A/N: thank you guys for your PMs/reviews!
as usual: I don't own anything:(
Emma and Katie belonged to the first customers to enter the diner this morning, and made themselves comfortable in a corner booth. To Katie's delight the waitress working the morning shift was Red- or Ruby, as she introduced herself to them. She couldn't seem to stop smiling at the brunette, answering her questions eagerly, a slight blush on her cheeks.
"Look who seems to be more happy all of a sudden," Emma smiled at her daughter.
"Do you think I'm too obvious?" the girl asked in a hushed tone, slinking back in her seat.
"Only if you start hiding under the table or maybe behind a newspaper with holes cut in for your eyes."
"But what if they can tell that we're hiding something?"
"Listen. They don't know who we are. None of them remember you, or even me. To them we are just a supercool, hot mom and her darling little girl, trying to settle down in their lovely little town."
"There's something wrong with you, you know that, right?"
"With me?" Emma grinned, "I'm not the one who's acting like she has a crush on our waitress."
"Emma!" Katie shouted, completely flustered. A few heads turned and she continued much more quiet, but no less intense "I don't have a crush on her, okay! I just missed her! Like a lot! And I want her to like me. Besides I think her outfit is pretty cool." She finished petulantly.
Sure, no crush whatsoever, Emma thought, hiding her smile behind her mug of coffee.
"No need to get all worked up, pixie. I was just messing with you."
Katie, not entirely convinced of the sincerity of her mother's words settled for scowling at her fiercely before tucking into her chocolate chip pancakes again.
"So, what now?" she enquired after she felt she had given Emma the silent treatment long enough.
"Well, you've already told Ruby our entire cover story…"
"Sorry," the little blonde mumbled.
"Don't worry about it. I think that went great. She seemed to be really excited to hear that we wanted to stay here."
"She must think I'm an idiot for babbling on like that."
"I really don't think so. In fact, I'd say she thought you were really cute." Emma replied.
"Really?" Katie perked up considerately.
"Definitely." That and that you have a crush on her, Emma thought.
The two elapsed into comfortable silence, while finishing their breakfast and watching the people around them.
"Oh, oh, oh! Emma! See that guy over there at the bar? The one with the beige coat?"
"You mean the one with the massive cold?"
"Yes! That's Sneezy!"
"Really," the older blonde deadpanned, rubbing her temples.
"This is just too bizarre! ... But, it's great," she rushed to continue as she noticed Katie's eyes watering, "so far four down, a few thousand more to go, right?"
"Right," Katie replied managing a wobbly smile.
Trying to figure out what to do with the rest of the morning, Emma looked up when Ruby made her way over to them, with Mr Handsome in tow.
"Hi Emma. I didn't want to interfere with your business, but since you guys mentioned that you were looking for a job I talked to our Sheriff here."
The Sheriff in question inclined his head in greeting as Ruby rambled on,
"He actually has a job opening. He needs a deputy. Regina has been trying to shove Sydney on him for ages and…"
"Regina?" Katie piped up, suddenly looking extremely tense.
"Oh sorry. I forgot you don't really know anyone from here" the waitress replied, nudging the girl over gently in order to sit down next to her.
"She means Mayor Mills," the Sheriff cut in, making himself comfortable next to Emma. "Anyway, if I might explain myself" he directed an amused grin at Ruby who looked a tad sheepish, "Ruby here just told me that you are a bail bondsperson…"
"Bounty hunter, I said bounty hunter."
"Either way, I really can't keep ignoring the Mayor for much longer and the only one who applied for the position is Sidney Glass." he went on, looking over to a man sitting at the bar trying very hard to pretend that he was not watching them.
Following his line of sight Emma asked, "You mean Dick Tracy over there?"
"Who is Dick Tracy?" Katie asked the three smirking adults. "I don't get it."
"It's nothing pixie. Just a cartoon character." Emma waived her question off, turning back to the Sheriff.
"You know that being a bail bondsperson doesn't exactly meet the job requirements, right?"
"Oh, I know. But being chief editor of a newspaper doesn't either. And soon I will have no other choice but to take him."
"Which he really doesn't want to do, since that slimy little weasel's the mayor's lapdog."
"Thank you Ruby," the Sheriff interjected pointedly, "don't you have a job to do here? You know, do some waitressing things for some customers?"
"Nah," the girl grinned "they're all set. I'm sure they'll give me a shout when needed."
"So I get it you guys are not the mayor's biggest fans?" Emma inquired.
"The mayor is just a difficult person to deal with." The Sheriff stated diplomatically, completely ignoring the snort coming from the waitress.
"And I'd rather she doesn't gain even more influence than she already has. Look, if this works out, we both benefit from it- if it doesn't, well you can always find another job, and I'll need to come up with new ways in order to get rid of Sydney."
"Alright Sheriff, I wouldn't want to be the one responsible for you having to arrest yourself;" Emma smirked, hoping her relief over the offer wasn't too obvious.
"Call me Graham, please."
"This is great," Ruby exclaimed excitedly, "You know what; I have a friend who is looking for a roommate right now. She's really nice, she teaches at our elementary school and I think you'd get on well with each other. If you want I'll give her a call!"
"Well," Emma hesitantly said "it's not that I don't appreciate the offer, but I was more thinking of getting a place just for Katie and me."
"No problem. Just tell me in case you change your mind" the waitress replied, shooting out of her seat at the thunderous "Ruby!" coming from the kitchen.
Graham decided that now was as good a time as any to get all the formalities sorted. So not half an hour later Emma and Katie found themselves at the probably most unremarkable looking building in the entire town- the Sheriff's Station. Whatever the building lacked in appearance on the outside was definitely not made up by the interior. Katie was wandering around aimlessly, inspecting the two holding cells, the bathroom decorated in the most garish green tiles she had ever seen, the small kitchenette and Graham's private office while Emma was filling out what felt to be the 50th form.
"I swear this is the last one," Graham said as he put yet another one down in front of her.
"You already said that for the last three," Emma glared up at him, pulling the new form towards her.
"I know, sorry," he grinned, clearly being anything but.
Emma merely rolled her eyes and shoved the pile of paper into his hands.
"Here, all done. What now?"
"I was thinking that since tomorrow's Friday you two should take the weekend getting settled and you could start here on Monday."
"Excellent. But I can't do nightshifts," she added as an afterthought looking over at Katie.
"No problem. We have our volunteers for that." Graham assured her.
"You'd have to take some weekend shifts though, but I'm sure we can work something out."
"Great," Emma stood "see you Monday."
The phone started ringing and the two quickly said their goodbyes to Graham.
He waved at them, taking the call.
"Sheriff's Station… Madame Mayor, what can I do for you?"
Regina Mills was seething. If there were any magic in Storybrooke she was sure she would have unintentionally levelled her office to the ground. How dare he! Graham was supposed to be working for her!
And if she wanted him to get those intruders to leave he'd better do as she asked. As she was about to vocalise her displeasure over his disobedience he cut in informing her almost gleefully that he had already made Miss Swan the new Deputy. She almost dropped her phone when she heard this.
What followed was perhaps the most threat laden conversation post- curse. And also possibly the first time she didn't manage to get her way. No matter what she threw at her Sheriff, he just brushed it off.
Yes, he already knew about Miss Swan's record.
Yes, he knew she had a child to take care of.
No, he didn't think that would keep her from doing her job properly.
Yes, he was aware of the fact that she wasn't the most qualified, but surely she would be better suited for this than Mr Glass.
No, Regina didn't get a say in this.
Yes, he acknowledged, he knew perfectly well who had made him Sheriff, but the Deputy's position was his to fill out.
No, he didn't feel like coming over later tonight and even if he did- it wouldn't make him change his mind.
At which point she simply slammed the receiver on the cradle after hissing "Fine! Have it your way!"
Still not believing what she just had heard, she just remained standing there next to her massive desk, unable to move. She was so furious that she was shaking uncontrollably. If she would have had access to the Sheriff's heart in this moment, she wasn't sure what she would have done. Or rather- she knew exactly what she would have done. It took everything in her not to race over to the graveyard right now in order to deal with Graham appropriately. Instead she grabbed the next best item in her reach- her crystal penholder- and threw it full force against her office door.
Which, luck would have it, burst open a second later.
"Regina, are you alright?" Benjamin inquired, trying to assess the situation. He had only been gone for fifteen minutes, and he couldn't explain the change that had come over his boss. She stood there, her eyes blazing, nostrils flaring, a snarl on her lips, looking right through him.
"Madame Mayor?" he tried again.
That finally seemed to get her attention, as she turned to him and growled out:
"Cancel all my appointments. I will be out of the office for the rest of the day. And get that mess cleaned up!"
Indicating at the broken crystal near the door she stormed past him and down the stairs.
Twenty minutes and one powerwalk- in high heels nonetheless- later left her somewhat calm once more.
Though she wasn't sure whether her body had actually managed to deal with her raging emotions, or whether it just admitted defeat since she had developed a nasty blister on her right heel that she couldn't ignore any longer.
Sighing warily Regina combed her fingers through her short hair trying to think of her next course of action. She needed to punish Graham. She needed to get rid of the new Deputy. But what she needed to do first of all was to get out of her shoes.
She quickly considered calling her assistant, demanding he pick her up and drive her home, but she felt that she had already suffered more than enough indignity for one morning. So gritting her teeth and wincing with every step she took she hobbled towards the white mansion on Mifflin Street.
Her shoes were taken off as soon as she stepped through her front door, and her poor, abused feet almost sighed in relief. Regina gently poked at the blister, hissing as the pain shot through her. She would have to wear flats tomorrow. And somebody would be made to pay for that as well.
The sun had started to set when Emma stepped out of the cinema with Katie. Eyes squinting against the dying light she wrapped an arm around her daughter's shoulders walking them over to the bug.
God she was exhausted. Despite her biggest fears this morning, this day had gone surprisingly well. She had a job, Katie was enrolled in school, she had even managed to shoot a few hilarious photos of her in her new school uniform.
The girl had been disgusted to learn that she was required to wear one, and as a result Emma's iPhone now had a new home screen starring the most vicious looking school girl in all of Storybrooke.
They stopped by Granny's for lunch, and Emma worrying that Katie might start feeling too overwhelmed decided to change their order to go and drove them to the small beach close to the marina. It was technically still too cold to be sitting outside comfortably for too long, but seeing her daughter's face relax for the first time since the name Regina had been mentioned was worth ending up a little chilled.
After they had eaten, and Katie was feeding the seagulls with her fries, Emma gently tried to address the elephant in the room, or beach, or whatever. But the young blonde was having none of it, seemingly reducing her answers to her questions to grunts, before she snapped at her mother to leave her the hell alone, and stormed back to the bug.
Emma had followed a few minutes later, trying to respect the girl's need for space, but she feared she couldn't put that discussion off for much longer. In the end she had decided to tell her daughter that all they needed to do right now was to find out whether Regina Mills actually was Yours Truly- The Evil Queen. Then, and only then would they decide on how to proceed.
Since Katie had almost blown another gasket at the thought of having to meet the Mayor, Emma had stopped at the next convenience store, and bought 'The Daily Mirror', the towns very own newspaper. And as luck would have it, it displayed a photo of the Mayor volunteering at the town's recent hospital fundraiser.
Holy crap, Emma's heart lurched in her chest- that was the same woman from this morning. The woman who she hadn't even been sure had been real. She had looked so feral standing there in the still murky morning light. Raw, powerful, untamed, like a creature from another world. Rolling her eyes at herself and her sudden flair for the dramatic she focused on the picture again.
The woman in it looked breath-taking. Perfectly styled, her suit accentuating every tantalizing curve on her body-she was oozing sex- appeal. And one look at Katie, who was staring at the photo as if her life depended upon it, confirmed it- Regina Mills was indeed the Evil Queen. Swiftly, but with some effort she pulled her daughter's body over the gearshift and onto her lap, just letting her cling to her tightly for as long as she needed.
It was then decided, with Katie still squashed between the steering wheel and Emma that they had had enough fairy tale craziness for one day, and that some diversion was in order. Which was how they had ended up at the movies, watching "The DaVinci Code" and fighting over popcorn.
They returned to their room with various shopping bags. Emma dropped the ones containing the infamous school uniform in a corner, shooing Katie into the bathroom, with instructions to get ready for bed and start up the DVD she wanted them to watch tonight while she would quickly go get them dinner.
As she was about to get into her car, a black Mercedes suddenly pulled up next to her. The door opened, and Emma found herself face to face with Regina Mills.
The brunette rounded her car and stopped right in front of her, a smile on her lips that didn't reach her eyes.
"Hello dear," she addressed the blonde "You must be Miss Swan. My name is Regina Mills. I am the mayor, and after the Sheriff had informed me about his decision to make you- a complete stranger- our new Deputy I decided to come here to give you some friendly advice."
Yes, Emma was perfectly sure it would be friendly advice she would be getting.
"You see, Miss Swan- small towns are very tight-knit communities. And they tend to be wary towards newcomers. They will have tremendous difficulties in accepting a stranger as it is, never mind as a person of authority."
"I don't think you need to be concerned about that, Madame Mayor. So far everyone has been very friendly and welcoming,"
Emma cut in doing everything she could to keep her arms from crossing in front of her. The underlying message of the Mayor's statement had been received, but she would be damned if she let herself feel intimidated by that.
Said Mayors' lips curled into a quick snarl- she was obviously not used to being interrupted- before the mask of friendly indifference cloaked her features again.
"Well, Deputy. Be that as it may, I just don't think they will be very welcoming once everybody knows of your more than seedy past."
The blonde raised an eyebrow. "And what would you know of my seedy past?"
"Enough my dear to make your life here- and that of your daughter-quite uncomfortable. I have done some research on you, and none of it shows you at your best. I think it would only beneficial for you and your little family to move on."
Yup, that woman was dangerous, Emma observed, and that voice- oh my gosh that voice was killing her. She would be willing to bet that Regina Mills could read from a phone book and still induce wet dreams.
"You know what, ma'am? I'm willing to take the risk. But thank you so much, for your…concern."
She really should be proud of her gift to be able to get under other people's skin so effectively, she mused, as the Mayor's face completely transformed, twisted by fury. Or at least enjoy the fact that the older woman had stepped right into her personal space, if it weren't for the sudden feeling that her demise was imminent- and also probably going to be very painful.
"Mark my words Miss Swan; it would be a very foolish thing to cross me! You have no idea of what I'm capable of!"
With that, the brunette turned around, got back into her car and sped off. Leaving a slightly dumbstruck looking Emma behind.
So that was Regina Mills. Beautiful, sharp witted, infuriating, slightly sociopathic and most definitely a hot mess. Hell no, she could not have the hots for the evil queen, she groaned, leaning against her bug.
She returned a short while later with a family sized pizza, beer for herself, Sprite for Katie, a bag of chips, brownies and chocolate ice-cream. And no, she refused to feel guilty about the amount of junk food she had purchased. They could start eating more healthily once they had their own kitchen, and for now it wouldn't hurt to spoil the kid a bit. Which was the reason behind her compulsive shopping behaviour just now, and not the fact that she could only think about incredibly dark eyes staring right through her, making her knees go weak.
Katie was thrilled, obviously- and quickly helped spread out the newspaper on the bed in order to protect the covers from food stains.
Two movies later Katie's eyelids started to droop and Emma suggested they clean up and call it a night. Her suggestion was met with immediate compliance, which almost caused her to check her daughter for any signs of illness. Not that the girl usually made a fuss when asked to help out with something, but getting her to go to bed when told was a whole different story. Poor pixie, Emma thought, she really had to be beat.
Once Katie had settled under the covers she dropped a kiss on her forehead and told her she would take a quick shower herself and join her in a minute.
When Emma got out of the bathroom later, Katie was already fast asleep- the Mayor's photo from the Daily Mirror lying next to her on her pillow.
