A/N: thanks for the continued support!
Chapter 13
"So here's the situation." Emma cupped the ceramic mug in her hands. The warmth from the hot chocolate provided her comfort—which was a good thing because she was about to tell the biggest yarn in her life.
After returning from Regina's house, the previous night had progressed rather unremarkably. Henry had been asleep when Emma had returned to their room, and there had been no late-night knocking on her door from Walsh who was staying across the hallway with Hook. She didn't know if she should be relieved or upset about that, though.
She now sat in a padded booth at Granny's diner during the breakfast rush. Seated across the table from her were Walsh and Henry.
"I told you I'd been in Storybrooke before," Emma began, "but what I haven't told you is that I used to live here."
She paused, waiting for some reaction from either of the two people seated across from her, but noting that having lived in Storybrooke wasn't that big of a bombshell, she continued.
"I became a bailsbonds person because I'd been trying to my parents. And I moved around a lot because of that, following up on new leads. One of those leads brought me here. I took a job with the local police department, did some good, and after a while I followed my next lead which took me someplace else."
She chewed on the inside of her cheek. There were so many lies and half-truths, she was surprised her nose hadn't started to grow.
"Henry, you lived here, too."
The boy's eyes widened. "I did?"
"Yeah. You just don't remember it. You-you were pretty young," Emma stumbled on another half-truth. "But I wanted you to know because people might come up to you and start talking to you because they remember you … from before."
"Did you know Regina from before?" Walsh asked.
Emma took a sip of her hit chocolate to give herself some time before having to answer the question. "A little, yes. I was police and she was mayor, so we bumped into each other from time to time. But running into her in New York was purely coincidental."
"And she offered you your old job back," Walsh pressed.
"Yeah."
"Do I get a say in this?" Henry asked.
"Of course!" Emma insisted. "We're a team, kid. You and me."
Henry turned to Walsh. "Are you going to move to Storybrooke, too?"
"Woah," Emma quickly jumped in. "Let's not put the cart before the horse just yet. I haven't said yes to the job, and Walsh and I still have to talk about all of this."
"When?" Walsh questioned, leaning forward.
"I'm working on it."
"Tonight," he insisted.
Emma frowned. She couldn't come up with an excuse as to why that couldn't happen. She'd used up all her lies for the day. "Yeah, I-I guess I could probably do that."
Walsh balled up his paper napkin and tossed it on his plate. He'd barely touched his breakfast. "Well if that's all, I need to call my store and check in on things."
"O-oh. Okay." Emma had been so wrapped up in all things Storybrooke, she'd forgotten that Walsh had responsibilities outside of herself and Henry. It made her feel even guiltier about dragging him along.
Walsh stood from the booth and stared down at mother and son. "I'll see you tonight though. And we'll talk?"
Emma nodded grimly. "Yeah, tonight."
Emma watched the lanky man as he stiffly exited the diner. The overhead bell on the front door jangled with his departure. There had been no goodbye kisses, no words of endearment. It seemed that she'd successfully ruined another relationship.
Across the table, Henry cut up his Belgian waffle into evenly sized bites. He seemed to be thinking over Emma's story with more quiet contemplation than usual.
Did he remember something? Does he know I'm lying? Emma wondered to herself.
"How are you doing with all of this?" Emma cautiously asked.
Henry shrugged.
"Because you know you can talk to me, right?"
Henry set down his fork and knife. "Are you sure I can't get a new PlayStation?" he sighed.
A nervous chuckle bubbled up Emma's throat. "We'll see. We'll see."
Her answer seemed to pacify Henry at least for now.
"Listen, I've got a meeting to get to in a little bit. You want me to drop you off at the library on my way to City Hall? I shouldn't be gone very long, but the library's gotta be better than you hanging out in the room and watching the wallpaper peel."
Henry shoved an oversized piece of waffle into his mouth. "Okay," he agreed around his food.
Emma shook her head. She'd have to do something about Henry's rapidly deteriorating table manners before Regina murdered her.
Emma could hear the raised voices coming from inside the sheriff's station. When she nudged the office door wider with the rounded toe of her boot, she wasn't prepared for what she found on the other side of the door.
The sheriff's office was packed. She had only been expecting her parents and Regina that morning, but there had to be over a dozen Storybrooke residents in the room, and they were all yelling at each other. Emma quickly scanned the confined space. She recognized most everyone, but a few faces weren't familiar.
Emma caught Regina's attention. The former mayor was standing off to the side, fiddling with an earring and avoiding conversation with anyone else. Her body language and her wardrobe—a tailored pantsuit—set her apart from everyone else.
Emma, unnoticed by the others, slipped into the room and approached Regina. "What happened in here?" she questioned under her breath.
Regina's painted lips pursed. "I believe this would be your parents' doing. Snow's never been adept at keeping things low-key."
"Why are they all here?" Emma asked, gesturing to all the people in the room.
"They want to help," Regina sighed. "It would appear that losing a year of one's life makes people uncomfortable."
"I know the feeling," Emma grumbled to herself.
"What's in the box?" Regina asked, nodding to the pink box Emma held.
Emma popped the top off the floppy container. "Donuts. I think I'm gonna have to get more from Granny's though to feed this crowd."
"Don't you dare, Miss Swan," Regina darkly warned. "The villagers will get their pitchforks and torches if you don't start this meeting soon. And I'd be inclined to join them."
"Fine, fine," Emma grumbled. She set the box down on the corner of an open desk. She put two fingers in her mouth and blew. The piercing wolf-whistle caught everyone off-guard, including Regina, who jolted to attention.
"Thanks for coming, everyone," Emma announced. "It's unexpected to see so many faces here, but I'm glad to see you all again." She flashed a quick glance in her parents' direction. David grimaced and Snow looked away.
"What are we gonna do, Emma?" someone in the crowd shouted out. At the question, everyone began to talk at the same time again.
Emma waved her arms above her head and the voices eventually quieted. "Listen, I know you're all anxious to find out what happened and why you're all back. I am, too. We need a list—a census, if you will—of everyone in Storybrooke. Who's new since the curse, and who's not. Was anyone left behind? Maybe that will get us somewhere."
Emma went to one of the metal filing cabinets in the office and produced a cartographer's map of the town and surrounding area. She unrolled it and laid it out flat on her old desk. Those in the immediate area crowded around for a better look.
"We'll split up the city to save time," she continued. She privately marveled at how everyone in the room was listening to her. To the people of Storybrooke, she was the Savior, but it was a role she was still getting used to. "Between all of us, we'll go door- to-door and find out who lives where."
Emma proceeded to divide the city into reasonable chunks and assigned groups of two to survey each area.
"I can take the forest," an unknown voice volunteered.
Emma looked up from the map. The suggestion had come from an attractive man with a goatee and piercing blue eyes. "And you would be?" she asked.
"Back in the Enchanted Forest, I was known as Robin of Locksley." The man gave her a lopsided grin. "You might know me better as Robin Hood though."
"No offense, but I'd like to trust this job to people I actually know."
Robin inclined his head. "Fair enough. But I know the woods and the people therein. They're not likely to talk to someone they don't know. I can help. Perhaps you could pair me with one of the longer standing residents of this fine city?" he proposed. "Perhaps Mayor Mills? I noticed she hasn't been assigned an area yet."
Emma flicked her eyes in the direction of the aforementioned woman. Regina's eyes had widened in surprise at the mentioning of her name.
"Easy, Mate," Hook interjected before Emma could formulate a response. "You're just getting your legs in Storybrooke. Leave the heavy lifting to those who've actually lived here."
"I don't need you fighting my battles for me," Emma snapped in Hook's direction.
Hook held up his good hand. "Sorry, love, just trying to help."
"If you want to help," Emma said tensely, "you can start by figuring out who sent you that memory potion."
Hook slightly bowed at the waist. "Whatever you say, Swan."
Emma turned her attention back to Robin Hood. "You can help with the survey of the forest," she reluctantly agreed. She actually hadn't considered that anyone actually lived in the woods before he had mentioned it. "Grumpy, you can help him."
"Aw, man," the surly dwarf complained.
"Everyone, you have your jobs," Emma declared, raising her voice to be heard. "When you've finished your part of the city, bring your information back to the sheriff's office and we can compile a master list and go from there."
A subdued din of chatter filled the room once Emma dismissed the meeting. The collective voices were starting to give Emma a headache, but at least everyone had something to keep them busy as they now obediently filed out of the sheriff's office.
"Miss Swan." Regina's heels sounded against the tiled flooring. "You didn't give me a job."
"I thought you'd be thanking me; do you really want to tromp around the forest with that Robin Hood guy?"
Regina arched an inspecting eyebrow as her eyes followed the broad-shouldered man out the door of the sheriff's office. "Oh, I don't know. He doesn't seem so bad."
"He smells like pine trees," Emma snorted.
"Well your olfactory prejudice aside, the census was a good idea—even if I'm loath to admit it," Regina said with a small smile. "Well done, Sheriff."
"Hopefully it'll keep everyone busy for a while. It was the best I could come up with on the spot," Emma dismissed with a wave of her hand. "I think you're our best chance to figure out what happened, though."
Regina's face revealed her surprise. "Me?"
Emma retrieved a small vial from an inner pocket of her red leather jacket and dropped it into Regina's hand. "It had Hook's memory potion in it," she explained. "Maybe it will help. I want you working on a memory potion." She dropped her voice. "For Henry, and for all of you."
Regina's fingers closed around the glass container. "Thank you," she stated quietly.
"Listen, I, uh, I've got another favor to ask."
"What is it, dear?"
"I was wondering if maybe you could watch Henry tonight," Emma grimaced. "I owe Walsh some one-on-one time, and I'd prefer not worrying about Henry the entire time. I know it's probably unfair of me to ask and putting you in a difficult position—"
Regina held up a gloved hand and stopped Emma's nervous ramble. "Of course I'll watch Henry."
It did put her in a difficult position, but she wasn't going to pass up time with her son—even if he had no idea who she really was.
Emma released a deep breath. "Thanks. I didn't know if I should ask you or my parents, but I thought I should probably give you first dibs."
"An interesting way to put it," Regina smirked. "But thank you for thinking of me."
Emma bobbed her head. "Well, I should probably get going." She began to shuffle towards the front door. "I've got some sheriff-ing to do, and you've got a memory potion to work on."
"Are you in love with him?" Regina's clear voice rang out.
The question caused Emma to pause in her exit. "With who?"
"With Walsh, of course."
Emma's features scrunched together. "I … that's not a conversation I can have with you."
"Why not?"
"Because Love is totally different with you people," Emma explained, exasperation creeping into her tone.
"You people?" Regina echoed.
"All of you fairytale characters. True Love. Destiny." Emma waved her hands. "It doesn't work like that in the real world."
"I'm perfectly real," Regina huffed.
"You know what I mean."
"Need I remind you, dear, that you're one of those fairytale characters, too?"
"I'm not—"
"You are, Emma," Regina interrupted. "You were born in the Enchanted Forest—the product of True Love. And that means you have a Soulmate, a True Love, a person you're Destined to be with. So I'll ask you again," she said with practiced patience, "are you in love with Walsh?"
"I really have to go. Henry's gonna run out of reading material." Emma continued her escape in the direction of the exit. "I'll drop him off later tonight," she tossed over her shoulder.
"Coward."
At the word, Emma spun on her heel. "What did you say?" she demanded.
Regina's caramel-colored eyes flashed, and she folded her arms across her chest. "I didn't stutter, dear."
TBC