There were so many birds and they were so close together, not a speck of light was getting through and she knew the birds were closing in on them.

She was running out of time. She held out her arms and a net appeared above Regina and Robin. It was a large net stretching as far as either of them could see. But the birds would chew their way through it. Or find a way around it quickly enough. They had to get out.

She reached blindly for Robin and felt a wave of relief when she caught his arm. She tugged him and he stumbled toward her. She could no longer see the edge of the forest so she just followed her instincts and kept moving.

Robin was still stumbling behind her. He was weaving back and forth as he followed. She frowned. She was unsteady as well, and every time he stumbled and tugged on her arm they nearly toppled over.

Her leg itched. It felt like something was crawling on her. She paused and bent down to scratch her leg.

She let out a high-pitched squeal that sounded like a terrified teenage. Robin stopped short.

"What?" He asked.

She fought to keep her breathing steady and her heart rate down. It was a spider. And not just one. There were hundreds. Everywhere beneath their feet and they were trying to crawl up her legs. She tightened her grip on Robin and took off running again.

She felt legs moving up hers, but she didn't stop again, just kept running and luckily she felt many of the legs seem to fall away. Light. Spiders hated light, right? Or was that an old wives tale? She wasn't sure, but it wouldn't hurt to try. She summoned a fireball and waved it toward the ground. Looking up she could see they were almost out of the forest. She could now see through the trees.


The group sat at the dinner table in tense silence. They were all worried about the witch who hadn't tried anything since Rumple had regained his dagger. Emma was fuming. She couldn't believe Tinkerbelle had told Henry about Regina. Henry was dying to ask more questions, but he seemed to sense now was not the time.

"Henry, will you play with me?" Roland asked.

Henry didn't want to play with the little boy. Now that he knew Regina was his mom, he didn't like the way she'd looked at Roland and talked to him.

"No." Henry answered.

"I'll play with you, Roland." Belle offered.

Snow was picking at her food. She wasn't feeling very well. She jumped slightly when David put his hand on her back. "Are you okay?" He asked.

She nodded. "I might just go lie down." She was really tired. David watched with concern as she left the room.

The awkward silence at the table continued. Emma stood up and walked out. Tinkerbelle looked like she might follow Emma. Hook put a hand on Tinkerbelle's arm. "I'll talk to her." He walked out.


"I don't want to talk." Emma said.

"You know it's better that he knows. Why don't you just let the Blue Fairy make him the potion so he can remember it all? It will save a lot of time explaining things." Hook said.

"No." Emma said. "This doesn't change anything. We're still going back to New York."

"Love, he remembers Regina." Hook said.

"No. He knows that Regina adopted him. He doesn't remember anything. He only knows what Tinkerbelle told him. And that's how it's going to stay. He won't want to stay for Regina."

"You know she's his mother too, Emma. You don't really want to take that away from him." Hook said.

"I don't want her to take him away from me. He's my son. We finally have a good life and a real mother son relationship. It's like none of the bad stuff ever happened. I can't loose that." Emma said.

"You love Henry too much to take all his family and friends from him. It's not just Regina. It's his grandparents and all his friends here in Storybrooke." Hook said.

"Whose side are you on?" Emma asked.

"I'm on your side, love. And the boy's. I want you to be happy. Running away isn't going to make you happy. And it's certainly not going to make Henry happy." Hook said as he picked up her hand and held it in his. "You won't feel right about taking him away. It's not who you are."

Emma yanked her hand back. "That's what she said." Hook looked confused. "Regina. She said I wouldn't take him because I wouldn't be able to leave my parents. Because I always do the right thing."

"She's not wrong." Hook said. "Despite everything you've been through, you want to do the right thing. It's in your blood."


She was gasping for air, but she kept running.

Robin had jumped when she began throwing fire at their feet. But once he'd realized what she was doing he'd smiled. She was good under pressure. The spiders would fan out in retreat every time a fireball hit. He was feeling a bit dizzy and having trouble keeping up, but now he could see the light at the edge of the forest as well. He watched her hand fly down in a move to throw another fireball, but instead there were just a few sparks hitting the ground. She was loosing steam. He felt a sense of dread. They had to get out. He picked up his pace and although he was still stumbling, running in more of a zigzag pattern, he was now matching her pace. Although, maybe her pace was slowing.

She sensed Robin beside her instead of behind her. She tried to suck in more air. She couldn't breathe. Her lungs were on fire. Her legs were on fire. And the crawling sensation was back. She didn't have the strength for any more fire though. They just had to get out. She grasped for Robin's hand and found it. The touch sent a magical jolt through her. She used it to propel herself (with Robin right behind her) out of the forest.

The second they exited the forest the light covered them. It was almost blindingly bright after the darkness of the forest and she could feel the spiders quickly crawl off of her and retreat back to the forest. Her legs buckled underneath her and she was immediately on the ground again. She didn't even try to fight it. She just rested her head on the grass and shut her eyes.

As Regina fell to the ground, her hand didn't leave Robin's and he was tugged down after her. The forest was spinning. He was definitely dizzy. Her hand felt limp in his.

"Regina." He tried to address her. She didn't move. His voice was weak. He was pretty sure she was unconscious again, but it was possible that he'd been too quiet for her to hear. They were just lying in the middle of a field. That couldn't be safe. He started to stand, but immediately realized he couldn't. So instead, he began crawling toward a tree. He gripped her arm more securely and dragged her after him. He was dragging the Queen through the grass and dirt. She would murder him when she woke up. He managed to put her body between his and the tree as he leaned protectively over her shielding her from the eyes of any passerbys before he passed out as well.


Regina felt weighted down. Something heavy was holding her in place. She needed to open her eyes. Her head was still throbbing. Stupid book. Where was the book? She tried to scoot out from under the weight, but she felt tree bark scraping her back. She was pinned. She forced her eyes open and winced as the light caused the throbbing in her head to intensify.

The weight was Robin.

"Robin." Her voice was scratchy and weak. She hated the sound of it. He didn't move. "Robin." She said again with a little more force. He still didn't move. She frowned and managed to give him a little push with her hand. Still nothing. Was he? Her hand trembled as she moved it to his neck and felt for a pulse. She sighed in relief when she felt the pulsing heart beat in his neck.

It was still light outside, but the sun was setting. So, either she'd been out for a full day or they hadn't been out of the forest for long. She was betting on the latter. She definitely didn't feel rested enough to have had a full day's sleep. She wiggled under Robin's weight and managed to slide both her hands onto his chest. In a concerted effort throwing all her weight into it, she pushed at him as she moved to roll over.

With a thud, Robin landed on his back with Regina on top of him. The movement woke him and his eyes met hers as she looked down at him.

Robin blinked. The Queen was on top of him. Was this some weird dominatrix sex dream? He blinked again and when he opened his eyes she was moving away from him.

"Are you hurt?" She asked.

"I…uh…" Robin stammered. He was having trouble thinking straight.

She frowned. He seemed disoriented. As she studied him, she saw several patches of dried blood on his face from where the bird had attacked him. She flicked her wrist to bring them anti-septic and some clean cloths, but nothing happened. She sighed. He was wearing the backpack Snow had packed. She'd just have to get it from there.

"Roll over. I need the backpack." She said nudging him with her hand. He followed her instructions, but she noticed he winced when he did. Had she missed an injury? She began rummaging in the bag, pulling out the water, the first aid kit, and a couple bags of trail mix. "Sit up."

She motioned to the tree and reached down to help him sit back against it. Kneeling next to him, she handed him the trail mix and the water.

"Eat." She commanded as she poured some anti-septic onto a cloth. "This is going to hurt." She touched the cloth to one of the gashes on his face. He sucked in a deep breath as the cloth hit. She bit her lip, but continued. "I'm sorry."

He watched her gently dab at the wounds. She was being so tender and caring. And she was looking at him with the concern he'd only seen when she looked at her son. Or Roland.

"I think that's it." She said. "Are you hurt anywhere else?"

He shook his head. "No. I'm fine. Thank you, your majesty."

She didn't answer. Simply turned and began putting away the disinfectant.

"Regina?" He tried again. She turned.

"Yes? Do you need something else?" She looked into his eyes. She felt the urge to touch his face. To kiss him. That was absurd. She forced her eyes away from his. What was she thinking? The throbbing in her head was now joined with a throbbing in her chest. She hated Tinkerbelle and her stupid pixie dust. She wouldn't even be entertaining these thoughts if not for that stupid tattoo.

"I can see the Emerald City." Robin said.

She turned and looked north and sure enough, there it was.