Chapter IV
You Might Think it's Nice Being all Alone

Silence.

"Well?" Regina's eyes shot back and forwards between both Henry and his birth-mother. Like as not, she probably had every urge to rip something apart right now. Or someone. Emma honestly thought it odd that she hadn't done so yet. That's what vampires did. And she knew she hadn't imagined those fangs on the mayor, despite the fact that they were gone now.

She just stared at the witch... vampire... queen... whatever the hell she was with wide eyes, brain furiously trying to process everything that had happened since her kid had shown up on her door and torn her world apart. "No," she finally said, squaring her shoulders before crossing her arms over her chest. She met Regina's eyes, and was not fazed when they practically burned into her own. "Suppose you tell me?"

Regina wasn't even looking at her any longer. From the moment she'd said 'no,' the mayor had scoffed and turned her attention to the eight-year-old currently half-hiding behind his birth-mother. "Henry."

Unable to bear the scrutiny, he looked away, and then down, half-mumbling an answer over his fangs. "I made Emma have to stay?" Even muttered and spoken into his chest, he didn't sound entirely opposed to the idea.

Emma felt her mouth drop open. "What?"

Giving out an exasperated sigh, Regina just shook her head, and promptly ignored the blonde. She knelt down before her son so that she was at his eye-level. Like she'd completely forgotten Emma existed, or was trying really, really hard to do so. "It isn't that Miss Swan has to stay... it's that she cannot leave. Do you understand the difference?"

Henry shook his head.

"Henry, you've taken away her choices. And remember, our choices are what define us-"

"-As people and not monsters," Henry finished with her. For the first time, Regina looked away from her son, glaring up at Emma with a pointed look as they finished speaking together.

Henry didn't notice the glare, still looking at his mother with a slightly confused expression. "So Claiming Emma without asking her about it first is like how I'm not supposed to bite someone without their permission because it's rude and they wouldn't like it?"

Nodding, Regina gave him a tiny smile, and slid a bit of his ever-unruly hair back into place. "Exactly, dear."

He looked a bit like he understood, but glanced up at Emma with big eyes. "But you want to stay here with me, don't you, Emma?"

"I-I... wait, what?" Feeling like her brain was about three steps behind, the Hunter could only just get the words out. But no amount of confusion could keep from noticing the pained expression on Henry's face when she didn't immediately answer in the affirmative. "...Of course I do, Henry!" she continued quickly.

But the damage was done, and her son only looked at her with hurt in his eyes.

Regina glared at her, furious that anyone would dare to put that expression on Henry's face. She gave her son an affectionate pat on the shoulder, turning his attention back to her. "Henry? You need to go get ready for school. We'll talk more when you get back, okay?"

"School?" Emma echoed. She hadn't stopped to consider normal things like school.

Henry stopped looking hurt just long enough to roll his eyes. "Duh. I'm eight." The boy offered a brave smile, and Regina pulled him into a hug. It was fiercely returned before Henry broke away and headed up the stairs, throwing Emma a small smile over his shoulder before he vanished from view.

Regina rose from the floor in a single fluid gesture, all the warmth and tenderness gone from her. Henry had taken it with him when he left. "Miss Swan? A word in my study. Now." Her heels clicked quickly over the floors, headed towards a room Emma was beginning to dread.

But she followed anyway, her own ire building every moment that her questions went unanswered. Chief among them was what the hell Regina was. Though she had a guess. "So..." Emma began quietly as they walked, her voice hesitant. "...You're a Sunwalker too."

"Your powers of observation remain astounding, Miss Swan," Regina spat, holding the door open for her.

A shiver went down Emma's spine. At least that explained why Regina felt she was so... qualified, with Henry. And it also explained how Regina was able to be both a witch and a vampire. Ordinary vampires, of course, could not wield magic, as it was all fueled from the sun. But if Regina was able to walk around in the sun as she'd hinted Henry would eventually be able to do without injury... Well, it was certainly an explanation. She walked through the door, Regina hot on her heels.

The mayor was on her as soon as the door closed, arms on her shoulders and slamming her against the nearest wall before Emma could even finish the thought in her head. Just as Emma had done to her earlier. Emma winced at the suddenness of it, a hiss escaping through clenched teeth as Regina pressed her harder into the wall. The mayor's fangs were extended again, forcing Emma to freeze as soon as she noticed. Sunwalker or vampire or whatever, being this close to anyone's fangs was unnerving, to say the least.

"I'll be blunt," the mayor spat, digging her fingernails into Emma's shoulders.

Fighting had always been a way to get her to refocus. Despite her grimace of pain, Emma actually felt whatever sluggishness had been clouding her head retreat a little. This was familiar; this she could do. "Shouldn't be hard for you," Emma growled, secretly proud that she was able to think of any kind of comeback. It was about all she could do at the moment. Weaponless at night against a witch/Sunwalker... thing, whatever Regina was.

She, of course, only snarled all the more, leaning dangerously close. Closer, really, than anything with fangs had ever gotten to Emma, save once. "I don't want you here," said the mayor. And it was the understatement of the year. "But since I seem to be stuck with you, let's get one thing absolutely clear: Henry is my son and my life. Claimed or not, if you ever hurt him, I will not hesitate to rip out your throat. Understand?"

It was Emma's turn to snarl, and, with a glare, she shoved her arms up through Regina's grasp, and thrust the other woman away enough to slap her. Hard. "I would never hurt Henry!" She'd only known the kid for a day, during most of which he'd been asleep. And she was still coming to grips with what he was, but, dammit, he was her son. The son who had been forcibly ripped from her arms when he was seconds old, and who she had spent the last eight years mourning and avenging.

Regina didn't reel away from the slap. Didn't so much as raise a hand when a tiny hint of blood emerged from her split lip. Emma found that hard to believe; most vampires she'd known had been unable to resist blood in the air. But perhaps it was different when it was your own.

Regina raised an eyebrow, giving the blonde a once over before releasing her. The cut on her lip was already healing. "You just did hurt him, dear. See that it doesn't happen again." There was an air of finality about the mayor. Without another word, she stepped back and left the study.

Leaving Emma slightly stunned and stifling a swallow behind her, knowing Regina was right. But still incredibly confused. "Wait!" she ordered as she left the study and ran after the mayor. "Look, I didn't mean to hurt Henry. But this is all very, very new for me. I've never been Claimed before. I don't know what it means, and I need you to explain this to me. Now." She threw the mayor's earlier demand back at her, hoping it would have the same effect. Regina stopped walking and turned to glare daggers at her, so that was a good sign. "What do you mean you're stuck with me? What do you mean I can't leave?"

The mayor's hands were busying themselves over a briefcase, placing a small sheaf of papers within it while simultaneously rifling through a few others. The gaze she cast over the blonde was both condescending and disgusted. "A Claim is a binding contract, Miss Swan. Completely legal and, regrettably, unbreakable."

"But what the hell does it mean?!"

The mayor looked at her like she was incredibly slow-witted, head tilting slightly to the side in disbelief. She breathed out deeply through her nose. Somewhere in the back of her head, Emma wondered why, since as a vampire she didn't need to breathe. "We have several pamphlets on Claiming available at the bed and breakfast, the diner, or my office. You're welcome to pick one up." Finding the paper she wanted and ensuring it was in an easy spot to find later, she snapped the briefcase closed. "But to put it simply for you: it means that we own you now, dear."

The world seemed to fall into slow motion. "You what?"

Regina sighed. Again. "If you'd bothered to read the contract before just signing it like an idiot, you'd discover that you've signed your life over to become Henry's human, Miss Swan. You belong to him now."

It took everything Emma had to resist the urge to retch. Instead, she doubled over in a coughing fit, as if all the air had literally just been sucked out of her lungs. Regina just rolled her eyes and swept past her, moving to the bottom of the stairs.

"Henry!" she called. "Hurry up, dear!"

"Just a minute, Mom!" he answered back, and a series of rumbling footsteps could be heard as he finished getting his things.

Finally getting her breath back, Emma reached out a hand to snatch at Regina's pant leg as she moved from the stairs. The mayor avoided her, continuing to ignore the wheezing blonde as she moved to stand in front of her mirror.

"Why the hell would anyone willingly agree to 'belong' to a vampire?!"

Barely even bothering to look at her, the mayor just sighed and fluffed her hair in front of her mirror. "Every human of consenting age in this town is Claimed, Miss Swan. I suggest you ask one of them."

Getting back to her feet, Emma growled at her, tempted to spin the mayor around again to face her. She was stopped by Henry's clumping footsteps drawing nearer to the head of the steps. "Thanks for the advice, 'your majesty.'" Emma snarled, relieved to be able to breathe again. "And seriously, what the hell was that about?" At this point, it was easier for her brain to change the subject. She'd get back to the whole 'Henry now owned her thing' later. Maybe after some coffee. Or alcohol. Or both.

"Mom's the Queen!" Henry piped up helpfully as he bounded down the stairs towards the door.

"Don't run in the house, Henry," Regina replied automatically, stepping forward to straighten the lapels of her son's coat.

An eyebrow raised as Emma glanced down at her kid. "Queen of what?" But she had a feeling she already knew. When a group of vampires lived together, it was always called a hive. And all hives, of bees or wasps or vampires, always had queens. They were the hardest to kill, if only because the other vampires would die protecting her. She'd taken out a few hives over the years, barely. Emma felt her throat close in on itself again, staring at Regina with even more horror than she had before. And a tiny, tiny bit of respect. Maybe.

In a look she was sure had come from Regina, Henry just stared at her like she should already know. "The vampires," he confirmed.

Her head shot back up towards Regina. "...I thought you were the mayor."

Regina was inspecting her fingernails. Whether just in indifference or because she feared she'd chipped one or something while throwing Emma around the study, she didn't know. "Indeed, Miss Swan," she said coolly. "Mayor of the town, Queen of the vampires in the town, Pack Adviser to the werewolves and High Priestess of the witches. All of which means that after I get Henry to school, I have a very busy evening ahead of me and no further time to waste on you."

"Bye, Emma!"

"Wait! What am I supposed to do?"

Regina froze halfway out the door, took a deep breath, and then looked at her son. "Henry. ...Your human is asking for instruction."

"Oh," Henry blinked. And then burst into a grin, turning to face Emma excitedly. "Oh! Um... be here when school's over? Please?" Henry glanced at his mother for approval, and she raised an eyebrow, expecting more. "And... please don't leave town because the walls are turned on. Oh! And please don't kill anyone!" This time, Regina nodded, and together they left the house.

"Hey-!" Emma protested, intent on following behind both of them even if it meant tailing them in her bug. But before she could even shout again Regina had grabbed Henry's hand and they sped off into the night faster than she could see, only a faint 'whoosh' and a familiar blur of motion betraying the fact that they'd been there at all. Taking a deep breath, Emma only stared after them, and then her knees gave out on her.

She didn't bother getting up. Not for a long time. This was all a bit too much. She was a Hunter. It was her job and her mission to seek and destroy vampires and werewolves and any other damn thing that killed and hurt other humans. And she was good. She was damn good. There had never been a witch, werewolf or vampire she'd targeted who had gotten away from her. Even the one who'd taken Henry.

And now she was in a town full of vamps and werewolves. In a house owned by the vampire Queen, of all things. Who was also the mother of her son. Sort of. And now her son... owned her. How that even made sense, she had no idea. Emma raised a hand to her head, as if that would somehow stop its spinning. Her stomach growled loudly, interrupting her fevered, dizzying thoughts. And it was only then that she realized she hadn't actually eaten anything since her breakfast the previous evening. Food. Food would definitely help. Regina... and a shiver went down her spine just thinking about that woman, now... but she'd mentioned a diner.

Diners were good. Hopefully it wouldn't even be that hard to find. Storybrooke couldn't be that big, if the town was gated.

Being in her car was instantly grounding, just by itself. The familiarity of it was incredibly welcome. As was the nearly-forgotten satchel of her weapons, still on the passenger seat where she'd left them. She put a pair of pistols into the holsters at her back, and instantly felt more secure. It was, after all, still evening. And no matter how strenuous Regina said the laws against attacking other citizens were, Emma couldn't afford to take the risk.

The diner was as easy to find as she'd hoped. And empty. Which was honestly a relief. She didn't need any pixie-cut vampires looking for vengeance for harm done to pink cardigans. Maybe after she'd eaten, she thought with an actual grin. She could use a good fight to blow off some steam.

The waitress, when she noticed Emma's presence, looked as though she might be happy to accommodate. She stalked over with a snarl, and Emma automatically reached for her gun when she got close enough to recognize. It was the brunette with the red-streaked hair. The werewolf. "What do you want?"

"...Breakfast?" she suggested. Like the various safe havens Hunters had stashed around the country, this whole town looked like it operated on nighttime hours. Like she did. So hopefully breakfast at this hour wasn't an impossibility.

The wolf glared at her, but did get out her pencil and pad. "We stop serving breakfast at 9:30," she snarked.

Emma glanced at the clock on the wall behind her. "It's 9:20."

"So?"

A bustle from the direction of the kitchen, and an older-looking woman burst out into view. "Ruby!" she chastised. "Just take her order!"

Ruby glared at the new woman, the 'Granny' of the diner, Emma assumed, and gestured to Emma accusingly. "Granny, this is the Hunter that cut Mary Margaret! She nearly cut me!"

"You should be grateful she didn't take your head!" Granny snapped. Emma felt herself almost smiling. "Honestly. Charging a Hunter who had no idea what was going on." She shook her head in additional chastisement, and if Ruby had currently been a wolf, Emma was sure her ears and tail would have drooped.

"But-!"

Granny wasn't having it. "Go mind the kitchen, Ruby. I'll take her order." Growling a bit angrily, Ruby nevertheless stomped off, shooting Emma a yellow glare as she did so.

Watching her go with a shake of her head, Granny just sighed, then turned to Emma. "The mayor said you'd probably stop by. She asked me to make sure you got these." The older woman handed her a neat stack of about a dozen different pamphlets.

Emma took them with a raised eyebrow, setting them down on the table beside her. Apparently, Regina had known she'd come here. That was kind of unsettling. "Uh... thanks," Emma said, shaking her head. She'd worry about the mayor/Queen later. She glanced in the direction of the kitchen and the angry wolf she knew was behind it. "Look... can you..." she sighed again. "It did look like they were all attacking me and I-"

Granny waved her off, and a faint yellow glow made itself known behind her eyes. Emma's posture straightened, eying the newly-recognized werewolf a little more warily. But Granny only smiled genuinely. "Don't worry about it," she said chipperly. "There's a lot of hotheads among the younger wolves and vamps. They're a good bunch, though. It was an easy misunderstanding." Her gaze slipped down to Emma's back and she squared her shoulders. "Though I do have to ask you not bring weapons into my diner next time, okay?"

Despite being a wolf, the Hunter found herself almost instantly liking this woman. With a small smile, Emma eased her hands back to her guns, unholstered them, and placed them on the table. "...You're being awfully understanding about all this."

"I was a Hunter myself, a long, long time ago. Before the bite." She raised an arm, lifting the sleeve of her shirt high enough to show Emma the long, wicked-looking scar on her forearm. Werewolf teeth marks. Emma blanched a bit. Granny shrugged. "But this is a good town: good people, good wolves, good vamps. You don't need to Hunt them."

Hand subconsciously reaching for her neck and idly rubbing the scar from her own bite, Emma gave a sigh. "Coming here wasn't my idea," she muttered.

"So I heard. But you're here now anyway, hmm? Just enjoy it."

Emma only blinked, and looked a little sullen.

In very short time, her mood was much improved as she contentedly made her way through four scrambled eggs with cheese, hash browns, two orders of french toast, three pancakes, bacon, sausage, biscuits with butter and raspberry jam, coffee and an enormous glass of orange juice. And though it probably took her several hours to do so (she wasn't exactly keeping track of time), she ate and ate until nothing remained. She'd been very, very hungry.

Finally appeased, she decided it was about time to turn her attention to the pamphlets Regina had had sent to her. Shaking her head, the blonde only numbly grabbed them and glanced at the groan-worthy titles straight out of a 1950s public safety announcement. She stared down at them like an idiot for a few long moments, and finally picked up the one that looked least annoying. "So, You've Accidentally Claimed a Human..." appeared promising at first but turned out to be more of a warning against overindulgence. On blood. Sickened, she quickly put that one on the bottom of the stack. It was joined in short order by "Being Claimed: Bloodletting and the Risks of Hepatitis D", "Are There Supposed to be Fangs There? A Guide to Claiming," and "101 Misconceptions about Being Claimed." That last one had probably been the most helpful, but she really hadn't wanted to know how seventy-nine percent of all those Claimed begin developing sexual feelings towards their Claimers.

Groaning again, she flopped her head down onto the table, banging it a few times in her frustration. She really wanted to go kill something. But apparently she'd been ordered not to. By her son, who now owned her.

Every time she thought of the situation it galled her. Finally, after paying Granny and thanking her profusely, Emma decided it was time to go. Go where, she wasn't sure, but she guessed she may as well head back to the mayor's mansion. She gathered up her guns, slid them back into their holsters, and stood up. Henry had told her to be there when he got home, after all. And whatever else he was, he was still her son, and she didn't want to disappoint him again.

When she hesitantly opened the still-unlocked door and looked around, Henry, to her slight relief, wasn't there yet. But the hairs on the back of her neck rose, and she glanced around the interior of the house warily. One of the guns she'd forgotten to leave in the car was instantly in her hand. She wasn't alone. She heard a door swing open off to the side and, by the all-too-recognizable clicking of heels on the wooden floor, Regina's presence was announced long before she ran her eyes up and down Emma's form and gave a small huff through her nose. "You're back."

Emma rolled her eyes, and pulled the gun back. "Oh, look whose powers of observation work well," she snarked.

"I specifically remember asking you not to bring weapons into my house." Regina's eyes narrowed. A growl was rising in the back of her throat.

"Well, I forgot. Bit of a double standard anyway, isn't it? I mean, you practically are a weapon, your majesty. And you did threaten to rip my throat out. How do I know I won't need my guns?"

Regina raised a hand, curling her fingers slowly. The guns ripped themselves out of Emma's hands and back holster, flying towards the mayor. She stopped them in mid-air, looking at Emma with a smirk. "If I wanted to kill you, Miss Swan," she almost mocked, "you may rest assured you'd be dead." Regina's amusement at the idea was practically palpable.

Fuming, Emma futily reached out a hand for her weapons, not even caring that she had to get in Regina's personal space to do it. "All the more reason to keep my guns. And hey, if it bugs you so much, I'll ask Henry about it," she spat, rolling her eyes at Regina's little game of keep-away and finally just putting her hands on her hips. "He's the one who owns me, after all."

"Mmm," Regina mused, twirling her finger slowly. The guns disappeared, reappearing, Emma hoped, in the interior of her car. She'd have demanded to know, of course, but was stopped by one of Regina's hands now curling around the base of her throat. "Actually, I looked into that today." She almost playfully ran the barest edge of her fingernails down Emma's cheek. The blonde flinched, but didn't move, merely swallowing thickly and planning her next move.

Regina continued with another smirk. "Henry's a minor, dear. Which means that until he comes of age, you belong to his legal guardian." There was an audible click as Regina's fangs slid back into prominence from where they'd been retracted. She smiled, and it was not pleasant. "So, actually... you're mine, Miss Swan."

A/N: As always, a BIG thank you to my wonderful beta killer-elephants, who, in addition to keeping me from embarrassing myself, also came up with all the wonderful pamphlet titles. Thanks, darling!

~M