Chapter 35: Mayor Mills
Regina wanted to go home.
She couldn't though. She had made a promise to freaking Belle of all people that she'd stay here (meaning, Augusta) until the whole Moe French thing was settled.
She was really thinking of cheating and making him plead guilty via squeeze of the heart.
She didn't want to do with the aftermath though, Gold probably would never return from England and God knows what her mother would do if she hurt one of her patsies, so she just sat there and drank bad coffee. Pretending to be the concerned friend of Belle French.
Even though she wasn't.
Though, she didn't want Belle to die.
Which was what would've happened had the bookworm got her way and fought her mother.
Seriously.
Like Belle could stand a chance against Cora.
Even if she did pick up on a lot about magic from books, the bookworm wasn't her mother. Regina could never see Belle pulling out a heart.
She looked like she was going to pass out when Regina pulled out Moe's.
Grant it, he was her father.
Add to that, Belle just didn't have the natural aptitude for magic like Cora, Regina, or Harry.
God Harry.
Regina had seen some of his spell work. Even though he was just really beginning to grasp his powers, he would be powerful.
Especially when it came to offensive spells.
Regina smirked as she thought back to that one day she and her brother had a mock duel of sorts.
His little baby spells had packed quite the punch.
Of course, talking to Harry about using darker magic was easier said than done. She hated that the world really painted a one-dimensional view of what people like her and Rumple were—villains.
Didn't they realize that people made mistakes? That they could change?
And by change, she meant not become a Chaming-ite.
That was one thing she did not miss about Storybrooke.
She did miss Henry though, desperately. The few conversations she had with him over the phone had been brief at best.
Storybrooke had horrible reception.
She suppose she shouldn't have expect much, considering that a lot of the dwarves worked at the cell phone company when they weren't mining things and getting drunk.
She really needed to build infrastructure in her town.
Shaking her head, she thought about Moe's arraignment. He was being represented by a public defender, which Regina was thankful for. The lawyer was so harried from case over load that he didn't try to stop Regina's manipulations. Although, Moe did claim he had a strategy for their legal defense which Regina was surprised about.
"Why would I plead guilty?" Moe French asked when she came to visit him. "I'll be let out. Soon as I tell my story."
"They're not going to believe you." Regina said, "If you say Harry was the son of a demon, the best I got it figured is they'll lock you up in the asylum. Actually, that might not be a bad idea since you are crazy for trying to kill my brother."
"I'll get out one way or the other." The man then smiled. "My lawyer thinks I have a good case."
And he seemed so confident about it too that Regina just wanted to finish him off right then and there.
She hated the man. She didn't know why he hadn't died already.
Well, she knew, but it didn't seem fair that he got a pass because of Bookworm Barbie. But here she was, in Augusta making sure his trial went as planned. Though, she knew if Moe somehow managed to get out she had already been given the go ahead by Rumple to kill him.
Sort of.
"I didn't say kill him, dearie." He said after he told Regina to do what she needed to do if by miracle of miracle Moe got released.
"But you said depose of him."
"Do what you see is fit." He said, "Just leave me out of it. I really just want him locked up in prison."
"No, you wanted his heart in charred bits."
"Well, obviously. But we can't get what we want."
"In otherwise you're whipped."
"I'm compromising, it's hardly the same thing. She let me cheat a guy out of an 'antique' chair by over two hundred dollars on Ebay last night. So, yeah, I think she feels bad."
Regina rolled her eyes, "That's a sad way to make up."
"Well, it's not like we're at make up sex level yet."
Definitely TMI.
"Well, you wanted to know."
"I never asked for that. But in the old days you would've crumpled it already. Or at least turn him into a slug. He would make a nice slug. Not a lot of effort there in that transformation. Or you could turn him into an egg, I bet even Harry could do that."
Gold rolled his eyes. "Your brother is not at the turning people into eggs stage yet."
"I bet he could do it though." Regina said, "And he hates Moe French."
"I'm still trying to convince him we're not the spawn of Satan." Gold said, "Baby steps. But yes, I do think with a little practice, he'd be able to turn French into an hard boiled egg. Or maybe scrambled eggs, now that would be nice."
Regina shook her head. Maybe she'd let Moe live, just to let Harry turn him to an egg later on. Of course, there was the distinct possibility he could end up in jail.
Regina doubted it though.
People like Moe French and Snow White always seemed to get out of their problems.
People like her, they were always demonized.
She was worried the same thing would eventually happen to her brothers. Because despite his past heroics, his heritage was dark.
And she had seen Harry she knew it was only a matter of time before he did something that most people—cough, the Charmings, cough—wouldn't deem as normal.
The thought of it scared her. Her brother tried so hard to be a hero, but you really couldn't choose to be a hero. Because truth be known, heroes and villains didn't exist. They were just names authors put on characters. People were people. You weren't totally good and you weren't totally bad. You were effected by the puppet strings of life, and sometimes it just casted you in a poor light, especially when you have immense power.
Which her brother did.
She thought about calling Gold and family in London. They should've arrived by now. It was a little over five over there in the afternoon, too early for dinner and too late for sight seeing so she wasn't too surprised when Belle picked up.
What she was surprised about was that Gold wasn't there.
"He said he had errands to run." Belle said.
"And you bought that?" Regina said.
"No," Belle said. "I'm not that stupid. But I'm letting it pass. He mentioned something about it being business oriented and I know that he bought out that drill company Harry's uncle worked at. So, put two and two together."
"And you're okay with it?" Regina said surprised. Belle was such a goody goody. The Moe French thing was a prime example of it.
Belle sighed. "No, but I understand from his perspective. Plus, those people…well, if anyone deserves Rumple's wrath it's them. You know they were getting paid! Paid to take care of Harry."
Regina was tempted to poof there and take some hearts out herself.
"How's Harry?" She asked.
"Tuckered out." Belle said. "I think Rumple snuck him a sleeping potion to combat the jet lag. We're supposed to go to dinner in a couple of hours. How's Papa?"
Regina groaned.
"The same I see," Belle sighed. He's not going to do the right thing, is he?"
"What do you think?" Regina asked. "He's the same as he was when you were here. Except now talking about how that demon is corrupting you. He truly thinks he's going to get off. That my mother's going to do him a favor."
"She won't, will she?"
"Not while I'm around," Regina said. "And I doubt Cora will do anything, unless she plans to use Moe again. But he failed, and Cora doesn't do well with failure."
That was something Regina knew very well. Her mother had been on her case all her life. Supposed failure was what had caused her to kill Daniel.
She frowned as she thought about her beloved. It still hurt and she still hadn't been able to open herself up to anyone after all these years. It didn't help that Leopold had made sex so unappealing.
So, desperate for a male heir.
Yet, Regina never had a child.
Thank the lord.
She wanted children, obviously. She had Henry, after all. But she didn't want children with Leopold. Not out of a loveless relationship. And she would've hated to have Snow White's sibling, it was bad enough having her grandson.
Well, it was sort of ironic.
Regina did often wonder though how it would've felt to have Daniel's child.
But she wouldn't have that child of true love thanks to her mother.
She wouldn't have a lot of things thanks to her mother.
Cora really had a way of ruining everyone's life, including Harry's. Though, she didn't even know Harry was hers.
Sometimes Regina just wanted to look at her and tell her the truth. Of course, she didn't though. As much as she relished looking at the expression on Cora's face that Regina knew something related to the deepest and darkest secret of hers, she didn't dare say it.
She didn't want to hurt Harry.
Which was one of the reasons she was working with Belle right now. Because Harry viewed Belle as part of his family, but she thought this Moe French thing was pointless.
Belle sighed. "I still can't believe Papa would do this."
"Well, he did." Regina said. "So, everything's going okay, despite Rumple taking care of business."
"Yes, we went to that Ally today. And Regina, it was simply wonderful. You need to come here. You'd be completely amazed."
She then started talking about the various magic shops they visited. To be honest, it sort of made Regina feel jealous.
She wanted to be there with Harry almost as much as she wanted to be in Storybrooke with her son. But she couldn't.
"Look," Belle said. "I have to go, but I'll call you tomorrow. There are some things about this world that Rumple and I are going to research more before heading to Hogwarts. Hopefully, Papa will be willing to listen to reason then."
Only if pigs flew.
"The arraignment is today." Regina said. "Pretty sure he's going to plead not guilty."
Belle sighed. "He'll do the right thing, I know he will."
She then hung up.
Regina really wished she would've talked to Rumple. His fiancée could just be a little ridiculous when it came to being naïve. And she was interested in what Rumple was going to do to the Dursleys.
Sometimes his creativity was awe inspiring, then other times he was so typical with turning people into a various gastropod.
Hmm, Snow White as a snail. That would be interesting.
Was it sad she still couldn't stand Snow White? She had tried. She had really tried. Especially since Henry seemed so intent on having a relationship with his birth family, but something about that woman always drove Regina up the wall as she told Harry the other day at the hospital.
"She's nice." Harry said.
Regina rolled her eyes. "Robot nice."
"Robot nice?"
"You know, not realistically nice. Just nice to your face. There's something that's not genuine about her, Harry. I bet she's a terrible cook too."
"She made cookies. Though, they weren't from scratch."
"You should never trust someone who doesn't make their own cookies." Regina said.
And you really shouldn't. If you couldn't measure out flour, sugar, and all that stuff and had to rely on a package to make your cookies there was something really wrong with you.
Case in point, Emma Swan burnt bake and breaks. And everyone knew she inherited Charming's lack of a brain.
Of course, that didn't satisfy Harry though; he began to talk about Henry.
"I think he misses you."
Regina rolled her eyes.
"Seriously, Regina. I think the kid loves you even though he's being a weirdo. I wouldn't give up on him."
And Regina hadn't. She hadn't given up on Henry. But it wasn't like she could really work on their relationship here.
She was worried about him too. She wasn't sure why, but something seemed wrong. She sighed putting her fingers though her hair as she sat down in the courtroom waiting for Moe French to be arraigned.
Please plead guilty, she thought, as the charges were read against him: Driving while intoxicated, fleeing the scene of an accident, kidnapping, attempted murder on two counts. It didn't look good for him.
Most people would plead guilty. Moe French just sat their as defiantly as ever. If only Regina had his heart…if only.
Her phone started to buzz.
She was annoyed. She was just glad she put it on vibrate; the last thing she wanted was the judge to admonish her for talking on her cell phone. But it continued to buzz throughout the entire proceedings.
When Moe plead not guilty to all charges.
When bail was denied for him.
When he went on a rant that got him put into solitary confinement her phone kept buzzing.
And Regina didn't pick it up, not until it was too late. It probably didn't help matters either that she ended up being held hostage by a pirate.