Love, Fate And Magic
Chapter 10- That's Odd
Emma continued to grin as she pushed open the heavy apartment door. The night had gone much better than she expected and blonde couldn't help but be surprised.
"Good night?" Called a voice from Emma's right. The blonde turned and spotted Mary Margaret, who was sat at the table looking at her.
"Yeah, it was." The sheriff smiled at the brunette but it faded when she didn't receive one back. "What's up?"
"When were you going to tell me you were dating the mayor?" The teacher asked coldly. Emma squirmed under Mary Margaret's intense stare and slowly made her way over to the table, slumping into a seat.
"Okay first of all, I was going to tell you when I got back. And second of all we're not dating." Emma said matter-of-factly making Mary Margaret raise an eyebrow.
"No? Just having romantic dinners as friends?" Emma groaned loudly.
"I don't know what it is Mary Margaret!" The brunette's face quickly softened. There was a long pause before she spoke again.
"What do you want it to be?" She asked gently.
"Something, I want there to be something between us. I just don't know how ready I am for it." Mary Margaret nodded her understanding.
"You need to take it slow, there's no rush."
"I don't know how patient she is." The blonde grumbled.
"She'll wait whether she likes it or not." The teacher said sternly. "Don't let her push you into anything you aren't ready for, okay?" Emma smiled at the older woman's protectiveness.
"Oka-y" The blonde yawned widely, making Mary Margaret chuckle.
"Go to bed, it's clearly been a long day." Emma nodded and stood from the table. She bid the brunette goodnight and headed up the stairs, exhaustion suddenly taking over. Once in here room, the blonde quickly fell onto the bed, her body facing the wall.
Emma groaned in frustration, wishing she could define whatever relationship she had with Regina. Did the mayor want a committed relationship? Or did she just want her as a bed warmer like Graham was. Emma let her eyes focus on the wall where all her drawings were pinned up. The one of Regina sat in the middle, smiling at her.
The blonde had yet to approach Regina about the drawing, fearing she would be dismissed about it like all the other times Emma had tried questioning the past. Instead she let her eyes move onto the other pictures. She focused on one next to Regina, depicting a young man. The blonde stood up and retrieved the picture from the wall, examining it. Emma found herself often doing this late at night when it was just her. Unlike the others, there was no name signed next to the picture, other than her own. The blonde glanced at the various other pictures of the people she no longer knew. She frowned at the medieval looking man, dressed in what looked like leather. The name Killian was written in loopy writing close to his left arm which was behind his back. Sighing, the blonde replaced the drawing of the unknown man and went about getting changed.
Perhaps one day she would remember.
Xxxxxxxxxxx
The sheriff arrived bright and early at the station the next morning, the whole place felt different now that she was officially in charge. Emma had gone about putting her own personal touches to the office, but overall had made very little difference. By the time she was done, very little time had passed.
Emma leant against the desk in her office and stared into the other room blankly. It was far too quiet and far to empty. Frowning to herself the blonde walked into the main station in search of the darts before stopping. Emma suddenly remembered Morgan's offer of becoming her deputy if she got the job. Grinning the sheriff skipped over to the phone, picking it up and beginning to dial but stopped. Slowly putting the phone down, Emma stood frowning. Was she allowed a deputy? Graham had hired her without consulting Regina, but that was because the mayor hadn't liked her at the time. However it was clear Regina liked her now, and wouldn't say no if she suggested about getting a deputy.
Nodding to herself, Emma grabbed her keys and swiftly left the station. It was best to consult Regina before hiring anyone new; the blonde didn't wish to piss her off so quickly, especially since they were finally getting along.
Once in the cruiser, the sheriff made the quick trip across town to the town hall, butterflies beginning to form in her stomach at the prospect of seeing Regina again since last night. Walking through the halls at a quick pace, the blonde arrived at the mayor's office only to be stopped by a chirpy secretary.
"Sorry Miss Mills asked not be disturbed." The shorter woman said, clearly trying to stand her ground.
"Is she in a meeting?" Emma asked, frowning at the closed doors.
"No."
"Is she talking with someone?"
"No."
"Then why can't I go in?" The sheriff asked a little more snappily.
"Because Miss Mills asked specifically not to be disturbed." The secretary moved in front of Emma as if to body block her.
"But I'm here on-" The office doors suddenly flew open to reveal an irritated looking Regina.
"What is with the arguing?" she glared at her secretary before noticing Emma. "Oh Emma."
"The Sheriff was trying to come in."
"It's alright Kate, the Sheriff is more than welcome." Regina smiled at Emma who nodded. "Emma please come in and I'll be with you in a moment."
"Sure." The blonde slipped passed Regina who moved into the hall, shutting the door behind Emma. The blonde stood awkwardly by the desk, looking at the large bowl of apples that no doubt came from the tree Emma had taken a chainsaw to.
"I'm still not happy about you attacking my tree." Emma jumped and turned to see Regina standing right behind her, a smirk on her lips.
"Ah yeah, sorry about that." The sheriff said sheepishly.
"Perhaps you'll have to make it up to me?" Regina grinned at Emma who blushed lightly.
"To be fair, you did get me arrested." The mayor shrugged.
"I guess we're even." Regina leaned forward and placed a chaste kiss on Emma's still smiling lips. "What can I do for you?" she murmured, but the blonde didn't reply and instead pressed her own lips firmly against Regina's. The kiss didn't last long, but Emma couldn't help herself, the need to kiss the older woman had become almost over powering in that moment.
"Hey." Regina smiled and leaned in to kiss Emma once more before replying.
"Hello dear." The blonde smiled before leaning back against the desk, getting a full view of the mayor.
"I wanted to ask your permission for something…" Regina raised an eyebrow.
"Oh?"
"I want to hire a new deputy." The mayor tilted her head to the side.
"Who?"
"Morgan, he works down at the flower shop." Emma gestured lamely behind her.
"Morgan Scott? Why him?" Regina asked placing her hands either side of Emma's and leaning in a little closer.
"We've become friends recently, and I think he'll be good for the job." The blonde glanced down at Regina's hands before back up to the brunette's face.
"You'll have to train him, and make sure he is up to date with all there is to know on law enforcement. Can you do that?"
"Yes Madame Mayor." Regina nodded.
"Well then you may go ahead and hire him." Emma grinned at the mayor.
"Great! The place was getting a little lonely."
"Lonely? Perhaps I should come by more." Regina mumbled leaning in even closer to the blonde.
"I'd like that." Emma whispered, closing the gap between them and ghosting her lips across the mayor's. "Well I'll head back to work now." The blonde wriggled out from under the mayor, smirking at the audible whine from Regina.
"Tease." She grumbled and Emma turned back to face her.
"I'll make it up to you, lunch at Granny's?"
"I'd love too." Regina chirped.
"How about twelve thirty?"
"It's a date."
Xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Emma skidded to a halt outside of the flower shop, catching her breath before pushing open the glass door. The slightly heated chat with Regina had managed to successfully cloud up Emma's head, and so the sheriff had decided a brisk walk back into town would do the trick. However half way to the flower shop, the blonde quickly grew bored of her slow progress.
"Morgan? You in here?" The sheriff called, walking into the shop.
"Back here." A voice called back and Emma followed it to a back room where she found Morgan crouched over a large green plant. He glanced up at her when she came into view and smiled. "What's up?"
"You remember when you said about being my deputy?" The blonde asked, watching as Morgan fiddled with some string, trying to tie it around the plant.
"Yeah."
"You want to make it official?" The younger guy paused and turned to fully face her, a large smile on his face.
"Are you serious?" Emma nodded and Morgan cheered loudly, fisting bumping the air.
"Yes! That's what I'm talking about!" He suddenly barrelled into her, pulling her into a fierce hug which nearly knocked Emma off her feet.
"Alright calm down." She laughed, steadying herself.
"It's a good thing you pulled through; otherwise I would have quit my job for nothing."
"You quit? Here?" Morgan nodded, grinning still.
"I had faith in you." Emma chuckled at him.
"What if I had picked someone else?"
"I guess we'll never know." He took off his muddy apron and pulled his hair free from its pony tail. Emma had never seen his hair down and noted how the tips just brushed his shoulders.
"Okay, well clean up here and meet me at the station, there's some stuff I want to tell you." The blonde said, brushing off some mud on her jeans.
"I'm done now, Moe won't mind me skipping out early since it's my last day." Emma nodded and led the way out of the shop, immediately starting to run Morgan through the various responsibilities he was taking on.
By the time the pair made it back to the station, Emma had finished going over the basics of the job, and had moved on to uniform.
"Now I don't wear uniform, so I don't expect you to, but…" The blonde reached her old desk and grabbed the shiny deputy badge. "You'll need to wear the badge."
"Sweet." Morgan exclaimed, quickly taking the badge and pinning it to his belt.
"So this will be your desk." Emma pointed to the desk in front of them. "You'll be in charge of the station phone."
"Alright."
"Any questions?" The sheriff asked, walking into her office to grab a bottle of water.
"Did you and Regina do it last night?" There was a loud spluttering sound, followed loud coughing from Emma and laughing from Morgan.
"What kind of question is that?!"
"A valid one." The younger shrugged. "So did you?"
"No…" Morgan raised an eyebrow at her hesitation. "I stopped it before we could."
"So things are starting to heat up?" The blonde nodded, leaning against her desk with crossed arms.
"Yes they are." Emma couldn't fight the smile on her face. "In fact were going to lunch."
"You're going to lunch?" Morgan grinned.
"Yes we are." Both law enforcers looked round to see Regina waltzing into the station, a knowing smile on her lips. Morgan immediately stood up straight, as did Emma. "Deputy Scott, settling in I see."
"Yes ma'am." He confirmed with a curt nod. The blonde noticed how rigid Morgan had gone, the traces of laughter and mischief had vanished from his face, leaving behind a stoic expression.
"Excellent." Regina turned her gaze to Emma, her eyes looking at the blonde almost hungrily. "Sheriff are you ready to go?"
"Um yeah." The sheriff glanced at Morgan who winked at her.
"Don't worry, I'll keep an eye on things."
"I'll be back in an hour or two." He waved his hand dismissively, and Emma felt a slight tug on her arm and let herself be led out of the station by Regina.
Xxxxxxxxxxxxx
"The new deputy doesn't like me." Regina muttered as they slid into a both a Granny's.
"You just took him by surprise." Emma reassured with a smile. "I wasn't expecting you to come to the station."
"Well I left a little early so I thought I would come to meet you." The brunette frowned. "Is that not okay?"
"No that's fine." The blonde watched as relief washed over the mayor's features.
"Good, now-"
"-What is this?" Emma cut across Regina.
"What's what?"
"Us. What are we?" The brunette set down her menu and clasped her hands together, looking at Emma with a slightly titled head.
"What do you want us to be?" The blonde huffed and sat back in her seat while Regina watched her curiously.
"I've…I've only really done this twice before." The brunette frowned in confusion. "A proper relationship." Emma clarified.
"So you've…loved before." The blonde shifted uncomfortably. She hadn't known what it was all those years ago and even now she still didn't really know. Both relationships hadn't ended well. She had chosen to trust the wrong people, to give what little heart she had to them. Emma had always hoped it wasn't love, people who loved someone didn't treat them the way she was treated. The blonde shuddered, the past suddenly clouding her mind, making her body react to the long since buried emotions. "Emma?"
"Huh?" The blonde glanced down to Regina's hands which were gently prying her own rigid ones off a now very crumpled menu.
"Are you okay?" Concern shone in deep chocolate eyes, and Emma nodded immediately, a reflex her body had adapted to.
"Yeah, just stuck in the past." The blonde shook her head, ridding it of rage inducing thoughts. "Yes I have loved. But it didn't end well."
"Is that why you stopped last night?" Emma nodded slowly.
"It's just been a long time."
"No matter what happened in the past, I won't repeat it in the future." Regina said gently, still holding tightly to Emma's hands. "I would never hurt you."
"I guess I'm just going to have to trust you on that." The blonde mumbled.
The rest of their lunch went smoothly. Regina talked about being mayor and the various things she had to do, and Emma in turn talked about her bail bondsperson days. After a while, the blonde managed to coax baby Henry stories out of the mayor and she soon found herself enticed by the way Regina smiled when she spoke of Henry, how much younger and lighter she looked when speaking of happier moments.
Emma was so drawn in by the way she spoke, it was almost like a magic, pulling her in. The blonde almost swore out loud when she felt her phone buzz in her pocket, shattering the perfect moment.
"Damn it." She muttered, glaring down at the screen.
"What is it?" Regina asked.
"Morgan, says we've been called about something going on across town." The mayor nodded sadly and Emma stood up and dug into her pocket for her wallet. She dropped some money onto the table, ignoring Regina's protests about the bill. "I've got to get going."
"I'll walk you out." The two women half-heartedly left the building, their hands brushing together as they went, both itching to clasp on to the other.
"This was really nice." Emma said, turning to look at Regina. "Hopefully we can do it again?"
"Of course, why don't you come over tonight?" The blonde grinned and nodded.
"Love to."
"Why don't you come along around seven thirty? I can have Henry in bed by then so we can have a little… privacy."
"I like the sound of that." Emma husked, leaning in to kiss Regina who immediately responded with vigour. The brunette attempted to deepen the kiss but Emma quickly pulled back making Regina growl. "Later."
"I'll hold you to that."
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Emma pulled her jacket tightly around her body, frowning up at the sky which was threatening to rain on her. Darkness had swept across the town and the blonde glanced up at the clock, checking to see if she was on time.
Smiling to herself, the blonde ran her hands over her pockets, checking to see if she had everything. Mentally ticking everything off, Emma pulled out her car keys and pushed them into the lock but pulled back when a loud roar shattered the silence of the night. Whirling around the sheriff's eyes locked onto a large motorcycle moving down Main Street towards her, a man astride it.
Emma watched as he came to a stop across the street from her, pulling off his helmet. He had black hair, which was ruffled and untidy. Climbing off the bike, the stranger made his way towards Emma a friendly smile on his face that the blonde swore she knew. Once up close, Emma took in his features. His skin was tanned as if he spent a lot of time outside and his body muscular looking. Her eyes came back up to meet bright blue ones, a scar running along the length of his left one. Overall he was very handsome, however looked a little untidy, his face was unshaven and his clothes looked dusty from the road.
"Can you tell me where I can find some place to stay?" He asked, his voice was deep and smooth.
"Err yeah, Granny's bed and breakfast, it's just two blocks down." Emma pointed down the street before looking back at the stranger.
"Thank you." He gave a slight bow before turning away again and walking back towards his bike.
"Hey I didn't catch your name." she called after him, making the stranger turn and grin at her.
"I don't think you're ready for that yet Emma." The blonde felt the blood drain from her face as the man climbed back onto his bike and brought it back to life. She watched opened mouthed as he disappeared off down the street and turned into Granny's.
Emma could only stand and stare after the stranger.
A/N: I'll give ya a hint… It's not August. Till next time Kids.