Robin took Roland tightly into his arms, emotion over flooding him. He'd almost lost both members of his family today.
But Roland was safe, and so was Regina. They were all going to be okay.
He looked up from hugging Roland to where Sheriff Graham was standing by his police car and talking to a group of volunteers. He was reluctant to let Roland go, but now that he had been found, there were other matters that needed to be taken care of.
Robin passed Roland to Snow and Charming, who were standing by him. "Take him to see his mother," he told them. "She should be awake now." They nodded and took Roland away.
He walked over to Graham, who dismissed the volunteers. "I'm glad we found him," he said.
"Me too," said Robin, holding out his hand. "Thank you for your help."
Graham shook his hand. "No problem."
Robin gestured to where Ursula's car sat just ahead of them. "What do we do about her?"
"Well, we could wait her out," said Graham, walking toward the car.
"You'll think she'll come back?"
"We know she made the call from the woods, and it wasn't long after that when I got here." Graham circled the car like he was looking for something. "I don't think she got far, and it's getting dark. Sooner or later, she'll have to come back."
Graham stooped down to examine the side of the road. "Or ... we could try to track her."
"You see something?" asked Robin, stepping next to Graham.
"Here," he said, pointing at some trampled grass. "That's Roland. The impression is small. But over here," he pointed to another area. "The impression is much larger. That's Ursula."
Robin was impressed. He knew about tracking, but Graham's skills seemed superior to his own. He wouldn't have been able to distinguish between the markings if Graham hadn't pointed them out, and even then, he wasn't sure he had the skill to follow them into the woods.
"You think she's still out there?" Robin asked.
"It's possible," said Graham, nodding thoughtfully. "But," he got to his feet. "If we follow her trail, we risk her circling around and getting back to the car before we notice."
Robin turned to look behind him. Most of the volunteers had gone home already, their job done now that Roland had been found. He felt it would be asking too much for the remaining volunteers to stay and track down Ursula - though he imagined some of them would be more than glad to do it. But, it was getting dark. They'd brought flashlights just in case the hunt for Roland took them into the night, but they had all hoped to avoid that. Wondering around in the woods in the dark wasn't necessarily the safest environment.
He tried to imagine what Ursula might be thinking at that moment. She'd lost Roland and her car. Would she try to get to Roland again? Or would she go back for the car first? How far could she get on foot, and where would she go? She didn't exactly have friends in Storybrooke. What would her next step be?
"I suggest," said Graham, reading his thoughts. "You and your family stay at the hospital tonight. Then at least there will be other eyes looking out for you."
Robin nodded. The hospital had wanted to keep Regina over night anyway. "Will you stay here?"
Graham nodded. "I'll move my car down the road a bit. Then we'll see if she comes back."
"When you catch her..."
"I'll take her into custody," said Graham. "You all can decide what becomes of her from there."
Robin nodded. That sounded good enough for him. Though in truth, he wanted nothing more than to send Ursula over the line as soon as possible. The sooner she was out of town, the sooner he wouldn't have to worry about his family.
"Let me talk to her," came a voice from behind him, and Robin turned to look at a man he'd never seen before. Black hair swept the top of his head and hung into blue eyes.
"Who are you?" asked Robin.
"Caspian," said the man, holding out his hand. "I'm glad we found your boy."
Robin took his hand and was about to thank him for helping when the name suddenly resonated with him. "Caspian?" he said. "The merman?"
"Yeah," said Caspian simply. He gave a shrug. "I have legs now."
Robin looked him up and down. He remembered Regina mentioning Caspian a very long time of ago. He had been Eric's father and the merman Ursula had loved.
"What do you want?" asked Robin, unsure as to the motivations of the man in front of him.
"Give me the opportunity to talk to her," Caspian pleaded, looking between Robin and Graham. "I know what she's done is terrible, but I feel partially responsible." He explained quickly that he had found a "magic item," that he had thought to show it to Ursula to convince her she didn't need it, and that Ursula had become overwhelmed. "She's just scared." Caspian explained. "She thought you'd all be against her, so she went to extremes."
"And that's reason enough for us to be lenient with her?" asked Robin, slightly irritated. "We warned her of her choices. We've given her chance after chance to change, long after I lost sight of why we were bothering."
"Please," Caspian told him. "I don't think she wants to hurt anyone. She just doesn't know how to make peace."
"And why do you think this time will be any different?" Robin asked.
"Because I'm here," Caspian told him. "She needed someone to support her, and I couldn't be that before. But I'm not backing down this time."
Robin was about to tell him he didn't see how that made any difference when he heard his wife's voice in his head. How many times had she told him that she could have ended up in Ursula's shoes? How many times had she said it was through his love and support that she had changed? Maybe with Caspian things could be different.
Robin cursed inwardly. He wanted Ursula gone. He wanted to be able to love his wife and son without worrying about the Evil Queen coming to destroy them.
But Regina would want to give Ursula this chance.
Robin turned in a circle, debating with himself. At length, he groaned. "Okay," he said reluctantly, looking at Caspian. "You'll get your chance, but I am warning you," He raised a finger. "This is the last one. If she does anything to anyone, I don't care who is against me - you, my wife, the whole town - I will force her over the line myself."
Caspian gave a nod. "Understood."
Robin waved at Graham to follow him, eager to get away from the decision he still wasn't pleased he had made. They headed down the road, making sure all the volunteers were headed home.
"So, I'll be headed back to the office?" asked Graham as he got into his car, making sure he understood the conversation correctly.
Robin gave a nod. "I hope this doesn't come back to bite me in the ass."
Graham gave a nod like he understood. Then, without a word, he put his car into reverse and turned around in the road to head back to town. Robin watched him go, wondering what his story was. He had never met the man before Storybrooke.
He hesitated as he got into his own car. It wasn't too late for him to change his mind. He could tell Caspian to forget everything. But his wife's voice in his head wouldn't let him.
Regina was asleep as Robin entered the hospital room. Roland was curled up at her side in bed, and Charming and Snow sat in chairs along the wall. The two of them looked up as Robin came in, quietly said their goodbyes, and left as Robin thanked them yet again for their help. He sat down in one of the chairs they had occupied, and only then did Regina stir.
She had a bandage around her head from where she'd hit the door frame. She'd suffered a concussion and had needed a few stitches, but otherwise seemed fine. The doctor had wanted to keep her over night just to be safe.
"Did you find her?" she asked him groggily. Roland remained fast asleep next to her.
Robin reach out to take her hand and shook his head. "Caspian's looking for her."
"Caspian?" she said. "He's in Storybrooke?"
Robin nodded. "I left it in hands." His thought of, like you would have wanted me to, remained unspoken.
Regina let out a long sigh and leaned back again her pillow. She closed her eyes, looking peaceful and relaxed, ready to drift off to sleep.
"Good," was all she said.