A/N: Happy Sunday peeps!
After breakfast, Henry and his newly appointed best friend, a young agent named Peter, headed to the movie room. Emma was pleased that her son was not kicking up too much of a fuss about his house arrest. She had enough to worry about, like the four missed calls she had received while she ate her own stack of pancakes.
Both August and Ruby had attempted to contact her, word having got out at the studio that she would not be coming into work that morning. Emma was a workaholic and it was unheard of for her not to be prepping for her evening show in her own office. Alongside Ruby's missed calls, she had also received several texts from her friend, asking what was going on. The woman had been there to witness Graham's summoning the night before and was clearly suspicious something was wrong. Judging by August's voice message, he was just pissed.
Regina, however, couldn't call in sick. While her girlfriend and her son were being threatened, Regina had a number of Presidential duties to attend to. Luckily she had only internal meetings scheduled that day but she still had to go to the Oval Office and continue on as if nothing was happening.
"I'll be fine," Emma assured her, when Regina expressed regret at having to leave. "I may as well do some prep for my show tonight. Hopefully this will all be over by then and I can broadcast as usual. And if I get bored, I can go down and watch a movie with Henry."
Emma's new best friend was John, the large bearded man whom Graham trusted implicitly. He was currently outside of the living quarters but if Emma wished to leave, he had been assigned to escort her.
"I still wish I could stay here with you," Regina said. "There's someone threatening to kill you."
"Yes but you have another 350 million Americans you also need to work for," Emma reminded her. "Plus, there's no way anyone is going to get in here."
"True," Regina agreed. "If I hear any news from Graham, I'll let you know."
Information from the FBI and CIA agents did indeed trickle into the Oval Office throughout the day. Graham came to update the President about once an hour as they slowly built up a picture of who Belle French or Belle Lacey really was. While they were learning more and more about the woman who had left the blackmail note, they still had no clue who she was working for. But the fact that she was not alone had become apparent. With no bank accounts registered to her, aside from the one she used to get paid for her work at the White House, Belle Lacey didn't exist. Financially at least, there must be someone else involved.
It wasn't until early afternoon, barely four hours before Belle's deadline, that a breakthrough was made. Regina was in a meeting with Kathryn at the time, the Chief of Staff having been told what was going on that morning. The two of them were supposed to be talking about an upcoming Peace Treaty with a nation emerging from years of civil war but in fact were mostly speculating about Belle's motives. Kathryn too had spent countless hours with this woman and couldn't believe the turn of events.
Graham's knock on the Oval Office door interrupted their discussion about how the woman may be working undercover for some international gang overlord. As soon as Regina saw his face, she knew the news was not good. But at least it was news, she mused. Not knowing was even worse.
"What do you know?" Regina asked as soon as Graham had sat down.
"The father of Belle's baby," Graham said. "One of the neighbours remembered him. Her parents tried to keep it quiet; ashamed of their daughter and not a fan of the man, apparently. But they were Catholic so wouldn't allow her to abort it."
"Who is it?" Regina asked. "Are they involved."
"Oh I'd say so," Graham replied. "He was described to our agent as short, mousy hair, dark eyes, walked with a slight limp and with an air of power and authority. Always wore a suit. Never gave a genuine smile. Was in his late twenties when Belle got pregnant. Sound familiar?"
Regina nodded slowly but dare voice her suspicions. "Did you show them a photo? Did they confirm the identification?"
Graham nodded grimly. "Yes. It's obviously been almost thirty years but they confirmed it was him. Robert Gold fathered Belle's baby."
"The head of the NRA is behind all of this?" Kathryn gasped.
"We think so," Graham nodded. "Financially it would make sense. That organisation has the funds to orchestrate something like this. Gold is significantly older than Belle but we suspect she moved in with him after her parents died. His private life has always been very private. He lives on some large estate outside of the city but it's not a well documented lifestyle. The only thing we know is that a hunting accident left him with a permanent limp when he was a young man. There's every chance he could have moved his teenage girlfriend in with their child without anyone noticing."
"Is that where Belle is now?" Regina asked.
"We've got agents on the way there but we doubt it. They will have a plan in place following the delivery of the blackmail note and they won't take a chance on us failing to identify the people involved. There'll be a safe-house somewhere. We're pulling all information we have about the NRA; property it owns, bank accounts."
"We need to find them. Now," Regina said. "With that much money, they've got the ability to buy anyone. If we get to 5pm and haven't met their demands, there's every chance they'll attempt to follow through on their threat. Can we put the White House in lockdown?"
"Security has already been tightened," Graham replied. "Anything more and the press will get wind that something is wrong."
"I don't care," Regina said. "Emma and Henry's safety is more important than people finding out about this blackmail attempt or our relationship."
Graham nodded his understanding. "Oh, Zelena is here to see you, by the way."
"She was scheduled to come so we could talk about Emma and I going public," Regina said, suddenly remembering that she had asked Kathryn to book her publicist a meting earlier in the week. "Kat, what do you think?"
"I think you're lucky no one has found out about the two of you so far," Kathryn reasoned. "Talking through your plans with Zelena is something you need to do sooner rather than later, especially if Gold knows about the relationship. They could use it to discredit you or even distract from whatever plan they have, assuming you don't give into their demands."
Regina hadn't thought of that. The head of the NRA could certainly distract not only the media but also Regina by leaking the news that she was dating Emma. She was still doubtful that was their plan, however. As far as she was concerned, the images were more of a threat to let Regina know that they knew who Emma was, not that they were going to expose their relationship.
"You're right," Regina nodded. "I'll meet with her now. Perhaps we should go public with it today. The sooner the better, I think."
Kathryn's eyebrows rose. "Why?"
"Because it will put the spotlight on Emma. She won't be a regular civilian any more. It will make her a much higher profile target and we could more easily arrange a protective detail," Regina said. "Plus it will take away the power these blackmailers have regarding their knowledge of our relationship."
"Yes, but their threat towards Emma and Henry remains," Kathryn reasoned. "And bear in mind that these people tried to kill you, if we're to assume the shooting of your father was a botched attempt at an assassination. High profile doesn't seem to bother them."
"I'll admit that but I still think we can better protect Emma and Henry once people know who they are."
"That, or they'll become targets for other blackmailers looking to get something out of the White House," Kathryn pointed out.
"We can protect them," Regina said, more to reassure herself than anyone else. She wouldn't be able to ever forgive herself if anything were to happen either to Emma or Henry. She hadn't spent much time with the teenager but she was fond of him. And the fact that he was Emma's son made her immediately protective of him. No, neither Emma nor Henry were going to be hurt on her watch.
"I have to go," Graham said, checking his cell phone. "Do you need anything else from me, Madam President?"
"Can you ask John to escort Emma here please," Regina said. "I think she should be present in this meeting with Zelena. We're going to have to decide how and when she informs the studio."
"You're evil," Kathryn chuckled. "Putting Emma in a room with Zelena who you know is going to hit the roof over this."
Regina shrugged. "Zelena works for me. Her job is to help us find the right way to do something, not to tell us what we should or shouldn't do. Emma and I were going to go public sooner or later. We just need to work out how to do this without it ruining our careers."
Emma couldn't help but be slightly awestruck every time she entered the Oval Office. The iconic room, through which so many politicians had passed, was a marvel for her. And the fact that she was standing it in, her girlfriend by her side, was nothing short of a dream come true. That bubble of wonder promptly burst when Zelena was informed of their plans and brought up to speed on the blackmail scheme.
"No way," the redhead said staunchly arms crossed. "You can't go public."
"I'm not asking permission," Regina replied, her voice curt. "I'm telling you what is going to happen and it is now your job to put together a press release."
"Oh sure. 'Hi America. Your President is now a lesbian. Oh, and guess what? Someone is threatening to kill your new First Lady of the United States.' Yeah, not going to happen, Madam President," she said sarcastically.
"We're not releasing the blackmail details," Regina replied. "And to be honest, that's really not what we're here to talk about. I only mentioned it because the blackmailers have photos which could surface. I think we should get out in front of this."
"What images?" Zelena asked.
Regina walked to her desk and pulled the copy of the photograph from her drawer. Zelena scanned the image, glanced up at Emma, whose cheeks were slightly red as she realised Zelena had just seen her in her underwear.
"They've not released these yet?" the Brit asked.
"No," Regina replied. "I think this is about proving they know who Emma is and what she means to me. They want the gun reform bill tanked."
"Yeah, and discrediting you would do that," Zelena said. "These photos will be released, I can promise you that. Media outlets would pay millions for this exclusive."
"August," Emma said, speaking for the first time. "They've got his contact details, right? They must do if they gave him the information about your divorce."
"Get him down here," Regina said to Kathryn. "Tell Graham we need to speak to August Booth now. Promise him an exclusive from the White House. If the news of our relationship is going to get out, we may as well give it to them and control the information ourselves."
Kathryn nodded and stood up at once, leaving the office to make the necessary arrangements to get the head of the NBC studio down to the White House and in front of the President.
"You're giving this exclusive to the man who told the world you were getting a divorce?" Emma asked, before Kathryn had even left the room.
"We don't have a choice," Regina said.
"She's right," Zelena said. "This way we're taking away the power of that picture. They would have planned to release the photo through August if he is their contact and we can beat them to it. You and Emma can announce your relationship and the blackmailers have lost their leverage. The picture will no longer be breaking news."
"Their leverage is threatening my life and that of my son," Emma said darkly. "As far as I'm concerned, the world knowing about me and Regina and the fact that I may lose my job is irrelevant compared to that. I'm not bothered about the picture being leaked. I'm bothered about the death threat."
"I agree," Regina said. "The threat is still out there. The blackmail scheme must have a next step. If they don't get what they want, and they won't, there must be a plan."
"Perhaps the plan is to release the images, distract the media and you from the task of keeping Emma safe," Zelena said.
"Well, if that is their plan, they're going to fail," Regina replied. "Or at least, we're going to do it first. But there's no way I'm going to 'forget' to protect the woman I love."
Zelena's eyebrows rose. "That's why you're doing this? Because you're in love?"
"We're going public because there's nothing to be ashamed of," Regina said. "If I was dating a man, I wouldn't have needed to hide from the world. Why should it be any different because Emma is a woman? It's 2021, for goodness sake."
"Hey, you know I agree with you there," Zelena said, holding her hands up. "But you also know that homophobia still exists in America and across the world. This isn't going to be universally accepted news."
"Nor was the gun reform bill," Regina pointed out. "I'm doing what I think is right, not what will please everyone. This gun reform act is crucial to the future of America. Emma is nothing to do with my politics. She's a woman I met and fell in love with. I'm not going to apologise for that and to be honest I'm tired of hiding. I'm proud to be in this relationship and I don't think I have any reason to deny who I am any more."
Towards the end of Regina's speech, she had turned to look at Emma who was sat on the couch beside her. She smiled softly at her girlfriend, hands now interlaced between them. Zelena watched on, resigned to the fact that she was going to have to do what Regina wanted and now considering a plan. She had to admit, they were rather adorable together.
"Ok, let's do this," Zelena said. "Do you want Sidney to deliver this news or you?"
"Emma and I will do it. Both of us," Regina said. "I want us to do this together. I want us to do everything together from now on."
Emma's breath hitched. It wasn't the fact that she, it seemed, was going to be the first person not employed by the White House to address the Press Room. It was the fact that Regina had effectively just told her she wanted to spend her life with Emma. They were in love, Emma knew that. But to hear Regina was thinking about their future made her heart glow even brighter. She hadn't voiced her own desires and dreams but she too had been imagining the two of them growing old together.
"What about your work, Emma?" Zelena asked, pulling the two women back into the room, both having gotten lost in the eyes of the other.
"If you're bringing August here, I'd like the chance to tell him myself," Emma admitted. "We've known each other for years. We were friends. I owe it to him to tell him the truth."
"You'll lose your job," Zelena said. "There's no way they'll let a political correspondent who's sleeping with the President have their own show."
"Actually," Emma said, glancing at Regina and receiving a nod of permission. "There's something I want to run by you."
A/N: Fun fact, I fell off my motorbike two days ago. I'm totally fine but it reminded me that you should all know, the only reason I would ever leave a fic unfinished would be if I died. There's nothing I hate more than an unfinished story and I pledge to you here and now that only death would ever force me inflict this fate on you all.