Author's Note: A thousand pardons for the very very long delay. I hope everyone is still interested in the story, especially in light of the direction the show has taken, and enjoys this new chapter.

I would also like to thank and welcome aboard ExactChange, who has very generously volunteered to beta-read this story for me. Poor, unfortunate soul, she has no idea what she has gotten herself in to.

Now please read, enjoy and review if you're so inclined.

Thanks!

Chapter XIV

The Lunch Date

After Kathryn left, Regina buried herself in paperwork. It was the only thing she could think to do. It had been her mental sanctuary in the long years before Henry had arrived in her life. There was something pleasurable in having all the numbers add up in their respective columns and the paperwork signed off and filed away. She had not realized how much paperwork was involved in running a kingdom until she was queen, and had been equally surprised to find there was even more required to run a small town. Bureaucracy at its finest, she supposed.

She marked a few "mistakes" on the budget and smirked. Jack, the utilities workers Union rep and local plumber thought he was clever, but she had learned all his tricks through the years. Had it been anyone else, she would have dragged them into her office by their tool-belts and unleashed her legendary fury on them. She had a soft spot for Jack and his sister Jill, though. They had been two of her most trusted guards, her favorite Dark Knights, and had lead her army through hell and back. She closed the folder, marked it for return, and dropped it in her outbox. Her secretary would take care of it from there.

Regina looked at the small clock on the lower right hand corner of her computer screen and smiled. It was already twelve-thirty, and Emma was due at one. She stretched and let out a small grunt when she felt two vertebrae pop. She had forgotten how fast the day could move when her mind was occupied with paperwork. It made time fly, but spending the day at a desk was hell on her back. She stood and walked to the window that overlooked Main Street. The paperwork had distracted her momentarily, and Emma would distract her further. Regina's fingers traced her own lips and smiled at the memory of her and Emma's morning. The smile evaporated quickly, though. There was still a curse in place and things that needed to be done.

Could she watch her curse be broken again? Especially now that Graham and her mother's lives might hang in the balance? Not to mention that the "happy ending" she'd created for herself would be destroyed yet again? She was not sure. This twisted re-cast of the curse was unprecedented, magically speaking. If magic were on the same level of science, she and Emma had done the equivalent of re-creating the Big Bang. Only there was no Nobel Prize for Sorcery. She turned away from the window and walked through her office. There were so many memories here. This was where she had spent countless hours working and occasionally relaxing or entertaining. She looked to the corner of the room where Henry's toys had once be stored. Her son had co-opted her office from the time he was born until only a few years ago. She wouldn't mention it to anyone, but she missed the bright colors and warmth of his playthings and the laughter he had brought to the room most of all. There was a time and a place for work, but Henry brightened up every part of her life he touched. When he had been a baby, she had brought him with her every day. He had taken his first wobbly steps in this office and lost his first tooth here as well. Henry. She sighed at the thought of her son.

He didn't trust her, and actively hated her again. He didn't trust Emma either. She twisted her hands together at that thought. He thought he didn't have anyone to turn to. She knew that this was a chance to repair their tattered mother-son relationship, but she had no idea how to begin. She wasn't even sure how to interact with her own mother at the moment. She returned to her desk and plucked the projected budget for next year's Miner's Day celebration out of a stack of files and retrieved her calculator from the desk drawer. It was a distraction, an escape, from her problems, and Regina knew it. She wouldn't be able to hide her head in paperwork and ignore all of her problems forever, but for now, her workaholic tendencies were helping to keep her going.

At precisely 12:59, there was a knock on her door. She looked up and was happy—genuinely happy—to see Emma Swan, complete with blue leather jacket and painted on jeans, swagger into her office.

"I should call Sidney and tell him to stop the presses. Emma Swan, early."

If Emma had a retort, it died on her lips, replaced by a slack-jawed stare.

"What?" Regina asked, suddenly unsure. She smoothed her hand over her hair, self-conscious that she had rolled back her sleeves and been lost in her calculations. She probably looked disheveled and distracted.

"You're wearing glasses," Emma stated, still staring.

Regina reached up and let her fingers brush against the black-rimmed reading glasses. She nodded, feeling a blush blooming in her cheeks.

Emma unceremoniously dropped the bags (from Granny's of course) on the coffee table, and crossed the room in long strides. Regina wasn't sure what to do, but stood and walked around the side of her desk. She was about to open her mouth to ask Emma what was going on, but was abruptly cut off by Emma's lips on her own.

Regina was momentarily overwhelmed by the kiss. Like every time she kissed Emma, her head spun and heat shot through her. Her thoughts were momentarily wiped away and she found her hands wrapping around the back of Emma's neck. Emma's hands fell to her shoulders only to quickly slide down her sides and, unsurprisingly, settle on her rear. Regina smiled into the kiss and Emma's responded by pulling them together more tightly. They broke the kiss, but remained close together, neither wanting to break the connection. Touching Emma, being in her arms, had become an addiction, and Regina was fairly certain that Emma was just as helplessly high as she was.

"Why is it that I look like a giant nerd when I wear glasses but you look like a sexy librarian?"

Regina chuckled at Emma's remark. "This," she raised a single brow, "is what happens when you spend too many years reading scrolls by candle light."

Emma hummed at that, smiling, "Candle-side reading should definitely make come-back."

Regina laughed, something that had been so rare in the last few months that it still surprised her. "You're ridiculous, Miss Swan."

Emma, wrapped around her, boosted her up and settled her on top of the desk.

"Is it Miss Swan again, seriously?"

Regina smiled, felt her heart rate pick up and her stomach flutter, like a teenager with a crush. "Sheriff Swan, then?"

Emma nipped her bottom lip in response.

This—all of this—was amazing to Regina. She had never had this sort of affection and passion in her life before. She and Daniel had been forced to sneak around, stealing moments in the stables and fields. She and Graham had been—well they had been something. Not something good or something healthy, but thirty years of something anyways. Emma was—she couldn't even begin to describe what Emma was. She had been a threat, then a reluctant ally . . . and now? Now she was curled around Emma, the birth mother of her beloved son, and Regina felt whole. She had her happy ending, did they really need to break this new curse? She was so happy.

Emma leaned her forehead against Regina's, and cuddled against her, "I have to tell you something."

It was a heavy sentence, one that felt serious and ominous.

Regina closed her eyes, "What now?" What was about to ruin her newfound happiness?

"Cora and Graham aren't the only surprises in Storybrooke."

Who else had turned up? What other enemies could possibly be waiting around the corner?

Emma's arms tightened around her, "Greg and Tamara are still here."

The instantaneous fear and phantom pangs of pain made Regina feel weak and childish. She hated how she felt, hated them who had hurt her. It was her dearest and darkest dream to see both Tamara and Greg (she could not allow herself to think of that vile man as the little boy she had known as Owen) lying dead at her feet. They had threatened everything she had sacrificed and worked for. They had threatened Henry. No one threatened her son and lived. The buzz of happiness and lust dissolved, and she could feel hot bile rising to her tongue, her fury growing unchecked. Her muscles tensed and her back stiffened. For a moment, fire and destructive magic consumed her vision. She instinctively clenched her hands into fists, her nails digging into her palms and her arms shook.

"Regina."

There were arms around her shoulders shaking her gently.

"Regina."

She blinked and Emma's face swam into focus. "Hey."

Regina blinked again, trying desperately to swallow the sickness and darkness back.

"Hey," she finally responded, voice still pitched as the Evil Queen, an octave lower than usual.

"I'm not going to let them hurt you." Emma's fingers tightened around Regina's arms. "Those bastards won't get near you or Henry ever again." She was suddenly pulled against Emma again.

"Never again. They won't hurt you." Emma was speaking to her but Regina had a sneaking suspicion that she was comforting both of them. "They'll have to go through me first."

Fingers hooked under her chin and tugged her face up. Emma's laser green eyes stared holes through her. "And I'm scrappy as hell. Even you couldn't get rid of me." Emma's crooked grin made Regina roll her eyes.

"Not for lack of trying, Dear."

Emma's chuckled, "Yeah, but you're not trying to get rid of me now. You like meeeee." She dragged out the word like for what seemed like five minutes, childlike glee coloring her voice.

Regina felt a small laugh bubbling up in her throat, chasing the anger away. "That's my girl." Emma gave her a soft kiss. "We're going to have lunch and relax for, like, an hour. Then we'll talk about how we're going to take care of these freaking assholes."

Regina leaned her forehead against Emma's, somewhat overwhelmed by what the blonde was saying. No one had ever protected her, not by their free will. No one ever helped her, not unless there was something in it for them. "We?"

Emma kissed her again, "Yeah, we, and we'll kick their ass, or what was it you told me? Destroy them. Yeah, we'll destroy them." She pulled away from the kiss with a smirk. "Those idiots—"

She was, Regina realized, teasing her. Emma was teasing her. No one had ever been brave enough to tease the Evil Queen.

"have no idea what we're capable of."

Regina slid off the edge of her desk and into Emma's embrace.

No, not even the former Evil Queen was really sure what all they were capable of. Emma led her across the room by the hand to sit and eat. Regina was certainly willing to find out, though.

As Emma Swan left the diner, another blonde swept right by her and into the same establishment. Maleficent had spent hours watching the strange but magical screen known as the television and had found the amount of attention paid to clothing and hair styles in this world to be equal parts marvelous and disturbing. She had been able to glean enough from the magic picture box to dress herself in a way that would allow her to both blend in and look attractive. She hadn't spent thirty years in her dragon form to waste her svelte and perfect body by wearing anything frumpy or unbecoming. She was like a blue bird in a flock of crows in this tiny little town by the sea. She swept into the small diner with a sniff. How Regina had spent so many years with so many simple minded peasant fools without reducing the entire town to ashes was beyond her.

Lacey, another brightly colored bird, sat in one of the red and white booths. She inclined her head in invitation, and that was all Maleficent needed. If anyone had information on Regina and her town, it would be the far-more-clever-than-she-appeared brunette. Maleficent had a knack for reading people, one she had cultivated throughout the years. As she slid across the seat and smiled a practiced grin at Lacey, she saw right through the woman's equally false facade.

"Where is your partner in crime today?"

Lacey's crooked smirk softened for a moment before she rolled her eyes, a cynical expression replacing amusement. "Serving the unwashed masses of Storybrooke their lunch."

Her blue eyes darted to the side and Maleficent followed her gaze. Ruby was carrying a tray full of plates and glasses, surely full of whatever sort of mead, wine and barley water the simple folk here drank. The waitress was dressed in very short pants, barely longer than underwear, and a white shirt that had been tied off just below her breasts. She was sex personified, and Lacey could not keep her eyes off of her lanky form. There was something there, Maleficent noted, watched Ruby strut towards the table, her hips swinging in a way that transcended years and realms. It screamed come-and-get-me and Maleficent was sure that everyone, from the man in the long white coat with the hungry eyes to the blonde waitress who kept stopping to check on a toddler, would be happy to fall in bed with her. Ruby's attention was completely focused on Lacey, though. Maleficent could practically smell the pheromones. Actually, with her enhanced sense of smell, she could smell pheromones. And they told her plain as day, as Ruby brought Lacey a plateful of food that the talking box had told her was a "burger and fries", there was far more to Ruby Lucas than one would think. Her scent was heavy, a wild and animalistic musk that clung to Ruby like a perfume.

Her hair, tied in pigtails, fell over her shirt and it brushed against Lacey's cheek as she leaned over to place the plate on the table. Lacey's eyes fluttered shut and she inhaled, breathing in the scent of sex that Ruby was pushing towards her.

"Hey there, Mal. Taking in all the sights?" Her wink was meant to be flirtatious, but the feral smile, the sharp white grit of her teeth, meant something else entirely. Maleficent took the woman in: her scent, the way her eyes flashed momentarily gold, the shiver of magical awareness that her presence brought. Well, well, that was interesting. . . perhaps Regina's little hamlet wasn't so boring after all.

"What can I bring you? We have the best burgers in Maine! Lacey can attest to that." Her hand had settled on the seated woman's shoulder, possessively, almost as though marking her territory. How positively beastly.

"I have found that following your advice leads to," she held eye contact with Ruby and let her tongue drag across her lips, "enjoyable experiences." She knew better than the tease a Child of the Moon but sometimes she simply could not help herself.

"I'll go put it in another order. What to drink?" Ruby was somewhat less friendly now, all but growling at her.

"Whatever Lacey is having will be just fine." Ruby turned on her high heel and walked away. Lacey watched her leave with a spark in her eyes. Maleficent recognized that spark as easily as she recognized the pheromones, dragon senses not needed.

"So how long are you going to tease each other?" She asked as soon as Ruby was out of earshot.

Though she hadn't, considering how bawdy the woman had been the night before, expected it to be possible, Lacey blushed.

"Ruby and I are very close." Her accented words held touches of both affection and frustration.

"But not as close" Maleficent winged a fair eyebrow upwards, "as you'd like."

Lacey stirred her drink with the small tube that was floating in it. "I'm far too sober to be talking about these sorts of things." That omission, the slip that betrayed her as far more than a tavern slut, gave Maleficent far more confidence in her conclusion—Lacey was far more clever and aware then she let on.

Lacey's eyes darted back out and Maleficent followed her gaze. They watched Ruby move among the tables. It was almost like a dance, the way she darted between people, dispensing food and wide, bright smiles. Her long legs seemed to never stop moving and she always had something either sweet or sarcastic to say. Maleficent could see the appeal, but a dalliance with Ruby would get a little too wild for her refined tastes.

"Then take her out tonight. Grab a bottle of wine and a walk through the forest. Just the two of you."

Lacey turned her head and smiled at the waitress walking towards them with another plate. She licked her lips and Maleficent watched as Ruby's eyes widened and a smile, very different from the overly-cheerful fake one she gave the rest of the customers, flashed across her face. Maleficent accepted the proffered drink and found it to be a weak but sweet and cold tea. This town, this Storybrooke, was far more interesting then she had first imagined

The bells rang at the door and several children, disgusting little creatures with sticky hands and high pitched screams, ran through the door. Their matching uniforms indicated that they all belonged to the same group. A common school for both the rich and poor alike. She and Regina, drunk on wine and magic, had often spoken of such reforms, but that had been a long time ago in a world far away.

Most of the children went straight to the counter, hungry for sweets, but one child stayed close to the adult that was attempting to control the raucous mob of tiny humans. Maleficent's jaw dropped. Her hair was far shorter but there was no mistaking this woman for anyone other than Regina's sworn enemy, Princess Snow White. The child beside her had a large book tucked under his arm and something deep down in Maleficent's reptilian memory sparked. She had smelled him before.

"Sorry, Rubes." Snow White smiled at the waitress, "We were having a mini-field trip to hang and fill the bird feeders and Grace wanted ice cream so I thought it would be a fun treat for everyone."

Granny, the elderly matriarch and owner of the diner, only laughed and waved the children over.

"Go on, Henry." Snow White prodded the boy by her side to join his little friends. He did so, but slowly. His attention was, most disconcertingly, on Maleficent rather than the sweets Granny was dispensing. It was almost like he knew who and what she was. That was impossible though, wasn't it?

"Stand-offish little boy, isn't he?" she commented.

Lacey only snorted. "Like his mother. Always a little too good to mix with the common rabble."

Maleficent blinked, "His mother?"

Lacey dipped one of the cut and fried potatoes in a tangy red sauce that was in a bottle at every table. "Madam Mayor, herself. Henry Mills is Storybrooke's own little prince and Regina Mills is the Queen." Her voice was husky and laced with acid, "Not that she does anything without Mommy Dearest's approval."

It was a good deal of information to take in. Regina had a son, which was not surprising. Regina had always had a soft spot for children no matter how cut-throat a façade she put on. Cora, though, was a definite curve-ball. The last she'd heard, the ruthless sorceress had been trapped in Wonderland and had taken it over, naming herself the Queen of Hearts. Maleficent didn't dare cross Cora, having no desire to have her heart ripped from her chest. The boy, though, was named after Regina's own father. Maleficent rested her chin in her palm, relishing that there was a factoid worth knowing. Ruby brought her a plate of food but thoughts of the brunettes' budding romance, and its hairy complication, had been chased from her mind by cold and delectable thoughts of torture, revenge and breaking Regina Mills' heart.