Chapter Seven

The clock on the wall read 9:28am when the phone in the mayor's office rang.

'Regina?' the voice on the other end said. 'I'm afraid she's not here.'

Regina wrinkled her nose, sighing. Part of her had honestly been expecting Emma to return to the station that morning – then again, thinking back to the hollowness beneath the blonde's eyes the previous week, she couldn't quite recall where that optimism had come from.

'Thank you, Sidney,' she replied, reaching for her keys. 'I'll take care of it.'

She locked the office door behind her and slowly began to make her way across town to the sheriff's apartment, her fingers twitching in her pockets.

'You said you weren't going to force me.' Emma didn't bother to say hello. When she opened the door to find the mayor yet again stood there, her face had crumpled. She leant her head wearily against the doorframe and sighed, 'You know I'm not ready, Regina.'

'No, I know,' the mayor responded. However, as she looked the blonde woman up and down she realised that, for the first time in nearly four weeks, Emma was fully dressed: from her manly boots all the way up to the vile red pleather that normally required surgically detaching from her body, the sheriff hardly looked like a woman who'd woken up with the intention of staying inside all day. Regina swallowed. 'But when you didn't show up… I was still concerned.'

'You don't need to be,' Emma muttered. 'I'm fine.'

'I'm getting a little bored of that record, Miss Swan,' Regina sighed, taking a step into the apartment without waiting for Emma to invite her inside. 'You're not fooling anyone, so you may as well save your breath.'

She heard a frustrated sigh coming behind her just before the blonde shut the door. Regina turned around, making a conscious effort to stand upright. Before her Emma's shoulders were hunched forwards, more so than usual, her thumbs looped into the pockets of her jeans. Despite her attire, Regina couldn't help but notice that the blonde's face was utterly devoid of make up and her hair looked like it hadn't seen a shower or even a brush in several days.

'It looks like you woke up with good intentions, Miss Swan,' she said slowly, gesturing to the sheriff's jacket and boots. Emma looked down at herself, shrugging.

'Sort of,' she mumbled. 'Though I didn't exactly wake up.'

'You're still not sleeping?'

'That depends on what your definition of sleeping involves,' Emma offered her a wry smile. 'If half an hour every other night counts, then yeah, I'm sleeping like a goddamn log.'

Regina didn't laugh at what had obviously been an attempt at a joke. 'Miss Swan…'

'But yes,' the sheriff interrupted, running a finger below her left eye. 'Okay. If you must know, I was planning on coming in today.'

'And what changed?'

'Seriously? Look at me, Regina,' Emma gestured up towards the sallow skin of her face, to the eyes that were attempting to flutter closed any time that she stopped moving. 'I'm not exactly at the top of my game today. I can't go into work like this.'

'No one's expecting you to wrestle a drugs lord, Miss Swan,' Regina said, tilting her head to one side. 'Honestly, I wasn't even expecting you to do any paperwork. All I wanted was for you to go into the office for a minute, just to show yourself that you can do it. That was all. I promise you.'

Emma barely managed to mask the surprise that spread like a cloud across her face. She shrugged, looking down at the floorboards once more.

'Well…' she muttered, crossing her arms across her chest. 'I'm not… I really wanted to. I did. But then I… I had to put on this jacket, because my other one still had blood on it, and…'

The sentence wisped off into nothing. Regina simply watched her for a moment, her breath caught in her chest. Then she turned away, making her way across to the kitchen so that she could fill the kettle up with water.

'What are you doing?' Emma asked, taking a cautious step towards the counter. Regina didn't turn around.

'You need caffeine,' she said simply, placing the kettle onto the stove before beginning to rummage in the cupboards for coffee that she could actually drink. 'And none of that disgusting freeze-dried rubbish that you keep forcing onto me. Miss Blanchard must have something better than that around here.'

'She does, but I don't really—'

'Where is it?'

Emma rolled her eyes, leaning against the wooden beam that stretched from the floor to the roof of the kitchen. 'Bottom cupboard.'

'Good,' Regina said, locating it. 'Now sit down.'

Quite inexplicably, Emma found herself doing as she was told.

As she sat on the stool that Regina herself had been perched on only a couple of days before, her feet dangling beneath her, she watched with a blank expression as the mayor swept about the room. She looked completely unperturbed, opening and closing drawers like she owned the place – which, Emma realised with a vague sigh, she sort of did. This was Regina's town, and she definitely knew how to act like it.

'Wait,' Emma said after a few moments of watching the mayor's actions without really taking them in. 'What are you doing?'

Regina looked over her shoulder, a silver thermos clutched in her left hand. 'Making you coffee, Miss Swan. I thought that we'd already established that.'

'In a thermos?' Emma narrowed her eyes. 'What, we don't have any mugs that are quite to your liking?'

'This is to go,' she replied calmly, pouring the water inside without bothering to look back at Emma's agonised expression.

'I never said I was going!'

'You were this morning,' Regina said, still not looking round. 'Nothing's changed since then.'

'I told you, I can't—'

'Nothing's changed, Miss Swan,' she repeated, snapping her dark eyes onto the blonde's face so sharply that she fell silent at once. 'Nothing out there is any different. The only change between now and six o'clock this morning is that you're scared again. And that is why you need to walk into that office today.'

'Regina,' Emma took a deep breath, trying to summon some kind of serenity back into her body. She closed her eyes as she spoke. 'Look. I really don't know if you're trying to antagonise me right now or if you're genuinely trying to help me – but, either way, this is actually none of your business. I get to decide when I'm ready to go back to work. And today – I'm not.'

When her words were met with silence she forced herself to open her eyes once more. She jumped with surprise when she found that the mayor was suddenly stood directly in front of her, leaning her hip against the counter.

'You're scared.'

Emma rolled her eyes. 'Yes. I am. Is that surprising?'

'No,' Regina shrugged, pursing her lips. 'But it's disappointing.'

Green eyes stretched wide open. 'Wait. What the hell do—'

'A few months ago,' Regina spoke over her, her voice calm and level, 'you told me not to underestimate you. That I had no idea what you were capable of. Do you remember that?'

'Yes,' Emma gritted out, resisting the urge to reach out and slap the mayor's uncharacteristically patient face. 'What's your point?'

'That woman,' Regina said, 'is the same woman who punched me in the face outside my own father's grave. The same woman who fought tooth and nail for a job that she wasn't sure that she even wanted, and then – as a part of that job – stood up to a man with a gun just so that she could protect a room full of strangers and a woman whom she cannot stand.'

'I don't—'

'And while that woman may be extremely abrasive, and irritating, and poorly dressed, and rude – I can't pretend that I don't admire her.'

Emma blinked, her mouth agape. 'Wait. What?'

'I'm not saying it again,' Regina's face remained expressionless. 'So don't bother. What I'm trying to say is, you have every right to be frightened. You also have every right to quit this job and leave this town for good because it's hard for you to want to be a part of it anymore. But I think we both know that that woman, the one who climbed down a mine shaft to save her son's life, isn't about to let you do that. That woman is waiting for you to take a deep breath and walk back into your office again.'

Silence followed her words. Deep creases ran across Emma's forehead, and rapidly blinking green eyes suggested that tears might not be far off.

'You…' Emma faltered, swallowing, and tried again. 'I cannot believe that you're using all of that against me.'

'I play dirty, Miss Swan,' Regina said, a smirk twisting about her lips. Emma let out a small snort of laughter. 'But am I wrong?'

With a sigh, Emma admitted, 'No.'

'Are you willing to give it a try?' Regina pressed, leaning forwards. 'No paperwork: definitely no street patrols. Just ten steps into the office. That's all you need to do. Then you can run back home again and take that god-awful jacket off and maybe actually get some sleep knowing that you can do it – that you don't need to be scared of the whole world, Miss Swan. It's not all teeth and claws.'

'Just all the parts of it that I've seen,' Emma muttered, scrubbing a fist below her eyes. Finally, she threw her head back and let out a bitter sigh. 'Jesus, fine. I'll go and I'll see Sidney and let him know that I'm actually alive. But that's it, okay? If I get there and you've got three weeks worth of incident reports waiting for me to file then I will not hesitate in running you over with my car.'

'I wouldn't expect any less,' Regina said, offering the blonde woman a surprisingly warm smile. She had turned away again before Emma could register whether the expression on her face had actually denoted pride, or whether in her sleep-deprived haze she'd simply imagined it.

'I'm sorry for making you walk,' Emma said after a few minutes of stilted silence, her eyes on the mayor's impractically high black heels. Regina looked over at her as she spoke. 'I just… I thought I could do with the fresh air.'

'It's quite alright,' Regina responded, turning her gaze back to the road ahead of them. 'Walking is definitely preferable to being forced into that scrapheap that you call a car, at any rate.'

'Funny,' Emma muttered, still looking down at the sidewalk. She hadn't looked Regina in the eye since before they'd left the apartment.

The mayor glanced back at her with a frown slowly beginning to crease through her forehead. Emma had been subdued when she'd arrived at the loft, that much was painfully apparent – but now she was far beyond that. She looked… defeated. As she walked she clutched the thermos between her hands like a child clinging desperately onto their lunch box on their first day of school. Regina realised with a jolt just how much she looked like Henry in that moment: she looked tiny, and scared, and like she was stubbornly forcing herself not to cry.

Regina swallowed. 'It's going to be okay, Miss Swan.'

Emma jumped at the softness of her voice. Finally she looked up, peering curiously into the dark eyes that were watching her.

'Easy for you to say.'

'Sidney's there to help you.'

'Of course,' Emma nodded, looking back down at the coffee in her hands. 'Because he was so much help the last time that I was in trouble.'

There was a beat as Regina considered this: she had simply assumed that Emma would appreciate having Sidney around the office for a little while, given that she apparently still thought that he was on her team. She had never considered that being in the same room as one of the men who had done absolutely nothing to rescue her from Moe's violence – who had in fact, however indirectly, managed to bring some more of it against the back of her skull – might cause some more problems of its own.

'Oh,' Regina said flatly, shaking her head. 'Miss Swan. I didn't think—'

'It's okay,' Emma interrupted, tightening her trembling fingers around the silver thermos. 'Sorry. I'm not trying to be difficult. It's just… you know.'

Even though she couldn't possibly pretend to understand, Regina nodded. 'Of course.'

They walked on in silence for the next couple of minutes, moving past Granny's on the other side of the road. Regina found her eyes being drawn to it, automatically seeking out the same booth by the window as she did every morning, even though the woman that she always looked for was currently walking by her side. As she stared, however, she caught sight of a pair of startlingly blue eyes peering back at her. They blinked, then frowned, witnessing the sight of the Evil Queen and the Saviour strolling calmly down Main Street side by side, and seemingly struggling to process it. Regina swallowed, watching as August got up from his seat and turned away through the diner, disappearing through the back door without a backwards glance.

'How's Henry doing?'

The mayor jumped, turning to face Emma and her unexpected question.

'Sorry?'

'Henry,' Emma repeated, looking anxiously over at her. 'Is he doing okay?'

'He's fine,' Regina replied, thinking back to her son's delighted face when she'd come home the previous Wednesday, reluctantly announcing that she'd finally been to see his birth mother again. She then forced herself not to think about the flash of disappointment that had followed once she'd told him that Miss Swan probably still wasn't quite ready to see him again.

Without saying a word of any of that, Emma somehow still managed to pick up on all of it. 'Oh.'

'He understands, Emma,' Regina hastily added, unable to bear the crumpled look on the sheriff's face. 'He really does. He just misses you – that's all. He wants things to go back to normal again.'

Something that almost resembled a smile tugged at the corners of Emma's mouth.

'Normal,' she sighed, rolling her eyes. 'Right.'

Regina realised in the silence that followed that she could hear the coffee in the thermos splashing around beneath Emma's shaking hands. Something hard rose against the back of her throat.

'I'm surprised he wants to see me at all, if I'm honest,' Emma slowly admitted. 'I mean, I wouldn't. I've been terrible recently. It would serve me right if he told me to go back to Boston and never speak to him again.'

'You don't really believe that, do you?' Regina asked in a low voice. Emma shrugged.

'I don't know,' she said. 'Sort of.'

'Miss Swan,' Regina took a deep breath. 'You cannot seriously believe he's that capricious, can you? I mean, I do realise that he can be quite fickle at times, but even he doesn't change his mind that readily.'

Emma just blinked at her, watching as the mayor shook her head with frustration.

'He truly misses you,' she continued with a groan, like this was the most painful admission that she'd ever uttered before in her life. 'And, if you must know, he hasn't been the same since you stopped seeing him. He's trying to be patient and he's trying to be understanding, but he's ten, Miss Swan – he's struggling. We're all struggling. Things are difficult at the moment and I think it… I think it would be beneficial – not just for him, but for you as well – if you let yourself back into his life. Really. Because there's only so much rejection that a small boy can take.'

They were only half a block away from the sheriff station, but they had stopped walking. Emma's left hand remained clutched around the thermos while her right had shakily found its way up to the hollow of her throat, gripping hold of her necklace in a manner that reminded Regina all too painfully of the schoolteacher that she was living with. Regina hadn't realised that you could develop such a habit, such a pleading expression, after going twenty-eight years without ever meeting the mother whom you inherited it from.

And there it was again: that guilt, tugging at her chest like there was a hook through her heart.

'You…' Emma said in a quiet voice, finally meeting Regina's gaze with unblinking, glistening eyes. 'You want me to come back?'

Regina swallowed, thrusting her hands into the pockets of her coat. 'Henry wants it.'

'But you just said—'

'I know what I said,' she said calmly, forcing down a sigh. 'Yes. Fine. I think it would be good for you to come back. I'm requesting that you do. Happy?'

A smile flickered across Emma's face, almost distracting the mayor's attention away from the tears that were prickling at her green eyes.

'Yeah,' she admitted, shrugging. 'Sort of.'

Regina rolled her eyes, letting out an exhalation of laughter. 'Then you're far too easily pleased. I'm not inviting you for thanksgiving dinner, Miss Swan – don't go getting your hopes up just yet.'

Emma looked down at the sidewalk that stretched out between them, that tiny, sad smile still drawn across her lips. 'If you say so, Madame Mayor.'

After a moment of silence, she dragged her eyes back up until they rested on the sheriff station that was sat only a few dozen metres away. Regina watched as she inhaled sharply, gritting her teeth together.

'I suppose I'd better do this thing, then.'

'Miss Swan,' Regina said, all of a sudden regretting this whole grand scheme of hers. Regardless of her reasons – as logical as they had sounded to her in her head – it was still evidently clear, both to her and to every other person who had turned to stare as they'd walked past, that Emma was still struggling. Her shoulders were hunched and her eyes were pink and the blonde curls that Regina normally eyed with a sort of disgusted envy were scraped back from her face in a haphazard ponytail, its ends ragged in the wintry Maine drizzle. She was hardly the picture of authority, and she already looked like she'd rather cry then walk any closer towards the station. 'If you're not ready – if you want to go back… I won't stop you.'

Emma offered her a tight smile. 'No. You were right – I need to try. I've got to get over this at some point. And I'm here now: I guess this is as good a time as any.'

A pulse of something that could have been pride ricocheted through the mayor's chest. She glanced at the building behind her.

'Would you like me to come in with you?'

'No,' Emma said, shrugging. 'You've done enough. Honestly.'

'Emma—'

'It's okay, Regina,' she interrupted, smiling faintly. 'I mean it. You basically dragged me out of that apartment and, even though I kind of want to kick you for it, I suspect that I'll probably be grateful for it later. So let's just leave it at that.'

The brunette nodded, her hands still thrust deep into her pockets. 'Okay. If you're sure.'

'I am,' Emma said, taking a deep breath. 'Right. Time to get this over with, I suppose.'

With that she threw the mayor one last smile, then stepped around her and began to walk down the street and back towards her old office. Regina watched her the whole way, unable to fathom why she felt slightly disheartened when the blonde didn't turn around to check that she was still there.

As soon as Emma had disappeared through the station door, Regina walked over to the nearest bench and perched herself on the very edge of it, her knees pressed firmly together. Keeping her eyes on the dull grey building, the mayor waited for the next ten minutes to see if the sheriff would reappear. Ten turned into twenty. As the drizzle turned to rain and Regina's legs began to prickle with the cold, she finally sighed and forced herself to stand back up again. An unfamiliar pride, mixed with an even more unusual disappointment, raked its nails down her cold body as she walked back to City Hall alone.

A/N: Thanks so much for reading this chapter, guys!I'm starsthatburn over on tumblr if you want to come and say hi! :) x