Emma was sleeping quite soundly, lost in some unspecific dream when she was abruptly awakened by the loud ringing of a telephone. It took a second to remember where she was and what the hell that noise was.
She groped for the receiver and fumbled it a bit with her eyes half-shut. "'ello?" Emma rasped into the mouthpiece, rubbing her eyes and trying to wake herself up. She was surprised to hear the voice on the other end first thing in the morning.
"Miss Swan, it's Mayor Mills," Regina clipped in a voice entirely too loud and sharp for 7:30 in the morning. "I am sorry to wake you up, but I'm afraid Henry has run away...again. I...the Sheriff is wondering if you have seen him, or if he said anything to you last night that may lead to his whereabouts," Regina asked, trying to sound composed, but Emma could hear the worry in the woman's voice even through the formal tone.
"Um, I'm sorry, I..uh...no, I don't think so."
"Well then thank you, Miss Swan, for your help," Regina responded sarcastically.
"Wait, what time did he go missing?" Emma quickly said, before the Mayor had time to hang up.
Regina sighed with exaggerated effort. "I went to wake him up this morning at 6:30, as usual, and he was gone."
"Did he leave a note or anything? Does it look like he packed a bag? Are any of his things gone?" Emma was surprised at how quickly her brain snapped into action, immediately thinking of the tell-tale clues that she would look for if she were trying to track a person down. And all of this before her morning pot of coffee too.
Regina seemed taken back by the quick onslaught of questions, but recovered quickly, reverting to her tone of cool superiority that Emma recognized from the night before. "The sheriff's department is here and all necessary measures are being taken. Since you have no useful information, your help is no longer required. Good day, Miss Swan."
Emma felt the click of the other line as sharply as a slap across the face. Sitting upright in the hotel bed, Emma unconsciously held the phone in mid air as her mind began to race. She felt a sudden rush of concern and a wave of adrenaline pumped through her body, waking her up more efficiently than any amount of caffeine. Without thinking, Emma jumped out of bed, threw on her clothes, grabbed her car keys and sped towards the Mayor's house.
SQ
Regina hung up the phone, feeling dejected at the situation which was spiraling out of her control. She still couldn't believe the events of the previous day and this morning, feeling more powerless at her son's disappearances than she had ever felt before. She loathed having to call that blonde inconvenience, but after an hour of fruitless searching the Sheriff convinced her she had no choice.
"Don't worry Madam Mayor, we'll find Henry, we just need to stay calm..." Graham tried to say in his best Sheriff voice.
"Oh!? Just like you 'found' him last night? When he got all the way to Boston while you were here telling me he couldn't have gone far? What use are you, when you can't even do your job properly!?" Regina yelled, losing her temper.
Graham sucked in his breath, realizing that the Mayor was beyond consoling. "Right...well I'll just...go make the rounds again...see if anyone has seen anything..."
Graham departed the Mayor's house looking much like a dog with it's tail between it's legs, and he couldn't get into his cruiser fast enough.
Regina watched him go with narrowed eyes, feeling her frustration grow at the inept town sheriff. She was somewhat close to Graham, meaning that she allowed him into her bed every now and then; after all, even the Mayor of Storybrooke had needs. But lately he had been letting her down in that area as well.
Regina had initiated the relationship because it was convenient, he was handsome and discrete, and never asked more of Regina than what she offered. He was always dutiful and willing, but recently it seemed like they were both just going through the motions.
Her son was running away from her, her love-life was losing its passion, and with the arrival of Henry's natural mother in town, an outsider, the Mayor felt the control she once had on her world slipping out of her grasp.
She used to be a Queen for god-sakes! She used to be able to make people tremble with her mere presence. Now all she did was sign papers and pack school lunches. This was not what she had in mind when she envisioned her perfect revenge. It was not satisfying, it was not fulfilling; it was empty and boring.
She was about to turn away from the window when the sight of a yellow Volkswagen bug coming to a stop in front of her house snapped Regina out of her contemplation.
"What the hell..." Regina started to say to herself, then marched out of her house with all the power and assertion she could muster.
"Miss Swan! This is highly inappropriate. I thought I made myself perfectly clear that you are no loner needed in this town," she said forcefully as she marched down the front walk.
Emma was not surprised to see the woman in another tailored, expensive outfit: a black dress that stopped just above her knee with a matching fitted jacket over top. It made her look powerful yet feminine, in a 'CEO of an international corporation' kind of way.
"Yeah, well, I'm here, and finding people is kind of my job. I'm sure you have everything under control, but an extra pair of hands usually doesn't hurt in these situations," she said, stepping out of her car and noticing how nice the Mayor's legs were in the daylight.
Regina realized that she couldn't argue with the woman's practicality and stood in front of the other woman, feet apart with her weight on one hip and arms crossed in an unmistakeable stance of confrontation. Regina observed Emma's rumpled appearance, her clothes were wrinkled and her hair slightly matted and tangled, but her eyes had lost none of the fierce luster that burned in Regina's memory from the previous evening.
The two women stared each other down, Regina trying to break Emma with her fiercest 'How dare you' glare, and Emma taking everything that Regina was giving and throwing it back in her face.
The Mayor was not used to this kind of defiance. Anyone else in town would have crumbled under her glower, but Emma seemed immune to it, almost as if she welcomed it. Regina decided that she would have to handle this woman very carefully.
"Well..." Regina started, forcing the ice to melt off her previously frosty tongue, and softening her stance a degree. "Since you proved yourself useful in delivering Henry last night, I suppose you may stay and offer your services to our Sheriff. I'll call him and see of he will accept."
Regina started towards the house, turning her back to Emma when the woman's voice piped up once more.
"Does Henry have a computer?" Emma asked hopefully.
Regina turned, becoming exasperated at the woman's incessant questioning. "Yes. Why?"
"In my past experiences, I've found that e-mails and web histories are usually a good place to start. They can give us a pretty good idea about what a person has been up to, who they've been talking to, that sort of thing."
Again, Regina couldn't argue with the woman's practical thinking and had no other choice but to invite Emma in.
SQ
Emma seated herself in Henry's desk chair, feeling momentarily uncomfortable at being surrounded by the boy's personal life. Pictures of Henry and Regina smiling with their arms around each other stared at Emma from various points around the room. Childish artifacts littered the desk and nightstand, and few dirty socks peeked out from under the bedspread. Emma glanced at his bed, at the indentation in his pillow where he lays down every night, after his mom tucks him in...
Emma shook herself, willing her mind to stay on-task. "Ok, lets see what we got here..."
Emma checked the boy's inbox first. At the top of the list was an e-mail receipt from a company who apparently specialized in reuniting adopted children with their birth parents.
"So thats how he did it..." Emma mused out loud, somewhat impressed at Henry's resourcefulness. "Credit card belonging to Mary Margaret Blanchard. Who is that?" she asked, turning towards Regina.
The Mayor's lips pursed into a tight line and the muscles in the jaw clenched. "Henry's teacher," she answered without offering an explanation.
Sensing that Henry had borrowed a credit card from someone Regina was less than fond of, and was now in even more trouble, Emma changed the subject quickly.
"Ok, lets check his web history," she said, turning her attention to the search history of the web browser. Emma smirked. "Smart kid, he cleared it."
Emma heard the Mayor sigh beside her, and felt the woman tense up. Not wanting to be dismissed as unhelpful again, Emma quickly withdrew her key ring and held up an attached USB drive.
"Fortunately, I carry this baby with me which can retrieve deleted information from a computer's hard drive," she stated, trying to show off her technical skills, hoping to impress the Mayor. She waited for Regina to express some kind of interest or cooperation, but was only met with her usual stoney silence. Emma continued with the retrieval process, becoming irritated with the Mayor's lack of enthusiasm.
After a minute, Henry's search history came up on the screen and at first glance it didn't seem to be helpful either. It appeared that Henry had been searching for information on fairy tales, everything from Grimm to Frankenstein.
"Huh. I guess the kid has been doing his research," Emma contemplated, remembering Henry's book about fairy tales that he had brought with him when he showed up at Emma's apartment in Boston.
Regina looked lost. "What research?" she asked, leaning down over the blonde's shoulder to get a closer look at the computer screen. Emma caught a whiff of her shampoo...it smelled amazing.
Emma cleared her throat. "Oh you know, the fairy tale stuff. He's pretty into it. He's got that book that he says is full of stories that are true." Emma tried to keep her voice even as her body became keenly aware of the close proximity of the Mayor.
"What book?" Regina asked, losing patience.
"He brought this old-looking book with him when he showed up at my place in Boston. It's about fairy-tales, and he thinks it's important. I dunno, I thought you would have known about it."
Regina narrowed her eyes, unnerved that the blonde knew something about her son that she did not. "Well I don't see how any of this helps us."
Emma shrugged. "Sorry, I'm not a miracle worker."
"Clearly," Regina spat coldly and straightened up.
"Well, maybe we should go ask this Mary Margaret person if she knows anything?" Emma offered.
Regina turned and started walking towards the door. When Emma didn't immediately follow her, she looked over her shoulder.
"Are you coming Miss Swan, or do I have to do everything myself?" the brunette snapped.
Emma immediately jumped up and followed the Mayor out the door, allowing her eyes to follow the back-and-forth motions of Regina's hips as she walked down the stairs. If Emma had to put up with this woman's bitchy attitude all day, at least she could enjoy the view.
SQ
The two woman sat in Regina's car in silence as they drove over to the school, both feeling a little awkward. Regina offered Emma a ride as it seemed the appropriate thing to do - no need in driving two cars when they were going to the same place. But now that they were trapped together in a small space, she bean to rethink her decision.
Emma was fidgety in a way that was reminiscent of Henry, and Regina was once again reminded of the connection between her son and the blonde stranger. It was only natural that Henry and Emma would share certain traits, but it still irked the Mayor. She didn't like being reminded that Henry wasn't her own natural son, and Emma was a walking, talking advertisement of that fact.
Regina tried to steal a few glances in the blonde's direction as Emma did the same, their eyes meeting accidentally. They both looked away quickly and tried to pretend they weren't trying to scope the other out.
"So, ah, is Henry a good student?" Emma asked, trying to dissipate the awkward tension they both felt but would never admit.
"Yes. Straight A's," Regina answered proudly.
Emma nodded. "Good. Thats good." Then she added after a pause, "Well he didn't get it from me, must be from you."
Regina smiled slightly, appreciating the light compliment in spite of herself. "I've tried to instill in Henry a good work ethic. He thinks I am strict, but it's for his own good."
"Well he's lucky. I just wish someone had cared enough about me to tell me to do my homework; maybe I would have turned out differently."
"What about your parents?"
"Didn't have any. I grew up in the foster system. I was lucky if I got a new pair of shoes before I outgrew my old ones."
"We'll I'm sorry to hear that," Regina offered after a moment, her voice sounding sincere for the first time since Emma met her.
Emma shrugged. "It's no big deal, I'm over it," she paused. "But that's why I gave Henry up for adoption. I knew I couldn't give him the life he deserved, and I sure as hell didn't want him going through what I went through in the system, so I decided to let someone who actually wanted a child adopt him; I wanted to give him his best chance."
Regina was silent as she contemplated the woman's words. She had always assumed the worst about Henry's birthmother, that they were cruel-hearted or drug-addicted to give up their own child, but Emma's words struck a chord deep within her.
Emma was a product of circumstances out of her control who was faced with an extremely difficult decision, and ultimately made the right choice. Regina couldn't fault her for that. Unable to come up with a response the Mayor simply nodded and the two women rode the rest of the way in silence.
SQ
Their meeting with Henry's teacher didn't reveal much, other than a nice woman who seemed to genuinely care about Henry. She wasn't even mad that Henry borrowed her credit card.
Regina excused herself abruptly after it was obvious that Mary Margaret knew nothing and stalked off, leaving Emma to find her own way back to her car. The teacher smiled understandably at Regina's rude departure and offered to give Emma a ride.
The drive back to the Mayor's house couldn't have been more different than Emma's previous ride with Regina. Mary Margaret babbled on and on about how great Henry was, filling Emma in on details about his creative ideas and imaginative personality.
Emma soaked up the stories like a sponge, and couldn't help the grin that spread across her face while in the warm company of the teacher. When they parted, Mary Margaret offered a heartfelt farewell and wished Emma luck.
Driving back to the B&B, Emma mulled over the events of the morning. She could see now how Regina was overbearing and dominating, and she could understand Henry's need for escape.
Emma was no stranger to oppressive parental forces. The foster system she grew up in was littered with people who viewed unwanted children as little more than paychecks, and Emma had suffered at the hands of a few of them. She remembered as a child the need to find sanctuary, to find a place where she felt safe and happy, and she imagined that is what Henry was looking for as well when he ran away this morning.
There was one foster home that Emma lived in that was near a vacant building, and while she was out exploring one day she found a room inside with a comfy couch, a table and a few chairs. Emma would spend as much time a she could in that room, with a stack of magazines and whatever food she could pilfer when her foster mother was passed out drunk. It was a glorious find, hidden and secret, where Emma would daydream in peace about the exciting and fulfilling life she would eventually lead one day.
Emma's instincts flickered. If the kid liked books and stories so much, and was looking for a place to hide out, what better place to go than a library, especially one that was temporarily closed. Emma remembered passing it on her way to the Mayor's house that morning; it was near that clock tower that seemed to be broken. She saw a "Closed for Renovations" sign on the front of the building and it looked pretty undisturbed. Flipping a U-turn, Emma headed straight for the building, hoping she would be right.
Pulling up and parking in front, Emma got out of her car and approached the front door. The front doors were chained shut so she made her way around to the back of the building, but the back entrance was locked as well.
"Damn," Emma cursed to herself, but then she noticed a window low to the ground that was slightly cracked open. Pushing it upwards and sliding as gracefully as she could through the opening, Emma was finally inside.
"Henry?" she called tentatively. She heard a rustling noise coming from the back of the building and she made her way through the shelves of dusty, neglected books. She came across the kid reclining on the floor, propped up against a pillow and snuggled under a sleeping bag. He had his leather-bound book in his lap and his face was apprehensive as he stared up at her, looking like a mouse trapped in a corner. The scene was achingly familiar to Emma, as if she was looking at her own past right in front of her. She smiled reassuringly and sat on the floor next to the boy.
"How did you find me?" Henry asked.
"Just a hunch," Emma answered casually. "I had a place like this when I was a kid, though yours is a little bit better than mine."
"Is my mom mad?" he asked, flinching at what he knew the answer would be.
Emma reached out and ruffled his hair. "Kinda, but mostly she is just worried. You have got to stop this running away thing, or she might start putting bars on your windows," she joked half-heartedly.
Henry sighed, and his gaze fell defeatedly to the floor. "I know. It's just so hard living with her. She makes me go to therapy because she thinks something is wrong with me. She only tells me what to do and she never listens. My life sucks."
"Hey..." Emma reached out and put a finger under his chin to life his eyes back to hers, "You know what sucks? Growing up in foster homes, not knowing where you will end up next, or when, or who with. I have dealt with some really bad people in my life, and as hard as your mom seems to be, she really cares about you. You have it much better than a lot of kids out there."
Henry looked at her with big watery eyes, his lower lip starting to tremble. "Are you going to leave?" he asked, in a voice so small and sad it broke Emma's heart.
"I don't know. I don't live here Henry."
He started to cry in earnest this time, huge tears rolling down his cheeks. He leaned forward and wrapped his arms around Emma's waist, as if he could keep her there by force.
Emma stroked his hair, truly at a loss. "Hey, it's going to be ok..." she started, not knowing what to say to fix this.
"Stay...please...I just found you, and I...I have to make you...understand," he said between sobs.
"Understand what?" Emma asked gently. Henry looked at his book, and then back at Emma, trying to wordlessly establish the connection.
"Ok, ok Henry. I'll stay through the week. You can tell me about your book, but then I'll have to go. Deal?"
Henry smiled hopefully into her face, his tears beginning to cease. "Deal."
"Alright, now lets get you back home before your mother calls in the National Guard."
Henry looked ready to cry again, not wanting to leave his sanctuary for the wrath of his mother he knew he would have to inevitably face. Reading his thoughts, Emma compromised. "Ok, we'll stay for 20 minutes, you can start telling me about your book, then we'll go."
Then she added one more thing because she knew it would be important to him, "And don't worry, I won't tell your mom about this place. I know what it's like to need a hide-out, so we'll keep this place our own secret," she said, and a warm light bloomed in Henry's eyes, thankful to have someone around who finally understood him.
SQ
Emma and Henry drove down Main Street as the kid babbled on and on about his theory. Henry explained to Emma all about this fairy-tale land, the Enchanted Forest where all the people of the town used to live before the Evil Queen (Regina) cast a curse and sent them all to Storybrooke with amnesia, frozen in time for the past 28 years. Emma played along, acting interested and indulging his fantasy. He was so cute in his earnestness that she didn't have the heart to tell him that the idea was crazy.
"So everyone in this town is a fairy tale character?" she asked as they passed people shuffling down the sidewalk, going about their everyday business.
"Yeah," he answered confidently and simply.
"So who is that guy?" Emma pointed towards a middle-aged man looking into a store window.
Henry sighed patiently. "I don't know. I only know who a few people are; My mom is the Evil Queen, Dr. Hopper is Jimmeny Cricket, and my teacher is Snow White. I'm pretty sure Ruby at the diner is Red-Riding Hood and her Grandma is...well her Granny. I'm working on figuring out who the seven dwarves are."
"Ok, sounds reasonable. So where do I fit into all of this?" Emma asked.
Henry hesitated. "You're supposed to break the spell and defeat the Evil Queen, returning everyone back to their lives in the Enchanted Forest; you're the only way everyone gets their happy ending," he said, looking up at his birthmother.
"Ok, so no pressure then," Emma laughed. "So why me? What makes me so special?"
Henry just looked at her. "I know you won't believe me, but you're the child of Snow White and Prince Charming. They sent you here when you were a baby so the Evil Queen wouldn't get you. They believed that one day you would realize who you are and you would break the spell."
Emma hesitated for a moment, trying to best decide how to handle this one.
"Henry..." she started, looking over at him, "I'm not anyone's child. I'm just a regular person and I don't want you to get your hopes up. I am trying to do the right thing here, and I think it is great that you believe in fairy tales and happy endings, and I'm trying to believe too, but it might take me a little while. Ok?" she explained as gently as she could.
"I know," Henry accepted. "Thanks for trying," Emma nodded and smiled, reaching over to pat his shoulder affectionately.
SQ
They had finally made their way back to the mansion, both of them stopping in front of the white house, reluctant for their time together to come to an end. But the door of the house opened before they could draw the moment out any longer and the Mayor loomed in the doorway like an elegant, dark shadow.
"Henry, go inside," Regina ordered evenly.
Emma looked down at Henry, giving him a sly wink and a smile and gently nudged him towards the house. Henry returned the smile and wink and ran up the walk and into the house, barely looking at his mother. Emma watched him go, actually feeling like she would miss him this time.
The Mayor strode towards Emma, arms crossed and head tilted forward, her hips swaying slowly. She exuded grace, power, and sensuality all at once, and Emma had to admit it was impressive.
"Thank you for returning my son again, Miss Swan. It seems you do have a knack for finding people," she stated, dressing the compliment with only a hint of distain.
"Just doing my job," Emma responded in a level tone. Her head cocked to the side, looking like some smug movie hero in that red-leather jacket that Regina couldn't help but notice fit her long torso perfectly.
"I assume you will be leaving town then," Regina pushed, not even trying to hide the icy edge to her voice.
"No, actually," Emma answered without reservation. "I told Henry I'd stay through the week. I feel bad leaving him so suddenly. Besides, I needed a vacation anyway."
"I thought we had an understanding. You said last night that you were not interested in perusing a relationship with my son. Remember, you wanted a closed adoption," Regina stated forcefully.
"Look, I'm not trying to make waves here. I'm just going to stay for a few more days, just to make sure Henry's ok. I'm worried it might do more damage if I just took off. I don't want Henry to think I'm abandoning him."
"Henry is not your concern. He is my son, and if you think for one second that you have any place in his life, then you are sorely mistaken."
"Regina, I'm not trying to take him away from you are anything," Emma tried to reassure her. "I know Henry is your son, and I know that I don't belong here. I just want a few days to explain that to Henry so he doesn't…he doesn't…feel what I felt as a child. Like no one wants him." Emma struggled with that last part. It was never easy to voice the hurt she experienced during her childhood, especially to a stranger.
The Mayor scoffed. "I can assure you that Henry knows he's is loved and wanted, and you are insignificant to him in that regard."
"Then why did he come find me?" Emma challenged.
"Sometimes Henry's imagination gets the better of him. He also believes that fairy tales are real. I wouldn't put too much stake in the musings of a ten year old boy. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to check on my son. I trust you can find your way back to Boston. Good bye, Miss Swan."
Regina tried to put as much finality behind her words as possible, but Emma's feet remained rooted to the ground and her stern expression did not signal she was going to back down. The brunette stormed back into her home and slammed the door.
SQ
Regina fumed as she strode back into her house. A week? That woman was going to stay for a week? How the hell had this happened? Was this even possible?
Regina was sure that the curse that had established the town prevented any outsiders from entering town limits, but somehow Henry's birthmother was impervious to the magical barrier. Perhaps it was just her connection with Henry or the fact that it was Henry who brought her here himself that allowed the blonde to invade Storybrooke.
Questions and emotions flew through her mind at a breakneck speed, never settling long enough for Regina to think clearly about the situation. Then the Mayor remembered the book Emma had mentioned. She marched up the staircase towards Henry's room deciding to address this so-called fairy-tale book.
"Henry..." Regina started, rounding the corner and passing through the doorway. Henry was laid out on his bed, shoes kicked off and eyes closed, his chest rising and falling in a steady rhythm. Apparently he was sleeping and Regina second-guessed the confrontation. Henry always looked so serene when he was sleeping, and when he was a baby, watching him sleep was one of Regina's favorite things to do. It made her feel peaceful and happy, two emotions that were rare in her life.
With a resigning breath Regina took the blanket at the foot of his bed and covered his body with it, not wanting him to get cold. She decided that this conversation would have to come another time, and she needed to think about how she was going to handle this Emma Swan person.
Thoughts of the woman continued to swirl around her mind. Though she was loath to admit it, she was thankful that Emma had been able to find Henry and deliver him safely home, twice. The blonde woman was stubborn and intrusive, but she radiated a goodness that Regina couldn't deny. She obviously cared about Henry, but her presence was still unnerving and threatened the world that the Mayor had so carefully constructed. And if there was one thing Regina couldn't abide, it was a threat.