Author's Notes:

Special Thanks to ale_nena for all her encouragement. I couldn't have done it without you.

Setting: Misthaven non-magical modern AU. The society and political system will be based on a combination of modern countries, with a probable bias toward the American system as I am an American. However, all characters are fictional and resemblance to real people or events is purely coincidence.

* 0 * 0 * 0 * 0 * 0 * 0 *

"Thank you, everyone, for the honor of letting me speak with you…"

Robin perked up as Cora rattled through the closing remarks of her speech. He'd mostly let her voice fade into the background as he stood at a spot in the bushes that gave good views of the entire area, while letting him remain inconspicuous.

This fancy garden party was being hosted by a women's fundraising organization, so most of the attendees were society matrons who sat under a white tent sipping lemonade while discussing...whatever it was they discussed.

After Cora wrapped up her speech, the party seemed to be winding down. She made the rounds of the group a few times, shaking hands and exchanging greetings; however, some of the guests were already drifting out of the area.

Glancing over to make sure Cora was distracted, Robin wiped his sleeve across his forehead. It was unseasonably hot for early summer and he was drenched in sweat under his suit.

Quickly dropping his arm, he scanned the garden again, mainly just to distract himself from the heat.

The majority of the guests were already leaving, and Cora was talking with the hostess.

With a sigh, he did another scan and tugged at the collar of his shirt. It was damp and felt constricting.

As he turned his attention back to Cora, he found her striding toward him intently. Straightening up, he nodded in acknowledgement at her presence.

"Mrs. Mills, are you ready to go? I can have the valet bring the car around."

She nodded, "Yes, but let's walk up together. There's something I've been meaning to discuss with you."

"Alright," he said cautiously, waiting for her to lead the way. She did so, strolling leisurely through the flower beds. He walked at her heels for about 10 minutes. Normally, he wouldn't have minded the walk, but even under the shade of decorative trees he was sweltering.

"Locksley, are you alright?" Cora asked abruptly.

He looked her, asking in surprise, "Ma'am?"

She turned, fixing him with a piercing look, "You're sweating."

"Oh, um...yes," he acknowledged.

Cora didn't respond, simply raising an eyebrow. Apparently, she expected more of an explanation than that.

"It's very warm today," he said, hoping she didn't actually expecting him to apologize for a bodily function.

"Yes, it is," she nodded, "Did you not check the weather report ahead of time?"

"Ah no, Ma'am. I did."

"But you didn't bother to dress accordingly? I believe I told Drake to inform you that this was a casual event. He did not?"

"He did," Robin acknowledged, "I just...these suits were given to me when I was first hired, so I thought I was expected to wear them."

"I see," Cora answered, sounding very unimpressed, "I know that as part of your hiring package you were given a list of stores where appropriate clothing for every occasion could be acquired."

"I was," he confirmed.

Cora paused, folding her hands in front of her with a hard look on her face, "Is there a reason you haven't done so?"

"Well…" he explained, "...I just haven't really gotten the chance to yet."

"You've been working for me nearly two months, Locksley," she responded, "You've spent all this time wearing the same set of suits. Presumably, you've had them cleaned?"

"Yes, of course!"

"I know you're probably not familiar with politics," she went on, "But, in this world, appearances matter. Whether we like it or not, it's a fact of life. I expect my staff to understand that fact, and to realize that what they do reflects on me…on my entire family, our legacy..."

Shifting, he answered, "Yes, Ma'am"

"Besides, don't you think that you would be more effective at your job by blending in?" she asked, her tone of voice neutral on the outside but the implication that he was stupid was very clear beneath it.

"Yes," he nodded, "I understand."

"Good," Cora said, "So if you could please remedy the situation as soon as you have a chance, I'd appreciate it."

"Yes, Ma'am," Robin said, "I will."

"Very well then," she let out a breath, letting her hands fall to her sides, "I think I'm ready to be going now."

Keeping a practice neutral expression, Robin stood aside to allow her to walk ahead of him out of the garden.

* 0 * 0 * 0 * 0 * 0 * 0 *

The hot weather didn't relent over the next few days, in fact in kept climbing. Every morning the local news discussed this as the hottest summer on record in Misthaven.

Friday ended up being the hottest of the week, starting right in the morning and reaching a peak in the late afternoon. Right around the time Regina, whom he was assigned to that day, came out of her office and announced she was ready to leave for the day.

Even the underground parking garage at the Mills Foundation offered little protection.

Once she was in the passenger's seat, he quickly jogged around to the driver's side, cranked up the engine, and flipped the air conditioning up to full blast.

After a sigh of relief, he noticed Regina watching him in amusement.

"You alright there?" she asked, a smirk playing at her lips.

"Yeah, I'm fine," he answered, "Just hot today."

"It is," she agreed, "I didn't know you were struggling with that. Isn't Sherwood usually warmer than the Coastal Region?"

She had a point, so he simply shrugged, "Guess I got used to the mild spring."

"Hm," Regina nodded, "Well it might help if you bought some suits that aren't pure wool!"

He glanced at her in surprise, but she didn't seem to notice as she continued in a mildly teasing tone, "I guess you haven't noticed that the other guards changed their wardrobe with the season, but you're starting to stand out! Honestly, I'm surprised my mother hasn't said anything. She likes perfection."

Robin continued to stare at her, lips fallen open.

"What?" she asked.

Finally, he glanced away, "Actually she did."

Regina blinked, "Oh I see. What happened?"

"She reminded me that there was a list of places I was supposed to shop and asked that I get some new clothes as soon as I got the chance."

She laughed, "Ah, well that doesn't surprise me. I've had more than a few of those conversations with Mother over the years. Did you go?"

"I haven't gotten around to it yet," he answered as he drove down the onramp and merged onto the interstate.

Regina's lips fell open and she barked out a laugh, "Well I hate to break it to you, Locksley, but when my mother says 'as soon as you can' she means she wants it done a week ago!"

Glancing over at her, he searched her face for signs she was teasing again, but found her looking dead serious.

"Oh," was his only answer.

Staring out at the road, he drove along in silence for a few minutes before he heard Regina sigh heavily and dump her phone into her purse.

"Take that ramp up ahead," she told him, nodding to the next exit.

It wasn't the ramp that would lead to the estate, so he looked at her in confusion, "Why? I thought you said you were just going home tonight?"

Glaring at him, she ribbed, "Must you argue with everything?"

He smirked, turning on the indicator, "Sorry, Ms. Mills."

Following her direction, he found himself pulling into a parking space in front of the same high-end shopping mall where he'd had that first disastrous trip with her.

With trepidation, he turned off the ignition and asked, "What are we doing here?"

"All the places that are on your list, you'll find here," Regina answered as she unbuckled her seatbelt, "So we might as well just get this over with!"

"What?" he blinked, figuring out what she intended, "Regina, no."

Stopping as she was pulling the handle to open the passenger's side door, she turned to him expectantly, "Problem?"

"I..." he stammered, "...you don't need to do this. I'll do as your mother asks on my day off."

"We're already here now," she pointed out matter-of-factly.

"Well...yeah but..."

An amused smirk played at her lips again as she prompted, "But what?"

"But...I don't need you to buy me clothes!"

"Who said I was planning on it?" she asked, "You brought your wallet right?"

He sighed, "Yes."

"So what's the problem?"

"Well...I mean...this isn't exactly..."

Her smirk widened, "Isn't exactly...what?"

"I'm on duty," he answered, "I'm supposed to be guarding you, not shopping with you."

She raised an eyebrow, "Didn't we already have this conversation?"

"That was different!"

"How?"

"Because if you're going shopping I'm doing my job by being with you-"

"And didn't my mother just tell you this is part of your job?"

"I don't think this is exactly what she had in mind," he answered, "I pretty sure she wouldn't be happy if she found out."

At the her smirk got even wider, "Oh, so you're concerned about what my mother thinks? I didn't know you had such a high opinion of her?"

He sighed, "She's my boss."

"Right," Regina said skeptically, "Well, I know her a lot better than you and I can tell you for a fact that, if she knew I was getting involved with making sure the staff had dressed appropriately, she'd be thrilled! Saves her the trouble."

"You can't be serious," he answered.

"I am!" she shot back, "Now can we stop arguing about this? It's getting a little tiresome! I'm trying to help you here."

"I appreciate that," he said, trying to sound diplomatic, "But I just don't think..."

"What?" she prompted, but he didn't really have a way to end that sentence that sounded good.

Rolling her eyes Regina said, "Alright, now you're just acting like a child! Come on, Robin, it isn't so bad, and, I promise, if you're good while shopping, I'll buy you ice cream after."

With that she opened the door and climbed out of the car, letting it shut behind her, and striding toward the entrance.

He started after her, wondering how it was this moment actually managed to get more humiliating! Resigning himself, he climbed out of the car and followed her inside.

As he walked two-strides behind her through the marble courtyards, he could see the smug expression on her face reflected in store windows.

Finally, she turned into one of the larger department stores and lead him around to the mens' department.

"Hello," a bright-eyed sales girl greeted them, "Can I help you?"

Regina looked at him for a moment, before mercifully jumping into a conversation with the girl that Robin barely heard two words of.

Glancing around the beige walls, he wondered to himself if this was actually happening. Was he actually standing in the middle of a designer mall with the daughter of Misthaven's most well known politician picking out clothes for him?

Yes, apparently he was, because after a few minutes back and forth between them, the sales-girl led the two around showing Regina various items, which were promptly passed to him to hold.

After going through several racks, the girl looked up at him and asked, "So shall I set you up a changing room?"

Before he could answer, Regina chimed in, "Yes, absolutely."

"Great," she chirped, taking the pile of clothes out of his arms, "I'll put these inside."

He smiled politely as she walked away, turning to Regina once she was gone.

"Was that really necessary?" he asked.

Turning to him, Regina gave him a look, "Well, of course! Do you usually buy clothes without trying them on?"

With that she followed in the direction the salesperson had gone. Shaking his head he followed her to the changing area.

The girl smiled at him from the doorway of one of the rooms, "You're all set up here. If you need anything else just let me know."

"Thank you very much," Regina said politely.

After the girl left them again, Robin turned to her, "If I'm going to go in that stall, you're going to have to stay right out here so that I know you're okay."

"Oh, I hadn't planned on going anywhere!" she informed him, a positively evil smile stretching across her lips as she set her purse down on the floor and sat down in an arm chair in the middle of the changing rooms, "Now hurry up! I want to see everything!"

He nodded absently, doing a double take as her words sunk in, "What's that?"

Looking up at him from the chair, she smiled again, "I need to see how things look to tell if they're appropriate for you to wear on duty."

Staring back at her, he said, "Regina, come on. This isn't funny anymore."

She laughed, "Agree to disagree. Besides, I'm serious, this is for your own good! Which do you want? To do this now and not have to worry about it again, or have another talk with Mother?"

The look on her face as she asked the question told him that this was already happening, so he might as well stop fighting it.

* 0 * 0 * 0 * 0 * 0 * 0 *

It was about 45 minutes later when Regina rose from the armchair to stretch her back.

Pacing around the waiting area, she laughed to herself. She'd made Locksley show her several outfits, many of which were simple suits, or khaki's and polo shirts, that she didn't truly need to see to asses.

However, the miserable look on is face was well worth it. A little payback for his comments after her last shopping trip.

Hearing a set of heeled footsteps approaching, she turned as the sales person helping them arrived.

"Oh, Ms. Mills, how's it going in here?" she asked.

"Quite well thank you," Regina answered.

"Wonderful," the girl answered, holding up some ties, "I know we picked out the charcoal grey and black, but I brought some other options for ties. I thought some color might be a good idea. Especially with the lighter suits."

"Hm," she hummed, looking over the choices. There was a gold paisley that was rich in color, but too busy and ostentatious, a deep red with black pinstripes, and a deep solid blue.

"I like this one," she commented, picking up the blue.

"I agree," the girl nodded, "I think that one will look best with his coloring."

Regina met her eyes briefly before agreeing. As the girl walked away, Regina turned to the mirror. The tie was a good color. Almost the color of a few dresses she owned.

Impulsively, she looped it around her neck like a scarf, chuckling at her own silliness.

Her attention was drawn by the changing room door opening. She turned as Robin stepped out. This time he was wearing a lightweight navy suit.

Before she could say anything, the sales-girl stepped back in.

"That looks amazing!"

"Um, yes, good timing," Regina commented, unlooping the tie from her neck, "This'll go with it."

With that she reached over his head to put the tie around Robin's neck. As she did so he briefly turned his head into the fabric. His nose brushed the inside of her wrist, but so lightly that she convinced herself she'd imagined it.

As she let the ends fall, their eyes met.

"Matches perfectly," she assessed, breaking the eye contact and motioning for him to tie it.

She stepped back as he did so, putting herself behind one of the armchairs.

"Yes, it does," the sales-girl chimed in, "That's great. That's my favorite one yet!"

Regina quirked her lip, noting internally that the girl was making her opinion very clear without saying it by how her eyes travelled up and down him in the mirror.

Still, Regina thanked her again and waited patiently until she ran out of excuses for being there.

Once she was gone, Robin sighed, "So this one's okay I take it?"

"Yes," she answered, "That one's a winner."

He turned back to the changing room, looking inside at the outfits still hanging on the wall hooks, "Do I really need to try on all of these still?"

She bit her lip against a laugh but decided to take mercy on him, "No, I think we have enough to tide you over for the rest of the summer, and, if you need more later, you can use what we picked today as a guide."

With relief he went back into the changing room to put his wool suit back on, and carried the items he'd chosen, or rather than Regina had chosen for him, to the cash register.

She stood next to him, a teasing smile firmly on her lips as he paid.

"Alright, Mr. Locksley," their sales person said as she handed him is receipt and credit card, "Is there anything else I can do for you today?"

"No," he answered, "Thank you very much for your help."

"Oh, it was no trouble," she said.

Smirking again, Regina scooped up two of the bags, "Come on, it's getting late and I did promise you ice cream if you were good."

A very satisfying flush crossed his cheeks, and the sales-girl wrinkled her brow in confusion.

Hips swaying, Regina made her way out of the store to the outside courtyard. She lead him across it to the custard shop Frozen.

"So what flavor do you want?" she asked.

"Regina, this really isn't necessary," he told her.

"No," she laughed, "A promise is a promise."

He looked at her doubtfully, but she ignored it, stepping up to the counter and ordering two cups of chocolate ice cream. After paying she passed one cup to him and said, "Since you wouldn't pick, I chose for you."

"Thank you," he murmured, following her out of the shop.

"Oh, you're welcome," she teased, "You did take it like a man, after all."

He couldn't help but laugh at the way she dropped her voice low, the impish glint in her eyes, and just the way her demeanor was more open than he'd ever seen her be.

It was true that they'd been on better terms since their conversation at the gala, but, at the moment, she looked so relaxed and enchantingly joyful that he couldn't even bring himself to be annoyed at what she'd just put him through.

That still didn't stop him from teasing, "So have you had your fun?"

Sucking a bite of ice cream off the plastic spoon, she admitted, "Yes, I did."

"Uh huh," he muttered sarcastically.

"I think you did too," she said, fixing him with a piercing look as they leisurely walked along.

"I suspect me having fun wasn't your goal today!"

She laughed harder in response.

He turned serious, however, as he answered, "Though, in all honesty, I wouldn't have known all those things to get without you here...thank you for helping me."

Swallowing, she answered, "It's nothing, really. You said it yourself, spending lots of money is something I'm good at!"

"I didn't mean that!" he protested.

"I know," Regina nodded, continuing along sedately, "Although, I still don't see why you can't just admit you had fun shopping!"

"It's not my thing," he told her, "Buying clothes is something I do when I need to-"

"Apparently you don't!" she shot back, reminding him of the fact that Cora was the reason they were there in the first place.

"I don't for fun," he clarified.

She shrugged, "Well, I guess most men feel that way...if you're going to insist on being a cliche!"

He rolled his eyes but did not comment. They made their way slowly back to the parking lot, stopping at a trashcan to ditch their empty ice cream cups.

"Well," he checked his watch, "We better get going. It's getting late."

"You're right," she sighed, "I'll miss dinner if we don't leave now."

He chuckled, "Dinner. I didn't even think about that. We had dessert first."

"Ugh," Regina groaned, "Yeah, we're having osso buco tonight...not sure how good a follow up that'll be to chocolate ice cream!"

He watched her as they walked the rest of the way to the car. She got in the front while he loaded the bags into the back. As he slid into the front seat, he started up the engine to begin cooling them down and paused for a moment to look out the front windshield. He knew what he was thinking about was probably not a good idea, and was trying to talk himself out of it…

"Robin?" she asked, "Is everything alright?"

"Yeah," he said, "Listen, do you really not want osso...whatever it is, you're having tonight?"

"Why?" she narrowed her eyes.

"Well...we could go get something else instead if you don't have to be home," she blinked in surprise, so he went on quickly, "I do owe you for what you did for me."

After a moment, she finally asked, "What did you have in mind?"

"I don't know," he shrugged, in what he hoped looked like a casual way, "A burger…pizza? You could try something normal people eat!"

She rolled her eyes, "I've had pizza before!"

"Oh, what's your favorite kind?"

"Barbecue duck with watercress," she told him.

"What?!"

"They make it a Pie Art. It's a restaurant downtown. It's world famous!"

"That is not real pizza!"

"So now you're a chef?" she scoffed.

He shook his head, "I don't need to be one to know that's a crime! Watercress? Really?"

She rolled her eyes, "Well what would you suggest then?"

"I'll show you," he smiled, throwing the car into reverse and pulling out of the parking lot.

* 0 * 0 * 0 * 0 * 0 * 0 *

Regina sighed as she looked out the car window. They had parked in the far corner of the parking lot at a place called Brick Oven Pizza. It didn't look like much from the outside. A small hole in the wall place with a brick chimney and picnic tables outside. The tables were crowded with people, mainly teenagers, but there were a few families as well.

Robin had parked in the far corner of the lot where there weren't many people, and left the car running while he went inside. She mused that at least he hadn't suggested cracking a window.

Finally, he returned carrying two triangle-shaped boxes and a carrier with two sodas.

Sliding into the driver's side, he handed her one of the boxes and transferred the sodas to the cup-holder between the seats.

"Here you are. Real pizza," he said, opening his box and taking a bite of the slice.

Regina removed her sunglasses and opened the box, "I see. So watercress is a crime, but artificial coloring and preservatives are a fine meal?"

He glanced over at her, nodding to the pepperoni slice in the box, "Take a bite of that and tell me it isn't."

Shaking her head, she lifted the slice. It was floppy and required folding to eat, but it was delicious. The crust was just chewy enough and the sauce was savory with the cheese and meat.

As she swallowed the first bite, she dabbed her lips with a napkin,"Alright, I'll give you it's pretty good."

He smirked, "Was that so hard?"

"I don't know," she glared, "How hard was it for you to admit you enjoyed shopping?"

"Okay, fair enough." he acknowledged.

They ate and sipped sodas in silence for a few minutes before she asked, "So how did you find this place? I thought you didn't have a car?"

"I don't," he nodded, "Well, I do, but not in Unity City."

She looked at him questioningly, but he waved off the question, "It's really old...long story. Anyway, Miguel told me about this place. A few of the guys went here one weekend."

"Oh," she answered, "So you're friends with the other members of the security team?"

"Yeah," he nodded, "They're good guys."

"Hm…" she muttered, "...already."

He lowered his slice mid-bite, "What's that?"

"Nothing," she shook her head, "Just...I guess it's just been a while since I've met new friends. Most of my friends from school have moved away from Unity City."

"Really?"

"Yeah, they took jobs in the Federal District or overseas."

"All of them?"

"Mostly," she shrugged, "Arendelle has the world's biggest financial market. If you want to make your fortune quickly, you go there."

"Ah," he nodded, not commenting further but also not totally hiding the tone behind it.

Glancing over at him, she said, "You know you're always so disdainful of money but…"

"But, what?"

"Nothing," she shook her head, "Forget it."

"Go ahead," he prompted, "You won't offend me."

"You went to prison for theft," she finished, "What was that about?"

"You didn't already check that out?" he asked, looking at her questioningly.

"It was in your background information, yes," she nodded, "But I just wondered?"

He sighed, "Well if you want the run-down, it's not exactly impressive. I was given five years for vandalism and petty larceny for breaking into a pawn shop. I got paroled after serving three."

"Why um…"

"Why did I do it?" he asked. She stayed silent as he dropped the pizza bone into the box and closed the lid. Setting it aside, he went on, "I robbed the place to get back a pocket watch that belonged to a friend of mine."

Regina wrinkled her brow in confusion. "What was so important about a watch?"

He sighed, "This guy, he was my best friend since we were kids. He made a few mistakes, though, and...had to sell the watch to get above water with a bookie."

"I see."

"There's more to it than that, though," he went on, "The watch belonged to his brother who died a year earlier. It was all he had left of him and...I know something about that."

"Oh," she blinked, "I'm so sorry."

"It's alright," he shrugged, "Anyway, it really stuck with me, but I didn't have the money to buy it back so...I did something stupid and, predictably, got caught quickly."

"Wait," Regina dropped her slice of pizza into its box, "That's it?"

"I told you it wasn't very impressive."

"You went to prison because you stole an item of sentimental value for a grieving friend?" she asked, "Are you serious?"

"Yes," he answered, "Why?"

"I…" she stammered, "...I just...that wasn't what I expected."

"Oh no?" he smirked, conveying that he fully understood her meaning.

She sighed, "Okay, yes, maybe I made some assumptions."

It was true, she had assumed that his story was the standard one: an unskilled individual trying to get rich quickly and going about it in a very foolish way.

She went on, "I apologize. I didn't realize you're a real-life Robin Hood."

He smirked again, "Well, if you believe the family legends..."

Regina laughed, "Because of the name. Yes, very cute."

He laughed along.

"Thank you for telling me," she said seriously.

He stared at her for a moment before breaking the tension by lifting his soda cup, "To new friends."

She smiled, tapping her cup against this.

With that they sat in companionable silence as she finished her pizza. Once she was done he took the empty boxes to the nearest trashcan, and got back into the car.

Wordlessly, the agreed that they should be getting back to the estate.

The sun was just setting when he drove her up to the front of the house. Instead of getting out immediately when the car came to a stop, she waited for a moment.

"Thanks again for...everything," Robin said.

Turning to him, she nodded, "You too."

They both sat silently for a moment before, he finally said, "Goodnight, Ms. Mills."

"Goodnight, Robin," she answered, opening the door and making her way up the front steps. As the front door swung closed behind her, she shifted the strap on her briefcase onto her shoulder and made her way toward the elevator.

On her way there, she almost bumped into her father was he was coming out of his study.

"Oh," she dodged, chuckling, "Sorry."

"Are you just getting home?" Henry asked, "We missed you at dinner."

She frowned, "Was Mother upset?"

"No," Henry shrugged, "Merely curious."

He didn't push but gave her a look that said he as well, "I went to dinner with a friend. Sorry I didn't text to let you know."

"It's alright, sweetheart," Henry answered, "Your mother will be fine, and I'm glad you had fun. You seem more like yourself."

She chuckled, "What does that mean?"

"Nothing," he shook his head, "Just glad to see you smiling."

She looked at him, swallowing hard as she tried not to think too much about the implications of what he'd just said. Had she really hidden it so poorly?

The elevator doors dinged open, drawing her attention. Clearing her throat, she said, "Goodnight, Daddy"

"Goodnight," he called after her as she stepped into the elevator and let the doors close behind her.