AN: It was a long time since my last update - I blame it on the holidays and adulting. Sorry about that. I hope you guys enjoy this chapter. It's not heavy in action, but it's important to lead up to the major conflict in this story. Thanks for all who are reading, following and "favoriting." I appreciate it. As always, reviews are welcome and encouraged!


The last hour had been spent eating dinner at a burger joint a few blocks from the hotel. It wasn't a bad walk – just under ten minutes to get there. It was around fifteen minutes waiting to be seated, another fifteen of being served their drinks and placing orders, then twenty eating. Although for Regina's part, that last twenty was spent nibbling and pushing food around her plate wondering how her companion could literally inhale a half pound steak burger and basket of fries and still look like a pin up model. She must have a seriously grueling workout regiment, Regina thought to herself.

Regina had actually chosen the restaurant; she thought maybe a good burger would in some way connect her with Emma and provide some sort of inspiration. Instead, it just gave her serious case of nausea. After all, she really wasn't a big red meat eater. But nausea aside, her thoughts had been occupied by questions of what her son might have been up to and how he managed to get a phone call through the powerful barrier placed around the town. She wondered if he had help, and if so, who. She hoped it would have been Emma, but if Emma was still under the spell, then it's entirely possible that –

"You gonna finish that?" Natasha interrupted.

Regina looked up to the woman in wonder. "How can you possibly have more room?"

"I have a really physical job. Lots of running and diving and I get very hungry." She reached across the table and claimed Regina's leftovers for herself. "So your son tried to call you. The call dropped. You haven't tried to call him back. Why?"

"It's complicated…" Regina tried to leave it at that, but the piercing look the redhead gave her was enough to tell her that she would try to get the information out of her one way or another. Just then, the brunette thought about putting up pretenses, then decided to throw caution to the wind. "Natasha, do you believe in magic?"

Regina eyed Natasha as she mentally debated the idea then replied. "Well I believe in complex quantum physics; I believe in aliens; I believe in ancient mythological gods; so magic? Why not?"

The brunette smirked. "What exactly is it that you do?"

"I fight crime." She answered innocuously. "I catch bad guys and – get rid of them."

"Police?"

"No."

"FBI?"

"No."

"CIA?"

"No, again."

"Shield?"

That caught the redhead off guard; she paused, not sure how to answer.

"I read comics – for my son. He enjoys them and I enjoy finding ways to connect with him, so I read comics. And I've seen just about every super hero movie made in the last ten years. Still, I'm very surprised to find out that the people these comics and films are based on are actually living in this world at the time their stories are being written. How is that possible?"

Deciding there's no point in denying it, Natasha responded. "The comics and movies and t.v. shows: their all produced by S.H.I.E.L.D. as a distraction. They figure if people view us as fictional heroes who are part of a fictional organization, it's less likely that they'll discover the truth of it all. Of course certain situations and events are fabricated for entertainment purposes."

"Of course."

"So when did you figure me out?"

"Just a few moments ago. I guess the average person wouldn't have a reason to suspect that they're eating dinner with a character from a world of superheroes, but where I come, that's just everyday life," Regina ended with a kind of reticent laugh. "I just put a few details together and it seemed to make sense: the red hair, the mysterious behavior and phone conversation, the motorcycle…"

Natasha nodded, "You said 'where I come from.' Do you come from some place where there are superheroes? Is it Gotham? Metropolis? Are those real cities?"

Now Regina actually laughed. "I don't know if they are real cities or not, but I have no evidence to the negative. I come from a city called Storybrooke, Maine. It technically does not exist on any map, so who's to say if there's a Gotham or a Metropolis?"

"And what's special about the non-existent Storybrooke, Maine?"

Not sure how much she should share, Regina looked around the restaurant, then back at her dinner companion. She didn't have Emma's gift of lie detection (which wasn't even all that accurate), but she had been a queen for years and mayor for decades after that and she could smell a disingenuous person from a mile away. Despite all her mystery, Natasha came across as sincere and genuinely interested, so Regina decided to share. "We're all story book characters, dear."


He hadn't felt like going back to apartment after school. It was just that – the apartment. It wasn't home like the mansion. Even though technically Emma and Henry had lived in the apartment, they'd began staying over many nights at Regina's home, especially on weekends when they'd do family things together. After he'd discovered their relationship, the sleepovers became more frequent. To the rest of Storybrooke and to the Charmings, it was just out of convenience that the two stayed at Regina's after a family dinner or late night at the movies. But Emma and Henry knew they were basically slowly moving in.

So he sat in his old bedroom, trying in vain to make a call connect to a phone number belonging to a phone located outside of the barrier. He needed answers. He needed to know why his mom had suddenly left, because being the Truest Believer, he simply believed that the woman who had promised to always be there for him would never just leave him the way she did. And being the Truest Believer, he simply couldn't believe the memories of that day at the town line where the Blue Fairy showed everyone in attendance a scene where his mother seemingly used dark magic against his baby uncle. It just wasn't like her. Sure, the actions were like the Regina of the past, but that was all her carefully crafted façade. It wasn't really, truly her. Likewise, the woman in the image using dark magic on Neal wasn't Regina. But who would believe him over the Blue Fairy and his grandmother, Snow White, who insisted that it was the truth?

He heard the heavy oak door slam open and the heavy footsteps of his mother coming upstairs before she shouted out, "Henry?!"

Henry walked to the door of his bedroom and opened it. Outside stood Emma, who was just about to open the door, herself.

"Oh, hey," she said. "Your grandparents called and said you didn't come home after school. What are you doing here?"

He shrugged, "I don't know, just didn't feel like being there."

"Yeah, I know what you mean…" she replied. Eyeing the phone in the boy's hand, Emma thought to say something about it, but decided against. "You want to order some takeout?"

"Chinese?"

"Yeah, sure. Go find a menu."

As he walked downstairs, Henry had a thought: he needed to get to the barrier. Maybe if he got closer to the outside world he could manage to get a call through or maybe a text. Maybe somewhere along the border there was a weak spot that he could take advantage of. He resolved to skip classes the next day – this was way more important.


Back at the hotel, Regina approached her room, Natasha following behind. "I know you're this planet-protecting, superspy, but I'm perfectly capable of getting back to my room on my own."

"I know. I'm on this floor also."

"Oh," Regina said. "I hadn't realized."

"I was only here a few days, and I haven't spent much time in my room anyway."

"When do you leave?"

"I'll head back home tomorrow, spend a short amount of time in my apartment in solitude, then back out to the next adventure as soon as the agency calls me."

"Sounds exciting."

"You know, I have a spare bedroom. I'm hardly ever home, so I think I'm a good roommate. I know you've been here at the hotel for a while, but if you want a more permanent place, you're welcome to come with me."

"And just where is your home?"

"New York."

Regina hesitated. "I never anticipated on going that far. I'd be leaving Henry and Emma…"

"I'll help you find a way back home, but until then, it's a comfortable room in a nice apartment with a trustworthy roommate."

"Who says I trust you?" the brunette smirked.

Natasha conceded. "Well if you change your mind, give me a call."

"I don't have your number."

The spy called over her shoulder as she walked toward her room, "Yes you do; I put it in your phone." She entered a hotel room a few doors down from Regina's, leaving the hallway empty, save for the ex-queen.

Regina unlocked her phone and opened her contacts. She looked under 'N' for Natasha, but didn't find it, so she went back to the beginning of the list and slowly scrolled down, looking for any new entries. Finally she came to an entry that read 'The Girl in Room 339." She laughed to herself and entered her own room, the door slowly closing behind her.