Chapter 24: Leverage
Regina couldn't help smirk when Emma Swan collapsed. She couldn't help but continue to smile as she had one of her various goons transport Emma Swan to the local hospital to put her in a cell with her other deviants. It had been simple enough, and it wouldn't mater now if Rumple took the bait or not.
Emma Potter was going to be gone for a long, long, time and no one was going to be the wiser. Especially after reading the phony little goodbye note that Regina was in the midst of forging.
She was going to win. No one would give custody to someone who abandoned their child. And since Harry Potter was always gone—game, set, match.
She just shook her head at the unconscious woman, grimacing at her. There was just something ridiculously infuriating about her that she couldn't pinpoint. She was just glad, that she was able to orchestrate her kidnapping. It would've been better if she could pull out her heart and have complete control over her like she did other Storybrooke citizens. But, there were other ways to get Emma to talk to her.
She smiled as she sat in the visiting room in the loony bin as Rumple's girlfriend was brought to see her.
The girl looked a little better than she had the other day. She was at least clean now, and they her matted hair had been shaved off and was now free of lice and tangles. Her blue eyes stood out more than they had before. Oddly enough, the shorn head seemed to suit her. Much like the clean plain scrubs that had been given her had been a far improvement to the tattered gown that she had wore before. That gown had transferred over from the curse and Regina hadn't even replaced it like she did with the other's clothes. That was how dispensable the girl was.
Other than the shaved head and being severally thin, the girl looked perfectly fine. At least there was no adverse affects to her physically Regina thought. Which made her a much better bargaining chip, since Rumple didn't like tainted goods.
Though, she wasn't quite tunainted, Regina thought as she smirked at the rose necklace she had in her hands.
"Lacey," Regina said smiling.
The girl blinked at her. "You came back."
"I told you I would, if you were a good girl." Regina said. "You look better."
"My hair," The girl said touching her bare head. "They cut it all off."
"Yes, yes, I know." Regina said inwardly too. "They had to. It was full of bugs. Don't you feel better? Being clean."
The girl nodded, "Yes, but I miss my hair. He liked it."
Regina frowned. Belle—or Lacey as she was called in this world was supposed to have no clue about her past. She was supposed to be a blank slate.
"He?" She asked.
Lacey shook her head. "I'm being silly. I—I have these feelings. And sometimes I feel like I should know things. Like when they shaved off my hair, a part of me kept thinking that he always said I had beautiful hair. Funny thing, I don't know who he is. Do you, Ms. Mills? You said you were my guardian. Right?"
"That's right, dear." She said trying to figure out just how much she should tell her. "You have lovely eyes, they really stand out now. In fact, I think the shorn look is a good look for you."
The girl now named Lacey frowned. "I don't. I hate it."
Really, she was complaining about the hair.
"Oh, don't be a child about it." Regina said, "It's just hair. Besides, I bring you good news. The doctors think you are getting better."
"You said that last time," The girl said. "But I do feel better, things seem less fuzzy."
She was sure they were since she wasn't feeding Lacey sedatives every six or so hours.
"Yes, that's because you've been a good girl." Regina said wanting to roll her eyes at that remark. It was like she was talking to a child; a very stupid child. And in a way she guess that was what Lacey was. She had wiped the slate clean with Rumple's love, and God knows what potential things she did to her brain with those potions she gave her. However, she was so dim now she made Henry look like a freaking genius. And that kid didn't even know how to use the fucking washing machine.
The girl smiled at her, further causing Regina to inwardly cringe. "And since you've been such a good girl I thought you deserved more privileges."
"Privileges?"
"Never mind that," Regina said, "I'm more interested in what you remember."
"I told you, I really didn't remember."
"See, I don't believe that." Regina snapped as she eyed Lacey. "You said you remembered a man."
"I told you, it's only feelings. It's nothing. It's not real."
Regina didn't know if she was being true or not. She was sure that Lacey was an idiot, but at the same time an idiot could still lie. Which is why she decided to twist the chain of the "necklace" a little and ask the question again.
"I have dreams," The girl said. "I see a man—well, he's not a man exactly in them. It's just a dream though. But I feel something for him and, it's just a dream."
"Of course it's a dream," Regina snapped she felt a slight stab like feeling coming from her chest.
She knew those tacos she had picked up earlier were rancid as she looked at Lacey who sighed heavily. "I know that, he didn't look like a man. But I—I—loved him."
Regina laughed. "You can't love someone who's not real, Lacey."
She nodded. "I know. It felt so real though. That's why I'm here, isn't it?"
"Partly," Regina said. "It's not good to be in love with a fantasy, Lacey."
That was the truth. One of the reasons she had had Lacey locked up her relationship with Gold. At least originally, now she was leverage though. Pure leverage.
"I know it's a dream though," Lacey said. "I'm perfectly aware of that, Regina. I just want to go home. God knows, I don't even know what that is."
"You'll go home when the Nurse Higgins says you're ready. Obviously, you're not ready yet." Regina lied. The only way Lacey would be going home was if Rumple wanted to deal.
Regina then motioned for the guard to take Lacey back to her new cell as she looked for the Nurse Ratched. Nope, no shrinks or regular doctors down here. Whale and the Cricket were already pretty much a liability as it was. It was too bad they were literally the only doctors in town.
Ratched—or Bertha Higgins was the one with the real skills. She had been Regina's executioner in the past and she was doing a pretty good job with the prisoners as well.
"Anything out of the ordinary?" She asked referring to Emma Potter's entrance examination.
"Nothing that I could physically see," Bertha said. "But I took blood, the preliminary results should be back soon enough. Do you want me to put her in restraints?"
Regina nodded. "She's going to be loud."
"Don't worry, I'll make sure she learns her place. The meds and I'm sure the therapy will help. I'm surprised you haven't had her sent here sooner, I've heard what a problem, Mrs. Potter is."
"You have no idea. Although, I'm surprised you've been out of the ward."
"I haven't." Bertha stated. "I follow your orders, Madam Mayor. I just hear talk from the orderlies."
"Tell me which orderly." Regina said intending on cutting off their tongue.
Bertha laughed. Like Regina, she had a sadistic streak. "Michaels. Has a mouth on him that boy."
"He won't when I get through with him." Regina snapped.
Bertha smiled at her. It was rare that good help like this existed. If Regina had friends, which she didn't, Bertha would likely be one them. As it stood, Bertha was one of the only few people Regina could confide in.
"I told the Gold girl, that she'd be getting a few more privileges. Have the orderlies take her around for a walk occasionally. Or something."
Bertha nodded. "She's trouble, that one. Always asking questions."
"You're not giving her answers are you?"
Bertha laughed.
"Well, continue not giving her anything. She needs to be a blank slate."
"I preferred her when she was drugged," Bertha said. "Lot less annoying. We didn't have to feed her as much or give her showering privileges."
Regina ignored Bertha's whining about caretaking. She knew that the "patients" here were given minimum care it explained the state of severe malnourishment, lice filled hair, and other health problems that came with being locked up in a tiny cell for over twenty-eight years. It didn't really bother Regina, not really, except that now she had to get Lacey into a condition where she would be deemed acceptable to Gold. The shorn head, wasn't exactly going to get her favors though if the girl filled out a bit and got some sunlight it would be mitigated—enough. Not that she really needed Gold now, if Harry Potter was as big of as an neglectful father as she suspected he was.
Still, she had to make sure her failsafe was acceptable.
"It's just temporary, Bertha. I have a deal going on and I need Gold in pristine condition."
Bertha made a begrudging grunt.
"If it feels better you can make Potter your special patient." Regina said, "Do anything you want to her, except for releasing her of course."
"I don't release my patients, you know that."
"I know," Regina said with a small smile.
Yes, if anyone in Storybrooke was Regina's friend, it was Bertha.
She decided on her way out, to get a celebration slice of pie at Granny's as a mid afternoon snack. The place was back to being halfway full, since she hadn't paid for it to be empty and Mary Margret was there looking guilty drinking another glass of coffee.
She needed to nip this in the bud. "Of for fuck's sake, Mary Margret. You did what you had to do."
"Emma seemed so depressed," The defiant princess turned lapdog said.
"Of course, she was upset. I told her how the cow eats the cabbage." Regina said, "She should know better than steal other people's children."
"Regina!"
"Well, it's true." Regina said. "That boy is my son. She can't just take him away."
Mary Margret bit her lip as if she was going to fight with Regina, but stopped herself. Regina decided to play some cat and mouse and said, "Do you have something to say?"
"No—I—I was there with Daniel the other day when they found Henry, Regina."
"With Daniel, were you?" She said, "Don't you think your hanging out with my husband a little too much, Mary Margret?"
"I—I set boundaries, Regina."
"No, you tried to make him feel sorry for you." She said, "He told me you spilled your whole sob story out for him. Too bad you left out details, like how you killed his baby."
Snow White gasped as Regina was sure the modification that she made through using the heart magic hit the princess.
"Oh yes," Regina said. "He told me about your dirty little secret, long before you did. Do you really think he's going to crawl back in your bed just because he can't remember?
"No I—I'd never."
"You have nothing, Mary Margret." Regina said. "You killed your child. Daniel's child. And your barren because of that, it tore up my husband for years and I thought it tore you up where you were trying to make amends. I can see that your not."
"Regina, I—you know I'm your friend. I got Emma here to talk to you."
"Well, that's something." She said.
"I—I'd do anything for you?"
"Anything?" Regina said.
"Anything." Mary Margret said. "You name it."
"I'll keep that in mind," Regina said. "For now, you leave my husband alone."
Mary Margret nodded.
Speaking of said husband, Regina needed to check on him to make sure that no further modifications were needed. She hadn't done much to his heart, after she told him the "truth" about Mary Margret's dead baby. She thought she'd let him sit on it. Besides, she didn't want to waste all the magic she could get from his heart by lobotomizing him. God knows, how precious her resource of heart magic had been used. With the alterations of the curse she made her resources were becoming more and more limited. However, she would not stand for him snubbing her.
She found him in her office, looking at paperwork.
"You're here." She said trying to act surprised.
He raised an eyebrow. "I'm working on finding a place."
"Don't." She said, "Please."
"Regina." He said, "I—I made my peace with you the other day."
"I've been under a lot of stress lately, Daniel." She said, "I know you don't remember our life together, but we were happy. This was your home too."
He frowned.
"You have nowhere else to go." She said throwing in one bitter truth. She had too. She wasn't about to let the moron get the best of her.
He frowned, "I don't know if this can work."
"It might not," She said. "But I'd rather you have a roof over your head than be homeless and that's what you would be Daniel. Unless, of course, you planned on shacking up with Mary Margret."
He frowned, "I can't do that. I—I can't believe she did that."
"So, you haven't talked to her?" Regina said feeling slightly relieved.
He shook his head. "Honestly, I've been too busy looking for a place to say."
"And have you had any luck?" She said knowing he hadn't. She had forbade Granny from renting him a room and it's not like he could afford the exuberant rent rates that Gold had set up for the place.
He shook his head.
"Yeah, I thought so." Regina said. "That's why I think we should continue our marriage."
"I can't be with you."
"Can you?" Regina raised an eyebrow as she twisted her wedding ring—Charming's transfigured heart. That in itself had taken a lot of magic, or at least the magic she had left these days (which was beyond pitiful)
He squirmed. It was a waste of precious magic, but in this case she wanted him to be properly trained without completely lobotomizing him via heart.
A lobotomy. Maybe she could have one done to Emma Potter, she laughed at the thought. No, she didn't want Emma's brain to be complete mush when she tortured her.
"Are you okay, darling?" She said after she had given Charming one particular hard twist and he winced.
"I'm—I'm, yeah, it might be okay to stay here. But in separate bedrooms."
"It will do for now," Regina said inwardly smiling, since separate bedrooms was exactly what she wanted.
She decided to take a nap. She was tired. She had already done a lot that day; she figured that she'd eventually get a call from the school or something when Henry hadn't been picked up. Unless they made him ride that troll bus, then the boy would call her when he got hungry. It was only a matter of time, where she could make her claim that Emma had abandoned her child and because Harry Potter was never at home—well, she'd win.
And Emma Potter could rot in the basement for the rest eternity like Lacey. She was actually surprised that Gold never called after she placed that ring in his pocket. He had been surprisingly numb, it was unlike the imp who used to be so reactive—at least when it came to his little maid She thought he would've wanted answers, God knows cleaning up the girl and making sure she was getting meals on regular schedule had been a pain in the ass.
There better be a payoff.
To be honest about it, Regina was sort of scared. It wasn't something that she'd admit to anyone. But it did scare her that he hadn't taken the bait and wanted to work with her. Instead, Emma Potter of all people showed up to defend him. And honestly, it seemed like there was something off about her behavior with the imp. Like they had something going on, which just made Regina want to vomit a little in her mouth.
And then that little remark about how Regina would never get to see the boy again—well, Regina didn't lose. That was something she had made perfectly clear over and over again. She had devastated an entire population with a curse after all because she didn't want Snow White to get a God damn happily ever after. She had killed an infant.
Thinking about that dead baby, she wondered if the ashes she kept of that wardrobe would be any use to her. The child was of true love, maybe—
She'd have to look into it. If she could make a potion that would somehow give her the magic that the child would've had it would make everything easier. Right now, she had a hard enough time holding the curse together let alone changing it. Just getting Charming to squirm appropriately had been a sacrifice to her resources.
And she could feel the curse weakening. She didn't know why it was weakening. She had done the appropriate sacrifice.
Oh, daddy.
She still remembered crumbling his heart to get this whole curse going. God knows, she had taken so many hearts during those last few days in the old world. She had read her mother's notes about how hearts had their own magic and she thought it would stockpile her enough power. Alas, it seemed all her precious resources were for naught.
Yes, maybe she could make that power up potion. She did remember Rumple had mentioned something about true love being the most powerful magic of all.
"True love? Really. Are you sure you're not that Blue Numbskull in disguise." She eyed her teacher.
The imp shrugged. "You know I hate it as much as any dark magic user, but it's powerful stuff. Don't want to take it lightly."
"But you can't bottle up true love." Regina said. "I mean, it's a volatile ingredient."
And then there was that smirk. "Maybe."
She was pretty sure the imp knew someway to bottle true love, but how? It wasn't something you could concentrate. Unless, of course, there was a true love child. The embodiment of light magic, and Regina had the remains of such a child. It could work.
Though, given the fact that Regina had never been the best with magical theory it would mean she'd have to hit the books again. Or she could get Rumple to make it for her—yeah, fat chance with that.
She was thinking this and slowly drifting off, when her phone rang. She inwardly grumbled, since it was the first time when she picked up the phone. "What?"
"Now, that's no way to treat someone you're very eager to talk with, dearie."
"Rum—Gold." She snapped. "I see you finally decided that you wanted to talk business."
"I don't do business with you." He snapped on the other end of the phone.
"Do you?" She said, "Because I do believe you want answers about that sweet little memento I put in your pocket. It should've been destroyed in that fire at the accident, aren't you interested in how I got that fancy little bobble?"
"No, not really." He said, "It's probably a replica. I want you stop. That's all I want to tell you."
"No, it's not." She said, "You know, I have other things besides the ring."
"Why are you bringing her up, Regina? You know those memories are painful."
"Because, I needed to get you to work with me." Regina said, "Not that it matters. I'm sure that the courts will see that Emma Potter abandoned her child in the past and will do so again."
"Your certifiable as ever, dearie." Rumple said. "That ring and anything else you have of my late wife, that's my property. If you don't relinquish all of it to me within the next day, expect to spend another night in jail."
He then hung up causing Regina to fume. She was about to call him again, and tell him that if he didn't cooperate she would send back his precious cup and the rest of the crap that he had hoarded from his two day relationship with Lady Belle when the phone rang.
"What?" She said more harsh than she should've of.
"Mayor Mills."
It was Bertha. Good. It was nice to speak to an ally again. "Oh, Bertha, I'm sorry I thought you were someone else."
Higgins didn't care. She never did. "I got the blood results back."
"Anything interesting?" Regina asked.
"She's pregnant." Higgins said.
Pregnant. Well, Regina could work with that.