DISCLAIMER:: do not own. just borrowing for purpose of creative expression. no profit obtained.

A/N:: just as promised, here is the next update. i will post the next one as soon as i finish it but fairytale land chapters are always harder to write than the storybrooke ones. more swanqueen interaction in this chapter as well as the appearance of mr. gold for the first time. he'll come more into play as the story progresses. thanks to all for reading, and i hope you continue to do so. enjoy and review.

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-Chapter 15: Her Eyes Were Red With Anger-

"So how was your first town council meeting? Fun, aren't they?" Graham gave her a smug smile as she slinked into the station, coffees in hand. She came into his office and set one down next to him.

"I hope you know that you did nothing to earn that." She gestured to the coffee. "And after the morning I had, your sarcasm is not appreciated." She turned to leave.

"So what'd she do this time?"

Emma's back tensed. She looked over her shoulder. "She didn't do anything except be her usual self."

"And yet you seem surprised."

Emma shrugged. "Pardon me for expecting civility from people."

"Regina's not people. Regina is… well, Regina."

Emma sighed and continued her trek to her desk. "Yea, I'm beginning to see that." She sat down at her desk and reached for the report resting on its corner, a drunk and disorderly from the previous night. The phone rang and she heard Graham pick up the line.

"Sheriff's office." Graham listened for a moment and then sat a little straighter in his chair. "Oh hello Madam Mayor. Yes, Deputy Swan was just briefing me on this morning's town council meeting. Right, well, let me get her for you." He looked up and waggled the phone in her direction. He covered the mouthpiece. "It's for you."

Emma frowned. She shook her head and made every non-verbal kill sign she could. The horizontal hand slide across the neck, the crossing and uncrossing wave of her arms, all the while mouthing 'no'.

But Graham's grin only grew. He was enjoying this. He waggled the phone in her direction again, this time waggling his eyebrows right along with it.

Finally, knowing it was futile to resist, she glared at him and picked up the line on her desk. "Madam Mayor, how can I help you?"

"I'd like to see you in my office deputy… at your earliest convenience of course."

Emma had very little doubt that the mayor's tone implied earliest convenience meant right now. "I'll be right over."

She could practically hear the brunette's smirk through the phone. "Wonderful deputy. I'll see you soon."

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Regina watched the atrocity that the new deputy considered a car pull to a halt on the curb in front of City Hall. It was infuriating really. Not just this woman's presence in her town but also how easily she seemed to fit in here. There had been no adjusting period where the townspeople had been wary of this blonde newcomer and then slowly, she had worked her way into their hearts. No, she'd just rolled in one day, and everybody had fallen at her feet like she was some goddamned hero come to save them. It was pitiful.

And then she stepped out and Regina's breath faltered for the briefest second. She really was quite beautiful when she wasn't opening her insolent little mouth, wasn't she? She took a deep breath. Under no circumstances could she give in to her desires. The heat between her legs was a traitor to her perfectly constructed life and she wouldn't give into it. She couldn't give into it. And yet, she had called the deputy here.

A prickling of her senses snapped her out of her thoughts and she looked down to see green eyes lock with her own. The deputy raised a hand in greeting, giving her an unsure smile, to which she responded with a scowl and moved away from the windows.

It took the deputy precisely three minutes and twelve seconds to get up to her office. She had already told her secretary to just wave the blonde in once she'd arrived. She opened the door a second after the knock. "Miss Swan, please, come in."

Emma eyed her suspiciously but came in, keeping her eyes on Regina the whole time as if the brunette would attack her the second she turned her back on her. Clever girl. Regina closed the door to the office. "Won't you have a seat?"

Emma kept her eyes on Regina as she crossed to one of the couches and sat down. Regina took the chair opposite her and crossed her legs, leveling Emma with a glare.

It took almost three minutes of staring each other down before Emma relented with a sigh. "Madam Mayor… I'm on the clock."

"I'm well aware of that deputy."

When Regina didn't continue, Emma sighed again. She stood. "I really don't have time for this."

"Sit down deputy."

Emma narrowed her eyes at the brunette but complied, sitting back down.

"You continue to baffle me deputy. You claim to care about me, that you're here for me. And yet you refuse to do as I wish."

Emma raised an eyebrow. "And what is it that you wish?"

Regina studied her for a moment. "I wish to know who you are and how it is you know me. I wish to know why you seem content in a place where you're obviously not welcome."

"I feel quite welcome here actually." Emma frowned. "The only person who seems to have any trouble with my being here is you."

Regina relented with an incline of her head. "It is no secret I don't want you here Miss Swan. You are insinuating yourself into my town and my life. I preferred them as they were."

Emma shook her head, closing her eyes. "Yea, keep telling yourself that. We both know how alone you feel. Besides, it's not like I have a choice."

"Explain yourself Miss Swan." Regina had uncrossed her legs and was leaning closer, listening intently.

"I am not of this world. None of us are, except Henry. This is my place. Henry is, in part, my son, whether you choose to acknowledge that or not Regina. I come from the same world as you and everyone else. These are my people."

Regina gripped the arms of her chair, her knuckles going white from the pressure. "I do not remember you!"

Emma rolled her eyes and stood. "I already told you that you wouldn't. We've never really traveled in the same circles."

"And yet you claimed to have intimate knowledge of me." Regina shot out of her chair.

"I can't explain how it is I know these things Regina! Don't you get that? My life is a lot more complicated than you may think." Emma ran a hand through her hair.

"Who is supplying you with information on me? Is it Gold?" Regina looked incensed. "Is he just using you to mess with me?"

"Gold?" Emma scrolled through Storybrooke's citizens in her mind. She couldn't recall having met anyone named Gold, but her mind flashed briefly to a shop on the corner of Main and Bleaker. "The pawnshop owner?"

"What deal did you make with him?" Regina's gaze narrowed.

Emma shook her head. "I've never even met him."

"Then how do you know what you know?" Regina came around the coffee table that separated them and slid into Emma's personal space. "Tell me Miss Swan."

"I…" Emma closed her eyes. "What she did to you was wrong. I don't claim to know or even understand everything that happened between you two, but I don't condone what she did."

Regina tensed. "What are you talking about?"

"Snow White… secrets are secrets for a reason. She shouldn't have told."

Regina took a step back, her eyes wide and her legs shaking unsteadily. Slowly, she raised her hand and pointed towards the door. "Get out of my office."

Emma closed her eyes and nodded. She knew she was going to have to get used to being dismissed by this woman. She couldn't push her, not when she had no clue how much magic she had access to in this world. "Good day Madam Mayor." With one last long glance at the mayor, she departed.

Regina tried to regain her composure the moment the door closed behind the blonde. How could she know? How was any of this possible? The curse was explicit. It would bring everyone here with no memory of their past life. It was obvious Emma hadn't come here with the curse. The blonde wasn't exactly low-key and Regina definitely would have noticed her had she been in Storybrooke all this time. And she had no memories whatsoever of her possible fairytale counterpart. Everyone she'd cursed had been present and accounted for in this town. So who was she? And what could she possibly want? She felt like screaming in frustration but the last thing she needed right now was to lose her composure here. She had to think rationally. She had to find a way to make the blonde more compliant to her demands. And then very slowly, an idea appeared in her head. Yes, that might just do the trick.

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She stared up at shop. Mr. Gold's Pawnshop. She'd passed by it several times, either strolling through town or on patrol, but she'd never thought anything of it until the mayor's accusation. She hadn't seemed particularly frightened of the man who owned the shop, more irritated, but whoever this man was, he had sparked some sort of reaction in the normally cool, calm, and collected mayor of Storybrooke. And that was someone worth introducing herself to.

She pushed through the door, a cheerful bell over it announcing her arrival to the crowded interior of the shop. She'd been in a lot of pawnshops in her day, but never one so crowded. There were glass counters on the east, west, and north walls, packed to the brim with items. The shelves against the walls behind the counters were also packed. There were items hanging from the ceiling or displayed on the main floor. In the back left hand corner of the room was a door leading off into what she assumed were the back offices.

She ran her hand along the glass edge of the counter. There were all sorts of trinkets. She stared down at a polished fork, a shell, several old tomes, a candlestick. It was the oddest assortment of items she'd ever seen in a pawnshop. These weren't things people would normally be looking to purchase. Who ever really goes into a pawnshop and says "how much for the shell", especially when the beach is less than a mile away? It didn't really make much sense, but then again, neither did her entire life. She was a fairytale princess after all. And in this world, Disney had wildly inaccurate pictures of her mom on everything from beach balls to lunchboxes.

A man appeared in the back door as she was examining a interesting lighter in one of the glass cases. "Can I help you?"

She jumped back a little in surprise, her hand going to her heart and a small chuckle escaping her lips. "Are you Mr. Gold?"

The man nodded. "I am. And just who might you be?"

She nodded towards the badge on her hip. "I'm Emma Swan, the new deputy."

The man nodded slowly, studying her. "What can I do for you deputy?"

She studied him. He didn't seem very imposing. He was neither incredibly short nor incredibly tall. He had shoulder length brown hair and wore a tailored suit, not the general attire of the owners of pawnshops, at least not the ones she'd been in. He walked with a slight limp and she could see an ornate and expensive looking cane that he used for support. The only thing that bothered her about him at all was that she couldn't seem to place him. By requirements of her title she knew almost everyone in the Enchanted Forest, but she couldn't claim to have seen this man ever before today. Not that she could recall at least. "I just thought I'd come by and introduce myself. I've been here over a week now and we haven't met."

Mr. Gold nodded, still studying her just as much as she was studying him. "Indeed we haven't. I'm sorry, my business doesn't really require me to be very social and I don't often take it upon myself to seek social situations out, unless there is a need of course."

Emma nodded and smiled. "Sounds a lot like myself, well, before I came here." She looked around the shop once more. "You certainly have a lot of stuff."

"I consider myself a collector of sorts." He glanced around fondly. "Every item that people own contains a story, some piece of their history and memories. But history can be a brutal reminder and memories fade. I collect the pieces they no longer want."

Something about his words was hauntingly familiar, as if they should remind her of something, but she couldn't recall what. "Well, I'll let you get back to business. Have a good day Mr. Gold." She turned for the door.

"You as well Emma."

The way he said her name sent a shiver up her spine and she paused for the briefest of moments. Had she heard that somewhere before? A memory tugged annoyingly at the edge of her consciousness, but she couldn't bring it forth to the front of her mind. She continued out the door and returned to her car.

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"Madam Mayor." Mr. Gold looked up as the bell over his door jingled for the second time that afternoon. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

"What's your endgame Gold?" She turned his sign from open to closed, as she almost always did when they had their little unplanned meetings like this.

He frowned. "I'm sorry but I'm not sure what you mean."

"Don't give me that bullshit." She glared at him. "I know you're the one supplying Miss Swan with information about me."

"The new deputy was just here earlier, wanted to introduce herself. Now I know why."

"She knows stuff about me Gold, things she couldn't possibly know. What deal did you make with her?"

Gold sighed. "I'm afraid I'm blameless when it comes to Emma Swan. As I just told you, we only met this afternoon."

Regina narrowed her eyes. He could be lying to her easily enough, but it would be unlike him. He was evasive readily enough, but he didn't lie often. His world was one of half-truths, not full blown falsehoods. "Do you remember who she is? Do you recognize her?"

"I can't claim to have met her there either. She looks familiar, and yet strange at the same time."

Regina nodded, crossing her arms across her chest. "Yes, I've come to the same conclusion. Maybe, like you, her appearance was altered slightly when the curse was enacted." She frowned. There were hundreds of thousands of residents in the realms of Fairytale Land. It would be nigh impossible to just guess who this Emma Swan had been. She said her name had been Emma there too, but could Regina trust that?

"Whoever she is, she's caused quite the ripple through town. Did you see the clock in the town square is working once more?"

Regina came out of her thoughts with a scowl at his words. "Yes. It would seem even time is trying to break free of its confines at her very presence here."

Mr. Gold tilted his head thoughtfully to the side. "I may not know who she is Madam Mayor, but I can tell you someone who does."