I forgot to mention at the end of the last chapter, the song was 'I like it heavy' by Halestorm. I don't own it.

As for this chapter, I'm not a big fan of the pre curse breaking era. So, let's jump a bit.

Chapter 23

Regina watched Rory head towards the library. She shook her head, Lacy was about to get woken up and drug to the bar. Shrugging, Regina decided to continue pretending she didn't know just how baked they got together. Eventually, the bar was going to need actual work done now that time was rolling. But, until then, it wasn't the worst way they could spend a Sunday afternoon.

She headed to her mother's tomb, entering her secret rooms. She cleared all the dust off the bottles she hadn't thought she would look at again. She organized and rearranged everything before settling down to read a spell book. She needed to decide exactly how to get rid of Emma without it looking like she did anything at all.

She had come up with a few different ideas before it was time to head home for dinner. She had to bake the turnovers so they would be cool before dinner was finished.

….

Rory and Emma were checking each other, making sure they didn't look high, or drunk. Emma straightened Rory's jacket as Rory fluffed Emma's hair. They both turned and frowned as Lacy started laughing behind them. She was leaning on the door to her apartment, watching the other two try and fix themselves. "You guys are completely busted. You both look absolutely blitzed."

Rory frowned and pointed at Lacy, "you look like you just climbed out of a trash bin."

Lacy laughed and posed with her arms spread open, "yes, but I'm single and don't have a kid. I'm allowed to look like trash."

Emma waved her off and pulled Rory with her as they headed for the loft. "Never mind her, we look fine."

They got to the loft door and Emma was searching for her keys. "Shit, I can't find the keys!"

Rory started helping her check pockets and had her arms around the blonde, hands in her back pockets, Emma had her hands up in the air, letting Rory check, when MM stepped out the door. With a shocked face, the woman shut the door quickly and slapped at them until they separated. "What are you two doing? Are you seriously feeling each other up with Henry right inside? What if he sees you? What if he tells Regina? She would kill you both! I swear you have no idea how to keep things low key."

Emma and Rory glanced at each other and busted up laughing so hard they were leaning on each other with tears in their eyes. They eventually fell to the floor, still giggling as Mary Margaret stared at them. Emma finally caught her breath and held her hand up to MM, "we are not feeling each other up. She was checking my pockets because I couldn't find my keys."

Rubbing her face in exasperation, MM sighed, "you guys are high aren't you? Drunk too?"

Rory put a hand on her heart in an attempt to look offended, but it wasn't really working considering she was sitting on the floor with Emma leaning against her back. "Miss Blanchard! How dare you insinuate that the good deputy, mother goose, would partake in such criminal activity?"

Emma stood up, shakily, "yeah, how dare you? I am a professional law enforcing… uhm…" Emma faltered and helped Rory stand and whispered loudly to her, "hey, what am I?" Rory whispered something back and Emma turned back to MM with an outraged look, "Yeah! I am a professional law enforcing goose!"

Rory was laughing again and Emma seemed to realize what she said and they started slapping at each other. Mary Margaret got their attention again and once they were focused on her she asked quietly, "aren't you two supposed to be at Regina's house? With Henry? In ten minutes? To eat the meal Rory was supposed to have started cooking an hour ago?!"

Rory stared at her, "oh shit."

Emma stared at Rory, "oh shit."

MM groaned and pulled her cell phone out, dialing Regina's number.

…

Regina had called Rory ten times already and gotten no answer. She was starting to worry. She had decided when Emma got there with Henry, she would ask her to go find the woman. Her phone rang and she quickly answered it.

"Rory?!"

Mary Margarets voice came thru instead, "uhm, no, Regina."

"Miss Blanchard? What's wrong? Is Henry okay?"

"No no, he's fine, he's been with me all afternoon actually."

Regina frowned hard, "with you? Where is Emma?"

"Uhm, yeah, that's why I'm calling. I think Emma and Rory spent the afternoon together… at the bar…"

Regina groaned loudly, she could heard two people laughing in the back ground. "Where are they?"

…..

Mary Margaret kept the two women outside the loft door until Regina arrived. She took one look at them and Rory tried to hide behind Emma. Regina sighed and pushed Emma aside. Rory looked up and winced, "hey baby… You are so beautiful today…"

"I bet I am. Let's go." Regina tried to grab her hand but the woman pulled back.

"What about Henry?" Rory pointed at the loft door.

Sighing, Regina nodded, "Miss Blanchard is bringing him home in an hour, after she feeds him dinner."

Nodding slowly, Rory took Regina's hand and let her lead her out of the building while she heard Mary Margaret telling Emma that she was definitely still high because the loft door had been open when they were looking for her keys.

…..

Monday morning came and Regina was awake first. She sat and sipped her coffee while watching Rory sleeping. Henry had gone to school already and the siren still slept. She had stayed buzzed until nearly midnight and then promptly passed out. Regina smirked and blushed at the memories from last night. She almost felt bad for not insisting Rory go to sleep, but… well she had simply refused to be still.

Regina straightened her face and back as Rory started waking up. She sat up a bit and jumped a little to see Regina sitting in a chair, sipping coffee and staring at her. "Ah… hey babe."

Regina continued staring at her. "So. You decided it would be a good idea to get drunk and high, on a Sunday, with Miss Swan?"

Rory cleared her throat and shook her head slowly, "no. I intended to drink and smoke a tiny bit with Lacy, on a Sunday. Emma popped in on her own, actually."

Regina sipped her coffee and crossed her legs, "I see. Well, I'll make you a deal. You tell me everything that woman said or did and I will totally forgive you."

Rory swallowed hard and considered refusing, but then she remembered who she was talking to. "Okay, look. We didn't mean to do so much, it just sort of happened. I for one am super sorry."

Regina stood and put her coffee on the end table. She then crawled into the bed and laid beside her. "I want to know what happened. If there is anything she said or did that I could use against her, it would really help in getting her out of town."

Rory sighed and pulled her in close to her side, "I get that. You are still worried she's gonna take Henry. But, I'm telling you, she isn't that bad really. She didn't say or do anything detrimental. Well, she tried to get up on me, but…"

Regina shot up in bed, "she what?!"

Rory winced and pulled her back down, "she tried to get me to be disloyal to you. Soon as I rejected her, she was cool again. She was actually looking out for you. That's why she was even there. She thought me an Lacy were hooking up behind your back."

Regina frowned and finally relaxed against her again, "that sounds like a stupid way of defending me."

Rory smiled, "yeah, but she did it for you."

….

Despite Emma's apparent defense of her, Regina still needed her gone. Which is why the fighting started back up again. Time after time, Emma and Regina clashed on nearly every topic. The only thing keeping everything from completely exploding was Henry and Rory running buffers between Emma and Regina. Regina had reached her breaking point when Sheriff Graham decided to run off to become a forest ranger, which Storybrooke didn't really need. With no sheriff, and election had to be held to get a new one. Of course, Emma was up for it.

Regina glared at Rory, trying to convince her to run for sheriff. "Rory, I need you to be sheriff. Miss Swan cannot be given that much power, not to mention a permanent job!"

Rory was trying to clean the pint glasses, it was going to be a busy Friday night and she was behind in setting up. "Regina, I do not want to be sheriff. Like, I can't imagine a worse job for me. Do you have any idea how biased I am? Not to mention I would totally accept bribes. Like, oh hey you were speeding! They're like, yeah well, I got half a ham sandwich here that says I wasn't! Then I let them go and enjoy my sandwich."

Regina rolled her eyes, "it doesn't matter. Nothing really happens here anyway."

Rory shook her head and looked Regina in the eye, "no. I'm not doing it. Let Emma have it. Henry loves having her around, and she isn't hurting anything. Aside from you two fighting all the time, she's fine. She doesn't want to take Henry, she just wants to know him."

Regina growled and stormed out of the bar, heading to her crypt.

…..

"Congratulations, sheriff Swan." Regina managed to say it without rolling her eyes.

Emma smiled and clipped her new badge on. "Hey, thanks madam mayor. The competition was fierce, but I won."

Regina arched one brow and pursed her lips. No one ran against her. No one thought they could do better than Emma. "Yes, I imagine it was quite the feat to win against yourself."

Smiling, Emma tried again to soothe the woman, "hey, listen, I'm getting really sick of fighting with you. I hope this shows you that I'm not going anywhere. I can be a part of Henry's life and not be a threat to you."

Regina crossed her arms, "really? So, tell me, why does he still believe all this fairy tale nonsense?"

Emma shrugged. The kid was pretty adamant. He even gave Emma tasks to complete in order to work towards breaking the curse. He made Mary Margaret go talk to a coma patient today because Henry says that's prince Charming and he might wake up if she talked to him. "He just has a really active imagination, it's not really harmful."

Regina threw her hands up and stalked out of the station. She had a plan now, all she had to do was acquire enough magic to get the same apple she used on Snow White and all this mess would be fixed.

….

Regina was pacing the hall of the hospital. John Doe woke up and wandered off. Rory was watching her pace, not being able to help her thru this one. She didn't understand why Regina was so distraught. She didn't know that Prince Charming just woke up because of Snow White.

She had a bit of magic now. It wasn't much, and it would destroy the ring Daniel gave her, but it had to be done. A few more weeks and Emma would not be a problem anymore.

…..

Regina was wearing an elegant, but casual, black and red dress. She had managed to get Rory to wear a very nice matching pant suit as well. Everything was coming together nicely, actually. She would have Emma out of the way tomorrow. Tonight was the town carnival and she intended to enjoy it with Rory. Everyone was laughing and dancing, well, nearly everyone.

Mary Margaret was secretly dying inside while she watched her David dance with his wife, Kathryn. They had such a strong connection, but he couldn't leave her now that he remembered her. Seeing her on the side was as much as he could accomplish.

Regina didn't care at all. Emma had stirred up those old evil flames in her. She had started picking at the mousy school teacher again out of spite for Emma. Mary Margaret was a much easier target.

…..

"What's this?" Emma asked as Regina handed her a food container.

"It's a peace offering, Miss Swan. An apple turnover, actually. The last time I made them, I had to fetch Rory from your doorstep, so no one got to try them." Regina smiled sweetly at the blonde.

Emma smiled and nodded, "yeah, I recall that night. It was kind of my fault actually." Emma decided to try again with this woman. "Hey, why don't you come in for coffee and we can split it?"

Regina smiled brightly, "coffee sounds good, but I'm afraid I'm full. I'd love to see if you like it though."

They walked in to the loft and Regina took a seat at the bar while Emma made coffee. Soon, she wouldn't be a problem anymore. They made idle chit chat until the coffee finished and Emma poured two cups of it. She then put the turnover on a plate and sat beside Regina.

Before she took a bit, the loft door opened and Henry came in. He looked shocked to see his mom there. "Why're you here?"

Regina frowned at him and fired back, "why are you here? You are supposed to be in school!"

Emma sat the turnover down, unbitten. "Henry, we talked about this. You can't keep skipping out on school to see me. This is part of the problem between me and your mom."

Henry looked past her to the bar top table. He pointed at the turnover, "what's that?"

Emma looked down and picked up the turnover, "it's an apple turnover your mom made for me."

She moved as if to take a bite, but Henry snatched it out of her hand. "It's poison! What is wrong with you? How many times do I have to tell you not to trust anything apple from the evil queen?!"

Regina was staring at the turnover, slowly moving towards it. She couldn't forgive herself if he bit into it. "Henry, it's not poison. That's ridiculous. Give it here."

Henry pulled back and looked at Emma, "you're gonna believe me now!" He opened his mouth to take a bite.

Regina shouted, but it was too late. His eyes rolled back and he hit the floor. She rushed to him as Emma called the paramedics.

….

At the hospital, Emma was screaming at her and asking her if it was all real. She didn't deny it, not anymore. Henry was in a coma and the doctor said he was fading. There was no magic here, the sleeping curse was a death sentence without magic.

Rory heard the fighting in the storeroom and rushed in before Emma hurt Regina. The two women started wrestling and throwing punches until Emma's nose was bleeding and Rory stood in front of Regina.

"You're under arrest, Regina. For poisoning my son!" Emma shouted for the hospital security to come help.

…

Ruby rushed in just as the guards were pulling Rory out of the store room. Ruby grabbed Emma as she saw Regina go back in to Henry's room.

"What the hell is happening here?" Ruby asked with wide eyes.

Emma licked her bruised lip, "Rory just confessed to poisoning Henry. Ruby, I officially deputize you."

"What?! Hell no! After that dead treasure hunt?!"

Emma grabbed Ruby and handed her hand cuffs. "She won't fight you. She is protecting Regina so she can be with Henry. Take her and lock her in a cell, I will deal with them later. Right now I need to talk to Mr. Gold."

Ruby took a deep breath then went to where two men were watching Rory. "I'm gonna take you to a cell."

Rory nodded, then looked toward the room where Henry was, "let me tell her good bye?"

Ruby hesitated but nodded, "fine. But be quick."

….

Rory protected her, again. She said she poisoned the turnover. She was going to jail now. Regina couldn't stop crying as she held Henry's hand. She had just lost everything. Rory put a hand on her shoulder and kissed the top of her head. "It'll be alright, Regina. I promise."

Regina shook her head and cried harder. "I'll get you out of this."

Rory nodded, "I know. Stay with him though. I'll be fine for a few days."

Then she was gone and Regina was alone with Henry.

…..

Gold smirked as Emma rushed in to his shop. "Miss Swan, how lovely to see you."

"Cut the shit, I know what you are. Can you help Henry? Can you save him?"

Gold nodded, "sort of, yes. I need something before I can make an antidote." He pulled a sword out from under the counter and handed it to her. "You'll want that."

Emma eyed the sword, "a sword? Really? What do I need to do, slay a dragon?"

Laughing, he said, "yes. You will need your fathers sword to do it too."

…

Ruby decided to take her time walking Rory to the station. The woman wasn't gonna be out for a while, so she let her enjoy the fresh air. It had taken them an hour to get back to the station. Rory went in to the cell willingly.

Ruby held her hands in her own, prepared to take the cuffs off. Memories flooded back to her unbidden. She gently stroked her thumb over the back of Rory's hands before finally taking the cuffs off. As soon as the cuffs were off, Rory pulled her hands back. Ruby bit her lip and prayed the tears wouldn't fall.

"We both know you didn't do this Rory." Ruby looked in to the womans grey eyes. They looked so cold.

"It doesn't matter. Emma is working to bring Henry back, and then everything will be fine." Rory stepped back so the door could close.

Ruby shook her head, slowly shutting the door. A wave of light shot thru everyone in town, including the two women in the cell. Ruby slammed the cell door just a split second before Rory rushed it. The woman jerked on the bars and shouted angrily, "Let me out! Please! Open the fucking door!"

"Hell no. You're not saving her this time. She doesn't deserve to be saved, Lorelei. For the first time in our lives, you're staying right here with me while Regina gets exactly what she deserves."

Shaking with rage, Lorelei slammed against the bars as hard as she could. She probably broke a rib or two in the process, but she kept doing it and screaming at Red to let her out. Begging her to let her out.

Red sat down on the desk and even with tears flowing down her face, she smiled. The curse was broken, and the whole town would be going after Regina now. She didn't have magic, she was no match for a whole town of pissed off people.

….

Emma burst into the police station and immediately heard the yelling. She was only here to get her service gun. She walked in to find Ruby sitting in the chair, crying. Rory was throwing herself against the bars, but stopped when Emma walked in.

"Emma! Let me out! You have to let me out! They'll kill her!" Rory shouted.

Emma stared at her, "Your name is Lorelei, isn't it?" the woman nodded, looking frantic and breathing heavily from trying to break out. "You're her guardian. The siren."

Nodding impatiently, Lorelei licked her lips and begged, "please, Emma, let me out. I won't do anything but protect her, I swear it! I have never hurt anyone who didn't try to hurt her, I won't cause any problems, you have to let me out please."

Red stood and threw a coffee cup at the bars, the porcelain shattering and making Lorelei back up. "Shut up! She doesn't deserve your help! She deserves to be shot in the street for what she has done to all of us! How dare you even ask to be allowed to help her?"

Emma thought about everything, it was a huge mess. But, she didn't want Regina dying. Henry asked Emma to protect his mom when he woke up and she ran out. Emma wasn't a liar. She picked up the cell keys and took a step towards the bars. Red was faster and moved between Emma and the cell door.

Red pointed a gun at Emma, "you try to let her out, I shoot you. I don't want to. I like you Emma, but you don't understand. You don't understand anything!"

Emma put her hands up and backed up a step. Lorelei was watching Red intently. "Woah, Ruby, you really want to shoot me just for letting her protect Regina?"

Red licked her lips, "I would. Don't make me. Regina deserves to be ripped apart by an angry mob. She cursed us all out of our homes. She put us here and tortured us for 28 years! She punched me in the face every Saturday for 28 years! She cursed Lorelei in to her god damn bed, Emma!"

Emma glanced at Lorelei, the woman was watching Red still, moving quietly to be directly behind her. If Red backed up two steps, Lorelei could reach her. Taking a shaky breath, Emma very slowly moved towards Red, very calmly, getting the woman to step back just slightly. "Ruby, I understand all that, I do. We're going to make her pay for what she's done, I promise you. But, if you don't let me let her out, she will never get the justice she deserves. She has to be brought in, not hunted down like a wild animal."

Lorelei waited quietly, seemingly forgotten in the cell by Red. "No! She deserves the mob!" Red shouted as she stepped back just within reach of Lorelei.

Emma dove to the side as Lorelei grabbed Red and pulled her backwards into the bars. The gun went off towards the station door as Emma ducked. The women wrestled thru the bars until the gun went off again, but then Lorelei managed to pull Red hard enough to hit her head on the bars. She let her drop heavily to the floor as she panted from the effort and the pain in her ribs.

Emma ran over and grabbed the gun, tucking it away quickly. She unlocked the cell and hugged Emma hard, "thank you, I owe you!" Then she took off out of the station.

Emma nodded and caught her breath before checking to make sure Red was just unconscious. She would have a headache, but she'd be fine. Emma laid her on the cell cot and locked her in. She didn't need the woman running around town at the moment.

…..