Disclaimer: I own a substandard understanding of correct grammar and composition, but not Once Upon a Time or any of these characters. As always, all mistakes are mine. And some might even be intentional... but not really.

A/N: This plot bunny wouldn't stop it's merciless onslaught against my productivity until I paused Rockland and gave it it's due attention. Plot bunnies are the worst.

Summary: This is an alternate ending to The Cricket Game, in which Regina doesn't escape Blue's magic. She's captured and locked away with only Henry willing to come to her defense. Hints of SQ in part 2.

No man is an island,

Entire of itself.

Each is a piece of the continent,

A part of the main.

If a clod be washed away by the sea,

Europe is the less.

As well as if a promontory were.

As well as if a manor of thine own

Or thine friend's were.

Each man's death diminishes me,

For I am involved in mankind.

There fore, send not to know

For whom the bell tolls,

It tolls for thee.

-John Donne

Regina followed the Sheriff down the lone step of her front porch, trailing the infuriating woman closely. The blonde's arrogance was incomprehensible. For her to be so assured of Regina's supposed guilt; to swear on it with such tenacity, relying on only the word of that manipulative little imp and whatever tricks he used to convince them that Emma had been the one in control of the necessary magic. The sheriff really was as dim as her parents.

And to use Henry against her. To threaten her relationship with her son.

She wanted to rage.

And she did.

"I want to see him. He deserves to hear my side of the story. HE'S MY SON!"

"HE'S NOT, HE'S MINE! And, after this, you're not getting anywhere near him."

Regina's eye's flashed with fury. How could Emma Swan claim ownership over Henry, after knowing him for less than a year? After throwing him away like a piece of trash because motherhood didn't suit her. This woman wasn't a mother. Henry deserved so much more.

She opened her mouth to tell the blonde as much, but the words died in her throat. The world around them shimmered a deep blue as an electric haze fell from the sky, closing around them. Paralyzing them.

No.

Not them.

Just her.

She felt magic on her skin, sending tiny pinprick shocks throughout her body. It was familiar... but at the same time it wasn't.

Fairy magic.

She struggled against her invisible bindings, but the spell was powerful. Too powerful. It tightened around her like a vice, holding her in place.

She should have anticipated this; that Snow and her charming Prince would turn to the fairies once again to subdue her. But the diamond mine had been depleted when she and Gold had placed that barrier on the well. There was no way to know that the dwarves would unearth more diamonds so quickly. It was an understandable, yet truly regrettable oversight on her part.

Emma stepped forward, a satisfied smirk on her face. "So I guess that worked."

"How long will the enchantment bind her magic?" Charming asked from somewhere behind her.

"A few days," the blue pest-turned-nun answered, stepping into view from Regina's left. She was still wearing her ridiculous queen of the nun's attire; her pitiful attempt to fool the plebeians of Storybrooke that she was as pure of heart as she appeared. The fairy turned to the Savior. "We'll need to find a more permanent solution should the Queen be found guilty."

"You want to have a trial?" The blonde looked unsure. "How is that going to work? We can't exactly call Pongo to the witness stand."

Pongo?

Regina fought against the magic, attempting to speak. She stopped when she felt a sharp pain course through her frame.

That hadn't happen last time. This magic, it was definitely different. It felt wrong.

"We'll organize a tribunal," Snow suggested, stepping forward with her Prince in tow. Both of them eyed Regina with mirrored looks of revulsion. "All the evidence can be presented there."

Her inability to inform them of their stupidity was unbearable, far worse than watching the pair break their respective sleeping curses. She could not imagine loathing them any more than she did in that moment.

"We can't rely on the laws of this world Emma," Charming said, when he noticed his daughter's continued uncertainty. "And no jail cell will be able to hold her once the enchantment wears off."

"I know," the blonde replied. "But I've read Henry's book and I have a pretty good idea how you guys settled this kind of thing in your land."

"She killed Archie," Snow countered. "And we've given her so many chances already."

Emma sighed and then looked at Regina. "We just... we need to think about what's best for Henry."

At the mention of her son, Regina instinctively called forth her magic. Her power was sluggish from weeks of disuse, but she focused the energy has best she could, trying to punch through the fairies' spell. The blue electricity coating her skin cracked loudly sending sparks in all directions. It hurt a great deal, but she ignored the pain. She pushed forward even as she felt the skin on her fingers begin to blister and burn.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you, your Majesty," advised the fairy. "Magic is different here and we've had to modify the enchantment. You're not strong enough to fight this."

"Blue, what do you mean you modified it?" Snow looked worried.

Regina didn't wait for the fairy to answer. They were all fools to doubt her power, a Queen's power. She didn't stop. The pain became excruciating but she pushed it aside, stretching her magic against the confines of the containment spell. She could feel it working. Tiny cracks were forming. She pushed even harder. She was winning.

But at the same time, the world around her was beginning to spin. The sun was slowly setting, casting a suffocating darkness over them. Magic sparked before her eyes and the pain retreated.

"Shit, what's happening to her." Emma said slowly, from far away.

No one answered her as the light faded to black.

Emma walked up and down the street, trying to get a handle on the torrent of emotions running through her. She hadn't yet had the time to sit down and process everything, and unfortunately she still didn't. Henry's bus was on the way and she would need to tell him that his friend and therapist was dead; killed by the woman who had raised him.

It was all so messed up.

"It's going to be okay, Emma." Mary Margaret said from her seat on a nearby bench. David had his arm wrapped around her shoulder looking as content as she'd ever seen him.

Emma ignored them and continued pacing.

At least they were no longer in immediate danger now that Regina was safely in custody. She didn't want to think about the kind of carnage the woman would be unleashing on Storybrooke had they not managed to contain her magic; a task which in and of itself had been pretty rough.

Emma didn't have a whole lot of experience with magic – certainly not with using it – so she didn't have a great frame of reference for how things like that were supposed to go. The vast majority of the magic she'd seen was made up of Regina's mother, Cora, throwing herself and Mary Margaret around like rag dolls. And what they'd done to Regina... that had been intense.

Their plan hadn't been particularly heroic, not that she really cared about that given what she knew about everything the former Queen had done. After leaving Gold's shop they had immediately contacted the Blue Fairy and organized the ambush. Having just watched Archie's murder, Emma had been all too happy to be the one to draw Regina out, using threats to her rights to see Henry as a way to distract the brunette while Blue took her unaware.

It had worked perfectly, right up until the part where Regina had fought back. Blue had said the binding spell wouldn't hurt her, but those blisters had looked painful. And when she kept fighting it, Emma had been sure that the blue shell was going to shatter and they'd all be dust.

But it didn't.

Thankfully, Regina had passed out before she could do any more damage to herself or anyone else. Which, while fantastic, meant now Emma was left to clean up the mess.

And what a mess it was.

How could Regina do this to Henry? To both of them? They had been working things out. Building a trust. Why would she throw it all away over something so petty as an argument with Archie. The more Emma thought about it, the less sense it made.

And then there was that first interrogation. Regina had seemed so genuinely surprised when David had reported Archie's murder. Her reaction had been a masterful performance that Emma had completely bought. At the time, her gut told her that the former Queen was telling the truth, and like a sap she had believed her. That's why she'd been so angry after watching the scene play out on the dream catcher. She'd gone out on a ledge to vouch for Regina and in return the brunette had given her a shove and then left her to fall. And she didn't even had the decency to cop to her crime, even after she'd been caught red handed. It was all so infuriating.

Emma paused her pacing.

She may not have been great friends with him, but she knew that Archie was a good man. He deserved better.

She looked up to see Henry's bus pulling around the corner.

Here we go.

In what seemed like no time he was off the bus and racing across the street.

"Hey Emma," he called as he approached her. He smiled when he spotted Mary Margaret and David, who had just risen from the bench they'd been occupying. "Why's everyone picking me up today?" When Emma didn't reply, his expression changed to one of concern. "What's going on?"

Emma swallowed and exchanged a look with Mary Margaret. The brunette nodded at her. "Look kid, we need to talk." She guided him onto the sidewalk and toward the now vacant bench. "Something happened today." They sat down.

She paused, unsure how best to break the news.

"Emma?" he said, sounding so much younger than she'd ever heard him sound.

She swallowed and met his eye. "Henry, Archie was hurt last night."

The boy's eye's widened. "But he's okay?"

She felt moisture gathering along the edges of her eyes. Swallowing the lump in her throat, she continued, "He's not kid."

Henry shook his head, looking at Mary Margaret and David. When they didn't deny it, he turned back to Emma. "H-How did... what happened?"

Emma got off the bench and knelt down in front of him. "It was Regina." She tried to keep her voice soft and apologetic. "She's the one that hurt him Henry. I'm sorry."

He was off the bench before she could say another word. "No. She wouldn't do that."

Mary Margaret spoke up, her voice apologetic. "She did it Henry. We all saw."

"You're wrong." He was adamant. "She's changing. She saved you. Both of you."

David came over to him, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Henry, I know this is hard, but it's the truth."

The boy brushed past David and moved back to Emma, who was still kneeling in front of the bench. "Emma, she wouldn't hurt him. She wouldn't do that to me."

She felt a bead of liquid roll down her cheek. She shook her head. "I wanted to believe in her too, kid. I really did. I wanted her to be better."

Henry stepped back shaking his head. "No, you're wrong. You don't understand." He sounded so frustrated. "When the curse broke, everyone was supposed to get their happy endings." He point at David and Mary Margaret. "Snow and Prince Charming found each other." He looked to Emma. "You found your parents." He paused. "And I found you."

The tears were flowing freely now as her son looked at her with nothing but love in his eyes. "I know kid." She looked back at her parents. "W-We're all each other happy endings." Facing him again, "But I don't see how-"

Henry cut her off. "Hansel and Gretel found their father. Cinderella married Prince Thomas. Even Mr. Gold found Belle. It's not just us. It's everyone. All of Storybrooke. Except mom." Pause. "But she needs her happy ending too."

"Oh Henry," Mary Margaret took a step forward. "I don't think that's possible. Not anymore."

"It is," he insisted. "I know that she lost her True Love, but..." Another pause. "She still loves me."

"No, Henry. That's not happening," Emma insisted, ending off that line of thinking. "We're not going to let her take you from us."

He sighed. "I don't mean it like that, Emma. She won't take me. She already let me go, even though she didn't want to." He turns to David. "You were there. You heard her. She told me to go with you. That she was going to try to be better for me." His gaze settled back on Emma. "She doesn't want to hurt anyone anymore. She just wants to see me. I'm her happy ending."

Emma heard Mary Margaret gasp.

Henry ignored her, plowing forward, "I want to see her too. I want to talk to her."

Mary Margaret stepped forward, shaking her head.. "Henry, she killed Archie."

He shook his head again. "No she didn't."

"That's what I thought at first too, kid, but I saw her do it. We used magic to see a memory of the attack."

"You watched her memory?" he asked incredulously.

"Not hers, it was from... someone else." Emma couldn't tell him that the memory in question came from a dog. It was already proving extremely difficult to convince him of the truth of Regina's guilt.

"Then you don't know for sure," Henry went on. "The memory you saw could be a fake."

Emma realized that she would need to question David on what exactly happened while they'd been in the Enchanted Forrest. The boy's relationship with his adoptive mother had clearly changed. In all the months she had not him, he had never been this supportive of the woman.

"She didn't do this." He stated one final time, as though his words would put the matter to rest.

Emma looked into his eyes. He was so certain of Regina's innocence. Just as he had been so sure that the curse was real. And that Mary Margaret and David were her parents.

That thought gave Emma pause. Henry had been right about everything so far. Maybe it was time she started listening to him. Started trusting him.

But she had seen Regina kill Archie...

Emma rose slowly to her feet. She turned to face her parents. "We need to be sure about this."

"Emma," Mary Margaret warned.

"Regina's locked up," Emma said, cutting her off. "We can get the dream catcher from Gold and use it on her. We'll check to see if her memory matches up with the one we saw." She looked at Henry. "It's the only way to know for sure."

When Regina woke the first thing she felt was a terrible throbbing pain in her hands. She brought them up to her face and slowly opened her eyes, bracing herself for the carnage.

She frowned.

They looked... okay. Aside from a few angry red patches along her palms, her skin was intact. The worst of the damage was gone, healed. By who? The Blue Fairy perhaps?

So, magic can be used against me but not by me.

That was interesting. It meant that the charm that was blocking her magic was not the same dampening spell that had been used against her in the Enchanted Forest. That spell, which had been coupled with a simple immobilization enchantment, had rendered her magic completely inert. She had been turned into the magical equivalent of anti-matter, canceling out any magic directed at her or controlled by her. She had been unable to use her powers, but at the same time, no magic could have been used against her.

But this was different. It was as if she was being contained within a one-directional shell, designed to prevent only her magic from interacting with anything outside the confines of the bubble. And when she attempted to use her powers, the magic, having nowhere to escape to, recycled back on her causing the blistering of her skin.

Thinking back to the pain the fairy's magic has inflicted upon her, Regina had to give the little blue pest a small bit of credit. Her spell was equally effective and malicious. She would never have thought that the woman who had lived as a nun for twenty-nine years had it in her to be so cruel. Clearly she'd been mistaken.

Wincing slightly, Regina sat up and looked around. She was on a cot in the Sheriff's station, locked in the same cell that they'd kept her in after the curse had broken. Apparently they'd fixed the door after it had been ripped away by the wraith.

How nice for them.

She glanced through the bars of her cell, but saw no one. No guards in sight. The idiots had left her alone.

Bringing her feet to the floor, she gazed back down at her hands. She could still feel the fairies' spell on her skin, but the blue glow was gone. Testing her magic, she attempted to conjure a small flame in her hand. A painful jolt shot through her arm, but no flames materialized. That was to be expected. She wagered it would be days before the spell faded away fully.

She stretched her shoulders and sighed, grateful that at least she could move again. Much like the previous time she'd found herself a guest in the Charming family dungeon, the immobilization charm had worn off after a short time.

Regina pushed off the cot and stood on wobbly legs, cursing her choice in footwear as she stumbled, landing against the bars of the cell. She tugged against them, testing their strength. They were solid and she was in no condition to stage a prison break. But she needed to do something. In the days it would take for her to regain access to her magic, there would be plenty of time for Emma and her parents to have their little tribunal.

The whole thing would be a farce. A kangaroo court, where all of Storybrooke would line up to weigh in on her fate. As if they had any right to judge her.

She closed her eyes and let her forehead rest against the bars. Henry would be there. Would he plead for her life? No. She doubted it. Not after Emma told him of the cricket's demise. He would believe her lies.

Tears pooled in her eyes, slowly tracking down her cheeks, as she thought of her son hating her all over again. And after they had come so far over the last few weeks. He had believed in her. But now, with his 'real' mother safe and home with him, he would probably cheer along with the mob.

A sob escaped her throat.

"Could that be remorse you're feeling, your Majesty?"

Regina's eyes shot open. She lifted her head off the bars and looked up to see the fairy seated primly on the sofa next to the deputies desk. She had a small leather bound book in her hand and a look of pure satisfaction on her face. How had she missed her?

"Would you care to make a confession?" the pest asked.

"To you? I don't think so." Regina's voice was low and – she hoped – menacing. She stepped back from the bars, not bothering to wipe the tears from her eyes. She didn't care what the fairy thought of her.

She sat back down on the cot and attempted to make some sense of all that had happened. She knew very little. Someone had killed the cricket – with magic, based on Sheriff Swan's assertions – and then framed her for the murder. The only real suspect was Gold, who was no doubt seeking a second chance at getting retribution for Belle's thirty-plus year imprisonment.

It would have been all too simple for him to have taken on her likeness, using his shape shifting spell he'd taught her a lifetime ago. Once he was disguised in her form, he would have allowed Ms. Lucas to observe him on his way to the Dr. Hopper's office. That would have been the easiest way to place her at the scene of the crime. And with no witnesses in her defense, no albeit, and no credibility... she was as good as guilty. There was little chance that she would be able to prove her innocence to them.

That left her with precious few options. She could do nothing, and await whatever fate her captors (or more likely Gold) had in store for her.

Or...

She could attempt to once again fight the fairies' magic. Her first effort had not been successful, but it had been educational. Before she'd lost consciousness, she'd felt minute cracks forming in the containment shell. The enchantment had definitely weakened beneath the onslaught of her magic. And now, with the immobilization component having faded, there was a good chance that she could focus her magic enough to do some real damage. She wouldn't necessarily be able to take down the entire shell, but perhaps she could create a crack large enough to dispel a portion of her magic. Enough to allow her to teleport to her mausoleum, or maybe just blast away the door of her cell.

There was really only one choice. She needed to act, but the question of when she should make her attempt still remained. It would be prudent to wait until well after nightfall, when most of Storybrooke would be asleep and, hopefully, she would be unguarded. That would allow her the best chance of a successful escape. However; waiting that long came with two very big risks: Gold could come for her, not wanting to waste time now that she was trapped and helpless, or Emma and her parents could decide not to wait to hold her trial.

And then there was Henry to think about. The longer she delayed, the greater the chance that Emma and the two idiots would succeed in poisoning him against her. The sooner she broke down the fairies' spell, the sooner she could talk to her son. Plead her case to him.

She could not afford to wait.

Regina leaned back on the cot, attempting to stay out of the fairies' eye line. It wouldn't do well to give herself away before she got going. She took a few calming breaths, preparing herself. This was really going to hurt.

She closed her eyes and concentrated, slowly building and focusing her magic. Unfortunately, the pain was not as slow to build as her magic, which immediately manifested as a throbbing at the base of her skull. She ignored it, focusing on her task. She could feel the cracks she'd made earlier, unsealed after her previous attack. That was good. That made her job easier. She pushed her magic against them, expanding them and choosing the largest to target.

Her work was laborious and the pain was becoming more intense. She heard a soft whimper, but could only guess as to whether it came from her or not.

"What are you doing?" the fairy asked.

Regina didn't answer, completely focused on her task.

"You're attempting to shatter the containment spell," continued the useless pest. "It won't work, your Majesty."

She pushed harder, forcing her magic against the largest crack, widening it as quickly has she could.

"I won't allow you to do this."

Regina felt her limbs stiffen. She couldn't move, couldn't breath. The blue bitch had used another immobilization charm.

It doesn't matter.

Her power would not be contained. Magic surged through every pore of her body.

"Stop!"

The fairies' calls were only a distant buzzing now.

"You can't!"

The air smelled of magic, copper, and burning flesh.

"Please!"

She no longer felt any pain, just the warm, slow trickles flowing from her ears and nose.

"You don't know what you're doing!"

The crack was as wide as it was going to get. She gathered all of her remained strength and focusing on the small fissure. Then she waited, allowing the magic to build to a single massive collection of energy.

"You'll kill us both!"

Regina unleashed her magic.

And then the room exploded.

[TBC]

End Note: God it feels good writing a pro-Regina Henry. Totally cathartic after what's going on in my WIP. Part two of this one will be up after the next chapter of Rockland.