This chapter is inspired by this suggestion from MagicalInsanity: "flooding the library. Because I would really like to see the town ganging against Regina and clearly blaming her for getting Emma in trouble. Regina is the Evil Witch, while the Savior, daughter of Snow White and Prince Charming, could never do anything wrong Emma would stand in front of Regina and fiercely assume the responsibility and being incredibly protective as the accusations would drive this kind and sweet Regina to tears"

Chapter Nine

"Emma!"

Emma awoke to someone violently shaking her shoulders. She groaned and rolled over, opening one eye to peel at the offending party. "What the hell, Henry?" she whined, closing her eyes again and pulling the covers over her head.

"Emma, it's time to get up," Henry insisted, pulling the blanket away from her face. Emma groaned again and covered her eyes with her forearm.

"Why? It's not like I have school or something," she protested.

"Just get up. Regina's already up and dressed and helped make breakfast. Grandma says you guys have to go with Tink again today, unless you want to stay here with Granny. Trust me, Emma, take Tink… Granny won't let you get away with anything."

Emma smiled, in spite of herself. She moved her arm and peeked at Henry again, before remembering the events of the night before, and grabbing a pillow to throw at him.

"What was that for?" he cried, grabbing the pillow and throwing it back at her.

"That's for not telling me this boyfriend of mine is a total douchebag!" she said as she finally sat up.

"What… when did you meet him?" Henry asked, confused.

"Shit," Emma said, "last night. I, uh… shit."

"You snuck out?" Henry asked, grinning.

"Do not tell my… your grandparents, got it? Or when I am old again I will ground you till you're seventy."

"I won't," Henry laughed. "But, for the record, you've never once grounded me. And, also for the record, I've been trying to warn you about Hook for a while. You're just so… in love, or whatever."

"I doubt I'm in love," Emma insisted. "Plus, thanks for the heads up that he's Captain freaking Hook, by the way."

"Henry! Emma!" Snow called from downstairs.

"Come on, breakfast," Henry said, grabbing Emma by the arm and pulling her out of bed. Emma shook her arm free, laughing, as they headed down the stairs.

"Bacon?" Emma asked, grinning as she sat down at the table and grabbed a piece from the platter with her hand.

"Emma!" Snow scolded. "Utensils."

Emma rolled her eyes and picked up a fork, loading her plate up with bacon, eggs and toast.

"So David's going to drop you two off at the diner again, to meet Tink," Snow said. Emma nodded absently as she scarfed down food like she hadn't eaten in a year. Regina just stared at her, mildly appalled. For their parts, the Charmings and Henry didn't seem to notice or care, and she wondered if the adult Emma's table manners were just as atrocious.

"Hey!" Emma said suddenly, her eyes lighting up, "why don't I drive me and Regina to the diner?"

Snow and David exchanged worried glances. "I don't know if that's a good idea…" David said.

"Why? I have my license and my foster family lets me drive all the time! They actually trust me," she insisted, though it was a lie.

"Emma, it's not that we don't trust you," Snow started, glancing back at her husband for help.

"Yeah, it's just… Storybrooke is unfamiliar to you right now, and we don't want you getting lost," David added.

"Storybrooke is like one street, as far as I can tell. I can practically see the diner from right outside this door. You're not worried about me getting lost, you're worried about me getting into trouble," Emma said, crossing her arms and pouting.

"We wouldn't get into trouble," Regina piped up. Emma grinned, and looked back at her parents again, hopeful.

"How about we make a deal?" David suggested. "You drive to the diner, and I will follow you. If that goes well, then tomorrow you can drive yourself with no chaperone."

Emma pondered the suggestion for a moment. She had really just wanted to blow off Tink altogether, but this could work, too. If one more day with a babysitter bought her a ticket to freedom tomorrow, she supposed she could handle that. "Deal," she agreed.

After breakfast, Emma got dressed and they girls headed out to the Bug.

"You're parents are kind to you, Emma," Regina commented, once they were inside the car. "My mother never would have made a deal with me. She never let me have my way."

Emma shrugged. She didn't want to hear about how kind these people were. She didn't want to feel like they might actually care about her. She didn't want to care about them. She knew all too well how opening up to parents just ended in heartbreak every single time. How could it not? She was so unlovable, even as a newborn, that they had just tossed her away like trash on the side of the road.

And she tried to convince herself she didn't care.

She refused to care.

She started the car, and drove more carefully than she ever had in her life on the short trip to the diner. Once they arrived, she pulled carefully into a parking spot and smiled as she shut the car off, and got out to face David, in the cruiser behind her.

"See?" she asked, motioning to the car. "All in one piece. I'm a good driver."

"Not bad," David agreed, as Tink stepped out of the diner to meet them. "Now, behave yourselves. If you give Tink any trouble, at all, deal's off. Understood?"

Emma scowled and nodded. She didn't like all these conditions.

"Where to today?" Emma asked Tink, once David had left.

"Library," Tink smiled, reaching to take the car keys from Emma.

"Hey! I get to drive now!" Emma cried.

"Not when I'm in the car," Tink said, as she headed over to the driver's side door. Emma groaned and got into the back, letting Regina remain in her spot in the passenger seat.

"I don't want to go to the library," Emma whined.

"You don't have a choice. Belle needs some help with something. Either you come with me, or I can take you back to your place and you can hang with Granny all day," Tink said with a small laugh.

"Fine," Emma said, rolling her eyes. A few short years ago, she had loved reading. It was an escape for her. As she got older, she found escape in other things, like petty theft and underage drinking, and suddenly books didn't have the appeal for her that they once did.

There were several people in the library that morning, and Emma had zero interest in being gawked at. She had lived in small towns before, and she was well aware at how fast gossip travels. By the looks and stares she and Regina were getting, she was pretty sure it was safe to assume that everyone knew who they were at this point.

"Does this place have like a study room or something? Some place private?" Emma asked Tink. "Because these people are staring at us like we're the freak show or something."

"You can go upstairs," Belle suggested, overhearing her. "To the clock tower. Not much to do there, but you could take some books with you."

Emma grabbed a random book off the shelf, and the girls made their way up the clock tower.

"Do you feel that?" Emma asked, as they sat down on the wood floor once they had reached the top.

"What?" Regina asked, looking around, confused.

"I dunno… the air feels different here. Like it's heavy? Or something. You don't feel it?" Emma asked.

Regina shook her head, and moments later noticed something odd. Little white sparks were flickering from Emma's fingertips as absent-mindedly tapped them on the book she was holding. "Emma," she said, pointing to Emma's hands.

"What the hell?" Emma gasped, dropping the book. Regina picked it up quickly and opened it.

"Elvish," she commented, holding it up to Emma. "This is a magic book. It's magic you're feeling."

"What does it say?" Emma asked, staring at the foreign lettering on the page

Regina shrugged. "I don't know. I can't read it."

"Let me see it," Emma said, holding out her hand. Reluctantly, Regina handed it over. Emma took the book in one hand, and wiggled the fingers of her other hand around, producing more white, sparkly magic. "This is so cool!"

"Emma, please be careful," Regina cautioned.

"Oh my God! Would you lighten up?" Emma asked, exasperated. In her annoyance, the white sparkles turned to flames. She looked at them and gasped. She shook her hand as if she were trying to shake a spider off, and flames flew everywhere. The magic was weak and the flames dissipated quickly, but not quickly enough, as the sprinklers above them started to spray.

"Shit!" Emma cried, and grabbed Regina's hand, dragging her back down the stairs. "We're gonna get in so much trouble!"

As they ran back into the library, Emma realized that the sprinkler system was all connected and the library was under a downpour as well. Townsfolk were scrambling, trying to keep dry, as Belle stood on the counter, trying to reach the control panel.

"What did you do?" Tink demanded, looking directly at Emma.

"Nothing!" Emma insisted. "It was an accident!"

"It was her!" a man called out, pointing at Regina. Regina ducked behind Emma as more people gathered, throwing out accusations. Emma put her hands up, as a subtle warning for everyone to stay back, as Regina held on tight to her shoulders. Emma looked around the room in disbelief at how quickly everyone had just turned on Regina, and wondered what the hell everyone's problem was.

The carpet was soaked and everyone was drenched by the time Belle got the sprinklers turned off. No one seemed to notice, as the small crowd were still voicing their opinions and blame onto Regina. Emma heard the words 'witch' and 'dark magic' and 'evil queen' and couldn't understand how any of those things could possibly pertain to this terrified girl hiding behind her.

"Alright!" Belle called out, from her spot still standing on the counter. "Everyone go home and get dry, and leave these girls alone!"

The group continued to grumble and hurl random insults as they begrudgingly made their way to the door.

Emma spun around to face Regina, whose eyes were now red from crying. "It's okay," Emma said, instinctively wrapping her arms around the girl. Regina stiffened at the initial contact, but then relaxed, finally hugging Emma back as she continued to sob.

"What happened?" Tink asked, standing behind Regina so she could face Emma.

Emma looked up from Regina's shoulder, but didn't break off the embrace. "It was an accident, I swear. It was magic and I … I don't know, there was fire, but it went out, but the sprinklers still started. I couldn't stop it, it just … happened."

Tink nodded. "But it was you? You promise."

"Yeah," Emma nodded. Regina had stopped crying, so Emma broke off their hug, and turned to Belle, who was looking around at her destroyed library with dismay. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to do any of this."

Tink stepped up beside her and pulled out her wand. With a wave, the library was dry again. "Magic – when you can control it – can be a very useful tool, Emma. It's driven by your emotions, however, and seeing as how you managed to accidently produce fire, it would appear that your angsty teenage attitude is going to be a problem."

"Why do all these people hate me so much?" Regina asked, quietly. She was looking at the floor, and she didn't notice what Emma saw: Tink and Belle exchanging worried glances. Neither of them seemed to be overly eager to offer a reason.

"Because the people here suck," Emma said, putting her arm around Regina's shoulder. "Like, not you guys," she added, motioning to Tink and Belle, "but most of them."

Belle headed over to the door and flipped the sign to 'closed', before locking it. "Let's just finish this, uninterrupted," she said, heading back over to Tink and grabbing the book they had been working with before the little monsoon hit.

Emma and Regina headed over to the chairs in the corner to sit down.

"I think there's something they aren't telling me," Regina said, quietly.

Emma nodded. "I think you're right," she agreed. "But I still got your back, no matter what."

"Those people… those things they were saying… they were calling me evil and a witch. What if I grew up to be like my mother?" Regina asked, her eyes pleading with Emma to say something to make it all better.

"Well, I didn't know your mother, but I know you, and I don't think you have an 'evil' bone in your body. If you did, you wouldn't be afraid of sneaking out and lying, would you?"

"I suppose not," Regina agreed. "But still…"

"Yeah, there's something going on, I know," Emma nodded. "All the more reason for me and you to stick together."

Regina sighed and nodded, reaching out to hold Emma's hand as they sat and waited for Tink and Belle to be done. Suddenly, Emma didn't feel anxious and antsy, sitting quietly. She liked holding Regina's hand. She started to wonder about what their real relationship was like, because sitting here like this, she couldn't understand how she had ever chosen a pirate over this girl sitting right beside her. She wondered if Regina could feel the same connection she was feeling.

Whatever it was, it certainly wasn't nothing, and Emma was determined to explore it.

To Be Continued