Chapter Summary: Emma and Regina have traveled to another dimension and are baffled to discover that they are married... to each other! What are they going to do now? Where are they going to go?
Emma Swan stands stupefied, gazing at their jumping reflections in the moving glass panels of the revolving doors that are beginning to gradually slow. "We're married?! Is that what he said?"
"Married." Regina mutters distractedly. Emma stares at the woman's profile as it faces the ground, but her brown eyes are clearly darting around trying to make sense of what they have both heard.
Emma does not know what to think. They were just in the woods surrounding Storybrooke a short while ago. If anyone had told her this morning that she would fall into a portal and be jet-propelled into another world, she would have faked a sour stomach and pulled the "I ate something bad" excuse when Regina needed her help with a magic spell.
Their amazed gapes slowly meet before dropping to their clasped hands. Like a shot, they split apart as if electrically shocked.
I'm married to Regina Mills? Emma gulps and the heat creeps up her neck. She is certain she is blushing now but hopes the bright sunshine will hide it well. No! Bonnie Jane Cockburn is married to Abigail Pepper. Still, Emma cannot control the rush of warmth as she realizes one fact: in this world Regina is her wife!
As Emma turns to steal another glance, Regina's brown hair catches the sunlight that shines through it in a way that Emma always admired. Though dark, it is vibrant, bold and full of life. She forgot how much she likes the ends flaring out like that. This moment reminds her of when she first met Mayor Regina Mills, outside the woman's house, all those years ago. She was stunning, and it is funny to Emma, now, to recall how she tried so hard to keep her attraction under control while sitting in the woman's study that night, sharing apple cider and refraining from adoringly staring at the beautiful home owner like a creepy weirdo.
"Well, Emma?" Regina snaps Emma out of her walk down memory lane and brings her to the present and to this world they find themselves trapped in for the time being. "Got any ideas about what we do now?"
"I don't…" Emma thrusts her hands into the white coat's pockets and encounters metal straight away and the sound of jingling never sounded so good. "Regina?" With a cheerful spread of her lips, she pulls out a ring of keys and holds them up for Regina's perusal, glad to spot the relief blossom on her companion's face. "We have a car." Inspecting the keys more closely she sees the house key and adds, "And a place to go!"
"Thank goodness!"
They both scan the area and walk toward the filled parking lot. Upon arriving, they uncertainly inspect all the automobiles surrounding them. Beyond the packed lot stands a three level garage. "I sure as hell hope we're not parked in there," Regina snarks while crossing her arms, "We could be walking around forever."
"Not to worry. We've got this. I'll just push this red button…" Emma flips the black key fob over and smoothes her thumb across said button. "… and our car alert should go off."
The events of the next 10 seconds happen in a flash. Emma presses the button, a sports utility vehicle, directly behind them gives off an ear-piercing blaring which catches Regina so off guard that she swivels and jumps back up against Emma, who because of the long spikey heels she is wearing, almost falls over, taking Regina down with her. Luckily for both of them, Emma grabs the shorter brunette around the waist, clinging to her and steadying them both.
"Shut it off, shut it off!" Regina tries to wrestle the keys out of Emma's hands at her waist, but Emma easily thumbs the button again and blessed silence takes over once more.
Still tightly spooning in the parking lot, Emma thinks there is definitely something to be said – even though she demands of herself not to think more on it right now – about having Regina Mills' shapely figure plastered up against her front with the older woman's short curls tickling her cheek.
A golf cart passes by with two security guards precisely then, and in a friendly manner, the driver says as they pass, "Hey you two lovebirds. Get a room."
Then the other guard chuckles and Emma thinks they must all be on such casual, friendly terms after he says, "Get your groove on, Dr. Cockburn."
Once they are in the clear, and Regina glares at her, Emma continues to hold her and gibes. "Well, how was I to know the damned thing was parked right behind us?"
"That was mortifying." Regina swats the white sheathed arms from around her person, expressing her embarrassment as she attempts to straighten her blue hospital clothes and colors a little, remembering getting the thumbs up and a wink from the rubbernecking guard riding shotgun.
She sighs as her attention is grabbed by the parking sign in front of their shiny white 4-door vehicle and mockingly gestures to Emma. It reads, "Private Parking. Dr. B.J. Cockburn".
A rush of held breath is expelled loudly from Emma's lips. "If we have to stay here for much longer, I'm changing my name."
[X]
Regina climbs into the luxury car that is warmed by the sun and still has that new car smell. Thankfully, the scrubs she is wearing keeps the hot leather seats from being uncomfortable.
"Whoo! Hot! Hot!" She observes Emma sit, halfway in, and fan the air as if that will help cool the temperature down. She stick the key into the ignition, immediately turning the engine over. As it roars to life, Emma scans the many buttons and switches on the panel in front of her. "Air conditioning, air conditioning," but the younger woman takes some time to find what she's looking for.
"Do you need help, Emma? Look for an 'A' and a 'C'," Regina gibes with a grin and enjoys the eye roll she gets in return, until she catches sight of Emma's skirt hem hiking a little too far up, exposing a great amount of bare-legged thigh. Why the expanse of cream-colored and freckled skin has such a tantalizing effect on Regina, she did not know.
Hoping to distract her improper thoughts away, Regina flips the short ends of her hair back and pivots in her seat to look out her side window. Thankfully, Emma seems not to notice Regina's irrepressible scrutiny of her physique.
"Laugh it up, Your Majesty. This car's got the dashboard of a Boeing 747! Needless to say, it's a lot different than my precious humble Beetle."
"Emma," Regina sniggers. Teasing is good - safe. "Your bug is without a doubt… rare." The way she utters the last word is far from complimentary.
Concentrating on the many switch options in front of her, Emma does not look at Regina when she defends her car, "It's a classic, Regina. Claaaasic!" Then she says, "Aha! This must be it!"
Emma presses a button and a small TV unfolds from the ceiling in the SUV and an action movie, which was midway through, starts playing with a very loud machine gun firing. The sound echoes through the car and that area of the parking lot.
"Oh fuck!" Emma says in alarm and quickly presses other buttons to try and shut the sound.
"Emma!"
"I know! I'm trying!"
The older brunette covers her ears and zeroes in on what looks to possibly be the volume button. She clicks it repeatedly and the sound decreases until it is at a minimum and Emma successfully switches the entertainment system off.
Suddenly, after another few seconds, air is pushed through the slotted vents in the dashboard and the stifling heat around them is suffused with cold air. While the interior begins to cool. Emma gets in fully and closes the door, turning to Regina. "Well, that was an adventure, huh?"
"One we could have done without, surely. Now what?"
Using years of investigative training Emma easily suggests, "Check the glove compartment for registration. Maybe it will have our address on it. And while you're there, see what else you can dig up."
Regina briefly nods, once again impressed with Emma's cleverness and basks in the welcome puffs of cold blowing in her face as she bends over to inspect the pull out compartment in the dash.
"I found the registration." Her tone is pleased that they're able to obtain an address from it. "Here." She hands the slip of paper over to Emma, who reads Bonnie's name as the main owner of the SUV.
"Awesome! Anything else?"
"Yeah," Regina mentions each item as she pulls them out. "A small box of Kleenex. An elastic hair tie. A packet of gum, and a…" Regina pulls out a small, nearly empty transparent bottle. Miss Slick Kitty's Natural Lubri... She freezes and blushes profusely.
"And what?" Emma's eyes focus intently on the car's monitor, submitting the newly uncovered information into the address field of the GPS and thinking she may have finally figured her way around the dash's system.
"Nothing." The older woman's abrupt tone has Emma peeping up at her oddly.
"What?" She asks again, fishing for a reply and sees a bottle trapped tightly in the other woman's fist. "What's that?"
She follows the movement of Regina's throat as the woman swallows hard and composes herself on an inhale. "Here," is all she says and thrusts the object at Emma, as if she cannot get rid of it fast enough.
As green eyes absorb the words on the bottle, they widen in amazement. Jesus! Just what do Cockburn and Pepper get up to in this car when they aren't saving lives?
Emma inspects the little liquid left and her brain spits the words out before checking with her common sense. "Well, there's not much left."
A muscle in Regina's jaw twitches at the implication that the lubricant was well used. She does not think it possible that she can turn redder, but of course, she can, thanks to Emma Swan.
Emma wants to slap herself, noticing Regina's unease and opens her mouth to say something, an apology maybe, but Regina goes back to rummaging in the compartment, so she resorts to shaking the little contents in the bottle and placing it in the drink holder.
A gasp draws her attention up again and she discovers that the woman next to her is wearing a shocked expression and inspecting a pair of skimpy women's underwear swaying from her fingers.
A beat passes and again without thinking, Emma insists, "Those are probably yours." Regina, scandalized, drops her jaw and widens her eyes even more so at Emma. "I mean… I'd hope they're my wife's. I mean…" Emma doltishly snickers and playfully swats her own temple with the heel of her palm, "I don't have a wife, but she has a wife. You. I mean her… I mean…" Emma silently curses her babbling around Regina suddenly. "You know, I'm just going to finish entering this into the GPS."
Regina nods and drops the panties back into the glove box along with everything else hastily. She closes the hatch and leans back in her seat, oddly scolding herself for her own behavior. She did not feel much like admitting to Emma that when she first stumbled upon the undergarment, the thought prevalent in her mind was that of a jealous wife, and she had vehemently (and rather nonsensically) hoped the underwear was hers too and that Emma was not cheating on her.
[X]
They drive through the city of Morrison (according to their automobile registration documents), which looks like a nice, peaceable city; the perfect place to live in actually, where people are walking along the streets, smiling and greeting one another amiably. They are taking this new escapade in stride, trying to stay calm within the moment, because what else can they do?
Emma pays attention to her surroundings as the navigation system's soothing female voice gives her driving instructions because she wants to mentally record any important locations along the way. They pass a park where kids are swinging on play structures and a group of teens are playing basketball.
Feeling a twinge, Emma misses their teenager back in Storybrooke. She wonders how Henry will take their disappearance, but then shoves the notion out of her mind. They will see each other again. She knows they will. Meanwhile, she will follow Regina's initial advice and remain calm.
Regina.
She is thankful that her friend is here with her right now because it feels less lonely knowing that, whatever they are experiencing, they are doing this together.
Taking her eyes off the road, she spares a glance at the short haired brunette and wonders whether Regina fell asleep because she relaxes against the leather headrest with her eyes closed.
"Eyes on the road, please."
"I thought you were sleeping."
"You're joking. We're accidentally spellbound in a parallel existence. Who can sleep?"
"Still, I know you stayed up really late last night, helping Henry with his History Presentation on the Civil War, so I wouldn't blame you for being exhausted."
Emma catches a glimpse of the happiness that brightens Regina's features and feels a tug on her heart knowing that thoughts of their son put it there.
"He was so excited to wear that Soldier's uniform that I conjured up for him." The beam she sends Emma is so infectious that the younger woman finds herself smiling cheerfully at the image Henry must have made. "He was very handsome, Emma." The proud sparkle evident in those brown eyes loses its luster as Regina realizes that she may probably miss hearing about how the assignment went. "I wish you could have seen him."
Uncertain of what prompts her to do it, Emma reaches out and covers Regina's hand and after checking the road throws her a meaningful look and nods. "I will. Hey…" She squeezes Regina's hand and when the other mother lifts her gaze from their joined hands to her, Emma reassuringly grins at her. "I will."
With pursed lips, Regina also nods, takes her hand back to hide it in an arm fold and inhales deeply, turning her mind back to parts of Morrison as they pass her by.
"Well, we certainly could have done worse. This looks like a rather charming place to live. It's beautiful, lush, and clean. Everyone seems to be in a happy mood."
"Yeah, I got to admit, it sure beats Neverland and the Underworld. God, all that feels like forever ago." Not dwelling on the past and all the hurt that had come along with it afterwards, Emma scratches the back of her neck and asks, "So are we really here? I mean, this is a real place, right? We're not lying on the forest ground back home dreaming all of this up?"
"To be truthful, your guess is as good as mine. I've only read about this particular spell before and I barely remember it. But it did look and feel like we went through a portal." With careful consideration, a line forms in the middle of Regina's brow, "However, I'm not ruling out a dream. Magic is very tricky if not handled precisely right. I'm not sure why we were cast here in the first place." Thinking on comical films she had seen before, Regina snorts. "We could be stuck in some boring television show for all we know!"
Emma blinks between her and the road with an incredulous expression and her laughter rings loudly at the thought.
Chuckling quietly to herself, Regina shrugs. "What? Look at this place. It's… perfect. Everyone is so… happy. Morrison looks rather idyllic. A lot more than Storybrooke had been intended to be. The perfect little TV town."
Emma's teeth shines brightly and she lets out a cackle. She and Regina speak so candidly to one another nowadays and she remembers a time when they only talked about magic, Henry, or other Storybrooke residents. When it came to personal thoughts, Regina used to remain so tight-lipped before unless her remark came with a good dose of sarcasm. The woman is still sarcastic sometimes but it is evident that they have grown a lot closer. It amazes Emma that she feels like she knows the woman inside and out; how she feels, how she thinks, what she's afraid of. Their connection is, yes - weird, very special and definitely unique. Regina is unlike anyone she has ever met.
"What?" Regina queries and Emma realizes she is frowning in thought.
"Oh, nothing. Just…" she waved in front of her. "Just checking Morrison out."
That seemed to satisfy the short haired woman for she relaxed in her seat again and simpered. "What a ridiculous notion anyway. Can you imagine us as TV characters?"
Emma snorts and flicks her hair over her shoulder, "Who would be crazy enough to write a TV show about us?"
The GPS takes them on a course away from the excitement of town and through a quiet residential area with gorgeous homes that are nicely spaced from one another, making each property intimate and private. When the voice announces their arrival, Emma turns into a short driveway and to keep her mouth from hanging open, the driver gulps and rhetorically inquires, "We live here?"
Regina looks at the address on the dash's monitor, compares it with the car's registration and then confirms it with the large numbers on the brick wall. "1235 Parrilla Park Drive. This is the place."
"It's gorgeous!"
Gawking through the front windshield, two sets of eyes examine the clean white high brick wall surrounding the property and the black iron gate meant to keep visitors away from what looks like a classy and contemporary style, 2-story home. "Nice gate," Emma compliments, implying by tone that getting through that barrier is their next problem to tackle.
"Try that, Emma."
"Huh?" Emma tracks Regina movement as her fingers twiddle around another small rectangular fob on the keychain. "Oh, right." After rolling down the window, Emma moves them forward, stops at a security intercom box and studies it. She finds the fob's matching scan pad, just below a doorbell and a speaker.
As the barred door opens on its own, Emma notices the camera perched atop the high wall, obviously allowing the homeowners to see who the visitors are. "Geez, who are we? The Cartel?"
In addition to the cameras, there must be state of the art motion sensors installed all around because Emma sees in the rear view mirror that once she drives past the gate, it begins to close immediately.
The house looks warm and welcoming though as Emma pulls up in front of the 3-car garage door that is at a 45 degree angle from the front door entrance. "It's certainly bigger and less traditional-looking than 108 Mifflin, eh?"
Pride apparent in her voice, Regina retorts under her breath, "It's not that big."
Mischief dances in Emma's eyes as she jokes, "Seriously? This place makes your house look like a beach shack." Though she is joking, Emma amuses herself with the offended look, peaking on Regina's face.
"You're lucky there's no magic in this realm."
"Ooh… what are you going to do? I've gotten pretty good now too, remember." She is speaking of her magic and bites the inside of her mouth to keep her lips from spreading into the taunting grin it wants to. "I was trained by the Dark One too." The twinkle in her eye transforms into a frown as she offhandedly remarks, "Of course, he was in my head at the time because I was the Dark One."
Regina just snorts and shakes her head. "I'm sure it was maddening. I could barely stomach that scaly imp at the best of times, so I can't even imagine having him stuck in my head 24/7."
Both share a knowing look and a companionable laugh and look away quickly. Emma's wayward eyes spot a small compartment on the lower left side of the steering wheel, that she hadn't seen before, and opens it. A small garage door opener lays in its pocket. "Huh... Okay."
After pressing the button, she astonishingly uncovers the other vehicles owned by Bonnie and Abigail.
Emma points at a very sleek, black 2-door luxury coupe that, no doubt, has all high end features and Italian leather interior. "That one must be yours, wifey."
Regina, who is preoccupied with the front of the house pans her gaze to the car, and even though she automatically admires it, she dubiously asks, "How do you know it's mine?"
With a teasing tone, Emma answers, "Check out the license plate."
"QT QUEEN... Cutie Queen?" Regina blinks at the personalized plate and tilts her eyes upward. "Oh my God. I'm one of those people."
Emma chuckles and shakes her head at Regina's countenance. "Even in this world, you're a Queen of Vanity."
Regina shoots daggers through narrowed eyes at Emma, which only makes her laugh more but in a compromising tone, Emma amends, "So you're the type who has a custom plate. I'm the type who apparently likes to have sex in my car."
Without thinking, Regina rebukes firmly. "Those underpants had better be mine."
Emma chuckles, "Oh, they're yours alright. No doubt about it."
A sexy, teasing high curve of an eyebrow and a side smile sets Emma's insides pulsing. "Oh? And how can you be so sure?"
Emma goes with a hunch and quickly throws out in defense. "With a wife as hot as you are, you'd be the only one I'm getting busy with in the backseat." Emma gestures with her head behind them.
As the comment sinks in, they both sober as their banter turns serious all of a sudden. Emma holds her breath as she sees a line cut deeper into Regina's forehead.
The older brunette erupts, "What the hell are we even talking about!"
Damned if I know.
The newly dark haired driver turns face front as Regina roughly forces the car door open, gets out and slams it shut in frustration.
Emma recoils at the loud bang, closes her eyes and grips the leather steering wheel tighter.
She didn't say anything she didn't think was true and their bantering had felt so natural, though they had never joked like that before… about such things… with an almost flirtatious tone in their words.
As Emma navigates the SUV into the garage, comprehension sheds light to a new concern.
I just called Regina Mills hot.
A/N: Oh my! Emma called Regina hot! Well, she certainly hadn't planned on that! And who can really blame Regina for checking out Emma's legs?
The city of Morrison. Parrilla Park Drive. A mention of a TV show. All in good fun. That's what this is supposed to be: fun.
Tell me what you think! Hope you're enjoying it so far! Thanks for reading!