I own no one but my own people

So… not only have you managed to get us locked in the Camelot dungeons, them taking my Hook was a nice little added bonus thank you for that, you failed to let the girls know about the spells Percival was looking at and you didn't get to explain that painting you found of you and Regina… I must say, thief, when you get yourself into trouble you REALLY get yourself into trouble."

Robin rolled his eyes at the pirate who shared his cell. While Robin had been shackled to the wall, apparently even Camelot had heard of the thief's daring prison escapes, Hook had been allowed to freely roam the 9x13 cell, none of the guards or Arthur thinking that a one handed man could do much damage.

Both men had tried for a good thirty minutes looking for something that could be used for Robin to pick the locks but both had come up empty.

Hook continued as if his cellmate hadn't rolled his eyes at his complaints. "And all this just to give some peasants a couple of jewels."

"They were starving," Robin countered without looking at him.

"True. Only now we're gonna be the ones bloody starving."

Another roll of the eyes.

"Even if I hadn't stolen the necklace they would have framed me anyway," he explained. "I did not steal that mushroom."

"So what? Just tell them you did and beg for mercy. Maybe they'll go lenient on you."

Robin shook his head. "No."

"Why? They already know you stole the necklace."

"Because I'm not a liar. My code-."

"Enough with the bloody code!" Hook barked. "Your code is what got us in here!"

"I will not lie," Robin told him, a sharpness in his voice that signaled the finality of this conversation. "They framed me."

"Well why the bloody hell would they frame you?"

"I don't know!" Robin shouted, his voice echoing off the damp stone surrounding the two of them.

Hook raised his brow at the usually calm collected outlaw. He had never even heard him raise his voice before.

Robin stood up from the ground, the chains attached to his ankles and wrists clinking together, sending a shiver up his spine. "Okay I don't know why they framed me, Hook! I don't know why Percival had a painting of me and the Queen, I don't know why he was looking at random love spells, I don't know why I saw images of me and her together at the lake and I don't know how I'm going to get out of this prison and get back to Regina and my son!"

"...Emma."

"What?!"

"You don't know how to get back to Emma and your son. You said Regina."

Robin swallowed hard, realizing what he had said, his anger simmered out to be replaced by embarrassment.

"That's what I meant, I just-... it was a slip of the tongue."

Hook said nothing as Robin slid back down the wall and pulled his knees to his chest, a rather difficult thing to do considering his chains made it almost impossible to even stand.

"I hate not having a plan," the outlaw admitted. "I never did a job without an exit strategy, to keep my men safe, to keep myself out of danger… it's killing me being in this situation and not having one. But what hurts worse than all that? The fact you're in here with me when you've done nothing wrong… I would never… EVER... let one my men take a punishment he hasn't earned, especially when the fault lies with me, and I am truly, TRULY sorry for letting you down, Killian."

The sincerity in his words almost made the pirate cringe. He wasn't used to being spoken too with such truth, and definitely was not used to spending much time with a truly honorable man. Sure pirates had their own sets of laws and codes but the honor and code that Robin Hood and his men had? That wasn't just another book of rules, that was an entirely different genre altogether housed in another library on the opposite side of the world.

Hook sighed as he crossed the dungeon, sitting beside the thief.

"You're too hard on yourself, Mate," Hook told him. "I'm not one of your Merry Men."

"No, but you're still being punished for my mistake. I'll never be able to forgive myself, nor do I expect you to forgive me."

Hook raised a brow at the dark blonde outlaw. How did Emma put up with all this martyrdom and codes? Regina, sure, she would have all but dragged him the bed over it but Emma Swan? It didn't make sense.

"You've got to ease up, Mate," said Hook. "These things happen. You're an amazing leader, Locksley, even if you screwed up once in your life. Far better than me at least," the pirate scoffed. "Hell back when I captained the Jolly Roger, there wasn't a week that went by where one of my crew didn't end up with a sword in his throat, a bullet in his chest, or his head mounted on top of the crows nest…"

Robin spared a glance over at the pirate who looked like he was simply reminiscing about a previous days weather.

"But they still sailed with you? They still volunteered to man your ship knowing they could die at your hands at any moment?"

Hook nodded. "They knew that if I was willing to kill my own crew for simply being too loud while I was trying to sleep, that I would do ANYTHING to get them their fair share of the treasure. Besides I never killed them if they were competent sailors, I was fair when I handed out the treasure, I kept them fed and kept a roof over their heads, I was out there manning the sails during a storm alongside them and I had bravery. That's all a good Pirate Captain needs to do to win the loyalty of his crew. Even if it is somewhat fleeting."

Robin glanced down at the stone floor, reminding himself that the man sitting beside him was no longer that villain. That he had saved Emma and Henry in Neverland and he owed his love's life to the pirate.

"But I mean you're a leader to a bunch of rowdy weapons capable outlaw," Hook added. "I'm sure there's been sometimes when you had to-."

"One," Robin cut him off, looking down at the floor. "Just once."

"... Once? You've only had to killed one of your own men?"

The dark blonde man nodded. "My Merry Men's loyalty doesn't come from fear, or from the fact that I share treasure or keep the rain off of our heads… It comes from a sense of pride, and honor. They want to help those less fortunate. They trust me to lead them, I trust them to have honor and be righteous and in order to do that. I have to set an example." Robin looked over at Hook, almost as if he was desperate for him to understand. "How can I expect them to follow my code if I don't follow it myself?"

Hook waited quietly for Robin to finish.

"His name was Guye Gisborne," he explained. "He was relatively new to the Merry Men but I thought he wanted to make a change, to help people. One day we broke into this Lords castle, I can't even remember his name. Those who lived on his land were too poor to even barter with their neighbors and every day more and more starving bodies would pile up. This Lord had a daughter, and while we were searching for gold, I heard a woman scream. It wasn't a normal 'help we're being robbed' scream, but one of true fear and pain. I went running to see what had happened and I saw Guye. On top of the Lord's daughter.

"I pulled him off, pointed an arrow at him, told him to leave whatever gold he had stolen from the castle and if I saw his face again I would kill him. He left but came back to Sherwood Forest that night… Turns out his wife had been killed by this lord and he wanted revenge and the whole reason he joined us was to find a way to sneak into the castle. 'Hurt the one who's hurt your love'. He told me since I didn't let him have his revenge and since Marian was already gone, he was gonna kill my son, let me know how he felt…

"Bloody Hell…" Hook muttered.

"Before he could even blink I put an arrow right between his eyes," Robin told him, the darkness in his voice stunning the pirate. "I had just lost Marian, I couldn't… the thought of anyone hurting Roland…"

"I know, Mate." Hook reached over, clapping the thief on the shoulder. "You did the right thing."

"Yeah…" Robin cleared his throat, shaking the memory of the dead Merry Man from his thoughts. "But my original point still stands."

"What, that you're incapable of not being a bloody sap?"

"That I got you in here."

Hook rolled his eyes, throwing his arm and his stump into the air. "Fine. You're the one responsible for locking me up. Happy? But did you forget we have the Dark One, Snow White and Prince Charming, and the Evil Queen all working on ways to free us?"

"Regina."

"Pardon?"

"Its Regina. That's what she prefers… she hates the Evil moniker."

Hook leaned against the wall, looking at the thief for a long moment. "Weren't you the one insulting her just a few days ago?"

"I never once called her 'Evil' though."

The Pirate chuckled, realization hitting him. "Oh my God, Robin… I can't believe I didn't see it earlier."

"What?"

"You. You and Regina…"

"What about her?"

Hook smiled. "You lov-."

!CRASH!

"SNOOOOW!"

Both men jumped up from the floor, gaping at what had suddenly appeared in the cell beside theirs. A fuming Regina, angrier than either man had ever seen her.

A sudden chill came with her presence and the Pirate and Outlaw shivered from the cold.

"Let me out of here!" she roared as she grabbed hold of the bars and shook them as if to pry them loose. "I will have you heart, Snow! I WILL HAVE YOUR HEART!"

"Regina, calm down!" Robin told her, earning her attention for the first time, his blue eyes wide with shock. "What are you even doing down here?"

"Why don't you mind your own business, Thief," she hissed dangerously.

"Whoa, Love, you need to calm down," Hook tried. "What the hell happened to you?"

An icy grin appeared on her lips that, even with all of their lived experiences staring death in the face, terrified the men.

"The only thing I need… is Snow's head on a spike."

Her voice was a sharp purr and Robin swallowed hard, unwilling and unable to take his eyes from her. She was both terrible and beautiful all at once. He had never wanted anything else in his life.

Once he could speak again, Robin tried again to get through to her.

"Regina, this isn't you. You're not that person anymore."

"Oh this is EXACTLY who I am."

She sauntered over to bars that separated her cell from theirs, Robin's eyes glued to her hips the whole time.

She was truly stunning….

Without warning she grabbed hold of Robins collar, and slammed him against the bars.

"You're just not used to seeing me as I truly am." She leaned in even closer, and he could feel her ice cold breath on his lips and as easy as it would be to get out of her grasp he found himself not wanting too. "You choose to see the camouflage but this is the real me, Thief. Someone incapable of ever having happiness or love."

Regina pressed up against him, as close as she could while the bars still separated them and Robin shivered as he felt the iciness of her body. "Who only wants one thing in this world… To be the cause of Snow White's death."

A realization hit Hook as he stared at the Queen, her sultry words standing out to him like a bright light shining at midnight.

"Incapable of love…" the pirate muttered her words out loud. He snapped his head back, grabbing hold of Robin and easily pulling the stunned outlaw back from the powerless Queen. "Mate, the spell!"

Robin, still transfixed at what had just transpired between the two of them, didn't then from the Queen.

"The spell, Robin, the spell!"

The words finally reached the thief's ears and he shook his head, finally turning to the pirate. "What spell?"

"The spell!" Hook yelled again. "In Percivals room, the one that was earmarked!"

The thief appeared confuzzled for a moment before his blue eyes went as wide as saucer plates. "It takes away someone's ability to love…"

"We thought he was going to curse Emma but he didn't, he cursed Regina!"

Robin shook his head. "But… why, that wouldn't make any sense?"

"I don't know but how else do you explain the return of her bloodlust?"

Both men glanced at the Queen, who was merely glaring at the two of them as if to prove there was no way she ever had love in her heart and this was no curse.

"Something doesn't make sense though," Hook continued, the two men turning back towards one another. "The spell, it would only work if someone had someone who truly loved them."

"She has Henry," Robin offered, being answers by the pirate with a shake of his head.

"No I read that spell, true love, even between a mother and child, wouldn't be strong enough to cast that curse. The victim and the one who loved her, their souls had to be intertwined, they had to be bound, the two of them had to be…"

Another realization struck as suddenly as the first. Hook glanced down at the lion tattoo the outlaw featured predominantly on his arm and the story a lonely Regina had told him in a wine cellar came to the forefront of his mind...

"A long time ago Tinkerbell showed me a man in a tavern who could be my soulmate, a second chance at happiness. I never saw his face, only his tattoo. Robin… has that same tattoo."

Robin Hood WAS Regina's soulmate. He had been used to cast this curse…

"It's you," Hook breathed, his green eyes wide with shock. "It's you, it's… you're her soulmate."

Robin shook his head. "No I'm not, I'm in love with Emma."

"No you aren't."

"How dare you," Robin growled. "I love that woman."

"You think you do but you don't, something's wrong!" Hook grabbed his right arm and while Robin tried to pull away there wasn't much he could do while in four point chains. "Regina told me that Tinkerbell showed her a man in a tavern who was her soulmate. Her second chance."

"What does that have to do with me?"

"She never saw his face." Hook held up his own tattoo for him to see. "She only saw his tattoo. YOUR tattoo…"

This time it was Robin's face to fall. He thought back at the dreams he had of her, at the moments of the lake, how he felt connected to her in a way… in a way he never felt with Emma.

"It was you?"

Both men turned towards Regina who was looking at Robin in shock and awe. "You're the man with the lion tattoo?" Her shock turned to a flower. "Of course. It makes sense my soulmate would be with the daughter of the woman who stole my first love."

"This is madness…" the thief breathed. "Regina, I-... I don't… wait, even if we were soulmates, how would Percival know? For all he knows I'm in love with Emma."

"I don't… I don't know, maybe… maybe what happened at the lake, he just assumed?"

"How would he even get my hair though, I've never even been… alone… with him…"

Robin swallowed hard, suddenly thinking back to when he woke up on the ground with Percival standing over him. The knight said he had tripped and blacked out but that made even less sense now then when it had happened.

"What? Robin, what are you thinking?"

"The night I told Regina I stole the necklace, I-... I blacked out, Percival said I fell and hit my head…"

"He stole a lock of your hair to cast the curse. It's the only thing that makes sense," said Hook. "But that would mean…"

Robin swallowed hard, looking looked from the stunned thief to the stunned Queen, no longer wearing her mask of hatred.

"It means I'm her soulmate… it means…"

He held his wrist up to where the bars were widest, the black shield surrounding the lion almost glowing in the soft light of the torches. "It means we were meant to be together."

Regina swallowed hard, a hair of warmth starting to return to her. She reached through the bars, lightly fingering the skin above the tattoo. Her touch was so cold it nearly burned but Robin didn't flinch, he just looked at her porcelain colored face as she gazed down at the tattoo.

Her breath came out shaky as she moved her hand still, half an inch away from the midnight black ink.

The Queen took a deep breath, hesitating for half a moment before she forced her hand to wrap around the tattoo.

"Is this real?" she breathed as she caresses the tattoo, even more warmth spreading throughout her. "Could… you and I…?"

"There's one way to find out," said Robin. "True loves kiss."

"She doesn't have any love left," Hook reminded him. "It won't work, she doesn't remember loving you. IF we're right about you and her being together at all."

Robin shook his head, putting his hand over hers. "If what you say is true, that me and her are soulmates, then what we have is stronger than true love, it's stronger than any curse…"

He reached through the bars, burying his hand in her hair. "Do you want to try, M'lady?"

Regina swallowed hard, finally looking up from the tattoo to gaze at him, brown eyes locked on blue, blue eyes that were somehow unknown but at the same time so familiar to her…

She wordlessly nodded, not tearing her gaze from his. Slowly he leaned in, the coldness coming off of her a touch warmer than she was before. He hesitated for only half a second before he touched his lips against hers...

A blue shockwave of light erupted from the the Putlaw and the Queen. The force threw Hook and Regina to the ends of their cells and both landed with a loud crash into the stone walls while Robin s chains prevented him from being thrown too far. All at once a flood of voices and memories and images came rushing back to the thief, his life with the Queen, his true soulmate, rushing back to him.

It was Regina. She was the woman he loved, it was never Emma, it was Regina. It had always been her…

"Emma…"

Robin looked behind him and saw Hook stand, his legs shaking, his eyes wide with shock. "Emma…" the pirate said again. "Emma, I love Emma, I… we were cursed, she…"

Robin barely heard the pirate as he turned back to the Queen.

"Regina…" he breathed as he looked at her, as if he was finally seeing clear after living in a fog. "Regina," Robin called louder to the unmoving Queen as a slow steady drop of blood ran down her forehead where she had crashed against the stone. "Regina, M'lady, wake up! Regina! REGINA!"

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