"Regina, don't do this!" The Prince cried out as she walked away from him, leaving him locked behind rusty bars, imprisoned not just physically but mentally as well. It was only going to be a matter of time before his guilt would consume him alive; bit by bit. His true love was going to sacrifice herself for him and all of this could've been avoided had he just stuck to the arrangement. But no, he had to stand up for love, his love, and in return it got him captured by the one woman in the world who could do anything she so desired with a snap of her fingers.

Regina, on the other hand, had a cheshire grin on her scarlet-painted lips as she sat in front of her vanity, "Mirror, show me Charming sitting in his cell." Her magical mirror obliged the request, a purple cloud spinning dimmed her reflection and instead showed the cell she had just left not that long ago. In it, Charming was slumped down against the wall. Clearly the realization that evil has won sank in and the Evil Queen couldn't be prouder. It may have taken longer than she expected but in the end, revenge prospered. "What a time to be alive. Good has lost and you have prevailed, my queen. Shall I show you where the bandit is so you can finish your plan?" Her mirror asked, spinning back into sight.

Regina pursed her lips at the mere thought of facing her step daughter yet again, but it faded once she started to picture Snow falling on the ground, trapped within the confines of her mind for all eternity; a curse worse than death because death is too much of a privilege for her. "No, I know exactly where she is." The queen turned around in her seat to face the two guards standing at her door, "Summon my carriage at once!" She ordered, "I have a certain bandit to meet with…"

While she proceeded with her plan to destroy good, the prince found some stamina and decided to try and break the bars to his cell somehow, he just had to get out of there and stop Snow from making a huge mistake. Every second that passed made his heartbeat quicken. There was nothing he could do behind the impenetrable bars except scream in frustration and pray for a miracle. An hour passed by slowly and Charming was slumped against the wall once more, tired from yelling and shaking and kicking at the cell.

Regina had instructed Snow to meet her at a disclosed location and made sure she was there minutes before so she could 'surprise' Snow. Sure enough, the ebony-haired bandit showed up to the small stable, looking around for her ex-stepmother. "I see you came. Follow me." She didn't Snow much of a chance to reply before she walked past her toward the small tombstone. Snow, of course, followed obediently and decided not to speak until she was asked a question.

"Do you see this?" She pointed at the tombstone, "You did this. All because you couldn't keep your mouth shut; because you couldn't keep a promise my mother killed Daniel. She crushed his heart right in front of me and acted as though she did me a favor." Tears stung her tear ducts, but she wouldn't dare let them fall and give the bandit the satisfaction of seeing her in a vulnerable state. "Regina, I'm sorry, but you have to understand that I was a child then." Snow pleaded, trying to reason with the woman she grew up around for the last ten years. "I don't care! Your carelessness cost someone their life! How do you expect to rule a kingdom if you can't even keep a simple promise?"

The queen didn't even bother to wait for a response. No, instead she held her palm out, an apple appearing out of thin air. "Take a bite of this and I will spare your precious Charming's life." "And what happens to me once I take a bite?" Snow asked, staring between the apple and Regina. A dark chuckle erupted from crimson lips, "You, my dear, will fall into a deep slumber. Never to wake again." The smirk on her face sent chills throughout the young woman. "And you promise to spare Charming? No harm will come to him?" Regina rolled her eyes and scoffed, "I won't hurt a hair on his 'pretty' little head." Snow stepped forward, taking a deep breath, "Fine. Deal."

Without a second thought she took the apple and bit into it, all the while Regina stared in amazement and glee as she watched the entire scene. Within ten seconds, Snow had fallen to the ground and the apple rolled from her seemingly lifeless grasp. Charming clutched his chest the exact moment Snow fell to the ground and it felt as if someone was squeezing his heart with a vice grip, leaving him gasping for air. It was done. Regina had won. With a victorious smile, she wasted no time making her way back to her castle, ready to rub her victory in the Prince's face before letting him go. Or should she let him go? She'd have time to think about it on the way back. It wasn't a mystery as to why Charming had felt such a stinging pain and once he had regained a steady breath, he let out a strangled cry because he knew his love was taken from him; ripped from the very tips of his fingers.

Just as he managed to rise to his feet, ready to curse at the set of guards down in the dungeons watching him, they all stood at attention simultaneously. "Well, well, well." A familiar voice rang throughout the echoey area. Didn't take a genius to know exactly who it was. "What do you want, Regina?" His voice was ragged, no doubt from all the yelling he had done, but Regina couldn't care less. With a wave of her hand, the cell opened but Charming was no fool, he backed up against the wall and kept his eyes on her at all times. "Guards, you may make yourselves scarce now."

She glanced over her shoulder and waited until they all disappeared before walking into the cell, closing and locking it behind her. "Here to kill me? Didn't feel like letting your guards do your dirty work?" He hissed, clenching his fists together. Regina simply chuckled, "Dear, if I wanted you dead, I would've snapped your neck like a twig so long ago. No, no…I think you'll serve your purpose better if you're alive." With narrowed eyes piercing through the queen, he stopped himself from losing his temper, "What are you talking about? Isn't taking Snow away from me enough? What did I ever do to you?!"

She stayed where she was, keeping a watchful eye on him, "Personally? You haven't done much. The fact that you were in 'love' with her doesn't bother me as much as you would think. I just figured you'd be useful to me alive and doing my bidding, rather than rotting away as a corpse in the ground. But should you desire death, I can make it happen within a meek heartbeat." Charming shook his head with utter disgust, "You expect me to be your servant?"

Regina sighed, "No, you idiot. I have enough of those. I was thinking more along the lines of a Second in Command here in the kingdom. I will admit that I'm not the best at communicating with these peasants and in order to keep the peace, or at least some of it, having you help run everything should smooth out some of the wrinkles in this land." Now he was dumbfounded. The same woman who wreaked havoc without remorse was coming to him for help, to become an advisor, to help her rule the kingdom. So now he was at a crossroad; death or life beside Regina. For a moment he stayed completely quiet, mulling over the pros and cons of each choice, and in the end he came to one conclusion. "Because I don't want Snow's sacrifice to go in vain, I will accept your offer to help you. Nothing else."

The brunette chuckled again, "I'm shocked. But don't think your temptations won't get the best of you…." She stepped toward him slowly, stopping just as their faces were an inch apart. "A man without love has been known to do things he thought he'd never do." He growled as she touched his face, regardless if it was delicate and her hand was as smooth as velvet. In a flash, Charming had grabbed both her hands, spun them around, pushed her against the wall and pinned her hands above her head. Her lips parted in shock, her eyes widened the moment she felt the cold stone against her back.

"What are you doing?!" She growled but Charming was much too strong to pull away from or push off her and with her hands out of use, she couldn't use magic to free herself. "So the queen wants to play, is that it? She wants a little toy to use whenever she feels like it and then throw away when she's done?" At a loss for words, she couldn't manage a single reply to his questions. "Well my queen, I am not a toy. I will not be used and abused, then thrown away like a rag doll. So you better get whatever cravings it is you're having under control. I'm here to keep the land peaceful, nothing more."

But something came over her and before she knew it, her lips were pressed against his and at first she thought the kiss was one sided, but then she felt his lips moving against hers and that's when she knew he was kissing her back. It lasted longer than she anticipated but when he finally broke the kiss, he let her hands go. Breathless, they both just stared at each other with intense glares until Regina waved her hands, instantly disappearing in a cloud of smoke, leaving him to ponder over what the hell just happened and how he had lost control of the situation. He was just about to sit back down in his cell when the door magically opened by itself.

Charming made his way out and upstairs into the castle, he had a job to do as well as choices to make and he intended on doing the best way he could.


AN: So this was just something that came to me the other day and I wanted to post it to see if you guys would enjoy it. If you all like it, I can continue it at a somewhat normal pace. But I thank you all for being patient with me, I know I'm not the best as constant updates.