A/N: I'm terribly sorry for the long wait! I'm in the middle of Camp NaNoWriMo which have meant that I've had much less time to write this. I don't expect another update before May, but then I should be able to update more often again.

In any case, thanks as always to everyone who's read and/or reviewed. Happy reading!

Chapter 4: The Shopping List

"You're leaving already?" David asked when Emma was collecting her things a few hours after her little meeting with the Mayor.

"It's a monday evening, David, nothing's going to happen."

"So... see you back home later?" Emma cringed internally at that hopeful tone.

"Yeah, sure," she muttered, dumping a bunch of papers in her bag. Damn paperwork. "Later."

"You're going to Regina, aren't you?" He tried to keep his voice calm and uninterested, but his words alone told Emma that he was quite the opposite. "Look, Emma, I'm not sure what you think–"

"You think armageddon is coming because I'm not rallying up a mob to burn the Evil Queen at the stake, right?" She regretted the words as soon as she'd said them. "Sorry," she mumbled. "Long day."

"I think... your mother and I don't exactly see your relationship the same way. Her history with Regina is much worse than mine," he said diplomatically.

"Sure didn't sound like that back in the car," Emma shot back, crossing her arms.

David winced. "Maybe not. Probably not. But I'm not– I just want what's best for you and Henry. I know nothing we'll say will stop you from seeing her – you're far too like your mother in that way – I just hope you know what you're doing. It wasn't that long ago that you two would have blown up the town if that had been a sure way to get rid of the other. Not literally though," he quickly added, not wanting to allude to his daughter being a potential massmurderer. Or murderer at all for that matter. The metaphore got a little out of hand.

"I know," Emma sighed, dropping her defensive posture. "I wish you could see that she's changed, I really do."

"I'm trying, and I'm not going to bug you about seeing her. Can't promise anything about your mother though," he added with an apologetic smile.

"Yeah, thanks Dad," she said, returning his smile. "Well, I'm off. Don't wait up, I'm having dinner at Regina's." At least she hoped she was. She hadn't talked about it with Regina, but she'd much rather be around an annoyed Regina than an annoyed Snow right now.

As soon as she'd left the Sheriff's office, she practically threw her phone up, typing a message.

Hey can I hide with you tonight?

Damn, not tonight. Damned freudian slips.

Sry I meant this evening. Gotta be home b4 night. Pls?

The response came quickly.

Your spelling is atrocious.

Emma frowned, the corners of her lips quirking up involuntarily. Always the sassy responses.

But to answer your question, yes. I think you'd want to be here for this.

Looking at her phone, Emma wondered just what "this" was. A solution to the spell? One could always hope.

"Hey," Emma said when the door on 108 Mifflin Street opened, revealing the Mayor wearing an odd expression.

"You actually arrived fairly quickly, Sheriff. I'm surprised," Regina quipped, stepping aside to let Emma in.

"And I probably broke half the speed limits in the process," Emma muttered, taking off her jacket and fiddling with the scarf.

"I don't think–" Regina begun, just as another woman joined them from the living room.

"Oh, hello Emma," Belle greeted her with a friendly smile, "I haven't seen you in a while."

Emma's hands flew so fast from the scarf that they almost ripped it off in the process. "Yeah, hey. Been a while, yup," Emma nodded fidgeting nervously. She'd hoped for some time alone with Regina, but apparently that was not on the menu.

"I invited Belle here after she graciously agreed to help us with removing the spell," Regina explained.

"You told her about it?" Emma exclaimed, not sounding to happy about it.

Pressing her lips together in a thin line, Regina crossed her arms. "Would you rather want me to seek help from the Blue Fairy? Maybe Mr. Gold would like to assist? Perhaps we could bring in Jefferson and the whole convent while we're at it?"

Emma winced. "Sorry. Yeah, no, I'm... it's been a long day. Keeping Blue and Mr. Gold out of this would be great. Sorry Belle."

"It's alright," Belle assured, "and you can trust me. I won't tell Rumple about this."

"Good," Emma mumbled, kicking off her boots and following Regina into the living room. "So, you found anything yet?"

"Perhaps," Regina said noncomittally. "We still have many books and documents to go through, but with Belle's help I'm certain we'll come up with a solution."

"For the record, I'd love to study some of these texts some other day as well, when we're not in such a hurry," Belle mentioned. "It's a fascinating collection you've got, Regina."

"Thank you, I'm glad you appreciate it," Regina said with a genuine smile. "You're of course welcome to them as much as you like."

Belle practically beamed, both her and Regina completely unaware of the odd stares they got from the third woman in the room. While Emma knew about Belle's and Regina's growing friendship, she hadn't known that they were this friendly; Regina didn't give those kinds of smile to just anyone. Good thing Emma wasn't jealous or anything. Nope, none of that at all.

"Now, however, there is one thing we need before we can continue," Regina turned towards Emma with a predatory smirk.

"What? Uh, no." Emma shook her head emphatically, crossing her arms. "I'm not showing anything." She could've sworn Belle's sudden coughing fit was not as genuine as she tried to make it sound. "I'm not showing that."

"It's important that both me and Belle have all the facts about the spell," Regina said in a slitheringly silky tone, "so it would be best if she sees it in action, dear."

Emma took a few hurried steps back, but wasn't quick enough. With one foot still in the air, she felt a soft hand grip her own and her will to back away suddenly fizzled out. Logically, she knew that it had been there in her mind just moments ago, but it simply didn't feel important anymore.

"Good girl," Regina whispered quietly enough that only Emma heard it, sending a delicious shiver travelling down her spine.

It was a very odd feeling, to be only partially able to control her own will, Emma noted. She was fully capable of doing what she wanted except for backing away from Regina or extracting her hand.

Shooting her gentle captor a spiteful look, she grumbled, "you're going to pay for this," but still followed her obediently to stand in front of Belle, who currently studied her like some kind of scientific experiment.

"So you touch her and she feels compelled to do what you want?" Belle asked.

"Not exactly. As long as I touch her, I can manipulate her feeling and urges. Technically, she doesn't have to do anything, she simply wants it more than anything else." Turning to Emma, she asked, "do you want to remove your scarf?"

"Hell no."

"Do you want to remove your hand and have your free will back?"

Emma looked momentarily perplexed, her feelings telling her one thing and her logic telling her something else completely. "...no. I don't. I should, right? But... I just want to hold your hand." She looked down at their joined hands in utter confusion. "It's weird. Really weird. It's like this presence is in my mind, filling different parts of it or whatever." Frowning, she chewed on her lip. "It feels kind of nice, actually."

Blinking, she looked back at Regina. "Hey! You– you made me do that!"

"Do what, dear?" Regina looked like the poster child of innocence.

"Made me say all that stuff right now. I think." She groaned, covering her face with her free hand. "This is giving me a headache."

"I didn't make you say anything that wasn't true though, did I?" Regina said, a little smugly.

Emma grunted, shoving her free hand back in her pocket. "We done yet?"

Regina's smile grew. "Not quite."

"I'm not–" She stopped midsentence, all defiance and irritation draining from her face. Then her hand came up to her neck, pulling off her scarf.

"Oh," Belle said, her eyebrows rising in surprise. "That's... not exactly what I expected. That's the symbol, right?" she asked, to which Regina nodded. "Why is she looking so... out of it, though?"

"Well, right now, all she wants to do is stand here and wait. A few minutes ago, I only took control of parts of her mind. My touch doesn't control her per se, I have to take control of her mind. Either nothing, or a part of it as I did before, or take over her mind completely, like I'm doing now." Regina tilted her head slightly, her lips curving up into an amused smile. "It would be rather awkward if she turned into a zombie everytime I touched her."

Belle nodded, "that makes sense."

As Regina let go of Emma's hand, Emma could for that split second feel her mind coming back to her, to her own control. As much as she enjoyed having it back, she couldn't help but mourn the loss of that foreign presence in her mind. Everything was so warm and so easy. Wasn't this what some people strove for, a complete obliteration of wants and needs? Still, she was glad that she had her own mind back. Mostly.

"Regina," she growled, but Regina dismissed her with a wave of her hand.

"Like I said, dear, if you want the best chance to fix this, she needs to know everything I know." She raised an eyebrow at the dark stare Emma shot her way. "And wasn't it easier this way? None of that pesky thinking and worrying."

Emma wanted to physically wipe that smug smile off her face, but she did have a point. A very small point. She huffed, throwing herself down in a chair. "So what's the plan?"

Belle and Regina exchanged a quick look. "Now," Belle explained, "we try to find out what that mage did to undo the spell. And to do that, we'll first have to learn exactly how the spell works, what kinds of magic it uses and so on, so we can undo each individual part of the spell."

"Basically reverse-engineer the spell," Emma summarized, "and then? You'll make a new spell or a potion or a curse or what?"

"We're believe that the mage brewed some kind of liquid to pour over the artifact, so a potion should be sufficient. We wouldn't your True Love come strolling by, undoing all our hard work, would we?"

Emma snorted. "Yeah, can't have that. Anyway, if you don't need my help, I actually have some paperwork to finish."

The look Regina gave her was somewhere between I'm-having-a-stroke and please-have-my-babies.

"What? Don't give me that look. I do paperwork all the time. It's not that weird."

"Of course not, dear."

"I'm just going to... yeah." She huffed and shoved her hands down her pockets, wandering off to the front door to get her paperwork.

After Emma's continued insistence they ordered pizza – she even got Regina to eat some – to save precious time before Henry would come home from his playdate with Ava and Nicholas. Emma, despite Regina's scrunched nose and snippy remarks, positioned herself on the floor, her papers sprawled out in front of her while Regina and Belle sat next to each other in the sofa, humming and oohing and whispering like they were the ones on the playdate.

"Yes, I think this will do," Belle mumbled, nodding to herself as she scanned the paper in front of her that she'd been scribbling on throughout the evening. "I think we're done."

Emma's head shot up, eyes and ears perked. "Really?"

Regina looked the paper over herself, nodding as well. "Yes, it should work. Might need a few minor adjustments, but these should be all the ingredients we'll need."

"And we'll be able to find everything? I mean, no cats' yawns or frogwings or anything like that?" Emma asked, feeling hope bubbling up inside.

"No, all the ingredients should be more or less easy to get ahold of. Why don't you read the list yourself, dear." Regina handed the paper over to Emma who started reading it directly.

Half-way through the list, Emma's face was scrunched up in confusion. When she finished it, her eyebrows were at her hairline and she couldn't help chuckling. "Funny."

"I fail to see what's amusing you, Miss Swan," Regina said, cocking an eyebrow.

Emma frowned at Regina's serious expression, eyes flitting over to Belle and meeting a similar expression on her face. "You're serious? About this?"

"We are."

"But..." Emma was at a loss for words. The list was insane. "I don't, I, what– I mean there– there has to be a better way than this?" She looked far more hopeful than she felt. "Right?"

"Well, since we are in a rather unusual situation, there may be another way," Regina mused, tapping a finger against the book in her lap. "But there's a reason to why we didn't mention it."

"Why?"

"Because it's worse than this one."

Emma laughed out loud at that preposterous statement. The list was beyond the concept of "bad", so how could anything be worse? "Yeah, sorry if I'm not convinced. I mean, really. Fairy dust? 'True Love'? Do I need to find a prince or what? And then–"

"The other alternative," Regina cut her off, "is Mr. Gold, me, the Blue Fairy using our magic on you while you're covered in fairy dust and your parents kiss, inside a crop circle at a full moon."

"What the– you're serious?"

"Of course not. That would be ridiculous," Regina huffed, rolling her eyes.

Emma breathed a sigh of relief.

"Obviously, crop circles don't have any magical significance," Regina remarked as if it was common knowledge.

Emma blinked. "But the rest..."

"I was perfectly serious about the rest."

Belle cleared her throat as Emma buried her head in her hands and groaned. "Besides, the spell casting would take over an hour, all the while Rumple, Regina and Blue would have to touch you to make the spell work. And your parents would have to, um, continue to..."

"Please don't finish that sentence," Emma muttered. "Fine, I get it. Bad idea. But how are we going to get all this?"

Biting her lip not to smile, Regina knew she was enjoying the Savior's misadventures far too much, but she couldn't help it. "I'm afraid that you'll have to get the more... exclusive items on that list by yourself. I doubt the fairies would give me any fairy dust, reformed or not. The Savior on the other hand might easily get what's needed."

Emma sighed. "What about Tink?"

"She isn't on all that good terms with the other fairies as far as I know."

"Fine, I'll figure something out." She looked through the list again. "And what's this 'dread hound powder'? I don't suppose you have some?"

Regina shook her head. "I believe Mr. Gold has some in his possession."

"And he'll give it to me just like that, no questions asked. Sure," Emma muttered dejectedly.

"I doubt he'll even give any to me without asking why," Belle noted. "That's why I suggested to Regina that you don't ask him."

"You know anyone else who's got it then?"

"No." Belle pursed her lips, her expression turning mischievous. "I'm saying you should steal it from him. Just a little bit, you won't need much. He never checks it anyway."

"I should steal it from him," Emma repeated, staring at Belle and Regina with wide, wild eyes. "You're insane. Both of you. Completely lost your minds." She let out a shrill laugh, bordering on hysterical. "But this is the best we've got, right? So, yeah, I'll bribe the nuns and rob Mr. Gold and find a prince, 'cause... yeah, whatever. I need a drink," she muttered, wandering off to the kitchen.

"She's taking this really well," Belle mumbled to Regina as the blonde left the room.

"Are you quite done sulking yet?" Regina asked after she'd said goodbye to Belle.

Emma looked up from the list with a pout. "I'm not sulking. This is bullshit."

"I agree, despite the crass wording. Even so, as you said, it's what we've got." She sat down in the sofa next to Emma, smoothing out a few wrinkles on her skirt.

Grumbling, Emma lifted up her legs onto the end of the sofa and plopped her head down in Regina's lap. "I mean, this is all bullshit. This, my magic, my parents, sneaking around Henry and everything."

Regina hummed her agreement, absentmindedly running her fingers through Emma's golden locks.

"We'll have to tell Henry about us soon. He's a smart kid, he's got to know something is different between us. And my parents will figure it out sooner or later."

"I don't think that's something we should discuss right now, Miss Swan," Regina said, her body stiffening slightly and her hand stopping its caressing.

Emma winced, wishing she hadn't brought it up. Even though Regina hadn't actually said anything, she knew Regina wasn't happy with how secretive they'd kept their growing relationship (although none of them would admit that it was any kind of relationship. They preferred the word "arrangement").

"Sorry, I... we'll talk about it after all this is done, okay?" Emma gave what she hoped was an appeasing smile.

"Okay," Regina mumbled, a smile of her own tugging on her lips and resumed stroking Emma's hair.

The silence that filled the room was comfortable and none of them made any effort to break it. They both knew that this wasn't even near anything they usually did when alone together, but it felt too good to point out and possibly disrupt the moment. So they sat quietly, both women trying to figure out what it all meant.

The front door opening and closing finally pulled them out of their thoughts. Emma quickly sat up, reluctantly leaving Regina's comfortable lap.

"That would be Henry," Regina mumbled, brushing off invisible dust from her skirt as she stood up, a little flustered from the oddly intimate moment.

"Yeah." Emma got up a little awkwardly. "I should, uh, probably go." They didn't do intimacy, really. Not this kind, this almost domestic kind. They flirted. They had sex. Really hot and often kinky sex. This was completely new and she had no idea how to deal with it.

"Of course," Regina replied with an unconvincing smile.

After another awkward moment, Emma nodded, picking up her paperwork from the floor. Securing her scarf around her neck she walked out to the foyer to greet her son.

"Hi Ma," Henry said, a little surprised to see her. "What are you doing here?"

"Hey there, kid. Magic stuff, you know." It wasn't technically a lie, but it still didn't help her conscience much.

"Oh," he replied, frowning. "I guess that's good. That you're learning to control it, right?"

"Yeah, it's good." She made a mental note to actually have a real magic lesson next time she went over to Regina's. "Wouldn't help anyone if I couldn't control my magic." She shrugged on her jacket and the bag with all the paperwork before pulling on her boots.

When she straightened up again, Henry was looking at her with a puzzled expression.

"What's on your mind, kid?"

He tilted his head, squinting a little. "Are you wearing a collar?"

Aaaand cliffhanger! As a treat for my lovely readers who've waited far too long for another chapter.

I made the description of the list deliberately vague so that I'd be able to add more required ingredients later on. I've got a few ideas, but suggestions would also be appreciated :)

ninabanana: I hope this chapter cleared up the confusion!