A/N: I still need to figure out what will happen with Gold, but I'm excited about the next few chapters. I like writing dialogue (as is probably VERY obvious) but I'm aware that the tone of this fic has shifted dramatically, and while I really like writing these 'figuring ourselves out' chapters, I've written many of them for my other longer SQ fics, and I want to keep some of the darkness present in this one. Some growth and talk are necessary, and while I was unhappy with where I'd taken this for a little while when looking over it, I hope that's just me being self-deprecating and that it has added something to the fic now that there is now an element of closeness as well as just hate. That said, things are apt to get interesting when everything changes, and I'm looking forward to ramping things up again. I hope it reads well :) So yes, sorry for rambling at you, I've just been aware that I've subjected you to several chapters of chatter and niceties for the most part, and this fic was built on something different. I plan on reaching a nicely perverted medium... Somehow :p Still, enough from me! Exams and role-plays (not the fun sort, sadly) are over for the time being, so there should be a few more of these to come with less of a wait between them! Reviews would be awesome!
"Regina."
Hook's greeting mirrors Emma's hissed warning from behind her, and the Mayor frowns as she descends a couple of steps towards her driveway and responds in kind.
"Killian. Can I help you?"
She asks, shivering as she crosses her arms over her chest and slips her hands beneath them in a bid to keep them warm; wondering belatedly just how much of a state she currently looks after her trip to the Enchanted Forest and the drama that had unfolded on the other side of the glass.
At least I cleaned the blood off of my face... Presumably...
She thins her lips, wondering if Emma would have told her if she'd missed a spot and finding herself in doubt with a private sigh of annoyance that feels oddly more like amusement.
"I just wanted to know if you ever heard anything back from... Emma."
Hook trails off uncertainly, looking past the Mayor as the blonde slips outside to see what's going on.
"Hook. What are you doing here?"
She asks curiously, moving past the brunette so that she stands face to face with the pirate.
"I feel I should be asking you that..."
Hook replies with a frown, glancing up at Regina who simply raises a brow.
"Oh... I was just here. Did you need me for something?"
The blonde asks, earning herself a deeper furrowing of the pirate's brow and a narrowly-concealed eye-roll from the Mayor who is fairly sure that the only person unaware of the magnitude of the tension between the three of them right now is Emma herself.
Give her a second...
She suppresses a smirk, while Hook lets on quite clearly that he's less than impressed when he reaches out and touches the Sheriff's wet curls and asks gruffly
"Did you shower here?"
"Well, yeah... I needed a shower."
Emma shrugs, her response clipped and taking on an irritated edge, and Regina speaks up from behind her to interrupt the silence that follows.
"I'm going back inside."
She informs the others, watching as Hook nods in his agreement that this might be best, while Emma glances over her shoulder and offers her a tight smile before apologising to the pirate
"I actually better get in, too. There's a couple of things we need to take care of."
"What do you mean? What are you doing here?"
Hook demands, his agitation now evident in his tone and igniting the blonde's own stony defences as she growls
"Just something."
"Something we should be getting back to if you would excuse us."
Regina speaks up with her hand on the door, and while she would personally love to add a titbit of innuendo and suggestion, she knows that Emma's rocky way of handling their current situation is down to her personality and not any wish to be purposefully cruel, and so she simply offers the others a coquettish wave and slips out of sight.
"Swan, what's going on?"
Killian grabs hold of the blonde's wrist to keep her from following the Mayor inside without providing further explanation.
What explanation could she possibly give?!
He feels an unlikely pang of anger curdle in his gut that juxtaposes uncomfortably with how he usually feels when dealing with Emma, but the damp fall of her calls and her total radio-silence for the last forty-eight hours lend him a cold doubtfulness he is unable to hide from his expression.
Careful. Be careful what you say. Swan's prickly at the best of times when it comes to discussing where we are in this relationship, particularly when you bring up the bloody Mayor.
Goddamn Regina...
He bristles, telling himself to calm down and realise how utterly ridiculous his current concerns are. That, of course, the fact that he's found the blonde freshly showered and smelling suspiciously of wine at the Mayor's house before ten o'clock on a Sunday morning isn't as damning as it seems.
Of course...
"Emma, where the hell were you?"
He pushes her for an answer when the Sheriff simply frowns down at his grip on her wrist, and she pulls her hand away with an irritable huff and deflects
"Why do you always ask me that like I'm a kid sneaking out to get drunk with her friends without permission."
"Well, you have to admit, it's an uncanny analogy at times, love."
Hook reasons, understanding his mistake the second the blonde narrows her eyes.
"Really? I need permission?"
She hisses, and he shakes his head as he placates
"No, but when there's several of us trying to get hold of you, it would be nice if you could at least respond... Evidently, you decided to respond to Regina in the end, but I don't think it's too much to ask, as your partner, that maybe you extend the same courtesy my way."
Hook sighs, wondering if he should be taking a couple of steps out of arm's- fist's- reach in light of this loaded statement, but Emma surprises him when she simply mirrors his sigh and looks down at her feet. Copying her, he sees that the blonde stands in just her socks on the damp tarmac and opens his mouth to tell her this seems rather foolish when she interrupts him to agree with his argument.
"You're right. It shouldn't be too much to ask."
"I-... Thank you."
He replies with a hint of surprise, but he doesn't quite know how they progress as Emma continues to study her feet with a wrinkle to her nose as though deliberating over something awkward.
"Were you ignoring me on purpose, or just not answering your phone?"
Hook asks to allow the blonde the opportunity to admit that she's still mad at him for whatever reason, and she looks up and replies honestly
"I haven't had my phone on me."
"Oh. Well, you know I always tell you that you should be better about that. I mean because you're the Sheriff, not, just... For me."
"I'm perfectly capable of doing my job-"
"-I just-"
"-It's fine. Look. We should talk. I'm sorry I've been kind of shit in that respect, but you're right, I owe you a response when you try to get one out of me."
"...Okay, well how about now? Breakfast at Granny's?"
"I can't."
"Why not?"
"I have to help Regina with something."
"I'm sure she can wait... Emma, this is important."
"So's this!"
"But-"
"-Killian, it's going to have to wait. I can't just drop what I'm doing the minute you ask me to."
"What is it you're doing? What's so important you had to stay the night at the Mayor's house?"
"I can't tell you."
Emma replies simply, offering an apologetic shrug of her shoulders, but her tone is unwaveringly firm.
"You can't tell me what it is you and Regina are up to? Why you had to shower here? Why you-"
"-No, I can't. There's things I will tell you, that I need to tell you, but right now, I have to deal with something else. You're just going to have to trus-... Humour me."
The blonde finishes awkwardly, not daring to ask for a trust that she's not sure she can honour given everything that's happened since the last time they spoke, but she had been telling Regina the truth when confiding that she cares about Hook, and the expression of angry comprehension he offers her now leaves her feeling a little nauseous.
Can't even tell him that he's got the wrong idea... That's how this argument usually goes. How it's always gone before...
"I'll talk to you later, I promise."
She appeals, suffering a strong sense of discomfort when Hook shakes his head and turns away, but she guesses this is more or less the reaction she deserves and so leaves it at that for now. Making her way back up the steps and slipping back into the warmth of the Mayor's hallway, she isn't surprised in the slightest to find Regina waiting on the other side of the door.
"Well, that was awkward."
The brunette muses unhelpfully, and Emma rolls her eyes as she pads back into the kitchen to drain what little wine remains in her mug.
"Could you try not to sound so amused by the fact?"
She grumbles, and the darker woman laughs softly as she reclaims her seat at the kitchen table and admits pleasantly
"I could, I suppose, but this just makes for a nice turn of the books. Usually, it's my love-life that's the butt of the joke."
"Mm."
Emma replies lazily, considering her drink, and Regina frowns as she recalls some of Lily's less than flattering accusations and opens her mouth to take back what she's said when the blonde looks back up and interrupts her with a smirk.
"I don't think you can beat a flying monkey, Madame Mayor. I would be tempted to encourage you to try, but don't suppose that says a lot about what I have to offer."
"You have your moments."
The Mayor muses silkily, pushing her hair back with a smug smile and confiding
"I would like to know more about what you have to offer, however..."
"So you've implied."
Emma grins, sighing when the brunette brings them back to more serious matters with a regretful shake of her head.
"All in good time, dear. I suppose I better head over to Gold's."
"I guess. Let's get this over with."
The blonde agrees, checking the hallway for her shoes before remembering the insanity of how she's ended up here and conjuring a pair of boots.
"I wish I'd known how to do that when I was younger."
She muses, running her hand over black leather with a raised brow, and Regina chuckles as she warns
"It all takes a toll, dear, especially when playing around with items that don't actually exist. I learned that the hard way when I was first getting to grips with my power."
"Oh?"
Emma smirks, imagining there's a humourous tale or two to be told, and Regina reciprocates with a self-deprecating shrug as she fetches her coat.
"Fortunately, I enjoyed demanding my way and what I wanted far too dramatically to rely solely on my power."
"Yeah, I'll bet everyone was really pleased for you."
The blonde teases.
"I wouldn't have known, and I wouldn't have cared."
Regina replies simply, earning herself an eye-roll softened by the amused pull to the younger woman's lips.
"And on that note, let's go get you sorted so you can really mean it when you say shit like that."
Emma beckons towards the front door, turning around curiously when Regina doesn't follow her to find the darker woman watching her with a frown.
"...You're not coming with me."
The Mayor informs her companion uneasily, shaking her head when Emma looks confused and reminding the blonde irritably
"Miss Swan, we have a fugitive upstairs who would like nothing more than to kill us and everyone we hold dear. One of us should probably stay here and keep an eye on her!"
"I... Yeah, I know, I just..."
The blonde furrows her brow as she considers this rather large oversight sheepishly.
"It will be alright... Well... It will be however it is, I suppose, but I didn't get any indication from Gold when we spoke in regards to your disappearance that he meant to revel in my unfortunate situation."
Regina splays her palms helplessly. She would much rather have Emma tag along with her for backup, but she doesn't feel that leaving the Queen unsupervised- bound and drugged, or not- would be wise.
"Just remind him that it's in his best interests to help us, and to keep this whole deal quiet..."
The younger woman sighs, pacing as she tries to think of a way around their current predicament, but she knows that Regina is right in her decision that they play things safe.
"I have brokered a deal or two in my past, dear."
The brunette assures as she pulls on her gloves.
"I know... I just..."
"I'll get what I can out of him, and I'll be firm. Her Majesty might be tied up upstairs, but I'm not as soft as the bitch suggests. I want this to work for a lot of reasons, Miss Swan, and, as you should know better than anyone, I get what I want."
"Well, actually-"
"-I do when I don't have to account for your input."
Regina interrupts loudly, offering the younger woman a smirk to show that she's joking.
Sort of.
"I guess that's true."
Emma agrees, making a movement with her hand to turn her recently acquired boots into slippers.
"Go up and borrow whatever you need, don't waste your energy on little tricks for no reason. Especially when they look like that."
Regina wrinkles her nose, and the younger woman chuckles to cover up the slight blush she can feel colouring her cheeks at the brunette's invitation that she should wear something of hers.
"You seemed in favour of some of my other choices..."
Emma points out, and the brunette nips at her lip with a shrug.
"What? Changed your mind?"
The blonde asks, and the darker woman shakes her head with a sultry smirk.
"No, dear. It's just going to take some time to get used to; this new level of teasing that's opened up to us."
"Yeah. I guess usually we think this stuff but don't say it out loud."
The Sheriff agrees, and Regina makes a seesaw motion with her hand as she counters
"Well, I've always thought the exact opposite about most of what comes out of your mouth, but in this instance, I believe you're right. In some ways, I'm almost going to miss it; baiting you with a statement you really should have called me out on, yet those were always the times where you'd remain uncharacteristically subdued."
"Subdued?"
The blonde raises a brow.
"Hm, yes, alright, perhaps not the best word to describe you. Introspective, let's say."
"Let's! That's a lot nicer than you've ever put it before!"
Emma laughs, before admitting with a sigh
"I'm going to miss seeing how far I can push you towards inappropriate conversation before you snap at me."
"Oh, I'm sure I'll still find plenty of reason to do that... And, I suppose what I won't miss is the feeling I'd sometimes get when you'd leave and I'd playback my little comments and cringe at what you must be thinking."
"If you knew what I was thinking when walking home from yours a lot of the time, you probably would cringe! Grimace, even!"
The blonde teases, before she thinks back on some of her more recent behaviour and clears her throat awkwardly. Fortunately, Regina doesn't push for an explanation as to her sudden change in expression as she buttons up her coat and checks her hair in the hallway mirror.
"I'll be back as soon as I can be. When I leave, I suggest you cast another detection spell around the house. If Henry comes over, I will leave what you tell him up to you, but I suggest that you distract him with something he might do as far away from here as possible. I've yet to agree to him and Violet going riding along the beach, so perhaps plant that little show of faux-rebellion in his head... As for anyone else, do what you will, just do it sensibly."
"Of course."
"Mm."
Regina replies, her expression suggesting that she doesn't find sensible choices to come naturally to the blonde.
"Who are you expecting, anyway?"
Emma asks, and the Mayor shrugs as she confides
"No one in particular, but there always seems to be something getting in the way of what I'm trying to do... It was easier when that 'something' was you, dear."
"Well, you know me, I'm always glad to help."
The blonde smirks, and Regina offers her a withering look before turning for the door.
"Go and get changed into something that actually exists and behave until I get back."
"So, rifle through everything in your drawers, then?"
Emma teases, planning on simply exchanging imagined leather and denim for something conjured from her bedroom floor the minute the brunette leaves.
"It would be an improvement."
Regina muses, pulling open the door with a wince at the biting chill to the outside air.
"Good luck."
Emma offers, and the darker woman nods without looking back.
"I'm due it, that I know for certain."
"Yeah."
The blonde agrees as the door closes, listening to the click of the lock and waiting for a moment before she adds to the Mayor's charm with her own magic and cloaks the house. Padding back into the kitchen, she changes into familiar jeans and a thick sweater as she goes, before reclaiming her seat at the brunette's kitchen table and staring uneasily at the scarlet dregs colouring the bottom of her mug.
Behind her, the kitchen clock seems to be ticking obscenely loudly.
Just sit tight and wait, it's not that hard, is it?
For some, perhaps not, but this has never been an area in which she has excelled, and she doubts she even makes it five minutes before she's up, opening a second bottle of wine, and taking herself on a slow tour of the Mayor's downstairs rooms. She has spent time in almost all of them, but still finds herself feeling a little out of place as she takes a seat on the couch in the small sitting-room across from the blank screen of the television set. A stack of Henry's comic books have been placed on the coffee table in a way that leads her to believe Regina to be responsible, and she flicks through the colourful pages without paying much attention, before once more getting up to roam around; feeling at a loose end and increasingly conscious of the imminent crash of adrenaline she can feel creeping up on her.
You need to eat and you need to sleep.
Both true, but she doubts she's going to get very far with the latter with Regina out seeking Gold's help with unknown results, and so she simply heads back into the kitchen in search of the chocolate spread the Mayor had mentioned hiding in the pantry.
She supposes she knows the brunette far too well to find herself surprised by this behaviour, but she is still able to find some humour in it all the same.
Things are going to change...
She swallows as she feeds a slice of bread into the toaster and helps herself to a heaped spoonful of Nutella while she waits, looking around the kitchen she has spent so many mornings in; once, at the irritable request of the Mayor who would suffer her company with grander plans for a vendetta in mind, and, more recently, sharing coffee, conversation and camaraderie before heading into work, joking about the futility of it all with the woman responsible, while each knowing that they wouldn't have it any other way.
Joking. Teasing. Flirting.
She smirks as she slathers hot toast with chocolate and washes it down with a gulp of wine, recalling several heated moments of headache-inducing confusion that now make a lot more sense.
I still can't believe any of this is happening...
No, and with that thought, her grin fades a little as scrubs her knife clean, looking up at the ceiling pensively as she brushes crumbs off of the counter with a surreptitious sweep of her hand.
She can't believe a lot of what's happened.
She's still angry- furious- about a lot of what transpired in the Enchanted Forest, and, while a small voice inside of her head warns her anxiously that it's not a good idea- that's it's certainly not what Regina had had in mind when leaving her to babysit- she turns around, grabbing her glass and the fresh bottle of merlot, before making her way slowly up the stairs to where the Evil Queen slumbers.