Thank you to the person who suggested this in the reviews of So Close. You inspired me at 1am.
He finds her on the edge of the Enchanted Forest, buried far below the surface. Booby-traps guard her, locking her inside her prison, but they're nothing for as skilled a thief as he. He moves swiftly, gently, careful not to make a sound. Still, somehow she hears him as he comes closer to her, either his footfall or his breath, and she makes a guttural sound, throaty and weak, her voice echoing off of the walls of the underground cave.
"Leave me."
Robin can't fight the smirk that pulls at his lips. She had always been so stubborn. "You're a very hard woman to find. I wouldn't assume Snow and David would keep you inside the kingdom."
She scoffs, a short thing that turns into a cough. "I wouldn't call this 'in the kingdom' exactly."
He steps farther into the prison, eyes glued to the bars made of stone that line the far wall. It's dark, the only source of light coming from one dimly burning torch, an eerie blue fire casting a glow across the black stone and dirt, and Robin has to squint. He can't see her, but he can hear her ragged breath, can feel her magic seeping into the earth beneath his feet, pulling him towards her.
"You're a fool to come here," she says, softer than before, less venom behind her words.
A fool indeed, he muses, stepping closer to her cell, close enough that he could reach through the enchanted bars if he so desired.
"I know you, Regina."
She snorts a laugh, more of a wheeze than anything. "You know nothing."
He smiles at that, shakes his head a little. "I do know you. I met you once. Not here, in a different world, an alternate universe. In that world, you cast your dark curse, you ripped everyone away from this land. There, you won."
He hears her move, shuffling just to his left, and, in the glow of the blue light, he finally sees her. She's laying in a far corner, pushed against the wall, but she lifts herself from the ground slowly, limbs weak and shaking, until she can stand, bracing one hand on the wall beside her. Her long hair is matted and covers her face, tangled tendrils of silver hair falling over her dark eyes. Her cheeks are hallow, lips dry and cracked, slender frame even thinner, skin clinging to bone. He could not guess her age, but, by the looks of it, she would be the living embodiment of death itself.
Still, her gaze is strong, and she pulls herself along the wall until she can grab the bars of her cell, where he sees the spark of that warm brown of her eyes, Regina's eyes. Her chin quivers as she looks at him, studying him with narrowed yet glassy eyes, before she speaks softly, just under her breath.
"I won?"
Robin bites his lip, holding his eyes on hers as he nods. He sees the hope spark in her eyes, the pride, the wonder, and for a moment he wishes to push the hair from her face, to look into those eyes properly. What must she be thinking as she imagines the victory that was ripped from her grasp? What pain and misery could this Regina inflict in order to get the revenge she so desperately desired?
"You did, but not with your curse."
She tilts her head, furrows her brow, that adorable way she always did when she thought hard about something, and slowly she shakes her head.
"It was not your revenge that had finally brought you happiness," Robin continues when she huffs, rolling her eyes, and turns away from him, "You cast your curse, and created a town in another world, called-"
"-Storybrooke," Regina cuts in, turning back to him. "Where I would finally get my… happy ending."
"And you did," Robin nods at her, smiling despite himself. "In Storybrooke you found forgiveness and love, you were given a second chance."
"A second chance," She repeats, almost absently, and rests her forehead on the bars that she holds in her boney grasp. She no longer meets his eye; instead she focuses on nothing, her eyes glazing over as she surely imagines what this other life would look like. "Forgiveness…"
"Yes, from everyone. You became a hero, saved everyone time and time again, found a family-"
"A family?" Regina asks, perking up. She seems to be finding her strength with each word he speaks, clinging to his story as if her life depends on it.
"A bigger family than you could ever know. You had a son, Henry, that you loved with all of your soul, and found forgiveness in Snow and David, became a part of their family with Emma."
The last part throws her, pulls her out of the pool of wonder she had fallen into. She snaps her eyes to him, purses her lips, before shaking her head and sinking to the ground, still clinging to the bars.
"I should have known you were full of crap. Snow could never forgive me."
"That's where you're wrong." Robin kneels in front of her and risks reaching for her hand, covering her fingers with his own, and her skin is like ice, thin and frail and freezing. She still looks at him, disbelief clear on her face as he tries to sort out his words. "You both hurt each other, but you overcame your past, and yes, Snow did forgive you."
Regina's eyes stay locked on his, but something softens in her, a layer of self defence slipping away as her eyes become glassy, shining in the dim light. "That doesn't feel possible."
"I saw it with my own eyes." Robin squeezes her fingers gently, and Regina's gaze drops to their linked hands.
"And who were you to me?" She asks softly, flexing her fingers beneath his without pushing him away, as if she's testing out the feeling of his skin against hers.
Robin pauses, chews on his lip absently before pulling his hands away from hers. He reaches for his sleeve, rolls it up to his elbow, and bares his forearm for her. The dark ink against his skin draws her eye immediately, and a small gasp escapes her lips. For a moment, he fears it's too much, too many dreams of a better life, a perfect life, that might overwhelm her. Her face is unreadable as she studies his arm, reaching out a hand to trace a finger along the neck of the lion tattoo. Her touch is feather light, barely a tickle, and still it sends a jolt through him as her magic finally connects with the pixie dust that had linked him to her all those years ago.
Regina stays silent for a moment, tracing her finger around his tattoo before whispering, "I have been trapped in this cell for thirty one years, no hope for freedom. Why are you here now?"
He notices the shimmering tear that slips down her nose, falling to the dirt beneath them, and he takes her hand in his, squeezing as tight as he could without hurting her, as she looks up at him.
Beneath the dirt that cakes her skin, beneath the time that sucked away at her in this cell, she still has those eyes, the ones he has looked into a thousand times, the ones that crinkle when she laughs, the ones that burn when she's angry, the ones that pull the love straight from his soul whenever he sees them. Beneath it all, she is still his Regina.
So he quirks his lips, a smug little smirk that flashes his dimples at her, and says quietly, "How would you like to take a chance on a new story?"