Part Five: The One With the Apples

Regina had spent the entire night up reading the fairy tale book she got from Henry's bedroom the night before.

Everything was there, or almost.

The book did portray her as The Evil Queen that she was, all of her bad actions against the Charmings the realm and then some.

But there wasn't a single word about the reason why she became The Evil Queen.

A single word about how that little bitch had stolen her only shot at a happy ending.

How did she kill her one and only true love.

It was her fault that he was dead. Daniel may not have died by her hands but Snow White's hands were as bloodied as the woman responsible for ripping his heart out.

She was just as guilty.

But of course, the book didn't say that.

Page after page, all she read in the book was about her evil deeds and how the heroes always defeated her.

Please!

But as the sun started to rise and the rays of sunlight started to shine upon the pages, Regina reached the part of the story about the baby Snow White and Prince charming had the day the curse was enacted.

The baby she lost twenty-eight years ago.

She knew nothing about the infant and whatever happened to it.

But that book apparently did.

Regina turned another page, eager to find out more about the so-called savior but her fingers twitched and she gasped when she noticed the pages had been ripped off from the book.

Regina felt her blood run hot, burning inside her veins just like it used to when her magic was there.

Henry!

Regina's features hardened as she closed the book heavily and rose from the chaise longue, walking heavily towards Henry's bedroom.

Regina knew she should calm herself down before confronting Henry. Their relationship was so rocky already, but Regina needed to know where the rest of the pages were.

She needed to know about the one thing that could threaten her victory.

And perhaps a little bit of rage could cause some fear into her boy's heart.

And yes, she would fix that later too.

Regina pushed the door of Henry's bedroom open, without bothering to knock first.

Henry was standing in front of the mirror on the dresser, buttoning his shirt for school.

Regina stopped behind him, her features hard as a rock as she opened the book.

"The missing pages, where are they?" Regina asked.

"It's an old book," Henry said turning around to face her "Stuff is missing. What do you care?" Henry started to walk away from Regina.

"I care because you think I'm some evil Queen," Regina said, pulling gently on Henry's arm to force him to stare at her again "And that hurts me, Henry. I'm your mother"

"No, you are not," Henry said pulling away from Regina.

And that knife that seemed to have taken residency just above her heart sank a little deeper.

"Oh, and then who is?" Regina asked, watching Henry take his backpack "That woman you brought here? I don't like what she and this book is doing to you. Thankfully, both are no longer an issue"

Henry gave Regina a certain look before focusing his attention on the backpack again.

Regina knew that look.

She had seen them far too many times when he was little and had done something he wasn't supposed to.

"What?" Regina asked.

And then she turned her head abruptly in the direction of the window when the bells from the clock tower that have been frozen for twenty-eight years suddenly started to chime.

Regina walked to the window in Henry's bedroom and pull the curtains away.

There it was, the clock tower.

It was far, but not so far that Regina couldn't see the pointers moving.

In twenty-eight years, Regina had never seen that clock move, not even once.

Regina breathed faster as she gripped the window sill so hard that her knuckles turned white.

And then she turned around in a flash, storming to her room to change.

Regina stopped her car on the street across from the clock tower where she stared at the pointers moving from inside the car.

She had no idea what was happening.

Why was the clock suddenly moving?

Regina opened the car door and walk to the tower stopping right in front of it, looking up.

There the pointers go again.

The seconds were moving faster and the minutes followed it for as long as Regina stared up at the clock.

"Hey, look at that,"

Regina closed her eyes at the sound of the voice right behind her.

Honestly, she was in no move to interact with anyone, especially with that damn cricket and its cheerful voice.

God, how she wished she could just reach inside his chest and rip his heart out.

"It seems like those rusty old things have finally straightened themselves out, huh?"

Regina turned to the man, ready to be so harsh he would fall on his knees and cry in the middle of the street but when the words were about to leave her lips, she saw something parked not very further away.

A yellow bug.

And she knew to whom exactly that car belonged.

So, instead of making the man cry, Regina put on her best politician smile, or at least she tried to when she answered.

"Yes, how about that indeed,"

Regina gave her back to the man and entered her car, driving straight to the Mayor's office.

Inside, Regina paced from one side to the other in the office, wondering how come the appearance of the blonde woman could possibly be related to the clock.

Was it simply because she was an outsider?

Were these two events connected at all?

Henry was an outsider too and the clock didn't magickly come to life when she brought him home, did it?

Regina had no idea what was happening, but she didn't like it one bit.

She needed to get that woman out of her town. She needed to get that woman out of her son's life and then she needed to get those ideas from the book out of Henry's mind.

That book was far more dangerous than Regina had originally anticipated.

The truth was very dangerous indeed.

Regina looked to the side and saw a basket full of red-as-blood apples standing on top of the table.

She had picked up the apples a few days ago in the hope of making some jam and even a pie with them.

Henry loved her apple pies and Regina thought that maybe making a batch of them could help ease the growing tension between herself and her son.

They were just about perfect to make the pies, the very office where she was standing smelled deliciously with the apple scent.

Regina looked at the apples and smiled.

Perhaps, a little peace offer was the right movie.

A little snack for the road for when she sent the blonde woman home.

Regina grabbed the apple basket and walked to her car, driving in the direction of Granny's.

That was the only logical place the blonde woman could have stayed considering Granny's was the only B&B in town and Emma didn't know anyone either.

Regina parked the car in front of the diner and quickly got Emma's room number from Ruby.

She stopped in front of the green door and put on her best politician smile before knocking on the door.

But what she saw wasn't exactly what she had expected.

Regina was just about to start talking when Emma opened the door wide open.

The blonde woman was wearing red panties and a very thin white tank top.

And nothing else.

Regina swallowed dry as she looked at the woman up and down, feeling a strange pull towards Emma and a tingling sensation down her belly.

If this was the Enchanted Forest, there was just no way Regina would ever let a peasant of such breed go without bedding her first.

Regina moved her eyes to Emma's face and realized the woman was staring at her with a mischievous grin adorning her lips.

She had been staring at her for far too long.

Regina smiled at Emma and did what she did best.

She pretended nothing had happened.

"Did you know the Honeycrisp tree is the more vigorous and hardy of all apple trees?" Regina said "It can survive temperatures as low as forty below and keep growing. It can weather any storm. I have one that I've tended to since I was a little girl"

Regina looked at her basket and picked an apple, the reddest and most luscious apple among them all.

So sweet and soft and for one quick second, Regina wondered if the blond woman in front of her was like this when she had her legs open on top of a bed.

"And to this day," Regina extended the apple to Emma "I have yet to taste anything more delicious than the fruit it offers," Regina said with only a slight flirtatious tone in her voice.

"Thanks," Emma said slightly confused, taking the apple from Regina's hand.

And the moment their fingers brushed, Regina felt that small jolt of electricity.

For the second time.

Not mentioning that pull she felt towards the young blonde, one that made her want… no!

Get rid of her!

That's what she came there to do.

Regina quickly recovered from whatever inane thoughts were crossing her mind as she offered the basket to Emma.

"I'm sure you'll enjoy them on your drive home"

"Actually, I'm gonna stay for a while," Emma said petulantly.

And simple as that, Regina felt her blood boil again and rage come up to the surface.

" I'm not sure that's such a good idea," Regina said with a calm she wasn't feeling "Henry has enough issues, he doesn't need you confusing him"

"All due respect, Madame Mayor, the fact that you have now threatened me twice in the last twelve hours makes me wanna stay more"

"Since when were apples a threat?" Regina asked innocently.

"I can read between the lines," Emma said "Sorry, I just wanna make sure Henry's okay"

"He's fine, dear," Regina said annoyed "Any problems he has are being taken care of"

"What does that mean?" Emma asked.

"It means I have him in therapy," Regina said "It's all under control. Take my advice, Miss Swan, only one of us knows what's best for Henry"

"Yeah, I'm starting to think you're right about that," Emma said.

"It's time for you to go," Regina said, rage now controlling her body.

"Or what?" Emma asked.

"Don't underestimate me, Miss Swan," Regina said in a menacing voice, taking one step toward Emma "You have no idea what I'm capable of"

Regina turned around and walked to the stairs before Emma had a chance to say anything to her.

With the way she was feeling right now, Regina felt like she could kill the woman with her own hands and she would most likely enjoy every second of her hands wrapped around her neck.

Regina drove back to the Mayor's office and poured herself a glass of apple cider in order to calm down her nerves.

She was completely lost about what to do now.

She needed to find a way to get rid of the woman.

She needed to ship her out of Storybrooke and out of hers and Henry's life.

Regina drank the cider, a larger gulp this time.

She needed to get rid of the woman.

She could hear the pointers from the clock tower moving, even from distance. The sound was imprinted in her mind, she could hear every second, minute, and hour moving even if she wasn't right in front of the clock.

And Regina wasn't sure of what that meant yet.

The clock was the symbolism of how time was frozen in Storybrooke.

There were only two people in that town who had conscious of time passing and only one that could feel the effects of it.

Henry!

Regina's biggest fear when she brought the baby here to Storybrooke was that time would be frozen for him too.

That he would never grow up into the young man he was now, although, the idea of it seemed quite appealing just about now.

At least back then, Henry was all hers.

At least he didn't hate her.

But time was never frozen to Henry and Regina watched him grow, marking every inch of her son's growth on the kitchen doorframe.

Henry was the thing she love most in the whole world.

He was the only person she cared about in the world.

The only person she would ever love until the day she died.

Regina needed to protect him.

And the only way to do that was by getting rid of that woman he brought to Storybrooke.

Emma Swan.

God, even her name made Regina's insides turn.

Except…

Regina shook her head and took another gulp of her drink.

And then she reached for her phone to call Sidney.

A few hours later, Regina was by her apple tree, picking up more apples.

The tree was full of apples, most of them were already falling on the grass.

Regina smiled at her beautiful tree.

Another beautiful symbolism of her victory.

And without a doubt, the one she loved most.

But Sidney interrupted her apple picking to show her that he did not do what she had asked for.

God, she hated that man.

She could barely stand his voice, even when he was trapped in the mirror.

That was another good thing the curse gave her.

Privacy.

Sidney used to jump from mirror to mirror to every shining surface of her castle, always stalking her.

It was unbearable.

No matter how many mirrors she broke, he was always there with her.

Regina was delightful when she first saw him trapped after he tried to use his wish to imprison her by his side.

It served him well.

Regina would never be the property of another man, ever again.

But after years of him constantly appearing everywhere, even when she brought lovers to her chambers, Regina was grateful for never having to deal with him again.

And he was still as useless as he used to be.

He had nothing on Emma Swan.

Nothing that she could actually use to convince her son of her bad intentions.

But if she didn't have anything, Regina would have to do the second-best thing.

Regina left Sidney and her basket by her beautiful apple tree and quickly walked back to her office to make a phone call to Dr. Hopper.

Emma was laying in the bed, reading the files Archie had given her without even bothering to remove her boots first.

She knew she would regret that decision of not taking off her boots later when the sheets were covered in dirt and the lady who ran the inn was charging her extra to clean the sheets, but Emma couldn't be bothered with that right now.

Not when she had Henry's files with her.

Not when she was finally reading what the hell was wrong with her son.

Emma shook her head before the word popped inside her mind.

No!

He was not that.

Not to her anyway.

Emma let her eyes run through another sentence of the file.

It was strange how Emma got them in the first place, but Emma wasn't about to go too deep into that.

The interaction with Henry earlier was probably the weirdest than the one she had when the kid arrived in her apartment in Boston.

How could he possibly say to her that he believed Emma was Snow White and Prince Charming's daughter and then tell a woman who was Emma's age, if not younger, that she was Snow White?

Emma was so shocked when Mary Margaret told her that he believed she was Snow White that Emma wanted to grab that kid by the arm and commit him herself.

Or have a serious conversation with him about how biology works.

And she was sure that both of these things were highly inappropriate… which was why she was no parent.

When thinking about it, she supposed she could understand why his mother was so uptight.

Especially considering he thought she was The Evil Queen.

Yes, the woman was kind of a hardass, but having your child thinking you were some evil witch has got to hurt.

At least she cared enough about him to give him a home.

And this was more than what Emma ever had growing up.

Emma turned another page on the file, reading more about how deep into this fantasy Henry was.

It was scary if she was being honest.

Emma had no idea how one could possibly deal with that and a small part of her even regretted getting the files now.

Like Henry, she liked the fantasy of knowing she gave birth to a perfectly healthy child and Emma wished she wasn't the one who passed that on to him.

She too liked to pretend.

Emma was about to turn another page when a knock on the door pulled her out of her reading.

She sighed heavily, dropping the files on the bed before getting up to open the door.

She missed the loneliness of Boston already.

"Hey, there," Emma said when she opened the door, staring at the Sheriff's face "If you're concerned about the "Do Not Disturb" signs, don't worry; I've left them alone"

"Actually, I'm here about Dr. Archibald Hopper," Graham said seriously "He mentioned you got into a bit of a row with him earlier?"

"No," Emma said sacarsticly.

"I'm shocked, too, given your shy, delicate sensibilities," Graham joked, "He says you demanded to see Henry's files and when he refused you came back and stole them"

"He gave them to me," Emma said.

And that's when it hit her.

He didn't give the files to her. Not out of his free will.

It was a trap.

And Emma was foolish enough to fall for it.

So when Graham asked o search her room there was nothing Emma could do apart from step to the side and let him in. She even pointed to all the files spread on top of the bed.

Not that she had to.

The evidence of her crime wasn't exactly hidden inside the room.

Simply because she didn't know she was committing one.

So, Graham arrested her.

Took her to that small Sheriff Station and proceeded to the all too familiar routine for Emma's liking.

It had been ages since she was inside a police department.

At least as the accused.

Ten years to be exact.

She was more focused on catching the bad guys now than being one.

She tried to argue with Graham, but there was no use.

It was her word against his. And hers. The Mayor.

This had Regina's fingers all over it. She knew it was her.

But the more Emma accused her the more the Sheriff defended her.

And that only pissed her off even more, although she wasn't sure why.

Henry arrived at the station while Emma was arguing with Graham, accusing him of being in Regina's hands.

She wanted to find out just how deep his relationship with the Mayor was, but Henry's arrival interrupted that.

But at least something good came out of it.

The teacher, the one he thought was her mother, went to the station with him and paid her bail.

Emma was so incredibly confused by this gesture.

Why would she do that?

She was a stranger, but when Mary Margaret looked at Emma and said she trusted her, Emma knew Henry must have borrowed her ear off and convinced the woman to bail her off.

And it worked.

Emma hardly say goodbye to them when she left the station.

The second Graham removed the handcuffs from her, Emma's mind had already made up a revenge plan.

Regina was going to pay for this.

If the woman wanted to play, Emma was going to give her a game.

Emma walked to the hardware store, walking straight to the chainsaw section.

Her eyes sparkled when she saw the saw and she smiled brightly at the tool when her fingers danced against the serrated blade.

She couldn't think of a better way to pay back.

Maybe doing this was childish, but Emma didn't care.

Regina came after her first.

It was time to respond.

Emma paid for the chainsaw with the money she had in her jeans pocket and walked to the Mayor's office.

She entered the garden and walked straight to where she had seen the Apple Tree before.

The tree was right in front of a big window that Emma was sure belonged to the brunette woman.

Good.

Emma's blood nearly burned her skin when she thought about Regina looking down at her while she took the tree down.

Or at least a few branches.

Enough to send a message.

God, she wanted to do this.

Badly.

Emma pulled on the chainsaw string, making it come to life.

The noise was loud and potent and Emma had some trouble lifting it to the first branch, and when she did, Emma had to close her eyes and look to the side without really paying attention to what she was doing.

Wood splinters were flying everywhere, and most of them were going to end up on her hair, but God, how good she felt when the first branch fell on the grass.

And when she looked up the window, she saw Regina's beautifully furious face looking down at her.

That face should terrify anyone.

But Emma just smiled at the Mayor before lifting the saw to another branch.

"What the hell are you doing!?" Regina shouted marching in her direction.

"Picking apples," Emma said back innocently, before dropping the saw on the grass.

Regina's face was the purest expression of hell on earth and Emma knew that if she could, she would kill her right there and then.

"You're out of your mind!" Regina said angrily, stopping right in front of Emma.

So close that Emma could feel Regina's warm breath tickling her lips and the angry vibrations that poured out of her words.

"No, you are if you think a shoddy frame job's enough to scare me off," Emma said "You're gonna have to do better than that"

Regina's breath was accelerated in front of her, and Emma could watch her nostrils flare at each breath she took.

She found her nerve.

That one thing, apart from Henry, that could set the woman off.

A tree.

This tree.

And Emma knew exactly how to threaten her back now.

"If you come after me one more time, I'm coming back for the rest of this tree," Emma said seriously "Because, sister, you have no idea what I am capable of"

Emma gave her back to Regina, feeling her eyes bore a hole on her back.

And then her lips just couldn't resist making one last remark.

The words were practically dancing on the tip of her tongue.

"Your move,"

Regina was on her knees picking up the beautiful apples from the ground.

Apples that that horrible woman carelessly toured apart from the branches of the tree.

Apples that meant more to her than she would ever know.

Regina put another shining red apple inside the basket, feeling the air burn hot inside her lungs.

She almost felt like the air she was breathing out was more smoke, considering the way her blood was burning inside her veins.

If only she had her magic.

She would have burned that woman right on the spot before she could reach for another branch with that ridiculous saw that was still laying next to her tree where the woman dropped it.

She hated her.

As if it wasn't enough that she was Henry's biological mother.

At least she was able of having a little bit of revenge. It wasn't enough, not by a long shot.

Oh, no!

That woman was going to get what she deserved later when Regina was calmer enough to cook up a good plan to destroy her and then chase her out of Storybrooke.

But right now Regina was happy enough knowing that she wouldn't have a place to sleep tonight.

Granny should be kicking her out of the inn right about now.

Regina was so furious when she called the older woman that she could almost feel Granny's shaking limbs as Regina reminded her of the city law laws and the large fine her pension was going to receive if she insisted on disobeying the law.

She should never have created that inn. It was not like anyone ever came to town anyway.

Unfortunately, Regina never had too much of a hand in what was designed.

She could only alter one thing here and there.

Regina was just about to reach for another apple when she heard steps coming behind her, and she turned her head quickly to see who she was.

She almost wished it was the blonde woman again.

And she wasn't sure why she was disappointed when she saw Graham.

"She destroyed city property," Regina said "I want her arrested"

"Again?" Graham asked.

Regina stared at Graham from her spot on the ground, not quite understanding why he wasn't on the move to do exactly what she ordered from him.

"I'm just not convinced arresting her is the right plan," Graham said as Regina rose from the ground "And I'm not talking about your tree. We both know she didn't steal those files"

"Oh, do we?" Regina asked sarcastically.

"I mean, she looked pretty shocked when I leveled the charges against her"

"That's because she doesn't like being caught," Regina said and pushed the fabric of her dress slightly up before kneeling on the ground again.

" Or because she was set up," Graham said.

And Regina only flinched to fear for one second while putting more apples inside the basket.

"And if she was, that means Dr. Hopper was lying. If he's lying that means that someone asked him to. Are we really confident that the man's conscience won't eventually get the best of him?"

And just like that, Regina had enough.

She rose from the ground and stared at Graham, once again, wishing she could access her magic.

She wouldn't mind burning him too.

She couldn't believe he was actually defending that woman, after knowing her for what?

Twenty-four hours?

This was her town and Regina would do well in remembering him who call the shots here.

"I think your schoolboy crush is clouding your judgment," Regina said, looking deeply inside Graham's eyes "Remember, I made you Sheriff. And I can take it away just as easily"

"You want me to arrest her again? I will"

Finally!

"Good," Regina said, keeling on the ground again.

"But she is gonna keep comin' at you. And I know you, you are gonna keep comin' at her. You will do whatever it takes to get her out of here. And you may succeed"

"No, I will succeed," Regina said angrily as she turned to face Graham.

She rose from the ground and stood in front of him, so close that she knew she was invading his personal space but she couldn't care less about it right now.

"He's my son! It's what's best for him," Regina shouted.

"I know that's what you believe," Graham said "But if this escalates, it seems to me that the only one who will get hurt is Henry"

Graham gave his back to Regina, walking away from her.

She stare at his back, the anger lessening now as another feeling took root inside of her.

Sadness.

She didn't want Henry to get hurt.

Not her little Prince.

Never him.

He would never be the price she had to pay for her deeds.

Except for today.

Regina needed to get rid of that woman.

Henry was already growing too attached to her and rejecting Regina in the process.

And that hurt her badly.

More than he would ever know.

Regina kneeled on the ground again and collected the rest of the apples on the grass.

By the time she made her way back to the office, a plan had already formed in her head.

Regina glanced at the watch on top of her desk, waiting for the blonde woman to show up.

It was nearly five already and Henry was supposed to arrive any minute now.

He couldn't arrive before the blonde woman did.

For her plan to work, she needed Emma Swan in her office before Henry arrived, and as soon as she heard his footsteps outside she would trick her into telling out loud what she really thought of Henry's fairy tales ideas.

She would trick her into admitting what she really thought of him.

She would trick her into telling her that Henry was crazy.

It would break his heart.

Regina knew that.

But this was a necessary evil and Regina had already a plan on how to make up to him.

She would buy any toy he wanted, any game, any chocolate.

He could even have them in the morning for all she cared, for as long as it takes for him to get over his affection for his biological mother.

And hating her for the rest of his life was just a bonus fact for both of them.

Regina closed her eyes and sighed.

She hated herself for doing this to Henry.

She promised herself that she would be different for him, different than her mother.

And here she was doing exactly the same thing Cora would do to her.

But it was just this time, Regina promised herself.

Just this once and never again.

Regina opened her eyes and looked at the clock again.

The red digital screen told her that was ten minutes past five already.

When she called Emma Swan she told her to be there at five for them to discuss Henry and put a stop to this little war between the two of them.

Regina almost regretted now having called Billy's shop earlier today, before the woman was even arrested and asked him to trap her car.

What the hell was she even thinking?

That was the only way for that woman to get the hell out of her town.

She should never have done that. A petulant childish act on her part.

One that only pissed the blonde woman even more from what she could hear on the line when she forcefully slammed the car door.

Regina looked at the watch again, now marking five fifteen.

Was she even going to show up?

At all?

Maybe this was her act of revenge, her move as she had called earlier when she was done taking down her beautiful apple tree.

Perhaps this was her move for what Regina did to her car.

God, why couldn't that woman do anything right?

If she would just show up they could have a mature conversation about Henry's situation where Regina would make sure to force the words out of her and make her admit what she really thought about…

"Mom?"

"Henry!" Regina's lips breathed out before she could even process what she was saying.

"Are we almost going?" Henry asked by the door "It's five seventeen already and I'm hungry"

"Right, yes, of course," Regina said and smiled at her little boy before getting up.

Regina retrieved her purse from the desk and walked toward Henry, looping her arm around his shoulder as they walked out of the Mayor's Office.

Her plan of getting rid of that woman today failed.

But tomorrow, she would succeed.