Chapter Twenty-Two: Augusta
As much as she tried to appear confident, as she drove over the town line, Emma was hit with a sudden wave of doubt. She kept her eyes fixed on the road. I didn't help that she had only driven down to the capital Augusta once before and was a little nervous. The local radio was playing an Ed Sheeran song for the hundredth time so Emma turned it down, although she immediately regretted it. The silence in the car suddenly became much more pronounced.
It wasn't until they hit the main highway, 20 minutes later, that Killian said, 'I guess we should talk'.
His gaze was locked forward and Emma equally made no attempt to look at him, 'no, I don't think so'.
'Are you still angry at me?'.
'No'.
'That sounded angry'.
After a loud sigh, Emma said coldly, 'I'm not angry. I'm not happy with how you handled it, but at least I knew what I was getting into before it got too far'.
'Oh' said Killian, his jaw setting, 'this tie is strangling me, do I have to wear it?'.
'Yes' said Emma, as he pulled at it she added, 'do you want this to go well or not?'.
From the corner of her eye she saw him drop the tie. He was fully dressed in a black suit they had rented from the clothing store in Storybrooke, complete with a burgundy tie. He was clearly uncomfortable in it and he hadn't forsaken his eyeliner or his jewellery.
'Why?'.
The word startled her, and she narrowed her eyes as she asked, 'why what?'.
'Why are you helping me?' he said, turning in his seat to face her, 'I mean, you clearly don't like me. So why bother'.
'We have another hour in the car, so don't ruin it now' was all she said, turning the radio back up.
She saw him roll his eyes, but decided it wasn't worth bringing up.
Ruby practically leapt on Regina as soon as she showed up for work, 'so, what happened, tell me everything!'
Although Emma had told her not to say anything, Regina was in a gossipy mood. After swearing Ruby to secrecy, she filled her in on everything, not sparing a detail and Ruby lapped up every word. After she had finished the summary of Killian's dire living situation, Ruby leant back against the counter, her forehead scrunched up like she was thinking. As usual for a Sunday morning, no one had set foot into the cafe even though they had already been open for 30 minutes.
'Wait, so were Fiona and Killian sleeping together or not?' frowned Ruby.
'So, apparently, Killian and Fiona were dating in England for years, but the reason they broke up was because she realised that she didn't like men all that much, if you get what I mean' said Regina, lowering her voice.
Ruby's mouth fell open, 'she's a lesbian?'.
'Apparently so, according to her the reason she didn't tell Emma was because Killian got really butthurt about it and thought people would make fun of him if they found out he 'turned her gay' so didn't want anyone to know' said Regina, rolling her eyes.
'Ugh, men. Emma could do so much better' sneered Ruby, picking at her nails.
'I know' said Regina, flashing her eyes, 'but you know what happens when people tell you to stay away from a boy because he's bad news'.
'It makes you want them more' said Ruby knowingly, 'hence my car crash of a dating history. You remember that guy with the goatee?'.
'Oh yeah, the one from Alabama with the hairy back who was weirdly close with his cousin?' said Regina, giggling.
Ruby made a retching noise, 'oh that was not a good moment for me. But to be fair you aren't better. I mean Leo? Come on?'.
'I was very very drunk okay,' cringed Regina, 'and what about the guy with the entire sleeve tattoo dedicated to Disney princesses. And he had that picture of Cinderella on his elbow that had stretched so it looked like her nose was a metre long'.
'You know Steve wasn't so bad' said Ruby, laughing.
'He was under the age of 50 and his name was Steve!' emphasised Regina.
Both girls were laughing now as they remembered all the bad choices they had made.
'Are you forgetting the girl you had a one night stand with who showed up at your house two days later with an entire notebook full of poetry written about you?' giggled Ruby, as Regina's face reddened.
'Oh god yeah, I think I still have that somewhere. Thank god she moved out of state for college' said Regina, thinking back.
Unfortunately, all the laughing had attracted Granny's attention.
'Girls I don't pay you to sit around chatting about your love life. If you've nothing to do you can do some cleaning' she barked, sticking her head out through the door.
'I actually would like to hear the stories in more detail' said Peter, smirking, earning him a clip on the back of the head from Granny.
As the revolving door to the kitchen swung shut, the girls looked at each other and immediately burst out laughing again. Regina grabbed her coffee from the side and raised it in her hand, 'to our terrible taste in partners, let's hope it can only go up from here'.
Ruby clinked her mug against Regina's and the girls dissolved into laughter again.
'Hope I'm not interrupting something'.
Neither of them had heard the bell.
Regina turned and smiled at the new visitor, 'oh hi Will, this is awfully early for you isn't it?'.
Will looked at his watch and grimaced. It was nearly 9am.
'Yeah well your boyfriend felt the need to drag me out for a run this morning. A run. Me? I tried to tell him I'm in perfect shape but he tried to tell me he was faster than me,' said Will, collapsing onto a barstool, 'so obviously I had to prove him wrong'.
He was dressed in a pair of black trackies and a long sleeved grey shirt that was soaked in sweat. Despite the light frost on the ground that morning, he was bright red and practically radiating heat.
'And did you?' asked Regina, already starting on a coffee for him, 'prove him wrong?'.
'Well he's not here is he?' said Will, gesturing around triumphantly.
Regina chuckled as she passed him the coffee, and plated up a slice of cake for him.
'I didn't order this' said Will, still panting.
'If you don't want it…' started Regina, but Will snatched it out of her hands and took a big bite, groaning loudly.
'Regina!' snapped Granny from the back room.
She shot Ruby a curious glance, but her friend just shrugged back.
'Excuse me, I'm being summoned' said Regina to Will, who was completely engrossed in his cake.
Regina pushed through the swing doors and to her surprise saw her boss pulling on a weathered red overcoat.
'Right, I have an appointment in town for today, I was hoping to have the cooking done by now but unfortunately I still haven't got the cinnamon rolls in the oven or iced the red velvet cupcakes. Seeing as it's quiet I want you to finish those off for me. You can do that, can't you?' said Granny, her tone indicating it was an order, not a question.
'I can do it' said Ruby, who had followed into the kitchen.
'Ha!' Granny scoffed, 'I've tried your cooking and I wouldn't feed it to my dog'.
Peter snickered and this time it was Ruby who smacked him on the head.
'I'll do it' said Regina, shooting Ruby a sympathetic look.
Without any acknowledgement that she had even heard her, Granny gathered her large leather bag and stormed out the door. The girls knew by now this didn't give any indication of the woman's mood, she was just the sort of person that stormed everywhere.
'Well that's that then' said Regina, heading over to the sink next to the dishwasher to wash her hands.
'I wish it was you cooking everyday' said Peter, looking her up and down, 'a much better view'.
'You are such a creep' said Regina, tossing her wet tea towel at him and hitting him square in the chest.
Will had demolished his chocolate cake by the time Robin arrived at the cafe, and although he didn't want to admit it he was feeling a little sick. When he walked through the door, Robin was considerably less dishevelled, his face conveying a healthy glow rather than a heart attack red.
Robin slapped Will on the back as he took the seat next to him, 'You made it, I didn't think you had it in you mate!'.
'Umm excuse me, I got back before you' said Will, indignantly.
'Oh yeah, you weren't here when I arrived so I thought I would do another lap' said Robin, 'you see what I mean old chap the fresh air is bracing. Don't you feel alive?'.
Will just groaned and dropped his head down against the counter. Nothing was more annoying than his friend's genuine pleasure in his success.
'Hi Ruby' said Robin, who was now pretty familiar with all the waitresses at Granny's, 'cappuccino please'.
'Coming up' the waitress smiled.
To make up for the run, Robin bought them both some pancakes, which Regina made fresh, and they ate them at the counter, as people slowly trickled through the door groggily looking for their caffeine fix. None of them stayed long and for a while the only sounds in the cafe were soft music and the dishwasher as well as the occasional faint barked order from Regina and a sarky comment from Peter.
The men were in the middle of a rather heated debate over whether or not blueberry pancakes could be considered one of your five a day, when they became aware of someone tapping anxiously on the counter.
'Hi Fiona, how are you?' asked Will, interrupting Robin as he recognised her from their night at the Rabbit Hole.
Fiona started a little, but smiled at the men, 'oh hi Will, Robin, I'm good thanks, how are you guys?'.
'Yeah good good' said Robin, picking up on the girl's eyes darting between them and Ruby.
'Hey Ruby, is Regina around?' asked Fiona, as the waitress came over.
'Yeah, but she's in the back' said Ruby, her eyes hardening.
'Oh, okay well, does she have a few seconds to chat?' asked Fiona, seemingly unmoved by Ruby's glare.
Robin and Will exchanged confused glances. The last time they had seen them, Fiona and Regina appeared to be best friends. It had obviously been a strained through weeks. Despite himself, Robin found himself wondering why Regina hadn't told him.
Finally, after a long pause, Ruby told Fiona she would ask and pushed through the door to the kitchen.
Emma's fingers tapped nervously on the steering wheel as she pulled off down a large driveway. As they drove up the wide tree-lined road, a white building loomed into view. It was huge, around 6 stories high and covering the width of an entire row of streets. Glancing through the trees, she could see rows and rows of soldiers alternating between sit ups and push ups. Eventually, she arrived just before a mechanical gate with a white armoured guard station next to it. In front of her was a huge black chrome four by four and she saw an arm extend from the driver's side towards the booth, holding what she assumed were credentials. She suddenly wished she had taken the train, as she remembered her yellow bug was covered in dirt after a drive to the woods for a walk with her mother. She glanced over at Killian and although he kept his face neutral, she saw he was spinning round the thick silver ring with the red gem he always wore. He was as nervous as she was. Just as she was considering turning around, the barrier slid up noiselessly and the black car drove through. Emma drove up to the gate and manually wound down the window feeling ridiculous, which was not helped by the man in a freshly starched uniform frowning down at her.
'Miss, you know this is the Military Centre' he asked dubiously, taking in her car.
'Umm yes' said Emma, leaning to one side to reveal her passenger, 'This is Killian Jones, he has a meeting with Officer Milah Black at 3pm'.
The man glanced doubtfully at the pair, but then said, 'one second please'.
He took a step back and started talking into his walkie. Even in the pencil skirt and white blouse she had borrowed from Regina, Emma felt underdressed.
'Are you sure this is a good idea?' murmured Killian, glancing at the man.
'It's too late now' replied Emma.
After a few more seconds, the man took a step closer and said, 'It seems Officer Black is expecting you, if you go down the drive, take the first left you will arrive in the visitors' car park, follow the signs to the office and then they will direct you from there'.
'Thanks, have a nice day' said Emma nervously, as the barrier slid up and she drove through as quickly as she could.
The reception was easy to find, and the woman at the front desk directed them up to the third floor. They stepped into the lift and the woman used her key to press the button for them, then returned to her post. The lift moved quickly and noiselessly, and within seconds the door opened onto a spacious, clinically white waiting area complete with navy blue seating, several low coffee tables and a large clock on the wall that blinked 14:53. Emma sat in one of the chairs that was nowhere near as comfortable as it looked, while Killian opted to pace up and down in front of her.
'Can you not do that, you're making me feel sick' said Emma, glancing up at him.
'Forgive me if I'm nervous' he said sarcastically, but he fell into the seat next to her all the same, 'do you think I should take this off?'.
He slid his ring off his finger and spun it in his fingers.
'Maybe, yeah' said Emma, glancing over at the ring.
The minutes ticked down. 2:54. 2:55. 2:56. 2:57.
'What do I do?' asked Killian, turning to her, 'I mean what do I say?'.
'Just say what we spoke about' said Emma, her tone softening.
'But what if they don't believe me?' said Killian, earnestly.
'Talk about yourself, tell them your side of the story. They will listen' said Emma, 'they wouldn't have agreed to see you if they weren't willing to hear you out'.
'You told them the truth didn't you' said Killian nervously, 'I mean when you spoke to them'.
'I told them exactly what you told me' said Emma, reassuringly.
2:58. 2:59.
'You asked me why I was doing this' said Emma, slowly, 'I'm doing it because as much as I think you are a dick sometimes, I think that you should be able to live on your terms, and your brother shouldn't ruin your chances at doing what you want'.
Killian met her gaze for the first time since they had left Storybrooke, and just as he was about to say something the door opened and a woman's voice said, 'Killian Jones?'.
He turned to look at the officially dressed woman with scraped back blonde hair and a friendly if hollow smile.
'Yes, that's me' he replied, standing up.
'We're ready for you,' she said, stepping back from the door and gesturing for him to go through.
He turned to look at Emma, who nodded encouragingly and said, 'I'll be right here'.
He took a step closer to her and handed her the ring he had been playing with. Then he swallowed hard, and without a word, he walked into the room.