a/n: Hello! Sorry about the late update. Part one is coming to a close soon, and I've been trying to work out the details of part two before I publish too many more chapters. Thank you again for all the feedback you've been giving me. I really do consider it while I'm writing upcoming chapters!
16: Heroes and Villains
"So, uh, what were you and Mr. Gold talking about?"
They were driving down the streets of Storybrooke slowly, in no big rush to get to Granny's. In fact, they'd already added an extra half hour to their commute by going to the hospital to give back their now empty vial of blood. Well, it was actually Jennifer who insisted they drop it into one of the many medical waste bins around the hospital. She even insisted on doing it herself. Though Regina found the task unnecessarily time consuming and insignificant, Jennifer took great care in getting things done they way they should be.
Or maybe she just didn't want to face Emma.
Main street was virtually empty as they drove, and the stars were nice to look at. Her mind wandering back to what Gold said to her in the road, Regina adjusted her grip on the steering wheel.
"Cora. We're keeping her here a few more hours to make sure the spell holds."
"Makes sense."
Regina glanced at Jennifer. "I take it you're leaving tomorrow."
"Yeah," she sighed. "It's been...interesting...here but I have a life in New York that I have to get back to. And hopefully a job, too." She was silent for a long moment. "I'm not staying away forever, though. I don't think I can despite everything with Emma. Besides, Henry's here and yo…" Jennifer blushed, cutting herself off. She took a deep breath before continuing. "You're here."
Regina kept her eyes to the road on purpose. Her jaw twitched, trying to keep her face expressionless. The words rolled around in her head at a feverish pace. She felt rather feverish, a wave of startled heat radiating through her. That was an odd thing to say. But if she were being honest with herself, it made her feel...nice...that someone cared about her.
"Anyway, you, uh, can't get rid of me that easy." Jennifer joked nervously after catching the way Regina's jaw twitched, fearing it meant displeasure. They were parked at this point but didn't make a move to get out. An empty silence filled the cramped air, and Jennifer swallowed. "Regina?" Her voice was suddenly soft, and that surprised her.
"Yes?"
"Please call me Jennifer."
Her pleading tone made the mayor stumble. "I, um, yes, I can~if you'd like." Jennifer smiled faintly, searching and warm and a little bit encouraging.
"Alright, good." Then she inhaled deeply, almost cleansing, as the light in her eyes faded. The turnaround was so absolute that Regina had to wonder if she'd smiled at all in the first place. "I suppose we should go in then."
And she was out of the car before Regina could formulate a reaction. So she followed as they walked up the patio toward the door which Jennifer held open for her. Regina shot her a quick close-lipped smile before striding in, slightly amazed she could be so gracious when all Regina would have been thinking about in that situation, having to deal with Emma, was herself.
However, when she entered Granny's that faint smile faded. Of course the Charmings were there but so was Granny, Ruby, the dwarves, Archie, and Belle. She hadn't realized that this was going to be such a small get together. She'd thought that, Snow being Snow, she'd told the entire town about the latest crisis. Apparently not. Regina could make herself disappear inside a large crowd. She couldn't do that with only fourteen other people in the room.
Thankfully, conversations continued uninterrupted except, that is, for Snow's who came walking over with a beaming smile and a thank you on her lips as she dragged Jennifer back to meet Archie and Belle~the people she saved.
And she was alone.
She didn't take off her coat. And as she walked to the counter she could hear Leroy's voice behind her.
"Who invited her?" He said it with such disgust that she wanted nothing more than to recoil into herself and disappear.
. . .
No sooner was Jennifer in the door than Mary Margaret had swooped in and dragged her away. "I want you to meet Dr. Hopper. He's been such a dear friend to me over the years, and he wanted to thank you in person for what you did for Storybrooke." She gushed as they approached a red headed man with thinly rimmed glasses and a sweater vest.
"Miss Alexander." He addressed with a smile, holding out his hand to shake. Jennifer was flustered, half blushing as she stumbled over her words and latched onto his hand.
"Dr. Hopper."
"Archie, please." He insisted in the friendliest, most polite tone she'd ever heard.
"Oh, then please call me Jennifer." She chuckled, feeling far too formal.
"Jennifer, well, I just wanted to let you know that, on behalf of Storybrooke, especially on behalf of the people who don't know what happened tonight, thank you. You're a hero."
"Hero?" Jennifer's voice cracked in surprise and her face heated uncontrollably.
. . .
Isolated and dejected, she had no one to talk to and nothing to do. The town loathed her. They wouldn't talk to her no matter how genuinely she tried. She would think that with so few people in the diner, some of them would be at least forced to talk to her, but, no, that wasn't the case. They were incredibly good at ignoring her. So, left on the sidelines, she felt like a nothing, an outcast. And she quickly noticed that she didn't even have Henry to chat with. So, when Emma came into calling distance of Regina's perch on the bar stool as far out of the way as possible, she finally got the chance to ask where he was.
"Still grounded," was Emma's curt and distracted reply. It was rather self-evident that she didn't want to be standing here talking to Regina. She had better people to talk to. "Skipping school is not okay, and he needs to know that."
"I agree." She admitted with a small nod. Emma pressed her lips together awkwardly in response, not knowing how to end the conversation without being completely rude. Then, thankfully (for the both of them), Belle came up and took Emma away.
Regina sighed when she was gone. She fiddled with a scratch on the countertop and felt lonely and unwanted all by herself. But her back was as straight as a pin and her legs were crossed primly because god forbid she let anyone see how awful she felt. She couldn't believe she'd let Jennifer drag her to this idiotic party in the first place.
She glanced up at the happy people and nearly curled her lip. Gold had told her to meet him at his shop when she was ready to say goodbye. Well, she had half a mind to just get up and walk out now. No one would see her. She wouldn't be missed.
"Need anything to drink?" The voice startled her, and she jumped a little bit as she looked to her right. Jennifer was behind the bar, leaning on the counter expectantly. Regina closed her gaping mouth and ground her jaw, shaking her head.
"You okay?" Jennifer asked curiously, her voice rising in pitch as she tilted her head.
"Just...thinking about what to say to my mother when she leaves," she lied. And it must have been obvious because Jennifer furrowed her brow.
"I'm sure you'll come up with something worthwhile," she assured, pulling a bottle of bourbon from under the counter along with two glasses.
"Oh, no, I really don't…"
"Regina. Imagine tonight on a scale from one to ten, and ten is the most fun you've ever had at a party. Anything below a six gets a drink." She watched as Regina thought for a moment, weighing her options, before sighing and motioning the glass towards her.
This wasn't the worst party she'd ever been too, but it was definitely in her top ten. The worst, she pondered for a moment, was probably her wedding reception. But she didn't want to think about that right now.
"One drink." She relented. Jennifer smirked as she poured her a couple fingers worth, but it wasn't in jest or ridicule. It was more in understanding.
"I'd say tonight is a solid four." Jennifer muttered to herself, forcing a smile onto her face.
Regina furrowed her brow at the glimpse of something hiding under all that happiness she usually sported and wondered, rather curiously, if Jennifer hid other emotions behind her ever-present smile. "Four? This is your party." Regina protested, wrapping her hand around the glass as Jennifer put away the bottle.
"It's a party for a hero. They're calling me a hero." Jennifer leaned in, resting her elbows on the table. "Regina, I didn't do anything."
"You saved the town," Regina pointed out. Jennifer glared at her skeptically.
"You could pick out any other stranger to take my place, and it'd turn out the same. If anything, they should be thanking you. I don't deserve the praise, and I feel like a fraud receiving it." She admitted, her voice lowering as she fiddled with her glass.
"Jennifer…" Regina breathed sympathetically, her head cocked. It was the first time Regina had used her first name, and the both of them knew it. Jennifer had this look in her eyes, something incredibly intense, and Regina hesitated. Before she could manage to continue, a conversation on her left caught her attention.
"Why is the Evil Queen even here?"
"You know what they say: keep your friends close and your enemies closer." It was a hushed conversation, but Regina could hear it, and it startled her enough to stop her in her tracks. This time Jennifer heard it too. Outraged, Jennifer moved to get in front of the bar until panic set in and, in less than the time it took for Regina's heart to restart, her hand had latched itself around Jennifer's wrist with crushing precision.
"Making a scene is not going to help anybody." Regina warned under her breath, her eyes sharp and tracking as she pulled Jennifer back down towards the counter.
"Hey, if you hadn't helped me believe then they wouldn't have a town right about now." Jennifer reminded Regina, leaning in so no one else could hear. "And those assholes should know it."
"I appreciate you trying to defend me, but I can take care of myself. They won't listen to you, anyway. I'm the Evil Queen, if you haven't noticed."
"God, look, Regina, I get that you don't want anyone riled up over the Evil Queen while you're trying to win Henry back, but you can't let people walk all over you like that."
"I can if that's what it takes to get my son back." Sure the comment had hurt, but she'd grown a thick skin over the years. It was the fact that they'd said it three feet away from her like she was a nothing, nobody, washed up queen who was pathetically desperate to infiltrate the Charmings that made her mad. But there was nothing she could do. And she was willing to let the words burn under her skin if it meant she could have Henry in the end.
"All you deserve is a second chance. Ever since I first met you all I've seen is a woman who wants to change. And if the rest of the town can't see that well then I guess you're just going to have to make them see."
Regina's brow lifted in surprise. She didn't even realize she'd still been holding Jennifer's wrist until Jennifer placed her hand on top of Regina's. It was warm and soft and comfortable, and she hadn't felt worthy of anything, let alone a second chance, in a long, long time. "Come on, let's get outta here." Jennifer suggested, but Regina pulled her hand away.
"I should go. I have yet to deal with my mother. And I believe you're due for a heart to heart with your sister."
Jennifer sighed, running a quick hand through her hair, her eyes darting down, sideways, and back to Regina. "Yeah, well, let me walk you out." She moved out from behind the bar. "I'm not big on parties anyway." Regina gave her a skeptical glare because if she knew anything at all about Jennifer it was that she was definitely a people person, much more so than Regina. And Jennifer just smiled, gave a little shrug, and admitted to a fib without even moving her lips. "Alright, maybe just this party."
Forcing down a smirk, Regina shook her head and made her way to the door, and Jennifer jogged to catch up with her. "You know, I never got a chance to properly thank you back there." She breathed, reaching her side outside the diner. Regina was smart enough to know that Jennifer just didn't want to say goodbye. And, for now, she was okay with that. So she finally stopped at the end of the sidewalk.
She nearly laughed, too. "For what?"
"I don't know. Everything, I guess. You helped me believe. And I know I must have looked like a threat to you when I first came to Storybrooke, but all you've been is patient with me."
"Well, Miss Swan certainly wasn't going to be." Jennifer noticed how Regina dismissed the compliment as if she didn't deserve it.
"Oh, so you two were playing good cop bad cop then?" She chuckled, leaning against the wooden archway on the patio.
"More like Mayor-Sheriff. I have to be the clean up crew while Miss Swan comes in guns blazing." Regina drawled, and Jennifer couldn't tell if she was being funny or snide. No, she took that back. Definitely snide.
"You don't like Emma very much, do you?"
"I don't like the Charmings. And Sheriff Swan is a Charming." The fact that Regina referred to them as fairytale characters in general conversation threw Jennifer for a loop. But that wasn't what mattered right now. What mattered was the fact that Regina was really good at self-deprecation.
"I want you to know that I meant what I said at the hospital. I don't think you're evil."
"Well, you're the only one."
"Regina." Jennifer sighed. "We all have pasts. It's rightnow that matters. And if you're trying to be better for Henry then that's good in my book."
No one had ever said anything like that to Regina before. She didn't deserve it and felt lied to because of it. If she didn't think she was worth it then why would anyone else?
"Regina, look. I know I was just talking about how I didn't deserve to be a hero, but that's...different. A hero's a big word. Happy is...more universal. Everyone deserves happiness, especially you. Especially you." In Jennifer's eyes, Regina saw the pages of Henry's storybrooke and the drawings of her slaughtering villages, and shame welled up inside her. "You're not the Evil Queen anymore."
"And how would you know, Dr. Alexander?" Regina shot back. She couldn't stand to see Jennifer pity her like this so she did the only thing she could think of to protect herself. She became the Evil Queen. Her eyes shined with bloody secrets and danger, and it sent all the wrong shivers down Jennifer's spine. In fact, it scared her a little. But she held herself together because Regina needed it.
"Because if you were still the Evil Queen Emma wouldn't be here." Jennifer responded calmly. The bluntness of her statement made Regina freeze. "Not that I'm saying you need the Evil Queen to get Henry back. You won't really get him back that way." Jennifer quickly added. "You'll only get the one thing that matters by being Regina. And that's love. Henry wants to love you. I know he does. You're his mother." She paused to smile. "Look, first impressions are everything, and I don't think you're all that bad. In fact, I kinda like you." She joked, nudging Regina's shoulder who couldn't help the smile that crept onto her lips. But then Jennifer's faded, her heart pounding. "I'm glad I met you, Regina. You're a good person, and I don't want you to forget that. Especially being surrounded by all these Charmings." Jennifer joked, but behind it all she was serious.
"Thank you." Regina admitted, a quick furrow in her brow, her eyes searching. "I...needed to hear that." She almost laughed, embarrassed and a little sad. But Jennifer's gaze was soft and warm, and it...soothed her a bit? Her heart pounded and her chest tightened at the realization that Jennifer could make her feel safe and calm. How, when, this had happened she didn't know, but it scared her. So, naturally, she pushed it all down and forced a smile. "Good luck with Emma."
Jennifer scoffed, shaking her head. "I'll need a miracle to get through tonight." Her gaze returned to Regina's. "But thanks." They were silent for a moment, and Jennifer's breath billowed out in front of her. She was shivering. Her nose was red. And Regina frowned.
"Go back inside. It's freezing out here." Regina instructed, a tight furrow in her brow. "And try to drive safely this time." Jennifer chuckled as Regina turned to walk away.
"Good luck with Cora!" Jennifer called after her. "And Regina!" The mayor glanced back at her curiously. "Don't let Henry forget that you like pistachio ice cream!" Regina couldn't help the smile that broke out onto her face as she shook her head and kept walking.
"Goodbye, Jennifer."
