Slightly extended delay on this chapter; apologies for that.

#

Henry, Regina is sure, will never run out of questions.

They've been sat in the diner for twenty minutes, Snow and Regina each taking a drink while Henry chomps through a burger and Regina nudges Hook into picking through an omelette with his coffee. Henry's questions started the moment they stepped out of the car, wandering into the diner, and hadn't stopped since. From the benign to things that made Hook chuckle darkly before diverting the line of questioning without scandalising Snow with his reply.

He'd bypassed how he lost his hand, blaming a crocodile which Regina was sure Henry would misinterpret as the cartoon version being true in that regard. They'd discussed mermaids and sirens and sea monsters, other pirates and treasures and tales of Neverland. Henry was clearly still in his element, getting more and more personal rather than just about the adventures and pirate tales, while Hook was just humouring him, while getting steadily less energetic overall.

But as he carries on through a story, telling Henry about the mystical Emerald Cove, four days sail from Neverland, the hidden monsters and treasures that they faced on their adventure, Regina can see the first signs of pain drawing at his forehead, then clench in his jaw and rigid set to his shoulders. It doesn't stop him from regaling Henry with his tale, but Regina is sure that they need to get him home soon so he can rest and take some more medication.

It's a bit of a surprise when Leroy shuffles over, hat between his hands and the other dwarves sitting along the bar at the front counter, watching them. He clearly doesn't want to interrupt, but Hook trails off anyway, turning to the side to see what it is, while Henry peers over.

"We um, we were just wanting to make sure you were, y'know, you were doing okay?" It strikes Regina as odd, out of all the people that Hook could have befriended, he ended up friends with the dwarves. And more surprisingly, he ended up friends with Bashful first. Hook just gives a tight smile and a short nod.

"Aye, just a few new holes to mend and some bone damage." His fingers are likely to take a few weeks to heal; he's already started testing that by wiggling them and seeing just how painful it is. Regina's almost tempted to push herself into healing them for him just so that he stops it.

"Well, we're keeping an eye on the Jolly, whatever's going on, no one's getting near your ship," there's the threat of a smile on Leroy's face, Regina can see it, this weird twitch at the corner of his mouth, while the other six just nod behind him, "mate." And the smile breaks, this grin just pulling on Grumpy's face and Regina stares. She can't remember if she's ever seen the man smile before.

"I think we should let the Captain and Regina head home, don't you?" Snow seems to take a look at Hook and figure out what Regina already knows, but then it might be the anxious twist of worry in Regina's gut resonating in Snow too. "I'm sure Hook can tell you more stories later."

Hook doesn't answer, but does give Henry a bright smile and nod, even if the smile is tight and strained and Regina gives Snow a grateful nod. Hook manages out of the diner and down the steps before his arm comes around Regina's shoulders, to the casual observer it might simply be an embrace, but Regina can feel a little of his weight leaning on her and she knows that she's the only thing keeping him upright until they get to the car.

"We should've just gotten you home." His face is ashen by the time she gets him settled in the seat, heading along the quiet, deserted streets to her house, glancing over at him occasionally. "Whale warned you not to overdo it."

"You got s'more time with the lad though," one of his shoulders shrugs, and Regina shakes her head, because this is exactly why she's developed these foolish feelings for this man. "S'not a big deal." Except he's clearly exhausted, in pain and slurring, and she knows he's not had anything to drink, because his flask was destroyed at the docks. Stupid bloody pirate.

It's harder to get him into the house, whatever energy he had waning completely and Regina is not about to battle the stairs to get him into bed. He groans as he sits on the sofa, letting Regina help him out of his jacket and then groans again when she urges him to lie down, propping a cushion under his head and shifting to pull off his shoes and stretch his legs out over the end of the sofa. She's got some extra blankets in the cupboard in the foyer, a glass of water and the pills Whale gave her for Hook.

"You'll need to sit up a little." Getting him propped up on the cushions long enough to take the medication, then helping him down again. He didn't protest the medication or the rest, which just solidified Regina's opinion. He'd pushed it too much. "Maybe you'd be better off in the hospital."

"No," it was less of a reply and more of a hummed annoyance than a word, getting a slight chuckle out of Regina. He was so adamant that he was not spending time in the hospital, petulant like a child, and Regina remembered when Henry had his tonsils out and had to spend a night in the hospital following the operation. He'd been just as petulant as Hook was now.

Be it because he wasn't used to the pain medication, or simply because he was utterly exhausted, Hook was asleep in minutes, his breathing slowly levelling out, face losing that pinched expression and his shoulders relaxing back into the sofa. Regina stayed where she was for a moment or two, stroking his hair out of his forehead and just trying to calm that anxiety for a while.

She had no idea how this was going to work. Charming and Swan needed to figure out what the hell was going on now, Regina had a pirate to take care of while attempting to navigate these feelings, and she and Snow had to figure out this bond at the same time. Apparently, they were not due some respite from the madness any time soon.

Leaving Hook to sleep, Regina went about clearing up. She'd been so preoccupied this weekend that she'd barely done a thing. There were apples that needed picking before they went bad, the garden needed a quick tending to, and since she no longer employed a maid, she was going to have to attempt to clean the kitchen. All the while worrying and listening for her damn pirate.

It wasn't for a few hours before a thread of sheer disappointment trickled through, resignation following it quickly and Regina struggled for a moment to figure out what it could've been. At least until the phone rang.

"They couldn't find anything." Snow sounds about as disappointed as she felt, and Regina sat to listen to the story of how the trail kept circling around, with no clear or even supposed culprit and no sure fire sign that there truly was magic involved. All in all, it looked very much like the accident it was supposed to be until Hook voiced his opinion on the magic. Which meant that Emma and Charming couldn't follow a dead lead.

"Okay, I'm going to keep Hook here anyway," with the dwarves watching the ship, at least they'd have some semblance of security should someone try something to the Jolly Roger. "I'm sure the Sheriff will figure something out when she has more information." However sarcastic she meant to say it, her tone just sounded resigned to her own ears.

"We'll figure it out, Regina. I promise." There's a determination in there, and Regina's not sure what to make of Snow being so sure of something in direction to two supposed villains, but she doesn't comment on it right then. "Henry wants to stop by after school tomorrow, would that be okay?" And of course it would, like Regina would turn down any time she could spend with Henry, least of all when he's asking.

With that settled, and Snow somewhat mollified to Regina's acceptance of the situation with Hook, they say their goodbyes and Regina remains seated, staring at Hook sleeping on her sofa, trying to figure out why she's so damn conflicted about keeping him here.

#

Hook, she discovers, is a terrible patient. He refuses to simply rest, continually moves his fingers despite the break, pushes himself to the point of near exhaustion and busts two stitches in the space of just four hours. Regina is about ready to tie him to the bed.

"Can we save the kinky things for when I'm not bleeding?"

"It's your own damn fault, you nuisance." She's taping a piece of gauze to his side, having let the slight blood flow stop before redressing the wound and trying to be stern with him. "They didn't tell you to take it easy for the sake of it you know." He's barely listened to anything though, getting up and wandering on his own, finding her upstairs, and she's not even going to think about how drained of colour he was when that happened. And she had been considering going to the town hall and leaving him in bed that morning, thank God she'd talked herself out of it.

She both loves and hates that he doesn't take this at all seriously; thankful that he seems so carefree about the matter, because she's not sure she could deal with him being utterly serious and calm, while at the same time hating that she can't stop worrying while he doesn't. It's an irritating loop and she'd really rather not deal with it to be honest, but there doesn't seem to be a way around it.

As promised, Henry shows up after school, practically rushing into the house and already spilling out excited stories. Snow is far more sedate and contained as she follows Henry into the kitchen. Hook leans against the counter, not obviously holding his weight differently, but Regina notices him avoiding pressure on his side and mentally calculates when the next round of medication is due. She doesn't draw attention to it, because Hook seems enthralled in whatever tale Henry is spinning, while Regina gets some coffee made for Snow and herself.

"I'm gonna show the Captain some of my models!" And Regina just smiles softly, the perplexed look on Hook's face as he's carefully but firmly tugged out of the kitchen and up the stairs to Henry's rooms where numerous model planes, ships and trains await them.

"It's good that they get along." Regina nodded slightly at Snow's observation, and apparently, Hook and Henry were getting along. Which was good, surely. "You've um, I mean, if you want to talk, you know, about all this, sometimes that helps."

"Talk? About what, exactly? How someone is apparently attempting to blow up my lover? About how I have no idea how to deal with these feelings for him, never mind tell him that it's not just a—fling," and that was a word she hated with a passion. "Or about how I'm struggling through my emotions along with yours and have no idea how to stop that?"

She was frustrated. She knew she was frustrated. There was too much happening straight off a previous crisis and she wasn't processing and coping with it at all. She knew that, but her usual method was hardly about to work right now. She was trying, for Henry she was trying and that meant putting the anger aside for as long as she could bear. But realistically it was too much, she was working through past issues with Dr Hopper, and even then she didn't think talking about her childhood and the loss of Daniel and the warping way that Rumplestiltskin taught her was helping anything. All it did was bring the memories to the forefront of her mind and push all that pain and emptiness back into her heart, twisting and cutting it all over again.

And now Snow wanted to talk. Talk about this, about their predicament and Hook and everything else that just bubbled away, not giving her a moment's peace. And all she could feel was genuine concern and damn understanding, it was practically suffocating.

"Regina," Snow's hand carefully rested over the top of hers, drawing her hold off the cooling mug of coffee to the middle of the counter where Snow cupped her palm gently. Regina couldn't take her eyes off their hands, clasped around one another in yet another reminiscent manner. Days when Snow, just a young girl, used to covet those moments where Regina, the step-mother she adored at the time, would clasp her hand and show her something spectacular in the gardens, or share a secret with her, or just tell a story. Regina felt that odd stab of regret and guilt and sadness, and she couldn't work out whose it was entirely, but almost as if it came from the both of them. "I know that this is hard, and scary, and we don't understand how we can fix this yet, but you need to talk to someone. You can't possibly keep it all up inside."

And of course, Snow would understand just how daunting it was, wouldn't she. Working through Regina's conflicted emotions was probably just as hard on her as dealing with Snow's impossibly bright feelings herself. The problem there isn't just Snow's emotions; it's the purity of them. How intensely Snow feels things, there's no muddled waves, no guilt for feeling how she does, or confusion in the mix of her feelings. Just bright, sharp emotions that occasionally steal the breath from Regina in an instant.

"The last person I was… The last time I felt like this, for someone, it was Daniel." And that pang of guilt, Regina knew that was Snow. Knew that the girl was still holding onto something that Regina didn't know if she could ever truly absolve her of, simply because it hurt too deep and too dark. "I'm not sure I know how to deal with this again."

"You haven't talked to Hook about it, have you?" Regina didn't bother covering the scoff at Snow's question. Of course she hadn't talked to him about it. She'd discovered them herself only two days ago, and he was mending from an almost exploded him, she wasn't about to sit him down while he was loopy on meds and explain that, somewhere during the sex, she'd developed ridiculously girly feelings for him and his stupid leather and charming wit and those borderline illegal lips. Nor did she plan on.

"I don't think his ego needs the boost." Although it was more than that, more like all those years ago, when she'd been struggling so profusely with Henry, battling herself and unable to truly pacify him. She'd known it then like she knew it now. Fear.

Hook's ego had nothing to do with her not telling him, if anything she doubted she was at all concerned with his ego. He was bluster and charm most of the time, but he was startlingly understanding when it came to deep, personal matters. Likely due to his three hundred plus years of hardship and pain. No, it was fear that kept her from broaching the issue; of rejection, of unrequited feelings, of laughter. And as much as she could try and convince herself that he wouldn't be so cruel with matters of the heart, he was a pirate, and she was scared.

"Regina," but Snow, the hopeless romantic that she is, cannot leave things as they are, "you might be pleasantly surprised. The heart wants what it wants, that never really goes away. Wouldn't you rather deal with this together than trying to keep him out?" It wasn't that Regina didn't have an answer to that, simply that she couldn't explain it correctly, but then, she didn't need to right now, did she? "I know you're scared, it's understandable, really." The feelings were resonating in Snow just the same as Regina was feeling them herself. "But Hook… I think you're worrying over nothing."

There's a roar of laughter from upstairs, Henry's giggling following his laugh and the slightly high whine he makes when he's struggling to breathe. Regina gives a small smile, nodding slightly before staring into her tea, because maybe Snow has a point there. The pirate is complex and mysterious to a point, but he's foolhardy and flawed with his heart, isn't he?

#

If she'd been asked just a few months ago, how she'd feel about repairing her relationship with Regina, Snow doubts it would've been favourable. With everything that happened, with the Enchanted Forest, and Cora, and the beans, Snow honestly doesn't know if she would've been willing to step out like that. Until Cora died, until Snow had a hand in how Cora died, and Regina's torture at the hands of the outsiders, until the spell.

For the longest time, she'd honestly believed that Regina couldn't feel anything, that her heart was stone and she was void of emotions other than hate and rage and evil. The insight into Regina's heart is strangely startling at times, but not entirely unwelcome either. Regina's love for Henry, Snow was expecting, she understood that. Her despair over Cora, the guilt and anger and loneliness, she wasn't sure why she didn't expect that, but she hadn't.

With things starting to level out, the feelings much easier to tell apart now, Snow finds it somewhat comforting to have that connection to Regina. Understanding the former Queen is tricky at best, but she almost feels like she's starting to see the human side of the woman. They ate together frequently, sometimes with Henry and Hook, sometimes with Emma and Henry, usually at the diner, which often got a few strange glances.

But they were almost a month into their shared feelings problem, as far as Snow could tell, they were about three weeks into Regina and Hook's non-relationship while Emma and David were almost two weeks into the stalled investigation into the apparent accident at the docks. There hadn't been any other incidents, not even a fight outside the Rabbit Hole, and the dwarves were still minding Hook's ship, although Snow was sure that Hook had visited it again by now. She knew because Henry had gone with him after Hook had assured both Emma and Regina that it was perfectly safe and that the dwarves had taken good care of her.

The relationship that Henry had drummed up with Hook wasn't surprising, not in the least. Charming wasn't thrilled about it, ("he's a pirate, a pirate, what's so special about that?") but Henry was undeterred. Which was why Regina, Snow and Emma were sitting waiting in the diner while Killian took Henry to get his cast off.

"Seriously mom, it's fine. Killian knows the way and he's Captain Hook, no one is gonna bother us!"

Snow didn't need to be bonded to Regina's emotions to tell she was nervous, potentially about Henry and Hook being off on their own, or Henry being off with Hook, or just the fact that she still hadn't addressed her feelings for the pirate that Henry was now calling by his given name. Whatever the reason, Regina felt the need to work off the anxiousness in her gut with a constant tapping of a delicately manicured nail against the top of the table. Emma wasn't much better, but Snow still wasn't entirely sure what was going on in her daughter's head at the best of times.

"They were coming straight here afterwards, right?" It had been agreed that they'd wait for Henry and Hook at the diner, that they'd have dinner, the five of them, and Henry would go back to Regina's afterwards to spend the weekend with the former Queen and pirate. That, of course, was causing mixed feelings just about as much for Emma as it was for Regina.

"Henry's appointment was only thirty minutes ago, it takes about that long to walk from the hospital, I'm sure they'll be here soon." Although Regina's finger didn't stop tapping out the repetitive beat on the table all the same. Snow just shook her head slightly, she understood the worry, naturally, but apparently no one was looking to vocalise those concerns at all.

"And then in the third one," the door opens, the bell giving it's little ring and all three women turn to look over, "they sail to the worlds end and back, and invoke the pirates of the code or something and then Sparrow and Davy Jones and Barbosa all battle against the Navy and stop them from destroying piracy in the world. It's really good and full of action and some romance and really cool ships." Henry is fully animated again, talking with both hands now that the cast is off, although there's a small brace on the outside of his wrist like Whale said he'd provide for additional support to start with. Hook, in his jeans, shirt and jacket from this modern era of clothing, is just smiling at Henry with a fond expression, and Snow can tell that Regina sees it, because there's this pang of hope that thrums in her.

"Hey, how'd it go?" Henry perches himself on the edge beside Emma while Hook slips in to sit next to Regina, giving Snow and Emma a nod in greeting.

"Okay, the saw was a little weird and the nurse talked to Killian more than me," Snow had to bite back the smirk at that little spike of jealousy from Regina there, "but Dr Whale said it all looked okay and I have to wear the brace for one more week and then I should be fine."

"He's just to avoid, what was it? Contact sports?" The eyebrow goes up, because there are still many idioms that Hook is somewhat confused by. "And he doesn't need to wear it when he sleeps." For all that Hook is adapting to their world, he is exceptionally good with detail, something that Snow knows was a surprise to Emma and David, after the initial attack at the dock, Hook was able to fill in a lot of blanks from the other's accounts, having noticed a lot more. It carries over largely with other things, not least information regarding Henry.

"Did you enjoy your male bonding time?" Emma gives Henry a small nudge, already playing off any of the worry that she was churning up while they were waiting, as Ruby comes over to take their orders and say hello.

"It wasn't ma—Whatever. I was telling Killian about the Pirates of the Caribbean movies, and maybe we could watch them this weekend? 'Cause he says that he doesn't believe anything in our world could be a good portrayal of a pirate."

"You want to… You want to watch movies this weekend?" There's a hint of disappointment in Regina's tone, just as much as Snow can feel it. "I um, I guess sure, that's—Of course, whatever you want to do."

"Well, probably only Sunday, lad. I have a few things to get cleared up on the Jolly tomorrow. Tedious little things, cleaning, waxing, you know," Hook's hand waves back and forth, obviously dismissing any sort of 'fun' that could be considered on the ship doing any of the things that Snow is sure he's just making up, considering the look on his face.

"So, I'll have my mom to myself tomorrow?" Hook just nods at Henry, giving a tight smile, "Can we go horse riding then? I haven't been able to since the fall, and gramps says not until the cast was off, but it's off, and Mary Margaret always said you were the best rider she'd seen in the Enchanted Forest, can we mom? Please?" If there is one thing that Snow White knows is impossible to say no to, it's Henry's puppy dog look. The pleading and compliments likely assist, but the way he looks so hopeful and earnest is likely what makes Regina cave so fast.

"Of course we can." It launches Henry into the story that Snow told him not too long ago, the one about Regina saving her from a runaway horse all those years ago, about Regina's skill on a horse, of all the things that Snow had idolised about Regina when she was a child, the former Queen's grace during riding was potentially top of the list.

Emma is so caught up listening to Henry that she misses the small exchange between Regina and Hook; Regina leaning against his shoulder slightly to catch his attention, smiling a soft smile with a whispered 'thank you', only furthering Snow's belief that really, Hook has nothing to do on the ship tomorrow at all and is simply giving Henry and Regina a day together without either feeling guilty about anything. He just gives her a brief smile in return before Ruby appears with their meals and Snow feels that steady tingling of adoration that's slowly gaining more and more strength from Regina.

She's sure it's only a matter of time before the both of them just figure this out. And if that doesn't happen, Snow is more than happy to give them a friendly push.