A/N: just a head's up, Hook is in this chapter, and there are mentions of Hook and Hood, but this is in NO WAY Outlaw Queen or Captain Swan... young Emma isn't a fan of Hook, just his alcohol ;) This is still Swan Queen all the way
Also, before anyone tries to tell me that Emma is out of character, remember she's 16, and by 17, she's a car thief. On top of that, there's a reason she's acting out, and will continue to act out more and more as the story goes on, and that reason will be brought up and dealt with before the story ends.
This is just the beginning of Emma's rebellion, and she's still relatively tame in this chapter. MagicalInsanity has given me some AMAZING ideas, and I'm planning on working quite a few of them into this story :)
Chapter Eight
After a quiet lunch, in which Tink and Regina made small talk, and Emma tried her best to look like she wasn't devising a plan to snatch her car keys from the fairy, they headed back to the car to go back to the loft, as Mary Margaret and Henry would soon be returning.
"Can I drive this time?" Emma asked. "Pleeeeease?"
"You can drive when your parents say it's okay," Tink said.
Emma reluctantly got into the passenger seat. "So that means you have to leave my car at their place," she said, as the realization dawned on her.
"That's the plan," Tink nodded. Emma smiled to herself, realizing she didn't need a plan to get her keys from the fairy, as she would have to leave them at the apartment anyway. She wasn't used to things working out for her this way, but she wasn't about to complain.
Once they were back at the apartment, Tink offered to take Neal so Granny could leave, but Granny insisted that perhaps it was better the other way around. Emma was slightly disappointed when Tink left, because it was obvious from the look in Granny's eyes, that they weren't about to get away with anything from her, but she smiled again as she watched Tink drop her keys off on the counter before she left, promising to see the girls again tomorrow.
The girls hurried upstairs with their bags of clothes to put them away in Emma's drawers.
"We really should be staying at your place, you know? We wouldn't even have to share a room there," Emma commented and she shoved clothes into a drawer.
"Why are you so opposed to staying here?" Regina asked, folding her clothes neatly before placing them in another drawer.
"I dunno, it just feels so… like…" Emma shook her head, not wanting to say 'like home', because who the hell was she to say what home felt like, anyway?
"Are you girls behaving up there?" Granny called up from downstairs. Emma rolled her eyes.
"Yes, Ma'am!" Regina called down. "We're putting our clothes away."
Emma smirked.
"What?" Regina asked, flashing those wide, innocent brown eyes at her.
"You! You're so… well-behaved," Emma laughed.
"Well, my mother taught me to respect my elders," Regina retorted.
"Hmm, well maybe I might have been a better person if I had a mother," Emma shrugged.
"You do, though," Regina insisted.
"Yeah, sure," Emma shook her head.
"You were so insistent that I talk to you about my parents. Why won't you talk to me about yours?" Regina asked, stepping closer to Emma.
"I… uh…" Emma stammered, just as she heard the door opening downstairs.
Henry wasted no time bounding up the stairs to see the girls. "You got new clothes," he commented, looking at them both.
"Regina has a platinum MasterCard," Emma smirked.
Henry's mouth dropped open. "Oh, she's gonna kill you."
"Why does everyone keep saying that?" Regina asked. "I said it was fine!"
"Yeah, I'm sure you had no idea what you were agreeing to," Henry shrugged.
"Well, Tinker Bell says money isn't real here, and this town is cursed anyway," Emma shrugged.
"She told you about the curse?" Henry asked, his eyes darting back and forth between each of his mothers.
"Well, not really. But I don't believe in curses anyway. I mean, come on!" Emma said, rolling her eyes.
Henry just laughed. "Come on downstairs. I'm sure your mom wants to hear about your day."
The girls followed Henry back down to the main floor, just as Granny was leaving.
"Emma," Snow said, smiling. "Regina. How was your day, girls?"
Emma shrugged, "we got new clothes. Other than that, boring."
Regina stepped up from behind Emma, shooting her a bit of a glare. "We had a lovely day. Thank you, Mrs. Nolan."
Snow smiled. "You can call me Sn… Mary Margaret," Snow said, deciding it was still too soon to spring her real identity in front of Emma.
"We saw Regina's mansion," Emma piped up. "I think we should pack up and head over there. There's way more room."
"I think we need to respect Regina's home, because I don't know that she would like that, once you two return to normal," Snow insisted. "Plus, it's cozy here."
"Yeah, okay," Emma said, looking defeated.
"I'm going to start on supper, so it's ready when David gets off work. Do you girls want to help?" Snow offered.
"I would love to!" Regina grinned.
Emma groaned. "Ugh… that kitchen is too small for three people. Maybe I should just hang with Henry?"
"Alright," Snow nodded, knowing that forcing Emma to help her probably wasn't the best approach to win her over.
Emma turned to Henry as Snow and Regina headed to the kitchen. "Whatcha wanna do?"
Henry grinned. "Let's play Xbox!"
Emma was amazed by the Xbox. "Holy shit! This is awesome!" she exclaimed, as they started a two player first person shooter game.
Henry laughed. "You know, you play these games with me as an adult, too. You don't like the violent ones though."
"Well it sounds like I'm a cool Mom then… and a little lame. Why don't I like the violent ones?"
"Cause you suck at first person shooter," Henry shrugged. "My other mom won't even let me play this one at all."
"She's much lamer than me," Emma grinned.
"No, she's just… different," Henry said.
"Were we friends, before? Me and Regina, I mean?" Emma asked, suddenly more interested in her previous forgotten life than the game in front of her.
Henry paused it, and turned to her. "Kind of?" he shrugged.
"What's that mean?"
"Well, you guys fight a lot, mostly over stupid stuff. But you help each other out a lot, too. You are still a lot like you are now… well, maybe with less swearing and you're slightly more respectful," Henry laughed, "but you say what you mean and you're passionate… mostly about everyone else's happiness."
"Yeah, okay, and what about Regina?" Emma pressed.
"She's… different. Very different. She went through a lot of bad stuff, and it changed her."
Emma glanced back at the kitchen, at Regina smiling sweetly, helping Mary Margaret with dinner. The girl seemed so sweet and innocent – just as Tink had said – and she couldn't imagine bad things happening to her.
Emma was quieter and she and Henry resumed playing. He was right – she did suck at first person shooter – but she wasn't really into it, either. She finally threw the controller on the floor and slouched back on the couch. "So, tell me more about grown up me. Do I have a boyfriend? Or a girlfriend?" Emma grinned, jabbing Henry in the ribs with her elbow.
"Uh, you have a boyfriend. Why would you have a girlfriend?" Henry asked, turning the game off and looking at Emma, confused.
Emma shrugged. "Some girls do… I thought maybe that was something I'd be into."
"Maybe you shouldn't tell me this," Henry cautioned. "You know, in case it's not something you want me to know about, when you're you."
Emma shrugged again. "Well, unless I grow up into a total prude… tell me about this boyfriend."
Henry laughed. "His name is Killian and he's… he has a boat. And he's Irish."
"A man with an accent? Yeah, I could get on board with that," Emma nodded. "What about Regina?"
"She's got a boyfriend, too, named Robin. It's a bit more of a complicated situation though. He's got a son, and another baby on the way… with another woman."
Emma nodded, slowly. "That's kinda messed up. Poor Regina," Emma said, glancing back at her again.
"Yeah," Henry agreed.
"What about your dad? Is he here, too?" Emma pressed.
"He, um, he died, actually," Henry said, looking down.
"Oh, kid, I'm sorry," Emma said, putting a hand awkwardly on his shoulder. "Sorry, I don't really know how this whole comforting other people thing is supposed to go."
"It's okay. You did fine, when it actually happened," Henry assured her.
David walked in the door as soon as Regina and Snow had finished preparing dinner, bringing Emma and Henry's conversation to an abrupt end. Emma reluctantly helped Henry set the table at her mother's request, as David went to tell his wife about his day.
An awkward silence befell the table once everyone was seated.
"This is really good," David said, nodding to Regina and Snow, trying to get the conversation started.
"Thank you," Regina said, beaming. Emma couldn't help but smile at her smile.
"Regina's a good little cook," Snow nodded.
Emma turned wary eyes on her, and suddenly wondered if she should have gone to help with dinner. For people who claimed to be her parents, they were lavishing a lot of praise on Regina. Emma couldn't help the jealousy that was building up.
After dinner was more of the same. Emma sat and sulked while Regina talked to Snow and David about the Enchanted Forest and God knows what else that Emma had zero interest in, until she'd had enough and took off stomping up to her room.
"Oh, Emma," Snow sighed, and got up to follow her.
"Let me talk to her," Henry said, hopping up quickly.
Snow nodded, and looked back at David, sighing again.
"You know, you could be part of the conversation, too, if you didn't just sit there and mope," Henry said as he entered Emma's bedroom, where she was lying face down diagonally across the bed.
She rolled slightly so she could look at him. "I'm not moping. And I don't care. I don't want to be part of their stupid conversation."
"Yeah, you sound like you don't care," Henry said, rolling his eyes and sitting on the bed.
"I don't care. I got through my whole life without parents. I don't need them now," Emma said, defiantly.
"You actually like them, you know. You call them 'Mom' and 'Dad' and you love them," Henry said. "You still live with them."
"Good for me, then, I guess. They seem much more interested in Regina."
"Because she's actually interested in them and you barely speak to them," Henry pointed out.
"Whatever," Emma said, rolling back over.
Henry sighed and headed back downstairs. He wasn't really sure how to get through to Emma like this, and decided maybe it was better for her to get over her little tantrum on her own.
Emma stayed upstairs until Regina finally came up. "Everyone's gone to bed," she said, quietly.
"Good," Emma said, sitting up. "Did you have a nice time playing perfect daughter for the perfect family down there?"
"I… wasn't. I was just being polite and making conversation," Regina said, looking confused and a little hurt.
"Yeah, right. You're always being polite," Emma scoffed.
"Why are you mad at me?" Regina asked.
Emma sighed. "I'm not mad at you… I'm just… I don't know what I am."
"Do you want to talk about it?" Regina suggested.
"Nope," Emma said, shaking her head and finally getting off the bed. "I want to get ready to get out of here."
"You still want to go out tonight?" Regina asked, apprehension evident in her voice.
"Hell yes," Emma grinned.
The girls waited about half an hour, until they heard soft snores coming from downstairs, and they started their getaway. They crept down the stairs, and Emma peeked into David and Snow's room, to make sure they were both asleep, before tiptoeing past Henry sleeping on the couch, and grabbing the keys to the Bug.
Once they were safely outside, Emma howled with laughter at the look of pure terror on Regina's face. "Relax! Nothing's gonna happen. I already said, if we get in trouble, I'll take the blame… they're gonna blame me anyway."
Regina nodded, still unsure, as Emma unlocked the car.
"Shit, I didn't expect stick shift," Emma said, once the girls were in the car.
"Is stick shift bad?" Regina asked, bewildered.
Emma shrugged. "When I was thirteen I was at a home with these two older boys, and they taught me how to drive stick. When the parents found out, they sent all three of us back. I think I remember how."
"You think?" Regina asked, now panicking.
"It's fine, trust me."
"Where are we going?"
"Well, rumour has it I have a hot Irish boyfriend with a boat. There's docks around here. I'm gonna try and find him… see how good adult me made out, ya know?" Emma giggled as she got the car in gear and headed off. The drive was jerkier than she would have liked, but she had been a kid when she drove stick that one time, and she thought she was doing pretty well, all things considered.
"See, you're still alive," Emma laughed when they reached the docks. Regina had gone pale during the drive, and Emma worried that she might actually pass out. She got out and slammed the door, and Regina quickly followed.
"Holy shit, is that the Jolly Roger?" Emma asked, staring at the ship.
"What's the Jolly Roger?" Regina asked, as she stepped up beside her.
"You know, Captain Hook? Never mind, you don't know. Let's go check it out."
Emma glanced around, but there was no one out, so she made her way over to the ship. She stepped on to the boarding ramp and started to make her way up.
"Wait! Emma!" Regina called, from the dock below. "You can't just go in there, invited."
"I'm sure it's fine," Emma insisted. "I'm going in… either come with, or stay down there, alone."
Regina sighed and quickly followed Emma up the ramp.
"Hello?" Emma called out, looking around the seemingly empty ship. "Hey, if no one's here, do you think we could figure out how to steer this thing?"
"The Jolly Roger is not here for joyriding." Emma spun around at the sound of an Irish accent, and grinned when she saw a good-looking man dressed in leather with a fairly noticeable silver hook.
"Captian Hook, I presume," Emma said, giving a mock bow.
"Killian Jones," he corrected.
"Oh, shit, you're Killian?" Emma gasped. "Shit! I'm dating Captain Hook?"
"Swan?" Killian said, his eyes growing wide.
"That's me. Regina and I had some sort of… magical accident. We turned ourselves young, apparently."
"Apparently," Killian agreed. "How old are you, exactly?"
"Eighteen," Emma lied, with a mischievous grin.
"I see," Killian said, glancing back and forth between Emma and Regina. "For how long?"
Emma shrugged. "Who knows? But we are bored as hell in this shitty town. Do you have any booze?"
Killian shook his head. "Slow down, love. I may be a pirate, but you're a minor."
"Yeah, but… not really. I'm an adult trapped in a teenager's body. Plus, if I can't get it from you, I'm sure I can get it someplace else… I noticed quite an array at Regina's mansion so…. If you'd rather we just go there unsupervised, then I guess we'll be on our way."
"Wait," Killian said, as Emma turned to leave. She turned back, smiling, as he held out a flask. She took a quick swig – straight rum – and it burned. She coughed a little, but tried to play it cool.
"Emma," Regina cautioned, her voice barely above a whisper. Emma ignored her as she took another, longer drink, and then held out the flask to her. Regina shook her head, and looked like she might cry.
"Regina, oh my God, it's just rum. It won't kill you," Emma laughed, shaking her head. She went to take another swig herself, but Killian stopped her, grabbing it from her hand.
"Take it easy," he warned.
Emma wasn't fazed. She bit her lower lip and turned on the doe eyes. "Pretty please?"
"Emma!" Regina said, again.
"What?!" Emma demanded, turning to face Regina. Her face softened when she saw how scared Regina looked.
"Can we please just go?" Regina asked.
Emma sighed and closed her eyes. She wondered if she should have come alone. "Fine," she said, grabbing Regina's hand and pulling her back toward the ramp. "See you 'round, Captain Hook."
Emma practically dragged Regina by the hand back to the car. "What the hell is your problem?" she demanded, when they reached the Bug.
"Emma, I… you're lying to your parents, you lied to that man, you're drinking… I don't want to do this. We're going to get in so much trouble!"
"What the hell did your parents used to do to you when you got in trouble?" Emma asked, shaking her head at Regina in disbelief. She didn't wait for an answer as she got back into the car. Regina quickly made her way around to the other side and got in, and Emma started to drive.
"Not my parents, just my mother," Regina said.
"What?" Emma asked.
"My mother… when I got in trouble… she used to punish me… physically," Regina said.
Emma cringed. She should have expected that one. "Well, she's gone now, so you don't have to be afraid of her. And I'd kick anyone's ass who tried to hurt you now."
"Why?"
"Because I'm your friend, and that's what friends do."
Regina just nodded, and they didn't say anything else for the rest of the short ride back to the loft. Once they were out of the car, they tiptoed back up the stairs and into the loft. Emma looked around, to see everyone was still asleep. To Regina's surprise, she actually looked disappointed.
They snuck back up the stairs to Emma's room, and got changed quickly, and climbed under the covers.
"I'm sorry I ruined your night," Regina whispered.
"You didn't," Emma whispered back, " not really. I don't know what the adult me sees in that pirate, to be honest."
"He seemed nice," Regina offered.
"He let me drink underage with barely any convincing. I'm sure there's a lot of other questionable things he might have let me do, if we'd stayed," Emma sighed. "You have a boyfriend, too, you know?"
"Who?" Regina asked.
"Beats me. But he got another chick pregnant. If I were you, I'd cut my losses and walk away. You don't need that baby mama drama."
"That doesn't sound like any kind of man I'd want to be with," Regina admitted.
Emma reached out and grabbed Regina's hand. "Fuck them. Who needs them? We got each other."
Regina smiled and squeezed Emma's hand back.
"And hey," Emma continued, "I'm sorry I kind of threw at lot at you at once tonight. But seriously, girl, you need to learn how to have a little fun, okay? 'Cause nothing bad is going to happen."
"Okay," Regina agreed, reluctantly.
Emma smiled. She was determined to corrupt this girl yet.