Chapter 2 LB – Low Battery
A/N: holy freaking crap! The response to just the first chapter alone was amazing. I hope I can live up to those expectations with this one Sammii16 from FFNet and Swanqueen7 from AO3 you both are awesome. There are so many awesome people, but to give them all a shoutout would take all day so I thought I would pick one from each site I upload to. Terms for this chapter; fire pedorkment which is a term I came up with one day at work in rage over some fire alarm law or another.
Disclaimer is the same as in chapter 1.
Low battery, that is how Emma felt after a long week at work. She found herself absolutely zombified, which didn't make matters any better when Ruby ran into her room with an insanely giddy and wolfish smile. "Emma get dressed, get ready and do whatever it is you have to do. We're going out tonight." Ruby said with a bit too much enthusiasm.
"Ugh Ruby, you should know better. We both work late, and now you're waking me up early for something that is several hours away." Emma groaned.
"It's noon." Ruby deadpanned. This caused Emma to shoot up out of bed. Sadly, working the second shift did Emma's sleep pattern no favors. She couldn't figure out how Ruby had so much energy. Along with this lack of sleep, Emma also managed to forget about her weekly plans with Ruby, August, and their friend Fa Mulan at the Rabbit Hole. Emma and August met Mulan at the last holiday party. They found the company of the young fire runner very enjoyable. Eventually, they introduced Mulan to Ruby and the four of them began hanging out every Friday night.
"How do you even have the energy for this, Ruby?" Emma asked as she hoisted herself out of bed. Ruby just smirked and held up a can. "Red Bull." Ruby answered with confidence. "Come on, Emms, you gotta take risks, loosen up. Don't worry about Regina Mills and have some fun." Emma sighed.
"It's not just about Regina Mills. I just want to do a good job. I mean yeah, I have my parents behind me, but I haven't always had the best grades. I think the only reason I got the job was because Dad knew one of the big wigs there or something." Ruby just shook her head and fixed Emma with a stern gaze.
"Don't you talk like that, Emma Swan. You got that job because you care about people. You got this job because your communication skills are top notch. Don't you dare question yourself. You are a great person, and one I am proud to call my friend!" Ruby shot back. She hated when Emma did this to herself because she knew Emma was better than that. Emma smiled at her best friend and got up to get ready for her day. The day was uneventful in the Swan home given that both Emma and Ruby had the day off.
Regina on the other hand had to work that day. Even though she was the Mayor, her day at work was filled with fear. She knew exactly what caused the carbon monoxide incident the previous night, and the fear that it could happen again was very real in her mind. However, she trusted her friend Kathryn Midas, so she let Kathryn talk her into going out to the Rabbit Hole with her. Regina wasn't really one to go out, but she needed to take her mind off the incident. "Henry, I'm home, but I'm going out with Aunt Kathryn tonight. You are still grounded, so I had best not find that you left this house." Regina said with authority.
"Whatever, Mother; oh, and by the way, Kathryn is not my aunt." Henry said with defiance. 14 year, and he still believed his mother was a fairytale villain. Regina didn't know what to do at this point, so she just shook her head made her way to her room to prepare for her night. Before long, Kathryn had arrived, and she and Regina left for the Rabbit Hole, but not before Regina armed her system to prevent Henry from leaving.
The four friends had met up and their night was underway. Food and drinks were ordered and as they waited, Ruby kept stealing glances at Mulan hoping the other girl wouldn't notice. "So, Mulan, did you go on any interesting runs this week?' Emma asked in an attempt to break the silence.
"Yes, I went on one yesterday." Mulan responded through gritted teeth. Emma sensed the anger, but she continued her line of questioning.
"What happened?" she pressed.
"It was a test. The damn FD was waiting for me with a stopwatch. Turns out not only did they activate the alarm, they messed with the gate valve on the sprinkler system." Mulan hated these alarm tests because just like her friends, she wanted to be able to actually help people as opposed to just test runs.
"Fuckin' fire pedorkment," august muttered with a chuckle. This caused the entire group to laugh. August and Emma had developed their own vocabulary of funny works between the two of them. "I'd like to propose a toast to Emma," August began. "Who saved Mayor Regina Mills from carbon monoxide exposure. May she win the Golden Hero award and may Regina not tear her apart in the process." August concluded with a chuckle. Everyone else laughed before chorusing 'to Emma'. It was at this moment that the doors of the bar opened and in strode the very woman herself along with her best friend.
The bar went quiet. Everyone was intimidated by the Mayor, and no one ever expected her to be in a place like the Rabbit whole. She walked over to the bar with Kathryn, but those who knew her noticed something was off. She didn't carry herself with that regal demeanor. She seemed unsure of herself and Kathryn kept a comforting hand on her shoulder.
"Who is that?", Emma whispers to her group of friends. Their jaws just drop at their friend's lack of knowledge.
"The mayor," Ruby said as if that was the most obvious thing in the world.
"The woman you saved," August deadpanned. Realization dawned on Emma. This was Regina Mills and she was the mayor of Storybrooke. She usually didn't concern herself with knowing this stuff because of her hectic schedule.
"She's also evil incarnate." Mulan smirked. Emma gave her friend a look.
"Sshh, can't you see something's not right?" Emma gave her friends a stink eye they wouldn't forget for years to come. Ruby understood completely before addressing the group.
"She lost a friend due to Co poisoning when she was younger. Once she found out about White Knight, she applied for the job. Her parents, the interviewer, and myself are the only ones who know about this."
As her friends talked, they didn't notice Emma go over to the bar where Regina was slowly sipping an appletini. "Hey, is everything okay?" she spoke in a calm voice remembering the distant look on the other woman's face.
"Excuse me?" Regina demanded believing this woman was just here to patronize the all mighty madam mayor.
"I'm sorry. When you came in, you just had this look like…" before Emma could finish, she was cut off.
"Like what hmm? Like a weakling? A kicked puppy?" the other woman spat.
"Gina, just calm down." Kathryn began. "Emma and I work together. She was just concerned." Regina looked up at the use of the other woman's name. "Emma?" she began before her voice got quiet.
"You're Emma?" she asked causing Emma to nod. "You're the one who saved me." Emma just nodded once again. "I was horrible to you twice now. I'm sorry." Emma just smiled.
"It's okay, Regina." this caused the brunette to give a puzzled look at the use of her name as she never gave it. "Name on the account," Emma clarified caused the older woman to nod in understanding. "I'm sorry to bother you, Miss Mills." Emma apologized before turning to walk away.
"Emma, please wait." Regina called out as the music and merriment picked back up. "I was hoping you would honor me with a dance." Regina finished holding out her hand for Emma. Regina let Emma lead her onto the floor, but not before giving Kathryn an unsure look only to be met with a thumbs up. The usually regal woman had truly been shaken by the invisible destroyer as well as the possibility of how it could have come about. She let Emma take the lead, knowing that in that instant she would be safe especially in this foreign setting. Emma's friends looked over to see her dancing with Regina and each held a different look. One smile, one look of shock, and one of repulsion. Not because Mulan was homophobic, but because Regina always left a bad taste in her mouth. Ruby gave the girl on whom she was crushing a warning look and continued to smile at her friend. Emma and Regina danced all night. Regina felt this was right. She was with someone she felt safe with while at the same time not feeling tied down to Kathryn. They knew they would see each other again soon at the ceremony to honor Emma and those who helped save Regina and her family that night. Regina didn't know what she felt for the other girl yet, but she knew that in that instant she felt safe and she felt a connection starting to form. The night ended as a blur for both of them. It was a blissful blur, but a blur nonetheless.
As was the case with most blissful blurs, this was met with a rude awakening the next morning. This particular rude awakening took the form of loud knocking and screaming. "Emma Swan, you open this door right now." The woman was furious, and she had every intention of entering her daughter's apartment. The next thing Emma knew, Ruby could be heard opening the door after in one of the worst hangovers Emma had seen from her friend.
"Fuck, Mrs. Swan, what's all the yelling about?" Mary-Margaret Blanchard-Swan just put her hands on her hips. "Where is my daughter, Ruby Lucas? I haven't heard from her in a week." It was at this point Emma decided to make her presence known.
"Jeez mom, I'm right here. I swear you're like a walking talking timer test." Both Mary-Margaret and Ruby looked at Emma as if she had 10 heads for her use of alarm terminology. "You know, mom. That alarm signal that we get if the system doesn't send a monthly test signal. Then we have to call and usually the customer gets annoyed. In this case I'm the alarm, you're the annoying dispatcher who calls, and Ruby and I both are the annoyed customers." Mary-Margaret nodded in understanding before giving her daughter a scowl. "A lot has happened in a short time, Mom. I'll make us some coffee and tell you all about it."
"So you saved Mayor Mills from Carbon Monoxide, and now you're getting that hero award." Mary-Margaret asked with excitement. "Yeah Mom, and as it turns out, I ran into her at the Rabbit Hole. I didn't even know it was her at first." Emma finished while trying to hide the fact that she felt a connection with the mayor. Mary-Margaret couldn't be mor proud of her daughter. She knew Emma loved to help people and all that wanting and waiting finally payed off. Conversation continued in that manner for about 2 hours before Mary-Margaret noticed the time and said she needed to get back to David and her youngest child Neal. Before she left however, she made Emma solemnly swear to text her at least every 3 days.
A/N: special thanks o my beta Tristin and all you great readers.