Hi Everyone. I wanted to thank everyone for all the amazing comments on this story. I'm sorry that this chapter is so short, but I really wanted to do a short chapter from Regina's POV. There will probably be a couple chapters from her perspective throughout the story. However, I am already hard at work on Emma's next chapter and hope to have it up by the end of the week.

Regina's POV...

The flash of blonde caught Regina's eye as she navigated the Benz into the station parking lot. She glanced in the rearview mirror, her eyes narrowing. From her vantage point, she could just make out Emma's red jacket. The Sheriff darted between the trees and disappeared into the woods.

Regina frowned, pulling her phone from her purse. She had no missed calls, and could see no reason for Emma to be running to the forest at full speed. Not unless there was a new crises her staff had neglected to tell her about.

She unbuckled her seatbelt and stepped onto the pavement. She had tried several times to get ahold of Emma in the last twenty-four hours, and was starting to get annoyed. No. She was far passed annoyed. She was starting to get worried. With each failed attempt to reach her Sheriff, an unsteady weight built in the pit of her stomach. Obviously Emma wasn't physically harmed. She wouldn't be running like that if she were seriously injured, which meant there was something else going on, something she wasn't yet aware of. Or Emma was avoiding her.

She found David with his feet up on the desk, licking powdered sugar from his fingertips. It was moments like these she was unable to deny Emma was from the Charming family tree. It was also these moments she knew exactly who to blame for the girl's bad manners. Emma had bounced from one foster family to the next, but still inherited her father's bad habit of putting his feet on the furniture.

"Comfortable?" Regina smacked his boot and his leg slid to the floor. "I guess that answers my question." One of them at least.

Charming's brow creased, a look of confusion falling over his statuesque face. "What question?"

"Is there an emergency I am unaware of?"

"No," he answered around a bite of donut. He swallowed and slid the plate away at her look of reproof. Both he and Emma knew how she felt about food in the workplace. There was a cafeteria across the hall for a reason, the main one being to avoid a vermin infestation. Having the pirate around was bad enough. They didn't need rats too.

David stood up, hooked his thumbs through his belt loops and leaned back against the desk. "Why would you think that?"

"Perhaps the declining performance of Storybrook's law enforcement?"

He looked incredulous. "It's just breakfast, Regina. I didn't have time to eat this morning."

Of course he thought she was referring to the food. Regina shook her head and crouched, picking a donut up from the floor. Perhaps they already had vermin. "Where's Emma?"

Charming's shoulders visibly relaxed as if her question wasn't cause for concern. Maybe it wasn't. But the nagging in her gut wasn't so certain. This wasn't like Emma. It never had been. The Sheriff had always returned her calls, long before the two of them became friends.

"She left," David answered. "She wasn't feeling well." He gestured to the donut she held between her thumb and forefinger. "She picked up a stomach bug."

Regina raised an eyebrow, "This was Emma's?

Normally the girl annihilated donuts in a matter of two bites. There was maybe a small nibble from the pastry in question. She couldn't even discern teeth marks.

"She got sick as soon as she tried to eat it." Charming shrugged. "I told her she didn't have to come in. We couldn't even wake her up last night."

"And you're sure that's the problem?" Regina tossed the donut in the trash and dusted the remnants from her gloves. Emma being ill explained away some of her recent behavior. Regina's unanswered calls could be excused away if Emma really was sleeping off a virus, but she hadn't answered this morning either. At the very least, Emma usually sent her a text, letting her know she was okay. She had instilled the importance of common curtesy in both Emma and Henry. At least she thought she had. She made it clear when Emma became a frequent visitor in her home that there was a certain decorum she expected. She didn't require a lot. She only asked that they inform each other of any change of plans. How hard was that?

But Emma hadn't texted. She continually sent Regina's calls to voicemail, which she had only done one other time. It was the result of a broken vase in Regina's office. The girl's guilt had her avoiding Regina like the plague, dashing out of the diner and holing up at the loft. Her Sheriff may have a knack for discerning truth but she was a terrible liar, and hopeless at hiding her feelings. She wore her guilt on her sleeve, something else she had picked up from her father. Snow rarely showed guilt, and when she did, she became a martyr, condemning herself melodramatically. Regina had forgiven Snow much in the last few years, but Snow's inability to see fault continually drove her far passed her capacity for patience.

"She definitely looked sick," Charming stated.

"Meaning?"

"She looked sick."

Regina rolled her eyes. Maybe it was time to investigate curses to eradicate incompetence.

"Do you you think you could elaborate?"

"I don't know, Regina. She looked off. She was really pale."

"Did you actually observe her getting sick?"

"No. I told you, she was asleep when Snow and I got home. I went to bed after that."

Regina shut her eyes and inhaled slowly. Was their entire household oblivious? He was the town's deputy. He was supposed to pay attention to details. Instead he ignored them, missing crucial information that could offer them insight. She knew Emma was a grown woman, but she couldn't fathom how they failed to see concerning behaviors in their own child. She knew the minute something was wrong with Henry. She was fairly descent at picking up Emma's tells as well.

Regina sighed. If Emma was sick, she'd managed to convince David at least. However, convincing Charming didn't take a considerable amount of skill. Emma's word was all he needed. That didn't mean Emma had a virus. Henry had several in his grade school years. There were symptoms before the actual vomiting: nausea and fatigue. Emma appeared fine yesterday afternoon. She was her normal exuberant self. She hadn't exhibited even mild symptoms.

And then there was her jog through the woods. No one with a stomach virus could run with that kind of stamina. You were lucky to move without emptying contents of your stomach.

"Why are you asking me all of this? I'm sure Emma will fill out the proper paperwork-"

"I'm not worried about the paperwork, Charming. I'm worried about Emma."

"It's just a virus. She probably went home-"

"She didn't. She ran into the forest. Her car is still parked down the street near Granny's. Care to explain that?"

Charming opened his mouth, closed it, and opened it again. She hoped he didn't strain himself too hard coming up with an answer. She would be short her Sheriff and her Deputy. They didn't have time for that. The town was a mess. Half of Storybrook's citizens were without power, and they still needed to do a sweep of the barn. The portal hadn't been open long, but it didn't need to be for something to find its way through.

"Maybe it has something to do with Hook," David speculated. "They had some kind of falling out."

Regina pursed her lips. It was possible. Heartache was capable of causing immeasurable pain. She knew that all too well. The retreat to the woods could be the Sheriff coping in typical Emma fashion. She had run. Still, something wasn't sitting right. Emma and the pirate had just begun dating. The evolution of their relationship was recent, and from what Regina could tell wasn't exactly fueled by passion. There was more sexual tension between she and Emma in the beginning, and they were attempting to destroy one another. She found it hard to believe Emma really thought her relationship with Hook would last. It was harder to believe Emma would crumble if the fledgling relationship ended. She didn't doubt there might be some level of disappointment. Hook might have descent qualities buried deep down somewhere… But heartsick? That wasn't Emma. Not over the pirate.

Regina pulled out her phone, finding Emma's name at the top of her recent calls. The more she thought about it, the more she was certain there was something more going on. Something was seriously wrong. If there wasn't, Ms. Swan was in for a severe lecture on respect and proper protocol. She didn't like being ignored. She enjoyed worrying even less.

She tapped Emma's name and held the phone to her ear. It rang twice and went voicemail. Again. Regina redialed. This time there was no ring. Emma's away message was immediate, signaling that she had either turned off her device or terminated her service. The former was most likely. She was going to kill Emma when she finally got ahold of her.