~Five Years Earlier~

Regina stood leaning against a table, suspended in shock as she stared at the man on the ground in front of her. She watched as he looked down at the ground below him and back up again, as he got on his knees and groped at the tattered hat in front of him, trying to find something, anything, that would get him where he wanted to be. Finally he looked up at her, tears in his eyes and hatred written on every feature. "Where are they?" He growled, standing up.

Regina stared at the ground without answering. She had to make a decision in that moment, and she had to do it quickly. If she told him the truth, went back on her lie, she knew that he would find a way to reach them, to get them back to Storybrooke. And if he did that, she could say goodbye to the hope of having Henry again. Finally, she looked up at him, decision made. "I have no idea."

He moved forward quickly, forcing her to back away. "Are they dead?"

"The curse, it destroyed all the lands." Regina lied, staring him in the eyes. If this was going to work, she had to make him believe her. She had to ignore the part of her that wanted to tell him the truth.

"Are. They. Dead?" He demanded again, enunciating each syllable.

"I don't know!" Regina snapped, telling the truth this time. As soon as she did it, she wanted to kick herself. Why hadn't she said yes? She felt a surge of irritation. Why did she care about lying to him?

"I should have killed you myself," David growled, though he knew he didn't mean it. He was angry that he hadn't made it in time to go with them, and had no other object for his anger except for her.

"Then what's stopping you?" Regina snarled, not afraid of him. She wasn't sure what had happened to bring her magic back, but she could feel it in her fingertips. Always on the defensive, she took two steps forward and got in his face, pushing him back and using her magic to make him fly against the wall. As soon as he hit it, branches like the ones on the wallpaper wrapped around David, holding him in place. "You think you're some heroic prince? Please. You're nothing but the son of a shepherd. I should have killed you when I had the chance. And now I can." She reached her hand up to where his heart was, but stopped.

'Do it!' Her mind screamed, but she couldn't. She looked up into his eyes, and something there stopped her. Shocked at herself, she took a step backwards, and he fell to the ground.

"Mom?"

"Henry, what are you doing here?"

David stood up slowly and watched the interaction between Regina and Henry unfold. He saw the way she recoiled when Henry told her that he didn't want to see her again, and he felt a surge of pity for her, one that he ignored. This was the Evil Queen. He wouldn't let himself feel sorry for her.

"Where will you go?"

"With me." David stepped forward. Regina turned around and met his eyes, and he saw something flicker in her dark brown orbs, and then saw her shoulders slump in defeat. He knew that she would let them go without any trouble, though he couldn't quite understand why. When she looked away, he stepped forward, avoiding her eyes as she watched him walk to Henry and grab his shoulder. He knew that her eyes were on him as he left the room, but he didn't allow himself to look back, as much as he wanted to.

Regina watched them go, her heart feeling torn at Henry's words. He didn't really mean them, did he? He couldn't. But Regina knew that he did. And even worse, she knew that he was right. She really was the Evil Queen.

Regina sat at her kitchen table, her mother's book of spells in her hand. She had been staring at the book for the last hour now, Henry's words from before echoing in her mind. Suddenly the door behind her slammed open, and Regina jumped, gasping in surprise. She turned around to see Charming entering her house, wielding his sword. She resisted the urge to roll her eyes at the ridiculous sight.

"I want to see him."

She stood up and walked towards him, and as she did, he raised his sword as if afraid of an attack. She stepped forward to meet him and looked into his eyes. "Henry, come down," she called up the stairs, holding his gaze with each word. A look of confusion flitted across Charming's face. "You won't be using your sword." Regina finally said.

"Whatever you conjure I can fight," retorted David, jumping to conclusions.

Once again, she resisted the urge to roll her eyes. "I mean you won't need your sword," elaborated Regina as she reached her hand up and pushed his sword down with the back of her hand.

At that moment, Henry came down the steps slowly, puzzled at the sight in front of him. Regina broke her gaze with Charming to walk up the stairs, stopping when she was at eye level with Henry. She was silent for a moment, gazing into her son's eyes. She could see a few emotions there, emotions that she had hoped to never see directed towards her. Fear, resentment, distrust. Emotions that she had caused, as much as she hated to admit it. "Henry, you're gonna go home with David," she finally said, nearly choking on the words.

Henry looked at David and then back at his mother. "Really?"

"Really. I shouldn't have brought you here. I was…" she trailed off, not sure how to say what she was trying to convey to her son. She swallowed and tilted her head to the side. "I don't know how to love very well. I wasn't capable of it for a very long time, but I know – I remember – that if you hold on to someone too hard, that doesn't make them love you." She paused for a moment, and when she spoke again, her voice was softer, full of emotions. "I'm sorry I lied to you. That I made you feel like I didn't know who you are. I want you to be here because you want to be here. Not because I forced you, and not because of magic." She swallowed. "I want to redeem myself." They stared at each other for a long moment before she finally found the strength to speak again. "Go get your things."

Both Regina and David watched as Henry's gaze softened towards his mother. He held eye contact with her for a long moment and then turned around, bounding up the stairs to obey her command. As Henry turned, David's eyes flickered to Regina, and he saw her shoulders slump as she watched her son walk away from her. He could see the defeat in her body language, as if she didn't know how to even begin when it came to redeeming herself. David wasn't sure why, but he wanted to do something.

"Then prove it," he said, his voice low so that only she could hear.

She jumped a little, surprised at the sound of his voice, and then turned around slowly. When she met his eyes he saw the sincerity in them. "How?" She finally asked.

"Answer one question. Does it exist?"

Regina looked puzzled. "What?"

David found that he wasn't impatient, as he usually would be. "The Enchanted Forest, our land. Does it still exist?"

Regina held his gaze for a moment, stepping down the stairs until she reached the bottom step. She had another decision to make now. Stick to her lie and still have a chance of keeping Henry for herself without anyone knowing, or tell him the truth and take the first step toward redeeming herself for real. It was a difficult choice, but ultimately it was something she saw in David's eyes that made the decision for her. "Yes. But I have no idea how to get back there." She searched his eyes, the ghost of a smile flickering on her face. "I can see I just launched you on a heroic quest." She paused for a moment, and when she spoke next, her voice was softer and thick with emotion. "Just also make sure you take care of my son."

David was taken aback by the last sentence, though once she said it, he knew that he shouldn't have been. He already knew in his heart that Regina loved Henry, even if she didn't know the best way to show it. In earlier times, David would have made some snarky retort, but something in the look she gave him halted the snarky statement that was already on the tip of his tongue. Instead he gave her a soft look and nodded. "That I can do."

Regina didn't have to speak for David to hear her thanks. It was plain in the way her eyes softened around the edges and the way the corners of her lips upturned just slightly. His small tip of the head forward took the place of 'you're welcome', and as they stood there holding one another's gaze, David found himself surprised that they had been able to understand each other nonverbally so well. In fact, it unsettled him a bit that he and Regina could communicate on such a level.

Before anything else out of the ordinary could happen between the two of them, Henry came down the stairs slowly, as if afraid that Regina had changed her mind in his absence. David could see from the look on Regina's face that she knew what Henry was thinking, but the look was gone before Henry looked at his mother, replaced with a small smile.

David grabbed Henry's shoulder and the two walked out on Regina again, but this time David looked back at the woman that had been his enemy for such a long time, and the look of loss and air of loneliness surrounding Regina kept him up for most of that night.

A/N: HUGE thank you to all those who favorited and followed the story and special thanks to Ella, yasmin, HeroineGauddess, and Guest (whoever you are) for reviewing. I know the Evil Charming fanclub out there is a small one, so I'm seriously honored by your support.

Just as a warning: These next few chapters are going to be very close to episodes so more focused on the internal changing of Regina and David's feelings towards each other than moving the bigger plot forward, but bear with me because I start to deviate from the canon storyline more and more as the chapters go on. I'll update with more frequency for these few chapters since they're already written because of all that.

Reviews are chocolate chip cookies fresh out of the oven. xxRose