T/W for character death and gun shot but I can promise a happy ending
This is another rewrite of one of my other stories since this is the only way for me to finish at this point, let me know if you are interested in this being finished :)
Chapter one
Milk dropped from the cornflake-laden spoon, but Emma Swan yawned before it could actually make it to her mouth.
Despite the fact that almost everything was going well since the curse had broken, there was still a reason that the sheriff had to be tired.
Regina Mills.
Everyone, including Henry, had been acting as if the former Evil Queen either didn't exist, or only existed in her capacity of Storybrooke's mayor.
Even though the town had been baying for Regina's blood as part of the mob, they seemed to collectively decide that she was the only qualified (and even mildly interested) person to take on the role of mayor as long as she didn't bother anyone, they wouldn't bother her.
That seemed to extend even to not bothering to say 'hello' whenever they saw her.
Emma found it very odd (once she got used to having parents, a son and being the saviour) that Regina would only spare flitting looks at her son in the diner but would never try to engage with him.
It was something she noticed a few weeks after their return from the Enchanted Forest.
It was almost as if taking in the Death Curse at the well had been the catalyst to Regina withdrawing from her attempts to get Henry back.
If further persistence would make him unhappy, it stood to reason that she would back off.
Not that Henry Mills recognised that.
Once the saviour started to get used to all of the changes, it had hit her that she was a complete moron for forgetting that Regina Mills even existed, much like everyone else had.
She noticed Regina around town more often following the epiphany, but for all of her heroic genes, she couldn't figure out exactly how she would go and speak to the woman after so long.
Regina would be suspicious if she just said 'hi' and Emma didn't really know what to say after that anyway, she could think of a thousand things she wanted to apologise for, but that wasn't a natural conversation starter.
So she was sure it would be a while before she talked to Regina Mills again.
That all changed when she received a message the day before from Mayor Mills's secretary for the annual crime states meeting which was already a few weeks later than it should have been.
It was for this reason that she had spent a lot of the night awake and worrying.
She could just act professionally during the meeting.
But that would run the risk of the interaction not lasting long, which somehow scared her more than sitting in silence.
Honestly, she wasn't really sure what she wanted.
"Mom?" a voice behind her asked.
Emma jumped as she was pulled out of her thoughts but flinched at the impact of the soggy cornflakes against her top.
She would never plan to say it aloud, but a lot of the sleepless night had been spent trying to figure out which tank top looked best with her red jacket.
She was fairly certain that Regina liked the combination.
"What are you doing?" Henry asked as his mother patted away frantically at her top before giving up and letting out a loud huff.
She threw the spoon to the counter and turned to look at the little boy.
She could tell him the truth, but that would involve telling him why she was nervous about a crime report.
Emma hadn't even said the word 'crush' aloud in relation to Regina and it wasn't like Henry would be the first person that she would confide in, not that she was really sure who the best person would be at this point.
"Just tired," she lied, with a tight smile.
Henry didn't need a superpower to know that she was lying.
It was definitely more than exhaustion that was bothering her, even with no sleep, he'd never seen her so twitchy.
Henry crossed his arms over her chest and tilted his head.
He looked dangerously close to prying and Emma was acutely aware that she was going to be late.
Thankfully, Snow called while exiting the bathroom, "are you ready for school, Henry?"
Mary Margaret faltered when she noticed the strange atmosphere in the room. She hadn't allowed anything to penetrate the happy little 'family bubble' they had created since the curse ended, so nothing immediately came to mind for what could be wrong.
"Are you okay, sweetheart?" Snow White asked with her brow pinched together in concern and a hint of confusion.
Emma shrugged and looked down at her milk stained top again before she replied, "I'm just tired and I need to get changed before my meeting now…"
The sheriff raised from the stool and walked off with a little wave by way of saying 'goodbye' with her eyes trained on the stain as she moved.
Snow White and Henry exchanged a look.
"When's the last time she had a meeting?" Henry asked, after all, the sheriff was currently the reigning champion of trash-can ball, though, David would argue that the ref was bias.
His grandmother shrugged and tore her eyes away from the staircase that her daughter had just ascended.
"It was bound to happen eventually," she replied, more to herself than to Henry.
The boy nodded in agreement and they each reached for their school bags, both very much still curious.
S
Regina placed two fingers above her eyebrow and propped her head up upon them as she stared at the Dalmatian who was currently tilting his head at her.
It wasn't that long ago that she would have balked at the idea of attending the very therapy sessions she forced her son to go to, but now they were the most interesting part of her week.
Between work, going home for dinner, sleep and occasionally watching some inane TV show that she would never tell anyone she had seen, this was pretty much all she had by way of social interaction.
Archie was not her first choice, but he was a person and it helped that he was the only person willing to talk to her and also listen.
She was pretty sure he might actually care about what happened to her.
"Are you still sure about this? It's a big step Regina."
The mayor looked up at the former cricket which obviously meant that Pongo jumped up, begging for attention.
Archie placed his hand on the dog's head, hoping he would understand that it was a bad idea to jump on the queen (again).
Once the dog was sufficiently calm, he looked at his patient expectantly.
She just shrugged as if she didn't understand the magnitude of what he was suggesting, which was followed by, "I can't see that it would change things all that much."
Archie crossed his legs and took a moment to inspect the former Evil Queen. It didn't take a diploma to understand that when she was this indifferent was when she cared the most.
"It would make everything official," Archie began but was cut off by the sound of buzzing.
As the least popular person in town, Regina didn't get many texts and her secretary would call her if it was important when she knew that she was with her therapist.
It was for the reason of pure curiosity that she pulled her phone out, but her heart nearly stopped when she read the message.
A message from Prince Charming to the Evil Queen was definitely urgent.
Smoke engulfed her body without a single word.
Pongo let out a loud bark and Archie pulled him back down.
Regina hadn't even mentioned being tempted to use magic in about three months, so he could only assume that something terrible had happened.
S
Emma's boots beat against the stairs.
She had spent quite some time to choose a different top to match since she had made the decision that she needed to also pick another jacket.
She took a deep breath to steel her nerves and picked up her phone from the counter.
Before she could look at the time, she was distracted by the 15 missed calls and 10 texts from her father.
Her brow furrowed as she made short work of scrolling through all of the messages until she got to the source of the issue and the device dropped back down to the counter.
She didn't even consider that it could be broken as she grabbed her keys and ran towards the door.
It felt like an eternity, but in reality it was more like six siren-filled minutes until the sheriff pulled up outside Henry's school.
She turned off the siren and allowed herself a moment to take in the scene before her.
There was a crowd of teachers and students stood outside the gates but a quick visual scan told her that there was definitely one teacher missing from the gaggle of panic.
Emma gripped the steering wheel and tried to calm her breaths before she quickly checked that she hadn't forgotten her gun in her quest for the perfect outfit.
She finally opened the door and stepped out of the car.
The sheriff strode over to the utterly lost looking deputy who was currently tapping away at his phone.
"What happened?" Emma called.
David's eyes shot up from his screen and he actually smiled as pure relief overcame his entire being.
The smile promptly disappeared as it occurred to him what he was about to say in reply, "Jefferson showed up in assembly this morning, pulled a gun and let every class except Henry's leave," he explained.
Emma's eyes were drawn to Grace. The girl was crying into her friend's shoulder, though Emma had to wonder whether Grace had thought about her father anymore than Henry had thought about Regina since the curse had ended.
"Did he have any demands?" the sheriff asked. She didn't have any experience with hostage situations but she figured that she could use what happened in TV shows and movies, if anything it seemed to reassure her father.
"He sent one of the teachers out with this note," the deputy replied and handed the crumpled paper over.
Send me the queen and I will let them leave.
"Why wouldn't he just go to Town Hall?" Emma pondered aloud, though she had a feeling she knew the answer to that question.
David shrugged, not wanting to say it, maybe that would make it untrue? Instead of saying that the Mad Hatter was here to threaten his grandson, he replied, "I texted Regina, but there's no sign of her yet."
Emma's eyes widened and she tore her eyes away from Jefferson's messy handwriting, "you texted Regina?" she repeated.
"Yes," he replied, though he clearly didn't understand her reaction, "but like I said, there's no sign of her, she's probably not coming."
Emma's hand shot to her holster and she gripped the handle of her gun as she replied, "it's not that she isn't coming, she's already here."
The saviour's feet started taking her towards the entrance before her father could reach out and grab her arm.
He took a second before he ran after her and managed to grab her by the elbow as they reached the doors, "Emma, you can't go in there!"
Emma easily pulled her arm back and shot back, "you don't get it, Regina would have proofed herself into the school to protect Henry!"
David opened his mouth and Emma could just tell that he was going to argue that isn't something the Evil Queen would do and she knew that there was no time for this argument.
It was for this reason that she just allowed her instincts to take over and since the Enchanted Forest, her instincts meant 'magic'.
White smoke surrounded her before David could form words.
He huffed after a couple seconds and just turned to open the door and run towards the assembly hall.
Meanwhile, Emma appeared at the door of the hall.
As expected, Regina was standing in front of Jefferson who was holding a gun up while the class cowered, Emma pulled her own gun out and she let out a small breath of relief when it became clear that nothing had happened.
At least not yet.
"Why shouldn't I take your son away? You took Paige from me!" the Mad Hatter shouted his voice just as broken as he obviously felt.
Regina's face tightened and Emma could tell whatever she was about to say would be painful. Unfortunately, Henry couldn't see this with her back to him.
Mary Margaret standing in front of him would have probably shielded him from the scene even if the mayor did turn around anyway.
"Henry is not my son," Regina announced, "he is the son of the saviour who broke the curse that was keeping you from Paige. Would it really make sense to hurt the saviour and her son for what I did to you?"
Emma momentarily forgot that she should be aiming her gun at the Mad Hatter and she looked at Henry who didn't seem to notice that his brith mother had appeared in a cloud of smoke.
The boy just had a blank look on his face and Emma couldn't help but think that this moment would not help with her plans to try and get the pair to start talking again.
While Emma was busy seeing if her son was okay, Jefferson was thinking over Regina's words.
It was true that Henry hadn't spent much time with Regina lately but he was sure this was what he had to do to make her pay. But judging by the look on her face she had given up on Henry.
She was either exhausted or resigned, he couldn't quite decide.
The Evil Queen definitely looked like she'd lost something though.
"You're right," he announced.
The sound of the bullet leaving the chamber tore Emma's attention away from Henry and it almost felt like everything had gone into slow-motion as the lead travelled across the room and embedded itself into Regina's chest.
Emma didn't see this as she fired off two shots in quick succession.
They both hit Jefferson in the shoulder and his gun fell to the ground.
The children took the opportunity to run, except one of them, but Emma didn't look in that direction as she moved over to Jefferson to knock the gun away from him as he fell to the ground clutching his shoulder like that pressure was enough to stop the bleeding.
"Emma!" A voice shouted from behind, which forced the sheriff from staring at the Mad Hatter with pure contempt.
She turned to see her father walking over with his gun trained on Jefferson and it finally hit her that it was her mother who had called her name, and she had to take in the scene she had hoped wasn't real.
The school teacher's hands were already covered in blood as she pressed down on Regina's chest.
The mayor was unconscious and pale and Emma practically felt her heart tighten as she considered whether Jefferson had hit any major arteries.
Emma moved over to them and fell down to her knee next to the former queen and her eyes flicked up to Henry who was no longer shielded from the scene.
He was watching his grandmother trying to quell the bleeding as he considered her final words. It froze him in place.
"You have the right to remain silent..." David began and Emma turned her eyes back to the injured woman.
She reached out to place her hand onto Regina's and instinct took over again.
White smoke transported the pair to the hospital.