Her Name is Regina
A/N: After talking this story over with multiple talented writers I have decided to take a go at it! I will not know if this will be a Multi or OS fic but I will leave it open for both. Just a little background, this story is an AU and heavily focuses on Roland and the power of a child's intuition. As many people know children have a really crazy way of understanding the world around them and that is how this story will begin. I hope you enjoy and please let me know if you want me to continue.
Oh and also FYI Roland is 10 in this story so he isn't the little guy we loved from the show but I have added a little of his personality I hope.
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The loud crash of the thunder sounds through the house wakes him as he jolts up from the bed. Glancing over to the alarm clock situated on the nightstand he reads 3:00 in the morning. Rubbing the sleep from his eyes and wiping the sweat from his brow, Roland pulls back the bedding quickly, rushing to his father's bedroom. He couldn't let her die. It wasn't a nightmare. Whoever that woman was that he saw was going to die. He had to save her.
Roland slings the bedroom door open and runs to his father's side.
Shaking him hard he begins to shout, "Papa wake up! Papa get up! It's an emergency, Please Papa wake up!"
Robin begins to stir and mumbles, "It's… thunder Ro. Go ba… to sleep."
Frantically shaking Robin, screaming his name now, "No PAPA, get up! You have to wake up!"
Irritated that his dad wasn't responding, Roland balls up his fist and punches him in the back. Jolting awake, Robin looks at his son in anger.
"Son what in the hell are you doing?," Robin yells at him.
"You weren't waking up! I didn't have a choice," he cries.
"Hitting me is not going to get you anything you want Roland. I don't care if I am asleep or not! You know better!" Robin was yelling now as Roland was in hysterics.
"Papa you don't understand," breathing heavily with tears forming in his eyes, "she is going to die if we don't save her!"
Robin looks at his son with a mix of horror and disbelief the anger fading from his face. "Son you have to breathe." Taking his son's hands in his own, "Roland listen to the sound of my voice. You're panicking. Breathe in and out. Everything is going to be alright."
Roland slowly breathes in and out wiping the tears from his eyes. "No papa it's not going to be alright. She IS going to die if we don't go save her right now."
"Alright. Roland who is she? I can't save someone I don't know."
"Wait? You believe me? You are going to help me save her?" Roland's eyes grow big as he looks at his father's face.
He sighs slightly still not fully grasping the situation at hand. "I don't want to believe it. However I have never seen you this frightened before so I am going to try and listen."
"Thank you." Roland breathes out heavily in relief then quickly grabs Robin by the hand rushing him along. "Now come on we have to go!"
"Roland! You still haven't told me who she is or how I'm supposed to find her."
Roland rolls his eyes in exasperation. "Her name is Regina. Now come on! We have to go!"
Robin raises his eyebrow in question while he searches for a t-shirt to throw on quickly. "Ro we don't know anybody named Regina. What are you talking about?"
"I can't tell you because I don't know her either. I just know how she dies and where she dies unless we stop that man who hurts her."
"Alright well can you at least tell me where I am going?" Robin says as he and Roland walk out of the bedroom towards the stairs.
"It's right in front of the little store near Cameron's house is. The one on the corner." Roland replies automatically.
"Do you mean the convenience store by the entrance to his apartments? Where we drive to go to the lake?"
"Yeah that's the one." Roland nods his head. "Can we go now?"
Walking to the front door to grab his keys Robin begins to shake his head. "Absolutely not. It is 3:30 in the morning. Plus if this woman…" Roland interrupts. "Regina. Her name is Regina."
"Roland watch the attitude son. Yes. If Regina is in as much danger as you say she is then I want you to stay here."
"No. I have to go with you." Robin opens his mouth to scold his son only for Roland to continue on." You don't even know what she looks like. I'm the only one who knows and I can tell you all about it," He opens the front door, "while WE go find her."
Robin rubs his face and holds his tongue. His son is only ten and has the attitude of a teenager. But he does have a point. He was backed into a corner and still wasn't quite sure his son really didn't just have a really bad nightmare. This wasn't normal for his boy so this will be one of the few times he lets his son slide.
"You're right. But trust me when I say this Ro. If you keep giving me this attitude you will regret it. Am i understood?"
Roland glances up at his father mumbling, "Yes sir."
"Thank you. Now go out to the car. I'll be out there in a second."
Roland runs to the car as he turns to open the hallway closet. Pulling back the ironing board and shifting the few boxes out of his way, he grabs the small locked case in the corner. Unlocking it he pulls out out the Glock 23 handgun he has been keeping hidden since Roland cam to live with him permanently. The last time he used this was years ago at the gun range with John. Hopefully tonight he didn't have to use it at all but it was better to go in to this with at least something to keep him and his son safe. God he doesn't like this at all.
Placing the gun in his holster, he puts his jacket on and heads out the door. He goes to the car and turns the key in the ignition. The engine roars to life and he puts the car in gear.
Looking back at Roland, "Alright Roland. It's your dream. Tell me where I'm going and who this Regina is."
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"So one more time, where is she at when the car pulls up?" Roland begins to question Robin again as they are only five minutes away from the place where they should find Regina and her supposed kidnapper.
"Regina is leaving the store with a few bags in her hand. She is walking across the street towards the apartment complexes as a black car follows her. She makes it to the sidewalk when the car pulls up to the side of her. A man jumps out of the car. He is wearing a dark hoodie and khaki shorts. You said he covers her mouth with something to force her from screaming and then your dream ends with her passed out while being pushed into the back of the car. You couldn't see the driver's or the kidnapper's face but as the car pulls away you see the license plate number. It was G74… damn I can't remember the rest."
"The license plate number is G742594. And the other thing I forgot to tell you is on the license plate, the state they are from is Texas."
"Texas? Well that's a long way away from here. Oregon really isn't the scene for people in the midwest. None of this makes any sense." Robin glances at his son in the backseat. "Ro did you hear their voices at all? Or did you see anything else that may help me."
Roland looked hard in thought as he tried to remember anything else. "Sorry papa but I just don't see anything else."
"Don't be sorry. You are doing everything you can."
Robin pulls up to the curb across the street from the little convenience store. Just far enough to where no one will notice him but he has plenty of room to see the front of the convenience store and the sidewalk where Roland said he saw her on before Regina is snatched up. It's 3:52 in the morning. All they have to do is wait.
He looks back at Roland and his heart is troubled by what he sees. Roland is looking out the side window with a look of fear and dread just waiting for his dream to become a reality. The scary part of this entire dream is if his nightmare truly does become a reality how will Roland react. Will he be able to get through a night's sleep or would he begin to wake up in the middle of the night with dark circles under his eyes and tears running down his cheeks? His boy is only ten years old. He doesn't need to be plagued by nightmares and worrying about situations that are out of his control. Yet here they are sitting in the car waiting to save a random stranger all because his boy has a heart of gold and wants to save and help anyone he can. Just like his grandmother, Roland wants to save as many people as he can. Mom must be proud of him.
Roland taps his shoulder pulling him from deep in thought. "Papa look there she is. She just left the store. Right there!" Roland points in her direction and Robin sees her for the first time.
The first thing he notices is just how small she is. Also she is completely alone on the streets at 4 am which is not safe for anyone. What she could possibly be doing out at this hour baffles him but Robin doesn't have time to dwell on that as he sees a black car turning the corner to where Regina is walking; slowly following her.
He turns around and faces Roland. "Stay here. We are close enough that I can follow her and hopefully that car doesn't see me. Do not get out of this car. I'm going to walk over there slowly and see if anything is going to happen." He reaches into his pocket and hands Roland his phone. "If anything happens you crouch down and call 911."
Roland takes the phone and nods in understanding. "Be safe papa."
"I will son." Robin turns and looks into the rearview mirror at Roland before opening the door slowly and stepping out of the car.
He closes the door slowly and looks back at his son mouthing one more time, "Don't get out of this car."
Turning away from his car he checks his side to make sure the firearm is securely in place and has quick access to it in case he does have to reach for it. He starts following Regina about 50 feet behind her, as he doesn't want to scare her. But as he follows her that same black car catches up to her.
Robin can barely make out the figures in the car but he can see the license plate. He starts to read the numbers off the back of the car and begins to panic quickly. The license plate matches. G742594. Shit, he thinks, as the car pulls up next to her and the passenger begins to step out of the car. Well there went all his hope of Roland's dream being anything but a reality.
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Robin starts to speed up so that he can catch up to Regina before she gets hurt and he can't help her. However whoever is driving the car has picked up on the fact that he is following her and begins to speed up to get to her before he can. There is no way he isn't going to scare her now but it is now or never if he wants to keep her out of harm's way.
He begins to run towards her and shouts as loud as he can, "Regina! Run!," as the car skits to a stop next to her. Robin reaches her as the kidnapper gets out of the car. The man grabs Regina by the arm as Robin runs into him knocking both him and Regina to the ground. Regina tries crawling away as the man grabs her by the leg and tries dragging her back to him but Robin cuts him off by grabbing his shoulder from behind and twisting it behind his back causing him to scream out in pain.
Robin thinks he has him as the man reaches behind him and elbows him in the jaw knocking Robin to the ground. He again gets to Regina and grabs her by the hair slamming her into the gate. He gets his hands around her throat as Robin gets back to his feet with his lip busted and in pain he runs at him from behind, driving his fist into the back of his head knocking him unconscious. Regina slides to the ground as he catches her before she passes out in his arms as they both tumble to the ground. Robin looks behind him to realize the driver and the car are nowhere in sight and lets out a sigh of relief. He takes a few breaths and then feels for Regina's pulse hoping she is okay. He feels the steady pumping of her heartbeat as the flashing red and blue lights pull into view.
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"It was out of nowhere sir. The car just stopped and the man got out and attacked her. I'm glad I got to her in time or she would have been dead," Robin said as he was giving his statement to the officer.
"I see. And you're sure you have no idea how your son Roland knew this was going to happen?"
"Officer Mitchell my son is 10 years old. I can't explain how his mind works or his dreams but I do know that he helped save that woman's life tonight. Now if that's all I'd like to be going home now."
The officer thanks him again for his statement and mentions he will contact him if he has anymore questions for him or Roland in the near future.
Robin thanks the officer and begins to walk back to his car hoping Roland is sleeping at this point. It's almost 6 in the morning and he just witnessed a woman almost murdered. This was not something he wanted to deal with on a Saturday morning that's for sure.
He gets to his car only to find the passenger door open and Roland nowhere to be seen. He told Roland to stay in the damn car after they talked to the police. But of course he knew where he was. He had argued with him earlier about seeing if Regina was okay. Taking a deep sigh he rubs his hands over his face and walks over to the ambulance to see his son right where he expected him to be.
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Roland is his papa's child so telling him to sit still was stupid of him to do, thought Roland. He wanted to see Regina and see if she was okay. Sitting in the car was not an option. He'd face his punishment when he got home; so for now he is going to Regina.
Roland steps out of the car and makes sure to see if his papa is still talking with the officer. Seeing that he was still occupied, Roland walks over to the ambulance situated a few feet away from him.
He gets up to the back of the ambulance and sees her sitting on the stretcher and his hear drops. Her neck is bruised and she has a sling on her arm holding it in place. She may not be dead but she was still hurt which is not fair to her.
He walks up to her slowly and she looks down at him as he stand nexts to her placing his small had on her thigh. Not knowing really what to say he just says the first thing that pops in his head.
"Hi. I'm Roland."
Regina slowly takes his hand and gives it a squeeze. "Hi Roland," she replies, "I'm Regina."
"I know Regina," Roland replies as her eyes look back at him confused.
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It took me long enough but I have the first chapter finished! Once upon a time may be over but hell our ships and stories will live on forever. Thank ya'll for the encouragement on writing this piece and thanks for being awesome people. Sending all my love. Oh and forgive my grammar mistakes. I tried to fix as many as I could. ~Emmie