A/N: Phew, this one turned into a bit of a beast, but what can I say? Regina is a wordy narrator. We pick up two weeks from where we left off on the interlude, and events are starting to snowball as several factions make their moves at the same time. Should be a delightfully chaotic time!

(Edited and updated as of 11/7/2015)

A Gambit in Trust

Regina II

Regina kept her sanity by pacing. The last fortnight had been a whirl of constant movement as the Sheriff – even injured as she was – demanded to be part of the recovery efforts following the fallout of the giant's assault. And where the Sheriff went, she dragged Regina along. Declaring it 'protection' despite both women knowing Regina was more equipped to handle Cora than the Savior. The reasoning was beyond the former queen.

She went along with it even as it consistently threatened to push her beyond her patience. It enabled her to see Henry every day, and she now felt closer to her son than she had since before he hit double digits. When he was not in school, he trailed behind them about town, asking question after question about anything that sparked in his curious mind.

Nowadays his inquisitive nature had turned mostly toward magic.

The interest into the arcane arts triggered both Regina's anxiety and hope. Thrilled as she was to have common ground with her son, to be bonding with him again, she hesitated to let him delve too deeply, even into only the most basic of book knowledge.

But each time he was there to watch as the Sheriff had her help repair a road or storefront, his eyes would light up in that way that made her swell with pride. After she led the fairies in constructing the complex and powerful wards that now safeguarded Town Hall and the school, Henry spoke of nothing else for a full day afterward. He looked to her like he did to Emma and his grandparents.

Like a hero.

If the cost of her mended relationship with her son was her tolerance of Emma Swan's constant presence, it was a price that Regina would pay many times over.

It did not preclude her from voicing her annoyance with the woman as she failed with the most simple of tasks yet again, however.

"I could do this by the end of my first day of instruction." She stopped her aggravated steps, facing her would-be student. A makeshift fire pit, a small ring of fist-sized rocks around dry kindling, had been put together two weeks previously in the shadow of her prized apple tree. Swan sat cross-legged in front of it, a dejected frown on her face as her forehead beaded with sweat despite the frigid air.

"I'm working on it," Emma said the words distractedly, still eyeing the very much not burning wood.

"And I'm sure all the practice of staring at a pile of wood will be just the advantage we need in the coming battle." The blonde's eyes cut up to her, glaring, and Regina finally felt the stirrings of energy rise around the woman. "There!" She said, pointing. "Use that!" Emma blinked, annoyance giving way to confusion, and the small trickle of gathered power withered back into nothing. Regina groaned in annoyance as she let her focus on magical perception drop.

"What? What did I do this time?" Emma leaned back, resting her weight on the arm not resting in a sling.

"Did you not feel it?" Regina asked, crossing her arms. Emma stared at her without comprehension. Regina sighed. "Emotions, Emma. Your power was there when you got angry at me. You need to use these emotions and focus your will."

"I didn't feel anything magical… you were just starting to piss me off."

Regina clicked her tongue. "Forgive me for trying to push you beyond your exceptionally low limitations."

Emma's nostrils flared, eyes focusing on Regina and mouth opening to retort before the woman paused, considering. "You're trying to rile me up again," she accused.

Regina did not deny it. "It seems to be the only option in motivating you." Emma chose to let herself fall onto her back rather than rise to the bait. She lay beneath the scar where a strong, fruitful branch had once grown. Regina harnessed the tick of anger the memory brought with a flick of her wrist, and the kindling in the pit burst into flame.

The rush of warmth the fire brought with it an extreme relief after hours spent at the mercy of Maine's deepening autumn. Emma grunted her approval.

"Does it have to be anger?" She asked after several minutes, still staring up through the trees branches toward the sky.

"No," Regina said. "It tends to be the easiest to draw from, but it's not necessary." Emma nodded at her words.

"With the dreamcatcher, I think I was mostly frustrated." Her eyes drifted closed and Regina waited, watching. In their many brief lessons, Emma had rarely asked questions. If something had finally connected in the woman's brain, Regina was eager not to inhibit it in any way. "And exhausted and just sort of done with everything fairy tale." Emma smirked. "Ironic."

The savior raised an arm perpendicular to her body, straight upwards. Regina's brows shot up and she focused back on sensing the shifting of metaphysical energies with a long inhale. On the exhale, she sensed Emma Swan's will coil around that outstretched arm and lash out, manifesting in an arc of white energy.

The sharp crack of snapping wood pierced the chilly afternoon air, followed by the swish of displaced leaves. A foot long section of branch succumbed to gravity and landed in Emma's outstretched hand, the duo of apples at the end of the wood bouncing and bending it as the woman caught it with wide eyes.

Regina took another slow breath, this time to keep the acute, instinctive spark of rage from spilling forth.

"Uh. Whoops?" Emma said, staring at her prize with wide eyes. "Only meant to grab the one apple."

"Yet you managed to harm my tree. Again." Emma winced and her stomach grumbled. Regina stood, unnerved. "Did you just use hunger to focus magic?"

"Maybe? I mean, I think so." She sat up, braced the branch between her ribs and elbow, and pulled an apple free. "Would you be able to put this back on?"

Regina shook her head, stalked to the woman, and snatched the branch from its resting place. She broke off the remaining fruit and tossed the wood into the fire with more force than may have been strictly necessary. Emma blinked at her in unspoken question.

"No," she said. "All living things resist being manipulated by magic on some level, Miss Swan." Emma flinched against the formal address. "Stubborn old trees most of all."

"Ah. Sorry for…" She waved toward the freshly burning branch. Regina sighed, examining the fruit in her hand as an excuse to gather her thoughts. The apple was not quite ripe and would likely be tart. Emma crunched into her stolen fruit without a second thought, and Regina shook her head, trying to figure out how the woman's mind worked. To be able to create a slicing spell but not make fire…

She needed to change up her strategy. "Now that you proved you can actually do magic, I think I finally have something to work with." She underhanded the second apple into Emma's lap. She just looked at Regina with a raised brow, still chewing. "I think you have this…" Regina paused, thinking of the right word. "Disconnect in the middle."

Emma swallowed. "What do you mean?"

"You weren't able to light a fire, but you were able to cast the slicing magic. How? What's the difference there?"

Emma looked at her blankly. "Like you said, I think I used my hunger to do it?" She looked at the apple in her good hand and shook her head. "I don't know. I just thought about it and it happened."

"Exactly. You wanted the apple, but weren't nearly as invested in making the fire. That is how your will translates into magic, Emma."

Emma blinked, and Regina thought she could hear the strain of the gears turning in the blonde's head.

She continued, "So I think we need to focus more on your ability to turn whatever you're feeling into a focus for a spell completely unrelated to the emotion. Emotions fuel your will which focuses and refines it into your power."

"Isn't that what we've been doing this whole time?"

Regina killed the fire with a careless sweep of her off hand. "Not exactly." She sat on the other side of the pit, facing the sheriff. "I started you too quickly, neglected the most basic of all lessons. Emotions have power Emma. Close your eyes." Bemused, Emma did so. "Now picture something that 'pisses you off' as you say."

"I'm not using anger," Emma said, voice sharp with the hint of the emotion she wanted to avoid. Regina wanted to argue, to explain how anger was the emotion most easily utilized, but decided to save that battle for a later time and chose the path of least resistance.

"Fine," she said, tone just as short. She guided Emma along a simple breathing exercise to quiet her mind to a point on the edge of sleep or meditation – a perfect place to be open to suggestion. When the woman's chest moved in measured breaths, Regina painted a picture.

"Imagine Henry," she said, grimacing at the situation she had in mind. In place of anger, the next easiest emotion to draw magic from had always been fear. "Walking back from school to meet you at Granny's. You're waiting at the end of the block as Henry turns the corner. He raises his arm to wave, which is when you spot my mother appear mere feet behind him."

Emma's breaths had quickened, and Regina imagined the woman felt a small adrenaline surge as her eyes popped open, wide but out of focus.

"Use it Emma! Cast!" Without a second's hesitation, Emma's good arm whipped forward toward the fire pit. Regina felt the surge of energy, but rather than a spark of flame, Emma produced a spinning cloud of white-gold smoke. Regina watched, dumbfounded, as she recognized the spell.

The smoke cleared, and her panicky, confused son spun in place, shivering and trying to gain his bearings. He wore his P.E clothes, which offered little protection from the cold air. She shrugged off her jacket and stepped to him, wrapping the stiff fabric around his shoulders. It fell past his knees.

She checked him limb by limb, making sure all of him had made the journey, and almost sagged in relief when she found nothing missing. He calmed as he overcame the magical displacement and shifted under her gaze. "What just happened?" His voice cracked in the middle.

"I…I don't know? Are you okay, Kid?" Emma gathered her jaw off the ground and gained her feet, bumbling her way to Henry to inspect him head to toe as well. "Regina?" She asked without glancing away from their son.

Regina chose her words carefully. Emma should not have been able to teleport Henry. Not without knowing exactly where he was, assuming Henry didn't resist the magic to begin with.

"Henry, did you feel anything before it happened?" She asked in lieu of explanation.

Her son's brows furrowed. "Kind of," he said, snuggling further into the jacket. "Sort of like Emma was calling my name. I turned toward it and…" He frowned. "Hard to explain." She ran a hand through his hair in an old habit of comfort.

Henry felt the magic and went along with it, Regina thought with a nod. That fact relieved Regina some, but the distance involved and the lack of exact knowledge of where her son was indicated that Emma's power was potentially… staggering.

But the woman couldn't figure out how to light a damned fire. It was the equivalent of a child being handed an assault rifle and only told 'good luck.'

"You're an extremely reactionary caster, Miss Swan." The blonde's focus sharpened at Regina's edged tone. She raised to her full height.

"Meaning?"

"Meaning you need to figure out how to separate your emotions from the act you are trying to perform."

Emma made a frustrated sound. "What happened to 'emotions are the key to magic, Ms. Swan.' You're saying two entirely different things." Henry's head bobbed back and forth between them, a mix between enraptured and confused.

Regina decided to halt the argument before it truly gained momentum. "How would you describe my current emotional state?" The sheriff blinked, taken aback. It took her several moments to respond.

"Annoyed, frustrated, bitchy?" She felt a twitch of irritation and cut her eyes to Henry. Emma looked regretful with a brief wince.

"Not what you would describe as positive." She snapped out an arm, palm up, and called up her will. A purple light encased her palm and seven spectral butterflies burst into the air, each pulsing through every color on the spectrum in a display of chromatic beauty. Both Emma and Henry watched at the magical constructs in awe, following them as they twirled and whirled in the wind.

"A harmless, silly spell fueled by negative emotions," Regina explained.

"Butterflies by bitchiness," Emma said with a smirk. Henry coughed to cover something suspiciously similar to a snicker even as he poked at one of the butterflies he had captured in half formed fist. Regina sighed, and waved her hand to disperse the energy. Her conjurations disappeared in brief starbursts of light.

"Essentially." Regina kept her tone clipped and Emma's expression sobered. The sheriff moved to stand behind Henry, resting her hands on his shoulders.

"I think I get it now." Without her joking manor, the woman's words held the earnest note of genuine thanks, startling Regina.

"What else can you make like that?" Henry asked before Regina could fathom a response.

"Your imagination's the limit, really." Regina said. Energy conjuration had never been her forte. It was more a showman's magic, she thought, but she shook her head and focused. "But theoretical magic exercises can wait. We need to get you back to school." Henry's face fell into a dejected pout and Regina had to suppress a nostalgic smile.

"C'mon, Kid. We'll give you a lift." Emma started to guide Henry toward the driveway, but Regina stopped them.

"If anyone gives you grief for missing all of ten minutes," she said, raising both her hands to her son. "Send them my way." He nodded with an eager grin, expecting what was coming. She matched his smile and added an extra flourish to her hands as her magic surrounded her son in a swirl of violet smoke, bringing him back to school.

"We could have just driven him." Emma noted wryly.

"I didn't want him to miss the rest of P.E. He could use the socialization." With children that will actually age with him. She did not voice the words, but knew Emma had thought something similar by the look on her face. Regina crushed the familiar bit of guilt and was grateful Emma did not bring up the elephant standing off to the side.

"I'm sure the oversized women's coat will totally help." The acute chill of autumn air biting through the thin material of Regina's shirt caused her to shiver.

"Ah…" She had forgotten to take back the jacket.

Emma shrugged. "Kid's a storyteller, he'll spin it." Regina nodded, rekindling the fire with an absent gesture. The warmth flickered against her skin in a welcome embrace.

"More lessons?" Emma groaned, leaning against Regina's tree.

"I think we're both done with that for the day," the former queen said, shaking her head. Emma's entire demeanor brightened,

"Great! Want to head to Granny's?" Regina raised a prim eyebrow, casting a furtive glance toward the fire pit, where Emma's discarded apple cores burned. The blonde shrugged. "It's something to do, at least."

Regina could not fault her that reasoning. A quick glance toward the sun told her it was only approaching midafternoon. On a typical day, she would be in the middle of a meeting, going over the town budget, or any number of the annoyingly consistent duties she had not ever expected she would miss. The last time she could recall having so few responsibilities were before Leopold had absconded her into marriage.

It left her stir crazy with the constant, nagging thought that she had forgotten to do something important.

"There are other places to eat, you know." She headed back toward her home, Emma trailing a half step behind.

"What? Monty's Crab Shack?" She paused for a moment. "I think Anton may have crushed it."

"You've been sheriff for months and you haven't paid attention to downtown?" She heard Emma's leather jacket move in a shrug. Regina rolled her eyes, slipping into the house to the welcome greeting of central heating.

The chime of her doorbell shrilled through the air, repeating itself several times over. Frowning, Regina strode through the familiar rooms with practiced ease. She reached for the door to pull it open, but Emma's hand snapped onto the brass handle, giving Regina a sideways look of reproach. Regina tried to stare the woman down, but Emma remained unmoved.

With an agitated sigh, Regina stepped back and waved the sheriff forward. The blonde did not open the door until Regina stood around a corner, just out of sight. This had been a constant point of contention between them, but Emma was adamant, citing the angry mob that happily formed outside her door just weeks previously.

It made sense to deter any would-be assaulters attempting to use surprise to strike quickly. It still did not sit well with Regina, but arguing the point with the sheriff had grown more aggravating than simply humoring the woman's request.

"Oh, Sheriff!" Princess Abigail's refined voice filled the foyer. "I didn't expect you. Is your recovery coming along well?"

"Slowly," Emma said, the hint of her typical whine at the edge of her tone. "How've you been…?" Emma trailed off to an awkward pause.

"Kathryn is still fine, Sheriff." The woman seemed unperturbed by Emma's faux pas. "It's a bit awkward, isn't it?" Kathryn laughed, light and friendly. "I prefer Kathryn to Abigail, I think. Frederick was ecstatic he doesn't have to go by 'Jim' anymore. Everyone's got a preference, and it seems they're all different."

Emma made an agreeable noise. "Hard to keep up."

"Exactly." A touch of concerned entered the former princess' voice. "Is Regina here? I needed to speak with her."

"What about?"

If Kathryn was annoyed at the runaround, her voice did not betray it. "The town meeting tonight. It's actually good you're here, Sheriff. You both will need to be there."

"And why is that?" Regina moved around the corner into view. Kathryn's eyebrows flicked up in a brief indication of surprise before the woman rolled with it and schooled her features. Emma pulled back from the door and let the woman step inside. Kathryn slipped off her sky-blue gloves but left her argent calf-coat – cinched with a belt the same color of the gloves – on.

She skipped the greeting, eyes flicking back and forth between Regina and the sheriff. Regina could see an abundance of thoughts at play in the woman's mind. "The last few weeks there's been a group meeting. Covertly." She wrung her pale hands together. "Frederick and I've only been invited to the last few, and it's… concerning."

Emma rubbed the bridge of her nose, muttering. "There's always something."

Regina ignored the sheriff. "And what worries you enough that you'd come to me?" Regina had not spoken to the woman since the curse broke, and could not get a read on her disposition.

"It's the royals. Midas is gathering nearly everyone with a speck of noble blood together, trying to pool resources."

Regina's lip curled. That man had always been an opportunistic, brownnosing, snake, but he was still cunning and resourceful enough to pose a threat. His wealth and openhandedness kept him in power in the Enchanted Forest, and if his ability had resurfaced following the curse, he could prove dangerous.

"Like, Midas with the golden touch?" Emma asked.

"The one and same," Kathryn confirmed.

"Should I be on the lookout for Medusa, too?" Emma spoke drily. "Keep an ear to the ground for anyone picking up the habit of building mazes?"

"Dead and not in the Enchanted Forest when I cast the curse," Regina answered, still eyeing Kathryn. "People aren't considering following that blowhard?"

"He has people backing him. Mitchell Herman for starters, and there's a rumor that he has Albert Spencer in his corner as well."

"A wanted murderer?" Emma transformed from vaguely annoyed to full alert and angry. "If he's harboring that asshole we need reasonable cause. Tell me you have something better than a rumor."

Kathryn shook her head with an apologetic smile.

"George is too smart to leave himself open like that," Regina said. Her right hand opened and closed on reflex as she considered the situation. Three former kings joining forces and attempting to gather support from the former nobility. All three were not lacking in the pride department, and Regina doubted there was enough power to be won in Storybrooke to be split among them.

Which meant there was a larger game at work here, and they possessed too little information.

Emma paced back and forth all of three steps each way with her 'thinking' face, brows furrowed as she glared at the ground, in place. During the first few days of her recovery, Swan had peppered with Regina with question after question regarding the time she missed while trapped in the Enchanted Forest, and became livid upon finding out a murderer – who tried to frame one of her closer friends for the crime, no less – walked free.

Apparently Charming had not been as forthcoming in his debrief.

"Have they given away anything about their endgame?" Regina asked Kathryn as the woman watched Emma with a mix of confusion and fascination.

"Nothing concrete." Kathryn focused her attention back on Regina, a spark of worry in her eyes. "But all signs point to a coup, of sorts."

"Bringing us to the town meeting." Regina sighed.

"Emergency referendum?" Emma stopped boring a groove into the floor, green eyes crystalizing to attention. Regina nodded, reaching the same conclusion. "Which one of them gets to play mayor, then? They were all kings, right?"

"The council," Kathryn suggested with a shrug. "They haven't given anything away, but Frederick and I figure they want to get rid of your influence altogether, Regina." Regina let out a dry laugh. Regina felt no shame in the five members of the town council being her yes-men. For twenty-eight years, the quintet had never had to make a decision, and watching the town government stagnate under their leadership without her gave Regina a sense of smug gratification.

Especially after they had wasted little time in ousting her following the curse breaking.

"Using new laws to swing the old guard back into power," Regina said. She could always enjoy a taste of irony.

"But why?" Emma asked. "Storybrooke is tiny compared to the Enchanted Forest. There's only so much influence you can have."

"Power is power," Kathryn said with a tiny shrug and short lived smile.

"Why bring it to us at all?" Emma asked, eyes narrowing on the other blonde. "You have nothing to gain by talking."

Kathryn's expression took on a fierce edge. "Not everyone in town is eager to go back to the old ways, Sheriff." The woman eyed Emma for a moment longer before looking back toward Regina, gaze softening. "Some of us can see the good that the curse brought, intentional or not." Kathryn bowed her head in a slight nod, almost as if in thanks.

An odd, uncomfortable cocktail of emotions passed through Regina's mind, none taking root long enough to identify.

"If they are going to attempt an emergency vote, I think your name needs to be in the hat, Regina." Kathryn concluded and laid a brief hand on Regina's shoulder, squeezing.

Regina stood, stunned and unable to verbalize a reply. Kathryn did not linger, seeming to understand, and spoke a quick goodbye to the pair of them before taking her leave. Regina stared at the doorway for long, quiet moments after Kathryn's departure, at a loss.

The idea that anyone would choose to put her in power was absolutely, utterly, foreign to Regina.

Beside her, Emma let out a frustrated sigh. "Have I mentioned how glad I am the curse breaking didn't change you? This is starting to get ridiculous."

For the second time in as many minutes, Regina was left speechless.

"Quite a crowd." Charming's comment, as usual, pointed out the obvious. They stood just inside the entrance, off to the side and behind the gathering townspeople.

Hundreds of Storybrooke's residents filed into Town Hall's largest conference room, filling it to the brim and then some. At Emma's insistence, they had arrived at the hall far earlier than necessary, finding Charming – sheriff's badge on proud display around his neck due to Emma's medical leave – overseeing the arriving townsfolk with Snow at his side.

Regina noted the duo's usual entourage – dwarves, fairies, and the old werewolf – all sat toward the rear, just feet away, creating a solid block of their old powerbase.

"It's the first one since right after the curse broke, right?" Henry asked from the aisle seat on the rearmost row, glancing up from his book with his curious eyes sweeping over the auditorium before them. Regina felt gladdened he had moved on to reading typical fiction rather than the storybook. "There's more people here than I've ever seen before at one of these things."

"People can sense the tension in the air," Snow said, running a hand through Henry's hair in an absentmindedly affectionate manner. The sight of it sent an instinctive shiver of disgust through Regina's core, but she repressed the urge to smack the woman's hand away, turning her attention to the gathering crowd.

And the five traitors sitting at the collapsible table on the raised dais at the head of the room. With row upon row of seats arranged in an arc surrounding the platform, and only a single podium separating them from the agitated townsfolk, the setup aptly made the council seem on trial.

Each member was gazing out of the ever-filling room with wide, fearful eyes. Regina smirked and did not bother to hide it. The monthly town meetings of the past decades only ever drew the attention of the same several dozen citizens. To be the object of scrutiny for hundreds had to be frightful for them.

"It's more than that," Emma spoke from beside her. The space between the sheriff's eyebrows wrinkled as she thought. "They think something's going to go down." Snow and Charming wore matching stone-faced expressions. Regina hummed under her breath.

Had those two been involved in Midas' clandestine meetings as well? She could not be sure Kathryn would have brought up that fact or deliberately hid it away. Leather crinkled as she tightened her fists. The instinctual sense of something being off set her on edge.

As the trickle of people entering the hall slowed, the group she had been waiting to spot strode through the double doors, heads held high and eyes forward.

Mitchell Herman led the procession, his son following a step behind with baby Alexandra in one arm and wife Cinderella on the other. Kathryn and Frederick followed just behind Moe French, arm in arm, and neither betrayed a glance in their direction. A selection of dukes and lower nobles Regina knew by sight but not name came after, and Midas brought up the rear.

He broke the pattern of stoic silence, catching sight of Regina and smirking at her in a way he never would have thought to dare to in the past. Regina met the expression with a single eyebrow raised in challenge, but the man did not balk. He followed his flock to the front row of seats, a swagger in his step the entire way.

Regina held no doubt there was someone behind the scenes, guiding the self-proclaimed golden king.

"That's Midas? The jackass banker?" Emma asked, looking at Regina in vague disapproval. "A little on the nose, don't you think?"

Regina bristled. "I did not choose everyone's role, Sheriff." Emma shrugged as the town clerk, Krzyszkowski, struck a gavel three times, and the meeting began.

The quiet whine of the doors opening once again stole Regina's attention away from the opening remarks. Rumplestiltskin walked in, dressed for winter with his heavy duty overcoat, scarf, gloves, and boots. Black on black with the exception of an aged burlap shawl he wore over his shoulders.

Her gaze honed in on the cane he held in a loose grip and the full to bursting messenger bag hung at his side.

Belle slipped in behind him, dressed considerably lighter and without so much as a purse.

"Good evening," he greeted with a tight smile, striding over to them and resting on the cane he did not need.

"Gold." Emma welcomed with a sour look. A quick glance told Regina that everyone in their entourage were looking to the newcomers rather than Krzyszkowski as he drawled out the meeting's minutes. "Belle," Emma added in a brighter tone.

"Didn't picture you having an interest in small town politics, Gold." Charming spoke with his arms crossed, jaw raised in challenge. Regina shook her head at the display and Rumple's grin turned menacing for the barest of moments, dismissing the prince as a threat.

"He isn't," Belle said, glancing over the crowd. "But I am. It's fascinating." The smile that played upon the woman's lips struck Regina as genuine. "This has been building up for weeks after the attack."

"And while Belle gets her fill of Storybrooke's little dramas…" Belle wrinkled her nose at him in false annoyance. Rumple's smile turned genuine. "I am here to collect on a favor." His gaze landed on Emma, expression morphing back to cold.

Regina's stomach dropped. "Now?" Emma asked with a glance toward the proceedings. The clerk had ceded the floor to the council.

"I am in need of your skills, and what better time to fulfill your end of the bargain when you aren't obligated to your duties as sheriff?" Rumple nodded toward Emma's immobilized arm. "Unless you mean to break a deal with the Dark One?" Regina recognized the tone the man used and her magic surged to just beneath the surface of its own volition, ready to be called at a moment's notice.

Rumple's eyes flicked to her for a split second, acknowledging and dismissing her all at once. She clenched her teeth, noting that both Snow and Charming had taken a step closer to their daughter while everyone in the nearby seats turned to focus on the newfound threat. Leroy stood, expression hard and threatening, and Regina spotted the werewolf's crossbow resting in the old woman's relaxed grip.

Regina did not dwell on how odd it was not to be the focus of their aggression.

Belle placed a gentle hand on Rumple's arm, but none of the tension dissipated.

Behind them all, the meeting went on as if a battle between two of Storybrooke's heavy hitters was not about to break out.

"And if I want to postpone you cashing in your I-O-U?" The sheriff asked, challenging.

"Then I say too bad." Rumple and Emma stared each other down, neither giving ground.

"Emma," Snow spoke, not taking her eyes off the Dark One and taking another half step closer to her daughter. "It may be best to get this over with. It's not wise to be in the Dark One's debt." Snow looked as if she swallowed bile.

"A mother's wisdom," Rumple said with a smile. "You should heed it, Miss Swan." Emma glared at the pair of them, took a quick glance around, and sighed, nodding. The pressure eased out of the atmosphere.

"What do you want?" Emma asked, petulant.

"You've spoken before of your remarkable ability at finding people. I aim to put it to use." He tapped his cane against the ground with an air of finality. "We've a long drive ahead of us, I suggest you say your goodbyes."

"And how do you plan on getting by the town line?" Charming asked, cheeks tinged red in impotent anger.

Rumple's brows raised, amused. "Don't doubt I have my ways, Shepherd." Belle squeezed his arm with a disapproving frown and Rumple let the sarcasm drain from his tone. "I assure you my memories will be safely intact." He offered no further explanation.

"Where will we even be going?"

"All in due time, Sheriff." He turned, drew Belle into a quick, chaste kiss, and made his way back toward the exit. He paused at the threshold, as if considering. "And consider this part of the deal, Sheriff. Bring Henry." Regina's nerves froze to ice. "I feel his genuine heart may be of use."

"No," Regina said immediately, but the Dark One had already pushed through the doors. She turned to Emma and repeated the refusal.

"Of course not," Emma agreed. "He's insane if he thinks I'm bringing Henry anywhere without knowing exactly where we're going and why."

"Rumple wouldn't do anything to put Henry in danger. He's quite fond of him." Belle spoke with the complete surety of absolute trust. It meant nothing to Regina.

"Excuse me if your delusional image of Rumplestiltskin doesn't fill me with confidence." A gaze of blue fire turned on Regina and the woman actually took a step toward her. Regina took one of her own.

"Enough," Snow's tone brooked no arguments and Belle obeyed almost out of instinct, backing down. Regina only stopped due to Emma's hand on her forearm. "As much as I hate this, I don't think we have much of a choice."

"Like hell we don't." Emma stared at her mother, incredulous.

"You don't know him like we do, Emma." Snow closed her eyes and Charming laid both hands on her shoulders in support. Regina could not even drum up the usual disgust at simple display of affection.

"He does not respond well to broken deals," the man said, eyes trailing over the gathered townsfolk. "And there are so many people here…" Emma's eyes widened at the implication.

"Rumple would never…" Belle trailed off, red with enough anger that it stole her words. Regina did not waste her breath correcting the woman.

Emma looked to Regina, looking for support.

"I'll go!" Henry said from behind her. She turned, finding her son staring at all of them with his wide, genuine eyes. He spoke in a rush. "It's to find his son, right?" He asked Belle, who covered her anger with a tight smile and nod. "Then I'll definitely help!" His earnest declaration warmed her heart.

She reached out and rested a hand against his cheek. He showed no hesitation in offering his assistance.

Her little hero.

She released him as he blushed and squirmed. "Regina?" Emma's concerned voice drew her attention. The blonde left the question unspoken, and Regina considered. As much as she wished she could be confident their combined abilities could stop Rumple if he released the full extent of the Dark One's power, she could not be sure.

And there would doubtlessly be casualties no matter the outcome.

She sighed and nodded. Emma grimaced and Regina knew the woman had hoped for the opposite answer. A quick round of farewells followed and Regina held her son close, extracting a promise from him to be as careful as he could possibly be. Moments later, he bounded after the Dark One, the smile all young people wore on the cusp of adventure lighting his features.

"I'll take care of the kid, Regina," Emma said in earnest. She almost reached a hand out to Regina, but hesitated halfway there, dropping it back to her side. Regina wished she could take comfort in the gesture, but Emma was far too inexperienced with dealing with Rumple for the former queen to feel confident. She appreciated Emma trying, though, and offered the woman a small nod and smile as she left.

"I hate this," Snow said after the doors closed on Emma. Charming nodded his agreement, absently rubbing his wife's arms. Regina ignored the cold echo of loneliness the sight created. Beside her, Belle focused her attention back toward the front of the hall. Her cheeks were still tinged with color, giving away her internalized anger. Regina forced herself to tune all three of her remaining companions out and turned to the dais more for distraction than any legitimate interest.

Midas had gained the floor, pacing back and forth in front of the council table, a microphone in his gloved hand. Regina idly wondered if the gloves were just for show or if the man's powers had truly returned.

"—prepared to handle any threat. Internal or external. Magical or mundane!" He spoke, making wild gestures with his free hand with each phrase. "It is clear that the current administration is not capable of doing so, and so we must do our duty as concerned citizens of both Storybrooke and the Enchanted Forest and rise up; take back our town; take back our lives!"

A general murmur of agreement rolled through a large section of the crowd. Not as enthusiastic as Midas, but receptive to his ideas. Midas grinned, teeth gleaming white, and Regina suspected he knew exactly how to work the crowd toward his goals.

"We have no mayor, we have no judicial authority. We are left with just five incompetent individuals that have been nothing more than patsies for the Evil Queen!" Regina's lip curled at the moniker. "The police force refuses to bring her to justice as well." His eyes scanned toward the back of the room and Regina met his gaze with a steady calm despite the chill that filled her at the words and the crowd's outcry of agreement.

She was acutely aware of how possible it was her only ally had just been called away.

Midas grinned and broke the stare down. "But I am glad to say I have your solution. My colleagues and I have poured over the town charter with exhaustive effort and have found our salvation." He reached into his coat pocket and brought out a folded sheet of paper. "Article one nine eight two subsection eight," he read. Regina could not stop her eyes widening in surprise. It was one of the final passages in the charter, buried deep. The charter itself was not easily accessed by the public, and few individuals would know it will enough to know that loophole.

It looked like Kathryn's rumors were right. Albert Spencer was behind this power play.

"I won't bore you with the details, but it boils down to this: In times of great crisis and turmoil, a caucus can be called during Storybrooke's monthly open forum." Midas turned and slammed the photocopied section of legalese onto the council's table. All five members looked to the man, stoic and mute. "I move for an immediate vote of no confidence in our current council, and for general elections to be held for all open governmental positions!"

The crowd's murmuring grew to a steady din as a wave of excited anticipation waved over the audience.

"So that's their play," Snow whispered, words almost lost to the myriad of conversations around them. Regina was taken aback and studied the Charmings. Neither of them seemed surprised by the turn of events.

"You expected this," Belle said, her shrewd eyes studying the pair as well. Regina took the tiniest amount of comfort that she was not the only one to find out at the last minute.

"Something like it," Charming admitted. "But we're prepared."

"I'm just surprised they're bothering to try it legally." Snow frowned. "Do they need to be in a position of authority, though?"

"The charter's vague on details. Using words like 'community leader' rather than anything official." Belle explained. Surprised that she was privy to the information, Regina looked to the librarian in askance, but Belle seemed content to ignore her, irking the former queen.

"Order, everyone! Order!" Krzyszkowski had gotten the microphone, but the shrill feedback over the speakers did more to quiet the crowd than his request. The balding clerk continued, red-faced and sweating. "The process for this is fairly simple, er…" He consulted a pocket notebook, flipping through the pages. "Simple majority wins. Everyone not here automatically abstains. The rest of us, well…" He scratched at his head. "We just stand in groups declaring our support?"

Regina sighed at the man's incompetence.

"Right, well." He continued. "All those in favor of an emergency election to the left, opposed to the right. Abstaining in the center!"

"This seems really…informal," Charming said with a frown.

"It's meant to be done quickly." Regina watched the people dance around each other, the vast majority moved toward the left. She spotted her council's reactions fall on the side of relief and she wondered if they had been a part of this movement as well.

Midas bounded back up onto the stage, yanking the microphone from the clerk, who seemed more than happy to move out of the center of attention.

"And the wisdom of our citizenry wins out." Midas laughed as he spoke. "Procedures tell us the special election will happen in a week's time." He let the words sink in. "And I don't think it will be a surprise to any of you that I put myself forward for the position of mayor!" Midas beamed, but was met with only muted applause.

"Why would we choose you?" Regina blinked in surprise as the Woodcutter separated himself from the crowd, an incredulous look on his face. "You swore featly to the Queen back in our land. How would you be any different?"

For the first time Midas' jubilant façade faltered as the majority of the gathered folk voiced their agreement to Tillman's words.

Mitchell Herman stepped up to the dais, taking the mic from his ally. "I know there is quite a bit of resentment and mistrust we will have to work through, but I remind you all that this is an open election." He paused, considering the crowd before him. "I will personally be seeking one of the five council positions. I encourage any of you who wish to represent your people to do the same."

Dozens of conversations broke out as people took in the former king's words, and Regina spotted more than one group forming around individuals. It always amazed her how quickly a person could decide their loyalties.

"Is there anyone else who wishes to declare for the mayoral election?" Krzyszkowski's voice filtered over the sound system and a hush fell over the gathered masses. For all their blunder, Regina smirked at the lack of boldness.

Nobody wanted to move first.

Beside her, Snow took a deep, steadying breath and squared her shoulders. With her head held high, the queen-turned-schoolteacher strode down the path between the separated throngs of her former subjects. The dwarves cheered loudly, some folks joining them, while most remained quiet, considering.

Worryingly, Midas wore the slightest of smiles. Regina narrowed her eyes as Snow made it to the platform and gave a brief speech about hope or family or any one of her other typical platitudes that Regina did not pay attention to. The entire time the woman was speaking, Midas and Herman whispered to each other, every so often glancing to Snow or Charming.

They had been prepared for this.

A much warmer round of applause greeted the end of Snow's words and the woman beamed, smile wide and genuine. Midas and Herman made a show of clapping politely along with the crowd.

When Kathryn stood, however, both men could not hide their surprise. Midas grabbed the woman's arm as she climbed onto the dais, whispering something to her, but Kathryn tugged free with a quick reply that had to have been biting, as Midas' jaw hung loose while Kathryn gathered the microphone from Snow.

"I know this will not be popular." Kathryn began with a self-deprecating smile. "But I want to preface this by asking a question to you all: How has your quality of life changed between your time in the Enchanted Forest and now here in Storybrooke?" Kathryn trailed off, letting the audience marinate in her question for a moment.

Kathryn moved to speak once again, placing her free hand over her heart. "I, for one, have never been happier." She cast a loving look toward Frederick, who returned it with equal fervor. Would-be friend or no, Regina could not stop the tick of irritation at seeing the couple lost in their mutual affection. "I can't argue that how we got here is less than ideal." Regina's shook her head in amusement at the understatement. "But, in the end, I don't really think that matters. We are here now, leading better lives, and we have one person to thank for that."

Regina braced herself for the fallout.

"I propose that Regina Mills resume her role as mayor."

Regina supposed that the dead silence that followed Kathryn's proclamation was better than the alternative. Pasting on a vaguely haughty expression, Regina followed the same path as Snow.

The rush of exhilaration she felt as every eye followed her steps left little doubt in Regina's mind that she wanted this. Taking in Midas' restrained anger and Snow's grim annoyance, Regina grinned and shelved her other concerns to be worried over later, embracing an old, bubbling excitement she had not felt in some time.

She had a fight to win.

E/N: Two things I am sure Regina will always enjoy: A challenge and annoying Snow White in any way she can.

In any case, here we have canon events and those of my own creation correlating with each other. Rumple calls on Emma's favor at a much more inconvenient time, and he is the one to demand Henry's presence this time around. What could be his reasoning, I wonder?

The Albert Spencer storyline was rather unceremoniously dropped on the show, and tied off in a neat bow off screen through a few tweets from the writers. I find him an intriguing villain whose potential for conflict both with Charming and overall was never fully explored. Here he is very much a power behind the scenes, even if he is not terribly subtle about it.

This chapter also made me realize just how few royals are actually in Storybrooke. I know the idea of the general citizenry embracing their new lives over their Enchanted Forest selves has been done, but I want to explore the thought that people are truly split on that fact. It'll be an ever-present issue lurking in the background in this arc.

Before I go on and on, I'll cut this off here with the teaser that next chapter's PoV will be Cora!

Until next time, read well my friends!

(Sidenote that I just remembered to ask. Do you guys prefer Rumple or Rumpel in terms of spelling? OUAT spells his full name with Rumple rather than the traditional Rumpel, which is why I've been using that. Wanted to get a consensus, though, so please let me know!)

Also, sorry for the delay between the chapter on AO3 and here, but FFN was down for over 2 days for authors.