A/N: New weekend, new chapter. As always, thanks for all the reviews! I thoroughly enjoy reading all of them :)
Chapter 10: A Little Bird Told Me
The ground shook under Emma's feet, vibrating again and again to the steady rhythm of a large two-legged monster that slowly made its way towards her. A few months earlier she might have been afraid, but after seeing villains and monsters pop up every few weeks during her stay in Storybrooke, she was more than used to it; she was numb, even bored by it. Besides, the other inhabitants of Storybrooke were often more than willing to provide their own fear and panic to the situation.
"It's coming right for us!"
Emma's lips turned down in annoyance. "That's the plan, Doc."
The mailman stood on the other side of her, practically humming with anxiety. "But it's bigger than a giant! It's going to kill us all!"
"Would you guys shut it already?" Emma snapped. "I know what I'm doing. This is, what, the third monster this month?" She squinted at it, mentally comparing it to the previous ones. "Although it is a little bigger than the others, I guess."
The monster let out a loud roar, causing the dwarf and mailman to jump and huddle behind Emma for cover.
"There is no use, we can't–"
"You shut the fuck up right now or I'm locking you up for the rest of the year for reckless endangerment and attempted murder, you got that?" Emma barked, glaring murderously at Doc until he stammered an incoherent apology and slunk back a few more feet. "Now, you two get back and let me deal with this asshole."
Every other week, someone figured the best way to deal with a problem was to summon an ancient guardian, rub a magic lamp the wrong way, draw a pentagram in the sand or maybe just dump a shitload of fairy dust onto something and Emma – being the sheriff – was the one who had to clean it all up. At first it had been thrilling, taking down a monster the size of a small house all on her own (Regina's proud smile was a reward in and of itself, of course) but somewhere along the way even something as unusual as monsters attacking the town became tedious. The monster would stomp down the street, roaring and waving its appendages, scaring the townspeople and usually destroying some property before Emma could pounce it with magic until it disintegrated. The next week: rinse, repeat.
"I guess we can't talk about this?" Emma tried halfheartedly, peering up at the monster. It was at least four or five times taller than her, vaguely humanoid-shaped and was covered in glitter, presumably from the fairy dust that had been used to create it. Its hands ended in feet-long claws and its mouth was filled with razor sharp fangs that sparkled in the sunlight. Pretty standard. "Alright, Edward, show me what you've got," she taunted, lowering her stance and readying herself for the fight.
Edward roared again – seemingly not too pleased with its glitter-inspired name – and aimed a slash of its claws for Emma's head, but she easily ducked under them and responded with a burst of magic. Edward let out a squealing noise and stumbled backwards, but didn't fall.
Despite the cheers from her onlookers, she frowned in frustration. The last monster had reacted much more viscerally to her magic. Perhaps the fairy dust made it more resilient to light magic? Shrugging to herself, she shot a burst of fire at it to see if that worked any better, but Edward only backed a few more steps, seemingly more annoyed than hurt.
"It's retreating!" someone with less than stellar observational skills cheered from the growing crowd behind Emma.
"Woo," Emma mumbled, racking her brain for another way to get rid of the monster. Sure, she could probably just blast it with all the magic she had, but chances were she would need to sleep for a week afterwards or, at worst, faint on the spot.
A couple of bricks lying at the side of the street between her and Edward suddenly caught her eye and she got an idea. Perhaps it wasn't a particularly good idea, but when had that stopped her before?
As Edward shook its head and started moving towards them again, Emma picked up the brick with her magic and moved it until it was hovering a few feet up in the air in front of her. "Time to channel my inner police chief," she mumbled, punching her fist forward. The brick instantly shot forward, hitting Edward straight in the chest and splitting into rubble. Edward stumbled backwards but nothing gave her the impression that he was hurt by it. Her frown deepening, Emma made a disappointed noise. There were a few more bricks lying where she had found the first one, but she would need much more than that and she was fairly certain that Regina wouldn't appreciate it if Emma pulled up parts of the asphalt to pound the monster with.
"It's coming closer!" the same voice from before yelled and the crowd collectively took a few steps backs, murmuring in fear.
"Maybe we should get Regina," Doc suggested, looking ready to bolt at any moment.
"I don't need Regina. I can handle this myself." Maybe if she couldn't toss the street at the monster, she could toss the monster into the street? After all, Regina often said that she was better with brute force than finesse. Flexing her fingers and making sure her feet were firmly rooted on the ground, she shot the full force of her magic out towards the monster, enveloping it and pulling it cleanly up into the air in one smooth move. She couldn't hold it too steady but it was up there and it wasn't going anywhere on its own accord. Emma allowed herself a small grin.
Just when she was about to throw it down into the street, she stopped herself. Regina would really hate it if she had to repair the asphalt again. If Emma could just somehow destroy the monster while it was still in the air...
"Are you sure we shouldn't get someone? Mr. Gold could probably–"
"I've got this!" Emma growled out, feeling sweat drops beginning to form at her temples and the back of her neck. "I just need to..." She winced, trying to grip Edwards arm with her magic while still keeping it in the air, but it was much more difficult than she had thought.
It took a few minutes but when she finally had steady grips of Edward and its arm, she didn't waste any more time and promptly used her magic to rip the arm loose with a victorious "Ha!".
The arm fell to the ground, yet within seconds, another arm had grown out in the old one's place. Emma cursed. Apparently Edward was more resilient than it looked.
"It's invincible!" the person in the crowd – someone who Emma increasingly wanted to dismember instead – squeaked.
"I'm getting Blue," Doc declared, "and your parents. The always know what to do in times–"
"No!" Emma exclaimed and spun around to face him, her frustration boiling over. "I do not need Regina, Gold, Blue, my parents or anyone else! I can take care of one little monster perfectly well on my own, you got that?" She was pretty sure her hands were shooting sparks of her magic by now but she was too tired of it all to care. "Now, I'm the sheriff and you're not, so you're all going to step back and shut the fuck up and I'm going to turn around and put this monster down, once and for all." She emphasized it by shoving her hand down hard, pointing at the ground.
As soon as she did, she could feel her magic activating, coursing through her body and shooting out towards Edward. Then the world exploded behind her, causing everyone to stumble and fall over. Dazed, Emma stared in disbelief at the huge glittery cloud that now were where Edward had been a moment earlier. "What the hell..." She coughed and got to her legs, doing her best to wave away the cloud of sparkly dust that obscured her vision. When the dust finally settled, it revealed a large crater, a few feet deep, that covered almost the whole width of the street. Regina was going to be pissed.
"Uh, what happened?" she asked Doc who was still looking a little out of it. "Was... was that me?"
Doc nodded dumbly, leaning on the mailman.
"Okay. Well." Emma dusted her hands off on her thighs, looking out over the crowd and trying to regain at least some semblance of authority. "Show's over, folks. Clear the area." She then turned back to Doc and the mailman, narrowing her eyes menacingly at them. "And you two are in some big shit right now. Apart from the fact that you're both going to pay for reparations and cleanup, you're going to get your asses over to Granny's, sit down with some nice desserts and you're going to talk this out. This is where your bickering ends."
Both of them immediately began sputtering protests but Emma quickly shut them down.
"If you don't show up there within in minutes and stay there and talk for a couple of hours, you're spending the next week in jail. In the same cell." She crossed her arms. "And I'm going to tell Granny to keep an eye on you. Do anything stupid or try to leave and I'm giving her permission to use her crossbow on you. Now get your asses out of here."
They mumbled and glared at each other but didn't offer any more objections, eventually leaving and reluctantly making their way towards Granny's diner.
Emma sighed heavily, relaxing her posture again. Another day, another monster destroyed, another upcoming scolding from Regina about destroying public property. Right now, she just wanted to go home and sleep–
Sleep. Shit.
Sure, her parents wouldn't be home over night but eventually they would be released and things would be at the very least extremely awkward. Wincing, she rubbed her neck in thought until she realized she was unconsciously beginning to unwrap her scarf. She threw a few worried glances around as she quickly readjusted her scarf, making sure it was firmly in place around her neck.
Maybe she could stay at Regina's tonight. She sure could need some uninterrupted sleep without worrying about her parents walking in on her with her collar visible. At least both Regina and Henry knew about it already.
With a final sigh, she pulled out her phone. She was going to need backup to clean up all this glitter.
The sheriff's station was deathly quiet, the air filled with an overwhelming awkwardness that Ruby gleefully ignored. (Or thoroughly enjoyed, she couldn't quite decide.) She had been sitting at one of the tables for a few hours, watching as the Charmings' mood varied between mortification and wary calmness. Maybe it was a little morbid of her, but she had to admit a part of her – maybe the more Ruby-esque part – found it utterly refreshing seeing the moral power couple behind bars for public sex.
She put in a new piece of chewing gum in her mouth and crossed her legs, giving Snow a lecherous smile. "So..." Ruby dragged the word out obnoxiously for several seconds. "I've been meaning to ask you something, you know."
Snow and David both looked equally mortified.
Ruby snickered and put her legs up on the nearest desk. "A little bird told me our dear sheriff and mayor found you two naked in the woods."
In an instant, Snow's demeanor turned from mortified to horrified, all blood draining from her face. "They saw us?" she all but shrieked, clutching the bars.
Surprised by the sudden outburst, Ruby glanced at David to see if he knew what was going on, but he looked as dumbfounded as she. "I just said– who– what are you talking about?"
"The birds! They can't see me like this." Snow groaned pitifully and slouched on her cot. "This is so bad."
"The... birds." Ruby blinked. "The ones you talk to. Right."
"They're never going to take me seriously again!"
"Snow," David said, awkwardly patting her through the bars. "Birds don't wear clothes. I'm sure it'll be fine."
"Yeah, I mean, you've got the eagles on your side already, right?" Ruby helpfully filled in.
Snow looked up in confusion. "Eagles?"
Ruby nodded and give Snow a wink. "Spread eagles."
If there hadn't been multiple cell bars between her and Snow, Ruby would have feared for her own safety, werewolf or not.
Still worth it.
Emma was leaning against her police cruiser when Henry came walking out of the school, taking a well deserved break from the cleanup. That damn glitter was a pain to get rid of, both from the ground and her clothes.
"Hey, kid," she waved at him as he weaved through the crowd of kids towards her.
He gave her an odd look. "Hey, Ma. Did something happen?"
"Nah, just thought I'd drive you home today for a change."
Henry didn't look convinced, but he got in the car without any questions. A minute after they had pulled away from the school, he asked, "So, why did you really pick me up?"
"Am I really that easy to read?"
"Yeah," Henry shrugged, a hint of smugness in his expression. "And you're tapping the steering wheel like when you're in trouble with Mom." His eyes narrowed in suspicion. "Did you guys have a fight?"
"What? No," Emma assured him, curling her fingers closer around the steering wheel. "Well... not yet, anyway. And besides, that's not why I wanted to talk to you." She paused, chewing on her cheek while looking for the right words. "If... if I moved in with– I mean, into the mansion – your mom's mansion – just for a little while, maybe... would that bother you?"
Henry scrunched his face up in confusion at Emma's barely comprehensible ramblings. "Why can't you live with Grams and Gramps like you do now?"
"I... we're not on the best of terms right now," Emma explained, then hastened to add, "and besides, Regina's place is way bigger than Mom's loft. It'd be good to have some more space, right?"
"I guess that would be cool." He thought about it for a moment. "We'd live there all three, like a family?"
Emma licked her lips, hesitating for a few moments before answering. "Sure, something like that. I haven't talked to your mother about it yet, though, so don't get your hopes up. I just thought I'd see what you thought about it first."
Rolling his eyes in a manner that he had clearly inherited from Regina, Henry huffed. "She's going to say yes. Obviously."
Emma perked up. "You really think so?"
Again, the look Henry gave her was a dead ringer for Regina's you're-being-an-idiot-again-dear expression.
"Never mind," she muttered.
With Henry safely deposited in the mayoral mansion, Emma lingered by the curb outside, leaning on her cruiser again and twirling her phone around her fingers. Despite Henry's confidence, she wasn't entirely sure about asking to stay with Regina and him. It was a cop-out, no way around it, and Regina would know it immediately. She doubted very much that moving in together while still pretending to be just friends would go over well with Regina. Still, after the monster fight earlier, Regina was going to be pissed either way, so the day was going to be difficult no matter what Emma did, right?
Regina picked up after only a few tones. "Yes, Miss Swan."
Miss Swan. Emma winced. "Hey... you don't sound all that happy to hear my voice," she noted lamely.
"I would have been much happier if you would have refrained from creating a hole in North Street and covering the neighborhood in glitter," she replied dryly.
"At least I didn't pull down any electric cables this time, right?"
"And all houses in the vicinity of the impact crater are still standing. Excellent work."
"You could teach me how to repair stuff next time, maybe?" Emma suggested.
"Try to refrain from destroying anything else until then. Now did you call for another reason than to grovel?" Her voice got a distinctly silkier quality. "Because that is much more effective in person, dear."
Emma cleared her throat, not quite noticing how her fingers made their way up to her neck to fiddle with her collar. "I, ah... I wondered if I could crash at your place for a little while. If that would be okay."
"'Crash at my place?' We're not teenagers, Miss Swan," Regina said, annoyance seeping into her voice again.
"Well, things are really awkward with my parents right now and Ruby will never stop me teasing if I'm staying at Granny's, so..."
"So you want to move in with me." There was a short pause. "Fine. But you need to tell the two idiots that yourself. In person, right now. And you're crashing in the guest bedroom."
"Regina," Emma whined in objection.
"Unless you want to explain things for our son, of course."
Emma huffed. "Okay, okay. I'll go tell my parents and then I'll bring over what I need."
"Do that."
Despite the abrupt ending and Regina's general lack of enthusiasm, Emma was still pretty satisfied with the outcome of the conversation. She was sleeping at Regina's, she would be able to enjoy Regina's cooking daily, and she hadn't been threatened with bodily harm or stripped of visitation rights to Henry for blowing up parts of downtown. All in all, it had gone well.
Of course, there was still the small matter of speaking with her parents.
When Emma entered the station, she found it much more peaceful than she had expected it. She wasn't quite sure why, but she had thought leaving Ruby in charge of her parents for a couple of hours would leave a bigger mark.
"Hey, Em!" Ruby called out when she saw her, holding up a bag of candy. "You want one?"
"Nah, I'm good." She went over to the cells and handed her parent a bag each. "I brought you some clothes. Figured it would be against the Geneva Convention or something to keep you here like... that." She made a face at the memory of finding her parents naked. "Anyway, I, uh, I thought I'd say that I'm... it's nothing wrong with your place, but it's, you know... and this today, it's all just so..."
Three pairs of eyes stared at her dumbly.
"Just spit it out, Em," Ruby told her, before adding with a cheerful smile, "We're all friends here, right?"
"Right," Emma repeated, her own smile feeling rather stiff. "Well, what I was trying to say was... I'm staying with Regina for a little while. Until this," she made a gesture towards her parents, "is, uh, behind me. Behind us. I think it's best."
Snow dropped her clothes down on the floor with a thump. "You're moving in with Regina?"
"It's really cramped at your place, Mom," Emma defended, "and Henry's already living there anyway. It makes sense."
"Well, we knew this day would come at some point, right?" David tried with a halfhearted chuckle and a look on his face that screamed we'll talk about this later young woman. "No one can live with their parents forever, and you won't be too far–"
"No! It's wrong," Snow insisted vehemently. "She's poisoning you, Emma, and you don't even notice it! It's always Regina this and Regina that and–"
"Snow." David's voice had a sharp tone to it that Emma was the least bit used to hearing, but Snow just shrugged it off.
"You know I'm right, David. Regina is bad for her." When David wasn't budging, she shook her head in exasperation. "Fine. Not like I can stop you. Now, are you going to let us out of here or what?"
Emma squared her shoulders and crossed her arms. "You're staying here at least overnight... unless you give me a better explanation to what you were doing out there, of course."
Neither one of her parents seemed willing to say anything, although Snow looked more brooding than embarrassed.
"Okay, in that case, I'm off. Sleep tight. You can go now too, Ruby. The night officer will take over in a while."
"Emma," Snow called out as soon as she had a foot over the doorstep. "If– if you do this, you will not be allowed home again. You can stay with Regina if that's really what you want," she declared, her voice unusually hollow.
Feeling as if she had been punched in the gut, Emma was about to make a curse-ridden retort, but stopped herself at the last moment. "Fine," she grunted, clenching her fists tightly together. "Then that's exactly what I'll do, and you can just stay here with your crap. And I–" She met Snow's eyes, hard and cold and determined and Emma just had to leave right now. "You know what, fuck this. I'm out of here."
Just like earlier that day, her magic quickly flooded her body and she suddenly found herself enveloped in a cloud of bright white smoke.
The next thing she knew, she was standing out in the woods. Apparently she had somehow managed to poof herself across town by mistake. Letting out a string of curses that Regina would kill her for if Henry ever heard, she pulled up her phone and called Regina.
"Hey, things went kind of bad with my parents. And we should probably practice poofing during our next magic lesson."