Chapter 17: The Other Side of the Mirror
Regina had not been expecting a half dressed man in a robe to be opening the door to Gold's penthouse. Or for that matter for the man not to be Gold.
He wasn't bad looking, that was for sure. Though, Regina really never was one for a pretty face. That part of her life had been frozen ever since Daniel died. But she still couldn't help but take in the tall man. Way too thin, Regina thought, but she could tell if he ate a few meals he'd be quite the looker.
Her attention was soon turned away from him though as she focused on her brother—oh, Harry.
It was all Regina could do to run to him and try to comfort him because something was obviously wrong. But she couldn't she was pretending to be Snow White of all things complete with this stupid hair.
God.
"Mary Margret," Emma said glaring at her.
She could do without the dagger looks, but she had to give it to Swan for sticking with her convictions. Snow White deserved it. She deserved a lot of things, which was why Regina hadn't taken the antidote yet and was pretending to play this little ruse. Ditching Charming when she flew to London had been a nice touch. Sitting near her mother on a seven-hour flight, not so much.
Regina sighed. "Cora is subdued. I gave her some NyQuil. And handcuffed her to the hotel's bed. She won't be bothering us."
Emma shook her head, "You stole my handcuffs."
"You carry handcuffs?" The disheveled man in the robe asked Emma, "Kinky."
Ew.
And to think, she thought he was passable. The man obviously had a thing for Emma Swan.
Pity.
And any man who used the word kinky was just plain ew in her book. She decided to use the flirting, or whatever you called it, between the two of them.
"I'm going to talk to Harry," She said to the two of them, "Obviously, you two have things to discuss."
"No we don't." Emma argued.
"Actually, we do." Sirius said. "It was nice meeting you Snow White."
"You shouldn't be so pleasant towards her." Emma remarked.
"Emma!" Regina said mimicking Snow White. It was pretty easy, Mary Margret was always shocked with some little thing that Swan would do. A lot of time it involved Emma's lack of dresses in her wardrobe or the fact she didn't wear enough lipstick. At least that's what Henry always said.
Thinking of Henry, just made that hole in Regina's heart a little bit bigger, she tried to ignore it and focused on her brother.
Sighing with resignation she said. "Fine, I'll talk to Harry in the other room, we can have a snack."
She motioned Harry to follow her. The boy looked at her for a moment and raised his eyebrows ever so sharply.
Did he know?
Regina doubted it. She had used the strongest potion possible. Only magic like the Dark One's could see through it. It was pretty much full proof. She was in essence Mary Margret, save for her brain—which thank God hadn't gotten stupid yet.
She worried though.
Once they were in the kitchen, Regina was about to ask him if he was hungry, when he interrupted her. "What are you doing?"
"I'm…" She stopped herself and looked at him.
"What?" Harry asked awkwardly
Regina inwardly sighed in relief. He didn't recognize her. There had been a moment she thought she saw the true her, but that was ridiculous. And she was glad, mostly. The less people who knew who she really was the better. Although, she did miss talking to her brother as herself. Sighing she said, "I'm just…jet lag. Let's get something to eat."
"Can't eat." Harry said looking at her. "I…I need to save Belle."
The bookworm.
What did she get herself into?
Rationally, Regina knew that Belle had probably done nothing. That this was more ore less on Pan, but she still couldn't help but throw blame on the brunette. It was a lot easier, since she actually knew her and not Pan.
Biting her tongue, Regina tried to think of a Snow White-ish thing to say that would be tolerable enough for her brother. But nothing sounded right. Finally she settled on, "What happened?"
Harry gave her the side eye. And Regina wondered why, however she tried to keep herself composed and tried to aim for something a little bit more in character. "If you don't want to talk about it, Harry…"
"No, no." He said, "It's just that you're the first person to actually want to discuss what happened. Not that I should be discussing it, I should be doing something. I should've protected her."
"You're only twelve," Regina said inwardly wincing that she missed his birthday. With Henry's death, she had been overwhelmed. Still was overwhelmed really, to pay proper attention to her brother. But she was already regretting neglecting him. Letting him come here.
Harry sighed. "Yeah, but."
"No buts," Regina said. "You are a child. Surely, you must be hungry."
"I'm really not." Harry said. "Pan sort of killed any appetite I had. And ruined my favorite Robin Williams movie."
"Robin Williams?"
"Forgot, that Regina's curse kept film out of Storybrooke. It's a movie about an adult Peter Pan with the actor who played Genie in Aladdin. Great movies. And now that one is ruined because Peter Pan is some kidnapping pervert."
"Pervert?" Regina felt her blood boil. "What exactly did he do?"
Because if that wannabe boy who never grew up put one hand on her brother…
"He wanted to 'play'." Harry said, "If that doesn't sound creepy I don't know what does."
Regina nodded her head because it did sound creepy.
"Can we go back out there?" Harry asked.
"Do you really want to hear them fight?" Regina asked.
Harry sighed. "No, not really. I just need to do something. Maybe I should call Dad."
"I can't believe you call Gold…er, Mr. Gold dad." Regina bit Snow White's lip. This whole act was a lot harder when she was doing it in front of someone she actually cared about.
Harry shrugged. "Well, it's better than Rumpelstiltskin. And, he, well, he acts like a dad. So it fits."
Regina nodded though she was still a little stunned. She did understand where Harry was coming though (sort of). It was just weird hearing her brother call Gold, "Dad".
Gold wasn't really the father type.
Though, he was apparently doing his best with Harry. And Harry looked well enough for being terrified for Pan. Dare Regina say that the boy had grown a couple of inches since she last saw him, she guess the Dark One's nutrition potions were finally starting to kick in.
"You're taller." She said.
"Am I?" Harry said with a shrug. "That's a good thing, I guess. I'm tired of being so short."
Regina nodded.
Harry sighed. "I'm surprised you came?"
"What?" Regina was startled.
"We barely know each other," Harry said. "We only met once. And I was a bit of a mess. Plus, you seem to not like Gold or Regina."
"I…" Regina really didn't know what to say. "Emma asked me to come."
Something about her brother's face said he didn't believe her, Regina wasn't even sure she believed herself. Instead she just said, "I'm sure Gold will find the bookworm."
"Belle." Harry corrected.
"Of course," Regina said while inwardly thinking whatever. "Surely, there has to be something edible in this kitchen."
"I said I wasn't hungry." Harry said.
"I wasn't talking about you," Regina said. "All I had was bad plane coffee. It's not enough to sustain on. I could kill for some strudel."
"I thought you didn't eat apples." Her brother said.
"I…I don't." Regina caught herself. "I never said apple strudel."
"It's the only strudel worth eating."
He had it right there. Regina sighed though as she raided the kitchen. "Didn't Gold buy anything here?"
"We mostly order in," Harry answered. "Or go out. Or he'll zap up something like pancakes. He can make some delicious pancakes."
Those stupid pancakes. Regina had heard all about them from Gold ever chance he got. He kept saying how much better they were than her strudel. She had planned to challenge him to some sort of bakeoff at one point. However, the idea got lost.
Regina sighed. "So, there's nothing here?"
"Um, you can try the mini bar." Harry said, "Although, I think Sirius might've raided it the other night."
"Sirius, is that the crazy who's talking to Emma in the bathrobe?"
"That would be the one," Harry said. "He's actually not crazy, well, most of the time."
"Just who is he?" Snow said. "I thought you were going to be with Belle and Gold."
"He's my brother." Harry said.
Of course, brother. Gold had another son. Regina had been all too aware of that with her discussions with him about whether or not to leave Storybrooke. He had been so determined to find this son. This Bae. Yet, Regina never thought that Bae would end up being over six foot tall in a bathrobe. And not that bad looking either.
Ew, he had Gold's genes. That was just a disgusting thought.
She had to tell herself she was playing the role of Snow. And at that point of time she hated it. She hated not being able to be overtly direct and ask the questions she wanted to ask.
"Gold has another son?" She asked.
Harry sighed. "I really don't want to explain. But yes, long story short, I have a brother."
"Who apparently has history with Emma." She said out loud.
"It does seem that way doesn't it." Harry said. "They were arguing when I got here, but…Belle. Mrs. Nolan it was nice talking to you again, but I really have to help find my stepmum"
"Not so fast, Harry." Regina said inwardly flinching at being called Mrs. Nolan. She was only glad she had been able to ditch that wet noodle before coming to the U.K.
God, she could not stand David Nolan.
Harry sighed. "Really, Mrs. Nolan, I need to do something. Sitting here is just going to make me crazy."
"I'm sure your father wouldn't want you to do anything rash or stupid either." Regina countered.
And besides, what could Harry do?
He was only a kid. A very powerful kid. But a kid whose powers were pretty untapped for the most part, and who was no match for Pan.
At least not yet.
Besides, Regina was sure Gold would rescue Belle. Or at least make some attempt to white knight it. He did claim the two had true love after all.
Though, Regina personally was a little dubious. Who heard of a Dark One that found true love? The mere thought of it was a bit ridiculous. Although, he did almost try to kill her when he found out she had locked up the bookworm for over twenty-eight years so who knew.
He might be protective of her for all Regina knew. And she decided to tell Harry that he would be protective that is. It really didn't pacify the boy though since he was still pacing.
"Harry," she said. "Really, it's not doing you any good to panic."
He shook his head. "I just…I hate being weak."
Regina grimaced, she often felt the same way. She remembered feeling just so weak, so helpless. It had made her decide to use dark magic, not an easy decision despite what many people thought.
However, Regina didn't regret it. Learning magic had made her feel stronger and she always thought it would prevent someone close from her from dying again.
Until Henry died that is.
The grief came in waves. Sometimes she was able to almost, almost, not think about it. Of course, Henry always remained on her mind. He had always been the center of her thoughts since the day she adopted him. And even with her magic, she hadn't been able to stop what had happened to him.
"You're not weak." She finally said to her brother. "You were able to escape and get help. That's something."
"Yes but…"
"You're twelve," She said. "You're still a child."
Harry just shook his head. As Regina sighed. She wanted to tell him that she understood what he was going to, but she couldn't. She was supposed to be Snow White, a stranger.
Sighing she tried to put a smile on Snow's face. Not an easy task since as the Evil Queen she had worn an expression of constant sullenness for decades. In fact, if you looked up designated bitch face in the dictionary Regina's face probably would've shown up. "I'm sure your father will be here soon."
But even Regina wasn't sure about it. Because she knew how Gold could be when someone wronged him. And she knew he would not stop until Peter Pan paid.