A/N: As I think I said in a previous A/N, (and this is probably obvious from other aspects of this story) I know I've sort of gone a bit AU with Hyde here. That's admittedly mostly as I don't fully recall the storyline of the last season, but also due to wanting to keep the focus on the previous events of this fic without bringing in his history, as he was originally only going to be mentioned off-handedly due to his connection with the Queen and the Mayor splitting into two entities. I want to tie up the loose end of having him in town and use this as a mechanism to have the characters discuss and realise things that need to be discussed and realised, but that's all. So, yes, I know there's a lot I'm not mentioning in terms of Hyde's previous interactions with R, E and the Charmings etc. Please see this storyline as slightly altered from the show and self-contained in that respect :). I wanted the 'big-bad' to be these two (while also both being the big-good... is that a thing?) and Hyde to merely be a catalyst character. For this reason, I've imprisoned him below the hospital to minimise interaction between any of the others so that I could go where I wanted with this. I hope that makes sense and works. I'll stop rambling at you now :)
"Shush."
Regina orders with an irritable glance to her right before shaking her head as she returns her attention to the road.
"I didn't say anything..."
Emma points out, joining the Mayor in her study of the rain-slick tarmac with an impish tug to the side of her mouth.
She speaks the truth, she hasn't said anything since slipping into the passenger seat and watching the brunette turn her key in the ignition with notable frustration. It's what she'd said back at the mansion.
Locking the front door and following the blonde down the steps with an uneasy glance at the dark clouds overhead, Regina comes to a stop beside the Sheriff as the latter looks from her bug to the sleek black finish of the Queen's Benz.
"Who's driving?"
Emma asks, and Regina shrugs, muttering that she doesn't much care, before retracting her statement and unlocking her car.
"On second thoughts, I'll drive. I'd like to get there in one piece."
"Hey! I drive fine."
"You don't pay attention! You're always too busy messing around with your radio, even though it barely works."
"Regina, I've driven that car halfway across the country and no one's any worse off for it."
"Fluke."
"Oh, bite me. Whatever. It's just, why say you don't mind if you're going to pull the same crap you always do?"
"That I always do."
The brunette repeats the Sheriff's statement, rolling her eyes as she inflects a mocking note to her tone, and when the blonde shakes her head with her own sigh of exasperation, she yields and counters bossily
"Fine. You drive."
"No, no. According to you, that would leave us both horribly mangled. You can drive, and it will just take us twice as long to get there."
"Oh, for heaven's sake..."
The Mayor grumbles, marching over to the driver's side of her car and stepping in. Turning to Emma as the blonde takes a seat beside her, she narrows her eyes as the younger woman watches her fiddle with the console in order to defrost the windscreen and turn the heating on full. It's on the tip of her tongue to point out that if they'd taken the bug, they'd be sat waiting a hell of a lot longer for the geriatric excuse for a vehicle to be road-ready, but she doesn't want to prolong their little spat.
Honestly, as they sit in silence now, driving the short distance to the blonde's house, she's not sure how it even started.
That's not true.
No. Perhaps not. Emma had asked her which of them was to drive, and in the brief pause that followed, they'd shared a weighted look that had started their snide back and forth. Because the comment - the situation - had been obscenely domestic, and the resultant look of bemusement the Sheriff had offered her had raised her hackles - the Queen's hackles - and she'd made a hasty attempt to quash the subject before Emma could say anything to make things more uncomfortable than they already were.
Would that have been so bad?
Probably not. She'd probably have countered any characteristically unsavoury remark with her own dose of scornful wit, and rather than sitting in irritable silence as they are now, she'd likely be sporting a sly grin while the Saviour seethed; blushing.
"It's not the first time we've driven together."
She sighs now, increasing the speed of the wipers as the rain hardens.
"No. Not by a long shot, but it's the first time you've jumped down my throat about it."
Emma replies moodily, looking out of the window.
"Well, that's definitely not true."
Regina chuckles softly, before addressing the elephant in the room in a purposefully casual tone
"It was just a weirdly charged moment, dear. It shouldn't have been, it was a perfectly regular question, but it felt... I don't know."
"Couple-y."
Emma muses, and when the brunette throws her a sharp glance, she shudders dramatically to keep up appearances.
"Yes."
Regina agrees, allowing a small smirk as any discomfort she'd initially felt at the notion now feels unfounded.
"I guess it was just some sort of weird tension in the moment, coupled with what happened this morning. We do drive together plenty, it's just this time it felt weird. Like when Neal and I used to decide who would be driving."
The younger woman shrugs. Nodding, the brunette dispels any lingering tension, admitting with a grin
"You think you feel weird, try it from my perspective, dear. The last time I had the discussion in that context, it was over who should guide the carriage."
"You're right. You are weird."
Emma agrees, flashing the darker woman her teeth as the latter pulls up outside the blonde's house.
"You'd better come in. I'm going to grab a shower, and you can make us something to eat."
She smiles.
"So you're just going to insult me, and then immediately offer me a demand poorly masked as an invitation?"
The Queen frowns, conceding to offer the younger woman her bemused attention when the latter taps her pointedly on the thigh.
"Regina, that's literally the foundation of our relationship..."
"Mm. You never used to demand much."
The brunette mutters as she slips from the car and hurries towards the cover of the porch with the Sheriff at her heels.
"Not true, I used to demand that you leave me alone."
"And how did that work out for you?"
Regina challenges, dark eyes glittering as she squares up to the blonde.
"Perfectly."
Emma replies simply, letting them inside and flipping the brunette the bird when the latter accuses her appreciatively
"You know, that was fairly disgusting, especially for you."
"Try not to stab or electrocute yourself, won't you?"
The blonde snaps over her shoulder as she makes her way upstairs.
Shaking her head, Regina pads into the kitchen, noting that Emma's version of 'cleaning' seems to have consisted simply of stacking all of the empty bottles, glasses, mugs and cans from around the house on the counter and reassembling the tower of plates in the sink to avoid an avalanche. Sighing deeply as she contemplates her recent life choices, she removes the pile of dirty crockery and fills the basin with hot water and dish soap, wondering whether her decision to play maid might result in the younger woman's shower turning to ice upstairs.
"One can hope..."
She murmurs under her breath, taking the empty bottles and cans outside, before coming back to find the sink satisfactorily full of hot water and bubbles. Washing up the plates and stacking them on the drying rack, she listens to the creak and groan of the floorboards overhead as the blonde moves around her room; unsurprised by how swiftly the younger woman has gotten washed and dressed, but subsequently even more confused as to why the Saviour seems incapable of being anywhere on time.
"You didn't have to do that."
Emma greets as she pads into the room, gesturing towards the sud-studded plates dripping over the drain, and Regina shrugs.
"If I'd waited for you to do it, things might have started growing on them."
"Mm. You realise I've lived alone most of my life, right? Without contracting any major diseases or losing any limbs to flesh-rot?"
"You say this."
Regina teases.
"Well, you'd know, wouldn't you? What with your little mind trick? You'd have seen all that."
The blonde counters coolly, and the Mayor bows her head regretfully, before returning to her sniping without missing a beat.
"Maybe. But perhaps persistent episodes of food poisoning and mild illness due to a lack of cleanliness were such a part of everyday life for you that they didn't even register..."
"Yeah, you think? You know, there's a whole drawer over there of things you can sit on, Regina."
Emma warns as she hops up onto the counter.
"Another one?"
The brunette teases, feeling warmth spread across her cheeks as she knows she's being crass, but relishing the look of dark glee her comment earns her.
"Depends what you're into, I guess..."
"Mm. Probably not anything you have to offer in the kitchen, but I'm hesitant to say so for fear that you'll suggest something crude. With that in mind, I'll stick to standing, and remind you that the courteous response to someone helping you with chores is just to say 'thank you'."
"Thank you, but I never asked you to clean. I asked you to make breakfast."
The blonde points out.
"You have half a bag of very stale bread in your pantry and a singular black banana in your fruit bowl."
Regina sighs.
"There's cereal."
Emma shrugs, reaching into the cupboard behind her head to pull down a bowl before slipping down from her perch to grab a box from on top of the fridge. Holding it out suggestively, she's met with a pinched expression of open disgust and she rolls her eyes and helps herself to brightly coloured flakes studded with marshmallows.
"If I'd prepared that while you were in the shower, it would have dissolved by now. Honestly, dear, that's just pure sugar."
"I know."
The younger woman agrees, offering the brunette a vulgar glimpse of her partially chewed mouthful as she climbs back onto the counter.
"And I used to have such high standards..."
Regina laments.
"Yeah, what the hell happened?"
Emma chuckles, finishing her breakfast and using the leftover water in the sink to wash up her bowl. Dropping her gaze to the tight fit of the blonde's jeans, the Mayor simply shrugs when the younger woman turns back around to face her.
"Come on, let's get going. Let's get one uncomfortable conversation out of the way so that we can deal with the other after school."
"Shit."
"Mm... Maybe I'll take the lead on that one."
"Why is she always so moody?"
Emma mutters as she follows Regina down the hallway beneath the hospital to the small room housing Hyde, referring to the severely stern nurse in charge of permitting access to the bowels of the building.
"Simple. She despises me, and you have terrible people skills."
The brunette replies, before glancing over her shoulder and asking curiously
"Didn't you say you knew her from a book or film or something?"
"Yeah, but Nurse Ratched was, like, cruelly evil. Interestingly so. That woman's just a bitch."
"Well, it takes one to know one, dear."
"Shove it, Your Majesty. And incidentally, your curse makes no fucking sense. I mean, I get the whole fairytale thing, but then you have Frankenstein. You have One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest. Those aren't related in the slightest, and-"
"-For the last time, I just cast it, I didn't design it. If I had, I would hardly have had your mother sullying the minds of the youth of this town, would I?"
"Youths that were never going to grow up to use any of the information they learned over and over and over again..."
"Emma. You're giving me a headache. Could we please just focus on the issue at hand without you dragging a hundred and one other things into the mix?"
Regina snaps, before turning around to address the younger woman properly as they reach the door to the cell.
"Remember, Miss Swan, it was your choice to stay in this town. Storybrooke is the result of a great many hands meddling with power over time, not just my own. Not just my mother's. Not just Rumple's. There are overlaps and inconsistencies, and if one were to spend too much time trying to make sense of the lovechild born from countless warped minds, they would surely lose their own. Take what we're doing here today for example; yet another peculiarity to arise and cause problems. Yet another person that you call a character and I simply call trouble. I know this town can confuse you at times, but it's confusing for me to listen to you refer to books and films and plots that I know nothing about. If your knowledge helped us, that would be one thing, but a lot of the time it just complicates matters further. That's not your fault, granted, but nor is it mine that I'm the creator of a town far larger than just myself. You nit-pick at things as though you expect me to have all the answers when I don't, but your manner of doing so often makes me feel as though I should and colours me as foolish, which I detest. I do my best to be patient with you and Henry, but you make it hard at times."
"... Alright. I get that."
Emma nods apologetically, and the brunette offers her a thin smile before leading them into Hyde's cell.
"Oh, good, visitors. Important ones at that. What were you two bickering about out there?"
The man hunched on the bed asks curiously, and the blonde throws him a disapproving glower as she hisses
"We weren't bickering."
"Quite. Not about anything that concerns you, anyway."
Regina agrees, making a small movement with her hand to summon two of the three folding chairs resting against the wall so that she and Emma can take a seat. This strikes the younger woman as odd; the Mayor rarely opting to use magic for menial tasks in front of those not gifted with the ability themselves.
She's setting the hierarchy for this little meeting...
The Sheriff nibbles her lip, wondering if she should conjure them all a glass of water or something to play along, before opting to simply let Regina take the lead as she sits down silently beside her.
"We need to talk."
The Mayor cuts right to the chase, frowning as she watches the way Hyde's gaze flickers restlessly from herself to Emma, his mouth working silently as though he's calculating the sum of something beyond her understanding.
"Good. No one's been to talk to me in a while."
The man states finally.
"My mom came and spoke to you a couple of days ago."
Emma points out, and Hyde fixes his attention on her raptly and complains
"Exactly. A couple of days ago. Do you know how long that is when you're locked up with no one to talk to?"
"I do. I've been there. Didn't whine about it like you're doing, but there we go."
The blonde counters coldly, not liking the intensity of the curious man's gaze.
"Ah, yes. You have a story. Lots of stories. Everyone has a story. Everyone I brought here, everyone I've met. I have a story, too."
"Yet, you've refused to tell the part of it any of us want to hear."
Regina interrupts, swallowing as Hyde turns his unnerving stare onto her; suddenly certain that he can see her in her entirety. Continuing before he can take the upper hand in their conversation, she accuses him quietly
"We still don't understand what it is you're doing here. You say you're looking for answers, that you're working on something, but you won't tell us what you want from the people of this town. You won't divulge why your work brought you here, specifically."
"Hmm. Your tone seems rather hostile considering what I've done for you, Your Majesty."
Hyde hisses, and Regina glances to her side, sharing a look with Emma before returning her attention to their captive.
"Madame Mayor."
She corrects him with a purposeful sweep of her hand to showcase her neatly tailored attire.
"If you say so."
Hyde replies blandly, grinning when the women share another glance.
"What do you mean?"
Regina asks quietly, and Hyde grins as he raises his bound hands to tap his nose impishly.
"Nothing... It's curious though."
"What is?"
Emma demands.
"Well, if you, Regina, really are the version you're portraying- if you really are the sweet and mild shadow of your true, better self- then either you two are in grave danger, or... One of you bested her. The Queen. I wonder... Why didn't you kill her?"
"What are you talking about?"
"How do you know we didn't?"
The women reply simultaneously, and the brunette frowns disapprovingly as Emma shows their hand. The blonde offers her a grimace in return before simply turning back to Hyde with a shrug. Deeming it senseless to backtrack now, she repeats the question.
"What makes you think we didn't kill her?"
"A good question. After all, it would be foolish of you not to have done so. You of all people should heed that warning, Saviour. It's your bloodline she's keen to spill... The fact that she hasn't, though... You've played a hand. One of you has, anyway. The Queen; she's cunning. She can blend in, she can wear your face, Madame Mayor. She would have made a mark by now... Yet, you seem fine."
Hyde muses as he studies the blonde, sounding rather perturbed.
"I am."
Emma agrees icily, before stating her question a third time.
"Why do you presume we've spared the Queen?"
"...I presume nothing, I merely wondered."
"Why?"
Regina frowns.
"I'm locked in a cell, in the basement of a hospital, with what can only be considered gruel to eat. And you want to know why my mind might wander?"
"... You want to know if you can live without Jekyll. You don't know, do you? You don't know what would happen if you killed him."
Emma speaks up as it dawns on her, and dark eyes widen as the brunette nods with understanding, looking to Hyde for confirmation of what she's suddenly sure is the truth.
"Is that it?"
She demands, staring Hyde down as he studies her morosely from his perch on the bed. Maintaining her poker face as the man breaks into a smile, she simply sighs when he adopts a friendlier tone and asks conversationally
"Where is my lesser-half, anyway? Why aren't we in here together? Seems a little unfair?"
"For the same reason my once sworn enemy came to me with a request to babysit on a couple of occasions when I was just my 'lesser-self'. She knew it was safe to do so. Once split from decency, as you well know, the desire for malice is otherwise engaged in admiring themselves and their superior gift for cunning."
The brunette replies simply, ignoring the ill-concealed breath of laughter to her right in favour of calling an end to their meeting.
"Mary Margaret, Granny, and a handful of volunteers have been taking down the details of those that accompanied you on your journey over here. As you said yourself, everyone has a story, and there are many of them who wish to move on with their lives and find refuge in a land more suited to them. Those that wish to stay may do so, provided they play by our rules, but those that wish to move on will require a method in order to do so. You built that ship, perhaps you can fix it. A part of you, anyway. The other part... You... You must leave. My hospitality doesn't extend so far as to include one such as yourself, I'm sorry."
"Hm. I thought she was in charge."
Hyde counters, jabbing his jaw in the direction of the Sheriff, and Regina takes a moment to enjoy the look of open surprise that finds sharp features before advising silkily
"Miss Swan has never been in charge. This is my town. I made it."
"Not just you."
"Perhaps. But, you commend the archer who aced the target, not the woodsman who whittled his bow or the bird that sacrificed its tail feathers. It's my town, but Miss Swan is permitted to have her say. Within reason. Sometimes."
"We have enough creeps."
Emma shrugs, and Hyde glowers at her, hissing icily
"That's hardly diplomatic, Sheriff."
"Which is why I'm in charge."
Regina cuts in, leaning forward as she reasons with the curious man seriously
"She's not wrong. You knew what would happen, didn't you? You knew that the Queen would live. You knew she'd regain her strength and that you were permitting her to hunt freely by allowing us all to believe ourselves rid of her. For allowing me to believe it. You were right earlier; the Queen will always wish for Snow's blood to spill. Her bloodline... You tricked me with your offer to be free of her knowing full well what you were really doing. Knowing full well that in offering to help me you were putting people I care about in danger. You were almost expecting Miss Swan to accompany me here injured, or worse, so she's right in her choice of phrase. You are a creep."
"Maybe so. But maybe I have my reasons."
"You may well do, but I see no reason why I should care... Do you want to know what happened to the Queen? You're looking at her. I took her back."
"Then you're weaker than I thought. She's weaker than I thought."
"No. She wasn't weak, she was foolish. And I'm not weak, I'm the opposite. I'm culpable. I'm responsible. I didn't want her back - and she certainly wasn't thrilled with the arrangement - but she needs a firm hand at the end of her leash. A strong hand, which I have. I didn't kill her, I put her back where she belongs, and now I will make you that same offer... If you wish, I will have Jekyll brought here and he may take you back. I have the power to help him do so quite easily. If he consents, then you - both parts of you - will return to the land you came from. You will return whole. If you refuse - if either of you refuses - you will go alone. Jekyll will fix his ship or find another means of transport by which to leave my town, but you... I will send you through myself."
Regina states with an air of finality, unphased when her warning is met by an unnerving bray of laughter. She shares a glance with the blonde who appears equally unimpressed by Hyde's behaviour; Emma simply watching him shake with it for a moment before growling irritably
"Are you done?"
"What's so funny?"
The brunette chimes in, looking rather bored, and Hyde simmers down, adopting a surly expression when it becomes clear that neither woman finds herself moved by his theatrics.
"Do you really think he would take me back?! That pathetic, snivelling little worm? One whisper that you intend to inflict my darker nuances back onto the man and he'll run, run, run. Offer me to him, and he will rid himself of his hands before he would so much as touch me."
"Can't say I blame him..."
Emma muses, before continuing simply
"Well, then. You've made your choice. We'll ask Jekyll for his say, but your stance is clear. You're happy being a dark, twisted, creepy little man, and that's fine, but you can't do it here."
"And just how do you plan to send me back without my ship?"
Hyde hisses, narrowing his eyes as he marks the blonde for her unsavoury mannerisms.
"We have our methods. All we need from you is your cooperation."
Regina advises, speaking up swiftly before Hyde can laugh at the notion.
"We need you to envisage a mirror that exists in your land. Any mirror will do, but it must be large enough for you to travel through. You must know it well, and you must be able to recall the room beyond with some clarity. Do you know of such a mirror?"
"... Maybe."
Hyde grins, relishing the moment as he has them caught. They need something from him, and unless he gives them what they want, they can't move forward.
Surely.
"Perfect."
Regina smiles in return, pushing herself up from her seat and taking a step closer. Meeting Hyde's gaze, she watches his snide glitter of superiority falter as he watches her movements uncertainly; ducking hurriedly when she reaches for his neck, but he does so too late.
"Care to share?"
Her voice is sweet, syrupy, and Hyde shudders as he feels a strange tug at the base of his skull.
"What are you doing?!"
He hisses as memories begin to roll and crash against each other in a harried torrent inside his mind. He tries to block her out, but it does him no good as the Queen forces him on a bizarre dream tour of his home. Stumbling into corners, entering rooms in the wrong order, and perceiving the blurred edges of ill-remembered furniture, before finally, she finds what she's looking for.
A mirror.
The mirror opposite the writing desk, with its heavy burnished frame and its clawed feet.
"Perfect."
She repeats, sounding very far away, and she takes a step back as Hyde slumps forward on the bed, drooling slightly.
"Don't worry, he'll be okay."
She assures Emma; the blonde watching on with an ashen cast to her features.
"Come on, dear. We're done down here for now."
She advises, beckoning for the younger woman to follow her with a sigh as she watches the stiffness of the Sheriff's movements as she complies. Waiting until they've made their way out into the hall and closed the door, she speaks up softly
"Sorry. I had to do it, you know that. If he'd been willing to play along, he would have answered with facts not riddles. I just want to get this done, Emma."
"I know. He just looked so shocked... I guess I just know how that feels."
The blonde mutters uncomfortably.
"Don't waste your pity where it's not warranted, dear. What I did to Hyde just now wasn't anywhere near as invasive as what the Queen did to you. I merely had a quick nosy at the decor of his house. Nothing sinister, unless you count the fabric choice for the drapes."
"Alright, but I-"
"-I won't do it again."
Regina promises, turning around to meet the blonde's gaze seriously, before leading them out through the bright fluorescents of the hospital lobby and back to the shelter of her car.
"So, I guess we need to talk to Jekyll?"
Emma sighs as she slips her hands between her thighs in a bid to warm them; watching as the Mayor starts the engine before using her mirror to touch up her lipstick.
"Yes, but I don't think it will be a conversation to cause concern. The man has kept to himself almost religiously, and rather than finding that suspicious, I find it pitiful. How embarrassing to have to live in a place - even just temporarily - where your worst traits have a mind of their own and keep making a scene."
"Mm. Imagine."
"Hush. At least I was somewhat refined about it. I honed in on a target and kept what I did to her to myself rather than making a spectacle out of the situation."
"True. Thanks for that."
"You're welcome... Though, I suppose it's not entirely true. Henry saw more than he bargained for this morning."
Regina sighs, backing out of the parking space and driving them the short distance towards Jekyll's lodgings.
"Right. Lots of fun conversations to be had today..."
Emma mutters sarcastically, and the brunette smirks as she pulls up behind a maroon jeep splattered with mud.
"Don't look so glum, dear. If all goes well later, we might well have some fun before the day's over.