Huge thank yous to all of you wonderful people who've followed, favorited, reviewed, or simply continued to read. It's because of you that I keep going. With the knowledge that my inevitable grammar and spelling mistakes will be corrected when I wake up, I'll leave this for you as I crawl off to bed just in time for the sunrise. Maybe I can even manage another chapter later before work.

Reviews are welcomed. :)

Pride Before A Fall

Chapter 4

Henry had been a wonderful distraction. They'd spent an hour in the kitchen, Regina happily listening as her son talked about his life in New York; his friends, his school, his teachers. It hurt to think about all of the things she was missing out on, but having him in front of her, sharing everything and looking genuinely happy, helped to ease that pain.

When the sound of her cellphone ringing pierced the air, Regina startled, drawing Henry's attention. She swallowed hard before reaching for it where it sat on the counter, dreading the call she'd been expecting all afternoon. "Oh," she breathed in relief when she saw the caller id; Emma. "Hello?"

"Is Henry with you?" She sounded out of breath, and Regina immediately recognized the panic lacing her voice.

"He's here, he's fine," Regina immediately assured her. "Didn't you get my text?"

Henry looked up, frowning.

"No, I just…I was out of service range for a while and when I got back and Henry wasn't here…"

Regina heard her take a deep breath and let it all out at once.

"Why didn't you let anyone know you were planning on picking him up today?"

Regina crossed an arm over her waist defensively at the accusation in Emma's voice and stood up straighter, though Emma couldn't see her. "I didn't. He came here on his own." She glanced up to see Henry watching her intensely. "Would you like to speak with him?"

Emma sighed. "Yeah. I'm sorry – I didn't mean…I'm sorry."

Relaxing a bit, Regina waited a beat. "It's alright, I understand. Here he is." Holding the phone out over the counter, she looked at Henry, nodding at the phone. "It's your mother."

"Yeah, I figured," he said, taking it from her. "Hey, mom," he started sheepishly.

Regina couldn't hear the words, but she heard Emma's voice coming clearly from the phone, and she watched as Henry cringed.

"Yeah, I'm sorry…No, I know what you said, but…but, mom…mom…I tried, but your phone was—" He slumped his shoulders, leaning against the counter. "I didn't hear it ringing, I'm sorry." He rolled his eyes. "Fine, I'll see you in a little bit." He held the phone back out to Regina. "She wants to talk to you again."

"Emma?"

"Hey. Can you bring him back to Granny's? I have some things I want to talk to you about – things I found today that might be a lead on this whole Wicked Witch thing."

"I'm actually a little busy…" Regina trailed off, thinking of the phone call she was still expecting.

"Too busy to make sure Henry gets back here safely?" Emma asked incredulously.

"No, no, of course not. I can drop him off, I'm just not sure if I'll have time to…" she looked up at Henry. "To chat."

"Regina, we're talking about the woman who cursed all of you – the one who wiped an entire year of memories away. What's more important than that right now?"

She closed her eyes, sighing heavily, trying to shake the heavy weight that seemed to be pressing down on her all of the sudden. "I'll be there in ten minutes." She ended the call and set her phone down on the counter with a little more force than she'd intended.

"You and my mom don't get along very well, do you?"

"What?" Regina looked up, feigning ignorance.

"You know what I'm talking about," Henry said, raising an eyebrow. "I mean, she says you guys are old friends, but half the time she gets this really annoyed voice when she's talking to you. You don't really seem to like her much, either."

Regina chuckled in amusement. "Ms. Swan and I have very little in common, it's true, but we also have some very big things in common – things that allow us to work together." Raising her eyebrows playfully, she added, "Against all odds." She pushed off the counter, scooping up her cell phone. "Now grab your coat and let's go. We don't want to be late."

Henry slid off the stool, following her. "What is it about this town?"

"What do you mean?"

"My mom says that we're here for her job, but this isn't like any job she's ever worked before. She's acting differently, and it's still really weird that she knows everyone here. She never mentioned Storybrooke before now, but it's super obvious that she spent a lot of time here at some point, and I get the feeling that people are staring at me sometimes, like they know who I am, too. But that's not possible, because my mom and I lived in Boston before we moved to New York. Whenever I talk to anyone, it always seems like they're holding something back, and I just want to know what's going on. Mom let me do more on my own in New York than she does here, which makes no sense. This is a small town, it's not like anything is going to happen, so I know there's something else going on." He looked over to Regina as she pulled the front door open, wanting some kind of explanation.

Henry had always been smart, and once he had an idea in his mind about something, he was relentless. He'd never been able to let things drop, and Regina wondered why they thought this time would be any different. It had only been a matter of time before his innate curiosity won out, and she knew they wouldn't be able to keep the truth from him much longer. It all would have been so much easier had she been able to recreate the memory potion. Without it, she wasn't sure if the answers to his questions would bring back his memories or only serve to confuse him further.

She hated lying to him; especially after everything they'd been through and after she'd promised him she wouldn't lie anymore. But he wasn't the Henry she'd made that promise to, and it wasn't her truth to tell. If the truth didn't come from Emma, or at least from the both of them together, there was even less of a chance that Henry would believe, and she didn't want to frighten him. Instead, she told him the only honest thing she could. "Henry, your mother only wants to keep you safe." Of course, he didn't know she meant herself, not just Emma.

"But what is she trying to keep me safe from?" Henry tried. "What in Storybrooke could possibly be that dangerous?"

Regina shook her head as she started the car and backed out of the driveway. "You're going to have to ask Emma. But not today. Today, she and I have other things we need to discuss."

"And I'm going to be stuck in the room staring at the wall again, aren't I?" he asked dejectedly. "It feels like ever since we got here, everyone is trying to hide me away."

Regina glanced over at him as he gazed out the window, watching the houses they passed with his chin propped on his hand. She hesitated briefly, but the need to comfort him won out and she moved her hand to rest on his shoulder. "It's not that. They just want to—"

"To keep me safe…yeah, I know," he sighed, and she dropped her hand. He looked over at her. "Thanks for letting me hang out with you today. You're the first person here who hasn't acted like they're keeping some huge secret. Everybody else walks on eggshells around me."

Well that was laughable, Regina thought, seeing as she felt exactly the opposite. Just that brief contact of touching Henry's arm had nearly broken her. She wanted to tell him everything. She wanted her son back, but she bit her tongue; she was keeping the biggest secret of them all. "I enjoyed the company," she told him instead.

"Maybe…if my mom's okay with it, we could do it again? It's way more fun than hanging out at the inn all day. Or being pawned off on random strangers."

She smiled at the fact that he no longer considered her a random stranger. "I'd love that. I'll talk to your mom about it. Perhaps next time I can take you into the office with me…show you what it's like being Mayor for a day."

Henry grinned. "Yeah. That would be cool."

Regina parked across from the diner just in time for her phone to start ringing again. When she glanced at the screen and saw the hospital id, her heart leapt into her throat and she sucked in a breath.

"Hey, are you okay?" Henry asked, seeing her noticeably pale.

"Yes…yes. I'll be fine. Why don't you go in and tell your mother I'll be along shortly."

"Okay."

She watched him cross the road and waited until she saw him safely enter the diner before she answered the call and pressed the phone against her ear with a shaking hand.

"Regina?"

She cleared her throat, realizing she hadn't said anything. "Uh…yes?" She cleared it again to try and smooth the tremors from her voice. "What did you find out?"

"The tests were positive," he told her, wasting no time in getting to the point. "You're pregnant." There was a weighted silence before he continued. "If you can find time in the next few days, you should come back in so that we can discuss everything."

Regina nodded mutely before realizing that he couldn't see her. "Fine. I'll make time."

"Good."

"Thank you." Regina quickly hung up and dropped her phone into her purse. She fumbled with the door handle for a second before the fresh, cold air hit her and she breathed it in desperately. No matter how much she took in, it didn't seem like enough. She paused outside the door of the diner to lean against the wall, suddenly feeling the world spin. She desperately tried to regain control, breathing deeply and squeezing her eyes shut, but she could feel her legs giving up under her weight. The panic overwhelmed her and she collapsed, losing consciousness as she hit the ground.

Stretching slowly, Regina felt the small arm that was wrapped loosely around her waist. She shifted slightly, opening her eyes to place her surroundings. As sleep faded, she remembered the late-night escape and the long journey that had left her completely exhausted and drained of magic. Roland, completely undisturbed by her movement, slept on, his little body nestled against hers. She smiled softly before the peace of the moment was shattered by the sound of twigs snapping nearby. She sat up abruptly, body going rigid, and this time, Roland's eyes snapped open. He sensed the danger and his eyes widened in fear. Looking up at her, he opened his mouth to say something and she shook her head, lifting a finger to her lips. He sat up next to her, pressing into her side once more and wrapping his arms around her tightly. "Are they going to find us?" he whispered.

She moved him around so that he was sitting in her lap, legs wrapped around her waist, his head pressed against her chest in fear, and she held him tightly to her, ready to jump into action if necessary. "No one can see us, but we must be very, very quiet," she breathed into his ear, and she felt him nod against her.

Voices; men's voices. There were several of them, though they were still too far off to hear anything that was being said. It was evident from their footfalls and conversation that they were not aware they'd stumbled upon anything unusual. She prayed she was also correct in assuming it meant they were not a searching party.

The two of them sat in paralyzed silence, clutching to one another and listening as the noises grew louder. By the sound of it, the tent was not in the direct path of the group, and Regina thanked the stars above that she'd had the sense in her tired state to keep them out of the way of any easy traveling paths.

After what felt like several minutes, the voices filtered into words that could only just be made out from their distance.

"…not playing right into her hands? Do you not think it was her plan?"

Roland lifted his head from her chest as they listened.

"I agree fully with you, but Marcus is also correct. We must approach with caution and a well-thought plan."

With no warning, Roland jerked out of her grasp, tripping in his hurry to get outside.

"Roland!" she hissed in terror, jumping up after him.

"I will not allow her to keep my son while we—"

All conversation came to an abrupt end as Roland raced out into the trees, seeming to pop into existence out of thin air. Not far behind, Regina appeared, quickly staggering to a halt as several arrows were nocked and leveled directly at her. Normally she would laugh at the flimsy wooden weapons as she snapped them in half with an easy wave of her hand, but she was still weak from the night before and wasn't sure she'd be able to defend herself against them.

"Papa!" Roland shouted, not slowing until he was leaping into his father's arms.

Robin had to take a few steps back to keep from falling, barely catching his balance as his son was suddenly in his arms. He stood in shock, not understanding where Roland had come from, but not hesitating to wrap his arms around his boy. That's when his eyes fell on the danger that his men had already seen.

The Evil Queen.

She stood not thirty feet from them, seeming to be momentarily frozen. It only took a moment, however, for her to draw herself up, moving her hands to her hips. She remained deathly silent, and he knew his men had not yet released their arrows for fear of the magic she'd surely use against them. That she had not yet done so was a miracle.

Regina for her part, worked to get her breathing and racing heart under control. If these men detected any fear from her, they might realize she lacked her normal defenses, and then she'd really be in trouble.

They remained staring at one another, Regina trying to maintain her confident posture, and it was Robin who finally stepped forward. "You don't have magic," he correctly deduced, catching the flicker of fear in her eyes, even from that distance.

Not needing anything more, a few of the men rushed forward, catching the queen before she could run very far and quickly binding her hands behind her back. "It's time to answer a few questions, Your Majesty," one of them spat, giving the rope an extra tug, and she cried out as it tightened painfully.

"Enough," Robin called, moving closer, Roland still wrapped in his arms. "It was my boy she was after. I'll be the one to ask the questions."

Regina raised her head, locking eyes with him as he stepped up to her. The cold fury was evident in them, and she swallowed, knowing that her years of being the Evil Queen had finally caught up with her.