OQPromptParty #110: Regina and Robin talking over what Zelena did to him. Mixed with OQPromptParty #85 Regina tells Robin that she's infertile.

I was so happy to write this for the outlaw queen fandom because I feel like this scene is what we all deserve. I hope I do it justice.


Since Robin has come back from New York things have been off between him and Regina. Their smiles would never reach their eyes when the looked at one another and the kisses that they did share were chaste, almost awkward. At night they would find themselves heading to bed at different hours and instead of joining one another in the middle they would settle at either side of the bed, backs facing one another as the elephant in the room lay between them.

They haven't talked about her. Not really. Not as much as they should have.

God, how it tears Regina up inside at the thought of Robin pressed up against his sister in all types of ways that he shouldn't be. She closes her eyes and that's all she can think about, robbing Regina of sleep and supplying her with an unwelcome nausea. She knows, knows, that Zelena had manipulated him. She knows it wasn't his fault. But how can she kiss his lips without being reminded of the sickening truth that they have been pressed against her sister's lips too?

Robin is shaken up too, this she knows. He seems to always be frowning, and she almost fears that his dimples have disappeared entirely with the depression that her sister has brought upon them both. She knows it's harder for him, he's the one this affects most. But the selfish side of her drowns in self-pity because of the fact that he had slept with her sister. It would have been hard enough to except the fact that he went back to his wife, had slept with her, had moved on with her, but the betrayal feels so much worse with the reality of the situation and she hates herself for feeling this way. They just haven't talked about it enough for her to feel even the slightest bit reassured.

But then, "Regina? Are you awake?" he whispers to her one night. And of course she is awake. How can she rest her eyes and sleep peacefully with this unbearable tension hanging thickly in the air above them?

"Yes," she whispers, rolling onto her back and turning her head to look at Robin who has turned to face her, too, "What is it?"

"Can we talk? I… I would really like it if we could just talk," Robin replies with a sigh. She can see him faintly as her eyes adjust to the darkness that surrounds them, he's frowning.

She nods, moving slightly closer to him. "Okay," she agrees because she knows what he wants to talk about and knows it's about time they do.

Robin nods and she can see his Adam's apple bob up and down in his throat as he swallows. "I don't really know where to begin," he whispers, but neither does Regina so she doesn't reply and just waits, waits for him to say something more and eventually, with a sigh, he does, whispering a broken, "I feel dirty."

And those three words shatter her heart into millions of pieces. "Robin—"

"I thought she was my wife, Regina. I thought I was making love with Marian." He shakes his head, closing his eyes tightly and all she sees is pain. It's hard for Regina to hear but she knows it's important she listens. "But it was her all along, and I feel physically sick when I think that she let me do these things with her knowing that I thought she was someone else. Someone who I actually cared for."

"Did you ever feel suspicious that it wasn't her?" Regina whispers.

Robin shrugs. "There were times where she acted differently to the Marian I remembered. But I have changed since then and so I believed that things were bound to be different to what they used to be before she died." He shakes his head, letting out a soft sigh. "I don't know why I didn't notice the glamour spell necklace. I had worn the same one for the majority of my life back in the enchanted forest and I just didn't notice. I feel so idiotic!"

"Zelena is clever, Robin," Regina soothes softly, "If she didn't want you to see it, you wouldn't have seen it." She reaches for Robin's hand under the duvet and when she finds it, she wraps her fingers tightly around his. "I don't blame you for this, you know," she tells him.

"Because I'm not the one to blame!" Robin replies and his outburst catches Regina off guard as he twists his fingers from hers. "Zelena is! She manipulated me into having sex with her. Into having a child with her to get at you. If you even considered for one moment that I was a willing part in this—"

"No, Robin, that's not what I meant. I—"

"I know you've been put in a horrible situation but so have I," he cuts in, "I am stuck between a rock and a hard place because believe me I want nothing but to cut all ties to your sister but she has something of mine that she knows I can't turn my back on." He shakes his head. "Right now I feel so useless. I have no control over that baby until he or she is born and that's the most terrifying thing."

There's a long silence before Regina's soft whisper slices through the atmosphere like a pin through a balloon.

"I won't let anything happen to that child, Robin," she assures, and it's so fucking painful to say those words knowing that she can never protect a child of her own—their child. And all because she had been foolish and lonely enough to let her bitterness towards her mother cause her to make a life-changing decision that still haunts her to this very day.

"I know."

There's another quiet. This one stretches out and falls over the room like a wool blanket, it mutes all white noise and stills all movement. Regina is almost frightened to breathe against the silence. She closes her eyes and inches closer to him, letting her hand stretch out and curl softly around his bicep. She just needs to feel his warmth, be reassured by his presence.

"I'm sorry this is the way she chose to seek revenge," he speaks up as he lays his head beside her on the pillow and she opens her eyes to look at him again. He's close, his features a soft blur as she focuses on his blue-turned-grey eyes in the dullness.

"What do you mean?" she asks with a frown.

Robin frowns, and she feels his hand on her shoulder before it softly smoothes down her arm to rest at her wrist. "I picked up on what you told me back in New York," he whispers and immediately Regina's stomach is doing summersaults, "You said that Zelena had tied us together in a way that we will never will be… What did you mean by that?"

Regina swallows. She knew this question was bound to come and she supposes that she will never be fully prepared for when it does spring up. It still causes a sharp pain in her chest, one caused by a deep yearning for something she will never have. "I'm barren Robin," she whispers, her voice barely there but loud against the otherwise silent room. She waits for him to react but he doesn't say anything, he just looks at her with a frown etched across his features. He's speechless and can she blame him? What do you say to someone who has just told you something so life changing? She reaches up and lets her hand trail across his cheek. She wishes she had told him sooner, before they had found themselves in this mess. "I never quite knew how to tell you," she confesses into the darkness, "I was worried that once you knew the truth you wouldn't see a future with me anymore. I have nothing to give you other than myself."

Robin's frown grows deeper and he moves his face away slightly so that he can see her better as he tells her adamantly, "Regina, you are my future."

Regina breathes in a sharp breath, her eyes searching his for any signs of doubt but all she sees is a sparkling sincereness that dominates his glistening orbs. "Really?" is all she can say.

"Yes," he whispers before looking down, "I know things are messy but I still see this, us being together again, as the universe's way of telling me that we are meant to be together. Always."

Regina smiles sadly before shifting closer still and wrapping her arm around his waist so that they are pressed together as they are meant to be. "We will get through this, won't we?" she asks him, peeking up at him as she rests her cheek on his chest.

Robin nods, leaning down to press a kiss to her forehead. "Of course. We always do."