"What do you want?"
Granny frowns as she looks up from the cash register, and Regina glares at her, finding her tone to be loathsome in spite of the fact she has more important things on her mind.
"Ruby. Where is she?"
She demands curtly, and Granny opens her mouth - presumably to tell the Mayor the young brunette is otherwise engaged - but as she does so, the waitress pops into view at the window separating the kitchen from the restaurant and spots her visitor.
"Madame Mayor? What can I do for you?"
She asks, and when the darker woman simply purses her lips and shakes her head, she takes note of the high colour flushing her cheeks and motions for her to come through into the back. Following the Mayor curiously, Ruby addresses her once they stand face to face hidden behind a shelf of produce and dried goods.
"What, uh... What's up?"
"Have you seen Emma?"
Regina asks, and just like that, it's out there. No 'Miss Swan' bullshit, no beating about the bush. She had originally considered going to Mary Margaret for help, but had found the idea simply too horrifying to follow through with. Besides, she may have little time for Ruby, but there's no changing the fact that she knows what she knows, and right now, she has little time for small talk.
"Yeah, last night. Why?"
"She's not home."
"Oh. I don't know, then. I thought-"
"-Henry just came home and said she wasn't there. He was crying... Today is his birthday."
"I know, Emma told me... She wasn't there?"
"No."
"That's weird..."
"Do you think she would have gotten cold feet?"
Regina asks, and Ruby stalls for a moment in an attempt to feel the situation out, but to her surprise, the Mayor's question seems genuine, as does the anxiety in her eyes. Choosing her words carefully, she shakes her head.
"No, I don't think so. I was at her place last night. We made a cake and decorated the place... She was excited. She wouldn't have bailed... Maybe she's been called out for an emergency?"
"Her phone was lying on the table."
"And she wasn't there?"
"No."
"That's-... That's really weird."
"She hasn't said anything to you?"
"About taking off? No! Nothing!... Something about this... It doesn't feel right..."
Ruby muses, wondering if she's perhaps jumping the gun, but the Mayor nods in reluctant agreement.
"No. That's what I thought, too."
Swallowing, the younger woman crosses her arms nervously over her chest, finding little comfort in Regina's uncharacteristic affirmation that she might be right. Striving to sound reasonable, she rubs at the bare flesh of her biceps in an attempt to thwart the chill that creeps over her.
"Okay, but there must be some explanation, right? I mean, sure, it seems a bit weird that she's gone AWOL, especially today, but there must be some good reason that we're missing... I mean, otherwise, I just-... Who would want to hurt Emma? The only person I would worry might do something to her is, well... You know."
"Me."
"Yes."
Ruby admits uncomfortably, but she sees no use in denying it when she's played witness to several barely-concealed threats while working at the diner, oftentimes made while standing next to the Mayor topping up her coffee.
"I wouldn't lay a finger on her. Not anymore... As, I believe - according to Miss Swan - you know..."
"... I know."
The waitress nods, hoping this admission isn't going to land her in too much trouble, but Regina brushes the matter aside for the time being as she remains fixed on the problem at hand.
"There is one other..."
She states uneasily.
"Mr Gold."
Ruby sighs, recalling the tension she'd observed between the pawnbroker, Emma, and the Mayor in turn.
"Precisely."
Regina thins her lips, crossing her own arms to mimic the waitress's anxious stance.
"But why? I mean, I know you and Gold had it out in here - same with Emma - but what does he want with her?"
"I don't know."
The Mayor replies through gritted teeth.
"...You don't think he'd actually do anything to her, though, do you? I mean, that would be crazy!... Right?"
Ruby frowns, studying her unlikely companion in a silent appeal for the darker woman's patent disdain, but for once, the Mayor doesn't tell her she's wrong.
"Miss Lucas, I haven't a clue what that imp of man wants with the Sheriff, but if he so much as looks at her in a way she doesn't want him to, well... Rest assured, I will make him regret it."
Regina hisses, and Ruby raises a brow as she regards the darker woman levelly, reading the intent in her eyes as entirely genuine. Squaring her shoulders, she nods, confiding tersely
"And I would be next in line."
Regina pauses, studying the younger woman critically before coming to the unwelcome realisation that, for now, she has something in common with the waitress; the young brunette evidently concerned by the apparent disappearance of her friend and prepared to go quite some way towards getting her back.
"You really think he'd... I don't know... Kidnap her?"
Ruby breaks the silence to ask, wrinkling her nose at the absurdity of such an outlandish suggestion, but her eyes belie a genuine touch of fear. After all, she has lived in Storybrooke for as long as she can remember, and if there's one person she will strive to avoid at all costs, it's Gold; not due to disliking the strange little man, but due to distaste... Due to something darker.
"I don't know what to think."
Regina admits, her expression drawn as she hugs her arms tight to her chest.
"All I know is that my son is at home under the impression that Miss Sw-... That his mother didn't want to spend time with him today. Now, for a long time, I would have wished that to be true, as I'm sure I don't need to tell you. Now, though... I refuse to believe that's the case - I refuse to believe Emma would do that to him - and the only person I know that would have the audacity to stand between a boy and his birthday wish is Gold... I don't know what he wants, Miss Lucas, that's the honest truth, but I guarantee you... I plan to find out."
The blonde wakes up groggily, her head pounding and her stomach churning nauseatingly. She blinks in an attempt to adjust to the dim light of the room; rolling her head to the side with a wince. Slowly, she becomes aware that her mouth has been gagged with a strip of bitter-tasting material, the coarse fabric rubbing against her tongue, and she panics as she feels the immediate urge to heave up the contents of her stomach.
Don't do that. Please, don't do that...
For a brief, disorientated moment she wonders if the Mayor is behind her current predicament; her muddled mind pondering whether this is the result of a game gone too far. Struggling to sit up, she notes with a growing sense of distress that her wrists have been cuffed to what she concludes are bedposts, and she knows instantly Regina isn't behind this.
Regina wouldn't cuff her in such a way.
Not anymore. Not after last time, and everything that's happened since.
Coming out of her drugged stupor, she breathes fretfully through her nose. She struggles to lift her head to survey her surroundings; her heart hammering frantically in her chest. Shaking her head in hopeless denial of her predicament, she attempts to yell out through her gag, but the resulting sound is so pitifully muffled that it only serves to terrify her more. Kicking her feet uselessly against the mattress, she chokes back a bewildered sob.
No. Please no. Please! This can't be happening. No. No! NO!
Thrashing on the bed, she stops only when her brow glistens with perspiration and her breathing comes out rough and ragged. Struggling to control her racing mind as blind panic sets in, she begins to yank desperately at her restraints.
She begins to yank hard.