A/N: Italics read as a flashback in this chapter.


Chapter 17

The Heart is a Lonely Hunter

Emma shoved Graham away from her. "What the hell?!"

Graham looked shocked, and more than a little guilty. He stumbled a few hasty steps back. "What the hell was that for?!" Emma nearly shouted. "It's like you don't even see me. I couldn't stand the way you were looking at me," Graham mumbled, hanging his head in shame.

"What do you mean? What does it matter how I look at you?" Emma asked exasperately. She was not and had never been interested in Graham, despite what others might think. She thought she had made herself perfectly clear to him.

In fact, she was pretty damn certain she and Lily had made him painfully aware of their feelings for each other. Always at Lily's naughty insistance, she liked to put on a show for the horny Sheriff. She liked to prove a point and let it be known in no uncertain terms that Emma was hers. Not anymore, Emma thought painfully.

Her outrage grew as she scowled at the man in front of her, demanding answers. "I know how you must think of me, how could I ever land myself in her pocket?" Graham asked with frustration. He was asking her as much as himself, as he had many times over the years.

He could never explain his illicit attraction to the downright nasty mayor who lived to lord her power over everyone. He was no better than anyone else in the town, he knew if he stayed on her good side it would be better for him so he obeyed her summons. Or so he thought.

"What do I care how you got there? If you're trying to get relationship advice from me, I'm the last person you should be taking it from. I don't care to talk about bad relationships, least of all with you," she growled. She turned her back on him and left him in a huff, walking back towards her apartment since she no longer had any other form of transportation.

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The next day after work, it was well past twilight by the time Emma pulled her cruiser into the station. She was driving it for the time being since Lily had stolen her bug.

Regina was standing innocuously at the front of the police station, waiting for her. Her stance was calm yet regal, and Emma was reminded for the first time about her similiarity to a predatory panther swishing its tail indulgently before it striked.

"You have some gall," Regina said, her tone almost conversational as she greeted the deputy. Emma slammed the door to her cruiser and leaned against the hood, keeping some distance between the two of them.

"What did I do this time?" Emma asked exasperatedly. Honestly, this woman, Emma thought with some chagrin. Her eyebrows furrowed into a challenging stance and Regina barrelled on. "I don't know what I ever did to you to deserve this. Why do you keep coming after everything I hold dear?"

Hold the phone. Emma was starting to sound like the villian here. She cursed both herself and Graham as realization dawned on her. Of course, the mayor had eyes everywhere and they hadn't exactly been discrete.

"Regina, you gotta believe me, we were drunk," Emma said automatically in her defense. "It was a mistake," Emma continued, and Regina was getting closer by the minute as she bridged the space between them.

"Why don't you just get the hell out of here?! None of this happened until you came around, quit wrecking my life!" the mayor shouted, and Emma was not going to stand here and let this woman get in her face like this. She was all too ready for a fight, and she was willing to play dirty this time.

"Did you ever stop to think it's not me, it's you?" Emma asked piercingly. The mayor looked as if she'd been struck. "What?"

"Henry came to find me. Graham's the one who kissed me. Neither of them wanted to be with you. Did you ever stop to think that maybe you should take a look in the mirror and ask yourself just what's so horrible about you that has everyone in your life running away from you?"

Regina's temper boiled dangerously with each word and the lid on her anger exploded all at once. Regina struck fast like a panther, all dark fur and rage. Her blow landed hard and true against Emma's temple.

The blonde barely had time to get a good jab of her own in, but she was glad to see she managed one shot to Regina's big red mouth. It was a glorious, however fleeting, moment. In their scuffle, neither woman noticed when Sheriff Graham appeared in the station's parking lot until he was hauling Emma off of Regina. "Go!" he shouted at Emma.

Emma didn't need to be told twice.

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Emma went home to lick her wounds alone. She quietly flicked on the light in the tiny half bath right off her room. Emma went to the oval mirror above the sink and saw the shiner developing on her left brow. She should have known better to go for the low blow with Regina. She winced as she pressed a warm cloth to it.

This was all over a stupid, drunken mistake. Emma was a victim in all this, but she couldn't help but feel partially responsible for sinking to Regina's level. In truth, it wasn't Emma's fault that Graham had tied on one too many beers. He was the one that followed her out onto the street that night.

Emma damned herself internally, going to lay on her lonely bed. The sheets was floral scented and Emma found comfort in the familiar smell as she planted face first onto the bed. She wistfully recognized the barest scent of Lily's hair on the pillows and inhaled deeply.

Mary Margaret was grading papers downstairs at the dining room table. She had barely looked up when Emma entered, and hadn't noticed the shiner on Emma's brow since the blonde was so fast to go upstairs. Emma could have went and joined her friend to seek comfort, but she found herself unable to get up. She sobbed in defeat and sorrow into her pillow.

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Meanwhile, across town, Graham went back to the Mayor's Manor with her.

Graham never understood the mysterious mayor's pull on him. While he was irresistably attracted to Emma, there was no denying Regina was also a very sexy, beautiful woman. He didn't deserve her when he lusted after another as he did. He could not believe that he was so careless that Regina had seen them.

He wondered why he even had the pleasure of running his hands down her heavenly body at all. The dark haired mayor seemed to like them there though, so she kept having him come back around. He felt guilty now, never knowing what danger his heart was truly in.

Regina is... dark, mysterious, demanding. Dominatrix style almost, he thought with a perverted smile. What she asked for, she got. He felt some magical pull towards her, helpless to resist her dark eyes and seductive smiles. When she invited him into dinner one night, that was how their whole dalliance began.

He had come to investigate some kind of home invasion across the street, which turned out to be a false alarm. She beckoned him to her front door, and when he came closer, she invited him inside for some warm food. He got his fill of both her and her food that night. She was most forward, and knew what she was looking for. He was only too glad to oblige her, felt compelled wordlessly to follow her commands.

He somehow always knew when she was craving him. Their relationship was truly sensual and no-strings attached. Until this moment. Graham looked down at the sleeping woman in the crook of his arm and considered her offer from before.

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"Do you love her?" Regina asked, tears shining at the tips of her dark eyelashes. "Have you had sex with her?" she asked. To his surprise, she no longer sounded angry, more forlorn than anything. Graham automatically felt a pull to comfort her and assuage her fears and stepped in close to her. His calloused hand came up to cup her soft cheek, and he looked deeply into her brown eyes.

"I don't love her," he said. He was telling the truth. Graham wasn't sure he knew what love was. And either way, what was the point in admitting he thought he could have, only to find out Emma clearly didn't prefer him? Or any man for that matter, Graham sourly thought.

"She and I have never been together, Regina," he solemnly said. He left out that he wished they had.

Regina closed the gap between them, so great was her relief. She hungrily devoured his lips and their lip lock turned passionate, quickly taking things to the four-poster bed in Regina's room. Her bedroom door was locked and it was well into the night by now, past Henry's bed time. As usual.

This time, however, when Graham went to sit up and put his clothes back on after, Regina stopped him. "Stay," she said. "Stay with me for awhile," she said, smiling lazily and tugging him back down into bed.

Graham wouldn't admit he was confused, but he laid there and wondered why the change of heart. She never usually wanted him to stay, but he decided it wouldn't do him any good to ask too many questions.

Regina snuggled into his side, her head resting on his slightly hairy chest. "I've been thinking," she started hestiantly. "You've been thinking about..." Graham trailed off, urging her to continue.

"I think we should tell Henry about you. It's about time you stop sneaking out the window and use a door like a normal human being. And if you want, you can stay and have breakfast with us in the morning," she invited him into her life, to become part of her family.

He didn't take her gesture lightly. Graham felt... something.. for Regina, and he knew he was fond of Henry, the bright young kid that he was. "I suppose he's handled a lot pretty well so far," Graham observed. "Maybe it couldn't hurt," he said.

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And here Graham remained, beside the formidable mayor in her bed as she slept. She made absolutely no sense, but he was content to share her bed with her. Before long, he had dozed off beside her. It wasn't much longer after that the mayor rose beside him, stretching languidly. She was wearing a sheer pink nightie that he loved and it hung tantalizing high on her thighs as she got up.

She approached her vanity and sat down on the ornate resting chair. It had a regal design, red velvet cushioning, and black ivy winding up the chair's legs that supported her. She looked into the three way mirror with a border of bright bulbs all around it in front of her.

Her face in her reflection was serious, that of a scheming Queen from another land. A smirk curled at the corners of her lips and she reached into her vanity's drawer. She withdrew a small mirrored glass box and put it on the vanity before her, flipping the lid back to reveal a large, pulsating red heart.

She reached her hand into the box and stroked the muscle with a lover like touch. Her fingertip was soft as she trailed it across the surface, and slowly grasped the beating organ in her hand. She stared down at it with hatred and malice on her face. How she wouldn't love to...

She longingly stared down at the organ, and slowly unfurled her fingers from around it. She dropped it back into the box, but she didn't move to place it back into the vanity's drawer. She would need this much sooner than anticipated.