A/N: Sorry this chapter took a few days longer than normal - I had a bit of trouble with it, and I was a little preoccupied with all the feels from the most recent episode. Anyway, happy reading, and please let me know what you think!
I still don't own the show.
Chapter 11: The Eye of the Storm
Emma and Mary Margaret enter Storybrooke High School at 7:15 on the dot, and they're slightly surprised to see Mayor Mills in Mr. Gold's office already, although perhaps they shouldn't be. Regina is sitting on the bench outside the door, looking like she wishes she could disappear, but she smiles when she sees the pair walk in.
"They've been in there for almost thirty minutes," she offers in place of a greeting.
"Do you have any idea what's going on?" asks Mary Margaret, casting a worried glace through the glass door. It's pretty obvious from the expressions on Cora and Gold's faces that their conversation is not a friendly one.
Regina shakes her head. "They strengthened the soundproofing spell on the office and gave me strict orders to wait outside."
"How were things with your mom this morning? Are you okay?"
"Completely fine. She scolded me a bit for showing weakness in front of the entire school, but I think she's got bigger things on her mind."
"Like Zelena?" Emma suggests darkly, shaking her head at the mayor's coldness. She's seen her fair share of parents who don't care about their kids, but Cora Mills has to be among the worst of them.
"She hasn't mentioned her specifically, but I doubt she could have heard about the fight and not about Zelena's little revelation. It's probably not something she wants to talk about - to me, anyway."
"Probably why she's talking to him," Mary Margaret mutters, gesturing to the office with her thumb.
"Did she mention anything about why she needed to come get you at the butt-crack of dawn?"
"I'm so sorry about that. I'm pretty sure it was just to remind me she's the one in control. By the way, Miss Blanchard, just in case it comes up, she thinks I threatened you with magic to keep my injuries secret from her yesterday."
"What? But that's not true, I chose-"
"I know, but it's better this way," Regina says decisively. "If she thinks you're bold enough to lie to her, she'll never let me come over again."
Mary Margaret sighs. "I don't want you to take the fall for my actions."
"I was going to have to take the fall anyway - there's no way to keep secrets from her." Mary Margaret's eyes are shining with tears and her arms move, for a second, like she's about to reach out and hug Regina, but she quickly shoves them into her pockets. "We got lucky, though, that she had to go to Portland last night," Regina continues, giving no indication that she notices the teacher's emotional turmoil.
"That was very lucky," Mary Margaret agrees. "She didn't happen to mention why, did she? It seemed a little strange and abrupt."
Regina shrugs her shoulders. "I try not to ask too many questions."
"Let's find out," Emma says, noticing the large black handbag beside Regina. "Is that her purse?"
"Yes, I'm watching - Emma!" Regina's eyes nearly pop out of their sockets as Emma starts rifling through the bag. "What are you doing?"
"Looking for evidence, of course," Emma explains. She finally glances up, holding Cora's phone, to see that Regina is shaking and on the verge of tears, and Mary Margaret is trying to position her body in front of the door to obstruct them from view. "Don't worry, guys, this will only take a minute. I know what I'm doing."
It barely takes ten seconds to unlock Cora's phone. Emma would have thought such a powerful and crafty woman would have a slightly more interesting passcode than 1-2-3-4, but she supposes that the mayor never suspected anyone would have the audacity to steal her things.
"Um...nothing on her calendar...she had three outgoing calls to someone named 'Walsh' yesterday afternoon - one of them was twenty minutes long."
"I have no idea who that is," Regina whispers. "Now put away the phone, Emma, please!" Emma quickly grabs a pen from Cora's purse and writes Walsh's number on her arm before replacing everything exactly as she found it.
"Relax," she tells Regina, placing a comforting hand on the other girl's shoulder. "I'm pretty much an expert at not getting caught."
"Your criminal record would suggest otherwise," the brunette quips. She lays her hand on top of Emma's and looks up with wide, scared eyes. "Just promise me you'll be careful? You have no idea what she's capable of, and I don't want to lose you."
"You won't," Emma promises. "I'm just going to the library to do some research. Is that okay?"
"If you're not back in ten minutes, I'm sending a search party,"
"Got it."
xx
After some quick and fruitful Googling - she thinks maybe she should be a detective - Emma returns to find Regina and Mary Margaret. They're no longer in front of Gold's office, so she checks her foster mom's classroom next. Mary Margaret is outside, talking to Gold and Dr. Hopper, and she motions for Emma to go inside and shut the door.
"Your mother left?" she asks Regina, who is sitting at her usual desk, wringing her hands and not even pretending to read. "Are you okay?"
"She and Gold were about to start attacking each other. Mary Margaret and Dr. Hopper split them up before anyone got hurt, then she stormed out."
"What the hell?" Emma wonders.
"They have a complicated relationship," Regina says like that explains everything. "I don't totally understand it - I don't know if I want to understand it."
"Anyway, I found out about that Walsh guy. Walsh Oz. He's a private adoption attorney in Portland."
Regina wrinkles her nose in confusion. "Adoption attorney? Oh, I guess that makes sense. Zelena..."
"At least your mom gets a point for not leaving her infant by the side of the road."
"Maybe the one decent parenting decision she's ever made. Good job, Mother. So, you think she went to see him yesterday." It's a statement, not a question.
"I mean, from what I know of your mother, it was most likely a closed adoption. That means no contact and no information about the birth parents. She was probably pissed that Zelena managed to find out about her and went to the lawyer demanding answers."
"You don't think she would have...hurt him, do you?"
"You know her better than I do - I just know a lot about adoptions."
Regina sighs, eyes darkening. "I suppose someone should start planning this Walsh's funeral, then. And find Zelena and tell her to watch her back."
Emma is about to ask why she even cares what Cora does to Zelena when Mary Margaret comes back into the classroom. "Emma and Regina, Dr. Hopper would like to speak to both of you."
Emma isn't at all surprised and quickly gets up from her desk, but Regina remains seated, shaking her head stubbornly. "I don't need to talk to Dr. Hopper."
Mary Margaret crosses her arms as if to show she can be just as stubborn, in her own way. "By order of Mr. Gold," she informs both of them. "I'm not asking, Regina, I'm telling."
Regina glares up at Mary Margaret, and for an instant, Emma is worried that her old hatred of the teacher, largely forgotten over the past few days, is about to rear its ugly head. But the anger in her eyes is quickly replaced by fear. "Mother..." she whispers.
"She's not here, Regina. She won't find out," Emma says, grabbing the brunette's hand. She thinks she has some idea of what Regina is afraid of, and it makes her physically ill. "He probably just wants to talk about Zelena, anyway."
"She can't find out," Regina says desperately, locking eyes with Mary Margaret.
"I promise you, she won't. I've learned my lesson, Regina, but you have to do this." Regina searches Mary Margaret's face for a minute before swallowing hard and nodding. Then she extracts her hand from Emma's and walks out of the room on her own, head held high.
xx
"So, Regina, we should probably start by addressing when this issue with Zelena started," Dr. Hopper begins awkwardly.
"Yes, I suppose we should," Regina says in a businesslike tone, but then she stares at her hands and makes no move to start talking.
Dr. Hopper waits patiently for a few minutes before suggesting, "If it would make you more comfortable to speak to me alone, I can ask Emma to-"
"No!" Emma suddenly feels nails digging into her forearm and a grip so tight it will probably leave a bruise.
"Okay, I'm not going anywhere" she says, wincing in pain. "You don't have to cut off my circulation."
"Oh...sorry."
"Emma stays," Dr. Hopper agrees. Regina's grip relaxes, but her hand doesn't move from its position. She sits stiffly, silently, like she's forgotten she's the one who's supposed to talk and is waiting for someone else to start.
"Zelena issues," Emma prompts. "You told me it was a gradual thing."
"Yes," Regina says slowly, looking at Emma and not Dr. Hopper. "She was kind to me when I first met her. We were in Theory of Magic together, and it was...slightly difficult for me. She was very supportive."
"Okay," Dr. Hopper says, sounding relieved that they're getting somewhere. "And what changed?"
"She...I..." Regina takes her hand off Emma's arm and starts fidgeting with her ring. "I confided in her, some things that - that I don't feel like discussing right now because they were quite...personal." Emma reaches over to gently cover Regina's hands with her own as they start to shake, and the brunette gives her a grateful smile before continuing. "Like I said, at first she was very supportive, almost like...like an older sister," she says with a grimace.
Dr. Hopper sits patiently, waiting for her to continue.
"But then she started...'teasing me' sounds so childish, but that's what it was. It was only about little things at first, and she tried to make it seem playful, and I thought...I thought for a while that I was just being too sensitive. For example, she'd see me eating something and subtly comment about my weight, or what my mother would say about it, and...I knew. I knew that I shouldn't have let it hurt me, but..."
"She knew how to exploit your insecurities," Dr. Hopper suggests.
"Right," Regina says, looking up at the counselor for the first time. "And it really wasn't so bad. I could handle it. But then, she'd start bringing up-"
Suddenly, Regina is choking back sobs and her entire body is trembling, and Emma wonders if Dr. Hopper knows about Dani and the whole heart-ripping story - she assumes those are one and the same because, really, how much pain can one person take? - and if he's thought about treating Regina for PTSD, because she probably needs it.
Just maybe not right now, when there's so much else to be dealt with.
Emma slides her arms around Regina, tugging the other girl tightly into her own body in a way that she hoped comes off as supportive rather than suffocating. "I think we should change the subject," she informs Dr. Hopper.
"Right." He clears his throat awkwardly. "How about you, Emma? Has Zelena done anything of significance to hurt you?"
"Um, no, not really...except for the hallway incident that everyone saw." She doesn't feel like mentioning exactly what Zelena had done to her in the hallway. Regina's head is buried in her shirt and she's trying so hard to keep herself together. Saying the words out loud might be the thing that sends her over the edge. "She wasn't particularly nice to me, because I'm friends with Regina, but she never tried to hurt me specifically."
"Alright." Dr. Hopper looks like he knows there's more to this story, but he doesn't press. "Regina," he says softly, "was the incident in the hallway yesterday the first time she's done something to harm you physically?"
Regina raises her head from Emma's chest and sniffs. "Yes...kind of," she amends when the blonde shoots her a quizzical look. "It's the first time she's hurt me badly."
"So there were instances of more mild injury?"
"We're studying magic. Things can get messy," she mumbles.
Dr. Hopper nods. "It seems like you're saying most of these problems with Zelena happened in Mr. Gold's class." Without waiting for a response, he continues, "What, if anything, did Mr. Gold do in response?"
Regina squeezes her eyes shut before once again resting her head against Emma.
"Nothing," Emma supplies.
"I see." Dr. Hopper studies both of them like he's sizing up how much more he'll be able to ask without Regina completely shutting down. The brunette is gradually pressing her body closer against Emma's, lifting her arms to hold tightly to her friend's waist.
"May I ask how you feel about Zelena claiming to be your sister?" the school counselor asks tentatively. Emma raises her eyebrows at his choice of question. It's a complete non-sequitur, but maybe that's the point - she's never completely understood how this kind of thing works.
Regina doesn't respond right away. When she finally looks up, she has a far-off, thoughtful look in her eyes, and she's addressing Emma like she's forgotten Dr. Hopper is even in the room. "Do you think Gold knew?"
Emma's brow furrows in confusion. "About Zelena? I know she's obsessed with him, but he doesn't seem like the kind of guy you'd go to with your deep personal-"
"Not from her." Regina shakes her head. "I mean, maybe she would have - I'm not going to pretend I understand how she thinks. But Gold, and my mother, they were...not friends, exactly, but they've known each other for a long time. He taught her magic."
"He taught her - oh shit!" Emma exclaims as a disturbing thought enters her mind. "You don't think he's her father, do you? I mean, Zelena's father."
"No!" Regina looks like she might vomit. "I hope not, anyway."
"Yeah, that would make all her attempts to seduce him even more disgusting than they already are."
"Please stop talking," Regina begs, rubbing her eyes against Emma's shoulder like she's trying to remove the terrible picture that's been burned into them.
"Yeah, thanks Emma. I might need some therapy of my own to deal with that mental image," Dr. Hopper jokes. Emma thinks that might have been a slightly unprofessional comment, but inexplicably, it makes Regina laugh, and the atmosphere of the room becomes much more relaxed.
"We have a quiz in Pre-Calc tomorrow," Regina suddenly says, checking her watch. "Miss Blanchard said she'd do a quick review session at the end of class. I don't want to miss it."
"I suppose we've covered plenty for one day," Dr. Hopper agrees. "Emma, I would like to talk to you again, alone, at some point. And Regina, I know your mother doesn't...well, if you need someone to talk to..."
"I would like that," Regina says quietly. "But I don't want her to hurt you. She could-"
"Let me worry about me. You know my door is always open to you."
"Thank you." Regina swallows, grabs Emma's hand, and drags her from the room.
xx
On their return to math class, Regina and Emma discover they shouldn't have worried about missing anything, because Gold cancelled first period for an emergency assembly in which he gave a long, impressive speech about bullying, and the other students are only just now returning.
Henry tells them the highlights. Gold apparently used to be a not-very-nice guy who used his magic to bully others before realizing that wasn't the best way to win over people who were worth winning over. It took finding the right person to show him that he had to start fighting for the good inside.
"He kept shooting these adoring glances at Miss French the whole time. It would have been cute, if it wasn't so creepy."
"See!" Emma elbows Regina. "I told you he's her Mr. Darcy!"
Regina makes a noise that sounds like it might have been meant to be a giggle. "Why would Gold call an emergency assembly to talk about his love life to the whole school?"
"Because he's a weirdo. You've known him your whole life, why haven't you figured that out by now?"
"Actually, his love life was mostly an aside," Henry clarifies. "I think the point was supposed to be that hurting people is wrong and we should try to, like...not do that? And, you know, fight to be better for the people we care about and protect them."
Emma rolls her eyes. "Unfortunately, the person who really needed to hear that message wasn't even there."
"You'd be surprised what people got out of it," Henry says with a cryptic smile. Almost as if on cue, Ruby approaches their little group, shyly waving her hand. (Which may be the weirdest thing Emma has seen all day, because shy is the last word that would ever describe Ruby.)
"Regina, I need to apologize. I had absolutely no idea what Zelena was doing. If I had, I totally would have wolfed out on her at some point."
"It's fine. How would you have known?" Regina asks uncomfortably.
"Well, now I know, and I'll be ready to protect you if you need it."
Mulan comes over next, a bow and quiver full of arrows slung over her shoulder. "I just want you to know that I stole Locksley's magic bow," she says seriously. "And I'm prepared to use it if Zelena tries anything else."
"I'll be ready to fight, too, as soon as I get my hook," Killian chimes in. "Zelena's not going to get away with this." It's his first day back at school after the unfortunate incident with his hand. That was quick, Emma thinks. He must have ended up letting someone use magic to help him. The end of one arm is bandaged, but he looks like he's doing well otherwise.
Henry grins. "See? I told you. I'm learning to sword-fight in P.E., so I'll try to put those skills to good use. Nolan says I'm a natural. And, well, you've got Emma, too. For everything."
Regina looks like she might burst into tears. "Thank you," she whispers.
Emma rolls her eyes and smiles. The people in this town are absolutely fucking nuts sometimes, but they're also pretty awesome when they want to be.
xx
The rest of the day passes by fairly normally, with the small exception of Regina finding out that she has more friends than she knows what to do with. At least half the school has publicly sworn loyalty to her by the time the bell rings for last period. Regina is looking more upbeat than Emma has ever seen her, which is quite something considering where she was at this time yesterday.
She's holding Emma's hand on the way to Gold's classroom, though whether it's a conscious action or not is anyone's guess.
"Emma," she says, suddenly stopping both of them right in front of the door. "I just wanted to say thank you, for being such a good friend to me. I know it sometimes seems like I don't see what's right in front of me, but I do. I really, really appreciate how much you've been there for me over the last few days. Without you...I don't even want to think about it."
"You're not supposed to thank someone for being your friend," Emma says, awkwardly looking at her feet. "I mean, it's polite, but that's not how it works. I just did what any decent person would have done."
"It's just...I don't know how to have healthy relationships. I'm not good at letting people see me. I know I'm really screwed up, and that tends to scare people off, but you...you've seen everything and you're still here. And when I'm with you, you just make everything feel so much easier. I just want you to know that."
"You're not screwed up," Emma argues. "You've just got a lot going on that would be hard for anyone to cope with on their own. I get it. You should have seen me before I had that shrink in juvie to help me deal with my problems."
"Really?"
"Yeah, I had some foster parents who...well, they didn't have magic, obviously, but they may have had some similarities to your mom in other ways. And I've seen the shit Zelena does to you, what you have to put up with on a daily basis. I don't know everything you've been through, obviously, but...damn, Regina, you're one of the strongest people I've ever known."
Regina shakes her head sadly. "I don't feel very strong," she mumbles.
"But you are! You're so strong, and brave, and beautiful, and amazing - and perfect. Don't forget perfect."
Regina's cheeks blush dark pink, and she bites her lower lip. "I think...I think you're perfect, too," she whispers, and suddenly, she's cupping Emma's cheeks in her hands and raising herself up on her tip-toes. Emma's breath hitches and her eyes close involuntarily, and for the briefest instant she feels Regina's lips pressed against hers in the sweetest, softest kiss she's ever experienced.
When her eyelids open again, Regina has already turned away and is opening the door to Gold's classroom. Emma blinks and reaches up to touch her lips, wondering if she imagined the whole thing.