A/N: I know it's been far too long since I last updated. I promise I haven't forgotten about this story, I had a deadline to meet for my most recent novel, so I had to press the pause button on fanfiction momentarily. But I finished the new book which means I can get back to Emma and Regina. Thanks for your patience.

Chapter 15

Emma bounded up the stairs of City Hall with a white paper bag clutched tightly in one hand. She reached for the door handle to Regina's mayoral office, but stopped mid-air when she heard a strange, musical sound coming from the other side of the door. She leaned her head closer to the closed door. It sounded like...laughter.

Regina was laughing.

Emma tried the handle, and, finding it unlocked, she slowly opened the door. The mayor's normally immaculate office space had been converted into a makeshift laboratory. Beakers and vials of all shapes and sizes crowded a desk that was usually stacked high with city contracts and proposals.

Regina looked at home in the black and white decorated office, which she had taken back from Snow not long after their return to Storybrooke. It had been an noble gesture on Regina's part to let Snow and Charming resume leadership of the tiny sea-side town after the first curse had been broken, but Snow and her husband had been rulers of a kingdom, and were ill-suited for running a town in this realm.

Regina wore one of her signature pantsuits, this one charcoal grey. She looked fierce from the black stilettos that adorned her feet up to the smoky eye shadow that framed her large, expressive eyes. She was leaning against her desk with her arms folded across her chest. The posture resulted in accentuating her already hard-to-ignore breasts that tested the durability of the third button of her Oxford shirt.

It was clear that the man with whom Regina was conversing was having a difficult time keeping his eyes above her shoulders—not that Emma could blame him. She'd often found her own gaze drifting lower and lower, especially after tuning out Regina during one of her verbal tirades.

Emma cleared her throat, garnering the attention of the two other people in the room. "Hi. I thought you might need lunch." She raised the slightly crumpled paper bag in her hand as evidence.

Regina stood to her full height and tugged at the cuffs of her grey suit jacket. "Emma, you remember Robin from yesterday."

"Uh huh," Emma grunted in response. "Nice to see you again."

Robin quickly bobbed his head in a kind of curtailed bow. "And you as well, Emma." He turned his attentions back to Regina. "I should probably be getting back to my Merry Men. I hope to run into you soon, Mayor Mills."

A small smile had affixed itself to Regina's mouth. "Have a nice afternoon, Mr. Hood."

Emma's eyes followed the man out the office door. She promptly shut it closed again with Robin's departure. "What was that about?"

Regina walked behind her impressive desk. "Robin was dropping off the census information to the sheriff's office. He stopped by to say hello."

"That was certainly thoughtful," Emma drawled.

Regina looked distracted by a thought. "Indeed."

"Did he ask what you're working on?"

"Of course. Wouldn't you be curious if you saw all of this?" Regina gestured to the chemistry set spread out on her desk.

"And you told him?" Emma practically gasped.

Regina raised an eyebrow. "I'm not an amateur, Miss Swan. But even if I had, I don't think it would be a problem."

"How do you know that? What do we even know about him?" Emma pressed. "Wasn't he a thief or something in the Enchanted Forest?"

"Who robbed from the rich to give to the poor," Regina clarified with a roll of her eyes. "Besides, aren't we above playing the Villains vs. Hero card by now? You know things are never that black and white."

"Fine," Emma huffed, "but I don't have to like him."

"No one ever said anything about that," Regina countered. "Besides, you have enough boyfriends to keep you busy."

"Boyfriends?" Emma echoed.

"Walsh. That annoying one-handed pirate," Regina listed.

"Hook's a friend," Emma dismissed. "And Walsh … that's complicated."

"He's your boyfriend. And perhaps soon to be fiancé."

"Who knows nothing about me."

"Then why don't you tell him?" Regina challenged.

"That I'm the long-lost daughter of Snow White and Prince Charming?" Emma shook her head and folded her arms across her chest. "And don't give me that look, Regina. I don't see you telling Henry who you are."

"That's completely different," Regina defended. "If you see a future with this Walsh person, something's got to give."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, either you go back to New York and forget about us all, or you tell him the truth. It's as easy as that."

Emma bit her lower lip.

Regina wanted to kiss it.

Regina cleared her throat roughly. "You said something about lunch?"

"Oh. Yeah." Emma shook her head as if to clear her thoughts. "I stopped at Granny's. You've been working non-stop. I thought you might need some brain food."

The hard look on Regina's face softened. She couldn't help it; she wasn't accustomed to so many random acts of kindness, especially not from the Savior. She wanted to thank Emma for the gesture, but that wasn't her style.

"If that's some trans-fat, grease-laden product you know what my answer is."

Emma pulled a clear plastic container from the bag and set it on the desk. "Cobb salad, dressing on the side. Granny said it's one of your go-to meals."

Regina pursed her lips. "I suppose it will do."

Emma inspected the complicated apparatus set up on Regina's desk. "Any progress?"

"I'm afraid not. It's complicated magic and unfortunately not something easily replicated in this realm. I'll keep at it though."

Emma continued to linger in Regina's office. Her presence was an unwarranted distraction.

"If there's nothing else, dear, I have work to do."

"Yeah. Okay. I'll see you later."

"Oh, Miss Swan..."

Emma stopped on her way out the door. "Yeah?"

"Your parents informed me they plan to arrive at my house tonight around seven. So don't even think about being late," she warned. "Heads will roll if I'm stuck making conversation with two anxious parents-to-be."

Emma nodded grimly before taking her leave.

"A little more to the left," Regina instructed. "No, not your left, Pirate," she sharply corrected. "Mine."

Regina and Ursula stood side-by-side in the front foyer of the mayor's mansion. "Does it really matter if it's hung straight?" Ursula pointed out.

Regina walked up to the hanging mirror and tapped at its edge with one finger, realigning it ever so slightly until she was satisfied. "I want it to look like it's been here the entire time. If something goes wrong tonight, that monkey will know we're on to him and we'll have lost the element of surprise."

Hook stared at his reflection and ran his one good hand over his stumbled chin. "So how's it work?"

Regina waved her hand across the mirror's reflective surface. The air around her hand wobbled and shimmered. "I've enchanted it. If there's a magical glamour hiding someone's true self, this mirror will be able to see it. All we need to do is get Walsh and Emma to stand in front of it, and he'll be revealed."

Hook continued to peer at his reflection. "How do we know if this thing is even on?"

"Me." Ursula took a step toward the mirror. She shooed the pirate out of the way and took his place in front of the mirror. From her waist up, Ursula appeared in the mirror just as she did in life-long, wavy hair and caramel-colored skin. But from her waist down, she was all iridescent fins.

"That's some trick," Ursula breathed.

"That's bloody amazing," Hook marveled.

"Just be sure you don't stand too close to the mirror when Walsh is around, Sharkbait," Regina warned.

The doorbell sounded, and Regina left Ursula and Hook in order to answer the front door. She forced a smile to her lips. Time to play hostess, she thought drearily to herself. She'd had far too much experience plastering a plastic smile to her lips and entertaining noiseome individuals prior to her husband King Leopold's untimely death. After she had taken over the throne, she had made a vow to herself that she would never have to play the role again, but now here she was, once again put in that position.

When she opened the door, her smile widened upon discovering who was standing at the entrance, but her joy quickly soured. She was delighted to see Henry on her front stoop, but the two visitors who accompanied him made her smile falter.

"Seven o'clock," Emma proclaimed. "Right on time."

Seeing Emma day after day was becoming complicated in ways Regina couldn't have expected. The blonde had shown up on her doorstep many times before, the first to bring Henry back after he'd run away and then again to assault her prized apple tree. But ever since Emma had shown up at her house to quell the angry mob after the first curse had been broken, each subsequent visited had been easier, lighter, flirtier?

Emma had called them friends, but Regina now thought she might want more from the Savior than friendship—something the third in their party would not approve of.

Walsh.

Regina flipped a lock of hair out of her eyes. "Welcome, everyone. So glad you could make it."

Henry ducked inside and stuck out his hand. "Thanks for having us over Ms. M-, I mean Regina."

"You're very welcome, Henry." Regina took his hand and gave it an affectionate squeeze. "And how very polite of you to say so." Her gaze floated over to Emma, who'd just stepped inside herself. "Your mother raised you well."

"I had a little help," Emma mumbled for only Regina's ears. The two shared a smile-a private smile-Regina thought, which was only interrupted by the awkward thrusting of a wine bottle in her face.

"A gift for the hostess," Walsh said in a too-loud voice.

Regina accepted the bottle. "Thank you," she said, tight-lipped. She made a mental note to throw the bottle away later.

Henry, Emma, and Walsh lingered in the front foyer.

One big happy family, Regina sourly thought.

"Are we the first ones here?" Emma asked. She craned her neck to look deeper into Regina's home.

"No. Killian and Ursula arrived shortly before you all," Regina noted. "They're probably in the kitchen."

"Pilfering the rum and shrimp cocktail," Emma couldn't help but add.

Before Regina could settle into her role as hostess, the doorbell rang again.

Snow, David, and a woman Regina didn't recognize stood outside.

"I know it's poor etiquette, but I hope you don't mind us bringing along Zelena," Snow said apologetically. "She's going to be our midwife, and I thought tonight would be a good chance for her to get to know everybody."

"The more the merrier," Regina said in a flat tone.

She welcomed Snow and her prince inside, followed by the tall woman adorned in tweed. She was an unremarkable-looking woman minus the emerald pendant that hung around her neck.

"That's a lovely piece of jewelry…Zelena was it?" Regina remarked as she closed the front door.

Zelena absently touched her fingers to the green stone. "Why, thank you. It's a bit of a family heirloom. And might I compliment you on your home, Your Majesty. It's quite impressive."

Regina flicked her eyes around the foyer, worried that either Henry or Walsh might have heard the title. "We're not holding court here, dear. Please call me Regina," she stated quietly.

Regina regarded the midwife. There was something uncannily familiar about the woman, yet she was sure that they'd never met before, not in the Enchanted Forest or in Storybrooke.

"You're new to town, right?" Emma asked the question before Regina could voice it.

"Indeed. One minute I'm drawing water from a well in my village and the next I'm in this place."

Henry's eyebrows knit together. "What do you mean?"

Regina realized, too late, the slip. She glared in Snow White's direction—she had brought a stranger into her home and she obviously hadn't warned the midwife about Henry and Walsh's knowledge of this place.

"Henry," Emma said loudly, "let's go check out the food situation. I don't know about you, but I'm starving."

The doorbell rang again, announcing the arrival of yet another guest. Emma, being closer to the front door than Regina, answered the door in her stead.

She blinked, confused about the inclusion of the newest arrival to the party. "Robin?"

Robin Hood entered the mayoral mansion, eyes immediately seeking the lady of the house. He barely acknowledged Emma before stepping lively towards Regina.

"For you, Madam Mayor," he stated, producing a bouquet of wild flowers. "I wasn't sure what was appropriate, but I didn't want to come empty-handed."

"So you picked weeds?" Emma blurted out.

Regina accepted the proffered gift. "Nonsense. They're lovely." She shot Emma a censoring look. "Thank you, Mr. Hood, this was very thoughtful of you."

Robin smiled, looking pleased. "Please, call me Robin."

"Only if you'll call me Regina."

Emma loudly cleared her throat. "Who's hungry?"

TBC