Better When I'm Dancing

Week 8--Tribute to Dance

Disclaimer: This chapter uses lyrics to the song "Titanium" by David Guetta featuring Sia.

Emma woke Regina up early Tuesday morning. She grinned, tugging the sheets off her friend's body. "Come on. All the news outlets are talking about last night's show. Namely Gold's utter disgrace. You have to see this!"

"I saw it," she murmured, rolling away from her friend. "I was there. So were you. Remember?"

"Just come on," Emma insisted. "You won't regret it."

Groaning, Regina realized the blonde was not going to give up and she had no choice but to stand. She rolled over and blinked open her eyes, waiting for Emma to come into focus before saying: "I hate you right now."

Emma was not fazed, just waving Regina off. "Come on. You'll be glad you woke up for this."

Regina dragged herself out of bed and downstairs to the living room. Henry sat on the couch, dressed in his school uniform and eating a bowl of cereal as he watched the TV intently. She frowned, looking at Emma. "Breakfast in the living room?"

"It's a special occasion," Emma insisted, sitting down on one side of Henry. "Sit and watch."

"I told you, I was there. Why do I need to see it again?" Regina asked, sinking down next to her son.

Good Morning, America came back from commercial break with the camera zooming in on Entertainment correspondent Glinda North. Her blonde hair was styled perfectly in soft waves that framed her face and she looked way too perky for this ungodly hour in the morning, even if it was three hours later in New York City.

"Welcome back," Glinda said. "The big story in the world of entertainment is last night's episode of Dancing With the Stars. It was POP Night, where all the stars danced to different pop songs. Robin Locksley, of course, danced a cha-cha to his own song, Now I've Found You. Guest judge Merlin and regular judge Cru DeVil loved the routine and gave him and his partner, Regina Mills, glowing remarks. Main judge, Edgar Gold, though, started to criticize the routine as his fellow judges questioned his comments. And then this happened..."

The show cut to the clip from the show last night and Regina watched as Roland barreled toward her and Robin, calling Gold a liar. A few seconds later, Henry appeared on screen to tell everyone about Gold blackmailing her. The audience booed and jeered as the clip faded out.

Glinda's expression never changed, though. She continued to smile as she resumed reporting: "When the show returned after a commercial break, Gold was no longer on the judging panel and host August Booth confirmed that it appeared that Gold had made threatening comments to Regina Mills. This morning, the show put out a statement saying they have launched an in-depth investigation into Gold's conduct and will make an announcement later this week regarding Gold's continued involvement with the show.

"Hours after the show aired on the East Coast, other former stars and dancers made statements about Gold's conduct, past and present," she reported. "Dancer Gaston Rose released a statement saying that Gold harassed and threatened him while he was paired with current cohost Belle French, who is Gold's ex-girlfriend. And Gold's ex-wife as well as past winner Milah Cassidy wrote on Twitter that Gold is belligerent toward her former partner, Killian Jones. Several other of Jones' partners made similar comments."

The screen was filled with tweets sent out by former dancers and stars, all about Gold. Regina saw similar words--demanding, harassing, threatening, power-tripping--and Jefferson Hatter wrote: