He had been planning about this for a week. He came here every day just to study the structure of the house and see where he can possibly break in until he was confident. was having his business trip in another town, so nobody would be home. He would sneak in, get 'it', and flee before anyone knew. And tonight was the night.

23:45

*Click* and the back door cracked open. He stepped inside trying not to make any noise even though he knew no one would hear him. This neighborhood was not that busy, it was rather quiet and private just like those rich people liked it. So it must have been his nerves that got his hands a little bit shaky. Robin swallowed hard when he thought that this would be the last robbery if he succeeded..NO he NEEDED to succeed. This would be enough for him to pay back all his debt and enough to leave some for him to take his son, Roland, away from this town and start a new life somewhere else. The thought made him a little bit nervous. Robin shook his head, trying harder to focus on his mission. He walked to the second floor, the study room, the first room on the right and there it was.

He could even see the bright crystal clear ruby in a heart shape sitting on the display shelf behind the desk. Even in the dark, he could still see it shine, reflecting the moonlight. It was indeed beautiful..and most importantly, priceless. No wonder why this legendary gem stone was called the "Queen's heart".

Robin took a deep breath and was ready to walk in, when suddenly, he saw a shadow coming from behind so he tiptoed quickly and as quietly as he could to a huge pillar and hid himself behind it.

From there, he saw a figure heading towards the study room from the west wing of the person he saw went straight to the shelf that located the ruby heart. Once there, that person lowered the hood of the jacket revealing the dark, medium length hair that fell on the shoulder. It was a woman! Robin could only see her left side of the face but even in dimmed light, he could tell that this woman was very..well.. attractive. Her full lips looked kissable and her tiny figure in black and (rather) tight outfit reminded him of Cat woman. Her mysterious charm would have made him stunned and froze longer in a normal circumstance but at this time, he knew he had to keep up with his plan. Robin closed his eyes and shook his head as if it could help him to remove the image of her in his head. When he opened his eyes again, he saw that she was aiming for the same thing, the Queen's heart… and No! it must be his!

He ran quickly and quietly to the mysterious woman and yanked her away from the shelf rather hard. The woman let out a small scream before falling on the floor. Once she regained her conscious, she stood up and pushed at his chest at the same degree that matched his pull just a moment ago.

"What are you doing?! And who the hell are you?!", she hissed angrily. Who did he think he was to pull her that way?

Unamused, Robin chuckled "I'm about to get what is mine before you came in."

"Ah.. thief.", Regina snorted, looking him up and down and trying to show her disgust.

"Excuse me?! If I'm a thief then who the hell are you?", he shot back.

Regina flushed at his words. He was right. She was no difference than him actually. She also noticed that he has a British accent when he spoke, which was kind of.. sexy, to her point of view.

She cleared her throat and said,

"Well.. I AM the rightful owner of this thing before Gold stole it from me." She tried to straighten her back hoping it would make her statement more believable.

"So you think you can walk away with this just by saying that? I don't think so.", Robin said and grabbed the heart before she knew it.
He turned around and was ready to walk away but the woman was quick enough to slid one of her legs in front of him before he had a chance to get away.

A loud thud followed. Robin fell hard on the floor and with his instinct, he let go of what he was holding in order to support himself with both hands when he landed. The ruby heart was a few feet away.

Unable to get up just yet, he saw her bending down to pick up the ruby. She looked back at him with a smirk.

"My, my.. look at you now, thief.", She let out a low chuckle, shook her head and walked away. He grunted and tried to forget about the pain as he got up.

He got her within a few steps. His hands darted out to grab her small waist. He pulled her to his chest a little bit too hard, so he lost his balance and additional weight of her made them both slammed hard on the floor..again.

"Ouch!", The woman cried. Even though most of her body landed on him, her left arm landed on the floor. She felt a sharp pang at her upper arm.

Robin put her down on the floor gently and sat on his knees beside her and checked on her.
"I'm sorry. Are you alright?", He stuttered. For a moment, he forgot his whereabout and his purpose of being here. All he could think was that he needed to make sure this woman is ok.

"My arm.", She said and held her injured arm with her good one.

"Let me see." He took her arm in his hand and tried to examine it. An ugly bruise was forming above the elbow. It must hurt a lot because she winced as he touched it.

Robin looked up at her face. Now he had a chance to see her face clearly and closely. She was still looking at her bruise. Her long and curly eyelashes made a shadow on her cheek and he saw a small scar on her upper lip when she bit lower lip, trying to stop herself from moaning. She was a sight to behold.

His heart skipped a beat when she looked him in the eyes a minute later. Her brows were frowned. Of course she must be confused to see him, her so-called enemy, treating her this way. He cleared his throat and started to ask her more about her condition.

"FREEZE!"

To his surprised, Robin automatically pulled her to his chest, one hand on her back and another on her head in a protective way, when he saw two cops pointing guns at them.

Damn it! What do you think you are doing? , Robin thought. But clearly, it was too late to think or do anything right now.

The woman looked up at him with her worried brown eyes. Their lips were inches apart. He smelled her faded perfume. It smelled like apple. Gosh! If only I could kiss her now..What?! I must be crazy. Stop it Robin. You need to stop! His heart beat faster at that thought.

"Hands up and come with us. NOW!" One of the cops yelled at them.

A few minutes later, they were handcuffed together in the backseat of the car. They were drove back to the station. No wonder they would spend the night in the cell and only God knew how many more nights they would need to stay there.

She was sitting quietly on his left. Not a single word was spoken after they got caught.

"So..how's your arm?", Robin tried to break the ice.

She glanced at her injured arm briefly and answered, "It's ok. I guess."

"I'm sorry for that. I really am." He shifted to look at her.

"That's ok.." She looked down at her hand on her lap and kept quiet again.

"Well, I guess we have to stick together for a little longer. I'm Robin. Robin Locksley."

He held out his hand for a shake.

She looked up, let out a breath but not moving, "Regina. Mills."

"I don't know if I can say it's nice meeting you because clearly you ruined my plan and I'm going to jail.." he shrugged, "but it is quite nice to be stuck with a beautiful woman, isn't it?" He laughed at his words.

Regina chuckled.

Robin sighed, leaned back to the seat and relaxed a little.

He continued, "You know what, since we failed today, will you let me know why do you want that ruby?"

She grinned, "How do you know I failed?" She slipped her left hand into her jeans pocket.

Robin's eyes got wide. He mumbled, "Unbelievable..Who are you exactly?"

"Some people just called me the Evil Queen." She said as she gave him an evil glance which, to his eyes, it was rather sexy.

"Hmm..Am I supposed to be afraid?" He said as he leaned closer.

Regina blinked quickly. Panicked at how close they were, she tried to move backwards but unfortunately there was not enough room for her to stay away from him. Not when their hands were cuffed together.

Suddenly, the car stopped. A cop lowered the window and said,

"You two behave here ok? We got another call and need to check out something here for a bit. And don't try to do anything stupid. I warn ya.", with that, they left.

As soon as the two cops were out of sight, Robin reached his vest's inside pocket, he picked out a long small metal that looked like a pin. He smiled.

"What are you doing?", Regina asked.

"Well..even though I have to admit that I quite like being here with you, I have a duty to complete. So.. THIS is my apology for hurting you.", he slipped the pin-like object into the cuff's hole. She heard a small click and then their both hands were free.

He, then, turned to work on the car's door. With just a few seconds, it swung open.

She was amazed by how skillful he was. He was a good thief she admit and was secretly disappointed that they had to part now when she saw him putting one if his feet out of the car. But before she realized, he turned back and kissed her hard. It was passionate and somehow made her feel giddy. He pulled back, finally, gave her a god damn it so handsome smile, and said,

"And THAT was for trusting me to hold 'the queen's heart." And as he ran away, he held up a bright red ruby heart, waving at her.

Regina laughed and mumbled to herself,

"Well theif, sorry but I don't bring my heart to battle. And for the record, evil never lose.", and she took out another ruby heart from her bra.

The next morning, Robin walked out of a jewelry shop. The very same ruby in his hand. He scratched his head in frustration trying to keep his swear words to himself.

Fake one? Really?! So I have to stay here longer then.. grrrr.

"Regina Mills. I guess we shall see each other again" he grinned.

-The end-