Double Trouble 59
A/N: Hi lovely readers. I absolutely LOVED 4x05 with Young Emma/Lily and all the SQ goodness. I find the lack of Regina screentime overall in s4 annoying though.
Sorry for the long wait again, hopefully it's worth it. Bit nervous about this one actually. As always, thanks for reading and I'd love to know what you think! Enjoy :).
Chapter 59 'Gooseflesh'
21 Tremont St
Ri was explaining her terms to Mrs Gander in the hopes that she could end both the long years of secrecy and Em's hostage situation tonight. "We negotiate the cessation of the stalemate and exchange secrets. That's the deal. Your secrets for mine. On the condition that neither of us uses the information against the other."
"How is that the end of the stalemate?" muttered Em tiredly from her place in the hard-backed chair. The other two didn't seem to notice her comment. Apparently Ri still hadn't learned to be a true badass yet.
"I don't need to negotiate," said Gander, untempted by the offer. "Not when I already hold you hostage. I will not be held to ransom by Cora Mills any longer. Hand over whatever evidence of my family's indiscretions you have inherited. I want what's mine."
"Or what?"
"I will expose your family of its ghastly secrets. I will show the world who you really are, Regina Mills."
Ri rolled her eyes. "I'm pretty sure they all know by now."
"I can make life very hard for you, now and in the future. Do you think the voters of Storybrooke will voluntarily elect the Evil Queen? After what you did to them, I doubt it. You personally victimised every single citizen in town with the curse. As if that weren't enough, the corruption in office and the depraved dalliances with both Sheriffs while you were Mayor make you an unsuitable candidate. We need someone who is family-oriented."
"Sheriffs?" said Ri, confused by the reference she didn't understand. "I don't know what you're talking about. I love Emma Swan and no-one else. What would you gain from telling such lies? Perhaps you're deluded."
"Indeed I am not. It seems you are your Mother's daughter, completely unable to admit your own failings."
Ri was swift in changing the topic back to what she really wanted to know. "Speaking of my mother, what do you know of her past?"
Gander chuckled unkindly and shook her head. "Oh, the things I could tell you..."
"Then tell me! Seriously, I want to know." Ri held out empty palms and waited a beat for extra obnoxiousness.
When there was no answer, the teen began to suspect that her family's nemesis had been boasting of her knowledge without any intention or ability to reveal it.
"Mrs Gander," warned Ri, emphasizing each syllable. "You said that I'm no longer a princess, tell me why. What happened when my father, Prince Henry, lost his title? I was three. All I remember is that people were angry and afraid around that time. If it was a scandal then everyone must have known about it. I know you know. Tell me!"
"I can't. Cora would -" The elderly woman cut herself off and glanced away.
The school principal seemed uncomfortable talking about what Cora would or would not have thought or did if she found out her nemesis was spreading rumours about her. But Cora was dead now, what harm could she possibly do? She had been a powerful sorceress yes, but surely not powerful enough to continue her grudges after her death? Mrs Gander looked like that was exactly what she expected.
Ri realised with shock that she had the upper hand and began to delight in it. "You're still afraid of her aren't you! I need to know why my mother is forcing me to marry Royalty. Does she want to rule the kingdom through me?"
"Think for yourself, girl!" Gander snapped, the agitation was obviously getting to her. "You're asking the wrong question. The Royal family doesn't actually rule the Kingdom. They merely sit on the throne and make public appearances. Haven't you ever wondered who is ruling over them?"
"I don't understand."
"Surely your history education included the portraits of the Royal families. Can you remember who is depicted as the constant companion of the Kings?"
Ri thought back to the many hours she had spent with her tutors studying history and tried to picture the artworks in her mind. In each portrait of the Royals one of the high-ranking Fairies appeared in an innocuous background position. Always present but not immediately noticeable. She'd seen her own father's portrait as a young man with the Mills Family patron many times. What did it mean?
"There's always a Fairy," said Ri, unsure as to what the elderly woman was getting at. "I was taught that it was symbolic. Royal families have always had patron Fairies to guide them."
Gander snorted. "There's much more to it than that. Fairies are the true evil here, they manipulate our fates according to their own whims. They have the power to give us all riches and beauty with the flick of a wand. Yet they sprinkle wishes here and there … and only to those persons having a drop of Royal blood. As if that delineates the deserving from the undeserving! The price of that magic gives the Fairies the power to influence Royal decisions according to their own politics."
"I refuse to believe that Astrid would ever do that. She's our friend."
"She works for her. Not one of them can be trusted whilst ever they are led by that Blue Fairy, the so-called Mother Superior as she titles herself now. She has her own agenda and will seek to influence the one who eventually takes the throne. You ought to sever all connections with her, with all Fairies. Turn your back on the path of magic, it will only lead you astray. Take us back to the old ways."
I can't give up magic! thought Ri as Gander continued to put foreward her case. It's the only way to ensure that Henry will exist and have a safe life in future Storybrooke. Besides, what else could there be but Royal rule over the Kingdom back home? If not me it will be someone else. Without magic and structure the realm will fall into anarchy, that was the reality of the "old ways".
I've always loved reading about Royalty. People looked up to King Leopold and Queen Ava for leadership and protection. Their goodness was known far and wide, as was the True Love that brought them together. In Henry's storybook the people looked up to Snow and her Prince too. Perhaps one day in the future they will feel the same about Em and I? … Emma and Regina, the Saviour and the Evil Queen, the Sheriff and the Mayor.
If only Em and I had been born and met in the same time and place! We could have ruled together fairly and justly, balancing each other out. Everyone would know the story of our True Love.
But that isn't the way it happened, it's not the way it is happening and it never will unless we make it happen. We are lucky to have met at all. Magic brought us together...
The future was rattling towards them at breakneck pace and Ri knew which path the next phase of her young life would have to take. The only way for her son to have both of his mothers in his life was for her to follow the Evil Queen's path. The only way for her to be reunited with Em was to cast the dark curse. She was convinced she had no other choice.
"I can't," Ri decided. "Magic is a part of our lives, as much as love is. I need it to get what I want. It's the only way to ensure that Storybrooke continues to exist. I have to do this."
"I see." Gander said, with barely suppressed fury. She fixed her beady eyes on Em before returning to Ri. "Then I must act."
"What are you going to do. Keep us here forever?"
"I will ruin you and everyone you associate with. It remains to be seen as to whether Regina Mills and Sheriff Swan can remain together when all of their family and friends are being punished because of them. Starting with that Meadows girl, Jessica. I've lost my granddaughter forever because of you and people like her. It's disgusting. Trying to encourage innocent girls into that… that depravity. Others must not be allowed to follow your example. It is against everything the Enchanted Forest stood for. There are no happy endings for people like you."
Em scoffed, drawing their attention. "Are you really peddling this homophobic bullshit? You're old. The world's changing. Get over it."
"It isn't natural," hissed the Goose.
"Neither are cars and pastarised milk," quipped Em.
Ri creased an eyebrow and corrected her in a fond way. "It's 'pasteurised', dear. It says so on the carton."
"Hey," Em retorted. "I'm the one who went to school in this century."
Mrs Gander looked down her nose at the blonde teen. "Obviously your school was of doubtful quality, Miss Swan, judging by your intellect. One wonders how disadvantaged Henry Mills's education would have been had he remained in your care. Let us hope that Nurture has triumphed over Nature for once."
Em's mouth fell open without a sound but the pain showed in her eyes. It took only a second for her to go from teasing Ri to being made to feel worthless. She was not long away from having to give up her baby and had been tormented by knowledge of her life's most difficult decision ever since she'd learned of it. Gander obviously knew the circumstances of Henry's birth and was willing to twist the knife into that wound.
"Don't you dare speak to her like that!" said Ri. As angry as she was to be called disgusting over her feelings it was nothing to the anger she felt over someone actually hurting Em. "You know nothing about it."
"I know that a child born of a teenage mother is exposed to numerous health risks and negative outcomes for social development. Especially if the mother is poor and uneducated herself. It is better for the child to be taken away to a real family."
Em was trying not to cry now, forcing her chin not to tremble. Tears were close to her surface these days. "B-but I'm his… I love him."
"Love?" sneered Gander. "That will be of great comfort I'm sure when you are a working two mediocre jobs and your child, who you hardly ever see, is going to school hungry. If you care for him at all you will remove your own influence upon him. Henry was such an obedient pupil before you came back into his life."
Ri was aghast. "How can you talk that way about love? As if it means nothing?"
"Because I see the evidence before me. I know this wasn't your idea, Miss Mills. You were brought up too well. You've been corrupted by this teenage delinquent."
"Meeting Em is the best thing that ever happened to me!"
Gander's smile twisted cruelly. "Would you say that if your mother was here?"
Ri could feel Em's eyes on her waiting for her to speak up in defense of their love. The hypothetical just raised would be her biggest test: if her mother knew about her love for the other girl, a poor orphan from a strange world, what would Ri say to her? Would she be brave enough to insist that Cora take her seriously for once in knowing her own mind and heart? Ri's life had always been under the tight control of her mother but being with Em had given her the resolve to break out and live her own life.
"I'd tell Mother..." Ri raised her chin. "That I love Em and I want to be with her. Nothing will keep us apart. Not even time itself. I know it's not the life my Mother wants for me but I'd be strong and stand my ground no matter what she said. It's what will make me happy."
"That's exactly what you did say," said Gander. "Right before Cora ripped the heart out of your first love and crushed it in front of you."
"No. You're lying!" Ri told herself that there was too much horror in it to be true.
It must be a lie! Why would she do that?! Mother would never hurt me.
She's strict and impossible to talk to sometimes but she would understand if I explained it to her. In her heart she wants me to find happiness, she's only mistaken about what will make me happy. If Mother knew how happy being with Em has already made me she'd support us and our family.
She wouldn't hurt someone I loved! Mother wouldn't go that far to ensure my future crown, surely not. She would never kill anyone over it.
Then Ri began to remember what she'd read in the book about herself and the pain she'd seen in Regina's eyes. At first she struggled to account for what could have happened to cause that darkness. Could it truly have been what Mrs Gander said? Then memories of little things came to her now, events that seemed minor and inconsequential on their own but together they added up to a larger picture she had never seen before. Cora was a powerful sorceress and an iron-clad will. There were rumours about people disappearing… staff who worked the estate and were never seen again, Ri's nannies who were replaced so often that as a child she was left wondering if she had been too bad for them to want to stay...
Was her mother capable of doing such terrible things as was said? Was she determined enough in her ambitions to kill for them?
People say I'm just like her... and I'm going to be the Evil Queen soon. What would I do in the name of revenge?
I have no idea know what I'm capable of.
What if anything ever happened to Em? Could I devote her life to avenging the loss of her first love - the way the stories say I did?
Yes, in a heartbeat. I could never forgive anyone for hurting Emma Swan, the love of my life. If I ever lost her...
Em's warning voice cut through her thoughts. She reached out to hold the other teen's upper arm. "Ri. Be strong."
Ri glared at Gander, hating her for putting these thoughts into her head. Em was right and it steeled her resolve. "I'm nothing like her."
"You are exactly like her," said Mrs Gander. "In fact, you are worse. Because you, unlike her, know the feeling of pain and yet you still inflict it upon others."
The school principal lunged faster than anyone could have predicted for such an old goose. She grabbed the seat of the chair Em was sitting on and tipped it backwards with all the force of her. Em lost her balance and fell backwards on the floor.
"What are you doing?!" Ri yelled in shock. "Don't hurt her." It took a few seconds for her body to recognise the need for action before she rushed towards them.
Gander stepped back to admire her handwork while Ri crouched next to Em checking her over and trying to see if she was hurt. The blonde had landed hard but she didn't appear to be hurt. She seemed like she was more freaked out by the actions of the crazy old woman and fed up with the way this night had turned out. Ri was focused on Em and it was only when she realised that her girlfriend was ok that she questioned what on earth the point was of Mrs Gander attacked her like that. Even if she was doing it to prove a point.
Em muttered. "Crazy old biddy. What the hell was the point of that."
"You could have hurt her!" Ri accused their kidnapper.
Gander retorted. "Not as much as you will."
"I would never hurt someone I love. I'm not a monster! I'm not like Cora and I'm not like you."
"You killed Cora because she annoyed you on your wedding day. You killed your father because he wanted you to not cast the curse. You tried over and over again to kill Snow White and her family and supporters. You killed thousands of innocent people including children. How do you to justify that?"
Ri swallowed like she was going to be sick. "Th- that wasn't me. The woman who did those things. I'm not her. Not yet."
"You don't know who you are. You even killed your son."
"What?" Ri gasped and closed her eyes tight at the suggestion willing it to disappear from her mind. She thought she could hear Em talking to her, telling her it was lies and not to believe it, and to remember how much their son loved her. But it wasn't enough. Her fists clenched by her side, they were shaking so hard she was afraid it wouldn't go away.
"It was your own poison that killed Henry," Gander went on. "Your boy was dead on that hospital table until Sheriff Swan saved him. He realised who you truly are, who you will always be. What kind of mother deliberately harms her child?"
I hurt so many children including my own Henry? Maybe I truly am a monster…
Em was sitting up on the floor now, unharmed, and she tugged at Ri's dress trying to get her soulless eyes to look at her but it was futile. She was calling Ri's name but it sounded distant, too far away to reach her, as though she were in another time and place altogether.
All Ri could see in front of her was the image of Henry lying pale and deathly still by her own hand. Her son. Her reason for living. Her salvation and hope for the future.
"You don't deserve a family," spat the old woman. "You took mine and now I will take yours."
It was the wrong thing to say.
Ri batted Em's hands away and stood slowly coming face to face with her mother's lifelong nemesis. She realised now that the things Gander was saying were exactly the sort of vitriol she could have heard from her own mother. Cora would never have accepted Em and she would never have allowed Ri to choose the path of her own life. It was up to her to fight for that right.
Ri's expression was cold when she spoke yet regal as her namesake. "You think you know me, Mrs Gander?"
"I know enough."
"Do not mistake me for the timid naive girl who you've seen when visiting my mother at our estate. You've been at war with my ancestors for centuries and persecuted countless others for the use of magic. Your spiteful beliefs drive people into hiding for nothing more than loving someone. Now you've threatened my new family as well. I don't take threats lightly."
Though school principal was too far gone to give up her insults she didn't seem quite so calm any longer as she now recognised a formidable force in Ri and became afraid. "With your dark magic and your so-called lifestyle you are the one who is of most danger to Henry now. Perhaps a call to Social Services to express my concerns for the boy's safety might be in order."
"No-one will ever take my son from me. You've made some grave threats here tonight about the ones I love most. Perhaps I ought to be afraid of you but ... I'm not."
Without knowing exactly what she was doing, Ri plunged her fist into the old woman's chest to snatch her hateful heart.
Dawn was breaking by the time Emma finished explaining what had happened to Mr and Mrs Meadows. They were understandably upset that their child had lost her real memories. Thankfully in post-curse Storybrooke the Evil Queen hadn't seen fit to separate the family of one of her most loyal supporters. Jenna didn't notice anything weird about her parents having double lives while she had only one. She didn't even know what she was missing.
"I feel as though I've lost my daughter," Janet Meadows spoke with sorrow. "She's still here, but a part of her isn't."
"What caused this?" asked Jenna's father, a stern strong-looking man named Rochester. "Are our other children in danger as well? Perhaps we could leave Storybrooke for a time."
"No!" Emma said hastily. "That's the worst thing you could do."
Emma continued with a loose explanation of the border problem and tried to reassure them that she was working on a way to fix the town but the words tasted like ash in her mouth. It was yet another reminder of how she was failing at her job as the Sav... She could barely think the S word right now, let alone live up to that mantle.
The worst part was yet to come when Janet showed her out of the house. She smiled at Emma and thanked her for everything she and Regina were doing. These people trusted her and she had all but lied to them, instilling them with a confidence in their "leader" that was nowhere near deserved.
As soon Emma sat down in her patrol car her phone rang and she checked the screen. It was 'Henry's Mom' calling.
"Hey. Everything ok?" The Sheriff stifled a yawn and greeted the caller with a guarded hello. As always she was relieved to hear the voice on the other end, no matter what was being said she craved it. They were still on shaky ground from their latest fight and she had no idea where to even begin to mend their relationship. Maybe Regina had had some time to cool down though. It wouldn't be wise to piss her off when she was already in the mood for lashing out.
Regina ignored the question and got straight to the point. "Have you found Jenna yet?"
"Yeah, I just finished talking with the parents. They're a mess. Poor kid lost her memories. She doesn't remember anything about the Enchanted Forest or wanting to be one of the Queen's Elite Guards when she grows up… none of it. Her cursed self is now her only self."
"How the hell did that happen?! Had she been into the woods?"
"No. But there's more bad news. The border's closing in on the town and soon there'll be more people losing their memories of Fairytale Land. We don't have much time."
"Then you need to come home right away. It's 108 Mifflin Street, in case the word 'home' is meaningless to you."
Emma felt a frisson of worry dart through her. "What's going on? Is Henry ok?"
"Yes, he's fine, asleep," Regina's snippy replies turned sarcastic. "Though perhaps I'm not qualified to make that assessment since I'm not a 'real mother'. When you and your experienced uterus get here I'll defer to your superior judgement."
Emma sighed. "Regina, please. I'm sorr-"
"Don't," the icy response came. "You don't get to apologise. You don't get to assuage your guilt. Just get here, Sheriff. Now."
"What's the rush? Besides the obvious."
"I managed to brew the potion successfully."
Finally! There was some good news and Emma was glad to take whatever was available and cling to it. It was a welcome surprise since the last thing she'd seen was a frustrated Regina declaring that it couldn't be done.
"You finished it already?" said Emma. "That's awesome! We can fix the town's magic and bring back the lost memories by tomorrow. After we make the potion work everything will go back to normal."
"Yes." Hopefully, was the underlying message in Regina's guarded tone.
"So all we have to do is kiss to activate the potion?" said Emma. "We drop it into the well… and then all will be well again. Pun intended. Just in time for the weekend, which I am really looking forward to all of a sudden. We just have to kiss. Before anything else goes wrong."
"It has to be True Love's kiss-" Regina sounded hesitant.
"I'm on my way." Emma smiled and as she turned the key in the ignition the Bug's engine rumbled to life.