Emma sat in Granny's diner the next day drinking a cup of coffee. She wasn't exactly sure what she was going to do. She didn't have a job. She didn't really have anywhere to go. She sure as hell wasn't going to march up the stairs to Regina's to talk to Henry. Instead she decided to finish her coffee and walk around town to see what this little place was all about. When she walked out of the diner, she saw a sign across the street for the town psychologist. She knew that Henry said his mother had him in treatment so she thought she would start there.
When she knocked on the door, a man with red hair answered.
"Can I help you?" He asked looking at her with serious curiosity in his eyes.
"I'm Emma. I'm um, Henry's birth mother. I was wondering if we could talk about him." Emma answered awkwardly. She wondered when she would start thinking things through before she did them.
"Come in." He finally said. Emma sat down. "I can't get too specific here due to patient doctor confidentiality; however, Henry has quite the imagination. I'm sure you know. I've been working with him to try to focus his energies on other things."
"What do you mean?" Emma asked.
"I have been trying to get him to write, read, create, anything to get his focus off his stories. Instead that is all that he talks about. I don't want him to think that I don't believe him because part of his problem is Regina not believing him, but I don't want to feed into his delusion. He needs someone to trust because he certainly doesn't trust the Evil Queen." He said.
Emma laughed at the mention of Regina as the Evil Queen. She tried to ignore the pull in the pit of her stomach at the thought. She looked up at him trying to let it sink in. "So I should pretend that I believe him?"
"No. You should try to let him see it logically without telling him he is wrong. He needs to think that someone has faith in him. The kid really just believes in happy endings, and he needs somewhere to focus that. Don't tell him he is wrong, but you should try to surround him with logic and fact to try to get him to see for himself that he is living in fantasies instead of real life." The two talked for a few minutes longer before Emma left the office. She still wasn't exactly sure what she was supposed to do, but she knew she had to be a little more encouraging of Henry. When she walked out of the door, Archie turned to her and said, "I would watch out for Regina though. She can be quite difficult to get along with."
Emma smiled at the door without turning to face him and said, "I know. I think I can take care of her myself."
As she walked out of the door, Emma wasn't expected to be met with a furious looking Regina. "What are you doing talking to Dr. Hopper?" She asked, and the irritation was obviously present in her voice. Emma couldn't help it she let her eyes roam over the Mayor in her black dress and what could only be described as fuck me heels. Regina pretended not to notice, but Emma certainly noticed the red tint to the brunette's cheeks.
"I want to help Henry." Emma said simply. She looked over her shoulder at that moment to see what she knew to be Regina's car parked across the street with the hood up. "Car trouble?" Emma asked.
"I already called a tow trunk." Regina answered looking anywhere but at Emma.
"That will take hours. Let me take a look." Emma said walking over to the car. Regina followed. Emma knew she was about to object, but she bit her tongue. The whole time Emma worked under the hood Regina looked anywhere but at her. This was a little too domestic for Regina's liking. "Crank it up." Emma finally said.
Reluctantly, Regina did. To her surprise, the car started. "You will be able to make it home, but you'll need some new spark plugs." Emma said whipping her hands on her shirt. Regina let the smirk spread across her face this time because she constantly yelled at Henry for the same thing.
"Thank you." Regina said to the blonde.
"You're welcome." Emma said before smiling and walked away. She felt the eyes on her as she walked into the diner for another cup of coffee.
"Miss Swan." She was greeted a soon as she went into the dinner by the man who had been at Regina's the day before.
"Hi." She said.
"I'm Graham." He said reaching out his hand for her to shake it. He was a handsome guy, and he seemed kind so far. She wondered if Regina had told him anything.
"Emma." She said shaking his hand back.
"I know this is short notice, but do you want a job?" He asked looking at her hopefully.
"Um, doing what?" Emma asked.
"I need a deputy. The majority of the stuff done here by my office is exactly what I just saw you do. You're good at it." He responded like it was obvious. "I'm the sheriff, and I obviously need help with all the crime in this town." Emma found herself laughing easily with this guy.
"Alright." She agreed. She needed an excuse to stay here a little bit longer just to make sure Henry was alright. She might as well have something to do while she was here. She did have a background in law enforcement after all.
"Well, get your coffee and come by the police station." He said smiling at her before leaving.
"Sheriff Graham." Ruby said with a grin to Emma as she opened the door for her. "He is a very eligible man Emma." Emma could see the glint in Ruby's eyes talking about this with her.
"I hate to tell you this Rubes, but he isn't my speed." She said grinning at the waitress as she grabbed her coffee.
"What does that mean?" Ruby asked curiously.
"Women are more my speed." Emma didn't mean to rake her eyes up and down Ruby's body as she said it, but she let it happen anyway. She played it off by sipping her coffee and looking down.
"Ah." Ruby said with a grin. The brunette appreciated when anyone admired her body so the look didn't bother her. Instead, Ruby turned to pick up a napkin that had fallen on the floor. She bent over low right in front of Emma and slowly came back up before shooting a grin to Emma and walking to the corner to throw it away.
"We should have a girl's night tonight. Me, you, and Mary Margaret. It would be so fun." Ruby said.
"Sure." Emma answered. "It would be fun." She hadn't really had girls as friends in the past. She might as well give it a try since she was picking up her life to move here with Henry.
She made plans with Ruby before heading to the police station.
When she arrived, Graham was sitting at the desk tossing a piece of paper into a trash can. He smiled pleasantly at Emma. "That is your desk over there." He said pointing. "We basically sit here until something happens or Regina needs us to do some minute task." She couldn't help the smile that spread across her face at the thought of seeing the Mayor again.
After a few minutes of her looking around the office, Graham asked. "So, there isn't a boyfriend or husband back home missing you, is there?" He grinned at her. Emma knew this game. He was hitting on her. She certainly wasn't here for that.
"Nope." She answered. "Don't get your hopes up though, I only sleep with women."
"That must be a recent thing considering Henry and all." Graham said. She knew this game too.
"Henry is eleven years old. A lot can change in that time." She said pointedly at the man. He could hear the agitation in her voice so he tried to make a joke.
"I hate to tell you this, but Regina and Belle are the only women in this town that are also interested in women, and they are together." He said laughing.
He noticed the way Emma flinched when he said it. He could feel the tension in the room. At that moment, he heard the familiar click of heels on the tile floor.
"Sheriff Graham." Regina said. She took in a sharp intake of breath as she noticed Emma standing behind him. "Arrested already Miss Swan?" She asked, sure to put as much indifference in her voice as possible.
"No. I just got hired as deputy." Emma said with a grin. Regina had to look down to hide the blush that sprang to her cheeks as she watched Emma's face turn into the same crooked smirk that Henry always made when he was nervous.
"I guess you are staying then?" She asked.
"Yes, I am." Emma smiled again. She knew the effect she was having on Regina.
"You'll be good to remember, Sheriff Graham, that in your employee manual you can't date your deputies." Regina said turning on her heels to leave. "I don't play around with policy enforcement."
Emma let her get to the door before she said, "Don't worry Madam Mayor; you know what team I play for."
Regina didn't turn, but she felt something tighten deep down inside of her. She knew that Emma had a grin stretched across her face, and she couldn't let her get the satisfaction from seeing the smile that spread across her own face.
She spent the rest of the day making small talk with Graham and literally reading every single file about every single arrest that had occurred since 1985. Apparently they didn't file records before that.
She went back to her room that afternoon to get ready for her night out. She settled for a short, red dress. It wasn't flashy, but there wasn't really anyone she was trying to impress tonight.
She noticed Regina and Belle sitting at a booth immediately when she walked into the bar. She let her eyes roam over the Mayor who hadn't noticed her yet. She made her way to Ruby and Mary Margaret. Ruby hugged her. Ruby quickly introduced Mary Margaret to Emma and vice versa again before ordering a round of shots for the women.
They chatted. They drank. Emma watched as guy after guy came to hit on Ruby. After a little while, Emma finally accepted Ruby's offer to dance with her. They were standing across from each other, but they weren't touching. Emma had been trying to ignore the looks all night that came across the bar from Regina. She let herself step closer to Ruby as she felt Regina's eyes on her back. She wasn't going to lead Ruby on by doing this. There was no question that Ruby was straight, but she wanted to make Regina jealous. She let her hips slide against Ruby's as they faced each other. They danced for a few songs before Emma let Ruby be dragged away by another guy with a smile and a promise to return soon. She saw Regina making a bee line for the bathroom, and she headed after her.
When she followed her in, she turned to lock the door. "You seem to be in a hurry." Emma said.
"This is inappropriate Miss Swan." Regina said reapplying her lip stick in the mirror. Emma moved closer to her so that she was standing at her side. She watched the lip stick run across perfect red lips, and she felt the all too familiar sensation between her legs at the sight of Regina.
"I can almost see your heart beating faster." Emma said dropping her tone down a few octaves to her husky voice. She saw the sharp intake of breath Regina took. Regina grinned. Two could play this game.
She turned to face Emma so that their lips were almost touching. She moved so that her lips brushed the shell of Emma's ear as she spoke. "Just think about it Miss Swan. I could put you on this counter and take you. You're basically showing yourself to everyone with that short, tight dress."
As soon as the words were out of Regina's mouth, she walked past Emma and out the door. Emma was left standing there watching Regina's retreating form with her mouth wide open knowing that she'd be taking care of herself that night with Regina on her mind.