I own nothing (except the feels, those are all mine)

Lots of POV changes in this one so I'm sorry if it feels a little rushed.

Also, please take a moment to read A/N at the bottom of this chapter for an announcement ^^

Chapter 12

"Where are we going?" Robin asked him, and Killian pointed to the barn with his hook while Emma continued driving the car.

"We have to find the bottle that Elsa was trapped in. Regina said it must have landed somewhere close to where we did when we came back through the portal."

"So we're trapping her, not killing her," Robin concluded.

"Yes, well, we don't really know how to vanquish her, do we? Besides, the queen wants to end this without killing anyone," Killian replied.

"She's been doing a lot of that lately," Emma interjected.

"Yes, it seems being in love has made her positively benevolent, hasn't it?" Killian played along, the corner of his mouth lifting in amusement as he looked at Robin, who now had his head in his hands.

"It's bad form to mock a man when he's down," the archer said, and it was Emma who laughed this time.

"Serves you right. I still can't believe you hadn't realized she loves you… or that you love her, for that matter."

"You're one to talk," Robin fired at Emma, "how long did it take you to convince her, again?" he then asked Killian.

"Alright, fair enough," Emma replied, her cheeks reddening a little, but Killian put his hand over hers on the gearshift.

"I'd do it all over again if I had to, love," he told her, and Emma smiled at him before Robin's annoyed grunt interrupted them.

"Sorry, mate," Killian replied with a twist of his lips.

When they arrived at the barn, it took them mere seconds to realize that the bottle was no longer an option, as it was scattered in pieces around the circular maze that Zelena had drawn for her time traveling spell.

"Regina's going to kill me," Emma said in a low voice as she stared blankly at the remnants of the bottle on the floor.

"I'm sure it won't come to that," Robin interjected, but Emma shook her head.

"You don't understand, if we don't have that bottle, we have no way of trapping Elsa. We can't stop her."

"Then I suppose we'll have to follow the queen's initial plan and reason with the lass," Killian said, "let's hope she's more receptive this time."

"He's turning into quite a handsome young man," a voice said from the doorway, and Regina's sleepy gaze drifted towards it, landing on Tinkerbell.

"I know that becoming adults makes everything more complicated for everyone, but after so many years in Neverland, it's a relief to see children actually growing up," she smiled tentatively, looking down at Henry, who was sleeping on his side, his face cuddled into his mother's stomach, his arm stretched out over it, legs slightly hanging off the side of the bed.

"What are you doing here?" Regina asked, glad that her throat seemed to be functioning correctly now, her voice strong and determined. Not once did she look at the fairy, merely staring at her fingers as they ran through Henry's hair while she spoke.

"I… I wanted to apologize," Tinkerbell replied.

"Apologize for what?"

"If I hadn't been so persistent about Robin, if I hadn't… I shouldn't have pushed you. I've stayed away because I didn't want to cause you any more pain, but after what happened to you in the woods, I just had to tell you I'm sorry… If I had let you handle it yourself, if I had only kept my mouth shut, you wouldn't be hurting right now," the fairy said, her voice breaking, and Regina felt something tug at her chest. After a deep breath, she finally looked at Tinkerbell.

"It wasn't your fault, you were only trying to help, I was the one who was foolish enough to believe that I… just forget it," she said, altering the last part of her sentence to stop her vulnerability from showing.

"There is nothing wrong with having hope, Regina, and you should hold on to it. I'm just… sorry that it has to hurt so much before it gets better."

"It won't get better, he has a wife, it's done."

"You don't know that."

"Yes, I do. He loves her, he always has."

"Has he told you that?"

"Not exactly, but—"

"Has he told you he doesn't love you?"

"No, but he—"

"Then there might still be a chance, Regina."

"I'm trying really hard not to be spiteful with you right now, and you're not making it any easier. It's over, now I just want everyone to stop treating me like a kicked puppy and let me take on this witch before she freezes us all," her tone rose as she spoke, and Henry stirred at the noise, but she kissed his head and continued playing with his hair in soothing motions, scratching his scalp lightly, and he sighed against her, his sleep peaceful and deep once again.

"So now we can't worry about you?" Tinkerbell asked in an angry whisper.

"No one in this town ever has, but now because of my failed relationship, if you can even call it that, everyone suddenly wants to be my best friend? There's only two reasons behind that: either you're scared I'll snap and go on a killing spree, or what's even worse, you pity me. Well, I assure you I won't be going on a murder rampage, as I have no desire to disappoint my son. And you can all save your pity, it is disgusting and annoying and I don't want it."

"This has nothing to do with you being heartbroken or going back to your old ways. Yes, I wanted to comfort you after what happened with Robin, but that's not the only reason I'm here. You almost died, Regina!"

"Yes, well, I didn't. And even if I did, I don't see how that has any bearing on anyone but Henry."

"You stubborn woman. Did it ever occur to you that the rest of us also care about you?!" Tinkerbell's eyes were shining in anger and frustration, and it made Regina feel guilty as she realized what the fairy was saying.

"No, actually it didn't," she answered in a low voice, looking down at her son. Tinkerbell let out a breath as she shook her head and moved closer to the bed, taking Regina's free hand in hers.

"Well, we do, so get used to it. You don't save an entire town without earning yourself a few friends," she said, giving her a watery smile, one that the queen returned with a small twitch of the corner of her mouth.

"We are friends, are we not?" Tinkerbell asked, and Regina took a deep breath before nodding slowly at her.

"Yes, Tinkerbell, we're friends," she told her, and the fairy grinned.

"Then please, please believe. It's not over yet. You are soulmates, Regina, sooner or later fate will see you back to each other."

"I don't want us to be together because of fate, Tinkerbell. I want us to be together because we choose to be, not because we have no say in the matter. I'm tired of my choices being taken away from me," she said bitterly.

"In any case," she continued, "even if fate did throw us together like you say, I wouldn't accept it. Robin wants his wife, I can't stand in the way of his happiness like that, I can't deprive Roland of his mother."

Tinkerbell didn't know what to reply to that.

Marian sat at the kitchen table of their small, cabin-style home, scowling at the cup of tea she held in her hand like it had slapped her.

It happened. The one truth she had wanted to avoid since she returned to her husband's life had finally surfaced: Robin loved the queen.

He hadn't said as much when she eavesdropped on his conversation with the pirate on their porch, but she had seen the look on his face as realization hit him. Her husband was in love with the Evil Queen. Marian refused to accept it. No, this had to be some trick, a test she had to pass as penance for not coming back to her family right away when she escaped Nottingham, this could not be the way things ended for her, she would not let it happen.

"Mama? Where's papa?" a sleepy voice said from the hallway, and she turned to find her son standing there, his pajamas rumpled and his hair all over his face.

"He went out for a moment, baby, he'll be back later," she said kindly.

"But he has to tuck me in, I can't sleep if he doesn't tuck me in!" he replied, his voice growing a little frantic. Marian instantly went to her son and knelt in front of him, cupping his face in both hands.

"Hey, hey, shh, it's okay, I'll tuck you in, come on," she told him, getting up and offering him her hand. Roland seemed to consider her offer for a moment before he finally nodded.

"Okay, but just this time," he said. It was an innocent enough statement, but it killed her. Her son was conditioning her, he was settling for her because his father wasn't around, and the fact that he had grown up without her hit her like a ton of bricks all over again, but she kept her eyes dry, walking to her son's room with him in tow.

Once she had settled him under the blankets and made him comfortable, she sat on the floor by the side of the bed and held his hand.

"So, is there anything special that your father does for you when he tucks you in?"

"He tells me stories, and then he tells me what I'm going to dream about that night."

"Really?" she asked with interest, and her son nodded happily at her.

"Sometimes he says I'm going to dream of a magical land with lots of good fairies that can make sweets appear from the sky, or I'm going to help a hero slay a dragon and save people, other times he says I'm just going to dream about running through the fields with all the animals and playing with them," he said contentedly.

"And do you really dream about those things?" she asked him with a smile, loving that her son was telling her all this. She and Robin had tucked him in together a few times since she'd been back in their lives, but Roland had never let her be part of their father-son nightly routine, and she had no idea what it was that made it so special until now.

"Sometimes," he shrugged.

"What about bad dreams? What does your father do when you have a bad dream?" she asked him, and Roland shook his head.

"I don't have them anymore, I only had them when I was at the castle," he told her.

"The castle?"

"Yeah, we lived in Regina's castle before we came here," he beamed, "it was so big, mama! And it had moats and gardens with fruit trees and flowers and a huge room full of books!" he was excited now, and Marian's anger at the queen burned stronger, but she didn't let it show as she kept talking to her son, excited to soak up whatever details of his life he offered.

"That sounds wonderful," she told him, though the castle had seemed anything but that during her short stay in its dungeons.

"I found a secret door in the room with the books one night," he said conspiratorially.

"You did?! And where did the secret door take you?" Marian asked in the same hushed tone.

"To Regina's room. She was sad sometimes so I used the secret door to visit her and we'd sing songs and she'd make funny things with her magic to make me laugh," he said, his eyes droopy now.

"Did she, now?" she asked with mock interest.

"Uh huh, and then when I had the bad dreams she would come to my room and sing to me," he babbled almost unintelligibly, sighing deeply as he succumbed to sleep little by little.

"She sang to you?" Marian asked in a whisper.

"Mm hmm, she said I was her knight so she would take care of me and her song would chase the bad dreams away," he said, stifling a yawn.

"And why didn't your papa sing to you? Why the Ev— Regina?" she prodded, and her son grinned, his eyes closing.

"Because Papa said his voice sounds like pigs playing in the mud," he said with a sleepy giggle, and Marian frowned. Robin had a beautiful voice, she knew, she'd heard him sing to her countless times before.

"I think papa just really liked hearing her sing," he breathed.

"And why do you think that?" she asked him gently.

"Because when she was singing, he'd hide in my room and look at her," he said, grinning again before his head turned to the side as he cuddled under the blankets, "it was a secret because he said if she knew he was watching she would stop singing, you won't tell Regina, right mama?"

"Of course not, my son," she replied, her hand carding through his unruly curls as he sighed in relief. He was asleep in seconds.

Marian rose from her spot on the floor next to the bed, kissing her son's head before she turned off the light and left the room, closing the door softly behind her and trying to rein in the angry sobs that were fighting to break out of her. Roland loved the queen too.

This couldn't be happening, it just couldn't. She would not let Robin go back to that woman, she would not lose her husband and her child again, least of all to the person who had imprisoned and tortured her. No, she would make sure the queen never came near her family again, and she knew exactly how to do it.

She was up early the next day, out the door before the sun was even up. Robin had come home late from his quest with Emma and Hook the night before, so she knew he wouldn't even stir as she got ready and left the house. She'd heard of the different means of transportation in this new realm, and knew the big metallic box would take her where she needed to go, so she stood by the bus stop for a few seconds and climbed into the contraption when it appeared in front of her, letting the driver know she'd get off as close to the town limits as possible.

Even with the bus ride, it took her a good fifteen minutes of walking to reach the area of the forest where Robin and Hook had mentioned the ice queen was hiding. Tentatively, she walked through the blocks of ice and into the huge frozen structure that she assumed was Elsa's lair, her hands raised up the entire time as she called out for her.

"Elsa? I know you're scared, but I've come to help. Please! Let me help you," she said, and then saw something move from behind a wall of ice to her right. Moving to look directly at it, she gasped as the young queen stepped into view, a scowl on her face.

"And how exactly are you going to help me? Unless you have a way for me to get back to Arendelle, I don't see how you could possibly be of service to me," she said with an air of superiority that reminded Marian of the Evil Queen back in the Enchanted Forest.

"I've come to warn you. The queen, she's planning to kill you."

"That's what this is about? She is no threat to me. I stopped her once, I can do it again," Elsa replied, unfazed.

"You don't understand. She's a witch! She has dark magic she can use against you," Marian said, "but there's a way to stop her."

"How?" Elsa was intrigued now, she had not known that the woman she'd encountered had magic, and now she was scared, because as powerful as she could be with her ice, she had no control over it, and someone more skilled in magic, in dark magic, could easily defeat her.

"By getting to her before she gets to you. Destroy her, and you'll be free," she told Elsa after a deep breath.

"You want me to vanquish your queen?"

"She is not my queen," Marian snapped, her anger flaring.

"And how do you suppose I 'destroy' her then, if she has such strong dark magic like you say?"

"Use the thing she loves most against her."

"Excuse me?!"

Marian hesitated. She knew what she was about to suggest was horrible, that it was beneath her to even think of such an awful thing, but she had to do what was necessary to keep her family safe and together.

"She has a child, a son. Use him, take him hostage, threaten to harm him unless she gives up. She'll do anything to keep him safe, she'll accept whatever you propose, and then you'll win, and you can be free of her," Marian said.

"Are you suggesting I harm an innocent boy?!" Elsa asked in outrage.

"No! Just… make her think you will, that will be enough to get to her."

"Are you certain? What if she lashes out and kills me instead?"

"She won't, not if her son is in danger," Marian stated.

"What's in this for you? Why have you come to warn me?" Elsa suddenly asked.

"She's after my family too, I want to protect them, but I don't have magic to fight her. With your powers, you can defeat her and we can both get what we want."

"I don't know…" Elsa began, unsure, but Marian stopped her from voicing her thoughts by venturing one of her own.

"Look, they're coming today, you'll see, they'll be here later. Hide, make sure they don't see you, but when they come, you'll know I'm telling the truth, you'll see how dangerous she is."

"Let's assume for a moment that you're right, then what?" Elsa asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Follow them back to town, make sure no one sees you, they'll take you straight to the boy."

The sun was peeking up from the horizon now, casting a dull white light over the land, and Marian wrapped her coat tighter around her before turning back to Elsa.

"I have to go, but please, be careful, they'll be here soon," she said and left the ice fortress without waiting for a reply from the ice queen.

I'm going to ask that you please not hate Marian so much after this, and remember that she has every right to be angry and confused and frustrated because her entire world has been turned upside down, so just... hang on, okay? Don't start plotting her demise just yet =)

Now, as promised at the very top of this here chapter, my announcement/poll:

I've been thinking of writing a crossover of Outlaw Queen + Titanic and wanted to see if any of you guys would be interested in reading that. It would most likely be rated M and I would, of course, make BIG chances to original story (and more importantly, to the ending!), but it's still a big commitment (we're talking at least 20 chapters twice as long as the ones for this story) so I doubt I'd be taking that on if there's not enough interest in reading it.

You can tell me in a review, send me a PM through here or find me on Tumblr (link on my profile) and drop me an ask, I'd love to know your thoughts on this possible story and whether or not you'd like to read it. Depending on how many people are all for it, I'll start writing it after I'm done with this story.

Enjoy the weekend!

-B