I don't own these characters; Disney/ABC does.
A/N: little fun fact, this chapter contains a scene I really wanted to write, but it also marked me realizing this story turned into something totally different than what I expected to write in the beginning. Just wanted to share that.
10: The Power to Change
Regina was not surprised Rumpelstiltskin contacted her, but she was shocked that he was bold enough to do it outside of her work place. But, there he stood, leaning on his cane, in his sharp suit, showing off that reptile grin of his. What were the odds of Emma's Neal being Rumple's precious "Baelfire"? She recalled the whispers among the nobles when his son disappeared. Some actually thought Rumple murdered the boy, but the youngsters knew. And, even though Regina was actually younger than Neal, even she knew. He had the guts to do what she never managed, leave the abuse. Strange how their lives ran parallel.
Regina shook those thoughts away. She needed to focus on the matter at hand. Rumpelstiltskin Gold stood before her. She would not mind telling this man no to his face, if only to make Cora nervous. Cora would never be happy to find out that Rumple was after Regina, even if she wanted to pretend to not care about Regina. She also would wonder what Regina could do if she could say no to Rumple's face.
"Regina Mills, don't you get tired of being involved in noble messes?" Rumple asked with a smirk. There was a bit of a lilt in his voice.
"This is what happens when you're born into nobility. Apparently, not even being an outcast saves you from the stress and nonsense," Regina replied in a neutral tone.
"Yes, well, but this is what happens when you tie yourself to a con artist trying to take on one of the wealthiest, most powerful nobles alive." Rumple tapped his cane.
Regina gave him a once over. "And what business is this of yours?" She made sure to have some bite in her voice. It was possible he was there on behalf of her mother, despite how much he disliked her. He could see it as a way to use Regina later if he saved her for whatever Leopold had going or a way to get Cora Mills to owe him a favor. So many different reasons for him to be in Regina's face. She would see what he was willing to spill, even though according to Emma, Baelfire stated Rumple was working for Leopold. Leopold was really trying to bury Emma, bury the truth.
He chuckled. "You had to know it would eventually be my business. Consider this a favor from an old friend, leave while you can. This will not end well."
It took all of her willpower not to laugh out loud. Did these people not realize Regina had already walked through Hell? She would do all that and more for her family.
"Leopold sold his soul to you." Regina should not be surprised, but still it was such a leap. Leopold was a new level of pissed with Emma, willing to get deep in the dirt with this snake, but probably would never realize he was truly pissed with himself. He was as self-aware as his favorite child, maybe even less so.
This was about more than Emma being his child, though, if Leopold brought in Rumple. Rumple started fires, literally and metaphorically. Leopold wanted to burn Emma to the ground, possibly salt the earth where she lay. Little did he know, that would make it worse for him when it all came out that she was his daughter. There was no way around it.
"The truth will come out and it will ruin you," Rumple insisted.
She scoffed, waving that off. "I've been ruined for years. This is far from new. Now, I have work to do." She moved by him to get to the front door of the building and then paused. "You might not want to be down here when Maleficent shows up, though."
Rumple's face split into a grimace for a moment, which spoke volumes of the power Maleficent wielded. It was good to know Maleficent had not oversold herself. How did I miss that, though? Regina left on that note, not wanting to share any more time or space with that man.
As it turned out, Rumple was lucky. Maleficent was already in the office. In fact, Maleficent stood outside of her office, as if waiting for Regina.
Maleficent folded her arms across her chest. "Is that so-called man really standing outside my main office, like I won't go down there and bite his head off?"
"He should be gone. I don't think he wants to battle with you," Regina replied.
Maleficent frowned. "He better not even think about it. While Cora might be a bit of a challenge, him, I could squash and never lose sleep over it right now." She glanced at the window for a moment. "What do you make of this with him? Is he with your mother or Leopold?"
"Leopold, most definitely. I know he likes to go back and forth with my mother, but this seems to be just business for him. His son all but confirmed it with Emma. Leopold now has an insurance policy to get the outcome he wants," Regina said.
Maleficent waved her into the office and shut the door behind her. "So, do you think he doubts about Emma not actually being his daughter?"
"I think he might be paranoid. He's very upset with Emma."
"Upset enough to rig the game?"
"Isn't that what Rumple does?" The truth no longer mattered. Rumple would try to make Leopold's beliefs reality. Unfortunately for him, he had already been routed.
Maleficent nodded. "When is that happening?"
"Tomorrow."
"And I assume you have everything covered?"
"Of course." She wished she could bring champagne to the test and sip it while Leopold had a meltdown. But, the baby prevented that from happening.
Maleficent nodded. "Very good, very good. And you haven't heard from your mother since she stopped by your house?"
"No. I'm sure she's just waiting for the fallout of everything." Cora Mills had to wait for the moment Regina was at her lowest to try to make it worse. Hopefully, she's holding her breath while that happens.
"Okay, then I'll worry about something even more pressing. When are we coming to the house?" Maleficent chuckled a bit.
Regina held up her hands in surrender. "That's next weekend." She and Emma were ready to have people over the house. Not to mention, the pregnancy was somewhat noticeable. It was about time for them to say it. But, first, they needed to get this nonsense with Leopold out of the way.
"And we're allowed to bring gifts, yes?" Maleficent asked.
Regina curled her lip. "If you must." She hated the idea of gift-giving for the house, as if they could not afford things for the house. Not to mention, they would need these random things to match whatever was already in there.
"And you're letting executive assistants come, right?" Merida asked, leaning over her desk.
"Yes, you can come as long as you stop reminding us you can hear things in the office from your desk," Regina replied.
"It's only this corner of the desk and you have to be close to the door," Merida said.
Regina smiled and shook her head, even though Merida could not see. "You have been most helpful in my transition to this office, so, yes, you can come," Regina replied as if it pained her. The real pain was to come, though. Tomorrow, they would get back the DNA results between Emma and Leopold. With Rumple in play, she could guess what those results would be, but Leopold's reaction after the fact was what she wanted to see. And will Rumple do more than just rig the test results for this man?
-8-8-8-8-
Emma and Henry were home alone, a rare event. Regina had meetings and would be at the office late. They were being trusted to handle themselves. They could not screw this up.
"We could do the legos in the living room," Henry suggested. As their living room was somewhat set up to Regina's high standards, they still got to keep their lego city on a table in the living room.
"No, if we make a mess where she sees it, that's gonna set it up for us never being left alone again." Emma tapped her chin with her index finger.
Henry narrowed his eyes and scanned the first floor of the house. "You wanna surprise Mom and move her books into her office? They're still in the box. That way, it looks like we're helpful when we're alone."
"That's almost genius, but you know she has a system, so no matter how we put them, it'll be a waste of time. How about your stuff? Is everything unpacked?"
"No, just the major stuff."
"Then, let's unpack your room. Maybe we'll find something to do while we do it, so we don't get in trouble and we can do this alone thing again."
Henry laughed and Emma winked. "If we do a good job, maybe Mom will really consider letting us get a puppy."
"I think it'll take more than that, but it's a start!" Emma would never hear the end of it if Henry mentioned a puppy to Regina again, but it was possible they might be able to wear her down with a bunch of showings on how responsible they could be.
They made their way to Henry's room, which needed a lot of work. He had his essentials unpacked, but nothing that really said "this is Henry Swan-Mills' room." They pulled his many books out of their box and populated his small bookshelf by his desk. And, yes, they got him a desk because he seemed so serious about writing. He already had a stack of notebooks on it.
Next, came his comic books. Those were in special boxes, like ones in the comic book stores, that could be stored in his closet. Then, they pulled out his collectibles, all of this had been packed with love and care. Those went up on a shelf Emma had put up just yesterday. Regina had been quite impressed with her skills.
"Now what?" Henry asked as they finished up. They would play video games since nothing in the room caught their eye.
"I'm gonna go start dinner and you're going to warm up the game, so I can kick your butt in racing," Emma replied.
"Yeah, right! You always crash!" He trotted off to the living room, though.
Emma smiled as she went to make dinner, simple spaghetti with meatballs and toasted bread. Once everything was on, she went and sat next to Henry. He was already in the middle of a race, so she let him finish before she joined in. She crashed a few times before she got a feel for it, which was always the case. So, Henry won their first couple of races before she turned it up. She did not think he should win every time.
"Ma, is it always gonna be like this?" Henry asked.
"What do you mean?"
"Like, are we still gonna do this stuff when the baby comes?"
"Yeah, why would we stop when the tadpole shows up? I mean, I might have to hold them every now and then when playing, but I don't see why we would stop playing."
"Not just playing, but having time like this. I mean, I know you and Mom said there's two of you and that's how you make time for me and the baby, but I just mean… we're still gonna have quality time alone like this, right?" Henry stared at her with big eyes.
Emma put her arm around his shoulders, even though they were playing a game. "Henry, we're always going to have stuff that's just between us, like you're always gonna have stuff that's just between you and your mom. When the baby comes and grows up some, you'll probably have stuff just between the two of you. Our bonds are only going to get stronger. I promise."
He nodded. "I'm glad. You know, I'm looking forward to being a big brother now. Spending a little more time with Nolan helped me get used to being around a baby. I know how to make him laugh."
"I'm glad you're looking forward to being a big brother. As a big sister, I can tell you it's an important role."
He laughed. "You're barely older than Auntie Snow!"
"Barely is still older." She grinned. Honestly, she had no idea what it meant to be a big sister. She could not wait to watch Henry work as an older sibling.
He gave her a serious look. "Do you think having a sibling relationship is different from being friends?"
"Yeah. I mean, I totally believe in found family, cuz I found you guys and I love you and your mom to pieces. But, the idea of possibly not being sisters with Snow kinda hurt, even though I don't think it would change anything. I love her. She'd still be your aunt and all. It's just… I dunno. I don't think I can explain it because it's mostly emotion and it doesn't really matter, but I feel like my relationship with Snow is special in a way." Emma wished she had a better vocabulary and just a better handle on herself to put it into words for Henry.
"No, that's good." He smiled. "Makes me look forward to the baby coming even more."
"I'm glad you're looking forward to it." Emma kissed the top of his head.
They turned their attention back to the video games until Emma had to turn off the food. Regina came in just after and they had dinner as a family, as usual. Priceless.
-8-8-8-8-
Regina and Emma curled up on their new sofa just like the old one. Regina was on her laptop, going through some documents, so she had on her glasses. Emma had to kiss her every few minutes because she was damn adorable.
"How were the meetings? Why are you still working?" Emma asked.
Regina sighed. "Just figuring out some figures after all the meetings. How was your day? I'm sure Henry loved spending time alone with you."
"Oh, yeah. We got his room together. Looks more like his room than a display room."
"Nice. Anything else?"
"We had a nice talk about siblings. He's ready to be a big brother and he wanted to know if it was different from having friends. I got to realize it is, which is why Snow means so damn much to me."
Regina put her laptop down and turned to face Emma. "I know you're worried about the DNA thing with Leopold, but you know Snow feels the same about you as you do her. Leopold's feelings toward you won't change that."
Emma sniffled a little. "I know. I just kinda… my stomach twists a little."
"You'll be fine. It'll be fine." Regina took off her glasses and kissed Emma. "He can't take any of this from you. He doesn't have that power. This is your family. He can never take that from you."
Emma curled into her. "Can you put the glasses back on?"
Regina could not help laughing. "Should I put some music on as well?"
Emma grinned. "That might help."
"We haven't actually done anything on this couch, have we?"
"No, we should break it in."
Regina had no problem with that. She could take Emma's mind off of this thing with Leopold. Emma had been trying to ignore it, but Regina knew how stressful it was to have a parent who was out to destroy your very soul. Even when trying to pretend everything was fine, it sat wrong and gnawed at everything inside.
She kissed Emma softly and eased her glasses back on her face. Emma grinned as they broke apart. "You are absolutely gorgeous."
"The glasses really do it for you, hmm?" Regina asked.
"So, fucking hot. Now, come here and let's make out on the couch like two love sick teenagers. Did you even get to do that as a teen?"
"I did not."
"Great! Come here!" Emma pulled her close and, yes, they made out like two teenagers on the sofa. It was enough for them to forget the world existed for a night.
It was not surprising that Emma ended up on her back with Regina straddling her waist. Lately, Emma dared not put her weight on top of Regina. Regina bucked against her and Emma groaned.
"Okay, wait," Emma panted, breaking their kiss.
Regina pulled back just enough to look at Emma. "Yes?"
"Gotta take this upstairs, cuz…" Emma just looked down her body. She was poking Regina in the thigh in just the right way.
"Then carry me upstairs," Regina replied. Emma had not done anything like that since they found out about the baby as well. Regina appreciated the concern, even though Emma never said why she stopped doing it, but for the moment, Regina wanted to feel sexy and attractive to her wife.
Emma grinned and a true show that her mind was focused on one thing, she hopped up and picked Regina up. It was a little worrisome when she groaned as she did it, as that never happened before, but it was wonderful to know she could still lift and hold Regina. This would probably be a thing of the past in a few weeks time. But, it took their minds off of their troubles and the troubles disappeared once they got to the bedroom.
-8-8-8-8-
Emma pretended Leopold did not exist as they stood in the waiting room of the private lab he hired to do the paternity test. Regina was by her side. Snow also showed up, but Leopold had no idea she was there for Emma and not him. He was about to expose himself so hard.
"Snow, perhaps you should step away from the charlatan. I plan to call the police on him the moment this is over," Leopold said.
"You sound pretty sure of yourself there," Regina replied in a seething tone. She was certain the fix was in. Emma was not sure if that was the case or not. She thought Leopold was sure of himself enough to just let the test be the test, but Regina was certain Neal's dad popping up meant Leopold was not going to take any chances.
Before any other jabs could be thrown, a little guy in a lab coat stepped into the waiting room. "Leopold White and Emma Swan-Mills?"
"Present and accounted for." Emma sighed and nodded toward Leopold.
He nodded. "So, after analyzing the DNA comparison, we can say there is no familial connection between you two."
Before anyone could say anything, Snow gasped and her face fell. Leopold must have assumed it was disappointment or sorrow over Emma not actually being related to her. He tried to hug her around the shoulders, but she pushed away from him. Tears flowed down her face.
"You actually rigged the damn test!" Snow screamed in a way they had never heard. It was like she was in physical agony. "Do you hate Emma so much that you would do this? Hate yourself so much you'd lie to everyone? Hate your actions so much?" Her face was already red.
Leopold stepped back and put a hand to his chest. "Why are you so upset with me? These are the results."
Regina laughed. "You're such a fucking liar." Emma was actually surprised he went this far.
"Um… are these not the results you wanted?" The lab tech asked, stepping back a little, like in case he needed to flee.
"This is the truth," Leopold said.
"No, this is the truth!" Snow went into her bag and yanked out several papers, clutching them so tightly in her hand, they wrinkled. She pushed them in her father's face. "Last week, Emma and I also took DNA tests and got our results without interference. It was very clear we shared a father! So, somehow, Emma and I are definitely sisters, but you're not her father. I guess you're not my father, too, then!"
Leopold choked and sputtered. "That's ridiculous. Of course, I'm your father."
"Then, you're Emma's father! How could you do this? How could you set this up?" Snow bawled and Emma could only guess how Snow's world shattered around her with this action. Hard to believe I was nervous there was an off chance she'd go with Leopold. This hurt her so much.
David was not there to console Snow and keep her together like he usually did, so Emma took it upon herself to hold her sister together as best she could. She embraced Snow and Snow clutched her like the world would fall apart if she ever let go. Starting to feel like a big sister now.
"I didn't set anything up," Leopold said, voice pleading as he gazed at Snow with stricken eyes, as if he realized he was about to lose the daughter he cared about.
"If not you, then Rumpelstiltskin. After all, you hired him, did you not?" Regina asked with an arched eyebrow.
"You hired that thug?" Snow's voice was shrill and it got caught in her throat at the end. She probably had a headache already.
"I hired him to look into… that!" He motioned to Emma. "I knew whatever it was was lying, so I hired him to find out who he really is!"
"She's Emma Swan-Mills. Your gods-damned daughter!" Snow hollered.
"That's not even a woman!" Leopold replied.
"Um… I'm not sure what happened here, but according to our results, Emma Swan-Mills is a woman," the lab tech stated.
Emma blinked. "You can tell that?" It never even occurred to her that might be the case. She always just went with how she felt. She was a woman. Her mother always called her "her little girl." There were only ever questions from outside forces that did not matter.
The lab tech nodded. "Of course. We looked at the building blocks that make you… well, you. Of course, they seem… off if you have different results…"
"Interesting way to say you doctored the results," Regina commented.
"Um… maybe if I could see the others…" The lab tech glanced at the papers in Snow's hand.
Emma managed to pry them from Snow and hand them over. "Those are copies." She wanted him to know if he decided to make a run for it, there was more where that came from.
The lab tech read through Snow's papers, muttering to himself as he did so. Then, he winced. Up went Regina's eyebrow again. Emma frowned.
"Um… Okay… so… these appear to be in order," the lab tech said.
"Then, what about yours?" Leopold demanded.
The lab tech looked over his own papers. "Well, I'm not sure. These appear to be in order as well. Except…" He winced. "No, there are distinct differences between this one for Emma Swan and this other one."
"And which one is authentic?" Regina asked.
"I can't be sure. I mean, if you want, we can run the tests again," he replied.
Emma scoffed. "I really don't care, but can we go back to the tests pointing out I'm a woman. I mean, I always wondered how my mom knew I was a girl, even though my parts didn't match. She never made me feel like I was crazy when I said I was a girl. Never corrected me. Sometimes, she corrected other people, who she felt it was safe to know, and that didn't really seem like something she would do." Now that she thought about it, her mom was pretty good with that. Not good in many other parenting arenas, but definitely protective of Emma's identity.
"Oh, well, that is one of the easiest things to note in these tests. I'm going to assume your mother had you tested when you were younger, possibly to establish paternity." The lab tech glanced at Leopold.
Leopold folded his arms. "I was told I had a daughter."
"You knew about her since she was a baby?" Snow shrieked.
"Snow, please." Emma rubbed her shoulder. "I need to hear this. I always wondered why Mom was so certain I was a girl. I mean I'm not mad that she was, but she wasn't the most attentive person."
"Well, like I said, that one is pretty easy. It's all right here," the lab tech answered.
Leopold's face was now burning red. "That's impossible! There's a penis!" He pointed to Emma's crotch.
The lab tech shrugged. "Yeah, that's also here."
Emma's mouth dropped open. "It is? How?"
"Yes, explain how I'm meant to believe this person is my daughter if there is a penis involved," Leopold huffed.
The lab tech shrugged again. "Appears to be genetic. It happens. There are a number of different reasons why someone's sexual organs might not match their sexual identity or their biological sex. Anyway, Emma Swan-Mills is definitely a woman. Also, according to the other paperwork, definitely the sister of your daughter." He motioned to Snow.
"Then, what happened here? You are a state of the art lab. I paid top dollar for this and you come out here with lies," Leopold said.
"Oh, so now you had nothing to do with it." Emma rolled her eyes.
Regina scoffed. "You hired Rumple. You know how this happened. He gave you the outcome you desired. Now, maybe try this again without the underhanded tricks or even better just accept the truth. Emma is your daughter. You've wiggled out of responsibility for her for her entire life. If you stepped aside right now, she wouldn't even be angry at you."
Emma sucked her teeth. "That's an understatement of a lifetime. I'm sure I'd lead a much happier life without you in it."
Leopold had the nerve to flinch, like he was hurt. "Maybe… maybe we should take the test again."
"We can take the test a million times. Just leave me the fuck alone whenever we get the results. I don't want anything from you, not even your presence," Emma said.
"Emma…" He started in that calm, little voice of his, the one that was meant to portray such innocence, but he had already exposed himself.
She jumped in. "I don't even want you to say my name. You think someone's after your money or fame or whatever. I don't care about any of that shit. I got what I wanted. I'm loved and cared for. I got my family. I got my sister." She hugged Snow closer. "I honest and truly don't need anything from you. I don't know why you don't understand or accept that. I don't want the allowance. I don't want the contact. Hell, the only reason I want half of your stupid DNA is to connect me to my sister. That's it. I know you're not used to that, but it's the truth. I don't want a damn thing from you."
The room was silent. It was nice to shut him up. Emma doubted she had ever been more fed up with a person, and that said a lot considering who she kept in her life. There was just something so much more about Leopold than Neal, Killian, or even Lily. She was not sure what it was, but it was there and she would not allow this man of all people to destroy her.
"We could do a retest if you like," the lab tech offered.
"No, I don't think I trust this organization right now," Leopold replied.
"Oh, because money did something in your name that then blew up in your face," Regina said.
He opened his mouth, like he wanted to say something back, but he did not have a leg to stand on. Regina took Emma's hand and gave her a gentle tug toward the door. Emma took Snow's papers back before following Regina with Snow still tucked in close to her. Leopold could have fun cleaning up this mess, even though Emma would have to deal with putting Snow together enough for her to even face Leopold.
-8-8-8-8-
Regina was not surprised by Snow's silence as they rode back to Storybrooke. David was there with Henry and Nolan, enjoying a "guys' night," during the middle of the day, hanging out in Cheshire Park. Emma helped Snow inside and Regina made them tea. Regina settled for juice. They sat at the dining room table.
"Do you think… Do you think he really rigged the test?" Snow asked, her voice in shambles. She sipped her tea, even though steam wafted from it. It was doubtful she even tasted it.
"Snow, I think you have to realize no matter what Leopold does to me, his love for you is real and your childhood with him was real," Emma replied.
Snow's chin trembled as she stared at Emma. "So, you think he did?"
Emma shook her head. "Honestly, I doubt he did that. He was too sure of himself to think he needed to rig the test."
"I'm sure Rumple did that for him, though. Rumple wants to make his desires come true and we all know he wants to just not be responsible for you," Regina replied.
"But, why?" Snow sniffled.
"Emma is the embodiment of his true nature. She's the picture that shows he's not who he presents himself to be. Instead of just claiming her existence was a one time slip, his behavior seems to indicate, it might have been a regular thing," Regina said.
"You think? Maybe there are more of me out there?" Emma frowned. "Not sure how I feel about that."
"Maybe you can ask him, even though I think he'll avoid that. I would assume if he had done this many times, you might have been a slip up on his part. I just don't think we'll ever know and I don't think we need to worry over that. I think this was just the first of many hits from Rumple. You might want to brace yourself for your past coming up," Regina said.
Emma snorted. "I don't give a damn. You know about me and everyone who counts knows about me, not just with this thing, but with my past. No one who matters will be surprised and I don't care what the world says. I've spent my entire life being treated poorly. This won't be anything new."
"I really wish that wasn't the case," Regina replied.
Emma waved it off. "I don't care. Do you care?"
"I hate that people will use something that has already hurt you to hurt you, but I'll stand by you no matter what, you know that," Regina said.
Emma turned her attention to Snow. "You okay?"
Snow shook her head. "Not really. I don't know that man, Emma."
"Again, how he treats me doesn't change how he is with you. He's your father," Emma said.
"But, that's the thing, he's your father, too. He's known about you since you were a baby, apparently, and he was never there for you. And now, he has a chance to be there for you and has done everything possible to not be there. You are his responsibility, whether he likes it or not. How he treats you tells so much more about his character than how he treats me." Tears flooded Snow's eyes again. "I don't know how to process any of this."
"You don't have to process it all right now. What you can do rather than trying to make sense of it is go curl up on the couch and we can all play a board game or watch a movie. Something to take your mind off of this," Emma said.
Snow nodded. "I want to play Scrabble, but Regina has to promise not to cheat."
Regina sucked her teeth. "You both just can't handle that I have more than a sixth grade education. I'll get the Scrabble board and the good scotch."
Snow did not bother to object, which showed how much this had thrown her. Snow was not much of a drinker and usually she had wine. Emma could only wonder if Leopold and Snow's relationship would ever be the same. She would not care, but Snow adored her father and Emma did not like seeing Snow distraught. Leopold could not possibly know what he did. There might be no repairing this, especially if this was only the first shot fired like Regina suspected.
"We should probably order some food, too. Don't want to get too wasted," Emma said with a forced chuckle.
"We could always ask David to keep Henry for the night and you two can get as appropriately wasted as the day calls for," Regina replied.
"Maybe not the night," Snow said. "Just come in late. I really want to see the kids tonight."
Regina smiled. "I know that super power." Holding Henry, reading to or with him, or just listening to him comment on a movie got her through some dark times.
Emma grinned. "Yeah. Henry is especially good at making a bad day so much better."
Snow managed a small smile. "I think I need that."
"We'll make it happen," Emma promised.
Regina could not believe it, but she was in agreement with Emma. As annoying as Snow was, she did not deserve this confusion and pain. Hopefully, Snow would use this as an educational moment to avoid being like her father.
-8-8-8-8-
Next time: the hits keep coming.