Authors note: I'm sorry this is kind off late, but I had a massive writers block, anyway, I think I finally have this whole plot figured out! Thank you all for the kind reviews! The flashback in the middle starts where the flashback in chapter 16 left off. ;)

...

Tears were till streaming down her too pale cheeks. She was lying on her back as the warm liquid was rolling from her eyes and dissapeared in her hairline. One of her shaking hands was lying on her stomach and the other one was lying on her pillow.

Every now and then a sob wrecked her small frame, but other than that, Regina was completely still. Her eyes were seeing nothing as they stared up at the ceiling. She missed Emma. It hadn't even been two days since her blonde had been fired.

Fired...

At least Emma had made sure that Granny had kept Graham away from her. Instead it was now a young brunette named Ruby that escorted her from place to place. She was sort off nice, but no one could replace Emma.

"Miss Mills?"

The now familiar voice shocked Regina out of her train of thoughts. What day is it? Her brown eyes found the calendar on the wall.

Wednesday.

She had a session with Archie probably. It would be the first one since Emma... left.

Regina stood up without a word. She ignored the sympathetic glance from Ruby and wiped the tears from her cheeks with her head held high. "Let's go then, dear."

Ruby nodded as she opened the cell door and let Regina out in the hallway.

It was completely silent as Regina and Ruby walked towards the west wing of the prison. The wing were Dr. Hopper's office was located.

The walk there wasn't that long. Fortunatly.

"Regina." Archie greeted with a soft smile. He nodded to Ruby who opened the cuffs and stepped back.

Only when the young brunette's footsteps were gone did Regina speak. "Doctor." She nodded with a watery smile. The man had been a huge help for the past two years.

"Please sit down."

Regina slowly walked over to the old couch and sat on her usual spot. Her fingers were fidgeting with the last button of her orange shirt. She frowned when she noticed how dry her hands were, but then again, it's not like she could get manicures in this place.

"I heard what happened to Emma... And why." Archie said with a sympathetic look while he pushed his glasses further up his nose. Regina searched his eyes for any kind of judgement, but found none.

And even though that put her on ease her first instincts were still to close herself off, to put her walls back up at full force. Those walls that had been down since the moment Emma Swan first kissed her.

She wanted too, but she was just too damn tired to even try exactly that because Regina knew that closing herself off was precisely the thing she shouldn't do.

Especially not now.

Regina didn't want to go back to being that hollow shell of a woman what she had been during her marriage to Leo. She had been completely broken back then. The only thing that had kept her glued together had been Daniel.

That was, until he was gone too.

...

Brown, with rage filled eyes followed the Daniel's hand as it moved towards her daughter's stomach. The man's eyes were full of love and he said something, something that looked a lot like 'I love you'. And it made bile rise in her throat.

Cora's eyes were still fixated on the hand that was covering her daughter's stomach. This could only mean one thing. Her daughter was pregnant and with none other then this... commoner's brat.

Cora's first instinct was to step out of the car and shoot the peasant in his face with the gun she always kept under her car seat. But that wouldn't do. That could get her arrested.

But it also wouldn't teach Regina her apparently much needed lesson. No. Regina needed to get attached, maybe even in love.

And then Cora would make her strike.

...

His gleeful but vicious grin would be one that Regina wouldn't and couldn't ever forget. It was burnt in her mind. Burnt just like the words that had just left her husband's mouth.

He's dead... You filthy whore...

Her breath caught in her lungs. Her blood froze in her veins. She felt hollow. Empty. Completely lost. The way she had felt before she met Daniel. Or had met.

He's dead... You filthy whore...

She had expected that salty tears would appear in her glassy eyes. But they remained dry. Maybe because it was still so... unbelievable.

Daniel couldn't be dead. He just couldn't be. She had just seen him yesterday. They'd been talking about baby names.

Regina's hands gripped the sides of her cooking island. Her fingers clenched around the granite kitchen worktop so tightly her knuckles turned white and the muscles in her fingers started to twitch.

Even when her fingers started to cramp, Regina still didn't let go. That worktop was the only thing that kept her grounded, that kept her from crumbling down on the floor of her kitchen.

After a while that felt like centuries to Regina, she looked up. The kitchen was empty, it seemed that Leo had left. Where to, Regina didn't know. But she didn't care either. Rage filled her chest as Regina looked around. She didn't even know she was doing it until her fingers grabbed the crystal salad bowl her mother had given her last Christmas and the crystal shattered into million pieces against the white wall.

Regina knew she should be frightened that Leo had heard the shower of crystal against the tiled floor, she knew she should be frightened that he would become angry and slam her head against the first solid thing he could find. But Regina just couldn't simply care about that anymore.

She had lost everything. Absolutely everything.

...

Emma's eyes were vacant of any emotion as she shut off the engine of her beat up bug and opened the door with rhe necessary harsh push.

The house - or rather mansion - in front of her was imposing to say the least. It was completely white. "The exact opposite of Cora's heart." Emma muttered under her breath as she opened the old steel gate.

Soon Emma found herself on the end of the pathway that led to a giant - and also white - frontdoor. She lifted her hand and rang the doorbell. Emma was almost hoping Cora would open, that way she could punch the woman's teeth out immediately.

But alas, no such luck.

Henry Mills was an old man, with a friendly appearance. So friendly even his obviously expensive suit didn't look the least imposing.

"Hello." He said with a small smile on his face, though Emma immediately saw it was a facade.

"Hello, I'm Emma Swan. And I'm here to talk about your daughter." Emma decided to get straight to the point.

Henry's eyebrows shot up as tears filled her eyes. "Regina?" His daughter's name came out on a soft whisper. "What about her? Is she okay? Did something happen?!"

"No." Emma quickly reassured, but then her expression went dead serious again. "But something might happen."

When it was clear Emma wasn't going to say anything more Henry spoke up. "Do you want to come in miss Swan? My wife won't be home for a while. She doesn't like talking about our daughter being in... prison."

I bet she doesn't. Emma thought bitterly. "That would be great."

The inside of the house was even more beautiful than the outside. The inside was mostly wood and it was cozy. She followed Henry towards what seemed to be the living room. He walked over to the liquor cabinet and poured himself and Emma a glass of scotch.

Emma gladly accepted the glass. She could really use this right now. Henry sat down on one of the chairs so Emma opted for sitting on the couch.

"What about Regina, miss Swan?"

Emma sighed softly as she placed the glass on the table in front of her. "Look, mister Mills. I've had the pleasure of getting to know Regina quite... well." She would not say she was in a relationship with her. That would be bound to get awkward. "And I know Regina and her mother don't have the best relationship. But I think you and I both agree that Regina doesn't belong in that prison."

Henry's expression was strange as he seemed to be in deep thought. Finally he spoke up. "You're right miss Swan, Regina doesn't belong there. But there's nothing I can do."

"Yes there is." Emma insisted. "Ask for a retrial. We know there is enough evidence to plead self defense and win. And I know that you know that." Emma looked in his brown eyes. "You need to testify, mister Mills. Please, you need to safe your daughter."

Henry's eyes watered as he took in the blond in front of him. "You love her." He said in realization.

Emma swallowed harshly before picking up her glass and downing it in one go. "Yes I do. But that's beyond the point. Mister Mills, you need to help your daughter."

"You don't know how hard it is to go against my wife's wishes."

Emma teeth clenched. "Maybe not. But I do know that you've never stood up for Regina before, and this is a good moment to start. She's in danger, mister Mills. Live threatening danger. She's not safe in there."

There was a tense silence as Henry only shook his head. "You don't know how hard it is to go against my wife's wishes, miss Swan." He repeated.

Rage flared up in Emma's chest as she slammed the empty glass down on the table. "I don't give a fuck about whether it's hard to go against your wife's wishes. The only thing I give a damn about is Regina. Your daughter. The one you should always protect." Emma reached for the small piece if paper that lay on the table and grabbed a pen out of her pocket. She quickly wrote her number down before standing up.

"When you're ready to be a real man, a real father. Call me." Emma snapped as she stomped out of the room and out of the house where Regina's biggest demon and weakness lived.

...

No, Cora and Henry don't live in Regina's mansion, it just resembles it. Just to clear that up, leave a review! ;)