The Sheriff was typing furiously on her computer when the walkie-talkie crackled to life. "Emma? Come in, Emma."
She reached out and plucked it from its perch. "Hey, kid." She smiled; glad for the distraction. The town meeting had been on Friday and it was Tuesday. Emma had spent all of the past two days counting trash in the city and tallying it up.
"How's it going?"
"Just fine."
"I heard that you're counting trash." He said succinctly.
The blonde sighed. "Yes, your mom wanted a catalogue of the litter in the city."
"She's doing this to punish you."
"How do you figure?" Emma played dumb. She knew this of course, but admitting it made it seem that Regina had much more power than the blonde wanted her to have.
"Because you don't obey her." She could hear the rustle of his jacket on the other end of the line as he shrugged. "She doesn't like it when people get the best of her."
"I think you give me too much credit, kid." She smiled and scrolled down the spreadsheet with disgust on her face. If would like to get the best of her.
"I don't think so." He said in his know-it-all voice; it sounded eerily reminiscent of Regina's. "She obsesses over ways to torture you."
"Really? How do you know?" this interested Emma more than she wanted to admit.
"Well, I was doing homework on her computer the other night and noticed that she Googled you."
Emma tried not to imagine how that term could be taken. "Googled me, huh? She already knows about my stint in jail." She mused. "What else could she find online that Sydney couldn't turn up?"
"Beats me, I just know that she thinks about you a lot, because you annoy her."
"Right." Emma pondered how she could turn this to her advantage.
"I'll try to find out what she found-"
"Kid, that's not a good idea-"
"But it may be important." He steamrolled over her as usual and continued. "I'll be on her computer tonight; signed into my IM."
"On her computer?" She asked skeptically.
"Yeah, we need a pass phrase so that we knew it's each other." He plotted. "You know, like spies use?"
"Right." Emma sighed.
"How about I'll say: 'Down with the Evil Queen,' and you say 'In the name of Snow White'?" There was a pregnant pause and Henry mistook her reluctance for confusion. "It doesn't have to be in that order. Either one can start but the other has to reply before we talk, ok?"
Emma smiled. "Sure, kid. I'll be on at seven."
"Great! Don't forget the pass phrase! We don't want her to intercept."
Regina sat down to her computer Thursday night with a glass of cider. The week had been a long one. Though not as long as the sheriff's surely has been, thought the mayor as a smirk crept upon her face. She took a sip of cider and brought up her homepage. She looked over the various reports that had been submitted to her email since she left the office and filed them on her computer. Then she logged out and logged into the other profile on her computer: Henry's.
Regina had cracked his password months ago; almost immediately after she had acquiesced to him having his own, separate profile. She knew that as long as she didn't change anything or alter his page in any way, that he would never know she had done this. Taking another sip of her cider, she clicked on his IM screen and scrolled through his communications with the blonde annoyance; surprised and delighted that he had forgotten to wipe the history clean. It was all rather mundane; excepting the nonsense about Operation Cobra. However, a particular cluster of messages caught her eye.
Curse_Breaker11: I told u. everything she does is to scare u and make u feel dumb.
Sheriff. 7: Right, and why is that again?
Curse_Breaker11: cuz ur the savior.
Sheriff. 7: Oh right, I forgot.
Curse_Breaker11: she even wears heels cuz of u
Sheriff. 7: How do you figure?
Curse_Breaker11: she didn't used to wear them so much. Its cuz ur taller than her.
Sheriff. 7: I could totally see her hating to look up to me, what else has she changed since I've come to town?
Curse_Breaker11: she wears more lipstick now.
Sheriff. 7: Interesting…
Regina could feel her blood pressure rising. It was true; she never left the house without lipstick or her heels. Both made her feel powerful and in control and should she meet the frustrating blonde unexpectedly, Regina needed to feel both. Her perusal of the conversation was cut short however when the computer chimed and a new message popped up.
Sheriff. 7: In the name of Snow White.
Regina stared for a moment. Could she be seeing what she thought she was seeing? She scrolled back to the top and sure enough; a phrase from her haunted past was shadowing her once more. Realizing that this was some form of pass code between the two, the brunette took a sip of cider and typed.
Curse_Breaker11: Down with the Evil Queen.
Emma sat up. She had been nervous there for a moment that it hadn't been Henry online. She knew the kid was smart enough to thoroughly erase their conversations, but he was an eleven-year-old. Hell, she headed out the door without her socks most mornings; she wouldn't put it past Henry to slip up once in a while. However, the pass code confirmation settled her. She typed:
Sheriff. 7: How was school today?
Regina hesitated. Could she pull this off? Sure, she knew Henry's nuances better than anyone but could she actually fool the sheriff into believing it was her son? And if she could, what purpose could this serve?
Curse_Breaker11: school.
Sheriff. 7: Right, your mom didn't ask why you were late for your session?
Curse_Breaker11: nope, archie didn't tell her.
Regina's mouth twitched. That much was the truth; she would have to have another talk with the bug.
Sheriff. 7: Good, I want to see you, kid, but we've got to play by her rules for now. And that means no more surprise visits by the station.
Curse_Breaker11: but she's the Evil Queen. why do we have to do what she says?
Sheriff. 7: Because Evil Queen or Mayor, she's still your mom.
This surprised Regina; she had fully expected the blonde to speak badly of her or take the opportunity to bash her. Switching tactics, she typed:
Curse_Breaker11: something did happen at school today.
Sheriff. 7: Really? What was that?
Curse_Breaker11: a kid called me a queer today. what does that mean?
Regina sat back and sipped her cider again, trying to imagine the blonde's face. Was it a mask of surprise? Panic? Was she going to make up some excuse and log off quickly? The idea of proving to the sheriff that parenting wasn't all about lollipops and playing catch thrilled her.
Oh Jesus, Emma thought.
Let's see those unrevealed parenting skills, Sheriff. Regina smirked at her own genius. When the woman didn't respond, the brunette typed again.
Curse_Breaker11: Emma?
Sheriff. 7: I'm here, kid. Well, let's see. It's a bad word…umm….
Emma squirmed in her desk chair and battled with herself. Finally, she steeled her nerves and decided to be completely honest with her son.
Sheriff. 7: Well, Henry, you know how most kids have a mom and a dad?
Curse_Breaker11: yeah, im not dumb.
Sheriff. 7: Right, well not all people are attracted to the opposite…gender. Some people like the same gender. Some kids have two dads.
Curse_Breaker11: like I have two moms?
Ha! Regina cackled internally.
Oh God! Emma inside her mind.
Sheriff. 7: No! not like your mom and me! What I mean is that some boys have boyfriends and some girls have girlfriends.
Curse_Breaker11: like they kiss and date and stuff?
Sheriff. 7: Yes, like that.
Curse_Breaker11: What does that have to do with what the boy called me?
Sheriff. 7: well, the word 'queer' is a bad name for a boy that likes boys. But he probably didn't mean that he thinks you like boys, he was probably just trying to be mean.
Curse_Breaker11: i like girls. but is it wrong to like boys?
Emma paused. What should she say? She of course, saw nothing wrong with it; she even admitted that she had a small girl-crush on the mayor. But what had Regina told Henry? She didn't want to give him conflicting information. The blonde fretted and then realized she didn't give a shit what Regina had told him.
Sheriff. 7: No, it's not. People don't chose who they like, they just like them.
Curse_Breaker11: like the way u like my mom?
Regina yearned to pat herself on the back. I haven't had this much fun in a long time. She thought to herself and drained her glass; waiting to see the blonde's reaction.
Emma froze. Where the hell had that come from? She wondered suspiciously if Regina had made an off-color comment in front of the boy. But the blonde shook her head; no, the mayor always double-checked her words, especially around Henry.
Sheriff. 7: What? I don't know what you mean.
Curse_Breaker11: It's ok, Emma. I saw the way u looked at her. I mean, it's totally gross. That's my mom and she is the evil queen. But like u said, u can't help who u like.
Sheriff. 7: Henry, I don't like your mom.
Curse_Breaker11: u don't think she's pretty?
Emma gulped. She's fucking gorgeous.
What now you infuriating, simple-minded, frustrating miscreant? Regina silently challenged her rival.
Sheriff. 7: Yes, she's really pretty…but I don't look at her like that.
Really pretty, eh? Regina smiled.
Curse_Breaker11: im pretty sure that you did.
Sheriff. 7: When, kid?
Curse_Breaker11: in the grocery store the other day when she reached into the freezer for meat.
Regina was taking a gamble here. The sheriff had been present when she had been forced to lean over into the bottom of the supermarket freezer. The blonde had been talking with Henry but she had heard her falter a bit in her sentence when the mayor bent over. It was a risk to mention it, but Regina was following her instincts and her instincts were usually good; especially in this area.
Emma groaned out loud. Had she been that obvious? Yes, she had noticed the way the woman's burgundy skirt rode up her thighs and stretched across her perfect ass. But she hadn't known that Henry was watching.
Sheriff. 7: I was making sure she didn't fall into the freezer.
Curse_Breaker11: Ok. Whatever u say.
Sheriff. 7: Right, because I'm your mom and what I say goes.
Regina actually laughed out loud at this. Really, Sheriff? How unconvincing.
Sheriff. 7: And it's past your bedtime anyway, your mom will come looking for you.
Curse_Breaker11: alright, goodnight Emma.
Sheriff. 7: Goodnight, Henry.