~Author's Note~

There is some dialog and action borrowed from the episodes Lacey and The Evil Queen. I didn't think of it, the writers did. I don't own anything.

Chapter 14

The next few days flew by. Katelyn was doing much better now that she had finally opened up. Regina was also enjoying having Katelyn around as company. Granny wasn't staying with them anymore, but they still saw her often.

Henry, however, was still keeping his distance. Katelyn couldn't help but glare at him whenever she saw him. She knew it was immature, but she didn't care. She hated how much pain he was causing Regina.

One night as Regina and Katelyn sat in Granny's, the Charming clan walked in, although without Henry. They sat down at a booth where Leroy and Blue were already sitting and began talking in hushed tones. Every so often one of them would glance over at Regina and Katelyn.

"Why are they being so weird?" Katelyn asked, taking a sip of her drink.

"They aren't the brightest bulbs in the bunch," Regina sneered. "Who knows? Probably plotting my downfall again."

"But you haven't been doing anything!" Katelyn said. "I don't understand."

"Don't even try dear," Regina said, her mask slipping for a moment. "No matter what I do, they will never see me as anything other than evil."

Katelyn looked back at her sadly before turning back to her food. They watched as the Charmings left, got in their car, and drove out of town.

"That was weird," Katelyn said.

"Yes," Regina wondered. "Yes it was." She got up and pulled out some money. "Here. Pay for dinner and I'll meet you back at the mansion."

"Where are you going?" Katelyn asked.

"To figure this out."

Regina stood outside the diner in the cold wind. Once she was sure that nobody was watching, she reached down and touched the tire tracks from Charming's car. The tracks lit up and she began to follow them.

She followed the tracks out of town until they suddenly stopped in the middle of nowhere. Regina thought for a moment then waved her hand.

A glimmer shone through the air and suddenly she found herself standing in front of a field full of beans. As she approached the plants, she realized that these weren't just any beans. They were magic beans.

Regina could feel herself getting angry as she realized what was happening. Those idiots. They were trying to return to the enchanted forest.

Despite the voices of Katelyn and Granny telling her not to, Regina decided to confront the Charmings about why this was happening behind her back. She focused hard on locating them and disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Regina appeared silently at the docks and hid behind some cargo crates. David and Snow were talking not far from her.

"If we're going back to the enchanted forest, are we really going to leave Regina behind?" Snow asked.

"She's too dangerous to bring with us," David replied. "We have to leave her."

"But…Henry won't like it. She is his mother, despite all the horrors." Regina couldn't believe what she was hearing. They were going away and leaving her here, alone.

"Mary Margaret," David continued, "those horrors will continue. Do you want to give her another chance, because every time we do, she…"

"Slips, I know," Snow interrupted. "What do we do?"

"Instead of a second chance," David said authoritatively, "we give her a choice – come back and live out her days in Rumple's cell, or stay here."

Regina choked back a gasp and quickly poofed back to the mansion. When Katelyn saw her, she stood up and looked at Regina.

Emotions rushed around Regina's head. She didn't know whether to be upset or angry or both. Finally, Regina's emotions released themselves in a blast of magic that shook the mansion to its foundations.