Chapter XII

Talk it Out

Archie enjoyed his morning walks with Pongo. Storybrooke was just beginning to stir, people were starting to wake up and go about their routines. He could smell fresh bread and coffee wafting in the air from Granny's Diner. He could watch Marco rolling his usual assortment of sidewalk items out of the store. The town's children walked towards the school and people were running early morning errands before they started their work for the day. It was all normal, familiar and peaceful. Of course it was familiar, he grinned to himself, he'd only been taking this exact same walk for twenty-eight years. As if on cue, Pongo started to tug on his leash. Archie knew who was waiting by his office door before he saw. Pongo only rushed towards only two people in town and Henry was in school.

Regina Mills stood by his office door. She was dressed in her customary business attire that was covered by a black coat. Though her makeup was just as impeccable as it ever was, he could tell that she had not slept well.

"Good Morning, Regina."

She looked up from the spot on the sidewalk she'd been staring intently at, "Good Morning, Doctor Hopper." Her voice was quiet and low. He switched Pongo's leash to his left hand so he could unlock his door.

"Is there something I can help you with?"

Pongo had no such manners, he nudged Regina's thigh with his nose and all but demanded to be petted. Former Evil Queen or not, Regina was an animal lover. Her hand dropped to Pongo's black and white head and started to scratch behind his ears.

"I was wondering" She looked at him with bloodshot eyes, "if you had a moment to talk to me?"

The last time she had sought him out, she had been forced to use magic to end her fiancé's life. If you could call what Doctor Whale had done to the man life.

"Of course."

They went to his office without another word. He opened that door and stepped inside. Pongo, uncharacteristically, remained outside until Regina entered. When she sat on the sofa, Pongo sat right beside her. Pongo, Archie knew, was very in-tune with human emotions. While he would like to think that was from being around him, it probably had more to do with sitting in on twenty-eight years' worth of therapy sessions. Still, he couldn't fault Pongo this time. Regina Mills was very subdued this morning, something was bothering her. He shut the door, a sign that he was in-session and not to be disturbed, and sat down in his chair.

He hadn't spent much time with Regina, but knew that the woman needed to be in control, so he said nothing and let her go at her own pace.

"I received some disturbing information last night."

Her level of formality indicated that she was very uncomfortable with whatever news she had been given.

She took a deep breathe, "My mother is in Storybrooke."

Ah, Cora. He had heard this news himself, but he wasn't sure what to do with it. He had never met or heard of the woman. He knew that she was Regina's mother and that Snow and Emma had difficulties with her in the Enchanted Forest, but that was all.

"And how does that make you feel?" It was a clichéd question, but sometimes the simplest and most antiquated questions worked the best.

"Like I should grab Henry and run far, fast, and never look back."

He felt his brows raise in response. The way Regina spoke, the quickness of her answer and the emphasis on running. This was fear. This was a very deep seated fear that had manifested at the very mention of Cora Mills. That Regina's first instinct was to run and not fight was very telling. This was the woman who had fought two different armies at the same time without breaking a sweat. If he knew anything about Regina Mills, it was that she was a fighter by nature.

"You think she would hurt Henry?"

There was a flash in Regina's eyes and he recognized it as another sign of fear. He had seen this before, when he and Henry had been in the mine. The look on Regina's face when she had seen Henry, the stark fear of a mother who wasn't sure if her child was safe, was back. Only this time it did not fade. Regina was genuinely afraid for Henry and herself.

"Yes."

He did not need to ask if Cora had hurt Regina. He already knew that she had been the one to kill Regina's Daniel. There was more, though, to the story. Regina would not be this afraid if the Daniel incident had been the only one. He had received his degrees and knowledge via the curse, but he also had instincts and he'd had those his entire life. He knew how it felt to have your mother smack you for no reason. He knew that words could hurt just as much as a smack. He recognized the fear and the shame of a fellow survivor of child abuse. He also knew that any sign of pity or empathy on his part would make Regina close up and leave. He had to play this very carefully.

"What can you tell me about your relationship with your mother?"

Regina's hand paused on Pongo's head and a single dark brow rose. "Why Doctor Hopper, how very Freudian of you."

Most people underestimated Regina's intelligence and didn't understand her wit. He was not one of them. He grinned at her remark, "We can talk about cigars and sex dreams later if you'd like, Madame Mayor."

A smile, small but a smile none the less, flashed across her face and Regina relaxed just a little.

He wanted to punch the air in victory, this was the most he had seen her relax.

Her face darkened a little, "My relationship with my mother is-"She closed her eyes for a moment, and he would bet a great deal of money that the images that were playing across her mind's eye weren't pleasant. "complicated."

He was about to lose her again. He could see it in the way her shoulders stiffened.

"And Esmeralda?"

The change of subject was abrupt and unexpected and for a moment he thought Regina may leave. She didn't. She relaxed again and he smiled. He was actually not too bad at his job, cricket or no.

"Esmeralda", another small smile graced her face, "was the best part of my childhood."

Archie hooked one ankle over the opposite knee. They had never spoken of Regina's childhood.

"And did she teach you the Old Ways?"

Regina nodded almost shyly. The Old Ways were called that for a reason, most of the people of the Enchanted Forest no longer believed in them, many did not even know of them. He had heard of the OId Ways because his family had been gypsies in the truest sense of the word and they had met members of many Romani Clans. Some of his fondest memories were of nights spent around Romani campfires listening to their stories.

"That must have been interesting for you. The Old Ways cast an entirely different light on actions, consequences and well, every interaction between two people. The Romani believe in redemption and the balance of dark and light. I think those ideas have impacted your life far more than even you realize."

Had he stepped over the line? It was important not to push the envelope with patients at the beginning of their treatments. Especially patients who had legendary tempers and could throw fire balls..

Regina blinked, "I-"

Here it came. He fought against his very natural instinct to flinch.

"I had never thought about it like that."

Regina had stopped scratching Pongo's head so he laid it in her lap.

"I've been trying to redeem myself, for Henry." She trailed off for a moment, lost in her own thoughts, "but I'd forgotten that the Romani reserve honor for those who struggle to return to the balanced path."

Archie nodded, now that he had her mind on that track he could try something he'd been thinking about for a while. "The balanced path doesn't mean perfection, Regina. It doesn't mean not making mistakes and being an unblemished saint. It means keeping the dark and light within you balanced. It means repaying every evil deed with an act of good. Redemption is not the destination, it is the journey."

Regina blinked at him, she obviously recognized the old Romani proverb.

"This is known."

Her lips curved into a smile as she spoke and he returned the smile.

They had made a definite break through.

David Nolan walked from the Sheriff's Office to Granny's Diner. What a day, he'd finally released the prisoners from last night's fight. It just wasn't worth the effort, the headache or the paperwork to hold them anymore. Grumpy, hung over and surly, had been especially bad. If Emma didn't like it, she could take guard duty next time. He immediately felt bad about that thought. He should have gone to the Rabbit Hole in the first place. Someone had hit his daughter with a stool. His mind replayed the conversation he'd had with Stephen the night before. Emma was a princess and a woman, maybe being the Sheriff wasn't really a good fit for her.

"You look like you're thinking some very serious thoughts."

He smiled. Snow had been waiting on him on Granny's Patio. She was wearing a blue jacket and a white hat and she looked so beautiful that his knees went just a little weak. Just like they always had. He had married the most beautiful woman in this or any other world.

"Nothing that can't be shelved until later."

He crossed the distance between them and took Snow into his arms and kissed his wife for all he was worth. Their lips fit together perfectly and he felt every inch of his skin break into goose bumps. He wrapped his arms around his wife and smiled into the kiss when he felt her arms loop around his neck.

"Ugh." They broke apart at the exclamation and turned to see Smee, red woolen cap and all, walk past them with a scowl on his face. "You two are nauseating."

They should have been insulted but when Snow started to snicker, he couldn't help himself, he laughed. Sometimes it was good to be reminded that he and Snow weren't just rulers, they were people too. He was a hungry person. He looped his arm around Snow's waist, "Come on, let's get something to eat. I have been dealing with a hung over dwarf for far too long today."

Granny's Diner was doing its usual share of business. It was a little early for lunch, just a few minutes before noon, and David was more than ready for lunch. He and Snow sat down in one of the booths and Snow turned around to speak to Doc for a moment. He looked around. He didn't see Ruby. He did another sweep and saw the brunette staring out of the window with a blank look on her face.

"Hey Ruby."

The woman actually jumped. He had known Red or Ruby as she preferred to be called now, a long time. Not as long as Snow had known her, but when you fight a war beside someone you learned a few things about them. One thing he knew about Ruby was that she was never surprised. No one could startled the usually alert werewolf.

"You okay?"

She came over to their booth, a smile firmly in place, "Just a little tired, sorry guys."

Snow smiled at her best friend, "Don't worry about it, Rubes. The whole Storybrooke Police Force is pretty wiped out today."

"Yeah."

Ruby didn't sound convinced and her eyes darted to the door when it opened again. It was almost as if she was looking for someone specific.

"So" David cleared his throat a little, "I will have a burger with the works, fries and coleslaw on the side." He grinned at his wife and could almost hear her lecture about proper nutrition coming. "And a Cherry Coke."

It was his standard order and Ruby didn't even bother to write it down. She only turned her attention to Snow. He watched the two of them interact, watching for anything different. There was nothing. Ruby seemed like she was back to normal. She made a joke about Snow's order, a Caesar Salad and the Soup of the Day with a Diet Coke, and sauntered off to put their orders in without a hitch in her step. Maybe she was just tired.

He was about to go to the men's room when Granny came up to them.

"Have you two seen today's paper?"

He blinked, he usually read the paper, but had been at the Station and hadn't gotten a chance to look at the Storybrooke Daily Mirror.

"No, why?" Snow furrowed her brow, "is there something in it about Emma and me coming back?"

It was the only thing she could think of that had been newsworthy lately.

"Not exactly."

Granny slapped the paper on their table.

"What the Hell?"

Snow rarely cursed, but David found himself thinking far saltier words when his eyes fell on the bold headline that stretched across the front page:

"Prince Charming a Fraud!"

A picture of himself and Snow was on the top left but the rest of the page, above and below the fold, was devoted to the story. His story, to be exact. The real one. It started with how his parents traded his twin brother, Prince James, to Rumplestiltskin for their farm and continued on from there. It spoke of his humble life as a shepherd and of the deal he struck to become his dead brother. It even spoke of how he had slayed Midas's dragon and courted his daughter. It briefly touched on his and Snow's fiery and frustrating first meetings and how he had broken his engagement to Abbigail. His days of being a so-called outlaw were touted. Snow White's illicit lover, it called him. It named him a traitor to his own people and spoke of how he had sold himself to The Evil Queen in exchange for his life.

It wasn't all lies, of course. He had pretended to be James for a very long time. Still, though, it didn't say anything about Frederick and how Abbigail had been more than happy to break their betrothal. He definitely hadn't betrayed his people, exactly, he'd just defied King George. As for being sold to Regina, he sure as hell hadn't done that. She had saved him from execution, that was true enough, but it had been to use him against Snow. Snow. His hands crumpled the side of the paper. It implied that they had been in some kind of unsavory and torrid affair. She was his true love! They had been married by Sir Lancelot before they'd ever made love.

Page Two was dedicated to their struggle against The Evil Queen, and it painted him and Snow as villains just as blood thirsty as Regina had been. The article practically laid the blame for the Dark Curse at their feet. The article continued by remarking on his coma then his rocky faux marriage to Katherine. When the article referred to his finding Mary Margaret as adultery he threw the paper down.

"This is crap."

He couldn't believe people were allowed to print such lies. He stood up, food forgotten.

"What are you doing?"

He looked at his wife and she was stock still, her doe eyes wide and her skin a shade or two paler than usual.

"I'm going to go down to the paper and kick whoever wrote this piece of filth in the throat."

He all but growled out the answer and was suddenly very glad that he had left his gun at the Station under lock and key.

"That's not going to fix anything, David."

Snow looked around and he suddenly remembered that they were very much in public and that every eye was on him.

"Those are lies, Snow."

Her eyes flicked away from his, "Not all of it. Those things did happen."

He clenched his fists, "But not the way they're making them out. It's making us out to be-"He sputtered to a stop, he didn't even have words.

"Like a prince and a princess who eloped without their parent's permissions and broke a vital alliance between two kingdoms and then went to war with another?" Snow smiled weakly, "That's exactly what we did."

He crossed his arms over his chest. "Regina did this."

This was exactly the kind of thing she would do. She had run a smear campaign against Emma using exactly this kind of tactic.

"No" The Evil Queen herself stood at the Diner door, "she did not."

Regina crossed the room and everything was silent. Her heel clicks could be heard all over the room. "What would I have to gain from this?" She waved her hand over the paper and shook her head, "This is, to use a cliche, old news."

Snow narrowed her eyes, "So you know about it?"

Regina shrugged, "I saw the headline, the rest is relatively easy to discern."

David turned to face the woman head-on, "So why did you do it?"

"Are you deaf?" Regina snarled the word at him, "I have no reason to print articles like this and if you haven't noticed I hold no power over the paper or any other part of Storybrooke now."

She turned to stand in line at the counter, "You better ask yourself how many other people in our quaint little town hold a grudge against you and go talk to them."

He opened his mouth to defend himself, but then closed it again. He looked to Snow and could tell that she was thinking the same thing he was. If it hadn't been Regina, the most obvious suspect, then there was only one other person who knew the story and hated him. King George.

He sat back down and tried to ignore Regina, even when he was positive that he heard her mutter "Idiot." under her breathe.