14: Day Three: part two

Rumple had put a rather powerful protection spell over his shop~though it was more of a lock or a playpen~to keep Cora in while he went out for an afternoon or when he had to deal with his precious Belle. That particular afternoon, after Rumple had become insufferably impatient waiting for Regina to come back, he went out~only for fifteen minutes, maybe twenty. But he was nervous. And especially so when he walked back into his shop to find her still not there.

"Is Mara still gone?" He asked. So far he had done a good job of keeping Belle far away from Cora, but she'd be coming here from the library soon, he couldn't stall her much longer, and Cora needed to be babysat. He didn't trust her alone. He'd even been sleeping in the shop just a room away from her to make sure she didn't try to sneak out.

"Yes." Cora almost laughed. Like he actually expected her to be back in twenty short minutes? "Should I have not sent her in the first place?" She asked ridiculously. "Today, Rumple, if you haven't noticed, is the last day of safety your precious town will have without Jennifer's belief."

"Yes, but I didn't think she'd be gone this long. Right now I need R-Mara. Besides, there are other people that are better equipped to convincing Miss Alexander that are dealing with the situation!" He knew that Regina was on a short list of people capable of convincing Jennifer, but the benefit of being on a list was that there were still multiple other people willing and able to do her job.

"Who? The blonde?" She asked it accusingly like Rumple should know that Mara currently stood far taller than the blonde in Jennifer's eyes and that that was reason enough for her to be doing what Rumple was planning on having Emma do.

"She and the Sheriff have known each other for years. It might be best if someone she trusted told her." He responded tightly. Cora just sighed, remembering how Mara hadn't paid a lick of attention to the waitress at Granny's but had, no matter how frustrated she looked, kept her eyes fixed keenly on Jennifer. And she remembered Mara commenting that "sheriff Swan's" attempt at telling Jennifer hadn't gone well the first time. So she couldn't help but wonder why in all the realms Rumple preferred the sheriff to Mara. Maybe he just wanted to make sure she was supervised. Deep down she knew it was true.

"Speaking of the sheriff, was that her son, that boy earlier?" He gave her a dismissive confirmation, too lost in thought to answer properly as he paced the room. "But Mara seemed rather invested in him as well." She pushed so he finally sighed and looked up.

"Emma is the boy's biological mother. She gave him up. Mara adopted him. Now that Emma lives in Storybrooke, they have to...coexist. Okay?"

"Yes, I suppose. I just don't understand your rush."

"I don't have time to explain." He said before enveloping them in a cloud of magic. The next second they were standing in Gold's cabin somewhere deep in the Storybrooke forest. "Stay here until I come back for you. It's important that no one knows you're here." He told her as he cast a quick little protection spell.

"Yes, yes I know, Rumple. You've told me many ti-" Before she could finish he had already gone. She sighed and rolled her eyes.

. . .

"Enough!" Regina yelled over the noise. She sighed, glaring at each of them. "Either we do this now or we lose Storybrooke."

The Charmings' apartment was silent after Regina's outburst. They glanced at each other. "Mom's right." Henry declared firmly, positioning himself next to Regina. That made everyone stop. And Emma, wide eyed, looked from Henry to her parents then swallowed. Cornered.

"Right. Okay. I'll...talk to her."

"I'll go with." Regina chimed, stepping forward. "Henry might be right. Miss Alexander's been confiding in me." Emma and the two idiots raised their brows in surprise. "What?" Regina asked sharply. "Surprised that the Evil Queen can be friendly?" Her voice was dangerously playful, her eyes were daggers, and the surrounding Charmings held their breath.

"You can be polite." Snow finally suggested with an awkward shrug of her shoulders. Regina's eyes burned with an anger she had to contain for now, and she turned on her heel.

"We're wasting daylight, Miss Swan." She called, striding out of the apartment. Emma scrambled to catch up.

They didn't find Jennifer for a good twenty minutes. And when they did, she was in the garage getting her car back from Billy. "Thank you so much, Mr. Rose."

"Sorry it took so long. I had to order some parts." He confessed. Jennifer sighed and shook her head.

"It's a rental. My insurance is paying for it. I'm just glad it's done. Besides, I couldn't get another car out here anyway. No one could find this place." She shrugged. "Storybrooke's not on the map, apparently."

"It wouldn't be." Regina said from the head of the garage. Jennifer turned, car keys in hand, to find Emma and Regina there waiting for her. "The protection spell is very powerful."

Jennifer just sighed, rather mentally overtaxed at this point. She really did not need this right now. And it was all because of Regina's words from the diner. They'd been bothering her all day. What was she afraid of? Disappointing Henry was one. Losing Emma was another. Deep down, she knew that if she left town now she'd never fix what she had with Emma. And she did want to fix it. So she wasn't planning on leaving right away. There were just two problems. The first was that she felt she'd lose Emma if she stayed but refused to "save" the town. The second was that she knew that it wasn't the town that needed saving here; it was her job after all these mysterious days off she was taking.

So she had to chose between Emma and her career, and she was afraid, either way, of the consequences.

"Come on, guys, not now." Her voice was pained.

"Jenny, please."

Regina stepped forward. "Just give Miss Swan a chance to talk to you. You'll want to hear what she has to say."

"What could she possibly say that doesn't involve fairytales or excuses?" Jennifer's words were more out of frustration than anything else. She was stressed, and she just needed them to leave her alone right now.

"Look, I'm sorry!" Emma called across the garage, and Jennifer's eyes quickly moved to her over Regina's shoulder, confused and surprised. And the blonde took a more confident step forward. "I know all of this has been a real change for you. Seeing me as a sheriff, with a son." The pieces of what Emma wanted to say seemed to fit together in her mind as she stepped forward. "When I saw you I was so happy because I thought that we could be a family again. I thought what I did was right and that you knew it. I~I didn't even think that it might hurt to see me again. That it might...I don't know...dredge up old feelings.

"So I'm sorry that I made you feel like you...like you weren't worth sticking around for. I'm sorry I left without an explanation. Most of all I'm sorry that you've had to feel all this self doubt for years because of me. I know you don't trust me because you think I'll just leave again, but I won't, Jenny.

"Look, I wouldn't forgive myself either. I was an ass, and, most importantly, I hurt you." She shook her head. "You know why I'd do it again, but if I had to go back I'd do it differently. Yeah, okay, I'd still leave, but I wouldn't have abandoned you. We would have kept in contact. Truly, Jenny. I really do regret that." She sighed, her brow furrowed tightly as she searched Jennifer's melting eyes.

"Jennifer, please, you and I both know that being in foster care makes it hard to trust anyone. But listen to me when I tell you this. I know you think I'm crazy, but before Henry found me in Boston I want you to know that my life was just as normal as yours. Then I came here. And I discovered things that I never dreamed were real. Trust me, Jennifer, I was just as much a skeptic as you. But Henry showed me magic. He showed me that there are other...realms...out there. He taught me things that I'd never have known without magic. I'm not crazy. And neither is Henry or Regina." She moved forward again, in front of the mayor. "I'm still Emma." She breathed forcefully. "No matter how much you hate me I'll always be there for you. I'll always tell you the truth. And I'm telling you the truth now, Jennifer, please…"

Jennifer didn't know what to say. She'd wanted this since her first day in town, of all people Emma knew that. And it was a damn good speech. But she was a rather easily swayed sort of person. She often had to remind herself to examine all angles before making a decision~whether it be on a furniture set or a political view. So she stared, open mouthed and conflicted, at Emma's persistent stare and pleading eyes.

Regina caught how Jennifer was wavering and stepped forward, in front of Emma. "Miss Swan is telling you the truth." And she took a step even closer, nearly invading Jennifer's personal space. She glanced down and grabbed Jennifer's wrists, gentle and guiding. "Storybrooke needs you."

Jennifer swallowed, a lump in her throat. This desperation~from both of them~was scaring her. If this were an operating room she'd be right as rain but this was...magic. And they were all depending on her for something she had no idea how to begin to tackle. Regina saw how overwhelmed Jennifer was getting and refocused her attention by letting go of one of her wrists and holding her own palm face up. Jennifer watched as fire spouted from Regina's empty hand, and she jumped, but Regina's grip tightened on her wrist. Jennifer was positively wonderstruck. "You're on…"

Regina's eyes twinkled as she watched Jennifer process it. She watched as the cogs clunked into motion in her head. Jennifer's gaze slid to Regina's in astonishment. "How does it…?"

With a flick of her wrist, Regina poofed the two of them to her office. Jennifer stumbled back in shock. "Work?" Regina finished. "It just does." She leaned forward, a raging fire in her eyes and a dangerous edge to her smile. "It's magic."

"We're in your office." Jennifer's mouth hung open.

"Astute observation."

"Fuck." Jennifer breathed as she stuck her hands in her curly locks and looked around, absolutely dumbstruck. "This is...real."

"As real as the medicine you practice." Regina offered calmly.

"Emma was telling the truth this whole time." A thousand things ran through her head~Snow White and Prince Charming and…"You're actually the Evil Queen." She breathed, looking at Regina in shock. The mayor exhaled forcefully through her nose, but she didn't say anything as Jennifer continued. "And last I read...Cora. Cora's your mother! How did she get here? I thought she was~"

"In Wonderland, yes." Regina confirmed, sighing. "It's...complicated. This Cora is younger. She used a time portal to come to Storybrooke. From her point of view, in the Enchanted Forest, I'm very young. She doesn't know who I am. To her I'm...Mara."

"Mara?"

"Gold. It was Gold's idea." Regina shook her head. Jennifer furrowed her brow and took some steps backward.

"Okay, but how did she know to come? Why is she here?"

"No one knows." Regina shook her head. "And the simple answer to why is that we need her. There are two different kinds of magic: old and new. The protection spell was cast with old magic, but rarely anyone practices it anymore. I knew enough from my mother to add it into the dark curse, but only Cora knows enough to fix the protection spell permanently."

"So she just…" Jennifer pursed her lips and shook her head. "...showed up when it was most convenient?"

"Exactly."

"And you need me because…?"

"No one's supposed to be able to find Storybrooke, but you did. And in the process, somehow, you broke the protection spell. Cora needs to cast a new spell with your blood, the blood of a believer, in order to truly fix it."

"So basically I broke it; I fix it." Jennifer nodded. Regina couldn't help the amused quirk of her lips and quick chuckle at Jennifer's casual, every so logical conclusion.

"Yes, I suppose that's exactly what's happening."

But Jennifer wasn't smiling along with her. In fact, she sighed heavily, pressing one hand to her forehead and the other to her waist. Her thoughts were straying elsewhere. "I have to fix the protection spell." She echoed absently, a realization, almost like she was straining to connect some invisible dots. "Emma…"

"Are you going to forgive her?" Regina prodded, trying to figure out what Jennifer was stuck on. But it was almost as if she hadn't heard her~or as if it wasn't Regina talking but rather the voice inside Jennifer's own head. But then something clicked, however appalled Jennifer seemed by the realization.

"Forgive her?" She asked, almost rhetorical. A whirlwind of emotions flew behind Jennifer's eyes. "Had Emma apologized like that when she first walked into my hospital room I would have forgiven her. Had she apologized to me when we talked in the diner I would have forgiven her. Hell, I have been…" She almost laughed. "...trying to forgive her for years."

Regina frowned when tears started to prickle at Jennifer's eyes and watched as she tapped her foot, hating herself for them.

"All I needed," she continued, "was to know that she felt...remorse for what she did. I needed to hear her say it. To know that she knewtoo. I just…" She swallowed, angry. "...really needed to know that I wasn't crazy for feeling so hurt and betrayed. But now I just can't help thinking that it wasn't...genuine. And that just really…" She trailed off, choking on her words, and didn't continue.

"What gave you the impression it wasn't a genuine apology?" Regina wondered. She didn't know what Emma had planned to say to Jennifer when the two of them found her, but her speech seemed rather spur of the moment to Regina. And though she was never given any clarification as to what this feud was about, she was sensing that it was something that needed more that just a Band-Aid and a kiss.

"Because it was under duress. Regina, this was Emma's last chance to get me to stay and listen, and I needed to be receptive...vulnerable." Her voice was quick and angry now, contrasted sharply by the faint tears on her cheeks and the sniffling she did between words.

A small, strained noise escaped the back of Regina's throat, wanting to protest but not knowing how. The situation was eerily reminiscent of Cora framing her for Archie's "murder," and she found herself immediately sympathetic.

Jennifer wiped her nose and shook her head, trying hard to compose herself as she wrung out her fingers. "Look, I don't wanna…" She hesitated. "The point is I just want to fix the protection spell, and that's it." She announced, rather final, still fidgeting. Regina watched as other thoughts tumbled through her head, and she looked increasingly worried. "But what if I can't...I mean I'm not a fucking savior or whatever." She said the word with disgust, distancing herself from this mess of a town.

And Regina didn't know how to handle Jennifer's feelings of inadequacy. "Nobody expects you to wield a sword or perform some impossible feat. You're belief is enough." Regina hesitated, cocking her head. If Jennifer didn't want to talk about Emma then they didn't have to.

"I don't need to do anything...else?"

"What like cast a spell?" Regina mocked. A blush rose to Jennifer's cheeks, and Regina found it oddly endearing. "As for the blood, we didn't exactly have syringes in the Enchanted Forest, but I'm sure as a doctor you'd appreciate not having your hand sliced by a knife."

"Yes, I would appreciate that very much." Jennifer gasped with a laugh, and Regina noticed that she had stopped wringing out her fingers.