Fruit of the Poisonous Tree

The day after the storm. Henry was heading to the his castle on his bike. Emma and Travis were waiting in the squad car. They got out and Emma said, "Hey, kid," Henry just rode right past them, "Good to see you, too!"

"The storm!" said Henry, as he hopped off his bike. The wooden castle play structure was severely damaged.

"It's okay," said Travis, "we can fix it! I'll talk to Marco."

"I think it's still here!" said Henry as he started digging in the ground at the base of the structure.

"What are you looking for?" asked Emma.

"My book!"

"Why'd you bury it here?" asked Travis.

"So my mom doesn't find it," Said Henry.

"Hiding it under your mattress wasn't good enough?"

"That's the first place the Evil Queen would look," Henry uncovered a red box.

"How 'bout leaving it with me?" asked Emma.

"That's the second place," He opened the box and the book was inside, "Good."

"So your mom doesn't know about the castle?" asked Travis.

"No, this is our secret," said Henry as he closed the box and started to rebury it.

Just then Regina came up, "Henry? Henry! I've been looking everywhere for you! You know you have a session with Archie this morning." Regina looked at Emma, "Should have known he was with you. Henry, car! Now." Henry headed to Regina's car, "You let him play here?"

"The storm hit it pretty hard, but we can fix it," said Emma.

"Well, can you fix a cracked cranium? 'Cause that's what you'll have on your hands if one of these boards collapses under his weight. You're not thinking about Henry or his safety, just ways around me. Miss Swan, don't let your feelings cloud your judgement, people can get hurt."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"You're the sheriff now, it's time to be responsible."

A little while later, Emma, Travis, Elsa and Mary Margaret were sitting at a table. Emma was telling Elsa and Mary Margaret what happened, "Don't let my feelings cloud my judgement? That's all Regina ever does," said Emma.

"She's just upset because you and Henry have a special place and she doesn't," said Elsa.

"How'd she find out about the castle in the first place?" asked Travis.

"She knows everything about this town, she's the Mayor," said Mary Margaret. Just then she took her phone out of her pocket and looked at it.

"Everything okay?" asked Emma.

"Yeah, I just need to go," said Mary Margaret. She got up quickly and got ready to leave, "Look, if it makes you feel any better, I think you're right. I see the effect she has on Henry."

"I wish more people did," said Emma. Mary Margaret walked out touching Emma's arm briefly as she passed by.

Then a very drunk Sidney Glass sat down at the table with the Storybrooke Sheriff's Department, "I can grant your wish," he said.

"Sidney, you want a side of bacon with that whiskey?" asked Travis.

"You wanna show this town who the Mayor really is? I can help."

"It's gonna be kinda hard to do from inside her pocket," said Emma.

"The Mayor and I are done," said Sidney.

Emma chucked, "Sure you are."

"She got me fired from the paper. She made a fool of me in the election. So I started working on an expose' on the Mayor's Office, and I found something she didn't want found."

"Sidney, you're drunk," said Elsa, " Go home and sleep it off. Be grateful that you don't have to answer to her anymore."

Sidney handed the group his card, "Call me. Storybrooke deserves to know the truth about her." Emma thought about taking the card but she didn't. Travis took it though. Then, the three officers left the diner.

Later that day, a crew started to work on tearing down the wooden castle play structure. Henry and Regina were watching as Travis, Emma and Elsa approached, "Hey. What happened? We came as soon as we could," said Emma.

"The castle—" said Henry, "she's tearing the whole thing down!" He walked up to the spot where his book was buried and there was nothing there, "My book! I-It's gone!"

Travis went over to Regina followed by Emma and Elsa, "Congratulations, Madame Mayor, you destroyed the thing he loves."

"A dangerous thing that can only hurt Henry and others," said Regina, "You see me as a villain, Mr. Swan. But that's just your perception, and you're wrong. Learn your place in this town, or soon enough, you won't be in it." Then she walked away.

Emma shook her head and walked in another direction. Travis took out his phone and the card that he took from Sidney, "Sidney, hi. This is Travis. Elsa and I are in. I want everyone to know who she really is."

Travis and Elsa drove in the squad car to the rendezvous point that they were supposed to meet Sidney at. "Are you sure this is a good idea, Travis?" asked Elsa.

"We'll hear what Sidney has. If it's good then we'll run with it, If not then we'll just forget about this whole thing."

"But, Emma's the Sheriff shouldn't she be involved?"

"Don't worry," said Travis, "This is how Emma and I ran the bail bond business. When we got a tip one of us would run it and we wouldn't bring in the other if we needed them." Travis looked at Elsa and she still looked worried. Travis took her hand, "Don't worry. If this works out, Emma will see how valuable you are to the Sheriff's Department and will make you a full deputy."

They reached a tunnel in the woods. Travis brought the car to a stop. They got out of the car and a few moments later Sidney showed up, "Alright," said Travis, "We're listening. So, what do you know about Regina?"

"$50,000," said Sidney.

"What?" asked Elsa.

"Fifty grand out of the budget is missing, and Regina is responsible."

"That's it?" asked Travis, "That's what you have on her?"

"The money is just the tip of the iceberg," said Sidney, "We figure out what she's doing, and it all falls apart. It all crumbles, and we'll finally learn her secrets. You see what she is. I see it. All we need is a crack in the mirror to show everyone. I'm telling you, this is it."

"All right, what's your plan?" asked Elsa.

"Tap her phone. GPS her car. Hack into her email," Sidney looked at Travis, " dip into your bail bondsperson bag of tricks."

Travis shook his head, "No. I'm a Deputy Sheriff now, we have to do this by the book."

"Regina's gonna know that you're on to her sooner than later. Are you prepared for her wrath?"

Travis nodded, "I'm not worried about Regina… But, Emma will have all of our hides if we do this wrong."

"Good," said Sydney, "Because I wasn't."

"If you thought she was so terrifying," asked Elsa, "how did you allow yourself to end up in her pocket?"

"I used to think she was a different person."

They all went back to Elsa and Anna's house. Anna was on a date with her fiancé Chris. They poured over boxes of documents, "When did that transfer go through?" asked Elsa, "Does three weeks ago sound right?"

"Yeah. Why?" asked Sidney.

"Because those records are missing,"

Travis smiled, "Nice catch…" Elsa and Travis shared a high five.

"You wanna go by the book?" said Sidney, "Let's get a warrant."

"What judge are we gonna find that she doesn't own."

"Or... there's my way."

"We need to do this the right way, Sidney," said Elsa.

"And what's right is exposing her. Sometimes, doing a bad thing for a good reason is okay, right?" Sidney looked at Travis, "Look at what she's done to Emma, to me, to your nephew, and it's not gonna stop so whatever you do, you gotta do something."

Travis sighed, "Okay. Let's start by talking to her."

"But, I think we need to tell Emma first," said Elsa.

Travis nodded, "Agreed, we can't just spring this on her…"

The three of them went to Emma and told them about what they found out. She agreed to support them. Sidney, Travis and Elsa then headed to the Mayor's office to confront Regina, "And just what are you two and the... disgraced ex-reporter accusing me of?"

"Fifty-thousand dollars was transferred out of the city account by you," said Elsa.

"Well, as Mayor, I'm involved in many transactions. Check the public records if you have questions."

"That's the thing," said Travis, "They're missing from three weeks ago. Do you have any idea what happened to them?"

"Well, if they're missing, I probably checked them out, as my job often requires me to do. And if they were checked out three weeks ago, well, that means they burned... in a fire. In a fire that, if I recall, got your sister elected Sheriff. I have nothing to hide."

Travis stepped up to Regina's desk, leaned forward and said, "Okay. There's nothing for us to do, let's go."

"Travis," said Sidney.

"No, she's right. We have nothing." They walked out of the office.

When they got outside Sidney asked, "That was your plan? I thought you were gonna do something."

"I did," said Travis, "I planted a bug. You win, Sidney. Let's do whatever it takes."

They set up the receiver at Sidney's office. Travis and Elsa walked in and they heard Regina's voice, "Miss Ginger, I really don't have time for more complaints about working conditions. The air temperature is not one of my areas."

"Scintillating. Find anything good yet?" asked Travis.

"Yeah, better than good. She made this call a little over an hour ago," said Sidney as he turned on a tape player.

"I'll meet you tonight at Access Road 23 with the rest of your payment," said Regina's voice, "Yes, it will all be in cash. A-And I don't need to remind that no one can know about this. Yes, I know it has to be tonight." Sidney stopped the tape.

"Who's on the other end?" asked Elsa.

"Travis bugged the office, not the phone," said Sidney.

"Well, we're just gonna have to find out," said Travis.

"Yeah."

"A payoff in the woods," said Elsa, "That's promising."

"A payoff using stolen city funds," said Sidney.

"Let's go find out who's she's meeting," said Travis.

Travis, Sidney and Elsa followed Regina in the squad car. Regina made a turn onto Access Road 23. Travis got ready to make the turn. He stepped on the brakes and nothing happened, "Travis?" said Sidney.

"It won't stop," said Travis. The squad car crashed into the road sign sending it flying.

"Oh," moaned Travis.

"You two okay?" asked Travis

"I'm fine," said Elsa.

"Yeah. You?" said Sidney.

"Yeah." They all got to inspect the damage. The car landed on top of a fallen log, "We're gonna miss that handoff," said Travis.

"Travis," said Sidney.

"Yeah?"

"You know that bug you planted? I think Regina found it. Someone's been tampering with the brakes. She's on to us,"

Travis started to march through the woods, "Wait!" said Sidney.

"The bitch tried to kill us! I'm finding her!" said Travis.

"Travis we have to use caution," said Elsa, "We need to think clearly."

"To hell with caution. I'm gonna find out what she's doing and why she's out here."

"She was meeting me," said a male voice. They turned and saw Mr. Gold coming up an embankment, carrying a briefcase.

"What are you doing out here with her?" asked Elsa.

"Just a little business transaction."

"What's in the briefcase?" asked Sidney

"Everything comes at a price," said Mr. Gold, " Land is no different."

"That's why you're meeting her out here?" asked Travis, "Regina bought your land?"

"The very ground you're standing on."

"What does she want it for?" asked Elsa.

"You know, in business, I find it's best not to ask too many questions," said Mr. Gold, "Hurts the bottom line. Question is, Ms. Winter, why are you standing out here, in the middle of the night, with Mr. Glass and Mr. Swan?

"You don't know what Regina did to me," said Sidney, "You don't know what she did to Henry. We can't just sit idly by."

"Of course you can. Be careful," Mr. Gold started to walk away, "Emotional entanglements can lead us down very dangerous paths."

A little later, Travis, Elsa and Sidney pulled up in front of Town Hall, "What are we doing here?" asked Elsa.

"We know she bought land from Gold," said Travis, "We don't know why. I'm willing to bet it's for personal reasons but we have to know for sure. We need documents that officially link her to that land."

"So, you wanna break into her office? Travis we can't just break into her office. She's got a state of the art security system and alarm."

"If we don't show this town who Regina really is who will?" said Travis.

"Do you think you can crack her code?" asked Sidney.

"Yep." He picked up a brick and smashed the window, setting off the alarm.

"Travis!" said Elsa.

"Who does the alarm system alert? The police. We're the police, Elsa. Two minutes for her to get a call from the alarm company, one minute to get her coat and keys, three minutes to drive here. We got maybe six minutes."

They went upstairs to Regina's office. They went up to Regina's computer and Travis put a flash drive into it. He used a program to hack Regina's computer, "I just uncovered every file that references the tract of land she bought from Gold." He printed the files and started to look around the room and discovered a key ring with several keys, "What the hell do these open?"

"I don't know," said Sidney, "What are you doing?"

"Looking for Henry's book."

"We didn't come here for Henry. We came here for files and—"

"No, you didn't come here for Henry. Me? That's the only reason I'm here."

Just then the lights turned on and Regina walked in and turned off the alarm, "What are you doing?"

"Some kids broke in," said Travis, "I heard the alarm so I'm checking it out cause I'm a Deputy Sheriff."

"Well, that was an awfully quick response time," said Regina.

"You told me to do my job and I'm doing it."

"And you brought him?"

"Oh, well he saw it while he was on a walk," said Elsa, "He's a witness."

"Hm. And what did you see, Sidney?" asked Regina.

"Some kids with a—" Sidney started to say.

"Rock," said Travis.

"A rock."

"Did they take anything?" asked Regina.

"I don't know," said Elsa, "We'd have to do a thorough sweep to find out."

"It appears to me it was all just a prank."

"Are you sure you don't want us to take the place apart?" asked Travis.

"Deputy, your services are not wanted nor needed," said Regina.

"Okay. Well, you know where to find us…" Then they walked out.

The next day, Travis, Elsa and Sidney started looking through the files they printed out the previous night, "Blue prints. Bank statement," said Sidney.

Elsa took a closer look at the rough blueprint, "What is she building out there? A mansion?"

"Well, whatever it is, it doesn't matter, because these escrow statements have her name all over it. You were right – personal use. She's done – we got her." Travis thought about what was going on and he leaned back in his chair, "What's wrong? Didn't you hear me?"

"We stooped to her level," said Travis, "That's exactly what Emma and I promised Henry we wouldn't do."

"Travis, we got her," said Sidney.

"It doesn't matter," said Elsa, "It's fruits of the poisonous tree. Illegally obtained evidence. It'll get thrown out in court in a heartbeat."

"No, we don't need her to go to jail."

"Then what are we doing here?" said Travis.

"Getting what your sister wished for: Get everyone to see who she is," said Sidney, "What she did to Henry she does to everyone. She destroys what people love. Let me show you something," Sidney placed a box on the desk. He opened it and inside were photographs. Travis started to look through the pictures. He found one of himself, Henry and Emma sitting at the wooden castle play structure. There were others of himself, Emma and Henry, "She made me follow you and Emma. She made me tell her everything. She knew about your secret place weeks ago. She just waited to destroy it until it would hurt you, Emma and Henry the most," Sidney sighed, "It's all my fault. If you don't do this, I have to."

"Okay."

Travis and Elsa took what they found to Emma and let her know what was going on. Emma wasn't happy that Travis and Elsa broke into Regina's office and stole the files. But, the fact that Regina had Sidney follow her made her furious. Emma knew that Regina had to go down.

That evening, at the town council meeting. Regina banged a gavel to start the meeting. "This session of the Storybrooke City Council will come to order. We will begin by reading the minutes from our last meeting…"

Sidney stood up, "Uh, excuse me, um, Madam Mayor. I have something I'd like to bring to the council's attention."

"This is not an open forum, Sidney. And no one on this council's interested in hearing the boozy complaints of a disgraced reporter. Now sit down."

Emma, Travis and Elsa stood up, "He's not the only one who has something to said," said Elsa.

"Miss Winter, this meeting is to discuss issues facing Storybrooke."

"Like the Mayor stealing thousands of dollars from the city to build herself a second home?" asked Travis.

A gasp came from the audience. Regina banged the gavel to silence them, "Mr. Swan, you will sit down immediately or so help me—

"What? You'll punish us?" asked Emma, "You'll bully us like everyone else in this town? No. Not today." Emma turned to face the audience to show the paper with the construction plan, "In my hand, I am holding documents proving that this woman, your mayor, stole funds from the city to build herself a lavish home in the woods. And this disgraced reporter – you want to know why he was really fired? Because he stood up to her. Because he questioned her. We all know what happens to people who question the Mayor. You claim that you act in the best interest of all of us, but that isn't the truth, is it? The truth is, you are a thug that doesn't care about anyone, or anything, but yourself. That is who you really are. And it is time for the people of Storybrooke to know that."

"You're right, Miss Swan," said Regina, calmly, "I am building a house." She stood up, "A play house." She pressed a button on a remote and on the screen behind her an image of a playground appeared, "The accusations are true. I did take city funds. I wanted to build a playground so my son Henry and all the children of Storybrooke could have a special place to play. Safely. As for the sketch in your hands—it was inspired by a drawing in one of son's books. So, there you have it. Miss Swan, you and your deputies have exposed me for who I really am."

After the meeting, Emma, Travis, Elsa and Sidney were talking. When Mr. Gold walked up, "Look at her. Queen of the castle," he said as they looked over at Regina, "You know, what you did in there was commendable, Miss Swan. But if you really want to bring her down you're going to need a strong ally."

"Like yourself?" asked Emma, "Thanks. I'm still not interested."

"Oh, one can wish," said Mr. Gold. He smiled and walked away and Regina walked up.

"Miss Swan? A word with you and your deputies?" asked Regina. Sidney walked away, "I don't know what you were hoping to accomplish in there. But now, I hope you three will go back to your job. Which is upholding the law - not breaking it." She looked at Travis and Elsa, "You don't think I know you broke into my office?"

"Don't pretend you're so innocent," said Travis, "I know, you messed with the brakes on the squad car."

"The brakes? Are you delusional? Why would I kill you when you just saw I had nothing to hide?"

"Nothing we can prove," said Elsa.

"Well, until any of you have something more substantial than disdain to throw my way you're all going to stay away from me. And - more importantly - from Henry."

"But that's-" started Emma.

"Not open to discussion. You've lost the high ground, Sheriff. If I wanted to, there's not a judge in the world that would deny me a restraining order after what you're deputies have done. You don't get to see my son unless I say so. And right now, I don't say so." Then, Regina walked away.

Travis looked at Emma, "I'm sorry Emma…"

"It's ok…" said Emma, "If I was here by myself I probably would have done what you two did… Oh… Elsa…"

Elsa looked at her boss, "Yes?"

"You and Travis did some pretty good detective work. I think you've earned this…" Emma reached into her jacket pocket and took out a Deputy Sheriff's badge, "Welcome to the force."

Elsa smiled and took the badge, "Thank you."

A little while later, Emma and Travis drove in the bug to the new playground. They saw Henry and a group of kids playing. Henry saw her and took out his Walkie Talkie, "Why are you so far away? Come over here."

"Sorry, kid, I can't today," said Emma on her Walkie Talkie.

"You're undercover, aren't you? For Operation Cobra?"

"No, Henry. I'm not undercover. Your mom – she doesn't want us seeing each other for a while."

"You don't have to listen to her.

"Actually, this time, we do," said Travis, "I screwed up, Henry. I got mad at your mom about you and the book and everything and… Well, we're just going to have to be apart for a little while."

Henry sat down on the ground, "I don't want to be apart."

"Neither do I," said Emma, "But, right now, we have to. Don't worry – I'll find a way back in. And hey. If it's out there, Henry – I will find your book."

"Good luck. It's probably gone and it's probably never coming back."

Emma then started the bug and they drove away.

Travis and Emma then went went to Granny's and saw Sidney sitting at the counter, having a drink, "Looks like we had the same idea," said Emma, as they sat down. Ruby gave Travis and Emma each a beer.

"Well, if you can't beat her… Drink," said Sidney. He took a sip of his beer and sighed, "How did we not see this?"

"We did. We saw it all, right from the start," said Travis, "But we just didn't want to look. We were blinded by our anger… By everything."

"This time. But there are a lot more skeletons in Regina's closet. And the good news? You've got yourself an ally."

"We won't get fooled again," said Emma, as the three of them clinked glasses.

Late that night, Sidney was at Regina's house. He was looking at one of the mirrors in the house. Regina came up behind him, "Have a seat, Sidney." They both sit down and Regina took an apple from the fruit bowl on the table, "Well?"

Sidney pulled a tape recorder out of his pocket and played the tape back, "You've got yourself an ally," said Sidney's voice on the recorder.

"We won't get fooled again," said Emma's voice, then Sidney turned off the recorder.

"Mhm. They bought it." said Regina.

"All of it."

Regina smiled, "Masterful job, Sidney. Top to bottom.," she offered him the apple. Sidney took it and Regina continued, "And cutting the breaks of the squad car? Inspired."

"I'm glad you approve," said Sidney.

"Now, they trust you. Now, we can have some fun."

"Everything they do. Everywhere they go. You'll know about it."

Regina smiled and put her hand on his knee, "I don't know what I'd do without you, Sidney."

AN: I just wanted to thank everyone who has read this story, reviewed it, followed it and favorited it. It makes me feel good that people actually like this. I hope you all liked this chapter. I never planned for Travis to takeover completely for Emma. But, someone said that Travis was being treated like a side character and I never intended that either. I wanted him to be a companion for Emma. For him and Emma to work side by side. But, I must say that I liked how this chapter turned out. If I might do more episodes like that in the future, if I think it wouldn't hurt the future of the story.

So, if you liked this chapter send me a review, then follow and favorite, if you haven't done so. If you didn't like this chapter, tell me… I'm a big boy I can take it