Chp 4
Jane sat back on Maura's couch and smiled happily. "It went well. Very well." She said then looked over at her friend. "She and I want more."
Maura took a sip of her wine and then smiled. "Wow. There must really be something special about Mayor Mills." She chuckled as she pulled her legs up onto the couch. "I'm really happy for you, Jane. Maybe she's the one."
"It was yet another night that I went without banging at the end of a date." She smiled. "Proud of me?" Jane sipped on her coffee. "We kissed... A lot." The brunette paused. "But the first kiss was odd... I saw images running through my head. Things that I've never experienced before... at least I don't think I have."
"That is incredibly odd. And I don't really have any sort of scientific explanation for that. If you'd been dreaming, yes, but wide awake? Just because of a kiss?" Maura shook her head. "No. What do you think it means? And yes." She chuckled. "I'm very proud of you for not having sex two whole dates in a row."
"Part of me was having a hope that you would have an explanation but maybe I don't want to know." She shrugged. Sitting forward, Jane thought about the flashes. "Have you ever talked to Henry about that book?"
Maura watched Jane closely, seeing that her friend was bothered by whatever it was she saw. "I don't really ever talk to Henry, so I'm not even sure what this book you're talking about it."
"Well... its a book with all the stories of fairytale characters. He thinks its real but I haven't heard much about it other than Emma is the savior of this town."
"The savior of Storybrooke? So he thinks everyone in this town is actually a fairytale character? Hmm..." Maura was quiet for a moment as she thought. "That's actually quite an impressive imagination. I wonder who you're supposed to be. Ooh, or who I'm supposed to be." She grinned.
"I'll have to have a talk with him and I'll find out for ya, sweetie." Leaning back again she smirked. "Who would you want to be if all of it was true?"
"There's absolutely no way it could be true. But if by some defiance of nature it was, I'd want to be Belle." Maura smiled. "Because she cares more about knowledge than finding a prince to carry her away to a carefree life. She's more independent."
Jane smiled and nodded. "I could see you as Belle. You look very good in yellow anyway." She chuckled. "Who do you think I would be?"
Maura laughed. "How sweet of you. I think you'd be a character like Jasmine. She was one of the only females who had any sort of fighting skill."
"I was thinking that too, and yeah she did... Jasmine was pretty hot too." She laughed. "Henry goes to recess in an hour so I'll be able to talk to him then, but until then would you like to do anything fun?"
"I thought we were already doing something fun?" Maura asked with the arch of a brow. "So tell me, who do you think Regina is in Henry's book?"
"We are." She chuckled. "And I have no idea. It wouldn't surprise me if she were a queen or something. She has power now and most people fear her or bow to her, figuratively. I'll have to find that out too."
xxx
Henry was sitting by himself with his book when he spotted Jane walking toward him. The boy smiled and scooted over on the bench so she could take a seat next to him. "Hey, Jane." He opened his book wider and set it in her lap, pointing at a picture of her fairytale self. "Might wanna start a couple of pages before that pic."
"Hey." She looked down at the picture and her heart dropped slightly. "Henry... this picture looks like me." She stared for a long while before turning the pages to start reading before the actual picture. Her finger ran over the image of what looked like her and Regina on the horses, riding. "This looks like your mother..."
"That's because it is my mom. And that's you." He pointed to the image. "You were best friends in the Enchanted Forest, and then you became her knight." He got quiet then to let things sink in a bit.
It was trying to sink into her brain but it was just too much. "Last night... I had visions from something that looked like this time. War, pain, and love... I-I felt love for your mother. More than a best friend kind of love."
"That's because you, Fallon, did love my mom. But you never told her. When she became the evil queen, you stayed by her side because you loved her." Henry said quietly.
Jane smiled lightly. "So exactly who was I in this book, other than Fallon. I've never heard of a Fallon in the fairytales I read as a kid."
"These fairytales aren't like the ones you've read. The book has a lot of characters you probably grew up with with similar stories but... a lot of it's connected. Fallon is the steadfast tin soldier. Only, you were never a toy soldier and it wasn't a ballerina you'd do anything for. But you lost your leg like the tin soldier and stuck with my mom the way the soldier did with the ballerina."
"Wow... " She looked back down at the pictures. "So who is your mom in this story?"
"She's the evil queen from Snow White." He said seriously. "But she wasn't always evil."
"Well, I guess I knew her when she wasn't evil huh? Can I borrow this book and read my story?"
"Sure." Henry smiled. "Maybe it'll help bring back your memories. So what were you doing when you had those flashbacks?"
"I uh... I kissed your mom for the first time." She smiled and looked away.
"You kissed my mom!?" This was certainly a case of deja vu. "Graham started to get his memories back, too, when he kissed my other mom. But Emma is supposed to be the savior. So that kinda makes sense. Maybe you're my mom's true love. True love breaks any spell." He grinned.
Jane chuckled with a nod. "Well, I can't say that I, Jane, love your mom but you could be right for the future. Who knows." She closed the book. "So Em and I were talking the other day and she mentioned something about a game changer in the book. What was she talking about?"
"You." Henry replied quickly. "When I told her there was something huge in here that could change everything I was talking about you. If you fight for my mom and don't give up, you might be able to do something Fallon was never able to do." He said a little excitedly. "You might help her be good again and give up her revenge."
"Me huh? I had no idea I would be apart of something so big... no pressure." She chuckled.
"You do believe me, don't you, Jane?" Henry asked all doe-eyed and full of hope.
The woman gave Henry a smile. "If I hadn't have had those flashbacks my answer would be no. But since I have and I've seen these pictures... Yeah, I believe you."
Henry smiled. "Awesome. Read it and let me know what you think. I'll try and help you figure things out."
"Sweet. Thanks, kid." She smiled and stood up with the book under her arm. "I'll let you know tomorrow."
Once she left him, Jane drove over to Maura's again and walked right in like usual. "Hey Maur?"
"Yes, Jane?" Maura popped her head out of the kitchen. "Are you hungry? I'm fixing some lunch and could make enough for two."
"That would be great actually." She smiled and walked to the island and pulled up a bar stool setting the book down. "I believe him."
Maura arched a brow as she turned to face her friend and looked down at the book. "You believe him? Jane, I know that the images that flashed in your mind were an anomaly but... you can't seriously believe you're a fairytale character, can you?"
Jane opened the book to the marked page and slid it toward her. "I know your going to think I'm crazy but just look. Who are we to say these characters aren't real? Someone came up with all the stories, where did they get their inspiration?"
"Well, they are fairytales, are they not? The last time I checked, those were a popular part of our culture." Maura stepped forward and pulled the book closer to look over the pages, running her fingers over an image of Fallon. "This Fallon does have an uncanny resemblance to you but... who's to say someone here in Storybrooke didn't just retell the stories with our images?"
"Maybe but look..." She flipped the pages and showed the image where Regina was holding her while the doctor amputated Fallons leg. "This was one of the images that flashed through my mind. Maur, this is a coincidence."
"Are you absolutely sure you haven't seen any of this before and just forgotten? I mean, there have been some pretty crazy nights for you, Jane." Maura said, pushing the book back in her friend's direction.
"Really? DO you REALLY think one of my wild nights would consist of me getting my leg cut off? Gee thanks, Maura. What am I gonna do next on a wild and crazy night? Blow my brains out?!" She grabbed the book and got off the bar stool. "I knew I shoulda just kept this to myself."
"Jane, that's not what I meant." Maura said frantically, moving quickly to get in front of her friend. "I meant that maybe you've seen the book and those pictures before. I would never say something like that about your injury. I'm sorry."
Jane looked away and sighed heavily. "I haven't seen this book before. I wouldn't dare read on one of those nights... I'm a lil busy when I'm drunk." Looking back at her friend she spoke again. "I know you're a rational person but, maybe there isn't a scientific explanation for everything in the world. This is a pretty odd place."
"If you want to believe this is real, Jane, then I can be supportive as your best friend. I definitely don't believe in it but I don't think you're crazy for doing so. I know you well enough to know you're not crazy. You haven't shown any psychiatric symptoms." She grinned.
Jane smiled softly and put the book back down. "I'm sorry for snapping at ya."
"It's okay. I'm sorry, too. Now tell me more about this Fallon you're supposed to be. Oh, and did you ever figure out who I'm supposed to be?" Maura asked as she took a seat at the kitchen island.
"No but that's one reason I brought the book over. We can find out together." She smiled and sat down on the couch with her and their lunch. "Fallon was best friends with Regina. And Regina turned out to be the Evil Queen."
"Well you were right. She turned out to be a queen. Although the title of Evil Queen doesn't sound so pleasant. Figures you'd go for the bad girl." Maura said as she looked over her friend's shoulder at the book.
"What can I say? I like a challenge." She grinned.
Maura laughed. "Yeah, yeah. So if Regina is the Evil Queen do you plan to change your approach with her any?"
Jane shook her head. "No. She doesn't seem so evil to me. I want to know what made her 'evil' though, but first lets find out who you are."
"I hope it's someone good. Whoever wrote this book better have given me one of the fairytale woman with more substance." Maura said reaching around Jane, flipping some of the pages. "If it's sleeping beauty I will be displeased."
"The beauty part would be right though." She smirked then kissed Maura's cheek quickly. I bet you were someone like... Alice..." Her sentenced was completed by the book itself. There was a picture of Maura in Wonderland with the rabbit and madhatter. "Maur, that's you. You're Alice in Wonderland."
Maura was smiling until her eyes fell upon the picture. It did look just like her, eerily. "That's a little unsettling. At least I wasn't a comatose girl. Alice was always inquisitive and intelligent enough to outsmart the Red Queen." She pointed to the madhatter. "Is that Jefferson?"
Jane's brow raised. "Yeah... I think it is." She looked over at her friend. "This is getting really weird."
"It's been weird from the beginning, Jane." Maura got up and headed to the kitchen to pour herself another glass of wine. The doctor didn't really believe she could be a story book character, but it was extremely weird.
"Well yeah... true." She sighed. "Can you get me a beer? I think I'm going to read through a couple of stories."
"Sure." Maura put her bottle of wine away and then grabbed one of Jane's favorite beers from the fridge before heading back over to the couch and sitting with both drinks in hand, giving over Jane's. "You go ahead and read what you want and I'll find a good documentary on TV."
Stepping foot into the stable area, Jane looked at the bundle on the dirt floor. "Regina?" The closer she got the more she saw. "Oh god... Daniel." Her jaw clenched as she knelt down beside them. "What-What happened?" She was trying to be strong but tears started to well up in her eyes.
Regina's cheeks were wet, her fingers still caressing his face. She didn't even look away from her dead lover. "My mother. We were about to leave, to head to the woods to meet with you, but she knew." The noblewoman let out a shuddering sob and pressed her lips to his forehead. "She ripped his heart out in front of me and crushed it."
Fallon's tears were released. Hearing what happened to her half-brother she wrapped her arm around Regina's back and kissed her head, silently. There was nothing she could say to make this better. She was sad and angry.
"I was wondering when you would come back." Cora had one of those wide, pleased smiles on her face when Fallon and Regina looked up. "Now!"
Rough hands grabbed Fallon's shoulders from behind and yanked her back. It was a guardsman who snapped cuffs attached to chain links around Fallon's wrists and tugged her away from Regina, who looked up at Cora with fiery eyes. "Mother, what are you doing!?"
"I can't allow a thief to be running around when the king's men come to pick you up tomorrow."
"I'm no theif!" Fallon fought with all her might, struggling to get free only to have Cora shoot her with a burst of energy that sent her to the ground. The guard then drug her out of the stables and to the carriage.
Regina looked down at Daniel one more time before gently setting his head down and running after Fallon. "Stop! She's done no wrong!" Cora's magic bound Regina before she could go further, the queen-to-be yelling in frustration as she was forced to watch the guard take Fallon away.
Jane sniffed slightly. "Wow..." She whispered. She stared at the picture after reading the page and moved her fingers over Regina's drawn tears. She was feeling even more connected to the woman.
Hearing Jane's sniffles, Maura looked over at her friend from her spot on the couch, where she was leaning against the arm with her legs tucked beneath her. "Hey, are you okay?" She set her wine down on the coffee table and scooted closer to Jane, rubbing her back soothingly. "What is it?"
"I just.. When I read this I feel apart of it. Regina's love had his heart ripped right out of his chest and crushed by her mother. Daniel he was is also my brother, well Fallon's brother. Then Fallon gets arrested for theft the moment she finds Regina and Daniel. She was framed. I can just feel their emotions."
"So what happened afterwards? To Fallon? To Fallon and Regina?" Maura asked softly, her brow slightly furrowed with concern.
"I don't know yet. It's on the next page." She turned it over and looked down at the picture and the words and began to read again.
The meals were meager in the dungeons, daylight scarce. Fallon was in there for two days before a guardsman came and unlocked her cell, stepping aside so that a woman in a light blue dress and crown came into view: Regina.
Looking up into the bright light, the woman finally came into view. "Regina?" She questioned then stood up slowly, weakly. "Hi."
Regina took the few steps between them and hugged Fallon tightly. "Hi." She didn't say anything else for a long moment, the emotion in her voice, even for just that one word, telling enough. "I'm sorry, Fallon."
She eventually stepped back to look at the guard. "Please help her up to one of the guest rooms. I'll accompany you."
The guard nodded and moved forward to wrap Fallon's arm around his shoulders, leading her out of the dungeon.
Fallon had been beaten and when Regina hugged her she had winced but kept quiet other than that. She didn't want the woman to know and worry more than what she had.
Once in the guest room she sat down on the foot of the bed and the moment the guard walked out she fell backward, closing her eyes. Grateful for the comfort.
It wasn't much longer when Regina slipped into the room, locking the door behind her and taking a seat on the bed next to Fallon. Finally having the chance to look her friend over well, Regina's brow furrowed as she gently ran her fingertips over the bruises on the other woman's face. "What did they do to you?"
"Oh just their jobs... I'm apparently a thief so... they beat me." Jane looked up into Regina's eyes. "I'm okay though."
"I'm so sorry. I promise no one will ever touch you like that again in this castle. Cora is no longer a threat." Regina stood and held out her hand for Fallon. "Come on. I'll help you get cleaned up. A hot bath could do you good."
"What happened to Cora?" She asked and took her friend's hand and stood up slowly "And a hot bath does sound very enticing."
"You cannot tell anyone else this. I..." Regina was quiet for a moment as she led Fallon to the tub. "I made a deal with Rumplestiltskin. She's in an alternate world now."
"Rumplestiltskin? ...Regina... that's not good. What did he want in return?" Her voice was filled with worry.
"He knew my mother. Taught her. And he wanted me to be his student because I have potential." She began to help Fallon out of her rags. "But I'll use my magic for good. To help people."
Fallon shrugged out of her loose shirt, showing dark bruises on her ribs and abdomen. "Just please don't get sucked in too deep. Okay?"
Regina gasped, starting to reach out to Fallon before stopping herself short, not wanting to hurt her. "If you point out who did this, I can have them disciplined." She took a deep calming breath then turned to give Fallon some privacy. "I won't let him corrupt me. I don't want to be my mother." Regina said, truly believing she would never be like Cora or Rumplestiltskin.
"I can't. They all had their helmets on." She allowed, Regina to walk her toward the tub in the room and sat down in the water. The bucket of clean, warm water was in a bucket beside the lion foot tub. "I believe in you and I'll never turn my back on you for any reason."
"I know you won't." Regina slipped out of her heels and dress and laid it across the bed, now standing in just an undergarment shift dress. "I think the king would have a lot of questions if I came back to his chambers all wet." The queen moved behind Fallon and grabbed some rags and soap. "Lean forward a bit. I'm going to climb in and wash your back so those whip lashes don't get infected."
Fallon watched her undress and smirked slightly. "Yeah, he may wonder and when you say you bathed with me we both may end up in the dungeon." She chuckled and sat up slowly. Her arms draped on both sides of the porcelain. Closing her eye, Fallon enjoyed the feeling of Regina behind her and even more so when her hands started touching her back. "So how were you able to get me outta there?"
"I'm the queen now." There definitely wasn't any enthusiasm in that tone. "I have some pull." Regina focused on cleaning each of Fallon's cuts gently. "I'd bathe with you over Leopold any day." She smiled slightly. "You're much nicer to look at."
"Aw, I missed the wedding?" She asked then let out a soft moan at the touches. "Well thank you." She smiled. "I haven't seen the brute yet, what's he look like?"
Regina ceased her ministrations and dropped her hands to her lap, her head held low. "He's much older than I. Gray, balding, a bit of a pot belly. He..." Regina shook away her thoughts of the wedding, her wedding night. "It should've been your brother. The man I married."
Jane turned to her slightly. "It shoulda been, but unfortunately you're stuck with this bastard. Regina... I promise you I'll get you out of here as soon as I can. Yeah, you're a queen but you're suffering. I hate to see you suffer. When you hurt, I hurt."
"So Regina was clearly still good at this point. And she obviously cared very much about you and this Daniel figure. Your - Fallon's - brother. So what made her the Evil Queen?" Maura asked.
"She's been hurt so much already, I'm surprised she hasn't turned evil yet. Wanna skip a page or two?"
Maura nodded, noticing from looking over Jane's shoulder that she was telling much more story than there were words. The book, of course, didn't go into detail about Regina's feelings concerning Leopold and the time she'd spent in his bed.
A little more than a year later and Rumplestiltskin had convinced Regina to forget her hopes of escaping from the castle, informing her of all the good she could do for her people if she'd just remain queen and become a master of magic.
Then he'd brilliantly brought in Jefferson to trick the young woman into believing Daniel could be revived. When that had failed, it piled onto the growing distaste Regina already had of Leopold and his daughter, the queen finally snapped.
She crushed her first heart and her focus in magic took a much darker turn.
After searching for Regina for an hour, after her practice, Fallon finally found her queen in the garden. "They are beautiful, Regina." She smiled, standing beside her and looking up at the apples. "You do good work."
"I do, don't I?" Regina grinned and glanced over at Fallon. "Thank you, though. So how is your training going? Are they going to let you fight with the other soldiers soon?"
"I'm doing great actually." She smiled. "They said that even for a girl I would make a grand soldier. I'd be honored if you would view the next training."
Regina turned to face Fallon and smiled. "I'd love to come and watch you show off. I've seen your skills firsthand and already know you'll surpass many of the men." She brushed her fingertips along some of her friend's chestplate. "Just think of all the good we could do for this kingdom one day with your physical skills and my magical ones. Especially when Leopold is out of the way."
Fallon smiled then moved her hand over Regina's on top of her breast plate, over her heart. "We could do a lot of good together, but what do you mean when Leopold is outta the way. Don't do anything you're going to regret, Regina."
"Believe me I wouldn't regret it one bit." Regina sneered, pulling her hand away from Fallon's heart. "He's old. It's hard to tell when that heart of his will give out. And when something does finally happen, it'll leave me alone on the throne."
"Are you going to wait until his heart gives out on his own or are you planning on speeding it up?"
Regina stepped closer, so that their faces were only inches apart as her eyes darted from side to side taking in Fallon's facial expression. "Are you accusing your queen of plotting treason against the king?"
The soldier in training placed her hand on Regina's jaw. "No, it was just a simple question, but you know that no matter what I'm with you every step of the way." She smiled sweetly.
Regina's bared teeth disappeared at the touch, the queen taking on a much calmer demeanor. "I'm sorry. I know you're the one person in this entire castle I can truly trust. I'm not planning to kill the king." Yet, she added mentally.
"I would never hurt you, Regina. I love you too much to ever even think about such things. But I am worried about you. I'm afraid you're going to be pushed too far at the wrong time and snap in front of the wrong person. I don't want anything to happen to you." Fallon's free hand moved to Regina's hip. "I want to be close to make sure that doesn't happen. What can we do to insure that?
Regina's stormy brown eyes looked into Fallon's. "You could become my personal knight. That would give you an excuse to be by my side at all times. But you'll need to log some battle hours before you can even try out for a knight's position. And there hasn't been a woman knight yet."
"Well, it's time I become the first, huh?" She smiled then looked down at Regina's lips, her thumb tracing the scar there. Fallon's eyes met Regina's once more. "When the king falls asleep tonight, come to my room. Just sleep with me. Let me hold you and keep you safe."
"If there's any woman who can do it it's you." Regina said with full confidence, her eyes following Fallon's path. "I can keep myself safe nowadays, Fallon. But I do prefer your company over Leopold's so I'll come."
She smiled brightly. "I'll see you tonight then. I have to go bond with the boys and try to get on the battlefield as quick as possible." Leaning in she kissed her forehead with a smirk. Pulling the queen into her arms, Fallon hugged her tightly then turned, walking off back toward the ring.
"Talk about being, what is it called? Oh yeah, whipped." Maura interrupted with a huge grin. "Regina could've asked Fallon to jump off the highest cliff and I'm sure she'd do it. She must've really loved the woman before that darkness began to seep in, and been too blinded by that love to later see what she'd become."
"Heeeyy! Not nice." She chuckled. "Fallon loved Regina with all of her heart. She was all she had left and she wanted to protect her with all her might. And I think she saw the darkness seeping but didn't care because the queen still looked at her with kind eyes."
Maura's teasing expression turned to one of understanding. "You really are feeling all of this, aren't you? You talk as though you know exactly what the character is feeling."
Jane nodded. "Yeah I am... um do me a favor. I've never showed anyone my back. Compare my scars to the ones on the previous page." She was nervous about showing Maura the scars on her back but she had to know. Pulling her shirt off, Jane sat in her black bra and turned away from her friend.
Maura's breath caught as her eyes took in the sight of a marred tan back. All these years and she now couldn't ever recall a time she'd seen her friend's back. Despite being quite the womanizer, Jane was very modest and always changed in the bathroom for bed. "How did you get these?" She ran her fingers over the scars for a moment and then grabbed the book, cross examining the markings.
"I don't know." She whispered and then felt a chill come over her when Maura's fingers brushed her markings. "I can only assume now that its from being a prisoner back then."
"These markings match exactly." Maura whispered, sitting back and giving Jane some space. "If no one's seen your back..." She wondered... "There has to be a rational explanation for this. There just has to be." Maura finished, trying to convince herself that this wasn't even possible.
"You're looking at the explanation." She turned around and looked at her best friend. "I can't remember anything." She thought about it. "Maura, we've been in this town for a really long time, shouldn't we have aged? Do you remember anything outside of when we came here? Like how did we actually get here? I don't remember anything at all."
"I-I..." Maura's facial expressions definitely gave away her confusion, her face scrunching up as she tried really hard to remember things from her past. She couldn't recall anything from her childhood, how long she and Jane had been friends other than a really long time. There was so much missing. "No! I don't like this! We can't be fairytale characters. Everything I know goes against this."
"What if everything you know is just a fill in for what's missing? What if we are these people in the book? This makes sense. Its the only thing that makes sense."
"I'm a doctor, a scientist, Jane. This goes against everything I am." Maura climbed off the couch and grabbed her glass, heading for the kitchen. "I just know, right now, that I need a lot more alcohol to make it through the evening."
"Me too." Getting up, after putting her shirt back on, Jane went to the fridge and grabbed another beer. "I can't wrap my head around it." She put her palms on the kitchen counter and looked down. "Do you want to read some of your story?"
"No." Maura took a sip of her wine and shook her head. "I don't want to read about being someone else. I'm me. I'm Dr. Maura Isles. You can read Alice's story if you want, but I don't want to." The blonde turned around and leaned against the counter.
Jane nodded and set her beer down and walked over to Maura. Wrapping her arms around her waist, she looked into her eyes before leaning forward and setting her chin on the blonde's shoulder and sighed. "Don't worry, your my best friend now and always will be."
Maura set her wine down and wrapped her arms around Jane tightly, resting her cheek against her friend's clavicle. "I don't think anything could ever change that. Just... don't tell me what's in that book about Alice. I don't want it to affect the way I look at others in town."
"Okay I promise you I wont say a word and I wont even read it to ensure I wont give anything away." she kisses her shoulder then pulled back slightly. "I do love you and I'd do anything for you ,Maur." Jane smiled then looked down at her hip as her cell buzzed.
"Hey, Chief. Sorry to bother you on your day off but there's a fire at the elementary school. It's starting to get a little more outta control than we'd like. We could use some extra hands." Dirk said through the phone quickly.
Make sure I have a suit waiting for me and I'll meet you there." she hung up quickly. "School's on fire. Gotta go! Jane ran out of the house and sped to the school. Squealing to a stop she flew out and went to the truck to suit up. "Are there any children or staff still inside?"
"Being after hours and all we didn't think so." Dirk shook his head. "Not at first. But then we learned there were kids here practicing for a play after school. The teacher got most of them out, but there's three boys unaccounted for." He stepped aside and pointed to the crowd of townspeople gathered, Regina among them. "Henry's one of them, Rizzoli."
A young firefighter had his hands on Regina's shoulders, obviously trying to calm down a very emotionally distraught mayor. Emma was squatted down beside them, her head in her hands.
"I'm going in... I know where the auditorium is." She said then looked over at Regina. Walking up to her she took her face in her hands once the younger fighter moved away. "I'm going in, and I'll get him out. I promise okay?" She kissed her forehead like Fallon always had then turned and ran toward the truck, grabbing her helmet, Jane then ran into the front of the building.
The tender way Fallon had reassured Regina had always soothed her fears. Now was a moment from another time past. Jane's confidence, her calmness, made Regina feel more at ease. But her heart was still pounding as she watched the fire chief run into that building. For Henry, for Regina.
Jane busted through the doors with Dirk and went into the school. "Auditorium is a few doors down... lets hope their in there because the drama room is a floor below."
The fire seemed to have started in the light box at the end of the Auditorium and it was creeping up to the three boys. With no way out they were stuck. Pushing the door open slightly, Jane was licked with flames and she slammed it shut quickly. "Shit."
"I think the choir or band room has a door that leads to the backstage. Let's hope the boys are back that way and haven't passed out from smoke inhalation yet." Dirk said before he ran down the hallway and turned the corner.
Henry and the two other boys were beginning to run out of fresh air, the smoke filling it instead. They were huddled together backstage, the only door to escape blocked, leaving them to the mercy of their rescuers. "Try to cover your faces and avoid breathing the smoke." Henry said as he lifted his shirt to his mouth.
"What if they don't come because they can't find us, Henry?" Aaron said, scared, as he covered his nose and mouth with his shirt as well.
"Jane will find us. She has to."
"HENRY!" The chief called out the moment Dirk kicked the door open in the band room. Looking around she didn't see a sign of them so the pair ran to the next door. "Henry!" She shouted again through the big black door.
"Jane! In here! Hurry, please!" Henry coughed, the smoke beginning to become too much. It was stinging his eyes, tears blurring his vision. Aaron and Chris were hacking up a spell as Henry pushed himself off the ground and pounded on the door.
"We're coming, back up from the door. Its locked and we're going to have to hack it!" She called out then look over at Dirk and nodded as he began to axe the lock of the door. After a minute or so he was in and kicked the door open. Henry rushed up to Jane and she picked him up. Dirk got the other two boys and they started rushing out of the band room and headed toward the front doors of the school.
"Henry!" Regina pushed aside the firefighter trying to keep spectators back and ran towards her son and Jane, Emma right there behind her. Once Henry was back on his feet after Jane had set him down, he closed the distance between himself and his moms, throwing his arms around Regina as she reached him first. Emma was soon hugging him, too.
Jane stepped back and watched them as she took her helmet off. The other two boys reunited with their parents as well. The other firefighters rushed in and started hosing down the flames the best the could.
Walking off Jane went to the truck, set the helmet down and unzipped her jacket and laid it down. In her white shirt and firepants with the red suspenders over her shoulders, Jane turned around when she felt a hand on her arm.
"Thank you." Regina's voice was full of emotion, her eyes glistening as they locked with Jane's. The 'evil' queen had different priorities now and Jane had just rescued the one thing that mattered most to her. She wrapped her arms around the one other important person in her life and rested her head against Jane's chest.
Jane gave Regina a warm smile and wrapped her arms around the shorter woman tightly. "Just doing my job, ma'am." She chuckled and kissed her head lightly.
Some people had stopped and watched the Mayor with the Fire Chief, seeing that it was more than just a hug of 'thank yous', especially after the light kiss to her head. Emma's jaw had dropped and Henry had a gargantuan smile on his face.
"Damn. I mean... darn." Emma said correcting herself in front of Henry, still watching Regina and Jane in a very intimate embrace. That wasn't any ordinary hug, not the way Regina was pressed against the fire chief and Jane was tenderly holding the mayor. "Is your mom and Jane? Um, well, together, kid?"
The boy looked up at Emma and smiled. "They kissed the other day." She smirked. "Like on the lips. Mom and Jane had their first date then. But I don't know if they're official or not."
Jane pulled back just slightly to look Regina and without really thinking, her lips connected with the mayor's in an affectionate kiss.
Regina didn't even consider the fact they could have an audience. She didn't try to pull away. She moved her hands to Jane's waist and kissed the fire chief tenderly.
Emma had already turned from them. "Well, kid, I'd say that if they're not official yet, they will be soon."
Henry nodded. "Ohhhh yeah."
After a moment, Jane pulled back slightly. Resting her forehead against the mayor's she spoke. "Why don't I take you, Henry, and Em out for ice cream?"
"Subtract Ms. Swan from that equation and I'll say yes." Regina quipped.
"Deal." She grinned before kissing her cheek quickly. Taking Regina's hand in her own and lacing their fingers, the couple walked over to Emma and Henry.
Regina let go of Jane's hand, though, when they'd made it over to the duo, not one for PDA. She bent over and cupped Henry's cheeks with a loving smile. "Let's get you home and cleaned up. Then we'll go out for ice cream with Jane." She stood straight and shot Emma a much less warm and fuzzy look. "Go ahead and say your goodbyes to Ms. Swan first, though."
Henry nodded and hugged Emma goodbye.
Looking at Regina she smiled. "I'm going to get cleaned up myself and I'll meet you at your place."
Regina looked over at Jane and nodded. "Okay. We'll see you fairly soon then." She said softly and then set her hand on Henry's back as she led him toward the car.
Emma was grinning like a fool when Jane glanced at her. "You and the mayor, huh? You're actually a thing?"
Jane chuckled with a shrug. "I guess so" She grinned. "We both want it and I'm going to change my life for her. No more womanizing." She laughed.
"You? No more womanizing? Regina must have like chocolate tits or something!" Emma laughed, shutting up and clearing her throat when Granny Lucas shot her a dirty look.
Jane threw her head back and laughed especially when Granny gave 'that' look. "I wouldn't know, we haven't gotten that far but if she does...Bonus!"
Emma chuckled and looked at Jane a little flabbergasted. "Really? You haven't slept with her yet? In like two dates? That's gotta be a record."
The brunette nodded. "Yeah blows my mind too but I want to take it slow with Regina. I want to show her that I'm in it for all of her, not just her 'chocolate tits'." Jane laughed.
Emma smirked. "I still don't know what you see in her, Jane, but you've become one of my closest friends in Storybrooke so I won't judge you too harshly."
"You wanna know what I see in her? I see my past, present and future." She smiled and took a breath, thinking.
Emma made a gagging noise and doubled over as though she were gonna hurl before grinning. "I think that's the cheesiest damn thing I've ever heard. Go get cleaned up, Rizzoli, so you can take your present and future out for ice cream."
Jane laughed and shoved her playfully. "Shut up!" She shook her head and started to walk off. "You forgot Past!" She called out over her shoulder.
"Yeah, I wondered about that part." Emma said quietly.
Getting a shower and into some clean clothes, black slacks, boots and her deep blue purple v-neck, Jane headed toward Regina's.
Regina swung open her front door with an affectionate smile, stepping aside so Jane could come in. "You cleaned up nicely. Henry's been going on and on about how awesome you are."
Jane grinned and kissed her cheek before walking inside. "Oh? Well I am pretty awesome." She chuckled. "Where is that kid, anyway?"
Regina rolled her eyes and closed the door behind the fire chief before walking past her to the living room. "He's upstairs in his room talking to Aaron and Chris. I didn't think you would mind waiting for just a bit."
The taller woman walked up behind the couch when Regina sat down. "Not." Her hands slowly moved down the mayor's arms. "At." The third word was whispered in her ear. "All." Lips connected with the woman's neck, slow and sensual for a few times.
Regina's eyelids fluttered closed, the mayor's lips parting as she tilted her head to the side to give Jane better access. "You certainly know how to pass the time, Chief Rizzoli."
Jane smiled against soft flesh. Her hands moved down and around to Regina's abdominal region. Fingertips brushed against exposed skin just under the hem of her blouse. "You should experience it when I have more time, Mayor Mills."
"I hope to do just that fairly soon." Despite how good it felt, Regina removed Jane's hand and pulled at her, indicating that she wanted the firefighter right beside her on the couch. "You brushed it off earlier with a joke but..." Regina looked right into Jane's eyes. "I really am grateful to you for what you did. I know he doubts it sometimes, but I love Henry more than anything in this world."
Jane gladly moved and sat beside the woman she was starting to hold so dear to her heart. "It was my day off today but when Dirk called me and told me the school was on fire, all I could think about was Henry. I didn't know if he was in there or not. Or if anyone was for that matter, I had to get there. Then I found out he was trapped behind the flames and seeing you, tears in your eyes, I couldn't let either one of you down. I did my job as a firefighter, a friend and... whatever we are." She smiled. "I know you love him and he knows that too but you know how kids are, they go through a phase. It'll pass."
Regina had taken one of Jane's hands into her own as she listened, a soft smile playing on her lips. She eventually had to look away from the fire chief, so she wouldn't get too emotional. "I hope it passes." She said of his little 'phase.' But she had a feeling he'd never let the curse concept go. It was then she looked back up at Jane. "I don't know what we are yet, Jane, but it's certainly more than just friends."
"I'll take what I can get, Regina. I know it sounds odd to be so early for us but, I feel like you're where I'm supposed to be. Right here. With you and Henry."
Regina had taken Fallon for granted in the past. She had learned, after she became queen, that the warrior loved her. But, blinded by a lust for revenge, she had used Fallon's love to her own gain instead of giving her friend what she truly deserved. Yes, she had cared for Fallon and shown her kindness, but she had never let herself give over the kind of love her knight had earned. Maybe, after all this time, she could finally give that. "It has felt like there was a missing puzzle piece in my life for a long time now. Maybe you do fit."
Woo that was a long one lol Hope you all enjoyed it. Especially now that Jane and Maura's characters from the passed have been revealed.
Oh and yes there will be a 'sequel' to this story but its going to be all about Dr. Isles.
REVIEW PLEASE!
