The new King
" Mom, listen to me, okay? Just listen!"
Mary Margaret looked about to object, but then she shut her mouth. Emma sighed in relief.
" Okay, that's the thing: George is dead, David and Ruby, I guess, are trying to find out who killed him. I came here to tell you this and that we have... uh... changed a couple of thing in the system's policy, okay? You, dad and Regina will rule together with some spokespersons from the people and will take decisions by vote. By now it's the best we could do."
The teacher frowned and opened her mouth again, but Emma stopped her raising a hand. " Wait, it ain't over. So, the kingdom is just one, not two kingdoms, one, okay? My fault, yes. We have two queens and one king and... Oh. Well, don't take it the wrong way, it's not like you have to share him. It's just... Anyway, please, don't argue with Regina. The last thing we need now is an internal fight. I avoided a French Revolution just thirty minutes ago, don't make me regret it. Please. She's trying, mom, really. She's trying so hard, can't you see it? Please, if you... if you keep pushing her down..."
Snow White suddenly hugged her, not fast enough to impede her to see her wet eyes. Emma let her hug her, but didn't move. She didn't feel like doing it. Not until she would know that she had understood.
" Emma, I'm so sorry! I should have never... I'm so sorry, so, so sorry! If I could only turn back time and slap my face this morning instead of coming at Regina's... I never meant to hurt you, I swear! I'm sorry... I'm sorry..."
She was crying over her shoulder, hugging her so tight to almost choke her. Emma felt the tears press against her eyes, but swallowed them back.
" I-it's okay. " she murmured, embarrassed. She patted her shoulder, not knowing what to do. She was never good with this kind of things. " I..." Emma inhaled deeply. She had to do it. She had to force her, or it could last forever. " I can forgive you." she said, trying to keep her voice firm as her hands as she moved her mother. She needed to look her in the eyes. She needed to see if she was sincere. " But only if you promise me that you'll let Regina be part of our family. "
Mary Margaret furrowed her brow, opening wide her eyes. " Are you... are you telling me that I have to choose between you and her?"
" Yes." Emma sighed, felling the bravery and the conviction wipe away her fears. If she didn't love her enough to put aside hate she wasn't better than Cora. Emma didn't have a mother for twenty-eight years. If she had to stay an orphan for Henry's good, she would do it. She wouldn't waste his possibility to be part of a real family only because she didn't have that same possibility. If she had to choose between Henry and Mary Margaret, she'd choose Henry. " Hate her or love me." she concluded tightly.
Snow White looked about to have a panic attack. She opened her mouth, goggled, paled, then glanced down. When she gazed up at her again, her eyes were full of tears and regret.
" Emma... Do you really think that I'd ever leave you again?"
The Savior felt again the tears push to flow down on her cheeks. But she couldn't let them. She had to know first.
" You didn't really answer."
Mary Margaret's hands suddenly cupped her face as the teacher started weeping. " You're my daughter, Emma. I'd do anything for you. You. I choose you. "
Emma looked into those green eyes, mirrors of hers. She looked sincere, but she did even the last time. Could she trust her? Could she trust the shy school teacher? Her best friend? Her mother? Snow White, the one she knew, or the one that Regina's emotions sometimes showed her? Who of them she could trust? All of them? None of them?
" If you want I can kiss her boot to show you that I'm sincere, Emma. " Snow smiled behind the tears. Emma couldn't help but give her a brief laughter. " Just ask, I'll do it. I swear!"
At that bright, warm smile, The Savior's tears started falling, and she folded her mother in her arms. She had missed her.
" It won't be necessary." she said with her voice broken by emotion, distorted by a smile.
Mary Margaret laughed softly, giving her a squeeze. " Good, it would have been terrible! For me, I mean. I'm sure that she'd enjoy it. "
Emma smiled and closed her eyes. " Mh, maybe. "
" Maybe?"
She snorted. " Meh, okay, yes, she would, but not as much as you think."
Snow White broke the hug to look at her, her eyebrows lifted. " So, now that's how it works: you always defend her, uh?" The hint of wit in her voice made Emma relax.
She shrugged. " When she'll do something wrong again, I'll kick her ass, don't worry." she smirked, causing Mary Margaret's grin.
" I'm looking forward to it."
" Mom!"
She laughed. " Just kidding. Mostly."
They looked at each other for a while, then bursted out into laughter.
" Uhm, I should go now. Ya know, technically I'm the sheriff, should be working on the case..."
" Yes, yes, go to help your father! Hurry!" she said smiling and waving her hand in the air, motioning to her to go away. " Don't look at the body, but help him."
" It's not like I've never seen a cadaver, mom..."
" Yes but have you ever seen a beheaded man?"
Emma pressed her lips together and swallowed. " Nope."
" Good. Don't. Now go, that poor man has just become a king and he's already washing the blood away from his realm! "
" What?"
" Never mind. Go!"
Emma frowned but exited the empty classroom. She almost stumbled in a wave of children. She managed not to step on their feet for a good part of the hallway, and she was about to pass all of them when Henry called her out.
" Momma? What's happening?"
" All fine, kid! Just needed to say a thing to Mary Margaret."
The boy tilted his head to his left and pinched his lips, frowning. Regina. He was a fucking little male version of Regina. " Couldn't you call her?"
" Errr... It... It was important. Needed to talk face to face. "
" Was it about what happened this morning?"
The Savior sighed. " Yes, yes, exactly. Listen, go to your lesson now. I'll tell you everything later, I promise. Don't have the time now. "
He seemed to think about it, but he smiled in the end. " Okay. See you later!"
She smiled back at him. " Yeah... See you later." she said, unconvinced. If she had to investigate on George's death, that later could mean the day after. She watched him enter the classroom, and only then she got out of school, jumping on her yellow bug.
Ruby blowed away a red lock from her eyes. The smell of blood made her nervous, antsy. The sight of the section of Spencer's neck nauseated her. She wondered where the head could be.
" Dave."
" Uh?"
The man was examining the body together with that sex bomb in trench coat otherwise known as Dr. Whale.
" Where the hell is the head?"
David gazed up at her and frowned. " Wish I knew. Any idea?"
She just shrugged, and Charming went back looking at the bloody corpse.
" What weapon was used to cut it off?" she asked after a while. Victor, crouched before the body, sit on his haunches and locked gaze with her, moving in the air his gloved, bloody hands.
" I suspect a sword. There are many cuts, the killer wasn't an expert. It took a bit to cut the head off. Looks like they weren't strong enough to do it with just one cut. "
Ruby winced and grimaced with disgust. " Ugh..."
" Yep... But what's really weird is the blood."
The waitress raised her eyebrows. " What's wrong with the blood? "
The doctor vaguely pointed a finger at the ground." There isn't enough. There should be plenty of it, but there's just that little puddle next to the neck. He wasn't killed here. "
" Oh." David commented, staring at the blood on the asphalt. " So someone killed him, then carried his body here, but left the head somewhere else. The killer wasn't strong enough to cut his head in one fell swoop. We must suppose he wasn't strong enough to carry his body, either. He needed a car or, better, a van to transport it here. And he did it all in the middle of the day. Is it possible that none saw anything?"
Ruby shrugged. " I asked around, but they were all working, or home. None ever uses this road actually, David. We all take Main Street."
" I know, I know..." he sighed standing up and taking off the blue gloves that Whale had given him. He passed a hand across his face.
" What do we do now? We don't have the means for an official investigation, I mean, there's no forensics department in Storybrooke." Victor said standing up in turn. " And we can't ask the Boston police to help us. I can keep the body in a refrigerating room, but I can't take fingerprints from it."
" Of course. Take the body to the hospital." he said to Victor before gazing at her. His eyes narrowed a little as a little smile crossed his face. " I have an idea of how to catch the killer."
Ruby frowned. " Dave, I don't know if I can..."
His smile widened. " I believe that you can do it, Ruby. "
" No, really, if the killer used a vehicle, I can't follow the trace..."
" Even if he used a car, it will be full of blood. Even I can smell it, Rubes! But I don't know how to follow the smell. You know how, instead. Think of it like a first lesson for me."
Ruby looked in his trustful blue eyes. If there was someone able to convince her to do something, that was David Nolan.
She gave a nod. " Okay. Lemme concentrate a second."
She caught a glimpse of his bright smile before she closed her eyes and looked for the beast inside of her, part of her. The wolf smelled through her nostrils, amplifying the thousands of smells in the narrow road. David... his scent had changed. She could smell the wolf he was about to become. Victor smelled of soap, aftershave and cotton. The wheels of the Sheriff's car, what lasted of the smell of the crowd that had stood there, her own car's smell. The blood. Under the body, over the body. A drop three steps away, another at the end of the road, where it crossed Main Street. Red snapped open her eyes. She had found the trace.
The door exploded at Regina's hand slight movement. They entered the house. Her boots almost slid on the blood on the ground. The walls looked almost painted with it.
Regina sneered. " Looks like I was right."
Shaya passed her over. " Indeed, let me go first now. " she said hurriedly, her sword preceding them both. The house looked empty. Not that she believe it to be it.
" Mitchell!" Regina shouted, listening to the quiet of the house then.
Shaya glanced at her. " Maybe he ran away." she murmured.
" He can't. None of us can leave Storybrooke. We'd lose our memories."
The warrior frowned. " Oh. In this case, I suggest to look under his bed."
" Stay still or I kill her!"
They both turned at the sudden sound. Mitchell was standing at their left. He was holding Cinderella still, aiming a knife at her throat.
" Don't move!" he cried, startling the girl, who started weeping.
Regina calmly smiled at him. He had always been a coward. " Trust me, it isn't a good idea to kill your son's lover." she bitterly said, successfully trying to keep her cold. If he had had a chance to stay alive, he had just lost it.
" Shut up, Regina!" he shouted. He was sweating, his face was red. He looked to be gone off the deep end. " Get the hell out of here!"
The brunette raised her brows. " Already? We've just arrived!"
" I swear I kill her!"
Regina shrugged cackling. " Do you really think I care?"
Mitchell's gaze darted around frantically. He looked about to scream. " Y-you... Let me out! "
" Mr. Herman, please..." Ella whispered in a desperate weep. The knife had notched slightly her skin, and now a rivulet of blood was running down her throat.
" No, Mitchell, I won't. You killed George, and that could have even been a good thing if you hadn't tried to set me up for it. You proved yourself and enemy of mine, dear. And you know what happens to my enemies..." Regina sneered, suddenly waving a hand in the air. The blade of the knife disappeared. Or so it seemed.
Mitchell goggled, his back arched, his mouth opened for a scream that he never gave voice to. Ashley ran away at her gesture.
" …They..." she was about to conclude, pushing further the blade in the man's back towards his heart, when Emma's voice startled her.
" Regina!"
The Savior ran inside the house, sliding on the blooded floor. Shaya grabbed her before she could fall.
" Shit! Thanks..." she murmured, her cheeks reddened, and not by effort of the run. " Regina don't kill him! " she then said hastily, her big eyes searching for hers.
The brunette glanced at the man, standing up only thanks to her little, magical help. He was most surely suffering with that steel blade inside his left lung. His mouth and nose were stained with blood.
" Why?" she asked, a hint of disgust in her tone, gazing back at the Savior. She didn't want to make him suffer. Killing him was enough. " Talk fast, Miss Swan, he has a knife in his lung."
As a confirm, the man coughed, spitting blood. Emma paled, and looked about to swoon.
" B-because he will have a process as in any fucking civil town, Regina, that's why!"
Regina sighed and felt her nostrils dilate as she rolled up her eyes. She moved her hand and the blade appeared in it. Mitchell fell on his knees, breathless, but unharmed. She had healed the mortal wound.
" As you wish!" she exclaimed with a hint of exasperation in her voice. At that rate they'd be killed in less than a week! " Spare him, let him be judged by a fair court! And then? You'll keep him in your comfortable cell at the Sheriff's station for his whole life? Seriously, Emma? "
" I'm not letting you kill him just because you're used to do it, Regina!"
The brunette raised her brows. " Used? This is not about habits, Emma! It's about our own safety! He beheaded a man because he wanted the people to massacre us so that he would become the king! Do you really think that he won't try again if he has the chance to?"
" He won't have that chance! He'll be in prison!"
" One can escape from prison!"
Emma stared at her, enough time to make Shaya intervene. " You said that who goes out of Storybrooke looses their memory..." she suggested eying her.
Regina significantly stared at the Savior. Emma raised her hands.
" What...? Do you want to exile him?!"
Regina shrugged, glancing at the man. She cocked an eyebrow as she noticed his expression. He was sneering. His eyes were glittering.
" He doesn't look that disappointed..." she said, glancing then at the Sheriff.
Emma frowned and gazed at him. Regina clearly saw her shake.
" What are you smiling at? You killed a man!" Emma exclaimed. She looked really pissed off, as she would say.
Mitchell grinned. " I'm the King." He stood up. Shaya's sword immediately aimed at him. But it's edge was slightly trembling. Regina gazed at the warrior, but she kept staring at the man, though her eyes were wide open. There was something wrong. Shaya looked scared... Mitchell cackled with laughter, but Regina kept watching her girlfriend, so she saw her treble and swallow. A glance at the man didn't give her any answer. " I'm the King!" he barked " Not that moron of George! Not that impostor, David the farmer! He's not his son! He's nothing!" he shouted " I am the only King here! I'm the one who deserves to rule, the only one who has ever deserved it! And I'm taking what is mine!" he shouted, yelling then while running towards them with a candelabra he had just grabbed from the piece of furniture next to him.
Regina cocked an eyebrow as she raised a hand, freezing him with the hand raised and his mouth opened in the muted, fierce scream.
" So..." she said, gazing at the Savior. " ... this makes all way easier: seen his conditions, we can both be satisfied."
Emma questioningly stared at her. Regina sighed. It wasn't her fault. DNA, she repeated to herself, DNA.
" The asylum, Emma."
The blonde's eyes widened. " Oh. Right."
" None can escape from that place. And it's detention, not exile nor death sentence. I think it's fair enough?"
Emma slowly nodded, her mouth still opened, as if she was thinking of something really, really complicated to understand. To Regina it was like looking at Charming's face. Quite annoying.
" Yes." she murmured, glancing at the "king". " But there must be a process, Regina. "
The brunette gave an exasperated sigh, rolling her eyes. " What the hell, Emma, do you really need a fake judge to know that he's guilty? You're walking on George's blood! He was about to kill Cinderella, and he just tried to kill us with a candelabra! Do you need any further prove, Sheriff?"
" But..."
" There's no "but"! What "but"? "
Emma stared at her like if she had just gone off the deep end. Her face crumpled. " Okay, you might be right, I admit it. "
" Ah, gosh, thank you!"
" But we can't choose alone."
Regina narrowed her eyes, and was ready to object, but then she remembered the new hierarchy, and sighed, closing her eyes and shaking her head. She took the base of her nose between forefinger and thumb, still shaking her head.
" Those two idiots could give him a Medal of Honor if he told them the right words..." she grumbled, and heard Shaya's stifled laughter behind her shoulder. She suddenly raised her head, gazing at the warrior, smiling. " You're part of the council!" she exclaimed, relieved.
Shaya frowned, confused. " Which council?"
" Ours! The one that will rule Storybrooke! Me, you, Emma, and the two idiots!"
" Regina, I'm not part of the council, and you forgot the people's spokesmen." Emma corrected her. She got rid of her words waving a hand in the air.
" Of course you're part of the council, Emma! You've created it!"
" Yes but..."
" Wait, wait! Honey, I can't be part of this council. I'm no queen." Shaya said with a worried expression that knitted her brows and widened her eyes.
Regina couldn't help but smile at that face. She caressed it, leaning her fingers under her chin before taking back her hand.
" Not yet." she corrected her, leaving her open-mouthed. " And it doesn't matter anyway: Emma is just a princess, but she's part of it."
" I'm not..." Emma tried to protest, but the Queen plowed on.
" I don't think I could stand the Charmings for so long without you, Shaya! I'd probably attempt at their life after an hour!" she laughed, making the warrior snort. She really wished her to rule. She'd be the best of them, she'd guide them. She'd guide her.
" Regina..."
" Please, Shaya!"
The warrior uselessly tried to repress a smile. She locked gaze with her, burning her soul with that loving stare. A smile made the sensation milder.
" My love, you should at least consult your peers before asking me to become one of you."
" Ah, they adore you, they'll agree!"
Shaya's face froze. " Not sure that they still adore me..."
Regina frowned, tilting her head to one side. " What? Why?" An intuition crossed her mind. " What have you told to Snow?"
Shaya guilty smirk made her internally giggle.
" Uh, I, uh... I just made things clear with her."
The giggle became external. " I see." she said with a knowing look at her.
Emma raised an eyebrow. " Can we bring back our attention to the immobilized man in the hallway before that you two start making out?"
Regina glared at the Savior. " Mr. Herman has all the attention he needs, Miss Swan, or he wouldn't be still immobilized. A little bit of time to calm down won't hurt him."
" Oh, right, sorry, Hermione..."
The brunette goggled at that name. If she thought that she didn't know who Hermione was, she was terribly wrong.
" Miss Swan! First of all, calling me like the most brilliant witch of a children's novel isn't such a smart offense, seen that she's supposed to be the world girl's role model. Second, I'm happy to know that you've read at least one book in your life, even though it's just a ridiculous representation of us casters. Like if we needed a stupid wand to cast spells! Third, it's the second time you call me that, so please, Emma, stop it. It's way too childish for the Savior."
Emma's face fell. Open-mouthed, the Savior aimed at her with a hand, then glanced at Shaya, then locked gaze with her again. She looked about to speak for three times. At the fourth, she managed to do it.
" Regina!" she squeaked " Did you read Harry Potter?"
The brunette sighed, cocking an eyebrow. " No, Miss Swan. Not for myself, at least. Obviously. I've read it to Henry, who loved it. He wanted to be a wizard then, so I wrote a fake letter from Hogwarts and gave him. He knew it was fake, but we jumped on the car and I took him to the place that you know as "his castle", pretending that my Mercedes was the train and that that one was Hogwarts. " Regina's voice had lowered, her gaze, she knew it, was distant. " We used to go there everyday and pretend to be Harry Potter and..." a smile curved her lips " I always changed my character, depending on what he was up to do..." her soft laughter mixed up with her words. She missed those days,when he was so little that she could pick him up and listen to his laughter, his beautiful, carefree laughter.
Until he had start attending school, he had laughed together with her. He had been happy, they had been happy. Then Henry had met Mary Margaret, and destiny had began to work.
Regina gazed up at Emma. She looked sad. A mirror of her own feelings. She smiled at the Savior. It wasn't her fault. And it didn't matter now, anyway. Henry could be happy again. She was doing her best to make him happy. They were doing it, she suddenly realized, as Emma wished. Her smile widened, and Emma's appeared.
" However..." Emma said, looking a bit embarrassed, but smiling. " ...I watched the movie, actually. "
" So? Is she still there? What is she doing now?"
" Dave relax, for fuck's sake! You asked me a minute ago!"
" Yes but what is she doing?"
" Finishing the sentence she began when you asked me."
" But does she look fine?"
" Oh, dammit! Yes, David, she's fine, she's smiling and they look about to get out of that bloodbath! There she is, d'you see her! Now take a breath, please!"
Charming stretched his neck to see his daughter from the pickup's mirror. Ruby rolled her eyes, sighing, but a little smile crossed her face. Daddy Charming was super cute, even if a bit annoying.
She gave him a last glance before gazing at the three women exiting the house. Mitchell was floating in the air behind them, immobile in a rigid position. Ruby frowned. She really didn't know that Regina could do this. Again, she wondered how Snow could have survived her for all those years.
They stopped next to the parked car. Regina glowered at them both, but Ruby took it as a greet, and smiled at the brunette, gaining a slight bow from Rapunzel.
" Hey, can we put him in your pickup?" Emma asked at her father, nodding towards the floating man.
Charming lowered his head to look up at the former king, frowning, then slightly nodded at his daughter. " Of course. Is he okay?"
Emma shrugged slightly. " Yes, but a serious mental disorder..."
" Oh."
" Yep. Listen, we need to talk to Mary Margaret and whoever is part of the council. Now. About him. Now."
David nodded once. " Of course. I'll call them. Where can we gather?"
Regina rose her eyebrows. " Guess that the Town Hall is the most fitting place."
David gave her a smirk. " Alright, then. See you there in ten minutes?"
The Queen and the Savior nodded at the same time. " Yes." they both said, awkwardly glancing then at each other. Ruby gazed at Rapunzel. An inner laughter passed between them.
She then gazed at David, who looked slightly exasperated, and smelled of tiredness.
A thump informed them that Mitchell was on the pickup.
" Okay. See you later." David said before starting the car and driving away from that smell of blood.
" Ruby, please, call Snow and tell her to run at Regina's. Then call Belle, Grumpy and Archie."
" Mh-mh..." Ruby commented, already dialing Snow's number. She answered after three rings.
" Ruby?"
" Hey, yes, it's me. "
" Is it..."
" Listen, poor time, important things: go to the Town Hall right now. We have the killer. Need ya there."
" But..."
" See you there."
She unwillingly hung up on her. But she was already dialing Belle's number.
The Mayor answered after three calls and many curse words.
" Hello?"
" Ah, thank you, you've heard it! "
" ... Who's there?"
" Ruby."
" Oh, Ruby, sorry, I hadn't..."
" Listen, Belle, go at the Town Hall, we need you. Run, you're already late!"
The waitress hung up before that the Mayor could even think of an answer. With a sigh she composed Leroy's number.
" What's up, sister?"
" Need ya. See you at the Town Hall now."
" At the Town Hall?!"
" Yep."
" Mh, okay."
He hung up on her. Ruby glanced at the phone raising her eyebrows. " I love you, Leroy..." she murmured with a sigh, calling Archie.
The shrink's husky and cheerful voice reached her ear.
" Ruby! Glad to hear from you! How are you?"
" Hey, Archie! I'm fine, but I didn't call to chat, I'm sorry. We need you, the council is gathered. At the Town Hall."
" Oh, well, o-okay. When?"
" Ehm, now, actually. We'll be there in a minute. Can you run here?"
" O-of course! " the sound of a door clicking shut covered his pause. " I'll be there in a heartbeat."
" Great! Thank you!"
" See you there!"
She put back the phone in her pocket and triumphantly smiled at David.
" Mission accomplished!" she exclaimed, making him snort.
" Really, Rubes, I don't know what I'd do without you!"
" You'd call your friends and drive at the same time, being so a terrible deputy!"
He laughed hard, slowing down the car and parking it next to the entrance of the Town Hall.
The Mercedes was already there.
" I didn't think that Regina could drive this fast." he commented, pulling the handbrake.
Ruby shrugged. " Guess we don't really know her. I don't, at least."
They locked gaze. David pinched his lips and tilted slightly his head. " You should be part of the council, too." he said, a smile that narrowed his bright eyes. " I will need your advices, after all. "
" Oh, not really! Just until the full moon, and there you'll be a perfect werewolf without my help. And I can barely choose what I want to wear in the morning, imagine if I can choose the fate of an entire kingdom!"
He burst into laughter at her words. " Okay, but think about it!" he said, getting off his car.
Ruby imitated him. " I will. " she sighed, thoughtful, following him through the central red door.