Chapter 11
The minute the door closes on the small room, Robin exhales, and falls backwards onto the bed, closing his eyes. Adrenaline has been surging through him since they landed, since Belle shot Graham (fuck), but maybe even longer than that – maybe since Killian got that text from Graham. Whatever the case, it feels like he's been running for his life because, oh wait, he has.
"Hey." Regina places one knee then the other on either side of his hips, sinking down on top of him and he reaches for her, pulling her close to him, holding her tight. He buries his face in her neck, inhaling the spicy scent of perfume she's worn for ages now (spice and berries and something else, something completely Regina that has simultaneously driven him crazy and soothed his soul since the day they met).
"Shit," he says out loud, rolling them over to so that they're lying side by side, Regina still tucked into him, arms wrapped around him, clutching his t-shirt in her hands.
"I know right?" she remarks, exhaling, before she starts to laugh.
He knows his girlfriend well, knows that hysterical laughter is how she deals with problems that she can't handle. When the transmitter at the station blew the night of the battle of the bands, he found her in the office, laughing so hard that she was crying, tears streaming down her face and smile wide and slightly scary. He holds her until the laughter subsides and her shoulders stop shaking, stroking his hand up and down her back, finding comfort in the rhythm. There is a small painting of a girl in a red hooded cape walking through a snowy landscape and he studies it as he matches his breathing to Regina's, letting his heart rate fall.
He is exhausted, he has no clothing to change into, he is in a foreign country, but he is alive. He lets go of Regina to pat his jeans pocket, where he put his passport (he's grateful that it's still there, still on him after their mad dash).
And that is when it really hits him that he may or may not have gotten himself involved in the middle of a political coup, and his laughter mingles with Regina's, deep and from the belly, because even in his wildest imagination he still thought that Killian and Graham were exaggerating (he's seen Killian at his darkest more than once, knows what that looks like and how futile it is to reason with him and this, this just seemed like another overreaction).
It's totally not.
Regina shifts, pulling her arm out from under him with a muffled complaint about him being heavy, but he just grabs her and shifts her until she's straddling him, her face between his hands. His thumbs stroke across her cheekbones, burying his hands in her hair.
"There is no one I would rather be on the run from a strange European dictator than you," he tells her before kissing her, slowly and softly, and she sighs.
"Same," she tells him when she breaks the kiss, resting her forehead against his. She sighs.
"What have we gotten ourselves into?"
He shakes his head, opening his eyes to look at her. "Do you honestly want an answer to that question?" he asks.
"Not really," Regina admits. She shifts off of him and leans over the side of the bed, reaching for her purse.
"I'm surprised that you held onto that thing," Robin says, rolling over onto his back and placing his hands behind his head. Regina rolls her eyes.
"I have priorities," she tells him, and just as she starts to dig into her bag, her phone goes off. Her brow furrows and Robin sits up (how can anyone be calling her – they're in a foreign country).
"How can you – "
"I've got an international data plan." She takes her phone out, studies whoever is calling, then glances over at Robin. She takes a deep breath and then answers it in a voice that is practically saccharine-sweet, and Robin knows instantly who is calling: "Hi Daddy!"
Granny stirs her tea, tapping the spoon against the lip of the mug before placing it on the plate in the middle of the table. Emma watches her, waiting for her to say something. Between her and Killian, they've managed to explain most of the story, starting with Killian's (at one point Granny stopped them and looked him straight in the eye and asked for his history with Milah Cassidy, which wasn't awkward at all...) and ending with Belle. Granny purses her lips when she hears about Graham's death, shakes her head and sighs.
"This has been going on too long," she tells them.
"How long has it been going on?" Emma asks, because it sounded from Killian's story like this was more recent than Granny is implying – maybe ten years, at most.
"Rumpel Cassidy has been trying to hurt your mother's government ever since she became Queen – before she married your father and before you were born," Granny says, reaching for a scone and taking a bite.
"That long?" Killian reacts. "I didn't know – " he says, and Granny shakes her head.
"Of course you didn't – you both were too young." Granny purses her lips and inhales through her nose, letting it out slowly. "Eira lacks natural resources, but we make up for what we don't have in agriculture and timber – at least, until we cut down so many trees that our forests became a protected resource. We lack coal and natural gas reserves, but we have enough waterways and rivers that, when it became obvious that the cost of buying electricity from our neighbors was rising, your mother ordered the construction of Hoffen Dam."
Emma nods. She's been there – once, when she was younger, and another time when she was fifteen, on the tenth anniversary of its completion. She remembers how large it was, and how proud her mother seemed at the sheer amount of electricity that the dam generated each year.
"This dam doesn't just provide power to Eira, Emma," her mother had said, "but to our neighbors as well. It wasn't easy to build it, but the benefits outweigh the costs." She went on to explain something about the electricity grid that went above Emma's head, but what she remembered – what she remembers – is how the dam was something that her mother believed in, and how important it was to her.
"In order to build the dam and let the Afal power it, it would necessary to seize adjoining farmland. Your mother used eminent domain to do so – perfectly legal in Eira – but it was quite controversial at the time."
"She seized Cassidy's land," Killian interjects, and Granny nods as she takes another bite of her scone.
"Exactly," Granny says. "Rumpel Cassidy's father, Malcolm, was shady character, but he somehow managed to buy several thousand acres of land on the banks of the Afal several decades ago, where he mined gold. The mine itself was played out in a few years, so when Rumpel inherited it from his father, he opted to sell the property to the crown in lieu of condemnation, hoping for a big payoff."
"But there wasn't, was there?" Emma asks, and Granny nods.
"Your mother gave a reasonable settlement to the landowners, but it was not as much as Rumpel would have wanted, nor as much as he thought the land was worth."
"Has he really spent all this time seeking revenge on my mother for taking his land? She paid him for it - surely he's benefited from the dam such as much as the rest of Eira?" Emma says, frustration growing. Here she thought Rumpel Cassidy's grudge against her mother ran deeper than just petty greed. She didn't think that something that threatened to topple an entire monarchy - a legacy running for nearly seven hundred years - could be reduced to such simplistic terms.
"There are people in this world, Emma, who believe that they are owed more than they are actually due, and when slighted, will seek retribution against those they feel have harmed them – as I'm sure that some at this table may be all too aware of," Granny points out, and Killian shifts in his seat.
"But he's wealthy – why would he still want to go after my mother?"
"Rumpel Cassidy made his fortune in other ways – none of which I think he liked, all of which estranged him from his wife." She sighs. "He is very good at supplying people with what they want, at whatever price they're willing to pay."
"But that doesn't mean that you should overthrow a government just because they did one thing –"
"Some people are just assholes," Killian points out, and Granny smirks in agreement.
Emma crosses her arms over her chest and slumps down in her chair. Something seems off about Granny's explanations – like there's more to the story that the old woman knows, and that frustrates her. Cassidy is a known threat, and her father always told her that she needed to get the lay of the land before charging in (granted, the land he was usually referring to was the attitudes of the other girls at school, but it was solid advice).
"How do you know all of this?" Killian asks, and Granny leans forward on the table.
"I run a bakery – I keep my ear to the ground, and I listen, and sometimes people say things while waiting for their coffee and strudel that they shouldn't." When Killian raises an eyebrow
in response, Granny huffs and gives him a look.
"Let's just say that I know where my allegiance lies," she tells them both, glancing at Emma. "I got pulled into this fight years ago, when I lost someone very dear to me at the hands of that monster. I sure as hell won't let that man ruin the country that I love." Granny's voice becomes quieter as she talks, but anger laces every last word and Emma wonders who it was that Cassidy killed – did Granny have children? A husband? Who did she lose that made her risk everything to stop the man?
"So what have you done, exactly?" Killian asks, leaning his elbows on the table, looking at Granny with newfound admiration. Granny smiles at him, sitting back in her chair and raising her chin.
"I ran arms," she says, and Emma almost chokes on her tea in shock. Granny doesn't seem like the kind of woman who would run arms to the resistance, but she adds, "they called me the Big Bad Wolf."
Killian lets out a low whistle. "I've heard of you. You're a legend in some circles."
"In all circles, young man," she tells him with a glance over her glasses. "I'm just as well-known as you are, Killian Jones, but not nearly as infamous." Killian scratches the back of his head and Emma reaches out to grab his other hand, squeezing it to know that she's done living in the past and that she doesn't care. He glances over at her with a smile, and she feels her heart begin to race (he does this to her and it's crazy, how instantly she reacts to him).
At that moment, his phone buzzes on the table, and he reaches for it, checking his messages. He responds with one hand, the other still holding hers tightly, and she watches as he frowns before putting the phone back on the table.
"What's going on?" Emma asks, and Killian sighs.
"I have a contact who I planned on meeting with," he tells them, flicking his eyes up to Granny like he's asking for approval. "He's on the ground, could give us an idea."
Granny gives a slight nod. "Do you trust him?" she asks.
Killian shakes his head. "Absolutely not."
"Perfect," Granny remarks, pushing herself away from the table. "When is your meet?"
"Sooner rather than later," he tells her, glancing over at Emma. "Is that all right?"
Emma smiles at him. "I'll be safe here. Whatever information you can find is important, okay?"
Killian nods, standing up and Emma stands with him. Granny takes that moment to become suddenly very busy in the kitchen, and so Emma walks Killian to the door.
They linger there, sharing kisses, his hand stroking her face, knuckles brushing against her cheekbones. "I promise I'll make this quick," Killian says, and Emma believes him. "If I'm not back within an hour - "
"Shhh," Emma says. "You'll be back within an hour."
Killian catches her hand, looks at her solemnly. "If I'm not, Emma, then do whatever Granny says. Okay?"
"Okay," she says, even though she doesn't mean it, because she can't think of Killian not being back within an hour because that breeds all sorts of scary thoughts.
She lets go of him and he stops, opening his mouth just slightly and taking a deep breath like he's going to say something, before smiling at her and reluctantly following her down the stairs. She tries to smile reassuringly as he pulls his hood over his head, heads out into the early morning foot traffic of the street. She locks the door behind her before returning to Granny's apartment.
Granny has resumed her place at the table, and a newly refilled mug of tea is at Emma's place.
"He looks at you the same way your father looks at your mother," Granny announces without preamble, and Emma stops, surprised, hands resting on the back of the kitchen chair. That's high praise in her book, to be told that Killian reminds Granny of her father (who else would know her parents' relationship better than Granny?). Emma feels a blush spread over her cheeks as she sits down, slightly embarrassed.
"Good looking too," Granny adds, and Emma just wants to sink into the floor and never be heard from again. Granny winks at her, and it takes all of Emma's royal training to stay in her seat, trying not to react.
She's saved by movement behind them - Robin, who walks into the kitchen with his hands in his pockets.
"So...Regina is on the phone with her dad," he says, looking concerned and Granny nods.
"She's the one whose mother went to rehab with the Greek royal, right?" she asks, and just as Emma opens her mouth to ask how she knows that, there is a commotion on the stairs.
"Idiots," Granny mumbles under her breath, standing up and heading towards the door, and Emma is confused.
When Granny opens the door, Emma is shocked to find Ruby and Leroy on the other side.
"Oh my god," she says, covering her mouth with her hands, and the only thing that she keeps thinking is how much of my life has been a lie?
Ruby and Leroy look at her sheepishly from the doorway. Ruby stumbles into a weird curtsey, saying "your highness" and Emma groans and rests her forehead against the table (it's never easy, is it?).
…
Sagobok is just as Killian remembers it - quaint and charming and perfect in the areas where tourists venture, and slightly sketchy and run-down in the places where tourists are mugged. Jefferson lives south of the major pickpocket artery, in an apartment on the third floor above a Lebanese deli. Killian climbs the stairs slowly, hesitating, remembering what Granny said about trust. He doesn't trust Jefferson as far as he could throw him, but he wants to. He wants to know his old acquaintance can provide him with some serious insight into their current predicament.
(He still brings his gun with him anyway.)
He knocks on the door twice, then once more, then three times, listening for the sound of footsteps. He imagines that Jefferson is probably waiting near the door, looking through the peephole, checking to see if it's just Killian (he would do the same if their roles were reversed).
The door opens slowly, and Jefferson peeks out. When he sees Killian, his reaction is one of exaggerated surprise (always melodramatic, this one, depending on his meds) and he motions for Killian to enter (and when Killian does, he locks the door with three different deadbolts, which tells Killian something about his frame of mind).
Killian met Jefferson through Milah, who knew of him because even while she was slumming it with revolutionaries, Milah Cassidy also played the part of a high society maven. Even though she was estranged from Cassidy, she raised their son and he provided just enough money (though Killian now wonders where that money came from) to let her and young Neal want for nothing - including the fascinators and other artistic creations made by Jefferson for the wealthy women of Eira. It appears that his creations are still in demand: his apartment is littered with strands of wire and fine mesh, fake flowers and large feathers covering the table in his living room, and Killian tries not to touch anything (he did, one time, and ruined a creation that Jefferson had been working on for months which resulted in him paying for the hat itself and living off of pot noodle for a month).
Jefferson is mercurial, willing to work for the highest bidder, providing services where needed, but he had a soft spot for Milah, and Killian knows he's right not to trust him as Jefferson gestures for him to take a seat, covering the windows with curtains so that the room becomes dark and colder without the sun's scant morning rays (it appears that the heat is off, again. Killian wonders who Jefferson owes money to).
"I'm surprised you showed your face in these parts again," Jefferson says with a nervous smile.
"I see that the good ole U S of A has been treating you well."
Killian shrugs. "Well enough. I had good reason to return," he admits, not telling the other man anything about Emma, anything about just what those reasons are. "So what's the story?"
"About Gold?" Jefferson asks, taking a seat across from him. "Same as it always is."
"Still has the military in his pocket?" Killian asks, and Jefferson nods.
"Military, and some private industry. He hasn't quite swayed the majority of the elite of Sagobok who find him insufferable." Jefferson crosses his legs. "He has found a backer in Maurice French."
"French?" Killian frowns, tries to place where he heard that name before (it sounds so very familiar that he feels like he should know who it is). Jefferson leans back in his chair, wipes lint from his pants.
"Agribusiness mongol. Starts hanging out with Gold at all these ritzy functions, golfing, vacations in the Mediterranean. His lovely daughter Belle even joins them..." Jefferson says, raising his eyebrows, and that is where he's heard that surname before - Belle French, the bitch who shot Graham (his chest clenches when he thinks of Graham's lifeless eyes but he tries not to think, not about that, not right now). Emma's fake bodyguard. Traitor to the Crown. Anger builds inside of him, threatening to boil over but he composes himself into the look of casual indifference he found he had to wear with people like Jefferson when he was involved.
"His daughter, eh?" Killian asks, chin up, features carefully arranged, and it works: Jefferson looks eager to spill the beans, assuming that Killian doesn't already know of Belle.
"Works for the palace - private security or office staff, I can't say. Tried to find her in Sagobok but she's not here."
Killian scratches his forehead, leans forward in his seat. "What's the purpose of Gold getting in with big business? What good could possibly come of that?" From what Granny told them, Gold went broke with the dam, and then somehow made his money back through less than honest means. Killian wracks his brain to try to remember what Milah said his job was, and then he remembers: lawyer. A man with a vendetta who knows the ins and outs of legal code...
...that's dangerous indeed, if he knew where the rules were most easy to bend and the cost of breaking them.
"Maybe he wants the trifecta - the military, private sector, next he only has to win over the public's hearts."
"That's not going to be easy," Killian points out. "The majority of the population loves their queen."
Jefferson shrugs his shoulders. "Maybe he wants money."
"Or leverage," Killian adds, thinking about Belle. Gold could get a lot out of private industry, but getting a prominent businessman to be in his debt...and getting his daughter to work for him...
"How rude of me - I haven't even asked if you wanted tea. Would you like some?" Jefferson asks, and Killian sighs.
"Sure - thanks," he says, even though he's been plied with tea for the last half-hour at Granny's, even if he doesn't really want it. Jefferson goes into the kitchen, fiddles with the electric kettle, filling it with water and then turning it on. Killian leans his head back against the couch, feeling exhausted. He hasn't slept, he's more than jet lagged, and he just wants to curl into bed with Emma and pretend they're not here, that they're back in the US and it's just him and her and no one else in the world - no threat to her family, no threat to his life
There is a knock on the door. It echoes through the small space, and Killian inhales sharply. He shoves his hand into the pocket of his hoodie, brushing against his gun. He might have to break the window but he could get out -
"Expecting someone?" Killian asks, just in case he's jumping to conclusions.
In the kitchen, the water in the tea kettle starts to boil loudly in the suddenly too-silent apartment. Jefferson stops what he's doing in the kitchen.
"Jefferson," he says, knowing what is about to happen (why is he even asking?). Jefferson turns towards him, looks like he's about to be sick, and Killian feels his stomach drop.
"What did you do?" he asks Jefferson, who takes a step backwards, towards the door. Killian stands up, taking his gun out of his pocket.
"They arrived just before you did," he says, reaching for the locks (one-two-three) and then the
doorknob, and in that moment, Killian thinks he's the one that's about to be sick.
"Don't do this –" he starts to say, but Jefferson just looks at him one final time.
"He has my daughter," he tells Killian, eyes wide, look of pure desperation on his face. "I'm so sorry, Killian."
He opens the door.
Rumpel Cassidy stands on the other side, dressed in a suit, leaning on his cane. He looks as if he is alone, but Killian knows that doesn't mean anything (there are probably men in the stairwell, Gold always had a flair for the dramatic…)
Killian can hear the roar of blood in his ears as he looks at the man, this demon from his past, and all of his instincts tell him to raise his gun and take the man down (he could do it, he knows he could, he's faster than Gold, but he knows that his actions have consequences for Emma and the others. Thinking about that has him thinking about Emma. What will happen to Emma if he doesn't come back to Granny's? Will she come after him? What if he doesn't make it home at all? He thinks of her face, the wide green eyes and kiss-stained lips, the feel of her under his fingertips and he is so very sorry that he ever stepped into this apartment because there is no way that he will be going back to her now.
"Hello Killian," he says. "Welcome home. Please put the gun down - I'd like to make things easy for the both of us."
In the kitchen, the tea kettle lets out a fierce whistle.
Regina drums her nails on her jeans (her left ring finger is chipped - how inconvenient, but the least of her problems at the moment). Her father is telling her about the meal he had last night - some seafood restaurant, duh, they're in Boca Raton of course it's seafood - and she listens because she loves him and it's 1am in Florida and she's the reason he's awake.
She knew better than to use his card but she did it anyway - maybe because she wanted someone to know she was here, maybe because she was scared. There's some sort of security in the fact that her parents know where she is, even if she has been vague about why she's in Eira (her father will never press and Cora is already asleep for an early morning tee time with her gaggle of friends hence the lack of shaming that is currently going on).
"Daddy," she says sweetly, "I'm going to find some coffee now. I've been up for a long time and you know what you always tell me about jet lag."
"Stay up as long as you can, good thinking. You're such a smart cookie. Good night, darling, and have fun," Henry Mills tells her, and she wishes him sweet dreams before hanging up the phone and throwing it into her purse.
(She wonders how long until Cora finds out she's in Eira.)
(She wonders what it will mean for Cora to find out she's in Eira.)
She stands up, hearing voices from the other side of the door - more voices than Killian and Emma's, that's for sure - and so she opens it slowly and heads out, wondering if Belle has come to collect them after all (she hopes Killian was right about their safety as American citizens...)
When she enters the kitchen, her eyes immediately fall on the pudgy member of Emma's security team who interviewed her a few weeks ago, and a girl with a shockingly red highlight in her hair that looks vaguely familiar. Emma and Robin are also sitting at the table, Robin munching on something that resembles a scone, and Regina realizes how hungry she is, and how long it's been since she ate last.
She slides onto Robin's lap, and he puts his arm around her waist, holds her tight against him. He offers her his scone and she takes a bite while the others just avoid looking at each other.
Emma stares straight ahead, past the girl to Regina's left, looking somewhere off into the middle distance and the way that she clenches and unclenches her jaw tells Regina that she is pissed. She can hardly blame her - they haven't been here long, and the fact that another member of her security team who was suspiciously absent from the flight (Leroy, that's his name) just turned up here would be irritating as well.
"So I take it you're Team Emma too?" Regina asks, raising an eyebrow as she looks at the older man.
"Since day one," Leory says, and on the other side of Robin, Emma throws up her hands in the air.
"I get that no one could tell me but really? Ruby too?" she asks, clearly exasperated, and it suddenly dawns on Regina where she saw the other girl before - at Emma's dorm room, when she stopped to talk to her one day (how many people were spying on Emma without her knowing it? What is up with this operation?).
"I knew I recognized you," Regina says with a smirk, and Ruby at least as the decency to look embarrassed. She shifts in her seat, rolling her neck and trying not to look at Emma.
"Ariel too?" the little princess says, and Ruby looks up with an exaggerated look of frustration on her face.
"Have you met Ariel?" she asks, full of sass, "she still thinks that you're going to introduce her to Prince Harry."
Emma smiles slightly at this comment, and the tension in her seems to diminish slightly. "He is single now," she remarks, and Ruby immediately says, "Dibs!" The two of them share a smile, and the tension in the room drains further. Granny brings Regina a mug of tea as Emma puts an elbow on the table, leans her chin against her palm.
"How long?" Emma asks. "How long has this been going on?"
"We were tipped off about Gold knowing you were here," Leroy says.
"We?" Emma asks, and Ruby interjects, "those of us working against Gold."
"So the resistance?" Regina asks, and Leroy looks insulted.
"Is it a resistance movement when you're trying to save your own country and keep the current monarchy?" he argues, and Regina merely shrugs.
"Historically speaking, when on the verge of a coup, yes," Robin points out, but that doesn't seem to appease Leroy.
Regina presses the issue. "Are you the same group that Killian was affiliated with?" she asks, and Leroy continues to look put-out by her confusion.
"Loosely," he grits out between clenched teeth. "Not as militant, still as dedicated. This is more of a part-time job for some of us - like Ruby. And she volunteered to go - she could be closer to you than anyone Gold would send."
"How did you get involved?" Regina asks, trying to piece together parts of the puzzle. "You're seventeen."
"She's my granddaughter," Granny calls from near the sink, and Ruby looks down at her hands.
"And I wanted to see the US," Ruby adds, but Emma sighs.
"Except Gold sent Belle," she points out. "And she was my roommate too."
"Gold bought Belle - she was assigned as your bodyguard first," Leroy points out.
"What if she was working for Gold all along?" Regina interjects, and Leroy's frown grows deeper.
"You know, we actually suspected you for a while," Leroy says, looking disgruntled. "When you asked to bring Emma home for Thanksgiving, we were convinced that you were Gold's agent in the US."
This shocks Regina, but it does make sense in a lot of ways - random older girl inviting Emma home for a holiday - she'd be suspicious too. "How did you know it wasn't me?" Regina asks coolly.
"Your social-climbing mother is in tight with the deposed Greek royal family," Leroy replies nonchalantly. "She seems to value status above things like wealth. Unless somehow you came into contact with Gold and decided to work independently which is unlikely, because no offense but you're just one of many little rich girls at school, it would have had to be your mother to set up the alliance."
"And there's no way that Cora Mills would chose a politician over blue-blooded aristocracy," Regina points out, acknowledging the statement with a nod. She takes a sip of her tea. Leroy's perfectly right - Cora has always said that money can buy you anything, but power and status (or even the illusions of power and status) are worth their weight in gold. Even if Emma's family was deposed, the slight connection to another royal family would catapult her into a brand new social strata - more weekends skiing in the Swiss Alps, more front row seats at Fashion Week (Paris, Milan, London - Cora's never picky), more yachts in the Mediterranean where she can try to hoist her daughter into the European social elite.
Regina's never been happier of Cora's ridiculous social goals more than she is right now, when it instantly discredits her from hurting Emma (and that is a strange thought, considering she barely knew the girl one month ago...)
"So what happened to tip you off to Belle?" Robin asks, shifting Regina on his lap and reaching for more food.
"She drugged me!" Leroy announces angrily. "Drugged me and tied me up. If Ruby didn't find me, I don't know what would have happened."
"When you came back to pack with Belle, saying that you were going to Eira - it was a big tip off," Ruby admits. "Leroy keeps me up to date on official orders from the palace, and he hadn't mentioned anything about you coming home." She ducks her head. "We were worried it was Graham."
"And yet you still let me go to Regina's with him?" Emma asks, surprised. "Why would you do that?"
Ruby shrugs. "We trust Killian," is her response, and Regina thinks it's a poor one because trusting one guy, a girl presumed to work for Gold, and a complete stranger is definitely a smart security decision (are these people even trying? No wonder they're bunkering down in an apartment over a bakery. It's amateur hour around here.)
"Killian Jones may be a mess, but he would never sell you out to Gold," Leroy adds, like that's supposed to make them feel better, but it seems to pacify Emma.
"It wasn't Graham," Emma says softly, and Regina's heart aches because she hasn't been thinking about the man who less than a day ago was preparing her to protect Emma at all costs, just like he was intending to and -
She rests her head against Robin's, clings to him just a bit tighter.
"Wait," Emma asks, "how did you get back here?"
Ruby shrugs. "Two tickets to Amsterdam, and then Leroy's brother picked us up at the airport. Our plane left about an hour after yours."
There is the sound of scraping as Granny finally rejoins the circle, another chair around the already overcrowded table. She places her cup of tea down and folds her hands in front of her.
"We need to determine the next course of action," she tells them, which is the first reasonable thing that anyone's said so far in Regina's opinion. As she talks, she fixes each of them with a steady gaze and Regina likes her instantly - she doesn't seem afraid of anyone. "Cassidy had Belle bring you here for a reason, and we need to figure out what that reason is."
"Do you think he's planning to overthrow my parents now?" Emma asks, and Granny just shakes her head sadly.
"I don't know the answer to that, Emma," Granny says. "No one in our network has tipped us off to anything big where Gold is concerned - just the usual bribes exchanging hands, which is why Belle took us all by surprise."
Emma slams her hands down on the table. "Then what good are you? Graham is dead, I am here, and Cassidy wants to overthrow my parents. Some resistance movement you are." Emma pushes herself back from the table and storms past them. Regina hears a door slam.
"That went well," Granny says with a sigh. She looks over at Ruby as if to say go get her but Ruby just shakes her head and turns to Regina.
"She won't talk to me, I know it," Ruby admits. "Would you try?"
"What good would I do?" Regina asks, but Robin answers, "she listened to you about Killian - maybe she'll listen to you where this is concerned."
"What am I going to tell her? That she's right - none of you have a plan, or if you do you're less than forthcoming about it. She's scared, and none of you are making this any easier for her," Regina spits out, frustrated. She's in a foreign country, she's already run for her life once (twice if you count the tense walk to Granny's), and for what? She doesn't owe allegiance to Emma, isn't one of her subjects or even her friend like Ruby. She's just a girl who got pulled into this by trying to be nice (and look what that's gotten her).
"Then maybe you should," Granny says quietly, dismissively, and Regina realizes she's been unwillingly drafted into this fight, end of story. With a huff, she finishes her tea and puts it on the table before heading off to find Emma.
The princess is holed up in the room that Regina and Robin were in earlier - though 'holed up' might not be the best expression. The window is open, and for a moment Regina panics - what if she's gone? Oh god, that would be the worst - she's not sure how she would explain it to the Wonder Team assembled in the kitchen, but she sees a brunette head and is surprised to find Emma sitting on a very small balcony that's barely big enough for her (her legs her tucked under her chin, and she has her arms wrapped around them).
Not cool, Regina thinks - she's in plain sight, anyone could take her out and she says as much, sitting in the windowsill and leans out. "Hey," she says softly. "Killian would be pissed that you're out here in plain sight."
That works immediately, and Emma crawls inside, taking a seat on the edge of the bed.
"Sorry," she says, sounding more than a little put-out, and Regina can't blame her. She lingers by the window, looking out on the street. Below them, the city is waking up, and people are already well-into their morning routine. A bus roars past them, people hurry in and out of the bakery, white bags in hand, and it occurs to Regina that life really is a Weezer song: the world has turned, and left her here, in a foreign country, waiting for someone to come up with a better plan than let's bide our time and see what happens.
"You were right out there - this is the ultimate shit show, isn't it?" she remarks, glancing back at Emma.
Emma sniffs, but she briefly cracks a smile before looking down at her hands. Her hair falls into her face and she tucks it back behind her ears.
"Where's Killian?" she asks, and Emma shrugs.
"I don't know - he went to meet a contact," Emma responds, picking at a string on the sleeve of her shirt.
"Do we know when he'll be back? Does he think this contact has a plan?" Regina presses, hoping that Emma will tell her something, but she only succeeds in pissing the other girl off.
"How the hell should I know?" Emma snaps, but she seems to recognize that she's being rude immediately. "Sorry - I'm just…" She runs her fingers through her hair, pushes it over to one shoulder and then runs her hands through it again, shifting it back.
"I understand," Regina says, but talking to Emma right now seems like a futile effort (Emma probably doesn't want to talk about when Killian will be back if she doesn't know who he's meeting or where he's going). Time for plan B: when all else fails, kill them with kindness.
"You pull off brunette pretty well," Regina tells her. "I bet you could be a redhead too. I'll admit, I'm jealous - I can't do blonde, I can barely do red with my coloring." She makes herself comfortable, perched in the window.
Emma turns to her. "You think so?" she asks, and it's clear to Regina that her approval is a good thing (when did this happen?).
Regina nods. "Yeah - your mom's a brunette, right?"
Emma nods, running her hands through her hair. "Hey - would you braid my hair again?" she asks. "I'd like it out of my face."
"Sure," she tells Emma, sitting down behind Emma on the bed. Regina remembers Cora doing this to her when she was a little girl - braiding her hair neatly, stringing together a litany of praise about Regina who was so good and so smart and that she would go so far. It's one of the fonder memories she has of her mother, and she wonders if this is a small comfort to Emma as well.
"Did your mom braid your hair when you were little?" Regina asks, and Emma nods.
"Yeah," Emma admits. "She has short hair now, but when she was younger - when I was younger - she used to braid my hair and hers so that we could match." Regina practically hears the smile on Emma's face at the fond memory. She runs her fingers through Emma's hair to remove any tangles left over from dying her hair in the bathroom (which may have been a bad call but she panicked and didn't know what do and she's right, Emma can pull off brown well).
After a moment, Regina asks, "What do you think we should do?"
Emma shrugs her shoulders. "I don't know. I want to find Cassidy, and confront him. I also want to run home to my parents, but I don't want them to know that I'm here. I don't want them to be worried about me."
"Parents always worry," Regina says. "I told my dad I was here. He expressed concern about my desire to travel abroad for fall break." Regina laughs. "He worries about me a lot."
"What about your mother?"
"She worries about me when it's convenient, or when it might upset her plans for me," Regina admits, fingers working through Emma's dark strands. "What about your parents?"
"My dad worries more than my mom," Emma says. "Or, maybe they worry about different things. My mom worries about big things, like what I'll do as queen, and if she's prepared me well. My dad worries about the small stuff, like if I get enough sleep or if I'm passing my classes."
"Are you passing your classes?" Regina teases. She nods.
"I am, but I don't feel very smart right now. I wish I knew what to do. I wish I knew that they were worried about me when they sent me to school - but I also wonder if I would have thought twice about getting on the plane if I knew."
"Do you really think that?" Regina asks, knowing the sheer number of decisions that she makes in the heat of the moment without proper thought or consideration of actions, wondering if Emma would be any different.
"I'm not sure," the princess admits.
"So, why did you get on the plane?" Regina presses, curious.
"Because I wanted Killian's name to be cleared," she tells Regina. "Because I missed my parents, and I wanted him to be able to be free of Cassidy's influence so that we could be together without him being scared." Emma sighs. "I'm being foolish. That was a ridiculous plan. I've not only put myself in danger, but you and Robin and Killian as well. And Graham…"
"Don't be too hard on yourself - we do crazy things when we care about someone," Regina admits, thinking of Robin, of her own avoidance of their relationship for so long. "Do you think that we could get to the palace unnoticed? Is there any way for you to talk to your parents?"
"I don't know - maybe? I mean, there are back streets, but maybe if we get Granny to drive us in her van? But what if they're checking vehicle interiors like they normally are..." Emma sighs again. "The struggle is real."
"Elastic," Regina requests, and Emma peels the elastic off her wrist, passes it over her shoulder.
"Maybe you should talk to Granny about that, then. If you want to see your parents, then maybe that's the best course of action." She pats Emma on the shoulder. "There, finished."
"Yeah." Emma slides off the bed, stands up and walks to a small mirror. "It looks good. Thanks, Regina."
"Don't mention it," Regina replies, brushing strands of hair off of her jeans.
"No, I mean...thanks for everything. I really appreciate all that you've done for me. I know I was a brat earlier, and I'm sorry." When Regina looks up, Emma seems sincere, and she nods.
"No problem at all," she tells her, because her words make her wonder just what she's doing here. Regina is not one to do things for no reason, not when her life is at risk. She barely knows Emma, but there's something about the connection forged between them that started the night when Regina picked her up from her dorm and took her grocery shopping. Regina doesn't have very many female friends - her sister's a bitch and she does better with men anyway, but whatever tentative friendship seems to be forming between her and Emma might actually be a good thing.
There is a knock at the door.
"Hey ladies," Robin calls out, "you may want to get out here."
Emma brushes past Robin as she heads out the door of the bedroom - his tone made it sound like something was seriously wrong. Her heart is racing and all she can think is that Killian has been injured, Killian has been hurt, something is wrong with Killian -
She is surprised to see Belle in the middle of Granny's living room, hands up in the air, Granny standing behind her with a gun (like she stood behind Graham, Emma thinks bitterly). Seeing Belle sends a shock through her because when she sees Belle, she sees Graham and his cold eyes and -
"Tell the princess what you just told me," she commands, aiming the rifle at Belle's head and Belle whimpers, clearly frightened by Granny. Her eyes fall on Emma and her lip trembles, and Emma hears the roar of her pulse in her ears, feels just a bit off-center because this is someone that she trusted and who betrayed her in the most heinous way possible. She wants to scream, to rage, to curse and to shout at the girl who killed Graham, who betrayed them all, and when she opens her mouth to speak, she almost slips and says What the hell is going on? but she doesn't. Granny's use of the word princess reminds Emma that she is, in fact, their future sovereign and her mother's daughter, and that her mother would never act this way in front of anyone regardless of how deeply they wounded her (if her mother has taught her anything it's that composure is the armor that gives you strength even when you're angry).
She takes a deep breath, tries to control her emotions just like her mother would do.
"She's clean," Granny calls out. "No gun, no wire, no phone. Nothing - not even a set of car keys."
"What's going on, Belle?" she asks calmly, watching Belle taking a shuddering breath (she can see that the girl is terrified but struggling to be brave). Granny gets impatient.
"You will answer your princess, or I will put a bullet in your skull. Let's see what Gold does without his pretty little assassin," she threatens.
"No," Emma tells Granny. "My mother always says that threats are a coward's way out." She looks at Belle. "You're here for a reason, and I need you to tell me what that reason is." It takes every ounce of her control to keep her voice steady when all she wants to do is rip the other girl's head off.
Belle swallows, attempts to collect herself.
"Gold," she says, and Emma's blood runs cold at the mere mention of the name. "He has Killian. Jefferson sold him out. I'm supposed to tell you in the hopes that you'll come running to save him."
At first, she's certain she heard her wrong. She shakes her head, frowning down at her, and holy crap, she's cold - she's so cold, the hairs on the backs of her arms are standing up straight and then she looks at Granny, who is lowering the rifle closer to Belle's head, and she says, "Wait, what?"
"He's going to hurt him!" Belle yells, her voice a ragged yelp and Emma just stands there, staring at Belle's hysterical reactions. That is when it occurs to her that Rumpel Cassidy has Killian and that he may be coming for her and he has Killian and he is going to kill him and she will never see him again, but that can't be true because she has to seem him again and her knees no longer want to work and she's falling on the ground hard, collapsing because Killian has been taken prisoner.
There is wetness in her eyes and her entire being feels like she is being torn apart because Cassidy will not be restrained this time and she will not be able to save him if she doesn't know where he is or where Cassidy would take him.
"Emma."
She glances up to find Ruby crouching in front of her, waving her hand in front of Emma's face. Emma blinks, and looks back at Belle. Their eyes meet, and in that moment she has never been angrier. Killian's life is in jeopardy, and she is not okay with that (she is so not okay with that). She nods, and Ruby extends her hand, helping Emma stand. Ruby gives her hand a quick squeeze before she lets go. She takes a moment, inhaling slowly and exhaling even slower, trying to channel her mother (she can be kind but firm and imposing, she knows she can).
"Why are you really here?" she asks Belle, because there's something about Belle's words that are at odds with her fear unless she really is frightened of Granny (and really she can't blame her, Granny is imposing with that rifle in her hands). Belle takes a deep, shuddering breath.
"I'm so sorry, your highness," she says, "I'm so sorry -"
"I doubt that," Leroy remarks from beside Granny, crossing his arms over his chest. "You're a stone-cold lying bitch."
"That's enough," Granny warns Leroy, nodding at Emma, and Leroy looks suitably chastened, ducking his head down and mumbling an apology.
"I don't want your apologies," Emma tells Belle, turning her full attention to the girl. "Your apologies can't bring Graham back" (she chokes on his name) "and they can't save Killian. Only your actions can. So tell me - what leverage does Gold have on you?" Emma presses, taking a step closer to her former friend.
"Not entirely," Belle admits. "He has leverage on my father - something to do with one of his investments, I don't know all the details - "
"You're doing a piss-poor job of convincing us, sweetheart," Leroy snaps from the corner of the room, but Emma narrows her eyes, studying Belle.
"I think she's telling the truth," she admits, because Belle's ignorance rings true. "Okay, he's got something on your dad. Did you really work for the palace?"
"Yes - security staff. I have training and I look young - that's why they offered me the position on your detail," she tells Emma. "But my father's only half the reason that I..."
Emma frowns, uncertain of where this is going, and Regina snarks, "watch her tell us that she's involved with Gold." When Belle looks up with a guilty look on her face, Regina groans.
"Unbelievable," Ruby remarks, and oddly enough, this makes things marginally easier for Emma to understand. She knows the desire to protect the people she cares about and while she may not understand working for a sociopath like Gold, yet alone love him, she knows that emotions and feelings can make people go to extremes .
"Why are you here?" Emma asks. "You're not just here to tell us about Gold - there's something else, or you wouldn't be here." And that makes Emma frown. "How did you know that we were here?"
"I triangulated data for Regina's phone using her cell number," Belle tells them. "You'd be surprised what resources Gold has at his disposal."
Emma hears Regina curse under his breath, and Emma thinks about stomping on her SIM card. She glances at Regina, who looks utterly distraught (Belle must have gotten Regina's number when they were screening her a few weeks ago…).
"I'm so sorry," Regina tells Emma, but Emma just shrugs.
"You know, for a communication studies major…" Emma says, trailing off, but she smiles, and Regina smiles weakly as well. She knows it's not Regina's fault - none of them expected Gold to be so resourceful, none of them expected him to use Regina's phone.
"Look," Belle interjects. "I triangulated the data. Not Gold. Me. He told me to find you but I could have sent anyone to do that. I came here to tell you about it because…" she stops, swallows. "He promised me he wouldn't hurt him. I think he's going to break his promise."
Emma can only guess at what that means for Killian (Graham's lifeless eyes are burned in her memory) and she clenches her hands into fists to prevent herself from lashing out.
"And what do you want from me?" Emma asks, trying to stay calm and struggling (Milah dead, Killian banished, Cassidy won't let him go another time…). "Absolution? Because I can't give you that. You killed Graham, Belle, and your actions are going to get another good man killed."
"I'm sorry," Belle says, tears streaming down her face. "I don't want anything from you. I want to help you - whatever it takes."
"No offense, but your promises aren't worth shit," Ruby points out. She turns to Emma. "We can't trust her."
"She's right," Granny snaps. "We need some sort of guarantee that she won't turn on us."
Emma turns away, thinking. Whatever leverage Cassidy has on Belle's father - whatever claim Cassidy has on her heart - there has to be something that Emma can use to negotiate (she's never negotiated before, no matter how many times she's watched her mother do it, and now she's actually scared, she doesn't have any right to negotiate, she's not sure what to do but - ).
"You killed someone in cold blood, on the orders of a traitor to the Crown," Emma says, turning back around to face Belle. "You realize that's treason as well as murder. Eira still has the death penalty for treason." (Of course, no one's been executed for treason since World War II but Emma's not sure that Belle knows that, especially since it's still on the books…)
Belle swallows and nods, squaring her shoulders, ready to take her sentence. "I know."
"I could convince my mother that life in prison is a far better punishment for someone like you," Emma adds. "Cassidy expects us to come for Killian. What he doesn't expect is for us to rescue Killian and since you're here to help…."
"Thank you, your highness. I have a plan," Belle says. "I can help you get Killian to safety."
"And if you don't, I'm shooting you," Granny adds, nudging Belle's shoulder with the rifle. "Are we clear?"
"Crystal," Belle says. "I'll take you to them."
Emma nods - she can tell that Belle means what she says about helping them. "Well then," she says, "I guess you better take a seat and tell us exactly how you're going to help us rescue my boyfriend."
As they all sit down at the table, Emma's adrenaline finally starts to wear off. Granny passes the gun to Ruby, who keeps it aimed at Belle, and even Robin has found his gun and has it out, just in case Emma's former friend tries something. As Granny brews coffee, and as the rays of sunshine peeking through the curtains remind Emma that it's mid-morning already, she is surprised she doesn't feel more exhausted (but all that she can think about is Killian, and how she thinks that she loves him, and how she's not going to let anything happen to him, not now and not ever).
She accepts a cookie that Ruby passes to her with a smile (she's glad that Ruby's here, even if she's not thrilled that she was lied to again). With renewed resolve, she turns back to the table and focuses on their discussion.