Hey guys! This is just an idea I had; I thought it would be really interesting to see what would happen with these two if they'd gotten together in the EF and then one of them got their memory back before the other! I own nothing. Enjoy!

He was watching her.

This was the first time she'd been seen out in the open in three weeks, ever since she had returned from Neverland with the others. Rumor had it that, while all the others had been celebrating, she trudged, alone, to her bed and slept for days on end. When she woke up, she didn't eat for a week.

Robin had passed by her house on occasion, the beautiful white panels and the blood red apples on the verdant tree. Roland told him that a witch lived there.

Robin laughed, but his heart wasn't in it. Someone told him that she had lost a child, and that, he thought, ruffling his son's hair, was not something he could easily find humor in.

This new, strange land was difficult to get accustomed to; it was noisy and bright and weird. Roland loved it, permanent sugar high that it was, but sometimes Robin missed the absolute quiet, the soothing smell of Sherwood Forest after it had rained, the placidity of his former life.

After Marion died, many years ago now, he found himself drawing back, away from everyone, step by step, word by word. He chatted amiably, and he taunted the Sherriff, and everything was fine; he just wasn't who he used to be. He was tired. He began to understand things in a way he never thought he could, regarding them with once-bright blue eyes, made greyer as his patience for the world grew. Silly things didn't bother him like they once did. He was content to be with his son, looking out into the world with a cozy mixture of amusement and exasperation.

Charming referenced him and he was forced out of his reverie.

A flash of gleaming white teeth, a flip of perfectly coiffed hair.

No, Robin was no Prince Charming, and he knew as much.

"Robin will be in charge of coordinating watches in the woods and around our borders. We will all be the safer for it."

Robin nodded his thanks, smiled distractedly at the applaud that ensued.

The Queen was looking at him, her face imperceptible.

When she'd walked in 15 minutes earlier, the room had gone dead silent. No one had expected her, and, to be honest, no one had really missed her. Yet, there she was, swooping in—well, not so much swooping as tentatively entering—with her make-up done and a neat red business dress on. She didn't look any one in the eye, just vaguely scanned the group that formed The Emergency Committee for Regaining Memories (a name that had Charming written all over it), looking like she wanted to disappear into herself. He watched her with curious eyes.

Robin had always considered himself a perceptive individual, able to judge the mood and opinion and feelings of others without even trying. Regina, as everyone now knew her, was causing him some struggle, but it would only be a matter of time before he had unlocked her as well. Already, he could tell her skin was crawling. This was hardly the famous Evil Queen he'd heard rumors of; no, she was just a woman, adrift in sorrow and isolation. She'd changed, just like he had; once, he was an insufferable, self-righteous thief; once, she was bent on revenge; who knew what the future would hold?

"Regina?"

"Regina?" Snow repeated sweetly.

Snapped out of her trance, an intense study of the wall behind Robin's head, Regina whipped her head around to face Snow.

"Sorry," she said quickly.

"Have you gotten started on that memory restoration potion yet?"

"Yes, but I'm running into a little trouble with the ingredients. They'll be more difficult to find here, but I think I'll be able to manage," she said evenly and carefully, her eyes wary of those around her, as if she were an animal trapped in a cage.

"Well, what do you need?"

"Nothing that you can help me with," Regina replied flatly.

Snow simply nodded once, slowly, then turned to the rest of the group.

"Very well," she said, "I guess we'll meet tomorrow, same time, to discuss our progress?"

Everyone murmured his or her agreement.

Regina made a beeline for the door, but Snow stopped her.

"We have some treats and drinks downstairs," Snow said enticingly. "I made an apple pie just for you."

Snow went to touch her pregnant stomach, craving that apple pie, then thought the better of it, considering her company's present fragile state of mind.

Regina narrowed her eyes.

"Why do you want me here?" she demanded more than asked.

"You're an important part of this community, and of my family. I want you here because you more than deserve to be here. Don't let anyone make you feel differently," Snow said earnestly.

Regina scrunched up her face, not because Snow's response disgusted her, but because it confused her. Why was she being so nice to her? Was she trying to trick her? Yet, she got the sense Snow was being sincere. Typical naïve girl, thinking Regina deserved anything. Thinking there was any way she could be redeemed.

How foolish she'd been, Regina realized, just as foolish as the Charmings, Tweedle-dee and Tweedle-dumber, believing that anything could ever change. She would always be the Evil Queen. Henry would always choose Emma. Everyone she loved would always leave.

Regina felt her lungs collapsing, dusty beams and poles, sharpened to a point, tumbling in her chest and crushing anything they came into contact with. She could barely breathe, and took a step away from her pregnant friend, if friend was even the right word.

Snow could sense the Queen withdrawing into herself, and prompted, "Please?"

Regina nodded tiredly, and regretted it immediately. Since when had that puppy-dog bullshit worked on her?

Allowing herself to be led by Snow, Regina turned around once, her eyes clapping with bluish-grey ones, sparkling among their owner's tawny skin and hair. Robin Hood, she noted in her mind. She knew him as a thief from another kingdom, a mischievous tree-hopper who menaced the incompetent Sherriff of Nottingham. His antics had made her laugh from time to time, and she smiled as she remembered hearing stories of the Sherriff, awakening from a drunken stupor in a brothel wearing women's clothes: the fine work of the Merry Men.

The blue eyes smiled back, drawing hers from nowhere to his handsome face. She regarded it as best she could, trying to memorize the visage of the man who had made her smile for the first time in weeks, but was dragged by Snow into her own personal hell: a room filled with devilled eggs and mini-cupcakes and the fine people of Storybrooke.

Who happened to hate her.

"Snow," she forced out quietly, hating the way her throat seemed to be closing up with all these people around her, hating how they got to see her this way, how they got to make her this way.

She was not some blushing teenage girl. She was a queen. She was a damn good queen, in fact. While she might not have been the most progressive in terms of freedom of press and speech, her people were all fed and clothed, guaranteed protection of the law equally, and even healthcare, albeit the minimum. If anyone had bothered to see past some of her, ahem, transgressions, they might have realized that she was the most competent ruler in years.

But whatever.

That didn't change the fact that Henry was gone and that she was being forced into socializing with a room full of belligerent parties and that every time she tried to start over, she found herself being dragged down by yesterday. She just wasn't strong enough, never had been. This world was too harsh for her soft soul; her mother had known that, had tried to protect her daughter from her own weakness and naivety.

She sighed.

Why couldn't they just leave her be?

Why would she burst into tears without warning, why had she been unable to get out of bed for weeks, why did the sight of food make her stomach turn?

Her mind swam, black spots invading her vision from all sides: nauseating waves of black ants. Breathe, she reminded herself. You are in public. You are Regina Mills. You don't cry in front of these peasants.

She forced her mind to spit the word.

She felt eyes on her.

She could just disappear into the floor.

"…apple pie?" Regina heard through the fog invading her mind.

Suddenly, everything was back full force, full color, full volume. The seven dwarves looked at her curiously.

She closed her eyes.

"Regina? Do you want some apple pie?"

"Apple pie?" a mirthful voice asked, out of thin air.

Regina looked up, and the thief was there, his presence taking up three-quarters of the room: his bounding, smiling, forest-y charisma spilling over her like a salty ocean wave, leaving her sprinting to catch up.

She could do nothing but stare.

"I love apple pie," he said, then paused, exaggeratedly realizing he might have been interrupting something. "Sorry, that was rude of me. I'll leave you two."

He went to go, but Snow stopped him with a sweet, "No, Robin, it's fine."

Turning on his heels, he returned to the women, looking curiously at Regina. He had noticed her face turning panicked, her breath going shallow, and had tried to intervene. She turned her eyes away, and he laughed to himself quietly.

She really thought she could fool him.

"Robin, this is Regina. Regina, Robin Hood. I'm not sure if you've met before, but this would be a perfect time to start getting to know one another, seeing as we're all in this sticky situation together."

Regina rolled her eyes at Snow's choice of words, and Robin caught it with a smile.

"It's nice to meet you in person," Regina said simply.

"The pleasure is all mine," he replied.

They shook hands, his larger one engulfing her petite one in a gentle shake.

"You know, Robin, I could get you some apple pie but I regret to inform you that mine falls absolutely flat next to Regina's. I don't know what she puts in those pies, but they are really heavenly," Snow gushed.

Regina, fearful that Snow was attacking her passive-aggressively, felt a flicker of annoyance. She would play nice, though, at least for now.

Before Robin got the chance to respond, Grumpy tapped Regina on the shoulder, a face true to his name set on his face.

"Excuse me, sister, but I don't know what makes you think you're welcome here," Grumpy said brusquely, looking up at her.

Robin and Snow both gave each other a look, before Snow intervened.

"Grumpy, how dare you say such at thing after what Regina's done, after—"

"No," Regina said, stopping Snow with a raised hand. "I don't know who you think you are, coming up to me like that, and being so rude. You're lucky I don't end you right here, you little troll."

Her words absolutely dripped with disdain, making it clear that she was deigning to speak to him. Inside, though, she burned with shame and embarrassment.

"It's a wonder that kid Henry came out so good with a bitch like you raising him his entire life," Grumpy roared back, standing his ground.

Regina's eyes betrayed her hurt for just a moment before she schooled them into contempt. One manicured hand reached out and slapped him across the face.

"Don't you ever say his name to me again."

The words hung in the air like a death knoll.

Robin, stunned by her display of aggression and rage, just looked at her for a long moment. The rest of the room, except Snow, did the same.

"What?" she said haughtily to Robin. She then turned to the dumbfounded citizens of Storybrooke. "What! You think just that I was down for a few weeks meant I was down for good?"

She fake pouted.

"You thought you were finally rid of me? You thought so little of me?"

Snow looked at her, tears in her eyes, begging her to stop.

Regina's face curled into a wicked grin.

"Well, I guess I just need to try a little harder. Show you what I can really do."

Her hands, once curled into fists, now sparked into flames. Her eyes prowled around the room. Oh, these idiots would learn.

"Regina," Snow said quietly. "Please."

Their gazes held for a long time. The twin flames were silently lowered, and extinguished, with them Regina's rage.

"I told you this was a bad idea," the Queen practically whispered to Snow, tears welling in her eyes. She turned on her heel and walked out of the room.

Two weeks in bed was not nearly enough, she thought, finally allowing herself to cry while in the safety of her car.

Poor Reggie :( Don't worry though, things will start to look up soon- next chap, Robin gets his memory back yay! Hopefully this wasn't too out of character for Reg, but I think it would capture her mind frame.

I will love you until I die if you review. They make me smile like an idiot at my screen :) :)