Snow and Charming take note of their daughter's new-found happiness. Meanwhile, Emma and Regina deal with the afflicted Hook, Grayson, and Ruby situation.

"You look happy." Mary Margaret had a baffled but hopeful smile on her face as she poured coffee out into three mugs. Emma had just stepped out from her bedroom, shrugging on her coat and strapping her gun holster to her hip.

"It's a good day," Emma replied, flashing a grin as she shoved some bread into the toaster. She'd considered telling her parents about her True Love's kiss with Regina, but decided it was better to wait and see where things went first. Regina needed time, after all, and the last thing she wanted was for her parents to go hounding after Regina like the overprotective heroes they were. Anyway, some part of her delighted in their little secret. It was a secret they didn't need to share with anyone, not yet. It was all theirs.

"It's a good day?" David repeated, entering the kitchen and moving to kiss his wife. To their mild surprise, Emma didn't make a teasing "ugh, guys!" remark or even glance away. Her green eyes seemed to sparkle even brighter than usual.

"Mm hmm." Emma just kept grinning as she grabbed some butter and jam from the pantry.

"Snow, our daughter is grinning so wide, her face might split."

"What could be the reason, I wonder?"

Her parents' tones were more teasing than anything, and to Emma's relief they didn't actually press her for more info.

"Henry still sleeping?" She asked, helping herself to a mug of coffee.

"Yup. He and Charming stayed up until almost two, watching all the Lord of the Ring movies."

"That explains the battle cries I heard in my sleep," Emma laughed, smearing butter and strawberry jam on her toast. "Are you guys taking him and Neal with you today?"

"They're safer with us than staying here alone," said David. "Besides, we'll just be checking in on people and keeping the peace. If an angry mob starts up, we can handle them. We've dealt with our share of angry mobs."

Mary Margaret snort-giggled into her coffee mug.

"If the demons' influence gets too bad, call Regina and I, we'll come help," said Emma.

"Don't worry about us. You two just concentrate on getting rid of the demons."

Emma nodded and poured her coffee into a travel mug. "Alright then. I'll see you guys later. Give Henry a hug for me when he wakes up."

"In a rush?" Mary Margaret asked, one eyebrow lifted so high that it nearly disappeared under her bangs. Emma carried her toast between her teeth and gave a muffled reply, scurrying for the door and bypassing her father as she did so.

"Hey," David jokingly complained, arms open expectantly. Emma chuckled and hurried back to hug him.

"Wuv oou," she mumbled around her toast.

"Love you, stay safe!" David waved her off as she hurried out the door, then turned around to exchange a curious glance with his wife. "She seems excited to get back to work."

"Or back to Regina," Mary Margaret said, stifling a laugh. David's eyes popped.

"What? Not like-"

"Yep, exactly like that."

He looked sorely confused. "But-"

"Oh come on, Charming. Don't tell me you didn't notice her nearly glowing when she came home yesterday. After Regina sent her home for rest."

David rubbed at the back of his neck. "Well, sure, but… wow. Our Emma. With Regina. Our daughter with the Evil Queen."

"Rehabilitated Evil Queen," Mary Margaret corrected. "She's really changed for the better. I'm happy for her." She nodded resolutely, giving her coffee another long sip. David sat down at the kitchen island, grabbing his mug.

"You're okay with this?" He asked, baffled. He had thought Snow would be the one most upset, if only because of her very long history with Regina. They were all friends now, sure, but Regina had once been Snow's step-mother. World jumping and freezing time had really done a number on their age differences.

"If you asked me that a year ago, I would have been upset," Mary Margaret admitted. "But we've all been through a lot, we've all grown in different ways, and they're good together. They make each other better. Regina deserves to be happy, and if they make each other happy, then…"

She glanced up, and David was smiling proudly at her. "Then I'm good with it."

He leaned across the counter to kiss her again. "So am I."

The house was awfully quiet without Henry around. It also meant that Regina could go about her morning routine in her silk pajamas, knowing no one would see her in her just-out-of-bed state. It was a rather nice change; she'd even allowed herself an extra ten minutes in bed this morning, stretching out like a languid cat until she felt like getting up.

Breakfast was a small and healthy serving of an omelette with pepper, tomato, and spinach, paired with a mug of tea and a rectangular slice of parmigiano. (The mayor secretly loved cheese, though she'd never admit that to Emma in fear that the blonde would start bringing two helpings of Granny's grilled cheese sandwiches to their stakeouts. Emma didn't understand the difference between processed cheddar slices and real cheese.)

With plates washed and put away, Regina sat at the island counter finishing her mug of tea, her phone lying on the marble in front of her. She'd expected text messages, but nothing had come. Maybe it was for the best. Emma was respecting her desire for time to adjust, after all. Still, a part of her was fretting about the change in their relationship. Yesterday had been crazy, to put it simply.

Regina found herself chewing on her lower lip with uncertainty.

They had shared True Love's kiss- twice now. She couldn't deny that it had happened, either. She did, in fact, care for the Savior, though when it started happening, she wasn't sure. They'd hated each other when they first met; it had been a passionate feeling of loathing and anger. They were fighting over Henry. Then everything that happened in Neverland… maybe it was then. They'd learned to trust each other there. Emma had trusted her when they had been kneeling together over Henry's body, when Pan had nearly killed him. That was one of the first times she could recall Emma referring to him as "our son."

Everything that happened after that, it was all build up. Regina had once told herself that she was just not used to having friends- that she wasn't accustomed to having something close to a best friend, like Emma had sort of become. She'd assumed she just wasn't used to being around someone who understood her so well and accepted her so fully, that the warmth in her chest was simply from finding a kindred spirit. Who could have known that Emma was her real True Love, the one with the Lyon tattoo? Fate had a pretty shitty sense of humor. Ironic that throughout her whole relationship with Robin Hood, Emma had been there all along.

Emma.

Regina pursed her lips and wrapped her fingers a little tighter around her mug. Emotions roiled in her chest and not all of them were good. Did yesterday's kiss make her feel like a giddy young woman again? Yes. Was she seriously starting to doubt the validity of what "fate" told her? Yes. Had her past relationships with Daniel, Graham, and Robin made her wary of the possibility of getting burned a fourth time? Definite yes.

But Emma wouldn't.

Would she? Emma meant well but she'd made mistakes in the past, a lot of them, some of which negatively affected those around her. Was the risk of heartbreak worth it? Or rather, was Emma worth the risk?

Her heart had no answer to that, just more confusion and hesitance. A part of her still wondered- feared- whether this was all just the result of Emma hitting her head. She'd fallen pretty hard after all, it would explain her behavior these past few days. Why would she have feelings for the Evil Queen, after all? What a silly notion.

But that didn't explain their True Love's kiss.

Sighing and shaking her head, Regina poured the cold remains of her tea down the sink and went to get dressed. She settled on black dress pants, a blue silk shirt, and a simple black suit jacket over top. Assuming they might have to go tromping through the woods again today, she wore flat shoes. This meant she'd be yet another inch shorter than Emma…

Not that she cared or anything.

"Good morning, Madam Mayor." Emma's voice was bright and cheery as she nearly skipped up the walkway, her own travel mug in one hand and a fresh coffee from Granny's in the other. Even Ruby's uncharacteristically sour mood couldn't rain on her parade today.

Regina had just been locking up her door and now turned to greet the blonde with an amicable nod, her features trained into a neutral expression.

"Good morning, Sheriff Swan."

Emma offered up the coffee and Regina took it, her brows lifting with surprise.

"Black with one sugar, right?"

"Yes... thank you." Regina's lips tilted up ever so slightly as she bypassed the blonde and headed for the sidewalk. To Emma's delight, the brunette climbed into the passenger seat of the bug without question.

"We should interrogate Grayson first and figure out what he knows," she said as soon as Emma was buckled in.

"Grayson? But he was just the delivery boy. He didn't know what was in the box." Emma grabbed the bright red apple sitting in her cup holder and replaced it with her travel mug, taking a big bite out of the ripe fruit. Regina watched out of the corner of her eye.

"And you deduced that with the help of your superpower, did you?"

"Mm hmm."

"Well, I would feel better if we spoke with him anyway." For once, it wasn't an order. It was a request. Emma gave an obliging smile and started the car towards the docks.

"Okay."

The ride over was peaceful, with Emma munching her apple and Regina sipping her coffee. It was the first time in a long time they had actually spent time together in companionable silence, and Emma loved every second of it. She had to actually stifle a sigh when they arrived and Regina stepped out. Following the brunette- and admiring the view from behind, admittedly- they headed up the ramp onto the Jolly Roger. Grayson's bike had been parked in its usual place so they assumed they'd find their two bearded bad-boys on the deck. The only one present was Hook, however, sitting on a crate with his legs propped up and a bottle of rum in his hands.

Emma stiffened and fell behind a step, averting her eyes and looking less than comfortable. Her reaction didn't go unnoticed by Regina, who had mixed feelings of smugness and sympathy. Knowing better than to razz the blonde, the brunette simply crossed her arms and gave Hook an appraising look.

"Ten in the morning? Impressive restraint." Hey, she had to direct her sass at someone.

"Go away, Regina," he grumbled, taking a long pull of his rum.

"We're here for Grayson."

"Try asking someone who cares."

Again, he took another swig. Emma looked vaguely annoyed but said nothing.

"Well in that case, I'll just poke around your ship myself then."

"Be my guest." He waved them away, refusing to look at Emma at all, and returned to his drinking. Regina actually looked momentarily surprised before understanding crossed her features. Were he in a proper state, he would never have let them roam his precious ship on their own accord, so she accepted the advantage and quickly went to work, heading for the entrance into the ship's interior.

Emma walked closer to Regina as they made their way down into the ship, practically radiating nervous energy.

"Calm down, Emma. He's not drinking because of you."

Emma startled at the sound of her first name, her lip twitching into an uncertain smile, then, "How do you know? He was pretty upset when I broke up with him."

Regina had to suppress a laugh. "He must have had a run in with one of the demons. I can feel traces of a curse on him."

They stepped out onto the landing of the lower deck and began peeking into different rooms and areas. "Oh. Didn't you notice a curse on me? Back when- you know."

"Then? Not really. I thought it was residue from when one of them knocked into you. But I can definitely sense it now. Their influence is getting stronger."

"I bet. They've probably infected half the town by now. We need to figure out how to get rid of them, and fast. Leroy said he's already had to break up three fights at the Diner."

Regina nodded, peering into the last room and then sighing audibly. "He's not here, unless he's hiding in some hidden compartment of the ship for whatever reason."

"We can wait for him on the docks, he probably went out for breakfast."

Immediately, Emma thought of the benches where she usually sat. She'd seen Regina there before in the past too, and on a couple occasions they had both sat there to talk. Now they automatically headed for their bench, ignoring Hook's presence on the way out.

Without thinking, Emma dropped down close to the middle of the bench with a huff. She was about to apologize and slide over, but Regina just sat down next to her, close enough that they could feel each other's body heat, their jackets brushing together. The mayor crossed one leg over the other and rested her clasped hands atop her knee. The Sheriff stretched out her legs.

"So… any ideas on how to kill those things?" Emma wanted to fill the silence with something, and she had to make an effort not to talk about the whole True Love thing.

"I admit, I'm not sure," the brunette admitted. "I have a hunch, but it will require some research in my crypt. There's the possibility of sending them through a portal…"

Emma snorted and laughed. "Let's keep that as a last resort. Nothing good ever happens when we open portals around here."

Regina smiled. "Fair enough. Other than that… perhaps we can try our combined magic against them. We're powerful together, after all."

Emma quirked an eyebrow and Regina felt herself blushing ever so slightly, her cheeks warming. The blonde wanted to joke about them "making magic together," but pressed her lips together and ended up saying nothing at all. Their relationship- could she call it a relationship yet? - felt so fragile and delicate that she was afraid of screwing it up.

"No inappropriate remarks, Miss Swan?"

Emma glanced over to find Regina smirking at her, a devilish glint in her brown eyes. Was that a challenge?

"None that I dare say out loud," she said with a weak chuckle.

"Oh? The one time I actually want the Savior to speak her mind, and she's finally learnt restraint. You have terrible timing."

Emma gave a more genuine laugh, her shoulder bumping against Regina's. "I just don't want to say something stupid and screw things up, that's all. I mean back then, it didn't really matter since, you know... I kind of liked annoying you, actually. You got so mad, but at least you were paying attention to me. Guess that makes me a child. But, well, now-"

She abruptly stopped her rambling and grimaced, feeling dumb. When she looked back, Regina was gazing out at the water, her expression soft and curious.

"Sorry, I'm saying stupid things again."

"No." Regina smiled and ducked her head, long eyelashes gracing her cheeks. "That wasn't stupid at all."

Emma glanced down, resisting the powerful urge to put her hand atop Regina's. She was seriously deliberating it and wondering if those hands were as soft as they looked, but the sudden chime of her phone had her scrambling for the device instead. Shoving it against her ear, she focused her eyes on the tip of her boots. "Sheriff."

"Emma! Where are you?" August's voice was alarmingly loud and Emma winced away from the phone.

"At the docks with Regina. Why? What's wrong?"

"Get to the clock tower! There's a wolf-" the call disconnected. Emma stared at the screen for a second, shocked.

"Grayson," Regina said, having heard August thanks to his shouting. Emma nodded.

"Let's go."

A purple cloud deposited Emma and Regina in the middle of the road on the main street. Regina had said it was faster than driving and Emma relented, though she still stumbled as soon as Regina released her arm, momentarily disoriented.

"Where is-?" she mumbled, glancing around. The question was unnecessary. People were fleeing in opposite directions, running into buildings and slamming the doors shut. August just about collided with her from behind, grabbing her up by her shoulders and making Regina bristle ever so slightly.

"There's a big wolf, Emma, and it's not Ruby!"

"We figured," she said, letting the man throttle her. "What happened?"

"It's cornered some kids- come on!"

He bolted off and the two women followed him towards the library and clock tower, turning the corner of the building to find the screaming Bacon brothers atop a giant dumpster and a large grey wolf jumping at them from the ground. Emma instinctively pulled her gun with a shout of alarm.

"Wait," Regina said, touching her arm. "He's been cursed too."

"But how can we stop him without killing him?"

"Let's focus on getting the children out of there first, then we'll deal with him. You don't need your gun, Emma."

"Oh." Emma holstered it, and it was her turn to blush. Together, they strode forward, hands raised, Emma's glowing a white-gold while Regina's glowed red. "Hey, Grayson!"

The wolf's head swung around and he bared a mouthful of sharp, jagged teeth at them. In tandem, the women made a wide pushing gesture and the wolf was thrown backwards by a blast of light, rolling down the alley before coming to a stop.

"Come on!" August shouted, hurrying to the dumpster and reaching for the boys. They scrambled down and August rushed them away as fast as they could go. The wolf leapt to his feet, snarling at the sight of the three little pigs escaping. Saliva dripped from his gaping jaws.

"Wonder which demon got to him?" Emma muttered, grimacing.

"What the hell is going on?" Ruby's sharp voice came at them from behind.

Emma jumped slightly as the young woman pushed past them, an unbecoming sneer on her features. Regina couldn't help it- she was smirking with amusement. Angry Ruby was so much more entertaining.

"Grayson! What the actual fuck?!"

"Whoa, Ruby," Emma said, never having heard the young woman curse before. Ruby ignored her and kept on yelling at Grayson, as if she were actually having a conversation with the beast.

"Turn back, right now!"

The wolf snorted in indignation and snarled low in his throat.

"You asked for it! Emma, hold my shit!"

Before they had much of a chance to react, Ruby had thrown her jacket and purse at Emma's face and morphed right then and there. Regina watched in curious fascination as Emma grunted and struggled to catch the objects.

"Rubes!" Emma shoved the jacket and purse under her arm in time to see Ruby's wolf form lunge at Grayson, slamming together in a clash of teeth and claws and snarling. It took mere seconds for blood to spatter the pavement beneath them.

Emma winced. "What do we do?"

"Enjoy the show?" came the amused reply.

"Regina."

"Oh fine." Regina flicked her wrist and a shroud of magic enveloped the tousling animals. In another moment, it was Ruby and Grayson struggling with each other, both scratched up and bleeding but not in any serious danger. Grayson had somehow ended up on his back and Ruby took advantage of the situation, swinging her fist and punching him right in the face.

Emma grabbed Ruby from behind and hauled her up before she could cause any more damage, holding her in a full nelson as she flailed. "Stop, Ruby!"

"God's sake," muttered Grayson, clutching at his face as blood streamed from his nose. "Let my pigs escape and then break my fuckin' nose. Assholes."

Regina crossed her arms and towered over him. "Down. Stay."

August chose that moment to return, looking bewildered and a little out of breath.

"Pinocchio returns," Emma snorted.

"I had three hysterical kids to deal with, thanks."

"Help me get them to the station for now. They're safer behind bars."

With his assistance, they dragged their two werewolves down the street and up to the Sheriff's station, putting Ruby and Grayson into separate cells each, the former swearing like a sailor and the latter grumbling about not having eaten the three little pigs while he'd had the chance.

"Thank god we're not together anymore," Ruby spat, gripping the bars and rattling at them. "I knew you were still hung up about the pigs escaping! Over it my ass, you lying child murderer!"

"Oh that's just precious, coming from the bitch who ate her boyfriend! Really dodged an arrow there, didn't I?"

"Dear god, stop talking, the both of you." Emma spared a sour glance at Grayson before turning to August. "Stay here and keep an eye on them. And don't let them out."

August gave her a look like 'why in the hell would I do that?' but simply nodded and promised to stand guard while they were away.

Outside the station, Emma frowned and crossed her arms, staring down the street with a focused look on her face.

"You can feel it, can't you?" Regina asked, lifting a brow.

"Yeah. All the curses. They're affecting more and more people. But how?"

"I assume they no longer need to physically touch a person to affect them anymore, since there aren't any shadows flying around knocking into everyone."

"Then we're running out of time," said Emma, her voice tense with concern. "Regina, we need to start killing these things fast, before we turn on each other."

"We won't."

The Sheriff gave the mayor a skeptical look.

"How are you so sure? We did before."

"Well, we can just break the spell with another kiss if it comes down to it."

Emma was pretty sure it wouldn't be that simple the next time, but instead said, "Maybe I should kiss you right now. Just in case one of us is already affected."

"Just to be safe," Regina agreed.

She leaned forward ever so slightly and let the blonde lean the rest of the way, their lips pressing together in a soft kiss. Neither made a comment when their kiss didn't break their non-existent curses.

"Well then. Back to work?" Emma suggested, keeping her tone casual despite the slight hitch in her voice, motioning vaguely down the street. Regina glanced past her.

"Hm. Gold's shop. The demons might be drawn to his magical artifacts. Good idea, Miss Swan."

A compliment. It was hard for the Sheriff not to grin like an idiot. "Why thank you, Madam Mayor." Emma offered her arm and flashed a crooked smile. "Shall we?"

Rolling her eyes some, Regina looped her arm through Emma's and allowed the blonde to lead.