CHAPTER 4
"So what you're saying is that you are not a terrorist?" the customs agent asked again. Robin looked up to the ceiling and prayed for patience. He had been answering this customs agents questions for the past two hours. CISS had discovered them almost as soon as they got off the ship. Apparently an English man working the airports ground in sector 81 raised a lot of suspicion. He and Roland had been brought into a small room for questioning by the CISS agent. That was only after they had checked him out medically to prove he was human and disease free. Luckily for them Roland had raised a huge fuss when they tried to prick his finger so they had let him skate without human verification. Robin could only imagine what would have happened if they had found out he was half Neptunian. Robin's hoped for some leniency and hoped that his father would verify who he was and give him a place to stay in London.
"No, Sir. I swear I was just trying to escape from the Meta sectors to give a better life to my child." Robin said. "If you check my records in England you will find I am not a terrorist. I was born in Hay-on Wye, I am an honest to goodness human who would never bomb anything.
"Hay-on-Wye? What kind of name is that? Sounds made up." the customs agent barked. "What I want to know is how did you manage to sneak onto that aircraft?"
"It's in Wales" Robin barked right back and thought better of it. He would never get anywhere with this man unless he appealed to his better nature. "Listen…Leroy," He scanned the agents name tag.
"Only my friends call me Leroy. You can call me Mr. Miner." He barked even louder. "If you think that you can sweet talk me …" There was a knock at the door interrupting him and another agent handed Leroy Robin's REN background forms. Robin held his breath; Leroy looked especially pleased with himself. This was most likely not good.
"Well, well, well Mr. Locksley it looks like you were not lying. You are not a terrorist and you are a citizen of the UK. However your father is long since dead and the new owner of your home claims you do not live there. It seems you have no home. "Leroy gleefully relayed. "Homeless people in sector 81 get placed in the homeless shelter and while we do have one for mothers and children, there are none for fathers and their children."
"What does that mean?" Robin asked
"It means we will put you and your son in two separate homeless shelters. Which can be awfully hard on a little boy, but I am willing to see about keeping you two together if you tell me how you managed to stowaway on the flight."
Robin's eyes filled with worry. He could not share with Earth the technology of the meta-sectors. There were thousands of intergalactic peoples who used Kal-els to escape the Martians. If he revealed their secrets, the Martians would be sure to find out and who knows how many lives could be lost then? On the other hand he had worked so hard to keep him and Roland together. How could he lose his son now to CISS? He found himself tearing up, in a huge bout of helplessness.
There was another knock on the door and Mr. Miner swung it open. In walked one of the most beautiful women Robin had ever seen. Raven black hair, red kissable lips and a body built for sin. Robin gulped and wondered how the fates could hate him enough to have him be this low as he met this goddess.
"Leroy, how is business going today?" She asked
"Fine madam just fine; I found a pair of stowaway's today. Their names are Robin Locksley and Roland Locksley. They came from the meta sector on flight 199306 and they are from the UK but they have no home there so we are going to place them in two of the best shelters in sector 81." Leroy responded with a huff. It was easy to tell that it annoyed him to have to answer to her but it was clear that she was his superior. Her persona reeked of upper class and a dismissive attitude to those beneath her. Robin was not a fan of the upper class but in her case he was willing to make an exception.
"Leroy you don't mean to put them in two separate shelters?" She said.
Yes, that is policy. They have no money to pay for a room at the inn and no one willing to take them in."
"Well Leroy, I would hate to split a father and son apart. Why don't I take them to my home? I am sure Mr. Locksley would prefer that over a shelter, don't you think?" Her tone gave a very clear impression that what Leroy thought did not matter at all. "So what do you say Mr. Locksley ? Would you and your son be willing to stay in the Governor's mansion as you get settled in sector 81?"
In any other scenario the Governor's Mansion would be Robin's worst nightmare but in this case it would afford them an opportunity to escape the long arm of CISS. The only problem was he could not figure out why the Governor would be interested in them. He hated to look a gift horse in the mouth but surely she expected something in return.
"Yes we want to go." Roland piped up. He had been mostly quiet concentrating on the floor but he was now close to the lady staring up at her in awe and admiration. She surprisingly got down on her knees to Roland's level with warmth in her smile. She did not seem to care about her designer pant suit as she stroked his hair and told him to wait for his father's response.
Robin did not have to think twice about it. Roland was entranced by her, she promised to keep them together and if necessary he could easily escape her home under the guise of being one of her servants. Plus he did so love the idea of seeing more of her, "Yes. We would love to" He responded.
"Well that's just great, everything works out for everybody." She said. "Roland will you hold my hand as I lead you to my car? It is parked right outside and your Daddy will follow us with your luggage. Roland grabbed her hand and grinned. He was clearly enamored with this lady and to be honest so was Robin. She took them out to a long black self-driving car and they all hopped inside. From his peripheral vision, Robin could see Leroy making quite a stink face. Robin was sure he had made an enemy of Leroy but he found it hard to care. He looked across at the gorgeous woman and proceeded to give his thanks.
"No thanks are necessary. I could not let you get separated from your son, that is a burden every parent should be spared. Of course Grumpy thrives on burdening everybody really."
"Grumpy?"
"The agent who just cross-examined you, we usually call him grumpy. When I saw how he was treating you, I knew you needed my help."
"I must say that is a highly appropriate name." Robin smiled "May I ask, how you knew so quickly that he we needed your help? Oh and for your name please"
"The name is Regina Mills and I have a direct CCTV feed in sector 81 to my home. I saw everything that happened in that office." She smirked "It is one of the benefits of being the Governor of sector 81."
"Surely for the Governor of sector 81, there are a great many things happening. Why would you bother with a small issue like us?"
"You don't know much about where you landed, do you? Not a great deal happens here. We are one of the smallest sectors in the North East. We are often referred to by our historic name Storybrooke by our neighboring sectors. Partly because our sector is so picturesque but also because nothing ever happens here." She paused. "I was bored senseless until you two came around or more specifically Roland."
Roland turned from the scenery at the window to look at Regina. Gave her a toothy smile and asked the question on the tip of Robin's tongue. "Why speci, spefic , fic…. he stuttered, "Why specially me?"
"Because you are just like me darling and it is important people like you and me stick together." She said as they pulled up to a high landscape wrought iron gate. She pressed a button to let them in.
"What kind of people is that?" Robin asked with a note of fear in his voice.
"People with magic of course."
A/N: Hey peeps, I wanted to warn everyone that there will be no update on Sunday. My traffic stats on Sunday seem particularly low so I want to switch up the days. I also feel that there seems to be lukewarm interest in the story so I am going to put it up for review on the forums to figure out what I am doing wrong. There will be an update next week I am just not sure of the date. Again please review, reviews help me get better.