"She's pregnant."

The words hung in the air. Regina could almost see them, and she certainly could feel them, lancing right into her bruised heart. Her jaw worked open and then snapped shut, and she brought up her clenched fists as if to conjure a fireball. But this was New York, and Regina was powerless. She could feel the phantom flames dancing against her palm, but no magic came forth. And frankly, she was glad, because in that moment, she wasn't sure who would have been on the receiving end. So, she did the only thing she could do. She turned on her heel and walked out of the apartment.

"Regina-" Emma called after her.

She kept walking.

"Regina-" Emma yelled, turning away from Robin to follow her out. She grabbed Lily's arm and dragged her along. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Robin start to follow and Zelena reach out to stop him. "Leave them, Robin," she said, still smug in her victory. Emma wanted nothing more than to punch Zelena right in the throat, but Regina needed her. So, down the stairs she and Lily went.

When she got outside, she found Regina standing in the street, her hands cupping her face. For a minute, Emma was transported back to the night when Marian first reappeared, opening the door of Granny's to find a broken Regina standing on the street. She pulled up short. "Regina?" she called hesitatingly.

"We have to go back. Now." There was no hesitation in Regina's voice. Emma started nodding, already walking back to the building door. "No, Emma. We have to go back to Storybrooke." Emma stopped short, and shot a confused look at Regina.

"What do you mean? We have to fix this!" Emma said, gesturing toward the building.

"Fix it? How?" Regina barked.

"We have to stop her…" Emma's voice trailed off at the look of steely resolve on Regina's face.

"We can't stop her. She's won this time. Robin won't leave, not when there's a child involved."

"But-"

Regina took a deep breath. "Miss Swan, right now we have three options. One," she said, ticking off a finger, "we storm in there and take Robin and Roland. We might be able to get him away from Zelena, but that leaves her with an unborn child to use as a pawn. Robin won't let that happen, and let's be honest…neither could we. Two," she said, and another finger went up, "we bring them all back to Storybrooke, where Zelena will have her magic again, and let her loose on the town. Maybe this time she'll destroy us all – is that what you want? Or three," and the final finger went up, "we play the long game. We can't do anything to protect that baby until it's born. We have to let Robin handle it. We go back to Storybrooke and deal with the author, and Lily, and Maleficent, and hope we make it through this latest crisis with a minimum of bloodshed. Then, once the baby is born, we try to do what we can to protect it, and Robin and Roland as well."

"So that's it?" Emma snapped. "We just wait it out and hope for the best?"

"Oh, Emma. Right now I'm just hoping for something a little bit better than the worst."

Regina and Emma were still facing off in the street when Robin came charging out of the building. "Regina!" he shouted, but as soon as she heard his voice, she turned her back and began walking back to Emma's stupid yellow car.

"Emma," she said, and jerked her head toward Robin. The blonde nodded, and reached out to intercept Robin as he tried to pass her. "Let me go!" she heard him say, and then Emma's flat response: "No." She opened the door of the Bug and dropped into the passenger seat. At that moment, she thought that they really should have brought her Mercedes. And then, at the sheer ridiculousness of the thought, she began to laugh. Of all things, the Mercedes would have been the thing to make this right. She laughed until the tears came, and then she curled up into a ball in the front seat, choking on her sobs.

"Let me go! I have to explain-" he started, pushing past Emma, but she cut him off with a sharp jab to his chest.

"Explain what?" she spat. "How babies are made? Explain that while she's been working nonstop trying to find a way to bring you and Roland back, you've been making a happy family with Marian? She doesn't need an explanation, Robin."

"I don't know what to do," he said. It was becoming an all-too-familiar refrain.

"Take care of Roland, and the baby. And then, when you can get clear, call us and we'll get you out of here."

"You're leaving?" he asked, desperation in his voice.

"We don't have much of a choice. Be careful, Robin. Call me if you need anything." And with that, Emma and Lily walked back to the Bug. He watched them go, and for the first time since Marian had died, he was terrified.

"What the hell was that?" Lily asked from the backseat, once the Bug had pulled away from the curb.

"Family reunion," Regina muttered, wiping her cheeks. "Be glad you're an only child."

Henry. With every mile that passed, Regina was closer to having Henry in her arms. Right now, that was the only thought that was keeping her from coming apart at the seams. Henry.

"Are you okay?" Emma asked quietly. Regina could frankly do without the worried looks and sighs coming from the driver's seat.

"I'm fine. Just keep driving."

"Regina-" a note of pleading. "Are you sure that was the right choice back there? Leaving him unprotected like that?"

Regina took a deep breath. The right choice? She kept trying to make the right choice, over and over again, and it kept blowing up in her face. So, no, she wasn't sure. "It was the only choice." That, she knew. Regina might have been a lousy queen, but she had been a damn good mayor, and one thing she had learned was that being a leader meant being responsible for the greater good. And in this case, the greater good meant keeping Zelena out of Storybrooke.

"But, Regina- she's a monster. She's been raping him for weeks now, letting him believe he was rebuilding his family with his wife, and we just left him."

Regina didn't say anything. Still staring straight ahead, she reached out and tapped the shoelace tied to Emma's wrist. Graham's shoelace. Graham, who had been her puppet and her pawn, who she'd manipulated into being her accomplice and her lover. Graham, whose heart once she'd realized that he knew who she was and what she'd done, she'd crushed.

Maybe the apple didn't fall far from the tree after all.

"She'll destroy him, Emma. And I know, because it's what I would have done. It's what I have done."

Henry.

Quite the welcoming committee awaiting their return in Storybrooke – as Emma pulled the car up to the curb, Snow, Charming, Henry and Hook came charging out of the diner. Regina stepped from the car, and her son barreled into her. "Henry," she breathed, and then wrapped her arms around him.

"Mom," he replied, and smiled up at her. "How are you? How did it go? How…" Henry stopped mid-sentence as Lily climbed from the backseat. "Is that…?"

"Hey, kid," Emma said. "I want you to meet Lily. Lily, this is my son, Henry." Like a gentleman, Henry held his hand out to Lily. She balked, and looked at Emma before reaching forward to shake his hand.

"Hi." An awkard silence followed. One of many to come, Regina was sure. And, because this was Storybrooke, a lot worse than awkward silences certainly to follow.

Snow stepped forward, and Regina wasn't sure if she was going to greet her daughter or greet the newest arrival. Either way, it wasn't going to go well. "Mary Margaret," Regina said, stopping Snow in her tracks. "We need to get Maleficent. Come with me. Both of you." Snow looked at Emma for confirmation, and she gave a short nod, not even meeting her mother's eyes.

"She's still in your office. Come on."

"Regina, what happened?" Snow asked, trying to keep up as Regina stalked across Main Street toward City Hall. "Where's Robin?"

Before she could stop herself, Regina let loose a hollow laugh. "He's still in New York. Things…didn't go well." An understatement.

"What do you mean, didn't go well? Did Zelena do something to him?"

Regina sighed. "Less about what she did to him than what he did to her. Or what they did together, I suppose. She's pregnant."

That was enough to stop Snow in her tracks. "She's WHAT?"

"You heard me," Regina replied, really hoping she wouldn't have to repeat herself. Saying it once was more than enough.

"That bitch!" An angry flush crept up Snow's cheeks. "That…BITCH!"

Regina couldn't help smiling. "Yes, Snow, when you say things like that…still terrifying."

David chimed in. "But how did that happen?"

"Really, Charming? You have two children. By now, you should know how it happens."

"I know how it happens, Regina," he snapped. "But what I don't know is how…"

Regina held up her hand. "I really don't even want to think about it, much less talk about it. He thought she was Marian."

"But…" "David," Snow interrupted. "Enough. Let's go get Maleficent."

Regina was grateful for the reprieve. One crisis at a time – she'd get them through this family reunion and hope that it didn't end in casualties.

Regina had sent Maleficent with Snow and Charming to meet Lily. She knew that she should go with them to try to head off any explosions, or incinerations, or dragon incarnations, but frankly, she was tired. She was tired, and she was hurting, and she'd had enough. She poured herself a glass of whiskey and sat behind her desk, relieved to be back in the mayor's office, her own little castle. She reached into her coat pocket and pulled out page 23. She'd brought it with her to New York as a touchstone, but now it felt more than ever like a cruel joke. Hope. What a waste of time.

"But why does it have to work against you?" Snow had asked. Regina raised her glass to the memory of the conversation with her stepdaughter. An excellent question. Regina knew that her past was more than enough to keep her from a happy ending, but what she couldn't understand was how Zelena, of all people, had taken Regina's happy ending for her own. Life was unfair, she knew that, but this was ridiculous. Ridiculous, and unacceptable. She downed the drink in one gulp and slammed the glass down on top of page 23.

"Hope, " Regina muttered. "I'm sick of hope. I want answers."