Regina stormed through the hospital as fast as she could in 4 inch high heels, Emma hot on her tail. When they finally reached Henry's room, she swept in, immediately running to kneel at her son's bedside.
"Henry!" she choked out a sob, taking in his appearance, lying back in a hospital gown with his leg bandaged and propped up, looking exhausted.
"Oh thank God you're finally here," he chuckled, "Now I can finally go to sleep."
"What?" Regina asked in a startled tone, but relaxing when she recognized the mirth on his face. "What do you mean by that?" she asked more calmly.
"Oh, well Dr. Whale told me to sleep ages ago, but I wanted to wait until you got here. I knew you would need to see me and make sure I was ok, and somehow I just don't think you would have believed everything was all right if I was sound asleep when you got here." Regina chuckled darkly before responding, "You're probably right about that." She leaned in to kiss him lovingly on the forehead before continuing, "How did you get to be such an insightful young man?" He just laughed in response.
"You really are ok then?" Regina asked, once more sweeping her eyes up and down her son's body to take inventory of the damage as Emma stood silently off to the side taking in the scene before her of the two people whom she loved most in the entire world. Well really all of the worlds.
"Yes, I really am," Henry smiled softly, "It's just a broken leg, and Dr. Whale said I should get out of this cast in a few months."
"Oh thank the gods," Regina breathed, and then she smacked Henry in the shoulder, with a little more force than necessary and said angrily, "Never do this again! I was so worried," but Henry knew she really wasn't angry at all, just afraid, so he gently took her hands in his and calmly replied, "I'm sorry Mom. It won't happen again. You don't have to be afraid anymore though. I'm fine. I'm right here." They stayed like that for a long time until Emma finally cleared her throat interrupting the moment.
"So uhhh not to be all about business and all, but did David say anything to you about how the investigation is going? Do they know anything knew about the hit and run?"
"Uhhh not really that I know of," Henry replied, looking over at her, though he still kept Regina's hands held tightly in his own. While he was telling the truth when he told her that he truly was fine, he still knew and appreciated just how lucky he was. His car had literally rolled in the middle of the street and he had lived to tell the tale. He knew he could not take that for granted.
"Come here Ma," he said addressing Emma. He extricated one hand from Regina's hold and held out his arm on the other side of his hospital bed. Emma slowly made her way across the room and allowed Henry to pull her into his best attempt at a one armed hug. "I know you were worried about me too, you don't have to pretend to be the strong one anymore." Emma laughed, but squeezed him just a little tighter all the same. "You know me far too well for your own good," she sniffed, finally letting the tears she had been holding in all night streams down her cheeks.
"Come here, get up here both of you," Henry said, patting the bed on either side of him.
"Henry, I don't think all three of us can fit on this tiny hospital bed of yours," Regina sighed, even though she appreciated the gesture.
"Yes we can, come on, try. I almost died today. I want to be with my moms."
"Alright, alright Kid, no need to be so morose," Emma laughed, climbing up to squish in next to Henry, soon to be joined by a still slightly skeptical Regina on the other side. Once he had both his mothers pulled in tightly, and surprisingly somewhat comfortably, on either side of him, Henry spoke again.
"See, this is nice," he said, "David and Mary Margaret went home about half an hour ago. I don't think David is going to work on the case again until tomorrow. But really, it's Storybrooke, and other than you two no one can leave, so I don't think it'll be hard to find the guy who hit me. Why don't you two just relax for the night. I'm sure you're both exhausted, and I would really like it if you stayed here with me. We could probably convince the nurse to bring in an extra cot or something."
"Aww but I like it right here," Regina pouted from where her head was now snuggled into Henry's chest. Henry laughed loudly, "I'm sure you do. Actually, I like it too, buuuut I think you really did have a point, and one of you would probably end up on the ground with we tried to sleep this way, so I'm going to go ahead and call a nurse to bring you a bed."
"Fine," Regina groused back sleepily, "but we can stay like to for a little bit longer."
"Yes we can," replied Henry, rubbing her shoulder comfortingly.
The next morning came much too early for Jane Rizzoli. It was only about 7:00 am when she was suddenly woken by the loud ringing of her cell phone. She sat up as quickly as possible to answer it before it could wake up Maura as well.
"Hey Ma!" she greeted, before realizing her mistake when nausea began to roll through her stomach. "Aw shit I definitely just sat up to fast, uhhhh here talk to Maura," she said as she threw the phone at Maura's sleeping form in the bed next to her. Because that's not weird at all, best friends sleeping in the same bed and it actually being a rather regular occurrence… right? The thought barely surfaced in her mind as she ran off towards the bathroom. She and Maura had checked into a room at Granny's Bed & Breakfast after driving back through Main Street in search of a hotel the night before.
Maura woke to being hit in the shoulder with Jane's phone and rolled over to see Jane nowhere in sight. Huh she thought, picking up the phone and staring at it blearily.
"Jane! Jane! Are you there? Maura? Hello!" Maura could hear the muffled sounds coming out of the phone, and slowly raised it to her ear, still in a half asleep confused state.
"Hello?" she answered groggily.
"Hello? Maura!" came the replying voice who was unmistakably Angela Rizzoli.
"Oh high Angela!" said Maura cheerily, waking up a bit more, and then she realized. "Oh Crap." She said out loud before quickly apologizing, "sorry Angela. Uhhhh I'm guessing you want to know where we are?" she asked.
"Like hell I do!" Angela exclaimed angrily from down the line. "I went over to Jane's apartment last night to see if she wanted to have dinner, and she wasn't home, so I called Vince to see if she had left work, and he said she left at 3 with you to do baby stuff. So I just assumed you girls went shopping or something, and that she'd stayed over at your place. Now imagine my surprise when I get up this morning and neither of you are up in the kitchen getting ready for work!"
"Angela! Angela calm down," Maura successfully interrupted Angela's rant, "Jane is fine, I am fine. We ended up going on a bit of an impromptu trip. It's a uhhhh yoga retreat in Maine," she made up as she went, figuring that they still had time to do some yoga while they were here so it wouldn't be an outright lie. "I'm sorry we didn't let you know when we were leaving," she said feeling guilty she hadn't thought to call Angela last night when they first realized they would be making a visit to Storybrooke.
"Oh that's lovely!" Angela shouted across the line as overly enthusiastic about Jane's life as ever, "I wish I could have gone. I love yoga. You and Jane will have to tell me all about it and teach me everything you learn once you get back" she exclaimed in excitement.
"Yeah, sure thing. Well it was nice to talk to you Angela, but we had a really late night of driving so honestly I'd kind of like to get a little more sleep before we head off to the first day of the uhhh retreat."
"Oh, alright then, don't let me keep you!" came Angela's reply. "Bye Maura! Tell Jane I said good morning."
"Alright, I will. Good bye Angela." Maura ended the call and then flopped back into her pillow heaving a sigh of relief. She really hated lying, and the fact that it was over the phone and not in person only helped a little. She could already feel hives forming on her chest, and could only hope that with a little extra rest, they wouldn't make their way up her neck where they would be visible. Meanwhile, she glanced around the room taking inventory of her surroundings. She wondered where Jane had run off too, and decided to get up and find her. That's when she finally registered the faint sound of retching coming from the bathroom. Oh lovely, she thought, morning sickness… So instead of going back to sleep as she had told Angela she would, she dragged herself out of bed and made her way over to the bathroom to check on her friend.
"Hey Jane, you ok in there?" she called through the closed door.
"Yeah, just a minute!" Jane called back. Maura could now hear what sounded like Jane brushing her teeth through the door.
"How are you feeling?" Maura asked when Jane finally let herself out of the bathroom. She reached over to gently pat Jane on the arm in an attempt to comfort her.
"I've been better," Jane replied darkly, though she smiled at the gesture. "God I hate morning sickness," she groaned.
"Well, lucky for you, most women only suffer through it at the beginning of their pregnancy, so you should be out of the woods as far as that is concerned soon enough."
"Yeah, but by then I'll be as big as a house and be super uncomfortable for a whole host of other reasons," Jane whined.
"Yes well, I suppose that is what happens when you're pregnant. Although I wouldn't really know as I've never experienced it first hand," Maura laughed, trying to lighten the mood.
"Right, so what is our plan for today?" Jane asked, ready to get down to business.
"Well really, I think we should sleep a little longer. It was a late night, and you are pregnant so we need to make sure you're getting enough rest. I think as long as we get up by nine we'll have plenty of time to explore the town today."
"All right fiiinnnne," Jane groaned. She hated when people used her being pregnant as an excuse for her to do something. She wasn't that far along yet, and so other than the morning sickness, she really didn't feel any different than normal.
"Good," replied Maura cheerfully recognizing her victory. "I am just going to call Lieutenant Korsak and let him know that we are taking a bit of a vacation. I'm sure he'll be fine with it, seeing as neither of us ever takes time off."
"Oh right, good point. I'm guessing you successfully dealt with my mother than?"
"Yes, I told Angela we were at a yoga retreat in Maine," Maura chuckled darkly.
"Really?" Jane responded impressed, "and I don't even see any hives," she grinned.
"Oh haha," Maura deadpanned, "and the hives are there. Believe me."
"Yeah yeah ok, I'm sorry. And thank you for taking care of that. Now let's try to get a couple more hours of sleep before we have to go illegally stalk women some more," Jane said sarcastically as she crawled back into the bed.
By 10:00 am Jane was feeling much better. She had a couple extra hours of sleep, and she and Maura were now sitting peacefully in a booth at Granny's Diner sipping at their coffee and enjoying a delicious breakfast. Jane noticed they were receiving some fairly odd stares from the restaurant's other patrons, and the waitress had seemed to regard them with a bit more curiosity than necessary, but she had brushed it off to just be because they were outsiders in a small town where everybody knew everybody.
The bells on the door jangled, and she watched as their brunette suspect, Regina, swept into the diner, immediately gaining the attention of the entire room. A strange atmosphere was created when the brunette swept in, it was obvious that she easily held command of the room, but there was something else lurking in the way the citizens of Storybrooke regarded her. They certainly knew who she was, as she was their mayor, but that wasn't it. It was almost as if some of them feared her. Tucking that thought to the back of her mind for further examination, Jane watched as Regina, dressed perfectly in a pinstriped skirt, tight white blouse, and trench coat, walked purposefully up to a couple sitting at the bar drinking hot chocolate.
"Idiots!" she addressed them loudly. Jane noticed that the entire diner still seemed to be intent on watching how this scene would play out, not seeming to care if they were caught staring. It almost seemed like Regina and the couple at the bar were used to being stared at as none of them reacted to the odd treatment by the rest of the patrons.
"Regina," the man sighed as he stood up from his seat, "can you please stop calling us that? It kind of undermines my authority."
"Oh really? Does it?" she sassed back in a clipped tone. "You know how about I stop calling you an idiot when you stop acting like one. As for your authority, I think you'll find that no matter where we are I have authority over you. You see here in Storybrooke, I am mayor, and you are merely the Sheriff's Deputy. In the Enchanted Forest, well I supposed we were a bit more equal, but I was still the Queen rightfully. You and Snow would not have inherited the kingdom until I died had you not committed treason and tried to over throw me, so I stand by my initial greeting of Idiot."
The pixy haired brunette woman who had been sitting next to the "idiot" had now stood up to speak to Regina as well, although she had a calm, somewhat resigned expression on her face, unlike the man who seemed to just be getting angry. From what Jane could tell of her expression, it seemed as though this argument was not a new one. Again she took inventory of the strange fairy tale references wondering if the Enchanted Forest was code for something as well. Maybe their organization? Had there really been a coup? It was strange, because while they were definitely having an argument, they still seemed to be civil. Well sort of, at least it didn't seem like either were going to up and kill anyone.
"Regina, get to the point," the pixy haired woman was saying, although sounding more annoyed than combative.
"Right, where are we on the hit and run investigation?" Regina asked, suddenly all business. It was the strangest dynamic shift Jane had ever seen. Suddenly all the hostility was gone, and the three were exchanging knowing looks, and maybe even looks of comfort. The slightly younger brunette, who Jane had yet to hear named, was now rubbing Regina's arm supportively, smiling at her even, and Regina, though looking slightly uncomfortable with the show of affection, did not pull away.
"Well honestly we haven't gotten very far," the man replied, putting his hands up in surrender as he received a glare from Regina. "We have a vehicle description from Henry, and I ran it through our police database. So far I have found five possible registered vehicles that match the description. I'm about to head out to interrogate all the owners. Hopefully one of them will be our guy. It should be pretty easy to tell. Anything that hit the Bug with the force to do that much damage had to have come out with some damage of its own."
"Thank you David," Regina finally smiled, "That sounds like progress to me. Are you going to take Emma with you when you do interviews?"
"Do you think that's wise?" the man, who Jane now knew to be David, asked. "What was her attitude about this like? I mean, you probably know better than I do. Do you think she can be objective about his, or will her emotional connection to the case get in the way?"
"You make a good point," the mayor nodded, "Take Mary Margaret, or actually take Miss Lucas. I know she at least has some sense, I wouldn't trust you two idiots to handle anything this important on your own."
"Seriously Regina, can you please lay off the name calling for two seconds?" Mary Margaret huffed in frustration, "I know why you're mad at us today, but really, stop acting like such a child."
"Me act like a child?" Regina gasped in mock shock, "alright fine. I will stop calling you idiots to your face. For today. And that by no means means I will not call you idiots behind your back," her tone is now playful, and Jane is once more utterly confused by the dynamic between these three.
"Yes Regina, I have no doubt you will. I'm sure you've been calling us idiots behind our backs everyday for the past three decades," Mary Margaret laughed.
"Oh probably longer for you dear," Regina quipped in reply. "Miss Lucas!" she called out, hailing the young brunette waitress, who had served Jane and Maura their breakfasts, over the group standing by the bar.
"Yes Madam Mayor?" the waitress addressed her politely.
"You're on Deputy duty today with David. Tell Granny that if she needs extra help at the diner I am sure Ashley or even Grace would be willing to come in. If worse comes to worse just put Snow here in charge." She smirked at the look of annoyance on Mary Margaret's face at that comment.
"Sure thing!" the waitress replied, obviously trying not to laugh. "Oh by the way, you guys should probably put out a Magic Alert. There are some out of towners staying at the Bed & Breakfast."
"WHAT?" Regina balked.
"Umm yeah, they just checked in last night. They're eating breakfast right in that booth over there, so we probably want to keep any magic, or talk of magic on the down low."
"What's going on?" the blonde Sheriff had just entered the diner, and was now joining in on the conversation.
"Ruby and David are going out to interview suspects, and the town is being put on Magic Alert because of out of towners," Mary Margaret filled her in quickly, not really understanding why Regina reacted so strongly. They had had out of towners before and had a good system to deal with it, but now both Regina and Emma were staring over at the booth where Jane and Maura sat with a look of absolute panic horror on their faces. Jane and Regina locked eyes, and Regina glared at her.
"This cannot be happening right now," she gritted out quietly, so Jane had to strain her ears to hear it.
"Uhhhh do you guys know them?" Ruby asked in bewilderment.
"Unfortunately it seems they are stalking us," Regina clipped, never breaking her staring contest with Jane. "The brunette at least. She's a detective in Boston, started asking a lot of questions. She seems very persistent if she managed to follow us all the way here. I'm not sure who the woman with her is though."
"Do you want me to take care of it?" Mary Margaret asked in concern.
"No, Emma and I will handle this. Can you go back and check on Henry though? I told him I'd only be gone for half an hour, and I suspect it may be longer now."
"Yes, I can do that. Should I tell him what's going on?" the pixy haired woman inquired.
"I suppose so, we all know how he hates being left out of the loop. Tell him about our dear detective here too. Maybe he will have some ideas of how to deal with this. Honestly if she followed us here after I explicitly told her to leave us alone, I don't think we will be able to convince her to leave. I think we should proceed as normal, take off the Magic Alert, let them investigate whatever they are investigating. Eventually they will either find what they want and confront us, at which point we will modify their memories and send them on their way, or they will think they have gone insane in which case we will still modify their memories and send them back to Boston." She said this with a smirk on her face that was almost maniacal. With that she finally turned away from Jane to face the rest of the group, and Jane felt herself let out a breath she hadn't realized she was holding. What the hell have we walked into? Seriously!
A/N: Phew! That was a long chapter. Stay tuned, more action to come!
