The morning light shines through the blinds to forgotten, and stirs Regina's sleeping form, her head pounding from the intrusion of the sun. Jostling slightly she brushes some hair from her face and notices her surroundings. Her hand collides with papers and she realizes she is not lying down but sitting up in her office chair, her hand draped out in front of her, where her head had previously been resting. She shakes her head to gain her bearings, not remembering how she ended up in this state. The throbbing in her cranium intensifies and she realizes the sloshing in her stomach is making it worse, so she pulls herself up, closes the curtains and goes over to the armoire and changes her shirt to look half way presentable. Dawning sunglasses she heads out the door toward Granny's.
As she arrives, she lingers by the door, suddenly hit by vivid memories of herself pressed up against Ruby. She trudges on unable to rethink of a better idea with the gnawing of her stomach taking precedent.
She flops herself down on a bar stool. Luckily for her Miss Lucas doesn't seem to be in this morning.
Regina is munching on cheese fries, not her normal fare, but a fitting remedy, when the bell chimes and in walks Emma Swan on her way to work. She slides down next to Regina. "Good Morning, Madam Mayor!" Emma greets much too loudly for Regina's comfort.
"Is it?" Regina questions. Upon looking up from her food more memories of Emma flood her senses and she feels suddenly vulnerable.
Emma reaches over and grabs some cheese fries off her plate. Regina goes to slap her hand away, but the sudden movement makes her dizzy. Noticing this Emma asks, "Rough night?"
"Well you would know," Regina replies, stirring the fries around on her plate.
"Right," Emma laughs shakily as she rubs the back of her neck. "Wait, can you read minds or can you see while you're asleep?" Emma asks suddenly puzzled.
"Why are you asking me this?" Regina replies annoyed.
"You were asleep when I saw you. How did you know I was there?" Emma still not following asks.
"How drunk were you last night?" Regina asks incredulous and mad at Emma being intentionally dense in her avoidance.
"Madam Mayor, no disrespect, but I'm not the kale person shoveling cheese fries for breakfast at the greasy town diner," Emma challenges. "No offense, Granny," she adds upon the appearance of the old woman behind the bar.
Regina has no recollection of drinking anything last night, although she certainly would have had a reason to. Was her mind playing a cruel trick? She felt very gaslit. "Okay," she concedes carefully. "What happened last night?"
"Well ya see, I was doing my rounds and I saw your light on." Regina nods along to Emma's story this all lining up so far. "I got to your door and knocked and I heard no answer, so I went in to check when I found the door unlocked. And you were slouched over in your desk chair. So I threw a blanket around your shoulders, shut off the light, and left."
"That was it?" Regina questions.
"Yepp," Emma affirms, leaving out the strange dream she had about other things happening.
"That was kind of you," Regina replies dryly.
"Hey, I am kind," Emma retorts stealing more of Regina's fries. "unlike you," Emma smiles. Regina slides the plate over to openly share, cocks her eyebrow as if to say "Look, I am kind."
"I know I shouldn't have left you there like that, but I just couldn't bare to wake you. I don't imagine a groggy mayor is my favorite kind..." Emma trails off, unnoticed by Regina who now remains deep in thought.
Was it all a dream then or is this the lie? If Emma's trying to convince me of a false chain of events, that's a new low. Even if I'm right, what's the harm in pretending it didn't actually happen? If this was a dream, I'm not sure I want to know what it says about my psyche, Regina waves off her own thoughts.
She is suddenly pulled from her rationalizations by the entrance of Ruby. Ruby looks down upon entering the diner and heads quickly to the back. She comes out later to brew more coffee behind the bar and Regina asks, "Ruby, did I come here late last night?"
Ruby smirks to herself, remembering her dream. "Are you asking if you came here to eat?" Ruby grins, remembering images of the mayor in less than official positions.
"Did you see me last night, yes or no?" Regina pressures, frustrated by Ruby's reluctance to give a straight reply. "Did I see you here in the diner?"
"Did you want to have seen me?" Ruby toys, twirling her hair.
"Ruby, I'm not in the mood," Regina replies darkly shocking Ruby to compliance.
"No, you didn't see me last night," Ruby says quickly before stomping off to the back.
Now it's Emma's turn to cock her eyebrow.
Regina shakes her head. Well that interaction didn't exactly clear up things, but that's Ruby for you, she muses.
~0~
"So I think I had this dream," Regina recounts as she stares up at the dank ceiling of Dr. Hopper's office.
"You think you had a dream," he muses. "That's a strange way to phrase it. What do you mean by that?"
"Well I'm not really sure if it was a dream or really happened," Regina begins.
"Madam Mayor, if you're having trouble discerning truth from fantasy, maybe that's something we should talk about," he informs.
"That's not really why I'm here," Regina smiles sourly. "I highly doubt you're an expert on the subject anyway. As I remember you believed in a false reality for 28 years. I think I'm better at discerning than you." She scowls.
Archie learns back uncomfortably. Clearly the mayor is combative today.
"Now about my dream-" Regina begins.
"- The one that may or may not have happened," he clarifies.
Regina flashes him a warning glare, causing him to visually fluster in his chair and she begins recounting the whole dream and the dynamics that go along with those involved.
When she finishes she asks him, "So what do you think that all means?" Her need for guidance surpassing all feelings about the cricket's ineffectiveness.
"What do you think it means?" he postulates. "Dreams are the work of our subconscious so what you think it means is far more valuable than what I think it means, Madam Mayor."
"I don't know," Regina replies defensively, exasperated.
"Well then let's start working through it together," he comforts her growing agitation gingerly. "Imagine the events of this dream began enfolding in reality, would you behave the same way dream Regina did?"
"I - I don't know," she says as her heart beats faster just thinking of Emma acting like that to her. It would be unheard of -an impossible reality. "It - it doesn't matter. Emma- she's not like that, persay," Regina eventually replies. "Not with me."
"Why do you say that?" he asks.
"Because- because I'm the Evil Queen okay! And she - she's the savior," the words coming out too fast shocking her own ears in her admittance.
"Well Madam Mayor, it looks to me, that you may be harboring some resentment and guilt towards you past actions that makes you question if you really deserve happiness," he treads gingerly with the easy to anger mayor. "Perhaps you feel unworthy of the savior, in the sense that you see her as much holier than thou, and so you settled on a much more morally ambiguous and less discerning lover that you may think of as eager to please, regardless of your past transgressions. Why did you choose her to be a waitress when you cast the curse?"
The question resounds in her head. "Well it's not like I choose the minute details of everyone's life. The curse just kind of ran with my subconscious and I focused on the life I wanted," Regina explains.
"I see," he notes simply.
The silence giving her time to process the beginning of his theory. A venomous denial rises to the surface "I deserve all the happiness in the world. I deserve everything I want and I will get it! Just you see, cricket who got his license from a curse!" The echo of his words ring true, but all there was to see was a woman who didn't want to look weak in a vulnerable moment.
"I'm -uh -glad you feel that way," he sputters in response to her sudden self worth outburst. Then he quickly adds about her work on the curse construction "Guess you knew me and who I could be."
Then the reality comes crashing down on Regina. All this talk of the curse makes her realize one thing. This feels like magic, dark magic.
~0~
The following night's dreams cause no disturbance and Regina wakes up feeling refreshed. She wanders into the station. Sitting down atop the sheriff's desk, her legs draping over the edge. She leans down to face Emma, expressing her gratitude, as she brushes a stray hair behind her ear, "Thanks for the other night," she says shyly. "That was kind of you."
"It's my duty," Emma counters, doing a two finger salute, "and my pleasure."
Regina sucks in air quickly, trying not to swoon. "Well - uh - anyway so to thank you, I - uh wanted to invite you over for lunch today, if you don't have other plans."
"No, sounds good," Emma confirms.
"Great, I'll - uh - see you later," Regina turns and leave taking one last smiling glance over her shoulder at Emma as she reaches the door. Emma responds with finger guns and Regina rolls her eyes.
~0~
"I'm making you a healthier version of grilled cheese," Regina announces as takes Emma back to her kitchen.
"I actually like that. That's really nice of you," Emma smiles.
"I am nice," Regina replies with feigned incredulousness.
Emma just smiles, not wanting to argue, seeing as how she plans to take food from Regina in the immediate future.
Regina finishes preparing the sandwich and places the plate down in front of Emma. Emma just stares at the food.
"What?" Regina questions. "It's not that healthy. It's still toasted cheese, just with apple butter, arugula, and caramelized onions. It's like a more sophisticated version of your beloved classic," she smiles.
Emma doesn't budge. "Yeah, that's not it."
"What, you think it's poisoned?" Regina quips, tossing her head back in laughter.
Emma shrugs as if to say, "Well it wouldn't be the first time you tried to poison me."
"You had no qualms eating my dinner," Regina reminds.
"That's because Henry was here," Emma counters.
"Oh yes, I'm not so evil that I would poison someone in front of my son. Thank you for thinking so highly of me," Regina rolls her eyes, grabbing Emma's sandwich from the plate, taking a bite and slamming it back down. "Better?"
Emma picks up the sandwich and digs right in, making no effort to avoid the lipstick stain from Regina's bite. Smiling back at the brunette who was now she exiting the room.
~0~
Regina returns and sits down with Emma at the table. Breaking Emma from her thoughts and lunch Regina suddenly says "I've killed so many people, Emma. Do you think I'm a monster?" She doesn't look at Emma but out the window.
The question was posed so quietly, so pleadingly, Emma wasn't sure how to respond. "I know," she replies gingerly leaning forward, placing her hand on the other woman's knee. "You're so many things."
Regina continues to look down and bites slightly on her lip. "I never wanted to be the Evil Queen," she admits solemnly. A tone quick to change as she angrily adds, "They are the ones who put evil in front of my name."
"This kingdom made me a hell beast, so I made it hell..." she explains her mind far off inside itself. Regina suddenly keenly award of Emma's hand on her knees takes the offending appendage in hers and sets it down upon the table. Her fingers absentmindedly interlinking with the blonde's as she speaks.
"They all saw me as heartless. Nothing could have been further from the truth... I hold on too tight," the confession roles off her lips too fast to stop. Inwardly sighing she pointedly adds "I held Henry too close and he left me to find you." Regina finally meeting Emma's gaze as she ruminates. The air in the room becomes palpable as the tandem gaze continues seemingly unending. Emma breaks it off to glance down at their fingers as she does Regina suddenly snaps her back as if she touched a hot stove, cradling the afflicted fingers gently in her other hand.
"Is that why you tried to poison me?" Emma asks her eyes large in hopes of building a bridge between them.
Regina breathes deeply before saying "There were many reasons." Most of them having nothing to do with Henry.
Regina removes herself from the table, taking on a much more professional stature she calls out, "Mrs. Swan, look at the time. You should be getting back to the station, lest you anger your boss," the attempt of commanding energy faulting as a light smile forms at the edge of her lips, a slip of the mask she had so hastily donned.
"Right," Emma huffs pulling herself up, following Regina to the door. "I hear she's a real evil lady."
"Oh?" Regina raises an eyebrow. "Is that so? Then you best hope she doesn't hear you speaking like that. She might turn you into a toad," Regina mocks.
"Naw, I don't think so," Emma pretends to ponder. "She thinks I'm too pretty," an over confident dorky smile fills Emma's face, as she leans her head forward into Regina's personal space, her eyes gleam with sincerity to her jest.
Regina's crosses her arms. "Sounds farfetched to me," her dry humour accompanied by rolling eyes and a gentle shove of Emma out the door.
Once Emma leaves, Regina learns back against the closed door, releasing the breath she didn't realize she had been holding since Emma had been so close. Biting the edge of her lip in frustration.
Emma goes to pull out then glances back at the door shaking her head.
~/~
A/N: so that's it that's all your RedQueen. And upon rereading this there's seems to be glimmers of unintentional one sided pinning Regal cricket, but really it's all about the SwanQueen. Hope this clears up the previous chapter (a bit) and fills you with SwanQueen feels.
Also if you are wondering that's a delicious sandwich. I generally eat it not with apple butter but some other kid of jam, but Regina would use apples and I'm sure that would be good too. #GrilledCheeseOTP