A/N: Get ready for an emotional rollercoaster over the next few chapters that contain cliffhangers, triggers and angst. Oops . . . sorry! BTW, this chapter is set straight after chapter 18, and I apologise for taking a month to update, for two weeks I wasn't feeling very well, I was getting bad headaches so looking at a computer screen wasn't helping at all, but I'm okay now. I hope the length of this chapter makes up for not posting in a month. Enjoy!

Trigger Warning: Mentions of former miscarriage

Chapter 20

Regina woke up an hour later in her bed all cosy and snuggled up in the blankets. She felt nice and relaxed until the thought of telling Robin bits of information she had failed to tell him about her past came into her mind. Her brain swirled with thoughts of how she would tell him, how his reaction would be like and if everything would stay the same – well, their normal.

She sat up on the bed, pulled back the bed sheet and swung her legs over the bed. Before she got up and went searching the apartment to find Robin she inhaled a deep breath to calm down and thought positive thoughts. She then got up from the bed and walked out of her bedroom.

She padded down the hall until the end of it and then saw Robin at the kitchen table typing away on his laptop. He had that cute furrowed look on his face, the one he usually did when he was focusing on something. Regina hoped that what she was about to tell him didn't put him off his important work she was sure he had to finish for tomorrow.

When she walked further into the kitchen Robin's head looked up from his laptop and he gave her a small smile. "I made you a sandwich. It's in the fridge." He went to get up off his chair to fetch the sandwich for her but Regina just shook her head and made her way to the fridge.

She opened the fridge and got out the ham, turkey, lettuce and tomato sandwich Robin had made her – her favourite. Just as she closed the fridge and went to turn around a jar of peanut butter that was left there from this morning caught her fancy, she grabbed it, along with a knife from one of the draws.

Regina took the sandwich and jar of peanut butter to the kitchen table and placed it onto it before she sat down in the chair next to Robin. She knew she shouldn't have glanced over at the work he was doing because it was confidential, but she did. She just had a quick glance over to check to see if he was doing anything really important. Gladly, he wasn't, he was just checking through the files of online documents he had saved.

Before she decided to dig into her sandwich she thought it would be best to tell him about visiting Archie Hopper and what went on there. Even though the sandwich and peanut butter were so tempting and practically making her mouth ooze with water, it was best if she got everything off her chest and then rewarded herself with the sandwich coated in a dollop of Skippy Smooth Peanut Butter.

"Can I tell you what I was going to tell you before I went to sleep?" Regina piped up in a question, catching Robin's attention right away.

"Sure," he replied, closing down his laptop and giving her his full attention.

Regina let out a breath of air. "I went to see Dr Archie Hopper today, to speak about the nightmares I've been having."

Robin's eyebrows raised at first, he was surprised that she actually went to a professional to talk about what was going on with her, however, they quickly fell as fast as they raised and turned into a frown. "I'm glad you went to see someone about them, Regina, I am. It takes guts to do that, but I'm a bit upset that you never told me. I could have gone with you for moral support."

Regina sighed. She was thankful that he was behind her decision and was fully supportive, but she didn't want him to be upset about the choice she made to go alone. "I know, and I'm sorry I never said anything but the only reason I didn't was because I thought that it would be a total waste of my time."

Robin raised his eyebrows again, this time in question. "And was it a waste of your time?"

She shook her head. "No, it wasn't. It was actually the opposite. I just didn't know that it was going to be when I first decided to go speak to Archie."

"And what did he say? Did talking to him help?"

"Yes, he really helped a lot. After I just woke up I realised that I wasn't sweating, or that my heart wasn't racing. I didn't have a nightmare."

Robin smiled and grabbed her hand, rubbing his thumb along her knuckles soothingly. "That's great news. Hopeful you won't have anymore."

Regina gave him a smile back but it wasn't as full as his. "There still could be a chance that I will have them occasional because Archie diagnosed me with PTSD."

Robin's eyes widened and his eyebrows raised along with his mouth parting slightly. He was shocked at what Regina just told him. Never once did he think that she might have PTSD. But then again he didn't completely know what it was, just little bits of information of it.

Regina saw the shock in his eyes but that emotion quickly faded and was then replaced by worry. She watched as his eyes roamed all over her from head to toe, lingering longer on her stomach. "Will you be alright? Will our baby be alright." His hand flew out to her fourteen-week bump and caressed the side of it.

"Yes, I will be and so will our baby because I have a solution on how I might be able to overcome it. I think telling you about something horrible I went through years ago might help." Regina then took a deep breath as Robin waited. He didn't want to push her or interrupt her, he trusted that she would open up to him.

Regina calmed herself down by repeating the in and out technic of breathing, and it also helped to keep the unshed tears that started to form in her eyes as she thought about the tragic moment that had happened in her past. "I've told you about my past relationship with Daniel, and what sadly happened to him. But . . . I never told you about something else."

Robin squeezed her hand to encourage her to go on and that he was listening.

"When I was twenty I had a miscarriage. It was because of all the stress and crying that I was doing because Daniel had died and I never told him that I was pregnant." A sob left her mouth and she let the tears fall because she could no longer hold them in. "I'm scared about having another miscarriage because of being shot. I can't lose another baby, I-I just can't. That's why I was so hesitant to tell you about Henry because I thought that I would lose him as well." She carried on letting the tears fall, trying to brush a few off her check with the hand Robin wasn't holding tightly. She sniffled but still continued on. "All the nightmares I've been having are about the time I got shot in the store, but sometimes in the nightmares, I'm pregnant with a huge bump and I get so scared . . ." Another sob left her mouth and she then fell into Robin's arms when he let go of her hand and opened up his arms to her.

Robin held her as he rubbed circles on her back and peppered the top of her head with kisses. He was shocked and speechless. Regina had just sprung something big on him that was so unexpectantly. He was prepared when Regina told him that she had something big to tell him about her past but he was not prepared for something that big.

More emotions ran through him. Not only was he shocked and speechless but he was also stunned and upset. Regina had to keep this locked up inside of her for weeks. Something that was the cause of her pain.

"It's alright," he whispered into her hair, placing another kiss there. "Everything will be okay. You're past the twelve-week mark, the chances of anything happening are slim."

"I know that," she choked out, trying to keep more tears from flooding over. "I know that it's unlikely for it to happen but it doesn't make the worry disappear." Regina couldn't keep the tears at bay again so she let them fall down her cheeks.

Robin pulled away slightly to look into her eyes. Crystal blue met a red tinted watery whiskey brown. He brought both his hands to her face and cupped her cheeks, stroking his thumbs along both and wiping away the tears. He leant his face forward and planted a soft kiss on her lips, whispering that everything will be okay and that they are both in it together onto them.

After Regina calmed down and her crying ceased her stomach let out a little growl, telling her that she was even hungry now. All the crying she did must have worked her up and took a lot out of her.

Robin chuckled when he heard the little growl come from her stomach, he told her it was their baby telling her he wanted food. She giggled at that, somewhat feeling slightly better now she had everything off her chest and that she didn't have a big boulder on her shoulder.

Regina turned her head to the side and stared at her sandwich and the jar of peanut butter and licked her lips. She looked at Robin and gave him a sheepish smile before looking back at the jar of peanut butter. She opened it up and then picked up the knife she had brought over and put it into the smooth, finger licking goodness. Regina got out a dollop of peanut butter, took the top slice of bread off the sandwich and spread the peanut butter all over it. She then put the bread back on the sandwich and the knife on the plate and dug in.

-R&R-

The next day when Regina woke up, for the first time in a long time her nightmare's weren't painful in her mind and her never once woke up screaming. Yes, she still had a nightmare but it didn't end in tragedy, and she was able to overcome what had happened inside her mind. She had control and made everything better.

She woke up happy and she even confided in Robin about what had happened. She decided that speaking to him will help.

And as they laid there with just the top of the sun peaking through the split in the curtain telling them that the sun was rising, her back pressed against his chiselled front, his left arm wrapped comfortably around her bump, stroking his fingertips around in circles, she took in the blissfulness of what was that moment.

When Regina got up that morning so got up feeling happy and content, the nightmares were slowly fading away. She got up out and bed and went away her normal morning routine which was making breakfast, getting Henry up, getting Henry dressed, making sure that he had all his cereals, etc.

That morning Robin took Henry to school while she stayed at her apartment. She was going to do some laundry but she had a much different idea that popped into her mind. Since Regina was all smiles she got on the phone to Mal, Mary-Margaret and Emma and invited them both to have lunch with her. She could do with catching up with Emma and Mal, not so much with mary-Margaret but David was a close friend of Robin's now and she did babysit Henry so she may as well let her tag along.

Even though Mary-Margaret was Leopold's daughter and Regina wasn't exactly the biggest fan of his, especially now, she was nothing like him, she was the opposite of him, too friendly and kind. All that happiness of hers was annoying for Regina at times, especially since she was pregnant it annoyed her even more, but the young women had a good heart and was a generally a nice friend.

Just under an hour later Robin comes walking through her front door, it's then when she told him about her plans for lunch just in case he wanted to surprise her by taking her out for something to eat, she would hate to have to let either him or the girls down because of some information not being shared.

While midday is arriving Regina decided to mention what her mother had told her.

"So, the other day when my mother was here she told me that Blanchard & Co. is closing in two weeks, but I don't know whether to believe her or not. What if she is only saying it because she wants me to quit and take on Gold's offer?" Regina asked, taking a seat on the couch next to Robin and laying her legs over his.

Robin put his hands on her ankles and massaged, he knew she was beginning to ache there. "I'll speak to Leopold when I go in for work," he told her.

"No! No way!" Regina disagreed without hesitating, shaking her head from side to side quite quickly. "I forbid you from talking to him that's not law related."

"Why?"

"Because he cannot be trusted. End of discussion."

Robin held up both his hands in surrender for a second before placing them back down on her ankles and rubbing. "Fine. I won't talk to him."

"Thank you," she leant her body over to the side and placed a kiss on his cheek.

-R&R-

When it gets to midday Regina headed to Granny's and arrived there before Mal, Mary-Margaret and Emma. She made sure that she would arrive earlier than them both so she could get the booth at the back of the diner in the far corner. This was so she could hide the bump that had magical popped overnight and had increased so much in size. The thin coat she wore on the way over hide it from prying eyes but with the temperature weather getting higher as the days went by she desperately needed to take it off.

She decided yesterday because of her happiness and the fact about her not slightly larger stomach that she wanted to tell her friends that she was expecting, that's why she phoned them all this morning.

Regina made her way to the free booth at the back in the corner and sat down. She took off her coat and made herself comfortable. It had taken ten minutes for Mal, Mary-Margaret and Emma to all individually turn-up. Mal and Mary-Margaret hadn't met each other so Regina introduced them, however, she had a feeling that it would take quite a while for Mary-Margaret to grow on Mal.

When all three girls were relaxed and settled had all turned up and were all sat down at the booth, one of the waitresses known as Ruby had taken their orders.

Mal had a caesar salad, Emma had a grilled cheese sandwich, Mary-Margaret also had a caesar salad but ordered her's with chicken, and Regina ordered a double burger with extra pickles and a side of onion rings.

All three of Regina's friends gave her a questioning look about her strange order. Regina was normally a salad kind of girl just like Mal, but, of course, because of her pregnancy she wasn't really that keen on salad's anymore, she would rather just had a nice fat juicy burger.

Regina gave them all a sheepish and smile and then bit down on her lip before confessing what she came here to confess. "I'm pregnant," she told them.

Mal and Emma's jaw's dropped open in shock along with their eye's widening. Unlike Mary-Margaret who beamed with glee and had a ginormous grin on her face. She squealed in happiness while Mal and Emma continued to catch flies.

"Congratulation's Regina! I'm so happy for you and Robin," Mary-Margaret said with delight, her eye's sparkling with joy.

"Wow! That's . . . uh, that's . . . great," Emma told her, struggling to find the right words to say out of full blown shock.

Mal blinked a couple of times before the shock started to slowly fade off her face.

"Yeah, that's great news, but he did do a fast job of knocking you up. Who could blame you though with what's going on in the downstairs department with him, if you get what I mean," she quipped with a wink to Regina, a nudge to Emma who was sitting next to her and a giggle.

Regina raised her eyebrow's and gave a stern look at her big-mouthed friend. She then turned to look at Mary-Margret when she started fake coughing awkwardly. She saw that she had a tinge of pink covering her face.

Emma pushed past the awkwardness Mal had caused, mainly for Mary-Margaret's sake and also because she was sure Mal would say something else ruder. "So, when are you due to give birth?"

"December 30th," Regina told them with a smile over the thought of meeting her's and Robin's baby twenty-seven weeks. "But don't tell or speak to anyone about it because only Robin, Henry, my mother and you three know about my pregnancy and I would like to keep it they way until I get even bigger. Right know I'm just able to cover my bump with a coat or blazer jacket without getting too overheated in this weather so it won't be long until it's revealed to everyone else I know, but I would like to keep it that way just for a bit longer."

They all nodded their heads and agreed to not tell everyone.

"Could I tell David?" Mary-Margaret asked.

Regina nodded her head. "Sure, I don't see why not." David was one of Robin's friends so she didn't see the harm in Mary-Margaret telling him.

Shortly after the pregnancy conversation, Ruby came over with their orders and all four of them tucked into their food. Regina tried to be not messy and as neat as possible when it came to her burger but it was sort of hard because of how delicious she found it.

-R&R-

Despite Regina's wishes that Robin doesn't speak to Leopold, he still went to his office anyway to do just that.

He went to Leopold's office when he knew he was going to be in there on his own, no meetings or interviews going on, just him on his own.

Robin knocked on the office door and he heard Leopold tell him to come on in. He opened to door and stepped in and then closed it shut when he was in there.

"Ahh, Robin, what can I do for you?" Leopold's stood from his desk chair as he greeted Robin.

"I wanted to come and speak to you about something," he said with a sharp tone to his voice. He still had a funny feeling about Leopold since that time he said something about Regina.

Leopold gave him a questionable look with one of his brows raised. "And what is that?"

Robin tucked both his hands into the pockets of his trousers. "I've heard that this firm is closing in two weeks? What's going to happen to us, your employees? Will you just drop us without any notice because two weeks is close by."

Leopold grabbed a hold on his tie and tugged it slightly to loosen it, he also coughed slightly to clear his throat. "I have no idea what you mean, son."

"Don't call me son," he spat, taking a couple of steps closer to his desk. "I know about that conversation that you had with Regina, she told me all about it a few weeks ago and her suspicions. That was all confirmed by her mother."

Robin saw Leopold's neck start turning red and travelling upwards to his face. He had his brow scrunched up and he could see the tenseness in his jaw, clearly gritting his teeth. Robin saw the anger that started bubbling up inside of Leopold slowly about to come out. He knew that he must be fuming about being caught out and of course, Robin could tell that Leopold was starting to feel threatened by him.

However, in the space of a minute, Leopold's face that was once red and had the expression of someone feeling threatened, it quickly morphed into a grimy smug. To Robin he was quite oblivious, he didn't know if the smug look was because he had something to tell him that he wouldn't want to hear, or that he came up with an idea. Either way was good.

When the smug look was covered all over Leopold's face, he said, "I suppose Regina never told you that she tried it on with me when we were having our conversation, did she?" Leopold stuffed his hands into his trouser pockets and walked around his desk to go over to Robin. "She was prancing around flirting, touching my arms, bending over, and then she tried to kiss me but I backed away because I knew she was with you. That's why she came up with that stupid story, she needed a cover because we never ended up discussing the firm because she was too busy wiggling her pretty little arse in front of my face."

Robin quickly turned around so he wasn't facing Leopold. He knew what he said wasn't true, it couldn't be. Regina wasn't that sort of woman.

He tried to block what Leopold said out so he didn't get even angrier than he already was. He felt a ball of anger inside of him growing each second of being around him.

Robin was managing his anger, he was cooling down slowly, but then a big bomb came out of Leopold's mouth.

"You know," Leopold started, walking closer to Robin. "the only reason why Regina got the job was because she sucked me off. She'll always be tit's and ass on a stick."

Robin spun around, clenched his hand into a fist, drew it back and swung it right into Leopold's jaw, sending him flying, landing him on his back. He then charged up to where he had landed and grabbed him by the collar and continued to punch him twice more in the nose.

He was angry. So angry. And he knew violence was not the answer but Leopold was saying all those disgusting things about the woman he loves so of course, he flew off the handle – he knew it would cost him his job but in the moment he didn't give a damn.

Robin pushed Leopold into the floor with force as he let go of his shirt collar. He then looked down at his knuckles and saw them cut open and bloody. He heard vigorous coughing from Leopold who was still on the floor and looked down at him in time to see him spitting out a load of blood from his mouth and his nose gushing blood.

When he saw what the state of Leopold was in he still did not care. It may have made him out to be the villain but it's not the whole office will know because Leopold's office was on the top floor of the firm, and it happened to be the only office up there.

After Leopold's coughing fit stopped he looked up at Robin with an expression of hurt, anger and smugness and told him, "You're fired. Pack your stuff and leave my firm. Now!"

"It would be my pleasure," Robin spat. He turned away and headed for the closed office door, just as he was about to open it Leopold spoke up.

"How do you think a single mom fresh out of law school got a job at one of the best law firms in the city?" he questioned with the look of self-satisfied all across his face.

Robin didn't bother to turn around and say something back to him, instead, he opened up the door and walked down to his office to pack everything up. As he was doing so, he couldn't help but keep replaying what Leopold had last said. He knew it must be total bullshit, but he couldn't help but let it get to him and mess with his brain.

-R&R-

Regina was on the phone to Tink telling her the amazing news of her pregnancy. She thought that it was only fair that she should tell her because of telling Mal, Mary-Margaret and Emma at lunch, and also because Tink was back in California and she probably wouldn't see her again until Christmas, which by that time Regina would be ready to pop.

As Regina shared her news, Tink didn't hold back her excitement, she let it all out. "Oh my god, Regina! I'm so happy for you and Robin. You are both going to make great parents again," Tink said with an exhilarated tone through the phone.

"Thank you, at least you don't seem shocked like Mal, Mary-Margaret and Emma all were. You should have seen the look on their faces," Regina responded, her phone between her ear and shoulder as she went looking through her fridge trying to find something to eat.

"I can image," she said with a giggle. "anyway, I have some exciting news myself," she added with a delightful squeal.

"What is it?" Regina questioned, taking out a box of mixed berry fruits. She needed to stop eating so unhealthy and start getting some nutritious inside of her.

"I'm moving back to New York!" Tink shouted down the phone with enough enthusiasm for ten people.

Regina's eyes widened in shock. She couldn't believe what she heard her best friend say. She was utterly mind-blown. She wasn't expecting to hear that at all, maybe something good that had happened to her that day, maybe met a cute guy and went out to lunch with him, but she was not expecting her best friend to announce that she was moving back to the city.

"Tink, that's amazing, I can't wait," she answered with a slight tone of excitement in her voice, but then that went and a frown made its way onto her forehead. "Wait, hold on, why are you moving here. I thought you loved Califonia?" she added, opening the box of mixed berries and popping a blueberry into her mouth.

"I do love it here but I got offered a promotion at work which means I'll have to transfer to New York." Tink currently worked with a business that ran a dating website, she was behind the marketing strategy of it all and threw in ideas on how to improve the website from time to time, it was the reason why she moved to California in the first place. "I didn't think twice about the offer because not only do I get paid more but I'll also be with my best friend."

Regina chuckled. "Well, congratulations, I can't wait till you come back." Just when Regina was going to ask Tink when she will be moving back she heard the front door open. She knew it must be Robin because he is the only other person with a key to her apartment, but he was due back so early. "I think Robin's back so I'll call you later, okay?" she told Tink.

Tink giggled down the phone before responding, "Okay, you don't want to keep him waiting do you?" Regina just rolled her eyes at her best friend before telling her bye again and hanging up.

"Robin?" Regina called out, grabbing another blueberry and eating that. "Is that you?"

"Yeah, it's me," he responded, his footsteps getting louder as he got closer to the kitchen.

When Robin walked into the kitchen the first thing Regina wanted to ask him was why he was back so early, however, that question soon vanished from her mouth as she was shocked into silence when she saw him holding a box full of his office items.

"Robin, what's going on?" Regina asked as she took a few steps closer to him, but that's when she saw his right knuckle swollen red and cut open with it covered in dry blood. She gasped and shot forward towards him, placing a hand on his right wrist.

"I got fired," he told her with a sigh, looking down.

"Why?" she asked, stroking her thumb along his wrist.

Robin hesitated, he didn't want to tell Regina, not because he was worried about her being angry at him, but because he didn't want to tell her the revolting, sickening and definitely untrue words Leopold had said about her. It made him feel sick just thinking of what he said so trying to speak them would probably end really badly.

"I and Leopold got into an argument and he fired me. It's nothing."

He tried to walk away towards the sink but Regina wasn't letting him, she grabbed onto his arm and held him still. She stared at him with fire burning in her eyes. "Robin, I specifically told you this morning not to start anything with him but you clearly did by the state of your knuckle. Now tell me what happened! And don't give me another short version."

He hesitated once more before throwing the box of his office items onto the kitchen table. He looked at her and grabbed hold of her hands. "Please don't be mad." Regina gives him a look telling him that she is already mad. "Well, please don't be even more mad because I wasn't going to just sit back and let him say what he said. So . . . what happened was . . . was that I went to talk to Leopold about your suspicion but he got angry and frustrated, he then said some things which made me livid so I punched him a couple of times."

Regina's eye widened again, she was expecting that Robin had done something that involved using his fist but she didn't think that he would have punched Leopold. Maybe, a door or desk, but not an actual person.

"Robin, I can't believe you did that! And I can't believe he provoked you!" Regina groaned, stepping away and pulling her hands back. She started to pace back and forth in front of him. She rubbed her face with her hands and groaned again, she then stopped and looked back at Robin. "What did he say? What pathetic things did he say?"

"Just random rubbish," Robin whispered, looking down at the ground. He couldn't be honest and look at her, he just couldn't because she would know right away.

"Robin!" she snapped to make him look up at her, which he did right away. "What. Did. He. Say!"

"Gina, please don't make me say them," he pleaded, walking closer to her. "Please, you don't want to hear those horrible things he said," he whispered.

"No! I want you to tell me, Robin!" she shouted as she backed slightly away from him. "You could be in serious trouble if Leopold decides to report it, so I need you to tell me what he said!"

"God, he said that you're always flirting with him, prancing around in those skirts you wear, that you are basically tit's and ass on a stick and that you tried to kiss him once! He also told me that you only got your job because you sucked him off!" he shouted right back at her.

His anger had exploded wildly out of him all at once. Robin didn't want to speak of those words, he didn't want to tell the woman he loved about the filthy things her boss said about her, and what he has probably shared with a few others – he knew Sidney Glass had to be one of them.

He wasn't the only that was angry, not anymore, not after it had all been revealed and Regina got a taste of just some of the things her boss had said about her – only some of the things because she was positive that he had only told half to Robin, she was sure there were more things he said about her – and she was now also angry. The insides of her were bubbling up with anger everytime those words played on a loop in her mind repeatedly, and then the pain struck inside, a twinge of sadness in her heart that those words had caused, a damaged ego because is that what everybody in the firm saw her as? Is that what she was labelled?

But anger took over the sadness like it always did. The evil queen inside of her wanting to rip out of her and cause pain to Leopold, but no, she shouldn't, wouldn't dare, not with the precious life that is growing inside of her. Even if she wanted to sink her claws into him and tear him to shreds she had to put her baby first, she had already suffered some tough stress, she didn't need to go through some more.

Anger and pain weren't the only two emotions Regina was feeling at that moment, appalment and disgusted were also lingering there within her, and she physically felt sick at the words that Leopold had spat out of his mouth.

Then dread filled her as all the other emotions disappeared and got knocked out of her. The dread was there, eating away at her on the inside, stressing her out. She kept wondering if Leopold had claimed she did that to anybody else. Some of her co-workers? Friends?

There was no record that he had told anybody up until just now, but if he had told Robin surely he might have told somebody else.

Then she told herself that he did tell other people, that she was sure of it. Some of her co-workers always give her cold glances, now she knows why they all do that, it's because they all think she did what Leopold told Robin she did.

Or was it?

God, she didn't know.

Mal calls her The Evil Queen because of how good of a lawyer she is and because of how mean she can be to everyone in the firm, maybe that's why they give her cold glances. She always thought that was the reason why, but now she is in question.

But she shouldn't be.

Leopold just made up all those things on the spot, it was just a way to get back at her and Robin because they were onto him about the firm. He always seemed like a nice, genuine person, well . . . he did months ago, that was before Robin turned up and before they were on good terms, after that it seemed like Leopold had morphed into a completely different person.

But maybe he didn't morph into a different person, maybe that was what he was like all along and never showed it?

As the thoughts started to die down in her mind, Regina noticed how quiet Robin was being. Awfully quiet. He was just standing there looking down at the ground.

"Why are you so quiet?" she questioned, taking a step forward. "Wait . . . do you believe what he said?" She raised an eyebrow throwing him a fuming look. It was the only facial expression she was willing to give him at that point, although she just wanted to cry at what she was accusing Robin of she couldn't show him that.

". . . no, no, no," he quickly said after a moment of hesitation as he rushed forwards. He went to cup her cheeks with his hands but she took a step back and dodged them. "Regina, I swear to you that I don't believe what he said. I don't. I would never."

She folded her arms over her chest. "You hesitated."

"Out of shock," he lied, only slightly, though. His hesitation was brought on by curiosity and shock, a mixture of both. "Regina, babe, I told you I would never believe anything he said, but . . ." Robin paused and hesitated once again, he didn't know how to put into words what he wanted to say without it coming across to mean and harsh.

"But?" She raised her eyebrow even more than he thought she could do and gave him a stern look.

"Well, I'm slightly . . . curious to how you, uh, got the job."

Regina's eyes widened in shock and her folded arms slackened and dropped down to both her sides with a slap. "You're such a liar!" she spat. She then pushed both hands through her hair, combing it back out of frustration. "You say you don't believe what he said but here you are questioning me on how I got my job. A job that I worked damn hard to get!"

"I promise you, Regina, I don't believe a word he said," Robin walked over to her slowly as he spoke his words, and then when he was in front of her and he was sure she wasn't going to move he cupped one of her cheeks with his hand. "If anything it has made me realise that that sick man gave you the job because he has a fetish over you, and it kills me to know that because I no longer work there I can't protect you from him if he tries anything stupid, so you have to stay away from him, Regina," he added.

Regina can't really wrap her head around what has happened, what Robin had told her. It made her feel sick, especially when what happened with her and Leopold in the meeting room appeared in her mind. Knowing that he saw her as something other than his employee, that he probably thought about her daily – nightly, made her stomach turn, and even though, he only seemed slightly threatening in the meeting room, but what would have happened if that talk had taken place during the late hours of her shift? Or if they were in his office on that floor all alone?

A shiver went up her spine – and not a nice sensational one that she usually got by Robin, no, instead, this was a cold, unwelcoming shiver that was not at all pleasant.

"Are you okay, babe?"

Regina started off by nodding her before she responded, "Yes, I am."

Robin looked into her whiskey coloured eyes and saw the tears forming in them, he could tell then that she was not okay, that she had tried to hide her pain and worry from him, which she should never do whenever they are together because he can help her, he can make her feel better, always can and always will.

Robin moved his hand from her cheek to the back of her head and pulled her into his embrace for a hug. He knew that she had something on her mind, something to do with Leopold, something she hasn't told him.

"Babe, you can tell me anything. You can speak to me about anything that is going on in that beautiful mind of yours. Whatever you tell me I promise I won't be angry upset," he whispered lovingly into her ear.

"Remember just last week when Leopold sent everybody out of the meeting room so I and he could speak?" she whispered to him, trying hard to not let the lump in her throat affect how she spoke.

"Yes," he said when he recalled that moment in his head, he wanted to be there with Regina but she insisted that he go. Did something happen then? Was the topic of the repulsive things he said brought up then?

"Well . . . nothing happened exactly, but . . . he . . . well, I thought he . . . was going to . . . hurt me," Regina cried out, letting the few tears that she had in her eyes fall down her cheeks. "W-w-we sort of had an a-argument about what I-I had said to him and during i-it, he mentioned that he would f-f-fire you if I said anything about my s-suspicions. And then at one p-point, he can t-t-trapped me between the t-table and him."

Robin pulled back a little but still kept hold of her. "Did he touch you?"

Regina shook her head and wiped away the tears. "No, he was just all mouth."

"That bastard!" Robin practically roared as he moved away from Regina, banging his fists down onto the wooden kitchen table. "I can't believe he did that! If I had known I would have done far worse then what I actually did! I could kill!"

Regina scurried over to him and placed her hands on his shoulders and rubbed relaxingly. "Nothing happened Robin, he threw around a bunch of threatening comments and just tried to scare me, so you need to calm down, being angry about it won't do anything. Everything he said is all in the past, I don't dwell on it and neither should you."

Robin huffed, a sign that he was listening to Regina and calming down, he then turned around to face her, leaning against the table. "It's sort of hard to calm down when I'm only just hearing about this now. Why didn't you tell me about this, Regina?"

"I didn't tell you because I knew you would have acted like this. Anyway, it wasn't that big of a deal, I'm a woman I can handle Leopold myself."

"I never said you couldn't, but I would have appreciated it if you would have told me."

"I know, and I'm sorry I never said anything, next time I'll remember to tell you everything Leopold tells me, even if it's the most stupidest thing ever like if I read my new case file."

Robin ran a hand through his sandy coloured hair and sighed. "Using the word next time doesn't make me feel any better. What if next time he does exactly what he did in the meeting room?"

"I won't let him."

Robin then folded his arms across his chest. "I'm going to admit that I'm uncomfortable with you working there, now that I've well and truly seen that side of Leopold."

"You shouldn't because I quit," she told him, earning her a shocked look from Robin. He never saw that coming, he was expecting her to just say not to worry not that she was going to quit. "I agree with you, the environment of the firm is uncomfortable and knowing what Leopold thinks of me and what he says about me behind my back is too sickening to want to carry on working there. I'll just take my mother and Gold's offer and work at his firm, that is if the offer still stands."

"Regina are you sure about that?" Robin asked when he pushed off the table and placed his hands on her waist.

She nodded once, assuring him that she was sure with her decision. "Yes, I am. I think we can both do with a fresh start."

Robin gave her a smile and then a chaste kiss on the lips. "I couldn't agree with you more."

-R&R-

Two hours later Henry is back home and happily playing with Robin. They are both in the living room running and jumping around as they pretend to be knights defeating dragons, while this is going on Regina is in the kitchen preparing a lasagne for dinner. It was one of her specialities that she loved making and she thought that it was ideal for tonight.

During the time when Henry got home and he and Robin started to play knights and dragons, Regina sent an email to Leopold saying that she quit. She didn't want to do it in person with him, she just wanted to get it over and done with. She was going to go in tomorrow to hand in her resignation and to pack up all her stuff, and she also had to speak to Mal about her quitting, it was only polite to owe her an explanation face-to-face than over text message.

She had sent the email to Leopold an hour ago and still had no response which was rather odd. He was still at work and she was expecting her phone to be blowing up with emails and calls from him asking why she was leaving, but she hadn't gotten any of those.

However, she didn't dwell on it, she didn't really mind not having an email, text or phone call from him, he was the last person she wanted contact with and was rather glad that he hadn't been chasing her down.

Suddenly, Regina's phone goes off just as she put the lasagne in the oven to cook. She went over to the kitchen counter where she had left it and saw Mal's name. She had presumed that it would have been an innuendo or dirty message, or at least something along the lines of that, but the text message that was on the screen of her phone made her furrow her eyebrows.

"Have you seen the news?" – Mal

Regina picked up her phone and typed a response.

"No, why? Has something happened?" – Regina

She put her phone back down on the counter and made her way over to the other side where she had been making the lasagne. She picked up a few of the ingredients that were still usable and put them away in the fridge or the cupboard where they belonged, she then went back over to the table and went to grab the equipment she had used to put that all in the dishwasher when her phone went off again.

She left the equipment and decided to put that in the dishwasher in a minute, she firstly wanted to see what her friend was on about. As she walked over to the counter to grab her phone a shiver went up a spine that was caused from the cold wind coming through the open window above the sink, she made a mental note she shut it.

Regina got to the counter and picked up her phone. She looked at the screen and read Mal's message.

"LEOPOLD IS DEAD!" – Mal