Omg, you all have no idea how much I wasn't expecting the great reviews and follows. This chapter sets things in motion for future Evil Charming bonding/fluff/smut, so stick with me, I promise it'll be worth it. Thank you and be sure to review!
"Hard at work are you, Deputy?" Emma smirked when she came into the station, seeing David's head bob back up quickly from dozing off in his chair, feet propped on the desk and hands tucked under his arms.
He grunted, running a hand through his hair, "Neal's cutting teeth, he fussed all night," He yawned a reply, rubbing his fingers over his tired eyes as he let his boots fall down to the floor and straightened up in his chair.
"You should've called, I could've given you a break," Emma frowned, coming over to give him the coffee she brought before going over to hop up on the edge of her own desk and sip hers. "You really should be taking better care of yourself."
He waved his hand a little as if to dismiss her before grabbing the coffee from in front of him, "I'm fine, kid." David glanced up when he finished the sentence, seeing Emma's lips purse in a similar fashion to her mother's when something had disagreed with her. Oh lord, here comes the lecture.
"I'm serious, Dad. You barely leave the house and when you do it's for takeout," She raised an eyebrow, crossing her own arms as she stared him down. It had been nearly seven months since her mother had passed and she felt he was strong enough to hear the truth. "You never ask for help and you never let anyone watch Neal unless it's Belle while you're working. I mean look at the good time you had last week at Regina's for dinner? Mom would want you to be doing stuff like that, living a little, rather than just sitting around in your apartment."
David supposed she was right, but it was hard to find interest in anything when he was so burnt out on life lately. The grief in the first couple of months after his wife's passing had been so blinding, the pain so raw and overbearing that he could barely make it through the daily motions of caring for himself and his son. Emma had always tried to help by watching Neal, but the baby was a comfort and reason to go on, so David had kept him close. The months after that had been less painful and he fell into a daily routine when he finally decided to come back to work and get his mind off of things. Keeping himself busy had been numbing, but he still didn't have the energy to face people and socialize like he used to. Neither did he have the desire to, to be honest. He'd get through the day, pick up his son and go home to the familiarity of seclusion. But now he knew he needed to start putting himself out there, not only for himself but to build a life for him and Neal, and to be there for his daughter and grandson.
"I'll try to do better, okay?" He glanced up at Emma with an earnest expression, his tired eyes silently beckoning her to drop the conversation. "Now, what's on our agenda for today?"
"Well, I just need to run this paperwork over to the Mayor's office and then we can do our daily patrol," Emma nodded, picking up the manila folder from her desk.
"I'll take it," David volunteered, leaning forward and grabbing his keys from his drawer, ignoring the way Emma turned her head to eye him.
"Did you honestly just volunteer to go see Regina?" Emma perked an eyebrow, watching him ignore her stare as he stood and pushed his keys in his pocket. "You two barely tolerate each other. I'll just go, save you the frustration."
"We got along last week at dinner, didn't we? We can be civil, Emma," He chided, coming over to take the files from her. He wasn't sure why it was so important to him that he hand deliver these to the Mayor herself, but he felt the urge nonetheless. "I'll go ahead, drop these off. You do your morning routine here and then come pick me up for patrol." He shrugged and with that, started walking to the door, leaving a suspicious Sherriff behind.
David gave her office door a light knock before opening it, seeing the brunette's head lift her focus on the laptop in front of her. She was wearing a black fitted blouse tucked into high wasted pants that he could barely see the top of from her position behind the desk. He noticed how she'd let her hair grow out, flipping up at the ends and layered over toned shoulders. The only pop of color in her outfit was the deep red lipstick on her generous lips, which turned up into a satisfying smirk at the sight of him. He cleared his throat at his sudden awareness of how attractive she looked. He guessed she'd always been a looker, but it'd never made his breath hitch before. What the hell was going on?
"Charming, to what do I owe this pleasure?" She asked, a hint of sarcasm in her tone as her brow arched slightly.
"Morning Regina," He gave an eye roll at her greeting, "Came to drop off these files from the sheriff's department. Emma said you needed them."
"Well, perhaps you are good for something after all," She smirked, taking the files before leaning back in her office chair in a confident manner, "You alright? You look like hell."
A little pang of irritation shot through him, along with a slight thrill that she was jesting him. The realization hit him that this is why he'd felt the urge to come to Regina's office, she always had a way of getting under his skin and their banter could always spark something in him. It felt good to be tested, to be riled up and challenged, especially when everyone else walked on egg shells around him. Not Regina, no, she held back nothing.
"Thanks for your concern," He matched her tone with an air of disinterest, "Actually, I'm still getting over a bad meal I had a week ago, I don't think I'll ever be able to eat chicken again," He feigned disgust, noticing her eyes squinting when she caught onto his teasing.
"Please, you asked for seconds," She scoffed, but couldn't helped the amused smile that tugged at her lips. When did light hearted and playful banter replace their usual stings and bickering? "And if anything is getting to you it's the amount of fast food you've been eating. I swear, you're single handedly supporting Granny's business."
"Say's the person always stealing fries off of her son's plate when he's not looking," He quipped, grinning more genuinely as her mouth dropped a little with the knowledge that she'd been caught, "That's right, I've witnessed your little trick, Mayor."
Her mouth twitched in amusement, a certain playful gleam to her eyes that he'd never witnessed before, "Tell me Nolan, do you always observe everyone's eating habits at the diner or are you just obsessed with me?" She leaned in, pressing her elbows on her desk and clasping her hands together.
David tried not to laugh at her statement as he played along, leaning over the desk and pressing his hands against the surface of it, not far from her own, "In your dreams, Queen." He let a grin show then and Regina was startled by the stirring in her stomach. Since when had Charming given her butterflies instead of repulsion?
Before she could sass him back, the door to her office flung open and an army of angry townspeople began barging in, a buzz among them as many voices jumbled together with angry remarks. Regina felt her stomach sink in dread as she stood immediately and squared her shoulders. What in the hell had she done now?
"What's all this about?" David turned around, keeping his feet planted in front of the Mayor's desk, frowning as he noticed Little John and Will Scarlet holding back a severely disheveled Robin Hood.
"What have you done with them Regina?!" Robin called out angrily fighting his Merry Men's grip as Regina's mouth dropped at the malice behind his glare.
"You heard him, where are they?" Grumpy jeered. That munchkin always jumped at the chance to roast her.
Regina steeled herself, coming from behind her desk and narrowing her eyes at them, "Before you start coming at me with accusations, perhaps you could tell me just what it is I'm to blame for this time?"
"My baby, she's gone," Robin spat as his Merry Men finally let go of him and she could tell they felt she deserved whatever their leader had in store for her, "Madeline and Zelena are gone, vanished! You can't tell me you didn't have anything to do with this!"
David watched as Regina's eyes widened at the accusation, her throat working a couple of times but nothing come out. Her eyes glossed over in hurt before her expression darkened and he could tell she was summoning the Evil Queen, "Don't flatter yourself, thief. I don't care enough about you to go to the trouble of kidnapping your precious daughter or the witch."
"Why should we believe you, Regina?" Little John piped up, eyeing her with disgust, "We've all noticed how ye been sulking around, avoiding town since you two broke up. And we know what ye did to the last people that scorned you!" He raised his voice in conviction with the last words, making the small crowd jeer in agreement.
"Tell me where my baby is right now!" Robin bellowed, making his way towards Regina with clenched fists. David observed how she didn't once waver, instead standing proud and strong in front of the people trying to attack her character. He pinched his nose between his eyes, letting out a breath before reaching his hand out and stopping Robin with a hard thud against his chest, stepping in between Regina and the thief.
"You of all people should know Regina has changed, she saved Zelena from Emma when she was the Dark One and she never once gave you any reason to believe she'd harm your child, Robin," David stated plainly, seeing the internal struggle the man in front of him seemed to be having. It was like he knew better than to think Regina would honestly do it, but he was too distraught and scared, looking for someone to blame and answers on their whereabouts. "What's your proof she did it?"
Regina's heart constricted, touched that David would be sticking up for her in this moment despite how many times he'd been on the other side of this situation with her. It felt good to have someone other than Henry and well, maybe Emma, believe in her. She watched Robin look at Charming for a moment before his gaze traveled to her, the desperation apparent in his expression. She recognized the emotion, knew it all too well in her moments of panic when she'd felt her own child was in danger.
"Robin, I had nothing to do with this," She leveled seriously, reaching up to put a hand on David's arm to let him know it was okay to release Robin. David caught her gaze before nodding once at the silent request and dropping his hand, his attention quickly turning back to the thief as if he was watching for his next move. Since when did Charming protect the Evil Queen? "Have you checked Zelena's house for any clues to where they might have gone?"
His silence gave Regina her answer and she nodded once, a sense of calm coming over her. She wasn't going to let these people point fingers and manipulate Robin into believing she was at fault. Her hands were clean for once, and she'd be damned if anyone was going to pin this on her. She'd come too far and worked too hard at righting her own wrongs to be taking the blame for someone else's.
"We'll start there, then," She nodded once as Robin still looked at her skeptically. She knew he was probably too hysterical to be processing any of this clearly, so she brushed past him. "If you'll excuse me, I have work to do," She snarled at the townspeople, giving them a glimpse of the fury she had reserved under her cool exterior with a flash of her eyes. Although she could still see their doubt, they parted to allow her to pass and she couldn't help but feel satisfaction at the power channeling the queen still wielded. She kept her head held high and confidently as she made her way through, not giving them the satisfaction of seeing her unnerved.
After all she'd done to protect this town, these idiots were still so quick to throw her under the bus. She was too caught up in thoughts of what needed to be done as she made her way out to realize that David was on her heels, once again putting himself between she and the townspeople for safe measure. No, she wasn't going to let these ungrateful imps attack her character and destroy the progress she'd made, and the man behind her wasn't going to either.