Author's Notes: A special thank you goes out to BizarreBard. She has been helping me by Betaing this story and giving suggestions on where to take things. I'm very appreciative of her help.

Chapter 19: Fruit of the Poisonous Tree

Henry is on his bike, heading towards the castle playground. Buffy and Emma are already waiting there in Emma's squad car. When they see Henry get closer, they get out to greet him.

"Hey, kid." Emma says.

"Hey, Henry." Buffy says.

Henry rides past them.

"Nice to see you, too." Emma says as they catch up with him.

The playground is noticeably damaged.

"The storm!" Henry says.

"It's okay – we can fix it. I'll talk to Marco." Emma says.

"I have a friend I can call in. He could be here tomorrow. He can help fix everything also." Buffy said. "Just give the word. And I'll make the call."

"Do you think it's still here?" Henry asks as he starts to dig in the sand near the base of the playground.

"What are you looking for?" Emma asks.

"My book." Henry says.

"Why'd you bury it here?" Buffy asks.

"So my mom doesn't find it." Henry says.

"Hiding it under your mattress wasn't good enough?" Emma asks.

Henry uncovers red metal box under the sand and starts to unlock it. "That's the first place the Evil Queen would look."

"How about leaving it with me?" Emma asks.

"That's the second place." Henry said.

"I'm guess with me, would be number three?" Buffy asked.

Henry nodded, "Yeah. By the way Aunt Elizabeth. Mom knows that you know. That I'm your nephew." He opens the box, revealing the book inside. "It's still here. Good."

"Great she knows, hunh. I need to be more careful." Buffy says.

"So, your mom doesn't know about the castle?" Emma asks.

Henry shakes his head, "No. This is our secret." He closes and relocks the box, then starts to rebury it.

Behind them, Regina arrives and calls out to Henry. "Henry! Henry! I've been looking everywhere for you. You know you have a session with Archie this morning. I should've known he was with you. Henry – car. Now."

Henry runs off, leaving Regina, Buffy and Emma alone.

"You let him play here?" Regina asks.

"The storm hit it hard, but we can fix it." Emma says.

"Well, can you fix a cracked cranium? Because that's what you'll have on your hands if one of these boards collapses under his weight. You're not thinking about Henry or his safety. Just ways around me. Miss Swan, don't let your feelings cloud your judgment. People can get hurt." Regina says.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Buffy asks.

"She's the Sheriff and you're the Deputy now – it's time to be responsible." Regina says.

Later Buffy, Dawn, Emma and Mary Margaret are eating at Granny's Diner.

"Don't let my feelings cloud my judgment? That's all Regina ever does." Emma says.

"Well, she's just upset because you and Henry have a special place and she… She doesn't." Mary Margaret says.

Dawn nods, "Mary Margaret's right. She's jealous of your relationship with Henry."

"How'd she find out about the castle in the first place?" Emma asks.

"She knows everything about this town – she's the Mayor." Mary Margaret says.

Mary Margaret's phone vibrates. She sees a text from David that reads 'We need to talk. Meet at our spot.'

"Everything okay?" Emma asks.

Mary Margaret nods, "Yeah, I just need to go. Look, if it makes you feel any better, I think you're right. I see the effect she has on Henry. Dawn can I get a ride?"

"I wish everyone else did, too. Well everyone other than just you guys." Emma says looking to the Summers sisters.

Mary Margaret puts on her jacket as she and Dawn leaves.

Sidney then sits down with Emma and Buffy with a mostly empty glass of whiskey.

"I can grant your wish." Sidney says.

"Wow. Sidney. You want a side of bacon with that whiskey?" Emma asks.

"You want to show this town who the Mayor really is? I can help." Sidney says.

"That's going to be kind of hard to do from inside her pocket." Buffy says. "We know it was you at her request that pulled Faith's police record. A record I might add that was sealed by court order. Which means by pulling said record you committed an illegal act."

"The Mayor and I are done." Sidney says.

"Sure you are." Emma says.

"She got me fired from the paper. She made a fool of me in the election. So I started working on an exposé on the Mayor's office, and I found something she didn't want found." Sidney says.

"Sidney, you're drunk. Go home – sleep it off. Be grateful that you don't have to answer to her anymore." Emma says.

Sidney pulls a business card out of his pocket. "Call me. Storybrooke deserves to know the truth about her."

Emma takes his business card and she and Buffy leave.

Henry is watching a construction team tear down the castle playground. Regina is off to the side, talking to a group of construction workers. Emma and Buffy arrives and joins Henry.

"Hey, what happened? I came as soon as I could." Emma says.

"The castle! She's tearing the whole thing down! My book! It-it's gone." Henry says.

Emma approaches Regina to confront her. "Congratulations, Madam Mayor. You destroyed the thing he loves."

"A dangerous thing that can only hurt Henry and others. You see me as a villain, Miss Swan, but that's just your perception and you're wrong. Learn your place in this town or, soon enough, you won't be in it." Regina says.

Dawn joins Buffy and Henry, "What's going on?"

"Regina is tearing down Henry's castle." Buffy said.

Regina turns and walks past Henry, Buffy and Dawn. She looks to the sisters and Dawn sees something in Regina's eyes. A flash of recognition before it's gone.

"So did you get Mary Margaret dropped off?" Buffy asks.

Dawn simply nods.

Emma walks back over to Buffy as she pulls out Sidney's business card and dials the number on her cell phone. "Sidney? Hi. Buffy and I are in. We want everyone to know who she really is."

Buffy and Emma drives the squad car along a deserted road and stops near the end of a tunnel. They get out and Sidney appears from the woods.

"Alright. We're listening. So, what do you know about her?" Emma says.

"Fifty thousand dollars." Sidney says.

"I'm sorry?" Buffy asks.

"Fifty grand out of the budget is missing and Regina is responsible." Sidney says.

"That's it? That's what you have on her?" Emma says.

Sidney nods, "The money is just the tip of the iceberg. We figure out what she's doing and it all falls apart – it all crumbles. And we'll finally learn her secrets. You see what she is. I see it. All we need is a crack in the mirror to show everyone. I'm telling you – this is it."

"Alright. What's your plan?" Emma asks.

"Tap her phone. GPS her car. Hack into her email. Dip into your bail bondsperson bag of tricks." Sidney says.

Emma shakes her head, "No. I'm Sheriff now, and Buffy's my deputy. We have to be responsible. We want to do this by the book."

"She's going to know that you two are on to her – sooner than later. Are you prepared for her wrath?" Sidney says.

Buffy smiles, "Oh yeah."

"Good. Because I wasn't." Sidney says.

"If you thought she was so terrifying, how did you allow yourself to end up in her pocket?" Emma says.

"I used to think she was a different person." Sidney says.

Later Buffy, Emma and Sidney are sorting through boxes of files and papers at Mary Margaret's apartment.

"When did that transfer go through? Does three weeks ago sound right?" Buffy asks.

Sidney nods, "Yeah. Why?"

"Because those records are missing." Buffy says.

Mary Margaret suddenly comes through the front door. "Emma, there's something I'd like to talk to you… Hi, Sidney. Hi, Buffy."

"Hey. We're just doing some work. I think we may have found something on Regina." Emma says.

"Interesting work. Well, I approve." Mary Margaret says.

"You want to go by the book? Let's get a warrant." Sidney says.

"And what judge are we going to find that she doesn't own? We're screwed." Buffy says.

"Or, there's my way." Sidney says.

Emma shakes her head, "I want to do this right, Sidney."

"Well, what's right is exposing her. Sometimes, doing a bad thing for a good reason is okay, right?" Sidney says.

"Yeah. I mean, maybe you're doing something wrong, but if it's what's meant to be – if it's what's right – does that really make you a bad person?" Mary Margaret says.

"Exactly." Sidney says.

"You two are doing a whole lot of rationalizing." Emma says.

"But look what she's done to you, to me, to your son. To Ms. Summers and her family. I mean, she's not going to stop, so whatever you do, you've got to do something." Sidney says.

"Okay. Let's start by talking to her." Emma says.

Later Buffy, Emma and Sidney are confronting Regina in her office.

"And just what are you and the disgraced ex-reporter accusing me of?" Regina asks.

"Fifty thousand dollars was transferred out of a city account – by you." Buffy says.

"Well, as Mayor, I'm involved in many transactions. Check the public records if you have questions." Regina says.

Emma nods, "That's the thing – they're missing from three weeks ago. You have any idea what happened to them?"

"Well, if they're missing, I probably checked them out – as my job often requires me to do. And if they were checked out three weeks ago, well, that means they burned. In a fire. In a fire, that, if I recall, got you elected Sheriff. I have nothing to hide." Regina says.

Emma leans over Regina's desk and stares at her briefly. "Okay. There's nothing for us to do. Let's go, Sidney."

"Emma." Sidney says.

Buffy shakes her head, "No, she's right. We have nothing."

Moments later Emma and Sidney are outside the Town Hall.

"That was your plan? I thought you were going to do something?" Sidney says.

"I did. I planted a bug. You win, Sidney. Let's do whatever it takes." Emma says.

Back at the station, Sidney is listening in to the wire tap that Emma set. Buffy and Emma enters and sits next to him.

"Miss Ginger, I really don't have time for more complaints about working conditions. The air temperature is not one of my areas."

"Scintillating. Find anything good yet?" Emma asks.

"Yeah, better than good. She made this call a little over an hour ago." Sidney says.

"I'll meet you tonight at Access Road Twenty Three with the rest of your payment. Yes, it will all be in cash. And I don't need to remind you that no one can know about this. Yes, I know it has to be tonight."

"Who's on the other end?" Buffy asks.

"She bugged the office – not the phone." Sidney said.

"Well, we're just going to have to find out." Emma says.

Sidney nods, "Yeah."

"A payoff in the woods. That's promising." Emma says.

Sidney nods, "A payoff using stolen city funds."

"Let's go find out who she's meeting." Buffy says.