Regina answered an email from her phone while waiting on her lunch order. A hotel in Storybrooke made no sense. They were in the middle of nowhere in Maine, and nearly ninety percent of the town had no idea how to interact with the outside world. No matter how much money it would bring, Regina turned down the proposal. She was still avoiding Emma, mostly because she didn't know what to say, but Killian told her in great detail how their trip outside of Storybrooke went. Ruby bustled around the diner, carrying plates and bowls by the armful, and Regina smiled at her niece as she greeted each customer with respect some of them didn't deserve. Ruby had a heart for people, but it was rarely reciprocated because of the wolf thing. The door to the kitchen opened, and Regina smiled at Granny.
"Thank you," she said, taking the to-go bag.
"It's not a problem. Have you seen the Sheriff today?" Granny asked, coming out of the kitchen.
"No. I know she and Killian got back late last night, but I haven't seen her since."
"You should. She came in early this morning. She looked happy."
"Did Ruby tell you?" Regina sighed.
"She didn't have to." Granny patted Regina's hand and jerked her head. "Snow's here," she said.
"And that would be my cue. See you later for dinner?"
"Wouldn't miss it, sweetheart."
Regina smiled at the endearment and stood up just as the bell rang. As soon as Snow stepped inside-
"Congratulations, Snow!" someone shouted.
Regina frowned and looked up. Snow White beamed at the comment and put her hand on her stomach. Regina's blood ran cold, and she tightened her grip on her bag. Granny's breath caught behind her, and Ruby froze in the middle of the diner. All eyes were on Snow and the way she cradled her stomach.
"Oh, thank you so much. David and I are so blessed with this second chance."
Regina didn't know she was shaking until Ruby subtly pushed her toward the back exit. Regina didn't look back as she left and exited into the alleyway. She sucked in large gulps of air, and a sharp pain went through her chest. She hunched over and tried to calm the anger in her heart. It wasn't fair! Snow was still throwing it in her face, even after all that time had passed. And did Snow seriously call the child a second chance?
"Idiot," she hissed, forcing herself upright. "A damned fool."
Regina could only hope neither David nor Snow was stupid enough to say that to Emma's face. She half-limped to her car, ignoring the way her body protested the movement, and she was eager to get back to her office. But Fate was not on her side, and she cursed as she saw David on the sidewalk. She was about to make a run for it, but then she saw where he was running to. It was Emma, and Regina saw what Killian and Granny were talking about. Emma did look happy and healthy, and she made the modified uniform look good. Regina briefly admired how well the shirt framed Emma's arms, her muscles on display, and bit her lip.
"Damn," she whispered.
Regina shook her head and walked on the balls of her feet to approach the duo from behind, making sure to stay in Emma's eye-line. Emma noticed her, but beyond a quirk of her lips, she gave nothing away.
"Hey! I've been trying to reach you for the last couple of hours. Where have you been?" David said.
"I went to see Ariel. She and Eric finalized their divorce, and she needed help moving out."
"Ariel and Eric got a divorce? Why?"
"Probably because she smacked him with a frying pan, and he insulted her?"
"But they're True Loves."
"I think it was more like a true obsession," Emma said dryly. "Why were you looking for me?"
"Look!" David pulled out a small item and handed it to Emma. "We went to the doctor this morning, and we wanted you to be one of the first people to know," he said.
Regina grimaced when she noticed what it was, and she wanted to point out that Snow announced it to the entire town not even a minute ago, but she stayed quiet. She watched Emma's reaction carefully, and the blonde kept her face blank.
"This is a sonogram," Emma said.
"Yeah, Snow's pregnant. It's a boy, and she's fourteen weeks. We didn't want to get your hopes up, but now that we know for sure, we're ready to share it with you."
"I see. Does Henry know?"
"Not yet. We're thinking of having a family dinner to make a formal announcement. He's been spending time with Neal all week, but Snow's in there now asking Granny if we could have the place tonight," he said.
Regina rolled her eyes. Granny was not going to agree to that.
"Wow, this is," Emma paused, "a surprise."
"I know!" David grabbed Emma's shoulders and let out a teary laugh. "Can you believe it? It's our second chance!" he exclaimed.
Regina pushed herself into action when she saw the familiar glow in Emma's eyes, and she stepped around David.
"There you are, Sheriff Swan." Regina plucked the picture from Emma's hand and threw it in David's general direction. "I'm not paying you to gossip about the arrival of the anti-Christ," she said.
"Hey!" David exclaimed.
"Oh, Deputy, I hardly noticed you." Regina glanced at the sonogram, then back at David. "That looks like something I would scrape off my shoe," she said.
"Do not call my son an 'it,'" David gritted out.
"What about an indistinguishable mass of cells? Disgusting, parasitic growth? I have plenty of options for you to choose from."
David smirked and said, "For someone with no children, you sure have a lot to say about mine."
Regina tensed and flexed her fingers, magic curling at her fingertips.
"I have children," she gritted out.
"Oh? Where are they?"
Emma stepped forward and pushed David so hard that he lost his balance. He caught himself on the railing and stared at her in disbelief and shock.
"Emma –
"Don't ever talk to her like that again."
"But you don't understand –
"I don't need to. You have no right to throw that in her face," she said. "Now walk away."
"Look, I know you think she's a good person, but you –
"What you don't seem to understand is that when you wear that uniform, I am the one in charge. I tell you what to do, and you do what I say without question. So turn your ass around and get back on patrol before I put you on traffic duty for the rest of the year."
David clenched his jaw, looked between Emma and Regina, and then he stormed off. Once he was gone, Regina put a hand over her stomach and fought off the wave of nausea Charming's words seemed to bring on.
"Regina, I am so sorry. Are you okay?"
"I'm fine," she lied.
Emma didn't believe her, but she didn't push it. Instead, she shoved her hands into her pockets and sighed.
"I was honestly on my way to see you. I wanted to talk to you about having dinner with Henry and me. But I guess that's out of the question now with the big announcement."
Regina wanted to say yes, but she was starting to feel light-headed, and she needed to lie down.
"Can we talk about it later?" she asked.
Emma's face fell a little, but she recovered and said, "Sure. I have to go check on a few things anyway. See you later?"
"Of course."
As Regina walked away, Emma stopped her and looked nervous before taking a deep breath and saying, "You, um, look very beautiful today. Just wanted you to know."
Emma let go of her arm and walked in the opposite direction. Regina glanced down at her outfit. She wore a red sweater dress with black thigh boots, and she frowned in confusion. There was nothing special about it to her, but she felt a little guilty for brushing Emma off. Regina jogged and grabbed Emma's hand, stopping her. Emma looked back, and Regina felt a burst of affection for the woman in front of her. She kissed Emma on the cheek, leaving a lipstick stain behind, and she smiled.
"Thank you," she said. "For standing up for me and the compliment."
Emma's face turned redder than usual, and she squeaked out something close to a response before running away.
That afternoon, Killian finished his glass of water just as Neal slid into the booth across from him. Killian was sweaty, tired, and hungry, which meant he was in no mood for whatever Neal was about to say. Unfortunately, his food hadn't arrived, and Killian was stuck for the time being. Neal dumped the contents of a folder onto the table between them. They were pictures of Killian with Regina outside the house, at the grocery store, and even outside of the ship. Killian knew Regina would kill whoever took those pictures. He slid one image to the side and revealed the most recent one of Killian kissing Regina's cheek, but the angle made it seem worse than it was.
"The Evil Queen and Captain Hook," Neal said. "Who would've guessed?"
"Stalking is illegal in this world, Baelfire, and stop calling her that."
"That's who she is. She cursed an entire group of people out of spite and jealousy, and you're playing house with her?" Neal snorted and leaned forward. "Hey, listen. Between the two of us, how much are you paying her? I heard rumors back in the day that the Evil Queen had no problem getting on her knees for the right price. Is she a good fuck, or does she lie there and-
Killian grabbed Neal by the hair and slammed his face into the table twice. Neal's nose was broken, gushing blood down his mouth and chin, and the people in the diner went quiet. Killian tightened his grip on Neal's hair and stood up, yanking it back.
"I promised to be a better man, but even I have limits. If you ever speak of Regina in that manner again, I will slit your throat with my hook. Do you understand me?"
Neal choked out a response, and Killian slammed Neal's head against the table again, knocking him out. He threw a twenty on the table and collected all the images, sliding them from under Neal's head. He placed them back in the blood-stained folder and left.
Killian knocked on the door and poked his head into the office. Regina waved him in and stood from behind her desk.
"Yes, he's here. I will, Granny. Thanks."
Regina ended the call and pointed to the couch. Killian locked the door behind him and sat down, placing the folder on the table.
"Granny wanted me to tell you that you owe her diner a deep cleaning."
"Okay."
"What happened?"
"She didn't tell you?"
Regina shook her head no and sat next to him. Killian pointed to the folder, and Regina put on her glasses and picked it up. She flipped through the contents. Then she frowned and stood up, going over to her fireplace. She threw the folder inside and flicked her wrist. A fireball left her hand and set the images ablaze.
"How did he get those?"
"I forgot to ask. He made lewd comments about you that I took offense to, and I broke his nose. I also told him I would slit his throat if he spoke badly about you again."
"Killian," she sighed. "You can't do stuff like that."
"Why the bloody hell not?"
"Killian-
"No, enough. I am no hero, and I never will be. I am who I am, and that will never change. You are my best friend, Regina. So I will always defend and protect you. This is not a conditional friendship where I choose when to demand that the individuals of this town treat you with some modicum of respect. What Baelfire said was disgusting, vulgar, and completely out of line. He is lucky that I only gave him a broken nose. In my world, his actions would have given me every right to remove his head and display it on my ship. So, no, I will not apologize or feel guilty for caring about you. I only regret doing what I did in Granny's place of business, and I will accept whatever punishment she sees fit. But you will not disparage yourself in my presence for the sake of this town or men like him."
Regina's eyes welled with tears, and she dropped back down to the couch. Killian wrapped his arms around her and kissed the top of her head. Regina cried into the crook of his neck, and Killian held her tighter.
"You are worth protecting," he whispered.
Regina didn't respond but instead cried harder. Killian rubbed her back and rocked her side to side, humming an old sailor's tune under his breath.
Emma nursed a headache as she entered the hospital room and scoffed at the pathetic look on Neal's face. Half of it was wrapped in gauze, and Snow and David were already there with Henry. Gold stood to the side near the window. He nodded at Emma before returning his attention outside.
"Hi, Ma," Henry greeted.
"Why aren't you at school?" Emma asked.
"Grandma pulled me out when Dad called," he said, shrugging.
"She shouldn't have done that without calling me," Emma said, glaring at Snow.
"It's his father," Snow argued. "He should be here."
"We'll talk about this later. What even happened?" Emma asked.
"Killian attacked me," Neal said nasally.
"Oh? Why?"
Neal went silent at that, and Emma arched an eyebrow.
"Don't worry, I already know. You went to the diner where Killian was trying to have lunch after working all morning at the warehouse. You showed him pictures of him with Regina. And when you made inappropriate comments about Regina in front of Killian, he reacted in defense of his friend," Emma said.
"If you knew, why did you ask?"
"To see if you were bold enough to lie to my face. I should've known it wouldn't be an issue for you."
Neal shifted in his spot, and Emma rolled her eyes.
"Why am I here?"
"I want to file charges against Killian."
"No chance."
"He broke my nose!"
Emma opened her mouth, then closed it. She pointed to the door and said to Henry, "Outside, please."
Henry glanced at Neal, a frown on his face, and then he left the room. Once the door was closed, Emma punched Neal in the arm.
"Ow!"
"You want to file charges after you accused him of paying Regina for sex?" Emma hissed.
"It was a joke!"
"Then so was his response."
"What?"
"I am not arresting Killian," Emma said flatly.
"You have to!"
"Says who?"
"Maybe we should take a step back and revisit this tomorrow when emotions aren't so high," Snow said.
"There is nothing to revisit. I am not arresting Killian, and that is my final decision."
"Emma, that's not fair!"
"Neither was showing up in my life again," Emma snapped. "If it were up to me? I would have had Regina toss your ass over the line months ago."
"You don't mean that."
"It's the one thing that helps me sleep at night. If there is nothing else, I have an actual job to do."
Emma walked over to the door and yanked it open. Henry looked up from where he'd been staring at the floor, and she jerked her head.
"You can stay there with them, but no more skipping school, you hear me?"
"Okay," he said. Henry chewed on his lip and added, "What did Mom say about dinner?"
"She said she'll call me later. I caught her at a bad time, and she wasn't able to give me an answer."
"Do you think she'll say yes?"
Emma ruffled his hair and said, "It's you. Of course, she'll say yes."
"I hope so," he sighed.
Emma kissed his head and gently pushed him back into the room. She said her goodbyes and closed the door behind her. When the door opened shortly after, Emma turned, expecting to see Snow, but it was Gold.
"May I walk you to your car?" he asked.
"Sure."
They walked to the cruiser in silence. Once they were near the car, Gold put his hand on the door to stop her from opening it.
"You do not owe him anything," he said. "And I shouldn't have forced you to honor that."
"What's with the change of heart?"
"I am tired, Miss Swan, and I merely want peace."
"So do I. I'm not your enemy, Gold. So don't become mine."
"Understood," he said, removing his hand.
Emma unlocked her door and opened it, driving away from the hospital.
Gold watched as Emma drove out of the parking lot and sighed to himself. He'd been feeling Regina's control slipping. She was flaring more and more, sending out signals with her magic that only he could sense. He was worried. Regina was falling apart and didn't even know it. Gold couldn't let that happen, so he turned away from the hospital and returned to his store. He cast a spell to ensure no one could enter and went to the back. Gold opened his safe and removed Regina's journal, a box, and a single bean. The second bean was still growing and buried deep within the woods behind his store, but Gold could use the first one to find whichever child it took him to first. He placed the bean on the floor and picked up a spray bottle full of water from the Lake.
It took him some time to find the right minerals to mimic the water from back in the Enchanted Forest. He took a deep breath before spraying the bean, and the bean exploded into light. He squinted as the portal grew in size, and he didn't hesitate to step forward. He entered a bedroom without looking around and quickly placed the box and journal on the bed. He summoned a piece of paper and a pen, scribbling a quick note. He left the letter and the items on the bed, jumping back into the portal before it closed. He stumbled out into his store and blinked at the change in light. The portal closed behind him, and Gold sat down behind his desk with a heavy sigh.
All he could do was wait and hope he did the right thing.
If you are whom I hope you are, the child of a Queen, then these items are for you. I have not found the others, but I am searching as fast as I can. However, the reunion of your family is crucial to the survival of the Queen. Her heart cannot take the separation much longer, and her magic can do so much before it triggers a shutdown. I have left you with something to lead you in the right direction, but it will be your magic that activates these items. I have done all that I can for now, and I hope this letter reaches you well.
-Rumplestiltskin.