Author's Note: I know it's been a long time since I've updated this story, things are just so crazy right now; in both my professional and personal life. But I'm going to try to start updating weekly from here on out. I'll probably be posting weekly updates on Sunday's. As always, please let me know what you guys think about everything so far. I know a lot things still probably don't make sense but within the next few chapters I should have everything explained.
Chapter Eight: Early Morning Preparations
There was a checklist no shorter than a mile long compiled in the Mayor's savvy mind. She had much to do today and could only hope that she would be met with minimal complications as she worked meticulously to complete each task. As a woman who knew how to get things done quickly and seemingly effortlessly, the Mayor was sure she could accomplish all her necessary tasks before the unconscious blonde taking up residence in the next room returned to the waking world. It's times like these when Regina was truly thankful for her adroit mind and manipulative tendencies.
First order of business: getting Henry out of harms way. The thought made her stomach turn in a most subfuscous manner. Only one other thought in her entire life was capable of manifesting such a similar physical reaction. And for the Evil Queen…that's saying a lot. Through all of the heartless acts and unspeakable murders committed with her own two hands, none of that wretchedness affected her - in quite the way the memory of having her true love slaughtered mercilessly, as if he were nothing more than a swine festering with disease right before her eyes – affected her. That particular moment irrevocably changed her heart. It had hardened and subsequently frozen over, now resembling nothing more than a jagged chunk of ice sepulchered within her chest.
Regina found in quite peculiar, ironic, an satisfying all at the same time that the act which caused such an exorbitant upheaval in her life is now the very act which she took much pleasure bestowing upon others. She deserved happiness, but the moment it was stolen from her, Regina swore that she would stop at nothing to condemn every single person to the same fate. If she couldn't be happy then no one would be.
How many times had she heard phrases along the lines of "life isn't fair" and that "time heals all wounds"? Far too many. And with every time she head those words, the darkness in her heart would only grow as she was once again reminded of a happiness that she'd never have. Time never heals wounds; sometimes the contusions never really fade at all. Instead they remain as ugly blotches – throbbing reminders that the pain is all too real. Sure, a little cover-up here and there could momentarily hide the pain from the world. But there was always a time, sooner or later, where she'd be alone once again and during those moments, cover-up did nothing to stop those bruises from shining through.
Life isn't fair. A brutal lesson she had learned at such a young age. A lesson she so savagely taught to thousands of others, just as innocent as she was, out of spite. A lesson she tried everyday to protect her son from learning.
Henry.
Although Regina's position of power may lead an ignorant outsider to believe that there would be a plethora of adoring townsfolk ready to acquiesce to her every request with a smile on their faces, there was nothing further from the truth. As it is, the brunettes callousness has rendered her friendless – for lack of a better word. Even though she could very easily force the responsibility of caring for Henry onto anyone she wished, Regina knew better. When matters involved her son and his well-being, she was loathe to rely on such Machiavellian or, otherwise, guileful methods. No, she needed someone with a kind heart and a genuine desire to aid her. Someone with no ulterior motives or inclinations to use Henry against her.
Someone like Snow White?
Regina snarled as even the thought left a putrid taste in her mouth. She stomped that thought right into the ground before it spread like wildfire. Over her dead body would Snow White be getting her grubby little paws on her child for even a minute longer than the school day.
There was one other person Regina could…trust. Okay, so trust might be stretching the description of her notions towards this particular person. But that was the best way for her mind to deduce that there was one other person that she wouldn't resolutely despise watching Henry for an extended period of time. One person, and perhaps the only in Storybrooke, that ever considered Regina as a friend. Kathryn Nolan.
So those were her options? The life-destroying, dwarf-befriending, love-sick Snow White or the self-absorbed, genteel princess from a positively trifling kingdom?
Slim pickings, Madame Mayor. Perhaps a bit of benevolence on your behalf would prove to be beneficial.
Regina dialed Kathryn's number from her cell phone, feeling slightly bad when the blonde woman's sleep-encumbered voice answered on the other line. She had, of course, apologized for the early disturbance but quickly went to work spilling lies right from her mouth. Luckily for her, Kathryn didn't question a word of her story and agreed to watch Henry for the week.
Much to the Mayor's surprise, Kathryn had been quite enthusiastic at the prospect of having Henry for the week. She confessed that the house had become far too lonely since David had moved out and that having the little ball of energy around would be just the thing to cheer her up. Regina was grateful but even her temporary elation wasn't enough to quell the turmoil she was feeling at relinquishing her child to another woman's care.
Regina set to work packing up a small suitcase full of clothes for Henry. She moved silently about his room, occasionally pausing to cast loving glances at her sleeping child. Each time she did, her lips turned upwards into a small smile and she reminded herself how thankful she was to have Henry in her life. She knew, as a mother, she needed to do what was best for him. And for what she hoped to accomplish over the next week with the irksome Sheriff, she knew Henry shouldn't be around to witness it. She couldn't affirm his suspicions that she truly is the Evil Queen. But if she were successful in her endeavors for the week, then she would never have to worry about the truth coming out again.
Dawns first light was beginning to flood the horizon when Regina finally placed the suitcase in the foyer. Henry would be waking up soon, his body being accustomed to rising early for school during the week and for cartoons on the weekends. Regina made her way back up the stairs intending to take a deliciously hot shower before explaining to Henry that he'd be spending the next week at Kathryn's. She knew he wouldn't be happy about it but eventually he would come to understand that her actions were to protect him.
As she walked noiselessly through the hallway, Regina found herself stopped in front of the closed door of the guest bedroom where the Sheriff was still sleeping. At least, she figured the blonde was still sleeping. Pushing her ear to the door, the absence of noise confirmed her suspicions. And when she should have simply walked away, Regina found her fingers reaching out and grasping the bronze door handle. The Mayor clicked her tongue in annoyance, finding it disturbing that she subconsciously felt the need to check in on the younger woman as if she were a sick child. Then again, in some ways the Sheriff was just that – a sick child.
Emma was sleeping, sprawled out on her stomach with the covers twisted around her legs. Her long arms were tucked neatly underneath the pillow and golden hair fanned out from her head in every which way. Although Emma's head was turned away from Regina, the older woman had no doubt that Emma was sleeping not so peacefully, as if the tangled sheets and displaced limbs weren't proof of that enough, the younger woman was making reticent whimpers that Regina was not privy to from her previous position behind the closed door. She smirked before exiting the room and making her way to her intended destination.
"But mom! I don't understand why I have to go!" Henry whined as he scooped up a spoonful of cereal and dumped it back into the bowl, an act of pure petulance.
"What if I told you that I'm working on a surprise for you?" Regina asked, a dazzling smile gracing her lips. She took her place at the table across from Henry and proceeded to pop a blueberry in her mouth.
"I wouldn't believe you," Henry shrugged and pushed his untouched cereal to the center of the table.
"Oh, Henry, but I am. And I don't want you to see it before it's done, sweetie." Regina's voice cracked at Henry's disbelief in her. "You're going to love it, you'll see."
"Why can't I just stay with Emma?"
Regina pursed her lips. "Miss Swan is a very busy woman."
"And you hate her." Henry pouted, crossing his arms in front of his chest.
"I don't hate Miss Swan, Henry…" Regina spoke quietly, looking her son directly in the eyes.
"Then why do you act like you do?"
"It's complicated," Regina started, looking down at her small plate of various fruits. Then she looked back up at him with a smile. "Let's make a deal."
Henry looked at her slightly confused. "Okay?"
"If you do this me, if you stay with Miss Nolan for the week, then I promise, I'll show you that I really don't hate Miss Swan. How does that sound? Fair?" Regina said, smiling the whole time.
"Really!?" Henry all but yelped. His eyes had gone wide, causing his eyebrows to temporarily become hidden underneath his sleep-mussed hair. Regina nodded her head. That's all it took. Henry came running around the table to her so rapidly and caught her in a tight embrace before she realized what was happening. Regina's own arms snaked around the little boys body and held him tightly for a moment before he pulled away.
"Now, go get your shower and I'll clean up down here then we'll go."
Henry nodded and skipped out of the kitchen and up the stairs to the bathroom. She heard the familiar groaning of the pipes as water rushed through them, signaling that Henry had obeyed her and got himself into the shower. A menacing smile replaced the loving one she had put on for Henry. Everything so far was going just as she'd hoped.
The time was nearing seven in the morning when Regina knocked on the door of Kathryn's quaint colonial house. Henry was standing silently at her side, his brow furrowed and tongue poking out between his lips, completely engrossed in what appeared to be a grueling battle taking place on his handheld video game.
Kathryn answered the door, still in her sleepwear and a mug of coffee in her hand. "Would you like some, I just brewed it a moment ago," Kathryn offered with a smile.
"No, but thank you. And thank you for this – for watching Henry – you're truly a good friend," Regina spoke in her politicians voice that seemed to have a brainwashing effect on everybody in town.
"It's no problem, really."
Regina lowered herself so that she was eye level with Henry and gave him a quick hug and kiss.
"Be good, okay? And call me if you need anything. I love you." Regina gave him a kiss on the cheek then rose to her feet once more, looking back at the blonde woman in her sky blue pajama set. "Call me if you have any questions or if you need anything. Thanks again."
Kathryn gave Regina a friendly smile and ushered Henry inside before closing the door behind them. Not allowing her overprotective thoughts get the best of her, Regina quickly turned away from the house and got into her car, ready to continue on with her plan. She glanced at her watch which calculated the time to be 7:15am.
"Perfect," Regina said to herself as she pulled away from the front of Kathryn's house and meandered down the residential streets until she arrived at Mary Margaret's loft. By now the schoolteacher would be at Granny's, sipping on a cup of hot tea and pretending to read one of those frilly love novels as she attempted to catch a few quick glances of David as he ordered his coffee before heading off to the animal shelter. Regina cringed at the lovesick woman and parked her sleek Mercedes a few houses from Mary Margaret's.
It had been a long time since Regina had been in Mary Margaret's flat, but not much had changed. The place was a little messier than she remembered. But Regina quickly wrote that off as collateral damaged due to the Sheriff taking up residence in the too-small flat. Taking advantage of the time she had, Regina stalked around the first floor of the apartment, looking for nothing in particular but simply wishing to gather as much knowledge about the Swan woman as she could.
After a few moments though, the only noteworthy thing on the entire first floor was a picture of the Mayor herself, taken after her election to office last year, taped up on the back of the door. Painted above her picture in slanted, but otherwise intelligible font, were the words 'Down with the Queen'. Upon closer inspection of the photo, Regina could see hundreds of little tiny holes in the paper, with the majority of them gathered on her face. The culprits of the holes were still protruding from the soft wooden door a few inches to the left of the photo.
Rage sweltered within her heart and her lips curled with hatred. Had they been back in the Enchanted Forest, the Evil Queen would have sentenced them to be hung for their crimes of treason. Sadly, in the real world, people could not be sentenced to death for throwing darts at a photo. Controlling her desire to rip down the defaced photo, Regina stalked away with a huff of irritation and climbed the creaky stairs in search of the Sheriff's bedroom.
Not like it was difficult to find, seeing as how the upstairs had only three doors; one to the bathroom, one to a bedroom, and one to a small hallway closet. Emma's room was small, but judging by the lack of items within the room, the size of the room probably didn't bother the woman all that much. The closest in the room as completely devoid of clothing, and instead made a home for a multitude of damaged brown boxes, all sealed and stacked neatly.
Although Regina was insatiably curious about the contents of those mysterious boxes, she knew today was not the day to be going through them. She had come here with one purpose, and that was to gather enough of Emma's clothes to last her a week or so. Pulling her gaze away from those boxes that were practically begging to be opened, Regina circled around the twin bed and began rifling through the drawers of the dresser. But drawer after drawer afforded her with no clothing.
Finding that she was becoming irrationally pissed off with the Swan woman once more, Regina threw her hands up in exasperation and scanned the nearly empty bedroom. Nothing. If it weren't for the boxes in the closet and the sleep-ravished bed sheets, one could assume that this room was entirely vacant.
Maybe it was laundry day, Regina found herself trying to reason. Though for the life of her she couldn't understand why someone would wait until the absolute last minute to wash clothes. Then again, she was talking about Emma Swan and if anyone were to put something off to the last minute, it would be Emma. Then Regina found herself wondering if the women even had a washer and dryer in the tiny flat or if they had to go to the Laundromat to wash them. She supposed that she'd just have to wait until the blonde awoke later in the day to find out.
One last glance around the empty room and Regina was back out into the hallway. Unable to relinquish her curiosity, Regina opened the closet door at the end of the hallway and found nothing but cleaning supplies of all sorts. To be honest, the Mayor had no idea what she was looking for. She supposed it boiled down to sheer curiosity and yet the darkness in her told a different tale. She was looking because she was nervous. Having already seen her picture being used as a dartboard, Regina was that she would find some well drawn out plans for her assassination or something equivalently ludicrous.
Paranoia looks good on you.
Shut up.
Call it paranoid, call it obsessive, call it what you will, but Regina preferred to think of it as being armed with information. Intelligence is power. Knowing what you're up against and how the odds are stacked, knowing what people are planning or thinking or thinking of planning, knowing who is on your side, who you can trust, and who will be a problem, knowing all of these things is the key to winning. Without intelligence, you might as well go through life blindfolded.
Regina pushed open the door to the bathroom and nearly ran face first into it when it only opened a few inches. She pushed against it again, but the door wouldn't open. Finally, she braced her shoulder against the door and attempted to open it once more. She was allowed a few more inches; just enough for her to slip inside. Once inside, it didn't take long for her to understand why the door refused to budge more than a few inches.
Towering behind the door was a pile of what seemed to be all of Emma's clothes. All balled up and tossed carelessly on top of one another. Inside out socks were scattered all over the floor of the bathroom along with crumpled shirts and pants with belts still nestled securely in the loops of denim. It was appalling and Regina turned up her nose in distaste.
Regina was yet again reminded of Emma's barbaric behavior and she swore that if Emma was not her savior, then she would've left the pile of filth where she found it. And even as Regina was loathe to admit it, Emma was her savior. She needed her. More importantly, she needed Emma to trust her.