The vast scaly monsters were circling them, circling Emma and Henry as they snarled and snapped at their ankles. Henry was crying, tears running down his grubby face, and Emma was sobbing, her hands tied behind her back. Regina tried to run to them, but someone caught her arm, and suddenly she was too small, too weak to twist free of her mother's grasp.

"You couldn't protect them even if you wanted to Regina," her mother cackled. "Having you in their life will only bring them pain." The two monstrous beasts lunged and suddenly Emma and Henry vanished.

"What happened?" Regina cried, looking up at her mother. Her voice was small, childlike, and trembling with fear.

"They got away my darling," Cora grinned. "Ran away from you, the Evil Queen, because they were too afraid to be around you."

"But I love them," Regina whimpered in her small girlish voice. Cora twisted her arm painfully and roughly shoved her away from her.

"Foolish child! Haven't I told you before? Love is weakness." Regina was crying now as her mother loomed over her, her cold shadow enveloping her in a chill shroud of fear. "No one should ever love you Regina. Your love gets people killed. Look at Daniel, your father, me, even Graham, and we all know you didn't really love him."

"I can protect them," Regina whispered. Cora threw her head back and laughed.

"And who, my dear, will protect them from you?" Emma and Henry reappeared, lying face down in the mud, motionless. Regina scrambled to her feet, tripping over her skirts as she ran to them, but her tiny fragile child's form was too weak to pull them over. Her hands slipped from their cloths, slick and wet with dark blood. She stood. She screamed.

Emma leapt from her bed, snatching up her gun and followed the terrified cry across the hall towards the master bedroom. She kicked open the door with her gun raised, and was greeted only by the dark empty room. Another strangled cry from the bed drew her attention and Emma rushed to the woman's side, flipping on the safety and discarded her gun on the vacant chaise lounge by the fireplace as she did so. The woman was clearly in the grip of an excruciating nightmare. Regina was tangled tightly in her sheets, fists clenching a pillow to her as she sobbed.

"Wh…what's going on?" Emma turned to see Henry standing in the doorway, his knees shaking as he stared, frowning at his sobbing mother.

"She's having a nightmare kid," Emma said, rushing over to swiftly usher Henry out of the room. He didn't need to see this, and Emma was sure that Regina wouldn't want him to. "She'll be okay. I'll look after her I promise."

"Like she did for you the other week?" he asked, his voice small and shaking.

"Exactly like that," Emma smiled. "Now go back to bed kiddo. I've got this." She gave him a quick kiss as she heard Regina whimper again and rushed back into the master bedroom, leaving Henry to turn hesitantly back towards his room.

Emma shut the bedroom door behind her and hurried over to Regina's bed. She sat besides her and just as she reached out to shake the woman awake she let out a startled cry. Dark eyes snapped open and she shot upright, roughly pushing the sheets from her as though to rid herself from something smothering her.

"It's okay," Emma said, grasping her shoulder firmly. "It's okay. Regina you were just dreaming." The brunette found her gaze and stared at her, confusion clouding her dark eyes.

"But…I …you were…" Her gaze shot to the door. "Where's Henry?!" Emma took Regina's face between her hands, forcing her attention back to her.

"He's in his room Regina," she said slowly and clearly. "Everyone's okay honey. Everyone is safe." Regina looked at her, her eyes still clouded with confusion and terror. Every muscle seemed to tremble.

"But, you were both… And I… my hands, they were soaked…" She looked down at her hands as her sentence trailed off, which were lying limply in her lap. Emma pulled away for a moment, switching on the bedside lamp. The room was filled with soft yellow light, which illuminated the tear tracks that scarred the brunette's distraught face. She took hold of the woman's hands and gently lifted them up into the light.

"They're clean," she said softly. "It was just a dream honey." Regina stared at them, and then back at Emma.

"Just a dream?" Emma nodded, offering a sad little smile. "And you're okay? Henry's okay?"

"Everyone's okay Regina." The older woman's bottom lip began to tremble, and fresh tears leaked from the corners of her glistening eyes. Emma pulled the woman into her arms and held her close as she cried. She guided them down to the pillows and pulled the blankets up around them. Regina clung to her as she cried, Emma all the while running her fingers through her dark hair, murmuring soft words of comfort in her ear. She couldn't tell how long it took for Regina's sobs to calm, and turn into the occasional sniffle or hiccup. Emma reached over to switch off the lamp, and felt Regina's grip on her tighten.

"Please don't leave," she whispered. Emma hugged the small woman to her, and placed a light kiss on her forehead.

"Never."

When Regina woke the next morning it was to find Emma gazing down at her, an incomprehensible whirlpool of emotions swirling around in her green eyes. A tiny content sigh escaped her lips as Emma's fingers grazed her temples and brushed lightly back through her hair. She heard the blonde chuckle lightly and she scowled, only making Emma laugh again.

"Why are you laughing at me?" she grumbled sleepily, still not conscious enough to remove herself from the blonde's arms, or even want to.

"You're cute," Emma said. Regina could practically hear the smile in her voice. "When you're all sleepy and grouchy, you're cute." Regina peered up at the blonde through a single half open eye.

"Take it back."

"Nope," Emma grinned. "No way. It's the truth."

"I'm not cute," Regina said flatly. "So take it back. That's an order from your Queen." Emma grinned down at her.

"But my Queen is so cute snuggled up to me all sleepy and grumpy. If you could see yourself you would agree." Her words seemed to wake Regina up somewhat, her eyes snapping open as she realised the somewhat compromising position she was in. Her cheeks felt warm as she pushed herself up into a sitting position, and the smile slid from the saviours face.

"Oh, no Regina I didn't mean that you had to… I'm sorry… I didn't mean to make you feel uncomfortable."

"It was an inappropriate position to be in," Regina mumbled, her eyes fixed on her lightly clasped hands.

"No," Emma said softly. "It wasn't, and it's okay. Remember when I said that if it had been you that had been poisoned by the dream vine, I would have been there to look after you like you did for me? I meant it." Regina looked up at her nervously. "Consider last night kinda like, I dunno, repayment for the dream vine thing. And before you say anything," Emma said, silencing Regina's interruption before it could even leave her mouth. "I did not feel obliged to do it. I am not just going to up and leave now that we are even, and I am happy to be here for you. I want to be here." Regina's mouth shut and she simply gazed at Emma. The ghost of a smile shadowed her lips.

"Thank you." Emma smiled.

"Any time. And I mean that." She studied the dark haired woman for a moment, saw the shadows under her eyes, the slight trembling of her hands. "Do you want to talk about it?" she asked tentatively. "About the nightmare?" The shutters fell, clanging loudly shut over Regina's expression as her eyes hardened.

"No," she said, pulling the covers aside and swinging her legs out of bed.

"It might help," Emma offered. "To share, I mean."

"I said no," Regina snapped. "Now if you don't mind I need to get dressed. Henry will be wanting breakfast before we drive him to school."

"Regina-"

"And I suggest you hurry up and get dressed yourself Miss Swan," Regina said tersely, refusing to meet the blonde's confused gaze as she made her way towards the bathroom. "We're running late as it is." The bathroom door snapped shut and Emma let out a heavy sigh, letting her head thud back against the bed head. It was always two steps forward, one step back with Regina. And although it had never bothered her before, the woman's frosty demeanour was starting to sting a little more sharply than it had done before.

When Emma appeared in the kitchen Henry was already seated at the breakfast bar, eating his oatmeal in silence whilst Regina clutched a steaming mug of coffee to her.

"You know," Emma said, attempting a smile. "Man cannot live on coffee alone Regina."

"Then feel free to help yourself to whatever breakfast you would like," the brunette replied stiffly. "There's bread in the cupboard over there," she indicated, "and jams in the fridge." Emma's shoulders sagged a little as she reached up into the cupboard. "You want a piece?" she asked, but Regina merely shook her head.

"No thank you," she muttered. Henry watched their uneasy exchange from behind his mug of tea, a tiny frown puckering his brow.

"May I have a coffee?" Emma asked, trying her hardest to keep her tone light and casual.

"You know perfectly well where the pot it Miss Swan," Regina said, her eyes still fixed ahead of her. Emma sighed and poured herself a cup just as her toast popped up.

"Did you two have a fight?" Henry asked, making both his mother's look up at him.

"Of course not Henry," Regina replied, plastering on a forced smile. "There is nothing the matter between Miss Swan and I."

"But you're calling her 'Miss Swan' again," he said glumly. "You did that when you hated her."

"It's cool kid. We're good don't worry," Emma said, trying her best to smile. "Now go grab your bag or we'll be late," she said, checking her watch. Henry huffed loudly as he slid off of his stool, traipsing off to find is coat and rucksack.

"I'm gonna go find my jacket," Emma mumbled, staring at her hands.

"What about your breakfast?"

"Like you said," Emma grumbled. "I've already made us late. Don't want to make the kid tardy." Regina watched as Emma slunk off down the hall in much the same fashion as her son and sighed. She could practically feel the butterflies in her stomach chastising her for how she had treated the woman that morning. Especially after last night. But it was last night, and the one before, which made her pull away like this. When it had been Emma in her arms, when it had been Emma who had clung to her she had felt strong, and needed, and like perhaps, if she was lucky, these new feelings could be explored. But lying in the saviour's arms, knowing Emma had seen her cry, had seen her cry out and had held her as she had clutched at her like a small child, she felt exposed. She had felt vulnerable, like the siege walls she had spent decades so carefully erecting could be crumbled by this one blonde woman and her strong embrace. And the thought of anyone, especially Emma, seeing how damaged she truly was, terrified her.

When Emma and Henry reappeared everyone headed in silence for the front door. Just as Emma was about to climb into the passenger seat Regina stopped her, a tentative hand placed at the blonde's elbow, a flask of fresh coffee in her free hand.

"Two sugars and cream, right?" Regina asked quietly. A little smile tugged at the corners of the blonde's pink lips and the hurt melted from her eyes.

"Yeah," she said, knowing that this was as close to an apology as she was going to get. "Thanks." Regina simply nodded, passing her the flask. Her hand dropped from Emma's elbow and she headed silently back around to the driver's side. As Regina sat she could feel her hands quivering. She clenched down hard on the steering wheel, her knuckles turning white, the bone threatening to break through the skin as she attempted to quell the tremors. The passenger door snapped shut and she closed her eyes, trying to keep her self from flinching. She was fine. They were fine. She checked her blind spots twice each before backing out of the drive, her eyes scanning up and down the street as she did so, clocking every person they saw, whether they looked at her, what direction they were traveling in. She clocked every person they passed, every animal even. They all seemed to watch as they passed, their eyes dark with judgement. Did they know, or was this how the town's folk always looked at her? They couldn't know, could they? But what if they did? What if, somehow, they all knew, all knew that she had pulled Madame Medusa's heart from her chest and turned it into dust in her palm. What if Snow had told them? She wouldn't put it past her.

Regina flinched as she felt a light touch on her knee, and her eyes flittered down to see Emma's hand. The breath she hadn't even realised she had been holding captive escaped her as she looked up at the blonde for a moment, who was gazing casually out of the window, sipping at her coffee. Regina returned her gaze to the road, taking a slow steadying breath, and focussed on the hand on her knee, focussed on the gentle warmth of Emma's palm through her thin suit pants, on the slow little stroking motions of her thumb, and a little calm seeped into her whirring mind.

When they pulled up to the school Mary-Margaret approached them, a little frown on her face.

"Henry," she said, a perplexed smile gracing her lips. "I didn't expect to see you back so soon."

"I wanted to come back," he smiled.

"Great," the pixie-haired brunette smiled. "Run along inside. I'll be in in just a moment." Emma watched as Regina's dark eyes traced their son all the way into the building, settling on him once again through the classroom window as he chatted animatedly to his friends.

"Don't worry," Mary-Margaret smiled, recapturing her attention. "I'll keep an extra eye on him today." The older woman simply nodded, her eyes drifting back to her son once more.

"We'll pick him up after school," she said, and the other woman frowned, glancing briefly at her daughter for confirmation. Emma gave the slightest of nods.

"Uh, okay," she said, forcing a semi-decent impression of her usual bright smile to her face. "Great. See you guys later then."

"I'll drive home," Emma said quietly, a little smile forcing it's way onto her face as they turned to leave. The fact that Regina didn't argue, or even warn her against destroying her precious car, only served to worry her further.

Regina kept her phone in hand all day. It seemed almost to be glued to her as she pulled it out every ten minutes or so, checking the blank screen for none-existent messages from or about Henry. Emma had phoned her assistant on the way back to the manor to inform her that Regina would not be in today, and to ask her to reschedule all her meetings. She had expected Regina to argue, to insist that she had to go into work, to say that she was fine. But she had not said a single word. She seemed almost to have forgotten that her job even existed. It was, Emma thought, like she was counting down the minutes until she could collect their son, until she knew categorically and beyond any ounce of doubt that he was safe once again. Emma tried her hardest to keep the woman busy helping her tidy and clean the house, wiping away any traces of the chaos from the past week or so from the home. The books were all returned to her vault, potions equipment and ingredients tidied away, every dirty dish washed, dried and put away in its proper place. And throughout it all, Regina's phone remained close to hand, a permanent fixture in her hand or placed safely in her pocket. She hardly ate, hardly spoke, only tidied and checked her phone for the messages that never came.

When it came time for the pair of them to collect Henry she stood, her foot tapping impatiently whilst she fidgeted with the house keys. Emma pulled on her jacket, rummaging around in her pockets to make sure she had her phone and keys.

"Miss Swan!" Regina snapped, making Emma look up, frowning. "You're going to make us late again." She wasn't. Emma knew it. They would be early. And she also knew that Regina had planned it like that. "I don't want Henry to be left waiting for us." Emma just nodded and hurried out of the door, taking the car keys from her silently as she did so. The woman was far too nervous to be driving at the moment. She knew that what the brunette really meant was that she didn't want Henry to be hanging around outside the school, even if she knew perfectly well that there would be dozens of people around and the threat to him was literally dead. She was paranoid, but for now, all Emma could do was indulge her, and plan to talk to her about it later.

The rest of the afternoon and evening continued much in the same fashion as the day so far, even with Henry home. Regina hardly touched her food at dinner, and her gaze continued to hover over their son, in-between darting between Emma and every possible entry point to the house. Finally Henry seemed to crack under her vigilant gaze, and he jumped from his seat on the sofa, heading up to bed with a mumbled "g'night" to the two women. This however, did not stop Regina from checking in on him at least three times once he was asleep. As Emma was heading up to bed she caught Regina peeking in around Henry's bedroom door once more and she sighed.

"Regina," she said softly, making the brunette look around at her with an almost imperceptible jump. "He's fine. Just like he was twenty minutes ago." Regina nodded silently, and gently pulled his door to. She walked past Emma towards her room, not looking at her, and the blonde followed. Feeling green eyes on her, Regina picked up her pyjamas and headed into the bathroom to change. When she returned she found the blonde still leaning against her doorframe, looking at her intently.

"Is there something I can help you with Emma? Only, I'm rather tired and would really like to get to bed."

"You're paranoid," Emma said, taking a step into the room. "You're paranoid about Henry, even though you know she's gone."

"I don't want to talk about this Emma," Regina said, turning away from the blonde to pull back the bed sheets.

"Fine," Emma said, sitting her self opposite Regina on the bed, uninvited. "I'll talk. You listen." Regina looked up at her, trying her hardest to look annoyed. Emma took her hands in her own and looked into her dark eyes. Regina squirmed under her invasive gaze, trying her hardest not to flinch or look away.

"Henry. Is. Safe," Emma said softly. "Madame Medusa. Is. Gone. You know this better than anyone because you-"

"Don't," Regina said, looking down. "Don't say it. I know what I did."

"Then you know that Henry is safe. That we all are. What is it making you so paranoid? Was it the dream last night?"

"There are other monsters out there besides Madame Medusa," Regina muttered. "Some much closer to home." Her comment was hardly even a whisper, but Emma was almost certain that she did not mean Gold, or any other person in this town, but herself. Emma sighed.

"You want to talk about it?"

"Not really," Regina said, looking up at her with tears in her eyes.

"You want me to go?" Emma asked.

"Not really."