Bluest of Grey Skies

Chapter Eighteen

"We watch it?"

"Only until Regina comes back."

"Okay."

[X]

Regina pulled up into the only empty spot at the roadside diner and headed inside the small establishment. It was busy despite it being past the diner rush and she ordered a couple of burgers and an extra side of fries and two Cokes. The waitress told her it'd be a little bit of a wait and she nodded, spotting the payphone by the washrooms and headed over to them. She placed a quarter into the slot and dialed a number, turning her back to the people talking loudly all around her the moment the line began to ring.

"What?" A slurred voice answered. "Who is it?"

"It's me," she replied.

"Who?" Jones muttered and it was clear that he had been drinking.

"Sheriff Mills," she replied tightly. "Did you find out what I asked of you, Jones?"

"No."

Regina growled and tried to resist the urge to slam the receiver down. "What do you mean, no?" She snapped and she noticed a few of the patrons glance over at her and she shook her head and rolled her tense shoulders back. "You aren't alone, are you?"

"No," he replied in a slurred whisper. She heard a shuffling noise and the faint sound of Jones' voice asking whoever was with him to give him a moment. "He's dead."

"Who is?" Regina asked and when he refused to answer, she curled her hand into a tight fist at her side. "Robert?"

"No."

"Bobby?" She asked and when he refused to answer again, she knew it was Bobby. "How did it happen?" She asked and there was nothing but silence save for the soft sound of his breathing over the line. "Jones, so help me god, you will tell me or I will come right back to Storybrooke and beat the answer out of your one-handed ass!"

"Traitors are amongst us," he said lowly. "The less you know, the better, luv."

"Jones—" Regina said but the line went dead and she swore under her breath and hung up.

"Mills, order up!" The waitress yelled and Regina waved to acknowledge that she heard her before placing another quarter into the slot and dialed another number.

Whatever had happened in the time since they had left Storybrooke, it was bad and Regina felt completely disjointed from what was happening in her town. She should've stayed or taken Emma and Henry there to Portland and went back. The line rang and rang and she groaned as the waitress called out her name once more and she hung up, taking the quarter out of the small tray once it had fallen and placed it back into her pocket.

She paid for their dinner, grabbed the bag and the two bottles of Coke, and headed back out to her car. She clenched her jaw tightly before making the short ride back to the motel. She paused just outside the door and she could hear the sounds of the television playing inside followed by Henry's infectious giggles. It was that very sound that reminded her why she was protecting them both, why she was so committed to keeping them safe. It wasn't just Emma who had captured her heart, it was the precious two-year-old that had stolen the key to her heart and kept it locked away in his own.

She knocked twice, her hands too full to grab the room key out of her pocket and Emma opened the door a moment later. Regina smiled and slipped into the room, placing the bag of food and the two bottles of Coke down on the small table by the window. She went into the bathroom to wash up and she splashed some water on her face before taking a long, hard look in the mirror.

She looked ragged with dark circles under her eyes and a certain uncomfortable tightness to the way her lips curled downward into a frown. Her hair was a mess and in a dire need of a trim. She ran her fingers through her hair before stepping back out into the room to find Henry and Emma at the table, Henry sitting on his mother's lap while she broke up a third of her burger for him to eat. Regina just smiled and sat down across from them, grabbing her own burger and unwrapped it from the foil paper.