I don't own these characters.
4: The Road to Hell
It took finishing all of the hard lemonades and several donuts — all of those consumed by the sheriff — to convince Sheriff Swan to return to Henry and to leave Regina to research her… condition. The onyx aura wafting from her had yet to vanish. It was not like it had been at Granny's, but it was not going away either. The sheriff had also let her know that the temperature dropped around her, so that was something else. She needed to know what this was about, why and how it was affecting her, and affecting her magic.
"You sure you'll be all right?" Emma asked, brushing her hands off on her pants to get rid of donut crumbs.
"Yes. You keeping me from finding out what this is isn't going to help," Regina replied, motioning around her. "And you do know one of the reasons they make napkins is to clean your hands, yes?"
Emma chuckled. "I know. I know. I'm just used to doing it this way."
Regina shook her head and managed to bite her tongue from making a comment on how Emma was raised, considering the fact that she was not. "Try not to get our son into that habit."
"If you must know, when we used to have lunch and stuff together, he'd scold me just as well as you for not using the napkin."
This made Regina smile. "Good to know some of the manners I tried to instill in him remain. Now, you should get back to him. Assure him I will not try to kill Neal again."
"He knows something's up, you know? He knows you didn't go after Neal just to be… evil or something."
Regina wanted to sigh in relief, but this did not bring her much relief. Her son was still hung up on Neal despite the fact that he did not do anything beyond abandon Henry and Emma. At least Emma tried. But, then again, maybe Emma just wanted her to not destroy Neal because he completed their happy, little conventional family, the thing she had never been able to give Henry.
"Miss Swan," Regina said as the sheriff gathered her mess, ready to leave. She was about to cut into Emma for trying to use Henry to save Neal, but found she could not when those earnest hazel eyes looked up at her.
Emma actually looked hopeful. "Yeah?"
Regina swallowed down bitter vitriol. "Your parents… just remember they have to adjust as well. They're used to acting with only them in mind. They have to adjust to the idea of having you now."
Emma did not look particularly sold on this, undoubtedly drawing from her own feelings about Henry. Unfortunately, this was the best Regina could offer the troubled hero. Snow and her so-called prince needed to handle whatever it was they put Emma through.
Twisting her mouth up a little, Emma rubbed the back of her neck. "Thanks."
Regina shrugged and then Emma was gone. She was alone, to research as she wanted. As soon as she could no longer hear Emma's footfalls, it felt like the maggots were back under her skin, wiggling, creeping, feeding on her.
Research might help calm her down, along with helping her figure out what was going on. So, she set about her books. She needed to know more about Lilith, Pan, the history of the Dark One, the history of Neverland and so many other things. She wanted control over her body again.
So, after grabbing a stack of books, she made herself comfortable in a chair that creaked under her and began reading. For a moment, she inhaled, taking in the scent of her old books. It seemed like peace. Back when she was younger, one of the few ways to escape her mother was through reading, not just going to another world, but often her mother would leave her be if she was engaged with the right book.
For the first time in what felt like forever, her body ceased vibrating with unknown energy. Even while she had sat with Emma, though the trembling had ceased, there was still something else scratching just underneath the whole time. Whatever this was inside of her, it seemed Neverland dragged it to the surface, kicking and screaming. Neverland had that power, though. Its magical nature, its existence depending upon pure magic, could draw out any tiny piece of magic in someone.
Unfortunately, Neverland pulling out magic from people could make them off balance, as it had done to Miss Swan. The sheriff had been unable to conceal her anxiety, but Regina had actually fought hers down for the most part and attributed it to Henry being missing. It never occurred to her the feeling could be anything but worry over Henry. But, Neverland had pulled at magic inside of her that she had never felt before, magic she had no clue was there. She could practically taste it — sweet, tempting, demanding — and now it was on the tip of her tongue.
So, being in Neverland had probably woken up whatever this magic was inside of her, or at the very least dug it out of whatever dark pit it hid in. Now, she needed to better understand what this magic was. Did it exist because she supposedly had a god's blood in her veins or was it because the Dark One had sired her? Was it a mix of the two? Had such a thing happened before? What type of magic was it, especially if it was a mix?
Moving on, she looked into her histories on the Dark One. Over several millennia, Dark Ones had sired children, dangerous, deadly imps to be exact. So, she was not special in this instance. It was theorized goblins might actually come from the children of these creatures. Perhaps it's a good thing I never biologically had children.
Offspring of the Dark One tended to be violent, repulsive brutes. Hell, her madness as the Evil Queen might have been helped by Rumple's accursed blood, pushing her to do terrible things. Of course, she doubted she needed much help along that route.
Children of the Dark One actually reminded Regina of what she heard of children of Lilith. They were supposedly demons and monsters. They had magic in some shape or form, but not necessarily like hers. She would definitely have to read up on them to find out how varied their powers were.
"There has to be dozens of different types of descendants of gods," Regina sighed, thinking of the number of books she would have to go through and she got to it right away. Of course, she had the specific god, but there was a chance she might not be like any other of Lilith's descendants since she was also the Dark One's issue.
Children of the Dark One might or might not have magic, but they always had cravings, desires, wants and Heaven help whoever stood in their way. They were very much like the Dark One in temperament. They did their own wet work and, typically, it was very messy.
Offspring of Lilith did not seem quite as maniacal as those born of the Dark One. They were generally enchanting, charismatic beings, but they could be just as diabolical. They were the vampires, succubi, weres, and other creatures that went bump in the night. But, some were speculated to also be heroic demigods, like so many other humans who had ichor flowing through their veins. It was all rumors, conjecture, and stories, though. It had been millennia since anyone had even claimed to have seen, spoken to, or even worshipped Lilith in the other world.
"There has to be something to just point me in the right direction…" she muttered with a sigh.
She decided to check out her mother's journals again. She wanted to see if her mother ever suspected being a descendant of Lilith or suspected Regina was actually Rumple's child. As she flipped through page after page, she knew her mother suspected something about her own magic, but could not pin down exactly what it was.
Regina shook her head. "Descendant of a god probably never even entered Mother's mind." After all, who assumed they were family with begins who had given up on the world thousands of years ago?
There had to be a reason even the Dark One seemed frightened of her, Cora wrote. Her mother noticed Rumple did not like to deal with her after she chose status over him and she knew it had nothing to do with a broken heart, though he liked to pretend it was. Rumple watched her with a careful eye, a wary eye. It was strange that he never sought revenge against her, which she also knew had nothing to do with a broken heart.
Then, Cora realized none of the fae would do business with her and always seemed scared of being on her bad side, but refused to acknowledge she might be right on any matter. The Blue Fairy especially seemed to hold a grudge against her and she could not figure out why. Her first encounter with Blue had not been horrible on her part, until Blue got high and mighty anyway.
Their being enemies was cemented when one day, apparently, Blue came for Regina when she was barely a newborn. She was not there to bestow gifts on the child as others had, not hovering over Regina's crib in the middle of the night as she was. Cora suspected the "good fairy" tried to steal Regina to make her a changeling. Cora discovered this plot and stopped the Blue Fairy before she managed to escape with Regina. She cursed the Blue Fairy in her journal and promised to make her suffer. Fairies were notorious for kidnapping children, but usually children with latent magical abilities to use them as fae later on.
Brown eyes went wide as Regina gasped. "That damnable fairy knew!"
-8-8-8-8-
Emma sighed as she walked the dark, silent streets of Storybrooke with Neal. The streets were empty, which made some sense. Undoubtedly, everyone took cover after hearing about Regina's little tantrum. No one wanted to be in her way while she was on the warpath. Neal obviously had no plans to stay inside or at least stay with his father.
Emma had run into Neal on her way to the loft, just as he left Gold's shop. Her parents had taken Henry home, so she tried to figure out what Gold had told Neal before she went to the kid to find out what her parents might have said to him. Snow promised she had not said anything to anyone, but Emma was not totally sure she believed her mother. And, if she had not said anything, how long would that last?
The thought of what Gold told Neal already gave her a headache. She doubted whatever Gold said to Neal was the truth, considering how calm Neal was. Regina would probably have to break it to him, but she did not seem like she wanted to spit in his direction, let alone talk to him. I can't tell him. It's not my place.
"Have you been with Regina this whole time?" Neal inquired with an arched eyebrow. In a couple of hours, the sun would peek over the horizon and paint the sky in brilliant colors. Hopefully, it would be the only thing painting the town.
Emma scoffed. "This whole time? You clearly don't know Regina." Regina had not met a grudge she could not hold, after all. She was lucky to have talked Regina down in this short amount of time.
"No, I don't. Is she going to try to kill me again?"
"You're safe from her." Emma was not sure if that question meant Gold told him something like the truth. She doubted it, though. He was too calm to know the truth.
"Good. I don't need any more trauma in my life right now. Everything is always moving so fast," he sighed. She could not call him a liar on that. They walked quietly for a brief moment.
"So, you okay?" Emma asked since he was not offering up any information. If he was okay, then Gold definitely had not told him the truth. Regina had not been okay and she did not even know if what Pan said was the truth or not until after she snapped.
Neal shrugged. "Okay is a relative term. I don't think I've been okay for a long time."
He's not lying there. "Do you think he told you the truth?"
He scoffed and then laughed. "I think he's incapable of telling the truth unless it suits him. He wants what he wants and he'll do anything to get it."
Emma winced. This was way too close to the truth. Did Gold tell him the truth? Maybe because Neal knew his father, he could understand what his father did. Of course, understanding Gold did not explain why he was so calm, so again, she assumed Gold did not tell him what happened.
"What did he tell you?" Emma blurted out. She needed to know if he knew because he was taking this way too well if he knew.
Neal glanced at her. "He claimed Regina wanted to kill me because he tried to kill her. I've no doubt he tried to kill her, but I get the feeling she'd go at him if it was just that."
"Yeah, that is more Regina's style. I can't believe he said that. I mean, yeah, he tried to kill her." At least twice as far as Emma knew, but she had been there both times to save Regina. "Did you press him after he said that?" Neal could not have possibly just settled for that bogus response.
"Yeah, I pressed him. He then claimed she was just pissed because he tricked her into casting the Curse to come here, making her think she'd find her Happy Ending or something. Basically, she's pissed because he took her Happy Ending from her and she blamed him for the fact bad crap she had to do to cast the Curse, but he needed me to know she had it coming because she was this crazy Evil Queen who killed a bunch of people, including her own father." Neal snorted and rolled his eyes. So, he did not buy that either.
"Damn. Has he always been a liar like that?" The best lies always had a touch of truth to them and Gold obviously knew that.
Sighing, Neal rubbed his forehead. "You know, he used to be a really good father… before all the magic and Darkness and crap." He made a gesture mocking Gold, waving his hands up like he was performing magic. "He was a coward, like scared of his own shadow, but he tried to be there for me or whatever. My mom would disappear, sometimes for days, but Dad would always be there, always making sure I was okay. I don't think he would've let me go when he was just Rumple the coward."
Emma found this a little hard to believe, but with the way the world worked now, this was far from the most unbelievable thing of the year. "You think the Darkness or whatever made him hesitate in following you?"
Blowing out a breath, Neal shrugged. "I think his love of power made him hesitate following me. He wasn't ready to give that up. He wasn't ready to go back to being the guy scared of his own shadow. I get that he regrets losing me, but I don't think even now he'd give up power for me. I don't know if the Darkness corrupted him or if it was just the power itself, but he knows what he wants above all and that's power. If he could have everything else he wants, too, that's just a bonus."
Emma nodded. This sounded about right. She had met people like that, without magic inside of them, without Darkness in them, but they had serious darkness within. So, maybe Gold was just corrupted by the power and it had nothing to do with being the so-called Dark One.
"So, his dark magic or whatever didn't make him this way?" Emma asked. She wanted to understand this world everyone else was from, how magic influenced people, how it might influence her. But, she did not want to go back there.
Neal sighed. "I've tried to research the Dark One's powers as much as I could, but I still don't quite understand everything about it. I don't get when it stops being the Darkness and starts being you or it's a combination of the two. I know that Dark Ones get obsessed with things and it seems like my dad got obsessed with getting me back if he schemed for three hundred years over it."
This was not promising, but it was something she could worry about later. Right now, she needed to figure out how to help Regina. Added to that, how to tell Neal the truth of why Regina had gone after him and what Gold had actually done. She hated that it would fall to her to tell him the truth. How the hell do I even start telling him that? Before she could get that together, there was an explosion in the distance. A dark mushroom cloud rose in the air and the ground shook underneath them.
Neal struggled to stay on his feet. "What the hell was that?"
Emma squinted as she tried to gauge what part of town that was. "The convent?" Who the hell would want to blow up the convent and why? "Well, duty calls." She ran off with Neal following her. "What do you think you're doing?" she asked.
"You might need help," he replied with a shrug.
She scoffed. "I've been doing just fine without you." In fact, he was dead weight the last time he tried to help in Neverland and the time before that he managed to get nearly himself killed.
He did not say anything to that, but he did not go away either. She did not have time to argue with him over this, so she just continued on her way. They met up with her parents partway.
"Reports came in saying Regina's in the convent," David reported.
Damn it. What did the nuns have to do with this? "Okay. Where's Henry?"
"Granny's watching him, but he's asleep anyway," Mary Margaret replied.
That made sense. It was like three in the morning, after all, and it had been an eventful night. Still, she wished her parents had stayed with him instead of running off into danger. She also wished they would let her do her job. After all, they seemed to think they had better things to do than worry about her.
Of course, then again, they seemed pretty proud of her when she was doing the hero thing, but not any other time. No, no, no, brain. Focus on the matter at hand. Regina is possibly killing nuns. Deal with parent crap later. To stay on task, Emma moved, wanting to get to the convent before Regina did something she could not take back.
-8-8-8-8-
Regina appeared inside of the convent in a pillar of black fire, scorching everything within five feet of her and then freezing the floor right beneath her. Well, it would seem her flare for dramatic entrances were improved by this new magic inside of her. Hopefully, it would improve her torturing techniques as well, as she wanted the Blue Fairy to be intimately familiar with those.
"What's going on?" Blue demanded as she and several fairies fluttered into the main hall. They stood in front of the altar, putting the remaining pews between them and Regina. They had the nerve to still be dressed as nuns. There was nothing holy about them, especially their leader.
"Consider this a booty call," Regina smirked and blew a kiss to them.
There were several gasps. "The Evil Queen!"
The fairies had always had healthy fear of her, except for Tinker Bell. Was it because they all knew about her bloodline or just because she would and could flay them if given the chance? It did not matter. For the moment, she revealed in their fear. Inhaling, the scent was sweet, heady, intoxicating. She imagined tormenting Blue would be a thousand times better.
"Regina, what do you want?" Blue inquired with a glare and some bravado. The wands were out and pointed right at Regina.
The burning sensation Regina had yet to get used to intensified and her black flames swirled around her as she smirked more. It felt like she had fangs suddenly, but she could not be sure without a mirror. Rotating her wrist and flexing her hand, she watched as obsidian flames with flecks of gold and violet danced along her fingers. She felt like she could burn out the sun with this new power, even as she sucked all the warmth from the building.
The fairies did not move as they awaited her answer. Regina felt like she could feel their powers humming in the air. Even their magic seemed to tremble before her, freeze in her wake. If she wanted to, she could drown them in her own raw ability and it was like they knew that.
Regina chuckled and it sounded sinister even to her ears. "What do I want? Oh, so many things, like your suffering, your torment, and for you to die screaming in delicious agony."
Blue took a step forward, not lowering her wand. Her hand was steady, as was her breathing, which Regina could see. She did not fear Regina, but then again, she was always too confident in herself. The wooden cross above her head and behind her almost seemed like a prop she had planted there.
"So, all of that Darkness inside of you has finally come out full force." Blue tilted her chin up, as if boasting about how right she had been about Regina for her entire life.
Regina snarled and the building shook. "So, you did know."
Blue still did not waver. "You were always cloaked in Darkness. It was always your destiny."
"You knew he had me just to use me for this Curse and you never stepped in to help and yet you judge me? You're the monster!" Regina roared and the dark energy around her exploded outward like blown smoke. Ice crackled through the air and up the walls.
The ground rumbled like an earthquake. The entire building was covered in pitch black, like a thick fog that bordered on a liquid. Ice clung to the ceiling, creating deadly frozen stalactites. The sound of furniture smashing against each other and the wall echoed through the area. A shard of wood shot by Regina, cutting her cheek, but she did not even flinch. Making a tight fist, she collected up the darkness back into her hand and trapped every single fairy before her, freezing them in their tracks.
"What just happened?" one of the fairies asked as they grunted and tried to move. They might never move again if Regina had her way.
Regina snickered as she watched the fairies squirm. "Oh, yes, come into my parlor said the spider to the fly. You all look so pretty dressed in my web."
Bands of inky clouds held all of the fairies in place, included Blue. Making a tighter fist, she delighted in their screams of pain and the sound of a couple of wands clattering to the stone floor. The crunch of bones snapping and splintering caused a shiver of delight to sauntered up Regina's spine. Regina swaggered to Blue, heels echoing over the grunts of the struggling fae. She stopped in front of Blue, who dared look at her with defiant eyes.
"Now, onto the part where you confess your sins to me before you die in total and complete agony," Regina said.
"You're the only sinner here," Blue replied with a glare.
Regina could feel how crooked her smile was as she tilted her head to regard Blue. A fang poked at her bottom lip and Regina licked it, not even bothered by this physical change. "Condemned before birth, eh? I was the antichrist, yes? Is that why you tried to kidnap me from my crib before I was old enough to fully open my eyes?"
Blue flinched, but then regained her bravado and glared again. "I was trying to save you from the Darkness inside of you."
"Oh, really? Is that the lie you tell yourself to help you sleep at night? How many spawns of the Dark One have you stolen in the night to save their souls?" Regina asked. Of course, maybe it would have saved her all those years ago, but it did not matter. It would have meant a life without Henry and that was no life at all.
"I did save them. You would've been much happier—" Blue's words were choked off as Regina shoved her hand in her chest.
A succulent frisson danced down Regina's spine as she just felt her way around Blue's chest. The fae were different than humans, but no one found it pleasant to have a hand in her torso. Regina doubted it helped that she slowly sucked the heat from Blue's body. Best of all, Regina could feel this new magic creeping through Blue, causing her the pain of a thousand frozen needles in every cell.
"Do not presume anything about my happiness. Let's not pretend a changeling is allowed to have true joy anyway. They're little more than your slaves, like the dwarves, meant to cater to your whims and nothing more. I don't want to talk about that, though. Just tell me how much you knew. It's clear you knew that bastard Rumple sired me and so you came to steal me away one night. My mother thwarted you and you refused to interfere in my life again? I would say out of fear of my mother, but even after she was gone, you never helped. Was it just you refused me any help because I was the offspring of the Dark One or the descendant of a god?"
Regina was not sure how this worked. She just knew she had been a pariah as far as fairy help throughout her entire life. No matter how hard got, no matter how many wishes she made, no matter how many tears she cried, fairies never came to help, like they did with others. Why? Worse yet, when Tink came along, she was actually punished for trying to help Regina.
Blue just stared her down and chuckled at her. Regina growled and fished around in Blue's chest. The fae were built differently from humans, but also from each other, depending on their power level. It was harder to find Blue's heart, but she did not care. It hurt just have a hand in there, searching around and Blue was not immune to that, grunting and growling as Regina worked.
"Regina, let her go!" Snow ordered with her bow in hand.
The foolish girl and her equally foolish family burst onto the scene. At least they did not have Henry with them. Snow fired an arrow. Regina did not even bother to turn. The arrow turned to ice and then dissolved into ash before it made it within a foot of Regina.
"Regina, hey, just let her go. She doesn't have anything to do with this," Sheriff Swan said, taking a slow step toward her.
"Stay back!" Regina snarled. "She has everything to do with this! She knew it all!"
"Regina, how could she know?" Snow asked. Of course she was ready to defend her defender to the bitter end.
"Tell them how you know everything, Blue," Regina purred sweetly, leaning in close as if to kiss the damned fairy. "Tell them, dear, you knew just what I was and stood back, letting Rumple do whatever he pleased with me, let my mother do whatever she pleased with me."
"You made your own choices," Blue replied and then groaned as Regina shoved further into her chest.
"Did I? I chose to be born of Cora and the damned Dark One? I chose that? I chose to be his device for this fucking Curse? I chose that? You knew from the start he had me with the sole intent of casting this curse to come look for his precious son! You knew that and you stood by and watched as he played me like a broken fiddle," Regina snarled and squeezed whatever the hell her hand held. For good measure, she purposely released some of her dark aura into the fairy's body.
Blue screamed like she had been dipped in boiling oil. The sound made ripples of pleasure ease through Regina. Was this magic from the Dark One poisoning the Blue Fairy? Is she the only one it's poisoning?
"Regina, Blue would never do anything like that! She's the ultimate good," Snow argued.
Regina laughed. "The ultimate good? You honestly believe any fae operate under human morals? She has her own agenda, like anyone else."
"She couldn't have known Rumple was your father. Your mother didn't even know," Snow pointed out.
Her mother probably fooled herself into believing that. After all, her mother felt like she got the better of the scary Dark One. Plus, her mother thought Rumple was afraid of her. Her mother probably never saw this coming.
"You're such a naive little fool, Snow. Do you really think this bitch had no idea what was going on?" Regina stared at Blue and could actually feel power flowing out of her eyes. This was beyond the Dark One and definitely had something to do with her ichor. This force inside of her might actually devour her before she could finish with Blue.
"Regina, that's crazy. You're just looking for someone to blame, like with Neal earlier," Snow said and Regina growled at the mention of his name.
Emma stepped up, always the hero. "Regina, just think about this for a second. Even if Blue knew, would it have been her place to tell you?"
"No, but it should've been her place to help me! Who just allows the Dark One to roam free and destroy innocent lives? Oh, the Blue Fairy! She does it every, single time and pretends that she's some force of good. How many lives have you watched go up in flames?" Regina pushed deeper into Blue's chest and she hollered in scrumptious misery. Shivers went through Regina and she had to exhale slowly through her nose, feeling some of her dark aura flow from her nostrils.
"Regina, even if that's the case, you can't execute her. That's not your place. Besides, do you really want to give into all of this darkness around you?" Emma asked.
Regina chuckled. "You don't get it. I already gave into a long time ago. Rumple saw fit to let it devour me. He fed me to it piece by piece and she watched. She stood by and watched."
"Your mother—" Blue choked out, but Regina pushed in further, halting her words. Blue gagged as her lips began to match her name.
"My mother wasn't there all the time, so don't use her as an excuse. You even punished Tink when she stepped in and made sure I had no one on my side. Did you want this to happen? What did you get out of it? What did you get out of watching what happened to me my whole life? What did you get out of watching as I crushed the heart of the only entity in existence to give a damn about me?" Regina screamed and pressed even more, inhaling Blue's shrieks.
There had to be something in it for the Blue Fairy, but Regina could not figure out what. What would Blue want with being in a world without magic? Maybe Blue wanted to make a study of her. She did not really care. She could not believe the Blue Fairy to tell her the truth anyway, especially with Snow right there. Blue would never do anything to make herself look bad in front of pure, little Snow.
"Regina, come on. You're just letting the stress from Neverland out now that it's all over. You have to get this under control or the magic wins," Emma said, eyes imploring with Regina to listen.
"The magic already won! You think I can get this genie back in the fucking bottle?" Regina motioned around them, the darkness blanketing the whole place, which was covered in ice and frost, popping with gold and purple lightning through it. She could not pull all this back in if she tried, not that she wanted to. It felt good, like a nice stretch after sitting for too long.
"Regina, think of Henry. He wouldn't want you just executing people," Emma said.
"Henry doesn't want me at all, so why should it matter?" Regina snarled.
Emma drew back a little and had the nerve to look at her like she was the idiot. "Henry doesn't want you? What the hell makes you think that? You just saved his life, Regina."
"Yes, so he can go with his dearest birth parents," Regina replied, spitting out the last two words. "But, this is nothing more than a distraction." She turned back to the Blue Fairy. "If I know your friends, something should be coming now."
And right on cue came the real attack from the side. Neal charged with a sword. It was quite pathetic. Regina growled and waved her hand, stopping him in his tracks. She could sense him almost as well as she could sense Emma.
"You think just because you're my brother I won't end you?" Regina demanded, sneering in Neal's direction. At this point, the only person she probably would not end was Henry.
The peon blinked and then gaped at her, mouth opened like a suffocating fish. "Brother? Wait, is that what the hell Papa did to you?"
Regina flinched. Rumple had been too much of a coward to even tell his beloved spawn what happened, as if it would change anything. It was not like anyone cared.
And, just like that, it hit her. No matter what she did, no matter who she killed, it would never undo what had already happened. She would never be more than a tool. Her whole existence was to be a weapon and without anyone wielding her, she was no better than a rusted, broken sword. The thought made her roar, black smoke coming out of her mouth and then she vanished.
"Regina, wait!" Emma called for her.
-8-8-8-8-
Next time: Neal and Regina talk.