Whatever had been in the water had knocked me out cold. It had taken me a while to realize that they had cleaned my cuts with water, that was spiked with some sort of drug.

It took me longer to let it take over my system, as I fought it every step of the way. But Jenna stayed with me until I passed out, and that alone made me want to trust her.

I came to in complete darkness and my body cramped up as I shuddered in the cold. I lay on my side, my head on my hands and my knees pulled up to my chest.

The cuts on my stomach and thighs burnt and I realized that my hair was still damp. My mind was a mess, but at least I was alone. I opened my eyes again, and tried to stretch my legs. I bumped into something hard and cold with my feet.

I moved, pushing myself up in a sitting position and bumped my head against the top of whatever I was in or under. "Oh, snap. It's barely big enough for you." His voice, full of laughter, sounded close and I squinted my eyes in the dark to see if I could see him.

"What did you give me?" I asked him, my voice barely above a whisper. It hurt to talk, and I took a shaking breath.

"Oh, it was just something to help you sleep," he said softly. He opened a lock, and then a door and I jerked when his hand touched my knee. "Jenna said you were in a lot of pain."

"And still you put me in a cage just barely big enough to hold me," I replied as I kicked out. My foot connected with something and he grunted, then quickly shut the door to the cage again and locked it.

"Do that again, and you'll suffer for it." His voice was tight as he moved away and I chuckled.

"Isn't that what I'm already doing? Suffering?"

He laughed, deep and low and it brought shivers to my spine. "You are, but if you're not careful it's going to get a whole lot worse before it gets better." A flicker of light caught my eye and I turned toward it. "I have some food for you," Pan said after a moment. "We don't want you to starve before I'm done with you."

"You don't, but the longer I'm trapped here, the more I'd like to kill you and get it over with." I grunted as he came back. He carried a lump of bread and a cup of water.

"Oh, really? You want to kill me?" He chuckled as he pushed the bread through the bars. "And how are you going to do that?" He sounded genuinely interested and I wanted to kick him again for sounding so carefree.

"I'll figure out a way. Don't you worry." I picked up the piece of bread and tore off a piece. As I popped it in my mouth, I prayed to god that it wasn't filled with anything magical. "Why did you send Jenna?"

"She's the only girl here willing to help you," Pan said with a shrug. "And besides...I'm not that bad of a guy not to want you to be clean after sex." He moved again and the light flickered in his hand.

"Hmm." Was all I could give him. He still held the cup of water in his hand and even though I didn't want to risk being drugged again, I knew I had to drink something.

"If you finish your bread…and promise not to kick me again, you will get the water. Hey, I might even feel nice enough to help you walk around."

I slowly ate the bread. It was making my throat dry and I swallowed thickly. "You have a timeline?" I wanted to get him to talk, I needed to know what he was planning.

"With you?" He asked. He glanced at me as he moved the flame in his hand. I inclined my head as I swallowed the last piece of bread. "There are some techniques I want to try out. The fact that you are still talking to me tells me you still have the strength to go through a lot."

"I've been tortured before." I replied. He stood and opened the door. I slowly moved forward, my body protesting against the movement but I pushed through.

"I see." He held out his hand and I took it, only because if I didn't I'd have to crawl around. He pulled me up and against him. "Let's see how long it takes to break you."

"I might not break before your week is over," I responded as he handed me the water. I took small sips, enjoying the feel of the cool water in the back of my throat.

"You will."

Water filled my mouth and I gasped as I opened my eyes. The water kept pouring over my face and I gagged, coughed and gagged again. I just couldn't see it coming, didn't know when it was going to stop.

When it stopped, I gasped for breath. The silence settled over me and all I could hear was my own labored breathing.

"It's an interesting way to wake up, isn't it?" His voice was close and I jerked. "Lungs burning, chest constricting. You can't breathe because if you do, your lungs fill with water."

"Hmm." I coughed again and I could feel the cuts on my stomach pulling, the blood slowly seeping out. "I know torture." I told him again.

"It all comes down to…how far I'm willing to go." He didn't give me a chance to reply, and started pouring the water over my face again. "There will be more." He stopped pouring. "But for now," he said as he moved me – or did he move the table? – into a standing position.

The only thing was, my feet didn't touch the ground and my weight rested on my arms, my shoulders. "For now?"

"For now you get to rest." He added. "You will have about an hour...I won't drug you anymore."

"And why is that?" I breathed and Pan chuckled as he moved closer.

"Because if I keep you drugged…that means I get less time with you. And I want to use my time in the best possible way."

My shoulders burnt with tension. The table was turned in a way that I couldn't touch the ground, my shoulders and arms carrying all my weight. No matter what I did or how I moved, I couldn't take the strain off of my arms.

"You were in love once," Pan said from behind me. "You wanted to have his babies...didn't you?"

My heart skipped a beat. I closed my eyes, images of Daniel in my mind. He'd been a simple stable boy, but he had been the love of my life. "Where are you going with this?"

He moved around and faced me. In his hand he had his knife again and I clenched my jaw. "I told you, I want to break you. That means finding out where your heart belongs and then crush it." He chuckled. "Even if I can't actually take your heart."

"Everyone knows the story of how I became the Evil Queen. Even you must've heard it." I shivered as cold air moved over my naked body. The bindings on my cuts were damp from the water. "Why do you want me to tell you?"

"Because that's part of the deal. Body and soul, Regina."

I closed my eyes. Daniel smiled at me from my memories and I couldn't help but smile back. "He was what I thought to be the love of my life." I began. My voice broke, and I knew talking wouldn't be the best thing. "We were going to run away together, get married."

"And…"

"And my mother tore out his heart and crushed it before my eyes," I responded and sighed. "It drove me to casting the curse...even had me trying to frame Snow for murder."

"She told your mother about the stable boy." Pan moved closer. "Why doesn't it look like you're in pain now?"

I sighed and shook my head. "I don't know. It's been a while."

"What about Robin Hood?"

"Tinkerbell brought me to him with pixie dust, and I didn't go into the tavern like I said I would. According to Tinkerbell I didn't only ruin my own chances, but his too." I frowned then, and puffed out a breath. "It still won't break my heart talking about all these...so called loves."

"And what...about Sheriff Swan? She's the mother of your child."

I jerked. "What about her?"

"She's...an interesting woman, isn't she? The way she is around Henry is cute. And how she treats you…" he whistled. "Isn't she the first...and the only one to treat you like an actual person?"

I gritted my teeth and blinked against the tears. He was right, Emma was the first to treat me like an actual person. At least after the curse was broken.

"Yes. She saw me as me, and not as the Evil Queen and I'm still very grateful for that," I replied. I didn't want to feel this much. I wanted to block all feelings because that would ensure my survival.

"Are you able to love?"

"I…" the question caught me of guard and I didn't know what to say. Was I capable of love? Could I let someone into my heart, in a way that made me vulnerable? "I love Henry."

"That's different and you know it."

"What do you want me to say, Pan?" I snapped. "I've loved before and if I want, I can love again. I chose not to, because it is weakness." I heard my mother push the words into my brain and I grunted out as I pushed back.

He chuckled, and without warning slammed his fist into my stomach. I felt the air leave my lungs and my body wanted to collapse, only to be stopped by the restraints. My arms twisted painfully and again, without warning he waved his hand and the restraints were gone. I dropped to the ground with a thud.

"Get back in your cage, you filthy animal."

—

I pushed against the sleep, for hours I stared out into the darkness. Pan didn't come back, and my mind went fuzzy as the time went on. I didn't know how long I hadn't slept, at least without drugs in my system to knock me out.

For a moment I wanted those drugs. They had helped me sleep and if I could just sleep for a couple of hours, I'd be able to survive another day.

My eyelids drooped and I swallowed thickly as I fought the sleep. For a moment it seemed like I was winning, and when I closed my eyes to blink I hummed in frustration when I couldn't get them to open again.

If I fell asleep, would he come and wake me again?