Chapter XXIII

Civics 101

Author's Note: There was a formatting error on the last upload of this chapter so I had to take it down and correct it.

Emma tugged at her tie. She had traded the skirt out for uniform pants, but she still felt uncomfortable. She looked at herself in the mirror in the Station's tiny bathroom and turned from one side to the other. She fought with her tie, her badge, her shirt buttons. She was a mess. After ten minutes, she looked better but the damn tie was still crooked.

Emma Swan, Sheriff. It still sounded weird, even in her head.

She fussed with her hair, and wondered exactly why she was so focused on her looks. Oh yeah, Regina had said to look professional. Emma definitely didn't want to let her down. That meant looking on-point, like a real cop or the Army or whatever. She wasn't quite butch enough to be Season 2 Olivia Benson. So she'd braided her blonde mop and then pinned it up and back. It was the first time that she'd had used bobby pins for their legal and intended function.

She grinned at herself in the mirror, "Not too bad, Swan. Not bad at all."

It was eleven thirty and she could already hear sharp heel-clicks coming down the hall. She ducked out of the bathroom and waited for Regina to arrive. Once that would have made her annoyed. Now? After kissing Regina Mills, all Emma could feel was anticipation. Emma chuckled, "antici-" she paused and shimmied her hips, "pation."

Regina strutted into the Sheriff's Office like she owned it. She was dressed in her Madam Mayor best: a black pant suit with a vest. The outfit was designer and wouldn't have looked out of place at some fancy law firm or bank. It was also mouth-watering and stunning. It clung to every curve and teased barely covered cleavage. Sweet Willy Wonka and the whole damn chocolate factory, Emma loved that vest. She needed to check the town-by-laws because looking that gorgeous had to be illegal.

It was a total 180 from the day before. Casual Soccer Mom Regina was long gone but this woman, Her Royal Hotness, was still smiling at her. "You clean up well, Sheriff Swan."

She put her armful of things, a book and some folders, on the desk. She came closer and Emma couldn't look away. Regina wasn't just a woman, she was an experience. Her scent was warm and inviting, apples, honeysuckle musk. The heat from her flawless olive skin. Her laugh, though rare, was spine-tingling. What got Emma the most, though, were her whiskey-and-trouble colored eyes. Emma would swear to whatever fairy tales held holy that they were pure magic. If they could bottle and sell Regina's essence, no one in Storybrooke would have to work again.

"Uh" Classic Emma "You too."

In her defense, Regina was too sexy for anyone's good.

"Your tie." Regina reached out and gently tugged it into place.

It was a sexy yet domestic move. Emma could, for a moment, see that Regina was just as unsure as she was. It was in the tentative touch, the way her lips twitched and her brow furrowed for just a moment. Yes, they were in uncharted territory but they were in it together.

So Emma followed her instincts and ignored her paranoid inner voice (it sounded like the quick-to-panic Foster Mom #4 for some reason). She wrapped her arms around Regina's waist. They stood there for a moment, the two of them sharing space and breath, "Thanks."

Regina rested her hands on Emma's shoulders, but didn't push her away. If anything it seemed like she was about to wrap herself around Emma. "You're welcome."

They stood there together, quiet but not awkward. They could have stayed that way for hours, well Emma could have, at least. They were rudely interrupted by the sound of Emma's phone. The cymbal crash meant a text message, and she knew what that meant without looking. She hissed out as sigh, "And that would be David, already at the diner."

Emma remembered that they actually had shit to do. This wasn't a casual visit, no matter what she wanted. She let Regina's waist go, ending their hug and offered her arm to the woman instead, "Mayor Mills".

Regina smirked, picked up the folders in one arm and linked her other through Emma's. "Sheriff Swan."

They walked out together. Which was definitely to show a united front and not because they wanted to touch each other. The walk to Granny's was short, but nice.

Regina reminded her of what they were doing. Her voice was velvet and heat and made it a little hard to focus on the meaning of the words.

Still, Emma had some questions, "It seems, I dunno, political. Like something from The West Wing."

Regina tilted her head a bit, "Politics aren't so different in any world. They're baiting your parents." Regina's face twitched, a hint of a smirk or a scowl. It had been a micro-expression that read like disgust. "Because they know that they will react. While your parents have true love, politics are not their forte."

Emma smiled and nodded. Snow and David were as politically savvy as Cookie Monster and Elmo. Even if she didn't say it out loud, it didn't mean that she hadn't caught onto that little fact about her parents.

"David and Snow are naive, and they were war-time rulers. There is more to ruling-leading then dashing deeds and hope speeches. Real leadership is long and boring. It is about treaties, trade, patience and politicking."

"And you're the queen for the job?" Emma snickered at her own play on words.

Regina didn't seem to notice the joke, "I was queen in a king's world, and a princess before that. My parents taught me how to navigate the world of nobility as a lady and a leader." She frowned, "Though I don't know if they expected me to apply my lessons the way I did. My Mother considered me to be weak, and my father-I think he was afraid of me."

"Well" How the hell was she supposed to respond to that? Regina's voice hitched on the word afraid. Emma almost wished Esmeralda was there. The older woman always seemed to know what to say to Regina to boot her out of her self-deprecating funks. Still, Emma had to at least try. "All curses aside, you're actually a pretty good mayor. Look at this place: no crime, good schools, low taxes and even the buses run right on time. Anywhere else in America and you'd be Governor by now. Besides your plan is way better than mine."

Regina raised a sassy brow, "You had a plan?"

It was almost like she hadn't heard the praise. Emma saw the little smile and heard the slight change in her voice, though. She had just scored big points with Regina. Emma shrugged and moved on, "It involved my boot and Sidney's ass." He'd had it coming for a while. "Like I said, though, your idea is better, smarter and the right thing to do for the whole town."

She still wanted to beat Sidney up and down Main Street. If Emma was right, and she was pretty sure she was, Regina didn't like Sidney all that much. She tolerated him as a gopher and go-to for dirty work, but she didn't seem to trust him. There was a story behind that. Something beyond The Book. Maybe one day, Emma would be brave enough to ask. Maybe one day Regina would trust enough to tell her about it.

Emma sucked in a deep breath. They were at Granny's front door and the show was about to start. "Ready?''

Regina gave a short nod.

Emma opened the door and held it for open. Because, as she had just mentioned, Regina was a lady and Emma figured she should treat her like one. "After you."

Regina squared her shoulders, lifted her chin and walked in. She acted like she was still a queen, a mayor and a movie star. All that and more, wrapped up on a hot black suit.

The entire diner came to a screeching halt and though Emma was behind her and couldn't see it, she knew Regina's bright red lips had stretched into a fake smile.

"Good afternoon everyone."

She looked around like a queen viewing her subjects. Which, Emma supposed, more or less accurate.

"The Sheriff needs a moment of your time and since we're all here-"

Emma looked ever the crowd. Regina had been night. Leah and Steve-Stephen-Whatever were there. So were half the dwarves, Archie, Mother Superior,a hand full of her fairies and lots of town people.

They couldn't have planned it better.

They were the center of attention. Even Granny's line-cooks poked their heads out of the kitchen. Regina gave everyone one more long and steely glare before she stepped aside. Now every eye in the place was on Emma. Emma in her fancy uniform. Official Business Sheriff reporting for duty. No pressure.

"During my absence." She had practiced her speech in the mirror while fighting with her stupid tie. "Two deputies stood up and filled in for me. They worked together to keep Storybrooke safe. Now that I am back, it is time to make it official."

She took a deep breath.

"Storybrooke elected me. I swore to protect and serve the citizens of this town. Not as a savior, but as a sheriff. I swore to uphold the law without favor or prejudice. I am here for everyone, no matter who they are or who they were before."

She looked across the room, "And as Sheriff only I have the power to hire deputies. So I am announcing that my deputies are David Nolan and Ruby Lucas. They both protected this town and it's people. They did it with no compensation, no hesitation and no expectation of reward."

Another breath. It was just like talking to the mirror. (It wasn't)

"David. Ruby."

David, who had been sitting with Snow, stood up and brushed the crumbs off of his green and blue plaid shirt. Ruby had already been standing but she almost fell over. Emma smiled at her when she realized that Granny hadn't warned her ahead of time.

Regina stepped beside her, shoulder to shoulder. She handed her the folders, "Their contracts." she had the book with her, "And the Storybrooke Town Charter to take their oath on."

Then Regina turned to Snow. There was no hint of animosity or anything else. Her face was pleasant and calm, like this sort of thing was an everyday occurrence. "It is traditional for a family member or spouse to hold it during the oath."

"This!" Stephen stood up so fast that his chair tipped over behind him and smacked the floor, "is ridiculous!''

Everyone turned to look at him.

"Regina Mills is not the mayor. She's not a queen. She is nothing."

"That's where you're wrong, Steve." Emma stared him down and used his curse-name to emphasize her point. "She's my official witness for this and a public notary."

Regina was, Emma had learned, many things. The years before Henry had given her plenty of time to acclimate to the real world. She had scooped up handfuls of degrees and certifications in her spare time. Almost twenty years of spare time made for a lot of learning. One of the many certifications was the notary thing. Which reminded her that come April Regina was damn well going to put her CPA to good use to file Emma's taxes for her.

Regina's smile, a royal version of a shit-eating-grin lit up the room.

"Now" Regina turned to David, "Please place your hand on the charter and repeat after me."

Emma watched and tried to look official while he gave his oath to protect, serve and uphold the town charter. This was all a dog-and-pony show, Emma knew that. It was the modern equivalent of a knighting ceremony, or so Regina had said. It was all about legitimizing the power structure, or something. Even though it was an act, Emma couldn't help but feel proud. She was apart of something, something real and important.

After David finished reciting his oath, Regina handed her a gilded box. On the velvet pillow inside were two silver deputies badges. Well, it was little more than tin, but the meaning in the tin was the important thing, Emma understood that now. The badge felt heavy in her hand. Heavy with responsibility and something more, something that might be honor. Emma's heart skipped a beat. This was happening.

She pinned the badge on her Dad's shirt then did something she'd only seen done on TV, she saluted him. He saluted back, they shook hands and then, David lost it a little and pulled her into a tight hug. The entire diner, Steve and Lia excepted, burst into loud applause.

Regina had been right, there had to be pomp, circumstances and official proceedings. The town needed it. They all needed structure and normalcy. They needed Storybrooke.

"Miss Lucas." Regina spoke as David signed his official city contract. Regina notated and officiated the document with graceful efficiency. "I believe your grandmother would like to record the ceremony."

Granny already had a bulky hand-camcorder out, pride written all over her face.

"Would you like someone special to hold the charter for you?"

She looked around, "Miss French" Regina's words made an unusually rumpled Belle jerk in surprise."Would you do the honors?''

Emma didn't know what Regina's angle was. Whatever it was, it worked. Ruby's eyes lit up like Christmas and her smile was so wide it had to hurt.

"Would you Belle, please?"

There was no way in Hell that Belle could refuse the actual puppy-dog-eyes Ruby was shining at her.

Snow handed the leather-bound book, complete with the city's seal on the cover, to Belle. She frowned a little. Maybe she had expected to hold it for her old friend too? Emma didn't know, but she didn't doubt Regina's judgment on the matter. Ruby and Belle looked so excited, it was just too cute.

They went through the same ceremony, but Emma had a feeling that it meant way more for Ruby then it did David. Emma got that. The werewolf shit in the paper had been just that, bullshit. Emma trusted Ruby with her life. Regina trusted her with Henry's life and that was saying something. Ruby was as good a person as Emma had ever met and she wanted the other woman on her team.

She saluted Ruby after pinning the badge onto her white waitress's uniform shirt. She swore she could see tears in the woman's eyes.

"You two." She spoke to her brand new employees. "Celebrate today all you want. Report to the Sheriff's Station tomorrow at eight so we can start the real work."

A bright flash caught her eye and Emma belatedly realized that there was a paparazzi in the room. A blonde man in a plain gray work-shirt that Emma knew by face but
not name, had been taking pictures the whole time. He didn't look like he worked for the paper. He had to be a freelancer and Emma would bet that Regina had everything to do with him being there. Smart woman. Sidney wouldn't say anything nice about today. Those would be nice, official pictures to document everything, just to spite him.

Emma looked around, "Everyone have a good day."

She walked out with Regina right behind her and made sure she held the door open for the other woman. She felt great, like she had actually done something good. Not as a savior or as a magical fairy tale princess, but as a person.

Regina seemed pretty pleased too. She was smiling. She was smiling her real smile. Emma could tell the difference between her fake smile and this one. Of course she was happy, her plan had gone off without a hitch. Even Stevie's protest had gone in their favor. He'd looked like an idiot.

Emma kinda wanted to celebrate. The memory of kissing Regina flashed in her head. Now that would be a great way to celebrate. Which was a different issue, altogether. One that she both wanted to avoid and explore.

In all the gin joints in all the world, Regina Mills had strut right into hers. Okay, so technically she had been the one to waltz into Regina's Cider Bar, but whatever.

She held her arm out for Regina again, and she took it without hesitation or fuss.

"You did very well in there, Sheriff."

Emma grinned and controlled the urge to skip and shout with glee. Getting praise from Regina was like getting a perfect spin on a Vegas roulette wheel. Jackpot! She tried to play it cool, though. She tugged at her tie. "I guess I did all right. I will just be glad to get out of this uniform. It's not my style."

They walked back towards Town Hall slowly, and Emma soaked up her alone-time with Regina.

"Pity." Regina looked her up and down, "I think it suits you."

Emma almost tripped over her own polished shoes at that.

"Why Mrs. Mills, you're trying to seduce me, aren't you?"

Regina raised a brow, "Aren't you a little young to be quoting The Graduate?"

Emma tugged her tie again, "Aren't you a little royal to have a woman in uniform fetish?'

Regina's eyes widened at that and her cheeks turned pink, "Miss Swan!"

Emma couldn't help it, she laughed, "Sorry, I could not help myself."

Regina was stiff but did not disentangle their arms. "I hope you don't talk like that around our son."

City Hall was getting closer and Emma wanted to drag her feet or even stop walking. "Yup. I even unlocked the nudie channel on Mary Margaret's cable box so he can watch it."

Regina's facial expression was priceless.

"Okay, maybe not. Calm down, Tiger Mom, I would never do that to our kid." she squeezed Regina's arm. "Henry is a great kid and even my terrible influence can't undo years of your great mom-ing."

Regina's smile came back, only a little, but Emma counted it as a victory.

They were at the station's door. "Well." Regina sighed. "You need to file those contracts: the carbon copy stays here for records and the official copy goes to the Admin Department for city records. Drop them with Marge, she'll know what to do. I've already sent notice to payroll and memos to the budget-supervisor and the head of HR."

Emma listened, kind of but mostly, she watched Madam Mayor in her element. She reminded her of the guy from Futurama. The one who had sung about being a bureaucrat. That would be Regina's theme song because she had this stuff down pat.

"Miss Swan are you listening to me?"

Emma nodded," You are ridiculously good at being Mayor."

Regina's little smile disappeared, "I was." She shook whatever job-loss related funk off, or she tried to at least. "It doesn't matter."

It did.

"Would you be so kind to walk me to my car?"

Emma nodded, Regina didn't want to go, either.

She escorted the brunette around the side of the building and towards the parking lot.

"If you survive the celebration tonight, would you like to have breakfast tomorrow?"

Hot damn was Regina asking her on a date?

"You, Henry and me at Granny's?"

Okay so a third-wheel date, but Emma would take it. Wait-

"Wait, what celebration?"

They were at Regina's pristine Mercedes and she had gone so far to open the car door for the other woman. She was the actual daughter of Prince Charming, after all.

Regina smiled again, "If I know Miss Lucas, and I do. She will want to celebrate at the Rabbit Hole and you're invited."

A night of drinking after a day of responsibility sounded great. She could not remember the last time she'd had a minute to unwind with other adults. Ones that hadn't involved some unwanted Dungeons and Dragons quest, at least.

"Well I- "

Regina sat down in her car with grace that shouldn't even be possible in heels and Emma's phone rang.

She didn't even need to look at the caller-id. Regina didn't seem surprised. Emma rolled her eyes while Shakira's "She Wolf" blasted from her iphone.

"So party tonight and breakfast tomorrow?'' But she definitely wasn't getting permission or anything like that.

Regina looked up at her through her lashes. "It's a date."

Emma almost fell over. Regina's eyes were pure sex and her voice husked and just damn!

"You should answer your phone." With that Regina closed her car door, started the engine and drove away.

Ruby's call went to voicemail because Emma's brain had short-circuited. Regina Mills was a weapon of mass seduction. Emma watched her drive away and only when she had turned the corner and was out of sight could Emma even try to think straight again. She called Ruby back and just like Regina had said, there was a party.

"As my friend, but not my boss because that would be weird."

Because there was nothing else in their life that was weird. Emma shook her head loosened her tie and opened her collar. She was only partying with The Big Bad Wolf. Then having breakfast with the Evil Queen.

Nothing weird at all.