DISCLAIMER:: do not own. just borrowing for purpose of creative expression. no profit obtained.
A/N:: another update yet again. i'll keep them coming for as long as i have sinished chapters, which is only a few more so don't get too excited. thank you for all the beautiful reviews. they always brighten up my days. i hope everyone enjoys this chapter. the 'assembly line' is how things used to work with my parents when i was a kid. it's a fun memory. enjoy and review.
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-Chapter 19: For A Minute There I Lose My Senses-
"Emma!" Henry didn't look surprised to see her, merely excited.
"Hey kid. Is your mother home?"
A look of disinterest crossed his features and he gestured over his shoulder towards the kitchen. "She's finishing her morning coffee."
Emma smiled and gestured towards the broken down bug parked on the curb. "Why don't you go get in the car? I just have to speak with your mom for a minute."
He looked at her like she was crazy, but when she just stared back at him blankly, he shrugged and went down the walk towards the car.
Emma turned and went into the house, closing the door behind her. She headed straight for the kitchen and found Regina right where Henry said she would be, her back to the door, sipping her coffee. Emma cleared her throat, not wanting to startle the brunette, but her efforts were in vain as Regina froze at the sound, nearly spilling her coffee.
She whirled around. "Miss Swan?"
Emma took a step into the pristine kitchen. "Sorry, I didn't mean to bother you. I just wanted to say thank you, again, for letting me take Henry to school. You really don't have to and… I appreciate it."
"Yes well, if that's all, then…"
Without knowing why… maybe it was the best way she could think of to truly show her appreciation or maybe she just had a death wish, but she stepped forward and threw her arms around the other woman.
It was the most awkward hug in the history of awkward hugs. Regina remained a frozen board the whole time, Emma wishing she'd just allow her in the tiniest bit. If she would just crack a little, Emma was sure she could bust her open completely. But she obviously was not going to crack today. Finally, reluctantly, Emma pulled back from the embrace. She dug at the tiled floor with the toe of her boot, staring down at the ground. "I really wish we could be friends. Not just for Henry's sake, but for our own. Nothing comes from all this fighting. And I do care about you, more than you may ever understand."
Silence stretched between them and then, as if giving her a sign, she heard her car horn blare noisily from outside. She backed up, finally lifting her eyes to the brunette who was looking at her with an unreadable expression. "That's my cue. Have a good day Madam Mayor."
Regina watched the deputy turn on her heel and all but bolt for the door. So that was her weakness. Just as the brunette had suspected. It wasn't the snide remarks that Regina had been throwing her way since she got here. No, this woman met confrontation head on with no fear. But, just like Regina, she was blindsided by emotions, not just from others but also her own. It would be difficult to break her like this, but not impossible. Yes, by the end of the month, she'd have Miss Swan's heart, and then she'd take great pleasure in crushing it.
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"Can we go to Granny's?" He didn't even say hello as he slid into her car after school.
"Does your mom normally allow that?"
Henry shrugged. "Sometimes. If she doesn't have to be back in the office right away."
Emma eyed him suspiciously but she didn't detect a lie. "Alright, but not for too long okay? Your mom has been really nice about giving me the opportunity to see you and I don't want to blow it on my first day."
Granny's was empty of customers, save August, when they got there.
The man she'd once known as Pinocchio looked up from his coffee and grinned conspiratorially at Henry. "Good work buddy. I didn't think you'd get her to go for it."
Emma stopped in her tracks. "Wait… this was a set up?"
August was nodding but Henry shook his head. "No, I really do need to talk with you. It's just, well, now August is a part of it too."
Emma frowned but continued over to their usual booth and sat across from Henry. "A part of what?" She narrowed her eyes at August as he slid into her side of the booth beside her. It felt glaringly intimate, which she found ironic considering whenever it was Regina that was around she found as little distance between them as possible to be the most comforting. Why should August be any different? Technically, she'd slept with them both. Yeah, but she's the love of your life while he… well, he…
"Earth to Emma." A little hand waved in front of her face.
Emma snapped out of her thoughts. "Yea?"
"August knows about…" Henry lowered his voice dramatically as he glanced around to make sure no one was eavesdropping. Considering no one else was in the main room of the diner at the moment, it was a pretty safe bet. "Operation Cobra."
Emma nodded. "Okay."
Henry looked at her as if she were slow. Who taught him to look at people like that? Oh yeah… Regina.
Emma held up her hands in surrender. "Look kid, here's the deal. I want to break this curse. Whatever spell the people in this town are under, I want to see it broken. Whatever I have to do, just tell me and I'll be happy to see it done. Except, and this is something I want to make perfectly clear to both of you, I will not hurt your mom to do it. I don't care if the book says that the only way to break the curse is to behead the Evil Queen in the center of town for everyone to see. If that is the case, then consider us cursed for an extremely lengthy amount of time."
"But she's the Evil Queen Emma! You're supposed to destroy her!"
Emma shook her head and crossed her arms across her chest. "I know exactly who your mom is and I'm telling you I will not do anything that compromises your safety or hers. Understood?"
Henry stared at her with a mixture of confusion and indignation. "Fine." He quickly excused himself to go to the restroom but she had a feeling he just wanted to go sulk in private. If it were just her sitting there with him, he might have attempted to use pouting to his advantage to try and get his way, but with an adult male presence there, his urge to guilt her was skewed by his need to impress the alpha male with his imperviousness.
"So…" August turned curiously to her once Henry had disappeared from view. "Why are you so against harming the Evil Queen? I mean if you truly believe in all this, and I'm quite convinced you do, then you know who she is; you know what she's done."
Emma nodded. "I don't have a list of her offenses, but yes, I have a general idea of what she's done. But… sometimes people do the right things for the wrong reasons or, more often, they do the wrong things for the right reasons. Henry is young. The world is still black and white to him. There's right and there's wrong and all of us fall on one side of the line or the other. But that's not the case. I can tell you that I walk on the line everyday of my life. I'm not evil, but I am by no means good either. I am just a girl, looking for my happy ending… and maybe she is too."
August stared at her as if she'd just grown two heads. "You do realize were talking about the Evil Queen here? As in, the woman who poisoned your mother? The woman who is hell bent on her destruction? The woman who would be hell bent on your destruction if she knew who you truly were?"
Emma shook her head. "She wouldn't destroy me."
August raised an eyebrow. "You seem so certain of that."
Emma shrugged. "That's because I am. Torture, maim, spend the rest of her life making mine miserable maybe, but she wouldn't kill me."
"And what makes you believe that?"
"Because, if I die, it's the end of her story too."
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"Mom! I'm home! Emma's here!"
Emma flinched. She had expected to give the kid a hug, make sure he was supervised and then sneak out without having to face Regina. The hug and the glaring admission this morning, and the resulting silence they were met with, had weighed heavily on her all day. She knew why but there was no one to admit it to, no one who knew her story. She could tell August. He knew about the double life she led. She'd explained it to him, but she'd conveniently left out the part about shacking up with the Evil Queen, so to speak, in the Enchanted Forest. If she tried to tell him the truth about what Regina meant to her, she may lose the only person in town who knew her story. She could try and tell Mary Margaret and she probably would later tonight, but the schoolteacher would never fully understand why she desired Regina's attentions, not when she believed her to just be the callous mayor of Storybrooke.
"Miss Swan?"
Emma looked up and locked eyes with the brunette, standing on the opposite side of the foyer. She hadn't even noticed that Henry had left her side while she was lost in thought. Now she was standing like a fool just inside the door, by herself, and she wouldn't be surprised if there was a slightly lost expression on her features. She shook it off. "I…um, I took Henry to Granny's after school. I made sure he only had a snack so it wouldn't spoil his dinner. He did all his homework except for one page of math that he still has left to do." She turned for the door. "Have a good evening Madam Mayor. Please tell Henry I'll see him tomorrow."
"Do you like Mexican cuisine Miss Swan?"
Emma froze halfway out the door. She turned back, an eyebrow raised in question.
Regina pointed back over her shoulder towards the kitchen. "We've got plenty and we could use some more hands on the assembly line."
Emma closed the door, an uncertain look on her face. "Assembly line?"
The assembly line ended up being just that, an assembly line. Regina retrieved a tortilla from the top oven where they were warming to keep them pliable, then she'd set it on its carefully pre-cut square of foil and put on the beans, seasoned rice and meat (pork for herself and Emma, chicken for Henry), then she'd slide the foil square down the counter to Henry, who was in charge of all condiments (avocado and sour cream but no cheese or salsa for Regina, salsa and lots of cheese for Henry, and everything for Emma) and then normally it was up to Regina to move over to the final spot and fold the burritos and wrap them up in the foil, but tonight, Emma took that spot. Regina claimed they always made enough so that there'd be some left for lunches or nights she didn't feel like cooking for the week. They made five each, but what amazed Emma was when Regina insisted they make five for her too. Emma got creative with her station, contorting the foil ends in odd ways to differentiate which burritos belonged to which person. Regina got the traditional no ends, the sides folded over as if it were wrapped at an actual take out place. Henry, by his request had ends fashioned to sharp points like his burritos were a hammerhead with a spike on either side. And for her own, Emma made an odd curl. Then they were placed back in the oven to cook.
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"When'd you guys start all this?" Emma helped wipe down the counter.
"When Henry was about six. I saw something similar on a cooking show once about ways to cook with your children. The boy complains up a storm when you ask him to do the dishes or set the table but he just loves burrito night." She smiled softly to herself.
Emma watched Regina with a gentle smile. She really was a good mother and Emma was almost positive that Henry never told her that. The boy had gone upstairs to take his evening bath while the burritos cooked, leaving the two women with the clean up. Emma didn't mind and Regina seemed genuinely grateful that the duty wasn't heaped entirely on her shoulders.
"Thank you, Madam Mayor, for inviting me to dinner yet again. I enjoy it here." Emma had taken her jacket off and draped it over what was quickly becoming her chair at the dining room table, the one to Regina's right. Now she was elbow deep in dish water as she reached into the sink and retrieved a piece of cutlery, scrubbing it clean and washing it off before handing it to Regina to dry.
"There are selfish reasons behind my asking you here." When she saw Emma's raised eyebrow, she sighed. "It has made my son much less hostile towards me if you must know, Miss Swan."
"He likes it when you loosen up; I do too." Emma couldn't say what possessed her but before she could control herself she flicked the littlest bit of soapy water in Regina's direction. It landed on the mayor's pristine shirt and Emma stared at it, in shock over her own actions. What had she been thinking? This wasn't Graham or Mary Margaret. This kind of behaviour would not be tolerated by the woman next to her, also staring down at the damp circle on her shirt where the water had soaked in.
When Regina looked up and met Emma's gaze, her eyes were incredulous. Her face fell into the common expression of a petulant child and she reached down and scooped her hand across the surface of the soapy water and splashed Emma.
The water hit her entire left side, soaking into the thin material of her wife beater, making the fabric transparent. The purple lace of her bra covering her right breast was fully visible but Emma didn't think about that. She saw Regina's eyes dart briefly towards the removable faucet head and she knew they were having the same idea.
They both lunged for it at the same time, hands wrapping around it, they pulled it out and a tug-o-war ensued. Neither woman remembered how the water got turned on, but all of a sudden, they were both getting a free shower in the struggle over the faucet.
After getting thoroughly drenched, Regina relinquished her grip and reached over to turn off the water.
Emma, now that it was of no use to her, moved to reattach the faucet head when her boot hit the growing puddle on the ground and she started to comically slide.
Regina reached out and tried to steady her, only to be firmly gripped by the blonde and have them both go down hard, falling into the puddle. The water from the floor, joined the rest, soaking into what dry patches there may have been left on their clothes.
"What are you two doing?"
Both women looked up in surprise to see Henry standing in the doorway, in his pajamas, his hair still wet from the bath, looking at them as if they were aliens.
"Your mom and I had a little… accident while washing the dishes."
"Why don't you go get the movie ready and we'll eat dinner in the den tonight?"
Henry narrowed his eyes, glancing between them suspiciously before finally, trudging off.
Regina looked over at Emma, staring at her as the blonde stared right back. The silent pause stretched out before them until she saw the faintest twitch of the other woman's lip and then they were both laughing hysterically, clutching each other and the counter top as they struggled to pull themselves up.
Emma grabbed a dishcloth and sopped up the puddle before it did any damage to the floor. She tossed it next to the sink and looked down at herself. Her wife beater was now completely saturated, translucent and pasted to her skin. Her jeans were so soaked through they were nearly black in colour.
"Come Miss Swan. Let's get dried up before dinner's ready." Regina led the way out of the kitchen and up the stairs. She led them along the second floor hallway and into the master bedroom. It was pristine, decorated in dark colours. A four poster bed, made out of dark wood, the head board made of cream coloured fabric to offest the darkness of the sheets and curtains, was the main focus of the room. There was also the usual accoutrements, a dresser, a bedside table, and a fainting couch at the end of the bed.
Regina wasted no time walking over to the dresser. "You can borrow some of my clothes until yours have dried properly.
Emma peeled the wife beater from her skin and did the same with her jeans, struggling to shimmy out of them, the water making the material stick to the skin of her legs. Finally, she got them off and she bundled the wet clothes in her arms, not wanting to leave them on Regina's plush, and rather expensive looking, carpet.
Regina grabbed the last of the dry change of clothes from the dresser drawer and closed it, turning around. Her mouth slackened when she saw Emma standing there, skin glistening from the water, in nothing but her lacy purple lingerie. Regaining her composure, she set the clothes on the bed and held out her arms for Emma's wet clothes.
The second Emma was free of the pile, she reached around behind herself and unfastened her bra, pulling it off too.
"Miss Swan?" Regina frowned, trying not to look at the blonde's bare chest.
Emma rolled her eyes. "We're both girls Regina. Don't be such a prude."
Regina bristled, the jape making her forget the cloudiness in her head. She walked over and opened the door to the en-suite bathroom and deposited the pile of wet clothes onto the bathroom counter.
"You forgot one." Emma walked over and casually tossed her underwear on the top of the pile.
Regina, now feeling she had something to prove, began to unbutton her blouse. Let's see how Miss Swan liked it when she gave her something to stare back at. Regina stripped quickly, but when she looked over, much to her chagrin, Emma Swan's back was to her as the blonde pulled on a tank top and a pair of pajama pants. The younger woman was completely oblivious to her state of undress. The petulant child expression resurfaced and she wanted to cross her arms and stamp her feet in full tantrum mode until the blonde paid attention to her. The realization of that made her stomach turn violently. She wasn't one to seek attention… her very presence demanded it! She walked over and grabbed the remaining pair of pajama pants and tank top, slipping them on. This need to be on the blonde woman's radar simply would not do. She'd have to break herself of the notion. She just wasn't quite sure how she was going to manage that.
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"You know she's just trying to fool you?"
Emma rolled her eyes as she tucked the blanket in around him, patting the head of the puppy curled up at his side. Regina had let him keep her as long as she stayed in the garage when he was at school and in his bedroom at all times when he was home. It was a difficult situation, but Henry seemed happy that she'd at least relented somewhat.
"She is!"
Emma nodded. "Yea kid, I know."
Henry's little face scrunched up in confusion. "You know?"
Emma nodded again. "I know your mom better than she thinks I do. There's no way things turned around this fast. She's either trying to trap me somehow or possibly, she's just having an off day." She ruffled his hair. "Either way though kid, I'm gonna take this whole friend kick she's on and run with it."
"Be careful Emma. You don't know what she's capable of."
She just gave him a pointed look and left the room, shutting the lights off behind her and closing the door.
"Is Henry down?" Regina was at the bottom of the stairs.
Emma nodded. "Looks like that's my cue to hit the road." She finally stepped down onto the solid floor of the foyer.
Regina regarded her for a long moment. Finally, she nodded. "I suppose it is."
Emma smiled. "Thank you." She headed to the door.
"Will you be by in the morning Miss Swan?"
Emma turned back. "Do you want me to?"
Regina frowned. "Henry wants you here."
Emma bit her lip. "That's not what I asked." But when she met Regina's eyes, the mayor was staring at her blankly, so she sighed. "I'll be here."