Remember Who You Are
Disclaimer: Blah. Blah. Not mine or yours, I think they're ABC's.
Warnings: This fanfic depicts romantic notions between two adult women. If you don't like that, well, I'm sorry for you.
Note: I'm sorry for the late update… I realized I'm a very slow writer… -_- by the way, after episode 7, do people even still wanna read about Emma/Regina? And of course, thank you Haku2009 for proof reading!
~~~ Chapter 2 ~~~
Regina looked over the newspaper and met Henry's eyes. He had maintained his glare on her throughout the entire breakfast. She won't deny that it doesn't hurt when he acts like this towards her, but years of practice have kept her composure cool and collected. As Henry becomes increasingly more defiant towards her, the more she feels she needs to maintain a strong composure.
Regina folded the newspaper setting it aside. "Finish up. I'm driving you to school." She stood up from the table leaving the kitchen to gather her briefcase.
The drive to the school was quiet. Regina stayed focused on the road ignoring the sulking boy seated next to her.
"Why do you have to drive me to school?" Henry groused.
"Because I can't trust you to do things I tell you to. Look at the mess you got into yesterday?" She took her eyes off the road briefly as to give her son a stern look. "You know the rules. You choose to break them, so this is the consequence."
Henry sank deeper into the seat, unhappy with the turn of events. This new restriction on his liberties was going to greatly compromise his Operation Cobra progress.
Emma assumed she was on a bed from the softness that ran along her bare back. Wherever she was, it was unimportant at the moment as her sole focus was the woman braced above her. She couldn't tell who this woman was as she seemed to be able to only make out one feature at a time. Dark, short hair framed a face with all the right proportions. A wave of the dark lock curled over one perfectly arched eyebrow. Emma reached up to brush aside the hair and felt herself drowning in passion filled eyes. She dropped her hand a lower, and traced the red, full lips with her fingers. The lips curled up in slight playful smirk. A grip on her wrist pulled her hand away and secured it onto the bed surface above her head. Emma quirked an eyebrow at the dominating gesture.
'Oh no you don't.' Emma planted her feet on her bed, bucked upwards and rolled over the dark woman, only to find herself continued roll, and fall, 'Whoa...'
The harsh impact on her forehead pulled her out from the dream. She blinked once, then twice to get the stars out of her eyes. When her eyes finally were able to focus on the wooden grain on the hardwood floor, she gingerly pushed herself up to a seating position, leaned her back against the bed.
'Ow.' She rubbed her tender forehead.
As much she likes this new sense of settlement in the town Emma sure missed her queen sized bed back in her Boston apartment. Mary Margaret's room offer was generous, but the twin bed is really cramping her style.
Emma turned her head and squinted at the window. By the color of the sunlight filtering through, she figured it must be late in the morning. She grabbed her cell phone off the night stand, checking the time to find it past noon.
"Shit!" She got up to her feet, only to stumble back onto the bed as the room spun around her. Staring up at the ceiling, she waited for the spinning to stop. 'Great, and I'm hung over.'
It wasn't until she was outside the Mayor's house last night that she realized she still had that unopened bottle of wine in her hand. So she came back to the apartment, finished the bottle of wine by herself, and eventually fell into a stupor.
Memories of the previous night started to trickle into her still slightly inebriated mind. She recalled why she had to run out of the mayor's house, and cringed. 'Out of all the possible things I could've done to get her out of my face I had to pick the dumbest one and kissed her.' Just thinking about it now makes her lips tingle. And along with that direction of thoughts, broken images of her dream flashed in her mind. 'Oh fuck. Did I just have a sexy dream about Regina…?'
It was another hour before Emma arrived at the Sheriff's office. Walking by Graham's office, she gave him a tired wave on the way to her own desk. She sat down and put her head on the desk.
"Glad you made it in finally." Graham said cheerfully with his Irish accent as he came out of his office. He went over to the small kitchenette and poured a cup of coffee.
With her head still on the table, "Don't be so cheerful. It's hurting my head."
The sheriff deposited the cup of coffee on the blonde's desk. "You look like crap."
Emma lifted her head at the smell of coffee. She took the offered cup and scowled at the man. "Thank you, for pointing that out so observantly." She remarked sarcastically before taking a sip of the coffee. Almost instantly she felt better as the caffeine loaded liquid slid down her throat. Looking back up at her boss sheepishly, "I was joking. I'm really sorry I slept in."
Graham shrugged. "I came by earlier and bumped into Mary Margaret on her way out. She said you came in late last night. I figured with what happened yesterday you could use a break. The town is pretty quiet this morning. I think everyone is overly worked up yesterday. We don't usually get this much excitement."
"Well, thanks anyway. I really appreciate it." She reached over and patted Graham's hand. She raised her eyebrows when she caught a faint blush rising up in the man's face. 'Oh boy. I so do not need this right now.' "Okay, give me a few minutes to get my shit together and I'm gonna go do my round of patrol." Emma turned and grabbed a file randomly pretending to study it.
Emma parked her patrol car across the street from the school, got out and leaned casually against it. A few minutes later, the final bell rung and a herd of children rushed out of the building. Scanning each little face, her eyes finally fell on one that she was looking for.
A smile stretched across her face involuntary at the sight of the boy. And Henry readily returned the grin when he spotted her. Emma pushed away from the patrol car and started to walk across the street towards him but stopped when a dark figure fell into step with him.
Emma caught Regina's eyes as she shot her a warning glare before guiding Henry towards her black Mercedes. Uncharacteristically, Emma simply just stood where she was awkwardly, unsure of what she should do.
Watching Regina walk further away from her she fought the urge to follow. What was she supposed to say? Maybe start with an apology, but how do you apologize for kissing the woman you supposedly hated her guts without admitting things she's not quite ready to at the moment?
Regina took Henry back to her office with her. After some grumbling and mumbling, he finally settled in a corner of the office and started on his homework. Regina then went back to her desk to continue the work she started earlier.
Yesterday was a wakeup call for her.
She had become complacent, too careless. She looked down at the notes she had scribbled, so far outlining issues that needed immediate addressing; from Graham hiring Emma as deputy behind her back to Archie threatening her to Emma settling in town for good. Graham and Archie on top of her list to be dealt with for insubordination.
With Emma, Regina was sure the woman played a much larger role than just being Henry's birth mother set on driving a wedge between her and her son. She needed more time to strategize her approach. So far she had underestimated the blonde. Emma had already proven she had an uncanny ability to get under Regina's skin. She didn't know what prompted the new deputy to kiss her last night but if she meant to frazzle her it worked.
She idly made circles around Emma's name. She really didn't want to think about the woman but if she were to figure this mess out she had to. She just had to remind herself to be cautious when dealing with her.
The next day, after dropping Henry off at school, Regina steered her car onto the town's Main Street, stopping in front of a two-story brownstone. She got out of the car, her movement smooth, graceful, and controlled. She stepped onto the curb, crossed the sidewalk and walked into the building, not sparing a single glance at her surroundings.
Dr. Hopper was in the middle of a session with a patient when Regina barged in. He protested her interruption, but a steady, stern look from her to his patient was enough to send the nervous townsman up from his seat, stammered a request to reschedule his appointment, and bolted out the office. With a satisfied smile on her face, she closed the door and took the recently vacant seat across from the doctor, who had a warily look on his face.
She crossed her legs, neatly folded her hands and placed them on her knee. "So, you must be feeling pretty proud of yourself. You know, standing up for yourself finally."
Archie swallowed nervously, trying to maintain composure in the presence of the intimidating Mayor. His display of confidence began faltering without the adrenaline from his near death experience a few days ago. "I did what I had to do."
"While I'm somewhat impress that you stood up to me at all, I must be clear that I have zero tolerance for any threats made to me." Regina's tone took a cold turn as she continued. "You need to know that I hold no regard to your pathetic threat about being a character reference in court."
"I'm not afraid to face you in court." Archie held his ground.
Regina simply smiled. "I'm going be kind and give you a chance to not make a fool of yourself. You want to provide a reference of my character? And give accounts on how I am detrimental to my son's well being? Those are very serious claims you are making. I hope you have all the negative effects I have on Henry properly documented in his progress notes." She paused. "Oh wait, you don't."
Archie broke eye contact and Regina reveled in the fact that he knows he had lost. "I have access to Henry's progress files during the entire time he was treated by you. You have nothing on me. If you insist on taking this talk to court, I'll take you there, Archie. And I will sue you for reinforcing the delusions my son has and resulted in putting his life at risk. What do you think will become of your license to practice then?"
Regina watched with pleasure a small bead of sweat rolling down the psychologist's temple. "I will give you an opportunity to make a conscientious choice here. Allow your personal vendetta against me to end your career or do as I say and keep your practice. Just think of all the grateful town folks if you can remain available to help them out with their pitiful life problems."
Archie glared at the mayor. He didn't think he had the capability to hate someone as much as he hated Regina now. And he hated it more that she was right. He had nothing on her. He should have known breaking away from her control would require more than a quick idea that popped into his head as he was hanging on for his dear life in the mine shaft. Now the manipulative woman had effective put him in a position where he cannot put his own interest before all other people that needed his help.
Judging by the silence and brooding look she was receiving, Regina figured she had won this battle. With a pleasant smile on her face, she stood up, straightened her dress, and delivered a piece of advice to Archie before she left. "Listen dear, next time you make a threat, you better have the guns big enough to back it. Otherwise it will just backfire on you."
Regina waltz into the Sheriff station, spotting Graham in his office, relieved to find the station free of the blonde deputy. Graham immediately got up from his chair when he noticed the Mayor, offering her a seat across his desk.
"Don't bother." Regina waved him off. "This won't take long." She smiled in satisfaction as Graham nervously sat back down.
"What can I do for you, Madam Mayor?"
"You've already done enough, don't you think? I don't know what you hope to accomplish by hiring Miss Swan as deputy, knowing full well it's not something I approve of. Was it really worth it to get on my bad side?" she asked him.
"Look, I just thought it would be good for Henry if Emma sticks around," he stammered.
"Good for Henry?" Regina shot him a hard look. "Or good for you?" His actions were just a silly attempt to win over his schoolboy crush and they were really annoying her. At least he had the decently to look away shamefully. "Well, enjoy your little victory while you can. Cause the town's new budget is up for review next month, and truth be told, I think a complete organizational overhaul will be good for the sheriff department."
"You can't," Graham protested.
"I can," Regina cut him off. "And I will." She paused long enough for him to be convinced she would carry out her threat. "However, you can still redeem some of your usefulness by keeping tabs on Swan for me. I want to know her every move. Cases she works on. People she talks to. She does anything, and I mean ANYTHING, in or out of the ordinary, I want to know about it."
"You're really crossing the line! I'm not betraying Emma's trust like that." He slammed his hands on the desk.
Regina slammed her hands down even harder. "And yet you have no qualms betraying me? You should know better than anyone else what I'm capable of. So if you are smart, Graham, you will do as I say or I cannot guarantee the well being of your new deputy."
Graham stared at her incredulously. "You not saying…"
"You know exactly what I am saying," She affirmed coldly.
"Don't hurt her," he practically begged.
Regina fought the urge to roll her eyes. 'God, he is easy to manipulate.' "Then you know what you need to do."
Regina walked out of the sheriff station. Taking a deep breath of fresh air, she looked up at the sky, noting gray clouds moving in for an impending storm.
'What a glorious day,' Regina thought. For the first time in weeks she was finally feeling like her old self.
Power is such an exhilarating phenomenon.
Seeing things getting back on track the way she wants them to put her in an exceptionally pleasant mood. Maybe she'll even take Henry out for a sundae after he gets off school. Feeling renewed Regina couldn't keep the grin off her face.