Chapter Four

It would seem that after a long time no one is as we remember them to be. So it was for Emma when she found Neal Cassady. He was so foreign to her in appearance that she almost mistook him for a stranger. There she was, standing on the corner of Mercer and West 3rd Street. Regina was hanging back, acting as impromptu backup; pretending to read a newspaper as she leaned against a bench in Washington Square Park. When a businessman of medium build caught Emma's eye. He looked pretty average for the area, probably out to lunch Emma reasoned, until she caught sight of his hand and the hat he was holding. It was a top hat of the highest quality, all too familiar to her, because she had once been asked to make one by Storybrooke's resident loon. Time slowed for her as she trained her eyes on it: the black velvet; the purple satin wrapping around it; the off-white card still tucked into the right side. She would know that hat anywhere.

Emma waited for him to pass before she raised her left arm and made a signal like a duck's head with her hand pointing in the direction she was going; instructions for Regina to follow her at half a block's length. Regina crumpled her newspaper noisely as an acknowledgment. She was rather enjoying her brief stint as a bounty hunter's assistant. Emma crossed the narrow street taking cover behind the parked cars and using the brownstown steps along West 3rd to secure a vantage point as she stalked the top hat down the street. Reaching the edge of the park, Mr. Top Hat turned south on Mercer. Emma was about to lose him! She ran across the street and back towards Regina, catching her by the arm and pulling her towards her so that Regina's ear was flush with her mouth, before whispering instructions.

Regina advanced, turning the corner south behind him, quickening her pace and matching his, until she was only a few steps behind. Emma crouched down, feeling the tightness of her jeans cutting into her stomach as she darted from monument to bench to tree in her pursuit through the park. Finally, she managed to get ahead of him as she reached the corner. She could see Regina mere steps behind him. She lifted her right arm and gestured for Regina to overtake him. Regina accelerated as much as she could in four inch stilettos. Now walking several steps ahead of him, her sandals making quick little clips and claps against the uneven pavement with the utmost grace. Emma watched Regina and Hat as they neared the corner of Bleecker and Mercer. Here goes nothing.

Regina had her eyes trained on the blonde and red figure when she noticed the signal to act. Emma had her hands in front of her chest like she was about to do a push-up. Regina was nearly at the corner so she knew there was no time to hesitate. Oh hell! You're gonna owe me for this one. There was a smacking sound as her knee hit the concrete.

"Shit. Damn." Regina looked down at her legs. "Ah. Hell! My shoe!"

Her voice sounded upset, but from the front, Emma could see a small smile creep cross her face.

"Come on, buddy. Take the bait."

Regina stayed on the pavement. She appeared to be inspecting her shoe as Neal approached her, placing a hand on her shoulder. Regina looked at Emma for direction and could see her motion back the signal for her to keep him talking. Emma could hear Regina taking as she approached.

"Oh that's very kind of you. Have you come to render assistance?" Regina put on her best damsel in distress face. "I seem to have broken my heel."

She took Neal's hand as he helped her up, his back now towards the corner as Emma made her stealth advance. Regina was feigning an injury to her calf, biding more time as she gently massaged it with one hand. With Neal's attention firmly distracted, Emma swooped in to cuff his hands behind his back and roughly tackled him to the ground. She finished by straddling him from behind with a knee firmly pressed against each kidney.

"I've dreamed of this day for a long time."

Regina examined her heels before placing them in her purse. Despite the commotion, her Louboutin blue strappies were intact. She made a mental note to pat herself on the back for her remarkable acting abilities. Seating herself on the steps of the nearest brownstone, she turned to watch Emma. Neal had been knocked unconscious at some point and Emma was dragging him by the armpits into a seated position at the base of the steps. She promptly lifted his left hand above his head and cuffed him to the steps' metal post so that his body remained upright, propped up by the stairs.

Emma's green eyes met her own as she turned towards her.

Was Emma saying something? All Regina could hear was the rush of blood pulsing in her ears.

"Regina, are you ok?"

Emma was walking towards her, then taking a seat next to her on the steps. Regina felt Emma's hand putting pressure on her inner thigh and pulling her legs open.

"You're bleeding."

The hairs on the back of Regina's neck stood at attention and she could feel her heart beating in her chest. During the last few moments, Regina felt time stand still as every vivid detail of Neal's capture floated past her eyes. She hadn't even noticed she was injured.

"Sorry, what?" Regina looked down at the blood oozing from her leg. When did this happen?

"Oh. I'm sure its fine. It's just a scratch."

"Yeah, well. It's a pretty bad scratch. Lets get you cleaned up, ok?" Emma looked up and down the street for some place with a bathroom.

"Where are your shoes? Can you walk like that?" Emma examined the cut.

Regina had to admit, she was enjoying the attention immensely. Emma knelt before her like a subject waiting to be knighted by her Queen. "Thank you for your concern, Em-ma."

Emma as my knight. The thought sent a shiver down her spine that ended with a sudden and unexpected contraction in her nether region. Regina shook her head to clear her mind from the pleasurable impulse, but she found herself unable to resist the temptation and put her hand on Emma's shoulder as though she was really knighting her.

Emma noted Regina's hand with a quick glance at it, before looking directly at her face.

Regina's pupils were wide as saucers, making her eyes impossibly dark. Emma's hands moved slowly, delicately embracing Regina's calf. She watched as Regina's lips pursed and parted slightly, issuing a small gasp before the corners of her mouth curved upwards.

Emma caressed her inner thigh, under the guise of inspecting her wounds, which caused Regina to swallow hard.

"Emma, I'm ok. How about you bring the Beetle around?"