A/N: Another scene on the shorter side in an effort not to keep you waiting too long for an update. Thank you to everyone who has favorited, followed, and/or reviewed this story. It means a lot to me that others also enjoy this little universe! Your feedback is really helpful too. A review from chapter 3 ended up affecting chapter 10!
David sighed over the menu. He'd stopped by Mary Margaret and Emma's apartment to shower, change, and get together some things for his and Henry's stay at Regina's. He was now delaying his return by having lunch at the diner.
"Electra Woman not with you today?" Ruby asked, irritably rubbing her lips.
David couldn't help a small laugh at the imagery the popped into his mind from that question, but his moodiness returned with his answer, "No."
"Want your usual?" Ruby asked.
"Yes, please," David replied.
Ruby nodded, walked away and placed the order, and then immediately returned to take the seat opposite him in the booth.
"What is going on?" Ruby demanded.
"What do you mean?" David asked.
"I mean," Ruby said, already exasperated, "You've been hanging around with the Evil Queen for over a week now. It's like you guys are friends or something! The Evil Queen, James. The woman who ripped all of us from our lives without our consent and held us in a prison made of time and amnesia for thirty years—and that's just the most recent horrible thing she has done!"
Ruby desperately searched David's face for some sign that his friendliness with Regina was all just a trick, a deception on his part, to rescue Snow, but all she saw was sadness. That would not do. "And then," she continued, further angered by his lack of reaction, "Yesterday you decided to become her drinking buddy? What the hell is wrong with you James? And what the hell was that whole kiss-bet-electroshock treatment about?"
David sighed. Ruby was one of Snow's longest and staunchest allies, and therefore one of his. He was so tempted to confide in her and tell her everything about the mess he found himself in—thinking he would have to perform magic, triggering this magical connection between himself and Regina, uncovering that he and Snow were not each other's true loves in the way that everyone thought, discovering that he was head over heels in love with his wife's greatest adversary, and finding out that his grandson would have to perform some Very Big Magic to get his wife and daughter home. He so wanted to share this with a friend, someone who would listen to him and support him without judging the mistakes he made along the way.
As he looked into Ruby's expectant face, however, his faith was reaffirmed. The person he wanted to talk to wasn't his oldest ally, but his newest. He wanted to talk to Regina.
The fact that he wanted to talk to her about her complicated matters, but he wasn't going to let that detail stand in his way—at least, not for long.
Ruby wanted—and deserved—some answers though. "Is it too late to make my burger to go?" David asked her. "And add a Caesar chicken salad, chicken fingers, and curly fries?"
Ruby huffed in irritation and got up. "Okay, but I want an explanation when I get back," she gave him a mildly threatening look. "And, if I'm not satisfied with your answers, I'm losing my cloak the next full moon and knocking on your door."
David had to smile.
Several minutes later, Ruby returned and placed his carryout order on the table. "Now, spill," she demanded.
"Is Granny here?" David asked. "I'd rather only go through this once."
David was beginning to think Ruby was deliberately ignoring his question, when Granny materialized at his side and sat down next to Ruby.
"Hurry up," Granny said, as David tried to understand how she could know they wanted to talk to her. "I need to get back in the kitchen."
"Wolf hearing," David said, more to himself, finally figuring out how she'd known to come to the dining room. "Right."
"I know that neither of you are fans of Regina's," David began, "but I really need you two to give her—and the idea of working with her—a chance."
Ruby sighed irritably. She and David had been through this at the start of the full moon when she grudgingly agreed to help them get information on how Rumpelstiltskin returned magic to Storybrooke. She still wasn't thrilled with the idea of working with Regina, especially since whatever their "bet" was yesterday had chapped her lips rather badly.
"Cut the crap, David," Ruby said. "What's going on?"
"Regina offered to help on the magical end of things to get back Emma and Snow, and it seemed like our best option," David explained. "Since we've been working together, it's been clear that she was the right choice." At Ruby's skeptical expression, he continued, "She tore her house upside down looking for ways for us to bring them back."
"And," he took a deep, fortifying breath, "When King George destroyed the hat, she was the one that encouraged me not to give up. She's the one that thought of another and yet another way to get them home. Without her, any attempts on my part to bring them back would have ended with the hat."
Granny's expression was giving away nothing, but she had heard an underlying admiration in the king's voice as he talked about the fallen queen.
Ruby was more expressive. "So we're supposed to be friends with her now? What do you want from us, James?"
"It's David now, Ruby," he replied. "And I'm not asking you to be friends with her; I'm asking you to accept that she is on our team." To prevent further protests from his wife's best ally, he kept speaking. "I need you to accept this, because the rest of the town may begin to panic, and I need you both to help me prevent that. Earlier this week, Regina began training me in magic."
Granny's eyebrow shot to her forehead, and Ruby gasped, "Magic? Ja—David, magic? That's just what we need. Queen Snow is missing, and her husband develops a magic addiction and apprentices himself to the Evil Queen. Fantastic. I can't believe you thought the town would panic over this," Ruby finished sarcastically.
"Ruby, it's not like that," David said. He realized, however, that Ruby's unhappiness with his magical association with Regina was a mere shadow of how upset she would be should she find out about his romantic intentions toward the sorceress. "And, actually, I'm not practicing magic anymore. Initially, because of how Gold returned magic to Storybrooke, Regina thought that I was going to have to perform the spell to call Emma and Snow home."
"But now?" Granny asked.
"Now, she thinks Henry will have to do it," David said.
"David," Ruby said sympathetically. "How do you know this isn't all one big trick by Regina to corrupt Henry with magic and disappear with him?"
"Because I saw her, Ruby," David asserted, fiercely. "I saw her when she told me that Henry would have to do this, and she was devastated. All she wanted was to keep her son far, far away from the magic that destroyed her life, and—despite every selfish instinct in her body—she convinced me that we should let Henry decide whether he wanted to try or not."
"Without her," David continued quietly, "I wouldn't have even known Henry was an option. I would have given up."
Ruby was stunned into silence by David's impassioned defense of Regina's motives. Granny, while taken aback by the intensity of the prince's words, was less surprised by their content, having been observing the evolving relationship between the prince and the former queen closely ever since Ruby's framing.
"And you want us to keep the town from storming her house with pitchforks when they notice that she's teaching Henry magic?" Granny asked.
"Yes," David affirmed. "Especially since Henry and I will be living there until we get Snow and Emma back."
"What?" Ruby yelled.
"Ruby, hush," Granny instructed, shooting a look at her customers that clearly indicated that they should mind their own business. She then turned her formidable gaze upon David. "Explain yourself."
"Regina told me that it is less dangerous for kids to perform magic the more emotionally stable they are. And, no, Ruby, I don't have another source for this information, but it makes sense. Think about it. Do you remember any child mages from back home?" Ruby reluctantly shook her head. "I thought it would be more stable for Henry if he lived in the room where he grew up while preparing for this spell. I also thought it would upset him less if he didn't feel like he had to choose between his two families. And, quite frankly, if Henry develops some bizarre and frightening side effect from using magic, I want to be as close to Regina as possible, because she will know what to do and I won't." He looked into Ruby's eyes. "Whatever other motivations you think she has, you know as well as I do that her first one is Henry's welfare. This is the best choice."
Ruby absorbed David's explanation while Granny asked, "How's her neck? Do those bruises have anything to do with your dabbling in magic? Because from where I sit, it looked like someone tried to strangle her."
Granny's appraising eye caught the prince's brief sorrowful look as he began his abridged explanation, "Those bruises have gotten uglier, but she's healing." I hope, he thought. "Someone did try to strangle her, but it didn't have anything to do with Operation Boomerang—Henry's name for our mission to retrieve Emma and Snow—and the perpetrator has been dealt with." Sort of.
"Figures it was unrelated," Ruby had found her voice. "We could make a ton of money at the Miner's Day Festival if we let people pay to line up to strangle Regina."
"Cut it out, Ruby," David said, with surprising vehemence. "You don't have to like her, but she's become a dear friend to me, so knock it off."
Ruby was flabbergasted. The last time she'd heard David take that tone, he was directing his anger toward the Evil Queen rather than in her defense. Everything in Storybrooke felt wrongside up. Maybe Emma hadn't broken the curse after all; maybe this was the next phase of it.
David grimly observed Ruby's shocked expression. He hadn't meant to lash out at her like that, but he was tired of fighting obstinacy with logic. For the first time, he really understood why Regina didn't bother trying to develop relationships with anyone in Storybrooke besides Henry.
As upset as her granddaughter was, Granny was proud of the prince. It was about time he stood up for what was truly important to him. Prince Charming had always been brash, but the David sitting before her was certain and confident. Maybe Storybrooke wasn't as leaderless as everyone feared.
"Fine. Whatever," Ruby replied petulantly. "Not like she electrocuted you yesterday or anything."
"I'm sorry about that, Ruby," David said sincerely. "I should have figured out where Regina was going with that, but I was too concerned with everything else that happened that morning that I just wasn't thinking."
"Okay, so I blame you too," Ruby said, her patience gone. "Just what the hell was that?"
David sighed. Withholding information had always felt the same as lying to him, and he didn't like doing it. But, he didn't feel like fighting with Ruby any longer either. And what was the point of defending his and Regina's relationship if she refused to let them have one?
"It was part a magical test Regina and I ran. You confirmed that Henry, rather than I, would have to perform the retrieval spell."
"Kissing me verified that Henry would have to do magic instead of you?" Ruby asked incredulously.
David looked to Granny, but her expression was skeptical as well. He sighed again. This was exhausting. At least he'd gotten a good night's sleep for the first time in two weeks.
In Regina's arms.
Which wasn't likely to happen again after his 'moving in' stunt.
"You're right, Ruby," David acknowledged. "There is more to it, but I've told you what is relevant to our current situation—our attempt to bring back Emma and Snow."
"Our current situation?" Ruby was ready to throttle her best friend's husband. "Our current situation is your new whatever-it-is with the Evil Queen! You may be worried about getting Snow and Emma back; I am too. But I'm also worried about what Snow is going to be coming back to."
Ruby's forthright concern for his wife and Granny's silent appraisal plagued David with guilt. He had meant every word he said to Regina about a natural and eventual end of his marriage with Snow, but he still cared deeply for his wife, and he knew better than anyone, maybe even better than Snow herself, exactly how much his defection to Regina would hurt her.
The un-intentionality of the whole situation, even on Regina's part, was more likely to pour salt on the wound rather than make Snow feel any better.
Some of this train of thought must have flickered across his face, because Granny gave a slight nod and spoke, "Back to work, Ruby. That's quite enough for today." Granny then pulled her granddaughter out of the booth with her and gave her a light shove toward the register.
But Granny didn't walk away. Instead she spoke quietly, but firmly to the prince. "Whatever you did, fix it."
"What?" David asked. How could she know?
"I don't know what you did," Granny stated. "I don't know what you are or are not doing with that very dangerous woman, and I don't want to know." Her expression became more firm when David opened his mouth to interrupt. "It seems that you've gone and gotten yourself caught in a spot of stupid-shaped trouble, and now that you've let it happen, you have to fix it."
David attempted to protest again, but Granny continued to speak. "You fix it," she commanded. "I don't feel like being sucked through another dimensional portal. It took me years to make this diner run like clockwork, and I am way too old to have to learn yet another trade. So go fix whatever stupid thing you did."
"How do you know it was me?"
"You ordered the Caesar salad. Everyone knows that's the preferred salad for apologies," Granny said.
At David's confused look, she said, "I just know. Now, go and apologize."
Though her tone brooked no argument, Granny's eyes conveyed understanding and a bit of sympathy as she handed him the bag of food. Then, she clapped him on the shoulder and said earnestly, "Good luck." You're going to need it.
"Thanks," David replied, squaring his shoulders and exiting the diner. It was time to face the music.
A/N: Thanks for reading! Reviews get printed on multi-colored paper and hung on my fridge. Does anyone else think it's time for Henry to start doing some magic?