A/N: ...*slinks back* Hi. I'm really sorry for the wait. My boss went on vacation and left me in charge of the store for two weeks and then one of the two other managers had his mother pass away so I was covering his shifts. Needless to say, I've worked 80 hours in the past week and have little time to do anything else more than sleep. But! I have it done now and my plan is to use the rest of my day off to write at least chapter 10, and get 11 and 12 done over the weekend. I leave in a week and a half for my internship, but no worries, I will have plenty of time to keep writing throughout the rest of the summer.

This one didn't get the hardcore edit because my editor was on vacay, so pardon anything erroneous. Sorry again! Enjoy :)


Neal watched Regina's face shift as she processed what he'd said. Shock had stunned her features briefly; then disbelief hardened her eyes and crunched her brow, drawing her lips down. Fear and relief battled like storm fronts, churning up tornadoes behind her eyes.

"I saw her, she drove off –" Regina stuttered, not willing to let herself believe that it could have been a hoax. "You told your boss."

"I thought she was too," Neal let a little sympathy creep into his voice. "I did. But she called Henry, our son."

"How?"

"I guess with a phone," Neal shrugged.

"No. I mean how did she survive?" Her eyes rapidly searched his face for answers that she knew he didn't have.

"She didn't say. Emma's an expert diver," he commented.

Regina paused, remembering crashing waves at the base of a rocky cliff. "I know."

"You know?" His eyebrows shot up.

"We used to cliff dive together. Well, she dove and I watched. She almost died once," Regina said sadly, staring at the back of the seat for a moment before shaking her head to clear it. "Why didn't she just call you?"

"I don't know that either, but she must think something is up to call Henry and give him a coded message. But you'll have to ask her how she pulled her Houdini off when we pick her up," Neal returned to his map, diligently decoding Emma's message.

"Knowing Emma, it'll be something crazy," Regina muttered.

Neal was quiet for a few minutes before updating her. "We'll have to backtrack a few hours."

"Of course," Regina rolled her eyes.

"Hey, they think you're dead. They think Emma is dead. So, we have all the time in the world," Neal quipped, putting the SUV in drive and pulling off the shoulder. "Speaking of dead, when I said Henry's mom called, did you think I was talking about Emma?"

"Y–" Regina stopped, wracking her brain. "I don't know. Did you say that?"

He nodded.

"You said 'our' son instead of 'my' son. I think I got stuck on that. I didn't know you were married."

"Did you need to know?"

"I'm a lawyer," she scoffed. "I need to know everything."

Neal laughed and they settled into another mostly comfortable silence until Regina decided she needed to know something else.

"So, uh, how long have you and Emma been married?"

"What!" Neal hit the horn accidentally, causing the driver in front of him to flip the bird. "Emma isn't my wife, though I'm flattered that you think so."

"You lost me."

"My wife's name is Tamara. Emma is just Henry's mother, biologically. You'll have to ask her for the whole story."

The gears started turning in Regina's head. "So she's not with anyone?"

"The few, and I mean very few, men that Emma was with didn't last very long. You were friends before, right?"

"Something like that."

"Then you know she's a lady lover. But she's been kind of a lone wolf ever since some chick broke her heart about a decade ago. She doesn't talk about it much."


"Positive you don't mind riding out there with me?" Emma prodded. She felt bad involving Dany in her mission. "We might be camping out for a while."

"I don't mind," Dany swung a saddle up onto Swanfire's back and left Emma to tighten the straps. "It'd be nice to talk a little more, I miss you sometimes."

"Sometimes," Emma laughed. "I have no idea when Neal will get there."

"Well, we have enough food for a day or so. These guys could use a good long ride. Drogo doesn't mind a trip, do you boy?"

Her horse let out a loud neigh as Dany tried to get him to take the bit.

"Okay, if he's sure." Emma lowered her stirrups a few notches. Dany was about a foot shorter than she was. They led the horses outside and Dany climbed up.

"Are you coming?"

"Give me a minute?"

"Sure."

Emma ran back into the house and headed for the bedroom. Her box of stuff was still on the floor in front of the closet and she grabbed the jacket. "Keepsake," she told Dany when she got on Swanfire.

"Is that the only thing you want?" Dany pushed.

"I didn't miss any of the rest of it."

"Okay." The women kicked their horses into a trot until they reached the meadow past Dany's property. Then they let the horses have their reins and raced across overgrown meadows.


Emma stumbled into her New York apartment, whiskey strong on her breath. August had taken her out to one of his favorite dive bars and she'd met this guy, one of his friends. His name might have been Neal, but she wasn't sure. Maybe it had been Nick. Her badge and cash landed on the counter beside a short pile of dirty dishes that had been sitting there for a week. The most decorated thing in her apartment was the front door, swirly writing covered the outside of it, and she still managed to stub her toe on the coffee table when she tried to get to the poor excuse for a couch.

With a groan, she pulled out her vibrating cell phone. August wanted to know if she'd gotten in alright. She sent back what she intended to mean yes, but it was probably garbled. Closing her eyes, she waited for his impending response.

But it didn't come and, bored, she found herself scrolling through her contacts with blurry eyes. She landed on Regina's name. Shaking her head, she put the phone face down and stood, maneuvering into the bathroom to drench her face in cold water. Most of it ended up on her t-shirt. With a huff, she returned to the couch, tapping out a rhythm she didn't know with her foot while a war raged in her head.

She picked up the phone.

And put it back down.

She picked it up, staring at the name.

And put it down.

"Don't do it, Swan," she told herself loudly even as she picked it back up and pressed 'call.'

It only rang twice.

A cautious voice answered, "Hello?"

The gravel tone hit Emma like a ton of bricks, sobering her up faster than her wet shirt could. Tears stung her eyes as she fought to speak, but words wouldn't come.

"Emma?"

"I miss you," Emma breathed, not sure if Regina could even hear her, and hung up. She threw the phone to the far end of the couch.

"What the hell is wrong with you," she smacked herself in the forehead. "Fucking idiot."

Her cheap ringtone filled the apartment with noise. She eyed it cautiously before picking it up and answering without looking. "H-hello?"

"Why did you call me?" the voice on the other end now sounded unpleasant.

"Wrong number, sorry."

"Emma Swan," Regina bristled. "You just leave in the middle of the night, and then yo–"

"I'm sorry," Emma coughed. "Who are you trying to reach?"

"Emma, I know that's you!"

"I'm sorry, you have the wrong number," Emma hung up again. She would regret that in the morning. She watched her phone, waiting for Regina to call again. But it never rang. The next contact down was Ruby.

"Emma! I was wondering if I'd ever hear from you again."

The spunky brunette sounded a little too happy. "How is she?"

"Uh?"

"Ruby, please. How is she?"

"Emma…it's been a year. She left."

"Ruby." Emma didn't believe her.

"She was a wreck, Em. What do you want to hear? What did you expect? She left not long after you. People around town said it was her mom. Others said she couldn't bear living here without you. No one has seen or heard from her since then. I think you broke her, Emma," Ruby fed into Emma's need. "Are you coming back?"

"No, no. I have a job here, in New York. I really like it," Emma said. "They said I might be moving up soon."

"Why'd you call, Emma?"

The blonde chewed her lip for a long time. "I called her."

"What?!"

"I shouldn't have. I'm drunk and I miss her. God Ruby, I miss her so much."

"Okay, okay," Ruby said, buying herself some time to figure out how to deal with the problem.

"Hang on." Someone was pounding on Emma's door. "Ruby, I gotta go. Someone is here. Call me tomorrow."

Emma left her phone lying on the couch after she turned the sound off and answered the door. August's friend was standing there. "Can I help you?"

He smirked as she leaned against the door. "Just wanted to make sure you got in alright."

"I'm fine. Neal? Right?" she questioned. Regina's voice was pounding in her head. She had to block it out.

"Yes," he smiled.

She stared at his smile for too long before asking, "Do you, do you want to come in?"


"Ruby, I swear that's how it happened. I called. She answered. I froze. She said my name. I think I whispered 'I miss you' and then I hung up. And here's the thing, then she called me back!"

"What did you expect her to do? She was livid once it set in that you were gone. If she could have thrown fireballs the whole town would be nothing but cinders," Ruby amused herself, chuckling. "What'd you say when she called back?"

"I –" Emma was right, she did regret it. "I told her that she had the wrong number and hung up. Then I called you."

Ruby groaned dramatically on the other end. "Now she's probably pissed all over again."

"I knew she'd be angry bu–"

"I may have made it sound like you hated her guts…" Ruby trailed off.

"Ruby!"

"I didn't know what to do, Em! I figured if she was angry then she'd get over you faster. She sat there waiting for hours, it was kind of pathetic," Ruby defended herself.

"So was leaving her," Emma sighed.

"So find her, Emma. Call her back."

"No. The past is in the past. Hakuna Matata."

"Are you seriously quoting Lion King at me?" Ruby asked.

"Maybe."

Ruby laughed. "So, why'd you hang up so suddenly last night?"

Emma blushed crimson. "Well–"

"Emma Swan, what did you do?"

"You mean who..."


After Neal had managed to get them inexplicably lost and lose valuable time driving in circles, Regina had forced him to pull over. She got out and climbed up into the passenger seat. Ripping the map from his hands she gave him directions that got them back on the highway in an hour. At midnight, he pulled over at a motel and forced her out of the car so that they could get some sleep. Assuring her that Emma was safe was the only way he'd been able to convince her that getting some shut eye would be best for everyone in the long run.

But all she'd done was roil in anger and grief all night. Her emotions were so mixed she didn't know whether to scream or put her fist through the cheap wall. By the time Neal woke up, her arms and legs were so sore from tension she could hardly move.

"Over there," Regina pointed out a secluded carpool lot hours later. "Are you sure this is what she said?"

Neal had the same sinking feeling, a knot in his gut telling him to turn around and drive 150 miles an hour away from this place. "Yeah. This is what Henry said."

"And you're sure it was Emma who gave him this message?"

The SUV came to a stop. He didn't answer her question. "You still have Emma's vest?"

"Yes?"

"Put it on," Neal looked around. He didn't turn the car off. Instead, he pulled out his gun and checked it, flicking off the safety. "Stay in the car."

"What?" Regina hissed. "Neal!"

He ignored her, taking a few steps around the front of the car. "Emma!"

Regina followed his line of sight along the trees.

"Swan! If you're out there you've got five minutes or we split!" he called. His gun came up automatically when he heard a thundering sound out in the forest. Two horses appeared at the tree line. He recognized the blonde rider immediately, and let out a breath in relief. As they got closer, a smile broke out. "I should have known you were her rescue team, Dany."

"Put the gun down, Neal, and I'll hand her over," Dany laughed, taking the reins from Emma so she could hop down and give her partner a hug.

"You're an idiot," he laughed into her hair. "Where di–"

"EMMA SWAN!" a screech and a slammed door cut them off.

Emma turned, looking over her shoulder. A little smile pulled at her lips when she saw Regina tapping her foot by the car. She walked over, hands in her back pockets. "Regina."

Regina gave her a hard look before punching her in the chest. "What the hell is wrong with you!"

"Ow!" Emma yelped as Regina rained blows on her. "Hey!"

"You left me!"

Emma pinned her arms down, hugging her tightly. "Hey! I saved your life!"

"You left me, again!"

"I did my job, I did my duty," Emma snapped, shaking her.

"You drove off a bridge, are you crazy?!" Regina kept yelling.

"Hey!" Emma yelled again, getting into her face. "I'm right here."

Regina stared at her for a second before breaking down, sobbing mouthfuls of words into Emma's shoulder that the latter couldn't possibly understand. All the blonde could make out was, "I thought you were dead."

"Shh," Emma rubbed her back.

"I finally found you and I thought you were dead."

"Regina. I'm right here. I'm fine."

After the brunette calmed down, Emma let go of her. Regina went to wipe at her eyes, but Emma beat her to it. She cradled Regina's head, her thumbs brushing over damp cheeks. Regina tensed, "Do you always take such good care of your clients, Ms. Swan?"

"Sometimes," Emma winked. "Come on, I want you to meet someone."

Regina followed her.

"Regina, this is Dany," Emma nodded to the silver haired young woman holding the horses. "Dany, this is –"

"Regina!" Dany said brightly. "I've heard so much about you!"

This time Emma tensed.

"Really?" Regina's eyes narrowed as she gave Emma a sidelong look. "And you are?"

"Oh, I'm sorry. I'm Emma's ex."