Double Trouble 60
A/N: Happy diamond chapter to DT. Thanks to everyone for reading and making it through this ever-growing story. Reviews are lovely. Enjoy!
x S
Chapter 60 'Swan decoy'
108 Mifflin St
The house was dead quiet when Emma entered. She took care to not clatter her car keys or drop her boots for fear of waking Henry. The microwave clock testified that it was late, long past midnight. There was no indication that anyone else was still up and the only light was coming from the master bedroom upstairs. Regina had called less than ten minutes ago… where was she?
When Emma padded into the bedroom any resentment in her melted at the sight before her. Regina had fallen asleep with her phone in her hand. She was still sitting on the floor leaning her head against the foot of the bed. The brunette was dressed only in a pair of silk shorts and a flannel shirt that did not belong to her. For someone who thought such clothing entirely unsuitable to leave the house in Regina had quite the habit of appropriating Emma's flannels for her own use at home.
Thief. A smile tugged at the corner of Emma's mouth. It sparked the memory of the first of many times she had seen that outfit on someone other than herself:
"This is a hideous shirt, dear," Regina teased as she slipped her arms through the flannel sleeves. "If it wasn't so comfortable I'd tell you to burn it."
The Sheriff was getting ready to go out, reluctantly leaving the bed and the woman in it. It had been Regina's idea to 'snuggle' early this evening and Emma knew what was behind the shirt comment. "You only wear that when I'm going out on night shift. You just can't let me go can you? I think you like imagining my arms around you."
"Your shirt is the next best thing." Regina confessed in a rare moment in which she let her attachment show. They hadn't been together long enough for the constant desire for each other's proximity to fade, if it ever would.
"Well, you look extremely sexy wearing it. Night, gorgeous." Emma smirked and blew a kiss on her way out the door.
Leaving was becoming increasingly difficult for her, even when life and responsibilities demanded it. Whenever they were apart she was wildly impatient to see her again. Anything that took her away felt like an annoying interruption that had to be tolerated. Coming home from work each day or night to Regina was exactly that - coming home. It had taken her a long time to recognise that was what she was feeling though.
Emma felt her heart swell with love. Regina had been snippy on the phone, obviously still affected by their fight but there was no evidence of it in her expression right now. She was wearing Emma's shirt, the very one she claimed ownership of whenever she wanted to feel close to her. There was no way it meant nothing. However difficult things were right now, Regina still wanted her wrapped around her body in the form of flannel cloth.
They needed to talk, they needed to activate the potion and plan the next move. But Emma was exhausted and her apparent True Love was already asleep. She never could bear to wake Regina whenever she happened to be sleeping peacefully after being witness to quite a few of her rougher nights. So she lifted the petite frame into her arms and carried her the short distance to place her in bed.
The potion can wait until morning. What difference could a few hours make?
Rationalising her procrastination as she stripped her clothes was the last thing Emma remembered before collapsing in bed.
The girls were running away from what had happened at Tremont Street tonight. Em was exhausted and she had no idea what the hell had happened with the Goose back at the creepy house. Ri was leading and turning her head back every minute or so to make sure that Em was still following her.
They were almost at Main Street now, far enough away that they were in the clear. It was dark but for the soft glow of streetlight and the howling wind covered the sound of their footsteps. The storm overheard rumbled, its fury put on hold. There was no-one else around at this hour.
Em was nearly ready to collapse and almost did when she came to a stop. She grabbed Ri's arm by the elbow and whirled her around. "W-huh-" she gasped. "What the hell were you doing, Regina?"
Ri frowned. "You're complaining about how I save your life?"
"My life wasn't even in danger! How did you do that creepy horror-movie thing with your hand? It looked like you wanted to rip her guts out. What would you have done if I hadn't been there to stop you?"
"You know what I would have done." The other teen's bravado had all but evaporated in an instant. Her hands were still shaking and it wasn't because of the cold. She couldn't meet Em's eyes but it didn't matter because Em had already seen who she'd become tonight. Her throat burned from suppressing the urge to cry. Evil doesn't cry because it's just realised it's evil.
"Oh god," Em begged. "Please, no."
"What?!" Ri said defensively. "She threatened me. You. Our son! Did you not hear the things she said about us? What was I supposed to do."
"She was talking shit to goad you, to try to blackmail you for the information about her family secrets. Gander's nothing more than a mean old bigot. She wasn't really going to hurt us. It was a bluff."
"And you know this how? All threats must be taken seriously. Naive Royals become dead Royals. You know nothing about the history involved here. I was only trying to protect you."
"That doesn't mean you can go around hurting people before they even do anything! It's not right. You're supposed to find another way."
"Like you did? You put our baby's life at risk attacking Mrs Gander like that. This isn't the first time either, I know about the dodgeball game at school. Henry told me. That was dangerous. But not as incredibly stupid as what you did just now. You used something magical without knowing anything about where it came from or what it's powers were."
"I had to do something!" argued Em.
Earlier...
Lucy Gander's face was contorted with pain as she was backed up against the wall by a petite teenager who pinned her there with one hand. The girl's right hand was sunk to the wrist in the school principal's chest clenching around her wildly beating heart. It wasn't physically possible! Not in a world without magic…
Em couldn't believe what she was seeing was real, despite her bad eyesight she was close enough to see that the old lady was in grave danger. Gander had pushed Ri way too far, digging her fingernails into the wounds in the young girl's psyche. Now Ri was pushing back. There was only so much anyone could take before they snapped.
"Ri!" she called to her several times, begging her to stop, but her pleas fell on deaf ears. There had to be some way to get through to her. What could she do? Her own magic had abandoned her, how could she distract Ri from the Evil Queen's magic without it?
Em foraged around in her hoodie pocket for her glasses.
Then she felt it. There was a small hard object in her hoodie pocket, the very one she'd stolen from Regina's vault last night. It was a stone about the size of a bottlecap but it was perfectly smooth and had no markings. She had no idea what it was of course but it looked cool and Em still had the habit of touching or pilfering items that caught her interest. Though there was no reason for believing it to be anything other than an ordinary beach stone she'd pocketed it.
Without knowing what she was doing Em now pulled back her arm and threw the little stone to the floor with all her might. It skipped across the stonework towards Ri and Gander's feet.
The impact created a thunderous BANG! that rattled the walls as if produced by an object far more massive. It sounded like close range gunshots and a white translucent water bird rose out of a cloud of mist. Ri was distracted into pulling away and the Goose collapsed to the ground cowering in fear at the sight of the ghostly swan.
"Ri! Let's go!" Em yelled and took advantage of Ri's momentary confusion. She grabbed her and pushed her out the door, instructing her to run. This second chance to escape would not go to waste.
The last thing Em saw when she glanced back was Gander clutching at her chest. The school principal appeared to be uninjured… she looked for all the world like a harmless, frightened, little old lady now. How the hell had the night gotten so out of hand?
Em snapped out of her daze to realised that Ri was lecturing her again. "Where did you get a Transmuted Pebble. They're very rare. You can't imagine how dangerous it is to carry one on your person. And in your condition! How could you."
"Huh?" said Em. "What's a-"
"Transmuted Pebble," Ri repeated. "They're magic stones in my world. Though small they strike with great force. TPs can be destructive weapons if the wielder so chooses, they detect intention. Thoughts can be dangerous."
"I found it in Regina's vault. But I didn't want to hurt anyone with it, I just wanted a distraction. Like that Patronus thingy. That's all I was thinking."
"That choice may well have saved all of our lives tonight. You can not be careless with your safety anymore. You should've let me handle it."
Em sighed. "I'm fine, ok? Baby Henry is fine too. I'm not a complete idiot."
"Em Swan, you are with child," said Ri, sounding for all the world just like a certain town Mayor. "It's time to be responsible. You can't take risks with our future. This is Henry we're talking about. You don't know what could have happened or what effect it might have on our lives later. Where I come from children die everyday before they even take their first breath of life."
"It's not like that in the real world, not these days. Henry is an eleven-year-old kid here, that means he must have been born safely. Nothing is going to happen to him. He's not going to disappear. You said it yourself: everything happening now must already be part of our pasts."
Ri argued back. "I was baiting Mother Goose when I said that. It doesn't mean that we don't have to act, that we can sit back and let things happen. We still have to do whatever it takes to ensure that Henry comes into the world safely."
"'Whatever it takes?'" echoed Em. "Like you did? Are you upping the timetable on going dark for instance? Is that what you mean?"
"Maybe I do."
"I don't know if I can do it," Em shook her head, looking devastated. The nausea churning in her stomach was nothing to do with morning sickness. "I can't stand by and watch you turn evil. I can't do nothing but also I don't want to see you go through that kinda pain."
Then don't look. Ri shifted her gaze away toward the empty street. "But you said nothing could change how you feel about me."
"I'll never stop loving you. I trust you with my life. But it does change whether or not I'll trust you with my kid. You gotta be better than this. You have to be the Mom that Henry deserves. I know you can be, but I won't always be there to help you. Please try. Don't let the darkness win. In the end you have to do the right thing. It'll never be too late."
Ri didn't answer.
"Alright." Em sighed, resigned to what she knew of Ri's future as Queen. "Do what you have to do, I don't wanna know. But you let yourself get manipulated tonight, just like you do with your mother and creepy Mr Gold. Why, Ri? You nearly hurt someone out of anger. No matter how much she may have deserved it. We could get in big trouble if Gander reports it."
"Since when do you care about that? You're starting to remind me of Little Goody Two Shoes and l can personally vouch for her being more annoying than she sounds."
Em resisted the urge to roll her eyes. "Whatever. I've heard enough about Regina's past to know what's coming up for you. But I will not let a sociopath take care of my son. Once you have Henry you have to do what's best for him, ok? You have to give up the Evil Queen routine. Or I'll come find you and take him back. We'll go somewhere safe, far away from all this fairytale nonsense. Are you hearing me?"
"Yes!" Ri snapped. "I know that I have to change. I'll do anything for my son. Anything."
"Make sure you're ready then, because I'm not. I'm still just an idiot teenager like everyone says."
"People are going to tell you that your whole life if you let them. The least you can do is stop calling yourself an idiot. Unless you like living up to it and absolving yourself of the responsibility to grow up?"
Em glared. "I'm doing my best, alright?"
"As am I."
The teenagers were too stubborn to argue any longer so they walked in silence the rest of the way. They had headed for Main St since Mary Margaret's loft was the closest place to crash. If they'd known that it would be their last chance to talk for a long time then they might have used the time much better. But both girls were angry at each other and scared for their child, each thinking that only she knew best how to protect him.
They were both right and yet they were both wrong.
It is said that in a relationship you should not let the sun go down on an argument lest the fight breed resentment and grow with time. For Em and Ri - or rather, Emma and Regina - this was the beginning of a fight upon which many suns would set, a fight that lasted decades and crossed both of their worlds.
It was dormant while they were apart but as soon as they met again on the doorstep of a Storybrooke mansion in 2011 the spark between them reignited and the fight was instantly back on.
Mary Margaret's apartment, just before dawn
"Are the girls asleep now?" Mary Margaret mumbled from underneath the covers.
David slid into bed beside his wife and stifled a yawn. "Let's hope so. For a few more hours yet. Em crashed the second her head hit the pillow."
"Why would Em and Ri come here at this hour?"
The knock on the door fifteen minutes earlier had woken them both with a start. It was a strange time for anyone to turn up let alone their teenage daughter and her girlfriend who, as far as anyone knew, ought to have been sleeping over at Mifflin Street. Em was obviously dead on her feet and Ri was wearing a party dress and a frown for some reason, but otherwise they seemed fine - though perhaps a bit quiet with each other.
David and Mary Margaret were so relieved to see them safe that they offered the spare bedroom without demanding an explanation. The grilling and groundings could wait until morning. Nothing could quell the maternal instinct to worry for Mary Margaret though. She posed a series of questions without waiting for answers.
"Where do you think they've been all night? Do Emma and Regina know what they're about? Why wouldn't the girls go back to Regina's house."
"I'm not sure I want to know." David closed his eyes sleepily.
"Emma was right all along - keeping those two girls under the one roof is like herding cats. I'd better send a message to let her know where they are."
Her phone rang just as Mary Margaret went to pick it up. She nearly knocked the device off the nightstand but managed to grab it first. The schoolteacher checked the display (which showed a very undesirable name) and kicked herself for being too cautious to ignore the call. Just in case. The ringtone cut off abruptly as she tapped Answer.
"Why do you still have my number?" she demanded of the caller without preamble.
A smooth-voiced man replied with an audible smirk. "Why do you still have mine? If you deleted my number how did you know it was me?"
"What do you want, Dr Whale?" Mary Margaret tried to sound as hoity-toity as possible. She glanced at her husband lying in bed, he'd fallen back to sleep already. Thank god.
"I want to know what's going on. I've been trying to contact the Sheriff's Office but I'm getting no answer. I need to speak to Emma."
"Is it important?"
"I'd hardly be calling if it wasn't. I've just come off night shift at the hospital. There's only one thing I'd rather be doing other than sleeping right now. That's why I called you."
Mary Margaret gaped in astonishment at his brazen proposition. "What?!" she squeaked. "I'm - I'm married!"
"Apparently that doesn't always matter. Relax." Whale quipped and then became serious. "I know something's wrong in Storybrooke, all night I've been dealing with patients presenting with a strange form of selective amnesia. Only their fairytale memories are lost. I thought the Sheriff should be looking into it. Isn't she your roommate?"
"She is - I mean, was my roommate. She's my daughter. That is, the Sheriff is aware of the problem but she's not here. Emma moved out some time ago. I suggest you try her cell later in the morning."
After a pause, Whale switched tack and asked something that came out of nowhere. "Is Em there by any chance?"
"I already told you," said Mary Margaret with some impatience. "Emma isn't here."
"I meant the younger one, Em."
A jolt of fear for her child raced through her. Mary Margaret kept her tone neutral. "I have no idea who you're talking about."
"The younger Emma. She came to the hospital not long ago with a possible concussion from a minor car accident. Of course I recognised her and by her age it was immediately obvious that she wasn't the Sheriff. She gave her name as Em S."
Mary Margaret hissed. "What! She was hurt and nobody told me? I'm her mother and she's a minor. Why wasn't I informed?"
"She said she was 18 and did not give her full name. I examined her, she was fine so I discharged her with instructions to rest. I shouldn't be telling you now but … I thought I'd check to see if she's well. Anyway, the reason I called is that I think Em has gotten herself into some trouble."
Oh God, what now? Dread sank in Mary Margaret's belly. She wracked her brain over all of the mischief that'd happened since the girls came to Storybrooke. What if there was something she didn't even know about? Em was expert at pulling the wool over her mother's eyes. Even knowing the older version of her daughter for far longer hadn't improved her ability to see through it, the only times Mary Margaret ever got past Emma's walls was when she was allowed past them.
Am I ever going to understand my daughter? She won't even tell me when she's hurt, not if she thinks I'll react badly.
"If it's about the car accident, Dr Whale," said Mary Margaret. "I can assure you that my daughter will not be behind the wheel of a car again anytime soon. I will have a talk with her about road safety and responsibility."
"No, that's not the problem," said Whale. "You know Lucy Gander, Principal of Storybrooke Elementary?"
"Yes, of course. She signs my paychecks."
"She was admitted with cardiac arrhythmia this morning. Apparently she was attacked in her home tonight when she interrupted a thief. Old Gander was lucid enough upon admission to give a statement in which she named the teenager who broke into her house."
"That's awful," Mary Margaret said, and was then confused. "But why are you telling me?"
"I'm warning you." Dr Whale was dead serious. "You need to know because sometime this morning it's likely that your daughter, Em, is going to be arrested. It looks like history is repeating itself. If she is innocent this time she needs to get her story straight. Fast."