A/N: I just started rewatching OUAT with my flatmate and my love for Lana redoubled. I didn't even know that was possible. I may become hospitalised with Lana-itis… Anyway, I wrote more for you, dreaming of Lana as I type!

It was still raining when they stepped out of The Rabbit Hole and into the street but the dismal January weather didn't dampen Emma's spirits. True, they hadn't found Neal but they did now know where he was working and his full name. They were getting closer to finding Henry's father and securing his help in saving their son.

"So, where do you want to go?" Regina asked as she wrapped her coat around her body. The sheer blouse wasn't doing much to keep her warm and the wind bit at her cheeks and hands.

Emma glanced up and down the street and spotted a cocktail bar she knew served good drinks. Agreeing with her suggestion, Regina led the way across the road and soon the two of them were entering the much classier establishment, the blonde's hand subconsciously in the small of the doctor's back as she steered Regina inside. Emma sat in one of the few empty booths in the busy bar and Regina made her way through the crowd to order their drinks. Contenting herself with people watching, it was mere minutes before Regina had returned, two more gin and tonics in her hands. She slid into the booth next to Emma and they both took long drinks from their glasses.

"So," Emma began, "you're really ok with coming to Cardiff with me?"

"Do you want to go alone?" Regina asked, raising her voice to contend with the loud music thumping throughout the bar.

"No," Emma admitted. "But I know you have to work next week."

"Not until Tuesday," Regina said. "As long as I'm back in the city by Monday evening then I'm happy to accompany you wherever our search takes us."

Emma smiled gratefully. "Well, I'm hoping Cardiff will be the last stop, to be honest," she said. "We'll just have to hope that bartender's information was correct."

"He had no reason to lie," Regina pointed out. "Although I suspect he knew you and Neal had a past."

"Yeah," Emma nodded. "I probably sounded like some pathetic girl who hadn't gotten over her crush."

"Seven years is a long time to be hung up on a one night stand," Regina agreed. "Not that I have one night stands often," she added, blushing slightly.

"Me neither," Emma defended. "It only took one mistake for me to realise that sleeping around really wasn't a good idea for me. Not that I regret Henry, of course. But it wasn't exactly how I had planned to start a family."

Regina understood. She too had a fantasy about starting her own family and getting knocked up by a random man didn't fit the picture. In fact, men didn't appear anywhere in the journey towards her making her own family.

"So, I guess your life changed pretty quickly once Henry came along," Regina said.

Emma nodded and drank a little more of her drink. "Yeah, it wasn't exactly what I had anticipated for my life but at least I'd finished school. Just. I never went to uni, though."

"There's always time to go back later in life," Regina pointed out. "Mature students are very common these days. I did my medical degree alongside people in their forties."

"Well, perhaps," Emma shrugged. "But once Killian started the publishing house, I guess everything slotted into place. He knew how much I loved reading and offered me the job regardless of my lack of higher education. Pretty sure I read more books when I was pregnant and the first few months after Henry was born than most English Literature courses at university anyway. So when he set everything up, we moved to London when Henry was one and I've never looked back."

"And why should you?" Regina asked. "You've clearly made a wonderful life for you and Henry. He's lucky to have such a caring, thoughtful mother."

"Who slept around so now we can't even find his father to help save his life," Emma added, a wave of guilt flowing over her once more. It had been a regular feeling ever since they discovered Henry was sick.

"Hey," Regina said, reaching for Emma's fidgeting fingers on the table. "We're going to find Neal, ok? We're going to get Henry what he needs."

Emma said nothing, she just drank more of her gin and tonic one-handed, leaving her other entangled with Regina's on the table. She tried to ignore the warm tingling she felt at the contact.

"Can we change the subject?" Emma asked. "Let's talk about you. What was it like growing up with a famous father?"

"He's not exactly famous," Reinga said. "I mean, people know who he is but it's not like the paparazzi were at our house. It was a bit weird seeing him on the TV when he first became a well-known MP but at home, he was just my dad. I don't think much changed as he became a prominent figure of the party. Perhaps he was a little more stressed because of the pressure and media attention but he always tried to leave work at the door when he came home. My mother was the one who changed when her career took off."

"How so?" Emma asked.

"She became a partner in the law firm when I was twelve. Her hours were crazy and I barely saw her during the week. Even if she was home she was buried under a mountain of paperwork in her office. It was only when my dad said something that she started to limit herself. It's better now but she still works insanely long hours. Both me and Dad have tried to get her to retire but it's not working so far."

"She loves her work," Emma said. "I get that. I can't imagine retiring from the publishing world."

"Yes but you're twenty-five not sixty-three," Regina pointed out. "She doesn't need to work. She has a good pension, as does my dad. And sooner or later she's going to burn herself out."

"I guess," Emma shrugged. "Kind of like you with those night shifts."

Regina laughed. "Yeah, they're not fun," she admitted. "But people have medical emergencies at the most inconvenient times and someone has to be there to help them."

Emma nodded her agreement at that statement. Before Henry got sick, she'd only been to A and E once in her life: after a drunken night out had ended in Ruby falling over and breaking her wrist. The two of them had stumbled inside close to four in the morning and the doctors had struggled, from what Emma remembered, to deal with the two drunk women. They'd passed out in the waiting room and when they came to in the late morning, had apologised profusely. Alcohol, Emma knew, made people do very stupid things. Neal Cassidy was just one such example of this.

"Do you like your work?" Emma asked.

"I love it," Regina nodded. "But I fear if we continue this conversation we're going to get back onto a topic we decided not to discuss."

Emma laughed and nodded her agreement before signalling to a passing waiter that they wanted two more gin and tonics. The cocktails were indeed as good as she remembered them being and were quite delicious.

"Ok, so why don't you tell me about this date you cancelled on to join me on this road trip," Emma said, her heart racing a little. She had been wanting to ask Regina about her date ever since the brunette mentioned it in the car but hadn't found the right moment. Apparently the combination of wine and gin, however, had finally given her enough of a push.

"Not much to say, to be honest," Regina shrugged. "We met on New Year's Eve but she had to work the next day so I took her number. It wasn't until yesterday that I got around to texting her to arrange a date. I guess she's not going to want to meet again after I bailed."

"Maybe she'll give you a second chance," Emma said. "After all, she gave you her number so she clearly likes you."

"Perhaps," Regina shrugged. "We did get on well when we were chatting at the party and she seemed like a nice person. It's just hard to tell how we would have truly connected without alcohol and high spirits and everything else which comes with a New Year's bash."

Emma nodded. She knew how it went. She had met a couple of people since Lily left when out with Ruby and Billy but in the cold light of day any interest she had in them had evaporated and she had not bothered to arrange further dates.

"What about you?" Regina asked. "Are you seeing anyone?"

Emma shook her head. "My life revolves around Henry," she said. "Even before he got sick, I didn't have time to date."

"Must be lonely," Regina observed. "Don't you want someone around to support you and care for you too?"

"It's not worth it," Emma said with a shrug. "I trusted someone to become a part of our family once and she betrayed me. She betrayed us, actually. I'm not going to risk that happening again, not to Henry."

Regina's throat was suddenly dry and she reached for her newly delivered cocktail. There it was; proof that Emma had dated women in the past. Regina had suspected Emma to be interested in women but this was the first tangible piece of evidence which proved the blonde to have been in relationships with women. Already she knew Emma was aware of her own sexual orientation and had appeared unfazed. Regina's cheeks reddened slightly as she realised her mind was already racing ahead and imagining the two of them together. On a date. Holding hands. Kissing goodnight. Scattered clothes. Hot bodies. Tangled sheets.

"Um, so what was it like living in Bristol as a kid?" Regina asked, needing to force yet another subject change before her imagination ran away with her.

"Good," Emma grinned. "I mean, I have nothing to compare it to. My various foster homes were dotted around the place and I never really settled before I moved again. This was my first place I really got to know and I loved it. And not just for the stability Mary and David offered me."

"Sounds like you had it tough in the system," Regina remarked.

"Yeah," Emma shrugged. "There were some problems. Ones which your dad fought to get rectified, by the way."

Regina smiled. "Yes, he was always rooting for better social care systems, especially for children."

"Well, I hope his work has done some good," Emma said. "Every kid deserves to find loving parents."

"Or a loving mother," Regina added. "Families don't have to be nuclear to be loving. I think you and Henry prove that."

"Thanks," Emma said. "That means a lot. I try to do my best by him and most of the time I succeed but … there are times when I wish I wasn't a single parent. Sometimes I need a little extra support."

"You have Ruby," Regina pointed out. "She seemed to really care about Henry."

"Yeah, she and Billy are great," Emma nodded. "But it's not the same. Lily was …"

Emma tailed off. She had been about to say Lily had been a coparent of sorts. But that wasn't true, not now. A parent didn't leave. A parent didn't abandon their son, regardless of the nature of their biological status. Henry might not have been Lily's son by blood but that didn't mean he didn't think of her as a second mother and, Emma had thought, that Lily didn't think of Henry as her little boy.

"More gin needed?" Regina asked, seeing the forlorn look on Emma's face.

"I think so," Emma nodded. She didn't like to drink too much, especially when she was drinking to forget. But that night she needed to. With everything that had happened over the past week, she didn't think she had the strength to deal with the psychological trauma which occurred when she went down Lily-memory-lane.

They fell silent for a time, watching the crowd in the bar which was steadily growing. Saturday nights in Bristol was always busy thanks to the two universities there and a large population of young professionals in the city. After a few minutes a waiter appeared with two more gin and tonics. As Emma sipped hers, she realised the bite of the alcoholic taste had subsided. She had clearly already drunk a fair amount and the drink slid down easily.

"So, you date women too?"

Apparently she wasn't the only one feeling the effect of the alcohol. Emma placed her drink slowly back down onto the table and turned to her companion whose face was a little flushed after voicing her bold question.

"Um, I have," Emma said after a pause. "Once. Just Lily."

"Oh," Regina said. "Ok."

"You're …"

"Gay? Yes," Regina supplied. "Never even felt the need to experiment with men, to be honest. I've known I was only interested in women since I was fifteen."

"Right," Emma said, reaching for her drink once more. She suddenly felt rather hot and hoped the clinking ice in her glass would cool the raging heat she could feel in her cheeks.

"Does Henry know?" Regina asked. "I mean, what did he know about Lily?"

"He understood we were a couple," Emma shrugged. "He was two when we got together, four when we broke up. He's never really known anything else but he sees my parents and Ruby and Billy. I explained the basics to him I suppose and he knows I date women. Well, dated one woman."

"No one since?"

Emma shook her head. "No."

Regina took a moment to absorb the information. Two years was a long time to be alone but she understood Emma's reasoning for not wanting to become involved in another relationship. She was protecting Henry and that was admirable. The awful thought entered her head that Henry was going to be hurt anyway by something beyond Emma's control and that perhaps, if the worse happened, the blonde would be left alone with no one to help her pick up the pieces of her shattered world.

"Does Henry ever say anything about the fact that he doesn't have a dad or second mum?" Regina asked.

Emma thought briefly about the few times Henry had asked her about his father. She had told him what she knew, which wasn't much, and they hadn't really discussed it in any great details. She knew her son wondered, and she did too when he probed. It was difficult being unable to answer the simplest questions about someone who had had such a profound impact on her life. She wished she could tell Henry a little more about the man who helped her make him. Perhaps, if they found Neal tomorrow, the man could help answer some of the questions their son had about where he came from.

"He's asked me about women before, I guess," Emma said without thinking.

"Really? Anyone in particular?" Regina asked just as carefree.

"You."

Even though the cocktail bar was playing loud music, every sound was eclipsed to Regina as she stared at Emma, trying to take in what the blonde had just said. Henry had asked Emma about her? Henry had asked his mother if anything was happening between them? What had he picked up on? Was there even anything to pick up on? Was it obvious to others, to a six year old, that she was attracted to Emma? Was it obvious to the blonde herself that Regina was struggling with her feelings? She suddenly realised she hadn't spoken in a long time as Emma was staring curiously at her.

"Shit, sorry," Regina said, flustered. "I zoned out for a moment."

"Yeah, I got that. Are you ok?" Emma asked.

"Processing," Regina nodded, taking a large gulp of her gin and tonic.

"Sorry," Emma said. "I shouldn't have told you what Henry said. It's not appropriate."

"Actually, you never did tell me exactly what Henry said," Regina said, her curiosity temporarily taking control of her brain and locking sanity and reason and caution away for the night.

What was she doing? No, Regina, you can't keep going down this path, she told herself. Nothing good could come from pursuing … whatever it was that was between them. And that was assuming Emma felt something the same was she did. It didn't even matter if the blonde had feelings for her, she reminded herself. They were doctor and patient. Ok, doctor and patient's mother. Alright, doctor and former patient's mother. But still.

"He said it had been a long time since Lily left and that he liked you," Emma was replying before Regina had even finished berating herself.

"Henry likes me?" Regina asked.

Emma laughed. "You know he does. You're definitely his favourite doctor even though he really likes Doctor West."

"And you?" Regina asked.

Emma bit her lip. "Yeah, you're my favourite too."

Regina beamed despite the dangerous waters she knew the two of them were negotiating. It was always nice to be appreciated for her work, especially by Emma Swan, she realised.

"So, um, did you say something to Henry about me?" Regina asked. "I mean, why was he saying all that to you about it being a long time since Lily?"

"Ruby and Billy," Emma shrugged. "They, um, they said they saw you looking at me and that you were my type."

"Am I your type?"

"Were you looking at me?" Emma countered.

Regina couldn't help but laugh. Whatever was going on, Regina was enjoying spending time with Emma. She was different to her other … friends. Quick-witted, playful, honest. Yes, Regina mused, Emma was unlike anyone else she had ever met.

"I was," Regina admitted slowly, eyes scanning the pale face before her.

"You are."

The final words were barely a whisper and Regina would have missed them had her gaze not been locked on the rose-pink lips now just inches from her own.

A/N: angry words for stopping there in the box below please!