, and everybody wins. Okay?"
"Okay," Henry said, eying her skeptically. But he did trust her. She was the Savior and she'd broken the curse, just like he knew she would. "I don't know where she keeps the suit, but I know where she keeps her favorite comic."
Emma grinned like the Grinch who stole Christmas. She didn't know why she hadn't just asked Henry to begin with. Her kid kept secrets worse than his Grandmother.
"That'll do kid, that'll do."
There was no room for error in Emma's plan. She'd scheduled a lunch date—and yes, she deserves the right to call them dates if she's going to continue paying for them—with Regina so that she could have an 'in' into her office at town hall without setting off the alarm again like that time with Sidney. Whatever happened to that guy? He was kind of fun when he wasn't.. sober. Emma needed a new drinking buddy. Maybe he could've helped with Operation Dark Knight, Emma laughed, before frowning to herself in realization. Wait no, he was totally in love with Regina..
That traitor!
She spoke briefly with Regina's secretary who told her she could go on back. Regina was typing away at something boring when Emma stepped inside the office with two lunch bags.
"Hey, I brought you your favorite." Emma smiled.
Regina exited the document she was working on and smiled when she saw the Caesar chicken salad inside the plastic container. "I appreciate it." Regina smiled back.
Just like Emma knew she would. Ha!
They ate their lunch with casual conversation that Emma was leading since she was technically buying time. She happily realized that she and Regina could hold a conversation that wasn't about science projects and the best laundry detergent to remove grass stains. They had more than their son in common. It was a nice surprise, and she'd actually almost forgotten her reason for being there until Regina's intercom announced she had a delivery that required her signature at the front desk.
Regina apologized for the interruption and Emma smirked as she watched the mayor leave the room. Now was her chance! She'd had flowers delivered to Regina's office and told them to specifically have her sign for them. So far, so good.
"Now where would I hide a comic book that I didn't want to be found...?" Emma murmured as she quickly skimmed through Regina's drawers. "Aha!" She whispered triumphantly as she found her bargaining chip. She quickly moved back to her seat as she her the click clack of Regina's heels on tile.
Regina came back into the room, holding a giant bouquet of flowers, with a confused look on her face. She sat them on a side table by the window before grabbing the card and moving back to her seat across from Emma.
Before she could open the card, Emma slid the comic across the desk with a large smirk.
Regina gaped. "Ms. Swan, where did you—"
"You're a Batman fangirl." Emma teased.
"I have no idea what you're—"
"Come on Regina, I found that in your drawer. And I know it isn't for Henry, he expressed his disdain for Batman and regaled me with the reasons why Marvel is better than D.C. He also told me that you made him be Robin to your Batman for five Halloweens straight. I gotta say, that's a bit much."
Regina glared. "What is it that you want? To tease me? Blackmail me? I can assure you, I will not cave to your demands, Savior."
Emma shrugged and smiled at Regina, gesturing to the card she was now bending in her furious hands. "Just read the card."
Regina raised her eyebrow in defiance, but looked down at the crumpled card and unfolded it. "Come to Boston with me," she read aloud, turning confused eyes back on Emma.
"Well technically, us," Emma said, watching Regina's reaction. "I wanted to take Henry to the comic book convention, but when I found out about your secret.. hobby, I thought you might enjoy coming along. Also, we could both have a fun weekend out with the kid.. together."
Regina flipped the card over, then looked at the comic book resting between them. "Are you really inviting me, or are you just bribing me with the chance so that you can get what you want?" She asked, quietly.
Emma reached across the desk and grabbed her slowly grabbed her hand, giving Regina the chance to move it away. When she didn't, she sighed. "I'll admit, I was trying to find a way to convince you to let me take him, but... I really would like it if you came. It would give us more time together.. you know.. as a family?"
Regina considered the proposal and sighed. "I always have wondered what happened after this edition, but with the curse we never got any new ones. Then when you came along and broke it, I had too much on my mind to venture out and see what I'd missed."
"Well here's your chance! And you could even wear that vintage Batman suit!" Emma laughed.
"You just want to see me in it."
"I really do."