Henry knew something was wrong as soon as he stepped off the school bus. The sound of familiar voices raised in anger drifted to where he stood on the kerb. Turning up the garden path, he shrugged his backpack into a more comfortable position and broke into a run. 108 Mifflin Street loomed ahead of him, the stunning and imposing mansion looking for all the world as though it had been tailor made for his mother; Storybrooke's beautiful and formidable Mayor.
Which, he supposed, it pretty much had been.
The front door was already ajar, but as he cautiously pushed it open, the sound of shouting increased tenfold.
Entering the immaculate hall, a familiar sight met the boy's eyes. Both his mothers were framed in the kitchen doorway, facing one another over the island counter. Each woman was in the same position - palms splayed on the granite worktop, eyes blazing, leaning towards the other in fury.
His brunette mother was as livid as he had ever seen her. Her painted lips were drawn back into a snarl, her dark eyes sparked with rage and a vein pounded threateningly in her forehead. She looked every inch the Evil Queen from his storybook.
Like a mirror image across the counter, his birth mother was no less angry. Blonde curls were thrown haphazardly around her like a halo, her mouth was turned down in frustration, and a frown creased her forehead. For a moment they both fell silent, still completely unaware of their audience, but seemingly seething beyond words.
Henry was struggling to determine who was more furious. He was certain that if looks could kill, he would be an orphan by now. Whatever the cause of this latest argument, it was definitely bad news for his dysfunctional little family.
XXXXX
Regina would never have admitted it, but she was enjoying herself immensely. Her heart pounded in her chest and her voice was hoarse from shouting at the blonde nuisance who had dared to stroll into her life, dressed in ripped jeans and cheap leather, and caused her whole world to shatter. Again.
It had been months since Robin had returned to his wife, and Regina had felt completely hollow ever since. Her mother's bitter words had returned to mock her; love is weakness.
But now that she was yelling at the woman responsible, Regina felt her deadened emotions spark back into life. She reveled in her anger, too proud to acknowledge (even to herself) that she had deliberately started this latest fight.
Pausing in her tirade, the brunette took a moment to simply enjoy the remorseful look on the younger woman's face.
Emma was staring silently at the work surface in front of her, a rueful blush creeping across her porcelain skin.
The Mayor smirked at the mini victory, but her smugness didn't last long. Registering the continued silence, Emma looked up and Regina was suddenly met with a pair of soulful green eyes. Much to her annoyance, the older woman felt her stomach flip.
She stifled a groan at the revelation; apparently, the blonde's submissive side was something her inner 'Evil Queen' found…surprisingly attractive.
The brunette clenched her hands into fists, shocked and angered in equal measure. She had always known that Henry's birth mother was attractive, but this was the first time she had found herself actively wanting to do something about it.
She could read in the younger woman's face how sorry Emma was for hurting her, however unintentionally the pain had been caused.
As she considered the blonde's mournful expression, more conflicting emotions blossomed in the Mayor's chest, but Regina stamped them out.
The fact remained that she had never been as infuriated with anyone as she currently was with Emma Swan. The betrayal cut too deep.
To be frank, she had beheaded people for less.
Regina had governed her town for 28 long years. It should have been everything she had ever wanted, but having the insipid residents of Storybrooke bend to her smallest whim had worn thin frustratingly quickly, and she had soon discovered that victory was nowhere near as satisfying without a fight.
Even so, the arrival of Henry's birth mother had instilled a blind panic in the normally composed Mayor, as she had been forced to watch everything she had sacrificed so much for slowly crack and break apart, before crashing spectacularly down around her. The very small silver lining had been gaining Emma as a sparring partner and then, much later, a friend.
That was until the completely incompetent Sheriff had yet again ruined everything – dragging Marion back to Storybrooke to stomp all over another of Regina's happy endings.
It stuck like a knife in Regina's gut that this so-called Saviour had destroyed not only her curse, but also all of her defences; worming her way into their lives until Regina had simply turned around one day to find, much to her irritation, that Emma was part of their tiny family.
And then she had been betrayed by her supposed friend. Again.
Like mother like daughter, Regina thought bitterly, slamming her hands down on the counter.
She may no longer be the Evil Queen, but Regina was determined to take pleasure in making the blonde's life as difficult as possible. Right now, forcing Emma to join her in her misery would have to be enough.
Drawing herself up to her full height, Regina shot the blonde her best sneer and watched with satisfaction as Emma's apologetic expression disappeared, replaced by a flicker of irritation in her emerald eyes.
The change spurred Regina on and the Mayor folded her arms triumphantly to deliver the killer blow, "My son will be home shortly Miss Swan, so why don't you do what you excel at and leave?"
She watched Emma flinch at the words and almost felt guilty. Not an emotion the brunette enjoyed, and certainly not one she was about to acknowledge. Nevertheless, it was a low blow and she knew it. Emma had proven over and over again that she was committed to Henry.
A few weeks ago Regina was trying to be a better person.
That Regina may even have apologised.
But the pain this new Regina felt held her back, and she watched in silence as the younger woman seemed to deflate, the fight draining out of her.
For a moment the former Evil Queen felt that same twisted sense of victory that had been familiar to her in the Enchanted Forest. She was certain the argument was won, but found herself marginally impressed as Emma took a deep breath, ran a hand through her hair, and then met her cold glare with a confident gaze of her own.
A skitter of excitement ran up the brunette's back at the unspoken challenge. Nobody stood up to her the way Emma did.
When she had been Queen, Regina had fixed grown men with the same icy look she was currently shooting her former friend, and had watched them weep with fear. Yet the blonde was simply staring evenly back at her, ready to meet the challenge.
The Mayor felt a flicker of something close to respect.
Really, though, she shouldn't have been surprised. If there was one thing Emma Swan had learned from her time in prison, it was to meet the gaze of the scariest woman in the room.
For a few seconds they just glared at each other, Regina trying to pinpoint the emotions swirling in stormy green eyes.
She briefly wondered if she could only see pain hidden there, or whether there was something more complicated in the blonde's unreadable expression.
Then she reminded herself that she didn't care.
Her gaze swept coolly across Emma's face, and Regina found herself once again distracted by the flush creeping across her skin. This time it seemed to be caused by anger rather than remorse, but the older woman found that she liked it all the same. Her eyes subconsciously traced the pinkness as it spread from the blonde's cheeks to where it disappeared under her hideous red jacket.
Regina swallowed as her eyes dropped to the neck of a tight white tank-top, and she felt her fingers twitch with the unconscious desire to grab a handful of golden locks and simply drag the younger woman over the counter towards her. To do what, she was not sure.
Before she could act on the impulse, she remembered her promise to Henry; she had been trying so hard not to revert back to the Evil Queen from his book.
An almost impossible feat when you were Mayor of a town where every resident was the village idiot.
Still, Regina had promised her son she would do better, and she had meant it.
However, as far as she was concerned, that kindness did not extend to the traitor in front of her, and she was more than willing to take out her pent up rage on Sheriff Swan when necessary.
XXXXX
Regina may have been enjoying herself, but on the other side of the beautiful kitchen, Storybrooke's Sheriff was having nowhere near as much fun. The blonde pushed herself back from the island counter and strode to the far side of the room in frustration.
If a childhood spent bouncing around the foster system had instilled anything in Emma, it was an overwhelming desire to run. She had never been able to understand Regina's constant need to seek out confrontation rather than just get the Hell out of there.
It was a fight or flight instinct that had never really left the Sheriff, but she knew deep down that for the first time in her life, leaving town would hurt people. She could never do that to Henry, or to her parents. And for reasons she was not even willing to consider, she was not sure she could do it to Regina.
As exasperating as she found the idea, Emma knew she would never leave Regina alone in a town where everyone (even Henry) so often saw a villain bubbling under the surface.
Storybrooke's residents had dealt with things differently in the Enchanted Forest, and Emma had visions of returning to Boston only to hear from Henry that his mom had done something so Regina-ish that the residents had finally lost their patience and had the Mayor's head stuck on a spike in front of the Town Hall.
It had become blindingly obvious to Emma that Regina was a lot of things, including a major pain in the ass, but she could never see her as 'Evil'.
Although, the blonde thought bitterly as she watched a malicious smirk tug at the corner of the Mayor's mouth, it is getting easier and easier to see the appeal of smacking that smile right off her smug face.
The Sheriff was fast reaching the end of her patience with this particular fight. She was still pretty bemused as to how it had even started in the first place. Then again, she had spent years being amazed at how fights with Regina sparked into a life of their own. It was something that was beginning to take its toll on her, because she sure as Hell never won any of them.
The blonde let out an exasperated sigh and cracked her knuckles loudly - largely to stop herself wrapping her hands around a delicate neck and wringing some sense into the woman opposite.
Regina grimaced at the sound and Emma grinned; if the action had the added bonus of pissing off Madam Mayor, then so much the better. She cracked the knuckles on her other hand for good measure, before turning on her heel and striding to the other side of the kitchen.
Having put some distance between them, the blonde turned to face Regina.
The older woman was already watching her with a smirk, "Taken my advice and decided to run, dear?' she asked, glancing around pointedly at the sudden space, her dark eyes glinting with mirth.
She quirked an eyebrow and gestured towards the door, "I would expect nothing less."
The words stung because Emma feared the truth of them. Even though she had no plans to run, she was frightened that being a mother, a Sheriff, and a Savior, was simply too much. Some days it clawed at her insides and she was terrified that it might eventually overwhelm her.
Regina was still smiling triumphantly, arms folded in victory, and Emma felt her anger return with full force.
Maybe there was nothing more to Regina Mills than killer heels and a sneer. She was certainly a complete bitch when she wanted to be.
And yet, just occasionally, the Sheriff thought they were making progress - putting aside their differences to do what was best for Henry. But then Regina would shut down and they were back to square one again.
Or Emma would royally screw up and bring back a woman from another land, who would turn out to be Regina's boyfriend's long lost wife. Just normal stuff that most people work through…
The blonde sighed in frustration at how messed up their situation was. She knew she had hurt Regina, but that hadn't been her intention; something the brunette must know deep down.
Emma had forgiven Regina for more than her fair share of shit, so really it was about time the older woman cut her some slack as well.
The unfairness of it all hit Emma square in the chest, and the blonde was damned if she was going to give up without getting in a few shots of her own. Squaring her shoulders, she narrowed her glittering green eyes and prepared to hurl an insult back at that infuriating smirk.