Mary Margaret could hear Henry and Emma talking in the kitchen after they climbed the stairs and stood at the door. David reached for the doorknob, but Mary Margaret stopped him.
"I think it would be best if I told Emma myself." Mary Margaret said. The family situation was still awkward, Emma had warmed a little towards David but was still closest to Mary Margaret.
David frowned, but he agreed. "It will probably come better from you than me." He put his hand on the knob. "Ready to go in?"
Mary Margaret nodded and David opened the door.
Emma and Henry were sitting at the table, Henry's biology book lay open beside a sheet of notebook paper, but his homework was forgotten as Henry was animatedly describing something to Emma. They stopped talking when they noticed the door opening. Henry looked over at the door with a big ear-to-ear grin, then ran over to greet them, excited as a puppy. Emma of course was more reserved than Henry but she looked happy to see them.
After the greetings were done Mary Margaret started thinking how she could get Emma by herself, when David helpfully volunteered to make dinner.
"Shepherd's pie." David decided. "Henry, you can peel the potatoes."
Mary Margaret pulled Emma aside, was going to suggest something lame like seeing if there was a way to rearrange Emma's room so there could be more space for herself and Henry. But Emma looked at her and said simply, "You want to talk."
Mary Margaret nodded. They climbed up the stairs to Emma's room. The room was now quite crowded with Henry's cot and stuff. Mary Margaret looked around and knew they would have to find a bigger place to live. Especially now with a baby on the way. With all that had been going on there had not been much time for house-hunting. Mary Margaret decided to start looking tomorrow.
Emma sat on her bed and looked up at Mary Margaret. "Well?"
Mary Margaret sat down next to her. She and Emma had spent a lot of time in her room, but Mary Margaret hardly ever came upstairs to Emma's room. It was a little messy, not entirely Emma's fault, she was sharing her room with a ten-year old boy. Mary Margaret felt like tidying the room up, she folded her hands in her lap and looked at Emma. She did not know how Emma would take finding out that they were having another baby. That was another reason why she and David had decided to wait a while before having more children. Emma already had a lot to take in, a baby brother or sister on top of all that was too much.
"I know you've been under a lot of stress lately, even before the Curse broke." Mary Margaret started awkwardly.
Emma snorted. "Stress doesn't begin to describe it. But it's really not so bad now, just an Evil Queen with magical powers, knowing what's going on makes it a whole lot easier to deal with."
"There's something else you should know..." Mary Margaret hesitated again.
Emma looked at her expectantly for a moment, then sighed. "How about I make this easier? I saw the box in the trash this morning, and since you have something to tell me now I'm guessing it came out positive."
Lovesick schoolteachers do not know how to be discreet. "Oh Emma, that's not how I wanted you to find out."
"It's okay." Emma shrugged. "It saved us both some time."
"Still..." Mary Margaret rubbed her forehead. "Are you okay with this?"
"Yeah." Emma said. "I had the whole day to get used to the idea. But are you okay?"
"I will be. Good will win." Mary Margaret absently put a hand over her belly. "Your father and I really were not planning on this now. But it'll work out. I just don't want Regina to find out."
"Does anyone else know?" Emma asked.
"Just your father, of course. And Ruby but she won't tell anybody. And Sneezy probably guessed since I bought the test at his store, but he won't tell anyone about it except his brothers and they'll keep it to themselves."
"Oh, is that all?" Emma said drily. "May as well tell Henry and make it an even dozen."
Ruby wanted to take her car, but her car was unreliable at the best of times, even with her 'lucky wolf thing' hanging from the rear-view mirror. So they took August's motorcycle. Besides being in good repair they would be able to make a fast getaway on it. So that evening Ruby rode behind August on his bike, her arms wrapped around his hard wooden waist, her hood thrown back for the crash helmet and her long red cloak trailing in the wind behind her.
They stopped the bike while still a few blocks from the Mayor's house, and pushed it the rest of the way, eventually parking the bike on the road next to the hedge where it would be hidden from view.
Ruby pressed a gun into August's hand. "Silver bullets. If I start to run away from the Mayor's house, or start to attack you or anyone other than Regina shoot me. And don't try to be nice and try to only wing me in the leg - Shoot to kill. If the Wolf takes over I can kill everyone in town and I'd rather not wake up at all than come to and find out I killed innocent people again. Got it? Even if you shoot me I'll probably still survive, the silver will drop me and you just throw the cloak over me and I'll come back."
August nodded and stiffly put the gun in the waistband of his jeans.
The moon was up, full and bright, more than enough light for Ruby to see by. August stumbled behind her but did not make too much noise. The went around the house to a window in the back. August punched through the glass then knocked the shards from the window. Ruby slipped off her cloak and handed it to August. Her eyes glowed yellow and she climbed in the window.
It was like a bull loose in a china shop, only more destructive and less manure. The Big Bad Wolf came to break mirrors, and she certainly destroyed a bunch of mirrors, as well as just about every stick of furniture before Regina came out of hiding to stop her. The Wolf was tearing apart a couch cushion when she caught Regina's scent, that slightly rotting apple smell.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?"
The Wolf spun around just in time to see Regina before a blinding blue light exploded in her vision and slammed her against a wall.
The Wolf got back up, shook plaster dust from her fur and lunged at Regina only to be thrown back again by another blue light. The Wolf's claws dug into the hardwood floor to keep from being knocked off her feet, long scores tore across the flooring until the Wolf came to a stop against the wall again. She bared her teeth and snarled at that hateful woman who was nothing but a bit of meat and bones. The magic hurt but the Wolf still had that urge to kill.
"Red! C'mon, let's get out of here!" That pine-smelling man was sticking his head in through the window, knocking aside broken glass with an arm, the red cloak draped over his other arm. The Wolf was not interested in him, he was easier prey than the witch but was nothing but wood, no flesh.
The Wolf charged at Regina again. Regina made a gesture and a smoky portal appeared between her and the Wolf. The Wolf was moving to fast to stop and barreled right through.
Ruby was gone, and August was left standing outside Regina's window holding Red's cloak, looking like a startled bullfighter.
"Where-" August started to ask before realizing Regina was more likely to kill him than answer his question.
"What are you doing at my home?" Dangerous looking bits of broken furniture were beginning to rise from the floor, Regina glared at August and the rubble began pelting at him.
August turned and ran across the yard back to his bike as fast as his stiff wooden legs would take him.
The Big Bad Wolf landed in the middle of the road. Fortunately there was no traffic, otherwise the Wolf's sudden appearance would have caused an accident. The Wolf was disoriented, stumbled over the yellow line, shaking her head. Then the Wolf smelled meat and her senses cleared as she remembered her purpose. To feed. To tear.
The meat smells were coming from a building with windows and a glass door, it felt familiar, like a frequent hunting ground. The Wolf knew this was her territory. She threw herself against the door and it shattered, the bell rattled a complaint as she squeezed through the broken door. The few diners inside screamed and jumped from their seats.
"Red! What are you doing? Where is your cloak?" An old woman at the counter gasped.
The Wolf snarled at the humans, but the smell of raw bloody meat coming from the next room had her more interested. The Wolf went across the diner and leaped through the kitchen window.
"Tony! Look out!" The old woman yelled a warning.
Raw meat was sizzling on the hot griddle, the blood being cooked right out of it. The Wolf did not even notice her muzzle being burned as she ate the hamburger patties right off the hot griddle. Then the Wolf turned to the cook, naturally the man was terrified, clutching a metal spatula in his shaking hand.
"Red! Leave Tony alone!" The old woman had followed the Wolf into the kitchen. The Wolf sensed that old woman was more of a threat than the scared cook. The wolf turned on her. Granny ran across the kitchen and pulled open a large metal door. Cold air poured out, mixed with the smell of raw meat.
The smell was irresistible. The Wolf ran into the walk-in freezer, not caring when the door was slammed shut, just began devouring frozen meat.
Granny and Tony slid a work table and some heavy equipment in front of the door but Granny knew Red could not be kept trapped if she decided to come out, in this form the Wolf was unstoppable. No one at the diner had been hurt, but Granny did not know where else Red had been before she smashed through the door. Granny wondered why Ruby had ever taken off her cloak, she knew what the cloak was for and was not sure how the Wolf would be after 28 years under the Dark Curse. Did someone forcibly take Red's cloak? If so the damned fool would get what he deserved when Red changed.
Granny picked up the phone to call Emma, the Sheriff had to know about this. But before Granny could dial Emma's home number she heard the roar of a motorcycle outside. The engine was killed and August ran in through the broken door. He was holding Red's cloak.
"What the hell are you doing with that?" Granny demanded. She was furious. The wooden boy's stunts might have been forgivable when he was seven, but he was grown up now. What he did now could have gotten people killed. Red was inconsolable when she found out she had killed people as the Wolf, if it had happened again because of something August had done... Granny grabbed August's arm before he could answer and had it twisted behind his back so tight she could hear the wooden joints creaking.
"Is Ruby still here?" August asked anxiously. "Regina sent her away, I was hoping she sent her here."
"Give me that cloak." Granny swore at August and snatched the cloak from him. She strode back to the kitchen but August followed her.
"She's in the freezer?" August asked.
Granny was tempted to say something sarcastic about how it was more efficient to run a kitchen with the freezer door blocked but she had to get that cloak back on Red as soon as possible. The barricade was moved from the freezer door. Granny could hear the Wolf chewing on something frozen, Granny hoped it was just hamburger and not the really expensive steaks. Granny reached for the handle.
"Maybe I should put the cloak on her." August volunteered. "I'm less likely to get hurt."
Granny glared at him. "Didn't you take it off her in the first place?"
"No." August's nose didn't grow. "She took it off herself and gave it to me to hold on to."
"Why the hell did Ruby do that?"
August shrugged. "Our mission was kind of secret, I don't think she'd like me talking about it."
Once Ruby was not a man-eating wolf Granny wanted to get some answers. She tossed August the cloak. "Don't waste any time, just get it on her before she can get away."
August nodded. Granny opened the door.
The Wolf looked up from box of frozen buffalo wings. Hot breath smoked from her muzzle. Then the wolf was charging, leaping, slammed into August. August was flattened to the floor but managed to wrap the cloak around the Wolf. The cloak shimmered and the Wolf shrank away until it was just Ruby, looking slightly embarrassed. She disentangled herself from August and got back to her feet.
"Ruby- why did you take off your cloak?"
"I thought it was the quickest way to destroy every mirror in Regina's house." Ruby helped August to his feet and straightened her cloak. "I think I got them all."
"You broke more than her mirrors, you destroyed just about everything there." August was looking a little worse for wear, besides a few bite marks from the Wolf there were a few glass splinters sticking from his wooden face. Granny wondered if he could even feel it.
"Snow and James sent you to Regina's house without even saying anything to me about it?"
"No, they don't even know I went." Ruby said. "The whole thing was all my idea."
"What possessed you to do something so stupid? Regina could have killed you."
"I just wanted to make it harder for her to spy on us." Ruby said.
"There's something more you're not telling me." Granny could sense it.
"Yeah, but I promised Snow not to tell anyone." Ruby said simply. "You'll find out yourself soon. It's nothing bad."
Ruby seemed to enjoy keeping secrets. Granny frowned at her, then looked at the clock. It was getting late, but not too late to pay Snow a visit and find out what Ruby risked getting herself killed over. "Then you can clean up this mess. Make sure you sweep up all the broken glass out front, I don't want anyone getting cut. And tape some cardboard over the window, that'll have to do until Marco can fix it."
Ruby's shoulders slumped at that. Granny got her purse and headed off to Mary Margaret's apartment. Already Granny was thinking that maybe she should get out her knitting needles and pick out some yarn.
And that's it for this fic. I might do a sequel or something if there's enough interest (reviews) but I should be working on my other two fics and like I said before, I'm a coward about writing while the show is on the same season.