An hour later, Emma was sitting on the couch in Archie's office, one leg bouncing up and down. She'd pulled her long blonde curls back into a low ponytail, making it easy for him to see the unease in her eyes. Archie did his best to remain calm, his voice soft and soothing, as she was obviously agitated.

"What can I do for you, Emma?" he asked.

"I need your help with something," Emma replied, her tone much more serious than his. "But I need you to swear to me not a word of this gets out. You know how quickly gossip spins out of control around here."

He nodded, his face reflecting curious concern. "Of course, anything you tell me will be kept strictly confidential." She took a deep breath and willed her leg to stop moving.

"When was the last time you talked to Regina?" she asked, as she pulled Regina's letter out of her pocket. He looked at it, then up to Emma's eyes. Emma being concerned about Regina was not a good sign.

"Not since before the surprise appearance of Robin's wife. I've been trying to contact her but she won't answer my calls." Archie knew better than anyone how hard Regina was trying to be a good person and not to slip back into abusing magic. He had legitimate concerns that the disruption of her budding relationship with Robin would deal a serious blow to her progress.

Eyes down, Emma turned the letter over in her hands several times, then handed it to him. "When I went to drop Henry off at home this morning she wasn't there. But this was." She rose and walked behind the couch, where she paced while he read the note. "I just went to her office and she's not there either - but I did find her cell phone. She hasn't made or answered a single call since Friday night."

As Archie finished the letter, his expression grew dark. "What do you think this means?" he asked, wanting Emma's opinion before sharing his own.

She shrugged one shoulder. "I think it's pretty obvious what it means. But it doesn't make any sense. Regina's a fighter; a survivor. There's no way she would ever off herself." She'd fought tooth and nail to keep the curse intact, to get Henry back – first from her and then from Pan– to keep everything she felt was hers. She would never let Marian come between her and Robin. The note had to be a trick aimed at making her suffer for bringing Marian back from the past.

"I'm not so sure," Archie replied as he sat down in his chair, slowly folding the letter back into a square. "I shouldn't be telling you this, but considering the circumstances… Regina and I spoke at length about her desire to change. It seems to me that she decided the best way for her to stop being selfish and to put everyone else first was to remove herself from the world. Taking her own life could have seemed to her the ultimate act of selflessness. The culmination of her redemption."

His heart felt heavy in his chest when he thought about it. If only she had come to see him, he could have shown her that there were other options. Less permanent options. But in another, smaller way, he was proud of her. He hadn't thought her capable of completely ignoring her wants and desires in favor of someone else's. She had been obsessed with finding her happy ending for so long, he'd worried for her and her ability to focus on Henry instead. Whether or not she was correct in her actions, it appeared she had tried to think of his well-being - and that of the entire town - before her own desire to live.

"Suicide? Selfless? Are you kidding me?" Emma asked, incredulous. Suicide was the most selfish act there was, in her opinion. She figured Regina had just tried to spin her motivations to make herself look good.

"I know it seems strange," Archie replied, standing to return the letter to Emma. "But when you consider Regina's history, I can see how that would have made sense to her. She has been in a lot of pain for a very long time, Emma. For most of her life she funneled that pain into a dark place, and it led her to do unspeakable things to others. I think we should all be grateful that this time, if she has indeed taken her own life, the only person she's hurt is herself."

Emma shook her head. She couldn't disagree with him more. "No. No way. This will crush Henry. He just lost his dad for the second time. If she's dead too I don't know if he could handle it. I promised him that I'd find her, and you know her better than just about anyone. There's only one place I can think of where she'd go, if she was really going to kill herself."

Archie nodded and rose from his chair without hesitation. He picked up his umbrella from its resting spot next to the door. He wasn't about to let Emma go alone into what could be a devastating scene. She didn't have to tell him that she felt guilty for her involvement in the Robin/Marian debacle. Being perceptive was part of why he was so good at his job.

"Her family crypt?" It was part question, but mostly just giving voice to what they both knew was the answer.

Emma's reply was a curt nod. "Let's go."