Hello, darlings! It's been a while since I've updated this story, but I do intend on finishing it eventually because I love Cruella and August. Enjoy another chapter! Hopefully more will follow soon!

Cruella stepped into Granny's dinner and let the door close behind her. Every pair of eyes in the joint turned to gawk. She ignored them and strutted across the length of the room to the booth in the corner. A dark figure loomed rigidly over a cup of coffee.

"Is this the royal table?" Cruella asked as she slipped into the booth across from Regina.

The mayor glanced up but her hand remained around the cup.

"I'm not the Queen anymore."

Cruella let a hand fall over the back of the booth. She crossed her leg and made herself at home.

"Pity. You're such a drag now."

Regina's eyes raked over Cruella. She felt discomfort under the royal scrutiny.

"Then why accept my invitation?"

"In the Enchanted Forrest to refuse a royal summons meant certain death." Cruella flashed a smile. She could see that constantly reminding Regina of her dark past was irritating the former queen. Exactly what Cruella hoped for.

"This isn't the Enchanted Forrest. You can't just go around burning things down."

Cruella rolled her eyes.

"If you called me here just to lecture me about-"

"I didn't."

Cruella tilted her head to one side as she studied the woman across from her. Regina wore a poker face worth millions. Granny interrupted them, refilling Regina's cup and tossing one down in front of Cruella. She poured the liquid haphazardly and then walked away.

"Since you brought it up, I expect-"

Cruella waived her hand in the air.

"Yes, yes, I'll pay for a new one. It was well worth it."

Cruella put the cup to her lips.

"And I expect you to apologize to Marco and August."

The words and the hot liquid cause Cruella to yelp and drop the cup. She turned and glared at the old woman behind the counter.

"You did that on purpose!"

Granny ignored her.

Cruella turned back to Regina.

"I'll pay for it, darling, but I don't do apologizes. Besides, I'm not sorry. Not a bit."

Regina narrowed her and leaned forward.

"You will do it, and you'll like it. These people are your neighbors now. You made the choice to live here. Despite your little display earlier, the rules to apply to you, Cruella."

Cruella pushed the coffee cup away from her.

"And what are you going to do if I don't follow them? Rip out my heart?"

Regina clenched her teeth.

"Don't tempt me."

Cruella watched the Queen for a few moments, then let a grin cross over her lips.

"Come on, Regina. Let's do get out of here and have some fun."

"No, thanks. Your kind of fun usually ends up with a skinned puppy."

Cruella grinned and put a finger to her curved lips.

"You do something once and never live it down."

Regina leaned back in the booth and let her arms rest on the table.

"Live a little, Regina," Cruella encouraged, "you look like you could use a good time."

Regina shook her head almost imperceptibly.

"You know, for a moment you sounded almost concerned."

Cruella took off her coat and fingered the diamonds hanging from her neck.

"I am, darling. Of all the heroes and villains in this town you are the most entertaining. It would be a pity to give that all up."

Regina's lips smoothed into another unreadable line. Cruella had not yet figured out her game.

"Is that all you care about, entertainment?"

This time Cruella leaned forward.

"I care about living life to the fullest. Why waste away the years fighting the darkness? Splash in, darling. The water's fine."

Regina's eyes softened. People rarely looked at Cruella in the way Regina did now. Her eyes spoke of compassion, disappointment and a great deal of understanding. Cruella turned away.

"But what about the loneliness? Being a villain," Regina smiled sadly, "is lonely. I know."

Cruella looked down at her hand. She drummed her fingers on the table. Despite Cruella's pretence of boredom, Regina continued.

"I'm the only person in the town that can even stand to talk to you. You have no friends, no family. No one."

Cruella looked up with curiosity. She was waiting for an opportunity to really pick a fight. Regina didn't give her a chance. She held up her hand before Cruella could react.

"What if I told you true love could be in your future?"

Cruella scoffed.

"I'd say you drank one too many magical elixirs."

"I changed. I have to believe you can too."

"Yes, but darling, you have to want to change and I don't."

"Not even for the love of the man over at the counter?"

Cruella followed Regina's line of sight.

"The puppet?"

August sat next to Emma on one of the bar stools. Cruella turned back to Regina. She could see the Evil Queen believed the words she said. Perhaps there was some fun to be had at Granny's after all.

"Puppet," Cruella called to him without taking her eyes from Regina, "come here."

She waited. Regina held her gaze. August arrived at the edge of the counter. Cruella sense the hatred vibrating from his being.

"Regina says you are in love with me." She smiled at looked up into his hate filled eyes. "Don't be shy, you can tell me. You want me."

August bit his lip, an action Cruella found quite sexy.

"What I want is for you to burn in Hell House so you know what my papa went through."

"Oh, dear." Cruella blinked as if the words upset her. "I've had brief love-affairs before but really, darling, that's a record even for me."

"Is there a problem here?" Emma asked as she approached them. Cruella smirked. She really didn't like the blond. She could sense August did.

"I've got it handled, Swan," Regina replied.

Cruella didn't think Regina had much of anything handled, but the words seemed to appease the blond. She pulled August by the hand and lead him away.

"I don't understand the game, Regina, but it is amusing."

"Where are you in there?" Regina's eyes pierced through Cruella. "I haven't seen you yet."

"No one can, darling, because there's nothing there."

Regina drew back and reached into her purse. She pulled out her keys.

"Come with me."

"Where?"

"My vault."

Cruella smiled widely.

"Finally, some fun your majesty."

Cruella hated that she had to part company with her car, but the thrill of seeing all of the secrets of the Evil Queen made the sacrifice well worth the cost. She followed Regina down the dank stairs of the vault, taking in the rows of magical items. She'd been here once before, a years ago with Maleficent and Ursula. She sighed inwardly. The good old days.

Regina stopped in the open area in front of her famous mirror.

"Okay my delectable dark sister, impress me." Cruella put her hand on her hip.

Regina went to a drawer in one of the trunks and pulled out a folded piece of paper. She carefully undid the creases and walked across the room with the page to her chest.

"My son found this."

Cruella reached for it but Regina held back.

"Don't mock this, Cruella. It's special."

"I'm all atingle, darling."

She took the page from Regina and looked down at the picture. Before her brain fully registered what she saw a flash of magic erupted from her fingertips. The bands of an ancient spell broke and memories flooded back to her.

New York, fifteen years ago. Her husband. Her puppet.

Cruella's eyes cleared and she saw herself in the picture. August had been right. There before her she saw their son and daughter.

"What the hell was that?" Regina asked.

Cruella slapped Regina across the face as hard as she could. The inevitable fireball appeared in Regina's hand.

"Oh, good, just what I need." Cruella moved the page over the fireball and the edge caught on fire.

Regina waived the fireball away and snatched the paper out of Cruella's hand. She used her fingers to put out the flames and burned her skin the process.

"Serves you right for not letting it burn," Cruella hissed.

"You'd regret that."

Regina blew on her fingers and held the page away from Cruella.

Cruella pulled a gun from her purse and aimed it at Regina.

"What I regret is that I can't kill you right now for making me remember!"

Regina put the page down and came at Cruella.

"You know, I've had just about enough of you."

Cruella tried to pull the trigger but failed.

"Is that so, darling?"

Regina gripped the barrel of the gun and pushed it away.

"My son asked me just how black your heart is. Let's say we find out."

The sensation of Regina's hand reach into her chest was odd and more than a little painful. She cried out and dropped the gun. Regina's fingers probed.

Cruella met her eyes and laughed. Her laughter echoed through the vault. Regina's brow wrinkled in confusion. Her finger's retracted and her hand appeared. Empty.

Cruella put her hand on her chest. She knew why she was how she was now. The answer to a question she didn't even know she had. She relished the emptiness inside. She embraced it.

Regina stared at her palm. Her confusion melted into a smug grin.

"I'm impressed. I didn't think you knew that kind of magic."

Cruella took a moment to compose herself. The pain in her chest subsided.

"I don't, darling."

The confusion again on Regina's face made Cruella laugh again.

"I always knew something was wrong, ever since I was a little girl."

She let her hand drop from her chest.

"Someone took your heart?"

Cruella shook her head.

"I was locked in an attic for eighteen years. My mother didn't know magic. No, darling, no one took it."

"You were born without a heart?" Regina backed away and the anger on her face subsided. "That explains a lot."

Cruella channeled the anger Regina let slip away.

"Don't you dare pity me! I have no use for a heart."

Regina turned back to the page laying on top of the chest of drawers.

"Are you even curious about this?"

Cruella lifted her hands.

"Do be a darling and conjure another of those lovely fireballs."

Regina inhaled so deeply that her chest lifted. Cruella grinned that she was able to get under the Evil Queen's skin.

"Tell me what you meant about remembering…"

Cruella avoided Regina's eyes.

"When you touched the page, that was magic. Some kind of curse was undone."

Cruella put her hand to her forehead. She walked across the room and sat on the stone outcropping.

"If you refuse a fireball can I at least get a drink?"

Regina opened her mouth as if to object but something stopped her. Cruella was glad. She found the conversation tiresome and knew her weariness began to show on her face.

"I seem to recall a stash hidden down here from the last time."

Regina smirked and went to a secret compartment under her mirror. She pulled out a wine bottle and two long stemmed glasses.

"You want to join me?" Cruella could not help the surprise in her tone.

Regina poured the liquid and then crossed the room. She sat next to Cruella and offered the glass.

"No one should drink alone."

Cruella studied the Evil Queen for a moment before she took the glass. If she had a heart she was sure Regina's compassion would have touched it. Luckily, she felt no such emotion.

She took a long sip.

"Well?" Regina impatiently set down her glass.

"There's nothing to tell, darling. The puppet and I were married in New York a long time ago." Cruella took another sip from the glass. "Technically we're still married. When I found out he was a hero the game was up. I secured a memory potion and, vuala!" She wiggled her fingers in the air. "Better than divorce."

Cruella waited for Regina's reaction. She hated that the smallest part of her was intrigued to see what the powerful witch might say.

"Do you love him?"

Cruella stood. She walked across the room and turned to Regina with one hand on her hip.

"He was easy prey, darling. Like a vulture picking a carcass in the desert."

Regina's brow wrinkled.

"What is it with you and animal carcasses?"

"Now, darling. You're going to mix me up another memory potion."

Regina stood and her lips formed a thin line. She mimicked Cruella's pose with a hand on her hip.

"Am I?"

"Yes," Cruella hissed, "It's your fault I remember. You are going to destroy that ridiculous page and we'll pretend this little interlude never happened."

Regina folded her arms.

"I have a better idea." She walked back over to the chest and picked up the page. "Let's show this to August and see what he thinks."

Cruella lunged at Regina but she stepped back and held the page out of Cruella's grasp.

"You wouldn't dare!"

"What are you so afraid of?" Regina taunted.

Cruella felt rage encompass her entire frame.

"I fear nothing. Not even the Evil Queen."

Regina shook her head.

"I think you fear what's on this page."

Cruella narrowed her eyes. If looks could kill Regina would have been six feet under.

"I think part of you wants it, but you don't dare admit it because you think it's impossible."

Cruella stepped back and gave up her attempted to intimidate Regina with her height.

"Of course it's impossible. For what is on that page I would need a heart, and darling, most people I know are rather attached to theirs. Unless you'd like to rip one out and give it to me?"

Regina carefully folded the page and slipped it back into the drawer. Cruella watched the action longingly. She knew the magic that protected the vault was uncrackable, at least by her. Her mind wandered toward thoughts of Rumplstiliksin.

Regina slid closed the drawer and looked up at Cruella.

"With hope there is always a way, but you have to try. To sacrifice. To believe."

"Ugh, please, you sound like Snow White, and I mean that as an insult."

"I will help you."

The offer surprised Cruella so much that she took a step backward.

"Why, darling? I'm a terrible person."

Regina did not break her intense gaze.

"So was I."

Cruella shook her head.

"Villains don't change, not really. I'm afraid you'll only be disappointed." Cruella swept across the room. "And besides, you have to have a heart to have a change of one."

Regina clasped her hands together.

"You can start by apologizing to Marco for burning down his shop."

Cruella opened her mouth to object but Regina stopped her.

"As long as I'm mayor in this town, you will do what I say. Unless you want the Charmings and the Evil Queen on your case, and trust me, you don't."

Cruella grinned. Despite the situation she found herself very much liking the cunning of the Evil Queen.

"You drive a hard bargain, Regina, but why not? It sounds like fun, and ample opportunity to stir up trouble."

Regina titled her head to the side.

"If nothing else, Cruella, you have spirit."

"It's my best trait, darling, and it used to be yours too."