Chapter 6 – The one called Kingdom Come.

Regina decides to remain in the city for a couple weeks, just relaxing and enjoying what Vancouver has to offer while she waits for a verdict. Emma finishes the month she's been paid for and, at Regina's insistence (and after Cora sends through another payment,) she stays with her, acting as both a friend and as personal security on Regina's adventures. They hike whenever the weather is good, shopping downtown and checking out shows along the strip every weekend. They dine at Bufala every so often, both a big fan of the fancy pizza restaurant, and Regina accepts a brief appearance gig at a convention in the heart of the city, joining a few of her co-stars from Fourth of July on stage for a big Q&A panel and then signing autographs in the celebrity hall. Regina preens just a little when she introduces Emma to her friend and co-star, Marian Locksley, and Emma likes Marian almost immediately, though she's less impressed by Marian's husband Robin when the man shows up after the Q&A and flashes them all a smarmy, lingering smile. They go for dinner together after the convention, and Emma's just happy watching Regina and Marian chatter away like old friends, only occasionally interrupted by Robin and his droning on about his forestry tycoon job or whatever—Emma tunes him out. Regina sneaks glances at her every so often with warm eyes and warmer smiles, and Emma relishes in the affection even if she doesn't want to think about what it all means quite yet.

Neither of them ever mention that night out again, though Regina occasionally uses a Queen Reina line on her in a teasing voice and Emma always rises to the challenge with an indulgent smile, friendly but always careful to keep that thin line between them uncrossed.

Mary Margaret and David have no such qualms about crossing any lines, on the other hand, and only a week into their waiting period, tabloids are screaming incoherently about the two actors being seen out and about together in public. Mary Margaret Blanchard is the industry's current favourite sweetheart, and David Nolan her new handsome beau, and Regina always pretends to gag just a little bit every time she sees their sickeningly cute faces on a magazine cover, much to Emma's endless entertainment.

Almost three weeks later, the call comes in, Belle and Neal's excited voices greeting them.

"Guess what show just got picked up?" Belle shrieks.

"Kingdom Come!" Neal shouts, before either of them have a chance to reply, and Regina and Emma immediately look to each other in confusion at the unfamiliar title.

"What?" Emma asks, to which Neal cackles and Belle softly berates him.

"Sorry; it's the official name. The one from before was a placeholder. Fantasy shows are in right now, and with Gold pushing for it, we got ourselves greenlit for a full first season!"

"That's great! Congrats, guys," Emma says, beaming as Regina squeezes her forearm excitedly.

"Um, Emma," Belle says, sounding like she's withholding a grin while Neal keeps on laughing. "They loved the pilot. They're keeping it exactly the way it is, no reshoots."

"How are you going to explain the new guy who gets cast as Kavalan, then?" Emma asks, cocking her head to one side and staring at the phone like a lost puppy, and even Regina snorts with laughter.

"We're not," Belle says. Neal is howling in the background. "Congrats, Emma— you're a professional actor now."


"I can't believe you posted that, you asshole."

Ruby's howling with laughter as she prances away from Emma's slapping hands, diving head-first into the pool to escape the blonde's wrath. Flopping back onto her chair, Emma pouts despondently at Regina where the brunette is stretched out on a lounger, sunbathing in a little white bikini that is just unfairly sexy.

"Look at this," Emma laments, waving her phone in the air. "I just got, like, a thousand new followers from one fucking picture."

"Oh, you poor up-and-coming celebrity," Regina mocks, pouting at Emma before chuckling and turning her face back to the sun.

"You have to 'like' it, Emma, it's only polite," Mary Margaret says as she passes by, moving to sit at the edge of the pool in her pastel-pink one piece. David swims over to his girlfriend and rests his forearms and chin on her knees.

"Yeah, you've gotta start maintaining a good image on social media," David agrees with a serious nod of his head. "You should really look into getting an agent soon."

Emma groans, glaring back down at the photo on her screen. RealRubyLucas had tweeted a photo Mary Margaret took of Emma and Ruby with their arms slung over each other's shoulders, standing by the barbeque earlier, Ruby in a red bikini and Emma in a blue bikini top and grey swim trunks. The caption reads "Summer pool party with my hot new co-star EmmaSwan76! Gurl, look at that body (look at those ABS!) #kingdomcome #costars #hottie"

Boosting the popularity of the tweet, some cast and crew had liked, retweeted, and commented on Ruby's tweet as well.

MMBlanchard: So excited to film our 1st season with u 2!

DavidJNolan: Lookin great, ladies! #KingdomCome

OfficialBelleFrench: BLESSED to get to work with these two superstars on season 1 of my new TV show! (kiss emoji) #KingdomCome #signalboost

JustNeal: Daaayum girls! But who's that ruggedly handsome dude in the background? (hands up emoji) (smiley face emoji)

"Unbelievable," Emma grouses, tapping the 'like' button, bumping the photo's total likes up to a whopping 1,976 ever since it was posted just five minutes ago.

"Oh come on, it's a good pic," Neal says from his post at the barbeque, grilling up some patties for burgers.

"I'm not photogenic," Emma tries lamely, still scowling, though the scowl drops as soon as Regina's hand pats her softly on the knee.

"Just accept your fate," Regina smirks. "Neal and Belle always get their way."

"You all suck," Emma declares, standing and moving away to the railing when she gets a call. Neal's penthouse and rooftop pool overlook the expensive side of town and she's treated to a great view of Vancouver harbor as she rests her elbows on the railing. "Hello?"

"So apparently you're an actress now?" Jecob starts, caught between amusement and annoyance. "I don't remember agreeing to this."

"How'd you know?" Emma groans.

"Your new co-stars have been tweeting about you all day. There's articles on the announced cast of Kingdom Come all over Facebook. Magazines are boggled about the mysterious leading actress that popped up basically overnight."

"You can thank Regina for that," Emma scoffs. "Their actor dropped out last minute on the pilot and they put me in, and now they apparently want me on full-time."

"Well that's one way to turn your life upside down," he sighs. "Did her agent contact you about this? I assume she'll want to hire someone else for security if you're off play-acting."

"No, Cora knows. She's already signed me on to stick with Regina for the entire season."

"... Really? Lady seemed intense on the phone."

Emma shrugs. "Regina insisted."

Regina had a three-hour long shouting match on the phone with her mother over it, half of it in a language Emma didn't even speak, but she's not going to tell Jecob that.

"Well, you know what you're doing, I guess," he says, though he's still not entirely pleased about it. "What's your kid think?"

Emma hesitates at that, frowning. "I didn't tell him yet."

"Make sure to tell him before he sees his mom on TV. Poor boy is gonna be the— what do the kids call it nowadays? He's gonna be the son of a celebrity MILF."

"Oh, fuck off," she laughs.

"Whatever, Swan. Enjoy your new famous life." He hangs up on her and Emma rolls her eyes, not taking any real offense. Jecob's always been a gruff guy and they're used to ribbing each other like that. He was the one who first helped her get into the security business ten years ago when she'd been a struggling single mother and he'd basically watched Henry grow up since the boy had been four years old.

"Who was that?" Regina asks, appearing at her side in a thin robe, the front gaping open to show off that damned little white bikini. Emma is careful to keep her eyes on Regina's face.

"Just Jecob checking in on me."

"Is he mad that we poached you for the show?" With the sun warming her face at just the right angle, a soft altitude breeze tousling dark hair, Regina's crinkling eyes almost glow a warm gold-brown, bright and happy in the sunshine.

"He'll get over it," Emma replies faintly, entranced. Nearby, David gives a battlecry before cannonballing into the water, Ruby shrieking and laughing in response, and the two women are startled from their gentle staring contest and promptly exchange shy smiles and return to their lounge chairs.


Twitter explodes with incoherent screaming from fangirls and fanboys alike when MMBlanchard tweets a tasteful photo of Regina and Emma sunbathing next to the pool, their lounge chairs close together and their eyes squinting against the sun as they smile and laugh, apparently mid-conversation.

MMBlanchard: So lucky to work with these 2 talented beauties! Celebratory pool party for season 1 of #kingdomcome! Are u ready for this? #superstars EmmaSwan76 ReginaMills

RealRubyLucas: Hot hot hot! (fire emoji)

OfficialBelleFrench: Jealous! So sad I had to miss the pool party today! Have fun girls!

EmmaSwan76: (smiley face emoji) (thumbs up emoji)

Regina looks like she'd much rather shoot herself in the foot when she grudgingly hits the 'like' button on the photo, and Emma laughs through the whole ride back to their hotel.


The main cast is signed on for a three year contract with the company regardless of whether or not they get a second or third season, all except Emma who manages to heckle and annoy Gold enough that he grudgingly agrees to give her a short one year contract, on the agreement that Kavalan will eventually be eased out of the show and most likely killed off at the end of season one. Belle nods along, though she has this glint in her eye like she plans on changing Emma's mind, and Emma tries not to worry about that right now and just focus on surviving the next six months.

Social media has become a whole other monster she needs to deal with now that everyone's actively trying to get hype for the show. She's tagged in literally everything, even promotional posters that she isn't featured in—"You tagged me on Regina's boob," Emma says in horror, staring at the instagram photo where all the tagged names appear over top the promo pic of Queen Reina, and her name just happens to appear right over that cleavage, and Belle can't stop laughing—and the amount of new followers she's gained is a little bit terrifying considering she's supposed to keep a low profile as a professional bodyguard. Well, so much for that.

The other monster she gets to deal with, of course, is the fruit of her loins.

"You're an actress now?" Henry says over the phone, sounding skeptical after her stilted explanation, and she winces and waves off Ruby when the brunette tries to flag her over during lunch break.

"Yeah, I know. It's all pretty unexpected. I just wanted to tell you before you started seeing stuff online—"

"I thought you said you were gonna keep a low profile while I was away," he says, and it's starting to sound accusational. Emma feels her stomach plummet without her permission and struggles to keep her voice light.

"Hey, I know, I know. I'm sorry, kid. Things got a little out of hand and I couldn't say no to my employer..."

"Why not?" he demands. She can hear the rapid tapping sound of a keyboard on his end, and then— "Oh."

"Oh what?"

She waits, breath held, and when Henry speaks again he suddenly sounds... smug. "I get why you took the job."

"... What are you talking about?"

"You could have just told me the truth, Ma."

"What truth?" Emma asks, genuinely confused.

"About why you took the job for Regina Mills."

"Kid, seriously, what are you talking about?" Emma scrunches her brow as there's more tapping on the other end. Unbeknownst to her, Henry has searched up photos of Kingdom Come's leading actresses and has found a twitter picture of his mother with the brunette actress at a pool party. More specifically, the way they make gooey doe-eyes at each other.

"God," he laughs, shaking his head with exasperated affection. "You're so gay, Ma."

He bids her a goodnight and hangs up, and when Regina finally finds Emma where she's standing frozen just outside stage four, it's to witness the blonde gaping at her phone like a suffocating fish.

"Are you okay?" Regina asks, bemused. Green eyes meet her concerned gaze and, for the first time, Emma turns a bright shade of pink.

"Fine," she squeaks, already tripping away towards the catering trucks. "Lunch. Food. Gonna—" With a jerk of her thumb towards the trucks, she flees, leaving Regina staring after her in confusion.