Chapter 13 Building Trust

Thursday couldn't come soon enough. Emma was actually excited to have dinner with Henry and even Regina. Since their talk, Regina has been more civil with her and way more patient. She was still a bit distrustful towards her, but Emma could more than understand that. She hoped today's dinner would actually help to gain some of her trust. She actually wanted to be friends with her. She couldn't even begin to explain her sudden interest in the professor, aside from her adopting Henry, or even the abuse she was dealing with from her husband. She knew the anger and hostility was just a facade she hid behind to protect herself and her son, but Emma wanted to get to know the real Regina. She wanted to know who she was underneath all the hostility and anger. She was more than just a professor or the mayor's wife, and she hoped to be able to learn at least a little bit about her. After her shift, she headed to the diner. She thought maybe she should have brought flowers or something but then tossed that idea, because this wasn't a date and she didn't want to give her the wrong idea. Still, she didn't want to show up empty handed, so she bought a bottle of wine, hoping to offer it as a peace offering between two new friends.

The minute she walked into the diner, she spotted them at the far corner booth in the back. Regina was facing the door, and across from her was Henry. She frowned, realizing she had done the same thing at the coffee shop. It was like she needed to have a clear view of the door. She wondered if it was because she was watching out for her husband.

She approached the booth and took a seat by Henry.

"Emma!" The kid excitedly hugged her and Emma couldn't help but squeeze him back and playfully mess up his hair which he scowled at.

"Hey, kid!" she laughed as he smoothed down his messy hair. Regina was watching with a curious expression, as if she couldn't quite comprehend the fact that her son was laughing and being silly with someone else. She smiled at her and offered her the bottle of wine.

"I wanted to bring you a peace offering," she explained as Regina took it with a raised eyebrow. She was very closed off this afternoon, more so than when she had seen her outside of town hall. "Thank you, Miss Swan," she said, setting the wine on the table to the side.

"Emma," she couldn't help but correct her for the millionth time since their meeting at the coffee shop. Regina smiled, although it didn't exactly reach her eyes.

"Thank you… Emma," she said and for once there was not an ounce of hostility in her tone. She actually seemed genuine about calling by her first name. That meant she was trying, and it gave Emma hope that overtime, their interactions won't be so awkward and strained one day.

It wasn't long till a waitress came to their table and took their order. Emma and Henry ordered burgers and fries while Regina ordered the lasagna. Henry was excitedly talking to her about anything and everything, Emma was barely even able to get a word in. It was hard paying attention when her focus kept drifting to the woman across from her. Regina was quiet, taking slow bites of her food, and not really paying attention to her son's rambling. In fact, she seemed to be deep in thought about something. The only thing that seemed to catch her attention from time to time was the sound of the bell each time the door opened. She'd look up, glance at whoever came in and then went right back to eating her dinner.

She was definitely looking for her husband.

"Regina?" she asked when Henry had finished talking and was delving into his burger.

The brunette looked up at her and Emma frowned at the apprehension in those dark eyes. Why was she so nervous? Why was she so quiet and closed off? She usually enjoyed goading her and getting a rise out of her. This woman in front of her was far from the one that had kept her on her toes.

Why are you so nervous? The question died on her lips, because she already knew the answer. She was worried her husband might come in and find them having dinner together. She wasn't sure why, perhaps after her confrontation with him at the mines, he was suspicious of her now? Maybe he didn't want Regina near her? It would make sense. All their interactions since then had been strange. Regina seemed paranoid whenever Emma was around.

"How's the lasagna?"

She could have face palmed right there and then, because what a stupid question to ask her! Regina looked at her with sparkling eyes and a smirk on her lips. Was she making fun of her? At least she made her smile.

"It's adequate," she replied with an air of superiority as if she could do way better, or maybe she can?

"Mom could do better," Henry spoke up, answering that question for her. "She's a great cook! Especially her apple turnovers! And apple pies!"

"Maybe I can try them one day?" she asked. "I never really got to eat desserts like that growing up. I don't think I've ever had a homemade pie."

"You had store bought pies?" Henry asked as if that was the most absurd thing about her sad and lonely childhood.

Emma scoffed, "Kid, store bought pies were the least of my concerns back then."

"Sorry, Emma," he groaned, picking at his fries as if he realized how rude he sounded.

"No harm done," she smiled, not wanting him to feel bad for her unlucky past. "I'm just happy you have an awesome mom that can make awesome desserts for you."

Regina's eyes widened at the compliment.

"You like to cook?" Emma asked with a small smile, hoping to get her talking. Maybe if she made her feel more comfortable, then maybe she could start to unclench and relax. Regina nodded.

"I actually prefer baking," she shared, moving her fork around her plate. "Especially anything with apples."

"Do you use the apples from your tree?" she asked and then immediately felt guilty for taking a chainsaw to it back when they were fighting. "Um… I'm sorry about sawing that branch down. I shouldn't have…"

"Emma…" Regina stopped her. "It's ok, really, but to answer your question, yes; I use the apples from my tree to make desserts and of course my cider."

"You cider is delicious," she praised her again, and Regina actually seemed a bit shy at the compliment.

"Thank you," she smiled, averting her gaze to her plate and taking a bite of her lasagna.

"Who taught you how to bake?" she asked, wanting to keep the conversation going. She noticed the more she kept talking, the less Regina was hyper-focused on the door.

The question seemed to strike some kind of nerve, and Emma frowned in confusion. She could have sworn she saw a flicker of grief flash in her eyes for a moment right before she suddenly became guarded.

"Why are you asking me all these questions?" she snapped, surprising Emma with her defensive tone.

"I just want to get to know you a bit," she said patiently, not rising to her reaction like she normally would. She was starting to see a pattern since they met. Regina became really defensive when she felt vulnerable and that was how the arguing between them would start. She backtracked to the question she asked, and wondered why it had made her lash out. "You said you wanted to establish trust between us, for Henry, and this is the first step, getting to know each other. I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable."

Regina looked at her stunned, clearly not expecting such a calm reaction from her. She blushed a bit, and if Emma wasn't trying so hard not to scare her away, she would have dropped her mouth open in shock. She had to force herself to keep a neutral expression.

"Excuse me," Regina stood, unable to look at her, and then disappeared towards the ladies room.

"Emma, I think you broke her," Henry said, clearly surprised at what he just witnessed. No, she didn't break her. She just proved to Regina that she really was aiming to earn her trust. She must have realized this and had gotten embarrassed at how quick her defenses went up.

"I think I just surprised her," she said. "We're trying to start over."

"For what?" he asked, looking at her in confusion. "To gather intel on operation cobra?"

Right, the fairy tale thing. He believed Regina was some evil queen.

"Sure kid," she said, giving him a weak smile. She didn't want to encourage him, but she also didn't want to rip him from his delusion as Archie had warned. He had such an overactive and creative mind. "But let's give your mom a break right now. I think she's nervous."

"Leopold doesn't want her talking to you," he said, solemnly revealing why Regina seemed to be so on edge. Her suspicions on why she was so anxious was confirmed. She was definitely watching out for her husband, because she wasn't supposed to be talking to her.

"Are you serious?" she asked, her tone dropping in anger. Henry nodded. "He can't tell her who she can and can't see."

"It was right after the mines," he said. "He doesn't care if we're together. He just doesn't want my mom around you." Because he knew she was on to him. He wanted to keep Regina from her so that she wouldn't see the bruises.

It wasn't long till Regina returned and took a seat. She was no longer blushing or defensive, but she seemed to be a bit more closed off. She wouldn't make eye contact, and was once again quiet. Her nerves were really shutting her down, and Emma knew there would be absolutely no progress today if she was constantly worrying her husband might walk in and see them together. Although, she was a bit touched that Regina would risk him finding out about their meeting, if it meant they could establish a trust between them.

She didn't bombard her with so many questions anymore. She did try to include her in her conversation with Henry and she seemed to respond better to that than having the attention focused solely on her.

When it was time to pay the bill, Regina wordlessly put her card in the checkbook and handed it to the waitress.

"You don't have to pay for my meal," she said.

"I insist," Regina replied, giving her that politician smile that never reached her eyes. She didn't argue. Instead, she walked her and Henry out and the minute they were down the walkway, Regina's eyes were nervously scanning her surroundings, the wine Emma had given her tucked tightly under her arm.

"Thank you for dinner," Emma said, wanting to reach out and offer some kind of comfort, but Regina seemed too rigid to accept any kind of touch, especially from someone she was just starting to learn to trust. She hugged Henry against her instead.

"You're welcome," she replied. "And I'm so…" She stopped and Emma frowned in confusion. Was she just about to apologize for snapping earlier? "I'm… glad we did this," she said instead.

Emma smiled at her, deciding not to confront her. It was two steps forward and two steps back with her. "Me too."


Instead of going home Emma headed to the station. She was done with work, but she wanted to review Regina's files again. She knew Graham would be out on patrol for most of the evening. She had a few hours to herself, but just to be safe she decided just to print everything and take it back to the loft with her. She couldn't have Graham tipping Leopold off that she was going through Regina's files. She gathered everything she could, printed them and put all the papers in a manilla folder, and rushed home.

When she arrived at the loft, she spread everything out on the table and carefully started examining everything, highlighting details that didn't make sense. Mary Margaret joined her, examining the papers, and filling in the blanks and parts she didn't understand.

In the end, Emma once again came to the conclusion that something wasn't adding up, and the only way she could prove that was to gain Regina's hospital records from the night of the accident.

"We need to get those records," Emma said, getting up from the table and grabbing a beer from the fridge. She was getting a headache from going through all of this information over and over.

"And what then?" Mary Margaret asked from her seat at the table, mug of tea in hand. "What happens after we obtain her records?"

She brought her beer over to the table and plopped back down in her chair across from her roommate.

"I'm almost positive there's something on them that might prove these records are false, and then we'll have something against him. Once she and Henry are away from him, then maybe we could reopen her case, and prove that she was innocent. The charges could be dropped and maybe we could help her divorce him."

"She's going to need a lawyer."

"Got any recommendations?"

"The family lawyer is Sydney Glass, but she doesn't trust him for a minute and neither do I."

"The newspaper guy?"

"He does both," Mary Margaret shrugged.

"We need someone who isn't afraid of going up against Leopold."

"You might want to talk to Mr. Gold," her roommate grimaced. "He's the only one in this town who isn't afraid of my father. The problem is he will ask for a price, and his deals are ones you don't want to get involved with."

"What is he going to ask for? My first born child?" she scoffed in disbelief, but she could see an uneasiness in Mary Margaret's eyes. She didn't trust him. She was afraid of him, but that might be exactly what Emma needed to go up against the mayor of Storybrooke.

"We'll worry about it then," Emma said. "How's the volunteering going? Do they trust you yet?"

"They trust me enough, but they still won't let me access the computer. I just need to get on the database long enough to find the records. It might be a while."

"I'm getting more and more anxious the longer she is with him," Emma scrubbed her hand over her face, before looking down at all the records splayed out before her. "She was so closed off today at dinner. I couldn't get through to her."

"We can't rush this, Emma. So many things could go wrong," Mary Margaret reminded her. "In the meantime, keep building trust with her, because when the time comes to pull her out, she will have to trust you completely."

She was right. She couldn't just rush this because she was impatient. There was too much at stake. Sitting here all night, going through these files and hoping something new would pop up that would give them a quick solution, also wasn't going to happen. She shuffled the papers into a neat stack and put them into the folder.

"I'll keep trying," she sighed, unsure if they had even made progress today. Regina was so closed off today, so anxious, and defensive, she wasn't sure if any trust had been accomplished.

Apparently she was wrong, because the next morning, Regina was knocking at her door with an apple pie in hand. At first she just stared at her in shock, not being able to form a single word or thought. The brunette stood before her, bundled in her dark peacoat, slacks and blazer. Her shoulder-length hair brushed the edges of her shoulders, and she was holding out a wrapped pie dish to her. There was not an ounce of hostility in her eyes like the last time she showed up at her room at Grannies. The bruise that was on her cheek was fading, but to her relief, she didn't see any new bruises or injuries.

"I made you a pie last night," her voice was actually shaking. "As an apology."

"As an apology for never experiencing a homemade pie?" she asked, finally finding her voice.

"No, Miss… I mean Emma," she stammered. "I was rude yesterday, and I apologize."

"There's nothing to apologize for," she frowned. "Do you want to come in? That pie looks delicious and I would love some company."

Regina hesitated, in fact she seemed a bit torn.

"Where does he think you are right now?" she asked.

"At work," she admitted. "I told him I had to leave early for a meeting."

"I can drop you off at campus in time for class," she offered. "We'll make sure to avoid passing by town hall."

She nodded and Emma stepped aside to let her in. She nervously glanced around the loft as she approached the kitchen counter and placed the pie on top. For a moment Emma was confused on why she was cautious coming in, but then remembered she didn't have a great relationship with Mary Margaret.

"Mary Margaret left for work already," she clarified, going into the kitchen and pouring both of them some coffee. Regina sighed in relief and sat on one of the bar stools. She placed a mug of coffee in front of Regina along with the half and half and sugar in case she wanted some. She then grabbed two plates and utensils for the pie.

"Thank you," the brunette said softly, taking the mug into her hands and taking an appreciative sip. She suddenly noticed the dark circles under her eyes. She looked exhausted, actually, and she wondered how late she was up last night baking.

"This looks amazing!" she exclaimed, unable to contain her excitement as she cut into the pie. She served both plates and pushed one towards her guest. She took a bite and let out an mmh of contentment, making the brunette smile. She couldn't help it. It was so good! Nothing like the store bought pies. Henry was right to feel bad for her. "This is so good!"

They spent a few moments in silence, enjoying the pie and taking sips of coffee. Emma couldn't help but discreetly observe the brunette as she ate. She was closed off, but she wasn't as anxious or defensive as she was at dinner yesterday. She was calmer without the fear of her husband possibly walking in and finding her. Maybe now, she could try and get her to open up a bit?

"So um, you never answered my question yesterday," she started off the conversation. Regina looked at her in confusion, before sipping her coffee. "Who taught you how to bake?"

The same spark of grief she had seen yesterday flashed in her eyes, but this time she didn't lash out. She looked at her, and Emma could see her pain and her grief for the first time in those dark expressive eyes.

"Eva… Mary Margaret's mother," she shared and now it all made sense. Mary Margaret had mentioned that they were close. Now she knew why the question made her uneasy, and she mentally kicked herself for even asking when she was already so closed off. She didn't realize the question invoked such pain. "The apple tree was hers. She planted it when she found out my mother was pregnant with me."

"She sounds wonderful." She silently swore to herself that she would never touch another chainsaw ever again.

"She was," Regina whispered, taking another sip of coffee as if trying to hide the tremble in her voice, or the way her eyes had become teary. She was masking her emotions again. She was starting to realize the impact Leopold's abuse was having on her. She was so emotionally withdrawn, and now that she wasn't so hostile towards her, Emma could see it. Part of her wanted to tell her she didn't have to hide her tears, but she didn't want to scare her or make her retreat, so instead she decided to change the subject.

"Well, for one thing Henry is right," she said. "It's tragic that I've only ever eaten store bought pies! I don't think I'll ever buy one again without comparing it to yours."

That got a small laugh out of her and Emma felt something warm bloom inside her chest. She was looking at her differently for the first time. Sitting in front of her, eating pie and laughing was a completely different woman than the one who had threatened her with a basket of apples.

She was so beautiful when she laughed.

Shit! Why was she letting her mind go there? She was aiming to gain her trust, that's it!

"The next time I bake, I'll be sure to set some aside for you," she smiled warmly and Emma hoped to god she wasn't blushing. "I have something to ask you, actually."

"Ok."

"I set up a tutoring session with Ruby at the diner this Saturday. Would you like to sit with Henry and keep him company?"

"Yes, of course," she replied. "What about Leopold?"

"What about him?" she asked, suddenly looking guarded.

"Well, Henry told me he doesn't want you near me ever since the incident at the mines."

"He's suspicious of you, that's it," Regina said, suddenly looking defeated. Her gaze fell to her half eaten pie as she pushed it around with her fork. "He knows about the tutoring session, but he doesn't have to know you'll be there too. He'll be at the office."

"Is that why you were so nervous yesterday?" she asked. "We could have met somewhere more covertly."

"He tracks my phone. If he saw I was anywhere else but at Grannies, he'd come looking for me."

"He…" Emma couldn't even process what she was hearing right now. "Regina, he tracks your phone? Wouldn't he know you're here?"

"I turned my phone off. I usually don't have reception on campus, so he wouldn't even bother to check while I'm at work," she said, pulling her phone out of her pocket and putting it on the counter beside her plate. "He also checks my phone for texts and calls, and goes through my email to make sure I'm not speaking to anyone outside of work."

"He can't do that!" she couldn't help but protest angrily but then immediately calmed herself down when Regina fearfully flinched from her tone. "Shit! I'm sorry, I didn't mean to startle you."

"It was out of habit," she said.

"Regina," her voice softened. "He can't be controlling you like this."

"Don't you think I know that!" she hissed, and then softened her expression when she realized she had snapped.

"I know," Emma acknowledged softly, not meaning to upset her. "There must be something we could do."

"There's not," she said abruptly, ending the conversation. She finished her coffee and slipped her phone back into her pocket. "I need to get to work now."

"Of course, come on," she said, dropping their dishes in the sink and wrapping the pie for later. Regina picked up her computer bag and briefcase and followed Emma out.

Silence washed over them in the yellow bug as Emma drove to campus, avoiding town hall as promised. Regina was quiet, her gloved hands fidgeted, and Emma wondered what she was thinking about.

"Can I ask you something?" she asked.

Regina looked at her, and seemed a bit nervous, but nonetheless nodded.

"Is there any way you can contact me without him finding out?" She wanted Regina to be able to reach out to her if she needed her. There must be some way where her husband wouldn't be able to track her calls or texts.

"I could delete my history, but it's risky. If you were to call or text if he were around, he would grab my phone before I could even see it."

"Ok, how about you put my number under a false name, and only you text me when it's safe to do so. I won't call or text at all unless you tell me it's safe, and you could delete the texts and calls after."

"That… might work," she nodded thoughtfully. "What name should I put you under?"

"Hhmm… how about Professor McGonagall, you know from Harry Potter? He'll think I'm a coworker from Hogwarts!" she laughed.

"You're ridiculous," the brunette smiled as she reached into her bag and pulled out a post it stack and a pen. "I can't turn my phone on until I get to campus, but I'll add you to my contacts when I get there."

"I thought you had my number already."

"He deleted it from my phone," she said and Emma had to force herself not to say anything out of spite for that bastard. Instead, she gave her her number and then pulled up as close as she could to the political science building.

"Don't hesitate to call or text, even if you just need someone to talk to," she smiled before Regina could exit the car. "Even if it's the middle of the night."

She nodded, smiling softly to her, and for the first time since she met her, that small shy smile reached her eyes.