Trigger Warning- Domestic Violence

Chapter 14 The Beginning of a Plan

Saturday morning arrived, and Emma was at Granny's Diner, sitting at the bar, drinking coffee and waiting until Regina and Henry arrived before ordering breakfast. With her insistence, Ruby was setting up the back corner booth for her and Regina, making sure to let her know to give Regina the seat facing the door. She wanted her to be comfortable. She was actually a bit worried. She hasn't even received a text from her since she had shown up at the loft. She was a bit anxious, but did not dare go against the rules. If she were to text Regina at the wrong time… it could be bad.

She was just finishing her cup of coffee when Henry finally rushed in, fairytale book in hand, and looking stressed. His cheeks were pink and his breaths were labored from running.

"Henry?" She stood, hugging him and then kneeling to his level. "Where is your mom?" she asked, her tone full of concern.

"She's outside arguing with dad so I ran ahead."

Emma frowned in concern.

"Choose a booth," she said as she stood and went over to the window. She peeked outside, being careful not to let Leopold see her. She could see them standing outside by the parked Benz, and they were definitely arguing. Leopold had a tight grip on her arm, and was yelling in her face. Ruby must have noticed as well because she was suddenly by the window as well, her eyes locked furiously on the mayor and her teacher. She scoffed in disgust and Emma more than understood her anger.

"I'd like to kick his ass," the young girl growled. "Let's see how he likes being a regular punching bag."

Emma turned to her in shock.

"You know about the abuse?"

"I tend to see a lot when working in the town's most popular diner."

"Why hasn't anyone stood up to him?" she growled, starting to realize that there were people who knew and did absolutely nothing.

"It's not easy Emma. He's the mayor, and he could make your life hell," she explained. "Besides he's friends with the district attorney Albert Spencer, and I'm not sure, but I also think Sheriff Graham is in on it too."

"I know, it's dangerous," she stated. "But, we have to at least try. How long could she keep living like this until he…" She couldn't finish that sentence, let alone that thought. "Mary Margaret and I are working on a plan to help her. Are you in?"

Leopold was suddenly grabbing her face, and Emma was nearly ready to fly out that door until she felt Ruby taking her forearm.

"If you want to help her, I'm pretty sure running out there is going to ruin your cover. I'm in, and I also know someone else who would want to help. She's a lawyer." They moved away from the window and back over to the corner booth before Leopold could catch them watching.

"A lawyer? Who?"

"She has a friend, Katherine. Leopold doesn't let Regina see or talk to her anymore. She was in here the other night with her husband ranting angrily about him."

"Do you have her number?" Emma asked, because more people on their side might actually help. A lawyer who hated Leopold was exactly what they needed.

"Yeah, I'll slip it to you later," she said, just as the door opened and Regina walked in looking harassed. Her cheeks were flushed and her hands were shaking as she took off her gloves. She approached them, unable to look either of them in the eye.

"Sorry I'm late," she said, plopping down in her usual spot in the booth and placing her materials on the table beside Ruby's.

"It's ok," Ruby assured her. "Do you want anything to eat before we start?"

"Coffee and a bagel would be great," she smiled weakly, and once Ruby disappeared into the kitchen, Emma sat across from her.

"Are you ok?" she asked, hoping he didn't hit her after she had moved away from the window. She doubted he would hit her in public, but still, she couldn't help but worry.

"Why wouldn't I be!" Regina snapped defensively and Emma couldn't help but feel dejected. Regina must have seen the crestfallen look on her face, because her eyes softened, and she suddenly looked guilty. "I'm… Emma, I'm sorry," she stammered shakily, almost looking like she might cry. Emma reached out, placing her hand atop of hers in an attempt to calm her.

"Are you ok?" she asked again, looking at her with so much concern. She didn't even care that Regina had snapped at her. She probably would have too if she were the one sitting here after being yelled at by her husband.

Regina didn't answer, her eyes drifted to their son sitting two booths away. It was like she didn't know how to answer, or she was too afraid to tell her.

"I saw him yelling at you," Emma said, finally catching her gaze after a moment.

"He's angry that I'm here tutoring Ruby instead of doing his reports for him at the office. He knew I had this scheduled, and now he's trying to make me blow her off just so I could do his last minute work." She sounded so frustrated. "I promised I'll be at the office before noon."

Emma looked at the clock. She had two hours before she had to leave, and as Regina pulled her hands away and started pulling out stacks of official looking documents from her briefcase, Emma couldn't help feeling angry. That lazy son of a bitch couldn't do his own damn paperwork?

"I'm fine, Emma," she assured her, reigning in her emotions and trying to mask the fear that she had walked in with. She was scary good at that. "Henry is waiting for you. I gave him his book back, so I'm sure he wants to show it to you. Go on, work on breaking my fake curse or whatever."

"Right, kid duty," she smiled weakly just as Ruby was walking over with her coffee and bagel. Emma stood, giving her seat to the younger woman and went over to Henry's booth. She sat across from him with a clear view of Regina as she and Ruby got to work. She was in full professor mode now, so she decided not to bother her with her staring and focused on Henry. Once they ordered their breakfast, he started going through his book.

"None of this is making sense," Henry grumbled.

"The book?" she asked and Henry nodded.

"I don't know if she's the Evil Queen anymore. If anyone around here is a villain, it's Leopold."

"What changed your mind?" she asked, shocked at the sudden change. Maybe he was finally realizing the truth about his fantasy world?

"I saw her crying the other night," he said sadly, turning in his seat to look at his adoptive mother for a moment before turning back to Emma. "She thinks I hate her."

"Do you?" Emma asked curiously, and he hesitated for a moment before bowing his head in defeat.

"No," he admitted. "I'm just angry that she lies to me. She lied to me about my adoption, and I know she lies to me about Leopold. I wish she could just tell me the truth."

"Henry, yes, maybe she should have told you the truth about your adoption sooner, but you can't keep being mad at her for that. Would it have changed anything if she had told you sooner? She still loves you regardless if you're related by blood or not."

"I know…" he groaned. "But… it hurts that she lied!"

"I understand, kid, but how about talking to her about it instead of pushing her away. And as for her lying about your father, have you ever thought there are just some things she just can't talk to you about? Perhaps she's afraid of telling you what's really going on between them, because she's just trying to protect you."

Henry seemed to think about that as a waitress came and set down their plates of pancakes. He started flipping through the pages again as Emma thanked her.

"Maybe the book is wrong," he went back to his fantasy, once the waitress left them alone. "Leopold has to be the evil one. He's the one who hurts her and makes her lie about it."

Oh, Kid…

"Look, Henry, whether this curse is real or not. Regina loves you. She raised you when I couldn't. Does that sound like something an Evil Queen would do? She's just your mom, kid; And she's trying her best. Talk to her. Tell her why you're angry, and hear her out. You don't want to lose her."

He nodded, his eyes misted over with threatening tears as she looked over his shoulder again at his mother. He looked at Emma with shining eyes.

"You don't think it's too late?" he asked.

"Never."

He sighed, looking at his book for a moment and then turning the pages to a beautifully illustrated scene of the Evil Queen standing in the midst of her curse as it tore Snow White's castle apart. The princess lay at her feet, protecting her prince.

The image caught her attention, and she pulled the book closer to her. She had to admit, the queen did look a lot like Regina, and the princess did look alot like Mary Margaret. It had to be a coincidence. Plus the last pages that Henry had torn out and she had burned did have the baby's name on it, and that was Emma…

"Where did this book come from?" she asked, and Henry shrugged his shoulders as he took a bite of his pancakes.

"I don't know. Mary Margaret wouldn't tell me."

"Mind if I borrow it?"

"Of course not," he said. "Besides I think it's safer with you from now on. Leopold gets annoyed everytime he sees it."

For the next two hours, Emma spent a good amount of time flipping through the stories of the book and hearing Henry's input. Even the names gave her the creeps, Evil Queen Regina and Princess Snow White whose alias name was Mary Margaret. Red the werewolf looked exactly like Ruby, and Prince Charming looked alot like David. King Leopold married Regina after saving Snow White from a runaway horse at the same age Regina married Leopold in real life. No wonder the kid thought everyone was in some kind of cursed town.

Even holding this book gave her a sense of dread, as if it was somehow speaking to her. She slammed the book shut. She planned on taking it home and asking her roommate about it.

She looked up to see Regina wrapping it up with Ruby. She was putting Leopold's reports into her briefcase, and after exchanging a few words with her student, she came over to their booth.

"It's time to go Henry, your father is waiting for us."

"Ugh, do we have to," he groaned. "He's just gonna make me sit quietly and read all his political science books while you do his paperwork, and he's going to go on and on about how one day I'll be a politician just like him."

Emma gaped at that. Seriously!

"I can take him," she offered. "We'll stay at the loft for the day, that way Mary Margaret is with us at all times." She respected Regina's wishes on supervised visitations. Ruby must have overheard because she came over.

"And I actually told Mary Margaret I'll stop by," the young girl said as a cover to why she was really going to the loft. "Henry will be perfectly safe."

Regina nodded, seeming to be ok with that, and not really knowing that Ruby was actually going over so that they could fill her in on their plans of getting her away from her abusive husband.

"Ruby, do you mind taking Henry? I'll meet you two at the loft."

Ruby agreed, and after Henry shocked Regina by hugging her goodbye, they left the diner.

"I'll drop you off the back way so he doesn't see us?" Emma offered, not wanting her to walk. Regina nodded, obviously still stunned at Henry's sudden affection.

They got into the car and Regina had taken the book from Emma and was holding it in her lap, staring at the cover as Emma started the car and started driving towards town hall using the back streets.

"That book gives me the creeps," she said, side eyeing it for a quick moment before focusing on the road. "Why do all the characters look like people in town?"

"I have no idea," she shook her head. "I was a child when my father gave me this book, and for a moment I thought the curse was real too, before I realized it's just a bunch of stories."

"The book was yours?!" she exclaimed in shock. She had not been expecting that. "Why does the queen have the same name as you?"

"I don't know," she shook her head. "My father never told me where he got it from, but he said it's magic."

"Do you believe that?"

"Of course not," Regina scoffed, tossing the book into the back seat.

Regina rushed into Leopold's office, briefcase in hand. She was still working on the stack of reports he gave her this morning, and as always, she still had to work on her lesson plans. It was a never ending cycle of work that she could never catch up with. Arguing with him about it didn't help. All it did was make him angry and he demanded that she work in his office today, not caring that she had a scheduled tutoring session. She was lucky he compromised this time, and allowed her to keep her appointment with Ruby on the condition she come straight to his office after. Maybe, if she worked fast enough, she might be able to work on her lesson plans this evening. She sat down at the conference table, feeling flustered, and without so much as a glance towards him. He was at his desk talking about business matters on the phone.

She got to work, quickly pulling the reports out, and trying to make some progress before he'd come over and check. Her hands started shaking out of nervousness and she cursed under her breath as she found it difficult to keep her pen still.

She needed to calm down, otherwise she wouldn't get anything done. She put the pen down, took a deep breath, and closed her eyes and tried to think of something that would help calm her. She tried thinking of Henry, but her mind kept going back to warm green eyes, golden hair and a silly smile.

She was thinking of Emma!

Her eyes flew open in shock, not sure why her mind had drifted to the blonde deputy. It seemed to work though, because her hands had stopped shaking and she picked up her pen and quickly got back to work. She pushed back all thoughts of the deputy out of her mind and focused only on the reports. She didn't even notice that Leopold had hung up the phone until he stood and went over to his mini bar.

12pm. First drink of the day.

She tried not to flinch as he came and stood over her.

"How much have you done?" he asked, sipping his whiskey. She picked up the stack of completed reports and handed them to him. She was nearly done after rigorously working on them while tutoring Ruby. Of course her student had noticed, but didn't question her.

He shuffled through them, and she tried not to hold her breath. He was in a mood this morning and she didn't want to set him off again. She was lucky he didn't hit her after their argument.

He didn't say anything, and she took that as a good sign until he took them out to his assistant and then came back with another stack. He dropped them in front of her with a smirk. He was doing this on purpose. He was punishing her.

"Once you're done with those reports, I need you to review these proposals."

"Leopold…" She looked up at him, seeing nothing but a cruel kind of look in his eyes. He was enjoying this. "I have my own work to catch up on."

"I'm aware. You made it clear this morning," he said with an impartial tone. "Maybe next time, you'll just take the work I give you and shut your mouth."

So this was her punishment. Endless amount of paperwork. She turned away from him submissively and got started, knowing she'd have to work on her lesson plans tomorrow instead. She hated working on them so last minute or even the day before, because then her lectures felt messy. At this point, she didn't have a choice.

He smirked and went back to his desk.

Throughout the afternoon she worked in silence as he took calls and worked on the more official documents that needed his attention. She was also relieved to see that he didn't have a second drink.

"Where's the boy?" he asked, when it was almost time for them to head out.

"He's with Mary Margaret," she said, stacking up the proposals and the reports and bringing it over to his desk. She stood before him and handed them to him. He took the papers and put them in his out box for his assistant to grab later. He narrowed his eyes at her.

"Sit."

She didn't hesitate. She sat across from him, trying not to shake so hard. She fidgeted with her hands nervously, not sure what he was going to berate her about this time.

"Remind me who is currently living with my daughter right now."

"Deputy Swan…"

"Didn't I tell you I don't want you near her?"

"I… I didn't see her. I saw Mary Margaret and David at the diner this morning," she lied. "They wanted to spend the afternoon with him. Your daughter insisted." She knew where to get him.

"How is she?" he asked, his harsh tone suddenly becoming soft, and his gaze clouding over with concern. He missed his daughter, and maybe she would have felt bad for him, if he wasn't such an abusive bastard.

"She's… happy." The words were bitter on her tongue, but she spat them out anyway.

"And this David?" he asked. "Are they serious?"

"It looks like it," she shrugged, actually not knowing. They do seem pretty close, but she really didn't care enough to elaborate. He sighed, got up from his chair and was just about to head to the minibar. He was going to have a drink right before picking up Henry?!

No, she wouldn't allow him to drive even after just having one drink.

She rushed over to him and took the bottle from his hands.

"Don't…" she said, her voice shaking because she knew she was about to get beaten for this.

He looked at her, his eyes livid as he tore the bottle from her and slammed it back on the bar. He rounded on her so fast, she didn't even have a moment to prepare herself. He punched her hard in the mouth, his ring cutting her bottom lip, and she stumbled to the floor in shock. She got up on her hands and knees, breathing heavily through the pain. She could feel a warm trickling wetness streaming down her chin, and when she looked down, drops of blood were dripping onto the marbled floor.

He knelt down and grabbed a fistful of her hair. She cried out in pain, her hand going up to try and loosen his grip, but he only smacked her hand away.

"Don't you ever do that again," he hissed in her ear, his tone dangerously low, and she couldn't stop the tears from streaming down her cheeks. He dropped her to the floor, and she froze, too afraid to move an inch without his instruction. He stood over her as she shook in fear, her lip bleeding and continuing to drip on the marble.

"Get up!" he yelled. "And get in the car!"

She did as she was told, quickly getting to her feet and grabbing her jacket and briefcase. She rushed out to the car without even waiting for him. Her lip was bleeding still, and she was positive his secretary saw her, but pretended not to see the blood or the tears on her face. She waited by the passenger door for him, as he soon followed behind her and unlocked the door. He was angry and all she could do was sit beside him and tremble in fear. He opened the glove compartment and pulled out some tissue for her lip.

"Clean yourself up!" he snapped, throwing it at her and then pulling the Benz out into the direction of the loft.

The sound of the tea kettle went off and Emma immediately silenced it. She poured herself a steaming mug and placed a chamomile tea bag inside. They had just spent the last few hours updating Ruby on the reports that were splayed out all over the table. The young college student was sitting at the table with Mary Margaret as they continued to go through them. It was getting pretty late, and Emma thought it might be time to wrap it up before Regina arrived for Henry. She looked over to see him distracted with his notebook and storybook on the counter, a plate of cookies and hot chocolate beside him.

"You ok, kid?" she asked, setting her mug down and glancing at his notes. She frowned when she saw he had crossed out The Evil Queen by Regina's name on his list of townspeople with their fairytale counterparts.

"Yea, I'm just still confused," he shrugged and then looked over to the table where the two women were discussing something in hushed voices. "Are you guys really going to help my mom?" he asked hopefully.

"We're trying," she nodded. "It's just going to take time. That's why you can't tell her yet. We can't risk Leopold finding out."

"You have my word," he grinned, just as there was a rough and loud knock on the door. They all froze, because there was no way in hell that was Regina.

"I… I think that's my father!" Mary Margaret whispered in alarm and that was enough for all three of them to rush into action and clear away the documents. Emma piled them into the folder and ran up to her room to lock them away in her trunk. Just as she was coming down, Mary Margaret opened the door, and just as expected, Leopold was standing there.

"Good evening, princess, I'm just here to pick up Henry."

"Don't call me princess," she glared at him, opening the door wider and turning to the boy who was sitting at the counter and shoving his notebook and pencils into his backpack.

"Deputy Swan, I see you made yourself at home," he nodded and Emma had to bite her tongue from saying anything but the polite response that she forced from her lips. All she could think about was Regina and why wasn't she standing here, picking up Henry instead.

"Where's Regina?" Ruby asked straight out, which had both women looking at her in shock.

"She's waiting in the car," he narrowed his eyes at her and then looked around the loft as if looking for someone. "I thought David was here spending the day with you and Henry," he then said to Mary Margaret. She stammered, not exactly sure what he was talking about.

It immediately dawned on Emma that Regina must have come up with some kind of lie of how Henry ended up here, because technically she wasn't supposed to be talking to her. She couldn't exactly tell him they were at the diner together, and that she agreed to let Emma take him for the afternoon.

"He just went home," Emma spoke up, challenging him to say anything else. He nodded, but held her gaze until Henry hugged her goodbye, forcing her to break eye contact. "See ya later, kid."

He hugged Mary Margaret and then was pushing past his father and down the steps of the loft without a word in his direction.

"You picked up Henry, now leave," Mary Margaret said firmly, nothing but disgust shining in her eyes for the man she once loved.

"Maybe we could have dinner sometime?" he asked, insistently. "Perhaps we could talk about some important issues that we let go by for too long?"

"I…" she shook her head, looking so conflicted but at the same time angry. "You need to leave."

"Mary Margaret, you can't keep shutting me out."

"Excuse me," Emma couldn't help but step between them. She could see Mary Margaret getting more and more uncomfortable, and she needed to put a stop to it. "I believe she asked you to leave, twice."

"Fine," he sighed. "You know where to find me if you change your mind."

The minute he was gone, Emma shut the door, slamming it by accident in anger. She looked at her roommate to see tears welling up in her eyes.

"Excuse me," she whispered, disappearing into the restroom. Emma couldn't help but feel bad for her. Despite the abusive bastard Leopold was, he was also her father, and she had loved him.

"If I really was the wolf from Henry's story, then I would have torn him to shreds by now," Ruby growled, and then grabbed her jacket from the coat rack. "I should be going. Let me know if anything changes," she said, referring to the reports.

"Of course," Emma smiled gratefully. "Thank you Ruby."

Once the young woman was gone, Emma took her cell and went up to the roof. It was getting dark, but there was just enough of the pink evening light. Potted plants lined the edges of the brick ledges and the floor. There was a table and an old metal bench as well. She took a seat on the rusted old bench and pulled her cell out of her coat pocket.

She was hoping to see a text from Regina, but knew it probably wasn't possible right now. She was probably sitting in the Benz on her way home right now with Leopold and Henry. Instead, she opened her contacts and clicked Katherine's name, the number Ruby had given her. It rang a couple times until a woman finally answered the phone.

"Hello?"

"Hi, is this Katherine?"

"Yes, who am I speaking with?"

"Emma… I mean Deputy Swan. I just wanted to talk to you about Regina Mills."

There was a silence, almost like Katherine was debating whether to continue this conversation or not.

"Look, I'm just calling because I want to help her, that's it."

"You're Henry's birth mother… and the new deputy," she realized. "You work with Sheriff Graham."

"Yes, but I'm not in the business of covering up domestic violence," she practically growled. "I really just want to help her. She's my son's mother."

"I've tried helping her for years, but she's too afraid of losing Henry. Eventually the bastard threatened me to stay away."

"Well, Ruby, Mary Margaret and I are working on a plan to help her. Do you want in? The more people on her side the better."

"You do realize how dangerous this is, right?" she asked. "You're going up against the mayor. He has so much power and so many people in powerful positions on his side. Why do you think the few people who know, turn a blind eye to the abuse? They're afraid, and no matter what I or Mary Margaret do, we can not free her from him."

"It's a risk I'm willing to take," Emma replied with determination, thinking about those dark brown fearful eyes and how closed off the brunette has been lately since they called a truce. Regina needed help, and she was going to try her hardest to pull her out from her husband's abusive hands no matter the risks.

"I thought you two hated each other. The last time I saw her, it was at that dinner party and you two were nearly ready to throw punches." Emma flinched, because if they had thrown punches at each other, she would have hated herself for it now.

"Things changed," she sighed. "We…" They weren't friends yet, so what were they? Acquaintances? "We called a truce."

"Interesting…"

"Are you in or not?"

"Of course I'm in, and I'm a lawyer. She's going to need one."

"That means I won't need to go to Mr. Gold?" she asked in relief.

"Not unless you want to give up your first born, which is Henry."

"Why does everyone keep saying that about him?"

"Look, Emma. We need to start building her case now. She needs to start documenting the evidence."

"She doesn't know we are doing this yet. I'm still trying to get her to trust me."

"Figure out a way then, for now I'm going to start doing some research on Leopold and who in city hall he has in the palm of his hand. Maybe we could start bringing him down from the inside out."

"Katherine, be careful." She couldn't risk this blowing up, because the last thing she wanted was for Leopold to figure out they were on to him.

"I will, and we'll set up a meeting soon to catch up."

They hung up and Emma once again looked longingly at her texts for a certain brunette. She was so worried for her. Either Leopold really didn't want Regina coming up to the loft because he knew she was there, or he was hiding an injury he had given her. She suspected both.

Now she had to figure out she was going to get Regina to document the bruises.