A/N: In this next chapter, our ladies are beginning to scout out for extra helping hands to take on this Heist. ;)
"You said that to him?" Emma smirked, chewing through her noodles of their shared take out.
Regina shrugged, pulling out the shiv she used to give him a good scare, sliding across the table to her girlfriend.
"Oh, my God," Emma chuckled, taking the shiv in her grasp. "So, did you…?" She stabbed the air, clicking her tongue against her teeth for effect.
Regina shook her head, "No, just a little button." She slid the button she kept as a souvenir across the table.
The blonde couldn't help but laugh, picturing Robin's pale face. She held up her glass of wine, lightly clinking it with Regina's before taking a sip of her own.
"I don't think I've ever found you more attractive," said Emma. "Maybe we should celebrate with a little…" She wiggled her eyebrows playfully.
Regina chuckled, chewing through her sweet and sour chicken before she shrugged and said, "What the hell, get the strap-on, I'll get dessert."
Emma's eyes grew wide, her chewing paused as a single noodle hung from her lips, watching as Regina headed up the stairs after reaching for their dessert. Chocolate pudding.
"Well, aren't you coming?" Her brow lifted as she glanced at her shocked girlfriend over her shoulder.
Emma slurped the noodle right up, chewing through it. "I think I just did," she breathed.
"Swan." Regina called from the second floor, causing Emma to race up from the table and up the stairs.
"So how did you come up with all this?" Emma walked alongside Regina with her hands tucked inside her pockets as Regina guided her the next morning to where the heist would happen.
"Well," Regina breathed, loving the feeling of the sun hitting her skin. "At first I thought about robbing a bank, because, as you know," she turned to Emma for her to finish her sentence.
"That's where money comes from." Emma nodded.
"Precisely. Then, I thought about robbing maybe ten banks, but I came to the conclusion that banks are boring. And it seemed like an angry move to pull off once you're out of prison."
"Oh, good, you realized that." Said Emma in a sarcastic tone.
"I couldn't exactly get my thoughts in order, with there being five of us in a cell." She rolled her eyes at the memory. "So, I got myself locked away in solitary for a little peace and quiet and…" she waved her hand across the street to The Met. New York's Museum of Art.
Emma looked at the building before them through her sunglasses, obviously no stranger to it. A smirk playing on her lips. Regina was a mastermind at any heist she wanted to pull off and she admired that about her since the day they met, but this? This was an impossible one.
It wasn't something to discuss in the middle of the street either walking casually along. They were hungry after last night's tender, wild, then tender, then wild again sexcapade rounds.
Both decided on a little corner diner just a few blocks away. Emma ordered a grilled cheese, while Regina ordered a much needed steak.
"Have you actually considered this, Gina?" Asked Emma, speaking in a low voice. "I mean, really considered it?"
"Of course, I have. When have I not considered anything?" Regina glared her way, stabbing a piece of steak with her fork.
"Alright," Emma shrugged a one shoulder shrug. "But it's still a museum. I mean, we're not talking about robbing a liquor store here."
Regina spoke at the same time she stuffed her mouth with a slice of steak, it made Emma's eyes narrow at the woman.
"I'm sorry, I don't speak Ukrainian." Replied Emma.
Regina rolled her eyes, wiping away at her mouth and swallowing at the same time. "I said, we're not robbing a museum, we are robbing someone-"
"In a museum," Emma nodded. "Yeah, you mentioned that."
Regina nodded, slicing off another piece of steak.
"Alright, look," Emma leaned in a little more, lowering her voice a little further. "Even if this was possible-"
"It is possible." Said Regina, bringing the fork to her mouth and taking a bite of an asparagus.
"Even if it was, we'd need like…" She did the math. "Twenty people and half a million dollars."
"Seven."
"Seven million?" Emma's brow furrowed.
"Seven people and twenty grand." Regina's eyes locked on Emma's, the corners of her lips tilting into a tiny smirk.
Emma could see her determination. And once Regina was determined on something- there was no stopping her. Even she knew that.
"Why do you need to do this?" She asked the brunette.
"Because it's what I'm good at." She brought the fork to her mouth, taking another quick bite.
"Uh… Yeah…" Emma's eyes narrowed, knowing there was another reason behind it. She just knew. But she also knew Regina wasn't about to tell her.
"Look, Emma, I have run this thing a thousand times. Every time I got caught, I fixed it. And in three years I wasn't getting caught anymore. By the time I was paroled it was running like clockwork. Perfectly."
Emma's lips tilted into a tiny smirk catching the love in the woman's eyes as she stared at her.
"And you were there with me. Every step of the way."
Her brow lifted with a tiny smirk forming on her lips. "Oh, baby is this another proposal?"
"Baby, I don't have a diamond yet." Regina smirked. "Come on, do you really want to spend the rest of your life watering down well vodka? Because it's kind of a waste. You deserve better than that." She placed her fork before Emma's lips, which held a slice of steak. "Come on. Take a bite."
The blonde chuckled, shaking her head.
"Just take a bite." Regina spoke softly.
"You're really irritating sometimes, Gina-"
"Open." She watched as Emma ate the steak off of the fork, chewing it down and nodding in agreement.
"It's good." The blonde nodded, accepting another slice of steak to be fed to her.
"Mhm." Regina smirked, knowing she could always count on Emma for a job well done.
They took another walk, until they both ended inside The Met press conference room, where photographers were going crazy with Zelena West's appearance.
"So, each year The Met hosts the biggest party in the world. And they always get a huge celebrity to host. This year is Zelena West."
"Wow!" Emma's brows shot up in surprise.
"Yes, but she's not our mark."
"So, who's the mark?" Emma whispered, looking over at Zelena as Regina's eyes directed them to her.
"Next question?" The red headed celebrity pointed to one female reporter. "Yes?"
"Do you know who you're wearing?" The woman stood up.
"Ummm… Ooh!" Zelena glanced down at her bra with a smirk. "La Perla, it's black." She chuckled.
The woman chuckled quite sarcastically, "No, I mean who's dressing you?"
"You know, I really don't know yet." Zelena replied.
"The designer." The woman shot her question again.
"I. Don't. Know. Yet." Zelena shot every word, smiling sarcastically. "But, as soon as I do you'll be the first person that I tell."
Emma and Regina exchanged a knowing look and matching smirks, nodding in agreement. They needed a designer and fast.
After going through a few magazines, Emma flipped through the last one, remembering a good designer that could use a good cut of their pay and would do basically anything to help. She flashed the magazine in front of Regina and pointed.
"There."
"DeVil? Why do I know that name?" Her head tilted.
"Well, she was big in the nineties. She did this entire-"
"Oh, God! The dalmatian theme! Yes! She wore that coat?"
"And, she owes the IRS five million dollars. It's pretty bad. There's a lien on her assets, they've impounded her passport. The bank seized her townhouse." Emma nodded, smirking in agreement along with Regina.
"I think we should pay Ms. DeVil a visit." Regina shut the magazine, grabbing the blonde's keys and tossing them right to her. "You drive."
The only fashion show DeVil had running in New York and it was a total bore. If she wasn't perfect to help them pull this heist out, Regina would have thrown herself out the window by now.
"This is like a flight without any peanuts." She whispered over to Emma, who chuckled while they sat in between the only audience Cruella DeVil had gathered to see a few models walk along the stage wearing flight attendant clothes.
"We got lucky. She gambled everything she had on this show. Self-financed. Credit from an Omaha bank." Emma whispered, nodding to four men in suits. "Those guys over there are the only ones who will still loan her money."
"They look a little worried." Regina took in their nervous state.
"Yeah, well, who can blame them? This is a train-wreck."
Regina had to nod to that, her eyes moved over to Cruella, who looked as if she was about to be sick. She nudged the blonde lightly on the arm, nodding toward the woman who ran further back stage to clearly puke her guts out. Emma exchanged a nod with Regina before both of them got up to go speak to the woman.
Cruella came out of the bathroom groaning with disgust before plopping down on the floor by the door. She missed the feeling of being great again. She could remember when her name meant something.
"Who are you?" The woman's eyes looked over at Emma and Regina, falling on the brunette's hand as it held out a handkerchief for her to take. Which she did, wiping her mouth with it.
"Big fans." Said Emma.
"Very big." Regina nodded.
"Congratulations." Emma smiled.
"That was just…" Regina searched for the correct word.
"Gorgeous." Emma quickly replied, seeing the brunette nod in agreement with an approval hum.
"No, it wasn't. It was a disaster." Cruella looked as devastated as she sounded. It was pathetic.
Both blonde and brunette exchanged quick looks.
"I think you're being very hard on yourself," said Emma.
"Very," Regina nodded.
"Did you read this? It's by a blogger." Cruella held out her phone.
Emma moved over to sit by the woman, her forearms resting against her bent up knees, exchanging a few knowing looks with Regina while Cruella read the latest blog on her.
"Cruella DeVil. It's like taking a tour through your grandmother's closet. It's just as dated and just as musty. The Ezkimo shove their elders out on an ice floe. Just saying." She tossed her phone aside, feeling utterly defeated.
"That's very cruel. But it doesn't make it true." Emma nudged her.
"How did I get here?" Cruella asked, quietly weeping.
"You spent 18 million dollars in two years and had two houseboats on the Seine." Stated Regina.
"I'm old." Cruella cried some more.
"Hey," Emma consoled the woman by draping her arm around her shoulders. "You're not old."
"I am," Cruella nodded, crying. "And I'm going to be really, really poor."
"Not necessarily." Regina joined both women on the floor, only she sat on a chair that was by the wall.
"What if we could make all this go away? And even get your passport back." Said Emma, her brow lifted.
"How?" Asked Cruella, glancing between Emma and Regina.
"Dress Zelena West for the Met Ball." Regina smiled as did Emma.
"Are you mad?" Cruella asked, her brow furrowed, watching both women shake their heads. "No, wait a minute." Her eyes narrowed. "Are you journalists?"
"Absolutely not." Emma said with a frown.
"God, no." Regina shook her head.
"Well… I suppose I could… Have a look at this Zelena West." Cruella shrugged, not having more to lose. She handed Emma back her handkerchief to which the blonde quickly shook her head, nudging her hand away slowly.
"It's alright. Keep it." She said.