It was earlier than most people would like to be awake, yet many around Storybrooke were.

Mary Margaret Blanchard was one of them, and a morning lover too.

The short haired teacher hummed to herself, her bag on one shoulder, and a small file for the week under her free arm. Almost skipping, she walked through the halls of Storybrooke's elementary school. It would be a few hours before the middle school and high school would open, and even many of her other fellow elementary school teachers were not there yet. She caught a brief glimpse of her reflexion in the glass in one of the windows, and couldn't help but smile. Even though the last week had been long, she felt and looked perfectly put together; even her hair was lightly fluffed and seemed to fall perfectly. When she reached her classroom, she pulled out her passkey and buzzed in, flipping on the lights, and putting the door stopper so it would stay open. She set her bag and her file down on her desk, and took in the room. It was somewhere she had grown comfortable in over the years, and she couldn't help but feel peaceful every time she entered it in the mornings, before the adorable but chaotic kids arrived. Still humming to herself, she sat down at her desk, opening her laptop, and taking inventory of what she had to do for the week. She let out a peaceful sigh and -

"Good. The kids aren't here yet. How long do we have?"

Mary Margaret jumped in her skin when the click of heels against the floor entered her room, accompanied by the voice of one of the last people she had expected to be not only awake but at the school early.

"It's about," Mary Margaret glanced to the clock while the woman stepped over to her desk, staring her down across from it. "It'll probably be a half hour or so before the first students start arriving. Why? Is something wrong?"

"Not per se," Chloe snorted in derision. "But there is a matter we need to discuss."

Mary Margaret swallowed hard, her heart plummeting in her chest.

"What is it?"

"A couple of things, but I'll start with the most obvious," Chloe said, leaning towards Mary Margaret across her desk, hands clenched on the edge. "Take a step back from some of your students. You're not their parents, and Regina in particular is bothered by your seeming attempts to mother her son."

Mary Margaret bristled. "I am just looking out for Henry."

"We're all trying to look out with Henry," Chloe snapped. "But you are not his mother, nor are you meant to be a part of his life beyond your role as an educator."

Mary Margaret stared at her, shaking, a nerve plucked.

"I feel motherly towards him," She said, her voice uneven. "I understand I'm not, and that Regina is a protective mother, but -"

"You are not his mother, and, if you think you're meant to be a motherly figure to him like a grandmother, you'd be doing a piss poor job at it," Chloe coldly cut in. "Henry is a child who has been through an incredible amount of trauma, and a child who is struggling to cope with it, especially as his biological mother is slowly being integrated into his life again."

Mary Margaret shook her head. "Chloe, listen. I understand that - as his and Lynnetta's godmother - you have strong feelings and, more importantly, legal authority in their lives, but you're treating me as though I'm a criminal for trying to be a support in Henry's life."

"Well, whatever the case, I suppose there's far more issues with your behaviour we need to discuss," She said venomously. "I've been asked to inform you that you're to spend no time with the John Doe without being fully supervised. Some of the hospital staff have claimed to see you attempt to kiss him. I hope I don't need to explain to you how problematic that behaviour is."

Mary Margaret gaped at her. "I have never -"

"You need to get over your saviour complex," Chloe primly adjusted her glasses. "You are not a saviour. You are not even a particularly great person. The difference between people like you and people like me is that, while I acknowledge I am often not a warm or even affable person, you think quite highly of yourself as an altruistic, paragon of virtue."

"You're worse than a cold and unapproachable person," Mary Margaret bit off, shocked by herself. "You're an insensitive witch."

Chloe narrowed her eyes. "And you," She said without hesitation. "Are a liar."

"Am I?" Mary Margaret stood up to meet the woman's gaze. "When have I lied to you? Or anyone in this town, for that matter?"

"Plenty of times, but I have the feeling you wouldn't be in the mood to hear me out," Chloe said, crossing her arms. "You've always thought you're in the right, but can't see things are more complicated than that. Don't you even dare act as though -"

"I've never claimed to -" Mary Margaret protested.

"Just because you can't remember," Chloe hissed. "Doesn't mean you haven't done so."

Mary Margaret's fingers began to curl into fists, but she clasped onto her desk to steady herself instead.

"Fenella," She said, her voice uneven. "You're -"

"My name is Chloe," The woman took a small step back in surprise, her eyes widening briefly when she realised what Mary Margaret had called her. "Why would you -"

"You're being a control freak!" Mary Margaret exclaimed, pressing a hand against her chest while the other tightened further against her desk as she startled herself again. "I understand you're Henry's godmother, that you care, but you're such a controlling…a…you're acting just like Regina!" She barely noticed the sound of someone else - a student - entering the room even as she took a moment to catch her breath and calm her voice. "Regina is a horribly controlling person, Chloe. Don't act like her too."

"Control freak?"

Chloe and Regina both turned towards the door, where the young son of the woman in question was looking shakily between them with wide eyes.

"You think my mom's a horrible and controlling person?" Henry whimpered, briefly looking much younger than ten when he met Mary Margaret's gaze. "She's not always perfect, but she's not…she's…"

"Henry, come with me," Chloe set the boy's things down on his desk before escorting him out of the room with a hand gently pressed on his back. She turned back for a moment to scowl at Mary Margaret. "I have to speak with him for a few minutes before school, now. I trust you understand."

For once, she had been left alone in the mayor's office. Having received a supposedly urgent phone call from Lynn, who had an asthma attack that morning and was thus home instead of at school, Regina had torn herself away from her work. The last words she had said to the blonde woman now at her desk before leaving stayed with her. You know what we've agreed to. Emma sighed. She tried not to think too hard about the contingent agreement she and Regina had come to about her time spent with her son and with Lynn. Is that because I want our relationship to be more than just practical? It feels as though it's well beyond just practical, now. We are…friends, of sorts, now, that is. Tiredly, she rubbed at her eyes. The conversation with Chloe the night before had drawn her away from any semblance of deep and restful sleep. Those words lingered in her mind, too. Love. That's Regina's journey. And that love would break the curse. That's how you're the saviour. The thought was unnerving, left something unsolved and wiggling at her mind and the increasingly unsure emotions which underpinned them.

Almost unaware of it, her thoughts suddenly returned to what she had been looking for.

Regina's phone book.

It took her only a minute to find it.

Opened it up.

Began flipping through, finding it to be, unsurprisingly, perfectly organised alphabetically.

"Because, of all the people in the world to still have a phone book in this day and age, of course it's you, Regina," Emma found herself smiling, if only for a brief moment. "You never do anything without having thought it out perfectly, do you?"

She flinched when she found the names and numbers she had been looking for. Attached to this one, even, were the addresses of their homes, and the licence plates on their cars.

Watson, Leah

Watson, Stefan

Watson, Aurora

"You always knew who they were, didn't you?" Emma swallowed hard, seeing the address all but seared into her mind. "I wish I had known just how guilty they were when I had met them. Maybe then I could have…could have gotten something, a recording, anything…"

The phone numbers stared at her almost painfully.

Landline.

Of course they have a landline. The only people who still have those are the unreasonably wealthy or, in Regina's case, the unreasonably stubborn.

Mobile.

Closing her eyes as though it would make things easier for her, Emma pulled her bag up onto the desk and rummaged through it until her hands found what she was looking for. The burner. One of three mobiles she kept with her, and one of the two which she knew could only be used once or twice. She pulled her personal mobile out, too. Checked her messages. There were a few, mixed from Chloe, Regina, and, to her surprise, Henry. Unsure if she would be able to make herself go through with things if she read her messages, Emma dropped her personal mobile back into her bag. Set the bag down on the floor again. Pulled the phone book up next to her burner. Switched it on. Her heart was racing, now, and she tried not to think about it. I haven't felt this way since the last time I was on a job. Since the job on the day I met Henry. Since the day everything changed. She looked between the phone book and the burner mobile. Then, still trying not to think too much about it, she all but punched the first mobile number in, and turned the burner mobile onto speaker.

It's not as though Regina will be angry if she gets this conversation on tape. It could be useful, at some point, especially if Aria ever wakes up.

"Who's this?" The clipped and polished female voice answered. "I have the week off from research and teaching, so I -"

"This has nothing to do with your job," Emma briefly fell silent when Leah's voice hitched. "We need to talk about something much more serious, Leah. I'm sorry, but you've had enough years to lie."

"What did I lie about?" Leah irritably replied. "My husband and I simply asked you to help protect our daughter. I'm surprised you recall my number."

"If you still remember me," Emma said, her hands shaking. She set them down against the desk, almost as though pressing them into it. "Then I find it hard to believe I could forget you."

"You're a rather memorable person, Swan," Leah said, almost as though the words offended her. "I would be hard pressed to forget the name and voice of a bounty hunter my husband and I sought out to help, again, protect our daughter."

"You mean protect a murderer," Emma pressed her hands harder against the desk as she tried to control the anger in her voice. "But they're one in the same. Interestingly, it turns out Regina is also that way."

Leah took in a sharp breath. "What are you saying?"

"I know you're not originally from this world. I know Regina cursed your daughter, and that she was called the 'evil queen' by people including you and your husband," Emma waited a moment for Leah to correct her but continued when the woman didn't. "And I am sorry she cursed your daughter. It was uncalled for."

"And she's suffering because of it now," Leah's voice fell only to be reignited in anger. "Do you have any idea how painful it is for me and my husband to see our daughter barely clinging to life because of a curse Regina inflicted on her?"

"I'm sure it's incredibly painful," Emma said. "But what Regina did to you and your family had nothing to do with Lynn, and -"

"You don't understand," Leah cut in. "Lynn has always been nothing more or less than Regina's living doll, a puppet of sorts she's made to be just like her!"

"And so you let your daughter and her friend try to kill her?" Emma barely restrained herself from shouting. "I don't care what Regina did to you! Lynn was and is completely innocent!"

"Oh, really? You're just a bounty hunter!" Leah's voice shook. "What do you think you know? You clearly have no understanding of what happened then, at least not beyond some warped -"

"My understanding is perfectly fine. You know how I'm sure of that?" Emma paused, almost as if she were afraid to say the words. "Because I'm Snow White's daughter…and I believe Regina."

REPLIES TO REVIEWS:

jasouatfan: i'm glad you enjoyed it! things are definitely starting to pick up around Storybrooke now Emma knows (almost) everything

barattajennifer: well, i'm happy that the wait was worth it! hopefully this chapter was just as satisfying, and that what's to come will continue to make you happy!