Underneath The Surface

An Opposing & Unaware Partnership

Author's Note: I am forever indebted to lzclotho, without whom my writing would be flatter, duller and without spice. I tip my hat to her talent and raise a glass to her generosity.

"Did you just…?" Regina glanced from the wood chip to Emma, who looked back with wide eyes.

"I think I did, yeah."

Regina took a step closer, the beer in her hand forgotten. "Can you do it again?"

Emma turned her attention back to the wood chip, focusing so hard that Regina half expected it to burst into flame. After two minutes of nothing but fresh sweat sliding down Emma's temple, Regina stepped forward and rested her hand on Emma's shoulder lightly. "Stop. I don't want you to overexert yourself. Drink."

"Thanks." Emma slumped and wiped the sweat away before reaching for the glass mug with a shaking hand. She drank half of it without stopping. When she finally stopped to breathe she said, "It's like running. It's a good feeling when it works, but damned exhausting."

Regina nodded, understanding the feeling all too well. "It's curious that your magic is working, even just a little, while mine remains elusive." She murmured, trying hard to squelch the niggling jealousy. "Perhaps it has something to do with being the child of True Love...Your magic is elemental, whereas mine had to be learned, and fought for."

Emma shrugged. "I don't know enough to have a good answer for you, Regina." She looked back at the wood chip and drained the rest of the glass before setting it on the stump.

Regina took a couple of steps toward the diner and chewed her bottom lip silently for a few heartbeats as a suspicion slowly took root. "Have you attempted this before?"

"Yeah, a few times, but I never got results like that."

Regina spun on her heel with a frown. "You've done this before and never told me?"

"I was getting these headaches afterwards...I didn't want to worry you."

"What happened to being a team, Emma? What if one of those times something had happened?" Regina was on the verge of yelling.

"I wasn't thinking about that. I just…" Emma reached for her girlfriend's arm.

Regina batted the hand away. "Don't! Just…" Regina backed away, her upraised hand still warding off any intimacy. "I need to...I need to figure out what this means." Regina turned from Emma and stalked away around the corner of the building.

"Shit!" Emma dragged her hands through her hair, scrunched up her face at how dirty it felt and kicked viciously at the wood chip. She glanced up in the direction Regina had taken, sighed heavily and followed her girlfriend.

Thankfully, Emma met no one as she made her way to the B&B and up the stairs to their room. She was met with a cold, stony silence as she entered and quietly shut the door behind her. "We should talk about this."

"Now you want to talk?" Regina sat rigidly on the bed with her back to the door. "You didn't seem to feel the need earlier."

Emma stepped around the bed. "I'm sorry, I really was trying to keep you from worrying. I love you, 'Gina."

"You certainly have an odd way of showing it."

"Look, I didn't mean to hurt you…"

"You didn't mean to, Emma?" Regina shot off the bed and advanced with a dangerous glint in her eyes. "You never mean to hurt me, but somehow you always do! You have made a career out of doing what you thought was best, and to hell with what anyone else thinks!"

"That's not fair, and you know it." Emma replied quietly.

"Not fair?!" Regina's voice was rising. "Not fair? What isn't fair is being dragged into some place I don't know with no way to get back, not having my magic and being expected to be happy when I find out the woman I love has been keeping something this important from me!"

"Regina, I've told you before that I was sorry for that damned portal…"

"So you have, but do you mean that? Or were you hoping that maybe I wouldn't find out that you had your magic back?"

"Regina, you need to calm down, someone is going to hear you…"

"Right now I couldn't care less, Emma! When were you going to tell me? Or were you ever going to? Were you hoping you wouldn't have to? Perfect a portal and leave me here? Go back to Storybrooke, back to our son and leave me?"

"Regina, you're being ridiculous now…"

"Am I?" The brunette's eyes narrowed. "And you aren't? You don't understand…"

"I understand all too well!" Emma interrupted. "You don't think I feel bad for bringing us here? You don't think I feel the slightest bit guilty that I have my magic back, which I don't even damn well understand on the best of days, while you don't? You don't think I haven't noticed you seem to be settling in and getting all cozy?"

"What choice did I have?" Regina spit back. "You were off being the goddamned Saviour again...saving someone else's child while we're separated from ours! What was I supposed to do, wait at home for you like a meek little girlfriend? I don't think so! That's not me and you know it!"

"I know you're not used to this kind of life, Regina…"

"You've got that right!"

"I know you're out of your element here…" Emma tried to be reasonable. "But what did you expect me to do? Even back in Storybrooke, I'm expected to 'fix' whatever happens. They put the title of Saviour on me, I never wanted it and you know that! So what was I supposed to do, turn down Callie when she asked for my help?"

"You left me, Emma!"

"I didn't think you need hand holding!"

"I don't! I needed my girlfriend!"

"I was here!" Emma gestured wildly at the room."Every day we're here, I see you settling in, taking on this position with Charlie, working on Patty's gardens, what was I supposed to do? While you were smiling and baking and looking for all the world like you were home, all I could think of was getting back to Henry! Every time I made the weather change, every time I made a chunk of wood move even an inch, I was that much closer to getting us home."

"When you weren't saving that girl, you were off cutting wood, or doing something for Patty, making yourself available to everyone but me!" Regina pounded at Emma's chest with a closed fist. "Every night, you fall asleep exhausted beside me. I read that blasted book night after night, and I am no closer to getting back to our son than I was when we first got here."

Regina shoved away from Emma. "I got out of a lousy, abusive childhood by doing something! Learning magic. I thought my happiness would be in making a town I could run, so I did what I had to to create Storybrooke. I killed my own father to get what I thought I desired most, Emma!" The admission crumpled Regina slightly.

"I have always done what needed to be done, and we get here and I can't do a damned thing but read books! I can't find the answers there. I'm not supposed to be upset when I find out you've been keeping things from me?!"

Emma paced to the dresser. "Damn it, Regina, it's not always about you, it's…"

"It's about getting home!"

"You don't trust me!" Emma's hand shot out and swept the stack of books onto the floor. "You're so busy thinking I'm going to abandon you…"

"Everyone else has!" Regina crossed quickly to pick up the book on spells. "All my life it's been a fight for control!" She clutched the book to her chest, not caring that the others remained at their feet. "Everyone else steered my life the way they thought it should go, and only magic…"

Emma grabbed Regina's upper arms and shook her. "This is me! Not Rumple, not your mother, but me! How many times do I have to save your ass to get that through to you? How many times do I have to tell you I love you? That I won't abandon you? How many times do I have to show you I'm on your side?"

Regina twisted away, kicking the books still on the floor."As many times as it takes!"

Emma stepped in front of Regina and wrapped her arms around her.

Regina struggled to step out of the embrace, but Emma held firm. "People lie, Emma, you know this as well as I do. What matters is what people do, time and time again." Regina's voiced cracked. "Both of us have learned that the only way to survive was to count on ourselves. Here, we have each other, and I need to know that..." Regina took a deep breath. "That I can still count on you…"

"Always, 'Gina, always." Emma sighed heavily and kissed Regina's forehead. "So what do you want to do?"

Regina blew out a shaking breath and leaned into Emma's chest. "I want to go home to Henry. I want to work together. No more secrets, no more trying to shield me from the truth. We have always been stronger when we work together. With the wraith, in Neverland, even against your parents. We need to work together."

"What do you want to do?"

"Well, we could explore the lust to magic ratio." Regina looked up into Emma's eyes hopefully.

Emma wiped the tears from Regina's cheeks and chuckled. "I like the sound of that."

"Stay with me. To hell with the wood, and the renovations. Let's…"

Emma silenced Regina with a kiss. "Yeah, I think I hurt something earlier. Maybe I need a massage or something…" Emma eased the book from Regina's grip and blindly tossed it onto the dresser. "Share a bubble bath?"

"That sounds divine."

They had just stepped out of the tub and had started to dry off when a knock came at their door.

"Regina? There's a phone call for you downstairs. It's Charlie. She wants to know if you can come over to The Moose for a few minutes."

Regina blew out a resigned breath and turned to Emma even as she answered Callie. "Give me a minute, Callie? I'll get the phone."

They heard the teenager retreat.

"What do you think, Emma?"

"I'm tired. Fighting with you is exhausting." Emma smiled reassuringly. "You go find out what Charlie wants."

Regina stepped into Emma's space and ran a long finger down a collarbone. "We could still try some things later tonight. I can get some herbs from the diner that might help."

"We going to try that lust to…" Emma swallowed hard as Regina's touch quickened her pulse.

"I thought we might." Regina purred.

"You don't need herbs for that, babe. Your touch alone…" Emma drew in Regina's scent. "Go answer the phone, but don't forget our date."

Regina kissed her lightly. "Oh, I won't."

Emma chuckled as Regina stepped away to finish dressing. "I just remembered, Cinderella had to be back by midnight or the spell would be broken."

"Oh, I'll be back long before then. There is a reason it's called the witching hour. We may find more success at the stroke of midnight…"

"At the stroke of something anyway." Emma replied with a grin.

Regina's face pinked. "Indeed, love. Rest. I'll be back soon."

Inside the Sneezing Moose, Regina spotted Callie watching for her in a booth at the back. The teen waved her over and Regina joined her sliding into the bench opposite.

"I hope you don't mind, I needed to talk to you outside the house, but without mom finding out."

"Ah. That explains why the phone was hung up."

"Actually, there was no phone call." Charlie appeared beside the table with a cup of coffee for Regina. "Callie has an idea and I thought I might be a good excuse to get you out of the house. Hope we didn't disturb you."

"It's fine. I was out of the bath by then anyway."

"Are you hungry?"

"A little."

"You like cheeseburgers, right?"

"I'm not supposed to, but perhaps I can get away with one today. There are times that a cheeseburger can be quite satisfying."

Charlie smiled. "One cheeseburger, coming right up."

"So what are you up to, Callie?" Regina sipped at her coffee.

"Well, I was thinking...Mom hasn't really had any time off in weeks. I'd like to make a nice meal for her, but …"

"I see."

"You're such a good cook, and I could learn a thing or two from you in the kitchen. Charlie said she could take mom to a movie afterwards."

"Hmm. Let me think about it for a bit. I may have a few suggestions for you."

"Cool, thanks!" Callie took a cookbook from the bench beside her and began turning pages.

Regina cradled her cup and watched the front of the diner thoughtfully.

When she had finished her cheeseburger, Regina excused herself and went to talk to Charlie at the long counter. "Charlie, I was wondering I could borrow a few herbs."

The older woman, so much like Eugenia Lucas, chuckled. "It's not like I'll be wanting those back when you're done with them. You take whatever you need."

Regina smiled and nodded once. "I suppose that's true. Thank you."

"Anytime. How was the illicit burger?"

Regina's brow furrowed.

"Anytime someone looks that guilty over a cheeseburger, they're either dieting or think they aren't allowed for some other reason."

Regina chuckled. "It was very good."

"Do you have any plans this afternoon?"

"Emma thinks she may have strained something earlier, so she's sleeping right now. Why?"

"I was wondering if you could show me how you make your apple strudel."

"I have time. Just let me get my cup and I'll meet you in the kitchen." Regina strolled back to the booth. "Callie, Charlie wants me to show her how to make my strudel. Would you like to help me?"

"Sure." Callie smiled and scooted out of the booth and into the kitchen.

Regina had just finished taking a tray from the oven when they all heard the phone ring.

"I'll get that. Be right back." Charlie said.

"Callie, can you get the other two trays out and set them here on the cooling racks?" Regina asked.

"Sneezing Moose…" Charlie's voice floated back. "Oh hi! Sure, yeah I'll go get her."

Charlie came halfway back into the kitchen. "Regina, Emma's on the phone for you."

Regina wiped her hands on the apron she had tied around her waist and followed Charlie until she came to the end of the counter. As she turned to go to the customer side, Charlie spoke up again.

"You can stand on this side, you know. You are the Sneezing Moose's baker after all."

The brunette smiled quickly and stepped to where the phone lay waiting. "Emma? Is everything alright?"

"Sure, yeah, just wondering what you were up to."

"Charlie asked me to show her how I make strudel. I thought that since you were napping…"

"I get it, no problem."

"Are you hungry?"

She could hear the smile in Emma's voice. "I'll be right there."

Regina hung up and turned to Charlie. "Emma is on her way over. Have I ever mentioned that she eats like a teenager?"

"I'll put another burger on." Charlie laughed.

Once Callie and Regina had cleaned up the mess they had made in the kitchen, they went back to the booth. They had no more than settled on their seats than Emma strode through the front door.

Regina slid herself and her coffee over to make room and smiled at her girlfriend. "Did you get any rest?"

Emma shot a smile across the table. "Hey Callie."

"Hi Emma."

"I slept like a baby." Emma answered Regina's question. She felt Regina take her hand under the table and give her fingers a gentle squeeze.

"What are you up to?" Emma glanced at the cookbook in front of Callie.

"I want to make a nice meal for my mom, I'm thinking Mexican since there's nowhere in D. Lake to get it."

"D. Lake?"

"It's what all my friends have shortened it to. We all call it that."

"Gotcha."

"So I was hoping Regina would…"

"Wait, let me guess." Emma chuckled and held up a hand. "You're hoping Regina will cook this meal for you."

"Well, she is a really good cook. And Charlie offered to take Mom out to a movie afterwards. I could stay at Gen's house for the night…" Callie turned to Regina with a bright smile.

"Sounds like you've given this a lot of thought." Emma commented.

"There is a movie Patty has been wanting to see…" Charlie said as she set a cup of coffee down in front of Emma. "Besides Regina and Emma, you don't have any guests right now, do you, Callie?"

"They're more like family now than guests, Charlie!"

"When would you like to …?"

"Carry out Operation Enchilada? As soon as possible." Callie replied.

Regina inhaled in surprise and began to choke and splutter. Emma patted Regina on the back until she regained control over her breathing.

"You're supposed to drink it, Regina, not inhale it." Emma said. "You named your plan?"

"Why not? They name military maneuvers all the time don't they? How long would we need, Regina?"

"Well, you need to decide first on the dishes you want to make, we'll need to shop for the meal, figure in cooking time...I think tomorrow could be the soonest we could pull this off."

"I can decorate a little. Make it more romantic." Emma offered.

"You can hide the shopping and cook here if that'll make it easier." Charlie suggested. "It's pretty quiet after the lunch rush.

"I think that's a splendid idea." Regina agreed.

"Callie, give me a hand in the kitchen, will ya?" Charlie asked.

"Be right back!" The teenager scooted off the bench and disappeared into the kitchen.

"You all right?" Emma peered at Regina while she rubbed her back.

"I'm fine." Regina smiled quickly. "I wasn't expecting her to name it…"

"I know, sometimes she reminds me so much of…"

"Here we are!" Charlie interrupted and sat two plates down, one in front of each of them.

"What's this?" Emma glanced up in surprise.

"Regina showed Callie and I how she makes her strudel, so I thought it only fair that everyone gets a piece!" Charlie smiled and moved off to help Callie serve everyone else in the diner as well.

"Okay then." Emma picked up her fork and began to eat. Before she even finished the flaky pastry, her cheeseburger had been brought to the table. "Dessert before dinner." She added so quietly that only Regina would hear. "I can only imagine what Snow would say."

Regina made a noise of agreement around her fork.

"So after we're done here, what would you like to do?" Regina asked once she had finished her slice of strudel.

Emma chewed and swallowed. "Well, I believe I promised my girlfriend some lusty alone time," she replied in a hushed tone.

"I have some herbs that we might find helpful, and yes, I know what you're going to say, but hear me out, dear. There were plants back in the Enchanted Forest that would assist one in reaching certain goals." Regina replied just as low. "I'm hoping that we may find the same true of the plants here. Besides, you aren't going to turn down a massage with warmed oil, now are you?"

Emma turned her head ever so slightly. "That depends, what's going to be in the oil?"

Regina chuckled. "Relax, I'm not going to lace it with marijuana." She reached under the table and gave Emma's thigh a gentle squeeze. "I promise you will enjoy it though."

"In that case, I'll skip the second beer." Emma murmured and focused on finishing her burger.