I own no one but my own people
A/N this'll be a multi chap so hopefully you enjoy :-) And Review :-) but mostly enjoy :-)
"We're lost."
"We aren't lost."
"We've passed that tree three times now."
"It's a pine tree, all pine trees look the same."
"Do all pine trees have that much moss on it? Because the pine tree we've passed three times now has that much moss on it."
Regina took a deep breath, trying her best to not let her frustrations get the best of her as she took another road that she was sure would lead her to their destination.
Somewhat sure.
Kind of sure.
Perhaps they would run into someone who would know how to get around this god forsaken countryside.
One year. It had been one year since Regina lost her husband Daniel and Henry had lost his father. No that wasn't exactly true; it had been 373 days 13 hours, 6 minutes and 48, 49, 50 seconds days since it happened, each day a little harder than the last for their little family.
But, Regina was determined to make this weekend special for Henry. She had to, she had to prove to her little prince that life could go on after a tragedy.
The first weekend of his summer vacation ever since their son was five, Daniel took Henry out camping in the wilderness of Illinois, armed only with a tent, sleeping bags and a cooler of food and sodas. They would drive to their secret little spot for the two of them to enjoy the great outdoors for three beautifully uninterrupted days of bonding.
For three days the father and son would enjoy relaxing in the forest, making s'mores, cooking over a campfire, staying up late, fishing, kayaking, hiking… Everything a young boy from the North Shore would give his left arm to experience.
Meanwhile Regina would enjoy a relaxing weekend at home and it was everything she could have ever wanted; mainly because it didn't involve sleeping outside, camp fires, nature, tents or anything of the sort.
But this year though; Regina had been the one to drag the sleeping bags out of the basement, she had been the one to pack the food, she would be the one to light the campfire and cook burgers over the open flames (oh God the carcinogens), she would be the one to set up the tent...
But she wouldn't let Henry see her struggle with this, she would not let him see her aversion to all things nature. Her son was going to have a fun time come Hell or high water, but judging by their excursion so far she was pretty sure she would have to deal with both.
Henry frowned as Regina pulled over on the side of the road, grabbing the map and running a nervous hand through her short brown hair.
"We aren't going camping are we?" he muttered after she had been gazing at the map for a long while.
"Of course we are, Sweetie."
Regina glanced up from the map to the dirt road ahead of her as if that could somehow magically show her where they were on the map.
Instead of being assured at his mother's words he just sank down further into his seat.
When his dad had taken him camping by this late in the afternoon the tent already would have been pitched, the fire already lit and he and Daniel would have been smack dab in the middle of a game of stickball.
"I miss Dad," Henry muttered as he looked down at the ground. Regina's face fell as she glanced over at her son.
"Henry, I-."
But any words of comfort were cut off by a light tap on her window. Both she and Henry jumped at the noise and when they turned towards the noise Regina sucked in a breath as her eyes searched over the handsome man smiling at her.
Dazzling blue eyes, dark blonde hair, just a touch of scruff wearing brown cargo pants and a well fitted forest green shirt.
He was stunning.
"You look lost," the man said once Regina had rolled down her window, shifting a bundle of firewood from one arm to the other.
The brown eyed woman was about to tell him that was absolutely absurd. She was going to tell him that she knew exactly where she was and where she was going and more importantly how to get there.
She would have said that if Henry hadn't jumped at the opportunity to insult her.
"My mom can't read a map," the thirteen year old told this stranger to which Regina rolled her eyes.
Did he have to make her sound so incompetent?
"I can read a map just fine, thank you. It's just… the land doesn't match up to the lines on the paper is all."
The man chuckled and he held out his hand.
"May I?"
Hating that she had to rely on this stranger Regina handed him the blasted map, wanting to just incinerate the damn thing on sight.
"We're trying to get to West Beaver road," she explained. "Once we find that we apparently just travel north and there's supposed to be this little clearing by the lake…"
"You're talking about God's Eye valley?"
"Sure," Regina said, hoping that was the correct name of the place Daniel had taken their son to while Henry confirmed it with a nod.
"I've been there camping many times with my son, it's a beautiful spot," Robin informed her. "But unfortunately the whole place was flooded three days ago, it's basically swampland until it dries out."
Henry bit back tears as Regina turned towards her son heartbroken.
"That was mine and dads spot," he reminded her as his bottom lip quivered.
"I know, Sweetheart, but if it's flooded…"
"Can we come back when it dries out?" he pleaded.
"Henry, I can't afford to take off anymore time from work."
She wasn't lying either. Her boss Leopold White had already been disappointed at Regina taking even a single Friday off when they were in the middle of a long battled merger.
Regina worked at a business acquisition corporation, the largest not just in Chicago but the whole Midwest. She and her company would buy a failing companies debt for pennies on the dollar, all but force them into bankruptcy if they weren't at that stage already, to either get perceived competition out of the way then either resell the companies to far more lucrative and wealthier corporations or merge the little mom and pop shops with the Fortune 500 companies that wanted them.
Yes what she did might be classified to some as 'evil', Daniel, a gym teacher, loved to call her that when she led a particularly nasty takedown, but it was what got them one of the largest houses in Highland Park, a far cry from the shabby apartment in Riverdale Chicago that her husband had grown up in.
And right now, she was dealing with one of the largest and most influential companies they had ever dealt with.
'Notts Surplus Store', the biggest sporting goods chain in Chicago and the surrounding suburbs, had recently fallen on hard times after their CEO Keith Nottingham was outed as a big time Trump Supporter and their profits had taken a rather heavy nosedive. So, rather than backtrack his deplorable comments or actions, they simply hired her company to snuff out similar stores that were taking away business.
Right now she and her company were smack dab in the middle of snuffing out some little independent shop out in Hyde Park who was giving them a particularly hellish fight.
"Look why don't we call the park ranger, see if there's some nice campgrounds we can go to instead," she suggested.
"I don't wanna go to a campground I wanna go to mine and dads spot!"
The thirteen year old boy hastily wiped his tears which both Regina and the stranger graciously ignored.
"Henry, I'm sorry," Regina told her son as sincerely as she could. "I really am, but there's nothing I can do. Now we can go to a campground and we can have a good time there or if you really don't wanna go to a campground we can get a hotel for the weekend. It's up to you."
The man frowned as he listened to the options the boys, he suspected, mother laid out for him. The way the lad spoke about it being his 'father's and his' spot, not to mention the golden ring that circled the woman's finger he had a strong suspension that his father wasn't just no longer in the picture but that he was no longer with them period.
His own son, his curly haired boy he would do anything for, had said similar things when his mother had passed on. Even though he was only two and a half at the time he still had the presence of mind to realize there were some things Mum did, other things Dad did and that Mum was no longer there to do 'Mum things' with.
Seeing the preteen close to tears the man cleared his throat to gain their attention.
"Me and my boy are actually camping only a little ways up. The sites far bigger than what we really need, you're more than welcome to share."
"Oh no, that's fine," Regina told the man with a smile she hoped was polite enough that he wouldn't take offense. "We'll just go find a campsite of our own."
"Mom, please!" Henry whined. "I don't wanna go to a regular site!"
"Henry, stop."
"Dad hated regular campsites! He said you shouldn't have to pay to spend the night outdoors! Can't we just share with this guy?!"
Another heavy sigh as she turned towards her son, remembering that he not only had just as rough a year as Regina had but Henry lacked the experience that came from age to deal with his grief.
So, with a prayer that this man wasn't a total psychopath with planned to murder them, God that would be the worst way she could go; in flannel and cargo in the middle of the woods, they followed him in their car, she would NOT let a strange man in her car with her and her son, a little ways up the road before he stopped them at a small little dirt trail that led into the woods.
Regina was about to tell the boy that if she was killed wearing hiking boots by this man she would come back to haunt him but she quickly stopped herself, remembering that jokes like that were no longer funny to the teenager.
So instead Regina just made a show of grabbing the mace from the center console, occasionally she would need to go into what others might describe as a 'bad' part of Chicago and wanted her to have something to protect herself, making sure the stranger saw her put it in her back pocket before she popped the trunk.
"So I supposed before I lead you into the woods I should at least tell you my name," he said as he helped Henry with his pack. He turned and held out his hand to the brunette. "Robin Locksley."
Regina could see a tattoo on his forearm, a black shield surrounding a lion on its hind legs as she shook his calloused hand before he shook Henry's hand in return.
Great. She wasn't just following a tattooed stranger into the woods, she was bringing her son along with her. This was completely sane and safe…
"Regina Mills," she told him as she strapped her own pack on. Legally she was still Regina Colter and her son was a Colter as well but it had been too painful to keep referring to herself with his surname, so she had simply gone back to using her maiden name. "This is my son Henry."
She nodded to the cooler full of food and bottled water. "You wanna grab one handle, I'll grab the- oh."
Mid sentence Robin had put the bundle of firewood he had been carrying on top of the red cooler and then easily picked it up as if it weighed no more than a loaf of bread.
"You ready to get going?" asked Robin and for a moment Regina forgot how to respond, too caught up in the way the muscles in his arms strained against the weight of the combined cooler and firewood.
God that T-shirt was well fitted…
"Uh, yeah. Sorry." She cleared her throat. "Let's get going."
A hint of a smirk made an appearance on his face as he headed up the trail with Regina and Henry following at a safe distance.
"So how long are you camping?" Robin asked his two companions.
"Just the weekend," Regina answered as they made their way further into the woods but they never left the trail. As much trust as Regina was placing in this man that would be a bit much. "It's a tradition, whenever Henry's school gets let out that first weekend of summer break he goes camping."
"Very good tradition. I try to take my son as much as possible, I don't want him to be one of those boys who think because they live in a large city they shouldn't have to see the rest of the world."
"You live in Chicago then?"
He nodded. "Hyde Park."
Regina perked up slightly at that bit of information. "Oh? Do you teach at the university then?"
Robin chuckled at her sudden shift in tone. "Would knowing you're following a professor into the woods make you feel a bit safer?"
"Just a touch," she said and, despite herself, found herself smiling at the man.
"Well I'm sorry to disappoint you but I live and work north of 55th street."
Any good Chicago dwelling person worth their salt knew that Hyde Park was pretty much split in two. The University of Chicago, where Regina got her MBA, was located smack dab in the middle of Hyde Park and everything south of 55th street 'belonged' in a sense to the hipsters who were slowly and sadly gentrifying the Southside neighborhood and college students who went to the university. North of 55th was the 'rougher' area of Hyde Park.
Not much more was said from the party as they began their, to Regina, grueling hike along the mostly hidden trail. But she never let her smile falter, she never let Henry realize how much she had wanted to be out of the forest and back in her study curled up with a good book.
Daniel wouldn't have so she was determined not to either.
Soon enough they finally came to a stop outside the campsite.
He hadn't been lying. The clearing was quite large and, truth be told, rather beautiful at that. Soft grass peppered with wild flowers, plenty of trees to offer shade but also a large area to have more than enough room for two tents, room for the boys to run around and play, and beat of all was a river that ran fast enough to prevent mosquitoes but slow enough that it hadn't turned this area of the river into a white water rapids.
Robin had already made his own fire pit with several river stones, an adult forest green camping chair and a child's Batman camping chair sat beside it with two sticks that still had roasted marshmallow innards on it overtop the stones to keep them off the ground and there was even a low volleyball net set up near his tent.
"Welcome to camp Locksley," Robin announced with a grin and a wide sweep of his arm once he had put the cooler and firewood down.
A second after he spoke the tent unzipped and seconds later what could have been the most adorable little boy Regina had ever seen, apart from Henry of course, ran out with a smile, highlighting his already deep dimples even more. He had on a grey T-shirt with, Regina noticed, a small hole in the side and she momentarily wondered if his father had packed that intentionally to play in since it was already ruined or if that was a more common occurrence in the boy's wardrobe, jeans that had appeared faded and worn and sneakers that might have been red at one time but was now so dirty and faded it looked more like a rusty brown.
"I did what you said, Papa!" the curly haired four year old exclaimed proudly as he ran over to Robin, his brown eyes shining with excitement. "I didn't go in the river and I stayed in the tent until you got back!"
Regina smiled at the young boy. His voice didn't have any hint of that London accent that was so prevalent in his father's voice so she assumed he at least had been born in the states.
Robin picked the boy up mid run, kissing the top of his curls.
"That's my boy," he said with another kiss before he turned to the newcomers. "This is my son, Roland," Robin introduced the curly haired boy. "Roland this is Ms. Mills and her son Henry."
"Hi!" Roland greeted cheerfully with a friendly wave.
"Regina's fine," she assured the little boy who just smiled at her again before he looked back at his father.
"Are they camping with us?"
"They're sharing our spot, yes," Robin told his son, not quite sure if this Regina Mills would be willing to go as far as to say they were camping 'together'.
Robin could feel his little boy starting to get antsy so he set him down on the ground and ruffled the curls he had inherited from his mother.
"Wanna play volleyball?" Roland asked Henry excitedly.
"Love, why don't we let them get set up and settled in first?" Robin suggested. "I'll play with you though."
'Volleyball' consisted more or less of Robin lightly bopping the ball over the net and either Roland running after it or catching it and then tossing it back, not quite having the skills or strength to volley it back but he was having fun nonetheless.
Regina, meanwhile, might as well have been trying to fly a commercial airliner with all the instructions written in Hieroglyphics. All the poles looked alike but were also all apparently different, the tarps weren't unfolding correctly and the stakes and- Wait you need a hammer for this?!
But, she decided as she shook her finger after she had gotten it caught in one of the poles, she wouldn't let Henry see her struggling. She would put up this damn tent and she would have a smile on her face the whole time she did it.
"Okay so…" Regina spread out the actual tent canvas. "We put the poles in crisscross that way then put them in these little holes. Sounds simple enough."
Or so she thought. Until one of those poles snapped up and slapped her in the eye.
She fell back onto the ground biting back a slew of curse words and holding her hand over her eye, already knowing there was going to be a rather unattractive mark there. What the hell did Daniel and Henry find so fun about this?
Her son hurried over to her and kneeled by her side. "Mom, you alright?"
Keep a smile on your face. Don't let him know you hate this.
"I'm fine, Henry," she told him, rubbing the redness from her eye. "Can you go get me some ice from the cooler?"
"Already got it," Robin told her, handing her a baggy with some ice. I saw what happened," he explained. "You're not the first person I've seen get bested by a tent pole."
"Believe it or not that doesn't actually make me feel better."
Robin just chuckled.
"I'll make you a trade. It's Roland's nap time so if you go read my boy a bedtime story, I'll help yours pitch the tent and get things set up."
After making sure that was okay with Henry, it had been, Regina headed into Robins tent where the little curly hair boy was already tucked into his sleeping bag which had a proud display of Batman's symbol, apparently this boy had an strong affinity for the vigilante superhero whereas Henry had always preferred the awkward nerdy Spider-Man.
"Hi, Roland," Regina greeted the small boy. "Your dad asked me to come read you a bedtime story. Would you like that?"
"Yes please," he said with a smile.
God he was so adorable. And so polite too. Not a very fast napper through; it took two rounds of 'The Cat in the Hat' and half of 'The Very Hungry Caterpillar' before he was out like a light.
When Regina re-emerged from his tent twenty minutes later she actually froze at the sight that awaited her.
Not only was her and Henry's tent up and staked, but there was now a small cook fire burning in the newly built firepit, the two camp chairs Henry and Regina brought had been set by said fire pit, she noticed that Robin had pulled his own over to their side and a metal grate that most assuredly did not belong to them was placed over the rocks while three burgers were being cooked by none other than Robin himself.
"Mom, oh my God, this guy's AMAZING at camping!" Henry announced rather excitedly as he ran over from his fabric covered chair.
After reminding Henry that a four year old boy was now fast asleep in the tent beside them she walked over to the firepit where Robin was flipping the burgers. He stood from his kneeling position when she approached him and smiled, wiping his hands on his pants.
"I can't believe you set all this up, this is- I mean this-... wow, Robin."
"A simple thank you would suffice," he said with a short laugh.
Regina chuckled softly and nodded. "Of course. Thank you, for setting all this up. I've actually never been camping before."
"Really? You seem like such the outdoorsy type."
"Oh you have jokes now?"
"I always have one or two hilarious quibs in my back pocket for times such as these, M'lady."
The two strangers chuckled before they headed back to the cook fire with Henry and Regina taking a seat in their camping chairs while Robin continued his culinary skills.
Regina turned towards the firepit and nodded towards it. "I hope we're not imposing on you, taking your grillgrate and all," Regina told him. "We would have been fine with just using a frying pan and a well placed log.
"I always bring spares when I go camping," he told her nodding towards his own firepit where, sure enough, his own well used grate was still overtop the grey ash. "You can never tell what'll happen out here in the forest."
"One of the perks of being me."
"What, being well prepared?"
"No, I actually own a small little sporting goods and surplus store," Robin told the small family. "It's just one storefront now but I want to expand eventually."
Henry responded in kind by saying that his dad is, not was, is, Regina hadn't tried to break him of that particular grammar mistake yet, a Vet tech and his mom 'did something to do with stocks and businesses or something, he really didn't understand it'.
"I acquire businesses going bankrupt or in debt and either sell them off to or merge them with bigger companies," she explained.
Robin frowned at that particular bit of news. "That doesn't sound very… pleasant."
"Well not always but sometimes these small businesses are just completely drowning that they actually ask us to take their business off their hands."
He didn't need to know that particular instance had only happened twice in the twelve years she had been working there.
"I apologize for disparaging your career choice, it's just that I happen to be dealing with a corporation trying to do that to my store," Robin admitted. "You've heard of 'Notts Surplus Store', yes?"
Regina's face fell. No. No, he couldn't be serious. It had to be a coincidence.
Then it clicked, and she wanted to kick herself for not realizing it earlier.
Robin Locksley, as in 'Locksley's Outdoorsmen Haven', the same exact store she and her colleagues were working overtime to bring down. The same store
Just. Fucking. Great.
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