let's get the ball rolling again mmmmkay? ;) Cora will be coming up in the next chapter, a few of you were wondering where she had disappeared to. Enjoy! Please leave a review :)
"There isn't a single button left on this shirt, David," she laughed as she ran her fingers down the open fabric of her white shirt.
"I'd say I was sorry but that would be a lie," he grinned and let out a low laugh as he came up behind her and placed his hands on her waist and his open mouth against the shell of her ear.
Regina laughed and pulled her bottom lip between her teeth as she leaned backward in to him and tilted her head back on to his shoulder. Her smile couldn't have grown any wider when he dropped his head and gave her a sweet kiss on the corner of her mouth. They both jumped and snapped their heads to the front door when it opened and Regina clutched her shirt up to her chest, "Miss Swan!"
"Yeah yeah, whatever," she waved a hand at them and Regina scoffed quietly, "we gotta go, come on!"
"Me?" She gave an incredulous shake of her head and the blonde nodded.
"Yes now let's go we are already late!"
"Miss Swan-!"
"Seriously, Regina, we do not have time for this! Put a shirt on, grab your keys, and let's go," she beckoned her to her and Regina just stood there, "Regina!"
Regina rolled her eyes at the frustrated blonde whose voice was starting to whine. So she adjusted her stance just a little and dropped her shirt from her chest so she could feed her arms through the sleeves. She smiled bitterly at the blonde as she stood impatiently and watched her dress. Using her magic she instantaneously sewed the buttons back in to place and as she fastened them through their designated hole she sighed irritably, "are you going to tell me why you are dragging me out of my home on a Saturday evening?"
"You are the mayor."
Regina scoffed a single laugh and shook her head as she tucked her white shirt in to her black trousers, "I am not the mayor."
"Yeah," she nodded once, her eyebrows up and her head pushed forward, "you are," she nodded again and Regina furrowed her brow a little, "and some idiot decided it would be a great idea to cross the town line."
Regina shook her head once in confusion, "how is that my concern?"
"Because the guy is in the hospital and he's not from Storybrooke," she nodded once, quieting her voice so Henry wouldn't catch it on the other side of the door but the urgency in her tone was not lost on the brunette whose eyes were now wide. As were David's.
"...someone crossed in to town?"
"Yes! Now let's go!"
Regina nodded and started walking away but her wrist was caught and she paused and looked up to David who dropped down for a quick kiss.
"Bye."
"Bye," she whispered with a smile and withdrew from his grasp, her steps a little more hurried as Emma opened the door.
"Hi mum," Henry beamed and she smiled down at him and kissed the top of his head, a hand on his cheek.
"Hey sweetheart. I've got to run out with Emma, I'll try and be back in time to make dinner but I can't promise anything," she rushed out and kissed his head again as she hurried past, waving over her shoulder with her keys looped over a finger.
Henry turned and watched them leave, Emma urging Regina on and Regina saying something offensive in return that had Emma rolling her eyes. "They're totally becoming friends," Henry laughed quietly and heard David laugh under his breath behind him.
"They certainly seem to be heading there."
...
Emma ran her hands over her face and in to her blonde hair with a long breath as she paced in the waiting room in the hospital while the man was in surgery, "this is bad. Isn't it?"
Regina stood across from Emma and turned her head from the direction of their guest and looked to the blonde who was silently begging her to tell her everything was going to be fine. With arms folded comfortably across her chest, Regina shook her head just a little, "this is not by any means a good thing."
"Shit," she huffed under her breath and looked over Regina's shoulder, "now what? What do we do with him?"
"We let him recover and send him on his way home."
"And if he doesn't go home?"
Regina shrugged her shoulders up and shook her head, "we'll cross that bridge when we get to it."
"People don't just stumble upon Storybrooke, Regina!" She snapped quietly so as not to make a scene and Regina leaned forward and snapped back.
"You think I don't know that?! You have to be looking for this town to find it and as far as this world is concerned, Storybrooke does not exist! It is on no map, in no one's mind, no satellite can find it, no gps, no internet link, no god damn Wikipedia page! You have to know exactly where this town is or you will never find it."
"Well then he isn't going to very well leave this place now is he?!"
"Get a handle on yourself, Miss Swan," Regina scolded and Emma let a tight sigh out her nose, "this is a disaster, yes, but you need to keep yourself under control. You are the face of this town, if you are panicking then the rest of these idiots will follow suit and we do not need a riot on our hands!"
Emma nodded at Regina's quiet sharp voice and took a deep breath to try and calm herself down, "yeah, okay, you're right," she nodded again and Regina nodded as well and relaxed her aggressively defensive posture and placed her hands on her hips and looked back toward the operating room, "what if he dies in there?"
Before Regina could give her an answer, the man's phone began to ring and Emma felt sick to her stomach and Regina's eyes snapped to her own having reached the same dreadful conclusion. Someone was looking for this man. "Do I answer it?" She asked quietly as she pulled it from the plastic bag of his possessions.
"No," Regina shook her head and walked up to her and snatched the phone up from Emma's fingers and put it to her own ear, "hello."
"...who is this?"
"Mayor Mills," she stated kindly and Emma watched her intently but worriedly, "may I ask who is speaking?"
"What? Where is Greg?!"
"Greg," she nodded and Emma nodded in reply.
"Yes!"
"I have not yet personally seen the man this phone was with but if he is indeed Greg, then he is currently in surgery."
"Surgery? What, why?!"
"He found himself in a particularly nasty car accident upon entering our town."
"Oh my god. Where is he?! Where are you?!"
"Are you family?"
"No I-"
"Spouse?"
"N-no I'm not-"
"Well then I'm afraid I cannot disclose such information to you," Regina replied smoothly and heard the woman scoff on the other end, "you could be a psychopathic murderer out for his head for all I know. I'm sure you understand," she nodded in to the phone and waited and listened carefully while the woman swallowed her anger before replying with a long sigh.
"Yes I understand."
"Good. I will be sure to let him know you called once he is out and awake from his surgery," Regina nodded in to the phone and looked to Emma who was worrying her bottom lip between her teeth, "and your name was?"
"T-...he can look at his previous calls himself."
"Hmm yes alright," Regina lifted her chin and crossed her jaw a little, "I will be sure to remind him."
"It is very much appreciated."
"Of course," she nodded and then the line went dead and she let out a long exhale and shook her head at the phone as she lowered it from her ear. "Not good," she stated quietly and shook her head again, "not good at all," she sighed and Emma groaned quietly. "Open it and let's see what he's got inside," she nodded and handed Emma the phone. Emma nodded in agreement and after seeing the request for a password she pulled out her keys and plugged something on it in to the phone and moments later the phone was unlocked.
"Anything stand out?" She questioned as she pivoted around to Emma's side with her hands resting on her hips and her eyes on the phone.
Emma shook her head as she quickly sifted through contacts and photos, "no it all seems pretty ordinary..." She frowned as she flipped through more photos and then stopped when Regina's finger landed on the screen of the phone at a picture the man in question had taken of himself, "what?"
"He looks...familiar..."
Emma looked to her and found her features creased with intense concentration and then she too looked back down at the photo, "like...fairy tale land familiar?"
"...no..."
"Well have you ever been out of Storybrooke? Met someone that made an impression on you out there?"
"No..."
"Emma!" Snow snapped as she walked in to the waiting room. Emma shot her attention to her while Regina lazily flicked her eyes in her direction before looking back to the phone in Emma's hand. They were standing much to close for Snow's appreciation. She standing partially behind Emma so the front of her shoulder lightly touched the back of Emma's as she looked over at the phone she seemed enthralled with.
Emma looked back to Regina when she saw her shake her head in her peripheral vision, "anything?"
"I can't remember. Perhaps if I talk to him...it could just be nothing."
"With you it's never nothing," Emma let out a quiet laugh and Regina huffed a small laugh out her nose, her hands still on her hips.
"What the hell is going on?" Snow snapped and Regina gave a subtle shake of her head in reply but kept her eyes on the phone. "What happened to your neck?" She questioned quietly and Regina looked at her with her brow furrowed in confusion, "the bruises around your neck, Regina," she nodded at them. They weren't all that prominent yet but any blemish would be noticed upon her flawless skin and right then the base of her neck was dotted with bruises of various shapes and sizes.
Emma closed her eyes in a long blink and took a deep breath and sure enough when she opened her eyes, Regina was biting back a smirk and Snow was putting the pieces together. Emma rolled her eyes and turned to face Regina a little more as she backed away, pointing a finger at her and handing her the phone so she could grab Snow's arm and pull her away, "no. Don't speak. I do not need to deal with that right now. If you do I'll tell David and you'll have to do this whole thing over again," she threatened and Regina shrugged with a full smirk and looked back down at the screen of the phone.
Regina laughed quietly to herself in satisfaction and when she looked back up she saw Rumple stepping up beside her to stand, "I hear the pirate found you."
"Yes well he's safely strapped to a hospital bed."
"Thanks to the mystery driver," she stated simply and looked back to the phone, "how is Belle?"
"She doesn't remember."
Regina frowned a little and gave a quiet and sympathetic hum in reply but didn't look up from the phone. That face was going to drive her mad, "do you recognize him?"
Rumple leaned over and looked at the photo before shaking his head, "no I do not."
"I do."
"Is he dangerous?"
"You and I both know that he is going to be. He also has a companion. I believe it's only a matter of time before she too is walking down our streets."
"Shall I look in to it?"
"It would be very much appreciated," she nodded and before he stepped away she added, "I will help you look for a way to get her memories back," she wasn't given an answer. The pause in his steps was thanks enough for her.
...
"Greg Mendell."
"...who?"
"Storybrooke has a new occupant. He hit Hook with his car upon arrival and the both of them are recovering in the hospital," she shook her head as she maneuvered around the kitchen.
"But...no one comes in to Storybrooke. Only Emma because she was supposed to and August because he knew it existed because he escaped it."
"I know."
"So what are we going to do?"
"Continue on as normal as possible. Rumple is looking in to who this guy is and I swear I have seen him before..."
"Name doesn't ring a bell?"
"No."
"Did you talk to him?" He questioned and she nodded and began pulling out plates, "what'd he say?"
"Nothing at all really. It was all vague and dismissive and...I don't know."
"Three."
"What?"
"Three plates. Cora's not here anymore, remember?" He nodded to the stack of four plates and she took a tense and furious breath as tense fingers picked up a plate and put it back in the cupboard.
"He wouldn't stop staring at me."
"Well you are stunning," he offered and she shook her head, her mind elsewhere.
"It was like...like he couldn't grasp the fact that I was standing right there in front of him," she waved her hand a little between them and then picked up the stack of plates and walked to the dining room and he followed, "like he was staring at a ghost."
"I'm sure you'll figure it out," he eased and she sighed and nodded, "do you know what he could possibly want from this place?"
"Haven't the slightest clue. I don't like the feeling I get when I'm around him though."
"Rumple is going to be helping you?"
"Yes."
"Good," he nodded and looked up at her curiously when she let out a quiet laugh, "what?"
"Never thought you'd be glad to have Rumple and me working on a project together did you?"
"No I can honestly say I never did," he chuckled with a shake of his head and she braced her weight on the table with her hands and laughed a little more tiredly. "Come here," he soothed with a gentle adoring laugh and wrapped his arms around her when she turned and fell in to him. She pressed her face in to his chest and hugged him around his middle while he rested the side of his head atop hers and wrapped his arms around her shoulders and back as she took a deep breath.
"Everything was just starting to be fine."
He smiled at her tired whine in to his chest and rubbed his thumbs over her shoulder and side, "it will all settle down again."
"I want it to stay settled."
"Where's the fun in that?"
"I want it to stay settled for more than five minutes."
David hummed softly and took a deep breath, her scent filling his nose as causing him to nuzzle his nose in a little further to the side of her head. "Do you ever think about how much I wanted to kill you?"
"All the time," she whispered in to his chest and felt his thick arms hug her tighter.
"I love you," he whispered and squeezed her tight, "you know that right?"
"Yes."
"Good."
"...I don't want to make dinner."
David smiled and let out a gentle laugh as he rubbed her shoulder with his thumb, "I will make dinner."
"Thank you."
"Of course."