Off to work now, so I'm in a rush, but I can tell you that Back to the Beginning will be updated tomorrow.

Snow closed the door softly behind her. "We're going to find him, Emma. I promise."

Emma was sitting on the floor with her back resting against the wall behind her, her head tilted back and eyes closed. When she heard her mother's voice, she lifted it and looked at her. "I just don't understand why things like this keep happening. Does it ever get any easier? I mean, I was living my life in Boston, and then suddenly the son I gave up for adoption ten years earlier is at my door, dragging me into his life, telling me about fairytales. I broke the curse, I did what I was supposed to do, and then we ended up in the Enchanted Forest, and we barely managed to make it back home. We finally started living like families are supposed to and then Storybrooke was threatened and we all thought we were going to die. It's not fair that we stopped it just in time to have them take him from us."

Snow nodded, afraid to say anything in case it kept Emma from continuing. Her daughter was not one to share her feelings easily, but it seemed that the dam had finally broken on this subject, and she knew that Emma needed to get it off her chest. It was a heavy weight to be carrying, and they had a rough road ahead of them.

"I can't believe he's not here," Emma practically whispered. "And that almost a year ago, I didn't even know him. Now I can't imagine my life without him."

Swallowing back her own tears, Snow lowered herself to the ground next to her daughter. She knew what that felt like; while it seemed that no time had passed for her or David, Emma had grown up and they'd missed her entire childhood. But they could be here for her now.

"You don't have to imagine that, Emma. We're going to get off this ship soon, and Greg and Tamara won't know what hit them. They're not expecting anyone to have followed them, so we have the advantage."

"It's not Greg and Tamara I'm worried about anymore," Emma said quietly. When she looked at her mother, there were traces of panic she couldn't quite hide showing clearly in her eyes. "What kind of person do you have to be for Mr. Gold to be afraid of you?"

Snow wanted to say something comforting, but she couldn't think of anything. Emma was right; what they were up against was much greater than Greg and Tamara now. They would need their whole family, and as terrible as Regina could be, at least she was on their side this time, and there wasn't anything she wouldn't do to save her son. Though both Regina and David had been acting oddly, she knew sometimes traveling by ship did strange things to people. As Snow leaned her head back against the wall along with her daughter, she hoped that whatever it was would be gone when they stepped foot on land.

When Regina opened her eyes again, it was dark. Not so dark that she couldn't see anything, but the amount of light had been drastically reduced. It was now coming from a small strip lining the bottom of the three solid walls of her cell, and instead of being white as it had been before, it was now tinted blue. She guessed that's how they indicated whether it was night or day. At least they were afforded that courtesy in this prison.

It had been more than a day since they were brought here, she was almost sure of it. Not long after the first man had left, a woman took his place, only instead of wanting to talk, she'd wanted to take them one at a time to a room where they were fingerprinted, pictures were taken and notes about height, weight and various other things were recorded.

She'd fallen asleep before they'd brought David back. Lingering drugs in her system wore her out more quickly and made her easily dizzy. She was still absorbing what had happened; her memory was foggy and she couldn't remember how in the world they'd managed to get themselves in this position in the first place.

One thing was clear; they were not guests here, they were prisoners. She had a sickening feeling that the first man hadn't just been trying to scare them when he said they'd make sure to squeeze out all the information they could before killing them. She had no doubt that they'd kill her, and she wondered just how long she could hold out. She'd die before she'd tell them anything they wanted to know about her world or Storybrooke, but that was the problem. How long would it take them to realize that she wasn't going to give them anything?

And what about Henry? She felt sick to her stomach when she thought about what would happen to him if these people found Storybrooke. At least she could comfort herself with the knowledge that he'd be protected by Emma, though the knowledge that that woman would get to raise him while she'd never see him again made her feel even more nauseous.

It had been a long time since Regina had experienced the kind of panic attack she could feel coming on now. When she was younger, she'd experienced them when her mother was being particularly controlling. Right after one of Cora's 'lessons', she would run back to the house and lock herself in her room, fighting for air through her tears and the crushing weight of living in that house with her mother, magic and very little hope of ever escaping. In fact, she didn't think she'd had an attack since her mother had disappeared through the mirror; not even when she'd returned to Storybrooke. At that thought, the growing feelings of panic increased, and she sat up, struggling for breath.

Why now, she wondered. She'd been through so many horrible things since then, and not once had she broken the way she was doing now. It was the feeling of being trapped again, and her mind brushed against those most recent memories of being tortured; strapped to the cold table while the bolts of painful electricity ripped through her body. A strangled cry escaped her at the thought.

"Regina, are you okay?"

David hadn't been able to fall asleep. He'd heard Regina's breathing become labored and erratic, and when he heard her cry out, he pulled himself from the bed and walked up to the window where he could now make out Regina's form, sitting up in her own bed, bent forward slightly at the waist.

She looked up at him, surprised by the sudden sound of another voice. She'd almost forgotten she wasn't alone and it was a relief. As undesirable a companion as he was, she wasn't alone in this hell.

As his eyes adjusted to the dim light and he met her gaze, he was surprised by the panic he saw in her eyes. Regina had never been one to scare easily, try as one might. They'd brought armies and an entire kingdom against her and the woman had barely batted an eyelash. Now here she was in a small cell, apparently far away from home, and she was completely losing her cool not even twenty four hours after their capture. He didn't miss the shiny streaks that glinted underneath her eyes when she tilted her head up; she'd started to cry. In that moment, he almost wished he could go to her and comfort her. Despite having been enemies for the last few decades, he knew what she'd been through in just the last week alone, and now they were trapped here. Together.

Since he couldn't leave his own cell, he attempted to convey all of that comfort through his expression instead. Their eyes locked and Regina found herself regaining control. He seemed calm as he stood in front of the glass, and his blue eyes only showed momentary surprise before he relaxed back into simply looking at her. It was exactly what she needed; her breathing slowed and she finally managed to draw in air without gasping.

After it seemed that she'd calmed completely, David repeated his question. "Are you okay?"

"Fine," she snapped, embarrassed that she'd lost control like that in his presence. But then she remembered that without that same presence, she'd most likely be in the throes of a full-blown panic attack right now. "Thank you," she managed quietly. It was sincere, and he nodded in acknowledgement.

"Goodnight." He padded silently back to his bed.

"Goodnight."