Note: There will be at least one more chapter that I will post as soon as it's finished.

Warnings: past gang violence, repercussions of violence

Henry bit into the apple turnover. He knew what it would mean, what it would do to him, but he had to show her, he had to make her see. If she left it would all be over and nobody would ever get their happy ending.

Emma frowned as Henry continued to chew. "See? Do you want to have some ice-cream with that? Then we can go back to talking about how things are going to change."

Henry took another bite, and another as Emma fished the ice-cream out of the freezer. She turned around with the cartoon of ice cream and two spoons to find Henry had already devoured half the turnover. It was bigger than his face when he started, she didn't know whether to be worried or impressed.

"I guess you're not sharing then."

Henry pulled the turnover away from his mouth and stared at it. "I don't understand." He frowned. "It's apple. It's supposed to be poison."

"Henry." Emma abandoned the ice-cream and spoons on the counter. She bent down to his level and gently gripped both his shoulders to try to give her next words their best chance at getting through to him. "Your mom isn't an evil queen. Sure she's a little bossy, and kind of mean some times...really mean sometimes..." Emma shook her head and got back to the matter at hand. "She loves you and she's your mom. There is no curse. Okay?"

Tears welled in Henry's eyes. He couldn't make her believe and he didn't know what to believe anymore. All he knew for sure was if there was no curse then there was no way he could convince Emma to stay.

The turnover fell from his hands, forgotten. He rushed into the woman who had given him life and held on with everything he could. "Please don't go."

Emma returned the embrace with both arms and closed her eyes as her heart broke. She didn't want to leave him, but she knew it was the best thing she could do for him right now. "I have to."

…

Four Months Later

Music bumped loudly from the backyard of the mayoral mansion. It reverberated into the house and gave Regina a headache that pulsed the vein on her forehead. She had to get the music turned down or her head just might explode.

The mayoral mansion was filled to brim with Henry's new found friends and classmates. It was his eleventh birthday party and for the first time he actually had friends to invite. He had made much progress since Emma left, and had slowly stopped bringing up any notion of evil queens and saviors. Sometimes Henry would smile and for a moment Regina let herself believe that her son didn't still despise her.

She made her way through the sea of children and parents until she made it outside where Ruby Lucas was either practicing being a terrible DJ or frantically looking for the volume knob. Instead of joining Ruby's quest Regina took a short cut and unplugged the machine.

"Oh thank god!" Ruby said too loudly with remnant effects from the music blasting in her ears. "My hero!" She declared just as loudly when she spotted Regina holding the cord.

Regina suppressed her smirk. "Remind me not to tip you."

"Joke's on you, I volunteered for this gig."

"I meant ever."

Ruby narrowed her eyes and stuck out her tongue in protest.

Regina rolled her own, both in disbelief that Ruby could be so immature and that the immature fool had somehow become her closet friend; her only friend.

She let the cord drop from her hand and watched the guests mingle in the backyard, ruining her lawn. "What do you think? Is the party a success?"

Ruby wasn't fooled by Regina's stoic appearance. She had spent enough time with the woman to speak Madam Mayor fluently. She could see all the insecurities Regina was so good at pretending she didn't have. "Everyone's having a good time. You did good Regina." Ruby smiled in hopes of eliciting one from the too serious mayor.

Regina frowned instead, unable to locate the person she was searching for as she glanced around the yard and back inside through the glass doors. "Where's Henry?"

Ruby's eyes took a sweep of their own and her smile turned sympathetic. "He said he was going to go wait for Emma, but that was an hour ago."

Regina sighed deeply. Emma Swan continued to be a pain in her backside even when the woman wasn't in town. Henry's hero worship had yet to subside. If by some miracle Emma let him down, Henry always found a way to blame Regina. Everything was always Regina's fault, including Emma's last 3 cancellations. She rubbed at her temple, fighting the headache that threatened to come back. "Do you know where she is?"

Ruby shook her head. "I haven't spoken to her in a few days, but she did say she was coming."

"She RSVP'd with me as well." Not that it necessarily meant anything. Regina had always expected Emma to bail. She was more surprised to find she was disappointed in the blonde for actually doing so. "I better go check on Henry."

"Good luck!" Ruby called to Regina's retreating form. She was going to need it.

Regina opened the front door and finally found Henry sitting on the front step in-between the pillars. His posture straightened with the sound of every passing car, but his shoulders drooped again when he realized it wasn't Emma.

Regina's heart broke seeing her son's sad form. She carefully held her skirt in place and lowered herself to join him on the step. She knew she couldn't make it better, but she wouldn't let him be alone. "You're missing the party." She gently spoke after moments of silence. He shrugged without so much as glancing in her direction. "Don't you want to have fun with your friends?"

He didn't shrug again or give any indication that he had heard her. He kept his eyes on the pathway to the house just watching and listening for any sign of his 'real' mother.

Regina stayed with him even in his silence. Even if she wasn't the mother he wanted she wouldn't let her little boy be alone, especially on his birthday.

"Emma's not coming is she?" Henry finally spoke after the cold from the ground had seeped through Regina's skirt.

"We could try calling her."

"I already did." He picked up the phone he had hidden on his other side. "Her phone's off." His lip trembled as he did his best to fight back the tears.

"Henry," She reached out a consoling hand, but Henry leaned away as soon as he felt its presence.

"Don't pretend like you care." He stood to get further away and talked down to her. The tears continued to well in his eyes with a ting of anger. "You didn't want her to come anyway. You probably told her not to. You can't keep her from me."

"Henry," She stayed seated on the step and resisted the urge to reach out to him again. "I'm not trying to, I promise you."

He shook his head defiantly as the tears finally ran down his cheeks. "You're a liar, you'll never change!"

"Henry," She stood to try to grab him before he ran away. As always, he slipped right through her fingers. He ran down the pathway away from the house. "Henry!" She called out for him again, but he was already gone.

She closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose to fight back tears of her own. It was always one step forward two steps back.

"Want me to go after him?"

Regina was startled by Ruby's voice behind her. She composed herself before turning back to her friend. "Do you think he would listen to you?"

Ruby shrugged. "Wouldn't hurt to try."

"Yes, try. Is that too much so ask?" She picked up the discarded phone and gripped it harder than was necessary.

"Uh..." Regina's sudden anger gave Ruby the distinct feeling she was talking about somebody else; somebody blonder.

She pulled her eyes away from the phone to look at her friend. "Would you mind watching Henry until I get back?"

"Sure. Where are you going?"

"Hunting." Regina's eyes were back on the phone.

"...I'm not even going to ask."

Regina dialed the number as Ruby started her quest of finding Henry.

A new fire burned in her eyes as she held the phone to her ear. It didn't ring once before a familiar voice came through the line. "Hey, it's Emma, I'm busy. Leave a message."

"Prepare yourself, Miss Swan. I'm coming for you."

…

Regina was ready to go home as soon as she got to Boston. The drive was long and tedious. Sitting in big city traffic only ground down the last of her patience.

She had Emma's address memorized from the constant flow of letters Henry sent out and received. She didn't understand why they didn't Email like normal people, but Henry seemed to enjoy it so she let them have their fun.

It eased her annoyance to find at least Emma's apartment wasn't a complete hovel. It was a modest complex, though she did find the security measures to be lacking. She had no trouble getting past the locked doors. She put on her friendliest face and simply waited for someone else to leave the building, the neighbor even did her the courtesy of holding the door open to let her in.

She made her way to Emma's floor, getting turned around a few time but eventually figuring out which way the numbers went. She raised an eyebrow as she passed a door cordoned off by yellow police tape.

She had to turn around again when she noticed the numbers had gotten too high and she had passed Emma's apartment. She ran into the same problem as the numbers got too low. She went back up, only to find her way back to the police tape. She read the numbers on the door and her eyes widened as an ominous feeling crept into her chest. "No." A quiet gasp escaped her. "Emma."

Her hand reached out to touch the door; it creaked open with the light pressure. She took a quick glance around for any prying eyes and pushed the door open further.

Still standing in the hall, it was obvious the apartment was destroyed. She ducked under the police tape to investigate further. The sofa was tipped over and the coffee table in front of it lay in pieces. A lamp and television didn't fare much better, shattered just the same. The holes in the walls varied in size, as big as a fist sized and as small as bullet. It was when she noticed the blood stains in the carpet that she couldn't hide her concern anymore.

Frantically, shee pulled her phone from her purse and dialed the idiot.

"Hey, it's Emma, I'm busy. Leave a mes-"

"Damn it Emma." She hung up before the recording finished. "Where are you?" She spoke into the empty, ruined apartment.

"Should you be in there, young lady?" A little old lady voice came from the open door.

Regina turned to find there was in fact a little old lady standing there, watching her.

She adjusted her large bifocals to get a better look at the trespassing mayor. "Are you one of Emma's friends?"

"I-" Technically the answer was no, but she felt like that wouldn't get her anywhere so she opted for a different truth. "She's the mother of my son."

"Oh, you're one of those lebby-what's-its." She rubbed her chin thoughtfully. "Emma never mentioned she is a lady gay. That explains so much." She continued speaking as Regina met her at the door. "I don't recall her ever mentioning having a son either. Are you divorced?" She didn't give the stunned mayor a chance to answer. "I suppose I can't blame her for not wanting to talk about it. Look at you, you're gorgeous. I'd be ashamed to have divorced you as well." She still didn't give Regina time to respond, not that that she knew how. "Such a shame what happened to her though. Your boy must be devastated."

"You know what happened?" Regina found her voice.

"Oh, yes. The whole building does. There was police and paramedics. I live right next door, I heard the whole thing. Your Emma put up quite the fight."

"Wha-" The feeling in her chest gripped harder as her heart pounded. "Is she-" Regina didn't know what to ask. She wasn't sure if she even wanted to know. She couldn't begin to imagine how she would face Henry if the worse had happened.

The little old lady saw the turmoil in Regina's eyes. "Oh you poor dear, no one told you?"

Regina shook her head.

"Come here." The little old lady reach a hand under the police tape.

Regina accepted the hand and with her other closed the door behind her as she left the apartment.

The little old lady held Regina's hand in both of hers and stood close enough to have to tilt her head back to look at Regina properly. "Some thugs broke into her apartment. Nothing like that has ever happened before; the police believe she was targeted. I tried to check in on her at Boston Medical, but they wouldn't give me any details because I'm not family."

The tightness in Regina's chest release enough for her to breathe again. "She's alive." She said more to reassure herself.

"Yes. That much I'm sure of."

"I have to go." Regina had a new mission. She pulled her hand away and hurried to find the elevator. "Thank you!" She called back, suddenly remembering her manners.

…

She sped through the streets of Boston, weaving through traffic in her black Mercedes. She ran three red lights in the process. The white lights that flashed told her to expect infraction fines in the mail.

At the hospital, her pace never slowed. The automatic doors almost didn't open fast enough to accommodate her speed. She read every sign as she passed them until she figured out where she was going.

"Can I help you?" A nurse asked as soon as Regina arrived to what she thought was the right floor.

She closed the distance to the nurses' station before she spoke. "I'm looking for Emma Swan."

The nurse typed the name in to the computer. "Are you family?"

She couldn't say no. Saying no would mean being turned away, but she wasn't comfortable saying yes either.

Under the counter, she switched her ring from her right hand to her left and could only hope the nurse would jump to similar conclusions as the little old lady. She brought both her hands up on the counter in plain view. With genuine sincerity she told him the truth. "She's the mother of my son."

"Oh," The nurse's surprise was followed by more typing and clicking of a mouse. "That's strange." He looked up from his computer screen. "Emma's file doesn't mention being married."

"I'm not surprised." Regina kept up with the truth. "She has always been lacking when paper work is involved."

"You were just recently married?"

"You could say that."

"Congratulations." The nurse smiled brightly.

Regina tried to return it with her best politician smile, but it may have come out as more of a grimace.

The nurse got up from his desk and signaled for Regina to follow. "Right this way, Mrs. Swan."

With those last two words she realized she had made a horrible, horrible mistake. The grimace shot into her eyes as her teeth clenched tightly together.

The nurse stopped at a closed door and turned back to Regina as he put his hand on the handle to open it. "Before we go in there, I just want to reassure you that it's not as bad as it looks. She's a little banged up and will be in pain for some time, but the doctors are sure she'll make a full recovery. She's young and in good health. She'll bounce back."

The nurse meant well, but his reassurances only built up Regina's anxieties. She was tired of not knowing. She just wanted to rip the Band-Aid off and see for herself.

She got her wish as the door slowly swung open. Her breath caught in her throat as Emma entered her sight.

Emma's face was black, blue, and swollen, she had a split lip and her head was wrapped in a bandage. The knuckles on her left hand were red and scabbing, while her right was covered in a white cast.

"Emma." Regina whispered, but Emma's eyes didn't open.

"She's just sleeping." The nurse explained. "We gave her something for the pain. It might be some time before she wakes up. She was exhausted last time I saw her."

Regina stepped closer to the unconscious blonde. Her hand hovered over Emma's bare arm, where she discovered more scratches and bruises. "What happened?" She asked in a low voice to keep from disturbing Emma's sleep.

"She was attacked, that's all I know. The police didn't talk to you?"

"I…I was out of town. I didn't know." She gently let a finger trail on an unscathed patch of skin on Emma's arm. Emma finger's twitched and Regina snapped her hand back to her side, afraid she had hurt her. She looked back up at the nurse with new levels of anxiety.

"She's a twitcher." He shrugged. "She's fine. You can hold her hand if you want." He pointed to the blonde's left. "Just be mindful of her knuckles."

He left the room, promising to send the doctor to answer any questions and to be back later to check in on them. They would have a lot to discuss in terms of Emma's recovery once she woke up. Until then, Regina was left alone with her son's unconscious birth mother and she had no idea what to do.

She couldn't sit against the wall while pretending to be a dutiful wife. She dragged a chair to Emma's bedside and sat close to her.

She considered calling Ruby to let her know the situation, but she knew it would only worry her, and Henry would pick up on it. She figured she was already doing enough worrying for both of them and decided it would be best just to wait to get more information from the doctor.

She eyed Emma's hand remembering the nurse's suggestion. She poked it to test the nurse's assurances that it was not a zombie hand. It didn't move again, but she watched it warily nonetheless.

Her eyes wandered away from Emma's hand and up the blonde's torn up arm to her damaged face. Regina let out a discontented sigh. "What kind of mess have you gotten yourself into now, Miss Swan?" She was disappointed when Emma didn't respond. No rolling of the eyes or abrasive talk back. Emma was still and quiet. Along with the cuts and bruises, Regina found they were not colors she enjoyed on the blonde.

She rummaged through her purse for something prettier to look at and pulled out an old photograph. She looked at in longingly as a smiling Henry looked back at her. It was taken just after his eighth birthday before both their worlds had fallen apart and he still smiled at her.

She wondered how different things would be if she had chosen to lie to him when he asked about being adopted. All she had to do was call Mr. Gold a liar and make up some story about an absentee father. She knew for a fact Emma had no trouble conjuring up a fable about such a father, and Henry had believed every word.

She set the picture on the nightstand and leaned it up against a pink pitcher of water so it could stand watch over Emma. At least that way someone Emma actually liked could be there for her.

Henry wouldn't hesitate to hold Emma's hand if he were there. He would hold on and never let go, so he could make sure Emma wouldn't feel alone.

Regina was never was much of a hand holder. She wasn't used to any displays of physical affection. Henry had changed her, constantly clinging on to her in the early years of his life. He was right about hand holding, it made everything a little bit better and made her never feel alone.

She missed it.

Regina's eyes wandered back to Emma's hand. She sighed deeply. "If I hold your hand will you promise to be alright?"

Emma's finger twitched up in what Regina interpreted as a 'yes'.

"You better not be lying to me." She warned.

She gently nudged her hand under Emma's palm and let her fingers curl back up against the back of Emma's hand. Regina couldn't be certain, but she thought she felt Emma's hand twitch again to try to close around hers.

…

Regina didn't remember falling asleep, but she woke up to the sounds of someone moving around. Her eyes blinked open and the crick in her neck let her know she slept in a chair.

"Sorry," The nurse smiled guiltily standing on the other side of Emma's bed. "I didn't mean to wake you. I just have to check on Emma's bandages." He carefully lifted Emma's head and started to unwrap the bandage.

Emma's hand had tightened around Regina's overnight. She had to practically pry it off finger by finger to free herself.

Regina discovered new cricks in her body as she stood up and stretched. She had a desperate need to move around, and she needed coffee, lots and lots of coffee.

"The cafeteria serves decent coffee if you're interested." The nurse revealed himself as some sort of mind reader.

Regina nodded in appreciation. She would need at least two cups of coffee before she could thank him coherently. The six missed calls from Ruby told her to make it three cups of coffee. She excused herself from the room to let him work and get herself four cups of coffee just to be safe.

…

Ow. The throbbing pain throughout Emma's body started to come back as she slipped out of dreamland and the remnants of the drugs she was given faded away. It hurt to breathe, probably something to do with her fractured ribs. She stared up at the ceiling and tried to focus on not breathing too efficiently to minimize the pain.

The nurse's head popped in to block Emma's view of the ceiling. "Morin' sunshine." His cheery voice and bright white smile made her head pound. She liked Nurse Krem, but Emma was not in the mood for his wonderfulness. "How's the pain today?"

Emma only grunted in response.

"That bad huh?" He inspected the morphine drip. "I'll talk to the doctor about giving you more of the good stuff."

Emma gave a more appreciative grunt.

"Are you thirsty?" He chuckled when Emma licked her lips in anticipation. At the water pitcher he discovered the photograph and smiled brightly again. "Is this your son?" He showed Emma the picture.

Ignoring her body's protest she reached for the picture and studied it in bewilderment. It wasn't a picture she had ever seen before. He was younger than when she had first met him and he was missing his two front teeth.

"What's his name?" Nurse Krem asked.

"Henry." She finally looked at him. "Where'd if come from?"

He placed the straw in her mouth and held the cup to let her get a drink of water. "Your wife must have left it."

Emma choked on the water and began a coughing fit that made all her injuries burn.

"Whoa!" Nurse Krem helped Emma sit up. "You alright there?" He asked as the fit ended.

"My what?"

"Your wife." He settled Emma back down. "Why didn't you tell me you were married? I would've tracked her down for you. She came in last night looking for you. She's probably still a little sore from sleeping in that chair. She held your hand the whole night." He gave Emma's shoulder a gentle congratulatory fist bump. "That's some dedication."

"My…wife?" Emma asked for clarity.

"She should be back soon. I think she just went to stretch her legs and grab some coffee."

Maybe Emma hit her head harder than she had thought, she was pretty sure she didn't have a wife. Either Nurse Krem was mistaken or Emma's medical bills were going to get a lot more expensive.

"I don't-" The door opened before Emma could confess.

"There she is." Krem smiled at Regina.

"Regina!?" The shock of seeing her almost made her forget the pain.

"Emma." Regina actually looked relieved. There was definitely something going on with Emma's brain.

"I'll leave you guys to it." Krem excused himself. "If you're going to yell at her for not calling you sooner, please do it gently."

"Hi." It was all she could think to say once they were alone.

"Well?" Regina crossed her arms and the angry face Emma knew so well came back. "Why didn't you call? Send smoke signals, a text message, anything. You missed our son's birthday. He thinks you stood him up. Again."

"Our son?"

"Yes, Miss Swan. Henry. The boy you gave birth to and turned against me. You do remember him don't you?" The bite in Regina's voice was lessened by the mixture of hurt and concern in her eyes.

Things seemed to be more normal than Emma had feared. "So, we're not actually married and this bump on my head didn't make me forget?"

Regina rolled her eyes. "No you buffoon. You watch too many soap operas."

"Oh thank god." Emma relaxed and sank into the bed.

"No need to be so torn up about it, dear."

The split in Emma's lip stopped her from grinning as wide as she wanted to. "I would just hate to forget our first date. Who do think made the first move?"

Regina brushed off Emma's teasing. She didn't give her so much as an eye roll. "Are you going to answer the question?"

Emma sighed and regretted it immediately as the extra breath pushed against her ribs. "What was I supposed to say? 'Sorry kid, can't make it. Got the shit beat out of me.'"

"You should have called me. I would have been here sooner."

The pounding in her head started a new symphony. "What do you care?"

"You asked to stay in Henry's life. You're important to him, so I expect you to try a little harder to stay alive."

Emma tried to laugh, but it came out more of a yelp. She clutched her left arm around her ribs.

"What on earth happened to you?"

Emma sighed more carefully. "Turns out when you go after the leader of a motorcycle gang, the motorcycle gang goes after you." She closed her eyes for a moment and when she opened them again Regina was still staring at her. "What?"

Regina's arms unraveled as her anger flared up again. "Why would you do something so stupid?"

"He had a high bounty on his head. It was a good pay day." She half shrugged.

"You risked your life for money?"

"Of course not." Emma denied it.

"And what about all the other times you failed to show up? Were you off playing Russian roulette with the mafia?"

Emma had had enough of Regina's exasperated tone. She didn't need a lecture about her career choices. "I just wanted to be able to get the kid something nice, you know? Everything I never had, maybe start saving up for his future. College is really expensive, and he'll probably get into an Ivy League or something." She sank further into the bed. "Why did you have to make him so smart?"

Regina stared with an angry crease on her forehead. "You idiot." She had called Emma an idiot a countless amount of time, but all of those lacked the ferocity Regina had now. "I have money." Her fingers thumped against her chest when she brought her hand up to emphasize her point. "I didn't let you stay in his life so you could kill yourself trying to give him things. He already has things. He has toys, and comic books, and useless gadgets that he never uses and come his sixtieth birthday he'll have his pick of car. I can give him everything else, Miss Swan, but you already have the thing he needs most. The one thing he doesn't want from me." Regina eyes began to water.

Intrigued, Emma sat up straighter and regretted her movement. When the pain settled again she looked into Regina's eyes and asked her to continue.

"Love." Regina seemed to deflate.

Emma always knew Regina was a woman at the end of her rope, she was just too stubborn to ever let go. There in that hospital room Regina couldn't hold. The mask of anger melted away and revealed the deep seeded sadness Regina tried so hard to lock away.

"You can't really believe that."

Regina didn't need to speak; Emma already saw the answer in her eyes. There was a slouch to her walk. It was like she was giving up as she lowered herself in the chair by Emma's bed. "Your son hates me."

"Our son." Emma corrected and then remembered to correct the rest. "And he doesn't hate you."

Regina picked up the forgotten picture of Henry on Emma's bed. She let her hand rest there and gazed at it with a longing Emma often felt; the longing to love and be loved.

Emma's fingers fidgeted against the blankets, unsure of what to do with Regina's new vulnerability. "Does he still call you the Evil Queen?"

"Yes," Regina sighed. "But Dr. Hopper reassures me he's let go of all the fairytale nonsense. He only does it to hurt me."

"Seriously?" The part of Emma's brow that wasn't swollen furrowed in sympathy.

"I suppose we know where that falls in nature versus nurture."

The self-depreciation panged away at Emma's heart, as if she didn't already have enough pain to deal with. She inched her hand over to where Regina had hers on the bed. She tucked her fingers into Regina's palm and gave a soft reassuring squeeze. "He'll come around."

Regina's walls began to come back as she brought her eyes up to meet Emma's and pulled her hand away.

"What? You can hold my hand all night, but I can't hold yours for a second?"

Regina's eyes grew wide, scandalized.

Her lip almost spilt open with her satisfied grin. "Nurse Krem told me."